DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE OF JESUS' SUMMER HARVEST VS. THE FAKE SPRING HARVEST?

[Davy]

Most brethren in Christ have heard the metaphor Lord Jesus used for the time when He comes to gather His Church as the summer harvest. Jesus used that summer harvest time as a metaphor for the day of His coming for the time of the fig harvest at summer. He also used the harvest for the time of wheat per His parable of the tares in Matthew 13.

SUMMER HARVEST OF THE FIG:

Mark 13:28-30
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
29 So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.
30 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
KJV


Here's another reference Lord Jesus used pointing to harvest...

Matt 13:38-43
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
KJV

That is about Lord Jesus' parable of the tares of the field. It's about the summer harvest of wheat and the weeds (tares) that are mixed within the wheat. Jesus used the summer harvest time as a metaphor for the time of His coming to gather His faithful Church.


But there also is written about an early... time of harvest of the fig, in the spring.

SPRING HARVEST OF THE FIG:

Rev 6:12-13
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
KJV

The 6th Seal actually has 2 main parts. The first part above is about the casting out of Heaven of Satan and his angels after the war in Heaven per Revelation 12:7-17. The second part of the 6th Seal is about Lord Jesus' coming on the "day of the Lord", the last day of this present world. This means Satan and his angels are coming to earth first, as "untimely figs". So what are "untimely figs"?...

That idea of "untimely figs" is about real fig horticulture in the middle east. It's about the WINTER fig which grows early in the winter and falls off in the spring. The early harvest is thus an untimely fig harvested in the spring, but the main fig harvest is in summer, which is the time Lord Jesus pointed to.

Now since Lord Jesus used that idea of summer harvest for the fig to represent His coming and gathering of His Church, with the early fig harvest, the "untimely figs" harvested in spring, what do they represent??

In Matthew 24:23-26, Lord Jesus warned us about the coming of a pseudo-Christ at the end of this world, and to not be deceived when some say Christ has returned. Jesus said don't believe it. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-9 Apostle Paul warned us about that same coming false-Messiah who will sit in a stone temple in Jerusalem and proclaim himself as God. In both warnings were mentioned that false one's performing great signs, wonders, and miracles to deceive the whole world with. This means there is a false-Messiah that comes first to Jerusalem, PRIOR... to our Lord Jesus coming to gather His Church.

That... is what the "untimely figs" is about. It is about the coming first of the false-Messiah representing the early spring harvest of the fig. It is symbolic for those who will be deceived by that false-Messiah with thinking he is God, and bowing to him as God, and thus these are harvested early, in the spring. And it won't be well with any brethren who fall away to that when Lord Jesus does appear later for the real summer harvest of His Church. So don't fall for the first supernatural one claiming to be Messiah who will work great signs and wonders to deceive with, because that one won't be our Lord Jesus Christ, but a fake.

(Continued...)

 

[Davy]

WOE TO THOSE WITH CHILD:

Lord Jesus used another metaphor to represent the falling away to the false-Messiah that comes first. He used the idea first written in The Old Testament about falling away to false worship being with child (spiritually) from another, as He is our True Husband, in the spiritual sense.

Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 11 repeats that idea, showing Jesus as our True Husband spiritually, and we are wait for Him as "a chaste virgin" waiting for her Groom (Jesus).

2 Cor 11:1-4
11 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.
2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one Husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
KJV

Paul is actually warning about the coming of the false-Messiah, or false-Christ. To fall away and bow to that false-Christ who comes first, thinking he will be our Lord Jesus, that means not... remaining "a chaste virgin" espoused to our "one Husband" Jesus Christ.

This is where the metaphor of being "with child" comes from in The Old Testament (See Isaiah 26; Jeremiah 30

Luke 21:22-23
22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
KJV

Mark 13:17-18
17 But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
18 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.
KJV

That "days of vengeance" is a pointer to the day of Christ's future 2nd coming. That is when all things which are written for this world will be fulfilled. Note God's Wrath will be upon those "with child" on that day. How can that be? A woman bearing children is a blessing. Is that really about the distress of the tribulation time? No.

Luke 23:27-30
27 And there followed Him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented Him.
28 But Jesus turning unto them said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, "Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck."
30 Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, "Fall on us"; and to the hills, "Cover us."
KJV

In the above, Jesus pointed to the deceived in Jerusalem for the time of the end and then at His future return. At His return, they will say, "Blessed are the barren...", meaning those who remained waiting on Jesus as "a chaste virgin", and without... child, in the spiritual worship sense. Those deceived in Jerusalem also will say about the chaste virgins, "... and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck." And then, those deceived will wish for the mountains and the hills to fall upon them as a symbol for their shame. But for what... shame?

It will be because of when Jesus does return after destroying that false-Messiah, those deceived will be found "with child" from another, spiritually. It's in the spiritual worship sense. And while they are in shame when Jesus comes, they will be saying how blessed the chaste virgins are, i.e. Christ's faithful elect who will wait for His coming.

Metaphors given in God's Word are important; painting a picture worth a thousand words. That is why they take time to explain sometimes.