THE GOSPELS: Matthew 3:7-12, The Ministry of John the Baptist

28 March 2025

We are studying Mathew 3:1-12 about THE MINSTRY OF JOHN the BAPTIST and we are focusing today on verses 7 to 12.

We are mainly reading from the Complete Jewish Study Bible – insight for Jews and Christians with cross references to other Bible versions. As well as the Nelson’s Foundational Bible Dictionary.

As you know we are using the Hebrew names of God the Father, namely YHVH (Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh) where the word LORD in English and ADDONAI in Hebrew are indicated in capital letters in the Scriptures and we will also use the description, Abba Father.  And we use the Hebrew Name Yeshua the Messiah instead of the English Name Jesus Christ translated from the Greek.

We read in Matthew 3:7-9 “But when John saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to be immersed (baptized) by him, he said to them: ‘You snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming punishment? If you have really turned from your sins to God, produce fruit that will prove it!” And don’t suppose you can comfort yourselves by saying, ‘Abraham is our father’! For I tell you that God can raise up for Abraham’s sons from these stones!

The Jewish Study Bible explains: The Pharisees and the Sadducees were two of the main factions of the RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT in Yeshua’s time and during the New Testament era. In the Second Temple period, a POLITICAL GROUP arose who insisted that with the reestablishment of the Temple, synagogue attendance was no longer necessary. EMBRACING GREEK CULTURE, they favored assimilation, and the FOCUS of their RELIGIOUS LIFE was the Temple. The SADDUCEES did NOT favor following the TORAH. They gave NO CREDENCE (acceptance or believe) to the ORAL LAW, NOR did they believe in the RESSURECTION (read Matthew 22:23) or the BOOKS of the PROPHETS should be included in the Bible. The Sadducees consisted mostly of WHEALTHY BUSINESSMEN and the PRIESTS. According to the historian Josephus, both king Herod and High Priest Caiaphas, a Sadducee, were appointed by the ROMAN occupiers and so derived their POLITICAL and CIVIL POWERS from ROME. The PHARISEES were widely loved by the people. The PHARISEES based their RELIGIOUS PRACTICE in the synagogue and on FOLLOWING THE TORAH according to the TRADITIONS found in the ORAL LAW. Yeshua our Messiah alluded to this when He reprimanded them in Mark 7:8-9 saying: “You depart from God (the Father’s) COMMAND and hold onto HUMAN TRADITION, Indeed, He said to them, ‘you have made a fine art of DEPARTING from GOD’s COMMAND in order to keep your TRADITIONS!”

The Sadducees and Pharisees were enemies, and both were hostile toward Yeshua. The Sadducees used RELIGION to strengthen their POLIICAL POSITIONS and the Pharisees were LEGALISTIC and HYPOCRITICAL and only OBEYED the LETTER OF THE LAW (the TORAH, including the Ten Commandments), but did not care about the TRUE MEANING and SPIRIT of the LAW (the TORAH including the Ten Commandments).

So now we know why both John and Yeshua our Messiah called the Pharisees and the Sadducees SNAKES and VIPERS in Matthew 3:7, 12:34 and 23:33!

The Afrikaans Bible in Practice explains: John did not call upon people to serve YHVH with EMPTY WORDS and RITUALS but called upon them to CHANG THIR LIVES. God looks DEEPER than our WORDS and RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES. God looks at whether our LIVES CONFIRM the things we CONFESS and He JUDGES our WORDS by the ACTIONS that GO with them Do your ACTIONS and your WORDS match?

John then further said to them in Matthew 3:10 “Already the axe is at the root of the trees, ready to strike; every tree that doesn’t produce GOOD FRUIT will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”

The Word often uses the metaphor of TREES and FRUIT. Yeshua also discusses this in His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:16-20, Matthew 12:33 and Luke 6:43-44.

The Afrikaans Bible in Practice explains: God’s message has NOT CHANGED at all since the OLD TESTAMENT. It is that people WILL be JUDGED BESED on their LIVES. God ASKS us to be ACTIVELY OBEDIENT. John compared the people who SAID they BELONGED to GOD but DID not LIVE as His CHILDREN in line with His WAYS and HEIS WORD with TREES that DID NOT BEAR GOOD FRUIT and would be CUT DOWN. If we want to BEAR FRUIT FOR HIM, we MUST BE OBEDIENT to the things HE TEACHES us, RESIST TEMPTATIONS, be ACTIVELY ENGAGED in SERVING and HELPING our FELLOW MAN and CONFESS and LIVE OUT our FAITH to others. How much FRUIT do you BEAR FOR HIM?

John then continued in Matthew 3:11 “I’s true that I am IMMERSING you in IN WATER so that you might TURN FROM your SINS TO GOD; but the ONE coming after me is MORE POWERFUL than I – I’m not worthy even to carry His sandals – and HE WILL IMMERSE YOU in the RUACH HaKODESH and IN FIRE. (Also read John 1:26-27).

