A. M. 3244.7k Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, 5 as overthrown by strangers. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as 'Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. other members. "The end of God's judgments, in this world, is men's reformation; and when people appear to be incorrigible, there is no reason to expect that he should try any further methods of discipline with them, but consume them all at once." From the sole of the foot, &c.-"The whole frame of the Jewish Church and state is corrupted, and their misery is as universal as their sin which caused it." -Lowth. hypocrisy of Israel. B. C. 760. 10 Hear the word of the LORD, A. M. 3244. ye rulers of Sodom: give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. 11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD; I am full of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? xv. 22; Psa. 1. 8, 9; li. 16; Prov. xv. 8; xxi. 27; Chap. lxvi. 3; were we to deliver ourselves. This remnant was "a type of those few converts among the Jews, who, embracing the gospel, escaped both the temporal and eternal judgments which came upon the rest of the nation for rejecting Christ and his messengers," Rom. ix. 2, and xi. 5.-Lowth. Verse 10. Hear the word of the Lord-I bring a message from your Lord and governor, to whom you owe all reverence and obedience; ye rulers of || Sodom-So called for their resemblance of them in wickedness. Compare Deut. xxxii. 32; Ezek. xvi. 46, 48. "The incidental mention of Sodom and Gomorrah in the preceding verse, suggested to the prophet this spirited address to the rulers and inhabitants of Jerusalem, under the character of princes of Sodom and people of Gomorrah. Two examples, of an elegant turn, of the like kind, may be observed in St. Paul's epistle to the Romans, chap. xv. 4, 5, and 12, 13."-Bishop Lowth. Give ear unto the law of our God—The message which I am now to deliver to you from God, your great lawgiver. Verses 7, 8. Your country is desolate "The description of the ruined and desolate state of the country, in these verses," says Bishop Lowth, "does not suit with any part of the prosperous times of Uzziah and Jotham. It very well agrees with the time of Ahaz, when Judea was ravaged by the joint invasion of the Israelites and Syrians, and by the incursions of the Philistines and Edomites. The date of this prophecy is therefore generally fixed to the time of Ahaz." Strangers devour it in your presenceWhich your eyes see to torment you, when there is no power in your hands to deliver you. As overthrown, &c.—, as the overthrow; of stran- || gers-That is, such as strangers bring upon a land Verses 11, 12. To what purpose, fc., your sawhich is not likely to continue in their hands, and|| crifices unto me?-Who am a Spirit, and therefore therefore they spare no persons, and spoil and de- || stroy all things, which is not usually done in wars between persons of the same or of a neighbouring nation. And the daughter of Zion is left-Is left solitary, all the neighbouring villages and country round about it being laid waste. As a cottage--Or, as a shed in a vineyard, as Bishop Lowth translates it, namely, "a little temporary hut, covered with boughs, straw, turf, or the like materials, for a shelter from the heat by day, and the cold and dews by night, for the watchman that kept the garden, or vineyard, during the short season while the fruit was ripening; see Job xxvii. 18; and presently removed when it had served that purpose."-See Harmer,|| Observ. i. 454. cannot be satisfied with such carnal oblations, but expect to be worshipped in spirit and in truth, and to have your hearts and lives, as well as your bodies and sacrifices, presented unto me. I delight not in the blood, &c.-He mentions the fat and blood, because these were, in a peculiar manner, reserved for God, to intimate that even the best of their sacrifices were rejected by him. The prophets often speak of the ceremonies of Moses's law as of no value, without that inward purity, and true spiritual worship, and devotedness to God, which were signified by them. This was a very proper method to prepare the minds of the Jews for the reception of the gospel, by which those ceremonies were to be abolished. When ye come to appear before me-Upon the Verse 9. Except the Lord had left us a rem- three solemn feasts, or upon other occasions. Who nant-If God, by his infinite power and goodness,|| hath required this at your hand?-The thing I had not restrained our enemies, and reserved some commanded was not only, nor chiefly, that you of us, we should have been as Sodom--The whole | should offer external sacrifices, but that you should nation of us had been utterly cut off, as the people of do it with true repentance, with faith in my proSodom and Gomorrah were. So great was the rage || mises, and sincere resolutions of devoting yourselves and power of our enemies, and so utterly unable || to my service. Exhortations and B. C. 760. ISAIAH. d threatenings. B. C. 760. A. M. 3244. 