Jack Hibbs - This is Going to Hurt Me More Than It's Going to Hurt You (01/23/2026)
Introduction to Isaiah 28
I’m gonna ask you to grab your Bibles tonight and turn to Isaiah chapter 28. Isaiah 28 could be the longest title we’ve had—maybe, I don’t know—but tonight we’re looking at a message entitled «This Is Going to Hurt Me More Than It’s Going to Hurt You.» That would be God speaking.
Your parents ever tell you that? «No, Jack, this is going to hurt me a lot more than it’s going to hurt you.» And I really doubted that after getting spanked. You know, I was thinking, how in the world could that possibly hurt my dad more than it hurt me? I don’t know—I think that’s parental spin to make them feel a little better.
God’s Grief in Discipline
It’s certainly true for God. God does not enjoy discipline—that is, doling it out. He doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like it at all. In fact, in chapters 28 through 33—if you’re a note-taker—these chapters are dealing with certain aspects of Israel and of those in the area that had sinned against God. They had gotten away from God; they had rejected God, and God was reaching out to them.
But in one of the moments where, according to God, time’s up—it’s a very scary thought, very scary thing. That’s reduced down to one word, mind you, and it’s right here in chapter 28, verse 1, and it’s carried through all the way to chapter 33. And it’s that little word right there—the three-letter word: woe.
The Meaning of «Woe»
Do you see that? You ought to circle that in your Bible. It has a New Testament counterpart to it. The word «woe» there in Isaiah 28:1—“Woe…» Isaiah 29: «Woe…» 30—well, it just goes on to 33. And here in chapter 28 we hear this «woe» that’s coming, and it’s carried through.
But before we look at that, the word means great grief. It’s God’s grief. This is God saying He’s grieved—heavy-hearted. And it’d be sad for God to say that. You know, we can honestly say tonight that ignorance is bliss. Listen—no matter how well-informed you are or no matter what kind of intel you have, there’s a level of ignorance that all of us possess, and we do better to be ignorant regarding certain things than if we knew them.
Examples of Grief from Knowledge
There’s certain things we ought not to know. Look at Barack Obama—he had beautiful black hair before he became president. Now, granted, his gray hair now is probably self-inflicted, but that guy is supposed to get a presidential daily briefing every day about what’s wrong with the world.
Can you imagine a team showing up every day in the morning to tell you, «This is—while you were sleeping—this is what we found out and what’s wrong with the world»? No wonder why his hair is gray. I mean, who would want that job anyway? Who’d run for president? I mean, seriously—it’s crazy. The grief, the information—sometimes it’s good not to know.
Well, in this situation God is announcing, «Woe—I am grieved.» And it’s a grieving that is profound. Its New Testament counterpart is Matthew chapter 11, verse 21. You don’t have to turn there exactly, but you ought to write down next to verse 1: Matthew 11:21–23.
Jesus’ Woe to Cities
Here’s the reason why Jesus said this. Now listen—some of us have driven right past these towns in Israel, and one town I’ll point out in a moment we actually make an archaeological teaching stop. Jesus said, «Woe to you, Chorazin”—north Galilee, right off the Sea of Galilee. Listen—nobody lives there today.
Jesus says, „Condemned are you, Chorazin.“ That’s what the word means—“woe”—condemned are you, Bethsaida. Guess what—we drive right through Bethsaida when we go to the north part of the Sea of Galilee. Nobody lives in Bethsaida today, and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t—it’s absolutely beautiful.
„For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.“ This is Jesus' loving judgment against villages that would not receive His word or His miracles.
Capernaum and Judgment
Verse 22: „But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.“ This is Jesus speaking. Verse 23: „And you, woe to you, Capernaum.“ Capernaum is where we go—where there’s a synagogue that was reassembled from the time of Jesus, a synagogue that quite frankly He probably taught in.
There is the home that is unearthed that has been discovered as being a house—literally a big home, an outline and pottery and all through archaeological digs—that takes us right to the time when Peter—if you remember in your Bible—Peter’s mother-in-law lived in Capernaum. The Bible says Peter’s wife’s mom—Peter’s mother-in-law—according to the Bible, lived there. No one lives there anymore. Jesus says, „Woe, woe.“
And it’s a strong word, and God uses the word in the Hebrew language to speak to what’s going on. Before we get into this, though—listen—there are some comforting words, though, in this chapter. Good words that you’re going to identify. You’re going to think, „I thought that was a New Testament verse.“ No—it’s an Isaiah verse.
God Disciplines His Children
And we’re going to learn about how God disciplines His children. Now, we need to hear this today in the 21st century. God disciplines His kids—period. Every parent who loves their child disciplines their kids. The Bible says if you leave your child to himself, he’s going to grow up to be a reproach to you, and he’ll hate you. And it’s true.
Children look for authoritative figures. They would never admit this in their young age, but they grow up better when they know there’s fences and guidelines to their life. Think about that—kids grow up better when they know what the rules are. Kids do good with rules. And God lays out rules, and when we disobey God, He disciplines His children.
