mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 33.xml

<div2 id="Is.xxxiv" n="xxxiv" next="Is.xxxv" prev="Is.xxxiii" progress="12.55%" title="Chapter XXXIII">
<h2 id="Is.xxxiv-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.xxxiv-p0.2">CHAP. XXXIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.xxxiv-p1" shownumber="no">This chapter relates to the same events as the
foregoing chapter, the distress of Judah and Jerusalem by
Sennacherib's invasion and their deliverance out of that distress
by the destruction of the Assyrian army. These are intermixed in
the prophecy, in the way of a Pindaric. Observe, I. The great
distress that Judah and Jerusalem should then be brought into,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.7-Isa.33.9" parsed="|Isa|33|7|33|9" passage="Isa 33:7-9">ver. 7-9</scripRef>. II. The
particular frights which the sinners in Zion should then be in,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.13-Isa.33.14" parsed="|Isa|33|13|33|14" passage="Isa 33:13,14">ver. 13, 14</scripRef>. III. The
prayers of good people to God in this distress, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.2" parsed="|Isa|33|2|0|0" passage="Isa 33:2">ver. 2</scripRef>. IV. The holy security which they
should enjoy in the midst of this trouble, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.15-Isa.33.16" parsed="|Isa|33|15|33|16" passage="Isa 33:15,16">ver. 15, 16</scripRef>. V. The destruction of the
army of the Assyrians (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.1-Isa.33.3" parsed="|Isa|33|1|33|3" passage="Isa 33:1-3">ver.
1-3</scripRef>), in which God would be greatly glorified, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.5 Bible:Isa.33.10-Isa.33.12" parsed="|Isa|33|5|0|0;|Isa|33|10|33|12" passage="Isa 33:5,10-12">ver. 5, 10-12</scripRef>. VI. The
enriching of the Jews with the spoil of the Assyrian camp,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.4 Bible:Isa.33.23 Bible:Isa.33.24" parsed="|Isa|33|4|0|0;|Isa|33|23|0|0;|Isa|33|24|0|0" passage="Isa 33:4,23,24">ver. 4, 23, 24</scripRef>. VII.
The happy settlement of Jerusalem, and the Jewish state, upon this.
Religion shall be uppermost (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.6" parsed="|Isa|33|6|0|0" passage="Isa 33:6">ver.
6</scripRef>), and their civil state shall flourish, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.17-Isa.33.22" parsed="|Isa|33|17|33|22" passage="Isa 33:17-22">ver. 17-22</scripRef>. This was soon
fulfilled, but is written for our learning.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.xxxiv-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33" parsed="|Isa|33|0|0|0" passage="Isa 33" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.xxxiv-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.1-Isa.33.12" parsed="|Isa|33|1|33|12" passage="Isa 33:1-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxxiv-p1.12">
<h4 id="Is.xxxiv-p1.13">Assyria Threatened. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiv-p1.14">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxxiv-p2" shownumber="no">1 Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou
<i>wast</i> not spoiled; and dealest treacherously, and they dealt
not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil, thou
shalt be spoiled; <i>and</i> when thou shalt make an end to deal
treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.   2
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiv-p2.1">O Lord</span>, be gracious unto us; we have
waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation
also in the time of trouble.   3 At the noise of the tumult
the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were
scattered.   4 And your spoil shall be gathered <i>like</i>
the gathering of the caterpillar: as the running to and fro of
locusts shall he run upon them.   5 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiv-p2.2">Lord</span> is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he
hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.   6 And
wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times,
<i>and</i> strength of salvation: the fear of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiv-p2.3">Lord</span> <i>is</i> his treasure.   7 Behold,
their valiant ones shall cry without: the ambassadors of peace
shall weep bitterly.   8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring
man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the
cities, he regardeth no man.   9 The earth mourneth <i>and</i>
languisheth: Lebanon is ashamed <i>and</i> hewn down: Sharon is
like a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel shake off <i>their
fruits.</i>   10 Now will I rise, saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiv-p2.4">Lord</span>; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up
myself.   11 Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall bring forth
stubble: your breath, <i>as</i> fire, shall devour you.   12
And the people shall be <i>as</i> the burnings of lime: <i>as</i>
thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p3" shownumber="no">Here we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p4" shownumber="no">I. The proud and false Assyrian justly
reckoned with for all his fraud and violence, and laid under a woe,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.1" parsed="|Isa|33|1|0|0" passage="Isa 33:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Observe, 1.
The sin which the enemy had been guilty of. He had spoiled the
people of God, and made a prey of them, and herein had broken his
treaty of peace with them, and dealt treacherously. Truth and mercy
are two such sacred things, and have so much of God in them, that
those cannot but be under the wrath of God that make conscience of
neither, but are perfectly lost to both, that care not what
mischief they do, what spoil they make, what dissimulations they
are guilty of, nor what solemn engagements they violate, to compass
their own wicked designs. Bloody and deceitful men are the worst of
men. 2. The aggravation of this sin. He spoiled those that had
never done him any injury and that he had no pretence to quarrel
with, and dealt treacherously with those that had always dealt
faithfully with him. Note, The less provocation we have from men to
do a wrong thing the more provocation we give to God by doing it.
