God warned the drunkards but they spewed chunks anyway
Drunkards: Many of us have images of drunkards lying in streets or dark alleyways living useless and empty lives. In this chapter of the Book of Isaiah, the drunkards aren’t homeless people, but God’s priests and prophets. Isaiah was a high-character man of God. He was growing increasingly rare in his day. The Men who were chosen to serve the Lord in his temple at Jerusalem had become shameful disgraces. They spewed their chunks on tables intended for God’s glory.
Read on to see what those supposed men of God were up to.
Isaiah’s warning to everyone
Up to this point, Isaiah’s visions and judgments have spread from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, up to the ten northern tribes, and then back again. His words of correction and warning from the Lord also cast a net of judgment over all the nations of the world. He has pronounced woe upon all the prominent nations of the earth. (Isaiah 13-23) He saw, in a vision, the destruction of the world before Christ renewed it. (Isaiah 24:17-20) He heard the songs of praise in a vision that revealed the establishment of Christ’s kingdom. His visions included the flowing of the nations to Christ’s Kingdom. (Isaiah 25-27)
Following the Ten Tribes
Now in this chapter, twenty-eight, he returns to the sorry spiritual condition of his brethren. They were not living lives of honor in the sight of God. They deserved strong rebuke and they were about to get some more from the prophet. After a brief warning addressed to the ten tribes to the north, he turns to warn about the decaying spiritual condition of Judah and Benjamin. He accused his fellow brethren of following the bad example of those to the north. His strongest words were directed at the leaders, or ‘rulers of Jerusalem.’ Rightfully so, he held them to a higher responsibility for the failing spiritual condition of the people of Judah.
Earlier warnings from Isaiah
Isaiah 28:1 Drunkards of Ephraim
“Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which is on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!”
The “drunkards of Ephraim,” or the ten northern tribes, were often intoxicated with wine (Amos 4:1; Amos 6:6) and swelled with pride (Amos 6:13). They gave themselves over to self-indulgence and luxury. They slept upon beds of ivory, drank wine in excessive amounts, and feasted to the sounds of laughter and music (Amos 6:4, 5)
Isaiah 28:2 The destroying storm
“Behold, the Lord has 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.”
God had set aside for his own purposes, ‘a mighty and strong one.’ Isaiah warned that God was ready to use a powerful nation upon the drunkards of Samaria. The Lord used the unbelieving nations as his sword of judgment. (Psalm 17:13) This warning was written by Isaiah before the northern tribes were taken into captivity by the Assyrians. (seen here.) They would come in as an overwhelming force, like a destroying storm, or a flood of mighty waters.
Isaiah 28:3 Drunkards and proud
“The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet.”
The drunkards wore an imaginary crown of pride, never suspecting their lavish lifestyles would soon be destroyed. They didn’t realize that many of them would be trampled, literally under the feet of the oncoming armies of Assyria.
Isaiah 28:4 The fading flower of the glorious Samaria
“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 looks upon it sees, while it is yet in his hand he eats it up.”
Early, or ‘hasty fruit,’ especially figs in Israel, are a temptation for many in agricultural societies. It can be hard to wait for the real harvest. Samaria was rich with an abundance of choice crops. The Assyrians looked upon the region, seeing the promise of ‘hasty fruit.’ But once their armies ravaged the countryside those early fruits were gone. The soldiers devoured the land and their produce. Hosea 9:10; Nahum 3:12; Jeremiah 24:2, The ” glorious beauty” of Samaria tempted the Assyrians. That temptation, mixed with their desire, served to accomplish the Lord’s purpose in punishing the northern tribes for their rebellion. Samaria’s siege, once it began, lasted about three years (2 Kings 18:9, 10) The proud drunkards lost their abundance and lavish living.
Isaiah 28:5 Glory and beauty for the residue
“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.”
The fate of her sister-nation to the north was a powerful warning to Judah. Samaria perished because of her lack of faith in God. The northern tribes turned to other gods, trusting in their own “glory” and “beauty.” The military might of Egypt was chosen instead of trusting in the Lord. They entered into a league with Egypt, hoping for protection against Assyria.
What would Judah choose?
