Hitherto, it should seem, Isaiah had prophesied as a candidate, having
only a virtual and tacit commission; but here we have him (if I may so
speak) solemnly ordained and set apart to the prophetic office by a
more express or explicit commission, as his work grew more upon his
hands: or perhaps, having seen little success of his ministry, he began
to think of giving it up; and therefore God saw fit to renew his
commission here in this chapter, in such a manner as might excite and
encourage his zeal and industry in the execution of it, though he
seemed to labour in vain. In this chapter we have,
I. A very awful vision which Isaiah saw of the glory of God
(Isaiah 6:1-4),
the terror it put him into
(Isaiah 6:5),
and the relief given him against that terror by an assurance of the
pardon of his sins,
Isaiah 6:6,7.
II. A very awful commission which Isaiah received to go as a prophet,
in God's name
(Isaiah 6:8),
by his preaching to harden the impenitent in sin and ripen them for
ruin
(Isaiah 6:9-12)
yet with a reservation of mercy for a remnant,
(Isaiah 6:13).
And it was as to an evangelical prophet that these things were shown
him and said to him.
Isaiah's Heavenly Vision.
B. C. 758.
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting
upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the
temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with
twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet,
and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is
the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that
cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
The vision which Isaiah saw when he was, as is said of Samuel,
established to be a prophet of the Lord
(1 Samuel 3:20),
was intended,
1. To confirm his faith, that he might himself be abundantly satisfied
of the truth of those things which should afterwards be made known to
him. This God opened the communications of himself to him; but such
visions needed not to be afterwards repeated upon every revelation.
Thus God appeared at first as a God of glory to Abraham
(Acts 7:2),
and to Moses,
Exodus 3:2.
Ezekiel's prophecies and St. John's, begin with visions of the divine
glory.
2. To work upon his affections, that he might be possessed with such a
reverence of God as would both quicken him and fix him to his service.
Those who are to teach others the knowledge of God ought to be well
acquainted with him themselves.
The vision is dated, for the greater certainty of it. It was in the
year that king Uzziah died, who had reigned, for the most part, as
prosperously and well as any of the kings of Judah, and reigned very
long, above fifty years. About the time that he died, Isaiah saw this
vision of God upon a throne; for when the breath of princes goes forth,
and they return to their earth, this is our comfort, that the Lord
shall reign for ever,
Psalms 146:3,4,10.
Israel's king dies, but Israel's God still lives. From the mortality of
great and good men we should take occasion to look up with an eye of
faith to the King eternal, immortal. King Uzziah died under a cloud,
for he was shut up as a leper till the day of his death. As the lives
of princes have their periods, so their glory is often eclipsed; but,
as God is everliving, so his glory is everlasting. King Uzziah dies in
an hospital, but the King of kings still sits upon his throne.
What the prophet here saw is revealed to us, that we, mixing faith with
that revelation, may in it, as in a glass, behold the glory of the
Lord; let us turn aside therefore, and see this great sight with humble
reverence.
I. See God upon his throne, and that throne high and lifted up,
not only above other thrones, as it transcends them, but over other
thrones, as it rules and commands them. Isaiah saw not
Jehovah--the essence of God (no man has seen that, or can see
it), but Adonai--his dominion. He saw the Lord Jesus; so this
vision is explained
John 12:41,
that Isaiah now saw Christ's glory and spoke of him, which is an
incontestable proof of the divinity of our Saviour. He it is who when,
after his resurrection, he sat down on the right hand of God, did but
sit down where he was before,
John 17:5.
See the rest of the Eternal Mind: Isaiah saw the Lord sitting,
Psalms 29:10.
See the sovereignty of the Eternal Monarch: he sits upon a
throne--a throne of glory, before which we must worship,--a throne
of government, under which we must be subject,--and a throne of grace,
to which we may come boldly. This throne is high, and lifted up above
all competition and contradiction.
II. See his temple, his church on earth, filled with the manifestations
of his glory. His throne being erected at the door of the temple (as
princes sat in judgment at the gates), his train, the skirts of
his robes, filled the temple, the whole world (for it is all
God's temple, and, as the heaven is his throne, so the earth is his
footstool), or rather the church, which is filled enriched, and
beautified with the tokens of God's special presence.
