mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 30.xml

<div2 id="Is.xxxi" n="xxxi" next="Is.xxxii" prev="Is.xxx" progress="11.38%" title="Chapter XXX">
<h2 id="Is.xxxi-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.xxxi-p0.2">CHAP. XXX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.xxxi-p1" shownumber="no">The prophecy of this chapter seems to relate (as
that in the foregoing chapter) to the approaching danger of
Jerusalem and desolations of Judah by Sennacherib's invasion. Here
is, I. A just reproof to those who, in that distress, trusted to
the Egyptians for help, and were all in a hurry to fetch succours
from Egypt, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.1-Isa.30.7" parsed="|Isa|30|1|30|7" passage="Isa 30:1-7">ver. 1-7</scripRef>. II.
A terrible threatening against those who slighted the good advice
which God by his prophets gave them for the repose of their minds
in that distress, assuring them that whatever became of others the
judgment would certainly overtake them, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.8-Isa.30.17" parsed="|Isa|30|8|30|17" passage="Isa 30:8-17">ver. 8-17</scripRef>. III. A gracious promise to
those who trusted in God, that they should not only see through the
trouble, but should see happy days after it, times of joy and
reformation, plenty of the means of grace, and therewith plenty of
outward good things and increasing joys and triumphs (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.18-Isa.30.26" parsed="|Isa|30|18|30|26" passage="Isa 30:18-26">ver. 18-26</scripRef>), and many of these
promises are very applicable to gospel grace. IV. A prophecy of the
total rout and ruin of the Assyrian army, which should be an
occasion of great joy and an introduction to those happy times,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.27-Isa.30.33" parsed="|Isa|30|27|30|33" passage="Isa 30:27-33">ver. 27-33</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.xxxi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30" parsed="|Isa|30|0|0|0" passage="Isa 30" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.xxxi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.1-Isa.30.7" parsed="|Isa|30|1|30|7" passage="Isa 30:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxxi-p1.7">
<h4 id="Is.xxxi-p1.8">The Foolish Confidence of
Judah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p1.9">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxxi-p2" shownumber="no">1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p2.1">Lord</span>, that take counsel, but not of
me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they
may add sin to sin:   2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and
have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the
strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!   3
Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the
trust in the shadow of Egypt <i>your</i> confusion.   4 For
his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to Hanes.  
5 They were all ashamed of a people <i>that</i> could not profit
them, nor be a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach.
  6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of
trouble and anguish, from whence <i>come</i> the young and old
lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their
riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon
the bunches of camels, to a people <i>that</i> shall not profit
<i>them.</i>   7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to
no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength
<i>is</i> to sit still.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p3" shownumber="no">It was often the fault and folly of the
people of the Jews that, when they were insulted by their
neighbours on one side, they sought for succour from their
neighbours on the other side, instead of looking up to God and
putting their confidence in him. Against the Israelites they sought
to the Syrians, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.16.2-2Chr.16.3" parsed="|2Chr|16|2|16|3" passage="2Ch 16:2,3">2 Chron. xvi. 2,
3</scripRef>. Against the Syrians they sought to the Assyrians,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.16.7" parsed="|2Kgs|16|7|0|0" passage="2Ki 16:7">2 Kings xvi. 7</scripRef>. Against the
Assyrians they here sought to the Egyptians, and Rabshakeh
upbraided them with so doing, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.18.21" parsed="|2Kgs|18|21|0|0" passage="2Ki 18:21">2 Kings
xviii. 21</scripRef>. Now observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p4" shownumber="no">I. How this sin of theirs is described, and
what there was in it that was provoking to God. When they saw
themselves in danger and distress, 1. They would not consult God.
They would do things of their own heads, and not advise with God,
though they had a ready and certain way of doing it by Urim or
prophets. They were so confident of the prudence of their own
measures that they thought it needless to consult the oracle; nay,
they were not willing to put it to that issue: "They <i>take
counsel</i> among themselves, and one from another; but they do not
ask counsel, much less will they take counsel, of me. They <i>cover
with a covering</i>" (they think to secure themselves with one
shelter or other, which may serve to cover them from the violence
of the storm), "<i>but not of my Spirit</i>" (not such as God by
his Spirit, in the mouth of his prophets, directed them to), "and
therefore it will prove too short a covering, and a refuge of
lies." 2. They could not confide in God. They did not think it
enough to have God on their side, nor were they at all solicitous
to make him their friend, but they <i>strengthened themselves in
the strength of Pharaoh;</i> they thought him a powerful ally, and
doubted not but to be able to cope with the Assyrian while they had
him for them. <i>The shadow of Egypt</i> (and it was but a shadow)
was the covering in which they wrapped themselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p5" shownumber="no">II. What was the evil of this sin. 1. It
bespoke them <i>rebellious children;</i> and a <i>woe</i> is here
denounced against them under that character, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.1" parsed="|Isa|30|1|0|0" passage="Isa 30:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. They were, in profession, God's
children; but, not trusting in him, they were justly stigmatized as
rebellious; for, if we distrust God's providence, we do in effect
withdraw ourselves from our allegiance. 2. They added sin to sin.
It was sin that brought them into distress; and then, instead of
repenting, they <i>trespassed yet more against the Lord,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.28.22" parsed="|2Chr|28|22|0|0" passage="2Ch 28:22">2 Chron. xxviii. 22</scripRef>. And
those that had abused God's mercies to them, making them the fuel
of their lusts, abused their afflictions too, making them an excuse
for their distrust of God; and so they make bad worse, and add sin
to sin; and those that do so, as they make their own chain heavy,
so it is just with God to make their plagues wonderful. Now that
which aggravated their sin was, (1.) That they took so much pains
to secure the Egyptians for their allies: <i>They walk to go down
to Egypt,</i> travel up and down to find an advantageous road
thither; but they <i>have not asked at my mouth,</i> never
considered whether God would allow and approve of it or no. (2.)
That they were at such a vast expense to do it, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.6" parsed="|Isa|30|6|0|0" passage="Isa 30:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. They load <i>the beasts of the
south</i> (horses fetched from Egypt, which lay south from Judea)
with their riches, fancying, as it is common with people in a
fright, that they were safer any where than where they were. Or
they sent their riches thither as bribes to Pharaoh's courtiers, to
engage them in their interests, or as pay for their army. God would
have helped them <i>gratis;</i> but, if they will have help from
the Egyptians, they must pay dearly for it, and they seem willing
to do so. The riches that are so spent will turn to a bad account.
