Revelation 14, The Wheat Harvest

Revelation 14:14-16

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. Revelation 14:14.

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Matthew 3:12

Jesus the Son of Man is looking down on the planet where the fields are white for harvest. He’s now wearing a crown. The cloud is his chariot. In Psalm 104:3 the Lord makes the clouds his chariot and he rides on the wings of the wind.

He’s just been crowned at the throne of God;  “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  

He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:13-14

The temple of God is now open.

The temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” Revelation 11:15-19

And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”  So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. Revelation 14:15

The first time Jesus came it was quietly as a thief, but not this time. Now the whole world is going to see Him.

It was written in Matthew 24:29-31 that immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The Resurrection

The dead will hear his voice; Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice  and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” John 5:24-30

Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.  

In the blink of an eye, men will be changed; Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—  in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. 1 Corinthians 15:51

The resurrection is the mystery of God alluded to by the archangel in Revelation 10:7 and now it’s finished, as he swore at the sounding of the seventh angel it would be.

Revelation 7, The Great Multitude in White Robes

And here is the harvest;

 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9-17

This part is from my book;

The multitude arrived together, speaking in languages from all parts of the globe. Strangely everyone understood each other, finding they could commune together with God and the Lamb. The curse of Babel had gone.

The multitude were in front of the throne on a large area called ‘the Sea,’ waving fronds of branches. It was like a Victory Day celebration.

Tears of joy streamed down their faces. These souls had been through unimaginable horror. They were given into the power of the Antichrist and tortured or killed when caught.

They suffered hunger and thirst and were struck by blistering sun and heat. They have suffered terrible persecution and endured unbelievable judgements that increased in size and scale until they were terrifying and global. Now their ordeal is over. Some sang, some danced, some jumped up and down to show their inexpressible happiness.

The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

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Notes

Daniel 7 ties in with the blowing of the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11:15.

Here is a parable Jesus told about the harvest: Mark 4:26-29

Here’s a hidden gem, Psalm 67 which celebrates the harvest of the earth to the ends of the earth and God’s righteous governance of the nations. In Hebrew, the psalm has forty-nine words, one for each day of Shavuot, the wheat harvest. That’s seven times seven.

The timing

Will the harvest be unexpected? Not for the ones at the end of the Tribulation. It’s different at mid-Tribulation where Jesus said the earth would be taken by surprise by His coming, just as it was taken by surprise by the flood of Noah.

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.  But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,  and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.

Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.  Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.  Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. Matthew 24:36-44

The Confusion

In the Book of Revelation God has used one narrative to explain two scenarios and you have to contrast the scenarios. Remember God is speaking to three groups: the Jews, the Church, and the Tribulation saints so perhaps that’s why it was done this way.

But God has also been very clear about the time periods – expressing them in three different ways; 1260 days – 42 months – and a time, times and half a time so people can’t mistake it. It’s a “save the date” for the survivors.

At the end of the Tribulation, people won’t be caught unaware. When the two witnesses are resurrected 1263 days after the Antichrist violates the temple, the harvest will be imminent and the believers are told to watch; “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.” (Matt 24)

Mid-Tribulation

The Apostle Paul wrote; “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3

For the believers at mid-Tribulation there are signs. A significant sign for the Harpazo or Rapture event is the anguish of Israel – the pregnant woman at birth, the dragon and its tail and the words “Peace and safety.”

Israel’s travail is at mid-tribulation when they’re to run for their lives to a place prepared for them in the wilderness for 1260 days.

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.  

Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,  who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4

Here’s an example of how things get confused. How can Paul tell the Thessalonians the Rapture won’t happen unless the falling away happens first and the Man of Sin is revealed – and then tell the Corinthians the resurrection will happen at the last trumpet?

The trumpets

This verse covers two events; For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 1 Corinthians 15:51-55

There are two kinds of last trumpets;

Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets also has a Last Trumpet. This feast goes by the name ‘the day that no man knows,’ because it depended on the sighting of the new moon by two witnesses.

