Scripture has so much to say concerning the upcoming harvests awaiting this world. The Lord of the harvest is another title given to the Lord Jesus Christ. We just began to unpack all the scriptures that discuss the different harvests, and will continue this coming Sunday.
Today, we read Matthew 9:35-38, where Jesus tells the disciples to pray that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into the harvest. The synoptic gospels all record the short term mission trip Jesus sent the 12 apostles on to preach the gospel of the kingdom to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Matthew 10:1-24, Mark 3:13-19, 6:7-13, Luke 6:12-16, 9:1-6, 10:1-20
As a point of review, we are reminded of the three harvests of the first resurrection:
The Firstfruits harvest: The Old Testament saints resurrected with the Lord, receiving their physical bodies. Matthew 27:51-53, 1 Corinthians 15:20-24, Ephesians 4:8-10
The Main harvest of the body of Christ: This resurrection / rapture of the Church Age saints occurs at the end of the Church Age, bringing to a close the Mystery Program, which in turn restarts the countdown clock of the Prophetic Program, which has been in “time out” since the first century. 1 Corinthians 15:50-54, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
The Gleanings harvest near the end of the tribulation: This final harvest of the first resurrection calls all the martyrs who keep the commandments and the faith of Jesus – Revelation 14:12. Revelation 6:9-11, Revelation 7:9-17, 20:4-6
In Luke 10:17-20, when the seventy returned to report to Jesus, they were amazed that even the demons were subject unto them. Jesus merely told them that he was an eye witness to the attempted overthrow of heaven in eternity past. Isaiah 14:12-14 is a prophetic description of Lucifer's failed coup. Revelation 12:3-4 is another scripture that sheds light on that event.
We touched on another group of laborers in Revelation 7:1-8, who will evangelize the world during the tribulation – Revelation 14:1-4. We will look at that in greater detail next Sunday, as we look at all the harvests mentioned in Matthew and Revelation.
