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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. XXXI.</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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This chapter is an abridgment of the foregoing chapter; the heads of it
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are much the same. Here is,
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I. A woe to those who, when the Assyrian army invaded them, trusted to
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the Egyptians, and not to God, for succour,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. Assurance given of the care God would take of Jerusalem in that
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time of danger and distress,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:4,5">ver. 4, 5</A>.
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III. A call to repentance and reformation,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>.
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IV. A prediction of the fall of the Assyrian army, and the fright which
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the Assyrian king should thereby be put into,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:8,9">ver. 8, 9</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa31_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa31_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa31_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa31_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa31_5"> </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>Confidence in Egypt Reproved.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 720.</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 them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on
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horses, and trust in chariots, because <I>they are</I> many; and in
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horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto
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the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>!
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2 Yet he also <I>is</I> wise, and will bring evil, and will not call
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back his words: but will arise against the house of the
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evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.
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3 Now the Egyptians <I>are</I> men, and not God; and their horses
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flesh, and not spirit. When the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall stretch out his hand,
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both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall
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down, and they all shall fail together.
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4 For thus hath the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spoken unto me, Like as the lion and
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the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds
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is called forth against him, <I>he</I> will not be afraid of their
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voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill
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thereof.
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5 As birds flying, so will the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts defend Jerusalem;
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defending also he will deliver <I>it; and</I> passing over he will
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preserve it.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This is the last of four chapters together that begin with woe; and
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they are all woes to the sinners that were found among the professing
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people of God, to the <I>drunkards of Ephraim</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:1"><I>ch.</I> xxviii. 1</A>),
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to <I>Ariel</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:1"><I>ch.</I> xxix. 1</A>),
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to the <I>rebellious children</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:1"><I>ch.</I> xxx. 1</A>),
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and here to <I>those that go down to Egypt for help;</I> for men's
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relation to the church will not secure them from divine woes if they
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live in contempt of divine laws. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. What the sin was that is here reproved,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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1. Idolizing the Egyptians, and making court to them, as if happy were
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the people that had the Egyptians for their friends and allies. They
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<I>go down to Egypt for help</I> in every exigence, as if the
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worshippers of false gods had a better interest in heaven and were more
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likely to have success of earth than the servants of the living and
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true God. That which invited them to Egypt was that the Egyptians had
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many chariots to accommodate them with, and horses and horsemen that
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were strong; and, if they could get a good body of forces thence into
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their service, they would think themselves able to deal with the king
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of Assyria and his numerous army. Their kings were forbidden to
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multiply horses and chariots, and were told of the folly of trusting to
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them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+20:7">Ps. xx. 7</A>);
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but they think themselves wiser than their Bible.
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2. Slighting the God of Israel: <I>They look not to the Holy One of
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Israel,</I> as if he were not worth taking notice of in this distress.
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They advise not with him, seek not his favour, nor are in any care to
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make him their friend.</P>
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<P>
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II. The gross absurdity and folly of this sin.
