_GOD'S JUDGMENTS AGAINST THE ENEMIES OF THE CHURCH. THE PRIVILEGES OF THE GODLY._ _Before Christ 713._ THE third and last part of the third section of this discourse, is comprised in the present chapter; which is immediately connected with that preceding, and in some respect explanatory of it. The... [ Continue Reading ]
WOE TO THEE THAT SPOILEST, &C.— The prophet so orders his discourse, as if he had found this great _spoiler_ to whom it is directed, in the very act of spoiling, and face to face denounces the divine judgment upon him. He addresses him therefore with the hateful appellation of _perfidious spoiler_ a... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD, BE GRACIOUS UNTO US— In this apostrophe to God, the first part contains the supplication; the other, the salvation obtained in consequence thereof. In the supplication there is that difference of persons which shews that they prayed both for the present and absent: for the _present_ and the... [ Continue Reading ]
AND YOUR SPOIL SHALL BE GATHERED— In this apostrophe to the enemy, we have the consequence of their overthrow; which should be the collection of their spoils, without order or distinction; just as locusts, without order or fear, run over the fields and plunder them, every one of them claiming to its... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD, &C.— _JEHOVAH is exalted; yea, he dwelleth on high._ Lowth. See Psalms 99.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE, &C.— _And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, the possession of continued salvation: the fear of JEHOVAH, this shall be thy treasure._ Lowth. Vitringa supposes this apostrophe to be directed to the prince or head of the nation, wherein the prophet teac... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THEIR VALIANT ONES— _Behold their valiant ones, they cry without: the ambassadors of peace, they weep bitterly._ Isaiah 33:8. _The highways lie desolate; the traveller ceaseth: he hath broken,_ &c. Isaiah 33:9. _Lebanon is ashamed, withers away: Sharon is become like a wilderness,_ &c. The p... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW WILL I RISE, SAITH THE LORD— We are taught in this period, that when the calamity of the people, as well as the insolence of their enemies, should be full, God would interpose, and severely punish the oppressors; for that this was the true and proper time wherein he had determined to exalt his g... [ Continue Reading ]
HEAR, YE THAT ARE FAR OFF— This period is immediately connected with that preceding; wherein the divine judgment just mentioned is celebrated, and its severity defended against those hypocrites who misinterpreted it. The prophet, using still the same figure, adapts words to God agreeable to the pres... [ Continue Reading ]
THINE EYES SHALL SEE THE KING, &C.— By the _king_ to be _seen in his beauty,_ Vitringa understands God himself, the king of the Jews, shewing himself with the brightest demonstrations of his majesty, in the deliverance and salvation of his believing people; temporal, under the Maccabees; spiritual,... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU SHALT NOT SEE A FIERCE PEOPLE— While the people of God should see the king in his beauty, while they should see their land widely extending itself, they should no more see a barbarous enemy, or one of a stammering tongue and foreign speech, which they could not understand. They should be freed... [ Continue Reading ]
LOOK UPON ZION— The prophet here, representing the chorus of teachers comforting the people of God, commands this people to turn their attention to Jerusalem, after its restoration flourishing greatly; and promises to them the durable stability of that state, under the metaphor of a _tent_ sustainin... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THERE THE GLORIOUS LORD, &C.— _But the glorious name of JEHOVAH_ shall be unto us a place of confluent streams, _of broad waters._ Lowth. Our prophet always rises in his figures: the meaning of those in this second period is, that the church, at the time here specified, shall immediately depend... [ Continue Reading ]
THY TACKLINGS ARE LOOSED— Two things are to be supposed in the interpretation of these words; _first,_ that this apostrophe is directed to the government of the hostile nation: _secondly,_ when the state is described under the image of a ship, _whose tacklings are loosed,_ we are to understand it in... [ Continue Reading ]