Bible Question:

I am trying to find an explanation to Isaiah 28:13.

Bible Answer:

The passage you are asking about is a very interesting one.

So the word of the LORD to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive. (NASB) Isaiah 28:13

Isaiah had been preaching to the nation of Israel, but they would not listen.

Religion Is For Babies

Isaiah 28:1 starts with a message of rebuke to Ephraim. Ephraim was an alternate name for Israel (Hosea 11:8). Verses 2-4 are warning that God can punish them with “a strong and mighty agent.” The agent is the Assyrian army which will invade the land and eat fruit from the land on the way (v. 4). Verses 5-6 look to the future Messiah and millennial kingdom with its remnant of the faithful, characterized by justice. In verses 7-8 we discover that the priests and prophets were drunk with strong drunk.  Strong drink was wine and water mixed one-to-one.  Today wine is not mixed. Verses 7-8 describe their behavior.

When we arrive at Isaiah 28:9, we discover that the priests and prophets complained that Isaiah was rebuking them for their behavior. They believed that they were being treated as if they were toddlers just weaned from milk.

To whom would He teach knowledge? And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast?  Isaiah 28:9 (NASB)

They resented the prophet’s rebuke. They said, “We are not babies. We do not need it.” Next they ridiculed Isaiah making him sound as he were a baby who could only babble with repeated phrases.

For He says,
“Order on order, order on order,
Line on line, line on line,
A little here, a little there.”
Indeed, He will speak to this people
Through stammering lips and a foreign tongue,

Verse 12 states that the leaders, priests and prophets rejected Isaiah.

He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,”
And, “Here is repose,” but they would not listen. (NASB) Isaiah 28:10-12

God Rejects Them

Therefore, God said He will send them into captivity because they would not listen.

So the word of the LORD to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive. (NASB) Isaiah 28:13

In response to their mockery of the prophet Isaiah, God imitated their mockery in His reply to them. Then God announces coming judgment, “That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.”

Conclusion:

This is a serious warning to anyone who does not like God’s messages. His Word is pure and truthful. May the desire of your heart be to meditate on it.

Thy word is very pure, therefore Thy servant loves it. Psalm 119:140 (NASB)

The sum of Thy word is truth . . . Psalm 119:160 (NASB)

My eyes anticipate the night watches, That I may meditate on Thy word. Psalm 119:148 (NASB)

Suggested Links:

Book of Micah
Book of Hosea
Church Discipline and Sinning Christians
Why Do Christians Suffer? – part 1
Why Do Christians Suffer? – part 2
Why Do Christians Suffer? – part 3
I Am Suffering!
Fear of Discipline Motivates Us To Holiness