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Isaiah Chapter
Three
Isaiah 3
Chapter Contents
The calamities about to come upon the land. (1-9) The
wickedness of the people. (10-15) The distress of the proud
luxurious women of
Zion. (16-26)
Commentary on Isaiah 3:1-9
(Read Isaiah 3:1-9)
God was about to deprive Judah of every stay and support.
The city and the land were to be made desolate
because their words and works
had been rebellious against the Lord; even at his holy temple. If men do not
stay themselves upon God
he will soon remove all other supports
and then they
must sink. Christ is the Bread of life and the Water of life; if he be our
Stay
we shall find that is a good part not to be taken away
John 6:27. Here note
1. That the condition of
sinners is exceedingly woful. 2. It is the soul that is damaged by sin. 3.
Whatever evil befals sinners
be sure that they bring it on themselves.
Commentary on Isaiah 3:10-15
(Read Isaiah 3:10-15)
The rule was certain; however there might be national
prosperity or trouble
it would be well with the righteous and ill with the
wicked. Blessed be God
there is abundant encouragement to the righteous to
trust in him
and for sinners to repent and return to him. It was time for the
Lord to show his might. He will call men to a strict account for all the wealth
and power intrusted to and abused by them. If it is sinful to disregard the
necessities of the poor
how odious and wicked a part do they act
who bring
men into poverty
and then oppress them!
Commentary on Isaiah 3:16-26
(Read Isaiah 3:16-26)
The prophet reproves and warns the daughters of Zion of
the sufferings coming upon them. Let them know that God notices the folly and
vanity of proud women
even of their dress. The punishments threatened answered
the sin. Loathsome diseases often are the just punishment of pride. It is not
material to ask what sort of ornaments they wore; many of these things
if they
had not been in fashion
would have been ridiculed then as now. Their fashions
differed much from those of our times
but human nature is the same. Wasting
time and money
to the neglect of piety
charity
and even of justice
displease
the Lord. Many professors at the present day
seem to think there is no harm in
worldly finery; but were it not a great evil
would the Holy Spirit have taught
the prophet to expose it so fully? The Jews being overcome
Jerusalem would be
levelled with the ground; which is represented under the idea of a desolate
female seated upon the earth. And when the Romans had destroyed Jerusalem
they
struck a medal
on which was represented a woman sitting on the ground in a
posture of grief. If sin be harboured within the walls
lamentation and
mourning are near the gates.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Isaiah》
Isaiah 3
Verse 2
[2] The mighty man
and the man of war
the judge
and the
prophet
and the prudent
and the ancient
The judge — The civil magistrates.
The ancient — Whose wisdom was increased by
long experience.
Verse 5
[5] And the people shall be oppressed
every one by another
and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against
the ancient
and the base against the honourable.
Oppressed — By thy command or permission of
such childish rulers.
Verse 6
[6] When a man shall take hold of his brother of the house
of his father
saying
Thou hast clothing
be thou our ruler
and let this ruin
be under thy hand:
Thou hast — We are utterly undone
and have
neither food nor raiment; but thou hast something left to support the dignity
which we offer to thee.
Under thine hand — To heal it.
Verse 7
[7] In that day shall he swear
saying
I will not be an
healer; for in my house is neither bread nor clothing: make me not a ruler of
the people.
An healer — A repairer of the ruins of the
state.
Verse 9
[9] The shew of their countenance doth witness against them;
and they declare their sin as Sodom
they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for
they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
The shew — Their pride
and wantonness
and impiety m manifestly
shews itself in their very looks.
They declare — They act it publickly
casting
off all fear of God and reverence to men.
Rewarded — Procured a fit recompense for their wickedness
even
utter ruin.
Verse 10
[10] Say ye to the righteous
that it shall be well with him:
for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
Say ye — O ye priests and Levites
that God will be their
safeguard and portion.
Verse 12
[12] As for my people
children are their oppressors
and
women rule over them. O my people
they which lead thee cause thee to err
and
destroy the way of thy paths.
Women — Weak and effeminate rulers.
They — Thy rulers civil and ecclesiastical.
Verse 13
[13] The LORD standeth up to plead
and standeth to judge the
people.
Standeth — He will shortly and certainly stand up as a judge
to
enquire into the cause
and to give sentence.
To judge — To defend and deliver them.
Verse 14
[14] The LORD will enter into judgment with the ancients of
his people
and the princes thereof: for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the
spoil of the poor is in your houses.
Ancients — The princes or rulers; such were commonly chosen out
of those who were in ripe years.
Eaten — Destroyed instead of preserving the church and
commonwealth of Israel.
Spoil — The goods which you have violently taken away from the
poor.
Verse 16
[16] Moreover the LORD saith
Because the daughters of Zion
are haughty
and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes
walking and
mincing as they go
and making a tinkling with their feet:
The daughters — The women; (hitherto he reproved
the men).
A tinkling — By some ornaments which they wore
upon their shoes.
Verse 17
[17] Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of
the head of the daughters of Zion
and the LORD will discover their secret
parts.
Secret paths — By giving her into the power of
those enemies that shall strip her of all her raiment.
Verse 18
[18] In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their
tinkling ornaments about their feet
and their cauls
and their round tires
like the moon
Cauls — It is agreed by all
that this and several words that
follow
were ornaments used in those times. And it is of no concern
exactly to
understand the nature and differences of them.
The moon — There were in ancient times
and at this day there are
some ornaments worn
which carry a manifest resemblance to the moon or half
moon.
Verse 20
[20] The bonnets
and the ornaments of the legs
and the
headbands
and the tablets
and the earrings
Tablets — He seems to mean boxes of perfumes.
Verse 21
[21] The rings
and nose jewels
Nose-jewels — Which were fastened to the head
and hung down upon the forehead to the beginning of the nose.
Verse 22
[22] The changeable suits of apparel
and the mantles
and
the wimples
and the crisping pins
Pins — Of silver or gold
either used to curl the hair
or
fastened and worn in the hair.
Verse 23
[23] The glasses
and the fine linen
and the hoods
and the
vails.
Glasses — The looking-glasses
as we call them
tho' in truth
they were not made of glass
but of bright and burnished brass.
Verse 24
[24] And it shall come to pass
that instead of sweet smell
there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set
hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning
instead of beauty.
Girdle — Which were fine and costly
and useful to gird their
garments about them.
A rent — Torn and tattered garments.
Burning — By the heat of the sun
to which they are now commonly
exposed
from which they used formerly to guard themselves with the utmost
care.
Verse 26
[26] And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being
desolate shall sit upon the ground.
Gates — The gates of Zion or Jerusalem
which
by a figure
are said to lament
to imply the great desolation of the place; that there
would be no people to go out and come in by the gates
as they used to do.
Shall sit — Like a mournful woman bewailing
the loss of her husband and children.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Isaiah》
03 Chapter 3
Verses 1-26
Verses 1-3
For behold the Lord . . . doth take away . . . the mighty man.
-
National leaders removed
The Jewish nation
at this time
may be considered as represented
by an old building
ready to fall into ruin
to prevent which many props had
been added. These supports
on which it leaned
that were derived the
authority
the prudence and fortitude of its leading men
God threatens to
remove; in consequence of which the State should as certainly become ruinous as
a decayed building
when the props on which it rested are taken away. (R.
Macculloch.)
The death of the renowned
There is a tendency to trust in the arm of flesh. It would be most
wicked if we were ungrateful for our great deliverers
raised up by that God to
whom the shield of the earth belongeth; but
at the same time
it must be
sinful to trust in them as if they were the authors of all
and
therefore
deserved all the glory.
