Isaiah 28:15, commentary and pictures

The verse records the boast of scornful rulers in Jerusalem that they have secured themselves against coming judgment by a covenant with death and an agreement with hell, so that when the overflowing scourge passes through it will not touch them because they have made lies their refuge and hidden under falsehood. That covenant is comforting themselves in impenitence that there will be no punishment for sin and that all, however corrupt, will be exalted to heaven, while those who held the darker sense understood it as yielding to Satan for knowledge and protection in exchange for obedience to his control. Making lies a refuge still more is renouncing the truths God gave as a defense in the day of trouble and taking instead Satan's refuge of lies, especially Spiritualism, by setting aside God's Word for human wisdom and preference until there is no safety left. That false shelter cannot keep away judgment, for God will lay judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet until hail sweeps away the refuge of lies and waters overflow the hiding place, stripping every lie from the soul. The true refuge is Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, in whom alone those sanctified through the truth will be hidden until the coming scourge that purges the earth and separates the faithful from the unfaithful is overpast.

Words and Ancient Setting

The verse records the boast of the scornful men who rule the people in Jerusalem, who claim to have made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell so that when the overflowing scourge of judgment passes through it will not come to them, because they have made lies their refuge and hidden themselves under falsehood. These self-secure leaders trust deception for safety instead of hearing the rest and refreshing God offered, falsely believing they have secured themselves against coming judgment by treating death and the grave as allies. The overflowing scourge represents judgment that their false refuge cannot keep away, and the following verses show this refuge will fail when God lays in Zion a tried, precious, sure foundation stone for faith and lays judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet until hail sweeps away the refuge of lies and waters overflow the hiding place. Safety belongs instead to those who walk righteously and speak uprightly, while the chapter's portrayal of this false security and its collapse is a picture of the true conditions in the world today.

Making a covenant with death and an agreement with hell means comforting themselves in stubborn impenitence with the assurance that there is to be no punishment for the sinner. It means holding with fearful deception and false confidence that God's judgments will not reach them, as though they had secured protection from death and hell. It means insisting that all mankind, no matter how corrupt, are to be exalted to heaven to become as the angels of God, falsely reassured that all people however corrupt will be saved and raised to heaven.

Making a covenant with death and an agreement with hell also means entering communion with Satan for knowledge and protection through deceptive spiritual practices, yielding oneself unreservedly to be controlled by him and to follow his directions in all things. In return he performs wonders and miracles and reveals secret things, even the most secret things. The witch of Endor had made such an agreement, and Saul, having forsaken God so that God answered him not and being afraid before battle with the Philistines, sought her for knowledge. His consultation of her was such an agreement, and that final act sealed his separation from God and made it final after persistent rebellion when his iniquity reached its fullness. The figures in this prophecy represent spiritual things and spiritual realities.

Refuge of Lies Exposed

The refuge of lies is a false confidence that the judgments of God will not reach those who hide in it, as though they had secured protection from death and hell. That confidence comforts stubborn impenitence with the assurance that there is to be no punishment for the sinner and that all mankind, no matter how corrupt, are to be exalted to heaven to become as the angels of God. Still more emphatically it is renouncing the truths Heaven has provided as a defense for the righteous in the day of trouble and accepting in their place the refuge of lies offered by Satan. Especially it is trusting the delusive pretensions of Spiritualism, whose deceptions make men feel beyond the reach of divine judgment and reflect how completely they have yielded to Satan's influence, yet it cannot protect them. A fearful deception comes upon the wicked to count themselves secure, and their assurance that nothing can separate them from God's vengeance shows they are closely united with the tempter and imbued with his spirit.

Making lies a refuge is relying on false statements to conceal the truth and gain an advantage. A person who does this cannot be depended on, even in a position of trust. He will falsify sacred responsibilities rather than face inconvenience by telling the truth, and under trial will not act with equity and justice. In the same way it is setting aside the wisdom and Word of God for human wisdom and strength and for human invention and device. It turns from inspired men and from those who spread the Word praying for light upon it, rejects warnings, and selects and changes teachings to suit human preferences, which makes God's messages void.

There is no safety for churches or nations or individuals in placing confidence in human wisdom or strength. Wherever nations or individuals set aside God's wisdom and violate His will, a day of retribution comes. Keeping the Word of God beside the throne makes one immovable, but forsaking its doctrines sullies even the fairest reputation, as David did. Pride, self-sufficiency, refusal to confess sin, a life of untruth, self-righteousness, and underhand working to take advantage of others are such a refuge of lies. It bars the way to heaven and leaves those who hold it without spiritual life and without a clear sense of justice and righteousness. As seen in the heavenly courts their garments of self-righteousness fall from them leaving them ashamed, naked and condemned, and when the time of test comes their refuge will not shield them from Him who sees every discrepancy and every falsehood. Thinking the end justifies the means, failing to see the need for integrity in everyday life, and remaining feeble in moral power without the grace of Christ leaves no right to claim pardon and to put on the robe of Christ's righteousness.

