Message 81：Further Biblical Evidence of The 3 Raptures/Harvests- Part 2
— Mark Chen April 18, 2015
Dear brothers and sisters,
This is the second part of God's teaching messages on further biblical evidence for the 3 Raptures in the end times. In this message, we shall address the Barley and Wheat Harvests, which are the 2 end-time Harvests which concern Christians most. Much of the message explains the different characteristics of the barley and wheat crops and how this corresponds to the holy believers and the lukewarm believers in Christ Jesus. The Lord also reveals certain important details in His Holy Scriptures that carry prophetic significance for His children, along with new insights into familiar Scriptures about the end times. Please understand that Father God has deliberately used the English and Aramaic names of our Lord interchangeably in this message, to press home the truth that it matters not which name of the Messiah we choose to use, as long we use His holy name in faith, obedience and reverence.
Kindly note that this message was also taken on 2 separate days, and I shall insert a line breaker (as before) to show the transition from one date to another. Again, I have included an explanatory note at the end of the message and Scripture references. Please take this message to our Father in prayer for His confirmation to you personally. God wants His children to practise discernment and seek Him in all things through His Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures. Shalom!
March 28 & April 4, 2015
"Now, I shall explain to you the significance of these 3 convocational holy feasts of Israel, because I have deliberately connected each one of these feasts to the 3 main agricultural harvests in ancient Israel. Many of you know that the Passover feast and the Feast of Unleavened Bread are connected to the traditional Barley Harvest in Israel. My loves, I have clearly written in My Scriptures that the holy saints of God, the sanctified Bride of Christ, are not appointed to suffer My righteous wrath and divine judgment on earth, for I have appointed My Son, Yeshua, to rescue His beloved Bride from the earth in the first Rapture, or Barley Harvest.
Just as in the first Passover in the land of ancient Egypt, I will pass over the Bride of My Son, Jesus Christ, when the time of My wrath commences on this wicked world on the great and terrible Day of the LORD. The first Rapture is the global Passover of those who are truly covered by the Blood of the Lamb, and like the unleavened bread that is a symbol of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, these are the saints who have removed the ungodly leaven of this sinful world from their lives through their continuing faith, repentance and obedience to Me and My Son. Like the barley that was commonly used to make the unleavened bread in ancient Israel, the Bride of Christ has been winnowed by My divine wind, the Holy Spirit of God, and their unwanted chaff has been blown away.
As the Creator God, I say to you that barley is easy to winnow, because the chaff does not cling to the barley grains, and they are easily separated. The chaff symbolizes the unwanted and undesirable sinful traits in the lives of My children. These have to be removed first, My loves. The barley kernels represent the desirable part of the grain, which is left behind after the process of removing sin in the lives of My children. This is symbolic of the process of sanctification in My saints. Not only so, the barley crops are also more resilient in their ability to grow in challenging climates and terrain, and they mature more quickly than wheat. This is why the Barley Harvest is the focus of the celebration of the Feast of early Firstfruits, which I instituted for My people, Israel. Traditionally, the first grain to ripen in Israel is the barley, and it is the first sheaf cutting of this barley harvest that My people have been commanded to present to the priest in My House, who will then offer it up to Me the day after the Sabbath following the Passover, as a wave offering. As you have learnt, the traditional barley harvest is the first grain harvest to be presented to Me each year, according to the Levitical laws I have instituted.
These characteristics are also true of My Son’s Bride, who comprise all the saints of His church age who have responded to His invitation to walk in the holiness and righteousness of God. These are the chosen sons and daughters of God who embrace the Potter’s Hand, and the Refiner’s Fire in their journey of faith in Yeshua, and they are sanctified and pruned by Me, in order that they are holy, just as I AM HOLY. Like the barley grains, they do not cling to their undesirable hulls of sin, and they willingly submit to the winnowing action of the wind, My Holy Spirit, to blow their chaff away. They have grown and matured in their faith in Christ, having developed a Christ-like character through their trials and suffering. I AM well-pleased with them, for they reflect My glory, and they walk in My holiness and righteousness. Therefore, I have appointed them to be harvested from the world as My Barley, for Yeshua will rescue them in the first Rapture from My coming wrath. This is the Rapture of the holy Bride of Christ, My loves.
