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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. V.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter the prophet, in God's name, shows the people of God
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their transgressions, even the house of Jacob their sins, and the
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judgments which were likely to be brought upon them for their sins,
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I. By a parable, under the similitude of an unfruitful vineyard,
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representing the great favours God had bestowed upon them, their
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disappointing his expectations from them, and the ruin they had thereby
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deserved,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:1-7">ver. 1-7</A>.
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II. By an enumeration of the sins that did abound among them, with a
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threatening of punishments that should answer to the sins.
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1. Covetousness, and greediness of worldly wealth, which shall be
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punished with famine,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:8-10">ver. 8-10</A>.
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2. Rioting, revelling, and drunkenness
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:11,12,22,23">ver. 11, 12, 22, 23</A>),
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which shall be punished with captivity and all the miseries that attend
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it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:13-17">ver. 13-17</A>.
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3. Presumption in sin, and defying the justice of God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:18,19">
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ver. 18, 19</A>.
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4. Confounding the distinctions between virtue and vice, and so
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undermining the principles of religion,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:20">ver. 20</A>.
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5. Self-conceit,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:21">ver. 21</A>.
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6. Perverting justice, for which, and the other instances of reigning
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wickedness among them, a great and general desolation in threatened,
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which should lay all waste
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:24,25">ver. 24, 25</A>),
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and which should be effected by a foreign invasion
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:26-30">ver. 26-30</A>),
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referring perhaps to the havoc made not long after by Sennacherib's
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army.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa5_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Israel Compared to a Vineyard.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 758.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved
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touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very
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fruitful hill:
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2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and
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planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst
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of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it
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should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
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3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge,
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I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
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4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have
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not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring
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forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
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5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard:
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I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up;
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<I>and</I> break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
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6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged;
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but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command
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the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
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7 For the vineyard of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts <I>is</I> the house of
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Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked
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for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but
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behold a cry.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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See what variety of methods the great God takes to awaken sinners to
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repentance by convincing them of sin, and showing them their misery and
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danger by reason of it. To this purport he speaks sometimes in plain
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terms and sometimes in parables, sometimes in prose and sometimes in
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verse, as here. "We have tried to <I>reason with you</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:18"><I>ch.</I> i. 18</A>);
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now let us put your case into a poem, inscribed to the honour of my
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well beloved." God the Father dictates it to the honour of Christ his
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well beloved Son, whom he has constituted Lord of the vineyard. The
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prophet sings it to the honour of Christ too, for he is his well
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beloved. The Old-Testament prophets were friends of the bridegroom.
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Christ is God's beloved Son and our beloved Saviour. Whatever is said
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or sung of the church must be intended to his praise, even that which
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(like this) tends to our shame. This parable was put into a song that
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it might be the more moving and affecting, might be the more easily
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learned and exactly remembered, and the better transmitted to
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posterity; and it is an exposition of he song of Moses
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:1-47">Deut. xxxii.</A>),
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showing that what he then foretold was now fulfilled. Jerome says,
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Christ the well-beloved did in effect sing this mournful song when he
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beheld Jerusalem <I>and wept over it</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+19:41">Luke xix. 41</A>),
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and had reference to it in the parable of the vineyard
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+21:33">Matt. xxi. 33</A>,
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&c.), only here the fault was in the vines, there in the husbandmen.
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Here we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. The great things which God had done for the Jewish church and
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nation. When all the rest of the world lay in common, not cultivated by
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divine revelation, that was his vineyard, they were his peculiar
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people. He acknowledged them as his own, set them apart for himself.
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The soil they were planted in was extraordinary; it was <I>a very
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fruitful hill, the horn of the son of oil;</I> so it is in the margin.
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There was plenty, a cornucopia; and there was dainty: they did there
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eat the fat and drink the sweet, and so were furnished with abundance
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of good things to honour God with in sacrifices and free-will
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offerings. The advantages of our situation will be brought into the
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account another day. Observe further what God did for this vineyard.
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1. He fenced it, took it under his special protection, kept it night
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and day under his own eye, lest any should hurt it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:2,3"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 2, 3</A>.
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If they had not themselves thrown down their fence, no inroad could
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have been made upon them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+125:2,131:4">Ps. cxxv. 2; cxxxi. 4</A>.
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2. He gathered the stones out of it, that, as nothing from without
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might damage it, so nothing within might obstruct its fruitfulness. He
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proffered his grace to take away the stony heart.
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3. He planted it with the choicest vine, set up a pure religion among
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them, gave them a most excellent law, instituted ordinances very proper
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for the keeping up of their acquaintance with God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:21">Jer. ii. 21</A>.
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4. He built a tower in the midst of it, either for defence against
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violence or for the dressers of the vineyard to lodge in; or rather it
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was for the owner of the vineyard to sit in, to take a view of the
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vines
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+7:12">Cant. vii. 12</A>)--
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a summer-house. The temple was this tower, about which the priests
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lodged, and where God promised to meet his people, and gave them the
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tokens of his presence among them and pleasure in them.
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5. He made a wine-press therein, set up his altar, to which the
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sacrifices, as the fruits of the vineyard, should be brought.</P>
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<P>
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II. The disappointment of his just expectations from them: <I>He looked
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that it should bring forth grapes,</I> and a great deal of reason he
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had for that expectation. Note, God expects vineyard-fruit from those
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that enjoy vineyard-privileges, not leaves only, as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+11:12">Mark xi. 12</A>.