Now listen carefully, everybody—God only disciplines His kids. He does not discipline the non-believer. Are you sitting down? To the non-believer He says, „Woe.“ It is a horrific thing to hear. He’ll never say „woe“ to a child of God. He might say, „Jack, you—over here now.“
Hebrews on Chastening
Hebrews chapter 12, verse 5 says, „And have you forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons: ‘My son, do not despise the chastening or discipline of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him. For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.’
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.“
If you can get away with the wrong you’re doing and you kind of snicker and laugh and say, „No one’s caught me—this is great—oh man, I got—you know, this is great—God must approve—it’s all good”—listen, if you’re cruising along in the sin lane and you’ve not been pulled over and you’ve not gotten a ticket by God, then you’re not His kid.
God’s Strong Love
Listen—it’s one of the most profound ways of hearing God speak. Sometimes Christians will say, „I don’t know if I’ve ever heard God speak.“ Yes, you have. If you’re a Christian, you’ve heard God speak—because whenever you had that bad thought or you had that attitude or whatever you know was wrong, and you heard Him—you’ve heard His voice.
God chastens, disciplines His kids. And He’s going to be disciplining Israel, and He has throughout history—even in their gathering and now in this day and age and where they’re heading. They’re going to be disciplined by the Lord ultimately.
But God’s love, church, is not weak. God will deal with you and me if we get off the course—because His love is not weak. A very, very sad lying attitude that we’ve swallowed in this day and age is somehow parents have been sold a bill of goods that somehow their kid is to be their best friend, and vice versa. That is insane—it will never happen.
If you think that’s happening with you, you’ve deceived yourself. Your kid knows that you’re not his or her best friend. Your kid knows that you’re his mom or dad. And kids need parents. And our culture today says, „No—be their best friends.“ Nope—you be their parent because you love them. And God loves us, and God loves you. His love’s not weak—it’s not insecure. His love is strong.
Guilty of Intoxication
In Psalm 118, verse 18, the Bible says, „The Lord has chastened me severely, ” says the psalmist, „but He has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness; I will go through them, and I will praise the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous shall enter.“
God deals with His people. So church, number one—as we look at this, verses 1 through 8—this is going to hurt Me, God says, more than it’s going to hurt you. As we see in verse 1: is that guilty? They were—Israel guilty of being intoxicated.
Read it with me or follow along with me: „Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim”—or the northern tribes of Israel—“whose glorious beauty is a fading flower which is at the head of the verdant valleys, ” we’ll see this in a moment, „to those who are overcome with wine.“
God says, „Woe—you have lost your way. You have become drunk.“ He’s talking about the northern valleys—the northern area, the ten tribes. You’ve become drunk with what? Drunk with the fact that you’ve got all of this incredible prosperity and beauty and opulence, and you have taken that and in leisure you’ve intoxicated yourself.
Prosperity Leading to Leisure
Now, scholars—and I agree with both views on this—scholars will say that Isaiah is speaking for God, of course, and he is saying that it’s spiritual intoxication because they have worshipped other gods. That’s certainly true. But we know from antiquity that they’re also given over to the sensuousness and drunkenness.
And I want to show you how easy that could be—on the screens. And I’m wondering if you’re going to identify the reasons. Well, I guess I kind of put the thing up at the wrong time. But do you see this—the brown area right there on the map? This is Israel. That brown area—that’s specifically the region that we’d call Samaria.
But the prophecy is from that bottom part—like a little Florida handle—upward. Okay, so that’s from, you know, the map view or the satellite view. What would it look like if we were actually in Israel in the springtime—which we go in the springtime? Look at this picture.
This is the Jezreel Valley. Okay—this is Israel. Hello, ladies and gentlemen—did you think there’s going to be a bunch of sand dunes with camels running around and upside-down cars? This is Israel.
The Beauty of Jezreel Valley
In fact, that valley is the Jezreel Valley, and part of the Jezreel Valley is a region of the valley called Armageddon. Armageddon—in this you’re looking at a portion of Armageddon. Incredibly fruitful, incredibly green and productive—much like our Southern California or the California Central Valley. Extremely productive, beautiful.
This picture was only taken a year or two years ago—like emerald. Look at this—there’s, by the way, there’s Mount Tabor on the right. See that bump on the route? That’s where Deborah fought her battles. Okay—look at that. Look at the olive groves, and they’ll grow wheat or they’ll grow barley or they’ll grow milo in between the olives. Isn’t that awesome? That’s Israel.
Look—this is the region that Isaiah is speaking to—those that he’s speaking to. And God is about to judge. This is what they had—it’s very nice. Wouldn’t you like to live there? Absolutely. Next slide—I think we have another one. Maybe no—maybe not. Okay—it’s just gorgeous.
You say, „Well, what does that do with anything?“ Because, you know what—they were so blessed that what they wound up doing is, instead of managing their prosperity, they began to consume it upon themselves. Their prosperity bred leisure. Their leisure allowed them to be complacent. Their complacency brought apathy among them. In their apathy, wealth—they had time on their hands.
