mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 3.xml

<div2 id="Is.iv" n="iv" next="Is.v" prev="Is.iii" progress="1.79%" title="Chapter III">
<h2 id="Is.iv-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.iv-p0.2">CHAP. III.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.iv-p1" shownumber="no">The prophet, in this chapter, goes on to foretel
the desolations that were coming upon Judah and Jerusalem for their
sins, both that by the Babylonians and that which completed their
ruin by the Romans, with some of the grounds of God's controversy
with them. God threatens, I. To deprive them of all the supports
both of their life and of their government, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.1-Isa.3.3" parsed="|Isa|3|1|3|3" passage="Isa 3:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>. II. To leave them to fall into
confusion and disorder, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.4-Isa.3.5 Bible:Isa.3.12" parsed="|Isa|3|4|3|5;|Isa|3|12|0|0" passage="Isa 3:4,5,12">ver. 4, 5,
12</scripRef>. III. To deny them the blessing of magistracy,
<scripRef id="Is.iv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.6-Isa.3.8" parsed="|Isa|3|6|3|8" passage="Isa 3:6-8">ver. 6-8</scripRef>. IV. To strip the
daughters of Zion of their ornaments, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.17-Isa.3.24" parsed="|Isa|3|17|3|24" passage="Isa 3:17-24">ver. 17-24</scripRef>. V. To lay all waste by the
sword of war, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.25-Isa.3.26" parsed="|Isa|3|25|3|26" passage="Isa 3:25,26">ver. 25,
26</scripRef>. The sins that provoked God to deal thus with them
were, 1. Their defiance of God, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.8" parsed="|Isa|3|8|0|0" passage="Isa 3:8">ver.
8</scripRef>. 2. Their impudence, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.9" parsed="|Isa|3|9|0|0" passage="Isa 3:9">ver.
9</scripRef>. 3. The abuse of power to oppression and tyranny,
<scripRef id="Is.iv-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.12-Isa.3.15" parsed="|Isa|3|12|3|15" passage="Isa 3:12-15">ver. 12-15</scripRef>. 4. The pride
of the daughters of Zion, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.16" parsed="|Isa|3|16|0|0" passage="Isa 3:16">ver.
16</scripRef>. In the midst of the chapter the prophet is directed
how to address particular persons. (1.) To assure good people that
it should be well with them, notwithstanding those general
calamities, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.10" parsed="|Isa|3|10|0|0" passage="Isa 3:10">ver. 10</scripRef>. (2.)
To assure wicked people that, however God might, in judgment,
remember mercy, yet it should go ill with them, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.11" parsed="|Isa|3|11|0|0" passage="Isa 3:11">ver. 11</scripRef>. O that the nations of the earth, at
this day, would hearken to rebukes and warnings which this chapter
gives!</p>
<scripCom id="Is.iv-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3" parsed="|Isa|3|0|0|0" passage="Isa 3" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.iv-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.1-Isa.3.8" parsed="|Isa|3|1|3|8" passage="Isa 3:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.iv-p1.14">
<h4 id="Is.iv-p1.15">Judgments Denounced. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.iv-p1.16">b. c.</span> 758.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.iv-p2" shownumber="no">1 For, behold, the Lord, the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.iv-p2.1">Lord</span> of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and
from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the
whole stay of water,   2 The mighty man, and the man of war,
the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
  3 The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the
counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
  4 And I will give children <i>to be</i> their princes, and
babes shall rule over them.   5 And the people shall be
oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour:
the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the
base against the honourable.   6 When a man shall take hold of
his brother of the house of his father, <i>saying,</i> Thou hast
clothing, be thou our ruler, and <i>let</i> this ruin <i>be</i>
under thy hand:   7 In that day shall he swear, saying, I will
not be a healer; for in my house <i>is</i> neither bread nor
clothing: make me not a ruler of the people.   8 For Jerusalem
is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their
doings <i>are</i> against the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.iv-p2.2">Lord</span>,
to provoke the eyes of his glory.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p3" shownumber="no">The prophet, in the close of the foregoing
chapter, had given a necessary caution to all not to put confidence
in man, or any creature; he had also given a general reason for
that caution, taken from the frailty of human life and the vanity
and weakness of human powers. Here he gives a particular reason for
it—God was now about to ruin all their creature-confidences, so
that they should meet with nothing but disappointments in all their
expectations from them (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.1" parsed="|Isa|3|1|0|0" passage="Isa 3:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>): <i>The stay and the staff</i> shall be taken away,
all their supports, of what kind soever, all the things they
trusted to and looked for help and relief from. Their church and
kingdom had now grown old and were going to decay, and they were
(after the manner of aged men, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.8.4" parsed="|Zech|8|4|0|0" passage="Zec 8:4">Zech.
viii. 4</scripRef>) leaning on a staff: now God threatens to take
away their staff, and then they must fall of course, to take away
the stays of both the city and the country, of Jerusalem and of
Judah, which are indeed stays to one another, and, if one fail, the
other feels from it. He that does this is <i>the Lord, the Lord of
hosts—Adon,</i> the Lord that is himself the stay or foundation;
if that stay depart, all other stays certainly break under us, for
he is the strength of them all. He that is the Lord, the ruler,
that has authority to do it, and the Lord of hosts, that has the
ability to do it, he shall take away the stay and the staff. St.
