The Great Harvest

IN TODAY'S NEWSLETTER... 

• Featured Article: The Great Harvest 
• Palestinians: No to Normalization with the 'Zionist entity' 
• Nearing Midnight: Food Inflation 
• In Order To Have A “Tolerant Society”, The Elite Believe They Must Be Intolerant Of All Dissenting Views 
• Daily Jot: Stupidocrisy: Historic erasure 
• Daily Devotion: Exactly What We Need 

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The Great Harvest - By Randy Nettles - https://www.raptureready.com/2021/01/17/the-great-harvest-by-randy-nettles/
 
In giving the laws for His people, God set several appointed “Feasts of the Lord” for Israel to observe at specific times during the Year (Leviticus 23). These Feasts were holy convocations or assembly meetings for the Hebrew people. They were to be celebrated from that time in the wilderness when God first gave the Law, and would carry on into the future to commemorate what God did for them when He delivered them from centuries of slavery in Egypt. They were first observed when Joshua and the Israelites entered the Promised Land in 1406 B.C. (Joshua 5:10-12).
 
The seven seasonal Feasts of the Lord are: Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. The reason God wanted Moses and the children of Israel to observe the mostly lunar calendar was for these seasonal Feast days. The New Year starts with the first new moon of spring when barley is mostly ripe. Passover is always to occur on the first full moon of spring. The Feast of Tabernacles is also observed on a full moon, during the full moon of autumn.
 
Most Bible scholars believe these Feasts have a dual fulfillment. One was fulfilled historically by Israel in the past, and the other has and will be fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus fulfilled the first four Feasts during his First Coming and will fulfill the last three at His Second Coming. His is the ultimate fulfillment… that is why they are called the Feasts of the Lord and not the Feasts of Israel.
 
In this article we will look at three of the major Feasts of the Lord, where all adult male Jews were required to attend at the Temple in Jerusalem. They include the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatztot), Pentecost (Pesach), and Tabernacles (Sukkot). Passover is included in the convocation of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. All three of these major Feasts occurred during the Jews three harvest times: barley in the spring, wheat in the early summer, and fruit and olives in the fall season. Both the Feasts and harvests have prophetic implications regarding the Lord Jesus. Some of this material (Feasts and calendars) is taken from an earlier article I wrote on this subject. For more information, with more detail please see: Ancient Calendar, Feast Days, & Daniel 12:11, Part 1 :: By Randy Nettles (raptureready.com)
 
Passover took place when the last and most terrible of the ten plagues against Egypt occurred. God sent a plague (probably an angel of death) to kill every firstborn human and cattle in Egypt. The firstborn children and cattle of Israel were not targeted as long as the Jewish people applied the blood of a lamb without blemish to the doorposts of their houses. When the angel saw the blood, he passed over that home to continue his execution of the firstborn of the Egyptians. This last plague resulted in the release and freedom of Moses’ people during the evening hours of Passover on Nisan 14 in the year 1446 B.C.
 
Passover was ultimately fulfilled by Jesus when He died on the cross for the sins of mankind. This occurred on Thursday, Nisan 14 (April 2 on Julian calendar or March 31 on Gregorian calendar) in the year A.D. 33. Four days earlier, on Nisan 10, Jesus had fulfilled prophecy by riding into Jerusalem on a donkey as the king of Israel.
 
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9). Unfortunately, the ruling Jewish elite and the majority of the people did not recognize him as such. He was “cut off” from his immediate kingship of Israel on that day.
 
On the original Passover for Moses and the children of Israel, the blood of the lamb foreshadowed the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God. When we accept His sacrifice, we are no longer judged and sentenced to eternal death because of our sins. Passover is always observed on Nisan 14 of the Jewish calendar. It occurs on different days of the week.
 
During the night of the Passover exodus, the Jews prepared to leave Egypt in great haste. The food they carried with them was unleavened bread – matzo, since they didn’t have time for leavened bread to rise. The feast of Unleavened Bread is the second feast of the Lord and lasts for seven days, from Nisan 15 to 21, whereas no bread is to be eaten with leaven. Leaven or yeast represents sin in the Bible.
 
The prophetic fulfillment of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is understood in the fact that for 7 days the Jews could not eat yeast, nor even have it in their houses. It had to be taken completely away. 7 is the number that represents Divine completion, so having no leaven for 7 days symbolizes completely taking away our sins.
 
When Jesus died on the cross, He took away all of our sins and cancelled the Law’s indictments against us. Jesus Christ, the “Bread of Life,” was buried in a tomb on the day of his crucifixion and was in the earth for 3 days and 3 nights. He purged out our sins and ultimately fulfilled the second Feast of the Lord known as Unleavened Bread.
 
The third Feast of the Lord is celebrated on the first day after the Sabbath/Saturday that follows Passover, and is known as the Feast of Firstfruits. This Feast is not a date-specific one like Passover and Unleavened Bread but is a day-of-the-week specific one, as it always occurs on a Sunday. The Feast of Firstfruits was the time for the harvesting of the early barley crops of spring.
 
