,transcriber's note3 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics74 ,small capital text has been replaced with all capitals4 a depicts a macron over a as in dal ,variations in spelling and hyphenation have been preserved except in obvious cases of typographical error4 ,all advertising has been moved to the end of the book4 ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible ,,edited ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,sir ,w4 ,,robertson ,,nicoll1 ,m4,a41 ,,ll4,d4 ,editor of ,the ,expositor1 etc4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,isaiah ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,george ,,adam ,,smith1 ,m4,a4 ,,volume #a4 ,,hodder ,,and ,,stoughton ,,london4 ,,mcmx ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,isaiah ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,george ,,adam ,,smith1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,professor of ,hebrew in the ,free ,church ,college1 ,glasgow ,,in ,,two ,,volumes ,,vol4 ,i4--,,isaiah ,i4-,,xxxix4 ,,twentieth ,,edition ,,hodder ,,and ,,stoughton ,,london4 ,,mcmx ,printed by ,hazell1 ,watson ,viney1 ,ltd41 ,london and ,aylesbury4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,,introduction ix ,,table ,,of ,,dates xvi ,,book ,i4 ,,isaiah',s ,,preface ,,and ,,prophecies ,,to ,,the ,,death ,,of ,,ahaz1 #gbg ,b4,c4 ,,chap4 ,i4 ,,isaiah',s ,,preface--,,the ,,argument ,,of ,,the ,,lord4 #c ,,isaiah i4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,three ,,jerusalems #ai ,,isaiah ii4-iv4 #gdj-gce ,b4,c4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,vineyard ,,of ,,the ,,lord #ce ,,isaiah v42 ix4 #h-x4 #d4 #gce ,b4,c4 ,,iv4 ,,isaiah',s ,,call ,,and ,,consecration #eg ,,isaiah vi4 #gdj4 ,,written #gce ,,or #gbg ,b4,c4 7874 ,v4 ,,the ,,world ,,in ,,isaiah',s ,,day ,,and ,,israel',s ,,god #ia ,,with ,a ,,map4 ,,vi4 ,,king ,,and ,,messiah2 ,,people ,,and ,,church #ajc ,,isaiah vii4-ix4 #a-h4 #gce-gcb ,b4,c4 ,,vii4 ,,the ,,messiah #aca ,,book ,,ii4 ,,prophecies ,,from ,,the ,,accession ,,of ,,hezekiah ,,to ,,the ,,death ,,of ,,sargon1 #gbg-gje ,b4,c4 ,,viii4 ,,god',s ,,commonplace #aea ,,isaiah xxviii4 ,,about #gbe ,b4,c4 ,,ix4 ,,atheism ,,of ,,force ,,and ,,atheism ,,of ,,fear #afh ,,isaiah x4 #e-cd4 ,,about #gba ,b4,c4 ,x4 ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,god ,,in ,,man ,,and ,,the ,,animals #agi ,,isaiah xi42 xii4 ,,about #gbj ,b4,c4 7874 ,,xi4 ,,drifting ,,to ,,egypt1 #gbj-gje ,b4,c4 #aif ,,isaiah xx4 7#gaa ,b4,c472 xxi4 #a-aj 7#gaj ,b4,c472 xxxviii42 xxxix4 ,,book ,,iii4 ,,orations ,,on ,,intrigues ,,with ,,egypt1 ,,and ,,oracles ,,on ,,foreign ,,nations1 #gje-gjb ,b4,c4 ,,xii4 ,,ariel1 ,,ariel #bji ,,isaiah xxix4 ,,about #gjc ,b4,c4 ,,xiii4 ,,politics ,,and ,,faith #bba ,,isaiah xxx4 ,,about #gjb ,b4,c4 ,,xiv4 ,,three ,,truths ,,about ,,god #bch ,,isaiah xxxi4 ,,about #gjb ,b4,c4 ,,xv4 ,a ,,man2 ,,or1 ,,character ,,and ,,the ,,capacity ,,to ,,discriminate ,,character #bdh ,,isaiah xxxii4 #a-h4 ,,about #gjb ,b4,c4 7874 ,,xvi4 ,,isaiah ,,to ,,women #bfb ,,isaiah xxxii4 #i-bj4 ,,date ,,uncertain4 ,,xvii4 ,,isaiah ,,to ,,the ,,foreign ,,nations #bga ,,isaiah xiv4 #bd-xxi42 xxiii4 ,,various ,,dates4 ,,xviii4 ,,tyre2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,mercenary ,,spirit #bhh ,,isaiah xxiii4 #gjb ,b4,c4 ,,book ,,iv4 ,,jerusalem ,,and ,,sennacherib1 #gja ,b4,c4 ,,xix4 ,,at ,,the ,,lowest ,,ebb #cjf ,,isaiah i42 xxii4 ,early in #gja ,b4,c4 ,,xx4 ,,the ,,turn ,,of ,,the ,,tide3 ,,moral ,,effects ,,of ,,forgiveness #cbj ,,isaiah xxii42 xxxiii4 ,,later ,,in #gja ,b4,c4 ,,xxi4 ,,our ,,god ,a ,,consuming ,,fire #cca ,,isaiah xxxiii4 ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,rabshakeh2 ,,or1 ,,last ,,trials ,,of ,,faith #cdc ,,isaiah xxxvi4 #gja ,b4,c4 ,,xxiii4 ,,this ,,is ,,the ,,victory 444 ,,our ,,faith #ceb ,,isaiah xxxvii4 #gja ,b4,c4 ,,xxiv4 ,a ,,review ,,of ,,isaiah',s ,,predictions ,,concerning ,,the ,,deliverance ,,of ,,jerusalem #cfh ,,xxv4 ,,an ,,old ,,testament ,,believer',s ,,sick-,,bed2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,difference ,,christ ,,has ,,made #cge ,,isaiah xxxviii42 xxxix4 ,,date ,,uncertain4 ,,xxvi4 ,,had ,,isaiah ,a ,,gospel ,,for ,,the ,,individual8 #chi ,,book ,v4 ,,prophecies ,,not ,,relating ,,to ,,isaiah',s ,,time4 ,,xxvii4 ,,babylon ,,and ,,lucifer #dje ,,isaiah xii4 #ab-xiv4 #bc4 ,,date ,,unknown4 ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,effect ,,of ,,sin ,,on ,,our ,,material ,,surroundings #daf ,,isaiah xxiv4 ,,date ,,unknown4 ,,xxix4 ,,god',s ,,poor #dbh ,,isaiah xxv4-xxvii42 xxxiv42 xxxv4 ,,dates ,,unknown4 ,,xxx4 ,,the ,,resurrection #ddd ,,isaiah xxvi42 xxvii4 ,,index ,,of ,,chapters #dec ,,index ,,of ,,subjects #dee ,,introduction4 ,as the following ,exposition of the ,book of ,isaiah does not observe the canonical arrangement of the chapters1 a short introduction is necessary upon the plan which has been adopted4 ,the size and the many obscurities of the ,book of ,isaiah have limited the common use of it in the ,english tongue to single conspicuous passages1 the very brilliance of which has cast their context and original circumstance into deeper shade4 ,the intensity of the gratitude with which men have seized upon the more evangelical passages of ,isaiah1 as well as the attention which apologists for ,christianity have too partially paid to his intimations of the ,messiah1 has confirmed the neglect of the rest of the ,book4 ,but we might as well expect to receive an adequate conception of a great statesman's policy from the epigrams and perorations of his speeches as to appreciate the message1 which ,god has sent to the world through the ,book of ,isaiah1 from a few lectures on isolated1 and often dislocated1 texts4 ,no book of the ,bible is less susceptible of treatment apart from the history out of which it sprang than the ,book of ,isaiah2 and it may be added1 that in the ,old ,testament at least there is none which1 when set in its original circumstance and methodically considered as a whole1 appeals with greater power to the modern conscience4 ,patiently to learn how these great prophecies were suggested by1 and first met1 the actual occasions of human life1 is vividly to hear them speaking home to life still4 ,i have1 therefore1 designed an arrangement which embraces all the prophecies1 but treats them in chronological order4 ,i will endeavour to render their contents in terms which appeal to the modern conscience2 but1 in order to be successful1 such an endeavour presupposes the exposition of them in relation to the history which gave them birth4 ,in these volumes1 therefore1 narrative and historical exposition will take precedence of practical application4 ,every one knows that the ,book of ,isaiah breaks into two parts between chaps4 xxxix4 and xl4 ,vol4 ,i4 of this ,exposition covers chaps4 i4-xxxix4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 will treat of chaps4 xl4-lxvi4 ,again1 within chaps4 i4-xxxix4 another division is apparent4 ,the most of these chapters evidently bear upon events within ,isaiah's own career1 but some imply historical circumstances that did not arise till long after he had passed away4 ,of the five books into which ,i have divided ,vol4 ,i41 the first four contain the prophecies relating to ,isaiah's time 7#gdj-gja ,b4,c471 and the fifth the prophecies which refer to later events 7chaps4 xiii4-xiv4 #bc2 xxiv4-xxvii42 xxxiv42 xxxv474 ,the prophecies1 whose subjects fall within ,isaiah's times1 ,i have taken in chronological order1 with one exception4 ,this exception is chap4 i41 which1 although it published near the end of the prophet's life1 ,i treat of first1 because1 from its position as well as its character1 it is evidently intended as a preface to the whole book4 ,the difficulty of grouping the rest of ,isaiah's oracles and orations is great4 ,the plan ,i have adopted is not perfect1 but convenient4 ,isaiah's prophesying was determined chiefly by four ,assyrian invasions of ,palestine3 the first1 in #gcd-gcb ,b4,c41 by ,tiglath-pileser ,,ii41 while ,ahaz was on the throne2 the second by ,salmanassar and ,sargon in #gbe-gbj1 during which ,samaria fell in #gba2 the third by ,sargon1 #gab-gaj2 the fourth by ,sennacherib in #gja1 which last three occurred while ,hezekiah was king of ,judah4 ,but outside the ,assyrian invasions there were three other cardinal dates in ,isaiah's life3 #gdj1 his call to be a prophet2 #gbg1 the death of ,ahaz1 his enemy1 and the accession of his pupil1 ,hezekiah2 and #gje1 the death of ,sargon1 for ,sargon's death led to the rebellion of the ,syrian ,states1 and it was this rebellion which brought on ,sennacherib's invasion4 ,taking all these dates into consideration1 ,i have placed in ,book ,i4 all the prophecies of ,isaiah from his call in #gdj to the death of ,ahaz in #gbg2 they lead up to and illustrate ,tiglath-pileser's invasion2 they cover what ,i have ventured to call the prophet's apprenticeship1 during which the theatre of his vision was mainly the internal life of his people1 but he gained also his first outlook upon the world beyond4 ,book ,,ii4 deals with the prophecies from the accession of ,hezekiah in #gbg to the death of ,sargon in #gje--;a long period1 but few prophecies1 covering both ,salmanassar's and ,sargon's campaigns4 ,book ,,iii4 is filled with the prophecies from #gje to #gjb1 a numerous group1 called forth from ,isaiah by the rebellion and political activity in ,palestine consequent on ,sargon's death and preliminary to ,sennacherib's arrival4 ,book ,,iv4 contains the prophecies which refer to ,sennacherib's actual invasion of ,judah and siege of ,jerusalem1 in #gja4 ,of course1 any chronological arrangement of ,isaiah's prophecies must be largely provisional4 ,only some of the chapters are fixed to dates past possibility of doubt4 ,the ,assyriology which has helped us with these must yield further results before the controversies can be settled that exist with regard to the rest4 ,i have explained in the course of the ,exposition my reasons for the order which ,i have followed1 and need only say here that ,i am still more uncertain about the generally received dates of chaps x4 #e-xi41 xvii4 #ab-ad and xxxii4 ,the religious problems1 however1 were so much the same during the whole of ,isaiah's career that uncertainties of date1 if they are confined to the limits of that career1 make little difference to the exposition of the book4 ,isaiah's doctrines1 being so closely connected with the life of his day1 come up for statement at many points of the narrative1 in which this ,exposition chiefly consists4 ,but here and there ,i have inserted chapters dealing summarily with more important topics1 such as ,the ,world in ,isaiah's ,day2 ,the ,messiah2 ,isaiah's ,power of ,prediction1 with its evidence on the character of ,inspiration2 and the question1 ,had ,isaiah a ,gospel for the ,individual8 ,a short index will guide the student to ,isaiah's teaching on other important points of theology and life1 such as holiness1 forgiveness1 monotheism1 immortality1 the ,holy ,spirit1 etc4 ,treating ,isaiah's prophecies chronologically as ,i have done1 ,i have followed a method which put me on the look-out for any traces of development that his doctrine might exhibit4 ,i have recorded these as they occur1 but it may be useful to collect them here4 ,in chaps4 ii4-iv4 we have the struggle of the apprentice prophet's thoughts from the easy religious optimism of his generation1 through unrelieved convictions of judgement for the whole people1 to his final vision of the ,divine salvation of a remnant4 ,again1 chap4 vii4 following on chaps4 ii4-vi4 proves that ,isaiah's belief in the ,divine righteousness preceded1 and was the parent of1 his belief in the ,divine sovereignty4 ,again1 his successive pictures of the ,messiah grow in contents1 and become more spiritual4 ,and again1 he only gradually arrived at a clear view of the siege and deliverance of ,jerusalem4 ,one other fact of the same kind has impressed me since ,i wrote the exposition of chap4 i4 ,i have there stated that it is plain that ,isaiah's conscience was perfect just because it consisted of two complementary parts3 one of ,god the infinitely ,high1 exalted in righteousness1 far above the thoughts of ,his people1 and the other of ,god the infinitely ,near1 concerned and jealous for all the practical details of their life4 ,i ought to have added that ,isaiah was more under the influence of the former in his earlier years1 but that as he grew older and took a larger share in the politics of ,judah it was the latter view of ,god1 to which he most frequently gave expression4 ,signs of a development like these may be fairly used to correct or support the evidence which ,assyriology affords for determining the chronological order of the chapters4 ,but these signs of development are more valuable for the proof they give that the ,book of ,isaiah contains the experience and testimony of a real life3 a life that learned and suffered and grew1 and at last triumphed4 ,there is not a single word about the prophet's birth or childhood1 or fortune1 or personal appearance1 or even of his death4 ,but between silence on his origin and silence on his end--and perhaps all the more impressively because of these clouds by which it is bounded--there shines the record of ,isaiah's spiritual life and of the unfaltering career which this sustained1--clear and whole1 from his commission by ,god in the secret experience of his own heart to his vindication in ,god's supreme tribunal of history4 ,it is not only one of the greatest1 but one of the most finished and intelligible1 lives in history4 ,my main purpose in expounding the book is to enable ,english readers1 not only to follow its course1 but to feel1 and to be elevated by1 its ,divine inspiration4 ,i may state that this ,exposition is based upon a close study of the ,hebrew text of ,isaiah1 and that the translations are throughout my own1 except in one or two cases where ,i have quoted from the revised ,english version4 ,with regard to the ,revised ,version of ,isaiah1 which ,i have had opportunities of thoroughly testing1 ,i would like to say that my sense of the immense service which it renders to ,english readers of the ,bible is only exceeded by my wonder that the ,revisers have not gone just a very little farther1 and adopted one or two simple contrivances which are in the line of their own improvements and would have greatly increased our large debt to them4 ,for instance1 why did they not make plain by inverted commas such undoubted interruptions of the prophet's own speech as that of the drunkards in chap4 xxviii4 #i1 #aj8 ,not to know that these verses are spoken in mockery of ,isaiah1 a mockery to which he replies in vv4 #aj-ac1 is to miss the meaning of the whole passage4 ,again1 when they printed ,job and the ,psalms in metrical form1 as well as the ,hymn of ,hezekiah1 why did they not do the same with other poetical passages of ,isaiah1 particularly the great ,ode on the ,king of ,babylon in chap4 xiv48 ,this is utterly spoiled in the form in which the ,revisers have printed it4 ,what ,english reader would guess that it was as much a piece of metre as any of the ,psalms8 ,again1 why have they so consistently rendered by the misleading word judgement a ,hebrew term that no doubt sometimes means an act of doom1 but far oftener the abstract quality of justice8 ,it is such defects1 along with a frequent failure to mark the proper emphasis in a sentence1 that have led me to substitute a more literal version of my own4 ,i have not thought it necessary to discuss the question of the chronology of the period4 ,this has been done so often and so recently4 ,see ,robertson ,smith's ,prophets of ,israel1 pp4 #ade1 #djb1 #dac1 ,driver's ,isaiah1 p4 #ab1 or any good commentary4 ,i append a chronological table1 and an index to the canonical chapters will be found before the index of subjects4 ,the publishers have added a map of ,isaiah's world in illustration of chap4 v4 ,,table ,,of ,,dates4 ,b4,c4 #gde4 ,tiglath-pileser ,,ii4 ascends the ,assyrian ,throne4 #gdj4 ,uzziah dies4 ,jotham becomes sole ,king of ,judah4 ,isaiah's ,inaugural ,vision 7,isa4 vi474 #gce4 ,jotham dies4 ,ahaz succeeds4 ,league of ,syria and ,northern ,israel against ,judah4 #gcd-gcb4 ,syrian ,campaign of ,tiglath-pileser ,,ii4 ,siege and ,capture of ,damascus4 ,invasion of ,israel4 ,captivity of ,zebulon1 ,naphtali and ,galilee 7,isa4 ix4 #a74 ,ahaz visits ,damascus4 #gbg4 ,salmanassar ,,iv4 succeeds ,tiglath-pileser ,,ii4 ,hezekiah succeeds ,ahaz 7or in #gbe874 #gbe4 ,salmanassar marches on ,syria4 #gbb or #gba4 ,sargon succeeds ,salmanassar4 ,capture of ,samaria4 ,captivity of all ,northern ,israel4 #gbj or #gai4 ,sargon defeats ,egypt at ,rafia4 #gaa4 ,sargon invades ,syria 7,isa4 xx474 ,capture of ,ashdod4 #gji4 ,sargon takes ,babylon from ,merodach-baladan4 #gje4 ,murder of ,sargon4 ,sennacherib succeeds4 #gja4 ,sennacherib invades ,syria4 ,capture of ,coast ,towns4 ,siege of ,ekron and ,battle of ,eltekeh4 ,invasion of ,judah4 ,submission of ,hezekiah4 ,jerusalem spared4 ,return of ,assyrians with the ,rabshakeh to ,jerusalem1 while ,sennacherib's ,army marches on ,egypt4 ,disaster to ,sennacherib's ,army near ,pelusium4 ,disappearance of ,assyrians from before ,jerusalem--all happening in this order4 #fig or #fif4 ,death of ,hezekiah4 ,manasseh succeeds4 #fha4 ,death of ,sennacherib4 #fjg4 ,fall of ,nineveh and ,assyria4 ,babylon supreme4 ,jeremiah4 #eii4 ,first ,deportation of ,jews to ,babylon by ,nebuchadnezzar4 #ehh4 ,jerusalem destroyed4 ,second ,deportation of ,jews4 #ech4 ,cyrus captures ,babylon4 ,first ,return of ,jewish ,exiles1 under ,zerubbabel1 happens soon after4 #deh4 ,second ,return of ,jewish ,exiles1 under ,ezra4 ,,book ,i ,,preface ,,and ,,prophecies ,,to ,,the ,,death ,,of ,,ahaz1 #gbg ,b4,c4 ,,isaiah3 i4 ,,the ,,preface4 ii4-iv4 #gdj-gce ,b4,c4 v41 ix4 #h-x4 #d4 #gce ,b4,c4 vi4 ,about #gce ,b4,c4 vii4-ix4 #g4 #gcd-gcb ,b4,c4 ,,chapter ,i4 ,,the ,,argument ,,of ,,the ,,lord ,,and ,,its ,,conclusion4 ,,isaiah i4--,,his ,,general ,,preface4 ,the first chapter of the ,book of ,isaiah owes its position not to its date1 but to its character4 ,it was published late in the prophet's life4 ,the seventh verse describes the land as overrun by foreign soldiery1 and such a calamity befell ,judah only in the last two of the four reigns over which