13 Bring no more vain oblations: || fore mine eyes; cease to do evil; A. M. 3244. incense is an abomination unto me; 17 Learn to do well; seek judgthe new-moons and sabbaths, the calling of ment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherassemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniqui- less, plead for the widow. ty, even the solemn meeting. 18 Come now, and flet us reason together, 14 Your "new-moons and your appoint- saith the LORD: though your sins be as scared feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble || let, they shall be as white as snow; though unto me: I am weary to bear them. they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. f © Jer. iv. 14.- d Psa. xxxiv. 14; xxxvii. 27; Amos v. 15; Rom. xii. 9; 1 Pet iii. 11.- -e Jer. xxii. 3, 16; Mic. vi. 8; Zech. vii. 9; viii. 16.-11 Or, righten. Chap. xliii. 26; Mic. vi. 2. Ps. li. 7; Rev. vii. 14.- Num. xxiii. 19; Tit. i. 2.- -i Jer. ii. 20, 21. Verse 13. Bring no more vain oblations—I nei- || mine eyes--Reform yourselves thoroughly, that you ther desire, nor will accept of any on these terms. | may not only approve yourselves to men, but to me, Incense is an abomination to me-So far is it from who search your hearts and try all your actions. being a sweet savour to me, as you foolishly ima- Learn to do well-Begin, and inure yourselves, to gine. The new moons-Which were holy to God,|| live soberly, righteously, and godly. Seek judgment, and observed with great solemnity; the calling of &c.-Show your religion to God, by practising justice assemblies--At all other solemn times, wherein the and mercy to men. Judge the fatherless, &c.--Delipeople were obliged to meet together. I cannot ver and defend those that are poor and helpless,and liaaway with--Hebrew, x, I cannot endure; it ble to be oppressed by unjust and potent adversaries. is grievous to me. It is iniquity-It is so far from pleasing me, that it is an offence to me: and, instead of reconciling me to you, which is your design, it provokes me more against you; even the solemn meeting-The most solemn day of each of the three feasts, which was the last day, which was called by this very name, 77, Lev. xxiii. 36; Num. xxix. 35, and elsewhere; although the word be used sometimes more generally of any other solemn festival day. Perhaps the great day of atonement was especially intended. Bishop Lowth renders it, the day of restraint, certain holy days, ordained by the law, being distinguished by a particular charge, that "no servile work should be done therein." This circum- || stance clearly explains the reason of the name, the restraint, given to those days. Verses 18-20. Come now, let us reason together -The word is properly understood of two contending parties arguing a case; or, as Bishop Lowth translates it, pleading together; but here it seems to import also the effect, or issue of such a debate, namely, the accommodating their differences. Though your sins be as scarlet--Red and bloody as theirs were, mentioned verse 15; great and heinous; they shall be white as snow--God, upon your repentance and reformation, will pardon all that is past, and look upon you with the same grace and favour as if you had never offended, your sins being expiated by the blood of the Messiah, typified by your legal sacrifices. It is a metonymical expression, by which sins are said to be purged, as Heb. i. 3, when men are purged from their sins, Heb. ix. 14. If ye be willing and obedient-If you be heartily willing and fully resolved to obey all my commands; ye shall eat the good of the landTogether with the pardon of your sins, you shall receive temporal and worldly blessings. But if ye refuse and rebel-If you obstinately persist in your disobedience to me, as hitherto you have done; ye shall be devoured with the sword-With the sword Verses 16, 17. Wash ye, make you clean--Re- of your enemies, which shall be commissioned to pent, and do works meet for repentance: cleanse your destroy you, and with the sword of God's justice, hearts and hands from all filthiness of flesh and spi- his wrath and vengeance, which shall be drawn rit, and do not content yourselves with your ceremo- || against you; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken nial washings. He refers to the charge preferred || it-And he will surely make it good for the mainin the preceding clause, and alludes to the legal puri-taining of his own honour. Verse 15. When ye spread forth your hands-When ye pray with your hands spread abroad, as the manner was; I will hide mine eyes from you-I || will take no notice of your persons or requests. Your hands are full of blood--You are guilty of murder and oppression, and of other crying sins, which I abhor, and have forbidden under pain of my highest displeasure. fications commanded on several occasions: see Lev. Verse 21. How is the faithful city-Jerusalem, xiv. 8, 9, 47. Put away the evil, &c., from before | which in the reign of former kings was faithful to Degeneracy of the people. CHAPTER I. Promises of restoration. A. M. 3244. lot! it was full of judgment; right- || 12 purely a purge away thy dross, and A. M. 3244. eousness lodged in it; but now mur-take away all thy tin: B. C. 760. derers. r B. C. 760. 