Isaiah 28:1

Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is as a fading flower, which is on the head of the fat valleys, or verdant valleys, of those who are overcome with wine. Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, which is like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing. He shall cast down to the earth with His hand. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden underfoot, and the glorious beauty, which is on the head of a fat valley, shall be a fading flower.

As the hasty fruit before the summer, when he who looks upon it sees it while it is yet in his hand, he eats it up. Father, as we look into Your Word, we pray for Your wisdom and direction, Lord. Jesus, You said that You would send the Spirit of Truth who would guide us in all truth and teach us all things. So, Holy Spirit, we pray that You would do that tonight as we consider this passage of Scripture. Give us insight and application, Lord, that Your Word would be used to continue to sanctify and transform our lives. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

Isaiah, being inspired by the Lord here, says, "Woe to the crown of pride." God, again, directs His attention to the northern ten tribes of Israel as He pronounces woe to them. Now, that word "woe" is interesting in the original language. We talked a bit about it, especially when we were back in chapter 5, because there were six woes that God was speaking to His people in Isaiah chapter 5. The Hebrew word for woe is "oy." Sometimes you may have heard that phrase "oy vey" employed. That "oy" and "oy vey" partially refer to this word "woe" from the Lord. In another translation, it is rendered as "destruction is certain." It is a sigh of angst, a sigh of pain.

As Isaiah sees a judgment that is going to come upon the northern ten tribes, he proclaims, "Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim." An announcement of destruction and judgment is given upon Ephraim, the northern ten tribes, because of their pride displayed in their drunkenness.

The word that is translated as "crown" in the King James Version can also be translated as "wreath." It speaks of an ornamental wreath that was worn as a crown during the festivities that many of these people would have in the Middle East during ancient times. When they gathered together to have a party or a festival, they would sometimes wrap together or braid these wreaths of flowers to wear as they celebrated.

In the apocryphal book, The Wisdom of Solomon, chapter 2, it states, "Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments, and let no flower of the spring pass us by. Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they be withered." The idea here is that God is speaking against the drunkards of Israel, the northern ten tribes, as they are partying together.

As the people gather and celebrate, their festivities are reflected in the displays they wear upon their heads. They are filled with new wine, but God says that their plated crowns of flowers, which they wore in their festivities, would fade, just as their city would. Their glorious beauty would be like a fading flower.

God zeroes in on their arrogance and pride. Throughout the book of Isaiah, we have seen many instances where God speaks against arrogance, pride, and haughtiness. He declares that He will lay the haughtiness low. This has been a common theme in the first 28 chapters of the book of Isaiah. Once again, the pride of the northern ten tribes is evident, and God says that He will destroy it. Their pride is displayed in their drunkenness, and like any other sin, drunkenness is connected with pride. Much of the self-hatred and self-despising that drunkards often feel is rooted in an excessive self-focus, which is essentially a prideful stance.

They were filled with arrogance and pride because of the fertile nature of their land and all the things that they had. Here, God says that He is going to bring judgment upon them. Their beauty is like a fading flower. The same wording is picked up in the New Testament as well. The Apostle Peter, in 1 Peter chapter 1, speaks the same words that the messenger of Isaiah 40 spoke. He says, "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away." The Apostle James also speaks of this. He addresses the rich and the high and mighty of this world, saying that as the flower of the field, so they shall pass away. "For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower thereof falls. The grace of the fashion of it perishes. So also shall the rich fade away in his ways."

The northern ten tribes of Israel had become very wealthy because of their fertile fields. Even today, if you go to the land of Israel and visit the northern part that was given to the ten tribes, you will see that it is truly the breadbasket of the world in the Middle East and Europe. It is very fertile. As a result of their wealth, they had become relaxed and lazy. Great riches often lead to that kind of lazy, lax attitude, which fosters a position of arrogance and pride. Consequently, God was going to come and bring judgment upon them.

The Lord says in verse 2, "Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand." God is going to bring down their pride by this mighty and strong one. He uses the imagery of a storm to describe this mighty and strong one, the very same wording that God used back in Isaiah chapter 8 to speak of the Assyrians.

If you turn just 20 chapters back to Isaiah chapter 8, verse 6, God says, "For as much as this people refuses the waters of Shiloah that go softly and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son, now therefore behold, the Lord brings upon them the waters of the river strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory. He shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks. He shall pass through Judah, overflow, and go over, reaching even to the neck, and the stretching out of his wing shall fill the...

