Strange Work – Isaiah 28:14-22

The cornerstone of a building, sometimes called a “setting stone,” is the first stone laid in a masonry structure, and so the stone that determines the lay of the entire building.  If you don’t get it right (level, etc.) it throws off the rest of the structure.  God has laid a cornerstone for Israel to resort to if she wants to avoid His judgment.

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 whip 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, “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.’  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.”

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.  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.

For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.  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!  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.  (Isaiah 28:14-22 ESV)

We make fun of the guy holding up a sign saying “Judgment is near!” and this is not unlike Israel’s response to Isaiah’s preaching.  They scoffed at him.  They had made a covenant with Egypt to protect them against Assyria (“the overwhelming whip”).  But God tells them it is a covenant with Death because Egypt will not be able to stop the scourge of Assyria, which will pass through over and over without resistance.  Egypt will be like a bed too short or a blanket too small to satisfy their need.

But if Israel wants a firm foundation, a cornerstone upon which to firmly stand, God has given them one:  Whoever believes will not be in haste.  In other words, if one trusts in Lord Yahweh, one will not need to run to other protections, protections that do not protect.  His standard is justice and when the lies we trust in for our protection are measured against it they are swept away.

Though God will be roused to judgment, it is His “strange” and “alien” work.  He fought for Israel at Mount Perazim (2 Samuel 5:17-21) and in the Valley of Gibeon (Joshua 10:1-11), but now He fights against her.  He does not delight to bring judgment.  He has warned Israel (and us) over and over again, compassionately urging them to repent and they will not.  He does what He must do.  But we, nevertheless, in time of judgment, have Jesus, our cornerstone, to stand upon.  We escape judgment because He was judged in our place.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the most uncomfortable bed you have slept in?
2. What strategies have you trusted in before that proved to be totally inadequate?
3. What cornerstone have you found to be a reliable foundation on which to stand?
4. Why do you think Yahweh considers His judgment upon Israel to be “strange” and “alien”?
5. What answer do you tend to run to now instead of to Christ?