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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Isaiah XXX].</TITLE>
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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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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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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. XXX.</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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The prophecy of this chapter seems to relate (as that in the foregoing
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chapter) to the approaching danger of Jerusalem and desolations of
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Judah by Sennacherib's invasion. Here is,
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I. A just reproof to those who, in that distress, trusted to the
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Egyptians for help, and were all in a hurry to fetch succours from Egypt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:1-7">ver. 1-7</A>.
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II. A terrible threatening against those who slighted the good advice
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which God by his prophets gave them for the repose of their minds in
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that distress, assuring them that whatever became of others the
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judgment would certainly overtake them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:8-17">ver. 8-17</A>.
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III. A gracious promise to those who trusted in God, that they should
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not only see through the trouble, but should see happy days after it,
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times of joy and reformation, plenty of the means of grace, and
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therewith plenty of outward good things and increasing joys and
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triumphs
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:18-26">ver. 18-26</A>),
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and many of these promises are very applicable to gospel grace.
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IV. A prophecy of the total rout and ruin of the Assyrian army, which
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should be an occasion of great joy and an introduction to those happy
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times,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:27-33">ver. 27-33</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa30_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Foolish Confidence of Judah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 720.</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 the rebellious children, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that take
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counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not
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of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
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2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my
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mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and
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to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
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3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and
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the trust in the shadow of Egypt <I>your</I> confusion.
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4 For his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors came to
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Hanes.
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5 They were all ashamed of a people <I>that</I> could not profit
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them, nor be a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a
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reproach.
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6 The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of
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trouble and anguish, from whence <I>come</I> the young and old lion,
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the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches
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upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the
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bunches of camels, to a people <I>that</I> shall not profit <I>them.</I>
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7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose:
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therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength <I>is</I> to
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sit still.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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It was often the fault and folly of the people of the Jews that, when
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they were insulted by their neighbours on one side, they sought for
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succour from their neighbours on the other side, instead of looking up
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to God and putting their confidence in him. Against the Israelites
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they sought to the Syrians,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+16:2,3">2 Chron. xvi. 2, 3</A>.
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Against the Syrians they sought to the Assyrians,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+16:7">2 Kings xvi. 7</A>.
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Against the Assyrians they here sought to the Egyptians, and Rabshakeh
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upbraided them with so doing,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+18:21">2 Kings xviii. 21</A>.
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Now observe here,</P>
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<P>
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I. How this sin of theirs is described, and what there was in it that
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was provoking to God. When they saw themselves in danger and distress,
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1. They would not consult God. They would do things of their own heads,
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and not advise with God, though they had a ready and certain way of
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doing it by Urim or prophets. They were so confident of the prudence of
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their own measures that they thought it needless to consult the oracle;
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nay, they were not willing to put it to that issue: "They <I>take
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counsel</I> among themselves, and one from another; but they do not ask
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counsel, much less will they take counsel, of me. They <I>cover with a
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covering</I>" (they think to secure themselves with one shelter or
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other, which may serve to cover them from the violence of the storm),
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"<I>but not of my Spirit</I>" (not such as God by his Spirit, in the
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mouth of his prophets, directed them to), "and therefore it will prove
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too short a covering, and a refuge of lies."
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2. They could not confide in God. They did not think it enough to have
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God on their side, nor were they at all solicitous to make him their
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friend, but they <I>strengthened themselves in the strength of
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Pharaoh;</I> they thought him a powerful ally, and doubted not but to
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be able to cope with the Assyrian while they had him for them. <I>The
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shadow of Egypt</I> (and it was but a shadow) was the covering in which
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they wrapped themselves.</P>
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<P>
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II. What was the evil of this sin.
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1. It bespoke them <I>rebellious children;</I> and a <I>woe</I> is here
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denounced against them under that character,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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They were, in profession, God's children; but, not trusting in him,
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they were justly stigmatized as rebellious; for, if we distrust God's
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providence, we do in effect withdraw ourselves from our allegiance.
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2. They added sin to sin. It was sin that brought them into distress;
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and then, instead of repenting, they <I>trespassed yet more against the
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Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+28:22">2 Chron. xxviii. 22</A>.
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And those that had abused God's mercies to them, making them the fuel
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of their lusts, abused their afflictions too, making them an excuse for
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their distrust of God; and so they make bad worse, and add sin to sin;
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and those that do so, as they make their own chain heavy, so it is just
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with God to make their plagues wonderful. Now that which aggravated
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their sin was,
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(1.) That they took so much pains to secure the Egyptians for their
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allies: <I>They walk to go down to Egypt,</I> travel up and down to
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find an advantageous road thither; but they <I>have not asked at my
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mouth,</I> never considered whether God would allow and approve of it
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or no.
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(2.) That they were at such a vast expense to do it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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They load <I>the beasts of the south</I> (horses fetched from Egypt,
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which lay south from Judea) with their riches, fancying, as it is
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common with people in a fright, that they were safer any where than
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where they were. Or they sent their riches thither as bribes to
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Pharaoh's courtiers, to engage them in their interests, or as pay for
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their army. God would have helped them <I>gratis;</I> but, if they
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will have help from the Egyptians, they must pay dearly for it, and
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they seem willing to do so. The riches that are so spent will turn to
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a bad account. They carried their effects to Egypt through a land (so
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it may be read) of trouble and anguish, that vast howling wilderness
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which lay between Canaan and Egypt, <I>whence come the lion and fiery
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serpent,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:15">Deut. viii. 15</A>.
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They would venture through that dangerous wilderness, to bring what
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they had to Egypt. Or it may be meant of Egypt itself, which had been
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to Israel a house of bondage and therefore a land of trouble and
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anguish, and which abounded in ravenous and venomous creatures. See
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what dangers men run into that forsake God, and what dangers they will
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run into in pursuance of their carnal confidences and their
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expectations from the creature.</P>
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<P>
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III. What would be the consequence of it.