the first verse extends ,isaiah's prophesying4 ,in the reign of ,ahaz1 ,judah was invaded by ,syria and ,northern ,israel1 and some have dated chapter i4 from the year of that invasion1 #gcd ,b4,c4 ,in the reign again of ,hezekiah some have imagined1 in order to account for the chapter1 a swarming of neighbouring tribes upon ,judah2 and ,mr4 ,cheyne1 to whom regarding the history of ,isaiah's time we ought to listen with the greatest deference1 has supposed an ,assyrian invasion in #gaa1 under ,sargon4 ,but hardly of this1 and certainly not of that1 have we adequate evidence1 and the only other invasion of ,judah in ,isaiah's lifetime took place under ,sennacherib1 in #gja4 ,for many reasons this ,assyrian invasion is to be preferred to that by ,syria and ,ephraim in #gcd as the occasion of this prophecy4 ,but there is really no need to be determined on the point4 ,the prophecy has been lifted out of its original circumstance and placed in the front of the book1 perhaps by ,isaiah himself1 as a general introduction to his collected pieces4 ,it owes its position1 as we have said1 to its character4 ,it is a clear1 complete statement of the points which were at issue between the ,lord and ,his own all the time ,isaiah was the ,lord's prophet4 ,it is the most representative of ,isaiah's prophecies1 a summary1 perhaps better than any other single chapter of the ,old ,testament1 of the substance of prophetic doctrine1 and a very vivid illustration of the prophetic spirit and method4 ,we propose to treat it here as introductory to the main subjects and lines of ,isaiah's teaching1 leaving its historical references till we arrive in due course at the probable year of its origin1 #gja ,b4,c4#a #a ,see p4 #cdc4 99 99 99 99 99 ,isaiah's preface is in the form of a ,trial or ,assize4 ,ewald calls it ,the ,great ,arraignment4 ,there are all the actors in a judicial process4 ,it is a ,crown case1 and ,god is at once ,plaintiff and ,judge4 ,he delivers both the ,complaint in the beginning 7vv4 #b1 #c7 and the ,sentence in the end4 ,the ,assessors are ,heaven and ,earth1 whom the ,lord's herald invokes to hear the ,lord's plea 7ver4 #b74 ,the people of ,judah are the ,defendants4 ,the charge against them is one of brutish1 ingrate stupidity1 breaking out into rebellion4 ,the ,witness is the prophet himself1 whose evidence on the guilt of his people consists in recounting the misery that has overtaken their land 7vv4 #d-i71 along with their civic injustice and social cruelty--sins of the upper and ruling classes 7vv4 #aj1 #ag1 #ba-bc74 ,the people's ,plea-in-defence1 laborious worship and multiplied sacrifice1 is repelled and exposed 7vv4 #aj-ag74 ,and the ,trial is concluded--,come now1 let us bring our reasoning to a close1 saith the ,lord--by ,god's offer of pardon to a people thoroughly convicted 7ver4 #ah74 ,on which follow the ,conditions of the ,future3 happiness is sternly made dependent on repentance and righteousness 7vv4 #ai1 #bj74 ,and a supplementary oracle is given 7vv4 #bd-ca71 announcing a time of affliction1 through which the nation shall pass as through a furnace2 rebels and sinners shall be consumed1 but ,god will redeem ,zion1 and with her a remnant of the people4 ,that is the plan of the chapter--a ,trial at ,law4 ,though it disappears under the exceeding weight of thought the prophet builds upon it1 do not let us pass hurriedly from it1 as if it were only a scaffolding4 ,that ,god should argue at all is the magnificent truth on which our attention must fasten1 before we inquire what the argument is about4 ,god reasons with man--that is the first article of religion according to ,isaiah4 ,revelation is not magical1 but rational and moral4 ,religion is reasonable intercourse between one intelligent ,being and another4 ,god works upon man first through conscience4 ,over against the prophetic view of religion sprawls and reeks in this same chapter the popular--religion as smoky sacrifice1 assiduous worship1 and ritual4 ,the people to whom the chapter was addressed were not idolaters4#b ,hezekiah's reformation was over4 ,judah worshipped her own ,god1 whom the prophet introduces not as for the first time1 but by ,judah's own familiar names for ,him--,jehovah1 ,jehovah of ,hosts1 the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 the ,mighty ,one1 or ,hero1 of ,israel4 ,in this hour of extreme danger the people are waiting on ,jehovah with great pains and cost of sacrifice4 ,they pray1 they sacrifice1 they solemnize to perfection4 ,but they do not know1 they do not consider2 this is the burden of their offence4 ,to use a better word1 they do not think4 ,they are ,god's grown-up children 7ver4 #b7--;children1 that is to say1 like the son of the parable1 with native instincts for their ,god1 and grown up--that is to say1 with reason and conscience developed4 ,but they use neither1 stupider than very beasts4 ,israel doth not know1 my people doth not consider4 ,in all their worship conscience is asleep1 and they are drenched in wickedness4 ,isaiah puts their life in an epigram--wickedness and worship3 ,i cannot away1 saith the ,lord1 with wickedness and worship 7ver4 #ac74 #b ,at least those to whom the first twenty-three verses were addressed4 ,there is distinct blame of worshipping in the groves of ,asherah in the appended oracle 7vv4 #bd-ca71 which is proof that this oracle was given at an earlier period than the rest of the chapter--a fair instance of the very great difficulty we have in determining the dates of the various prophecies of ,isaiah4 ,but the pressure and stimulus of the prophecy lie in this1 that although the people have silenced conscience and are steeped in a stupidity worse than ox or ass1 ,god will not leave them alone4 ,he forces ,himself upon them2 ,he compels them to think4 ,in the order and calmness of nature 7ver4 #b71 apart from catastrophe nor seeking to influence by any miracle1 ,god speaks to men by the reasonable words of ,his prophet4 ,before ,he will publish salvation or intimate disaster ,he must rouse and startle conscience4 ,his controversy precedes alike ,his peace and ,his judgements4 ,an awakened conscience is ,his prophet's first demand4 ,before religion can be prayer1 or sacrifice1 or any acceptable worship1 it must be a reasoning together with ,god4 ,that is what mean the arrival of the ,lord1 and the opening of the assize1 and the call to know and consider4 ,it is the terrible necessity which comes back upon men1 however engrossed or drugged they may be1 to pass their lives in moral judgement before themselves2 a debate to which there is never any closure1 in which forgotten things will not be forgotten1 but a man is compelled to repeat to himself things he desires to be silent about1 and to listen to what he does not wish to hear1 444 yielding to that mysterious power which says to him1 ,think4 ,one can no more prevent the mind from returning to an idea than the sea from returning to a shore4 ,with the sailor this is called the tide2 with the guilty it is called remorse4 ,god upheaves the soul as well as the ocean4#c ,upon that ever-returning and resistless tide ,hebrew prophecy1 with its ,divine freight of truth and comfort1 rides into the lives of men4 ,this first chapter of ,isaiah is just the parable of the awful compulsion to think which men call conscience4 ,the stupidest of generations1 formal and fat-hearted1 are forced to consider and to reason4 ,the ,lord's court and controversy are opened1 and men are whipped into them from ,his ,temple and ,his altar4 #c ,les ,misrables3 a ,tempest in a ,brain4 ,for even religion and religiousness1 the common man's commonest refuge from conscience--not only in ,isaiah's time--cannot exempt from this writ4 ,would we be judged by our moments of worship1 by our temple-treading1 which is ,hebrew for church-going1 by the wealth of our sacrifice1 by our ecclesiastical position8 ,this chapter drags us out before the austerity and incorruptibleness of ,nature4 ,the assessors of the ,lord are not the ,temple nor the ,law1 but ,heaven and ,earth--not ecclesiastical conventions1 but the grand moral fundamentals of the universe1 purity1 order and obedience to ,god4 ,religiousness1 however1 is not the only refuge from which we shall find ,isaiah startling men with the trumpet of the ,lord's assize4 ,he is equally intolerant of the indulgent silence and compromises of the world1 that give men courage to say1 ,we are no worse than others4 ,men's lives1 it is a constant truth of his1 have to be argued out not with the world1 but with ,god4 ,if a man will be silent upon shameful and uncomfortable things1 he cannot4 ,his thoughts are not his own2 ,god will think them for him as ,god thinks them here for unthinking ,israel4 ,nor are the practical and intellectual distractions of a busy life any refuge from conscience4 ,when the politicians of ,judah seek escape from judgement by plunging into deeper intrigue and a more bustling policy1 ,isaiah is fond of pointing out to them that they are only forcing judgement nearer4 ,they do but sharpen on other objects the thoughts whose edge must some day turn upon themselves4 ,what is this questioning nothing holds away1 nothing stills1 and nothing wears out8 ,it is the voice of ,god ,himself1 and its insistence is therefore as irresistible as its effect is universal4 ,that is not mere rhetoric which opens the ,lord's controversy3 ,hear1 ,o heavens1 and give ear1 ,o earth1 for the ,lord hath spoken4 ,all the world changes to the man in whom conscience lifts up her voice1 and to the guilty ,nature seems attentive and aware4 ,conscience compels heaven and earth to act as her assessors1 because she is the voice1 and they the creatures1 of ,god4 ,this leads us to emphasize another feature of the prophecy4 ,we have called this chapter a trial-at-law2 but it is far more a personal than a legal controversy2 of the formally forensic there is very little about it4 ,some theologies and many preachers have attempted the conviction of the human conscience by the technicalities of a system of law1 or by appealing to this or that historical covenant1 or by the obligations of an intricate and burdensome morality4 ,this is not ,isaiah's way4 ,his generation is here judged by no system of law or ancient covenants1 but by a living ,person and by ,his treatment of them--a ,person who is a ,friend and a ,father4 ,it is not ,judah and the law that are confronted2 it is ,judah and ,jehovah4 ,there is no contrast between the life of this generation and some glorious estate from which they or their forefathers have fallen2 but they are made to hear the voice of a living and present ,god3 ,i have nourished and brought up children1 and they have rebelled against ,me4 ,isaiah begins where ,saul of ,tarsus began1 who1 though he afterwards elaborated with wealth of detail the awful indictment of the abstract law against man1 had never been able to do so but for that first confronting with the ,personal ,deity1 ,saul1 ,saul1 why persecutest thou ,me8 ,isaiah's ministry started from the vision of the ,lord2 and it was no covenant or theory1 but the ,lord ,himself1 who remained the prophet's conscience to the end4 ,but though the living ,god is ,isaiah's one explanation of conscience1 it is ,god in two aspects1 the moral effects of which are opposite1 yet complementary4 ,in conscience men are defective by forgetting either the sublime or the practical1 but ,isaiah's strength is to do justice to both4 ,with him ,god is first the infinitely ,high1 and then equally the infinitely ,near4 ,the ,lord is exalted in righteousness6 yes1 and sublimely above the people's vulgar identifications of ,his will with their own safety and success1 but likewise concerned with every detail of their politics and social behaviour1 not to be relegated to the ,temple1 where they were wont to confine ,him1 but by ,his prophet descending to their markets and councils1 with ,his own opinion of their policies1 interfering in their intrigues1 meeting ,ahaz at the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field1 and fastening eyes of glory on every pin and point of the dress of the daughters of ,zion4 ,he is no merely transcendent ,god4 ,though ,he be the ,high and ,holy ,one1 ,he will discuss each habit of the people1 and argue upon its merits every one of their policies4 ,his constant cry to them is ,come and let us reason together1 and to hear it is to have a conscience4 ,indeed1 ,isaiah lays more stress on this intellectual side of the moral sense than on the other1 and the frequency with which in this chapter he employs the expressions know1 and consider1 and reason1 is characteristic of all his prophesying4 ,even the most superficial reader must notice how much this prophet's doctrine of conscience and repentance harmonizes with the metanoia of ,new ,testament preaching4 ,this doctrine1 that ,god has an interest in every detail of practical life and will argue it out with men1 led ,isaiah to a revelation of ,god quite peculiar to himself4 ,for the ,psalmist it is enough that his soul come to ,god1 the living ,god4 ,it is enough for other prophets to awe the hearts of their generations by revealing the ,holy ,one2 but ,isaiah1 with his intensely practical genius1 and sorely tried by the stupid inconsistency of his people1 bends himself to make them understand that ,god is at least a reasonable ,being4 ,do not1 his constant cry is1 and he puts it sometimes in almost as many words--do not act as if there were a ,fool on the throne of the universe1 which you virtually do when you take these meaningless forms of worship as your only intercourse with ,him1 and beside them practise your rank iniquities1 as if ,he did not see nor care4 ,we need not here do more than mention the passages in which1 sometimes by a word1 ,isaiah stings and startles self-conscious politicians and sinners beetle-blind in sin1 with the sense that ,god ,himself takes an interest in their deeds and has ,his own working-plans for their life4 ,on the land question in ,judah 7v4 #i73 ,in mine ears1 saith the ,lord of hosts4 ,when the people were paralyzed by calamity1 as if it had no meaning or term 7xxviii4 #bi73 ,this also cometh forth from the ,lord of hosts1 which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in effectual working4 ,again1 when they were panic-stricken1 and madly sought by foolish ways their own salvation 7xxx4 #ah73 ,for the ,lord is a ,god of judgement--i4e41 of principle1 method1 law1 with ,his own way and time for doing things--blessed are all they that wait for ,him4 ,and again1 when politicians were carried away by the cleverness and success of their own schemes 7xxxi4 #b73 ,yet ,he also is wise1 or clever4 ,it was only a personal application of this ,divine attribute when ,isaiah heard the word of the ,lord give him the minutest directions for his own practice--as1 for instance1 at what exact point he was to meet ,ahaz 7vii4 #c72 or that he was to take a board and write upon it in the vulgar character 7viii4 #a72 or that he was to strip frock and sandals1 and walk without them for three years 7xx74 ,where common men feel conscience only as something vague and inarticulate1 a flavour1 a sting1 a foreboding1 the obligation of work1 the constraint of affection1 ,isaiah heard the word of the ,lord1 clear and decisive on matters of policy1 and definite even to the details of method and style4 ,isaiah's conscience1 then1 was perfect1 because it was two-fold3 ,god is holy2 ,god is practical4 ,if there be the glory1 the purity as of fire1 of ,his ,presence to overawe1 there is ,his unceasing inspection of us1 there is ,his interest in the smallest details of our life1 there are ,his fixed laws1 from regard for all of which no amount of religious sensibility may relieve us4 ,neither of these halves of conscience can endure by itself4 ,if we forget the first we may be prudent and for a time clever1 but will also grow self-righteous1 and in time self-righteousness means stupidity too4 ,if we forget the second we may be very devotional1 but cannot escape becoming blindly and inconsistently immoral4 ,hypocrisy is the result either way1 whether we forget how high ,god is or whether we forget how near4 ,to these two great articles of conscience1 however--,god is high and ,god is near--the ,bible adds a greater third1 ,god is ,love4 ,this is the uniqueness and glory of the ,bible's interpretation of conscience4 ,other writings may equal it in enforcing the sovereignty and detailing the minutely practical bearings of conscience3 the ,bible alone tells man how much of conscience is nothing but ,god's love4 ,it is a doctrine as plainly laid down as the doctrine about chastisement1 though not half so much recognised--,whom the ,lord loveth ,he chasteneth4 ,what is true of the material pains and penalties of life is equally true of the inward convictions1 frets1 threats and fears1 which will not leave stupid man alone4 ,to men with their obscure sense of shame1 and restlessness1 and servitude to sin the ,bible plainly says1 ,you are able to sin because you have turned your back to the love of ,god2 you are unhappy because you do not take that love to your heart2 the bitterness of your remorse is that it is love against which you are ungrateful4 ,conscience is not the ,lord's persecution1 but ,his jealous pleading1 and not the fierceness of ,his anger1 but the reproach of ,his love4 ,this is the ,bible's doctrine throughout1 and it is not absent from the chapter we are considering4 ,love gets the first word even in the indictment of this austere assize3 ,i have nourished and brought up children1 and they have rebelled against ,me4 ,conscience is already a ,father's voice3 the recollection1 as it is in the parable of the prodigal1 of a ,father's mercy2 the reproach1 as it is with ,christ's lamentation over ,jerusalem1 of outraged love4 ,we shall find not a few passages in ,isaiah1 which prove that he was in harmony with all revelation upon this point1 that conscience is the reproach of the love of ,god4 ,but when that understanding of conscience breaks out in a sinner's heart forgiveness cannot be far away4 ,certainly penitence is at hand4 ,and therefore1 because of all books the ,bible is the only one which interprets conscience as the love of ,god1 so is it the only one that can combine ,his pardon with ,his reproach1 and as ,isaiah now does in a single verse1 proclaim ,his free forgiveness as the conclusion of ,his bitter quarrel4 ,come1 let us bring our reasoning to a close1 saith the ,,lord4 ,though your sins be as scarlet1 they shall be white as snow2 though they be red like crimson1 they shall be as wool4 ,our version1 ,come1 and let us reason together1 gives no meaning here4 ,so plain an offer of pardon is not reasoning together2 it is bringing reasoning to an end2 it is the settlement of a dispute that has been in progress4 ,therefore we translate1 with ,mr4 ,cheyne1 ,let us bring our reasoning to an end4 ,and how pardon can be the end and logical conclusion of conscience is clear to us1 who have seen how much of conscience is love1 and that the ,lord's controversy is the reproach of ,his ,father's heart1 and ,his jealousy to make ,his own consider all ,his way of mercy towards them4 ,but the prophet does not leave conscience alone with its personal and inward results4 ,he rouses it to its social applications4 ,the sins with which the ,jews are charged in this charge of the ,lord are public sins4 ,the whole people is indicted1 but it is the judges1 princes and counsellors who are denounced4 ,judah's disasters1 which she seeks to meet by worship1 are due to civic faults1 bribery1 corruption of justice1 indifference to the rights of the poor and the friendless4 ,conscience with ,isaiah is not what it is with so much of the religion of to-day1 a cul de sac1 into which the ,lord chases a man and shuts him up to ,himself1 but it is a thoroughfare by which the ,lord drives the man out upon the world and its manifold need of him4 ,there is little dissection and less study of individual character with ,isaiah4 ,he has no time for it4 ,life is too much about him1 and his ,god too much interested in life4 ,what may be called the more personal sins--drunkenness1 vanity of dress1 thoughtlessness1 want of faith in ,god and patience to wait for ,him--are to ,isaiah more social than individual symptoms1 and it is for their public and political effects that he mentions them4 ,forgiveness is no end in itself1 but the opportunity of social service2 not a sanctuary in which ,isaiah leaves men to sing its praises or form doctrines of it1 but a gateway through which he leads ,god's people upon the world with the cry that rises from him here3 ,seek justice1 relieve the oppressed1 judge the fatherless1 plead for the widow4 ,before we pass from this form in which ,isaiah figures religion we must deal with a suggestion it raises4 ,no modern mind can come into this ancient court of the ,,lord's controversy without taking advantage of its open forms to put a question regarding the rights of man there4 ,that ,god should descend to argue with men1 what licence does this give to men8 ,if religion be reasonable controversy of this kind1 what is the place of doubt in it8 ,is not doubt man's side of the argument8 ,has he not also questions to put--the ,almighty from his side to arraign8 ,for ,god has ,himself here put man on a level with ,him1 saying1 ,come1 and let us reason together4 ,a temper of this kind1 though not strange to the ,old ,testament1 lies beyond the horizon of ,isaiah4 ,the only challenge of the ,almighty which in any of his prophecies he reports as rising from his own countrymen is the bravado of certain drunkards 7chaps4 v4 and xxviii474 ,here and elsewhere it is the very opposite temper from honest doubt which he indicts--the temper that does not know1 that does not consider4 ,ritualism and sensualism are to ,isaiah equally false1 because equally unthinking4 ,the formalist and the fleshly he classes together1 because of their stupidity4 ,what does it matter whether a man's conscience and intellect be stifled in his own fat or under the clothes with which he dresses himself8 ,they are stifled1 and that is the main thing4 ,to the formalist ,isaiah says1 ,israel doth not know1 my people doth not consider2 to the fleshly 7chap4 v471 ,my people are gone into captivity for want of knowledge4 ,but knowing and considering are just that of which doubt1 in its modern sense1 is the abundance1 and not the defect4 ,the mobility of mind1 the curiosity1 the moral sensitiveness1 the hunger that is not satisfied with the chaff of formal and unreal answers1 the spirit to find out truth for one's self1 wrestling with ,god--this is the very temper ,isaiah would have welcomed in a people whose sluggishness of reason was as justly blamed by him as the grossness of their moral sense4 ,and if revelation be of the form in which ,isaiah so prominently sets it1 and the whole ,bible bears him out in this--if revelation be this argumentative and reasonable process1 then human doubt has its part in revelation4 ,it is1 indeed1 man's side of the argument1 and as history shows1 has often helped to the elucidation of the points at issue4 ,merely intellectual scepticism1 however1 is not within ,isaiah's horizon4 ,he would never have employed 7nor would any other prophet7 our modern habits of doubt1 except as he employs these intellectual terms1 to know and to consider--viz41 as instruments of moral search and conviction4 ,had he lived now he would have been found among those few great prophets who use the resources of the human intellect to expose the moral state of humanity2 who1 like ,shakespeare and ,hugo1 turn man's detective and reflective processes upon his own conduct2 who make himself stand at the bar of his conscience4 ,and truly to have doubt of everything in heaven and earth1 and never to doubt one's self1 is to be guilty of as stiff and stupid a piece of self-righteousness as the religious formalists whom ,isaiah exposes4 ,but the moral of the chapter is plainly what we have shown it to be1 that a man cannot stifle doubt and debate about his own heart or treatment of ,god2 whatever else he thinks about and judges1 he cannot help judging himself4 ,note on the ,place of ,nature in the ,argument of the ,lord4--,the office which the ,bible assigns to ,nature in the controversy of ,god with man is fourfold--,assessor1 ,witness1 ,man's ,fellow-,convict1 and ,doomster or ,executioner4 ,taking these backward3--#a4 ,scripture frequently exhibits ,nature as the doomster of the ,lord4 ,nature has a terrible power of flashing back from her vaster surfaces the guilty impressions of man's heart2 at the last day her thunders shall peal the doom of the wicked1 and her fire devour them4 ,in those prophecies of the book of ,isaiah which relate to his own time this use is not made of ,nature1 unless it be in his very earliest prophecy in chap4 ii41 and in his references to the earthquake 7v4 #be74 ,to ,isaiah the sentences and scourges of ,god are political and historical1 the threats and arms of ,assyria4 ,he employs the violences of ,nature only as metaphors for ,assyrian rage and force4 ,but he often promises fertility as the effect of the ,lord's pardon1 and when the prophets are writing about ,nature1 it is difficult to say whether they are to be understood literally or poetically4 ,but1 at any rate1 there is much larger use made of physical catastrophes and convulsions in those other prophecies which do not relate to ,isaiah's own time1 and are now generally thought not to be his4 ,compare chaps4 xiii4 and xiv4 #b4 ,the representation of the earth as the fellow-convict of guilty man1 sharing his curse1 is very vivid in ,isaiah xxiv4-xxvii4 ,in the prophecies relating to his own time ,isaiah1 of course1 identifies the troubles that afflict the land with the sin of the people1 of ,judah4 ,but these are due to political causes--viz41 the ,assyrian invasion4 #c4 ,in the ,lord's court of judgement the prophets sometimes employ ,nature as a witness against man1 as1 for instance1 the prophet ,micah 7vi4 #a1 ff74 ,nature is full of associations2 the enduring mountains have memories from old1 they have been constant witnesses of the dealing of ,god with ,his people4 #d4 ,or lastly1 ,nature may be used as the great assessor of the conscience1 sitting to expound the principles on which ,god governs life4 ,this is ,isaiah's favourite use of ,nature4 ,he employs her to corroborate his statement of the ,divine law and illustrate the ways of ,god to men1 as in the end of chap4 xxviii41 and no doubt in the opening verse of this chapter4 ,,chapter ,,ii4 ,,the ,,three ,,jerusalems4 ,,isaiah ii4-iv4 7#gdj-gce ,b4,c474 ,after the general introduction1 in chap4 i41 to the prophecies of ,isaiah1 there comes another portion of the book1 of greater length1 but nearly as distinct as the first4 ,it covers four chapters1 the second to the sixth1 all of them dating from the same earliest period of ,isaiah's ministry1 before #gce ,b4,c4 ,they deal with exactly the same subjects1 but they differ greatly in form4 ,one section 7chaps4 ii4-iv47 consists of a number of short utterances--evidently not all spoken at the same time1 for they conflict with one another--a series of consecutive prophecies1 that probably represent the stages of conviction through which ,isaiah passed in his prophetic apprenticeship2 a second section 7chap4 v47 is a careful and artistic restatement1 in parable and oration1 of the truths he has thus attained2 while a third section 7chap4 vi47 is narrative1 probably written subsequently to the first two1 but describing an inspiration and official call1 which must have preceded them both4 ,the more one examines chaps4 ii4-vi41 and finds that they but express the same truths in different forms1 the more one is confirmed in some such view of them as this1 which1 it is believed1 the following exposition will justify4 ,chaps4 v4 and vi4 are twin appendices to the long summary in ii4-iv43 chap4 v4 a public vindication and enforcement of the results of that summary1 chap4 vi4 a private vindication to the prophet's heart of the very same truths1 by a return to the secret moment of their original inspiration4 ,we may assign #gce ,b4,c41 just before or just after the accession of ,ahaz1 as the date of the latest of these prophecies4 ,the following is their historical setting4 ,for more than half a century the kingdom of ,judah1 under two powerful and righteous monarchs1 had enjoyed the greatest prosperity4 ,uzziah strengthened the borders1 extended the supremacy and vastly increased the resources of his little ,state1 which1 it is well to remember1 was in its own size not larger than three average ,scottish counties4 ,he won back for ,judah the port of ,elath on the ,red ,sea1 built a navy1 and restored the commerce with the far ,east1 which ,solomon began4 ,he overcame1 in battle or by the mere terror of his name1 the neighbouring nations--the ,philistines that dwelt in cities1 and the wandering tribes of desert ,arabs4 ,the ,ammonites brought him gifts4 ,with the wealth1 which the ,east by tribute or by commerce poured into his little principality1 ,uzziah fortified his borders and his capital1 undertook large works of husbandry and irrigation1 organized a powerful standing army1 and supplied it with a siege artillery capable of slinging arrows and stones4 ,his name spread far abroad1 for he was marvellously helped till he was strong4 ,his son ,jotham 7#gdj-gce ,b4,c47 continued his father's policy with nearly all his father's success4 ,he built cities and castles1 quelled a rebellion among his tributaries1 and caused their riches to flow faster still into ,jerusalem4 ,but while ,jotham bequeathed to his country a sure defence and great wealth1 and to his people a strong spirit and prestige among the nations1 he left another bequest1 which robbed these of their value--the son who succeeded him4 ,in #gce ,jotham died and ,ahaz became king4 ,he was very young1 and stepped to the throne from the hareem4 ,he brought to the direction of the government the petulant will of a spoiled child1 the mind of an intriguing and superstitious woman4 ,it was when the national policy felt the paralysis consequent on these that ,isaiah published at least the later part of the prophecies now marked off as chaps4 ii4-iv4 of his book4 ,my people1 he cries--my people6 children are their oppressors1 and women rule over them4 ,o my people1 they which lead thee cause thee to err1 and destroy the way of thy paths4 ,isaiah had been born into the flourishing nation while ,uzziah was king4 ,the great events of that monarch's reign were his education1 the still grander hopes they prompted the passion of his virgin fancy4 ,he must have absorbed as the very temper of his youth this national consciousness which swelled so proudly in ,judah under ,uzziah4 ,but the accession of such a king as ,ahaz1 while it was sure to let loose the passions and follies fostered by a period of rapid increase in luxury1 could not fail to afford to ,judah's enemies the long-deferred opportunity of attacking her4 ,it was an hour both of the manifestation of sin and of the judgement of sin--an hour in which1 while the majesty of ,judah1 sustained through two great reigns1 was about to disappear in the follies of a third1 the majesty of ,judah's ,god should become more conspicuous than ever4 ,of this ,isaiah had been privately conscious1 as we shall see1 for five years4 ,in the year that king ,uzziah died 7#gdj71 the young ,jew saw the ,lord sitting upon a throne1 high and lifted up4 ,startled into prophetic consciousness by the awful contrast between an earthly majesty that had so long fascinated men1 but now sank into a leper's grave1 and the heavenly1 which rose sovereign and everlasting above it1 ,isaiah had gone on to receive conviction of his people's sin and certain punishment4 ,with the accession of ,ahaz1 five years later1 his own political experience was so far developed as to permit of his expressing in their exact historical effects the awful principles of which he had received foreboding when ,uzziah died4 ,what we find in chaps4 ii4-iv4 is a record of the struggle of his mind towards this expression2 it is the summary1 as we have already said1 of ,isaiah's apprenticeship4 ,the word that ,isaiah1 the son of ,amoz1 saw concerning ,judah and ,jerusalem4 ,we do not know anything of ,isaiah's family or of the details of his upbringing4 ,he was a member of some family of ,jerusalem1 and in intimate relations with the ,court4 ,it has been believed that he was of royal blood1 but it matters little whether this be true or not4 ,a spirit so wise and masterful as his did not need social rank to fit it for that intimacy with princes which has doubtless suggested the legend of his royal descent4 ,what does matter is ,isaiah's citizenship in ,jerusalem1 for this colours all his prophecy4 ,more than ,athens to ,demosthenes1 ,rome to ,juvenal1 ,florence to ,dante1 is ,jerusalem to ,isaiah4 ,she is his immediate and ultimate regard1 the centre and return of all his thoughts1 the hinge of the history of his time1 the one thing worth preserving amidst its disasters1 the summit of those brilliant hopes with which he fills the future4 ,he has traced for us the main features of her position and some of the lines of her construction1 many of the great figures of her streets1 the fashions of her women1 the arrival of embassies1 the effect of rumours4 ,he has painted her aspect in triumph1 in siege1 in famine and in earthquake2 war filling her valleys with chariots1 and again nature rolling tides of fruitfulness up to her gates2 her moods of worship and panic and profligacy--till we see them all as clearly as the shadow following the sunshine and the breeze across the cornfields of our own summers4 ,if he takes wider observation of mankind1 ,jerusalem is his watch-tower4 ,it is for her defence he battles through fifty years of statesmanship1 and all his prophecy may be said to travail in anguish for her new birth4 ,he was never away from her walls1 but not even the psalms of the captives by the rivers of ,babylon1 with the desire of exile upon them1 exhibit more beauty and pathos than the lamentations which ,isaiah poured upon ,jerusalem's sufferings or the visions in which he described her future solemnity and peace4 ,it is not with surprise1 therefore1 that we find the first prophecies of ,isaiah directed upon his mother city3 ,the word that ,isaiah the son of ,amoz saw concerning ,judah and ,jerusalem4 ,there is little about ,judah in these chapters3 the country forms but a fringe to the capital4 ,before we look into the subject of the prophecy1 however1 a short digression is necessary on the manner in which it is presented to us4 ,it is not a reasoned composition or argument we have here2 it is a vision1 it is the word which ,isaiah saw4 ,the expression is vague1 often abused and in need of defining4 ,vision is not employed here to express any magical display before the eyes of the prophet of the very words which he was to speak to the people1 or any communication to his thoughts by dream or ecstasy4 ,they are higher qualities of vision which these chapters unfold4 ,there is1 first of all1 the power of forming an ideal1 of seeing and describing a thing in the fulfilment of all the promise that is in it4 ,but these prophecies are much more remarkable for two other powers of inward vision1 to which we give the names of insight and intuition--insight into human character1 intuition of ,divine principles--clear knowledge of what man is and how ,god will act--a keen discrimination of the present state of affairs in ,judah1 and unreasoned conviction of moral truth and the ,divine will4 ,the original meaning of the ,hebrew word saw1 which is used in the title to this series1 is to cleave1 or split2 then to see into1 to see through1 to get down beneath the surface of things and discover their real nature4 ,and what characterizes the bulk of these visions is penetrativeness1 the keenness of a man who will not be deceived by an outward show that he delights to hold up to our scorn1 but who has a conscience for the inner worth of things and for their future consequences4 ,to lay stress on the moral meaning of the prophet's vision is not to grudge1 but to emphasize its inspiration by ,god4 ,of that inspiration ,isaiah was himself assured4 ,it was ,god's ,spirit that enabled him to see thus keenly2 for he saw things keenly1 not only as men count moral keenness1 but as ,god ,himself sees them1 in their value in ,his sight and in their attractiveness for ,his love and pity4 ,in this prophecy there occurs a striking expression--the eyes of the glory of ,god4 ,it was the vision of the ,almighty ,searcher and ,judge1 burning through man's pretence1 with which the prophet felt himself endowed4 ,this