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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. I.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The first verse of this chapter is intended for a title to the whole
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book, and it is probable that this was the first sermon that this
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prophet was appointed to publish and to affix in writing (as Calvin
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thinks the custom of the prophets was) to the door of the temple, as
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with us proclamations are fixed to public places, that all might read
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them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:2">Hab. ii. 2</A>),
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and those that would might take out authentic copies of them, the
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original being, after some time, laid up by the priests among the
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records of the temple. The sermon which is contained in this chapter
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has in it,
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I. A high charge exhibited, in God's name, against the Jewish church
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and nation,
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1. For their ingratitude,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:2,3">ver. 2, 3</A>.
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2. For their incorrigibleness,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:5">ver. 5</A>.
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3. For the universal corruption and degeneracy of the people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:4,6,21,22">ver. 4, 6, 21, 22</A>.
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4. For the perversion of justice by their rulers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:23">ver. 23</A>.
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II. A sad complaint of the judgments of God, which they had brought
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upon themselves by their sins, and by which they were brought almost to
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utter ruin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:7-9">ver. 7-9</A>.
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III. A just rejection of those shows and shadows of religion which they
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kept up among them, notwithstanding this general defection and apostasy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:10-15">ver. 10-15</A>.
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IV. An earnest call to repentance and reformation, setting before them
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life and death, life if they compiled with the call and death if they
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did not,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:16-20">ver. 16-20</A>.
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V. A threatening of ruin to those that would not be reformed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:24,28-31">
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ver. 24, 28-31</A>.
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VI. A promise of a happy reformation at last, and a return to their
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primitive purity and prosperity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:25-27">ver. 25-27</A>.
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And all this is to be applied by us, not only to the communities we are
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members of, in their public interests, but to the state of our own
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souls.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa1_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Vision of Isaiah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 738.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning
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Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, <I>and</I>
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Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. The name of the prophet, <I>Isaiah,</I> or <I>Jesahiahu</I> (for so
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it is in the Hebrew), which, in the New Testament is read
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<I>Esaias.</I> His name signifies <I>the salvation of the Lord</I>--a
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proper name for a prophet by whom God <I>gives knowledge of salvation
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to his people,</I> especially for this prophet, who prophesies so much
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of Jesus the Saviour and of the great salvation wrought out by him. He
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is said to be <I>the son of Amoz,</I> not Amos the prophet (the two
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names in the Hebrew differ more than in the English), but, as the Jews
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think, of Amoz the brother, or son, of Amaziah king of Judah, a
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tradition as uncertain as that rule which they give, that, where a
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prophet's father is named, he also was himself a prophet. The prophets'
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pupils and successors are indeed often called their <I>sons,</I> but we
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have few instances, if any, of their own sons being their
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successors.</P>
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<P>
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II. The nature of the prophecy. It is a vision, being revealed to him
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in a vision, when he was <I>awake, and heard the words of God, and saw
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the visions of the Almighty</I> (as Balaam speaks,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+24:4">Num. xxiv. 4</A>),
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though perhaps it was not so illustrious a vision at first as that
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afterwards,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:1"><I>ch.</I> vi. 1</A>.
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The prophets were called <I>seers,</I> or seeing men, and therefore
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their prophecies are fitly called <I>visions.</I> It was what he saw
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with the eyes of his mind, and foresaw as clearly by divine revelation,
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was as well assured of it, as fully apprised of it, and as much
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affected with it, as if he had seen it with his bodily eyes. Note
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1. God's prophets saw what they spoke of, knew what they said, and
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require our belief of nothing but what they themselves believed and
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were sure of,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+6:69,1Jo+1:1">John vi. 69; 1 John i. 1</A>.
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2. They could not but speak what they saw, because they saw how much
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all about them were concerned in it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+4:20,2Co+4:13">Acts iv. 20; 2 Cor. iv. 13</A>.</P>
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<P>
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III. The subject of the prophecy. It was what <I>he saw concerning
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Judah and Jerusalem,</I> the country of the two tribes, and that city
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which was their metropolis; and there is little in it relating to
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Ephraim, or the ten tribes, of whom there is so much said in the
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prophecy of Hosea. Some chapters there are in this book which relate to
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Babylon, Egypt, Tyre, and some other neighbouring nations; but it takes
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its title from that which is the main substance of it, and is therefore
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said to be <I>concerning Judah and Jerusalem,</I> the other nations
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spoken of being such as the people of the Jews had concern with. Isaiah
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brings to them in a special manner,
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1. Instruction; for it is the privilege of Judah and Jerusalem that to
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them pertain the oracles of God.
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2. Reproof and threatening; for if in Judah, where God is known, if in
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Salem, where his name is great, iniquity be found, they, sooner than
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any other, shall be reckoned with for it.
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3. Comfort and encouragement in evil times; for the children of Zion
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shall be joyful in their king.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The date of the prophecy. Isaiah prophesied <I>in the days of
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Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.</I> By this it appears,
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1. That he prophesied long, especially if (as the Jews say) he was at
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last put to death by Manasseh, to a cruel death, being sawn asunder, to
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which some suppose the apostle refers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:37">Heb. xi. 37</A>.
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From the year that king Uzziah died
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+6:1"><I>ch.</I> vi. 1</A>)
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to Hezekiah's sickness and recovery was forty-seven years; how much
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before, and after, he prophesied, is not certain; some reckon sixty,
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others eighty years in all. It was an honour to him, and a happiness to
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his country, that he was continued so long in his usefulness; and we
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must suppose both that he began young and that he held out to old age;
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for the prophets were not tied, as the priests were, to a certain age,
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for the beginning or ending of their administration.
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2. That he passed through variety of times. Jotham was a good king, and
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Hezekiah a better, and no doubt gave encouragement to and took advice
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from this prophet, were patrons to him, and he a privy-counsellor to
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them; but between them, and when Isaiah was in the prime of his time,
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the reign of Ahaz was very profane and wicked; then, no doubt, he was
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frowned upon at court, and, it is likely, forced to abscond. Good men
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and good ministers must expect bad times in this world, and prepare for
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them. Then religion was run down to such a degree that the <I>doors of
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the house of the Lord were shut up</I> and idolatrous <I>altars were
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erected in every corner of Jerusalem;</I> and Isaiah, with all his
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divine eloquence and messages immediately from God himself, could not
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help it. The best men, the best ministers, cannot do the good they
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would do in the world.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa1_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa1_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa1_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa1_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa1_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa1_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa1_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa1_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Degeneracy of Israel; The Sinfulness of Israel; The Sufferings of Israel.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=TOP><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 738.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath
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spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have
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rebelled against me.
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3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib:
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<I>but</I> Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
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4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of
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evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they
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are gone away backward.
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5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and
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more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
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6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head <I>there is</I> no
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soundness in it; <I>but</I> wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores:
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they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified
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with ointment.
