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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. XXI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have a prophecy of sad times coming, and heavy
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burdens,
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I. Upon Babylon, here called "the desert of the sea," that it should be
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destroyed by the Medes and Persians with a terrible destruction, which
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yet God's people should have advantage by,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:1-10">ver. 1-10</A>.
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II. Upon Dumah, or Idumea,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:11,12">ver. 11, 12</A>.
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III. Upon Arabia, or Kedar, the desolation of which country was very
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near,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:13-17">ver. 13-17</A>.
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These and other nations which the princes and people of Israel had so
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much to do with the prophets of Israel could not but have something to
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say to. Foreign affairs must be taken notice of as well as domestic
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ones, and news from abroad enquired after as well as news at home.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa21_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa21_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa21_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa21_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa21_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa21_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa21_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa21_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa21_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa21_10"> </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 Doom of Babylon.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 714.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the
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south pass through; <I>so</I> it cometh from the desert, from a
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terrible land.
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2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer
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dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam:
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besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.
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3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken
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hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was
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bowed down at the hearing <I>of it;</I> I was dismayed at the seeing
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<I>of it.</I>
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4 My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my
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pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me.
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5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink:
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arise, ye princes, <I>and</I> anoint the shield.
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6 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let
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him declare what he seeth.
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7 And he saw a chariot <I>with</I> a couple of horsemen, a chariot
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of asses, <I>and</I> a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently
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with much heed:
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8 And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the
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watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:
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9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, <I>with</I> a couple of
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horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen;
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and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the
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ground.
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10 O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have
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heard of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared
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unto you.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We had one burden of Babylon before
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+13:1-22"><I>ch.</I> xiii.</A>);
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here we have another prediction of its fall. God saw fit thus to
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possess his people with the belief of this event by line upon line,
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because Babylon sometimes pretended to be a friend to them (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+39:1"><I>ch.</I> xxxix. 1</A>),
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and God would hereby warn them not to trust to that friendship, and
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sometimes was really an enemy to them, and God would hereby warn them
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not to be afraid of that enmity. Babylon is marked for ruin; and all
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that believe God's prophets can, through that glass, see it tottering,
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see it tumbling, even when with an eye of sense they see it flourishing
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and sitting as a queen. Babylon is here called the <I>desert</I> or
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<I>plain of the sea;</I> for it was a flat country, and full of lakes,
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or loughs (as they call them in Ireland), like little seas, and was
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abundantly watered with the many streams of the river Euphrates.
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Babylon did but lately begin to be famous, Nineveh having outshone it
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while the monarchy was in the Assyrian hands; but in a little time it
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became the lady of kingdoms; and, before it arrived at that pitch of
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eminency which it was at in Nebuchadnezzar's time, God by this prophet
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plainly foretold its fall, again and again, that his people might not
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be terrified at its rise, nor despair of relief in due time when they
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were its prisoners,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:3,Ps+37:35,37">Job v. 3; Ps. xxxvii. 35, 36</A>.
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Some think it is here called a <I>desert</I> because, though it was now
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a populous city, it should in time be made a desert. And
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<I>therefore</I> the destruction of Babylon is so often prophesied of
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by this evangelical prophet, because it was typical of the destruction
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of the man of sin, the great enemy of the New-Testament church, which
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is foretold in the <I>Revelation</I> in many expressions borrowed from
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these prophecies, which therefore must be consulted and collated by
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those who would understand the prophecy of that book. Here is,</P>
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<P>
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I. The powerful irruption and descent which the Medes and Persians
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should make upon Babylon
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>):
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They will come <I>from the desert, from a terrible land.</I> The
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northern parts of Media and Persia, where their soldiers were mostly
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bred, was waste and mountainous, terrible to strangers that were to
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pass through it and producing soldiers that were very formidable.
