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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
I S A I A H.
CHAP. IX.
The prophet in this chapter (according to the directions given him,
saith to the righteous, It shall be well with thee, but Woe to the
wicked, it shall be ill with him. Here are,
I. Gracious promises to those that adhere to the law and to the
testimony; while those that seek to familiar spirits shall be driven
into darkness and dimness, they shall see a great light, relief in the
midst of their distresses, typical of gospel grace.
1. In the doctrine of the Messiah,
2. His victories,
3. His government and dominion as Immanuel,
II. Dreadful threatenings against the people of Israel, who had
revolted from and were enemies to the house of David, that they should
be brought to utter ruin, that their pride should bring them down
(ver. 8-10),
that their neighbours should make a prey of them
(ver. 11, 12),
that, for their impenitence and hypocrisy, all their ornaments and
supports should be cut off
(ver. 13-17),
and that by the wrath of God against them, and their wrath one against
another, they should be brought to utter ruin,
And this is typical of the final destruction of all the enemies of the
Son of David and his kingdom.
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1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in
her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of
Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more
grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in
Galilee of the nations.
2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:
they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them
hath the light shined.
3 Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy:
they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as
men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4 For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of
his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian.
5 For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and
garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and
fuel of fire.
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the
government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be
called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting
Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall
be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to
order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from
henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will
perform this.
The first words of this chapter plainly refer to the close of the
foregoing chapter, where every thing looked black and melancholy:
Behold, trouble, and darkness, and dimness–very bad, yet not so
bad but that to the upright there shall arise light in the
darkness
and at evening time it shall be light,
Zech. xiv. 7.
Nevertheless it shall not be such dimness (either not such for
kind or not such for degree) as sometimes there has been. Note, In the
worst of times God’s people have a nevertheless to comfort
themselves with, something to allay and balance their troubles; they
are persecuted, but not forsaken
(2 Cor. iv. 9),
sorrowful yet always rejoicing,
And it is matter of comfort to us, when things are at the darkest, that
he who forms the light and creates the darkness
has appointed to both their bounds and set the one over against the
other,
He can say, “Hitherto the dimness shall go, so long it shall last, and
no further, no longer.”
I. Three things are here promised, and they all point ultimately at the
grace of the gospel, which the saints then were to comfort themselves
with the hopes of in every cloudy and dark day, as we now are to
comfort ourselves in time of trouble with the hopes of Christ’s second
coming, though that be now, as his first coming then was, a thing at a
great distance. The mercy likewise which God has in store for his
church in the latter days may be a support to those that are mourning
with her for her present calamities. We have here the promise,
1. Of a glorious light, which shall so qualify, and by degrees dispel,
the dimness, that it shall not be as it sometimes has been: Not such
as was in her vexation; there shall not be such dark times as were
formerly, when at first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and
Naphtali (which lay remote and most exposed to the inroads of the
neighbouring enemies), and afterwards he more grievously afflicted
the land by the way of the sea and beyond Jordan
(v. 1),
referring probably to those days when God began to cut Israel
short and to smite them in all their coasts,
2 Kings x. 32.
Note, God tries what less judgments will do with a people before he
brings greater; but if a light affliction do not do its work with us,
to humble and reform us, we must expect to be afflicted more
grievously; for when God judges he will overcome. Well, those were dark
times with the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, and there was dimness
of anguish in Galilee of the Gentiles, both in respect of ignorance
(they did not speak according to the law and the testimony, and
then there was no light in them,
ch. viii. 20)
and in respect of trouble, and the desperate posture of their outward
affairs; we have both together,
Israel has been without the true God and a teaching priest, and in
those times there was no peace. But the dimness threatened
shall not prevail to such a degree; for
(v. 2)
the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.
(1.) At this time when the prophet lived, there were many prophets in
Judah and Israel, whose prophecies were a great light both for
direction and comfort to the people of God, who adhered to the law and
the testimony. Besides the written word, they had prophecy; there were
those that had shown them how long
(Ps. lxxiv. 9),
which was a great satisfaction to them, when in respect of their
outward troubles they sat in darkness, and dwelt in the land of the
shadow of death.
(2.) This was to have its full accomplishment when our Lord Jesus began
to appear as a prophet, and to preach the gospel in the land of Zebulun
and Naphtali, and in Galilee of the Gentiles. And the Old-Testament
prophets, as they were witnesses to him, so they were types of him.