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7 Your country <I>is</I> desolate, your cities <I>are</I> burned with
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fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and <I>it
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is</I> desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
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8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard,
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as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
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9 Except the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts had left unto us a very small
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remnant, we should have been as Sodom, <I>and</I> we should have been
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like unto Gomorrah.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We will hope to meet with a brighter and more pleasant scene before we
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come to the end of this book; but truly here, in the beginning of it,
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every thing looks very bad, very black, with Judah and Jerusalem. What
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is the wilderness of the world, if the church, the vineyard, has such a
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dismal aspect as this?</P>
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<P>
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I. The prophet, though he speaks in God's name, yet, despairing to gain
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audience with the children of his people, addresses himself to the
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heavens and the earth, and bespeaks their attention
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>Hear, O heavens! and give ear, O earth!</I> Sooner will the
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inanimate creatures hear, who observe the law and answer the end of
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their creation, than this stupid senseless people. Let the lights of
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the heaven shame their darkness, and the fruitfulness of the earth
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their barrenness, and the strictness of each to its time their
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irregularity. Moses begins thus in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:1">Deut. xxxii. 1</A>,
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to which the prophet here refers, intimating that now those times had
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come which Moses there foretold,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+31:29">Deut. xxxi. 29</A>.
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Or this is an appeal to heaven and earth, to angels and then to the
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inhabitants of the upper and lower world. Let them <I>judge between God
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and his vineyard;</I> can either produce such an instance of
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ingratitude? Note, God will be justified when he speaks, and both
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heaven and earth shall declare his righteousness,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+6:1,2,Ps+50:6">Mic. vi. 1, 2; Ps. l. 6</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. He charges them with base ingratitude, a crime of the highest
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nature. Call a man ungrateful, and you can call him no worse. Let
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heaven and earth hear and wonder at,
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1. God's gracious dealings with such a peevish provoking people as they
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were: "I have nourished and brought them up as children; they have been
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well fed and well taught"
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:6">Deut. xxxii. 6</A>);
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"I have magnified and exalted them" (so some), "not only made them
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grow, but made them great--not only maintained them, but preferred
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them--not only trained them up, but raised them high." Note, We owe the
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continuance of our lives and comforts, and all our advancements, to
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God's fatherly care of us and kindness to us.
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2. Their ill-natured conduct towards him, who was so tender of them:
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"<I>They have rebelled against me,</I>" or (as some read it) "they have
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revolted from me; they have been deserters, nay traitors, against my
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crown and dignity." Note, All the instances of God's favour to us, as
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the God both of our nature and of our nurture, aggravate our
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treacherous departures from him and all our presumptuous oppositions to
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him--children, and yet rebels!</P>
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<P>
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III. He attributes this to their ignorance and inconsideration
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>The ox knows, but Israel does not.</I> Observe,
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1. The sagacity of the ox and the ass, which are not only brute
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creatures, but of the dullest sort; yet the ox has such a sense of duty
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as to know his owner and to serve him, to submit to his yoke and to
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draw in it; the ass has such a sense of interest as to know has
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master's crib, or manger, where he is fed, and to abide by it; he will
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go to that of himself if he be turned loose. A fine pass man has come
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to when he is shamed even in knowledge and understanding by these silly
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animals, and is not only sent to school to them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+6:6,7">Prov. vi. 6, 7</A>),
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but set in a form below them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:7">Jer. viii. 7</A>),
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<I>taught more than the beasts of the earth</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+35:11">Job xxxv. 11</A>)
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and yet knowing less.
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2. The sottishness and stupidity of Israel. God is their owner and
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proprietor. He made us, and his we are more than our cattle are ours;
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he has provided well for us; providence is our Master's crib; yet many
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that are called the people of God do not know and will not consider
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this, but ask, "<I>What is the Almighty that we should serve him?</I>
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He is not our owner; and <I>what profit shall we have if we pray unto
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him?</I> He has no crib for us to feed at." He had complained
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>)
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of the obstinacy of their wills; <I>They have rebelled against me.</I>
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Here he runs it up to its cause: "<I>Therefore</I> they have rebelled
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because they do not know, they do not consider." The understanding is
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darkened, and therefore the whole soul is alienated from the life of
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God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+4:18">Eph. iv. 18</A>.
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"<I>Israel does not know,</I> though their land is a land of light and
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knowledge; <I>in Judah is God known,</I> yet, because they do not live
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up to what they know, it is in effect as if they did not know. They
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know; but their knowledge does them no good, because they do not
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consider what they know; they do not apply it to their case, nor their
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minds to it." Note,
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(1.) Even among those that profess themselves God's people, that have
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the advantages and lie under the engagements of his people, there are
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many that are very careless in the affairs of their souls.
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(2.) Inconsideration of what we do know is as great an enemy to us in
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religion as ignorance of what we should know.
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(3.) <I>Therefore</I> men revolt from God, and rebel against him,
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because they do not know and consider their obligations to God in duty,
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gratitude, and interest.</P>
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<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He laments the universal pravity and corruption of their church and
|
|
kingdom. The disease of sin was epidemic, and all orders and degrees of
|
|
men were infected with it; <I>Ah sinful nation!</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
The prophet bemoans those that would not bemoan themselves: Alas for
|
|
them! Woe to them! He speaks with holy indignation at their degeneracy,
|
|
and a dread of the consequences of it. See here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. How he aggravates their sin, and shows the malignity that there was
|
|
in it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The wickedness was universal. They were a sinful nation; the
|
|
generality of the people were vicious and profane. They were so in
|
|
their national capacity. In the management of their public treaties
|
|
abroad, and in the administration of public justice at home, they were
|
|
corrupt. Note, It is ill with a people when sin becomes national.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It was very great and heinous in its nature. They were <I>laden
|
|
with iniquity;</I> the guilt of it, and the curse incurred by that
|
|
guilt, lay very heavily upon them. It was a heavy charge that was
|
|
exhibited against them, and one which they could never clear themselves
|
|
from; their wickedness was upon them as <I>a talent of lead,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+5:7,8">Zec. v. 7, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their sin, as it did easily beset them and they were prone to it, was a
|
|
weight upon them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:1">Heb. xii. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They came of a bad stock, were a <I>seed of evil-doers.</I>
|
|
Treachery ran in their blood; they had it by kind, which made the
|
|
matter so much the worse, more provoking and less curable. They rose up
|
|
in their fathers' stead, and trod in their fathers' steps, to <I>fill
|
|
up the measure of their iniquity,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+32:14">Num. xxxii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were a race and family of rebels.
|
|
|
|
(4.) Those that were themselves debauched did what they could to
|
|
debauch others. They were not only corrupt children, born tainted, but
|
|
<I>children that were corrupters,</I> that propagated vice, and
|
|
infected others with it--not only sinners, but tempters--not only
|
|
actuated by Satan, but agents for him. If those that are called
|
|
<I>children, God's children,</I> that are looked upon as belonging to
|
|
his family, be wicked and vile, their example is of the most malignant
|
|
influence.
