And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. "Cast his sickle;" not the same verb as that in Revelation 14:15, but which, nevertheless, has the same signification (cf. the use of this verb in John 20:25, John 20:27). There are two gatherings described in this place:
On the whole, it seems probable that the first refers to the selection by Christ of the faithful at the end of the world, while the secured describes the ingathering of the wicked for punishment immediately afterwards. This agrees with the general tenor of the whole chapter, viz, a portrayal of the opposite fates in store for the faithful and the wicked. The description thus corresponds with the account of the end of the world given in Revelation 7:1-17., with which chapter this one has so much in common (see on the first verses of the present chapter). In Revelation 7:1-17. the saints are first selected and sealed, before the wicked meet their doom. Thus, also, the judgment is described by our Lord in his parables of the wheat and the tares, and the sheep and the goats. This accounts also for the first gathering being presided over by the Son of man, while the second is conducted by an angel. The punishment in connection with the vintage seems to distinguish it from the first harvest. This also corresponds to the announcements of the former angels, who first preach the everlasting gospel, and afterwards denounce those who serve the beast (Revelation 7:6-11).