The breadth of Thy land, O Emmanuel. Assyria is pictured in Isaiah chapter 8 with similar words, as like an overflowing flood and a great storm that is going to come to destroy. At the very time that Isaiah was speaking these prophecies, the Assyrian army was on the move under the lead of Shalmaneser the Fifth. He would actually move into the northern ten tribes and lay siege to the city of Samaria, which is depicted in Isaiah chapter 23, the first four verses. He would lay siege to that city around 723 BC, and for three years, he would besiege it until it ultimately fell under the reign of King Sargon the Second of Assyria. The northern ten tribes were taken captive by the Assyrians and led back to the land of Assyria, while the northern area of Israel was repopulated with another people group.

During those years of siege upon the northern ten tribes, many of the people who lived there fled to Judah and Jerusalem, hoping to find some sort of sanctuary. However, as we will see in this passage in Isaiah 28 tonight, the Assyrians were going to come down into the land of Judah and Jerusalem as well. God says, "Your crown of pride is going to be trodden underfoot. All your partying, all your drunkenness is going to be taken away."

In verse 5, God states that when this judgment comes, there will be a resulting work among His people. The phrase "in that day" connects us with the previous passages we have been studying in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapters 24 through 27 repeat those words over and over again: "in that day, in that day." This seems to point us to the yet future judgment that God is going to bring upon the entire world, as spoken of in Isaiah 24. The result after that judgment, after God's ultimate judgment, is that He will bring about a restoration. The people in the northern ten tribes, some 2,700 years ago, wore a crown of pride as they celebrated and indulged in drunkenness. But God says,

In that day, when He ultimately brings this great judgment on the whole earth, He is going to restore His people. The Lord shall be a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the residue, the remnant of His people. This brings us back to the thought that has been throughout the book of Isaiah: a remnant shall return. A remnant shall return. God's punishment is for the purpose of purification. Here we see God's purifying work as He punishes His people. In that day, their crown of pride will be purged, and they will receive a crown of glory. The Lord Himself will be their crowning prize. The crowning prize of the redeemed remnant when they return will be the Lord Himself.

We, too, in the church, look forward to that day when the Lord shall return. In 1 Peter chapter 5, Peter says that when the chief Shepherd shall appear, we shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away. We are also looking forward to that coming day when the Lord shall return and give us this crown of glory. Not only will He become the crowning glory of His redeemed people in that day, but we read in verse 6 about a spirit of judgment to him that sits in judgment and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate. When the Lord is your treasured crown, He brings wisdom, judgment, and strength to His people.

In the first four verses of Isaiah chapter 28, we see a judgment spoken upon the northern ten tribes because of their pride and drunkenness. However, in verses 5 and 6, we see the ultimate outcome. God has a beautiful way of doing this throughout His prophetic works. He tells us what He is going to do before He does it. Oftentimes, the judgments that God speaks are very heavy and burdensome. Even Isaiah speaks of the burden of the Lord. In Isaiah chapters 13 through 23, these judgments were great burdens upon the people.

As God shares with us the judgment that He is going to give and bring, He always tells us what He is going to do at the end of that judgment. In the end, God has a miraculous way of turning things that appear to be evil and bad into good. Even when we get to the apocalyptic passages of the New Testament, we see these great judgments spoken in Revelation chapters 6 through 19. However, Revelation chapters 20 through 22 speak of the great end that shall come. There are tears and crying in the night, but joy comes in the morning. God always ends with hope.

With that great joy, it gives us the right perspective, the right focal point through the midst of the suffering that we may endure. These people were going to go through great suffering. Pastor Josh shared from Isaiah chapter 40 a couple of Sundays ago. When he did, he spoke about "Comfort, comfort ye my people" in Isaiah 40. This came on the heels of a judgment that was spoken in Isaiah 39, where God declared that He was going to judge His people by the Babylonians. Yet, the very next word is "comfort my people."

You wonder how you can comfort the people of God when God just spoke to them and said, "I’m going to judge you." Again, it’s because through that judgment, we see the salvation that He is going to bring. Before the Lord works, He always shows us what He is going to do in advance.

Now, this prophecy that He speaks against the northern ten tribes because of their drunkenness and pride in Isaiah 28, verses 1 through 4, was a message to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Verse 7 states, "But they also have erred through wine and through strong drink. They are out of the way. The priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink. They are swallowed up of wine. They are out of the way through strong drink. They err in vision. They stumble in judgment, for all their tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place that is clean."

Isaiah 28, verses 1 through 4, speak to the drunkards of Ephraim, the northern ten tribes. However, verse 7 turns our attention to Judah and Jerusalem. Remember, the nation of Israel is split in two: ten tribes in the north and two tribes in the south. The northern tribes are often called Ephraim or referred to by their capital city, Samaria. The southern tribes are often called Judah or referred to by their capital city, Jerusalem.

