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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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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. X.</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 prophet, in this chapter, is dealing,
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I. With the proud oppressors of his people at home, that abused their
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power, to pervert justice, whom he would reckon with for their tyranny,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. With a threatening invader of his people from abroad, Sennacherib
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king of Assyria, concerning whom observe,
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1. The commission given him to invade Judah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:5,6">ver. 5, 6</A>.
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2. His pride and insolence in the execution of that commission,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:7-11,13,14">ver. 7-11, 13, 14</A>.
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3. A rebuke given to his haughtiness, and a threatening of his fall and
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ruin, when he had served the purposes for which God raised him up,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:12,15-19">ver. 12, 15-19</A>.
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4. A promise of grace to the people of God, to enable them to bear up
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under the affliction, and to get good by it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:20-23">ver. 20-23</A>.
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5. Great encouragement given to them not to fear this threatening
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storm, but to hope that, though for the present all the country was put
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into a great consternation by it, yet it would end well, in the
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destruction of this formidable enemy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:24-34">ver. 24-34</A>.
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And this is intended to quiet the minds of good people in reference to
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all the threatening efforts of the wrath of the church's enemies. If
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God be for us, who can be against us? None to do us any harm.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa10_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_4"> </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 Condemnation of Oppressors.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 740.</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 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write
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grievousness <I>which</I> they have prescribed;
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2 To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the
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right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey,
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and <I>that</I> they may rob the fatherless!
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3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the
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desolation <I>which</I> shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for
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help? and where will ye leave your glory?
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4 Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they
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shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned
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away, but his hand <I>is</I> stretched out still.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Whether they were the princes and judges of Israel of Judah, or both,
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that the prophet denounced this woe against, is not certain: if those
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of Israel, these verses are to be joined with the close of the
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foregoing chapter, which is probable enough, because the burden of that
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prophecy (<I>for all this his anger is not turned away</I>) is repeated
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here
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>);
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if those of Judah, they then show what was the particular design with
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which God brought the Assyrian army upon them--to punish their
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magistrates for mal-administration, which they could not legally be
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called to account for. To them he speaks woes before he speaks comfort
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to God's own people. Here is,</P>
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<P>
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I. The indictment drawn up against these oppressors,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>.
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They are charged,
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1. With making wicked laws and edicts: They <I>decree unrighteous
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decrees,</I> contrary to natural equity and the law of God: and what
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mischief they <I>prescribe</I> those under them <I>write</I> it, enrol
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it, and put it into the formality of a law. "Woe to the superior powers
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that devise and decree these decrees! they are not too high to be under
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the divine check. And woe to the inferior officers that draw them up,
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and enter them upon record--<I>the writers that write the
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grievousness,</I> they are not too mean to be within the divine
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cognizance. Principal and accessaries shall fall under the same woe."
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Note, It is bad to do hurt, but it is worse to do it with design and
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deliberation, to do wrong to many, and to involve many in the guilt of
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doing wrong.
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2. With perverting justice in the execution of the laws that were made.
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No people had statutes and judgments to righteous as they had, and yet
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corrupt judges found ways to <I>turn aside the needy from judgment,</I>
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to hinder them from coming at their right and recovering what was their
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due, because they were needy and poor, and such as they could get
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nothing by nor expect any bribes from.
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3. With enriching themselves by oppressing those that lay at their
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mercy, whom they ought to have protected. They make widows' houses and
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estates their prey, and they <I>rob the fatherless</I> of the little
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that is left them, because they have no friend to appear for them. Not
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to relieve them if they had wanted, not to right them if they were
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wronged, would have been crime enough in men that had wealth and power;
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but to rob them because on the side of the oppressors there was power,
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and the oppressed had no comforter
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+4:1">Eccl. iv. 1</A>),
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was such apiece of barbarity as one would think none could ever be
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guilty of that had either the nature of a man or the name of an
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Israelite.</P>
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<P>
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II. A challenge given them with all their pride and power to outface
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the judgments of God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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"<I>What will you do? To whom will you flee?</I> You can trample upon
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the widows and fatherless; but <I>what will you do when God riseth
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up?</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:14">Job xxxi. 14</A>.
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Great men, who tyrannise over the poor, think they shall never be
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called to account for their tyranny, shall never hear of it again, or
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fare the worse for it; but <I>shall not God visit for these things?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+5:29">Jer. v. 29</A>.
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Will there not come a desolation upon those that have made others
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desolate? Perhaps it may <I>come from far,</I> and therefore may be
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long in coming; but it will come at last (reprieves are not pardons),
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and coming from far, from a quarter whence it was least expected, it
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will be the greater surprise and the more terrible. What will then
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become of these unrighteous judges? Now they <I>see their help in the
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gate</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+31:21">Job xxxi. 21</A>);
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but to whom will they then flee for help? Note,
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1. There is a day of visitation coming, a day of enquiry and discovery,
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a searching day, which will bring to light, to a true light, every man,
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and every man's work.
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2. The day of visitation will be a day of desolation to all wicked
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people, when all their comforts and hopes will be lost and gone, and
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buried in ruin, and themselves left desolate.
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3. Impenitent sinners will be utterly at a loss, and will no know what
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to do in the day of visitation and desolation. They cannot fly and hide
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themselves, cannot fight it out and defend themselves; they have no
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refuge in which either to shelter themselves from the present evil
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(<I>to whom will you flee for help?</I>) or to secure to themselves
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better times hereafter: "<I>Where will you leave your glory,</I> to
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find it again when the storm is over?" The wealth they had got was
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their glory, and they had no place of safety in which to deposit that,
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but they should certainly see it flee away. If our souls be our glory,
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as they ought to be, and we make them our chief care, we know where to
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leave them, and into whose hands to commit them, even those of a
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faithful Creator.
