Before concluding this study of the harvests and examining the purification process, I would like to detour and briefly study the parable of the ten virgins. This parable is intimately related with the harvests and will help put them in perspective.

You may recall that the harvests were a similitude to the Kingdom of Yahweh. Likewise, the parable of the ten virgins.

Then shall the Kingdom of Yahweh be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Matthew 25:1-2

Since both the harvest and the virgins are similitudes to The Kingdom, they are also similitudes of each other. The relationships are as follows:

The judgment of the virgins is at the coming of the Bridegroom, when the Christ returns in the clouds.This is also when the barley harvest takes place.

Some will have sufficient light and be ready to meet the groom, others won't. All the virgins had (some) oil and light and all were looking forward to the coming of the bridegroom. This means that they all knew the bridegroom and were either of the barley (wise virgins) or wheat (foolish virgins) harvest (the grapes are unbelievers who do not know the bridegroom and weren't invited. They aren't part of this parable, but are part of the harvest parable). The foolish virgins had their own faith, the wise had the faith of Jesus. Jesus' faith is sufficient, our own is not.

Robes of righteousness are given to the barley people. The wheat people have to wash their own robes (in the blood).

The light is the Word of Yahweh and His Kingdom. The oil that fuels the light is the Spirit of Yahweh, who sanctifies.

Leviticus 8:10-12
And Moses took the anointing oil, and anointed the tabernacle and all that was therein, and sanctified them. And he sprinkled thereof upon the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all his vessels, both the laver and his foot, to sanctify them. And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.

The purpose of the oil in the lamps is to make light. Yahushua is the light of the world.

John 8:12
Then spake Yahushua again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

The foolish virgins, even though they were invited to the wedding and went to meet the bridegroom, lacked sufficient oil and lacked sufficient light. They didn't possess the faith of Yahweh and His Spirit. They started the evening with oil and light, but it was their own faith (Yahweh's is always sufficient).

The foolish virgins represent the wheat harvest. The wheat harvest people believe, and are invited, but they miss the wedding feast. This proves that the wheat is NOT harvested at the 2nd coming, or they would be at the wedding feast.

The wise virgins had the sufficient faith of Yahweh and entered the wedding feast. From this we know that the wedding feast is when Christ and his bride are united at the 2nd coming.

Does that mean that the foolish virgins will be eternally lost? No, they will be glorified when the wheat is harvested and threshed and purified.

The grapes, on the other hand, are not even mentioned in the parable of the ten virgins. They didn't know the bridegroom, were not looking for Him, and weren't invited to the wedding. But we are told that the grapes will be harvested and pressed into wine. This will be a longer and more difficult process. They must first meet and come to know Yahushua, then they must be convicted of their need of Him, finally they must receive Him and His Spirit. All this takes time. How much time? Each according to his deeds. The "barely sinful" will convert more quickly and easily, the "very sinful" will be more difficult and take longer. This is how each is judged according to their works (Revelation 20:12), "burned" in the lake of fire and trodden in the winepress, washing their robes in the "blood of the wine".

It wasn't the fault of the "grapes" that they weren't invited to the wedding. They were predestined to be common vessels (see Predestination - The Myth of Freewill).

The alternative is that the wine is bad and will be poured out, wasted. Yahweh wastes nothing. He even had the disciples pick up the leftover fish and barley loaves after feeding the multitude. Do you think, that after planting His vineyard, supplying the vine, growing the branches, pruning and caring for them, then harvesting His vineyard, and pressing the wine, He's going to dump out and waste the entire harvest?

Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. Joel 1:11

We are quite sure that the barley and wheat prosper, so we know this verse is NOT referring to Yahweh's harvest, but a harvest of man. Failure of the harvest should make the husbandmen ashamed. The father is a good husbandman who planted in righteousness.

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; Hosea 10:12

And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. Amos 9:14

Yahweh will be able to eat the fruit and drink the wine, even more than this promise of His to Israel.