Now, God speaks of the judgment that is going to come through the Assyrians on the northern ten tribes in the latter part of the 7th century and the 8th century BC. He then turns His attention to the southern tribes and says, "Listen, you better take heed to what I’m doing." The people of Judah and Jerusalem have also erred through wine and are out of the way because of strong drink.

How do we know that God's attention has shifted in verses 7 and 8 to the people of Judah and Jerusalem, even though they are not mentioned? They will be mentioned a few verses later when we get down.

Into verse 14 of Isaiah 28, it says, "Wherefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men that rule His people, which are in Jerusalem." Notice that verse 7 states, "The priest and the prophet erred through strong drink." Where was the priesthood in the nation of Israel? It was in Jerusalem at the temple. Judah had Jerusalem, and Jerusalem had the temple, and the temple had the priesthood. Therefore, those in Jerusalem and Judah also erred through strong drink.

It is very easy to point the finger at others when they are in sin, even though we may be guilty of the same sins. We are quick to condemn and pronounce judgment upon those who are in sin, or even delight in the failures and condemnation of others because of their sin. We fail to recognize that we too are often worthy of the very same sins.

The northern ten tribes were wholly and completely given over to ease and drunkenness during the latter portion of the 8th century BC, right before the judgment at the hands of the Assyrians. God prophesied through Isaiah that the northern ten tribes would be judged. The people in Judah and Benjamin began to feel very puffed up because, of course, the northern ten tribes were going to be judged. They should be judged; look how wicked they are. They failed to realize that they were guilty of the very same sin. The priest and the prophet had erred. Judah and Jerusalem were completely given over to the same sins that the northern ten tribes were.

You would expect that the priest and the prophet, if anyone was going to be righteous in the nation, should be the priesthood. However, all the way up to the priesthood in Jerusalem and Judah, they were given over to drunkenness and idolatry. They had deceived themselves by their own outward display of religion, but their religious show was a sham. We saw that back in Isaiah chapter 1, where God was saying to His people, "Just stop all of this religious pomp that you have, this sham that you have. I don't want any longer your offerings of fat-fed beasts. I don't want any longer your incense offerings or your new moons. They are all an abomination," God said in Isaiah chapter 1, beginning at verse 11, because the people had been given over to wickedness.

In verses 7 and 8, it says that they have erred through wine, which is the Greek word "shagah." It speaks of an ignorant meandering, and the idea behind it is that it's the kind of stumbling out of the way that a drunkard would do. God says that you've stumbled out of the way of righteousness. The priest and the prophet have erred, and this is the very reason that God gives the exhortation in the Scriptures that we not be drunk with wine.

Remember what Paul said in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 18: "Be ye not drunk with wine, which is excess, but be ye filled with the Spirit." Not only that, in Proverbs chapter 31, most people know Proverbs 31 as being the proverb about the virtuous woman. However, in Proverbs 31, verse 4, the mother of Lemuel, who we believe to be Solomon, says to Lemuel, "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine or for princes to drink strong drink."

Why? Verse 5 states, "Lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any that be afflicted." Wine and strong drink, when people are given over to drunkenness, have a way of turning them aside from right judgment. The people in Judah and Jerusalem had been turned aside from right judgment all the way up to the priesthood and the prophets. Those who should have had vision, the prophets, and those who should have given forth good judgment, the priesthood, had erred. They had stumbled out of the way.

Notice the emphasis that Isaiah puts upon it here in verses 7 and 8. He repeats over and over again that they have erred through wine. They are out of the way by strong drink. They have erred through strong drink. They are swallowed up with wine. Alcohol consumed often has a way of consuming the consumer. Here, he says they are swallowed up by wine. They are out of the way through strong drink. They err in vision and stumble in judgment.

Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 24 that the very same thing will happen in the last days among His people. In Matthew chapter 24, verses 48 through 51, Jesus gives a parable of the end times. He says, "But if that evil servant shall say in his heart, 'My Lord delays His coming,' and shall begin to smite his fellow servants and to eat and drink and be drunken, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looks not for Him and in an hour that he is not aware, and shall cut him asunder and appoint his portion with the hypocrites."

There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The people in Judah and Jerusalem, all the way up to the priesthood, had become blind because of their sin and wickedness. They were blind, ignorant, and lazy. Ultimately, they were unaware of the judgment that was going to come upon them—the same sort of judgment that came upon the people of Ephraim. They pointed the finger at the Northern ten tribes and said they deserved that punishment. But all the while, they failed to realize that God was seeking to speak to them.

You're in Isaiah chapter 28. Turn 28 chapters to the right to Isaiah 56. Notice what the Lord says in Isaiah 56, verse 10: His watchmen are blind; they are all ignorant. They are all dumb dogs; they cannot bark, sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. God was speaking this to His own people, the children of Judah and Jerusalem. He says, "Yea, they are greedy dogs, which can never have enough. They are shepherds that cannot understand. They all look to their own way, everyone for his own gain from his quarter."

"Come," they say, "I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink, and tomorrow shall be as today and much more abundant." You see, as the people of Judah and Jerusalem were ripening for judgment, this was their mindset: "Come, let us party together. Let us get new wine. Tomorrow will be as today and much more abundant."

I don't know if you noticed, but the same sort of mindset is very evident in our own nation here in the year 2010. "Tomorrow shall be as today and much more abundant." This was especially true two years ago when the stock market seemed like it had no ceiling and just kept going up and up and up. People's real estate values kept increasing more and more, and everybody figured tomorrow was going to be like today and much more abundant. It was just going to get better and better—progress, man, progress.

Yet when man begins to think like that, take heed. We read in Isaiah 28, verse 8, that their tables are all full of vomit and filthiness; nothing is clean. These beautiful word pictures illustrate that the drunkenness and the air of the prophets and the priests were indications that the people of Judah were completely given over to their own desires.

As I mentioned previously, if there was anybody in the nation that should have been on the right path or was expected to be walking in righteousness, it was the priests and the prophets. However, at this time in Jerusalem and in Judah, they were all given over to wickedness. There was nothing that was clean any longer. And so, God spoke judgment.

Yet, the people who were given over to drunkenness and idolatry in Jerusalem, especially the priests and the prophets, mocked the true prophet of God. Look at verse nine. These are the words of the mocking priests and prophets, the drunkards of Judah: "Whom shall you teach knowledge, or whom shall he teach knowledge, and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little."

The religious leaders of Jerusalem during the time of Isaiah, as he was speaking this prophetic word against his own people, mocked him. They had become so sick with their wine that nothing was clean. They were so filled with wickedness, all their tables full of vomit. They mocked the true prophet, saying, "Who does he think he is coming in here and telling us what the Lord has to say? He should be given over to the children's ministry," is essentially what they said there in verse nine.

"Who does he think he is coming to give us knowledge? He should be teaching those just weaned from milk, just drawn from the breast." Why? Well, they claimed he was repetitive, like a broken record. Essentially, they said that his message was precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.

If you read this in the original Hebrew, their mockery was directed at Isaiah's messages: precept, precept, precept, precept, line, line, line, line, here a little, there a little. It was spoken as an insult to Isaiah, implying that his message was nothing and only suitable for little children.

Interestingly, Calvary Chapel pastors tend to use this passage as a reminder of why we teach the Word chapter by chapter and verse by verse. Oftentimes, you'll hear Calvary Chapels say, "We teach the Word line upon line and precept upon precept," referring to Isaiah chapter 28. In fact, our website for our podcast is...

Lineuponline.com. When it was spoken 2,800 years ago, it was not spoken as a good thing; it was an insult to Isaiah, as if to say he was like a broken record. Notice what God says to the priests and the prophets of Jerusalem and Judah in verse 11: "For with stammering lips and another tongue will He speak to this people." To whom He said, "This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing." Yet they would not hear.

The word of the Lord was unto them, "Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little," that they might go and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. The people of Judah and Jerusalem would not receive the prophetic message that God was speaking through the prophet Isaiah. Instead, they mocked him. As a result, God said, "I'm going to instruct you with stammering lips and another tongue." This means that God was telling them He would use another nation to be their instructor.

First, the Assyrians would come into the land of Judah and Jerusalem in 700 BC and nearly consume the nation. Ultimately, in 586 BC, the Babylonians, under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar, would come and destroy Judah and Jerusalem in August of 586 BC, leading the people away captive into Babylon. With stammering lips and another tongue, a foreign tongue, God was going to instruct His people because they would not heed the message from the prophet Isaiah. God said, "Fine, you'll learn another way, but you're going to learn."

He proclaimed rest to them through Isaiah, saying, "This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing." Yet they would not hear; they would not heed. Jesus, in the Gospels, also proclaimed a message of rest, but largely the people of the nation would not listen to Him. In Matthew chapter 11, verse 28, Jesus said, "Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." But the people would not listen.

Not only was Jesus's message in the Gospels significant, but remember Stephen's message in Acts chapter seven, as he spoke a message of repentance and ultimate refreshing. If the people would return to the Lord, they cried out with a loud voice in Acts 7, verse 57. They stopped their ears and ran upon him as one man, with one accord.

Killed him. Oftentimes, the messenger is not heeded, but God says, "I'm going to instruct you. I wish that you would listen to my word through Isaiah, but since you won't, I'm going to instruct you with stammering lips and another tongue." The word of the Lord was line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. God was speaking to them in that way. He desired that they would listen, but they wouldn't.

Notice what Isaiah says at the end of verse 13: the word of the Lord was precept upon precept, line upon line. Why? That the people of Judah and Jerusalem might go and fall backward, be broken, snared, and taken. Remember what God's commissioning call to Isaiah was in Isaiah chapter six, after Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up. He hears the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Isaiah responds, "Here am I, send me." God says, "Okay, I want you to go." He instructs Isaiah to go and tell this people in verse nine of Isaiah chapter six: "Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and healed."

The message that God had given to Isaiah was one that would ready the people for judgment, making them either guiltless or guilty before God. They would stand before God, and there would be no possible way for them to say, "Well, we're not guilty, Lord. We haven't done anything wrong," because Isaiah was preaching to them. They hardened their hearts, stiffened their necks, and closed their ears. The message that Isaiah preached was preparing them for judgment.

This is a concept that is often difficult for us to understand because we too share the gospel with people who reject it. How many of you have shared the gospel, and the person you shared it with didn't want to hear it and rejected it? You have done the work that the Lord has called you to do, and their rejection is perfectly fine. You have made them accountable under the word of God, and they will stand before God one day. God will remind them of the time you came and spoke to them about the word of the Lord. It's a heavy thing, but it is the work that God was doing through the prophet Isaiah. Although it was undoubtedly difficult for Isaiah to see his brothers and sisters in his own land reject the message that God had given to him, it was exactly in line with what the Lord had told Isaiah he was to do.

It brought the people to a place of rejection. There are some people today who say, "Well, the church has nothing new to say," and so they reject it. You're right; the church has nothing new to say. We've been saying the same thing for the last 2,000 years, and we'll continue to say the same thing because it is an appropriate and relevant message.

It is so sad that the church in our day is trying its hardest to be relevant in this society. Listen, the eternal Word of God is always relevant. We just need to proclaim it line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little.

Wherefore, the Lord says in verse 14, "Because you've rejected, hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men that rule this people, which is in Jerusalem. Because you 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 we have hid ourselves.'"

God says, "Since you will not listen to the word that I'm speaking through the prophet Isaiah, here's the word that I'm going to speak to you now. You think that you have a covenant, a deal with death. You think, 'Well, we're God's people; we'll be okay.' God says, 'Not so.'"

That was the way the people of Judah and Jerusalem encouraged themselves. They said, "Of course the Northern ten tribes have been destroyed. They've departed from God. They don't come to the temple; they don't celebrate the Passover here in Jerusalem as they're supposed to do. So, of course, God would judge them. But we, we're God's people. We have Jerusalem. We have the temple. We have the priesthood. We keep the feasts. We keep the fastings. We keep the new moons. We offer the sacrifices. So clearly, we have a covenant with death, and everything will be okay for us."

Wrong. Even today, there are people who say, "Well, you know, my parents were Christians; my grandparents were Christians. So-and-so in my family is a pastor. I'm okay." There are people who say, "Well, I went forward to the Billy Graham crusade. I'm okay." There are people who say, "Well, I'm elect; I'll be okay."

False. Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ today? I don't care about yesterday or five years ago. I don't care if you were filled with the Spirit in 1972. If you're not abiding in the Word of the Lord today and His Word abiding in you, you are not a part of the vine. You'll be cut off as an unfruitful branch and cast into the fire.

He says to these people, "Your deal with death is nothing."

We have an agreement with hell. When the overflowing scourge, speaking of the Assyrian army, comes, remember Isaiah chapter eight, verse six. The Assyrian army was spoken of like this overflowing river that was going to come through. When it passes through, it's not going to come to us; it's not going to affect us. But God says, "You've made lies your refuge." This refuge that you have is a false security. It is a false sense of security that many people in America today have, believing that they are Christian just because they prayed a prayer.

Sadly, this is a false sense of security. For we have made lies our refuge; under falsehood, we have hid ourselves. Charles Spurgeon said that there are six lies that man often takes refuge in. Number one, the lie that we are or can be good enough. Number two, the lie that fate or predestination determines all, so there's nothing for us to do. The person who says, "Well, I'm elect; it's okay." Number three, the lie that places confidence in new false teachings. Number four, the lie that religious profession is enough, simply professing a certain set of catechismal faith. Number five, the lie that one can have a saved soul and an unchanged life. And number six, the lie that trusts an old experience instead of an ongoing relationship.

