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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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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. XVIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<P>
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Whatever country it is that is meant here by "the land shadowing with
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wings," here is a woe denounced against it, for God has, upon his
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people's account, a quarrel with it.
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I. They threaten God's people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>.
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II. All the neighbours are hereupon called to take notice what will be
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the issue,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:3">ver. 3</A>.
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III. Though God seem unconcerned in the distress of his people for a
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time, he will at length appear against their enemies and will
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remarkable cut them off,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:4-6">ver. 4-6</A>.
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IV. This shall redound very much to the glory of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:7">ver. 7</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa18_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa18_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa18_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa18_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa18_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa18_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa18_7"> </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>Judgments Denounced.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 712.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which <I>is</I> beyond the
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rivers of Ethiopia:
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2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of
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bulrushes upon the waters, <I>saying,</I> Go, ye swift messengers, to
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a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their
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beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose
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land the rivers have spoiled!
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3 All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth,
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see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when
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he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
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4 For so the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will
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consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, <I>and</I>
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like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
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5 For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour
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grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs
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with pruning hooks, and take away <I>and</I> cut down the branches.
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6 They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains,
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and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon
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them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.
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7 In that time shall the present be brought unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of
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hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people
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terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and
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trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the
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place of the name of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, the mount Zion.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Interpreters are very much at a loss where to find this land that lies
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beyond the rivers of Cush. Some take it to be Egypt, a maritime
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country, and full of rivers, and which courted Israel to depend upon
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them, but proved broken reeds; but against this it is strongly objected
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that the next chapter is distinguished from this by the title of <I>the
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burden of Egypt.</I> Others take it to be Ethiopia, and read it,
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<I>which lies near,</I> or <I>about, the rivers of Ethiopia,</I> not
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that in Africa, which lay south of Egypt, but that which we call
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<I>Arabia,</I> which lay east of Canaan, which Tirhakah was now king
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of. He thought to protect the Jews, as it were, under <I>the shadow of
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his wings,</I> by giving a powerful diversion to the king of Assyria,
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when he made a descent upon his country, at the time that he was
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attacking Jerusalem,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+19:9">2 Kings xix. 9</A>.
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But though by his ambassadors he bade defiance to the king of Assyria,
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and encouraged the Jews to depend upon him, God by the prophet slights
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him, and will not go forth with him; he may take his own course, but
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God will take another course to protect Jerusalem, while he suffers the
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attempt of Tirhakah to miscarry and his Arabian army to be ruined; for
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the Assyrian army shall become a present or sacrifice to the Lord of
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hosts, and to the place of his name, by the hand of an angel, not by
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the hand of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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This is a very probable exposition of this chapter. But from a hint of
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Dr. Lightfoot's, in his Harmony of the Old Testament, I incline to
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understand this chapter as a prophecy against Assyria, and so a
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continuation of the prophecy in the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+17:12-14">last three verses</A>
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of the foregoing chapter, with which therefore this should be joined.
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That was against the army of the Assyrians which rushed in upon Judah;
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this is against the land of Assyria itself, which lay beyond the rivers
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of Arabia, that is, the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, which bordered on
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<I>Arabia Deserta.</I> And in calling it <I>the land shadowing with
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wings</I> he seems to refer to what he himself had said of it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:8"><I>ch.</I> viii. 8</A>),
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that <I>the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy
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land, O Immanuel!</I> The prophet might perhaps describe the Assyrians
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by such dark expressions, not naming them, for the same reason that St.
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Paul, in his prophecy, speaks of the Roman empire by a periphrasis:
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<I>He who now letteth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Th+2:7">2 Thess. ii. 7</A>.
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Here is,</P>
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<P>
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I. The attempt made by this land (whatever it is) upon <I>a nation
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scattered and peeled,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Swift messengers are sent by water to proclaim war against them, as a
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nation marked by Providence, and <I>meted out,</I> to be trodden under
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foot. Whether this refer to the Ethiopians waging war with the
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Assyrians, or the Assyrians with Judah, it teaches us,
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1. That a people which have been terrible from their beginning, have
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made a figure and borne a mighty sway, may yet become scattered and
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peeled, and may be spoiled even by their own rivers, that should enrich
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both the husbandman and the merchant. Nations which have been
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formidable, and have kept all in awe about them, may by a concurrence
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of accidents become despicable and an easy prey to their insulting
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neighbours.
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2. Princes and states that are ambitious of enlarging their
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territories will always have some pretence or other to quarrel with
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those whose countries they have a mind to. "It is a nation that has
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been terrible, and therefore we must be revenged on it; it is now a
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nation scattered and peeled, meted out and trodden down, and therefore
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it will be an easy prey for us." Perhaps it was not brought so low as
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they represented it. God's people are trampled on as a nation scattered
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and peeled; but whoever think to swallow them up may find them still as
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terrible as they have been from their beginning; they are cast down,
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but not deserted, not destroyed.</P>
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<P>
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II. The alarm sounded to the nations about, by which they are summoned
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to take notice of what God is about to do,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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The Ethiopians and Assyrians have their counsels and designs, which
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they have laid deep, and promise themselves much from, and, in
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prosecution of them, send their ambassadors and messengers from place
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to place; but let us now enquire what the great God says to all this.
