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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
I S A I A H.
CHAP. VII.
This chapter is an occasional sermon, in which the prophet sings both
of mercy and judgment to those that did not perceive or understand
either; he piped unto them, but they danced not, mourned unto them, but
they wept not. Here is,
I. The consternation that Ahaz was in upon an attempt of the
confederate forces of Syria and Israel against Jerusalem,
II. The assurance which God, by the prophet, sent him for his
encouragement, that the attempt should be defeated and Jerusalem should
be preserved,
III. The confirmation of this by a sign which God gave to Ahaz, when he
refused to ask one, referring to Christ, and our redemption by him,
IV. A threatening of the great desolation that God would bring upon
Ahaz and his kingdom by the Assyrians, notwithstanding their escape
from this present storm, because they went on still in their wickedness,
And this is written both for our comfort and for our admonition.
| The Distress of Ahaz; Comfort Administered to Ahaz. | B. C. 740. |
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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.
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.
3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz,
thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the
upper pool in the highway of the fuller’s field;
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.
5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken
evil counsel against thee, saying,
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:
7 Thus saith the Lord GOD, It shall not stand, neither shall it
come to pass.
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.
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.
The prophet Isaiah had his commission renewed in the year that king
Uzziah died,
Jotham his son reigned, and reigned well, sixteen years. All that time,
no doubt, Isaiah prophesied as he was commanded, and yet we have not in
this book any of his prophecies dated in the reign of Jotham; but this,
which is put first, was in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham. Many
excellent useful sermons he preached which were not published and left
upon record; for, if all that was memorable had been written, the
world could not have contained the books,
John xxi. 25.
Perhaps in the reign of Ahaz, a wicked king, he had not opportunity to
preach so much at court as in Jotham’s time, and therefore then he
wrote the more, for a testimony against them. Here is,
I. A very formidable design laid against Jerusalem by Rezin king of
Syria and Pekah king of Israel, two neighbouring potentates, who had of
late made descents upon Judah severally. At the end of the reign of
Jotham, the Lord began to send against Judah Rezin and Pekah,
2 Kings xv. 37.
But now, in the second or third year of the reign of Ahaz, encouraged
by their former successes, they entered into an alliance against Judah.
Because Ahaz, though he found the sword over his head, began his reign
with idolatry, God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria
and of the king of Israel
and a great slaughter they made in his kingdom,
Flushed with this victory, they went up towards Jerusalem, the royal
city, to war against it, to besiege it, and make themselves masters of
it; but it proved in the issue that they could not gain their point.
Note, The sin of a land brings foreign invasions upon it and betrays
the most advantageous posts and passes to the enemy; and God sometimes
makes one wicked nation a scourge to another; but judgment, ordinarily,
begins at the house of God.
II. The great distress that Ahaz and his court were in when they
received advice of this design: It was told the house of David
that Syria and Ephraim had signed a league against Judah,
v. 2.
This degenerate royal family is called the house of David, to
put us in mind of that article of God’s covenant with David
If his children forsake my law, I will chasten their transgression
with the rod; but my loving-kindness will I not utterly take away,
which is remarkably fulfilled in this chapter. News being brought that
the two armies of Syria and Israel were joined, and had taken the
field, the court, the city, and the country, were thrown into
consternation; The heart of Ahaz was moved with fear, and then
no wonder that the heart of his people was so, as the trees of the
wood are moved with the wind. They were tossed and shaken, and put
into a great disorder and confusion, were wavering and uncertain in
their counsels, hurried hither and thither, and could not fix in any
steady resolution. They yielded to the storm, and gave up all for gone,
concluding it in vain to make any resistance. Now that which caused
this fright was the sense of guilt and the weakness of their faith.
They had made God their enemy, and knew not how to make him their
friend, and therefore their fears tyrannised over them; while those
whose consciences are kept void of offence, and whose hearts are
fixed, trusting in God, need not be afraid of evil tidings; though the
earth be removed, yet will not they fear; but the wicked flee at the
shaking of a leaf,
Lev. xxvi. 36.