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<I>Elam</I> (that is, Persia) is summoned to go up against Babylon,
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and, in conjunction with the forces of Media, to besiege it. When God
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has work of this kind to do he will find, though it be in a desert, in
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a terrible land, proper instruments to be employed in it. These forces
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come <I>as whirlwinds from the south,</I> so suddenly, so strongly, so
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terribly, such a mighty noise shall they make, and throw down every
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thing that stands in their way. As is usual in such a case, some
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deserters will go over to them: <I>The treacherous dealers will deal
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treacherously.</I> Historians tell us of Gadatas and Gobryas, two great
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officers of the king of Babylon, that went over to Cyrus, and, being
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well acquainted with all the avenues of the city, led a party directly
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to the palace, where Belshazzar was slain. Thus with the help of the
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<I>treacherous dealers the spoilers spoiled.</I> Some read it thus:
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<I>There shall be a deceiver of that deceiver, Babylon, and a spoiler
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of that spoiler,</I> or, which comes all to one, <I>The treacherous
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dealer has found one that deals treacherously, and the spoiler one that
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spoils,</I> as it is expounded,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:1"><I>ch.</I> xxxiii. 1</A>.
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The Persians shall pay the Babylonians in their own coin; those that by
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fraud and violence, cheating and plundering, unrighteous wars and
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deceitful treaties, have made a prey of their neighbours, shall meet
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with their match, and by the same methods shall themselves be made a
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prey of.</P>
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<P>
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II. The different impressions made hereby upon those concerned in
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Babylon.
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1. To the poor oppressed captives it would be welcome news; for they
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had been told long ago that Babylon's destroyer would be their
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deliverer, and therefore, "when they hear that Elam and Media are
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coming up to besiege Babylon, <I>all their sighing will be made to
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cease;</I> they shall no longer mingle their tears with Euphrates'
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streams, but resume their harps, and smile when they remember Zion,
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which, before, they wept at the thought of." For the sighing of the
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needy the God of pity will arise in due time
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+12:5">Ps. xii. 5</A>);
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he will break the yoke from all their neck, will remove the rod of the
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wicked from off their lot, and so make their sighing to cease.
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2. To the proud oppressors it would be a grievous vision
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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particularly to the king of Babylon for the time being, and it should
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seem that he it is who is here brought in sadly lamenting his
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inevitable fate
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>):
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<I>Therefore are my loins filled with pain; pangs have taken hold upon
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me, &c.,</I> which was literally fulfilled in Belshazzar, for that very
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night in which his city was taken, and himself slain, upon the sight of
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a hand writing mystic characters upon the wall <I>his countenance was
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changed and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins
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were loosed and his knees smote one against another,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+5:6">Dan. v. 6</A>.
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And yet that was but the beginning of sorrows. Daniel's deciphering the
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writing could not but increase his terror, and the alarm which
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immediately followed of the executioners at the door would be the
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completing of it. And those words, <I>The night of my pleasure has he
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turned into fear to me,</I> plainly refer to that aggravating
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circumstance of Belshazzar's fall that he was slain on that night when
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he was in the height of his mirth and jollity, with his cups and
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concubines about him and a thousand of his lords revelling with him;
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that night of his pleasure, when he promised himself an undisturbed
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unallayed enjoyment of the most exquisite gratifications of sense, with
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a particular defiance of God and religion in the profanation of the
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temple vessels, was the night that was turned into all this fear. Let
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this give an effectual check to vain mirth and sensual pleasures, and
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forbid us ever to lay the reins on the neck of them--that we know not
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what heaviness the mirth may end in, nor how soon laughter may be
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turned into mourning; but this we know that for all these things God
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shall bring us into judgment; let us therefore mix trembling always
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with our joys.</P>
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<P>
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III. A representation of the posture in which Babylon should be found
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when the enemy should surprise it--all in festival gaiety
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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"Prepare the table with all manner of dainties. Set the guards; let
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them watch in the watch-tower while we eat and drink securely and make
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merry; and, if any alarm should be given, the princes shall arise and
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anoint the shield, and be in readiness to give the enemy a warm
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reception." Thus secure are they, and thus do they gird on the harness
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with as much joy as if they were putting it off.</P>
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<P>
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IV. A description of the alarm which should be given to Babylon upon
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its being forced by Cyrus and Darius. The Lord, in vision, showed the
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prophet the watchman set in his watch-tower, near the watch-tower, near
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the palace, as is usual in times of danger; the king ordered those
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about him to post a sentinel in the most advantageous place for
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discovery, and, according to the duty of a watchman, let <I>him declare
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what he sees,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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We read of watchmen thus set to receive intelligence in the story of
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David
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+18:24">2 Sam. xviii. 24</A>),
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and in the story of Jehu,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+9:17">2 Kings ix. 17</A>.
