"Hear the word of Jehovah, you scoffers; You of this people in Jerusalem, who utter sententious speeches: Who say, we have entered into a covenant with death; And with the grave we have made a treaty: The overflowing plague, when it passes through shall not reach us: For we have made falsehood our refuge; And under deceit we have hidden ourselves. Wherefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I lay in Sion for a foundation a stone, an approved stone; A corner-stone, precious, immovably fixed: He, that trusts in Him, shall not be confounded. And I will mete out judgment by the rule; And the strict justice by the plummet: And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of falsehood; And the hiding-place the waters shall overwhelm. And your covenant with death shall be broken; And your treaty with the grave shall not stand: When the overflowing plague passes through, By it shall you be beaten down." (Isaiah 28:14-18,Lowth)
Let the student read carefully again the first portion of this chapter, together with the twenty-second verse, and remember that the instruction and warnings given are for us no less than for the people in Isaiah's time. The word of the Lord is living, and is addressed to us just as directly as though we heard the tones of the prophet's voice.
The Foolishness of the Wise
The word of the Lord is here to those who are proud in their own conceit; who know so much in their own estimation that they are not willing to be taught. Scorning to be thought so ignorant as to need the simple precepts of the Scriptures, "precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little," (Isaiah 28:13) they fail to learn anything. The case of those of whom the Apostle Paul speaks in Romans 1:22 is not peculiar to them. Whenever men profess themselves to be wise, they become fools; therefore, "If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." (1 Corinthians 3:18-19)
The foolishness of those who profess themselves to be wise is seen from what they put their trust in for safety. They say, "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." (Isaiah 28:15)
They have thought to anticipate God, and to head off punishment that He would bring. They have bribed death to protect them; but death and hell are poor protectors. Falsehood and lies cannot save. The only place of protection that death has is the grave. To be at agreement with hell, is deliberately to go to perdition. It is the kid fleeing to the tiger for protection from the bear. "No lie is of the truth." (1 John 2:21)
Whoever, therefore, rejects truth chooses falsehood. There are many people who pride themselves upon their honesty, that are nevertheless hiding themselves under falsehood. They might not themselves tell deliberate lies, but truth is a unit, and whoever deliberately rejects any truth that comes to him, thereby rejects all truth. That portion of truth which he elects to retain, he changes into a lie. "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator." (Romans 1:25)
Satan works "with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)
And all who receive not the love of the truth will certainly perish, because it alone is a shield and buckler. "He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust: His truth shall be your shield and buckler." (Psalm 91:4)
Truth cannot be built up by a falsehood. Truth and falsehood have no connection. Truth is that which is, therefore truth is life.
This is seen in the words of Christ, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6)
And since truth is life, falsehood is death. So to make lies one's refuge, hoping by them to escape death, is like a man cutting his own throat to save his neck from the halter.
The Sure Foundation
Those who err from the truth, trusting in death to save them, have said, "When the overflowing scourge shall pass through it shall not come unto us. Therefore thus says 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 believes 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 you shall be trodden down by it." (Isaiah 28:15-18)
This sure foundation is truth, for Christ is the truth. "Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)
And He is the only foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11; For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ) that will stand. Whatever is not in harmony with that will be swept away, for even death itself shall be destroyed. A foundation is that upon which one builds. In the Hebrew the word "to believe" is from a root which also has a specification, to build, to establish. "Believe in the Lord, so shall you be established." (2 Chronicles 20:20)
The words "believe" and "be established" are from the same Hebrew word, and the sentence might be rendered, "Build upon the Lord your God, so shall you be built up."
Abraham built upon God when he believed in God. Christ is the sure foundation. He is also the Word, the living Word. He is the truth, and His word is truth. (John 17:17) Whoever, therefore, builds upon His word, builds upon the rock, and when the rains descend, and the floods come, and the winds blow and beat upon that house, it does not fall.
