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| This is the New King James text of the passages. |
Isaiah 28-30
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Judgment on Ephraim and Jerusalem (Isaiah 28:1-13)
1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim,
Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the verdant valleys,
To those who are overcome with wine!
2 Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one,
Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm,
Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing,
Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand.
3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim,
Will be trampled underfoot;
4 And the glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the verdant valley,
Like the first fruit before the summer,
Which an observer sees;
He eats it up while it is still in his hand.
5 In that day the LORD of hosts will be
For a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty
To the remnant of His people,
6 For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment,
And for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
7 But they also have erred through wine,
And through intoxicating drink are out of the way;
The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink,
They are swallowed up by wine,
They are out of the way through intoxicating drink;
They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filth;
No place is clean.
9 “Whom will he teach knowledge?
And whom will he make to understand the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just drawn from the breasts?
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.”
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue
He will speak to this people,
12 To whom He said, “This is the rest with which
You may cause the weary to rest,”
And, “This is the refreshing”;
Yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was to them,
“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little,”
That they might go and fall backward, and be broken
And snared and caught.
Ephraim is another reference Isaiah uses when speaking of the Northern Tribe, Israel. Ephraim was originally one of Joseph's two sons (the other being Manasseh) who came into an inheritance with the other tribes of Jacob. You may recall that when the land in Canaan was divided, Ephraim AND Manasseh rounded out the 12 tribes possessing land, while the tribe of Levi (the priestly tribe) was not permitted to have a possession. So when Isaiah talks about the fall of Ephraim, he is talking about the fall of Israel to the Assyrians in 721 B.C. On the other hand, Jerusalem did not fall to the Assyrians when they were under siege in 701 B.C. by them, but survived all the way down to 586 B.C. when they were overcome by the Babylonians. These verses speak of these defeats.
It is interesting that the Apostle Paul quotes from verses 11 and 12 in I Corinthians 14:21-22 (see notes) in reference to speaking in tongues. The Hebrew word for "stammering" (law-ayg´) in verse 11 here can also be translated "foreigner," which is the context in which Paul uses it in I Corinthians 14:21. Those verses serve as Isaiah's response to the leaders of Israel portrayed as drunkards in the preceding verses. Verses 9-10 are probably a reference to the meaningless babblings of these drunkards. The Hebrew of verse 10 sounds like this, "saw lasaw saw lasaw qaw laqaw qaw laqaw." Isaiah seems to be mimicking the unintelligible mutterings of a drunkard. In other words, verse 10 was not meant to have meaning; it's mimicking drunkards with meaningless Hebrew words. It's simply a bunch of syllables strung together without regard for any rules of Hebrew grammar. Isaiah even repeats these mutterings in verse 13 as the source of their downfall.
So, here you have the leaders of Israel being compared to drunkards with no spiritual insight. Isaiah then tells them in verse 11 that the Assyrians, with a different language, will come and teach them the hard way what they refused to learn the easy way. And the foreign language of these Assyrians will, likewise, sound like the mutterings of a drunkard to them. That's a fascinating backdrop for the usage of those verses by the Apostle Paul in I Corinthians 14:21-22 (see notes) when he is talking about speaking in tongues.
But justice is coming (Isaiah 28:14-29)
14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men,
Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem,
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol we are in agreement.
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
It will not come to us,
For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.”
16 ¶ Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation,
A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation;
Whoever believes will not act hastily.
17 Also I will make justice the measuring line,
And righteousness the plummet;
The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled,
And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will be trampled down by it.
19 As often as it goes out it will take you;
For morning by morning it will pass over,
And by day and by night;
It will be a terror just to understand the report.”
20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.
21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon—
That He may do His work, His awesome work,
And bring to pass His act, His unusual act.
22 Now therefore, do not be mockers,
Lest your bonds be made strong;
For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts,
A destruction determined even upon the whole earth.
23 Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my speech.
24 Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow?
Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
Does he not sow the black cummin
And scatter the cummin,
Plant the wheat in rows,
The barley in the appointed place,
And the spelt in its place?
26 For He instructs him in right judgment,
His God teaches him.
27 For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
Nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cummin;
But the black cummin is beaten out with a stick,
And the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread flour must be ground;
Therefore he does not thresh it forever,
Break it with his cartwheel,
Or crush it with his horsemen.
29 This also comes from the LORD of hosts,
Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.
These verses look to the millennium when the Messiah (Jesus Christ) will rule...everywhere on earth. Zion (aka Sion) is a frequent reference in the Old and New Testaments to Jerusalem. This was the area upon which Jerusalem was built. The cornerstone of verse 16 here is the Messiah; Isaiah established that back in Isaiah 8:14 (see notes), "He will be as a sanctuary, But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense To both the houses of Israel, As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." We first saw this reference back in Psalm 118:22 (see notes), "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone." This verse is also used by Jesus himself in a parable to the Jewish leaders regarding his imminent crucifixion in Matthew 21:42/Mark 12:10/Luke 20:17 (see notes). Later in the New Testament we then see Jesus as the cornerstone in Acts 4:11 (see notes), Romans 9:33 (see notes) and I Peter 2:6 (see notes). All of the New Testament usages are based upon these Old Testament scriptures. So, verse 16 deals with the coming Messiah and the resulting reign...beginning with the millennium. However, the remaining verses in this section convey the prophetic reality of judgment from God at the hands of the Assyrians.
