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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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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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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. XLVI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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God, by the prophet here, designing shortly to deliver them out of
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their captivity, prepared them for that deliverance by possessing them
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with a detestation of idols and with a believing confidence in God,
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even their own God.
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I. Let them not be afraid of the idols of Babylon, as if they could in
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any way obstruct their deliverance, for they should be defaced
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:1,2">ver. 1, 2</A>);
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but let them trust in that God who had often delivered them to do it
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still, to do it now,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:3,4">ver. 3, 4</A>.
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II. Let them not think to make idols of their own, images of the God of
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Israel, by them to worship him, as the Babylonians worship their gods,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:5-7">ver. 5-7</A>.
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Let them not be so sottish
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:8">ver. 8</A>),
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but have an eye to God in his word, not in an image; let them depend
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upon that, and upon the promises and predictions of it, and God's power
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to accomplish them all,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:9-11">ver. 9-11</A>.
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And let them know that the unbelief of man shall not make the word of
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God of no effect,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:12,13">ver. 12, 13</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa46_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa46_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa46_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa46_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Folly of Idolatry.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</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 Bel boweth down, Nebo stoopeth, their idols were upon the
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beasts, and upon the cattle: your carriages <I>were</I> heavy loaden;
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<I>they are</I> a burden to the weary <I>beast.</I>
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2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver
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the burden, but themselves are gone into captivity.
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3 Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the
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house of Israel, which are borne <I>by me</I> from the belly, which
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are carried from the womb:
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4 And <I>even</I> to <I>your</I> old age I <I>am</I> he; and <I>even</I> to hoar
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hairs will I carry <I>you:</I> I have made, and I will bear; even I
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will carry, and will deliver <I>you.</I>
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We are here told,</P>
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<P>
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I. That the false gods will certainly fail their worshippers when they
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have most need of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>.
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Bel and Nebo were two celebrated idols of Babylon. Some make Bel to be
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a contraction of Baal; others rather think not, but that it was Belus,
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one of their first kings, who after his death was deified. As Bel was a
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deified prince, so (some think) Nebo was a deified prophet, for so Nebo
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signifies; so that Bel and Nebo were their Jupiter and their Mercury or
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Apollo. Barnabas and Paul passed at Lystra for Jupiter and Mercury. The
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names of these idols were taken into the names of their princes, Bel
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into Belshazzar's, Nebo into Nebuchadnezzar's and Nebuzaradan's, &c.
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These gods they had long worshipped, and in their revels praised them
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for their successes (as appears,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+5:4">Dan. v. 4</A>);
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and they insulted over Israel as if Bel and Nebo were too hard for
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Jehovah and could detain them in captivity in defiance of their God.
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Now, that this might be no discouragement to the poor captives, God
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here tells them what shall become of these idols, which they threaten
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them with. When Cyrus takes Babylon, down go the idols. It was usual
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then with conquerors to destroy the gods of the places and people they
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conquered, and to put the gods of their own nation in the room of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:19"><I>ch.</I> xxxvii. 19</A>.
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Cyrus will do so; and then Bel and Nebo, that were set up on high, and
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looked great, bold, and erect, shall <I>stoop and bow down</I> at the
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feet of the soldiers that plunder their temples. And because there is a
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great deal of gold and silver upon them, which was intended to adorn
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them, but serves to expose them, they carry them away with the rest of
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the spoil. The carriers' horses, or mules, are laden with them and
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their other idols, to be sent among other lumber (for so it seems they
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accounted them rather than treasure) into Persia. So far are they from
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being able to support their worshippers that they are themselves a
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heavy load in the wagons, and <I>a burden to the weary beast.</I> The
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idols cannot help one another
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>They stoop, they bow down together.</I> They are all alike,
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tottering things, and their day has come to fall. Their worshippers
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cannot help them: <I>They could not deliver the burden</I> out of the
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enemy's hand, <I>but themselves</I> (both the idols and the idolaters)
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<I>have gone into captivity.</I> Let not therefore God's people be
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afraid of either. When God's ark was taken prisoner by the Philistines
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it proved a burden, not to the beasts, but to the conquerors, who were
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forced to return it; but, when Bel and Nebo have gone into captivity,
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their worshippers may even give their good word with them: they will
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never recover themselves.</P>
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<P>
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II. That the true God will never fail his worshippers: "You hear what
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has become of Bel and Nebo, now <I>hearken to me, O house of Jacob!</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>.
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Am I such a god as these? No; though you are brought low, and the house
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of Israel is but a remnant, your God has been, is, and ever will be,
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your powerful and faithful protector."</P>
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<P>
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1. Let God's Israel do him the justice to own that he has hitherto been
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kind to them, careful of them, tender over them, and has all along done
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well for them. Let them own,
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(1.) That he bore them at first: <I>I have made.</I> Out of what womb
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came they, but that of his mercy, and grace, and promise? He formed
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them into a people and gave them their constitution. Every good man is
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what God makes him.
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(2.) That he bore them up all along: You have been <I>borne by me from
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the belly,</I> and <I>carried from the womb.</I> God began betimes to
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do them good, as soon as ever they were formed into a nation, nay, when
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as yet they were very few, and strangers. God took them under a special
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protection, and <I>suffered no man to do them wrong,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+105:12-14">Ps. cv. 12-14</A>.
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In the infancy of their state, when they were not only foolish and
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helpless, as children, but forward and peevish, God carried them in the
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arms of his power and love, bore them <I>as upon eagles' wings,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+19:4,De+32:11">Exod. xix. 4; Deut. xxxii. 11</A>.
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Moses had not patience <I>to carry them as the nursing father does the
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sucking child</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+11:12">Num. xi. 12</A>),
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but God bore them, and <I>bore their manners,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+13:18">Acts xiii. 18</A>.
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And as God began early to do them good (when <I>Israel was a child,
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then I loved him</I>), so he had constantly continued to do them good:
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he had carried them from the womb to this day. And we may all witness
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for God that he has been thus gracious to us. We have been borne by him
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from the belly, from the womb, else we should have died from the womb
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and given up the ghost when we came out of the belly. We have been the
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constant care of his kind providence, carried in the arms of his power
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and in the bosom of his love and pity. The new man is so; all that in
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us which is born of God is borne up by him, else it would soon fail.
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Our spiritual life is sustained by his grace as necessarily and
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constantly as our natural life by his providence. The saints have
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acknowledged that God has carried them from the womb, and have
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encouraged themselves with the consideration of it in their greatest
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straits,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+22:9,10,71:5,6,17">Ps. xxii. 9, 10; lxxi. 5, 6, 17</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. He will then do them the kindness to promise that he will never
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leave them. He that was their first will be their last; he that was the
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author will be the finisher of their well-being
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"You have been <I>borne by me from the belly,</I> nursed when you were
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children; and <I>even to your old age I am he,</I> when, by reason of
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your decays and infirmities, you will need help as much as in your
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infancy." Israel were now growing old, so was their covenant by which
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they were incorporated,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+8:13">Heb. viii. 13</A>.
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<I>Gray hairs were here and there upon them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+7:9">Hos. vii. 9</A>.
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And they had hastened their old age, and the calamities of it, by their
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irregularities. But God will not cast them off now, will not fail them
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when their strength fails; he is still their God, will still carry them
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in the same everlasting arms that were laid under them in Moses's time,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:27">Deut. xxxiii. 27</A>.
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He has made them and owns his interest in them, and therefore he will
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bear them, will bear with their infirmities, and bear them up under
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their afflictions: "Even <I>I will carry and will deliver</I> them; I
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will now bear them upon eagles' wings out of Babylon, as in their
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infancy I bore them out of Egypt." This promise to aged Israel is
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applicable to every aged Israelite. God has graciously engaged to
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support and comfort his faithful servants, even in their old age:
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"<I>Even to your old age,</I> when you grow unfit for business, when
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you are compassed with infirmities, and perhaps your relations begin to
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grow weary of you, yet <I>I am he</I>--he that I am, he that I have
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been--the very same by whom you have been borne from the belly and
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carried from the womb. You change, but I am the same. I am he that I
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have promised to be, he that you have found me, and he that you would
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have me to be. <I>I will carry you, I will bear,</I> will bear you up
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and bear you out, and will carry you on in your way and carry you home
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at last."</P>
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<A NAME="Isa46_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa46_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa46_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa46_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa46_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa46_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa46_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa46_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa46_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Folly of Idolatry; The Divine Prerogative Asserted.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>5 To whom will ye liken me, and make <I>me</I> equal, and compare
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me, that we may be like?
