mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 21.xml

<div2 id="Is.xxii" n="xxii" next="Is.xxiii" prev="Is.xxi" progress="7.85%" title="Chapter XXI">
<h2 id="Is.xxii-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.xxii-p0.2">CHAP. XXI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.xxii-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter we have a prophecy of sad times
coming, and heavy burdens, I. Upon Babylon, here called "the desert
of the sea," that it should be destroyed by the Medes and Persians
with a terrible destruction, which yet God's people should have
advantage by, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.1-Isa.21.10" parsed="|Isa|21|1|21|10" passage="Isa 21:1-10">ver. 1-10</scripRef>.
II. Upon Dumah, or Idumea, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.11-Isa.21.12" parsed="|Isa|21|11|21|12" passage="Isa 21:11,12">ver.
11, 12</scripRef>. III. Upon Arabia, or Kedar, the desolation of
which country was very near, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.13-Isa.21.17" parsed="|Isa|21|13|21|17" passage="Isa 21:13-17">ver.
13-17</scripRef>. These and other nations which the princes and
people of Israel had so much to do with the prophets of Israel
could not but have something to say to. Foreign affairs must be
taken notice of as well as domestic ones, and news from abroad
enquired after as well as news at home.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.xxii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21" parsed="|Isa|21|0|0|0" passage="Isa 21" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.xxii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.1-Isa.21.10" parsed="|Isa|21|1|21|10" passage="Isa 21:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxii-p1.6">
<h4 id="Is.xxii-p1.7">The Doom of Babylon. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 714.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxii-p2" shownumber="no">1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As
whirlwinds in the south pass through; <i>so</i> it cometh from the
desert, from a terrible land.   2 A grievous vision is
declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and
the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the
sighing thereof have I made to cease.   3 Therefore are my
loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs
of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing <i>of
it;</i> I was dismayed at the seeing <i>of it.</i>   4 My
heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure
hath he turned into fear unto me.   5 Prepare the table, watch
in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, <i>and</i> anoint
the shield.   6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a
watchman, let him declare what he seeth.   7 And he saw a
chariot <i>with</i> a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses,
<i>and</i> a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with
much heed:   8 And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand
continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my
ward whole nights:   9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of
men, <i>with</i> a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said,
Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods
he hath broken unto the ground.   10 O my threshing, and the
corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxii-p2.1">Lord</span> of hosts, the God of Israel, have I
declared unto you.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p3" shownumber="no">We had one burden of Babylon before
(<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.13.1-Isa.13.22" parsed="|Isa|13|1|13|22" passage="Isa 13:1-22"><i>ch.</i> xiii.</scripRef>); here
we have another prediction of its fall. God saw fit thus to possess
his people with the belief of this event by line upon line, because
Babylon sometimes pretended to be a friend to them (as <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.39.1" parsed="|Isa|39|1|0|0" passage="Isa 39:1"><i>ch.</i> xxxix. 1</scripRef>), and God would
hereby warn them not to trust to that friendship, and sometimes was
really an enemy to them, and God would hereby warn them not to be
afraid of that enmity. Babylon is marked for ruin; and all that
believe God's prophets can, through that glass, see it tottering,
see it tumbling, even when with an eye of sense they see it
flourishing and sitting as a queen. Babylon is here called the
<i>desert</i> or <i>plain of the sea;</i> for it was a flat
country, and full of lakes, or loughs (as they call them in
Ireland), like little seas, and was abundantly watered with the
many streams of the river Euphrates. Babylon did but lately begin
to be famous, Nineveh having outshone it while the monarchy was in
the Assyrian hands; but in a little time it became the lady of
kingdoms; and, before it arrived at that pitch of eminency which it
was at in Nebuchadnezzar's time, God by this prophet plainly
foretold its fall, again and again, that his people might not be
terrified at its rise, nor despair of relief in due time when they
were its prisoners, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.5.3 Bible:Ps.37.35 Bible:Ps.37.37" parsed="|Job|5|3|0|0;|Ps|37|35|0|0;|Ps|37|37|0|0" passage="Job 5:3,Ps 37:35,37">Job v.