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The second convocational holy feast, the Feast of Harvest, or the Feast of the latter Firstfruits, take place 50 days from the Feast of the early Firstfruits. I have instituted this festival to celebrate the traditional wheat harvest in Israel, which is the second main harvest of grain in the year. In a similar manner to the barley wave offering, I have commanded My people to present a wave offering of the new wheat grain to Me in My House. Both wave offerings celebrate the firstfruits of the respective barley and wheat harvests in Israel, and both firstfruit celebrations symbolize the first resurrection of My saints from among the dead.
The barley firstfruits represent the Bride of My Son, Yeshua HaMashiach, while the wheat firstfruits represent My lukewarm saints who have rededicated their lives in full surrender to Me and My Son, their Lord and Saviour. The Bride of Christ is harvested first, just as the barley is harvested early, and they form the early firstfruits. The left-behind believers who embrace My requirement of holiness and righteousness through faith, repentance and obedience, are harvested later, in the middle of Daniel’s 70th Week, and they form the latter firstfruits.
There is one important difference between the Barley and Wheat Harvests of My saints, dear children, and this can be understood in the form of the wave offering I have instituted for the Feast of early Firstfruits and the Feast of latter Firstfruits. In the barley firstfruit celebration, the wave offering comprises a fresh cutting of one sheaf of barley grain, while in the wheat firstfruit celebration, the wave offering comprises two loaves of freshly-baked bread containing yeast. What is the significance of this difference, My loves? The symbolism lies in this: the barley offering is presented without any leaven and without any form of heat or baking applied to it, while the wheat offering is presented with yeast in the form of baked bread. In the case of the barley firstfruit offering, which symbolizes the Bride of Christ, the absence of leaven represents the removal of sin from the lives of My holy ones, while their unbaked state represents how they do not need to pass through the heat of the Great Tribulation coming upon the earth, before they are presented to Me in the First Rapture or Barley Harvest.
On the other hand, My children, the wheat firstfruit offering is presented as two loaves of baked bread, with the bread yeast symbolizing the Holy Spirit’s action in My lukewarm children’s lives, while the heat of the baking process represents the time of testing through My refining fire in the first half of the Great Tribulation. This will be necessary in the lives of My left-behind saints because they will need to shed their sinful hulls as unwanted chaff, and fully embrace My Holy Spirit’s sanctification in their walk with Me, as they pass through the trials and tribulations in the coming time of Great Tribulation until the Wheat Harvest in the middle of the 7 years. Just as bread cannot rise perfectly without bread yeast and the application of heat, My lukewarm saints will have to undergo a similar process of moulding in the coming time of greater trials and tribulations on earth, before they are perfected in My Son, Jesus Christ.
Presently, My lukewarm children love their sins and the ways of this wicked world too much, and they reject My necessary sanctification in their lives through the ministry of My Holy Spirit. Therefore, they cannot mature and ripen in time for the Barley Harvest of the Bride of Christ, just as the wheat grain matures and ripens later than the barley grain. In the same manner that the hulls of wheat are thicker and cling more tightly to the wheat kernels, My worldly children cling more tightly to their carnality and they are more absorbed in their sinful ways, compared to My holy saints, the Bride of My Son, Jesus Christ.
In separating the wheat kernels from their hulls, harvesters traditionally introduce another step in the process before winnowing takes place: threshing. This action of threshing uses physical force to shake up the grains of wheat, in order that their kernels can be loosened from the grip of their inedible hulls. The threshed wheat is then winnowed, with the action of the wind blowing the loosened hulls away as chaff. This symbolizes how My presently-lukewarm saints will have to be shaken up by the coming hour of trial upon the inhabitants of the earth, when I, God Most High, will shake the heavens and the earths as the day of My wrath commences with the coming of the terrible Day of the LORD.
They will need to suffer the ‘threshing’ of trials and tribulations at that time, in order for them to be willing to fight the deadly grip of sin in their lives. After sin’s grip has been loosened in their lives, My Holy Spirit will then be able to ‘winnow’ their unwanted sinfulness as ‘chaff’. This is how it has to be with My children who are like the wheat grains, and once they have chosen to reject their sinful worldliness, and choose to walk in My holiness and righteousness instead, they shall be ready for the Second rapture, or Wheat Harvest, if they persevere in Me in faith, hope and love.
