Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 34:21

21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.

Continuing with the trend of the past couple days, here we have God re-extending a previously heard law, this one related to the observance of a Sabbath day. Not all the wording between the original injunction and this are the same. The original commandment stressed the importance of not only abstaining from work for oneself, but also that he must not cause anyone around him to work either.

We don’t hear that same detail here, but we do receive a new emphasis with the instruction, “in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.” This makes clear that the people aren’t to go looking for temporary exceptions. One cannot be justified in excusing themselves from the commandment “just during the harvest” or anything like that. This law not only applies universally to every inhabitant, but as a constant in all times.

The phrase “earing time and in harvest” also brings to mind a passage we heard quite some time ago. Back when Joseph was a prince in Egypt, he had explained to his brethren that they needed his help to survive the famine, as it would continue for yet another “five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest.” I wonder if God’s wording here deliberately reflected records that the Israelites had of that moment in their history. If so, it seems to address the main underlying fear that might tempt one to break this commandment, which would be that your crops would fail and that you would starve, just like what happened in the time of Joseph in Egypt. This reference back to Joseph might have been to remind the people that when it came to being at the mercy of weather and the seasons, there was nothing surer than a partnership with the Lord. He would see them through alright, just as He had done for Israel and his sons all those years ago.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Sow and Then Reap- Summary

This was a smaller study, and kind of an offshoot from my previous one. That is the beauty of pursuing answers, one tends to find even more questions along the way. There is no shortage of truths to discover, and it is beautiful to see how they all combine into one whole and support and expand upon one another.
Also these truths can be found anywhere, and they can especially be found in nature, as in the case of this study. God has designed the basic pattern of our human survival so that it clearly teaches lessons of patience, faith, and reward.

Reaping What You Sow Can Be Either a Blessing or a Curse

There is a common pattern noted in many different cultures and spiritual teachings. Karma, what goes around comes around, get what you deserve, etc. Though in the moment life may indeed be unfair, over time things do tend to balance out.
This truth is a great condemnation to the wicked and a great liberator to the innocent. While some are crushed by its momentum, others are wise enough to use it to their advantage. Be patient and persevering in doing good, and soon enough nature itself will work for your triumph!
Galatians 6:7- Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Matthew 7:2- For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.

Cultivating a Soul Takes a Season

Nothing good comes easy. In other words, the measure of a thing’s value can often be found in the difficulty by which it was obtained. By that standard the purification of the soul must be the most precious treasure of them all!
Achieving this position is so difficult, in fact, that only God can do it for us. Not a single one of us can purify our own selves, we simply do not have the power to do it. What we do have the power to do, though, is stop God from cleansing us. He loves us too much to force any blessings on us that we don’t want. The more I interact with God the more I realize that all He needs from me is to stop shutting Him out and then He’ll take care of the rest.
Simple as that may sound, it takes everything I have to manage it. It takes constant effort. Every day I have to diligently water my “love of self,” I have to weed out any “feeling unworthy of forgiveness,” and I must carefully prune any “harmful exercises of free will.” I have to be diligent, and I have to do it for as long as this mortal field is mine. If I am faithful, though, God will make my garden grow.
2 Nephi 25:23- For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.

We Are All Workers in the Field

As difficult as it may be to just work our own field, if that is all we do then we have not met our calling. We are meant to work in the fields of others as well. In fact, our own cultivation of the soul cannot ever be completed without the cultivation of other’s.
We are kindred spirits, and our fates are entwined. The Savior gave a clear warning that we were not to “hide our light under a bushel,” nor were we to “bury our talent.” Our injunction is to “Let [our] light so shine before men,” (Matthew 5:16). To be born of Christ is to be called to the work.
We are nearing the final harvest and there is still a great deal of reaping to be done. There is sufficient rest for all of us at the end of the season, for now we must lean into this work with all that we have.
Matthew 9:37-38- Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Sow and Then Reap- Matthew 9:36-38, John 4:35, 37-38

But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

COMMENTARY

The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few
One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour
Yesterday I examined an individual interpretation of a field being sowed and reaped, but I would be remiss to pass over the more universal meaning Jesus stressed on more than one occasion. The harvest he refers to in these passages is clearly that of bringing God’s children back to Him. It is the work of ministry.
And this isn’t just any harvest, it is one that has extended over millennia, with multiple stages of development. In this work we not only work shoulder-to-shoulder with Peter and Paul, but even Abraham and Moses.