1. We need the admonition which precedes this text--“Cease ye from
man (whether prince or senator
soldier or orator
counsellor or captain)
whoso breath (whatever his strength or genius
talent or fame) is in his
nostrils.”
2. There is no such thing as chance; whether it be a hair which falls
to the ground
or a sparrow that drops in its weary way across the field
or a
prince smitten from his throne
or a dynasty broken--God is in them
giving
permitting
overruling
and sanctifying; it is not the shot or shell
the wave
or wind
incident or accident
but God that “takes away
” and those things
which we suppose to have played the principal part
are merely servants sent
out by God to lead the soldier from his duty in the field
to receive the crown
of glory and war no more.
3. But not only is it the Lord
but He has right and jurisdiction to
do so. He not only reigns
but He rules. Unsanctified interpositions of God are
the darkest judgments; whilst therefore
we recognise His hand in giving
let
us recognise His hand in taking away. A father and his child walk. They pick up
a stone with a green substance
which appears worthless
and fit only to be
cast away; but they apply the microscope
and this green substance on the stone
he finds to be a magnificent though tiny forest. So it is with any fact that
occurs. Man looks at it with his own eyes
sees it uninstructive; but when seen
in the light of God’s truth
he finds in it what is instructive and suggestive.
4. When God removes from a nation its props
pillars
and supports
He does so to lead that nation to see Himself more clearly and to lean on Him
more entirely.
5. The Lord thus “takes away” in order to teach men impressively this
lesson which man is very slow to learn--that death must come upon all. Death
enters the cabinets of princes and statesmen
the camp of the hero
and the hut
of the peasant
without paying the least respect to rank or royalty. (J.
Cumming
D. D.)
The death of statesmen
I. Learn from the
death of a great statesman THE WEIGHT OF GOVERNMENT IN A FALLEN WORLD. For when
we see the mightiest minds that our country has produced
a Fox
a Pitt
a
Liverpool
a Canning
one after another taking the weight of government upon
them
and dropping under its weight into the arms of death--can we avoid
thinking of the mighty mass of care that has pressed them down?
II. We are taught
THE WEAKNESS OF THE SHOULDERS OF MORTAL MEN. However mighty his shoulders may
be
he must be a bold man that would venture to take up a burden that has
crushed so many: and yet there are many that will venture on it; for there are
those who delight in danger
who sport with difficulties
and who delight in
doing what no one else can do. And it is well for society that there are men of
moral courage. If all preferred the comfort and quiet of domestic life
how
could the affairs of government go on? Yet there are some burdens
the weight
of which will crush any mind
for the sons of Anak are not omnipotent. And how
knows any man how near he is to this point
when he shall be overwhelmed with
his own duties
distracted with his own cares
become a prey to the very thing
in which he delighted?
III. THE UNCERTAINTY
OF ALL HUMAN AFFAIRS. We need to be taught this with a strong hand
for this
warm piece of moving clay that is bustling about the earth
ready to drop to
pieces every moment
is so swollen with vanity that it would fain fancy it is
made of adamant. Therefore God supplies us with strong reasons
at certain
seasons
to teach us the contrary.
IV. OUR ABSOLUTE
DEPENDENCE ON THE SUPREME GOVERNOR. When we behold the profound counsellor and
the mighty orator
and are entranced with their talents and execution
we grow
idolatrous
and think these men are more than mortal
and that society could
not go on without them; little thinking that He who made them as they are
to
be employed as He pleases
and to be laid aside when He pleases
can raise
others equally fitted as they are. (Exodus 4:11.)
V. Another lesson
which we should learn is
THE SACRED DUTY OF PRAYER FOR KINGS AND ALL IN
AUTHORITY OVER US. We should make our supplications that councils may be
assisted
that the cares of government may not overwhelm and destroy
that
there may be a reasonable spirit prevalent in the public
so that it may be
rendered less oppressive.
VI. IN YOUR
SUPPLICATIONS ESPECIALLY REMEMBER ZION
THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD. The
Church has been compared to a building
and the world to a scaffold placed
around it in order to assist in rearing the edifice.
VII. LEARN TO PREPARE FOR OUR OWN DEATH. (J. Bennett
D. D.)
The death of the renowned excites special attention and interest
In the humble cottage on some mountain slope
in some shaded
valley or distant forest
or in the living wilderness of some great city
are
the young and the old
the brave and the fair
passing away in unbroken
procession to the dust of the sepulchre
and to the destinies of the life to
come But the great world without does not regard it. Like the leaves of autumn
that strew our pathway
they sink into the grave
and their death is crowded
from recollection by the never-ending succession of new events. But when the
tall and graceful trees of the forest--the monarchs whose heads towered above
the general altitude--are brought down by some resistless blow
their fall is
attended with a louder crash
and the earth itself trembles beneath the shock:
so
when the men who walk upon the loftier heights of place and power
when
those whose intellectual stature as they move along the paths of science
of
history
of literature
and of art
renders them preeminent above the general
mass
are laid prostrate by the stroke of death
the event impresses itself
more vividly upon the minds of men
and calls out from its hidden springs in
the heart a profounder sentiment of sorrow. (J. A. Todd.)
The perils of greatness
Every state is set in the midst of danger
as all trees are set in
the wind; but the tallest endure the greatest violence of the tempest. (Bishop
J. Taylor
D. D.)
Verses 4-8
I will give children to be their princes
Puerile government
Probably an abstract term used for a concrete--puerilities or
childishnesses for childish persons.
(J. A. Alexander.)
Juvenile government a curse
If it is in itself generally a misfortune when the king of a
country is a lad (Ecclesiastes 10:16)
it is doubly so when
the princes or magnates surrounding end advising him are also youths or
youngsters in the bad sense of the term . . . Varying humour
utterly
unregulated and unrestrained
rules supreme. (F. Delitzsch.)
A foolish ruler: Justinian II (of Constantinople)
The name of a triumphant lawgiver was dishonoured by the vices of
a boy
who imitated his namesake only in the expensive luxury of building. His
passions were strong; his understanding was feeble; and he was intoxicated with
a foolish pride that his birth had given him the command of millions
of whom
the smallest community would not have chosen him for their local magistrate.
His favourite ministers were two beings the least susceptible of human
sympathy
a eunuch and a monk; the one he abandoned the palace
to the other
the finances; the former corrected the emperor’s mother with a scourge
the
latter suspended the insolvent tributaries
with their heads downward
over a
slow and smoky fire. (Gibbon’s Rome.)
Verse 5
And the people shall be oppressed
Tyranny
The dissolution of good order and political confusion.
Oppression and pride everywhere prevail. (R. Macculloch.)
State chaos
There is a natural relation of classes. Whilst all that is purely
mechanical and arbitrary is to be viewed with suspicion
yet there is a natural
sequence in things; there is
indeed
what is called a fitness or harmony of
things; and when society is rightly inspired the base man knows that he is
base
and his baseness is his weakness
and his weakness defines his position;
and the child knows himself to be but a child
and therefore he behaves himself
with discretion
and is limited by circumstances which he cannot control. Once
let the moral centre be lost
and then you have lost all arithmetical counting
all geometrical relationship
all figure and form and mechanism and security
and the foursquare is thrown out of its parallel
and that which was right is
numbered with that which is forbidden
(J. Parker
D. D.)
An evil spirit in the nation
It is here threatened that God would send an evil spirit among
them ( 9:23)
which would make them--
1. Injurious and unneighbourly one towards another. “The people shall
be oppressed everyone by his neighbour
” and their princes
being children
take no care to restrain the oppressors
or relieve the oppressed. Nor is it to
any purpose to appeal to them.
