Gracious promises of B. C. 725. B. C. 725. A. M. 3279. thee, saying, This is the way, walk || bread of the increase of the earth, and A. M. 3279. ye in it, when ye turn to the right it shall be fat and plenteous: in that hand, and when ye turn to the left. day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures. d 7 22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy 24 The oxen likewise and the young asses graven images of silver, and the ornament of that ear the ground shall eat clean 10 proventhy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast der, which hath been winnowed with the them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt shovel and with the fan. say unto it, Get thee hence. 25 And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every high hill, rivers and streams of waters in the day of the f е 8 23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and < 1 John i. 7.—42 Chron. xxxi. 1; Chapter ii. 20; xxxi. 7. 'Heb. the graven images of thy silver. 8 Heb. scatter. Le Hos. g xiv. 8.- Matt. vi. 33; 1 Tim. iv. 8.-9 Or, savoury. it is accomplished daily in the conversion of souls, servants of God. In the times of the New Testament, however, God provided still better for his church, sending his Son, the great teacher of his people, into the world; and pouring forth the gifts and graces of the Spirit in abundance, increasing the number of faithful ministers, and promising a continued succession of them to the end of the world. This is the second great benefit predicted by the pro- Verses 23, 24. Then shall he give thee the rain phet to follow these judgments. Thine eyes shall of thy seed-Or rather, to, or for thy seed, namely, see thy teachers-They shall be present in your as- when thou hast newly sown it, which was called the semblies, instructing, exhorting, warning, and en- former rain; or, such as thy seed requires, which couraging you from time to time. The original || may include both the former and the latter rain. word,, here used, means ordinary teachers, Their sins, the cause of all God's judgments, being and not those of an extraordinary kind, such as the removed by their sincere repentance and God's graprophets or seers were. And thine ears shall hear || cious pardon, God showers down his blessings upon a word, &c.-As often as need shall require, thou them. "When he gives them their teachers," says shalt hear the voice of God's word and Spirit direct- Henry, "and they give him their hearts, so that ing thee in thy course: behind thee-A metaphor, they begin to seek the kingdom of God and his rightborrowed either from shepherds, who used to follow eousness, then all other things are added unto them." their sheep, and to recall them when they went out And bread of the increase of the earth-Which of the way; or from travellers, who, if they go out shall be the fruit of thy own land and labour. And of the right way, are ofttimes admonished of their it shall be fat and plenteous-Excellent for quality, error, and recalled by some other passenger or perwhich is called fat, Deut. xxxii. 14, and abundant son behind them. for quantity. This promise, by the special blessing Verse 22. Ye shall also-To show your contempt of God, was remarkably fulfilled after the defeat of of it; defile the covering of thy graven images-The Sennacherib, (chap. xxxvii. 30,) God thus repairing leaves or plates, wherewith their wooden images the losses they sustained by that devastation. The were frequently covered: and the ornament of thy || oxen likewise, &c., shall eat clean provender--There molten images-Or, the coat, or covering; Hebrew, shall be such plenty of corn that the very beasts, inПx, the ephod, as the word is rendered, Exod. stead of straw, shall eat corn; and that not in the xxviii. 8; and xxxix. 5; which was a costly and glo- ear, or with the straw, but the pure grain. Vitringa, rious robe. The images also were of gold: for the with some other commentators, thinks it appears idolaters spared no cost in the making and adorning plainly, from the next two verses, that the prophet of their idols. Thou shalt cast them away, &c.—is to be understood in this passage as speaking, not Thou shalt so deeply abhor idolatry that thou shalt so much literally as figuratively, and that the words cast away, with indignation, all the monuments and contain a splendid promise of pure and abundant instruments thereof. This prophecy was fulfilled in spiritual provision, made by the Lord for his people, some measure even before the Assyrian invasion, as in the ministry of the word, the spiritual sowing; we learn from 2 Chron. xxxi. 1; Hezekiah inciting || the effusions of his Spirit, the rain of the seed; and the people to destroy idolatry out of the land. Pro- in the due administration of his various ordinances, bably it was fulfilled still more upon the deliverance || the large pastures in which his flock feeds. of Jerusalem from Sennacherib's army, which, Verse 25. On every high mountain, and every doubtless, would convince thousands of individuals || high hill-Which are commonly dry and barren; of the almighty power of Jehovah, of the impotence shall be rivers