mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 9.xml

<div2 id="Is.x" n="x" next="Is.xi" prev="Is.ix" progress="4.28%" title="Chapter IX">
<h2 id="Is.x-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.x-p0.2">CHAP. IX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.x-p1" shownumber="no">The prophet in this chapter (according to the
directions given him, <scripRef id="Is.x-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.10-Isa.3.11" parsed="|Isa|3|10|3|11" passage="Isa 3:10,11"><i>ch.</i>
iii. 10, 11</scripRef>) saith to the righteous, It shall be well
with thee, but Woe to the wicked, it shall be ill with him. Here
are, I. Gracious promises to those that adhere to the law and to
the testimony; while those that seek to familiar spirits shall be
driven into darkness and dimness, they shall see a great light,
relief in the midst of their distresses, typical of gospel grace.
1. In the doctrine of the Messiah, <scripRef id="Is.x-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.1-Isa.9.3" parsed="|Isa|9|1|9|3" passage="Isa 9:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. 2. His victories, <scripRef id="Is.x-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.4-Isa.9.5" parsed="|Isa|9|4|9|5" passage="Isa 9:4,5">ver. 4, 5</scripRef>. 3. His government and
dominion as Immanuel, <scripRef id="Is.x-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.6-Isa.9.7" parsed="|Isa|9|6|9|7" passage="Isa 9:6,7">ver. 6,
7</scripRef>. II. Dreadful threatenings against the people of
Israel, who had revolted from and were enemies to the house of
David, that they should be brought to utter ruin, that their pride
should bring them down (<scripRef id="Is.x-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.8-Isa.9.10" parsed="|Isa|9|8|9|10" passage="Isa 9:8-10">ver.
8-10</scripRef>), that their neighbours should make a prey of them
(<scripRef id="Is.x-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.11-Isa.9.12" parsed="|Isa|9|11|9|12" passage="Isa 9:11,12">ver. 11, 12</scripRef>), that, for
their impenitence and hypocrisy, all their ornaments and supports
should be cut off (<scripRef id="Is.x-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.13-Isa.9.17" parsed="|Isa|9|13|9|17" passage="Isa 9:13-17">ver.
13-17</scripRef>), and that by the wrath of God against them, and
their wrath one against another, they should be brought to utter
ruin, <scripRef id="Is.x-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.18-Isa.9.21" parsed="|Isa|9|18|9|21" passage="Isa 9:18-21">ver. 18-21</scripRef>. And
this is typical of the final destruction of all the enemies of the
Son of David and his kingdom.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.x-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9" parsed="|Isa|9|0|0|0" passage="Isa 9" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.x-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.1-Isa.9.7" parsed="|Isa|9|1|9|7" passage="Isa 9:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.x-p1.11">
<h4 id="Is.x-p1.12">Judgment and Mercy; The Promise of Gospel
Grace; The Promise of Messiah; The Titles of
Messiah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.x-p1.13">b.
c.</span> 740.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.x-p2" shownumber="no">1 Nevertheless the dimness <i>shall</i> not
<i>be</i> such as <i>was</i> in her vexation, when at the first he
lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and
afterward did more grievously afflict <i>her by</i> the way of the
sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.   2 The people
that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in
the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.
  3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, <i>and</i> not increased
the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest,
<i>and</i> as <i>men</i> rejoice when they divide the spoil.  
4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his
shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.  
5 For every battle of the warrior <i>is</i> with confused noise,
and garments rolled in blood; but <i>this</i> shall be with burning
<i>and</i> fuel of fire.   6 For unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.   7 Of the
increase of <i>his</i> government and peace <i>there shall be</i>
no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order
it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from
henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.x-p2.1">Lord</span> of hosts will perform this.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p3" shownumber="no">The first words of this chapter plainly
refer to the close of the foregoing chapter, where every thing
looked black and melancholy: <i>Behold, trouble, and darkness, and
dimness</i>—very bad, yet not so bad but that <i>to the upright
there shall arise light in the darkness</i> (<scripRef id="Is.x-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.112.4" parsed="|Ps|112|4|0|0" passage="Ps 112:4">Ps. cxii. 4</scripRef>) and <i>at evening time it shall
be light,</i> <scripRef id="Is.x-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.14.7" parsed="|Zech|14|7|0|0" passage="Zec 14:7">Zech. xiv. 7</scripRef>.