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6 They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the
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balance, <I>and</I> hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they
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fall down, yea, they worship.
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7 They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him
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in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not
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remove: yea, <I>one</I> shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor
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save him out of his trouble.
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8 Remember this, and show yourselves men: bring <I>it</I> again to
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mind, O ye transgressors.
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9 Remember the former things of old: for I <I>am</I> God, and <I>there
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is</I> none else; <I>I am</I> God, and <I>there is</I> none like me,
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10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times
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<I>the things</I> that are not <I>yet</I> done, saying, My counsel shall
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stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
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11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that
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executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken <I>it,</I>
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I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed <I>it,</I> I will also
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do it.
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12 Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that <I>are</I> far from
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righteousness:
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13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and
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my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion
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for Israel my glory.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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The deliverance of Israel by the destruction of Babylon (the general
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subject of all these chapters) is here insisted upon, and again
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promised, for the conviction both of idolaters who set up as rivals
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with God, and of oppressors who were enemies to the people of God.</P>
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<P>
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I. For the conviction of those who made and worshipped idols,
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especially those of Israel who did so, who would have images of their
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God, as the Babylonians had of theirs,</P>
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<P>
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1. He challenges them either to frame an image that should be thought a
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resemblance of him or to set up any being that should stand in
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competition with him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>To whom will you liken me?</I> It is absurd to think of representing
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an infinite and eternal Spirit by the figure of any creature
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whatsoever. It is to change his truth into a lie and to turn his glory
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into shame. None ever saw any similitude of him, nor can see his face
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and live. <I>To whom then can we liken God?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:18,25"><I>ch.</I> xl. 18, 25</A>.
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It is likewise absurd to think of making any creature equal with the
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Creator, who is infinitely above the noblest creatures, yea, or to make
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any comparison between the creature and the Creator, since between
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infinite and finite there is no proportion.</P>
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<P>
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2. He exposes the folly of those who made idols and then prayed to
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them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>.
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(1.) They were at great charge upon their idols and spared no cost to
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fit them for their purpose: <I>They lavish gold out of the bag;</I> no
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little will serve, and they do not care how much goes, though they
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pinch their families and weaken their estates by it. How does the
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profuseness of idolaters shame the niggardliness of many who call
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themselves God's servants but are for a religion that will cost them
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nothing! Some <I>lavish gold out of the bag</I> to make an idol of it
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in the house, while others <I>hoard up gold in the bag</I> to make an
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idol of it in the heart; for <I>covetousness is idolatry,</I> as
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dangerous, though not as scandalous, as the other. <I>They weigh
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silver in the balance,</I> either to be the matter of their idol (for
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even those that were most sottish had so much sense as to think that
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God should be served with the best they had, the best they could
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possibly afford; those that represented him by a calf made it a golden
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one) or to pay the workmen's wages. The service of sin often proves
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very expensive.
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(2.) They were in great care about their idols and took no little pains
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about them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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<I>They bear him upon their</I> own <I>shoulders,</I> and do not hire
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porters to do it; they <I>carry him, and set him in his place,</I> more
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like a dead corpse than a living God. They set him on a pedestal,
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<I>and he stands.</I> They take a great deal of pains to fasten him,
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and <I>from his place he shall not remove,</I> that they may know where
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to find him, though at the same time they know he can neither move a
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hand nor stir a step to do them any kindness.
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(3.) After all, they paid great respect to their idols, though they
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were but the works of their own hands and the creatures of their own
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fancies. When the goldsmith has made it that which they please to call
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a god <I>they fall down, yea, they worship it.</I> If they magnified
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|
themselves too much in pretending to make a god, as if they would atone
|
|
for that, they vilified themselves as much in prostrating themselves to
|
|
a god that they knew the original of. And, if they were deceived by the
|
|
custom of their country in making such gods as these, they did no less
|
|
deceive themselves when they cried unto them, though they knew they
|
|
could not answer them, could not understand what they said to them, nor
|
|
so much as reply Yea, or No, much less could they <I>save them out of
|
|
their trouble.</I> Now shall any that have some knowledge of, and
|
|
interest in, the true and living God, thus make fools of
|
|
themselves?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
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3. He puts it to themselves, and their own reason, let that judge in
|
|
the case
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Remember this,</I> that has been often told you, what senseless
|
|
helpless things idols are, <I>and show yourselves men</I>--men and not
|
|
brutes, men and not babes. Act with reason; act with resolution; act
|
|
for your own interest. Do a wise thing; do a brave thing; and scorn to
|
|
disparage your own judgment as you do when you worship idols." Note,
|
|
Sinners would become saints if they would but show themselves men, if
|
|
they would but support the dignity of their nature and use aright its
|
|
powers and capacities. "Many things you have been reminded of; <I>bring
|
|
them again to mind,</I> recall them into you memories, and revolve them
|
|
there. <I>O! you transgressors, consider your ways; remember whence you
|
|
have fallen, and repent,</I> and so recover yourselves."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. He again produces incontestable proofs that he is God, that he and
|
|
none besides is so
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I am God, and there is none like me.</I> This is that which we have
|
|
need to be reminded of again and again; for proof of it he refers,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To the sacred history: "<I>Remember the former things of old,</I>
|
|
what the God of Israel did for his people in their beginnings, whether
|
|
he did not that for them which no one else could, and which the false
|
|
gods did not, nor could do, for their worshippers. Remember those
|
|
things, and you will own that <I>I am God and there is none else.</I>"
|
|
This is a good reason why we should give glory to him as a nonsuch, and
|
|
why we should not give that glory to any other which is due to him
|
|
alone,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+15:11">Exod. xv. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) To the sacred prophecy. He is God alone, for it is he only that
|
|
<I>declares the end from the beginning,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
From the beginning of time he declared the end of time, and end of all
|
|
things. Enoch prophesied, <I>Behold, the Lord comes.</I> From the
|
|
beginning of a nation he declares what the end of it will be. He told
|
|
Israel what should befal them in <I>the latter days,</I> what <I>their
|
|
end should be,</I> and wished they were so wise as to consider it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:20,29">Deut. xxxii. 20, 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
From the beginning of an event he declares what the end of it will be.
|
|
<I>Known unto God are all his works,</I> and, when he pleases, he makes
|
|
them known. Further than prophecy guides us it is impossible for us to
|
|
<I>find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:11">Eccl. iii. 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
He <I>declares from ancient times the things that are not yet done.</I>
|
|
Many scripture prophecies which were delivered long ago are not yet
|
|
accomplished; but the accomplishment of some in the mean time is an
|
|
earnest of the accomplishment of the rest in due time. By this it
|
|
appears that he is <I>God, and none else;</I> it is he, and none
|
|
besides, that can say, and make his words good, "<I>My counsel shall
|
|
stand,</I> and all the powers of hell and earth cannot control or
|
|
disannul it nor all their policies correct or countermine it." As God's
|
|
operations are all according to his counsels, so his counsels shall all
|
|
be fulfilled in his operations, and none of his measures shall be
|
|
broken, none of his designs shall miscarry. This yields abundant
|
|
satisfaction to those who have bound up all their comforts in God's
|
|
counsels, that his counsel shall undoubtedly stand; and, if we are
|
|
brought to this, that whatever pleases God pleases us, nothing can
|
|
contribute more to make us easy than to be assured of this, that <I>God
|
|
will do all his pleasure,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+135:6">Ps. cxxxv. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
The accomplishment of this particular prophecy, which relates to the
|
|
elevation of Cyrus and his agency in the deliverance of God's people
|
|
out of their captivity, is mentioned for the confirmation of this
|
|
truth, that the Lord is God and there is none else; and this is a thing
|
|
which shall shortly come to pass,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
God by his counsel <I>calls a ravenous bird from the east,</I> a bird
