Scripture Reading: Isa. 28; Isa. 29; Matt. 15:7-9; 1 Cor. 14:21; 2 Kings 17:3-18; 2 Sam. 5:20; 1 Chron. 14:11; Josh. 10:10, 12; 1 Chron. 14:16; Heb. 7:26; Acts 3:22-23; 1 Cor. 1:24, 30; John 1:17; 4:23-24
This message deals with the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom is often represented by Ephraim, and the southern kingdom by Jerusalem. In chapter twenty-eight we see that Jehovah's judgment over Ephraim's drunkards issues in Jehovah's restoration and ushers in the trustworthy Christ. In chapter twenty-nine Jehovah's judgment on the hypocrisy of Jerusalem's worshippers issues in the restoration. Before we turn to these chapters, I would like to give a word to help us to understand them.
According to the New Testament, when Christ came, He came with reality (John 1:14, 17) and wisdom (Matt. 11:19; 1 Cor. 1:24, 30). With the hypocritical worship spoken of in Isaiah 29, there is vanity but no reality, blindness but no wisdom. Through His incarnation Christ brought to us the very reality of the universe — the Triune God, the Divine Trinity, embodied in a person, Jesus Christ. If we removed the Divine Trinity from the universe, it would become nothing. In the entire universe, only the Divine Trinity is real, and the Divine Trinity has been embodied in a man named Jesus. This man came with God; thus, He is Immanuel. With this Immanuel we have the universal reality. When we have this reality, our eyes, our ears, and our understanding are opened, and we become very understanding and wise. We have wisdom. This wisdom is the embodied reality — the Divine Trinity in Christ — in our realization. When we realize the embodied Divine Trinity in Christ, this brings us wisdom. Then we have both reality and wisdom. I would ask you to keep this word in mind as we now turn to Isaiah 28 and 29.
In 28:1-4, 7-15, and 17-29 we have Jehovah's punishment over Ephraim's drunkards.
The drunkards reel with wine and stagger from liquor (v. 7a). The priest and the prophet stagger from liquor; they are swallowed up with wine, and they reel in their visions and totter in their judgments (v. 7b). All the tables are full of vomit and filth; no place is clean (v. 8).
Isaiah 28:1 says, "Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim/And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, / Which is at the head of the fat valley of those who are overcome by wine." Verse 2 tells us that the Lord has someone who is strong and mighty, as a hailstorm and a tempest of destruction, as a storm of mighty overflowing waters. I believe that this someone was first the king of Assyria and then the king of Babylon. The proud crown will be trodden under foot; and the fading flower, like the first-ripe fig before the summer, will be swallowed up by one who sees it (vv. 3-4).
First, Ephraim was bothered by the foreign tongue of the Gentile invaders (v. 11; cf. 1 Cor. 14:21). Those who invaded Ephraim spoke in their own tongue, and to Ephraim this was not a glory but a shame.
Second, Ephraim was bothered by Jehovah's rules and statutes scattered repeatedly in pieces (Isa. 28:10). These rules and statutes were parts of the law. Verse 13 says, "Therefore Jehovah's word to them will be:/Rule upon rule, rule upon rule;/Line upon line, line upon line;/Here a little, there a little;/That they may go and stumble backwards,/ And be broken, snared, and taken." The Lord had said to them, "This is rest; give rest to the weary;/And, This is repose" (v. 12). If they had kept all the parts of the law, they would have had rest and repose. God wanted His people to have rest and have repose, but they would not hear His word.
Jehovah destroyed the northern kingdom by the Assyrian army (vv. 14-15, 17-20, 22; 2 Kings 17:3-18). This was done as a warning to Jerusalem.
Jehovah reacted to fight against the Assyrians, who had destroyed Israel excessively. We are told that He will rise as on Mount Perazim (Isa. 28:21a; 2 Sam. 5:20; 1 Chron. 14:11) and will be agitated as in the valley of Gibeon (Josh. 10:10, 12; 1 Chron. 14:16). Jehovah will arise and be agitated to do His deed, His strange deed, and to do His work, His most different work (Isa. 28:21b).
Finally, in Isaiah 28:23-29 we see that Jehovah, as a farmer, dealt with them as His crops by different utensils according to His extraordinary counsel and His great wisdom. A wise farmer has different kinds of utensils. God is a wise Farmer, and He knows how to deal with His crops. He deals with one person in a certain way, and He deals with another person in a different way. Using different utensils, God dealt with Isaiah in one way, with Jeremiah in another way, and with Daniel in yet another way. He has many ways and many utensils.
Jehovah's punishment of Ephraim issued in His restoration.
In the day of restoration, Jehovah will become a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people (v. 5).
Jehovah will become a spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment and strength to those who turn away the battle at the gate (v. 6).
Jehovah's punishment over Ephraim's drunkards will also usher in the trustworthy Christ.
The trustworthy Christ is a stone laid by the Lord Jehovah in Zion as a foundation, a tested stone. Because Christ has been tested, He can be a foundation (v. 16a).
