Isaiah Chapter 28
Isaiah 28, A Word to Drunkards
Isaiah 28 begins a new section, running through Isaiah 35, largely directed toward Judah. Isaiah first addresses the drunkenness and pride of Ephraim, the northern kingdom of Israel, then turns the same rebuke toward Judah’s priests, prophets, and rulers. This chapter exposes drunkenness, pride, false confidence, mocking of simple biblical instruction, the deadly refuge of lies, and the only sure foundation, the Messiah, the precious cornerstone laid in Zion. The notes provided cover Isaiah 28:1-29, including the drunkards of Ephraim, the fading crown of pride, the Lord as the true crown of glory, the corruption of Judah’s leaders, the mocked message of line upon line, the covenant with death, the cornerstone prophecy, the warning against mockers, and the farmer illustration showing God’s perfect timing and wise discipline.
Isaiah 28:1-4
Isaiah 28:1-4, KJV, “Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord hath mighty and strong one, which as tempest of hail and destroying storm, as flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet: And the glorious beauty, which on the head of the fat valley, shall be fading flower, and as hasty fruit before summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up.”
Isaiah opens with “Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim.” Ephraim was the dominant tribe of the northern kingdom, so the name Ephraim is often used for the whole northern kingdom of Israel. The Lord directly addresses drunkenness because it had become a defining sin among the people. Their beauty, strength, and national pride were being corrupted by indulgence, arrogance, and moral decay.
The phrase “crown of pride” is important. Drunkenness is not only a bodily sin. It is also connected to pride. A man under the control of alcohol often imagines he is free, when in reality he is enslaved. He may excuse himself, justify himself, or pity himself, but much of that still circles around self. Pride can appear as arrogance, but it can also appear as self absorption, self destruction, and refusal to submit to God’s rule.
Scripture speaks plainly against drunkenness.
Proverbs 20:1, KJV, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”
Proverbs 23:29-35, KJV, “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in cup, when it moveth itself aright. At last it biteth like serpent, and stingeth like adder. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in midst of sea, or as he that lieth upon top of mast. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and felt it not: when shall awake? I will seek it yet again.”
Proverbs gives the full picture, woe, sorrow, conflict, foolish speech, unnecessary wounds, moral confusion, perverse thoughts, loss of judgment, and bondage. The drunkard is bitten by what he thought would comfort him. Strong drink promises relief, but it brings slavery.
The New Testament also commands believers to reject drunkenness.
Ephesians 5:18, KJV, “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.”
The contrast is clear. Wine brings excess and loss of self control. The Holy Spirit brings holiness, clarity, wisdom, worship, obedience, and spiritual strength. Drunkenness is never a harmless weakness in Scripture. It is sin, and it leads men out of the way.
Isaiah says Ephraim’s “glorious beauty is a fading flower.” Sin fades glory. What God had given to Israel was beautiful, covenant privilege, land, identity, strength, and testimony among the nations. Yet drunkenness and pride were making that beauty wither. Sin always does this. It takes what is noble and reduces it. It takes strength and weakens it. It takes dignity and makes it shameful.
The people are described as “overcome with wine.” This is the heart of drunkenness. The issue is control. When wine, strong drink, or any intoxicating substance overcomes a man, his senses, judgment, speech, conduct, and restraint are brought under another master. That is rebellion against the Lord, because the body and mind are to be ruled by God, not by appetite.
Romans 13:13-14, KJV, “Let us walk honestly, as in day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for flesh, to fulfil lusts thereof.”
The believer is commanded to make no provision for the flesh. That includes refusing to create patterns, environments, and excuses that lead back into bondage.
Verse 2 announces judgment. “Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one.” The drunkards of Ephraim were weak under wine, but the Lord had a mighty instrument of judgment. The imagery is violent, “a tempest of hail,” “a destroying storm,” and “a flood of mighty waters overflowing.” This points to the overwhelming force God would bring against the northern kingdom, historically fulfilled through Assyria.
