Barley, Wheat and the Samaritan “bride” at the well
Warmest greetings to you all, and the Lord bless your
continuing insights into His Word, which are such a comfort to me…and add
to my hope and joy in His coming soon for us…..you are all, each with your
own gifts, giving more and more light, even “unto the perfect day”.
I would like to comment on the two harvests, barley
and wheat, which I have wrestled with before, and would add some thoughts….and
then point out some thoughts about the Samaritan woman at the well. She
is a type of bride of Christ,,,,,,Moses met his wife Zipporah
at a well,,,,Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was found
at a well……two witnesses to brides encountered at a well,,,and
this Samaritan woman, a third…..the well represents going to draw water…the
living water of life,,,,the water of the Word.
The bride will be found there, eagerly searching His Word, and I would add,
would qualify all of you Doves for this aspect of His great blessings to
come. The Samaritan woman’s story is found in John chapter 4. Two other
brides were taken at the time of barley harvest,,,that
is,,,Rahab from the city of Jericho,
for she was drying flax on her roof. And Ruth, who gleaned in Boaz’s barley field. Both of these
gentile brides were married into the tribe of Judah,
therefore mentioned in the geneology of our Lord.
So, we have three brides pictured at the time of barley harvest, including
this Samaritan woman,,,,as for Rebekah
and Zipporah, we cannot say for sure when they
were met by Eliezer and Moses……perhaps also at
this time,,,for Rebekah’s family wanted to keep her with them for 10 days,,,could be that 10-day period between the ascension (when
she actually left with Eliezer, a type of the
Holy Spirit…that is, raptured….), and Pentecost,
10 days later; that is, during barley harvest…. Zipporah
and her sisters were being harassed at the well, by “shepherds”…..interfering
with their ability to get water from the well (false teachers, who interfere
with the bride)….driven away by Moses……….as our Lord drives away these false
teachers from us……..
Our Lord pointed out to His deciples
that there was an early harvest, a “white harvest”,,,which would precede the autumn ingathering, by four
months:
John 4:34 Jesus
saith unto them, My meat
is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 35 Say
not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold,
I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are
white already to harvest.
White is the bridal color, the color of her
linen garment, the flax plant maturing at the same time as the barley, picturing
this bride (barley), in white (flax). When the Lord said this, He could
not have been referring to the wheat harvest, for the wheat harvest follows
the barley harvest by about 30 days, and even He said that the entire harvest
was finished in four months…. The beginning of wheat harvest is celebrated
on Pentecost, by which time the barley has been harvested, and so the barley
is gathered in before the wheat harvest begins. Important to this study
is that the barley “matures” before the wheat. The wheat harvest would
come short of His “four months to harvest” of all ingathered grains and
fruits, by one month. However the barley harvest is exactly four months,
at least in our reckoning of months this year, solar years…for from Ascension
Day (May 13) until Rosh Hoshanah (September 13),
is exactly 123 days, or four solar months. Also from Pentecost (May 23), until Yom Kippur (September 22) is exactly
four months. It is after Yom Kippur in the autumn, that the tents
were set up to celebrate the feast of tabernacles / therefore the whole
ingathered harvest, five days later, this year September 27 is the first
day of this seven-day feast.
Above, when the Lord referred to the white
harvest, his deciples had returned from their
absence, looking for food,,,,and wondered just
what was He doing with this Samaritan woman at the well to whom He had promised
the living water, for they were a despised people. His deciples
had gone looking for food, and His encounter with her was private, one-on-one.
She is one of the types of the bride of Christ, the Samaritans being a
remnant of the northern ten tribes intermixed with the Assyrians who conquered
and colonized Samaria.
She represents the people who would be called out in God’s name over the
two thousand years of the gospel age,,,,,for He stayed with these people “two days” (2000 years).
He was showing the deciples that even here, amongst these despised people, were fields white to harvest, part of the coming harvest,
and the woman at the well herself, a type of the bride.
Interestingly, there is an “hour”
mentioned here in this story:
John 4: 6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied
with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it
was about the sixth hour.
This would have been noon,,,,because
in Acts 2 the Spirit came upon the deciples at
the “third hour of the day” (9:00
a.m.)
Furthermore Jesus continued to speak about
an “hour”: after telling her about the living water which would spring up
into eternal life He said:
John 4:21 Jesus
saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour
cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem,
worship the Father.
