Isaiah 5:15

And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled: AND THE MEAN MAN (HEBREW, 'aadaam (H120 )) SHALL BE BROUGHT DOWN AND THE MIGHTY MAN ( 'iysh (H376 )) SHALL BE HUMBLED. Compare Isaiah 2:9; Isaiah 2:11; Isaiah 2:17. All ranks, "mean" and "mighty" alike: so "honourable" and "multitude" (Isaiah 5:13)....

15._And the mighty man shall be bowed down. _This may be called the summing up, for it points out the end and result of those chastisements, that all may be cast down, and that the Lord alone may be exalted. We have formerly met with a similar statement, (Isaiah 2:11,) and on that occasion we explained what was the Prophet’s meaning; (87) which is, that he shows the design of the chastisements which God inflicts on us. Adversity is so hateful to us, that we can perceive nothing good in it. When he speaks of punishments, we detest and abhor them, because we do not perceive the justice of God. But the prophets remind us of another consideration, that so long as men go on in their sins regardlessly, the justice of God is in some degree smothered, and never shines so brightly as when he punishes our sins. This fruit is indeed very great, and ought to be

8-23 Here is a woe to those who set their hearts on the wealth of the world. Not that it is sinful for those who have a house and a field to purchase another; but the fault is, that they never know when they have enough. Covetousness is idolatry; and while many envy the prosperous, wretched man, the Lord denounces awful woes upon him. How applicable to many among us! God has many ways to empty the most populous cities. Those who set their hearts upon the world, will justly be disappointed. Here is woe to those who dote upon the pleasures and the delights of sense. The use of music is lawful; but when it draws away the heart from God, then it becomes a sin to us. God's judgments have seized them, but they will not disturb themselves in their pleasures. The judgments are declared. Let a man be ever so high, death will bring him low; ever so mean, death will bring him lower. The fruit of t...

AND THE MEAN MAN ... THE MIGHTY MAN - The expressions here mean that “all” ranks would be subdued and punished; see the note at Isaiah 2:9. THE EYES OF THE LOFTY ... - see Isaiah 2:11, note; Isaiah 2:17, note. SHALL BE EXALTED IN JUDGMENT - In his justice; he shall so manifest his justice as to be exalted in the view of tbe people. SHALL BE SANCTIFIED - Shall be “regarded” as holy. He shall so manifest his righteousness in his dealings, that it shall be seen and felt that he is a holy God....

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 5:1 ISRAEL REBUKED BY THE PARABLE OF A VINEYARD. This chapter stands in a certain sense alone, neither closely connected with what precedes nor with what follows, excepting that it breathes throughout a tone of denunciation. There is also a want of connection between its parts, the allegory of the first section being succeeded by a series of rebukes for sins, expressed in the plainest language, and the rebukes being followed by a threat of punishment, also expressed with plainness. The resemblance of the parable with which the chapter opens to one of those delivered by our Lord, and recorded in the three synoptic Gospels, has been frequently noticed....

AND THE MEAN MAN SHALL BE BROUGHT DOWN,.... To hell, or the grave, as well as the rich and noble: AND THE MIGHTY MAN SHALL BE HUMBLED; laid low in the dust, and be equal to the poor; for, in the grave, princes and peasants are alike; or they shall be all alike, in the same low and miserable condition: AND THE EYES OF THE LOFTY SHALL BE HUMBLED; when famine and distress, ruin and misery, come upon them, then shall the pride of those be abased, as it was; who boasted of their riches and honour, of their descent and parentage, as the children of Abraham, and as being free men, and never in bondage; of their righteousness and good works; not submitting to the righteousness of Christ; but despising it, and looking with disdain upon, and treating with contempt, such as they thought less holy than themselves. The Scribes and Pharisees, the members of the sanhedrim, and rulers of the people, t...

Isaiah 5:1. _Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My Well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:_ The Song of the Vineyard is by no means a joyful song. It is, indeed quite the reverse. It is pitched in the minor key and has a painful theme. This suffices to prove that all our hymns need not consist, as some affirm, of direct praise to God. Such a notion is not according to Scripture, for many of the Psalms are not of that character. There are songs that can be sung to the edification of one another, and that is, in part, the design of sacred song. We speak to ourselves, as well as to God, in Psalm and hymns and spiritual songs. «My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill.» The members of the Church of God are placed in a position where they have very choice opportunities of glorifying God; they are like a vineyard in a ve

CHAPTER 5 The Song of the Vineyard and the Six Woes 1. _The song of the vineyard and Jehovah's lament (Isaiah 5:1)_ 2. _The judgment upon the vineyard (Isaiah 5:5)_ 3. _The wild grapes (Isaiah 5:8)_ 4. _First woe against covetousness (Isaiah 5:8)_ 5. _Second woe against fleshly lusts (Isaiah 5:11)_ 6. _Third woe against mockers (Isaiah 5:18)_ 7. Fourth woe against moral insensibility ...

A SERIES OF DENUNCIATIONS ON VARIOUS OFFENDERS. This section contains a collection of Woes, originally independent and even now not woven into a single symmetrical address. Whether they come from different periods of Isaiah's ministry is not so clear; no confidence can be felt in the attempts to date them. The text has not been very well preserved. ISAIAH 5:8. Woe to the grasping land-holders who drive the old possessors from their ancestral homesteads that they may have large estates all to themselves. Soon there will be a loneliness they will not desire, the solitude of desolation, and their lands will yield a harvest far less than the seed. With their land the dispossessed would lose their civil rights, to which the Hebrews hung tenaciously, as we see from the story of Naboth (1 Kings 21). Isa

THE MEAN MAN. commoner. Hebrew. _'adam._ App-14. THE MIGHTY MAN. peer. Hebrew. _'ish_. LOFTY. proud. Hebrew. _gabah._ See note on Isaiah 2:11....