When he came and dwelt in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali, then
this prophecy is said to have been fulfilled,
Note,
[1.] Those that want the gospel walk in darkness, and know not what
they do nor whither they go; and they dwell in the land of the shadow
of death, in thick darkness, and in the utmost danger.
[2.] When the gospel comes to any place, to any soul, light comes, a
great light, a shining light, which will shine more and more. It should
be welcome to us, as light is to those that sit in darkness, and we
should readily entertain it, both because if is of such sovereign use
to us and because it brings its own evidence with it. Truly this light
is sweet.
2. Of a glorious increase, and a universal joy arising from it,
(v. 3)
“Thou, O God! hast multiplied the nation, the Jewish
nation which thou hast mercy in store for; though it has been
diminished by one sore judgment after another, yet now thou hast begun
to multiply it again.” The numbers of a nation are its strength and
wealth if the numerous be industrious; and it is God that increases
nations,
Yet it follows, “Thou hast not increased the joy–the carnal joy
and mirth, and those things that are commonly the matter and occasion
thereof. But, notwithstanding that, they joy before thee; there
is a great deal of serious spiritual joy among them, joy in the
presence of God, with an eye to him.” This is very applicable to the
times of gospel light, spoken of
v. 2.
Then God multiplied the nation, the gospel Israel. “And to him” (so the
Masorites read it) “thou hast magnified the joy, to every one that
receives the light.” The following words favour this reading: “They
joy before thee; they come before thee in holy ordinances with
great joy’; their mirth is not like that of Israel under their vines
and fig-trees (thou hast not increased that joy), but it is in the
favour of God and in the tokens of his grace.” Note, The gospel, when
it comes in its light and power, brings joy along with it, and those
who receive it aright do therein rejoice, yea, and will rejoice;
therefore the conversion of the nations is prophesied of by this
(Ps. lxvii. 4),
Let the nations be glad, and sin for joy. See
(1.) It is holy joy: They joy before thee; they rejoice in
spirit (as Christ did,
and that is before God. In the eye of the world they are always as
sorrowful, and yet, in God’s sight, always rejoicing,
2 Cor. vi. 10.
(2.) It is great joy; it is according to the joy in harvest,
when those who sowed in tears, and have with long patience waited for
the precious fruits of the earth, reap in joy; and as in war men
rejoice when, after a hazardous battle, they divide the spoil.
The gospel brings with it plenty and victory; but those that would have
the joy of it must expect to go through a hard work, as the husbandman
before he has the joy of harvest, and a hard conflict, as the soldier
before he has the joy of dividing the spoil; but the joy, when it
comes, will be an abundant recompence for the toil. See
3. Of a glorious liberty and enlargement
(v. 4, 5):
“They shall rejoice before thee, and with good reason, for thou hast
broken the yoke of his burden, and made him easy, for he shall no
longer be in servitude; and thou hast broken the staff of his
shoulder and the rod of his oppressor, that rod of the wicked which
rested long on the lot of the righteous,” as the Midianites’ yoke was
broken from off the neck of Israel by the agency of Gideon. If God
makes former deliverances his patterns in working for us, we ought to
make them our encouragements to hope in him and to seek to him,
Do unto them as to the Midianites. What temporal deliverance
this refers to is not clear, probably the preventing of Sennacherib
from making himself master of Jerusalem, which was done, as in the
day of Midian, by the immediate hand of God; and, whereas other
battles were usually won with a great deal of noise and by the expense
of much blood, this shall be done silently and without noise. Under
his glory God shall kindle a burning
(ch. x. 16);
a fire not blown shall consume him,
Job xx. 26.
But doubtless it looks further, to the blessed fruits and effects of
that great light which should visit those that sat in darkness; it
would bring liberty along with it, deliverance to the captives,
Luke iv. 18.
(1.) The design of the gospel, and the grace of it, is to break the
yoke of sin and Satan, to remove the burden of guilt and corruption,
and to free us from the rod of those oppressors, that we might be
brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Christ broke
the yoke of the ceremonial law
and delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, that we might
serve him without fear,
Luke i. 74, 75.
(2.) This is done by the Spirit working like fire
not as the battle of the warrior is fought, with confused noise; no,
the weapons of our warfare are not carnal; but it is done with the
Spirit of judgment and the Spirit of burning,
It is done as in the day of Midian, by a work of God upon the
hearts of men. Christ is our Gideon; it is his sword that doeth
wonders.
