THOU SHALT NOT WHOLLY REAP THE CORNERS

Harvest time was the highlight of Israel’s year. The sight of mountains of golden grain was reward for the tedious toil of the sowing season. Having sown in tears, they reaped in joy, Ps. 126. 5-6. As Boaz reclined at the end of a heap of corn, ‘his heart was merry’, for a quiet contentment had settled on his soul, Ruth 3. 7. However, not everyone was as blessed. The poor and the for­eigners had no such security. The happy harvest season did nothing to ease their hunger and privation, and, bereft of the necessities of life, for them, the future was still bleak.

God always took an interest in the poor. He prohibited their exploitation; they must never experience discrimination; cf. Exod. 22. 25; 23. 6. Now, at harvest time, He decreed that they would share the bounty of His rich provision. No landowner was to be so mean as to reap right into the corners of his field. No care was to be taken to ensure that every head of corn was lifted from the stubble. In the event of a sheaf being overlooked, it would be abandoned where it lay, Deut. 24.19. These were for the poor; they had right of access to the harvest fields.

Most of us are remote from that pastoral scene but there are principles here that affect our lives. The believer should never be so tight fisted as to make every penny a captive. A generous spirit gives evidence of a genuine faith, Jas. 2. 14-17. The love of God in a man is proved by an unselfish disposition, 1 John 3. 16-18. Mean-hearted Nabal made a feast fit for a king for his own pleasure, but displayed contempt for David’s needs. Within days, the miser had left his wealth forever, 1 Sam. 25.

Today’s command is cited again among details of the feasts of the Lord, Lev. 23. 22. It’s position is significant from a pro­phetic viewpoint. The feast preceding it is the feast of weeks (Pentecost), the feast that foreshadows the commencement of the church and the inauguration of the church age. The ‘corners of the field’ will not be reaped during this present age, but the gospel of the kingdom will be preached universally, Matt. 24.14. When the church is complete, and the rapture is past, there will be preaching during the great tribulation that will see the four corners reaped and the gleanings gathered in.