He repeated this again, to emphasize this
hour,,,and then said that the hour
“now is”:
John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeketh such to worship him.
Notice, He told her the Father was seeking
“true worshippers”…Continuing, she said that she was expecting the Messiah,,,and He told her “I am He”:
John 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know
that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when
he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith
unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
I wonder if the above shows a picture of
the Messiah, who comes at this particular hour (noon), and finds the bride
at the well, a true worshipper,,,,,,And today,
do we not say, “I know that Messiah cometh”…? Again, we are told that
the “Lord Himself will descend from heaven” to us,,calling
each of us by name,,,a personal and private encounter
with our Beloved…..this woman regarded herself as having a heritage of Israel,
even though she was amazed that He (from the tribe of Judah) would have
anything to do with her….as were the deciples
themselves….
John 4:12 |
Art thou greater than our
father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof
himself, and his children, and his cattle? |
She then ran into her city and told the residents
about the coming of the Messiah,,,and they were
all running in a great crowd out to meet Him, so our Lord used this to teach
His deciples that a great “white” harvest would
come from people (gentiles and Samaritans) who the deciples
would be suspect of,,,as they were of His spending
time with the woman……He was probably pointing to the great crowd of people
who were rushing out of the city to see Him, having been told about Him
by the “bride”,,,,,,,,,and thus, showing His deciples
this great crowd of Samaritans / gentiles were indeed a great white harvest…but,
He had previously said “I must needs go to Samaria”….this is part of the
work which He told the deciples He had to come
to accomplish (finish the work) for the Father. And this was so important
to Him, that He didn’t even want to eat, but told the deciples
that His meat was to “finish” the Father’s work….Kind of sounds like the
eagerness of a bridegroom to me…..hhhmmm…
When she had run into the city she said to
the inhabitants: “come”
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The woman then left her waterpot,
and went her way into the city, and saith
to the men, |
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Come,
see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this
the Christ? |
She even left her waterpot,,,for
she now knew about the living water given by the Lord…..this may also be
a shadow of those in the rapture “leaving their waterpots”,,,,that
is,,,,our earthen vessels (bodies) in which we
have “treasure”. She went her way into the city (New Jerusalem for the
raptured?)
I find it interesting that the BRIDE in Revelation,
also says “come”
and
speaks of this same living water, given freely by our Lord….
Rev 22:17 |
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water
of life freely. |
Above, the bride, and the Spirit seem most
surely to be at the great well of our Lord’s Word. They say “come” to all….
And, intriguingly, Phillip, the deciple who went to teach the “eager” Samaritans (Acts 8),
was the deciple when Christ initially called out
His followers, who said “Come and see”, to the others.
Acts 8:6 |
And the people with one accord gave heed unto
those things which Philip spake |
one
verse later it says “and there was great joy in that city”…..
And it was also Phillip who was “raptured” after his baptizing the Ethiopian in the desert.
Those who are raptured could possibly be the ones who say, like the bride,
and Phillip,,,”come and
take the water of life”. Recall also that Moses’ wife and also Rebekah,
each ran to their homes to tell about their encounters with the strangers
at the well, who were then invited to stay with the family.
The Samaritans, eager to follow the Lord
after hearing of Him by the woman,,,,were
also eager to follow the teachings of Phillip,,,and
Peter and John became concerned because they learned that they had not even
received yet the Holy Spirit,,,,,and so eager
were they for the Lord’s teachings, they pressed on without the aid of the
Spirit….Peter and John went there to check in on this situation, and laid
hands upon them, thus giving them the gift from the Father.
And, this part of the harvest, white fields
ready to harvest, would be the early one (four months early),,,earlier than
the wheat, and the fruits etc., the total ingathering in the autumn. It
would be the bride (white) harvest.
So, this encounter with the Samaritan bride,
took place exactly four months before the main harvest, celebrated during
tabernacles week. It was during the time of the RIPE BARLEY. Just before
the wheat harvest.
