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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVIII.</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,
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I. The Ephraimites are reproved and threatened for their pride and
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drunkenness, their security and sensuality,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:1-8">ver. 1-8</A>.
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But, in the midst of this, here is a gracious promise of God's favour
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to the remnant of his people,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:5,6">ver. 5, 6</A>.
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II. They are likewise reproved and threatened for their dulness and
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stupidity, and unaptness to profit by the instructions which the
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prophets gave them in God's name,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:9-13">ver. 9-13</A>.
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III. The rulers of Jerusalem are reproved and threatened for their
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insolent contempt of God's judgments, and setting them at defiance;
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and, after a gracious promise of Christ and his grace, they are made to
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know that the vain hopes of escaping the judgments of God with which
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they flattered themselves would certainly deceive them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:14-22">ver. 14-22</A>.
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IV. All this is confirmed by a comparison borrowed from the method
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which the husbandman takes with his ground and grain, according to
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which they must expect God would proceed with his people, whom he had
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lately called his threshing and the corn of his floor
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:10"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 10</A>)
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:23-29">ver. 23-29</A>.
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This is written for our admonition, and is profitable for reproof and
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warning to us.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa28_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa28_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa28_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa28_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa28_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa28_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa28_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa28_8"> </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>Ephraim Reproved and Threatened; The Punishment of Ephraim; <BR>The Degeneracy of Judah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 725.</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 to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose
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glorious beauty <I>is</I> a fading flower, which <I>are</I> on the head of
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the fat valleys of them that are overcome with wine!
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2 Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one, <I>which</I> as a
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tempest of hail <I>and</I> a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty
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waters overflowing, shall cast down to the earth with the hand.
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3 The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be
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trodden under feet:
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4 And the glorious beauty, which <I>is</I> on the head of the fat
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valley, shall be a fading flower, <I>and</I> as the hasty fruit before
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the summer; which <I>when</I> he that looketh upon it seeth, while it
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is yet in his hand he eateth it up.
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5 In that day shall the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts be for a crown of glory,
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and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people,
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6 And for a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment,
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and for strength to them that turn the battle to the gate.
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7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong
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drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred
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through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out
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of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble
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<I>in</I> judgment.
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8 For all tables are full of vomit <I>and</I> filthiness, <I>so that
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there is</I> no place <I>clean.</I>
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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I. The prophet warns the kingdom of the ten tribes of the judgments
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that were coming upon them for their sins, which were soon after
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executed by the king of Assyria, who laid their country waste, and
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carried the people into captivity. Ephraim had his name from
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<I>fruitfulness,</I> their soil being very fertile and the products of
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it abundant and the best of the kind; they had a great many <I>fat
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valleys</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:1,4"><I>v.</I> 1, 4</A>),
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and Samaria, which was situated on a hill, was, as it were, <I>on the
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head of the fat valleys.</I> Their country was rich and pleasant, and
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as the garden of the Lord: it was the glory of Canaan, as that was the
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glory of all lands; their harvest and vintage were the <I>glorious
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beauty</I> on the head of their valleys, which were covered over with
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corn and vines. Now observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. What an ill use they made of their plenty. What God gave them to
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serve him with they perverted, and abused, by making it the food and
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fuel of their lusts.
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(1.) They were puffed up with pride by it. The goodness with which God
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crowned their years, which should have been to him a crown of praise,
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was to them a <I>crown of pride.</I> Those that are rich in the world
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are apt to be high-minded,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+6:17">1 Tim. vi. 17</A>.
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Their king, who wore the crown, was proud that he ruled over so rich a
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country; Samaria, their royal city, was notorious for pride. Perhaps it
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was usual at their festivals, or revels, to wear garlands made up of
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flowers and ears of corn, which they wore in honour of their fruitful
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country. Pride was a sin that generally prevailed among them, and
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therefore the prophet, in his name who resists the proud, boldly
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proclaims a <I>woe to the crown of pride.</I> If those who wear crowns
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be proud of them, let them not think to escape this woe. What men are
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proud of, be it ever so mean, is to them as a crown; he that is proud
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thinks himself as great as a king. But woe to those who thus exalt
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themselves, for they shall be abased; their pride is the preface to
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their destruction.
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(2.) They indulged themselves in sensuality. Ephraim was notorious for
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drunkenness, and excess of riot; Samaria, the head of the fat valleys,
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was full of those that were <I>overcome with wine,</I> were <I>broken
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with it,</I> so the margin. See how foolishly drunkards act, and no
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marvel when, in the very commission of the sin, they make fools and
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brutes of themselves; they yield,
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[1.] To be conquered by the sin; it overcomes them, and <I>brings them
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into bondage</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+2:19">2 Pet. ii. 19</A>);
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they are led captive by it, and the captivity is the more shameful and
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inglorious because it is voluntary. Some of these wretched slaves have
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themselves owned that there is not a greater drudgery in the world than
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hard drinking. They are overcome not with the wine, but with the love
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of it.
