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Our Mission: Revelation 14:6-12
If I Were Told the Future - Lesson 72
The
Harvest
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Let's pray together:
Lord,
The study of Your prophetic Word doesn't aim at simply satisfying our curiosity. Its main
goal is to lead us to make wise decisions, like choosing the seal of God rather than the
mark of the beast.
During the next two lessons about the Harvest and the Vintage, please help us to
understand that the choices we make today will determine our eternal destiny.
In Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
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Revelation 14:15,18
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.» (...)
And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a
loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying,
«Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her
grapes are fully ripe.»
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The choices we make here on earth will determine our eternal
destiny.
The book of Revelation illustrates this fact with the symbolism of the harvest and the
vintage, which we will study in this lesson and the next one.
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Revelation 14:14-16
And 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.
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.
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The first eternal destiny is symbolized by a great harvest.
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Revelation 14:14
And 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.
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Daniel 7:13
I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven!
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The One who will carry out this great harvest is «like the Son of Man», and sits «on the cloud», reminding us of the description in the book of Daniel.
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Revelation 1:7,13,18
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, and
they also who pierced Him. (...)
One like the Son of Man (...) [said:] «I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am
alive forevermore.»
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Luke 21:27
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
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The apostle John also uses the expressions «One like the Son of
Man», and «coming with clouds» to describe Jesus.
In addition, Jesus Christ Himself uses the same words to describe His return.
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Revelation 14:14
On the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.
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Hebrews 2:9
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor.
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Being King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus has on His head a golden crown, as a sign of «glory and honor for the suffering of death».
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Revelation 14:15
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.»
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The vision of Jesus coming on the clouds indicates that the
harvest will take place at the time of His return.
Likewise, the vision of an angel coming out of the temple, and «crying with a loud
voice», confirms that the moment when «the time has come for You to reap» really
corresponds with Jesus' return, as we will see in the following verses...
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Revelation 15:6; 16:1,17
Out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues
(...).
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, «Go and pour out
the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.» (...)
Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the
temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, «It is done!»
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In fact, angels and a loud voice coming from the temple are also
presented at the pouring out of the seven bowls.
Now, the seven bowls end with Jesus' return, as we will see in future lessons.
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Revelation 14:16
So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
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We know that the great harvest will take place at Jesus' return.
Now, let's try to discover which event this harvest symbolizes, and who is concerned by
it.
To do so, we must study Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares.
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Matthew 13:24-26
Another parable [Jesus] put forth to them, saying:
«The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men
slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.»
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In this parable Jesus describes a field which was sowed with good
wheat seed.
Unfortunately, the enemy also came into this field, and sowed tares, which are harmful to
the growth of wheat.
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Matthew 13:27-29
So the servants of the owner came and said to him, «Sir, did you
not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?»
He said to them, «An enemy has done this.»
The servants said to him, «Do you want us then to go and gather them up?»
But he said, «No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with
them.»
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The well-meaning servants offered to pull up the tares.
But the owner of the field refused, planning, instead, a completely different solution...
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Matthew 13:30
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of
harvest I will say to the reapers,
«First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the
wheat into my barn.»
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So the master commanded that his servants wait until the harvest
to separate the wheat from the tares.
At that time, the wheat would be gathered, and the tares burned.
Jesus, after telling this parable, gave its complete interpretation. His explanation is
very useful in understanding the harvest of Revelation chapter 14.
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Matthew 13:37-39
He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the
sons of the wicked one.
The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers
are the angels.
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The parable's symbolism is plain.
First, Jesus confirmed that «the harvest is the end of the age», as we have seen a few
moments ago.
Then, we learn that the wheat represents «the sons of the kingdom», that is, those who
have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord of their lives.
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Matthew 13:40-43
Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it
will be at the end of this age.
The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all
things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the
furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
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The wheat gathered into the barn after the harvest symbolizes «the righteous shining forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father».
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Matthew 3:12
His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
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However, before gathering the wheat in the barn, one must do the
winnowing.
During this stage, the worker shakes the grain into a winnowing basket, that is, a basket
with a wide and flat bottom, in order to separate the grain from the chaff, dust, and
other impurities.
Jesus will do likewise with His wheat: we will study this in detail in a future lesson.
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Matthew 13:30,38,39
At the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, «(...) Gather
the wheat into my barn.» (...)
The good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, (...) the harvest is the end of the age, and
the reapers are the angels.
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Matthew 24:31
[The Son of Man] will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds.
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So, the parable of the wheat being gathered at harvest time is a wonderful illustration of the gathering of the righteous at Jesus' return.