BARLEY AND WHEAT
Our Lord was, Himself, the firstfruit of the sheaf (barley) offered to God, at His resurrection,
and so He took Himself before the Lord, as that waved on the day of firstfruits,
according to the law in Leviticus. That a “sheaf” is a person, or persons,
is first seen in Joseph’s dream, where there is a type of His resurrection:
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And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his
brethren: and they hated him yet the more. |
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And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this
dream which I have dreamed: |
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For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field,
and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your
sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. |
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And his brethren said to him, Shalt
thou indeed reign over us? or shalt
thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more
for his dreams, and for his words. |
Also, when the Lord returns with His saints,
He will be bringing in the sheaves: (barley?)
Psalm 126:5 |
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. |
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He that goeth forth
and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall
doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him. |
That He returns with His “sheaves” is very
interesting,,,,He doesn’t
return with loaves of bread? (wheat). Also looking
at the Psalm above,,,,in John 4, our Lord tells His deciples
about how they shall “reap in joy”, rejoice with the one who sows the seed,
also for this white harvest:
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Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then
cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the
fields; for they are white already to harvest. |
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And he that reapeth
receiveth wages, and gathereth
fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth
and he that reapeth may
rejoice together. |
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And herein is that saying true, One soweth,
and another reapeth. |
One thing is clear….Our Lord knew this woman
very well…including her rather shady dealings with her many husbands…He
knew that she was one of His sheep, and He purposely went way out of His
way to begin this Samaritan gathering of His people, starting with this
“bride”.
2nd Timothy 2:19
Nevertheless the foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal,
The Lord knoweth them that are his.
The type of grain represented by our Lord’s
resurrection, was barley. This is the first agricultural
festival, Passover, or barley. Jesus was therefore, the firstfruits,
which sanctified the entire crop, of barley.
1st Corinthians 15:20
But now
is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
So, He is the firstfruits
of a coming resurrection. We ourselves await our resurrection / change,
and wouldn’t that resurrection to come, be of the same type of grain?
1st Corinthians 15:23
But every
man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits;
afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
The above, says “they that are Christ’s”,
at His coming. Now, if Christ be our head:
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And he is the head of the body, the church: who
is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things
he might have the preeminence. |
having
already ascended to the Father,,,,,and He is barley,
then how could the body / bride, be any other type of grain other than barley?
God does not “mix” things, as:
Going way back to Genesis, to learn about
our great God,,,,
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And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass,
the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after
his kind, whose seed is in itself,
upon the earth: and it was so. |
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And the earth brought forth grass,
and herb yielding seed after his kind,
and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after
his kind: and God saw that it was good. |
Significantly, the Holy Spirit,
uses the word “his” when describing the likeness of each plant and tree,
to its own “seed”. For, then, if Christ be represented by barley, then
the above suggests that “those who are His”, should be “after His kind”.
We know from many scriptures, that when we see him “we shall be like Him”,
(barley?) and that even our very lives will be similar to His in many ways,
that is if we pick up our own crosses and follow Him…..He tells us “in the
world ye shall have tribulation”,,,and Christians have
been the object of much hatred and martyrdom since the beginning, just as
He was, but that too, relates to this type of grain:
Barley, as a plant, is hardy,,,,originally a perennial plant,,,can
thrive in poor soil conditions, and can suffer through drought, and even
grow in the wild, alone, by itself. Because it is thus disposed, it is
often a crop chosen by the poor, for they cannot afford the care and keeping
of wheat fields. Our Lord “made Himself poor for our sakes”, and is represented
by this grain which suffered wretched growing conditions….but He said, “I
have overcome”. We Christians indeed make it through “poor conditions”,
and we are so often poor in spirit.
But more about God’s thinking, about species,
and included in His law given to Moses. See if you can see a thread here
in the following verses, which may lead us to think that God has a rather
strong issue with “mixing things”
Deuteronomy 22:9 Thou shalt
not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard,
be defiled.
Deuteronomy 22:10 10 Thou shalt not plow with
an ox and an ass together.
Deuteronomy 22:11 Thou
shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of
woollen and linen together.
Deuteronomy 25:13 Thou shalt not have in thy bag
divers weights, a great and a small. 14 Thou shalt
not have in thine house divers
measures, a great and a small.
Leviticus 19:19 Thou
shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou
shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a
garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon
thee.