II. But who, where, is he that shall undertake and accomplish these
great things for the church? The prophet tells us
(v. 6, 7)
they shall be done by the Messiah, Immanuel, that son of a
virgin whose birth he had foretold
(ch. vii. 14),
and now speaks of, in the prophetic style, as a thing already done: the
child is born, not only because it was as certain, and he was as
certain of it as if it had been done already, but because the church
before his incarnation reaped great benefit and advantage by his
undertaking in virtue of that first promise concerning the seed of
the woman,
Gen. iii. 15.
As he was the Lamb slain, so he was the child born, from the
foundation of the world,
Rev. xiii. 8.
All the great things that God did for the Old-Testament church were
done by him as the eternal Word, and for his sake as the Mediator. He
was the Anointed, to whom God had respect
and it was for the Lord’s sake, for the Lord Christ’s sake, that God
caused his face to shine upon his sanctuary,
The Jewish nation, and particularly the house of David, were preserved
many a time from imminent ruin only because that blessing was in them.
What greater security therefore could be given to the church of God
then that it should be preserved, and be the special care of the divine
Providence, than this, that God had so great a mercy in reserve for it?
The Chaldee paraphrast understands it of the man that shall endure for
ever, even Christ. And it is an illustrious prophecy of him and of his
kingdom, which doubtless those that waited for the consolation of
Israel built much upon, often turned to, and read with pleasure.
1. See him in his humiliation. The same that is the mighty God
is a child born; the ancient of days becomes an infant of a span
long; the everlasting Father is a Son given. Such was his
condescension in taking our nature upon him; thus did he humble and
empty himself, to exalt and fill us. He is born into our world. The
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He is given, freely given,
to be all that to us which our case, in our fallen state, calls for.
God so loved the world that he gave him. He is born to us, he is
given to us, us men, and not to the angels that sinned. It is spoken
with an air of triumph, and the angel seems to refer to these words in
the notice he gives to the shepherds of the Messiah’s having come
(Luke ii. 11),
Unto you is born, this day, a Saviour. Note, Christ’s being born
and given to us is the great foundation of our hopes, and fountain of
our joys, in times of greatest grief and fear.
2. See him in his exaltation. This child, this son, this Son of God,
this Son of man, that is given to us, is in a capacity to do us a great
deal of kindness; for he is invested with the highest honour and power,
so that we cannot but be happy if he be our friend.
(1.) See the dignity he is advanced to, and the name he has above every
name. He shall be called (and therefore we are sure he is and shall be)
Wonderful, Counsellor, &c. His people shall know him and worship
him by these names; and, as one that fully answers them, they shall
submit to him and depend upon him.
[1.] He is wonderful, counsellor. Justly is he called
wonderful, for he is both God and man. His love is the wonder of
angels and glorified saints; in his birth, life, death, resurrection,
and ascension, he was wonderful. A constant series of wonders attended
him, and, without controversy, great was the mystery of godliness
concerning him. He is the counsellor, for he was intimately
acquainted with the counsels of God from eternity, and he gives counsel
to the children of men, in which he consults our welfare. It is by him
that God has given us counsel,
Ps. xvi. 7; Rev. iii. 18.
He is the wisdom of the Father, and is made of God to us wisdom. Some
join these together: He is the wonderful counsellor, a wonder or
miracle of a counsellor; in this, as in other things, he has the
pre-eminence; none teaches like him.
[2.] He is the mighty God–God, the mighty One. As he has wisdom,
so he has strength, to go through with his undertaking: he is able to
save to the utmost; and such is the work of the Mediator that no less a
power than that of the mighty God could accomplish it.
[3.] He is the everlasting Father, or the Father of
eternity; he is God, one with the Father, who is from everlasting
to everlasting. He is the author of everlasting life and happiness to
them, and so is the Father of a blessed eternity to them. He is the
Father of the world to come (so the LXX. reads it), the father of
the gospel-state, which is put in subjection to him, not to the angels,
He was, from eternity, Father of the great work of redemption: his
heart was upon it; it was the product of his wisdom as the
counsellor, of his love as the everlasting Father.
[4.] He is the prince of peace. As a King, he preserves the
peace, commands peace, nay, he creates peace, in his kingdom. He is our
peace, and it is his peace that both keeps the hearts of his people and
rules in them. He is not only a peaceable prince, and his reign
peaceable, but he is the author and giver of all good, all that peace
which is the present and future bliss of his subjects.