then was the second element in his vision--to penetrate men's hearts as ,god ,himself penetrated them1 and constantly1 without squint or blur1 to see right from wrong in their eternal difference4 ,and the third element is the intuition of ,god's will1 the perception of what line of action ,he will take4 ,this last1 of course1 forms the distinct prerogative of ,hebrew prophecy1 that power of vision which is its climax2 the moral situation being clear1 to see then how ,god will act upon it4 ,under these three powers of vision ,jerusalem1 the prophet's city1 is presented to us--,jerusalem in three lights1 really three ,jerusalems4 ,first1 there is flashed out 7chap4 ii4 #b-e7 a vision of the ideal city1 ,jerusalem idealized and glorified4 ,then comes 7ii4 #f-;iv4 #a7 a very realistic picture1 a picture of the actual ,jerusalem4 ,and lastly at the close of the prophecy 7iv4 #b-f7 we have a vision of ,jerusalem as she shall be after ,god has taken her in hand--very different indeed from the ideal with which the prophet began4 ,here are three successive motives or phases of prophecy1 which1 as we have said1 in all probability summarize the early ministry of ,isaiah1 and present him to us first as the idealist or visionary1 second as the realist or critic1 and third as the prophet proper or revealer of ,god's actual will4 ,i4 ,,the ,,idealist 7ii4 #a-e74 ,all men who have shown our race how great things are possible have had their inspiration in dreaming of the impossible4 ,reformers1 who at death were content to have lived for the moving forward but one inch of some of their fellow-men1 began by believing themselves able to lift the whole world at once4 ,isaiah was no exception to this human fashion4 ,his first vision was that of a ,utopia1 and his first belief that his countrymen would immediately realize it4 ,he lifts up to us a very grand picture of a vast commonwealth centred in ,jerusalem4 ,some think he borrowed it from an older prophet2 ,micah has it also2 it may have been the ideal of the age4 ,but1 at any rate1 if we are not to take verse #e in scorn1 ,isaiah accepted this as his own4 ,and it shall come to pass in the last days1 that the mountain of the ,lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains1 and exalted above the hills1 and all nations shall flow unto it4 ,the prophet's own ,jerusalem shall be the light of the world1 the school and temple of the earth1 the seat of the judgement of the ,lord1 when ,he shall reign over the nations1 and all mankind shall dwell in peace beneath ,him4 ,it is a glorious destiny1 and as its light shines from the far-off horizon1 the latter days1 in which the prophet sees it1 what wonder that he is possessed and cries aloud1 ,o house of ,jacob1 come ye1 and let us walk in the light of the ,,lord6 ,it seems to the young prophet's hopeful heart as if at once that ideal would be realized1 as if by his own word he could lift his people to its fulfilment4 ,but that is impossible1 and ,isaiah perceives so as soon as he turns from the far-off horizon to the city at his feet1 as soon as he leaves to-morrow alone and deals with to-day4 ,the next verses of the chapter--from verse #f onwards--stand in strong contrast to those which have described ,israel's ideal4 ,there ,zion is full of the law and ,jerusalem of the word of the ,lord1 the one religion flowing over from this centre upon the world4 ,here into the actual ,jerusalem they have brought all sorts of foreign worship and heathen prophets2 they are replenished from the ,east1 and are soothsayers like the ,philistines1 and strike hands with the children of strangers4 ,there all nations come to worship at ,jerusalem2 here her thought and faith are scattered over the idolatries of all nations4 ,the ideal ,jerusalem is full of spiritual blessings1 the actual of the spoils of trade4 ,there the swords are beat into ploughshares and the spears into pruning-hooks2 here are vast and novel armaments1 horses and chariots4 ,there the ,lord alone is worshipped2 here the city is crowded with idols4 ,the real ,jerusalem could not possibly be more different from the ideal1 nor its inhabitants as they are from what their prophet had confidently called on them to be4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,realist 7ii4 #f-;iv4 #a74 ,therefore ,isaiah's attitude and tone suddenly change4 ,the visionary becomes a realist1 the enthusiast a cynic1 the seer of the glorious city of ,god the prophet of ,god's judgement4 ,the recoil is absolute in style1 temper and thought1 down to the very figures of speech which he uses4 ,before1 ,isaiah had seen1 as it were1 a lifting process at work1 ,jerusalem in the top of the mountains1 and exalted above the hills4 ,now he beholds nothing but depression4 ,for the day of the ,,lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and haughty1 upon all that is lifted up1 and it shall be brought low1 and the ,lord alone shall be exalted in that day4 ,nothing in the great civilization1 which he had formerly glorified1 is worth preserving4 ,the high towers1 fenced walls1 ships of ,tarshish1 treasures and armour must all perish1 even the hills lifted by his imagination shall be bowed down1 and the ,,lord alone be exalted in that day4 ,this recoil reaches its extreme in the last verse of the chapter4 ,the prophet1 who had believed so much in man as to think possible an immediate commonwealth of nations1 believes in man now so little that he does not hold him worth preserving3 ,cease ye from man1 whose breath is in his nostrils2 for wherein is he to be accounted of8 ,attached to this general denunciation are some satiric descriptions1 in the third chapter1 of the anarchy1 to which society in ,jerusalem is fast being reduced under its childish and effeminate king4 ,the scorn of these passages is scathing2 the eyes of the glory of ,god burn through every rank1 fashion and ornament in the town4 ,king and court are not spared2 the elders and princes are rigorously denounced4 ,but by far the most striking effort of the prophet's boldness is his prediction of the overthrow of ,jerusalem itself 7ver4 #h74 ,what it cost ,isaiah to utter and the people to hear we can only partly measure4 ,to his own passionate patriotism it must have felt like treason1 to the blind optimism of the popular religion it doubtless appeared the rankest heresy--to aver that the holy city1 inviolate and almost unthreatened since the day ,david brought to her the ark of the ,lord1 and destined by the voice of her prophets1 including ,isaiah himself1 to be established upon the tops of the mountains1 was now to fall into ruin4 ,but ,isaiah's conscience overcomes his sense of consistency1 and he who has just proclaimed the eternal glory of ,jerusalem is provoked by his knowledge of her citizens' sins to recall his words and intimate her destruction4 ,it may have been1 that ,isaiah was partly emboldened to so novel a threat1 by his knowledge of the preparations which ,syria and ,israel were already making for the invasion of ,judah4 ,the prospect of ,jerusalem1 as the centre of a vast empire subject to ,jehovah1 however natural it was under a successful ruler like ,uzziah1 became1 of course1 unreal when every one of ,uzziah's and ,jotham's tributaries had risen in revolt against their successor1 ,ahaz4 ,but of these outward movements ,isaiah tells us nothing4 ,he is wholly engrossed with ,judah's sin4 ,it is his growing acquaintance with the corruption of his fellow-countrymen that has turned his back on the ideal city of his opening ministry1 and changed him into a prophet of ,jerusalem's ruin4 ,their tongue and their doings are against the ,lord1 to provoke the eyes of ,his glory4 ,judge1 prophet and elder1 all the upper ranks and useful guides of the people1 must perish4 ,it is a sign of the degradation to which society shall be reduced1 when ,isaiah with keen sarcasm pictures the despairing people choosing a certain man to be their ruler because he alone has a coat to his back6 7iii4 #f74 ,with increased scorn ,isaiah turns lastly upon the women of ,jerusalem 7iii4 #af-;iv4 #b71 and here perhaps the change which has passed over him since his opening prophecy is most striking4 ,one likes to think of how the citizens of ,jerusalem took this alteration in their prophet's temper4 ,we know how popular so optimist a prophecy as that of the mountain of the ,lord's house must have been1 and can imagine how men and women loved the young face1 bright with a far-off light1 and the dream of an ideal that had no quarrel with the present4 ,but what a change is this that has come over him1 who speaks not of to-morrow1 but of to-day1 who has brought his gaze from those distant horizons to our streets1 who stares every man in the face 7iii4 #i71 and makes the women feel that no pin and trimming1 no ring and bracelet1 escape his notice6 ,our loved prophet has become an impudent scorner6 ,ah1 men and women of ,jerusalem1 beware of those eyes6 ,the glory of ,god is burning in them2 they see you through and through1 and they tell us that all your armour and the show of your countenance1 and your foreign fashions are as nothing1 for there are corrupt hearts below4 ,this is your judgement1 that instead of sweet spices there shall be rottenness1 and instead of a girdle a rope1 and instead of well-set hair baldness1 and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth1 and branding instead of beauty4 ,thy men shall fall by the sword1 and thy mighty in the war4 ,and her gates shall lament and mourn1 and she shall be desolate and sit upon the ground6 ,this was the climax of the prophet's judgement4 ,if the salt have lost its savour1 wherewith shall it be salted8 ,it is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot4 ,if the women are corrupt the state is moribund4 ,,iii4 ,the ,prophet of the ,lord 7iv4 #b-f74 ,is there1 then1 no hope for ,jerusalem8 ,yes1 but not where the prophet sought it at first1 in herself1 and not in the way he offered it--by the mere presentation of an ideal4 ,there is hope1 there is more--there is certain salvation in the ,lord1 but it only comes after judgement4 ,contrast that opening picture of the new ,jerusalem with this closing one1 and we shall find their difference to lie in two things4 ,there the city is more prominent than the ,lord1 here the ,lord is more prominent than the city2 there no word of judgement1 here judgement sternly emphasized as the indispensable way towards the blessed future4 ,a more vivid sense of the ,person of ,jehovah ,himself1 a deep conviction of the necessity of chastisement3 these are what ,isaiah has gained during his early ministry1 without losing hope or heart for the future4 ,the bliss shall come only when the ,lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of ,zion1 and shall have purged the blood of ,jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgement and the spirit of burning4 ,it is a corollary of all this that the participants of that future shall be many fewer than in the first vision of the prophet4 ,the process of judgement must weed men out1 and in place of all nations coming to ,jerusalem1 to share its peace and glory1 the prophet can speak now only of ,israel--and only of a remnant of ,israel4 ,the escaped of ,israel1 the left in ,zion1 and he that remaineth in ,jerusalem4 ,this is a great change in ,isaiah's ideal1 from the supremacy of ,israel over all nations to the bare survival of a remnant of his people4 99 99 99 99 99 ,is there not in this threefold vision a parallel and example for our own civilisation and our thoughts about it8 ,all work and wisdom begin in dreams4 ,we must see our ,utopias before we start to build our stone and lime cities4 ,it takes a soul ,to move a body2 it takes a high-souled man ,to move the masses even to a cleaner stye2 ,it takes the ideal to blow an inch inside ,the dust of the actual4 ,but the light of our ideals dawns upon us only to show how poor by nature are the mortals who are called to accomplish them4 ,the ideal rises still as to ,isaiah only to exhibit the poverty of the real4 ,when we lift our eyes from the hills of vision1 and rest them on our fellow-men1 hope and enthusiasm die out of us4 ,isaiah's disappointment is that of every one who brings down his gaze from the clouds to the streets4 ,be our ideal ever so desirable1 be we ever so persuaded of its facility1 the moment we attempt to apply it we shall be undeceived4 ,society cannot be regenerated all at once4 ,there is an expression which ,isaiah emphasizes in his motive of cynicism3 ,the show of their countenance doth witness against them4 ,it tells us that when he called his countrymen to turn to the light he lifted upon them he saw nothing but the exhibition of their sin made plain4 ,when we bring light to a cavern whose inhabitants have lost their eyes by the darkness1 the light does not make them see2 we have to give them eyes again4 ,even so no vision or theory of a perfect state--the mistake which all young reformers make--can regenerate society4 ,it will only reveal social corruption1 and sicken the heart of the reformer himself4 ,for the possession of a great ideal does not mean1 as so many fondly imagine1 work accomplished2 it means work revealed--work revealed so vast1 often so impossible1 that faith and hope die down1 and the enthusiast of yesterday becomes the cynic of to-morrow4 ,cease ye from man1 whose breath is in his nostrils1 for wherein is he to be accounted8 ,in this despair1 through which every worker for ,god and man must pass1 many a warm heart has grown cold1 many an intellect become paralyzed4 ,there is but one way of escape1 and that is ,isaiah's4 ,it is to believe in ,god ,himself2 it is to believe that ,he is at work1 that ,his purposes to man are saving purposes1 and that with ,him there is an inexhaustible source of mercy and virtue4 ,so from the blackest pessimism shall arise new hope and faith1 as from beneath ,isaiah's darkest verses that glorious passage suddenly bursts like uncontrollable spring from the very feet of winter4 ,for that day shall the spring of the ,,lord be beautiful and glorious1 and the fruit of the land shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of ,israel4 ,this is all it is possible to say4 ,there must be a future for man1 because ,god loves him1 and ,god reigns4 ,that future can be reached only through judgement1 because ,god is righteous4 ,to put it another way3 ,all of us who live to work for our fellow-men or who hope to lift them higher by our word begin with our own visions of a great future4 ,these visions1 though our youth lends to them an original generosity and enthusiasm1 are1 like ,isaiah's1 largely borrowed4 ,the progressive instincts of the age into which we are born and the mellow skies of prosperity combine with our own ardour to make our ideal one of splendour4 ,persuaded of its facility1 we turn to real life to apply it4 ,a few years pass4 ,we not only find mankind too stubborn to be forced into our moulds1 but we gradually become aware of ,another ,moulder at work upon our subject1 and we stand aside in awe to watch ,his operations4 ,human desires and national ideals are not always fulfilled2 philosophic theories are discredited by the evolution of fact4 ,uzziah does not reign for ever2 the sceptre falls to ,ahaz3 progress is checked1 and the summer of prosperity draws to an end4 ,under duller skies ungilded judgement comes to view1 cruel and inexorable1 crushing even the peaks on which we built our future1 yet purifying men and giving earnest of a better future1 too4 ,and so life1 that mocked the control of our puny fingers1 bends groaning to the weight of an ,almighty ,hand4 ,god also1 we perceive as we face facts honestly1 has ,his ideal for men2 and though ,he works so slowly towards ,his end that our restless eyes are too impatient to follow ,his order1 ,he yet reveals all that shall be to the humbled heart and the soul emptied of its own visions4 ,awed and chastened1 we look back from ,his ,presence to our old ideals4 ,we are still able to recognize their grandeur and generous hope for men4 ,but we see now how utterly unconnected they are with the present--castles in the air1 with no ladders to them from the earth4 ,and even if they were accessible1 still to our eyes1 purged by gazing on ,god's own ways1 they would no more appear desirable4 ,look back on ,isaiah's early ideal from the light of his second vision of the future4 ,for all its grandeur1 that picture of ,jerusalem is not wholly attractive4 ,is there not much national arrogance in it8 ,is it not just the imperfectly idealized reflection of an age of material prosperity such as that of ,uzziah's was8 ,pride is in it1 a false optimism1 the highest good to be reached without moral conflict4 ,but here is the language of pity1 rescue with difficulty1 rest only after sore struggle and stripping1 salvation by the bare arm of ,god4 ,so do our imaginations for our own future or for that of the race always contrast with what ,he ,himself has in store for us1 promised freely out of ,his great grace to our unworthy hearts1 yet granted in the end only to those who pass towards it through discipline1 tribulation and fire4 99 99 99 99 99 ,this1 then1 was ,isaiah's apprenticeship1 and its net result was to leave him with the remnant for his ideal3 the remnant and ,jerusalem secured as its rallying-point4 ,,chapter ,,iii4 ,,the ,,vineyard ,,of ,,the ,,lord1 ,,or ,,true ,,patriotism ,,the ,,conscience ,,of ,,our ,,country',s ,,sins4 ,,isaiah v42 ix4 #h-x4 #d 7#gce ,b4,c474 ,the prophecy contained in these chapters belongs1 as we have seen1 to the same early period of ,isaiah's career as chapters ii4-iv41 about the time when ,ahaz ascended the throne after the long and successful reigns of his father and grandfather1 when the kingdom of ,judah seemed girt with strength and filled with wealth1 but the men were corrupt and the women careless1 and the earnest of approaching judgement was already given in the incapacity of the weak and woman-ridden king4 ,yet although this new prophecy issues from the same circumstances as its predecessors1 it implies these circumstances a little more developed4 ,the same social evils are treated1 but by a hand with a firmer grasp of them4 ,the same principles are emphasized--the righteousness of ,jehovah and ,his activity in judgement--but the form of judgement of which ,isaiah had spoken before in general terms looms nearer1 and before