They carried their effects to Egypt through a land (so it may be
read) of trouble and anguish, that vast howling wilderness which
lay between Canaan and Egypt, <i>whence come the lion and fiery
serpent,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.15" parsed="|Deut|8|15|0|0" passage="De 8:15">Deut. viii. 15</scripRef>.
They would venture through that dangerous wilderness, to bring what
they had to Egypt. Or it may be meant of Egypt itself, which had
been to Israel a house of bondage and therefore a land of trouble
and anguish, and which abounded in ravenous and venomous creatures.
See what dangers men run into that forsake God, and what dangers
they will run into in pursuance of their carnal confidences and
their expectations from the creature.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p6" shownumber="no">III. What would be the consequence of it.
1. The Egyptians would receive their ambassadors, would address
them very respectfully, and be willing to treat with them
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.4" parsed="|Isa|30|4|0|0" passage="Isa 30:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>His
princes were at Zoan,</i> at Pharaoh's court there, and had their
audience of the king, who encouraged them to depend upon his
friendship and the succours he would send them. But, 2. They would
not answer their expectation: They <i>could not profit them,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.5" parsed="|Isa|30|5|0|0" passage="Isa 30:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. For God says,
<i>They shall not profit them</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.6" parsed="|Isa|30|6|0|0" passage="Isa 30:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), and every creature is that to
us (and no more) which he makes it to be. The forces they were to
furnish them with could not be raised in time; or, when they were
raised, they were not fit for service, and they would not venture
any of their veteran troops in the expedition; or the march was so
long that they could not come up when they had occasion for them;
or the Egyptians would not be cordial to Israel, but would secretly
incline to the Assyrians, upon some account or other: <i>The
Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.7" parsed="|Isa|30|7|0|0" passage="Isa 30:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. They shall hinder and
hurt, instead of helping. And therefore, 3. These people, that were
now so fond of the Egyptians, would at length be ashamed of them,
and of all their expectations from them and confidence in them
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.3" parsed="|Isa|30|3|0|0" passage="Isa 30:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): "<i>The
strength of Pharaoh,</i> which was your pride, <i>shall be your
shame;</i> all your neighbours will upbraid you, and you will
upbraid yourselves, with your folly in trusting to it. And the
<i>shadow of Egypt,</i> that <i>land shadowing with wings</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.18.1" parsed="|Isa|18|1|0|0" passage="Isa 18:1"><i>ch.</i> xviii. 1</scripRef>),
which was your confidence, shall be your confusion; it will not
only disappoint you, and be the matter of your shame, but it will
weaken all your other supports, and be an occasion of mischief to
you." God afterwards threatens the ruin of Egypt for this very
thing, because they had dealt treacherously with Israel and <i>been
a staff of a reed</i> to them, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.29.6-Ezek.29.7" parsed="|Ezek|29|6|29|7" passage="Eze 29:6,7">Ezek.
xxix. 6, 7</scripRef>. The princes and ambassadors of Israel, who
were so forward to court an alliance with them, when they come
among them shall see so much of their weakness, or rather of their
baseness, that <i>they shall all be ashamed of a people that could
not be a help or profit to them,</i> but a <i>shame and
reproach,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.5" parsed="|Isa|30|5|0|0" passage="Isa 30:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>.
Those that trust in God, in his power, providence, and promise, are
never made ashamed of their hope; but those that put confidence in
any creature will sooner or later find it a reproach to them. God
is true, and may be trusted, but every man a liar, and must be
suspected. The Creator is a rock of ages, the creature a broken
reed. We cannot expect too little from man nor too much from
God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p7" shownumber="no">IV. The use and application of all this
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.7" parsed="|Isa|30|7|0|0" passage="Isa 30:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>):
"<i>Therefore have I cried concerning this</i> matter, this project
of theirs. I have published it, that all might take notice of it. I
have pressed it as one in earnest. <i>Their strength is to sit
still,</i> in a humble dependence upon God and his goodness and a
quiet submission to his will, and not to wander about and put
themselves to great trouble to seek help from this and the other
creature." If we sit still in a day of distress, hoping and quietly
waiting for the salvation of the Lord, and using only lawful
regular methods for our own preservation, this will be the strength
of our souls both for services and sufferings, and it will engage
divine strength for us. We weaken ourselves, and provoke God to
withdraw from us, when we make flesh our arm, for then our hearts
depart from the Lord. When we have tired ourselves by seeking for
help from creatures we shall find it the best way of recruiting
ourselves to repose in the Creator. <i>Here I am, let him do with
me as he pleases.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.xxxi-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.8-Isa.30.17" parsed="|Isa|30|8|30|17" passage="Isa 30:8-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxxi-p7.3">
<h4 id="Is.xxxi-p7.4">Doom of Incorrigible
Sinners. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p7.5">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxxi-p8" shownumber="no">8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and
note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and
ever:   9 That this <i>is</i> a rebellious people, lying
children, children <i>that</i> will not hear the law of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p8.1">Lord</span>:   10 Which say to the seers,
See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things,
speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:   11 Get you
out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of
Israel to cease from before us.   12 Wherefore thus saith the
Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in
oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:   13 Therefore
this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling
out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
  14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters'
vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there
shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from
the hearth, or to take water <i>withal</i> out of the pit.  