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1. The Egyptians would receive their ambassadors, would address them
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very respectfully, and be willing to treat with them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>His princes were at Zoan,</I> at Pharaoh's court there, and had
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their audience of the king, who encouraged them to depend upon his
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friendship and the succours he would send them. But,
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2. They would not answer their expectation: They <I>could not profit
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them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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For God says, <I>They shall not profit them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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and every creature is that to us (and no more) which he makes it to be.
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The forces they were to furnish them with could not be raised in time;
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or, when they were raised, they were not fit for service, and they
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would not venture any of their veteran troops in the expedition; or the
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march was so long that they could not come up when they had occasion
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for them; or the Egyptians would not be cordial to Israel, but would
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secretly incline to the Assyrians, upon some account or other: <I>The
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Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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They shall hinder and hurt, instead of helping. And therefore,
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3. These people, that were now so fond of the Egyptians, would at
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length be ashamed of them, and of all their expectations from them and
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confidence in them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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"<I>The strength of Pharaoh,</I> which was your pride, <I>shall be your
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shame;</I> all your neighbours will upbraid you, and you will upbraid
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yourselves, with your folly in trusting to it. And the <I>shadow of
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Egypt,</I> that <I>land shadowing with wings</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+18:1"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 1</A>),
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which was your confidence, shall be your confusion; it will not only
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disappoint you, and be the matter of your shame, but it will weaken all
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your other supports, and be an occasion of mischief to you." God
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afterwards threatens the ruin of Egypt for this very thing, because
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they had dealt treacherously with Israel and <I>been a staff of a
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reed</I> to them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+29:6,7">Ezek. xxix. 6, 7</A>.
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The princes and ambassadors of Israel, who were so forward to court an
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alliance with them, when they come among them shall see so much of
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their weakness, or rather of their baseness, that <I>they shall all be
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ashamed of a people that could not be a help or profit to them,</I> but
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a <I>shame and reproach,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>.
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Those that trust in God, in his power, providence, and promise, are
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never made ashamed of their hope; but those that put confidence in any
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creature will sooner or later find it a reproach to them. God is true,
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and may be trusted, but every man a liar, and must be suspected. The
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Creator is a rock of ages, the creature a broken reed. We cannot expect
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too little from man nor too much from God.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The use and application of all this
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
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"<I>Therefore have I cried concerning this</I> matter, this project of
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theirs. I have published it, that all might take notice of it. I have
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pressed it as one in earnest. <I>Their strength is to sit still,</I> in
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a humble dependence upon God and his goodness and a quiet submission to
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his will, and not to wander about and put themselves to great trouble
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to seek help from this and the other creature." If we sit still in a
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day of distress, hoping and quietly waiting for the salvation of the
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Lord, and using only lawful regular methods for our own preservation,
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this will be the strength of our souls both for services and
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sufferings, and it will engage divine strength for us. We weaken
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ourselves, and provoke God to withdraw from us, when we make flesh our
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arm, for then our hearts depart from the Lord. When we have tired
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ourselves by seeking for help from creatures we shall find it the best
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way of recruiting ourselves to repose in the Creator. <I>Here I am, let
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him do with me as he pleases.</I></P>
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<A NAME="Isa30_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa30_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Doom of Incorrigible Sinners.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 720.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a
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book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
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9 That this <I>is</I> a rebellious people, lying children, children
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<I>that</I> will not hear the law of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>:
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10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets,
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Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things,
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prophesy deceits:
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11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause
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the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
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12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye
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despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and
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stay thereon:
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13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to
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fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly
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at an instant.
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14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel
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that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall
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not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the
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hearth, or to take water <I>withal</I> out of the pit.
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15 For thus saith the Lord G<FONT SIZE=-1><B>OD</B></FONT>, the Holy One of Israel; In
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returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in
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confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
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16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore
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shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall
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they that pursue you be swift.
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17 One thousand <I>shall flee</I> at the rebuke of one; at the
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rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon
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the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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I. The preface is very awful. The prophet must not only preach this,
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but he must write it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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<I>write it in a table,</I> to be hung up and exposed to public view;
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he must carefully <I>note it,</I> not in loose papers which might be
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lost or torn, but <I>in a book,</I> to be preserved for posterity,
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<I>in perpetuam rei memoriam--for a standing testimony</I> against this
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wicked generation; let it remain not only to the next succeeding ages,
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but for ever and ever, while the world stands; and so it shall, for the
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book of the scriptures no doubt, shall continue, and be read, to the
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end of time. Let it be written,
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1. To shame the men of the present age, who would not hear and heed it
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when it was spoken. Let it be written, that it may not be lost; their
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children may profit by it, though they will not.
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2. To justify God in the judgments he was about to ring upon them;
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people will be tempted to think he was too hard upon them, and
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over-severe, unless they know how very bad they were, how very
|
|
provoking, and what fair means God tried with them before he brought it
|
|
to this extremity.
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3. For warning to others not to do as they did, lest they should fare
|
|
as they fared. It is designed for admonition to those of the remotest
|
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place and age, even those <I>upon whom the ends of the world have
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come,</I>
|
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:11">1 Cor. x. 11</A>.
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It may be of use for God's ministers not only to preach, but to write;
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for that which is written remains.</P>
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<P>
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II. The character given of the profane and wicked Jews is very sad. He
|
|
must, if he will draw them in their own colours, write this concerning
|
|
them (and we are sure he does not bear false witness against them, nor
|
|
make them worse than they were, for the judgment of God is according to
|
|
truth), <I>That this is a rebellious people,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
The Jews were, for aught we know, the only professing people God had
|
|
then in the world, and yet many of them were a rebellious people.
|
|
|
|
1. They rebelled against their own convictions and covenants: "They are
|
|
<I>lying children,</I> that will not stand to what they say, that
|
|
promise fair, but perform nothing;" when he took them into covenant
|
|
with himself he said of them, <I>Surely they are my people, children
|
|
that will not lie</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:8"><I>ch.</I> lxiii. 8</A>);
|
|
|
|
but they proved otherwise.
