It was forbidden to take millstones as a pledge because they were so important to sustaining life (Deuteronomy 24:6 ). The manna which fell in the wilderness was tough enough so that people ground it in mills before cooking it (Numbers 11:7-8 ).

In the New Testament, our Lord prophesied that at His coming, “two women shall be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken and one other is left” (Matthew 24:41 ). In Revelation 18:21 , the millstone was cast into the sea as a symbol of absolute destruction. See Manna .

Gary Bonner