Day 49 - 2003

Fred Coulter - June 7, 2003

And greetings, brethren. This is day 49, the Sabbath before Pentecost. And today we’re going to cover on how we count to Pentecost. And the reason we are going to do this is because there are so many different ideas out there that have come along. And it’s interesting that these heresies concerning the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread, counting to Pentecost and Pentecost all sort of run in cycles.

And this year we’ve had a new twist added to it, which is that there is one man who goes over to the holy land (supposedly the holy land), and he goes to the Karaite Jews and he observes how they harvest the wave sheaf of barley. And he claims that you cannot keep Passover until the barley is ripe. Well, let’s understand something - today the climate in Palestine, which it really is. It’s not the holy land. It’s as unholy as can be. Is far different than it was during the days when the Israelites lived there.

Number two, that is a temple ritual, which Jesus Christ fulfilled.

Number three, because the church is spread worldwide, God provided the calculated Hebrew Calendar so it would be the most accurate means of determining the holy days. Now even in spite of that we need to be able to count Pentecost because we are told to do so.

So let’s begin by going to Deuteronomy 16, and let’s look at one of the problems that developed because people do not rightly put the scriptures together, and each has his own idea on how things should be. And then I will show you the source of two problems that we had concerning counting Pentecost for years, and years, and years, and as a matter of fact there are some who still count it incorrectly.

Now let’s begin Deuteronomy 16:9. “Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee: begin to number the seven weeks from such time as thou beginnest to put the sickle to the corn.” Now this is the wave sheaf offering. Now the Hebrew word for “weeks” is shebuah, and it means “a week”. And also it means a complete week. So here we have that you shall number unto you seven complete weeks. “And thou shalt keep the feast of weeks unto the LORD…”, which is also another name for Pentecost. Pentecost, as we will see, means “count fifty”. “…Unto the LORD thy God with a tribute of a freewill offering of thine hand, which thou shalt give unto the LORD thy God, according as the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: and thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place His name there. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt: and thou shalt observe to do these statutes” (Deut. 16:9-12). Well, with this we can also remember that we were a bondman in spiritual Egypt, that is this world.

Now let’s come to Leviticus 23, and here we have a little more details on the counting, and here is where we get the fiftieth day. Deuteronomy 16 gives us the seven weeks, but it does not give us the fiftieth day. We find that here in Leviticus 23, and let’s begin in verse 9.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:…” (Lev. 23:9-10).

Now then, let’s look at verse 10 for just a minute. First of all there is one error out there which some ministers say and teach and people believe, that the harvest had to be in the second year when they went into the land because the Canaanites were the ones who planted the seeds for the harvest. So when they came in just before the Passover, therefore they couldn’t use that harvest because they were planted with unclean hands, and they need to have sanctified seed planed only by the hands of Israelites. Well now, verse 10 says nothing of any of those requirements.

First of all let’s analyze it just a minute. “…When you come into the land…”, that is when they came into the land, not a year after, see. “…Which I give you…,” and if God gives them the land and there is a crop to be harvested, who’s crop is it? It is theirs. Now also, “…and ye shall reap the harvest thereof,…” It doesn’t say, “You shall reap the harvest that you shall plant.” It says, “You shall reap the harvest that you have already there, that is planted, and you take over.” And then “…ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest:…” Now this was the wave sheaf offering. So they were to do this when they came into the land. This was not kept in the sense of the wave sheaf offering, all during the forty years that they were in the wilderness. They kept Pentecost as a memorial of giving the Ten Commandments. Now then, when they came into the land, another way - the exact way of determining it is according to the grain harvest. And as we are going to see, it is the grain harvest that leads up to Pentecost, and Pentecost is a grain harvest feast.

Now this “firstfruits” means the premiere sheaf. And this is the one that symbolized Christ. This is the one that He fulfilled. So we count from, as we will see, in Christ fulfilling this, He was accepted of God the Father, and was the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. Now let’s read a little more detail about this.

