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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. XLVII.</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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Infinite Wisdom could have ordered things so that Israel might have
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been released and yet Babylon unhurt; but if they will harden their
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hearts, and will not let the people go, they must thank themselves that
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their ruin is made to pave the way to Israel's release. That ruin is
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here, in this chapter, largely foretold, not to gratify a spirit of
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revenge in the people of God, who had been used barbarously by them,
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but to encourage their faith and hope concerning their own deliverance,
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and to be a type of the downfall of that great enemy of the
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New-Testament church which, in the Revelation, goes under the name of
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"Babylon." In this chapter we have,
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I. The greatness of the ruin threatened, that Babylon should be brought
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down to the dust, and made completely miserable, should fall from the
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height of prosperity into the depth of adversity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. The sins that provoked God to bring this ruin upon them.
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1. Their cruelty to the people of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:6">ver. 6</A>.
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2. Their pride and carnal security,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:7-9">ver. 7-9</A>.
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3. Their confidence in themselves and contempt of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:10">ver. 10</A>.
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4. Their use of magic arts and their dependence upon enchantments and
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sorceries, which should be so far from standing them in any stead that
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they should but hasten their ruin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:11-15">ver. 11-15</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa47_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_6"> </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>Babylon Threatened.</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 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon,
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sit on the ground: <I>there is</I> no throne, O daughter of the
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Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate.
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2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make
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bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers.
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3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be
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seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet <I>thee as</I> a man.
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4 <I>As for</I> our redeemer, the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts <I>is</I> his name, the
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Holy One of Israel.
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5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of
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the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of
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kingdoms.
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6 I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance,
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and given them into thine hand: thou didst show them no mercy;
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upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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In these verses God by the prophet sends a messenger even to Babylon,
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like that of Jonah to Nineveh: "The time is at hand when Babylon shall
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be destroyed." Fair warning is thus given her, that she may by
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repentance prevent the ruin and there may be a lengthening of her
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tranquility. We may observe here,</P>
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<P>
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I. God's controversy with Babylon. We will begin with that, for there
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all the calamity begins; she has made God her enemy, and then who can
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befriend her: Let her know that the righteous Judge, to whom vengeance
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belongs, has said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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<I>I will take vengeance.</I> She has provoked God, and shall be
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reckoned with for it when the measure of her iniquities is full. Woe to
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those on whom God comes to take vengeance; for who knows the power of
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his anger and what a fearful thing it is to fall into his hands? Were
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it a man like ourselves who would be revenged on us, we might hope to
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be a match for him, either to make our escape from him or to make our
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part good with him. But he says, "<I>I will not meet thee as a man,</I>
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not with the compassions of a man, but I will be to the as a lion, and
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a <I>young lion</I>"
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+5:14">Hos. v. 14</A>);
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or, rather, not with the strength of a man, which is easily resisted,
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but with the power of a God, which cannot be resisted. Not with the
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justice of a man, which may be bribed, or biassed, or mollified by a
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foolish pity, but with the justice of a God, which is strict and
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severe, and can never be evaded. As in pardoning the penitent, so in
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punishing the impenitent, he is <I>God and not man,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+11:9">Hos. xi. 9</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. The particular ground of this controversy. We are sure that there
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is cause for it, and it is a just cause; it is the <I>vengeance of his
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temple</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+50:28">Jer. l. 28</A>);
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it is for <I>violence done to Zion,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+51:35">Jer. li. 35</A>.
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God will plead his people's cause against them. It is acknowledged
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>)
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that God had, in wrath, delivered his people into the hands of the
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Babylonians, had made use of them for the correction of his children,
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and had by their means <I>polluted his inheritance,</I> had left his
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peculiar people exposed to suffer in common with the rest of the
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nations, had suffered the heathen, who should have been kept at a
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distance, to <I>come into his sanctuary</I> and <I>defile his
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temple,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+79:1">Ps. lxxix. 1</A>.
