Bible Commentaries
Isaiah 28

Verses 1-6

Isa 28:1-6

Isaiah 28:1-6

DIVISION IV (Isaiah 28-35)

These four chapters constitute almost one continuous prophecy regarding (1) the destruction of Ephraim; (2) the impiety and folly of Judah; (3) the danger of alliances with Egypt; and (4) the straits to which they would be reduced by the Assyrians.

The date of these chapters is most likely that proposed by Dummelow: "This chapter must be assigned to a date prior to the capture of Samaria by the Assyrians (722 B.C.) and the fall of the northern kingdom." Even many of the critical commentators agree that the date may not be placed "any later than just prior to the fall of Samaria (722 B.C.)." Here, therefore, is an undisputed example of predictive prophecy.

The chapter may be divided thus: (1) Samaria’s luxury, drunkenness, and infidelity pave the way for their ruin (Isaiah 28:1-6). (2) Even the rulers and the religious leaders are no more than filthy drunkards (Isaiah 28:7-8). (3) The nobility of Ephraim mock Isaiah (Isaiah 28:9-10). (4) Isaiah gives God’s response to their mockery (Isaiah 11:13). (5) Judah joins Ephraim in their scoffing rejection of the Lord and takes refuge in a "refuge of lies" (Isaiah 28:14-15). (6)The true refuge is laid by God in Zion, "the stone," tried, precious, comer, etc. (Isaiah 28:16-19). (7) Human measures of security are inadequate; victory is with Jehovah only; therefore be not scoffers (Isaiah 28:20-22). (8) An agricultural parable is used to teach the wisdom of God’s plans (Isaiah 28:23-29).

Isaiah 28:1-6

"Woe to the pride of the crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one; as a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, as a tempest of mighty waters over-flowing, will he cast down to the earth with the hand. The crown of the pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under foot: and the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, which shall be as the first-ripe fig before the summer, which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up. In that day shall Jehovah of hosts become a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people; and a spirit of justice to him that sitteth in judgment, and strength to them that turn back the battle at the gate."

It would be well for America, especially her congressmen and other officials to heed the warning of God in this passage for Ephraim, whose drunken leaders led to the total destruction of their nation and to its disappearance from among the nations. We saw at Pearl Harbor what liquor can do for the defenses of a nation; but in spite of what must be obvious to every thoughtful person, the whiskey barons continue to corrupt the people.

The strange mingling of severe warnings and gentle promises of hope, especially noted in this chapter, is the result of Isaiah’s discrimination between the leaders who are principally to blame for the approaching disaster and the rank and file of the people who are being misled. "He varies his tone and manner," accordingly as he addresses first one group, then another.

The city of Samaria on a hill, crowned with a wall around the summit, sat like a crown on the city dominating a fertile valley. The behavior of their leading men, being a group of sorted drunkards and practicing in their revels the social custom of crowning the head of a drunk with a garland, might also have suggested some of Isaiah’s terminology here.

Verse two identifies God’s instrument of destruction as the empire of the Assyrians, metaphorically described here as (1) a hail, (2) a destroying storm, and (3) as a devastating flood. The Assyrians were ready and would soon destroy Ephraim; but the Ephraimites continued to lead lives of, "libertinism and debauchery, in which even the clergy participated with disgusting excess." Their egotistical and boastful over-confidence was noted by Rawlinson: "They said in their hearts, `We have taken to ourselves horns by our own strength’ (Amos 6:4-5). They persisted in regarding themselves as secure."

The practical interpretation of Isaiah 28:3 means that when the king of Assyria sees Samaria he will immediately take it and eat it up. It also indicates the ease with which Samaria would be taken. Its siege lasted less than three years (2 Kings 18:9-10); whereas the siege of Ashdod, according to Herodotus lasted 29 years, and that of Tyre lasted 13 years.

"The residue of God’s people ..." (Isaiah 28:5). This applies to the era afterward from the return of that "residue" from captivity, and ultimately to the establishment of the kingdom of Christ in the Messianic age. This meant that God would be by no means defeated by the debaucheries and rebellions of his people; but that God’s purpose of blessing "all the families of the earth" in the "seed singular" of Abraham, the Messiah, would finally be accomplished no matter what Israel did (Genesis 12:3).