26 And I will restore thy judges as at the 22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: mixed with water: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of 8 23 Thy princes are rebellious, and com-righteousness, the faithful city. 24 Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies : 27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and 13 her converts with righteousness. t 28 T And the destruction 14 of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed. 29 For they shall be ashamed of "the oaks 25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and which ye have desired, and ye shall be con *Jer. vi. 28, 30; Ezek. xxii. 18, 19. Hos. ix. 15.- m Prov. xxix. 24. Jer. xxii. 17; Ezek. xxii. 12; Hos. iv. 18.-9. Jer. r. 28; Zechariah vii. 10.—P Deut. xxviii. 63; Ezekiel v. 13. 12 Heb. according to pureness. S 4 Jer. vi. 29; ix. 7; Mal. iii. 3.- - Jer. xxxiii. 7.- Zech. viii. 3.-13 Or, they that return of her. Job xxxi. 3; Psa. i. 6; v. 6; lxxiii. 27; xcii. 9; civ. 35. 14 Heb. breaking. Lu Ch. lvii. 5.- Chap. lxv. 3; lxvi. 17. God; become a harlot-Filled with idolatry, called as thou hadst in the beginning, either, 1st, Of thy whoredom in the Scriptures. It was full of judg- commonwealth, such as Moses and Joshua: or, 2d, Of ment, &c.—Judgment was truly and duly executed thy kingdom, such as David. And thy counsellors in all its courts, and righteousness, or justice, lodg--Thy princes shall have, and shall hearken to, wise ed, or had its seat in it; but now murderers-Un- and faithful counsellors. Afterward thou shalt be der that one gross kind, he comprehends all sorts of unrighteous men and practices. Verses 22, 23. Thy silver is become dross-Thou art wofully degenerated from thy former purity. Thy wine mixed with water-If there be any remains of religion and virtue in thee, they are mixed with many and great corruptions. Thy princes are || rebellious—Against me, their sovereign Lord; and companions of thieves-Partly by giving them connivance and countenance, and partly by practising the same violence, and cruelty, and injustice that thieves used to do. Every one loveth gifts-That is, bribes given to pervert justice. called-Namely, justly and truly, the city of righteousness, &c.-Thou shalt be such. "The reforming of the magistracy," says Henry, "is a good step toward the reforming of the city and country too." Verses 27, 28. Zion shall be redeemed-Shall be delivered from all their enemies and calamities; with judgment-By the exercise of God's strict justice in destroying the obdurate; by purging out those wicked and incorrigible Jews, who, by their sins, hindered the deliverance of the people; and by punishing and destroying their unmerciful enemies who kept them in cruel bondage; and her converts -Hebrew, 7, her returners, those of them who Verse 24. Ah, I will ease me, &c.-This is an ex- shall come out of captivity into their own land; pression borrowed from men's passions, who find with righteousness-Or, by righteousness; either by some sort of ease and rest in their minds upon God's faithfulness, in keeping his promise of deliverventing their anger on just occasions, or in bringing ing them after seventy years, or by his goodness; offenders to condign punishment. Thus God, for both these qualities come under the name of speaking after the manner of men, represents him-righteousness in the Scriptures. And, or rather, self as feeling satisfaction in executing justice upon || but, the destruction of the transgressors, &c., shall obstinate and incorrigible offenders. Compare be together-Though I will deliver my people from Ezek. v. 13, and xvi. 42, and xxi. 17. But let it be observed, God is never said to take pleasure in the punishment of any, but those who have filled up the measure of their iniquities. Verses 25, 26. And I will turn my hand upon thee -I will chastise thee again, and thereby reform thee: or, I will do that for the reviving of religion, which I did at first for the planting of it. And purge away thy dross-I will purge out of thee those wicked men that are incorrigible, and, as for those of you that are curable, I will by my word, and by the furnace of affliction, purge out all that corruption that yet remains in you. And I will restore thy judges, &c.