BLESSED TO BE THRESHED - The threshing floor is an image for a place of purification and humility before God, where He finds us in a place of absolute desperation and provides the door of hope to an inheritance prepared for us. There is also an aspect of judgment that takes place at the threshing floor. This imagery is reinforced in the parable of the wheat and tares, where the world is a field and the harvest is the end of the age, where reapers are sent out to gather the wheat and burn the tares. All these symbols allude to a threshing floor experience where good and evil will be separated once and for all. Our consolation as believers is that according to John, Jesus is the Master of the harvest that is to come. We can find rest and peace in that fact. - Thinking back to the turn of the new year, prophetic voices from across the Christian spectrum were encouraging their audiences to look forward to a year of spiritual clarity and breakthrough. As the year draws nearer to a close, the catchy phrases now seem far removed from the realities we faced in 2020. It is undeniable that the world has changed over the last months. Unemployment, riots and protests seem to be a regular feature on the night-time news. Uncertainty, disunity and anxiety have flourished as many around the world have periodically been placed under lockdown with restricted movement and new regulations being implemented on what we can wear, say and do. It has been a challenging, testing time.

 

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Blessed to Be Threshed

The threshing floor is an image for a place of purification and humility before God, where He finds us in a place of absolute desperation and provides the door of hope to an inheritance prepared for us. 

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There is also an aspect of judgment that takes place at the threshing floor. This imagery is reinforced in the parable of the wheat and tares, where the world is a field and the harvest is the end of the age, where reapers are sent out to gather the wheat and burn the tares. 

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All these symbols allude to a threshing floor experience where good and evil will be separated once and for all. Our consolation as believers is that according to John, Jesus is the Master of the harvest that is to come. We can find rest and peace in that fact.

by: Nathan Williams

 

Thinking back to the turn of the new year, prophetic voices from across the Christian spectrum were encouraging their audiences to look forward to a year of spiritual clarity and breakthrough.

Sayings like “2020 — Year of Plenty” and “20/20 Vision” were commonplace on social media feeds.

As the year draws nearer to a close, the catchy phrases now seem far removed from the realities we faced in 2020.

It is undeniable that the world has changed over the last months.

Unemployment, riots and protests seem to be a regular feature on the night-time news.

Uncertainty, disunity and anxiety have flourished as many around the world have periodically been placed under lockdown with restricted movement and new regulations being implemented on what we can wear, say and do.

It has been a challenging, testing time.

A Threshing Experience

Many have wondered if this pandemic is part of God’s prophetic plan for the world, or if it was hatched by, as Paul says, “the rulers of the darkness of this world” (Ephesians 6:12 KJV).

Either way, I am reminded of a pertinent verse in the story of Joseph.

After burying their father, Jacob, at the Cave of Machpelah near Hebron, the 12 brothers all returned to Egypt.

The brothers responsible for selling Joseph into slavery now feared retribution. Without their father to intervene, would Joseph’s favor towards them fade?

In absolute humility, the brothers came before Joseph and prostrated themselves.

Joseph’s response carries an eternal truth: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20).

Joseph had to endure many trials and tribulations, but the Lord used even the wicked schemes of men to bring about His perfect plan of redemption, elevating Joseph to a significant position of authority, influence and wealth.

Joseph experienced what can figuratively be referred to as a threshing floor experience.

The threshing floor is a physical place with rich symbolism.

It is the place where good is separated from evil, true from false, and what is useful from what is useless.

Just like in a physical threshing process where sheaves of grain are beaten or crushed to bring about this separation, we may also endure times of crushing in our spiritual walk with the Lord in order that the good the Lord intended may come forth.

In ancient agrarian communities, the threshing floor was such a central part of life that many non-agricultural activities also took place there.

The large, flat surface offered a space for cultural events such as marriage ceremonies and other religious rituals.

In this way, the threshing floor was not only an agricultural space but also a sacred space.

In ancient Near East culture, the LORD (YHWH) was the Creator and Sustainer of life, causing rain to fall and bringing forth food from the earth.

It is not surprising then that His divine presence was believed to be at the threshing floor, where prophets would see visions and receive prophetic words.

After all, the threshing floor was to an agricultural community the very source of their livelihood, resulting in its association with the Creator.

As I started to read more about the threshing floor, I was amazed to find that it was not only a symbol of judgment but could also be a symbol of blessing, answered prayer, provision and redemption.

Building on Threshed Ground

Being called a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14) is probably the highest compliment anyone can receive.

However, King David was a man with weaknesses and flaws who faced many threshing floor experiences in his life.

In 2 Samuel 24, we read about one such experience. King David ignored the wise counsel of his military commander, Joab, and decided to conduct a census of Israel and Judah.

The decision had terrible consequences in that a plague broke out among the people, killing 70,000 Israelites (2 Samuel 24:15).

In His mercy, the Lord relented in the midst of judgment, and the Angel of the Lord, sent to destroy the inhabitants of Jerusalem, strangely came to rest at the threshing floor of Araunah (2 Samuel 24:16).

Here David humbled himself before the Lord, built an altar and sacrificed on the threshing floor (2 Samuel 24:25).

David also bought the threshing floor of Araunah, and years later, his son, King Solomon, built the Temple — the dwelling place of the Lord among men — on that exact spot.

The symbolism of the threshing floor is an integral part of this story of redemption.

We can identify the crushing that David endured through the loss of life and judgment on his people for his disobedience, followed by the blessing that came after his repentance.

It had long been a desire in David’s heart to build the Lord a house, and even though the fulfillment was not realized in his lifetime, the Lord decided to answer David’s deepest desire through his son Solomon.

The spiritual lessons in this story are striking.

The threshing floor is the place where our hearts are purified from sin, and the crushing process or tribulation which we endure has a purpose: to reveal within us the good and the bad, the useful and the useless.

On the threshing floor, we are confronted with our own weaknesses and failures, but when we have a pure heart, we can meet with God and understand His voice.

Eventually, the painful threshing process will be turned to good, fulfilling the long-held dreams and desires of our hearts.

Purification and Redemption

We see a symbolic picture of the character of the Lord as Redeemer in the story of David’s great-grandmother, Ruth.

Widowed after the deaths of their husbands, Ruth and her mother-in-law, Naomi, found themselves forsaken and in a hopeless situation.

After leaving her homeland of Moab and pledging allegiance to the God of Israel, Ruth returned with Naomi to Judah to find redemption at the hand of Boaz (Ruth 2:8–13).

Ruth’s petition to Boaz — her kinsman redeemer, the family member of her late husband who could redeem her from widowhood and restore her to an inheritance — took place at the threshing floor.

It is a beautiful picture among the grain and chaff; a person totally surrendered, humbled and in need of redemption.

The threshing floor is then also a place to which the Lord brings us, His children, where we can find redemption.

It is also where we can hear our Kinsman Redeemer say: “And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you request, for all the people of my town know that you are a virtuous woman” (Ruth 3:11).

Ruth was a Gentile, descended from an idolatrous nation, who left behind her wayward beliefs to follow after the one true God.

In the story of Ruth, the threshing floor is an image for a place of purification and humility before God, where He finds us in a place of absolute desperation and provides the door of hope to an inheritance prepared for us.

The Right to Thresh

There is also an aspect of judgment that takes place at the threshing floor.

Referring to Jesus (Yeshua), John the Baptist says, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:11–12).

This imagery is reinforced in the parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24–43), where the world is a field and the harvest is the end of the age, where reapers are sent out to gather the wheat and burn the tares.

All these symbols allude to a threshing floor experience where good and evil will be separated once and for all.

Our consolation as believers is that according to John, Jesus is the Master of the harvest that is to come. We can find rest and peace in that fact.

We see this contrasted in the book of Luke, where Satan is doing the sifting: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” (Matthew 22:31–32a NASB).

We do have an enemy who seeks our destruction. He desires that we would lose our faith in the threshing floor process and that we would be removed like chaff when the winds of separation blow.

