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Isaiah Chapter
Seven
Isaiah 7
Chapter Contents
Ahaz threatened by Israel and Syria; and is assured their
attack would be in vain. (1-9) God gives a sure sign by the promise of the
long-expected Messiah. (10-16) The folly and sin of seeking relief from Assyria
are reproved. (17-25)
Commentary on Isaiah 7:1-9
(Read Isaiah 7:1-9)
Ungodly men are often punished by others as bad as
themselves. Being in great distress and confusion
the Jews gave up all for
lost. They had made God their enemy
and knew not how to make him their friend.
The prophet must teach them to despise their enemies
in faith and dependence
on God. Ahaz
in fear
called them two powerful princes. No
says the prophet
they are but tails of smoking firebrands
burnt out already. The two kingdoms
of Syria and Israel were nearly expiring. While God has work for the firebrands
of the earth
they consume all before them; but when their work is fulfilled
they will be extinguished in smoke. That which Ahaz thought most formidable
is
made the ground of their defeat; because they have taken evil counsel against
thee; which is an offence to God. God scorns the scorners
and gives his word
that the attempt should not succeed. Man purposes
but God disposes. It was
folly for those to be trying to ruin their neighbours
who were themselves near
to ruin. Isaiah must urge the Jews to rely on the assurances given them. Faith
is absolutely necessary to quiet and compose the mind in trials.
Commentary on Isaiah 7:10-16
(Read Isaiah 7:10-16)
Secret disaffection to God is often disguised with the
colour of respect to him; and those who are resolved that they will not trust
God
yet pretend they will not tempt him. The prophet reproved Ahaz and his
court
for the little value they had for Divine revelation. Nothing is more
grievous to God than distrust
but the unbelief of man shall not make the
promise of God of no effect; the Lord himself shall give a sign. How great
soever your distress and danger
of you the Messiah is to be born
and you
cannot be destroyed while that blessing is in you. It shall be brought to pass
in a glorious manner; and the strongest consolations in time of trouble are
derived from Christ
our relation to him
our interest in him
our expectations
of him and from him. He would grow up like other children
by the use of the
diet of those countries; but he would
unlike other children
uniformly refuse
the evil and choose the good. And although his birth would be by the power of
the Holy Ghost
yet he should not be fed with angels' food. Then follows a sign
of the speedy destruction of the princes
now a terror to Judah. "Before
this child
" so it may be read; "this child which I have now in my
arms
" (Shear-jashub
the prophet's own son
verse 3
) shall be three or four years older
these enemies' forces shall be forsaken of both their kings. The prophecy is so
solemn
the sign is so marked
as given by God himself after Ahaz rejected the
offer
that it must have raised hopes far beyond what the present occasion
suggested. And
if the prospect of the coming of the Divine Saviour was a
never-failing support to the hopes of ancient believers
what cause have we to
be thankful that the Word was made flesh! May we trust in and love Him
and
copy his example.
Commentary on Isaiah 7:17-25
(Read Isaiah 7:17-25)
Let those who will not believe the promises of God
expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings; for who can resist or escape his
judgments? The Lord shall sweep all away; and whomsoever he employs in any
service for him
he will pay. All speaks a sad change of the face of that
pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there
which sin will not make
with a people? Agriculture would cease. Sorrows of every kind will come upon
all who neglect the great salvation. If we remain unfruitful under the means of
grace
the Lord will say
Let no fruit grow on thee henceforth for ever.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Isaiah》
Isaiah 7
Verse 1
[1] And
it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham
the son of Uzziah
king
of Judah
that Rezin the king of Syria
and Pekah the son of Remaliah
king of
Israel
went up toward Jerusalem to war against it
but could not prevail
against it.
Ahaz — A
most wicked king: yet no prophecies are more comfortable than those which were
delivered in his time; God so ordering it for the encouragement of the faithful
that lived under his impious reign.
Verse 2
[2] And it was told the house of David
saying
Syria is confederate with
Ephraim. And his heart was moved
and the heart of his people
as the trees of
the wood are moved with the wind.
David —
Ahaz
and his relations. He calls them the house of David
to intimate that the
following comfortable message was sent to Ahaz
not for his own sake
but for
the sake of his worthy progenitor David.
Ephraim —
The kingdom of the ten tribes
commonly called Ephraim
because that was the
most numerous of all.
Moved —
With fear
arising from a consciousness of their own guilt
and their enemies
strength.
Verse 3
[3] Then
said the LORD unto Isaiah
Go forth now to meet Ahaz
thou
and Shearjashub thy
son
at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's
field;
Thy son —
Whose very name carried in it a sign and pledge of the promised deliverance
signifying
The remnant shall return.
Fuller's field —
Whither he probably went to take care about the waters which thence were
brought into the city
to secure them to himself
or keep them from the enemy
as Hezekiah afterward did
2 Chronicles 32:3
4.
Verse 4
[4] And
say unto him
Take heed
and be quiet; fear not
neither be fainthearted for
the two tails of these smoking firebrands
for the fierce anger of Rezin with
Syria
and of the son of Remaliah.
Be quiet —
Settle thy mind by the belief of that joyful message which I am now to deliver
thee from the Lord.
Fire-brands —
They are not whole fire-brands
but small pieces or ends of them
taken out of
the fire
in which there is more smoak than fire. They have more of shew and
terror
than of strength. Pekah
king of Israel
he calls only the son of
Remaliah
to intimate
that he was unworthy the name of king
as having got
that title by usurpation
and the murder of his master
2 Kings 15:25.
Verse 6
[6] Let us go up against Judah
and vex it
and let us make a breach therein
for us
and set a king in the midst of it
even the son of Tabeal:
Let us —
Break their power and kingdom and subdue it to ourselves.
Verse 7
[7] Thus
saith the Lord GOD
It shall not stand
neither shall it come to pass.
It — Their evil counsel.
Verse 8
[8] For
the head of Syria is Damascus
and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within
threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken
that it be not a people.
Damascus —
Damascus shall still continue the capital of the kingdom of Syria; and
therefore Jerusalem shall not become a part of Rezin's dominion: but he shall
keep within his own bounds
and be king of Damascus only.
Verse 9
[9] And
the head of Ephraim is Samaria
and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye
will not believe
surely ye shall not be established.
Samaria —
Samaria shall continue to be the chief city if the kingdom of Israel
and Pekah
shall not conquer Jerusalem.
If — If you do not believe
this
but seek to the Assyrians for succour
ye shall be consumed thereby.
Verse 12
[12] But
Ahaz said
I will not ask
neither will I tempt the LORD.
I will not — By
asking a sign
as if I questioned the truth of his word: but this was deep
hypocrisy.
Verse 13
[13] And
he said
Hear ye now
O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary
men
but will ye weary my God also?
David — He
reproves them all
because they were the king's counsellors.
Is it a small thing — Is
it not wickedness enough.
My God — To
vex God's prophets and people
with your oppressions and horrid impieties. And
by your ingratitude and unbelief
and disobedience of his commands.
Verse 14
[14]
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold
a virgin shall
conceive
and bear a son
and shall call his name Immanuel.
Therefore —
Because you despise me
and the sign which I now offer to you
God of his own
free grace will send you a more honourable messenger
and give you a nobler
sign.
A sign — Of
your deliverance. But how was this birth
which was not to happen 'till many
ages after
a sign of their deliverance from present danger? This promised
birth supposed the preservation of that city
and nation and tribe
in and of
which the Messiah was to be born; and therefore there was no cause to fear that
ruin which their enemies now threatened.
Immanuel —
God with us; God dwelling among us
in our nature
John 1:14. God and man meeting in one person
and being a mediator between God and men. For the design of these words is not
so much to relate the name by which Christ should commonly he called
as to
describe his nature and office.
Verse 15
[15]
Butter and honey shall he eat
that he may know to refuse the evil
and choose
the good.
Butter —
The common food of children in that country.
He — The virgin's son.
Know — To
discern between things good and evil.
Verse 16
[16] For
before the child shall know to refuse the evil
and choose the good
the land
that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
Yea —
Not only this land shall be preserved until the virgin's son shall be born
but
thine enemies land shall be sorely scourged
and these two kings destroyed
within a very little time.
This child —
Shear-Jashub
whom in all probability the prophet pointed at
and who was
brought hither by God's special command
verse 3. for this very use.
The land —
The lands of Syria and Israel.
Forsaken — So
far shall Pekah and Rezin be from conquering thy land
that they shall lose
their own lands
and their lives too; which they did within two years after
this time
being both slain by the king of Assyria.
Verse 17
[17] The
LORD shall bring upon thee
and upon thy people
and upon thy father's house
days that have not come
from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even
the king of Assyria.
Shall bring —
But altho' God will deliver you at this time
yet he will requite all your
wickedness.
Thee —
For part of this Assyrian storm fell in Ahaz's reign.
And — Upon
thy sons and successors
the kings of Judah.
Days —
Calamities.
Departed —
When ten tribes revolted from thy father's house.
The king —
Who may well be called their plague or calamity
as he is called the rod of
God's anger
chap. 10:5.
Verse 18
[18] And
it shall come to pass in that day
that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is
in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt
and for the bee that is in the
land of Assyria.
The fly — The
flies. So he calls these enemies
to imply their great numbers.
In — In their extremity
where they go out into the sea.
Rivers — Of
the river Nile
which may be called rivers
either for its greatness
or
because towards the end of it
it is divided into seven streams. When the
Chaldeans had in good measure subdued the Egyptians
it is probable great
numbers of the Egyptian soldiers listed themselves in the Chaldean army
and
with them invaded the land of Judah.
The bee —
The Assyrian army
compared to bees
as for their numerous forces and orderly
march
so for their fierce attempts and mischievous effects.
Assyria — In
the empire of Assyria
or Babylon; for these two were united into one empire
and therefore in scripture are promiscuously called sometimes by one title
and
sometimes by the other.
Verse 19
[19] And
they shall come
and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys
and in the
holes of the rocks
and upon all thorns
and upon all bushes.
Valleys —
Such as they found fruitful
but made desolate.
Rocks — To
which possibly the Israelites fled for refuge.
