By Don Koenig
Scripture gives reference to a great end time world harvest of the wheat and tares that will occur at the end of this age. The scripture explains that the wheat is God's people and that the tares are Satan's people. The scripture further says that the angels have been instructed to let the wheat and tares grow up together until the harvest at the end of the age. At that time the angels will be instructed to gather the wheat into God's barn and to bundle the tares together to be burned.
Common sense dictates that a wheat harvest takes place when the ripe wheat in the field is at peak. Thus, the harvest of the wheat and the tares occur when the greatest number of true Christians are dwelling on the earth. The time for the wheat harvest can be known by observing Christianity in the world (the wheat in the field). This is one reason why the Bible tells us that the season of the return of Jesus will be known to those who are watching for it.
The wheat and tares on the earth
The wheat and the tares are people on earth. The population of the earth is very near its peak now. The population of the earth is projected to increase for two or three more decades but abortion, birth control, war and declining fertility rates will probably make it peak before then. The only population growth projected after this decade is in Africa but wars and disease will probably limit that. Also, most population growth will be due only to longer life spans not new births.
Christianity has been on the rise because of population growth and also because new fields were found for growing wheat. Population growth will not continue much longer and soon there will be no more large new fields of wheat (places on earth where people can be reached for Christ). Meanwhile, we can observe that growing conditions for new wheat in older fields is becoming unfavorable, in some parts of the world tares are taking over, so the peak world harvest of wheat is not far off.
In the future there will not be much more new wheat in new field but mostly older wheat increasing being choked out by the tares.
I believe the world harvest will come after the more recently planted fields see wheat but before the older fields become completely choked out by the growing tares.
Keep in mind that everyone in the world does not have to be reached with the message about Christ before the pretribulation rapture of the Church. There still will be a very late trip to the fields by the 144,000 Jewish witnesses before the Lord of the harvest reaps the earth. (These 144,000 receive a supernatural revelation of Jesus - as Paul did on the road to Damascus).
Jesus said it would be like the days of Noah when He returns. He was partly speaking of the population explosion and the violence all over the earth. This is also the state of affairs that is evident on the earth today.
Signs of the time
This is the last generation on earth where the living population on the earth will be equal to or greater than all those that have lived and died on the earth since the great flood. More than one half of the Christians that have ever lived are still alive dwelling on the earth today. This will not be true in any future generation. My observations of the wheat and tares on earth leads my to believe that the harvest will take place before 2040.
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