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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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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. XXIX.</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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This woe to Ariel, which we have in this chapter, is the same with the
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"burden of the valley of vision"
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:1"><I>ch.</I> xxii. 1</A>),
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and (it is very probable) points at the same event--the besieging of
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Jerusalem by the Assyrian army, which was cut off there by an angel;
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yet it is applicable to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans,
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and its last desolations by the Romans. Here is,
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I. The event itself foretold, that Jerusalem should be greatly
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distressed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:1-4,6">ver. 1-4, 6</A>),
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but that their enemies, who distressed them, should be baffled and
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defeated,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:5,7,8">ver. 5, 7, 8</A>.
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II. A reproof to three sorts of sinners:--
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1. Those that were stupid, and regardless of the warnings which the
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prophet gave them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:9-12">ver. 9-12</A>.
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2. Those that were formal and hypocritical in their religious
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performances,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:13,14">ver. 13, 14</A>.
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3. Those politicians that atheistically and profanely despised God's
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providence, and set up their own projects in competition with it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:15,16">ver. 15, 16</A>.
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III. Precious promises of grace and mercy to a distinguished remnant
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whom God would sanctify, and in whom he would be sanctified, when their
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enemies and persecutors should be cut off,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:17-24">ver. 17-24</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa29_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_8"> </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>The Punishment of Ariel.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 725.</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 Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city <I>where</I> David dwelt! add ye
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year to year; let them kill sacrifices.
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2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and
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sorrow: and it shall be unto me as Ariel.
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3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege
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against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
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4 And thou shalt be brought down, <I>and</I> shalt speak out of the
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ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy
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voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the
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ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.
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5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small
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dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones <I>shall be</I> as chaff
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that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.
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6 Thou shalt be visited of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts with thunder, and
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with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the
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flame of devouring fire.
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7 And the multitude of all the nations that fight against
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Ariel, even all that fight against her and her munition, and that
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distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision.
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8 It shall even be as when a hungry <I>man</I> dreameth, and,
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behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as
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when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he
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awaketh, and, behold, <I>he is</I> faint, and his soul hath appetite:
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so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against
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mount Zion.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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That it is Jerusalem which is here called <I>Ariel</I> is agreed, for
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that was the city where David dwelt; that part of it which was called
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<I>Zion</I> was in a particular manner the city of David, in which both
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the temple and the palace were. But why it is so called is very
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uncertain: probably the name and the reason were then well known.
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Cities, as well as persons, get surnames and nicknames. <I>Ariel</I>
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signifies <I>the lion of God,</I> or <I>the strong lion:</I> as the
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lion is king among beasts, so was Jerusalem among the cities, giving
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law to all about her; it was <I>the city of the great King</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+48:1,2">Ps. xlviii. 1, 2</A>);
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it was the head-city of Judah, who is called <I>a lion's whelp</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:9">Gen. xlix. 9</A>)
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and whose ensign was a lion; and he that is the lion of the tribe of
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Judah was the glory of it. Jerusalem was a terror sometimes to the
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neighbouring nations, and, while she was a righteous city, was bold as
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a lion. Some make <I>Ariel</I> to signify <I>the altar of
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burnt-offerings,</I> which devoured the beasts offered in sacrifice as
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the lion does his prey. Woe to that altar in the city where David
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dwelt; that was destroyed with the temple by the Chaldeans. I rather
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take it as a woe to Jerusalem, Jerusalem; it is repeated here, as it is
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:37">Matt. xxiii. 37</A>,
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that it might be the more awakening. Here is,</P>
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<P>
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I. The distress of Jerusalem foretold. Though Jerusalem be a strong
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city, as a lion, though a holy city, as a lion of God, yet, if iniquity
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be found there, woe be to it. It was <I>the city where David dwelt;</I>
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it was he that brought that to it which was its glory, and which made
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it a type of the gospel church, and his dwelling in it was typical of
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Christ's residence in his church. This mentioned as an aggravation of
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Jerusalem's sin, that in it were set both the testimony of Israel and
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the <I>thrones of the house of David.</I>
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1. Let Jerusalem know that her external performance of religious
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services will not serve as an exemption from the judgments of God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
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"<I>Add year to year;</I> go on in the road of your annual feasts, let
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all your males appear there three times a year before the Lord, and
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none empty, according to the law and custom, and let them never miss
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any of these solemnities: <I>let them kill the sacrifices,</I> as they
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used to do; but, as long as their lives are unreformed and their hearts
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unhumbled, let them not think thus to pacify an offended God and to
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turn away his wrath." Note, Hypocrites may be found in a constant track
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of devout exercises, and treading around in them, and with these they
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may flatter themselves, but can never please God nor make their peace
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with him.