Bushes —
Which he mentions because flies and bees use frequently to rest there; and to
intimate
that no place should escape their fury.
Verse 20
[20] In
the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired
namely
by them
beyond the river
by the king of Assyria
the head
and the hair of the feet:
and it shall also consume the beard.
Shave —
Utterly spoil
as shaving takes away the hair.
Hired — By
Ahaz
who did hire them
2 Kings 16:7
8. And so the prophet notes the
just judgment of God
in scourging them with a rod of their own making.
By — By the successive
kings of the Assyrian empire
Sennacherib
Esarhaddon
and especially by
Nebuchadnezzar.
The head — By
these metaphorical expressions he signifies the total destruction of their
state
from head to foot
from the highest to the lowest.
Verse 21
[21] And
it shall come to pass in that day
that a man shall nourish a young cow
and
two sheep;
Sheep —
They who formerly used to keep great herds of cattle
and many flocks of sheep
shall esteem it a happiness if they can keep but one cow and two sheep.
Verse 22
[22] And
it shall come to pass
for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall
eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land.
Abundance —
Because they shall have large pastures
by reason of the great scarcity of
cattle.
Butter —
Which the poorer sort had formerly used to sell
to procure them cheaper food
for themselves: but now the land should be so destitute of people
that there
were none to whom they could sell them.
Verse 23
[23] And
it shall come to pass in that day
that every place shall be
where there were
a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings
it shall even be for briers and
thorns.
Of silver —
Each of the thousand vineyards might have been sold or let for a thousand
shekels
which was the yearly rent of some excellent vineyards.
Verse 24
[24] With
arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become
briers and thorns.
With arrows —
Either to hunt
or to defend themselves from wild beasts
which commonly abide
in desolate grounds.
Verse 25
[25] And
on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock
there shall not come
thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of
oxen
and for the treading of lesser cattle.
Digged —
That used to be digged and dressed for the planting of vines
or other choice
fruit-trees.
The fear —
That they might be freed from briars and thorns.
Cattle —
All sorts of cattle may enter
and feed there
the fences being broken down
and the owners slain
or carried into captivity.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Isaiah》
07 Chapter 7
Verses 1-25
Verses 1-9
Rezin . . . and Pekah . . . went up toward Jerusalem to war
against it
The confederacy against Jerusalem
The reason of this war is not stated: but from the desire of those
kings to dethrone Ahaz
and place on the throne in Jerusalem another
even Ben
Tabeal
it may be inferred that
Ahaz refused to join these two powers in a general rising against
Assyria.
Obviously
Ahaz was well advised in not taking a step of such
decided opposition to Nineveh: for had he done so
the legions of that empire
would only have spread desolation in Judah twenty or thirty years earlier than
they did. To a certain extent
the policy commended by Isaiah was adopted: Ahaz
did not take up his stand against Assyria. The prophet
of course
wanted more.
For he urged an absolute and complete neutrality
in which Ahaz would have
nothing at all to do with this power. So far as
Ahaz acted on the prophet’s advice
he was successful: for this
confederacy against Jerusalem proved a failure. (B. Blake
B. D.)
Ahaz and Isaiah
a contrast
Ahaz is timid and helpless
takes no position
and displays no
promptitude or courage. Isaiah
on the contrary
steps forward with assurance:
he is collected and calm: and his complete control of the political situation
impresses us forcibly. (Prof. S. R. Driver
D. D.)
Isaiah’s interview with Ahaz
At the date of Isaiah’s interview with
Ahaz the application to Assyria was meditated
but not actually
carried into effect. To understand this interview two things must be borne in
mind.
Firstly
Isaiah is aware of the king’s intention to solicit aid
from Assyria
but it is not openly admitted between them. Secondly
the power
and resources of the allied kings
especially of Rezin
so impressed the
popular imagination that they were held to be practically invincible; Isaiah
views both differently; describes them as “smoked out firebrands
” and intimates
that he considers the terror of the people to be unreasonable. (Prof. S. R.
Driver
D. D.)
The prophet and the king
God speaks comfort to many who not only are not worthy of it
but
do not so much as inquire after it. (M. Henry.)
Unsuccessful attacks upon the Christian stronghold
“We can do nothing against the truth
but for the truth”: clever
arguments
witty retorts
brilliant repartees
criticisms that dazzle by their
brightness and exasperate by their acerbity
come and go
and Jerusalem stands
sunlit
fair
invincible. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Verse 4
Take heed and be quiet
Take heed
and be quiet
That is
be on your guard and do not act precipitately
rather
keep at rest.
I. A WARNING
AGAINST SELF-WILLED ACTING.
II. AN EXHORTATION
TO UNDISMAYED EQUANIMITY. (P. Delitzsch. D. D.)
The true attitude of life
This is the attitude we should observe in all this human life--on
the one hand
vigilance
determination
earnestness; and on the other silence
resignation
hope. Just as we observe in due proportion the active and passive
aspects of life will our character become complete and our heart find rest.
I. ALL TRUE LIFE
IS A LISTENING.
1. “Take heed
” i.e.
be attentive
alert
susceptible. Light
will not come to careless
inattentive souls. We must hearken
which really
means the concentration of all the powers of the soul that we may detect the
significance of things.
2. And when you have given full place to observation and reflection
“be quiet
” for you will find plenty of room and reason for suspense
resignation
silence. When you have carried criticism to its final limit
see
that no place is left in your heart for anxiety
unbelief
and despair.
II. ALL TRUE LIFE
IS A WATCHING. “Take heed.” Be cautious
vigilant
circumspect. There is no
room in life for presumption. But when we have felt the need of earnest prayer
when we have cultivated the habit of prayerful watchfulness
let us “be quiet.”
Many Christians feel the need of walking softly
of being on the alert
their
soul is full of solemn caution; but they never know how to combine with this
that strong confidence in God which brings the sensitive heart assurance and
peace. Let us remember that when we have done our best God will do the rest.
III. ALL TRUE LIFE
IS A STRIVING. “Take heed.” Life must be full of effort
aspiration
strenuousness
perseverance. The policy of many is the policy of drift. But
this is not the true idea of life. We are perpetually called upon to consider
to discriminate
to decide
to act. And yet with all this we are to be “quiet.”
Calm amid tumult
tranquil in severest effort
full of peace and confidence
when life is most difficult and denying. Let us remember this--
“The crooked serpent”
True rationalism not only investigates
but is cautious
reticent
patient
hopeful. Much about us is very mysterious and bewildering.
1. It is so with nature. Ages ago the patriarch Job found this out.
“By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens; His hand hath formed the crooked
serpent.” “Garnished the heavens!”--that we can understand
that we can admire.
The vast
the balanced
the magnificent
the beautiful
the benign--this is
what we expected from the wise and generous Source of allthings. “His hand hath
formed the crooked serpent.” Nature contains the mean
the unharmonious
the
dark
the grotesque
the bloody; and this we did not expect. The thoughtful man
is sorely puzzled in the presence of these confusions and contradictions.
2. It is so with revelation. We are often greatly delighted with the
contents of the Bible. It is a firmament full of stars of light
speaking to us
eloquently of the glory of God. We cry with rapture as we scan successive
constellations which gleam with truth and love and righteousness. “By His
Spirit He hath garnished the heavens.” But it is not long before the problems
of nature reappear in revelation; there are teachings obscure and painful
in
fact
the crooked serpent wriggles across the page. People who read cursorily-and
think loosely may glide over such pages
but thoughtful souls are often sorely
troubled.
3. It is the same in our personal history. There are times in our
life when all things go smoothly with us--our health is good
in business we
are in the swim
we are socially popular
and
full of gratitude and
thanksgiving
we wonder how anybody can ever be fretful
or call into question
the government of God; we feel that the Spirit that garnished the heavens has
brought order and beauty into our persona! lot. But soon circumstances change:
our health fails
we are called to attend two or three creditors’ meetings
our
popularity wanes; and then we are staggered
and begin to ask sceptical
questions touching the ways of heaven. What is the matter? The crooked serpent
crawls across our path of roses. Now what are we to do when these dark enigmas
reward our study
when we witness the contradictions of nature
the tragedy of
history
when we endure the pathos of our own life? Are we to take refuge in
scepticism
cynicism
despair? Surely not. “Be quiet.” (W. L. Watkinson.)
A New Year’s motto
I. A WORD OF
CAUTION. “Take heed.” It is as though Isaiah called a halt; as though
to use
another metaphor
he swung the red light in front of the rushing train as
though he put a detonator on the rails in the time of mist and fog. Saith he
“Take heed; you are very busily preparing
your mind is filled with a multitude
of thoughts.” He does not speak ill of these preparations and these plans
but
he does say
“Proceed with caution; look before you leap
think before you act.
Do nothing till you have thought it over and prayed about it. You will
discover
Ahaz
that whereas some of your precautions are legitimate
others of
them are dishonouring to God and to the throne of David.” Well now
is there
not a word for you and for me just here? Take heed!--do not rush blindly on
wait to be guided
slip your hand into God’s. Ye people of God
take heed!
Worldliness is gradually creeping into the Church and fastening its fangs upon her.
Doctrine of all sorts is at a discount
except false doctrine. Take heed lest
you sip of the poisoned cup or ever you are aware. And ye shepherds of the
flock
take heed! Ministers are too busy nowadays “getting up” this
that
and
the other Be it ours to bring the blessing down. Sunday school teachers
take
heed that you do not merely amuse or only instruct the children. Win them for
Christ. Take heed
ye who profess to follow Jesus! Look where you are going;
ponder the paths of your steps.
II. THEN THE
PROPHET RECOMMENDED QUIET. “Be quiet.” It is not the easiest thing in the world
to be quiet
especially when there are two confederate armies coming up against
you. It is ever easier to assault than to “sit tight.” I do not believe there
is anything that more honours our holy religion than self-possession in the
time of stress and storm. It is then that the worldling says
“Why
I could not
do that!” What is the secret of that wonderful composure! The secret is God.
That heart is kept quiet that is stayed on Him.