-I will give thee such princes and magistrates the Babylonish captivity, yet those of them who shall still go on in their wickedness, shall not have the benefit of that mercy, but shall be reserved for a more dreadful and total destruction. Verse 29. For they shall be ashamed-He does not speak of an ingenuous and penitential shame for sin, but of an involuntary and penal shame for the disappointment of the hopes which they had placed in their idols; of the oaks which ye have desired— Which, after the manner of the heathen, you have consecrated to idolatrous uses. Of what particular kind the trees here mentioned were, cannot be determined with certainty. The Hebrew word nx, here used, is rendered iler by Bishop Lowth, which 30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, they shall both burn together, and none shall and as a garden that hath no water. y Ezek. xxxii. 21. Chap. xliii. 17. properly means the scarlet oak. Others think the terebinth-tree was intended. And ye shall be confounded for the gardens, &c.—In which, as well as in the groves, they practised idolatry: see Isa. lxv. 3; and lxvi. 17. "Sacred groves," the reader will observe, "were a very ancient and favourite appendage of idolatry. They were furnished with the temple of the god to whom they were dedicated; with altars, images, and every thing necessary for performing the various rites of worship offered there; and were the scenes of many impure ceremonies, and of much abominable superstition. They made a principal part of the religion of the old in- || habitants of Canaan; and the Israelites were commanded to destroy their groves, among other monuments of their false worship. The Israelites themselves, however, became afterward very much addicted to this species of idolatry:" see Ezek. xx. 28; Hos. iv. 13. Bishop Lowth. Verse 30. For ye shall be as an oak, &c.-As you | have sinned under the oaks and in the gardens, so you shall be like unto oaks and gardens, not when they are green and flourishing, but when they wither and decay. This verse is remarkably elegant, in which, what was the pleasure and confidence of those idolaters, is made to denote their punishment. "All the gardens in the East," says a late writer, "have water in them, which is so absolutely necessary, that without it every thing, in summer, || quench them. 15 Or, and his work. would be parched up. This is a circumstance which we should attend to, if we would enter into the energy of the latter clause." Verse 31. And the strong-The wisest, strongest, or richest persons among you, who think to secure themselves against the threatened danger by their wisdom, wealth, or power, and much more they that are weak and helpless; shall be as tow-Shall be as suddenly and easily consumed by God's judgments as tow is by the fire. And the maker of it— The maker of the idol, who can neither save himself nor his workmanship; as a spark—To set it on fire: by his sin he shall bring himself to ruin. Or, as piry, may be rendered, his work shall become a spark, shall be the cause of his destruction. "The words are elegant, and the meaning of them is, that the rich, the powerful, the great, (meant by the word jonn, which we render strong,) who seemed like a lofty and well-rooted oak, shall perish with their works: for their works, their great and wicked undertakings, by which they had sought safety, like sparks, shall set them on fire and consume them like tow. They shall perish, like fools, by their own devices. The very works themselves, which they had raised for the glory and preservation of themselves and their republic, shall be turned into the very cause of their destruction. Vitringa thinks the prophet alludes to the destruction of their state and temple by the Romans."-Dodd. CHAPTER II. A prophecy of Christ's kingdom, and the calling of the Gentiles, 1-5; and rejectim of the Jews for their idolatry and pride, 6-9. The great majesty and power of God, and his terrors on the wicked; with an exhortation to fear God, and not to trust in man, 10-22. A prophecy of CHAPTER II. Christ's kingdom. B. C. 760. A. M. 3244. the mountains, and shall be exalted || he will teach us of his ways, and we A. M. 3244. B. C. 760. & Psa. lxxii. 8; Chap. xxvii. 13. viii. 21, 23. which shall have escaped this severe purgation, a future restoration to the favour and protection of God. This prophecy was probably delivered in the time of Jotham, or, perhaps, in that of Uzziah, to which time not any of his prophecies (and he prophesied in their days) is so applicable as that of these chapters."