15 For thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p8.2">God</span>, the
Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in
quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would
not.   16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses;
therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift;
therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.   17 One
thousand <i>shall flee</i> at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of
five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a
mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p9" shownumber="no">Here, I. The preface is very awful. The
prophet must not only preach this, but he must write it (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.8" parsed="|Isa|30|8|0|0" passage="Isa 30:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), <i>write it in a
table,</i> to be hung up and exposed to public view; he must
carefully <i>note it,</i> not in loose papers which might be lost
or torn, but <i>in a book,</i> to be preserved for posterity, <i>in
perpetuam rei memoriam—for a standing testimony</i> against this
wicked generation; let it remain not only to the next succeeding
ages, but for ever and ever, while the world stands; and so it
shall, for the book of the scriptures no doubt, shall continue, and
be read, to the end of time. Let it be written, 1. To shame the men
of the present age, who would not hear and heed it when it was
spoken. Let it be written, that it may not be lost; their children
may profit by it, though they will not. 2. To justify God in the
judgments he was about to ring upon them; people will be tempted to
think he was too hard upon them, and over-severe, unless they know
how very bad they were, how very provoking, and what fair means God
tried with them before he brought it to this extremity. 3. For
warning to others not to do as they did, lest they should fare as
they fared. It is designed for admonition to those of the remotest
place and age, even those <i>upon whom the ends of the world have
come,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.10.11" parsed="|1Cor|10|11|0|0" passage="1Co 10:11">1 Cor. x. 11</scripRef>. It
may be of use for God's ministers not only to preach, but to write;
for that which is written remains.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p10" shownumber="no">II. The character given of the profane and
wicked Jews is very sad. He must, if he will draw them in their own
colours, write this concerning them (and we are sure he does not
bear false witness against them, nor make them worse than they
were, for the judgment of God is according to truth), <i>That this
is a rebellious people,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.9" parsed="|Isa|30|9|0|0" passage="Isa 30:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>. The Jews were, for aught we know, the only professing
people God had then in the world, and yet many of them were a
rebellious people. 1. They rebelled against their own convictions
and covenants: "They are <i>lying children,</i> that will not stand
to what they say, that promise fair, but perform nothing;" when he
took them into covenant with himself he said of them, <i>Surely
they are my people, children that will not lie</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.63.8" parsed="|Isa|63|8|0|0" passage="Isa 63:8"><i>ch.</i> lxiii. 8</scripRef>); but they proved
otherwise. 2. They rebelled against the divine authority: "They are
<i>children that will not hear the law of the Lord,</i> nor heed
it, but will do as they have a mind, let God himself say what he
will to the contrary."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p11" shownumber="no">III. The charge drawn up against them is
very high and the sentence passed upon them very dreadful. Two
things they here stand charged with, and their doom is read for
both, a fearful doom:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p12" shownumber="no">1. They forbade the prophets to speak to
them in God's name, and to deal faithfully with them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p13" shownumber="no">(1.) This their sin is described, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.10-Isa.30.11" parsed="|Isa|30|10|30|11" passage="Isa 30:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10, 11</scripRef>. They set
themselves so violently against the prophets to hinder them from
preaching, or at least from dealing plainly with them in their
preaching, did so banter them and browbeat them, that they did in
effect <i>say to the seers, See not.</i> They had the light, but
they loved darkness rather. It was their privilege that they had
seers among them, but they did what they could to put out their
eyes—that they had prophets among them, but they did what they
could to stop their mouths; for they tormented them in their wicked
ways, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.11.10" parsed="|Rev|11|10|0|0" passage="Re 11:10">Rev. xi. 10</scripRef>. Those
that silence good ministers, and discountenance good preaching, are
justly counted, and called, <i>rebels against God.</i> See what it
was in the prophets' preaching with which they found themselves
aggrieved. [1.] The prophets told them of their faults, and warned
them of their misery and danger by reason of sin, and they could
not bear that. They must speak to them smooth things, must flatter
them in their sins, and say that they did well, and there was no
harm, no peril, in the course of life they lived in. Let a thing be
ever so right and true, if it be not smooth, they will not hear it.
But if it be agreeable to the good opinion they have of themselves,
and will confirm them in that, though it be ever so false and ever
so great a cheat upon them, they will have it prophesied to them.
Those deserve to be deceived that desire to be so. [2.] The
prophets stopped them in their sinful pursuits, and stood in their
way like the angel in Balaam's road, with the sword of God's wrath
drawn in their hand; so that they could not proceed without terror.
And this they took as a great insult. When they went on frowardly
in the way of their hearts they said to the prophets, <i>"Get you
out of the way, turn aside out of the paths.</i> What do you do in
our way? Cannot you let us alone to do as we please?" Those have
their hearts fully set in them to do evil that bid their faithful
monitors to stand out of their way. <i>Forbear, why shouldst thou
be smitten?</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.25.16" parsed="|2Chr|25|16|0|0" passage="2Ch 25:16">2 Chron. xxv.
16</scripRef>. [3.] The prophets were continually telling them of
the Holy One of Israel, what an enemy he is to sin ad how severely
he will reckon with sinners; and this they could not endure to hear
of. Both the thing itself and the expression of it were too serious
for them; and therefore, if the prophets will speak to them, they
will make it their bargain that they shall not call God <i>the Holy
One of Israel;</i> for God's holiness is that attribute which
wicked people most of all dread. Let us no more be troubled with
that state-preface (as Mr. White calls it) to your impertinent
harangues. Those have reason to fear perishing in their sins that
cannot bear to be frightened out of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p14" shownumber="no">(2.) Now what is the doom passed upon them
for this? We have it, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.12-Isa.30.13" parsed="|Isa|30|12|30|13" passage="Isa 30:12,13"><i>v.</i>
12, 13</scripRef>. Observe, [1.] Who it is that gives judgment upon
them: <i>Thus saith the Holy One of Israel.</i> That title of God
which they particularly excepted against the prophet makes use of.
Faithful ministers will not be driven from using such expressions
as are proper to awaken sinners, though they be displeasing. We
must tell men that God is the <i>Holy One of Israel,</i> and so
they shall find him, whether they will hear or whether they will
forbear. [2.] What the ground of the judgment is: <i>Because they
despise this word</i>—wither, in general, every word that the
prophets said to them, or this word in particular, which declares
God to be <i>the Holy One of Israel:</i> "they despise this, and
will neither make it their fear, to stand in awe of it, nor make it
their hope, to put any confidence in it; but, rather than they will
be beholden to <i>the Holy One of Israel,</i> they will <i>trust in
oppression and perverseness,</i> in the wealth they have got and
the interest they have made by fraud and violence, or in the sinful
methods they have taken for their own security, in contradiction to
God and his will. On these they lean, and therefore it is just that
they should fall." [3.] What the judgment is that is passed upon
them: "<i>This iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to
fall.</i> This confidence of yours will be like a house built upon
the sand, which will fall in the storm and bury the builder in the
ruins of it. Your contempt of that word of God which you might
build upon will make every thing else you trust like a wall that
bulges out, which, if any weight be laid upon it, comes down, nay,
which often sinks with its own weight." The ruin they would hereby
bring upon themselves should be, <i>First,</i> A surprising ruin:
<i>The breaking shall come suddenly, at an instant,</i> when they
do not expect it, which will make it the more frightful, and when
they are not prepared or provided for it, which will make it the
more fatal. <i>Secondly,</i> An utter ruin, universal and
irreparable: "Your and all your confidences shall be not only weak
as the potter's clay (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.29.16" parsed="|Isa|29|16|0|0" passage="Isa 29:16"><i>ch.</i>
xxix. 16</scripRef>), but <i>broken to pieces as the potter's
vessel.</i> He that has the rod of iron shall break it (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.9" parsed="|Ps|2|9|0|0" passage="Ps 2:9">Ps. ii. 9</scripRef>) and he shall not spare,
shall not have any regard to it, nor be in care to preserve or keep
whole any part of it. But, when once it is broken so as to be unfit
for use, let it be dashed, let it be crushed, all to pieces, so
that there may not remain one <i>sherd</i> big enough <i>to take
up</i> a little <i>fire or water</i>"—two things we have daily
need of, and which poor people commonly fetch in a piece of a
broken pitcher. They shall not only be as a <i>bowing wall</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.62.3" parsed="|Ps|62|3|0|0" passage="Ps 62:3">Ps. lxii. 3</scripRef>), but as a
broken mug or glass, which is good for nothing, nor can ever be
made whole again.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p15" shownumber="no">2. They slighted the gracious directions
God gave them, not only how to secure themselves and make
themselves safe, but how to compose themselves and make themselves
easy; they would take their own way, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.15-Isa.30.17" parsed="|Isa|30|15|30|17" passage="Isa 30:15-17"><i>v.</i> 15-17</scripRef>. Observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p16" shownumber="no">(1.) The method God put them into for
salvation and strength. The God that knew them, and knew what was
proper for them, and desired their welfare, gave them this
prescription; and it is recommended to us all. [1.] Would we be
saved from the evil of every calamity, guarded against the
temptation of it and secured from the curse of it, which are the
only evil things in it? It must be <i>in returning and rest,</i> in
returning to God and reposing in him as our rest. Let us return
from our evil ways, into which we have gone aside, and rest and
settle in the way of God and duty, and that is the way to be saved.