|
|
|
|
(5.) Their sin was a treacherous departure from God. They were
|
|
deserters from their allegiance: "<I>They have forsaken the Lord,</I>
|
|
to whom they had joined themselves; <I>they have gone away
|
|
backward,</I> are alienated or separated from God, have turned their
|
|
back upon him, deserted their colours, and quitted their service." When
|
|
they were urged forward, they ran backward, <I>as a bullock
|
|
unaccustomed to the yoke, as a backsliding heifer,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:16">Hos. iv. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
(6.) It was an impudent and daring defiance of him: <I>They have
|
|
provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger</I> wilfully and designedly;
|
|
they knew what would anger him, and that they did. Note, The
|
|
backslidings of those that have professed religion and relation to God
|
|
are in a special manner provoking to him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How he illustrates it by a comparison taken from a sick and diseased
|
|
body, all overspread with leprosy, or, like Job's, with sore boils,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The distemper has seized the vitals, and so threatens to be
|
|
mortal. Diseases in the head and heart are most dangerous; now the
|
|
head, the whole head, is sick--the heart, the whole heart, is faint.
|
|
They had become corrupt in their judgment: the leprosy was in their
|
|
head. They were utterly unclean; their affection to God and religion
|
|
was cold and gone; the <I>things which remained were ready to die</I>
|
|
away,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+3:2">Rev. iii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It has overspread the whole body, and so becomes exceedingly
|
|
noisome; <I>From the sole of the foot even to the head,</I> from the
|
|
meanest peasant to the greatest peer, there is <I>no soundness,</I> no
|
|
good principles, no religion (for that is the health of the soul),
|
|
nothing but <I>wounds and bruises,</I> guilt and corruption, the sad
|
|
effects of Adam's fall, noisome to the holy God, painful to the
|
|
sensible soul; they were so to David when he complained
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+38:5">Ps. xxxviii. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>My wounds stink, and are corrupt, because of my foolishness.</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+32:3,4">Ps. xxxii. 3, 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
No attempts were made for reformation, or, if they were, they proved
|
|
ineffectual: The wounds <I>have not been closed, not bound up, nor
|
|
mollified with ointment.</I> While sin remains unrepented of the wounds
|
|
are unsearched, unwashed, the proud flesh in them not cut out, and
|
|
while, consequently, it remains unpardoned, the wounds are not
|
|
mollified or closed up, nor any thing done towards the healing of them
|
|
and the preventing of their fatal consequences.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. He sadly bewails the judgments of God which they had brought upon
|
|
themselves by their sins, and their incorrigibleness under those
|
|
judgments.
|
|
|
|
1. Their kingdom was almost ruined,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
So miserable were they that both their towns and their lands were
|
|
wasted, and yet so stupid that they needed to be told this, to have it
|
|
shown to them. "Look and see how it is; <I>your country is
|
|
desolate;</I> the ground is not cultivated, for want of inhabitants,
|
|
the villages being deserted,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+5:7">Judg. v. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
And thus the fields and vineyards become like deserts, <I>all grown
|
|
over with thorns,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+24:31">Prov. xxiv. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Your cities are burned with fire,</I> by the enemies that invade
|
|
you" (fire and sword commonly go together); "as for the fruits of your
|
|
land, which should be food for your families, <I>strangers devour
|
|
them;</I> and, to your greater vexation, it is <I>before your eyes,</I>
|
|
and you cannot prevent it; you starve while your enemies surfeit on
|
|
that which should be your maintenance. The overthrow of your country is
|
|
as the overthrow of strangers; it is used by the invaders, as one might
|
|
expect it should be used by strangers." Jerusalem itself, which was as
|
|
the daughter of Zion (the temple built on Zion was a mother, a nursing
|
|
mother, to Jerusalem), or Zion itself, the holy mountain, which had
|
|
been dear to God as a daughter, was now lost, deserted, and exposed
|
|
<I>as a cottage in a vineyard,</I> which, when the vintage is over,
|
|
nobody dwells in or takes any care of, and looks as mean and despicable
|
|
as <I>a lodge</I> or hut, <I>in a garden of cucumbers;</I> and every
|
|
person is afraid of coming near it, and solicitous to remove his
|
|
effects out of it, as if it were <I>a besieged city,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
And some think, it is a calamitous state of the kingdom that is
|
|
represented by a diseased body,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
Probably this sermon was preached in the reign of Ahaz, when Judah was
|
|
invaded by the kings of Syria and Israel, the Edomites and the
|
|
Philistines, who slew many, and carried many away into captivity,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+28:5,17,18">2 Chron. xxviii. 5, 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, National impiety and immorality bring national desolation.
|
|
Canaan, the glory of all lands, Mount Zion, the joy of the whole earth,
|
|
both became a reproach and a ruin; and sin made them so, that great
|
|
mischief-maker.
|
|
|
|
2. Yet they were not all reformed, and therefore God threatens to take
|
|
another course with them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Why should you be stricken any more,</I> with any expectation of
|
|
doing you good by it, when you increase revolts as your rebukes are
|
|
increased? <I>You will revolt more and more,</I> as you have done," as
|
|
Ahaz particularly did, who, <I>in his distress, trespassed yet more
|
|
against the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+28:22">2 Chron. xxviii. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Thus the physician, when he sees the patient's case desperate, troubles
|
|
him no more with physic; and the father resolves to correct his child
|
|
no more when, finding him hardened, he determines to disinherit him.
|
|
Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) There are those who are made worse by the methods God takes to
|
|
make them better; the more they are stricken the more they revolt;
|
|
their corruptions, instead of being mortified, are irritated and
|
|
exasperated by their afflictions, and their hearts more hardened.
|
|
|
|
(2.) God, sometimes, in a way of righteous judgment, ceases to correct
|
|
those who have been long incorrigible, and whom therefore he designs to
|
|
destroy. The reprobate silver shall be cast, not into the furnace, but
|
|
to the dunghill,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+6:29,30">Jer. vi. 29, 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezek+24:13,Ho+4:14">Ezek. xxiv. 13; Hos. iv. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that is <I>filthy, let him be filthy still.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. He comforts himself with the consideration of a remnant that should
|
|
be the monuments of divine grace and mercy, notwithstanding this
|
|
general corruption and desolation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
See here,
|
|
|
|
1. How near they were to an utter extirpation. They were almost like
|
|
Sodom and Gomorrah in respect both of sin and ruin, had grown almost so
|
|
bad that there could not have been found <I>ten righteous men among
|
|
them,</I> and almost as miserable as if none had been left alive, but
|
|
their country turned into a sulphureous lake. Divine Justice said,
|
|
<I>Make them as Admah; set them as Zeboim;</I> but Mercy said, <I>How
|
|
shall I do it?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+11:8,9">Hos. xi. 8, 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. What it was that saved them from it: <I>The Lord of hosts left unto
|
|
them a very small remnant,</I> that were kept pure from the common
|
|
apostasy and kept safe and alive from the common calamity. This is
|
|
quoted by the apostle
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:27">Rom. ix. 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
and applied to those few of the Jewish nation who in his time embraced
|
|
Christianity, when the body of the people rejected it, and in whom the
|
|
promises made to the fathers were accomplished. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) In the worst of times there is a remnant preserved from iniquity
|
|
and reserved for mercy, as Noah and his family in the deluge, Lot and
|
|
his in the destruction of Sodom. Divine grace triumphs in
|
|
distinguishing by an act of sovereignty.
