mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 18.xml

<div2 id="Is.xix" n="xix" next="Is.xx" prev="Is.xviii" progress="7.19%" title="Chapter XVIII">
<h2 id="Is.xix-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.xix-p0.2">CHAP. XVIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.xix-p1" shownumber="no">Whatever country it is that is meant here by "the
land shadowing with wings," here is a woe denounced against it, for
God has, upon his people's account, a quarrel with it. I. They
threaten God's people, <scripRef id="Is.xix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.1-Isa.18.2" parsed="|Isa|18|1|18|2" passage="Isa 18:1,2">ver. 1,
2</scripRef>. II. All the neighbours are hereupon called to take
notice what will be the issue, <scripRef id="Is.xix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.3" parsed="|Isa|18|3|0|0" passage="Isa 18:3">ver.
3</scripRef>. III. Though God seem unconcerned in the distress of
his people for a time, he will at length appear against their
enemies and will remarkably cut them off, <scripRef id="Is.xix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.4-Isa.18.6" parsed="|Isa|18|4|18|6" passage="Isa 18:4-6">ver. 4-6</scripRef>. IV. This shall redound very much
to the glory of God, <scripRef id="Is.xix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.7" parsed="|Isa|18|7|0|0" passage="Isa 18:7">ver.
7</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.xix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18" parsed="|Isa|18|0|0|0" passage="Isa 18" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.xix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.1-Isa.18.7" parsed="|Isa|18|1|18|7" passage="Isa 18:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xix-p1.7">
<h4 id="Is.xix-p1.8">Judgments Denounced. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xix-p1.9">b. c.</span> 712.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xix-p2" shownumber="no">1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which
<i>is</i> beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:   2 That sendeth
ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the
waters, <i>saying,</i> Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation
scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning
hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the
rivers have spoiled!   3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and
dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the
mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.   4 For so
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xix-p2.1">Lord</span> said unto me, I will take
my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat
upon herbs, <i>and</i> like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
  5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the
sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the
sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away <i>and</i> cut down the
branches.   6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of
the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall
summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon
them.   7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xix-p2.2">Lord</span> of hosts of a people scattered
and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning
hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the
rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xix-p2.3">Lord</span> of hosts, the mount Zion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xix-p3" shownumber="no">Interpreters are very much at a loss where
to find this land that lies beyond the rivers of Cush. Some take it
to be Egypt, a maritime country, and full of rivers, and which
courted Israel to depend upon them, but proved broken reeds; but
against this it is strongly objected that the next chapter is
distinguished from this by the title of <i>the burden of Egypt.</i>
Others take it to be Ethiopia, and read it, <i>which lies near,</i>
or <i>about, the rivers of Ethiopia,</i> not that in Africa, which
lay south of Egypt, but that which we call <i>Arabia,</i> which lay
east of Canaan, which Tirhakah was now king of. He thought to
protect the Jews, as it were, under <i>the shadow of his wings,</i>
by giving a powerful diversion to the king of Assyria, when he made
a descent upon his country, at the time that he was attacking
Jerusalem, <scripRef id="Is.xix-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.19.9" parsed="|2Kgs|19|9|0|0" passage="2Ki 19:9">2 Kings xix. 9</scripRef>.
But though by his ambassadors he bade defiance to the king of
Assyria, and encouraged the Jews to depend upon him, God by the
prophet slights him, and will not go forth with him; he may take
his own course, but God will take another course to protect
Jerusalem, while he suffers the attempt of Tirhakah to miscarry and
his Arabian army to be ruined; for the Assyrian army shall become a
present or sacrifice to the Lord of hosts, and to the place of his
name, by the hand of an angel, not by the hand of Tirhakah king of
Ethiopia, <scripRef id="Is.xix-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.7" parsed="|Isa|18|7|0|0" passage="Isa 18:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. This
is a very probable exposition of this chapter. But from a hint of
Dr. Lightfoot's, in his Harmony of the Old Testament, I incline to
understand this chapter as a prophecy against Assyria, and so a
continuation of the prophecy in the <scripRef id="Is.xix-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.17.12-Isa.17.14" parsed="|Isa|17|12|17|14" passage="Isa 17:12-14">last three verses</scripRef> of the foregoing
chapter, with which therefore this should be joined. That was
against the army of the Assyrians which rushed in upon Judah; this
is against the land of Assyria itself, which lay beyond the rivers