III. See the bright and blessed attendants on his throne, in and by
whom his glory is celebrated and his government served
(Isaiah 6:2):
Above the throne, as it were hovering about it, or nigh to the
throne, bowing before it, with an eye to it, the seraphim stood,
the holy angels, who are called seraphim-burners; for he
makes his ministers a flaming fire,
Psalms 104:4.
They burn in love to God, and zeal for his glory and against sin, and
he makes use of them as instruments of his wrath when he is a consuming
fire to his enemies. Whether they were only two or four, or (as I
rather think) an innumerable company of angels, that Isaiah saw,
is uncertain; see
Daniel 7:10.
Note, It is the glory of the angels that they are seraphim, have heat
proportionable to their light, have abundance, not only of divine
knowledge, but of holy love. Special notice is taken of their wings
(and of no other part of their appearance), because of the use they
made of them, which is designed for instruction to us. They had each
of them six wings, not stretched upwards (as those whom Ezekiel
saw,
Isaiah 1:11),
but,
1. Four were made use of for a covering, as the wings of a fowl,
sitting, are; with the two upper wings, next to the head, they covered
their faces, and with the two lowest wings they covered their feet, or
lower parts. This bespeaks their great humility and reverence in their
attendance upon God, for he is greatly feared in the assembly of
those saints,
Psalms 89:7.
They not only cover their feet, those members of the body which are
less honourable
(1 Corinthians 12:23),
but even their faces. Though angel's faces, doubtless, are much fairer
than those of the children of men
(Acts 6:15),
yet in the presence of God, they cover them, because they cannot bear
the dazzling lustre of the divine glory, and because, being conscious
of an infinite distance from the divine perfection, they are ashamed to
show their faces before the holy God, who charges even his angels
with folly if they should offer to vie with him,
Job 4:18.
If angels be thus reverent in their attendance on God, with what godly
fear should we approach his throne! Else we do not the will of God as
the angels do it. Yet Moses, when he went into the mount with God, took
the veil from off his face. See
2 Corinthians 3:18.
2. Two were made use of for flight; when they are sent on God's errands
they fly swiftly
(Daniel 9:21),
more swiftly with their own wings than if they flew on the wings of the
wind. This teaches us to do the work of God with cheerfulness and
expedition. Do angels come upon the wing from heaven to earth, to
minister for our good, and shall not we soar upon the wing from earth
to heaven, to share with them in their glory?
Luke 20:36.
IV. Hear the anthem, or song of praise, which the angels sing to the
honour of him that sits on the throne,
Isaiah 6:3.
Observe,
1. How this song was sung. With zeal and fervency--they cried
aloud; and with unanimity--they cried to another, or one with
another; they sang alternately, but in concert, and without the least
jarring voice to interrupt the harmony.
2. What the song was; it is the same with that which is sung by the
four living creatures,
Revelation 4:8.
Note, Praising God always was, and will be to eternity, the work of
heaven, and the constant employment of blessed spirits above,
Psalms 84:4.
Note further, The church above is the same in its praises; there is no
change of times or notes there. Two things the seraphim here give God
the praise of:--
(1.) His infinite perfections in himself. Here is one of his most
glorious titles praised: he is the Lord of hosts, of their
hosts, of all hosts; and one of his most glorious attributes, his
holiness, without which his being the Lord of hosts (or, as it is in
the parallel place,
Revelation 4:8,
the Lord God Almighty) could not be so much as it is the matter
of our joy and praise; for power, without purity to guide it, would be
a terror to mankind. None of all the divine attributes is so celebrated
in scripture as this is. God's power was spoken twice
(Psalms 62:11),
but his holiness thrice, Holy, holy, holy. This bespeaks,
[1.] The zeal and fervency of the angels in praising God; they even
want words to express themselves, and therefore repeat the same again.
[2.] The particular pleasure they take in contemplating the holiness of
God; this is a subject they love to dwell upon, to harp upon, and are
loth to leave.
[3.] The superlative excellency of God's holiness, above that of the
purest creatures. He is holy, thrice holy, infinitely holy, originally,
perfectly, and eternally so.
