16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.
This harvest is very different from the one highlighted in the following verses. This harvest does not appear to be a harvest of judgment. The following harvest of grapes concludes with the grapes being crushed in a winepress that spills blood for 180 miles. That is judgment. There is nothing said about who is collected in this harvest and what happens to them. This could be the removal of the remaining believers from the earth. This would account for the absence of any judgment pronouncement upon these people. We see in the following verses and chapters great judgments being leveled upon the non-believing inhabitants of the earth. I am glad that as a Jesus-follower I am protected. My body may die, but I am sealed and destined for heaven. God’s love is capable of preserving me, even through physical death, because physical death is not the end of life. For the Jesus-follower it only signals a change in venue. The life that we experience in part now will shift into high gear after death. We will not experience the same limitations of a physical life. I remember when I first arrived in Germany back in 1976. I couldn’t believe that you were allowed to drive as fast as you wanted on the Autobahn. I never pushed that too far, but I did go 100mph a few times. Now there are many more cars on the roads over there, so traveling fast is not as easy, due to the increased traffic. But there are still stretches of highway that are wide open. What a thrill to not be bound by artificial limits! When I returned to the States it was very difficult to get used to traveling so slowly. And over there NO ONE stays in the left lane for long. There is always someone traveling faster than you in the left lane and if you don’t move over to the right you will become a crushed can in seconds. Besides, that is the law and the rule of driving over there. Right now, in this life, we have rules that limit our ability to experience the fullness of heaven. Someday those restrictions will be removed. Heaven is going to be wonderful. Do you have your seat reserved?
The Arnold Journey 