|
|
|
|
(2.) This remnant is often a very small one in comparison with the vast
|
|
number of revolting ruined sinners. Multitude is no mark of the true
|
|
church. Christ's is a little flock.
|
|
|
|
(3.) It is God's work to sanctify and save some, when others are left
|
|
to perish in their impurity. It is the work of his power as the Lord of
|
|
hosts. Except he had left us that remnant, there would have been none
|
|
left; the corrupters
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>)
|
|
|
|
did what they could to debauch all, and the devourers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>)
|
|
|
|
to destroy all, and they would have prevailed of God himself had not
|
|
interposed to secure to himself a remnant, who are bound to give him
|
|
all the glory.
|
|
|
|
(4.) It is good for a people that have been saved from utter ruin to
|
|
look back and see how near they were to it, just upon the brink of it,
|
|
to see how much they owed to a few good men that stood in the gap, and
|
|
that that was owing to a good God, who left them these good men. <I>It
|
|
is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_15"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Vanity of Mere Ritual Obedience.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 738.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>10 Hear the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto
|
|
the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
|
|
11 To what purpose <I>is</I> the multitude of your sacrifices unto
|
|
me? saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and
|
|
the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of
|
|
bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
|
|
12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at
|
|
your hand, to tread my courts?
|
|
13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto
|
|
me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I
|
|
cannot away with; <I>it is</I> iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
|
|
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth:
|
|
they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear <I>them.</I>
|
|
15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes
|
|
from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your
|
|
hands are full of blood.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here, I. God calls to them (but calls in vain) to hear his word,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. The title he gives them is very strange; <I>You rulers of Sodom,</I>
|
|
and <I>people of Gomorrah.</I> This intimates what a righteous thing it
|
|
would have been with God to make them like Sodom and Gomorrah in
|
|
respect of ruin
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
because that had made themselves like Sodom and Gomorrah in respect of
|
|
sin. The men of Sodom were <I>wicked, and sinners before the Lord
|
|
exceedingly</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+13:13">Gen. xiii. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
and so were the men of Judah. When the rulers were bad, no wonder the
|
|
people were so. Vice overpowered virtue, for it had the rulers, the
|
|
men of figure, on its side; and it out-polled it, for it had the
|
|
people, the men of number, on its side. The streams being thus strong,
|
|
no less a power than that of the Lord of hosts could secure a remnant,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
The rulers are boldly attacked here by the prophet as rulers of Sodom;
|
|
for he knew not how to give flattering titles. The tradition of the
|
|
Jews is that for this he was impeached long after, and put to death, as
|
|
having cursed the gods and <I>spoken evil of the ruler of his
|
|
people.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. His demand upon them is very reasonable: "<I>Hear the word of the
|
|
Lord,</I> and <I>give ear to the law of our God;</I> attend to that
|
|
which God has to say to you, and let his word be a law to you." The
|
|
following declaration of dislike to their sacrifices would be a kind of
|
|
new law to them, though really it was but an explication of the old
|
|
law; but special regard is to be had to it, as is required to the like,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+50:7,8">Ps. l. 7, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Hear this, and tremble; hear it, and take warning."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He justly refuses to hear their prayers and accept their services,
|
|
their sacrifices and burnt-offerings, the fat and blood of them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
their attendance in his courts
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
their oblations, their incense, and their solemn assemblies
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
their new moons and their appointed feasts
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
their devoutest addresses
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>);
|
|
|
|
they are all rejected, because their hands were full of blood. Now
|
|
observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. There are many who are strangers, nay, enemies, to the power of
|
|
religion, and yet seem very zealous for the show and shadow and form of
|
|
it. This sinful nation, this seed of evil-doers, these rulers of Sodom
|
|
and people of Gomorrah, brought, not to the altars of false gods (they
|
|
are not here charged with that), but to the altar of the God of Israel,
|
|
sacrifices, a multitude of them, as many as the law required and rather
|
|
more--not only peace-offerings, which they themselves had their share
|
|
of, but burnt-offerings, which were wholly consumed to the honour of
|
|
God; nor did they bring the torn, and lame, and sick, but fed beasts,
|
|
and the fat of them, the best of the kind. They did not send others to
|
|
offer their sacrifices for them, but came themselves to appear before
|
|
God. They observed the instituted <I>places</I> (not in high places or
|
|
groves, but in God's own courts), and the instituted <I>time,</I> the
|
|
new moons, and sabbaths, and appointed feasts, none of which they
|
|
omitted. Nay, it should seem, they called extraordinary assemblies, and
|
|
held solemn meetings for religious worship, besides those that God had
|
|
appointed. Yet this was not all: they applied to God, not only with
|
|
their ceremonial observances, but with the exercises of devotion. They
|
|
prayed, prayed often, made many prayers, thinking they should be heard
|
|
for their much speaking; nay, they were fervent and importunate in
|
|
prayer, they spread forth their hands as men in earnest. Now we should
|
|
have thought these, and, no doubt, they thought themselves, a pious
|
|
religious people; and yet they were far from being so, for
|
|
|
|
(1.) Their hearts were empty of true devotion. They came to
|
|
<I>appear</I> before God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>to be seen</I> before him (so the margin reads it); they rested in
|
|
the outside of the duties; they looked no further than to be seen of
|
|
men, and went no further than that which men see.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Their hands were full of blood. They were guilty of murder,
|
|
rapine, and oppression, under colour of law and justice. The people
|
|
shed blood, and the rulers did not punish them for it; the rulers shed
|
|
blood, and the people were aiding and abetting, as the elders of
|
|
Jezreel were to Jezebel in shedding Naboth's blood. Malice is
|
|
heart-murder in the account of God; he that hates his brother in his
|
|
heart has, in effect, his hands full of blood.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. When sinners are under the judgments of God they will more easily be
|
|
brought to fly to their devotions than to forsake their sins and reform
|
|
their lives. Their country was now desolate, and their cities were
|
|
burnt
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
which awakened them to bring their sacrifices and offerings to God more
|
|
constantly than they had done, as if they would bribe God Almighty to
|
|
remove the punishment and give them leave to go on in the sin. <I>When
|
|
he slew them, then they sought him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+78:34">Ps. lxxviii. 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Lord, in trouble have they visited thee,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+26:16"><I>ch.</I> xxvi. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Many that will readily part with their sacrifices will not be persuaded
|
|
to part with their sins.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The most pompous and costly devotions of wicked people, without a
|
|
thorough reformation of the heart and life, are so far from being
|
|
acceptable to God that really they are an abomination to him. It is
|
|
here shown in a great variety of expressions that <I>to obey is better
|
|
than sacrifice;</I> nay, that sacrifice, without obedience, is a jest,
|
|
an affront and provocation to God. The comparative neglect which God
|
|
here expresses of ceremonial observance was a tacit intimation of what
|
|
they would come to at last, when they would all be done away by the
|
|
death of Christ. What was now made little of would in due time be made
|
|
nothing of. "<I>Sacrifice and offering,</I> and prayer made in the
|
|
virtue of them, <I>thou wouldest not; then said I, Lo, I come.</I>"
|
|
Their sacrifices are here represented,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) As fruitless and insignificant; <I>To what purpose is the
|
|
multitude of your sacrifices?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
They are <I>vain oblations,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>In vain do they worship me,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+15:9">Matt. xv. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their attention to God's institutions was all lost labour, and served
|
|
not to answer any good intention; for,
|
|
|
|
[1.] It was not looked upon as any act of duty or obedience to God:
|
|
<I>Who has required these things at your hands?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Not that God disowns his institutions, or refuses to stand by his own
|
|
warrants; but in what they did they had not an eye to him that required
|
|
it, nor indeed did he require it of those whose hands were full of
|
|
blood and who continued impenitent.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It did not recommend them to God's favour. He delighted not in the
|
|
blood of their sacrifices, for he did not look upon himself as honoured
|
|
by it.
