Isaiah 28:16

"“Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, and we are in agreement with Sheol. When the overflowing scourge passes through, it won’t come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood.’”"

Key Reflection

Isaiah 28:16 highlights the arrogance and delusion of those who think they can escape divine judgment through their own plans and false security. The people boast that they have made a covenant with death and an agreement with Sheol, believing they are safe from any calamity. However, this verse envisions a coming "overflowing scourge"—a catastrophic event like a devastating plague or invasion—that will expose their lies and false refuges, trampling them as they expected to be spared. This prophecy underscores the futility of human schemes against the sovereignty of God, warning that no one can ultimately avoid his judgment.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

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.

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