The proud crown of drunkards would be “trodden under feet.” Their fading beauty would be like early fruit eaten immediately by the one who sees it. The picture is of something quickly consumed. Ephraim’s glory would not last. What looked ripe, attractive, and secure would be swallowed up.
This is one of the great lies of addiction and indulgence. Immediate pleasure feels powerful, but it is temporary. It trains the soul to prefer present gratification over future blessing. The drunkard eats the fruit while it is still in his hand. He cannot wait. He cannot govern appetite. He trades future strength for present sensation.
Biblically, maturity requires delayed gratification, discipline, and self control. The man of God must learn to deny the flesh rather than be ruled by it.
Titus 2:11-12, KJV, “For grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”
Grace does not teach indulgence. Grace teaches sobriety, righteousness, and godliness.
Isaiah 28:5-6
Isaiah 28:5-6, KJV, “In that day shall LORD of hosts be for crown of glory, and for diadem of beauty, unto residue of his people, And for spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and for strength to them that turn battle to gate.”
After exposing the fading crown of Ephraim’s pride, Isaiah turns to the true crown. “In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty.” Everything sin makes fade, God can replace with greater glory. Ephraim’s drunken pride was a fading flower, but the Lord Himself is an unfading crown.
This promise is given “unto the residue of his people.” The residue is the remnant. Even in judgment, God preserves a people for Himself. Israel’s sin is real, but God’s faithfulness remains. The drunken and proud are judged, but the remnant finds its beauty in the Lord.
The Lord also becomes “a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment.” Sin destroys discernment. Drunkenness especially corrupts judgment, both morally and practically. Leaders under the influence of wine or pride cannot judge rightly. But the Lord can restore true judgment to those who sit in positions of decision and authority.
This matters because leadership requires sobriety, wisdom, and moral clarity. A judge, ruler, pastor, father, or commander must not be governed by appetite. He must be governed by truth.
Proverbs 31:4-5, KJV, “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget law, and pervert judgment of any afflicted.”
Leaders who are enslaved to drink forget law and pervert judgment. Isaiah declares that the Lord Himself must be the source of true judgment.
The Lord is also “strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.” When sin has weakened a people, they need strength from the Lord. When battle presses at the gate, human courage is not enough. The remnant will find in the Lord what Ephraim lost through sin, glory, beauty, judgment, and strength.
Isaiah 28:7-8
Isaiah 28:7-8, KJV, “But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of way; priest and prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment. For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.”
Isaiah now turns from Ephraim to Judah. “But they also have erred through wine.” Judah had caught the same disease. Sin is contagious. What ruins one people can spread to another if they do not fear God and separate themselves from corruption.
The tragedy is that this drunkenness had reached “the priest and the prophet.” These were the very men who should have taught truth, guarded worship, discerned God’s word, and led the people in righteousness. Instead, they erred through strong drink. They were “swallowed up of wine.” The language shows control, domination, and spiritual collapse.
When priests and prophets are drunk, the whole nation is endangered. The priest represented worship and instruction. The prophet represented the word of the Lord. If both are corrupted, the people are left without faithful guidance.
Isaiah says, “they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.” Alcohol and intoxication corrupt spiritual perception. A drunken prophet cannot see clearly. A drunken priest cannot judge rightly. This is not limited to literal alcohol. Anything that intoxicates the soul, pride, greed, lust, popularity, ambition, bitterness, or compromise, can make a spiritual leader err in vision and stumble in judgment.
The result is disgusting, “all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.” Isaiah does not soften the image. Drunkenness is not glamorous. It is degrading. The tables that should have been places of fellowship, instruction, or worship are covered with vomit. No place is clean.
This is why the idea of being spiritually drunk is false and offensive. The Holy Spirit does not make people unclean, foolish, out of control, or morally degraded. He produces self control, holiness, clarity, and reverence.