<i>Nevertheless it shall not be such dimness</i> (either not such
for kind or not such for degree) as sometimes there has been. Note,
In the worst of times God's people have a <i>nevertheless</i> to
comfort themselves with, something to allay and balance their
troubles; they are persecuted, but not forsaken (<scripRef id="Is.x-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.4.9" parsed="|2Cor|4|9|0|0" passage="2Co 4:9">2 Cor. iv. 9</scripRef>), sorrowful yet always rejoicing,
<scripRef id="Is.x-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.6.10" parsed="|2Cor|6|10|0|0" passage="2Co 6:10">2 Cor. vi. 10</scripRef>. And it is
matter of comfort to us, when things are at the darkest, that he
who <i>forms the light and creates the darkness</i> (<scripRef id="Is.x-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.45.7" parsed="|Isa|45|7|0|0" passage="Isa 45:7"><i>ch.</i> xlv. 7</scripRef>) has appointed to
both their bounds and set the one over against the other, <scripRef id="Is.x-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.4.4" parsed="|Gen|4|4|0|0" passage="Ge 4:4">Gen. iv. 4</scripRef>. He can say, "Hitherto the
dimness shall go, so long it shall last, and no further, no
longer."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p4" shownumber="no">I. Three things are here promised, and they
all point ultimately at the grace of the gospel, which the saints
then were to comfort themselves with the hopes of in every cloudy
and dark day, as we now are to comfort ourselves in time of trouble
with the hopes of Christ's second coming, though that be now, as
his first coming then was, a thing at a great distance. The mercy
likewise which God has in store for his church in the latter days
may be a support to those that are mourning with her for her
present calamities. We have here the promise,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p5" shownumber="no">1. Of a glorious light, which shall so
qualify, and by degrees dispel, the dimness, that it shall not be
as it sometimes has been: <i>Not such as was in her vexation;</i>
there shall not be such dark times as were formerly, <i>when at
first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and Naphtali</i>
(which lay remote and most exposed to the inroads of the
neighbouring enemies), <i>and afterwards he more grievously
afflicted the land by the way of the sea and beyond Jordan</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.x-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.1" parsed="|Isa|9|1|0|0" passage="Isa 9:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), referring
probably to those days when <i>God began to cut Israel short</i>
and to <i>smite them in all their coasts,</i> <scripRef id="Is.x-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.10.32" parsed="|2Kgs|10|32|0|0" passage="2Ki 10:32">2 Kings x. 32</scripRef>. Note, God tries what less
judgments will do with a people before he brings greater; but if a
light affliction do not do its work with us, to humble and reform
us, we must expect to be afflicted more grievously; for when God
judges he will overcome. Well, those were dark times with the land
of Zebulun and Naphtali, and there was <i>dimness of anguish in
Galilee of the Gentiles,</i> both in respect of ignorance (they did
not speak according <i>to the law and the testimony,</i> and then
there was <i>no light in them,</i> <scripRef id="Is.x-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.20" parsed="|Isa|8|20|0|0" passage="Isa 8:20"><i>ch.</i> viii. 20</scripRef>) and in respect of
trouble, and the desperate posture of their outward affairs; we
have both together, <scripRef id="Is.x-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.15.3 Bible:2Chr.15.5" parsed="|2Chr|15|3|0|0;|2Chr|15|5|0|0" passage="2Ch 15:3,5">2 Chron. xv. 3,
5</scripRef>. <i>Israel has been without the true God and a
teaching priest, and in those times there was no peace.</i> But the
dimness threatened (<scripRef id="Is.x-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.22" parsed="|Isa|8|22|0|0" passage="Isa 8:22"><i>ch.</i> viii.
22</scripRef>) shall not prevail to such a degree; for (<scripRef id="Is.x-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.2" parsed="|Isa|9|2|0|0" passage="Isa 9:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>) <i>the people that walked
in darkness have seen a great light.</i> (1.) At this time when the
prophet lived, there were many prophets in Judah and Israel, whose
prophecies were a great light both for direction and comfort to the
people of God, who adhered to the law and the testimony. Besides
the written word, they had prophecy; there were those that had
shown them how long (<scripRef id="Is.x-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.74.9" parsed="|Ps|74|9|0|0" passage="Ps 74:9">Ps. lxxiv.
9</scripRef>), which was a great satisfaction to them, when in
respect of their outward troubles they <i>sat in darkness, and
dwelt in the land of the shadow of death.</i> (2.) This was to have
its full accomplishment when our Lord Jesus began to appear as a
prophet, and to preach the gospel in the land of Zebulun and
Naphtali, and in Galilee of the Gentiles. And the Old-Testament
prophets, as they were witnesses to him, so they were types of him.
When he came and dwelt in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, then
this prophecy is said to have been fulfilled, <scripRef id="Is.x-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:Matt.4.13-Matt.4.16" parsed="|Matt|4|13|4|16" passage="Mt 4:13-16">Matt. iv. 13-16</scripRef>. Note, [1.] Those that want
the gospel walk in darkness, and know not what they do nor whither
they go; and they dwell in the land of the shadow of death, in
thick darkness, and in the utmost danger. [2.] When the gospel
comes to any place, to any soul, light comes, a great light, a
shining light, which will shine more and more. It should be welcome
to us, as light is to those that sit in darkness, and we should
readily entertain it, both because if is of such sovereign use to
us and because it brings its own evidence with it. Truly this light
is sweet.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p6" shownumber="no">2. Of a glorious increase, and a universal
joy arising from it, (<scripRef id="Is.x-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.3" parsed="|Isa|9|3|0|0" passage="Isa 9:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>) "<i>Thou,</i> O God! <i>hast multiplied the
nation,</i> the Jewish nation which thou hast mercy in store for;
though it has been diminished by one sore judgment after another,
yet now thou hast begun to multiply it again." The numbers of a
nation are its strength and wealth if the numerous be industrious;
and it is God that increases nations, <scripRef id="Is.x-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.23" parsed="|Job|12|23|0|0" passage="Job 12:23">Job xii. 23</scripRef>. Yet it follows, "<i>Thou hast
not increased the joy</i>—the carnal joy and mirth, and those
things that are commonly the matter and occasion thereof. But,
notwithstanding that, <i>they joy before thee;</i> there is a great
deal of serious spiritual joy among them, joy in the presence of
God, with an eye to him." This is very applicable to the times of
gospel light, spoken of <scripRef id="Is.x-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.2" parsed="|Isa|9|2|0|0" passage="Isa 9:2">v.
