What is the meaning of Isaiah 28:9? Whom is He trying to teach? - “He” is the LORD speaking through Isaiah (Isaiah 28:1–8). - The immediate target is the drunken priests and prophets who stagger in their leadership (Isaiah 28:7), yet the question echoes to anyone who resists God’s word (Jeremiah 6:10; Acts 7:51). - Their scoffing tone—“Who does he think he’s teaching?”—reveals pride that blocks revelation (Proverbs 3:34; 1 Corinthians 2:14). - God’s faithful servants still ask the same thing when hard-hearted hearers shrug off clear truth (2 Timothy 4:3). To whom is He explaining His message? - Isaiah’s message is plain, line upon line (Isaiah 28:10), but the leaders label it childish. - By ridiculing clarity, they betray an unteachable spirit (Isaiah 30:9-11; Matthew 13:15). - God delights to reveal Himself to humble learners, not the self-assured elite (Matthew 11:25; James 1:21). - The irony: those who believe they know everything are the very ones who need the simplest explanation (1 Corinthians 8:2). To infants just weaned from milk? - The mockers liken Isaiah’s prophetic teaching to a preschool lesson, yet Scripture calls spiritual immaturity exactly what it is (Hebrews 5:12-13). - Real growth starts with “pure spiritual milk” (1 Peter 2:2), and even seasoned believers never outgrow the gospel’s basics (1 Corinthians 15:1-2). - Their taunt exposes their own stunted condition: pleasure-soaked leaders who cannot handle solid truth (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). To babies removed from the breast? - The sneer intensifies: “We’re not toddlers—stop talking down to us!” - God will answer by letting foreign lips speak—a reference to Assyrian invaders (Isaiah 28:11-13); if His gentle words seem like baby talk, harsh discipline will come. - Scripture often pictures dependence on God as childlike trust (Psalm 131:2), but these leaders prefer self-reliance that ends in ruin (Proverbs 14:12). - The passage warns: anyone who rejects plain instruction will eventually face a lesson impossible to ignore (Proverbs 1:24-27). summary Isaiah 28:9 records the scoffing questions of leaders who think God’s prophet is beneath them. Their sarcastic “Are we babies?” unmasks pride that cannot stomach straightforward truth. In reality they are the infants—unable to digest solid doctrine, dull from sin, and on the brink of judgment. The verse calls every generation to stay humble, eager for God’s word whether it seems simple or profound, lest prideful ears miss the only message that can save and mature the soul. |
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