Remarkably, we know that the Master of the threshing floor is praying for us and interceding for us.

Bearing this in mind, we can begin to embrace the threshing for God’s greater purposes — for the building of his eternal Kingdom and for the fulfillment of the redemption story.

Embrace the Threshing

My pastor often says: “The Lord is always speaking, but we are not always listening.”

During this time of upheaval, the Lord has been speaking. He has been speaking to unbelievers, the Church, politicians and political systems, and each of us individually.

The question is: Have we been listening? Perhaps we have to acknowledge that the prophecies of plenty and perfect vision came in a package that we did not recognize or expect.

Maybe we need to concede that the redemption of the Lord comes through a process of crushing, tribulations and threshing so that many people can be saved and good brought forth from evil.

Our world is being shaken, crushed and I believe brought ever nearer to the final threshing floor, where the wheat will be gathered into storehouses and the chaff gathered to be thrown into the fire.

If we are indeed in this season of physical threshing, it is in preparation for something greater to come.

We need to be prepared mentally and spiritually to step onto God’s threshing floor with our lamps filled with fresh oil.

It is where we will meet and commune with our Kinsman Redeemer. The threshing will result in the greatest blessing and redemption that He has prepared for us.

Our promise is that the Lord will not thresh beyond what we are able to stand: “Grain for bread is crushed, indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever. Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it, he does not thresh it longer. This also comes from the LORD of hosts, who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great” (Isaiah 28:28–29 NASB).

Nathan Williams, Director of Marketing and Communications

Bridges For Peace: Christians supporting Israel and building relationships

between Christians and Jews in Israel and around the world

https://www.bridgesforpeace.com/letter/blessed-to-be-threshed/

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TO DELIGHT IN HIDDENNESS - Every good work, every miracle of grace, every virtue that has ever manifest on earth, has occurred through the work of the Holy Spirit. Yet He never draws attention to Himself, choosing instead to inspire our praise toward the Father or the Son. From brooding over the pre-creation universe, to strengthening the Son of God at the cross, to raising Jesus from the dead, to being poured out at Pentecost, to working miracles of redemption in spreading the Gospel throughout the world in millions of lives --- all of it was stimulated and inspired by the Holy Spirit, but He never revealed His name! The nature of the Holy Spirit is in stark contrast to our human desires to be seen, praised and recognized by other men. The Holy Spirit passionately delights in hiddenness. The Holy Spirit's heart are to see Jesus glorified and to fulfill the Father's will on Earth. This was perfect humility - if we would be filled with the Spirit, we must delight ourselves in seeing Jesus glorified and getting the work done that God calls us to fulfill. The desire to be acknowledged and appreciated by others is basic to human nature. After healing ten lepers, Jesus Himself seemed disappointed when only one returned to give thanks. The need to be appreciated can become sin when our goal shifts from seeking God's glory to seeking the praise of men. We must determine that our service to mankind is guided by a higher, more focused obedience to God. Jesus lived solely for the glory of God.

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To Delight in Hiddenness

The Holy Spirit's heart are to see Jesus glorified and to fulfill the Father's will on Earth. This was perfect humility - if we would be filled with the Spirit, we must delight ourselves in seeing Jesus glorified and getting the work done that God calls us to fulfill.

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Every good work, every miracle of grace, every virtue that has ever manifest on earth, has occurred through the work of the Holy Spirit. Yet He never draws attention to Himself, choosing instead to inspire our praise toward the Father or the Son. From brooding over the pre-creation universe, to strengthening the Son of God at the cross, to raising Jesus from the dead, to being poured out at Pentecost, to working miracles of redemption in spreading the Gospel throughout the world in millions of lives --- all of it was stimulated and inspired by the Holy Spirit, but He never revealed His name! 

The nature of the Holy Spirit is in stark contrast to our human desires to be seen, praised and recognized by other men. Truly, the Holy Spirit passionately delights in hiddenness. 

