John the Baptist Prepares the Way
Matthew 3:12 “Whose fan [is] in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
fan
is in... Grain
was threshed in the open air, being trampled under the feet of oxen
(Deut. 25:4), or by means of instruments (Isa. 28:27). To separate
the grain from the hulls and straw a fan or wooden pitchfork was
used. As straw was thrown toward the wind, the chaff blew away and
the grain fell to the ground. The grain was sometimes sifted after
the winnowing (Luke 22:31). The chaff then was burned and the grain
stored. This is used to picture judgment several times (Job 21:17-20;
Psm. 1:4; Isa. 29:5; 41:16; Dan. 2:35).
Fan is a winnowing fork, a tool for tossing grain into the wind so that the chaff is blown away.
This Scripture was saying He (Jesus) will stir up the people. He will separate the good (wheat) from the evil. This floor, probably, spiritually meant the whole world. He shall gather all believers together unto Him, and they shall become united in Him (the Bride of Christ).
he will burn... Just meant the wicked shall burn eternally.
with unquenchable fire... Another description of eternal hell, not the grave (Mat. 13:42, 13:50; Rev. 9:2). Wailing, here and in Mat. 13:50; weeping in Mat. 8:12; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke 13:28; and gnashing of teeth in all these passages picture bitter remorse and pain.
This symbolism was carried through by John who spoke of the separation that occurs when a winnowing fork tosses up grain, wheat is then gathered into the barn, and chaff is burned up. John was saying that the Messiah, when He came, would prepare a remnant (wheat) for the kingdom by empowering and cleansing the people. Those who reject Him (chaff) would be judged and cast into eternal unquenchable fire (cf. Mal. 4:1).
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