The Last Trumpet of the Feast of Trumpets is the ‘Tekiah Gedolah,’ a long blast on a ram’s horn known as ‘the Great Shofar.’ This is the ‘blast of hope’, prophesied by Isaiah that will raise the dead from the dust of the earth; But your dead will live, Lord; their bodies will rise—let those who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy—your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead. Isaiah 26:19

This trumpet is not to be confused with the Seventh Trumpet of Revelation 11:15 when the Kingdom is proclaimed in Heaven.

The Last Trumpet can mean the Feast of Trumpets and it can also mean the Last Trumpet from the seven Trumpet judgements. Again, the Lord has said one thing to cover two events.

Related post

Revelation 10: The Mystery of God

Revelation 12: The Offspring and the Harpazo

Through the Word: Joseph and his Dreams

Genesis 37

Joseph comes into view aged seventeen. He’s different from all his half-brothers, he’s younger and Jacob’s favourite. He and his little brother Benjamin are all Jacob has left of Rachel. Jacob made Joseph a tunic of many colors.

When his brothers saw that their father loved Joseph more, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him.

Joseph did not help himself, he worked in the fields and brought back a bad report to his father about Dan, Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

Also he had dreams which he unwisely told his brothers, and they hated him even more.

One day Jacob sent Joseph on a journey to his brothers who were feeding their flocks at Shechem. He found them at a place called Dothan, but they weren’t happy to see him; “Look, this dreamer is coming!  Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”

All of them wanted to kill him except Reuben, who convinced them to throw him into a waterless pit so he could come back and rescue him. They, minus Reuben, sat down to eat a meal. Seeing an approaching company of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their camels bearing spices, balm, and myrrh on their way down to Egypt, Judah suggested selling him. And so Joseph was sold for twenty shekels of silver.

In Egypt the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard.

The brothers took Joseph’s tunic, killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the tunic in the blood. Bringing the tunic of many colors to their father they said, “We have found this. Do you know whether it is your son’s tunic or not?”

Recognising it, Jacob said, “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.”

Jacob mourned Joseph and refused to be comforted.

The brothers haven’t changed, they were bad for deceiving and killing the men of Shechem in chapter 34 and they’re still bad. How can God make a nation of them?

Joseph’s Dreams

Joseph said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:

There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

Then he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars bowed down to me.”

So he told it to his father and his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”  And his brothers envied him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Genesis 37:6-11

Joseph was probably trying to make sense of the dreams but his brothers weren’t the right people to hear them. He didn’t know that one day he’d be described as “the prince among his brothers,” Genesis 49:26.

Perhaps the stars are the crown of the Woman in Revelation 12; Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars, Revelation 12:1-6

And perhaps Joseph as one of those stars is a precursor of Jesus, the ruler to come.

Here in Genesis 37:9 we see the sun, moon and eleven stars, with the twelth star rising to preeminence. In Revelation 12:1 the focus changes to the Woman wearing a crown of stars.

The Woman is Israel and the names of the sons spell out a message, one that is not assembled yet. The message is explained in my book “The End, the Wayfarer’s Guide to the Apocalypse” and it’s a gold nugget.

The Coat of Many Colours

There are hints of Joseph in Psalm 45 which speaks of Messiah and His Bride. Verse 14 says, “She shall be brought to the King in robes of many colors; The virgins, her companions who follow her, shall be brought to You.”

Related posts

Through the Word: Love, Rivalry and Mandrakes

Pentecost

Pentecost means 50, a number related to the harvest.  One of the Lord’s titles is “The Lord of the Harvest.”  He compares us to wheat. The first hint of this is a Psalm which celebrates the harvest of the earth, to the ends of the earth, and God’s righteous governance of the nations.  Another title, “Lord of the Sabbath” is from the grainfields.  Mark 2:23-28

Psalm 67  looks forward to the time the King will rule and it speaks of the harvest.  There are 49 words, that’s seven times seven – one word for each week of sabbaths.  The Jubilee happens after seven lots of seven sabbaths.  In the Jubilee year everything resets and all debts are released.

