mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 7.xml

<div2 id="Is.viii" n="viii" next="Is.ix" prev="Is.vii" progress="3.40%" title="Chapter VII">
<h2 id="Is.viii-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.viii-p0.2">CHAP. VII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.viii-p1" shownumber="no">This chapter is an occasional sermon, in which the
prophet sings both of mercy and judgment to those that did not
perceive or understand either; he piped unto them, but they danced
not, mourned unto them, but they wept not. Here is, I. The
consternation that Ahaz was in upon an attempt of the confederate
forces of Syria and Israel against Jerusalem, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.1-Isa.7.2" parsed="|Isa|7|1|7|2" passage="Isa 7:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>. II. The assurance which God, by
the prophet, sent him for his encouragement, that the attempt
should be defeated and Jerusalem should be preserved, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.3-Isa.7.9" parsed="|Isa|7|3|7|9" passage="Isa 7:3-9">ver. 3-9</scripRef>. III. The confirmation of
this by a sign which God gave to Ahaz, when he refused to ask one,
referring to Christ, and our redemption by him, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.10-Isa.7.16" parsed="|Isa|7|10|7|16" passage="Isa 7:10-16">ver. 10-16</scripRef>. IV. A threatening of the great
desolation that God would bring upon Ahaz and his kingdom by the
Assyrians, notwithstanding their escape from this present storm,
because they went on still in their wickedness, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.17-Isa.7.25" parsed="|Isa|7|17|7|25" passage="Isa 7:17-25">ver. 17-25</scripRef>. And this is written both for
our comfort and for our admonition.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.viii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7" parsed="|Isa|7|0|0|0" passage="Isa 7" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.viii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.1-Isa.7.9" parsed="|Isa|7|1|7|9" passage="Isa 7:1-9" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.viii-p1.7">
<h4 id="Is.viii-p1.8">The Distress of Ahaz; Comfort Administered
to Ahaz. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.viii-p1.9">b. c.</span> 740.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.viii-p2" shownumber="no">1 And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the
son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, <i>that</i> Rezin
the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel,
went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail
against it.   2 And it was told the house of David, saying,
Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the
heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the
wind.   3 Then said the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.viii-p2.1">Lord</span>
unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy
son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of
the fuller's field;   4 And say unto him, Take heed, and be
quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these
smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and
of the son of Remaliah.   5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the
son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying,
  6 Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a
breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it,
<i>even</i> the son of Tabeal:   7 Thus saith the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.viii-p2.2">God</span>, It shall not stand, neither shall it
come to pass.   8 For the head of Syria <i>is</i> Damascus,
and the head of Damascus <i>is</i> Rezin; and within threescore and
five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people.  
9 And the head of Ephraim <i>is</i> Samaria, and the head of
Samaria <i>is</i> Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye
shall not be established.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p3" shownumber="no">The prophet Isaiah had his commission
renewed in the year that king Uzziah died, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.6.1" parsed="|Isa|6|1|0|0" passage="Isa 6:1"><i>ch.</i> vi. 1</scripRef>. Jotham his son reigned, and
reigned well, sixteen years. All that time, no doubt, Isaiah
prophesied as he was commanded, and yet we have not in this book
any of his prophecies dated in the reign of Jotham; but this, which
is put first, was in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham. Many
excellent useful sermons he preached which were not published and
left upon record; for, if all that was memorable had been written,
<i>the world could not have contained the books,</i> <scripRef id="Is.viii-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:John.21.25" parsed="|John|21|25|0|0" passage="Joh 21:25">John xxi. 25</scripRef>. Perhaps in the reign
of Ahaz, a wicked king, he had not opportunity to preach so much at
court as in Jotham's time, and therefore then he wrote the more,
for a testimony against them. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p4" shownumber="no">I. A very formidable design laid against
Jerusalem by Rezin king of Syria and Pekah king of Israel, two
neighbouring potentates, who had of late made descents upon Judah
severally. At the end of the reign of Jotham, <i>the Lord began to
send against Judah Rezin and Pekah,</i> <scripRef id="Is.viii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.37" parsed="|2Kgs|15|37|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:37">2 Kings xv. 37</scripRef>. But now, in the second or
third year of the reign of Ahaz, encouraged by their former
successes, they entered into an alliance against Judah. Because
Ahaz, though he found the sword over his head, began his reign with
idolatry, <i>God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria
and of the king of Israel</i> (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.28.5" parsed="|2Chr|28|5|0|0" passage="2Ch 28:5">2
Chron. xxviii. 5</scripRef>), and a great slaughter they made in
his kingdom, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.6-Isa.7.7" parsed="|Isa|7|6|7|7" passage="Isa 7:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6,
7</scripRef>. Flushed with this victory, they went up towards
Jerusalem, the royal city, to war against it, to besiege it, and
make themselves masters of it; but it proved in the issue that they
could not gain their point. Note, The sin of a land brings foreign
invasions upon it and betrays the most advantageous posts and
passes to the enemy; and God sometimes makes one wicked nation a
scourge to another; but judgment, ordinarily, begins at the house
of God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p5" shownumber="no">II. The great distress that Ahaz and his
court were in when they received advice of this design: <i>It was
told the house of David</i> that Syria and Ephraim had signed a
league against Judah, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.2" parsed="|Isa|7|2|0|0" passage="Isa 7:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>. This degenerate royal family is called the <i>house
of David,</i> to put us in mind of that article of God's covenant
with David (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.30-Ps.89.33" parsed="|Ps|89|30|89|33" passage="Ps 89:30-33">Ps. lxxxix.