“…And he shall wave the sheaf [or that is, elevate and wave the sheaf] before the LORD, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it” (vs. 11). So we have during the week of Unleavened Bread, like we did this year, we had the Passover Tuesday night, the Night to be Remembered, Wednesday night. We had the holy day Thursday, and then Friday was the preparation day, then we had the weekly Sabbath. Now Christ was resurrected at the end of the weekly Sabbath, and as we will see, He ascended and was accepted of God the Father on the morrow after the weekly Sabbath during Unleavened Bread. So therefore, the beginning of the count always is with the day that Jesus was accepted. So that becomes day number one of the fiftieth count, which is also according to the ritual here, day number one of the fifty day count, when the priest waves the wave sheaf offering.

Now let’s come to John 20. We’ll come back here to Leviticus 23 and look at the count a little bit more here, but let’s come to John 20, and let’s see where we find this literally fulfilled right after the women came to the tomb early in the morning on the first day of the week. Now let’s pick it up here in John 20 and let’s begin in verse 11.

They came there early in the morning, actually Mary Magdalene left the house before the sun had risen, but it was getting light and she left early, it says, while it was yet dark. And then she came to the tomb and saw that it was empty. She ran back and told Peter and John. Peter and John came and looked at the tomb, and then they left and Mary Magdalene stayed there.

Now verse 11. “But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in the white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him. And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus” (John 20:11-14). So as a resurrected spirit being, Jesus was able to manifest Himself in a way where people would not necessarily recognize Him. Just like it was here with Mary Magdalene, and as we find in Luke 24 with the two disciples as they went to Emmaus.

When she turned herself she saw Him standing there, didn’t know it was Jesus, and Jesus said to her, “…Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, Sir, if thou have borne Him [or taken Him away from here] hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him away.” And then Jesus revealed Himself to her, verse 16. “Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto Him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God” (vs. 15-17). So then she went. Jesus apparently then ascended to heaven, was accepted by God the Father, and then came right back to the earth.

Now first of all He appeared to the two disciples that were walking on their way to Emmaus. And they were talking about the things that had happened and were telling Jesus, and Jesus appeared to them in a way that they couldn’t recognize Him, so He walked with them all the way down to Emmaus. He went into the inn, and they sat down to eat and when He broke bread and blessed it then they recognized it was Jesus. Well Jesus then immediately disappeared from them. And the two disciples went on back to where the apostle were. And here is John’s account of this and then we’ll go see Luke’s account of it.

Now John 20:19. “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, which the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews,…” Now they weren’t having a special Sunday meeting here. They were there because of the fear of the Jews. “…Came Jesus and stood in the mist, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” So He just immediately appeared right in the room. Now He either walked through the wall, or walked through the doors to get into the room. And only as a spirit being could He do this.

Now let’s understand, this is on the morrow after the Sabbath, being the first day of the week during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. So that’s when Jesus was ascended and went to the Father. Now let’s come back here to Luke 24 and let’s see the rest of the account and what Jesus did, and how He appeared to them.

Now let’s begin here in Luke 24, and let’s pick it up here in verse 36. It picks up the account - the two ran back from Emmaus, “And as they thus spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” Now this was an astonishing thing because you see, never in the history of the world has there been someone raised from the dead as Jesus was raised from the dead. Never has it happened until Jesus, someone was raised from the dead as a fleshly human being to be an immortal spirit being. Now, as an immortal spirit being Jesus has the ability to appear in His full glorified form, as we see in Revelation 1, where His countenance shines as the sun, and His feet shine as if they were molten brass in a furnace, and His eyes are as a flame of fire. And the vision that the apostles saw of the transfiguration, Jesus whole countenance and visage shined as the sun in its full strength. However, He also has the ability to appear as a human being. To appear as flesh and bone. And this is what He told them here. So let’s see this. Now remember, all of this occurred on the Wave Sheaf Offering Day after Jesus had ascended to the Father to be accepted as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and came down and then appeared to them. Now remember, He told Mary not to touch Him because He had not yet ascended to the Father, and that was early in the morning. Now the wave sheaf offering by the priest was generally at about nine o’clock, just right at the time after the morning daily offering. So the wave sheaf was waved. That’s the time that Jesus ascended to heaven, was accepted of the Father, came back down to the earth and appeared to the two disciples and then to the apostles.