the end of the prophecy we get a view at close quarters of the ,assyrian ranks4 ,besides1 opposition has arisen to the prophet's teaching4 ,we saw that the obscurities and inconsistencies of chapters ii4-iv4 are due to the fact that that prophecy represents several stages of experience through which ,isaiah passed before he gained his final convictions4 ,but his countrymen1 it appears1 have now had time to turn on these convictions and call them in question3 it is necessary for ,isaiah to vindicate them4 ,the difference1 then1 between these two sets of prophecies1 dealing with the same things1 is that in the former 7chapters ii4-iv471 we have the obscure and tortuous path of a conviction struggling to light in the prophet's own experience2 here1 in chapter v41 we have its careful array in the light and before the people4 ,the point of ,isaiah's teaching against which opposition was directed was of course its main point1 that ,god was about to abandon ,judah4 ,this must have appeared to the popular religion of the day as the rankest heresy4 ,to the ,jews the honour of ,jehovah was bound up with the inviolability of ,jerusalem and the prosperity of ,judah4 ,but ,isaiah knew ,jehovah to be infinitely more concerned for the purity of ,his people than for their prosperity4 ,he had seen the ,,lord exalted in righteousness above those national and earthly interests1 with which vulgar men exclusively identified ,his will4 ,did the people appeal to the long time ,jehovah had graciously led them for proof that ,he would not abandon them now8 ,to ,isaiah that gracious leading was but for righteousness' sake1 and that ,god might make ,his own a holy people4 ,their history1 so full of the favours of the ,almighty1 did not teach ,isaiah as it did the common prophets of his time1 the lesson of ,israel's political security1 but the far different one of their religious responsibility4 ,to him it only meant what ,amos had already put in those startling words1 ,you only have ,i known of all the families of the earth3 therefore ,i will visit upon you all your iniquities4 ,now ,isaiah delivered this doctrine at a time when it brought him the hostility of men's passions as well as of their opinions4 ,judah was arming for war4 ,syria and ,ephraim were marching upon her4 ,to threaten his country with ruin in such an hour was to run the risk of suffering from popular fury as a traitor as well as from priestly prejudice as a heretic4 ,the strain of the moment is felt in the strenuousness of the prophecy4 ,chapter v41 with its appendix1 exhibits more grasp and method than its predecessors4 ,its literary form is finished1 its feeling clear4 ,there is a tenderness in the beginning of it1 an inexorableness in the end and an eagerness all through1 which stamp the chapter as ,isaiah's final appeal to his countrymen at this period of his career4 ,the chapter is a noble piece of patriotism--one of the noblest of a race who1 although for the greater part of their history without a fatherland1 have contributed more brilliantly than perhaps any other to the literature of patriotism1 and that simply because1 as ,isaiah here illustrates1 patriotism was to their prophets identical with religious privilege and responsibility4 ,isaiah carries this to its bitter end4 ,other patriots have wept to sing their country's woes2 ,isaiah's burden is his people's guilt4 ,to others an invasion of their fatherland by its enemies has been the motive to rouse by song or speech their countrymen to repel it4 ,isaiah also hears the tramp of the invader2 but to him is permitted no ardour of defence1 and his message to his countrymen is that they must succumb1 for the invasion is irresistible and of the very judgement of ,god4 ,how much it cost the prophet to deliver such a message we may see from those few verses of it in which his heart is not altogether silenced by his conscience4 ,the sweet description of ,judah as a vineyard1 and the touching accents that break through the roll of denunciation with such phrases as ,my people are gone away into captivity unawares1 tell us how the prophet's love of country is struggling with his duty to a righteous ,god4 ,the course of feeling throughout the prophecy is very striking4 ,the tenderness of the opening lyric seems ready to flow into gentle pleading with the whole people4 ,but as the prophet turns to particular classes and their sins his mood changes to indignation1 the voice settles down to judgement2 till when it issues upon that clear statement of the coming of the ,northern hosts every trace of emotion has left it1 and the sentences ring out as unfaltering as the tramp of the armies they describe4 ,i4 ,,the ,,parable ,,of ,,the ,,vineyard 7v4 #a-g74 ,isaiah adopts the resource of every misunderstood and unpopular teacher1 and seeks to turn the flank of his people's prejudices by an attack in parable on their sympathies4 ,did they stubbornly believe it impossible for ,god to abandon a ,state ,he had so long and so carefully fostered8 ,let them judge from an analogous case in which they were all experts4 ,in a picture of great beauty ,isaiah describes a vineyard upon one of the sunny promontories visible from ,jerusalem4 ,every care had been given it of which an experienced vine-dresser could think1 but it brought forth only wild grapes4 ,the vine-dresser himself is introduced1 and appeals to the men of ,judah and ,jerusalem to judge between him and his vineyard4 ,he gets their assent that all had been done which could be done1 and fortified with that resolves to abandon the vineyard4 ,i will lay it waste2 it shall not be pruned nor digged1 but there shall come up briers and thorns4 ,then the stratagem comes out1 the speaker drops the tones of a human cultivator1 and in the omnipotence of the ,lord of heaven he is heard to say1 ,i will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it4 ,this diversion upon their sympathies having succeeded1 the prophet scarcely needs to charge the people's prejudices in face4 ,his point has been evidently carried4 ,for the vineyard of ,jehovah of hosts is the house of ,israel1 and the men of ,judah his pleasant plant2 and ,he looked for judgement1 but behold oppression1 for righteousness1 but behold a cry4 ,the lesson enforced by ,isaiah is just this1 that in a people's civilization there lie the deepest responsibilities1 for that is neither more nor less than their cultivation by ,god2 and the question for a people is not how secure does this render them1 nor what does it count for glory1 but how far is it rising towards the intentions of its ,author8 ,does it produce those fruits of righteousness for which alone ,god cares to set apart and cultivate the peoples8 ,on this depends the question whether the civilization is secure1 as well as the right of the people to enjoy and feel proud of it4 ,there cannot be true patriotism without sensitiveness to this1 for however rich be the elements that compose the patriot's temper1 as piety towards the past1 ardour of service for the present1 love of liberty1 delight in natural beauty and gratitude for ,divine favour1 so rich a temper will grow rancid without the salt of conscience2 and the richer the temper is1 the greater must be the proportion of that salt4 ,all prophets and poets of patriotism have been moralists and satirists as well4 ,from ,demosthenes to ,tourgenieff1 from ,dante to ,mazzini1 from ,milton to ,russell ,lowell1 from ,burns to ,heine1 one cannot recall any great patriot who has not known how to use the scourge as well as the trumpet4 ,many opportunities will present themselves to us of illustrating ,isaiah's orations by the letters and speeches of ,cromwell1 who of moderns most resembles the statesman-prophet of ,judah2 but nowhere does the resemblance become so close as when we lay a prophecy like this of ,jehovah's vineyard by the side of the speeches in which the ,lord ,protector exhorted the ,commons of ,england1 although it was the hour of his and their triumph1 to address themselves to their sins4 ,so1 then1 the patriotism of all great men has carried a conscience for their country's sins4 ,but while this is always more or less a burden to the true patriot1 there are certain periods in which his care for his country ought to be this predominantly1 and need be little else4 ,in a period like our own1 for instance1 of political security and fashionable religion1 what need is there in patriotic displays of any other kind8 but how much for patriotism of this kind--of men who will uncover the secret sins1 however loathsome1 and declare the hypocrisies1 however powerful1 of the social life of the people6 ,these are the patriots we need in times of peace2 and as it is more difficult to rouse a torpid people to their sins than to lead a roused one against their enemies1 and harder to face a whole people with the support only of conscience than to defy many nations if you but have your own at your back1 so these patriots of peace are more to be honoured than those of war4 ,but there is one kind of patriotism more arduous and honourable still4 ,it is that which ,isaiah displays here1 who cannot add to his conscience hope or even pity1 who must hail his country's enemies for his country's good1 and recite the long roll of ,god's favours to his nation only to emphasize the justice of ,his abandonment of them4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,wild ,,grapes ,,of ,,judah 7v4 #h-bd74 ,the wild grapes which ,isaiah saw in the vineyard of the ,lord he catalogues in a series of ,woes 7vv4 #h-bd71 fruits all of them of love of money and love of wine4 ,they are abuse of the soil 7#h-aj1 #agd71 a giddy luxury which has taken to drink 7#aa-af71 a moral blindness and headlong audacity of sin which habitual avarice and drunkenness soon develop 7#ah-ba71 and1 again1 a greed of drink and money--men's perversion of their strength to wine1 and of their opportunities of justice to the taking of bribes 7#bb-bd74 ,these are the features of corrupt civilization not only in ,judah1 and the voice that deplores them cannot speak without rousing others very clamant to the modern conscience4 ,it is with remarkable persistence that in every civilization the two main passions of the human heart1 love of wealth and love of pleasure1 the instinct to gather and the instinct to squander1 have sought precisely these two forms denounced by ,isaiah in which to work their social havoc--appropriation of the soil and indulgence in strong drink4 ,every civilized community develops sooner or later its land-question and its liquor-question4 ,questions they are called by the superficial opinion that all difficulties may be overcome by the cleverness of men2 yet problems through which there cries for remedy so vast a proportion of our poverty1 crime and madness1 are something worse than questions4 ,they are huge sins1 and require not merely the statesman's wit1 but all the penitence and zeal of which a nation's conscience is capable4 ,it is in this that the force of ,isaiah's treatment lies4 ,we feel he is not facing questions of ,state1 but sins of men4 ,he has nothing to tell us of what he considers the best system of land tenure1 but he enforces the principle that in the ease with which land may be absorbed by one person the natural covetousness of the human heart has a terrible opportunity for working ruin upon society4 ,woe unto them that join house to house1 that lay field to field1 till there be no room1 and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land4 ,we know from ,micah that the actual process which ,isaiah condemns was carried out with the most cruel evictions and disinheritances4 ,isaiah does not touch on its methods1 but exposes its effects on the country--depopulation and barrenness1--and emphasizes its religious significance4 ,of a truth many houses shall be desolate1 even great and fair1 without an inhabitant4 ,for ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath1 and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah4444 ,then shall lambs feed as in their pasture1 and strangers shall devour the ruins of the fat ones--i4e41 of the luxurious landowners 7#i1 #aj1 #ag4 ,see note on previous page74 ,and in one of those elliptic statements by which he often startles us with the sudden sense that ,god ,himself is acquainted with all our affairs1 and takes ,his own interest in them1 ,isaiah adds1 ,all this was whispered to me by ,jehovah3 ,in mine ears--the ,,lord of hosts 7ver4 #i74 #d ,ewald happily suggests that verse #ag has dropped out of1 and should be restored to1 its proper position at the end of the first woe1 where it contributes to the development of the meaning far more than from where it stands in the text4 ,during recent agitations in our own country one has often seen the land laws of the ,bible held forth by some thoughtless demagogue as models for land tenure among ourselves2 as if a system which worked well with a small tribe in a land they had all entered on equal footing1 and where there was no opportunity for the industry of the people except in pasture and tillage1 could possibly be applicable to a vastly larger and more complex population1 with different traditions and very different social circumstances4 ,isaiah says nothing about the peculiar land laws of his people4 ,he lays down principles1 and these are principles valid in every civilization4 ,god has made the land1 not to feed the pride of the few1 but the natural hunger of the many1 and it is ,his will that the most be got out of a country's soil for the people of the country4 ,whatever be the system of land-tenure--and while all are more or less liable to abuse1 it is the duty of a people to agitate for that which will be least liable--if it is taken advantage of by individuals to satisfy their own cupidity1 then ,god will take account of them4 ,there is a responsibility which the ,state cannot enforce1 and the neglect of which cannot be punished by any earthly law1 but all the more will ,god see to it4 ,a nation's treatment of their land is not always prominent as a question which demands the attention of public reformers2 but it ceaselessly has interest for ,god1 who ever holds individuals to answer for it4 ,the land-question is ultimately a religious question4 ,for the management of their land the whole nation is responsible to ,god1 but especially those who own or manage estates4 ,this is a sacred office4 ,when one not only remembers the nature of land--how it is an element of life1 so that if a man abuse the soil it is as if he poisoned the air or darkened the heavens--but appreciates also the multitude of personal relations which the landowner or factor holds in his hand--the peace of homes1 the continuity of local traditions1 the physical health1 the social fearlessness and frankness1 and the thousand delicate associations which their habitations entwine about the hearts of men--one feels that to all who possess or manage land is granted an opportunity of patriotism and piety open to few1 a ministry less honourable and sacred than none other committed by ,god to man for his fellow-men4 ,after the land-sin ,isaiah hurls his second ,woe upon the drink-sin1 and it is a heavier woe than the first4 ,with fatal persistence the luxury of every civilization has taken to drink2 and of all the indictments brought by moralists against nations1 that which they reserve for drunkenness is1 as here1 the most heavily weighted4 ,the crusade against drink is not the novel thing that many imagine who observe only its late revival among ourselves4 ,in ancient times there was scarcely a ,state in which prohibitive legislation of the most stringent kind was not attempted1 and generally carried out with a thoroughness more possible under despots than where1 as with us1 the slow consent of public opinion is necessary4 ,a horror of strong drink has in every age possessed those who from their position as magistrates or prophets have been able to follow for any distance the drifts of social life4 ,isaiah exposes as powerfully as ever any of them did in what the peculiar fatality of drinking lies4 ,wine is a mocker by nothing more than by the moral incredulity which it produces1 enabling men to hide from themselves the spiritual and material effects of over-indulgence in it4 ,no one who has had to do with persons slowly falling from moderate to immoderate drinking can mistake ,isaiah's meaning when he says1 ,they regard not the work of the ,,lord2 neither have they considered the operation of ,his hands4 ,nothing kills the conscience like steady drinking to a little excess2 and religion1 even while the conscience is alive1 acts on it only as an opiate4 ,it is not1 however1 with the symptoms of drink in individuals so much as with its aggregate effects on the nation that ,isaiah is concerned4 ,so prevalent is excessive drinking1 so entwined with the social customs of the country and many powerful interests1 that it is extremely difficult to rouse public opinion to its effects4 ,and so they go into captivity for lack of knowledge4 ,temperance reformers are often blamed for the strength of their language1 but they may shelter themselves behind ,isaiah4 ,as he pictures it1 the national destruction caused by drink is complete4 ,it is nothing less than the people's captivity1 and we know what that meant to an ,israelite4 ,it affects all classes3 ,their honourable men are famished1 and their multitude parched with thirst4444 ,the mean man is bowed down1 and the great man is humbled4 ,but the want and ruin of this earth are not enough to describe it4 ,the appetite of hell itself has to be enlarged to suffice for the consumption of the spoils of strong drink4 ,therefore hell hath enlarged her desire and opened her mouth without measure2 and their glory1 and their multitude1 and their pomp1 and he that rejoiceth among them1 descend into it4 ,the very appetite of hell has to be enlarged6 ,does it not truly seem as if the wild and wanton waste of drink were preventable1 as if it were not1 as many are ready to sneer1 the inevitable evil of men's hearts choosing this form of issue1 but a superfluous audacity of sin1 which the devil himself did not desire or tempt men to8 ,it is this feeling of the infernal gratuitousness of most of the drink-evil--the conviction that here hell would be quiet if only she were not stirred up by the extraordinarily wanton provocatives that society and the ,state offer to excessive