Seed Time and Harvest (Part 1)

“As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.”

Genesis 8: 22

When we read this passage, we often connect it quickly to financial prosperity. While that can be an application, a good understanding of the context helps us apply it more accurately.

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. ¹² God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. ¹³ So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.

Genesis 6: 11-13

In Genesis 6:11–13, the earth was corrupt, and God pronounced judgment (v.13). The context here is clear: judgment.

Yet, every judgment of God is accompanied by a redemption plan. In this case, God instituted this redemption plan by asking Noah to build an ark (Genesis 6:14).Notice also that judgement in this context was not individual, but collective. Though wickedness and violence varied among people, the judgment was collective and universal.

After the flood (judgment), Noah and his family were redeemed. Noah then built an altar and offered a burnt offering to the Lord (Genesis 8:20). God accepted the offering, and in response, He introduced a new system of justice, judgment, and reward (Genesis 8:21). Instead of a collective judgement/universal punishment, God instituted a principle for all humanity—recorded in Genesis 8:22.

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

Genesis 8:22

So Genesis 8:22 was not about financial prosperity. It established God’s system of judgment and reward. Scripture tells us that God is a rewarder (Hebrews 11:6), but His reward is tied to the seedtime and harvest principle. In other words, every man will reap what they sow.

This means that your seed determines the outcome of your life. Our actions, words, prayers, obedience, and even disobedience are all seeds that yield different harvests. God Himself honors this principle. He cannot give a harvest to a man who has sown no seed.

• What was the seed for the net-breaking catch of fish? Obedience.
• What was the seed for the miracle of water turned into wine? Obedience.

As we close this first part, if a man desires a different harvest, I think we can now agree that he needs to start sowing a different seed. The seed principle is the very principle that controls the outcome of our lives. It is God’s system of judgement and reward. 

Stay tuned for Part 2. 

The Lord Bless You

Philip Oyedele