The Lord Will Judge Samaria, 1-13

28:1 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards is doomed,
the withering flower, its beautiful splendor,
situated at the head of a rich valley,
the crown of those overcome with wine.

The…crown of Ephraim – Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel/Ephraim.  It fell in 721.

According to Chester, chapters 28-33 contain a series of messages, each beginning with the word, ‘Woe…’ (Isa 28:1; 29:1, 15; 30:1; 31:1; 33:1).

‘In a single paragraph Isaiah epitomizes the warnings of Amos to this pleasure-loving, drink-sodden city (cf. Am. 2:12; 4:1; 6:6).’ (Kidner, NBC)

28:2 Look, the sovereign master sends a strong, powerful one.
With the force of a hailstorm or a destructive windstorm,
with the might of a driving, torrential rainstorm,
he will knock that crown to the ground with his hand.
28:3 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards
will be trampled underfoot.
28:4 The withering flower, its beautiful splendor,
situated at the head of a rich valley,
will be like an early fig before harvest—
as soon as someone notices it,
he grabs it and swallows it.

v4 describes the northern kingdom in picture-postcard terms (Chester) only to predict that the enemy (Assyria) will rip through it like a violent storm (v2).

Chester comments:

‘The media love to show before-and-after photographs when hurricanes and floods have taken place. That’s what Isaiah is doing in these verses. Israel is full of national pride and self-confidence. But it’s misplaced. It’s flimsy. They’re sitting in a garden shed as the hurricane descends and the floods arise. They trust in their own strength. But they will not stand.’

28:5 At that time the LORD who commands armies will become a beautiful crown
and a splendid diadem for the remnant of his people.
28:6 He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions,
and strength to those who defend the city from attackers.
28:7 Even these men stagger because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer—
priests and prophets stagger because of beer,
they are confused because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer;
they stagger while seeing prophetic visions,
they totter while making legal decisions.
28:8 Indeed, all the tables are covered with vomit;
no place is untouched.
28:9 Who is the LORD trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining a message?
Those just weaned from milk!
Those just taken from their mother’s breast!
28:10 Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there.

v5f – Strength and protection comes to those who trust in the Lord, not to those who trust in alliances with ungodly powers.

These men stagger because of wine – Their sight is blurred, their thinking confused, their movements uncoordinated.  Why would people listen to such voices, and ignore the sure word of the Lord (Isaiah seems to be asking)?  But, says Chester,

‘this is what people prefer because they don’t want to be confronted with God. People don’t want to listen to God’s word. They’ve closed their eyes and put their fingers in their ears. They prefer manmade rules to God’s offer of salvation (Isa 29:13-14; see Mark 7:6-7 and 1 Corinthians 1:19).’

Isaiah 30:10f records the people as saying:

“Don’t relate messages to us about what is right!
Tell us nice things,
relate deceptive messages.
30:11 Turn aside from the way,
stray off the path.
Remove from our presence the Holy One of Israel.”

As Chester says, Christians can feel under pressure to say only ‘nice things’.  People do not want to hear, ‘Jesus is the only way’; ‘We must all give an account to God’; ‘Those who reject God will suffer eternal consequences’.  But it is perfectly reasonable – loving, indeed – to warn people that their house is on fire, or that their boat is sinking, or that they are suffering from a terrible illness, especially when rescue is readily available.  Let the church make the gospel as simply and and easy as possible for unbelievers, but no simpler or easier than that.  Let church members not get so caught up with being busy that they tune out God’s voice and neglect to spend time in his presence.

Who is the Lord trying to teach? – lit. ‘he’.  There is some uncertainly about whether it is the prophet who is asking these questions in v9, or the people who are giving a sarcastic response to the prophet’s message.

A syllable here, a syllable there – Roughly equivalent (says Kidner, NBC) to our derisive, ‘Blah, blah!’

Webb comments:

‘Isaiah will have nothing of the currently fashionable separation of public and private morality, with its corollary that the private lives of public figures are entirely their own affair, for which they should not be called to account. Nor, at a later time, would John the Baptist. That doughty warrior lost his head for confronting a powerful political figure with the truth about his private conduct.  Jesus, too, humanly speaking, sealed his fate by his uncompromising exposure of the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders of his day.’