III. Then Isaiah
says
“FEAR NOT.” He has spoken of the outward attitude and action; now he
refers to the reward emotion. Know you not that fear is fatal? I suppose that
humanly speaking
almost as many people die of fear as of anything else. Many
of our best hopes are thwarted
not because there was any real necessity they
should suffer so
but because we were afraid from the first that they would.
Many of our high ambitions come to nought because we were never very confident
that they would have any other ending if the work be of God
trust God to see
it through. We may have our fears
but we must not cherish them. There were
words of cheer accompanying this message. The prophet said
“These great
flaming firebrands that you fear are going out. Already they are smoking. They
are only the tails of firebrands. A little patience and you will see an end of
this trouble.” We do not ask a sign of God that Ha will give us the victory in
our warfare
and success in our work for Him. He gives it without asking. We
would believe without a sign. “Blessed are they that have not seen
and yet
have believed.” But if God offers us a sign we do not refuse it. Ahaz did. He
said--suddenly posing as a saint--“No
I will not tempt God.” When God offers
us a sign it is not reverence to refuse it; it is gross irreverence. But He has
granted us the best sign of all
the sign to which I do not doubt that Isaiah
made reference. Christ has come; nay
God has come
for Christ is God. “If ye
will not believe
surely ye shall not be established.” John Bunyan used to call
unbelief a white devil. (T. Spurgeon.)
Tails of smoking firebrands
The two allies are at once designated as what they are before God
who sees through things in the future. They are two tails
i.e.
nothing
but the fag ends of wood pokers
half-burned off and wholly burned out
so that
they do not burn any longer
but only still keep smoking. (F. Delitzsch.)
Caution with confidence
Life is danger. The more precious anything is the more enemies it
has. You rarely see any lice on the wild rose in the hedgerow
but the prize
rose in the garden will soon be covered with them if the gardener remits his
severe attention; crab apple trees on a common may be left with confidence to
take care of themselves
but the husbandman must watch by night and day an
orchard full of sweetness. Man has the most enemies of all
they swarm on every
hand
he walks in jeopardy every hour. But we often forget all this and act
with strange heedlessness. Awhile ago
from the flowery cliffs
I was watching
the beautiful gulls as they flashed between the sun and the sea uttering cues
of joy
when some wretched sportsmen appeared on the scene and began to fire at
the lovely creatures. I thought that at the first shot the birds would have
vanished into space
but
strangely enough
as if they were enchanted
they
continued to whirl around the very focus of destruction. Fortunately they were
not hit
the marksmen’s aim was as bad as their temper; but at any moment the
glorious birds might have dropped shattered
bloody things
into the sea. It is
very much the same with men. They go negligently
presumptuously
although
moral dangers are thicker than all other dangers
and any moment might see the
glory and hope of life quenched in midnight darkness. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Morbid nervousness
We all know suspicious souls whose nervousness gives them not a
moment of peace. If they are going on a railway journey
they anxiously look
out for the middle compartment of the middle carriage
fancying that the safest
place
and there is no telling how many trains they miss looking for that
carriage; if they are in the country
they will not drink a drop of milk until
they have ascertained whether the foot and mouth disease has been in that
district; and at the railway station they cross-examine the driver to know
whether he has conveyed in that cab any passenger having an infectious malady.
Now
if you once give way to a morbid nervousness of this sort
there is
positively no end to the thing
and every bit of comfort is taken out of life.
(W. L. Watkinson.)
God the sure Protector of His people
The sensible voyager lays his head on the pillow and goes to
sleep
although the gleaming teeth of sharks are only a few inches away; the
thickness of the plank or plate is practically the thickness of a planet: and
although hell is always nigh.
let us remember that God is still nigher
and
that a bit of tissue paper in His hands is the munition of rocks to those who
trust in Him. (W. L. Watkinson.)
Vigilance and gladness
The bird on the branch is intensely sensitive and tremulous; it
looks around
above
beneath; all the world might be a fowler
a mare
a eat
and yet at the same time it goes on pouring out its happy soul in music. Let us
be like it in watchfulness and gladness. (W. L.Watkinson.)
Morbid introspection
When I was a growing lad I was always measuring myself to see how
much I had gained every week or two. Sometimes there was a distinct gain
and
then another testing seemed to indicate that I was standing sty; so I fed my
hopes and fears. But I did very well on the whole
and it would have been a
great deal better if I had let the measuring tape alone and attended to my
learning and my business. Do not afflict your souls with morbid solicitudes. (W.
L. Watkinson.)
God’s contempt for Rezin and Pekah
God will have those in derision who set their shoulders against
His throne for the purpose of overturning it. (J. Parker
D. D.)
Harmfulness of fear
There is a legend which is in itself instructive concerning the
time of plague in a certain Eastern city
to the effect that 20
000 people
having died therein
a traveller entering the gates spoke to the plague as it
was leaving
and said
“I understand that you have slain 20
000 people within
these walls.” “No
” said the plague
“I have slain but 10
000; the rest have
died of fear.” It is an instructive story. (T. Spurgeon.)
Injurious struggling
Once I remember I picked up a small bird which had fallen on the
pavement by my feet. I sought to reinstate it among the branches overhead; but
the creature could not appreciate my generosity
and with passionate eagerness
struggled to escape. I began unconsciously to talk aloud to it
“Poor
silly
thing; why do you not trust your best friend? All I want is to get you up again
in the fork of the tree. You are making it harder for me
by dashing so against
my fingers; for I am obliged to hold you firmly
and you do all the hurting
yourself.” Why is it we all struggle so
when the Lord is giving us help (C.
S. Robinson
D. D.)
Be quiet
Phoebe Simpson said to Ellice Hopkins
“I think
miss
religion is
doing things still.” Stillness of spirit is like the canvas
for the
Holy Spirit to draw His various graces upon. (Dr. Love.)
The happy people are calm
The really and substantially happy people in the world are always
calm and quiet. (Recreations of a Country Parson.)
Christian serenity
The child of God should live above the world
moving through it
as some quiet star moves through the blue sky
--clear
and serene
and still (Hetty
Bowman.)
Verse 9
If ye will not believe
surely ye shall not be established
Faith in the Divine Word and promises the alone ground of the
believer’s establishment and happiness
There are only two sources from which human hope or happiness can
be derived
and these are sense and faith.
I. SENSE AS THE
SOURCE OF HUMAN HAPPINESS. It is self-evident from the history of what is past
and from observation and experience of what is present that
amidst all the
enjoyments
whether more gross or more refined
the objects of sense can
possibly furnish to flatter or gratify the passions
nothing is to be found
that can give establishment to the human heart
or settle and compose the
restless spirit. There are three things which render it impossible that any
mere worldly object or pursuit should render us happy.
1. The difficulty of acquiring what
in imagination or forethought
we have placed our happiness upon
and in the possession of which we have
fondly dreamed of enjoying all that our hearts could desire.
2. When with infinite labour we seem to have surmounted every
difficulty and to have gained the point we had in view
our promised happiness
is snatched from us in a moment
and we feel our disappointment and distress
rendered more poignant from the flattering prospects that lay before us
and
the ideal estimate we had formed of what we have lost.
3. But let us suppose that we could acquire with ease
and enjoy with
security
for a limited time--to our dying day--the objects we so eagerly
pursue; how do we know that we shall preserve our relish for them? “Our very
wishes give us not our wish.”
II. FAITH ALONE
HOLDS FORTH THOSE OBJECTS THAT CAN ESTABLISH THE HUMAN HEART OR QUIET THE
RESTLESS SPIRIT. Nothing can give establishment to the mind of man but what can
effectually remove the cause of our present disordered state and prove a
never-failing source of inward peace and self-enjoyment.
1. What is the cause of this disorder; of this disquietude and
restlessness
amidst all the objects of sense; of this vacancy of the human
mind
amidst all the profusion of nature? The cause is evidently a departure
from the original constitution of our nature. For no creature can be unhappy
continuing in that state
in which
he was placed by perfect wisdom and
goodness.
2. The remedy which faith provides for the cure of this evil. It
directs us to the righteousness of God
manifested without the law
being
witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is
by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all that believe; for there is no
difference. The doctrine that holds forth a finished salvation by the blood of
Christ
as the alone ground of a believer’s hope
is
of all others
the best
fitted to beget not only a humble submission
but a cheerful resignation to our
gracious Lord in the various allotments of His providence concerning us. Who
that believeth all this with all his heart could for a moment entertain a doubt
that his bodily and temporal concerns would be safe in His hands? (T.
Gordon.)
Stability through faith
1. The promises of God are not at all times easily
steadily
and
firmly believed.
2. God
in the communication of His Word
does not regard us as mere
machines. The Word cannot profit unless it be mixed with faith in those who
hear it. In the Christian’s life there are three kinds of stability.
I. THERE IS A
STABILITY OF JUDGMENT. This regards the truths of religion. It is of great
importance to have a judgment clear and fixed as it respects the great concerns
of the soul and eternity
and the doctrines of the Gospel of Christ; for as we
think we feel
as we feel we desire
as we desire we act
and as we act our
characters are formed
and our conditions determined. There are some things in
revelation concerning which a man’s mind
so to speak
need not be made up.
Little or no injury will arise from his hesitation or suspense. But this is not
the case with all. There are some things which must be fundamental
and therefore
sustain others; and according to the firmness of the foundation will be the
firmness of the whole superstructure. Now what is to lead us into this
stability but faith? It cannot be human authority among men. What one
patronises another denies
and here you would soon find yourself like a man in
a labyrinth
who on this side and on that is calling out
“Is this the way?”
and knows not what direction to take with safety and comfort. Or
if you depend
upon reason
this may do something from observation and analogy; but if you
receive the revelation of God only as far as you can understand it
you will
make your faith commensurate with your knowledge. Thus obstructions and
difficulties will arise continually
and you will be strangers to all
satisfaction and repose. No
we must believe all that the Lord has spoken to us
in His Word
and because He has spoken it. “I had a little talent and a little
learning
” said Dr. Watts before his death; “but now I lay them all aside
and
endeavour to receive the Gospel as the poor and unlearned receive it.”
II. THERE IS A
STABILITY OF PRACTICE. This regards the duties of religion. By faith we stand.
