January 29, 2026
- Dutch Sheets
- 5 hours ago
- 5 min read
Minnesota - The Threshing Floor State
In October 2002, the Lord spoke separately to Chuck Pierce and me that we were to go to all 50 states. He instructed us to release fresh prophetic words from Holy Spirit to each state, and conduct prayer assemblies regarding what He said. We did this in 2003 and early 2004, holding 3 services per state. Of the 150 messages we gave, no two were the same. In each service, Holy Spirit gave specific words for that state. I primarily released prophetic teachings, prayed, and released decrees over each state; Chuck moved in a remarkably high level of prophecy in each of the gatherings. It was incredibly challenging, but also very fulfilling. Chuck and I wrote a book about this assignment, giving summaries of what was said to each state, along with a few related teachings [The Prophetic Destiny of A Nation]. We have now added a couple of chapters from my brother, Tim Sheets, to augment the teachings.
I had not thought about what the Lord said to Minnesota in quite some time. But a few nights ago, Holy Spirit awakened me several times. Each time as I awakened, a word He released to Minnesota was always in my thoughts. While there (August 4-5, 2003), He said to us that Minnesota was the “threshing floor state.”
I remember telling the Lord, when He spoke this to me during the worship, that I had no idea what it meant. He never released His words to us for each state in advance. This required that we hear Him for each state, while in that state. All of my messages were downloaded to me during the worship portion of the services. It is a bit unnerving to hear a word from the Lord you’re supposed to teach on in a few minutes, and have no idea what it means! I quickly learned to listen more effectively to Holy Spirit.
Chucked helped me with this. I recall in one of the first states we visited, elbowing him during the worship in somewhat of a panic, and saying, “I still have no idea what I’m going to speak about tonight. I’m not hearing anything!”
Chuck’s response: “Well, be quiet and listen!” I rolled my eyes at Mr. Mercy… and learned to listen.
Threshing Floors In Scripture
A threshing floor was a flat, smooth surface, used to separate the grains from the husks or chaff surrounding them. Animals often crushed and broke the grain sheaves on the threshing floor, or people used sticks to break them apart by hand. As a result, the grains would be separated from the husks.
The final separation would be done by tossing the grains up into the wind, where the lighter chaff could be blown away, separating it from the edible grain. This process is called winnowing.
Threshing floors and this process were sometimes used in Scripture to describe God separating good from evil (Jeremiah 51:33; Hosea 13:3; Matthew 3:12). Consistent with this, the process was used to picture redemption, even the Cross, where our sins were separated from us, and the Lord could bring forth a “harvest” of righteousness.
In 1 Chronicles 21, David pleaded with God for mercy over Jerusalem, which, at that time, was under severe judgment. “As he did, he saw the Angel of the Lord with a drawn sword standing at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. The Lord told David to build an altar there, which he did. When David called on the Lord, the Lord sent fire from heaven to consume the offering, and the plague was stayed.
“But the most amazing aspect of David’s interaction with the Angel of the Lord at the threshing floor of Ornan is that this location became the site where Solomon built the temple of the Lord (2 Chronicles 3:1).
“Even more interesting, Ornan’s threshing floor was on Mount Moriah, the location of the present Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Many people believe that is the place where Abraham brought Isaac to sacrifice, as God instructed him in Genesis 22:2, ‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.’”(1)
And it was there, on a nearby hill called Mount Calvary, that our redemption took place. Threshing floors symbolize redemption, the Cross, where the hard husk of sin around our hearts is removed, and the Lord brings forth His harvest of righteousness in us.
The story of Ruth offers another example of the redemptive symbolism provided by threshing floors. Ruth was a widow without provision or hope for the future, until she came under the protection and security of the “kinsman redeemer,” Boaz, at a threshing floor (Ruth 3:8-13). A kinsman redeemer was a male relative who had the responsibility to help a relative in need or danger; or a close relative who restored people or property back to their original family after they had been sold due to extreme poverty (Leviticus 25:25–28). Certainly, this was a picture of us coming under the redemption and covering of our “Kinsman Redeemer,” Christ Jesus.
Speaking symbolically once again, in Micah 4:11–13, God promised victory to Israel as they trampled their enemies on a threshing floor.
These and other passages show us that threshing floors should not be thought of only in terms of judgment, but more so of redemption. They involve cleansing, yes, but this cleansing is redemptive, removing the chaff to get to the grain. Threshing floors give us bread, and in this biblical symbolism, the Bread of Life. They picture the Cross, deliverance, redemption, provision, and victory.
When God told us that Minnesota is the “threshing floor state,” it was as though this represented something for the entire nation. Could it be that what is occurring in the state pictures the desperate need of the entire nation for God’s redemptive grace, healing, and deliverance? And that, in some amazing way, a dispensing of this needed healing will begin there?
Of this I am confident: There is redemption for Minnesota, and there is redemption for America. Regardless of how horribly sin seems to rule, how much its chaff seems to keep us from getting to the “kernel” of redemptive provision, God wants to bring forth His provision of grace. The Kinsman Redeemer, Christ Jesus, has paid the price for our recovery and restoration. Lay hold of this, Minnesotans, and lay hold of it, Americans.
Pray with me:
Father, thank You for the revelation of the threshing floor. It was on the “threshing floor” of Calvary that the Bread of Life was given to us. When Jesus was crushed, provision was made for the husk of sin around our hard hearts to be crushed, as well. What a crushing He endured, and a picture You painted for us.
We ask for His provision to be released into our nation. Start with Minnesota, the “threshing floor state.” Break the power of sin, rebellion, division, wounding, and whatever else You know is needed. Remove the plague of judgment, just as You did for David and Jerusalem. Let something begin there that flows out of You to the entire nation. Jesus IS our Boaz, our Kinsman Redeemer. Through Him, restore us.
Give strength and comfort to Your people in Minnesota. Give them the hearts of warriors, enabling them to rise up in intercession for their state and the nation. Release blessing for the entire nation from there. And yes, remove from positions of authority those who resist Your grace. And all of this we pray in the name of our Kinsman Redeemer, Christ Jesus. Amen.
Our decree:
We declare that where sin abounds, grace abounds much, much more.
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