Short Beds and Narrow Sheets

August 30, 2020                        NOTES NOT EDITED
Short Beds and Narrow Sheets

Isaiah 28:1-20, esp. 20

 SIS: Jesus is the Only Sure Foundation for our present peace and future hope.  

Let us begin reading today a message of warning for nations from the Book of Isaiah, chapter 28, verses 10-20.

 If you have seen any T.V. at all in the last few weeks, you know our nation is “literally on fire.”  Like a ship at sea with a hole in the haul, we are taking on water and in danger of sinking.  Shortly after the birth of our great nation, Jefferson reminded us:  “The God Who gave us life, gave us liberty.  Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed the conviction that these liberties are the gift of God.” Our nation was founded in a resolute, rock-solid trust in the Almighty God of the Bible.

Even our coins remind us of that great heritage: “In God We Trust.”  Our Pledge of Allegiance was modified in 1952 to include the word, “One Nation Under God.”  Are we still “One Nation Under God?”  Can we still say with any degree of confidence that as a nation, a people, “In God We Trust.”  I think our national trust in God is something that is fading at best, and completely discarded at worst.  We are a “dying nation,” just like Israel we read about earlier.  We are a nation trusting in something other than Almighty God.  We are a nation reclining on “short beds and with narrow sheets” as Isaiah warns.  People are trusting in political pundits and pompous experts stirring our nation into a massive panic.  Add to that the horrid violence and anti-American hatred of organizations like Black Lives Matter, and the nation is literally in flames.  The very foundations of our national life are crumbling.  Trust placed in anyone or anything except Jesus Christ the Lord is a “misplaced trust.”

Isaiah calls such misplaced trust, “short beds and narrow sheets.”    Let’s read our text together.  

Without the covering of God’s grace, we can no longer expect the peace and rest of God’s Providence. We are resting on flimsy foundations.

 The danger of trusting in “short beds with narrow sheets” is expressed in our text by a grammatical form called an “interjection.”  These are short, expressive words like “oh or wow.”  In this case the Hebrew word beginning our text is “hoy,” or in Yiddish, “oy vey.”  It means “alas or woe,” and almost always expressive something negative.  Except for one place in the Book of Kings, it is only used in the prophetic parts of the O.T.  It serves as a warning of approaching doom for a nation.

 Similar to Edward Gibbons massive historical tome, “The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (700+ pages),” chapters 28-33 of Isaiah has six such warnings for nations facing decay and death.  Each introduced by the word, “hôy,” we mentioned a moment before.  This first “woe” expresses a warning to Ephraim sounding the alarm for pending death to the Israeli Tribal State.  The text outlining the pending doom of Ephraim shows THREE COMMON ELEMENTS in the death of any “nation, tribe or people.”  Isaiah uses the “fading of a flower” as a symbol for the process of death for a people.  The first element in this process is Decadence (1-6).  Isaiah uses the image of a “drunkard.”  Second, in the death of a nation is Double-speak (10-13).  Truth is sacrificed on the altar of political self-interest and all news becomes, “fake news”, or double speak, like “Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there” (v10) comes from the religious leaders mocking the message of Isaiah and confusing the people with nonsensical talk, that sounds like a stammering tongue or foreign language. Lies and falsehood (v15) supplant reason and truth.  News becomes nonsense. Verse 10 sounds like a Hebrew version of Dr. Seuss:  “ki sav lasav sav lasav kav lakav kav lakav zeer sam zeer sam.”   

The other day I saw a clip the other day that could have been a Saturday Night Live parody, but it was from a major "news" station (I use that world cautiously these days). The reporter was commenting on the "mostly peaceful protests in a city," while the camera showed buildings and cars on fire in the background. This is the kind of “nonsensical doublespeak,” or Fake News that forebodes the death of a nation.

Finally, a dying nation actually makes a covenant with death (v15).  The Israelites looked to Egypt to protect them from Assyria but it was futile.  The introductory word, “hôy” actually comes from the language of a funeral lament.  Israel, represented in this woe by Ephraim, is dying.  Decadence, Double-speak, and a covenant with Death are the elements leading to this demise.  What say we then in regard to our own nation?  Decadence, Double-speak and fake news by our leaders, and a covenant of Death made with Planned Parenthood to sacrifice innocent children.  Are we on the same path as Ephraim?  It certainly appears so.  We are a ship taking on water as surely as the Titanic after it struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic.  Unless we take quick action, the ship of the U.S. will sink as surely as the HMS Titanic. 

So, this brings us to the heart of our message today.  What are we relying on as a people to save our sinking ship, our dying nation?  Are we relying on “short beds and narrow sheets” as Isaiah warns us about?  What are the inadequate foundations on which many lay their trust for a present hope or eternal peace. What “short beds and narrow sheets might Isaiah have had in mind?  There are at least four “short beds and narrow sheets” or inadequate escape plans.

 ❶ The “short bed of PRESUMPTION (V7)

 Let us look closer: (Isa 28:7)   And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions.

