9 “To whom will he teach knowledge,
and to whom will he explain the message?
Those who are weaned from the milk,
those taken from the breast?
10 For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little.”
11 For by people of strange lips
and with a foreign tongue
the LORD will speak to this people,
12 to whom he has said,
“This is rest;
give rest to the weary;
and this is repose”;
yet they would not hear.
13 And the word of the LORD will be to them
precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
line upon line, line upon line,
here a little, there a little,
that they may go, and fall backward,
and be broken, and snared, and taken.
Comment: verses 9&10, 11 and 12&13 give 3 different tries to teach the people what God wants them to know. Teaching by their mothers as children; teaching by foreign tutors; teaching by their religious leaders. The last half of v 13, ‘that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken,” shows the failure of all 3 methods. I guess that modern educators might discuss if the failure of understanding was due to the teaching methods (3 were tried!)? Or was it due to the attitude of the learners? I hear a little sarcasm. To me it suggests that the teachers will be blamed for the students’ unwillingness to learn!
NB This is God speaking! 14 Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”; – Comment: How foolish to believe that you can make an agreement with ‘the sickle’ that it won’t cut you when it sweeps in judgement! Here is sarcasm at its highest! God is mocking the stupidity of the leaders who thought that they could avoid what was going to happen!
NB This is God speaking again! 16 therefore thus says the Lord GOD,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice the line,
and righteousness the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.” – Comment: This is generally true because God has laid down the rules and hung the plumb line of standards! But it is plain that it is Messianic prophecy as well! Christ is the foundation stone which God has put in place; Justice and righteousness is His plumb line and the ‘hail’ of judgement will ultimately sweep away those who seek refuge in lies!
18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it. – You failed to learn when you were well taught! Don’t be fooled – your covenant with evil will put you as very sad losers!
Ecclesiastes 12: 14 – For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Prayer: Please me help me to not only listen but to hear what You say to me, O God.
As I read it! 