Judgement Inescapable
???????? KEY VERSE: "When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?" (ISAIAH 28:25).
Jesus drew a lot from agricultural settings to declare His parables. The stories of the sower (Matthew 13), the barren fig tree (Luke 13), the seed growing secretly (Mark 4), the sheep and goats (Matthew 25), the rich fool (Luke 12) and several others readily come to mind. He referred to settings familiar to His audience to explain weighty spiritual matters that would let them understand God and the Kingdom of heaven more.
It was a time of famine in Israel when God sent Isaiah to warn them of divine judgment; so, He used agricultural metaphor to deliver His message. The parable hints about a staggered chastisement upon Israel. He said that in the same way farmers’ work are in stages, the punishment on Israel would also come in stages.
The dramatic imagery in the passage reflects the ground being prepared for the germination of better crops. There is also a picture of weeding out unwanted plants so that they would not hinder the seed sown from growing healthily. The pruning suggests chastisement. In this wise, God was intimating the children of Israel that captivity at the hands of the Assyrians was imminent.
Since creation, God does not pour down His full wrath at once. Although He made provision for man’s restoration through the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ, the world has been rebuffing His overtures and committing more sinful acts. With God, it has been a period of seemingly endless patience. But as Apostle Peter says, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness... not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night..." (2 Peter 3:9,10).
✍ THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: God is the divine Farmer, patiently waiting for the mother of all harvests.
???????????? COVER to COVER: JEREMIAH 30-31
???????? BIBLE ACCOUNTS AS THEY OCCURRED????????