3; Ps. xxxvii. 35, 36</scripRef>. Some think it is here called a
<i>desert</i> because, though it was now a populous city, it should
in time be made a desert. And <i>therefore</i> the destruction of
Babylon is so often prophesied of by this evangelical prophet,
because it was typical of the destruction of the man of sin, the
great enemy of the New-Testament church, which is foretold in the
<i>Revelation</i> in many expressions borrowed from these
prophecies, which therefore must be consulted and collated by those
who would understand the prophecy of that book. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p4" shownumber="no">I. The powerful irruption and descent which
the Medes and Persians should make upon Babylon (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.1-Isa.21.2" parsed="|Isa|21|1|21|2" passage="Isa 21:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1, 2</scripRef>): They will come <i>from the
desert, from a terrible land.</i> The northern parts of Media and
Persia, where their soldiers were mostly bred, was waste and
mountainous, terrible to strangers that were to pass through it and
producing soldiers that were very formidable. <i>Elam</i> (that is,
Persia) is summoned to go up against Babylon, and, in conjunction
with the forces of Media, to besiege it. When God has work of this
kind to do he will find, though it be in a desert, in a terrible
land, proper instruments to be employed in it. These forces come
<i>as whirlwinds from the south,</i> so suddenly, so strongly, so
terribly, such a mighty noise shall they make, and throw down every
thing that stands in their way. As is usual in such a case, some
deserters will go over to them: <i>The treacherous dealers will
deal treacherously.</i> Historians tell us of Gadatas and Gobryas,
two great officers of the king of Babylon, that went over to Cyrus,
and, being well acquainted with all the avenues of the city, led a
party directly to the palace, where Belshazzar was slain. Thus with
the help of the <i>treacherous dealers the spoilers spoiled.</i>
Some read it thus: <i>There shall be a deceiver of that deceiver,
Babylon, and a spoiler of that spoiler,</i> or, which comes all to
one, <i>The treacherous dealer has found one that deals
treacherously, and the spoiler one that spoils,</i> as it is
expounded, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.1" parsed="|Isa|33|1|0|0" passage="Isa 33:1"><i>ch.</i> xxxiii.
1</scripRef>. The Persians shall pay the Babylonians in their own
coin; those that by fraud and violence, cheating and plundering,
unrighteous wars and deceitful treaties, have made a prey of their
neighbours, shall meet with their match, and by the same methods
shall themselves be made a prey of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p5" shownumber="no">II. The different impressions made hereby
upon those concerned in Babylon. 1. To the poor oppressed captives
it would be welcome news; for they had been told long ago that
Babylon's destroyer would be their deliverer, and therefore, "when
they hear that Elam and Media are coming up to besiege Babylon,
<i>all their sighing will be made to cease;</i> they shall no
longer mingle their tears with Euphrates' streams, but resume their
harps, and smile when they remember Zion, which, before, they wept
at the thought of." For the sighing of the needy the God of pity
will arise in due time (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.12.5" parsed="|Ps|12|5|0|0" passage="Ps 12:5">Ps. xii.