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A bare profession, though ever so green, will not serve: there must be
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more than buds and blossoms. Good purposes and good beginnings are good
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things, but not enough; there must be fruit, a good heart and a good
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life, vineyard fruit, thoughts and affections, words and actions,
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agreeable to the Spirit, which is the fatness of the vineyard
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+5:22,23">Gal. v. 22, 23</A>),
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<I>answerable to the ordinances,</I> which are the dressings of the
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vineyard, acceptable to God, the Lord of the vineyard, and fruit
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according to the season. Such fruit as this God expects from us,
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grapes, the fruit of the vine, with which they honour God and man
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+9:13">Judg. ix. 13</A>);
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and his expectations are neither high nor hard, but righteous and very
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reasonable. Yet see how his expectations are frustrated: <I>It brought
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forth wild grapes;</I> not only no fruit at all, but bad fruit, worse
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than none, grapes of Sodom,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:32">Deut. xxxii. 32</A>.
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1. Wild grapes are the fruits of the corrupt nature, fruit according to
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the crabstock, not according to the engrafted branch, from the root of
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bitterness,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:15">Heb. xii. 15</A>.
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Where grace does not work corruption will.
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2. Wild grapes are hypocritical performances in religion, that look
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like grapes, but are sour or bitter, and are so far from being pleasing
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to God that they are provoking, as theirs mentioned in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:11"><I>ch.</I> i. 11</A>.
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Counterfeit graces are wild grapes.</P>
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<P>
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III. An appeal to themselves whether upon the whole matter God must not
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be justified and they condemned,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>.
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And now the case is plainly stated: <I>O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and
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men of Judah! judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.</I> This
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implies that God was blamed about them. There was a controversy between
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them and him; but the equity was so plain on his side that he could
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venture to put the decision of the controversy to their own
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consciences. "Let any inhabitant of Jerusalem, any man of Judah, that
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has but the use of his reason and a common sense of equity and justice,
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speak his mind impartially in this matter." Here is a challenge to any
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man to show,
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1. Any instance wherein God had been wanting to them: <I>What could
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have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?</I> He
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speaks of the external means of fruitfulness, and such as might be
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expected from the dresser of a vineyard, from whom it is not required
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that he should change the nature of the vine. <I>What ought to have
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been done more?</I> so it may be read. They had everything requisite
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for instruction and direction in their duty, for quickening them to it
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and putting them in mind of it. No inducements were wanting to persuade
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them to it, but all arguments were used that were proper to work either
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upon hope or fear; and they had all the opportunities they could desire
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for the performance of their duty, the new moons, and the sabbaths, and
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solemn feasts; They had the scriptures, the lively oracles, a standing
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ministry in the priests and Levites, besides what was extraordinary in
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the prophets. No nation had statutes and judgments so righteous.
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2. Nor could any tolerable excuse be offered for their walking thus
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contrary to God. "Wherefore, what reason can be given why it should
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bring forth wild grapes, when I looked for grapes?" Note, The
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wickedness of those that profess religion, and enjoy the means of
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grace, is the most unreasonable unaccountable thing in the world, and
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the whole blame of it must lie upon the sinners themselves. "<I>If thou
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scornest, thou alone shalt bear it,</I> and shalt not have a word to
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say for thyself in the judgment of the great day." God will prove his
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own ways equal and the sinner's ways unequal.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Their doom read, and a righteous sentence passed upon them for
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their bad conduct towards God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:5,6"><I>v.</I> 5, 6</A>):
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"<I>And now go to,</I> since nothing can be offered in excuse of the
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crime or arrest of the judgement, <I>I will tell you what I am now
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determined to do to my vineyard.</I> I will be vexed and troubled with
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it no more; since it will be good for nothing, it <I>shall</I> be good
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for nothing; in short, it shall cease to be a vineyard, and be turned
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into a wilderness: the church of the Jews shall be unchurched; their
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charter shall be taken away, and they shall become <I>lo-ammi--not my
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people.</I>"
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1. "They shall no longer be distinguished as a peculiar people, but be
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laid in common: <I>I will take away the hedge thereof,</I> and then it
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will soon be eaten up and become as bare as other ground." They mingled
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with the nations and therefore were justly scattered among them.
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2. "They shall no longer be protected as God's people, but left
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exposed. God will not only suffer the wall to go to decay, but he will
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break it down, will remove all their defences from them, and then they
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will become an easy prey to their enemies, who have long waited for an
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opportunity to do them a mischief, and will now tread them down and
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trample upon them."
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3. "They shall no longer have the face of a vineyard, and the form and
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shape of a church and commonwealth, but shall be levelled and laid
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waste." This was fulfilled when <I>Jerusalem for their sakes was
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ploughed as a field,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+3:12">Mic. iii. 12</A>.
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4. "No more pains shall be taken with them by magistrates or ministers,
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the dressers and keepers of their vineyard; it shall not be pruned nor
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digged, but every thing shall run wild, and nothing shall come up but
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briers and thorns, the products of sin and the curse,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+3:18">Gen. iii. 18</A>.
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When errors and corruptions, vice and immorality, go without check or
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control, no testimony borne against them, no rebuke given them or
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restraint put upon them, the vineyard is unpruned, is not dressed, or
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ridded; and then it will soon be like the vineyard of the man void of
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understanding, all grown over with thorns.
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5. "That which completes its woe is that the dews of heaven shall be
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withheld; he that has the key of the clouds will command them that they
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rain no rain upon it, and that alone is sufficient to run it into a
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desert." Note, God in a way of righteous judgment, denies his grace to
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those that have long received it in vain. The sum of all is that those
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who would not bring forth good fruit should bring forth none. The curse
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of barrenness is the punishment of the sin of barrenness, as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+11:14">Mark xi. 14</A>.