Jerome refers this to the sensible decay of the Jewish nation after
they had crucified our Saviour, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.9-Rom.11.10" parsed="|Rom|11|9|11|10" passage="Ro 11:9,10">Rom.
xi. 9, 10</scripRef>. I rather take it as a warning to all nations
not to provoke God; for if they make him their enemy, he can and
will thus make them miserable. Let us view the particulars.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p4" shownumber="no">I. Was their plenty a support to them? It
is so to any people; bread is the staff of life: but God can
<i>take away the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of
water;</i> and it is just with him to do so when fulness of bread
becomes an iniquity (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.16.49" parsed="|Ezek|16|49|0|0" passage="Eze 16:49">Ezek. xvi.
49</scripRef>), and that which was given to be provision for the
life is made provision for the lusts. He can take away the bread
and the water by withholding the rain, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.23-Deut.28.24" parsed="|Deut|28|23|28|24" passage="De 28:23,24">Deut. xxviii. 23, 24</scripRef>. Or, if he allow
them, he can take away the stay of bread and the stay of water by
withholding his blessing, by which man lives, and not by bread
only, and which is the staff of bread (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.4.4" parsed="|Matt|4|4|0|0" passage="Mt 4:4">Matt. iv. 4</scripRef>), and then the bread is not
nourishing nor the water refreshing, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Hag.1.6" parsed="|Hag|1|6|0|0" passage="Hag 1:6">Hag. i. 6</scripRef>. Christ is the bread of life and the
water of life; if he be our stay, we shall find that this is a good
part not to be taken away, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:John.4.14 Bible:John.6.27" parsed="|John|4|14|0|0;|John|6|27|0|0" passage="Joh 4:14,6:27">John
iv. 14; vi. 27</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p5" shownumber="no">II. Was their army a support to them—their
generals, and commanders, and military men? These shall be taken
away, either cut off by the sword or so discouraged with the
defeats they meet with that they shall throw up their commissions
and resolve to act no more; or they shall be disabled by sickness,
or dispirited, so as to be unfit for business; <i>The mighty men,
and the man of war,</i> and even the inferior officer, <i>the
captain of fifty,</i> shall be removed. It bodes ill with a people
when their valiant men are lost. Let not the strong man therefore
glory in his strength, nor any people trust too much to their
mighty men; but let the strong <i>people glorify God</i> and <i>the
city of the terrible nations fear him,</i> who can make them weak
and despicable, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.25.3" parsed="|Isa|25|3|0|0" passage="Isa 25:3"><i>ch.</i> xxv.
3</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p6" shownumber="no">III. Were their ministers of state a
support to them—their learned men, their politicians, their
clergy, their wits and virtuoso? These also should be taken
away—<i>the judges,</i> who were skilled in the laws, and expert
in administering justice,—<i>the prophets,</i> whom they used to
consult in difficult cases,—<i>the prudent,</i> who were
celebrated as men of sense and sagacity above all others and were
assistants to the judges, <i>the diviners</i> (so the word is),
those who used unlawful arts, who, though rotten stays, yet were
stayed on, (but it may be taken, as we read it, in a good
sense),—<i>the ancients,</i> elders in age, in office,—<i>the
honourable man,</i> the gravity of whose aspect commands reverence
and whose age and experience make him fit to be a counsellor. Trade
is one great support to a nation, even manufactures and handicraft
trades; and therefore, when the whole stay is broken, <i>the
cunning artificer</i> too shall be taken away; and the last is
<i>the eloquent orator,</i> the man skilful of speech, who in some
cases may do good service, though he be none of the prudent or the
ancient, by putting the sense of others in good language. Moses
cannot speak well, but Aaron can. God threatens to take these away,
that is, 1. To disable them for the service of their country,
<i>making judges fools, taking away the speech of the trusty and
the understanding of the aged,</i> <scripRef id="Is.iv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Job.12.17" parsed="|Job|12|17|0|0" passage="Job 12:17">Job xii. 17</scripRef>, &amp;c. Every creature is that
to us which God makes it to be; and we cannot be sure that those
who have been serviceable to us shall always be so. 2. To put an
end to their days; for the reason why princes are not to be trusted
in is because their <i>breath goeth forth,</i> <scripRef id="Is.iv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.146.3-Ps.146.4" parsed="|Ps|146|3|146|4" passage="Ps 146:3,4">Ps. cxlvi. 3, 4</scripRef>. Note, The removal of
useful men by death, in the midst of their usefulness, is a very
threatening symptom to any people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p7" shownumber="no">IV. Was their government a support to them?
