THE HARVEST

 

In my last post, I wrote about the harvest that followed the end of the Apostasy and began with the Restoration. I have been thinking about it ever since and even though there is great importance in being engaged in such a harvest of spreading the gospel throughout the world and in being profitable servants of God, an even greater harvest yet awaits us.

The gathering of the wheat is taking place in this dispensation in preparation for the last and final harvest that will occur at the Saviour’s coming. This will be the harvest of the righteous souls who will stand to inherit life eternal in God’s Kingdom. It will also be a harvest of another kind, that of destruction of the wicked at the Saviour’s triumphal return (D&C 101:63-68).

The Saviour spoke of this harvest in His parable called The Wheat And The Tares. We may think of it as an assessment of how well the gathered wheat in the first harvest fared by nourishing the seed that was planted in their hearts to withstand the lure of the world.

The Saviour compared the hearts of the men to different soil which received the seed, being His word, and emphasized how that soil should be tended to in order to let the seed grow. It is worth the study of this parable to understand the importance of the soil (Matthew 13:24-30).

In summary, the hearers of the word who have received the seed and nourished it in good soil are metaphorically, the wheat. The hearers of the word in whose hearts the seed does not grow are the tares.

 

The tares which are spoken of in Jesus' parable is the weed called 'bearded darnel' which is very similar in appearance to wheat with the roots of the two often intertwined. The darnel 'is easily distinguishable from the wheat and barley when headed out but when both are less developed, the closest scrutiny will often fail to detect it' (James E Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p. 301). For this reason, even the farmers do not attempt to separate the one from the other whilst it is developing and so the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest comes.

 

Joseph taught that this separation is applicable to the Church:

 

"Now we learn by this parable (the wheat and the tares) not only the setting up of the Kingdom in the days of the Saviour, which is represented by the good seed, which produced fruit, but also the corruptions of the Church, which are represented by the tares, which were sown by the enemy, which His disciples would fain have plucked up, or cleansed the Church of, if their views had been favoured by the Saviour.

 

“But He, knowing all things, says, Not So. As much as to say, your views are not correct, the Church is in its infancy, and if you take this rash step, you will destroy the wheat, or the Church, with the tares; therefore, it is better to let them grow together until the harvest, or the end of the world, which means the destruction of the wicked...." (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp 97-98)

 

Now this is the interesting bit. Before the Saviour spoke of the harvests, He placed Himself at the head of His teachings, as the Sower of the good seed (Matt 13:37)….for this reason: To become golden grain of God we must look to and follow the Sower. Our hearts and our works must reflect the teachings of the Lord of the Harvest. It is not enough to just receive Christ's teachings, but to be valiant in the testimony of Jesus.

 

It behooves us not to allow the tares to choke the word within us lest we also be discarded at the last day. When Jesus came, He brought good tidings of salvation, to disperse the darkness of unbelief and to bring light to the world. He came to give every man as much of the truth as he was willing to receive but most of all He came to gather His own.  

 

He will come back and He will gather His wheat in the greatest harvest of all…..”Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43).

 

The day you ploughed the sacred ground of my heart

You scattered Your seeds of love,

Like golden stars along the deepest night.

I water and nurture them gently,

To sow joy in the harvest of my heart.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Ready to Harvest, AI Generated by LeafyTreeCo)

TO SERVE GOD

 

I have very fond memories of my childhood in Croatia. I spent every school holiday with my relatives in the village from which we came. Because of it I am very familiar with the agrarian way of life. I know what shepherds are. I have witnessed harvests, attended yearly village festivals, journeyed in open wagons. It makes the New and Old Testament very relatable. My patriarchal blessing says I have a rich heritage. Indeed.

When I read the Saviour saying to his disciples, “…..look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest”, I recall running my hand through the heavy ripe heads of wheat shining like gold in the sun (John 4:35). I love that the Saviour compared those who are ready to receive the truth to ripe wheat. And I love the imagery of the harvest.  It appeals to my understanding.