2. Insolent and disorderly towards their superiors. It is as ill an
omen to a people as can be
when the rising generation among them is generally
untractable
rude
and ungovernable
when “the child behaves himself proudly against
the ancient”; whereas he should “rise up before the hoary head
and honour the
face of the old man” (Leviticus 19:32). When young people are
conceited and pert
and carry it scornfully towards their superiors
it is not
only a reproach to themselves
but of ill consequence to the public; it
slackens the reins of government
and weakens the hands that hold them. It is
likewise ill with a people when persons of honour cannot support their
authority
but are affronted by the base and beggarly; when judges are insulted
by the mob
and their power set at defiance. (M. Henry.)
A lamentable state of society
Homo homini lupus--man becomes a wolf to man;
jusque datum sceleri--wickedness receives the stamp of law;
nec hospes ab hospite tutus--the guest and the host
are in danger from each other. (M. Henry.)
Verse 6-7
A man shall take hold of his brother
Seeking to transfer rulership
Here we have the law of primogeniture.
By the law of the State it was right that the eldest son should take a certain
definite and ruling position. But he was naked; he had not one rag with which
to cover his nudity; and seeing one of his younger brethren with a coat on
with a garment on
he sprang upon him and said
By that coat I ask thee to take
my place: thou hast at least so much
and I have nothing; come
be head of the
family and be prince of the tribe. But the younger son scorned the proffered
dignity. The moral base had gone
and therefore the mechanical dignity was of
no account; the pedestal of righteousness had been struck away
and the statue
of nominal dignity fell into the dust. (J. Parker
D. D.)
“Let this ruin be under thy hand”
Or
according to a various reading
making a very good sense
“Take into thy hand our ruinous state.” Endeavour
if possible
to retrieve our
affairs
now in sad disorder
prognosticating our destruction as a people:
deliver
if possible
from injustice and oppression
from foreign enemies and
domestic troubles; and
in the prosecution of these great and important
purposes
we will act as thy dutiful subjects. (R. Macculloch.)
Government going a-begging
Here--
1. It is taken for granted that there is no way of redressing all
these grievances and bringing things into order again
but by good magistrates
that shall be invested with power by common consent
and shall exert that power
for the good of the community. And it is probable this was in many places the
true origin of government. Men found it necessary to unite in a subjection to
one who was thought fit for such a trust
in order to the welfare and safety of
them all
being aware that they must be either ruled or ruined.
2. The case is represented as very deplorable
and things come to a
sad pass; for--
3. It will be looked upon as ground sufficient for the preferring a
man to be a ruler
that he hath clothing better than his neighbours; a very
poor qualification to recommend a man to a place of trust in the government. It
was a sign the country was much impoverished
when it was a rare thing to find
a man that had good clothes
or that could afford to buy himself an alderman’s
gown
or a judge’s robes; and that the people were very unthinking
when they
had so much respect to a man in gay clothing with a gold ring (James 2:2-3)
that for the sake thereof
they would make him their ruler. It had been some sense to have said
Thou hast
wisdom
integrity
experience
be thou our ruler; but it was a jest to say
Thou hast clothing
be thou our ruler. A poor
wise man
though in vile
raiment
delivered a city (Ecclesiastes 9:15). (Matthew Henry.)
“I will not be an healer”
“I do not want to be a surgeon”--he does not like to be a binder
namely
of the broken arms and legs and ribs of the ruined State (Isaiah 30:26; Isaiah 1:6; Isaiah 61:1). (F. Delitzsch.)
A reason for refusing rulership
“In my house is neither bread nor clothing.” If he saith true
it
was a sign men’s estates were sadly ruined; if he do not speak truth
it was a
sign men’s consciences were sadly debauched
when
to avoid the expense of an
office
they would load themselves with the guilt of perjury. (M. Henry.)
Clothing in the East
It was customary in Eastern countries
where fashions did not vary
as among us
to collect immense quantities of clothes and provisions
not only
for the person’s own use
and that of his family
but for presents upon proper
occasions. This appears plainly
from the sacred writings
to have been the
practice among the Jews. This
as a celebrated writer observes
explains the
meaning of the excuse made by him that is desired to undertake the government.
He alleges he hath not wherewithal to support the dignity of that station by
such acts of liberality and hospitality as the law and custom required of
persons in high rank. (R. Macculloch.)
Verse 8
For Jerusalem is ruined
“Jerusalem is ruined!”--forfeited privilege
What a verse is the eighth! We cannot even now read it without
quailing under the awful representation--“For Jerusalem is ruined.
” We thought Jerusalem never could be ruined: the mountains were round about
her
and to the old psalmists those mountains signified the security of the
righteous. Is beauty no protection? is ancient history of no account? will not
the dead kings of Judah speak for her in the time of her trial? We cannot live
upon our past
upon our forefathers
upon our vanished glories; morality must
be as fresh as the dew of the morning; our righteousness must be as clear
personal
and definite as the action which we perform at the living moment. A
man cannot lay up a character and fall back upon it if his present conduct is
out of keeping with it; he himself takes the juice and sap out of the character
which he once lived. (J. Parker
D. D.)
“The eyes of His glory”
The glory of God is that eternal manifestation of His holy nature
in its splendour which man pictures to himself anthropomorphically
because he
cannot conceive of anything more sublime than the human form. It is in this
glorious form that Jehovah looks upon His people. In this is mirrored His
condescending yet jealous love
His holy love
which breaks forth into wrath
against all who requite His love with hate. (F. Delitzsch.)
The fall of the Campanile at St. Mark’s
Venice
Latterly it had been ignobly used as an office for the State
lotteries which are demoralising Italy. In cutting the wall for the purposes of
that office
the whole building had been weakened. The event spoke as a parable
whose meaning could not be missed. That great
stately tower
with its history
of a thousand years
fell
because of the little lottery office which cut into
it and weakened it. There is an application of the parable to our own national
life. Is it possible that a great empire like ours can fall through the
gambling habit--the lowest and meanest of the vices--insidiously spreading
through all classes of the community? Is it possible to conceive that such a
vice should so undermine the character of the people
that the stately
structure
built by heroic men in the past
shall crash down in swift ruin at
the end? (R. F. Horton
D. D.)
Ruinous effect of sin
Its is just like what happens sometimes in a forest. In a calm
day
when all else is silent
something crashes heavily through the branches
and we know a tree has fallen
No axe was lifted
no white lightning streamed
there was only a passing breeze. The wind that did but gently sway the little
flower
shook down that towering tree
because long before the catastrophe
its
vital progress had been disturbed
and millions of foul insects had entered it
which
leaving its bark untouched
and its boughs unshorn of their glory
had
slowly
silently
withered its strong fibres and hollowed its core. (C.
Stanford.)
Verse 9
The shew of their countenance doth witness against them
Character revealed in the countenance
What is meant is the insolent look which their sinfulness is
stamping upon their faces
without the self-condemnation which in others takes
the form of dread to commit sin.
(F. Delitzsch.)
“Woe unto their soul”!
1. The condition of sinners is woeful and very deplorable.
2. It is the soul that is damaged and endangered by sin. Sinners may
prosper in their outward estates
and yet there may be a woe to their souls.
3. Whatever evil befalls sinners
it is of their own procuring (Jeremiah 2:19). (M. Henry.)
Verse 10-11
Say ye to the righteous
that it shall be well with him
Retribution of the righteous and the wicked
In this passage the Sovereign of the universe proclaims to all the
subjects of His moral government the great sanctions of His law.
Two powerful principles of action in our nature are addressed
namely
hope and
fear. By the one we are allured to love and pursue that which is right; by the
other
we are restrained from that which is wrong. The combined influence of
both of these principles is
in most cases
necessary to the production and
security of human virtue. God has established a natural and intimate connection
between virtue and happiness
and between sin and misery
and in consequence of
this connection
it must necessarily happen that it will be
on the whole
well
with the righteous and ill with the wicked.