It ought to have been so; it is the business of the sovereign to
bear up the pillars of the land, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.75.3" parsed="|Ps|75|3|0|0" passage="Ps 75:3">Ps.
lxxv. 3</scripRef>. But it is here threatened that this stay should
fail them. When the mighty men and the prudent are removed
<i>children shall be their princes</i>—children in age, who must
be under tutors and governors, who will be clashing with one
another and making a prey of the young king and his
kingdom-children in understanding and disposition, childish men,
such as are babes in knowledge, no more fit to rule than a child in
the cradle. These shall rule over them, with all the folly,
fickleness, and frowardness, of a child. And <i>woe unto thee, O
land! when thy king</i> is such a one! <scripRef id="Is.iv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.10.16" parsed="|Eccl|10|16|0|0" passage="Ec 10:16">Eccl. x. 16</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p8" shownumber="no">V. Was the union of the subjects among
themselves, their good order and the good understanding and
correspondence that they kept with one another, a stay to them?
Where this is the case a people may do better for it, though their
princes be not such as they should be; but it is here threatened
that God would send an evil spirit among them too (as <scripRef id="Is.iv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Judg.9.23" parsed="|Judg|9|23|0|0" passage="Jdg 9:23">Judg. ix. 23</scripRef>), which would make them,
1. Injurious and unneighbourly one towards another (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.5" parsed="|Isa|3|5|0|0" passage="Isa 3:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): "<i>The people shall be
oppressed every one by his neighbour,"</i> and their princes, being
children, will take no care to restrain the oppressors or relieve
the oppressed, nor is it to any purpose to appeal to them (which is
a temptation to every man to be his own avenger), and therefore
they bite and devour one another and will soon be consumed one of
another. Then <i>homo homini lupus—man becomes a wolf to man;
jusque datum sceleri—wickedness receives the stamp of law; nec
hospes ab hospite tutus—the guest and the host are in danger from
each other.</i> 2. Insolent and disorderly towards their superiors.
It is as ill an omen to a people as can be when the rising
generation among them are generally untractable, rude, and
ungovernable, when <i>the child behaves himself proudly against the
ancient,</i> whereas he should <i>rise up before the hoary head</i>
and <i>honour the face of the old man,</i> <scripRef id="Is.iv-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.32" parsed="|Lev|19|32|0|0" passage="Le 19:32">Lev. xix. 32</scripRef>. When young people are conceited
and pert, and behave scornfully towards their superiors, their
conduct is not only a reproach to themselves, but of ill
consequence to the public; it slackens the reins of government and
weakens the hands that hold them. It is likewise ill with a people
when persons of honour cannot support their authority, but are
affronted by the base and beggarly, when judges are insulted and
their powers set at defiance by the mob. Those have a great deal to
answer for who do this.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p9" shownumber="no">VI. It is some stay, some support, to hope
that, though matters may be now ill-managed, yet other may be
raised up, who may manage better? Yet this expectation also shall
be frustrated, for the case shall be so desperate that no man of
sense or substance will meddle with it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p10" shownumber="no">1. The government shall go a begging,
<scripRef id="Is.iv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.6" parsed="|Isa|3|6|0|0" passage="Isa 3:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Here, (1.) It
is taken for granted that there is no way of redressing all these
grievances, and bringing things into order again, but by good
magistrates, who shall be invested with power by common consent,
and shall exert that power for the good of the community. And it is
probable that this was, in many places, the true origin of
government; men found it necessary to unite in a subjection to one
who was thought fit for such a trust, in order to the welfare and
safety of them all, being aware that they must either be ruled or
ruined. Here therefore is the original contract: "<i>Be thou our
ruler,</i> and we will be subject to thee, and <i>let this ruin be
under thy hand,</i> to be repaired and restored, and then to be
preserved and established, and the interests of it advanced,
<scripRef id="Is.iv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.58.12" parsed="|Isa|58|12|0|0" passage="Isa 58:12"><i>ch.</i> lviii. 12</scripRef>. Take
care to protect us by the sword of war from being injured from
abroad, and by the sword of justice from being injurious to
another, and we will bear faith and true allegiance to thee." (2.)
The case is represented as very deplorable, and things as having
come to a sad pass; for, [1.] Children being their princes, every
man will think himself fit to prescribe who shall be a magistrate,
and will be for preferring his own relations; whereas, if the
princes were as they should be, it would be left entirely to them
to nominate the rulers, as it ought to be. [2.] Men will find
themselves under a necessity even of forcing power into the hands
of those that are thought to be fit for it: <i>A man shall take
hold</i> by violence of one to make him a ruler, perceiving him
ready to resist the motion: nay, he shall urge it upon his brother;
whereas, commonly, men are not willing that their equals should be
their superiors, witness the envy of Joseph's brethren. [3.] It
will be looked upon as ground sufficient for the preferring of a
man to be a ruler that he has clothing better than his
neighbours—a very poor qualification to recommend a man to a place
of trust in the government. It was a sign that the country was much
impoverished when it was a rare thing to find a man that had good
clothes, or could afford to buy himself an alderman's gown or a
judge's robes; and it was proof enough that the people were very
unthinking when they had so much respect to a man in <i>gay
clothing, with a gold ring</i> ( <scripRef id="Is.iv-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Jas.2.2-Jas.2.3" parsed="|Jas|2|2|2|3" passage="Jam 2:2,3">Jam.