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2. Let her know that God is coming forth against her in displeasure,
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that she shall be <I>visited of the Lord of hosts</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>);
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her sins shall be enquired into and punished: God will reckon for them
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with terrible judgments, with the frightful alarms and rueful
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desolations of war, which shall be like <I>thunder and earthquakes,
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storms and tempests, and devouring fire,</I> especially upon the
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account of the <I>great noise.</I> When a foreign enemy was not in the
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borders, but in the bowels of their country, roaring and ravaging, and
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laying all waste (especially such an army as that of the Assyrians,
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whose commanders being so very insolent, as appears by the conduct of
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Rabshakeh, the common soldiers, no doubt, were much more rude), they
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might see the Lord of those hosts visiting them with thunder and storm.
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Yet, this being here said to be <I>a great noise,</I> perhaps it is
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intimated that they shall be worse frightened than hurt. Particularly,
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(1.) Jerusalem shall be besieged, straitly besieged. He does not say,
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<I>I will destroy Ariel,</I> but I <I>will distress Ariel;</I> and she
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is <I>therefore</I> brought into distress, that, being thereby awakened
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to repent and reform, she may not be brought to destruction. <I>I will
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>)
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encamp against thee round about.</I> It was the enemy's army that
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encamped against it; but God says that he will do it, for they are his
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hand, he does it by them. God had often and long, by a host of angels,
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encamped for them round about them for their protection and
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deliverance; but now he was <I>turned to be their enemy</I> and fought
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against them. The siege laid against them was of his laying, and the
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forts raised against them were of his raising. Note, When men fight
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against us we must, in them, see God contending with us.
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(2.) She shall be in grief to see the country laid waste and all the
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fenced cities of Judah in the enemies' hand: <I>There shall be
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heaviness and sorrow</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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<I>mourning and lamentation</I>--so these two words are sometimes
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rendered. Those that are most merry and jovial are commonly, when they
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come to be in distress, most overwhelmed with heaviness and sorrow;
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their laughter is then turned into mourning. "All Jerusalem
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<I>shall</I> then <I>be unto me as Ariel,</I> as the altar, with fire
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upon it and slain victims about it:" so it was when Jerusalem was
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destroyed by the Chaldeans; and many, no doubt, were slain when it was
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besieged by the Assyrians. "the whole city shall be an altar, in which
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sinners, falling by the judgments that are abroad, shall be as victims
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to divine justice." Or thus:--"<I>There shall be heaviness and
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sorrow;</I> they shall repent, and reform, and return to God, and then
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it shall be to me as Ariel. Jerusalem shall be like itself, shall
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become to me a Jerusalem again, a holy city,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:26"><I>ch.</I> i. 26</A>.
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(3.) She shall be humbled, and mortified, and made submissive
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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"<I>Thou shalt be brought down</I> from the height of arrogancy and
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insolence to which thou hast arrived: the proud looks and the proud
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language shall be brought down by one humbling providence after
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another." Those that despise God's judgments shall be humbled by them;
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for the proudest sinners shall either bend or break before him. They
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had talked big, had <I>lifted up the horn on high,</I> and had
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<I>spoken with a stiff neck</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+75:5">Ps. lxxv. 5</A>);
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but now <I>thou shalt speak out of the ground, out of the dust, as one
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that has a familiar spirit, whispering out of the dust.</I> This
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intimates,
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[1.] That they should be faint and feeble, not able to speak up, nor to
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say all they would say; but as those who are sick, or whose spirits are
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ready to fail, their speech shall be low and interrupted.
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[2.] That they should be fearful, and in consternation, forced to speak
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low as being afraid lest their enemies should overhear them and take
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advantage against them.
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[3.] That they should be tame, and obliged to submit to the conquerors.
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When Hezekiah submitted to the king of Assyria, saying, <I>I have
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offended, that which thou puttest on me I will bear</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+18:14">2 Kings xviii. 14</A>),
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then his speech was low, out of the dust. God can make those to crouch
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that have been most daring, and quite dispirit them.</P>
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<P>
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II. The destruction of Jerusalem's enemies is foretold, for the comfort
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of all that were her friends and well-wishers in this distress
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:5,7"><I>v.</I> 5, 7</A>):
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"<I>Thou shalt be brought down</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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<I>to speak out of the dust;</I> so low thou shalt be reduced.
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<I>But</I>" (so it may be rendered) "<I>the multitude of thy strangers
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and thy terrible ones,</I> the numerous armies of the enemy,
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<I>shall</I> themselves <I>be like small dust,</I> not able to speak at
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all, or as much as whisper, but <I>as chaff that passes away.</I> Thou
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shalt be abased, but they shall be quite dispersed, smitten and slain
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after another manner
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+27:7"><I>ch.</I> xxvii. 7</A>);
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they shall pass away, <I>yea it shall be in an instant, suddenly:</I>
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the enemy shall be surprised with the destruction, and you with the
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salvation." The army of the Assyrians was by an angel laid dead upon
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the spot, in an instant, suddenly. Such will be the destruction of the
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enemies of the gospel Jerusalem. <I>In one hour shall their judgment
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come,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+18:10">Rev. xviii. 10</A>.