of Arabia, that is, the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, which bordered
on <i>Arabia Deserta.</i> And in calling it <i>the land shadowing
with wings</i> he seems to refer to what he himself had said of it
(<scripRef id="Is.xix-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.8" parsed="|Isa|8|8|0|0" passage="Isa 8:8"><i>ch.</i> viii. 8</scripRef>), that
<i>the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy
land, O Immanuel!</i> The prophet might perhaps describe the
Assyrians by such dark expressions, not naming them, for the same
reason that St. Paul, in his prophecy, speaks of the Roman empire
by a periphrasis: <i>He who now letteth,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xix-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:2Thess.2.7" parsed="|2Thess|2|7|0|0" passage="2Th 2:7">2 Thess. ii. 7</scripRef>. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xix-p4" shownumber="no">I. The attempt made by this land (whatever
it is) upon <i>a nation scattered and peeled,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xix-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.2" parsed="|Isa|18|2|0|0" passage="Isa 18:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Swift messengers are
sent by water to proclaim war against them, as a nation marked by
Providence, and <i>meted out,</i> to be trodden under foot. Whether
this refer to the Ethiopians waging war with the Assyrians, or the
Assyrians with Judah, it teaches us, 1. That a people which have
been terrible from their beginning, have made a figure and borne a
mighty sway, may yet become scattered and peeled, and may be
spoiled even by their own rivers, that should enrich both the
husbandman and the merchant. Nations which have been formidable,
and have kept all in awe about them, may by a concurrence of
accidents become despicable and an easy prey to their insulting
neighbours. 2. Princes and states that are ambitious of enlarging
their territories will always have some pretence or other to
quarrel with those whose countries they have a mind to. "It is a
nation that has been terrible, and therefore we must be revenged on
it; it is now a nation scattered and peeled, meted out and trodden
down, and therefore it will be an easy prey for us." Perhaps it was
not brought so low as they represented it. God's people are
trampled on as a nation scattered and peeled; but whoever think to
swallow them up may find them still as terrible as they have been
from their beginning; they are cast down, but not deserted, not
destroyed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xix-p5" shownumber="no">II. The alarm sounded to the nations about,
by which they are summoned to take notice of what God is about to
do, <scripRef id="Is.xix-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.3" parsed="|Isa|18|3|0|0" passage="Isa 18:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. The
Ethiopians and Assyrians have their counsels and designs, which
they have laid deep, and promise themselves much from, and, in
prosecution of them, send their ambassadors and messengers from
place to place; but let us now enquire what the great God says to
all this. 1. <i>He lifts up an ensign upon the mountains, and blows
a trumpet,</i> by which he proclaims war against the enemies of his
church, and calls in all her friends and well-wishers into her
service, <scripRef id="Is.xix-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.3" parsed="|Isa|18|3|0|0" passage="Isa 18:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. He
gives notice that he is about to do some great work, as <i>Lord of
hosts.</i> 2. All the world is bidden to take notice of it; all the
dwellers on earth must see the ensign and hear the trumpet, must
observe the motions of the divine providence and attend the
directions of the divine will. Let all enlist under God's banner,
and be on his side, and hearken to the trumpet of his word, which
gives not an uncertain sound.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xix-p6" shownumber="no">III. The assurance God gives to his
prophet, by him to be given to his people, that, though he might
seem for a time to sit by as an unconcerned spectator, yet he would
certainly and seasonably appear for the comfort of his people and
the confusion of his and their enemies (<scripRef id="Is.xix-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.4" parsed="|Isa|18|4|0|0" passage="Isa 18:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>So the Lord said unto
me.</i> Men will have their saying, but God also will have his;
and, as we may be sure his word shall stand, so he often whispers
it in the ears of his servants the prophets. When he says, <i>I
will take my rest,</i> it is not as if he were weary of governing
the world, of as if he either needed or desired to retire from it
and repose himself; but it intimates that the great God has a
perfect, undisturbed, enjoyment of himself, in the midst of all the
agitations and changes of this world (the Lord sits even upon the
floods unshaken; the Eternal Mind is always easy), and, though he
may sometimes seem to his people as if he took not wonted notice of
what is done in this lower world (they are tempted to think he is
<i>as one asleep,</i> or <i>as one astonished,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xix-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.44.23 Bible:Jer.14.9" parsed="|Ps|44|23|0|0;|Jer|14|9|0|0" passage="Ps 44:23,Jer 14:9">Ps. xliv. 23; Jer. xiv. 9</scripRef>),
yet even then he knows very well what men are doing and what he
himself will do.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xix-p7" shownumber="no">1. He will take care of his people, and be
a shelter to them. He will regard his <i>dwelling-place;</i> his
eye and his heart are, and shall be, upon it for good continually.
