mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 32.xml

<div2 id="Is.xxxiii" n="xxxiii" next="Is.xxxiv" prev="Is.xxxii" progress="12.19%" title="Chapter XXXII">
<h2 id="Is.xxxiii-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.xxxiii-p0.2">CHAP. XXXII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.xxxiii-p1" shownumber="no">This chapter seems to be such a prophecy of the
reign of Hezekiah as amounts to an abridgment of the history of it,
and this with an eye to the kingdom of the Messiah, whose
government was typified by the thrones of the house of David, for
which reason he is so often called "the Son of David." Here is, I.
A prophecy of that good work of reformation with which he should
begin his reign, and the happy influence it should have upon the
people, who had been wretchedly corrupted and debauched in the
reign of his predecessor, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.1-Isa.32.8" parsed="|Isa|32|1|32|8" passage="Isa 32:1-8">ver.
1-8</scripRef>. II. A prophecy of the great disturbance that would
be given to the kingdom in the middle of his reign by the Assyrian
invasion, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.9-Isa.32.14" parsed="|Isa|32|9|32|14" passage="Isa 32:9-14">ver. 9-14</scripRef>.
III. A promise of better times afterwards, towards the latter end
of his reign, in respect both of piety and peace (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.15-Isa.32.20" parsed="|Isa|32|15|32|20" passage="Isa 32:15-20">ver. 15-20</scripRef>), which promise may be
supposed to look as far forward as the days of the Messiah.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.xxxiii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32" parsed="|Isa|32|0|0|0" passage="Isa 32" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.xxxiii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.1-Isa.32.8" parsed="|Isa|32|1|32|8" passage="Isa 32:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxxiii-p1.6">
<h4 id="Is.xxxiii-p1.7">The Reign of Justice. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiii-p1.8">b. c.</span> 726.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxxiii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness,
and princes shall rule in judgment.   2 And a man shall be as
a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as
rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a
weary land.   3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be
dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.   4 The
heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue
of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.   5 The
vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said
<i>to be</i> bountiful.   6 For the vile person will speak
villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy,
and to utter error against the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiii-p2.1">Lord</span>,
to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink
of the thirsty to fail.   7 The instruments also of the churl
<i>are</i> evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor
with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.   8 But
the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he
stand.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p3" shownumber="no">We have here the description of a
flourishing kingdom. "<i>Blessed art thou, O land!</i> when it is
thus with thee, when kings, princes, and people, are in their
places such as they should be." It may be taken as a directory both
to magistrates and subjects, what both ought to do, or as a
panegyric to Hezekiah, who ruled well and saw something of the
happy effects of his good government, and it was designed to make
the people sensible how happy they were under his administration
and how careful they should be to improve the advantages of it, and
withal to direct them to look for the kingdom of Christ, and the
times of reformation which that kingdom should introduce. It is
here promised and prescribed, for the comfort of the church,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p4" shownumber="no">I. That magistrates should do their duty in
their places, and the powers answer the great ends for which they
were ordained of God, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.1-Isa.32.2" parsed="|Isa|32|1|32|2" passage="Isa 32:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1,
2</scripRef>. 1. There shall be a king and princes that shall reign
and rule; for it cannot go well when there is no king in Israel.