Now let’s read continuing here in Luke 24:37. “But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.” Now this means a demon. A demon spirit. The reason that they were afraid is because a demon spirit cannot appear as a human being. It cannot appear as one that has flesh and bone as Jesus did. A demon can only appear as an apparition. It doesn’t have the power to appear as a human being. “And He said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see;…” So this tells us that He had already ascended to the Father and returned. Because He said before He went up, He told Mary, “Don’t’ touch Me.” So now He says, “…handle Me, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have. And when He had thus spoken, He shewed them His hands and His feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.” Now I don’t know how that combination would taste. It would be interesting. I’d like to try it sometime. But anyway, that’s what He ate. “And He took it, and did eat before them” (vs. 37-43).

Now then, verse 44, He immediately began to open their minds to the truth of the prophecies concerning Himself. Verse 44, “And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,…” (vs. 44-45). And this is a key important thing. To really understand the scriptures through the Spirit of God, you have to have your mind opened to do so.

Now, if you have the Passover book, you can go and you can read the fourteen rules for Bible study, or if not we have that in booklet form, “The Fourteen Rules For Bible Study”.

Verse 46, “…And said unto them, thus it is written, and thus it behoved [that means it was obligatory] Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things” (vs. 46-48). Now let’s understand something. Just as we do not offer animal sacrifices today because Jesus fulfilled that part of it, likewise Jesus fulfilled the wave sheaf offering so we do not need to go and align ourselves with the Jews. And remember Jesus said beware of the leaven of the scribes and the Pharisees. We do not need to go align ourselves with the Karaite Jews who reject Jesus, don’t believe in Him, and look at a physical wave sheaf offering and determine when it is that we ought to be able to keep Passover and begin to count Pentecost. See, that’s why we have the calculated Hebrew Calendar. It’s very important to understand that, brethren.

Now let’s come back to Leviticus 23, and let’s look in the way to count. Let’s finish up the wave sheaf offering. It gives all the things that they were to offer with it - the burnt offering, the meal offering, and so forth. Verse 14 is a very important thing. “And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched [grain] corn,…” Now parched grain is this: they take the green ears, which are not quite ripe but they’re ripe enough, and then they parch them and make them hard, see. “…Parched corn, nor green ears, until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” Now after that, after that first Wave Sheaf Offering Day that they did after they crossed the Jordan and went into the promised land, then they would always have old grain to eat after that coming up to the next time of the Passover and Unleavened Bread season, and the Wave Sheaf Offering Day. So these are instructions for the very first day when they entered into the land.

Now let’s see how they were to count. “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath,…” Now this means including that day. This is always inclusive counting. “…From the day [that means beginning with the day] that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:…” (vs. 15).

Now years ago the Worldwide Church of God, Herbert Armstrong decided that in counting to Pentecost you excluded Sunday and began with Monday, which was incorrect. And so they had a great debacle over this in 1952. And at that particular time, to settle the issue, Herbert Armstrong asked Dr. Herman Hoeh to examine the scriptures here and tell him whether it was beginning with the day or after the day. So Dr. Hoeh reasoned this way, and he told us when they changed in 1974 back to the correct count, he admitted to all the ministers that he did this: he said that since Herbert Armstrong was God’s apostle, therefore as God’s apostle he had to be right and this had to be inspiration. So he went into these verses right here, which say “sabbath” verse 15; “seven sabbaths” verse 15; “sabbath” verse 16, and he said that that means “weeks”. Well that was not true. Sabbath here is shabbath and means “Sabbath”. Weeks, as we started out, is shebuah and means “weeks”.

Now if you begin counting on a Monday, you cannot have seven Sabbaths and then the morrow after the seventh Sabbath. It’s an impossibility to do. There is no way that it can be configured. Now let’s read it. It means exactly what it says. “And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day [which means beginning with the day] that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:…” (vs. 15). And this means a complete week ending in a Sabbath for seven Sabbaths. Now that’s why Deuteronomy 16 has seven weeks. And those mean seven full weeks. So here we have it further defined that each week is to end in a Sabbath. So it means that each week begins counting on Sunday including the day Sunday. And you can look at any calendar and check that out. Actually you can look in the Harmony of the Gospels, and we’ve got “Counting to Pentecost in 30 AD” when Jesus was resurrected, and how we come to Pentecost.