and streams of water-Fertilizing of idols, and the sin and folly of worshipping them. and refreshing blessings, showered down by God But it was verified in the whole body of the Jewish || upon his church and people. This verse certainly nation, at their return from their captivity in Baby- cannot be understood literally, and the mystical lon, for they abhorred idols ever after. Add to this, || meaning, according to Vitringa and some others, is, 3 Gracious promises of B. C. 725. B. C. 725. A. M. 3279. great slaughter, when the towers || from far, burning with his anger, A. M. 3279. fall. 12 and the burden thereof is 13 heavy: 26 Moreover the light of the moon shall his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue be as the light of the sun, and the light of the|| as a devouring fire: sun shall be seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound. 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 there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the peo 27 ¶ Behold, the name of the LORD cometh || ple, causing them to err. Chap. lx. 19, 20.- —-12 Or, and the grievousness of flame. 13 Heb. heaviness. Chapter vin. 8. i Chapter xi. 4; 2 Thessalonians 1i. 8.1 Chapter xxxvii. 29. and breaches of his people, first making up the breach between himself and them, then making Israel and Judah to be one, and making Jews and Gentiles to be one fold under one shepherd. "that in all the more celebrated places, whether of kingdoms or cities, there should be synagogues, public schools, or oratories, in which the word of God, and the doctrine of pure religion, should be copiously taught, and the waters of sound instruction poured Verses 27, 28. Behold, &c.-Here begins the last out," so that the lovers of true wisdom, piety, and part of the discourse contained in this chapter, in virtue, might there quench their thirst. The time which the prophet gives an earnest of those greater in which these benefits should be conferred upon the blessings promised, for times to come, by assuring church is denoted by this character, namely, in the|| his people of the approaching destruction of the Asday of the great slaughter, when the towers shall syrian forces. "It is an exquisitely fine and sublime fall-That is, when God should take severe ven- || passage, and closely connected with the argument geance upon the enemies of his people. Perhaps and scope of the whole discourse, in that it teaches the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple, with that the Jews and Israelites had no need to flee to the subversion of the Jewish state, and the slaughter Egypt for help against the Assyrians, to the neglect of immense multitudes of Jews, events connected of their duty toward God, since God was perfectly with the calling of the Gentiles, and the extensive sufficient to defend them, and had determined to depropagation of the gospel, might be first in the pro- stroy the Assyrian."-Vitringa. The name of the phet's view. The words may further refer to the Lord is here put for the Lord himself, and he is said overthrow of the pagan, persecuting Roman empire, to come from far, either as coming unexpectedly, and the great slaughter that preceded or accompa- or as having for a long time appeared to withdraw nied it. But, undoubtedly, the words ultimately his presence, and withhold his help from his people; refer to the destruction of all the antichristian pow-burning with anger-Determined to take signal ers, the subversion of the fortresses and towers of Satan's kingdom, making way for the universal diffusion of divine truth and spread of true religion. "This shall be remarkably fulfilled," says Lowth, "at the time when there shall be a terrible destruc- || tion of God's enemies, (Rev. xiv. 20, and xix. 21,) and when the great ones of the earth shall fall, denoted here by high towers, or the fortifications of mystical Babylon." vengeance on his enemies. And the burden thereof is heavy―The punishment which he will inflict will prove very grievous and intolerable. His lips are full of indignation-He hath pronounced a severe sentence against them, and will give command for the execution of it. And his breath-His anger, or rather, the effects thereof; (the expression is borrowed from men's discovering their anger by strong and vehement breathing; see on Job iv. 9;) as an Verse 26. The light of the moon shall be as the|| overflowing stream-Coming from him as vehelight of the sun-For constancy and brightness, mently as a mighty torrent of waters; shall reach which, as also the following clause, is to be under- to the midst of the neck-Shall bring the Assyrian stood metaphorically, of that glorious and happy into a most dangerous condition, as a man, who is in state of the church which should take place in future waters which reach to his neck, is in great danger times. And the light of the sun seven-fold, as the of being drowned; see on chap. viii. 8. To sift the light of seven days-As if the light of seven days nations with the sieve of vanity-To shake and scatwere combined together in one. Its light shall then ter, as it were, with a sieve, the Assyrian army, be transcendently