NOTES for Isa 28:1-29
In his prophecy about the Ephraimites, another bitter prophecy about them, Isaiah plays on the fact that their capital, Samaria, built on a height, resembled a crown set on a mountain peak, a symbol of royal power, honor, and majesty. But this earthly crown became so dear to the Ephraimites that it hid from them the One who had given them earthly prosperity and who in truth crowns the world He created. Now a long road of trials lies ahead of them, so that they may value Him anew and turn to Him.
The prophet compares the unfaithful Ephraimites to drunkards, and these words have more than a literal meaning, though they have that too. Every voluntary departure from the Lord is like depriving oneself of sobriety. But Isaiah exposes not only outright pagans, but also those who appear to serve the Lord. Pharisaism is still far in the future, yet the prophet already speaks about the vices that have spread among those called to serve the Blameless One.
Here we have one of the early indications of the danger of that variety of "piety" which expresses itself in inventing ever more rules that in practice obscure God by their pettiness and their sheer number. In the end, everything appears to be in place; what should be done is performed reverently. Only the true burning of hearts gradually evaporates somewhere. Yet it is precisely such people whom the Lord, through the prophet, calls blasphemers, and again and again the warning sounds that sacrilege must cease. It can exist even while outward correctness of behavior is maintained.
Some of these "pious" people rely on their own protection, assuring those around them that they have made a covenant with death. But by doing so they admit that they have turned away from the Source of life.
Yet precisely when Zion is covered with false servants, the words are heard that the Lord is laying His cornerstone in Zion, the pledge of the triumph of His righteousness. And the day will come when the Savior sent by Him will reveal the meaning of this prophecy.