|
|
|
|
[3.] It would not obtain any relief for them. They pray, but God will
|
|
not hear, because they regard iniquity
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+66:18">Ps. lxvi. 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
he will not deliver them, for, though they make many prayers, none of
|
|
them come from an upright heart. All their religious service turned to
|
|
no account to them. Nay,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) As odious and offensive. God did not only not accept them, but he
|
|
did detest and abhor them. "They are <I>your</I> sacrifices, they are
|
|
none of mine; I am full of them, even surfeited with them." He needed
|
|
them not
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+50:10">Ps. l. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
did not desire them, had had enough of them, and more than enough.
|
|
Their coming into his courts he calls <I>treading them,</I> or
|
|
trampling upon them; their very attendance on his ordinances was
|
|
construed into a contempt of them. Their incense, though ever so
|
|
fragrant, was an abomination to him, for it was burnt in hypocrisy and
|
|
with an ill design. Their solemn assemblies he could not <I>away
|
|
with,</I> could not see them with any patience, nor bear the affront
|
|
they gave him. <I>The solemn meeting is iniquity;</I> though the thing
|
|
itself was not, yet, as they managed it, it became so. It is a
|
|
<I>vexation</I> (so some read it), a provocation, to God, to have
|
|
ordinances thus prostituted, not only by wicked people, but to wicked
|
|
purposes: "<I>My soul hates them; they are a trouble to me,</I> a
|
|
burden, an incumbrance; I am perfectly sick of them, and <I>weary of
|
|
bearing them.</I>" God is never weary of hearing the prayers of the
|
|
upright, but soon weary of the costly sacrifices of the wicked. He
|
|
hides his eyes from their prayers, as that which he has an aversion to
|
|
and is angry at. All this is to show,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That sin is very hateful to God, so hateful that it makes even
|
|
men's prayers and their religious services hateful to him.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That dissembled piety is double iniquity. Hypocrisy in religion
|
|
is of all things most abominable to the God of heaven. Jerome applies
|
|
the passage to the Jews in Christ's time, who pretended a great zeal
|
|
for the law and the temple, but made themselves and all their services
|
|
abominable to God by filling their hands with the blood of Christ and
|
|
his apostles, and so filling up the measure of their iniquities.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_20"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>A Call to Repentance; Repentance and Reformation Urged.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 738.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings
|
|
from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
|
|
17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed,
|
|
judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
|
|
18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: though
|
|
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though
|
|
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
|
|
19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the
|
|
land:
|
|
20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the
|
|
sword: for the mouth of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath spoken <I>it.</I>
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Though God had rejected their services as insufficient to atone for
|
|
their sins while they persisted in them, yet he does not reject them as
|
|
in a hopeless condition, but here calls upon them to forsake their
|
|
sins, which hindered the acceptance of their services, and then all
|
|
would be well. Let them not say that God picked quarrels with them; no,
|
|
he proposes a method of reconciliation. Observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. A call to repentance and reformation: "If you would have your
|
|
sacrifices accepted, and your prayers answered, you must begin your
|
|
work at the right end: <I>Be converted to my law</I>" (so the Chaldee
|
|
begins this exhortation), "make conscience of second-table duties, else
|
|
expect not to be accepted in the acts of your devotion." As justice and
|
|
charity will never atone for atheism and profaneness, so prayers and
|
|
sacrifices will never atone for fraud and oppression; for righteousness
|
|
towards men is as much a branch of pure religion as religion towards
|
|
God is a branch of universal righteousness.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They must <I>cease to do evil,</I> must do no more wrong, shed no
|
|
more innocent blood. This is the meaning of washing themselves and
|
|
<I>making themselves clean,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is not only sorrowing for the sin they had committed, but breaking
|
|
off the practice of it for the future, and mortifying all those vicious
|
|
affections and dispositions which inclined them to it. Sin is defiling
|
|
to the soul. Our business is to wash ourselves from it by repenting of
|
|
it and turning from it to God. We must put away not only that evil of
|
|
our doings which is before the eye of the world, by refraining from the
|
|
gross acts of sin, but that which is before God's eyes, the roots and
|
|
habits of sin, that are in our hearts; these must be crushed and
|
|
mortified.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They must <I>learn to do well.</I> This was necessary to the
|
|
completing of their repentance. Note, It is not enough that we cease to
|
|
do evil, but we must learn to do well.
|
|
|
|
(1.) We must be doing, not cease to do evil and then stand idle.
|
|
|
|
(2.) We must be doing good, the good which the Lord our God requires
|
|
and which will turn to a good account.