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4. It concerns us all seriously to consider what we shall do in the day
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of visitation, in a day of affliction, in the day of death and
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judgment, and to provide that we may do well.</P>
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<P>
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III. Sentence passed upon them, by which they are doomed, some to
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imprisonment and captivity (<I>they shall bow down among the
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prisoners,</I> or <I>under them</I>--those that were most highly
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elevated in sin shall be most heavily loaded and most deeply sunk in
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trouble), others to death: they shall fall first, and so shall fall
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under the rest of the slain. Those that had trampled upon the widows
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and fatherless shall themselves be trodden down,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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"This it will come to," says God, "<I>without me,</I> that is, because
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you have deserted me and driven me away from you." Nothing but utter
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ruin can be expected by those that live without God in the world, that
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cast him behind their back, and so cast themselves out of his
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protection.</P>
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<P>
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And yet, <I>for all this, his anger is not turned away,</I> which
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intimates not only that God will proceed in his controversy with them,
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but that they shall be in a continual dread of it; they shall, to their
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unspeakable terror, see his hand still stretched out against them, and
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there shall remain nothing but <I>a fearful looking for of
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judgment.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Isa10_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa10_19"> </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 Pride of the King of Assyria; Sennacherib's Pride Rebuked; Destruction of the King of Assyria.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD VALIGN=TOP ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 740.</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>5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their
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hand is mine indignation.
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6 I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against
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the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the
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spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire
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of the streets.
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7 Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so;
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but <I>it is</I> in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a
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few.
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8 For he saith, <I>Are</I> not my princes altogether kings?
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9 <I>Is</I> not Calno as Carchemish? <I>is</I> not Hamath as Arpad? <I>is</I>
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not Samaria as Damascus?
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10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose
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graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria;
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11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so
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do to Jerusalem and her idols?
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12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, <I>that</I> when the Lord hath
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performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will
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punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and
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the glory of his high looks.
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13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done <I>it,</I>
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and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds
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of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put
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down the inhabitants like a valiant <I>man:</I>
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14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people:
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and as one gathereth eggs <I>that are</I> left, have I gathered all
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the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the
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mouth, or peeped.
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15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth
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therewith? <I>or</I> shall the saw magnify itself against him that
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shaketh it? as if the rod should shake <I>itself</I> against them that
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lift it up, <I>or</I> as if the staff should lift up <I>itself, as if it
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were</I> no wood.
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16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his
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fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a burning
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like the burning of a fire.
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17 And the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy
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One for a flame: and it shall burn and devour his thorns and his
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briers in one day;
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18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his
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fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a
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standard-bearer fainteth.
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19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a
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child may write them.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The destruction of the kingdom of Israel by Shalmaneser king of Assyria
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was foretold in the foregoing chapter, and it had its accomplishment in
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the sixth year of Hezekiah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+18:10">2 Kings xviii. 10</A>.
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It was total and final, head and tail were all cut off. Now the
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correction of the kingdom of Judah by Sennacherib king of Assyria is
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foretold in this chapter; and this prediction was fulfilled in the
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fourteenth year of Hezekiah, when that potent prince, encouraged by the
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successes of his predecessor against the ten tribes, <I>came up against
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all the fenced cities of Judah and took them, and laid siege to
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Jerusalem</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+18:13,17">2 Kings xviii. 13, 17</A>),
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in consequence of which we may well suppose Hezekiah and his kingdom
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were greatly alarmed, though there was a good work of reformation
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lately begun among them: but it ended well, in the confusion of the
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Assyrians and the great encouragement of Hezekiah and his people in
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their return to God. Now let us see here,</P>
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<P>
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I. How God, in his sovereignty, deputed the king of Assyria to be his
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servant, and made use of him as a mere tool to serve his own purposes
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with
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>):
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"<I>O Assyrian!</I> know this, that thou art <I>the rod of my
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anger;</I> and I will send thee to be a scourge to <I>the people of my
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wrath.</I>" Observe here,
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1. How bad the character of the Jews was, though they appeared very
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good. They were <I>a hypocritical nation,</I> that made a profession of
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religion, and at this time particularly of reformation, but were not
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truly religious, not truly reformed, not so good as they pretended to
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be now that Hezekiah had brought goodness into fashion. When rulers are
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pious, and so religion is in reputation, it is common for nations to be
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hypocritical. They are <I>a profane nation;</I> so some read it.
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Hezekiah had in a great measure cured them of their idolatry, and now
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they ran into profaneness; nay, hypocrisy is profaneness: none profane
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the name of God so much as those who are called by that name and call
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upon it, and yet live in sin. Being a profane hypocritical nation, they
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are the people of God's wrath; they lie under his wrath, and are likely
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to be consumed by it. Note, Hypocritical nations are the people of
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God's wrath: nothing is more offensive to God than dissimulation in
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religion. See what a change sin made: those that had been God's chosen
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and hallowed people, above all people, had now become the <I>people of
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his wrath.</I> See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:2">Amos iii. 2</A>.
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2. How mean the character of the Assyrian was, though he appeared very
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great. He was but <I>the rod of God's anger,</I> an instrument God was
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pleased to make use of for the chastening of his people, that, being
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thus <I>chastened of the Lord, they might not be condemned with the
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world.</I> Note, The tyrants of the world are but the tools of
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|
Providence. Men are God's hand, his sword sometimes, to kill and slay
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+17:13,14">Ps. xvii. 13, 14</A>),
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at other times his rod to correct. <I>The staff in their hand,</I>
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|
wherewith they smite his people, <I>is his indignation;</I> it is his
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|
wrath that puts the staff into their hand and enables them to deal
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blows at pleasure among such as thought themselves a match for them.
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|
Sometimes God makes an idolatrous nation, that serves him not at all, a
|
|
scourge to a hypocritical nation, that serves him not in sincerity and
|
|
truth. The Assyrian is called the <I>rod of God's anger</I> because he
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is employed by him.
