Winnowing, in farming, is the separation of the wheat from the chaff.
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Overview
In the Old Testament, God needed a focal point to lay out His plan. After Adam and Eve set in motion the horrible curse of sin, it would not be easy for humanity to reverse what was done. God knew the solution would take time and would be infinitely more complex than any human could imagine. But, He needed a people that would listen to Him and allow Him to show them that He was the “one and only true God.” He found that audience in the Jews. And, although they were not perfect, God would ultimately use them to help save all humankind. His plan revolved around seven principles that God repeatedly used in the Old Testament to teach the Jews how to be a nation acceptable to Him. None of these principles, by themselves, guaranteed anything. But collectively, they composed a series of lessons that laid the groundwork for Jesus when He came. If you want to have a better understanding of God’s plan and how to integrate the lessons of the Old and New Testaments, it is critical to get a grasp of these seven principles:
- The Principle of Winnowing
- The Importance of Faith
- The Example of the Patriarchs
- The Strength of the Covenants
- The Cleansing Power of Sacrifice
- The Understanding of “The Cycle”
- The Commitment to Love
Collectively, if one studies and learns what these principles teach, one will have a much better understanding of who God is, what He expects, and what He is offering to us (humanity).
The Principle of Winnowing
What is it?
God has many ways in which He chooses to communicate with us and teach us. Winnowing is probably one of the least understood of His methods. Historically, “to winnow” is an agricultural term which means:
Stalks of wheat are thrown into the air, and the wind blows away the chaff and the straw, letting the heavier pure grain fall back to the ground.
In the Bible, the principle of winnowing (when applied to people) says that it is often necessary to separate the bad from the good if you want the good to survive. The not-so-hidden suggestion behind this principle is: Evil will consume and destroy all good unless removed at the earliest possible time. Sticking with another agricultural example, we all understand the necessity of removing a bad apple from the barrel before it destroys the entire barrel. That is the essence of winnowing.
Winnowing has both a positive and negative side:
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Negative winnowing is required to correct what occurs when someone chooses not to select, follow, or obey God.
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Positive winnowing is applied when God chooses someone to purify and refine their faith in Him.
One type of winnowing purifies by eliminating that which is “bad” or “evil,” and another purifies by focusing on nurturing that which is good. By my count, there are at least three major examples (and many lesser examples) of negative winnowing and multiple examples of positive winnowing. Let’s explore what we can learn from them all.
#1: The Flood
In this first example, God is doing the winnowing by sending a global flood. When Adam was escorted out of the Garden of Eden, it was because sin and Satan had entered the world and claimed its first casualty. God knew it was going to be a downhill slide after that, so He watched and waited until sin began to dominate the earth. God wanted to demonstrate the extremes evil would go to if left unrestrained. The truth of the matter is that once evil grabs hold of a society, it will stop at nothing until that society is destroyed. Why? Because evil is driven by a selfish desire to dominate and control everything in its path. There is no “I” in “team,” but there is absolutely no room for anything else but the “I” in evil. Ultimately, the last two standing will die trying to dominate the other. To me, this sounds ridiculous since “the last person standing” will have no one left to boss around. King Solomon had an interesting observation on this human characteristic (Ecclesiastes 7: 29 NCV):
29 One thing I have learned:
God made people good,
but they have found all kinds of ways to be bad.”
And that’s why God sent the Flood. If He had not, humanity would have died out at their own hand. In this example, God chose to cut out the bad before it consumed everything good. He chose to save eight people and a boatload of all sorts of living things. God intervened before evil had a chance to extinguish the only people left who believed in and had faith in the living God.
God was the instigator who sent the flood because His creation rejected Him. But, when it came to His Chosen People, the Jews, God applied the principle of winnowing in a different way. And those who don’t recognize what He was doing may falsely judge God to be a harsh, cruel, and uncaring God.
#2: The Jews Impossible Task
After the Flood, God’s Plan called for Him to focus His energies on a single-family line (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), which would eventually become a people (the Jews) and a nation (Israel). God referred to these people as “His Chosen People.” Why? Because God wanted to work through them to show the world that there was only one true God. This required them to:
- Learn about God
- Respect Him and His ways
- Obey Him
- Keep themselves pure and separate from anything evil or in rebellion to God.
This last requirement was the hardest one to follow. Specifically, God said:
“I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44, NIV)
So now if you obey me and keep my agreement, you will be my own possession, chosen from all nations. Even though the whole earth is mine, you will be my kingdom of priests and a holy nation. (Exodus 19:5–6, NCV)
This calling from God placed an enormous burden on the Jews. God was asking them to be like Him and purge all evil from their lives. If evil cannot exist in the presence of God, then it must not be allowed to exist in the presence of “a holy nation” (Israel). This was an assignment they could never achieve, yet God didn’t do this to frustrate them (although it did). He did this to demonstrate what it would take to reverse the curse of sin so they could (once again) have fellowship with God (as it was in the Garden of Eden). Ultimately, in the New Testament, we see that only Jesus could complete this assignment and erase the stain of sin. But, until Jesus came, God’s Chosen People would at least have to try and reach this standard because God asked it of them.
