| Christian Life and Doctrine | September 1954 |
Sowing and Reaping
“The harvest is the end of the world [Greek, age]; and the reapers are the angels.” —Matthew 13:39
THE Bible is more than a textbook of religious precepts designed to govern human behavior through endless generations, with no objective in sight other than helping men and women to live better lives here that they might be prepared for happiness beyond the grave. In order to understand the Bible correctly it is essential to recognize that there are time elements in the plan of God which it reveals—ages and dispensations which have a beginning and come to an end. In these, there is a “sowing” and a “reaping” with respect to the work of God accomplished in them.
The Bible reveals an orderly progression in the divine plan which ultimately is to reach a glorious consummation in the reconciliation of the sin-cursed and dying race to God, the Creator, and the restoration of the people to everlasting life and happiness. This, the Bible shows, is to be accomplished through Christ, who at his first advent died to redeem mankind from death, and during his second presence, through the agencies of his kingdom, will accomplish the foretold work of “restitution” spoken by the mouth of all God’s holy prophets since the world began.—Acts 3:19-21
Even before Christ’s first advent there had been various changes of dispensation in the outworking of the divine plan. One of these occurred at the time of the Flood, when the “world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.” (II Pet. 3:6) During a period of more than six hundred years after the Flood the “voice” of God was heard only by a few patriarchs, particularly Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God promised Abraham that through his “seed” all the families of the earth would be blessed. (Gen. 12:3; 18:18; 22:18) This promise was inherited by Abraham’s son Isaac, and his grandson Jacob. (Gen. 26:4; 28:14) When Jacob was nearing death he voiced a prophecy concerning his son Judah indicating that the “seed” of promise was to come through his family, or tribe.—Gen. 49:9,10
Following the deliverance of the Israelites from their bondage in Egypt, God, through Moses, gave them his Law, which was epitomized in the Ten Commandments. But this was merely a means to an end. The Lord knew that the Israelites, being members of the fallen and dying human race, could not keep his Law inviolate. In the New Testament the Apostle Paul explains that the Law was a “schoolmaster” to teach the necessity for the redemptive work of Christ, that only through a Redeemer could mankind be rescued from sin and its penalty, death.—Gal. 3:24
During the Jewish age God sent his prophets to Israel to admonish and warn the nation, and to prophesy the coming of the Messiah, the promised “Seed.” Many of the prophecies associated the hope of the Messiah with the idea of a “kingdom,” a “government,” which would be established by him, and through which the promised blessings of all the families of the earth would be accomplished. Thus the Prophet Isaiah foretold that “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.”—Isa. 9:6,7
In “Due Time”
It was in God’s own “due time” that Christ came, first to die for the sins of the people, and later to establish the foretold kingdom through which the redeemed would be blessed. (Rom. 5:17-21) In announcing the first presence of Christ, John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) Preaching in the wilderness of Judea, John said, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 3:1,2) What may be a better translation of this statement emphasizes that the “King” of the Lord’s promised kingdom had appeared. Thus, in these two announcements, one identifying Jesus as the “Lamb of God,” and the other as the promised “King,” the twofold work of Christ is revealed; that is, his sacrificial work to redeem the people, and his kingdom work by means of which all the families of the earth were to be blessed.
Throughout his ministry Jesus emphasized both of these aspects of the divine plan for the recovery of the human race from sin and death. He taught that he would give his flesh in sacrifice for the life of the world. (John 6:51) He also said much about the promised “kingdom.” Because his disciples “thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear,” Jesus related a parable concerning a “certain nobleman who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.” (Luke 19:11,12) Through this parable and other teachings of the Master we learn that the “due time” for the establishment of the messianic kingdom is not until his return; that is, at his second advent.
Nevertheless, through his parables and otherwise, Jesus associated the preparatory work of the intervening age, when his people would be waiting for his return, with the idea of the kingdom. Thus, most of his parables are introduced with the words, “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto.” So it is in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, from which our text is taken. This parable does not illustrate the kingdom established in power and great glory—except in a very brief statement at the close—but rather, the effort of Satan to hinder the preparatory work of the kingdom, and the manner in which he would counterfeit this work of the Lord.
