And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire…, He will baptize you in the holy spirit and fire.  And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.  Matthew 3:10-12

          John the Baptist, sometimes called John the Immerser, spoke the above words in reference to the coming Messiah–Jesus.  He was referring to a process probably well known to his hearers.  That is, God’s law pertaining to the use of trees in warfare whereby fruit-bearing trees were not hewn down for purposes of war (burning), but non-fruit trees were.  This law is set down in Deuteronomy 20:19-20:

19When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an axe against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s life) to employ them in the siege: 20Only the trees which thou knowest that they be not trees for meat (food), thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.  King James Version

          Note Moses’ comment–“for the tree of the field is man’s life”,  meaning either a man produces the fruit of the spirit, or he does not.  The process of cutting down the trees that do not produce fruit is ongoing, John says, and has been.  “The axe is already laid at the root.”  His point:  Messiah has come to make all men into fruit trees, bearing fruit twelve months a year, even as He does.

2In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  Revelation 22:2

          Not comprehending the latter part of John’s comments, John’s hearers definitely caught the part about being cut down and thrown into the fire.  So they asked:  What must we do (to be saved)?  And he would say:  Bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance.  Lose the notion that you are a “chosen” race.  Luke 3:7-14

          But what about the rest of what John prophesied?  He clearly shows Messiah Jesus will winnow first, for such a fork is only used for barley, which in season comes first.  In the winnowing process, the barley is tossed up into the air.  The wind blows away the chaff, and the grain (now minus the outer shell) falls back to the earth.  The barley chaff is not burned.

          Next in season, and in the order of John’s remarks comes the wheat.  Wheat is not winnowed–it is threshed upon the threshing floor with a threshing rod.  Wheat must be beaten to separate the wheat from the chaff, then the wheat chaff is burned. 

          What is with all this fire?  We were taught all our lives that it referred to hell.  Sorry, but the fire in each case is the same, and it is not punishment.  Rather, it is a cleansing and purifying fire.  Applied first to non-fruit trees, and also, to wheat chaff.  Think, purification by removal what is undesirable to Messiah and you are getting the idea.  The fire of God is for our good.  That is why it comes with the Holy Spirit.  There is no anger in John’s words unless you presume it is there; there is no condemnation; and there is no fear.  Only the certain promise from Messiah Jesus:  I will thoroughly clear, missing nothing, and will gather to myself all of the wheat.  I promise to remove the chaff in your life.

          Well, if it’s not hell, is it judgment?  And isn’t judgment bad?  Miles Monroe has famously said, “If you do not understand the purpose of a thing, abuse of that thing is inevitable”.  Therefore, the purpose of judgment must be understood so that the Judge and His judgment will not be abused.  So what is the purpose of judgment?

When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.  Isaiah 26: 9

          Putting it all together, here is what John the Baptist was saying:  From the beginning of time until now, there have been two kinds of men, just like there were two kinds of trees during warfare–those that bore fruit, and those that did not.  Up until this very moment in time, it was up to each individual to bring forth fruit or not.  Those who did not obey will be corrected and disciplined (cast into the fire).  But now, because Messiah has come, He will baptize you with Holy Spirit and fire.  Now, those who obey and who do not have to be beaten in correction, but come into agreement from the heart, are like the barley.  They will be transformed in the air, and they will go first.  These are called the overcomers. Like the barley, they will fall back to earth to be gathered into Messiah’s barn to serve Him.  See our Notes on being a friend of Jesus.

          But those who bring forth fruit, but still must be disciplined because of lack of obedience, are like the wheat.  They will also be gathered into His barn, but after correction, and after the overcomers.  Please note that the wheat, too, loses its chaff, but in a different way.  All of this is made possible because Messiah Jesus will baptize with Holy Spirit and fire.  Some men learn righteousness without the fire of judgment; others need a little correction because they didn’t know better, and others need a lot because they did.

          Do you recall the Lord’s words, when He said, in Luke 12: 

47“And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, 48but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few.

          The last harvest, not mentioned by the Baptist, is the grape harvest.  It is when all of God’s enemies are placed under the feet of Messiah Jesus.  When this occurs, He will turn them into wine, so that there will be barley bread, wheat bread and wine for His communion table.  The teaching by Dr. Stephen Jones on this subject is the best, bar none.

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe, because You have raised up Jesus and given Him unquenchable power and authority to remove the chaff from our lives when we could not do it ourselves!  Baruch ata, Adonai!

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