3. The punishment he should fall under for this sin. He that
spoiled the cities of Judah shall have his own army destroyed by an
angel and his camp plundered by those whom he had made a prey of.
The Chaldeans shall deal treacherously with the Assyrians and
revolt from them. Two of Sennacherib's own sons shall deal
treacherously with him and basely murder him at his devotions.
Note, The righteous God often pays sinners in their own coin. <i>He
that leads into captivity shall go into captivity,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.13.10 Bible:Rev.18.6" parsed="|Rev|13|10|0|0;|Rev|18|6|0|0" passage="Re 13:10,18:6">Rev. xiii. 10; xviii. 6</scripRef>. 4. The
time when he shall be thus dealt with. When he shall <i>make an end
to spoil, and to deal treacherously,</i> not by repentance and
reformation, which might prevent his ruin (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.4.27" parsed="|Dan|4|27|0|0" passage="Da 4:27">Dan. iv. 27</scripRef>), but when he shall have done his
worst, when he shall have gone as far as God would permit him to
go, to the utmost of his tether, then the cup of trembling shall be
put into his hand. When he shall have arrived at his full stature
in impiety, shall have filled up the measure of his iniquity, then
all shall be called over again. When he has done God will begin,
for his day is coming.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p5" shownumber="no">II. The praying people of God earnest at
the throne of grace for mercy for the land now in its distress
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.2" parsed="|Isa|33|2|0|0" passage="Isa 33:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): "<i>O Lord!
be merciful to us.</i> Men are cruel; be thou gracious. We have
deserved thy wrath, but we entreat thy favour; and, if we may find
the propitious to us, we are happy; the trouble we are in cannot
hurt us, shall not ruin us. It is in vain to expect relief from
creatures; we have no confidence in the Egyptians, but <i>we have
waited for thee</i> only, resolving to submit to thee, whatever the
issue of the trouble be, and hoping that it shall be a comfortable
issue." Those that by faith humbly wait for God shall certainly
find him gracious to them. They prayed, 1. For those that were
employed in military services for them: "<i>Be thou their arm every
morning.</i> Hezekiah, and his princes, and all the men of war,
need continual supplies of strength and courage from thee; supply
their need therefore, and be to them a God all-sufficient. Every
morning, when they go forth upon the business of the day, and
perhaps have new work to do and new difficulties to encounter, let
them be afresh animated and invigorated, and, <i>as the day, so let
the strength be.</i>" In our spiritual warfare our own hands are
not sufficient for us, nor can we bring any thing to pass unless
God not only strengthen our arms (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.24" parsed="|Gen|49|24|0|0" passage="Ge 49:24">Gen.
xlix. 24</scripRef>), but be himself our arm; so entirely do we
depend upon him as our arm every morning, so constantly do we
depend upon his power, as well as his compassions, which are new
every morning, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Lam.3.23" parsed="|Lam|3|23|0|0" passage="La 3:23">Lam. iii. 23</scripRef>.
If God leaves us to ourselves any morning, we are undone; we must
therefore every morning commit ourselves to him, and go forth in
his strength to do the work of the day in its day. 2. For the body
of the people: "<i>Be thou our salvation also in the time of
trouble,</i> ours who sit still, and do not venture into the high
places of the field." They depend upon God not only as their
Saviour, to work deliverance for them, but as their salvation
itself; for, whatever becomes of their secular interests, they will
reckon themselves safe and saved if they have him for their God. If
he undertake to be their Saviour, he will be their salvation; for
<i>as for God his work is perfect.</i> Some read it thus: "<i>Thou
who wast their arm every morning,</i> who wast the continual
strength and help of our fathers before us, <i>be thou our
salvation also in time of trouble.</i> Help us as thou helpedst
them; <i>they looked unto thee and were lightened</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.34.5" parsed="|Ps|34|5|0|0" passage="Ps 34:5">Ps. xxxiv. 5</scripRef>); let us then not walk in
darkness."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p6" shownumber="no">III. The Assyrian army ruined and their
camp made a rich but cheap and easy prey to Judah and Jerusalem. No
sooner is the prayer made (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.2" parsed="|Isa|33|2|0|0" passage="Isa 33:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>) than it is answered (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.3" parsed="|Isa|33|3|0|0" passage="Isa 33:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), nay, it is outdone. They prayed
that God would save them from their enemies; but he did more than
that; he gave them victory over their enemies and abundant cause to
triumph; for, 1. The strength of the Assyrian camp was broken
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.3" parsed="|Isa|33|3|0|0" passage="Isa 33:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>) when the
destroying angel slew so many thousands of them: <i>At the noise of
the tumult,</i> of the shrieks of the dying men (who, we may
suppose, did not die silently), the rest of <i>the people fled,</i>
and shifted every one for his own safety. When God did thus lift up
himself the several nations, or clans, of which the army was
composed, were scattered. It was time to stir when such an
unprecedented plague broke out among them. When God arises his
enemies are scattered, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.1" parsed="|Ps|68|1|0|0" passage="Ps 68:1">Ps. lxviii.