28:11 For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue
he will speak to these people.

As the following verses make clear, it is the Lord who is speaking, but through the foreign tongue of the Assyrian invaders.  They will confirm that it is the Lord who has decreed their defeat.

These foeign tongues ‘are not God’s greeting to a believing congregation but his rebuke to an unbelieving one.’ (Kidner, NBC).  See 1Cor 14:21.

Chester notes:

‘The language spoken on the streets of their towns will be Assyrian, and it will be coming from the lips of an invading army. How’s your Assyrian? Isaiah is saying, in effect. Because that’s what you’re going to be hearing.‘

28:12 In the past he said to them,
“This is where security can be found.
Provide security for the one who is exhausted!
This is where rest can be found.”
But they refused to listen.
28:13 So the LORD’s word to them will sound like
meaningless gibberish,
senseless babbling,
a syllable here, a syllable there.

Now it is the word of the Lord himself, spoken through the prophet, that is being referred to.  But it will be regarded as gibberish, and will have no effect on the people.

As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk,
and be injured, ensnared, and captured.

The Lord Will Judge Jerusalem, 14-29

28:14 Therefore, listen to the LORD’s word,
you who mock,
you rulers of these people
who reside in Jerusalem!
28:15 For you say,
“We have made a treaty with death,
with Sheol we have made an agreement.

You…who reside in Jerusalem! – Jerusalem was, of course the captial city of the southern kingdom of Judah.

Sheol is the underworld, the abode of the dead.

The treaty in question is, perhaps the intention to form an alliance with Egypt (Isa 30:7; 31:1-9).

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by
it will not reach us.
For we have made a lie our refuge,
we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.”
28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the LORD, says:
“Look, I am laying a stone in Zion,
an approved stone,
set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation.
The one who maintains his faith will not panic.

An approved stone – Traditionally, ‘a tested stone’, but the idea is that it has passed the test.

28:17 I will make justice the measuring line,
fairness the plumb line;
hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge,
the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.
28:18 Your treaty with death will be dissolved;
your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by,
you will be overrun by it.
28:19 Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you;
indeed, every morning it will sweep by,
it will come through during the day and the night.”
When this announcement is understood,
it will cause nothing but terror.
28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself.

The bed is too short to stretch out on – ‘You have made your bed; now you must lie in it.  But it will give you no comfort.

28:21 For the LORD will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim,
he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon,
to accomplish his work,
his peculiar work,
to perform his task,
his strange task.

The Lord’s ‘peculiar work’, his ‘strange task’ is to turn his hand of judgement against his own people.

As Webb remarks:

‘A parent who acts in this way does so with an eye to the future – to the good that will come if what is hard but necessary is done now.’

28:22 So now, do not mock,
or your chains will become heavier!
For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,
from the sovereign master, the LORD who commands armies, against the entire land.
28:23 Pay attention and listen to my message!
Be attentive and listen to what I have to say!
28:24 Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time?
Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground?
28:25 Once he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter the seed of the caraway plant,
sow the seed of the cumin plant,
and plant the wheat, barley, and grain in their designated places?
28:26 His God instructs him;
he teaches him the principles of agriculture.
28:27 Certainly caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge,
nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed.
Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick,
and cumin seed with a flail.
28:28 Grain is crushed,
though one certainly does not thresh it forever.
The wheel of one’s wagon rolls over it,
but his horses do not crush it.
28:29 This also comes from the LORD who commands armies,
who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom.

The point of the parable is to explain that, just as the farmer changes his methods according to the nature of the crop and the season of the year, so God adjusts his manner of working in history according to the prevailing moral and spiritual circumstances.  But in neither case is it haphazard – both work to a plan and purpose.

But there is a further point to the parable – the farmer works wisely because his God has taught him to do so.  The proud, foolish leaders in Jerusalem should have been open to God’s wisdom and guidance.