drinking--which compels temperance reformers at the present day to isolate drunkenness and make it the object of a special crusade4 ,isaiah's strong figure has lost none of its strength to-day4 ,when our judges tell us from the bench that nine-tenths of pauperism and crime are caused by drink1 and our physicians that if only irregular tippling were abolished half the current sickness of the land would cease1 and our statesmen that the ravages of strong drink are equal to those of the historical scourges of war1 famine and pestilence combined1 surely to swallow such a glut of spoil the appetite of hell must have been still more enlarged1 and the mouth of hell made yet wider4 ,the next three ,woes are upon different aggravations of that moral perversity which the prophet has already traced to strong drink4 ,in the first of these it is better to read1 draw punishment near with cords of vanity1 than draw iniquity4 ,then we have a striking antithesis--the drunkards mocking ,isaiah over their cups with the challenge1 as if it would not be taken up1 ,let ,jehovah make speed1 and hasten ,his work of judgement1 that we may see it1 while all the time they themselves were dragging that judgement near1 as with cart-ropes1 by their persistent diligence in evil4 ,this figure of sinners jeering at the approach of a calamity while they actually wear the harness of its carriage is very striking4 ,but the ,jews are not only unconscious of judgement1 they are confused as to the very principles of morality3 ,who call evil good1 and good evil2 that put darkness for light1 and light for darkness2 that put bitter for sweet1 and sweet for bitter6 ,in his fifth ,woe the prophet attacks a disposition to which his scorn gives no peace throughout his ministry4 ,if these sensualists had only confined themselves to their sensuality they might have been left alone2 but with that intellectual bravado which is equally born with ,dutch courage of drink1 they interfered in the conduct of the ,state1 and prepared arrogant policies of alliance and war that were the distress of the sober-minded prophet all his days4 ,woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight4 ,in his last ,woe ,isaiah returns to the drinking habits of the upper classes1 from which it would appear that among the judges even of ,judah there were six-bottle men4 ,they sustained their extravagance by subsidies1 which we trust were unknown to the mighty men of wine who once filled the seats of justice in our own country4 ,they justify the wicked for a bribe1 and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him4 ,all these sinners1 dead through their rejection of the law of ,jehovah of hosts and the word of the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 shall be like to the stubble1 fit only for burning1 and their blossom as the dust of the rotten tree4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,anger ,,of ,,the ,,lord 7v4 #be2 ix4 #h-x4 #d2 v4 #bf-cj74 ,this indictment of the various sins of the people occupies the whole of the second part of the oration4 ,but a third part is now added1 in which the prophet catalogues the judgements of the ,lord upon them1 each of these closing with the weird refrain1 ,for all this ,his anger is not turned away1 but ,his hand is stretched out still4 ,the complete catalogue is usually obtained by inserting between the #beth and #bfth verses of chapter v4 the long passage from chapter ix41 ver4 #h1 to chapter x41 ver4 #d4 ,it is quite true that as far as chapter v4 itself is concerned it does not need this insertion2 but ix4 #h-x4 #d is decidedly out of place where it now lies4 ,its paragraphs end with the same refrain as closes v4 #be1 which forms1 besides1 a natural introduction to them1 while v4 #bf-cj form as natural a conclusion4 ,the latter verses describe an ,assyrian invasion1 and it was always in an ,assyrian invasion that ,isaiah foresaw the final calamity of ,judah4 ,we may1 then1 subject to further light on the exceedingly obscure subject of the arrangement of ,isaiah's prophecies1 follow some of the leading critics1 and place ix4 #h-x4 #d between verses #be-bf of chapter v42 and the more we examine them the more we shall be satisfied with our arrangement1 for strung together in this order they form one of the most impressive series of scenes which even an ,isaiah has given us4 ,from these scenes ,isaiah has spared nothing that is terrible in history or nature1 and it is not one of the least of the arguments for putting them together that their intensity increases to a climax4 ,earthquakes1 armed raids1 a great battle and the slaughter of a people2 prairie and forest fires1 civil strife and the famine fever1 that feeds upon itself2 another battle-field1 with its cringing groups of captives and heaps of slain2 the resistless tide of a great invasion2 and then1 for final prospect1 a desolate land by the sound of a hungry sea1 and the light is darkened in the clouds thereof4 ,the elements of nature and the elemental passions of man have been let loose together2 and we follow the violent floods1 remembering that it is sin which has burst the gates of the universe1 and given the tides of hell full course through it4 ,over the storm and battle there comes booming like the storm-bell the awful refrain1 ,for all this ,his anger is not turned away1 but ,his hand is stretched out still4 ,it is poetry of the highest order1 but in him who reads it with a conscience mere literary sensations are sobered by the awe of some of the most profound moral phenomena of life4 ,the persistence of ,divine wrath1 the long-lingering effects of sin in a nation's history1 man's abuse of sorrow and his defiance of an angry ,providence1 are the elements of this great drama4 ,those who are familiar with ,king ,lear1 will recognize these elements1 and observe how similarly the ways of ,providence and the conduct of men are represented there and here4 ,what ,isaiah unfolds1 then1 is a series of calamities that have overtaken the people of ,israel4 ,it is impossible for us to identify every one of them with a particular event in ,israel's history otherwise known to us4 ,some it is not difficult to recognize2 but the prophet passes in a perplexing way from ,judah to ,ephraim and ,ephraim to ,judah1 and in one case1 where he represents ,samaria as attacked by ,syria and the ,philistines1 he goes back to a period at some distance from his own4 ,there are also passages1 as for instance x4 #a-d1 in which we are unable to decide whether he describes a present punishment or threatens a future one4 ,but his moral purpose1 at least1 is plain4 ,he will show how often ,jehovah has already spoken to ,his people by calamity1 and because they have remained hardened under these warnings1 how there now remains possible only the last1 worst blow of an ,assyrian invasion4 ,isaiah is justifying his threat of so unprecedented and extreme a punishment for ,god's people as overthrow by this ,northern people1 who had just appeared upon ,judah's political horizon4 ,god1 he tells ,israel1 has tried everything short of this1 and it has failed2 now only this remains1 and this shall not fail4 ,the prophet's purpose1 therefore1 being not an accurate historical recital1 but moral impressiveness1 he gives us a more or less ideal description of former calamities1 mentioning only so much as to allow us to recognize here and there that it is actual facts which he uses for his purpose of condemning ,israel to captivity1 and vindicating ,israel's ,god in bringing that captivity near4 ,the passage thus forms a parallel to that in ,amos1 with its similar refrain3 ,yet ye have not returned unto ,me1 saith the ,lord 7,amos iv4 #f-ab71 and only goes farther than that earlier prophecy in indicating that the instruments of the ,lord's final judgement are to be the ,assyrians4 ,five great calamities1 says ,isaiah1 have fallen on ,israel and left them hardened3 #ast1 earthquake 7v4 #be72 #bnd1 loss of territory 7ix4 #h-ab72 #crd1 war and a decisive defeat 7ix4 #ac-ag72 #dth1 internal anarchy 7ix4 #ah-ba72 #eth1 the near prospect of captivity 7x4 #a-d74 #a4 ,,the ,,earthquake 7v4 #be74--;,amos closes his series with an earthquake2 ,isaiah begins with one4 ,it may be the same convulsion they describe1 or may not4 ,although the skirts of ,palestine both to the east and west frequently tremble to these disturbances1 an earthquake in ,palestine itself1 up on the high central ridge of the land1 is very rare4 ,isaiah vividly describes its awful simplicity and suddenness4 ,the ,lord stretched forth ,his hand and smote1 and the hills shook1 and their carcases were like offal in the midst of the streets4 ,more words are not needed1 because there was nothing more to describe4 ,the ,lord lifted ,his hand2 the hills seemed for a moment to topple over1 and when the living recovered from the shock there lay the dead1 flung like refuse about the streets4 #b4 ,,the ,,loss ,,of ,,territory 7ix4 #h-ba74--,so awful a calamity1 in which the dying did not die out of sight nor fall huddled together on some far off battle-field1 but the whole land was strewn with her slain1 ought to have left indelible impression on the people4 ,but it did not4 ,the ,lord's own word had been in it for ,jacob and ,israel 7ix4 #h71 that the people might know1 even ,ephraim and the inhabitants of ,samaria4 ,but unhumbled they turned in the stoutness of their hearts1 saying1 when the earthquake had passed3#e ,the bricks are fallen1 but we will build with hewn stones2#f the sycomores are cut down1 but we will change them into cedars4 ,calamity did not make this people thoughtful2 they felt ,god only to endeavour to forget ,him4 ,therefore ,he visited them the second time4 ,they did not feel the ,lord shaking their land1 so ,he sent their enemies to steal it from them3 the ,syrians before and the ,philistines behind2 and they devour ,israel with open mouth4 ,what that had been for appalling suddenness this was for lingering and harassing--guerilla warfare1 armed raids1 the land eaten away bit by bit4 ,yet the people do not return unto ,him that smote them1 neither seek they the ,,lord of hosts4 #e ,read past tenses1 as in the margin of ,revised ,version1 for all the future tenses1 or better1 the historical present1 down to the end of the chapter4 #f ,it is part of the argument for connecting ix4 #h with v4 #be that this phrase would be very natural after the earthquake described in v4 #be4 #c4 ,,war ,,and ,,defeat 7ix4 #ac-ag74--,the next consequent calamity passed from the land to the people themselves4 ,a great battle is described1 in which the nation is dismembered in one day4 ,war and its horrors are told1 and the apparent want of ,divine pity and discrimination which they imply is explained4 ,israel has been led into these disasters by the folly of their leaders1 whom ,isaiah therefore singles out for blame4 ,for they that lead these people cause them to err1 and they that are led of them are destroyed4 ,but the real horror of war is that it falls not upon its authors1 that its victims are not statesmen1 but the beauty of a country's youth1 the helplessness of the widow and orphan4 ,some question seems to have been stirred by this in ,isaiah's heart4 ,he asks1 ,why does the ,lord not rejoice in the young men of ,his people8 ,why has ,he no pity for widow and orphan1 that ,he thus sacrifices them to the sin of the rulers8 ,it is because the whole nation shares the ruler's guilt2 every one is an hypocrite and an evil-doer1 and every mouth speaketh folly4 ,as ruler so people1 is a truth ,isaiah frequently asserts1 but never with such grimness as here4 ,war brings out1 as nothing else does1 the solidarity of a people in guilt4 #d4 ,,internal ,,anarchy 7ix4 #ah-ba74--;,even yet the people did not repent2 their calamities only drove them to further wickedness4 ,the prophet's eyes are opened to the awful fact that ,god's wrath is but the blast that fans men's hot sins to flame4 ,this is one of those two or three awful scenes in history1 in the conflagration of which we cannot tell what is human sin and what ,divine judgement4 ,there is a panic wickedness1 sin spreading like mania1 as if men were possessed by supernatural powers4 ,the physical metaphors of the prophet are evident3 a forest or prairie fire1 and the consequent famine1 whose fevered victims feed upon themselves4 ,and no less evident are the political facts which the prophet employs these metaphors to describe4 ,it is the anarchy which has beset more than one corrupt and unfortunate people1 when their misleaders have been overthrown3 the anarchy in which each faction seeks to slaughter out the rest4 ,jealousy and distrust awake the lust for blood1 rage seizes the people as fire the forest1 and no man spareth his brother4 ,we have had modern instances of all this2 these scenes form a true description of some days of the ,french ,revolution1 and are even a truer description of the civil war that broke out in ,paris after her late siege4 ,if that the heavens do not their visible spirits ,send quickly down to tame these vile offences1 ',t will come1 ,humanity must perforce prey on itself ,like monsters of the deep4#g #g ,king ,lear1 act iv41 sc4 #b4 #e4 ,,the ,,threat ,,of ,,captivity 7x4 #a-d74--,turning now from the past1 and from the fate of ,samaria1 with which it would appear he has been more particularly engaged1 the prophet addresses his own countrymen in ,judah1 and paints the future for them4 ,it is not a future in which there is any hope4 ,the day of their visitation also will surely come1 and the prophet sees it close in the darkest night of which a ,jewish heart could think--the night of captivity4 ,where1 he asks his unjust countrymen--where will ye then flee for help8 and where will you leave your glory8 ,cringing among the captives1 lying dead beneath heaps of dead--that is to be your fate1 who will have turned so often and then so finally from ,god4 ,when exactly the prophet thus warned his countrymen of captivity we do not know1 but the warning1 though so real1 produced neither penitence in men nor pity in ,god4 ,for all this ,his anger is not turned away1 but ,his hand is stretched out still4 #f4 ,,the ,,assyrian ,,invasion 7v4 #bf-cj74--,the prophet is1 therefore1 free to explain that cloud which has appeared far away on the northern horizon4 ,god's hand of judgement is still uplifted over ,judah1 and it is that hand which summons the cloud4 ,the ,assyrians are coming in answer to ,god's signal1 and they are coming as a flood1 to leave nothing but ruin and distress behind them4 ,no description by ,isaiah is more majestic than this one1 in which ,jehovah1 who has exhausted every nearer means of converting ,his people1 lifts ,his undrooping arm with a flag to the nations that are far off1 and hisses or whistles for them from the end of the earth4 ,and1 behold1 they come with speed1 swiftly3 there is no weary one nor straggler among them2 none slumbers nor sleeps2 nor loosed is the girdle of his loins1 nor broken the latchet of his shoes2 whose arrows are sharpened1 and all their bows bent2 their horses' hoofs are like the flint1 and their wheels like the whirlwind2 a roar have they like the lion's1 and they roar like young lions2 yea1 they growl and grasp the prey1 and carry it off1 and there is none to deliver4 ,and they growl upon him that day like the growling of the sea2 and if one looks to the land1 behold1 dark and distress1 and the light is darkened in the cloudy heaven4 ,thus ,isaiah leaves ,judah to await her doom4 ,but the tones of his weird refrain awaken in our hearts some thoughts which will not let his message go from us just yet4 ,it will ever be a question1 whether men abuse more their sorrows or their joys2 but no earnest soul can doubt1 which of these abuses is the more fatal4 ,to sin in the one case is to yield to a temptation2 to sin in the other is to resist a ,divine grace4 ,sorrow is ,god's last message to man2 it is ,god speaking in emphasis4 ,he who abuses it shows that he can shut his ears when ,god speaks loudest4 ,therefore heartlessness or impenitence after sorrow is more dangerous than intemperance in joy2 its results are always more tragic4 ,now ,isaiah points out that men's abuse of sorrow is twofold4 ,men abuse sorrow by mistaking it1 and they abuse sorrow by defying it4 ,men abuse sorrow by mistaking it1 when they see in it nothing but a penal or expiatory force4 ,to many men sorrow is what his devotions were to ,louis ,,xi41 which having religiously performed1 he felt the more brave to sin4 ,so with the ,samaritans1 who said in the stoutness of their hearts1 ,the bricks are fallen down1 but we will build with hewn stones2 the sycomores are cut down1 but we will change them into cedars4 ,to speak in this way is happy1 but heathenish4 ,it is to call sorrow bad luck2 it is to hear no voice of ,god in it1 saying1 ,be pure2 be humble2 lean upon ,me4 ,this disposition springs from a vulgar conception of ,god1 as of a ,being of no permanence in character1 easily irritated but relieved by a burst of passion1 smartly punishing ,his people and then leaving them to themselves4 ,it is a temper which says1 ,god is angry1 let us wait a little2 ,god is appeased1 let us go ahead again4 ,over against such vulgar views of a ,deity with a temper ,isaiah unveils the awful majesty of ,god in holy wrath3 ,for all this ,his anger is not turned away1 but ,his hand is stretched out still4 ,how grim and savage does it appear to our eyes till we understand the thoughts of the sinners to whom it was revealed6 ,god cannot dispel the cowardly thought1 that ,he is anxious only to punish1 except by letting ,his heavy hand abide till it purify also4 ,the permanence of ,god's wrath is thus an ennobling1 not a stupefying doctrine4 ,men also abuse sorrow by defying it1 but the end of this is madness4 ,it forms the greater part of the tragedy of ,king ,lear1 that the aged monarch1 though he has given his throne away1 retains his imperiousness of heart1 and continues to exhibit a senseless1 if sometimes picturesque1 pride and selfishness in face of misfortune4 ,even when he is overthrown he must still command2 he fights against the very elements2 he is determined to be at least the master of his own sufferings and destiny4 ,but for this the necessary powers fail him2 his life thus disordered terminates in madness4 ,it was only by such an affliction that a character like his could be brought to