Isaiah 28:23-29: a reflection

23Give ear, and hear my voice! Listen, and hear my speech! 24Does he who plows to sow plow continually? Does he keep turning the soil and breaking the clods? 25When he has leveled its surface, doesn’t he plant the dill, and scatter the cumin seed, and put in the wheat in rows, the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in its place? 26For his God instructs him in right judgment and teaches him. 27For the dill isn’t threshed with a sharp instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned over the cumin; but the dill is beaten out with a stick, and the cumin with a rod. 28Bread flour must be ground; so he will not always be threshing it. Although he drives the wheel of his threshing cart over it, his horses don’t grind it. 29This also comes out from the LORD of Armies, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.

Isaiah draws a lesson from the wisdom of a farmer. A farmer does not plow endlessly; he plows in order to plant, and then he stops plowing and sows. And he does not thresh every grain the same way: the delicate dill and cumin he beats gently with a stick, not crushing them under a heavy sledge, while the harder grain is threshed differently. He matches his method to the crop, and he does not thresh forever. And where does he learn this? His God, Isaiah says, instructs him and teaches him.

Notice how Isaiah uses this. The farmer's wise, measured, varied methods are a picture of God's own wisdom in his dealings with us. God, like the wise farmer, does not plow endlessly; the hard seasons of breaking up and turning over have a purpose and an end, aimed at a harvest. And he does not thresh every soul the same way or with more force than is needed; he matches his methods to what we are and what we need, gentle where gentleness is required, never crushing us beyond purpose. His hard dealings are wise, measured, and purposeful, not endless or arbitrary.

That is deep comfort for a hard season. When God's hand feels heavy, when it seems he is plowing and threshing us, this passage says: he is a wise farmer, not a careless one. The plowing will not go on forever; it is for the sake of a harvest. And he will not thresh you more harshly than your good requires; he knows exactly what you are and what you need. Trust the wisdom of the farmer. His hard work in you is measured, purposeful, and aimed at fruit, and it will not last one stroke longer than love requires.

Lord, like a wise farmer you do not plow endlessly or thresh every grain the same, but match your methods to what we need and stop when the work is done. When your hand feels heavy, when it seems you are plowing and threshing me, help me trust the wisdom behind it. Remind me that your hard dealings are measured, purposeful, and aimed at a harvest, and will not last one stroke longer than love requires.