Fear not, thou worm Jacob, ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
God calls His people a worm, then tells them not to be afraid. Why does comfort start with such a low name, and who is the Helper who gives it?
The word is not random abuse. Across Scripture it is a fixed picture of human weakness.
Scripture uses the worm as a picture of the extreme feebleness of man. Job 17:14; Job 25:6. In blessing Israel the LORD said, "Fear not, you worm Jacob," Isa. 41:14; and the Lord, to show the low state He was in, said, "I am a worm and not a man." Ps. 22:6.
Two names belonged to this people. God uses the older one, Jacob, and that choice says something about why He loves them at all.
God's love is free. When He pleads with His people in Malachi, He points them to the love He had shown to Jacob. He uses the name that reminds them of their father's natural character. That character was stamped on his descendants too, and it marked him before divine grace had made him Israel. Each name is used according to its own meaning when applied to his descendants... Here the name fits: it shows how little the "worm Jacob" had earned divine love.
The verse also calls them men of Israel — a phrase some translate "few men." Nothing in them is praised. Everything rests on who is speaking.
Left to himself Jacob is only a worm and Israel only a "few men" (see margin), but the LORD is the Redeemer and Helper of Israel.
The lesson reaches past Israel to every proud heart.
We can find no solid ground of rest except in what He is to us, not in what we are for Him. All who in their pride of heart refuse to believe, and who trust in themselves that they are righteous, will be beaten small. Only those who have Him for righteousness will rejoice and glory in Him.
God calls Himself their Redeemer — Goel. He has claimed that title before, and He backs it with what He has already done for them.
The LORD redeemed the nation of Israel out of Egypt both by price and by power (Ex. 15:6, 13, 16). As their Goel, He brought them out of slavery with His "stretched out arm and with great judgments" (Ex. 6:6). Centuries later the nation went into captivity. Again and again the LORD sent them promises of His deliverance by redemption. He called Himself "the LORD, your Redeemer (Goel)," and added other titles such as "the Holy One of Israel" (Isa. 41:14; Isa. 43:14; Isa. 44:6, 24...). In these and other prophecies, the LORD reminds His earthly people that He has the sole "right of their redemption."
The name God gives Jacob is the same word Christ used of Himself in Psalm 22. That is what the promise cost Him.
This nation is also called, "you worm Jacob": the "new threshing instrument" to "thresh the mountains, and beat them small" (vv. 14-15). Christ came to where they were to save them, and in His suffering He cried, "I am a worm" (Ps. 22:6). He had to take that way — to go to the cross, into the dust of death — before either we ourselves or Israel could be delivered.
The next verses turn it around. The worm becomes the tool God uses on the nations that scattered it, in a day still ahead.
So God will not only keep Israel safe during the judgment of the nations. Israel will also become an instrument in the hands of the LORD. Israel will carry out His judgment on the nations that have opposed Israel, and will "scatter" those who scattered the nation. So we are carried on to the days when Israel, redeemed from all her enemies, will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The name has also become a picture of prayer itself.
Prayer is not a message to the moon... It is a petition addressed to Him who made the sun and moon and stars. It is turning to the ever-present and all-sufficient God. It is frailty fleeing to Omnipotence. It is misery at the door of mercy. It is "worm Jacob" at the foot of the ladder, and the top of that ladder in heaven.
- Worm. The word is Scripture's picture of extreme feebleness — God names the weakness instead of covering it.
- Jacob. He uses the name Jacob, not Israel, showing how little this people had earned the love shown to them.
- Redeemer. Against that emptiness stands the Goel, who alone has the right to buy His people back, and who takes the title "the Holy One of Israel."
- Cross. The Redeemer took that same word for Himself in Psalm 22. He went into the dust of death before Israel or we could be delivered.
- Threshing instrument. God turns the worm into the tool that beats mountains small, and it ends up rejoicing in the LORD. Our rest lies in what He is to us, never in what we are for Him.