The trustworthy Christ is also a precious cornerstone as a foundation firmly established (v. 16b). In Matthew 21:42 the Lord Jesus refers to Himself as the cornerstone. Furthermore, both Paul and Peter speak of Christ as a cornerstone. In Ephesians 2:20 Paul says that in building up the two parts of God's building, the Jews and the Gentiles, Christ Jesus Himself is the cornerstone. In Acts 4:11 Peter says, "This is the stone which was despised by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone." Later, in his first Epistle, Peter says, "To whom coming, a living stone, having been rejected by men, but with God chosen, held in honor" (2:4).
Isaiah 28:16c says that he who believes will not hasten away.
In contrast to the priest and the prophet described in verse 7, the trustworthy Christ is the faithful High Priest and the trustworthy Prophet to God's redeemed (Heb. 7:26; Acts 3:22-23).
Chapter twenty-nine reveals that Jehovah's judgment on the hypocrisy of the worshippers in Jerusalem (called "Ariel," meaning "a lion of El," as a symbolic name, and representing the southern kingdom of Judah) issues in the restoration.
The northern kingdom of Israel was full of drunkards, and the southern kingdom of Judah was full of hypocritical worshippers. Year to year the feasts ran their course without reality (29:1b). The hypocritical worshippers drew near to the Lord with their mouths, and with their lips they honored Him, yet they removed their hearts far from Him, and their fear for the Lord was a commandment of men merely learned (v. 13). What they received was merely the commandment of men, and what they practiced in their worship was altogether false.
This kind of worship continued until the time of Christ. Therefore, in Matthew 15, which is a fulfillment of Isaiah 29, the Lord Jesus dealt with the hypocritical Jewish worshippers (vv. 1-14). In Matthew 15:8 and 9 He quoted Isaiah 29:13 to indicate that the people were worshipping God in the way of falsehood.
In John 4 the Lord Jesus again dealt with the matter of hypocritical worship. When He spoke to the Samaritan woman about her husband, she immediately asked a question concerning worship, saying, "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men must worship" (v. 20). In His reply, the Lord Jesus said, "An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and reality; for the Father seeks such to worship Him" (v. 23). To be sure, the Samaritan woman was not a genuine worshipper but a hypocritical worshipper. So the Lord Jesus adjusted her and indicated that she needed to receive Him as the reality of her worship of God.
In Isaiah 29:1-12, 14-16 we see Jehovah's judgment on the hypocrisy of the worshippers in Jerusalem.
According to verses 2 through 8, Jehovah will distress Israel. The nations will fight against her and her stronghold.
Verse 9 says that they are drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with liquor. Jehovah has poured out upon them a spirit of deep sleep and has shut their eyes, the prophets; and their heads, the seers, He has covered (v. 10). All the vision will be to them like the words of a book that has been sealed (vv. 11-12).
Verse 14 tells us that the Lord will do something wondrous with them, something wondrously marvelous; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of those who understand will be hidden. Verses 15 and 16 go on to say, "Woe to those who hide deeply/Their counsel from Jehovah,/And whose deeds are in the dark/And who say, Who sees us? and, Who knows us?/You turn things upside down!/Shall the potter be considered to be like the clay,/ That what is made should say to him who made it, He did not make me,/Or what is formed should say to him who formed it, He has no understanding?" These verses reveal that the hypocritical worshippers were in darkness and were without wisdom. They had even turned things upside down.
Jehovah's judgment on the hypocrisy of Jerusalem's worshippers issues in the restoration (vv. 17-24).
In the restoration, Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be considered to be a forest (v. 17). This indicates that Lebanon will be flourishing.
The deaf will hear the words of the book, and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see (v. 18).
The afflicted will increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor of mankind will exult in the Holy One of Israel (v. 19).
He who terrorizes will cease to be, and the scorner will be consumed, and all who watch for iniquity will be cut off (v. 20).
Those who have erred in spirit will come to understand, and the murmurers will learn teaching (v. 24). This means that they will acquire wisdom.
The house of Jacob will not be ashamed, nor will his face turn pale (v. 22). They will sanctify the name of Jehovah, the Holy One of Jacob (v. 23). This means that they will point to, in the distance, the coming Christ as the wisdom and reality to God's redeemed people (1 Cor. 1:24, 30; John 1:17b) that they may be the true worshippers of God (John 4:23-24).
If we are clean, clear, and full of understanding, we will realize that the situation among humankind today is of two aspects. First, everyone is drunk. People are drunk with today's modern fashion and style. They do not love the Lord but love other things. Second, people are not genuine, not true, but false. This is the situation of fallen humankind. Even among God's elect drunkenness and hypocrisy may be present. If we do not pray with a watchful spirit, these two things may enter into the church life. God's people may become drunken by loving things other than the Lord, and they may be hypocritical in their praying and testifying. Whenever this kind of situation invades God's elect, He must come in to exercise His judgment upon the drunkards and upon hypocrisy in worship.