Such a joyful reference, however, was not dwelt upon by Isaiah. He turned his attention at once to the same shameful conduct in Judaea that existed in Ephraim. This was Lowth’s position on Isaiah 28:5. However, it seems to us that if there was indeed a focus upon Jerusalem, rather than Ephraim here it would have been announced, as in Isaiah 28:14.

Isaiah 28:6 is an additional promise of the righteousness that shall prevail in the days of Messiah.

Isaiah 28:1-6 DRUNKARDS: Ephraim, as Isaiah uses it here probably represents the northern kingdom of Israel (cf. Isaiah 7:2-17; Hosea 9:3-16). The “crown of pride,” “the fading flower,” and “the head of the fat valley,” all are descriptive synonyms of Samaria, capital city of Israel, which lasted until the bitter end of Israel’s subjugation by the Assyrians. The city of Samaria was situated geographically upon a high rise making it the “head” of a lush-green valley. Omri’s intention when he built it was to make it so well fortified it could not be captured. It took the Assyrians three years (723–721 B.C.) to capture it.

This section was probably written in the early years of Hezekiah’s reign in Judah when most of Israel had been overrun by the Assyrians and Samaria, the capital, was under siege and would soon fall. There was intense political pressure put upon Hezekiah to make treaties with Assyria and/or with Egypt to keep Judah free from foreign invasion. Isaiah was sent to Hezekiah, and the nation of Judah, with a revelation from God that no alliances should be made with either Assyria or Egypt, but that the nation and its leaders should trust in God for deliverance. This is the thrust of the chapters in this section (28–35). Isaiah begins by showing false foundations and the true foundation.

Isaiah intends to remind Judah that Israel’s predicament (foreign invasion and destruction) is a consequence of Israel’s debauchery. Drunkenness causes ruin—individually and socially. Of course drunkenness is only a symptom of a much more critical problem—self-indulgence or permissiveness. This stems from a fundamental rebellion against the word of God called sin! Drunkenness, or any other form of debauchery and self-indulgence is not sickness—it is sin. God created the grape and the juice of the grape and alcohol. All that God created is good. Wine, alcohol, food, clothing, houses and lands can all be perverted, misused and become objects of idolatry. But if used properly, within the will of God and with temperance and self-control, they are blessings from God.

The trouble with the leaders of Israel in its capital city Samaria was that they allowed themselves to be “overcome” with wine. They were alcoholics—enslaved to wine. They were incapable of making sensible judgments or of leading others to do so. Drunkenness has the effect of completely incapacitating a person both mentally and physically. Alcohol is highly addictive as a depressant. It affects the ability of a human being to make proper moral judgments. Indulged in excessively it causes deterioration of the liver and other vital organs as well as destroying brain cells. When administered in controlled situations, by physicians as medicine, it may have some healing effect. In some situations, mild, diluted alcoholic beverage such as wine may be more physically safe to drink than the water available. This was certainly not the problem in Samaria. It is not the problem in America and the world in general today. The problem is excess, self-indulgence, sin—drunkenness. There are approximately 9,000,000 alcoholics in the United States today. That is more than the total population of both kingdoms of the Jews put together in Isaiah’s day! Of course people can be obsessed with other things and indulge themselves to the point of idolatry and lose the ability to think properly and function as they should—gluttony, pride, greed, hate, sexual promiscuity all lead down the same path to ruin.

The Hebrew word translated Lord in Isaiah 28:2 is Adonai and emphasizes sovereignty. The sovereign Lord has an instrument of judgment He is going to use against Ephraim (Israel). This instrument is a “mighty and strong” one. We take it to mean Assyria. The Assyrians were devastating in their warfare. They took no thought to preserve anything or anybody. Their method was to conquer, kill, loot, burn, destroy. In order to dispense with the necessity to occupy foreign nations they conquered with garrisoned troops, they simply took the conquered people captive back to their own land and imported their own trusted citizens to occupy conquered land. This is what they did to Israel, and the ancestors of the “imported” Assyrians later became hated “half-breeds” known as Samaritans in Nehemiah’s day. The Assyrian army was aptly described as “a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, and a tempest of mighty water overflowing.” They stormed upon the land and flooded it with destruction. That great fortress city, Samaria, the crown and pride of the once arrogant and rebellious northern kingdom Israel would very soon be trodden under foot of thousands of fierce, pagan Assyrian soldiers. Let Hezekiah and Judah take warning! Assyria is going to gobble-up Samaria like a hungry traveler who sees an early-ripened fig, snatches it from the tree and gobbles it up from the palm of his hand without hardly looking at it.