1</scripRef>. 2. The spoil of the Assyrian camp is seized, by way
of reprisal, for all the desolations of the defenced cities of
Judah (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.4" parsed="|Isa|33|4|0|0" passage="Isa 33:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>):
<i>Your spoil shall be gathered</i> by the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, <i>like the gathering of the caterpillar,</i> and <i>as
the running to and fro of locusts,</i> that is, the spoilers shall
as easily and as quickly make themselves masters of the riches of
the Assyrians as a host of caterpillars, or locusts, make a field,
or a tree, bare. Thus <i>the wealth of the sinner is laid up for
the just</i> and Israel is enriched with the spoil of the
Egyptians. Some make the Assyrians to be the caterpillars and
locusts, which, when they are killed, are gathered together in
heaps, as the frogs of Egypt, and are run upon, and trodden to
dirt.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p7" shownumber="no">IV. God and his Israel glorified and
exalted hereby. When the spoil of the enemy is thus gathered, 1.
God will have the praise of it (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.5" parsed="|Isa|33|5|0|0" passage="Isa 33:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>The Lord is exalted.</i> It
is his honour thus to abase proud men, and hide them in the dust,
together; thus he magnifies his own name, and his people give him
the glory of it, as Israel when the Egyptians were drowned,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Exod.15.1-Exod.15.2" parsed="|Exod|15|1|15|2" passage="Ex 15:1,2">Exod. xv. 1, 2</scripRef>, &amp;c. He
is exalted as one that dwells on high, out of the reach of their
blasphemies, and that has an over-ruling power over them, and
wherein they deal proudly delights to show himself above them-that
does what he will, and they cannot resist him. 2. His people will
have the blessing of it. When God lifts up himself to scatter the
nations that are in confederacy against Jerusalem (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.3" parsed="|Isa|33|3|0|0" passage="Isa 33:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>) then, as a preparative
for that, or as the fruit and product of it, <i>he has filled Zion
with judgment and righteousness,</i> not only with a sense of
justice, but with a zeal for it and a universal care that it be
duly administered. It shall again be called, <i>The city of
righteousness,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.26" parsed="|Isa|1|26|0|0" passage="Isa 1:26"><i>ch.</i> i.
26</scripRef>. In this the grace of God is exalted, as much as his
providence was in the destruction of the Assyrian army. We may
conclude God has mercy in store for a people when he fills them
with judgment and righteousness, when all sorts of people, and all
their actions and affairs, are governed by them, and they are so
full of them that no other considerations can crowd in to sway them
against these. Hezekiah and his people are encouraged (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.6" parsed="|Isa|33|6|0|0" passage="Isa 33:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>) with an assurance that
God would stand by them in their distress. Here is, (1.) A gracious
promise of God for them to stay themselves upon: <i>Wisdom and
knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of
salvation.</i> Here is a desirable end proposed, and that is <i>the
stability of our times,</i> that things be not disturbed and
unhinged at home, and the <i>strength of salvation,</i> deliverance
from, and success against, enemies abroad. The salvation that God
ordains for his people has strength in it; it is a horn of
salvation. And here are the way and means for obtaining this
end—<i>wisdom and knowledge,</i> not only piety, but prudence.
That is it which, by the blessing of God, will be the <i>stability
of our times and the strength of salvation,</i> that wisdom which
is first pure, then peaceable, and which sacrifices private
interests to a public good; such prudence as this will establish
truth and peace, and fortify the bulwarks in defence of them. (2.)
A pious maxim of state for Hezekiah and his people to govern
themselves by: <i>The fear of the Lord is his treasure.</i> It is
God's treasure in the world, from which he receives his tribute;
or, rather, it is the prince's treasure. A good prince accounts it
so (that wisdom is better than gold) and he shall find it so. Note,
True religion is the true treasure of any prince or people; it
denominates them rich. Those places that have plenty of Bibles, and
ministers, and serious good people, are really rich; and it
contributes to that which makes a nation rich in this world. It is
therefore the interest of a people to support religion among them
and to take heed of every thing that threatens to hinder it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p8" shownumber="no">V. The great distress that Jerusalem was
brought into described, that those who believed the prophet might
know beforehand what troubles were coming and might provide
accordingly, and that when the foregoing promise of their
deliverance should have its accomplishment the remembrance of the
extremity of their case might help to magnify God in it and make
them the more thankful, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.7-Isa.33.9" parsed="|Isa|33|7|33|9" passage="Isa 33:7-9"><i>v.</i>
7-9</scripRef>. It is here foretold, 1. That the enemy would be
very insolent and abusive and there would be no dealing with him,
either by treaties of peace (<i>for he has broken the covenant</i>
without any hesitation, as if it were below him to be a servant to
his word), or by the preparations of war, for <i>he has despised
the cities;</i> he scorns to take notice either of their appeals to
justice or of their petitions for mercy. He makes himself master of
them so easily (though they are called <i>fenced cities</i>), and
meets with so little resistance, that he despises them, and has no
relentings when he puts all to the sword; for he regards no man,
has no pity or concern, no, not for those that he is under
particular obligations to. He neither fears God nor regards man,
but is haughty and imperious to every one. There are those that
take a pride in trampling upon all mankind, and have neither
veneration for the honourable nor compassion for the miserable. 2.