Idle Hands and Apathy
What’s that old saying—“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop» or something like that? They didn’t have to do anything. They got money coming in—their crops are producing—everything’s going great—the stock market’s up—everything’s fine. «What are we going to do with all of our money? Oh my goodness—let’s do this: we’ll have other people work our farms for us, and we’ll just export the stuff, and we’ll just sit around.»
You know—we’ll watch daytime TV and sit there with all of this stuff in the Jezreel Valley and figure out what we can do next and kind of just spend all of our time on ourselves and spend all of our money on ourselves and get bored with that. So then we’ll go do something else, and then we keep doing something else until you wind up becoming apathetic about everything that you’ve experienced.
Listen—nothing gets you going anymore. And this is one of the tragedies when our hearts are not kept right—when we have stuff at our fingertips. You know what we wind up doing? We’re kind of like kids at Christmas. The first gift at Christmas—the kids like, «Can we open it yet? Can we open it?» «Yeah—don’t you—oh, nope, nope, nope—now—yeah!» They just dive in—watch—paper’s flying—the toy comes out—what does the kid do with the toy? Boom—boom—on to the side—“Next! What’s next?»
Tragedy of Unsatisfaction
And then they go through 10 gifts or 20 gifts, and they got this pile of junk all around them. And then you say, «Well, did you have a good Christmas?» And they go, «That’s it?» Not a good sign. Why? Because what happens at that point is where you begin to move off into aberrant areas of lifestyle and life itself.
Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t have to tell you to go to Hollywood, Bel Air, Malibu—I don’t have to tell you to go to some of the amazing locations with astronomical homes and all that kind of stuff in this part of the world—and people are absolutely unhappy, and they’re not satisfied—not satisfied one bit.
That’s a very, very tragic thing—that when we begin to have that happen in our lives and we lose control of what we have in our lives—not a good thing. They had done that. Historians and archaeologists tell us that from the pictures that you just saw a moment ago, that they had become quite possibly the most fruitful, the most beautiful, the most wealthiest region of all of Israel in their day.
And it was their very prosperity that led them into trouble. Look at verse 2 in your Bibles: «Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one”—this is a storm—this is a discipline that’s coming—“like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, who will bring them down to the earth with His hand.»
Verse 3: «The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, will be trampled underfoot.» God is saying judgment’s coming because you’ve turned away from Me—you’ve loved your stuff more than God.
Judgment Coming
«And the glorious beauty which is as a fading flower…» So you saw pictures of that—“which is at the head of the verdant valley, like the first fruit before the summer, which an observer sees…» Watch this—“which the observers see.» So some guy’s walking through in the summer—your crops or your orchards—he sees fruit hanging, and he eats it up while it is still in his hand.
God is saying, because you’ve forgotten Me—all of these good, bountiful things that you’ve enjoyed in life—it’s as though someone’s going to walk through—they don’t own the land—they’re foreigners—they’re strangers—they’re going to walk through and they’re going to pick your harvest away off from you right out of the tree, and they’re going to pick it so fresh—it’s hanging there—it’s so ready—they pick it and they eat it right in hand.
God says, «Watch out for that.» And you think about—is that even possible in America? Could that be even happening? Could we be like this? Because whenever you read the Bible, you want to read the Bible to see what you can get out of it—personal application.
Is it even possible that we could be such a, quote, verdant valley—incredible fruitfulness—and wind up forgetting God and losing the perspective of who God is, where we have got to have other things instead of God? And remember—I’ve told you before—it’s not bad having other things, but if we love those things—and maybe more fatal than that—is if we say to these things, «They are my identity; they are my meaning.»
If you begin to do that, you are in deep idolatry as a believer. If God loves you, He’s going to remove those things. This is a tough thing to say—listen—and I could never judge, nor could you—we don’t have this inside information—but there are brothers and sisters in Christ who get prosperous, they get blessed, and some of them lose their way.
I’ve watched this over almost 40 years of being a Christian. They start out with nothing—they prosper—not all of them, but some of them lose their way, and they’re real believers. And you see them go through years of struggle, and then all of a sudden it’s taken away from them. And you say, «Well, would God ever do that?» Oh yes—He does do that.
Future Crown of Glory
Now look—I am not—if you’re sitting here tonight saying, «Oh my goodness—how did he know about our lives? Did somebody tell him? How did Jack know?» I don’t know nothing about nobody. Listen—and just because I said that, it doesn’t mean that’s you. Listen—you’ve got to find that out for yourself.
But it does happen. Don’t think that God has turned His back on you—He actually loves you, and you’ve got your eyes off of Him. And to get your attention, He brings you back that way—just like we would do with our kids. We reel them in. You’ve got to do that, or else they’ll lose their way. It’s a very serious thing.