In order to see the strength and beauty of the sentiment contained in our text
let us place the believer in three positions.
1. In a place of secrecy. When alone
how do we act? Faith is a
principle that always operates alike upon the mind
i.e.
its motives
are the same in private as in public. Faith shows us the future and eternal
consequences of our actions. Faith brings God and places Him before us Hence
the closet is visited as the temple. The good fight of faith is carried on
amidst many struggles
unobserved by any human being
but all well known to Him
who is the Captain of our salvation.
2. In cases of prosperity and indulgence. How easily is a person
drawn aside from the path of duty by the honour which cometh from men
by a
regard to the friendship of this world
or by earthly riches! We are therefore
told that the prosperity of fools destroys them. But the believer in Christ is
not a fool: faith makes him wise unto salvation
wise both for time and
eternity. “This is the victory that overcometh the world
even our faith.”
3. In a condition of suffering and danger. What an agonizing trial
was Abraham called to endure
when God bade him take his only son Isaac
whom
he loved
and offer him up for a burnt offering! yet faith enabled him to do
it. Moses had a hard task to accomplish
when he went and stood before Pharaoh
but we are told
“he had respect unto the recompense of the reward”; “by faith
he forsook Egypt
not fearing the wrath of the king
for he endured as seeing
Him who is invisible.” And how was it with Daniel? There was something dreadful
in being cast into the den of lions; but what was this to a man who saw that
God would shut the lions’ mouths
so that they should not hurt him? What was
this to a man who by faith heard the voice of Him who said
“Be not afraid of
them that kill the body
and after that have no more that they can do; but fear
Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell; yea
I say unto you
fear Him.” Faith also views the Saviour as acting and as suffering for us.
III. THERE IS A
STABILITY OF HOPE. This regards the comforts of religion. How is it that
Christians can rejoice amidst their sorrows? The Scripture assigns the reason
when it tells us of the joy of faith. Faith appropriates. (W. Jay.)
Isaiah’s commission and King Ahaz
Isaiah had a very heavy commission from God. He was to go and
speak to people who would not hear him
and to be to them a messenger rather of
death than of life. Though the message itself would be full of life
yet they
would refuse it
and so bring upon themselves a ten-fold death. As a sort of
experiment in his work
he was called upon first to go and speak to King Ahaz
that wicked king. He knew in his own soul that what he had to say would be
rejected; but
nevertheless
at the command of God
he went to speak to the
king. He was told where he would meet him. God knows where to send His faithful
servants. He knows how to adapt the message with great speciality to the
individual case of each person who is within sound of the preacher’s voice; and
He knows how to adapt even the voice itself to the ear of every hearer. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
No fixity without faith
These words furnish us with a warning and an encouragement.
I. GOD DESERVES TO
BE BELIEVED.
1. He is God; and being God
He cannot lie.
2. His Word always has been true.
3. He has no motive for being untrue.
4. The honour of God is involved in His veracity.
5. Suppose even for a moment that we could not trust in the
truthfulness of God
what would be left for us to trust to? When rocks move
what stands firm?
II. SOME ARE NOT
WILLING TO BELIEVE GOD. That is clear by the fear expressed in the text: “If ye
will not believe
surely ye shall not be established.” Believing is a matter of
the will. God’s grace works faith
not upon us
but in us. God works in us to
will and to do; and in the willing He leads us up to believing. We voluntarily
believe; and certainly men voluntarily disbelieve. Why is this
this strange
unwillingness of some men
nay
in a sense of all men
to believe in God?
1. They are willing to believe other things.
2. Another thing is significant
that men cling tenaciously to faith
in themselves.
3. Instead of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life
some prefer an emotional religion.
4. Some stubbornly suffer under unbelief.
5. I notice
too
that such people demand this and that of God
beyond what He has revealed.
III. FAITH IS NOT A
THING TO BE DESPISED. Have you never heard people say
“Oh
they preach up
faith
you know”? “Well
what is faith?” “Well
it is just believing
so-and-so.” Faith is a most wonderful thing
for--
1. It is a fair index of the heart.
2. A sure proof of a change of mind.
3. It inaugurates purity of life.
4. It is faith that leads to prayer
and prayer is the very breath of
God in man.
5. It is faith that glorifies God.
IV. THOSE WHO
REFUSE TO EXERCISE FAITH WILL MISS MANY GREAT PRIVILEGES. I might mention many
but the text gives us the one which I will dwell upon: “If ye will not believe
surely he shall not be established.”
1. It means
first
that those who believe not will miss
establishment in comfort.
2. Ye shall never enjoy establishment in judgment. There are many
persons who do not know what to believe; they heard one man the other day
and
they thought that he spoke very cleverly
and they agreed with him. They heard
another the next day
who was rather more clever
and he went the other way
so
they went with him. Poor souls
driven to and fro
never knowing what is what!
“If ye will not believe
surely ye shall not be established”; you shall be like
the moon
that is never two days alike; you shall seem to believe this
and to
believe that
and yet really believe nothing.
3. Next
we want an establishment in conduct.
4. So it is also with establishment in hope.
5. We want to be established in spiritual vigour and strength. (C.
H.Spurgeon.)
The principle of true permanence
The principle of true permanence is here shown to be a holding of
Divine truth. “He who confides in God will abide.” (B. Blake
B. D.)
Holding and being held
If Judah does not hold fast to his God
he will lose his fast hold
by losing the country in which he dwells
the ground beneath his feet. (F.
Delitzsch.)
Ahaz a representative of double-mindedness
Ahaz was a mixed character. He has been convicted in history of
being an idolater as well as a professor of the true religion. He was therefore
the representative of double-mindedness
a halting between two opinions
that
double-mindedness which is unstable
and which cannot excel. Probably Isaiah
marking the workings of his countenance under the delivery of this
communication
saw signs of fear
doubt
hesitancy: the king did not spring at
the word with access of energy and with the confidence of inspiration; so the
prophet
quick to detect all facial signs
blessed with the insight that
follows the spirit in all its withdrawment
said instantly
“If ye will not
believe
surely ye shall not be established.” (J. Parker
D. D.)
Unbelief undermines character
To take an illustration from architecture
materialism cuts out
the foundation of the soul structure just where the strain comes. We are told
that the lamentable disaster to the Campanile of St. Mark’s at Venice was due
to the action of the Loggia architects in cutting out the stone coping in its
whole length
thus making a wound on the side
where the pressure was severest
half a yard deep and half a yard high. If this be true
it is not remarkable
that the massive tower came down bodily. Neither is the downfall of many a man
remarkable to us when we come to know how his faith in God had been utterly
destroyed. (Sunday School Chronicle.)
The power of faith
Lord Wolseley said
“Give me 20
000 fanatics and I would march
across Europe.” Grotius
in describing the success of the Dutch in snapping the
Spanish yoke
gives this as the secret of their prowess
“Believing that they
could do it they did it.” (Sunday School Chronicle.)
Verse 11
Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God
God’s grace towards the wayward
Jehovah does not scorn to call Himself the God of this son of
David who so hardens himself.
(F. Delitzsch
D. D.)
A critical moment
In this hour when Isaiah stands before Ahaz
the fate of the
Jewish people is decided for more than two thousand years. (F. Delitzsch
D.
D.)
Verse 12
But Ahaz said
I will not ask
Why
did Ahaz refuse to ask a sign?
Ahaz who looked on Jehovah not as his God
but only (like any of
his heathen neighbours) as the god of Judaea
and as such inferior in the god
of Assyria
and who had determined to apply to the King of Assyria
or perhaps
had already applied to him as a more trustworthy helper than Jehovah in the
present strait
declines to ask a sign
excusing himself by a canting use of
the words of Moses
“Thou shalt not tempt Jehovah.” He refused the sign
because he knew it would confirm the still struggling voice of his conscience;
and that voice he had resolved not to obey
since it bade him give up the
Assyrian
and trust in Jehovah henceforth. (Sir E. Strachey
Bart.)
A secret disaffection to God
A secret disaffection to God is often disguised with the specious
colours of respect to Him. (M. Henry.)
Making a decision
How often men
like Ahaz
arrive at decisions which are
irrevocable and unspeakably momentous!
1. To have to make decisions that may be solemn in both these senses
is one of the things that make the position of a ruler or statesmen so serious.
2. Every man is at some juncture celled to make a decision
the
results of which to him individually will be of unspeakable importance; e.g.
the young ruler. Every one of you will at some moment be called to decide for
or against Christ
and the decision will be final and irreversible. The test
may come to you in the shape of a temptation
appealing to some passion of the
mind or lust of the flesh
and your eternal destiny may be determined by the
manner in which you deal with that one temptation.
3. Like a railway train we are continually arriving at “points
” and
the manner in which we “take” them affects our whole after career. (R. A.
Bertram.)
Verse 13
Is it a small thing for you to weary men
but will ye weary thy
God also?
--
Wearying God
The work and experience of the prophet and the Gospel minister in
dealing with men are similar.
I. IT IS NO SMALL
SIN TO WEARY GOD’S PROPHETS AND PREACHERS. They are His ambassadors.
II. IT IS
INFINITELY WORSE TO WEARY GOD
whose hand holds their life and destiny. God is
patient. This is evident from Scripture and observation. Exodus 34:6-7; 2 Peter 3:9.) Consider also
the history of nations and individuals and of our own life.
III. GOD’S PATIENCE
MAY BE WEARIED OUT by indifference
obstinacy
procrastination
backsliding.
The sinner is in present danger of doing this. Others have done it in Scripture
and history. Application--The axe is laid at the root of the tree; make haste
to repent. (Homiletic Review.)
Wearying God
Ahaz refused to ask a sign
probably wishing to avoid as much as
possible further intercourse with Isaiah
who
he feared
would reprove him for
his vices and idolatry.
1. That which seems specially to have wearied God in the instance of
Ahaz was
the sinning yet more in a season of distress.
2. There is a likelihood that his offence may be copied
and that
too
not merely in the general
but even in minute particulars. God became
wearied by a repetition of the sin when He had tried by calamities to produce
its abandonment. It does not seem that there was ever the least pause in his
wickedness. God smote him
but he went on frowardly. (H. Melvill
B. D.)
Wearying God
The house of David weary the long suffering of God by letting Him
exhaust all the means of their correction without effect. (F. Delitzsch.)
