“So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,
and cast them into the furnace of fire.” (Matt. 13:49-50a, NKJV)
We are currently examining the meaning of the furnace in the New Testament, and in our last teaching looked at the first of two parables in which this loaded word is found. The word furnace is used by Jesus himself, and specifically in His explanations of two of the seven parables He shared.
First the short parable: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away.” (Matt. 13:47-48).
Please note: this parable is about the kingdom of God. In various sources that I’ve consulted about this parable (including Beasley-Murray’s Jesus and the Kingdom of God, and the Reformed Centenary Anthology, The Kingdom of God) theologians really struggle with interpreting the parable on ontological terms, in defining what exactly the Kingdom of God is. The Kingdom of God is not heaven or the afterlife, but indeed a life where God reigns in his kingdom domain.
Every believer who is born again enters the kingdom ON EARTH (John 3:3 & 5). The net that brings in the sons of God to the second dimension (John 21:11; Luke 5:4-5; Ezek. 47:10) gathers from the “sea of humanity” (Rev. 17:15) believers of every kind, which the parable later on classifies as “good” or “bad”. Please realise that those who are classified as “bad” are still saved and even born again, and can thus not be lost!
The question however remains – what renders believers in this dimension then as either “good” or “bad”? The word good is consistently translated as such across the various translations, but bad is also translated as “worthless” (Ampl), “rotten” (EMTV), “unfit to eat” (Msg), “no use” (NJB). But since “good” and “bad” are the terms that are used in the context of the fish, we need to necessarily interpret it within a wider metaphoric light. The Greek word for good can, according to Thayer’s Greek Definitions, mean “beautiful, handsome, excellent, eminent, choice, surpassing, precious, useful, suitable, commendable, admirable … ; good, excellent in its nature and characteristics, and therefore well adapted to its ends … genuine, approved … joined to names of men designated by their office, competent, able, such as one ought to be … praiseworthy, noble … beautiful by reason of purity of heart and life, and hence praiseworth … honourable, conferring honour … affecting the mind agreeably, comforting and confirming”. Now read that list again, but seen as the characteristics of the “good believers”, all the qualities which Jonathan David considers in The alliance of Honorable Men, of those who are called, and who take the kingdom by force (Matt. 11:12).
The definition of bad is concise: “corrupted … no longer fit for use, worn out … of poor quality, bad, unfit for use, worthless” (Thayer).
The first part of Jesus’ own explanation of the parable is very elucidating: “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just …” (Matt. 13:49). A few concepts from this statement needs to discussed within their Scriptural context:
- “the end of the age” is not something that will only happen at the end of time; it already started happening when Jesus was resurrected. This whole period – between the first and second coming of Jesus – is called “the end of the age”.
- The translation of the word “angels” here, from the Greek word aggelos, is unfortunately, through many centuries of conditioning, rendered as angels by most translations. The word could be translated as angels, but also as messengers, or then, those that are sent. A good demonstration of this is for instance James 2:25 where the exact same word is used to refer to the men (Josua 2:1) Joshua sent to find out who Rahab had hidden away: “Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?” Here the word is correctly translated as “messengers” and not “angels”. In my opinion this is exactly the case with the Scripture in Matt 13:49 – the use of the word angels gives this event a particular sense of spiritual mystery, which is immediately demystified when it is translated as messengers, as the Rotherham Emphasis Bible and Young’s Literal Translation for instance do.
- It is very noticeable that the bad believers are now referred to as evil, but that the good believers gain a very important qualifying factor – as being just. In the kingdom of God there can still be evil and wicked believers, who despite the fact that they profess the Name of God and function in the gifts of the Spirit, can still be characterised as demonic: “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” (Matt. 7:22-23). Righteousness is the absolute condition of the second dimension where the gospel of the kingdom of God reigns (“for the kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” – Rom. 14:17). For this reason it is also of great importance that the spirit of Elijah “turn … the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous” (Luke 1:17). In this light one can then see exactly what James 2:17-20 spells out in no uncertain terms: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? ”
- The word separate that is used to explain the process that takes place between the righteous and evil/wicked believers, is the Greek aphorizo: “to mark off from others by boundaries, to limit, to separate 1a) in a bad sense: to exclude as disreputable 1b) in a good sense: to appoint, set apart for some purpose” (Thayer).
This last remark is very important. Those who are “set apart for a purpose” are those who move through the second dimension to the third dimension – the Bride of Christ. The other groups that are separated from them, Jesus explains in the conclusion of the explanation of the parable, are cast in the furnace, where there will be a “wailing and gnashing of teeth.” The believers to whom this will happen, those who have gone through the motions of the Christian ritual, but who have not carried that transformation through to their inner man. This is played out in Jesus’ meeting with the church people of his day – the Pharisees. “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants”, Jesus says in John 8:38, which they then also affirm as true. But then Jesus says to them: “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.” (verse 39). And then Jesus makes this disturbing remark in verse 41: “You do the deeds of your father.” And if it is not Abraham who is their father, who could their father be, they who have a covenant with God? Jesus makes it very clear: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.” (verse 44a).
Typologically considered one could thus be saved and born again, but still draw your identity from the seed of the snake (Gen. 3:15). Have a look at the myriad examples of this in Scripture, of which only a few are listed here:
- “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance …” (Matt. 3:7-8).
- “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?” (Matt. 23:33).
- “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?” (Acts 13:10).
It is 1 John 3:8-10 which drives home the seriousness of this issue, in no uncertain terms: “He who sins [hamartia – to miss your mark, your calling] is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.” It is thus possible to go through the rituals of water and spiritual baptism (John 3: 3 & 5), to be born again, but to never truly be born from above. The invisible process of being born again will manifest in acts and deeds of righteousness – the tree is known by its fruit (Matt. 7:16-21).
Following the section quoted earlier from Matt. 3:7-8, we find that the conversation between Jesus and the believers of his time of the utmost importance for our current conversation about the furnace. Matt. 13:50 says that the believers will be cast into the furnace, with a wailing and gnashing of teeth. In Matt. 3:9-12 Jesus explains how this furnace on earth will purify first and second dimension believers: “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 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.”
In the furnace of the Bride all unbelievers, but also first and second dimension believers, are tested by fire. Jesus concludes this parable by asking whether the people had understood everything He had said. Alas a great deal of this truth has kept eluding the church. Obviously this will bring about a wailing and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 13:50) – we will discuss this in more depth in the next couple of teachings.
- Selah: Have you understood all of these things?
- Read: 2 Cor. 10-13; Gal. 1-6
- Examine the OT-typology: 3:16 (Tip: Gen. 12:3; 1 Pet. 1:23).
