28. Isaiah Chapter Twenty-Eight

Isaiah Chapter 28 This chapter introduces a fresh series of “woes.” There were six in chapter five. There are six now from this chapter to chapter thirty-three. The first five are pronounced against Israel and especially Judah and Jerusalem. The sixth is against Assyria. The chapter may be divided into three parts, (1) Isaiah 28:1-13; (2) Isaiah 28:14-22; (3) Isaiah 28:23-20. In the first section there is a record of the grievous condition of the leading men in Israel at that time. In Isaiah 28:1 Samaria is denounced. It is called (1) “the crown of pride,” in which the intoxicated Ephraim has gloried, (2) “a fading flower” (cp. Isaiah 1:30; Isaiah 40:7-8). The “fat valley” (r.v.) refers to the situation of the town. The people were given to luxury and self-indulgence. All must meet the judgments of the Lord (Isaiah 28:2-4), the Assyrian, “the mighty and strong one,” being the instrument. Samaria would be to him “as a firstripe fig” (r.v.), ripe in June instead of August, easily plucked and immediately swallowed. This throws light upon the incident of the fig tree recorded in Matthew 21:1-46 and Mark 11:1-33. After the figs are gathered and stored away in August or September, there is still sap in the tree, which puts forth a second crop of figs through the winter. This begins to ripen in the spring, but does not come to anything. You can eat the figs, but they are not worth storing.

Now Palestine lay between Assyria and Egypt, and armies passing from either side must traverse it, hence the reference to the overflowing scourge. God’s people were tempted to go to one or the other for help, but the Lord constantly warned them against this, and to trust in Him. That is the great teaching of the first thirteen verses of this chapter.

It has its lessons for us. The Lord teaches us to avoid seeking help from man and to trust in Him alone. On the other hand we are to guard against the spirit of selfish ease and luxury which characterized Israel of old. In Isaiah 28:5 the residue of His people are the faithful in Judah, and to them Jehovah would be “a crown of glory” (in contrast to the crown of pride of Samaria), a spirit of judgment to those who acted justly in their seat of judgment, and a strength against the foe (Isaiah 28:6). This holds good for those who walk in the fear of the Lord, in a day of widespread declension, as at the present time. Righteousness and strength are their portion from the Lord. We need to see to it that we deal righteously with our fellows, and are overcomers by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Judah as a whole had gone astray (Isaiah 28:7-8) and must receive retribution, and this is confirmed in Isaiah 28:9-15. The questions asked in Isaiah 28:9 are a remonstrance against the self-satisfied, self-righteous, ungodly people of Judah, and especially their priests and prophets (they were like the scribes and Pharisees of a later date). Instead of being so superior in knowledge and attainment, as they imagined they were, in reality they were like tiny children, who must be taught the very elements of knowledge. Just as with children, precept must be upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little. The retributive side comes out in Isaiah 28:11, in the incomprehensible way God would speak to them. Their sneers at His prophet made it impossible for them to receive the truth He would speak to them by the Assyrians, people of “another tongue” (cp. Isaiah 29:9-12 and see Jeremiah 6:10). The Lord had offered them rest and refreshing, and the means of giving rest to the weary, but they would not hear. Therefore they must suffer the retribution appointed (Isaiah 28:13). The second section (Isaiah 28:14-22) gives the foreign policy of the leaders of the people. They thought that their predecessors did not know how to deal with Egypt and Assyria. They themselves had done better than that, and made treaties with both, and boasted that they had hoodwinked them. Their name for Egypt was Death and for Assyria, Hell. God again gives them warning, offering them wise counsel, but showing them to what their ways will lead. The third section (Isaiah 28:23-29) deals with the faithful in the nation. They would be strongly criticized for lack of patriotism, then when instead of peace foreign troops are in the country accompanying famine, the faithful will not have a better time.

Whatever the circumstances are, those who fear God and trust in Him will never have an easy time of it, but there is an end to the trial and God never goes beyond what is necessary, and so promises instruction and guidance if we will be faithful to Him and rely upon Him whatever may happen. But the rulers of Jerusalem had gone further in their defiance of God. They scornfully imagined that they need have no fear of death and Hades. As for the Assyrians they proposed a secret alliance with Egypt, boasting in their false attitude toward God and His messengers (Isaiah 28:14-15). In contrast to this the Lord again points to the future deliverance to be wrought by Christ, and to the glories of His person and work (Isaiah 28:16). He is to be in Zion a foundation stone, tried (lit., a stone of proof), not only proved Himself but able to bear up and sustain those who trust in Him, a cornerstone of the building. The last statement has also been rendered “shall hasten it to,” or, again, “will not have to move.” However it might be translated it presents Christ as the sure confidence of the believer. Judgment and righteousness will be the plumbline to test everything, instead of injustice and iniquity. The lies and the hiding place referred to in Isaiah 28:15 will be swept away (Isaiah 28:17). In Isaiah 28:18 the covenant with death and agreement with Hades, while referring to the immediate circumstances, also point to the future agreement of the nation as a whole with the Antichrist. The ungodly in Israel who have entered into this covenant will meet their merited doom. The infliction of the scourge will be constant, and, whereas the rulers and people refused to listen to Isaiah’s message, in the coming time the nation will understand the truth only to their own vexation (Isaiah 28:19).

They thought that in getting help from Egypt they would prepare a comfortable bed and a nice coverlet for their rest from danger. But they would find to their dismay that their preparations would be futile, the bed too short, the coverlet too narrow (Isaiah 28:20). So is it ever with any of God’s people. Reliance upon the world will only beget shame, misery and disaster. It is faith that triumphs. Christ is a “sure foundation” for us upon which to build our hope. “Blessed are all they that wait for Him.” “He that believeth shall not make haste.” The Lord would have to act against His people as He had acted in past days against their foes at Perazim and Gibeon (Isaiah 28:21). Let them turn from their mockery lest their fetters be strengthened. The time would come, and yet will, when a “consumption,” a destructive judgment, would fall upon the whole earth (Isaiah 28:22; cp. Isaiah 26:21). The third section (Isaiah 28:23-29) contains God’s appeal to the faithful ones suffering for their loyalty to Him. It conveys His promise and His covenant. He uses the illustration of the husbandman, somewhat as the apostle Paul does in 1 Corinthians 3:9. God does not go on plowing indefinitely, nor does He indefinitely exercise discipline. He has gracious purposes for all, and there is an end to the time of trial. In the figurative questions and statements in Isaiah 28:24-28 Israel is the Lord’s farm land and threshing floor. His chastisements and punishments are the harrow and plowshare. But He does not continue the use of these indefinitely, any more than the farmer continues plowing. There is the resultant sowing and reaping. Again, Israel is His threshing, the corn of His floor (see Isaiah 21:10). The husks of iniquity must be separated from the wheat of the persons dealt with. This is not a never-ending process either in God’s dealings or in the farmer’s occupation. The Lord of hosts, who as Creator provides the farmer with the instinct and discretion necessary for his work, knows how to act in His perfect wisdom in dealing with His people. He will not destroy them. They remain His own possession. He chastens us “for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness,” and His chastening yields “peaceable fruit unto them that have been exercised thereby, even the fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:10-11).