April 29, 2017

The barley harvest is the harvest of the Philadelphia Christians. These are limited to the living members of this Church age which can vary in size. If a person truly repents even now, that person moves from Laodicea to Philadelphia, I believe. The problem is that few, so very few, are doing that because they are in “love” with this world system and its tinsel lifestyle.

The wheat harvest is the gathering of the Laodicea Christians. These are settled in the world and love the things of the world. So few are willing to change and so many scoff at the nearness of the coming of Jesus Christ, which coming will forever end their sinful lifestyle.

We have an extremely spoiled generation of people today. These want what they want, and when they want it. And parents are so willing to succumb to threats from their spoiled offspring, that they succumb to blackmail of sorts. They move mountains to provide for their children what the child demands. Thus, lack of any meaningful discipline in the home has caused the collapse of the morals of an entire two generations of people.

God, in love and mercy, is pleading with these to repent of their evils, one of which is to never open the Holy Bible. Instead, because they have an inward desire to worship something (placed there by the Creator) they heap to themselves gurus, teachers who will gladly scratch their itch for filthy lucre, and pastors in “church” pulpits who will preach to their itching ears soft and melodius messages, howbeit without serious conviction of sin and the need to repent.

God is holy. God sees all. God has His own timing. God has judgment. God has wrath!

We, the saved and repentant ones are represented by the barley harvest, which occurs in the Spring season of the year. The unrepentant ones, who will be cleansed by way of tribulation, are represented by the wheat harvest which comes in the Fall season of the year. The wheat, when ripe has a very hard head that must be crushed. Just as these do. But, not so with the barley.

When Jesus was in the city of Sychar, Samaria (John 4:6), He stopped at Jacob's to sit because He was weary. While resting, a woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus had no cup with which to obtain water so He simply asked the woman for a drink. (His disciples had gone into Sychar for food). It astonished the woman because she knew that Jews had no dealing at all with lowly Samaritans. In the course of conversation, Jesus led her to Himself as the “living water”.
Her reply was one of faith, believing. She was now a saved woman.

Many Christians have accepted the living water due to the thirst in their souls. But many have also gone away, not willing to follow the living water giver, but rather their own way and will. It was illustrated by Jesus when He told the woman “Go, call thy husband and come hither”. To this command, she replied, “I have no husband”. Jesus then said to her “Thou hast well said, I have no husband: for thou has had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband”. Jesus was telling her that her life must change. He told her that He is the Messiah, the One she will have to do with. In other words, you are now saved, change your life and follow Me.

Thus is the crux of the matter. Too many, far too many, accept the salvation offer of God through His Son Jesus Christ, which came at the price of blood, but few, so very few, will follow Him. He offers life abundant, but few want it. They want to do their “own thing”, or “my way”. And they drive their parents crazy to provide what they perceive that they need to do their “own thing”.

God condemns this attitude. He said that there is nothing, no nothing more precious than the blood of the covenant, “shed by My Son for you”. You have no greater calling than to live for Jesus Christ in whatever avenue of life He places you. Some obey, but very few in this day and age are willing to obey the commands of their Lord and Savior, their soon coming King.
Thus the crux of the matter is discovered. Those who do follow Jesus to the best of their ability and live a repentant, joyful life in Him are the subjects of the soon coming rapture. Those who live for self and refuse to repent, even when they know they should, are the left behind ones. These will yield to their Master, but only by refinement in the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” of the great tribulation that is coming upon the earth, and is even here as I write this.

The Gregorian year 2017 is a Jubilee year. For Israel it began back in September 2016 and will run to September 2017. For gentiles, it is now the fourth month and forty days past the onset of Spring. For us, the Song of Solomon defines our being at the time of the grape vines with tender grapes giving a smell and the fig tree budding. That is the time for the resurrection of the dead in Christ to “Arise (resurrect) and come away”. We, then, which are alive and remain are to join them in the clouds, up in the air, where we meet the Lord and are ever then with Him.

Those left behind will find themselves in deep trouble. They will repent quickly, I believe, although it is too late for them to go up to Jesus. Many will die or be killed, but at least. They will have surrendered to the commands of Jesus to live for Him. These are the Laodicea Christians, delivered out of the world, whose robes are burned clean in the fire of God's judgment.

So when? The Philadelphia Christians will be raptured during the harvest of the barley crop and are represented by the barley.

The Laodicea Christians, what few remain alive, will be likewise taken as the wheat harvest.

Jesus said to His disciples while at the Samaritan well, “Say ye not that there are yet FOUR months, and then cometh the harvest? He was referring to the wheat harvest about 120 days after the time of the barley harvest. You see, He said here “I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already unto harvest”. He was speaking of the barley so He was there at the well in the Spring season.

If this is the governor of the two raptures, that is Philadelphia and Laodicea, then these two could be 120 days apart. That is four months. The Song of Solomon tells us that the Shulamite girl, the gentile bride to be was taken (chapter 6 and verse 12) when the pomegranate budde forth and the grapes are on the vine. Also, the mandrakes (tomatoes) were fragrant. This seems to indicate in the Summer, about August. Thus from May to August could be the time frame. For example, it could be May 1 to August 28. That would be exactly 120 days inclusive.

I am not saying that this is the count, I am only saying it could be. And the signs of the Song of Solomon seem to fit this as well.

The main thing is to be ready every moment of every day, for our redemption draweth nigh.

Maranatha

Gerry Almond