What is the crown of glory and diadem of beauty (Isaiah 28:5)?

Let the “crown of pride,” then, be trodden under the foot (Isa. 28:3). Let the scornful religious leaders, with their refuge of lies and their agreement with Antichrist, be swept away (v. 15), so that the Lord Himself may be “for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the believing remnant” (v. 5).

The first thing judged is the crown of pride, the carelessness of luxury, which leaves man intoxicated and blind. God raises up the Assyrian a mighty and strong one against those who had abandoned themselves to pride and excess. "Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, which as a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand. The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under feet: and the glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fat valley, shall be a fading flower, and as the hasty fruit before the summer; which when he that looketh upon it seeth, while it is yet in his hand he eateth it up." After this judgment there is a change, and Jehovah becomes a crown of glory, and a spirit of strength for the remnant (v. 5, 6). Pride, ease, luxury, and the world's vain glory hinder the word from striking the conscience; but for the poor, despised, afflicted remnant, God is their resource and strength, and becomes a crown of glory. It is very possible that the people of God should be despised till then.

"Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which [is] on the head of the fat valley of them that are overcome with wine! Behold, the Lord has a mighty and strong one, as a storm of hail, a destroying tempest; as a storm of mighty waters overflowing, shall he cast down to the earth with might" (or, hand) (vv. 1, 2). It is not to be thought that drunkenness is to be taken in its merely literal acceptation. It represents their dreadfully excited and stupefied and besotted state, given up to their own pleasure and self-indulgence to the shame of the true God. What intoxication is among men with its frightful natural effects, such in a large moral sense will be the condition of these proud insensate men of Ephraim. Fulfilled at whatever time it may be, plainly it will be in Israel as such. "The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet; and the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which [is] on the head of the fat valley, shall be as an early fig before the summer; which [when] he that looks upon it sees, while it is yet in his hand, he eats it up" (vv. 3, 4). And true glory follows: "In that day will Jehovah of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty to the remnant of his people; and for a spirit of judgement to him that sits in judgement, and for a strength to them that turn the battle to (or, at) the gate" (vv. 5, 6). Yet was the condition of Judah better?

Having recorded this prediction of the gathering from lands of affliction to Jerusalem of a remnant, who shall worship the Lord there, the prophet again reverted to the denunciation of the existing state of the people. And first Ephraim, that is, the ten tribes, came before him — verses 1-13. They were debased as drunkards and yet wore pride as a crown. Against them the Lord would bring "a mighty and strong one," like a devastating storm or flood — doubtless the Assyrian army.

Yet, even so, there should be found a "residue of His people," who should have not a crown of pride but a crown of glory, in the Lord Himself. Though the mass of the people had "erred through wine" and they "stumble in judgment," these should be like little children, who learn a little at a time, step by step.

Isaiah 28 sets before us the first elements of these final scenes in the history of this wonderful people. The scourge comes from the north. Ephraim is invaded as by an overflowing torrent, by a tempest of hail that smites and destroys; he is trodden under foot. But in that day Jehovah shall be for a crown of glory to the residue of His people. The people morally besotted, do not hear. And this is the judicial sentence of Jehovah who turns to Jerusalem in pronouncing it. There they had made a covenant with death and the powers of darkness, that they might escape the overflowing torrent. But the covenant shall be disannulled, the scourge shall overtake them; they shall be trodden down, and smitten by this terrible rod. We have then this revelation, that when Ephraim shall be invaded by this terrible scourge, the princes of Jerusalem will seek to preserve themselves from it by making a covenant with the power of evil. But it shall come to nought. The waters shall overflow and sweep away the refuge of lies. Jerusalem, as well as Ephraim, undergoes the consequences of the assault of the enemy. But the Messiah is the elect corner-stone, the sure foundation for the remnant; he that believes in Him shall not be confounded. Thus Ephraim is invaded and Jerusalem taken. There is a consumption determined** by Jehovah upon the whole earth.

The word is mitsnepheth, and (translated 'diadem') occurs again in a remarkable reference to the "profane wicked prince of Israel," which, though referring to the then king, Zedekiah, seems to point to the future Antichrist in conjunction with the Roman beast, for he is represented as wearing the mitre and the crown, which shall be removed. God will overturn, overturn, "until he come whose right it is: and I will give it him." Ezek. 21:25-27. With this agrees Isa. 28:5: "In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a 'mitre ' of beauty, unto the residue of his people." In Zech. 3:1-8, where Joshua the high priest, as a representative of the people, is delivered from the resistance of Satan, and is cleansed, a fair mitre (tsaniph, a kindred word to the above) is set upon his head, and he is clothed with garments. The Lord Jesus as the BRANCH comes forth, and blessing follows.

To Israel, the Lord says: "In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of His people." (Isa. 28:5). And so I think we are not wrong in supposing that each of the crowns He promises His people today, tell us of Christ our Lord. And I think in Revelation 4:10 we learn what His saints will do with those crowns that He so graciously gives them: "The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power." What a joy it will be in that day, if we have a crown to cast before Him! May you and I dear Reader, taste of that joy!

(b) When it was revealed through Paul the full circle of revelation was completed: this was the mystery of Christ and the church. 1st, That Christ should ― as Man ― be set in the heavenlies, having all dominion, by redemption (personally He had it as God), as Head over all things in heaven and earth, to the church, His body, united to Him by the Holy Ghost come down from heaven. 2nd, That He was "in you" ― Gentiles ― the "hope of glory." This was a new thing. When Christ came He was the "minister of the circumcision (the Jew) for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers" (Rom. 15:8). Abraham was the vessel of the promises of God; they were repeated to the fathers, Isaac and Jacob; Israel took the promises on the ground of law and man's responsibility, and forfeited them totally; then Christ came, in whom were all the promises of God, yea and amen. He came to establish the promises, as Heir of them all, to the people to whose fathers they had been made, i.e. the Jews. He was rejected, and instead of becoming the "Crown of glory … unto the residue of his people" (Isa. 28:5), the Heir of glory goes on high, and the poor Gentile believer, who had no promises, comes in on the footing of pure mercy, not promise; as we read, "that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy" (Rom. 15:9): we get a place in Christ on high, united to Him who is the Heir of all the glory · and not only are we in Him, but He is in us ― not the "crown of glory," but "the hope of glory;" "Christ in you the hope of glory." Back

Imperial crown or crown of honour. Job 29:14; Isa. 28:5; Isa. 62:3; Ezek. 21:26. See CROWN.

tipharah, tiphereth, 'splendour beauty, glory.' It is applied to God, Isa. 60:19; to Israel, Isa. 46:13; the crown that wisdom gives, Prov. 4:9; the hoary head, Prov. 16:31, etc.