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God speaks through Moses to the Israelites about what they should do when they arrive and settle down in the Promised Land
As a token of appreciation for their deliverance, each man is to present in a basket his first fruits on the land; a one-time offering at the central sanctuary different from the regular annual offering
The exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and arrival at the Promised Land equals salvation for God’s chosen nation; therefore, every individual is to recite a personal mini-history of his salvation
On this basis of this personal salvation experience, each man’s testimony of entering the land and being a partaker of the fulfilment of the promise to their ancestors as validated by the basket of first fruits must translate to gratitude and worship
God separates his chosen nation Israel from among the pagan nations by his great power and strength, hence, Israel should rejoice in the good things the Lord has given them
The second lesson talks about the kingdom of heaven and likens it to a net cast into the lake
The net will catch all kinds of fish that must be sorted and separated by the fishermen into the good ones and the bad ones, and the bad ones will be discarded
Jesus used this fishing illustration they are familiar with to establish that at the end of time; there will be sorting and separation of people, on the basis of good and evil, righteousness and wickedness
The angels of God shall carry this out and the evil people will be thrown into the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth
Friends, the celebration of the annual harvest ceremony without a personal salvation experience is in vain.
Hence, the basis of harvest thanksgiving should be salvation, while we continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling