Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 28:14
Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which [is] in Jerusalem.
14. ye scornful men ] Better: scoffing men. The “scoffer” ( l, a word almost confined to Pss. and Prov.) represents the last degree of ungodliness, open contempt of religion. The phrase here is applied to worldly politicians, who form their plans in defiance of Jehovah’s revealed will (cf. Isa 28:22; ch. Isa 29:20).
that rule this people ] The prophet’s antagonists are the party which has gained the upper hand in the councils of state; the king himself is tacitly acquitted of responsibility.
15 is the protasis to Isa 28:16 f.
Because ye have said ] Isaiah no doubt clothes the thoughts of the conspirators in his own language; but the vagueness of the allusions corresponds to the air of mystery which shrouded their designs. The utmost secrecy was observed with regard to the negotiations with Egypt (ch. Isa 29:15, Isa 30:1), and it is doubtful if at this time Isaiah knew exactly what project was on foot.
with hell are we at agreement ] Lit. with Shel we have made a vision. The simplest explanation of this and the preceding expression is that the political plot had been ratified by a compact with the dreaded powers of the underworld. That those who had renounced the guidance of Jehovah should have recourse to necromancy and other superstitions was natural (ch. Isa 8:19). At the same time the phrases may be proverbial, or they may merely express Isaiah’s abhorrence of the dark immorality which marked the proceedings. In any case the feeling attributed to the schemers is one of absolute security against the worst that fate could bring.
the overflowing scourge ] a mixture of metaphors, which is still further increased in Isa 28:18.
we have made lies our refuge ] The reference might be to conscious political treachery (towards Assyria), but more probably it is to false grounds of confidence, such as false oracles (Eze 13:6-8; Mic 2:11), Isaiah putting his own language into their mouth.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
14 22. There is again a literary connexion with what precedes; although the passage is probably a summary of an independent discourse. The prophet’s aim is to impress on his opponents the disastrous consequences of persisting in their scoffing attitude towards himself and his message.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Wherefore … – This verse commences a direct address to the scoffing and scornful nation, which is continued to the close of Isa 28:22. It is addressed particularly to the rulers in Jerusalem, as being the leaders in crime, and as being eminently deserving of the wrath of God.
Ye scornful men – Ye who despise and reproach God and his message; who fancy yourselves to be secure, and mock at the threatened judgments of the Almighty.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 28:14-22
Hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men
Isaiahs response
The prophet replies that when the storm does sweep over the land, as it assuredly will, these refuges of lies will prove no shelter to their builders; they have been tried by the plummet of honesty and righteousness and found to be so out of line that they must come down: but meanwhile, nay, from of old, Jehovah has Himself founded a really serviceable house for His people, namely, the ancient constitution and polity of which He Himself is the chief cornerstone; and the man who trusts in that foundation, believing that it really is there, will not be urged to any impatient acts of panic, whatever may be the apparent danger.
(Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
Scornful rulers
It is bad with a people when their thrones of judgment become the seats of the scornful. (M. Henry.)
Incongruous scorning
That the rulers of Jerusalem should be men of such a character is very sad. Who will be mourners in Zion if they are scorners? (M. Henry.)
Scorners
I. HOW THESE SCORNFUL MEN LULLED THEMSELVES ASLEEP in carnal security, and even challenged God Almighty to do His worst (Isa 28:15).
II. HOW GOD AWAKENS THEM OUT OF THIS SLEEP, and shows them the folly of their security.
1. He tells them upon what grounds they might be secure. He doth not disturb their false confidences till He hath first showed them a firm bottom on which they may repose themselves (Isa 28:16). This foundation is–
(1) The promises of God in general.
(2) The promise of Christ in particular (1Pe 2:6-8).
2. He tells them that upon these grounds which they now built on they could not be safe, but their confidences would certainly fail them (Isa 28:17-21).
III. HERE IS THE USE AND APPLICATION OF ALL THIS (Isa 28:22). (M. Henry.)
We have made lies our refuge
Refuges of lies
Let us assemble in classes the excuses of a score or more of people who have told me frankly why they had decided not to become Christians.
1. First of all, is a class who excuse themselves because the Church has stood for bigotry, narrowness, and cruelty. It is said that in all ages the Church has included hypocrites among its members. But can anything be more unfair than these excuses? Granted that Peter cursed and denied with vulgar oaths his Master, what has that to do with the beauty of Christs character or the claim of His kingdom upon your life? Confessedly, John Calvin was simply an organised syllogism, an animated argument, bloodless as a stone. Even if he did play the traitor like Peter, and refuse to forgive his enemy and forgot the God who makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, how does his recreancy make right yours? Here is the world of business and commerce. Tomorrow merchants will adulterate their goods, traders will tamper with the weights, clerks will steal money from the bank, assistants will rob their employers. Since you do not care to associate with hypocrites, withdraw tomorrow morning from business. Give up all physicians, because some are quacks. Draw down the shades over your windows, because there are spots on the sun; and give up the summer, because there are stormy days in July; and give up the fruits, because there are blemishes on the apples.
2. There is another class that emphasise the uncertainty and disagreements concerning Christianity. Since it is all so hazy, and at best only a probability, they are unwilling to commit themselves to the Christian life. It is not necessary that we should understand all doctrines and the philosophy of duty, in order to fulfil the moral obligations. Life is governed by probability. There may be a thousand disagreements as to theology, but there is no disagreement as to what it is to be a Christian. We are asked to show the fruits of love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness.
3. Others there are who urge that becoming a Christian puts restraints upon the individual, narrows the range of his enjoyments, shuts up certain highways of happiness. I want always to feel perfectly free, exclaims the youth. I am afraid that I might find myself somewhat cabined and confined by taking upon myself these obligations. But becoming a Christian is simply to obey the laws of Christ. This objection is based upon a false theory of liberty. Liberty is obedience to law. It is sin that narrows the life. It is disobedience that cabins men and confines them; it is loyalty to Gods laws that breaks down the walls, pushes back the horizons and makes the soul a citizen of the universe. (N. D. Hillis, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Ye scornful men; which make a mock at sin, and at Gods words and threatenings; and doubt not by your witty devices, and by your wicked practices, to escape Gods judgments, of which we read in the next verse.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. scornful(See on Isa28:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men,…. Men of scorn and mockery, that scoffed and mocked at the word of God, as in the preceding verse Isa 28:13; or at the threatenings of punishment; and even made a jest of death and hell, as in the following words: “the word of the Lord” they are called upon to hear, hearken, and attend to, is either the word of promise of the Messiah,
Isa 28:16 or rather the word threatening them with ruin,
Isa 28:18 or it may be both:
that rule this people which [is] in Jerusalem; which must not be understood of the chief ruler Hezekiah, but rather of some subordinate rulers, such as Shebna and others; these set a very bad example to the common people: no wonder that irreligion and profaneness prevail, when civil magistrates are scoffers at religion. It agrees best with the rulers of the Jewish people in the times of Christ, who mocked at him and his ministry, and that of his apostles.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The prophet now directly attacks the great men of Jerusalem, and holds up a Messianic prophecy before their eyes, which turns its dark side to them, as chapter 7 did to Ahaz. “Therefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scornful lords, rulers of this people which is in Jerusalem! For ye say, We have made a covenant with death, and with Hades have we come to an agreement. The swelling scourge, when it cometh hither, will do us no harm; for we have made a lie our shelter, and in deceit have we hidden ourselves. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am He who hath laid in Zion a stone, a stone of trial, a precious corner-stone of well-founded founding; whoever believes will not have to move. And I make justice the line, and righteousness the level; and hail sweeps away the refuge of lies, and the hiding-place is washed away by waters.” With lakhen (therefore) the announcement of punishment is once more suspended; and in Isa 28:16 it is resumed again, the exposition of the sin being inserted between, before the punishment is declared. Their sin is latson , and this free-thinking scorn rests upon a proud and insolent self-confidence, which imagines that there is no necessity to fear death and hell; and this self-confidence has for its secret reserve the alliance to be secretly entered into with Egypt against Assyria. What the prophet makes them say here, they do not indeed say exactly in this form; but this is the essential substance of the carnally devised thoughts and words of the rulers of the people of Jerusalem, as manifest to the Searcher of hearts. Jerusalem, the city of Jehovah, and such princes as these, who either proudly ignore Jehovah, or throw Him off as useless, what a contrast! Chozeh , and c hazuth in Isa 28:18, signify an agreement, either as a decision or completion (from the radical meaning of the verb c hazah ), or as a choice, beneplacitum (like the Arabic ray ), or as a record, i.e., the means of selecting (like the talmudic c hazth , a countersign, a ra’ayah , a proof or argument: Luzzatto). In shot shoteph (“the swelling scourge,” chethib ), the comparison of Asshur to a flood (Isa 28:2, Isa 28:8, Isa 28:7), and the comparison of it to a whip or scourge, are mixed together; and this is all the more allowable, because a whip, when smacked, really does move in waving lines (compare Jer 8:6, where shataph is applied to the galloping of a war-horse). The chethib in Isa 28:15 (for which the keri reads , according to Isa 28:19) is to be read (granting that it shall have passed, or that it passes); and there is no necessity for any emendation. The Egyptian alliance for which they are suing, when designated according to its true ethical nature, is sheqer (lie) and kazab (falsehood); compare 2Ki 17:4 (where we ought perhaps to read sheqer for qesher , according to the lxx), and more especially Eze 17:15., from which it is obvious that the true prophets regarded self-willed rebellion even against heathen rule as a reprehensible breach of faith.
The lakhen (therefore), which is resumed in Isa 28:16, is apparently followed as strangely as in Isa 7:14, by a promise instead of a threat. But this is only apparently the case. It is unquestionably a promise; but as the last clause, “he that believeth will not flee,” i.e., will stand firm, clearly indicates, it is a promise for believers alone. For those to whom the prophet is speaking here the promise is a threat, a savour of death unto death. Just as on a former occasion, when Ahaz refused to ask for a sign, the prophet announced to him a sign of Jehovah’s own selection; so here Jehovah opposes to the false ground of confidence on which the leaders relied, the foundation stone laid in Zion, which would bear the believing in immoveable safety, but on which the unbelieving would be broken to pieces (Mat 21:44). This stone is called ‘ebhen boochan, a stone of proving, i.e., a proved and self-proving stone. Then follow other epithets in a series commencing anew with pinnath = ‘ebhen pinnath (compare Psa 118:22): angulus h. e. lapis angularis pretiositatis fundationis fundatae . It is a corner-stone, valuable in itself (on yiqrath , compare 1Ki 5:17), and affording the strongest foundation and inviolable security to all that is built upon it ( m usad a substantive in form like m usar , and m ussad a hophal participle in the form of those of the verba contracta pe yod ). This stone was not the Davidic sovereignty, but the true seed of David which appeared in Jesus (Rom 9:33; 1Pe 2:6-7). The figure of a stone is not opposed to the personal reference, since the prophet in Isa 8:14 speaks even of Jehovah Himself under the figure of a stone. The majestically unique description renders it quite impossible that Hezekiah can be intended. Micah, whose book forms the side piece of this cycle of prophecy, also predicted, under similar historical circumstances, the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem Ephratah (Mic 5:1). What Micah expresses in the words, “His goings forth are from of old,” is indicated here in the preterite yissad connected with hin e ni (the construction is similar to that in Oba 1:2; Eze 25:7; compare Isa 28:2 above, and Jer 49:15; Jer 23:19). It denotes that which has been determined by Jehovah, and therefore is as good as accomplished. What is historically realized has had an eternal existence, and indeed an ideal pre-existence even in the heart of history itself (Isa 22:11; Isa 25:1; Isa 37:26). Ever since there had been a Davidic government at all, this stone had lain in Zion. The Davidic monarchy not only had in this its culminating point, but the ground of its continuance also. It was not only the Omega, but also the Alpha. Whatever escaped from wrath, even under the Old Testament, stood upon this stone. This (as the prophet predicts in the fut. kal) would be the stronghold of faith in the midst of the approaching Assyrian calamities (cf., Isa 7:9); and faith would be the condition of life (Hab 2:4). But against unbelievers Jehovah would proceed according to His punitive justice. He would make this (justice and righteousness, m ishpat and ts e daqah ) a norm, i.e., a line and level. A different turn, however, is given to qav , with a play upon Isa 28:10, Isa 28:11. What Jehovah is about to do is depicted as a building which He is carrying out, and which He will carry out, so far as the despisers are concerned, on no other plan than that of strict retribution. His punitive justice comes like a hailstorm and like a flood (cf., Isa 28:2; Isa 10:22). The hail smites the refuge of lies of the great men of Jerusalem, and clears it away ( , hence , a shovel); and the flood buries their hiding-place in the waters, and carries it away (the accentuation should be tifchah , m ercha ).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Judgments Announced; The Corner-stone in Zion. | B. C. 725. |
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. 17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. 18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. 19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. 20 For 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. 21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall 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. 22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
The prophet, having reproved those that made a jest of the word of God, here goes on to reprove those that made a jest of the judgments of God, and set them at defiance; for he is a jealous God, and will not suffer either his ordinances or his providences to be brought into contempt. He addressed himself to the scornful men who ruled in Jerusalem, who were the magistrates of the city, v. 14. It is bad with a people when their thrones of judgment become the seats of the scornful, when rulers are scorners; but that the rulers of Jerusalem should be men of such a character, that they should make light of God’s judgments and scorn to take notice of the tokens of his displeasure, is very sad. Who will be mourners in Zion if they are scorners? Observe,
I. How these scornful men lulled themselves asleep in carnal security, and even challenged God Almighty to do his worst (v. 15) You have said, We have made a covenant with death and the grave. They thought themselves as sure of their lives, even when the most destroying judgments were abroad, as if they had made a bargain with death, upon a valuable consideration, not to come till they sent for him or not to take them away by any violence, but by old age. If we be at peace with God, and have made a covenant with him, we have in effect made a covenant with death that it shall come in the fittest time, that whenever it comes, it shall be no terror to us, nor do us any real damage; death is ours if we be Christ’s (1Co 3:22; 1Co 3:23): but to think of making death our friend, or being in league with it, while by sin we are making God our enemy and are at war with him, is the greatest absurdity that can be. It was fond conceit which these scorners had, “When the overflowing scourge shall pass through our country, and others shall fall under it, yet it shall not come to us, not reach us, though it extend far, not bear us down, though it is an overflowing scourge.” It is the greatest folly imaginable for impenitent sinners to think that either in this world or the other they shall fare better than their neighbours. But what is the ground of their confidence? Why, truly, We have made lies our refuge. Either, 1. Those things which the prophets told them would be lies and falsehood to them and would deceive, but which they themselves looked upon as substantial fences. The protection of their idols, the promises with which their false prophets soothed them, their policy, their wealth, their interest in the people; these they confided in, and not in God; nay, these they confided in against God. Or, 2. Those things which should be lies and falsehood to the enemy, who was flagellum Dei–the scourge of God, the overflowing scourge; they would secure themselves by imposing upon the enemy with their stratagems of war, or their feigned submissions in treaties of peace. The rest of the cities of Judah were taken because they made an obstinate defence; but the rulers of Jerusalem hope to succeed better. They think themselves greater politicians than those of the country towns; they will compliment the king of Assyria with a promise to surrender their city, or to become tributaries to him, with a purpose at the same time to shake off his yoke as soon as the danger is over, not caring though they be found liars to him, as the expression is, Deut. xxxiii. 29. Note, Those put a cheat upon themselves that think to gain their point by putting cheats upon those they deal with. Those that pursue their designs by trick and fraud, by mean and paltry shifts, may perhaps compass them, but cannot expect comfort in them. Honesty is the best policy. But such refuges as these are those driven to that depart from God, and throw themselves out of his protection.
II. How God, by the prophet, awakens them out of this sleep, and shows them the folly of their security.
1. He tells them upon what grounds they might be secure. He does not disturb their false confidences, till he has first shown them a firm bottom on which they may repose themselves (v. 16): Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone. This foundation is, (1.) The promises of God in general–his word, upon which he has caused his people to hope–his covenant with Abraham, that he would be a God to him and his; this is a foundation, a foundation of stone, firm and lasting, for faith to build upon; it is a tried stone, for all the saints have stayed themselves upon it and it never failed them. (2.) The promise of Christ in particular; for to him this is expressly applied in the New Testament, 1 Pet. ii. 6-8. He is that stone which has become the head of the corner. The great promise of the Messiah and his kingdom, which was to begin at Jerusalem, was sufficient to make God’s people easy in the worst of times; for they knew well that till he came the sceptre should not depart from Judah. Zion shall continue while this foundation is yet to be laid there. “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, for the comfort of those that dare not make lies their refuge, Behold, and look upon me as one that has undertaken to lay in Zion a Stone,” Jesus Christ is a foundation of God’s laying. This is the Lord’s doing. He is laid in Zion, in the church, in the holy hill. He is a tried stone, a trying stone (so some), a touch-stone, that shall distinguish between true and counterfeit. He is a precious stone, for such are the foundations of the New Jerusalem (Rev. xxi. 19), a corner-stone, in whom the sides of the building are united, the head-stone of the corner. And he that believes these promises, and rests upon them, shall not make haste, shall not run to and fro in a hurry, as men at their wits’ end, shall not be shifting hither and thither for his own safety, nor be driven to his feet by any terrors, as the wicked man is said to be (Job xviii. 11), but with a fixed heart shall quietly wait the event, saying, Welcome the will of God. He shall not make haste in his expectations, so as to anticipate the time set in the divine counsels, but, though it tarry, will wait the appointed hour, knowing that he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. He that believes will not make more haste than good speed, but be satisfied that God’s time is the best time, and wait with patience for it. The apostle from the LXX. explains this, 1 Pet. ii. 6. He that believes on him shall not be confounded; his expectations shall not be frustrated, but far out-done.