30-33</scripRef>), <i>If his children forsake my law, I will
chasten their transgression with the rod; but my loving-kindness
will I not utterly take away,</i> which is remarkably fulfilled in
this chapter. News being brought that the two armies of Syria and
Israel were joined, and had taken the field, the court, the city,
and the country, were thrown into consternation; <i>The heart of
Ahaz was moved with fear,</i> and then no wonder that <i>the heart
of his people was so, as the trees of the wood are moved with the
wind.</i> They were tossed and shaken, and put into a great
disorder and confusion, were wavering and uncertain in their
counsels, hurried hither and thither, and could not fix in any
steady resolution. They yielded to the storm, and gave up all for
gone, concluding it in vain to make any resistance. Now that which
caused this fright was the sense of guilt and the weakness of their
faith. They had made God their enemy, and knew not how to make him
their friend, and therefore their fears tyrannised over them; while
those whose consciences are kept <i>void of offence, and whose
hearts are fixed, trusting in God, need not be afraid of evil
tidings; though the earth be removed, yet will not they fear; but
the wicked flee at the shaking of a leaf,</i> <scripRef id="Is.viii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Lev.26.36" parsed="|Lev|26|36|0|0" passage="Le 26:36">Lev. xxvi. 36</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p6" shownumber="no">III. The orders and directions given to
Isaiah to go and encourage Ahaz in his distress; not for his own
sake (he deserved to hear nothing from God but words of terror,
which might add affliction to his grief), but because he was a son
of David and king of Judah. God had kindness for him for his
father's sake, who must not be forgotten, and for his people's
sake, who must not be abandoned, but would be encouraged if Ahaz
were. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p7" shownumber="no">1. God appointed the prophet to meet Ahaz,
though he did not send to the prophet to speak with him, nor desire
him to enquire of the Lord for him (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.3" parsed="|Isa|7|3|0|0" passage="Isa 7:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>Go to meet Ahaz.</i> Note,
God is often found of those who seek him not, much more will he be
found of those who seek him diligently. He speaks comfort to many
who not only are not worthy of it, but do not so much as enquire
after it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p8" shownumber="no">2. He ordered him to take his little son
with him, because he carried a sermon in his name,
<i>Shear-jashub—A remnant shall return.</i> The prophets sometimes
recorded what they preached in the significant names of their
children (as <scripRef id="Is.viii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.1.4 Bible:Hos.1.6 Bible:Hos.1.9" parsed="|Hos|1|4|0|0;|Hos|1|6|0|0;|Hos|1|9|0|0" passage="Ho 1:4,6,9">Hos. i. 4, 6,
9</scripRef>); therefore Isaiah's children are said to be <i>for
signs,</i> <scripRef id="Is.viii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.18" parsed="|Isa|8|18|0|0" passage="Isa 8:18"><i>ch.</i> viii.
18</scripRef>. This son was so called for the encouragement of
those of God's people who were carried captive, assuring them that
they should return, at least a remnant of them, which was more than
they could pretend to merit; yet at this time God was better than
his word; for he took care not only that a remnant should return,
but the whole number of those whom the confederate forces of Syria
and Israel had taken prisoners, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.28.15" parsed="|2Chr|28|15|0|0" passage="2Ch 28:15">2
Chron. xxviii. 15</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p9" shownumber="no">3. He directed him where he should find
Ahaz. He was to meet with him not in the temple, or the synagogue,
or royal chapel, but <i>at the end of the conduit of the upper
pool,</i> where he was, probably with many of his servants about
him, contriving how to order the water-works, so as to secure them
to the city, or deprive the enemy of the benefits of them
(<scripRef id="Is.viii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.22.9-Isa.22.11 Bible:2Chr.32.3-2Chr.32.4" parsed="|Isa|22|9|22|11;|2Chr|32|3|32|4" passage="Isa 22:9-11,2Ch 32:3,4"><i>ch.</i> xxii. 9-11;
2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 4</scripRef>), or giving some necessary
directions for the fortifying of the city as well as they could;
and perhaps finding every thing in a bad posture or defence, the
conduit out of repair, as well as other things gone to decay, his
fears increased, and he was now in greater perplexity than ever;
therefore, <i>Go, meet him there.</i> Note, God sometimes sends
comforts to his people very seasonably, and, what time they are
most afraid, encourages them to trust in him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p10" shownumber="no">4. He put words in his mouth, else the
prophet would not have known how to bring a message of good to such
a bad man, a sinner in Zion, that ought to be afraid; but God
intended it for the support of faithful Israelites.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p11" shownumber="no">(1.) The prophet must rebuke their fears,
and advise them by no means to yield to them, but keep their
temper, and preserve the possession of their own souls (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.4" parsed="|Isa|7|4|0|0" passage="Isa 7:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>Take heed, and be
quiet.</i> Note, In order to comfort there is need of caution; that
we may be quiet, it is necessary that we take heed and watch
against those things that threaten to disquiet us. "Fear not with
this amazement, this fear, that weakens, and has torment; neither
<i>let thy heart be tender,</i> so as to melt and fail within thee;
but pluck up thy spirits, have a good heart on it, and be
courageous; let not fear betray the succours which reason and
religion offer for thy support." Note, Those who expect God should
help them must help themselves, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.27.14" parsed="|Ps|27|14|0|0" passage="Ps 27:14">Ps.