I. Let us inquire
what confirmation this doctrine receives from what we know of the present
constitution of things
and from what we find to be THE USUAL COURSE OF GOD’S
MORAL GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD
If we consult the structure and operations of
our own souls
we shall find many striking intimations of this doctrine there.
The Author of our nature has made us rational
free
moral
and accountable
beings. For the direction and government of our conduct
He has implanted
within us a principle
which we call conscience
which distinguishes actions as
good or bad
and which always urges us to perform the one and to avoid the
other. He has
moreover
enforced the authority of this principle
by annexing
present pleasure to obedience to its dictates
and present pain to a violation
of them. The passions of hope and fear ever attend on conscience; the one to
encourage and reward faithful adherence to its commands; the other to restrain and
punish a wilful transgression of them. Now
all this takes place in consequence
of that moral constitution which God has given us
and of that intimate
connection which He Himself has established between virtue and happiness and
between sin and misery. So long
therefore
as the moral constitution of our
nature continues the same
and so long as God continues to be the same
infinitely wise
holy
and good Being
so long must it necessarily happen that
on the whole
it will be well with the righteous and ill with the wicked.
II. This doctrine
receives additional confirmation from THE UNIVERSAL CONSENT OF MANKIND. In
consequence of that moral nature which God has given us
by which we cannot but
approve that which we know to be right
and condemn that which we know to be
wrong
all men are agreed that vice (as far as they know it to be such) should
be restrained and punished
and that virtue should be encouraged and rewarded.
Hence
in all governments
laws are enacted against wickedness and for the protection
and encouragement of the righteous.
III. A further
confirmation of this doctrine is derived from what appear to be THE PRINCIPLES
UPON WHICH GOD’S PRESENT MORAL GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD IS CONDUCTED. We find
that
in most cases
present good is connected by Him with virtuous
dispositions and habits; and present evil
with sinful tempers and practices.
And although this connection is not always so intimate and inseparable
as that
punishment immediately follows transgression
and reward instantly attends
obedience
yet the natural retributions or effects of virtue and vice are
exhibited with sufficient frequency
to show us in what light God regards them.
With certain vices
we find that God has connected terrible physical evils
as
their proper consequences. Intemperance
in most instances
induces disease
excruciating pains and premature death. It impairs the mind
and is generally
attended with the loss of property
and invariably with the loss of reputation.
With some other of the vices of sensuality are connected the most loathsome and
destructive maladies
in the endurance of which the victim suffers a dreadful
retribution. And with regard to other vices
it not unfrequently happens that
the events of providence are so ordered in reference to the perpetrators of
them that the wicked man becomes miserable
notwithstanding all his worldly
possessions and honours
and all that he has can give him neither joy not
quietude. On the contrary
God has connected with temperance and industry
health
cheerfulness
and competency. To the godly there is the promise of the
life that now is
as well as of that which is to come. This promise we see
fulfilled
in part
in the general esteem and love in which the virtuous are
held
and in the usual prosperity of their affairs. If they have not abundance
they have a competency; or
if they are abridged in that respect
they have
friends and a contented mind. Besides
the events of providence are
in
general
so ordered with regard to them
that they find “all things working
together for their good.” Upon these principles does the course of God’s moral
government of mankind appear now to be conducted. And from what is now known of
the principles of His government
we may confidently infer that
during the
whole of man’s continuance in being
it will always be well with the righteous
and ill with the wicked. (J. Bartlett.)
Objections to God’s moral government
1. “Good and evil are often so promiscuously distributed in the
present life
that we cannot with certainty infer what are the principles upon
which God’s government of mankind is conducted. The fraudulent and wicked are
frequently prosperous and rich and flattered
while the righteous are often
poor
neglected
oppressed
and despised.” This is frequently the fact
and
were the present the only state in which mankind were to exist
and were
worldly riches and honours the only and the proper reward of virtue
and were
they
in themselves
that real good which mankind fancy them to be
then
this
fact alone would render this whole doctrine suspicious
and the arguments
adduced in support of it inconclusive. But it must first be proved that the
present is the only state in which mankind are to exist; a position
which few
will pretend to sustain
and against which innumerable arguments array
themselves
suggested by the structure and operations of our own minds; the
desires and hopes which are ever springing up within us; by our capacity of
knowledge
goodness
and happiness
which here are only imperfectly attained
and also by that very unequal distribution of good and evil
in the present
life
which has been objected to.
2. It is objected that “the miseries attending upon wickedness in
this world are punishment enough for the vicious
and therefore they will be
exempted from further suffering hereafter.” It is true that
in the present
life
there is much misery attending upon wickedness; but this furnishes not
the least ground for the supposition that misery will ever cease to be
connected with sin
as its natural and necessary consequence. On the contrary
it affords a very strong proof that this connection will ever exist
and that
so long as men are wicked
so long will they be miserable. It is agreeable to
the nature of things that it should be so. In the natural world
we find that
fruit corresponds to the nature of the tree that bears it; the grain that is
reaped to the seed that was sown.
3. It is inconsistent with the Divine mercy that the wicked should
ever experience any more suffering than what they endure in this world.” It
savours not a little of presumption for creatures of such limited
weak
and
erring minds as ours to undertake to decide
with regard to the various
measures of the Divine government
what is and what is not consistent with
God’s mercy. No one thinks to arraign the Divine government for connecting with
sin
in the present life
distress of mind
disgrace
and suffering. And were
our stay on earth prolonged to millions of years it would still be thought just
and right
and entirely consistent with the mercy of God
that the same evils
should attend the wicked
and the same good should attend the righteous. It is
an error
common to many
that they look upon the evils which attend upon sin
in this life
as a punishment vindictively appointed by God
to be endured by
the transgressor
as a penalty for having violated His law
and that after he
has endured it
he has paid the price of his transgression; the sin for which
he has suffered is expiated and therefore he thinks it would be unjust that he
should be subjected to any more suffering
although his disposition be not
changed in the least. There is hardly a sentiment that can be named
more
injurious in its influence than this
where it is fully entertained. This error
proceeds from misapprehension of the design of God in connecting evil with sin.
The miseries which are consequent upon sin are not appointed vindictively
as a
punishment; but benevolently
as preventives of it. Our Maker has kindly placed
at the entrance of every path of vice
pain
disgrace
and suffering
to deter
us from entering therein; or if we have entered
to make us retrace our steps.
Every onward step we take in a sinful course
these evils assail us. (J.
Bartlett.)
The righteous and the wicked
their reward and their woe
“Righteousness exalteth a nation
but sin is a reproach to any
people.” Plainly do we see this exemplified in the history of God’s once
favoured people
the Jews.
I. THE REWARD OF
THE RIGHTEOUS.
1. We must
before we contemplate their reward
inquire who are meant
by the righteous. The Bible elsewhere tells us
“There is none righteous
no
not one.” All our powers and faculties are represented as disordered and
depraved. After the Holy Spirit has convinced anyone of sin
humbled his heart
and won his affections to Christ
that man is “accounted
righteous”--“righteousness is imputed unto him also
” as it was unto
faithfulAbraham. And “as a refiner’s fire” will the Holy Spirit gradually
purify all those powers and faculties of the now justified sinner that were
once prostituted to the debasing service of the flesh
the world
and Satan.
2. And now we are prepared to notice his reward. We cannot
indeed
imagine that an infinitely glorious Creator can ever become obligated to reward
a creature’s faith and service: nevertheless
there is a “reward of grace.”
II. THE WOE OF THE
WICKED.