more bright and glorious than ever made up of the people of different nations. "Vanity," it was before. Which magnificent expressions seem says Lowth, "sometimes signifies destruction: so evidently to be too high for the deliverance of the chap. lvii. 13. Vanity shall take them, that is, they Jews, either from Sennacherib or out of Babylon; shall be destroyed. And here the sieve of vanity is and do much better agree to the times of the gospel, such a one as doth not separate the chaff in order to in which the light is far more clear, and the grace save the corn, but makes an entire riddance, as when of God conferred on his people much more abund- || chaff is scattered before the wind." Bishop Lowth ant, than ever it was in former times. In the day translates the clause, To toss the nations with the that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, van of perdition, judging that rather signifies a &c.-When God shall effectually cure the wounds || van than a sieve, and observing from Kimchi, "The Destruction of the A. M. 3279. r B. C. 725. 29 Ye shall have a song, as in the || the Assyrian be beaten down, which A. M. 3279. night when a holy solemnity is kept; smote with a rod. and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the " mountain of the LORD, to the 14 Mighty One of Israel. use of the van is to cleanse the corn from the chaff and straw: but the van with which God will winnow the nations, will be the van of emptiness or perdition; for nothing useful shall remain behind, but all shall come to nothing, and perish. In like manner a bridle is designed to guide the horse in the right way; but the bridle which God will put in the jaws of the people, shall not direct them aright, but shall make them err, and lead them into destruction." 32 And 16 in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight 18 with it. 33 For Tophet is ordained 19 of old: yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it. 16 Heb. every passing of the rod founded.17 Heb. cause to rest upon S him. Chap. xi. 15; xix. 16.- 18 Or, against them. Jer. vii. 31; xix. 6, &c.- 19 Heb. from yesterday. therefore, translates the clause thus: And it shall be, that wherever shall pass the rod of correction, which Jehovah shall lay heavily upon him, it shall be ac|| companied with tabrets and harps; that is, as the bishop explains it, "with every demonstration of joy and thanksgiving for the destruction of the enemy in so wonderful a manner: with hymns of praise, accompanied with musical instruments." And in battles of shaking, &c.—Or, as it may be better rendered, in fierce or tremendous battles shall hè, namely, the Lord, fight against them, that is, against the Assyrians. Verses 29-31. Ye shall have a song, &c.-You shall have occasion of great joy, and of singing songs of praise for your stupendous deliverance from that Verse 33. For Tophet is ordained of old—" Toformidable enemy; as in the night, &c.-He men- phet is a valley very near to Jerusalem, to the southtions the night, either because the Jewish feasts east, called also the valley of Hinnom, or Gehenna; began in the evening, and were celebrated with where the Canaanites, and afterward the Israelites, great joy during a part of the night, as well as on sacrificed their children, by making them pass the following day; or because he has a particular through the fire; that is, by burning them in the fire, respect to the solemnity of the passover, in which to Moloch." It is supposed to have been called Tothey spent some considerable part of the night in phet, from the drums, timbrels, or tabrets, which rejoicing, and singing sacred songs before the Lord. sounded there, to drown the cries of the children As when one goeth, &c.-Like the joy of one that thus inhumanly murdered: see notes on Lev. xviii. is going up to the solemn feasts with music. The 21; 2 Kings xxiii. 10; and Josh. xv. 8. Hence the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to be heard-His word "is used for a place of punishment by fire, and thunder, metaphorically taken for a terrible judg- by our Saviour in the gospel for hell-fire, as the ment. "This destruction shall be from the imme- Jews themselves had applied it." As the place had diate hand of God, in which he shall as evidently been thus polluted by idolatry, Josiah, to render it appear as if he had discomfited the army by a tem- as despicable and abominable as possible, ordered pest of thunder, and lightning, and hail-stones, as he the filth of the city and dead carcasses to be thrown formerly destroyed the Canaanites and Philistines."