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[2.] To be ruined by it. They are broken by wine. Their constitution is
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broken by it, and their health ruined. They are broken in the callings
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and estates, and their souls are in danger of being eternally undone,
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and all this for the gratification of a base lust. Woe to these
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<I>drunkards of Ephraim!</I> Ministers must bring the general woes of
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the word home to particular places and persons. We must say, <I>Woe to
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this or that person,</I> if he be a drunkard. There is a particular woe
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to the drunkards of Ephraim, for they are of God's professing people,
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and it becomes them worse than any other; they know better, and
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therefore should give a better example. Some make the <I>crown of
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pride</I> to belong to the drunkards, and to mean the garlands with
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which those were crowned that got the victory in their wicked drinking
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matches and drank down the rest of the company. They were proud of
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their being mighty to drink wine; but woe to those who thus glory in
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their shame.</P>
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<P>
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2. The justice of God in taking away their plenty from them, which they
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thus abused. Their <I>glorious beauty,</I> the plenty they were proud
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of, <I>is but a fading flower;</I> it is meat that perishes. The most
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substantial fruits, if God blast them and blow upon them, are but
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fading flowers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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God can easily <I>take away their corn in the season thereof</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:9">Hos. ii. 9</A>),
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and recover <I>locum vastatum--ground that has been alienated and has
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run to waste,</I> those goods of his which they prepared for Baal. God
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has an officer ready to make a seizure for him, has one at his beck,
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<I>a mighty and strong one,</I> who is able to do the business, even
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the king of Assyria, who <I>shall cast down to the earth with the
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hand,</I> shall easily and effectually, and with the turn of a hand,
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destroy all that which they are proud of and pleased with,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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He shall throw it down to the ground, to be broken to pieces with a
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strong hand, with a hand that they cannot oppose. Then <I>the crown of
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pride,</I> and <I>the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be trodden under
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foot</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>);
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they shall lie exposed to contempt, and shall not be able to recover
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themselves. Drunkards, in their folly, are apt to talk proudly, and
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vaunt themselves most when they most shame themselves; but they thereby
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render themselves the more ridiculous. The beauty of their valleys,
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which they gloried in, will be,
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(1.) Like <I>a fading flower</I> (as before,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>);
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it will wither of itself, and has in itself the principles of its own
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corruption; it will perish in time by its own moth and rust.
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(2.) Like <I>the hasty fruit,</I> which, as soon as it is discovered,
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is plucked and eaten up; so the wealth of this world, besides that it
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is apt to decay of itself, is subject to be devoured by others as
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greedily as the first-ripe fruit, which is earnestly desired,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+7:1">Mic. vii. 1</A>.
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<I>Thieves break through and steal.</I> The harvest which the worldling
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is proud of <I>the hungry eat up</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+5:5">Job v. 5</A>);
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no sooner do they see the prey but they catch at it, and swallow up all
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they can lay their hands on. It is likewise easily devoured, as that
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fruit which, being ripe before it has grown, is very small, and is soon
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eaten up; and there being little of it, and that of little worth, it is
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not reserved, but used immediately.</P>
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<P>
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II. He next turns to the kingdom of Judah, whom he calls the <I>residue
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of his people</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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for they were but two tribes to the other ten.</P>
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<P>
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1. He promises them God's favours, and that they shall be taken under
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his guidance and protection when the beauty of Ephraim shall be left
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exposed to be trodden down and eaten up,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>.
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<I>In that day,</I> when the Assyrian army is laying Israel waste, and
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Judah might think that their neighbour's house being on fire their own
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was in danger, in that day of treading down and perplexity, then God
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will be to the residue of his people all they need and can desire; not
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only to the kingdom of Judah, but to those of Israel who had kept their
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integrity, and, as was probably the case with some, betook themselves
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to the land of Judah, to be sheltered by good king Hezekiah. When the
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Assyrian, that mighty one, was in Israel as <I>a tempest of hail,</I>
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noisy and battering, as <I>a destroying storm</I> bearing down all
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before it, especially at sea, and <I>as a flood of mighty waters
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overflowing</I> the country
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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then <I>in that day will the Lord of hosts,</I> of all hosts,
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distinguish by peculiar favours his people who have distinguished
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themselves by a steady and singular adherence to him, and that which
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they most need he will himself be to them. This very much enhances the
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worth of the promises that God, covenanting to be to his people a God
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all-sufficient, undertakes to be himself all that to them which they
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can desire.
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(1.) He will put all the credit and honour upon them which are
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requisite, not only to rescue them from contempt, but to gain them
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esteem and reputation. He will be to them <I>for a crown of glory and
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for a diadem of beauty.</I> Those that wore the crown of pride looked
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upon God's people with disdain, and trampled upon them, for they were
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the song of the drunkards of Ephraim; but God will so appear for them
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by his providence as to make it evident that they have his favour
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towards them, and that shall be to them a crown of glory; for what
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greater glory can any people have than for God to acknowledge them as
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his own? And he will so appear in them, by his grace, as to make it
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evident that they have his image renewed on them, and that shall be to
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them a diadem of beauty; for what greater beauty can any person have
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than the beauty of holiness? Note, Those that have God for their God
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have him for a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty; for they are made
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to him kings and priests.
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(2.) He will give them all the wisdom and grace necessary to the due
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discharge of the duty of their place. He will himself be <I>a spirit of
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judgment to those that sit in judgment;</I> the privy counsellors shall
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be guided by wisdom and discretion and the judges shall govern by
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justice and equity. It is a great mercy to any people when those that
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are called to places of power and public trust are qualified for their
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places, when those that sit in judgment have a spirit of judgment, a
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spirit of government.