Now, perhaps thinking on those things, you are a little concerned at this moment. Well, that's why the Apostle Paul would say, "Test yourself to see that you be in the faith." You see, it's a daily thing that we need to draw near to God. Yes, He is the one who is able to persevere or hold us in that place of perseverance. He is the one who can hold on to us, and I am so thankful for that. But He desires that we would be those who are following hard after Him.

I'm always concerned when I meet people who have no problem sitting in the seat of the scornful, as the Psalms speak of. They have no problem pitching their tent towards Sodom. They have no problem abiding among the ungodly. It's a dangerous place to be. We need to be those who are drawing near to the Lord.

Feeding upon Him daily, therefore, verse 16 states, "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believes shall not make haste." Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness shall be the plummet. The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the hiding place. Your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it from the time that it goes forth. It shall take you; morning by morning shall it pass over, and day by night it shall be vexation only to understand the report.

God says, "Behold, I lay in Zion." Judah has no surety of refuge in their refuge of lies. The only foundation is the foundation that God would lay in Zion. They had this foundation upon which they were standing that was a foundation of falsehood. It was sand. But God says, "This is what you need to be founded upon: the rock that I lay in Zion."

Well, what rock is that? In Acts chapter four, the apostle Peter said this in verse 10: "Be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him does this man stand before you whole," speaking of the lame man that was healed in Acts four. "This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby men must be saved." He was speaking of Jesus Christ, that precious cornerstone.

Paul, the apostle, in First Corinthians chapter three, verse 11, says, "For no other foundation can any man lay, but that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Then the apostle Peter again, in First Peter chapter two, said, "Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious. He that believes 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 has become the head of the corner, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to those who stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which they were also appointed. Notice that God says, "Behold, I lay in Zion." The foundation of rest and salvation is the work that God built, the work that God established, not the work that man erects for himself. No man has done this great work for himself. It is by God and through Jesus only that salvation comes.

The refuge of lies that people create is a sound, a foundation of sand. Jesus is the only sure and steadfast foundation. Notice also that He is called the tried and precious cornerstone, our Messiah, our Christ, our anointed one. He was tried and tested, and therefore He was proven to be the perfect captain of our salvation.

The author of the book of Hebrews says in Hebrews chapter two, verse ten, "For it became Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings." He goes on to say in Hebrews chapter five, verse eight, "Though He were a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him."

It is a stone that the Lord has set, a stone that has been tried and shown to be true. Whoever believes in that one will not be put to shame. Another translation says, "Whoever believes will never run away again." The Greek, if rendered literally, reads, "Anyone who believes will not be disappointed." How awesome is that? The person who believes in the Lord will not be disappointed. You won't find, twenty years from now, that there is a crack in the foundation. He is a sure and steadfast foundation.

We are told in verse seventeen of Isaiah 28 that judgment also will be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet. You see, on the day of Christ Jesus, when man stands before God for judgment, the standard will not be the person sitting next to you in the row.

The standard will not be your pastors. The standard will not be Chuck Smith or Billy Graham. The standard will be a righteous standard. Judgment will lay to the line, and righteousness will be the plummet.

What is a plummet? My father is in construction and builds high-rise buildings. One of the chief things they do all day long is make sure the building is plumb, ensuring that the building is straight. Steel buildings follow the sun, which is a really amazing concept. It's hard for me to comprehend, but my dad has explained it to me in depth many times.

In the morning, if you set the building and plumb it, and you leave it while continuing to do that every single morning, your building will fall over. This is because, in the morning, it stands in a different way towards the sun, and it follows the sun all day long. They have all kinds of amazing high-tech gear now to ensure that the building is in plumb, but my dad still uses a metal plumb line to check it.

The scriptures reveal that righteousness will be the plumb line on that day when we stand before Christ. The righteous standard, which is Jesus, the perfect righteous standard, will be set for us. Our lives will be measured against Him.

If your life is compared to someone else's, you might say, "Well, at least I'm better than so-and-so." People often pick criminals for this comparison. They might say, "I bet I'm no Hitler." While that may be true, Hitler will not be the standard on the day of Christ Jesus. Jesus will be the standard, and righteousness will be the plummet.

Notice what God says: because you will be judged by a righteous standard, the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the hiding place. That refuge of lies you have will be wiped away by this truth. Do you think your good works will be what gets you into heaven? No, it is a righteous standard. Your life will be measured against Jesus. Who cares if you did a million good works? Isaiah 64:6 says that all our righteousness is as filthy rags. We are in trouble.