[4.] It may refer to the three person in the Godhead, Holy Father, Holy
Son, and Holy Spirit (for it follows,
Isaiah 6:8,
Who will go for us?) or perhaps to that which was, and is,
and is to come; for that title of God's honour is added to this
song,
Revelation 4:8.
Some make the angels here to applaud the equity of that sentence which
God was now about to pronounce upon the Jewish nation. Herein he was,
and is, and will be, holy; his ways are equal.
(2.) The manifestation of these to the children of men: The earth is
full of his glory, the glory of his power and purity; for he is
holy in all his works,
Psalms 145:17.
The Jews thought the glory of God should be confined to their land; but
it is here intimated that in the gospel times (which are pointed to in
this chapter) the glory of God should fill all the earth, the glory of
his holiness, which is indeed the glory of all his other attributes;
this then filled the temple
(Isaiah 6:1),
but, in the latter days, the earth shall be full of it.
V. Observe the marks and tokens of terror with which the temple was
filled, upon this vision of the divine glory,
Isaiah 6:4.
1. The house was shaken; not only the door, but even the
posts of the door, which were firmly fixed, moved at the voice
of him that cried, at the voice of God, who called to judgment
(Psalms 50:4),
at the voice of the angel, who praised him. There are voices in heaven
sufficient to drown all the noises of the many waters in this lower
world,
Psalms 93:3,4.
This violent concussion of the temple was an indication of God's wrath
and displeasure against the people for their sins; it was an earnest of
the destruction of it and the city by the Babylonians first, and
afterwards by the Romans; and it was designed to strike an awe upon us.
Shall walls and posts tremble before God, and shall we not tremble?
2. The house was darkened; it was filled with smoke,
which was as a cloud spread upon the face of his throne
(Job 26:9);
we cannot take a full view of it, nor order our speech concerning it,
by reason of darkness. In the temple above there will be no smoke, but
everything will be seen clearly. There God dwells in light; here he
makes darkness his pavilion,
2 Chronicles 6:1.
Isaiah's Heavenly Vision.
B. C. 758.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a
man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of
unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of
hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in
his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath
touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin
purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I
send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Our curiosity would lead us to enquire further concerning the seraphim,
their songs and their services; but here we leave them, and must attend
to what passed between God and his prophet. Secret things belong not
to us, the secret things of the world of angels, but things
revealed to and by the prophets, which concern the administration of
God's kingdom among men. Now here we have,
I. The consternation that the prophet was put into by the vision which
he saw of the glory of God
(Isaiah 6:5):
Then said I, Woe is me! I should have said, "Blessed art thou,
who hast been thus highly favoured, highly honoured, and dignified, for
a time, with the privilege of those glorious beings that always
behold the face of our Father. Blessed were those eyes which saw
the Lord sitting on his throne, and those ears which heard the angels'
praises." And, one would think, he should have said, "Happy am I, for
ever happy; nothing now shall trouble me, nothing make me blush or
tremble;" but, on the contrary, he cries out, "Woe is me! for I am
undone. Alas for me! I am a gone man; I shall surely die
(Judges 13:22,Jdg+6:22);
I am silenced; I am struck dumb, struck dead." Thus Daniel, when he
heard the words of the angel, became dumb, and there was no
strength, no breath, left in him,
Daniel 10:15,17.
Observe,
1. What the prophet reflected upon in himself which terrified him:
"I am undone if God deal with me in strict justice, for I have
made myself obnoxious to his displeasure, because I am a man of
unclean lips." Some think he refers particularly to some rash word
he had spoken, or to his sinful silence in not reproving sin with the
boldness and freedom that were necessary--a sin which God's ministers
have too much cause to charge themselves with, and to blush at the
remembrance of. But it may be taken more generally; I am a
sinner; particularly, I have offended in word; and who is
there that hath not?
James 3:2.
We all have reason to bewail it before the Lord,
(1.) That we are of unclean lips ourselves; our lips are not
consecrated to God; he had not had the first-fruits of our lips
(Hebrews 13:15),
and therefore they are counted common and unclean, uncircumcised
lips,
Exodus 6:30.