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Herein God was righteous; but the Babylonians carried the matter too
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far, and, when they had them in their hands (triumphing to see a people
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that had been so much in reputation for wisdom, holiness, and honour,
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brought thus low), with a base and servile spirit they trampled upon
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them, <I>and showed them no mercy,</I> no, not the common instances of
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humanity which the miserable are entitled to purely by their misery.
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They used them barbarously, and with an air of contempt, nay, and of
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complacency in their calamities. They were brought under the yoke;
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but, as if that were not enough, they <I>laid the yoke on very
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heavily,</I> adding affliction to the afflicted. Nay, they laid it
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<I>on the ancient</I>--the elders in years, who were past their labour,
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and must sink under a yoke which those in their youthful strength would
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easily bear--the elders in office, those that had been judges and
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magistrates, and persons of the first rank. They took a pride in
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putting these to the meanest hardest drudgery. Jeremiah laments this,
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that the <I>faces of elders were not honoured,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+5:12">Lam. v. 12</A>.
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Nothing brings a surer or a sorer ruin upon any people than cruelty,
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especially to God's Israel.</P>
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<P>
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III. The terror of this controversy. She has reason to tremble when she
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is told who it is that has this quarrel with her
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>As for our Redeemer,</I> our <I>Goël,</I> that undertakes to
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plead our cause as the avenger of our blood, he has two names which
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speak not only comfort to us, but terror to our adversaries."
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1. "He is <I>the Lord of hosts,</I> that has all the creatures at his
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command, and therefore has <I>all power both in heaven and in
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earth.</I>" Woe to those against whom the Lord fights, for the whole
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creation is at war with them.
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2. "He is the <I>Holy One of Israel,</I> a God in covenant with us,
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who has his residence among us, and will faithfully perform all the
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promises he has made to us." God's power and holiness are engaged
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against Babylon and for Zion. This may fitly be applied to Christ, our
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great Redeemer. He is both Lord of hosts and the Holy One of
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Israel.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The consequences of it to Babylon. She is called a <I>virgin,</I>
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because so she thought herself, though she was the mother of harlots.
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She was beautiful as a virgin, and courted by all about her; she had
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been called <I>tender and delicate</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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and <I>the lady of kingdoms</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>);
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but now the case is altered.
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1. Her honour is gone, and she must bid farewell to all her dignity.
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She that had sat at the upper end of the world, sat in state and sat at
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ease, must now <I>come down and sit in the dust,</I> as very mean and a
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deep mourner, must <I>sit on the ground,</I> for she shall be so
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emptied and impoverished that she shall not have a seat left her to sit
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upon.
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2. Her power is gone, and she must bid farewell to all her dominion.
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She shall rule no more as she has done, nor give law as she has done to
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her neighbours: <I>There is no throne,</I> none for thee, <I>O daughter
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of the Chaldeans!</I> Note, Those that abuse their honour or power
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provoke God to deprive them of it, and to make them <I>come down and
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sit in the dust.</I>
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3. Her ease and pleasure are gone: "She shall <I>no more be called
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tender and delicate</I> as she has been, for she shall not only be
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deprived of all those things with which she pampered herself, but shall
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be put to hard service and made to feel both want and pain, which will
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be more than doubly grievous to her who formerly <I>would not venture
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to set</I> so much as <I>the sole of her foot to the ground for
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tenderness and for delicacy,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+28:56">Deut. xxviii. 56</A>.
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It is our wisdom not to use ourselves to be tender and delicate,
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because we know not how hardly others may use us before we die not what
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straits we may be reduced to.
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4. Her liberty is gone, and she is brought into a state of servitude
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and as sore a bondage as she in her prosperity had brought others to.