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(1.) From him his power is derived: <I>I will send him; I will give him
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|
a charge.</I> Note, All the power that wicked men have, though they
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|
often use it against God, they always receive from him. Pilate could
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|
have no power against Christ unless it were <I>given him from
|
|
above,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+19:11">John xix. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) By him the exercise of that power is directed. The Assyrian is
|
|
<I>to take the spoil and to take the prey,</I> not to shed any blood.
|
|
We read not of any slain, but he is to plunder the country, rifle the
|
|
houses, drive away the cattle, strip the people of all their wealth and
|
|
ornaments, and <I>tread them down like the mire of the streets.</I>
|
|
When God's professing people wallow in the mire of sin it is just with
|
|
God to suffer their enemies to tread upon them like mire. But why must
|
|
the Assyrian prevail thus against them? Not that they might be ruined,
|
|
but that they might be thoroughly reformed.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. See how the king of Assyria, in his pride, magnified himself as his
|
|
own master, and pretended to be absolute and above all control, to act
|
|
purely according to his own will and for his own honour. <I>God
|
|
ordained him for judgment,</I> even the <I>mighty God established him
|
|
for correction</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:12">Hab. i. 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
to be an instrument of bringing his people to repentance, <I>howbeit he
|
|
means not so, nor does his heart think so,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He does not think that he is either God's servant or Israel's
|
|
friend, either that he <I>can</I> do no more than God will let him or
|
|
that he <I>shall</I> do no more than God will make to work for the good
|
|
of his people. God designs to correct his people for, and so to cure
|
|
them of, their hypocrisy, and bring them nearer to himself; but was
|
|
that Sennacherib's design? No, it was the furthest thing from his
|
|
thoughts--<I>he means not so.</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The wise God often makes even the sinful passions and projects of
|
|
men subservient to his own great and holy purposes.
|
|
|
|
(2.) When God makes use of men as instruments in his hand to do his
|
|
work it is very common for <I>him</I> to mean one thing and <I>them</I>
|
|
to mean another, nay, for them to mean quite the contrary to what he
|
|
intends. What Joseph's brethren designed for hurt God overruled for
|
|
good,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+50:20">Gen. l. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+4:11,12">Mic. iv. 11, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Men have their ends and God has his, but we are sure <I>the counsel of
|
|
the Lord shall stand.</I> But what is it the proud Assyrian aims at?
|
|
The heart of kings is unsearchable, but God knew what was in his
|
|
heart.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He designs nothing but <I>to destroy and to cut off nations not a
|
|
few,</I> and to make himself master of them.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He designs to gratify his own cruelty; nothing will serve but to
|
|
destroy and cut off. He hopes to regale himself with blood and
|
|
slaughter; that of particular persons will not suffice, he must cut off
|
|
nations. It is below him to deal by retail; he traffics in murders by
|
|
wholesale. Nations, and those not a few, must have but one neck, which
|
|
he will have the pleasure of cutting off.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He designs to gratify his own covetousness and ambition, to set up
|
|
for a universal monarch, <I>and to gather unto him all nations,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:5">Hab. ii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
An insatiable desire of wealth and dominion is that which carries him
|
|
on in this undertaking.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The prophet here brings him in vaunting, and hectoring; and by his
|
|
general's letter to Hezekiah, written in his name, vainglory and
|
|
arrogance seem to have entered very far into the spirit and genius of
|
|
the man. His haughtiness and presumption are here described very
|
|
largely, and his very language copied out, partly to represent him as
|
|
ridiculous and partly to assure the people of God that he would be
|
|
brought down; for that maxim generally holds true, that pride goes
|
|
before destruction. It also intimates that God takes notice, and keeps
|
|
an account, of all men's proud and haughty words, with which they set
|
|
heaven and earth at defiance. Those that speak <I>great swelling words
|
|
of vanity</I> shall hear of them again.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He boasts of the great things he had done to other nations.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He had made their kings his courtiers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>My princes are altogether kings.</I> Those that are now my princes
|
|
are such as have been kings." Or he means that he had raised his throng
|
|
to such a degree that his servants, and those that were in command
|
|
under him, were as great, and lived in as much pomp, as the kings of
|
|
other countries. Or those that were absolute princes in their own
|
|
dominions held their crowns under him, and did him homage. This was a
|
|
vainglorious boast; but how great is our God whom we serve, who is
|
|
indeed King of kings, and whose subjects are made to him kings!
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+1:6">Rev. i. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He had made himself master of their cities. He names several
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>)
|
|
|
|
that were all alike reduced by him. <I>Calno</I> soon yielded <I>as
|
|
Carchemish</I> did, <I>Hamath</I> could not hold out any more than
|
|
<I>Arpad,</I> and <I>Samaria</I> had become his as well as
|
|
<I>Damascus.</I> To support his boasts he is obliged to bring the
|
|
victories of his predecessor into the account; for it was he that
|
|
conquered Samaria, not Sennacherib.
|
|
|
|
[3.] He had been too hard for their idols, their tutelar gods, <I>had
|
|
found out the kingdoms of the idols</I> and found out ways to make them
|
|
his own,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their kingdoms took denomination from the idols they worshipped; the
|
|
Moabites are called <I>the people of Chemosh</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+48:46">Jer. xlviii. 46</A>),
|
|
|
|
because they imagined their gods were their patrons and protectors; and
|
|
therefore Sennacherib vainly imagined that every conquest of a kingdom
|
|
was the conquest of a god.
|
|
|
|
[4.] He had enlarged his own dominions, and <I>removed the bounds of
|
|
the people</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
enclosing many large territories within the limits of his own kingdom
|
|
and shifting a great way further the ancient land-marks which his
|
|
fathers had set; he could not bear to be hemmed in so closely, but must
|
|
have more room to thrive. By his <I>removing the border of the
|
|
people</I> Mr. White understands his arbitrarily transplanting colonies
|
|
from place to place, which was the constant practice of the Assyrians
|
|
in all their conquests; and this is a probable interpretation.
|
|
|
|
[5.] He had enriched himself with their wealth, and brought it into his
|
|
own exchequer: <I>I have robbed their treasures.</I> In this he said
|
|
truly, Great conquerors are often no better than great robbers.
