Isaiah 28:16

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION FOR A FOUNDATION - literally, Behold me, as Him who has laid-namely, in my divine counsels (): none except I could lay it (; ). A STONE - Jesus Christ: neither Hezekiah (Maurer) nor the temple (Ewald) realizes the full significancy of the language; but only in type point to Him in whom the prophecy receives its exhaustive accomplishment; whether Isaiah understood its fullness or not (1 Peter 1:11), the H...

16._Therefore thus saith the Lord God. _Isaiah now comforts the godly, and threatens against the wicked such punishment as they deserved. In the first instance, he brings forward consolation, because the godly were a laughingstock to those crafty men, as we see at the present day that irreligious men laugh at our simplicity, and reckon us to be fools, because amidst such deep adversity and sore afflictions we still hope that it will turn out to our advantage. In opposition to this insolence of the reprobate, the Prophet encourages and supports the hearts of the godly to pass by with indifference, and reckon of no account their jeers and reproaches, and to believe firmly that their hope will not be confounded or vain. _Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, a stone of trial. _The demonstrative particle _behold _expresses certainty; as if he had said, “Though wicked men despise my words, and refus...

16-22 Here is a promise of Christ, as the only foundation of hope for escaping the wrath to come. This foundation was laid in Zion, in the eternal counsels of God. This foundation is a stone, firm and able to support his church. It is a tried stone, a chosen stone, approved of God, and never failed any who made trial of it. A corner stone, binding together the whole building, and bearing the whole weight; precious in the sight of the Lord, and of every believer; a sure foundation on which to build. And he who in any age or nation shall believe this testimony, and rest all his hopes, and his never-dying soul on this foundation, shall never be confounded. The right effect of faith in Christ is, to quiet and calm the soul, till events shall be timed by Him, who has all times in his own hand and power. Whatever men trust to for justification, except the righteousness of Christ; or for wisdo...

Verse Isaiah 28:16. _BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION_] See the notes on the parallel places in the margin (Genesis 49:32; Psalms 118:22; Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11; Romans 9:33; Romans 10:11; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6)....

THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD - God. This verse is introductory to the solemn threatening which follows. Its design seems to be this. The prophet was about to utter an awful threatening of the judgment of God upon the nation. It might be supposed, perhaps, that the intention was completely to sweep them, and destroy them - that the threatened calamity would remove every vestige of the Jewish people and of the true religion together. To meet this supposition, God says that this should not occur. Zion was founded on a rock. It should be like an edifice that was reared on a firm, well-tried cornerstone - one that could endure all the storms that should beat around it, and be unmoved. The general sentiment of the verse is, therefore, that though a tempest of calamity was about to beat upon the people for their sins; though the temple was to be destroyed, the city laid in ashes, and many of t...

SECTION VII. RENEWED DENUNCIATIONS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH (CH. 28-31.) EXPOSITION ISAIAH 28:1 A WARNING TO SAMARIA. The prophet has now east his eagle glance over the whole world and over all time. He has denounced woe upon all the principal nations of the earth (Isaiah 13-23.), glanced at the destruction of the world itself (Isaiah 24:17), and sung songs over the establishment of Christ's kingdom, and the ingathering of the nations into it (Isaiah 25-27.). In the present chapter he returns to the condition of things in his own time and among his own people. Afte

THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD,.... In order to show what is the true foundation of hope and trust for security from death and hell, and to convince men of their vain and false confidence, as well as to comfort the people of God, such as truly feared him in Jerusalem; who, bearing the judgment denounced, might conclude that they were going to be cut off from being a nation, and that the family and kingdom of David would be at an end, and then where was the promise of the Messiah? wherefore, to relieve the minds of such, a promise of him is delivered out in the midst of a denunciation of judgment upon the wicked: BEHOLD, (a note of attention and admiration, as well as asseveration,) I LAY IN ZION FOR A FOUNDATION A STONE; which the Targum interprets of a king; and Jarchi of the King Messiah, who undoubtedly is meant, as is clear from Romans 9:33 and not

3. THE SIX WOES OF THE PROPHET, JUDGMENT RUINS AND RESTORATION GLORIES TO COME (28-35) CHAPTER 28 The First Woe and the Message of Assurance 1. _Ephraim addressed (Isaiah 28:1)_ 2. _Jerusalem equally corrupt and guilty (Isaiah 28:7)_ 3. _The prophet mocked (Isaiah 28:9) The prophet's answer (Isaiah 28:11)_ 4. _Their covenant with death (Isaiah 28:14)_ 5. _The message of assurance (Isaiah 28:16)_ 6. How Jehovah judges

JERUSALEM ALSO IS THREATENED WITH DESTRUCTION. But Jerusalem like Ephraim reels with intoxication, the priests and prophets especially. The prophet is not steady in his vision, the priest when pronouncing judgment has his faculties clouded by wine. Their revels are carried to disgusting excees. The scorners mock Isaiah: Is he talking to children that he goes over his lesson again and again with such wearisome monotony? Well, if the prophet's message will not satisfy them, Yahweh will speak to them in the foreign language of Assyria. They had refused to listen when He told them of the true rest, and so now He will speak to them with a wearisome monotony indeed, in strange-sounding words which they will not be able to treat with supercilious scorn, for they will be involved in utter ruin. The prophet now turns to the rulers, who scoff at his words, because they flatter themselves that they...

I LAY. I have laid. So the Syriac and Septuagint. Laid, in the counsels of eternity: in Abraham's promise (Genesis 12); in David's covenant (2 Samuel 7). IN ZION. In Zion; not Zion itself. A STONE. This is. distinct reference to Isaiah 49:24. It is the Immanuel (of Isaiah 7), the promised Son (of Isaiah 9), the rod from Jesse's stem (of Isaiah 11). A TRIED STONE. a test stone: i.e. tested itself, and testing others. Compare...