The second hint is the site he chose for his altar, and the price paid for it. The site was a threshing floor.  The price was fifty shekels.

The third hint about the harvest is Israel’s cycle of harvests, festivals and sabbaths.  You’ll find them detailed in the Book of Leviticus.  The harvests were celebrated in Israel’s cycle of Sabbaths.  Each festival has significance.  Christ was raised on the Day of First fruits and the Church began fifty days later on Shavuot, the harvest Festival of First fruits.

The fourth hint is how Jesus fed the 5000, separating the people into groups of fifty.

The fifth hint is how Christ referred to Himself as a kernel of wheat that had to die.  There are fifty kernels in one head of wheat.
24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:23-24 (NIV)

The sixth hint which ties in with the third hint, is the day the Church started – on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit, “the former rain” was sent.  Pentecost is Greek and Latin for the fiftieth day.

The seventh hint about the harvest was where it was mentioned – in the fields of Samaria.  “Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” John 4:35 (NIV)

I’ve put the corresponding Bible verses at the bottom so you can reference the Word for yourself.

Fifty

Fifty is pentecost
in the language of Greece and Rome,

it’s the number of Jubilee^1,
when sabbaths number seven times seven,
there’ll be freedom and liberty

What does it mean for you and me?
Sabbath rest, the promise of Heaven.
God speaks of Heaven – a place of rest
when the farmer brings us home.

It started in the holy land,
where the farmer chose Araunah’s threshing floor ²
Araunah sold it to David, Israel’s king,
It was on Mount Moriah,
the place where Abraham made his offering.

Fifty pieces of silver was paid,
They agreed it was “full price,”
Full price means “Tetelestai,” ³
the word uttered from the cross.

Soloman built the temple, ⁴
120 priests stood with the Levites
while the people bowed and prayed,
they vowed and made their offerings,
on the holy days the farmer made.

At Passover, on the Day of First fruits, ⁵
at the altar the first sheaf was waved –
north, south, east and west.

“First Fruits” is celebrated on the fiftieth day. ⁶
Moreover with that offering
Israel looked forward to the harvest,
after planting in the spring.

In time the Lord of the Harvest came,
the faithful and true witness, the great ⁷amen.
Born in Bethlehem, ⁸
“the House of Bread.”

With two loaves and five fishes, ⁹
5000 were fed.
“Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”
the Good Lord said,
seeing man’s hunger and meeting man’s need.

He rode into Jerusalem – ¹⁰ 
a donkey for his steed,
Hosanna, look at the happy crowd!

But he spoke about the seed,
“Unless it died there’d be no grain …”
The harvest will be when he comes again.

Fifty days later
while pilgrims celebrated First-fruits,
120 gathered in the court at Jerusalem ¹¹
and His Spirit fell like rain.

That event is known as Pentecost, ¹² 
it’s the day the Church began.

And pentecost means ‘fifty’
in the language of Greece and Rome.

There’s a gem in the wheatgerm … ¹³ 
fifty kernels in one head of wheat.

Fifty?  Yes fifty,
there’s life eternal in that kernel.

Now the fields will be white for harvest, ¹⁴ 
when the farmer comes again,

He’s sown the seeds
He waits to harvest the precious grain.

Now we’re sifted as wheat,
as we bow to the farmer in the wind,
while we grow among the weeds.

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Reference

Here are the corresponding Bible verses at the bottom so you can reference the Word for yourself.