III. The orders and directions given to Isaiah to go and encourage Ahaz
in his distress; not for his own sake (he deserved to hear nothing from
God but words of terror, which might add affliction to his grief), but
because he was a son of David and king of Judah. God had kindness for
him for his father’s sake, who must not be forgotten, and for his
people’s sake, who must not be abandoned, but would be encouraged if
Ahaz were. Observe,
1. God appointed the prophet to meet Ahaz, though he did not send to
the prophet to speak with him, nor desire him to enquire of the Lord
for him
(v. 3):
Go to meet Ahaz. Note, God is often found of those who seek him
not, much more will he be found of those who seek him diligently. He
speaks comfort to many who not only are not worthy of it, but do not so
much as enquire after it.
2. He ordered him to take his little son with him, because he carried a
sermon in his name, Shear-jashub–A remnant shall return. The
prophets sometimes recorded what they preached in the significant names
of their children (as
therefore Isaiah’s children are said to be for signs,
ch. viii. 18.
This son was so called for the encouragement of those of God’s people
who were carried captive, assuring them that they should return, at
least a remnant of them, which was more than they could pretend to
merit; yet at this time God was better than his word; for he took care
not only that a remnant should return, but the whole number of those
whom the confederate forces of Syria and Israel had taken prisoners,
3. He directed him where he should find Ahaz. He was to meet with him
not in the temple, or the synagogue, or royal chapel, but at the end
of the conduit of the upper pool, where he was, probably with many
of his servants about him, contriving how to order the water-works, so
as to secure them to the city, or deprive the enemy of the benefits of
them
(ch. xxii. 9-11; 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 4),
or giving some necessary directions for the fortifying of the city as
well as they could; and perhaps finding every thing in a bad posture or
defence, the conduit out of repair, as well as other things gone to
decay, his fears increased, and he was now in greater perplexity than
ever; therefore, Go, meet him there. Note, God sometimes sends
comforts to his people very seasonably, and, what time they are most
afraid, encourages them to trust in him.
4. He put words in his mouth, else the prophet would not have known how
to bring a message of good to such a bad man, a sinner in Zion, that
ought to be afraid; but God intended it for the support of faithful
Israelites.
(1.) The prophet must rebuke their fears, and advise them by no means
to yield to them, but keep their temper, and preserve the possession of
their own souls
(v. 4):
Take heed, and be quiet. Note, In order to comfort there is need
of caution; that we may be quiet, it is necessary that we take heed and
watch against those things that threaten to disquiet us. “Fear not with
this amazement, this fear, that weakens, and has torment; neither
let thy heart be tender, so as to melt and fail within thee; but
pluck up thy spirits, have a good heart on it, and be courageous; let
not fear betray the succours which reason and religion offer for thy
support.” Note, Those who expect God should help them must help
themselves,
(2.) He must teach them to despise their enemies, not in pride, or
security, or incogitancy (nothing more dangerous than so to despise an
enemy), but in faith and dependence upon God. Ahaz’s fear called them
two powerful politic princes, for either of whom he was an unequal
match, but, if united, he durst not look them in the face, nor make
head against them. “No,” says the prophet, “they are two tails of
smoking firebrands; they are angry, they are fierce, they are
furious, as firebrands, as fireballs; and they make one another worse
by being in a confederacy, as sticks of fire put together burn the more
violently. But they are only smoking firebrands: and where there is
smoke there is some fire, but it may be not so much as was feared.
Their threatenings will vanish into smoke. Pharaoh king of Egypt is
but a noise
and Rezin king of Syria but a smoke; and such are all the enemies of
God’s church, smoking flax, that will soon be quenched. Nay,
they are but tails of smoking firebrands, in a manner burnt out
already; their force is spent; they have consumed themselves with the
heat of their own anger; you may put your foot on them, and tread them
out.” The two kingdoms of Syria and Israel were now near expiring.
