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end of the year. Jesus was simply telling His disciples that the harvest was not to be in their days but in the time of the end.


The Harvest Ends With the Close of Probation

      The term harvest itself points to a time before probation closes, a time when people can be saved. Jesus in speaking about the preaching of the gospel, sent his disciples out to work for souls, then declared that the harvest is truly great, but the laborers are few" (Luke 10:1,2). Clearly this is speaking about souls during probationary time. Jeremiah put it this way: "The harvest is past, the summer is ended and we are not saved." (Jeremiah 8:20). Inspiration establishes the fact that this prophecy is fulfilled at the final close of probation. Ellen White says: "At the day of judgment there comes to the lost a full realization of the meaning of the sacrifice made on Calvary. . . .They think of the high, pure association it was their privilege to gain. But it is too late. The last call has been made. The wail is heard: `the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." 3

     The fact that the wicked cry out that the harvest is past and as a result they are lost, indicates that they could have been saved during the time of harvest. Again, it reveals that the harvest is a time

when people can be saved. When Christ returns, the wicked will not be crying out, the harvest is past and that they could have been saved at his coming! Besides, they will be in their graves and remain as such for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:5).

     So the harvest will end at the final close of probation when our High Priest throws down the censer and pronounces those solemn words: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." This is the same period of which Amos spoke: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." (Amos 8:10, 11.)

     We must say it again, based upon the aforementioned evidence, the harvest will end when all of God's people are brought into the "barn" or church of Christ, probation closes for everyone, and the plagues begin to fall. And, remember that the falling of the seven last plagues are before the second return of Christ.

Now that we know when the 

harvest will end, we want to know when will it begin?


When Does the Harvest Begin?

      The answer is found in (verse

30) which we quoted earlier. Perhaps we should look at it again for emphasis. "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, gather first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."

      Did you read carefully what the Scriptures told us? The wheat and tares grow together "until" or up to the harvest, but "in the time of harvest," that is, when the harvest time begins, God will send his reapers, the angels, to remove the tares and destroy them, "first." God must first uproot and destroy the tares before the wheat are put into his barn. Put another way, the harvest will begin when the "children of the wicked one"—the mere professors, the unconverted or those who are not doers of the word, are eliminated from

the field. Remember, the harvest ends with the final close of probation, but begins when the unconverted are removed and then continues with a mass in-gathering of the wheat who are placed into God's barn. In other words, brothers and sisters, there must be a separation before the final close of probation in the field of God. The children of the wicked one must

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