Wearying God
1. The great God is pleased to consider the indignities and injuries
done to His servants as done to Himself.
2. Beware then of wearying God by refusing to comply with the
administrations and offers He gives you by His servants; but now
while it is
called today
hearken to His voice and obey His call. (R. Macculloch.)
Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign
God’s sign to King Ahaz
Perhaps more perplexity has been produced among commentators by
this passage than by any other in Old Testament prophecy.
The chief difficulties of the passage may be stated as follows: Does the
prophecy refer to some event which was soon to occur
or does it refer
exclusively to some event in the distant future? If it refers to some event
which was soon to occur
what event was it? Who was the child intended
and who
the virgin who should bring forth the child?
1. The first step toward the unravelling of the prophet’s meaning is
to determine the exact significance of the words. What
then
is the meaning of
the word אוֹף
which is
translated “sign”? Delitzsch defines the word as
“a thing
event
or act which may serve to guarantee the Divine
certainty of some other thing
event
or act.” It does not of necessity denote
a miracle. For example
in Genesis 17:11
circumcision is said to be
a “sign
” or token. The context
together with the nature of the thing
event
or act
must decide whether the אוֹח is a miracle or not. All that is necessary
to constitute a “sign” to Ahaz is that some assurance shall be given which
Jehovah alone can give. And the certain prediction of future events is the
prerogative of Jehovah alone.
2. We turn now to the word עַלְסָח
translated “virgin” and shall try to find its
exact meaning. The derivation of it from עָלִם
to hide
to conceal
is now generally
abandoned. Its most probable derivation is from עָלִם
to grow
to be strong
and hence the word
means one who has come to a mature or marriageable age. Hengstenberg contends
that it means one in an unmarried state; Gesenius holds that it means simply
being of marriageable age
the age of puberty. However this may be
it seems
most natural to take the word in this place as meaning one who was then
unmarried and who could be called a virgin. But we must guard against the
exegetical error of supposing that the word here used implies that the person
spoken of must be a virgin at the time when the child is born. All that is said
is that she who is now a virgin shall bear a son.
3. Let us now proceed to consider the interpretation of the prophecy
itself. The opinions which have generally prevailed with regard to it are
three--
1. The context demands it. If there was no allusion in the New
Testament to the prophecy
and we should contemplate the narrative here in its
surrounding circumstances
we should naturally feel that the prophet must mean
this. If the seventh and eighth chapters
connected as they are
were all that
we had
we should be compelled to admit a reference to something in the
prophet’s time. The record in Isaiah 8:1-4
following in such close
connection
seems to be intended as a public assurance of the fulfilment of
what is here predicted respecting the deliverance of the land from the
threatened invasion. The prediction was that she who is a virgin shall bear a
son. Now Jehovah alone can foreknow this
and He pronounces the birth of this
child as the sign which shall be given.
2. The thing to be given to Ahaz was a sign or token that a present
danger would be averted. How could the fact that the Messiah would come seven
hundred years later prove this?
Let us now look at the reasons for believing that it contains also
a reference to the Messiah.
1. The first argument we present is derived from the passage in Is
9:7. There is an undoubted connection between that passage and the
oneunder consideration
as almost all critical scholars admit. And it seems
that nothing short of a Messianic reference will explain the words. Some have
asserted that the undoubted and exclusive reference to Messiah in this verse
(9:7) excludes any local reference in the prophecy in Isaiah 7:14.But so far from this being
the ease
we believe it is an instance of what Bacon calls the “springing
germinant fulfilment of prophecy.” And we believe that it can be proved that
all prophecies take their start from historical facts. Isaiah here (Isaiah 9:7) drops the historical drapery
and rises to a mightier and more majestic strain.
2. The second and crowning argument is taken from the language of the
inspired writer Matthew (Matthew 1:22-23). (D. M. Sweets.)
Who was the “virgin” and who the son?
1. Some have supposed that the wife of Ahaz was meant by the
“virgin
” and that his son Hezekiah was the child meant. There is an
insuperable difficulty against this view. Ahaz’s reign extended over sixteen
years (2 Kings 16:2)
and Hezekiah was
twenty-five years old when he succeeded 2 Kings 18:2). Consequently
at this
time Hezekiah could not have been less than nine years old. It has been
supposed that Ahaz had a second wife
and that the son was hers. This is a mere
supposition
supported by nothing in the narrative
while it makes Isaiah 8:1-4 haveno connection with what
precedes or follows.
2. Others have supposed that some virgin who was then present before
Ahaz was designated
and they make the meaning this: “As surely as this virgin
shall conceive and bear a son
so surely shall the land be forsaken of its
kings.” This is too vague for the definite language used
and gives no
explanation of the incident in chap. 8. about Maher-shalal-hash-baz.
3. Another opinion is that the virgin was not an actual but an ideal
virgin.” “Michaelis thus presents this view: “By the time when one who is yet a
virgin can bring forth (i.e.
in nine months)
all will be happily changed and the present impending danger so completely
passed away that if you were to name the child you would call him Immanuel.”
Surely this would not be a sign or pledge of anything to Ahaz. Besides
it was
not a birth possible
but an actual birth
which was spoken of.
4. But the view which is most in keeping with the entire context
and
which presents the fewest difficulties
is that the prophet’s own son is
intended. This view does require the supposition that Isaiah married a second
wife
who at the time of this prophecy was still a virgin and whom he
subsequently married. “But there is no improbability in the supposition that
the mother of his son
Shear-jashub
was deceased
and that Isaiah was about
again to be married. This is the only supposition which this view demands. Such
an occurrence was surely not uncommon. All other explanations require more
suppositions
and suppositions more unnatural than this. Our supposition does
no violence to the narrative
and certainly falls in best with all the facts.
We would then identify Immanuel (as Ahaz and his contemporaries would
understand the name to be applied) with Maher-shalal-hash-baz. With this view
harmonises what the prophet says in Isaiah 8:18 : “Behold
I and the children
whom Jehovah hath given meare for signs and for wonders in Israel from Jehovah
of hosts
which dwelleth in Mount Zion.” It is no objection to this view that
another name than “Immanuel” was given to the child. It was a common thing to
give two names to children
especially when one name was symbolic
as Immanuel
was. Jesus Christ was never called Immanuel as a proper name
though almost all
scholars agree that the prophecy referred to Him in some sense. (D. M.
Sweets.)
A double tolerance in Isaiah’s prophecies
The careful
critical student of Isaiah will find this thing
common in his writings
namely
that he commences with a prophecy having
reference to some remarkable delivery which was soon to occur
and terminates
it by a statement of events connected with a higher deliverance under the
Messiah. His mind becomes absorbed; the primary object is forgotten in the
contemplation of the more remote and glorious event. (D. M. Sweets.)
The virgin
The Hebrew word rendered “virgin” in the A.V. would be more
accurately rendered “damsel.” It means a young woman of marriageable age
and
is not the word which would be naturally used for virgin
if that was the point
which it was desired to emphasise. (Prof. A. F. Kirkpatrick.)
Our English word “maiden” comes as near
probably
as any to the
Hebrew word. (Speaker’s Commentary.)
The Hebrew lexicons tell us that the word almah
here
translated virgin
may denote any mature young woman
whether a virgin or not. So
far as its derivation is concerned
this is undoubtedly the case; but in
Biblical usage
the word denotes a virgin in every case where its meaning can
be determined. The instances are
besides the text
that in the account of
Rebekah (Genesis 24:43)
that of the sister of
Moses (Exodus 2:8)
the word used in the plural
(Psalms 68:25-26; Song of Solomon 1:3; Song of Solomon 6:8)
its use in the
titles of Psalms (Psalms 46:1-11; 1 Chronicles 15:20)
and its use in Proverbs 30:19. The last passage is the
one chiefly relied on to prove that the word may denote a woman not a virgin;
but
“the way of a man with a maid” there spoken of is something wonderful
incapable of being traced or understood
like the way of an eagle in the air
a
serpent on a rock
a ship in the sea
and it is only in its application to that
wonderful human experience
first love between a man and a virgin
that this
description can find a full and complete significance. The use of the word in
the Bible may not be full enough in itself to prove that almah
necessarily means virgin
but it is sufficient to show that Septuagint
translators probably chose deliberately and correctly
when they chose to
translate the word
in this passage
by the Greek word that distinctively
denotes a virgin
and that Matthew made no mistake in so understanding their
translation. (Prof. W. J. Beecher
D. D.)
Deliverance by a lowly agent
Not Ahaz
not some high-born son of Ahaz’s house
is to have the
honour of rescuing his country from its peril: a “nameless maiden of lowly
rank” (Delitzsch) is to be the mother of the future deliverer. Ahaz and the
royal house are thus put aside; it is not till Isaiah 9:7 --spoken at least a year
subsequently--that we are able to gather that the Deliverer is to be a
descendant of David’s line. (Prof. S. R. Driver
D. D.)
God’s sign to Ahaz
The king having refused to ask a sign
the prophet gives him one
by renewing the promise of deliverance (Isaiah 7:8-9)
and connecting it with the
birth of a child
whose significant name is made a symbol of the Divine
interposition
and his progress a measure of the subsequent events. Instead of
saying that God would be present with them to deliver them
he says the child
shall be called Immanuel (God with us); instead of mentioning a term of years
he says
before the child is able to distinguish good from evil; instead of
saying that until that time the land shall lie waste
he represents the child
as eating curds and honey
spontaneous products
here put in opposition to the
fruits of cultivation. At the same time
the form of expression is descriptive.
Instead of saying that the child shall experience all this
he represents its
birth and infancy as actually passing in his sight; he sees the child brought
forth and named Immanuel; he sees the child eating curds and honey till a certain
age. But very different opinions are held as to the child here alluded to. Some
think it must be a child about to be born
in the course of nature
to the
prophet himself. Others think that two distinct births are referred to
one
that of Shear-jashub
the prophet’s son
and the other Christ
the Virgin’s
Son. Yet others see only a prophetic reference to the birth of Messiah. (J.