"Return from this project of going down to Egypt, and rest
satisfied in the will of God, and then you may trust him with your
safety. <i>In returning</i> (in the thorough reformation of your
hearts and lives) <i>and in rest</i> (in an entire submission of
your souls to God and a complacency in him) <i>you shall be
saved.</i>" [2.] Would we be strengthened to do what is required of
us and to bear what is laid upon us? It must be <i>in quietness and
in confidence;</i> we must keep our spirits calm and sedate by a
continual dependence upon God, and his power and goodness; we must
retire into ourselves with a holy quietness, suppressing all
turbulent and tumultuous passions, and keeping the peace in our own
minds. And we must rely upon God with a holy confidence that he can
do what he will and will do what is best for his people. And this
will be our strength; it will inspire us with such a holy fortitude
as will carry us with ease and courage through all the difficulties
we may meet with.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p17" shownumber="no">(2.) The contempt they put upon this
prescription; they would not take God's counsel, though it was so
much for their own good. And justly will those die of their disease
that will not take God for their physician. We are certainly
enemies to ourselves if we will not be subjects to him. They would
not so much as try the method prescribed: "<i>But you said, No</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.16" parsed="|Isa|30|16|0|0" passage="Isa 30:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), we will
not compose ourselves, for <i>we will flee upon horses</i> and
<i>we will ride upon the swift;</i> we will hurry hither and
thither to fetch in foreign aids." They think themselves wiser than
God, and that they know what is good for themselves better than he
does. When Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah, those
rebellious children would not be persuaded to sit still and
patiently to expect God's appearing for them, as he did wonderfully
at last; but they would shift for their own safety, and thereby
they exposed themselves to so much the more danger.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p18" shownumber="no">(3.) The sentence passed upon them for
this. Their sin shall be their punishment: "You will flee, and
therefore <i>you shall flee;</i> you will be upon the full speed,
and therefore so shall those be that pursue you." The dogs are most
apt to run barking after him that rides fast. The conquerors
protected those that sat still, but pursued those that made their
escape; and so that very project by which they hoped to save
themselves was justly their ruin and the most guilty suffered most.
It is foretold, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.17" parsed="|Isa|30|17|0|0" passage="Isa 30:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>, [1.] That they should be easily cut off; they should
be so dispirited with their own fears, increased by their flight,
that one of the enemy should defeat a thousand of them, and five
put an army to flight, which could never be <i>unless their Rock
had sold them</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.30" parsed="|Deut|32|30|0|0" passage="De 32:30">Deut. xxxii.
30</scripRef>. [2.] That they should be generally cut off, and only
here and there one should escape alone in a solitary place, and be
left for a spectacle too, <i>as a beacon upon the top of a
mountain,</i> a warning to others to avoid the like sinful courses
and carnal confidences.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.xxxi-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.18-Isa.30.26" parsed="|Isa|30|18|30|26" passage="Isa 30:18-26" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxxi-p18.4">
<h4 id="Is.xxxi-p18.5">Promises. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p18.6">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxxi-p19" shownumber="no">18 And therefore will the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p19.1">Lord</span> wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and
therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for
the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p19.2">Lord</span> <i>is</i> a God of
judgment: blessed <i>are</i> all they that wait for him.   19
For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no
more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry;
when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.   20 And
<i>though</i> the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the
water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a
corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:   21
And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This
<i>is</i> the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand,
and when ye turn to the left.   22 Ye shall defile also the
covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy
molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous
cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence.   23 Then shall
he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground
withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat
and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures.
  24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground
shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the shovel
and with the fan.   25 And there shall be upon every high
mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers <i>and</i> streams of
waters in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.
  26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of
the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light
of seven days, in the day that the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p19.3">Lord</span> bindeth up the breach of his people, and
healeth the stroke of their wound.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p20" shownumber="no">The closing words of the foregoing
paragraph (<i>You shall be left as a beacon upon a mountain</i>)
some understand as a promise that a remnant of them should be
reserved as monuments of mercy; and here the prophet tells them
what good times should succeed these calamities. Or the first words
in this paragraph may be read by way of antithesis,
<i>Notwithstanding this, yet will the Lord wait that he may be
gracious.</i> The prophet, having shown that those who made Egypt
their confidence would be ashamed of it, here shows that those who
sat still and made God alone their confidence would have the
comfort of it. It is matter of comfort to the people of God, when
the times are very bad, that <i>all will be well yet,</i> well with
those that fear God, when we say to the wicked, <i>It shall be ill
with you.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p21" shownumber="no">I. God will be gracious to them and will
have mercy on them. This is the foundation of all good. If we find
favour with God, and he have mercy upon us, we shall have comfort
according to the time that we have been afflicted.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p22" shownumber="no">1. The mercy in store for them is very
affectingly expressed. (1.) "He will <i>wait to be gracious</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.18" parsed="|Isa|30|18|0|0" passage="Isa 30:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>); he will
wait till you return to him and seek his face, and then he will be
ready to meet you with mercy. He will wait, that he may do it in
the best and fittest time, when it will be most for his glory, when
it will come to you with the most pleasing surprise. He will
continually follow you with his favours, and not let slip any
opportunity of being gracious to you." (2.) "He will stir up
himself to deliver you, will be exalted, will be <i>raised up out
of his holy habitation</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Zech.2.13" parsed="|Zech|2|13|0|0" passage="Zec 2:13">Zech. ii.