That defeat at the hands of the Assyrians is portrayed as inescapable here in verses 17-20. In verse 21, Isaiah cites David's rout of the Philistines (II Samuel 5:17-25; I Chronicles 14:8-17, see notes) to convey the thoroughness of Israel's defeat at the hands of these Assyrians. Isaiah completes this judgment (verses 22-29) with a farmer analogy: Just as a farmer uses the appropriate implement for each type of grain, God intends to produce righteousness from His people through particular judgments.
The siege on Jerusalem (Isaiah 29)
1 “Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt!
Add year to year;
Let feasts come around.
2 Yet I will distress Ariel;
There shall be heaviness and sorrow,
And it shall be to Me as Ariel.
3 I will encamp against you all around,
I will lay siege against you with a mound,
And I will raise siegeworks against you.
4 You shall be brought down,
You shall speak out of the ground;
Your speech shall be low, out of the dust;
Your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground;
And your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
5 “Moreover the multitude of your foes
Shall be like fine dust,
And the multitude of the terrible ones
Like chaff that passes away;
Yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly.
6 You will be punished by the LORD of hosts
With thunder and earthquake and great noise,
With storm and tempest
And the flame of devouring fire.
7 The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel,
Even all who fight against her and her fortress,
And distress her,
Shall be as a dream of a night vision.
8 It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams,
And look—he eats;
But he awakes, and his soul is still empty;
Or as when a thirsty man dreams,
And look—he drinks;
But he awakes, and indeed he is faint,
And his soul still craves:
So the multitude of all the nations shall be,
Who fight against Mount Zion.”
9 Pause and wonder!
Blind yourselves and be blind!
They are drunk, but not with wine;
They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
10 For the LORD has poured out on you
The spirit of deep sleep,
And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets;
And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers.
11 ¶ The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.” ¶ And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.”
12 ¶ Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” ¶ And he says, “I am not literate.”
13 ¶ Therefore the Lord said:
“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
15 Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the LORD,
And their works are in the dark;
They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
16 Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the thing made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while
Till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
18 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD,
And the poor among men shall rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nothing,
The scornful one is consumed,
And all who watch for iniquity are cut off—
21 Who make a man an offender by a word,
And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just by empty words.
22 ¶ Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall not now be ashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 But when he sees his children,
The work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.
24 These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine.”
This chapter describes the Assyrian siege on Jerusalem in 701 B.C. The actual siege is found in II Kings 18:13-19:37; II Chronicles 32:9-22; Isaiah 36-37. Ariel is an unusual reference to Jerusalem here, confirmed to be the same at the end of verse 8 with the reference to Zion, which we know to be synonymous with Jerusalem. A map of the Assyrian Empire in 701 B.C. is a curious sight. The people in all directions had been conquered by the Assyrians - but not Jerusalem. The miraculous slaying of Assyria's troops (185,000 by an angel in one night) and trouble back home caused the Assyrian ruler, Sennacherib, to return without accomplishing his mission. Granted, he humbled Jerusalem; he had them under house arrest (so to speak) for some period of time; he captured their friends and relatives outside the city dwelling in Judah; but he did not conquer Jerusalem.
Note that Isaiah prophesied that even this siege would not cause the people to turn back to God. The siege of the Assyrians is seen in verse 3; their vast numbers are referenced in verse 5. The deliverance of Jerusalem found in verses 5-8 refers to this failed attempt in 701 B.C. by the Assyrians to overtake Jerusalem. Yet despite this judgment of God, Isaiah speaks to the spiritual insensitivity of the inhabitants of Jerusalem in verse 13, "Therefore the Lord said: 'Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men.'" Yup - man-made religion! But things will change for these Jews.
Beginning in verse 17 a future distinction is seen when they WILL HAVE spiritual insight. These verses would seem to look to the future beginning with the millennium. Notice verse 24, "These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, And those who complained will learn doctrine." The concept stated here of spiritual understanding and doctrinal learning are the same provisions found in Jeremiah 31:31-34 (see notes) with regard to the New Covenant which we know will be fulfilled during the millennium.
And then there was Egypt (Isaiah 30)
1 “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the LORD,
“Who take counsel, but not of Me,
And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
That they may add sin to sin;
2 Who walk to go down to Egypt,
And have not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
3 Therefore the strength of Pharaoh
Shall be your shame,
And trust in the shadow of Egypt
Shall be your humiliation.
4 For his princes were at Zoan,
And his ambassadors came to Hanes.
5 They were all ashamed of a people who could not benefit them,
Or be help or benefit,
But a shame and also a reproach.”