2</scripRef>. Then God multiplied the nation, the gospel Israel.
"And to him" (so the Masorites read it) "thou hast magnified the
joy, to every one that receives the light." The following words
favour this reading: <i>"They joy before thee;</i> they come before
thee in holy ordinances with great joy'; their mirth is not like
that of Israel under their vines and fig-trees (thou hast not
increased that joy), but it is in the favour of God and in the
tokens of his grace." Note, The gospel, when it comes in its light
and power, brings joy along with it, and those who receive it
aright do therein rejoice, yea, and will rejoice; therefore the
conversion of the nations is prophesied of by this (<scripRef id="Is.x-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.67.4" parsed="|Ps|67|4|0|0" passage="Ps 67:4">Ps. lxvii. 4</scripRef>), <i>Let the nations be
glad, and sin for joy.</i> See <scripRef id="Is.x-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.96.11" parsed="|Ps|96|11|0|0" passage="Ps 96:11">Ps.
xcvi. 11</scripRef>. (1.) It is holy joy: <i>They joy before
thee;</i> they rejoice in spirit (as Christ did, <scripRef id="Is.x-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Luke.10.21" parsed="|Luke|10|21|0|0" passage="Lu 10:21">Luke x. 21</scripRef>), and that is before God. In the
eye of the world they are always as sorrowful, and yet, in God's
sight, <i>always rejoicing,</i> <scripRef id="Is.x-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.6.10" parsed="|2Cor|6|10|0|0" passage="2Co 6:10">2 Cor.
vi. 10</scripRef>. (2.) It is great joy; it is <i>according to the
joy in harvest,</i> when those who sowed in tears, and have with
long patience waited for the precious fruits of the earth, reap in
joy; and as in war men rejoice when, after a hazardous battle,
<i>they divide the spoil.</i> The gospel brings with it plenty and
victory; but those that would have the joy of it must expect to go
through a hard work, as the husbandman before he has the joy of
harvest, and a hard conflict, as the soldier before he has the joy
of dividing the spoil; but the joy, when it comes, will be an
abundant recompence for the toil. See <scripRef id="Is.x-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Acts.8.8 Bible:Acts.8.39" parsed="|Acts|8|8|0|0;|Acts|8|39|0|0" passage="Ac 8:8,39">Acts viii. 8, 39</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p7" shownumber="no">3. Of a glorious liberty and enlargement
(<scripRef id="Is.x-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.4-Isa.9.5" parsed="|Isa|9|4|9|5" passage="Isa 9:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>): "They
shall rejoice before thee, and with good reason, <i>for thou hast
broken the yoke of his burden,</i> and made him easy, for he shall
no longer be in servitude; and thou hast broken <i>the staff of his
shoulder and the rod of his oppressor,</i> that rod of the wicked
which rested long on the lot of the righteous," as the Midianites'
yoke was broken from off the neck of Israel by the agency of
Gideon. If God makes former deliverances his patterns in working
for us, we ought to make them our encouragements to hope in him and
to seek to him, <scripRef id="Is.x-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.83.9" parsed="|Ps|83|9|0|0" passage="Ps 83:9">Ps. lxxxiii.
9</scripRef>. <i>Do unto them as to the Midianites.</i> What
temporal deliverance this refers to is not clear, probably the
preventing of Sennacherib from making himself master of Jerusalem,
which was done, <i>as in the day of Midian,</i> by the immediate
hand of God; and, whereas other battles were usually won with a
great deal of noise and by the expense of much blood, this shall be
done silently and without noise. <i>Under his glory God shall
kindle a burning</i> (<scripRef id="Is.x-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.16" parsed="|Isa|10|16|0|0" passage="Isa 10:16"><i>ch.</i> x.
16</scripRef>); a <i>fire not blown shall consume him,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.x-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.20.26" parsed="|Job|20|26|0|0" passage="Job 20:26">Job xx. 26</scripRef>. But doubtless
it looks further, to the blessed fruits and effects of that great
light which should visit those that sat in darkness; it would bring
liberty along with it, <i>deliverance to the captives,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.x-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Luke.4.18" parsed="|Luke|4|18|0|0" passage="Lu 4:18">Luke iv. 18</scripRef>. (1.) The design
of the gospel, and the grace of it, is to break the yoke of sin and
Satan, to remove the burden of guilt and corruption, and to free us
from the rod of those oppressors, that we might be brought into the
glorious liberty of the children of God. Christ broke the yoke of
the ceremonial law (<scripRef id="Is.x-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Acts.15.10 Bible:Gal.5.1" parsed="|Acts|15|10|0|0;|Gal|5|1|0|0" passage="Ac 15:10,Ga 5:1">Acts xv.