Although we may understand the problem with being called to be perfect, we probably do not understand what is involved in being holy. When Joshua stood on the Eastern bank of the Jordan River and looked West into the Promised Land, God told Joshua that the land was filled with evil people who did not worship nor respect Him. If God was going to give them this land, they would have to cleanse it and rid it of all evil. The task was to be so daunting that God encouraged Joshua to be:
“6 “…strong and brave! You must lead these people so they can take the land that I promised their fathers I would give them. 7 Be strong and brave. Be sure to obey all the teachings my servant Moses gave you. If you follow them exactly, you will be successful in everything you do.” (Joshua 1: 6-7 NCV)
Why such emphasis on being “strong and brave?” Because the task of cleansing (winnowing) the land and ridding it of all evil would require a strong will, a cast iron stomach, and an unshakable belief in the reasoning behind the extreme measures God would require of them. If God’s instructions were not completely followed and all evil purged from the land, then what was allowed to remain would infect and destroy the Israelites (just like that bad apple). Thus, God commanded them to:
“16…leave nothing alive in the cities of the land the Lord your God is giving you. 17 Completely destroy these people… 18 Otherwise, they will teach you what they do for their gods, and if you do these hateful things, you will sin against the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 20: 16-18 NCV
Joshua needed to be “strong and brave” because his task would involve the unthinkable:
21 They completely destroyed with the sword every living thing in the city—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkeys. (Joshua 6:21, NCV)
The call to “be holy” required that all evil be purged from their lives. Yet, God knew that there was one evil that could not be purged — the evil within. Every time the Jews relented and let people live, they married the women they spared, and then those women taught them the evil practices that God detested, and it eventually led to Israel’s demise — time and time again.
Cutting out evil is a dirty, disgusting, and difficult task. It requires the shedding of blood and for people to die. This was the calling of the Jews. It is no wonder they could not do it. No one on earth could have accomplished this goal. Yet, God placed that burden on them to demonstrate how vast the divide was between God and humanity.
#3: Winnowing in the New Testament
In the New Testament, winnowing moves from being concerned with fleshly evil to spiritual evil. Thank God that, because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, this extreme method of combatting sin was no longer necessary. The Holy Spirit lives within us, so we are “pure vessels,” but we still live in the world. Jesus overcame the curse of sin (death), but He did not remove its temptation from our lives. We must still put on the armor of God to protect us from the fiery arrows of Satan. Paul cautioned us concerning this battle in Galatians:
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They (the spirit and the flesh) are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Galatians 5: 16-18 NIV
And then, in Ephesians, Paul said:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 NIV
Winnowing takes on a new perspective with us Christians. We need to:
| Action | Purpose |
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To purify us, protect us, and prepare us. |
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Our battle (as Christians) is a battle against the “desires of the flesh.” |
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Submit to doing what is right as the Holy Spirit of God instructs. |
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Our battle is not against flesh and blood (as in the OT), it is a spiritual battle — against the powers of evil (the dark spiritual forces of Satan).. |
So, for Christians, the concept of winnowing has nothing to do with purifying ourselves or separating ourselves from evil. The Holy Spirit lives within us, and the blood of Christ has purified us. But, as Paul points out, Satan is just as active as ever in trying to deceive us and destroy us. Our battle is now a spiritual battle.
As we get closer to the time of Tribulation, the power of evil will increase in the world. Further, Revelation teaches that there will be one last Old Testament-style winnowing to be done by God when He defeats Satan and sends all those who follow him to Hades. At that time, all the earth and all those left on the earth (after Jesus has removed all the believers) will be killed — the final winnowing!
Positive Winnowing
We said earlier that Positive winnowing is applied when God chooses someone to purify and refine their faith in Him. It is a time when God focuses His energies on a single individual to help them grow in their faith and understanding of God. This is an important principle to understand because it utilizes a heavy dose of God’s grace! When God used this principle in the Old Testament, there were no Christians, only people of faith. They did not have the benefit of the Holy Spirit residing within them, but they had God Himself teaching them and working through them. God chose certain people of faith to work with and through. One such person was King David. King David is one of the most revered people of the Old Testament, yet he was (at his worst) a murderer. But God looked at his heart and knew David had a heart to do good. He repented, and God forgave him. Therefore, it was not necessary to punish him further.
The best example of positive winnowing is the Great Commission. Jesus instructed us all to make disciples throughout all the earth. This is precisely the same as when God invested Himself in guiding someone like King David into following in the path of God. Negative winnowing often leads to the loss of life. Positive winnowing’s goal is to save a life. If you have not yet seen the movie, “The Forge,” I’d encourage you to do so. It does an excellent job of showing the power of positive winnowing by investing your life into guiding, nurturing, and disciplining another human being.
One Final Thought
How do we find a balance between “loving the sinner, yet hating the sin?” The Bible teaches that we can do nothing to stop the progression of evil. It is a raging fire that no one (except God) can ever put out. It’s often said that the only difference between a civilized and an uncivilized society is the laws we all agree to be held accountable to. If we have no laws and/or no one is held accountable for the ones that exist, that society crumbles and is vulnerable to whoever chooses to conquer them. Therefore, we need to cling to our Christian values (as taught in the Bible) and defend them whenever threatened. This is just another example of positive winnowing.
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