Judgment Sweeps False Shelter

The overflowing scourge is the coming judgment that the false shelter cannot keep away, for the boast that disaster will not reach those who have made lies their refuge and hidden under falsehood is exposed as false security. That boast was the boast of scornful men ruling the people in Jerusalem, who treated death and the grave as allies and trusted deception for safety instead of hearing the rest and refreshing offered to them. The answer is that God lays in Zion a tried, precious, sure foundation stone for faith, and lays judgment to the line and righteousness to the plummet, until hail sweeps away the refuge of lies and waters overflow the hiding place. The figures in the prophecy represent spiritual things and spiritual realities, with the refuge of lies swept away while safety belongs to those who walk righteously and speak uprightly and rest on the sure foundation God lays in Zion as the true ground of safety.

No one can escape God's wrath by hiding behind a lie to cover sin, for lies made a refuge give no shelter and God will strip that refuge of lies from the soul so that transgressors face His wrath. The storm is gathering and the bolts of wrath are soon to fall, with no period of respite once punishment of transgressors begins, and that false refuge must be torn away now with faithfulness and love while the privilege still holds out of exchanging darkness for light, error for truth, and sin for righteousness, lest deluded souls sleep on to everlasting ruin. The true refuge is Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and only those sanctified through the truth and living in God's love will stand, hidden with Christ in God until the desolation is overpast. The refuge of lies is swept away by exalting Jesus higher and yet higher, leading people to look upon the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The false refuge belongs to the proud and carnally secure and self-righteous who deceive God's people and assume judgment will not reach them because they trust lies as a refuge. Their self-righteousness must be cut away and their false confidence exposed and they must be brought out of that false refuge so they see their true condition before God and before the Lord.

Deceptions and Historic Examples

The boast exposes the blindness and false security of skeptics and scoffers who dismiss God's word as unworthy of belief and embrace Satan's deceptions. It is contention against the faith of prophets and apostles, ridicule of the solemn declarations of Scripture concerning Christ and the plan of salvation and the retribution to be visited upon rejecters of truth, pity for those who acknowledge God's claims and obey His law, and complete assurance of safety from His vengeance and judgments as if an impassable, impenetrable barrier had been erected against them. That fearlessness which nothing can arouse comes from fully yielding to the tempter, being closely united with him and thoroughly imbued with his spirit, leaving no power and no inclination to break away from his snare. Ministers who surrender truth to gain favor lead souls to rest in lies for safety, and every feeling, every line written, every word spoken, and every act that settles souls in that false shelter is marked by an all-seeing eye in the pulpit, in the streets, and in all mingling with men. Each such act sows seed, and in the end its character and influence are discerned in the wretched lost souls around them as the harvest.

The language of agreement with death and covenant with hell describes turning to Satan for knowledge and protection through deceptive spiritual practices. Saul's consultation of the witch of Endor was such an agreement, and that final act sealed the separation from God he had chosen through persistent rebellion when his iniquity had reached its fullness. It meant entering communion with Satan for knowledge, yielding oneself unreservedly to be controlled by him and to follow his directions in all things, while he in return performs wonders and miracles and reveals the most secret things. The witch of Endor had done this, and Saul, having forsaken God so that God answered him not, sought her for knowledge when afraid before battle with the Philistines.

The chapter portrays scornful rulers trusting in lies and falsehood as protection and believing death and destruction will not reach them when judgment comes, and this false security and its collapse is a picture of the true conditions in the world today.

Coming Scourge and Faithful Protection

The overflowing scourge is a coming time when the destroying angel will again pass through the land to destroy the wicked, a scourge passing through the earth in which Jehovah purges His floor. It is a time of testing and purging when the unfaithful are separated from the faithful. In that trial God helps His people, and the pure faith of the holy remains undaunted even while apparent victories of evil are displayed.

The storm is gathering and the bolts of divine wrath are soon to fall in the seven last plagues after the angel of mercy leaves the world. When punishment of transgressors begins there will be no period of respite until the end. The scourge will come upon all dwellers upon the earth in the perils of the last days, while the whole world with all its iniquity is passing in review before God as an impending judgment upon its inhabitants.

Those who faithfully keep the holy Sabbath as the mark and seal of God, teach His commandments, follow His instructions, and keep their children from treating the Sabbath as a common day will with their children be hidden in the secret of the Lord's pavilion in the Lord's presence when the scourge comes. Those who choose their own way, allow their children a worldly education that makes the Sabbath common, and thus cannot receive the seal will perish and be destroyed with the world. Their blood will rest upon the parents who permitted that course.

The overflowing scourge will bring a destruction that very soon passes over and sweeps earthly possessions all away. Those who profess present truth yet cling to wealth and property and withhold means when God's work calls, especially the means needed to speed messengers to feed hungry sheep dying for spiritual food, will lose everything. The time to cut loose from possessions, to sacrifice earthly goods and lay up treasure in heaven, is now before the scourge comes, for afterward it will be too late and forever too late.

Before that scourge comes all who serve God are called to gather their children into their own houses away from classes that voice Satan's words and disobey God's commandments. They are not to flock to the cities to find homes but to get out of the cities as soon as possible, to establish church schools, and to give their children the Word of God as the foundation of all education. Those who remain true to principle in this will never be left to become weak and corrupted.

The promised scourge will not pass by or spare professed believers whose religion is empty and who remain unconverted in tongue and appetite. Though they come to God's house and hear the truth, those without the love of Christ who stimulate themselves with tea, think and speak evil, criticize God's servants, sow doubt about His ambassadors, and reproduce those sentiments in other minds do not know real service and cannot claim exemption. Though their souls are loved, they have ceased to love themselves aright and have never lived in an atmosphere of faith and love, so judgment reaches them despite their profession.