10; Gal. v. 1</scripRef>), and delivered us <i>out of the hand of
our enemies,</i> that we might <i>serve him without fear,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.x-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.74-Luke.1.75" parsed="|Luke|1|74|1|75" passage="Lu 1:74,75">Luke i. 74, 75</scripRef>. (2.) This
is done by the Spirit working like fire (<scripRef id="Is.x-p7.8" osisRef="Bible:Matt.3.11" parsed="|Matt|3|11|0|0" passage="Mt 3:11">Matt. iii. 11</scripRef>), not as the battle of the
warrior is fought, with confused noise; no, the weapons of our
warfare are not carnal; but it is done with the Spirit of judgment
and the Spirit of burning, <scripRef id="Is.x-p7.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.4.4" parsed="|Isa|4|4|0|0" passage="Isa 4:4"><i>ch.</i>
iv. 4</scripRef>. It is done <i>as in the day of Midian,</i> by a
work of God upon the hearts of men. Christ is our Gideon; it is his
sword that doeth wonders.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p8" shownumber="no">II. But who, where, is he that shall
undertake and accomplish these great things for the church? The
prophet tells us (<scripRef id="Is.x-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.6-Isa.9.7" parsed="|Isa|9|6|9|7" passage="Isa 9:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6,
7</scripRef>) they shall be done by the Messiah, <i>Immanuel,</i>
that son of a virgin whose birth he had foretold (<scripRef id="Is.x-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.14" parsed="|Isa|7|14|0|0" passage="Isa 7:14"><i>ch.</i> vii. 14</scripRef>), and now speaks
of, in the prophetic style, as a thing already done: the <i>child
is born,</i> not only because it was as certain, and he was as
certain of it as if it had been done already, but because the
church before his incarnation reaped great benefit and advantage by
his undertaking in virtue of that first promise concerning the
<i>seed of the woman,</i> <scripRef id="Is.x-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.3.15" parsed="|Gen|3|15|0|0" passage="Ge 3:15">Gen. iii.
15</scripRef>. As he was the Lamb slain, so he was the child born,
<i>from the foundation of the world,</i> <scripRef id="Is.x-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Rev.13.8" parsed="|Rev|13|8|0|0" passage="Re 13:8">Rev. xiii. 8</scripRef>. All the great things that God
did for the Old-Testament church were done by him as the eternal
Word, and for his sake as the Mediator. He was the Anointed, to
whom God had respect (<scripRef id="Is.x-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.84.9" parsed="|Ps|84|9|0|0" passage="Ps 84:9">Ps. lxxxiv.
9</scripRef>), and it was for the Lord's sake, for the Lord
Christ's sake, that God caused his face to shine upon his
sanctuary, <scripRef id="Is.x-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.9.17" parsed="|Dan|9|17|0|0" passage="Da 9:17">Dan. ix. 17</scripRef>. The
Jewish nation, and particularly the house of David, were preserved
many a time from imminent ruin only because that blessing was in
them. What greater security therefore could be given to the church
of God then that it should be preserved, and be the special care of
the divine Providence, than this, that God had so great a mercy in
reserve for it? The Chaldee paraphrast understands it of the man
that shall endure for ever, even Christ. And it is an illustrious
prophecy of him and of his kingdom, which doubtless those that
waited for the consolation of Israel built much upon, often turned
to, and read with pleasure.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p9" shownumber="no">1. See him in his humiliation. The same
that is <i>the mighty God</i> is <i>a child born;</i> the ancient
of days becomes an infant of a span long; the <i>everlasting
Father</i> is <i>a Son given.</i> Such was his condescension in
taking our nature upon him; thus did he humble and empty himself,
to exalt and fill us. He is born into our world. <i>The Word was
made flesh, and dwelt among us.</i> He is given, freely given, to
be all that to us which our case, in our fallen state, calls for.
God so loved the world that he gave him. He is born <i>to us,</i>
he is given to us, us men, and not to the angels that sinned. It is
spoken with an air of triumph, and the angel seems to refer to
these words in the notice he gives to the shepherds of the
Messiah's having come (<scripRef id="Is.x-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Luke.2.11" parsed="|Luke|2|11|0|0" passage="Lu 2:11">Luke ii.
11</scripRef>), <i>Unto you is born, this day, a Saviour.</i> Note,
Christ's being born and given to us is the great foundation of our
hopes, and fountain of our joys, in times of greatest grief and
fear.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p10" shownumber="no">2. See him in his exaltation. This child,
this son, this Son of God, this Son of man, that is given to us, is
in a capacity to do us a great deal of kindness; for he is invested
with the highest honour and power, so that we cannot but be happy
if he be our friend.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p11" shownumber="no">(1.) See the dignity he is advanced to, and
the name he has above every name. He shall be called (and therefore
we are sure he is and shall be) <i>Wonderful, Counsellor,
&amp;c.</i> His people shall know him and worship him by these
names; and, as one that fully answers them, they shall submit to
him and depend upon him. [1.] He is <i>wonderful, counsellor.</i>
Justly is he called <i>wonderful,</i> for he is both God and man.