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Even the great men of Babylon must now receive the same law from the
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conquerors that they used to give to the conquered: "<I>Take the
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mill-stones and grind meal</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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set to work, to hard labour" (like beating hemp in Bridewell), "which
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will make thee sweat so that thou must throw off all thy head-dresses,
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and <I>uncover thy locks.</I>" When they were driven from one place to
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another, at the capricious humours of their masters, they must be
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forced to wade up to the middle through the waters, to <I>make bare the
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leg</I> and <I>uncover the thigh,</I> that they might <I>pass over the
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rivers,</I> which would be a great mortification to those that used to
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ride in state. But let them not complain, for just thus they had
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formerly used their captives; and <I>with what measure they</I> then
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<I>meted</I> it is now <I>measured to them again.</I> Let those that
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have power use it with temper and moderation, considering that the
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spoke which is uppermost will be under.
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5. All her glory, and all her glorying, are gone. Instead of glory, she
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has ignominy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Thy nakedness shall be uncovered and thy shame shall be seen,</I>
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according to the base and barbarous usage they commonly gave their
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captives, to whom, for covetousness of their clothes, they did not
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leave rags sufficient to cover their nakedness, so void were they of
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the modesty as well as of the pity due to the human nature. Instead of
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glorying she <I>sits silently, and gets into darkness</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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ashamed to show her face, for she has quite lost her credit and
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<I>shall no more be called the lady of kingdoms.</I> Note, God can make
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those sit silently that used to make the greatest noise in the world,
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and send those into darkness that used to make the greatest figure.
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Let him that glories, therefore, glory in a God that changes not, and
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not in any worldly wealth, pleasure, or honour, which are subject to
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change.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa47_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa47_15"> </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>Babylon Threatened.</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>7 And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: <I>so</I> that thou
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didst not lay these <I>things</I> to thy heart, neither didst remember
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the latter end of it.
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8 Therefore hear now this, <I>thou that art</I> given to pleasures,
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that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I <I>am,</I> and
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none else beside me; I shall not sit <I>as</I> a widow, neither shall
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I know the loss of children:
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9 But these two <I>things</I> shall come to thee in a moment in one
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day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon
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thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries,
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<I>and</I> for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
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10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said,
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None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted
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thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I <I>am,</I> and none else
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beside me.
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11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know
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from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou
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shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon
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thee suddenly, <I>which</I> thou shalt not know.
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12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of
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thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so
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be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
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13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now
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the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators,
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stand up, and save thee from <I>these things</I> that shall come upon
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thee.
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14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them;
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they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame:
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<I>there shall</I> not <I>be</I> a coal to warm at, <I>nor</I> fire to sit
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before it.
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15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured,
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<I>even</I> thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one
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to his quarter; none shall save thee.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Babylon, now doomed to ruin, is here justly upbraided with her pride,
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luxury, and security, in the day of her prosperity, and the confidence
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she had in her own wisdom and forecast, and particularly in the
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prognostications and counsels of the astrologers. These things are
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mentioned both to justify God in bringing these judgments upon her and
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to mortify her, and put her to so much the greater shame, under these
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judgments; for, when God comes forth to take vengeance, glory belongs
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to him, but confusion to the sinner.</P>
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<P>
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I. The Babylonians are here upbraided with their pride and haughtiness,
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and the great conceit they had of themselves, because of their wealth
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and power, and the vast extent of their dominion; it was the language
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both of the government and of the body of the people: <I>Thou sayest in
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thy heart</I> (and God, who searches all hearts, can tell men what they
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say there, though they never speak it out) <I>I am, and none else
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besides me,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:8,10"><I>v.</I> 8, 10</A>.
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The repetition of this part of the charge intimates that they said it
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often, and that it was very offensive to God. It is the very word that
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God has often said concerning himself, <I>I am, and none else besides
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me,</I> denoting his self-existence, his infinite and incomparable
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perfections, and his sole supremacy. All this Babylon pretends to; and
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no wonder if she that assumed a power to make what gods and goddesses
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she pleased for the people to worship made herself one among the rest.