5</scripRef>); he will break the yoke from all their neck, will
remove the rod of the wicked from off their lot, and so make their
sighing to cease. 2. To the proud oppressors it would be a grievous
vision (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.2" parsed="|Isa|21|2|0|0" passage="Isa 21:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>),
particularly to the king of Babylon for the time being, and it
should seem that he it is who is here brought in sadly lamenting
his inevitable fate (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.3-Isa.21.4" parsed="|Isa|21|3|21|4" passage="Isa 21:3,4"><i>v.</i> 3,
4</scripRef>): <i>Therefore are my loins filled with pain; pangs
have taken hold upon me, &amp;c.,</i> which was literally fulfilled
in Belshazzar, for that very night in which his city was taken, and
himself slain, upon the sight of a hand writing mystic characters
upon the wall <i>his countenance was changed and his thoughts
troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his
knees smote one against another,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.6" parsed="|Dan|5|6|0|0" passage="Da 5:6">Dan. v. 6</scripRef>. And yet that was but the beginning
of sorrows. Daniel's deciphering the writing could not but increase
his terror, and the alarm which immediately followed of the
executioners at the door would be the completing of it. And those
words, <i>The night of my pleasure has he turned into fear to
me,</i> plainly refer to that aggravating circumstance of
Belshazzar's fall that he was slain on that night when he was in
the height of his mirth and jollity, with his cups and concubines
about him and a thousand of his lords revelling with him; that
night of his pleasure, when he promised himself an undisturbed
unallayed enjoyment of the most exquisite gratifications of sense,
with a particular defiance of God and religion in the profanation
of the temple vessels, was the night that was turned into all this
fear. Let this give an effectual check to vain mirth and sensual
pleasures, and forbid us ever to lay the reins on the neck of
them—that we know not what heaviness the mirth may end in, nor how
soon laughter may be turned into mourning; but this we know that
for all these things God shall bring us into judgment; let us
therefore mix trembling always with our joys.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p6" shownumber="no">III. A representation of the posture in
which Babylon should be found when the enemy should surprise
it—all in festival gaiety (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.5" parsed="|Isa|21|5|0|0" passage="Isa 21:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>): "Prepare the table with all manner of dainties. Set
the guards; let them watch in the watch-tower while we eat and
drink securely and make merry; and, if any alarm should be given,
the princes shall arise and anoint the shield, and be in readiness
to give the enemy a warm reception." Thus secure are they, and thus
do they gird on the harness with as much joy as if they were
putting it off.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p7" shownumber="no">IV. A description of the alarm which should
be given to Babylon upon its being forced by Cyrus and Darius. The
Lord, in vision, showed the prophet the watchman set in his
watch-tower, near the watch-tower, near the palace, as is usual in
times of danger; the king ordered those about him to post a
sentinel in the most advantageous place for discovery, and,
according to the duty of a watchman, let <i>him declare what he
sees,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.6" parsed="|Isa|21|6|0|0" passage="Isa 21:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. We
read of watchmen thus set to receive intelligence in the story of
David (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.18.24" parsed="|2Sam|18|24|0|0" passage="2Sa 18:24">2 Sam. xviii. 24</scripRef>),
and in the story of Jehu, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.9.17" parsed="|2Kgs|9|17|0|0" passage="2Ki 9:17">2 Kings ix.
17</scripRef>. This watchman here discovered a chariot with a
couple of horsemen attending it, in which we may suppose the
commander-in-chief to ride. He then saw another chariot drawn by
asses or mules, which were much in use among the Persians, and a
chariot drawn by camels, which were likewise much in use among the
Medes; so that (as Grotius thinks) these two chariots signify the
two nations combined against Babylon, or rather these chariots come
to bring tidings to the palace; compare <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.51.31-Jer.51.32" parsed="|Jer|51|31|51|32" passage="Jer 51:31,32">Jer. li. 31, 32</scripRef>. <i>One post shall run to
meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to show the king
of Babylon that his city is taken at one end</i> while he is
revelling at the other end and knows nothing of the matter. The
watchman, seeing these chariots at some distance, <i>hearkened
diligently with much heed,</i> to receive the first tidings. And
(<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.8" parsed="|Isa|21|8|0|0" passage="Isa 21:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>) <i>he cried,
A lion;</i> this word, coming out of a watchman's mouth, no doubt
gave them a certain sound, and everybody knew the meaning of it,
though we do not know it now. It is likely that it was intended to
raise attention: he that has an ear to hear, let him hear, as when
a lion roars. Or <i>he cried as a lion,</i> very loud and in good
earnest, the occasion being very urgent. And what has he to say? 1.
