Isaiah Chapter 28

At a Glance

  • The middle of the chapter shifts to a pedagogical approach: God speaks in a controlled, didactic cadence, teaching line upon line, precept upon precept.
  • The chapter culminates in a sober critique: because the people refuse the word of the Lord, the word itself becomes a stumbling block—a law pressed into stone that no longer guides.
  • Historical & Literary Context.
  • Isaiah 28 sits in the same prophetic voice that addresses Israel’s leadership and their misdirected trust.
  • - The danger of pride and reliance on human strength: Ephraim’s beauty and stability are undermined by intoxication and deceit.

CHAPTER REFERENCE

Chapter Overview

Isaiah 28 is a sharply composed, warning oracle aimed especially at the Northern Kingdom (Ephraim) and its leaders, but it speaks to all who place trust in human cleverness or ritual religiosity rather than in God. The chapter begins with pronouncing woes on the proud crown and the drunkards of Ephraim—images of beauty that has faded due to self-reliance and excess. The Lord promises to bring down the proud: He will act with a mighty, storm-like intervention, overturning the social and religious structures that rely on prestige or intoxication rather than truth. Yet this same God is not merely a destroyer; He becomes a crown of glory for the remnant—the faithful who turn back to Him.

The middle of the chapter shifts to a pedagogical approach: God speaks in a controlled, didactic cadence, teaching line upon line, precept upon precept. This “stammering lips and another tongue” motif signals that God’s message will come through unexpected means and to a people whose spiritual senses are dulled by indulgence and denial. The text critiques the leaders who prophecy deceit and the people who refuse persistent truth, highlighting a pedagogy of disciplined instruction that should lead to rest and refreshing, yet the people persist in obstinacy.

The chapter culminates in a sober critique: because the people refuse the word of the Lord, the word itself becomes a stumbling block—a law pressed into stone that no longer guides. Even as judgment looms, the chapter seeds hope for a remnant who will receive and live by God’s pedagogy. It is a call to transformation: the shift from self-confident religiosity to a humble, obedient faith that rests in God’s promises rather than in the projections of human wisdom.

Historical & Literary Context

Isaiah 28 sits in the same prophetic voice that addresses Israel’s leadership and their misdirected trust. Likely composed in the late 8th century BCE, the chapter uses acerbic oracles and concrete metaphors (drunkenness, a “crown” that fades, and a pedagogy of instruction) to critique leaders who “lie forward” by promoting superficial religiosity. The overarching genre is prophetic satire: warnings against arrogance, warnings against misdirected reliance on alliances and elaborate ritual, and the promise of God’s corrective discipline. The chapter also foreshadows the future movement of God’s people from a state of obstinacy toward a more receptive posture to divine instruction—an arc that resonates throughout Isaiah as the people face exile and eventual return. The pastoral aim is to wake up the people to the danger of spiritual intoxication and to invite a reorientation toward God’s governance.

Key Themes

- The danger of pride and reliance on human strength: Ephraim’s beauty and stability are undermined by intoxication and deceit.

- God’s corrective pedagogy: line upon line, precept upon precept; the need for disciplined instruction and humility before God.

- The shift from spectacle to substance: outward appearances cannot mask inward disobedience; truth requires repentance and faithful listening.

- The promise to the remnant: although judgment is near, a faithful remnant will be honored as a crown of glory and source of strength for the people.

- The risk of deceit among leaders: the priests and prophets who err in vision highlight the danger of leadership divorced from truth.

Modern Application

For contemporary readers, Isaiah 28 challenges us to examine where we place our trust. Do we lean on political power, clever rhetoric, or flashy religious performance rather than on God’s authoritative word? The vivid critique of “drunkenness” and “crowned beauty” can translate to our own forms of spiritual intoxication—hedonistic distractions, career-driven security, or religious consumerism that pacifies conscience. The chapter’s emphasis on “line upon line” invites a disciplined devotion: engage with Scripture steadily, soak in God’s truth, and allow it to shape decisions, ethics, and habits.

The warning about deceit among leaders is timely in any era: seek accountability, test doctrine by Scripture, and value integrity over popularity. The remnant’s hope offers a pattern for hopeful resilience: even when majority culture resists truth, faithful communities can become salt and light by embracing God’s pedagogy, resting in His promises, and turning away from dependence on “the strength of Pharaoh” or other false refuges. Practically, this means cultivating humility, reverence for Scripture, and a posture of listening—allowing God to correct, refine, and redirect.

- Isaiah 5 (the vineyard and indictment of pride)

- Isaiah 6 (call and declaration of holy truth)

- Romans 9–11 (natural branches and remnant interpretation)

- 1 Corinthians 1–3 (divine wisdom contrasted with human folly)

Recommended Personas

- Moses (teacher of law, insistence on obedience)

- Jesus (fulfillment of true rest and correction through teaching)

- Paul (theological exhortation on wisdom and weakness)

- Elijah (confrontation of false prophets and idolatry)

Chapter Text

1

Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!

2

Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.

3

The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:

4

And the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.

5

In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,

6

And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.

7

But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.

8

For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.

9

Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10

For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

11

For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.

12

To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

13

But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

14

Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.

15

Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

16

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

17

Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.

18

And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.

19

From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

20

For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.

21

For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.

22

Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.

23

Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.

24

Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

25

When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?

26

For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

27

For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.

28

Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.

29

This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

Discuss This Chapter with Biblical Personas

Explore Isaiah Chapter 28 with Biblical figures who can provide unique perspectives grounded in Scripture.

Ask Apostle PaulAsk MosesAsk King DavidAsk Jesus Christ
← Isaiah 27Isaiah 29 →