The princes must have a king, a monarch over them as supreme, in
whom they may unite; and the king must have princes under him as
officers, by whom he may act, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.13-1Pet.2.14" parsed="|1Pet|2|13|2|14" passage="1Pe 2:13,14">1
Pet. ii. 13, 14</scripRef>. They both shall know their place and
fill it up. The king shall reign, and yet, without any diminution
to his just prerogative, the princes shall rule in a lower sphere,
and all for the public good. 2. They shall use their power
according to law, and not against it. They shall reign in
righteousness and in judgment, with wisdom and equity, protecting
the good and punishing the bad; and those kings and princes Christ
owns as reigning by him who decree justice, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.8.15" parsed="|Prov|8|15|0|0" passage="Pr 8:15">Prov. viii. 15</scripRef>. Such a King, such a Prince,
Christ himself is; he reigns by rule, and <i>in righteousness will
he judge the world,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.7 Bible:Isa.11.4" parsed="|Isa|9|7|0|0;|Isa|11|4|0|0" passage="Isa 9:7,11:4"><i>ch.</i>
ix. 7; xi. 4</scripRef>. 3. Thus they shall be great blessings to
the people (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.2" parsed="|Isa|32|2|0|0" passage="Isa 32:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>):
<i>A man,</i> that man, that king that reigns in righteousness,
<i>shall be as a hiding-place.</i> When princes are as they should
be people are as they would be. (1.) They are sheltered and
protected from many mischiefs. This good magistrate is a covert to
the subject from the tempest of injury and violence; he <i>defends
the poor and fatherless,</i> that they be not made a prey of by the
mighty. Whither should oppressed innocency flee, when blasted by
reproach or borne down by violence, but to the magistrate as its
hiding-place? To him it appeals, and by him it is righted. (2.)
They are refreshed and comforted with many blessings. This good
magistrate gives such countenance to those that are poor and in
distress, and such encouragement to every thing that is
praiseworthy, that he is <i>as rivers of water in a dry place,</i>
cooling and cherishing the earth and making it fruitful, and <i>as
the shadow of a great rock,</i> under which a poor traveller may
shelter himself from the scorching heat of the sun <i>in a weary
land.</i> It is a great reviving to a good man, who makes
conscience of doing his duty, in the midst of contempt and
contradiction, at length to be backed, and favoured, and smiled
upon in it by a good magistrate. All this, and much more, the man
Christ Jesus is to all the willing faithful subjects of his
kingdom. When the greatest evils befal us, not only the wind, but
the tempest, when storms of guilt and wrath beset us and beat upon
us, they drive us to Christ, and in him we are not only safe, but
satisfied that we are so; in him we find rivers of water for those
that hunger and thirst after righteousness, all the refreshment and
comfort that a needy soul can desire, and the shadow, not of a
tree, which sun or rain may beat through, but of a rock, of a great
rock, which reaches a great way for the shelter of the traveller.
Some observe here that as the covert, and the hiding-place, and the
rock, do themselves receive the battering of the wind and storm, to
save those from it that take shelter in them, so Christ bore the
storm himself to keep it off from us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p5" shownumber="no">II. That subjects should do their duty in
their places.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p6" shownumber="no">1. They shall be willing to be taught, and
to understand things aright. They shall lay aside their prejudices
against their rulers and teachers, and submit to the light and
power of truth, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.3" parsed="|Isa|32|3|0|0" passage="Isa 32:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. When this blessed work of reformation is set on foot,
and men do their parts towards it, God will not be wanting to do
his: Then <i>the eyes of those that see,</i> of the prophets, the
seers, <i>shall not be dim;</i> but God will bless them with
visions, to be by them communicated to the people; and those that
read the word written shall no longer have a veil upon their
hearts, but shall see things clearly. Then <i>the ears of those
that hear</i> the word preached <i>shall hearken</i> diligently and
readily receive what they hear, and not be so dull of hearing as
they have been. This shall be done by the grace of God, especially
gospel-grace; for <i>the hearing ear, and the seeing eyes, the Lord
has made,</i> has new-made, even both of them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p7" shownumber="no">2. There shall be a wonderful change
wrought in them by that which is taught them, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.4" parsed="|Isa|32|4|0|0" passage="Isa 32:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. (1.) They shall have a clear
head, and be able to discern things that differ, and distinguish
concerning them. <i>The heart of those that were</i> hasty and
<i>rash,</i> and could not take time to digest and consider things,
shall now be cured of their precipitation, and <i>shall understand
knowledge;</i> for the Spirit of God will open their understanding.
This blessed work Christ wrought in his disciples after his
resurrection (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.24.45" parsed="|Luke|24|45|0|0" passage="Lu 24:45">Luke xxiv.
