The Harvest at the End of the Age

Harvest Time

D.P. Weary

January 7, 2009

There is much talk about the great coming harvest at the end of the age. It is a popular subject but I began to wonder just what the scriptures really say about the harvest at the end of the age. Let’s take a look.

Joe 3:13 Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread, for the wine press is full; The vats overflow, for their wickedness is great.

Joe 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

This reference to harvest, like most in the O.T. is a reference to judgment of the wicked. Sometimes it is in regard to Israel, sometimes to the wicked nations surrounding her like Babylon (Jer. 51.33). Note that here it is a judgment of the wicked in the day of the Lord.

Lev 23:22 'When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' "

There may be a hint here about the very last of the harvest. It was an OT commandment that the gleaning or very last of the harvest was to be left for the needy and the stranger. The possible implication is that at the end of the harvest there will be a gleaning, or remnant to be gathered, a gleaning of the poor, the needy, and the humble.

Luk 14:16 But He said to him, "A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many;

In this parable God invites many to His great banquette, probably the wedding supper of the Lamb.

Luk 14:17 and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for everything is ready now.'

Luk 14:18 "But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, 'I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.'

The invited ones all made excuses and chose, after receiving an invitation, not to come. What a picture of those who have heard the good news of the Gospel but have chosen to reject God’s offer of salvation and eternal life.

Luk 14:19 "Another one said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.'

Luk 14:20 "Another one said, 'I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.'

Luk 14:21 "And the slave came {back} and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, 'Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.'

God then sends His servants out into the cities to bring in the poor and cripples and blind and lame.

Luk 14:22 "And the slave said, 'Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.'

Luk 14:23 "And the master said to the slave, 'Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel {them} to come in, so that my house may be filled.

Finally God sends His servants out into the outlying places, the highways and the lowly places to compel those that are there to come in.

Luk 14:24 'For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.' "

Note that those who were invited but chose to decline the invitation will not be at the wedding supper of the Lamb.

What a great picture of the “harvest of souls” down through the ages. Note that God sends a final call or invitation out to the remnant in outlying places, the final harvest. We see this today as thousands are coming to Christ in places like China, India, and in the Muslim world.

Mat 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

Mat 9:37 Then He *said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Mat 9:38 “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

In this well-known passage about harvest, Jesus sees the people around Him and sees the great number of people down through the ages that will need His salvation. He also sees that the workers will be few. The “wheat harvest” began on the day of Pentecost the year He was crucified and continues to this day. What these verses do not tell us much about is the very last of the harvest.

Jhn 4:35 "Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and {then} comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.

Once again Jesus is telling His disciples that the world is ripe to be gathered into His Kingdom. And so for nearly 2000 years the harvest has been going on. But again, what about the very last of this harvest? What is it really going to look like?

Mat 13:29 "But he *said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them.

Mat 13:30 'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.'""

Here we are told that there are tares among the wheat and that they will grow together until the final harvest. The wheat is to be gathered into God’s “barn” but the tares gathers or harvested to be burned. At the rapture, the saints are gathered in God’s “barn”. But the tares are gathered and “burned up” during the days of wrath.

Mat 13:39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.

The harvest is the end of the age.

Mat 13:40 "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age.

Mat 13:41 "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,

This end of the age harvest is a harvest of the wicked and evil.

Rev 14:14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud {was} one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.

Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe."

Rev 14:16 Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Rev 14:17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle.

Rev 14:18 Then another angel, the one who has power over fire, came out from the altar; and he called with a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Put in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, because her grapes are ripe."

Rev 14:19 So the angel swung his sickle to the earth and gathered {the clusters from} the vine of the earth, and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God.

The great harvest or reaping at the end of the age is Jesus and His angels reaping the earth of evil and wickedness. These are thrown into the great wine press of the wrath of God.

Mat 7:13 "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.

Mat 7:14 "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Many today are looking for such a great harvest that the whole world is essentially Christianized. But the Bible tells us that there are few who find the “gate”, Jesus, the door that leads to heaven and ever lasting life.

Rom 9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED;

Rom 9:28 FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH, THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY."

Rom 11:5 In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to {God's} gracious choice.

Regarding Israel, these verses tell us that only a remnant will be saved or “harvested” in the last days.

Rev 12:17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

After the 144,000 sons of Israel, true Israel, are “taken to the retreat” Satan is enraged and makes war with the rest of true Israel’s children (the remnant of her seed). This remnant is probably all believers on earth during the last 3 ½ years of the 7 years of tribulation.

2Th 2:3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for {it will not come} unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,

Paul tells us that the coming of the Lord will be preceded by a great defection (rebellion or forsaking or falling away), not a great last minute ingathering. This is understandable in that Revelation 6 and 7 tells us that before the Church is raptured there will be a great time of trouble and many will be killed, martyred for their faith. 2 Tim. 3 and 4 and 2 Pet. 3 also tell us that the days just before the rapture will be very difficult days for believers, days that will test our faith and resolve. These will be days when many will fall away.

These scriptures about the harvest at the end of the age, both OT and NT seem to paint a picture not of a massive, great and glorious harvest of souls for the Lord, but rather of a harvest of judgment for the evil and wicked. For sure, there is a gleaning and a remnant to be reached during these days, and we are to be found working hard to “harvest” this gleaning. And there are many areas in the world where the Gospel needs to be preached to those who have not heard or heard about only in negative ways. In these areas and people groups like China, India and the Muslim world, we do see a great more of God to reach these people. What we do not see is any great and massive “revival” in areas where people have been given the chance to hear and believe for years and years. Where the invitation to the wedding has been issued, many have chosen to decline the invitation.

This idea of a great and glorious end times global harvest has lead some to believe that the Church is to essentially “Christianize” the world, preparing the way for the Lord’s return. For me personally, I see the end time harvest as the gleaning of the “corners of the fields”, gathering in the remnant of the wheat fields. I believe we are on more of a search and rescue mission, calling people out of this present world (Mystery Babylon) and into God’s Kingdom, rather than on a invade and conquer mission. It is Jesus, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings that invades and conquers at His glorious return.

This is an important issue for the Church as the battle plans and tactics are very different for “search and rescue” versus “invade and conquer”. Are we warning mankind to turn from their wicked ways, and of the harvest of the wicked that is coming, or are we seeking to please men with words that just make them feel good?

Rev 18:1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory.

Rev 18:2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.

Rev 18:3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed {acts of} immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality."

Rev 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;

This is our battle cry:

Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues, her harvest!

Harvest time is coming!

Eze 33:7 "Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me.

Eze 33:8 "When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand.

Eze 33:9 "But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.

This is a rather sobering word for the true Church today.

We are the watchmen! We have the message for the world. Will we warn them?

Harvest time is coming!