(2.) See the dominion he is advanced to, and the throne he has above
every throne
(v. 6):
The government shall be upon his shoulder–his only. He shall
not only wear the badge of it upon his shoulder (the key of the
house of David,
ch. xxii. 22),
but he shall bear the burden of it. The Father shall devolve it upon
him, so that he shall have an incontestable right to govern; and he
shall undertake it, so that no doubt can be made of his governing well,
for he shall set his shoulder to it, and will never complain, as Moses
did, of his being overcharged. I am not able to bear all this
people,
Num. xi. 11, 14.
Glorious things are here spoken of Christ’s government,
v. 7.
[1.] That it shall be an increasing government. It shall be multiplied;
the bounds of his kingdom shall be more and more enlarged, and many
shall be added to it daily. The lustre of it shall increase, and it
shall shine more and more brightly in the world. The monarchies of the
earth were each less illustrious than the other, so that what began in
gold ended in iron and clay, and every monarchy dwindled by degrees;
but the kingdom of Christ is a growing kingdom, and will come to
perfection at last.
[2.] That it shall be a peaceable government, agreeable to his
character as the prince of peace. He shall rule by love, shall rule in
men’s hearts; so that wherever his government is there shall be peace,
and as his government increases the peace shall increase. The more we
are subject to Christ the more easy and safe we are.
[3.] That it shall be a rightful government. He that is the Son of
David shall reign upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, which
he is entitled to. God shall give him the throne of his father
David,
Luke i. 32, 33.
The gospel church, in which Jew and Gentile are incorporated, is the
holy hill of Zion, on which Christ reigns,
[4.] That it shall be administered with prudence and equity, and so as
to answer the great end of government, which is the establishment of
the kingdom: He shall order it, and settle it, with justice and
judgment. Every thing is, and shall be, well managed, in the
kingdom of Christ, and none of his subjects shall ever have cause to
complain.
[5.] That it shall be an everlasting kingdom: There shall be no end
of the increase of his government (it shall be still growing), no
end of the increase of the peace of it, for the happiness of the
subjects of this kingdom shall last to eternity and perhaps shall be
progressive in infinitum–for ever. He shall reign henceforth
even for ever; not only throughout all generations of time, but,
even when the kingdom shall be delivered up to God even the Father, the
glory both of the Redeemer and the redeemed shall continue eternally.
[6.] That God himself has undertaken to bring all this about: “The
Lord of hosts, who has all power in his hand and all creatures at
his beck, shall perform this, shall preserve the throne of David
till this prince of peace is settled in it; his zeal shall do
it, his jealousy for his own honour, and the truth of his promise, and
the good of his church.” Note, The heart of God is much upon the
advancement of the kingdom of Christ among men, which is very
comfortable to all those that wish well to it; the zeal of the Lord
of hosts will overcome all opposition.
| Threatenings against Judah; Threatenings against Israel. | B. C. 740. |
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8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon
Israel.
9 And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the
inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of
heart,
10 The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn
stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them
into cedars.
11 Therefore the LORD shall set up the adversaries of Rezin
against him, and join his enemies together;
12 The Syrians before, and the Philistines behind; and they
shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is
not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
13 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them,
neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
14 Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail,
branch and rush, in one day.
15 The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the
prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and
they that are led of them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men,
neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for
every one is a hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth
speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but
his hand is stretched out still.
18 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the
briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the
forest, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.
19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened,
and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall
spare his brother.
20 And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he
shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they
shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:
21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they
together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not
turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Here are terrible threatenings, which are directed primarily against
Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes, Ephraim and Samaria, the ruin of
which is here foretold, with all the woeful confusions that were the
prefaces to that ruin, all which came to pass within a few years after;
but they look further, to all the enemies of the throne and kingdom of
Christ the Son of David, and read the doom of all the nations that
forget God, and will not have Christ to reign over them. Observe,
I. The preface to this prediction
(v. 8):
The Lord sent a word into Jacob, sent it by his servants the
prophets. He warns before he wounds. He sent notice what he would do,
that they might meet him in the way of his judgments; but they would
not take the hint, took no care to turn away his wrath, and so it
lighted upon Israel; for no word of God shall fall to the ground. It
fell upon them as a storm of rain and hail from on high, which they
could not avoid: It has lighted upon them, that is, it is as
sure to come as if come already, and all the people shall know by
feeling it what they would not know by hearing of it. Those that are
willingly ignorant of the wrath of God revealed from heaven against sin
and sinners shall be made to know it.