|
|
|
|
[6.] He had mastered all the opposition he met with: "<I>I have put
|
|
down the inhabitants as a valiant man.</I> Those that sat high, and
|
|
thought they say firmly, I have humbled and made to come down."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He boasts of the manner in which he had done them.
|
|
|
|
[1.] That he had done all this by his own policy and power
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>By the strength of my hand,</I> for I am valiant; <I>and by my
|
|
wisdom, for I am prudent;</I>" not by the permission of Providence and
|
|
the blessing of God. He knows not that it is God that makes him what he
|
|
is, and puts the staff into his hand, but <I>sacrifices to his own
|
|
net,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:16">Hab. i. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
"This wealth is all gotten by <I>my might and the power of my
|
|
hand,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:17">Deut. viii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Downright atheism and profaneness, as well as pride and vanity, are at
|
|
the bottom of men's attributing their prosperity and success thus to
|
|
themselves and their own conduct, and raising their own character upon
|
|
it.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That he had done all this with a great deal of ease, and had made
|
|
but a sport and diversion of it, as if he had been taking birds' nests
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>my hand has found as a nest the riches of the people;</I> and when
|
|
he had found them there was no more difficulty in taking them than in
|
|
rifling a nest, nor any more reluctance or regret within his own breast
|
|
in destroying families and cities than in destroying crows'-nests;
|
|
killing children was no more to him than killing birds. "<I>As one
|
|
gathers the eggs that are left</I> in the nest by the dam, so easily
|
|
<I>have I gathered all the earth.</I>" Like Alexander, he thought he
|
|
had conquered the world; and whatever prey he seized there was none
|
|
that <I>moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped,</I> as birds do
|
|
when their nests are rifled. They durst not make any opposition, no,
|
|
nor any complaint; such awe did they stand in of this mighty conqueror.
|
|
They were so weak that they knew it was to no purpose to resist, and he
|
|
was so arbitrary that they knew it was to no purpose to complain.
|
|
Strange that ever men who were made to do good should take a pride and
|
|
a pleasure in doing wrong, and doing mischief to all about them without
|
|
control, and should reckon that their glory which is their shame! But
|
|
<I>their</I> day will come to fall who thus make themselves <I>the
|
|
terror of thy mighty,</I> and much more of the feeble, <I>in the land
|
|
of the living.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) He threatens what he will do to Jerusalem, which he was now about
|
|
to lay siege to,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:10,11"><I>v.</I> 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
He would master Jerusalem and her idols, as he had subdued other places
|
|
and their idols, particularly Samaria.
|
|
|
|
[1.] He blasphemously calls the God of Israel an <I>idol,</I> and sets
|
|
him on a level with the false gods of other nations, as if none were
|
|
the true God but Mithras, the sun, whom he worshipped. See how ignorant
|
|
he was, and then we shall the less wonder that he was so proud.
|
|
|
|
[2.] He prefers the graven images of other countries before those of
|
|
Jerusalem and Samaria, when he might have known that the worshippers of
|
|
the God of Israel were expressly forbidden to make any graven images,
|
|
and if any did it must be by stealth, and therefore they could not be
|
|
so rich and pompous as those of other nations. If he means the ark and
|
|
the mercy-seat, he speaks like himself, very foolishly, and as one that
|
|
judged by the sight of the eye, and might therefore be easily deceived
|
|
in matters of spiritual concern. Those who make external pomp and
|
|
splendour a mark of the true church go by the same rule.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Because he had conquered Samaria, he concluded Jerusalem would
|
|
fall of course: "<I>Shall not I do so to Jerusalem?</I> can I not as
|
|
easily, and may I not as justly?" But it did not follow; for Jerusalem
|
|
adhered to her God, whereas Samaria had forsaken him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. See how God, in his justice, rebukes his pride and reads his doom.
|
|
We have heard what the great king, the king of Assyria, says, and how
|
|
big he talks. Let us now hear what the great God has to say by his
|
|
servant the prophet, and we shall find that, wherein he deals proudly,
|
|
God is above him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He shows the vanity of his insolent and audacious boasts
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Shall the axe boast itself against him that hews therewith? or shall
|
|
the saw magnify itself against him that draws it?</I> So absurd are the
|
|
boasts of this proud man. "O what a dust do I make!" said the fly upon
|
|
the cart-wheel in the fable. "What destruction do I make among the
|
|
trees!" says the axe. Two ways the axe may be said to <I>boast itself
|
|
against him that hews with it:</I>--
|
|
|
|
(1.) By way of resistance and opposition. Sennacherib blasphemed God,
|
|
insulted him, threatened to serve him as he had served the gods of the
|
|
nations; now this was as if the axe should fly in the face of him that
|
|
hews with it. The tool striving with the workman is no less absurd than
|
|
the clay striving with the potter; and as it is a thing not to be
|
|
justified that men should fight against God with the wit, and wealth,
|
|
and power, which he gives them, so it is a thing not to be suffered.
|
|
But if men will be thus proud and daring, and bid defiances to all that
|
|
is just and sacred, let them expect that God will reckon with them; the
|
|
more insolent they are the surer and sorer will their ruin be.