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1. They neglected one whom, if they would not hope in him, they had
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reason to fear. They do not seek the Lord, nor make their application
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to him, <I>yet he also is wise,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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They are solicitous to get the Egyptians into an alliance with them,
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because they have the reputation of a politic people; and is not God
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wise too? and would not infinite wisdom, engaged on their side, stand
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them in more stead than all the policies of Egypt? They are at the
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pains of going down to Egypt, a tedious journey, when they might have
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had better advice, and better help, by looking up to heaven, and would
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not. But, if they will not court God's wisdom to act for them, they
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shall find it act against them. He is wise, too wise for them to
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outwit, and he will bring evil upon those who thus affront him. He
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will not call back his words as men do (because they are fickle and
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foolish), but he <I>will arise against the house of the evil-doers,</I>
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this cabal of them that go down to Egypt; God will appear to their
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confusion, according to the word that he has spoken, and will oppose
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the help they think to bring in from the workers of iniquity. Some
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think the Egyptians made it one condition of their coming into an
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alliance with him that they should worship the gods of Egypt, and they
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consented to it, and therefore they are both called <I>evil-doers</I>
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and <I>workers of iniquity.</I>
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2. They trusted to those who were unable to help them and would soon
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appear to be so,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Let them know that <I>the Egyptians,</I> whom they depend so much upon,
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<I>are men and not God.</I> As it is good for men to <I>know themselves
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to be but men</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+9:20">Ps. ix. 20</A>),
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so it is good for us to consider that those we love and trust to are
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but men. They therefore can do nothing without God, nothing against
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him, nothing in comparison with him. They are men, and therefore fickle
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and foolish, mutable and mortal, here to day and gone to morrow; they
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are men, and therefore let us not make gods of them, by making them our
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hope and confidence, and expecting that in them which is to be found in
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God only; they are not God, they cannot do that for us which God can
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do, and will, if we trust in him. Let us not then neglect him, to seek
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to them; let us not forsake the rock of ages for broken reeds, nor the
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fountain of living waters for broken cisterns. The Egyptians indeed
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have horses that are very strong; but <I>they are flesh, and not
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spirit,</I> and therefore, strong as they are, they may be wearied with
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a long march, and become unserviceable, or be wounded and slain in
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battle, and leave their riders to be ridden over. Every one knows this,
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that the Egyptians are not God and their horses are not spirit; but
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those that seek to them for help do not consider it, else they would
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not put such confidence in them. Sinners may be convicted of folly by
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the plainest and most self-evident truths, which they cannot deny, but
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will not believe.
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3. They would certainly be ruined with the Egyptians they trusted in,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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<I>When the Lord</I> does but <I>stretch out his hand</I> how easily,
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how effectually, will he make them ashamed of their confidence in
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Egypt, and the Egyptians ashamed of the encouragement they gave them to
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trust in them; for <I>he that helps and he that is helped shall fall
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together,</I> and their mutual alliance shall prove their joint ruin.
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The Egyptians were shortly to be reckoned with, as appears by the
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<I>burden of Egypt</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+19:1-25"><I>ch.</I> xix.</A>),
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and then those who fled to them for shelter and succour should fall
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with them; for there is no escaping the judgments of God. <I>Evil
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pursues sinners,</I> and it is just with God to make that creature a
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scourge to us which we make an idol of.
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4. They took God's work out of his hands. They pretended a great deal
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of care to preserve Jerusalem, in advising to an alliance with Egypt;
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and, when others would not fall in with their measures, they pleaded
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self preservation, and went to Egypt themselves. Now the prophet here
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tells them that Jerusalem should be preserved without aid from Egypt
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and that those who tarried there should be safe when those who fled to
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Egypt should be ruined. Jerusalem was under God's protection, and
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therefore there was no occasion to put it under the protection of
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Egypt. But a practical distrust of God's all-sufficiency is at the
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bottom of all our sinful departures from him to the creature. The
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prophet tells them he had it from God's own mouth: <I>Thus hath the
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Lord spoken to me.</I> They might depend upon it,
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(1.) That God would appear against Jerusalem's enemies with the
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boldness of a <I>lion over his prey,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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When the lion comes out to seize his prey <I>a multitude of shepherds
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come out against him;</I> for it becomes neighbours to help one another
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when persons or goods are in danger. These shepherds dare not come near
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the lion; all they can do is to make a <I>noise,</I> and with that they
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think to frighten him off. But does he regard it? <I>No: he will not
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be afraid of their voice,</I> nor abase himself so far as to be in the
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least moved by it either to quit his prey or to make any more haste
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than otherwise he would do in seizing it. <I>Thus will the Lord of
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hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion,</I> with such an unshaken
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undaunted resolution not to be moved by any opposition; and he will as
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easily and irresistibly destroy the Assyrian army as a lion tears a
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lamb in pieces. Whoever appear against God, they are but like a
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multitude of poor simple shepherds shouting at a lion, who scorns to
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take notice of them or so much as to alter his pace for them. Surely
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those that have such a protector need not go to Egypt for help.
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(2.) That God would appear for Jerusalem's friends with the tenderness
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of a bird over her young,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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God was ready to <I>gather Jerusalem, as a hen gathers her brood under
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her wings</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:37">Matt. xxiii. 37</A>);
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but those that trusted to the Egyptians would not be gathered. <I>As
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birds flying</I> to their nests with all possible speed, when they see
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them attacked, and fluttering about their nests with all possible
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concern, hovering over their young ones to protect them and drive away
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the assailants, with such compassion and affection <I>will the Lord of
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hosts defend Jerusalem.</I> As an eagle stirs up her young when they
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are in danger, <I>takes them and bears them on her wings,</I> so the
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Lord led Israel out of Egypt
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:11,12">Deut. xxxii. 11, 12</A>);
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and he has now the same tender concern for them that he had then, so
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that they need not flee into Egypt again for shelter. <I>Defending, he
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will deliver it;</I> he will so defend it as to secure the continuance
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of its safety, not defend it for a while and abandon it at last, but
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defend it so that it shall not fall into the enemies' hand. <I>I will
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defend this city to save it,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:35"><I>ch.</I> xxxvii. 35</A>.
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<I>Passing over he will preserve it;</I> the word for passing over is
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used in this sense only here and
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+12:12,23,27">Exod. xii. 12, 23, 27</A>,
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concerning the destroying angel's passing over the houses of the
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Israelites when he slew all the first-born of the Egyptians, to which
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story this passage refers. The Assyrian army was to be routed by a
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destroying angel, who should pass over Jerusalem, though that deserved
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to be destroyed, and draw his sword only against the besiegers. They
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shall be slain by the pestilence, but none of the besieged shall take
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the infection. Thus he will again pass over the houses of his people
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and secure them.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa31_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa31_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa31_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa31_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>A Call to Repentance; Deliverance of Jerusalem.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 720.</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>6 Turn ye unto <I>him from</I> whom the children of Israel have
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deeply revolted.
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7 For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of
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silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made
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unto you <I>for</I> a sin.
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8 Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty
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man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he
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shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be
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discomfited.
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9 And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his
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princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, whose fire
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<I>is</I> in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This explains the foregoing promise of the deliverance of Jerusalem;
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she shall be fitted for deliverance, and then it shall be wrought for
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her; for in that method God delivers.</P>
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<P>
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I. Jerusalem shall be reformed, and so she shall be delivered from her
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enemies within her walls,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>.
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Here is,
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1. A gracious call to repentance. This was the Lord's voice crying in
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the city, the voice of the rod, the voice of the sword, and the voice
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of the prophets interpreting the judgment: "<I>Turn you,</I> O turn you
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now, from your evil ways, <I>unto God,</I> return to your allegiance to
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him <I>from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted,</I> from
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whom you, <I>O children of Israel!</I> have revolted." He reminds them
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of their birth and parentage, that they were <I>children of Israel,</I>
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and therefore under the highest obligations imaginable to the God of
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Israel, as an aggravation of their revolt from him and as an
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encouragement to them to return to him. "They have been backsliding
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children, yet children; therefore let them return, and their
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backslidings shall be healed. They have deeply revolted, with great
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address as they supposed (<I>the revolters are profound,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+5:2">Hos. v. 2</A>);
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but the issue will prove that they have revolted dangerously. The stain
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of their sins has gone deeply into their nature, not to be easily got
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out, like the blackness of the Ethiopian. <I>They have deeply corrupted
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themselves</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:9">Hos. ix. 9</A>);
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they have sunk deep into misery, and cannot easily recover themselves;
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therefore you have need to hasten your return to God."
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2. A gracious promise of the good success of this call
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>In that day every man shall cast away his idols,</I> in obedience to
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Hezekiah's orders, which, till they were alarmed by the Assyrian
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invasion, many refused to do. That is a happy fright which frightens us
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from our sins.
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(1.) It shall be a general reformation: every man shall cast away his
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own idols, shall begin with them before he undertakes to demolish other
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people's idols, which there will be no need of when every man reforms
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himself.
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(2.) It shall be a thorough reformation; for they shall part with their
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idolatry, their beloved sin, with their <I>idols of silver and
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gold,</I> their idols that they are most fond of. Many make an idol of
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their silver and gold, and by the love of that idol are drawn to revolt
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from God; but those that turn to God cast that away out of their hearts
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and will be ready to part with it when God calls.