Concerning this Feast, the Lord told Moses, “Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When you come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: and he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it” (Leviticus 23:9-11).
 
Throughout the 40 years that Israel wandered in the desert, God provided supernatural food, manna (angel food/bread), to feed the growing nation.
 
The Bible records that after 40 years in the wilderness, Joshua and the Hebrew people crossed over the Jordan River and ate the Passover Supper on the 14th of Nisan. The next day, on the 15th of Nisan, the Jews ate of the old corn of the land. The next day, the 16th day of Nisan, was the last day in which God provided the supernatural manna as food. The day following was the 17th day of Nisan, the Feast of Firstfruits, and with no more manna available, the people began to eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year – the firstfruits of the Promised Land. The Feast celebrated Israel’s acknowledgement that not only the firstfruits were owed to God, but that all they had was from God, a daily gift from His gracious hand.
 
Jesus was resurrected on the third day after Passover, on Sunday, the 17th day of Nisan, in the year A.D. 33. This monumental event is referred to as Resurrection Sunday. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20).
 
Jesus also resurrected others from death during this time. “The graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many” (Matthew 27: 52-53). Although there have been several resurrections of dead people before Jesus, they all died again. Jesus is the only one that has been raised from the dead and is living now in heaven with a resurrected body that is made for eternity. He is the first of his kind in this regard with many more to follow Him in the near future.
 
By resurrecting many of the Old Testament saints on this Feast of Firstfruits, Christ proved that His power over death was not limited to Himself alone. Many ancient Christian writers refer to this miraculous resurrection of the dead. This event, together with more than five hundred eyewitnesses to the risen Christ, assisted in the rapid spread of the Christian faith… as per 1 Corinthians 15:4-6. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the Feast of Firstfruits.
 
The fourth Feast of the Lord, Pentecost (Feast of Weeks/Feast of Harvest), is celebrated 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits in late spring/early summer. Pentecost, or Shavuot to the Jews, celebrated the end of the barley harvest and the beginning of the wheat harvest. The name Pentecost comes from the word “penta” meaning 50.
 
“And you shall count unto you from the morrow after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete. Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall you number fifty days; and you shall offer a new meat offering unto the Lord” (Leviticus 23:15-16).
 
Since the Feast of Firstfruits always occurs on a Sunday, so must Pentecost. It is another day-specific Feast and can occur on different dates of the Hebrew calendar.
 
Originally, Pentecost was celebrated because it was the beginning of the summer harvest. But in A.D. 135, after the final defeat of the Jewish nation (under the leadership of Simon ben Kosiba, popularly known as Bar Kokhba) by Roman legions, the Sanhedrin changed the focus of Shavuot from the summer harvest to the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Law of Moses. They did this because Shavuot was one of the 3 Feasts in which all male Jews were required to observe and gather together, and the defeated and dispersed nation of Israel would no longer have any national harvests to celebrate.
 
From that time on, the Jewish leaders decided that Pentecost would occur 50 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread instead of the Feast of Firstfruits. So now, in their eyes, Shavuot can come any day of the week and always takes place on the 6th day of the 3rd Hebrew month of Sivan. This dating method for Pentecost is not biblically correct. For more information on the date of Pentecost and the date of the Ten Commandments, see: Ancient Calendars, Feast Days, & Daniel 12:11 – Part 2 :: By Randy Nettles (raptureready.com)
 
Pentecost should always fall on Sunday and can come on different dates other than Sivan 6. Pentecost should always come 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits. God’s special number 7 is in focus as 7 Sabbaths must transpire between these two Feasts of the Lord. The starting point is the 1st Sabbath (Saturday) after Passover. The next day, Sunday, is the 1st day. The 7th Saturday is the 49th day. The next day, Sunday, is the 50th day… from Sunday to Sunday.
 
The Feast of Pentecost is very significant to Christians as well as to Jews. Pentecost celebrated the beginning of the wheat grain harvest, during the early summer months. But of course, what Pentecost is most remembered for is the giving of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ disciples. Precisely 50 days after the Feast of Firstfruits, 120 of His disciples gathered together in one place to await the promise of Christ.
 
“But you shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and you 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). On the 7th day of Sivan on the Hebrew calendar, in A.D.33, the Holy Spirit manifested Himself, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
 
‘Those ordinary people, His disciples, were transformed on that day into men of extraordinary spiritual power who would challenge their world of abject paganism with a dynamic Christian movement that not even the might of Rome could stop.
 
