Grain must be ground to make bread; so one does not go on threshing it forever.  Isaiah 28:28

All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent. Isaiah 28:29

I find this prophecy of Isaiah to be so self-evident that it is quite shocking.  The word from God through Isaiah explains why Israel is being “threshed” by God. This text is from chapter 28.  It comes after many, many teachings about why the children of Abraham, once glorious under King David, are now desperately weak and despised – prey for Assyria and Babylon, nations that are becoming more and more powerful while the Jews, God’s chosen people, are increasingly powerless, living in fear.

The prophetic word seems to be constantly and painfully clear, God hates evil and He wants his people to hate evil as he does. So he explains, through the word of prophecy, that his punishment is really an act of grace and mercy.  God wants his people to be purified.  That is his desire and indeed his plan – a cleansed and reborn people.

Then we have this statement that explains the desire of God. Listen. “Grain must be ground to make bread.”  That is for sure. You cannot make bread from “unground” hard grain.  It must be pounded, broken and shaken to be flour for making bread.  That is a painful process. If you look at flour in the sack, it is in reality refined grain.

I enjoy running my fingers through flour, so soft and aromatic. There is something beautiful about the flour that is produced by being threshed and then pounded to become flour.

But the purpose of it all is not to have purer and purer flour, a never-ending process.  As the Word says, “One does not go on threshing it forever.” V 28 The reason for the purification is to make bread!  The purified flour cannot be eaten, it must be prepared, put in the oven and in there become bread for eating.

A few things strike me. In order to have bread the baker needs purified flour. But the flour does not fulfill its purpose, or the purpose of the baker, until it is made into edible bread.

Surely we stand amazed as we ponder this truth. The Prophet says, “All this also comes from the Lord Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent.” V 29

I need to grasp what I can but even then God’s wisdom is magnificent.