13</scripRef>), that he may appear for you in more than ordinary
instances of power and goodness; <i>and thus he will be
exalted,</i> that is, he will glorify his own name. This is what he
aims at in having mercy on his people." (3.) <i>He will be very
gracious</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.19" parsed="|Isa|30|19|0|0" passage="Isa 30:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>), and this in answer to prayer, which makes his
kindness doubly kind: "<i>He will be gracious to thee, at the voice
of thy cry,</i> the cry of thy necessity, when that is most
urgent—the cry of thy prayer, when that is most fervent. <i>When
he shall hear it,</i> there needs no more; at the first word <i>he
will answer thee,</i> and say, <i>Here I am.</i>" Herein he is very
gracious indeed. In particular, [1.] Those who were disturbed in
the possession of their estates shall again enjoy them quietly.
When the danger is over <i>the people shall dwell in Zion, at
Jerusalem,</i> as they used to do; they shall dwell safely, free
from the fear of evil. [2.] Those who were all in tears shall have
cause to rejoice, and shall weep no more; and those who dwell in
Zion, the holy city, will find enough there to wipe away tears from
their eyes.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p23" shownumber="no">2. This is grounded upon two great truths:
(1.) That <i>the Lord is a God of judgment;</i> he is both wise and
just in all the disposals of his providence, true to his word and
tender of his people. If he correct his children, it is <i>with
judgment</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.10.24" parsed="|Jer|10|24|0|0" passage="Jer 10:24">Jer. x. 24</scripRef>),
with moderation and discretion, considering their frame. We think
we may safely refer ourselves to a man of judgment; and shall we
not commit our way to a God of judgment? (2.) That therefore all
those are blessed who <i>wait for him,</i> who not only wait on him
with their prayers, but wait for him with their hopes, who will not
take any indirect course to extricate themselves out of their
straits, or anticipate their deliverance, but patiently expect
God's appearances for them in his own way and time. Because God is
infinitely wise, those are truly happy who refer their cause to
him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p24" shownumber="no">II. They shall not again know the want of
the means of grace, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.20-Isa.30.21" parsed="|Isa|30|20|30|21" passage="Isa 30:20,21"><i>v.</i> 20,
21</scripRef>. Here, 1. It is supposed that they might be brought
into straits and troubles after this deliverance was wrought for
them. It was promised (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.19" parsed="|Isa|30|19|0|0" passage="Isa 30:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>), that they should <i>weep no more</i> and that God
would be <i>gracious to them;</i> and yet here it is taken for
granted that God may give them the <i>bread of adversity and the
water of affliction,</i> prisoners' fare (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.22.27" parsed="|1Kgs|22|27|0|0" passage="1Ki 22:27">1 Kings xxii. 27</scripRef>), coarse and sorry food,
such as the poor use. When one trouble is over we know not how soon
another may succeed; and we may have an interest in the favour of
God, and such consolations as are sufficient to prohibit weeping,
and yet may have bread of adversity given us to eat and water of
affliction to drink. Let us therefore not judge of love or hatred
by what is before us. 2. It is promised that their eyes should
<i>see their teachers,</i> that is, that they should have faithful
teachers among them, and should have hearts to regard them and not
slight them as they had done; and then they might the better be
reconciled to the bread of adversity and the water of affliction.
It was a common saying among the old Puritans, <i>Brown bread and
the gospel are good fare.</i> A famine of bread is not so great a
judgment as a famine of the word of God, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p24.4" osisRef="Bible:Amos.8.11-Amos.8.12" parsed="|Amos|8|11|8|12" passage="Am 8:11,12">Amos viii. 11, 12</scripRef>. It seems that their
teachers had been removed into corners (probably being forced to
shift for their safety in the reign of Ahaz), but it shall be so no
more. <i>Veritas non quærit angulos—Truth seeks no corners for
concealment.</i> But the teachers of truth may sometimes be driven
into corners for shelter; and it goes ill with the church when it
is so, when the woman with her crown of twelve stars is forced to
flee into the wilderness (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p24.5" osisRef="Bible:Rev.12.6" parsed="|Rev|12|6|0|0" passage="Re 12:6">Rev. xii.
6</scripRef>), when the prophets are <i>hidden by fifty in a
cave,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p24.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.18.4" parsed="|1Kgs|18|4|0|0" passage="1Ki 18:4">1 Kings xviii. 4</scripRef>.
But God will find a time to call the teachers out of their corners
again, and to replace them in their solemn assemblies, which shall
<i>see their own teachers,</i> the <i>eyes of all the synagogue</i>
being fastened on them, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p24.7" osisRef="Bible:Luke.4.20" parsed="|Luke|4|20|0|0" passage="Lu 4:20">Luke iv.
20</scripRef>. And it will be the more pleasing because of the
restraint they have been for some time under, as light out of
darkness, as life from the dead. To all that love God and their own
souls this return of faithful teachers out of their corners,
especially with a promise that they <i>shall not be removed into
corners any more,</i> is the most acceptable part of any
deliverance, and has comfort enough in it to sweeten even the bread
of adversity and the water of affliction. But this is not all: 3.
It is promised that they shall have the benefit, not only of the
public ministry, but of private and particular admonition and
advice (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p24.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.21" parsed="|Isa|30|21|0|0" passage="Isa 30:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>):
"<i>Thy ears shall hear a word behind thee,</i> calling after thee
as a man calls after a traveller that he sees going out of his
road." Observe, (1.) Whence this word shall come—from <i>behind
thee,</i> from some one whom thou dost not see, but who sees thee.
