1881 Watch Tower - A2Z.org

hundred years, up to the time when Jesus came in the end oftheir age as the reaper, and the work of separating between truegrain and empty chaff commenced. The work of reaping wasdone by Jesus' personal preaching, and also through hisdisciples, as John had declared. "His" winnowing fan is in hishand, and he will thoroughly purge [cleanse] his floor, andgather his wheat into the garner [the gospel age,] but burn up thechaff with unquenchable fire," [Matt. 3:12] the fire of tribulationand national destruction on fleshly Israel, ending withJerusalem's destruction--A.D. 70.The work of Jesus in the end or harvest of the Jewish age, was,not to make Israelites of the Gentiles, but to prove who werereally servants of God. The results prove that few of the nominalfleshly Israel were "Israelites indeed, in whom was no guile.""He came to [nominally] His own, and as a people or house theyreceived him not." The nominal house stumbled over him, anddid not recognize him. "But to as many as received him, to themgave he power [liberty] to become sons of God"--but the restwere blinded.We have heretofore seen that the Jewish or servant house was inmany respects a pattern or shadow of the higher gospel house.Especially in the closing work of the two ages is this parallelismstriking. Their age ended with a harvest, in which Jesus in theflesh was the reaper and winnower and gatherer into the barn,the disciples being the assistant reapers, working under hisdirections. [Luke 10:1.] Our age is also to end with the harvestof the spiritual or gospel house --a separating of wheat and tares,in which again, Jesus a spiritual body ["We know him no moreafter the flesh"] is the reaper, [Rev. 14:14-16, Matt. 13:41] whilethe angels, also invisible spiritual bodies, are the assistants.We see too that not only are the harvests of Jewish and gospelages parallel in point of beginning, but also in length ofduration; theirs being in all 40 years from the time of Jesusanointing [at beginning of their harvest, A.D. 30,] to destructionof Jerusalem, A.D. 70. So, ours, beginning in 1874 closes withthe end of the "day of wrath" and end of the "times of theGentiles," 1914--a similar and parallel period of 40 years. Thefirst seven years of the Jewish harvest was especially devoted tothe gathering of ripe wheat from that church; three and one-halfof it was while he was present as the Bridegroom and three anda half of it after he had come to them as king and had enteredinto glory, but it was all under his supervision and direction.As John had said, he purged his floor, gathered his wheat andburned the chaff. So here the parallel is being fulfilled: We find,[as heretofore shown--see "Day Dawn"] the law and theprophets declaring him present at the culmination of the "Jubileecycles" in 1874. And the parallels show us that then the harvestbegan, and that the gathering of the Bride into the place ofsafety, will occupy a parallel seven years of time, ending in