Jeremiah 23:28, commentary and pictures

A dream is to be told for only what it is, while whoever has God's word must speak that word faithfully, for a human dream and the Lord's word are not equal in worth. Chaff is what is false, worthless and merely human, while wheat is what is true, substantial and spiritually nourishing in God's word, with no food value in the one beside the other. Truth and error must therefore be kept distinct and never mixed or confused, with fanciful interpretations, invented fables and human opinions set apart as chaff beside the wheat of Scripture. Those who know God's teachings are to make its great truths prominent and give the people pure wheat thoroughly winnowed from all chaff, feeding them with sound Bible teaching rather than trifling talk, amusing stories or outward show. The Bible itself is that wheat, the foundation for all study and food for the mind, while cheap, superficial and exciting fiction and worthless reading are chaff that dulls love for God's word and weakens desire for righteousness.

Meaning of Chaff and Wheat

A dream is to be told as only a dream, while whoever has God's word must speak that word faithfully, with each presented as what it is and never placed on the same level. A human dream and the Lord's word are not equal in value, for the question about chaff and wheat emphasizes the difference between what is empty and what is true and nourishing. Fanciful or baseless claims, trivial side issues and idle claims are worthless beside the precious truths of Scripture, especially the truths concerning salvation and eternal welfare, and attention to such distractions diverts people from the gospel. Chaff is what is false, worthless, and merely human, while wheat is what is true, substantial, and spiritually nourishing in God's word. Error, humanly invented fables, false or delusive claims and deceptive teaching are chaff, and a message from God must not be confused with them nor accepted merely because someone presents it as truth. Chaff has no food value beside wheat, as with books and stories that entertain but offer no spiritual nourishment, which are worthless compared with reading that gives truth and light.

The wheat also represents those who love and obey God. Though they may appear humble and commonplace to worldly judges and pass through trials, disappointments, and infirmities, God knows their hearts and regards them as precious, and their worth to Him is not lessened. Their true glory will be revealed when Christ appears and they become like Him. God's people are being sifted by this test, so that those without practical godliness will be shaken out as chaff while the true remain as wheat.

Man's utterance is chaff and God's truth is wheat, and Christ as the author of truth must Himself separate them. Human words had made truth of no effect despite God speaking through nature, through types and symbols, through patriarchs and prophets, so Christ had to come in person as the Messenger of the covenant to speak in the language of humanity. His voice had to be heard in His own temple, uttering words clearly and definitely understood, defining the principles of God's government and the plan of redemption, and fully setting before men the lessons of the Old Testament.

Truth Separated From Error

God's word must be kept distinct from what is false or empty and never confused with it, for truth and error are to be separated, not mixed, and the churches need a winnowing and cleansing from deceptive ideas that have been made attractive. False teachers attempt to mix human theories with God's word as chaff is mixed with wheat, and this strange doctrine is used to unsettle believers and make the word of truth of no effect. Teachers are therefore to speak the Word faithfully, keeping its important principles central and refusing to lead hearers into trivial theories or unsupported ideas that distract and make those truths ineffective.

Scripture is to explain its own statements and to be accepted as it reads, without twisting its words to fit human ideas. Quoting Scripture with a wrong interpretation is not the wheat, and smooth words that divert people from truths concerning eternal realities are chaff that distracts from and distorts God's truth. Persuasive but misleading ideas must not be allowed to divert attention from the truths sent to the world.

Fanciful interpretations, invented fables, and imaginary doctrines without foundation in Scripture are chaff beside wheat and must not be placed on the same level as sacred truth or held fast as truth. Those who claim to proclaim the third angel's message yet lack experience in it present teachings not inspired by the Holy Spirit, which have no weight beside the truth. Christ's words were pure, unadulterated truth, not sentiment, opinion, supposition, or fable, rejecting all prevarication and deception. Human opinions, speculations, and theories are like chaff with little weight beside the wheat of God's word, and inventive, speculative ideas must not be treated as equal to God's truth. An opinion has value only insofar as Scripture endorses and supports it, loud repetition and clever phrasing prove nothing, and everything said must be tested by sound reasoning and sound principles from God's word.

