Friday, December 23, 2022

2 Harvests at the time of the end

There are two harvests at the time of the end:  one is the harvest of the saints, and the other is the judgment of the nations through war, both come in connection with the "Day of the Lord," which is the second coming of Christ.


Joel speaks of a harvest:  "Let the nations be wakened and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; For there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. 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." Joel 3:12-13

Joel connects this harvest with the "day of the Lord": "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.  The sun and moon will grow dark,  and the stars will diminish their brightness." Joel 3:14-15  

The "day of the Lord" is preceded by the cosmic events of Joel 3:15:   "And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.  The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD." Joel 2:30-31

The cosmic events come after the "great tribulation," and so the "Day of the Lord" comes after the great tribulation, Jesus said:,  "21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. ...  29 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.  30 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. 31 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."  Matthew 24:21, 29-31

Luke also records Jesus saying, "25 And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  27 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." Luke 21:25-28 

The Revelation of Christ says:  "I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" Revelation 6:12-17

The above Scriptures connect the cosmic events with the end of the "Great Tribulation," to be followed by the "Day of the Lord" which is the coming wrath of the "Son of man," the "lamb of God," to gather the elect and to judge the nations.

The Revelation of Christ speaks of two harvests to come:  The first harvest is the gathering of the elect, and the second harvest is the judgment of nations.

The first harvest would correspond to the gathering of the elect at Christ's coming: "4 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. 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.' 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped." Revelation 14:14-16

The second Harvest is the judgment of nations through war: "17 Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18 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." 19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs." Revelation 14:17-20

The sixth Bowl of wrath of Revelation speaks of preparing the way for the great battle of "Armageddon" for when Jesus comes as a "thief":  the battle of Armageddon is the gathering of nations and the harvest spoken by the prophet Joel; it is the second harvest to follow that first harvest which is the gathering of the elect:  "12 Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. 13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.  15 "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."  16 And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." Revelation 16:12-16

The two harvests of Revelation are two different kinds of reaping at the end of the Great Tribulation: the first one being the gathering of the elect, and the second one being the judgment of nations through war by the coming of Christ for that great day called the "Day of the Lord."


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