August 20, 2022

Isaiah 28: 24-28 (NIV)

When a farmer plows for planting, does he plow continually? . . . When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow caraway and scatter cummin? Does he not plant wheat in its place, barley in its plot, and spelt in its field? . . . Caraway is not threshed with a sledge, nor is a cartwheel rolled over cummin . . . Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever. . .

Never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with other people as He is with you.*

I make no claims to farming expertise but I did grow up on a farm – a part-time farm, that is, since my dad had another full-time job. So, I had enough exposure to agriculture to get the gist of Isaiah’s illustration here. 

1. Stop plowing when you’re done. 

2. Planting techniques vary according to the crop: preparation of the soil, where and when to plant, which bugs, weeds, and weather the crop is most susceptible to. 

3. Harvest procedures vary according to the crop: proper equipment, when to start – and when to stop and move on to the next step (storage, preservation, etc.). 

Isaiah’s farming analogy is specifically referring to how God varies his treatment of nations, depending on conditions,* but can we not apply it to God’s dealing with individuals? If a farmer can figure out that a good harvest is the result of more than just plowing and that everything has to be done according to proper procedure, then of course God has figured out the special handling each of us requires. 

The same is true for us in our presentation of the gospel. Each person we witness to is a different field, a different crop, requiring specialized equipment and attention to seasons. As stated by another, “So carefully, so wisely, so tenderly, does God deal with us.”*

Convinced that what we must do is speak to people’s real needs, we ask: what are the concerns of people in our society, and what do we say to meet them?*