Today I would like to talk from the first half of Isaiah 28. From Isaiah 24 to 27 Isaiah talks about God’s plan of salvation that will occur in the entire world at the end of the world. However, he returns again to talking about Israel and Judah, especially Judah and Jerusalem. Here Isaiah talks about a problem that he hadn’t talked with them about yet. He is talking about sin.

I. Ephraim’s drunkards (vs. 1-6)
Let’s look at verses 1 to 6. First let’s read vs. 1 and 2.
Vs. 1,2
Here it says, “Ephraim”. (1) “Ephraim” (1) is one of the 12 tribes of Israel, but this refers to Northern Israel. Israel was originally an unified country, but in 931 B.C. like Korea it was divided into North and South. The north was made up of 10 tribes and the South was made up of the 2 tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The largest and strongest tribe in Northern Israel was Ephraim so Ephraim was used to refer to Northern Israel. On the other hand, the Southern Kingdom of Judah was called Judah. Here is a sentence against Northern Israel. “Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley-“ (1)
God is lamenting “Woe” (1) to Northern Israel because of their pride. Here is says, “the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards”. (1)　This describes them at a feast drunk day and night. Even though they were in the dangerous situation of Assyria attacking, they said they were o.k. They thought they were rich so they thought there was no reason to fear. They didn’t open their ears to God’s warning. In reality the land of Ephraim was abundant, and crops were plentiful. Here the words, “flower” (1) and “fertile valley” (1) shows this. Their soil was very “fertile” and the products of it very abundant. (1)Flowers were abundantly produced in Ephraim. Dairy farming also flourished there. Things like the flower of Sharon were also produced in Ephraim. Economically they were rich. That was the reason they were puffed up with pride and were like “drunkards”. They thought they were o.k. because they were rich. They thought that even if Assyria attacked, they would have no problem. They thought that no matter what attacked them that they were o.k. They didn’t feel any threats so their hearts became insensible. The Lord called this being a “drunkard”. (1) When you drink and become drunk, you can’t make correct decisions about things. In the same way their pride, and putting too much trust in themselves, made their hearts go mad like a “drunkard”. (1)
Please look at I John 2:16.
I John 2:16
“The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-comes not from the Father.” (I John 2:16) They all come “from the world.” (I John 2:16) Especially in Ephraim “the pride of life” was a problem. This “comes not from the Father”. (I John 2:16) “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” were their own desires. They made such things as if they were the desires of God so the people were in such a state that the things they should hear, they didn’t hear. They had become “drunkards”. (1) When you are drunk, you don’t know what condition you are in. In the state of a “drunkard” (1) you can’t see reality. Therefore, you think, “O.K.” “O.K.” “There’s no problem at all”, etc. You spend your days laughing thinking that everything is fun. Such pride will certainly be knocked down. Verse 3 and 4 say, “That wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, will be trampled underfoot. That fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley, will be like figs ripe before harvest.” It will be broken into pieces.
This age is the same. God is giving warnings in this age too. We aren’t listening. We mustn’t do the same thing as Ephraim. In our hearts we may have the same kind of pride as them. We may think that we O.K. We may not feel any threats. Even if a bullet came, we are not afraid. We may think that even if we don’t listen to God’s Word that we can have enough fun living. That is the same as Ephraim. It is being in the state of a “drunkard”.(1) You can’s see your own state. Such pride will certainly fall. We must open our ears to God’s voice, and obediently obey.
Please look at verses 5 and 6. Even to this prideful Ephraim the Lord gives comfort. He promises to prepare a remnant. “In that day the LORD Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people. He will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.” (5,6)
“In that day” (5) refers to the Tribulation and Millennium that will continue after it at the end of the world. “In that day the LORD Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people.” (5) The majority of the Ephraim people as “drunkards” (1) will be destroyed by the judgment of God, but God will prepare a “remnant of his people”(5) from among them. God “will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant.” (5) Verse six is a difficult sentence to understand, but the Lord “will be a spirit of justice” (6) and “a source of strength” (6) so the remnant will be able to listen to the Lord’s voice and make correct judgments. “Drunkards” (1) are different. They don’t understand what is good and acceptable to God, or now what kind of age they are living in, or now what conditions they are in. That is because they are drunk. However, the remnant is different. By God’s “spirit of justice” (6) and God’s “strength” (6) they are able to make correct decisions. We are

the remnant. Let’s be a person that isn’t proud of his state and doesn’t put too much trust in himself, but just earnestly desires the will of God. We need to desire to always be awake and open our ears to the Word of God so that we can make correct decisions.

II. Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that (Vs. 7-10)
Next let’s look at verses 7 to 9. First of all please look at verses 7 and 8.
Verses 7 and 8
“And these also” (7) are the leaders of the Southern Judah Kingdom. Not just Ephraim, but Southern Judah too was in the state of being “drunkards”. (1) The priests and prophets while being spiritual leaders were in the condition of being “drunkards”. (1) Perhaps they were drunk from celebrating. When they heard that the allied forces of Aram and Ephraim were going to attack they advised King Ahaz to immediately seek support and help from Assyria. They though if they did that Southern Judah would be safe. However, that was not the Lord’s will. God wanted them to just depend upon God and wait expectantly for God’s salvation, but they depended on humanistic things. Their decision was wrong. They made such a wrong decision because they were “drunkards”. (1) It is true that by doing that their association between Assyria will be friendly bounded by secret promises and Southern Judah will be safe from the allied forces of Aram and Ephraim. However, as a result, next Assyria will cause them to suffer. Yesterday’s friend is today’s enemy. Human society is always like that. Man always does what is good for himself. Judah’s spiritual and religious leaders the priests and the prophets didn’t know that and were drunk with the wine of celebration. The real prophet, Isaiah, appeared there and proclaimed God’s word. Isaiah proclaimed to them, “And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.” (7)
They were in a position where they must make decisions spiritually about things, and make correct decisions, but they too are drunk! The priests and prophets too “stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.” (7) It would be like a pastor giving a sermon when he is drunk.
If we look at the Old Testament, according to the law, the spiritual leaders like the priests and prophets, were forbidden to drink alcohol.
Lev. 10:9
People who served God like the priests and Levites “are not to drink wine or other fermented drink (Lev. 10:9) That is so they could make correct decisions and so they could calmly make the decisions. When a person drinks, he can’t make correct decisions. The reason we must not drive when we drink is because when we drink we can’t drive correctly. We don’t drive when we drink because there is danger that by drinking we might have a fatal accident. The same thing can be said spiritually. Drinking dulls our judgment. In I Timothy 3:3 qualifications for overseers in the church is given. One of the qualifications is not to be “given to drunkenness.” (I Timothy 3:3) “not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, no quarrelsome…” (I Timothy 3:3) The reason why drinking is not good is because it dulls your judgment. If you are a spiritual leader, it is even more so. The spiritual leader holds the destiny of the people in all kinds of situations. He is looked to for correct decisions. If he is drunk then he can’t give correct decisions. As a result it will bring destruction and huge tragedy. Therefore, you must not be “given to drunkenness.” (I Timothy 3:3)
However, this is not just limited to church leaders. This is desired of all people that stand over others. If you are the leader of the family, to steadfastly take care of the family spiritually, to lead the family, you must not be drunk. If a person who is in an important situation is drunk, then it will bring destruction and tragedy. There are people that say alcohol is one kind of communication. If you don’t have alcohol, then you can’t really talk from your heart. Some people think that they can’t have a relationship with people without drinking. They think that they can’t have ease from worries without drinking, but such people are always drinking. Christians don’t need to drink in order to talk from their hearts. They don’t have to have drinking as their refuge. They can get rid of their stress. The Bible does not force asceticism upon us. However, it promises greater blessings. Even though you don’t get drunk, it brings us greater joy. Even so there are those that think that if you don’t drink life is boring. Even spiritual leaders like “priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine.” (7) According to verse 8 they were such a state that “all the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth.” It is like the parking lot of a convenience store.
Not only that, but they are saying the following. In verses 9 and 10 they say, “Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there.”
This “he” (9) is Isaiah. This drunken party is severely reacting to Isaiah’s sharply put points. “Who do you regard us as? Talking to us as teaching a baby or toddler…Do you think that we don’t know God’s revelation? If you open your mouth, you
say, ‘Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that.’ (10) Stop nagging us.” Talking like a drunkard they complained to Isaiah that his teaching was too simple, too child like, and that he spoke like he was speaking to a child.
”Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that” (10) in Hebrew uses the same words over again. It is really simple and clear-cut. Even a child would understand. They are saying that Isaiah’s level is really low and are making fun of him. This is really deeply interesting. These priests and prophets while being drunk saw visions and rendered decisions, they tell Isaiah to talk more refined.
II Timothy 4:1-5
As the end of the world nears, people like the priests and prophets in the age of Isaiah will appear. They “will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teaches to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (II Timothy 4:3,4) They will say that to just simply listen to what is written in the Bible is child like. They want a message that contains what “their itching ears want to hear” (II Timothy 4:3) They want a message that suits “their own desires”. (II Timothy 4:3) They want to hear a message that will bring self fulfillment. They want to hear a message on things like how you can be successful and live a shining life. At the end of the world there will be a lot of people like that. That’s why they won’t go to church too. The Bible is too simple. It’s too boring. They want to hear a more stimulating, more moving message. A 1 minute deep message is good. They don’t want to hear a 30 minute boring message. They want to hear a 3 minute message that reaches their hearts, a deep talk. However, to read the Bible the way it is gives it worth. That is because the Bible was written by the Holy Spirit. It is different from what people from here or there wrote. It was written by Holy Spirit of God. By the Holy Spirit we are shown our flaws, receive warning, our thoughts are changed, and so our actions are changed.
America’s 16th President, Abraham Lincoln said that the Bible was the greatest present that God gave to mankind. All that mankind desires for happiness is included in the Bible. That is because the author of the Bible is not man, but the only real living God. No matter how boring and dull a message it is, it is the truth and it brings us life.
Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life..” (John 14:6) If you want to have life, you must go to Jesus. If you want to go to God the Father, you must believe in Jesus. The Bible offers us the way to life.
Paul said to the Church of Corinth that desired well-educated wisdom and looked down upon Paul, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (I Cor. 1:18-20)
The truth is simple. It isn’t so complicated. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (I Cor. 1:18) We must read the Bible itself, the words of the cross. We are taught from the Bible. That is enough. This is what is necessary for us.