That therefore he would not be brought to any terms of
reconciliation: <i>The valiant ones of Jerusalem,</i> being unable
to make their parts good with him, must be contentedly run down
with noise and insolence, which will make them cry without, because
they cannot serve their country as they might have done against a
fair adversary. <i>The ambassadors</i> sent by Hezekiah to treat
<i>of peace,</i> finding him so haughty and unmanageable, <i>shall
weep bitterly</i> for vexation at the disappointment they had met
with in their negotiations; they shall weep like children, as
despairing to find out any expedient to pacify him. 3. That the
country should be made quite desolate for a time by his army. (1.)
No man durst travel the roads; so that a stop was put to trade and
commerce, and (which was worse) no man could safely go up to
Jerusalem, to keep the solemn feasts: <i>The highways lie
waste.</i> While the fields lie waste, trodden like the highways,
the highways lie waste, untrodden like the fields, for <i>the
traveller ceases.</i> (2.) No man had any profit from the grounds,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.9" parsed="|Isa|33|9|0|0" passage="Isa 33:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. The earth used
to rejoice in its own productions for the service of God's Israel,
but now the enemies of Israel eat them up, or tread them down: it
<i>mourns and languishes;</i> the country looks melancholy and the
country people have misery in their countenances, wanting necessary
food for themselves and their families; the wonted joy of harvest
is turned into lamentation, so withering and uncertain are all
worldly joys. The desolation is universal. That part of the country
which belonged to the ten tribes was already laid waste:
"<i>Lebanon</i> famed for cedars, <i>Sharon</i> for roses,
<i>Bashan</i> for cattle, <i>Carmel</i> for corn, all very
fruitful, have now become like wildernesses, <i>are ashamed</i> to
be called by their old names, they are so unlike what they were.
They <i>shake off their fruits</i> before their time into the hand
of the spoiler, which used to be gathered seasonably by the hand of
the owner."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p9" shownumber="no">VI. God appearing, at length, in his glory
against his proud invader, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.10" parsed="|Isa|33|10|0|0" passage="Isa 33:10"><i>v.</i>
10-12</scripRef>. When things are brought thus to the last
extremity, 1. God will magnify himself. He had seemed to sit by as
an unconcerned spectator: "But <i>now will I arise, saith the
Lord;</i> now will I appear and act, and therein I will be not only
evidenced, but exalted." He will not only demonstrate that there is
a God that judges in the earth, but that he is God over all, and
higher than the highest. "Now <i>will I lift up myself,</i> will
prepare for action, will act vigorously, and will be glorified in
it." God's time to appear for his people is when their affairs are
reduced to the lowest ebb, <i>when their strength is gone and there
is none shut up nor left,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.36" parsed="|Deut|32|36|0|0" passage="De 32:36">Deut.
xxxii. 36</scripRef>. When all other helpers fail, then is God's
time to help. 2. He will bring down the Assyrian: "You, O
Assyrians! are big with hopes that you shall have all the wealth of
Jerusalem for your own, and are in pain till it be so; but all your
hopes shall come to nothing: <i>You shall conceive chaff, and bring
forth stubble,</i> which is not only worthless and good for
nothing, but combustible and proper fuel for the fire, which it
cannot escape, when <i>your</i> own <i>breath as fire shall devour
you,</i> that is, the breath of God's wrath, provoked against you
by the breath of your sins—your malignant breath, the threatenings
and slaughter you breathe out against the people of God, this shall
devour you, and your blasphemous breath against God and his name."
