65–Nature of God's Judgments

Isaiah is now providing a message to comfort. He is first calling the people to listen to what he has to say. He will go on to say six aspects of the Lord's judgment as they relate to farming. They are divided into two sections Planting or sowing and harvesting or reaping.

This is a parable from God using the imagery of farming to explain the way God inflicts correction on His children. The methods of threshing the various species are directly from God. This parable is very appropriate and filled with a lot of wisdom. The moral of the parable is: God's admonitions are likened to plowing, and His punishments to sowing. Just as a farmer will not plow continuously without planting, so God will not warn endlessly until He is ready to carry out His threats. However, the purpose of His punishment is to prompt sinners to realize their sins, and repent. The degree of punishment varies according to the people's receptivity. Some sinners are like cumin and caraway seeds; they require a minimum of "threshing," i.e., punishment, to achieve the desired result. Others are like wheat, and require more "threshing to make them repent. But even wheat is not threshed out endlessly in order to produce flour, for constant over threshing can damage the grain without producing flour. Therefore, the threshing must have reasonable limits. So, too, even though God may punish His children harshly His purpose is to improve, not to destroy. This parable is shifting to what a farmer would do to prepare for the crops to what God is doing in our lives to bring us into belief and production according to His Word. The skill that the farmer has is given from God, as is every good and perfect gift.