ii. 2, 3</scripRef>), that, for the sake thereof, they would make
him their ruler. It would have been some sense to have said, "Thou
hast wisdom, integrity, experience; be thou our ruler." But it was
a jest to say, <i>Thou hast clothing; be thou our ruler.</i> A
<i>poor wise man,</i> though in vile raiment, <i>delivered a
city,</i> <scripRef id="Is.iv-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.9.15" parsed="|Eccl|9|15|0|0" passage="Ec 9:15">Eccl. ix. 15</scripRef>. We
may allude to this to show how desperate the case of fallen man was
when our Lord Jesus was pleased to become our brother, and, though
he was not courted, offered himself to be our ruler and Saviour,
and to take this ruin under his hand.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p11" shownumber="no">2. Those who are thus pressed to come into
office will swear themselves off, because, though they are taken to
be men of some substance, yet they know themselves unable to bear
the charges of the office and to answer the expectations of those
that choose them (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.7" parsed="|Isa|3|7|0|0" passage="Isa 3:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): <i>He shall swear</i> (shall lift up the hand, the
ancient ceremony used in taking the oath) <i>I will not be a
healer; make not me a ruler.</i> Note, Rulers must be healers, and
good rulers will be so; they must study to unite their subjects,
and not to widen the differences that are among them. Those only
are fit for government that are of a meek, quiet, healing, spirit.
They must also heal the wounds that are given to any of the
interests of their people, by suitable applications. But why will
he not be a ruler? Because <i>in my house is neither bread nor
clothing.</i> (1.) If he said true, it was a sign that men's
estates were sadly ruined when even those who made the best
appearance really wanted necessaries—a common case, and a piteous
one. Some who, having lived fashionably, are willing to put the
best side outwards, are yet, if the truth were known, in great
straits, and go with heavy hearts for want of bread and clothing.
(2.) If he did not speak truth, it was a sign that men's
consciences were sadly debauched, when, to avoid the expense of an
office, they would load themselves with the guilt of perjury, and
(which is the greatest madness in the world) would damn their souls
to save their money, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Matt.16.26" parsed="|Matt|16|26|0|0" passage="Mt 16:26">Matt. xvi.
26</scripRef>. (3.) However it was, it was a sign that the case of
the nation was very bad when nobody was willing to accept a place
in the government of it, as despairing to have either credit or
profit by it, which are the two things aimed at in men's common
ambition of preferment.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p12" shownumber="no">3. The reason why God brought things to
this sad pass, even among his own people (which is given either by
the prophet or by him that refused to be a ruler); it was not for
want of good will to his country, but because he saw the case
desperate and past relief, and it would be to no purpose to attempt
it (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.8" parsed="|Isa|3|8|0|0" passage="Isa 3:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>):
<i>Jerusalem is ruined</i> and <i>Judah is fallen;</i> and they may
thank themselves. They have brought their destruction upon their
own heads, for <i>their tongue and their doings are against the
Lord;</i> in word and action they broke the law of God and therein
designed an affront to him; they wilfully intended to offend him,
in contempt of his authority and defiance of his justice. Their
tongue was against the Lord, for they contradicted his prophets;
and their doings were no better, for they acted as they talked. It
was an aggravation of their sin that God's eye was upon them, and
that his glory was manifested among them; but they provoked him to
his face, as if the more they knew of his glory the greater pride
they took in slighting it, and turning it into shame. And this,
this, is it for which Jerusalem is ruined. Note, The ruin both of
persons and people is owing to their sins. If they did not provoke
God, he would <i>do them no hurt,</i> <scripRef id="Is.iv-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.25.6" parsed="|Jer|25|6|0|0" passage="Jer 25:6">Jer. xxv. 6</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.iv-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.9-Isa.3.15" parsed="|Isa|3|9|3|15" passage="Isa 3:9-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.iv-p12.4">
<h4 id="Is.iv-p12.5">Judgments Denounced.. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.iv-p12.6">b. c.</span> 758.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.iv-p13" shownumber="no">9 The show of their countenance doth witness
against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide
<i>it</i> not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil
unto themselves.   10 Say ye to the righteous, that <i>it
shall be</i> well <i>with him:</i> for they shall eat the fruit of
their doings.   11 Woe unto the wicked! <i>it shall be</i> ill
<i>with him:</i> for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
  12 <i>As for</i> my people, children <i>are</i> their
oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead
thee cause <i>thee</i> to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
  13 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.iv-p13.1">Lord</span> standeth up to
plead, and standeth to judge the people.   14 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.iv-p13.2">Lord</span> will enter into judgment with the ancients
of his people, and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the
vineyard; the spoil of the poor <i>is</i> in your houses.   15
What mean ye <i>that</i> ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the
faces of the poor? saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.iv-p13.3">God</span> of hosts.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p14" shownumber="no">Here God proceeds in his controversy with
his people. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p15" shownumber="no">I. The ground of his controversy. It was
for sin that God contended with them; if they vex themselves, let
them look a little further and they will see that they must
<i>thank</i> themselves: <i>Woe unto their souls! For they have
rewarded evil unto themselves. Alas for their souls!</i> (so it may
be read, in a way of lamentation), <i>for they have procured evil
to themselves,</i> <scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.9" parsed="|Isa|3|9|0|0" passage="Isa 3:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. Note, The condition of sinners is woeful and very
deplorable. Note, also, It is the soul that is damaged and
endangered by sin. Sinners may prosper in their outward estates,
and yet at the same time there may be a woe to their souls. Note,
further, Whatever evils befals sinners it is of their own
procuring, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.19" parsed="|Jer|2|19|0|0" passage="Jer 2:19">Jer. ii. 19</scripRef>.