God would make their own tongues to fall upon them, and their own
breath to blow the fire that should consume them; and then no
wonder that the people are <i>as the burnings of lime</i> in a
lime-kiln, all on fire together, and <i>as thorns cut up,</i> which
are dried and withered, and therefore easily take fire and are soon
burnt up. Such was the destruction of the Assyrian army; it was
like the burning up of thorns, which can well be spared, or the
burning of lime, which makes it good for something. The burning of
that army enlightened the world with the knowledge of God's power
and made his name shine brightly.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.xxxiv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.13-Isa.33.24" parsed="|Isa|33|13|33|24" passage="Isa 33:13-24" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxxiv-p9.4">
<h4 id="Is.xxxiv-p9.5">The Forebodings of Hypocrites; Encouragement
to God's People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiv-p9.6">b. c.</span> 710.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxxiv-p10" shownumber="no">13 Hear, ye <i>that are</i> far off, what I have
done; and, ye <i>that are</i> near, acknowledge my might.   14
The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the
hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who
among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?   15 He that
walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the
gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes,
that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes
from seeing evil;   16 He shall dwell on high: his place of
defence <i>shall be</i> the munitions of rocks: bread shall be
given him; his waters <i>shall be</i> sure.   17 Thine eyes
shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that
is very far off.   18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where
<i>is</i> the scribe? where <i>is</i> the receiver? where <i>is</i>
he that counted the towers?   19 Thou shalt not see a fierce
people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a
stammering tongue, <i>that thou canst</i> not understand.   20
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see
Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle <i>that</i> shall not be
taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed,
neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.   21 But
there the glorious <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiv-p10.1">Lord</span> <i>will
be</i> unto us a place of broad rivers <i>and</i> streams; wherein
shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass
thereby.   22 For the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiv-p10.2">Lord</span>
<i>is</i> our judge, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiv-p10.3">Lord</span>
<i>is</i> our lawgiver, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiv-p10.4">Lord</span>
<i>is</i> our king; he will save us.   23 Thy tacklings are
loosed; they could not well strengthen their mast, they could not
spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the
lame take the prey.   24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I
am sick: the people that dwell therein <i>shall be</i> forgiven
<i>their</i> iniquity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p11" shownumber="no">Here is a preface that commands attention;
and it is fit that all should attend, both near and afar off, to
what God says and does (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.13" parsed="|Isa|33|13|0|0" passage="Isa 33:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): <i>Hear, you that are afar off,</i> whether in
place or time. Let distant regions and future ages hear what God
has done. They do so; they will do so from the scripture, with as
much assurance as those that were near, the neighbouring nations
and those that lived at that time. But whoever hears what God has
done, whether near or afar off, let them acknowledge his might,
that it is irresistible, and that he can do every thing. Those are
very stupid who hear what God has done and yet will not acknowledge
his might. Now what is it that God has done which we must take
notice of, and in which we must acknowledge his might?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p12" shownumber="no">I. He has struck a terror upon the sinners
in Zion (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.14" parsed="|Isa|33|14|0|0" passage="Isa 33:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>):
<i>Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites.</i> There are sinners
in Zion, hypocrites, that enjoy Zion's privileges and concur in
Zion's services, but their hearts are not right in the sight of
God; they keep up secret haunts of sin under the cloak of a visible
profession, which convicts them of hypocrisy. Sinners in Zion will
have a great deal to answer for above other sinners; and their
place in Zion will be so far from being their security that it will
aggravate both their sin and their punishment. Now those sinners in
Zion, though always subject to secret frights and terrors, were
struck with a more than ordinary consternation from the convictions
of their own consciences. 1. When they saw the Assyrian army
besieging Jerusalem, and ready to set fire to it and lay it in
ashes, and burn the wasps in the nest. Finding they could not make
their escape to Egypt, as some had done, and distrusting the
promises God had made by his prophets that he would deliver them,
they were at their wits' end, and ran about like men distracted,
crying, "<i>Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire?</i> Let
us therefore abandon the city, and shift for ourselves elsewhere;
one had as good live in everlasting burnings as live here." <i>Who
will stand up for us against this devouring fire?</i> so some read
it. See here how the sinners in Zion are affected when the
judgments of God are abroad; while they were only threatened they
slighted them and made nothing of them; but, when they come to be
executed, they run into the other extreme, then they magnify them,
and make the worst of them; they call them <i>devouring fire</i>
and <i>everlasting burnings,</i> and despair of relief and succour.
Those that rebel against the commands of the word cannot take the
comforts of it in a time of need. Or, rather, 2. When they saw the
Assyrian army destroyed; for the destruction of that is the fire
spoken of immediately before, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.11-Isa.33.12" parsed="|Isa|33|11|33|12" passage="Isa 33:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>. When the sinners in
Zion saw what dreadful execution the wrath of God made they were in
a great fright, being conscious to themselves that they had
provoked this God by their secretly worshipping other gods; and
therefore they cry out, <i>Who among us shall dwell with this
devouring fire,</i> before which so vast an army is as thorns?
<i>Who among us shall dwell with</i> these <i>everlasting
burnings,</i> which have made the Assyrians <i>as the burnings of
lime?</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.12" parsed="|Isa|33|12|0|0" passage="Isa 33:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>.
Thus they said, or should have said. Note, God's judgments upon the
enemies of Zion should strike a terror upon the sinners in Zion,
nay, David himself trembles at them, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.120" parsed="|Ps|119|120|0|0" passage="Ps 119:120">Ps. cxix. 120</scripRef>. God himself is this
devouring fire, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.29" parsed="|Heb|12|29|0|0" passage="Heb 12:29">Heb. xii.
29</scripRef>. Who is able to stand before him? <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.6.20" parsed="|1Sam|6|20|0|0" passage="1Sa 6:20">1 Sam. vi. 20</scripRef>. His wrath will burn those
everlastingly that have made themselves fuel for it. It is a fire
that shall never be quenched, nor will ever go out of itself; for
it is the wrath of an everlasting God preying upon the conscience
of an immortal soul. Nor can the most daring sinners bear up
against it, so as to bear either the execution of it or the fearful
expectation of it. Let this awaken us all to flee from the wrath to
come, by fleeing to Christ as our refuge.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p13" shownumber="no">II. He has graciously provided for the
security of his people that trust in him: <i>Hear this, and
acknowledge his</i> power in making those that <i>walk
righteously,</i> and <i>speak uprightly,</i> to <i>dwell on
high,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.15-Isa.33.16" parsed="|Isa|33|15|33|16" passage="Isa 33:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15,
16</scripRef>. We have here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p14" shownumber="no">1. The good man's character, which he
preserves even in times of common iniquity, in divers instances.