2. He tells them that upon the grounds which they now built on they could not be safe, but their confidences would certainly fail them (v. 17): Judgment will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. This denotes,
(1.) The building up of his church; having laid the foundation (v. 16), he will raise the structure, as builders do, by line and plummet, Zech. iv. 10. Righteousness shall be the line and judgment the plummet. The church, being grounded on Christ, shall be formed and reformed by the scripture, the standing rule of judgment and righteousness. Judgment shall return unto righteousness, Ps. xciv. 15. Or,
(2.) The punishing of the church’s enemies, against whom he will proceed in strict justice, according to the threatenings of the law. He will give them their deserts, and bring upon them the judgments they have challenged, but in wisdom too, and by an exact rule, that the tares may not be plucked up with the wheat. And when God comes thus to execute judgment,
[1.] These scornful men will be made ashamed of the vain hopes with which they had deluded themselves. First, They designed to make lies their refuge; but it will indeed prove a refuge of lies, which the hail shall sweep away, that tempest of hail spoken of v. 2. Those that make lies their refuge build upon the sand, and the building will fall when the storm comes, and bury the builder in the ruins of it. Those that make any thing their hiding place but Christ shall find that the waters will overflow it, as every shelter but the ark was over-topped and overthrown by the waters of the deluge. Such is the hope of the hypocrite; this will come of all his confidences. Secondly, They boasted of a covenant with death, and an agreement with the grave; but it shall be disannulled, as made without his consent who has the keys and sovereign command of hell and death. Those do but delude themselves that think by any wiles to evade the judgments of God. Thirdly, They fancied that when the overflowing scourge should pass through the land it should not come near them; but the prophet tells them that then, when others were falling by the common calamity, they should not only share in it, but should be trodden down by it: “You shall be to it for a treading down; it shall triumph over you as much as over any other, and you shall become its easy prey.” They are further told (v. 19), 1. That it shall begin with them; they shall be so far from escaping it that they shall be the first that shall fall by it: “From the time it goes forth it shall take you, as if it came on purpose to seize you.” 2. That it shall pursue them closely: “Morning by morning shall it pass over; as duly as the day returns you shall hear of some desolation or other made by it; for divine justice will follow its blow; you shall never be safe nor easy by day nor by night; there shall be a pestilence walking in darkness and a destruction wasting at noonday.” 3. That there shall be no avoiding it: “The understanding of the report of its approach shall not give you any opportunity to make your escape, for there shall be no way of escape open; but it shall be only a vexation, you shall see it coming, and not see how to help yourselves.” Or, “The very report of it at a distance will be a terror to you; what then will the thing itself be?” Evil tidings are a terror and vexation to scorners, but he whose heart is fixed, trusting in God, is not afraid of them; whereas, when the overflowing scourge comes, then all the comforts and confidences of scorners fail them, v. 20. (1.) That in which they thought to repose themselves reaches not to the length of their expectations: The bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself upon it, so that he is forced to cramp and contract himself. (2.) That in which they thought to shelter themselves proves insufficient to answer the intention: The covering is narrower than that a man can wrap himself in it. Those that do not build upon Christ as their foundation, but rest in a righteousness of their own, will prove in the end thus to have deceived themselves; they can never be easy, safe, nor warm; the bed is too short, the covering is too narrow; like our first parents’ fig-leaves, the shame of their nakedness will still appear.
[2.] God will be glorified in the accomplishment of his counsels, v. 21. When God comes to contend with these scorners, First, He will do his work, and bring to pass his act, he will work for his own honour and glory, according to his own purpose; the work shall appear to all that see it to be the work of God as the righteous Judge of the earth. Secondly, He will do it now against his people, as formerly he did it against their enemies, by which his justice will appear to be impartial; he will now rise up against Jerusalem as, in David’s time, against the Philistines in Mount Perazim (2 Sam. v. 20), and as, in Joshua’s time, against the Canaanites in the valley of Gibeon. If those that profess themselves members of God’s church by their pride and scornfulness make themselves like Philistines and Canaanites, they must expect to be dealt with as such. Thirdly, This will be his strange work, his strange act, his foreign deed. It is work that he is backward to: he rather delights in showing mercy, and does not afflict willingly. It is work that he is not used to as to his own people; he protects and favours them. It is a strange work indeed if he turn to be their enemy and fight against them, ch. lxiii. 10. It is a work that all the neighbours will stand amazed at (Deut. xxix. 24), and therefore the ruins of Jerusalem are said to be an astonishment, Jer. xxv. 18.
Lastly, We have the use and application of all this (v. 22): “Therefore be you not mockers; dare not to ridicule either the reproofs of God’s word or the approaches of his judgments.” Mocking the messengers of the Lord was Jerusalem’s measure-filling sin. The consideration of the judgments of God that are coming upon hypocritical professors should effectually silence mockers, and make them serious: “Be you not mockers, lest your bands be made strong, both the bands by which you are bound under the dominion of sin” (for there is little hope of the conversion of mockers) “and the bands by which you are bound over to the judgments of God.” God has bands of justice strong enough to hold those that break all the bonds of his law asunder and cast away all his cord from them. Let not these mockers make light of divine threatenings, for the prophet (who is one of those with whom the secret of the Lord is) assures them that the Lord God of hosts has, in his hearing, determined a consumption upon the whole earth; and can they think to escape? or shall their unbelief invalidate the threatening?
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 14-22: THE FOLLY OF SCOFFING,AT GOD’S WORD
1. The rulers of Judah scoff at the prophet’s warning, boasting that they have fashioned fraudulent, protective treaties with both Egypt and Assyria; thus, making falsehood their trust, (vs. 14-15; Isa 44:20; Eze 13:22; Isa 29:15).
2. But God, through the prophet, declares that the only sure, safe and trustworthy foundation for their trust is in the Stone that He lays in Zion – tried (by sin, Satan, men and God), precious and sure, (vs. 16a; Isa 8:14-15; Mat 21:42; Eph 2:20).
a. This is clearly a Messianic prophecy whether Isaiah recognized it or not; it offers Christ as man’s only hope, (Act 4:11-12).
b. It would be most profitable to study all the biblical references to Christ as a rock or stone, (Psa 118:22; comp. 1Pe 2:6; Eph 2:20-22; also note Isa 26:4; Isa 32:2; Dan 2:32; Dan 2:35; Dan 2:45; Mat 16:18; 1Co 3:9-11; 1Co 10:4).
3. The person who really trusts in Him will not be hurried – either to hide from trouble, or to form alliances of protection contrary to His will.
4. The only thing that will spare them from the purposed judgment is righteousness and justice, (vs. 17; Isa 5:16; Isa 30:18; Isa 61:8; Amo 7:7-9).
5. Once the instrument of God’s wrath is turned loose upon them it will: sweep away their refuge of lies, flood their hiding-place, cancel and annul the treaties in which they are trusting, (vs. 18: Isa 7:7; Isa 8:10).
6. When the Assyrian army passes through. like a scourge, they will be trampled by it; they will live in constant terror as they learn the lesson the prophet has tried to teach them in simple terms, (vs. 19; Job 6:4; Job 24:17; Psa 88:14-17; Jer 15:8).
7. Like a bed that is too short, and cover that is too narrow, there will be no real comfort in their scheming devices, (vs. 20; Isa 59:6; Isa 57:12).
8. The Lord will move against Judah as He has previously done against their enemies at Perazim and Gibeon (Jos 10:10; 2Sa 5:20); but, to move against His own people is a strange and unwanted task, (vs. 21; La 2:15; 3:33; Luk 19:41-44).
9. Unless they cease their scorning and mockery their bondage will become more intense (vs. 22x); the Lord has decreed destruction upon the whole land, (vs. 22b; Isa 10:22-23).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
14. Wherefore hear ye the word of the Lord. He goes on to address to them still stronger reproof, and at the same time mingles with it a consolation in order to encourage the hearts of the godly. While he threatens utter destruction against the wicked, he leaves for believers ground of consolation, by declaring that their salvation is dear and precious in the sight of God.
Ye scornful men. By this term he means men who are addicted to sophistry and deceit, who think that by jeers and cunning they can escape the judgment of God; for לוץ ( lūtz) (228) signifies to jeer or scorn. Now, he addresses not ordinary men, but rulers and governors, who, in governing the people, thought that they surpassed other men in sharpness and dexterity, but turned their acuteness to cunning, by which they acted hypocritically towards God himself, and therefore, in keen irony, he calls them “scorners;” as if he had said,
“
You think that you have enough of craftiness to mock God, but you will not succeed in mocking him.” (Gal 6:7.)
The Prophet’s chief and severest contest was with the nobles; for although all ranks were exceedingly corrupted, yet the nobles, being puffed up with a false belief of their own wisdom, were more obstinate than the rest. It has commonly been found, in almost every age, that the common people, though they are distinguished by unrestrained fierceness and violence, do not proceed to such a pitch of wickedness as nobles or courtiers, or other crafty men, who think that they excel others in ability and wisdom. The ministers of the word ought chiefly, therefore, to arm themselves against ingenious adversaries. None can be more destructive; for they not only of themselves do injury, but excite others to the same kind of scorn and wickedness, and frequently, through the estimation in which they are held, and the splendor of their reputation, they dazzle the common people who are less clear-sighted. It is a dreadful and monstrous thing when the governors of the Church not only are themselves blinded, but even blind others, and excite them to despise God, and ridicule godly doctrine, and taunt it by their jeers, and, in short, employ their utmost ingenuity for overturning religion; but in opposition to such persons we ought to encourage our hearts by the example of the Prophet, that we may not sink or lose heart in this contest. He shews us also the way in which we ought to treat such persons. (229) We ought not to spend much time in teaching them, (for instruction would be of little use,) but must threaten them severely, and terrify them by the judgment of God.
This people which is in Jerusalem. Their guilt is highly aggravated by the consideration that they inhabit the very sanctuary of God, and infect with their pollution God’s chosen people.
(228) Bogus footnote
(229) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
2. STABILITY
TEXT: Isa. 28:14-29
14
Wherefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scoffers, that rule this people that is in Jerusalem:
15
Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we are at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16
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.
17
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.
18
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.
19
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.
20
For 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.
21
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.
22
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.
23
Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
24.
Doth he that ploweth to sow plow continually? doth he continually open and harrow his ground?
25
When he hath levelled 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?
26
For his God doth instruct him aright, and doth teach him.
27
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.
28
Bread grain is ground; for he will not be always threshing it: and though the wheel of his cart and his horses scatter it, he doth not grind it.
29
This also cometh forth from Jehovah of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in wisdom.
QUERIES
a.
What is a covenant with death?
b.
What is the foundation stone to be laid in Zion?
c.
Why use the figure of a short bed and narrow covers?
