_THE PROPHET THREATENETH EPHRAIM FOR THEIR PRIDE AND DRUNKENNESS. THE FAITHFUL RESIDUE SHALL BE ADVANCED IN THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST: HE REBUKETH THEIR ERROR, THEIR UNTOWARDNESS TO LEARN, AND THEIR SECURITY. CHRIST THE SURE FOUNDATION IS PROMISED. THEIR SECURITY SHALL BE TRIED. THEY ARE INCITED TO THE... [ Continue Reading ]
WOE TO THE CROWN OF PRIDE— Or, _Woe unto the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of their most glorious beauty, which is upon the head,_ &c. By the _crown of pride of the drunkards,_ &c. Samaria is primarily to be understood, which is situate, as Maundrell expresses... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THE LORD, &C.— The punishment upon Ephraim is contained in these verses, and consists of three gradations; the _first_ in the second verse; the meaning whereof literally is, that God has ready at his command a potent prince, whom he will send against a hypocritical people, its kings, leaders... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THAT DAY— These verses contain a promise of the preservation of the faithful, and of the restoration and defence of the state. See chap. Isaiah 4:2. The meaning is, that after the return from the Babylonish captivity God would more clearly reveal himself to his people, and bestow upon them those... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THEY ALSO HAVE ERRED, &C.— _But they also stagger with wine, and reel with strong drink: the priest and the prophet stagger through strong drink; they are drowned in wine; they reel with strong drink,_ &c. We have observed that a new set of men are here introduced, who are shewn to be guilty of... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOM SHALL HE TEACH KNOWLEDGE?— This period, though different in words, is the same in sense with that preceding. The meaning is, that the teachers, priests, and elders of the people, whose duty it was to maintain the purity and integrity of the public doctrine and counsels, had deviated so far from... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR WITH STAMMERING LIPS, &C.— Instead of _refreshing,_ in Isaiah 28:12 we may read, _happy place;_ and the 13th may be rendered, _But the word of the Lord shall be unto them,—that they may go,_ &c. These verses contain the spiritual punishment consequent upon the fault before specified. When the te... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE, HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD, &C.— The prophet, about to describe the temporal and external punishment in these verses, addresses the teachers and elders of the people, and in a strong manner convicts them of their iniquity. By _death_ and _hell_ are understood those powerful princes with wh... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION, &C.— Or, _Behold, I am he who layeth for a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tried stone, a corner stone, precious, a sure foundation,_ &c. The prophet seemed immediately about to declare the temporal punishment determined for the Jewish elders; and indeed he does so, but in such... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDGMENT ALSO WILL I LAY TO THE LINE— The prophet, having provided for the safety of those who put their trust in God, prepares himself to denounce the judgments ready for the profane and hypocritical _scorners of Jerusalem,_ who boasted that they had made _a covenant with death and with hell,_ reno... [ Continue Reading ]
GIVE YE EAR, &C.— We have here the fourth member of this section, in which this severe judgment of God denounced in the preceding verses, is defended by a parable taken from agriculture, wherein the prophet represents allegorically the intentions and method of the divine judgments; asserting that Go... [ Continue Reading ]