Verse 5: He says, «In that day…» Now there’s that famous phrase—you know—now Isaiah’s looking way out to the future—beyond us, by the way—beyond us here tonight. «In that day”—the coming of the Lord—“the Lord of hosts will be for a crown of glory.» Notice the opposing crown—there’s the crown of pride of man, and there’s the crown of glory that is the Lord—“and a diadem of beauty to the remnant of His people.» That’s Israel.
«For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.» Verse 7: «But they also have erred through wine…» Wow—and through intoxicating drink. There’s wine, and then this hard drink. They’re out of the way.
The priest—listen to this—the priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink. They are swallowed up by wine; they are out of the way through intoxicating drink. They err in vision; they stumble in judgment. Wow.
Verse 8: «For all tables are full…» Their tables are full of vomit and filth. Isaiah’s such a nice guy—he’s doing really good until he comes to verse 8—there’s puke everywhere, and their house is filthy because they’re just drunk all the time. Wow.
Guilty of Being Unteachable
Look—it’s kind of a weird thing, man. You’re gonna remember this verse after tonight. So—“I don’t think so.» Yeah—you will. You know what’s freaky is when you go to the grocery store and you see a certain priest from a certain church loading up their shopping carts with beer and wine—and in their priestly clothes.
Am I the only one who has seen this? Raise your hand if you’ve seen it. Okay—what is that? It’s Isaiah 28—priest representing the Lord with a shopping cart full of Budweiser and Heineken and Smirnoff—is that what it’s called? Smirnoff—how do you know? And it’s like, «What is this for?» «It’s for our beer and Bible night.» Oh—please.
Listen—young people just hate me now. A lot of young people today are being told, «Oh man—it’s awesome to be a Christian and drink. You can drink—come to communion—you can drink. We’ll have our staff drinking parties.» Don’t laugh—I know Christian churches whose staff—they have drinking at their staff meetings.
Yeah—God says no. My people—My priests—My leaders—they drink—their vision is goofy—their judgment is skewed. Wow. Now—you’re going to stop in the foyer tonight—you say, «I believe God has given me the liberty.» Listen—that’s between you and God.
But let me tell you—how free are you if you’ve got to tell me about your liberty? I’m just saying—let’s just make it really personal. How would you feel—what would you think—if you see my wife and I at Wood Ranch—you know, Wood Ranch Grill—amazing food—but so we’re sitting there, we’re hammering down whatever—hammering the beers and the wines, the spirits.
Isn’t it where they call them spirits because you drink it—it opens up the door to spirits? But it’s like—oh—and you know—and you’ve got the liberty. If you’re a pastor—I’ve got liberty. But if you saw me doing that—it’s like, «What?» Right? Hey—we’re in this together, everybody. Look—life’s too short to dull yourself.
And then listen—let’s be honest—no one makes a good decision when you’re stupid like that. No one makes good decisions. Listen—“Happy hour.» I would love to take a real-life camera crew—right—walk into one of those happy hours and say, «Hey—we’re going to come and talk to some people. Happy hour—hey—how are you? Are you happy in this hour?» «Oh man—I’m here.» «What’s the matter?» «My wife left me, dude.» «But you’re at happy hour.» «Why is it called happy hour?» «It’s ‘come and get happy’ hour—and you’re not happy.» «Oh man—it’s just to relax.» That’s what God’s for.
Guilty of Self-Confidence
And «Well, pastor—I have a business account—that’s my job. I have to take these guys out and get them drunk because they won’t buy our product on its own. I’ve got to totally get them drunk so they’ll buy the piece of junk I’m trying to sell them.» Do you know how much money you spend in business meetings on drink? Think about it.
The only thing worse than that is Sacramento and Washington DC—those two locations have a massive concentration of drunks and their elected officials. I’m not making it up—you and I pay money for our state legislators to get driven home free on your money with a special legislative drunk-driving taxi that you and I pay.
And what do they do? They go get drunk, and they make decisions on your child’s future. They make decisions about how our nation’s or how our state’s going to spend money. You want to know why we still have a water crisis? Because they’re up there drinking—they’re not thinking. I’m serious.
You know why we still have potholes on our freeways? How come they haven’t fixed those things? Because they’re drinking—they’re not making the right decisions. It’s unbelievable. And these people—God is saying, «You are the leaders of My spiritual heritage, and how can you lead them and you’re buzzed out of your mind like that?» Wow—He’s laying it down. He’s judging them.
He says there’s vomit all over their tables. Wow—that’s pretty sick. In verse 8: «For all these tables of vomit and filth—no place is clean.» Verses 9 through 10—there’s the guilt of being unteachable. They were intoxicated—they were filled with their opulence and wealth, and they didn’t need God anymore because they had these amazing things that got them into idle sin.
And now look at the indictment—they’re unteachable. Verses 9-13: He says, «Whom will he teach knowledge?» The structure of verse 9 is actually the people are saying this back to Isaiah. You might want to write that in your notes—it’d make much more sense. Off to the margin: verse 9—the people are responding to Isaiah.
