The Harvest

We are rapidly approaching the end of this age, and the harvest is near. The harvest, as defined by Jesus, is the reaping of the wheat and tares together (at the same time) at the end of the age (Matthew 13:28-30, 39). The harvest has wrongly been defined as only the reaping of believers, but that is not what Jesus said in the parable. Only wheat is placed in the Lord’s barn, but the weeds must still be separated from the wheat so they can be burned (Luke 3:16-17).

Some in the church have taught false doctrine and said that the wheat will be caught up in the air or plucked out of the field while the tares remain in the field. This is a direct contradiction to what Jesus said. Jesus did not give a veiled teaching that we have to decipher. It is very clear. Wheat and weeds grow together. When it is time to harvest them, they are harvested together. If you try to reap the weeds without the wheat, you will uproot the wheat. If you try to harvest the wheat without the weeds, you will uproot the weeds. These are basic principles of a harvest that children can understand.

However, some believers do not want to hear the teaching of Jesus. They only want to hear what causes their souls to feel good, so they embrace false teaching. Some believers would rather embrace the teaching that the wheat will be harvested by itself before the end of the age. By willfully choosing to believe doctrine that Jesus did not teach, they disrespect Jesus. To ignore clear teaching from Jesus while embracing an alternative teaching from others shows disregard for the Teacher and the truth He gave us.

“He told them another parable, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. But when the shoots had sprung up and produced fruit, the weeds also appeared. “So the servants of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?’ “He said to them, ‘An enemy did this.’ “The servants said to him, ‘Will you then have us go and gather them up?’ “But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the weeds, you pull up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up the weeds first and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ” Matthew 13:24-30 MEV

Agricultural Facts

During the early growth of a crop, a weed, tare, or darnel can resemble wheat. An inexperienced person can easily mistake it for wheat. As the plants mature, a tare develops a different seed head from that of the characteristic grain head of wheat. At maturity, wheat bows over because of the weight of its grain. A darnel or tare remains more upright and has distinctly different seed heads.

When weeds and wheat grow together, their root systems develop alongside one another. Some weeds closely resemble wheat during the early growth stage while their root systems are developing and becoming intertwined. Pulling a maturing weed can disturb the surrounding soil and potentially uproot the wheat, as Jesus stated. Harvesting both the wheat and the weeds together provides the safest method of preserving the crop. The Father’s objective is to allow the wheat to grow to maturity (the full measure of Christ) before harvesting the crop.

It amazes me how the church can teach an alternative harvest doctrine and how so many believers can subscribe to it. It shows us that people will find a reason to believe whatever their souls desire. It also reveals that if some can reject a basic teaching from Jesus, then they will believe other deceptive doctrines that are spreading through the church. We are certainly in the times of seducing spirits and doctrine of demons.

False Beliefs Regarding the Harvest

Many in the church have taught that the harvest is all about numbers. They have taught that when enough people hear the gospel, the harvest will happen and the end will come. This is not what Jesus taught in the parable. A farmer only harvests a crop when that crop is fully developed or ripe. The Father, as a farmer, will initiate the harvest when His wheat has come to maturity (the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ).

The harvest is not defined simply as someone getting saved. It is defined as someone who gives themselves to Jesus, follows Him as a disciple, and then allows Christ to increase in them to full measure. This is a process and takes years. The Father will not harvest an immature crop, but He will wait until His crop is fully mature.

Suffering and Tribulation

“Not only so, but we also boast in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces patience, patience produces character, and character produces hope.” Romans 5:3-4 MEV

“But let patience complete its work, that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.” James 1:4 MEV

The Greek word used for “tribulation” in Romans 5 means, “pressure, compression, affliction, distress of mind, distressing circumstances, trials, anguish, burdened, persecution, or trouble.”

Tribulation is what is needed to bring us to mature character and to be complete. I would rather not have tribulation, but I cannot change the Scriptures. Tribulation is needed to bring us to full measure. The current distress that we are experiencing globally is only preparing us for a time of great tribulation that the world has not yet seen, nor will ever see again.

Tribulation is not to punish us, it is to mature us. Jesus had to go through tribulation. When disciples are well trained, they become like their Master. If we think we can come to maturity apart from going through tribulation like Jesus did, then we are saying that we are better than our Master. I’m certain that we are not better than our Master.

The Reaping

After we (those who keep the commands of God and faith in Jesus Christ) demonstrate patience throughout the beast system, in which the mark of the beast is implemented before the entire world, the harvest will come (Revelation 14:9-20). The harvest of the Lord’s wheat will occur simultaneously with the reaping of the grapes of wrath (wicked and unrepentant people who rejected Christ). These grapes are trampled in the winepress of God’s wrath at Jesus’ physical return, shown in Revelation 19:11-16. Jesus’ robe is depicted as being dipped in blood because He has trodden the winepress of the fury and wrath of God the Almighty.

It is quite amazing how all the Scriptures fit together if we choose to see it. If we desire to know the truth in the Scriptures and if we desire to do the will of the Lord as His disciples, we will understand and know the truth.

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you remain in My word, then you are truly My disciples. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:31-32 MEV

The Lord is calling us back to the Word of God, which will be an anchor for our souls in these times at the end of the age. The winds of the teaching of the trickery of men will cause us to drift further and further away from the truth. When we believe lies and false doctrines, it opens us up to more and more deception as our lives go on. Unfortunately, it is not just a matter of a difference of opinions, or different ways of seeing the scriptures. It is a matter of embracing deception instead of truth, which opens one to spirits of delusion and deception.

We do not have the liberty of believing whatever we want to believe or whatever we were taught growing up. We need to believe whatever Jesus said, and we have to believe the Scriptures.

-Ty Unruh (9/7/26)