A. Alexander.)
A prediction of the miraculous conception of Jesus Christ
While some diversity of judgment ought to be expected and allowed
in relation to the secondary question (of the child of the period that is
referred to)
there is no ground
grammatical
historical
or logical
for
doubt as to the main point
that the Church in all ages has been right in
regarding this passage as a signal and explicit prediction of the miraculous
conception and nativity of Jesus Christ. (J. A. Alexander.)
The figure of Immanuel an ideal one
The language of Isaiah forces upon us the conviction that the
figure of Immanuel is an ideal one
projected by him upon the shifting
future--upon the nearer future in chap. 7
upon the remoter future in chap. 9
but grasped by the prophet as a living and real personality
the guardian of
his country now
its deliverer and governor hereafter. The circumstances under
which the announcement is made to Ahaz are such as apparently exclude
deliberation in the formation of the idea; it is the unpremeditated creation of
his inspired imagination. This view satisfies all the requirements of the
narrative. The birth of the child being conceived as immediate affords a
substantial ground for the assurance conveyed to Ahaz; and the royal attributes
with which the child speedily appears to be endued
and which forbid hit
identification with any actual contemporary of the prophet’s
become at once
intelligible. It is the Messianic King
whose portrait is here for the first
time in the Old Testament sketched directly. (Prof. S. R. Driver
D. D.)
Immanuel
the Messiah
It is the Messiah whom the prophet here beholds as about to be
born
then in chap. 9 as born
and in chap. 11 as reigning. (F. Delitzsch.)
What sign could the distant birth of Christ be to Ahaz?
The answer is plain
as evidenced by the prophet turning away from
the king who repudiated
his privileges to the “house of David
” to which in
all its generations the promise was given. The king was endeavouring to bring
about the destruction of “the land
” but his efforts in that direction
would be useless until the destiny of the house of David was fulfilled. The virgin
must bear the promised Son; Judah is immortal till that event is accomplished.
It matters not whether it is near or far
the family and lineage of David must
survive till then. Hence the sign was plain enough
or ought to have been
to
Ahaz and the people in general. The closing portion of this section of
Scripture fully discloses the destruction that should befall Judah as well as
Israel
but the final fall of Judah is after the birth of Immanuel. (F. T.
Bassett
M. A.)
The virgin mother
To maintain that Isaiah did not mean to say that a certain Person
in the future was to be born of a virgin
is not the same thing as to hold that
Christ was not so born as a fact. (F. H. Woods
B. D.)
The mystery of the sign
The “sign” is on the one side a mystery staring threateningly at
the house of David
and on the other side it is a mystery rich in comfort to
the prophet and all believers; and it is couched in such enigmatic terms in
order that they who harden themselves may not understand it
and in order that
believers may so much the more long to understand it. (F. Delitzsch.)
A new thing in the earth
(Isaiah 7:10-16):--
I. THE PLEDGE
PROPOSED.
1. The condescension which God displayed on this occasion was very
remarkable.
2. There may be a semblance of regard for the honour of God
while
the heart is in a state of hostility against Him.
3. God may sustain a certain relationship to those who are not His in
reality.
II. THE INDIGNANT
REBUKE ADMINISTERED. (Isaiah 7:13.)
1. The persons to whom it was addressed. Not the king only
but the
whole nation; which shows that they
or a large portion of them
were
like-minded with their ungodly ruler. They are called “the house of David
” a
designation which was doubtless intended to remind them of his character
and
the great things which God had done for him. Well would it have been if he by
whom David’s throne was now occupied had been imbued with David’s spirit
and
walked in David’s ways; and that his influence had been exerted in inducing his
subjects to do so likewise.
2. The feeling by which it was prompted. It was evidently that of
holy indignation.
3. The grounds on which it rested. There were two things especially
by which God was dishonoured on this occasion.
III. THE GLORIOUS
EVENT PREDICTED. As to this striking prediction
in itself considered
there
are several particulars which it sets before us--
1. The miraculous conception of Christ.
2. The essential Deity of Christ.
3. The design of the coming of Christ. For Him to be called
“Immanuel
God with us
” shows that He appeared to espouse our cause.
4. The lowly condition of Christ. “Butter and honey shall He eat
”
etc.
5. The moral purity of Christ. Although the expression
“before the
child shall know to refuse the evil
and choose the good
” has literal
reference to His attaining the age of discernment
yet it may be applied with
special propriety to the spotless sanctity of His character. He knew
in a
sense in which no one else ever knew
how to refuse the evil and choose the
good. (Anon.)
The birth of Christ
I. THE BIRTH OF
CHRIST.
1. We see here a miraculous conception.
2. Notice next
the humble parentage. Though she was not a princess
yet her name
Mary
by interpretation
signifies a princess; and though she is
not the queen of heaven
yet she has a right to be reckoned amongst the queens
of earth; and though she is not the lady of our Lord
she does walk amongst the
renowned and mighty women of Scripture. Yet Jesus Christ’s birth was a humble
one. Strange that the Lord of glory was not born in a palace! Let us take
courage here. If Jesus Christ was born in a manger in a rock
why should He not
come and live in our rocky hearts? If He was born in a stable
why should not
the stable of our souls be made into a habitation for Him? If He was born in
poverty
may not the poor in spirit expect that He will be their Friend?
3. We must make one more remark upon this birth of Christ
and that
remark shall be concerning a glorious birthday. With all the humility that
surrounded the birth of Christ
there was yet very much that was glorious
very
much that was honourable. No other man ever had such a birthday as Jesus Christ
had. Of whom had prophets and seers ever written as they wrote of Him? Whose
name is graven on so many tablets as His? Who had such a scroll of prophecy
all pointing to Him as Jesus Christ
the God- man? Then recollect
concerning
His birth
when did God ever hang a fresh lamp in the sky to announce the birth
of a Caesar? Caesars may come
and they may die
but stars shall never prophesy
their birth. When did angels ever stoop from heaven
and sing choral symphonies
on the birth of a mighty man? Christ’s birth is not despicable
even if we
consider the visitors who came around His cradle.
II. THE FOOD OF
CHRIST. “Butter and honey shall He eat
that He may know to refuse the evil
and choose the good.” Our translators were certainly very good Scholars
and
God gave them much wisdom
so that they craned up our language to the majesty
of the original
but here they were guilty of very great inconsistency. I do
not see how butter and honey can make a child choose good
and refuse evil. If
it is so
I am sure butter and honey ought to go up greatly in price
for good
men are ver much required. But it does not say
in the original
“Butter and
honey shall He eat
that He may know to refuse the owl
and choose the good
”
but
“Butter and honey shall He eat
till He shall know how to refuse the evil
and choose the good
” or
better still
“Butter and honey shall He eat
when He
shall know how to refuse the evil
and choose the good.” We shall take that
translation
and just try to elucidate the meaning couched in the words. They
should teach us--
1. Christ’s proper humanity. When He would convince His disciples
that He was flesh
and not spirit
He took a piece of a broiled fish and of a
honeycomb
and ate as others did.
2. The butter and honey teach us
again
that Christ was to be born
in times of peace. Such products are not found in Judea in times of strife; the
ravages of war sweep away all the fair fruits of industry.
3. There is another thought here. “Butter and honey shall He eat when
He shall know how to refuse the evil
and choose the good.” This is to teach us
the precocity of Christ
by which I mean that
even when He was a child
even
when He lived upon butter and honey
which is the food of children
He Knew me
evil from the good.
4. Perhaps it may seem somewhat playful
but I must say how sweet it
is to my soul to believe that
as Christ lived upon butter and honey
surety
butter and honey drop from His lips. Sweet are His words unto our souls
more
to be desired than honey or the honeycomb.
5. And perhaps I ought not to have forgotten to say
that the effect
of Christ’s eating butter and honey was to show us that He would not in His
lifetime differ from other men in His outward guise. Butter and honey Christ
ate
and butter and honey may His people eat; nay
whatsoever God in His
providence gives unto them
that is to be the food of the child Christ.
III. THE NAME OF
CHRIST. “And shall call His name Immanuel.”
1. The Virgin Mary called her son Immanuel that there might be a
meaning in His name
2. Would you know this name most sweetly you must know it by the
teaching of the Holy Spirit. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The responsibility of revelation
1. This Annunciation to Ahaz was a great opportunity for him--a
crisis in his spiritual life. He was getting entangled in idolatrous ways
involved in disloyal relations with the Assyrian monarchy
and had already
seriously compromised himself in sacrilegious appropriation of temple treasure.
And here was a golden opportunity to break through his bends
and cast himself
loose
once for all from his unworthy associations. He was only asked to trust
on for a little while longer
to watch events
and
as they fell out in a
certain direction
to recognise that they were of God’s special ordering
and
that they constituted a claim on his obedience and trust in God. But he was
incapable of profiting by God’s goodwill towards him. He rejected the Divine
overtures of prosperity and peace; and
while God still carried out the
dictates of His purpose
they came to Ahaz without blessing and without relief.
His enemies were removed
but a direr foe stood in their place; he could not
but learn that God was faithful
but the word that he compelled God to keep was
a word of retribution.
2. And if we were capable of the combined mental and spiritual effort
that such a course would require
and were to sit down calmly and without
prejudice to dissect our past lives
and with unerring judgment were to
separate cause from effect in every case
and to trace each important issue of
life to its true turning point
how often
probably
should we find that the
unsatisfactory features of the past were largely due to our neglect of some
revelation--some annunciation--of God! By experience
by example
by warning
by discipline; by difficulties significantly placed in our path
or by
clearances unexpectedly but unmistakably made; by words in season
out of
season; by a thousand things
and in countless ways
we have had annunciations
from God--plain indications of His will and pleasure concerning us
and no
indistinct prophecies of things that shall be hereafter. And our judgment upon
a review of the whole is this--that our true happiness and our genuine success
have been in very exact proportion to our faithfulness or our unfaithfulness in
reading the signs of God. (E. T. Marshall
M. A.)
The mercy of God
The first word of this text joins the anger of God and His mercy
together. God chides and rebukes the king Ahaz by the prophet; He is angry with
him
and therefore” He will give him a sign--a seal of mercy.
