ARE GARDENING & FARMING
BIBLICAL?
Greetings brothers and sisters of the remnant church. We continue to pray as always that ALL is very well with you, your families, church families, personal and public ministries, and your walk with the Lord. As the approaching storm is now clearly in view, we all need to be wrestling with God for a complete character reset like never before. How do I know this? “When the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own." {COL 69.1}.
Brother/Sister, in order to look like Christ and have Him perfectly reproduced in us, we need to behold Christ {2 Corinthians 3:18}, not just during church service or morning and evening worship or morning, evening, and noon prayer {Psalm 55:17}, but continually, moment by moment {DA 324.1}. However, it is very interesting to note that Sister White includes an agricultural text {Mark 4:29} in the aforementioned quote {Christ's Object Lessons p. 69.1} in the context of the Second Coming. This not coincidental. As students of prophecy, we are all keenly aware that there will be two separate and distinct groups of human beings at the end of time, specifically and parabolically, the "wheat" and the "tares" {Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43} or, according to Revelation 14:14-20, the "good grapes" and the "bad grapes."
Rev. 14:14 "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle."
It is clearly evident here in v. 14 of Rev. 14 that the person sitting on the white cloud, "like unto the Son of man," with a golden crown on his head, is Jesus, our Savior and King. He is also holding a sharp sickle in his hand, or, put another way, a farming implement. Did you notice that?
Rev. 14:15 "And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe."
In v. 15, an angel comes forth out of the temple of God in Heaven, and tells Jesus that He can now begin the process of reaping. Why? Because this same angel announces to Jesus that the "harvest of the earth is ripe." In other words, the character of Christ has been perfectly reproduced in His people. The dead in Christ have already had their cases settled. The living saints are now ready for translation.
Rev. 14:16 "And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped."
We can confidently compare scripture with scripture here, cosigning Rev. 14:16 with 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17.
"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 4:16,17 plainly brings to view the reaping of the harvest of the "good grapes." But brother/sister, we must remember that the investigative judgment involves the separation of two groups of human beings.
Rev. 14:17,18 "And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe."
Verses 17 & 18 bring out some very profound points:
- In v. 17, another angel emerges from the Heavenly temple, also holding a sharp sickle, same as Jesus, but apparently this angel is to perform another work of reaping.
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In v. 18, the Bible brings to view that this cluster of grapes are also fully ripe. In the original Greek language (Strong's #187/Akmazo) ripe means "to flourish, to come to maturity." The root of Akmazo is #188/Akmen, meaning "extremity, climax, highest degree." In other words, the "bad grapes" or "the tares" have maxed out, have reached the lowest point of their spiritual declension, and have utterly refused Christ's offers of mercy ("He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still." Rev. 22:11)
Rev. 14:19 "And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God."
Brother/Sister, the language and imagery cannot be denied here. Conventionally speaking, what is a winepress used for? Here is the definition:
WINEPRESS (noun): A winepress is a device used to extract juice from crushed grapes during wine making. Each style of press exerts controlled pressure in order to free the juice from the fruit.
Rev. 14:20 "And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs."
The context here in v. 20 is crystal clear. The second group of grapes are destroyed. They can be identified Biblically as the tares {Matthew 13:25-30, 38-40}, the bad fish {Matthew 13:47-40}, the foolish virgins {Matthew 25:1-13}, and the unprofitable servant (Matthew 25:14-30}. The Bible is also consistent regarding the symbolism of "bad grapes." Notice this:
Deuteronomy 32:31,32 "For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter."
God does not mince His words. There are only two possibilities that the Bible teaches us regarding our eternal destiny. The Lord provides several different angles on this point, to make it as clear as possible for us. However, this isn't a message of fear; no brother/sister, it is without question a message of love. What greater love can our Savior have for the people He came to earth to die for, than to warn us in advance that there are only two final outcomes in this life, and to give us ample tools to prepare for the better outcome, eternal life? He has provided every possible provision to save us. Let us all strive with all the power God has given us to be a "good grape."