But whoever does not build upon His words,--that is to say, whoever does not let those words control him, and manifest themselves in his life,--builds upon the sand; and when the tide rises, and the rain descends, and the winds blow and beat upon that house, it will fall, and its destruction will be great. (Matthew 7:24-27) The rock will stand, because it is "the Rock of Ages." "In the Lord Jehovah is the Rock of Ages." (Isaiah 26:4,margin)
Whoever builds upon God shall not be ashamed (Romans 9:33) nor confounded. (1 Peter 2:6) As the text says, "he shall not make haste." (Isaiah 28:16)
He will not need to run when the storm comes, because he is already in a place of safety.
"He that dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, my fortress; my God; in Him will I trust." (Psalm 91:1-2)
A Tried Stone
This stone which God lays in Zion for a foundation is a "tried stone." (Isaiah 28:16) "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." (2 Corinthians 5:19)
God placed His character in Christ. He had pledged himself to the redemption of the world, and sent Christ to do the work. He made a promise to Abraham, and to his seed, and "confirmed it with an oath, That ... we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus." (Hebrews 6:17-20)
Thus we learn that God swore by himself that He would forgive the sins of all who sought forgiveness through Christ. Jesus Christ is the manifestation of God. If Christ had failed or become discouraged because of the difficulties of His task, God's oath would have been broken; but if God's oath would have been broken, God's own life would have been forfeited; and since He is the Creator and upholder of all things, everything would have ceased to be.
Now we can see how well tried is the foundation upon which we are asked to build. God placed himself and the weight of the entire universe upon it, and it stood the test. Therefore, we can rest upon it in confidence. It is a precious stone to those who believe.
The Word will be the only standard in the Judgment. The Word is righteousness, and righteousness will be the plumb line. The whole building must square with this foundation. Nothing must project over the edge; that is, nothing must go beyond the Word. Whatever is outside of the Word of God, will be swept away with "the overflowing scourge. ... the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies." (Isaiah 28:18,17) "Have you entered into the treasures of the snow? or have you seen the treasures of the hail, Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?" (Job 38:22-23) "And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." (Revelation 16:21)
This tried stone which is laid for a foundation is "a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious." (1 Peter 2:4)
Whoever comes in contact with it is made alive. Living things grow, and so in Christ, "All the building fitly framed together grows unto a holy temple in the Lord." (Ephesians 2:21)
We read, "As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk inHim: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith." (Colossians 2:6-7)
Thus we see that the house built upon Christ and His Word, is not like an ordinary house built by men, which simply stands upon its foundation, but it is a living house, built upon a living foundation, of which it becomes a part, so that the house and the foundation are as firmly joined together, and as much a part of each other; as the tree and its roots.
Therefore, there is no danger that the house will be swept off from the foundation, and the foundation be left standing. Everyone who stands on God's Word and lives by it, will stand as long as God lives, and will be as immovable as He.
A Stone of Stumbling
From the last lesson, in the first part of this chapter, we learn that those to whom the Lord is speaking, reject the simple instruction of His Word, and therefore they stumble and fall. They profess themselves to be wise, yet they stumble at that which is revealed to babes. Even so it is in their relation to this sure foundation, which the Lord lays, and upon which men are to build and be safe. While it is a foundation and a sanctuary, it is also a "stone of stumbling." (Isaiah 8:14) "As it is written, Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed." (Romans 9:33; Isaiah 28:16)
Here the two passages of Isaiah are brought together, and we learn that the same Lord who is the foundation which builds up those who build upon it, and makes them a sanctuary, is at the same time a stumbling stone. If men will not place their feet upon that which is made for them to stand upon, then they stumble over it. So the very thing which is salvation to those that believe, is destruction to those who do not believe. "Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believes on Him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe He is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed." (1 Peter 2:6-8)
This being the case, there is no possible chance left for anybody to accuse God of injustice. When that which causes some people's destruction is nothing other than the salvation which God provides for all men, God is surely clear when He judges.--Present Truth, May 11, 1899--Isaiah 28:14-18.