45</scripRef>), as a specimen of what he would do for all his
people, in giving them an understanding, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:1John.5.20" parsed="|1John|5|20|0|0" passage="1Jo 5:20">1 John v. 20</scripRef>. The pious designs of good
princes are likely to take effect when their subjects allow
themselves liberty to consider, and to think, so freely as to take
things right. (2.) They shall have a ready utterance: <i>The tongue
of the stammerers,</i> that used to blunder whenever they spoke of
the things of God, <i>shall</i> now <i>be ready to speak
plainly,</i> as those that understand what they speak of, that
believe, and therefore speak. There shall be a great increase of
such clear, distinct, and methodical knowledge in the things of
God, that those from whom one would not have expected it shall
speak intelligently of these things, very much to the honour of God
and the edification of others. Their hearts being full of this good
matter, their tongues shall be <i>as the pen of a ready writer,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.45.1" parsed="|Ps|45|1|0|0" passage="Ps 45:1">Ps. xlv. 1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p8" shownumber="no">3. The differences between good and evil,
virtue and vice, shall be kept up, and no more confounded by those
who put darkness for light and light for darkness (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.5" parsed="|Isa|32|5|0|0" passage="Isa 32:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>The vile shall no
more be called liberal.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p9" shownumber="no">(1.) Bad men shall no more be preferred by
the prince. When a king reigns in justice he will not put those in
places of honour and power that are ill-natured, and of base and
sordid spirits, and care not what injury or mischief they do so
they may but compass their own ends. Such as <i>vile</i> persons
(as Antiochus is called, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.11.21" parsed="|Dan|11|21|0|0" passage="Da 11:21">Dan. xi.
21</scripRef>); when they are advanced they are called
<i>liberal</i> and <i>bountiful;</i> they are called
<i>benefactors</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.22.25" parsed="|Luke|22|25|0|0" passage="Lu 22:25">Luke xxii.
25</scripRef>): but it shall not always be thus; when the world
grows wiser men shall be preferred according to their merit, and
honour (which was never thought seemly for a fool, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.26.1" parsed="|Prov|26|1|0|0" passage="Pr 26:1">Prov. xxvi. 1</scripRef>) shall no longer be
thrown away upon such.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p10" shownumber="no">(2.) Bad men shall be no more had in
reputation among the people, nor vice disguised with the colours of
virtue. It shall no more be said to Nabal, <i>Thou art Nadib</i>
(so the words are); such a covetous muck-worm as Nabal was, a fool
but for his money, shall not be complimented with the title of a
gentleman or a prince; nor shall they call a <i>churl,</i> that
minds none but himself, does no good with what he has, but is an
unprofitable burden of the earth, <i>My lord;</i> or, rather, they
shall not say of him, <i>He is rich;</i> for so the word signifies.
Those only are to be reckoned rich that are rich in good works; not
those that have abundance, but those that use it well. In short, it
is well with a people when men are generally valued by their
virtue, and usefulness, and beneficence to mankind, and not by
their wealth or titles of honour. Whether this was fulfilled in the
reign of Hezekiah, and how far it refers to the kingdom of Christ
(in which we are sure men are judged of by what they are, not by
what they have, nor is any man's character mistaken), we will not
say; but it prescribes an excellent rule both to prince and people,
to respect men according to their personal merit. To enforce this
rule, here is a description both of the vile person and of the
liberal; and by it we shall see such a vast difference between them
that we must quite forget ourselves if we pay that respect to the
vile person and the churl which is due only to the liberal.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p11" shownumber="no">[1.] A vile person and a churl will do
mischief, and the more if he be preferred and have power in his
hand; his honours will make him worse and not better, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.6-Isa.32.7" parsed="|Isa|32|6|32|7" passage="Isa 32:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6, 7</scripRef>. See the character
of these base ill-conditioned men. <i>First,</i> They are always
plotting some unjust thing or other, designing ill either to
particular persons or to the public, and contriving how to bring it
about; and so many silly piques they have to gratify, and mean
revenges, that there appears not in them the least spark of
generosity. Their hearts will be still working some iniquity or
other. Observe, There is the work of the heart, as well as the work
of the hands. As thoughts are words to God, so designs are works in
his account. See what pains sinners take in sin. They labour at it;
their hearts are intent upon it, and with a great deal of art and
application they <i>work iniquity.</i> They <i>devise wicked
devices</i> with all the subtlety of the old serpent and a great
deal of deliberation, which makes the sin exceedingly sinful; and
the more there is of plot and management in a sin the more there is
of Satan in it. <i>Secondly,</i> They carry on their plots by trick
and dissimulation. When they are meditating iniquity, they
<i>practise hypocrisy,</i> feign themselves just men, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.20.20" parsed="|Luke|20|20|0|0" passage="Lu 20:20">Luke xx. 20</scripRef>. The most abominable
mischiefs shall be disguised with the most plausible pretences of
devotion to God, regard to man, and concern for some common good.