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This watchman here discovered a chariot with a couple of horsemen
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attending it, in which we may suppose the commander-in-chief to ride.
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He then saw another chariot drawn by asses or mules, which were much in
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use among the Persians, and a chariot drawn by camels, which were
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likewise much in use among the Medes; so that (as Grotius thinks) these
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two chariots signify the two nations combined against Babylon, or
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rather these chariots come to bring tidings to the palace; compare
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+51:31,32">Jer. li. 31, 32</A>.
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<I>One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet
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another, to show the king of Babylon that his city is taken at one
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end</I> while he is revelling at the other end and knows nothing of the
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matter. The watchman, seeing these chariots at some distance,
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<I>hearkened diligently with much heed,</I> to receive the first
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tidings. And
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>)
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<I>he cried, A lion;</I> this word, coming out of a watchman's mouth,
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no doubt gave them a certain sound, and everybody knew the meaning of
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it, though we do not know it now. It is likely that it was intended to
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raise attention: he that has an ear to hear, let him hear, as when a
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lion roars. Or <I>he cried as a lion,</I> very loud and in good
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earnest, the occasion being very urgent. And what has he to say?
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1. He professes his constancy to the post assigned him: "<I>I stand, my
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lord, continually upon the watch-tower,</I> and have never discovered
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any thing material till just now; all seemed safe and quiet." Some make
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it to be a complaint of the people of God that they had long expected
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the downfall of Babylon, according to the prophecy, and it had not yet
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come; but withal a resolution to continue waiting; as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+2:1">Hab. ii. 1</A>,
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<I>I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower,</I> to see
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what will be the issue of the present providences.
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2. He gives notice of the discoveries he had made
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
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<I>Here comes a chariot of men with a couple of horsemen,</I> a vision
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representing the enemy's entry into the city with all their force or
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the tidings brought to the royal palace of it.</P>
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<P>
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V. A certain account is at length given of the overthrow of Babylon. He
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in the chariot <I>answered and said</I> (when he heard the watchman
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speak), <I>Babylon has fallen, has fallen;</I> or God answered thus to
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the prophet enquiring concerning the issue of these affairs: "It has
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now come to this, Babylon has surely and irrecoverably fallen.
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Babylon's business is done now. <I>All the graven images of her gods he
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has broken unto the ground.</I>" Babylon was the mother of harlots
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(that is, of idolatry), which was one of the grounds of God's quarrel
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with her; but her idols should now be so far from protecting her that
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some of them should be broken down to the ground, and others of them,
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that were worth carrying way, should go into captivity, and be a burden
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to the beasts that carried them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:1,2"><I>ch.</I> xlvi. 1, 2</A>.</P>
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<P>
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VI. Notice is given to the people of God, who were then captives in
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Babylon, that this prophecy of the downfall of Babylon was particularly
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intended for their comfort and encouragement, and they might depend
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upon it that it should be accomplished in due season,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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Observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. The title the prophet gives them in God's name: <I>O my threshing,
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and the corn of my floor!</I> The prophet calls them <I>his,</I>
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because they were his countrymen, and such as he had a particular
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interest in and concern for; but he speaks it as from God, and directs
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his speech to those that were Israelites indeed, the faithful in the
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land. Note,
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(1.) The church is God's floor, in which the most valuable fruits and
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products of this earth are, as it were, gathered together and laid up.
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(2.) True believers are the corn of God's floor. Hypocrites are but as
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the chaff and straw, which take up a great deal of room, but are of
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small value, with which the wheat is now mixed, but from which it shall
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be shortly and for ever separated.
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(3.) The corn of God's floor must expect to be threshed by afflictions
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and persecutions. God's Israel of old was afflicted from her youth,
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often under the plougher's plough
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+129:3">Ps. cxxix. 3</A>)
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and the thresher's flail.
