"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. As soon as it passes through, shall it seize you; Yea, morning after morning shall it pass through, by day and by night; And even the report alone shall cause terror. For the bed is too short, for one to stretch himself out at length; And the covering is too narrow, for one to gather himself up under it. For as in Mount Peratsim, Jehovah will arise; As in the valley of Gibeon, shall He be moved with anger; That He may execute His work, His strange work; And effect His operation, His unusual operation. And now, give yourselves up to scoffing no more, Lest your chastisements become more severe: For a full and decisive decree have I heard, From the Lord Jehovah God of Hosts, on the whole land. Listen, and hear my voice; Attend, and hearken unto my words. Does the husbandman plough every day that he may sow, Opening and breaking the clods of the field? When he has made even the face thereof, Does not he then scatter the dill, and cast abroad the cummin; And sow the wheat in due measure; And the barley, and rye, has its appointed limit? For his God rightly instructs him; He furnished him with knowledge. The dill is not beaten out with the corn drag; Nor is the wheel of the wain made to turn upon the cumin: But the dill is beaten out with the staff; And the cummin with the flail: but the bread-corn with the threshing-wain. But not for ever will he continue thus to thresh it, Nor to vex it with the wheel of his wain; Nor to bruise it with the hoofs of his cattle. This also proceeds from Jehovah God of Hosts: He shows himself wonderful in counsel, great in operation." (Isaiah 28:18-29,Lowth)
The first five verses of the portion here given have already been considered, but we give them again in order to preserve the connection. Not only they, but all the preceding verses should be read in connection with this lesson.
Remember that the Bible does not consist of isolated texts, but each writer has a message from the Lord. One can no more get the sense of the Scriptures by taking a verse here and another there, than we can get the meaning of a letter that we receive, by reading a sentence in the middle of it, then another near the beginning, and then another at the close. We must read it through from beginning to end, and then whenever we wish to refer to some particular sentence in it, we must take it in connection with the rest. We must at the same time we quote it, remember what has preceded, and what follows. Even so must we deal with the message which the Lord sends us by His prophets.
The Judgment is Salvation
Those who recall not only the first part of this chapter, but the preceding chapters will know that the general subject is the judgments of God. The last days, and the very last judgments of God upon this earth, are very vividly brought to view. But let it never be forgotten that the idea is salvation rather than destruction. God comes to save His people.
Too many always connect the Judgment with thoughts of revenge, as though God had in mind nothing except to destroy somebody. Let all remember that God is a Shepherd, and that His sole solicitude is for His flock. When He comes to deliver His sheep from the mouth of the lion, who would devour them, He is moved by feelings of the deepest love and compassion. The last judgment is only a wonderful manifestation of God's everlasting love for His people. Read again: "I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Fury is not in me." (Isaiah 27:3-4)
God is love just as much when He destroys the wicked, who would destroy His people, as when He gives His life for the world. In the execution of His greatest judgments, "His mercy endures for ever." (Psalm 136:1; 2-26)
Great as is God's power to destroy, so great is His power to redeem. The destruction of the wicked is only one part of the great work of redemption. This is shown in the death of Christ. Christ died for the world of sinners. He was made to be sin for us, and therefore He suffered the penalty for sin. He was made to be sin for us, in order that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, and even so He suffered as a sinner, in order that guilty sinners might be saved from wrath through Him.
In giving His only Son to die for sinners, and giving himself in His Son, God showed us not only the inevitable fate of sinners but also how much He longed not to see a single sinner punished. He has no pleasure in the death of any. "As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn you, turn you from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11)
The wicked who will be destroyed at the last day, will only be taking by themselves that which they would not share with Christ. The cross of Christ appears in everything. So in the description of future judgments, God is making known to us some of the sufferings of Christ for sinners, that we may know how great is His power now to redeem those who fly to Him for refuge.
Thus we may understand that when God arises to Judgment, and is "wroth as in the valley of Gibeon," (Isaiah 28:21; Joshua 10:10-11) where He smote the enemies of His people, and "slew them with a great slaughter," (Joshua 10:10) and "chased them," (Joshua 10:10) and "cast down great stones from heaven upon them," (Joshua 10:11; Compare with Revelation 16:21) it is for Him a "strange work." (Isaiah 28:21)
The angels were awed into silence, and the heavens grew black with astonishment, when God showed His marvelous love for man by giving His Son to die. Such a way of showing love, not for friends, but for enemies, could be conceived and understood only by the heart of God. Even yet the angels desire to understand it. "Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into." (1 Peter 1:10-12)
Since no man nor angel can comprehend the love of God that is manifested in the death of Christ for sinners, let no one childishly accuse God of injustice and cruelty when he reads of the judgments that are to fall upon the heads of those who reject the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
The Terror of That Day
Terrible things will come, too. "Even the report alone shall cause terror." (Isaiah 28:19,Lowth)
The prophet Habakkuk saw in vision the time when the Lord went forth for the salvation of His people, threshing the heathen by the power that was hidden in His glorious, wounded side, (Habakkuk 3:4,margin; 12-13) and he said, "I heard and my belly trembled, my lips quivered at the voice, rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in my place; that I should rest in the day of trouble, when it comes up against the people which invades Him in troops." (Habakkuk 3:16,RV)
So Jesus, describing to His disciples the terrors of that day, said, "There shall be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and of the billows; Men expiring for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." (Luke 21:25-26,RV) "In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake terribly the earth." (Isaiah 2:20-21)
All the men of this earth, both great and small, will flee to hide themselves, and will say to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Revelation 6:16-17)
But there will be no place for hiding; "For the bed is too short, for one to stretch himself out at length; and the covering is too narrow for one to gather himself up under it." (Isaiah 28:20,Lowth)
This is a striking figure, which all can understand. Who has not at some time suffered with cold because of scanty bed-clothing? Try as you would, you could not get protection. Such an experience the Lord uses to illustrate the vain efforts of those who would escape His righteous judgments. There will be no place of concealment, for God will then "bring to light the hidden things of darkness." (1 Corinthians 4:5)
Here is an exhortation that comes to all: "Now therefore be 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." (Isaiah 28:22)
Even as the Gospel is "to all people," (Luke 2:10) so all people are interested in the account of these judgments. They come not upon one particular locality, but upon the whole earth. Compare with this: "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." (Psalm 2:1-3)
They will enter into an alliance with death and the grave against the Lord; but the Lord will laugh at their vain efforts. The Son, whom they despise, will "break them with a rod of iron, [and will] dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (Psalm 2:9)
So the exhortation comes, "Be wise now therefore, O you kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth." (Psalm 2:9)
If not, the bands which they vainly think to break and cast off, will be made tighter; but if they will but submit themselves to the yoke of the Lord, then they will find the bands tokens of liberty, since they are bands of love.