Behold, I have made of thee a new sharp threshing instrument having double teeth thou shalt thresh and beat small the mountains, and shalt make the hills as chaff;
God speaks here to a people at their lowest point. He calls them a worm, then promises to turn that worm into a tool with teeth. The picture raises two questions. Who are the mountains that get beaten to dust? And when does a helpless people ever crush them?
Verses 14 to 16 move from what the nation is in itself to what its Redeemer makes of it.
Left to himself Jacob is only a worm, and Israel only a "few men," but the LORD is the Redeemer and Helper of Israel. So Israel will not only be preserved during the judgment of the nations. Israel will also become an instrument in the hands of the LORD, to carry out His judgment on the nations that have opposed Israel, and to "scatter" those who scattered the nation. This carries us on to the days when Israel, redeemed from all her enemies, will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The image comes from farm work. Farmers threshed grain in more than one way.
In the East this is done by oxen treading on the grain. There were also threshing "instruments," which beat the grain out. Oxen also dragged a sledge without runners over the grain, and this crushed the straw as well.
One writer names what the mountains are, and links the worm to Christ.
This nation is also called "you worm Jacob": the new "threshing sledge" that will "thresh the mountains and crush them" (vv. 14-15). Christ came to where they were to save them, and in His suffering He cried, "I am a worm" (Ps. 22:6). He had to take that way — to go to the cross, into the dust of death — before either we or Israel could be delivered. Not only are we saved, and all Israel will be in due time, but the proud mountains, the governments of men, are beaten small. Scientists tell us the best and most fruitful soil has all passed through the body of the worm. In the same way, Israel will deal with the great governments of the earth before they are fruitful for God's praise in the coming day.
Threshing appears often in the prophets, and Israel meets it from both sides.
The figure of threshing is found often in the prophets, and nearly always applied to the nations (see Isa. 21:10 with Jer. 51:33; Micah 4:13; Hab. 3:12). Israel herself will one day thresh the nations. But first she must pass through the purifying chastening herself. That will drive the chaff away and leave only the pure grain.
The question is when. One writer weighs the prophet's own day against the days these words describe.
These last words, however, put it beyond reasonable doubt that the prophet looks far past his own day. He describes, not the state of the Jews under their Persian or other Gentile masters, but days still future. Then Israel will take captive those whose captives they were, and will rule over their oppressors… The word here stands in clear contrast, and in figurative language, no doubt. But it points to neither servitude nor the grace of the gospel — it points to triumph.
Who wields this instrument? One writer draws a line between Israel's future work and the Church's calling now.
Many passages foretell that Israel will carry out God's judgments on the stubbornly wicked and rebellious. The saints of the present age could not do this work, at least while they are still on earth. The present is an age of pure, perfect grace. The Church's place is to walk in the steps of Him who suffered and took it patiently, and who on the cross cried out, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." But just as surely, an age of righteousness will follow the present age of grace.
Judgment is not God's last word on the nations.
God made this people a sharp threshing instrument, and with it He judged the nations. In the millennial day, the same people will be the channel that hands out blessing to all nations… The prophecy says, "he shall eat up the nations." But afterwards God blesses the nations and the whole earth through them. Is this not a happy answer to Samson's riddle, "Out of the eater came something to eat, and out of the strong came something sweet"?
- Worm — the verse begins where the nation is: a worm, a few men, with no strength of its own.
- Redeemer — the change comes from outside. God is the Helper and Redeemer. He makes the sharp new instrument; Jacob does not become one on his own.
- Threshed — before Israel threshes anything, God purifies Israel. The chaff blows off the nation itself first.
- Mountains — what gets beaten small is human government at its proudest. That comes in a future day of triumph, not in the present age of grace.
- Harvest — threshing ends in grain. The nation used to crush the powers becomes the channel of blessing to those same nations, glorying in the Holy One of Israel.
thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them; and thou shalt rejoice in Jehovah, thou shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
This verse closes a promise made to a people God had just called a worm. He calls them helpless, then arms them — and the storm that scatters their enemies ends in a song to the Holy One of Israel.