Galatians 5:22-23, KJV, “But fruit of Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
Temperance means self control. The Spirit does not imitate drunkenness. He opposes the flesh that produces it.
Isaiah 28:9-10
Isaiah 28:9-10, KJV, “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from milk, and drawn from breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here little, and there little.”
These verses record the mocking response of Judah’s corrupt leaders to Isaiah’s message. They ask, “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?” In their arrogance, they treat Isaiah as though he is speaking to babies, those just weaned from milk and drawn from the breasts. They are insulted by the simplicity and repetition of his message.
Their attitude is common among proud religious people. They grow tired of plain truth. They want something clever, novel, sophisticated, or flattering. They despise direct teaching about sin, repentance, judgment, obedience, and trust in the Lord. They mock the preacher who gives them the Word of God plainly.
They sneer, “precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little, and there a little.” They intend this as an insult. They are saying Isaiah’s teaching is childish, repetitive, and beneath them. Yet in God’s providence, their insult describes the right way to teach truth. God’s Word is to be taught precept by precept, line by line, carefully, plainly, repeatedly, and completely.
This is exactly why faithful Bible teaching does not skip hard passages, avoid doctrine, or rush past details. The people of God need the whole counsel of God.
Acts 20:26-27, KJV, “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all counsel of God.”
Paul’s faithfulness was shown in declaring the whole counsel of God. Isaiah’s mocked method was actually sound, teach the truth line by line, precept by precept.
This is also how spiritual maturity often develops. God does not usually give a man full understanding in one overwhelming flash. He teaches steadily. One truth builds upon another. One doctrine supports another. One correction prepares for another. The immature may mock this, but faithful disciples learn to love it.
Isaiah 28:11-13
Isaiah 28:11-13, KJV, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This rest wherewith ye may cause weary to rest; and this refreshing: yet they would not hear. But word of LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here little, and there little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.”
Because Judah mocked the simple, faithful message of the Lord, God says He will speak to them “with stammering lips and another tongue.” If they refuse to hear God’s clear word through Isaiah, they will hear foreign speech through invading armies. The Assyrian language, and later the Babylonian language, would become a sign of judgment. The people who mocked God’s Word in their own tongue would hear strange tongues as enemies marched through their land.
The Apostle Paul later quotes this verse in connection with tongues as a sign.
1 Corinthians 14:21-22, KJV, “In law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith Lord. Wherefore tongues are for sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.”
In Isaiah, foreign tongues signaled judgment upon unbelieving Israel. Paul applies the principle to show that tongues function as a sign connected with unbelief and judgment, not as a mark of spiritual superiority.
The Lord had offered rest and refreshing. “This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing.” God’s Word was not given to destroy them, but to bring rest. The message they mocked was the message they needed. Yet Isaiah says, “they would not hear.”
That is the tragedy. The problem was not that God’s Word was unclear. The problem was that they refused it. The result is that the Word becomes judgment to them. The same truth that would have given rest now becomes the word by which they fall backward, are broken, snared, and taken.
This is a serious principle. Rejected light increases accountability. The Word of God softens the humble, but hardens the proud. The same sun that melts wax hardens clay.
Hebrews 4:2, KJV, “For unto us was gospel preached, as well as unto them: but word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”
The Word must be received with faith. Without faith, even the clearest message brings no profit.
Isaiah 28:14-15
Isaiah 28:14-15, KJV, “Wherefore hear word of LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when 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.”
Isaiah now addresses the rulers of Jerusalem directly. They are called “scornful men.” Their problem was not ignorance alone. It was contempt. They mocked God’s warning, despised Isaiah’s message, and trusted their own schemes.
They claimed, “We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement.” This is the language of extreme false confidence. They believed they had secured themselves against coming disaster. Whether through political alliances, military strategies, occult confidence, or sheer arrogance, they imagined that death and Sheol could not touch them.
