GOD'S 'HEADS UP' ILLUSTRATED IN ISAIAH 28

Isaiah 28 is not a passage that many are familiar with.  It’s just like so many other passages in the books of prophecy.  Essentially, God is warning Ephraim that because of their pride and arrogance they will soon be overrun by a mighty army [we know from history that it was going to be the Assyrians]. 

Ephraim is one of God’s favorite names for Israel [Northern Kingdom - Samaria].

It is clear that God is disappointed in His people.  He has given them a rich land and has caused them to prosper!  They, however, have failed to use these advantages to bless others and to advance God’s Name and causes.  Instead, they have basked in their wealth and the bounty of their fields.  Drunkenness is mentioned repeatedly as part of their rebellion.  Even the priests and prophets are condemned:

…the priest and prophet reel with strong drink, they are confused by wine, they stagger from strong drink; they reel while having visions, they totter when rendering judgment. For all their tables are full of filthy vomit, without a single clean place.  [NASB – v.7]

God goes on – through the prophet, Isaiah – to warn Ephraim [God’s chosen people – the northern kingdom] that they will soon be overrun by an army that speaks a strange language [Assyria]. 

God intends to teach them a lesson as a result of this devastation. 

You say, ‘We’ve taken out good life insurance.  We’ve hedged our bets, covered all our bases.

No disaster can touch us. We’ve thought of everything. We’re advised by the experts. We’re set.’

[v.15 The Message]

But God goes on to assure them that destruction is coming.  They WILL fall. 

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Again, we know from the rest of the book (and history) that Assyria did indeed come and destroy Samaria [the northern kingdom] in 722 B.C.  It was a brutal takeover.  The Assyrians followed their normal protocol and carried many of the inhabitants away to foreign lands while bringing foreigners in to live among any remaining Samaritans.  This is the reason that the residents of Judah [the southern kingdom] so strongly hated the Samaritans [in New Testament times]; they considered them to no longer be pure Jews.

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Preachers and teachers make a great deal of this in our current age.  The players have changed, with the exception that Israel is still a major player despite the suffering that they have endured through the ages and up to the current day. 

In addition, the Cross of Christ has opened the door for Gentiles to be considered part of Israel.  Israel – although a sovereign nation – has an expanded population for those who understand and believe that Jesus opened the gates of Heaven to all who believe!  The Bible teaches that all believers – Jew and Gentile – are the children of Abraham!  Some by birth and some by adoption. 

This is NOT a new concept!  Don’t be deceived.  God has always had a heart for ALL PEOPLE! 

·         When Abram defeated five kings to rescue his nephew, Lot, he is visited by Melchizedek, the king of Salem, who was ‘a priest of God Most High’ [Genesis 1418].  Abram paid tithes to this leader!  Who was he and who made him a priest of God Most High?

·         When Moses was expelled from Egypt, he crossed a wide wilderness and settled in the land of Midian where he met and married the daughter of Reuel, the priest of Midian – who lived adjacent to Mt. Horeb, known as the mountain of God.  Who was this man and who made him a priest of God? 

Any biblically knowledgeable person could go on giving other examples of the fact that God never limits Himself to work in only one place or with only one group of people!  God’s heart has always and will always be for ALL PEOPLE! 

In this chapter, God was being gracious to Ephraim by giving them yet another warning of what was to come.

God is still extending His grace today by holding off His Second Coming in hopes that many will turn to Him and be saved!