Isaiah 28:12, commentary and pictures

God holds out true rest and refreshing for the weary, yet those to whom it is offered would not listen. That rest is His word and instruction and counsel given to the people. To refuse to hear is to cling to own wisdom and ways instead of giving Him the heart in loving obedience, and mere knowing of truth without obedience gives no safety. He teaches that word gradually, a little at a time, line upon line and precept upon precept, to reach the heart and build character. Those who reject such repeated instruction are left to their own judgment to fall backward and be broken and taken, while what He requires is a submissive, teachable spirit.

Rest Offered and Refused

This is the rest by which the weary may be caused to rest, and this is the refreshing, yet they would not hear. The offer is relief held out to the weary, but the people refuse to listen to it. Their refusal belongs to a larger rejection of teaching, where repeated instruction exposes those who reject it and leaves them to fall and to ruin under judgment. The same condition is found in the world today.

That rest and refreshing is God's word, teaching, instruction, counsel and message given to the people. He speaks to His people and offers rest through His word, and the lesson is to receive His counsel with a submissive, teachable heart. His truth has been made clear, yet when it is neglected further testimony is used to direct people back to the instruction already given in Scripture. His messages come line upon line and precept upon precept, and rejecting His warnings can lead His people into false paths.

Not hearing means not heeding the word that comes to them. It means not receiving instruction but cherishing own wisdom, choosing to work according to own ideas, and refusing to give the heart to do what is required. Warnings repeatedly given and light given have been ignored instead of accepted, and people can still refuse to hear and ignore His demands. There is no safety in placing confidence in human wisdom or strength. Knowing and hearing Bible truth is not enough unless truth is obeyed and shapes the life, for the offer brings no benefit when people refuse to hear.

Teaching Line upon Line

God teaches gradually, line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, in small portions over time. This gradual, continued instruction advances learners step by step in practical knowledge, completes the education of those who work for the salvation of others, and lays on those who have received truth the responsibility to act on it and carry it to those who have not heard. The method applies to educating children from the first lessons to know God and Jesus Christ and to learn that reverence for the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Such teaching must form minds gently through steady instruction rather than by force. It must be given little by little in plain, clear language, never advancing beyond what hearers are ready to receive, or it confuses them and leads them into fanciful ideas.

This step-by-step instruction is meant to be carried by the Spirit into the heart and conscience for the saving of souls, using every means to reach the conscience even when it is resisted. It is to be heeded in cultivating the soul and building character for eternity, so that care in spirit, words, and actions causes every work to bear the divine signature. It is given in urgent, earnest work to help people understand the truth and make an informed choice while probation remains.

Truth is opened gradually, line upon line, and the Holy Spirit impresses it on receptive hearts, while those who reject evidence remain blinded and turn others from the truth. The gradual giving of great light in small portions over time is meant to lead to appreciation of Christ who gave His life on earth so that the human family might share the divine nature and have His divine power as the heritage of every believing soul. It is meant to lead to cooperation with Him who sent His Son to give light and salvation, in carrying forward the work Christ came to do and opening ways for truth to shine into dark places, while to have received such instruction yet show little appreciation and fail to work is unbelief that leaves souls to perish in ignorance and darkness and brings in delusion that imperils the soul.

The same incremental method is counterfeited when tempting plans are laid before the mind line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. Listened to in this piecemeal way, those temptations create hungering and thirsting for the pleasures of the world, earthly excitement, and selfish indulgences, occupy the mind with amusements and corrupted ambitions, and pervert all the powers until men devote their whole life to the service of the apostate and drop into their graves without an experimental knowledge of God.

Consequences of Refusal

To refuse the offered rest and refreshing is to go on to ruin, to go and fall backward and be broken and snared and taken. The repeated instruction exposes those who reject it, and their rejection leaves them exposed to the judgment described in the surrounding verses, whose conditions apply to the world today. Refusal does not stop the teaching, for the Lord still teaches through repeated precept and instruction, while rejection itself hastens the fall.