«Whom will he—Isaiah—teach knowledge?» In other words, «What—are you talking to us again about this stuff, Isaiah?» «And whom will he make to understand the message?» «Don’t preach to us.» «Those just weaned from milk”—is that who he’s going to teach? —“those just drawn from the breast?»
Listen—they’re mocking him. «For precept must be upon precept…» They’re actually—it would be like this—I’m not kidding—it would be like this: «For precept upon precept…» They would say, «Who’s going to teach us, Isaiah? We’re so tired of hearing your messages to us about this stuff. So what are you going to do—precept upon precept?»
This is a really good thing, but they’re mocking it—“precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.» They’re saying, «Isaiah—are you going to repeat your message to us again?» They weren’t listening, and so now they’re mocking the prophet back.
And what’s sad about this—mom and dad, listen up—school teachers—this is great. God actually instructs us to teach kids line upon line, precept upon precept—putting it simply. God says our kids learn best with repetition—they love it. God says that’s how we learn the best. And they’re making fun of that—they’re mocking Isaiah and kind of blowing him off like that. So they’re being sarcastic—“Stop talking to us like we’re little kids, ” they’re saying.
Verse 11: Isaiah speaks—“For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, to whom He said, ‘This is the rest with which you may cause the weary to rest, ’ and ‘This is the refreshing’—yet they would not hear.»
But the word of the Lord was to them «precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little”—so Isaiah is regurgitating afresh what they had already heard but had rejected. They wouldn’t listen—“that they might go and fall backward and be broken and snared and caught.»
This is serious—they don’t want to hear the word. They’re religious—they think they’re God’s people. Look—in a modern-day thing: «We’re American—this is America—God would never do this to us. Don’t talk about that.»
The Cornerstone: Jesus
Listen—you want to get in trouble as a Christian or a pastor? Insinuate or say that something’s happening and that you believe it’s an act of God’s judgment. I’m not saying do it like weirdos do it—you know, there’s a lot of weirdos out there that say, «Well, this has happened because of God’s judgment.» I’m talking if you were to say, «You know—I wouldn’t be surprised if—or if it aligns with Scripture—that this could be a form of judgment.»
If you say that, you are going to get phone calls. You want to know why? Because someone listening or hearing you thinks that you might have stepped on their little thing over here that they’ve been protecting. You don’t even know what it is—you don’t even know who the person is—but they’re convicted. And when they’re convicted, they rise up.
And you can just suggest—God, you could say, «God is going to discipline America for its wayward conduct”—you know—or whatever. „Oh man—fire-and-brimstone lunatic“ or whatever. And they did it to Isaiah—they did it to Jeremiah—they did it to Ezekiel.
We just think because God must be an American—He thinks that America could, you know—we must get a free pass, and we can do whatever we want, and it’s cool with Him. Was it cool with Him in Israel? Not at all—they didn’t get a free pass. Why should we?
The question is not if judgment’s coming—it’s when it’s coming. And we’ll know—I believe clearly from, and I have faith in, the Scriptures regarding this truth—you won’t have to guess if God is bringing judgment on America because God will always send His messengers.
It will start being spoken of by pulpits across America. It won’t be one crazy guy on some radio program or some guy in some tower someplace or some basement with the internet. It will start like salt and pepper across the nation—because God’s people will be listening to Him, and He’ll start putting it in their hearts.
And it will start out ever so gently first. You’ll hear sermons from Dr. David Jeremiah, Charles Stanley—men who are speaking into the nation that have a national platform—and it would be sprinkled in there. They won’t be forcing it. And you’ll know those who are of God—listen carefully—because inside of them, that message will come with a lamentation in their heart.
It won’t be, „Oh—miracle—you’re going down—you’re going down—you’re going to burn.“ It won’t be like that. Those who are speaking will be gut-wrenched and broken. They won’t go like this, „You’re going to burn.“ No—they’re going to say, „We are in trouble.“
Daniel did that—remember Daniel? Daniel 9—started at verse 1. You ought to read it sometime—you got to read it tonight. It’s so tragically sweet and precious. His heart’s broken because his nation had sinned.
Luke chapter 13, verse 34—I’m quoting Jesus Himself. Friends—listen—and I know this is just not so cool to talk about in church these days, but come on—this is Jesus. Luke 13:34—Jesus says, „O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!“
Man—do you hear that? For millennia I’ve been sending you prophets, begging you to turn. I’ve chastised you by having you go into slavery, having your possessions taken away—and you still wouldn’t listen. You wouldn’t even look up to Me.
„How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings…“ Is that not a beautiful thing? Have you ever seen that happen? It’s beautiful—when the little chicks get scared, when a hawk or a shadow of a hawk flies over the field, and the little chicks are out—they’re out eating around—and just the shadow of potential danger, the little chicks run from every angle, and the hen—she just kind of squats down a little bit—she stretches out her wings, and they just come in like magnets, and she just goes—and she sits down. And it’s awesome—she’s just sitting there like, „Just try it.“
And then when the danger passes, she stands back up, and they all go running out again. Jesus says, „I wanted to do that with you.“ He says, „But you were not willing. See—your house is left to you desolate.“ You could see Him pointing to the temple when He said that—“your house is left to you desolate. And assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! ’» That’s still future.
The tender heart of God towards His people—God bears us up—He waits for us—He sends us word and warning. The third thing is verses 14 to 29—and they were guilty of being self-confident. It’s an easy sin to be derailed with.
«Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, because you have said…» Watch this—“‘We have made a covenant with death, and with hell we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.’»
Wow—you could hear Isaiah—it’s like, «What’d you say?» «Don’t worry about it.» Here’s what this means—you guys—this is amazing. Do you know who Neville Chamberlain is? «Isaiah—don’t worry—we met with the bad guys, and they told us we will have peace in our time. We don’t have to worry about Adolf Hitler—he promised us he would not invade Europe.»
Look it up—go to YouTube tonight. He steps off the airplane with a piece of paper in his hand, and he’s waving it around to Churchill—“We’ve got peace.» Actually he didn’t wave it at Churchill—Churchill looked at it and, I mean, he said, «You’re an idiot.» Sure—Churchill could see right through the whole thing. And Europe still—yeah—Hitler signed the piece of paper.
Listen—Israel goes, «Isaiah—just pipe down—you’re kind of overreacting. We met with the devil, and he’s signed the paper. We’ve made a covenant with hell. What do you think of that? We got a deal—hell won’t bother us if we don’t bother hell. So you just go away, Isaiah—we’re good—it’s fine.» That’s called policy—bad policy. That’s insane.
God’s Reaction: The Cornerstone
You know what’s weird about this—you say, «Jack—that never happened.» The Bible tells us in the book of Daniel that the Jews in the last days—the devil’s going to show up—well, I mean, it’s not—he’s in a guy—the Antichrist. It’s like mini-me—this Satan—he’s got his little mini-me Antichrist.
And Satan’s going to speak to this guy, and the Bible says that Satan through him is going to make an agreement for seven years, and Israel is going to have a covenant with death and with hell. They’ve agreed—they’re going to sign the seven-year contract—Daniel chapter 9—of peace. That’s coming—it’s still coming.
Yeah—yeah—yeah—we’ll do that. Can you imagine? They’re going to sign a deal with the Antichrist, and the devil’s got puppet strings on the man, pulling them around—“Say this to Israel”—and the guy’s going to lie to them. «Yeah—it’s going to be great—it’s like—we’re going here—it’s going to be great for you—really—yeah—trust me—believe me—all right.» And they’re going to walk out—just think—it’s future—it’s coming.
They’re going to walk out of a room somewhere, and they’re going to say, «We’ve got peace with our neighbors”—Daniel 9, verses 24 to 27—“We’ve got peace with our neighbors—we’ve got peace in our time.» «How do you know?» «Because the Antichrist signed it.» Isn’t that amazing? I kind of see these things kind of repeating, you know, in history. It’s kind of wild—pretty amazing.
Verse 16: «Therefore—thus says the Lord God…» God is speaking—“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. Whoever believes will not act hastily”—or whoever—some of your Bibles say it more clearly—“whoever believes will not be shamed or put to shame.»
Recognize this verse—it’s in the New Testament—it’s quoted in numerous places. God says, «Here’s My reaction—and this is awesome. Let me paraphrase—you leaders of Israel and you drunken priests and prophets having been deluded—you can’t hear what I’m speaking to you—you don’t even know the covenants I’ve made with My people that you’ve prostituted.
Here’s what I’m going to say to your covenant with hell you’ve made—the covenant with the devil.» God says, «I can break it because My love is greater for My people than your stupidity and lining up and aligning yourself with the devil.» I like that.
In ancient Judaism—if a wife made a vow with someone without her husband’s knowledge—in ancient Judaism he had the authority—no matter what was at stake—he had the authority to break the vow. This is exactly what God is doing regarding this announcement.
«You’ve made a bad deal that affects My people.» This is great—listen—“You knucklehead leader—spiritual leaders—you’ve ruined My people, and you think it’s got to stay that way because you made a deal with the devil.» God comes in and takes the paper and goes—and He says, «I’ll tell you the deal—this is the only deal that is with My people.
I am going to lay in Zion a cornerstone—a chief cornerstone—a headstone or foundation—a tried stone—a precious cornerstone.» I think you know who He’s talking about. This is a prophetic, messianic announcement by the prophet—God is speaking. That is awesome—that’s encouraging tonight—that God’s word that He has made trumps any bonehead plan that people make with their own drunken wisdom.
You know that—some man or some dad or some mom could make some crazy deal with the devil, so to speak. Don’t be surprised if God steps in and rescues those kids. Don’t be surprised—but what a strong act of God. «I am going to override that crazy vow.»
We’re gonna have to—we’ll have to—and can we end? Yeah—well, let’s just end—let’s finish. Give me three extra minutes—three extra minutes after 8:30—so 8:33.
