Isaiah 28 Devotional

Built on a Tested Stone

“So this is what the Lord GOD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.”Isaiah 28:16 (BSB)

Ephraim's leaders wear their pride like a fading wreath, and Jerusalem's priests and prophets stagger from wine (28:1-7). They mock Isaiah's teaching as baby talk, so God will speak through foreign tongues (28:9-13). He had offered them rest, a place for the weary to lie down, but they refused it (28:12). Instead the rulers boast of a pact with death, sheltering behind lies (28:14-15).

Against that false refuge, God lays a stone in Zion, tested and precious, a firm foundation on which anyone who believes stands secure (28:16). Peter and Paul both apply this stone to Christ, the one in whom believers will never be put to shame (1 Peter 2:6; Romans 9:33). The chapter ends with a farmer who neither plows nor threshes endlessly but does each task in measure, because God taught him (28:23-29). God's judgments are measured too, and his wisdom is beyond compare. The rest God offered Jerusalem is still found in the cornerstone he laid, and you can build on it today.

To think about: What false refuge are you tempted to hide behind, and what would it mean to rest your weight on Christ the cornerstone instead?