When Samaria falls there will be a shear, Hebrew for remnant, or that which is left, which will reaffirm its faith and trust in Jehovah. Those few remaining faithful to the Lord, when they see Samaria fall, will reinforce and renew their stand for righteousness, justice and faithfulness. They will take new courage and strength from the Lord’s actions and reenter the battle for truth and faith.

So the true foundation is the God of Justice, not self-indulgence or permissiveness. Judah had better know this! So the church of God today must know this!

Verses 7-13

Isa 28:7-13

Isaiah 28:7-8

"And even these reel with wine, and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they stagger with strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so there is no place clean."

If Isaiah 28:5-6 are considered as a parenthesis, which they manifestly are, then these words are a continued description of the debaucheries of Ephraim. Some have tried to explain the drunkenness of Ephraim as A "spiritual" error; but the description of reeling, staggering, etc. is powerful evidence of common intoxication. Payne properly discerned this as an affirmation that, "Priests and prophets in the northern kingdom were no better than ordinary citizens.”

Isaiah 28:9-10

"Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts? For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little."

We might paraphrase this mockery of Isaiah by the drunken rulers and leaders of Ephraim thus: Why, who does this man think he is teaching, a group of babies who have just been weaned? Is he trying to teach us our ABC’s? These silly little sayings of his are nothing at all. They are just rule, rule, rule and law, law, law! J. B. Phillips has this, "Are we just weaned ... Do we have to learn that The law is the law is the law, the rule is the rule is the rule?" Such a mockery indicates that Isaiah’s teachings might have been very simple and monosyllabic. Isaiah might have used the stammering, monosyllables of drunkards to announce some of his teachings. In any case, his hearers hated it!

God, through Isaiah, at once responded to the mockery.

Isaiah 28:11-13

"Nay, but by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this people; to whom he said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear. Therefore shall the word of Jehovah be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken."

Well, here is tongue-speaking in the Old Testament; and as Kidner noted, "Paul quoted Isaiah 28:11 here in 1 Corinthians 14:21, affirming that `unknown tongues’ are not God’s greetings to a believing congregation"; but they are God’s rebuke of an unbelieving and rebellious people.

The thought is, Very well, you reject Isaiah’s messages from God; I will speak to you with the words of a cruel invader. You pretend not to understand what God says; but you will really not be able to understand the brutal language of your slave masters in Assyria.

Isaiah 28:7-13 DEMENTED: Now Isaiah turns his attention to the people of Judah. “Even these” are “swallowed up of wine.” It is the theologians who are pointed out—priests and prophets. Priests were to represent man to God and prophets were to represent God to man. The two primary functionaries through which men came into contact with God were, for the most part, drunkards. These religious leaders often times functioned also as advisors to the Hebrew king and his noblemen. Inebriated and intoxicated, completely overcome with drunkenness, they either misrepresented God’s will to man or did not represent it at all! Thus the nation was left without religious instruction and leadership at all except for Isaiah and Micah and a few faithful souls known as the remnant! Hebrew religious life was so closely united with its civil structure when religion decayed, civil life became chaotic. Justice and morality dipped to a dangerous low. The drunkards lost their senses and were unable to make sensible, honest judgments. Sin itself is insanity (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:34).

Isaiah paints a vile and repulsive picture of drunkards, but it is a true picture. Distillers of liquor in America often picture users of their product as “men of distinction,” etc. The truth of the matter may be known by anyone who wants to spend a little time around places where their product is excessively and indulgently consumed. It is a picture of behavior worse than the vilest animal. Vomit, cursing, lewdness, violence, incoherence and delirium is the environment created by drunkenness.

The drunken priests, prophets and other citizens of Judah and Jerusalem manifest their utter depravity by mocking Isaiah’s attempts to instruct them in the revelation of God. They say in effect, “Who does Isaiah think he is to talk to us like one would talk to children. Are we babies?” The Hebrew word translated teach is yarah and means, instruct, inform. The Hebrew word translated message is shemooah which means, something heard or report. This verse (Isaiah 28:9) emphasizes the fact that Isaiah’s major ministry was in teaching, instructing the nation concerning the report he had heard (revelation) from God. He evidently spent a great deal of time at teaching. While the nation resented being taught as one would children, that is how they were behaving.

