Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
To conceive chaff and bring forth stubble is for human wisdom, plans and works to produce only what is worthless, futile and doomed to burn, and for the wicked to be devoured by fire coming from their own breath and their own destruction. It belongs to the rising up of the Lord in judgment to punish the wicked, when sinners in Zion and hypocrites are struck with fear and recognize their lost condition in the last trials of God's people. It exposes false professors just before the general desolation at Christ's coming, showing the immediate effect of His coming upon the wicked. The devouring fire and everlasting burnings are the glorious effulgence of Christ's presence at His coming, which terrifies sinners and withers the wicked into dust while the righteous who walk righteously and speak uprightly dwell securely with that fire and are raised to behold the King in His glory. The final overthrow is the second death, the unquenchable fire and lake of fire after the thousand years, which burns up the wicked root and branch, soul and body, until they cease to exist, proving the certainty rather than the duration of their burning and showing that they do not possess immortality.
Imagery and Setting
To conceive chaff and bring forth stubble is to bring forth only what is worthless, futile and doomed to burn, for human wisdom, plans, purposes and works produce nothing lasting and come to nothing. Those who oppose God produce only such worthless things, pictured as chaff and stubble, and are consumed like fuel in a fire and burned like cut thorns when the Lord rises to judgment. What is conceived is awakened to its lost condition just before the general desolation and dissolution, when the wicked are destroyed and the earth is left desolate. In the final destruction this same worthlessness is tested and shown to perish, for life belongs to those who receive righteousness through Christ while the wicked and their works perish and prove to have no immortality.
The word rendered breath means breath, and your breath as fire shall devour you means that the wicked are consumed by fire coming from their own breath and their own destruction. Their own breath becomes like fire that consumes them, presenting their final overthrow as the devouring fire of the second death. This belongs to the prophecy of the Lord rising up in judgment to punish the wicked, when sinners in Zion and hypocrites are struck with fear and recognize their lost condition. It is a picture of the last trials of God's people and of the destruction of the wicked at Christ's coming, when the people are burned like cut thorns and like thorns cut up burned in the fire. The same rising to punish places the wicked as the burnings of lime, devoured by fire until they utterly perish, while the righteous are protected in the holy city and behold the King in His glory during the punishment, before the new heavens and new earth are made.
The prophecy stands among prophecies about Israel, with Israel also serving as a type of conditions in the Christian age. Its judgment imagery is set in a connection with the millennium. It is therefore not to be read as a literal description of the final judgment.
Judgment and Destruction
The verse exposes false professors just before the general desolation and dissolution at Christ's coming, showing the immediate effect of His coming upon the wicked. They are awakened to their lost condition, struck with fear as God rises in judgment, and what they conceive and bring forth comes to nothing, worthless like chaff and stubble. Their plans and works produce only what is doomed to burn, and their own breath becomes like fire that consumes them. This destruction belongs to the prophecy of the day of the Lord when sinners in Zion and hypocrites recognize their terror and the earth is left desolate.
The consuming fire terrifies sinners, while the righteous are promised a secure dwelling. Those who oppose God produce only worthless things and are consumed by God's Spirit like fuel in a fire. Only he that walks righteously and speaks uprightly can dwell with that fire. The devouring fire and everlasting burnings are the glorious effulgence of Christ's presence at His coming, which withers the wicked into dust while causing the righteous to rise from the dust. To the righteous His presence is light and healing, but to the wicked it is consuming destruction.
The wicked burn like thorns cut up and as the burnings of lime, for human wisdom and plans produce nothing lasting when the Lord rises to judgment. This belongs to the last trials of God's people and to the time when the Lord rises up to punish the wicked after the second resurrection at the close of the one thousand years. While the punishment takes place the righteous are protected in the holy city, with God in the beloved city on the earth, and behold the King in His glory and see Jesus in His glory before the new heavens and new earth are made. There they utterly perish, devoured by fire.
The final overthrow is the devouring fire of the second death, the unquenchable fire and lake of fire after the thousand years in which the city of God is preserved. The punishment of the wicked is inflicted by means of fire, and their futile purposes bring no lasting result. They are chaff and stubble to be burned in the fire that destroys the earth, burned up root and branch, soul and body, until they cease to exist and cease to live. The likeness does not measure how long they will burn but proves the certainty that they will be devoured, consumed, and burned up. In that final destruction this fire tests the claims of Satan and his followers and shows that they do not possess immortality, for life belongs to those who receive righteousness through Christ while the wicked and their works perish.
