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.
In chapter 28-35, Isaiah will show the results of King Ahaz's treaty with Egypt. King Ahaz should have trusted Jehovah to protect Judah from the Assyrians. Instead, King Ahaz trusted in Egypt.
In verses 1-6, Isaiah looked into the future and saw destruction coming to the Northern Kingdom. Ephraim was a metaphor for the entire ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom. The splendid crown was a metaphor for Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was a kingdom plagued by drunkenness. They were beginning to fade like a withering flower. Samaria was situated in the hills, so it was a very fruitful valley. Samaria was one of the most beautiful valleys in the world. King Ahab and Jezebel murdered Naboth in order to live in this valley.
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.
The powerful windstorm which will come upon the Northern Kingdom would be Assyria. Assyria will knock Israel’s crown of drunkenness off of her head.
28:3 The splendid crown of Ephraim’s drunkards will be trampled underfoot.
Assyria would trample the Northern Kingdom, but afterwards, Assyria would be trampled by the Babylonian Kingdom.
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.
The Northern Kingdom would be like the first ripe fig of the summer. The first ripe fig was a delicacy. It bloomed in June and was quickly devoured. The rest of the crop bloomed in August. The Northern Kingdom would be devoured quickly by Assyria.
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.
“At that time” referred to the Assyrian invasion of the Northern Kingdom. Jehovah is the Commander of the angelic armies. During the Assyrian invasion, there will be a Jewish believing remnant who would see Jehovah as the beautiful crown and the splendid diadem.
28:6 He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions, and strength to those who defend the city from attackers.
Jehovah would give discernment to the Jewish remnant during the Assyrian invasion. Although the Northern Kingdom would fall to the Assyrians during the Great Tribulation, God ouldl give some of the Jewish remnant supernatural fighting skills before the nation fell.
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.
In verses 1-6, Isaiah looked forward to the Assyrian invasion of the Northern Kingdom. In verses 7-13, he looked forward to the Assyrian invasion of the Southern Kingdom (Judah). The priests and prophets of the Southern Kingdom were following the same course as that of the Northern Kingdom. They were becoming so drunk, that they could not perform their duties.
28:8 Indeed, all the tables are covered with vomit; no place is untouched.
No one could even sit at the tables of the priests and prophets, because they were filled with vomit from their drunkenness.
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!
The drunken leaders begin to mock Isaiah. They expressed that Isaiah does not need to teach them like little children who were just weaned from the milk by their mother’s breast.
28:10 Indeed, they will hear meaningless gibberish, senseless babbling, a syllable here, a syllable there. (כִּ֣י צַ֤ו לָצָו֙ צַ֣ו לָצָ֔ו קַ֥ו לָקָ֖ו קַ֣ו לָקָ֑ו זְעֵ֥יר שָׁ֖ם זְעֵ֥יר שָֽׁם׃)
The Judah leaders began to imitate Isaiah by uttering unintelligible one syllable baby words. When isaiah gave a divine prophecy from God, then the Jewish leaders would respond by mocking Isaiah with baby talks, such as "goo-goo-gah-gah". The point of their mocking was that Isaiah’s prophecies were nothing but goo-goo-gah-gah talk for nursing babies.
28:11 For with mocking lips and a foreign tongue he will speak to these people.
Isaiah predicted that very soon God would speak to Judah through the unintelligible language of their Assyrian conquerors. The language of the Assyrians would sound like the mocking babble which was directed at Isaiah. The Apostle Paul quoted this verse to show that tongues was a sign of rebuke for Jewish unbelievers. Tongues was never a sign for the personal edification of the one speaking. It was also not a sign for unbelievers. When the Jews would later hear the speaking of tongues in the church, then they need to understand that they were about to be judged. Their judgment was the Temple destruction of 70 A.D.
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.
In the past, Judah found security under Jehovah’s protection. The Gentile nations were beasts who wanted to devour Israel, but God placed a hedge of protection around her. In the future, God will remove the hedge of protection. Judah would find no peace. There is no peace for the wicked. There is no peace without God.
