Isaiah 28:16-22
16 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
"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.
17 Also I will make justice the measuring line,
And righteousness the plummet;
The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters will overflow the hiding place.
18 Your covenant with death will be annulled,
And your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
When the overflowing scourge passes through,
Then you will be trampled down by it.
19 As often as it goes out it will take you;
For morning by morning it will pass over,
And by day and by night;
It will be a terror just to understand the report."
20 For the bed is too short to stretch out on,
And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it.
21 For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim,
He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon—
That He may do His work, His awesome work,
And bring to pass His act, His unusual act.
22 Now therefore, do not be mockers,
Lest your bonds be made strong;
For I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts,
A destruction determined even upon the whole earth.
We have a precious cornerstone as our foundation of God’s building on the solid ground of our trust in His working, which is infinitely precious to His people. The Lord Himself set the stone in place to build His church upon as we now understand with Christ’s incarnation and His Spirit explaining through the apostles what He meant long ago in Isaiah’s words to us (1 Peter 2:6-8, Acts 4:11-12, Ephesians 2:20). He is proven to be true and trustworthy and the only solid foundation to build upon (1 Corinthians 3:11). He must be looked at in His word to be able to trust in and not hastily believed about in some halfhearted manner. Only then as the cost is counted may a life be given into his absolute subjection and infinitely loving care. Justice is called the measuring line, by which we are weighed and found wanting, every living soul since the fall of mankind. Righteousness is called the plummet line, the upright standing straight before God which is only in the perfectly righteous one, Jesus Christ, who is our righteousness in which we stand. We cannot hide from the judgment to come nor cover ourselves with lies to justify ourselves. Living just to die and attempt escaping accountability to the Lord is impossible. Death and hell are unavoidable and will overtake us all who are not founded on the certain cornerstone foundation of the faith of Abraham who so believed by trust in action of or His promise and working (Galatians 3:8-9). Such a fate is terrifying to hear when understood, yet knowing that the Lord has done His awesome work in the unusual act of sending His own Son to die for us that we might live if we understand and trust His promises in that work done where ours cannot ever be effective, this humbles us to repentance and faith unto salvation. Mockers will deny this judgment and approaching destruction to their own demise. May all who hear and understand not reject the offer of forgiveness by grace and trust His work which delivers us from the wrath to come (Luke 3:7-8, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Romans 5:8-9). Oh that many would hear, understand, actively believe and trust to receive the Savior and His work for them to find a solid footer to lay their eternal foundation on!
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