Write down, if you would, next to verse 16: Isaiah 8:14. «He will be as a sanctuary…» Interesting—listen—“but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense…» It’s talking about the Messiah—“to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.»
This is a promise about the Messiah—listen—the coming of the Messiah—the chief stone. He will be salvation to some, and He’ll be a stumbling block to others. The amazing thing is the individual human chooses which one He’ll be to them. Ladies and gentlemen—did you hear that? You choose what He’ll be in your life.
The Chief Cornerstone in the New Testament
First Peter chapter 2, verse 4—follow with me. First Peter 2:4 says, «Coming—or come to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.»
Verse 6: «Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame’”—quoting Isaiah right here—verse 16.
„Therefore to you who believe He is precious, but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, ’ and ‘a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ They stumble”—this is those who do not believe in Christ—they stumble—“being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.“
You see—the Old and New Testament both agree on who this chief cornerstone is—it’s Jesus. When you go out tonight in the foyer—put the picture up—I don’t know if you’ve ever stopped to look at this. Okay—two-thousand-pound uncut Jerusalem stone from Jerusalem.
You see this walking in the building—next—cornerstone. This little stone was excavated from the hill country of Jerusalem and shipped to Los Angeles as a gift to Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in 2002. The 9,000-mile journey took six weeks to complete.
From the 118th Messianic psalm of the Old Testament it is written, „The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.“
This signified that the chief cornerstone was to be something far greater than any earthly stone—it was to be the Lord Himself. Today this stone reminds us—the stone out there reminds us—that it is the Lord who is our chief cornerstone, the Rock of Ages.
From the New Testament—fourth chapter of the book of Acts—Jesus Christ was preached among the Jewish people as being the chief cornerstone. Quote: „This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone. Nor is there salvation in another, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.“ Close quote.
Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone and the rock of our salvation. Together the Jew and Gentile alike who seek fellowship with the one true God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—are invited to come into His presence through the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Savior of the world. Old and New Testament meets in Christ—it’s awesome.
God’s Purposeful Discipline
Look at verse 17 in our chapter 28—we’ll rush across the finish line. „Also I will make justice the measuring line…“ Or the judgment—“and righteousness the plumb line. The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies…» God is saying, «I’m going to clean this mess up someday—and the waters will overflow the hiding place.»
Verse 18: «Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with hell will not stand. When the overflowing scourge passes through, then you will be trampled down by it.» Oh—I love that—people who have done you wrong and misrepresented Christ and ripped off the name of Jesus—their day is coming. We don’t do it—nobody does it—God does it.
«As often as it goes out it will take you; for morning by morning it will pass over, and by day and night it will be a terror just to understand the report.» Verse 20: «For the bed is too short…» For those who just connive, cheat, steal—are false—notice—“for the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.»
You’re in a hotel like that—bed’s too short—and the blanket’s like only two feet wide. Nothing will satisfy these kind of aberrant people that have sown to the wind. Verse 21: «For the Lord Himself will rise up as at Mount Perazim…» That is when David, by the way, routed the Philistines—God showed up on the battlefield and routed for David the Philistines—you can read about that in 2 Samuel 5.
«He will be angry…» This is God—God will be angry—“as in the Valley of Gibeon…» This is where Joshua—what’s that—this is where Joshua was fighting the enemies of Israel, and he’s running out of daytime, and Joshua’s on a roll, man—he’s like—and he’s thinking, «Man”—holds out his sundial—this is—“we got so much more war to do, and the sun’s going down.» Because, you know, at night they’ll stop.
And Joshua’s fighting, and he just goes, «Lord—stop the sun in its place—stop the moon in its place—I need time to finish this.» And they’re fighting and fighting and fighting, and they fought—the day went on for a day—until Israel was victorious. Wow.
Look what He says in the middle of verse 21—near the end, I guess—“that He may do His work…» Watch this—“His awesome work.» I say «awesome» a lot—you tell me about that—you always say «awesome.» It’s in the Bible—it’s right here—“His awesome work, and bring to pass His act, His unusual act.»
The word in Hebrew is «strange.» What does it mean—the word «unusual» or «strange»? Zore in Hebrew—it means odd, queer, foreign, strange—not native—work—something supernatural you can’t explain it. You already have that kind of stuff happening.
Can I tell you a kind of private little miracle today? You won’t think it’s a miracle, but for the last couple of days—she’s gonna kill me if she knows it—Lisa lost her wedding ring. And it’s like, «Okay—so she’s looking—she’s looking—I’m looking.» But today I’m studying, and I remember, «Oh yeah—her ring’s gone.»
It was so amazing—“Lord—if it be Your will—show me the ring—just show me where it is.» And I didn’t hear a voice—I didn’t see anything—I got up, and I walked into the bedroom, and I don’t know why, but I turned off all the lights and I turned on this flashlight. I don’t know why—I’m just turning on this flashlight, and I’m just like looking like this.