-Bishop Lowth. || there established. It never happened, during the ages that intervened between the time of Isaiah and the destruction of their city and temple, and the dispersion of their nation by the Romans, that their religion was so exalted, or made such great account of, by any nations remote or near, as is here expressed: much less did whole nations flow unto them, or unite themselves with them in the service of God, and in church fellowship. But this prophecy has been in a great measure fulfilled with regard to the Christian Church, which has so drawn to it the greater part of the civilized nations, that it has far, very far, surpassed all other religious institutions, whether Jewish, heathen, or Mohammedan: and when the last of the four kingdoms, spoken of Dan. ii. 35, 40-45, and vii. 19-27, shall be destroyed, and thereby all obstructions removed, it shall be fully and perfectly accomplished, and the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the Most High. For the Messiah shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth: yea, all kings shall fall down before him, and all nations shall serve him, Psalm lxxii. 8, 11. Verse 3. And many people shall go-Shall not only have some weak desires of going, but shall take pains, and actually go; and say, Come, &c.-Yea, such shall be their zeal, that they shall not only go themselves, but shall persuade and press others to go with them. And we will walk in his paths-Thus they show the truth of their conversion, by their Verse 2. And-Or rather, now, it shall come to pass in the last days-The times of the Messiah, which are always spoken of by the prophets as the last days, because they are the last times and state of the church, Christ's institutions being to continue to the end of the world. See Joel ii. 28, compared with Acts ii. 17; Mic. iv. 1, compared with Heb. i. 1; 1 Pet. i. 20. The Jews, it must be observed, divided the times or succession of the world into three ages or periods: the first, before the law; the second, under the law; the third, under the Messiah: which they justly considered as the last dispensation, designed of God to remain till the consummation of all things. Accordingly St. Paul tells us, that Christ appeared επι συντέλεια των αιώνων, at the consummation of the ages, or several periods of the world, Heb. ix. 26; and, speaking of his own times, saith, Teλn Twv alwvwv, the ends of the world, or conclusion of the ages, are come, 1 Cor. x. 11. The mountain of the Lord's house-Mount Moriah, on which the Lord's house stood, or rather, the Lord's house upon that mount, shall be established upon the top of the mountains-Shall be raised above, be rendered more conspicuous than, and shall be pre-hearty desire to be instructed in the way of worshipferred before, all other mountains on which houses are built, and altars erected and dedicated to any god or gods. The prophet speaks figuratively. He means, that the worship of the true God should be established on the ruins of idolatry, that the true religion should swallow up all false religions, and the church of God, typified by the temple at Jerusalem, become most eminent and conspicuous, as a city on a high mountain: and shall be exalted above the hills-Above all churches, states, and kingdoms in the world, and all that is excellent and glorious || therein. The stone cut out of the mountain, without Verse 4. He shall judge among the nations-He hands, shall become itself a mountain, and shall shall set up and exercise his authority, in and over fill the whole earth, Dan. ii. 34, 35. And all nations all nations, not only giving laws to them, as other -Even the Gentile nations; shall flow unto it-Shall rulers do, but doing that which no others can do, come in great abundance and with great eagerness convincing their consciences, changing their hearts, to embrace the true religion, and become members and ordering their lives; and shall rebuke many of the true church, like broad streams, or mighty people-By the power of his word, compared to a rivers, flowing swiftly and impetuously toward the two-edged sword in Scripture, and by the grace of ocean, as the word 7, here used, signifies. Now, his Spirit, convincing the world of sin: as also by it is well known, this was not the case with respect the remarkable judgments which he will execute on to the Jewish Church at Jerusalem, or the worship || those that are incorrigible, and especially on those || ping and serving God acceptably, and by their firm purpose of practising the instructions given. For out of Zion shall go forth the law-The new law, the doctrine of the gospel, which is frequently called a law, because it hath the nature and power of a law, obliging us no less to the belief and practice of it than the old law did; and the word of the Lord— For the accomplishment of this promise, see Luke xxiv. 47; Acts i. 8; Rom. x. 18. This last clause shows the reason why the people should be so forward to go, and to invite others to go with them. |