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(4.) Even then God owns it for his threshing; it is his still; nay, the
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threshing of it is by his appointment, and under his restraint and
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direction. The threshers could have no power against it <I>but what was
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given them from above.</I></P>
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<P>
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2. The assurance he gives them of the truth of what he had delivered to
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them, which therefore they might build their hopes upon: <I>That which
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I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel</I>--that, and
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nothing else, that, and no fiction or fancy of my own--<I>have I
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declared unto you.</I> Note, In all events concerning the church, past,
|
|
present, and to come, we must have an eye to God both as the Lord of
|
|
hosts and as the God of Israel, who has power enough to do any thing
|
|
for his church and grace enough to do every thing that is for her good,
|
|
and to the words of his prophets, as words received from the Lord. As
|
|
they dare not smother any thing which he has entrusted them to declare,
|
|
so they dare not declare any thing as from him which he has not made
|
|
known to them,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+11:23">1 Cor. xi. 23</A>.</P>
|
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<A NAME="Isa21_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa21_12"> </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 Watchman Interrogated.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 714.</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>11 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman,
|
|
what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?
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12 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night:
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if ye will enquire, enquire ye: return, come.
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</FONT></P>
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|
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<P>
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|
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This prophecy concerning Dumah is very short, and withal dark and hard
|
|
to be understood. Some think that Dumah is a part of Arabia, and that
|
|
the inhabitants descended from Dumah the sixth son of Ishmael, as those
|
|
of Kedar
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>)
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from Ishmael's second son,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+25:13,14">Gen. xxv. 13, 14</A>.
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|
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Others, because Mount Seir is here mentioned, by Dumah understand
|
|
Idumea, the country of the Edomites. Some of Israel's neighbours are
|
|
certainly meant, and their distress is foretold, not only for warning
|
|
to them to prepare them for it, but for warning to Israel not to depend
|
|
upon them, or any of the nations about them, for relief in a time of
|
|
danger, but upon God only. We must see all creature confidences
|
|
failing us, and feel them breaking under us, that we may not lay more
|
|
weight upon them than they will bear. But though the explication of
|
|
this prophecy be difficult, because we have no history in which we find
|
|
the accomplishment of it, yet the application will be easy. We have
|
|
here,</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
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1. A question put by an Edomite to the watchman. Some one or other
|
|
<I>called out of Seir,</I> somebody that was more concerned for the
|
|
public safety and welfare than the rest, who were generally careless
|
|
and secure. As the man of Macedonia, in a vision, desired Paul to come
|
|
over and help them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+16:9">Acts xvi. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
so this man of Mount Seir, in a vision, desired the prophet to inform
|
|
and instruct them. He calls not many; it is well there are any, that
|
|
all are not alike unconcerned about the things that belong to the
|
|
public peace. Some out of Seir ask advice of God's prophets, and are
|
|
willing to be taught, when many of God's Israel heed nothing. The
|
|
question is serious: <I>What of the night?</I> It is put to a proper
|
|
person, the <I>watchman,</I> whose office it is to answer such
|
|
enquiries. He repeats the question, as one in care, as one in earnest,
|
|
and desirous to have an answer. Note,
|
|
|
|
(1.) God's prophets and ministers are appointed to be watchmen, and we
|
|
are to look upon them as such. They are as watchmen in the city in a
|
|
time of peace, to see that all be safe, to knock at every door by
|
|
personal enquiries ("Is it locked? Is the fire safe?"), to direct those
|
|
that are at a loss, and check those that are disorderly,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+3:3,5:7">Cant. iii. 3; v. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
They are as watchmen in the camp in time of war,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+33:7">Ezek. xxxiii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
They are to take notice of the motions of the enemy and to give notice
|
|
of them, to make discoveries and then give warning; and in this they
|
|
must deny themselves.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It is our duty to enquire of the watchmen, especially to ask again
|
|
and again, <I>What of the night?</I> for watchmen wake when other
|
|
sleep.
|
|
|
|
[1.] What time of the night? After a long sleep in sin and security, is
|
|
it not time to rise, high time to awake out of sleep?