|
|
|
|
(3.) We must do it well, in a right manner and for a right end; and,
|
|
|
|
(4.) We must learn to do well; we must take pains to get the knowledge
|
|
of our duty, be inquisitive concerning it, in care about it, and
|
|
accustom ourselves to it, that we may readily turn our hands to our
|
|
work and become masters of this holy art of doing well. He urges them
|
|
particularly to those instances of well-doing wherein they had been
|
|
defective, to second-table duties: "<I>Seek judgment;</I> enquire what
|
|
is right, that you may do it; be solicitous to be found in the way of
|
|
your duty, and do not walk carelessly. Seek opportunities of doing
|
|
good: <I>Relieve the oppressed,</I> those whom you yourselves have
|
|
oppressed; ease them of their burdens,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+58:6"><I>ch.</I> lviii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
You, that have power in your hands, use it for the relief of those whom
|
|
others do oppress, for that is your business. Avenge those that suffer
|
|
wrong, in a special manner concerning yourselves for the fatherless and
|
|
the widow, whom, because they are weak and helpless, proud men trample
|
|
upon and abuse; do you appear for them at the bar, on the bench, as
|
|
there is occasion. Speak for those that know not how to speak for
|
|
themselves and that have not wherewithal to gratify you for your
|
|
kindness." Note, We are truly honouring God when we are doing good in
|
|
the world; and acts of justice and charity are more pleasing to him
|
|
than all burnt-offerings and sacrifices.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. A demonstration, at the bar of right reason, of the equity of God's
|
|
proceedings with them: "<I>Come now, and let us reason together</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
while your hands are full of blood I will have nothing to do with you,
|
|
though you bring me a multitude of sacrifices; but if you wash, and
|
|
make yourselves clean, you are welcome to draw nigh to me; come now,
|
|
and let us talk the matter over." Note, Those, and those only, that
|
|
break off their league with sin, shall be welcome into covenant and
|
|
communion with God; he says, <I>Come now,</I> who before forbade them
|
|
his courts. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:8">Jam. iv. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or rather thus: There were those among them who looked upon themselves
|
|
as affronted by the slights God put upon the multitude of their
|
|
sacrifices, as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+58:3"><I>ch.</I> lviii. 3</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Wherefore have we fasted</I> (say they) <I>and thou seest not?</I>
|
|
They represented God as a hard Master, whom it was impossible to
|
|
please. "Come," says God, "let us debate the matter fairly, and I doubt
|
|
not but to make it out that <I>my ways are equal, but yours are
|
|
unequal,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+18:25">Ezek. xviii. 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Religion has reason on its side; there is all the reason in the
|
|
world why we should do as God would have us do. The God of heaven
|
|
condescends to reason the case with those that contradict him and find
|
|
fault with his proceedings; for <I>he will be justified when he
|
|
speaks,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+51:4">Ps. li. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
The case needs only to be stated (as it is here very fairly) and it
|
|
will determine itself. God shows here upon what terms they stood (as he
|
|
does,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+18:21-24,33:18,19">Ezek. xviii. 21-24; xxxiii. 18, 19</A>)
|
|
|
|
and then leaves it to them to judge whether these terms are not fair
|
|
and reasonable.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They could not in reason expect any more then, if they repented and
|
|
reformed, they should be restored to God's favour, notwithstanding
|
|
their former provocations. "This you may expect," says God, and it is
|
|
very kind; who could have the face to desire it upon any other terms?
|
|
|
|
(1.) It is very little that is required, "only that you <I>be willing
|
|
and obedient,</I> that you <I>consent to obey</I>" (so some read it),
|
|
"that you subject your wills to the will of God, acquiesce in that, and
|
|
give up yourselves in all things to be ruled by him who is infinitely
|
|
wise and good" <I>Here is no penance imposed for their former
|
|
stubbornness, nor the yoke made heavier or bound harder on their necks;
|
|
only, "Whereas hitherto you have been perverse and refractory, and
|
|
would not comply with that which was for your own good, now be
|
|
tractable, be governable</I>" He does not say, "If you be
|
|
<I>perfectly</I> obedient," but, "If you be <I>willingly</I> so;" for,
|
|
if there be a willing mind, it is accepted.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That is very great which is promised hereupon.
|
|
|
|
[1.] That all their sins should be pardoned to them, and should not be
|
|
mentioned against them. "Though they be as red as scarlet and crimson,
|
|
though you lie under the guilt of blood, yet, upon your repentance,
|
|
even that shall be forgiven you, and you shall appear in the sight of
|
|
God as white as snow." Note, The greatest sinners, if they truly
|
|
repent, shall have their sins forgiven them, and so have their
|
|
consciences pacified and purified. Though our sins have been as scarlet
|
|
and crimson, as deep dye, a double dye, first in the wool of original
|
|
corruption and afterwards in the many threads of actual
|
|
transgression--though we have been often dipped, by our many
|
|
backslidings, into sin, and though we have lain long soaking in it, as
|
|
the cloth does in the scarlet dye, yet pardoning mercy will thoroughly
|
|
discharge the stain, and, being by it purged as <I>with hyssop, we
|
|
shall be clean,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+51:7">Ps. li. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
If we make ourselves clean by repentance and reformation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
God will make us white by a full remission.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That they should have all the happiness and comfort they could
|
|
desire. "Be but willing and obedient, and <I>you shall eat the good of
|
|
the land,</I> the land of promise; you shall have all the blessings of
|
|
the new covenant, of the heavenly Canaan, all the good of the land."
|
|
Those that go on in sin, though they may dwell in a good land, cannot
|
|
with any comfort eat the good of it; guilt embitters all; but, if sin
|
|
be pardoned, creature-comforts become comforts indeed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They could not in reason expect any other than that, if they
|
|
continued obstinate in their disobedience, they should be abandoned to
|
|
ruin, and the sentence of the law should be executed upon them; what
|
|
can be more just?
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>);
|
|
|
|
"<I>If you refuse and rebel,</I> if you continue to rebel against the
|
|
divine government and refuse the offers of the divine grace, <I>you
|
|
shall be devoured with the sword,</I> with the sword of your enemies,
|
|
which shall be commissioned to destroy you--with the sword of God's
|
|
justice, his wrath, and vengeance, which shall be drawn against you;
|
|
for this is that which <I>the mouth of the Lord has spoken,</I> and
|
|
which he will make good, for the maintaining of his own honour." Note,
|
|
Those that will not be governed by God's sceptre will certainly and
|
|
justly be devoured by his sword.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
"And now life and death, good and evil, are thus set before you.
|
|
<I>Come, and let us reason together.</I> What have you to object
|
|
against the equity of this, or against complying with God's terms?"</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa1_31"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec5"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Degeneracy of Jerusalem; Reformation of the Church.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 738.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>21 How is the faithful city become a harlot! it was full of
|
|
judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
|
|
22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
|
|
23 Thy princes <I>are</I> rebellious, and companions of thieves:
|
|
every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge
|
|
not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto
|
|
them.
|
|
24 Therefore saith the Lord, the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, the mighty One
|
|
of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me
|
|
of mine enemies:
|
|
25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy
|
|
dross, and take away all thy tin:
|
|
26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy
|
|
counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called,
|
|
The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
|
|
27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with
|
|
righteousness.
|
|
28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners
|
|
<I>shall be</I> together, and they that forsake the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall be
|
|
consumed.
|
|
29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired,
|
|
and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.
|
|
30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden
|
|
that hath no water.