Note, The more we have an eye to God as a consuming fire the less
reason we shall have to fear men, though they are ever so furious, nay,
we shall be able to despise them as smoking firebrands.
(3.) He must assure them that the present design of these high allies
(so they thought themselves) against Jerusalem should certainly be
defeated and come to nothing,
[1.] That very thing which Ahaz thought most formidable is made the
ground of their defeat–and that was the depth of their designs and the
height of their hopes: “Therefore they shall be baffled and sent
back with shame, because they have taken evil counsel against
thee, which is an offence to God. These firebrands are a smoke
in his nose
(ch. lxv. 5),
and therefore must be extinguished.” First, They are very
spiteful and malicious, and, therefore they shall not prosper. Judah
had done them no wrong; they had no pretence to quarrel with Ahaz; but,
without any reason, they said, Let us go up against Judah, and vex
it. Note, Those that are vexatious cannot expect to be prosperous,
those that love to do mischief cannot expect to do well.
Secondly, They are very secure, and confident of success. They
will vex Judah by going up against it; yet that is not all: they do not
doubt but to make a breach in the wall of Jerusalem wide enough for
them to march their army in at; or they count upon dissecting or
dividing the kingdom into two parts, one for the king of Israel, the
other for the king of Syria, who had agreed in one viceroy–a
king to be set in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal,
some obscure person, it is uncertain whether a Syrian or an Israelite.
So sure were they of gaining their point that they divided the prey
before they had caught it. Note, Those that are most scornful are
commonly least successful, for surely God scorns the scorners.
[2.] God himself gives them his word that the attempt should not take
effect
(v. 7):
“Thus saith the Lord God, the sovereign Lord of all, who
brings the counsel of the heathen to naught
It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass; their
measures shall all be broken, and they shall not be able to bring to
pass their enterprise.” Note, Whatever stands against God, or thinks to
stand without him, cannot stand long. Man purposes, but God disposes;
and who is he that saith and it cometh to pass if the Lord commands
it not or countermands it?
Lam. iii. 37.
See
(4.) He must give them a prospect of the destruction of these enemies,
at last, that were now such a terror to them.
[1.] They should neither of them enlarge their dominions, nor push
their conquests any further; The head city of Syria is Damascus, and
the head man of Damascus is Rezin; this he glories in, and this let
him be content with,
v. 8.
The head city of Ephraim has long been Samaria, and the head
man in Samaria is now Pekah the son of Remaliah. These shall
be made to know their own, their bounds are fixed, and they shall not
pass them, to make themselves masters of the cities of Judah, much less
to make Jerusalem their prey. Note, As God has appointed men the
bounds of their habitation
so he has appointed princes the bounds of their dominion, within which
they ought to confine themselves, and not encroach upon their
neighbours’ rights.
[2.] Ephraim, which perhaps was the more malicious and forward enemy of
the two, should shortly be quite rooted out, and should be so far from
seizing other people’s lands that they should not be able to hold their
own. Interpreters are much at a loss how to compute the sixty-five
years within which Ephraim shall cease to be a people; for the
captivity of the ten tribes was but eleven years after this: and some
make it a mistake of the transcriber, and think it should be read
within six and five years, just eleven. But it is hard to allow
that. Others make it to be sixty-five years from the time that the
prophet Amos first foretold the ruin of the kingdom of the ten tribes;
and some late interpreters make it to look as far forward as the last
desolation of that country by Esarhaddon, which was about sixty-five
years after this; then Ephraim was so broken that it was no more a
people. Now it was the greatest folly in the world for those to be
ruining their neighbours who were themselves marked for ruin, and so
near to it. See what a prophet told them at this time, when they were
triumphing over Judah,
Are there not with you, even with you, sins against the Lord your
God?