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Again
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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<I>"Thou shalt be visited,</I> or (as it used to be rendered) <I>She
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shall be visited with thunder and a great noise.</I> Thou shalt be put
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into a fright which thou shalt soon recover. But
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>)
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<I>the multitude of the nations that fight against her shall be as a
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dream of a night-vision;</I> they and their prosperity and success
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shall soon vanish past recall." <I>The multitude of the nations that
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fight against Zion shall be as a hungry man who dreams that he
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eats,</I> but still is hungry; that is,
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1. Whereas they hoped to make a prey of Jerusalem, and to enrich
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themselves with the plunder of that opulent city, their hopes shall
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prove vain dreams, with which their fancies may please and sport
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themselves for a while, but they shall be disappointed. They fancied
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themselves masters of Jerusalem, but shall never be so.
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2. They themselves, and all their pomp, and power, and prosperity,
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shall vanish like a dream when one awakes, shall be of as little value
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and as short continuance.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:20">Ps. lxxiii. 20</A>.
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He shall <I>fly away as a dream</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+20:8">Job xx. 8</A>.
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The army of Sennacherib vanished and was gone quickly, though it had
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filled the country as a dream fills a man's head, especially as a dream
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of meat fills the head of him that went to bed hungry. Many understand
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these verses as part of the threatening of wrath, when God comes to
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distress Jerusalem, and lay siege to her.
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(1.) The multitude of her friends, whom she relies upon for help shall
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do her no good; for, though they are terrible ones, they shall be like
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the small dust, and shall pass away.
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(2.) The multitude of her enemies shall never think they can do her
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mischief enough; but, when they have devoured her much, still they
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shall be but like a man who dreams he eats, hungry, and greedy to
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devour her more.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa29_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa29_16"> </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>Threatenings against Judah.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 725.</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>9 Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are
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drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong
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drink.
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10 For the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep
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sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers,
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the seers hath he covered.
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11 And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a
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book that is sealed, which <I>men</I> deliver to one that is learned,
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saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it
|
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<I>is</I> sealed:
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12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned,
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saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.
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13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near
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<I>me</I> with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have
|
|
removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is
|
|
taught by the precept of men:
|
|
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work
|
|
among this people, <I>even</I> a marvellous work and a wonder: for the
|
|
wisdom of their wise <I>men</I> shall perish, and the understanding of
|
|
their prudent <I>men</I> shall be hid.
|
|
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth
|
|
us? and who knoweth us?
|
|
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed
|
|
as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it,
|
|
He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed
|
|
it, He had no understanding?
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
I. The prophet stands amazed at the stupidity of the greatest part of
|
|
the Jewish nation. They had Levites, who taught <I>the good knowledge
|
|
of the Lord</I> and had encouragement from Hezekiah in doing so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+30:22">2 Chron. xxx. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
They had prophets, who brought them messages immediately from God, and
|
|
signified to them what were the causes and what would be the effects of
|
|
God's displeasure against them. Now, one would think, <I>surely this
|
|
great nation,</I> that has all the advantages of divine revelation, is
|
|
<I>a wise and understanding people,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+4:6">Deut. iv. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
But, alas! it was quite otherwise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
The prophet addresses himself to the sober thinking part of them,
|
|
calling upon them to be affected with the general carelessness of their
|
|
neighbours. It may be read, "They delay, they put off, their
|
|
repentance, but wonder you that they should be so sottish. They sport
|
|
themselves with their own deceivings; they riot and revel; but do you
|
|
<I>cry out,</I> lament their folly, cry to God by prayer for them. The
|
|
more insensible they are of the hand of God gone out against them the
|
|
more do you lay to heart these things." Note, The security of sinners
|
|
in their sinful way is just matter of lamentation and wonder to all
|
|
serious people, who should think themselves concerned to pray for those
|
|
that do not pray for themselves. But what is the matter? What are we
|
|
thus to wonder at?
|
|
|
|
1. We may well wonder that the generality of the people should be so
|
|
sottish and brutish, and so infatuated, as if they were intoxicated:
|
|
<I>They are drunken, but not with wine</I> (not with wine only, though
|
|
with that they were often drunk), and they <I>erred through wine,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:7"><I>ch.</I> xxviii. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
They were drunk with the love of pleasures, with prejudices against
|
|
religion, and with the corrupt principles they had imbibed. Like
|
|
drunken men, they know not what they do or say, nor whither they go.