That which is here charged upon then is, 1. That the shame which
should have restrained them from their sins was quite thrown off
and they had grown impudent, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.9" parsed="|Isa|3|9|0|0" passage="Isa 3:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. This hardens men against repentance, and ripens them
for ruin, as much as anything: <i>The show of their countenance
doth witness against them</i> that their minds are vain, and lewd,
and malicious; their eyes declare plainly that they <i>cannot cease
from sin,</i> <scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.2.14" parsed="|2Pet|2|14|0|0" passage="2Pe 2:14">2 Pet. ii.
14</scripRef>. One may look them in the face and guess at the
desperate wickedness that there is in their hearts: <i>They declare
their sin as Sodom,</i> so impetuous, so imperious, are their
lusts, and so impatient of the least check, and so perfectly are
all the remaining sparks of virtue extinguished in them. The
Sodomites declared their sin, not only by the exceeding greatness
of it (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.13.13" parsed="|Gen|13|13|0|0" passage="Ge 13:13">Gen. xiii. 13</scripRef>), so
that it cried to heaven (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.18.20" parsed="|Gen|18|20|0|0" passage="Ge 18:20">Gen. xviii.
20</scripRef>), but by their shameless owning of that which was
most shameful (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.19.5" parsed="|Gen|19|5|0|0" passage="Ge 19:5">Gen. xix. 5</scripRef>);
and thus Judah and Jerusalem did: they were so far from hiding it
that they gloried in it, in the bold attempts they made upon
virtue, and the victory they gained over their own convictions.
They had a whore's forehead (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.3.3" parsed="|Jer|3|3|0|0" passage="Jer 3:3">Jer. iii.
3</scripRef>) and could not blush, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.6.15" parsed="|Jer|6|15|0|0" passage="Jer 6:15">Jer. vi. 15</scripRef>. Note, Those that have grown
impudent in sin are ripe for ruin. Those that are past shame (we
say) are past grace, and then past hope. 2. That their guides, who
should direct them in the right way, put them out of the way
(<scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.12" parsed="|Isa|3|12|0|0" passage="Isa 3:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): "<i>Those
who lead thee</i> (the princes, priests, and prophets) mislead
thee; they <i>cause thee to err.</i>" Either they preached to them
that which was false and corrupt, or, if they preached that which
was true and good, they contradicted it by their practices, and the
people would soon follow a bad example than a good exhortation.
Thus they <i>destroyed the ways of their paths,</i> pulling down
with one hand what they built up with the other. <i>Que te
beatificant—Those that call thee blessed</i> cause thee to err; so
some read it. Their priests applauded them, as if nothing were
amiss among them, cried <i>Peace, peace,</i> to them, as if they
were in no danger; and thus they caused them to go on in their
errors. 3. That their judges, who should have patronized and
protected the oppressed, were themselves the greatest oppressors,
<scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.14-Isa.3.15" parsed="|Isa|3|14|3|15" passage="Isa 3:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>. The
elders of the people, and the princes, who had learning and could
not but know better things, who had great estates and were not
under the temptation of necessity to encroach upon those about
them, and who were men of honour and should have scorned to do a
base thing, yet <i>they have eaten up the vineyard.</i> God's
vineyard, which they were appointed to be the dressers and keepers
of, they burnt (so the word signifies); they did as ill by it as
its worst enemies could do, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.12" osisRef="Bible:Ps.80.16" parsed="|Ps|80|16|0|0" passage="Ps 80:16">Ps. lxxx.
16</scripRef>. Or the vineyards of the poor they wrested out of
their possession, as Jezebel did Naboth's, or devoured the fruits
of them, fed their lusts with that which should have been the
necessary food of indigent families; the spoil of the poor was
hoarded up in their houses; when God came to search for stolen
goods there he found it, and it was a witness against them. It was
to be had, and they might have made restitution, but would not. God
reasons with these great men (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.13" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.15" parsed="|Isa|3|15|0|0" passage="Isa 3:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): "<i>What mean you, that you
beat my people into pieces?</i> What cause have you for it? What
good does it do you?" Or, "What hurt have they done you? Do you
think you had power given you for such a purpose as this?" Note,
There is nothing more unaccountable, and yet nothing which must
more certainly be accounted for, than the injuries and abuses that
are done to God's people by their persecutors and oppressors.
"<i>You grind the faces of the poor;</i> you put them to as much
pain and terror as if they were ground in a mill, and as certainly
reduce them to dust by one act of oppression after another." Or,
"Their faces are bruised and crushed with the blows you have given
them; you have not only ruined their estates, but have given them
personal abuses." Our Lord Jesus was <i>smitten on the face,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.iv-p15.14" osisRef="Bible:Matt.26.67" parsed="|Matt|26|67|0|0" passage="Mt 26:67">Matt. xxvi. 67</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p16" shownumber="no">II. The management of this controversy. 1.