The ESV word "winnow" describes work done with a tool. Older translations call that tool a "fan", and it was nothing like a fan today:
The fan was a small shovel. A worker used it to throw wheat up into the air, so that the wind could carry away the chaff (Isaiah 30:24; Jeremiah 4:11). The fan is also a symbol of the judgments of God (Isaiah 41:16; Jeremiah 15:7; Jeremiah 51:2). It also pictures the sifting power of the testimony of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17).
The tempest that finishes the work is part of the same picture. In the Old Testament the whirlwind appears again and again as a tool of God's judgments on the earth (Morrish Bible Dictionary).
The verse before this calls Jacob a worm and Israel only a few men. That is the raw material God works with:
Left to himself Jacob is only a worm and Israel only a "few men", but the LORD is the Redeemer and Helper of Israel. So the LORD will not only keep Israel safe during the judgment of the nations. He will also make Israel an instrument in His own hand. He will use Israel to carry out His judgment on the nations that have opposed her, and to "scatter" the nations that once scattered her. This carries us on to the days when Israel, redeemed from all her enemies, will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel.
The nation that swings the tool has first felt one:
The prophets use the figure of threshing quite often, and nearly always apply it to the nations (see Isaiah 21:10 with Jeremiah 51:33; Isaiah 41:15; Micah 4:13; Habakkuk 3:12). Israel herself will one day thresh the nations. But first she herself must pass through a purifying discipline. The chaff will be driven away, and the pure grain alone will remain. During this separating time of suffering and trial, the remnant will in faith lay claim to Him who is Lord of the threshing.
This promise does not fit Israel's later life under Persian and other foreign rulers:
These last words, however, put it beyond reasonable doubt that the prophet carries his eye far beyond the immediate occasion. He does not present the condition of the Jews under their Persian or other Gentile rulers. He presents days still future. Then Israel will take captive those whose captives they were, and will rule over their oppressors… The words here stand in clear contrast to that. They are figurative, no doubt. But they picture neither servitude nor the grace of the gospel. They picture triumph.
The same word comes back later, on the lips of One who took the lowest place Himself. The verse 15 wording below is from an older translation — "beat them small" where the ESV has "crush them":
This nation is also called "you worm Jacob": the "new threshing instrument" to "thresh the mountains and beat them small" (verses 14–15). Christ came to where they were to save them, and in His suffering He cried, "I am a worm" (Psalm 22:6). He had to take that way — to go to the cross, into the dust of death — before either we or Israel could be delivered. We are saved, and all Israel will be saved in due time. But that is not all. The proud mountains, the governments of men, are beaten small… Then Israel will rejoice in the LORD and glory in the Holy One of Israel (verse 16).
The verse ends in glorying, but not in self-glory. God's choice of such a people was never about their quality:
God chose Jacob because it pleased His own goodness to do so. He did not choose him for any righteousness or strength in that poor vessel. Israel was a worm. In the loathing of His holiness God might have justly trampled on it. Instead He was pleased to beautify it with salvation, and to lift it to a princely place as the chief bearer of His praise among the nations of the earth (Isaiah 41:14–16).
- Worm. The promise opens with Israel as nothing — a worm, a few men. No part of the outcome belongs to the instrument.
- Redeemer. The change comes from outside. The Holy One of Israel is her Redeemer and Helper. Christ Himself first took the worm's place in the dust of death.
- Instrument. God takes the helpless nation into His hand. He makes her the tool that scatters the powers that once scattered her.
- Judgment. Winnowing and storm are standard prophetic pictures of God's judgments. But God threshes and purifies Israel herself before she ever threshes anyone.
- Glory. The chain ends in praise, not in boasting. She rejoices in the LORD, and the honour goes to the Holy One of Israel.