6 ¶ The burden against the beasts of the South.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From which came the lioness and lion,
The viper and fiery flying serpent,
They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,
And their treasures on the humps of camels,
To a people who shall not profit;
7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
Rahab-hem-shebeth.
8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet,
And note it on a scroll,
That it may be for time to come,
Forever and ever:
9 That this is a rebellious people,
Lying children,
Children who will not hear the law of the LORD;
10 Who say to the seers, “Do not see,”
And to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us right things;
Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
11 Get out of the way,
Turn aside from the path,
Cause the Holy One of Israel
To cease from before us.”
12 ¶ Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise this word,
And trust in oppression and perversity,
And rely on them,
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you
Like a breach ready to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.
14 And He shall break it like the breaking of the potter’s vessel,
Which is broken in pieces;
He shall not spare.
So there shall not be found among its fragments
A shard to take fire from the hearth,
Or to take water from the cistern.”
15 ¶ For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel:
“In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”
But you would not,
16 And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses”—
Therefore you shall flee!
And, “We will ride on swift horses”—
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift!
17 One thousand shall flee at the threat of one,
At the threat of five you shall flee,
Till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain
And as a banner on a hill.
18 Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you;
And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem;
You shall weep no more.
He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry;
When He hears it, He will answer you.
20 And though the Lord gives you
The bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.
21 Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
22 You will also defile the covering of your images of silver,
And the ornament of your molded images of gold.
You will throw them away as an unclean thing;
You will say to them, “Get away!”
23 Then He will give the rain for your seed
With which you sow the ground,
And bread of the increase of the earth;
It will be fat and plentiful.
In that day your cattle will feed
In large pastures.
24 Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground
Will eat cured fodder,
Which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.
25 There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the LORD binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar,
Burning with His anger,
And His burden is heavy;
His lips are full of indignation,
And His tongue like a devouring fire.
28 His breath is like an overflowing stream,
Which reaches up to the neck,
To sift the nations with the sieve of futility;
And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people,
Causing them to err.
29 You shall have a song
As in the night when a holy festival is kept,
And gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute,
To come into the mountain of the LORD,
To the Mighty One of Israel.
30 The LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard,
And show the descent of His arm,
With the indignation of His anger
And the flame of a devouring fire,
With scattering, tempest, and hailstones.
31 For through the voice of the LORD
Assyria will be beaten down,
As He strikes with the rod.
32 And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,
Which the LORD lays on him,
It will be with tambourines and harps;
And in battles of brandishing He will fight with it.
33 For Tophet was established of old,
Yes, for the king it is prepared.
He has made it deep and large;
Its pyre is fire with much wood;
The breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone,
Kindles it.
We see in II Kings 18:17-37 (see notes) that Hezekiah, King of Judah, had probably formed an alliance with Egypt prior to the Assyrian siege on Jerusalem...or at least his ambassadors were in talks about such an alliance. He even tried to buy off the Assyrian King with gifts. It seems that dependence on God for deliverance was Hezekiah's course of last resort - the only one that actually worked. Egypt quickly fell to the Assyrians leaving Jerusalem alone. Verses 1-7 deal with Jerusalem's negotiations with Egypt and how useless an alliance would be. Ultimately Jerusalem would be delivered by a miracle from God, not an alliance with Egypt or anyone else.
Understand this, Hezekiah was a good King of Judah; he loved God. However, all of Judah was not like King Hezekiah. We see them characterized here in verses 8-11 as people who reject the truth of God's righteousness in lieu of their preference for the lies of the false prophets. In verse 9 Isaiah refers to them as "rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will not hear the law of the LORD." Everyone likes good news...right? But what about when the news is really bad? Well...denial sets it. Notice what Isaiah says (verse 10) about these inhabitants of Judah who were in denial about the trouble there were in, "Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits." Just give us good news whether it's true or not! Sometimes optimism just isn't enough - the lesson of verses 12-17 - judgment (from Assyria) is coming! Let's take a moment to remember what happened to Judah at the hands of the Assyrians: Judah fell, but the capital city, Jerusalem, miraculously survived an incredible siege.
Then Isaiah's bleak prophecy takes a turn upward. In verses 18-26 Isaiah prophesies concerning the Messianic rule beginning with the millennium. He prophesies a very nice environment of peace where the people will be enlightened, unlike their condition at the time of Isaiah's writing. For more on Isaiah's description of life during the millennium, read Isaiah 2:1-5 (see notes), Isaiah 11:1-16 (see notes) and Isaiah 65 (see notes).
Beginning with verse 27, Isaiah returns to the theme of the supernatural defeat of the Assyrians in 701 B.C. Notice verse 31, "For through the voice of the LORD Assyria will be beaten down, As He strikes with the rod." Yup! That's what happened. To read about the actual attempt by the Assyrians on Jerusalem, click here to read the summary on II Kings 18:13-19:37; II Chronicles 32:9-22; Isaiah 36-37.