Harvest of the Wicked First?

Question:

I am in the process of re-examining my eschatology beliefs and have found that the more of know of the whole counsel of God's word and the more I study prophecy, the more questions I have had about the pre-trib view. Many of the things you say make sense and reconcile scripture to scripture. I do have a question about Matthew 13. I am sure you get this all the time, but as of yet I haven't really seen many people address this. In the parable of the wheat and tares the harvest of the tares happens first. What do you think about this? Thank you for your time and may God bless.

Response:

I think it is very possible that this "gathering" is that of Revelation 16:16 "And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." This is the sixth bowl and takes place immediately before the Second Coming. However, Revelation 14:14-20 portrays two harvests which also seem to allude to Matthew 13. Here it seems that the first harvest is that of the righteous (no destruction is mentioned). So it seems that the "gathering" of the wicked takes place first, but when it comes to the actual "harvest" the righteous are first. However, I do say all of this tentatively as it is often difficult to press details when it comes to parables.