Matthew 3.10,
Luke 3.9.
This is one of those verses where Matthew and Luke match word-for-word. I mentioned in
Matthew 3.10 =KWL Luke 3.9 KWL - “The axe lies at the root of the tree right now.
- Thus every tree not producing good fruit
- is cut down
- and is thrown into fire.”
If you’re wondering what John meant by “the tree,” it should be obvious this is a metaphor for judgment. If it’s not so obvious, maybe it’s because you’re not familiar with the appropriate Old Testament passages. John’s audience was, but people nowadays don’t read, much less read their bibles, so it’s understandable.
Bible quote time! The Jeremiah bit is directed to Judah;
Jeremiah 11.16 NET - “I, the L
ORD , once called you a thriving olive tree, - one that produced beautiful fruit.
- But I will set you on fire,
- fire that will blaze with a mighty roar.
- Then all your branches will be good for nothing.”
Ezekiel 31.10-12 NET 10 “ ‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because it was tall in stature, and its top reached into the clouds, and it was proud of its height,11 I gave it over to the leader of the nations. He has judged it thoroughly, as its sinfulness deserves. I have thrown it out.12 Foreigners from the most terrifying nations have cut it down and left it to lie there on the mountains. In all the valleys its branches have fallen, and its boughs lie broken in the ravines of the land. All the peoples of the land have departed from its shade and left it.”Daniel 4.23 NET - “As for the king seeing a holy sentinel coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Chop down the tree and destroy it, but leave its taproot in the ground, with a band of iron and bronze around it, surrounded by the grass of the field. Let it become damp with the dew of the sky, and let it live with the wild animals, until seven periods of time go by for him’…”
In that last one, Nabû was foretold he’d go insane for seven years. Y’notice his tree was chopped down, but this didn’t mean Nabû would die; just be removed from power because he was barking mad. Because getting your tree cut down didn’t automatically mean death.
But the fire part? Yeah, that means death.
Not an End Times prophecy.
Various bibles render this verse “will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” You’ll find this in the
It’s not future tense because John’s not talking about the End Times. He is, as the adverb
So why do these bibles translate the verse as if it is an End Times thing? Well, some of ’em justify it by pointing to John’s statement a few verses down about the one “mightier than I” who future-tense will clear his threshing floor, will gather the wheat into his barn, and will burn up the chaff with everlasting fire.
Well no. No it doesn’t. Because the bit about the one “mightier than I” is future; it’s about a figure who comes after John, and will do mighty things at that time. But at this time, in the then-present day, you’re a tree. Either you’re fruitful or you’re not. And God’s got an axe. He’s not here to prune, like Jesus describes in
As the Old Testament proves multiple times, judgment for one person, for one people-group, for one country—but not the entire world—can happen at any point the L
And in John’s day, judgment was coming. In 40 years—within their lifetime—
So when John said the axe was at the root of the tree right now, he wasn’t kidding. Judea and Jerusalem had no idea how close their destruction was. And I’m not even talking about individual judgment—where God decides our individual time is up, and
This is why we have to decide for Jesus today. And every day. Every extra day God gives us, is more of
Are we gonna follow him, and in so doing produce good fruit? Or are we gonna become firewood?