|
|
They are not sensible of the divine rebukes they are under. <I>They
|
|
have beaten me, and I felt it not,</I> says the drunkard,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+23:35">Prov. xxiii. 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
God speaks to them once, yea, twice; but, like men drunk, they perceive
|
|
it not, they understand it not, but forget the law. <I>They stagger</I>
|
|
in their counsels, are unstable and unsteady, and stumble at every
|
|
thing that lies in their way. There is such a thing as spiritual
|
|
drunkenness.
|
|
|
|
2. It is yet more strange that God himself should have <I>poured out
|
|
upon them a spirit of deep sleep, and closed their eyes</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
that he who bids them awake and open their eyes should yet lay them to
|
|
sleep and shut their eyes; but it is in away of righteous judgment, to
|
|
punish them for their <I>loving darkness rather than light,</I> their
|
|
loving sleep. When God by his prophets called them they said, <I>Yet a
|
|
little sleep, a little slumber;</I> and therefore he gave them up to
|
|
strong delusions, and said, <I>Sleep on now.</I> This is applied to the
|
|
unbelieving Jews, who rejected the gospel of Christ, and were justly
|
|
hardened in their infidelity, till wrath came upon them to the
|
|
uttermost.
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+11:8">Rom. xi. 8</A>,
|
|
|
|
<I>God has given them the spirit of slumber.</I> And we have reason to
|
|
fear it is the woeful case of many who live in the midst of gospel
|
|
light.
|
|
|
|
3. It is very sad that this should be the case with those who were
|
|
their prophets, and rulers, and seers, that those who should have been
|
|
their guides were themselves blindfolded; and it is easy to tell what
|
|
the fatal consequences will be when the blind lead the blind. This was
|
|
fulfilled when, in the latter days of the Jewish church, the chief
|
|
priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, were the great
|
|
opposers of Christ and his gospel, and brought themselves under a
|
|
judicial infatuation.
|
|
|
|
4. The sad effect of this was that all the means of conviction,
|
|
knowledge, and grace, which they enjoyed, were ineffectual, and did not
|
|
answer the end
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:11,12"><I>v.</I> 11, 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>The vision of all the</I> prophets, true and false, <I>has become
|
|
to you as the words of a book,</I> or letter, <I>that is sealed up;</I>
|
|
you cannot discern the truth of the real visions and the falsehood of
|
|
the pretended ones." Or, every vision particularly that this prophet
|
|
had seen for them, and published to them, had become unintelligible;
|
|
they had it among them, but were never the wiser for it, any more than
|
|
a man (though a good scholar) is for a book delivered to him sealed up,
|
|
and which he must not open the seals of. He sees it is a book, and that
|
|
is all; he knows nothing of what is in it. So they knew that what
|
|
Isaiah said was a vision and prophecy, but the meaning of it was hidden
|
|
from them; it was only a sound of words to them, which they were not at
|
|
all alarmed by, nor affected with; it answered not the intention, for
|
|
it made no impression at all upon them. Neither the learned nor the
|
|
unlearned were the better for all the messages God sent them by his
|
|
servants the prophets, nor desired to be so. The ordinary sort of
|
|
people excused themselves from regarding what the prophets said with
|
|
their want of learning and a liberal education, as if they were not
|
|
concerned to know and do the will of God because they were not bred
|
|
scholars: <I>It is nothing to me, I am not learned.</I> Those of better
|
|
rank pretended that the prophet had a peculiar way of speaking, which
|
|
was obscure to them, and which, though they were men of letters, they
|
|
had not been used to; and, <I>Si non vis intelligi, debes negligi--If
|
|
you wish not to be understood, you deserve to be neglected.</I> Both
|
|
these are groundless pretences; for God's prophets have been no
|
|
unfaithful debtors either to the wise or to the unwise,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+1:14">Rom. i. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or we may take it thus:--The book of prophecy was given to them sealed,
|
|
so that they could not read it, as a just judgment upon them; because
|
|
it had often been delivered to them unsealed, and they would not take
|
|
pains to learn the language of it, and then made excuse for their not
|
|
reading it because they were not learned. But observe, "The vision has
|
|
become thus to you whose minds the god of this world has blinded; but
|
|
it is not so in itself, it is not so to all; the same vision which to
|
|
you is a <I>savour of death unto death</I> to others is and shall be a
|
|
<I>savour of life unto life.</I>" Knowledge is easy to him that
|
|
understands.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The prophet, in God's name, threatens those that were formal and
|
|
hypocritical in their exercises of devotion,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The sin that is here charged upon them--dissembling with God in their
|
|
religious performances,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
He that knows the heart, and cannot be imposed upon with shows and
|
|
pretences, charges it upon them, whether their hearts condemn them for
|
|
it or no. He that is greater than the heart, and knows all things,
|
|
knows that though they <I>draw nigh to him with their mouth,</I> and
|
|
<I>honour him with their lips,</I> yet they are not sincere
|
|
worshippers. To worship God is to make our approaches to him, and to
|
|
present our adorations of him; it is to draw nigh to him as those that
|
|
have business with him, with an intention therein to honour him. This
|
|
we are to do with our mouth and our lips, in speaking of him and in
|
|
speaking to him; we must <I>render to him the calves of our lips,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:2">Hosea xiv. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
And, if the heart be full of his love and fear, out of the abundance of
|
|
that the mouth will speak. But there are many whose religion is
|
|
lip-labour only. They say that which expresses an approach to God and
|
|
an adoration of him, but it is only from the teeth outward. For,
|
|
|
|
(1.) They do not apply their minds to the service. When they pretend
|
|
to be speaking to God they are thinking of a thousand impertinences:
|
|
<I>The have removed their hearts far from me,</I> that they might not
|
|
be employed in prayer, nor come within reach of the word. When work was
|
|
to be done for God, which required the heart, that was sent out of the
|
|
way on purpose, with the fool's eyes, into the ends of the earth.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They do not make the word of God the rule of their worship, nor
|
|
his will their reason: <I>Their fear towards me is taught by the
|
|
precept of men.</I> They worshipped the God of Israel, not according to
|
|
his appointment, but their own inventions, the directions of their
|
|
false prophets or their idolatrous kings, or the usages of the nations
|
|
that were round about them. The tradition of the elders was of more
|
|
value and validity with them than the laws which God commanded Moses.