xxvii. 14</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p12" shownumber="no">(2.) He must teach them to despise their
enemies, not in pride, or security, or incogitancy (nothing more
dangerous than so to despise an enemy), but in faith and dependence
upon God. Ahaz's fear called them two powerful politic princes, for
either of whom he was an unequal match, but, if united, he durst
not look them in the face, nor make head against them. "No," says
the prophet, "they are <i>two tails of smoking firebrands;</i> they
are angry, they are fierce, they are furious, as firebrands, as
fireballs; and they make one another worse by being in a
confederacy, as sticks of fire put together burn the more
violently. But they are only smoking firebrands: and where there is
smoke there is some fire, but it may be not so much as was feared.
Their threatenings will vanish into smoke. <i>Pharaoh king of Egypt
is but a noise</i> (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.46.17" parsed="|Jer|46|17|0|0" passage="Jer 46:17">Jer. xlvi.
17</scripRef>), and Rezin king of Syria but a smoke; and such are
all the enemies of God's church, <i>smoking flax,</i> that will
soon be quenched. Nay, they are but <i>tails</i> of smoking
firebrands, in a manner burnt out already; their force is spent;
they have consumed themselves with the heat of their own anger; you
may put your foot on them, and tread them out." The two kingdoms of
Syria and Israel were now near expiring. Note, The more we have an
eye to God as a consuming fire the less reason we shall have to
fear men, though they are ever so furious, nay, we shall be able to
despise them as smoking firebrands.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p13" shownumber="no">(3.) He must assure them that the present
design of these high allies (so they thought themselves) against
Jerusalem should certainly be defeated and come to nothing,
<scripRef id="Is.viii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.5-Isa.7.7" parsed="|Isa|7|5|7|7" passage="Isa 7:5-7"><i>v.</i> 5-7</scripRef>. [1.] That
very thing which Ahaz thought most formidable is made the ground of
their defeat—and that was the depth of their designs and the
height of their hopes: "<i>Therefore</i> they shall be baffled and
sent back with shame, <i>because they have taken evil counsel
against thee,</i> which is an offence to God. These firebrands are
a <i>smoke in his nose</i> (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.65.5" parsed="|Isa|65|5|0|0" passage="Isa 65:5"><i>ch.</i>
lxv. 5</scripRef>), and therefore must be extinguished."
<i>First,</i> They are very spiteful and malicious, and, therefore
they shall not prosper. Judah had done them no wrong; they had no
pretence to quarrel with Ahaz; but, without any reason, they said,
<i>Let us go up against Judah, and vex it.</i> Note, Those that are
vexatious cannot expect to be prosperous, those that love to do
mischief cannot expect to do well. <i>Secondly,</i> They are very
secure, and confident of success. They will vex Judah by going up
against it; yet that is not all: they do not doubt but to make a
breach in the wall of Jerusalem wide enough for them to march their
army in at; or they count upon dissecting or dividing the kingdom
into two parts, one for the king of Israel, the other for the king
of Syria, who had agreed in one viceroy—<i>a king</i> to be <i>set
in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal,</i> some obscure
person, it is uncertain whether a Syrian or an Israelite. So sure
were they of gaining their point that they divided the prey before
they had caught it. Note, Those that are most scornful are commonly
least successful, for surely God scorns the scorners. [2.] God
himself gives them his word that the attempt should not take effect
(<scripRef id="Is.viii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.7" parsed="|Isa|7|7|0|0" passage="Isa 7:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): "<i>Thus
saith the Lord God,</i> the sovereign Lord of all, who <i>brings
the counsel of the heathen to naught</i> (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.33.10" parsed="|Ps|33|10|0|0" passage="Ps 33:10">Ps. xxxiii. 10</scripRef>), <i>It shall not stand,
neither shall it come to pass;</i> their measures shall all be
broken, and they shall not be able to bring to pass their
enterprise." Note, Whatever stands against God, or thinks to stand
without him, cannot stand long. Man purposes, but God disposes; and
<i>who is he that saith and it cometh to pass if the Lord commands
it not or countermands it?</i> <scripRef id="Is.viii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Lam.3.37" parsed="|Lam|3|37|0|0" passage="La 3:37">Lam.
iii. 37</scripRef>. See <scripRef id="Is.viii-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Prov.19.21" parsed="|Prov|19|21|0|0" passage="Pr 19:21">Prov. xix.