His love is the wonder of angels and glorified saints; in his
birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, he was wonderful.
A constant series of wonders attended him, and, without
controversy, great was the mystery of godliness concerning him. He
is the <i>counsellor,</i> for he was intimately acquainted with the
counsels of God from eternity, and he gives counsel to the children
of men, in which he consults our welfare. It is by him that God has
<i>given us counsel,</i> <scripRef id="Is.x-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.16.7 Bible:Rev.3.18" parsed="|Ps|16|7|0|0;|Rev|3|18|0|0" passage="Ps 16:7,Re 3:18">Ps.
xvi. 7; Rev. iii. 18</scripRef>. He is the wisdom of the Father,
and is made of God to us wisdom. Some join these together: He is
the wonderful counsellor, a wonder or miracle of a counsellor; in
this, as in other things, he has the pre-eminence; none teaches
like him. [2.] He is <i>the mighty God—God, the mighty One.</i> As
he has wisdom, so he has strength, to go through with his
undertaking: he is able to save to the utmost; and such is the work
of the Mediator that no less a power than that of the mighty God
could accomplish it. [3.] He is <i>the everlasting Father,</i> or
<i>the Father of eternity;</i> he is God, one with the Father, who
is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the author of everlasting
life and happiness to them, and so is the Father of a blessed
eternity to them. He is <i>the Father of the world to come</i> (so
the LXX. reads it), the father of the gospel-state, which is put in
subjection to him, not to the angels, <scripRef id="Is.x-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.2.5" parsed="|Heb|2|5|0|0" passage="Heb 2:5">Heb. ii. 5</scripRef>. He was, from eternity, Father of
the great work of redemption: his heart was upon it; it was the
product of his wisdom as <i>the counsellor,</i> of his love as
<i>the everlasting Father.</i> [4.] He is <i>the prince of
peace.</i> As a King, he preserves the peace, commands peace, nay,
he creates peace, in his kingdom. He is our peace, and it is his
peace that both keeps the hearts of his people and rules in them.
He is not only a peaceable prince, and his reign peaceable, but he
is the author and giver of all good, all that peace which is the
present and future bliss of his subjects.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p12" shownumber="no">(2.) See the dominion he is advanced to,
and the throne he has above every throne (<scripRef id="Is.x-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.6" parsed="|Isa|9|6|0|0" passage="Isa 9:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>The government shall be upon
his shoulder</i>—his only. He shall not only wear the badge of it
upon his shoulder (the <i>key of the house of David,</i> <scripRef id="Is.x-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.22.22" parsed="|Isa|22|22|0|0" passage="Isa 22:22"><i>ch.</i> xxii. 22</scripRef>), but he shall
bear the burden of it. The Father shall devolve it upon him, so
that he shall have an incontestable right to govern; and he shall
undertake it, so that no doubt can be made of his governing well,
for he shall set his shoulder to it, and will never complain, as
Moses did, of his being overcharged. <i>I am not able to bear all
this people,</i> <scripRef id="Is.x-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Num.11.11 Bible:Num.11.14" parsed="|Num|11|11|0|0;|Num|11|14|0|0" passage="Nu 11:11,14">Num. xi. 11,
14</scripRef>. Glorious things are here spoken of Christ's
government, <scripRef id="Is.x-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.7" parsed="|Isa|9|7|0|0" passage="Isa 9:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>.
[1.] That it shall be an increasing government. It shall be
multiplied; the bounds of his kingdom shall be more and more
enlarged, and many shall be added to it daily. The lustre of it
shall increase, and it shall shine more and more brightly in the
world. The monarchies of the earth were each less illustrious than
the other, so that what began in gold ended in iron and clay, and
every monarchy dwindled by degrees; but the kingdom of Christ is a
growing kingdom, and will come to perfection at last. [2.] That it
shall be a peaceable government, agreeable to his character as the
prince of peace. He shall rule by love, shall rule in men's hearts;
so that wherever his government is there shall be peace, and as his
government increases the peace shall increase. The more we are
subject to Christ the more easy and safe we are. [3.] That it shall
be a rightful government. He that is the Son of David shall reign
upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, which he is entitled
to. <i>God shall give him the throne of his father David,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.x-p12.5" osisRef="Bible:Luke.1.32-Luke.1.33" parsed="|Luke|1|32|1|33" passage="Lu 1:32,33">Luke i. 32, 33</scripRef>. The
gospel church, in which Jew and Gentile are incorporated, is the
holy hill of Zion, on which Christ reigns, <scripRef id="Is.x-p12.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.6" parsed="|Ps|2|6|0|0" passage="Ps 2:6">Ps. ii. 6</scripRef>. [4.] That it shall be administered
with prudence and equity, and so as to answer the great end of
government, which is the establishment of the kingdom: <i>He shall
order it, and settle it, with justice and judgment.</i> Every thing
is, and shall be, well managed, in the kingdom of Christ, and none
of his subjects shall ever have cause to complain. [5.] That it
shall be an everlasting kingdom: <i>There shall be no end of the
increase of his government</i> (it shall be still growing), no end
of the increase of the peace of it, for the happiness of the
subjects of this kingdom shall last to eternity and perhaps shall
be progressive <i>in infinitum—for ever.</i> He shall reign
<i>henceforth even for ever;</i> not only throughout all
generations of time, but, even when the kingdom shall be delivered
up to God even the Father, the glory both of the Redeemer and the
redeemed shall continue eternally. [6.] That God himself has
undertaken to bring all this about: "<i>The Lord of hosts,</i> who
has all power in his hand and all creatures at his beck, <i>shall
perform this,</i> shall preserve the throne of David till this
prince of peace is settled in it; his <i>zeal</i> shall do it, his
jealousy for his own honour, and the truth of his promise, and the
good of his church." Note, The heart of God is much upon the
advancement of the kingdom of Christ among men, which is very
comfortable to all those that wish well to it; <i>the zeal of the
Lord of hosts</i> will overcome all opposition.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.x-p12.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.8-Isa.9.21" parsed="|Isa|9|8|9|21" passage="Isa 9:8-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.x-p12.8">
<h4 id="Is.x-p12.9">Threatenings against Judah; Threatenings
against Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.x-p12.10">b. c.</span> 740.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.x-p13" shownumber="no">8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath
lighted upon Israel.   9 And all the people shall know,
<i>even</i> Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the
pride and stoutness of heart,   10 The bricks are fallen down,
but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but
we will change <i>them into</i> cedars.   11 Therefore the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.x-p13.1">Lord</span> shall set up the adversaries of
Rezin against him, and join his enemies together;   12 The
Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour
Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away,
but his hand <i>is</i> stretched out still.   13 For the
people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.x-p13.2">Lord</span> of hosts.   14
Therefore the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.x-p13.3">Lord</span> will cut off from
Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.   15 The
ancient and honourable, he <i>is</i> the head; and the prophet that
teacheth lies, he <i>is</i> the tail.   16 For the leaders of
this people cause <i>them</i> to err; and <i>they that are</i> led
of them <i>are</i> destroyed.   17 Therefore the Lord shall
have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their
fatherless and widows: for every one <i>is</i> a hypocrite and an
evil doer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger
is not turned away, but his hand <i>is</i> stretched out still.
  18 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the
briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest,
and they shall mount up <i>like</i> the lifting up of smoke.  
19 Through the wrath of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.x-p13.4">Lord</span> of
hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of
the fire: no man shall spare his brother.   20 And he shall
snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the
left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every
man the flesh of his own arm:   21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and
Ephraim, Manasseh: <i>and</i> they together <i>shall be</i> against
Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand
<i>is</i> stretched out still.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p14" shownumber="no">Here are terrible threatenings, which are
directed primarily against Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes,
Ephraim and Samaria, the ruin of which is here foretold, with all
the woeful confusions that were the prefaces to that ruin, all
which came to pass within a few years after; but they look further,
to all the enemies of the throne and kingdom of Christ the Son of
David, and read the doom of all the nations that forget God, and
will not have Christ to reign over them. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p15" shownumber="no">I. The preface to this prediction
(<scripRef id="Is.x-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.8" parsed="|Isa|9|8|0|0" passage="Isa 9:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>The Lord
sent a word into Jacob,</i> sent it by his servants the prophets.
He warns before he wounds. He sent notice what he would do, that
they might meet him in the way of his judgments; but they would not
take the hint, took no care to turn away his wrath, and so it
lighted upon Israel; for no word of God shall fall to the ground.
It fell upon them as a storm of rain and hail from on high, which
they could not avoid: <i>It has lighted upon them,</i> that is, it
is as sure to come as if come already, and all the people shall
know by feeling it what they would not know by hearing of it. Those
that are willingly ignorant of the wrath of God revealed from
heaven against sin and sinners shall be made to know it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p16" shownumber="no">II. The sins charged upon the people of
Israel, which provoked God to bring these judgments upon them. 1.
Their insolent defiance of the justice of God, thinking themselves
a match for him: "They <i>say, in the pride and stoutness of their
heart,</i> Let God himself do his worst; we will hold our own, and
make our part good with him. If he ruin our houses, we will repair
them, and make them stronger and finer than they were before. Our
landlord shall not turn us out of doors, though we pay him no rent,
but we will keep in possession. If the houses that were built of
bricks be demolished in the war, we will rebuild them with hewn
stones, that shall not so easily be thrown down. If the enemy cut
down the sycamores, we will plant cedars in the room of them. We
will make a hand of God's judgments, gain by them, and so outbrave
them." Note, Those are ripening apace for ruin whose hearts are
unhumbled under humbling providences; for God will walk contrary to
those who thus walk contrary to him and provoke him to jealousy, as
if they were stronger than he. 2. Their incorrigibleness under all
the rebukes of Providence hitherto (<scripRef id="Is.x-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.13" parsed="|Isa|9|13|0|0" passage="Isa 9:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>); <i>The people turn not unto
him that smiteth them</i> (they are not wrought upon to reform
their lives, to forsake their sins, and to return to their duty),
<i>neither do they seek the Lord of hosts;</i> either they are
atheists, and have no religion, or idolaters, and seek to those
gods that are the creatures of their own fancy and the works of
their own hands. Note, That which God designs, in smiting us, is to
turn us to himself and to set us a seeking him; and, if this point
be not gained by less judgments, greater may be expected. God
smites that he may not kill. 3. Their general corruption of manners
and abounding profaneness. (1.) Those that should have reformed
them helped to debauch them (<scripRef id="Is.x-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.16" parsed="|Isa|9|16|0|0" passage="Isa 9:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>): <i>The leaders of this people</i> mislead them, and
<i>cause them to err,</i> by conniving at their wickedness and
countenancing wicked people, and by setting them bad examples; and
then no wonder if those that are led of them be deceived and so
destroyed. But it is ill with a people when their physicians are
their worst disease. "<i>Those that bless this people,</i> or
<i>call them blessed</i> (so the margin reads it), that flatter
them, and soothe them in their wickedness, and cry <i>Peace, peace,
to them,</i> cause them to err; and those <i>that are called
blessed of them are swallowed up</i> ere they are aware." We have
reason to be afraid of those that speak well of us when we do ill;
see <scripRef id="Is.x-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.24.24 Bible:Prov.29.5" parsed="|Prov|24|24|0|0;|Prov|29|5|0|0" passage="Pr 24:24,29:5">Prov. xxiv. 24; xxix.