Unlike our genetic scientists of today, or
the adulteration of dna which took place before
Noah’s flood, our Father made each species of plant and animal “after its
kind”, with its own seed within itself, and He does not want us to be deceived
into thinking that “mixing” things of un-like kind or species, is OK with
Him: it is not. Many of today’s genetic tamperings, are just abominable. Our Lord is the “seed of the woman”
who came to crush the serpent’s head,,,,and
following this line of logic, I would assume, that we are also of the same
seed as He is, being born again by the Spirit, with His seed, the Word.
Matthew 13:23
But he that
received seed into the good ground is he that heareth
the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth
fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold,
some sixty, some thirty.
Those who are of the same type of seed as
our Lord, take very easily to His Word, for His Word (seed) is planted in
“good ground”.
Luke 8:11
Now the
parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
We are born of the Spirit (His seed), when
we are born again, thereby becoming “like Him”.
There is obviously the use of agricultural
and veterinary cross-breeding, but it is of the same species (of its own
kind),,,and thus Jacob bred his peculiar flock of goats, and even the wild
olive is grafted into the natural olive, but these are of the same species,,,,as many a beautiful rose has been created with
cross-pollination. The mixing of grains in Ezekiel’s bread (Ezekiel 4:9),
was a mixture of the poorest of grains, and lentils, fitch,
spelt…..so that Ezekiel could play-act the famine coming upon Israel,,,,,and
he was to eat this bread for (I think 390 days), showing the extent of their
having to eat this inferior bread,,,,and even
then, very little of it, as he was told to demonstrate. I read somewhere
that Ezekiel’s portrayal of this punishment would be extended seven times,,,for
their lack of faith…which leads us right up to this year when the math is
done….and so, in health food stores,,,we see this
very bread, Ezekiel’s bread, this day……
When our Lord said in Matthew 11:28, that
we should take His yoke upon us, and that we would find “rest”,,,He
was referring I would imagine to that law which stated not to plow with
an ox (our Lord, as the ox, the servant), and an ass, together. The ass,
in this case, would certainly become very tired trying to keep up with the
strength of the ox,,,and His remedy for this in
the verse above, is “learn of me”….that is, become like Him, (humble and
meek) and not strain against Him….then, we shall find rest, and a pairing
with like kind. Paul also says “be ye not yoked together with unbelievers”,,for this same reasoning….
Finally, we are told about the resurrection
by Paul,
1 Corinthians 15:35-50
35 But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? 36 Thou fool,
that which thou sowest is not quickened, except
it die: 37 And that which thou sowest,
thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare
grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: 38 But God giveth
it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
Above, God gives every “seed” (in its own
kind), a “body”,,,and
we know that when we shall see Him, “we shall be like Him”.
Just before His own burial and resurrection,
Jesus spoke of the same principal of a grain being buried and becoming fruitful:
John 12:23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The
hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. 24 Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Except a kernel of wheat fall into
the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it
die, it bringeth forth much fruit
Both Paul and Jesus refer to “wheat” in their
example, which is also translated as “grain”, Paul saying that it may be
wheat, or some other type of grain.
Christ was the firstfruits
unto God, of the barley harvest,,,,He
therefore sanctifies the whole (barley) harvest. He Himself took His own
Self, up to wave before God, the firstfruits of
the barley harvest.
James 1:18 Of his own will begat he
us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits
of his creatures.
Above, we are “begat” or
born again, with the Word of truth (the seed),,,and
therefore we become “a kind” of firstfruits….remember back in Genesis “after his own kind”…..therefore, I surmise that we should
be part of the barley harvest,,,as the head of
our body, Christ, is also barley. Remember that at Pentecost,,,the loaves of wheat are leavened………..our Lord was barley,,,,unleavened,,,,,He being without sin……… And this
barley harvest should be brought in before Pentecost, for that represents
the beginning of wheat harvest, which is leavened. And Jesus taught us
that the end of this age was “the harvest”. And I hope this “white” harvest
four months early, is the full harvest of barley, having been sanctified
by the firstfruits….. before Pentecost.
We know our Lord was unleavened,
whereas Pentecost is celebrated with leavened loaves. But Paul tells us
that we are unleavened also, like our Lord:
1 Corinthians 5:7-8
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven,
that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven,
neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened
bread of sincerity and truth.
Wheat is an annual plant, which must be re-planted
each year, whereas barley is a perennial plant, and grows even in wild places.