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(3.) He will give them all the courage and boldness requisite to carry
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them resolutely through the difficulties and oppositions they are
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likely to meet with. He will be <I>for strength to those that turn the
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battle to the gate,</I> to the gates of the enemy whose cities they
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besiege, or to their own gates, when they sally out upon the enemies
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that besiege them. The strength of the soldiery depends as much upon
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God as the wisdom of the magistracy; and where God gives both these he
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is to that people a crown of glory. This may well be supposed to refer
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to Christ, and so the Chaldee paraphrast understands it: <I>In that day
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shall the Messiah be a crown of glory.</I> Simeon calls him the
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<I>glory of his people Israel;</I> and he is made of God to us wisdom,
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righteousness, and strength.</P>
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<P>
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2. He complains of the corruptions that were found among them, and the
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many corrupt ones
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>But they also,</I> many of those of Judah, <I>have erred through
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wine.</I> There are drunkards of Jerusalem, as well as drunkards of
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Ephraim; and therefore the mercy of God is to be so much the more
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admired that he has not blasted the glory of Judah as he has done that
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of Ephraim. Sparing mercy lays us under peculiar obligations when it is
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thus distinguishing. Ephraim's sins are found in Judah, and yet not
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Ephraim's ruins. <I>They have erred through wine.</I> Their drinking to
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excess is itself a practical error; they think to raise their fancy by
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it, but they ruin their judgment, and so put a cheat upon themselves;
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they think to preserve their health by it and help digestion, but they
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spoil their constitution and hasten diseases and deaths. It is also the
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occasion of a great many errors in principle; their understanding is
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clouded and their conscience debauched by it; and therefore, to support
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themselves in it, they espouse corrupt notions, and form their minds in
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favour of their lusts. Probably some were drawn in to worship idols by
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their love of the wine and strong drink which there was plenty of at
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their idolatrous festivals; and so they erred through wine, as Israel,
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for love of the daughters of Moab, joined themselves to Baal-peor.
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Three things are here observed as aggravations of this sin:--
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(1.) That those were guilty of it whose business it was to warn others
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against it and to teach them better, and therefore who ought to have
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set a better example: <I>The priest and the prophet are swallowed up of
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wine;</I> their office is quite drowned and lost in it. The priests, as
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sacrificers, were obliged by a particular law to be temperate
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+10:9">Lev. x. 9</A>),
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and, as rulers and magistrates, it was not for them to drink wine,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:4">Prov. xxxi. 4</A>.
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The prophets were a kind of Nazarites (as appears by
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+2:11">Amos ii. 11</A>),
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and, as reprovers by office, were concerned to keep at the utmost
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distance from the sins they reproved in others; yet there were many of
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them ensnared in this sin. What! a priest, a prophet, a minister, and
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|
yet drunk! <I>Tell it not in Gath.</I> Such a scandal are they to
|
|
their coat.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That the consequences of it were very pernicious, not only by the
|
|
ill influence of their example, but the prophet, when he was drunk,
|
|
<I>erred in vision;</I> the false prophets plainly discovered
|
|
themselves to be so when they were in drink. The priest <I>stumbled in
|
|
judgment and forgot the law</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:5">Prov. xxxi. 5</A>);
|
|
|
|
he reeled and staggered as much in the operations of his mind as in the
|
|
motions of his body. What wisdom or justice can be expected from those
|
|
that sacrifice reason, and virtue, and conscience, and all that is
|
|
valuable to such a base lust as the love of strong drink is? Happy art
|
|
thou, O land! when <I>thy princes eat</I> and drink <I>for strength,
|
|
and not for drunkenness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+10:17">Eccl. x. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That the disease was epidemic, and the generality of those that
|
|
kept any thing of a table were infected with it: <I>All tables are full
|
|
of vomit,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
See what an odious thing the sin of drunkenness is, what an affront it
|
|
is to human society; it is rude and ill-mannered enough to sicken the
|
|
beholders, for the tables where they eat their meat are filthily
|
|
stained with the marks of this sin, which the sinners declare as Sodom.
|
|
Their tables are full of vomit, so that the victor, instead of being
|
|
proud of his crown, ought rather to be ashamed of it. It bodes ill to
|
|
any people when so sottish a sin as drunkenness has become
|
|
national.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_9"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_13"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Degeneracy of Judah.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 725.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to
|
|
understand doctrine? <I>them that are</I> weaned from the milk, <I>and</I>
|
|
drawn from the breasts.
|
|
10 For precept <I>must be</I> upon precept, precept upon precept;
|
|
line upon line, line upon line; here a little, <I>and</I> there a
|
|
little:
|
|
11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to
|
|
this people.
|
|
12 To whom he said, This <I>is</I> the rest <I>wherewith</I> ye may cause
|
|
the weary to rest; and this <I>is</I> the refreshing: yet they would
|
|
not hear.
|
|
13 But the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> was unto them precept upon precept,
|
|
precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a
|
|
little, <I>and</I> there a little; that they might go, and fall
|
|
backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The prophet here complains of the wretched stupidity of this people,
|
|
that they were unteachable and made no improvement of the means of
|
|
grace which they possessed; they still continued as they were, their
|
|
mistakes not rectified, their hearts not renewed, nor their lives
|
|
reformed. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. What it was that their prophets and ministers designed and aimed at.
|
|
It was to <I>teach</I> them <I>knowledge,</I> the knowledge of God and
|
|
his will, and to <I>make them understand doctrine,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is God's way of dealing with men, to enlighten men's minds first
|
|
with the knowledge of his truth, and thus to gain their affections, and
|
|
bring their wills into a compliance with his laws; thus he enters in by
|
|
the door, whereas the thief and the robber climb up another way.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. What method they took, in pursuance of this design. They left no
|
|
means untried to do them good, but taught them as children are taught,
|
|
little children that are beginning to learn, that are taken from the
|
|
breast to the book
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
for among the Jews it was common for mothers to nurse their children
|
|
till they were three years old, and almost ready to go to school. And
|
|
it is good to begin betimes with children, to teach them, as they are
|
|
capable, the good knowledge of the Lord, and to instruct them even when
|
|
they are but newly weaned from the milk. The prophets taught them as
|
|
children are taught; for,
|
|
|
|
1. They were constant and industrious in teaching them. They took great
|
|
pains with them, and with great prudence, teaching them as they needed
|
|
it and were able to bear it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Precept upon precept. It must be so,</I> or (as some read) <I>it has
|
|
been so.</I> They have been taught, as children are taught to read, by
|
|
<I>precept upon precept,</I> and taught to write by <I>line upon line,
|
|
a little here</I> and <I>a little there,</I> a little of one thing and
|
|
a little of another, that the variety of instructions might be pleasing
|
|
and inviting,--a little at one time and a little at another, that they
|
|
might not have their memories overcharged,--a little from one prophet
|
|
and a little from another, that every one might be pleased with his
|
|
friend and him whom he admired. Note, For our instruction in the
|
|
things of God it is requisite that we have precept upon precept and
|
|
line upon line, that one precept and line should be followed, and so
|
|
enforced by another; the precept of justice must be upon the precept of
|
|
piety, and the precept of charity upon that of justice. Nay, it is
|
|
necessary that the same precept and the same line should be often
|
|
repeated and inculcated upon us, that we may the better understand them
|
|
and the more easily recollect them when we have occasion for them.
|
|
Teachers should accommodate themselves to the capacity of the learners,
|
|
give them what they most need and can best bear, and a little at a
|
|
time,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+6:6,7">Deut. vi. 6, 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. They courted and persuaded them to learn,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
God, by his prophets, said to them, "<I>This</I> way that we are
|
|
directing you to, and directing you in, <I>is the rest,</I> the only
|
|
rest, <I>wherewith you may cause the weary to rest; and this will be
|
|
the refreshing</I> of your own souls, and will bring rest to your
|
|
country from the wars and other calamities with which it has been long
|
|
harassed." Note, God by his word calls us to nothing but what is really
|
|
for our advantage; for the service of God is the only true rest for
|
|
those that are weary of the service of sin and there is no refreshing
|
|
but under the easy yoke of the Lord Jesus.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. What little effect all this had upon the people. They were as
|
|
unapt to learn as young children newly weaned from the milk, and it was
|
|
as impossible to fasten any thing upon them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
nay, one would choose rather to teach a child of two years old than
|
|
undertake to teach them; for they have not only (like such a child) no
|
|
capacity to receive what is taught them, but they are prejudiced
|
|
against it. As children, they have <I>need of milk,</I> and <I>cannot
|
|
bear strong meat,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+5:12">Heb. v. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. They <I>would not hear</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
no, not that which would be rest and refreshing to them. They had no
|
|
mind to hear it. The word of God commanded their serious attention, but
|
|
could not gain it; they were where it was preached, but they turned a
|
|
deaf ear to it, or as it came in at one ear it went out at the other.
|
|
|
|
2. They would not heed. It was unto them <I>precept upon precept, and
|
|
line upon line</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
they went on in a road of external performances; they kept up the old
|
|
custom of attending upon the prophet's preaching and it was continually
|
|
sounding in their ears, but that was all; it made no impression upon
|
|
them; they had the letter of the precept, but no experience of the
|
|
power and spirit of it; it was continually beating upon them, but it
|
|
beat nothing into them. Nay,
|
|
|
|
3. It should seem, they ridiculed the prophet's preaching, and bantered
|
|
it. The word of the Lord was unto them <I>Tsau latsau, kau lakau;</I>
|
|
in the original it is in rhyme; they made a song of the prophet's
|
|
words, and sang it when they were merry over their wine. David was the
|
|
song of the drunkards. It is great impiety, and a high affront to God,
|
|
thus to make a jest of sacred things, to speak of that vainly which
|
|
should make us serious.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. How severely God would reckon with them for this.
|
|
|
|
1. He would deprive them of the privilege of plain preaching, and speak
|
|
to them <I>with stammering lips and another tongue,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that will not understand what is plain and level to their
|
|
capacity, but despise it as mean and trifling, are justly amused with
|
|
that which is above them. Or God will send foreign armies among them,
|
|
whose language they understand not, to lay their country waste. Those
|
|
that will not hear the comfortable voice of God's word shall be made to
|
|
hear the dreadful voice of his rod. Or these words may be taken as
|
|
denoting God's gracious condescension to their capacity in his dealing
|
|
with them; he lisped to them in their own language, as nurses do to
|
|
their children, with stammering lips, to humor them; he changed his
|
|
voice, tried first one way and then another; the apostle quotes it as a
|
|
favour
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+14:21">1 Cor. xiv. 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
applying it to the gift of tongues, and complaining that yet for all
|
|
this they would not hear.
|
|
|
|
2. He would bring utter ruin upon them. By their profane contempt of
|
|
God and his word they are but hastening on their own ruin, and ripening
|
|
themselves for it; it is <I>that they may go and fall backward,</I> may
|
|
grow worse and worse, may depart further and further from God, and
|
|
proceed from one sin to another, till they be quite <I>broken, and
|
|
snared, and taken,</I> and ruined,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
They have here a little and there a little of the word of God; they
|
|
think it too much, and <I>say to the seers, See not;</I> but it proves
|
|
too little to convert them, and will prove enough to condemn them. If
|
|
it be not a <I>savour of life unto life,</I> it will be <I>a savour of
|
|
death unto death.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_22"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Judgments Announced; The Corner-stone in Zion.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 725.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 Wherefore hear the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, ye scornful men, that
|
|
rule this people which <I>is</I> in Jerusalem.
|
|
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death,
|
|
and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge
|
|
shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made
|
|
lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
|
|
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, Behold, I lay in Zion for
|
|
a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner <I>stone,</I> a
|
|
sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
|
|
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to
|
|
the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies,
|
|
and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
|
|
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your
|
|
agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge
|
|
shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
|
|
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for
|
|
morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and
|
|
it shall be a vexation only <I>to</I> understand the report.
|
|
20 For the bed is shorter than that <I>a man</I> can stretch himself
|
|
<I>on it:</I> and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself
|
|
<I>in it.</I>
|
|
21 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall rise up as <I>in</I> mount Perazim, he shall
|
|
be wroth as <I>in</I> the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work,
|
|
his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act.
|
|
22 Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made
|
|
strong: for I have heard from the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT> of hosts a
|
|
consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The prophet, having reproved those that made a jest of the word of God,
|
|
here goes on to reprove those that made a jest of the judgments of God,
|
|
and set them at defiance; for he is a jealous God, and will not suffer
|
|
either his ordinances or his providences to be brought into contempt.
|
|
He addressed himself to <I>the scornful men who ruled in Jerusalem,</I>
|
|
who were the magistrates of the city,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is bad with a people when their thrones of judgment become the seats
|
|
of the scornful, when rulers are scorners; but that the rulers of
|
|
Jerusalem should be men of such a character, that they should make
|
|
light of God's judgments and scorn to take notice of the tokens of his
|
|
displeasure, is very sad. Who will be mourners in Zion if they are
|
|
scorners? Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How these scornful men lulled themselves asleep in carnal security,
|
|
and even challenged God Almighty to do his worst
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>)
|
|
|
|
<I>You have said, We have made a covenant with death and the grave.</I>
|
|
They thought themselves as sure of their lives, even when the most
|
|
destroying judgments were abroad, as if they had made a bargain with
|
|
death, upon a valuable consideration, not to come till they sent for
|
|
him or not to take them away by any violence, but by old age. If we be
|
|
at peace with God, and have made a covenant with him, we have in effect
|
|
made a covenant with death that it shall come in the fittest time, that
|
|
whenever it comes, it shall be no terror to us, nor do us any real
|
|
damage; death is ours if we be Christ's
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+3:22,23">1 Cor. iii. 22, 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
but to think of making death our friend, or being in league with it,
|
|
while by sin we are making God our enemy and are at war with him, is
|
|
the greatest absurdity that can be. It was fond conceit which these
|
|
scorners had, "<I>When the overflowing scourge shall pass through</I>
|
|
our country, and others shall fall under it, yet <I>it shall not come
|
|
to us,</I> not reach us, though it extend far, not bear us down, though
|
|
it is an overflowing scourge." It is the greatest folly imaginable for
|
|
impenitent sinners to think that either in this world or the other they
|
|
shall fare better than their neighbours. But what is the ground of
|
|
their confidence? Why, truly, <I>We have made lies our refuge.</I>
|
|
Either,
|
|
|
|
1. Those things which the prophets told them would be lies and
|
|
falsehood to them and would deceive, but which they themselves looked
|
|
upon as substantial fences. The protection of their idols, the promises
|
|
with which their false prophets soothed them, their policy, their
|
|
wealth, their interest in the people; these they confided in, and not
|
|
in God; nay, these they confided in against God. Or,
|
|
|
|
2. Those things which should be lies and falsehood to the enemy, who
|
|
was <I>flagellum Dei--the scourge of God,</I> the overflowing scourge;
|
|
they would secure themselves by imposing upon the enemy with their
|
|
stratagems of war, or their feigned submissions in treaties of peace.
|
|
The rest of the cities of Judah were taken because they made an
|
|
obstinate defence; but the rulers of Jerusalem hope to succeed better.
|
|
They think themselves greater politicians than those of the country
|
|
towns; they will compliment the king of Assyria with a promise to
|
|
surrender their city, or to become tributaries to him, with a purpose
|
|
at the same time to shake off his yoke as soon as the danger is over,
|
|
not caring though they be found liars to him, as the expression is,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:29">Deut. xxxiii. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Those put a cheat upon themselves that think to gain their point
|
|
by putting cheats upon those they deal with. Those that pursue their
|
|
designs by trick and fraud, by mean and paltry shifts, may perhaps
|
|
compass them, but cannot expect comfort in them. Honesty is the best
|
|
policy. But such refuges as these are those driven to that depart from
|
|
God, and throw themselves out of his protection.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. How God, by the prophet, awakens them out of this sleep, and shows
|
|
them the folly of their security.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He tells them upon what grounds they might be secure. He does not
|
|
disturb their false confidences, till he has first shown them a firm
|
|
bottom on which they may repose themselves
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone.</I> This foundation
|
|
is,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The promises of God in general--his word, upon which he has caused
|
|
his people to hope--his covenant with Abraham, that he would be a God
|
|
to him and his; this is a foundation, a foundation of stone, firm and
|
|
lasting, for faith to build upon; it is <I>a tried stone,</I> for all
|
|
the saints have stayed themselves upon it and it never failed them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The promise of Christ in particular; for to him this is expressly
|
|
applied in the New Testament,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+2:6-8">1 Pet. ii. 6-8</A>.
|
|
|
|
He is that stone which has become <I>the head of the corner.</I> The
|
|
great promise of the Messiah and his kingdom, which was to begin at
|
|
Jerusalem, was sufficient to make God's people easy in the worst of
|
|
times; for they knew well that till he came <I>the sceptre should not
|
|
depart from Judah.</I> Zion shall continue while this foundation is yet
|
|
to be laid there. "<I>Thus saith the Lord Jehovah,</I> for the comfort
|
|
of those that dare not <I>make lies their refuge,</I> Behold, and look
|
|
upon me as one that has undertaken to <I>lay in Zion a Stone,</I>"
|
|
Jesus Christ is a foundation of God's laying. <I>This is the Lord's
|
|
doing.</I> He is laid in Zion, in the church, in the holy hill. He is a
|
|
tried stone, a trying stone (so some), a touch-stone, that shall
|
|
distinguish between true and counterfeit. He is a precious stone, for
|
|
such are the foundations of the New Jerusalem
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+21:19">Rev. xxi. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
a corner-stone, in whom the sides of the building are united, the
|
|
<I>head-stone of the corner.</I> And <I>he that believes</I> these
|
|
promises, and rests upon them, <I>shall not make haste,</I> shall not
|
|
run to and fro in a hurry, as men at their wits' end, shall not be
|
|
shifting hither and thither for his own safety, nor be driven to his
|
|
feet by any terrors, as the wicked man is said to be
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+18:11">Job xviii. 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
but with a fixed heart shall quietly wait the event, saying, <I>Welcome
|
|
the will of God.</I> He <I>shall not make haste</I> in his
|
|
expectations, so as to anticipate the time set in the divine counsels,
|
|
but, though it tarry, will wait the appointed hour, knowing that <I>he
|
|
that shall come will come, and will not tarry.</I> He that believes
|
|
will not make more haste than good speed, but be satisfied that God's
|
|
time is the best time, and wait with patience for it. The apostle from
|
|
the LXX. explains this,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Pe+2:6">1 Pet. ii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>He that believes on him shall not be confounded;</I> his
|
|
expectations shall not be frustrated, but far out-done.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He tells them that upon the grounds which they now built on they
|
|
could not be safe, but their confidences would certainly fail them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Judgment will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the
|
|
plummet.</I> This denotes,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The building up of his church; having laid the foundation
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
he will raise the structure, as builders do, by line and plummet,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+4:10">Zech. iv. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Righteousness shall be the line and judgment the plummet. The church,
|
|
being grounded on Christ, shall be formed and reformed by the
|
|
scripture, the standing rule of judgment and righteousness. <I>Judgment
|
|
shall return unto righteousness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+94:15">Ps. xciv. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The punishing of the church's enemies, against whom he will
|
|
proceed in strict justice, according to the threatenings of the law.
|
|
He will give them their deserts, and bring upon them the judgments they
|
|
have challenged, but in wisdom too, and by an exact rule, that the
|
|
tares may not be plucked up with the wheat. And when God comes thus to
|
|
execute judgment,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[1.] These scornful men will be made ashamed of the vain hopes with
|
|
which they had deluded themselves. <I>First,</I> They designed to make
|
|
lies their refuge; but it will indeed prove a refuge of lies, which
|
|
<I>the hail shall sweep away,</I> that tempest of hail spoken of
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that make lies their refuge build upon the sand, and the building
|
|
will fall when the storm comes, and bury the builder in the ruins of
|
|
it. Those that make any thing their hiding place but Christ shall find
|
|
that the waters will overflow it, as every shelter but the ark was
|
|
over-topped and overthrown by the waters of the deluge. Such is the
|
|
hope of the hypocrite; this will come of all his confidences.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> They boasted of a covenant with death, and an
|
|
agreement with the grave; but it shall be <I>disannulled,</I> as made
|
|
without his consent who has the keys and sovereign command of hell and
|
|
death. Those do but delude themselves that think by any wiles to evade
|
|
the judgments of God. <I>Thirdly,</I> They fancied that when the
|
|
overflowing scourge should pass through the land it should not come
|
|
near them; but the prophet tells them that then, when others were
|
|
falling by the common calamity, they should not only share in it, but
|
|
should be trodden down by it: "You shall be to it for a treading down;
|
|
it shall triumph over you as much as over any other, and you shall
|
|
become its easy prey." They are further told
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
1. That it shall begin with them; they shall be so far from escaping it
|
|
that they shall be the first that shall fall by it: "<I>From the time
|
|
it goes forth it shall take you,</I> as if it came on purpose to seize
|
|
you."
|
|
|
|
2. That it shall pursue them closely: "<I>Morning by morning shall it
|
|
pass over;</I> as duly as the day returns you shall hear of some
|
|
desolation or other made by it; for divine justice will follow its
|
|
blow; you shall never be safe nor easy by day nor by night; there shall
|
|
be a pestilence walking in darkness and a destruction wasting at
|
|
noonday."
|
|
|
|
3. That there shall be no avoiding it: "The understanding of the report
|
|
of its approach shall not give you any opportunity to make your escape,
|
|
for there shall be no way of escape open; but it shall be only a
|
|
vexation, you shall see it coming, and not see how to help yourselves."
|
|
Or, "The very report of it at a distance will be a terror to you; what
|
|
then will the thing itself be?" Evil tidings are a terror and vexation
|
|
to scorners, but he whose heart is fixed, <I>trusting in God, is not
|
|
afraid of them;</I> whereas, when the <I>overflowing scourge</I> comes,
|
|
then all the comforts and confidences of scorners fail them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) That in which they thought to repose themselves reaches not to the
|
|
length of their expectations: <I>The bed is shorter than that a man can
|
|
stretch himself upon it,</I> so that he is forced to cramp and contract
|
|
himself.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That in which they thought to shelter themselves proves
|
|
insufficient to answer the intention: <I>The covering is narrower than
|
|
that a man can wrap himself in it.</I> Those that do not build upon
|
|
Christ as their foundation, but rest in a righteousness of their own,
|
|
will prove in the end thus to have deceived themselves; they can never
|
|
be easy, safe, nor warm; the bed is too short, the covering is too
|
|
narrow; like our first parents' fig-leaves, the shame of their
|
|
nakedness will still appear.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
[2.] God will be glorified in the accomplishment of his counsels,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
When God comes to contend with these scorners, <I>First, He will do his
|
|
work, and bring to pass his act,</I> he will work for his own honour
|
|
and glory, according to his own purpose; the work shall appear to all
|
|
that see it to be the work of God as the righteous Judge of the earth.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> He will do it now against his people, as formerly he
|
|
did it against their enemies, by which his justice will appear to be
|
|
impartial; he will now <I>rise up against Jerusalem as,</I> in David's
|
|
time, against the Philistines <I>in Mount Perazim</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+5:20">2 Sam. v. 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
and as, in Joshua's time, against the Canaanites <I>in the valley of
|
|
Gibeon.</I> If those that profess themselves members of God's church by
|
|
their pride and scornfulness make themselves like Philistines and
|
|
Canaanites, they must expect to be dealt with as such. <I>Thirdly,</I>
|
|
This will be <I>his strange work, his strange act,</I> his foreign
|
|
deed. It is work that he is backward to: he rather delights in showing
|
|
mercy, and <I>does not afflict willingly.</I> It is work that he is not
|
|
used to as to his own people; he protects and favours them. It is a
|
|
strange work indeed if he <I>turn to be their enemy and fight against
|
|
them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:10"><I>ch.</I> lxiii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is a work that all the neighbours will stand amazed at
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+29:24">Deut. xxix. 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
and therefore the ruins of Jerusalem are said to be <I>an
|
|
astonishment,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+25:18">Jer. xxv. 18</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
<I>Lastly,</I> We have the use and application of all this
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Therefore be you not mockers;</I> dare not to ridicule either the
|
|
reproofs of God's word or the approaches of his judgments." <I>Mocking
|
|
the messengers of the Lord</I> was Jerusalem's measure-filling sin. The
|
|
consideration of the judgments of God that are coming upon hypocritical
|
|
professors should effectually silence mockers, and make them serious:
|
|
"<I>Be you not mockers, lest your bands be made strong,</I> both the
|
|
bands by which you are bound under the dominion of sin" (for there is
|
|
little hope of the conversion of mockers) "and the bands by which you
|
|
are bound over to the judgments of God." God has bands of justice
|
|
strong enough to hold those that break all the bonds of his law asunder
|
|
and cast away all his cord from them. Let not these mockers make light
|
|
of divine threatenings, for the prophet (who is one of those with whom
|
|
the secret of the Lord is) assures them that the Lord God of hosts has,
|
|
in his hearing, <I>determined a consumption upon the whole earth;</I>
|
|
and can they think to escape? or shall their unbelief invalidate the
|
|
threatening?</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa28_29"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Husbandry a Divine Art.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 725.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech.
|
|
24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break
|
|
the clods of his ground?
|
|
25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast
|
|
abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the
|
|
principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their
|
|
place?
|
|
26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, <I>and</I> doth
|
|
teach him.
|
|
27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing
|
|
instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin;
|
|
but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with
|
|
a rod.
|
|
28 Bread <I>corn</I> is bruised; because he will not ever be
|
|
threshing it, nor break <I>it with</I> the wheel of his cart, nor
|
|
bruise it <I>with</I> his horsemen.
|
|
29 This also cometh forth from the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, <I>which</I> is
|
|
wonderful in counsel, <I>and</I> excellent in working.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This parable, which (like many of our Saviour's parables) is borrowed
|
|
from the husbandman's calling, is ushered in with a solemn preface
|
|
demanding attention, <I>He that has ears to hear, let him hear,</I>
|
|
hear and understand,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The parable here is plain enough, that the husbandman applies
|
|
himself to the business of his calling with a great deal of pains and
|
|
prudence, <I>secundum artem--according to rule,</I> and, as his judgment
|
|
directs him, observes a method and order in his work.
|
|
|
|
1. In his ploughing and sowing: <I>Does the ploughman plough all day to
|
|
sow?</I> Yes, he does, and he <I>ploughs in hope</I> and <I>sows in
|
|
hope,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+9:10">1 Cor. ix. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Does he open and break the clods?</I> Yes, he does, that the land
|
|
may be fit to receive the seed. And <I>when he has thus made plain the
|
|
face thereof</I> does he not sow his seed, seed suitable to the soil?
|
|
For the husbandman knows what grain is fit for clayey ground and what
|
|
for sandy ground, and, accordingly, he sows each in its place--<I>wheat
|
|
in the principal place</I> (so the margin reads it), for it is the
|
|
principal grain, and was a staple commodity of Canaan
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+27:17">Ezek. xxvii. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>and barley in the appointed place.</I> The wisdom and goodness of
|
|
the God of nature are to be observed in this, that, to oblige his
|
|
creatures with a grateful variety of productions, he has suited to them
|
|
an agreeable variety of earths.
