Is today not the wheat harvest?
(Genesis 8:22, Romans 9:4, 2 Kings 19:26, Zephaniah 1:5-6, 2 Kings 19:26, Psalm 44:1-3, 2 Timothy 2:6-7, Psalm 126:5-6,1 Corinthians 15:36-38, Leviticus 26:9-10, Amos 8:4-6, John 12:23-24, Matthew 13:23-25, Isaiah 28:24-26, Matthew 9:37, Matthew 13:26, Exodus 9:31-32, Proverbs 24:27, Matthew 13:30, 1 Samuel 12:17, Matthew 3:29, Matthew 13:29, Deuteronomy 24:19, Deuteronomy 23:25, Ezekiel 4:9, Leviticus 23:10, 1 Samuel 20:5,
2 Chronicles 31:5, Mark 2:23, Matthew 13:40, Luke 12:17-18, Matthew 3:12, Matthew 24:40-41, 1 Samuel 20:5, Joel 1:17-18, Joel 1:16, Psalm 129:5-8, Acts 8:30, Proverbs 1:5-6, Acts 8:30-32, 2 Samuel 4:6, Deuteronomy 32:20, Jeremiah 51:33, 1 Samuel 12:17, Psalm 88:14-16, Deuteronomy 32:20, Psalm 88:6-8, Psalm 82:2-4, Psalm 144:12-14, Psalm 148:13, Psalms 89:29, Hebrews 12:11, Malachi 3:11-13, Job 3:17-19,1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Hebrews 6:1-6, 1 Timothy 5:17-19, 1 Timothy 5:21, 2 Corinthians 11:22, 2 Timothy 2:8-9,Genesis 37:6-7)
“While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, and day and night Shall not cease.”
Who are Israelites,
to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;
They were as the grass of the field and the green herb, As the grass on the housetops and grain blighted before it is grown. They were dismayed and confounded; Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops. Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom. Those who have turned back from following the Lord, and have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him. “Therefore, their inhabitants had little power.
..We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days, In days of old:You drove out the nations with Your hand, but them You planted;
You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out. For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them;But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them.
…The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.
You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new. Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the land fail, Saying:
“When will the New Moon be past, that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath, That we may trade wheat?
Making the ephah small and the shekel large, Falsifying the scales by deceit,That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of sandals--Even sell the bad wheat?”
But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
Another parable He 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.
Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow?
Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow the black cummin And scatter the cummin,
Plant the wheat in rows, The barley in the appointed place, And the spelt in its place?
For He instructs him in right judgment, His God teaches him.
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared
Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops.
Prepare your outside work, make it fit for yourself in the field; And afterward build your house.
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.”
Is today not the wheat harvest?
But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
“When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.
“Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them into one vessel, and make bread of them for yourself.
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.
“Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third day at evening.
As soon as the commandment was circulated, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of grain and wine, oil and honey, and of all the produce of the field;
Now it happened that He went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. Let all those who hate Zion Be put to shame and turned back. Let them be as the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, with which the reaper does not fill his hand, nor he who binds sheaves, his arms. Neither let those who pass by them say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you; We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
The seed shrivels under the clods, Storehouses are in shambles; Barns are broken down, For the grain has withered. How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, because they have no pasture; Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment. Is not the food cut off before our eyes, Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
“Do you understand what you are reading?”
And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”
A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles.
And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth and they came there, all the way into the house, as though to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach.
And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, I will call to the Lord, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking a king for yourselves.”
Lord, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?
..For they are a perverse generation,Children in whom is no faith.
For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:“The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor when it is time to thresh her;Yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come.”
(I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;I suffer Your terrors; I am distraught. Your fierce wrath has gone over me; Your terrors have cut me off. You have laid me in the lowest pit, In darkness, in the depths. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, And You have afflicted me with all Your waves). Selah
You have put away my acquaintances far from me; You have made me an abomination to them; I am shut up, and I cannot get out; How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked. That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; That our daughters may be as pillars, Sculptured in palace style;That our barns may be full, supplying all kinds of produce; That our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields; That our oxen may be well laden; That there be no breaking in or going out; That there be no outcry in our streets.
Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven. His seed also I will make to endure forever, And his throne as the days of heaven.
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
“And I will rebuke the 'Devourer' for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, “Says the Lord of hosts; “And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land, “Says the Lord of hosts.
There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.There the prisoners rest together; They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.The small and great are there, And the servant is free from his master.
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. ...
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.
I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.
Selah!
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained.
..So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
2 Chronicles 31:5, Mark 2:23, Matthew 13:40, Luke 12:17-18, Matthew 3:12, Matthew 24:40-41, 1 Samuel 20:5, Joel 1:17-18, Joel 1:16, Psalm 129:5-8, Acts 8:30, Proverbs 1:5-6, Acts 8:30-32, 2 Samuel 4:6, Deuteronomy 32:20, Jeremiah 51:33, 1 Samuel 12:17, Psalm 88:14-16, Deuteronomy 32:20, Psalm 88:6-8, Psalm 82:2-4, Psalm 144:12-14, Psalm 148:13, Psalms 89:29, Hebrews 12:11, Malachi 3:11-13, Job 3:17-19,1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Hebrews 6:1-6, 1 Timothy 5:17-19, 1 Timothy 5:21, 2 Corinthians 11:22, 2 Timothy 2:8-9,Genesis 37:6-7)
“While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, and day and night Shall not cease.”