- there, and made it a common burying-place. There Lowth. And show the lighting down of his arm-Upon also fires were kept continually burning, as the Jews the Assyrian, whom he will smite with a deadly blow say, to consume dead bodies, bones, and such sordid in the face of the world; with the indignation of his things. Vitringa justly observes," that Tophet must anger-With great wrath; which is signified by be understood here, not in a literal, but in a figuraheaping so many words of the same signification to- tive sense, for the place of punishment to be inflicted gether. The Assyrian, who smote with a rod-upon the Assyrians, by the burning indignation of Who was the rod wherewith God smote his people and other nations: he who used to smite others shall now be smitten himself. Verse 32. Where the grounded staff shall pass -Instead of DID AD, the grounded, or founded staff, of which, he says, no one yet has been able to make any tolerable sense. Bishop Lowth, on the authority of two MSS., (one of them ancient,) reads min, the staff of correction, which Le Clerc also supposes to be the true reading, The bishop, God; in the same manner as gehenna denotes the place of punishment of the reprobate: that the fire and much wood denote the matter of the punishment destined for the king of Assyria and his army, as well with respect to its nature and effect, as its cause: see Rev. xix. 20. The making the valley deep and large, signifies the same as the pile constructed of much wood; namely, the greatness of the destruction to be spread through the extensive army of the Assyrian; and indeed it was necessary this valley The Israelites reproved ISAIAH. for trusting in Egypt.` and this pile should be large, to contain one hundred || judgment: see chap. x. 17. This is the literal interand eighty-five thousand men. The meaning of the pretation of the words, wherein the prophet reprephrase, ordained of old, is, that God had absolutely sents the Assyrian destruction as the type of that of fixed and determined this event. It was prepared || all the enemies and persecutors of the church; and for the king; whereby the prophet shows, that his further, these destructions as a figure of the infernal army first, and Sennacherib himself afterward, fire, wherein the unbelieving and cruel persecutors should become obnoxious to the divine judgment. of the church shall be tormented for ever, and which And the last phrase, the breath of the Lord, &c., is said to be prepared for the devil and his angels,” alludes to the destroying angel, the executors of his Matt. xxv. 41. CHAPTER XXXI. In this chapter the same subject is continued which was treated of in the preceding. (1,) A wo is pronounced on those that trusted to the Egyptians, and not to God, for succour, when the Assyrian army invaded them, 1-3. (2,) An assurance is given them, that God would take care of Jerusalem in that time of danger and distress, 4, 5. (3) They are called to repentance and reformation, 6, 7. (4,) The prophet foretels the fall of the Assyrian army, 8, 9. A. M. 3279. b B. C. 725. Wo to them that go down to both he that helpeth shall fall, and he A. M. 3279. Egypt for help; and stay on that is holpen shall fall down, and horses, and trust in chariots, because they are they all shall fail together. many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD! с NOTES ON CHAPTER XXXI. b Psa. xx. 7; 4 For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid. of their voice, nor abase himself for the 2 noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. 5 h As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will i e Psa. cxlvi. 3, 5.- f Hos. xi. 10; Amos iii. 8.- -2 Or, multitude. - Chap. xlii. 13. Deut. xxxii. 11; Psa. xci. 4. i Psa. xxxvii. 40. ruin. spirit-Not like spiritual substances, such as the anVerses 1-3. Wo to them that go down to Egypt, gels, who are immortal, and invisible to men. When &c.-As the Jews did, contrary to God's command, the Lord shall stretch out his hand-Shall exert Deut. xvii. 16. And stay on horses-For Egypt had his power to oppose or punish them, both he that many and choice horses. But they look not unto the helpeth and he that is holpen shall fall, &c., toLord-Their confidence in the creature was accom-gether-And their alliance shall prove their joint panied with, and produced, a distrust of God, and a neglect of seeking to him by prayer for his help. Yet he also is wise, &c.--You think you are wise, in engaging the Egyptians; but God is not inferior || to them in wisdom or strength, but much superior, and therefore you have done foolishly in preferring them before him, who will execute his judgments upon you, notwithstanding all the Egyptians can do. And will not call back his words-His threatenings|| denounced against you; but will arise against the evil-doers-Against this wicked and rebellious peo- || ple; and against the help-That is, the helpers, as it is explained in the next verse; of them that work iniquity--That act in direct opposition to the express command of God. The Egyptians are men,|| and not God-And therefore are utterly unable to defend you, either without or against God's will; and their horses, flesh--Weak and frail, and not Verses 4, 5. For, or but or, nevertheless, thus hath the Lord spoken-That is, although you have done evil in sending to Egypt for help, and they will not be able to help you, yet the Lord will of his own grace, and for the glory of his own name, give you that help and deliverance which you do not deserve, and had no reason to expect from him. Like as the lion roaring on his prey-When he is ready to seize upon and devour it; he will not be afraid, nor abase himself-So as to be in the least moved, either to quit his prey, or to make any more haste than otherwise he would do in seizing it. So shall the Lord of hosts fight for mount Zion-With such an unshaken and undaunted resolution, not to be moved by any opposition: and he will as easily and irresistibly destroy the Assyrian army, as a lion tears a lamb in pieces. As birds flying, &c.