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This had its partial accomplishment in the destruction of Jerusalem by
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the Chaldeans, its full accomplishment in the final rejection of the
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Jews, and has its frequent accomplishment in the departure of God's
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Spirit from those persons who have long resisted him and striven
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against him, and the removal of his gospel from those places that have
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been long a reproach to it, while it has been an honour to them. It is
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no loss to God to lay his vineyard waste; for he can, when he please,
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turn a wilderness into a fruitful field; and when he does thus
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dismantle a vineyard, it is but as he did by the garden of Eden, which,
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when man had by sin forfeited his place in it, was soon levelled with
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common soil.</P>
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<P>
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V. The explanation of this parable, or a key to it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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where we are told,
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1. What is meant by the vineyard (it is <I>the house of Israel,</I> the
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body of the people, incorporated in one church and commonwealth), and
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what by the vines, the pleasant plants, the plants of God's pleasure,
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which he had been pleased in and delighted in doing good to; they are
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<I>the men of Judah;</I> these he had dealt graciously with, and from
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them he expected suitable returns.
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2. What is meant by the grapes that were expected and the wild grapes
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that were produces: <I>He looked for judgment and righteousness,</I>
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that the people should be honest in all their dealings and the
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magistrates should strictly administer justice. This might reasonably
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be expected among a people that had such excellent laws and rules of
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justice given them
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:8">Deut. iv. 8</A>);
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|
|
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but the fact was quite otherwise; instead of judgment there was the
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cruelty of the oppressors, and instead of righteousness the cry of the
|
|
oppressed. Every thing was carried by clamour and noise, and not by
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|
equity and according to the merits of the cause. It is sad with a
|
|
people when wickedness has usurped the place of judgment,
|
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+3:16">Eccl. iii. 16</A>.
|
|
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|
It is very sad with a soul when instead of the grapes of humility,
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|
meekness, patience, love, and contempt of the world, which God looks
|
|
for, there are the wild grapes of pride, passion, discontent, malice,
|
|
and contempt of God--instead of the grapes of praying and praising, the
|
|
wild grapes of cursing and swearing, which are a great offence to God.
|
|
Some of the ancients apply this to the Jews in Christ's time, among
|
|
whom God looked for righteousness (that is, that they should receive
|
|
and embrace Christ), but behold a cry, that cry, <I>Crucify him,
|
|
crucify him.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Isa5_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Worldly-Mindedness Reproved; The Punishment of the Sensual.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 758.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 Woe unto them that join house to house, <I>that</I> lay field to
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field, till <I>there be</I> no place, that they may be placed alone in
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the midst of the earth!
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9 In mine ears <I>said</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, Of a truth many houses
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shall be desolate, <I>even</I> great and fair, without inhabitant.
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10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the
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|
seed of a homer shall yield an ephah.
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11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, <I>that</I> they
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|
may follow strong drink; that continue until night, <I>till</I> wine
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inflame them!
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12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine,
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|
are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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|
neither consider the operation of his hands.
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13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because <I>they
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|
have</I> no knowledge: and their honourable men <I>are</I> famished, and
|
|
their multitude dried up with thirst.
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|
14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth
|
|
without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their
|
|
pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
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|
15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man
|
|
shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
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|
16 But the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God
|
|
that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness.
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|
17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste
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|
places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
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|
</FONT></P>
|
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The world and the flesh are the two great enemies that we are in danger
|
|
of being overpowered by; yet we are in no danger if we do not ourselves
|
|
yield to them. Eagerness of the world, and indulgence of the flesh, are
|
|
the two sins against which the prophet, in God's name, here denounces
|
|
woes. These were sins which then abounded among the men of Judah, some
|
|
of the wild grapes they brought forth
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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|
|
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and for which God threatens to bring ruin upon them. They are sins
|
|
which we have all need to stand upon our guard against and dread the
|
|
consequences of.</P>
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|
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|
<P>
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|
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|
I. Here is a woe to those who set their hearts upon the wealth of the
|
|
world, and place their happiness in that, and increase it to themselves
|
|
by indirect and unlawful means
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
who <I>join house to house and lay field to field, till there be no
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|
place,</I> no room for anybody to live by them. If they could succeed,
|
|
they would be placed alone in the midst of the earth, would monopolize