Those are the vilest of men that intend the worst mischiefs when
they speak fair. <i>Thirdly,</i> They <i>speak villainy.</i> When
they are in a passion you will see what they are by the base ill
language they give to those about them, which no way becomes men of
rank and honour; or, in giving verdict or judgment, they
villainously put false colours upon things, to pervert justice.
<i>Fourthly,</i> They affront God, who is a righteous God and loves
righteousness: They <i>utter error against the Lord,</i> and
therein they practise profaneness; for so the word which we
translate <i>hypocrisy</i> signifies. They give an unjust sentence,
and then profanely make use of the name of God for the ratification
of it; as if, because the <i>judgment is God's</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.1.17" parsed="|Deut|1|17|0|0" passage="De 1:17">Deut. i. 17</scripRef>), therefore their false
and unjust judgment was his. This is <i>uttering error against the
Lord,</i> under pretence of uttering truth and justice for him; and
nothing can be more impudently done against God than to use his
name to patronise wickedness. <i>Fifthly,</i> They abuse mankind,
those particularly whom they are bound to protect and relieve. 1.
Instead of supplying the wants of the poor, they impoverish them,
they <i>make empty the souls of the hungry;</i> either taking away
the food they have, or, which is almost equivalent, denying the
supply which they want and which they have to give. And they
<i>cause the drink of the thirsty to fail;</i> they cut off the
relief they used to have, though they need it as much as ever.
Those are vile persons indeed that rob the spital. 2. Instead of
righting the poor, when they appeal to their judgment, they
contrive to destroy the poor, to ruin them in their courts of
judicature with lying words in favour of the rich, to whom they are
plainly partial; yea, though the needy speak right, though the
evidence be ever so full for them to make out the equity of their
cause, it is the bribe that governs them, not the right.
<i>Sixthly,</i> These churls and vile persons have always had
instruments about them, that are ready to serve their villainous
purposes: <i>All their servants are wicked.</i> There is no design
so palpably unjust but there may be found those that would be
employed as tools to put it in execution. <i>The instruments of the
churl are evil,</i> and one cannot expect otherwise; but this is
our comfort, that they can do no more mischief than God permits
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p12" shownumber="no">[2.] One that is truly liberal, and
deserves the honour of being called so, makes it his business to do
good to every body according as his sphere is, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.8" parsed="|Isa|32|8|0|0" passage="Isa 32:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Observe, <i>First,</i> The care
he takes, and the contrivances he has, to do good. He <i>devises
liberal things.</i> As much as the churl or niggard projects how to
save and lay up what he has for himself only, so much the good
charitable man projects how to use and lay out what he has in the
best manner for the good of others. Charity must be directed by
wisdom, and liberal things done prudently and with device, that the
good intention of them may be answered, that it may not be charity
misplaced. The liberal man, when he has done all the liberal things
that are in his own power, devises liberal things for others to do
according to their power, and puts them upon doing them.
<i>Secondly,</i> the comfort he takes, and the advantage he has, in
doing good: <i>By liberal things he shall stand,</i> or be
established. The providence of God will reward him for his
liberality with a settled prosperity and an established reputation.
