OF THRESHING FLOORS

OF THRESHING FLOORS



                                Threshing floors have an interesting history in the Bible. In Genesis 50 Joseph and a great company of both family and Egyptians gathered on the threshing flor of Atad to mourn the death of Joseph’s father. It was on the threshing floor in Bethlehem at the barley harvest that Ruth and Boaz had their encounter and Boaz became the kinsman redeemer that redeemed Ruth and their marriage became the lineage of King David and eventually of Jesus Christ the Son of God.



                This story is so rich with symbolism and meaning that it cannot be passed by. Bethlehem was the town in which Lambs were raised for the temple sacrifices. So Ruth and Boaz, the progenitors of the Messiah, the true Lamb of God met on the threshing floor in Bethlehem where the sheep are raised for the sacrifices in the temple. Their offspring became the true Lamb of God. But that is not all, for they met at the time of the Barley harvest and it was Barley that was waved as the first fruits in the temple. Jesus became the first fruits of a great harvest to come and according to scripture, when the first fruits is declared holy, then the entire crop is holy and can then be harvested. Likewise Jesus came as our Kinsman Redeemer and true Lamb of God to bring many sons to glory. Hebrews 2:10



                It was at the threshing floor of Nacon or Chidon that Uzzah put forth his hand and touched the Ark and fell over dead. So it was with fear and trembling that David turned aside from his plans to bring the Ark of the Covenant to his city and instead placed it in the home of Obed- Edom for three months.  2 Sam 6:6. So the threshing floor of Nacon became a place of judgment since they were not handling the Ark in the proper manor. So David’s purposes were delayed and when he took up his movement of the Ark again, he did it in the prescribed manor with much sacrifice and worship.



                It was on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite that David built an altar to the Lord.



                 Then later on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite David built an altar to the Lord to avert God’s judgment for numbering Israel.  David saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven with his sword drawn against Jerusalem. Then David and the elders covered with sackcloth fell on their faces….so God commanded them to build an altar there on the threshing floor of Ornan and that threshing floor became the site of the temple in Jerusalem, both the temple of Solomon and the second temple were built and later destroyed on that very threshing floor.



                Threshing floors represent a place of judgment where grain and its chaff are separated. It is a place of both harvest and judgment for the two always seem to go together. And who could doubt that the temple mount has always been a place of judgment, for where man meets with God, that which is unholy must be stripped away for our God is a consuming fire. Light cannot occupy the place of darkness, nor can God share His holiness with that which is sinful.



                This is the reason for repentance for we must turn from the evil that we cling to or the evil that clings to us in order to enjoy the presence of the Lord. If we persist in our sins and yet continue to go through the motions of worship, a deceiver will eventually take the place of the Spirit of God and he will provide the illusions of blessing to us, but it will be from a different spirit and this is how Satan imitates Christ in these last days.



                As segments of the church have begun to say that repentance is no longer necessary and that we no longer need the blood or the cross of Jesus, or that we can do our own thing as God and grace covers everything, we find ourselves coming to the threshing floor once again. Judgment begins at the house of the Lord. Many have begun to preach a different Gospel… a Gospel of convenience and worldly pleasure. It is a manmade Gospel to fit the times and it is tending toward the global religion of the beast.



                So in an interesting parallel, Israel is once again seeking to build a temple on the threshing floor of Ornan in Jerusalem and in a sad parallel with Christianity, this temple is not being built for the true Messiah, Jesus, the Son of Ruth and Boaz… the Son of David… the Son of Mary… the Son of God. No, Israel now looks for a different Messiah to take up the throne of David and that Messiah will be an imposture even as the Spirit of God in the church is being traded in for a spirit that now allows sin to rule and reign in the church.



                So, the time of the harvest is also a time of judgment for harvest cannot take place apart from threshing. Grain must be separated from its husks and wheat must be separated from tares and sheep must be separated from the goats. Sheep follow the Shepherd wherever He goes. They learn to know His voice and to follow. They learn to trust the Shepherd and they give of themselves without murmuring or complaining.



                Goats, on the other hand, are stubborn. They come to the goatherd only to get what they want and otherwise stray here and there, eating the brambles and thorns of sin.



                The tables are all being set for the final harvest. We can see the world coming to a crisis… to a confrontation between Christ and Satan. We are the players and we are either being moved on the board by Satan or by Christ.



                False prophets today would have us bypassing holiness and righteousness and going straight to heaven without coming to the threshing floor. They promise peace and safety and a salvation that no longer requires our separating from sin. Has God really changed that much? Does the New Covenant now allow lawlessness? If so, then what of Ephesians 4:11-13? What is the fivefold ministry of the church? Is it not for the equipping of the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ? Is it not working with us until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ?



                Are we not to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head even Christ? Eph. 4:15. Are we not predestined to be conformed to the image of God’s Son? Romans 8:29 Has not Jesus become the first born among many brethren? Romans 8:29 Are we not to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ? 2 Cor. 10:5 Have we not become temples of the living God? 12 Cor. 3:16, 6:19, 20. Do we not have this treasure in earthen vessels so that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves? 2 Cor. 4:7



                As I live and breathe, there is a false Gospel being preached in many places today. It is a Gospel apart from holiness… a Gospel that is no longer looking for a Bride without spot or wrinkle. IT is the Gospel of the foolish virgins who were sleeping with the believers. They were part of the waiting bridesmaids, but they had no oil. They were not ready for the wedding.