The Parable
The parable tells of a “man which sowed good seed in his field: but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat.” The servants of the “householder” who sowed the wheat suggested that they uproot the tares and remove them from the field. But the “householder” said, “Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.” Then he instructed his servants, saying, “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”—Matt. 13:24-30
In verses 37 to 43 of the chapter Jesus’ explanation of this parable is presented. “He that soweth the good seed,” he said “is the Son of Man.” From this it is clear that the sowing of the “good seed,” the “wheat,” represents the work of Jesus in selecting his apostles, and through them, the establishing of the Early Church. In a very special way Jesus himself was responsible for this work, both through personal instruction to his disciples, and by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
The “field” in which the “good seed” was sown, Jesus explained, was the “world.” While the “wheat” sown personally by Jesus was not scattered throughout the whole world, he commissioned them to go “unto the uttermost part of the earth” and preach the Gospel, making disciples from among all nations. Jesus’ last instructions to them were, “Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”—Acts 1:8
The “good seed,” Jesus explained, “are the children of the kingdom.” Jesus is the great King in the kingdom of promise, the kingdom through which all the families of the earth are to be blessed; and the Scriptures reveal that the work of the Lord throughout the present age has been the calling and preparation of a company of people who will share with him in the honor, glory, and work of the kingdom. To these Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock; it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”—Luke 12:32
The “children,” or “sons,” of the Heavenly Father are, through the Scriptures, begotten to the glorious hope of joint-heirship with Jesus in the kingdom. They are, as Paul wrote, “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” (Rom. 8:16,17) Concerning the same class the Apostle Peter wrote, “If ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”—II Pet. 1:10,11
The apostles and others in the Early Church understood that the kingdom would not be set up in the earth until the return of Christ, so they looked forward to that great event in the plan of God, confident that if they walked faithfully in his footsteps even unto death, they would then be raised from the dead to live and reign with Christ. When approaching death by execution, Paul wrote, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”—II Tim. 4:7,8
Jesus promised that all “overcomers” of this age would be exalted to rulership with him. “To him that overcometh,” he said, “will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” (Rev. 3:21) These shall be “kings and priests unto God,” and “shall reign on the earth,” we read. (Rev. 5:10) These are the same ones who, in the 20th chapter of Revelation, are said to come forth in the “first resurrection” to live and “reign with Christ a thousand years.”—vss. 4-6
Truly, then, these are the “children of the kingdom.” They have learned of the glorious kingdom which God has promised, the kingdom through which “restitution” blessings are to be made available to all the families of the earth. In the beginning of the age the apostles and other disciples of Christ were inspired by this glorious hope. Their hope of reigning with Christ in the kingdom enabled them to suffer patiently with and for him as they looked forward to his return, when they would be with ‘him and see him as he is.—I John 3:1-3
However, as the parable indicates, an “enemy” sowed “tares” among the “wheat”—that is, among the “children of the kingdom.” These tares, Jesus explained, are “the children of the wicked one,” and the “enemy” who sowed them “is the Devil.” This sowing of the tares, the parable indicates, was done “while men slept.” This obviously refers to a time after the apostles fell asleep in death. While they lived they were the guardians of the church, and it was not possible for the Devil to be very successful in his effort to sow “tares” among the “wheat.”
However, after the apostles died, the Devil did get in his work. This was accomplished in a very deceptive manner. Paul said to the elders at Ephesus: “Of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” (Acts 20:30) As time went on, and as the apostles foretold, these “children of the wicked one,” the “tares,” set up a counterfeit system of Christianity, described by Paul as the “mystery of iniquity.” (II Thess. 2:7) Church history reveals how accurately these predictions of Jesus and the apostles were fulfilled.
Such has been the state of Christianity as seen by the world throughout most of the age. The “tares” have always been preponderantly in the majority. The imposing systems of religion established by them have been what the world has recognized as the church. Being a counterfeit of the true’ “children of the kingdom,” they have established a “kingdom,” even “kingdoms,” of their own. The aggregate of these has been called “Christendom”; that is, Christ’s kingdom. Having joined hands with civil governments in an effort to establish kingdom authority in the earth, these have lost sight of the return of Christ and the establishment of the real kingdom of promise.