"Thy eyes see thy teachers; but this is a teacher out of sight, it
is thy own conscience, which shall now by the grace of God be
awakened to do its office." (2.) What the word shall be: "<i>This
is the way, walk you in it.</i> When thou art doubting, conscience
shall direct thee to the way of duty; when thou art dull and
trifling, conscience shall quicken thee in that way." As God has
not left himself without witness, so he has not left us without
guides to show us our way. (3.) The seasonableness of this word: It
shall come <i>when you turn to the right hand or to the left.</i>
We are very apt to miss our way; there are turnings on both hands,
and those so tracked and seemingly straight that they may easily be
mistaken for the right way. There are right-hand and left-hand
errors, extremes on each side virtue; the tempter is busy courting
us into the by-paths. It is happy then if by the particular
counsels of a faithful minister or friend, or the checks of
conscience and the strivings of God's Spirit, we be set right and
prevented from going wrong. (4.) The success of this word: "It
shall not only be spoken, but thy ears shall hear it; whereas God
has formerly <i>spoken once, yea, twice,</i> and thou <i>hast not
perceived it</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p24.9" osisRef="Bible:Job.33.14" parsed="|Job|33|14|0|0" passage="Job 33:14">Job xxxiii.
14</scripRef>), now thou shalt listen attentively to these secret
whispers, and hear them with an obedient ear." If God gives us not
only the word, but the hearing ear, not only the means of grace,
but a heart to make a good use of those means, we have reason to
say, He is very gracious to us, and reason to hope he has yet
further mercy in store for us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p25" shownumber="no">III. They shall be cured of their idolatry,
shall fall out with their idols, and never be reconciled to them
again, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.22" parsed="|Isa|30|22|0|0" passage="Isa 30:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. The
deliverance God shall work for them shall convince them that it is
their interest, as well as duty, to serve him only; and they shall
own that, as their trouble was brought upon them for their
idolatries, so it was removed upon condition that they should not
return to them. This is also the good effect of their seeing their
teachers and hearing the word behind them; by this it shall appear
that they are the better for the means of grace they enjoy—they
shall break off from their best-beloved sin. Observe, 1. How
foolishly mad they had formerly been upon their idols, in the day
of their apostasy. Idolaters are said to be <i>mad upon their
idols</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.50.38" parsed="|Jer|50|38|0|0" passage="Jer 50:38">Jer. l. 38</scripRef>),
doatingly fond of them. They had <i>graven images of silver,</i>
and <i>molten images of gold,</i> and, though gold needs no
painting, they had coverings and ornaments on these; they spared no
cost in doing honour to their idols. 2. How wisely mad (if I may so
speak) they now were at their idols, what a holy indignation they
conceived against them in the day of their repentance. They not
only degraded their images, but defaced them, not only defaced
them, but defiled them; they not only spoiled the shape of them,
but in a pious fury threw away the gold and silver they were made
of, though otherwise valuable and convertible to a good use. They
could not find in their hearts to make any vessel of honour of
them. The rich clothes wherewith their images were dressed up they
cast away as a filthy cloth which rendered those that touched it
<i>unclean until the evening,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.15.23" parsed="|Lev|15|23|0|0" passage="Le 15:23">Lev.
xv. 23</scripRef>. Note, To all true penitents sin has become very
odious; they loathe it, and loathe themselves because of it; they
cast it away to the dunghill, the fittest place for it, nay, to the
cross, for they crucify the flesh; their cry against it is,
<i>Crucify it, crucify it.</i> They say unto it, <i>Abi hinc in
malam rem—Get thee hence.</i> They are resolved never to harbour
it any more. They put as far from as they can all the occasions of
sin and temptations to it, though they are as a right eye or a
right hand, and protest against it as Ephraim did (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.8" parsed="|Hos|14|8|0|0" passage="Ho 14:8">Hos. xiv. 8</scripRef>), <i>What have I to do any
more with idols?</i> Probably this was fulfilled in many particular
persons, who, by the deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib's
army, were convinced of the folly of their idolatry and forsook it.
It was fulfilled in the body of the Jewish nation at their return
from their captivity in Babylon, for they abhorred idols ever
after; and it is accomplished daily in the conversion of souls, by
the power of divine grace, from spiritual idolatry to the fear and
love of God. Those that join themselves to the Lord must abandon
every sin, and say unto it, <i>Get thee hence.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p26" shownumber="no">IV. God will then give them plenty of all
good things. When he gives them their teachers, and they give him
their hearts, so that they begin to seek the kingdom of God and the
righteousness thereof, <i>then all other things shall be added to
them</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.6.33" parsed="|Matt|6|33|0|0" passage="Mt 6:33">Matt. vi. 33</scripRef>. And
when the people are brought to praise God <i>then shall the earth
yield her increase, and with it God, even our own God, shall bless
us,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.67.5-Ps.67.6" parsed="|Ps|67|5|67|6" passage="Ps 67:5,6">Ps. lxvii. 5, 6</scripRef>.
So it follows here: "When you shall have abandoned your idols,
<i>then shall God give the rain of your seed,</i>" <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.23" parsed="|Isa|30|23|0|0" passage="Isa 30:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. When we return to God
in a way of duty he will meet us with his favours. 1. God will give
you rain of your seed, rain to water the seed you sow, just at the
time that it calls for it, as much as it needs and no more.
Observe, How man's industry and God's blessing concur to the good
things we enjoy relating to the life that now is: <i>Thou shalt sow
the ground,</i> that is thy part, and then <i>God will give the
rain of thy seed,</i> that is his part. It is so in spiritual
fruit; we must take pains with our hearts and then wait on God for
his grace. 2. The increase of the earth shall be rich and good, and
every thing the best of the kind; it shall be <i>fat and fat,</i>
very fat and very good, <i>fat and plenteous</i> (so we read it),
good and enough of it. Your land shall be Canaan indeed; it was
remarkably so after the defeat of Sennacherib, by the special
blessing of God, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.37.30" parsed="|Isa|37|30|0|0" passage="Isa 37:30"><i>ch.</i> xxxvii.
