What “Line Upon Line” Really Means in the Bible
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: (Isa. 28:9-10)
That seems a bit repetitious. It makes us stop and ask why. But the fact is, it illustrates that God does not pour the whole ocean of truth into our heads at once. He gives us a drop here and a drop there, until a big picture begins to form. That is “precept upon precept… line upon line… here a little, and there a little.” He teaches by building. We learn by searching.
We often want instant understanding—one verse, one sermon, one study that “explains it all.” But the Lord delights to grow us. First milk, then meat. Milk keeps us alive. Meat makes us strong. And He uses the same passages to give both, depending on whether we come as hurried skimmers… or patient miners.
Take a story we all know: Peter denying the Lord three times. That’s usually where we learn about human weakness, fear and how graciously Christ forgives. That’s the milk, and we need it.
But if we slow down and lay Scripture beside Scripture, something more begins to appear.
The Lord told Peter, “Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.” (Matt. 26:34; Mark 14:30) Two details stand out: three denials, and a cock crowing, which marks the coming of the morning after a long night.
Now remember: Peter is not just any disciple. The New Testament designates him as the apostle linked to the Jews (Gal. 2:7–8). If anyone pictures the nation of Israel in their denial of Christ, Peter does.
Through this lens, those three denials begin to look like more than personal failure. They line up with Israel’s great national rejections of her Messiah:
1. At His first coming – when He stood among the Jewish crowd, they cried, “Away with him,” and, “We have no king but Caesar” and urged him to be killed. (John 19:14-15)
2. In Acts – when Stephen preached the risen Christ to the Jews, they not only disbelieved, they stoned Stephen to death. (Acts 7:57-58)
3. In the coming Tribulation – when many in Israel will bow themselves to the antichrist and pledge themselves to the man of sin. (Dan. 9:27)
All of this happens in the “night” of Israel’s blindness (Rom. 11:25). And then—the cock crows. Morning breaks. The Lord returns.
What happens to Peter when the cock crows? Remembering the word of Jesus, he goes out, and weeps bitterly (Matt. 26:75). That is a picture of what will later happen to Israel: “They shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him.” (Zech. 12:10)
But, after the third denial of their true Messiah, the night is over. The bright and morning star appears (Rev. 22:16)—the Sun of righteousness —with healing in His wings. (Mal. 4:2) His second coming brings national repentance to Israel. (Jer. 31:31-33)
Notice: we did not learn all of this from one verse, or even one chapter. We watched how Peter is described in Galatians… how Israel is described in the prophets… how the Bible uses night and morning… how many times Peter denies Christ. We gathered these things “here a little, and there a little,” and stacked them “line upon line.”
That is how God invites us to read and study His Book. We let Scripture interpret Scripture until pieces across the Bible begin to fit together and God’s eternal plan through Jesus Christ appears.
We thought we knew a lot of things before, but now we see how God orchestrated history to outline His plan for the future. And surprise… the Bible is gloriously about Him, not us!
R&J Shee