|
|
possessions and preferments, and engross all profits and employments to
|
|
themselves. Not that it is a sin for those who have a house and a
|
|
field, of they have wherewithal, to purchase another; but</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Their fault is,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That they are inordinate in their desires to enrich themselves,
|
|
and make it their whole care and business to raise an estate, as if
|
|
they had nothing to mind, nothing to seek, nothing to do, in this
|
|
world, but that. They never know when they have enough, but the more
|
|
they have the more they would have; and, like the <I>daughters of the
|
|
horseleech,</I> they <I>cry, Give, give.</I> They cannot enjoy what
|
|
they have, nor do good with it, but are constantly contriving and
|
|
studying to make it more. They must have variety of houses, a
|
|
winter-house, and a summer-house, and if another man's house or field
|
|
lie convenient to theirs, as Naboth's vineyard to Ahab's, they must
|
|
have that too, or they cannot be easy.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That they are herein careless of others, nay, and injurious to
|
|
them. They would live so as to let nobody live but themselves. So that
|
|
their insatiable covetings may be gratified, they care not what becomes
|
|
of all about them, what encroachments they make upon their neighbours'
|
|
rights, what hardships they put upon those that they have power over or
|
|
advantage against, nor what base and wicked arts they use to heap up
|
|
treasure to themselves. They would swell so big as to fill all space,
|
|
and yet are still unsatisfied
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:10">Eccl. v. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
as Alexander, who, when he fancied he had conquered the world, wept
|
|
because he had not another world to conquer. <I>Deficiente
|
|
terrâ, non impletur avaritia--If the whole earth were
|
|
monopolized, avarice would thirst for more.</I> What! <I>will you be
|
|
placed alone in the midst of the earth?</I> (so some read it); will you
|
|
be so foolish as to desire it, when we have so much need of the service
|
|
of others and so much comfort in their society? Will you be so foolish
|
|
as to expect that the <I>earth shall be forsaken for us</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+18:4">Job xviii. 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
when it is by multitudes that the earth is to be replenished? <I>An
|
|
propter vos solos tanta terra creata est?--Was the wide world created
|
|
merely for you?</I> Lyra.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. That which is threatened as the punishment of this sin is that
|
|
neither the houses nor the fields they were thus greedy of should turn
|
|
to any account,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
God whispered it to the prophet in his ear, as he speaks in a like case
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+22:14"><I>ch.</I> xxii. 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>It was revealed in my ears by the Lord of hosts</I> (as God told
|
|
Samuel a thing <I>in his ear,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+9:15">1 Sam. ix. 15</A>);
|
|
|
|
he thought he heard it still sounding in his ears; but he proclaimed
|
|
it, as he ought, <I>upon the house-tops,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+10:27">Matt. x. 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) That the houses they were so fond of should be untenanted, should
|
|
stand long empty, and should yield them no rent, and go out of repair:
|
|
<I>Many houses shall be desolate,</I> the people that should dwell in
|
|
them, being cut off by sword, famine, or pestilence, or carried into
|
|
captivity; or trade being dead, and poverty coming upon the country
|
|
like an armed man, those that had been housekeepers were forced to
|
|
become lodgers, or shift for themselves elsewhere. Even great and fair
|
|
houses, that would invite tenants, and (there being a scarcity of
|
|
tenants) might be taken at low rates, shall stand empty without
|
|
inhabitants. God created not the earth in vain; he <I>formed it to be
|
|
inhabited,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:18"><I>ch.</I> xlv. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
But men's projects are often frustrated, and what they frame answers
|
|
not the intention. We have a saying, That fools build houses for wise
|
|
men to live in; but sometimes, as the event proves, they are built for
|
|
no man to live in. God has many ways to empty the most populous cities.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That the fields they were so fond of should be unfruitful
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Ten acres of vineyard shall yield</I> only such a quantity of grapes
|
|
as will make but <I>one bath</I> of wine (which was about eight
|
|
gallons), <I>and the seed of a homer,</I> a bushel's sowing of ground,
|
|
shall yield but an ephah, which was the tenth part of a homer; so that
|
|
through the barrenness of the ground, or the unreasonableness of the
|
|
weather, they should not have more than a tenth part of their seed
|
|
again. Note, Those that set their hearts upon the world will justly be
|
|
disappointed in their expectations from it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Here is a woe to those that dote upon the pleasures and delights of
|
|
sense,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
Sensuality ruins men as certainly as worldliness and oppression. As
|
|
Christ pronounces a woe against those that are rich, so also against
|
|
those that laugh now and are full
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+6:24,25">Luke vi. 24, 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
and fare sumptuously,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+16:19">Luke xvi. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Who the sinners are against whom this woe is denounced.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They are such as are given to drink; they make their drinking
|
|
their business, have their hearts upon it, and overcharge themselves
|
|
with it. They rise early to follow strong drink, as husbandmen and
|
|
tradesmen do to follow their employments; as if they were afraid of
|
|
losing time from that which is the greatest misspending of time.
|
|
Whereas commonly those that are drunken are drunken in the night, when
|
|
they have despatched the business of the day, these neglect business,
|
|
abandon it, and give up themselves to the service of the flesh; for
|
|
they sit at their cups all day, <I>and continue till night, till wine
|
|
inflame them</I>--inflame their lusts (chambering and wantonness follow
|
|
upon rioting and drunkenness)--inflame their passions; for who but such
|
|
have <I>contentions and wounds without cause?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:29-35">Prov. xxiii. 29-35</A>.
|
|
|
|
They make a perfect trade of drinking; nor do they seek the shelter of
|
|
the night for this work of darkness, as men ashamed of it, but <I>count
|
|
it a pleasure to riot in the day-time.</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+2:13">2 Pet. ii. 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They are such as are given to mirth. They have their feasts, and
|
|
they are so merrily disposed that they cannot dine or sup without
|
|
music, musical instruments of all sorts, like David
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+6:5">Amos vi. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
like Solomon
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+2:8">Eccl. ii. 8</A>);
|
|
|
|
<I>the harp and the viol, the tabret and pipe,</I> must accompany the
|
|
wine, that every sense may be gratified to a nicety; they <I>take the
|
|
timbrel and harp,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:12">Job xxi. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
The use of music is lawful in itself; but when it is excessive, when we
|
|
set our hearts upon it, misspend time in it, so that it crowds our
|
|
spiritual and divine pleasures and draws away the heart from God, then
|
|
it turns into sin for us.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They are such as never give their mind to any thing that is
|
|
serious: <I>They regard not the work of the Lord;</I> they observe not
|
|
his power, wisdom, and goodness, in those creatures which they abuse
|
|
and subject to vanity, nor the bounty of his providence in giving them
|
|
those good things which they make the food and fuel of their lusts.