Within a few days, over three thousand Jews became believers. Reliable reports suggest that despite horrible persecutions, tortures, and massive executions, within 70 years over 10 million believers had joined the underground Christian Church throughout the Roman Empire. Jesus fulfilled his prophecy to his disciples, and God baptized them with his Holy Spirit. The feast of Pentecost began the Dispensation of Grace, and the Church was born. It consisted of Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of mankind.’ {1}
 
The Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths or Feast of Ingathering, is the last of the 7 Feasts of the Lord and the most joyous. It occurs on the 15th day of Tishri and lasts for 7 days. The purpose of this Feast is recorded in Leviticus 23, verses 33-34 and verses 42-43: “And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, the fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the Lord… You shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
 
Not only did the children of Israel dwell in tents during the 40 years in the wilderness, but God did as well. God’s Shekinah glory dwelt in the Tabernacle of Moses during the wilderness years of the nation of Israel. “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34-35).
 
The dedication of King Solomon’s Temple occurred during the Feast of Tabernacles in the year 959 BC. “Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim (Tishri), which is the seventh month” (1 Kings 8:1-2).
 
“And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice before the Lord. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:62-63). “And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:10-11).
 
During this celebration of Tabernacles, which occurs during the fall harvest season, the people were to live in booths for 7 days that were made of sticks or branches in remembrance of when their ancestors lived in the wilderness for 40 years. The day after the 7th day (the 8th day) is designated as a “solemn assembly” for the children of Israel.
 
The Feast of Tabernacles will ultimately be fulfilled by the Lord Jesus when He establishes His Millennial Kingdom of peace on the earth. “And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one… And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles” (Zechariah 14:9, 16).
 
As mentioned before, the three major Feasts of the Lord that all adult Jewish males were required to attend were the Feast of Unleavened Bread/Passover), Pentecost, and Tabernacles. They were commanded to make the pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem so they could participate in the festivities and worship of their God and to make sacrifices (grain and animals) to Him.
 
These three Feasts of the Lord were centered around their agricultural harvest times. The children of Israel were mostly an agricultural society, so harvest time was very important to them. It was something that they could definitely relate to; that is why Jesus told many of his parables in reference to crops and food.
 
Barley was the main food crop that was harvested during the Feast of Firstfruits in the spring. Wheat was the grain crop that was harvested during Pentecost and occurred in the late spring/early summer. Fruit and olives were the main foods that were harvested during Tabernacles in the fall season.
 
During the two grain crop harvests, the first task was to bring a small sample or “firstfruits” into the house of the Lord. The priest was to wave a sheaf of the grain unto the Lord during Firstfruits and two loafs of baked bread during Pentecost, in effect thanking the Lord for his bounty and asking for the Lord’s blessing upon them. The very name “firstfruits” implies that there is more to come after the first is given. This tradition of the waving of the firstfruit sheafs were incorporated into these Feasts of the Lord to be a statute forever throughout the Israelites generations in all their dwellings.
 
During the fall harvest of Tabernacles, the priests were to make a wave offering to the Lord that was much different than the other two grain wave offerings. They were to take a fruit of the citrus trees, a branch of the palm trees, a bough of a leafy tree, and a branch of the willow tree/bush and tie them together, and then wave them before the Lord. This was to be done on all of the days of the Tabernacle Feast except the Sabbath. These were all trees that were native to the land of Judea.
 
One of the definitions of the word “firstfruits” is: the first agricultural produce of a season, especially when given as an offering to God. Firstfruits is mentioned 33 times in the Bible. 33 is a number that is associated with Jesus as I wrote about in several of my articles. See: https://www.raptureready.com/2018/10/19/gods-perfect-number-part-1-randy-nettles/. Firstfruits is first mentioned in Exodus. Moses, under God’s directive, commanded the people to bring the firstfruits of the crops of the land (when they came into the Promised Land) into the house of the Lord.
 
Jesus was resurrected on Nisan 17, AD 33 on the 3rd day after Passover, on the Feast of Firstfruits. If that is not prophetic, I don’t know what is! Jesus was the firstfruits of the first harvest (of the dead) that was brought into the house of the Lord. Symbolically he was the sheaf that was waved by the high priest signaling that the crop was ripe and ready to be harvested.
 
“But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming (rapture)” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
 
While the sheaf was being waved by the priest in the Temple at Jerusalem, God was “waving” the resurrected Jesus in heaven, signifying the bountiful harvest to come at the Rapture. On earth, in the Promised Land of Israel, the harvest that follows the barley crop of Firstfruits is the wheat crop of Pentecost. In heaven (our true Promised Land), will the harvest of Jesus, as the firstfruits of the dead, be followed by the more abundant harvest/rapture of the Church saints at Pentecost? I don’t know for sure; nobody does. However, I do agree with the late Bible teacher and scholar, Jack Kelley, who believed that the Rapture doesn’t have to occur on a Feast of the Lord day, but if it does, Pentecost is the most likely candidate. There is no conclusive evidence of this, only circumstantial evidence (clues) in the way of typology.
 
At Pentecost two loaves of baked bread with yeast were waved. The two loaves could represent the dead and living Church-age saints to be resurrected and translated at the Rapture. As mentioned before, yeast represents sin. The Church is comprised entirely of sinners (yet repentant).
 