|
|
|
|
2. They rebelled against the divine authority: "They are <I>children
|
|
that will not hear the law of the Lord,</I> nor heed it, but will do as
|
|
they have a mind, let God himself say what he will to the
|
|
contrary."</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The charge drawn up against them is very high and the sentence
|
|
passed upon them very dreadful. Two things they here stand charged
|
|
with, and their doom is read for both, a fearful doom:--</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. They forbade the prophets to speak to them in God's name, and to
|
|
deal faithfully with them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) This their sin is described,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:10,11"><I>v.</I> 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
They set themselves so violently against the prophets to hinder them
|
|
from preaching, or at least from dealing plainly with them in their
|
|
preaching, did so banter them and browbeat them, that they did in
|
|
effect <I>say to the seers, See not.</I> They had the light, but they
|
|
loved darkness rather. It was their privilege that they had seers among
|
|
them, but they did what they could to put out their eyes--that they had
|
|
prophets among them, but they did what they could to stop their mouths;
|
|
for they tormented them in their wicked ways,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+11:10">Rev. xi. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Those that silence good ministers, and discountenance good preaching,
|
|
are justly counted, and called, <I>rebels against God.</I> See what it
|
|
was in the prophets' preaching with which they found themselves
|
|
aggrieved.
|
|
|
|
[1.] The prophets told them of their faults, and warned them of their
|
|
misery and danger by reason of sin, and they could not bear that. They
|
|
must speak to them smooth things, must flatter them in their sins, and
|
|
say that they did well, and there was no harm, no peril, in the course
|
|
of life they lived in. Let a thing be ever so right and true, if it be
|
|
not smooth, they will not hear it. But if it be agreeable to the good
|
|
opinion they have of themselves, and will confirm them in that, though
|
|
it be ever so false and ever so great a cheat upon them, they will have
|
|
it prophesied to them. Those deserve to be deceived that desire to be
|
|
so.
|
|
|
|
[2.] The prophets stopped them in their sinful pursuits, and stood in
|
|
their way like the angel in Balaam's road, with the sword of God's
|
|
wrath drawn in their hand; so that they could not proceed without
|
|
terror. And this they took as a great insult. When they went on
|
|
frowardly in the way of their hearts they said to the prophets, <I>"Get
|
|
you out of the way, turn aside out of the paths.</I> What do you do in
|
|
our way? Cannot you let us alone to do as we please?" Those have their
|
|
hearts fully set in them to do evil that bid their faithful monitors to
|
|
stand out of their way. <I>Forbear, why shouldst thou be smitten?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+25:16">2 Chron. xxv. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
[3.] The prophets were continually telling them of the Holy One of
|
|
Israel, what an enemy he is to sin ad how severely he will reckon with
|
|
sinners; and this they could not endure to hear of. Both the thing
|
|
itself and the expression of it were too serious for them; and
|
|
therefore, if the prophets will speak to them, they will make it their
|
|
bargain that they shall not call God <I>the Holy One of Israel;</I> for
|
|
God's holiness is that attribute which wicked people most of all dread.
|
|
Let us no more be troubled with that state-preface (as Mr. White calls
|
|
it) to your impertinent harangues. Those have reason to fear perishing
|
|
in their sins that cannot bear to be frightened out of them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Now what is the doom passed upon them for this? We have it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Who it is that gives judgment upon them: <I>Thus saith the Holy
|
|
One of Israel.</I> That title of God which they particularly excepted
|
|
against the prophet makes use of. Faithful ministers will not be driven
|
|
from using such expressions as are proper to awaken sinners, though
|
|
they be displeasing. We must tell men that God is the <I>Holy One of
|
|
Israel,</I> and so they shall find him, whether they will hear or
|
|
whether they will forbear.
|
|
|
|
[2.] What the ground of the judgment is: <I>Because they despise this
|
|
word</I>--wither, in general, every word that the prophets said to
|
|
them, or this word in particular, which declares God to be <I>the Holy
|
|
One of Israel:</I> "they despise this, and will neither make it their
|
|
fear, to stand in awe of it, nor make it their hope, to put any
|
|
confidence in it; but, rather than they will be beholden to <I>the Holy
|
|
One of Israel,</I> they will <I>trust in oppression and
|
|
perverseness,</I> in the wealth they have got and the interest they
|
|
have made by fraud and violence, or in the sinful methods they have
|
|
taken for their own security, in contradiction to God and his will. On
|
|
these they lean, and therefore it is just that they should fall."
|
|
|
|
[3.] What the judgment is that is passed upon them: "<I>This iniquity
|
|
shall be to you as a breach ready to fall.</I> This confidence of yours
|
|
will be like a house built upon the sand, which will fall in the storm
|
|
and bury the builder in the ruins of it. Your contempt of that word of
|
|
God which you might build upon will make every thing else you trust
|
|
like a wall that bulges out, which, if any weight be laid upon it,
|
|
comes down, nay, which often sinks with its own weight." The ruin they
|
|
would hereby bring upon themselves should be, <I>First,</I> A
|
|
surprising ruin: <I>The breaking shall come suddenly, at an
|
|
instant,</I> when they do not expect it, which will make it the more
|
|
frightful, and when they are not prepared or provided for it, which
|
|
will make it the more fatal. <I>Secondly,</I> An utter ruin, universal
|
|
and irreparable: "Your and all your confidences shall be not only weak
|
|
as the potter's clay
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+29:16"><I>ch.</I> xxix. 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
but <I>broken to pieces as the potter's vessel.</I> He that has the rod
|
|
of iron shall break it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+2:9">Ps. ii. 9</A>)
|
|
|
|
and he shall not spare, shall not have any regard to it, nor be in care
|
|
to preserve or keep whole any part of it. But, when once it is broken
|
|
so as to be unfit for use, let it be dashed, let it be crushed, all to
|
|
pieces, so that there may not remain one <I>sherd</I> big enough <I>to
|
|
take up</I> a little <I>fire or water</I>"--two things we have daily
|
|
need of, and which poor people commonly fetch in a piece of a broken
|
|
pitcher. They shall not only be as a <I>bowing wall</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+62:3">Ps. lxii. 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
but as a broken mug or glass, which is good for nothing, nor can ever
|
|
be made whole again.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They slighted the gracious directions God gave them, not only how to
|
|
secure themselves and make themselves safe, but how to compose
|
|
themselves and make themselves easy; they would take their own way,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:15-17"><I>v.</I> 15-17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Observe here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The method God put them into for salvation and strength. The God
|
|
that knew them, and knew what was proper for them, and desired their
|
|
welfare, gave them this prescription; and it is recommended to us all.