God puts such ones to a test, that they shall either take their stand to follow His counsel or refuse and act according to their own ideas. If they refuse, He leaves them to their supposed wise judgment without heavenly wisdom until the Scripture is fulfilled. What He requires instead is a submissive, teachable spirit that says, Give Me thine heart, doing the definite things He requires with a loving, obedient heart from which true prayer is breathed. To receive His counsel with such a heart is the lesson of the verse, in contrast to cherishing own wisdom and relying on it.

Rejecting the word He has given brings hardness of heart and blindness of mind and the withdrawal of His Spirit. Failure to heed the light and follow it brings His controversy with His people, can lead them into false paths, and leaves them accountable for the light and guidance sent. Heeding His repeated warnings is the instruction needed to resist delusion and remain faithful. Refusing the warnings and corrections He sends rejects His saving care and grieves Him.

Training Children Faithfully

The rest and refreshing offered is God's word, teaching and counsel given to the people, yet they would not hear by not heeding the word that came, cherishing their own wisdom, working by their own ideas, and refusing to give the heart to do what is required. What is wanted is a submissive, teachable spirit that gives God the heart, doing what He requires with loving obedience from which true prayer is breathed. Those who refuse are given a test whether to follow His counsel or their own ideas, and if they refuse He leaves them to their supposed wise judgment without heavenly wisdom until they go and fall backward and are broken and snared and taken. For this reason the word is to be patiently brought before children and kept before them by parents who believe it, from the mother's arms through babyhood, childhood, youth, and manhood.

Mothers are to work from the cradle daily with caution, watchfulness, and prayer for obedience and character, for this is the greatest work committed to mortals. Children must be taught in the nurture and admonition of the Lord by steady, patient, repeated, practical instruction, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, little by little, with faith and perseverance. This includes morning and evening family prayer with Christ lifted up before them so they give their hearts to God early and His peace rests upon them. Parents under the discipline of the Word are the home educators, and nothing is to cause neglect of children for visitors or any other interest.

Parents must not be annoyed when children go contrary to what they have been told, since they themselves often go contrary to what the Lord has commanded for their own preparation and knowledge of His will as revealed in His word. Correction must never be given in anger, impatience, passion, hasty spirit, or harsh blows, which only stir evil feelings and do not correct, but with gentle tones. Husband and wife are to unite in forming correct habits of speech and conduct, drawing in Christ's lines under the direction of His Word and inviting the Spirit of God to help, so that the will of Christ rules in the home. Following on to know the Lord in this way enables parents to make a right representation of Christ before the world.

The aim is to give a correct understanding of the Redeemer's character and to fit children for the service of God and for the future immortal life, a work done for eternity and for entrance through the gates into the city of God and the higher school above. Above all they should learn that reverence for the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and come to know God and Jesus Christ, advancing step by step in practical knowledge. They are to be trained to give attention to little things, to be faithful in that which is least so they will be faithful in greater things, and to meet each new path by asking if it is the way of the Lord and if Christ is leading. They are thus taught gradually and wisely as part of preparation for service to God.

Neglect that leaves children to their own will wastes the motive power of life and gives a partial, one-sided culture leading to untrained character in adulthood, and the guilt lies with the parents. Even those who go astray through such neglect can come to their senses through continued practical lessons given step by step, but it requires careful, painstaking effort to place them right. Forming right habits so the right way leaves its impress on mind and character and is practiced means bringing children under the direct influence of the Spirit of God and training and disciplining them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It calls for earnest effort in the name and strength of Jesus, with the instructor persevering in long-suffering and patience, sympathy and love, binding the children to the heart by the love of Christ revealed in the teacher.