I just went to—I just got up and I went to one corner of the bedroom—just—and I looked—then—and then I opened her drawer, and I heard a little «dink, ” and I reached down there, and I found it. It was like so obvious—but here’s the deal—we couldn’t find it previously.
Could we live without the ring? Of course she could live without the ring—it’s just the ring. But God was just so kind—I just got up and I went right to it—“dink.» This part—I hope she’s not watching for sure—I took it into the bathroom, and I’m cleaning it up with my toothbrush—you know—as I’ll make—why I didn’t tell her I cleaned it—I just wanted it—when she saw that it was found—it just looked extra redeemed—extra saved, you know.
That’s a strange thing—God does things like that in our lives. When He comes back to settle the score with His enemies, He will be doing a strange thing. Listen—the context—the meaning actually means, «I do these things against My enemies, ” God says, „but I don’t like to do them—that’s why it’s a strange thing—it’s odd.“
The old word—look—the old word is „odd, queer”—out of normal. God is saying, „I don’t like to go around spanking people.“ Look—mom and dad—you don’t either. If you do, you’re a weirdo—seriously. God says, „I don’t like that.“ God says, „I weep over the death of the wicked.“ Isn’t He amazing?
And He says in verse 24: „Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow?“ Yes—he does. „Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods?“ Yep. „When he has leveled the surface, does he not sow the cumin…?“ And He’s going to go through a list of things—the answer is yes.
What does it mean? God says, „Everything I do has a purpose to it.“ Everything I do—down from verses 27 to 29—He’s talking about the farmer doing these things, and it simply means this: if the farmer knows to prepare his field and put in the seed and nurture it and wait for it—God is saying, „Don’t you know that I do the same thing that the farmer does?
I turn the soil over in both land and heart. I put the seed—My Son’s gonna come—listen—My Son’s gonna come along and cast the seed, which is the word of God, into your heart. And everything’s gonna be given to you to make sure that the word can take root and grow.
But if you take your heart and you soil it with drink and aberrant weirdness, and you let that word get taken out by promiscuity and distractions and the love of this world and all this stuff—the seed gets taken away.“ Jesus says it’s like the bird—Satan comes like a bird, and he takes the seed—the word—right out of your heart, and it’s taken from you—in Matthew 13.
God says, „I do everything I can that someone’s life might produce life.“ You see—we’re responsible for our actions, and so thus we cry out to Him. Verse 29: „This also comes from the Lord of hosts, who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.“ Wow—wow.
Prayer
Father, we come to You tonight, and we thank You that You are the God who is absolutely wonderful and excellent in guidance. Father, the great thing about Your word for us today in this day and age is that we need not repeat the blunders of the past, and we don’t have to do what others have done. We don’t have to repeat our fathers' or our mothers' sins either.
We may come from a long line of thieves, drunks—it doesn’t matter—I don’t know—unbelievers—it doesn’t matter. We don’t have to be like that. You’re the one that breaks that cycle—You’re the one that breaks that chain.
Lord, if anyone tonight is here living under that shadow of „Wow—my grandpa—my dad—and I guess I’m just doomed to be…“ No—you’re not. No—you’re not. Those generational sins can only be broken by one, and that’s Jesus. He breaks it—He gives you a whole new heart—He gives you a whole new life.
You don’t have—we do not have to go the way that Israel went in Isaiah 28. If she just would have turned, He would have—in His beauty—guided her. Tonight, friend—you decide tonight: „I’m done with the way my life goes—I’m done with that. I am going to let God guide my life.“ Good for you—jump into that Bible—read it—and let Him do it through you.
Father, we thank You for Your truth. We praise You tonight, and God, we just thank You for just the absolute goodness that You’ve shed towards us. And everything else evaporated tonight—by earthquake or by fire or by flood—You’re still good. You are still on Your throne, and someday we’ll be going home to see it all. Hallelujah—Jesus—in Your name we pray.
We may come from a long line of thieves, drunks—it doesn’t matter—I don’t know—unbelievers—it doesn’t matter. We don’t have to be like that. You’re the one that breaks that cycle—You’re the one that breaks that chain.
Lord, if anyone tonight is here living under that shadow of „Wow—my grandpa—my dad—and I guess I’m just doomed to be…“ No—you’re not. No—you’re not. Those generational sins can only be broken by one, and that’s Jesus. He breaks it—He gives you a whole new heart—He gives you a whole new life.
You don’t have—we do not have to go the way that Israel went in Isaiah 28. If she just would have turned, He would have—in His beauty—guided her. Tonight, friend—you decide tonight: „I’m done with the way my life goes—I’m done with that. I am going to let God guide my life.“ Good for you—jump into that Bible—read it—and let Him do it through you.
Father, we thank You for Your truth. We praise You tonight, and God, we just thank You for just the absolute goodness that You’ve shed towards us. And everything else evaporated tonight—by earthquake or by fire or by flood—You’re still good. You are still on Your throne, and someday we’ll be going home to see it all. Hallelujah—Jesus—in Your name we pray.