|
|
|
|
[1.] Would we be saved from the evil of every calamity, guarded against
|
|
the temptation of it and secured from the curse of it, which are the
|
|
only evil things in it? It must be <I>in returning and rest,</I> in
|
|
returning to God and reposing in him as our rest. Let us return from
|
|
our evil ways, into which we have gone aside, and rest and settle in
|
|
the way of God and duty, and that is the way to be saved. "Return from
|
|
this project of going down to Egypt, and rest satisfied in the will of
|
|
God, and then you may trust him with your safety. <I>In returning</I>
|
|
(in the thorough reformation of your hearts and lives) <I>and in
|
|
rest</I> (in an entire submission of your souls to God and a
|
|
complacency in him) <I>you shall be saved.</I>"
|
|
|
|
[2.] Would we be strengthened to do what is required of us and to bear
|
|
what is laid upon us? It must be <I>in quietness and in confidence;</I>
|
|
we must keep our spirits calm and sedate by a continual dependence upon
|
|
God, and his power and goodness; we must retire into ourselves with a
|
|
holy quietness, suppressing all turbulent and tumultuous passions, and
|
|
keeping the peace in our own minds. And we must rely upon God with a
|
|
holy confidence that he can do what he will and will do what is best
|
|
for his people. And this will be our strength; it will inspire us with
|
|
such a holy fortitude as will carry us with ease and courage through
|
|
all the difficulties we may meet with.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The contempt they put upon this prescription; they would not take
|
|
God's counsel, though it was so much for their own good. And justly
|
|
will those die of their disease that will not take God for their
|
|
physician. We are certainly enemies to ourselves if we will not be
|
|
subjects to him. They would not so much as try the method prescribed:
|
|
"<I>But you said, No</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
we will not compose ourselves, for <I>we will flee upon horses</I> and
|
|
<I>we will ride upon the swift;</I> we will hurry hither and thither to
|
|
fetch in foreign aids." They think themselves wiser than God, and that
|
|
they know what is good for themselves better than he does. When
|
|
Sennacherib took all the fenced cities of Judah, those rebellious
|
|
children would not be persuaded to sit still and patiently to expect
|
|
God's appearing for them, as he did wonderfully at last; but they would
|
|
shift for their own safety, and thereby they exposed themselves to so
|
|
much the more danger.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The sentence passed upon them for this. Their sin shall be their
|
|
punishment: "You will flee, and therefore <I>you shall flee;</I> you
|
|
will be upon the full speed, and therefore so shall those be that
|
|
pursue you." The dogs are most apt to run barking after him that rides
|
|
fast. The conquerors protected those that sat still, but pursued those
|
|
that made their escape; and so that very project by which they hoped to
|
|
save themselves was justly their ruin and the most guilty suffered
|
|
most. It is foretold,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>,
|
|
|
|
[1.] That they should be easily cut off; they should be so dispirited
|
|
with their own fears, increased by their flight, that one of the enemy
|
|
should defeat a thousand of them, and five put an army to flight, which
|
|
could never be <I>unless their Rock had sold them</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:30">Deut. xxxii. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] That they should be generally cut off, and only here and there one
|
|
should escape alone in a solitary place, and be left for a spectacle
|
|
too, <I>as a beacon upon the top of a mountain,</I> a warning to others
|
|
to avoid the like sinful courses and carnal confidences.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_26"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Promises.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 720.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>18 And therefore will the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> wait, that he may be gracious
|
|
unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have
|
|
mercy upon you: for the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> <I>is</I> a God of judgment: blessed
|
|
<I>are</I> all they that wait for him.
|
|
19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt
|
|
weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of
|
|
thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
|
|
20 And <I>though</I> the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and
|
|
the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed
|
|
into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
|
|
21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This
|
|
<I>is</I> the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and
|
|
when ye turn to the left.
|
|
22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of
|
|
silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt
|
|
cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get
|
|
thee hence.
|
|
23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow
|
|
the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it
|
|
shall be fat and plenteous: in that day shall thy cattle feed in
|
|
large pastures.
|
|
24 The oxen likewise and the young asses that ear the ground
|
|
shall eat clean provender, which hath been winnowed with the
|
|
shovel and with the fan.
|
|
25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every
|
|
high hill, rivers <I>and</I> streams of waters in the day of the great
|
|
slaughter, when the towers fall.
|
|
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the
|
|
sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of
|
|
seven days, in the day that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> bindeth up the breach of his
|
|
people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The closing words of the foregoing paragraph (<I>You shall be left as a
|
|
beacon upon a mountain</I>) some understand as a promise that a remnant
|
|
of them should be reserved as monuments of mercy; and here the prophet
|
|
tells them what good times should succeed these calamities. Or the
|
|
first words in this paragraph may be read by way of antithesis,
|
|
<I>Notwithstanding this, yet will the Lord wait that he may be
|
|
gracious.</I> The prophet, having shown that those who made Egypt their
|
|
confidence would be ashamed of it, here shows that those who sat still
|
|
and made God alone their confidence would have the comfort of it. It is
|
|
matter of comfort to the people of God, when the times are very bad,
|
|
that <I>all will be well yet,</I> well with those that fear God, when
|
|
we say to the wicked, <I>It shall be ill with you.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. God will be gracious to them and will have mercy on them. This is
|
|
the foundation of all good. If we find favour with God, and he have
|
|
mercy upon us, we shall have comfort according to the time that we have
|
|
been afflicted.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. The mercy in store for them is very affectingly expressed.
|
|
|
|
(1.) "He will <I>wait to be gracious</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
he will wait till you return to him and seek his face, and then he will
|
|
be ready to meet you with mercy. He will wait, that he may do it in the
|
|
best and fittest time, when it will be most for his glory, when it will
|
|
come to you with the most pleasing surprise. He will continually follow
|
|
you with his favours, and not let slip any opportunity of being
|
|
gracious to you."
