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Laboring….in the Harvest?

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Matthew 9:37-38 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Some time around 2002 I was meditating on this passage of Scripture and what the Lord revealed to me astounded me. So much so that I sobbed over the revelation. What would illicit such powerful emotion? In 1998 I had read a book entitled, Surprised by the Spirit, by Dr. Jack Deere. Through it I reasoned that it wasn’t right for me to remain in the denomination believing, and practicing things contrary to traditional expectations. Unbeknownst to me, at the time, the Lord had a different perspective from mine own. Yet I left, with no intentions of returning. Fast forwarding to 2001 I had a recurring dream, three times in a row, in which my Mom was waking me. Following the third, and final time, I simply prayed, Lord if you are trying to tell me something You need to make it clearer than this. And He did. He revealed that my Mom symbolized the denomination that birthed me and He wanted me to return. The revelation shocked, and startled me. After a great deal of prayer Jackie and I made plans to return – which was a miraculous event in and of itself. (I had a reputation for being charismatic) When I returned I kind of kept the things of the Spirit a secret, or some would say, in the closet. In other words I attempted to behave according to traditional expectations. All of this began to shatter when I went on a mini retreat to seek the Lord and He revealed to me the meaning of the aforementioned passage. When reading Scripture context is everything. For years I had missed the context of this passage thus missing the impact of Matthew 9:37-38. The context is revealed in the preceding passage headings beginning in chapter eight: Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy, The Faith of the Centurion, Jesus Heals Many, Jesus Calms the Storm, Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men, Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man, Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman, and Jesus Heals the Blind and the Mute.

Matthew 9:36 is where the full impact of the context reaches a crescendo: When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Mt. 9:36) Get this. The Chief Shepherd is in their midst and they are like sheep without a shepherd? How can this be? Jesus’ point isn’t that they don’t have a shepherd. His point is that He sees the need to multiply the shepherding, or in other words the shepherds or laborers. Is there a connection, hebraically, between the two words that would have stood out to the disciples? I decided to google it by typing, Is there a connection between the biblical hebrew words for shepherd, and laborer? Googles answer: Yes, there’s a strong conceptual link in Hebrew, as the root word for “shepherd” (ra’ah – רעה) also means to tend, feed, care for, or be a companion, which connects to the idea of serving or caring for others, though the specific word for “laborer/hired worker” (sakhir – שָׂכִיר) is distinct and often used in contrast to the selfless shepherd, highlighting themes of justice and contrast between paid work and covenant love. 

All the things the Chief Shepherd had done, from the beginning of chapter 8 of Matthew to the end of chapter 9, Jesus expected His little “shepherds” or “sheep dog – laborers” would do. All the things: heal, do miracles, cast out demons, raise the dead, teach, preach, calm storms, etc. ALL means ALL!

Why did I sob that day in 2002? I said to the Lord, Why do you keep showing me these things and I never get to see them happen? Six years later I witnessed the answer to that prayer. The Lord used me to perform a miracle for a Ukrainian woman who could only shuffle and drag her feet using a walker. After four attempts at prayer – she walked without a shuffle, and her daughter folded up that walker, hung it over her shoulder – and mother and daughter walked home rejoicing in God’s goodness. Jesus is looking for laborers, or under-shepherds, like Himself – who do what their Chief Shepherd does. Remember Paul’s words in Galatians? My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you,…(Gal. 4:19) Remember Ephesians 4:12-13? His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ’s body (the church),13 [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.

The Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and she “labored” giving birth to Jesus in being the handmaiden (bondservant) of the Lord. Paul labored until Christ was fully formed in the Galatians. Jesus is still laboring, for you and I in prayer, until we reach the fullness of sons and daughters of the Most High God; fully participating in His Father’s business. Are you laboring? Is Christ being formed in you? Are you manifesting the Son of God? Are you participating in being a manifest son or daughter of God? Have you answered the call? Are you an answer to Jesus’ prayers? Are you His under-shepherd, sheep dog?

Last Days Harvest

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Lev. 23:40 commands: You shall rejoice before the Lord your God.  One of the names for Sukkot is Z’man Simchateinu (The Season of Our Joy).  In fact, the word JOY appears several times in connection with Sukkot. Dt. 16:13-15 Be joyful at your Feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.…For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete. Sukkot is known as a harvest festival, and that is why it is referred to as the Feast of Ingathering. Ex. 23:16 Celebrate the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.” The joy of this holiday is characterized by music, song and dancing. Even today, Jewish people gather near the Western (Wailing) Wall to dance, sing and rejoice before the Lord. People fill the synagogues and streets while singing and dancing with tremendous joy until early in the morning.

You may be tempted to say, Robert, we are not farmers and there is no harvest to gather. So, why should we be rejoicing and celebrating? The answer lies in the fact that the Feasts and Festivals are actually prophetic symbols pointing to far greater realities – their substance is Christ – the shadows, and symbols of the good things to come. Colossians 2:16-17 states: So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. NKJV And Hebrews 8:4-5 states: For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” NKJV And Hebrews 10:1 states: For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. NKJV

The Feast of Sukkot, or Booths is a shadow, copy, or symbol of a culmination of the Spiritual Harvest of Souls. In Matthew 13:24-30 Jesus tells a parable which illustrates the significance of the harvest symbolism: Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ” NKJV

Sukkot is a symbol of the Last Days Harvest of Souls: Acts 2:14-21 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.15 These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ NIV

The Feast of Sukkot, or Booths is a shadow, copy, or symbol of other good things to come. Why would and should there be rejoicing, dancing, feasting and celebration during this time and what does all the celebrating symbolize? Luke 15:20-27,31 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. 25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant.27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ NKJV

Luke 15:31 concludes by making the most profound statement: “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’ ” NKJV

We are celebrating our brothers and sisters who were once dead spiritually but have come to life again. We are dancing and feasting because what was lost has now been found! Now that’s a reason to rejoice!! Are you gathering “wheat” for the Father’s Barn? Are you a laborer in His Harvest? Are you playing your part in raising the dead? Are you a part of God’s Holy Spirit Search and Rescue Team – finding what was lost?