He professes his constancy to the post assigned him: "<i>I stand,
my lord, continually upon the watch-tower,</i> and have never
discovered any thing material till just now; all seemed safe and
quiet." Some make it to be a complaint of the people of God that
they had long expected the downfall of Babylon, according to the
prophecy, and it had not yet come; but withal a resolution to
continue waiting; as <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.1" parsed="|Hab|2|1|0|0" passage="Hab 2:1">Hab. ii.
1</scripRef>, <i>I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the
tower,</i> to see what will be the issue of the present
providences. 2. He gives notice of the discoveries he had made
(<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.9" parsed="|Isa|21|9|0|0" passage="Isa 21:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>Here
comes a chariot of men with a couple of horsemen,</i> a vision
representing the enemy's entry into the city with all their force
or the tidings brought to the royal palace of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p8" shownumber="no">V. A certain account is at length given of
the overthrow of Babylon. He in the chariot <i>answered and
said</i> (when he heard the watchman speak), <i>Babylon has fallen,
has fallen;</i> or God answered thus to the prophet enquiring
concerning the issue of these affairs: "It has now come to this,
Babylon has surely and irrecoverably fallen. Babylon's business is
done now. <i>All the graven images of her gods he has broken unto
the ground.</i>" Babylon was the mother of harlots (that is, of
idolatry), which was one of the grounds of God's quarrel with her;
but her idols should now be so far from protecting her that some of
them should be broken down to the ground, and others of them, that
were worth carrying way, should go into captivity, and be a burden
to the beasts that carried them, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.46.1-Isa.46.2" parsed="|Isa|46|1|46|2" passage="Isa 46:1,2"><i>ch.</i> xlvi. 1, 2</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p9" shownumber="no">VI. Notice is given to the people of God,
who were then captives in Babylon, that this prophecy of the
downfall of Babylon was particularly intended for their comfort and
encouragement, and they might depend upon it that it should be
accomplished in due season, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.10" parsed="|Isa|21|10|0|0" passage="Isa 21:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p10" shownumber="no">1. The title the prophet gives them in
God's name: <i>O my threshing, and the corn of my floor!</i> The
prophet calls them <i>his,</i> because they were his countrymen,
and such as he had a particular interest in and concern for; but he
speaks it as from God, and directs his speech to those that were
Israelites indeed, the faithful in the land. Note, (1.) The church
is God's floor, in which the most valuable fruits and products of
this earth are, as it were, gathered together and laid up. (2.)
True believers are the corn of God's floor. Hypocrites are but as
the chaff and straw, which take up a great deal of room, but are of
small value, with which the wheat is now mixed, but from which it
shall be shortly and for ever separated. (3.) The corn of God's
floor must expect to be threshed by afflictions and persecutions.
God's Israel of old was afflicted from her youth, often under the
plougher's plough (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.129.3" parsed="|Ps|129|3|0|0" passage="Ps 129:3">Ps. cxxix.
3</scripRef>) and the thresher's flail. (4.) Even then God owns it
for his threshing; it is his still; nay, the threshing of it is by
his appointment, and under his restraint and direction. The
threshers could have no power against it <i>but what was given them
from above.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p11" shownumber="no">2. The assurance he gives them of the truth
of what he had delivered to them, which therefore they might build
their hopes upon: <i>That which I have heard of the Lord of hosts,
the God of Israel</i>—that, and nothing else, that, and no fiction
or fancy of my own—<i>have I declared unto you.</i> Note, In all
events concerning the church, past, present, and to come, we must
have an eye to God both as the Lord of hosts and as the God of
Israel, who has power enough to do any thing for his church and
grace enough to do every thing that is for her good, and to the
words of his prophets, as words received from the Lord. As they
dare not smother any thing which he has entrusted them to declare,
so they dare not declare any thing as from him which he has not
made known to them, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.11.23" parsed="|1Cor|11|23|0|0" passage="1Co 11:23">1 Cor. xi.
