(Isaiah 28:14-19) “Therefore, hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers *, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by; For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. I will make justice the measuring line And righteousness the level; Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies And the waters will overflow the secret place. Your covenant with death will be cancelled, And your pact with Sheol will not stand; When the overwhelming scourge passes through, Then you become its trampling place. As often as it passes through, it will seize you; For morning after morning it will pass through, anytime during the day or night, And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”
One of the things that the nation of Israel did to grieve God’s heart was when they entered into a covenant agreement or a pact with other pagan nations. Usually when the leaders of Israel did this they were not looking to the LORD alone for support. Indeed is in not written in the Torah “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.” (Psalm 118:8) And again it is written in the psalms; “Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.”(Psalm 146:3)
Right now Israel has entered into peace agreement or covenant or a pact with the United Arab Emirates and with Bahrain and both Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Donald Trump are hoping to see more Arab states join the peace accord. The Saudis are yet to come into this agreement and we see Sudan being lured into this treaty. Added to this we may see more nation states from the Arab League join hands with Israel. Apart from Yemen and Qatar it seems the Arab states on the Saudi Peninsula are more concerned about the threat from Iran and Turkey and those nations that are aligning themselves with them, than they are of distancing themselves from Israel. Now the leaders in Israel are ‘over the top’ it seems with expectancy of a peace in the Middle-east that has never existed before between Jews and Arabs and of course with the United States involvement the leaders of Israel right now are feeling quite secure.
In the Bible the prophets in Israel were always warning the kings of Israel not to align themselves with foreign rulers who worshipped other ‘gods’ or to rely upon them for military support. God was very clear about this. As Isaiah writes; “Woe to the rebellious children, declares the LORD, to those who carry out a plan, but not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.” (Isaiah 30:1) In the Bible Egypt from the spiritual perspective represents the world and Pharaoh from the spiritual perspective represents Satan, the god of this world. Isaiah also writes concerning God’s perspective of Egypt as ‘a safety net’ for Israel; “But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.” (Isaiah 31:3)
God loves His people Israel and cut the blood covenant with Abraham and in doing this swore an oath to Abraham and to his descendants the Israelites to be their God and to take care of them in every way and to give to them as a nation the land of Israel to be for them “An everlasting possession.” (Genesis 17:8). God gave His people the Torah and with it blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience as we see laid out in Deuteronomy Chapter 28.
Now let’s look at the text in Isaiah 28:14-19
(Vs.14-15a) We can see that the prophet rebukes the leaders and the people in Israel for spurning God by entering into a covenant of death with a pagan nation. In its historical context it most probably was a covenant with Egypt to protect Israel from the Assyrians but more so it was a covenant we are told with death or Sheol which is the place of departed spirits being the realm of the dead. It may also imply that this agreement was in line with demonic entities which were the ‘gods’ of Egypt or the underworld as the Egyptians knew them. Satan of course was behind all such covenants that the leaders of Israel made with foreign pagan nations. We are told that the ‘gods’ the pagan nations worshipped were demons. (Deuteronomy 32:16-17)
(Vs.15b) When the Israelite leaders and the people entered into these covenants with pagan nations they thought that when ‘the scourge’ of the invading armies came to attack them that they would be spared because of their ‘pact’ with their allies. However, we are told that these ‘pacts’ did not save the Israelites from the scourge of invasion, devastation that eventually ended in exile. In these covenants, not sanctioned by God, the leaders and the people of Israel were in fact making the foundation of their refuge based on falsehood and covering themselves with spiritual deception.
(Vs.16) Now we are also told that God gave a sure foundation and cornerstone upon which Israel could be built spiritually and result in blessing for the whole nation. This cornerstone of course is the Messiah our Lord Jesus who brought about the New Covenant, cut with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah through the shedding of the Messiah’s atoning blood. (Jeremiah 31:31) It was very costly in that it was procured for Israel by the death of God’s one and only begotten eternal Son and that the New Covenant had been firmly placed for the salvation and protection of Israel as a nation. Isaiah tells us that whoever believes in the Messiah our Lord Jesus will never be disturbed spiritually but have the peace that passes all human understanding and the protection and provision of God in every way. (Romans 10:9-11) The faithful Body of the Messiah shares in these blessings as well, because the faithful Body of the Messiah, or the Church, by extension and inclusion, are part of the Commonwealth of Israel and also inheritors of the promises made to Abraham, the Father of faith and of all who believe.
(Vs. 17) Now we are also told concerning Israel that through the Messiah God is going to make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Through the Messiah the hail of the Holy Spirit outpoured will sweep away the lies and deception and flow into those secret places of the hearts of the people of Israel. According to scripture this will happen at the end of the age but only after Israel has been once again ravaged by foreign armies and Israel’s allies defeated.
(Vs. 18-19) And so the prophet writes that Israel’s pact with the pagan nations and with the underworld of fallen spirits will not stand, when the scourge caused by Israel’s enemies pass through the land. It will become the trampling place for Israel’s enemies bringing about sheer terror. Jeremiah the prophet also foretells this ‘scourge’ that will come upon Israel in the last three and a half years of this present age. It will cause even the strongest of men in Israel to grip their stomach’s in sheer terror as a woman would in labour pains at what is descending upon the nation and that by foreign nations in which Israel had looked for security. It will be a time of great tribulation for Israel, for the Church and for the world (Daniel 12:1).
However, we are also told in Jeremiah that Israel as a nation will be saved out of this Time of Great Trouble for Israel as a nation (Jeremiah 30:1-7). A remnant will come forth who have believed in the only cornerstone of salvation and security being the Messiah our Lord Jesus. (Romans 9:33) (1 Peter 2:6) (Zechariah 13:8-9) (Isaiah 10:22) (Romans 9:27) For the sake of God’s elect saints and for the survival of the world the Lord Jesus will return. (Matthew 24:21-22) In that day All Israel will be saved because the gifts and call of God is irrevocable. (Romans 11:25-29)
Right now Israel as a nation are leaning on the arm of the Egypt of this world and at the end it will prove to be like a splintered staff of a reed that pierces a man’s hand when he leans upon it. (2 Kings 18:21) (Isaiah 31:1-3; 36:6) (Ezekiel 29:7) The very nations they are making a pact with God calls it “a pact with death,” in reality it is a pact being made with the underworld of the demonic spirits. The world may start to breathe a sigh of relief as they see the Arab nations starting to align themselves with Israel but when the King of the North (Turkey and its allies) come against the king of the South (Egypt and its allies) Israel will become ‘the meat in the sandwich’ and only then will the LORD become the Only Rock of Refuge for His people Israel.