PARAPHRASE
Listen, you rulers of Judah that sit in Jerusalem and scofflisten to the word of Jehovah! You scoff at the predictions of Gods judgment and say, We have insured ourselves against deathdeath cannot harm us, neither can Sheoland the flood of Assyrian invasion that is upon Israel shall not come to Judah, for we have protected ourselves with deceptive diplomacy and international sophistry. Because your foundation of deceit and intrigue will crumble, the Lord says, I am laying in the midst of My faithful remnant, the foundation of Zion. This foundation will be a rock, the tested and precious rock, the promise of the Messiah, which will be a solid and sure foundation for every one who believes. Whoever believes this will not panic when my judgment comes. Not only will there be a secure foundation but the standards of measuring men will be according to Gods standardsjustice and righteousness. Your refuge of deceitful diplomacy will be swept away as by a fierce hail-storm or raging flood. All the covenants and agreements you have made to insure against disaster will be cancelled out by the overwhelming might of the Assyrian invasion when it tramples down your land. The Assyrians will conquer your land swiftly and advance toward Jerusalem daily. You will hear news of their advance every day and night and every message will strike terror into your hearts. Your bed is too short and your covers too narrow. Your preparations for security are inadequate. Just as Jehovah rose up against the Philistines in Davids day at mount Perazim and Gibeon, he is going to rise against Judah, strange as it may seem, and bring to pass His word spoken by the prophets. So do not scoff at the warnings of Gods word, but give heed to them and repent or your destruction by the Assyrians will intensify because I have heard a revelation from God of the powerfulness and universality of their conquests.
Now listen very closely to my words! Is the plowman so stupid that he plows his land over and over again without sowing his seed? No! When he had prepared the ground doesnt he broadcast the dill, scatter the cummin and plant the wheat and barley in rows? Yes, he does, for God has made him to use common sense to see and understand what needs to be done. The farmer never threshes all grains the same. A sledge is never used on dillit is beaten with a stick. A cart-wheel is never rolled on cumminit is beaten softly with a flail. Bread grain grinds easily so he does not pulverize it into dust. Once the cart-wheel has driven over it and ground it the farmer stores it. This is not only good common sense but it is true wisdom and comes from the Lord of Hosts who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.
COMMENTS
Isa. 28:14-22 FOUNDATIONS: The rulers of Judah, sitting in their fortress city Jerusalem, scoffed at Isaiahs prophecies of Judahs judgment. They had made agreements and covenants with Egypt to insure their protection from Assyriathey 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 Isaiahs 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 tableto 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 theyand 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 kingdomthe 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. 2Sa. 7:12 ff). The completion of the foundation would be found in the Messiah Himself (cf. Mat. 21:42; Mat. 21:44; Luk. 20:17; Act. 4:11; Rom. 9:33; Eph. 2:20; 1Pe. 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 Isaiahs 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 Spiritthe 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 prophets day. They wanted the vineyard for themselves, and so they killed the messengers of God who came seeking Gods fruit. Then when they saw the Son coming, they killed Him because He was the heir (cf. Mat. 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 Gods kingdom because it redeemed them. The standards of citizenship for Gods Messianic kingdom are belief, justice and righteousness. That small band of believers paying attention to Isaiahs 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 conqueredJudah 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. 3536). 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! Judahs political intrigues with Egypt were like too short beds and too narrow covers. They were inadequate and would later vex their souls when Gods 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 Davids day (cf. 2Sa. 5:19 ff). Perazim in Hebrew means break through. David named the place where he brought the Lords 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 Isaiahs day refused to believe the Lord would judge them (cf. Isa. 5:12, etc.). The work of the Lord is to purify for Himself a holy people (cf. Mal. 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 Lordnot his own prediction. The more they resist it, the more inevitable and severe will be their doom at the hands of the Assyrians.
Isa. 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 mans 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. Isa. 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 threshthis is needfulbut He will not do so forever. He will reap also.
QUIZ
1.
Why do we think the covenant with death has no reference to black magic?
2.
What does the agreement with Sheol mean in its context?
3.
When did God lay the foundation stone in Zion?
4.
What is the meaning of the short bed parable in Isa. 28:20?
5.
Why would Isaiah refer to plowing and threshing to illustrate his message?
6.
How does it apply to Gods dealing with Judah?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(14) Ye scornful men, that rule this people . . .The last words emphasise the fact that the men who derided the prophet in their worldly wisdom were found among Hezekiahs chief princes and counsellors, the partizans now of an Assyrian, now of an Egyptian allianceanything rather than the policy of righteousness and repentance.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14-16. Scornful men The debased, drunken priests and false prophets in Jerusalem, (Isa 28:7-8,) scorning the message of the true prophets. (Isa 28:9-10.)
Because ye have said Have said by your actions. If their actions were translated into words, their actual language would be as stated in this fifteenth verse.
Covenant with death A metaphorical representation of their having made terms with the king of terrors not to be too soon called to die.
With hell The underworld place of departed spirits a poetic equivalent with death. With this the same terms are supposed to have been made, not to be too soon called to the spirit world.
Overflowing scourge A mixed metaphor, probably referring to the Assyrian army invading and passing through Judea on its way to Egypt.
Lies The prophet’s definition. They acted as if a sufficient refuge was to be found in falsehood and deceit in the false notions and doctrines on which their whole conduct was transacted.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isaiah Sternly Warns About The Threatening Future If They Will Not Look to God’s Sure Foundation ( Isa 28:14-22 ).
The leaders of Judah reply that they are not afraid of his threats because they have got it all worked out. They have an agreement with Egypt to come to their assistance, while meanwhile keeping the king of Assyria happy with deceitful words. Isaiah points out that that is to have a covenant with death and the grave (Sheol). What they should rather be doing is looking to the foundation stone that God will lay in Jerusalem (to Immanuel). If they looked ahead to His coming then they would accept their present situation and not be in such a hurry to be ‘free’. As it is their machinations will only result in disaster for them.
Analysis.
a For this reason hear the word of Yahweh, you scornful men who rule this people in Jerusalem. Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hidden ourselves” (Isa 28:14-15).
b Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone giving a sure foundation, and he who trusts will not be in a hurry (Isa 28:16).
c And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet, and the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the hiding place, and your covenant with death will be disannulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand (Isa 28:17-18 a).
d When the overflowing scourge passes through, you will be trodden down by it (Isa 28:18 b).
d As often as it passes through it will take you, for morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night (Isa 28:19 a).
c And it will be nought but terror to understand the news. For the bed is shorter than a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it (Isa 28:19-20).
b For Yahweh will rise up as in Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work, and bring about His act, His strange act (Isa 28:21).
a Now therefore do not be scornful men, lest your bands be made strong. For a consummation, and that determined, have I heard from the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, on the whole earth (Isa 28:22).
In ‘a’ Yahweh speaks to the scornful men and in the parallel they are not to be scornful men. In ‘b’ Yahweh lays a sure foundation stone in Zion, and in the parallel He rises up to do His strange work and bring about His strange act. In ‘c’ He will make justice His plumbline and sweep away their false agreements with death and the grave because they are incompatible with His will and in the parallel they will find their resting places incompatible so that the news can only bring them terror. In ‘d’ they will be trodden down by the overflowing scourge that passes through, and in the parallel when it passes through it will take them whether by night or by day.
Isa 28:14-15
‘For this reason hear the word of Yahweh,
You scornful men who rule this people in Jerusalem.
Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol are we at agreement.
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
It will not come to us,
For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood have we hidden ourselves.” ’
‘For this reason.’ That is, because they have accused Isaiah of babbling and are therefore unable and unwilling to understand what God has to say to them and so are doomed to fall into a trap. Therefore let them hear what Yahweh has further to say.
Isaiah addresses them as ‘you scornful men’. This description is regularly found in Proverbs of those who are self-satisfied, beyond correction, arrogant and scornful of spiritual truth (Pro 1:22; Pro 13:1; Pro 14:9; Pro 21:24; see also Psa 1:1), as these have proved themselves to be.
They also rule Jerusalem. They sit in the place of the Davidic king, but it is quite apparent that their hearts are set in another direction than the service of Yahweh. They should be those by whom God’s Law goes out to the world (Isa 2:2-4), but instead they look to their own reputation and purposes. That is why Jerusalem will be subject to judgment, for great privilege brings great responsibility.
The words are not the ones that they would actually have spoken, but Isaiah’s ironic interpretation of them. They had probably boasted of their covenant with Egypt, but Isaiah interprets that as their making a covenant with death, and being in agreement with Sheol (the world of the grave), in other words as having received guarantees from death and Sheol that they would not touch them (see on Isa 28:18). But if they were not fools they would have realised that death and Sheol are not to be trusted. Rather their mouths are open wide to receive them
They also boasted of the fact that ‘when the overflowing scourge passes through it will not come to us’, because they actually believed that Egypt would be able to turn the tide of Assyria. Isaiah, however was of a different mind. He knew from God that Egypt stood no chance against Assyria. ‘Overflowing scourge’ combines the idea of the scourge and the overflowing of a flood against which men have no hope. It will be a scourge of terrifying proportions.
‘For we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hidden ourselves.’ This is again not what they said but Isaiah’s interpretation of it. This may refer to their deceiving of the Assyrian king, pretending one thing when doing another, or more likely it may be Isaiah’s way of indicating that their covenant, made with Egypt and its gods, was relying on something that was nothing but lies and deceit, the religious claims of Egypt. And yet the sad thing was that they would rather trust in these than in the living God, and His truth!
Isa 28:16
‘Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh,
“Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation stone, a tested stone,
A precious cornerstone giving a sure foundation,
And he who trusts will not be in a hurry.’
God’s reply is to set certainty against uncertainty. He declares that there is only one tried and tested thing to trust in. And that is the tested stone, the cornerstone of great value which gives a sure foundation and guarantees the stability of the building. This is the corner stone on which the whole building would depend. It is the everlasting rock (Isa 26:4) on which the strong city is founded.