Another typology is the comparison of the feast of weeks to the Jubilee of Israel. The 7 weekly Sabbaths needed for Pentecost (50th day) to come after Firstfruits is reminiscent of the 7 yearly Sabbaths of rest for the Jubilee to occur. The Jubilee (50th year) was supposed to be a year of rest for the people, work animals, and land of the Promised Land. “And you shall hallow the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to the inhabitants there, it shall be a jubilee unto you; and you shall return every man unto his possession (home), and you shall return every man unto his family” (Leviticus 25:10).
 
There is no proof that the Jews ever let the land rest for a year or celebrated the Jubilee. If the Rapture does happen on Pentecost (after 7 Sabbaths from Firstfruits), it will definitely be a year of jubilee with the slaves of sin being set free and returning to their home in the Promised Land of heaven, where they will rest from their labor.
 
Another typology of the Rapture occurring on Pentecost is the story of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz in the book of Ruth in the Old Testament. The story occurs around Pentecost during the final summer harvest of the grain fields owned by Boaz of the tribe of Judah. The story takes place in Bethlehem, which means “house of bread.” Jesus, the “Bread of Life,” was born in Bethlehem, the house of bread. During Jesus’ birth, the angels announced the birth of the Messiah to the shepherds in the fields that Boaz had owned around Bethlehem.
 
Boaz was the son of Rahab, the Jericho harlot (turned hero) from the Book of Joshua. He was the great grandfather of King David. As “kinsmen redeemer” Boaz redeemed his Jewish relative Naomi, and took Ruth (a Moabite) as his Gentile bride. This is just exactly what our kinsman redeemer, Jesus Christ, will do when He returns at the Rapture. He will come to redeem Israel, and in the process, the Lord will take a Gentile bride, the Church, and thus He will save the inheritance of both.
 
Another interesting fact is the timing of Pentecost, which occurs in early summer. Pentecost is in between the three early spring feasts and the three fall feasts. Likewise, the Rapture will take place between the First Coming of Jesus and the Second Coming of Jesus to the Earth. Some believe since the Church started on the day of Pentecost (where 3,000 souls were saved) that it will also end on a near future day of Pentecost.
 
40 days after Jesus was resurrected from the dead on the Feast of Firstfruits, he ascended up to heaven. 10 days later, God the Father sent the Holy Spirit to 120 of Jesus’ disciples, and the Church was born. Jesus had prophesied about the Holy Spirit to his disciples before his death. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26). If Jesus did not fulfill the Feast of Pentecost by sending the Holy Spirit (for the Father sent Him), then it still remains to be fulfilled. By the Rapture, perhaps?
 
The two cornerstones of Rapture prophecies were given by the apostle Paul nearly two decades after the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ.
 
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep (dead), that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). The Greek word for “caught up” is “harpazō” and means “to seize, or carry off by force” or “to snatch away.”
 
“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
 
There are two firstfruits that have preceded and prefigured the harvest of souls known as the Rapture. Enoch and Elijah were the firstfruits of living believers to be caught up in a type of Rapture. In 2 Kings 2:11 Elijah is said to be taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. The Hebrew word “heaven” is the same word used in Genesis 1:6-8 to describe the sky (or 1st heaven). I believe he was taken up into the sky, and then his soul went to Paradise where all Old Testament believers went before Jesus came. Something similar happened to Enoch. Neither one experienced death in the sense of “passing away.” These firstfruits of the harvest will be followed in the near future by all those believers who are still alive when Jesus returns for them at the Rapture.
 
Of course, Jesus was the firstfruits of dead believers to be translated with a new body and taken into heaven. This supernatural event will be duplicated when Jesus returns with the dead in Christ at the Rapture. Both the dead and living saints will receive their new spiritual bodies and will be taken into the 3rd heaven, where they will be with the Lord Jesus forevermore.
 
Jesus will return to the earth (Second Coming) on a future Feast of Trumpets day during the end days of the Tribulation, thus fulfilling this fifth Feast of the Lord. He will return as the conquering King of kings and Lord of lords. He will save a remnant of his Jewish saints as well as a remnant of the Gentile saints that survive the Tribulation (see Isaiah 60). The surviving believers will atone for their former transgression (unbelief) against Him on the Day of Atonement, thus fulfilling this sixth Feast of the Lord.
 
‘The Lord will summon the tribulation survivors from all over the world to the Kidron Valley for a series of judgments (Joel 3:1-2). Using their actions as evidence of their faith, He will separate the believers from the unbelievers. He’ll welcome the believers into His Kingdom while consigning unbelievers to the outer darkness (Matt. 24:45-25:46). The believing survivors who enter Jesus’ Kingdom will eventually re-populate the nations. Jesus and the believing survivors will tabernacle together on the Feast of Tabernacles and will prepare for the soon-coming Millennium Kingdom to arrive, thus fulfilling the last of the 7 Feasts of the Lord.
 