Many of them will have to die for the sake of their faith in Me and My Son, even in the first half of Daniel’s 70th Week, for the Antichrist will not wait until the middle of the 7-year Great Tribulation before he persecutes My left behind saints. Many students of end-time Bible prophecies have traditionally thought that Daniel’s 70th Week is divided into the first 3.5 years they commonly refer to as the ‘Tribulation’, and the second 3.5 years they commonly refer to as the ‘Great Tribulation’. My children, this view is only partially correct. They are correct to understand that the trials and sufferings coming upon the earth will increase in severity, as the peoples left on the earth experience My 7 Seal, 7 Trumpet and 7 Bowl judgments in the linear progression of time in your world. In their confusion, however, they have wrongly assigned different names for the first and second halves of Daniel’s 70th Week, because My Scriptures have referred to the entire period of 7 years descriptively as the ‘great tribulation’.
Not only so, the commonly-held belief that the left-behind saints will only suffer persecution from the ‘beast of the sea’, and the ‘beast of the earth’, from the middle of the Great Tribulation onwards is incorrect, because the persecution of My saints, the Christians, have already begun in the time of sorrows, which are the birth pains the world is experiencing now with increasing intensity and frequency. This is marked by the passing of each of the 4 blood moons in your present time. As My son, Mark, had already pointed out in a previous message, the mark of the beast is gradually being introduced in a few places, including America. Indeed, the devil will not wait long before his wicked scheme to alter the DNA of My children with his RFID technology is launched on a larger scale, even before its worldwide implementation later on, My children.
My loves, concerning the way I will deal with the various groups of My children in the end times of your world, is it not written in My Holy Scriptures that I will turn my full attention to deal with the hardened hearts of My stubborn children in the house of Israel, only after the full number of the Gentiles have come to salvation in My Son, Jesus Christ? Indeed, it is so, dear children, for I am a God of order, for the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. My Scriptures reveal that the time of this will take place not at the start of Daniel’s 70th Week, but in the middle of the 7 years, when the beast of the sea will stop the daily sacrifices in the holy place in an actual third Temple to be built, and will declare himself to be worshipped by all nations as ‘God’. This will be a great blasphemy to Me, My children, but his end has been decreed by Me.
It is at this time that the son of Satan will reveal his true colours, and he will persecute My people, Israel for 42 months, or 3.5 years. It is at that time when I will send My Son, Yeshua, to deliver My people to safety, as He leads the faithful remnant of Israel to the place of refuge I have appointed for them in the desert. Let me state this clearly to you, My loves: Not all who are physically descended from Abraham are the saints of Israel, but only those who exercise faith and obedience in Me, as Abraham had done in his earthly life. This is the same requirement I have established for all My saints, both Jews and Gentiles, for My righteous ones must live by faith in My Son, the Messiah of the world. This is also revealed to you in My Holy Scriptures.
What does this tell you about the fulfilment of the times of the Gentiles, My loves, when the full number of Gentiles will have come to salvation in Christ? You have to understand that this will be fulfilled sometime in the middle of Daniel’s 70th Week, close to the time when My faithful remnant in Israel are being led to safety to their appointed place of refuge. Do you remember what I have explained earlier on in this message regarding My plan of salvation for every one of My children? Yes, My complete salvation involves the redemption of each believer’s soul, spirit and body, which will happen for the Gentile believers when My sanctified left-behind church is fully redeemed at the time of the Second Rapture, the Wheat Harvest.
They will receive their new immortal bodies at that time, which is the perfection of their salvation in My Son, Jesus Christ. Indeed, this worldwide harvest is recorded for you by My servant, John, in Revelation 14:14-16, which I have also confirmed to My end-time servant, Mark. My children, how many of you have actually read and understood this by seeking Me in prayer? If you have done this, you would have understood this to be evidence of My appointed Wheat Harvest for the left-behind Christians, which will take place after the 7th Trumpet judgment, and before the 1st Bowl judgment."
~ Abba Father
Coordinating Scriptures:
Leviticus 23:5-22(NKJV)
5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover.6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. 8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’”
9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. 14 You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
15 ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are the firstfruits to the Lord.18 And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. 19 Then you shall sacrifice one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a peace offering. 20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’”
1 Thessalonians 5:9(NKJV)
9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
1 Thessalonians 1:10New King James Version (NKJV)
10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
Isaiah 64:8(NKJV)
8 But now, O Lord,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand.
Mark 8:14-21(NKJV)
14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened? 18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?”
