23 Give ear and hear my voice , Listen and hear my words . 24 Does the farmer plow continually e to plant seed ? Does he continually turn and harrow the ground ? 25 Does he not level its surface And sow dill and scatter cummin And plant wheat in rows , Barley in its place and rye within its area ? 26 For his God instructs and teaches him properly . 27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge , Nor is the cartwheel driven over cummin ; But dill is beaten out with a rod , and cummin with a club . 28 Grain for bread is crushed , Indeed , he does not continue to thresh it forever . Because the wheel of his cart and his horses eventually damage it, He does not thresh it longer. 29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts , Who has made His counsel wonderful and His wisdom great .

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 28:23-29

Commentary on Isaiah 28:23-29

(Read Isaiah 28:23-29)

The husbandman applies to his calling with pains and prudence, in all the works of it according to their nature. Thus the Lord, who has given men this wisdom, is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in his working. As the occasion requires, he threatens, corrects, spares, shows mercy, or executes vengeance. Afflictions are God's threshing instruments, to loosen us from the world, to part between us and our chaff, and to prepare us for use. God will proportion them to our strength; they shall be no heavier than there is need. When his end is answered, the trials and sufferings of his people shall cease; his wheat shall be gathered into the garner, but the chaff shall be burned with unquenchable fire.