|
|
|
|
(2.) By way of rivalship and competition. Shall the axe take to itself
|
|
the praise of the work it is employed in? So senseless, so absurd was
|
|
it for Sennacherib to say, <I>By the strength of my hand I have done
|
|
it, and by my wisdom,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is as if the rod, when it is shaken, should boast that it guides the
|
|
hand which shakes it; whereas, <I>when the staff is lifted up, is it
|
|
not wood still?</I> so the last clause may be read. If it be an ensign
|
|
of authority (as the nobles of the people carried staves,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+21:18">Num. xxi. 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
if it be an instrument of service, either to support a weak man or to
|
|
correct a bad man, still it is wood, and can do nothing but as it is
|
|
directed by him that uses it. The psalmist prays that God would make
|
|
the nations to know that they <I>were but men</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+9:20">Ps. ix. 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
the staff to know that it is but wood.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He foretels his fall and ruin.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) That when God had done his work by him he would then do his work
|
|
upon him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
For the comfort of the people of God in reference to Sennacherib's
|
|
invasion, though it was a dismal time with them, let them know,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That God designed to do good to Zion and Jerusalem by this
|
|
providence. There is a work to be done upon them, which God intends,
|
|
and which he will perform. Note, When God lets loose the enemies of his
|
|
church and people, and suffers them for a time to prevail, it is in
|
|
order to the performing of some great good work upon them; and, when
|
|
that is done, then, and not till then, he will work deliverance for
|
|
them. When God brings his people into trouble it is to try them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+11:35">Dan. xi. 35</A>),
|
|
|
|
to bring sin to their remembrance and humble them for it, and to awaken
|
|
them to a sense of their duty, to teach them to pray and to love and
|
|
help one another; and <I>this must be the fruit, even the taking away
|
|
of sin,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:9"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
When these points are, in some measure, gained by the affliction, it
|
|
shall be removed, in mercy
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:41,42">Lev. xxvi. 41, 42</A>),
|
|
|
|
otherwise not; for, as the word, so the rod shall <I>accomplish that
|
|
for which God sends it.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] That when God had wrought this work of grace for his people he
|
|
would work a work of wrath and vengeance upon their invaders: <I>I will
|
|
punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria.</I> His big
|
|
words are here said to come from his stout heart, and they are the
|
|
fruit of it; for <I>out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
|
|
speaks.</I> Notice is taken too of the <I>glory of his high looks,</I>
|
|
for a proud look is the indication of a proud spirit. The enemies of
|
|
the church are commonly very high and haughty; but, sooner or later,
|
|
God will reckon for their haughtiness. He glories in it as an
|
|
incontestable proof of his power and sovereignty that he <I>looks upon
|
|
proud men and abases them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+40:11">Job xl. 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) That, how threatening soever this attempt was upon Zion and
|
|
Jerusalem, it should certainly be baffled, and broken, and come to
|
|
nothing, and he should not be able to bring to pass his enterprise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:16,19"><I>v.</I> 16, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] Who it is that undertakes his destruction, and will be the author
|
|
of it; not Hezekiah, or his princes, or the militia of Judah and
|
|
Jerusalem (what can they do against such a potent force?), but God
|
|
himself will do it, as <I>the Lord of hosts,</I> and as <I>the light of
|
|
Israel. First,</I> We are sure he can do it, for he is <I>the Lord of
|
|
hosts,</I> of all the hosts of heaven and earth. All the creatures are
|
|
at his command; he makes what use he pleases on them. He is the Lord of
|
|
the hosts both of Judah and of Assyria, and can give the victory to
|
|
which he pleases. Let us not fear the hosts of any enemy if we have the
|
|
Lord of hosts for us. <I>Secondly,</I> We have reason to hope he will
|
|
do it, for he is <I>the light of Israel, and his Holy One.</I> God is
|
|
light; in him are perfect brightness, purity, and happiness. He is
|
|
light, for he is the Holy One; his holiness is his glory. He is
|
|
Israel's light, to direct and counsel his people, to favour and
|
|
countenance them, and so to gladden and comfort them in the worst of
|
|
times. He is their Holy One, for he is in covenant with them; his
|
|
holiness is engaged and employed for them. God's holiness is the
|
|
saints' comfort; they <I>give thanks at the remembrance</I> of it, and
|
|
with a great deal of pleasure call him <I>their Holy One,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+1:12">Hab. i. 12</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] How this destruction is represented. It shall be, <I>First,</I> As
|
|
a consumption of the body by a disease: <I>The Lord shall send leanness
|
|
among his fatnesses,</I> or <I>his fat ones.</I> His numerous army,
|
|
that was like a body covered with fatness, shall be diminished, and
|
|
waste away, and become like a skeleton. <I>Secondly,</I> As a
|
|
consumption of buildings, or trees and bushes, by fire: <I>Under his
|
|
glory,</I> that very thing which he glories in, <I>he will kindle a
|
|
burning, as the burning of a fire,</I> which shall lay his army in
|
|
ruins as suddenly as a raging fire lays a stately house in ashes. Some
|
|
make it an allusion to the fire kindled under the sacrifices; for proud
|
|
sinners fall as sacrifices to divine justice. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How this fire shall be kindled,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
The same God that is a rejoicing light to those that serve him
|
|
faithfully will be a consuming fire to those that trifle with him or
|
|
rebel against him. <I>The light of Israel shall be for a fire</I> to
|
|
the Assyrians, as the same pillar of cloud was a light to the
|
|
Israelites and a terror to the Egyptians in the Red Sea. What can
|
|
oppose, what can extinguish, such a fire?
|
|
|
|
2. What desolation it shall make: <I>it shall burn and devour its
|
|
thorns and briers,</I> his officers and soldiers, which are of little
|
|
worth, and vexations to God's Israel, as thorns and briers, whose end
|
|
is to be burned, and which are easily and quickly consumed by a
|
|
devouring fire. "<I>Who would set the briers and thorns against me in
|
|
battle?</I> They would be so far from stopping the fire that they would
|
|
inflame it. <I>I would go through them and burn them together</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:4"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
they shall be devoured in one day, all cut off in an instant." When
|
|
they cried not only Peace and safety, but Victory and triumph, then
|
|
sudden destruction came; it came surprisingly, and was completed in a
|
|
little time. "Even <I>the glory of his forest</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
the choice troops of his army, the veterans, the troops of the
|
|
household, the bravest regiments he had, that he was most proud of and
|
|
depended most upon, that he valued as men do their timber-trees (the
|
|
glory of their forest) or their fruit-trees (the glory of the Carmel),
|
|
shall be put as briers and thorns before the fire; they shall be
|
|
consumed both soul and body, entirely consumed, not only a limb burned,
|
|
but life taken away." Note, God is able to destroy both soul and body,
|
|
and therefore we should fear him more than man, who can but kill the
|
|
body. Great armies before him are but as great woods, which he can fell
|
|
or fire when he pleases.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[3.] What would be the effect of this great slaughter. The prophet
|
|
tells us, <I>First,</I> That the army would hereby be reduced to a very
|
|
small number: <I>The rest of the trees of his forest shall be few;</I>
|
|
very few shall escape the sword of the destroying angel, so few that
|
|
there needs no artist, no muster-master or secretary of war, to take an
|
|
account of them, for even <I>a child may</I> soon reckon the numbers of
|
|
them, and <I>write</I> the names of <I>them. Secondly,</I> That those
|
|
few who remained should be quite dispirited: <I>They shall be as when a
|
|
standard-bearer fainteth.</I> When he either falls or flees, and his
|
|
colours are taken by the enemy, this discourages the whole army, and
|
|
puts them all into confusion. Upon the whole matter we must say, <I>Who
|
|
is able to stand before this great and holy Lord God?</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_23"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Encouragement to Israel.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 740.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>20 And it shall come to pass in that day, <I>that</I> the remnant of
|
|
Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no
|
|
more again stay upon him that smote them; but shall stay upon the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
|
|
21 The remnant shall return, <I>even</I> the remnant of Jacob, unto
|
|
the mighty God.