|
|
Or, if they did worship God in a way conformable to his institution in
|
|
the days of Hezekiah, a great reformer, they had more an eye to the
|
|
precept of the king than to God's command. This our Saviour applies to
|
|
the Jews in his time, who were formal in their devotions and wedded to
|
|
their own inventions, and pronounces concerning them that in vain they
|
|
did worship God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+15:8,9">Matt. xv. 8, 9</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. It is a spiritual judgment with which God threatens to punish them
|
|
for their spiritual wickedness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will proceed to do a marvellous work.</I> They did one strange
|
|
thing; they removed all sincerity from their hearts. Now God will go on
|
|
and do another; he will remove all sagacity from their heads. <I>The
|
|
wisdom of their wise men shall perish.</I> They played the hypocrite,
|
|
and thought to put a cheat upon God, and now they are left to
|
|
themselves to play the fool, and not only to put a cheat upon
|
|
themselves, but to be easily cheated by all about them. Those that make
|
|
religion no more than a pretence, to serve a turn, are out in their
|
|
politics; and it is just with God to deprive those of their
|
|
understanding who part with their uprightness. This was fulfilled in
|
|
the wretched infatuation which the Jewish nation were manifestly under,
|
|
after they had rejected the gospel of Christ; they removed their hearts
|
|
far from God, and therefore God justly removed wisdom far from them,
|
|
and hid from their eyes the things that belonged even to their temporal
|
|
peace. This is a marvelous work; it is surprising, it is astonishing,
|
|
that wise men should of a sudden lose their wisdom and be given up to
|
|
strong delusions. Judgments on the mind, though least taken notice of,
|
|
are to be most wondered at.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He shows the folly of those that though to act separately and
|
|
secretly from God, and were carrying on designs independent upon God
|
|
and which they projected to conceal from his all-seeing eye. Here we
|
|
have,
|
|
|
|
1. Their politics described
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
They <I>seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord,</I> that he may
|
|
not know either what they do or what they design; they say, "Who sees
|
|
us? No man, and therefore not God himself." The consultations they had
|
|
about their own safety they kept to themselves, and never asked God's
|
|
advice concerning them; nay, they knew they were displeasing to him,
|
|
but thought they could conceal them from him; and, if he did not know
|
|
them, he could not baffle and defeat them. See what foolish fruitless
|
|
pains sinners take in their sinful ways; they seek deep, they sink
|
|
deep, to hide their counsel from the Lord, who sits in heaven and
|
|
laughs at them. Note, A practical disbelief of God's omniscience is at
|
|
the bottom both of the carnal worships and of the carnal confidences of
|
|
hypocrites;
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+94:7,Eze+8:12,9:9">Ps. xciv. 7; Ezek. viii. 12; ix. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. The absurdity of their politics demonstrated
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Surely your turning of things upside down</I> thus, your various
|
|
projects, turning your affairs this and that way to make them shape as
|
|
you would have them--or rather your inverting the order of things, and
|
|
thinking to make God's providence give attendance to your projects, and
|
|
that God must know no more than you think fit, which is perfectly
|
|
turning things upside down and beginning at the wrong end--<I>shall be
|
|
esteemed as the potter's clay.</I> God will turn and manage you, and
|
|
all your counsels, with as much ease and as absolute a power as the
|
|
potter forms and fashions his clay." See how God despises, and
|
|
therefore what little reason we have to dread, those contrivances of
|
|
men that are carried on without God, particularly those against him.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Those that think to hide their counsels from God do in effect deny
|
|
him to be their Creator. It is as if the work should say of him that
|
|
made it, "He made me not; I made myself." If God made us, he certainly
|
|
knows us as the Psalmist shows,
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+139:1,13-16">Ps. cxxxix. 1, 13-16</A>);
|
|
|
|
so that those who say that he does not see them might as well say that
|
|
he did not make them. Much of the wickedness of the wicked arises from
|
|
this, they forget that God formed them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:18">Deut. xxxii. 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Or,
|
|
|
|
(2.) Which comes to the same thing, they deny him to be a wise Creator:
|
|
<I>The thing framed saith of him that framed it, He had no
|
|
understanding;</I> for if he had understanding to make us so curiously,
|
|
especially to make us intelligent beings and to <I>put understanding
|
|
into the inward part</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+38:36">Job xxxviii. 36</A>),
|
|
|
|
no doubt he has understanding to know us and all we say and do. As
|
|
those that quarrel with God, so those that think to conceal themselves
|
|
from him, do in effect charge him with folly; but <I>he that formed the
|
|
eye, shall he not see?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+94:9">Ps. xciv. 9</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa29_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa29_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa29_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa29_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa29_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa29_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa29_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa29_24"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Promises to Israel; Character of Persecutors; Promises of Jacob.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 725.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>17 <I>Is</I> it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be
|
|
turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be
|
|
esteemed as a forest?