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+13:11">Rom. xiii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
We have a great deal of work to do, a long journey to go; is it not
|
|
time to be stirring? "Watchman, what o'clock is it? After a long dark
|
|
night is there any hope of the day dawning?"
|
|
|
|
[2.] What tidings of the night? <I>What from the night?</I> (so some);
|
|
"what vision has the prophet had to-night? We are ready to receive it."
|
|
Or, rather, "What occurs to night? What weather is it? What news?" We
|
|
must expect an alarm, and never be secure. The <I>day of the Lord will
|
|
come as a thief in the night;</I> we must prepare to receive the alarm,
|
|
and resolve to keep our ground, and then take the first hint of danger,
|
|
and to our arms presently, to our spiritual weapons.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The watchman's answer to this question. The watchman was neither
|
|
asleep nor dumb; though it was a man of Mount Seir that called to him,
|
|
he was ready to give him an answer: <I>The morning comes.</I> He
|
|
answers,
|
|
|
|
(1.) By way of prediction: "There comes first a morning of light, and
|
|
peace, and opportunity; you will enjoy one day of comfort more; but
|
|
afterwards comes a night of trouble and calamity." Note, In the course
|
|
of God's providence it is usual that morning and night are
|
|
counterchanged and succeed each other. Is it night? Yet the morning
|
|
comes, and the day-spring knows his place,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+30:5">Ps. xxx. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Is it day? Yet the night comes also. If there be a morning of youth and
|
|
health, there will come a night of sickness and old age; if a morning
|
|
of prosperity in the family, in the public, yet we must look for
|
|
changes. But God usually gives a morning of opportunity before he sends
|
|
a night of calamity, that his own people may be prepared for the storm
|
|
and others left inexcusable.
|
|
|
|
(2.) By way of excitement: <I>If you will enquire, enquire.</I> Note,
|
|
It is our wisdom to improve the present morning in preparation for the
|
|
night that is coming after it. "<I>Enquire, return, come.</I> Be
|
|
inquisitive, be penitent, be willing and obedient." The manner of
|
|
expression is very observable, for we are put to our choice what we
|
|
will do: "<I>If you will enquire, enquire;</I> if not, it is at your
|
|
peril; you cannot say but you have a fair offer made you." We are also
|
|
urged to be at a point: "If you will, say so, and do not stand pausing;
|
|
what you will do do quickly, for it is no time to trifle." Those that
|
|
return and come to God will find they have a great deal of work to do
|
|
and but a little time to do it in, and therefore they have need to be
|
|
busy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa21_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa21_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa21_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa21_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa21_17"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Doom of Arabia.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 714.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>13 The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye
|
|
lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim.
|
|
14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him
|
|
that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled.
|
|
15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and
|
|
from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war.
|
|
16 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Within a year,
|
|
according to the years of a hireling, and all the glory of Kedar
|
|
shall fail:
|
|
17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of
|
|
the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of
|
|
Israel hath spoken <I>it.</I>
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Arabia was a large country, that lay eastward and southward of the land
|
|
of Canaan. Much of it was possessed by the posterity of Abraham. The
|
|
<I>Dedanim,</I> here mentioned
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
descended from Dedan, Abraham's son by Keturah; the inhabitants of Tema
|
|
and Kedar descended from Ishmael,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+25:3,13,15">Gen. xxv. 3, 13, 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Arabians generally lived in tents, and kept cattle, were a hardy
|
|
people, inured to labour; probably the Jews depended upon them as a
|
|
sort of a wall between them and the more warlike eastern nations; and
|
|
therefore, to alarm them, they shall hear <I>the burden of Arabia,</I>
|
|
and see it sinking under its own burden.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. A destroying army shall be brought upon them, with a sword, with
|
|
<I>a drawn sword,</I> with <I>a bow</I> ready <I>bent,</I> and with all
|
|
the <I>grievousness of war,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is probable that the king of Assyria, in some of the marches of his
|
|
formidable and victorious army, took Arabia in his way, and, meeting
|
|
with little resistance, made an easy prey of them. The consideration of
|
|
the grievousness of war should make us thankful for the blessings of
|
|
peace.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The poor country people will hereby be forced to flee for shelter
|
|
wherever they can find a place; so that <I>the travelling companies of
|
|
Dedanium,</I> which used to keep the high roads with their caravans,
|
|
shall be obliged to quit them and <I>lodge in the forest in Arabia</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
and shall not have the wonted convenience of their own tents, poor and
|
|
weather-beaten as they are.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. They shall stand in need of refreshment, being ready to perish for
|
|
want of it, in their flight from the invading army: "<I>O you
|
|
inhabitants of the land of Tema!</I>" (who probably were next
|
|
neighbours to the companies of Dedanim) "<I>bring you water</I>" (so
|
|
the margin reads it) "<I>to him that is thirsty,</I> and <I>prevent
|
|
with your bread those that flee,</I> for they are objects of your
|
|
compassion; they do not wander for wandering sake, nor are they reduced
|
|
to straits by any extravagance of their own, but <I>they flee from the
|
|
sword.</I>" Tema was a country where water was sometimes a scarce
|
|
commodity (as we find,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+6:19">Job vi. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
and we may conclude it would be in a particular manner acceptable to
|
|
these poor distressed refugees. Let us learn hence.
