The Harvest is Plentiful

 

In Genesis 46:3-4, God told Jacob that the Lord would make him a great nation, promising that He would go with Jacob and his family to Egypt and “I will surely bring you up again.” God would birth the nation of Israel, beginning with the seventy of Jacob’s family, as reported in Genesis 46, as well as Joseph and his family already there, and then deliver them. In Exodus 1, Scripture says that the sons of Israel would be fruitful and increase significantly, multiply, and become exceedingly mighty for a season. However, once the Pharoah who favored Joseph was gone, a new leader would place them in hard labor for hundreds of years. 

Now, after this, the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. And He was saying to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers [ergates – laborer, worker] are few; therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go, behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes, and greet no one on the way. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him, but if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.' I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.               Luke 10:1-12 

Seventy 

Just as Israel started with seventy, the church also began with seventy laborers, seventy disciples. The number 70 is significant in Scripture. It combines 7, referring to completion, and 10, meaning natural order. Seventy speaks of the completion of natural order. Consider the following:

·         70 holy days – 52 Sabbaths, 7 days of Passover, 1 day of Pentecost, 1 day of Trumpets, 1 Day of Atonement, 8 days of Tabernacles

·         70 descendants of Noah after the flood speaking of 70 nations and languages (Josephus Antiquities)

·         70 members of Jacob's family begin the Hebrew nation in Egypt (Genesis 46)

·         70 elders to stand together with Him [70 members of Sanhedrin]

·         70 years of exile

·         70 names of God according to Midrash (Jewish commentary on Scripture)

·         70 years of life (Psalm 90:10)

·         70 sent out in Luke 10 to preach the Gospel

·         70 weeks of Daniel until the return of Messiah 

Laborers

Harvesting is real work, hard work. God is looking for those who are ready and willing to work. The Church Father Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome in the third century, identified the names of the seventy, and they are included at the end of this writing. These were men totally committed to the work at hand. The work to establish the church after Jesus’s ascension was placed on these seventy men, along with the apostles. It would be necessary for them to pray for more laborers, not spectators, who are willing to dedicate themselves to this highest purpose. Becoming a follower of Jesus is not a spectator sport, and He intends no personal glory for those who participate. 

According to Luke 10, Jesus's instructions included not taking supplies or money since those accepting their message would provide for their basic needs. The seventy had a right to expect to be received by their Jewish brethren as they went to them to declare the presence of the King among them. They were proclaiming the coming of the Prince of Peace. Acts 10:36, The word which He sent to the sons of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all). If the owner of the house was indeed a son of peace, he would gladly welcome His messengers. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful” (John 14:27). The disciple represents His peace and authority, so he goes in that boldness of faith (Matthew 28:20). 

Looking for the Kingdom

“'The kingdom of God has come near to you. The evidence that this kingdom is near is found in the miracles and healing of the sick. It is not a physical kingdom but a new reality, the kingdom of heaven coming down to earth and realized by those who recognize its king. In John 3:3, Jesus told Nicodemus, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and to those, he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And so they went. Again, he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour and did the same thing. And about the eleventh hour, he went out and found others standing around, and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here idle all day long?' They said to him, 'Because no one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' "When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last group to the first.' When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a denarius. When those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each also received a denarius. When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, saying, 'These last men have worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.' But he 'answered and said to one of them, Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?' So, the last shall be first, and the first last."            Matthew 20:1-16

Laborers in the Vineyard

Jesus told this parable in which a landowner went out early in the morning and hired men to work in his vineyard for the day at an agreed price of one denarius, the normal daily pay for a laborer. Later, about the third hour (around 9 A.M.), the landowner encouraged others in the marketplace to work in the vineyard, not for a stipulated wage but for whatever was right. The landowner employed more laborers during the sixth hour (about noon), the ninth hour (3 P.M.), and even some during the eleventh hour (5 P.M.) when only one hour was left for labor. 

When it came time (evening, i.e., 6 P.M.) for the landowner to pay the workers, he began with those who had worked the shortest amount of time and paid each of them one denarius. When those who worked the entire day came for compensation, they thought they would receive more than a denarius. They had labored all day and borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day. They had agreed, however, to work for a stipulated amount, and that is what they received. The landowner argued that he had the right to do what he chose with his money. He reminded them they should not be envious of his generosity toward those who had labored only briefly.

Through this illustration, Jesus was teaching that the matter of rewards is controlled by God, the "landowner" in the parable. God is the One before whom all accounts will be settled. Many who have prominent places will someday find themselves demoted. Many who often find themselves at the end of the line will be promoted to the head of the line: The last will be first, and the first will be last. The last called were first paid and were equal to the first in compensation; the first were behind the others in time of payment and in the spirit with which they received their wages; they were also treated with less generosity than the others. According to Barnes Notes:

"Many are called into my kingdom; they come and labor as I command them; many of them are comparatively unknown and obscure; yet they are real Christians and shall all receive the proper reward. A few I have chosen for higher stations in the church. I have endowed them with apostolic gifts or with superior talents and suited them for wider usefulness. They may not be as long in the vineyard as others; their race may be sooner run, but I have chosen to honor them in this manner, and I have a right to do it. I injure no one and have a right to do what I will with my own." Thus explained, this parable has no reference to the call of the Gentiles, nor to the call of aged sinners, nor to the call of sinners out of the church at all. It is simply designed to teach that in the church, among the multitudes who will be saved, Christ makes a difference. He makes some more useful than others without regard to the time which they serve, and he will reward them accordingly.             Barnes Notes

Rejection

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had been performed in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will be brought down to Hades! "The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me." Luke 10:13-16

The traditional site of "Chorazin" (the name of a fish) is at the north end of the Sea of Galilee. "Bethsaida" ("fish town") Julius was its near neighbor. Thus, Jesus presented the contrast between two villages at the north end of the Sea of Galilee and two towns at the south end of the Dead Sea: Sodom and Gomorrah. All four cities do not exist at in present times. Both Chorazin and Bethsaida, representatives for many other similar towns, had received much of Jesus's ministry. Tyre and Sidon, two Phoenician cities on the Mediterranean coast, had suffered severe judgment for rejecting God and His people. Jesus's point was that judgment would come on people disregarding His offer of salvation. At the same time, Jesus was teaching that His laborers will be rejected, but in reality, He is the one being rejected. The laborer learns not to take rejection personally.

Divine Ability 

The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." And He said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."              Luke 10:17-20

When the laborer is commissioned into the plan of God, he is empowered to fulfill that plan with divine ability and God’s power to overcome any obstacles, even Satan and his demons. It is divine authority. Yet the source of his joy is the reality that his home is heaven and his reward for the way God used him in His plan. The completion of natural order is the fulfillment of the Church Age (new covenant) and the welcoming of the Kingdom Age.

The Seventy Disciples According to Hippolytus
James, the Lord's half-brother; Bishop of Jerusalem *	36	Hermes, Bishop of Dalmatia
Cleopas, Bishop of Jerusalem	37	Patrobulus, Bishop of Puteoli
Matthias, took Judas Iscariot's place in Acts 1	38	Hermes, Bishop of Philippi
Thaddeus, conveyed the epistle to Abgarus	39	Linus, Bishop of Rome
Ananias, baptized Paul, Bishop of Damascus	40	Caius, Bishop of Ephesus
Stephen, the first martyr	41	Philogus, Bishop of Sinope
Philip, baptized the eunuch	42	Olympus & Rhodion were married in Rome *
Prochorus, Bishop of Nicomedia	43	Rhodion was martyred in Rome
Nicanor, died when Stephen was martyred	44	Lucius, Bishop of Laodicia in Syria
Timon, Bishop of Bostra	45	Jason, Bishop of Tarsus
Parmenos, Bishop of Soli	46	Sosipater, Bishop of Iconium
Nicolaus, Bishop of Samaria	47	Tertius, Bishop of Iconium
Barnabas, Bishop of Milan	48	Erastus, Bishop of Panellas
Mark, writer of the Gospel, Bishop of Alexandria	49	Quartus, Bishop of Berytus
Luke, writer of the Gospel & Acts	50	Apollo, Bishop of Caesarea
Silas, Bishop of Corinth	51	Cephas
Silvanus, Bishop of Thessalonica	52	Sosthenes, Bishop of Colophonia
Crices(Crescens), Bishop of Carchedon in Gaul	53	Tychicus, Bishop of Colophonia
Epaenetus, Bishop of Carthage	54	Epaphroditus, Bishop of Andriace
Andronicus, Bishop of Pannonia	55	Caesar, Bishop of Dyrrachium
Amplias, Bishop of Odyssus	56	Mark, cousin to Barnabas, Bishop of Apollonia
Urban, Bishop of Macedonia	57	Justus, Bishop of Eleuthreropolis
Stachys, bishop of Byzantium	58	Artemas, Bishop of Lystra
Barnabas, Bishop of Heraclea	59	Clement, Bishop of Sardinia
Phhygellus, Bishop of Ephesus, of the party of Simon	60	Onesphorus, Bishop of Corone
Hermogenes, of the party of Simon	61	Tychicus, Bishop of Chalcedon
Demas, who later became a priest of idols	62	Carpus, Bishop of Berytus in Thrace
Apelles, Bishop of Smyrna	63	Evodus, Bishop of Antioch
Aristobulus, Bishop of Britain	64	Aristarchus, Bishop of Apamea
Narcissus, Bishop of Athens	65	Mark, who is John, Bishop of Bibloupolis
Herodian, Bishop of Tarsus	66	Zenas, Bishop of Diospolis
Agabus the prophet	67	Philemon, Bishop of Gaza
Rufus, Bishop of Thebes	68	Aristarchus
Asyncritus, Bishop of Hyrcania	69	Pudes
Phlegon, Bishop of Marathon	70	Trophimus, martyred along with Paul
The Scripture indicated James was an unbeliever until after the Resurrection. Since #42 contains 2 people,
we can conclude James was not one of the original seventy