Labor for Souls

God has made the truth plain, yet when it is neglected added testimonies serve to turn minds back to the instruction already laid out in Scripture, where rest and refreshment for the weary are offered but refused. That rest and refreshing are to be carried to weary ones everywhere by scattering light in small fragments, in jots and tittles, here a little and there a little, set in contrast with error so that dense darkness on human minds is broken and the true Light shines forth. The warning message is to be given by urgent, earnest labor while probation lingers, with repeated instruction line upon line and precept upon precept that helps people understand truth and make an informed choice. Those who have received truth in this repeated way are responsible to act on it and to help carry the gospel message to those who have not heard it.

New believers are to be taught carefully from God's word step by step, so that they seek wisdom and guidance from God rather than submitting their minds to human control or to one person's ideas. Deceived and unprepared workers in office are restored by patient, tender calls to reconversion given line upon line, precept upon precept, under the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. This rescues those led into temptation, commercialism and false paths by fallen angels appearing as teachers, and leads them onward step by step in humility and meekness until they stand as overcomers prepared for the kingdom of heaven. Bringing rest to a demoralized people requires staying long enough to grasp the inward working of things, then reconstructing and remodeling, taking up dropped stitches and putting a new mold upon the people. It calls for hard, constant work, effort upon effort by pen, by voice and by influence, until the leaven of reform leavens the lump, because only thorough conversion through the Spirit lifts a degraded moral tone, especially when those long established in a wrong course think they have been blessed in it and hardly see their need to improve.

Ministers are to keep bringing both new and old truth from the word, keep giving the people truth, lift up Jesus before them, and lead them into the way prepared for the redeemed. They instruct little by little in successive lessons, and keep studying the Bible themselves so they can present truth intelligently to the understanding of the people. Souls are led to obey by patient, gradual, sympathetic teaching, line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, which is the most successful work for Christ. This is done by keeping self out of sight and coming close to human hearts, giving special instruction on surrendering will and mind to Jesus and becoming Christians, through small faithful acts seized as opportunity comes, the little fillings in, the cup of cold water given, the word spoken in due season, without making self prominent and without treasuring the deed afterward, which God counts precious and will recognize at the last day.

Messengers are to receive instruction from Scripture and pass it on carefully a little at a time, declaring the Lord's word line upon line and precept upon precept, little by little, as souls are sought and God's name is glorified. True rest and refreshing come by giving truth in this short, repeated way, and daily morning services and Bible classes that teach little by little have a good influence and do hearers good. Lasting results require patient instruction given gradually in small portions over time, and this steady, repeated teaching is what people in new places must receive for the work to live and grow. Christ Himself completes the education of those who labor for the salvation of others, teaching them line upon line and precept upon precept through gradual, continued instruction. That same pattern of repeated instruction calls for faithfully following guidance received and for learning the right way to treat others, even when rest and refreshing are refused by those who will not hear.

Health and Obedience

The sick are to be educated gradually, little by little, to respect and obey the divine law governing the human body. The rest and refreshing promised is health without drugs, found in breathing pure air wisely and abundantly, in sunlight, in simple healthful food taken temperately, in healthful habits, and in clean bodies, houses and premises. This health teaching must be given by constant education repeated line upon line and precept upon precept, by which ten thousand now sick would be made well and health would be preserved.

Health-reform principles were sent as instruction line upon line and precept upon precept as God's offer of rest and refreshment, so that to reject them is to reject His merciful guidance. To reject those principles is to reject God Himself who stands behind and supports them, while to practice them conscientiously brings restoration both physically and spiritually. Instruction on the need for quiet locations for sanitariums and schools is likewise to be given gradually, line upon line and precept upon precept.

God offers rest and refreshing through His instruction, yet people may refuse to hear, and the words about instruction given line upon line apply to warnings He had repeatedly given which few understood or heeded. Repeated warnings were sent but not heeded, with those claiming to believe ignoring the light given to them instead of accepting the divine message. The word has been given repeatedly line upon line and precept upon precept, yet people can still refuse to hear and ignore its demands.