|
|
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book,
|
|
and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of
|
|
darkness.
|
|
19 The meek also shall increase <I>their</I> joy in the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and
|
|
the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
|
|
20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner
|
|
is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
|
|
21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for
|
|
him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a
|
|
thing of nought.
|
|
22 Therefore thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, who redeemed Abraham,
|
|
concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed,
|
|
neither shall his face now wax pale.
|
|
23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in
|
|
the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the
|
|
Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
|
|
24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding,
|
|
and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Those that thought to hide their counsels from the Lord were said to
|
|
turn things upside down
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
and they intended to do it unknown to God; but God here tells them that
|
|
he will turn things upside down his way; and let us see whose word
|
|
shall stand, his or theirs. They disbelieve Providence: "Wait awhile,"
|
|
says God, "and you shall be convinced by ocular demonstration that
|
|
there is a God who governs the world, and that he governs it and orders
|
|
all the changes that are in it for the good of his church." The
|
|
wonderful revolution here foretold may refer primarily to the happy
|
|
settlement of the affairs of Judah and Jerusalem after the defeat of
|
|
Sennacherib's attempt, and the repose which good people then enjoyed,
|
|
when they were delivered from the alarms of the sword both of war and
|
|
persecution. But it may look further, to the rejection of the Jews at
|
|
the first planting of the gospel (for their hypocrisy and infidelity
|
|
were here foretold,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>)
|
|
|
|
and the admission of the Gentiles into the church.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. In general, it is a great and surprising change that is here
|
|
foretold,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Lebanon,</I> that was a forest, <I>shall be turned into a fruitful
|
|
field;</I> and Carmel, that was a fruitful field, shall become a
|
|
forest. It is a counterchange. Note, Great changes, both for the
|
|
better and for the worse, are often made in a very little while. It was
|
|
a sign given them of the defeat of Sennacherib that the ground should
|
|
be more than ordinarily fruitful
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:30"><I>ch.</I> xxxvii. 30</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>You shall eat this year such as grows of itself;</I> food for man
|
|
shall be (as food for beasts is) the spontaneous product of the soil.
|
|
Then Lebanon became a fruitful field, so fruitful that that which used
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to be reckoned a fruitful field in comparison with it was looked upon
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but as a forest. When a great harvest of souls was gathered in to
|
|
Christ from among the Gentiles then the wilderness was turned into a
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fruitful field; and the Jewish church, that had long been a fruitful
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field, became a desolate and deserted forest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+54:1"><I>ch.</I> liv. 1</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. In particular,</P>
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<P>
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1. Those that were ignorant shall become intelligent,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
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Those that understood not this prophecy (but it was to them as a sealed
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book,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>)
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shall, when it is accomplished, understand it, and shall acknowledge,
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not only the hand of God in the event, but the voice of God in the
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|
prediction of it: <I>The deaf shall then hear the words of the
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|
book.</I> The fulfilling of prophecy is the best exposition of it. The
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poor Gentiles shall then have divine revelation brought among them; and
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those that sat in darkness shall see a great light, those that were
|
|
blind shall see out of obscurity; for the gospel was sent to them to
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<I>open their eyes,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+26:18">Acts xxvi. 18</A>.
