Applying Isaiah 28:11 to divine discipline?
How can we apply Isaiah 28:11 to our understanding of divine discipline today?

Setting the Scene in Isaiah 28

• Judah’s leaders were drunk on both wine and self-confidence (Isaiah 28:7–8).

• They mocked Isaiah’s simple, repetitive teaching, saying he talked to them as if they were toddlers (v. 10).

• God responded by promising to speak to them “with stammering lips and foreign tongues” (v. 11)—a reference to invading Assyrians whose language they would not understand (cf. Deuteronomy 28:49).

• The foreign speech would be a sign of judgment: God’s word rejected in Hebrew would return in a language they could not ignore.


Key Verse

“Indeed, with stammering lips and foreign tongues He will speak to this people.” (Isaiah 28:11)


Divine Discipline Illustrated

• God’s discipline is measured: He first sent prophets in their own language (Isaiah 28:9–10).

• When soft warnings were despised, He intensified the correction by using an unexpected instrument—foreign conquerors.

• The method fit the offense: they scoffed at simple words, so He answered with words they could not decipher.

• Discipline, therefore, is not random punishment but purposeful training that matches the heart issue (Hebrews 12:5–11).


Principles for Today

• God still speaks plainly through Scripture; rejecting that voice invites harder lessons.

• He reserves the right to use surprising channels—people outside our circle, uncomfortable circumstances, even secular authorities—to press His point.

• What feels like chaos can actually be God’s orderly discipline, designed to restore rather than destroy (Psalm 119:67, 71).

• The New Testament echoes this in 1 Corinthians 14:21, where Isaiah 28:11 is cited to show that uninterpreted tongues serve as a wake-up sign to the unbelieving—another form of divine attention-getter.


Supporting Scriptures

Hebrews 12:6–7: “For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives… God is treating you as sons.”

Revelation 3:19: “Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.”

Proverbs 3:11–12: “My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline… because the LORD disciplines those He loves.”


Putting It Into Practice

• Stay teachable: receive the straightforward voice of Scripture before stronger measures become necessary.

• Examine disruptions: instead of irritation, ask whether an unexpected “foreign tongue” is God’s corrective word.

• Repent quickly: Judah’s tragedy shows the cost of delayed obedience. Swift response shortens the discipline.

• Encourage others: remind fellow believers that loving discipline is proof of sonship, not rejection.

How does 1 Corinthians 14:21 connect with Isaiah 28:11's message?
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