The fact that the “tares” are referred to by Jesus as the “children of the wicked one” does not mean that they have been or are unregenerate, lawless people. It is simply that their outlook, their hope, their aims, their endeavors, are not in keeping with the hope of the kingdom set forth in the Word of God, but are those of the wicked one in his attempt to thwart the purpose of God and cause God’s people to lose sight of his promises to establish the messianic kingdom, and, through its agencies, fulfill his promises to bless all the families of the earth.
Meanwhile, however, in every part of the age there have been a few of the “wheat” class, a few “children of the kingdom.” They have at times been almost lost among the “tares,” but they have been there. Church history reveals this, showing that there have always been those who looked for the return of their Lord and the establishment of his kingdom. These have been small in number, a “little flock” indeed—frequently but one here and there—but by the Lord’s grace they kept the kingdom hope alive, even while, as the parable shows, they grew together with the “tares.”
Comes the Harvest
The parable reveals that the admixture of “tares” with the “wheat” was not to continue forever, but only for the one age in the divine plan. At the end of the “world” (Greek, aion, meaning, age) there was to be a “harvest”—a harvest in which the “tares” would be gathered into bundles and burned, and the “wheat” gathered into the Lord’s “garner,” or “barn.”
In Jesus’ explanation of the parable he said that the “tares” would be burned in a “furnace of fire.” Since at the end of the age there are many millions of “tares,” and they are scattered through many parts of the earth, it is evident that it is not a literal “furnace” in which they are burned. The Prophet Malachi gives us the proper thought, saying that “the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be as stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up.”—Mal. 4:1
It is a “day” in the outworking of the divine plan that “burns as an oven.” This day is elsewhere described in the prophecies as the “day” of God’s vengeance. (Isa. 34:8) In language less figurative, the Bible describes this “day” as one in which there was to be a “time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation,” a time when there would be “distress of nations, with perplexity,” “a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness.”—Dan. 12:1; Luke 21:25,26; Joel 2:2
In this symbolic “furnace of fire” which engulfs the whole world of mankind, all false systems of religion are destroyed, including nominal churchianity. This results also in the destruction of the “tares.” not necessarily as individuals, but as “tares,” in the sense that they no longer will be looked upon as being part of the Lord’s kingdom arrangements, but as having been adherents of a counterfeit kingdom which, in the great Armageddon struggle at the end of the age, is destroyed, together with all the selfish and sinful institutions of the earth.
“As the Sun”
In the end of the age the “wheat” is also gathered, not to be burned in the great “time of trouble,” but to “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” The Prophet Malachi, after telling us that the “day cometh that shall burn as an oven”—that “oven” in which the “tares” are destroyed—says that then also the “Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings.”—Mal. 4:2
The glorious hope of all the “children of the kingdom” of this age is to be associated with Christ, the “Sun of Righteousness,” in the kingdom work of blessing all the families of the earth with life and happiness. So the parable, revealing the work of the present age completed, shows the “wheat” class as a part of the great ‘”Sun of Righteousness,” which then arises “with healing in his wings.”
The Reapers
Jesus explained that the “reapers” whom he would send forth into the “harvest” would be the “angels.” The Greek word here used is one which means a “messenger.” It could be a heavenly or an earthly messenger. It is sometimes used in the New Testament regarding inanimate objects. Since the “angels” of the parable gather the “tares” into “bundles” and burn them, and also gather the “wheat” into the Lord’s “barn”—implying the exaltation of the “children of the kingdom” to live and reign with Christ—it is evident that a considerable variety of “messengers” are used in this figurative “harvest.”
The “angels,” or “messengers,” which gather the tares into “bundles” and cast them, figuratively speaking, into the “furnace” of the great “time of trouble” which destroys all the selfish institutions of this “present evil world,” are all the various forces which directly and indirectly contribute to bring about this dramatic change in world affairs. To the extent that the truth of God’s Word, as proclaimed by his consecrated people, enters into the gathering of the “tares,” they are the “messengers” whom the Lord uses.