|
|
22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea,
|
|
<I>yet</I> a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed
|
|
shall overflow with righteousness.
|
|
23 For the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT> of hosts shall make a consumption, even
|
|
determined, in the midst of all the land.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The prophet had said
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>)
|
|
|
|
that <I>the Lord would perform his whole work upon Mount Zion and upon
|
|
Jerusalem,</I> by Sennacherib's invading the land. Now here we are told
|
|
what that work should be, a twofold work:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The conversion of some, to whom this providence should be sanctified
|
|
and yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, though for the present
|
|
it was not joyous, but grievous; these are but a remnant
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>the remnant of Israel</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>the remnant of Jacob</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
but a very few in comparison with the vast numbers of the people of
|
|
Israel, who were as the sand of the sea. Note, Converting work is
|
|
wrought but on a remnant, who are distinguished from the rest and set
|
|
apart for God. When we see how populous Israel is, how numerous the
|
|
members of the visible church are, as the sand of the sea, and yet
|
|
consider that of these a remnant only shall be saved, that of the many
|
|
that are called there are but few chosen, we shall surely <I>strive to
|
|
enter in at the strait gate</I> and fear lest we <I>seem to come
|
|
short.</I> This remnant of Israel are said to be <I>such as had escaped
|
|
of the house of Jacob,</I> such as escaped the corruptions of the house
|
|
of Jacob, and kept their integrity in times of common apostasy; and
|
|
that was a fair escape. And therefore they escape the desolations of
|
|
that house, and shall be preserved in safety in times of common
|
|
calamity; and that also will be a fair and narrow escape. Their
|
|
<I>lives shall be given them for a prey,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+45:5">Jer. xlv. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
The <I>righteous scarcely are saved.</I> Now,
|
|
|
|
1. This remnant shall come off from all confidence in an arm of flesh,
|
|
this providence shall cure them of that: "They <I>shall no more again
|
|
stay upon him that smote them,</I> shall never depend upon the
|
|
Assyrians, as they have done, for help against their other enemies,
|
|
finding that they are themselves their worst enemies." <I>Ictus
|
|
piscator sapit--sufferings teach caution.</I> "They have now learned by
|
|
dear-bought experience the folly of leaning upon that staff as a stay
|
|
to them which may perhaps prove a staff to beat them." It is part of
|
|
the covenant of a returning people
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:3">Hos. xiv. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Assyria shall not save us.</I> Note, By our afflictions we may learn
|
|
not to make creatures our confidence.
|
|
|
|
2. They shall come home to God, to the mighty God (one of the names
|
|
given to the Messiah,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+9:6"><I>ch.</I> ix. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
to the Holy One of Israel: "<I>The remnant shall return</I> (that was
|
|
signified by the name of the prophet's son, <I>Shear-jashub,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+7:3"><I>ch.</I> vii. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>even the remnant of Jacob.</I> They shall return, after the raising
|
|
of the siege of Jerusalem, not only to the quiet possession of their
|
|
houses and lands, but to God and to their duty; they shall repent, and
|
|
pray, and seek his face, and reform their lives." The remnant that
|
|
escape are a returning remnant: they shall return to God, and shall
|
|
stay upon him. Note, Those only may with comfort stay upon God that
|
|
return to him; then may we have a humble confidence in God when we make
|
|
conscience of our duty to him. They <I>shall stay upon the Holy One of
|
|
Israel, in truth,</I> and not in pretence and profession only. This
|
|
promise of the conversion and salvation of a remnant of Israel is
|
|
applied by the apostle
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:27">Rom. ix. 27</A>)
|
|
|
|
to the remnant of the Jews which at the first preaching of the gospel
|
|
received and entertained it, and sufficiently proves that it was no new
|
|
thing for God to abandon to ruin a great many of the seed of Abraham in
|
|
full force and virtue; for so it was now. The number of the children of
|
|
Israel was <I>as the sand of the sea</I> (according to the promise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+22:17">Gen. xxii. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
and yet only a remnant shall be saved.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The consumption of others: <I>The Lord God of hosts shall make a
|
|
consumption,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is not meant (as that
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>)
|
|
|
|
of the consumption of the Assyrian army, but of the consumption of the
|
|
estates and families of many of the Jews by the Assyrian army. This is
|
|
taken notice of to magnify the power and goodness of God in the escape
|
|
of the distinguished remnant, and to let us know what shall become of
|
|
those that will not return to God; they shall be wasted away by this
|
|
consumption, this general decay <I>in the midst of the land.</I>
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. It is a consumption of God's own making; he is the author of it. The
|
|
Lord God of hosts, whom none can resist, shall make this consumption.