(1.) He walks righteously. In the whole course of his conversation
he acts by rules of equity, and makes conscience of rendering to
all their due, to God his due, as well as to men theirs. His walk
is righteousness itself; he would not for a world wilfully do an
unjust thing. (2.) He speaks uprightly, <i>uprightnesses</i> (so
the word is); he speaks what is true and right, and with an honest
intention. He cannot think one thing and speak another, nor look
one way and row another. His word is to him as sacred as his oath,
and is not yea and nay. (3.) He is so far from coveting ill-gotten
gain that he despises it. He thinks it a mean and sordid thing, and
unbecoming a man of honour, to enrich himself by any hardship put
upon his neighbour. He scorns to do a wrong thing, nay, to do a
severe thing, though he might get by it. He does not over-value
gain itself, and therefore easily abhors the gain that is not
honestly come by. (4.) If he have a bribe at any time thrust into
his hand, to pervert justice, <i>he shakes his hands from
holding</i> it, with the utmost detestation, taking it as an
affront to have it offered him. (5.) <i>He stops his ears from
hearing</i> any thing that tends to cruelty or bloodshed, or any
suggestions stirring him up to revenge, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.31.31" parsed="|Job|31|31|0|0" passage="Job 31:31">Job xxxi. 31</scripRef>. He turns a deaf ear to those
that delight in war and entice him to <i>cast in his lot among
them,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.1.14 Bible:Prov.1.16" parsed="|Prov|1|14|0|0;|Prov|1|16|0|0" passage="Pr 1:14,16">Prov. i. 14,
16</scripRef>. (6.) He <i>shuts his eyes from seeing evil.</i> He
has such an abhorrence of sin that he cannot bear to see others
commit it, and does himself watch against all the occasions of it.
Those that would preserve the purity of their souls must keep a
strict guard upon the senses of their bodies, must stop their ears
to temptations, and turn away their eyes from beholding vanity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p15" shownumber="no">2. The good man's comfort, which he may
preserve even in times of common calamity, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.16" parsed="|Isa|33|16|0|0" passage="Isa 33:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. (1.) He shall be safe; he
shall escape the devouring fire and the everlasting burnings; he
shall have access to, and communion with, that God who is a
devouring fire, but shall be to him a rejoicing light. And, as to
present troubles, <i>he shall dwell on high,</i> out of the reach
of them, nay, out of the hearing of the noise of them; he shall not
be really harmed by them, nay, he shall not be greatly frightened
at them: <i>The floods of great waters shall not come nigh him;</i>
or, if they should attack him, <i>his place of defence shall be the
munitions of rocks,</i> strong and impregnable, fortified by nature
as well as art. The divine power will keep him safe, and his faith
in that power will keep him easy. God, the rock of ages, will be
his high tower. (2.) He shall be supplied; he shall want nothing
that is necessary for him: <i>Bread shall be given him,</i> even
when the siege is straitest and provisions are cut off; and <i>his
waters shall be sure,</i> that is, he shall be sure of the
continuance of them, so that he shall not drink his water by
measure and with astonishment. Those that fear the Lord shall not
want any thing that is good for them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p16" shownumber="no">III. He will protect Jerusalem, and deliver
it out of the hands of the invaders. This storm that threatened
them should blow over, and they should enjoy a prosperous state
again. Many instances are here given of this prosperity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p17" shownumber="no">1. Hezekiah shall put off his sackcloth and
all the sadness of his countenance, and shall appear publicly in
his beauty, in his royal robes and with a pleasing aspect
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.17" parsed="|Isa|33|17|0|0" passage="Isa 33:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), to the
great joy of all his loving subjects. Those that walk uprightly
shall not only have bread given them, and their water sure, but
they shall with an eye of faith see the King of kings in his
beauty, the beauty of holiness, and that beauty shall be upon
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p18" shownumber="no">2. The siege being raised, by which they
were kept close within the walls of Jerusalem, they shall now be at
liberty to go abroad upon business or pleasure without danger of
falling into the enemies' hand: <i>They shall behold the land that
is very far off;</i> they shall visit the utmost corners of the
nation, and take a prospect of the adjacent countries, which will
be the more pleasant after so long a confinement. Thus believers
behold the heavenly Canaan, that land that is very far off, and
comfort themselves with the prospect of it in evil times.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p19" shownumber="no">3. The remembrance of the fright they were
in shall add to the pleasure of their deliverance (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.18" parsed="|Isa|33|18|0|0" passage="Isa 33:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>Thy heart shall
meditate terror,</i> meditate it with pleasure when it is over.