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(3.) It shall be a reformation upon a right principle, a principle of
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piety, not of politics. They shall cast away their idols, because they
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have been unto them <I>for a sin,</I> an occasion of sin; therefore
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they will have nothing to do with them, though they had been the work
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|
of their <I>own hands,</I> and upon that account they had a particular
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fondness for them. Sin is the work of our own hands, but in working it
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we have been working our own ruin, and therefore we must cast it away;
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and those are strangely wedded to it who will not be prevailed upon to
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|
cast it away when they see that otherwise they themselves will be
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castaways. Some make this to be only a prediction that those who trust
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in idols, when they find they stand them in no stead, will cast them
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away in indignation. But it agrees so exactly with
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:22"><I>ch.</I> xxx. 22</A>
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that I rather take it as a promise of a sincere reformation.</P>
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<P>
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II. Jerusalem's besiegers shall be routed, and so she shall be
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delivered from the enemies about her walls. The former makes way for
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this. If a people return to God, they may leave it to him to plead
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their cause against their enemies. When they have cast away their
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idols, <I>then shall the Assyrian fall,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>.
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1. The army of the Assyrians shall be laid dead upon the spot <I>by the
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sword, not of a mighty man, nor of a mean man,</I> not of any man at
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|
all, either Israelite or Egyptian, not forcibly by the sword of a
|
|
mighty man nor surreptitiously by the sword of a mean man, but by the
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|
sword of an angel, who strikes more strongly than a mighty man and yet
|
|
more secretly than a mean man, by the sword of the Lord, and his power
|
|
and wrath in the hand of the angel. Thus the young men of the army
|
|
shall melt, and be discomfited, and become tributaries to death. When
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God has work to do against the enemies of his church we expect it must
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|
be done by mighty men and mean men, officers and common soldiers;
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|
whereas God can, if he please, do it without either. <I>He</I> needs
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|
not armies of men who has legions of angels at command,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+26:53">Matt. xxvi. 53</A>.
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2. The king of Assyria shall flee for the same, shall flee from that
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|
invisible sword, hoping to get out of the reach of it; and he shall
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|
make the best of his way to his own dominions, shall pass over to some
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|
strong-hold of his own, for fear lest the Jews should pursue him now
|
|
that his army was routed. Sennacherib had been very confident that he
|
|
should make himself master of Jerusalem, and in the most insolent
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|
manner had set both God and Hezekiah at defiance; yet now he is made to
|
|
tremble for fear of both. God can strike a terror into the proudest of
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|
men, and make the stoutest heart to tremble. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+18:11,20:24">Job xviii. 11; xx. 24</A>.
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<I>His princes</I> that accompany him <I>shall be afraid of the
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|
ensign,</I> shall be in a continual fright at the remembrance of the
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ensign in the air, which perhaps the destroying angel displayed before
|
|
he gave the fatal bow. Or they shall be afraid of every ensign they
|
|
see, suspecting it is a party of the Jews pursuing them. The banner
|
|
that God displays for the encouragement of his people
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+60:4">Ps. lx. 4</A>)
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|
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will be a terror to his and their enemies. Thus he <I>cuts off the
|
|
spirit of princes and is terrible to the kings of the earth.</I> But
|
|
who will do this? It is <I>the Lord, whose fire is in Zion and his
|
|
furnace in Jerusalem.</I>
|
|
|
|
(1.) Whose residence is there, and who there keeps house, as a man does
|
|
where his fire and his oven are. It is the city of the great King, and
|
|
let not the Assyrians think to turn him out of the possession of his
|
|
own house.
|
|
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|
(2.) Who is there a consuming fire to all his enemies and will make
|
|
them as a fiery oven in the day of his wrath,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+21:9">Ps. xxi. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
He is himself <I>a wall of fire round about Jerusalem,</I> so that
|
|
whoever assaults her does so at his peril,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+2:5,Re+11:5">Zech. ii. 5; Rev. xi. 5</A>.
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|
(3.) Who has his altar there, on which the holy fire is continually
|
|
kept burning and sacrifices are daily offered to his honour, and with
|
|
which he is well pleased; and therefore he will defend this city,
|
|
especially having an eye to the great sacrifice which was there also to
|
|
be offered, of which all the sacrifices were types. If we keep up the
|
|
fire of holy love and devotion in our hearts and houses, we may depend
|
|
upon God to be a protection to us and them.</P>
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