Charles Ellicott Commentary Revelation 14:15-17

"And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped. Another angel came out from the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle." — Revelation 14:15-17 (ASV)

And another angel ...—Translate, And another angel came forth out of the temple, etc. It has been asked, “What harvest is this?” It is the gathering of the good seed, the full corn in the ear, into the celestial garner (Mark 4:26–29). The angel who announces that the harvest is ready comes forth from the Temple, the inner shrine, the holy place that was measured off in the sanctuary of the faithful (Revelation 11:1); whereas the angel who calls for the vintage comes forth from the altar (Revelation 14:18).

The angel cries—Put forth (or, send) your sickle and reap, because the hour has come to reap, because the harvest of the earth is ripe (or, dried); the wheat stalks are dry, and the fields white for harvest (John 4:35). The sickle was put in: the earth was reaped.

THE VINTAGE

There must be some difference between the vintage and the harvest. There is an autumn gladness about the harvest: there are tokens of judgment in the vintage. It is not the sharp sickle alone that is required: the winepress, the winepress of God’s wrath, is called into use.

An angel from the Temple calls to the Son of man to reap the harvest: an angel from the altar calls to an angel from the Temple to gather in the vintage. The vintage symbolizes a harvest of judgment; do not the words respecting Babylon (the wine of the wrath of her fornication, Revelation 14:8) come to mind and confirm this? The angel rises from the altar, beneath which the murdered saints had cried, “How long?” and proclaims, “The vintage, the hour of vengeance, has come!”

And it is not without significance that the angel to whom this cry is addressed comes forth out of the Temple, the safe sanctuary of God’s faithful ones, as one who has witnessed their secret sorrows and their sufferings, and is fitted “to recompense tribulation to the troublers of Israel” (2 Thessalonians 1:6).

And another angel ...—Translate, And another angel, ... having himself also (as well as the Son of man, Revelation 14:14) a sharp sickle.