Ideas without a plain basis in what God has revealed do not strengthen believers and cannot endure divine testing, so they must not be taught as essential truth. Theories devised by people are no substitute for the rich and powerful truths of Scripture and must not be presented as testing truth when God has supplied weighty truths about Christ's coming and the judgment. Teachers must draw from Scripture rather than imagination, keep truth distinct from fiction, and not mix chaff with wheat by giving inferior man-made tests the importance of Bible truth or elevating such additions for human glory. A person with a dream may report it only as a dream, but one who has God's word must speak it faithfully, and false revelations are not to be believed as messages sent by God even when they imitate the genuine closely, mingle truth with error, and use censure followed by flattering promises to deceive.

Scientific and seductive sentiments that tear down the foundations of faith, weaken perception of truth and righteousness, mingle truth with error, and obscure truth must be rejected. Faith must rest on the high, holy, substantial foundation of pure truth, with minds needing heavenly anointing and thorough renewing turned away from the chaff of mist and fog. God's servants are to hold fast to a firm foundation and faithfully preach His word and last warning message to the world rather than scientific theories or fanciful teachings. Christ's testimony in Revelation is wheat: trustworthy truth concerning present and future welfare, with solemn warnings and precious promises, not guesswork or scientific deception, and it deserves attention.

Speaking God's Word Faithfully

Those who know the teachings of God are to speak their principles faithfully, making the great truths and the saving tests prominent while keeping His glory in view. The wheat is God's word and its great, enduring, life-giving truths, distinct from the chaff of trivial human theories and worthless human inventions. Scripture is therefore to be proclaimed rather than human theories relied upon, and nothing is to be added to God's words.

Preaching must give the people pure wheat thoroughly winnowed from all chaff. That wheat is the truth of God in its simplicity as it is in Jesus, dwelt upon decidedly in a few important points and presented in short discourses. The Holy Spirit must be present every moment to do the work the preacher cannot do alone. Everything that spoils solid argument is chaff, including discourses that embrace so much that weakness appears in place of strength. Any disagreeable burden on the minister's mind must be put away by personal labor and earnest prayer with God before speaking, so that hearers receive the very best impression.

Ministers are to feed God's people with pure teaching carefully separated from error, bringing the central truths of the nourishing bread of life to the heart. They are not to fill their discourses with stories, amusing stories, and trifling talk, but to preach the word faithfully. God's stewards are to give the people spiritual food, especially the Word and sound Bible teaching, rather than worldly news and other stale matter that does not serve their spiritual interests.

A solemn gospel message is weakened when mixed with material that distracts from its purpose. What is true and substantial must not be displaced by what is merely outward or showy, for attractive covers and pictures cannot convert the soul or take the place of the truths books contain. Preaching marked by excessive display leaves an impression out of harmony with the work. Elaborate methods and human productions can consume effort and money while distracting people from Christ, and such efforts are not worth the burden when they intercept the power of His grace.

When God sends ministers with a message, that message is the very means He has ordained to reach the people. They must speak the word of the Lord faithfully without abating one word to please anyone. They are not to ask the hearers what to present, they are not to come to be preached to, and they are not to allow the hearers to sit in judgment upon every sermon. To pick the message to pieces is to make the Word of God of no effect.

Work driven by commercialism and lacking spiritual power is chaff, not the wheat of God's sacred work, and medical missionary work must not become commercial. The chaff represents worldly business and financial profit, while the wheat represents the Lord's work and the spiritual good of people. Publishing houses must therefore not let outside commercial work for financial profit crowd out prayer, spiritual preparation, and the training of workers in their trade, since a soul's worth exceeds financial gain.

Books Reading and Education

The Bible is wheat, while misleading books and inferior learning without a sound foundation are chaff beside it, for it alone teaches what is required for salvation and gives strength to the intellect. It is the foundation for all study and the chief book for forming character and preparing for immortal life, and other books and authors must not be exalted above it. Cheap, superficial, exciting fiction is chaff, spiritually barren and misleading, and feeding the mind on it dulls the ability to recognize the beauty and importance of God's word. Such reading weakens love for Jesus and inclination to righteousness and turns the life away from Him. Christ's followers are to avoid frivolous stories and images that poison the mind, rejecting story magazines and similar publications, and to choose reading that is true, genuine, and of eternal value.