Jubilee

1 “Count off seven sabbath years—seven times seven years—so that the seven sabbath years amount to a period of forty-nine years. 9 Then have the trumpet sounded everywhere on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement sound the trumpet throughout your land. 10 Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan.“ Leviticus 25:8-10. NIVFull price,

Threshing floor

2 David said to him, “Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price.” 25 So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels of gold for the site. 1 Chronicles 21:20-25

3 In Koine Greek Tetelestai means “paid in full.”

The Temple

4 Then Solomon began to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David. It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the place provided by David. 2 Chronicles 2:1-2 (NIV)

The priests then withdrew from the Holy Place. All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. 12 All the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives—stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. 2 Chronicles 5:11-14 (NIV)

First fruits

5 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. 11 He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. Leviticus 23:9-11 (NIV)

6 “From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord.” Leviticus 23:15-17 (NIV)

House of Bread

7“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.” Revelation 3:14 (NIV)

8“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”Micah 5:2-5 (NKJV)

Groups of Fifty

9 Luke 9:14,“14 For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.” (NKJV)

The wheat kernel

10 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:23-24 (NIV)

Pentecost, Fifty

11 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:3-7 (NIV)

12 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” 13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.” Acts 2:1-13 (NIV)

 13 Wheat Fun Fact Sheet

The harvest
14 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. John 4:35 (NIV)

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

A story of faith rewarded

When tested, how do you react?
“Why me?” most people ask. It’s a question you can ask God.  He promises wisdom if we ask and don’t doubt.

Job certainly asked,”why me?”  Job was a man the devil was allowed to attack after his hedge of protection was removed.

The latest five-star review of “The Kingdom, Here Be Dragons, Here Be Dreams” by Wyborn Senna likened my struggles to that of Job.
A Moving Journey Reminiscent of The Book of Job.

Why did Job get attacked?  God held Job in high esteem, pointing him out to Satan, “the dragon” in my story.

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied, pointing out how God had blessed Job.  “stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face,” Satan promised.

God then allowed Job to go into Satan’s power to be tested.

Job, although he questioned God, ultimately passed the test and God rewarded him.  Unlike Job, Peter underwent testing and failed, but Jesus restored him, giving him another chance.

Like Peter, we are all to be tested, sifted like wheat.

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”  Luke 22:31 – 32 (NIV)

James, the brother of Jesus said, “consider it all joy whenever you face trials”

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  James 1:2-4

What would you feel if you gained fatherly wisdom from a trial, knowing the wisdom was from God?  Would you feel joy knowing you had a purpose, knowing there was a reason for the trial?

In my book, you’ll see me asking God the reason for the trials that befell me, and you will read God’s answers.  I hope it will encourage other people when they see how God answered.

Job said, “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.”  Job 23:10 

Like the Book of Job, mine is a story of faith rewarded. I recommend my book to those who are struggling, who are being tested in various ways.

Kernels of truth

Here are some interesting facts I found while writing The Lord of the Harvest. I wrote it to clear up some confusion over the end times harvests known as the rapture. 

Did you know Jesus likened himself to a grain of wheat?  There are fifty grains in a stalk of wheat and the Church began on the fiftieth day, a day which the Jews celebrated as the “Beginning of Harvest.”

• Jesus said of Himself, “I am the Bread of Life.”
• Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ was born, means “House of Bread.” 
• Unleavened bread is eaten for seven days from Passover.  The bread is striped and pierced.  These stripes were seen by the prophet Isaiah 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ; “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”  Isaiah 53:5
• Jesus likened himself to a grain of wheat.  A stalk of wheat has fifty grains. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” John 12:24

• The Church began on the fiftieth day after the Feast of First Fruits which was called “the Beginning of Harvest.”It was when the very first sheaf of the harvest was offered and waved before the Lord north, south, east, and west.

