WHAT COMES FIRST THE WHEAT OR THE WINE?

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As we open the book of Judges in chapter 6, we find Gideon, a young man who is alone and hiding out. He is secretly threshing (beating) the wheat in the winepress because he is afraid of being found out, exposed, and losing his harvest. 
He was doing the right thing, (beating wheat), during the right season, (the wheat harvest), but he is doing it all in the wrong place.

Threshing floor
The Threshing Floor 









 

 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Judges 6:11-12

For those familiar with the 7 Feasts of the Lord t

 'Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress' This simple turn of phrase in Scripture should immediately stand out. It indicates a much bigger issue than simply hiding out for fear of the Midianites. 

The winepress in Scripture is commonly connected to the judgment of the nations, whereas the threshing floor is connected to judgment within the household of God. 

Wheat often refers to God's righteous people. Like in the parable of the wheat and the tares, the wheat was God's people the tares were the ones sown by the enemy. 

Gideon wanted God to Judge his enemies but the angel of the Lord instructed Gideon to destroy the idols in his father's house. 

The bigger issue in Israel at the time was Idolatry in the hearts of the people of God.  

For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”             1 Peter 4:17-18

The threshing floor is the place of reckoning. The threshing process is violent to free the wheat kernels from their bond with hulls, Gideon’s first assignment was to remove the straw of Idolatry. 

Fear motivated Gideon to hide out in the winepress (the place of the future promise of God to Judge the Nations including Midian) and not wrestle first with the present-day judgment of the idolatry of Israel at the threshing floor. 

Fear will always cause you to miss the 'now' word of God. To avoid the pain of reckoning you may choose instead to live in the nostalgia of the past or skip over the issues of today and attempt to live in the hope of the future. 

The angel of the Lord came to correct Gideon’s perspective and redirected him to the ‘now’ word. After all, it was the idolatry of Israel that had brought them into the current state of oppression under Midian in the first place. Any deliverance would only come after the core problem was addressed. 

Are you hiding in the winepress? 

A Winepress 
We may find ourselves oppressed watching the daily news, wanting to see God move to judge nations, politicians, and the wicked for their sinful actions and their blasphemous words. 

We need to first let the word of God ‘thresh our hearts’ 

"The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword... the discerner of the true motives and intents of our hearts." 

Let the Spirit blow across our lives to winnow the chaff from our thoughts and actions. 

Like Gideon, we may have some altars we must pull down, and some altars we must build up before we can enter into the promises of the future glory of God. 

It is time to rise up 'O mighty men of valor.' 

Next time: More on Gideon's Wheat Harvest  


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Various writings from the past
The Road Not Taken
At Home In MN 


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