The grace of God will give him abundance of satisfaction and
confirmed peace in his own bosom. What disquiets others shall not
disturb him; his heart is fixed. This is the recompence of charity,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.112.5-Ps.112.6" parsed="|Ps|112|5|112|6" passage="Ps 112:5,6">Ps. cxii. 5, 6</scripRef>. Some read
it, <i>The prince, or honourable man, will take honourable courses;
and by such honourable or ingenuous courses he shall stand or be
established.</i> It is well with a land when the honourable of it
are indeed men of honour and scorn to do a base thing, when its
king is thus the son of nobles.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.xxxiii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.9-Isa.32.20" parsed="|Isa|32|9|32|20" passage="Isa 32:9-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xxxiii-p12.4">
<h4 id="Is.xxxiii-p12.5">Joyful Prospects. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xxxiii-p12.6">b. c.</span> 726.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xxxiii-p13" shownumber="no">9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my
voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.   10
Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for
the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.   11
Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones:
strip you, and make you bare, and gird <i>sackcloth</i> upon
<i>your</i> loins.   12 They shall lament for the teats, for
the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.   13 Upon the land
of my people shall come up thorns <i>and</i> briers; yea, upon all
the houses of joy <i>in</i> the joyous city:   14 Because the
palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left;
the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild
asses, a pasture of flocks;   15 Until the spirit be poured
upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and
the fruitful field be counted for a forest.   16 Then judgment
shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the
fruitful field.   17 And the work of righteousness shall be
peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for
ever.   18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable
habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
  19 When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the
city shall be low in a low place.   20 Blessed <i>are</i> ye
that sow beside all waters, that send forth <i>thither</i> the feet
of the ox and the ass.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p14" shownumber="no">In these verses we have God rising up to
judgment against the vile persons, to punish them for their
villainy; but at length returning in mercy to the liberal, to
reward them for their liberality.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p15" shownumber="no">I. When there was so great a corruption of
manners, and so much provocation given to the holy God, bad times
might well be expected, and here is a warning given of such times
coming. The alarm is sounded to the <i>women that were at ease</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.9" parsed="|Isa|32|9|0|0" passage="Isa 32:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>) and the
<i>careless daughters,</i> to feed whose pride, vanity, and luxury,
their husbands and fathers were tempted to starve the poor. Let
them hear what the prophet has to say to them in God's name:
"<i>Rise up, and hear</i> with reverence and attention."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p16" shownumber="no">1. Let them know that God was about to
bring wasting desolating judgments upon the land in which they
<i>lived in pleasure and were wanton.</i> This seems to refer
primarily to the desolations made by Sennacherib's army when he
seized all the fenced cities of Judah: but then those words,
<i>many days and years,</i> must be rendered (as the margin reads
them) <i>days above a year,</i> that is, something above a year
shall this havock be in the making: so long it was from the first
entrance of that army into the land of Judah to the overthrow of
it. But it is applicable to the wretched disappointment which those
will certainly meet with, first or last, that set their hearts upon
the world and place their happiness in it: <i>You shall be
troubled, you careless women.</i> It will not secure us from
trouble to cast away care when we are at ease; nay, to those who
affect to live carelessly even little troubles will be great
vexations and press hard upon them. They were careless and at ease
because they had money enough and mirth enough; but the prophet
here tells them, (1.) That the country whence they had their tents
and dainties should shortly be laid waste: "<i>The vintage shall
fail;</i> and then what will you do for wine to make merry with?