23</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.xxii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.11-Isa.21.12" parsed="|Isa|21|11|21|12" passage="Isa 21:11-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxii-p11.3">
<h4 id="Is.xxii-p11.4">The Watchman Interrogated. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxii-p11.5">b. c.</span> 714.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxii-p12" shownumber="no">11 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of
Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
  12 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the
night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p13" shownumber="no">This prophecy concerning Dumah is very
short, and withal dark and hard to be understood. Some think that
Dumah is a part of Arabia, and that the inhabitants descended from
Dumah the sixth son of Ishmael, as those of Kedar (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.16-Isa.21.17" parsed="|Isa|21|16|21|17" passage="Isa 21:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16, 17</scripRef>) from Ishmael's
second son, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.25.13-Gen.25.14" parsed="|Gen|25|13|25|14" passage="Ge 25:13,14">Gen. xxv. 13,
14</scripRef>. Others, because Mount Seir is here mentioned, by
Dumah understand Idumea, the country of the Edomites. Some of
Israel's neighbours are certainly meant, and their distress is
foretold, not only for warning to them to prepare them for it, but
for warning to Israel not to depend upon them, or any of the
nations about them, for relief in a time of danger, but upon God
only. We must see all creature confidences failing us, and feel
them breaking under us, that we may not lay more weight upon them
than they will bear. But though the explication of this prophecy be
difficult, because we have no history in which we find the
accomplishment of it, yet the application will be easy. We have
here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p14" shownumber="no">1. A question put by an Edomite to the
watchman. Some one or other <i>called out of Seir,</i> somebody
that was more concerned for the public safety and welfare than the
rest, who were generally careless and secure. As the man of
Macedonia, in a vision, desired Paul to come over and help them
(<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.16.9" parsed="|Acts|16|9|0|0" passage="Ac 16:9">Acts xvi. 9</scripRef>), so this man
of Mount Seir, in a vision, desired the prophet to inform and
instruct them. He calls not many; it is well there are any, that
all are not alike unconcerned about the things that belong to the
public peace. Some out of Seir ask advice of God's prophets, and
are willing to be taught, when many of God's Israel heed nothing.
The question is serious: <i>What of the night?</i> It is put to a
proper person, the <i>watchman,</i> whose office it is to answer
such enquiries. He repeats the question, as one in care, as one in
earnest, and desirous to have an answer. Note, (1.) God's prophets
and ministers are appointed to be watchmen, and we are to look upon
them as such. They are as watchmen in the city in a time of peace,
to see that all be safe, to knock at every door by personal
enquiries ("Is it locked? Is the fire safe?"), to direct those that
are at a loss, and check those that are disorderly, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Song.3.3 Bible:Song.5.7" parsed="|Song|3|3|0|0;|Song|5|7|0|0" passage="So 3:3,5:7">Cant. iii. 3; v. 7</scripRef>. They are as
watchmen in the camp in time of war, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.33.7" parsed="|Ezek|33|7|0|0" passage="Eze 33:7">Ezek. xxxiii. 7</scripRef>. They are to take notice of
the motions of the enemy and to give notice of them, to make
discoveries and then give warning; and in this they must deny
themselves. (2.) It is our duty to enquire of the watchmen,
especially to ask again and again, <i>What of the night?</i> for
watchmen wake when other sleep. [1.] What time of the night? After
a long sleep in sin and security, is it not time to rise, high time
to awake out of sleep? <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.13.11" parsed="|Rom|13|11|0|0" passage="Ro 13:11">Rom. xiii.
11</scripRef>. We have a great deal of work to do, a long journey
to go; is it not time to be stirring? "Watchman, what o'clock is
it? After a long dark night is there any hope of the day dawning?"
[2.] What tidings of the night? <i>What from the night?</i> (so
some); "what vision has the prophet had to-night? We are ready to
receive it." Or, rather, "What occurs to night? What weather is it?
What news?" We must expect an alarm, and never be secure. The
<i>day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;</i> we must
prepare to receive the alarm, and resolve to keep our ground, and
then take the first hint of danger, and to our arms presently, to
our spiritual weapons.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p15" shownumber="no">2. The watchman's answer to this question.