|
|
|
|
(2.) "He will stir up himself to deliver you, will be exalted, will be
|
|
<I>raised up out of his holy habitation</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Zec+2:13">Zech. ii. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
that he may appear for you in more than ordinary instances of power and
|
|
goodness; <I>and thus he will be exalted,</I> that is, he will glorify
|
|
his own name. This is what he aims at in having mercy on his people."
|
|
|
|
(3.) <I>He will be very gracious</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
and this in answer to prayer, which makes his kindness doubly kind:
|
|
"<I>He will be gracious to thee, at the voice of thy cry,</I> the cry
|
|
of thy necessity, when that is most urgent--the cry of thy prayer, when
|
|
that is most fervent. <I>When he shall hear it,</I> there needs no
|
|
more; at the first word <I>he will answer thee,</I> and say, <I>Here I
|
|
am.</I>" Herein he is very gracious indeed. In particular,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Those who were disturbed in the possession of their estates shall
|
|
again enjoy them quietly. When the danger is over <I>the people shall
|
|
dwell in Zion, at Jerusalem,</I> as they used to do; they shall dwell
|
|
safely, free from the fear of evil.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Those who were all in tears shall have cause to rejoice, and shall
|
|
weep no more; and those who dwell in Zion, the holy city, will find
|
|
enough there to wipe away tears from their eyes.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. This is grounded upon two great truths:
|
|
|
|
(1.) That <I>the Lord is a God of judgment;</I> he is both wise and
|
|
just in all the disposals of his providence, true to his word and
|
|
tender of his people. If he correct his children, it is <I>with
|
|
judgment</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+10:24">Jer. x. 24</A>),
|
|
|
|
with moderation and discretion, considering their frame. We think we
|
|
may safely refer ourselves to a man of judgment; and shall we not
|
|
commit our way to a God of judgment?
|
|
|
|
(2.) That therefore all those are blessed who <I>wait for him,</I> who
|
|
not only wait on him with their prayers, but wait for him with their
|
|
hopes, who will not take any indirect course to extricate themselves
|
|
out of their straits, or anticipate their deliverance, but patiently
|
|
expect God's appearances for them in his own way and time. Because God
|
|
is infinitely wise, those are truly happy who refer their cause to
|
|
him.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. They shall not again know the want of the means of grace,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here,
|
|
|
|
1. It is supposed that they might be brought into straits and troubles
|
|
after this deliverance was wrought for them. It was promised
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>),
|
|
|
|
that they should <I>weep no more</I> and that God would be <I>gracious
|
|
to them;</I> and yet here it is taken for granted that God may give
|
|
them the <I>bread of adversity and the water of affliction,</I>
|
|
prisoners' fare
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+22:27">1 Kings xxii. 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
coarse and sorry food, such as the poor use. When one trouble is over
|
|
we know not how soon another may succeed; and we may have an interest
|
|
in the favour of God, and such consolations as are sufficient to
|
|
prohibit weeping, and yet may have bread of adversity given us to eat
|
|
and water of affliction to drink. Let us therefore not judge of love
|
|
or hatred by what is before us.
|
|
|
|
2. It is promised that their eyes should <I>see their teachers,</I>
|
|
that is, that they should have faithful teachers among them, and should
|
|
have hearts to regard them and not slight them as they had done; and
|
|
then they might the better be reconciled to the bread of adversity and
|
|
the water of affliction. It was a common saying among the old Puritans,
|
|
<I>Brown bread and the gospel are good fare.</I> A famine of bread is
|
|
not so great a judgment as a famine of the word of God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+8:11,12">Amos viii. 11, 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
It seems that their teachers had been removed into corners (probably
|
|
being forced to shift for their safety in the reign of Ahaz), but it
|
|
shall be so no more. <I>Veritas non quærit angulos--Truth seeks
|
|
no corners for concealment.</I> But the teachers of truth may sometimes
|
|
be driven into corners for shelter; and it goes ill with the church
|
|
when it is so, when the woman with her crown of twelve stars is forced
|
|
to flee into the wilderness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+12:6">Rev. xii. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
when the prophets are <I>hidden by fifty in a cave,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+18:4">1 Kings xviii. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
But God will find a time to call the teachers out of their corners
|
|
again, and to replace them in their solemn assemblies, which shall
|
|
<I>see their own teachers,</I> the <I>eyes of all the synagogue</I>
|
|
being fastened on them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+4:20">Luke iv. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
And it will be the more pleasing because of the restraint they have
|
|
been for some time under, as light out of darkness, as life from the
|
|
dead. To all that love God and their own souls this return of faithful
|
|
teachers out of their corners, especially with a promise that they
|
|
<I>shall not be removed into corners any more,</I> is the most
|
|
acceptable part of any deliverance, and has comfort enough in it to
|
|
sweeten even the bread of adversity and the water of affliction. But
|
|
this is not all:
|
|
|
|
3. It is promised that they shall have the benefit, not only of the
|
|
public ministry, but of private and particular admonition and advice
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thy ears shall hear a word behind thee,</I> calling after thee as a
|
|
man calls after a traveller that he sees going out of his road."