<i>The gathering</i> of fruit <i>shall not come,</i> for there
shall be none to be gathered, and you will find the want of them,
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.10" parsed="|Isa|32|10|0|0" passage="Isa 32:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. You will
want <i>the teats,</i> the good milk from the cows, <i>the pleasant
fields</i> and their productions:" the useful fields that are
serviceable to human life are the pleasant ones. "You will want the
fruitful vine, and the grapes it used to yield you." The abuse of
plenty is justly punished with scarcity; and those deserve to be
deprived of the supports of life who make them the food and fuel of
lust and prepare them for Baal. (2.) That the cities too, the
cities of Judah, where they lived at ease, spent their rents, and
made themselves merry with their dainties, should be laid waste
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.13-Isa.32.14" parsed="|Isa|32|13|32|14" passage="Isa 32:13,14"><i>v.</i> 13, 14</scripRef>):
<i>Briers and thorns,</i> the fruits of sin and the curse, <i>shall
come up,</i> not only <i>upon the land of my people,</i> which
shall lie uncultivated, but upon <i>all the houses of joy</i>—the
play-houses, the gaming-houses, the taverns—<i>in the joyous
cities.</i> When a foreign army was ravaging the country the houses
of joy, no doubt, became houses of mourning; then the palaces, or
noblemen's houses, were forsaken by their owners, who perhaps fled
to Egypt for refuge; the multitude of the city were left by their
leaders to shift for themselves. Then the stately houses <i>shall
be for dens for ever,</i> which had been as forts and towers for
strength and magnificence. They shall be abandoned; the owners
shall never return to them; every body shall look upon them to be
like Jericho, an anathema; so that, even when peace returns, they
shall not be rebuilt, but shall be thrown to the waste: <i>A joy of
wild asses and a pasture of flocks.</i> Thus is many a house
brought to ruin by sin. <i>Jam seges est ubi Troja fuit—Corn grows
on the site of Troy.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p17" shownumber="no">2. In the foresight of this let them
<i>tremble</i> and <i>be troubled, strip themselves, and gird
sackcloth upon their loins,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.11" parsed="|Isa|32|11|0|0" passage="Isa 32:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. This intimates not only that
when the calamity comes they shall thus be made to tremble and be
forced to strip themselves, that then God's judgments would strip
them and make them bare, but, (1.) That the best prevention of the
trouble would be to repent and humble themselves for their sin, and
lie in the dust before God in true remorse and godly sorrow, which
would be the lengthening out of their tranquillity. This is meeting
God in the way of his judgments, and saving a correction by
correcting our own mistakes. Those only shall break that will not
bend. (2.) That the best preparation for the trouble would be to
deny themselves and live a life of mortification, and to sit loose
to all the delights of sense. Those that have already by a holy
contempt of this world stripped themselves can easily bear to be
stripped when trouble and death come.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p18" shownumber="no">II. While there was still a remnant that
kept their integrity they had reason to hope for good times at
length and such times the prophet here gives them a pleasant
prospect of. Such times they saw in the latter end of the reign of
Hezekiah; but the prophecy may well be supposed to look further, to
the days of the Messiah, who is <i>King of righteousness</i> and
<i>King of peace,</i> and to whom all the prophets bear witness.
Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p19" shownumber="no">1. How those blessed times shall be
introduced-by the <i>pouring out of the Spirit from on high</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.15" parsed="|Isa|32|15|0|0" passage="Isa 32:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), which
speaks not only of the good-will of God towards us, but the good
work of God in us; for then, and not till then, there will be good
times, when God by his grace gives men good hearts; and therefore
God's <i>giving his Holy Spirit to those that ask him</i> is in
effect his giving them all good things, as appears by comparing
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.11.13 Bible:Matt.7.11" parsed="|Luke|11|13|0|0;|Matt|7|11|0|0" passage="Lu 11:13,Mt 7:11">Luke xi. 13 with Matt. vii.
11</scripRef>. This is the great thing that God's people comfort
themselves with the hopes of, that <i>the Spirit shall be poured
out upon them,</i> that there shall be a more plentiful effusion of
the Spirit of grace than formerly, according as the necessity of
the church, in its desolate estate, calls for. This comes from on
high, and therefore they look up to their Father in heaven for it.