One of the Lord’s first official acts after assuming His role as King of the whole Earth will be to have Satan bound in chains for the duration of His 1,000-year reign (Rev. 20:1-30). At that time, the martyrs from Daniel’s 70th week will join Old Testament believers in receiving their resurrection bodies” (Daniel 12:1-2, Rev. 20:4).’ {2}
 
This will be like a reverse rapture where, instead of being caught up into heaven, these saints (with their new immortal bodies), along with the Church saints who were resurrected and translated at the Rapture, will be brought down to the earth where they will spend the Millennium with the Lord ruling the nations. Instead of grapes and olives being gathered during the time of Tabernacles, it will be one of human souls being “ingathered” into the newly upgraded earth. See: The End Of The Age, And Beyond :: by Jack Kelley – Rapture Ready
 
Near the end of the Millennium, Satan and his evil followers will be defeated by God who will rain down fire from heaven upon them after one last coup attempt against King Jesus. Satan will be cast down into the Lake of Fire where the Anti-Christ and false prophet are. At this point, the Great White Throne Judgment will begin with God judging the unbelieving dead of all the ages. The Book of Deeds and the Book of Life will be opened, and the dead will be judged, each one according to his works.
 
“Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:14-15). At the end of the Millennium Kingdom, there will be one more harvest before eternity begins (and never ends). The living and deceased saints of the Millennium age will be translated with a heavenly body to enter into the New Jerusalem and the New Earth.
 
Brothers and sisters, it’s time to go to work, for the harvest is nearly upon us. Jesus said, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves (Luke 10:2-3).
 
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
 
Randy Nettles
 
[email protected]
 
Endnotes:
 
{1} “Appointment with Destiny – Armageddon” by Grant R. Jeffrey, pg. 65
 
{2} The End Of The Age, And Beyond :: by Jack Kelley – Rapture Ready

 


 
Palestinians: No to Normalization with the 'Zionist entity' - by Khaled Abu Toameh - https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17024/palestinians-normalization-israel
 
If and when the Biden administration manages to revive the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, it will have to take into consideration that the Arab campaign against normalization with Israel remains as aggressive as ever.
 
The anti-normalization campaign, which is also waged by Palestinians, means that any Palestinian leader or negotiator who is seen sitting with an Israeli will be condemned by Palestinians and possibly other Arabs as a traitor.
 
Two recent examples of the ongoing campaign:
 
On January 6, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), a body dominated by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction and representing hundreds of Palestinian journalists, issued a warning to its members against engaging in normalization activities with Israelis.
 
The warning came in response to reports that the Israel Defense Forces had invited Palestinian journalists to participate in a Zoom briefing on Israel's measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
 
Some of the Palestinian journalists who reportedly received the invitation alerted the PJS, which swiftly issued the warning to all its members.
 
It is important to note the wording of the statement issued by the PJS, whose heads are considered loyalists of Abbas:
 
"The syndicate, while expressing its complete refusal of such invitations, affirms that these conferences and meetings, held by the occupation army, are dangerous, even if they are related to health issues. All these meetings, even if they are held through social media [platforms], only lead to normalization with the Zionist entity. The syndicate warns against participation in these meetings."
 
First, the Palestinian group is saying that it does not care about the subject of the meeting, even if it is related to a pandemic. It is opposed to any meeting with Israelis because that would promote normalization with Israel. If the journalists are strongly opposed to medical cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians, why did the PJS not condemn the Palestinian leadership for accepting vaccines from Israel on February 1? Why is it acceptable for the Palestinian Authority to receive vaccines from Israel, while Palestinian journalists are not permitted to attend an Israeli-sponsored Zoom conference on the coronavirus?
 
Second, the warning itself may be seen as a threat to those journalists who participate in any online conferences with Israelis. The threat implies that the journalists may be expelled from the PJS or have their names placed on a blacklist, which means they will be boycotted by their colleagues and branded as traitors for appearing with Israelis. In the past, the PJS has called for boycotting the Israeli media and banned its members from attending conferences with Israelis anywhere, including Europe and the US.
 
Third, by referring to Israel as the "Zionist entity," the PJS is signaling that, like Hamas and Iran, it does not recognize Israel. They consider the word "Israel" anathema, to the point that they cannot even bring themselves to mention it.
 
It is also worth pointing out that the PJS's warning shows that there is not much difference between Fatah and Hamas, especially when it comes to calling Israel the "Zionist entity" and banning any form of normalization with Israel.
 
Last year, Hamas arrested several Palestinian activists in the Gaza Strip on charges of treason after they participated in a "WEconference" with Israelis. Explaining the arrests, the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry said: "Holding any activity or contact with the Israeli occupation under any cover is a crime punishable by law and a betrayal for the [Palestinian] people and their sacrifices."
 
Although they have been engaged in a bitter power struggle for the past 14 years, Abbas's Fatah faction and Hamas have nevertheless both denounced the normalization agreements signed last year between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco. Fatah and Hamas are both ready to lay aside their bloody feud to oppose any form of normalization with Israel, not only by Palestinians, but by Arab countries as well.
 