Who are Israelites,
to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises;
They were as the grass of the field and the green herb, As the grass on the housetops and grain blighted before it is grown. They were dismayed and confounded; Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops. Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom. Those who have turned back from following the Lord, and have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him. “Therefore, their inhabitants had little power.
..We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers have told us, The deeds You did in their days, In days of old:You drove out the nations with Your hand, but them You planted;
You afflicted the peoples, and cast them out. For they did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them;But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your countenance, Because You favored them.
…The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops. Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, Bringing his sheaves with him. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body.
‘For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.
You shall eat the old harvest, and clear out the old because of the new. Hear this, you who swallow up the needy, and make the poor of the land fail, Saying:
“When will the New Moon be past, that we may sell grain?
And the Sabbath, That we may trade wheat?
Making the ephah small and the shekel large, Falsifying the scales by deceit,That we may buy the poor for silver, And the needy for a pair of sandals--Even sell the bad wheat?”
But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
Another parable He 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.
Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow?
Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
When he has leveled its surface, does he not sow the black cummin And scatter the cummin,
Plant the wheat in rows, The barley in the appointed place, And the spelt in its place?
For He instructs him in right judgment, His God teaches him.
Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared
Now the flax and the barley were struck, for the barley was in the head and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the spelt were not struck, for they are late crops.
Prepare your outside work, make it fit for yourself in the field; And afterward build your house.
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.”
Is today not the wheat harvest?
But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
“When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.
When you come into your neighbor’s standing grain, you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not use a sickle on your neighbor’s standing grain.
“Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them into one vessel, and make bread of them for yourself.
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.
“Indeed tomorrow is the New Moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king to eat. But let me go, that I may hide in the field until the third day at evening.
As soon as the commandment was circulated, the children of Israel brought in abundance the first fruits of grain and wine, oil and honey, and of all the produce of the field;
Now it happened that He went through the grain fields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. Let all those who hate Zion Be put to shame and turned back. Let them be as the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up, with which the reaper does not fill his hand, nor he who binds sheaves, his arms. Neither let those who pass by them say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you; We bless you in the name of the Lord!”
The seed shrivels under the clods, Storehouses are in shambles; Barns are broken down, For the grain has withered. How the animals groan! The herds of cattle are restless, because they have no pasture; Even the flocks of sheep suffer punishment. Is not the food cut off before our eyes, Joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.
And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods.
“Do you understand what you are reading?”
And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”
A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel, To understand a proverb and an enigma, The words of the wise and their riddles.
And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so He opened not His mouth and they came there, all the way into the house, as though to get wheat, and they stabbed him in the stomach.
And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them, I will see what their end will be, I will call to the Lord, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking a king for yourselves.”
Lord, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me?
..For they are a perverse generation,Children in whom is no faith.
For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:“The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor when it is time to thresh her;Yet a little while and the time of her harvest will come.”
(I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;I suffer Your terrors; I am distraught. Your fierce wrath has gone over me; Your terrors have cut me off. You have laid me in the lowest pit, In darkness, in the depths. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, And You have afflicted me with all Your waves). Selah
You have put away my acquaintances far from me; You have made me an abomination to them; I am shut up, and I cannot get out; How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked. That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; That our daughters may be as pillars, Sculptured in palace style;That our barns may be full, supplying all kinds of produce; That our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields; That our oxen may be well laden; That there be no breaking in or going out; That there be no outcry in our streets.
Let them praise the name of the Lord, For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heaven. His seed also I will make to endure forever, And his throne as the days of heaven.
Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
“And I will rebuke the 'Devourer' for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, “Says the Lord of hosts; “And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land, “Says the Lord of hosts.
There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.There the prisoners rest together; They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.The small and great are there, And the servant is free from his master.
But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. ...
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.
I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.
Selah!
Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: Remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel, for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained.
..So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”
References and external links
- Zell, Holly. "Representations of Earth's Invisible Magnetic Field." NASA. NASA, 5 Dec. 2011. Web. 18 July 2016. <http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/gallery/Earths-magneticfieldlines-dipole.html>. Last Updated: July 30, 2015
- Patterson, Steven, and Marvin Meyer. "The Gospel of Thomas Collection - Translations and Resources." The Gospel of Thomas Collection - Translations and Resources. Gnostic Society Library Nag Hamadi, n.d. Web. 18 July 2016. <http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom.html>. Selection from Robert J. Miller, ed., The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version. (Polebridge Press, 1992, 1994)
- "BibleGateway." Thomas Nelson, 1982. Web. 18 July 2016. <https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=goliath&qs_version=NKJV>.
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. 12/08/2015