Now notice it says here as a double check, “Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days;…” (vs. 16). Now, if you begin day one, which is on a Sunday, and you go forty-nine days, the forty-ninth day is on a Sabbath, which is the seventh Sabbath. And the morrow after the seventh Sabbath has to be the first day of the week. Now this does not justify Sunday-keeping because God had this way before the Catholics and Protestants ever came up with their rationale for Sunday keeping, and we’ve covered that very thoroughly in “Refuting Sunday keeping”. We have a lot of tapes on that so if you don’t have that you might write in for it, the “Refuting Sunday Keeping”.

Now then, from this point forward, let’s go ahead and look at how the harvest leading up to the resurrection, yes and including the resurrection, which we will see tomorrow, but I want us to see leading up to the resurrection, that this is a harvest. Now first of all let’s go back to day one and let’s see in 1 Corinthians that the apostle Paul also verifies that Jesus is the firstfruit. That is, that wave sheaf offering which was accepted by God the Father on behalf of all the children of Israel, and with Jesus Christ being the sin offering for the whole world on the behalf of all human beings, was accepted as that premiere sacrifice.

Now let’s come to 1 Corinthians 15:20, and this tells us something very important concerning Jesus Christ. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that [sleep] slept.” He fulfilled the firstfruit wave sheaf offering when He ascended to heaven. “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (1 Cor. 15:20-23). Now this tells us when the resurrection will be. And this tells us that it’s going to be at His coming, but Christ is the firstfruits.

Now we also know that He is the firstborn. Colossians 1, let’s just read this again. He is the firstborn from the dead. And if you understand this then you also realize this is how Jesus was born again. And this also tells us how we will be born again. Now let’s look at this here. Let’s pick it up here in verse 18. “And He is the head of the body, the church: Who is the beginning, the firstborn from [among] the dead;…” See, He’s the first one, He’s the first of the firstfruits, He is the firstborn from the dead, and all of those have to do with combining that very first day counting to Pentecost. Firstborn from among the dead. Now we also know in Romans 8:29 that He is firstborn among many brethren. And the brethren are going to be resurrected at Christ’s return when He returns.

Now then, let’s go to Matthew 13 and see how Jesus, in this series of parables, shows that what He is doing toward the resurrection from His first coming to His second coming is likened unto a harvest. And that’s why the first resurrection, as we will see tomorrow, has to be on Pentecost. And what we are going to do is look at this harvest, see what He says, see how He lays it out, and then we will look at some other scriptures, which also show how we are tied in as firstfruits and the church of the firstborn.

But let’s begin here in verse 11. The disciples wanted to know about the parable, so they said, “Tell us what it means.” Verse 11, “He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.” God has not opened the minds of the people of the world - just those that He’s calling in this age. “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables…neither do they understand.” (Matt. 13:11-13).

Now let’s come down to verse 18 where He explains it. “Here ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side” (vs. 18-19). Now there are a lot of people - oh they love to hear the Word of God, and it’s kind of in and out, and it never registers. Those are the ones He’s talking about.

“But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon [and that means, by and by] with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself,…” Now these are good parables for us to really, how shall we say, sink our roots into, if we could put it that way, rather than our teeth into. And we can ask ourselves how do we fare in the explanation of the parables, and how is our crop, how is our field, spiritually speaking, and so forth.

Now notice, “…Yet he hath not root in himself, but [endures] dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.” And people leave, and we’ve seen that. “He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.” Now it’s like the richest man I ever met in the church who drove a Rolls Royce - one of those huge big models - and I was riding in the back seat and he looked up in the rear-view mirror, looked me right in the eye and says, “Fred, I don’t believe the New Testament teaches tithing.” (Laughing) Well, I would say that the deceitfulness of riches has got him. Wouldn’t you? Sure. And they “…choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful” (vs. 20-22). And true to this he has many doctrines which are not true. So you see, all we have to do is to understand the Word of God, and when we are confronted with situations in life, we can see that’s exactly how it comes as Jesus said it would.

Now notice verse 23. Hopefully this is us. “But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit,…” That means you go out and you have works, see, because your faith is made perfect by works. That’s what James said. “…And bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”

So then He gave another parable. The parable of the good seed and then the enemy comes. So he sowed the good seed. The enemy came and sowed the tares. Now it’s an interesting thing concerning how wheat and tares grow up. As they are growing it is very hard to tell the difference between one and the other. But when the grain starts to head out then the tares are recognized for what they are because they have no heads of grain. In other words, they have no fruit.