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) Whence this word shall come--from <I>behind thee,</I> from some
|
|
one whom thou dost not see, but who sees thee. "Thy eyes see thy
|
|
teachers; but this is a teacher out of sight, it is thy own conscience,
|
|
which shall now by the grace of God be awakened to do its office."
|
|
|
|
(2.) What the word shall be: "<I>This is the way, walk you in it.</I>
|
|
When thou art doubting, conscience shall direct thee to the way of
|
|
duty; when thou art dull and trifling, conscience shall quicken thee in
|
|
that way." As God has not left himself without witness, so he has not
|
|
left us without guides to show us our way.
|
|
|
|
(3.) The seasonableness of this word: It shall come <I>when you turn to
|
|
the right hand or to the left.</I> We are very apt to miss our way;
|
|
there are turnings on both hands, and those so tracked and seemingly
|
|
straight that they may easily be mistaken for the right way. There are
|
|
right-hand and left-hand errors, extremes on each side virtue; the
|
|
tempter is busy courting us into the by-paths. It is happy then if by
|
|
the particular counsels of a faithful minister or friend, or the checks
|
|
of conscience and the strivings of God's Spirit, we be set right and
|
|
prevented from going wrong.
|
|
|
|
(4.) The success of this word: "It shall not only be spoken, but thy
|
|
ears shall hear it; whereas God has formerly <I>spoken once, yea,
|
|
twice,</I> and thou <I>hast not perceived it</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+33:14">Job xxxiii. 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
now thou shalt listen attentively to these secret whispers, and hear
|
|
them with an obedient ear." If God gives us not only the word, but the
|
|
hearing ear, not only the means of grace, but a heart to make a good
|
|
use of those means, we have reason to say, He is very gracious to us,
|
|
and reason to hope he has yet further mercy in store for us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. They shall be cured of their idolatry, shall fall out with their
|
|
idols, and never be reconciled to them again,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
The deliverance God shall work for them shall convince them that it is
|
|
their interest, as well as duty, to serve him only; and they shall own
|
|
that, as their trouble was brought upon them for their idolatries, so
|
|
it was removed upon condition that they should not return to them. This
|
|
is also the good effect of their seeing their teachers and hearing the
|
|
word behind them; by this it shall appear that they are the better for
|
|
the means of grace they enjoy--they shall break off from their
|
|
best-beloved sin. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How foolishly mad they had formerly been upon their idols, in the
|
|
day of their apostasy. Idolaters are said to be <I>mad upon their
|
|
idols</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+50:38">Jer. l. 38</A>),
|
|
|
|
doatingly fond of them. They had <I>graven images of silver,</I> and
|
|
<I>molten images of gold,</I> and, though gold needs no painting, they
|
|
had coverings and ornaments on these; they spared no cost in doing
|
|
honour to their idols.
|
|
|
|
2. How wisely mad (if I may so speak) they now were at their idols,
|
|
what a holy indignation they conceived against them in the day of their
|
|
repentance. They not only degraded their images, but defaced them, not
|
|
only defaced them, but defiled them; they not only spoiled the shape of
|
|
them, but in a pious fury threw away the gold and silver they were made
|
|
of, though otherwise valuable and convertible to a good use. They could
|
|
not find in their hearts to make any vessel of honour of them. The rich
|
|
clothes wherewith their images were dressed up they cast away as a
|
|
filthy cloth which rendered those that touched it <I>unclean until the
|
|
evening,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+15:23">Lev. xv. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, To all true penitents sin has become very odious; they loathe it,
|
|
and loathe themselves because of it; they cast it away to the dunghill,
|
|
the fittest place for it, nay, to the cross, for they crucify the
|
|
flesh; their cry against it is, <I>Crucify it, crucify it.</I> They say
|
|
unto it, <I>Abi hinc in malam rem--Get thee hence.</I> They are
|
|
resolved never to harbour it any more. They put as far from as they can
|
|
all the occasions of sin and temptations to it, though they are as a
|
|
right eye or a right hand, and protest against it as Ephraim did
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:8">Hos. xiv. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>What have I to do any more with idols?</I> Probably this was
|
|
fulfilled in many particular persons, who, by the deliverance of
|
|
Jerusalem from Sennacherib's army, were convinced of the folly of their
|
|
idolatry and forsook it. It was fulfilled in the body of the Jewish
|
|
nation at their return from their captivity in Babylon, for they
|
|
abhorred idols ever after; and it is accomplished daily in the
|
|
conversion of souls, by the power of divine grace, from spiritual
|
|
idolatry to the fear and love of God. Those that join themselves to the
|
|
Lord must abandon every sin, and say unto it, <I>Get thee
|
|
hence.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. God will then give them plenty of all good things. When he gives
|
|
them their teachers, and they give him their hearts, so that they begin
|
|
to seek the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, <I>then all
|
|
other things shall be added to them</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+6:33">Matt. vi. 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
And when the people are brought to praise God <I>then shall the earth
|
|
yield her increase, and with it God, even our own God, shall bless
|
|
us,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+67:5,6">Ps. lxvii. 5, 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
So it follows here: "When you shall have abandoned your idols, <I>then
|
|
shall God give the rain of your seed,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
When we return to God in a way of duty he will meet us with his
|
|
favours.
|
|
|
|
1. God will give you rain of your seed, rain to water the seed you sow,
|
|
just at the time that it calls for it, as much as it needs and no more.
|
|
Observe, How man's industry and God's blessing concur to the good
|
|
things we enjoy relating to the life that now is: <I>Thou shalt sow the
|
|
ground,</I> that is thy part, and then <I>God will give the rain of thy
|
|
seed,</I> that is his part. It is so in spiritual fruit; we must take
|
|
pains with our hearts and then wait on God for his grace.
|
|
|
|
2. The increase of the earth shall be rich and good, and every thing
|
|
the best of the kind; it shall be <I>fat and fat,</I> very fat and very
|
|
good, <I>fat and plenteous</I> (so we read it), good and enough of it.
|
|
Your land shall be Canaan indeed; it was remarkably so after the defeat
|
|
of Sennacherib, by the special blessing of God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:30"><I>ch.</I> xxxvii. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
God would thus repair the losses they sustained by that devastation.
|
|
|
|
3. Not only the tillage, but the pasture-ground should be remarkably
|
|
fruitful: <I>The cattle shall feed in large pastures;</I> those that
|
|
are at grass shall have room enough, and the oxen and asses that are
|
|
kept up for use, to ear the ground, which must be the better fed for
|
|
their being worked, <I>shall eat clean provender.</I> The corn shall
|
|
not be given them in the chaff as usual, to make it go the further, but
|
|
they shall have good clean corn fit for man's use, being <I>winnowed
|
|
with the fan.</I> The brute-creatures shall share in the abundance; it
|
|
is fit they should, for they groan under the burden of the curse which
|
|
man's sin has brought upon the earth.