 In Isaiah’s day, the nation of Israel was about to be steam-rolled by the massive Assyrian Army.  Calamity was imminent.  Disaster was impending.  Yet, many had the attitude, “Let’s eat, drink and be merry.” From the leaders down, the people were like drunken sailors staggering about on a night of liberty, presuming all would be the same come morning.  “To presume” means “to take for granted.” Some people presume, quite falsely, that “hell is merely a myth conjured by the feeble mind of intellectual midgets.”   Or, others presume, again quite falsely, that “God is a God of love and he will not send anyone to hell!”   Such people have no basis for a present peace or a future rest.  These folk lie upon “short beds with narrow sheets.”

As a nation we presume we can eliminate God from our day to day lives and He is somehow obliged to rescue us.  The truth is, in fact, God loves us too much to let our sin go unpunished. For, what a great tragedy it would be if God were to let a person’s sin, a nation’s sin, to go unpunished and allow that person to pass through the Gates of Paradise.   For this would turn even heaven into a hell.

A great man of God once declared, “God’s wrath flames in the passion of His love.” The Bible declares the very same thing, “There shall in no way enter anything into heaven that is unclean, or he that makes an abomination and a lie” (Deu. 7:26). For a person to have a present peace and eternal repose, his or her faith must rest on the bed of God’s love, for sure, but we must not presume that such a deep and pure love could in anyway abide such behavior as we find here in our text.  Those that “eat, drink, or be merry” while the army of judgement bears down upon them foolishly presume upon the goodness and love of God, and they will not find rest for their souls.  Presumption is a “short bed and narrow sheet.”

❷ The short bed and narrow sheet of PAST EXPERIENCE  (V1)

 (Isa 28:1)   Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley–

 There is a tragic note of sarcasm here in the words, “set on the head.” Eprhaim you might recall was the younger of Joseph’s sons, Mannaseh being the oldest.  As the patriarch Jacob, Joseph’s father, came to the end of his life, it was time to pronounce a blessing on his grandchildren’s generation.  This blessing traditionally fell upon the oldest child, which would have been Joseph’s son, Mannaseh.  But the Scriptures teach that Jacob (Israel), “But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and crossing his hands, put his left on Manasseh’s head” (Gen 48:14). Thus, Ephraim became the chosen tribe of Israel.  Now, the flower of Ephraim’s blessing is fading and the blossom of God’s favor is dying.

The territory allotted Ephraim in Northern Palestine blossomed with prosperity. Samaria, the capital, was set on a hill overlooking a rich valley.  It lay on the prosperous trade routes of the ancient world. Ephraim quickly blossomed with bounty and beauty.  Herein lies the sarcasm.   What once was the “pride of the nation and a blossoming flower of prosperity” had become a “drunkard and fading flower.” Ephraim now dangles as a wilted bloom upon a fertile valley. I think

rose bushes around the house and church.  How beautiful and full they are when they burst open in bloom.  But, soon that beauty fades, and the petals drop, leaving behind an empty, thorny branch as a reminder of a beauty that once had been.  This demonstrates the “short bed and narrow sheet” of PAST EXPERIENCE.  Trying to live off of yesterday’s manna only to find it full of worms.

 At one time, many of you moved to the front of a church, or bowed on the hearth at home.  Your hope blossomed as you considered Christ as the Lord.  But, that was many years ago.  Your blooming faith never came to harvest.  The soft petals of your emerging faith were not protected and nourished.  Your faith sprang to life, but withered because of years of neglect.  Many of you are resting on a “bed too short,” because it is a “bed of past experience and yesteryear’s testimony.” There is no present vitality as would naturally have if one were close to the Lord.  Your struggles overwhelm you, because your faith has never overtaken you.

You can have no present hope or eternal rest, lying on the dusty bed of past experience. {{{{Please Close Your Eyes.   In the last year

has my walk with the Lord flowered with more passion than at that moment since I first sought rest in Christ?  If not, you are resting on the “short bed” of a past experience.  OK. Now open your eyes.}}}}

 A man recently asked his friend, “Hey Joe, have you heard about the new GARLIC SANDWICH DIET?”  Joe, who had always struggled with his weight replied, “No, I’ve tried every diet in the book but I’ve never heard of the GARLIC SANDWICH DIET. Does it work?”  Joe’s friend replied, “Well, you don’t lose any weight, but you do look smaller from a distance!”

That idea is similar to the moral philosophy of most people.  As long as we “give the appearance of being good people,” from a distance, we look alright.  We are like the church of Sardis condemned by the Lord as having a “reputation of being alive but you are dead.” We can’t enjoy the ride always looking the rearview mirror reminiscing of the places we have been. The adventure is in through the windshield not the rearview mirror.

 ❸ MORALITY is simply another “short bed with narrow sheets” upon which person’s erroneously lay their hope of present peace and eternal rest.  Look at verses 16 and 17 closely:

 {16}So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed. {17} I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will overflow your hiding place.