If the tribes of Judah and Benjamin learned from Samaria’s mistakes, she might be saved. The Lord should be her “Crown of glory” and “Diadem of beauty.” There was no need to choose another defender. It appears, for a season anyway, Judah did learn from Samaria’s poor judgment. King Hezekiah came to the throne of Judah about three years before the siege of Samaria began. He started his reign with political and religious reformations. God spared him from bondage to Assyria, so he set about to clear the land of idols and the worship of the gods of the surrounding nations. It was the dawn of something beautiful, a return to honoring God’s ways.
Isaiah 28:6 God expects justice for a just society
“And for a spirit of judgment to him that sits in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.”
These words direct us back to the list of spiritual attributes of our Lord in Isaiah 11:2. As the nation fell away from the Lord and into rebellion, the judges and the court system grew increasingly more corrupt. Those entrusted with the job of exacting justice were crooked and unjust. It tore at the fabric of their society. We see that today, in every nation of the world. Justice and fairness are losing their place in our uncivilized society.
Isaiah 28: 7 Drunkards among the priest and prophet
“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.”
Isaiah first accused Ephraim, calling them drunkards. Now he has turned his attention to Judah. The news is not good. Priests and prophets were giving in to the lure of the wine. They ‘erred through strong drink,’ just as the common man or woman had. They erred in wine, strong drink, and in vision. What good were the spiritual leaders of the nation if their judgment was impaired because of their abuse of alcohol?
Isaiah 28: 8 Vomit fills the tables
“For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.”
The sins of the sons of Eli, a disgraced priest of God, (Isaiah 2:11) became a common practice among the priesthood and the prophets. They lost any sense of shame or honor and allowed their inward filth to literally spill out upon the tables set aside for God’s service. The admonition against the abuse of wine when the priests were on duty (Leviticus 10:1-9) added weight to their sin.
Isaiah 28:9 The drunkards reject God’s prophet
“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.”
Here Isaiah apparently writes the scornful replies from the priests and prophets who rejected his message. The drunkards scoff at his warnings. They mock him by saying, “Whom shall he teach knowledge,” seemingly pointing out the childish lessons from the prophet. They aren’t children to whom he speaks, chiding the true prophet of God.
The repetition of sounds in the original Hebrew expresses the scorn they feel toward his warning. It’s true that God’s method of teaching often offends by its simplicity.
Isaiah 28:10 Town drunkards–God’s priests
“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”
Isaiah’s teaching, they complain, is nothing more than a repetition of ‘precept upon precept, line upon line.’ His instruction, say the offended drunkards, is nothing grand. There aren’t any great and marvelous principles, just a perpetual drizzle of petty maxims and rules. They were arrogant and had lost any remaining honor as the priests of the Lord. That was probably obvious to many who saw such things as the vomit on the tables, but they had lost their ability to be self-aware. They were God’s best, supposedly, but had become the nation’s most infamous drunkards.
Isaiah 28: 11 Stammering lips bring judgment
“For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.”
Judah’s punishment was crushing. They despised the true prophet’s words. They thought his words were silly, but the Assyrians would arrive with ‘stammering lips’ which the false prophets could not understand or interpret. The Assyrians came, inflicted great damage, but were driven away by God’s hand. The message was received and judgment was delayed until a later date.
Isaiah 28:12 The rest and refreshing rejected by the Jews
“To whom he said, this is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing; yet they would not hear.”
God had in times past offered his people “rest” and “refreshing.” Moses and Joshua followed God’s lead when they guided the people into the Promised Land. It was intended to be a quiet rest from their journeys. If they trusted in God, he would defeat their enemies and give them rest. They refused virtually all of his guidance. (Deuteronomy 28:1-14). Now, in the days of Isaiah’s prophecies, the Lord’s warnings were no longer threats in the distance. They were upon the rebellious Hebrews.
Isaiah 28: 13 Receive God’s Word, little by little
“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.”
They did not want to hear from God nor any of his prophets. Now they would hear from the Assyrian conqueror. The Lord fed them with his boring bread from heaven, then taught them with repetitious rules. They had grown tired of God’s intervention in their lives. Now the Assyrians would intervene, followed by the Babylonians.
Once captive in Babylon, they would pine for those days of old, and the prophets who spoke to them about God’s glorious truths.
Let me know what you think.