Continuing: today a deeper look at Isaiah 28 beginning at verse 19. “From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.”
Let’s begin with the sure premise that the report spoken of is this one published here each morning after morning, by day and by night. The Hebrew word translated “vexation” is zva’ah, only used this one time, and meaning to be agitated, as an inner shaking. The word is speaking of the shaking that removes the things separating us from comprehending the LORD.
Isaiah is telling us in this verse of the same shaking we read of in Hebrews 12, where we are also told of the report we are admonished to understand and heed. There we are told it is the Mediator speaking from heaven, the same heavenly Jerusalem it tells us we have arrived at. We know this description is intentionally meant to focus on the meanings of the words in the terminology; Jerusalem meaning place where the teaching flows directly from the LORD and has become the foundation of those abiding therein; heaven and heavenly referring to the place or state (the firmament) where the word is rightly divided, and the pure waters/word (above) is separated from the corrupted/polluted waters (below).
Hebrews 12
22 But you are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.
25 See that you refuse not him that speaks. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven:
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
We know in the prior verses of Hebrews 12 the subject is defined as correction, and it coming in the above-mentioned form. This is the same we see in the verses that surround Isaiah 28:19 where we are told of this pollution that must be shaken out so understanding the report can occur. Isaiah 28:18 speaks of this as breaking the covenant with death, which the men drunken by their power and positions at the head of God’s people have made, and because of this they stumble in judgment, and err in vision. (The problem is they will never, ever, admit, to themselves or to those they have misled, that they have created and led in the own ways. They are in fact in total rebellion and opposing the LORD at His coming. The great paradox is the people continue to look to these same men to lead them out of the captivity they have created and now maintain. They are the cause of the disease, and more of the cause can never be a cure unless health is redefined as more mental death.)
Isaiah 28
5 In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sits in judgment, and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
8 For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.
9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus says the LORD God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believes shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goes forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
20 For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.
The paradox before spoken of is also what is analogized in verse 20 above. The sufficient hand of the LORD is the only way this house will be repaired, and it is stretched out still. The scourge mentioned in verses 15 & 18 above are the same scourge overflowing with clarity mentioned in Hebrews 12:6 when it speaks of the LORD as a Father correcting us. We know it goes on there to tell of the sons (children) being those receiving this correction, and of those rejecting it being as Esau, selling their birthright for mere morsels they choose in its stead.
The idea of this scourging it what is spoken of in ending Isaiah 28, with the same intention of separating the good from the worthless. It is the word of the LORD unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. It is the LORD teaching knowledge that results in rest and refreshing, and these men choose instead their covenant with death, and in doing deny and reject the one that bought them at the highest price.
Isaiah 28
21 For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
22 Now therefore be you 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.
23 Give you ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
24 Does the plowman plow all day to sow? Does he open and break the clods of his ground?
25 When he has made plain the face thereof, Does he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?
26 For his God Does instruct him to discretion, and Does teach him.
27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
29 This also comes forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.
Remember, when Perazim is mentioned it is referring to what is written in 2 Samuel 5:20, and the LORD breaking forth as waters [His word] against the enemies of His people, and destroying the images [idol] they had created. Perazim is the same word translated in verse 20 as “broken” and “breach.” This is actually a contrast against what is said in the verse prior (Isaiah 28:20) when it speaks of the wrapping that is inadequate for what it is trying to cover. Perazim is then mention to tell of this inadequacy becoming apparent in these men’s defeat as the waters burst forth in overflowing clarity/purity.
2 Samuel 5
19 And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? will you deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.
20 And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there, and said, The LORD has broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baal-perazim.
21 And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.
Remember also, when Gibeon is mentioned in Isaiah 28 just after Perazim it is referring to Joshua 10:6 thru 10. There we see it is Joshua being called by the men of Gibeon to save them from their enemies. We know Joshua is the name translated into Greek as Jesus, and Gibeon means cup. This is the cup in the LORD’s hand that only He is able to drink, as He comes for the salvation of His people. (O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, your will be done.)
Joshua 10
6 And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp to Gilgal, saying, Slack not your hand from your servants; come up to us quickly, and save us, and help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us.
7 So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he, and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor.
8 And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into your hand; there shall not a man of them stand before you.
9 Joshua therefore came unto them suddenly, and went up from Gilgal all night.
10 And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon…
The word used in Isaiah 28:20 to tell of the inadequate wrapping is the eleven times used word kanac. Here is the Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary definition: Strong’s #3664: kanac (pronounced kaw-nas’) a primitive root; to collect; hence, to enfold: -gather (together), heap up, wrap self.
(FYI: the number eleven is said to be the number which represents confusion. My understanding tells me this is because it is the first number greater than can be counted on the fingers of both hands, and therefore require the leap into abstract thought to comprehend it. Without this ability to think in the abstract all but the simplest of ideas become confusion.)
The men and their inadequacy (lacking the LORD’s authority found in fidelity to His purity in their words) is what has led the world into darkness, and now using the same cause they war to keep it there under their power and control, is contrasted as the LORD uses the same word (kanac) in clarifying His purpose and destroying their confusion. It is used twice in the Psalms; first in Psalms 33:7 to tell of His “gathering” these waters into heaps, as the depths of understand He has kept for Himself in the storehouse; then in Psalms 147:2 to tell of His building up Jerusalem as He “gathers” His people to Himself.
Psalms 33
1 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.
2 Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.
4 For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
*7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as an heap: he lays up the depth in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
10 The LORD brings the counsel of the heathen to naught: he makes the devices of the people of none effect.
11 The counsel of the LORD stands for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance.
13 The LORD looks from heaven; he beholds all the sons of men.
14 From the place of his habitation he looks upon all the inhabitants of the earth.
15 He fashions their hearts alike; he considers all their works.
16 There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
17 An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy;
19 To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the LORD: he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.
22 Let your mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in you.
Psalms 147
1 Praise you the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.
*2 The LORD Does build up Jerusalem: he gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.
4 He tells the number of the stars; he calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our LORD, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
6 The LORD lifts up the meek: he casts the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8 Who covers the heaven with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow upon the mountains.
9 He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.
10 He delights not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.
12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion.
13 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders, and fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends forth his commandment upon earth: his word runs very swiftly.
16 He giveth snow like wool: he scatters the hoarfrost like ashes.
17 He casts forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends out his word, and melts them: he causes his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
19 He shews his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.
20 He has not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise you the LORD.