And He says here the servants came and said, “Well, how did these tares get there?” And Jesus said, “An enemy has done this.” And his servant said, “Do you want us to go out and weed out the tares?” He said, “No, let them both grow together.” (vs. 27-30, paraphrased). Now you see, this is what’s important. There is always going to be a cycle within the Church of God, which comes around to the time that the tares are sowed in among us. And what will happen is that when they are manifest, if we stay true to the Word of God then they cannot harm us, they cannot take away our fruit, they cannot, as the agents of the enemy, take us down.

Now in many cases they leave. But here, to give the explanation of this parable, the disciples came to Him, verse 36. Now that’s in Matthew 13:36. “Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and His disciples came unto Him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the son of man;…” So see, this is a harvest. What I want us to understand is that the time from the wave sheaf offering through to Pentecost is a great harvest. And all of us are likened unto firstfruits. Now notice what He says here. He says, “…The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom [which we are]; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;…” (vs. 36-38).

Now then, let’s see how we can distinguish between the children of the kingdom, and the children of the devil. Now hold your place here and let’s come back to 1 John 3. Now this tells us the difference between the children of God and the children of the devil.

Now let’s pick it up here beginning in verse 4. “Whosoever committeth sin [or that is, practices sin] transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” Or, lawlessness. Now why does he put this verse right here? Because he’s going to make a point and he’s going to show that the children of the devil break and transgress the commandments of God. Now verse 5, “And ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth [or that is, dwells] in Him sinneth not:…” Now this has the meaning “does not practice sin”, because we know it says over here in chapter 1, if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive our sins. And in chapter 2, that He is an advocate for us if we sin. So this cannot mean “without sin”, this means “does not practice sin”. “…Whosoever [practices] sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness [or that is, practices righteousness] is righteous, even as He is…” (1 John 3:4-7).

Now the reason is, as we saw during the Days of Unleavened Bread is this, that God imputes the righteousness of Jesus Christ to us if we yield to God and are growing and overcoming, and standing in His grace, and repenting of our sins, and constantly coming to God and coming to the light, then we are righteous as He is righteous.

Now notice verse 8, which ties in with verse 4. “He that committeth sin [or practices sin] is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” Which He began to do with the crucifixion and the resurrection. Now then, verse 9. “Whosoever [and it should read, is begotten of God does not practice sin - now that’s the way it should read]…for His seed [that is the seed of God the Father] remaineth in him: and he cannot [practice] sin, because he is [begotten] born of God.”

Now then he says verse 10. Here’s the key. “In this…”, that is those who practice sin are of the devil. Those who do not practice sin are the children of God. “In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:…” So you see, even within the midst this is defining the children of the devil or the tares that come within the church. Now we’re going to see a little bit later in the seven week harvest as we come down through history, that yes the devil is there. The devil is ready. The devil is working. The devil confronts every church of God from without and from within. “…Whosoever doeth not [practice] righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” (vs. 10-11).

Now let’s understand something. John through here, in 1 John and 2 John, he says, “That which you’ve had from the beginning, that which we have seen from the beginning…” So when you go back to the beginning of the gospel, what did they do? They kept the Sabbath. They kept the holy days. They did the things that pleased God, didn’t they? Yes. So here’s how we discern between the children of the devil who are the tares, and the children of the kingdom who are the children of God, not yet born into the kingdom as we will see, but that happens at the end of the age. And we haven’t come to the end of the age.

Now let’s come back to Matthew 13, and let’s pick it up again in verse 38. “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom;...” And we have the seed of begettal of God the Father in us. So here’s a direct parallel there. “…But the tares are the children of the wicked one;…” That is the children of Satan the devil, and they practice sin. And they are the ones who come in and bring false doctrines, and bring their own ideas, and destroy the faith of the saints so that’s why you have to be strong, you see. “…The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” That is symbolic of the war and destruction at the end time. Verse 43, “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” And notice He says, “[He] Who hath ears…let him hear” (Matt. 13:38-43).

Now then, let’s look at the seven weeks of harvest leading up to the resurrection.