Question
Dear Gramps,
In D&C 33:7 what does thrust in your sickle mean and in verse 9 laden with sheaves upon your back?
Tana
Answer
Dear Tana,
During His ministry here in mortality, the Lord used parables or stories to teach the people. There are several reasons why He did this. In the Bible Dictionary it states: “We learn the reason for this method. It was to veil the meaning. The parable conveys to the hearer religious truth exactly in proportion to his faith and intelligence; to the dull and uninspired it is a mere story, “seeing they see not,” while to the instructed and spiritual it reveals the mysteries or secrets of the kingdom of heaven.” He also used terms which were known to the people he was talking to so that they could better understand what he meant. Often he referred to olive trees and the process of making olive oil, which was something they were very familiar with.
The verses you quoted are an example of terms being used that members living in the mid 1800’s would have been familiar with and which would have helped them understand the point the Lord is making. Prior to combines, grain was harvested by cutting it with a sickle, which is a curved hooklike blade mounted in a short handle. The person using it would have to bend over and swing or thrust it with full strength in order for it to cut the grain cleanly. This was very difficult and back breaking work. Once the grain was cut, it was bound into bundles or sheaves and then carried to where it would be threshed. Threshing is the process of separating the grain from the stalk or straw. They would carry as many sheaves of grain on their backs as they could to speed up the work and lessen the number of trips they needed to take. Also the more sheaves they brought in the greater would be their harvest. The fields of grain were ready to be harvested when the grain turned ‘white’.
Having been involved in this kind of work or at least observed it, the people realized that the grain was ready to be harvested or that many people were ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In order to find these people and bring them into the fold, they would need to work diligently and with all their might, mind and strength. The reward would be that they would bring many into the Gospel or be able to receive many sheaves of grain for their harvest.
The terms in these verses are used other places in the Doctrine and Covenants, as well as in talks given by the General Authorities in our day. They are associated with the calling we each have to warn our neighbor and preach the Gospel to those living on the earth.