God's word wipes away that refuge of lies. So what does that mean? Well, verse 18 states, "Your covenant with death shall be disannulled. Your agreement with hell, it's not going to stand. The overflowing scourge shall pass through."

When the Assyrian army came through in 700 BC and almost completely consumed the southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin, the only city that remained was Jerusalem. Their thought that they were okay because they were God's people was wiped out. The scourge came through, and then they shall be trodden down. From the time that it goes forth, it shall take you; from morning by morning shall it pass over, day by night. God sweeps away that refuge of lies, and it is the best thing that could ever happen in a person's life.

It may feel very painful. The judgment that God brought into Jerusalem at the hands of the Assyrians was a very painful experience according to their experience. But ultimately, it's a good thing. Perhaps you've gone through very painful experiences in your life where you fell off your own pedestal. But it's a good thing because God reminds us in that instant that we are nothing, and without Him, we're going to hell.

I love this verse, verse 20: "For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower than he can wrap himself in it." Once you are over about five foot eleven, flying in coach is horrible, especially on longer flights. Anyone who's taller than five foot eleven knows exactly what I'm talking about. I've flown on many long flights, and probably the most difficult ones were the ones to Mozambique last year, flying 12 hours to London and then another 12 hours to South Africa.

It was a long couple of flights. There you are in coach, and you've got to contort your legs in strange ways to get them under the seat in front of you. When you push the little button to make the seat go back, it goes... That's a recliner, right? There's no lazy boy, that's for sure. Every time I read this verse, that's the picture that comes into my mind. There's no comfort; there's no rest.

So you see God destroying their refuge of lies, disannulling their covenant with death and hell. It brings them to a place where they have no rest in and of themselves.

Psyche, there's no rest. He says the bed is shorter than a man can stretch out on, and the covering is so narrow that he can't wrap himself in it. You get on the plane, and they keep the plane at like 52 degrees. Then they give you this blanket that's so small, and you're trying to hide under the blanket and get comfortable in that seat. It's impossible.

There's the picture: there's no comfort, no rest for that person unless the foundation that God has laid in Zion is your foundation. For the Lord shall rise up as at Mount Perizim, and 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. Now, therefore, be 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.

In verse 21, Isaiah speaks of God's strange work, this peculiar act that God is going to do. What is God's strange work that He's going to do? Well, He references two battles in Israel's history: Mount Perizim and Gibeon. It was in 2 Samuel chapter 5 and 1 Chronicles chapter 14 where God fought on behalf of His people at Mount Perizim against the Philistines. It was in Joshua chapter 10 when God destroyed the people of Gibeon.

When God comes and destroys the ten nations that came against the children of Israel, the day stood still. Remember, Joshua says, "Son, stand thou still," and it stands still. God killed more of the enemy's army than the people of Israel did. God fought for His people at Perizim and Gibeon.

But when God speaks about His strange and peculiar act here, He says, "Remember when I fought for you? Now I'm going to fight against you." And so He says, "Don't mock." The people said to Isaiah, "Line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little." You might as well give them to the children's ministry; nobody needs to listen to this guy. God says, "Don't mock." Because if you do not...

Repent. I'm going to fight with you against you as I once fought for you. Give ear and hear my voice. Hearken and hear my speech.

Does the plowman plow all day to sow? Does he open and break the clods of his ground? When he has made plain the face thereof, does he not cast abroad the fitches, scatter the cumin, and cast in the principal wheat, the appointed barley, and the rye in their place? For his God does instruct him to discretion and does teach him.

You may wonder what this means. Isaiah gives a little poem here about the farmer. He asks, who was it that instructed and taught the farmer to plant the different seeds at different times and plow the earth in different ways for different crops? Who told him to do the barley at an appointed time and the wheat at another time? It was God who instructed him to do this.

In verse 27, we read that the fitches are not threshed with the threshing instrument, nor is the cartwheel turned about upon the cumin. Instead, the fitches are beaten out with the staff and the cumin with the rod. Bread corn is bruised because he will not thresh it forever, nor break it with the cart or the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. This also comes from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in His counsel and excellent in His working.

God says He instructed the farmer how to plant his crops. He instructed him when to harvest his crops, but God also instructed him how to prepare those things—how to thresh the wheat and how to prepare the barley. It is God who showed him how to do these things.

You may ask, what is this all about? In the same way that the farmer knows and understands how to use different tools at different times, and knows the different seasons to plant different crops and how to thresh or harvest those things, God also knows which tool to use in which way and at what time. He knows how to deal with His people. He called out to them through Isaiah.