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It is presumption to say of any creature, "It is, and there is not its
|
|
like, there is none besides it" (for creatures stand very nearly upon a
|
|
level with one another); but it is insufferable arrogance for any to
|
|
say so of themselves, and an evidence of their self-ignorance.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. They are upbraided with their luxury and love of ease
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thou that art given to pleasures,</I> art a slave to them, art in
|
|
them as in thy element, and, that thou mayest enjoy them without
|
|
disturbance or interruption, <I>dwellest carelessly</I> and layest
|
|
nothing to heart." Great wealth and plenty are great temptations to
|
|
sensuality, and, where there is fulness of bread, there is commonly
|
|
abundance of idleness. But if those that are given to pleasures, and
|
|
dwell carelessly, would but hear this, that <I>for all these things God
|
|
will bring them into judgment,</I> it would be a damp to their mirth,
|
|
an allay to their pleasure, and would find them something to be in care
|
|
about.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. They are upbraided with their carnal security and their vain
|
|
confidence of the perpetuity of their pomps and pleasures. This is much
|
|
insisted on here. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The cause of their security. They thought themselves safe and out of
|
|
danger, not because they were ignorant of the uncertainty of all
|
|
earthly enjoyments and the inevitable fate that attends states and
|
|
kingdoms as well as particular persons, but <I>because they did not lay
|
|
this to heart,</I> did not apply it to themselves, nor give it a due
|
|
consideration. They lulled themselves asleep in ease and pleasure, and
|
|
dreamt of nothing else but that <I>to-morrow should be as this day, and
|
|
much more abundant.</I> They did not <I>remember the latter end of
|
|
it</I>--the latter end of their prosperity, that it is a fading flower,
|
|
and will wither--the latter end of their iniquity, that it will be
|
|
bitterness, that they day will come when their injustice and oppression
|
|
must be reckoned for and punished. <I>She did not remember her latter
|
|
end</I> (so some read it); she forgot that her day would come to fall
|
|
and what would be in the end hereof. It was the ruin of Jerusalem
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+1:9">Lam. i. 9</A>)
|
|
|
|
that <I>she remembered not her last end, therefore she came down
|
|
wonderfully;</I> and it was Babylon's ruin too. The children of men are
|
|
easy, and think themselves safe, in their sinful ways, only because
|
|
they never think of death, and judgment, and their future state.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. The ground of their security. They trusted in their wickedness and
|
|
in their wisdom,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Their power and wealth, which they had gotten by fraud and
|
|
oppression, were their confidence: <I>Thou hast trusted in thy
|
|
wickedness,</I> As Doeg.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+52:7">Ps. lii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Many have so debauched their own consciences, and have got to such a
|
|
pitch of daring wickedness, that they stick at nothing; and this they
|
|
trust to carry them through those difficulties which embarrass men who
|
|
make conscience of what they say and do. They doubt not but they shall
|
|
be too hard for all their enemies, because they dare lie, and kill, and
|
|
forswear themselves, and do any thing for their interest. Thus they
|
|
trust in their wickedness to secure them, which is the only thing that
|
|
will ruin them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) Their policy and craft, which they called their <I>wisdom,</I>
|
|
were their confidence. They thought they could outwit all mankind, and
|
|
therefore might set all their enemies at defiance. But their <I>wisdom
|
|
and knowledge perverted them,</I> and turned them out of the way, made
|
|
them forget themselves, and the preparation necessary to be made for
|
|
hereafter.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. The expressions of their security. Three things this proud and
|
|
haughty monarchy said, in her security:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) "<I>I shall be a lady for ever,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
She looked upon the patent of her honour to be not merely during the
|
|
pleasure of the sovereign Lord, the fountain of honour, or during her
|
|
own good behaviour, but to be perpetual to the present generation and
|
|
their heirs and successors for ever. She was not only proud that she
|
|
was a lady, but confident that she should be a lady for ever. Thus the
|
|
New-Testament Babylon says, <I>I sit as a queen, and shall see no
|
|
sorrow,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+18:7">Rev. xviii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those ladies mistake themselves, and consider not their latter end, who
|
|
think they shall be ladies for ever; for death will shortly lay their
|
|
honour with them in the dust. Saints will be saints for ever, but
|
|
lords and ladies will not be so for ever.