The watchman was neither asleep nor dumb; though it was a man of
Mount Seir that called to him, he was ready to give him an answer:
<i>The morning comes.</i> He answers, (1.) By way of prediction:
"There comes first a morning of light, and peace, and opportunity;
you will enjoy one day of comfort more; but afterwards comes a
night of trouble and calamity." Note, In the course of God's
providence it is usual that morning and night are counterchanged
and succeed each other. Is it night? Yet the morning comes, and the
day-spring knows his place, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.30.5" parsed="|Ps|30|5|0|0" passage="Ps 30:5">Ps. xxx.
5</scripRef>. Is it day? Yet the night comes also. If there be a
morning of youth and health, there will come a night of sickness
and old age; if a morning of prosperity in the family, in the
public, yet we must look for changes. But God usually gives a
morning of opportunity before he sends a night of calamity, that
his own people may be prepared for the storm and others left
inexcusable. (2.) By way of excitement: <i>If you will enquire,
enquire.</i> Note, It is our wisdom to improve the present morning
in preparation for the night that is coming after it. "<i>Enquire,
return, come.</i> Be inquisitive, be penitent, be willing and
obedient." The manner of expression is very observable, for we are
put to our choice what we will do: "<i>If you will enquire,
enquire;</i> if not, it is at your peril; you cannot say but you
have a fair offer made you." We are also urged to be at a point:
"If you will, say so, and do not stand pausing; what you will do do
quickly, for it is no time to trifle." Those that return and come
to God will find they have a great deal of work to do and but a
little time to do it in, and therefore they have need to be
busy.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.xxii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.13-Isa.21.17" parsed="|Isa|21|13|21|17" passage="Isa 21:13-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxii-p15.3">
<h4 id="Is.xxii-p15.4">The Doom of Arabia. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxii-p15.5">b. c.</span> 714.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxii-p16" shownumber="no">13 The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in
Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.  
14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that
was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.  
15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from
the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.   16 For thus
hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year, according to the years
of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail:   17 And
the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the
children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxii-p16.1">Lord</span> God of Israel hath spoken <i>it.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p17" shownumber="no">Arabia was a large country, that lay
eastward and southward of the land of Canaan. Much of it was
possessed by the posterity of Abraham. The <i>Dedanim,</i> here
mentioned (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.13" parsed="|Isa|21|13|0|0" passage="Isa 21:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>),
descended from Dedan, Abraham's son by Keturah; the inhabitants of
Tema and Kedar descended from Ishmael, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.25.3 Bible:Gen.25.13 Bible:Gen.25.15" parsed="|Gen|25|3|0|0;|Gen|25|13|0|0;|Gen|25|15|0|0" passage="Ge 25:3,13,15">Gen. xxv. 3, 13, 15</scripRef>. The Arabians
generally lived in tents, and kept cattle, were a hardy people,
inured to labour; probably the Jews depended upon them as a sort of
a wall between them and the more warlike eastern nations; and
therefore, to alarm them, they shall hear <i>the burden of
Arabia,</i> and see it sinking under its own burden.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p18" shownumber="no">I. A destroying army shall be brought upon
them, with a sword, with <i>a drawn sword,</i> with <i>a bow</i>
ready <i>bent,</i> and with all the <i>grievousness of war,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.15" parsed="|Isa|21|15|0|0" passage="Isa 21:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. It is
probable that the king of Assyria, in some of the marches of his
formidable and victorious army, took Arabia in his way, and,
meeting with little resistance, made an easy prey of them. The
consideration of the grievousness of war should make us thankful
for the blessings of peace.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p19" shownumber="no">II. The poor country people will hereby be
forced to flee for shelter wherever they can find a place; so that
<i>the travelling companies of Dedanium,</i> which used to keep the
high roads with their caravans, shall be obliged to quit them and
