ENGLAND’S CRYING SIN Isaiah 28:1. _Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, &c.,_ [1102] [1102] See pages 116 and 127. Ephraim one of the most important of the tribes. It occupied some of the richest land, about the middle of Palestine. When the ten tribes formed a separate kingdom,... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BELIEVER’S DIGNITY AND POWER Isaiah 28:5. _In that day shall the_ LORD _of Hosts be for a crown, &c._ This sustaining assurance stands in striking antithesis to the solemn threatenings and humbling charges which precede and follow it. It rises like some stately palace amid the ruins of man’s hu... [ Continue Reading ]
EARLY RELIGIOUS TRAINING (_Sunday School Anniversary Sermon_.) Isaiah 28:9. _Whom shall He teach knowledge?_ &c. Whether we regard these verses as the language of the drunkards of Ephraim, deriding the Lord’s messengers for the plainness and urgency of their unwelcome instructions, or as the langua... [ Continue Reading ]
REJECTERS OF THE GOSPEL ADMONISHED Isaiah 28:12. _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_. Isaiah was one of the most eloquent of preachers, yet he could not win the ears and hearts of those to whom he spoke.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SURE FOUNDATION Isaiah 28:16. _Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold! I lay in Zion a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone for a firm foundation; he that believeth shall not be in haste_.—_Birks_ [1105] [1105] “_He that believeth shall not make haste_.” The apostles Paul and Peter,... [ Continue Reading ]
FALSE REFUGES Isaiah 28:17. _And the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies_. Numerous are the stratagems of Satan to ruin souls. In some he effects this by hurrying them on in the broad way of open transgression; in others, by rendering them the victims of some peculiar constitutional sin—pride... [ Continue Reading ]
FALSE REFUGES Isaiah 28:18. _Your covenant with death shall be disannulled_. Like the sinners spoken of in this chapter, most sinful men say in effect, “We have made a covenant with death,” &c. (Isaiah 28:15). I. THAT HE MAY ESCAPE THE DREADED CONSEQUENCES OF SIN, THE TROUBLED SINNER SEEKS A REFU... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SHORT BED AND THE NARROW COVERING Isaiah 28:20. _For the bed is shorter, &c._ Of all the striking images made use of in this chapter, none was so likely to catch the ear, and impress itself on the memory, and become a seed of useful reflection, as that embodied in this proverbial saying. Epigra... [ Continue Reading ]
IRRELIGIOUS MOCKERY Isaiah 28:22. _Now, therefore, be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong_. The sense of the ludicrous is excited by words, ideas, images, or objects in which unexpected resemblances are seen in things previously considered incongruous, or in which incongruity is perceive... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PARABLE OF THE HUSBANDMAN Isaiah 28:24. _Doth the plowman plow all day to sow?_ &c. [1117] [1117] In this parable the mystery of the Divine Providence is laid open, its secret disclosed. _All ploughing is for sowing; all threshing is intended for the preservation of the grain_. When God chasten... [ Continue Reading ]
A FEAST FOR FAITH Isaiah 28:29. _This also cometh forth from the Lord of Hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working_. The sentiment of the text is that _the art, and science, and skill of man are the gifts of God_. The prophet instances only agriculture, but the same principle a... [ Continue Reading ]