Thou shalt think thou still hearest the alarm in thy ears, when all
the cry was, "Arm, arm, arm! every man to his post. <i>Where is the
scribe</i> or secretary of war? Let him appear to draw up the
muster-roll. <i>Where is the receiver</i> and pay-master of the
army? Let him see what he had in bank, to defray the charge of a
defence. <i>Where is he that counted the towers?</i> Let him bring
in the account of them, that care may be taken to put a competent
number of men in each." Or these words may be taken as Jerusalem's
triumph over the vanquished army of the Assyrians, and the rather
because the apostle alludes to them in his triumphs over the
learning of this world, when it was baffled by the gospel of
Christ, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.1.20" parsed="|1Cor|1|20|0|0" passage="1Co 1:20">1 Cor. i. 20</scripRef>. The
virgin, the daughter of Zion, despises all their military
preparations. Where is the scribe or muster-master of the Assyrian
army? Where is their weigher (or treasurer), and where are their
engineers that counted the towers? They are all either dead or
fled. There is an end of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p20" shownumber="no">4. They shall no more be terrified with the
sight of the Assyrians, who were a fierce people naturally, and
were particularly fierce against the people of the Jews, and were
of a strange language, that could understand neither their
petitions nor their complaints, and therefore had a pretence for
being deaf to them, nor could themselves be understood: "They are
<i>of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive,</i> which will make
them the more formidable, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.19" parsed="|Isa|33|19|0|0" passage="Isa 33:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>. Thy eyes shall no more see them thus fierce, but
their countenances changed when they shall all become dead
corpses."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p21" shownumber="no">5. They shall no more be under
apprehensions of the danger of Jerusalem-Zion, and the temple there
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.20" parsed="|Isa|33|20|0|0" passage="Isa 33:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): "<i>Look
upon Zion, the city of our solemnities,</i> the city where our
solemn sacred feasts are kept, where we used to meet to worship God
in religious assemblies." The good people among them, in the time
of their distress, were most in pain for Zion upon this account,
that it was the city of their solemnities, that the conquerors
would burn their temple and they should not have that to keep their
solemn feasts in any more. In times of public danger our concern
should be most about our religion, and the cities of our
solemnities should be dearer to us than either our strong cities or
our store-cities. It is with an eye to this that God will work
deliverance for Jerusalem, because it is the city of religious
solemnities: let those be conscientiously kept up, as the glory of
a people, and we may depend upon God to create a defence upon that
glory. Two things are here promised to Jerusalem:—(1.) A
well-grounded security. It shall be <i>a quiet habitation</i> for
the people of God; they shall not be molested and disturbed, as
they have been, by the alarms of the sword either of war or
persecution, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.29.20" parsed="|Isa|29|20|0|0" passage="Isa 29:20"><i>ch.</i> xxix.
20</scripRef>. It shall be a quiet habitation, as it is the city of
our solemnities. It is desirable to be quiet in our own houses, but
much more so to be quiet in God's house and have none to make us
afraid there. Thus it shall be with Jerusalem; and <i>the eyes
shall see it,</i> which will be a great satisfaction to a good man,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.128.5-Ps.128.6" parsed="|Ps|128|5|128|6" passage="Ps 128:5,6">Ps. cxxviii. 5, 6</scripRef>.
"<i>Thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem, and peace upon
Israel;</i> thou shalt live to see it and share in it." (2.) An
unmoved stability. Jerusalem, the city of our solemnities, is
indeed but <i>a tabernacle,</i> in comparison with the New
Jerusalem. The present manifestations of the divine glory and grace
are nothing in comparison with those that are reserved for the
future state. But it is such a tabernacle as <i>shall not be taken
down.</i> After this trouble is over Jerusalem shall long enjoy a
confirmed peace; and her sacred privileges, which are the stakes
and cords of her tabernacle, shall not be removed from her, nor any
disturbance given to the course and circle of her religious
services. God's church on earth is a tabernacle, which, though it
may be shifted from one place to another, shall not be taken down
while the world stands; for in every age Christ will have a seed to
serve him. The promises of the covenant are its stakes, which shall
never be removed, and the ordinances and institutions of the gospel
are its cords, which shall never be broken. They are things which
cannot be shaken, though heaven and earth be, but shall remain.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p22" shownumber="no">6. God himself will be their protector and
Saviour, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.21-Isa.33.22" parsed="|Isa|33|21|33|22" passage="Isa 33:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21,
22</scripRef>. This the principal ground of their confidence: "He
that is himself <i>the glorious Lord</i> will display his glory for
us and be a glory to us, such as shall eclipse the rival-glory of
the enemy." God, in being a gracious Lord, is a glorious Lord; for
his goodness is his glory. God will be the Saviour of Jerusalem and
her glorious Lord, (1.) As a guard against their adversaries
abroad. He will be <i>a place of broad rivers and streams.</i>
Jerusalem had no considerable river running by it, as most great
cities have, nothing but the brook Kidron, and so wanted one of the
best natural fortifications, as well as one of the greatest
advantages for trade and commerce, and upon this account their
enemies despised them and doubted not but to make an easy prey of
them; but the presence and power of God are sufficient at any time
to make up to us the deficiencies of the creature and of its
strength and beauty. We have all in God, all we need or can desire.
