October 29: HARVEST TIME (part 3)
So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. Revelation 14:16
We must not confuse the reaping of the harvest with the catching away of the saints to heaven, as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. The time of harvest is a time of gathering. This is currently ongoing as the gospel proclamation is being preached all over the world. The barn is a metaphor for the church (Matthew 3:12 and 13:30), and the gathering of the righteous (symbolized by wheat) is a process that occurs before Jesus comes on the clouds with power and great glory (Matthew 24:30).
It is only fitting that Christ our Creator should reap the righteous. Only through a close, personal relationship with Him can anyone be saved. We are reminded of His power as Creator in Colossians 1:16: For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. His immense, creative power is the hope of every believer. Hold tightly to your faith and do not doubt that He can create in [you] a clean heart just as He did for King David (see Psalm 51:10). His perfect law tenderly written upon each of our hearts will fit us for heaven.
Jesus told His disciples that the harvest would come at the end of earth’s history prior to His second coming. This harvest symbolizes the winding down of the gospel proclamation. Beloved, if you have been gathered into the barn, be patient with yourself and others, understanding that we…are being transformed into the… image [of Christ] from glory to glory… by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). Allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in you.
Today’s verse is the third mention of a sickle in the hand of Christ. The first mention (v.14) described it as a sharp sickle. This symbolizes the clean break into the bright light of Christ that the repentant sinner makes as he or she leaves behind the sinful life in the darkness of error. We are lovingly warned not to look back. Remember Lot’s wife (Luke 17:32). In the last days, those who have escaped the world’s corruption are symbolized as the 144,000 of Revelation 14:1-5. They are called firstfruits to God and to the Lamb (v.4).
Jesus had said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5) but we are to realize that He regards His followers as “the light of the world.” Our light is the light of the Holy Spirit working in and among us. Another metaphor for God’s church is “A city … set on a hill [that] cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14) This alludes to God’s unique provision in the Old Testament Promised Land of a city of refuge within reach (a day’s run) of everyone within its boundaries. The last-day church, which is a holy jurisdiction of forgiveness and reformation, is to reach out and welcome – with the pure doctrines of heaven – all who seek a place of refuge. “[The church] is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to transform hearts.” ACTS OF THE APOSTLES by E.G.White (p.12)
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:58
For further study: Numbers 35:25-32; Joshua 21:13,21,27,32,36; Jeremiah 31:33; John 7:16-18; 10:16; Hebrews 8:10; 1 John 2:28