Life-Study of Isaiah, by Witness Lee

More excerpts from this title...

I. JEHOVAH’S PUNISHMENT
OVER THE DRUNKARDS OF EPHRAIM
(REPRESENTING THE NORTHERN KINGDOM OF ISRAEL)
ISSUING IN JEHOVAH’S RESTORATION
AND USHERING IN THE TRUSTWORTHY CHRIST

A. Jehovah’s Punishment
over Ephraim’s Drunkards

In 28:1-4, 7-15, and 17-29 we have Jehovah’s punishment over Ephraim’s drunkards.

1. The Drunkards’ Indulgence in Drinking

The drunkards reel with wine and stagger from liquor (v. 7a). The priest and the prophet stagger from liquor; they are swallowed up with wine, and they reel in their visions and totter in their judgments (v. 7b). All the tables are full of vomit and filth; no place is clean (v. 8).

2. Jehovah’s Punishment

a. Woe Being to the Proud
Crown of the Drunkards of Ephraim
and to the Fading Flower of Its Glorious Beauty

Isaiah 28:1 says, "Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim/And to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, / Which is at the head of the fat valley of those who are overcome by wine." Verse 2 tells us that the Lord has someone who is strong and mighty, as a hailstorm and a tempest of destruction, as a storm of mighty overflowing waters. I believe that this someone was first the king of Assyria and then the king of Babylon. The proud crown will be trodden under foot; and the fading flower, like the first-ripe fig before the summer, will be swallowed up by one who sees it (vv. 3-4).

b. Bothering Them by the Gentile

(Life-Study of Isaiah, Chapter 16, by Witness Lee)