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If someone called another person a 'tool', it would be no surprise if their target got upset. Ordinarily, that term is an insult guaranteed to offend. When it comes to God, however, being a tool for His kingdom is one of the highest compliments one can receive.
The reason lies in Isaiah 41:15 - See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. This verse reveals God's plan to use His people to separate the 'wheat' from 'chaff'. The threshing sledge was and is an agricultural tool for this very purpose. With enough force, it ensured that the wheat grain separated from the chaff which kept it enclosed in the field. That grain could be further processed to make flour and other products.
When God referred to a threshing tool in this scripture, He was talking about how people would be used to fulfill His will and His word on the earth. For instance, Jehu became the implement of God's promise to 'thresh' the House of Ahab, a king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. After Ahab's death, God intended to keep His prophetic word to destroy Ahab's family so none of them could ever rule the people of that kingdom again. Thus, the Lord sent a prophet to Jehu and instructed him to eliminate the family, resulting in the death of Queen Jezebel and her late husband's family members (2 Kings 9-10).
Then there was the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, who was also used to 'thresh' in the Old Testament. Specifically, the Lord sent Nebuchadnezzar as the implement of His punishment for the Southern Kingdom of Judah for their many years of disobedience. He had repeatedly called on them to repent and turn away from the worship of false gods and idols, their occult practices, and the injustice that pervaded their society. Nonetheless, His warnings fell on deaf ears and so, He fulfilled His word to punish the people and used the King of Babylon to accomplish this.
God doesn't just 'thresh' to punish with death and destruction. He also uses threshing tools to highlight the distinction between His light and the devil's darkness in a situation. The early disciples operated as threshing tools everywhere they went. Their presence would place a spotlight on individuals and even ways of thinking, revealing them to be satanic. One such example was Jesus. Everywhere he went, he destroyed the works of satan and displayed the mighty power of God so that people started thinking differently about their relationship with the Almighty Father and how He wanted them to live.
Philip followed in His footsteps with Simon, a powerful sorcerer who captivated the city of Samaria and was called “the Great Power of God” (Acts 8:10). The people called him this because they were convinced that the miraculous things he did were because of God even though Simon gained his powers from satan. In response, the Lord brought His disciples to show that He alone was powerful. When Simon heard Evangelist Philip teach about Jesus Christ, even he believed and was baptized.
As he later watched Apostles Peter and John perform signs and wonders by the Holy Spirit, he wanted that ability. However, because his desire was for power to likely continue to dominate the city (a common theme for those in the occult), he tried to pay to receive the Holy Spirit. Peter issued a strong rebuke upon him. The entire encounter was used by the Lord to show the people that the sorcerer was not His servant, thereby destroying satan's hold over Samaria.
Just as Isaiah 41:15 reflected God's purpose for His people then, it reveals His plan for today's believers. The Bible teaches in Romans 8:14 that the children of God are those who are led by His Spirit and it is these children that He empowers to thresh. These ones, as individuals and as a collective, are to be the instruments of His will in this age. Through His Spirit and His Word, we are to bring change to the places He sends us to. Our presence should trigger a threshing that brings God's light into dark places to destroy the devil's wicked schemes. Be it in the Body of Christ or in the world. We are to serve as His ambassadors, empowered to do exploits in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ.
May the Lord build us up to be threshing tools for His glory. By His grace, He will fashion us into the implements He can use for the advancement of His kingdom, IJMN, Amen.
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