When God designs favours for his church he pours out his Spirit,
both to prepare his people to receive his favours and to qualify
and give success to those whom he designs to employ as instruments
of his favour; for their endeavours to repair the desolations of
the church are all fruitless <i>until the Spirit be poured out upon
them</i> and then the work is done suddenly. The kingdom of the
Messiah was brought in, and set up, by the pouring out of the
Spirit (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.2.1-Acts.2.13" parsed="|Acts|2|1|2|13" passage="Ac 2:1-13">Acts ii.</scripRef>), and so
it is still kept up, and will be to the end.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p20" shownumber="no">2. What a wonderfully happy change shall
then be made. That which was <i>a wilderness,</i> dry and barren,
<i>shall become a fruitful field,</i> and that which we now reckon
<i>a fruitful field,</i> in comparison with what it shall be then,
<i>shall be counted for a forest. Then shall the earth yield her
increase.</i> It is promised that in the days of the Messiah the
<i>fruit of the earth shall shake like Lebanon,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.72.16" parsed="|Ps|72|16|0|0" passage="Ps 72:16">Ps. lxxii. 16</scripRef>. Some apply this to the
admission of the Gentiles into the gospel church (which made the
wilderness a fruitful field), and the rejection and exclusion of
the Jews, which made that a forest which had been a fruitful field.
On the Gentiles was poured out a spirit of life, but on the Jews a
spirit of slumber. See what is the evidence and effect of the
pouring out of the Spirit upon any soul; it is thereby made
fruitful, and has its fruit unto holiness. Three things go to make
these times happy:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p21" shownumber="no">(1.) Judgment and righteousness, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.16" parsed="|Isa|32|16|0|0" passage="Isa 32:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. When the Spirit is
poured out upon a land, <i>then judgment shall dwell in the
wilderness</i> and turn it into a fruitful field, and
<i>righteousness shall remain in the fruitful field</i> and make it
yet more fruitful. Ministers shall expound the law and magistrates
execute it, and both so judiciously and faithfully that by both the
bad shall be made good and the good made better. Among all sorts of
people, the poor and low and unlearned, that are neglected as the
wilderness, and the rich and great and learned, that are valued as
the fruitful field, there shall be right thoughts of things, good
principles commanding, and conscience made of good and evil, sin
and duty. Or in all parts of the land, both champaign and enclosed,
country and city, the ruder parts and those that are more
cultivated and refined, justice shall be duly administered. The law
of Christ introduces a judgment or rule by which we must be
governed, and the gospel of Christ a righteousness by which we must
be saved; and, wherever the Spirit is poured out, both these dwell
and remain as an everlasting righteousness.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p22" shownumber="no">(2.) Peace and quietness, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.17-Isa.32.18" parsed="|Isa|32|17|32|18" passage="Isa 32:17,18"><i>v.</i> 17, 18</scripRef>. The peace here
promised is of two kinds:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p23" shownumber="no">[1.] Inward peace, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.17" parsed="|Isa|32|17|0|0" passage="Isa 32:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. This follows upon the
indwelling of righteousness, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.16" parsed="|Isa|32|16|0|0" passage="Isa 32:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. Those in whom that work is
wrought shall experience this blessed product of it. It is itself
peace, and the effect of it is <i>quietness and assurance for
ever,</i> that is, a holy serenity and security of mind, by which
the soul enjoys itself and enjoys its God, and it is not in the
power of this world to disturb it in those enjoyments. Note, Peace,
and quietness, and everlasting assurance may be expected, and shall
be found, in the way and work of righteousness. True satisfaction
is to be had only in true religion, and there it is to be had
without fail. Those are the quiet and peaceable lives that are
spent <i>in all godliness and honesty,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.2.2" parsed="|1Tim|2|2|0|0" passage="1Ti 2:2">1 Tim. ii. 2</scripRef>. <i>First,</i> Even <i>the work
of righteousness shall be peace.</i> In the doing of our duty we
shall find abundance of true pleasure, a present great reward of
obedience in obedience. Though the work of righteousness may be
toilsome and costly, and expose us to contempt, yet it is peace,
such peace as is sufficient to bear our charges. <i>Secondly, The