Newer varieties of barley can be annual also. Wheat is more delicate and
requires more care than barley. It is fragile, and susceptible to weather
conditions and soil conditions. As wheat ripens, (as it matures), it begins
to “die” from the roots up, and it ripens / matures by absorbing the summer
sunlight….this “heat” of the early summer sun causes it to mature and to
bear its seed. As it matures, its root first and then the stalk dying,
the head of the wheat gets heavier, and the head bows, like in humble prayer
to its maker. This pictures the process of dying from the roots up, dying
to the world, and becoming humble and accepting of God’s Word. The great
un-numberable crowd of believers which appear
in heaven may very well be the wheat harvest, for they have suffered “heat”
and the “sun lighting upon them”, and “thirst”…this is all typical of the
ripening of the wheat plant, and also of the humbling effects of the tribulation.
John had to ask the elders who these were,,,,,not knowing himself who they were, because John was
another type of grain…barley, and didn’t recognize them. And the elder
said they had come out of great tribulation, and washed their robes in the
blood of the Lamb.
Tares, on the other hand,,,,at maturity, have up-right heads, showing the pride
and arrogance of the false teachers,,,and so the
tares may be recognized by the angels who remove them, prior to the rapture
of the wheat…….tares also have shallow and spreading roots, which interfere
with the root systems of the wheat, and therefore the Lord said, leave them
until harvest time, for to root up the tares early, would destroy the vitality
of the wheat. But, the mingled roots of wheat and tares matters not to
the development of the wheat grain, for the wheat roots die anyway, as the
plant matures; therefore, the tares cannot exert a lasting influence on
the maturity of the wheat.
Wheat was the choice of food for the rich,
their bread being made of wheat. But barley was the more nutritious grain,
and kept people robust and strong. Athletes and gladiators were fed barley,,,and the slaves of Egypt
were fed barley….Jesus fed the large crowd by multiplying five loaves of
barley, not wheat. Jesus even said “how hardly shall the RICH enter into
the Kingdom of Heaven”…..for the first to enter His Kingdom, would be the
poor in spirit, the barley steadfast in its growth, with deep roots, yet
despised by the rich whose preference was for the wheat,,,so they fed the barley to
the animals; (and were not early Christian’s fed to the animals for amusement?)
Christ was also despised, as are all Christians. Again, the barley is
the first to mature, therefore it is the first to be harvested at the end
of the age.
From the above, it follows that there may
be two types of followers of Christ,,,,,,,,,,,the
barley, which suffers tribulation in the world, yet remains hardy, and “overcomes”,,,,like our Lord Himself,,,,,,,,and
the wheat, which is fragile, susceptible to every wind of doctrine, and
ripens or matures in the heat AFTER THE BARLEY HAS MATURED and been harvested.
The barley plant will drop its seeds by itself, and re-plant itself if
left in its place,,,whereas the wheat kernels must be beaten out of the
harvested stalks with a tool called a tribulum,
also done in the heat of summer,,,,suggesting
a time of tribulation for the wheat. In the parable of the wheat and the
tares, it is the angels who come and separate the wheat from the
tares, whereas at the rapture (the barley) “The Lord Himself will descend
from heaven” etc., The book of Revelation which chronicles the events
of the tribulation, shows that it is indeed the angels who carry out the
work of the judgment which God gives them to do. The separation of the
wheat and the tares….bringing in the wheat harvest, out of great tribulation,,,then burning the tares
in the wrath period of God.
Barley does not have gluten, the elastic
proteins found in wheat; therefore, barley cannot be leavened as wheat can.
Our Lord was unleavened, and in fact COULD NOT be leavened in any way…we
pray that we may be found worthy by Him, to escape the events of the tribulation,,,and
that our faith in His wonderful sacrifice would cause us to also be unleavened
as He was at His resurrection, to be ever more like Him, our redeemer.
