Isaiah 31:9

Isa. 31:9. "Saith the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem:" i.e. There he has his throne of judgment, where he sits to judge the nations of the world, to try men as in a refiner's fire, to prove the righteous and justify them, and to consume the wicked. God in judging is represented in Scripture as doing the part of a refiner of metals. Malachi 3:2; Malachi 3:3. "But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth; for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap, and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." The place where the refiner fines metals, is where he has his furnace; and so the place whence God judges the nations of the world, and executes judgment and justice on the earth, is where he has established his throne, which is in Zion. There God is represented as having his throne, and from thence all his judgments that are executed in the earth are represented as proceeding. So in Amos chapter 1, God's judgments upon Syria, and upon the Philistines, Tyrus and Edom, and upon the Amorites, are represented as proceeding from God in Zion, and from Jerusalem, as Amos 1:2, "The Lord will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem;" together with what follows in that chapter. So God is represented as judging all nations from thence in the last chapter of Joel (Joel 3:16; Joel 3:17), "The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake." - "So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain." And Joel 3:21, "For the Lord dwelleth in Zion;" together with the rest of the chapter. So it is said, Psalms 76:2; Psalms 76:3, "In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling-place in Zion. There brake he the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle." So God is represented as judging the nations of the world out of Zion. Psalms 50 at the beginning. "The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth, from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people." So Isaiah 2:3; Isaiah 2:4, "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people." So here God is represented as judging the Assyrians from mount Zion. He that sits in Zion as a refiner, is represented as bringing their young valiant men to the furnace there, and melting them in the fire, as in the foregoing verse, his young men shall be for melting, as it is in the Hebrew. So in the 33rd chapter he is represented as destroying the enemies of Israel, as one that dwelleth on high, and fills Zion with judgment and righteousness. And as God's judgments on his enemies are represented as coming out of Zion, so is the salvation of his people, as Psalms 14:7; Psalms 53:6; Psalms 20:2; Psalms 110:2; Psalms 128:5; Psalms 134:3. The Assyrians that besieged Jerusalem are represented as consumed by fire. Isaiah 9:5, "Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood, but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire."