Day 165: Isaiah 28-HEart Harvest

​Ah, the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim, and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley of those overcome with wine! 2 Behold, the Lord has one who is mighty and strong; like a storm of hail, a destroying tempest, like a storm of mighty, overflowing waters, he casts down to the earth with his hand. 3 The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim will be trodden underfoot; 4 and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is on the head of the rich valley, will be like a first-ripe fig before the summer: when someone sees it, he swallows it as soon as it is in his hand.
 
5 In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people, 6 and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 7 These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment. 8 For all tables are full of filthy vomit, with no space left. 9 “To whom will he teach knowledge, and to whom will he explain the message? Those who are weaned from the milk, those taken from the breast? 10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.”
 
11 For by people of strange lips and with a foreign tongue the Lord will speak to this people, 12 to whom he has said, “This is rest; give rest to the weary; and this is repose”; yet they would not hear. 13 And 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, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
 
A Cornerstone in Zion
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem! 15 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”; 16 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.’ 17 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.”


18 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. 19 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. 20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in. 21 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! 22 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. 23 Give ear, and hear my voice; give attention, and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
 
25 When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer as the border? 26 For he is rightly instructed; his God teaches him. 27 Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin, but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod. 28 Does one crush grain for bread? No, he does not thresh it forever; when he drives his cart wheel over it with his horses, he does not crush it. 29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.
 
Meditation
Our hearts are fertile soil for the word of God. Sow the seed of the word! Read, listen, meditate, and share the Word of God for fruitful sowing.
 
Isaiah condemned the leaders of Judah as foolish for having harrowed hearts for planting but not receiving the seed of God’s word. The leader’s rejection of God’s Word led to the decay of society.
 
The leaders of Judah scoffed at God’s word (14) and stumbled on the foundation God lays for His people (16). Justice and righteousness, the foundation of God’s throne (Psalm 89:14), are absent in a society whose leaders reject God’s word (17).
 
 The receptive heart (23-26) is characterized by both plowing and planting, not just plowing row upon row. True humility, sitting under the authority of God’s Word, will plow to remove obstacles for growth to allow the seed of God’s Word to find fertile soil for a fruitful harvest in our hearts.
 
Through the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 Jesus challenges His disciples to discern the soil of our hearts in receiving the seed of God’s Word. The apostle James shares the same priority for the Church in James 1:20. Will we have hearts to receive?
 
The Lord cries out through the lips of Isaiah, “Give ear and hear my voice! Pay attention, and hear my speech!” (23) The leaders of Judah would not listen to God’s Word. Will we receive the seed?
 
Richly Dwelling
-Why does a society lack justice and righteousness when leaders reject listening to God’s Word?
 
-Do you sow the seed of God’s Word in your heart through reading, meditating, memorizing, and sharing God’s Word? If not, what steps can you take to grow in this area?
 
-What do you need to remove from the soil of your heart to give more fertile soil for the implanted Word of God?
 
Key Verse
23 Give ear, and hear my voice; give attention, and hear my speech.