Why Does Jesus Have a Sickle in Revelations?
Why Does Jesus Have a Sickle in Revelations?
In the book of Revelations, Jesus is depicted with a sickle, "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle," (Revelations 14:14 KJV). Contrary to the rather spooky connotation it has today, this seems to have a theological meaning.
We then read, "And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God," (Revelations 14:15-19 KJV). What is going on here is very clearly an agricultural metaphor to what we had saw in one of Jesus' parables, the Wheat and the Tares. In Matthew 13, Jesus tells a parable where a man places tares in with plants of wheat(Matthew 13:25). Tares and wheat look very similar when they are young(Matthew 13:26). Instead of having the slaves remove the tares now, the man says they will root them at the same time(Matthew 13:29-30). Jesus with a sickle shows it is time to collect the tares(unbelievers) and the wheat(believers).
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