(5.) He must urge them to mix faith with those assurances which he had
given them
(v. 9):
“If you will not believe what is said to you, surely you
shall not be established; your shaken and disordered state shall
not be established, your unquiet unsettled spirit shall not; though the
things told you are very encouraging, yet they will not be so to you,
unless you believe them, and be willing to take God’s word.” Note, The
grace of faith is absolutely necessary to the quieting and composing of
the mind in the midst of all the tosses of this present time,
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10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
11 Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the
depth, or in the height above.
12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the
LORD.
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?
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.
15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse
the evil, and choose the good.
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.
Here,
I. God, by the prophet, makes a gracious offer to Ahaz, to confirm the
foregoing predictions, and his faith in them, by such sign or miracle
as he should choose
(v. 10, 11):
Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; See here the divine
faithfulness and veracity. God tells us nothing but what he is able and
ready to prove. See his wonderful condescension to the children of men,
in that he is so willing to show to the heirs of promise the
immutability of his counsel,
Heb. vi. 17.
He considers our frame, and that, living in a world of sense, we are
apt to require sensible proofs, which therefore he has favoured us with
in sacramental signs and seals. Ahaz was a bad man, yet God is called
the Lord his God, because he was a child of Abraham and David, and of
the covenants made with them. See how gracious God is even to the evil
and unthankful; Ahaz is bidden to choose his sign, as Gideon about the
fleece
(Judg. vi. 37);
let him ask for a sign in the air, or earth, or water, for God’s power
is the same in all.
II. Ahaz rudely refuses this gracious offer, and (which is not mannerly
towards any superior) kicks at the courtesy, and puts a slight upon it
(v. 12):
I will not ask. The true reason why he would not ask for a sign
was because, having a dependence upon the Assyrians, their forces, and
their gods, for help, he would not thus far be beholden to the God of
Israel, or lay himself under obligations to him. He would not ask a
sign for the confirming of his faith because he resolved to persist in
his unbelief, and would indulge his doubts and distrusts; yet he
pretends a pious reason: I will not tempt the Lord; as if it
would be a tempting of God to do that which God himself invited and
directed him to do. Note, A secret disaffection to God is often
disguised with the specious colours of respect to him; and those who
are resolved that they will not trust God yet pretend that they will
not tempt him.
III. The prophet reproves him and his court, him and the house of
David, the whole royal family, for their contempt of prophecy, and the
little value they had for divine revelation
(v. 13)
“Is it a small thing for you to weary men by your oppression and
tyranny, with which you make yourselves burdensome and odious to all
mankind? But will you weary my God also with the affronts you
put upon him?” As the unjust judge that neither feared God nor
regarded man,
Luke xviii. 2.
You have wearied the Lord with your words,
Mal. ii. 17.
Nothing is more grievous to the God of heaven than to be distrusted.
“Will you weary my God? Will you suppose him to be tired and
unable to help you, or to be weary of doing you good? Whereas the
youths may faint and be weary, you may have tired all your friends,
the Creator of the ends of the earth faints not, neither is
weary.”
Or this: “In affronting the prophets, you think you put a slight only
upon men like yourselves, and consider not that you affront God
himself, whose messengers they are, and put a slight upon him, who will
resent it accordingly.” The prophet here calls God his God with a great
deal of pleasure: Ahaz would not say, He is my God, though the prophet
had invited him to say so
(v. 11):
The Lord thy God; but Isaiah will say, “He is mine.” Note,
Whatever others do, we must avouch the Lord for ours and abide by
him.
IV. The prophet, in God’s name, gives them a sign: “You will not ask a
sign, but the unbelief of man shall not make the promise of God of no
effect: The Lord himself shall give you a sign
(v. 14),
a double sign.”
