Sunday, October 04, 2009

Chaff and Wheat

One of my favorite portions of Scripture is found in Jeremiah 23:28-29, “The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. And he who has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? says Jehovah. Is not My Word like a fire? says Jehovah; and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”

This was spoken against the false prophets who all had words that were false and confirmed people in the wrong way. God, however speaking through Jeremiah, compares the words which are not His counsel with chaff, and His Word to wheat. In threshing and winnowing the chaff is carried away by the wind but the wheat remains. God’s word is abiding, it will stand every wind of change and every gale of trouble to come, but the chaff of man’s word, man’s ideas and ways will not abide.

Chaff is an often used symbol in the Bible for transience. The wicked are compared to chaff, because their works are not eternal. In the vision Daniel had in Daniel chapter 2 the image was broken and became as chaff that passed away showing that all the kingdoms and ways of this world will not abide in the end.

Wheat has several different meanings in the Word of God, but they all spring from the fact that it is desirable, edible and enduring in the winnowing process. Wheat has substance and weight to it which causes it to endure in the time of the blowing wind.

Last night I began to think about wheat and chaff, and had a realization. In these verses we just read God’s word is compared to wheat. God’s Word is enduring, because it is not only a word, but it is also an eternal Person. Christ the Word made flesh. Also in Matthew 3 and Luke 3 John the Baptist points to Christ as one who will winnow and gather the wheat of His people into barns and burn the chaff of the wicked. Wheat is therefore not only symbolic of God’s Word, but also of God’s people. Then I was struck by a thought, are God’s people not like wheat because they receive the wheat of the Word? Why do the people of God remain in the winnowing? Because they have the eternal substance which is found in the eternal gospel, they are partakers of the divine nature. This is the importance of receiving with meekness (submissive obedience) the engrafted Word. The Word of God imparts something of the eternality and stability of God to us as we obey it. The Word weighs us down so we are not driven to and fro by the winds of changing circumstances and peer pressure. It gives us a stability that the world does not and can never have.

Jesus brings the permanence produced by hearing and obeying His Word in another analogy in Mat 7:24-27 “ Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on a rock. And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded on a rock. And everyone who hears these sayings of Mine and does not do them shall be compared to a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain came down, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat on that house. And it fell, and great was its fall.”

In the times that are coming we need more than ever to have His enduring nature within us and this is imparted through obedience to His Word. The winds and floods will come in different ways to each of us, but if we abide in Him and His Word abides in us we will stand strong. Praise God!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very insightful...I appreciate all the thought you put into this and how it gives a better revelation of wheat and chaff...thanks!