|
|
|
|
(2.) "<I>I shall not sit as a widow,</I> in solitude and sorrow, shall
|
|
never lose the power and wealth I am thus wedded to; the monarchy shall
|
|
never want a monarch to espouse and protect it, and be a husband to the
|
|
state; <I>nor shall I know the loss of children,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
She was as confident of the continuance of the numbers of her people as
|
|
of the dignity of her prince, and had no fear of being either deposed
|
|
or depopulated. Those that are in the height of prosperity are apt to
|
|
fancy themselves out of the reach of adverse fate.
|
|
|
|
(3.) "<I>No one sees me</I> when I do amiss, and therefore there will
|
|
be none to call me to an account,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is common for sinners to promise themselves impunity, because they
|
|
promise themselves secrecy, in their wicked ways. They trust to their
|
|
wicked arts and designs to stand them in stead, because they think they
|
|
have carried them on so plausibly that none can discern the wickedness
|
|
and deceit of them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. The punishment of their security. It shall be their ruin; and it
|
|
will be,
|
|
|
|
(1.) A complete ruin, the ruin of all their comforts and confidences:
|
|
"<I>These two things shall come upon thee</I> (the very two things that
|
|
thou didst set at defiance), <I>loss of children and widowhood,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
Both thy princes and thy people shall be cut off, so that thou shalt be
|
|
no more a government, no more a nation." Note, God often brings upon
|
|
secure sinners those very mischiefs which they least feared and thought
|
|
themselves in least danger of. "<I>They shall come upon thee in their
|
|
perfection,</I> with all their aggravating circumstances and without
|
|
any thing to allay or mitigate them." Afflictions to God's children are
|
|
not afflictions in perfection. Widowhood is not to them a calamity in
|
|
perfection, for they have this to comfort themselves with, that their
|
|
Maker is their husband; loss of children is not, for he is better to
|
|
them than ten sons. But on his enemies they come in perfection.
|
|
Widowhood and loss of children are either of them great griefs, but
|
|
both together great indeed. Naomi thinks she may well be called
|
|
<I>Marah</I> when she is <I>left both of her sons and of her
|
|
husband</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ru+1:5">Ruth i. 5</A>);
|
|
|
|
and yet on her these evils did not come in perfection, for she had two
|
|
daughters-in-law left, that were comforts to her. But on Babylon they
|
|
come in perfection; she has no comfort remaining.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It will be a sudden and surprising ruin. The evil shall come <I>in
|
|
one day,</I> nay, <I>in a moment,</I> which will make it much the more
|
|
terrible, especially to those that were so very secure. "<I>Evil shall
|
|
come upon thee</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>)
|
|
|
|
and thou shalt have neither time nor way to provide against it, or to
|
|
prepare for it; for <I>thou shalt not know whence it rises,</I> and
|
|
therefore shalt not know where to stand upon thy guard." <I>Thou shalt
|
|
not know the morning thereof;</I> so the Hebrew phrase is. We know just
|
|
when and where the day will break and the sun rise, but we know not
|
|
what the day, when it comes, will bring forth, nor when or where
|
|
trouble will arise; perhaps the storm may come from that point of the
|
|
compass which we little thought of. Babylon pretended to great wisdom
|
|
and knowledge
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
but with all her knowledge she cannot foresee, nor with all her wisdom
|
|
prevent, the ruin threatened: "<I>Desolation shall come upon thee
|
|
suddenly,</I> as a thief in the night, <I>which thou shalt not
|
|
know,</I> that is, which thou little thoughtest of." Fair warning was
|
|
indeed given them, by Isaiah and other prophets of the Lord, of this
|
|
desolation; but they slighted that notice, and would give no credit to
|
|
it, and therefore justly is it so ordered that they should have no
|
|
other notice of it, but that partly through their own security, and
|
|
partly through the swiftness and subtlety of the enemy, when it came it
|
|
should be a perfect surprise to them. Those that slight the warnings of
|
|
the written word, let them not expect any other premonitions.