1. “A sign in general of his good-will to Israel and to the house of
David. You may conclude it that he has mercy in store for you, and that
you are not forsaken of your God, how great soever your present
distress and danger are; for of your nation, of your family, the
Messiah is to be born, and you cannot be destroyed while that blessing
is in you, which shall be introduced,”
(1.) “In a glorious manner; for, whereas you have been often told that
he should be born among you, I am now further to tell you that he shall
be born of a virgin, which will signify both the divine power and the
divine purity with which he shall be brought into the world,–that he
shall be a extraordinary person, for he shall not be born by ordinary
generation,–and that he shall be a holy thing, not stained with the
common pollutions of the human nature, therefore incontestably fit to
have the throne of his father David given him.” Now this, though it was
to be accomplished above 500 years after, was a most encouraging sign
to the house of David (and to them, under that title, this prophecy is
directed,
and an assurance that God would not cast them off. Ephraim did indeed
envy Judah
and sought the ruin of that kingdom, but could not prevail; for the
sceptre should never depart from Judah till the coming of Shiloh,
Those whom God designs for the great salvation may take that for a sign
to them that they shall not be swallowed up by any trouble they meet
with in the way.
(2.) The Messiah shall be introduced on a glorious errand, wrapped up
in his glorious name: They shall call his name Immanuel–God with
us, God in our nature, God at peace with us, in covenant with us.
This was fulfilled in their calling him Jesus–a Saviour
for, if he had not been Immanuel–God with us, he could not have
been Jesus–a Saviour. Now this was a further sign of God’s
favour to the house of David and the tribe of Judah; for he that
intended to work this great salvation among them no doubt would work
out for them all those other salvations which were to be the types and
figures of this, and as it were preludes to this. “Here is a sign for
you, not in the depth nor in the height, but in the prophecy, in the
promise, in the covenant made with David, which you are no strangers
to. The promised seed shall be Immanuel, God with us; let that
word comfort you
(ch. viii. 10),
that God is with us, and
(v. 8)
that your land is Immanuel’s land. Let not the heart of the house of
David be moved thus
(v. 2),
nor let Judah fear the setting up of the son of Tabeal
(v. 6),
for nothing can cut off the entail on the Son of David that shall be
Immanuel.” Note, The strongest consolations, in time of trouble, are
those which are borrowed from Christ, our relation to him, our interest
in him, and our expectations of him and from him. Of this child it is
further foretold
(v. 15)
that though he shall not be born like other children, but of a virgin,
yet he shall be really and truly man, and shall be nursed and brought
up like other children: Butter and honey shall he eat, as other
children do, particularly the children of that land which flowed
with milk and honey. Though he be conceived by the power of the
Holy Ghost, yet he shall not therefore be fed with angels’ food, but,
as it becomes him, shall be in all things made like unto his
brethren,
Heb. ii. 17.
Nor shall he, though born thus by extraordinary generation, be a man
immediately, but, as other children, shall advance gradually through
the several states of infancy, childhood, and youth, to that of
manhood, and growing in wisdom and stature, shall at length wax strong
in spirit, and come to maturity, so as to know how to refuse the
evil and choose the good. See
Note, Children are fed when they are little that they may be taught and
instructed when they have grown up; they have their maintenance in
order to their education.
2. Here is another sign in particular of the speedy destruction of
these potent princes that were now a terror to Judah,
“Before this child (so it should be read), this child which I
have now in my arms” (he means not Immanuel, but Shear-jashub his own
son, whom he was ordered to take with him for a sign,
v. 3),
“before this child shall know how to refuse the evil and choose the
good” (and those who saw what his present stature and forwardness
were would easily conjecture how long that would be), “before this
child be three or four years older, the land that thou
abhorrest, these confederate forces of Israelites and Syrians,
which thou hast such an enmity to and standest in such dread of,
shall be forsaken of both their kings, both Pekah and Rezin,”
who were in so close an alliance that they seemed as if they were the
kings of but one kingdom. This was fully accomplished; for within two
or three years after this, Hoshea conspired against Pekah, and slew him
and, before that, the king of Assyria took Damascus, and slew Rezin,
Nay, there was a present event, which happened immediately, and when
this child carried the prediction of in his name, which was a pledge
and earnest of this future event. Shear-jashub signifies The
remnant shall return, which doubtless points at the wonderful
return of those 200,000 captives whom Pekah and Rezin had carried away,
who were brought back, not by might or power, but by the Spirit of the
Lord of hosts. Read the story,
The prophetical naming of this child having thus had its
accomplishment, no doubt this, which was further added concerning him,
should have its accomplishment likewise, that Syria and Israel should
be deprived of both their kings. One mercy from God encourages us to
hope for another, if it engages us to prepare for another.