God called out to His people through Micah, Obadiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all these prophets. He knew the right tool at the right time to use so that He could bring about an expected end. Unfortunately, because His people had disregarded Him in this passage, He said, "Well, I'm going to have to use a threshing sledge." The people of Judah would not yield to the Lord, but the Lord knew the right way to work.

This serves as a reminder to us because sometimes we become exasperated when someone won't heed the word of the Lord that we are seeking to share with them. Perhaps a family member or your own child has gone their own way and doesn't want to listen to what you have to say about the Lord. God knows the right tool to use at the right time. He effectively did so in your life, didn't He?

Have you ever experienced something in your life that, as you were going through it, made you think, "I can't handle this. It's too big for me"? You might have wondered, "Why would the Lord allow this to come into my life? Why is this happening to me?" Again, this is another reminder that God knows exactly what He is doing. He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. He knows just how much we can take.

I have no doubt that when Isaiah saw the visions the Lord gave him of the destruction of his own people, there had to be a part of him that said, "Lord, do You know what You're doing?" This mindset was also present in Habakkuk, the prophet, who said, "Look at my wicked nation. God, would You do something?" God responded, "I'm going to do something, but you're not going to like the work I'm going to do." He said, "I'm going to stir up the Chaldeans. I'm going to stir up the Babylonians, and they're going to come and destroy you."

Then Habakkuk exclaimed, "Whoa, wait a minute, Lord! They're more wicked than we are. We're not that bad!" God replied, "See, I told you, you wouldn't like it. I have a plan. I know what I'm doing."

There are a lot of people who are concerned about our own nation. I receive emails every single day from concerned members of our church asking, "What about this? What about Congress? What about the president? Oh my goodness, what are we going to do?" Listen, if the Lord knows when a sparrow falls, do you think He does not know what is happening in our world?

Do you not know what's happening in our nation? If God used the Assyrians as the rod in His hand to execute His judgment against His people, Isaiah chapter 10 said, do you not think that God still works the same way? I believe that God is at this very moment continuing to judge our nation. We are experiencing the beginnings of the judgment of the Lord. If we don't repent, it will get worse.

We have a call to this nation just as Isaiah had. It's not a popular message, but it was not a popular message 2,800 years ago when Isaiah spoke it, nor was it 2,500 years ago when Jeremiah spoke it. The people did not want to hear what Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel had to say. They wanted what were called soothsayers, false prophets who would come and say, "Peace, peace, peace, everything's okay."

There are many prognosticators in our day saying, "Peace, peace, everything's okay. The Dow Jones is above 10,000. Everything's good. Housing starts are up more in March than the month before, the best in three years, and oh, everything's on the rise." It's all good. But peace, peace, there is no peace. Unless our nation repents, the judgment of God will become more intense, like birth pangs upon a woman—stronger, more intense, with less time in between them.

Isn't it interesting that a week from tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer, which George Washington, our first president, proclaimed as a national day of prayer and fasting? Abraham Lincoln did the same thing in 1863, I believe it was. Just about every president since Abraham Lincoln has done the same thing. However, a judge in a court in Wisconsin just two weeks ago ruled that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. This is a sign of the times.

Oh, that we would call out to the Lord in repentance! That we would heed the line upon line, the line upon line, the precept upon precept, the Word of God. It may be redundant and repetitious, but it is still His Word. Make sure that we heed it.

That we learn it, that we memorize it, but we don't leave it dormant in our hearts. We must proclaim it wherever we go. Amen?

Let's stand and pray. Father, Your word can be heavy, but Lord, I pray that You would instruct us by Your Spirit to be those who grapple with Your word. Help us to study to show ourselves approved unto You, not ashamed, rightly dividing Your word of truth.

Lord, I pray that every day of the week, every day of the year, You would stir us by Your Spirit to be those who study it line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little. May Your word be to us more necessary than our daily food, and like Jeremiah, may Your word burn in us like a fire that we cannot help but speak it.

Your word is like a fire. Your word is like a threshing sledge, a hammer that breaks the mountains in pieces. Your word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. It cuts deep. To the newborn baby Christian, Your word is like pure milk, but as we grow, it becomes like solid food and meat.

Lord, it is that which sustains us, that which sanctifies us, and that which saves us. Help us to be those who rely upon what You've revealed and spoken to us. Even though this world may look at us as crazy, fundamentalist Bible thumpers, it was no different 2,800 years ago. It was no different during the time of John Wesley when they called him a Bible bigot.

Help us to stand upon Your word and declare it. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.