21</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p14" shownumber="no">(4.) He must give them a prospect of the
destruction of these enemies, at last, that were now such a terror
to them. [1.] They should neither of them enlarge their dominions,
nor push their conquests any further; <i>The head city of Syria is
Damascus, and the head man of Damascus is Rezin;</i> this he
glories in, and this let him be content with, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.8" parsed="|Isa|7|8|0|0" passage="Isa 7:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. <i>The head city of Ephraim</i>
has long been <i>Samaria, and the head man in Samaria is</i> now
Pekah <i>the son of Remaliah.</i> These shall be made to know their
own, their bounds are fixed, and they shall not pass them, to make
themselves masters of the cities of Judah, much less to make
Jerusalem their prey. Note, As God has appointed men the bounds of
their habitation (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.17.26" parsed="|Acts|17|26|0|0" passage="Ac 17:26">Acts xvii.
26</scripRef>), so he has appointed princes the bounds of their
dominion, within which they ought to confine themselves, and not
encroach upon their neighbours' rights. [2.] Ephraim, which perhaps
was the more malicious and forward enemy of the two, should shortly
be quite rooted out, and should be so far from seizing other
people's lands that they should not be able to hold their own.
Interpreters are much at a loss how to compute the sixty-five years
within which <i>Ephraim shall cease to be a people;</i> for the
captivity of the ten tribes was but eleven years after this: and
some make it a mistake of the transcriber, and think it should be
read <i>within six and five years,</i> just eleven. But it is hard
to allow that. Others make it to be sixty-five years from the time
that the prophet Amos first foretold the ruin of the kingdom of the
ten tribes; and some late interpreters make it to look as far
forward as the last desolation of that country by Esarhaddon, which
was about sixty-five years after this; then Ephraim was so broken
that it was no more a people. Now it was the greatest folly in the
world for those to be ruining their neighbours who were themselves
marked for ruin, and so near to it. See what a prophet told them at
this time, when they were triumphing over Judah, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.28.10" parsed="|2Chr|28|10|0|0" passage="2Ch 28:10">2 Chron. xxviii. 10</scripRef>. <i>Are there not with
you, even with you, sins against the Lord your God?</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p15" shownumber="no">(5.) He must urge them to mix faith with
those assurances which he had given them (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.9" parsed="|Isa|7|9|0|0" passage="Isa 7:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): "<i>If you will not believe</i>
what is said to you, <i>surely you shall not be established;</i>
your shaken and disordered state shall not be established, your
unquiet unsettled spirit shall not; though the things told you are
very encouraging, yet they will not be so to you, unless you
believe them, and be willing to take God's word." Note, The grace
of faith is absolutely necessary to the quieting and composing of
the mind in the midst of all the tosses of this present time,
<scripRef id="Is.viii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.20.20" parsed="|2Chr|20|20|0|0" passage="2Ch 20:20">2 Chron. xx. 20</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.viii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.10-Isa.7.16" parsed="|Isa|7|10|7|16" passage="Isa 7:10-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.viii-p15.4">
<h4 id="Is.viii-p15.5">The Promise of Immanuel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.viii-p15.6">b. c.</span> 740.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.viii-p16" shownumber="no">10 Moreover the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.viii-p16.1">Lord</span> spake again unto Ahaz, saying,   11
Ask thee a sign of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.viii-p16.2">Lord</span> thy God;
ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.   12 But
Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.viii-p16.3">Lord</span>.   13 And he said, Hear ye now, O
house of David; <i>Is it</i> a small thing for you to weary men,
but will ye weary my God also?   14 Therefore the Lord himself
shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel.   15 Butter and honey
shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the
good.   16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil,
and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken
of both her kings.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p17" shownumber="no">Here, I. God, by the prophet, makes a
gracious offer to Ahaz, to confirm the foregoing predictions, and
his faith in them, by such sign or miracle as he should choose
(<scripRef id="Is.viii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.10-Isa.7.11" parsed="|Isa|7|10|7|11" passage="Isa 7:10,11"><i>v.</i> 10, 11</scripRef>):
<i>Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God;</i> See here the divine
faithfulness and veracity. God tells us nothing but what he is able
and ready to prove. See his wonderful condescension to the children
of men, in that he is so <i>willing to show to the heirs of promise
the immutability of his counsel,</i> <scripRef id="Is.viii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.6.17" parsed="|Heb|6|17|0|0" passage="Heb 6:17">Heb. vi. 17</scripRef>. He considers our frame, and
that, living in a world of sense, we are apt to require sensible
proofs, which therefore he has favoured us with in sacramental
signs and seals. Ahaz was a bad man, yet God is called the Lord his
God, because he was a child of Abraham and David, and of the
covenants made with them. See how gracious God is even to the evil
and unthankful; Ahaz is bidden to choose his sign, as Gideon about
the fleece (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.6.37" parsed="|Judg|6|37|0|0" passage="Jdg 6:37">Judg. vi. 37</scripRef>);
let him ask for a sign in the air, or earth, or water, for God's
power is the same in all.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p18" shownumber="no">II. Ahaz rudely refuses this gracious
offer, and (which is not mannerly towards any superior) kicks at
the courtesy, and puts a slight upon it (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.12" parsed="|Isa|7|12|0|0" passage="Isa 7:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>I will not ask.</i> The
true reason why he would not ask for a sign was because, having a
dependence upon the Assyrians, their forces, and their gods, for
help, he would not thus far be beholden to the God of Israel, or
lay himself under obligations to him. He would not ask a sign for
the confirming of his faith because he resolved to persist in his
unbelief, and would indulge his doubts and distrusts; yet he
pretends a pious reason: <i>I will not tempt the Lord;</i> as if it
would be a tempting of God to do that which God himself invited and
directed him to do. Note, A secret disaffection to God is often
disguised with the specious colours of respect to him; and those
who are resolved that they will not trust God yet pretend that they
will not tempt him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p19" shownumber="no">III. The prophet reproves him and his
court, him and the house of David, the whole royal family, for
their contempt of prophecy, and the little value they had for
divine revelation (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.13" parsed="|Isa|7|13|0|0" passage="Isa 7:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>) "<i>Is it a small thing for you to weary men</i> by
your oppression and tyranny, with which you make yourselves
burdensome and odious to all mankind? But <i>will you weary my God
also</i> with the affronts you put upon him?" As the unjust judge
that neither <i>feared God nor regarded man,</i> <scripRef id="Is.viii-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.18.2" parsed="|Luke|18|2|0|0" passage="Lu 18:2">Luke xviii. 2</scripRef>. <i>You have wearied the Lord
with your words,</i> <scripRef id="Is.viii-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.17" parsed="|Mal|2|17|0|0" passage="Mal 2:17">Mal. ii.