The second example that the anti-normalization campaign is alive and continuing: Palestinian denunciations of an interview with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz by the Egyptian-based TV station, Al-Ghad.
 
The TV station is now being condemned by Palestinians (and other Arabs) for allegedly promoting normalization with Israel by interviewing an Israeli. On Twitter, many Palestinians are calling for a boycott of the station, accusing it of "betraying" them.
 
If Palestinian journalists are banned from meeting Israelis, and if an Arab TV station is not allowed to interview an Israeli, what will be the Palestinians' reaction the day they see Abbas or any other Palestinian sitting at a negotiating table with Israel? The Palestinian representatives will undoubtedly be accused of committing treason.
 
If the Biden administration is serious about resuming the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, it needs to take into account that calls for boycotting Israel or banning normalization activities will terrify any Palestinian away from the negotiating table.
 
As long as the anti-Israel voices and campaigns are raging among Palestinians, Abbas and his entourage will think a thousand times before they agree to be seen sitting across a table from any Israeli.
 
The last thing any Palestinian officials wants is to be labeled a traitor because, in the world of Fatah and Hamas, that crime is punishable by death. If, on the other hand, Abbas wants to avoid such a fate, he must do an about-face and put an end to the anti-Israel incitement that is coming, first and foremost, from his very own loyalists.

 

 
Nearing Midnight: Food Inflation – Todd Strandberg - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/
 
There has been a huge rise in nearly all grain prices over the past year. The price for Soybeans started 2020 at around $8.50 per bushel. It now trades around $14.00 per bushel. Corn prices started 2020 at around $3.80 per bushel. It now trades around $4.80 per bushel. With both of these grains in thousands of food products, there is going to be a huge rise in food inflation.
 
For many decades there has been a race between the birth rate and our ability to produce more food to feed a hungry global population. In the 1940s, a yield of 40 bushels per acre was the average for corn crops. In 2020 farmers managed to get to a record corn yield estimate of 181.8 bushels per acre.
 
In the past few years, corn crops have suffered an endless series of bad luck events that lowered yields. The past three years that we have completed growing records were all years of decline. The 2020 season is still being counted.
 
2017 -3.56 %
2018 -1.84 %
2019 -5.02 %
 
When the final numbers come in for 2020, they will not be good. Last year we had a drought in the western plain states and a massive windstorm over Eastern Iowa and central Illinois.
 
Grain production will be down in South Africa. This area of the world received lower yields because of too much rain that flooded fields.
 
In South America there was a lack of rainfall. Soybean production in top-producer Brazil was pegged at 133.00 million tonnes, unchanged from the previous outlook. Brazil’s corn harvest was seen at 109.00 million tonnes. In Argentina, where farmers have struggled with drought throughout the growing season, USDA predicted a soybean harvest of 48.00 million tonnes and a corn harvest of 47.50 million tonnes. The crop yield was so bad in Brazil and Argentina that the government lowered the ability of exporters to send grain outside the country.
 
Russia is raising a previously announced export tax on the grain from the currently planned 25 euros ($30) per tonne to 50 euros ($60) per ton. Russia, one of the world’s largest wheat exporters, is trying to stabilize domestic food prices with the wheat export levy as well as a grain export quota and a series of other measures after President Vladimir Putin criticized the impact of excessive inflation.
 
China has had a very bad year in the 2020 growing season. There were drought conditions in the north, heavy floods in the central area of the nation, and the south had grain-munching bugs in various regions of the country. Because China is so secretive about production numbers, it’s hard to get the true picture of Chinese food needs.
 
In 2019 China had entered into a food war with the U.S, so it reduced grain imports to punish Washington. In 2019 China only used 67% of its annual quota for corn and one-third of its quota for wheat.
 
Things must be at dire levels in China because that nation’s grain imports soared to record highs in 2020. China bought a record 11.3 million tonnes of imported corn last year, according to General Administration of Customs data, exceeding the annual quota – which was set at 7.2 million tonnes. China also imported a record 8.38 million tonnes of wheat.
 
The list below shows a year over year increase in China’s imports of several key commodities:
 
Corn 135.7%
Wheat 140.2%
Barley 36.3%
orghum 478.6%
Pork 108.3%
Sugar 55.5%
 
Another sign that the food situation in China must be very bleak is China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs approved two genetically modified corn varieties from Bayer AG and Syngenta AG for import. The corn strains, MON87411 and MZIR098, are approved for imports for five years starting December 2020. China has also approved several locally produced genetically modified corn varieties.
 
Several nations have become net imports of large amounts of grain. India’s boom population is soon to become a massive drain on global grain reserves. Last year Colombia made a very odd purchase of 108,000 metric tons of corn. When you realize that France is the only nation in Europe that could feed its own people, you can see how quickly the world can get into trouble.
 
