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February 2002
Work, Work, Work
Part Twenty
THE HARVEST HAS BEGUN!!
[C]
Heb 7105 defines harvest: “Severed, reaped, the time for crops, tree limb, foliage, bough, branch and harvestman”; (from 7114) “Dock off, curtail, harvest grass or grain, cut down; also “Much discouraged, grieve, loathe, mourn, short (en), strait (en), trouble or vex!” In our last segment, we showed how some of these eight seemingly-unrelated definitions are used in Scripture.
Now we explore the rest of these.
“O, house of Jacob, can it be said the Spirit of the Lord is straitened?” (Mic 2:7)
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Has the Lord’s Hand become short? You will see whether My Word shall come to pass for you or not!” (Nu 11:23)
“Jehu took no heed to walk in the Law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not forsake the sins of Jeroboam, causing Israel to sin; so in then the Lord began to cut Israel short by allowing Hazael of Syrian to defeat them in all of their coastlands!” (2 Ki 10:32)
“You, Lord, have exalted the right hand of my (David’s) foes; You have made all my enemies rejoice! You have made my glory and splendor cease; You have flung my throne to the ground! You have shortened the days of my youth; and covered me with shame! How long, O Lord? Will you hide Yourself forever? How long shall Your wrath burn like fire?!”(Ps 89:42-45)
“He has afflicted and weakened my strength, humbling and bringing me low (with sorrow) in the way [“Jesus said, ‘I AM The Way!” Jn 14:6]; He has shortened my days (aging me prematurely)!” (Ps 102:23 Amplified)
“Fear of the Lord prolongs days; but years of the wicked are shortened!” (Pr 10:27)
“The Lord says...’Is My Hand at all shortened that it cannot redeem? Have I no power to deliver?!” (Isa 50:2)
“Behold, the Lord’s Hand is not shortened that it cannot save; nor is His ear too heavy to hear! Rather it is your iniquities that have separated you and your God; and your sins have hid His face from you so that He will not hear! Your hands are defiled with blood; and your fingers are defiled with iniquity! Your tongue has muttered wickedness. None calls for Justice or pleads for Truth! Instead they trust in vanity and speak lies! They devise mischief and iniquity!” (Ps 59:1)
“Do I complain to a man? And if I did, shouldn’t my spirit be troubled?” (Jb 21:4)
“When Delilah pressed Samson day after day, urging him with her words, he was vexed to death!! So finally he told her all his secrets of how a razor had never touched his head because he had been a Nazarite to God from birth! He said, ‘If I am shaved, my strength will leave me and I will become as weak as any other man!’ When Delilah realized he was speaking the truth at last, she told the Philistine lords who paid her the money she demanded; then they were able to take Samson captive.” (Jg 16:16)
These straitenings, shortenings and vexations are part of the Lord’s harvest of the earth! In these types and shadows, the underlying, overriding Truth is, no matter how grievous our trials, the Saving Hand of Christ is never too short to save us from them, for “The Lord knows how to deliver the Godly out of temptation (trials, testings and tribulations)!” (2 Pet 2:9) Carnal man may try to reach out and save us from overwhelming winds of adversity, overflowing waters of tragedy, or ravaging fires of affliction, but his helping hand will always be short, if only by a slender thread!
If we are to be “Conformed to the Image of God’s Son”; (Ro 8:20) and be given to“Know Him and His Power Resurrection, we must first share the fellowship with His sufferings; and be made conformable to His Death!” (Php 3:10) Above all we must, “Not be conformed to this world, but transformed by the the renewing of our minds so we can prove the good, acceptable, perfect Will of our God”! (Ro 12:2) And since “His Works were finished from the foundation of the world”; (Heb 4:12) “If any man should add,or take away from these things, God shall take away his part in the Book of Life and the Holy City...!” (Rev 22:19) Selah (pause and calmly think of that)!
[TO BE CONTINUED]
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