But what is this tested stone, this sure foundation?
1) Probably primarily in mind is a looking forward to the rock of the coming son of David, ‘God’s anointed’, Immanuel, especially as described in Isa 9:6, for when He comes all that is false will be swept away (Isa 28:17), and He is mentioned again in Isa 32:1; Isa 33:17. This would tie in with the fact that as the coming Servant of Yahweh He would be a covenant of the people, in contrast to their false covenant. (See Isa 42:6; Isa 49:8; Isa 55:3).
2) Alternately (or combined with 1) the thought may be of God Himself as the foundation to which they should look and in which they should believe in contrast to the false foundations they are laying.
3) A third possibility is that the tested stone may be Mount Zion, His mysterious dwelling-place which is in both heaven and earth, and is the way to God and to the fulfilment of the promises concerning Immanuel.
4) Fourthly the tried and trusted stone could be the statement with which the sentence ends, translating ‘that is to say, he who trusts will not be in a hurry’. This last would include the other three, for the whole point of the statement is that the faith must be in God and His promises, including the promise of the coming Immanuel.
Whichever it is it confirms that whoever trusts in what God has provided will not be in a hurry to seek alternative security, whether in Egypt or anywhere else. They will rest confidently in Him, because He provides a firm foundation.
Indeed like many promises of God it could have a near and far view thus having both a present and a future significance. It could be intended first to turn their thoughts on God and their need for firm trust in Him alone, and their need to be founded on Him, and then to look ahead also to its wider fulfilment in the God-sent One Whom Isaiah had promised, the coming Immanuel (God with us – Isa 7:14; Isa 9:6-7; Isa 11:1-4), which is indeed all tied up in true faith in God. Certainly we may see its supreme fulfilment in Jesus Christ, for when He came from God He became the foundation stone in which men could trust and on which they could be established with confidence and certainty (see 1Pe 2:4-6; Mat 21:42; Rom 9:33; 1Co 3:11-12; Eph 2:20).
The word for stone (‘bohan’) is possibly an Egyptian loan word and signifies an especially hard stone suitable for carving. What was to be seen as being carved on it may well have been ‘he who believes will not be in a hurry’.
Isa 28:17-18
‘And I will make justice the line,
And righteousness the plummet,
And the hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the hiding place,
And your covenant with death will be disannulled,
And your agreement with Sheol will not stand.
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
You will be trodden down by it.’
Having laid His foundation stone God now declares that He will use justice and righteousness as tools with which to measure the population of his strong city. There can be no deceit there. All must be above board and morally true. It is a city of righteousness, the faithful city (Isa 1:26). Thus each who would enter its gates must be measured to determine their worthiness to be there.
Meanwhile on this basis their refuge of lies will be swept away by hail, and the hiding place of falsehood will be overflowed by floodwater, both regular symbols of the judgment of God. This possibly refers to the defeat of Pharaoh’s army by the Assyrians. Compare how the activities of the Assyrians are described in these terms in Isa 28:2. Furthermore the covenant with death will be disannulled, and the agreement with Sheol cancelled, for man cannot determine his own destiny. The day of his death is in the hands of God.
‘When the overflowing scourge passes through, you will be trodden down by it.’ The fact that it will ‘tread them down’ reveals that the overflowing scourge is indeed the army of the king of Assyria. The symbol is no longer being figuratively applied.
Isa 28:19-20
‘As often as it passes through it will take you,
For morning by morning it will pass through,
By day and by night.
And it will be nought but terror to understand the news.
For the bed is shorter than a man can stretch himself on it,
And the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.’
The overflowing scourge will continually pass through, morning by morning, and by day and night. The Assyrian annals in fact report that their armies did make numerous and constant returns to the same areas, every return being accompanied by massive slaughter and pillage. The steady blows of such attacks would create a sense of terror as the next visit was anticipated. And as the news reached them of the next advance their hearts would quail within them.
‘For the bed is shorter than a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.’ They had rejected God’s resting place (Isa 28:12) and now the bed that they had made for themselves was distinctly uncomfortable. But having prepared it they had to lie on it, even though it was both unpleasant and ill fitting. They could not stretch comfortably on it because it was too short. They could not curl up on it because their covering was too narrow. They had sentenced themselves to night-long misery. How different it was from Yahweh’s foundation stone.
Isa 28:21
‘For Yahweh will rise up as in Mount Perazim,
He will be angry as in the valley of Gibeon,
That he may do his work, his strange work,
And bring about his act, his strange act.’
It was at Mount Perazim that Yahweh arose on behalf of David against the Philistines on their first invasion against him as king and broke them (1Ch 14:8-12). And at Gibeon He again intervened on David’s behalf so that David achieved another important victory (1Ch 14:13-16). These deliverances were vital occasions, and they established Israel and were the foundation of David’s kingship. So Yahweh declares that here again He will arise and act, but this time it will be a strange work and a strange act that He performs. For it will not be on behalf of His people but against them. He will work and act in His anger so as to punish them, for His anger will this time be directed against His own people and not against the enemy.
Each nation expected their gods to favour them and to defeat the enemy. Judah too looked to Yahweh to do the same for them, although their alliances demonstrated that they did not really have much confidence in Him to do so. But things have got to a state where He will not do so. Because they would not trust Him He will do the opposite, so that they might learn to trust. He will bring their enemy against them. He will arrange for them to be taken into captivity, so that they might be faced with their own wrongdoing and unbelief.
Isa 28:22
‘Now therefore do not be scornful men,
Lest your bands be made strong,
For a consummation, and that determined,
Have I heard from the Lord, Yahweh of hosts,
On the whole earth.’
So Isaiah makes a final plea for these men to themselves cease being scornful men, lest the worst come on them. The bands being made strong might refer to future threatened captivity, or to their becoming finally bound in the state in which they now are so that there is no hope of repentance. Both are in fact connected (compare Isa 6:9-12). And this plea is in the light of the fact that a consummation is coming, one which is set and determined (compare Isa 10:23) which will affect the whole known earth (or ‘the whole land’), as he has been informed by the One Who is the sovereign Lord, Yahweh of hosts Himself.
The word for ‘consummation’ regularly means ‘a full end’ or a ‘set purpose’. The thought therefore here is of something momentous, purposed by God. In the light of the captivity of Israel, this may well signify his awareness that Judah faces the same prospect of exile (Isa 39:6-7).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The False qnd the True Refuge
v. 14. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, v. 15. Because ye have said, v. 16. therefore thus saith the Lord God, v. 17. Judgment also will I lay to the line and righteousness to the plummet, v. 18. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, v. 19. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you, v. 20. For 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, v. 21. For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, He shall be wrath as in the Valley of Gibeon, v. 22. Now, therefore,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Isa 28:14-15. Wherefore, hear the word of the Lord, &c. The prophet, about to describe the temporal and external punishment in these verses, addresses the teachers and elders of the people, and in a strong manner convicts them of their iniquity. By death and hell are understood those powerful princes with whom the unbelieving Jews had entered into a covenant, having cast off their dependance upon God; but more particularly the Romans under whose subjection alone they declared themselves when they refused Christ for their king: We have no king but Caesar, say they; Joh 19:15. See Dan 7:17.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2. THE FALSE AND THE TRUE REFUGE
Isa 28:14-22
14Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men,
That rule this people which is in Jerusalem:
15Because ye have said,
We have made a covenant with death,
And with 15hell are we at agreement;
When the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
It shall not come unto us:
For we have made lies our refuge,
And under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16Therefore thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone,
A tried stone, a precious corner stone,
A sure foundation:
He that believeth shall not 16make haste.
17Judgment also will I lay to the line,
And righteousness to the plummet:
And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters shall overflow the hiding-place.
18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled,
And your agreement with 17hell shall not stand;
When the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
Then ye shall be 18trodden down by it.
1919From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you:
For morning by morning shall it pass over,
By day and by night;
And it shall be a vexation only 20to understand the report.
20For 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.
21For the Lord shall rise up as in mount Perazim,
He shall 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.
22Now therefore be ye not mockers,
Lest your bands be made strong;
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption,
Even determined upon the whole earth.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 28:15. . So we are to read with the Kri, 1, because the Kethibh has in Isa 33:21 the signification oar, which is not suitable here; 2, on account of the assonance with , which would otherwise be lost; 3, because in Isa 28:18 b there is a blending of two figures for the sake of the alliteration. For is a scourge (Isa 10:26), and is to overflow, inundate (comp. on Isa 28:2). A scourge when swung makes a flowing motion; but it does not inundate, overflow. Only the divine judgments do this, and these for another reason can be called the scourge of God. The Kri , which is both supported and discountenanced by Isa 28:18, is anyhow unnecessary, for the perfect can be taken as a futurum exactum (comp. Isa 4:4; Isa 6:11).
Isa 28:16. The Dagesh forte in is manifestly intended to distinguish the word as a participle from the substantive .
Isa 28:20. Hithp. se extendere, porrigere, only here, Kal. only Lev 21:18; Lev 22:23.
