“O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you.” Isaiah 21:10 ESV
Reflection: why does the Lord seem to allow certain difficult things to happen in our lives?
With the advancement in technology and production, it is easy to lose the depth of wisdom in some of the biblical stories. We can find many references to “wheat and chaff” in the Old and New Testaments, particularly the process of separating the wheat from the chaff done at harvest time, as in the focus verse today. The chaff is the outer layer, the covering of the grain of wheat. But before the wheat can be used, it must be separated from the chaff. Why? According to the Cambridge dictionary, “Chaff cannot be digested by humans, but it may be fed to livestock, ploughed into soil, or burned.” So it is a necessary process in order for the wheat to be valuable and of use.
And the process of separating the two, referred to as “threshing” is actually pretty rough. Before the use of big machinery, this process was for centuries very labor intensive and involved placing the wheat with chaff on a threshing floor, and literally beating the chaff off the wheat. Once split, a winnowing fork was then used to separate the two. When the mix was thrown in the air with the winnowing fork, the wheat grain being heavy would fall straight down, while the chaff being light would blow away with the wind. As since the Lord is using this as a metaphor, let’s spend a moment to consider what the wheat, the chaff, and the process of thrashing represent.
John the Baptist used the wheat and chaff metaphor as he was speaking to the people about repentance. ““I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”” Matthew 3:11-12 ESV. So we see here a connection between repentance and baptism, with the threshing and winnowing. We can therefore think of the chaff as what needs to be removed from us, the work of the flesh, if you will. It is metaphor for the purification, or sanctification process, which is not necessary simple. It may actually be pretty difficult, and even painful at times. In a way, it reminds us of discipline.
Peter reminds us, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” 1 Peter 1:13-16 ESV.
The writer of Hebrews states “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:5-11
A wheat plant that was never thrashed cannot fulfill its purpose or potential. It will either be tilled back into the ground again as soil improvement, or used for animal feed. However, a wheat plant that has been thrashed and winnowed is pure wheat. We see the loving Father through the words of Isaiah, in pain over having to discipline His children, as wheat on the threshing floor. “O my threshed and winnowed one, what I have heard from the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I announce to you.” Isaiah 21:10 ESV. But in the end, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”” Matthew 3:12 ESV