|
|
|
|
(3.) It will be an irresistible ruin, and such as they will have no
|
|
fence against: "<I>Mischief shall come upon thee</I> so suddenly that
|
|
thou shalt have no time to turn thee in, so strongly that thou shalt
|
|
not be able to make head against it and to put it off and save
|
|
thyself." There is no opposing the judgments of God when they come with
|
|
commission. Babylon herself, with all her wealth, and power, and
|
|
multitude, is not able to put off the mischief that comes.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. They are upbraided with their divinations, their magical and
|
|
astrological arts and sciences, which the Chaldeans, above any other
|
|
nation, were notorious for, and from them other nations borrowed all
|
|
their learning of that kind.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. This is here spoken of as one of their provoking sins, which would
|
|
bring the judgments of God upon them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
"These evils shall come upon thee to punish thee <I>for the multitude
|
|
of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thy enchantments.</I>"
|
|
Witchcraft is a sin in its own nature exceedingly heinous; it is giving
|
|
that honour to the devil which is due to God only, making God's enemy
|
|
our guide and the father of lies our oracle. In Babylon it was a
|
|
national sin, and had the protection and countenance of the government;
|
|
conjurors, for aught that appears, were their privy counsellors and
|
|
prime ministers of state. And shall not God visit for these things?
|
|
Observe what a multitude, what a great abundance, of sorceries and
|
|
enchantments there were among them. Such a bewitching sin this was
|
|
that when it was once admitted it spread like wildfire, and they never
|
|
knew any end of it; the deceived and the deceivers both increased
|
|
strangely.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. It is here spoken of as one of their vain confidences, which they
|
|
relied much upon, but should be deceived in, for it would not serve so
|
|
much as to give them notice of the judgments coming, much less to guard
|
|
against them.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They are here upbraided with the mighty pains they had taken about
|
|
their sorceries and enchantments: Thou hast <I>laboured in them from
|
|
thy youth,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
They trained up their young men in these studies, and those that
|
|
applied themselves to them were indefatigable in their labours about
|
|
them--reading books, making observations, trying experiments. Well, let
|
|
them stand up now with their enchantments, and try their skill in the
|
|
critical moment. Let them make a stand, if they can, in opposition to
|
|
the invading enemy; let them stand to offer their service to their
|
|
country; but to what purpose? "<I>Thou art wearied in the multitude of
|
|
thy counsels</I> of this kind
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>);
|
|
|
|
thou hast advised with them all, but hast received no satisfaction from
|
|
them; the different schemes they have erected, and the different
|
|
judgments they have given, have but increased thy perplexity and tired
|
|
thee out." In the multitude of such counsellors there is no safety.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They are upbraided with the variety they had of such kinds of
|
|
people among them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
They had their <I>astrologers,</I> or viewers of the heavens, that did
|
|
not consider them, as David, to behold the wisdom and power of God in
|
|
them; but, under pretence of foretelling future events by them, they
|
|
viewed the heavens and forgot him that made them and set <I>their
|
|
dominion on the earth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:33">Job xxxviii. 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
and has himself dominion over them, for he rides on the heavens. They
|
|
had their <I>star-gazers,</I> who by the motions of the stars, their
|
|
conjunctions and oppositions, read the doom of states and kingdoms.