The phrasing of Isaiah 28:10 in the Hebrew is interesting: tsav latsav, tsav latsav, qav laqav, qav laqav. Leupold thinks, “it is sarcastic talk, done in monosyllables to make the simplicity of the prophet’s message ridiculous.” Thus Isaiah is represented as playing the part of the pedantic teacher treating them like stupid children. He doles out his lessons in a repetitious, singsong, rote method. The drunkards are making great sport of Isaiah’s sincere attempts to penetrate their wine-addled brains.

The prophet’s reply in Isaiah 28:11 is: As a matter of fact, God is going to treat the people of Jerusalem like babies and speak a message of chastening to them through a nation whose language they do not understand. God is going to make believers out of some of these drunken unbelievers by delivering them to the Assyrians. They are too immature and unbelieving to heed Isaiah’s instruction, so they will have to be dealt with as immature babies. They will have to be shown! Their minds are too addled. They cannot reason—they can only understand harsh, punitive action. The Lord himself will speak unwelcome words to them which may also in a way be likened to “stammering lips” and a “foreign tongue.” He is going to speak to them in a way they were not accustomed to be spoken to, and probably, in reference to the Assyrians, through a people whose language was foreign to them. The apostle Paul paraphrases Isaiah 28:11 in 1 Corinthians 14:21. Paul uses it, we are convinced, in the same way Isaiah meant it here. The church at Corinth, in its mania for the “charisma” or gift of tongues (speaking an understandable foreign language unknown to the speaker but miraculously empowered to do so by the Holy Spirit) was acting like a child. The Christians there clamored for this spectacular and showy gift more than they did for prophecy which instructed. Foreign tongues, miraculously uttered, was simply a sign for unbelievers who had to have a demonstration of the supernatural in order to make believers of them. Foreign tongues were not to edify, instruct or reveal anything to believers. The problem of “tongues” would be to a great extent solved if Bible students would make the connection Paul makes in Corinthians with Isaiah’s warning here to Judah. The connection is that the showy, spectacular, manifestation of the supernatural is for the immature and unbelieving. While teaching, instruction, prophecy is for the mature and spiritual.

God had reiterated His invitation again and again through the prophets. Time after time He sent prophets and teachers to guide them to Him wherein they might find rest for their souls (cf. Jeremiah 6:16-21), but they deliberately refused to walk in His restful and refreshing way. The way of rest is in believing and keeping His commandments (cf. Matthew 11:28-30; John 15:1-11, etc.). But to those who are self-indulgent when the way of God is preached, it is to them like babbling (cf. Acts 17:18).

They mocked and scoffed at Isaiah’s sincere, untiring, repetitious and simple instruction of God’s revelation of Himself. They refused to comprehend that God was about to judge them. But within two generations the revelation given through Isaiah in command upon command is going to come to pass, and they are going to realize they have stumbled at the truth and are trapped by it and taken captive. That which they mocked is going to mock them. God is not mocked—whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap!

Verses 14-22

Isa 28:14-22

Isaiah 28:14-15

"Wherefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scoffers, that rule this people that is in Jerusalem: Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto me; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:"

Practically all scholars suppose that Isaiah here does not mean that the leaders of Jerusalem actually spoke such words as these, but that their actions, instead of their words, indicated the thoughts and attitude in their hearts. There is also the possibility that the mention of a covenant with death and Sheol may mean that the leaders, "through necromancy, had actually invoked the false gods of the underworld.” Faith in the true God was at a low ebb in Jerusalem at the time indicated here.

In Isaiah 28:14, the focus actually shifts to the blind guides that were misleading God’s people in Jerusalem. We are indebted to Payne for making this accurate division of the chapter. He wrote: "Isaiah 28:1-13 castigate the blind guides of the northern kingdom; and Isaiah 28:14-22 bring the rebuke home to Judah, and especially to the leading politicians in Jerusalem.”

Isaiah 28:16-19

"Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not be in haste. And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. As often as it passeth through, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night: and it shall be naught but terror to understand the message."

THE PRECIOUS CORNER STONE

Isaiah had already revealed in Isaiah 8:14 that this stone would also be "a sanctuary, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." Added to the three designations here, we have six adjectives for this Rock.

They are (1) elect; (2) cornerstone; (3) tried; (4) sanctuary; (5) stone of stumbling; and (6) rock of offense. It might also be added that Christ is the stone "from another world," and he is "the living stone" (Zechariah 3:9), and the "growing stone" (Daniel 2:34-35

It should be noted that the way of God’s revelation is always, "here a little, and there a little," as mentioned in this very chapter. One must even put two passages of Isaiah together for the information here indicated. Paul also quoted these passages together in Romans 9:33.