• The fiftieth day is also celebrated by Israel as the Feast of Shavuot when seven lots of seven weeks are marked off after the first three spring festivals of Passover, The Feast of Unleavened Bread, and Feast of First Fruits.  Shavuot marks the all-important wheat harvest.
• The distinguishing feature of Shavuot is the offering of two leavened loaves of bread made of fine flour.  The Greek word for leavened bread is ‘artos,’  meaning a raised loaf of normal, natural regular bread.  With the leaven, it’s sure to rise.
• The temple at Jerusalem was built on Araunah’s threshing floor.  Araunah means ‘ark.’  David paid Araunah fifty shekels of silver for it, denoting a full price and a full purchase.  (2 Sam. 24:24)
• Jesus mentioned the First Fruits, the Beginning of the Harvest when he was in Sychar, a Gentile area.

“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” John 4:35.

• Sychar means ‘end.’

As for the end, there has been much speculation about when this will be.  Jesus said it’s not for us to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. Acts 1:7

But we can know the season.  Jesus did leave a clue about it when he said in Matthew 24; “no man knows the day or the hour.”  The autumn Feast of Trumpets was the only festival where the Jews did not know the day or hour it would be, as it was dependent on the first sighting of the new moon.

Paul wrote about the Church being gathered at the last trumpet; “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51

Two loaves, two harvests

• The autumn festival of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles marks the ingathering.  These are people from the Great Tribulation who have responded to the worldwide preaching of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists.  They show up in Revelation 7, waving lulavs – a closed frond of the date palm tree waved at Sukkot.

The Autumn harvest will begin when the Times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

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These facts are summed up from my story The Lord of the Harvest.

Here’s another interesting site:  The Biblical Feast of Firstfruits, How It Explains a Great Mystery

Also, Jesus the Grain of Wheat

The Lord of the Harvest

Do you have trouble understanding what the Bible has to say about the end times and how the Church fits into it all? I do. There’s talk about a possible rapture in September 2017 because of a planetary alignment in Virgo, as there was in September 2015. I don’t follow that – it just adds to our confusion and then people get put off when it doesn’t happen, as happened with Harold Camping.

It’s much better to get our information from the Bible.

But can we work out where we’re at now from things that were written 2,000 years ago?

The Word of God can be quite enigmatic. Sometimes it seems like code. And Jesus put events that happened thousands of years apart in one paragraph! How are we supposed to understand?

When I worked as a programmer, and I had poorly documented “spaghetti code” to decipher, I’d plunge into the code by setting up a watch on the variables – things that were running through the code, to see if the logic was correct.

So I did the same thing with the Word. I put myself in the story as a character, and met with the Lord who was already there in his assigned role as “Lord of the Harvest.” Then I set a watch on the scene, dialogue and events as they unfolded.

I’ve come away with a good story and a satisfying understanding of end times events.

And I believe I get to talk to God while I am in the story. I call it “going into the Kingdom.”

So here’s the first chapter of my quest. From this, I am already beginning to piece things together.  I will sum it all up in a further post.  Enjoy.

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The Lord of the Harvest, part 1

Smiling, she met the Lord in a grain field near his birthplace at Bet Lehem, the ‘House of Bread.’

Plucking a head of grain, the Lord put it into her hand.
“You will find fifty grains in that head of wheat” he informed her.

His eyes had an intent look as she studied the wheat grain.

He said “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” John 12:24
The wind rippled wheat bowed to him as if to thank him for his word.

They walked along in silence for a while.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“We are going to my Father’s house in Jerusalem six miles to the south, to the temple that was built on ¹Araunah’s threshing floor.  David paid fifty shekels of silver for it.”

“Why fifty?” she asked.

“Fifty denotes a full price and a full purchase” he answered. (2 Sam. 24:24)

“What does Araunah mean?” she asked.

“Ark” he replied.

They arrived in Jerusalem to joyous crowds, who had gathered at the temple for a spring festival.

“What are they celebrating?” she asked.

“The feast of Shavuot, also known as the Feast of Weeks, when the First Fruits are brought into the temple seven weeks after Passover. Today is the fiftieth day.”