Other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours
God has been staging this work since the very beginning of this world. He has had a specific plan directing which of His servants were called to plant, to nurture, and to reap. Moses was not to called to free the world, only the Hebrews. That sapling had been considerably wounded, and for a time required exclusive care before it could branch out further.
It was not until much later that Peter received a command that now was the time for the Gentiles to receive the Good News. A common criticism of Christianity is that the rules around it have changed throughout the years. Yet we do not question a farmer who keeps infant plants in small pots, then later integrates them into the broader field. It’s just doing what is called for at the time.

Countless disciples have worked tirelessly throughout the ages to ensure a bounteous harvest. They did their part well, for which service all of us have been made the beneficiaries.
Now the torch has been passed on to us. Our duty is to see that all the sacrifices of those that came before do not go to waste. The Lord has never rescinded the commandment to reap. We know the harvest ends soon, and it wouldn’t do to leave any fruit out there to spoil!

Posted on by Abe Austin

Sow and Then Reap- Matthew 13:24-30

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

COMMENTARY

The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Jesus provided the interpretation to this little parable. He was the sower, the good seed was the children of the kingdom, the tares were the wicked, and the harvest is the end of the world where all will be judged.
But each of us is a miniature type for the world (or maybe the world is a macro type for all of us?) and so the principles that apply to the whole apply to each of us individually.
Because, you see, each of us is sown with the image of Christ. We are the children of God, and inherently have the seeds of all virtues within us. But, at birth, we are also sown with the natural man, and have the seeds of all vice within us as well.

The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Our lives then become a fight between these two natures, and it is a mercy from God that we are not called for judgment until that struggle has run its course. I’m sure we all know those that lived a wild and reckless youth, but over the years heard God calling their name and answered. I think we are all grateful that we are given time to mature, time to sort out the good from the bad, time to decide who we will ultimately be. It is a grace from God that we are not measured until we are fully grown.

Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Remember, in this interpretation you are the field in which the wheat and tares were planted. The promise given to each of us is that eventually all those predispositions to do evil will be taken away. A promise that we can “be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of [our] breast, and receive his Spirit, that [we] may be filled with joy.” (Alma 22:15)
It is not only sickness and death that will end in the resurrection, but also temptation and weakness will beset us no more. To me that is a great comfort during times of duress. There is a plan, the season continues, my tares have yet to be excised. And that’s all okay, because eventually there will be a time of unburdening and a season of rest.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Trial Before Blessing, Pleasure Before Anguish- Galatians 6:7, 9; Hosea 10:12

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

COMMENTARY

Let us not be weary in well doing: in due season we shall reap
Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy
There are many, many scripture passages that make reference to growing one’s crops. We read about sowing and reaping, about a “time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted”, periods of rain and periods of drought.
Indeed a farmer knows firsthand about the long, hard work that happens before any benefit is received. They know that the reaping only comes after an entire season of putting in effort every day.
Honestly I sometimes wonder if our faith hasn’t lost something by no longer being such an agricultural society. But if these scriptures make anything clear it is that we are all farmers whether we grow crops or not, farmers of the soul. We are all have a spirit to cultivate, a goodness to grow, a divine identity to bring to blossom.
It isn’t easy, these crops aren’t going to make it if we only care for them on “good days” or “when we feel like it.” They are needy and require constant attention. And even after all we do to nurture our field we still depend on God bring the rain and keep back the locusts. No, it certainly is not easy, but the promise still remains to the faithful: “we shall reap.”