17</scripRef>. Nothing is more grievous to the God of heaven than
to be distrusted. "<i>Will you weary my God?</i> Will you suppose
him to be tired and unable to help you, or to be weary of doing you
good? Whereas <i>the youths may faint and be weary,</i> you may
have tired all your friends, <i>the Creator of the ends of the
earth faints not, neither is weary.</i>" <scripRef id="Is.viii-p19.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.40.28-Isa.40.31" parsed="|Isa|40|28|40|31" passage="Isa 40:28-31"><i>ch.</i> xl. 28-31</scripRef>. Or this: "In
affronting the prophets, you think you put a slight only upon men
like yourselves, and consider not that you affront God himself,
whose messengers they are, and put a slight upon him, who will
resent it accordingly." The prophet here calls God his God with a
great deal of pleasure: Ahaz would not say, He is my God, though
the prophet had invited him to say so (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p19.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.11" parsed="|Isa|7|11|0|0" passage="Isa 7:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>The Lord thy God;</i> but
Isaiah will say, "He is mine." Note, Whatever others do, we must
avouch the Lord for ours and abide by him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p20" shownumber="no">IV. The prophet, in God's name, gives them
a sign: "You will not ask a sign, but the unbelief of man shall not
make the promise of God of no effect: <i>The Lord himself shall
give you a sign</i> (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.14" parsed="|Isa|7|14|0|0" passage="Isa 7:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>), a double sign."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p21" shownumber="no">1. "A sign in general of his good-will to
Israel and to the house of David. You may conclude it that he has
mercy in store for you, and that you are not forsaken of your God,
how great soever your present distress and danger are; for of your
nation, of your family, the Messiah is to be born, and you cannot
be destroyed while that blessing is in you, which shall be
introduced," (1.) "In a glorious manner; for, whereas you have been
often told that he should be born among you, I am now further to
tell you that he shall be born of a virgin, which will signify both
the divine power and the divine purity with which he shall be
brought into the world,—that he shall be a extraordinary person,
for he shall not be born by ordinary generation,—and that he shall
be a holy thing, not stained with the common pollutions of the
human nature, therefore incontestably fit to have the throne of his
father David given him." Now this, though it was to be accomplished
above 500 years after, was a most encouraging sign to the house of
David (and to them, under that title, this prophecy is directed,
<scripRef id="Is.viii-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.13" parsed="|Isa|7|13|0|0" passage="Isa 7:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>) and an
assurance that God would not cast them off. Ephraim did indeed envy
Judah (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.11.13" parsed="|Isa|11|13|0|0" passage="Isa 11:13"><i>ch.</i> xi. 13</scripRef>)
and sought the ruin of that kingdom, but could not prevail; for the
sceptre should never depart from Judah till the coming of Shiloh,
<scripRef id="Is.viii-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.10" parsed="|Gen|49|10|0|0" passage="Ge 49:10">Gen. xlix. 10</scripRef>. Those whom
God designs for the great salvation may take that for a sign to
them that they shall not be swallowed up by any trouble they meet
with in the way. (2.) The Messiah shall be introduced on a glorious
errand, wrapped up in his glorious name: They <i>shall call his
name Immanuel—God with us,</i> God in our nature, God at peace
with us, in covenant with us. This was fulfilled in their calling
him <i>Jesus—a Saviour</i> (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Matt.1.21-Matt.1.25" parsed="|Matt|1|21|1|25" passage="Mt 1:21-25">Matt.
i. 21-25</scripRef>), for, if he had not been <i>Immanuel—God with
us,</i> he could not have been <i>Jesus—a Saviour.</i> Now this
was a further sign of God's favour to the house of David and the
tribe of Judah; for he that intended to work this great salvation
among them no doubt would work out for them all those other
salvations which were to be the types and figures of this, and as
it were preludes to this. "Here is a sign for you, not in the depth
nor in the height, but in the prophecy, in the promise, in the
covenant made with David, which you are no strangers to. The
promised seed shall be Immanuel, <i>God with us;</i> let that word
comfort you (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.10" parsed="|Isa|8|10|0|0" passage="Isa 8:10"><i>ch.</i> viii.