II. The sins charged upon the people of Israel, which provoked God to
bring these judgments upon them.
1. Their insolent defiance of the justice of God, thinking themselves a
match for him: “They say, in the pride and stoutness of their
heart, Let God himself do his worst; we will hold our own, and make
our part good with him. If he ruin our houses, we will repair them, and
make them stronger and finer than they were before. Our landlord shall
not turn us out of doors, though we pay him no rent, but we will keep
in possession. If the houses that were built of bricks be demolished in
the war, we will rebuild them with hewn stones, that shall not so
easily be thrown down. If the enemy cut down the sycamores, we will
plant cedars in the room of them. We will make a hand of God’s
judgments, gain by them, and so outbrave them.” Note, Those are
ripening apace for ruin whose hearts are unhumbled under humbling
providences; for God will walk contrary to those who thus walk contrary
to him and provoke him to jealousy, as if they were stronger than he.
2. Their incorrigibleness under all the rebukes of Providence hitherto
(v. 13);
The people turn not unto him that smiteth them (they are not
wrought upon to reform their lives, to forsake their sins, and to
return to their duty), neither do they seek the Lord of hosts;
either they are atheists, and have no religion, or idolaters, and seek
to those gods that are the creatures of their own fancy and the works
of their own hands. Note, That which God designs, in smiting us, is to
turn us to himself and to set us a seeking him; and, if this point be
not gained by less judgments, greater may be expected. God smites that
he may not kill.
3. Their general corruption of manners and abounding profaneness.
(1.) Those that should have reformed them helped to debauch them
(v. 16):
The leaders of this people mislead them, and cause them to
err, by conniving at their wickedness and countenancing wicked
people, and by setting them bad examples; and then no wonder if those
that are led of them be deceived and so destroyed. But it is ill with
a people when their physicians are their worst disease. “Those that
bless this people, or call them blessed (so the margin reads
it), that flatter them, and soothe them in their wickedness, and cry
Peace, peace, to them, cause them to err; and those that are
called blessed of them are swallowed up ere they are aware.” We
have reason to be afraid of those that speak well of us when we do ill;
see
(2.) Wickedness was universal, and all were infected with it
(v. 17):
Every one is a hypocrite and an evil doer. If there be any that
are good, they do not, they dare not appear, for every mouth speaks
folly and villany; every one is profane towards God (so the word
properly signifies) and an evil doer towards man. These two commonly go
together: those that fear not God regard not man; and then every mouth
speaks folly, falsehood, and reproach, both against God and man; for
out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
III. The judgments threatened against them for this wickedness of
theirs; let them not think to go unpunished.
1. In general, hereby they exposed themselves to the wrath of God,
which should both devour as fire and darken as smoke.
(1.) It should devour as fire
(v. 18):
Wickedness shall burn as the fire; the displeasure of God,
incurred by sin, shall consume the sinners, who have made themselves as
briers and thorns before it, and as the thickets of the forest,
combustible matter, which the wrath of the Lord of hosts, the mighty
God, will go through and burn together.
(2.) It should darken as smoke. The briers and thorns, when the fire
consumes them, shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke, so
that the whole land shall be darkened by it; they shall be in trouble,
and see no way out
(v. 19):
The people shall be as the fuel of the fire. God’s wrath fastens
upon none but those that make themselves fuel for it, and then they
mount up as the smoke of sacrifices, being made victims to divine
justice.
2. God would arm the neighbouring powers against them,
At this time the kingdom of Israel was in league with that of Syria
against Judah; but the Assyrians, who were adversaries to the Syrians,
when they had conquered them should invade Israel, and God would stir
them up to do it, and join the enemies of Israel together in alliance
against them, who yet had particular ends of their own to serve and
were not aware of God’s hand in their alliance. Note, When enemies are
set up, and joined in confederacy against a people, God’s hand must be
acknowledged in it. Note further, Those that partake with each other in
sin, as Syria and Israel in invading Judah, must expect to share in the
punishment of sin. Nay, the Syrians themselves, whom they were now in
league with, should be a scourge to them (for it is no unusual thing
for those to fall out that have been united in sin), one attacking them
in the front and the other flanking them or falling upon their rear; so
that they should be surrounded with enemies on all sides, who should
devour them with open mouth,
v. 12.
The Philistines were not now looked upon as formidable enemies, and the
Syrians were looked upon as firm friends; and yet these shall devour
Israel. When men’s ways displease the Lord he makes even their friends
to be at war with them.