Isa 28:21. On the absence of the preposition of place before and , comp. Isa 1:25; Isa 5:18; Isa 5:29; Isa 10:14; Gesenius Gr., 118, 3, note.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Those scoffers, who are here described as the rulers of the people in Jerusalem, had naturally a foundation on which they rested, in opposition to the foundation of the Prophet which they derided. Their foundation was falsehood and deceit, by the aid of which they hoped that they would have nothing to fear from death and Hades. (Isa 28:14-15). Against this foundation the Lord now says to them: I have laid in Zion my strong cornerand foundationstone: only he who holds fast to it will not yield (Isa 28:16) And on this foundation-stone the building shall be erected by means of judgment and righteousness; but the flood of waters will sweep away that refuge of lies (Isa 28:17). And that covenant with death and Sheol will not stand. They who made it, shall be trodden down by those who Shall come upon them as the scourge of God (Isa 28:18). That scourge, moreover, shall come not only once, but repeatedly by day and night. Then shall they hear no more a preaching by word, but! a preaching by deed; and it will be nothing but terror (19). For Israels might will then prove too weak (Isa 28:20). But the Lord will rise in might as formerly on Mount Perazim, and in the valley of Gibeon, in order to execute His very strange work of destruction, which appears to the secure Jews impossible (Isa 28:21). Therefore the scoffers should be quiet, that they may not remain forever in the snares mentioned Isa 28:13; for that they should not escape from them is announced by the Prophet as the decree of Jehovah, which cannot be averted (Isa 28:22). We perceive, therefore, that the section Isa 28:14-22 corresponds exactly to the preceding one Isa 28:1-13, and especially to the Isa 28:9-13. For here the right foundation is set in opposition to that false one, resting on which those scoffers think that they may deride the Prophet (Isa 28:14-17); then the vanity, yea destructiveness of that false foundation is shown (Isa 28:18-21), and the scoffers are accordingly exhorted to give up their mocking (Isa 28:22).
2. Therefore hearhid ourselves.
Isa 28:14-15. With , Isa 28:14, the Prophet introduces the judgment of the Lord, which he has to publish on the ground of the accusation preferred Isa 28:9-13. This judgment is addressed to the scoffers (Pro 29:8), whose derisive speeches (Isa 28:10) are quoted, and who, after the judgment has been pronounced, are exhorted to mock no more (Isa 28:22). These scoffers are not insignificant men. They are the leaders of the people (Isa 14:1; Isa 52:5), its Priests and Prophets (Isa 28:7). in the beginning of Isa 28:15 is because; the illative particle in Isa 28:16 corresponding to it. The utterance is put in the mouths of these people, which if not actually spoken by them, yet certainly corresponds to their actual conduct: we have made a covenant with death,etc. This explains why these people scoffed at the Prophet. They stand with their whole manner of thinking and feeling upon another foundation than his. Isaiah has the Lord Himself for his foundation. But they deride this very foundation. They have another and better, as they imagine. This is the art of falsehood, of cunning policy, of fine diplomacy. By its help they hope to be safe from death and Hades. The Prophet admonishes them to obey the Lord, and to trust in Him in order to find protection against Assyria. But in their opinion these are fanatical means of defence, which good policy could not employ. An alliance with Egypt, artfully planned, carried out with all diplomatic skill, appeared to those politicians to be a much more reliable, yea an infallible remedy against the threatening evils. For they hope through that alliance to be proof against death and Hades. They imagine that they have thereby as it were concluded a friendly alliance with death and Hades ( as Isa 55:3; Isa 61:8). (comp. Isa 28:7), for which below in Isa 28:18 stands, has only here the signification treaty, agreement. The lie of which they speak, may well refer to the relation of dependence on Assyria into which Ahaz, the predecessor of Hezekiah, had brought Judah (2Ki 16:7 sqq.). For they may even then have considered the right policy to consist in a secret league with Egypt, while appearing to stand by the obligations entered into towards Assyria. A like course was subsequently pursued (2Ki 17:4; Eze 17:15, sqq.). The conjunction of and is characteristic of Isaiah, comp. Isa 28:17; Isa 4:6.
3. Therefore thus saiththe whole earth.
Isa 28:16-22. The scoffers had declared that they had made falsehood their refuge, and that they hope relying on this refuge, to get the better of death and Hades. The Prophet wishes to expose the vanity of this hope. There is only one refuge that guarantees safety. This is the foundation, and corner-stone laid by the Lord Himself in Zion. The water sweeps away the other false foundation, and they who rest upon it go to ruin. Our passage contains, therefore, primarily not a promise, but a threatening. For first of all, the confidence expressed in Isa 28:15 is to be shown to be unfounded. But naturally the (unreal, resting only on appearance) negation of the truth can be overcome only by the positive setting forth of the truth. And where this real positive foundation of truth is exhibited, it involves always eo ipso a promise. , as has been shown, corresponds to the in Isa 28:15. The false affirmation necessitates a protest in which the truth is testified. = comp. Isa 29:14; Isa 38:5. But what sort of a stone is that which the Lord has laid in Zion? It must be a stone which really guarantees truth and right. Consequently it cannot be Zion itself (Hitzig, Knobel), nor the royal house of David (Reinke), nor Hezekiah (Rabbis, Gesenius, Maurer and others; which explanation Theodoret characterizes as ), nor the temple (Ewald). As Isaiah does not say that they had made Egypt their refuge, but that they had made falsehood their refuge, the antithesis to this refuge of lies can only be a refuge of truth. As such we might, with Umbreit, regard the law, or, with Schegg, the word of God in general. But the law and the word of God, so far as they are laid in Zion as objective means of Salvation, suppose a still deeper, a personal foundation: the law supposes Him through whom the revelation of the law took place; the spoken and written word supposes the living, personal word of God Himself, the Logos (So the Catholic expositors Loch and Reischl, comp. Reinke,the Messianic Prophecies I. p. 404). The Logos, the only mediator between God and men, the Messiah promised in the Old Covenant, who has appeared in the New, this is the personal and living foundation-stone laid in Zion, on whom the whole building fitly framed together grows unto a holy (erected therefore according to the line of right and justice) building (Eph 3:20 sqq.). That the personal Word of the Lord can be called a stone, is apparent from Isa 8:14, where Jehovah Himself is called and . It is not impossible that Isaiah had this last passage in view, and perhaps the composer of the 118th Psalm had in Isa 28:22 regard to both these passages of Isaiah. Anyhow Peter (1Pe 2:6-8) combines these three places. The Lord Himself (Mat 21:42-44) had in view the place in the Psalms and Isa 8:14 sq.; and Paul, Rom 9:33, refers to both places of Isaiah; while in Act 4:11 reference is made to the 118th Psalm only; and in Rom 10:11, solely to the place before us. The stone laid in Zion is further called an , i. e., lapis probationis. The term can be taken in an active or passive sense: a tried and a trying stone. The former would mark its tested firmness, the latter would express the idea, that the thoughts of the hearts must be made manifest by it. For no one can escape it, but all must be tried on it, and it must have some effect on all, and be either for their fall or rising. The passages Mat 21:44; Luk 2:34 speak strongly for the latter view. I do not dispute it, but I believe that the Prophet designedly chose an ambiguous expression. For the former interpretation is likewise recommended, being naturally suggested by the expression employed, and by the context. We expect to hear the nature of the stone extolled, and not merely to be told what service it can render. That the praise should be expressed in this particular form is in accordance with the usus loquendiobservable in this chapter, in which so many designations of a property are denoted by a substantive in the genitive (Isa 28:1-5; Isa 28:8). is corner.And a stone which forms the corner is naturally a corner-stone. (Comp. Isa 19:13; Job 38:6; Jer 51:26; Psa 118:22). is here, as perhaps also Psa 37:20; Pro 17:27, a substantive, preciousness, so that we must translate; a corner-stone of preciousness of a founded foundation ( after the form , comp. 2Ch 8:16; Isa 30:32; Eze 41:8; Part Hoph.), i. e., a corner-stone well suited (1 Kings 5:31; 7:911) for a firm foundation. The emphatic expression is like , Pro 30:24. We have already observed that the Prophet shows here a predilection for the accumulation of substantives in the genitive. The firm foundation-stone manifests its saving efficacy, not in a magical way; but this efficacy is conditioned by the inward susceptibility, or faith. The firm foundation itself requires a keeping fast to it. Therefore the Prophet adds: He who believes flees not.This apothegmatic addition reminds us, both by its form and tenor, of chapter Isa 7:9 occurs further Isa 30:21; Isa 43:10; Isa 53:1. is here not indirectly (to make something or another hasten, Isa 5:19; Isa 60:22) but directly causative; to make haste, to flee hastily, to retreat. There lies in it an antithesis to the idea of firmness, which is contained in what is said of the stone, and in . The word has this meaning no where else. Where the firm foundation is objectively laid, and the individual subjectively in faith keeps fast on it, then the erection of a holy temple in the Lord is possible, an erection in which right serves for the line ( comp. on Isa 28:10), and righteousness for the plummet ( only here, comp. 2Ki 21:13); a figurative expression, the meaning of which can be only this, that this building will arise according to the rules of divine justice, and will consequently be a holy building. and stand here related as in Isa 1:27; Isa 5:16; Isa 9:6; Isa 32:16; Isa 33:5; Isa 56:1; Isa 59:9; Isa 59:14. This building stands firm. But the refuge of lies and the hiding-place of deceit the hail will sweep away (, whence a shovel for the clearing away of ashes from the altar, Exo 27:3; Exo 38:3; Num 4:14 et saepe, is . ) and the waters wash away (Isa 28:2). Inconsequence, that covenant with death and Hades, of which they boasted (Isa 28:15), shall be covered,i. e., obliterated, annulled. The covenant is conceived of as a written document, whose lines are covered, i. e., overspread with the fluid used for writing. Comp. obliterare offensionem, famam, memoriam. To in verse 15, corresponds. Comp. Isa 5:5; Isa 7:25; Isa 10:6. The Prophet here leaves the image out of sight. The expression is shaped by his realizing in thought the thing signified by the previous figure, namely, the invading host which serves as the scourge of God. This host shall stamp the scoffers under foot, shall tread them like dirt on the streets. The Prophet had expressly declared in Isa 10:6 that the army of the Assyrians should do this. But the scourge will come not once only, but often. Isa 28:19. The expression is suggested by another image, namely, the idea of something which takes away (Jer 15:15), snatches, washes away, corresponding therefore to , as a mighty flood which comes along by rushes. In fact, the invasions by the Assyrians and by the Chaldaeans, who were called to complete their work, were as waterfloods that kept ever inundating the land till it was