It is very unusual to have so many grain-growing regions all having a production problem at the same time. In 2021 there is going to be a massive effort to make up for the losses by vastly increasing acreage. If we have good weather, we will have a bumper crop, and grain prices will stabilize.
 
Last year Beijing sent out a small army of grain buyers to purchase huge amounts of grain to fulfill China’s massive grain needs. This may be the year that they are sent back home empty-handed. Since bad luck has become a permanent fixture in food production, I can only conclude that these events are the lead-up to the great famine that will play out during the tribulation.
 
“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and

 


 
In Order To Have A “Tolerant Society”, The Elite Believe They Must Be Intolerant Of All Dissenting Views - by Michael Snyder - http://endoftheamericandream.com/in-order-to-have-a-tolerant-society-the-elite-believe-they-must-be-intolerant-of-all-dissenting-views/
 
When information becomes a “threat”, even thinking the wrong thing can be dangerous. Over the past several weeks, I have heard the word “misinformation” uttered in the same sentence as “terror” or “terrorists” countless times. In the old days, the “extremists” and the “terrorists” were on the other side of the globe, but now we are being told that they live among us. So how can we identify them? Well, we are being told that “the bad guys” can be identified by what they believe. Those that do not embrace the propaganda that big tech and the corporate media are relentlessly pushing are being systematically “deplatformed”, “canceled” and pushed to the fringes of society. But apparently that is not nearly enough, because the New York Times is now asking for the Biden administration to appoint a “reality czar” that will be given authority to deal with “misinformation” and “extremism”.
 
So exactly what will be done to those that are guilty of committing “thought crimes” against the government?
 
Sadly, I think that we are eventually going to find out.
 
For decades, the elite have been telling us that we need to have a “tolerant” society. But now that they have almost total control, we are being told that in order to have that tolerant society they must be extremely intolerant of dissenting viewpoints.
 
They seem to have embraced a very radical form of the “paradox of tolerance”, and as a result our society is becoming more dystopian with each passing day.
 
For example, this week U.S. Representative Jackie Speier suggested that it is time to start referring to Republicans as “the terrorist right”.
 
That is close to half the country. Does she really want nearly half the nation to be considered “terrorists”?
 
Last month, I wrote about a new bill that has been introduced in Congress which is essentially the Patriot Act on steroids. But of course the Patriot Act was primarily focused on terror threats from overseas, while even Democrats are admitting that this new bill appears to be specifically targeting Americans that do not have the correct political views. If you doubt this, just consider what Tulsi Gabbard is saying about this new bill…
 
This is an issue that all Democrats, Republicans, independents, Libertarians should be extremely concerned about, especially because we don’t have to guess about where this goes or how this ends. What characteristics are we looking for as we are building this profile of a potential extremist, what are we talking about? Religious extremists, are we talking about Christians, evangelical Christians, what is a religious extremist? Is it somebody who is pro-life?
 
In the end, they don’t have to put millions of people in prison to chill free speech in America.
 
All they have to do is set a few examples and most others will willingly fall in line.
 
It is all about behavioral conditioning. They want to shape what we do, what we say and what we think by creating fear.
 
As Grace-Anne Kelly has aptly pointed out, this is something that they are doing to our children as well.
 
Fear is the mind killer. The elite understand that it is the best way to control large masses of people, and that is why they are continually looking for new ways to keep us in a constant state of fear.
 
Ultimately, what they want are vast herds of “sheeple” that are extremely easy to manipulate.
 
If you would like to see what this looks like, spend some time studying the Chinese system.
 
In China, the government is so utterly dominant over the population that hardly anyone objects when “mandatory anal swabs” are implemented.
 
Unfortunately, the U.S. is moving in the same direction very rapidly.
 
Decades ago, Americans would get very upset when the government would decide to start dangerous new military conflicts.
 
But now Joe Biden can roll U.S. military forces into Syria without hardly anyone even noticing.
 
And it appears that the Biden administration is also setting the stage for a potential war with Iran…
 
Iran could be “weeks away” from having sufficient material to develop a nuclear weapon if it continues to violate the 2015 nuclear deal, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Monday in an interview with NBC News.
 
Meanwhile, the Democrats are getting ready to raise our taxes, and many Americans are actually begging them to do it.
 
The Democrats also want to end the Second Amendment, but of course millions of people are quite eager for that to happen as well.
 
After everything that they have already gotten away with in the past few months, they probably figure that they may as well go nuts because nobody is going to stop them.
 
This isn’t about one political party implementing an agenda now that they are in power.
 