| Judgments Announced. | B. C. 740. |
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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.
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.
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.
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.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall
nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
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.
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.
24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because
all the land shall become briers and thorns.
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.
After the comfortable promises made to Ahaz as a branch of the house of
David, here follow terrible threatenings against him, as a degenerate
branch of that house; for though the loving-kindness of God shall not
be utterly taken away, for the sake of David and the covenant made with
him, yet his iniquity shall be chastened with the rod, and his
sin with stripes. Let those that will not mix faith with the promises
of God expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings.
I. The judgment threatened is very great,
It is very great, for it is general; it shall be brought upon the
prince himself (high as he is, he shall not be out of the reach of it),
and upon the people, the whole body of the nation, and upon the royal
family, upon all thy father’s house; it shall be a
judgment entailed on posterity, and shall go along with the royal
blood. It is very great, for it shall be unprecedented–days that
have not come; so dark, so gloomy, so melancholy, as never were the
like since the revolt of the ten tribes, when Ephraim departed from
Judah, which was indeed a sad time to the house of David. Note, The
longer men continue in sin the sorer punishments they have reason to
expect. It is the Lord that will bring these days upon them, for our
times are in his hand, and who can resist or escape the judgments he
brings?
II. The enemy that should be employed as the instrument of this
judgment is the king of Assyria. Ahaz reposed great confidence in that
prince for help against the confederate powers of Israel and Syria, and
minded the less what God said to him by his prophet for his
encouragement because he built much upon his interest in the king of
Assyria, and had meanly promised to be his servant if he would send him
some succours; he had also, made him a present of gold and silver, for
which he drained the treasures both of church and state,
Now God threatens that that king of Assyria whom he made his stay
instead of God should become a scourge to him. He was so speedily; for,
when he came to him, he distressed him, but strengthened him not
the reed not only broke under him, but ran into his hand, and pierced
it, and thenceforward the kings of Assyria were, for a long time,
grieving thorns to Judah, and gave them a great deal of trouble. Note,
The creature that we make our hope commonly proves our hurt. The king
of Assyria, not long after this, made himself master of the ten tribes,
carried them captive, and laid their country waste, so as fully to
answer the prediction here; and perhaps it may refer to that, as an
explication of
v. 8,
where it is foretold that Ephraim shall be broken, that it shall not be
a people; and it is easy to suppose that the prophet (at
turns his speech to the king of Israel, denouncing God’s judgments
against him for invading Judah. But the expositors universally
understand it of Ahaz and his kingdom. Now observe,
1. Summons given to the invaders
(v. 18):
The Lord shall whistle for the fly and the bee. See
Enemies that seem as contemptible as a fly or a bee, and are as easily
crushed, shall yet, when God pleases, do his work as effectually as
lions and young lions. Though they are as far distant from one another
as the rivers of Egypt and the land of Assyria, yet they shall
punctually meet to join in this work when God commands their
attendance; for, when God has work to do, he will not be at a loss for
instruments to do it with.