THRESHING AND WINNOWING
Both barley and wheat are threshed, to get
the kernels of grain to fall from their kernel-rows upon the head of the
plant. This is more easily done with barley, which falls off more easily
(Christians do not “hold” to wrong doctrine),,,,,,and can even be done by
hand, as Ruth threshed out the barley which she gleaned, right in the field,
showing that as she gleaned, she also cleaned off the chaff,,,,(rightly
dividing the Word of God) …..but wheat must be threshed with a heavy tool
called a tribulum, often pulled on top of the
stalks with a horse or ox…on a threshing floor, where both barley and wheat
may be threshed, and the stalks discarded. Wheat holds more strongly in
its kernel-rows,,,thus, wheat-type Christians must have these doctrines
“beaten” off them with a tribulum…..A threshing
floor is a large flat area, open to the night winds. Then to further remove
chaff from the kernels, the winnowing fork is used. This is done at night,
when the breezes of night, carry off the chaff, letting the heavier kernels
fall to the floor. Hence, Boaz was winnowing barley at night in the book
of Ruth. In Luke 3, and Matthew,,,John the Baptist, referred to Christ’s work of thoroughly
cleaning His threshing floor:
Luke 3:17 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly
purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff
he will burn with fire unquenchable.
Again, the grain suggested is “wheat”. The
work suggested here by our Lord is that of the grain crops,,,,using
a winnowing fork (fan), He will thoroughly clean the threshing floor, gathering
in both the barley and wheat crops. The chaff represents wrong doctrine
and will be burned.
Maturity
Mark 4:24 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure
ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more
be given. 25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not,
from him shall be taken even that which he hath. 26 And he said, So
is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; 27 And
should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow
up, he knoweth not how. 28 For
the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first
the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 29 But
when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth
in the sickle, because the harvest is come.
The Lord had just told the parable of the
four kinds of soil upon which seed (the Word) was cast. He then goes on
to say that unto those whose soil is good, they shall be given even more
growth; that is, if they were careful how they heard, and studied the Word
properly. He then points out that this process is like the development
of the grain seed (wheat or corn, which is barley), and when the fruit is
ripe, “immediately” the sickle is put to the crop, at harvest time. This
is a grain harvest, and most probably barley, because “corn” in the Bible
represents barley. And God ordained the counting of seven weeks to Pentecost,
by the sickle which was put to the barley. (feast
of firstfruits)
Deuteronomy 16:9
Seven weeks
shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the
seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest
to put the sickle to the corn.
In the book of Revelation, there are two
events where a sickle is used. The first is a sickle put in by “one like
the Son of Man”..our Lord represents the beginning of the countdown,
for He was the “beginning of the sickle put to the corn”.
Rev14:14
And I looked,
and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of
man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
Rev 14:15
And another
angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on
the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for
the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.
This first sickle, then, could represent
the rapture, for it is carried out by the Lord Himself, (one like the Son
of Man) and when this crop is mature the sickle is put in IMMEDIATELY (instantly,
like the rapture), and hopefully, the white harvest, four months before
the full ingathering.
The second sickle is handled by an angel,
not the Lord Himself,,,
Rev 14:17-19
And another
angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp
sickle.
And another
angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with
a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp
sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes
are fully ripe.
And the
angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the
earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
This second sickle is that which represents
the wrath of God, against the wickedness on the earth, and refers to vines,
(grapes), which our Lord tramples when He returns to beging
His Kingdom.
The stages of maturity of barley and wheat
are described in Exodus 9:31-32, which shows that the barley and flax were
destroyed by the hail plague upon Egypt,
but that the wheat had not reached maturity yet.
When grains are in their early stages of
development, they are flexible, and as they mature, they become brittle;
thus, they can be damaged by hail. Since the wheat was not yet mature,
but still flexible, it was able to sustain the hail which destroyed the
brittle barley. All the more reason for the Lord of the Harvest, to put
in His sickle “immediately” when He sees the ripe barley, for it is at that
time that it might more easily be damaged by “hail”, or the coming of some
of the tribulation events. The wheat, lives on to see even more plagues,
as it did make it through the plague of hail, being immature. But the
wheat itself will also become brittle as it fully matures, and therefore
will be watched by the Lord carefully, as His second grain crop is important
to Him.
James 5:7
Be patient therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth
for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until
he receive the early and latter rain.
Above, our own impatience is rebuked by James,
who points out our Lord’s long patience with His harvests…..but, until after
Pentecost, I shall reckon ourselves to be barley,,,,,,after
Pentecost,,,,,a new look at the wheat? Someone
help – I cannot be stopped !
Hopeful and watchful,,,,,,,,,,,,,your sister,,,,,,,,,,,Arlene