Former Glory - Current Judgment (Part 3)

Pastor Bill Farrow

Isaiah 28:2-4

²Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand. ³The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, Will be trampled underfoot; ⁴And the glorious beauty is a fading flower Which is at the head of the verdant valley, Like the first fruit before the summer, Which an observer sees; He eats it up while it is still in his hand.

ISAIAH 28:2

Behold, the LORD has a mighty and strong one -  Lord stresses God’s sovereignty (cf. 6:1). Instead of the ambiguous one who is, Isaiah could have named Assyria as the power which would overthrow Samaria, but in chapters 28–29 (see above) he is concerned with the principles embodied in the events, not the agents. Consequently, we find here the idiom of indeterminateness for the sake of emphasis. The Lord always has at his disposal some power more than adequate. The spirit of Samaria is an affront to Him and He will sovereignly reply to it.  God has an officer ready to make a seizure for him, has one at his beck, a mighty and strong one, who is able to do the business, even the king of Assyria, who shall cast down to the earth with the hand, shall easily and effectually, and with the turn of a hand, destroy all that which they are proud of and pleased with He shall throw it down to the ground, to be broken to pieces with a strong hand, with a hand that they cannot oppose.

Powerful is power in relation to the task to be done (cf. Ex. 10:19; Is. 27:1); strong is power resident in the agent (cf. 40:26; Am. 2:16).

Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm - The ‘forces of nature’ (hailstorm, wind, rain) are, as ever, elements in a theophany, motifs of direct divine action (cf. verses 15, 17–18; 8:7–8).  A storm of hail is a most striking representation of the desolation that is produced by the ravages of an invading army (compare Job 27:21; the note at Isa. 30:30; also Hos. 13:15).

Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing - This is also a striking description of the devastating effects of an invading army (compare Ps. 90:5; Jer. 46:7-8).

Who will bring them down to the earth - To cast it to the earth means that it should be entirely humbled and destroyed (see the note at Isa. 25:12).

With His hand - By ‘Force,’ ‘violence.’ This is its meaning here; as if it were taken in the hand, like a cup, and dashed indignantly to the ground. He will throw (i.e. the Lord) is a “prophetic perfect” meaning ‘has determined to’.

Isaiah 28:3

The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim - Then the crown of pride, and the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under foot; they shall lie exposed to contempt, and shall not be able to recover themselves. Drunkards, in their folly, are apt to talk proudly, and vaunt themselves most when they most shame themselves; but they thereby render themselves the more ridiculous.

Will be trampled underfoot - Verse 2 ends with ‘by hand’, verse 3 opens with ‘by foot’. This association of differing aspects of personal agency implies ‘by every sort of destruction’, ‘by every available means’. Crown, pride and drunkards echo verse 1.

ISAIAH 28:4

And the glorious beauty is a fading flower - The beauty of their valleys, which they gloried in, will be like a fading flower (as before, v. 1); it will wither of itself, and has in itself the principles of its own corruption; it will perish in time by its own moth and rust.  

Which is at the head of the verdant valley - With like a fig ripe before harvest/‘like its own fig …’ Isaiah appeals to something familiar. The Hebrew flows rapidly so as to suggest ‘no sooner seen than eaten’, as if the person concerned was hardly aware of what he had done. So ripe is Samaria for picking, so destined for total disappearance! Note how verses 3–4 repeat the accusations respectively of pride and dissoluteness from verse 1. It is precisely these that render the subject worthy of divine judgment and helpless when it comes.

Like the first fruit before the summer - The word rendered ‘hasty fruit’ denotes the “early fig.” This ripens in June; the common fig does not ripen until August. No sooner does the “boccore” (the early fig) draw near to perfection in the middle or latter end of June, than the “kermez” or summer fig begins to be formed, though it rarely ripens before August, about which time the same tree frequently throws out a third crop, or the winter fig.

Compare Hos. 9:10. The phrase ‘before the summer’ means before the heat of the summer, when the common fig was usually ripe. The idea here is this, the early fig would be plucked and eaten with great greediness. So the city of Samaria would be seized upon and destroyed by its enemies.

Which an observer sees … - That is, as soon as he sees it he plucks it, and eats it at once. He does not lay it up for future use, but as soon as he has it in his hand he devours it. So also as soon as the Assyrian should see Samaria he would rush upon it, and destroy it. It was usual for conquerors to preserve the cities which they took in war for future use, and to make them a part of the strength or ornament of their kingdom. But Samaria was to be at once destroyed. Its inhabitants were to be carried away, and it would be demolished as greedily as a hungry man plucks and eats the first fig that ripens on the tree.

He eats it up while it is still in his hand - Like the hasty fruit, which, as soon as it is discovered, is plucked and eaten up; so the wealth of this world, besides that it is apt to decay of itself, is subject to be devoured by others as greedily as the first-ripe fruit, which is earnestly desired, (Mic. 7:1). Thieves break through and steal. The harvest of which the unredeemed is proud of the hungry eat up (Job 5:5); no sooner do they see the prey but they catch at it, and swallow up all they can lay their hands on. It is likewise easily devoured, as that fruit which, being ripe before it has grown, is very small, and is soon eaten up; and there being little of it, and that of little worth, it is not reserved, but used immediately.