Isaiah 21:6-10 – Threshing the Wheat
God sets a watchman. Now this watchman is not on Babylon’s walls. He is put in this place by God. He is one commissioned by God, watching and reporting back to God and to all those who were hearing and who would later be reading the Word of God, such as us. He is one specially commissioned to do this work. So this is exactly what he does. We read his vivid description here of the advance of the invading army. He’s been looking steadfastly, as we see in verse 8. He’s been there day and night. We see Babylon with all its terror, Babylon with all its idolatry, Babylon with all its defiance, defiance of Jehovah and His Messiah being brought down to the ground.
God has a word of comfort in verse 10. The grain mentioned here are the people of God. They are there because of the threshing that has gone on. Through the difficulty, through the affliction of the threshing, what comes forth? Why they are separated from the rest. All the chaff is gone. All the straw is gone. Pure, fine, beloved, treasured grain is what is left. The grain is freed from the chaff. The chaff has been beaten out by the threshing, swept away by the wind of discipline. All the difficulty, all the hardship of the destruction of their land, the removal of their property, their exile from their home would bring them to be purified. All would happen for the remnant’s good. Such is the case for the church of Christ even today. The godly would certainly be delivered, and they were and they are. Christ would be exalted, and He was and He is. Through all the difficulty, through all the problems, through all the pain, through all the affliction God works, he brings it about according to His perfect and eternal and wise decree, and He does it to rid the earth of the chaff, to rid the earth of the straw, and to bring you, His precious grain, home safely to Him.
Questions
- What happens to Babylon?
- What was the purpose of what happened to the people of God?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks that all things work together for good to those who love God.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.