The harvest began well and truly in our dispensation with Joseph and the restoration of the Church. The results of the missionary labours in 1800s were astounding. People truly were like ripe golden wheat:

“In the early days of the Restoration, thousands were prepared to receive the gospel. So many came into the Church that the enemies of the work were frightened. It was not one of a city or two of a family who joined; whole congregations united themselves with the work. Wilford Woodruff alone baptized over two thousand converts in less than a year’s ministry in Great Britain.” (Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual commentary for D&C 4:4, p 12)

In Section 4 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Saviour used the imagery of the sickle for harvesting. This too evokes memories. I remember my grandfather cutting down the wheat with a sickle. Sometimes he would use a small sickle with a short handle and a curved blade. He would cut with one hand and hold the stalks with the other.

At other times he would use a large sickle with a long handle and cut through the field while my grandmother would walk behind him and gather the stalks that fell. It was arduous work. The trick in how fast this could be done lay in the sharpness of the sickle. If the blade was sharp it would cut through the wheat like butter and the work was quicker.

Elder Kevin R. Duncan of the Seventy spoke of the importance of a sharp sickle and how it relates to our preparedness to be profitable servants of God. He pointed out that our spiritual sickles need to be kept sharpened in order to produce a worthy harvest. The qualities needed to qualify for the work are in D&C 4:5,6  (Abandoned Seeds in Rocky Places, New Era, July 2014, 18).

Regarding chapter 4 of Doctrine and Covenants, President Joseph Fielding Smith remarked:  “Perhaps there is no other revelation in all our scriptures that embodies greater instruction pertaining to the manner of qualification of members of the Church for the service of God, and in such condensed form than this revelation. It is as broad, as high and as deep as eternity” (Church History and Modern Revelation [1953], 1:35)

I consider Joseph’s take on service superior to all the rest. While a prisoner in Liberty jail, he wrote to the Church members. Despite the iron yoke of hell, he told the saints that they still owed ‘an imperative duty to all the rising generation and to all the pure in heart….for there are many yet on the earth who are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it….’  Joseph admonished that ‘we should waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness’ and give the world the truth.

This is being like Christ. This is following in the footsteps of Him who indeed wore himself out in bringing truth to the world, forgiveness to the sinful, love for the righteous and joy un-surpassing for those who endure to the end. Didn’t He descend to the bottomless pit of human suffering for me and you, for the ungrateful, for the unaccepting and indeed for all creation???

He will come and He will make up His jewels from among the righteous and spare them, ‘as a man spareth his own son that serveth him’  (Malachi 3:17)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Reaping the Harvest by Nathan Greene)

THE APPLE OF HIS EYE

There was a prophet in Israel by the name of Zenos who lived between the time of Abraham and Isaiah and who was martyred for his testimony (Helaman 8:19,20) of whom the Bible does not speak. We know of this prophet because of the brass plates which were taken to the land of the Americas with Lehi and his colony in 600 B.C. Nephi used the prophecies of Zenos extensively in his ministry among his people because Zenos testified largely concerning this broken off branch of the tribe of Joseph 'who were a remnant of his seed', meaning Zenos was of the tribe of Joseph himself (3 Nephi 10:15,16).

So important did Nephi's brother Jacob consider the prophecies of Zenos that he painstakingly engraved Zenos' allegory of the olive tree onto the small plates of Nephi even though he reiterated he could only write 'a few words' because of the difficulty of engraving upon plates  (Jacob 4:1,2). Why is this allegory with its' complexities and intricacies which makes readers skip Jacob 5 so important? Firstly, it is the greatest allegory ever recorded; secondly it, in my opinion stamps the Book of Mormon with authenticity and truth for no mortal man, without the inspiration of God, could have written it. It not only proves that Zenos was a prophet  but that Joseph Smith was one too, a prophet who translated the Book of Mormon as opposed to having written it himself. Not only would the scope of this literary work have been beyond his level of education, Joseph, even though a farmer, could not have known anything about olive trees as they are not native to America. The first seedlings of the tree were brought to South America from Spain in 1560 and planted in Lima, capital of Peru. Zenos, on the other hand, was a Hebrew prophet well indoctrinated in the agricultural practices of his time and place.