We cannot agree with the scholars who interpret this stone as anything or any person other than Christ. Kelley seemed to think it would be a literal rock upon which would be inscribed, "He that believeth shall not make haste.” Payne thought it "symbolized God’s protection.” and Rawlinson wrote that "Jehovah himself would seem to be the Rock.” No! Such explanations should not even be considered. Only Jesus Christ fulfills the description of this Holy Rock as revealed in the Bible.

Before leaving this little paragraph, we should note the word-play mentioned in this place by Hailey. The priests had mocked Isaiah, saying, "Whom will he make to understand the message!" As the word came to Jerusalem, the message day after day and week after week would be of city after city falling to the Assyrians; but the scoffers would be able to understand the message of judgment and destruction repeatedly delivered to them with reports of many cities falling to Assyria.

Isaiah 28:20-22

"The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it; and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. For Jehovah will rise up as in mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon; that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now therefore be ye not scoffers, lest your bonds be made strong; for a decree of destruction have I heard from the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, upon the whole earth."

It makes no difference whether Isaiah 28:20 is a popular ancient proverb or not. It surely describes an uncomfortable and intolerable situation; and such are all human devices for security where moral and eternal things are involved. True security is with God alone.

The two place-names here give the sites of battles where David won significant victories over the Philistines (1 Chronicles 14:11,1 Chronicles 14:16). This verse, however, shows that God will now be on the side of Israel’s enemy not as an ally of Israel. The terrible punishment of God’s own people by the sword of foreigners was indeed a "Strange work, a strange act; but it was the `strange conduct’ of God’s people that lay behind God’s strange work.”

Isaiah 28:14-22 FOUNDATIONS: The rulers of Judah, sitting in their fortress city Jerusalem, scoffed at Isaiah’s prophecies of Judah’s judgment. They had made agreements and covenants with Egypt to insure their protection from Assyria—they thought! This is probably the meaning of “covenant with death,” and “agreement with Sheol.” It is very doubtful that there is anything here associated with mysticism or black magic, etc. The context is an entire section devoted to Isaiah’s denunciation of alliances with Egypt. The government of Judah had been dealing in political subterfuge and deceitful diplomacy, trying to manipulate Egypt against Assyria and Assyria against Egypt. Judah was trying to deal under the table—to play both ends against the middle. And they were trusting in their skill at such sophistry. Little did they know they were dealing with world powers much more deceitful than they—and more skilled at it! Political chicanery and international double-dealing is disastrous. No nation can build its security and prosperity on deceit.

Because of their sin and depravity, the rulers of Judah were trying to perpetuate the kingdom of God by deceit and falsehood. Such schemes destroyed the very purpose for which God had called them to be a kingdom—the redemption of men and women, So, because man could not make a proper foundation upon which to build redemption, God lays a true, tested, solid foundation. The Hebrew word yisad (lay) is past tense. God had already started the foundation. It was the Messianic promise. It was started at least as early as David (cf. 2 Samuel 7:12 ff). The completion of the foundation would be found in the Messiah Himself (cf. Matthew 21:42; Matthew 21:44; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:4-6). But God was laying in “Zion” (the faithful remnant) even then the beginnings of that Messianic hope through the prophets. The foundation stone then is the Messianic hope. The faith of a faithful few in Isaiah’s day in these promises (and others to come after them) resulted in the coming of the Messiah and the building of a holy kingdom and habitation of God in the Spirit—the church. Christ, the Person, the Incarnate God, was the chief cornerstone. That God was going to come in A Person to the earth to establish His kingdom was rejected by sinful men of the prophet’s day. They wanted “the vineyard” for themselves, and so they killed the messengers of God who came seeking God’s fruit. Then when they saw the Son coming, they killed Him because He was the heir (cf. Matthew 21:33 ff). The foundation being laid by God, the Messianic hope, had already been tested and tried and men did believe in it. Their belief in it made them fit for God’s kingdom because it redeemed them. The standards of citizenship for God’s Messianic kingdom are belief, justice and righteousness. That small band of believers paying attention to Isaiah’s preaching would cling to the Messianic hope and their lives would be characterized by justice and righteousness. Upon that foundation and measured by those standards they would overcome the despair, confusion and spiritual destruction that the impending storm of Assyrian invasion would bring to the scoffers.