3. God would take from the midst of them those they confided in and
promised themselves help from,
Because the people seek not God, those they seek to and depend upon
shall stand them in no stead. The Lord will cut off head and tail,
branch and rush, which is explained in the
(1.) Their magistrates, who were honourable by birth and office and
were the ancients of the people, these were the head, these were
the branch which they promised themselves spirit and fruit from; but
because these caused them to err they should be cut off, and their
dignity and power should be no protection to them when the abuse of
that dignity and power was the great provocation: and it was a judgment
upon the people to have their princes cut off, though they were not
such as they should have been.
(2.) Their prophets, their false prophets, were the tail and the
rush, the most despicable of all. A wicked minister is the worst
of all. A wicked minister is the worst of men. Corruptio optimi est
pessima–The best things become when corrupted the worst. The blind
led the blind, and so both fell into the ditch; and the blind leaders
fell first and fell undermost.
4. That the desolation should be as general as the corruption had been,
and none should escape it,
(1.) Not those that were the objects of complacency. None shall be
spared for love: The Lord shall have no joy in their young men,
that were in the flower of their youth; nor will he say, Deal gently
with the young men for my sake; no, “Let them fall with the rest,
and with them let the seed of the next generation perish.”
(2.) Not those that were the objects of compassion. None shall be
spared for pity: He shall not have mercy on their fatherless and
widows, though he is, in a particular manner, the patron and
protector of such. They had corrupted their way like all the rest;
and, if the poverty and helplessness of their state was not an argument
with them to keep them from sin, they could not expect it should be an
argument with God to protect them from judgments.
5. That they should pull one another to pieces, that every one should
help forward the common ruin, and they should be cannibals to
themselves and one to another: No man shall spare his brother,
if he come in the way of his ambition of covetousness, or if he have
any colour to be revenged on him; and how can they expect God should
spare them when they show no compassion one to another? Men’s passion
and cruelty one against another provoke God to be angry with them all
and are an evidence that he is so. Civil wars soon bring a kingdom to
desolation. Such there were in Israel, when, for the transgression
of the land, many were the princes thereof,
Prov. xxviii. 2.
(1.) In these intestine broils, men snatched on the right hand, and
yet were hungry still, and did eat the flesh of their own
arms, preyed upon themselves for hunger or upon their nearest
relations that were as their own flesh,
This bespeaks,
[1.] Great famine and scarcity; when men had pulled all they could to
them it was so little that they were still hungry, at least God did not
bless it to them, so that they eat and have not enough,
Hag. i. 6.
[2.] Great rapine and plunder. Jusque datum sceleri–iniquity is
established by law. The hedge of property, which is a hedge of
protection to men’s estates, shall be plucked up, and every man shall
think all that his own which he can lay his hands on (vivitur ex
rapto, non hospes ab hospite tutus–they live on the spoil, and the
rites of hospitality are all violated); and yet, when men thus
catch at that which is none of their own, they are not satisfied.
Covetous desires are insatiable, and this curse is entailed on that
which is ill got, that it will never do well.
(2.) These intestine broils should be not only among particular persons
and private families, but among the tribes
(v. 21):
Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, though they
be combined against Judah. Those that could unite against Judah could
not unite with one another; but that sinful confederacy of theirs
against their neighbour that dwelt securely by them was justly
punished by this separation of them one from another. Or Judah, having
sinned like Manasseh and Ephraim, shall not only suffer with them, but
suffer by them. Note, Mutual enmity and animosity among the tribes of
God’s Israel is a sin that ripens them for ruin, and a sad symptom of
ruin hastening on apace. If Ephraim be against Manasseh, and Manasseh
against Ephraim, and both against Judah, they will all soon become a
very easy prey to the common enemy.
6. That, though they should be followed with all these judgments, yet
God would not let fall his controversy with them. It is the heavy
burden of this song
For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched
out still, that is,
(1.) They do nothing to turn away his anger; they do not repent and
reform, do not humble themselves and pray, none stand in the gap, none
answer God’s calls nor comply with the designs of his providences, but
they are hardened and secure.
(2.) His anger therefore continues to burn against them and his hand
is stretched out still. The reason why the judgments of God are
prolonged is because the point is not gained, sinners are not brought
to repentance by them. The people turn not to him that smites
them, and therefore he continues to smite them; for when God judges
he will overcome, and the proudest stoutest sinner shall either bend or
break.
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