by Leland Earls

[The Two-Stage Rapture Defined by the Harvest Principle]

Look with me briefly at a parable in Mt. 13:24-30. Jesus speaks of the tares (the counterfeit) growing together with the grain until the harvest. Then the tares are gathered in bundles to be burned (in the vials of wrath at the close of the tribulation), but the wheat is gathered into the heavenly barn. Notice it is only the ripened wheat (100 fold) that is taken, not the blades (30 fold) or the partially filled green heads (60 fold). Do you go out to your garden or field and pick blades that are just sprouting up? Or pluck half filled ears or heads to take into your house? Or do you wait for the ripe grain, corn, etc. to harvest for use? Is not God at least as smart as man? You answer that! The ripe grain (100 fold) will be gathered into the heavenly barn (kingdom) in two groups. First the “first fruits” at the beginning of the tribulation, and then the “main harvest” at the close of the tribulation.

This two-fold harvest is graphically portrayed in Rev. 14:1-5 and 14:14-16. In between (14:6-13) there are three angels who give three proclamations relating to the great tribulation conditions:

1. the preaching of the everlasting gospel,

2. the fall of Babylon, and

3. the warning against being subservient to the beast and his image.

Notice that only after the main harvest has been gathered (14:14-16) do we see the vine of the earth (the wicked) cast into the “wine press of the wrath of God” (14:17-20). This encompasses the seven vials of wrath described in Rev. 16:1-21.

[Paul’s Limited Rapture Teaching Seen within the Harvest Paradigm]

With the foregoing background in the foundational teachings of Jesus, I believe we can now fit Paul’s “in part” understanding into the whole picture, keeping in mind that when Paul wrote, the complete picture of the end-time harvest had not yet been given by the One who is “The First and the Last” (Rev. 1:11). What Paul writes in I Thess. 4:13-18 must be placed at the end of the tribulation when the main harvest takes place, for at that time a great multitude of the elect (100 fold) will be glorified, both of those whose bodies are “asleep in Jesus” and those who are alive and remain (having survived the great tribulation). In the chronology of the harvest in Rev. 14, this would be encompassed in 14:14-16.

It becomes evident by the visions given to John in the book of Revelation that there will be martyrs during the great tribulation. I point this out here because it relates to the main harvest picture. In Rev. 20:4-5 John says, “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, AND I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they LIVED and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. This is the FIRST resurrection.”

Now please notice carefully. The first statement in Rev. 20:4 would refer to those translated and glorified without experiencing death. Then in the next statement in the same verse, John sees the SOULS of those who had been martyred; that is, he saw these saints clothed in their saved (preserved) soul bodies, before their physical bodies are re­stored to them (compare Rev. 6:9). But in the next statement he says, “and they LIVED.” The Amplified version says, “and they LIVED AGAIN.” This would refer to the resurrection and glorification of their physical bodies. Then in Rev. 20:5, John says, “This is the FIRST resurrection.” It is obvious there can be more resurrections after the first, but certainly none before. The context of Rev. 20:4-6 clearly shows that this first resurrection comes AFTER the tribulation. I point this out because of the teaching of many evangelical funda­mentalists that the resurrection and translation which Paul describes in I Thess. 4:13-15 takes place at the beginning of the tribulation. Impossible!! Otherwise the resurrection described in Rev. 20:4 would NOT be the first! This becomes conclusive, as far as I am concerned, that Paul’s Thessalonian passage must be placed at the end of the tribulation. It also reinforces the fact that the “first fruits” of Rev. 14:1-5 are to be taken from among the LIVING only.

[Prophetic Significance of the Jewish Harvest Process]

Before I comment further on some of Paul’s statements, I want to amplify on God’s pattern for the end-time harvest as it is portrayed in Israel’s natural harvest; for the natural is a type of the spiritual.

