Thurs.'s Devo -

Read Isa. 28:1-13
Ephraim is a picture of the church. Ephraim was the son of Joseph and not one of the original sons of Abraham. Ephraim is a branch from Abraham's tree. Like Ephraim, we are a branch that has been grafted into God's family after the Jews. Ephraim is a large tribe that represented the whole Northern Kingdom. God started his judgment with them and filtered down. Her sin was pride and drunkenness. With judgment always comes redemption, promise, and hope. Verses 5 and 6 are the hope of the remnant "in that day". He will be their strength and glory through it all. After that he goes back to describe the conditions of his day. Those who judge will be judged. The nation has turned to drunkenness and those that are suppose to be the spiritual leaders are leading drunk so their judgment is impaired. They drink till they vomit. They loathe Isaiah's chastisement and feel like they are being talked to like children. They refuse to listen or heed the words of Isaiah so God says that he will speak to them in another language - the Assyrian language. He gives them an awesome truth: "precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept: line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little." This is how we learn the Bible. We build a strong foundation then build upon it. But every block in it must be a line of the Bible.
Lord, help us to build our foundation on your truths. Keep us from being intoxicated by the things of the earth.