God himself is the prosecutor (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.13" parsed="|Isa|3|13|0|0" passage="Isa 3:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>): <i>The Lord stands up to
plead,</i> or he sets himself to debate the matter, and he
<i>stands to judge the people,</i> to judge for those that were
oppressed and abused; and he will <i>enter into judgment with the
princes,</i> <scripRef id="Is.iv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.14" parsed="|Isa|3|14|0|0" passage="Isa 3:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>.
Note, The greatest of men cannot exempt or secure themselves from
the scrutiny and sentence of God's judgment, nor demur to the
jurisdiction of the court of heaven. 2. The indictment is proved by
the notorious evidence of the fact: "Look upon the oppressors, and
the <i>show of their countenance witnesses against them</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.iv-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.9" parsed="|Isa|3|9|0|0" passage="Isa 3:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>); look upon the
oppressed, and you see how their faces are battered and abused,"
<scripRef id="Is.iv-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.15" parsed="|Isa|3|15|0|0" passage="Isa 3:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. 3. The
controversy is already begun in the change of the ministry. To
punish those that had abused their power to bad purposes God sets
those over them that had not sense to use their power to any good
purposes: <i>Children are their oppressors, and women rule over
them</i> (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.12" parsed="|Isa|3|12|0|0" passage="Isa 3:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>),
men that have as weak judgments and strong passions as women and
children: this was their sin, that their rulers were such, and it
became a judgment upon them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p17" shownumber="no">III. The distinction that shall be made
between particular persons, in the prosecution of this controversy
(<scripRef id="Is.iv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.10-Isa.3.11" parsed="|Isa|3|10|3|11" passage="Isa 3:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10, 11</scripRef>):
<i>Say to the righteous, It shall be well with thee. Woe to the
wicked; it shall be ill with him.</i> He had said (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.9" parsed="|Isa|3|9|0|0" passage="Isa 3:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>), they <i>have rewarded
evil to themselves,</i> in proof of which he here shows that God
will <i>render to every man according to his works.</i> Had they
been righteous, it would have been well with them; but, if it be
ill with them, it is because they are wicked and will be so. Thus
God stated the matter to Cain, to convince him that he had no
reason to be angry, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.4.7" parsed="|Gen|4|7|0|0" passage="Ge 4:7">Gen. iv.
7</scripRef>. Or it may be taken thus: God is threatening national
judgments, which will ruin the public interests. Now, 1. Some good
people might fear that they should be involved in that ruin, and
therefore God bids the prophets comfort them against those fears:
"Whatever becomes of the unrighteous nation, let <i>the righteous
man</i> know that he shall not be lost in the crowd of sinners; the
<i>Judge of all the earth will not slay the righteous with the
wicked</i> (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.18.25" parsed="|Gen|18|25|0|0" passage="Ge 18:25">Gen. xviii.
25</scripRef>); no, assure him, in God's name, that <i>it shall be
well with him.</i> The property of the trouble shall be altered to
him, and he shall be <i>hidden in the day of the Lord's anger.</i>
He shall have divine supports and comforts, which shall abound as
afflictions abound, and so it shall be well with him." When the
whole <i>stay of bread is taken away,</i> yet in the <i>day of
famine the righteous shall be satisfied;</i> they <i>shall eat the
fruit of their doings</i>—they shall have the testimony of their
consciences for them that they kept themselves pure from the common
iniquity, and therefore the common calamity is not the same thing
to them that it is to others; they brought no fuel to the flame,
and therefore are not themselves fuel for it. 2. Some wicked people
might hope that they should escape that ruin, and therefore God
bids the prophets shake their vain hopes: "<i>Woe to the wicked; it
shall be ill with him,</i> <scripRef id="Is.iv-p17.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.11" parsed="|Isa|3|11|0|0" passage="Isa 3:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. To him the judgments shall have sting, and there
shall be <i>wormwood and gall</i> in the <i>affliction and
misery.</i>" There is a woe to wicked people, and, though they may
think to shelter themselves from public judgments, yet it shall be
ill with them; it will grow worse and worse with them if they
repent not, and the worst of all will be at last; for <i>the reward
of their hands shall be given them,</i> in the day when every man
shall receive according to the things done in the body.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.iv-p17.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.16-Isa.3.26" parsed="|Isa|3|16|3|26" passage="Isa 3:16-26" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.iv-p17.7">
<h4 id="Is.iv-p17.8">The Vanity of the Daughters of
Zion. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.iv-p17.9">b. c.</span> 758.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.iv-p18" shownumber="no">16 Moreover the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.iv-p18.1">Lord</span> saith, Because the daughters of Zion are
haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes,
walking and mincing <i>as</i> they go, and making a tinkling with
their feet:   17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the
crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.iv-p18.2">Lord</span> will discover their secret parts.   18
In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of <i>their</i>
tinkling ornaments <i>about their feet,</i> and <i>their</i> cauls,
and <i>their</i> round tires like the moon,   19 The chains,
and the bracelets, and the mufflers,   20 The bonnets, and the
ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the
earrings,   21 The rings, and nose jewels,   22 The
changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and
the crisping pins,   23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and
the hoods, and the veils.   24 And it shall come to pass,
<i>that</i> instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and
instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness;
and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; <i>and</i>
burning instead of beauty.   25 Thy men shall fall by the