Nay, they have been polluted with sin. We have spoken the language of
an unclean heart, that evil communication which corrupts good manners,
and whereby many have been defiled. We are unworthy and unmeet to take
God's name into our lips. With what a pure lip did the angels praise
God! "But," says the prophet, "I cannot praise him so, for I am a
man of unclean lips." The best men in the world have reason to be
ashamed of themselves, and the best of their services, when they come
into comparison with the holy angels. The angels had celebrated the
purity and holiness of God; and therefore the prophet, when he reflects
upon sin, calls it uncleanness; for the sinfulness of sin is its
contrariety to the holy nature of God, and upon that account especially
it should appear both hateful and frightful to us. The impurity of our
lips ought to be the grief of our souls, for by our words we shall be
justified or condemned.
(2.) That we dwell among those who are so too. We have reason to
lament not only that we ourselves are polluted, but that the nature and
race of mankind are so; the disease is hereditary and epidemic, which
is so far from lessening our guilt that it should rather increase our
grief, especially considering that we have not done what we might have
done for the cleansing of the pollution of other people's lips; nay, we
have rather learned their way and spoken their language, as Joseph in
Egypt learned the courtier's oath,
Genesis 42:16.
"I dwell in the midst of a people who by their impudent sinnings
are pulling down desolating judgments upon the land, which I, who am a
sinner too, may justly expect to be involved in."
2. What gave occasion for these sad reflections at this time: My
eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. He saw God's
sovereignty to be incontestable--he is the King; and his power
irresistible--he is the Lord of hosts. These are comfortable truths to
God's people, and yet they ought to strike an awe upon us. Note, A
believing sight of God's glorious majesty should affect us all with
reverence and godly fear. We have reason to be abased in the sense of
that infinite distance that there is between us and God, and our own
sinfulness and vileness before him, and to be afraid of his
displeasure. We are undone if there be not a Mediator between us and
this holy God,
1 Samuel 6:20.
Isaiah was thus humbled, to prepare him for the honour he was now to be
called to as a prophet. Note, Those are fittest to be employed for God
who are low in their own eyes and are made deeply sensible of their own
weakness and unworthiness.
II. The silencing of the prophet's fears by the good words, and
comfortable words, with which the angel answered him,
Isaiah 6:6,7.
One of the seraphim immediately flew to him, to purify him, and so to
pacify him. Note, God has strong consolations ready for holy mourners.
Those that humble themselves in penitential shame and fear shall soon
be encouraged and exalted; those that are struck down with the visions
of God's glory shall soon be raised up again with the visits of his
grace; he that tears will heal. Note, further, Angels are ministering
spirits for the good of the saints, for their spiritual good. Here was
one of the seraphim dismissed, for a time, from attending on the throne
of God's glory, to be a messenger of his grace to a good man; and so
well pleased was he with the office that he came flying to him. To our
Lord Jesus himself, in his agony, there appeared an angel from
heaven, strengthening him,
Luke 22:43.
Here is,
1. A comfortable sign given to the prophet of the purging away of his
sin. The seraph brought a live coal from the altar, and touched
his lips with it, not to hurt them, but to heal them--not to cauterize,
but to cleanse them; for there were purifications by fire, as well as
by water, and the filth of Jerusalem was purged by the spirit of
burning,
Isaiah 4:4.
The blessed Spirit works as fire,
Matthew 3:11.
The seraph, being himself kindled with a divine fire, put life into the
prophet, to make him also zealously affected; for the way to purge the
lips from the uncleanness of sin is to fire the soul with the love of
God. This live coal was taken from off the altar, either the altar of
incense or that of burnt-offerings, for they had both of them fire
burning on them continually. Nothing is powerful to cleanse and comfort
the soul but what is taken from Christ's satisfaction and the
intercession he ever lives to make in the virtue of that satisfaction.
It must be a coal from his altar that must put life into us and be our
peace; it will not be done with strange fire.
