Why did Isaiah include all these references to agriculture? (Isaiah 28:24–28)
Isaiah 28:24 - 28
ESV - 24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground? 25 When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer as the border?
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Asked July 26 2022
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Jack Gutknecht
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Tim Maas
Isaiah is likening the work of a farmer to the working of God. A farmer does not only plow. He knows when to stop plowing and when to level the ground, when to plant, and what to plant where. He uses different tools at different times, but they all work together to contribute to the ultimate production of a crop. In the same way, God knows what tools to use in human lives, and when to use them to achieve His will for us. We should not doubt or despair with regard to what God is doing in our lives, because He is an expert "farmer", working on us with all His perfect wisdom and timing, despite the resistance and stubbornness with which we may respond.
Jack Gutknecht
Just as a farmer has different tasks to perform and must adapt himself to each task, whether plowing or threshing, so God must do the work that is necessary to bring about His eternal purposes. He knows just what tool to use and when to use it. Wiersbe In other words, just as a farmer uses the proper threshing tools for the different types of grain, so God tries to produce goodness in his people by means of different dilemas that he brings into our lives. RSB God's intent being not to destroy His people any more than the farmer’s object in threshing is to destroy his crop; this vindicates God’s “strange work” (Is 28:21) in punishing His people. Compare the same image, Jer. 24:6; Hos. 2:23; Mt. 3:12. --JFB Isa 28:24 the plowman plows, opens to sow seed. The work of God against His people is metaphorically pictured as plowing, harvest, and threshing. Each has its appropriate time, and God knows the correct time for each (compare Eccl. 3:1-8). --FSB
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