When we are pressed by some kind of crisis, more than God’s Word we seek some kind of solution. We immediately have a consultation with an expert. We try to borrow help from others. We take any means. That is of itself is not a problem, but there is something we must do first. That is to listen to God. We mustn’t depend on our own strength and wisdom, but we must listen to God. What is God saying? We must listen to God’s voice. If not, it will end with disappointing results. Therefore, “Do this, do that, a rule for this a rule for that” (10) is enough. If you listen to the Word of God, you will for sure change. That is because that is where God’s power works.

III. This is the resting place (vs. 11-13)
Lastly, let’s look at verses 11 to 13.
Vs. 11-13
It is interesting. To the Jewish spiritual leaders that criticized Isaiah, the Lord quotes their words and issues judgment. “Foreign lips and strange tongues” means words that they can’t understand. These are words that they are ignorant of the meaning of. They can’t speak the words. What does this mean? 1. This is thought to be referring to Assyria. They will be judged by people who speak with words that can’t be understood, that they are ignorant of the meaning of. Deut. 28:49 says, “The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand.” These are words that the Lord spoke through Moses. “The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand.” This is Assyria, Babylon, and Rome. These countries came against them. They spoke “with foreign lips and strange tongues.” (11) Even though God says, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest…This is the place of repose,” (12) they didn’t listen. Therefore, they were judged by such countries.
2. These words are quoted in I Cor. 14:21. Please open your Bibles to this passage.
I Cor. 14:21
It is quoted here. This is used in the context of explaining about the Spiritual gift of tongues. Tongues is one gift of the Holy Spirit. It is words that man can’t understand. In verse 4 of I Cor. 14 it says, “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” Tongues is a private gift. It edifies yourself. Prophecy “edifies the church.”(I Cor. 14:4) It builds the whole church up. However, tongues are different. Tongues edify yourself. When your spirit is tired, when you pray in tongues, you are healed. When you sing in tongues, you are set free. Tongues are not your own words, but words of the Spirit. You pray in the Spirit. You sing in the Spirit. Sometimes we don’t know how we should pray. We want to pray, but the words don’t come. We want to pray but we can’t find the words. At times like this the gifts of tongues are used. No matter how tired you are your lips move naturally. You praise God
naturally. You pray with your mind and you pray in the Spirit. Usually we pray in our mind and we sing in our mind, but when we receive the gift of tongues, we pray in the spirit. Therefore, no matter how tired we are, we can pray.
These are spiritual words so generally we can’t understand them. Therefore as I Cor. 14:23 says, “if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?” Therefore “if any one speaks in a tongue, two-or at the most three-should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.” (I Cor. 14:27,28) That is that others won’t think “that you are out of your mind” (I Cor. 14:23) and so it doesn’t become a stumbling block for them. Please look at I Cor. 14:22. It says, “Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers.” Tongues are “not for believers but for unbelievers.” (I Cor. 14:22) In the next verse, verse 23 it says, “So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?” These 2 verses don’t seem to match.
To understand this we must look carefully at the context. The context is quoting Isaiah’s words in verse 21. In other words, these “unbelievers” (I Cor. 14:22) are not those “who do not understand or…unbelievers” (I Cor. 14:23) These “unbelievers” (I Cor. 14:22) are those who did not listen to the Word of God that Isaiah spoke. In Isaiah this would be the drunk priests and prophets. They needed to be spoken to in unclear words. They needed to be spoken to “with foreign lips and strange tongues”. (11) By that they would be shocked and their eyes opened. These “unbelievers” (I Cor. 14:22) are not those “who do not understand or…unbelievers,” (I Cor. 14:23) but are those who believe in God but don’t believe in the Word of God and don’t listen to the Word of God.
Such people have no resting place. Such people are always humanistic. They don’t acknowledge that God is alive and working. Real salvation, real life, real healing, and real rest is in Jesus Christ. The Lord is saying this. We must believe that.
Please look at Matt. 11:28 to 30.
Matt. 11:28-30
This verse is the verse used the most on church signs. “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28) Do you believe these words? If you come to Jesus there is real rest. If you go to Jesus, take his yoke upon you and learn from him, “you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:29) Even if you have not received the gift of tongues, if you go to Jesus, “you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:29) The problem is whether you will listen to the Word of God or not; whether you will believe in the Word of God and obey or not. If you go to Jesus, take his yoke upon you and learn from him, “you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt. 11:29) However, if because of pride, you don’t accept God’s word, or your own thinking is too strong, and you don’t listen to the Word of God, you will not receive rest. All we need is “Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that.” (10) We need to simply listen to the Word of God. We need to depend upon God. “This is the resting place…this is the place of repose.” (12)Let’s put our faith in the Word of the cross, the Word of salvation, in God’s Word and let’s learn from him.