Lesson from the Seasons
Last of all in this chapter which we are studying, we have a lesson from the seasons, and the work which comes with each. Just as in the service of the Jewish tabernacle the whole work of the Gospel was set forth in figure each year, even so it is now, and has been from the beginning, in nature. Seed-time and harvest are yearly reminders to all men of the work of God for men,--of the Gospel and its consummation. Everybody is familiar with the growth of grain, and the harvest, so we have need only to read the last five verses of Isaiah 28 to have material for many lessons.
The husbandman does not plough all the time, neither is he all the time sowing. When he has broken up the earth, and harrowed it, making the surface smooth, then he scatters the various kinds of grain. Each kind of grain has its appointed time, and is sown in its season. "For this God does instruct him to discretion and does teach him." (Isaiah 28:26)
Yes, the wisdom which men have to till the soil comes from God alone. There is nothing that men know, that they have not learned from God. Whatever men know well, when priding themselves upon their skill and dexterity in doing it, let them remember that God knows how to do it infinitely better, and can still teach them more.
Righteousness comes by faith. But righteousness is right-doing. That is, the man who lives by faith will do whatever he has to do much better than the one who is not a Christian. If men have not always seen it so, then it is to the shame of the professed Christians; they have not lived up to their profession. Since faith makes a man righteous,--a right-doer,--then it follows that faith--true and intelligent faith,--will make a man a better farmer, a better carpenter, a better workman in any line. "[God] is wonderful in counsel; and excellent in working," (Isaiah 28:29) and those who trust in Him fully will find it manifest in themselves.
But this is only by the way, important as it is. It is a side lesson. The special thing to be learned from this reference to agriculture is that God works consistently, and adapts His means to the ends He has in view. The farmer does not thresh all kinds of grain with the same instrument. The machine that is used for threshing corn, would utterly destroy some more delicate kinds of seeds.
So God adapts His judgments to the individual. There is only one standard in the Judgment, namely, the law of God,--the perfect life of the Lord,--but each person will be judged only by the amount of the light and knowledge of the law he has had. "For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; ... In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel. ... For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves; Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another." (Romans 2:12,16,13-15)
In the Judgment, the man who has never seen the Bible, and who has had no knowledge of God, other than that which is revealed in the book of nature, will not be held accountable for the same light that the one is who has lived all his life amid the greatest Gospel privileges. It will then be seen, however, that there is no one who has not had an opportunity to hear the Gospel, and who has not both heard and seen it. "Have they not heard? Yea, verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world." (Romans 10:18) "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold down the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them." (Romans 1:18)
All are without excuse, because ever since the creation of the world the everlasting power and Divinity of God are clearly seen in the things which He has made. "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:19-20)
The seed-time is the giving of the news of salvation. "The seed is the Word of God," (Luke 8:11) and Christ is the Word: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:1,14) "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone; but if it die, it brings forth much fruit." (John 12:24)
Christ is the Seed, (Galatians 3:16) and He died and was buried to bring "many sons unto glory." (Hebrews 2:10)
Every springing seed speaks, to all who will hear of the power of the resurrection, and so of the power of God to salvation. "The harvest is the end of the world." (Matthew 13:39)
John says, "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in your sickle, and reap: for the time is come for you to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And He that sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped." (Revelation 14:14-16)
This is when "He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also that pierced Him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him." (Revelation 1:7)
Thus we see again that the things spoken of in our lesson are no light thing concerning only a few Jews hundreds of years ago. They are matters of present and universal importance. "But not for ever will he continue thus to thresh it, nor to vex it with the wheel of his wain; nor to bruise it with the hoofs of his cattle." (Isaiah 28:28,Lowth) "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide; neither will He keep His anger for ever." (Psalm 103:8-9) "For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall cease, and my anger in their destruction." (Isaiah 10:25)
It is a strange thing for God to execute punishment upon His creatures; therefore He will not keep forever before His eyes, and the eyes of the universe, the spectacle of people tormented in flames. Men may make a covenant with death and the grave, thinking thus to escape the righteous judgments of God; but that will avail nothing, for both death and the grave shall be utterly consumed in the lake of fire, (Revelation 20:14) so that "Yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, you shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." (Psalm 37:10)
The wicked are chaff, stubble, and noxious weeds. "Therefore as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 5:24) "The day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." (Malachi 4:1)
As the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, "so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who has ears to hear, let him hear." (Matthew 13:41-43)--Present Truth, May 18, 1899--Isaiah 28:18-29.