|
|
|
|
2. It is <I>decreed.</I> It is not the product of a sudden resolve, but
|
|
was before ordained. It is <I>determined,</I> not only that there shall
|
|
be such a consumption, but it is <I>cut out</I> (so the word is); it is
|
|
particularly appointed how far it shall extend and how long it shall
|
|
continue, who shall be consumed by it and who not.
|
|
|
|
3. It is an overflowing consumption, that shall overspread the land,
|
|
and, like a mighty torrent or inundation, bear down all before it.
|
|
|
|
4. Though it overflows, it is not at random, but in
|
|
<I>righteousness,</I> which signifies both wisdom and equity. God will
|
|
justly bring this consumption upon a provoking people, but he will
|
|
wisely and graciously set bounds to it. <I>Hitherto it shall come, and
|
|
no further.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa10_34"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Encouragement to Israel.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 740.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>24 Therefore thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT> of hosts, O my people that
|
|
dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall smite
|
|
thee with a rod, and shall lift up his staff against thee, after
|
|
the manner of Egypt.
|
|
25 For yet a very little while, and the indignation shall
|
|
cease, and mine anger in their destruction.
|
|
26 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him
|
|
according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb: and
|
|
<I>as</I> his rod <I>was</I> upon the sea, so shall he lift it up after the
|
|
manner of Egypt.
|
|
27 And it shall come to pass in that day, <I>that</I> his burden
|
|
shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off
|
|
thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the
|
|
anointing.
|
|
28 He is come to Aiath, he is passed to Migron; at Michmash he
|
|
hath laid up his carriages:
|
|
29 They are gone over the passage: they have taken up their
|
|
lodging at Geba; Ramah is afraid; Gibeah of Saul is fled.
|
|
30 Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim: cause it to be
|
|
heard unto Laish, O poor Anathoth.
|
|
31 Madmenah is removed; the inhabitants of Gebim gather
|
|
themselves to flee.
|
|
32 As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his
|
|
hand <I>against</I> the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of
|
|
Jerusalem.
|
|
33 Behold, the Lord, the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, shall lop the bough
|
|
with terror: and the high ones of stature <I>shall be</I> hewn down,
|
|
and the haughty shall be humbled.
|
|
34 And he shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron,
|
|
and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The prophet, in his preaching, distinguishes between the precious and
|
|
the vile; for God in his providence, even in the same providence, does
|
|
so. He speaks terror, in Sennacherib's invasion, to the hypocrites, who
|
|
were the <I>people of God's wrath,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
But here he speaks comfort to the sincere, who were the people of God's
|
|
love. The judgment was sent for the sake of the former; the deliverance
|
|
was wrought for the sake of the latter. Here we have,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. An exhortation to God's people not to be frightened at this
|
|
threatening calamity, nor to be put into any confusion or consternation
|
|
by it. <I>Let the sinners in Zion be afraid</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:14"><I>ch.</I> xxxiii. 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
but <I>O my people, that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the
|
|
Assyrian,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, It is against the mind and will of God that his people, whatever
|
|
may happen, should give way to that fear which has torment and
|
|
amazement. Those that dwell in Zion, where God dwells and where his
|
|
people attend him, and are employed in his service, that are under the
|
|
protection of the bulwarks that are <I>round about Zion</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+48:13">Ps. xlviii. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
need not be afraid of any enemy. Let their souls dwell at ease in
|
|
God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Considerations offered for the silencing of their fear.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The Assyrian shall do nothing against them but what God has
|
|
appointed and determined. They are here told before hand what he shall
|
|
do, that it may be no surprise to them: "<I>He shall smite thee</I> by
|
|
the divine permission, but it shall be only <I>with a rod</I> to
|
|
correct thee, not with a sword to wound and kill; nay, <I>he shall but
|
|
lift up his staff against thee,</I> threaten thee, and frighten thee,
|
|
and shake the rod at thee, <I>after the manner of Egypt,</I> as the
|
|
Egyptians shook their staff against your fathers at the Red Sea, when
|
|
they said, <I>We will pursue, we will overtake</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+15:9">Exod. xv. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
but could not reach to do them any hurt." Note, We should not be
|
|
frightened at those enemies that can do no more than frighten us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The storm shall soon blow over
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Yet a very little while--a little, little while</I> (so the word
|
|
is), <I>and the indignation shall cease, even my anger,</I> which is
|
|
<I>the staff in their hand</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
so that when that ceases they are disarmed and disabled to do any
|
|
further mischief. Note, God's anger against his people is but for a
|
|
moment
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+30:5">Ps. xxx. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
and when that ceases, and is turned away from us, we need not fear the
|
|
fury of any man, for it is impotent passion.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The enemy that threatens them shall himself be reckoned with. God's
|
|
anger against his people <I>shall cease in the destruction</I> of their
|
|
enemies; when he turns away his wrath from Israel he shall turn it
|
|
against the Assyrian; and the rod with which he corrected his people
|
|
shall not only be laid aside, but thrown into the fire. He <I>lifted up
|
|
his staff</I> against Zion, but God <I>shall stir up a scourge for
|
|
him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>);
|
|
|
|
he is a terror to God's people, but God will be a terror to him. The
|
|
destroying angel shall be this scourge, which he can neither flee from
|
|
nor contend with. The prophet, for the encouragement of God's people,
|
|
quotes precedents, and puts them in mind of what God had done formerly
|
|
against the enemies of his church, who were very strong and formidable,
|
|
but were brought to ruin. The destruction of the Assyrian shall be,
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>According to the slaughter of Midian</I> (which was effected by
|
|
an invisible power, but effected suddenly, and it was a total rout);
|
|
and as, <I>at the rock of Oreb,</I> one of the princes of Midian, after
|
|
the battle, was slain, so shall Sennacherib be in the temple of his god
|
|
Nisroch, after the defeat of his forces, when he thinks the bitterness
|
|
of death is past. Compare with this
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+83:11">Ps. lxxxiii. 11</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb;</I> and see how God's
|
|
promises and his people's prayers agree.
