Isaiah 28:13, commentary and pictures

The word of the Lord comes again and again in small, measured portions, precept upon precept and line upon line, here a little and there a little. That repeated instruction offered rest and refreshing for the weary, but the scornful leaders refused to hear and trusted in falsehood. The same word they rejected then becomes their judgment, so that they go and fall backward and are broken and snared and taken. God still teaches in this gradual way, giving truth a little at a time to be taken in and digested, and teachers are to follow Him by speaking plainly, briefly, and in order rather than burdening minds at once. This patient, repeated instruction is to begin with children from their earliest years and to lead seekers step by step from first principles into full light.

Language and Historical Setting

The word of the Lord came to them again and again in small, measured portions, precept added to precept and line added to line, here a little and there a little. It was patient, repeated teaching given piece by piece rather than all at once. Because it was refused, that same word became the means by which they would go backward and fall, be broken and trapped and taken into ruin and capture.

The repeated instruction included the rest and refreshing promised to the weary, yet they would not hear it. They rejected the instruction and rest offered to them, and the result followed because the word was not heeded. Refusing that rest brought judgment rather than safety.

The warning belonged to scornful rulers who trusted in falsehood rather than God. Their false refuge would be exposed and swept away by coming judgment. The figures of the chapter are representations of spiritual realities, and this rejection belongs to the condition of the world.

Cited alongside the prophecy of the sure foundation stone laid in Zion, the repeated word establishes the truth about the foundation on which the church is built. That foundation is Christ, not Peter. Those who reject the word stumble over the stone.

Judgment for Rejecting Instruction

The word that was rejected becomes itself the means of judgment, so that those who would not hear go backward and fall backward, stumbling to be broken and trapped and taken into ruin and capture. It had come to them repeatedly in small, measured portions, precept by precept and line by line, offering the promised rest and refreshing to the weary, but they refused to hear it and therefore it turned against them. This warning belonged to scornful leaders who trusted falsehood rather than God, whose figures present spiritual realities and whose false refuge would be exposed by judgment, with that rejection belonging to the condition of the world. Rejecting the instruction and the offered rest brings judgment rather than safety.

When people refuse to heed instruction, hold to their own judgment, cherish their own wisdom, and choose to work by their own ideas, the Lord tests them with counsel set before them to take or refuse. If they will not yield the heart to do what He requires, He leaves them to go on in their supposed wise judgment without heavenly wisdom until stumbling and breaking come to pass as the consequence of their refusal. What would prevent this is a submissive, teachable spirit breathed from a loving, obedient heart in prayer and service, receiving counsel rather than clinging to one's own way. There is no safety in placing confidence in human wisdom or strength, and this warning is spoken to the churches.

Those who neglect and disobey the light already given are left to stumble and become ensnared, because further light is not given as a substitute for obeying what has already been received. The Bible's teachings and the repeated counsel make clear the duties and truths people need, and those who have heard the word in repeated, measured portions are responsible to obey its demands and cannot rightly remain indifferent while disregarding it. The messages sent to instruct must therefore be studied and heeded, since rejecting them brings guilt and leaves people exposed to falling and ruin.

Warnings and instruction have been given repeatedly, line upon line and precept upon precept, yet few understood or knew them, some remained unfaithful despite the light they had received, and warnings sent again and again seemed to have no effect. Casting doubt on corrective messages sent to turn people from harmful choices and resisting them is rejecting the light God provides and leads farther into error and false paths. That resistance quenches the light that would have shone forth, and rejecting the word leaves hardness of heart and blindness of mind when the Spirit is withdrawn. Therefore the people must humble their hearts, confess their sins, be converted, and fear and tremble, and be kept from being educated by those who reject the warnings, for the Sabbath has been transgressed. Even words of encouragement and repeated warnings pointing toward escape from danger leave a person blind to peril and unrecognizing of his condition when they are not heeded.

The authoritative lessons are meant to reach the conscience and expose error, given gradually line upon line and here a little and there a little, and resisting them leaves a person unable to reform and vulnerable to falling into ruin. Presenting sound doctrine carefully and repeatedly in this same line-upon-line way is not enough if the preacher's life does not practice it. Without personal piety and devotion such teaching can confuse others and become a stumbling block to those weak in faith.

God's Gradual Teaching Method

God's method is to give truth a little at a time in small portions repeated often, precept upon precept and line upon line. Instruction comes gradually, a little at a time, and those who have received such repeated instruction bear responsibility to help prepare others and to work for those who have not heard the last gospel message.

Teachers must therefore give short discourses in plain and simple language, not long speeches or a mass of matter at once, and not pass too rapidly from point to point. New and strange teaching is not readily grasped and cannot be digested or retained from one presentation, so lessons must be short and often, in clear sequence and connected portions, precept by precept and line by line, so meaning is understood. Instruction that runs too far ahead or is expressed confusingly can lead learners astray, and this orderly, gradual pace is especially needed for people confused by old errors. In teaching children and youth, teachers must first learn obedience themselves and must not accept only truths that suit them while rejecting truths that call for self-denial.