They said to Him, “Twelve.”
20 “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?”
And they said, “Seven.”
21 So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”
John 3:8(NKJV)
8 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Matthew 24:6-13(NKJV)
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
1 Peter 1:6-7(NKJV)
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
Romans 11:25-27(NKJV)
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
Revelation 7:9-14(NKJV)
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 12:1-6(NKJV)
1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2 Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
Revelation 14:14-16(NKJV)
14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.
Note:
A) In this message, our Father God refers to the Barley Harvest as the Early Firstfruits, and the Wheat Harvest as the Latter Firsfruits. This is meant to emphasise that both Harvests/Raptures, together with the Grape Harvest, form the Harvest of Souls in the first resurrection of the saints (Revelation 20:4-6). Blessed are those who are part of the first resurrection, for the second death has no power over them.
B) Parallel Symbolism of the first 2 Convocational Holy Feasts With Return of Jewish Exiles From Babylon (Symbolic Prophetic Symmetry)
1) Passover Feast & Feast of Unleavened Bread- Barley Harvest- First Wave of Return (Ezra 6:13-22)
We note that the first wave of Jewish exiles returning to Jerusalem from the former Babylonian empire was led by 2 important figures: Zerubbabel, the governor of Judah, and Joshua, son of the high priest, who subsequently became the high priest. The main theme of their account is the rebuilding of God's physical Temple, which we now refer to as the Second Temple. This parallels the role of the holy Bride of Christ, who builds up the living Temple of God by pursuing the Lord's holiness and righteousness through living in faith, repentance and obedience to God's Will in our lives. We are the temple of of the living God, for the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us.
2 Corinthians 6:16(NKJV)
16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people."
Indeed, we read in Ezra 4:1-4 that certain people living in Samaria (ie. the descendants of Jew-Gentile intermarriages who symbolise idolatry and spiritual uncleanness) approached Zerabbabel and the other leaders in Jerusalem to participate in the rebuilding of God's holy Temple. These Samaritans' offer of help was rejected outright by the pious Jewish leaders. Similarly, the Bride of Christ has to stand firm upon the holiness and righteousness of Christ in us, and we must not allow ourselves to make compromises with idolatrous practices in our family and community, including our churches. That is why God has called so many of us out of the lukewarm churches all around the world, because He wants us to be separate from their stubbornness in clinging onto false worship and false teachings. We cannot expect to build up a holy temple of God when we choose to remain in friendship with idolatry and deception (James 4:4). Do you see the parallel symbolism here?
Also, I note with great interest that Joshua's name means 'God saves', while Zerabbabel's name has been presented to possibly mean 'Pressed out of Babylon'. When we put them together, we see a beautiful parallel symbolism for the Bride of Christ, whom God will rescue out of spiritual Babylon (ie. our satanic world) in the coming First Rapture of Barley Harvest. Here are a few relevent Scriptures to illustrate this biblical symbolism
Jeremiah 51:6(NKJV)
6 Flee from the midst of Babylon,
And every one save his life!
Do not be cut off in her iniquity,
For this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance;
He shall recompense her.
Revelation 18:4-8(NKJV)
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. 7 In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ 8 Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
Jeremiah 51:33(NKJV)
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
“The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor
When it is time to thresh her;
Yet a little while
And the time of her harvest will come.”
Another point of interesting parallel symbolism between the Bride of Christ and Joshua and Zerabbabel is this: Joshua was the high priest in Jerusalem, while Zerabbabel was the governor of Judah, which are the same types of role that God has ordained the Bride of Christ to fulfil.
1 Peter 2:9(NKJV)
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Dear brethren, do you see that God has called us to be a 'royal priesthood'? Just as Joshua the high priest (ie. representing the priesthood) was symbolically described as a burning stick snatched out of the fire (Zechariah 3:2), and who had been given a set of clean clothes and a clean turban to wear (Zechariah 3:3-5), the Bride of Christ has similarly been justified by faith in Christ, and sanctified by complete obedience to His Word that is true (Romans 5:1, John 17:17). We are now clothed in the clean linen clothes of Christ's righteousness, which is evidenced by the righteous acts of the saints (Revelation 19:6-8). Those who are the sanctified holy Bride of Christ will be similarly snatched like a burning stick out of the fire, which carries 2 closely-related symbolic applications.