I. And
as before
we inquired
Who were meant by the righteous? so here we must ask
Whom are we
to understand by the wicked? Although
in a general way
people allow themselves
to be sinners
yet even whilst making this admission
there is evidently no
consciousness of sin
no apprehension of its adequate desert
no sorrow for it
no hatred to it.
2. Their woe. Here the woe of the wicked is called their “reward”;
and a reward it is: for while “eternal life” is bestowed as a “gift through
Jesus Christ
” upon the righteous
the “woe” of the wicked is paid to them as
“wages” earned.
Cheering words and solemn warnings
The Book of God speaks but little of upper and lower classes; it
says but little concerning the various ranks into which civil and political
institutions have divided the race of man; but from its first page to its last
it is taken up with this grand division
the righteous and the wicked. The line
of nature and the line of grace run on the same as ever; the seed of the woman
and the seed of the serpent contend with each other still. A crimson line runs
between the righteous and the wicked
the line of atoning sacrifice; faith
crosses that line
but nothing else can. There is a sharp line of division
between the righteous and the wicked
as clear as that which divides death from
life. There are no “betweenites”; no amphibious dwellers in grace and out of
grace; no monstrous nondescripts
who are neither sinners nor saints.
I. THE WELL-BEING
OF THE RIGHTEOUS.
1. Observe the fact mentioned. “It shall be well with him”; that is
the whole of the declaration; but the very fewness of the words reveals a depth
of meaning.
2. The ground upon which it is well with the righteous. “They shall
eat the fruit of their doings.” That is the only terms upon which the old
covenant can promise that it shall be well with us; but this is not the ground
upon which you and I stand under the Gospel dispensation. Absolutely to eat the
fruit of all our doings would be even to us
if judgment were brought to the
line and righteousness to the plummet
a very dreadful thing. Yet there is a
limited sense in which the righteous man will do this. I prefer
however
to
remark that there is One whose doings for us are the grounds of our dependence
and
blessed be God
we shall eat the fruit of His doings. He
the Lord Jesus
stood for us
and you know what a harvest of joy He sowed for us in His life
and death.
II. THE MISERY OF
THE WICKED. “Woe
” etc. You have only to negative all that I have already said
about the righteous. But why is it ill with the wicked? It must be ill with
him; he is out of joint with all the world. The man has an enemy who is
omnipotent
whose power cannot be resisted; an enemy who is all goodness
and
yet this man opposes Him. How can it be well with the stubble that fighteth
with the flame
or with the wax that striveth with the fire? An insect fighting
with a giant
how should it overcome? And thou
poor nothingness
contending
with the everlasting God
how can it be anything But ill with thee? It is ill
with thee
sinner
because thy joys all hang upon a thread. It is ill with you
because when these joys are over you have no more to come. It shall be ill with
the wicked
and let no present appearance lead you to doubt it. (C.
H.Spurgeon.)
The happiness of the righteous in all circumstances illustrated
I. WHO ARE THE
RIGHTEOUS AND IN WHAT SENSE IT SHALL BE WELL WITH THEM.
1. In this mixed state
when men are neither perfectly good nor bad
the exact boundaries are not so easily fixed
especially when an application is
made of these characters to particular persons
and we judge concerning
ourselves
in which case prejudice and self-partiality often mislead men; and
superstition
a very prevailing error among mankind
contributes to these
errors by leading them to imagine that there is righteousness and religion in
those things which have really nothing to do with it. In general the righteous
is he in whose heart the morally good or pious
virtuous and pure affections
rule
and whose practice is habitually conducted by their direction; the man
who loves God above all things; not the person who is altogether free from any
infirmities
which
strictly speaking
may be called sinful
and who never
through the whole course of his life
has by ignorance or surprise been drawn
into those indeliberate actions
which upon a review he cannot justify. If this
were the sense of righteousness
who could pretend to it?
2. In what sense it shall be well with him. The meaning certainly is
not that he shall possess all external advantages in this world
whereby his
condition shall be rendered more easy and prosperous than that of the wicked.
That is contrary to fact and experience
as well as to many plain declarations
of Scripture. The stable uniform desire of the good man
is
that God may “lift
on him the light of His countenance
” or grant him His “favour
which is better
than life.” Nor is it to be thought that Divine providence will always
interpose to rescue the righteous from those calamities that come upon the
world of the ungodly in which they live; it was not the intention of the
prophet to assure them
that they should be preserved from the ruin of
Jerusalem
and the common fall of Judah
which was to be expected because of
their crying national sins
in which the righteous had no share; but that in
all events they should be happy
even though they were involved in the common
desolation
and perished with the multitude of sinners. We must
therefore
in
order to understand fully how it shall be well with the righteous
enlarge our
notion of the state of man; we must consider him in the whole of his being
his
soul as well as his body and in every condition and period of his existence. It
is thus we judge concerning our state within the compass of the present life
and its affairs. A man may be easy and prosperous in the main
when his
principal interests are flourishing
although he meets with various
disappointments in things which are of lesser moment. In like manner we may
justly say
it is well with good men when their souls prosper; they enjoy
inward peace and satisfaction
and their future happiness is secured
though
they are liable to sufferings in this present time.
II. UPON WHAT
EVIDENCE THE PROPHET’S ASSERTION RESTS
or how it appears that there is a
connection between righteousness and felicity.
1. Consider the state and constitution of human nature as in fact we
find it
abstracting from any inquiry concerning the Author of it and His
designs and conduct towards us. Scarcely is there any man not conscious
in
some measure
of the satisfaction which arises from morally good dispositions;
and that this is stronger and more intense than the enjoyments which any
sensible object can yield appears from this consideration
that the latter are
frequently sacrificed to the other. Who doth not know
on the other hand
the
pains of a self-accusing heart?
2. Consider righteousness not merely as the glory of the human mind
and the naturally felicitating exercise and attainment of its powers
but
further
as it is approved and recommended to mankind by the Deity
their
rightful and supreme Ruler. We have the clearest evidence that He approves the
good actions of men
and disapproves the bad; whence we infer that one part of
His own character is moral rectitude
which is a perfection that necessarily
appears to our minds amiable
and every way worthy of the most excellent
nature; and since He is our natural Governor
by whose will we exist
are
preserved
and all the circumstances of our condition are determined
here is a
sufficient intimation of the rule
according to which He doth
and will always
proceed
in His dispensations towards us
making us happy or unhappy. (J.
Abernethy
M. A.)
All well with the righteous
I. WHO THESE
RIGHTEOUS ARE.
1. A “righteous” man before God is made so by the imputation of
Christ’s holy obedience
put to his account.
2. He has a righteous kingdom implanted and set up in his soul. A
righteous man has proof of his being such.
3. He can feed upon nothing but God’s righteous provision. He cannot
feed upon his own obedience
or upon the mere letter of the word
or upon his
mere judgment. He must have “precious faith” to “eat the flesh and drink the
blood of the Son of Man.”
4. He loves righteous fruits--a holy walk in all godliness and fear.
II. THE VERY
ENCOURAGING LANGUAGE SPOKEN RESPECTING THEM. It shall be well with them.
1. In providence.
2. In spiritual things. All thy temptations
all thy darkness
all
thy perplexities
all thy disquietudes
all thy wanderings
God will overrule.
There shall never be a night
but morning shall come; never a day of adversity
but a day of prosperity shall follow; never an emptying
but there shall be a
filling; never a bringing down
but He will raise thee up again. (J.
Warburton.)
The happiness of the righteous
I. WHO ARE THE
RIGHTEOUS?
1. Negatively.
2. Positively. This leads to a very affecting truth
namely
that all
by sin are unrighteous. Observe--
II. WHAT IS THEIR
HAPPINESS? “It shall be well with him.”