By Francis Frangipane

The desire to be acknowledged and appreciated by others is basic to human nature.

After healing ten lepers, Jesus Himself seemed disappointed when only one returned to give thanks (see Luke 17).

Yet, while the need to be occasionally appreciated is not sin, it can become sin when our goal shifts from seeking God's glory to seeking the praise of men.

We must determine that our service to mankind is guided by a higher, more focused obedience to God.

Jesus lived solely for the glory of God. We, however, too often seek the praise of man.

In spite of the fact that Jesus repeatedly affirmed that the Father who sees in secret will reward us openly (see Matthew 6), we remain offended if we do not receive credit for our good deeds.

This quest for recognition can become a source of wrong motives and failed expectations; it can give a place to jealousy, pride and selfish ambition if we are not careful.

I wish I could say I have never walked in this type of human weakness, but that would be untrue.

In fact, I experienced something years ago that, though quite painful at the time, ultimately unfolded into a wonderful revelation concerning the nature of the Holy Spirit.

Yet, before I proceed, let me state that to share this publicly requires I make my own frailties visible before you. So please grant me your grace.

The scene was the 1996 Promise Keeper's Atlanta convocation for pastors.

This event was the largest gathering of pastors in North American history --- more than 40,000 ministers united from a great variety of backgrounds and cultures.

It featured two themes in which I had been quite active: unity and reconciliation.

Although I had been instrumental in bringing pastors together in many cities, and had learned some important insights along the way, I had not been asked to contribute.

I mentioned my dilemma to no one, yet the lack of recognition was producing an ever deepening disturbance in my thought life.

At the same time, however, the joy of seeing cross-denominational unity manifest in prayer and repentance compelled me to attend.

Entrusting my inner conflict to the Lord, I felt perhaps there would be a way I could serve as the conference unfolded.

But no door opened. Pastors who knew me would ask, "So, why aren't you speaking at this conference?"

I'd smile and respond, "This must increase and I must decrease."

While my answer was both humble and sincere, I was becoming much more humble than I planned.

The fact was, I was asking myself the same question: Why wasn't I speaking?

Ghosts of past rejections began to manipulate my fears.

So, while I attended the conference and truly rejoiced in the unity, I also felt detached from it.

I watched a spiritual vision that I carried in my soul emerge and take form, only to find myself floating, dreamlike, outside of the fulfillment.

I was simultaneously deeply blessed and thoroughly miserable.

Finally, I laid my soul bare to a couple of friends.

"What should I do?" I asked.

"If I promote myself, God Himself will resist me; if I remain silent, I sacrifice my contribution to this historic event."

If nothing else, I knew the Lord was crucifying my pride and fleshly ambition.

The conference came and went, but my inner struggle stayed with me.

After several months I successfully buried the conflict beneath my everyday thoughts. I was going on with my life.

However, in May the issue resurfaced.

I was at a Mission America meeting in Washington, D.C., listening as a friend shared over lunch how the Lord used other leaders to lay foundations in his life.

As we talked, I began to see that I was not outside of what God was doing, but underneath it.

My labors in Christ (and those of many others) were part of a divine substructure upon which this current work was unfolding.

The efforts of those who serve in high visibility today will likely become foundations for greater works by others tomorrow.

I felt I was beginning to understand my role in the context of God's unfolding kingdom.

I was even able to look at my own life and see individuals whose teachings and spiritual examples had become foundations in me --- people whom I also had never thanked or acknowledged.

The Nature of the Holy Spirit
I was growing in my understanding, yet the Holy Spirit had something else to add.

That evening I confessed to the Lord my sin of seeking recognition.

Immediately the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart a simple question concerning Himself.

He asked, "Do you know My name?"

This was a special moment, and I could feel the flood of the Spirit's presence drawing near.

His name? I knew the primary revelation of the Father's name was Yahweh and the name of the Son, of course, is Jesus (or Yeshua).

I recalled all the compound names of God in the Bible, but again could not identify the specific name of the Holy Spirit.