Rather, this is about one group of people wanting to permanently neuter and silence the opposition. From now on, those that dare to question the official narratives handed down by our overlords will be branded “terrorists”, and this new “war on terror” will be designed to absolutely crush dissent wherever it is found. I really like how investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald recently made this point…
 
“The last two weeks have ushered in a wave of new domestic police powers and rhetoric in the name of fighting ‘terrorism’ that are carbon copies of many of the worst excesses of the first War on Terror that began nearly twenty years ago. This New War on Terror—one that is domestic in name from the start and carries the explicit purpose of fighting ‘extremists’ and ‘domestic terrorists’ among American citizens on U.S. soil—presents the whole slew of historically familiar dangers when governments, exploiting media-generated fear and dangers, arm themselves with the power to control information, debate, opinion, activism and protests.”
 
For a time in January, 1984 by George Orwell became the number one selling book on Amazon, and right now our society is moving in that direction at a pace that is absolutely breathtaking.
 
They really do want complete and total control, and they aren’t going to stop until they get it.
 
Needless to say, if we continue on this path as a nation, we are quite doomed.
 
The good news is that even Democrats such as Tulsi Gabbard are publicly pushing back against these assaults on our liberties and freedoms.
 
The bad news is that she is definitely in the minority, and there seems to be a consensus building in both parties that “extremism” in the United States must be crushed.
 
This is a very dark time in our history, and it appears that things will never be quite the same ever again.

 


 
Daily Jot: Stupidocrisy: Historic erasure – Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com
 
This week the Stupidocrisy acknowledgment goes to the San Francisco School Board for “cancelling” the Founding Fathers and other historical figures as names of various district schools for being white supremacists, racists, and other references to American history. Many of the names, which include Abraham Lincoln, Paul Revere, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and others, were removed because of the board’s “perception” rather than historical fact. For example, board members admitted they didn’t know if Roosevelt Middle School was named after Theodore or Franklin Delano, so to be safe they just voted to remove the name. And Abraham Lincoln, well, he just didn’t do enough for Native Americans.
 
The School Board took the eraser to historic figures, but didn’t consider the history. As Forbes reports, “Paul Revere’s name is being banished because he was a commander in the Penobscot Expedition of 1779, which supposedly “is directly connected to the colonization of the Penobscot [Indians]”. On the contrary, the Penobscot Expedition was a disastrously failed military assault on a British Fort in what is now Maine.” George Washington owned slaves, so he got cancelled. Lincoln was erased because the Board falsely concluded that Lincoln was behind the execution of 38 Dakota Indians for their atrocities in the US-Dakota War. Lincoln was not responsible for their executions AND he actually commuted the death sentences of the vast majority of Dakota Indians because they didn’t get fair trials.
 
Even references to Thanksgiving were banned because of the patently false revisionist narrative that the Pilgrims massacred Indians, stole their food and drove them off their land. Senator Dianne Feinstein, (D-CA), got cancelled because the Board can’t have a school named after a Senator who in 1984 replaced a vandalized Confederate flag that was part of a historic display at San Francisco City Hall. According to the Board, Feinstein must be punished for cultural incompetency. This Board’s level of incompetence is extraordinary when one considers that these Board members are responsible for implementing the policies and philosophies of how children in San Francisco are educated. Their example to academia demonstrates the height of stupidity and hyprocrisy—stupidocrisy.
 
But it is even worse. This is how an entire nation has been moved away from the Godly values and common sense to the ignorance, academic laziness, and ideological bigotry we are seeing every day in this nation. I was once told by a civil rights activist that to end racism, the history of American society must be deconstructed and banished. The problem with this wrong-mindedness is that if we do not know who we are and where we came from, we are destined to repeat the same mistakes of the past and unable to perfect the successes for the future. It leads to tyranny and despotism. Truly, the past is prologue, no matter how bad or good, we need to know it. Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a just man falls seven times, and rises up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” And that is the fate of practicing stupidocrisy—like the SF School Board.

 


 
Daily Devotion: Exactly What We Need - by Greg Laurie – www.harvest.org
 
And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. —Exodus 16:35
 
https://harvest.org/resources/devotion/exactly-what-we-need/ - Listen
 
In 1999, David Whipple bought a burger at a McDonald’s in Logan, Utah, to use in a demonstration. He put it in his coat pocket and then forgot it was there. When his wife found it in the coat in 2013, he decided to store it in a tin from that point on.
 
Recently a reporter persuaded Whipple to take a look at the burger. Other than the pickle, which had disappeared, they concluded that it looked “relatively the same” after all those years.
 
When God provided food for the Israelites in the wilderness, they couldn’t even keep it overnight. Otherwise, it would rot (except the extra they collected for the Sabbath). They called this food “Manna,” and they were to gather as much as they needed for the day.
 
Exodus 16 tells us, “So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed” (verses 17–18 NLT).
 
Let’s think of Manna like God’s Word for a moment. Job said, “I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12 NKJV).
 
We can find everything we need to know about God in the pages of Scripture. And we can find everything we need to know about life there as well.
 
The Bible says that God’s mercies are “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23 NKJV). Every day, we should open the Bible and say, “Lord, I need You to speak to me through this Book. I need to hear Your voice.”
 
Don’t live off yesterday’s blessings. Start every day with the Word of God.



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