|
|
|
|
1. To look for distress ourselves. We know not what straits we may be
|
|
brought into before we die. Those that live in cities may be forced to
|
|
lodge in forests; and those may know the want of necessary food who now
|
|
eat bread to the full. Our mountain stands not so strong but that it
|
|
may be moved, rises not so high but that it may be scaled. These
|
|
Arabians would the better bear these calamities because in their way of
|
|
living they had used themselves to hardships.
|
|
|
|
2. To look with compassion upon those that are in distress, and with
|
|
all cheerfulness to relieve them, not knowing how soon their case may
|
|
be ours: "<I>Bring water to those that are thirsty,</I> and not only
|
|
give bread to those that need and ask it, but prevent those with it
|
|
that have need; give it to them unasked." Those that do so shall find
|
|
it remembered to their praise, as (according to our reading) it is here
|
|
remembered to the praise of the land of Tema that they did bring water
|
|
to the thirsty and relieved even those that were on the falling
|
|
side.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. All that which is the glory of Kedar shall vanish away and fail.
|
|
Did they glory in their numerous herds and flocks? They shall all be
|
|
driven away by the enemy. It seems they were famous about other nations
|
|
for the use of the bow in battle; but their archers, instead of foiling
|
|
the enemy, shall fall themselves; and <I>the residue of their
|
|
number,</I> when they are reduced to a small number, <I>shall be
|
|
diminished</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>);
|
|
|
|
their mighty able-bodied men, and men of spirit too, shall become very
|
|
few; for they, being most forward in the defence of their country, were
|
|
most exposed, and fell first, either by the enemies' sword or into the
|
|
enemies' hand. Note, Neither the skill of archers (though they be ever
|
|
so good marksmen) nor the courage of mighty men can protect a people
|
|
from the judgments of God, when they come with commission; they rather
|
|
expose the undertakers. That is poor glory which will thus quickly come
|
|
to nothing.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. All this shall be done in a little time: "<I>Within one year
|
|
according to the years of a hireling</I> (within one year precisely
|
|
reckoned) this judgment shall come upon Kedar." If this fixing of the
|
|
time be of no great use to us now (because we find not either when the
|
|
prophecy was delivered or when it was accomplished), yet it might be of
|
|
great use to the Arabians then, to awaken them to repentance, that,
|
|
like the men of Nineveh, they might prevent the judgment when they were
|
|
thus told it was just at the door. Or, when it begins to be fulfilled,
|
|
the business shall be done, be begun and ended in one year's time. God,
|
|
when he please, can do a great work in a little time.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. It is all ratified by the truth of God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>);
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thus hath the Lord said to me;</I> you may take my word for it that
|
|
it is his word;" and we may be sure no word of his shall fall to the
|
|
ground. And again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The Lord God of Israel hath spoken it,</I> as the God of Israel, in
|
|
pursuance of his gracious designs concerning them; and we may be sure
|
|
<I>the strength of Israel will not lie.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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