1. Their present state of justification
etc.
already described
proves this: they are free from guilt and condemnation. “Blessed is the man
whose transgression is forgiven
” etc. This freedom gives hope and is the
precursor of blessedness to come.
2. They have a good conscience (Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:21-22; 2 Corinthians 1:12).
3. They enjoy all the pleasures of true religion
arising from the
possession of Christian graces--the enjoyment of Christian privileges--and the
performance of Christian duties.
4. It shall be well with them in all adverse circumstances.
5. In death
the period when the presence of God is most needed.
6. At the resurrection. “They that have done good shall come forth to
the resurrection of life.”
7. At the judgment day (Malachi 3:17).
8. For ever in heaven. They shall be “with Christ.” (Homilist.)
It is well with the righteous
I. IN EVERY PERIOD
OF LIFE.
II. IN EVERY
RELATION IN LIFE.
III. IN EVERY
CONDITION OF LIFE.
IV. IN DEATH.
V. IN ETERNITY. (H.
Woodcock.)
The end of Christian life
“God hangs great weights on slender wires.” Thus He has made
Eternity to depend on Time
and our state in heaven or in hell to be decided by
our character on earth. Our whole history
in like manner
often hangs upon a
trifle; and that which moulds our character
upon an incident which we hardly
notice. Hence even the least actions in themselves and in their connection with
others
in leading to results
forming habits and moulding character
are of
the highest importance to us
and demand our most thoughtful reflection.
I. THEIR
CONNECTION WITH ONE ANOTHER. No action stands alone; each is a link in a chain
stretching out to eternity. Take the case of an intemperate and unchaste man;
his habits are neither without a cause preceding nor an effect to follow. It is
quite possible that several generations backward
some ancestor of his
through
some so-called trivial accident
some casual meeting
first gave way to
drunkenness. Now look onwards a few steps; we will suppose ourselves in a
hospital a generation or two hence: as we pass from ward to ward we come to a
descendant of the man before us--a poor creature
more miserable than any we
have seen dying of some miserable disease. The cause of his suffering is to be
found in the intemperance and incontinency of those who have gone before him.
Step by step it may be traced back to the trifle which led his forefather to
his first night of revelling and drunkenness. Take an instance on the brighter
side--the thought which first hit on the art of printing. This too arose from
some so-called trivial accident. We do not know what preceded it; but we may be
sure it did not come without some connection in its author’s mind. Every great
result strikes its roots deep into the past. But what has followed? has it
stood alone
unconnected
the act of one isolated mind? is not the world rather
full of its consequences
one of which
perhaps the most blessed
is that men of
all kindreds and nations may now read in their own tongues the wonderful works
of God? Both good and evil actions fructify
and reproduce themselves in
various forms. Whither their roots shall extend
and when shoot up again
whither their seed may be carried
where it may fall
and what it shall
produce
who can tell? Sometimes the least promising seed will produce the most
abundant return of fruit. So that we may not pronounce upon the importance of
an action
for we do not see its connection; neither may we think any action
trivial
for it may
I had almost said it must
lead to consequences of
importance throughout eternity.
II. THE EFFECT OF
OUR ACTIONS ON OURSELVES AND ON OTHERS.
1. On ourselves. Every step we take not only brings us forward
but
leaves a footprint behind. Every thought
word
action
all we suffer and all
we do
not only has its own importance
and leads us forward in the march of
life
but also leaves its impression
its foot print upon us
and tends to
form
confirm
or change our character. There is a memorable instance in point
illustrating both the weakness of yielding and the nobleness of holding fast to
one’s convictions
in the visit of Henry III of France to Bernard de Palissy in
the dungeons of the Bastille. The King desired to give the celebrated potter
his liberty
asking as
the price of his pardon the easy condition of giving up
his Protestant faith; My worthy friend
said the monarch
“you have now been
forty-five years in the service of my mother and myself; we have suffered you
to retain your religion amidst fire and slaughter; I am now so pressed by the
Guises and my people
that I find myself compelled to deliver you into the
hands of your enemies
and tomorrow you will be burnt unless you are
converted.” The old man bowed
touched by the goodness of the King
humbled by
his weakness
but inflexible in the faith of his fathers. “Sire
” he answered
“I am ready to give up the remainder of my life for the honour of God; you have
told me several times that you pity me
and now in my turn I pity you
who have
used the words ‘I am compelled’; it was not spoken like a king
Sire
and they
are words which neither you
nor the Guises
nor the people shall ever make me
utter: Sire
I can die.” By continually yielding
the monarch had become a
slave; by continually acting up to his convictions
the potter had become more
than a king. “He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city.”
2. Look next at the effect of our actions upon others. Not only our
children
friends
servants
but all we have any intercourse with
are more or
less affected by us. Everyone knows the force of example
the impulse we have
to imitate. Everyone musk have noticed the contagion
as it were
of opinion
which from house to house influences a whole circle of acquaintanceship. How
often have you felt the devotion or the carelessness of the person kneeling by
your side in church! How frequently must you have noticed the way in which you
catch the habits and manners of those you live with; the way in which you too
are watched
and observed
and copied by others. So that
if you did nothing
directly to influence others
the effect of your indirect influence is yet
incalculable. But you have direct influence also to exercise and give account of.
Everyone does act directly upon others. Everyone does hinder or encourage
lead
into sin
sin with
or lead away from sin
and walk godly with
others. And
where is this to stop? You ruin or
under God
save others. This goes on; their
influence ruins or saves others
and so on and on forever. Solemn
indeed
are
the words of our Saviour on this subject. (Luke 17:1-2.) On the other hand
it is equally encouraging to know that no virtuous effort is ever lost. It has
been said that every pulsation made in the air by the feeblest human effort
produces a change in the whole atmosphere; so that the air is one vast library
on whose pages are forever written all that man has ever said or woman uttered.
Is it not equally true
that the feeblest effort made for God has an influence
on some heart
and that on others onwards and onwards throughout all
generations? that
as the air is one vast library of whatever has moved it from
eternity
so the hearts and consciences of men are a vast register of every
effort made
every word spoken
every influence exerted upon them for God and
for His Christ from the beginning to the end of time; a register to be read out
on the last great day. (F. Morse
M. A.)
An old man’s hallelujah
When Dr. Adam Clarke was an old man he wrote: I have enjoyed the
spring of life; I have enjoyed the toils of its summer; I have culled the
fruits of its autumn; I am now passing through the rigours of its winter
and I
am neither forsaken of God nor abandoned by man. I see at no great distance the
dawn of a new day
the first of a spring which shall be eternal. It is
advancing to meet me! I run to embrace it! Welcome
eternal spring!
Hallelujah!”
A Christian gardener’s hope
An old gardener said
“I trust I cannot be wrong in believing that
year by year
as I grow older
I draw nearer to a garden of perfect beauty and
eternal rest
--a garden more glorious than that which Adam lost
the Eden and
the paradise of God.” (Gates of Imagery.)
Heaven
the outcome of godly living
When John Bunyan was once asked about heaven
and the glories of
heaven
he answered: “If you want to know more about it
you must live a godly
life
and go and see for yourselves.” (D. J. S. Hunt.)
Verse 11
Woe unto the wicked!--
All things conspire for evil to the sinner
As all events are to be made public under God’s moral government
it is for His own interest
as well as for the interest of His creatures
that
He should apprise them fully of His character and of the principles of His
government.
As all events are to be made known
both for the vindication of God’s character
and for the instruction of all moral agents
it follows that the destruction of
the wicked will be aggravated by every accession of light to their minds. Every
new revelation of God’s works or ways which is made to them must conspire
1. Men will be held responsible for mercies abused. Hence those
things which most please sinners
and which they call their good things
are
charged to their account
and they must be held to the strictest accountability
for their use or abuse of all their good things.
