_IN MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ, HE PROPHESIETH THAT SYRIA AND ISRAEL SHALL BE SUBDUED BY ASSYRIA; AND JUDAH LIKEWISE FOR THEIR INFIDELITY. GOD'S JUDGMENTS SHALL BE IRRESISTIBLE. COMFORT SHALL BE TO THEM THAT FEAR GOD; GREAT AFFLICTIONS TO IDOLATERS._ _Before Christ 760._... [ Continue Reading ]
MOREOVER, THE LORD SAID— The other section of this discourse, which reaches to the 7th verse of the next chapter, is nearly of the same argument with that preceding: it is prophetical, and contains matter of comfort and reproof. It may be divided into two parts; the first part, in the four first ver... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I TOOK UNTO ME FAITHFUL WITNESSES TO RECORD— These _witnesses_ were called in to sign the instrument or writing wherein Isaiah, according to God's command, was to write the name mentioned in the preceding verse. It is not to be supposed that they were witnesses of a new marriage, as there are no... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WENT UNTO THE PROPHETESS— _And I had gone unto the prophetess, and she had conceived; and she bare a son; and the Lord said unto me,_ &c. Vitringa.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD SPAKE ALSO— After having delivered the promise concerning the deliverance of the people from the fear of the two adverse kingdoms, God, by a new, or a continued revelation, (for it was not very distant in time from the former) more distinctly unfolds his purpose concerning the fate not only... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SHALL PASS THROUGH JUDAH— The meaning is, that the Assyrian, after he had swallowed up Syria, and then the kingdom of Ephraim, should pass into Judaea, and occupy with his forces the whole of it, except Jerusalem, its metropolis; which refers to the time of Sennacherib. See 2 Kings 18:13. The... [ Continue Reading ]
ASSOCIATE YOURSELVES, &C.— Rapt as it were into extacy, upon considering the land as belonging to _Immanuel,_ the prophet beholds the future assistance which should be given to that land, and the vanity of all attempts utterly to destroy the kingdom of David. His address to the confederate nations i... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE LORD SPAKE THUS— In the subsequent part of this sermon; the prophet sets forth with what disposition of mind those worldly events are to be received, which threaten destruction to the church: he renews, for the comfort of the pious, the great promise of the Messiah, and denounces the most gr... [ Continue Reading ]
SANCTIFY THE LORD OF HOSTS HIMSELF— _The Lord of Hosts, him shall ye sanctify,_ &c. The duty opposite to the vice of the Jewish people is here set forth, _Sanctify the Lord;_ that is to say, so worship and reverence him, as to attribute to him all that glory which properly belongs to him. See Number... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE SHALL BE FOR A SANCTUARY; BUT FOR A STONE— We have here, in this third part of the present discourse, _first,_ a prophetic denunciation of the judgment to be displayed in the time of the Messiah, both upon the pious and the impious,—in these verses. _Secondly,_ an exposition of that judgment,... [ Continue Reading ]
BIND UP THE TESTIMONY— _Engrave the testimony, seal up the law in my disciples._ There seems no doubt that the person here introduced speaking is God the Father, in whose will the Messiah immediately after professeth his acquiescence. The _testimony_ and _law,_ mean the doctrine and the law of the M... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL WAIT, &C.— These words belong to the Messiah. The Messiah here answers God the Father, that he perfectly acquiesces in his counsel, waiting with confidence reposed in him for the completion of those great promises which were made to him by the Father, as well as those in ch. 49 though God... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY SHALL SAY— Here follows the address of the prophet to the Jewish nation, drawn from the argument of the preceding prophesy,—to the first verse of the 9th chapter; and then a remarkable illustration of the prophesy concerning Jehovah the teacher, who was hereafter to appear to the Jews,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THEY SHALL PASS THROUGH IT— The attentive reader must observe, that the 21st verse is connected with the last clause of the preceding one; _no light, no morning to them._ The prophet had here denounced to those who should despise the institution of God and the Messiah, a great evil, that they sh... [ Continue Reading ]