Isaiah 28:14-29--A Cornerstone in Zion

Isaiah 28:14-29
English Standard Version

A Cornerstone in Zion
14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers,
    who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
    and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the overwhelming whip passes through
    it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
    and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,
    a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
    ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice the line,
    and righteousness the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
    and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
    and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
    you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it passes through it will take you;
    for morning by morning it will pass through,
    by day and by night;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
    and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For the LORD will rise up as on Mount Perazim;
    as in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
    and to work his work—alien is his work!
22 Now therefore do not scoff,
    lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard a decree of destruction
    from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.

​23 Give ear, and hear my voice;
    give attention, and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
    Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
    does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
    and barley in its proper place,
    and emmer as the border?
26 For he is rightly instructed;
    his God teaches him.

27 Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
    nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
    and cumin with a rod.
28 Does one crush grain for bread?
    No, he does not thresh it forever;
when he drives his cart wheel over it
    with his horses, he does not crush it.
29 This also comes from the LORD of hosts;
    he is wonderful in counsel
    and excellent in wisdom.

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The people have essentially made a deal with the devil (with Death and Hades) that they believe they are somehow safe from the judgment, death, and destruction that are coming upon them.  Not so, because the Lord Himself will be executing this judgment as He has every right to as their builder and Cornerstone.  The ones who are supposed to have a foundation of righteousness have instead corrupted their foundation with all kinds of lies, deceit and wickedness.  The LORD will bring destruction on them day after day, there will be no rest for them when they lie down and no peace for them when they get up.  He will make war against the whole Land like He did at the time of the Canaanites when He led Joshua and His people into battle and went before them and brought all heaven and earth to bear against His enemies and their enemies.  Just as He hurled huge hailstones from heaven against the armies of the Canaanites, He tells the people of Israel that they can expect the same kind of judgment, because they have become like the wicked Canaanites in every way.  No longer is there a differentiation between them (other than the covenant that the LORD made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He will act for His Name's sake and the sake of that covenant, even though the people deserve to be destroyed).

Just like a farmer knows the times and seasons for planting and reaping, and he knows exactly how to harvest each different kind of crop (each one at its own time and in its own manner with different kinds of processes required to harvest the good part of the crop and prepare it for use), so it is with the LORD as He knows exactly what it will take with each and every one of His people to bring about His desired results for each of them (both individually, and as a community).  What will bring them to repentance?  What will bring them back to the point of being honest and righteous?  Are there some who will refuse to repent and are a bad influence on the community and need to be weeded out?  The LORD knows all this and more.  Exactly what kinds of hardships and trials will be required?  How long will that suffering need to last?  The LORD knows all these answers and more.  The LORD's judgment is measured.  Though He is judging all the people of the Land, He has a goal and purpose in sight, just like the farmer that cultivates and plows the land to prepare it for planting and carefully protects His crops and does not plow them under while they are still growing but waits until the harvest comes and then gathers them at just the right time.  The LORD knows even better than the farmer, for He made us, and we are His.