                There is a purity of character to be reached that has nothing to do with legalism and everything to do with being filled with oil.



                The first time David came to the threshing floor it was for judgment. They were not rightly handling the Ark of the Covenant and they had forgotten the instructions of the word for correctly handling God’s presence. The second time they came to the threshing floor they came for blessing for they had corrected their ways and so with much sacrifice and worship and praise they came with rejoicing to build the house of the Lord.



                We too are rapidly approaching the threshing floor. To some it will be a place of blessing for they have been filled with oil and they have learned ow to carry rightly the presence of God. Others will come to the threshing floor for judgment for they have forgotten the instructions of the Word that tell us how we must handle the presence of God.



                God’s Law can only be fulfilled in those who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit… therefore we must pursue the Spirit at all costs and we must pursue Him according to His Word or we will be in danger of pursuing the wrong spirit, the spirit of antichrist.



                As we see Evangelical leaders with hat in hand going to make peace with the very one who is currently forming the global religion of the beast, it makes us shudder. As we likewise see Israel seeking to build a temple for a different Messiah that makes us to tremble as well. These are divine parallels. One is spiritual and the other physical, but they reflect the same truth. Who are we building the temple of our hearts for? Are we building it according to the patterns given to us by God, or are we going by our own designs?



                Those who are preparing to build the temple in Jerusalem today are doing so with meticulous attention to the Word of God. Everything must be just so… and yet they have rejected the true Messiah that must be enthroned there… so they will greet a stranger who will lead them to destruction, or to repentance. Likewise the church today is building a temple for the Lord. Some will come for blessing because they have followed the patterns shown to them in the word, while others will come for judgment, because they have forgotten the patterns of the word. They will have a temple, but no oil.



                You see understanding grand parallels like this is what Bible prophecy is all about. Prophecy must change our hearts and set us on a right course or it is just so much speculation… so we have many prophets out there today prophesying many great things ahead for the church even as they fail to guide people back to the patterns of God’s Word. They are prophesying peace and safety where there is none.



                Our only peace and safety is found in the secret place of the Most High… abiding under the shadow of the Almighty. His truth shall be our shield and buckler. It is only in Him that we need not fear the terror by night or the arrow that flieth by day or the pestilence that stalks in darkness or the destruction that lays waste at noon. It is only in Him that a thousand may fall at our side and ten thousand at our right hand without touching us.



On the threshing floor you will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked, for you have made the Lord your refuge, even the Most High your dwelling place. No evil will befall you nor will any plague come near your dwelling. For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.” Psalms 91: 1-10 (parts)



                These promises are great, but they only pertain to those who actually dwell in the secret place of the Most High. We tend to presume that we are dwelling in that secret place because we make it to church once a week, or sit through a 30 minute sermon or grab a hasty Bible text with one hand on the doorknob as we rush to our priorities. We rarely ever press in to know the Lord in the secret place within the veil. We don’t cry out for oil. We don’t search the scriptures in a way that would feed our hearts and build up our spirits. WE must often come to God asking for our will to be done rather than His. WE don’t take the time to hear what His will is. We don’t bother to ask God if we are following His page for us written in the book from the foundation of the world.



                “Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them.” Ps. 139:16



                Have you ever asked God if you are on the right page yet? Have you laid yourself upon the altar and asked God to put you on that page and to cause you to fulfill your destiny? Are you doing the thing that God created you to do? Don’t try to get there without Him. Only He can put you on the right page.



                You may be tempted to believe that it is too late for you. So much time has been wasted. What are you to do? But Jesus answered that question in His parable of the land owner who hired workers throughout the day. At the end of the day He paid those who only worked the last hour the same as those who worked through the whole day.



                Heaven has a different pay scale. Since we cannot earn our salvation it comes to us as a free gift at whatever point that we receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord. Think about it. God knew all of those delays and rabbit trails you followed that took you to a far country. But like the father of the Prodigal son, He was scanning the horizon… He was putting you through situations that would show you your need of Him… that would make you yearn for the home table once again. When you came back, He killed the fatted calf and prepared a banquet for you.



                But once having come back to Jesus, he now tells us about the faithful servant who multiplied the gift through wise choices and investments. Mt. 25:14-21.



                So it is not a matter of when you received the gift of salvation, but what you did with it once having received it.



                The older I get, the more I think about that page that was written about me before I was even born. I find myself pressing into God and asking Him to lead me into that page and to walk in it so that at the end of the day, He can say to me: “Well done good and faithful servant; you were faithful with the few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your Master.” Mt. 25:21



                Nearly every day, Bonnie and I take communion together. Communion is based upon a covenant between God and us. That covenant, signed in Jesus blood is a guarantee that we will make it to the finish line and the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a seal of that promise. We are seeking to live each day by divine appointment… learning to hear His voice and to say “Yes.” And it has resulted in His placing us right where He wants us, doing what He has called us to do. We are learning to love and to serve others. We are learning obedience and amazingly, it is all His doing. Somehow He is putting us on our page so that we can follow the script of our lives as God sees them. Can we ask for more? Is that now true prosperity… being where God wants you, doing what He wants you to do and then seeing how He supplies every need? Yes, it is a good life… not always an easy life… but always a good life.



                And believe me, if God can do this for us… He can do it for anybody. He pulled us out of a very dark and hopeless place and now He is leading us in paths of His choosing. We praise God for that and thank Him every day!