As we enter fall and the season of harvest soon, the cools nights and the daylight’s slimming will bring about the God ordained changes for gathering the crops. It has always fascinated me that God designed nature to plant, germinate, grow, fruit, and then the gleaning begins.

Have you ever pondered about the cycle of the seasons necessary to even bring about a harvest? Without spring, without summer, without fall, and yes even without winter’s sabbath, none of what see flourishing around us would ever come to pass.

I would like to take note of the changes that come between summer and fall….

As fall approaches, the sun’s rays hit Earth at a lower angle, so the same amount of sunlight spreads out over a bigger area and feels weaker. Days get shorter and nights get longer. Because of this, the air cools down – especially in places far from the ocean and farther north. The difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures also gets bigger because the air is less humid and there are fewer clouds. Cool, clear nights make it easier for frost and dew to form.

The temperature difference between the cold poles and the warm tropics gets stronger. This speeds up the jet stream (a fast river of air high in the sky) and makes weather systems stronger. You often get more wind and more cold fronts that push out the warm, sticky summer air and bring cooler, heavier air. After the first frosts, the air often becomes clearer and drier. In some coastal or rainy regions, you might get more rain instead.

Plants that are still growing release water vapor into the air (this is called transpiration). That extra moisture can act like a blanket and delay the first hard frost. Once frost kills many plants, they stop releasing so much water vapor. Then the skies clear up more, and the temperature swings between day and night get even larger.

The soil cools more slowly than the air. The top layers of soil cool first, following the air temperature but a little behind it. Deeper soil cools even more slowly and doesn’t change temperature as much. By late fall, soil temperatures often drop to around 50°F or lower. When that happens, the tiny living things in the soil slow way down.

Bacteria that help recycle nutrients (especially nitrogen) almost stop working when the soil gets colder than about 50°F, and they nearly shut down near freezing. Fungi keep working a bit longer. Because of this, nutrients become harder for plants to get, and root growth slows down. Dead leaves start piling up on the ground and begin to break down, which still releases some carbon dioxide even as it gets colder. The soil can also get wetter because plants are using less water and autumn rains may fall. Extra water can change how much oxygen is in the soil and how nutrients move around.

Trees pull important nutrients (especially nitrogen) out of their dying leaves and store them in their trunks, branches, and roots for winter. Some root growth and even the thickening of bigger roots can keep going longer than the growth you see above ground. The cooling soil temperature itself is one of the signals that tells plants it’s time to stop growing for the season.

I know that is all a bit “scientific”; however there is a lesson of wisdom in it that ties spiritual harvests, revivals, and even the end of the age. And I will get to the point shortly, but first – here are some biblical passages that talk about harvests:

Matthew 9:37-38  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

This passage indicates there is a fall season of harvest even in the Kingdom of God, and it just so happens that there is a cooling temperature of heart and on fire “summer” Christians have waned, witness work and ministry has slowed so that the harvest is bursting with no one to reap it. It is as though people wanting to do God’s work have entered a spiritual autumn and the soils of the heart have begun to drop in temperature. On the plus side, prayer is there, and it should be fervent! But, as great as that is, as powerful as that is, as heaven moving as that is – action has slowed and prayer has seemingly become the only Kingdom work getting done. There is a shortage of godly men desiring to lead, there is a surplus of lukewarmness, and there is a lack of holiness that is increasing among the laborers.

Matthew 13:24-30, 13:36-43  He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'”….

….Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

Now, this certainly describes an autumn climate in the church! How? Take a look around the church as a whole – weeds (aka – tares, counterfeit Christians, Satan placed servants) have grown up, devil planted weeds, within the fields of congregations. And there is a time for this, as Jesus said in the passage – to let the weeds remain while the wheat grows. But God, when it comes to the time of harvest, there will be a separation of the wheat and the tares. We are beginning to see this come to fruition and it is getting more difficult to discern the difference…. Unless the true believers are in the Word and can spot the counterfeits. The idea of the season of fall is undeniable, and this all points to the season of the great and final harvest coming soon. Yet, before that, remember inside of one year’s time in nature there are four season and a harvest, inside a decade there are ten harvests. There are seasonal harvests ahead before the final harvest at the end…. And with full confidence, the current seasonal harvest is upon us, and the separation of the wheat and tares is all to apparent.

Revelation 14:14-20  Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse’s bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

Now, note again that the final harvest of the earth is coming, and before that happens the autumn spiritual season in the world will commence. And part of the imagery of this part of the harvest is the grapes of wrath…. Not all gathered fruit is for the Kingdom, some is for the demonstration of God’s judgment. It will be all those who refused the Kingdom’s harvest invitation from the King of the harvest – that is Christ! So then, there are two parts of the harvest – the early growth and the latter gathering. As of now, we are in the midst of the Church harvest, the Bride of Christ’s reaping to be ready for that gathering (aka – rapture), and then the next harvest will not be for the ingathering but for the end gathering. Again, the Church as a whole is in the season of fall – and it is the time for the harvest of the gospel’s reaping. Autumn in the Almighty’s field is now – and we best get busy as the co-laborers in God’s field! The winter is right around the corner, and with winter comes bitter cold, death, and frozen hearts.

By Jesus’ Grace,

Pastor Daren Barnett