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Observe, In order to the making of men fruitful in good affections and
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actions, the course God's grace takes with them is to open their
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understandings and make them hear the words of God's book.</P>
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<P>
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2. Those that were erroneous shall become orthodox
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
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<I>Those that erred in spirit,</I> that were under mistakes and
|
|
misapprehensions concerning the words of the book and the meaning of
|
|
them, shall come to understanding, to a right understanding of things;
|
|
the Spirit of truth shall rectify their mistakes and lead them into all
|
|
truth. This should encourage us to pray for <I>those that have erred
|
|
and are deceived,</I> that God can, and often does, bring such to
|
|
understanding. Those that murmured at the truths of God as hard
|
|
sayings, and loved to pick quarrels with them, shall learn the true
|
|
meaning of these doctrines, and then they will be better reconciled to
|
|
them. Those that erred concerning the providence of God as to public
|
|
affairs, and murmured at the disposals of it, when they shall see the
|
|
issue of things shall better understand them and be aware of what God
|
|
was designing in all,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:9">Hos. xiv. 9</A>.</P>
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<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Those that were melancholy shall become cheerful and pleasant
|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>):
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|
<I>The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord.</I> Those who
|
|
are poor in the world and poor in spirit, who, being in affliction,
|
|
accommodate themselves to their affliction, are purely passive and not
|
|
passionate, when they see God appearing for them, they shall
|
|
<I>add,</I> or <I>repeat, joy in the Lord.</I> This intimates that even
|
|
in their distress they kept up their joy in the Lord, but now they
|
|
increased it. Note, Those who, when they are in trouble, can truly
|
|
rejoice in God, shall soon have cause given them greatly to rejoice in
|
|
him. When joy in the world is decreasing and fading joy in God is
|
|
increasing and getting round. This shining light shall shine more and
|
|
more; for that which is aimed at is that <I>this joy may be full.</I>
|
|
Even <I>the poor among men</I> may rejoice in the Holy One of Israel,
|
|
and their poverty needs not deprive them of that joy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Hab+3:17,18">Hab. iii. 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
And the meek, the humble, the patient, and dispassionate, shall grow in
|
|
this joy. Note, The grace of meekness will contribute very much to the
|
|
increase of our holy joy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
4. The enemies, that were formidable, shall become despicable.
|
|
Sennacherib, that <I>terrible one,</I> and his great army, that put the
|
|
country into such a consternation, shall be <I>brought to nought</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>),
|
|
|
|
shall be quite disabled to do any further mischief. The power of Satan,
|
|
that terrible one indeed, shall be broken by the prevalency of Christ's
|
|
gospel; and those that were subject to bondage through fear of him that
|
|
had the power of death shall be delivered,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+2:14,15">Heb. ii. 14, 15</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
5. The persecutors, that were vexatious, shall be quieted, and so those
|
|
they were troublesome to shall be quiet from the fear of them. To
|
|
complete the repose of God's people, not only the terrible one from
|
|
abroad shall be brought to nought, but the scorners at home too shall
|
|
be consumed and cut off by Hezekiah's reformation. Those are a happy
|
|
people, and likely to be so, who, when God gives them victory and
|
|
success against their terrible enemies abroad, take care to suppress
|
|
vice, and profaneness, and the spirit of persecution, those more
|
|
dangerous enemies at home. Or, They shall be consumed and cut off by
|
|
the judgments of God, shall be singled out to be made examples of. Or,
|
|
They shall insensibly waste away, being put to confusion by the
|
|
fulfilling of those predictions which they had made a jest of. Observe
|
|
what had been the wickedness of these scorners, for which they should
|
|
be cut off. They had been persecutors of God's people and prophets,
|
|
probably of the prophet Isaiah particularly, and therefore he complains
|
|
thus feelingly of them and of their subtle malice. Some as informers
|
|
and persecutors, others as judges, did all they could to take away his
|
|
life, or at least his liberty. And this is very applicable to the chief
|
|
priests and Pharisees, who persecuted Christ and his apostles, and for
|
|
that sin they and their nation of scorners were cut off and consumed.
|
|
|
|
(1.) They ridiculed the prophets and the serious professors of
|
|
religion; they despised them, and did their utmost to bring them into
|
|
contempt; they were scorners, and sat in the seat of the scornful.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They lay in wait for an occasion against them. By their spies they
|
|
<I>watch for iniquity,</I> to see if they can lay hold of any thing
|
|
that is said or done that may be called an iniquity. Or they themselves
|
|
watch for an opportunity to do mischief, as Judas did to betray our
|
|
Lord Jesus.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They took advantage against them for the least slip of the tongue;
|
|
and, if a thing were ever so little said amiss, it served them to
|
|
ground an indictment upon. They <I>made a man,</I> though he were ever
|
|
so wise and good a man, though he were a man of God, <I>an offender for
|
|
a word,</I> a word mischosen or misplaced, when they could not but know
|
|
that it was well meant,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
They cavilled at every word that the prophets spoke to them by way of
|
|
admonition, though ever so innocently spoken, and without any design to
|
|
affront them. They put the worst construction upon what was said, and
|
|
made it criminal by strained innuendoes. Those who consider how apt we
|
|
all are to speak unadvisedly, and to mistake what we hear, will think
|
|
it very unjust and unfair to <I>make a man an offender for a word.</I>
|
|
|
|
(4.) They did all they could to bring those into trouble that dealt
|
|
faithfully with them and told them of their faults. Those that
|
|
<I>reprove in the gates,</I> reprovers by office, that were bound by
|
|
the duty of their place, as prophets, as judges, and magistrates, to
|
|
show people their transgressions, they hated these, and laid snares for
|
|
them, as the Pharisees' emissaries, who were sent to watch our Saviour
|
|
that they might <I>entangle him in his talk</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+22:15">Matt. xxii. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
that they might have something to lay to his charge which might render
|
|
him odious to the people or obnoxious to the government. <I>So
|
|
persecuted they the prophets;</I> and it is next to impossible for the
|
|
most cautious to place their words so warily as to escape such snares.