In the allegory of the olive tree, there are two principal entities, the Master of the vineyard and the servant. It has been suggested by some that the Master represents the Father and the servant is the Saviour but I tend to side with those who recognise the Master, who is repeatedly  referred to as the Lord of the vineyard, to be the Saviour who employs servants to assist with His work. This is obvious to me because this Lord of the vineyard focuses mainly on just one tree, a tame olive tree that becomes corrupted by other threes and begins to rot.  So why the obsession with this one tree? Because this tree represents the House of Israel, a group of covenant people most favoured by the God of Israel above all the nations of the world. And the God of Israel is Jesus Christ, the great Jehovah himself who has proclaimed: "I am a father to Israel and Ephraim is my firstborn" (Jeremiah 31:9). The Old Testament highlights God's favouritism of Israel as a father would of a favourite son, whom He calls 'the apple of His eye' (Deut 32:10; Zechariah 2:8)

Whilst it is not my wish to overshadow the importance of the House of Israel's lengthy history contained within this allegory, which begs thorough study, and which spans from the time of the first scattering in 721 BC to the Millenium, it is my intention to focus on the Saviour and how he relates to us who are of this House. In the allegory of the olive tree, the Lord of the vineyard sets about  plucking, pruning, digging and grafting. He also grieves, preserves, labours, watches and tends to the vineyard constantly, but in particular one tree, the tame olive tree. The central theme of this allegory is the Saviour's enduring mercy, long-suffering, loving care and his most dedicated work towards His favoured people, the House of Israel. His frantic and desperate efforts can be seen through repetitious declarations of His protective love 'for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of his eye' (Zechariah 2:8): His desire to preserve the tame olive tree is mentioned in the parable 11 times; He expresses His desire to bring us to Him at least 15 times; He shows his grief over losing 'this tree' 8 times'; and 3 times He asks with anguish, weeping, 'what could I have done more?'

It is obvious the Lord has done everything He can so perhaps the question should be, 'what can we do more'? It is simply not enough to physically be of the House of Israel. One must be spiritually so to be the favoured 'apple of His eye'. Love is a two way street. He loves us because we are the believing, the repentant, the obedient. And if not, then we should be. We are the ones who have accepted the Holy One of Israel to be our God, until the harvest is gathered home. We are important. Not only to ensure our own salvation but to save the other trees in the vineyard. It is up to us to graft the good branches into the wild olive trees of this world. The harvest is fast approaching and we must prepare for the reaping. We must honour the privilege of being 'the apple of His eye'. After he recounts the allegory of the olive tree to his people, Jacob admonishes them to repent and continue on the strait and narrow path until they obtain eternal life. And then out of desperation he says "O be wise; what can I say more?" (Jacob 6:4,11,12). What indeed?

THE GENTLE SOWER

When gospel truth is gently sown

in my unlearned heart,

I hope it finds no hardened crust

on wayside paths apart.

Nor even drops on softer spot

with hardness just below,

Where faithless, poorly rooted sprouts

are doomed to never grow.

I pray it shall not fall in dirt

where thorns have made their bed.

Where choking plants, 'mid worldly cares',

grow fruitless, nearly dead.

But let that seed find fertile soil

in deep and clean abode,

And drawing life, yield true and full

to Him who gently sowed.

-  Anonymous

"Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold." (Matt 13:3-8)

Matthew tells us that Jesus spoke many things to His hearers in parables (Matt 13:3). When His disciples asked Him why, among the reasons He had given them, was one that shows the compassionate nature of the Gentle Sower. The reason for delivering His message of gospel hope and peace was not so that only the spiritually literate would understand but also to show mercy to those who were not so: 'Had He always taught in explicit declaration, such as required no interpretation, many among His hearers would have come under condemnation, inasmuch as they were too weak in faith and unprepared in heart....to accept and obey the saving word' (James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p 295-298). Thus the Lord gave to His hearers that portion of His word and His teachings which they were prepared spiritually to receive without condemnation for the rest. 

With those of us who are hearers of the word and who have received the seed rests the responsibility to nourish the soil of our hearts and nurture that seed lest it be choked and overcome by the influence of the weeds and thistles that chance to also take root there for it is not enough to just receive Christ's teachings but we must also be valiant in the testimony of Jesus. It behooves us not to allow the cares of the world to choke the word within us lest we be overcome by tares which will at the last day be discarded. The tares which are spoken of in Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares is the weed called 'bearded darnel' which is very similar in appearance to wheat with the roots of the two often intertwined. The darnel 'is easily distinguishable from the wheat and barley when headed out but when both are less developed, the closest scrutiny will often fail to detect it' (James E Talmage, Jesus the Christ, p. 301). For this reason even the farmers do not attempt to separate the one from the other whilst it is developing.