2. If these are facts
then sinners are getting deeply in debt.
Everything
therefore
that now pleases the sinner so much will swell the mass
of things that shall agonise him at the judgment day
and throughout his
eternal existence.
3. The same principle applies to the entire course of God’s
discipline towards you
embracing the various rebukes of His providence. All
these are measures taken for your good
but if you will not improve them
they
will only work out your deeper ruin. How marvellous that wicked men should
suppose that these light afflictions are the proper punishment of sin! No;
these are only God’s means of discipline
employed here in this life for the
good of men’s souls. Instead of being themselves the retribution due for sin
they are only the guarantees sent on beforehand by the great King
involving
His pledge that He will punish sin unless He can secure repentance.
4. All your infirmities and all your sins; also the sins of those who
live near you so that you can see the course of God’s dealings with them;
indeed
the whole history of sin in the universe so far as known to you
--all
conspire to heighten your responsibility and aggravate the guilt of your sin.
For all these things serve to show you the real evil and wrong of sin; they
serve to reveal God’s hatred of sin
and to assure you that He must and will
punish it. Remarks:--
Lord knoweth them that are His
and they shall never lack His
constant care.
The wicked man digs his own hell
We must not think of hell as a Divine invention; may we not say it
reverently? it is an invention totally human. All evil digs and eats its own
perdition; all evil chokes its throat with brimstone of its own finding. (J.
Parker
D. D.)
Presumptuous disobedience
Steel-headed hammers are not allowed to be used inside powder
mills
copper ones being used instead
there being no fear of drawing fires
with them. Two carpenters
going into a powder mill to do some repairs
though
fully acquainted with the regulations
persisted in using a steel hammer
with
the result that a spark flew from the hammer head
and in a moment
with a
dull
heavy roar
the mill and the men were blown to atoms.
Verse 12
As for My people
A protest
A protest against the influence of women and children
concubines
and minions (what we should call the harem influence) in the king’s counsels.
(E. H.Plumptre
D. D.)
The rule of corrupt women
The celebrated Aspasia
first the mistress and afterward the wife
of Pericles
had from her extraordinary talents a great ascendency over his
mind
and was supposed frequently to have dictated his counsels in the most
important concerns of the State. She was believed to have formed a society of
courtesans
whose influence over their gallants
young men of consideration in the
republic
she thus rendered subservient to the political views of Pericles . .
. Such were the powers of her mind and the fascinating charms of her
conversation
that even before her marriage
and while exercising the trade of
a courtesan
her house was the frequent resort of the gravest and most
respectable of the Athenian citizens; among the rest
of the virtuous Socrates.
(Tytler’s History.)
O My people
they which
lead thee cause thee to err
The character of rulers to be proved from the principles they
inculcate and the policy they pursue
The Divine compassion is not only exercised towards men in
reference to the danger of their immortal souls; it is also most strikingly to
be witnessed with regard to their temporal miseries The Lord is lamenting
in
this chapter
the miseries which were coming upon His professed people as the
fruit of their doings; and as the consequence of that course of procedure which
He would be constrained to adopt as the only means
devised by infinite wisdom
which could either work for their good
or be consistent with His character and
glory. That order of dealing would
in many respects
be exceedingly mortifying
and painful How lamentable must be the condition of any nation or people when
the words of the text are literally fulfilled in them!
I. IT IS OF THE
UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT THEY WHO ARE ENTRUSTED WITH THE RULE AND GUIDANCE OF
OTHERS SHOULD THEMSELVES BE RULED AND GUIDED BY THE FEAR AND WORD OF THE LORD.
The text is not the only passage in which the Lord speaks of the misery and
ruin brought on the people by the errors
vices
and mismanagement of their
rulers (chap. 9). Here you see
not only who the leaders of this people are
and how they are led astray by them
but what are the consequences of being
under such an erring influence. The leaders are the “head and the tail; the
ancient and honourable
he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies
he
is the tail.” Under this two-fold guidance
the people are led astray; and the
result is
“they that are led of them are destroyed.” Advert again to the case
before us. How came “the paths” of the people to be “destroyed” in the days of
the prophet? “They that led them
caused them to err.” Now
could this have
taken place if their lying prophets and wicked rulers themselves had been
governed in the fear
and guided by the Word
of God? Psalms 81:13-16.) Now
does not
the same truth apply with equal force to ourselves
to our own rulers and our own
people? Should anyone be disposed to object to this statement and say
May not
a line of policy be good although not founded upon this principle? or
May not
a man be a good ruler who follows no other guidance than his own wisdom or
will?--we deny the assertion altogether. We deem nothing to be good which is
not done in the fear
or according to the truth
of God. Now
can anyone rule
in that fear who does not live under its influence? Can anyone lead others in
the right way
who is not himself walking in it! Can anyone enforce on others
the maxims and precepts of the Divine Word--the only standard of truth and
error
and the only test of good and evil--unless that Word be made the light
of his own feet
and the lamp of his own path? Morally speaking
the thing is
impossible. Or
if he were to attempt to do so
would not indecision
ignorance
uncertainty
and error characterise all his proceedings?
II. IT IS NO
DIFFICULT THING TO ASCERTAIN THE REAL CHARACTER OF SUCH PERSONS
ESPECIALLY IN
THEIR PUBLIC CAPACITY
WHETHER THEY ARE UNDER SUCH AN INFLUENCE OR GUIDED BY
SUCH A RULE
OR NOT. How are we to ascertain whether they who are entrusted
with the rule and guidance of others are men to be confided in
as being
themselves under the rule and guidance of the fear and Word of the Lord? We may
ask in return
By what means are we to ascertain the true character of any
other person or thing
so far as man is authorised and able to judge
which is
brought under our notice
and whose real state and condition it may be of
importance to determine? By whatever standard we are directed in the one case
by the same should we be guided in the other. We must be guided in our decision
by the conduct and actions which are constantly exhibited before our eyes
and
not merely by any fair professions which are totally contradicted
or
at
least
exceedingly weakened
and continually to be called in question
by the
life and conversation.
III. THE MANNER IN
WHICH SUCH RULERS AND GUIDES GENERALLY MISLEAD OTHERS IS NOT ONLY PERNICIOUS IN
ITSELF
BUT IS OPEN AND MANIFEST TO ALL BEHOLDERS.
1. By the inculcation of dangerous and pernicious principles. A man
is what his principles are; and his actions and life will of necessity
be
according to the principles by which he is governed. But how are we to
ascertain the real character of principles? By the same test as we try men and
actions. “To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this
Word
it is because there is no light in them.”
2. By the introduction of a crooked and perverse course of policy.
Principles and policy in the affairs of nations
like faith and works in the
things of God
will always go hand in hand together; or
at least
they will be
so intimately blended with each other that they can never remain far asunder
because
in fact
as the one is the fruitful cause
so the other is the native
effect produced.