|
|
31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a
|
|
spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench
|
|
<I>them.</I>
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
I. The woeful degeneracy of Judah and Jerusalem is sadly lamented. See,
|
|
|
|
1. What the royal city had been, a faithful city, faithful to God and
|
|
the interests of his kingdom among men, faithful to the nation and its
|
|
public interests. <I>It was full of judgment;</I> justice was duly
|
|
administered upon the thrones of judgment which were set there, the
|
|
<I>thrones of the house of David,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+122:5">Ps. cxxii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Men were generally honest in their dealings, and abhorred to do an
|
|
unjust thing. <I>Righteousness lodged in it,</I> was constantly
|
|
resident in their palaces and in all their dwellings, not called in now
|
|
and then to serve a turn, but at home there. Note, Neither holy cities
|
|
nor royal ones, neither places where religion is professed nor places
|
|
where government is administered, are faithful to their trust if
|
|
religion do not dwell in them.
|
|
|
|
2. What it had now become. That beauteous virtuous spouse was now
|
|
debauched, and become an adulteress; righteousness no longer dwelt in
|
|
Jerusalem (<I>terras Astræa reliquit--Astrea left the earth</I>);
|
|
even murderers were unpunished and lived undisturbed there; nay, the
|
|
princes themselves were so cruel and oppressive that they had become no
|
|
better than murderers; an innocent man might better guard himself
|
|
against a troop of banditti or assassins than against a bench of such
|
|
judges. Note, It is a great aggravation of the wickedness of any family
|
|
or people that their ancestors were famed for virtue and probity; and
|
|
commonly those that thus degenerate prove the most wicked of all men.
|
|
<I>Corruptio optimi est pessima--That which was originally the best
|
|
becomes when corrupted the worst,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+11:26,Ec+3:16">Luke xi. 26; Eccl. iii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+22:15-17">Jer. xxii. 15-17</A>.
|
|
|
|
The degeneracy of Jerusalem is illustrated,
|
|
|
|
(1.) By similitudes
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thy silver has become dross.</I> This degeneracy of the magistrates,
|
|
whose character is the reverse of that of their predecessors, is a
|
|
great a reproach and injury to the kingdom as the debasing of their
|
|
coin would be and the turning of their silver into dross. Righteous
|
|
princes and righteous cities are as silver for the treasury, but
|
|
unrighteous ones are as dross for the dunghill. <I>How has the gold
|
|
become dim!</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+4:1">Lam. iv. 1</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Thy wine is mixed with water,</I> and so has become flat and sour.
|
|
Some understand both these literally: the wine they sold was
|
|
adulterated, it was half water; the money they paid was counterfeit,
|
|
and so they cheated all they dealt with. But it is rather to be taken
|
|
figuratively: justice was perverted by their princes, and religion and
|
|
the word of God were sophisticated by their priests, and made to serve
|
|
what turn they pleased. Dross may shine like silver, and the wine that
|
|
is mixed with water may retain the colour of wine, but neither is worth
|
|
any thing. Thus they retained a show and pretence of virtue and
|
|
justice, but had no true sense of either.
|
|
|
|
(2.) By some instances
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
"Thy princes, that should keep others in their allegiance to God and
|
|
subjection to his law, are themselves rebellious, and set God and his
|
|
law at defiance." Those that should restrain thieves (proud and rich
|
|
oppressors, those worst of robbers, and those that designedly cheat
|
|
their creditors, who are no better), are themselves companions of
|
|
thieves, connive at them, do as they do, and with greater security and
|
|
success, because they are princes, and have power in their hands; they
|
|
share with the thieves they protect in their unlawful gain
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+50:18">
|
|
Ps. l. 18</A>)
|
|
|
|
and <I>cast in their lot among them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+1:13,14">Prov. i. 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
[1.] The profit of their places is all their aim, to make the best hand
|
|
they can of them, right or wrong. They love gifts, and follow after
|
|
rewards; they set their hearts upon their salary, the fees and
|
|
perquisites of their offices, and are greedy of them, and never think
|
|
they can get enough; nay, they will do any thing, though ever so
|
|
contrary to law and justice, for a gift in secret. Presents and
|
|
gratuities will blind their eyes at any time, and make them pervert
|
|
judgment. These they love and are eager in the pursuit of,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:18">Hos. ix. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] The duty of their places is none of their care. They ought to
|
|
protect those that are injured, and take cognizance of the appeals made
|
|
to them; why else were they preferred? But <I>they judge not the
|
|
fatherless,</I> take no care to guard the orphans, <I>nor does the
|
|
cause of the widow come unto them,</I> because the poor widow has no
|
|
bribe to give, with which to make way for her and to bring her cause
|
|
on. Those will have a great deal to answer for who, when they should be
|
|
the patrons of the oppressed, are their greatest oppressors.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. A resolution is taken up to redress these grievances
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of
|
|
Israel</I>--who has power to make good what he says, who has hosts at
|
|
command for the executing of his purposes, and whose power is engaged
|
|
for his Israel--<I>Ah! I will ease me of my adversaries.</I>
|
|
Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Wicked people, especially wicked rulers that are cruel and
|
|
oppressive, are God's enemies, his adversaries, and shall so be
|
|
accounted and so dealt with. If the holy seed corrupt themselves, they
|
|
are the foes of his own house.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They are a burden to the God of heaven, which is implied in his
|
|
easing himself of them. The <I>Mighty One of Israel,</I> that can bear
|
|
any thing, nay, that upholds all things, complains of his being
|
|
<I>wearied with men's iniquities,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:24,Am+2:13"><I>ch.</I> xliii. 24. Amos ii. 13</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. God will find out a time and a way to ease himself of this burden,
|
|
by avenging himself on those that thus bear hard upon his patience. He
|
|
here speaks as one triumphing in the foresight of it: <I>Ah. I will
|
|
ease me.</I> He will ease the earth of the burden under which it
|
|
<I>groans</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+8:21,22">Rom. viii. 21, 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
will ease his own name of the reproaches with which it is loaded. He
|
|
will be eased of his adversaries, by <I>taking vengeance on his
|
|
enemies;</I> he will <I>spue them out of his mouth,</I> and so be eased
|
|
of them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+3:16">Rev. iii. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
He speaks with pleasure of the <I>day of vengeance</I> being <I>in his
|
|
heart,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:4"><I>ch.</I> lxiii. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
If God's professing people conform not to his image, as the Holy One of
|
|
Israel
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
they shall feel the weight of his hand as the Mighty One of Israel: his
|
|
power, which was wont to be engaged for them, shall be armed against
|
|
them. In two ways God will ease himself of this grievance:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) By reforming his church, and restoring good judges in the room of
|
|
those corrupt ones. Though the church has a great deal of dross in it,
|
|
yet it shall not be thrown away, but refined
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>I will purely purge away thy dross.</I> I will amend what is amiss.