30</scripRef>. God would thus repair the losses they sustained by
that devastation. 3. Not only the tillage, but the pasture-ground
should be remarkably fruitful: <i>The cattle shall feed in large
pastures;</i> those that are at grass shall have room enough, and
the oxen and asses that are kept up for use, to ear the ground,
which must be the better fed for their being worked, <i>shall eat
clean provender.</i> The corn shall not be given them in the chaff
as usual, to make it go the further, but they shall have good clean
corn fit for man's use, being <i>winnowed with the fan.</i> The
brute-creatures shall share in the abundance; it is fit they
should, for they groan under the burden of the curse which man's
sin has brought upon the earth. 4. Even the tops of the mountains,
that used to be barren, shall be so well watered with the rain of
heaven that there shall be <i>rivers and streams</i> there, and
running down thence to the valleys (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.25" parsed="|Isa|30|25|0|0" passage="Isa 30:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>), and this <i>in the day of the
great slaughter</i> that should be made by the angel in the camp of
the Assyrians, <i>when the towers</i> and batteries they had
erected for the carrying on of the siege of Jerusalem, the army
being slain, <i>should fall</i> of course. It is probable that this
was fulfilled in the letter of it, and that about the same time
that that army was cut off there were extraordinary rains in mercy
to the land.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p27" shownumber="no">V. The effect of all this should be
extraordinary comfort and joy to the people of God, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.26" parsed="|Isa|30|26|0|0" passage="Isa 30:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>. Light shall increase;
that is, knowledge shall increase (when the prophecies are
accomplished they shall be fully understood) or rather triumph
shall: the light of the joy that is sown for the righteous shall
now come up with a great increase. <i>The light of the moon shall
become as</i> bright and as strong as <i>that of the sun, and that
of the sun</i> shall increase proportionably and be <i>as the light
of seven days;</i> every one shall be much more cheerful and appear
much more pleasant than usual. There shall be a high spring-tide of
joy in Judah and Jerusalem, upon occasion of the ruin of the
Assyrian army, <i>when the Lord binds up the breach of his
people,</i> not only saves them from being further wounded, but
heals the wounds that have been given them by this invasion and
makes up all their losses. The great distress they were reduced to,
their despair of relief, and the suddenness of their deliverance,
would much augment their joy. This is not unfitly applied by many
to the light which the gospel brought into the world to those that
sat in darkness, which has far exceeded the Old-Testament light as
that of the sun does that of the moon, and which proclaims
<i>healing to the broken-hearted, and the binding up of their
wounds.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.xxxi-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.27-Isa.30.33" parsed="|Isa|30|27|30|33" passage="Isa 30:27-33" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxxi-p27.3">
<h4 id="Is.xxxi-p27.4">Judgments on Assyria. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p27.5">b. c.</span> 720.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxxi-p28" shownumber="no">27 Behold, the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p28.1">Lord</span> cometh from far, burning <i>with</i> his
anger, and the burden <i>thereof is</i> heavy: his lips are full of
indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:   28 And his
breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the
neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and <i>there
shall be</i> a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing
<i>them</i> to err.   29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night
<i>when</i> a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as
when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p28.2">Lord</span>, to the mighty One of Israel.  
30 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p28.3">Lord</span> shall cause his
glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his
arm, with the indignation of <i>his</i> anger, and <i>with</i> the
flame of a devouring fire, <i>with</i> scattering, and tempest, and
hailstones.   31 For through the voice of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p28.4">Lord</span> shall the Assyrian be beaten down,
<i>which</i> smote with a rod.   32 And <i>in</i> every place
where the grounded staff shall pass, which the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p28.5">Lord</span> shall lay upon him, <i>it</i> shall be with
tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
  33 For Tophet <i>is</i> ordained of old; yea, for the king
it is prepared; he hath made <i>it</i> deep <i>and</i> large: the
pile thereof <i>is</i> fire and much wood; the breath of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxi-p28.6">Lord</span>, like a stream of brimstone, doth
kindle it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p29" shownumber="no">This terrible prediction of the ruin of the
Assyrian army, though it is a threatening to them, is part of the
promise to the Israel of God, that God would not only punish the
Assyrians for the mischief they had done to the Israel of God, but
would disable and deter them from doing the like again; and this
prediction, which would now shortly be accomplished, would ratify
and confirm the foregoing promises, which should be accomplished in
the latter days. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p30" shownumber="no">I. God Almighty angry, and coming forth in
anger against the Assyrians. He is here introduced in all the power
and all the terror of his wrath, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.27" parsed="|Isa|30|27|0|0" passage="Isa 30:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. <i>The name of Jehovah,</i>
which the Assyrians disdain and set at a distance from them, as if
they were out of its reach and it could do them no harm, <i>behold,
it comes from far.</i> A messenger in the name of the Lord comes
from as far off as heaven itself. He is a messenger of wrath,
<i>burning with his anger.</i> God's <i>lips are full of
indignation</i> at the blasphemy of Rabshakeh, who compared the God
of Israel with the gods of the heathen; <i>his tongue is as a
devouring fire,</i> for he can speak his proud enemies to ruin; his
very breath comes with as much force as an overflowing stream, and
with it he shall slay the wicked, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p30.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.11.4" parsed="|Isa|11|4|0|0" passage="Isa 11:4"><i>ch.</i> xi. 4</scripRef>. He does not stifle or
smother his resentments, as men do theirs when they are either
causeless or impotent; but he <i>shall cause his glorious voice to
be heard</i> when he proclaims war with an enemy that sets him at
defiance, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p30.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.30" parsed="|Isa|30|30|0|0" passage="Isa 30:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>. He
shall display <i>the indignation of his anger,</i> anger in the
highest degree; it shall be as <i>the flame of a devouring
fire,</i> which carries and consumes all before it, with
<i>lightning</i> or dissipation, and with <i>tempest and
hailstones,</i> all which are the formidable phenomena of nature,
and therefore expressive of the terror of the Almighty God of
nature.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p31" shownumber="no">II. The execution done by this anger of the
Lord. Men are often angry when they can only threaten and talk big;
but when God causes his glorious voice to be heard that shall not
be all: he will <i>show the lighting down of his arm</i> too,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.30" parsed="|Isa|30|30|0|0" passage="Isa 30:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>. The
operations of his providence shall accomplish the menaces of his
word. Those that <i>would not see the lifting up of his arm</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.26.11" parsed="|Isa|26|11|0|0" passage="Isa 26:11"><i>ch.</i> xxvi. 11</scripRef>)
shall feel the lighting down of it, and find, to their cost, that
the burden thereof is heavy (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.27" parsed="|Isa|30|27|0|0" passage="Isa 30:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>), so heavy that they cannot
bear it, nor bear up against it, but must unavoidably sink and be
crushed under it. <i>Who knows the power of his anger</i> or
imagines what an offended God can do? Five things are here prepared
for the execution:—1. Here is <i>an overflowing stream,</i> that
<i>shall reach to the midst of the neck,</i> shall quite overwhelm
the whole body of the army, and Sennacherib only, the head of it,
shall keep above water and escape this stroke, while yet he is
reserved for another in the house of Nisroch his god. The Assyrian
army had been to Judah <i>as an overflowing stream, reaching even
to the neck</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.7-Isa.8.8" parsed="|Isa|8|7|8|8" passage="Isa 8:7,8"><i>ch.</i> viii. 7,
8</scripRef>), and now the breath of God's wrath will be so to it.