I realized that "Holy Spirit" or "Spirit of Truth" were more descriptive titles than proper names, per se; they were not names like Jesus or Yahweh.

The term "Comforter" (or Paracletes in Greek, i.e., "one called alongside to help") also is not a name as much as a function.

What I am about to say here might not gel with everyone's theology.

But there was a moment when Moses, standing before the fire of the Almighty, asked to know the name of God, to which the Most High answered, "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:13-14).

I AM was a proper name.

Again, there was a time when the archangel Gabriel told Mary that she should name her child Jesus (Luke 1:31).

Both the Father and the Son have many descriptive titles, but on earth they are known by a particular name.

Similarly, the Holy Spirit has many titles and functions, but I could not remember a time in the Bible where the specific proper name of the Holy Spirit was revealed.

My point is this: every good work, every miracle of grace, every virtue that has ever manifest on earth, has occurred through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Yet He never draws attention to Himself, choosing instead to inspire our praise toward the Father or the Son.

As I stood in this amazing moment, I quickly searched my memory of the Scriptures.

Again, to my knowledge, I could not recall any setting or verse where the proper name of the Holy Spirit was revealed --- from brooding over the pre-creation universe, to strengthening the Son of God at the cross, to raising Jesus from the dead, to being poured out at Pentecost, to working miracles of redemption in spreading the Gospel throughout the world in millions of lives --- all of it was stimulated and inspired by Him, but He never revealed His name!

Conversely, in this world we are all about getting our name out and making a name for ourselves, especially in the western world.

The nature of the Holy Spirit is in stark contrast to our human desires to be seen, praised and recognized by other men.

Truly, the Holy Spirit passionately delights in hiddenness.

Then I saw that the two greatest passions of the Holy Spirit's heart are to see Jesus glorified and to fulfill the Father's will on Earth.

This was perfect humility --- the God-pattern that would lead me to spiritual rest and maturity.

Beloved, if we would be filled with the Spirit, we must delight ourselves in seeing Jesus glorified and getting the work done that God calls us to fulfill.

God sees and knows our motives. If we will lead others, we must do so as servants of Heaven.

Let us, therefore, seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit and work purely to see Jesus glorified and the Father's will fulfilled.

Lord, forgive me for seeking recognition from man.

Help me blessed Spirit to be filled with Your substance --- Your thoughts and motives, Your contentment and power.

Live Your marvelous life of hiddenness through me.

Adapted from the In Christ's Image Training. For more information visit www.icitc.org.

Francis Frangipane was born in 1946 and grew up in Lodi, New Jersey. After graduating from high school in 1964, Frangipane entered the U.S. Air Force, where he was discharged honorably as a sergeant on February 2, 1969. He relocated briefly to Berkeley, California and then Honolulu, Hawaii before returning to the mainland U.S. These were the days when the hippie movement was emerging, and Frangipane, like countless other young people, was searching for meaning. He traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada. Eventually his travels brought him to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia where he became a Christian on November 26, 1970. Five months later he met his wife-to-be, Denise Piscitelli, and led her to the Lord. In October of 1971 they were married.

In 1972 Francis and Denise received ministerial training at Grace Chapel in Southern California; by early fall they had moved to Hilo, Hawaii to start a church. Their little work grew to about twenty-five people, most of whom they had personally led to Christ. They also had their first child during this time.

After fourteen months, however, they felt their time in Hawaii was complete. A church in the Detroit, Michigan area offered them a pastoral position. For the remainder of the seventies, they led a small church of approximately 100 people; they also planted eight churches and home groups in southeastern Michigan and Ontario, Canada.

They relocated to Iowa in 1980 where, with the addition of four more children and a Vietnamese foster child, their family grew to eight. These were hard times. Francis was self-employed and the family was very poor. It was during this time that Francis began to develop his writing skills. It was also a three year season of being shut in with God; the only spiritual food that nourished him came from the words of Christ in the Gospels.

https://francisfrangipanemessages.blogspot.com/2020/09/to-delight-in-hiddenness.html

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