|
|
Vice and profaneness shall be suppressed and put out of countenance,
|
|
oppressors displaced, and deprived of their power to do mischief." When
|
|
things are ever so bad God can set them to rights, and bring about a
|
|
complete reformation; when he begins he will make an end, will take
|
|
away all the tin. Observe,
|
|
|
|
[1.] The reformation of a people is God's own work, and, if ever it be
|
|
done, it is he that brings it about: "<I>I will turn my hand upon
|
|
thee;</I> I will do that for the reviving of religion which I did at
|
|
first for the planting of it." He can do it easily, with the turn of
|
|
his hand; but he does it effectually, for what opposition can stand
|
|
before the arm of the Lord revealed?
|
|
|
|
[2.] He does it by blessing them with good magistrates and good
|
|
ministers of state
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>I will restore thy judges as at the first,</I> to put the laws in
|
|
execution against evil-doers, <I>and thy counsellors,</I> to transact
|
|
public affairs, <I>as at the beginning,</I>" either the same persons
|
|
that had been turned out or others of the same character.
|
|
|
|
[3.] He does it by restoring judgment and righteousness among them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
by planting in men's minds principles of justice and governing their
|
|
lives by those principles. Men may do much by external restraints; but
|
|
God does it effectually by the influences of <I>his Spirit,</I> as a
|
|
<I>Spirit of judgment,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+4:4,28:6"><I>ch.</I> iv. 4; xxviii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+85:10,11">Ps. lxxxv. 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
[4.] The reformation of a people will be the redemption of them and
|
|
their converts, for sin is the worst captivity, the worst slavery, and
|
|
the great and eternal redemption is that by which <I>Israel is redeemed
|
|
from all his iniquities</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:8">Ps. cxxx. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
and the <I>blessed Redeemer</I> is he that <I>turns away ungodliness
|
|
from Jacob</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:26">Rom. xi. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
and <I>saves his people from their sins,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+1:21">Matt. i. 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
All the redeemed of the Lord shall be converts, and their conversion is
|
|
their redemption: "<I>Her converts,</I> or <I>those that return of
|
|
her</I> (so the margin), shall be redeemed with righteousness." God
|
|
works deliverance for us by preparing us for it with judgment and
|
|
righteousness.
|
|
|
|
[5.] The reviving of a people's virtues is the restoring of their
|
|
honour: <I>Afterwards thou shalt be called the city of righteousness,
|
|
the faithful city;</I> that is, <I>First,</I> "Thou shalt <I>be</I>
|
|
so;" the reforming of the magistracy is a good step towards the
|
|
reforming of the city and the country too. <I>Secondly,</I> "Thou shalt
|
|
have the <I>praise</I> of being so;" and a greater praise there cannot
|
|
be to any city than to <I>be called the city of righteousness,</I> and
|
|
to retrieve the ancient honour which was lost when <I>the faithful city
|
|
became a harlot,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) By cutting off those that hate to be reformed, that they may not
|
|
remain either as snares or as scandals to the faithful city.
|
|
|
|
[1.] it is an utter ruin that is here threatened. They shall be
|
|
destroyed and consumed, and not chastened and corrected only. The
|
|
extirpation of them will be necessary to the redemption of Zion.
|
|
|
|
[2.] It is a universal ruin, which will involve the transgressors and
|
|
the sinners together, that is, the openly profane that have quite cast
|
|
of all religion, and the hypocrites that live wicked lives under the
|
|
cloak of a religious profession--they shall both be destroyed together,
|
|
for they are both alike an abomination to God, both those that
|
|
contradict religion and those that contradict themselves in their
|
|
pretensions to it. <I>And those that forsake the Lord,</I> to whom they
|
|
had formerly joined themselves, <I>shall be consumed,</I> as the water
|
|
in the conduit-pipe is soon consumed when it is cut off from the
|
|
fountain.
|
|
|
|
[3.] It is an inevitable ruin; there is no escaping it. <I>First,</I>
|
|
Their idols shall not be able to help them, <I>the oaks which they have
|
|
desired, and the gardens which they have chosen;</I> that is, the
|
|
images, the dunghill-gods, which they had worshipped in their groves
|
|
and under the green trees, which they were fond of and wedded to, for
|
|
which they forsook the true God, and which they worshipped privately in
|
|
their own garden even when idolatry was publicly discountenanced. "This
|
|
was the practice of the transgressors and the sinners; but they shall
|
|
be ashamed of it, not with a show of repentance, but of despair,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
They shall have cause to be ashamed of their idols; for, after all the
|
|
court they have made to them, they shall find no benefit by them; but
|
|
the idols themselves <I>shall go into captivity,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:1,2"><I>ch.</I> xlvi. 1, 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Those that make creatures their confidence are but preparing
|
|
confusion for themselves. You were fond of the oaks and the gardens,
|
|
but you yourselves shall be,
|
|
|
|
1. "<I>Like an oak without leaves,</I> withered and blasted, and
|
|
stripped of all its ornaments." Justly do those wear no leaves that
|
|
bear no fruit; as the fig-tree that Christ cursed.
|
|
|
|
2. "<I>Like a garden without water,</I> that is neither rained upon nor
|
|
<I>watered with the foot</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+11:10">Deut. xi. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
that had no <I>fountain</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+4:15">Cant. iv. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
and consequently is parched, and all the fruits of it gone to decay."
|
|
Thus shall those be that trust in idols, or in an <I>arm of flesh,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+17:5,6">Jer. xvii. 5, 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
But those that trust in God never find him as a wilderness, or as
|
|
waters that fail,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:31">Jer. ii. 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> They shall not be able to help themselves
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Even the strong man shall be as tow</I> not only soon broken and
|
|
pulled to pieces, but easily catching fire; and <I>his work</I> (so the
|
|
margin reads it), that by which he hopes to fortify and secure himself,
|
|
shall be as a spark to his own tow, shall set him on fire, and he and
|
|
his work shall burn together. His counsels shall be his ruin; his own
|
|
skin kindles the fire of God's wrath, which shall burn to the lowest
|
|
hell, and none shall quench it." When the sinner has made himself as
|
|
tow and stubble, and God makes himself to him as a consuming fore, what
|
|
can prevent the utter ruin of the sinner?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Now all this is applicable,
|
|
|
|
1. To the blessed work of reformation which was wrought in Hezekiah's
|
|
time after the abominable corruptions of the reign of Ahaz. Then good
|
|
men came to be preferred, and the faces of the wicked were filled with
|
|
shame.
|
|
|
|
2. To their return out of their captivity in Babylon, which had
|
|
thoroughly cured them of idolatry.
|
|
|
|
3. To the gospel-kingdom and the pouring out of the Spirit, by which
|
|
the New-Testament church should be made a new Jerusalem, a city of
|
|
righteousness.
|
|
|
|
4. To the second coming of Christ, when he shall thoroughly purge his
|
|
floor, his field, shall gather the wheat into his barn, into his
|
|
garner, and burn the chaff, the tares, with unquenchable fire.</P>
|
|
|
|
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