The Bible is true manna and food for the mind, while light and worthless reading matter is chaff, so desire for such reading must be repressed. Even works that do not openly mislead and corrupt are to be shunned if they impart a disrelish for Bible study. Those in God's service are to spend neither time nor money for light reading, because it prevents clear perceptions for doing God's work, destroys the healthy tone of the mind, takes away interest in the words of life and makes the book of God uninteresting, and makes it impossible to fix attention upon important, solemn truths concerning eternal welfare. Reading that is worthless and unnourishing weakens the desire to study the Bible, distracts from true food for the mind, and hinders clear service to God.

Publications are to offer pure, carefully sifted instruction thoroughly separated from common human ideas without grounding in God's word, rather than content no better than ordinary publications. Matter containing present truth feeds the mind with sound teaching, in contrast to the worthless matter of trashy literature. Light magazines that give no benefit are chaff, while useful papers that bless and benefit, including missionary papers, are wheat, so time and money should be directed toward worthwhile reading. In canvassing and books the points of truth are the wheat, while attractive covers and many illustrations are chaff when they distract from that truth, and canvassers should present the truth rather than rely on outward display.

Low, cheap, trivial subjects that merely amuse are chaff, for dwelling on them draws the mind away from God and heaven and makes religious thought and prayer distasteful. What people regularly attend to shapes their thoughts downward and gradually contracts mental powers to the level of what is taken in, while God's enduring truth elevates the mind for serious reflection. Literary societies whose respectable name does not match their actual character show what chaff is to wheat, for without Christ their exercises draw the mind toward the imaginary and superficial rather than what is real and substantial. Teachers are to faithfully present the important principles of God's word for the present and eternal good of hearers, and not mix unsupported or vain teachings and trivial theories without foundation with revealed truth or let them make the word ineffective. They must be careful what they collect and teach and make their work worthy of the Lord, faithfully upholding what is true rather than mingling the common with the sacred. In education the question is whether the mind is filled with chaff or pure grain, for vanity, pride, and self-indulgence are not genuine advancement, while useful home labor and the character it develops are of lasting value.

Daily Life and Discernment

God's word has far greater worth than human words, which are as chaff beside wheat, and those who feed on it gain nourishment, strength, and valuable experience. Human theories and inventions are worthless beside the truths of the living Word, so God's people need spiritual discernment to distinguish human teachings from Scripture by seeking wisdom from God through prayer, Scripture, and the Holy Spirit. Fictitious theories unsupported by Scripture are chaff while the faithfully spoken word is wheat, and earnest searchers of the Word will recognize the difference. The distinction between chaff and wheat must be applied to the principles people bring to Christ the foundation, separating what is worthless from what is sound, and that distinction must shape daily life molded by the Holy Spirit.

Empty controversy, such as dispute over killing insects, is not to be treated as equal to the rich truths of God's Word, for it distracts believers from the sacred truths they should study and from seeking Christ's character, and minds must instead be given spiritual food that builds character by feeding upon Christ. A person's dream is to be told as only a dream, while whoever has God's word must speak it faithfully, and beside the precious truths of Scripture, especially those concerning salvation and eternal welfare, trivial side issues and idle claims are worthless chaff whose attention diverts people from the gospel. Compared with Jesus' teaching, words and interpretations supplied by human agents are as chaff beside wheat, weak and feeble and unable to provide reliable light, and because humanly invented symbols may be false and misleading, people must seek truth in God's word rather than depend on a human channel for instruction. The Lord's true word must not be mistaken for delusive human claims, so hearers must discern His voice, distinguish what is true and nourishing from what is false and misleading, and refuse teachings that would endanger spiritual life.

Christ-centered, elevating influence is wheat, while superficial and unreal pursuits that draw the mind away from God are chaff, and the two are not equivalent because the superficial cannot provide the refining, ennobling influence found in Christ. Superficial, soaring religious expression is chaff beside the wheat of solid godliness, for even divine songs and melodies, even those of angels, cannot save the world. Sentimental, soaring ideas shaped by personal taste, education, and temperament are worthless beside what is true and solid when they do not form a godly character and fit people for heaven. True religion means self-denial, sacrifice, obedience to God, and honest confrontation of sin. Lesser concerns must not come before children's best interests, so time spent on dress, social calls, and needless or elaborate cooking, sewing, and stitching must give way to protecting strength, living as Bible Christians, and teaching and guiding children.