|
|
of prey, <I>Cyrus,</I> who (they say) had a nose like the beak of a
|
|
hawk or eagle, to which some think this alludes, or (as others say) to
|
|
the eagle which was his standard, as it was afterwards that of the
|
|
Romans, to which there is supposed to be a reference,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+24:28">Matt. xxiv. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
Cyrus came from the east at God's call: for God is Lord of hosts and of
|
|
those that have hosts at command. And, if God give him a call, he will
|
|
give him success. He is the man that shall <I>execute God's
|
|
counsel,</I> though he comes <I>from a far country</I> and knows
|
|
nothing of the matter. Note, Even those that know not, and mind not,
|
|
God's revealed will, are made use of to fulfil the counsels of his
|
|
secret will, which shall all be punctually accomplished in their season
|
|
by what hand he pleases. That which is here added, to ratify this
|
|
particular prediction, may abundantly show to the heirs of promise the
|
|
immutability of his counsel: "<I>I have spoken of it</I> by my servants
|
|
the prophets, and what I have spoken is just the same with what <I>I
|
|
have purposed.</I>" For, though God has many things in his purposes
|
|
which are not in his prophecies, he has nothing in his prophecies but
|
|
what are in his purposes. And he <I>will do it,</I> for he will never
|
|
change his mind; he <I>will bring it to pass,</I> for it is not in the
|
|
power of any creature to control him. Observe with what majesty he says
|
|
it, as one having authority: <I>I have spoken it, I will also bring it
|
|
to pass. Dictum, factum--no sooner said than done. I have purposed
|
|
it,</I> and he does not say, "I will take care it shall be done," but,
|
|
"<I>I will do it.</I>" Heaven and earth shall pass away sooner than one
|
|
tittle of the word of God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. For the conviction of those that daringly opposed the counsels of
|
|
God assurance is here given not only that they shall be accomplished,
|
|
but that they shall be accomplished very shortly,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:12,13">
|
|
<I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. This is addressed to the <I>stout-hearted,</I> that is, either,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The proud and obstinate Babylonians, <I>that are far from
|
|
righteousness,</I> far from doing justice or showing mercy to those
|
|
they have power over, that say they will never let the oppressed go
|
|
free, but will still detain them in spite of their petitions or God's
|
|
predictions, that are far from any thing of clemency or compassion to
|
|
the miserable. Or,
|
|
|
|
(2.) The unhumbled Jews, that have been long under the hammer, long in
|
|
the furnace, but are not broken are not melted, that, like the
|
|
unbelieving murmuring Israelites in the wilderness, think themselves
|
|
far from God's righteousness (that is, from the performance of his
|
|
promise, and his appearing to judge for them), and by their distrusts
|
|
set themselves at a yet further distance from it, and keep good things
|
|
from themselves, as their fathers, who could not enter into the land of
|
|
promise because of unbelief. This is applicable to the Jewish nation
|
|
when they rejected the gospel of Christ; though they <I>followed after
|
|
the law of righteousness,</I> they <I>attained not to righteousness,
|
|
because they sought it not by faith,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:31,32">Rom. ix. 31, 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
They perished far from righteousness; and it was because they were
|
|
<I>stout-hearted,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+10:3">Rom. x. 3</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Now to them God says that, whatever they think, the one in
|
|
presumption, the other in despair,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Salvation shall be certainly wrought for God's people. If men will
|
|
not do them justice, God will, and his righteousness shall effect that
|
|
for them which men's righteousness would not reach to. He <I>will place
|
|
salvation in Zion,</I> that is, he will make Jerusalem a place of
|
|
safety and defence to all those who will plant themselves there; thence
|
|
shall salvation go forth <I>for Israel his glory.</I> God glories in
|
|
his Israel; and he will be glorified in the salvation he designs to
|
|
work out for them; it shall redound greatly to his honour. This
|
|
salvation shall be in Zion; for thence the gospel shall take rise
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+2:3"><I>ch.</I> ii. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
thither the Redeemer comes
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+59:20,Ro+11:26"><I>ch.</I> lix. 20, Rom. xi. 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
and it is Zion's King that has salvation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+9:9">Zech. ix. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It shall be very shortly wrought. This is especially insisted on
|
|
with those who thought it at a distance: "<I>I bring near my
|
|
righteousness,</I> nearer than you think of; perhaps it is nearest of
|
|
all when your straits are greatest and your enemies most injurious; it
|
|
shall not be far off when there is occasion for it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+85:9">Ps. lxxxv. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Behold, the Judge stands before the door.</I> My salvation shall not
|
|
tarry any longer than till it is ripe and you are ready for it; and
|
|
therefore, <I>though it tarry, wait for it;</I> wait patiently, for
|
|
<I>he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.</I>"</P>
|
|
|
|
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