The Lord’s people themselves, however, are more vitally concerned with the “harvesting” of the “wheat,” for they take part in this work in a very real way. The work of the Jewish age, which began with the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai, ended with a “harvest.” The Law was designed by the Lord as a “schoolmaster” to prepare the nation of Israel for the Messiah, and when he came there was a “harvest” call of truth designed to reach all the Israelites who were in heart condition to receive him. The true “wheat” then, even as now, was very much in the minority.
In keeping with the “harvest” illustration Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” (Matt. 9:37,38) The disciples themselves, to whom these words were addressed, were among the “wheat” which was then gathered by the proclamation of the kingdom message. When reached by the message, they in turn became “messengers” of the Lord in the harvesting of additional “wheat.”
So it is at the end of the present age. While the final exaltation of the “wheat” into the heavenly “garner,” or “barn,” is accomplished by divine power exercised through channels beyond our comprehension, their preparation for this ultimate position in the kingdom is brought about by the harvest message of truth. And it is our privilege as “messengers” of the Lord to proclaim the Gospel of the kingdom for this purpose.
Now in the Harvest
There are many prophecies of the Bible which reveal that we are now living in the end of the age. Since Jesus said that the “harvest” work of gathering the “wheat” would take place in the end of the age, there should be evidence that such a work has been, and is being done; and there is unmistakable evidence that this is so. In Revelation 14:6-8,14,15 we have a description of the harvest work at the end of the age in which Jesus is shown to be present as the Chief Reaper, being figuratively represented as sitting upon a cloud with a “sharp sickle”—a reaping instrument—in his hand.
In this harvest scene an “angel,” or messenger, is shown “having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” (vs. 6) The “everlasting Gospel,” the “Gospel of the kingdom” was, as we have seen, lost sight of by the church soon after the death of the apostles. The word “Gospel” means good news, and during the Dark Ages the God-dishonoring theory of eternal torture was substituted for the good news of the kingdom, and the claim made that the church-state systems of Europe were the kingdom of Christ.
In order, therefore, that the “everlasting Gospel” might again be proclaimed, it had first to be restored to the true people of God, and this was done in fulfillment of Jesus’ promise that when he returned he would gird himself and serve the household of faith with “meat in due season.” (Luke 12:37,42) This meat in “due season” is the truth “due” to be understood and proclaimed in the “harvest” time at the end of the age—the everlasting Gospel of the kingdom, and the fact that the time is here for the establishment of that glorious kingdom, when the “wheat,” together with Christ, will “shine forth as the sun” for the blessing of “all the families of the earth.”
The “harvest” period at the end of the age is in reality one of transition, during which the work of the Gospel age comes to a close and the thousand-year age of the messianic kingdom begins. The “everlasting Gospel,” the “good news,” that the Lord has provided restitution blessings for all mankind is therefore peculiarly “meat in due season” at this time; for the end of the age marks the time when these blessings are “due” to reach the world of mankind. And it is this and other dispensational truths which separate the “wheat” from the “tares,” and prepare them to “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
Just such a “harvest” work has been, and still is, going on. While throughout the age there have been a few who have continued to cherish the hope of our Lord’s return and the establishment of his kingdom, they have hardly been noticeable, being largely hidden by the “tares” with which they have, for the most part, been associated. But beginning approximately in 1874, when the returned Lord began to serve the promised “meat in due season” to the “household” through “that servant,” and this harvest message began to be proclaimed on a world-wide basis, the “wheat” began to separate themselves from the “tares,” and as “children of the kingdom” they have unitedly joined in the proclamation of the “Gospel of the kingdom.”
While all other professing Christians have taught that only through human agencies would the kingdom promises of the Bible be fulfilled, the “children of the kingdom” have proclaimed that the “zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” (Isa. 9:6,7) These “children of the kingdom” have also taught that those who suffer and die with Jesus shall live and reign with him, that they shall “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” They have proclaimed that this promised “Sun of Righteousness” will heal the people, and that all who have died will be awakened from death and be given an opportunity to share in the blessings of Christ’s kingdom.