-Which come The Lord will B. C. 725. CHAPTER XXXII. protect Zion. A. M. 3279. deliver it; and passing over he will || sword, not of a mighty man; and A. M. 3279. preserve it. the sword, not of a mean man, 6¶ Turn ye unto him from whom the chil-shall devour him: but he shall flee dren of Israel have deeply revolted. 7 For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin. 1 8 B. C. 725. 4 from the 5 sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.6 7 8 9 And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, Then shall the Assyrian " fall with the and his furnace in Jerusalem. his idols-You shall find the vanity of those idols to which you have trusted; and therefore shall cast them away with indignation, and be forced to seek to Jehovah for help; which your hands have made unto you for sin-That is, as instruments of your sin of idolatry, and of many other sins connected therewith. from above, and so cannot be kept off; which fly swiftly, and engage themselves readily and resolutely, when they perceive their young ones are in danger. Bishop Lowth renders the clause, As the mother birds hovering over their young; so shall Jehovah, God of hosts, protect Jerusalem-With such care and compassion, such swiftness and resolution. Defend ing also he will deliver it-That is, he will so defend Verses 8, 9. Then shall the Assyrian, &c.-When it as to secure the continuance of its safety, and not you have cast away your idols, and seriously sought suffer it to fall into the enemy's hand. And passing unto God for help; both which things were perover he will preserve it-The word D, here ren- formed by Hezekiah; fall by the sword, not of a dered passing over, is the word constantly used of|| mighty man, &c.—Not of any man, mean or mighty, the destroying angel's passing over the houses of the but of an angel. But he shall flee from the sword Israelites, when he slew all the firstborn of the -From, or for fear of, that plague, which so strangely Egyptians, (Exod. xii.,) to which history the prophet and suddenly destroyed his army. And his young seems here to refer. The destroying angel was to men-Hebrew, 1n, his choice young men, his pass over Jerusalem, and leave it untouched, although guards, and valiant commanders, and soldiers, shall it deserved to be destroyed, and was only to smite be discomfited-Hebrew, 1 h, shall be for meltthe Assyrian army. The besiegers were to be slaining, or shall melt away; a great part of them being by the pestilence, but none of the besieged were to take the infection. destroyed by the angel, and the hearts of the rest melting for fear. And he shall pass to his strong Verses 6, 7. Turn ye unto him, &c.—Let the con- || hold-Sennacherib shall flee away with all speed sideration of this gracious promise engage you to from Jerusalem, to his strong city of Nineveh. Or, repent of all your sins, and among the rest, of your as it is in the margin, which see. And his princes carnal policies in seeking and trusting to Egypt for || shall be afraid of the ensign-Of the Lord's ensign, help, and sincerely to return to God. From whom which he hath lifted up against them. Or, as inni the children of Israel-From whom not only the DD, may be properly rendered, shall be struck with Israelites, strictly so called, those of the ten tribes, consternation at his flight. Saith the Lord, whose but from whom you of the two tribes, you Jews, fire is in Zion-That is, either, 1st, whose fire is who are also the children of Israel, and therefore continually burning upon the altar in Zion; a sign are under very great obligations to God, have deeply that his presence and residence are there. Or, revolted-In your hearts and lives, your affections rather, 2d, who is, and will appear to be, in Zion like being alienated from him, and set upon your sins a fire, to defend his people, and to consume their eneand idols, and your actions a scene of disobedience mies. Thus God promises that he would be, unto to his laws. For in that day-When the Assyrian Jerusalem, a wall of fire round about, Zech. ii. 5. shall invade your land; every man shall cast away | See also Zech. xii. 6. CHAPTER XXXII. Here is This chapter contains a prophecy of the reign of Hezekiah, typifying the reign of Christ in the gospel church. predicted, (1,) The reformation with which he should begin his reign, and the happy influence it should have on the people, who had been wretchedly corrupted and debauched in the reign of his predecessor, 1-8. (2,) The great calamities which should come upon the Jews by the Assyrians and Chaldeans, but especially by the Romans and others in the times of the gospel, 9-14. (3,) The purity, peace, and plenty of the latter part of Hezekiah's reign, emblematical of the holiness, peace, and glory of the gospel church in the apostolic and millennial periods, 15-20. |