Firstly, we are the saints who have been tried by God's refining fire in our lives, and when the Lord Jesus Christ appears on that Day, we shall be perfected in Him, and we shall bring Him much honour, glory and praise because we will have persevered by His grace to the time of His coming for His beloved Bride (Philippians 1:6, 1 Peter 1:6-7). Therefore, God will pass us over in the coming time of Great Tribulation, because we will have passed His test of obedience and sanctification in preparation for the First Rapture/Barley Harvest. Secondly, the snatching of the stick from the fire also shows that we no longer need to endure further refining and sanctifying in the coming flames of the Great Tribulation, because we are not appointed to suffer God's wrath, which is what the fires of the Great Tribulation also symbolise.
In the same manner as God had chosen to honour Zerabbabel by making him like a signet ring on God's finger (ie. symbolising God's appointed authority of rulership) at the time when the LORD overthrows royal thrones and destroys the power of foreign kingdoms (Haggai 2:20-23), the Bride of Christ will also be appointed to rule as royalty, for we have persevered and victoriously overcome the enemy by the Blood of the Lamb (Romans 8:17-19, Revelation 2:26-28). For our Bridegroom will wear His precious Bride like a signet ring on His finger, and we shall rule together with Christ for all eternity. Hallelujah!
2) Feast of Harvest - Wheat Harvest- Second Wave of Return (Ezra 7-10)
The leading character in the second wave of Jewish exiles returning from the former Babylonian empire was Ezra, the priest and scribe. The main theme in this account is the remembrance of God's holy Law, as we read about the prevalent sin of intermarriages among the Jews in the land, and this troubled Ezra greatly. He set about to reform God's people who were willing to turn away from their sins and disobedience, by making a commitment to separate themselves from their foreign wives and children by sending them away (Ezra 10:1-4). In a similar manner, the lukewarm believers who will be left behind after the barley Harvest to enter the Great Tribulation will have to make a commitment to separate themselves from the pagan and idolatrous things of the world. Indeed, they love these things more than they love God (1 John 2:15-16), and they will thus not be counted worthy to be rescued by the Lord in the First rapture.
How does this tie in with the Jewish celebration of the Feast of Harvest? Traditionally, Jews celebrate the Feast of Harvest by remembering God's Law being given to Moses a second time on Mt Sinai. For the sake of brevity, I have included the following points for your prayerful consideration regarding the parallel symbolism between the lukewarm left-behind believers and the Hebrews at the time of Moses.
Parallel Symbolism:
a) Losing their patience for Moses' return from his communion with YAHWEH, the Hebrews asked Aaron, the high priest, to create an idolatrous golden calf for them to worship instead at the foot of Mt Sinai (Exodus 32).
b) Losing their patience for the Lord's return from His communion with the Father in Heaven, lukewarm Christians sought after teachers and preachers who will pander to their itching ears and give them what they want- idols of false gospels and idols of material wealth (2 Timothy 3:1-5, 4:3-4) to indulge in them on earth, God's footstool.
c) In both cases above, the faithless Hebrews and Christians missed the giving, receiving and application of God's law the first time round, because of their ungodliness. In both cases, many wicked Hebrews perished, and many wicked Christians will perish under God's wrath and judgement. The survivors in both groups had, and will have, a second chance to receive, learn and apply God's law in their lives to point them towards His salvation for them.
d) Like wheat, a crop which takes a longer time to mature and is less hardy to cultivate, these lukewarm Christians have to take a longer journey on the narrow path that leads to life in Christ (Matt 7:13-14), because their spiritual growth in Christ is slower, and they had little oil in their lamps due to their reluctance to embrace the refining and pruning work of the Father in their lives (ie. they are as unhardy as wheat in tough conditions) just like the foolish virgins in Matt 25:1-13. The overall result is that they reach spiritual maturity later than the Bride (ie. wise virgins), just as the wheat crops reach physical maturity after the barley crops.
I pray that these explanations will bless you and help you to gain a clearer understanding of the relationships between the Barley/Wheat Harvests, the first 2 waves of the Jewish exiles' return from ancient Babylon, as well as the prophetic significance of the Passover Feast/Feast of Unleavened Bread and Feast of Harvest celebrations. As God enables me, I shall try to post a third part on the Grape Harvest in the near future. God bless you!
Standing In Christ,
Mark Chen