John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 28:24

"Doth he that ploweth to sow plow continually? doth he [continually] open and harrow his ground?" — Isaiah 28:24 (ASV)

Does the plowman plow every day to sow? This passage is commonly explained as if the Lord reproached His people for ingratitude because He had cultivated the field like a farmer, spending all His care and labor on it, yet did not reap the fruit it should have yielded. This is the interpretation given by the Jews, and Greek and Latin commentators have also followed it; but Isaiah’s meaning was quite different.

Isaiah connects this doctrine with his earlier statement that the destruction of Judea, or of the whole world, had been revealed to him. Therefore, he adds that God still does not always display His hand or constantly punish human wickedness, for He often appears as if He does not see it and delays its punishment for a time.

This forbearance and slowness to punish on the Lord’s part, which is thus shown, is abused by wicked men, leading them to commit even greater wickedness. As Solomon remarks, men are encouraged to commit wickedness by observing that all things happen alike to the good and to the bad (Ecclesiastes 8:14), and that all the worst and most vile men enjoy prosperity, while the godly are liable to distresses as great as, and even greater than, those of other men.

In short, when the wicked perceive no difference in outward matters, they think either that there is no God, or that everything is governed by the blind violence of fortune. Therefore, to such thoughts Isaiah replies, “Do you not know that God has His seasons, and that He knows what He ought to do at the proper time?”

If plowmen do not “every day” till the soil or break the clods, this should not be attributed to their lack of skill; on the contrary, their skill requires them to stop. What would they gain by continually turning over the soil, but to weary themselves for no purpose and prevent it from yielding any fruit?

Thus, God does not act with bustle or confusion, but knows the times and seasons for doing His work.