Perhaps by now you know from introduction in my previous post that the complainant in this case is the LORD. His indictment of leaders is not my complaint for today, but that of the prophet of Judah in the eighth century BC. Therefore Isaiah approaches these leaders, scoffers who rule Jerusalem with warnings from the LORD.
Scoffers who rule …
Our application, of course, may call the question to our own nations:
Are our leaders also scoffers who rule with a bed too short?
Let’s return to excerpts from the LORD’s rebuke from where we began previously. (You may follow various translations, including Hebrew, on the link below.)
Scoffers who rule Israel
Isaiah 28:
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers
who rule this people in Jerusalem.
15 For you said, “We have made a covenant with Death,
and we have an agreement with Sheol;
when the overwhelming catastrophe passes through,
it will not touch us,
because we have made falsehood our refuge
and have hidden behind treachery.”
Did the catastrophe pass over the Jewish leaders of Isaiah’s day?
Again, as I pointed previously in our chronology of Israel, it did not. The Jews were overrun by Assyria in that day, as Empires rise and fall even unto this day. So what does the Lord promise through Isaiah to a people about to be taken from their homes to a foreign land?
A Cornerstone in Zion
If you do not already know it, you will find it helpful here to understand some significance of Zion to Hebrew history.
צִיּוֹן
Zion (153x), Sion (1x). Zion = “parched place,” a “sunny mountain,” a fortress, the southern and higher hill (of the LORD) upon which Jerusalem is built. On it set Mount Moriah, where the Temple was built and the LORD worshiped. It is used for the holy “city of David” specifically and for all of Jerusalem in general, especially by the prophets: Isaiah 47x, Jeremiah 32x and six other prophets 30x.
16a [NASB] Therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
This from the LORD, of course, is prophecy. The question we must understand is not only when, but the identity of this symbolic cornerstone of the Temple.
Who IS this costly cornerstone of Israel’s future? And what makes this Savior of Israel so costly to the LORD?
The one who believes will remain anchored to the Cornerstone of the heavenly Temple, established with justice as it’s measuring line and righteousness as its level.
Yet if you do not hold to this cornerstone, a stumbling block to scoffers who rule without guidance from God — if you support godless scoffers who rule — then you will stumble as well on the cornerstone of righteousness. For like those you manipulate, you cannot hide on the day of your accounting before the LORD.
What does Isaiah predict?
Isn’t this the same prophet we hear quoted every year in this season leading up to remembering a birth of righteousness, the Cornerstone in Zion that rebuilds the Temple of the LORD for all time?
Yes, Isaiah prophesies not only the fall of Jerusalem in their near future, but the coming of the Messiah of Israel born some seven centuries later.
Consequence for Scoffers Who Rule
Have you leaders been hiding behind lies of convenience?
“Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies…
Can you really hide the truth of your sins forever?
“And the waters will overflow the secret place.
The LORD and others, even your enemies, will find you out.
“and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through
you will be beaten down by it.
19 [CSB] Every time it passes through,
it will carry you away;
it will pass through every morning—
every day and every night.
Only terror will cause you
to understand the message.
NO PLACE TO HIDE FROM THE LORD GOD!
Hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers who rule any of God’s people anywhere.
Isaiah’s imagery shows the futility of trying to keep your sin from God, for it will be shown to others.
Perhaps you will take this warning as your one and only opportunity to repent of your sin. Maybe just one of our scoffers who rule will humbly return to fear of the Lord, our heavenly Father.
The Bed too short
Do you recall when you were a child how you thought that you could hide from your father under the bed or from fearful noises under the covers.
Indeed, the bed is too short to stretch out on,
Isaiah 28:20 CSB
and its cover too small to wrap up in.
Isaiah illustrates that leaders seeking rest from any but God as laughable at best, but futile in any instance. Judah was burdened with threats from and alliances with other leaders. They sought rest from war and peace with the world flowing through their porous defences.
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28 NLT
Once Isaiah mentions their frustration of trying to sleep on a bed too short (their alliances with other evil leaders) and of remaining of cover of their trust in others, he again proceeds to prophesy what must happen.
Parazim & Gibeon
21 [NASB] For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be stirred up as in the valley of Gibeon,
To do His task, His unusual task,
And to work His work, His extraordinary work.
You scoffers who rule in other places must understand the significance of these places to which Isaiah refers.
So David came to Baal-perazim and defeated them there;
and he said,
“The LORD has broken through my enemies before me
like the breakthrough of waters.”
Therefore he named that place Baal-perazim.
They abandoned their idols there,
so David and his men carried them away.
- 2 Samuel 5:20-21
David, King of a once-united Israel, did not win the land and the people without the help of the LORD!
And there in his victory, David gave thanks to the Lord before the people of the land. Yet before David and following leadership of another revered man of God and giver of the Law [Torah], Joshua also credits the LORD who has taken this land from their enemies.
Joshua 10:10 And the LORD confounded them before Israel, and He slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and pursued them by the way of the ascent of Beth-horon, and struck them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
Warning & Advice to Scoffers Who Rule
Isaiah speaks to scoffers of God. Yet are your ears this day so filled with twisted speech that you do not even understand the significance of his warning?
לוּץ
Scoffers translated from Hebrew luwts holds a pointed meaning. From Strong’s Concordance:
לוּץ lûwts, loots; a primitive root; properly, to make mouths at, i.e. to scoff; hence (from the effort to pronounce a foreign language) to interpret, or (generally) intercede:—ambassador, have in derision, interpreter, make a mock, mocker, scorn(-er, -ful), teacher.
“(from the effort to pronounce a foreign language) to interpret..” Sounds like #media, doesn’t it?
Do you think even in seven-hundred some years before Christ scoffers who rule were any different than those who rule this day in the year of our Lord 2019?
Of course not! These men and women of power: scorn, make mouths at, talk arrogantly; They boast, mock and deride.
Isaiah warns:
22 Now therefore, do not be mockers,
Lest your bonds be made strong…
Shall I mock Isaiah, scripture and the word of the Lord?
(What do you think? Do you, your leaders or even opponents fear your shackles of slavery to lies tightening?)
For I have heard from the Lord God of hosts
Isaiah 28:22b NASB
Of decisive destruction on all the earth.
Decisive destruction on all the earth. It is not the causes for which these ambassadors of hypocrisy which will destroy the earth, the Lord God at a time and place of His Own choosing.
Where’s a leader to hide?
Again, Isaiah’ illustration of the futility of it all.
- 24 Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed?
- Or does he continuously break up and cultivate the soil?
There’s a process here, a plan of the Lord; and you will be a part of it.
- 25 Does he not level its surface
- And sow dill
- scatter cummin
- And plant wheat in rows,
- Barley in its place
- and rye within its area?
God’s ordered ways
26 [CSB] His God teaches him order;
he instructs him.
27 Certainly black cumin is not threshed
with a threshing board,
and a cart wheel is not rolled over the cumin.
But black cumin is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Bread grain is crushed,
but is not threshed endlessly.
Though the wheel of the farmer’s cart rumbles,
his horses do not crush it.
Even a king, prime minister or president in a palace will see the ridicule of the farmer using the wrong tool to accomplish his purpose. Perhaps even a scoffer in Congress, Parliament or leadership claiming the rule of Law will see their own error and return to the Lord.
Woe to the scoffers who rule the worldly cities.
We cannot nearly complete the prophesies of Isaiah today. For if I continue, like Isaiah’s critics you would surely complain:
“Law after law, law after law,
line after line, line after line,
a little here, a little there.”
Therefore in closing I’ll caution US.
Hear the Lord your God, for woe is akin to death. Isaiah uses it more than any other Prophet of the Lord.
Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,
For what he deserves will be done to him. – Isaiah 3:11 NASB
Woe to those who enact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record unjust decisions,So as to deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor of My people of their rights…Now what will you do in the day of punishment,
excerpt: Isaiah 10:1-3 NASB
And in the devastation which will come from afar?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth?
After these warnings to leaders of the nations and specifically Judah, Isaiah warns:
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—
Isaiah 45:9 NASB
An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!
Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
In a time yet to come — neither next Wednesday nor next year — Isaiah shows hope in a day to come and judgment against those who refuse the Way of the Lord, even those who yet deny the Truth Who IS and will judge from the Throne of Heaven, even those scoffers who rule in this life lacking regard for the Life that is to come — the life or the punishment after death.
The LORD Rises Up
Isaiah 33:
Woe, you destroyer never destroyed,
you traitor never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.
2 O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for You.
Blessing or Woe?
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. – Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. – Matthew 5:7
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:10
But woe to you, blind guides… scoffers who rule…
“Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. –Luke 11:46
Woe to the city of blood, totally deceitful, full of plunder, never without prey. – Nahum 3:1
Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;
They will see the land that is very far off.
Isaiah 33:17 NKJV
The Scroll of Isaiah
Luke 4:
17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me
to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”
The words of the Messiah Jesus from the Gospel of Luke 4:21
And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 19:16 NKJV
Herod’s rule as tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea, holds no authority over Judea, ruled by Marcus Pontius Pilatus, Roman prefect (governor) under the emperor Tiberius.