Many external advantages Jerusalem has not which other places have,
but in God there is more than an equivalent. But, if there be broad
rivers and streams about Jerusalem, may not these yield an easy
access to the fleet of an invader? No; these are rivers and streams
<i>in which shall go no galley with oars,</i> no man of war or
gallant ship. If God himself be the river, it must needs be
inaccessible to the enemy; they can neither find nor force their
way by it. (2.) As a guide to their affairs at home: "<i>For the
Lord is our Judge,</i> to whom we are accountable, to whose
judgment we refer ourselves, by whose judgment we abide, and who
therefore (we hope) will judge for us. <i>He is our lawgiver;</i>
his word is a law to us, and to him every thought within us is
brought into obedience. <i>He is our King,</i> to whom we pay
homage and tribute, and an inviolable allegiance, and therefore
<i>he will save us.</i>" For, as protection draws allegiance, so
allegiance may expect protection, and shall have it with God. By
faith we take Christ for our prince and Saviour, and as such depend
upon him and devote ourselves to him. Observe with what an air of
triumph, and with what an emphasis laid upon the glorious name of
God, they comfort themselves with this: <i>Jehovah is our Judge,
Jehovah is our Lawgiver, Jehovah is our King, who, being
self-existent, is self-sufficient, and all-sufficient to
us.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p23" shownumber="no">7. The enemies shall be quite infatuated,
and all their powers and projects broken, like a ship at sea in
stress of weather, that cannot ride out the storm, but having her
tackle torn, her masts split, and nothing wherewith to repair them,
is given up for a wreck, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.23" parsed="|Isa|33|23|0|0" passage="Isa 33:23"><i>v.</i>
23</scripRef>. <i>The tacklings</i> of the Assyrian <i>are
loosed;</i> they are like a ship whose tacklings are loose, or
forsaken by the ship's crew, when they give it over for lost,
finding that they cannot strengthen the mast, but it will come
down. They thought themselves sure of Jerusalem; but when they were
just entering the port as it were, and though all was their own,
they were quite becalmed, and <i>could not spread their sail,</i>
but lay wind-bound till God poured the fury of his wrath upon them.
The enemies of God's church are often disarmed and unrigged when
they think they have almost gained their point.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p24" shownumber="no">8. The wealth of their camp shall be a rich
booty for the Jews: <i>Then is the prey of a great spoil
divided.</i> When the greater part were slain the rest fled in
confusion, and with such precipitation that (like the Syrians) they
<i>left their tents as they were,</i> so that all the treasure in
them fell into the hands of the besieged; and even <i>the lame take
the prey.</i> Those that tarried at home did divide the spoil. It
was so easy to come at that not only the strong man might make
himself master of it, but even the lame man, whose hands were lame,
that he could not fight, and his feet, that he could not pursue. As
the victory shall cost them no peril, so the prey shall cost them
no toil. And there was such abundance of it that when those who
were forward, and came first, had carried off as much as they
would, even the lame, who came late, found sufficient. Thus God
brought good out of evil, and not only delivered Jerusalem, but
enriched it, and abundantly recompensed the losses they had
sustained. Thus comfortably and well do the frights and distresses
of the people of God often end.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiv-p25" shownumber="no">9. Both sickness and sin shall be taken
away; and then sickness is taken away in mercy when this is all the
fruit of it, and the recovery from it, even the taking away of sin.
(1.) <i>The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick. As the lame shall
take the prey,</i> so shall the sick, notwithstanding their
weakness, make a shift to get to the abandoned camp and seize
something for themselves; or there shall be such a universal
transport of joy upon this occasion that even the sick shall, for
the present, forget their sickness and the sorrows of it, and join
with the public in its rejoicings; the deliverance of their city
shall be their cure. Or it intimates that, whereas infectious
diseases are commonly the effect of long sieges, it shall not be so
with Jerusalem, but the inhabitants of it with their victory and
peace shall have health also, and there shall be no complaining
upon the account of sickness within their gates. Or those that are
sick shall bear their sickness without complaining as long as they
see it goes well with Jerusalem. Our sense of private grievances
should be drowned in our thanksgivings for public mercies. (2.)
<i>The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their
iniquity,</i> not only the body of the nation forgiven their
national guilt in the removing of the national judgment, but
particular persons, that dwell therein, shall repent, and reform,
and have their sins pardoned. And this is promised as that which is
at the bottom of all other favours; he will do so and so for them,
<i>for he will be merciful to their unrighteousness,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiv-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.8.12" parsed="|Heb|8|12|0|0" passage="Heb 8:12">Heb. viii. 12</scripRef>. Sin is the sickness of
the soul. When God pardons the sin he heals the disease; and, when
the diseases of sin are healed by pardoning mercy, the sting of
bodily sickness is taken out and the cause of it removed; so that
either the inhabitant shall not be sick or at least shall not say,
<i>I am sick.</i> If iniquity be taken away, we have little reason
to complain of outward affliction. <i>Son, be of good cheer; thy
sins are forgiven thee.</i></p>
</div></div2>