5</scripRef>. (2.) Wickedness was universal, and all were infected
with it (<scripRef id="Is.x-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.17" parsed="|Isa|9|17|0|0" passage="Isa 9:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>):
<i>Every one is a hypocrite and an evil doer.</i> If there be any
that are good, they do not, they dare not appear, for every mouth
speaks folly and villany; every one is profane towards God (so the
word properly signifies) and an evil doer towards man. These two
commonly go together: those that fear not God regard not man; and
then every mouth speaks folly, falsehood, and reproach, both
against God and man; for <i>out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaks.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p17" shownumber="no">III. The judgments threatened against them
for this wickedness of theirs; let them not think to go
unpunished.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p18" shownumber="no">1. In general, hereby they exposed
themselves to the wrath of God, which should both devour as fire
and darken as smoke. (1.) It should devour as fire (<scripRef id="Is.x-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.18" parsed="|Isa|9|18|0|0" passage="Isa 9:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>): <i>Wickedness shall
burn as the fire;</i> the displeasure of God, incurred by sin,
shall consume the sinners, who have made themselves as briers and
thorns before it, and as the thickets of the forest, combustible
matter, which the wrath of the Lord of hosts, the mighty God, will
go through and burn together. (2.) It should darken as smoke. The
briers and thorns, when the fire consumes them, shall <i>mount up
like the lifting up of smoke,</i> so that the whole land shall be
darkened by it; they shall be in trouble, and see no way out
(<scripRef id="Is.x-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.19" parsed="|Isa|9|19|0|0" passage="Isa 9:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>): <i>The
people shall be as the fuel of the fire.</i> God's wrath fastens
upon none but those that make themselves fuel for it, and then they
mount up as the smoke of sacrifices, being made victims to divine
justice.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p19" shownumber="no">2. God would arm the neighbouring powers
against them, <scripRef id="Is.x-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.11-Isa.9.12" parsed="|Isa|9|11|9|12" passage="Isa 9:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11,
12</scripRef>. At this time the kingdom of Israel was in league
with that of Syria against Judah; but the Assyrians, who were
adversaries to the Syrians, when they had conquered them should
invade Israel, and God would stir them up to do it, and join the
enemies of Israel together in alliance against them, who yet had
particular ends of their own to serve and were not aware of God's
hand in their alliance. Note, When enemies are set up, and joined
in confederacy against a people, God's hand must be acknowledged in
it. Note further, Those that partake with each other in sin, as
Syria and Israel in invading Judah, must expect to share in the
punishment of sin. Nay, the Syrians themselves, whom they were now
in league with, should be a scourge to them (for it is no unusual
thing for those to fall out that have been united in sin), one
attacking them in the front and the other flanking them or falling
upon their rear; so that they should be surrounded with enemies on
all sides, who should <i>devour them with open mouth,</i> <scripRef id="Is.x-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.12" parsed="|Isa|9|12|0|0" passage="Isa 9:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. The Philistines were
not now looked upon as formidable enemies, and the Syrians were
looked upon as firm friends; and yet these shall devour Israel.