10</scripRef>), that <i>God is with us,</i> and (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.8" parsed="|Isa|7|8|0|0" passage="Isa 7:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>) that your land is Immanuel's
land. Let not <i>the heart of the house of David</i> be moved thus
(<scripRef id="Is.viii-p21.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.2" parsed="|Isa|7|2|0|0" passage="Isa 7:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), nor let Judah
fear the setting up of the son of Tabeal (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p21.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.6" parsed="|Isa|7|6|0|0" passage="Isa 7:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), for nothing can cut off the
entail on the Son of David that shall be Immanuel." Note, The
strongest consolations, in time of trouble, are those which are
borrowed from Christ, our relation to him, our interest in him, and
our expectations of him and from him. Of this child it is further
foretold (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p21.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.15" parsed="|Isa|7|15|0|0" passage="Isa 7:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>)
that though he shall not be born like other children, but of a
virgin, yet he shall be really and truly man, and shall be nursed
and brought up like other children: <i>Butter and honey shall he
eat,</i> as other children do, particularly the children of that
land which <i>flowed with milk and honey.</i> Though he be
conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, yet he shall not
therefore be fed with angels' food, but, as it becomes him, shall
be <i>in all things made like unto his brethren,</i> <scripRef id="Is.viii-p21.10" osisRef="Bible:Heb.2.17" parsed="|Heb|2|17|0|0" passage="Heb 2:17">Heb. ii. 17</scripRef>. Nor shall he, though
born thus by extraordinary generation, be a man immediately, but,
as other children, shall advance gradually through the several
states of infancy, childhood, and youth, to that of manhood, and
growing in wisdom and stature, shall at length wax strong in
spirit, and come to maturity, so as to know how <i>to refuse the
evil and choose the good.</i> See <scripRef id="Is.viii-p21.11" osisRef="Bible:Luke.2.40 Bible:Luke.2.52" parsed="|Luke|2|40|0|0;|Luke|2|52|0|0" passage="Lu 2:40,52">Luke ii. 40, 52</scripRef>. Note, Children are fed
when they are little that they may be taught and instructed when
they have grown up; they have their maintenance in order to their
education.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p22" shownumber="no">2. Here is another sign in particular of
the speedy destruction of these potent princes that were now a
terror to Judah, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.16" parsed="|Isa|7|16|0|0" passage="Isa 7:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. "Before <i>this</i> child (so it should be read),
this child which I have now in my arms" (he means not Immanuel, but
Shear-jashub his own son, whom he was ordered to take with him for
a sign, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.3" parsed="|Isa|7|3|0|0" passage="Isa 7:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>),
"before this <i>child shall know how to refuse the evil and choose
the good</i>" (and those who saw what his present stature and
forwardness were would easily conjecture how long that would be),
"before this child be three or four years older, <i>the land that
thou abhorrest,</i> these confederate forces of Israelites and
Syrians, which thou hast such an enmity to and standest in such
dread of, <i>shall be forsaken of both their kings,</i> both Pekah
and Rezin," who were in so close an alliance that they seemed as if
they were the kings of but one kingdom. This was fully
accomplished; for within two or three years after this, Hoshea
conspired against Pekah, and slew him (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.15.30" parsed="|2Kgs|15|30|0|0" passage="2Ki 15:30">2 Kings xv. 30</scripRef>), and, before that, the king
of Assyria took Damascus, and slew Rezin, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.16.9" parsed="|2Kgs|16|9|0|0" passage="2Ki 16:9">2 Kings xvi. 9</scripRef>. Nay, there was a present
event, which happened immediately, and when this child carried the
prediction of in his name, which was a pledge and earnest of this
future event. <i>Shear-jashub</i> signifies <i>The remnant shall
return,</i> which doubtless points at the wonderful return of those
200,000 captives whom Pekah and Rezin had carried away, who were
brought back, not by might or power, but by the Spirit of the Lord
of hosts. Read the story, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p22.5" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.28.8-2Chr.28.15" parsed="|2Chr|28|8|28|15" passage="2Ch 28:8-15">2 Chron.
xxviii. 8-15</scripRef>. The prophetical naming of this child
having thus had its accomplishment, no doubt this, which was
further added concerning him, should have its accomplishment
likewise, that Syria and Israel should be deprived of both their
kings. One mercy from God encourages us to hope for another, if it
engages us to prepare for another.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.viii-p22.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.17-Isa.7.28" parsed="|Isa|7|17|7|28" passage="Isa 7:17-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.viii-p22.7">
<h4 id="Is.viii-p22.8">Judgments Announced. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.viii-p22.9">b. c.</span> 740.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.viii-p23" shownumber="no">17 The <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.viii-p23.1">Lord</span> shall
bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house,
days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from
Judah; <i>even</i> the king of Assyria.   18 And it shall come
to pass in that day, <i>that</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.viii-p23.2">Lord</span> shall hiss for the fly that <i>is</i> in
the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that
<i>is</i> in the land of Assyria.   19 And they shall come,
and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the
holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes.