This is madness. No man makes a successful covenant with death. Death is not a friend to the unbeliever. Death is an enemy. Death ends the opportunity for repentance and brings the unredeemed into judgment.
Hebrews 9:27, KJV, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this judgment.”
The rulers thought the “overflowing scourge” would not come to them. They believed judgment would pass over them. Their confidence was built on lies. Isaiah says they had made “lies” their refuge and hidden themselves under “falsehood.”
A refuge of lies is still a refuge men run to today. Some trust the lie that they are good enough. Some trust religious tradition without conversion. Some trust emotional experiences from the past while having no present walk with God. Some trust false doctrine that excuses sin. Some trust political power, wealth, education, or personal toughness. Some trust the lie that there will always be more time.
But lies cannot protect from judgment. A man may hide under falsehood for a season, but God’s storm will expose him.
Psalm 62:9, KJV, “Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are lie: to laid in balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.”
Human greatness without God is lighter than vanity. Jerusalem’s rulers had power, but they had no truth.
Isaiah 28:16-19
Isaiah 28:16-19, KJV, “Therefore thus saith Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for foundation stone, tried stone, precious corner stone, sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to line, and righteousness to plummet: and hail shall sweep away refuge of lies, and waters shall overflow hiding place. And your covenant with death shall disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall trodden down by it. From time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall vexation only to understand report.”
Against the rulers’ refuge of lies, God presents His true foundation. “Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone.” God Himself lays the foundation. Man cannot provide it. Religion cannot manufacture it. Politics cannot substitute for it. The Lord lays this stone in Zion.
This stone is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The New Testament directly applies this passage to Him.
1 Peter 2:6, KJV, “Wherefore also it is contained in scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not confounded.”
Christ is the foundation God has laid. Everything lasting must be built upon Him.
Isaiah describes Him as “a tried stone.” Christ was tested and proven perfectly faithful. He was tempted, opposed, rejected, betrayed, beaten, crucified, and yet remained sinless and obedient.
Hebrews 4:15, KJV, “For we have not high priest which cannot touched with feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”
He is also “a precious corner stone.” The cornerstone sets the lines for the whole building. Everything must align with Christ. Doctrine, worship, conduct, ministry, family, church, and hope must be measured by Him. If something does not line up with Christ, it is crooked.
He is “a sure foundation.” The believer can build his whole life and eternity upon Christ without fear. Every other foundation will fail.
1 Corinthians 3:11, KJV, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
Isaiah says, “he that believeth shall not make haste.” The one who believes will not panic, flee in terror, or be driven by frantic unbelief. Faith steadies the soul. The New Testament wording says he will not be confounded. The believer in Christ will not be ultimately ashamed.
God then says, “Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet.” God’s building is not crooked. He measures by justice and righteousness. Men may build with lies, but God measures with truth.
The storm comes, “hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters shall overflow the hiding place.” The rulers had hidden under falsehood, but God’s judgment exposes false covering. Their covenant with death will be annulled. Their agreement with hell will not stand. The overflowing scourge will trample them.
This shows the difference between Christ and every false refuge. Christ stands under judgment because He bore judgment for His people. Lies collapse under judgment because they have no atoning power.
Matthew 7:24-27, KJV, “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto wise man, which built his house upon rock: And rain descended, and floods came, and winds blew, and beat upon house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall likened unto foolish man, which built his house upon sand: And rain descended, and floods came, and winds blew, and beat upon house; and it fell: and great was fall of it.”
Isaiah and Jesus teach the same truth. The storm reveals the foundation.
Isaiah 28:20-22
Isaiah 28:20-22, KJV, “For bed is shorter than that man can stretch himself on it: and covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. For LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall wroth as in valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands made strong: for I have heard from Lord GOD of hosts consumption, even determined upon whole earth.”
Isaiah gives a vivid picture of false security. “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 rulers’ refuge could not give rest. Their covering could not give warmth. Their lies were too short and too narrow. They could not stretch out in peace, and they could not wrap themselves in protection.