 Many people measure themselves according to a “plumbline of their own making.” A plumb line is a tool that builders use to assure that a wall is truly vertical, or plumb.   A metal weight, or plumb bob, is tied to string and allowed to hang freely alongside the vertical face of a wall.  If the wall is “true” or “plumb”, the distance from the wall to the string will be consistent all the way down the wall. God’s

plumb line is His Word.  That is the measure of justice, righteousness, and morality.  We may be pretty good, by the world’s standards, but we fail miserably according to God’s standards. Sooner or later, the wall of our life comes crashing down, as in the case of many politicians, and many others, because we gage our morality by human polls, rather than Divine Pronouncements.

Morality is a “short bed with narrow sheets.”   Nothing but the blood

of Jesus is sufficient to cover your sins and give you eternal rest.  People lie upon short beds of PRESUMPTION, PAST  EXPERIENCE, and MORALITY.  None of these are sufficient to provide a present peace and eternal rest.   There is yet, another “short bed with narrow sheets.”

❹ RELIGION.  Perhaps more than anything else, this is a “short bed with narrow sheets.”  There is no rest in religion.  (V 15)

 You boast, "We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place."

 Some schoars suggest that this verse escribes the ancient religious ritual of NECROMANCY, or talking with the dead . Other scholars describe the sin as lâtsōm, or a “free-thinking scorn that rests on an insolent self-confidence.” (Keil-Delitzsch).   Regardless, the implications are the same.   Religion is an attempt to achieve by human means that which can only come by divine intervention.  Religion is man’s attempt to reach God.  True eternal rest comes only when God reaches down to man.  Religion trusts in “self” confidence rather than confidence in the Savior.  Religion is simply a ritualistic bed upon which persons lay their eternal hopes–it is a “bed too short with sheets too narrow.”   It is an inadequate foundation for a present peace or eternal rest.  Religion is man’s attempt to create God in our own image!

RELIGION IS A DAMNABLE LIE. Look at vs. 15, we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place." Again in verse 17: I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line; hail will sweep away your refuge, the lie, and water will  overflow your hiding place.

THERE IS NO REST IN RELIGION–THEY ARE ALL LIES!

Hinduism is a lie that has man chasing the “ghost of nothingness.”  Islam is a lie that shackles man to the “whim of fate and hopelessness.”  Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Catholics, Protestants—they are all lies unless they rest upon “bed of Divine Grace and are covered by the blood of Our Blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ!”

LIES!  LIES!  LIES!  ALL RELIGION IS BASED UPON LIES! That includes your religion, even if you are a Baptist. We must trust in the Lord, not a liturgy.  We must pursue a relationship, not a religion–if we are to find a bed of present peace and eternal rest.

PRESUMPTION, PAST EXPERIENCE, MORALITY, AND RELIGION–All these Isaiah declares are “short beds and narrow sheets.”

Since as far back as I can remember, I’ve always had an “escape plan” in life.  I grew up in a reclaimed farm sold to a developer by a man named, Maxwell.  It was called, Maxwell Acres.  The houses were small and mostly alike.  They were a “split level” design.  The kitchen and living room were down stairs and the three small bedrooms and one bath were upstairs.  Yes, one bathroom for the seven of us.  Even my cousins out in the country had “two-holers” out back. I guess, at least our plumbing was in doors.  I slept in a bedroom with my two brothers above the garage.  I like to think of it as growing up in a “penthouse.”  For whatever reason, I always thought of burglars breaking into the house to harm our family.  So, I had a plan I rehearsed in my mind.  I rehearsed this plan so many nights, that I actually dreamed about carrying out this plan in a recurring nightmare.  Now, there were two windows in our bedroom.  One looking out over the concrete driveway in front, and one looking out the side toward our neighbor’s house about 12 feet away.  In the event that attackers would come, they would have to come through the first floor.  I would hear them because I am a very, very light sleeper.  Then, I’d go to the side window, remove the screen, hang from the ledge, leaving me dangling about six or seven feet above the ground—no small drop for a little kid.  Then, I would run behind and around the neighbor’s house, rush in the front door to my house and save my family.  Now, some of the details I didn’t have worked out really well, like what was a little kid going to do to stop deadly burglars.  Anyway, I had a plan.  I believed in this plan and it helped a neurotic kid sleep at night—though it also caused a recurring nightmare.

Do you have an escape plan for the trouble that is coming upon our nation and our world?  Do you have an escape plan for dealing with the sin in your life when you stand before God?  Are you trusting in Jesus for your security and comfort now, as well as for eternity?  If not, whatever you are trusting in Isaiah calls a “short bed with narrow sheets” which are inadequate to give you rest and protection from the cold night of trouble.

Where then can we find a SOLID FOUNDATION for a present peace and eternal rest?  Isaiah gives us the One Sure Foundation. Look at vs 16.

So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.

Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus! He is long enough to provide the sweet repose of eternal peace because He’s wide enough to cover our sins completely.  Jesus is a “long bed with wide sheets.”