Post by Mark on Oct 30, 2008 3:29:19 GMT -8
The land in which our Messiah lived was an intensely and disproportionate agricultural region of the world. It was (and is) the center of what is known as the "fertile crescent" of the middle-east. In the United States, when one considers Kansas, one of the first common mental images is that of corn fields, in Washington it’s apple trees. Similarly, throughout the known Mediterranean world, Israel was identified with its production of wheat and barley. So much was this part of the Hebraic culture, that the calendar was designed (and when necessary, adjusted) to fit the agricultural cycle. The holidays and festivals, which stood as spiritual landmarks for the Jewish year, were also beacons that determined where the community was in the agricultural cycle. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the beginning of the Jewish year, initiated the process of preparation and planting for the year. Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread were completed before harvest could begin. The Feast of Sukkot, or Tabernacles, marked the completion of the cycle, that harvesting was over for the year.
The symbolism of these holidays fit very graphically within the physical labors that the common people of Israel would engage upon. As they began preparing the ground to be worked and sown, their lives and hearts were prepared, digging down deep to remove the stones and weeds of sin, making their hearts soft and pliable for the Word of Adonai, the
, to be sown and take root.
The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread marked the beginning of the harvest season. One did not begin harvest until after this eight day festival was completed. This was an appropriate celebration of Adonai’s deliverance of the people of Israel from the bondage of slavery. No longer were they harvesting, working, as beasts of burden for the Egyptians. They were free to benefit from the land. The harvest represents Adonai keeping His covenant promise with His people Israel.
Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, represents the long wandering in the wilderness before entering the promised land. It completes the cycle, just as the harvest is completed and there is a time of rest, the feast represents the ending of Israel’s journey through the wilderness and entering into Adonai’s rest.
When Messiah Yeshua tells us that, "You know that it is yet four months until the harvest," He is revealing to us that they have recently completed the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The time of plowing and sowing had begun and the evidence of this must have been all around them. Spiritually, these men had undergone an annual process of repentance, renewal and rededication. They were beginning to anticipate the celebration of leaving behind the world of sin, beginning, again, the spiritual journey toward the kingdom of Adonai.
This process is the same for everyone who comes into a knowing relationship with Adonai, through Yeshua Meshiach. There is recognition of our sinfulness and repentance, leaving behind the world of sin and beginning a long journey toward the kingdom of Adonai, anticipating the day of rest that we will share with Him forever in glory. To the Jewish mind, and according to the cycle of annual observance, this is a fairly long and slow process. It takes four months to get from the sense of renewal to the point when you actually begin to leave the bondage of sin, beginning to harvest the benefits of the new life in Messiah.
Messiah’s words tell us that it doesn’t necessarily work that way. One doesn’t expect to plant a seed and then reap a harvest in the next five minutes. Any farmer knows that. Messiah’s point is that the harvest that you are reaping is not necessarily the result of your sowing. The new life that you see springing up before you is probably not the result of the seed you just planted; but who knows what someone else may have planted before you come along. "One sows and another reaps."
This is why the apostle Peter tells us to "sanctify Adonai Elohim in your hearts, and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks the reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear: having a good consience; that, even though they speak evil of you, as of evil doers, that they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conduct in Messiah." (1st Peter 3:15-16).
We never really know who has been here before us and how the Spirit of Adonai has touched the lives of those who come into our path. It is worth our effort to pray the question, "Am I to be sowing seed or reaping harvest?"
It is worth observing that, many times, the sower never has the opportunity to see the fruit of his labors; but together, one day, the sower and the reaper will share in the reward.
Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
(Gal 6:6-9 KJV)
The goodness of Adonai’s economy is often difficult for us to see. Many years we spend sowing the Word of His truth and seem to have little so show for it. This could be His doing, and the reapers are coming behind us, enjoying a bountiful harvest that we will one day share. Or, it could also be that sometimes we are so busy sowing that we walk right over the fresh fruits of someone else’s labor without even noticing.
Messiah’s response to His disciples is to be aware of those aroud you and understand their needs. Know when it is time to sow and when it is time to reap, and don’t be too prepared to do one when the other is what might be needed.
The symbolism of these holidays fit very graphically within the physical labors that the common people of Israel would engage upon. As they began preparing the ground to be worked and sown, their lives and hearts were prepared, digging down deep to remove the stones and weeds of sin, making their hearts soft and pliable for the Word of Adonai, the
, to be sown and take root.The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread marked the beginning of the harvest season. One did not begin harvest until after this eight day festival was completed. This was an appropriate celebration of Adonai’s deliverance of the people of Israel from the bondage of slavery. No longer were they harvesting, working, as beasts of burden for the Egyptians. They were free to benefit from the land. The harvest represents Adonai keeping His covenant promise with His people Israel.
Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles, represents the long wandering in the wilderness before entering the promised land. It completes the cycle, just as the harvest is completed and there is a time of rest, the feast represents the ending of Israel’s journey through the wilderness and entering into Adonai’s rest.
When Messiah Yeshua tells us that, "You know that it is yet four months until the harvest," He is revealing to us that they have recently completed the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The time of plowing and sowing had begun and the evidence of this must have been all around them. Spiritually, these men had undergone an annual process of repentance, renewal and rededication. They were beginning to anticipate the celebration of leaving behind the world of sin, beginning, again, the spiritual journey toward the kingdom of Adonai.
This process is the same for everyone who comes into a knowing relationship with Adonai, through Yeshua Meshiach. There is recognition of our sinfulness and repentance, leaving behind the world of sin and beginning a long journey toward the kingdom of Adonai, anticipating the day of rest that we will share with Him forever in glory. To the Jewish mind, and according to the cycle of annual observance, this is a fairly long and slow process. It takes four months to get from the sense of renewal to the point when you actually begin to leave the bondage of sin, beginning to harvest the benefits of the new life in Messiah.
Messiah’s words tell us that it doesn’t necessarily work that way. One doesn’t expect to plant a seed and then reap a harvest in the next five minutes. Any farmer knows that. Messiah’s point is that the harvest that you are reaping is not necessarily the result of your sowing. The new life that you see springing up before you is probably not the result of the seed you just planted; but who knows what someone else may have planted before you come along. "One sows and another reaps."
This is why the apostle Peter tells us to "sanctify Adonai Elohim in your hearts, and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks the reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear: having a good consience; that, even though they speak evil of you, as of evil doers, that they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conduct in Messiah." (1st Peter 3:15-16).
We never really know who has been here before us and how the Spirit of Adonai has touched the lives of those who come into our path. It is worth our effort to pray the question, "Am I to be sowing seed or reaping harvest?"
It is worth observing that, many times, the sower never has the opportunity to see the fruit of his labors; but together, one day, the sower and the reaper will share in the reward.
Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
(Gal 6:6-9 KJV)
The goodness of Adonai’s economy is often difficult for us to see. Many years we spend sowing the Word of His truth and seem to have little so show for it. This could be His doing, and the reapers are coming behind us, enjoying a bountiful harvest that we will one day share. Or, it could also be that sometimes we are so busy sowing that we walk right over the fresh fruits of someone else’s labor without even noticing.
Messiah’s response to His disciples is to be aware of those aroud you and understand their needs. Know when it is time to sow and when it is time to reap, and don’t be too prepared to do one when the other is what might be needed.