|
|
God's judgments have already seized them, and they are under the tokens
|
|
of his displeasure, but they regard not; they consider not the hand of
|
|
God in all these things; his hand is lifted up, but they will not see,
|
|
because they will not disturb themselves in their pleasures nor think
|
|
what God is doing with them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. What the judgments are which are denounced against them, and in part
|
|
executed. It is here foretold,
|
|
|
|
(1.) that they should be dislodged; the land should spue out these
|
|
drunkards
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>My people</I> (so they call themselves, and were proud of it) have
|
|
therefore <I>gone into captivity,</I> are as sure to go as if they were
|
|
gone already, <I>because they have no knowledge;</I> how should they
|
|
have knowledge when by their excessive drinking they make sots and
|
|
fools of themselves? They set up for wits; but because they regard not
|
|
God's controversy with them, nor take any care to make their peace with
|
|
him, they may truly be said to have no knowledge; and the reason is
|
|
because they will have none; they are inconsiderate and wilful, and are
|
|
therefore destroyed for lack of knowledge.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That they should be impoverished, and come to want that which they
|
|
had wasted and abused to excess: Even <I>their glory are men of
|
|
famine,</I> subject to it and slain by it; and <I>their multitude are
|
|
dried up with thirst.</I> Both the great men and the common people are
|
|
ready to perish for want of bread and water. This is the effect of the
|
|
failure of the corn
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
for <I>the king himself is served of the field,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ec+5:9">Eccl. v. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
And when the vintage fails the drunkards are called upon to weep,
|
|
because <I>the new wine is cut off from their mouth</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+1:5">Joel i. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
and not so much because now they want it as because when they had it
|
|
they abused it. It is just with God to make men want that for necessity
|
|
which they have abused to excess.
|
|
|
|
(3.) What multitudes should be cut off by famine and sword
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Therefore hell has enlarged herself.</I> Tophet, the common
|
|
burying-place, proves too little; so many are there to be buried that
|
|
they shall be forced to enlarge it. The grave has opened her mouth
|
|
without measure, <I>never saying, It is enough,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+30:15,16">Prov. xxx. 15, 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
It may be understood of the place of the damned; luxury and sensuality
|
|
fill these regions of darkness and horror; there those are tormented
|
|
who made a god of their belly,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+16:25,Php+3:19">Luke xvi. 25; Phil. iii. 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
(4.) That they should be humbled and abased, and all their honours laid
|
|
in the dust. This will be done effectually by death and the grave:
|
|
<I>Their glory shall descend,</I> not only to the earth, but into it;
|
|
it shall not <I>descend after them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+49:17">Ps. xlix. 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
to stand them in any stead on the other side death, but it shall die
|
|
and be buried with them--poor glory, which will thus wither! Did they
|
|
glory in their numbers? Their multitude shall go down to the pit,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+31:18,32:32">Ezek. xxxi. 18; xxxii. 32</A>.
|
|
|
|
Did they glory in the figure they made? Their pomp shall be at an end;
|
|
their shouts with which they triumphed, and were attended. Did they
|
|
glory in their mirth? Death will turn it into mourning; he that
|
|
rejoices and revels, and never knows what it is to be serious, shall go
|
|
thither where there are weeping and wailing. Thus the mean man and the
|
|
mighty man meet together in the grave and under mortifying judgments.
|
|
Let a man be ever so high, death will bring him low--ever so mean,
|
|
death will bring him lower, in the prospect of which the eyes of the
|
|
lofty should now be humbled,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
It becomes those to look low that must shortly be laid low.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. What the fruit of these judgments shall be.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) God shall be glorified,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that is the Lord of hosts, and the holy God, shall be exalted and
|
|
sanctified in the judgment and righteousness of these dispensations.
|
|
His justice must be owned in bringing those low what exalted
|
|
themselves; and herein he is glorified,
|
|
|
|
[1.] As a God is irresistible power. He will herein be exalted as the
|
|
Lord of hosts, that is able to break the strongest, humble the
|
|
proudest, and tame the most unruly. Power is not exalted but in
|
|
judgment. It is the honour of God that, though he has a mighty arm, yet
|
|
<I>judgment and justice are</I> always <I>the habitation of his
|
|
throne,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+89:13,14">Ps. lxxxix. 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] As a God of unspotted purity. He that is holy, infinitely holy,
|
|
shall be sanctified (that is, shall be owned and declared to be holy)
|
|
in the righteous punishment of proud men. Note, When proud men are
|
|
humbled the great God is honoured, and ought to be honoured by us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Good people shall be relieved and succoured
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
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<I>Then shall the lambs feed after their manner;</I> the meek ones of
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the earth, who followed the Lamb, who were persecuted, and put into
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fear by those proud oppressors, shall feed quietly, feed in the green
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pastures, and there shall be none to make them afraid. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+34:14">Ezek. xxxiv. 14</A>.
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When the enemies of the church are cut off then have the churches rest.
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<I>They shall feed at their pleasure;</I> so some read it. <I>Blessed
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are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,</I> and delight
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themselves in abundant peace. <I>They shall feed according to their
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order or capacity</I> (so others read it), as they are able to hear the
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word, that bread of life.</P>
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<P>
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(3.) The country shall be laid waste, and become a prey to the
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neighbours: <I>The waste places of the fats ones,</I> the possessions
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of those rich men that lived at their ease, shall be eaten by strangers
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that were nothing akin to them. In the captivity the poor of the land
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were left for <I>vine-dressers and husbandmen</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+25:12">2 Kings xxv. 12</A>);
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these were the lambs that fed in the pastures of the fats ones, which
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were laid in common for strangers to eat. When the church of the Jews,
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those fat ones, was laid waste, their privileges were transferred to
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the Gentiles, who had been long strangers, and the lambs of Christ's
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flock were welcome to them.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa5_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa5_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Denunciations against Sin.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 758.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and
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sin as it were with a cart rope:
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19 That say, Let him make speed, <I>and</I> hasten his work, that we
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may see <I>it:</I> and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw
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nigh and come, that we may know <I>it!</I>
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20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put
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darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for
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sweet, and sweet for bitter!
