Isaiah 28:9-15, The Bed is Too Short

Isaiah 28-29 goes together.  The subject has to do with the unwillingness of God’s people to seriously consider His word(s) to them.  They won’t listen.  They don’t learn.  Therefore, they have made “lies their refuge.”  They have crafted a philosophy of life apart from the word of God.  It is a bed that is too short and blankets that are too narrow.  That’s the gist of it.  Let’s see it in a little more detail.

·       28:1-6: The passage begins with a “woe” upon the “crown of pride,” the drunkards of Ephraim.  He is referring to the priest and prophet (v7) who have erred through intoxicating drink.  The “error” is specifically that they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.”  In vs. 5-6 the LORD promised that “in that (future) day” He will be the “crown of glory” for the remnant of His people.

·       28:9-15: The teaching of the drunken priest and prophet is like teaching infants.  It must be slow, deliberate, and in very small bites.  The LORD promises a time to come when He will speak to these people through someone that speaks in a totally different tongue (a promise fulfilled in the New Testament, 1 Cor. 14:21, referring to “speaking in tongues” in the early church).  That is how “dense” the people were in Isaiah’s day as well as in Christ’s day.  In the end, their reluctance to hear God’s word means they “made lies our refuge.”

·       28:16-22: Again, the LORD makes a promise, that He will “lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.”  This is speaking of Christ, of course ((Mt. 21:42), and involves both His incarnation and His return in glory to rule the earth.  He will be the answer to the “short bed” and “narrow blanket” that Ephraim tried to use.  Connected with this promise is the promise of “a destruction determined even upon the whole earth.”

·       28:23-29: Then the prophet pleads with them to give ear to the teaching of God “who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in speech.”

·       29:1-8: Lest you think this is just for the Northern Kingdom Israel, who were dispersed during Isaiah’s lifetime, a woe is pronounced on Ariel (meaning “Lion of God,” a name for Jerusalem).  Judah too is an “unsatisfied” people, like someone who dreams of eating food and awakens hungry, or of drinking and wakes up thirsty.

·       29:9-16: God has caused their prophets to be in a deep sleep.  Thus, their message is like a book that is sealed.  No one can understand it.  The reason for that is that the people are hypocrites, having a religion for “show” but not one of true fear of the LORD.  Thus the LORD also promised to do a “marvelous work” in their midst (like the “stone laid in Zion” in the previous chapter).

·       29:17-24: He then promises, “in that (future) day,” that the time will come when people will listen, including the LORD’s people Israel.  “These also who erred n spirit will come to understanding, and those who complained will learn doctrine.”

Why do we share these things?  “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”  We need to wake up to this!  We must be much more serious about hearing the Word of God.  Our Bible Studies are often very shallow. Our Bible reading very light.  We waste the best years of our children’s upbringing on sports and video games rather than on the memorization of Scripture.