When men's ways displease the Lord he makes even their friends to
be at war with them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p20" shownumber="no">3. God would take from the midst of them
those they confided in and promised themselves help from, <scripRef id="Is.x-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.14-Isa.9.15" parsed="|Isa|9|14|9|15" passage="Isa 9:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>. Because the
people seek not God, those they seek to and depend upon shall stand
them in no stead. <i>The Lord will cut off head and tail, branch
and rush,</i> which is explained in the <scripRef id="Is.x-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.15" parsed="|Isa|9|15|0|0" passage="Isa 9:15">next verse</scripRef>. (1.) Their magistrates, who were
honourable by birth and office and were the ancients of the people,
these were <i>the head,</i> these were the branch which they
promised themselves spirit and fruit from; but because these caused
them to err they should be cut off, and their dignity and power
should be no protection to them when the abuse of that dignity and
power was the great provocation: and it was a judgment upon the
people to have their princes cut off, though they were not such as
they should have been. (2.) Their prophets, their false prophets,
were <i>the tail</i> and the <i>rush,</i> the most despicable of
all. A wicked minister is the worst of all. A wicked minister is
the worst of men. <i>Corruptio optimi est pessima—The best things
become when corrupted the worst.</i> The blind led the blind, and
so both fell into the ditch; and the blind leaders fell first and
fell undermost.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p21" shownumber="no">4. That the desolation should be as general
as the corruption had been, and none should escape it, <scripRef id="Is.x-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.17" parsed="|Isa|9|17|0|0" passage="Isa 9:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. (1.) Not those that
were the objects of complacency. None shall be spared for love:
<i>The Lord shall have no joy in their young men,</i> that were in
the flower of their youth; nor will he say, <i>Deal gently with the
young men for my sake;</i> no, "Let them fall with the rest, and
with them let the seed of the next generation perish." (2.) Not
those that were the objects of compassion. None shall be spared for
pity: He <i>shall not have mercy on their fatherless and
widows,</i> though he is, in a particular manner, the patron and
protector of such. They had corrupted their way like all the rest;
and, if the poverty and helplessness of their state was not an
argument with them to keep them from sin, they could not expect it
should be an argument with God to protect them from judgments.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p22" shownumber="no">5. That they should pull one another to
pieces, that every one should help forward the common ruin, and
they should be cannibals to themselves and one to another: <i>No
man shall spare his brother,</i> if he come in the way of his
ambition of covetousness, or if he have any colour to be revenged
on him; and how can they expect God should spare them when they
show no compassion one to another? Men's passion and cruelty one
against another provoke God to be angry with them all and are an
evidence that he is so. Civil wars soon bring a kingdom to
desolation. Such there were in Israel, when, <i>for the
transgression of the land, many were the princes thereof,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.x-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.28.2" parsed="|Prov|28|2|0|0" passage="Pr 28:2">Prov. xxviii. 2</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p23" shownumber="no">(1.) In these intestine broils, men
<i>snatched on the right hand, and yet were hungry</i> still, and
did eat the <i>flesh of their own arms,</i> preyed upon themselves
for hunger or upon their nearest relations that were as their own
flesh, <scripRef id="Is.x-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.20" parsed="|Isa|9|20|0|0" passage="Isa 9:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. This
bespeaks, [1.] Great famine and scarcity; when men had pulled all
they could to them it was so little that they were still hungry, at
least God did not bless it to them, so that <i>they eat and have
not enough,</i> <scripRef id="Is.x-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.6" parsed="|Hag|1|6|0|0" passage="Hag 1:6">Hag. i. 6</scripRef>.
[2.] Great rapine and plunder. <i>Jusque datum sceleri—iniquity is
established by law.</i> The hedge of property, which is a hedge of
protection to men's estates, shall be plucked up, and every man
shall think all that his own which he can lay his hands on
(<i>vivitur ex rapto, non hospes ab hospite tutus—they live on the
spoil, and the rites of hospitality are all violated</i>); and yet,
when men thus catch at that which is none of their own, they are
not satisfied. Covetous desires are insatiable, and this curse is
entailed on that which is ill got, that it will never do well.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p24" shownumber="no">(2.) These intestine broils should be not
only among particular persons and private families, but among the
tribes (<scripRef id="Is.x-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.21" parsed="|Isa|9|21|0|0" passage="Isa 9:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>):
<i>Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,</i> though
they be combined against Judah. Those that could unite against
Judah could not unite with one another; but that sinful confederacy
of theirs against their neighbour <i>that dwelt securely by
them</i> was justly punished by this separation of them one from
another. Or Judah, having sinned like Manasseh and Ephraim, shall
not only suffer with them, but suffer by them. Note, Mutual enmity
and animosity among the tribes of God's Israel is a sin that ripens
them for ruin, and a sad symptom of ruin hastening on apace. If
Ephraim be against Manasseh, and Manasseh against Ephraim, and both
against Judah, they will all soon become a very easy prey to the
common enemy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.x-p25" shownumber="no">6. That, though they should be followed
with all these judgments, yet God would not let fall his
controversy with them. It is the heavy burden of this song
(<scripRef id="Is.x-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.12 Bible:Isa.9.17 Bible:Isa.9.21" parsed="|Isa|9|12|0|0;|Isa|9|17|0|0;|Isa|9|21|0|0" passage="Isa 9:12,17,21"><i>v.</i> 12, 17,
21</scripRef>): <i>For all this his anger is not turned away, but
his hand is stretched out still,</i> that is, (1.) They do nothing
to turn away his anger; they do not repent and reform, do not
humble themselves and pray, none stand in the gap, none answer
God's calls nor comply with the designs of his providences, but
they are hardened and secure. (2.) His anger therefore continues to
burn against them and <i>his hand is stretched out still.</i> The
reason why the judgments of God are prolonged is because the point
is not gained, sinners are not brought to repentance by them.
<i>The people turn not to him that smites them,</i> and therefore
he continues to smite them; for when God judges he will overcome,
and the proudest stoutest sinner shall either bend or break.</p>
</div></div2>