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21 Woe unto <I>them that are</I> wise in their own eyes, and prudent
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in their own sight!
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22 Woe unto <I>them that are</I> mighty to drink wine, and men of
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strength to mingle strong drink:
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23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the
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righteousness of the righteous from him!
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24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame
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consumeth the chaff, <I>so</I> their root shall be as rottenness, and
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their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away
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the law of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy
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One of Israel.
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25 Therefore is the anger of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> kindled against his
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people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and
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hath smitten them: and the hills did tremble, and their carcases
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<I>were</I> torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger
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is not turned away, but his hand <I>is</I> stretched out still.
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26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and
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will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they
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shall come with speed swiftly:
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27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall
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slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be
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loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
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28 Whose arrows <I>are</I> sharp, and all their bows bent, their
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horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like
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a whirlwind:
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29 Their roaring <I>shall be</I> like a lion, they shall roar like
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young lions: yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and
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shall carry <I>it</I> away safe, and none shall deliver <I>it.</I>
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30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the
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roaring of the sea: and if <I>one</I> look unto the land, behold
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darkness <I>and</I> sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens
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thereof.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here are,
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I. Sins described which will bring judgments upon a people: and this
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perhaps is not only a charge drawn up against the men of Judah who
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lived at that time, and the particular articles of that charge, though
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it may relate primarily to them, but is rather intended for warning to
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all people, in all ages, to take heed of these sins, as destructive
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both to particular persons and to communities, and exposing men to
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God's wrath and his righteous judgments. Those are here said to be in a
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woeful condition,</P>
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<P>
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1. Who are eagerly set upon sin, and violent in their sinful pursuits
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>),
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who <I>draw iniquity with cords of vanity,</I> who take as much pains
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to sin as the cattle do that draw a team, who put themselves to the
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stretch for the gratifying of their inordinate appetites, and, to
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humour a base lust, offer violence to nature itself. They think
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themselves as sure of compassing their wicked project as if they were
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pulling it towards them with strong cart-ropes; but they will find
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themselves disappointed, for they will prove cords of vanity, which
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will break when they come to any stress. For <I>the righteous Lord will
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cut in sunder the cords of the wicked,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+129:4,Job+4:8.Pr+22:8">Ps. cxxix. 4; Job iv. 8; Prov. xxii. 8</A>.
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They are by long custom and confirmed habits so hardened in sin that
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they cannot get clear of it. Those that sin through infirmity are
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drawn away by sin; those that sin presumptuously draw iniquity to them,
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in spite of the oppositions of Providence and the checks of conscience.
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Some by sin understand the punishment of sin: they pull God's judgments
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upon their own heads as it were, with cart-ropes.</P>
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<P>
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2. Who set the justice of God at defiance, and challenge the Almighty
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to do his worst
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
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<I>They say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work;</I> this is the
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same language with that of the scoffers of the last days, who say,
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<I>Where is the promise of his coming?</I> and therefore it is that,
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like them, they <I>draw iniquity with cords of vanity,</I> are violent
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and daring in sin, and walk after their own lusts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Pe+3:3,4">2 Pet. iii. 3, 4</A>.
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(1.) They ridicule the prophets, and banter them. It is in scorn that
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they call God <I>the Holy One of Israel,</I> because the prophets used
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with great veneration to call him so.
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(2.) They will not believe the revelation of God's wrath from heaven
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against their ungodliness and unrighteousness; unless they see it
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executed, they will not know it, as if the curse were <I>brutum
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fulmen--a mere flash,</I> and all the threatenings of the word bugbears
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to frighten fools and children.
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(3.) If God should appear against them, as he has threatened, yet they
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think themselves able to make their part good with him, and provoke him
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to jealousy, as if they were stronger than he,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:22">1 Cor. x. 22</A>.
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"We have heard his word, but it is all talk; let him hasten his work,
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we shall shift for ourselves well enough." Note, Those that wilfully
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persist in sin consider not the power of God's anger.</P>
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<P>
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3. Who confound and overthrow the distinctions between moral good and
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evil, <I>who call evil good and moral evil</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
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who not only live in the omission of that which is good, but condemn
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it, argue against it, and, because they will not practise it
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themselves, run it down in others, and fasten invidious epithets upon
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it--not only do that which is evil, but justify it, and applaud it, and
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recommend it to others as safe and good. Note,
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(1.) Virtue and piety are good, for they are light and sweet, they are
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pleasant and right; but sin and wickedness are evil; they are darkness,
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all the fruit of ignorance and mistake, and will be bitterness in the
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latter end.
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(2.) Those do a great deal of wrong to God, and religion, and
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conscience, to their own souls, and to the souls of others, who
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misrepresent these, and put false colours upon them--who call
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drunkenness good fellowship, and covetousness good husbandry, and, when
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|
they persecute the people of God, think they do him good service--and,
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|
on the other hand, who call seriousness ill-nature, and sober
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|
singularity ill-breeding, who say all manner of evil falsely concerning
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|
the ways of godliness, and do what they can to form in men's minds
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|
prejudices against them, and this in defiance of evidence as plain and
|
|
convincing as that of sense, by which we distinguish, beyond
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|
contradiction, between light and darkness, and between that which to
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|
the taste is sweet and that which is bitter.</P>
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<P>
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4. Who though they are guilty of such gross mistakes as these have a
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|
great opinion of their own judgments, and value themselves mightily
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upon their understanding
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
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They are <I>wise in their own eyes;</I> they think themselves able to
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disprove and baffle the reproofs and convictions of God's word, and to
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|
evade and elude both the searches and the reaches of his judgments;
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|
they think they can outwit Infinite Wisdom and countermine Providence
|
|
itself. Or it may be taken more generally: God resists the proud, those
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|
particularly who are conceited of their own wisdom and lean to their
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|
own understanding; such must become fools, that they may be truly wise,
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or else, at their end they shall appear to be fools before all the
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|
world.</P>
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<P>
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5. Who glory in it as a great accomplishment that they are able to bear
|
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a great deal of strong liquor without being overcome by it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
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<I>who are mighty to drink wine,</I> and use their strength and vigour,
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not in the service of their country, but in the service of their lusts.