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1. <I>He lifts up an ensign upon the mountains, and blows a
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trumpet,</I> by which he proclaims war against the enemies of his
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church, and calls in all her friends and well-wishers into her service,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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He gives notice that he is about to do some great work, as <I>Lord of
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hosts.</I>
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2. All the world is bidden to take notice of it; all the dwellers on
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earth must see the ensign and hear the trumpet, must observe the
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motions of the divine providence and attend the directions of the
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divine will. Let all enlist under God's banner, and be on his side, and
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hearken to the trumpet of his word, which gives not an uncertain
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sound.</P>
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<P>
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III. The assurance God gives to his prophet, by him to be given to his
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people, that, though he might seem for a time to sit by as an
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unconcerned spectator, yet he would certainly and seasonably appear for
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the comfort of his people and the confusion of his and their enemies
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>So the Lord said unto me.</I> Men will have their saying, but God
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also will have his; and, as we may be sure his word shall stand, so he
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often whispers it in the ears of his servants the prophets. When he
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says, <I>I will take my rest,</I> it is not as if he were weary of
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governing the world, of as if he either needed or desired to retire
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from it and repose himself; but it intimates that the great God has a
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perfect, undisturbed, enjoyment of himself, in the midst of all the
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agitations and changes of this world (the Lord sits even upon the
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floods unshaken; the Eternal Mind is always easy), and, though he may
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sometimes seem to his people as if he took not wonted notice of what is
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done in this lower world (they are tempted to think he is <I>as one
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asleep,</I> or <I>as one astonished,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+44:23,Jer+14:9">Ps. xliv. 23; Jer. xiv. 9</A>),
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yet even then he knows very well what men are doing and what he himself
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will do.</P>
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<P>
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1. He will take care of his people, and be a shelter to them. He will
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regard his <I>dwelling-place;</I> his eye and his heart are, and shall
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be, upon it for good continually. Zion is his rest for ever, where he
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will dwell; and he will <I>look after it</I> (so some read it); he will
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lift up the light of his countenance upon it, will consider over it
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what is to be done, and will be sure to do all for the best. He will
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adapt the comforts and refreshments he provides for his people to the
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exigencies of their case; and they will <I>therefore</I> be acceptable,
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because seasonable.
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(1.) Like a clear heat after rain (so the margin), which is very
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reviving and pleasant, and makes the herbs to flourish.
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(2.) Like a dew and <I>a cloud in the heat of harvest,</I> which are
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very welcome, the dew to the ground and the cloud to the labourers.
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Note, There is that in God which is a shelter and refreshment to his
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people in all weathers and arms them against the inconveniences of
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every change. Is the weather cool? There is that in his favour which
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will warm them. Is it hot? There is that in his favour which will cool
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them. Great men have their winter-house and their summer-house
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+3:15">Amos iii. 15</A>);
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but those that are at home with God have both in him.</P>
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<P>
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2. He will reckon with his and their enemies,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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When the Assyrian army promises itself a plentiful harvest in the
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taking of Jerusalem and the plundering of that rich city, when the bud
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of that project is perfect, before the harvest is gathered in, while
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the sour grape of their enmity to Hezekiah and his people is ripening
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in the flower and the design is just ready to be put in execution, God
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shall destroy that army as easily as the husbandman cuts off the sprigs
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of the vine with pruning hooks, or because the grape is sour and good
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for nothing, and will not be cured, <I>takes away and cuts down the
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branches.</I> This seems to point at the overthrow of the Assyrian army
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by a destroying angel, when the dead bodies of the soldiers were
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scattered like the branches and sprigs of a wild vine, which the
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husbandman has cut to pieces. <I>And they shall be left to the fowls of
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the mountains, and the beasts of the earth,</I> to prey upon, both
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winter and summer; for as God's people are protected all seasons of the
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year, both in cold and heat
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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so their enemies are at all seasons exposed; birds and beasts of prey
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shall both summer and winter upon them, till they are quite ruined.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The tribute of praise which should be brought to God from all this
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>In that time,</I> when this shall be accomplished, <I>shall the
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present be brought unto the Lord of hosts.</I>
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1. Some understand this of the conversion of the Ethiopians to the
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faith of Christ in the latter days, of which we have the specimen and
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beginning in Philip's baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+8:27">Acts viii. 27</A>,
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&c. Those that were <I>a people scattered and peeled, meted out, and
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trodden down</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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shall be a present to the Lord: and, though they seem useless and
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worthless, they shall be an acceptable present to him who judges of men
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by the sincerity of their faith and love, not by the pomp and
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prosperity of their outward condition. <I>Therefore</I> the gospel was
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ministered to the Gentiles that <I>the offering up of the Gentiles
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might be acceptable,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+15:16">Rom. xv. 16</A>.
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It is prophesied
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+68:31">Ps. lxviii. 31</A>)
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that <I>Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.</I>
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2. Others understand it of the spoil of Sennacherib's army, out of
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which, as usual, presents were brought to <I>the Lord of hosts,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+31:50">Num. xxxi. 50</A>.
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It was the present of a people scattered and peeled.
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(1.) It was won from the Assyrians, who were now themselves reduced to
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such a condition as they scornfully described Judah to be in,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Those that unjustly trample upon others shall themselves be justly
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trampled upon.
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(2.) It was offered by the people of God, who were, in disdain, called
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<I>a people scattered and peeled.</I> God will put honour upon his
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people, though men put contempt upon them. <I>Lastly,</I> Observe, The
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present that is brought to the Lord of hosts must be brought <I>to the
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place of the name of the Lord of hosts;</I> what is offered to God must
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be offered in the way that he has appointed; we must be sure to attend
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him, and expect him to meet us, where he records his name.</P>
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