28:13 So the Lord’s word to them will sound like meaningless gibberish, senseless babbling, a syllable here, a syllable there. As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, and be injured, ensnared, and captured.
Since Judah called Isaiah’s prophecy babbling, then Isaiah predicted that the Assyrians would babble to her instead. Assyria would also injure, ensnare, and capture Judah. Then, Judah would believe Isaiah’s message.
28:14 Therefore, listen to the Lord’s word, you who mock, you rulers of these people who reside in Jerusalem!
Isaiah had a special message for the leaders and prophets who were mocking his prophetic messages.
28:15 For you say, “We have made a treaty with death, with Sheol we have made an agreement. 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.”
Isaiah looked forward to the Great Tribulation. During the Great Tribulation, Israel will sign a peace treaty with the Antichrist. The Jewish leaders will think that they are signing a peace treaty with the Antichrist. However, they will actually sign a treaty of death. They will sign a treaty with the devil himself.
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.
The stone in Zion is the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will become the cornerstone of the foundation of the Millennial Kingdom. All of the Jewish believing remnant who believe in Him will not panic over the events of the Great Tribulation.
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.
During the Millennial Kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ will rule in rigtheousness. He will purge sin and the sinners out of the world.
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.
Israel will sign a peace treaty with the Antichrist. This will be a covenant of death. The Antichrist will break his treaty with Israel. The Antichrist will invade Jerusalem with a military invasion and begin killing Jews.
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,
The horrors of the Great Tribulation will sweep by the Jews both day and night.
28:20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself.
If the bed is too short, then one cannot receive proper rest. If the blanket is too narrow, then one freezes at night. The Jews living in the Great Tribulation will not receive any rest.
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.
David supernaturally defeated the Philistines at Mount Perazim. Joshua supernaturally defeated the Canaanites at the Valley of Gibeon. The Jews will also supernaturally defeat their enemies during the Great Tribulation.
Jehovah is a God of love, but He also judges sin. Judging sin is God’s strange work. It is not what He prefers to do, but He will discipline His children when they need it. God's strange work of the Great Tribulation is the breaking of the seven seals (Revelation 4-5). The breaking of the seals will result in the destruction of the earth, the removal of the Antichrist, the purging of evil men off of this earth, and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom.
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.
Isaiah warned the Jewish leaders not to mock him anymore, because their mocking the Word of God will turn against them. It will cause them a heavier enslavement in a foreign land. Jehovah is sovereign over all of world history. He is the Commander of the angelic army. He also controls all human armies on the earth. He has decreed that Judah will be destroyed.
28:23 Pay attention and listen to my message! Be attentive and listen to what I have to say!
Isaiah asked these mockers to pay close attention to what he said. Isaiah was going to use a parable to explain their dangerous situation.
28:24 Does a farmer just keep on plowing at planting time? Does he keep breaking up and harrowing his ground?
The wise farmer plows his field just as Jehovah will plow Judah. It is painful, but the plowing is only for a short time.
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?
After the painful plowing of Judah, Jehovah will begin to plant seed which will grow and produce a multiplicity of crops.
28:26 His God instructs him; he teaches him the principles of agriculture.
Israel must go through painful plowing, then she will be ready for sowing. The purpose of agriculture is to teach Judah how God will plow them and then plant seed which will produce plentiful crops.
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.
Isaiah gave a second parable to the drunkard leaders of Judah. Caraway seed is not threshed or crushed, but it is beaten with a stick to soften it. Jehovah must beat Judah with a stick to soften her.
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.
Grain is crushed, but it is not threshed forever. Judah will be crushed like grain so that they can grow.
28:29 This also comes from the Lord who commands armies, who gives supernatural guidance and imparts great wisdom.
Jehovah is the one who commands the angelic armies. During the Great Tribulation, the believing Jewish remnant will be given supernatural guidance and wisdom.