2. Here is <i>a sieve of vanity,</i> with which God would sift
those nations of which the Assyrian army was composed, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.28" parsed="|Isa|30|28|0|0" passage="Isa 30:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>. The great God can sift
nations, for they are all before him as the small dust of the
balance; he will sift them, not to gather out of them any that
should be preserved, but so as to shake them one against another,
put them into great consternation, and shake them all away at last;
for it is a sieve of vanity (which retains nothing) that they are
shaken with, and they are found all chaff. 3. Here is <i>a
bridle,</i> which God has in their jaws, to curb and restrain them
from doing the mischief they would do, and to force and constrain
them to serve his purposes against their own will, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.7" parsed="|Isa|10|7|0|0" passage="Isa 10:7"><i>ch.</i> x. 7</scripRef>. God particularly
says of Sennacherib (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.37.29" parsed="|Isa|37|29|0|0" passage="Isa 37:29"><i>ch.</i>
xxxvii. 29</scripRef>) that he will put a hook in his nose and a
bridle in his lips. It is a <i>bridle causing them to err,</i>
forcing them to such methods as will certainly be destructive to
themselves and their interest and in which they will be infatuated.
God with a word guides his people into the right way (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.21" parsed="|Isa|30|21|0|0" passage="Isa 30:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), but with a bridle he
turns his enemies headlong upon their own ruin. 4. Here is <i>a
rod</i> and <i>a staff,</i> even <i>the voice of the Lord,</i> his
word giving orders concerning it, with which <i>the Assyrian shall
be beaten down,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.31" parsed="|Isa|30|31|0|0" passage="Isa 30:31"><i>v.</i>
31</scripRef>. The Assyrian had been himself a rod in God's hand
for the chastising of his people, and had smitten them, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.5" parsed="|Isa|10|5|0|0" passage="Isa 10:5"><i>ch.</i> x. 5</scripRef>. That was a transient
rod; but against the Assyrian shall go forth <i>a grounded
staff,</i> that shall give a steady blow, shall stick close to him
and strike home, so as to leave an impression upon him. It is a
staff with a foundation, founded upon the enemies' deserts and
God's determinate counsel. It is a consumption determined
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.10.23" parsed="|Isa|10|23|0|0" passage="Isa 10:23"><i>ch.</i> x. 23</scripRef>), and
therefore there is no escaping it, no getting out of the reach of
it; it shall pass in every place where an Assyrian is found, and
the Lord shall <i>lay it upon him,</i> and cause it to rest,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.32" parsed="|Isa|30|32|0|0" passage="Isa 30:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>. Such is the
woeful case of those that persist in enmity to God: <i>the wrath of
God abides on them.</i> 5. Here is <i>Tophet ordained</i> and
<i>prepared</i> for them, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.13" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.33" parsed="|Isa|30|33|0|0" passage="Isa 30:33"><i>v.</i>
33</scripRef>. The valley of the son of Hinnom, adjoining to
Jerusalem, was called <i>Tophet.</i> In that valley, it is
supposed, many of the Assyrian regiments lay encamped, and were
there slain by the destroying angel; or there the bodies of those
that were so slain were burned. Hezekiah had <i>lately, and from
yesterday</i> (so the word is) <i>ordained it;</i> that is, say
some, he had cleared it of the images that were set up in it, to
which they there burnt their children, and so prepared it to be a
receptacle for the dead bodies of their enemies, <i>for the king of
Assyria</i> (that is, for his army) <i>it is prepared,</i> and
there is fuel enough ready to burn them all; and they shall be
consumed as suddenly and effectually as if the fire were kept
burning by a continual stream of brimstone, for such the breath of
the Lord, his word and his wrath, will be to it. Now as the
prophet, in the foregoing promises, slides insensibly into the
promises of gospel graces and comforts, so here, in the threatening
of the ruin of Sennacherib's army, he points at the final and
everlasting destruction of all impenitent sinners. Our Saviour
calls the future misery of the damned <i>Gehenna,</i> in allusion
to the valley of Hinnom, which gives some countenance to the
applying of this to that misery, as also that in the Apocalypse it
is so often called the <i>lake that burns with fire and
brimstone.</i> This is said to be prepared of old for the devil and
his angels, for the greatest of sinners, the proudest, and that
think themselves not accountable to any for what they say and do;
even for kings it is prepared. It is <i>deep and large,</i>
sufficient to receive the world of the ungodly; the <i>pile thereof
is fire and much wood.</i> God's wrath is the fire, and sinners
make themselves fuel to it; and <i>the breath of the Lord</i> (the
power of his anger) <i>kindles it,</i> and will keep it ever
burning. See <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p31.14" osisRef="Bible:Isa.66.24" parsed="|Isa|66|24|0|0" passage="Isa 66:24"><i>ch.</i> lxvi.
24</scripRef>. Wherefore <i>stand in awe and sin not.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxi-p32" shownumber="no">III. The great joy which this should
occasion to the people of God. The Assyrian's fall is Jerusalem's
triumph (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p32.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.29" parsed="|Isa|30|29|0|0" passage="Isa 30:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>):
<i>You shall have a song as in the night,</i> a psalm of praise
such as those sing who <i>by night stand in the house of the
Lord,</i> and sing to his glory who <i>gives songs in the
night.</i> It shall not be a song of vain mirth, but a sacred song,
such as was sung when a holy solemnity was kept in a grave and
religious manner. Our joy in the fall of the church's enemies must
be a holy joy, <i>gladness of heart, as when one goes, with a
pipe</i> (such as the sons of the prophets used when they
prophesied, <scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p32.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.10.5" parsed="|1Sam|10|5|0|0" passage="1Sa 10:5">1 Sam. x. 5</scripRef>),
<i>to the mountain of the Lord,</i> there to celebrate the praises
of <i>the Mighty One of Israel.</i> Nay, in every place where the
divine vengeance shall pursue the Assyrians they shall not only
fall unlamented, but all their neighbours shall attend their fall
<i>with tabrets and harps,</i> pleased to see how God, <i>in
battles of shaking,</i> such as shake them out of the world, fights
with them (<scripRef id="Is.xxxi-p32.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.32" parsed="|Isa|30|32|0|0" passage="Isa 30:32"><i>v.</i> 32</scripRef>);
for <i>when the wicked perish there is shouting;</i> and it is with
a particular satisfaction that wise and good men see the ruin of
those who, like the Assyrians, have insolently bidden defiance to
God and trampled upon all mankind.</p>
</div></div2>