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|
Let drunkards know from this scripture that,
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(1.) They ungratefully abuse their bodily strength, which God has given
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them for good purposes, and by degrees cannot but weaken it.
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(2.) It will not excuse them from the guilt of drunkenness that they
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can drink hard and yet keep their feet.
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(3.) Those who boast of their drinking down others glory in their
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shame.
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|
(4.) How light soever men make of their drunkenness, it is a sin
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which will certainly lay them open to the wrath and curse of God.</P>
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<P>
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6. Who, as judges, pervert justice, and go counter to all rules of
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equity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
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This follows upon the former; they <I>drink and forget the law</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:5">Prov. xxxi. 5</A>),
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and <I>err through wine</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:7"><I>ch.</I> xxviii. 7</A>),
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and take bribes, that they may have wherewithal to maintain their
|
|
luxury. They <I>justify the wicked for reward,</I> and find some
|
|
pretence or other to clear him from his guilt and shelter him from
|
|
punishment; and they condemn the innocent, and <I>take away their
|
|
righteousness from them,</I> that is, overrule their pleas, deprive
|
|
them of the means of clearing up their innocency, and give judgment
|
|
against them. In causes between man and man, might and money would at
|
|
any time prevail against right and justice; and he who was ever so
|
|
plainly in the wrong would with a small bribe carry the cause and
|
|
recover the costs. In criminal causes, though the prisoner ever so
|
|
plainly appeared to be guilty, yet for a reward they would acquit him;
|
|
if he were innocent, yet if he did not fee them well, nay, if they were
|
|
feed by the malicious prosecutor, or if they themselves had spleen
|
|
against him, they would condemn him.</P>
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|
<P>
|
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|
II. The judgments described, which these sins would bring upon them.
|
|
Let not those expect to live easily who live thus wickedly; for the
|
|
righteous God will take vengeance,
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:24-30"><I>v.</I> 24-30</A>.
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|
Here we may observe,</P>
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|
<P>
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|
1. How complete this ruin will be, and how necessarily and unavoidably
|
|
it will follow upon their sins. He had compared this people to a vine
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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well fixed, and which, it was hoped, would be flourishing and fruitful;
|
|
but the grace of God towards it was received in vain, and then the root
|
|
became rottenness, being dried up from beneath, and the blossom would
|
|
of course blow off as dust, as a light and worthless thing,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+18:16">Job xviii. 16</A>.
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|
Sin weakens the strength, the root, of a people, so that they are
|
|
easily rooted up; it defaces the beauty, the blossoms, of a people, and
|
|
takes away the hopes of fruit. The sin of unfruitfulness is punished
|
|
with the plague of unfruitfulness. Sinners make themselves as stubble
|
|
and chaff, combustible matter, proper fuel to the fire of God's wrath,
|
|
which then of course devours and consumes them, <I>as the fire devours
|
|
the stubble,</I> and nobody can hinder it, or cares to hinder it. Chaff
|
|
is consumed, unhelped and unpitied.</P>
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|
<P>
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|
2. How just the ruin will be: <I>Because they have cast away the law of
|
|
the Lord of hosts,</I> and would not have him to reign over them; and,
|
|
as the law of Moses was rejected and thrown off, so <I>the word of the
|
|
Holy One of Israel</I> by his servants the prophets, putting them in
|
|
mind of his law and calling them to obedience, was despised and
|
|
disregarded. God does not reject men for every transgression of his law
|
|
and word; but, when his word is despised and his law cast away, what
|
|
can they expect but that God should utterly abandon them?</P>
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Whence this ruin should come
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
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|
it is destruction from the Almighty.
|
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|
(1.) The justice of God appoints it; for that is <I>the anger of the
|
|
Lord</I> which is <I>kindled against his people,</I> his necessary
|
|
vindication of the honour of his holiness and authority.
|
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|
|
(2.) The power of God effects it: <I>He has stretched forth his hand
|
|
against them.</I> That hand which had many a time been stretched out
|
|
for them against their enemies is now stretched out against them at
|
|
full length and in its full vigour; and <I>who knows the power of his
|
|
anger?</I> Whether they are sensible of it or no, it is God that has
|
|
smitten them, has blasted their vine and made it wither.</P>
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|
<P>
|
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|
|
4. The consequences and continuance of this ruin. When God comes forth
|
|
in wrath against a people the hills tremble, fear seizes even their
|
|
great men, who are strong and high, the earth shakes under men and is
|
|
ready to sink; and as this feels dreadful (what does more so than an
|
|
earthquake?) so what sight can be more frightful than the carcases of
|
|
men torn with dogs, or thrown <I>as dung</I> (so the margin reads it)
|
|
<I>in the midst of the streets?</I> This intimates that great
|
|
multitudes should be slain, not only soldiers in the field of battle,
|
|
but the inhabitants of their cities put to the sword in cold blood, and
|
|
that the survivors should neither have hands nor hearts to bury them.