To conceive chaff and bring forth stubble is for human wisdom, plans and works to produce only what is worthless, futile and doomed to burn, and for the wicked to be devoured by fire coming from their own breath and their own destruction. It belongs to the rising up of the Lord in judgment to punish the wicked, when sinners in Zion and hypocrites are struck with fear and recognize their lost condition in the last trials of God's people. It exposes false professors just before the general desolation at Christ's coming, showing the immediate effect of His coming upon the wicked. The devouring fire and everlasting burnings are the glorious effulgence of Christ's presence at His coming, which terrifies sinners and withers the wicked into dust while the righteous who walk righteously and speak uprightly dwell securely with that fire and are raised to behold the King in His glory. The final overthrow is the second death, the unquenchable fire and lake of fire after the thousand years, which burns up the wicked root and branch, soul and body, until they cease to exist, proving the certainty rather than the duration of their burning and showing that they do not possess immortality.
Imagery and Setting
To conceive chaff and bring forth stubble is to bring forth only what is worthless, futile and doomed to burn, for human wisdom, plans, purposes and works produce nothing lasting and come to nothing. Those who oppose God produce only such worthless things, pictured as chaff and stubble, and are consumed like fuel in a fire and burned like cut thorns when the Lord rises to judgment. What is conceived is awakened to its lost condition just before the general desolation and dissolution, when the wicked are destroyed and the earth is left desolate. In the final destruction this same worthlessness is tested and shown to perish, for life belongs to those who receive righteousness through Christ while the wicked and their works perish and prove to have no immortality.
The word rendered breath means breath, and your breath as fire shall devour you means that the wicked are consumed by fire coming from their own breath and their own destruction. Their own breath becomes like fire that consumes them, presenting their final overthrow as the devouring fire of the second death. This belongs to the prophecy of the Lord rising up in judgment to punish the wicked, when sinners in Zion and hypocrites are struck with fear and recognize their lost condition. It is a picture of the last trials of God's people and of the destruction of the wicked at Christ's coming, when the people are burned like cut thorns and like thorns cut up burned in the fire. The same rising to punish places the wicked as the burnings of lime, devoured by fire until they utterly perish, while the righteous are protected in the holy city and behold the King in His glory during the punishment, before the new heavens and new earth are made.
The prophecy stands among prophecies about Israel, with Israel also serving as a type of conditions in the Christian age. Its judgment imagery is set in a connection with the millennium. It is therefore not to be read as a literal description of the final judgment.
Judgment and Destruction
The verse exposes false professors just before the general desolation and dissolution at Christ's coming, showing the immediate effect of His coming upon the wicked. They are awakened to their lost condition, struck with fear as God rises in judgment, and what they conceive and bring forth comes to nothing, worthless like chaff and stubble. Their plans and works produce only what is doomed to burn, and their own breath becomes like fire that consumes them. This destruction belongs to the prophecy of the day of the Lord when sinners in Zion and hypocrites recognize their terror and the earth is left desolate.
The consuming fire terrifies sinners, while the righteous are promised a secure dwelling. Those who oppose God produce only worthless things and are consumed by God's Spirit like fuel in a fire. Only he that walks righteously and speaks uprightly can dwell with that fire. The devouring fire and everlasting burnings are the glorious effulgence of Christ's presence at His coming, which withers the wicked into dust while causing the righteous to rise from the dust. To the righteous His presence is light and healing, but to the wicked it is consuming destruction.
The wicked burn like thorns cut up and as the burnings of lime, for human wisdom and plans produce nothing lasting when the Lord rises to judgment. This belongs to the last trials of God's people and to the time when the Lord rises up to punish the wicked after the second resurrection at the close of the one thousand years. While the punishment takes place the righteous are protected in the holy city, with God in the beloved city on the earth, and behold the King in His glory and see Jesus in His glory before the new heavens and new earth are made. There they utterly perish, devoured by fire.
The final overthrow is the devouring fire of the second death, the unquenchable fire and lake of fire after the thousand years in which the city of God is preserved. The punishment of the wicked is inflicted by means of fire, and their futile purposes bring no lasting result. They are chaff and stubble to be burned in the fire that destroys the earth, burned up root and branch, soul and body, until they cease to exist and cease to live. The likeness does not measure how long they will burn but proves the certainty that they will be devoured, consumed, and burned up. In that final destruction this fire tests the claims of Satan and his followers and shows that they do not possess immortality, for life belongs to those who receive righteousness through Christ while the wicked and their works perish.