sword, and thy mighty in the war.   26 And her gates shall
lament and mourn; and she <i>being</i> desolate shall sit upon the
ground.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p19" shownumber="no">The prophet's business was to show all
sorts of people what they had contributed to the national guilt and
what share they must expect in the national judgments that were
coming. Here he reproves and warns the daughters of Zion, tells the
ladies of their faults; and Moses, in the law, having denounced
God's wrath against <i>the tender and delicate woman</i> (the
prophets being a comment upon the law, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.56" parsed="|Deut|28|56|0|0" passage="De 28:56">Deut. xxviii. 56</scripRef>), he here tells them how
they shall smart by the calamities that are coming upon them.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p20" shownumber="no">I. The sin charged upon the daughters of
Zion, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.16" parsed="|Isa|3|16|0|0" passage="Isa 3:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. The
prophet expressly vouches God's authority for what he said, lest it
should be thought it was unbecoming in him to take notice of such
things, and should be resented by the ladies: <i>The Lord saith
it.</i> "Whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, let
them know that God takes notice of, and is much displeased with,
the folly and vanity of proud women, and his law takes cognizance
even of their dress." Two things that here stand indicted
for—haughtiness and wantonness, directly contrary to that
<i>modesty, shamefacedness, and sobriety, with which women ought to
adorn themselves,</i> <scripRef id="Is.iv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.2.9" parsed="|1Tim|2|9|0|0" passage="1Ti 2:9">1 Tim. ii.
9</scripRef>. They discovered the disposition of their mind by
their gait and gesture, and the lightness of their carriage. They
are haughty, for they <i>walk with stretched-forth necks,</i> that
they may seem tall, or, as thinking nobody good enough to speak to
them or to receive a look or a smile from them. Their eyes are
wanton, <i>deceiving</i> (so the word is); with their amorous
glances they draw men into their snares. They affect a formal
starched way of going, that people may look at them, and admire
them, and know they have been at the dancing-school, and have
learned the minuet-step. They go <i>mincing,</i> or nicely
tripping, not willing to set so much as the sole of their foot to
the ground, for tenderness and delicacy. They make a <i>tinkling
with their feet,</i> having, as some think, chains, or little
bells, upon their shoes, that made a noise: they go <i>as if they
were fettered</i> (so some read it), like a horse tramelled, that
he may learn to pace. Thus Agag came delicately, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.15.32" parsed="|1Sam|15|32|0|0" passage="1Sa 15:32">1 Sam. xv. 32</scripRef>. Such a nice affected mien is
not only a force upon that which is natural, and ridiculous before
men, men of sense; but as it is an evidence of a vain mind, it is
offensive to God. And two things aggravated it here: 1. That these
were the daughters of Zion, the holy mountain, who should have
behaved with the gravity that becomes women professing godliness.
2. That it should seem, by the connexion, they were the wives and
daughters of the princes who spoiled and oppressed the poor
(<scripRef id="Is.iv-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.14-Isa.3.15" parsed="|Isa|3|14|3|15" passage="Isa 3:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>) that
they might maintain the pride and luxury of their families.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p21" shownumber="no">II. The punishments threatened for this
sin; and they answer the sin as face answers to face in a glass,
<scripRef id="Is.iv-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.17-Isa.3.18" parsed="|Isa|3|17|3|18" passage="Isa 3:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17, 18</scripRef>. 1.
They <i>walked with stretched-forth necks,</i> but God will
<i>smite with a scab the crown of their head,</i> which shall lower
their crests, and make them ashamed to show their heads, being
obliged by it to cut off their hair. Note, Loathsome diseases are
often sent as the just punishment of pride, and are sometimes the
immediate effect of lewdness, the flesh and the body being consumed
by it. 2. They cared not what they laid out in furnishing
themselves with great variety of fine clothes; but God will reduce
them to such poverty and distress that they shall not have clothes
sufficient to cover their nakedness, but their uncomeliness shall
be exposed through their rags. 3. They were extremely fond and
proud of their ornaments; but God will strip them of those
ornaments, when their houses shall be plundered, their treasures
rifled, and they themselves led into captivity. The prophet here
specifies many of the ornaments which they used as particularly as
if he had been the keeper of their wardrobe or had attended them in
their dressing-room. It is not at all material to enquire what sort
of ornaments these respectively were and whether the translations
rightly express the original words; perhaps 100 years hence the
names of some of the ornaments that are now in use in our own land
will be as little understood as some of those here mentioned now
are. Fashions alter, and so do the names of them; and yet the
mention of them is not in vain, but is designed to expose the folly
of the daughters of Zion; for, (1.) Many of these things, we may
suppose, were very odd and ridiculous, and, if they had not been in
fashion, would have been hooted at. They were fitter to be toys for
children to play with than ornaments for grown people to go to
Mount Zion in. (2.) Those things that were decent and convenient,
as <i>the linen, the hoods, and the veils,</i> needed not be
provided in such abundance and variety. It is necessary to have
apparel and proper that all should have it according to their rank;
but what occasion was there for so many changeable suits of apparel
(<scripRef id="Is.iv-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.22" parsed="|Isa|3|22|0|0" passage="Isa 3:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>), that they
might not be seen two days together in the same suit? "They must
have (as the homily against excess of apparel speaks) one gown for
the day, another for the night—one long, another short—one for
the working day, another for the holy-day—one of this colour,
another of that colour—one of cloth, another of silk or
damask—one dress afore dinner, another after—one of the Spanish
fashion, another Turkey—and never content with sufficient." All
this, as it is an evidence of pride and vain curiosity, so must
needs spend a great deal in gratifying a base lust that ought to be
laid out in works of piety and charity; and it is well if poor
tenants be not racked, or poor creditors defrauded to support it.