|
|
This is very dreadful, and yet such is the merit of sin that, <I>for
|
|
all this, God's anger is not turned away;</I> that fire will burn as
|
|
long as there remains any of the stubble and chaff to be fuel for it;
|
|
<I>and his hand,</I> which he stretched forth against his people to
|
|
smite them, because they do not by prayer take hold of it, nor by
|
|
reformation submit themselves to it, <I>is stretched out still.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. The instruments that should be employed in bringing this ruin upon
|
|
them: it should be done by the incursions of a foreign enemy, that
|
|
should lay all waste. No particular enemy is named, and therefore we
|
|
are to take it as a prediction of all the several judgments of this
|
|
kind which God brought upon the Jews, Sennacherib's invasion soon
|
|
after, and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans first and at
|
|
last by the Romans; and I think it is to be looked upon also as a
|
|
threatening of the like desolation of those countries which harbour and
|
|
countenance those sins mentioned in the foregoing verses; it is an
|
|
exposition of those woes. When God designs the ruin of a provoking
|
|
people,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) He can send a great way off for instruments to be employed in
|
|
effecting it; he can raise forces from afar, and summon them from the
|
|
end of the earth to attend his service,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those who know him not are made use of to fulfil his counsel, when, by
|
|
reason of their distance, they can scarcely be supposed to have any
|
|
ends of their own to serve. If God set up his standard, he can incline
|
|
men's hearts to enlist themselves under it, though perhaps they know
|
|
not why or wherefore. When the Lord of hosts is pleased to make a
|
|
general muster of the forces he has at his command, he has a great army
|
|
in an instant,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+2:2,11">Joel ii. 2, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
He needs not sound a trumpet, nor beat a drum, to give them notice or
|
|
to animate them; no, he does but hiss to them, or rather whistle to
|
|
them, and that is enough; they hear that, and that puts courage into
|
|
them. Note, God has all the creatures at his beck.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) He can make them come into the service with incredible expedition:
|
|
<I>Behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Those who will do God's work must not loiter, must not linger, nor
|
|
shall they when his time has come.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Those who defy God's judgments will be ashamed of their insolence
|
|
when it is too late; they said scornfully
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
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<I>Let him make speed, let him hasten his work,</I> and they shall
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find, to their terror and confusion, that he will; <I>in one hour has
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the judgment come.</I></P>
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<P>
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(3.) He can carry them on in the service with amazing forwardness and
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fury. This is described here in very elegant and lofty expressions,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:27-30"><I>v.</I> 27-30</A>.
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[1.] Though their marches be very long, yet <I>none among them shall be
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weary;</I> so desirous they be to engage that they shall forget their
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weariness, and make no complaints of it.
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[2.] Though the way be rough, and perhaps embarrassed by the usual
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|
policies of war, yet none among them shall <I>stumble,</I> but all the
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difficulties in their way shall easily be got over.
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[3.] Though they be forced to keep constant watch, yet <I>none shall
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|
slumber nor sleep,</I> so intent shall they be upon their work, in
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|
prospect of having the plunder of the city for their pains.
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[4.] They shall not desire any rest of relaxation; they shall not put
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off their clothes, nor <I>loose the girdle of their loins,</I> but
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shall always have their belts on and swords by their sides.
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[5.] They shall not meet with the least hindrance to retard their march
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or oblige them to halt; not a <I>latchet of their shoes shall be
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|
broken</I> which they must stay to mend, as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+9:13">Josh. ix. 13</A>.
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[6.] Their arms and ammunition shall all be fixed, and in good posture;
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<I>their arrows sharp,</I> to wound deep, <I>and all their bows
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bent,</I> none unstrung, for they expect to be soon in action.
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[7.] Their horses and chariots of war shall all be fit for service;
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their horses so strong, so hardy, that <I>their hoofs shall be like
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|
flint,</I> far from being beaten, or made tender, by their long march;
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and the wheels of their chariots not broken, or battered, or out of
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repair, but swift <I>like a whirlwind,</I> turning round so strongly
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upon their axle-trees.
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[8.] All the soldiers shall be bold and daring
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
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<I>Their roaring,</I> or shouting, before a battle, <I>shall be like a
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lion,</I> who with his roaring animates himself, and terrifies all
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about him. Those who would not hear the voice of God speaking to them
|
|
by his prophets, but stopped their ears against their charms, shall be
|
|
made to hear the voice of their enemies roaring against them and shall
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|
not be able to turn a deaf ear to it. <I>They shall roar like the
|
|
roaring of the sea</I> in a storm; it roars and threatens to swallow
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up, as the lion roars and threatens to tear in pieces.
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[9.] There shall not be the least prospect of relief or succour. The
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enemy shall come in like a flood, and there shall be none to lift up a
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standard against him. He shall seize the prey, and none shall deliver
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|
it, none shall be able to deliver it, nay, none shall so much as dare
|
|
to attempt the deliverance of it, but shall give it up for lost. Let
|
|
the distressed look which way they will, every thing appears dismal;
|
|
for, if God frowns upon us, how can any creature smile? <I>First,</I>
|
|
Look round to the earth, to the land, to that land that used to be the
|
|
land of light and the joy of the whole earth, and <I>behold darkness
|
|
and sorrow,</I> all frightful, all mournful, nothing hopeful.
|
|
<I>Secondly,</I> Look up to heaven, and there the light is darkened,
|
|
where one would expect to have found it. If the light is darkened in
|
|
the heavens, how great is that darkness! If God hide his face, no
|
|
marvel the heavens hide theirs and appear gloomy,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+34:29">Job xxxiv. 29</A>.
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It is our wisdom, by keeping a good conscience, to keep all clear
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|
between us and heaven, that we may have light from above even when
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clouds and darkness are round about us.</P>
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