Zion is his rest for ever, where he will dwell; and he will <i>look
after it</i> (so some read it); he will lift up the light of his
countenance upon it, will consider over it what is to be done, and
will be sure to do all for the best. He will adapt the comforts and
refreshments he provides for his people to the exigencies of their
case; and they will <i>therefore</i> be acceptable, because
seasonable. (1.) Like a clear heat after rain (so the margin),
which is very reviving and pleasant, and makes the herbs to
flourish. (2.) Like a dew and <i>a cloud in the heat of
harvest,</i> which are very welcome, the dew to the ground and the
cloud to the labourers. Note, There is that in God which is a
shelter and refreshment to his people in all weathers and arms them
against the inconveniences of every change. Is the weather cool?
There is that in his favour which will warm them. Is it hot? There
is that in his favour which will cool them. Great men have their
winter-house and their summer-house (<scripRef id="Is.xix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Amos.3.15" parsed="|Amos|3|15|0|0" passage="Am 3:15">Amos iii. 15</scripRef>); but those that are at home with
God have both in him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xix-p8" shownumber="no">2. He will reckon with his and their
enemies, <scripRef id="Is.xix-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.5-Isa.18.6" parsed="|Isa|18|5|18|6" passage="Isa 18:5,6"><i>v.</i> 5, 6</scripRef>.
When the Assyrian army promises itself a plentiful harvest in the
taking of Jerusalem and the plundering of that rich city, when the
bud of that project is perfect, before the harvest is gathered in,
while the sour grape of their enmity to Hezekiah and his people is
ripening in the flower and the design is just ready to be put in
execution, God shall destroy that army as easily as the husbandman
cuts off the sprigs of the vine with pruning hooks, or because the
grape is sour and good for nothing, and will not be cured, <i>takes
away and cuts down the branches.</i> This seems to point at the
overthrow of the Assyrian army by a destroying angel, when the dead
bodies of the soldiers were scattered like the branches and sprigs
of a wild vine, which the husbandman has cut to pieces. <i>And they
shall be left to the fowls of the mountains, and the beasts of the
earth,</i> to prey upon, both winter and summer; for as God's
people are protected all seasons of the year, both in cold and heat
(<scripRef id="Is.xix-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.4" parsed="|Isa|18|4|0|0" passage="Isa 18:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), so their
enemies are at all seasons exposed; birds and beasts of prey shall
both summer and winter upon them, till they are quite ruined.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xix-p9" shownumber="no">IV. The tribute of praise which should be
brought to God from all this (<scripRef id="Is.xix-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.7" parsed="|Isa|18|7|0|0" passage="Isa 18:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>In that time,</i> when this
shall be accomplished, <i>shall the present be brought unto the
Lord of hosts.</i> 1. Some understand this of the conversion of the
Ethiopians to the faith of Christ in the latter days, of which we
have the specimen and beginning in Philip's baptizing the Ethiopian
eunuch, <scripRef id="Is.xix-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.8.27" parsed="|Acts|8|27|0|0" passage="Ac 8:27">Acts viii. 27</scripRef>,
&amp;c. Those that were <i>a people scattered and peeled, meted
out, and trodden down</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xix-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.2" parsed="|Isa|18|2|0|0" passage="Isa 18:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), shall be a present to the Lord: and, though they
seem useless and worthless, they shall be an acceptable present to
him who judges of men by the sincerity of their faith and love, not
by the pomp and prosperity of their outward condition.
<i>Therefore</i> the gospel was ministered to the Gentiles that
<i>the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xix-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.15.16" parsed="|Rom|15|16|0|0" passage="Ro 15:16">Rom. xv. 16</scripRef>. It is
prophesied (<scripRef id="Is.xix-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.31" parsed="|Ps|68|31|0|0" passage="Ps 68:31">Ps. lxviii. 31</scripRef>)
that <i>Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.</i> 2.
Others understand it of the spoil of Sennacherib's army, out of
which, as usual, presents were brought to <i>the Lord of hosts,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xix-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Num.31.50" parsed="|Num|31|50|0|0" passage="Nu 31:50">Num. xxxi. 50</scripRef>. It was the
present of a people scattered and peeled. (1.) It was won from the
Assyrians, who were now themselves reduced to such a condition as
they scornfully described Judah to be in, <scripRef id="Is.xix-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.1" parsed="|Isa|18|1|0|0" passage="Isa 18:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Those that unjustly trample upon
others shall themselves be justly trampled upon. (2.) It was
offered by the people of God, who were, in disdain, called <i>a
people scattered and peeled.</i> God will put honour upon his
people, though men put contempt upon them. <i>Lastly,</i> Observe,
The present that is brought to the Lord of hosts must be brought
<i>to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts;</i> what is
offered to God must be offered in the way that he has appointed; we
must be sure to attend him, and expect him to meet us, where he
records his name.</p>
</div></div2>