Saying, Thrust In Thy sharp sickle.—Oh, that the Lord would wind up the present order of things, in whatever way He might elect!—Joel 3:9-14, 13; Matt. 13:39-43.
And gather the clusters of the vine of the earth.—In the Adventist cluster there are 6 bunches of smaller sects; in the Baptist 15; Brethren (Dunkard) 4; Plymouth Brethren 4; River Brethren 3; Catholic Apostolic 2; Churches of the Living God 3; Churches of the New Jerusalem 2; Disciples of Christ 2; Evangelical Bodies 2; Faith Associations 9; Friends 4; Latter-Day Saints 2; Lutheran 21; Scandinavian Evangelical Bodies 3; Mennonite 13; Methodist 16; Moravian 2; Pentecostal bodies 2; Presbyterian 12; Protestant Episcopal 2; Reformed 4; United Brethren 2.
For her grapes are fully ripe.—All these sects have long ago taken their stand against the Truth and therefore against the Lord. O Lord, judge them with Thy Truth! Thou hast called them the “abominations of the earth” and so they are. Bring their man-made clergy-ridden systems to an end and make their memory to perish from the earth! Amen.—Isa. 65:17; Rev. 17:5; Jer. 6:9-30.
14:19. And the angel thrust in his sickle [into] UPON the earth.—Distributed far and wide among order-loving people the good news that nominal Zion's travail is at hand, and the new and better order of things near.
And gathered the vine of the earth.—Brought together all the sects in virulent opposition to the Message of the Truth.
And cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.—“The fruitage of the True Vine is Love, and is precious to the Father; but the fruitage of the Vine of [pg 228] the Earth is selfishness in various forms, and will be ultimately gathered into the great winepress of the wrath of God in the great Time of Trouble with which this Age will close.” (F. 207; Rev. 19:15.) “While the taking of different names was wrong, it was an evidence of a deeper wrong—of a selfish, party spirit. It was an evidence that those Corinthians who took the party names had never appreciated the oneness of the Body of Christ; that they did not really appreciate that Christ is the only Head, Leader and Standard; and that His is the only name by which His followers should recognize themselves and each other.” (Z. '08-116.)
Many of the clergy are today followers of Darwin and Socrates instead of Moses and Christ And both Darwin and Socrates were mentally unsound. The following is from Dr. Dorland's The Age of Mental Virility: “It is likewise exceptional to find an unusually short nose, such as that possessed by Darwin and Socrates, among men of intellect. Nasal abbreviation is one of the well-known signs of degeneracy, as is also the sessile or otherwise misshapen ear, the sugar-loaf skull, the close-set eyes, and other physiognomic irregularities, including the cretinoid face. The latter, strange to relate, has been noted in certain men of remarkable genius, including Darwin and Carlyle, Rembrandt, Pope and Socrates. I wish to emphasize at this point the assertion that not every individual who chances to possess one of the above mentioned physical peculiarities is to be immediately stamped as a degenerate. It is only when there is a combination of two or more of these traits, especially if this combination has been noted as a family peculiarity, that the suspicion will be awakened; and this may then be confirmed and the condition established by close and careful investigation.” “Socrates,” writes Pedigo, “presented one of the most interesting studies in dual personality and subconscious conditions in all history in his memorable daemon, which he said guided him and inspired him with wisdom.” “Herbert Spencer was the victim of a fixed delusion.”
The clergy are the ones directly responsible for the war in Europe. It was not their province to convince the rulers of those countries that their kingdoms are parts of God's Kingdom of peace, holiness, justice, love and truth—monstrous! They are an entirely unauthorized class—except by themselves; a self-perpetuating fraud. They have brought upon their heads the blood of all the nations of the earth in this world war; and God will require it at their hands. In the spring of 1918, and from that time onward forever, it will be as unsafe to tell the lies that [pg 229] have filled Babylon's exchequers as it will to be a king.—Zech. 13:2-6. “Though controversy and words of passion and arguments will be and are among the weapons used in this battle, especially in the beginning of it, yet it will not end with these. Every prophetic detail indicates that before it ends it will be most sanguinary, a fierce and terrible storm.”—D. 529; Jer. 25:26-38; Isa. 63:1-6; Lam. 1:15.
14:20. And the winepress.—The Seventh Volume of Scripture Studies, the work that will squeeze the juice out of the “Abominations of the earth.” Cook's Revelation, page 709, calls attention to the peculiar fact that this word is both masculine and feminine. This seemingly indicates the Lord's recognition of the co-operation of the sisters, particularly in the closing feature of the Harvest work. Priscilla was such a valuable helper that she was named before her husband in Acts 18:18.
Was trodden without the city.—“In symbolic prophecy a ‘city’ signifies a religious government backed by power and influence. Thus, for instance, the ‘holy city, the new Jerusalem,’ is the symbol used to represent the established Kingdom of God, the overcomers of the Gospel Church exalted and reigning in glory.” (D. 25.) “The treading of the winepress is the last feature of Harvest work. The reaping and gathering is all done first.” (D. 18.) Worldly editors have applied this verse to the great war now raging in Europe; but this expression makes it impossible to so apply it. If the war is the winepress and Christendom the city, it is not being trodden without the city, but right in its midst. This suggests that the Revelator referred to another city; and with propriety; for this chapter is devoted to Harvest work only. What city more appropriate to refer to then than the Bethel, the Divinely appointed center for the Harvest work, the embryo Kingdom of God on earth? See Rev. 19:15.