|
|
|
|
4. Even the tops of the mountains, that used to be barren, shall be so
|
|
well watered with the rain of heaven that there shall be <I>rivers and
|
|
streams</I> there, and running down thence to the valleys
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>),
|
|
|
|
and this <I>in the day of the great slaughter</I> that should be made
|
|
by the angel in the camp of the Assyrians, <I>when the towers</I> and
|
|
batteries they had erected for the carrying on of the siege of
|
|
Jerusalem, the army being slain, <I>should fall</I> of course. It is
|
|
probable that this was fulfilled in the letter of it, and that about
|
|
the same time that that army was cut off there were extraordinary rains
|
|
in mercy to the land.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. The effect of all this should be extraordinary comfort and joy to
|
|
the people of God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
Light shall increase; that is, knowledge shall increase (when the
|
|
prophecies are accomplished they shall be fully understood) or rather
|
|
triumph shall: the light of the joy that is sown for the righteous
|
|
shall now come up with a great increase. <I>The light of the moon shall
|
|
become as</I> bright and as strong as <I>that of the sun, and that of
|
|
the sun</I> shall increase proportionably and be <I>as the light of
|
|
seven days;</I> every one shall be much more cheerful and appear much
|
|
more pleasant than usual. There shall be a high spring-tide of joy in
|
|
Judah and Jerusalem, upon occasion of the ruin of the Assyrian army,
|
|
<I>when the Lord binds up the breach of his people,</I> not only saves
|
|
them from being further wounded, but heals the wounds that have been
|
|
given them by this invasion and makes up all their losses. The great
|
|
distress they were reduced to, their despair of relief, and the
|
|
suddenness of their deliverance, would much augment their joy. This is
|
|
not unfitly applied by many to the light which the gospel brought into
|
|
the world to those that sat in darkness, which has far exceeded the
|
|
Old-Testament light as that of the sun does that of the moon, and which
|
|
proclaims <I>healing to the broken-hearted, and the binding up of their
|
|
wounds.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa30_33"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Judgments on Assyria.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 720.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>27 Behold, the name of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> cometh from far, burning <I>with</I>
|
|
his anger, and the burden <I>thereof is</I> heavy: his lips are full
|
|
of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
|
|
28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the
|
|
midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity:
|
|
and <I>there shall be</I> a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing
|
|
<I>them</I> to err.
|
|
29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night <I>when</I> a holy
|
|
solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with
|
|
a pipe to come into the mountain of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, to the mighty One
|
|
of Israel.
|
|
30 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and
|
|
shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of
|
|
<I>his</I> anger, and <I>with</I> the flame of a devouring fire, <I>with</I>
|
|
scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
|
|
31 For through the voice of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall the Assyrian be
|
|
beaten down, <I>which</I> smote with a rod.
|
|
32 And <I>in</I> every place where the grounded staff shall pass,
|
|
which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall lay upon him, <I>it</I> shall be with tabrets and
|
|
harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
|
|
33 For Tophet <I>is</I> ordained of old; yea, for the king it is
|
|
prepared; he hath made <I>it</I> deep <I>and</I> large: the pile thereof
|
|
<I>is</I> fire and much wood; the breath of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, like a stream of
|
|
brimstone, doth kindle it.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This terrible prediction of the ruin of the Assyrian army, though it is
|
|
a threatening to them, is part of the promise to the Israel of God,
|
|
that God would not only punish the Assyrians for the mischief they had
|
|
done to the Israel of God, but would disable and deter them from doing
|
|
the like again; and this prediction, which would now shortly be
|
|
accomplished, would ratify and confirm the foregoing promises, which
|
|
should be accomplished in the latter days. Here is,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. God Almighty angry, and coming forth in anger against the Assyrians.
|
|
He is here introduced in all the power and all the terror of his wrath,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>The name of Jehovah,</I> which the Assyrians disdain and set at a
|
|
distance from them, as if they were out of its reach and it could do
|
|
them no harm, <I>behold, it comes from far.</I> A messenger in the name
|
|
of the Lord comes from as far off as heaven itself. He is a messenger
|
|
of wrath, <I>burning with his anger.</I> God's <I>lips are full of
|
|
indignation</I> at the blasphemy of Rabshakeh, who compared the God of
|
|
Israel with the gods of the heathen; <I>his tongue is as a devouring
|
|
fire,</I> for he can speak his proud enemies to ruin; his very breath
|
|
comes with as much force as an overflowing stream, and with it he shall
|
|
slay the wicked,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+11:4"><I>ch.</I> xi. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
He does not stifle or smother his resentments, as men do theirs when
|
|
they are either causeless or impotent; but he <I>shall cause his
|
|
glorious voice to be heard</I> when he proclaims war with an enemy that
|
|
sets him at defiance,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
He shall display <I>the indignation of his anger,</I> anger in the
|
|
highest degree; it shall be as <I>the flame of a devouring fire,</I>
|
|
which carries and consumes all before it, with <I>lightning</I> or
|
|
dissipation, and with <I>tempest and hailstones,</I> all which are the
|
|
formidable phenomena of nature, and therefore expressive of the terror
|
|
of the Almighty God of nature.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The execution done by this anger of the Lord. Men are often angry
|
|
when they can only threaten and talk big; but when God causes his
|
|
glorious voice to be heard that shall not be all: he will <I>show the
|
|
lighting down of his arm</I> too,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
The operations of his providence shall accomplish the menaces of his
|
|
word. Those that <I>would not see the lifting up of his arm</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+26:11"><I>ch.</I> xxvi. 11</A>)
|
|
|
|
shall feel the lighting down of it, and find, to their cost, that the
|
|
burden thereof is heavy
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
so heavy that they cannot bear it, nor bear up against it, but must
|
|
unavoidably sink and be crushed under it. <I>Who knows the power of
|
|
his anger</I> or imagines what an offended God can do? Five things are
|
|
here prepared for the execution:--
|
|
|
|
1. Here is <I>an overflowing stream,</I> that <I>shall reach to the
|
|
midst of the neck,</I> shall quite overwhelm the whole body of the
|
|
army, and Sennacherib only, the head of it, shall keep above water and
|
|
escape this stroke, while yet he is reserved for another in the house
|
|
of Nisroch his god. The Assyrian army had been to Judah <I>as an
|
|
overflowing stream, reaching even to the neck</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:7,8"><I>ch.</I> viii. 7, 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
and now the breath of God's wrath will be so to it.
|
|
|
|
2. Here is <I>a sieve of vanity,</I> with which God would sift those
|
|
nations of which the Assyrian army was composed,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
The great God can sift nations, for they are all before him as the
|
|
small dust of the balance; he will sift them, not to gather out of them
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any that should be preserved, but so as to shake them one against
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another, put them into great consternation, and shake them all away at
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last; for it is a sieve of vanity (which retains nothing) that they are
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shaken with, and they are found all chaff.