As a pilgrim brought the First Fruits to the Temple she heard him declare the word the Lord had commanded; “I declare today to the Lord our God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us …” Deuteronomy 26:3-10

Observing the offering, she was sorely aware she was a stranger here, a Gentile without Jewish roots.

“Can you please tell me about the festivals, beginning with Passover?” she asked.

“¹You know the lamb’s blood was put on the lintel of the houses so the angel of death passed over my people in Egypt,” he reminded her. “My people celebrate for seven days in remembrance of this, without realising I am the Lamb of God. The Passover lamb is sacrificed at twilight. During this time, they eat Matzo, bread without leaven. The Greek word for unleavened bread is ‘azumos.’ The bread is striped and pierced, like my back.

Then there is a seven-week counting period after the three festivals of Passover, First-Fruits and Unleavened Bread.

Shavuot, the next festival means ‘weeks.’ It happens on the fiftieth day and marks the all-important wheat harvest.  The distinguishing feature of Shavuot is the offering of two leavened loaves of bread made of fine flour.”

Putting the emphasis on leavened, he used the Greek word ‘artos’ for bread. It meant a raised loaf of leavened bread – normal, natural regular bread.

“Doesn’t leaven mean sin?” she asked.

“No, in this case, it means to permeate. The clue was in the three measures of meal – the amount used in baking the shewbread, ‘the Bread of Presence‘ for the Temple. (Exodus 35:13)

“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.” Matthew 13:33

“Ah, so it’s sure to rise!” she quipped.

“Yes, anyone who believes me will be saved and I will raise him up on the last day,” he replied.

He continued, “I AM the Bread of Life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” John 6:48

There were two leavened loaves for the two distinct groups celebrating the fiftieth day; The Jews celebrating Shavuot – the Feast of Weeks, and the Church observing Pentecost.

 Taking the loaf for the Church, he broke it and offered her the bread.

“This is my body, given for you. Take, eat in remembrance of me” he said.

“The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.” 1 Corinthians 10:17.

Taking the bread, she knelt, thanking him for his body.

“Can you please tell me about Pentecost?” she asked.

“The Church began on the fiftieth day,” he began; “After my suffering, I presented himself to my disciples and gave many convincing proofs that I was alive. I appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while I was eating with them, I gave them this command: “Do not leave but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 1:3-5.

“Fifty days after Passover, the Holy Spirit was poured out on 120 followers who waited in Jerusalem on the day of Shavuot when the first-fruits were being brought into to the Holy Temple. That day was called ‘Pentecost,’ meaning ‘fifty.‘ From this day, the spirit has been and is being poured out.”

“What does that look like?” she asked.

“Like the birth of a new person,” the Lord marveled. “I told Nicodemus, a teacher of the law that he had to be born again. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ John 3:5-7

Watching the wind move through the wheat, the Lord said, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3:8

After the Holy Spirit was received by the 120 people, Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy. Acts 2:12-17

Leading her back to the wheat fields, the Lord said, “The spring harvest of first fruit has begun.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23)

Reminding her of the first group of seventy, who had worked two by two, he said, “The harvest truly is great, but the are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” Luke 10:2

“How long will the harvest go for?” she asked.

“It will continue until the end.”

Taking her to the fields of Sychar, he said “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” John 4:35.

Sychar wasn’t a Jewish village.

“Why did you go to Sychar, when you said you were sent for the lost sheep of Israel?” she asked, wondering at the Lord’s strange detour into Samaria.

Reminding her of what he told the woman of Sychar, he said “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” John 4:30-23

“Ah” she said, getting it. He was speaking of two harvests. First Fruits represented Himself and the Church he had begun on the fiftieth day. It was already underway. The Autumn harvest, representing the Jews, would begin at its conclusion when the Times of the Gentiles were fulfilled.

“What does Sychar mean?” she asked the Lord of the Harvest.

“End” he replied.

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1 The Altar on the Threshing Floor 2 Samuel 24

2 The Passover Instituted Exodus 12