I. GOD TAKES ANY
OCCASION TO SHOW MERCY.
II. THE PARTICULAR
WAY OF HIS MERCY DECLARED HERE. “The Lord shall give you a sign.”
III. WHAT THIS SIGN
WAS. “Behold a virgin
” etc. (J. Donne.)
Miracle of miracles
King Ahaz saith
I will not tempt God
and
making religion his
pretence against religion
being a most wilful and wicked man
would not. We
may learn by this wretched king that those that are least fearful before danger
are most basely fearful in danger (Isaiah 7:2). We may see the conflict
between the infinite goodness of God and the inflexible stubbornness of man;
God’s goodness striving with man’s badness. When they would have no sign
yet
God will give them a sign. Behold.
It is atheistical profaneness to despise any help that God in His
wisdom thinketh necessary to support our weak faith withal. The house of David
was afraid they should be extinct by these two great enemies of the Church;
but
saith Isaiah
“A virgin of the house of David shall conceive a son
” and
how then can the house of David be extinct? Heaven hath said it; earth cannot
disannul it. God hath said it
and all the creatures in the world cannot
annihilate it. How doth friendship between God and us arise from hence
that
Christ is God in our nature?
1. Sin
the cause of division
is taken away.
2. Our nature is pure in Christ
and therefore in Christ God loveth
us.
3. Christ being our head of influence conveyeth the same Spirit that
is in Him to all His members
and
little by little
by that Spirit
purgeth
His Church and maketh her fit for communion with Himself.
4. The second person is God in our nature for this end
to make God
and us friends. (R. Sibbes.)
Christ in prophecy
You will find that the presence of one Person pervades the whole
book If you go into a British navy yard
or on board a British vessel
and pick
up a piece of rope
you will find that there is one little red thread which
runs through the whole of it--through every foot of cordage which belongs to
the British government; so
if a piece of rope is stolen
it may be cut rote
inch pieces
but every piece has the mark which tells where it belongs. It is
so with the Bible. You may separate it into a thousand parts
and yet you will
find one thought--one great fact running through the whole of it. You will find
it constantly pointing and referring to one great Personage. Around this one
mighty Personage this whole book revolves. “To Him give all the prophets
witness.” (H. L. Hastings.)
Immanuel
Shear-jashub; Maher-shalal-hash-baz; Immanuel
The three names taken together would mean this--the Assyrians
would spoil the countries of Syria and Ephraim
and though they would threaten
Judah
God would be with His people
and save them
and so a remnant would For
left which would return at once to religious faith and to national prosperity.
For these two last are almost always associated in the prophet’s view. (F.
H. Woods
B. D.)
A prophecy of the Messiah
When Jesus claimed to be the Son of God
the Jews saw quite
clearly that this was indeed nothing less than the claim to be Divine
and they
cried out that this was blasphemy. And what was His reply? Jesus reminded His
hearers that the earliest judges and leaders of the people of Israel
as
testified by the language of their Scriptures
had been called gods. “Jesus
answered them
Is it not written in your law
I said
ye are gods? If He called
them gods
unto whom the Word of God came
and the Scripture cannot be broken;
say ye of Him
whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world
Thou
blasphemest; because I said
I am the Son of God?” The judges and rulers of the
early days of Israel had been called gods because their office and function was
just this--to represent God on earth to men
to reflect His character
and do
His will
and lead His people. They often failed to do this because they were
merely human. In some cases they were false to their trust
and then God’s
vengeance overtook them. Yet they pointed to that one far-off Divine event when
One who should perfectly fulfil that name was to interpose for the world’s
deliverance. And thus
just as the implied prophecy in calling men gods was to
be one day fulfilled
so the prophecy of Isaiah before us was also a prophecy
of that same later far-off event
when one who was in every sense “God with us”
should come to satisfy the needs and the longings of the human heart. (Canon
Ainger.)
Immanuel
the Sympathiser
“God with us.” This means omnipotence with us
omniscience with
us
perfection with us
and the love that never fails. Some of us
perhaps
have tried
in conformity with the passion for getting rid of the supernatural
that marks the latest struggle of the scientific world
to construct a new
religion out of the old
in which the same pathetic and lovely figure as before
shall be placed beside us for our example
but from whom the aureole of Deity
has been taken away; they have been trying to find all that life needs in the
presence only of a fellow man
however superior to ourselves in holiness and
purity. There are moments in our lives when we feel ourselves face to face with
sin
in the presence of sorrow or of death from which no man can deliver us. In
the sad hours of your life
it has been said
the recollection of that Man you
read of in your childhood
the Man of sorrows
the great Sympathiser with human
woes and sufferings
rises up before you. I know it is a reality for you then
for you feel it to be not only beautiful but true. In such moments does it seem
to you as if Christ were merely a person who eighteen hundred years ago made
certain journeying between Judea and Galilee? Can such a recollection fill up
the blank which some present grief
the loss of some friend
has made in your
heart? It does not. It never did this for you or for anyone. But the comfort
that came to you from the thought of Him may be safely trusted not to betray
you
for that voice that came to you in your anguish says
“You may trust Me
you may lean upon Me
for I know all things in heaven and earth. I and My
Father are one.” (Canon Ainger.)
Immanuel
Nature
God
and Jesus are words often used to designate the same
power or being
but are suggestive of very different associations. The word
“nature” veils from our view the glory of the Godhead
and removes His
personality from our consciousness. It removes the Deity to a distance from us
but Jesus
the newer and better name
the latest revelation
brings Him nearer
to us. The associations of the name Jesus
as a name of God
are most tender
and endearing. Jesus does not remind us of blind power or unfeeling skill
as
the word nature does; nor yet of overwhelming greatness
distant force and vast
intelligence
the conception of which strains our faculties
and the
realisation of which crushes our power
as the word God does. The name of Jesus
reminds us chiefly of sympathy
kindheartedness
brotherly tenderness
and
one-ness with ourselves. The word God presents a picture of the Deity to the
mind
in which those attributes of the Divine character which are in themselves
most removed from us
occupy the most prominent position
and are bathed with a
flood of light
while those features of character
by which the Divine Spirit
touches the delicate chords of human affections
are dimly seen amid the
darkening shadows of the background. The picture is reversed in Jesus. The
great attributes are buried in the light of love
as the stars are covered by
the light of day. (Evan Lewis
B. A.)
“Immanuel
” a stimulus to the prophet himself
Isaiah may have meant the Name to speak to him as well as to the
nation. He may have desired to bring the message of the Name into his personal
and family life. For
after all
a prophet is but a man of like passions with”
ourselves
subject to the same infirmities and fluctuations of spirit
“warmed
and cooled
by the same winter and summer.” There were times
no doubt
when
even Isaiah lost faith in his own function
in his own message
when the very
man who had assured a sinful nation that God was with them could hardly believe
that God was with him or could even cry out
“Depart from me
O Lord
for I am
a sinful man!” And in such moments as these
when
weary of the world and weary
of himself
he lost courage and hope
he may have felt that it would be well
for him to have that in his very household which would help to recall the
truths he had recognised and taught in hours of clearer insight
help to
restore the faith with which he had first sprung up to greet the Divine
message. We may believe that there were many darkened hours in his experience
hours of broken faith and defeated hope
when he would fall back on his earlier
faith and brighter hopes; when he would call his little son to him
and
as he
fondled him
would repeat his name
Immanuel
Immanuel--God-with-us
God-with-us
--and find in that Name a charm potent to restore his waning trust
in the gracious presence and gracious will of Jehovah. (“Niger” in
Expositor.)
The child Immanuel
Isaiah may have felt
as we feel
that God is with a little child
in quite another sense
in a more pathetic sense
than He is with grown men. To
him
as to us
their innocence
their loveliness
and
above all
their love
may have been the most exquisite revelation of the purity and love of God.
“Heaven lies about their infancy”; and in this heaven the prophet may often
have taken refuge from his cares
despondencies
and fears. Every child born
into the world brings this message to us
reminds us that God is with us indeed
and of a truth; for whence did this new
pure
tender life come if not from the
central Fountain of life and purity and love? And from this point of view
Isaiah’s “Immanuel” is but the ancient analogue of our Lord’s tender words: Of
such is the kingdom of heaven.” (“Niger” in Expositor.)
Immanuel
The text is prophecy of the Messiah (Matthew 1:23).
I. THE
CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH IT WAS SPOKEN.
II. ITS FULFILMENT.
For more than seven hundred years devout Jews waited for the Divinely predicted
sign. Then came the day which Christmas commemorates
III. ITS PRACTICAL
IMPORT. To Christians this prophecy is significant of those blessings which are
pledged to us in Christ. In Him we have the assurance of God being--
1. With us in the sense of on our side. Nature shows us God as above
us; law shows us God as against us
because we have made ourselves His enemies;
but the Gospel shows us God with us to defend us from the power of sin and to
deliver us from the penalty of sin.
2. With us in the sense of in our nature. “The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us”; became one of ourselves
shared with us--
(a) The Divine sympathy
because He is “touched with the feeling of
our infirmities.”
(b) The Divine salvation
because He has “put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself.”
(c) The Divine succour
because He “ever liveth to make intercession”
for us; and His parting word to His Church is
“Lo
I am with you alway
even
unto the end of the world.” (T. H. Barnett.)
God with us
though His presence is not always realised
Professor Tyndall has told us how
as he wandered through the
higher Alpine pastures in the earlier months of the present summer (1879)
he
was often surprised to find at evening lovely flowers in full bloom where in
the morning he had seen only a wide thin sheet of snow. Struck with the strange
phenomenon
unable to believe that a few hours of even the most fervent
sunshine had drawn these exquisite flowers to their full maturity
he carefully
scraped away the snow from a few inches of pasture and examined the plants that
were growing beneath it. And
to his surprise and delight
he found that the
powers of life had been with them even while they seemed wrapped in death; that
the sun had reached them through the snow; that the snow itself had both held
down the rising warmth of the earth upon them
and sheltered them from the cold
biting winds which might else have destroyed them. There they stood
each full
grown
every flower maturely developed
though the green calyx was carefully
folded over the delicately coloured petals; and no sooner was the snow removed
no sooner did the rays of the sun touch the green enfolding calyx
than it
opened and revealed the perfect beauty it had shrouded and preserved. And so
doubtless
we shall one day find that God
our Sun
has been with us even
during the winter of our self-discontent
all through the hours of apparent
failure and inertness
quickening in us a life of which we gave but little
sign
maturing and making us perfect by the things we suffered; so that when
the hindering veils are withdrawn
and the full light of His love shines upon
us
at that gracious touch we too may disclose a beauty of which we had not
dreamed
and of Which for long we gave no promise. (“Niger” in
Expositor.)
