We Are Witnesses Of The Harvest

I would like to take us on a little journey through time in the Scriptures. Actually, we are in the middle of a journey we already started. We have been looking into God’s dealing with Israel in the Jewish feast days that are laid out in Leviticus 23. Beginning with Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits. Then 50 days later we celebrate Shavuot - the Feast of Weeks or “Pentecost.” We must take note of the fact that this is God’s prophetic timetable, His plan for the redemption of Israel and the nations. 

Having just finished the celebration of Shavuot or Pentecost (Leviticus 23:15-21), we seem to have a break in which we can rest and take life a little easier until the next feast day on Israel’s calendar, which will be Yom T’ruah - The Feast of Trumpets (Leviticus 23:23-25). This Jewish holiday is referred to today as Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish new year) by my Jewish people. We will get into that holiday in more detail as the day approaches. For now, the Feast of Trumpets is off in the distance. 

Because these Jewish feasts are found in Leviticus, most Christians tend to dismiss them as Old Testament, part of the Law, pertaining only to Israel, and by doing so I think many believers are not aware of this season we are living in other than it is the church age. 

But, if we look closely at the feasts in Leviticus 23, we will see that Pentecost ends with verse 21 and Trumpets begins with verse 23. But there is a verse in between (v.22), and it is on this verse that I suggest we pause for a moment and ask ourselves, “what is happening here? Is it just an interruption between Pentecost and Trumpets?”

‘When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the stranger. I am the Lord your God.’”  

(Leviticus 23:22)

Most commentators simply refer to the verse as a time in which the people were required to leave the corners of their fields for the poor, teaching that the joy of the harvest should express itself in charity to the poor. That’s not a bad thing. But I believe that we get greater insight prophetically, into the times in which we are living from this four-month interval that is in verse 22 - sandwiched between the Feasts of Pentecost and Trumpets. 

In fact, all of Israel’s feasts were prophetic. The first four have been historically fulfilled, and we are now in the time of verse 22, which is not a feast itself and seems like an interruption, but actually represents the “long summer” we are living in today - a time of harvest. 

It is not just a matter of leaving the corners of your field for the poor. 

It is symbolic of this present age and represents the time between Messiah’s first coming, which was fulfilled in the first four feasts of Israel, and His second coming which will be fulfilled by the last three feasts of Israel (which are still prophetic) and take place in the fall. 

The time between those two events is a season of harvesting or ingathering as we await His return. It is an important reminder that this present age will be interrupted with the coming of the Messiah at the Rapture for His Bride, which will then be the fulfillment of the next feast day - The Feast of Trumpets.  

In Israel, the time between Pentecost and Trumpets is a time of labor in the fields working for the summer harvest before the great fall harvest. This time, between these feasts, represents the time in which Yeshua (Jesus) fulfilled the spring feasts in His first coming, and the fall feasts that will be fulfilled in His second coming. 

And so we have in this interim period of about four months between Messiah’s first coming and second coming that is being fulfilled in the long summer - the age of grace, the church age, a time of harvest. 

This is the age we are in right now!

Arnold Fruchtenbaum in his The Feasts and Fasts of Israel (2019), p.132 states:

The Messianic implication is that this time between the fulfilled program of the spring cycle and the unfulfilled program of the fall cycle is the church age. Indeed, “the gleanings for the poor and the stranger” is a very good picture of the mission of the church itself in gospel evangelism. For example, John 4:35 states: look on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest. Thus, the interval that separates the spring and the fall cycles become a fitting symbol of the obligation of the church to evangelize the world. Hence, Leviticus 23:22, being a parenthetical verse that interrupts the discussion of the feasts of Israel, is significant in that it symbolizes the present age in which we now live and during which the program of the feasts of Israel has been temporarily interrupted.

We should remember this present age is a time in which the Lord has given us tremendous opportunities for harvest. It’s not really an interruption, but instead, it was planned by God Himself. We have been allowed into His plan in order to participate with Him. 

This is the very reason The Jewish Road ministry exists, as we seek to bring the Act I people into the truths of Act II. And bring the foundational truths of the Hebrew Scriptures (Act I) together with their fulfillment in the Messiah (Act II). Our goal is to provide the necessary resources to pass on these truths. 

This is what we are about as a ministry, reaching out to both Jews and Christians so the full story of the Messiah of Israel - Yeshua, can be understood and proclaimed. We invite you to have a personal investment in this ministry - because it will help reach more Jewish people with the truth that Yeshua (Jesus) is Israel’s Messiah and that His return is imminent. 

This is a time to reflect on the harvest season. This is a time when Israel was reaping in their fields and harvesting wheat for food. “The fields are white unto harvest” (John 4:35) and the harvest Jesus was referring to was the harvesting of souls.