Mark 4:26  And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;
27  And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.
28  For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
29  But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

These verses are a continuation of the parable we have just looked at. In that parable Jesus taught about the four types of soil that there would be in the kingdom of God. We made application of that to our time, but the primary lesson here is to the Jews and it is in reference to a time yet future. It is in reference to the Millennium. In the Millennium, the people on earth will be granted a special situation. Satan will be bound for the entire one thousand years. Man will still be born with the sin nature, but the devil will not be there to directly interfere with man.
Jesus Christ will rule during that time. The saints that have been raised up will be reigning with Christ in that time. Man will be given a special opportunity to witness the blessing of living under a righteous government.
Those who are awake now, can see that we have anything but a righteous government. We have massive corruption and then coverups to lie to the people about the corruption. We have men and women who are so full of darkness, that they will stand before the cameras and lie to us and not be ashamed of their lies. They expect people to trust them even though they have proven they are incompetent and even worse, they are criminals. Sadly, far too many people will go into that little booth on or before April 28 of this year and they will choose these criminals to take control of the reigns for the next few years.
Thankfully, we can know that these ungodly people will only be able to go so far with their evil plot. God is still in charge. He has not left the world rudderless. The key is to know Him.
In our text, Jesus began this part of His teaching with the word “so”. That tells us that what He is now teaching is tied to what He has just taught. He taught of the importance of letting our light shine. Now again, we need to take note of the time that Jesus is speaking to. He is speaking to the time of the kingdom of God. He is still referring to the time of the Millennium. The main players in that kingdom are the nation of Israel. There will be Gentiles there as well, but the nation of Israel will be centre stage at that time.
The nation of Israel began in the time of Abram and Sarai. God took two flawed individuals and changed their names and then gave them a son. That son, Isaac, was also a flawed person who married and had two sons. God carefully laid out His plan and built His nation into a multitude of people. Thousands of Jews have been killed over the centuries. The nation would be much larger if not for the hatred that the Gentile world has expressed toward God and toward the Jews. However, none of this is a surprise to God.
Over the generations, the Jews as a nation have not walked in the fear of the Lord. They have chosen to walk in defiance of God and have chosen idolatry as their gods. To this day, the nation of Israel is not walking in the fear of the Lord.
Jesus is talking of the time of the Millennium, when a small number of Jews will enter that time. During the Millennium, that nation will multiply from that weak little group of people into a large, prosperous people that will dominate the world. Humanly speaking, this growth will not be explainable.
Jesus used the illustration of that seed that is planted into the ground. Science can break down and name the various parts of the seed, but science cannot explain why that seed should sprout and be able to break through the ground and grow into a plant that develops seed of its own.
Man is not capable of developing a seed on his own. He has tampered with the seeds that God created. He has developed seeds that have characteristics more to sinful man’s liking, but we are finally admitting that there are major problems with GMO seeds. However, lost humanity is not willing to abandon his recklessness and is still insisting that the food of the future must be manipulated by ungodly people.
In the Millennium, the nation of Israel will grow under the governance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those born in that time will still need to choose whether they want to submit to the Lord Jesus Christ in their hearts. We read that most of them will not do so. Most will submit outwardly during that time because there will be no choice. However, we read that when the harvest time comes, immediately God will put in the sickle for the harvest.
The Bible tells us that at the end of the Millennium, the devil will be let loose for a short season. He will be given permission to try to gather a following from among the many that will be alive at that time. He will be quite successful in gathering many people to his side in short order. He will convince this massive group to form an army and prepare to attack the Lord Jesus Christ.
We know that Satan is evil to the core. We also know that man is born in sin. Unless a person repents toward God and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, he cannot change his sinful nature. He might try to improve himself according to his standards of improvement. However, he cannot meet God’s righteous standard on his own.
This will be true in the Millennium as well. People will live within the bounds that Jesus Christ will establish. However, without trusting in Him for salvation, they will not be able to enjoy that time of blessing. It will not seem like a blessing to them.
The harvest of that time will be that final battle at the end of the Millennium, when Satan will take his massive army and fight against the Lord Jesus Christ. It will not be much of a fight. Jesus Christ controls the sickle and He will cut down that massive army in a moment of time. Jesus Christ will not suffer any damage, but wicked humanity will be killed. Satan will be cast into the lake of fire and Jesus Christ will set up His great white throne judgment. All the wicked from that time as well as those from the time of rebellious Cain forward, will stand before the Lord at that judgment and all will be found wanting and will be cast into the lake of fire.
There are many people who are wilfully ignorant of the facts of eschatology. There is so much false teaching on this and other doctrines. There is no need for that confusion. God’s Word is clear. The Old Testament gives us prophecies regarding future events. Jesus spoke clearly about future events. The apostles also taught on these matters. The Holy Spirit indwells every true child of God. His purpose is to bring unity to those who are saved. That unity is under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is not divided. Jesus taught these things to help us to know what is coming and to be unified in our understanding of future events. God is certainly not pleased when people rise up in arrogance and insist on their own imaginations, over His truth.
This passage was given to comfort the Jews who would trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. It was also given to warn the multitudes who would reject the Lord Jesus Christ. It was not good during His first coming to reject Him. It is not good now to reject Him. It will not be good in the Millennium to reject Him.
Between now and the Millennium, will be that short time known as the Tribulation time. That is when the Antichrist will be revealed. He will be the worst human ruler the world has ever known. That time is a literal seven year period of horror. A few will be saved during that time. Many will be slaughtered under the direction of that vile man of sin. The time of salvation is now. Don’t sit by as a spectator and look for the next catastrophe. Some people like to watch hockey because they like to see a “good fight” break out. They might enjoy the scoring, but they like the checking and fighting as well.
Many people approach life in the same manner. They like to “experience” life. It is best to know the Lord and serve Him faithfully. It is important to serve Him. We can know God’s peace now.
Pastor Bartel