[Prophetic Significance of the Jewish Harvest
Process]
Before I comment
further on some of Paul's statements, I want to amplify on God's pattern
for the end-time harvest as it is portrayed in Israel's natural harvest; for the natural is a type
of the spiritual.
I know that I
have written on these matters before, but I don't recall ever setting
forth a step by step complete scenario of the end-time harvest, so here
goes! First, just a brief summary of the progression of the natural
harvest. In the land of Palestine,
the harvest began in the spring with the ripening of the barley.
This took place in the month of Nisan, the first month of their
religious calendar, during which the feast of Passover was held at
Jerusalem. As a part of the Passover
"rites," God commanded the High Priest to cut out a sheaf of the ripening barley and present it as
a first-fruits offering to the Lord,
"waving" it before the Lord in a special ceremony. Also, in the spring,
the "latter rains" fell, which were necessary to provide moisture to
ripen the crops. This was the second of the
two major rainy seasons; the first being the
"early rains" which fell in the Fall season
to soften the soils for planting (see Lev. 26:4; Jer. 5:24; Ho.
6:3; Joel 2:23; Zech. 10:1; James 5:7). After the intermittent rains of
the winter months (with snow in the higher elevations), and the
heavy spring (latter) rains, came the heat of the summer which was also
necessary for the harvest to ripen in preparation for cutting and
threshing. In the late summer there was the vintage which also has great
prophetic significance.
Based on the above
pattern, there are three things that are
absolutely necessary for a spiritual harvest to God at the close
of this age.
(1) A first fruits company
("sheaf”) presented to God.
In the natural
pattern, the harvest could not begin until God received His special portion. Does God give a pattern and
then ignore it? No way! We must see the pattern fulfilled in the
spiritual harvest at the end of this age exactly as it is portrayed in
Rev. 14:1-6. No first fruits - No harvest!
In I Cor. 15:20,
Paul speaks of Jesus as the "first fruits of them that slept." Jesus Himself was the first fulfillment of the first fruits
wave-sheaf of the barley harvest when He was resurrected and glorified;
ascending to the Father and then descending (the "wave" motion). But
like so many prophetic types there is more than one fulfillment. To fulfill the complete pattern, Jesus, as High Priest and
Lord of the harvest, must Himself "wave" a first fruits sheaf of them
that are alive to begin the end-time
harvest. This will take place in the spring of the year, whenever that
epochal year arrives. Three and one-half years later (1260 days), in the
fall of the year, the main harvest will take
place, both of those whose bodies are "asleep in Jesus" and those who
are "alive and remain" as Paul states in 1 Thess. 4:15-17.
(2) The "latter rain"
outpouring.
The heavy spring rains were necessary to insure
enough moisture for growth and harvest, Even so in this end-time,
following the translation of the first fruits, there must be a
"latter-rain" outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This will be the full and
complete Pentecost, of which that described in Acts, chap. 2, was an
earnest and foretaste. Read Acts 2:16-21. In his message, Peter quotes
from Joel 2:28-32, which declares that when God pours out His Spirit, He
will also show wonders in heaven above and
signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun
shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the
coming of the great and notable day of the Lord." This connection of God's outpouring with the climactic events
which terminate this age should
make us realize that the full Pentecost is
yet to come.
This "latter
rain" is absolutely necessary for the fulfillment of Jesus' words in Mt. 24:14, "And
this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world for a
witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." The gospel of
the Kingdom which Jesus and His disciples preached was with POWER. Not
since the days of the early church has that
dimension of supernatural divine endowment been manifested through
God's people. When the church compromised and "went in unto
Rome" in the early fourth century, God
"shore her hair" (removed the Glory and Power). Yes, there have been
"waves" of refreshing and renewal down through the years as the Holy
Spirit has moved to accomplish the Lord's purposes in His church. But
the FULL ANOINTING will not be restored until the "Second Pentecost."
Then will the works of Jesus be done, and even greater works (John
14:12) will be done by chosen vessels. This outpouring will also be
needed as millions of "foolish virgins" lay "all on the altar" in order
to "buy" the baptismal fire, and then go on to be proven and
prepared.
(3) The heat of the summer for maturing, followed by the threshing.
What does this
typify in our end-time picture? The great tribulation, which has been designed by God to
do a quick purifying and maturing work in Christians. No tribulation; no
harvest! Ponder long and prayerfully these statements. Your future
destiny in God's Kingdom is at stake, God must
turn up the heat! Lest multitudes of Christians "miss the bus" for
translation to the glorified realm. Most will miss the first "bus" to glory, for only the elect "first
fruits" are scheduled for that trip. But because our gracious God has
scheduled a multitude to "take off” on the second trip, He has prepared the "heat" of the
great tribulation. Yes, for Christians has He prepared it; not for the
world, except in a secondary sense; for God is well able to accomplish
multiple purposes in a given period of time.