Isaiah promises the scoffers all their cherished plans and schemes for protection from Egypt (built upon deceit) would be cancelled, wiped out. Whenever the Assyrians passed through the land the people of Palestine would be conquered—Judah as well as Israel. The Assyrians marched relentlessly, morning by morning, night after night, toward Jerusalem. Nothing hindered them (until of course, Hezekiah repented and prayed and Jerusalem was spared, cf. Isa. ch. 35–36). Every new day brought news of the Assyrian approach and terror began to grip them.

The prophet now turns to a proverb or parable probably very familiar to the people of his day. A bed too short for a man to stretch himself full length on and covers too narrow to wrap himself in on a chilly night are, to say the least, inadequate. As a matter of fact, they are a vexation! Judah’s political intrigues with Egypt were like too short beds and too narrow covers. They were inadequate and would later vex their souls when God’s judgment fell.

Jehovah will break through all the foolish and fallible schemes of Judah and her alliances with Egypt and execute His wrath on sinful Judah just as He did against the Philistines in David’s day (cf. 2 Samuel 5:19 ff). Perazim in Hebrew means “break through.” David named the place where he brought the Lord’s justice on the Philistines Baal-Perazim, “Lord of breaking-through.” The Lord judging His people will be a “strange” work. Most of the Jews in Isaiah’s day refused to believe the Lord would judge them (cf. Isaiah 5:12, etc.). The work of the Lord is to purify for Himself a holy people (cf. Malachi 3:1-5, etc.). It may seem strange to men, but to God it is a part of His plan.

Isaiah now inserts a strong warning. The attitude of the rulers at Jerusalem seems to have been one of scoffing at the Word of the Lord as proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah. So Isaiah warns them what he has preached is a revelation from the Lord—not his own prediction. The more they resist it, the more inevitable and severe will be their doom at the hands of the Assyrians.

Verses 23-29

Isa 28:23-29

Isaiah 28:23-29

"Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. Doth he that ploweth to sow plow continually? doth he continually open and harrow his ground? When he hath leveled the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and put in the wheat in rows, and the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in the border thereof?. For his God doth instruct him aright, and doth teach him. For the fitches are not threshed with a sharp threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. Bread grain is ground; for he will not be always threshing it; for though the wheel of his cart and his horses scatter it, he doth not grind it. This also cometh forth from Jehovah of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom."

This is a beautiful little parable drawn from the agricultural industry, the point being that such things as plowing and threshing have their specific purposes; therefore God’s punishments of people, whether his own, or his enemies is purposeful, always looking forward to the projected results.

Fitches were a common herb, cultivated as a forage plant, or `black cummin,’ whose aromatic seeds were a favorite condiment of the Greeks and Romans." "Spelt was what we would call rye, or an inferior kind of wheat." Even the farmer who belonged to a class of people probably despised by the drunken leaders of the people, knew that all of God’s law must be respected and obeyed if one is to reap a harvest from the earth; yet those foolish leaders fancied that they could wantonly forsake all honor and morality, live in shame and debauchery, and that somehow, in spite of all that, God would enable them to go on unhindered in their licentious ways. What a terrible awakening awaited them!

Isaiah 28:23-29 FACTS: Not only were the rulers of Jerusalem building on a false foundation, they were not even using good common sense and logic in their thinking. They did not have their facts straight. They must not only build on a stable foundation, they must think sensibly. It is tragic to watch sin throttle a man’s ability to think logically and properly. Isaiah begins by calling for close attention to his words. Then he attempts to penetrate the calloused and crooked thinking of the rulers by illustrations from everyday experience. This is the way things work, says Isaiah; men do not continually plow a field. Once the field is plowed and prepared a man sows seed and later reaps a crop. God is going to “plow His field” to prepare it. But He will not continually plow it. The plowing is preparatory. Then He will sow and reap. But the plowing must be done. Isaiah 28:26 indicates preparing the soil; sowing and reaping is a systematic way things are done by men because such a systematic order of things comes from God. It certainly is a fact of experience that a man does not first go out and sow seed on fallow ground and then break up the sod and harrow it.

The same common sense and discretion is used in threshing. A man threshes the crop only as much as it needs to be threshed to extract the grain. He does not go on threshing it after the grain is separated and grind the grain into dust. God certainly will use the same reasonableness and discretion in dealing with His people. He will plow and thresh—this is needful—but He will not do so forever. He will reap also.