# Harvest

The word “harvest” is used to talk about gathering fruits or vegetables from the plants on which they were grown. The harvest time normally happens at the end of a growing season. 

In the Old Testament, the Festival of Harvest was a time for the Israelites to celebrate the food crops being gathered by the people. This festival was also called “Festival of Weeks” and “Festival of Ingathering” (see: Exodus 23:16; 34:22). God commanded them to give the first fruits of these crops as a sacrifice to him. That is, the first and best fruit made by the plants was to be given to God.

In the New Testament, the word “harvest” is also used to talk about people believing in Jesus (see: Matthew 9:37-38; John 4:34-38). That is, people who are ready to believe in Jesus are like crops that are ready to be gathered. The word “harvest” is also used to talk about a person’s spiritual growth (see: 2 Corinthians 9:10). The word “harvest” is also used to talk about God gathering his people to himself when Jesus returns to the earth (see: Matthew 13:29-30; Revelation 14:15-16).

See: [Metaphor](../articles/metaphor.md); [Pentecost](../articles/pentecost.md); [Sacrifice](../articles/sacrifice.md); [Metaphor](../articles/metaphor.md); [Faith (Believe in)](../articles/faith.md); [Fruit (Metaphor)](../articles/fruitmetaphor.md); [Grow in Faith](../articles/growinfaith.md); [Jesus' Return to Earth](../articles/jesusreturn.md)