(3.) The enumeration of these things intimates what care they were
in about them, how much their hearts were upon them, what an exact
account they kept of them, how nice and critical they were about
them, how insatiable their desire was of them, and how much of
their comfort was bound up in them. A maid could forget none of
these ornaments, though they were ever so many (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.32" parsed="|Jer|2|32|0|0" passage="Jer 2:32">Jer. ii. 32</scripRef>), but they would report them as
readily, and talk of them with as much pleasure, as if they had
been things of the greatest moment. The prophet did not speak of
these things as in themselves sinful (they might lawfully be had
and used), but as things which they were proud of and should
therefore be deprived of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p22" shownumber="no">III. They were very nice and curious about
their clothes; but God would make those bodies of theirs, which
were at such expense to beautify and make easy, a reproach and
burden to them (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.24" parsed="|Isa|3|24|0|0" passage="Isa 3:24"><i>v.</i>
24</scripRef>): <i>Instead of sweet smell</i> (those tablets, or
boxes, of perfume, <i>houses of the soul</i> or <i>breath,</i> as
they are called, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.20" parsed="|Isa|3|20|0|0" passage="Isa 3:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>, <i>margin</i>) <i>there shall be stink,</i> garments
grown filthy with being long worn, or from some loathsome disease
or plasters for the cure of it. <i>Instead of a</i> rich
embroidered <i>girdle</i> used to make the clothes sit tight, there
shall be <i>a rent,</i> a rending of the clothes for grief, or old
rotten clothes rent into rags. <i>Instead of well-set hair,</i>
curiously plaited and powdered, there shall be <i>baldness,</i> the
hair being plucked off or shaven, as was usual in times of great
affliction (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.15.2 Bible:Jer.16.6" parsed="|Isa|15|2|0|0;|Jer|16|6|0|0" passage="Isa 15:2,Jer 16:6"><i>ch.</i> xv. 2;
Jer. xvi. 6</scripRef>), or in great servitude, <scripRef id="Is.iv-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.29.18" parsed="|Ezek|29|18|0|0" passage="Eze 29:18">Ezek. xxix. 18</scripRef>. <i>Instead of a
stomacher,</i> or a scarf or sash, there shall be <i>a girding of
sackcloth,</i> in token of deep humiliation; <i>and burning instead
of beauty.</i> Those that had a good complexion, and were proud of
it, when they are carried into captivity shall be tanned and
sun-burnt; and it is observed that the best faces are soonest
injured by the weather. From all this let us learn, 1. Not to be
nice and curious about our apparel, not to affect that which is gay
and costly, nor to be proud of it. 2. Not to be secure in the
enjoyment of any of the delights of sense, because we know not how
soon we may be stripped of them, nor what straits we may be reduced
to.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.iv-p23" shownumber="no">IV. They designed by these ornaments to
charm the gentlemen, and win their affections (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.16-Prov.7.17" parsed="|Prov|7|16|7|17" passage="Pr 7:16,17">Prov. vii. 16, 17</scripRef>), but there shall be none
to be charmed by them (<scripRef id="Is.iv-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.25" parsed="|Isa|3|25|0|0" passage="Isa 3:25"><i>v.</i>
25</scripRef>): <i>Thy men shall fall by the sword, and the mighty
in the war,</i> The <i>fire shall consume them,</i> and then the
<i>maidens</i> shall <i>not be given in marriage;</i> as it is,
<scripRef id="Is.iv-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.78.63" parsed="|Ps|78|63|0|0" passage="Ps 78:63">Ps. lxxviii. 63</scripRef>. When the
sword comes with commission the mighty commonly fall first by it,
because they are most forward to venture. And, when Zion's guards
are cut off, no marvel that Zion's gates <i>lament and mourn</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.iv-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.26" parsed="|Isa|3|26|0|0" passage="Isa 3:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>), the enemies
having made themselves masters of them; and the city itself, being
desolate, being emptied or swept, shall <i>sit upon the ground</i>
like a disconsolate widow. If sin be harboured with in the walls,
lamentation and mourning are near the gates.</p>
</div></div2>