Minds must be allowed time to take in and digest what they learn, through brief, repeated spiritual teaching. Learners should be drawn toward heaven gently rather than hastily, and church workers, especially those teaching the young, should give spiritual truths briefly and repeatedly. Too much speech at once can burden the mind and make people loathe spiritual instruction and weary of it.

Minds are molded not by violence but by gentle, constant, earnest effort, little by little, line upon line and precept upon precept. Character in youth is to be formed day by day for this life and for immortal life, with watchfulness over surroundings because surroundings shape balanced growth and proportionate exercise of every entrusted capability and power. A higher than human standard is always to be kept before the mind, with mind, soul, and heart first given to Jesus and then strength and powers given to Him. The mind is to be trained to expect much and to reach great things from the divine power furnished through Jesus Christ, since in giving Jesus to the world God gave all heaven in the one Gift.

The same unchangeable Bible truths given after the passing of the time in 1844 are still to be held today and to be proclaimed with greater assurance than at any previous time by repeating the same message persistently little by little. God's truth is taught gradually, repeated line upon line and precept upon precept, and present duty is to hold firmly to and repeat the third angel's message rather than becoming distracted by unimportant theories and problems. The repeated instruction God has given His people through the testimonies over many years should lead them to seek the heavenly source of life rather than be satisfied with human ideas that cannot satisfy the soul.

Truth is to be presented as it is in Jesus, because people unfamiliar with Scripture or taught traditions as Bible truth may find its truths entirely new and cannot bear to hear everything presented forcefully at once. The message of truth given line upon line is to be presented under the Holy Spirit so people can understand it and make an informed decision. Ministers of God are to educate the people by giving truth gradually, a little at a time, bringing forth things new and old from the treasure house of His Word, lifting up Jesus before them and leading them in the path cast up for the ransomed to walk in. They must never cease to study the Bible for themselves so they can present it in an intelligent manner to the understanding of the people, communicating Scripture as Christ taught it, making knowledge of God's Word a first priority, and including as many affirmative truths as possible.

Instruction and warning are given by the Lord precept by precept and line by line, a little at a time in successive parts, plainly and persistently. These warnings must be heeded rather than disregarded.

Teaching Children at Home

Bible teaching for children is to start at the earliest age, from infancy and the cradle, from the time they are weaned, with special urgency in the first seven or ten years when lasting impressions for good or evil are formed. Morning and evening prayer in the family circle belongs to this daily work, giving small gradual portions day by day. The method is repeated precepts and small portions, precept upon precept and line upon line, here a little and there a little, continued daily with great caution, watchfulness, and prayer.

Instruction is to be patient, tender, calm, and repeated, a little at a time with daily lessons and intelligent training with prayer heard in the home. Even when no immediate improvement is seen, parents are to keep instructing until the teaching takes hold, persevering with sympathy, love, faith, and perseverance. There is to be no striking in anger, no impatience, hasty correction, passion or harsh blows, and no scolding that spoils influence, but gentle tones, mercy and tenderness, kindly and patient restraint from evil suited to different temperaments. Obedience is still to be required and no disrespect allowed, binding the children to the heart by revealed love so piety develops and Christ is welcomed into the home.

What is taught in this way is Bible principles, the commandments, what sin is and that all sin offends God, the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom, and knowing God and Jesus Christ. It includes obedience, self-denial, self-control, control of passion, denial of appetite, overcoming selfishness, temperance taught at the fireside and family table, moral purity taught carefully and continually, that the heavens rule, attention to little things and faithfulness in the least, and asking as new paths open whether it is the Lord's way and whether Christ leads. Truly converted parents bring their own lives under the discipline of the Word as intelligent home educators who make right training the most important work of life and allow nothing to cause neglect of children.

This nurture and admonition forms correct habits of speech and conduct, brings children into right relation to God, and holds up Christ so they give their hearts early and have His peace. It gives a correct understanding of the Redeemer's character, trains for service of God and for teaching in Sabbath school, fits for the future immortal life and entrance through the gates into the city of God, and makes steadfast doers of Christ's words even when a parent opposes. It enables standing for truth amid error, distinguishing Scripture from human traditions, and guards against wrong public-school ideas opposed to truth, association with untrained children, street education corrupting souls with depravity, and the prevailing intemperance, disregard of law, rioting, and drunkenness before the great test on obedience or disobedience to the commandments.

Parents hold children as a solemn charge to watch over their souls as those who must give account, laboring together with God to train them to meet them in the kingdom and rejoice in their salvation, for time is short. Leaving a child to its own will produces evil, and neglect with only partial, one-sided culture wastes life's motive power so that many are lost, with the sin of that waste lying at the parents' door. Children's disobedience to parental instruction should remind parents of their own disobedience to what the Lord commanded for their preparation and for knowing His will, and following on to know the Lord enables a splendid representation of Christ before the world. Where duty was neglected, the neglect should be confessed to the children and the work begun with them.