|
|
See how base wicked people are, who bear ill-will to those who, out of
|
|
good-will to them, seek to save their souls from death; and see what
|
|
need reprovers have both of courage to do their duty and of prudence to
|
|
avoid the snare.
|
|
|
|
(5.) They pervert judgment, and will never let an honest man carry an
|
|
honest cause: <I>They turn aside the just for a thing of nought;</I>
|
|
they condemn him, or give the cause against him, upon no evidence, no
|
|
colour or pretence whatsoever. They run a man down, and misrepresent
|
|
him, by all the little arts and tricks they can devise, as they did our
|
|
Saviour. We must not think it strange if we see the best of men thus
|
|
treated; <I>the disciple is not greater than his Master.</I> But wait
|
|
awhile, and God will not only <I>bring forth their righteousness,</I>
|
|
but cut off and consume these scorners.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
6. Jacob, who was made to blush by the reproaches, and made to tremble
|
|
by the threatenings, of his enemies, shall now be relieved both against
|
|
his shame and against his fear, by the rolling away of those reproaches
|
|
and the defeating of those threatenings
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Thus the Lord saith who redeemed Abraham,</I> that is, called him
|
|
out of Ur of the Chaldees, and so rescued him from the idolatry of his
|
|
fathers and plucked him as a <I>brand out of the fire.</I> He that
|
|
redeemed Abraham out of his snares and troubles will redeem all that
|
|
are by faith his genuine seed out of theirs. He that began his care of
|
|
his church in the redemption of Abraham, when it and its Redeemer were
|
|
in his loins, will not now cast off the care of it. Because the enemies
|
|
of his people are so industrious both to blacken them and to frighten
|
|
them, therefore he will appear for the house of Jacob, and they shall
|
|
not be ashamed as they have been, but shall have wherewith to answer
|
|
those that reproach them, nor shall <I>their faces now wax pale;</I>
|
|
but they shall gather courage, and look their enemies in the face
|
|
without change of countenance, as those have reason to do who have the
|
|
God of Abraham on their side.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
7. Jacob, who thought his family would be extinct and the entail of
|
|
religion quite cut off, shall have the satisfaction of seeing a
|
|
numerous progeny devoted to God for a generation,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He shall see his children, multitudes of believers and praying
|
|
people, the spiritual seed of faithful Abraham and wrestling Jacob.
|
|
Having his quiver full of these arrows, he <I>shall not be ashamed</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>)
|
|
|
|
but shall speak with his enemy in the gate,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:5">Ps. cxxvii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
Christ shall <I>not be ashamed</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+50:7"><I>ch.</I> l. 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
for <I>he shall see his seed</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+53:10"><I>ch.</I> liii. 10</A>);
|
|
|
|
he sees some, and foresees more, <I>in the midst of him,</I> flocking
|
|
to the church, and residing there.
|
|
|
|
(2.) His children are the work of God's hands; being formed by him,
|
|
they are formed for him, his <I>workmanship, created unto good
|
|
works.</I> It is some comfort to parents to think that their children
|
|
are God's creatures, the work of the hands of his grace.
|
|
|
|
(3.) He and his children shall sanctify the name of God as their God,
|
|
as <I>the Holy One of Jacob,</I> and shall fear and worship the God of
|
|
Israel. This is opposed to his being ashamed and waxing pale; when he
|
|
is delivered from his contempts and dangers he shall not magnify
|
|
himself, but <I>sanctify the Holy One of Jacob.</I> If God make our
|
|
condition easy, we must endeavour to make his name glorious. Parents
|
|
and children are ornaments and comforts indeed to each other when they
|
|
join in sanctifying the name of God. When parents give up their
|
|
children, and children give up themselves, to God, to be <I>to him for
|
|
a name and a praise,</I> then the forest will soon become a fruitful
|
|
field.</P>
|
|
|
|
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