Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains and make them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.”
Isaiah 41:14-15

In the physical world, there is a great difference between a worm and a wooden threshing instrument with stone or iron teeth. Our science classes in school taught us that worms were soft, spineless, legless animals which crawl in the dust of the earth. In contrast, a threshing instrument having teeth was a single wooden board or frame of boards reinforced with iron or stone and used for separating the grain from the stalks and chaff at the time of harvest. Worms are not much use in the harvest field, nor do they leave much evidence behind. A threshing instrument, however, could leave its mark on many surfaces as well as being of supreme use in the day of harvest.

Spiritually, many of us have been worms — soft, spineless, weak, and bound to the dust of our earth. We have left few marks behind — little evidence of our passing. However, it is the time of our Lord’s harvest at the end of this age. No longer does our Lord need worms to crawl in weakness, but He requires a strong, useful threshing instrument which He can wield to separate the truth of His Word from the traditions of men. This instrument will likewise leave an undeniable mark on the world around it.

How does this transformation come about? Surely a weak, earth-bound worm cannot change itself into an iron-toothed wooden implement. The Scriptures tells us the Lord Himself will help us, Israel, and change us into an instrument fit for His use. And having made Israel into an instrument used for rightly dividing the Word of Truth, He shall use it to bring forth the everlasting Gospel of the Kingdom to the nations.