|
|
They had their <I>monthly prognosticators,</I> their almanac-makers,
|
|
that told what weather it should be or what news they should have each
|
|
month. The great stock they had of these was what they valued
|
|
themselves much upon; but they were all cheats, and their art was a
|
|
sham. I confess I see not how the judicial astrology which some now
|
|
pretend to, by the rules of which they undertake to prophecy concerning
|
|
things to come, can be distinguished from that of the Chaldeans, nor
|
|
therefore how it can escape the censure and contempt which this text
|
|
lays that under; yet I fear there are some who study their almanacs,
|
|
and regard them and their prognostications, more than their Bibles and
|
|
the prophecies there.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They are upbraided with the utter inability and insufficiency of
|
|
all these pretenders to do them any kindness in the day of their
|
|
distress. Let them see whether with the help of their enchantments
|
|
they can prevail against their enemies, or profit themselves, inspirit
|
|
their own forces or dispirit those that come against them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Let them see what service those can do them who make a trade of
|
|
divination: "<I>Let them stand up,</I> and either by their power save
|
|
thee from these evils that are coming upon thee or by their foresight
|
|
make such a discovery of them beforehand that thou mayest by needful
|
|
precautions save thyself;" as Elisha, by notifying to the king of
|
|
Israel the motions of the Syrian army, enabled him to <I>save himself,
|
|
not once nor twice,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+6:10">2 Kings vi. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
This baffling of the diviners was literally fulfilled when, the night
|
|
that Babylon was taken and Belshazzar slain, all his astrologers,
|
|
soothsayers, and wise men, were quite nonplussed with the handwriting
|
|
on the wall that pronounced the fatal sentence,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+5:8">Dan. v. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
(4.) They are upbraided with the fall of the wise men themselves in the
|
|
common ruin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those are unlikely to stand their friends in any stead who cannot
|
|
secure themselves; they are as stubble at the best, worthless and
|
|
useless, and <I>they shall be as stubble</I> before a consuming fire.
|
|
The Persians, to make room for their own wise men, will cut off those
|
|
of Babylon; that <I>fire shall burn them,</I> and <I>they shall not
|
|
deliver themselves from the power of the flame.</I> Those can expect no
|
|
other than to be devoured by their sins make themselves fuel to a
|
|
devouring fire. When God kindles a fire among them it <I>shall not be a
|
|
coal to warm at,</I> and <I>a fire to sit before,</I> but a coal to
|
|
burn them. Or, rather, it denotes that they shall be utterly consumed
|
|
by the judgments of God, burnt quite to ashes, and there shall not
|
|
remain one live coal to do any body any service; for <I>when God judges
|
|
he will overcome.</I>
|
|
|
|
(5.) They are upbraided with their merchants, and those they dealt with
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+47:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
such as they dealt with from their youth, either,
|
|
|
|
[1.] In a way of consultation. These astrologers, that dealt in the
|
|
black art, they always loved to be dealing with, and they were in
|
|
effect their merchants; fortune-telling was one of the best trades in
|
|
Babylon, and those that followed that trade probably lived as
|
|
splendidly and got as much money as the richest merchants; yet, when
|
|
some of them were devoured, others fled their country, <I>every one to
|
|
his quarter,</I> and there was none to save Babylon. Miserable
|
|
comforters are they all. Or,
|
|
|
|
[2.] In a way of commerce. As their astrologers, with whom they had
|
|
laboured, failed them, so did their merchants; they took care to secure
|
|
their own effects, and then valued not what became of Babylon. They
|
|
<I>wandered every one to his own quarter;</I> each man shifted for his
|
|
own safety, but none would offer to lend a helping hand, no, not to a
|
|
city by which they had got so much money. Every one was for himself,
|
|
but few for his friends. The New-Testament Babylon is lamented by the
|
|
merchants that were made rich by her, but they very prudently stand
|
|
afar off to lament her
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+18:15">Rev. xviii. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
not willing to attempt any thing for her succour. Happy are those who
|
|
by faith and prayer deal with one that will be a <I>very present help
|
|
in time of trouble!</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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