Life’s best amulet
A Mohammedan negro in Africa was once taken prisoner in war. He
wore suspended around his neck an amulet or charm. When this was taken from him
he became almost frenzied with grief
and begged that it be returned to him He
was willing to sacrifice his right hand for it. It was his peculiar treasure
which he valued as life itself. It was a very simple affair--A little leather
case enclosing a slip of paper on which was inscribed in Arabic characters one
word--“God.” He believed that the wearing of this charm secured for him a
blessed immunity from ill. When it was returned to him he was so overjoyed that
the tears streamed from his eyes
and falling to the ground he kissed the feet
of the man who restored to him his treasure. That poor negro had but the bare
name--we have God! Not a distant monarch seated lonesomely away from any human
voice or footstep. There is one name that ought to be dearest of all to every
Christian--“Immanuel.” It means not a Deity remote or hidden
but “God with us.”
(Christian Endeavor.)
God with us
An old poet has represented the Son of God as having the stars for
His crown
the sky for His azure mantle
the clouds for His bow
and the fire
for His spear. He rode forth in His majestic robes of glory
but one day resolved
to alight on the earth
and descended
undressing Himself on the way. When
asked what He would wear
He replied
with a smile
“that He had new clothes
making down below.” (Gates of Imagery.)
The Lord shall bring upon
thee . . . even the king of Assyria
The prophecy fulfilled
The calling in of Assur
laid the foundation for the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah not less than for
that of the kingdom of Israel Ahaz thereby became a tributary vassal of the
Assyrian king
and although Hezekiah again became free from Assyria through the
miraculous help of Jehovah
nevertheless what Nebuchadnezzar did was only the
accomplishment of the frustrated undertaking of Sennacherib.
(F. Delitzsch.)
Assyria and the Jews
If Isaiah here
in chaps
7-12
looks upon Assyria absolutely as the universal empire (2 Kings 23:29; Ezra 6:22)
this is so far true
seeing that the four empires from the
Babylonian to the Roman are really only the unfolding of the beginning which
had its beginning in Assyria. And if
here in chap. 7
he thinks of the son of
the virgin as growing up under the Assyrian oppressions
this is also so far
true
since Jesus was actually born in a time in which the Holy Land
deprived
of its earliest fulness of blessing
found itself under the supremacy of the universal
empire
and in a condition which went back to the unbelief of Ahaz as its
ultimate cause. Besides He
who in the fulness of time became flesh
does truly
lead an ideal life in the Old Testament history. The fact that the house and
people of David did not perish in the Assyrian calamities is really
as chap. 8
presupposes
to be ascribed to His presence
which
although not yet in bodily
form
was nevertheless active. Thus is solved the contradiction between the
prophecy and the history of its fulfilment. (F. Delitzsch.)
Judah’s loss of national
independence
From this application of
Ahaz to Tiglath-Pileser was to date the transition of Judah “to a servile state
from which it was never permanently freed
the domination of Assyria being soon
succeeded by that of Egypt
and this by that of Babylon
Persia
Syria
and
Rome
the last ending only in the downfall of the State
and that general
dispersion which continues to this day. The revolt of Hezekiah
and even longer
intervals of liberty in later times
are mere interruptions of the customary
and prevailing bondage.” (J. A. Alexander.)
The perspective of
prophecy
God makes what was
announced by prophecy separate itself in reality into different stages. (E.
Konig.)
History and prophecy
Prophecy never seems to
forsake the ground of history. However extended the vista which stretches
before him
that vista begins at the prophet’s feet. (Bishop Perowne.)
Bees and flies
Bees and swarms of flies
are used as a Homeric image for swarms of peoples (Il. 2.87)
. Here the images are likewise emblematic. The Egyptian people
being unusually
numerous
is compared to the swarming fly; and the Assyrian people
being
warlike and eager for conquest
is compared to the stinging bee
which is so
difficult to turn sway Deuteronomy 1:44; Psalms 118:12). The emblems also correspond to the nature of the two countries;
the fly to slimy Egypt
which
from being such
abounds in insects (chap.
18:1)
and the bee to the more mountainous and woody Assyria
where bee-culture
still constitutes one of the principal branches of trade in the present day. (F.
Delitzsch.)
Hissing for the fly and
the bee
To hiss for them
is to
call or summon them
derived from the practice of the bee keepers
who
with a
whistle
summoned them from the hives to the open fields
and
by the same
means
conducted them home again We are assured by St. Cyril that [the practice]
subsisted in Asia down to the fourth and fifth centuries. (J. Kitto
D. D.)
A sentence of doom
I. GOD IS
SOVEREIGN IN THE WHOLE EARTH. All governments are but instruments which He uses
when and as He pleases (Isaiah 7:17-21). A thought full of comfort for the righteous
of horror for the
unrighteous.
II. THE CONSEQUENT
INSECURITY OF ALL PROSPERITY THAT IS NOT BASED UPON
AND PROMOTIVE OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS (Isaiah 7:23). Britain will be “Great Britain” only so long as God pleases.
III. WHATEVER
CHASTISEMENTS GOD MAY HAVE INFLICTED
HE HAS ALWAYS A MORE TERRIBLE ONE BEHIND
(Isaiah 7:17).
IV. Seeing that all
these things were threatened against and inflicted upon God’s chosen people
learn that NO MERCY THAT GOD HAS SHOWN US WILL FURNISH ANY IMMUNITY FOR US
IF
NOTWITHSTANDING THAT MERCY
WE SIN AGAINST HIM. There is a tendency in our evil
hearts to think that because God has been specially good to us
we may sin with
less risk than others; but the teaching of the Bible is
that those who “turn
the grace of God into lasciviousness” shall be visited with a sorer doom than
others. (R. A. Bertram.)
Verse 20
In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired
The hired razor
There is involved the bitterest sarcasm for Ahaz; the cheap
knife which he had hired for the deliverance of Judah is hired by the Lord in
order to shave Judah wholly and most shamefully.
(F. Delitzsch.)
Shaving the beard
The most shameful of all. The beard is the sign of manly vigour
manliness
and manly dignity. (F. Delitzsch.)
The Lord’s razor
The Bible is the boldest book ever written. There are no
similitudes in Ossian or the Iliad or the Odyssey so daring. Its
imagery sometimes seems on the verge of the reckless
but only seems so. The
fact is that God would startle and arouse men and nations. A tame and limping
similitude would fail to accomplish the object. While there are times when He
employs in the Bible the gentle dew and the morning cloud and the dove and the
daybreak in the presentation of truth
we often find the iron chariot
the
lightning
the earth quake
the sword and
in my text
the razor. This
keen-bladed instrument has advanced in usefulness with the ages. In Bible times
and lands the beard remained uncut save in the seasons of mourning and
humiliation
but the razor was always a suggestive symbol. David says of Doeg
his antagonist: “Thy tongue is a sharp razor working deceitfully that is
it
pretends to clear the face
but is really used for deadly precision.
I. If God’s
judgments are razors
WE HAD BETTER BE CAREFUL HOW WE USE THEM ON OTHER PEOPLE.
In careful sheath the domestic weapons are put away
where no one by accident
may touch them
and where the hands of children may not touch them. Such
instruments must be carefully handled or not handled at all. But how recklessly
some people wield the judgments of God. If a man meet with business misfortune
how many there are ready to cry out
“This is a judgment of God upon him
because he was unscrupulous
or arrogant
or over reaching
or miserly.” How I
do dislike the behaviour of those persons who
when people are unfortunate
say: “I told you so--getting punished--served him right!” With air sometimes
supercilious and sometimes Pharisaical
and always blasphemous
they take the
razor of Divine judgment and sharpen it on their own hard hearts
and then go
to work on men sprawled out at full length under disaster
cutting mercilessly.
They begin by soft expressions of sympathy and pity and half praise
and lather
the victim all over before they put on the sharp edge.
II. Again
when I
read in my text that the Lord shaves
with the hired razor of Assyria
the land
of Judea
I bethink myself of THE PRECISION OF GOD’S PROVIDENCE. A razor swung
the tenth part of an inch out of the right line means either failure or
laceration
but God’s dealings never slip
and they do not miss
by the
thousandth part of an inch
the right direction.
III. Further
my
text tells us that GOD SOMETIMES SHAVES NATIONS. “In the same day shall the
Lord shave with the razor that is hired.” With one sharp sweep He went across
Judah
and down went its pride and its power. Assyria was the hired razor
against Judah
and Cyrus the hired razor against Babylon
and the Huns the
hired razor against the Goths
and there are now many razors that the Lord
could hire if
because of our national sins
He should undertake to shave us.
IV. But notice that
God is so kind and loving
that WHEN IT IS NECESSARY FOR HIM TO CUT
HE HAS TO
GO TO OTHERS FOR THE SHARP-EDGED WEAPON. “In the same day shall the Lord shave
with a razor that is hired.” God is love. God is pity. God is help. God is
shelter. God is rescue. There are no sharp edges about Him
no thrusting
points
no instruments of laceration. If you want balm for wounds
He has that.
If you want salve for Divine eyesight
He has that. But if there is sharp and
cutting work to do
which requires a razor
that He hires. God has nothing
about Him that hurts
save when dire necessity demands
and then He has to go
to someone else to get the instrument. (T. De W. Talmage
D. D.)
Allies and razors
You thought you were buying an ally when you were only hiring a
razor by which you were to be rendered naked and made contemptible. (J.
Parker
D. D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》