Stammering Lips
Isa. 28:9-16
Is God being vengeful in this reading from Isaiah?
Photo by Chris Linnett on Unsplash
“Whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from milk, those taken from the breast? For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” Truly, with stammering lip and with alien tongue he will speak to this people, to whom he has said, “This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose” yet they would not hear. Therefore the word of the Lord will be to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little;” in order that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem. Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement; when the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter” therefore thus says the Lord God, See, I am laying in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation: “One who trusts will not panic.” - Isa. 28:9-16
God is telling the rulers of the people through Isaiah that he will lay a new foundation in the land.
The rulers are mocking Isaiah for speaking like a child. So Isaiah tells them they will hear God’s message through an alien tongue and stammering lips. God will bring the Assyrians down upon them, and in the end, there will be a new foundation in Jerusalem.
That sure sounds like vengeance to me, but the commentaries say otherwise.
God is not being vengeful in this instance, they say. Matthew Henry says the cornerstone is an example of God’s mercy. And Ellicott says this is not vengeance but a promise to the people.
I understand that these theologians want to paint a good and just picture of God for us, and perhaps they are correct in their assessments, but shouldn’t we address the tone of Isaiah’s words?
For us in modern times, this whole bantering back and forth about Isaiah’s message and how it is delivered is childish, a bit like many commentaries on politics today.
The message is that failure to follow God’s commandments will lead to difficult times. Whether they come from God or from outside forces taking advantage of the situation is not clear. But it should be seen as a warning to us in our lives today.
If we fight against one another, bad things will come our way. God may not bring that upon us, but He might also not intervene to prevent it.
So, no matter how we interpret God’s motive here, we can take it as a warning. Listen to God’s word and follow His laws.
It may not prevent bad things from happening, but at least we will all be on the same side when it does.
More to come...