This glorious Gospel of the kingdom has reached the whole professed Christian world, and continues to do so. The “children of the kingdom” continue to proclaim the presence of the King and the fact that the blessings of the kingdom are near—even at the door. Their message is not popular, even as Jesus’ message was not popular in his day. The “children of the kingdom” are called “second chance” people, or “Millennial Dawnists,” but they rejoice that through the agencies of the kingdom all mankind is to be given a full opportunity or “chance” for life, and they are happy to continue announcing that the life-giving blessings of the kingdom will soon be available for all mankind.
Insofar as the dissemination of the truth of God’s Word accomplishes the work of the harvest, these “children of the kingdom” are the “angels,” the “messengers,” whom the Lord is sending forth for this purpose. Just as the Lord sent forth the disciples throughout Israel to gather the “wheat” of that nation at the end of the Jewish age, his “messengers” are now bidden to go forth “unto the uttermost part of the earth”—wherever the professed people of God dwell—and proclaim the “everlasting Gospel.”
The “wheat” of the parable are the “children of the kingdom,” not the Word of the truth, as in the Parable of the Sower. Nevertheless, these “children of the kingdom” are developed as wheat by the truth; and, for the truth to reach them, it must be proclaimed. Thus the proclamation of the truth was not only necessary in the original “sowing” of the parable, but is now also essential, the truth being shown in Revelation 14:14 as a “sickle”; that is, the instrument of reaping.
As Revelation 14:14 reveals, our present Lord is the Chief Reaper in the present “harvest work.” He is directing all the “messengers” of the harvest, both for the gathering and burning of the “tares,” as well as the finding and preparation of the “wheat” to “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” These “messengers” he sends forth with the “everlasting Gospel”—the Gospel of the kingdom, the glorious “harvest” message of present truth, and they are thus given an opportunity of proving worthy of the honor of reigning with him by their zeal in proclaiming the kingdom message.
During the “harvest” at the end of the Jewish age Jesus was with his disciples in the flesh, and we may conclude that now his attitude toward his people, and his will for them, are still the same. Then, when he “saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.”—Matt. 9:36-38
The Apostle John reports Jesus as saying to his disciples that the “fields” were “white” unto the harvest. To encourage them to faithfulness in the “harvest” work at that time Jesus said, “He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.” (John 4:35,36) These words of admonition and promise are equally true of the “messengers” in the present harvest.
Those who are faithful in doing all they can to help proclaim the message experience great joy in the work. These wages of rejoicing are received daily, as each experience manifests the Lord’s approval upon the efforts being made—approval that is sensed in the heart-joys resulting from obedience to the directive of the Chief Reaper to help thrust in the sickle of truth to reap the remaining grains of “wheat” that they might be prepared for the heavenly garner.
In addition to these daily wages of peace and joy, we have the promise that if faithful we will ultimately attain life eternal in the kingdom, to “shine forth as the sun” for the blessing of all mankind. In this, Jesus explained, they that sow and they that reap will rejoice together. This means the opportunity soon of being united with Jesus, with the apostles, with the faithful of the Early Church, and with all the “children of the kingdom” of every part of the age. It is a glorious prospect!
While many years of the “Gospel age” harvest are already in the past, there is still reaping to be done. Through the proclamation of the truth, grains of “wheat” are still being found who, in turn, are letting their light shine that still others might be blessed. Meanwhile the “fires” of the great “time of trouble” are burning as a “furnace,” and already in parts of Christendom the systems established by the “tares” are being destroyed. This “oven” will have accomplished the complete destruction of the tares ere the “wheat” “shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of the Father.”
However, the fact that the “tares” are already “bundled” for their burning indicates that the wheat harvest also is nearly over, so may all who are rejoicing in the hope of sharing in the rulership of the kingdom be more than ever zealous in proclaiming the everlasting Gospel, for “the time is short.” It is only “a little while”—now that he who was to come has come—when, if faithful, we will be “shining forth” with him in the glorious kingdom work of blessing all the families of the earth.—Heb. 10:37