Now we come to the firstfruits and the harvest (14:1-5, 14-16). The church is not only the lampstand shining and the man-child fighting, but also a field growing a crop which must ripen and become mature. Any crop which is still green is too tender to be harvested. But once the crop has ripened in the field, it will be harvested immediately.
That part of the crop which ripens first is called the firstfruits. The firstfruits will be raptured to Zion in the heavens before the great tribulation. As 14:4 points out, the firstfruits are those who “follow the Lamb wherever He may go.” Being the firstfruits, they are raptured to the house of God in Zion as the fresh enjoyment to God. This is for God’s satisfaction. According to the type in the Old Testament, the firstfruits of the ripened harvest were not taken to the barn but into the temple of God (Exo. 23:19). This indicates that all the early overcomers will be taken up to the house of God in heaven for God’s enjoyment. The rapture is not mainly for our enjoyment but for God’s enjoyment. The rapture is for defeating the enemy and for satisfying God. We must not only be today’s lampstands but also today’s man-child to fight against God’s enemy and today’s firstfruits to satisfy God’s desire.
Following the firstfruits, in chapter fourteen, we have the harvest. Verse 15 says, “Another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, Send forth Your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” The harvest will be reaped near the end of the great tribulation. It will be raptured to the air where Christ will be on the cloud. Why will the harvest be left to pass through the great tribulation? Because green, unripened fields need strong sunshine in order to ripen. In a sense, the great tribulation will be the strong sunshine which will ripen all the saints who will not be ready before the tribulation. To put it simply, if today you do not give up the world and live for Christ, Christ will leave you on earth to pass through the great tribulation. At that time, you will surely give up the world and realize that the best way to live is to live for Christ. All the children of God must do this; otherwise, they could never ripen. If you do not believe my word, I ask you to wait. Perhaps you feel that the world is too lovely to give up. If so, the Lord may say, “Since you love the world so much, I will leave you with the world and let you find out whether it is really lovely.” Then the Lord will shake the world, and eventually you will say, “Lord, I repent.” That repentance, however, may be rather late. Do not wait until the great tribulation comes to repent. Repent now! Sooner or later, every real Christian must repent. I have the full assurance that eventually every saved one will realize that the world is not lovely but poisonous. The more you love the world, the more you are poisoned by it. The world is at enmity with God, and we all must despise it. Sooner or later, the Lord will cause you to realize how much He hates this world. The day will come when all of us will be ripe. But do not say, “I don’t care about being ripe. As long as I’m saved, everything will be all right.” You may be able to argue against me with your strong, stubborn will, but the day will come when you will realize that you need to ripen. I advise you not to wait for the harvest. By His grace, come forward to be a part of the firstfruits.
In 15:2-4 we see the overcomers over the beast. God is sovereign. Even during the time of the great tribulation, there will be some overcomers, those whom we may call the late overcomers. These overcomers will pass through the great tribulation in which the Antichrist, the beast, will compel people to worship him as God and to worship his image in the temple of God. We expect to see the rebuilding of the temple in Israel, for this will be a sign that the Lord’s coming back is very near. The Bible prophesies that Antichrist will erect his image in the temple of God and will force people to worship it (Matt. 24:15). During that time, many Christians will overcome the beast and be killed. I advise you to be an early overcomer and to love the Lord today. Do not wait to overcome by being killed during the great tribulation.
According to chapter fifteen, the later overcomers will be raptured to stand on the glassy sea, “a sea of glass mingled with fire” (15:2), and will praise God with the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb (15:3). Those on the glassy sea are those who have “the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name” (15:2). These are they who overcome the beast, his image, and the worship of the idol of the Antichrist. Revelation 20:4 and 6 indicate that some of the co-kings of Christ will be these late overcomers. I say again that I prefer to be an early overcomer, not a late one. If you are sloppy, you will be left to pass through the great tribulation. We all must look to the Lord and say, “Lord, I want to be an early overcomer.” We shall cover the details when we come to Revelation 15 in this life-study.
In 19:7-9 we see the church as the Bride. Ephesians 5 reveals that the church is the Bride of Christ, but it does not reveal the Bride in such an intimate way. But in Revelation 19 we see how intimate is the church as the Bride. In this portion of the Word we see that the Bride will wear bright raiment, being clothed with bright and pure righteousness, and will be invited to the marriage feast of the Lamb (vv. 7-9). This is a very intimate matter. To God’s enemy, we must be the man-child; for God’s satisfaction, we must be the firstfruits; and for Christ, we must be the Bride. When we are eager to be the Bride, Christ will receive His satisfaction. Not only will Christ be satisfied, but we ourselves will be glad. Revelation 19:7 says, “Let us rejoice and exult.” In principle, a bride is the most pleasant and happy person. Today, as the church, Christ’s counterpart, we are suffering and undergoing many dealings. But the day is coming when there will be no more persecutions, sufferings, or dealings. I have never seen a bride who was dealt with on her wedding day. Oh, we must be the Bride! When we have become the Bride, all the difficult dealings will be over.
The church is also the army (19:14-19; 17:14). The part of the church which will be the man-child to fight against the enemy in the heavens will also be the army to fight with Christ against Satan on earth. After all the raptures have been completed and after the believers have been judged at the judgment seat of Christ, all the overcomers will come back to the earth with Christ as His army to fight against the Antichrist and his army. Both Christ and Antichrist will have an army. Although one army is heavenly and the other is earthly, both will fight on the earth. In other words, Antichrist will fight against Christ and His army, and Christ will fight back with His army. The false Christ will be so bold as to fight against the real Christ, but the real Christ will war against the false one. In 17:14 we see that Christ’s heavenly army will be composed of all the overcomers, those who have been called and chosen. Eventually, at the end of this war, Christ will defeat the Antichrist.
Ultimately, the testimony of Jesus will be the New Jerusalem (21:1—22:5). Beginning with the lampstand and passing through the great multitude, the man-child, the firstfruits, the late overcomers, the Bride, and the army, all the saved ones will eventually be the New Jerusalem, which will be a living composition of all of God’s redeemed ones, the ultimate consummation of God’s building of His people. In and for eternity, the New Jerusalem will express God in the Lamb with the flow of the Spirit. When we come to chapters twenty-one and twenty-two, we shall see a clear picture of this ultimate consummation.