entirely desolated (Isa 24:1; Isa 24:3). The second half of Isa 28:19 is clearly related to in Isa 28:9. There the scoffers had asked: to whom will he preach? They thought themselves much too high to need the preaching of the Prophet. In opposition to this language Isaiah now tells them: because you would not hear my well-meant preaching by word, which was designed to give you , you will be compelled to hear a preaching in act, and it will be naught but terror. stands therefore opposed to . If in Isa 28:9 signified to make to know, or understand preaching, it must in the connexion in which it here stands signify to hear preaching (comp. Isaiah 39:16; Job 28:23; Mic 4:12 et saepe). For it is not the preacher who experiences terror, but he who hears the preaching. (only here in Isaiah, besides comp. Deu 28:25; Jer 15:4 et saepe; Eze 23:46) is concussio, commotio vehemens, formido. The subject of the sentence is and the predicate . Is not that a dreadful preaching, when one finds himself in a situation which is fittingly compared to a bed that is too short, or to a covering that is too narrow?This is a distressful condition. For resistance is encountered on all sides, and the means are insufficient for any undertaking. in Isaiah besides only Isa 1:2; Isa 59:1. stratum, . besides only Isa 25:7. , colligere, coacervare, Hithp. se ipsum colligere, to make of ones self a heap, only here in marks coincidence = when one bends ones-self together, coils ones-self (Isa 18:3; Isa 23:5). That such will really be the nature of the situation is now further illustrated by two historical examples. Israel will themselves be in a condition like that in which they through Gods help twice brought their enemies. One of these events to which the Prophet here alludes, is the defeat which David inflicted on the Philistines at Baal-Perazim (2Sa 5:20; 1Ch 14:11). David there said , i.e., Jehovah has broken through my enemies before me, as water breaks through. Vitringa perceived that Isaiah was led to think of this passage by what he had said in Isa 28:17 and Isa 28:2 of the . The other event I take, with most of the older interpreters, to be the defeat which Joshua inflicted on the Canaanites at Gibeon (Jos 10:10). There, in Isa 28:11, it is said expressly that the Lord crushed the enemy by a great hail-storm. And this circumstance corresponds exactly to what Isaiah in verse 2 and verse 17 had said of the hail from which Israel should suffer. That victory of David over the Philistines at Gibeon (2Sa 5:22 sqq.; 1Ch 14:14 sqq.) does not supply such an analogy. comp. on Isa 14:9. (comp. Isa 5:12) and (Isa 2:6) are parenthetical clauses, and not in apposition to the preceding and ; for the putting of the adjective first would in that case be quite abnormal. Strange, inconceivable is the work of the Lord pronounced, because He does something which could not have been expected of Him. Who could have thought that Jehovah would treat Israel as the heathen, that He would thus destroy His own work? After all these statements we see how foolish and infatuated the people were in scoffing at the warning voice of the Prophet, and in relying on their own miserable, self-chosen supports (Isa 28:15). The admonition which the Prophet adds at the close, and now be ye not mockers is well-meant, and deserving to be laid to heart. Hithp.=to behave mockingly, is found only here. If they do not cease to mock, the bands by which they have been bound ever since Ahaz foolishly made submission to Assyria (2Ki 16:7 sqq.), can never be broken. For that they must bear these bands, and become acquainted with the nature of them, that is the purpose of God, resolved on, and already revealed to the Prophet. On comp. on Isa 10:23.
Footnotes:
[15]Sheol.
[16]flee.
[17]Sheol.
[18]Heb. a treading down to it.
[19]as often as.
[20]Or, when he shall make you to understand doctrine.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
Foundations and Covenants
Isa 28:14-29
This is not the only “stone” referred to in this chapter; in the thirteenth verse we read words that refer to another quality of stone: “That they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.” The meaning is that the men to whom a great offer of rest and refreshing had been made had declined to fall in with the holy overture, and therefore, as they had rejected the stone, elect of God and precious, they must of necessity not by arbitrary decree, but because of that system of alternatives on which the universe is based encounter in a backward movement a stone of stumbling, striking which they fell back, and were broken. Thus it will ever be. Men cannot refuse the Gospel, and be right; reject God, and be at peace; take their own course, and rule an obedient creation. Alternatives are put before us, reason is invoked, statements upon both sides are made with critical care, and men are called upon to answer the solemn appeal. If we fall upon Christ we shall be broken; but if that stone fall upon us we shall be ground 1:0 powder. The Gospel message is found in the fact that it is for ourselves to decide which course we shall take. Blessed be God, no man is forced to hell.
What use did the apostles make of this rich and noble passage? The Apostle Paul used it ( Eph 2:19-22 ): “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” The Apostle Peter ( 1Pe 2:6-8 ) availed himself of the opportunity of commenting upon this great foundation: “Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient.” Here again we face the solemn alternative of life. “A tried stone,” literally, a stone of proof; and that may be regarded in either of two senses, or in both. First, it is a stone of proof, because it stands every test that can be applied to it. Praise no stone until you have tested it. Laud no doctrine until you have tried it in the market-place, in the sick chamber, in the valley of the shadow of the deepest distress; then come forward and say what the stone was worth, how it bore the strain, what it was in the sense of security, and comfort, and dignity and satisfaction. When you hear the last patented religion praised, pay no heed to the trivial eulogium; it is a patent that has not been put to the proof; it has done nothing for the world; it has no long, noble, dignified history behind it; it glitters, but it has not been proved in life’s long night of pain and restlessness and sorrow. Be jealous of new inventions which relate to the kingdom of heaven. Have faith in nothing that does not come up from eternity. Believe not in any sacrifice that was not offered before the world began. Herein it is true that antiquity signifies experience, uses that can be employed for purposes of inference and solid deduction. In this sense Jesus Christ was a stone of proof: he was tried morning, noon, and night: in the cold and in the heat, in all the variation of life’s changeful scene; and this is the record which is made of him by those who have followed him throughout “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever,” most precious when most needed, strongest when the enemy is most importunate, completest in all attribute, faculty, and grace when hell gathers itself up for final tremendous onslaught upon his dignity and worth. Is it too much to ask that those who have tested Christ and known him to be a stone of proof should say so publicly, privately, quietly, emphatically, and gratefully? and should so preach the Gospel to every creature with whom they come in contact? The preaching of the Gospel is not only a trumpet proclamation; it is a quiet speech, a sacred, private, personal assurance as well; it is man talking to man, and saying, I have tried Christ, and found him to be infinitely sufficient for all the need and pain of life.
The second sense in which the text would hold good would be that Jesus Christ tries every character. Not only is Jesus Christ himself tried, but he tries every man. Therefore many have left him. He tries whether the heart is giving itself in full consecration to his service, or whether it is trifling with the occasion, yielding to the spirit of compromise and concession, a kind of giving and taking in which God and Mammon hold equal places. “If any man will follow me, let him take up his cross.” In the church there is but one badge, one symbol, one password; it is not genius, learning, intellectual capacity, profound acquisition in difficult subjects, it is the Cross. Therefore so few men understand Christianity. The one thing they omit from the statement of its range and claim is the Cross. Christianity is a disposition, not a tenet; a temper, not a dogma; a condition of heart, not a stored memory, not a grate of iron filled with unlighted fuel. He is a Christian who has no self: he has denied himself; he has said No to himself. This is a conquest which is only won in solitude; this is a victory of which a man need not speak, because his whole life tells the tale in simplest eloquence. If our will has not been taken and broken, shattered, we know nothing about Jesus Christ, though we be living catechisms, and animated encyclopaedias, and breathing theological dictionaries: we know Christ only as we have denied ourselves, not pinched ourselves here and there, and treated ourselves to a little partial discipline of starvation, but obliterated ourselves, then we are Christians. How different from this our daily attitude and feeling! We now go to preachers to hear whether they are right or wrong. He is right who has no self: he is wrong who consults his own will or feeling in anything. He prays who says, “Not my will, but thine, be done,” and he never prays who does not say these words from his heart’s core, the innermost plasm of his soul; though he speak to the condescending heavens in elaborate eloquence, he prays not till shedding, as it were, great drops of blood, he says “Nevertheless!” Then he comes from the altar, and there can be no Cross to him in any sense that tries his fortitude: he has died; he now knows the mystery of grace. Thus Jesus Christ tries the quality of men. Have we been so tried? No preacher may elaborate that inquiry; he must whisper it, rather than loudly announce it, and he must even in whispering it feel that he has hardly the right to ask that question until he himself is the living reply.
What is the consequence of building upon such a foundation namely, “a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation”? The result is “He that believeth shall not make haste.” In other words, faith means peace. How we fret and fume because we have no faith! We want to live in tomorrow, simply because we have no trust Did we really build ourselves upon the living foundation, we should have neither today nor tomorrow we should be with God. Find a Christian who is in anxiety about anything, and you find a man who is only nominally Christian: he is excited about the state of the Church, about the condition of public feeling in relation to the Cross and to Christian doctrine; he heats himself, poor little soul, imagining that so much depends upon his puny arm. Be calm. Trust in the living God. He will take care of his own ark, his own truth, his own kingdom. Faith will give steadfastness. Faith is the inspiration of dignity and the security of hope. He who has once been with Christ in the sanctuary of vital communion comes away from the interview saying, All is well: why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? and why does the Church excite itself with little solicitudes and small inquiries and frivolous doubts? The kingdom cometh, and as the sun shineth from the east even unto the west, so shall Christ’s lustre shine above all glory, filling the firmament of infinite space with morning everlasting. Church of the living God, thou shouldst be calm, strong, because deeply in sympathy with Christ, and acquainted in the very heart with all the sacred purpose of God. Confidence in the Eternal gives perfect calmness.