  20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is
hired, <i>namely,</i> by them beyond the river, by the king of
Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also
consume the beard.   21 And it shall come to pass in that day,
<i>that</i> a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;  
22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk <i>that</i>
they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall
every one eat that is left in the land.   23 And it shall come
to pass in that day, <i>that</i> every place shall be, where there
were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall
<i>even</i> be for briers and thorns.   24 With arrows and
with bows shall <i>men</i> come thither; because all the land shall
become briers and thorns.   25 And <i>on</i> all hills that
shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the
fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of
oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p24" shownumber="no">After the comfortable promises made to Ahaz
as a branch of the house of David, here follow terrible
threatenings against him, as a degenerate branch of that house; for
though the loving-kindness of God shall not be utterly taken away,
for the sake of David and the covenant made with him, yet his
iniquity shall be <i>chastened with the rod,</i> and his sin with
stripes. Let those that will not mix faith with the promises of God
expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p25" shownumber="no">I. The judgment threatened is very great,
<scripRef id="Is.viii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.17" parsed="|Isa|7|17|0|0" passage="Isa 7:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. It is very
great, for it is general; it shall be brought upon the prince
himself (high as he is, he shall not be out of the reach of it),
and upon the people, the whole body of the nation, and upon the
royal family, <i>upon</i> all <i>thy father's house;</i> it shall
be a judgment entailed on posterity, and shall go along with the
royal blood. It is very great, for it shall be
unprecedented—<i>days that have not come;</i> so dark, so gloomy,
so melancholy, as never were the like since the revolt of the ten
tribes, when Ephraim departed from Judah, which was indeed a sad
time to the house of David. Note, The longer men continue in sin
the sorer punishments they have reason to expect. It is the Lord
that will bring these days upon them, for our times are in his
hand, and who can resist or escape the judgments he brings?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.viii-p26" shownumber="no">II. The enemy that should be employed as
the instrument of this judgment is the king of Assyria. Ahaz
reposed great confidence in that prince for help against the
confederate powers of Israel and Syria, and minded the less what
God said to him by his prophet for his encouragement because he
built much upon his interest in the king of Assyria, and had meanly
promised to be his servant if he would send him some succours; he
had also, made him a present of gold and silver, for which he
drained the treasures both of church and state, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.16.7-2Kgs.16.8" parsed="|2Kgs|16|7|16|8" passage="2Ki 16:7,8">2 Kings xvi. 7, 8</scripRef>. Now God threatens that
that king of Assyria whom he made his stay instead of God should
become a scourge to him. He was so speedily; for, when he <i>came
to him, he distressed him, but strengthened him not</i> (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.28.20" parsed="|2Chr|28|20|0|0" passage="2Ch 28:20">2 Chron. xxviii. 20</scripRef>), the reed not
only broke under him, but ran into his hand, and pierced it, and
thenceforward the kings of Assyria were, for a long time, grieving
thorns to Judah, and gave them a great deal of trouble. Note, The
creature that we make our hope commonly proves our hurt. The king
of Assyria, not long after this, made himself master of the ten
tribes, carried them captive, and laid their country waste, so as
fully to answer the prediction here; and perhaps it may refer to
that, as an explication of <scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.8" parsed="|Isa|7|8|0|0" passage="Isa 7:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>, where it is foretold that Ephraim shall be broken,
that it shall not be a people; and it is easy to suppose that the
prophet (at <scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.17" parsed="|Isa|7|17|0|0" passage="Isa 7:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>)
turns his speech to the king of Israel, denouncing God's judgments
against him for invading Judah. But the expositors universally
understand it of Ahaz and his kingdom. Now observe, 1. Summons
given to the invaders (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.18" parsed="|Isa|7|18|0|0" passage="Isa 7:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>): <i>The Lord shall whistle for the fly and the
bee.</i> See <scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.5.26" parsed="|Isa|5|26|0|0" passage="Isa 5:26"><i>ch.</i> v.
26</scripRef>. Enemies that seem as contemptible as a fly or a bee,
and are as easily crushed, shall yet, when God pleases, do his work
as effectually as lions and young lions. Though they are as far
distant from one another as the rivers of Egypt and the land of
Assyria, yet they shall punctually meet to join in this work when
God commands their attendance; for, when God has work to do, he
will not be at a loss for instruments to do it with. 2. Possession
taken by them, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.19" parsed="|Isa|7|19|0|0" passage="Isa 7:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>. It should seem as if the country were in no
condition to make resistance. They find no difficulties in forcing
their way, but <i>come and rest all of them in the desolate
valleys,</i> which the inhabitants had deserted upon the first
alarm, and left them a cheap and easy prey to the invaders. They
shall come and rest in the low grounds like swarms of flies and
bees, and shall render themselves impregnable by taking shelter in
the holes of the rocks, as bees often do, and showing themselves
formidable by appearing openly upon all thorns and all bushes; so
generally shall the land be overspread with them. These bees shall
knit upon the thorns and bushes, and there rest undisturbed. 3.