I know that I have written on these matters before, but I don’t recall ever setting forth a step by step complete scenario of the end-time harvest, so here goes! First, just a brief summary of the progression of the natural harvest. In the land of Palestine, the harvest began in the spring with the ripening of the barley. This took place in the month of Nisan, the first month of their religious calendar, during which the feast of Passover was held at Jerusalem. As a part of the Passover “rites,” God commanded the High Priest to cut out a sheaf of the ripening barley and present it as a first-fruits offering to the Lord, “waving” it before the Lord in a special ceremony. Also, in the spring, the “latter rains” fell, which were necessary to provide moisture to ripen the crops. This was the second of the two major rainy seasons; the first being the “early rains” which fell in the Fall season to soft­en the soils for planting (see Lev. 26:4; Jer. 5:24; Ho. 6:3; Joel 2:23; Zech. 10:1; James 5:7). After the intermittent rains of the winter months (with snow in the higher eleva­tions), and the heavy spring (latter) rains, came the heat of the summer which was also necessary for the harvest to ripen in preparation for cutting and threshing. In the late summer there was the vintage which also has great prophetic significance.

Based on the above pattern, there are three things that are absolutely necessary for a spiritual harvest to God at the close of this age.

(1)   A first fruits company (“sheaf”) presented to God.

In the natural pattern, the harvest could not begin until God received His special portion. Does God give a pattern and then ignore it? No way! We must see the pattern fulfilled in the spiritual harvest at the end of this age exactly as it is portrayed in Rev. 14:1-6. No first fruits – No harvest!

In I Cor. 15:20, Paul speaks of Jesus as the “first fruits of them that slept.” Jesus Himself was the first fulfillment of the first fruits wave-sheaf of the barley harvest when He was resurrected and glorified; ascending to the Father and then descending (the “wave” motion). But like so many prophetic types there is more than one fulfillment. To fulfill the complete pattern, Jesus, as High Priest and Lord of the harvest, must Himself “wave” a first fruits sheaf of them that are alive to begin the end-time harvest. This will take place in the spring of the year, whenever that epochal year arrives. Three and one-half years later (1260 days), in the fall of the year, the main harvest will take place, both of those whose bodies are “asleep in Jesus” and those who are “alive and remain” as Paul states in 1 Thess. 4:15-17.

(2)   The “latter rain” outpouring.

The heavy spring rains were necessary to insure enough moisture for growth and harvest, Even so in this end-time, following the transla­tion of the first fruits, there must be a “latter-rain” outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This will be the full and complete Pentecost, of which that described in Acts, chap. 2, was an earnest and foretaste. Read Acts 2:16-21. In his message, Peter quotes from Joel 2:28-32, which declares that when God pours out His Spirit, He will also show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and notable day of the Lord.” This connection of God’s outpouring with the climactic events which terminate this age should make us realize that the fullPentecost is yet to come.

This “latter rain” is absolutely necessary for the fulfillment of Jesus’ words in Mt. 24:14, “And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” The gospel of the Kingdom which Jesus and His disciples preached was with POWER. Not since the days of the early church has that di­mension of supernatural divine endowment been manifested through God’s people. When the church compromised and “went in unto Rome” in the early fourth century, God “shore her hair” (removed the Glory and Power). Yes, there have been “waves” of refreshing and renewal down through the years as the Holy Spirit has moved to accomplish the Lord’s purposes in His church. But the FULL ANOINTING will not be restored until the “Second Pentecost.” Then will the works of Jesus be done, and even greater works (John 14:12) will be done by chosen vessels. This outpouring will also be needed as millions of “foolish virgins” lay “all on the altar” in order to “buy” the baptismal fire, and then go on to be prov­en and prepared.

(3)   The heat of the summer for maturing, followed by the threshing.

What does this typify in our end-time picture? The great tribulation, which has been designed by God to do a quick purifying and maturing work in Christians. No tribulation; no harvest! Ponder long and prayerfully these statements. Your future destiny in God’s Kingdom is at stake, God must turn up the heat! Lest multitudes of Christians “miss the bus” for translation to the glorified realm. Most willmiss the first “bus” to glory, for only the elect “first fruits” are scheduled for that trip. But because our gracious God has scheduled a multitude to “take off” on the second trip, He has prepared the “heat” of the great tribulation. Yes, for Christians has He prepared it; not for the world, except in a secondary sense; for God is well able to accomplish multiple purposes in a given period of time.

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