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Revelation 14:15
The time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
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2 Corinthians 9:6
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
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Before the coming of harvest time, we must make sure that the
wheat grow to maturity.
First, the seed must be sown.
God asks us to sow with Him by proclaiming His message of salvation throughout the whole
world, because «the field is the world» (Matthew 13:38).
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Luke 8:11,14,15
The seed is the word of God. (...)
The ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked
with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a
noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.
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A plant needs good ground without thorns in order to grow.
Likewise, the Word of God must find a «noble and good heart», receptive to its
transforming seed.
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Malachi 4:2
But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise.
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Joel 2:23,24,29
[God] will cause the rain to come down for you - the former rain,
and the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat. (...)
«On My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.»
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In order that the precious seed of God's Word may grow within us,
we must let God:
- enlighten our hearts with the Sun of Righteousness, which is Jesus;
- and water our hearts with rain, which is the Holy Spirit.
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Philippians 1:9-11
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
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Day after day, by deepening our understanding of the work of salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ, our Sun of Righteousness, we allow God's seed to grow in «love, knowledge and discernment» in our hearts.
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Colossians 1:9,10
For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
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With our love for God and our knowledge and understanding of His will growing more and more, we will spontaneously obey Him, «being fruitful in every good work».
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Our continuous growth in Jesus will keep us steadfast in the faith:
«You therefore, beloved, since you know these things beforehand,
beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of
the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.» (2
PETER 3:17,18)
«(...) till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to
a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no
longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by
the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness by which they lie in wait to deceive, but,
speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ.»
(EPHESIANS 4:13-15)
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James 5:7,8
See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth,
waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.
You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
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Our lessons have often stressed the great importance of Jesus,
the Sun of Righteousness, in the life of the believer.
But, in order to come to maturity, the seed also needs the rain of the Holy Spirit.
We will study this essential subject in a future lesson.
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Mark 4:26-29
The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the
ground, and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he
himself does not know how.
For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full
grain in the head.
But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has
come.
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By making our hearts receptive to the seed, and by exposing it to the beneficial influence of the sun - Jesus - and the rain - the Holy Spirit - we allow God, the Source of life, to bring the plant to maturity.
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Philippians 1:6
(...) being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
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1 Peter 5:10
May the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
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Let's cling to God, and He will take care of everything else.
For Jesus said: «He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.» (John 15:5)
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Matthew 9:36-38
But when He saw the multitudes, [Jesus] was moved with compassion
for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
Then He said to His disciples, «The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.»
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As we walk along the path toward spiritual maturity, thanks to
the work of God within us, we cannot possibly stay inactive!
Let's remember that each one of us must fulfill an important task in the harvest of God.
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Galatians 6:8,9
He who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting
life.
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not
lose heart.
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Ecclesiastes 11:4
He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.
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God entrusts each one of us with the holy mission of spreading the gospel, like seed spread throughout the world, with a view to the great harvest.
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John 4:35,36
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!
And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows
and he who reaps may rejoice together.
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The task which awaits us is immense.
Besides, Jesus tells us that, in the harvest of God, we may sow and other people may see
the fruit come to maturity.
And He gives us even more details about this...
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John 4:37,38
For in this the saying is true: «One sows and another reaps.»
I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have
entered into their labors.
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As we work in God's harvest, Jesus urges us not to become
discouraged.
After sowing the Word of God in the heart of someone, we may not see the fruit of our
labors here on earth.
On the other hand, we may accompany toward their spiritual maturity some people whose
hearts have previously been sown by other believers.
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Proverbs 20:4
The sluggard will not plow because of winter; therefore he will beg during the harvest and have nothing.
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Proverbs 10:5
He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps in harvest is a son who causes shame.
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Jeremiah 8:20
The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved!
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Let's not waste the precious time God grant us, for the great harvest is at hand.
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Joel 3:13,14
Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.
Come, go down; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow - for their wickedness is
great.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the
valley of decision.
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After the great harvest, which will gather all who have taken a
stand for God, the great vintage will take place. This will be the subject of our next
lesson.
We really must invest all our resources and energies, so that as many people as possible
may be gathered at God's great harvest.
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Let's pray together:
Heavenly Father,
The great harvest of Revelation chapter 14 truly bears a message of hope, and You invite
us to share this message, like seed spread throughout the whole world.
Please help us not to remain idle in Your field, so that Your harvest may be the greatest
possible at the return of Your Son.
We pray for this, and thank You in advance, in the precious name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The test of Lesson 72 is waiting for you!