We see here a clear picture of STEP TWO to STEP FOUR depicted in the TABERNACLE as part of the NARROW WAY leading THROUGH YESHUA our MESSIAH to ABBA FATHER. The FIRST step, after ENTERING THROUGH the GATE (Yeshua the Messiah – John 14:6), at the TABERNACLE being SALVATION through FAITH as a GIFT of GOD the Father by accepting Yeshua our Messiah’s death on our behalf on the CROSS (depicted as the bronze altar in the Outer Court of the Tabernacle) Read Ephesians 2:8-9. And then the SECOND step being BAPTISM IN WATER (depicted by the bronze WASHBASIN) before the HOLY PLACE. As John explained this is where we take the decision to TURN from our SINS TO GOD. Paul later explained it more clearly as DYING to the OLD SIN NATURE in us in Romans 6:3-4. The THIRD STEP, is then EATING at the TABLE of YESHUA our MESSIAH (depicted by the Table of Showbread), the soul (being the mind, emotions and will) being fed and nurtured with the WORD of YHVH, therefore ENABLING a person to BECOME A NEW PERSON by THINKING and FEELING in accordance to the WAYS, STATUTES and COMMANDMENTS of YHVH and therefore taking DECISIONS in line with His Word. Paul explains this in many parts of his letters to the congregations like 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 3:10 and Romans 6:6.

And this then leads to STEP FOUR as explained by John: BEING BAPTISED by YESHUA the MESSIAH with the HOLY SPIRIT and with FIRE! (Matthew 3:11). This is depicted in the TABERNACLE by the MENORAH (the SEVEN BRANCHED GOLDEN LAMPSTAND) that had to be LIT and stay alight (burning, flaming). A picture of EVERY BELIEVER that are SET ALIGHT or maybe better SAID, SET ON FIRE by YESHUA when He BAPTIZES us in the HOLY SPIRIT and wit FIRE! This literal outpouring of the HOLY SPIRIT in tongues of FIRE is also discussed in Acts 2:1-4. When this happens, when we are filled with the HOLY SPIRIT, we are able to PRODUCE THE GOOD FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT of which we read in Galatians 5:22-23 the FRUIT of LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS and SELFCONTROL.

It is also a picture of the SALVATION PLAN of Abba Father as explained as part of His FEAST TWO to FOUR of His SEVEN FEASTS, FEAST SEASON ONE, beginning with FEAST ONE being PASSOVER (Yeshua our Messiah, the LAMB of God the Father, dying for our sins), FEAST TWO, being UNLEAVENED BREAD (fulfilled by Yeshua our Messiah being buried for THREE NIGHTS and THREE DAYS, and we being buried WITH HIM in the WATER OF BAPPTISM as already. And then followed by FEAST THREE being FIRST FRUITS (fulfilled by Yeshua or Messiah as the FIRST FRUIT being RAISED from the DEAD) as also explained by Paul in 1^st Corinthians 15:23), and WE being raised with Him to NEW LIFE and following HIM by daily studying HIS WORD – taking it in, our SOULS (minds and emotions) being FED by it and our FREEWILL DECISIONS becoming aligned with the WILL of ABBA FATHER as also modeled by Yeshua our Messiah as our EXAMPLE and PIONEER while on earth.(Hebrews chapter 12). And then followed by FEAST SEASON TWO, FEAST FOUR, being PENTACOST with the OUTPOURING of the HOLY SPIRIT and FIRE! (Again, confirming Matthew 3:11)

The Afrikaans Bible in Practice explains: John baptized the people as a sign that they had asked God to FORGIVE their SINS and also as a SIGN of their INTENTION TO LIVE ACCORDING TO HIS WILL. BAPTISM is therefore an OUTWARD SIGN.  The REAL PROOF of REPENTANCE, however, is that ONE’s LIFE HAS to CLEARLY CHANGE for the BETTER. The WATER with which we are baptized cannot change our lives – it can ONLY be brought about by an INNER CHANGE of ATTITUDE when our MNDS are RENEWED with the WORD of GOD (Romans 12:1-2).

And we then further read in Matthew 3:12 John said to the Pharisees and Sadducees: “He (referring to Yeshua the Messiah) has with Him His WINNOWING (examining, inspecting, sorting) FORK; and He will clear out His threshing (separating) floor, GATHERING HIS WHEAT into the BARN but BURNING UP the STRAW with unquenchable FIRE!”

This is a prophesy related to the SECOND COMING of Yeshua the Messiah also found in Malachi 3:1-6a NIV “I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then SUDDENLY YHVH you are seeking will come to His temple; the MESSENGER of the COVENANT, whom you desire, will comes, says YHVH Almighty. But WHO can endure the DAY of HIS COMING? WHO can STAND when HE APPEARS? For He will be like a REFINER’s FIRE or a LAUNDERER’s SOAP. He will sit as a REFINER and a PURIFIER of SILVER; He will PURIFY the LEVITES (the priests) and REFINE them like GOLD and SILVER. Then YHVH will have men who will bring offerings in RIGHTEOUSNESS, and the offerings of JUDAH and JERUSALEM will be acceptable to YHVH, as in the days gone by, as in former years. SO, I WILL COME TO PUT YOU ON TRIAL. I will be QUICK to TESTIFY against SORCERERS, ADULTERERS and PERJURERS (those giving false testimony), against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, BUT DO NOT FEAR ME, says YHVH the ALMIGHTY. I YHVH DO NOT CHANGE.”.

And it is confirmed by Yeshua our Messiah in many of His parables like: The PARABLE of the NET and SORTING of the GOOD and BAD FISH, the PARABLE of the WEEDS, the PARABLE of the TEN VIRGINS and the PARABLE of the SHEEP and the GOATS. Also read Revelation chapter 20.

The Afrikaans Bible in Practice explains: John testified that Yeshua the Messiah would baptize people with the HOLY SPIRIT and FIRE. FIRE here signifies JUDGEMENT. The SECOND COMING therefore implies BOTH SALVATION and JUDGEMENT, GATHERING the WHEAT and BURNING the CHAFF. As confirmed in Revelation 20:11-15.