Sabbath Thought - Iron Harvest

In the northern hemisphere, this time of year is the main time of harvest.  Here in Wisconsin this involves soybean and corn primarily, but wheat and other crops are not uncommon.  In other parts of the country this harvest also involves various vegetables, fruit from trees, like apples, peaches, cherries, and so forth.  All of the work put in by the farmers is evident and rewarded in their harvests.

But mankind reaps a harvest in so many areas of life.  As we read in the later half of Galatians 6:7, "...whatever a man sows, that he will also reap."  All choices bring consequences (a harvest) - good choices bring good consequences (blessings) and bad choices bring bad consequences (curses).  Sadly this country is reaping the consequences of what has been sown by a man and woman living together outside of the marriage covenant, of the shamefully high number of abortions since 1973, of children raised without the commitment of two loving, married parents, of the embrace and promotion of the LBGTQ+ lifestyles, and a general disregard of what God's standards are to the point of actually doing what God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19).

We, of course, also see this "reaping" in mankind's history of war.  Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history (even what constitutes "peace" can be debated).  In the last 2,000 years there have been more reliable records, so historians have put the total of war dead at about 398 million.  This does not include unintended consequences from war such as famine, disease, delayed death from war injuries, etc.  In the 20th century alone, deaths from war were estimated to be more than 160 million.

Even after wars end, other consequences can continue.  Just in the aftermath of World War 1 it is estimated that more than 20 million died from influenza that swept through Europe and North America.  Historians write of the lingering danger in the battlefields of the WW1 Western Front (such as Ypres and Somme, Belgium) - every year, unexploded cannon shells and grenades turn up in astonishing numbers, along with scraps of barb-wire, soldiers helmets, jagged shrapnel, empty cannon shells, remnants of guns and other metal.  Some historians have estimated that it would take 500 years to safely clear these areas of all of the unexploded ordnance.  They have dubbed this the "Iron Harvest".  In Verdun, France it has been estimated that there are 12 million unexploded shells still buried.  France has simply sealed off these old battlegrounds and they became known as the "forbidden forests".

Mankind is facing more of this type of reaping in the near future during the Tribulation.  It will take Christ's return to stop this madness.  We rehearse the sowing and reaping that God will do for the benefit of mankind in the fall Holy Days.  He will rule with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15), but His "iron harvest" will reflect the positive aspects of iron - unyielding and profitable in purpose, strong yet malleable, useful and ubiquitous.

In the meantime, what are we sowing and reaping?  Are we prepared to be instrumental in the harvest Christ will bring in the Millennium and Last Great Day?  As the prophet Hosea wrote - "Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you" (Hosea 10:12).  God's Sabbath is such a time to consider our responsibility in the calling God has given to each of us.  To sow righteous now so that we can not only be in His Kingdom, but to also be harvested now so that we can assist Jesus Christ in bringing "many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10).

I wish you a profitable and value filled Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

28 October, 2022