|
|
|
|
(2.) <I>As his rod was upon the sea,</I> the Red Sea, as Moses' rod was
|
|
upon that, to divide it first for the escape of Israel and then to
|
|
close it again for the destruction of their pursuers, so shall his rod
|
|
now be <I>lifted up, after the manner of Egypt,</I> for the deliverance
|
|
of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Assyrian. Note, It is good to
|
|
observe a resemblance between God's latter and former appearances for
|
|
his people, and against his and their enemies.</P>
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<P>
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4. They shall be wholly delivered from the power of the Assyrian, and
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from the fear of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
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"They shall not only be eased of the Assyrian army, which is now
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quartered upon them and which is a grievous yoke and burden to them,
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but they shall no more pay that tribute to the king of Assyria which
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before this invasion he exacted from them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+18:14">2 Kings xviii. 14</A>),
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shall be no longer at his service, nor lie at his mercy, as they have
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done; nor shall he ever again put the country under contribution." Some
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think it looks further, to the deliverance of the Jews out of their
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captivity in Babylon; and further yet, to the redemption of believers
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from the tyranny of sin and Satan. The yoke shall not only be taken
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away, but it <I>shall be destroyed.</I> The enemy shall no more recover
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his strength, to do the mischief he has done; and this <I>because of
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the anointing,</I> for their sakes who were partakers of the anointing.
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(1.) For Hezekiah's sake, who was the anointed of the Lord, who had
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been an active reformer, and was dear to God.
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(2.) For David's sake. This is particularly given as the reason why God
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would defend Jerusalem from Sennacherib
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:35"><I>ch.</I> xxxvii. 35</A>),
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<I>For my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.</I>
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(3.) For his people Israel's sake, the good people among them that had
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received the unction of divine grace.
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(4.) For the sake of the Messiah, the Anointed of God, whom God had an
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eye to in all the deliverances of the Old-Testament church, and hath
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still an eye to in all the favours he shows to his people. It is for
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his sake that the yoke is broken, and that we are made free indeed.</P>
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<P>
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III. A description both of the terror of the enemy and the terror with
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|
which many were struck by it, and the folly of both exposed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:28-34"><I>v.</I> 28</A>,
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to the end. Here observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. How formidable the Assyrians were and how daring and threatening
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|
they affected to appear. Here is a particular description of the march
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of Sennacherib, what course he steered, what swift advances he made:
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<I>He has come to Aiath,</I> &c. "This and the other place he has made
|
|
himself master of, and has met with no opposition." <I>At Michmash he
|
|
has laid up his carriages,</I> as if he had no further occasion for his
|
|
heavy artillery, so easily was every place he came to reduced; or the
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|
store-cities of Judah, which were fortified for that purpose, had now
|
|
become his magazines. Some remarkable pass, and an important one, he
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had taken: <I>They have gone over the passage.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. How cowardly the men of Judah were, the degenerate seed of that
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|
lion's whelp. They were <I>afraid;</I> they <I>fled</I> upon the first
|
|
alarm, and did not offer to make any head against the enemy. Their
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|
apostasy from God had dispirited them, so that one chased a thousand of
|
|
them. Instead of a valiant shout, to animate one another, nothing was
|
|
heard by lamentation, to discourage and weaken one another. And <I>poor
|
|
Anathoth,</I> a priests' city, that should have been a pattern of
|
|
courage, shrieks louder than any,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
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With respect to those that <I>gathered themselves</I> together, it was
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|
not to fight, but to flee by consent,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is designed either,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To show how fast the news of the enemy's progress flew through the
|
|
kingdom: <I>He has come to Aiath,</I> says one; nay, says another,
|
|
<I>He has passed to Migron,</I> &c. And yet, perhaps, it was not
|
|
altogether so bad as common fame represented it. But we must watch
|
|
against the fear, not only of evil things, but of evil tidings, which
|
|
often make things worse than really they are,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+112:7">Ps. cxii. 7</A>.
|
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Or,
|
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|
|
(2.) To show what imminent danger Jerusalem was in, when its enemies
|
|
made so many bold advances towards it and its friends could not make
|
|
one bold stand to defend it. Note, The more daring the church's enemies
|
|
are, and the more dastardly those are that should appear for her, the
|
|
more will God be exalted in his own strength, when, notwithstanding
|
|
this, he works deliverance for her.</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
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|
3. How impotent his attempt upon Jerusalem shall be: <I>he shall remain
|
|
at Nob,</I> whence he may see Mount Zion, and there <I>he shall shake
|
|
his hand</I> against it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
He shall threaten it, and that shall be all; it shall be safe, and
|
|
shall set him at defiance. The daughter of Jerusalem, to be even with
|
|
him, shall <I>shake her head</I> at him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:22"><I>ch.</I> xxxvii. 22</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. How fatal it would prove, in the issue, to himself. When he
|
|
<I>shakes his hand at Jerusalem,</I> and is about to lay hands on it,
|
|
then is God's time to appear against him; for Zion is the place of
|
|
which God has said, <I>This is my rest for ever;</I> therefore those
|
|
who threaten it affront God himself. Then <I>the Lord shall lop the
|
|
bough with terror and cut down the thickets of the forest,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:33,34"><I>v.</I> 33, 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The pride of the enemy shall be humbled, the boughs that are
|
|
lifted up on high shall be lopped off, the high and stately trees shall
|
|
be hewn down; that is, the haughty shall be humbled. Those that lift up
|
|
themselves in competition with God or opposition to him shall be
|
|
abased.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The power of the enemy shall be broken: <I>The thickets of the
|
|
forest he shall cut down.</I> When the Assyrian soldiers were under
|
|
their arms, and their spears erect, they looked like a forest, like
|
|
Lebanon; but, when in one night they all became as dead corpses, the
|
|
pikes were laid on the ground, and Lebanon was of a sudden cut down
|
|
<I>by a mighty one,</I> by the destroying angel, who in a little time
|
|
slew so many thousands of them: and, if this shall be the exit of that
|
|
proud invader, let not God's people be afraid of him. <I>Who art thou,
|
|
that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die?</I></P>
|
|
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