|
|
|
|
2. In his threshing,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:27,28"><I>v.</I> 27, 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
This also he proportions to the grain that is to be threshed out.
|
|
<I>The fitches and the cummin,</I> being easily got out of their husk
|
|
or ear, are only threshed with <I>a staff and a rod;</I> but <I>the
|
|
bread-corn</I> requires more force, and therefore that must be bruised
|
|
with <I>a threshing instrument,</I> a sledge shod with iron, that was
|
|
drawn to and fro over it, to beat out the corn; and yet <I>he will not
|
|
be ever threshing it,</I> nor any longer than is necessary to loosen
|
|
the corn from the chaff; <I>he will not break it,</I> or crush it, into
|
|
the ground <I>with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it</I> to pieces
|
|
<I>with his horsemen;</I> the grinding of it is reserved for another
|
|
operation. Observe, by the way, what pains are to be taken, not only
|
|
for the earning, but for the preparing of our necessary food; and yet,
|
|
after all, it is <I>meat that perishes.</I> Shall we then grudge to
|
|
labour much more for the <I>meat which endures to everlasting life?
|
|
Bread-corn is bruised.</I> Christ was so; <I>it pleased the Lord to
|
|
bruise him,</I> that he might be the bread of life to us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The interpretation of the parable is not so plain. Most
|
|
interpreters make it a further answer to those who set the judgments of
|
|
God at defiance: "Let them know that as the husbandman will not be
|
|
always ploughing, but will at length sow his seed, so God will not be
|
|
always threatening, but will at length execute his threatenings and
|
|
bring upon sinners the judgments they have deserved; but in wisdom, and
|
|
in proportion to their strength, not that they may be ruined, but that
|
|
they may be reformed and brought to repentance by them." But I think we
|
|
may give this parable a greater latitude in the exposition of it.
|
|
|
|
1. In general, that God who gives the husbandman this wisdom is,
|
|
doubtless, himself infinitely wise. It is God that <I>instructs the
|
|
husbandman to discretion,</I> as <I>his God,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Husbandmen have need of discretion wherewith to order their affairs,
|
|
and ought not undertake that business unless they do in some measure
|
|
understand it; and they should by observation and experience endeavour
|
|
to improve themselves in the knowledge of it. Since <I>the king himself
|
|
is served of the field,</I> the advancing of the art of husbandry is a
|
|
common service to mankind more than the cultivating of most other arts.
|
|
The skill of the husbandman is from God, as every good and perfect gift
|
|
is. This takes off somewhat of the weight and terror of the sentence
|
|
passed on man for sin, that when God, in execution of it, sent man to
|
|
till the ground, he taught him how to do it most to his advantage,
|
|
otherwise, in the greatness of his folly, he might have been for ever
|
|
<I>tilling the sand of the sea,</I> labouring to no purpose. It is he
|
|
that gives men capacity for this business, an inclination to it, and a
|
|
delight in it; and if some were not by Providence cut out for it, and
|
|
mad to rejoice (as Issachar, that tribe of husbandmen) in their tents,
|
|
notwithstanding the toil and fatigue of this business, we should soon
|
|
want the supports of life. If some are more discreet and judicious in
|
|
managing these or any other affairs than others are, God must be
|
|
acknowledged in it; and to him husbandmen must seek for direction in
|
|
their business, for they, above other men, have an immediate dependence
|
|
upon the divine Providence. As to the other instance of the
|
|
husbandman's conduct in threshing his corn, it is said, <I>This also
|
|
comes forth from the Lord of hosts,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
Even the plainest dictate of sense and reason must be acknowledged to
|
|
<I>come forth from the Lord of hosts.</I> And, if it is from him that
|
|
men do things wisely and discreetly, we must needs acknowledge him to
|
|
be <I>wise in counsel and excellent in working.</I> God's working is
|
|
according to his will; he never acts against his own mind, as men often
|
|
do, and there is a counsel in his whole will: he is <I>therefore</I>
|
|
excellent in working, because he is wonderful in counsel.
|
|
|
|
2. God's church is his husbandry,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+3:9">1 Cor. iii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
If Christ is the true vine, his Father is the husbandman
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+15:1">John xv. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
and he is continually by his word and ordinances cultivating it.
|
|
<I>Does the ploughman plough all day,</I> and <I>break the clods</I> of
|
|
his ground, that it may receive the seed, and does not God by his
|
|
ministers break up the fallow ground? Does not the ploughman, when the
|
|
ground is fitted for the seed, cast in the seed in its proper soil? He
|
|
does so, and so the great God sows his word by the hand of his
|
|
ministers
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:19">Matt. xiii. 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
who are to divide the word of truth and give every one his portion.
|
|
Whatever the soil of the heart is, there is some seed or other in the
|
|
word proper for it. And, as the word of God, so the rod of God is thus
|
|
wisely made use of. Afflictions are God's threshing-instruments,
|
|
designed to loosen us from the world, to separate between us and our
|
|
chaff, and to prepare us for use. And, as to these, God will make use
|
|
of them as there is occasion; but he will proportion them to our
|
|
strength; they shall be no heavier than there is need. If the rod and
|
|
the staff will answer the end, he will not make use of his cart-wheel
|
|
and his horsemen. And where these are necessary, as for the bruising of
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the bread-corn (which will not otherwise be got clean from the straw),
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yet he will not be ever threshing it, will not always chide, but his
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anger shall endure but for a moment; nor will he <I>crush under his
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feet the prisoners of the earth.</I> And herein we must acknowledge him
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<I>wonderful in counsel and excellent in working.</I></P>
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