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3. Here is <I>a bridle,</I> which God has in their jaws, to curb and
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restrain them from doing the mischief they would do, and to force and
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constrain them to serve his purposes against their own will,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:7"><I>ch.</I> x. 7</A>.
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God particularly says of Sennacherib
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:29"><I>ch.</I> xxxvii. 29</A>)
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that he will put a hook in his nose and a bridle in his lips. It is a
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<I>bridle causing them to err,</I> forcing them to such methods as will
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certainly be destructive to themselves and their interest and in which
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they will be infatuated. God with a word guides his people into the
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right way
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
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but with a bridle he turns his enemies headlong upon their own ruin.
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4. Here is <I>a rod</I> and <I>a staff,</I> even <I>the voice of the
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Lord,</I> his word giving orders concerning it, with which <I>the
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Assyrian shall be beaten down,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
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The Assyrian had been himself a rod in God's hand for the chastising of
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his people, and had smitten them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:5"><I>ch.</I> x. 5</A>.
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That was a transient rod; but against the Assyrian shall go forth <I>a
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grounded staff,</I> that shall give a steady blow, shall stick close to
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|
him and strike home, so as to leave an impression upon him. It is a
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staff with a foundation, founded upon the enemies' deserts and God's
|
|
determinate counsel. It is a consumption determined
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:23"><I>ch.</I> x. 23</A>),
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and therefore there is no escaping it, no getting out of the reach of
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|
it; it shall pass in every place where an Assyrian is found, and the
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Lord shall <I>lay it upon him,</I> and cause it to rest,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
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Such is the woeful case of those that persist in enmity to God: <I>the
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wrath of God abides on them.</I>
|
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5. Here is <I>Tophet ordained</I> and <I>prepared</I> for them,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
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The valley of the son of Hinnom, adjoining to Jerusalem, was called
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<I>Tophet.</I> In that valley, it is supposed, many of the Assyrian
|
|
regiments lay encamped, and were there slain by the destroying angel;
|
|
or there the bodies of those that were so slain were burned. Hezekiah
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had <I>lately, and from yesterday</I> (so the word is) <I>ordained
|
|
it;</I> that is, say some, he had cleared it of the images that were
|
|
set up in it, to which they there burnt their children, and so prepared
|
|
it to be a receptacle for the dead bodies of their enemies, <I>for the
|
|
king of Assyria</I> (that is, for his army) <I>it is prepared,</I> and
|
|
there is fuel enough ready to burn them all; and they shall be consumed
|
|
as suddenly and effectually as if the fire were kept burning by a
|
|
continual stream of brimstone, for such the breath of the Lord, his
|
|
word and his wrath, will be to it. Now as the prophet, in the foregoing
|
|
promises, slides insensibly into the promises of gospel graces and
|
|
comforts, so here, in the threatening of the ruin of Sennacherib's
|
|
army, he points at the final and everlasting destruction of all
|
|
impenitent sinners. Our Saviour calls the future misery of the damned
|
|
<I>Gehenna,</I> in allusion to the valley of Hinnom, which gives some
|
|
countenance to the applying of this to that misery, as also that in the
|
|
Apocalypse it is so often called the <I>lake that burns with fire and
|
|
brimstone.</I> This is said to be prepared of old for the devil and his
|
|
angels, for the greatest of sinners, the proudest, and that think
|
|
themselves not accountable to any for what they say and do; even for
|
|
kings it is prepared. It is <I>deep and large,</I> sufficient to
|
|
receive the world of the ungodly; the <I>pile thereof is fire and much
|
|
wood.</I> God's wrath is the fire, and sinners make themselves fuel to
|
|
it; and <I>the breath of the Lord</I> (the power of his anger)
|
|
<I>kindles it,</I> and will keep it ever burning. See
|
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|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+66:24"><I>ch.</I> lxvi. 24</A>.
|
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|
|
Wherefore <I>stand in awe and sin not.</I></P>
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<P>
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|
|
III. The great joy which this should occasion to the people of God. The
|
|
Assyrian's fall is Jerusalem's triumph
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>You shall have a song as in the night,</I> a psalm of praise such as
|
|
those sing who <I>by night stand in the house of the Lord,</I> and sing
|
|
to his glory who <I>gives songs in the night.</I> It shall not be a
|
|
song of vain mirth, but a sacred song, such as was sung when a holy
|
|
solemnity was kept in a grave and religious manner. Our joy in the fall
|
|
of the church's enemies must be a holy joy, <I>gladness of heart, as
|
|
when one goes, with a pipe</I> (such as the sons of the prophets used
|
|
when they prophesied,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+10:5">1 Sam. x. 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>to the mountain of the Lord,</I> there to celebrate the praises of
|
|
<I>the Mighty One of Israel.</I> Nay, in every place where the divine
|
|
vengeance shall pursue the Assyrians they shall not only fall
|
|
unlamented, but all their neighbours shall attend their fall <I>with
|
|
tabrets and harps,</I> pleased to see how God, <I>in battles of
|
|
shaking,</I> such as shake them out of the world, fights with them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>);
|
|
|
|
for <I>when the wicked perish there is shouting;</I> and it is with a
|
|
particular satisfaction that wise and good men see the ruin of those
|
|
who, like the Assyrians, have insolently bidden defiance to God and
|
|
trampled upon all mankind.</P>
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