2. An explication of this sign: "Lo, this has touched thy lips,
to assure thee of this, that thy iniquity is taken away and thy sin
purged. The guilt of thy sin is removed by pardoning mercy, the
guilt of thy tongue-sins. Thy corrupt disposition to sin is removed by
renewing grace; and therefore nothing can hinder thee from being
accepted with God as a worshipper, in concert with the holy angels, or
from being employed for God as a messenger to the children of men."
Those only who are thus purged from an evil conscience are prepared
to serve the living God,
Hebrews 9:14.
The taking away of sin is necessary to our speaking with confidence and
comfort either to God in prayer or from God in preaching; nor are any
so fit to display to others the riches and power of gospel-grace as
those who have themselves tasted the sweetness and felt the influence
of that grace; and those shall have their sin taken away who complain
of it as a burden and see themselves in danger of being undone by
it.
III. The renewing of the prophet's mission,
Isaiah 6:8.
Here is a communication between God and Isaiah about this matter. Those
that would assist others in their correspondence with God must not
themselves be strangers to it; for how can we expect that God should
speak by us if we never heard him speaking to us, or that we should be
accepted as the mouth of others to God if we never spoke to him
heartily for ourselves? Observe here,
1. The counsel of God concerning Isaiah's mission. God is here brought
in, after the manner of men, deliberating and advising with himself:
Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? God needs not either
to be counselled by others or to consult with himself; he knows what he
will do, but thus he would show us that there is a counsel in his whole
will, and teach us to consider our ways, and particularly that the
sending forth of ministers is a work not to be done but upon mature
deliberation. Observe,
(1.) Who it is that is consulting. It is the Lord God in his glory,
whom he saw upon the throne high and lifted up. It puts an honour upon
the ministry that, when God would send a prophet to speak in his name,
he appeared in all the glories of the upper world. Ministers are the
ambassadors of the King of kings; how mean soever they are, he who
sends them is great; it is God in three persons (Who will go for us? as
Genesis 1:26,
Let us make man), Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They all concur,
as in the creating, so in the redeeming and governing of man. Ministers
are ordained in the same name into which all Christians are baptized.
(2.) What the consultation is: Whom shall I send? And who will
go? Some think this refers to the particular message of wrath
against Israel,
Isaiah 6:9,10.
"Who will be willing to go on such a melancholy errand, on which they
will go in the bitterness of their souls?"
Ezekiel 3:14.
But I rather take it more largely for all those messages which the
prophet was entrusted to deliver, in God's name, to that people, in
which that hardening work was by no means the primary intention, but a
secondary effect of them,
2 Corinthians 2:16.
Whom shall I send? intimating that the business was such as
required a choice and well-accomplished messenger,
Jeremiah 49:19.
God now appeared, attended with holy angels, and yet asks, Whom
shall I send? For he would send them a prophet from among their
brethren,
Hebrews 2:17.
Note,
[1.] It is the unspeakable favour of God to us that he is pleased to
send us his mind by men like ourselves, whose terror shall not make us
afraid, and who are themselves concerned in the messages they bring.
Those who are workers together with God are sinners and sufferers
together with us.
[2.] It is a rare thing to find one who is fit to go for God, and carry
his messages to the children of men: Whom shall I send? Who is
sufficient? Such a degree of courage for God and concern for the souls
of men as is necessary to make a man faithful, and withal such an
insight into the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven as is necessary to
make a man skilful, are seldom to be met with. Such an interpreter of
the mind of God is one of a thousand,
Job 33:23.
[3.] None are allowed to go for God but those who are sent by him; he
will own none but those whom he appoints,
Romans 10:15.
It is Christ's work to put men into the ministry,
1 Timothy 1:12.
2. The consent of Isaiah to it: Then said I, Here am I; send me.
He was to go on a melancholy errand; the office seemed to go a begging,
and every body declined it, and yet Isaiah offered himself to the
service. It is an honour to be singular in appearing for God,
Judges 5:7.
We must not say, "I would go if I thought I should have success;" but,
"I will go, and leave the success to God. Here am I; send me." Isaiah
had been himself in a melancholy frame
(Isaiah 6:5),
full of doubts and fears; but now that he had the assurance of the
pardon of his sin the clouds were blown over, and he was fit for
service and forward to it. What he says denotes,
(1.) His readiness: "Here am I, a volunteer, not pressed into the
service." Behold me; so the word is. God says to us, Behold
me
(Isaiah 65:1),
and, Here I am
(Isaiah 58:9),
even before we call; let us say so to him when he does call.