Great desolations made, and the country generally depopulated
(<scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.20" parsed="|Isa|7|20|0|0" passage="Isa 7:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): <i>The Lord
shall shave the hair of the head, and beard, and feet;</i> he shall
sweep all away, as the leper, when he was cleansed, <i>shaved off
all his hair,</i> <scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.9" osisRef="Bible:Lev.14.8-Lev.14.9" parsed="|Lev|14|8|14|9" passage="Le 14:8,9">Lev. xiv. 8,
9</scripRef>. This is done with a razor which is hired, either
which God has hired (as if he had none of his own; but what he
hires, and whom he employs in any service for him, he will pay for.
See <scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.10" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.29.18-Ezek.29.19" parsed="|Ezek|29|18|29|19" passage="Eze 29:18,19">Ezek. xxix. 18,
19</scripRef>), or which Ahaz has hired for his assistance. God
will make that to be an instrument of his destruction which he
hired into his service. Note, Many are beaten with that arm of
flesh which they trusted to rather than to the arm of the Lord, and
which they were at a great expense upon, when by faith and prayer
they might have found cheap and easy succour in God. 4. The
consequences of this general depopulation. (1.) The flocks of
cattle shall be all destroyed, so that a man who had herds and
flocks in abundance shall be stripped of them all by the enemy, and
shall with much ado save for his own use a young cow and two
sheep—a poor stock (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.11" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.21" parsed="|Isa|7|21|0|0" passage="Isa 7:21"><i>v.</i>
21</scripRef>), yet he shall think himself happy in having any
left. (2.) The few cattle that are left shall have such a large
compass of ground to feed in that <i>they shall give abundance of
milk,</i> and very good milk, such as shall produce butter enough,
<scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.22" parsed="|Isa|7|22|0|0" passage="Isa 7:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. There shall
also be such want of men that the milk of one cow and two sheep
shall serve a whole family, which used to keep abundance of
servants and consume a great deal, but is now reduced. (3.) The
breed of cattle shall be destroyed; so that those who used to eat
flesh ( as the Jews commonly did) shall be necessitated to confine
themselves to butter and honey, for there shall be no flesh for
them; and the country shall be so depopulated that there shall be
butter and honey enough for the few that are left in it. (4.) Good
land, that used to be let well, shall be all overrun with briers
and thorns (<scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.13" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.23" parsed="|Isa|7|23|0|0" passage="Isa 7:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>);
where there used to be a thousand vines planted, for which the
tenants used to pay a thousand shekels, or pieces of silver, yearly
rent, there shall be nothing now but briers and thorns, no profit
either for landlord or tenant, all being laid waste by the army of
the invaders. Note, God can soon turn a fruitful land into
barrenness; and it is just with him to turn vines into briers if
we, instead of bringing forth grapes to him, bring forth wild
grapes, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.14" osisRef="Bible:Isa.5.4" parsed="|Isa|5|4|0|0" passage="Isa 5:4"><i>ch.</i> v. 4</scripRef>.
(5.) The implements of husbandry shall be turned into instruments
of war, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.15" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.24" parsed="|Isa|7|24|0|0" passage="Isa 7:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. The
whole land having become briers and thorns, the grounds that men
used to come to with sickles and pruning-hooks to gather in the
fruits they shall now come to with arrows and bows, to hunt for
wild beasts in the thickets, or to defend themselves from the
robbers that lurk in the bushes, seeking for prey, or to kill the
serpents and venomous beasts that are hid there. This denotes a
very sad change of the face of that pleasant land. But what
melancholy change is there which sin will not make with a people?
(6.) Where briers and thorns were wont to be of use and to do good
service, even in the hedges, for the defence of the enclosed
grounds, they shall be plucked up, and all laid in common. There
shall be briers and thorns in abundance where they should not be,
but none where they should be, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.16" osisRef="Bible:Isa.7.25" parsed="|Isa|7|25|0|0" passage="Isa 7:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. <i>The hills that shall be
digged with the mattock,</i> for special use, from which the cattle
used to be kept off with the fear of briers and thorns, shall now
be thrown open, the <i>hedges broken down for the boar out of the
wood</i> to waste it, <scripRef id="Is.viii-p26.17" osisRef="Bible:Ps.80.12-Ps.80.13" parsed="|Ps|80|12|80|13" passage="Ps 80:12,13">Ps. lxxx. 12,
13</scripRef>. It shall be left at large for oxen to run in and
less cattle. See the effect of sin and the curse; it has made the
earth a forest of thorns and thistles, except as it is forced into
some order by the constant care and labour of man. And see what
folly it is to set our hearts upon possessions of lands, be they
every so fruitful, ever so pleasant; if they lie ever so little
neglected and uncultivated, or if they be abused by a wasteful
careless heir or tenant, or the country be laid waste by war, they
will soon become frightful deserts. Heaven is a paradise not
subject to such changes.</p>
</div></div2>