That is the world’s refuge. It promises comfort, but it cannot provide it. It promises rest, but it leaves the soul exposed. Sin never provides a large enough bed or a sufficient covering. Only the Lord gives true rest and covering.
Matthew 11:28-30, KJV, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke easy, and my burden light.”
Christ gives the rest the world cannot give.
Verse 21 says the Lord will rise up “as in mount Perazim” and be angry “as in the valley of Gibeon.” These were places where the Lord had fought for His people in earlier days.
2 Samuel 5:20, KJV, “And David came to Baalperazim, and David smote them there, and said, LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as breach of waters. Therefore he called name of that place Baalperazim.”
Joshua 10:10-11, KJV, “And LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along way that goeth up to Bethhoron, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in going down to Bethhoron, that LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they more which died with hailstones than they whom children of Israel slew with sword.”
At Perazim and Gibeon, the Lord fought for Israel. But now, if Jerusalem continues in rebellion, the Lord will fight against them. This is why Isaiah calls it “his strange work” and “his strange act.” Judgment against His covenant people is not strange because it is unjust. It is strange because the Lord delights in mercy, yet rebellion can make discipline necessary.
Isaiah warns, “be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong.” Mocking God tightens bondage. A man who laughs at warning does not become freer. He becomes more enslaved. Scorn hardens the heart.
The warning closes with a determined judgment “upon the whole earth.” This pushes the passage beyond Jerusalem’s immediate crisis and points toward the broader day of the Lord. The same God who judges Jerusalem’s rulers will judge the world.
Isaiah 28:23-29
Isaiah 28:23-29, KJV, “Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. Doth plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break clods of his ground? When he hath made plain face thereof, doth he not cast abroad fitches, and scatter cummin, and cast in principal wheat and appointed barley and rie in their place? For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him. For fitches are not threshed with threshing instrument, neither is cart wheel turned about upon cummin; but fitches are beaten out with staff, and cummin with rod. Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with horsemen. This also cometh forth from LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.”
The chapter ends with an agricultural illustration. Isaiah commands, “Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.” The rulers had mocked simple instruction, but God still calls them to listen. The illustration of the farmer explains the wisdom and timing of God’s dealings.
A farmer does not plow all day forever. Plowing has a purpose, but it is not the whole process. He breaks the ground, levels the surface, plants different seeds in appropriate places, and later threshes each crop according to its nature. The farmer knows what tool to use, when to use it, and how long to use it.
This wisdom comes from God. “For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.” Even ordinary farming wisdom is a gift from the Lord. If God teaches the farmer how to handle seed and soil, surely God knows how to deal wisely with nations, churches, families, and individual souls.
The fitches are not threshed with a heavy threshing instrument. The cart wheel is not rolled over cummin. Different crops require different handling. Bread corn is bruised, but not endlessly. The farmer does not thresh forever. He uses enough pressure to accomplish the purpose, but not more than is needed.
This is a picture of God’s discipline. God knows when to plow, when to plant, when to thresh, and when to stop. His people may not understand every tool He uses, but He is never careless. He does not crush for no reason. He does not discipline without wisdom. He does not keep threshing forever.
Hebrews 12:10-11, KJV, “For they verily for few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for profit, that might partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for present seemeth joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”
God’s chastening is for profit. It yields fruit. Isaiah’s farmer illustration teaches that God’s discipline has purpose, proportion, timing, and wisdom.
The chapter closes with praise, “This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.” The phrase “wonderful in counsel” recalls the Messianic title in Isaiah 9:6.
Isaiah 9:6, KJV, “For unto us child is born, unto us son given: and government shall upon his shoulder: and his name shall called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
The Lord is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. He knows how to judge drunkards, preserve a remnant, expose false leaders, lay the cornerstone, sweep away lies, warn mockers, and discipline His people with perfect timing. His counsel is not merely intelligent. It is wonderful. His work is not merely effective. It is excellent.