"Now we learn by this parable (the wheat and the tares) not only the setting up of the Kingdom in the days of the Saviour, which is represented by the good seed, which produced fruit, but also the corruptions of the Church, which are represented by the tares, which were sown by the enemy, which His disciples would fain have plucked up, or cleansed the Church of, if their views had been favoured by the Saviour. But He, knowing all things, says, Not So. As much as to say, your views are not correct, the Church is in its infancy, and if you take this rash step, you will destory the wheat, or the Church, with the tares; therefore it is better to let them grow together until the harvest, or the end of the world, which means the destruction of the wicked...." (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp 97-98)

"....blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear" (Matt 13:16)

When the Saviour visited the Nephites following His resurrection, the wicked and the ungodly among them had been destroyed leaving only those who were willing to hear and receive the word of truth. To the unbelieving Jews, Jesus taught in excess of 40 parables and to the receptive Nephites he taught none, teaching them instead in simplicity and plainness (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, pp 553-54). Receiving the seed into the soil of our hearts is only the beginning for those willing to believe. Through the parables lies an open invitation to come unto Christ, to learn more of Him and His doctrine, to ponder the truths which will lead to salvation and eternal life. "They teach arithmetic to those who have the capacity to learn calculus in due course. They are the mild milk of the word that prepares our spiritual digestive processes to feast upon the doctrinal meat of the kingdom....for no parable, no teaching, no mystery, no hidden thing, is to be kept from the knowledge of the faithful; eventually all things shall be revealed, and the righteous shall know them" (McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, p. 245-246).

Jesus came to preach the gospel to those who would accept Him and to bear the sins of all those who would believe His words and live His laws. He came to bring good tidings of salvation, to disperse the darkness of unbelief and to bring light to the world. He came to give every man as much of the truth as each man's soul would permit him to receive but most of all He came to gather His own. He was the ultimate sower who sowed the seeds of truth in the souls of His sheep (Matt 13:37). To become golden grain of God we must act on the word which has taken root in our soil. We must be doers of the word and not hearers only. To be golden grain when the harvest comes, our works must reflect the teachings of the Lord of the Harvest for 'no man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light' (Luke 8:16).

True hearers are a light to the world bringing forth good fruit from the seed which was sowed. True hearers of the word are the labourers in His vineyard who bring light and compassion to the inhabitants of the world, who sow seeds of love and exemplify the Gentle Sower in their doings and who are valiant in their testimony of Jesus in all things and in all places.  The following story related by President James E. Faust is useful in helping us understand the difference between studying the parables of Jesus and applying them in our lives: "A group of religion instructors were taking a summer course of the life of the Saviour and focusing particularly on the parables.When the final exam came the students arrived at the classroom to find a note that the exam would be given in another building across campus. Moreover, the note said, it must be finished within the two-hour time period that was starting almost at that moment. The students hurried across campus. On the way, they passed a little girl crying over a flat tire on her new bike. And old man hobbled painfully toward the library with a cane in one hand, spilling books from a stack he was trying to manage with the other. On a bench by the union building sat a shabbily dressed, bearded man [in obvious distress]. Rushing into the other classroom, the students were met by the professor, who announced that they had all flunked the final exam. The only test of whether they understood the Savior’s life and teaching, he said, was how they treated people in need. Their weeks of study at the feet of a capable professor had taught them a great deal of what Christ had said and done. In their haste to finish the technicalities of the course, however, they failed to recognize the application represented by the three scenes that had been deliberately staged. They had learned the letter but not the spirit. (Cited by President James E. Faust, Ensign, May 1998, p.18, from Church News, 1 October 1988, p. 16)  As with all the teachings of the Savior, the really worthwhile results come not from hearing but from doing (Ted L. Gibbons, NT Lesson 11, He Spake Many Things Unto Them In Parables)"

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, 

I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock ..."

Matthew 7:24