2. Possession taken by them,
It should seem as if the country were in no condition to make
resistance. They find no difficulties in forcing their way, but
come and rest all of them in the desolate valleys, which the
inhabitants had deserted upon the first alarm, and left them a cheap
and easy prey to the invaders. They shall come and rest in the low
grounds like swarms of flies and bees, and shall render themselves
impregnable by taking shelter in the holes of the rocks, as bees often
do, and showing themselves formidable by appearing openly upon all
thorns and all bushes; so generally shall the land be overspread with
them. These bees shall knit upon the thorns and bushes, and there rest
undisturbed.
3. Great desolations made, and the country generally depopulated
(v. 20):
The Lord shall shave the hair of the head, and beard, and feet;
he shall sweep all away, as the leper, when he was cleansed, shaved
off all his hair,
Lev. xiv. 8, 9.
This is done with a razor which is hired, either which God has hired
(as if he had none of his own; but what he hires, and whom he employs
in any service for him, he will pay for. See
or which Ahaz has hired for his assistance. God will make that to be
an instrument of his destruction which he hired into his service. Note,
Many are beaten with that arm of flesh which they trusted to rather
than to the arm of the Lord, and which they were at a great expense
upon, when by faith and prayer they might have found cheap and easy
succour in God.
4. The consequences of this general depopulation.
(1.) The flocks of cattle shall be all destroyed, so that a man who had
herds and flocks in abundance shall be stripped of them all by the
enemy, and shall with much ado save for his own use a young cow and two
sheep–a poor stock
(v. 21),
yet he shall think himself happy in having any left.
(2.) The few cattle that are left shall have such a large compass of
ground to feed in that they shall give abundance of milk, and
very good milk, such as shall produce butter enough,
There shall also be such want of men that the milk of one cow and two
sheep shall serve a whole family, which used to keep abundance of
servants and consume a great deal, but is now reduced.
(3.) The breed of cattle shall be destroyed; so that those who used to
eat flesh ( as the Jews commonly did) shall be necessitated to confine
themselves to butter and honey, for there shall be no flesh for them;
and the country shall be so depopulated that there shall be butter and
honey enough for the few that are left in it.
(4.) Good land, that used to be let well, shall be all overrun with
briers and thorns
(v. 23);
where there used to be a thousand vines planted, for which the tenants
used to pay a thousand shekels, or pieces of silver, yearly rent, there
shall be nothing now but briers and thorns, no profit either for
landlord or tenant, all being laid waste by the army of the invaders.
Note, God can soon turn a fruitful land into barrenness; and it is just
with him to turn vines into briers if we, instead of bringing forth
grapes to him, bring forth wild grapes,
(5.) The implements of husbandry shall be turned into instruments of
war,
The whole land having become briers and thorns, the grounds that men
used to come to with sickles and pruning-hooks to gather in the fruits
they shall now come to with arrows and bows, to hunt for wild beasts in
the thickets, or to defend themselves from the robbers that lurk in the
bushes, seeking for prey, or to kill the serpents and venomous beasts
that are hid there. This denotes a very sad change of the face of that
pleasant land. But what melancholy change is there which sin will not
make with a people?
(6.) Where briers and thorns were wont to be of use and to do good
service, even in the hedges, for the defence of the enclosed grounds,
they shall be plucked up, and all laid in common. There shall be
briers and thorns in abundance where they should not be, but none where
they should be,
The hills that shall be digged with the mattock, for special
use, from which the cattle used to be kept off with the fear of briers
and thorns, shall now be thrown open, the hedges broken down for the
boar out of the wood to waste it,
It shall be left at large for oxen to run in and less cattle. See the
effect of sin and the curse; it has made the earth a forest of thorns
and thistles, except as it is forced into some order by the constant
care and labour of man. And see what folly it is to set our hearts upon
possessions of lands, be they every so fruitful, ever so pleasant; if
they lie ever so little neglected and uncultivated, or if they be
abused by a wasteful careless heir or tenant, or the country be laid
waste by war, they will soon become frightful deserts. Heaven is a
paradise not subject to such changes.
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