(2.) His resolution; "Here I am, ready to encounter the greatest
difficulties. I have set my face as a flint." Compare this with
Isaiah 50:4-7.
(3.) His referring himself to God: "Send me whither thou wilt; make
what use thou pleasest of me. Send me, that is, Lord, give me
commission and full instruction; send me, and then, no doubt, thou wilt
stand by me." It is a great comfort to those whom God sends that they
go for God, and may therefore speak in his name, as having authority,
and be assured that he will bear them out.
Judicial Blindness Threatened.
B. C. 758.
9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but
understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears
heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and
hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and
convert, and be healed.
11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the
cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man,
and the land be utterly desolate,
12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a
great forsaking in the midst of the land.
13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and
shall be eaten: as a teil-tree, and as an oak, whose substance
is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed
shall be the substance thereof.
God takes Isaiah at his word, and here sends him on a strange errand--to
foretel the ruin of his people and even to ripen them for that ruin--to
preach that which, by their abuse of it, would be to them a savour of
death unto death. And this was to be a type and figure of the state of
the Jewish church in the days of the Messiah, when they should
obstinately reject the gospel, and should thereupon be rejected of God.
These verses are quoted in part, or referred to, six times, in the New
Testament, which intimates that in gospel time these spiritual
judgments would be most frequently inflicted; and though they make the
least noise, and come not with observation, yet they are of all
judgments the most dreadful. Isaiah is here given to understand these
four things:--
1. That the generality of the people to whom he was sent would turn a
deaf ear to his preaching, and wilfully shut their eyes against all the
discoveries of the mind and will of God which he had to make to them
(Isaiah 6:9):
"Go, and tell this people, this foolish wretched people, tell
them their own, tell them how stupid and sottish they are." Isaiah must
preach to them, and they will hear him indeed, but that is all;
they will not heed him; they will no understand him; they will
not take any pains, nor use that application of mind which is necessary
to the understanding of him; they are prejudiced against that which is
the true intent and meaning of what he says, and therefore they will
not understand him, or pretend they do not. They see indeed
(for the vision is made plain on tables, so that he who runs may read
it); but they perceive not their own concern in it; it is to
them as a tale that is told. Note, There are many who hear the sound of
God's word, but do not feel the power of it.
2. That, forasmuch as they would not be made better by his ministry,
they should be made worse by it; those that were wilfully blind should
be judicially blinded
(Isaiah 6:10):
"They will not understand or perceive thee, and therefore thou shalt be
instrumental to make their heart fat, senseless, and sensual,
and so to make their ears yet more heavy, and to shut
their eyes the closer; so that, at length, their recovery and
repentance will become utterly impossible; they shall no more see
with their eyes the danger they are in, the ruin they are upon the
brink of, nor the way of escape from it; they shall no more hear
with their ears the warnings and instructions that are given them,
nor understand with their heart the things that belong to their
peace, so as to be converted from the error of their ways, and thus
be healed." Note,
(1.) The conversion of sinners is the healing of them.
(2.) A right understanding is necessary to conversion.
(3.) God sometimes, in a way of righteous judgment, gives men up to
blindness of mind and strong delusions, because they would not
receive the truth in the love of it,
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.
He that is filthy let him be filthy still.
(4.) Even the word of God oftentimes proves a means of hardening
sinners. The evangelical prophet himself makes the heart of this people
fat, not only as he foretels it, passing this sentence upon them in
God's name, and seals them under it, but as his preaching had a
tendency to it, rocking some asleep in security (to whom it was a
lovely song), and making others more outrageous, to whom it was such a
reproach that they were not able to bear it. Some looked upon the word
as a privilege, and their convictions were smothered by it
(Jeremiah 7:4);
others looked upon it as a provocation, and their corruptions were
exasperated by it.
3. That the consequence of this would be their utter ruin,
Isaiah 6:11,12.
