A Devotional Commentary on Isaiah 28: God’s Judgment and His Sure Foundation

Bible Commentary

A Devotional Commentary on Isaiah 28: God’s Judgment and His Sure Foundation

Isaiah 28 · King James Version

Quick Answer: This commentary on isaiah 28 shows God confronting pride, drunkenness, and spiritual confusion in Judah. Isaiah warns that empty promises collapse under God’s coming “overflowing scourge.” Yet God also offers a sure foundation and teaches His people through disciplined, “precept upon precept” instruction—inviting trust, humility, and steady obedience.

Isaiah 28 (King James Version)

“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!
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.
The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet:
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.
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,
And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
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.
For all tables are full of vomit
and filthiness,
so that there is no place
clean.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.
For precept
must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little,
and there a little:
For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
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.
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.
Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which
is in Jerusalem.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?
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 rie in their place?
For his God doth instruct him to discretion,
and doth teach him.
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.
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.
This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts,
which is wonderful in counsel,
and excellent in working.”

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Isaiah 28 historical backdrop and the warning to Jerusalem

Isaiah 28 belongs to a period when Judah faced political pressure and spiritual drift. The passage addresses leaders and teachers in Jerusalem whose confidence was misplaced—trusting in status, alliances, and self-made security rather than God. Isaiah describes a society characterized by pride and intoxication, especially among those responsible for spiritual guidance. In that setting, God’s “woe” is not merely personal moral condemnation; it is a covenant lawsuit against a community that has broken faith and replaced truth with false refuge.

The imagery of a “covenant with death” highlights how some thought they could insulate themselves from judgment by making clever arrangements or leaning on lies. Isaiah’s language also reflects ancient Near Eastern concerns about rulers, public order, and temple-centered teaching. When priests and prophets err “through strong drink,” it means the very voices meant to clarify God’s will became unreliable.

Against that backdrop, the chapter’s contrast stands out: the fading beauty of human confidence versus God’s “foundation stone” and His righteous instruction. The passage uses vivid agricultural and judicial metaphors to show that God’s dealing with His people is both purposeful and inescapable. His judgment is like hail and flood—sudden, overwhelming, and not negotiable. And His instruction is like orderly teaching that builds understanding over time.