By Marjorie Kinnee
Texts: Jeremiah 8:20 - The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
Hosea 8:7a - For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind."
These are arguably the saddest verses in all Scripture. They speak to the grief of those who have not heard, and to the sorrow of those who have no more hope. There will come a day when mercy's arm will no longer be stretched out. Judgment is certain and unavoidable, but it's not here yet.
There is a charitable organization called the "Forgotten Harvest." It provides food for the hungry. They provide food for the physical man. Jesus focused on the harvest of souls, saying harvest time was not off in some time in the distance, but it was already ripe. His only prayer request was that we pray the Lord of the Harvest to send forth laborers into His fields. He also charged us to "work while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work."
The Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, said that judgment upon the wicked is determined, but if the wicked one is warned, and if he repents, the mercy of the Lord is available. Both Old and New Testaments declare that God desires repentance - and that turning away from sin in repentance is the one thing that turns God's wrath against sin into His mercy and grace.
The kingdoms of Israel and Judah had repeatedly turned away from God, choosing their own wicked ways despite the warnings and alarms of many prophets. They would not listen. What's more, they imprisoned, tortured, and killed those who warned them of God's wrath and their impending judgment. They were so set in their wickedness they sacrificed their own children to gods of wood and stone; gods who could not see, hear, or rescue them from their folly.
So many opportunities... so many chances... to turn away from sin, to turn away God's wrath. And what about those children? Harnessed to the sins of their fathers and mothers, children of a corrupt generation; their innocence and future hopes were forever ruptured by the ever-present evil that colored every facet of their miserable lives. Talk about a forgotten harvest! What a picture!
History really does repeat itself. We live in a generation like that of Israel just prior to its judgment. We also live under the mandate to live as lights in a dark world. Ezekiel's warning is no less clear today. If we refuse to warn, to sound the alarm; their blood will be required at our hands. The only way to turn the wicked and to bring about God's power to save is to warn them. To speak the truth clearly and in love is both our hope and theirs'.
Daniel prayed a prayer of repentance for the entire nation. (See Daniel 9:3-19.) Prayer and fasting according to the instructions in Isaiah 58:4-9, must be married to the promise of the harvest... The law of sowing and reaping remains in full force. This is the fast God has chosen!
- to loose the bands of wickedness
- to udo the heavy burdens
- to let the oppressed go free
- to break every yoke
- to deal thy bread to the hungry
- to bring the poor and them that are cast out to thy house
- to cover them that are naked
- to hide not thyself from thine own flesh
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