effect of righteousness shall be quietness and assurance,</i> not
only to the end of time, of our time, and in the end, but to the
endless ages of eternity. Real holiness is real happiness now and
shall be perfect happiness, that is, perfect holiness, for
ever.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p24" shownumber="no">[2.] Outward peace, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.18" parsed="|Isa|32|18|0|0" passage="Isa 32:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. It is a great mercy when those
who by the grace of God have quiet and peaceable spirits are by the
providence of God made to <i>dwell in quiet and peaceable
habitations,</i> not disturbed in their houses or solemn
assemblies. When the terror of Sennacherib's invasion was over, the
people, no doubt, were more sensible than ever of the mercy of a
quiet habitation, not disturbed with the alarms of war. Let every
family study to keep itself quiet from strifes and jars within, not
two against three and three against two in the house, and then put
itself under God's protection to dwell safely, and to be <i>quiet
from the fear of evil</i> without. Jerusalem shall be a peaceable
habitation; compare <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.33.20" parsed="|Isa|33|20|0|0" passage="Isa 33:20"><i>ch.</i>
xxxiii. 20</scripRef>. Even <i>when it shall hail,</i> and there
shall be a violent battering storm <i>coming down on the forest</i>
that lies bleak, then shall Jerusalem be <i>a quiet resting-place,
for the city shall be low in a low place,</i> under the wind, not
exposed (as those cities are that stand high) to the fury of the
storm, but sheltered by the <i>mountains that are round about
Jerusalem,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.125.2" parsed="|Ps|125|2|0|0" passage="Ps 125:2">Ps. cxxv. 2</scripRef>.
The <i>high forts and towers are brought down</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p24.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.14" parsed="|Isa|32|14|0|0" passage="Isa 32:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), but the city that
lies low shall be a quiet resting-place. Those are most safe, and
may dwell most at ease, that are humble, and are willing to dwell
low, <scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p24.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.19" parsed="|Isa|32|19|0|0" passage="Isa 32:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. Those
that would dwell in a peaceable habitation must be willing to dwell
low, and in a low place. Some think here is an allusion to the
preservation of the land of Goshen from the plague of hail, which
made great destruction in the land of Egypt.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xxxiii-p25" shownumber="no">(3.) Plenty and abundance. There shall be
such good crops gathered in every where, and every year, that the
husbandmen shall be commended, and though happy, who <i>sow beside
all water</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.32.20" parsed="|Isa|32|20|0|0" passage="Isa 32:20"><i>v.</i>
20</scripRef>), who sow all the grounds that are fit for seedness,
who <i>cast their bread,</i> or bread-corn, <i>upon the water,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.11.1" parsed="|Eccl|11|1|0|0" passage="Ec 11:1">Eccl. xi. 1</scripRef>. God will give
the increase, but then the husbandman must be industrious, and mind
his business, and sow beside all waters; and, if he do this, the
corn shall come up so thick and rank that he shall turn in his
cattle, even the ox and the ass, to eat the tops of it and keep it
under. This is applicable, [1.] To the preaching of the word. Some
think it points at the ministry of the apostles, who, as
husbandmen, went forth to sow their seed (<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p25.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.13.3" parsed="|Matt|13|3|0|0" passage="Mt 13:3">Matt. xiii. 3</scripRef>); they sowed beside all waters;
they preached the gospel wherever they came. Waters signify people,
and they preached to multitudes. Wherever they found men's hearts
softened, and moistened, and disposed to receive the word, they
cast in the good seed. And whereas, by the law of Moses, the Jews
were forbidden to <i>plough with an ox and an ass together</i>
(<scripRef id="Is.xxxiii-p25.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.22.10" parsed="|Deut|22|10|0|0" passage="De 22:10">Deut. xxii. 10</scripRef>), which
intimated that Jews and Gentiles should not intermix, now that
distinction shall be taken away, and both the ox and the ass, both
Jews and Gentiles, shall be employed in, and enjoy the benefit of,
the gospel husbandry. [2.] To works of charity. When God sends
these happy times blessed are those that improve them in doing good
with what they have, that sow beside all waters, that embrace all
opportunities of relieving the necessitous; for in due season they
shall reap.</p>
</div></div2>