The prophet had nothing to object against the justice of this sentence,
nor does he refuse to go upon such an errand, but asks, "Lord, how
long?" (an abrupt question): "Shall it always be thus? Must I and
other prophets always labour in vain among them, and will things never
be better?" Or, (as should seem by the answer) "Lord, what will it come
to at last? What will be in the end hereof?" In answer to this he is
told that it should issue in the final destruction of the Jewish church
and nation. "When the word of God, especially the word of the gospel,
had been thus abused by them, they shall be unchurched, and
consequently undone. Their cities shall be uninhabited, and their
country houses too; the land shall be untilled, desolate with
desolation (as it is in the margin), the people who should
replenish the houses and cultivate the ground being all cut off by
sword, famine, or pestilence, and those who escape with their lives
being removed far away into captivity, so that there shall be a great
and general forsaking in the midst of the land; that populous country
shall become desert, and that glory of all lands shall be abandoned."
Note, Spiritual judgments often bring temporal judgments along with
them upon persons and places. This was in part fulfilled in the
destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, when the land, being left
desolate, enjoyed her sabbaths seventy years; but, the foregoing
predictions being so expressly applied in the New Testament to the Jews
in our Saviour's time, doubtless this points at the final destruction
of that people by the Romans, in which it had a complete
accomplishment, and the effects of it that people and that land remain
under to this day.
4. That yet a remnant should be reserved to be the monuments of mercy,
Isaiah 6:13.
There was a remnant reserved in the last destruction of the Jewish
nation
(Romans 11:5,
At this present time there is a remnant); for so it was written
here: But in it shall be a tenth, a certain number, but a very
small number in comparison with the multitude that shall perish in
their unbelief. It is that which, under the law, was God's proportion;
they shall be consecrated to God as the tithes were, and shall be for
his service and honour. Concerning this tithe, this saved remnant, we
are here told,
(1.) That they shall return
(Isaiah 6:13,10:21),
shall return from sin to God and duty, shall return out of captivity to
their own land. God will turn them, and they shall be turned.
(2.) That they shall be eaten, that is, shall be accepted of God as the
tithe was, which was meat in God's house,
Malachi 3:10.
The saving of this remnant shall be meat to the faith and hope of those
that wish well to God's kingdom.
(3.) That they shall be like a timber-tree in winter, which has life,
though it has no leaves: As a teil-tree and as an oak, whose
substance is in them even when they cast their leaves, so this
remnant, though they may be stripped of their outward prosperity and
share with others in common calamities, shall yet recover themselves,
as a tree in the spring, and flourish again; though they fall, they
shall not be utterly cast down. There is hope of a tree, though it
be cut down, that it will sprout again,
Job 14:7.
(4.) That this distinguished remnant shall be the stay and support of
the public interests. The holy seed in the soul is the substance
of the man; a principle of grace reigning in the heart will keep life
there; he that is born of God has his seed remaining in
him,
1 John 3:9.
So the holy seed in the land is the substance of the land, keeps it
from being quite dissolved, and bears up the pillars of it,
Psalms 75:3.
See
Isaiah 1:9.
Some read the foregoing clause with this, thus: As the support at
Shallecheth is in the elms and the oaks, so the holy seed is the
substance thereof; as the trees that grow on either side of the
causeway (the raised way, or terrace-walk, that leads from the king's
palace to the temple,
1 Kings 10:5,
at the gate of Shallecheth,
1 Chronicles 26:16)
support the causeway by keeping up the earth, which would otherwise be
crumbling away, so the small residue of religious, serious, praying
people, are the support of the state, and help to keep things together
and save them from going to decay. Some make the holy seed to be
Christ. The Jewish nation was therefore saved from utter ruin
because out of it, as concerning the flesh, Christ was to come,
Romans 9:5.
Destroy it not, for that blessing is in it
(Isaiah 65:8);
and when that blessing had come, it was soon destroyed. Now the
consideration of this is designed for the support of the prophet in his
work. Though far the greater part should perish in their unbelief, yet
to some his word should be a savour of life unto life. Ministers do not
wholly lose their labour if they be but instrumental to save one poor
soul.
Matthew Henry "Verse by Verse Commentary for 'Isaiah' Matthew Henry Bible Commentary".
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