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Revelation of Jesus Christ > Ancient Wells > The Oil and the Wine |
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GitchiManadusThunder
 Posts: 1112 (3/4/06 3:12 pm) Reply |
The Oil and the Wine The Oil and The Wine A further study on the Grapes and the Olives for the Preparation of His Bride To understand in greater depth the parables and illustrations used for spiritual principles in the Word of God, I have provided a fact based article on the daily life in growing and harvest of the Wine and Oil. Wine & Vineyards There were two levels of viticulture in Israel. As the biblical phrase "under their own vine and their own fig tree" (1 Kgs 4:25; Mic 4:4) implies, many households would have had a vine growing in the courtyard, perhaps climbing a tree. Besides this peasant level of cultivation, vineyards were also planted (classic de*****ions of this are Is 5:1-2 & Ps 80:8-13). Often they were on the sides of hills (Is 5:1) that were unsuitable for grain crops because of the slope. Such cultivation of vines demanded high investment of time and labor. First the ground had to be terraced, rocks removed (Is 5:2; Ps 80:9) from the uphill side and used for a wall on the downhill side to retain soil and level the ground. Regular tasks included tending fruit, watering, pruning (Lev 25:4) and hoeing (Is 5:6). Predators, both two and four legged were kept away by walls (Ps 80:12), or were chased off (Ps 80:12-13), so temporary shelters or even permanent "watch-towers" (Is 5:2) were be constructed (Is 1:8). Such activity reached a peak as harvest approached. ( see* for the rest of article under Harvest) The Kingdom of Heaven Order of Preparation Matthew 20:1 For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. First Prepare the Ground The kingdom of heaven requires a lot of time investment on the part of the householder who owns the kingdom. Jesus is the owner of the kingdom of heaven and has brought in labourers to also invest their time into the value of the crop that would be yielded. What is it the labourers are expected to do? First they had to terrace the ground. For those who are not intense gardeners here is a sample of what it means to terrace from the encyclopedia In agriculture, a terrace is a levelled section of a hilly cultivated area, designed to slow or prevent the rapid run-off of irrigation water. In the kingdom of heaven there is an order for the labourers. First we must level off some of the ground to prepare what we plant to receive the waters. Spiritually this is significant. Many are planting without proper preparation of the soil. If the soil isn’t irrigated properly, it will suffer during times of drought. Part of this process is to take the rocks found on the uphill side of the hill , removing them from the soil and replacing them at the bottom of the hill to retain the soil and level the ground. This is important to keep all the important ingredients in place. Without doing so, the soil would get washed away in heavy rain times, and with it the seed, and for plants that are beginning to mature, it would expose the root from the soil and kill the plant. In our life with Christ, we must do the same thing in kingdom preparing. Are we working in this manner so that the oil and wine can be harvested in the time of His Coming? Are we laying the proper ground work that we are able to cultivate and harvest the oil and the wine? If we have, then we are prepared to plant and begin to see the fruit of our labour increase. But there is still much more work to do. Tending the Crop Fruit Watering Pruning Hoeing These are important labour activities that must all be done on time and in the proper order as well. In order to gain the best fruit crop, watering must be done as is needed. Too much will wash away important nutrients found in the soil. Not enough will starve the fruit of important fluids! Pruning is equally important. Every plant does much better when it is cut back so the energy in the plant goes to fruit of the crop rather than to the leaves. Pruning focuses the energy of the plant where it is needed and keeps that energy from diverting off to less important parts of the plant. Hoeing is equally important for it is provides oxygen to the plant’s roots. The root of the plant is the lungs of the plant. When the soil gets too hard and solid, the plant cannot breath and becomes choked. Keeping the soil lose around the plant is of utmost importance to what quality of fruit will be produced! It also helps the watering that is done get to the roots and not drain off the top of the soil. Predators Predators are an interesting concept in the overall understanding of the spiritual concepts that Christ was teaching using the vineyards and the olive groves. The predator usually doesn’t pay much attention to what you are doing until it is close to harvest time. When the fruit is almost ready to gather, that is when the predators will attempt to come in and spoil the harvest! Stealing what they may, and destroying the hard labor of the field. What was the solution? It was obvious that you couldn’t avoid this pattern so watchtowers were build to guard the crop against the predator that would surely come. Prayer and discernment! Jesus was always telling his followers to watch and pray, especially in the last days when the harvest was ripe! The Harvest Revelation 6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. Revelation 14:17-19 17And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. 18And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. 19And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Please take note that there are two harvests. At harvest, grapes were placed in baskets and carried to the winepress. Here the fruit was placed in the larger upper basin (which may have been cut from solid rock) and pressed by treading, accompanied by joyful shouts (Is 16:10; Jer 25:30; 48:33). The juice flowed down into a lower container, where fermentation probably began. The juice remained there at least overnight to settle. A second pressing was made from the skins, which was kept separate and produced a distinct sort of wine. The fermenting wine was placed in jars and stored (as fermentation continued) in caves or underground cisterns. When fermentation ended the hole was sealed and the seal marked the type and quality of the wine or its owner, as for example at Gibeon, an important wine-making center where a number of sealed or inscribed jar handles were discovered. Once the grapes have been collected and have been pressed by treading ( how many of us feel we are in the pressing now? ) which released the juice for the final product-the wine! The wine is kept and sealed, hidden in caves and underground cisterns.
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