What shall become of other buildings? Many other edifices are proceeding at the same time: what shall become of them?
“Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place” ( Isa 28:17 ).
The test, therefore, you observe, is a fair one. Our building is to be tested by judgment and righteousness, not by man’s judgment, not by man’s partial righteousness, but by judgment and righteousness as God understands and applies these terms. Or there may be another meaning. The Gospel may be even here. Does it mean that God will punish according to measure? In administering the great system of retribution, will he lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet, and say, These poor creatures have had no chance in life: the circumstances under which this nation has lived have been circumstances of infinite discouragement: no man cared for this man’s soul, therefore I must measure the man himself accordingly; he never heard of Christ, Cross, sacrifice, cleansing blood, pardon through propitiation; he must not be damned? Were any to suggest that such meaning is hidden under these symbols, why should we reject a meaning so evangelical, so charged with the very wine of the Gospel, so like the Saviour, who said, “From him to whom much has been given shall much be expected; but from them to whom little has been given little shall be looked for”? O Son of Mary, Son of man, Son of God, thou wilt not beat him with many stripes who had few chances in life. We rest in thy grace.
What becomes of false securities, false treaties?
“Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it” ( Isa 28:18 ).
What if we have paid attention to everything but the foundation? That is possible. What if we have built a beautiful house, large, well-appointed, and have brought artists from afar to make the walls almost live with symbolic beauty. But suppose we have built the fairy palace upon a bog, and we knew it. Would that be approved in common life? Would the inspector or surveyor pass even for an insurance award a house that was so built? and shall we be wise on all these matters, and fools in life-building? Shall we be solid men, men of solemn mind, of real true judgment, with regard to all transitory matters, and fools with regard to affairs eternal? “According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master-builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” Oh, look at that tongue of flame, that critic of fire! It will be your turn next! That man’s house has just passed barely passed; this man’s house is burned down, but because he was on the right foundation, he himself was saved “yet so as by fire.” It required an angel to pluck him from that extremity. Now it is coming to your house. See the flame long, blue, red, all colours leaping, testing the work, seizing it: how fares it with the house? Doth it stand? It looks as if it were going to stand. It is built of gold and silver and precious stones. See the fire makes no impression upon it! Thank God! Now it is going up to the roof, and even there it can make no impression; and the flame falls back, and says in effect, This house is well built. The next is the fool’s house. Ah me! Who can look at the trial? Oh that it might take place in the darkness! Oh that our ears might be deafened with sleep when the crash comes! for great shall be the fall of it.
Prayer
Almighty God we have put our trust in the Rock of Ages, in the Eternal God, in the pavilion of the Most High, where we are hidden from the strife of tongues, and though the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing, yet is our confidence assured and our hope is without a cloud. All this high estate of faith and rest is given unto us through Jesus Christ our Lord. His are unsearchable riches; his blessedness is profound and never can be disturbed. In his peace we have tranquillity, in his sovereignty we reign as kings. We bless thee for the condescension of thy Son; for his life upon earth; for all his gracious and tender ministry; for his sacrificial death, for his resurrection from the dead, and his intercession on high; great mysteries of light, great mysteries of love: we have no answer to them; yet is there an answer in our own hearts from the heavens, which is one of peace and confidence and hope. Regard us in all the various relations we sustain; and may we, in the house, and in the church, and in the city, and in the market-place, and in the sanctuary of affliction, show that our faith sustains us, burns us like an unconsuming fire, lifts us up to the third heaven where we commune with God, and makes us pure, gentle, true, and noble towards one another. If thou wilt work this miracle in us, we will praise thee with a loud voice for thy marvellous works.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Isa 28:14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which [is] in Jerusalem.
Ver. 14. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord. ] Stand forth and hear your doom, ye that jeer when you should fear, as if you were out of the reach of God’s rod.
Ye scornful men.
That rule the people.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 28:14-22
Isa 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 Isa 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: “Isa 28:1-13 castigate the blind guides of the northern kingdom; and Isa 28:14-22 bring the rebuke home to Judah, and especially to the leading politicians in Jerusalem.
Isa 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 Isa 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” (Zec 3:9), and the “growing stone” (Dan 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 Rom 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.
Isa 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 Isa 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 (1Ch 14:11,1Ch 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.
Isa 28:14-22 FOUNDATIONS: The rulers of Judah, sitting in their fortress city Jerusalem, scoffed at Isaiahs prophecies of Judahs 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 Isaiahs 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. 2Sa 7:12 ff). The completion of the foundation would be found in the Messiah Himself (cf. Mat 21:42; Mat 21:44; Luk 20:17; Act 4:11; Rom 9:33; Eph 2:20; 1Pe 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 Isaiahs 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 prophets day. They wanted the vineyard for themselves, and so they killed the messengers of God who came seeking Gods fruit. Then when they saw the Son coming, they killed Him because He was the heir (cf. Mat 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 Gods kingdom because it redeemed them. The standards of citizenship for Gods Messianic kingdom are belief, justice and righteousness. That small band of believers paying attention to Isaiahs 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! Judahs political intrigues with Egypt were like too short beds and too narrow covers. They were inadequate and would later vex their souls when Gods 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 Davids day (cf. 2Sa 5:19 ff). Perazim in Hebrew means break through. David named the place where he brought the Lords 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 Isaiahs day refused to believe the Lord would judge them (cf. Isa 5:12, etc.). The work of the Lord is to purify for Himself a holy people (cf. Mal 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.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Truth the only Refuge
Isa 28:14-29
In the beginning of Hezekiahs reign the Jewish leaders had made an alliance with Assyria, on whom they relied to protect them against any and all foes. But the prophet told them plainly that they would be disappointed, and that when the Assyrian scourge passed through the land toward Egypt, it would involve them also in disaster, Isa 28:18. Then he broke out with this sublime description of the only foundation of security that could never fail. The deep meaning of this prediction of the precious corner-stone is unfolded in later Scriptures, Mat 21:42; Eph 2:20; 1Pe 2:7. Christ was tried by Satan and by man: He is precious: He unites the walls of Jew and Gentile that were at right-angles to each other. All our excuses and professions are too short and too narrow when God enters into judgment. Outside of Christ there is neither peace nor safety. See that thou buildest Him a holy character of gold, silver, and precious stones, 1Co 3:10, etc.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
ye: Isa 28:22, Isa 1:10, Isa 5:9, Isa 29:20, Pro 1:22, Pro 3:34, Pro 29:8, Hos 7:5, Act 13:41
Reciprocal: Num 16:27 – and stood 1Ki 22:19 – Hear thou 2Ch 18:18 – hear the word Pro 13:1 – but Pro 19:28 – scorneth Isa 8:8 – he shall pass Isa 33:14 – sinners Jer 5:12 – have belied Jer 10:1 – General Jer 13:15 – be Jer 22:2 – Hear Jer 23:36 – for ye Jer 36:23 – he cut Jer 44:24 – Hear Eze 12:27 – for Eze 13:2 – Hear Eze 16:35 – hear Eze 21:23 – as a Hos 4:1 – Hear Amo 6:13 – Have Amo 8:4 – Hear Amo 9:10 – The evil Mic 2:3 – go Mal 3:13 – Your Joh 7:49 – General 2Pe 3:3 – scoffers
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 28:14-15. Wherefore hear, ye scornful men Who make a mock at sin, and at Gods word and threatenings, and who doubt not that by your crafty counsels, and human efforts, you shall escape Gods judgments; who have said In your hearts; we have made a covenant with death, &c. We are as safe from death and hell, or the grave, (as the word here means,) as if they had entered into covenant with us, that they would not invade us. To be in covenant with any thing, is a kind of proverbial expression to denote perfect security from evil, and mischief from it: see Job 5:23; Hos 2:18. When the overflowing scourge The calamity which the prophets speak of as coming; shall pass through Namely, the land: if it should pass through, which, however, we do not believe it will; it shall not come unto us We shall escape. For we have made lies our refuge, &c. These words the prophet puts into their mouths, as declarative of the real nature of their false confidence and vain hopes of safety: as if he had said, You are confident the calamity shall not come to you, because you have taken sanctuary in a refuge of lies! You depend on your vain idols, or on your riches, or strength, or crafty devices, which will all fail you. Or, you hope to secure yourselves by your arts of cunning and falsehood, but you will find yourselves disappointed.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The rulers in Jerusalem scoffed at the Lord’s Word, but Isaiah called on them to listen to it. "Scoffer" is the strongest negative term that the Old Testament writers used to describe the wicked (cf. Psa 1:1-2; Pro 1:22; Pro 13:1; Pro 14:9; Pro 21:24; Pro 29:8). A scoffer not only chooses the wrong way, but he or she also mocks the right way. He or she is not only misled, but he or she delights in misleading others. The rulers had made a covenant with some nation (probably Egypt) that involved deception and falsehood (probably against Assyria). Israel had already made a covenant with Yahweh that guaranteed her security (Exodus 19 -Numbers 10). Why did she need to make another? The rulers thought that as a result of their covenant, the scourge of their dreaded enemy (Assyria) would not touch them. But Isaiah sarcastically told them that their covenant was really with Death and Sheol; death would be the outcome of their pact. They were the naive ones, not he (cf. Isa 28:9-10).