3. By the exhibition of a wicked and contagious example.
4. By an unwarrantable abuse of their power
and by the countenance
afforded to unworthy characters
and sanction given to wicked measures. Here
then
is a loud call--
Ungodly national leaders to be deprecated
Surely it ought to be for a lamentation
when the present and
eternal interests of any nation or people are committed to persons who know not
the Lord
and are determined not to walk in His paths! If any spark of proper
feeling were in exercise
we should grieve over a family placed under the care
of such parents! we should mourn over a parish or diocese entrusted to the
hands of such a shepherd! we should lament the fate of the crew of that vessel
which
instead of being steered amidst the perils of the storm
by an
experienced and careful pilot
into the harbour for safety
should by some rash
and unskilful hand be conducted into the quicksands or dashed upon the rock! We
should feel the risings of national indignation
if the admirals of our fleets
or the commanders of our armies
instead of resisting an opposing foe
should
sully their character
disobey their orders
disregard their king and their
country
and
either from incompetency
or fear
or cowardice
or treason
should play into the enemy’s hand
betray the honour of the nation
abuse the
confidence of their prince
and with reckless indifference sacrifice the lives
of their men! Everyone would cry out
and that justly
against them. What then
ought to be our feelings--how ought we to be affected--when such a dishonour is
cast upon the Majesty of heaven; when His fear is disregarded; when His Word is
set at nought; when His authority is despised; and the present and eternal
welfare of millions is sacrificed by the wickedness or weakness of those who
reject the only rule of all safe guidance--who lead a whole nation into sin
and bring down the wrath of God upon a guilty land! (R. Shittler.)
Verses 13-15
The Lord standeth up to plead
God’s controversy
The management of this controversy.
I. GOD HIMSELF IS
THE PROSECUTOR.
II. THE INDICTMENT
IS PROVED BY THE NOTORIOUS EVIDENCE OF THE FACT (Isaiah 3:15).
III. THE CONTROVERSY
IS ALREADY BEGUN IN THE CHANGE OF THE MINISTRY. To punish those that had abused
their power to ill purposes
God sets those over them that had not sense to use
it to any good purposes (Isaiah 3:12). (M. Henry.)
Verse 14
The Lord will enter into judgment
God
the Friend of the poor
Whoever abandons the sanctuary
the poor should never go away;
whoever closes the Bible
the poor man should keep it lying widely open; he
should always have a Bible that opens easily
not stiffly
because it is well
handled
and is the continual defence of men who cannot defend themselves.
(J. Parker
D. D.)
Isaiah’s solemn reproof
Returning into the city he silently hovers in and out of the
courts of revelry and feasting that open on to the narrow thoroughfares
watching the judges and honourable men of wealth
who had just come in from
their ceremonial worship at the temple
to eat
to drink
to talk lewdly
and
to amuse themselves with soothsayers and necromancers
and the haughty women
with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes
and gay and sumptuous dresses
paid
for with the money wrung from the impoverished tenantry of their spouses. As he
watches and muses
the fire within his bones flames up
and he reminds them as
he passes into the darkness
“the spoil of the poor is in your houses!” (F.
Sessions.)
Verses 16-24
The daughters of Zion are haughty
Wanton eyes
(“twinkling with the eyes”):--Compare the Talmudic witticism
“God
did not create the woman out of Adam’s ear
lest she might become an
eavesdropper; nor out of Adam’s eye
lest she might become a winker.
” (F. Delitzsch.)
The “wanton” eyes
The “wanton” eyes of A.V.
or the “ogling” eyes of others
introduces an idea foreign to the connection. There seems no reference to
immorality. It is the pride of beauty and attire
which has no mind for the
Ruler above
which is punished with all that makes loathsome. (A. B.
Davidson
LL. D.)
A mincing gait
The rendering should rather be “tripping”; for only such little
steps can they take
owing to their pace chains
which join together the costly
foot rings that were placed above the ankle. With these pace chains
which perhaps
even then as now
were sometimes provided with little bells
they make a
tinkling sound
clinking the ankle ornaments
by placing the feet in such a way
as to make these ankle rings strike one another. (F. Delitzsch.)
Pride of beauty and attire reproved
The prophet’s business was to show all sorts of people what they
had contributed to the national guilt
and what share they must expect in the
national judgments that were coming. Here he reproves and warns the daughters
of Zion
tells the ladies of their faults.
I. THE SIN CHARGED
UPON THE DAUGHTERS OF ZION. The prophet expressly voucheth God’s Authority for
what he said
lest it should be thought it was unbecoming him to take notice of
such things
and should be ill resented by the ladies. The Lord saith it.
Whether they will hear
or whether they will forbear
let them know that God
takes notice of
and is much displeased with
the folly and vanity of proud
women; and His law takes cognisance even of their dress Such a nice affected
mien is not only a force upon that which is natural
and ridiculous before men
of sense
but
as it is an evidence of a vain mind
it is offensive to God. And
two things aggravated it here--
1. That these were the daughters of Zion--the holy mountain--who
should have carried themselves with the gravity that becomes women professing
godliness.
2. That it should seem by the connection they were the wives and
daughters of the princes who spoiled and oppressed the poor (Isaiah 3:14-15)
that they might maintain
this pride and luxury of their families.
II. THE PUNISHMENTS
THREATENED FOR THIS SIN
and they answer the sin as face answers to face in a
glass (Isaiah 3:17-18).
1. They “walked with stretched forth necks.” But God “will smite with
a scab the crown of their head
” which shall lower their crests
and make them
ashamed to show their heads
being obliged by it to cut off their hair.
2. They cared not what they laid out in furnishing themselves with
great variety of fine clothes; but God will reduce them to such poverty and
distress that they should not have clothes sufficient to cover their nakedness.
3. They were extremely fond and proud of their ornaments; but God
will strip them of those ornaments
when their houses shall be plundered
their
treasures rifled
and they themselves led into captivity.
4. They were very nice and curious about their clothes
but God would
make those bodies of theirs a reproach and burden to them (Isaiah 3:24).
5. They designed by these ornaments to charm the gentlemen
and win
their affections
but there shall be none to be charmed by them (Isaiah 3:25). (Matthew Henry.)
A Jerusalem fashion plate
This is a Jerusalem fashion plate. (T. DeWitt Talmage
D. D.)
Comely clothing natural
That we should all be clad is proved by the opening of the first
wardrobe in Paradise
with its apparel of dark green. That we should all as far
as our means allow us be beautifully and gracefully apparelled is proved by the
fact that God never made a wave but He gilded it with golden sunbeams
or a
tree but He garlanded it with blossoms
or a sky but He studded it with stars
or allowed even the smoke of a furnace to ascend but He columned
and turreted
and doled
and scrolled it into outlines of indescribable gracefulness. When I
see the apple orchards of the spring
and the pageantry of the autumnal
forests
I come to the conclusion that if Nature ever does join the Church
while she may be a Quaker in the silence of her worship
she never will be a
Quaker in the style of her dress. Why the notches of a fern ear or the stamen
of a water lily? Why
when the day departs
does it let the folding doors of
heaven stay open so long
when it might go in so quickly? (T. DeWitt
Talmage
D. D.)
Costume and morals
1. Much of the worldly costume of our time is the cause of the
temporal and eternal ruin of a multitude of men.
2. Extravagant costume is the foe of all Christian almsgiving.
3. Is distraction to public worship.
4. Belittles the intellect. Our minds are enlarged
or they dwindle
just in proportion to the importance of the subject on which they constantly
dwell.
5. It shuts a great multitude out of heaven. You will have to choose
between the goddess of fashion and the Christian God. (T. DeWitt Talmage
D.
D.)
God-defying extravagance of modern society
1. This wholesale extravagance accounts for a great deal of
depression in national finances. Aggregates are made up of units
and so long
as one-half of the people of this country are in debt to the other half
you
cannot have a healthy financial condition.
2. The widespread extravagance accounts for much of the crime. It is
the source of many abscondings
bankruptcies
defalcations
and knaveries.
3. It also accounts for much of the pauperism in the country. Who are
the individuals and the families who are thrown on your charity? Who has sinned
against them so that they suffer? It is often the case that their parents
or
their grandparents
had all luxuries
lived everything up
more than lived
everything up
and then died
leaving their families in want. (T. DeWitt
Talmage
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》