In church schools children are to advance step by step in practical learning, while the teacher's chief aim is to lead them to know God and Jesus Christ, learning the truths of God's Word as preparation for continuing education in heaven. Schools are to be steadily taught and improved through practical lessons and careful guidance by patient, persevering work line upon line. By contrast, repeatedly prescribing how family members must act and becoming more determined when they disagree misuses line upon line and precept upon precept as overmanagement that overrides their judgment instead of allowing consultation and agreement.

Students are to be taught Scripture simply and gradually, each precept and line added a little at a time, planting seeds of truth in the heart that help them understand. Careful teaching is not to make them feel needlessly restricted or forced. So the Word instructs the young and prepares them for good works and eternal life.

Evangelism and Church Instruction

House-to-house work is to lead people gradually into the full light of Bible truth as it is in Jesus, precept upon precept and a little at a time. Instruction begins with the first principles of Christianity before the Sabbath is introduced. This order is necessary because those unfamiliar with Scripture, or taught traditions as Bible truth, find its truths entirely new and cannot bear to have everything pressed upon them forcefully at once.

Souls are to be sought and saved line upon line and precept upon precept, with every means used to carry truth by the Spirit to heart and conscience. Help toward obedience comes a little at a time, with personal sympathy and practical guidance. New believers are to be taught from the Word in this orderly, gradual way so they learn to seek wisdom and guidance from God rather than depend on human control.

The warning entrusted to God's people must be given quickly yet carefully, so people understand the truth and choose intelligently before probation closes. The same gradual method applies to declaring the Word in San Francisco, that more may be reached and God glorified. It also describes patient, step-by-step work for educating and uplifting the colored people, sustaining hope and improving their condition by persevering effort.

Those who have received such gradual instruction, precept upon precept and line upon line, carry responsibility to help prepare others. Repeated instruction in the truth places great responsibility to work for those who have not heard the last gospel message. Receiving the word in this way, here a little and there a little, gives great reason to value Christ, who came to make divine power available to every believing soul for salvation.

Responsible leaders are to teach learners right methods step by step, by word and example. A person likewise learns the right way of dealing with others gradually, line upon line and precept upon precept. Reforming a demoralized people requires staying long enough to grasp the inward working and then reconstructing line upon line by pen, voice, and influence until reform leavens the whole. That patient rebuilding is harder than beginning fresh, because it meets resistance from those settled in a wrong course who think themselves blessed, and the degraded moral tone can be lifted only by thorough conversion through the Spirit.

Messengers must first learn from Scripture and then impart its truth carefully piece by piece without distorting it. So a family learned truth step by step from the Word as the Holy Spirit impressed it on the heart. Patience, tenderness, and reconversion are to be presented line upon line and precept upon precept under the Holy Spirit, that ministers, physicians, and all in office may examine themselves, turn from commercialism and false leading, humbly follow step by step in the Lord's way, and become overcomers prepared for heaven. The sanitarium family is to be educated by the same steady, repeated religious instruction, precept upon precept and line upon line, never neglected or reduced to surface work.

Health and Practical Training

The health-reform principles sent for about forty years are the Lord's own repeated instruction given little by little, line upon line and precept upon precept. To resist those principles is to resist the One who gave and supports them, and they are to be practiced conscientiously. Following them brings restoration of both physical and spiritual health.

That repeated teaching is meant to give intelligent knowledge of healthful living without drugs. It includes clean bodies, clean houses and clean premises, breathing pure air abundantly, sunlight, healthful habits, simple healthful food eaten temperately, and eating and drinking to the glory of God, by which thousands now sick would be well. The same gradual method teaches the feeble and suffering precept by precept and line by line until they respect and obey God's laws for the human body. Parents are to keep instructing children about their bodies and how to care for them even when no immediate improvement is seen, persisting until the teaching takes hold. Practical temperance lessons given daily at the family table in self-control and self-denial cause true reform to advance rapidly, nurses are to present spiritual thoughts to the sick a little at a time so their words influence patients and draw them to Christ, and the advantages of retired locations for sanitariums and schools are to be taught step by step as confusion, violence, and crime in cities increase toward the close of earth's history, including instruction about growing dangers in cities.

The same patient, careful work in small portions is needed in cultivating the soul, so that spirit, words, and acts are formed with care and characters are built for eternity. Christ completes the learner's education through steady gradual instruction and close connection with Him, enabling faithful service and growth in truth.

Counterfeit Use and Connections

The same gradual order of line upon line and precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, is counterfeited by Satan in working upon those who yield to temptation, laying out his plans to them little by little until they devote their whole life to his service, hungering and thirsting for worldly pleasure and selfish indulgence until all their powers are perverted.
Against such error, the verse shows that God's true light must shine everywhere, spread bit by bit in the smallest fragments in one place and another, set against falsehood to tear away the dense darkness upon human minds and let the true light break through.

Instruction given little by little, line upon line and precept upon precept, leads in successive portions to the direction, This is the way, walk ye in it, which is to be followed without deviation and shared as received light.
Those who have received the Lord's word repeatedly and clearly are accountable to obey its demands and cannot rightly ignore what they have been taught or remain indifferent while His commandments are openly disregarded, a warning applied especially to the fourth commandment and to those who spend selfishly while withholding help from the work of warning others.