<i>lodge in the forest in Arabia</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.13" parsed="|Isa|21|13|0|0" passage="Isa 21:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), and shall not have the wonted
convenience of their own tents, poor and weather-beaten as they
are.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p20" shownumber="no">III. They shall stand in need of
refreshment, being ready to perish for want of it, in their flight
from the invading army: "<i>O you inhabitants of the land of
Tema!</i>" (who probably were next neighbours to the companies of
Dedanim) "<i>bring you water</i>" (so the margin reads it) "<i>to
him that is thirsty,</i> and <i>prevent with your bread those that
flee,</i> for they are objects of your compassion; they do not
wander for wandering sake, nor are they reduced to straits by any
extravagance of their own, but <i>they flee from the sword.</i>"
Tema was a country where water was sometimes a scarce commodity (as
we find, <scripRef id="Is.xxii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.6.19" parsed="|Job|6|19|0|0" passage="Job 6:19">Job vi. 19</scripRef>), and
we may conclude it would be in a particular manner acceptable to
these poor distressed refugees. Let us learn hence. 1. To look for
distress ourselves. We know not what straits we may be brought into
before we die. Those that live in cities may be forced to lodge in
forests; and those may know the want of necessary food who now eat
bread to the full. Our mountain stands not so strong but that it
may be moved, rises not so high but that it may be scaled. These
Arabians would the better bear these calamities because in their
way of living they had used themselves to hardships. 2. To look
with compassion upon those that are in distress, and with all
cheerfulness to relieve them, not knowing how soon their case may
be ours: "<i>Bring water to those that are thirsty,</i> and not
only give bread to those that need and ask it, but prevent those
with it that have need; give it to them unasked." Those that do so
shall find it remembered to their praise, as (according to our
reading) it is here remembered to the praise of the land of Tema
that they did bring water to the thirsty and relieved even those
that were on the falling side.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p21" shownumber="no">IV. All that which is the glory of Kedar
shall vanish away and fail. Did they glory in their numerous herds
and flocks? They shall all be driven away by the enemy. It seems
they were famous about other nations for the use of the bow in
battle; but their archers, instead of foiling the enemy, shall fall
themselves; and <i>the residue of their number,</i> when they are
reduced to a small number, <i>shall be diminished</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.17" parsed="|Isa|21|17|0|0" passage="Isa 21:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>); their mighty
able-bodied men, and men of spirit too, shall become very few; for
they, being most forward in the defence of their country, were most
exposed, and fell first, either by the enemies' sword or into the
enemies' hand. Note, Neither the skill of archers (though they be
ever so good marksmen) nor the courage of mighty men can protect a
people from the judgments of God, when they come with commission;
they rather expose the undertakers. That is poor glory which will
thus quickly come to nothing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p22" shownumber="no">V. All this shall be done in a little time:
"<i>Within one year according to the years of a hireling</i>
(within one year precisely reckoned) this judgment shall come upon
Kedar." If this fixing of the time be of no great use to us now
(because we find not either when the prophecy was delivered or when
it was accomplished), yet it might be of great use to the Arabians
then, to awaken them to repentance, that, like the men of Nineveh,
they might prevent the judgment when they were thus told it was
just at the door. Or, when it begins to be fulfilled, the business
shall be done, be begun and ended in one year's time. God, when he
please, can do a great work in a little time.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxii-p23" shownumber="no">VI. It is all ratified by the truth of God
(<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.16" parsed="|Isa|21|16|0|0" passage="Isa 21:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>); "<i>Thus
hath the Lord said to me;</i> you may take my word for it that it
is his word;" and we may be sure no word of his shall fall to the
ground. And again (<scripRef id="Is.xxii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.21.17" parsed="|Isa|21|17|0|0" passage="Isa 21:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>): <i>The Lord God of Israel hath spoken it,</i> as
the God of Israel, in pursuance of his gracious designs concerning
them; and we may be sure <i>the strength of Israel will not
lie.</i></p>
</div></div2>