repentance1 444 to humility1 which is the parent of true love1 and that love in him could be purified4 ,hence the melancholy close of that tragedy4#h ,as ,shakespeare has dealt with the king1 so ,isaiah with the people2 he also shows us sorrow when it is defied bringing forth madness4 ,on so impious a height man's brain grows dizzy1 and he falls into that terrible abyss which is not1 as some imagine1 hell1 but ,god's last purgatory4 ,shakespeare brings shattered ,lear out of it1 and ,isaiah has a remnant of the people to save4 #h ,ulrici3 ,shakespeare's ,dramatic ,art4 ,,chapter ,,iv4 ,,isaiah',s ,,call ,,and ,,consecration4 ,,isaiah vi4 7#gdj ,b4,c42 ,,written #gce8 ,,or #gbe874 ,it has been already remarked that in chapter vi4 we should find no other truths than those which have been unfolded in chapters ii4-v43 the ,lord exalted in righteousness1 the coming of a terrible judgement from ,him upon ,judah1 and the survival of a bare remnant of the people4 ,but chapter vi4 treats the same subjects with a difference4 ,in chapters ii4-iv4 they gradually appear and grow to clearness in connection with the circumstances of ,judah's history2 in chapter v4 they are formally and rhetorically vindicated2 in chapter vi4 we are led back to the secret and solemn moments of their first inspiration in the prophet's own soul4 ,it may be asked why chapter vi4 comes last and not first in this series1 and why in an exposition1 attempting to deal1 as far as possible1 chronologically with ,isaiah's prophecies1 his call should not form the subject of the first chapter4 ,the answer is simple1 and throws a flood of light upon the chapter4 ,in all probability chapter vi4 was written after its predecessors1 and what ,isaiah has put into it is not only what happened in the earliest moments of his prophetic life1 but that spelt out and emphasized by his experience since4 ,the ideal character of the narrative1 and its date some years after the events which it relates1 are now generally admitted4 ,of course the narrative is all fact4 ,no one will believe that he1 whose glance penetrated with such keenness the character of men and movements1 looked with dimmer eye into his own heart4 ,it is the spiritual process which the prophet actually passed through before the opening of his ministry4 ,but it is that1 developed by subsequent experience1 and presented to us in the language of outward vision4 ,isaiah had been some years a prophet1 long enough to make clear that prophecy was not to be for him what it had been for his predecessors in ,israel1 a series of detached inspirations and occasional missions1 with short responsibilities1 but a work for life1 a profession and a career1 with all that this means of postponement1 failure1 and fluctuation of popular feeling4 ,success had not come so rapidly as the prophet in his original enthusiasm had looked for1 and his preaching had effected little upon the people4 ,therefore he would go back to the beginning1 remind himself of that to which ,god had really called him1 and vindicate the results of his ministry1 at which people scoffed and his own heart grew sometimes sick4 ,in chapter vi4 ,isaiah acts as his own remembrancer4 ,if we keep in mind1 that this chapter1 describing ,isaiah's call and consecration to the prophetic office1 was written by a man who felt that office to be the burden of a lifetime1 and who had to explain its nature and vindicate its results to his own soul--grown somewhat uncertain1 it may be1 of her original inspiration--we shall find light upon features of the chapter that are otherwise most obscure4 #a4 ,,the ,,vision 7vv4 #a-d74 ,several years1 then1 ,isaiah looks back and says1 ,in the year ,king ,uzziah died4 ,there is more than a date given here2 there is a great contrast suggested4 ,prophecy does not chronicle by time1 but by experiences1 and we have here1 as it seems1 the cardinal experience of a prophet's life4 ,all men knew of that glorious reign with the ghastly end--fifty years of royalty1 and then a lazar-house4 ,there had been no king like this one since ,solomon2 never1 since the son of ,david brought the ,queen of ,sheba to his feet1 had the national pride stood so high or the nation's dream of sovereignty touched such remote borders4 ,the people's admiration invested ,uzziah with all the graces of the ideal monarch4 ,the chronicler of ,judah tells us that ,god helped him and made him to prosper1 and his name spread far abroad1 and he was marvellously helped till he was strong2 he with the double name--,azariah1 ,jehovah-his-,helper2 ,uzziah1 ,jehovah-his-,strength4 ,how this glory fell upon the fancy of the future prophet1 and dyed it deep1 we may imagine from those marvellous colours1 with which in later years he painted the king in his beauty4 ,think of the boy1 the boy that was to be an ,isaiah1 the boy with the germs of this great prophecy in his heart--think of him and such a hero as this to shine upon him1 and we may conceive how his whole nature opened out beneath that sun of royalty and absorbed its light4 ,suddenly the glory was eclipsed1 and ,jerusalem learned that she had seen her king for the last time3 ,the ,lord smote the king so that he was a leper unto the day of his death1 and dwelt in a several house1 and he was cut off from the house of the ,lord4 ,uzziah had gone into the temple1 and attempted with his own hands to burn incense4 ,under a later dispensation of liberty he would have been applauded as a brave ,protestant1 vindicating the right of every worshipper of ,god to approach ,him without the intervention of a special priesthood4 ,under the earlier dispensation of law his act could be regarded only as one of presumption1 the expression of a worldly and irreverent temper1 which ignored the infinite distance between ,god and man4 ,it was followed1 as sins of wilfulness in religion were always followed under the old covenant1 by swift disaster4 ,uzziah suffered as ,saul1 ,uzzah1 ,nadab and ,abihu did4 ,the wrath1 with which he burst out on the opposing priests1 brought on1 or made evident as it is believed to have done in other cases1 an attack of leprosy4 ,the white spot stood out unmistakeably from the flushed forehead1 and he was thrust from the temple--yea1 himself also hasted to go out4 ,we can imagine how such a judgement1 the moral of which must have been plain to all1 affected the most sensitive heart in ,jerusalem4 ,isaiah's imagination was darkened1 but he tells us that the crisis was the enfranchisement of his faith4 ,in the year ,king ,uzziah died--it is as if a veil had dropped1 and the prophet saw beyond what it had hidden1 the ,lord sitting on a throne high and lifted up4 ,that it is no mere date ,isaiah means1 but a spiritual contrast which he is anxious to impress upon us1 is made clear by his emphasis of the rank and not the name of ,god4 ,it is the ,lord sitting upon a throne--the ,lord absolutely1 set over against the human prince4 ,the simple antithesis seems to speak of the passing away of the young man's hero-worship and the dawn of his faith2 and so interpreted1 this first verse of chapter vi4 is only a concise summary of that development of religious experience which we have traced through chapters ii4-iv4 ,had ,isaiah ever been subject to the religious temper of his time1 the careless optimism of a prosperous and proud people1 who entered upon their religious services without awe1 trampling the courts of the ,lord1 and used them like ,uzziah1 for their own honour1 who felt religion to be an easy thing1 and dismissed from it all thoughts of judgement and feelings of penitence--if ever ,isaiah had been subject to that temper1 then once for all he was redeemed by this stroke upon ,uzziah4 ,and1 as we have seen1 there is every reason to believe that ,isaiah did at first share the too easy public religion of his youth4 ,that early vision of his 7ii4 #b-e71 the establishment of ,israel at the head of the nations1 to be immediately attained at his own word 7v4 #e7 and without preliminary purification1 was it not simply a less gross form of the king's own religious presumption8 ,uzziah's fatal act was the expression of the besetting sin of his people1 and in that sin ,isaiah himself had been a partaker4 ,i am a man of unclean lips1 and ,i dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips4 ,in the person of their monarch the temper of the whole ,jewish nation had come to judgement4 ,seeking the ends of religion by his own way1 and ignoring the way ,god had appointed1 ,uzziah at the very moment of his insistence was hurled back and stamped unclean4 ,the prophet's eyes were opened4 ,the king sank into a leper's grave1 but before ,isaiah's vision the ,divine majesty arose in all its loftiness4 ,i saw the ,lord high and lifted up4 ,we already know what ,isaiah means by these terms4 ,he has used them of ,god's supremacy in righteousness above the low moral standards of men1 of ,god's occupation of a far higher throne than that of the national deity of ,judah1 of ,god's infinite superiority to ,israel's vulgar identification of ,his purposes with her material prosperity or ,his honour with the compromises of her politics1 and especially of ,god's seat as their ,judge over a people1 who sought in their religion only satisfaction for their pride and love of ease4 ,from this contrast the whole vision expands as follows4 ,under the mistaken idea that what ,isaiah describes is the temple in ,jerusalem1 it has been remarked1 that the place of his vision is wonderful in the case of one who set so little store by ceremonial worship4 ,this1 however1 to which our prophet looks is no house built with hands1 but ,jehovah's own heavenly palace 7ver4 #a--not temple72 only ,isaiah describes it in terms of the ,jerusalem temple which was its symbol4 ,it was natural that the temple should furnish ,isaiah not only with the framework of his vision1 but also with the platform from which he saw it4 ,for it was in the temple that ,uzziah's sin was sinned and ,god's holiness vindicated upon him4 ,it was in the temple that1 when ,isaiah beheld the scrupulous religiousness of the people1 the contrast of that with their evil lives struck him1 and he summed it up in the epigram wickedness and worship 7i4 #ac74 ,it was in the temple1 in short1 that the prophet's conscience had been most roused1 and just where the conscience is most roused there is the vision of ,god to be expected4 ,very probably it was while brooding over ,uzziah's judgement on the scene of its occurrence that ,isaiah beheld his vision4 ,yet for all the vision contained the temple itself was too narrow4 ,the truth which was to be revealed to ,isaiah1 the holiness of ,god1 demanded a wider stage and the breaking down of those partitions1 which1 while they had been designed to impress ,god's presence on the worshipper1 had only succeeded in veiling ,him4 ,so while the seer keeps his station on the threshold of the earthly building1 soon to feel it rock beneath his feet1 as heaven's praise bursts like thunder on the earth1 and while his immediate neighbourhood remains the same familiar house1 all beyond is glorified4 ,the veil of the temple falls away1 and everything behind it4 ,no ark nor mercy-seat is visible1 but a throne and a court--the palace of ,god in heaven1 as we have it also pictured in the eleventh and twenty-ninth ,psalms4 ,the ,royal ,presence is everywhere4 ,isaiah describes no face1 only a ,presence and a ,session3 the ,lord sitting on a throne1 and ,his skirts filled the palace4 ,no face2 only the sight ,of a sweepy garment vast and white ,with a hem that ,i could recognize4#i #i ,browning's ,christmas ,eve4 ,around 7not above1 as in the ,english version7 were ranged the hovering courtiers1 of what shape and appearance we know not1 except that they veiled their faces and their feet before the awful ,holiness1--all wings and voice1 perfect readinesses of praise and service4 ,the prophet heard them chant in antiphon1 like the temple choirs of priests4 ,and the one choir cried out1 ,holy1 holy1 holy is ,jehovah of hosts2 and the other responded1 ,the whole earth is full of ,his glory4 ,it is by the familiar name ,jehovah of hosts--the proper name of ,israel's national ,god--that the prophet hears the choirs of heaven address the ,divine ,presence4 ,but what they ascribe to the ,deity is exactly what ,israel will not ascribe1 and the revelation they make of ,his nature is the contradiction of ,israel's thoughts concerning ,him4 ,what1 in the first place1 is ,,holiness8 ,we attach this term to a definite standard of morality or an unusually impressive fulness of character4 ,to our minds it is associated with very positive forces1 as of comfort and conviction--perhaps because we take our ideas of it from the active operations of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,the original force of the term holiness1 however1 was not positive but negative1 and throughout the ,old ,testament1 whatever modifications its meaning undergoes1 it retains a negative flavour4 ,the ,hebrew word for holiness springs from a root which means to set apart1 make distinct1 put at a distance from4 ,when ,god is described as the ,holy ,one in the ,old ,testament it is generally with the purpose of withdrawing ,him from some presumption of men upon ,his majesty or of negativing their unworthy thoughts of ,him4 ,the ,holy ,one is the ,incomparable3 ,to whom1 then1 will ye liken ,me1 that ,i should be equal to him8 saith the ,holy ,one 7xl4 #be74 ,he is the ,unapproachable3 ,who is able to stand before ,jehovah1 this holy ,god8 7#a ,sam4 vi4 #bj74 ,he is the ,utter ,contrast of man3 ,i am ,god1 and not man1 the ,holy ,one in the midst of thee 7,hosea xi4 #i74 ,he is the ,exalted and ,sublime3 ,thus saith the high and lofty ,one that inhabiteth eternity1 whose name is ,holy3 ,i dwell in the high and holy place 7lvii4 #ae74 ,generally speaking1 then1 holiness is equivalent to separateness1 sublimity--in fact1 just to that loftiness or exaltation which ,isaiah has already so often reiterated as the principal attribute of ,god4 ,in their thrice-repeated ,holy the seraphs are only telling more emphatically to the prophet's ears what his eyes have already seen1 the ,lord high and lifted up4 ,better expression could not be found for the full idea of ,godhead4 ,this little word ,holy radiates heaven's own breadth of meaning4 ,within its fundamental idea--distance or difference from man--what spaces are there not for every attribute of ,godhead to flash8 ,if the ,holy ,one be originally ,he who is distinct from man and man's thoughts1 and who impresses man from the beginning with the awful sublimity of the contrast in which ,he stands to him1 how naturally may holiness come to cover not only that moral purity and intolerance of sin to which we now more strictly apply the term1 but those metaphysical conceptions as well1 which we gather up under the name supernatural1 and so finally1 by lifting the ,divine nature away from the change and vanity of this world1 and emphasizing ,god's independence of all beside ,himself1 become the fittest expression we have for ,him as the ,infinite and ,self-existent4 ,thus the word holy appeals in turn to each of the three great faculties of man's nature1 by which he can be religiously exercised--his conscience1 his affections1 his reason2 it covers the impressions which ,god makes on man as a sinner1 on man as a worshipper1 on man as a thinker4 ,the ,holy ,one is not only the ,sinless and ,sin-abhorring1 but the ,sublime and the ,absolute too4 ,but while we recognize the exhaustiveness of the series of ideas about the ,divine ,nature1 which develop from the root meaning of holiness1 and to express which the word holy is variously used throughout the ,scriptures1 we must not1 if we are to appreciate the use of the word on this occasion1 miss the motive of recoil which starts them all4 ,if we would hear what ,isaiah heard in the seraphs' song1 we must distinguish in the three-fold ascription of holiness the intensity of recoil from the confused religious views and low moral temper of the prophet's generation4 ,it is no scholastic definition of ,deity which the seraphim are giving4 ,not for a moment is it to be supposed that to that age1 whose representative is listening to them1 they are attempting to convey an idea of the ,trinity4 ,their thrice-uttered ,holy is not theological accuracy1 but religious emphasis4 ,this angelic revelation of the holiness of ,god was intended for a generation1 some of whom were idol-worshippers1 confounding the ,godhead with the work of their own hands or with natural objects1 and none of whom were free from a confusion in principle of the ,divine with the human and worldly1 for which now sheer mental slovenliness1 now a dull moral sense1 and now positive pride was to blame4 ,to worshippers who trampled the courts of the ,lord with the careless feet1 and looked up the temple with the unabashed faces1 of routine1 the cry of the seraphs1 as they veiled their faces and their feet1 travailed to restore that shuddering sense of the sublimity of the ,divine ,presence1 which in the impressible youth of the race first impelled man1 bowing low beneath the awful heavens1 to name ,god by the name of the ,holy4 ,to men1 again1 careful of the legal forms of worship1 but lawless and careless in their lives1 the song of the seraphs revealed not the hard truth1 against which they had already rubbed conscience trite1 that ,god's law was inexorable1 but the fiery fact that ,his whole nature burned with wrath towards sin4 ,to men1 once more1 proud of their prestige and material prosperity1 and presuming in their pride to take their own way with ,god1 and to employ like ,uzziah the exercises of religion for their own honour1 this vision presented the real sovereignty of ,god3 the ,lord ,himself seated on a throne there--just where they felt only a theatre for the display of their pride1 or machinery for the attainment of their private ends4 ,thus did the three-fold cry of the angels meet the three-fold sinfulness of that generation of men4 ,but the first line of the seraph's song serves more than a temporary end4 ,the ,trisagion rings1 and has need to ring1 for ever down the ,church4 ,everywhere and at all times these are the three besetting sins of religious people--callousness in worship1 carelessness in life1 and the temper which employs the forms of religion simply for self-indulgence or self-aggrandisement4 ,these sins are induced by the same habit of contentment with mere form2 they can be corrected only by the vision of the ,personal ,presence who is behind all form4 ,our organization1 ritual1 law and sacrament--we must be able to see them fall away1 as ,isaiah saw the sanctuary itself disappear1 before ,god ,himself1 if we are to remain heartily moral and fervently religious4 ,the ,church of ,god has to learn that no mere multiplication of forms1 nor a more sthetic arrangement of them1 will redeem her worshippers from callousness4 ,callousness is but the shell which the feelings develop in self-defence when left by the sluggish and impenetrative soul to beat upon the hard outsides of form4 ,and nothing will fuse this shell of callousness but that ardent flame1 which is kindled at the touching of the ,divine and human spirits1 when forms have fallen away and the soul beholds with open face the ,eternal ,himself4 ,as with worship1 so with morality4 ,holiness is secured not by ceremonial1 but by a reverence for a holy ,being4 ,we shall rub our consciences trite against moral maxims or religious rites4 ,it is the effluence of a ,presence1 which alone can create in us1 and keep in us1 a clean heart4 ,and if any object that we thus make light of ritual and religious law1 of ,church and sacrament1 the reply is obvious4 ,ritual and sacrament are to the living ,god but as the wick of a candle to the light thereof4 ,they are given to reveal ,him1 and the process is not perfect unless they themselves perish from the thoughts to which they convey ,him4 ,if ,god is not felt to be present1 as ,isaiah felt ,him to be1 to the exclusion of all forms1 then these will be certain to be employed1 as ,uzziah employed them1 for the sake of the only other spiritual being of whom the worshipper is conscious--himself4 ,unless we are able to forget our ritual in spiritual communion with the very ,god1 and to become unconscious of our organization in devout consciousness of our personal relation to ,him1 then ritual will be only a means of sensuous indulgence1 organization only a machinery for selfish or sectarian ends4 ,the vision of ,god--this is the one thing needful for worship and for conduct4 ,but while the one verse of the antiphon reiterates what ,jehovah of hosts is in ,himself1 the other describes what ,he is in revelation4 ,the whole earth is full of ,his glory4 ,glory is the correlative of holiness4 ,glory is that in which holiness comes to expression4 ,glory is the expression of holiness1 as beauty is the expression of health4 ,if holiness be as deep as we have seen1 so varied then will glory be4 ,there is nothing in the earth but it is the glory of ,god4 ,the fulness of the whole earth is ,his glory1 is the proper grammatical rendering of the song4 ,for ,jehovah of hosts is not the ,god only of ,israel1 but the ,maker of heaven and earth1 and not the victory of ,israel alone1 but the wealth and the beauty of all the world is ,his glory4 ,so universal an ascription of glory is the proper parallel to that of absolute ,godhead1 which is implied in holiness4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,call 7vv4 #d-h74 ,thus1 then1 ,isaiah1 standing on earth1 on the place of a great sin1 with the conscience of his people's evil in his heart1 and himself not without the feeling of guilt1 looked into heaven1 and beholding the glory of ,god1 heard also with what pure praise and readiness of service the heavenly hosts surround ,his throne4 ,no wonder the prophet felt the polluted threshold rock beneath him1 or that as where fire and water mingle there should be the rising of a great smoke4 ,for the smoke described is not1 as some have imagined1 that of acceptable incense1 thick billows swelling through the temple to express the completion and satisfaction of the seraphs' worship2 but it is the mist which ever arises where holiness and sin touch each other4 ,it has been described both as the obscurity that envelops a weak mind in presence of a truth too great for it1 and the darkness that falls upon a diseased eye when exposed to the mid-day sun4 ,these are only analogies1 and may mislead us4 ,what ,isaiah actually felt was the dim-eyed shame1 the distraction1 the embarrassment1 the blinding shock of a personal encounter with ,one whom he was utterly unfit to meet4 ,for this was a personal encounter4 ,we have spelt out the revelation sentence by sentence in gradual argument2 but ,isaiah did not reach it through argument or brooding4 ,it was not to the prophet what it is to his expositors1 a pregnant thought1 that his intellect might gradually unfold1 but a ,personal ,presence1 which apprehended and overwhelmed him4 ,god and he were there face to face4 ,then said ,i1 ,woe is me1 for ,i am undone1 because a man unclean of lips am ,i1 and in the midst of a people unclean of lips do ,i dwell2 for the ,king1 ,jehovah of hosts1 mine eyes have beheld4 ,the form of the prophet's confession1 uncleanness of lips1 will not surprise us as far as he makes it for himself4 ,as with the disease of the body1 so with the sin of the soul2 each often gathers to one point of pain4 ,every man1 though wholly sinful by nature1 has his own particular consciousness of guilt4 ,isaiah being a prophet felt his mortal weakness most upon his lips4 ,the inclusion of the people1 however1 along with himself under this form of guilt1 suggests a wider interpretation of it4 ,the lips are1 as it were1 the blossom of a man4 ,grace is poured upon thy lips1 therefore ,god hath blessed thee for ever4 ,if any man offend not in word1 the same is a perfect man1 able to bridle the whole body also4 ,it is in the blossom of a plant that the plant's defects become conspicuous2 it is when all a man's faculties combine for the complex and delicate office of expression that any fault which is in him will come to the surface4 ,isaiah had been listening to the perfect praise of sinless beings1 and it brought into startling relief the defects of his own people's worship4 ,unclean of lips these were indeed when brought against that heavenly choir4 ,their social and political sin--sin of heart and home and market--came to a head in their worship1 and what should have been the blossom of their life fell to the ground like a rotten leaf beneath the stainless beauty of the seraphs' praise4 ,while the prophet thus passionately gathered his guilt upon his lips1 a sacrament was preparing on which ,god concentrated ,his mercy to meet it4 ,sacrament and lips1 applied mercy and presented sin1 now come together4 ,then flew unto me one of the seraphim1 and in his hand a glowing stone--with tongs had he taken it off the altar--and he touched my mouth and said1 ,lo1 this hath touched thy lips1 and so thy iniquity passeth away and thy sin is atoned for4 ,the idea of this function is very evident1 and a scholar who has said that it would perhaps be quite intelligible to the contemporaries of the prophet1 but is undoubtedly obscure to us1 appears to have said just the reverse of what is right2 for so simple a process of atonement leaves out the most characteristic details of the ,jewish ritual of sacrifice1 while it anticipates in an unmistakeable manner the essence of the ,christian sacrament4 ,in a scene of expiation laid under the old covenant1 we are struck by the absence of oblation or sacrificial act on the part of the sinner himself4 ,there is here no victim slain1 no blood sprinkled2 an altar is only parenthetically suggested1 and even then in its simplest form1 of a hearth on which the ,divine fire is continually burning4 ,the glowing stone1 not live coal as in the ,english version1 was no part of the temple furniture1 but the ordinary means of conveying heat or applying fire in the various purposes of household life4 ,there was1 it is true1 a carrying of fire in some of the temple services1 as1 for example1 on the great ,day of ,atonement1 but then it was effected by a small grate filled with living embers4 ,in the household1 on the other hand1 when cakes had to be baked1 or milk boiled1 or water warmed1 or in fifty similar applications of fire1 a glowing stone taken from off the hearth was the invariable instrument4 ,it is this swift and simple domestic process which ,isaiah now sees substituted for the slow and intricate ceremonial of the temple--a seraph with a glowing stone in his hand1 with tongs had he taken it off the altar4 ,and yet the prophet feels this only as a more direct expression of the very same idea1 with which the elaborate ritual was inspired--for which the victim was slain1 and the flesh consumed in fire1 and the blood sprinkled4 ,isaiah desires nothing else1 and receives no more1 than the ceremonial law was intended to assure to the sinner--pardon of his sin and reconciliation to ,god4 ,but our prophet will have conviction of these immediately1 and with a force which the ordinary ritual is incapable of expressing4 ,the feelings of this ,jew are too intense and spiritual to be satisfied with the slow pageant of the earthly temple1 whose performances to a man in his horror could only have appeared so indifferent and far away from himself as not to be really his own nor to effect what he passionately desired4 ,instead therefore of laying his guilt in the shape of some victim on the altar1 ,isaiah1 with a keener sense of its inseparableness from himself1 presents it to ,god upon his own lips4 ,instead of being satisfied with beholding the fire of ,god consume it on another body than his own1 at a distance from himself1 he feels that fire visit the very threshold of his nature1 where he has gathered the guilt1 and consume it there4 ,the whole secret of this startling nonconformity to the law1 on the very floor of the temple1 is that for a man who has penetrated to the presence of ,god the legal forms are left far behind1 and he stands face to face with the truth by which they are inspired4 ,in that ,divine ,presence ,isaiah is his own altar2 he acts his guilt in his own person1 and so he feels the expiatory fire come to his very self directly from the heavenly hearth4 ,it is a replica of the fifty-first ,psalm3 ,for ,thou delightest not in sacrifice1 else would ,i give it2 ,thou hast no pleasure in burnt offering4 ,the sacrifices of ,god are a broken spirit4 ,this is my sacrifice1 my sense of guilt gathered here upon my lips3 my broken and contrite heart1 who feel myself undone before ,thee1 ,lord1 ,thou wilt not despise4 ,it has always been remarked as one of the most powerful proofs of the originality and ,divine force of ,christianity1 that from man's worship of ,god1 and especially from those parts in which the forgiveness of sin is sought and assured1 it did away with the necessity of a physical rite of sacrifice2 that it broke the universal and immemorial habit by which man presented to ,god a material offering for the guilt of his soul4 ,by remembering this fact we may measure the religious significance of the scene we now contemplate4 ,nearly eight centuries before there was accomplished upon ,calvary that ,divine ,sacrifice for sin1 which abrogated a rite of expiation1 hitherto universally adopted by the conscience of humanity1 we find a ,jew1 in the dispensation where such a rite was most religiously enforced1 trembling under the conviction of sin1 and upon a floor crowded with suggestions of physical sacrifice2 yet the only sacrifice he offers is the purely spiritual one of confession4 ,it is most notable4 ,look at it from a human point of view1 and we can estimate ,isaiah's immense spiritual originality2 look at it from a ,divine1 and we cannot help perceiving a distinct foreshadow of what was to take place by the blood of ,jesus under the new covenant4 ,to this man1 as to some others of his dispensation1 whose experience our ,christian sympathy recognizes so readily in the ,psalms1 there was granted aforetime boldness to enter into the holiest4 ,for this is the explanation of ,isaiah's marvellous disregard of the temple ritual4 ,it is all behind him4 ,this man has passed within the veil4 ,forms are all behind him1 and he is face to face with ,god4 ,but between two beings in that position1 intercourse by the far off and uncertain signals of sacrifice is inconceivable4 ,it can only take place by the simple unfolding of the heart4 ,it must be rational1 intelligent and by speech4 ,when man is at such close quarters with ,god what sacrifice is possible but the sacrifice of the lips8 ,form for the ,divine reply there must be some1 for even ,christianity has its sacraments1 but like them this sacrament is of the very simplest form1 and like them it is accompanied by the explanatory word4 ,as ,christ under the new covenant took bread and wine1 and made the homely action of feeding upon them the sign and seal to ,his disciples of the forgiveness of their sins1 so ,his angel under the old and sterner covenant took the more severe1 but as simple and domestic form of fire to express the same to ,his prophet4 ,and we do well to emphasize that the experimental value of this sacrament of fire is bestowed by the word attached to it4 ,it is not a dumb sacrament1 with a magical efficacy4 ,but the prophet's mind is persuaded and his conscience set at peace by the intelligible words of the minister of the sacrament4 ,isaiah's sin being taken away1 he is able to discern the voice of ,god ,himself4 ,it is in the most beautiful accordance with what has already happened that he hears this not as command1 but request1 and answers not of compulsion1 but of freedom4 ,and ,i heard the voice of the ,lord saying1 ,whom shall ,i send8 and who will go for us8 ,and ,i said1 ,here am ,i2 send me4 ,what spiritual understanding alike of the will of ,god and the responsibility of man1 what evangelic liberty and boldness1 are here6 ,here we touch the spring of that high flight ,isaiah takes both in prophecy and in active service for the ,state4 ,here we have the secret of the filial freedom1 the life-long sense of responsibility1 the regal power of initiative1 the sustained and unfaltering career1 which distinguish ,isaiah among the ministers of the old covenant1 and stamp him prophet by the heart and for the life1 as many of them are only by the office and for the occasion4 ,other prophets are the servants of the ,god of heaven2 ,isaiah stands next the ,son ,himself4 ,on others the hand of the ,lord is laid in irresistible compulsion2 the greatest of them are often ignorant1 by turns headstrong and craven1 deserving correction1 and generally in need of supplementary calls and inspirations4 ,but of such scourges and such doles ,isaiah's royal career is absolutely without a trace4 ,his course1 begun in freedom1 is pursued without hesitation or anxiety2 begun in utter self-sacrifice1 it knows henceforth no moment of grudging or disobedience4 ,esaias is very bold1 because he is so free and so fully devoted4 ,in the presence of mind with which he meets each sudden change of politics during that bewildering half-century of ,judah's history1 we seem to hear his calm voice repeating its first1 ,here am ,i4 ,presence of mind he always had4 ,the kaleidoscope shifts3 it is now ,egyptian intrigue1 now ,assyrian force2 now a false king requiring threat of displacement by ,god's own hero1 now a true king1 but helpless and in need of consolation2 now a rebellious people to be condemned1 and now an oppressed and penitent one to be encouraged3--different dangers1 with different sorts of salvation possible1 obliging the prophet to promise different futures1 and to say things inconsistent with what he had already said4 ,yet ,isaiah never hesitates2 he can always say1 ,here am ,i4 ,we hear that voice again in the spontaneousness and versatility of his style4 ,isaiah is one of the great kings of literature1 with every variety of style under his sway1 passing with perfect readiness1 as subject or occasion calls1 from one to another of the tones of a superbly endowed nature4 ,everywhere this man impresses us with his personality1 with the wealth of his nature and the perfection of his control of it4 ,but the personality is consecrated4 ,the ,here am ,i is followed by the send me4 ,and its health1 harmony and boldness1 are derived1 ,isaiah being his own witness1 from this early sense of pardon and purification at the ,divine hands4 ,isaiah is indeed a king and a priest unto ,god--a king with all his powers at his own command1 a priest with them all consecrated to the service of ,heaven4 ,one cannot pass away from these verses without observing the plain answer which they give to the question1 ,what is a call to the ministry of ,god8 ,in these days of dust and distraction1 full of party cries1 with so many side issues of doctrine and duty presenting themselves1 and the solid attractions of so many other services insensibly leading men to look for the same sort of attractiveness in the ministry1 it may prove a relief to some to ponder the simple elements of ,isaiah's call to be a professional and life-long prophet4 ,isaiah got no call in our conventional sense of the word1 no compulsion that he must go1 no articulate voice describing him as the sort of man needed for the work1 nor any of those similar calls which sluggish and craven spirits so often desire to relieve them of the responsibility or the strenuous effort needed in deciding for a profession which their conscience will not permit them to refuse4 ,isaiah got no such call4 ,after passing through the fundamental religious experiences of forgiveness and cleansing1 which are in every case the indispensable premises of life with ,god1 ,isaiah was left to himself4 ,no direct summons was addressed to him1 no compulsion was laid on him2 but he heard the voice of ,god asking generally for messengers1 and he on his own responsibility answered it for himself in particular4 ,he heard from the ,divine lips of the ,divine need for messengers1 and he was immediately full of the mind that he was the man for the mission1 and of the heart to give himself to it4 ,so great an example cannot be too closely studied by candidates for the ministry in our own day4 ,sacrifice is not the half-sleepy1 half-reluctant submission to the force of circumstance or opinion1 in which shape it is so often travestied among us1 but the resolute self-surrender and willing resignation of a free and reasonable soul4 ,there are many in our day who look for an irresistible compulsion into the ministry of the ,church2 sensitive as they are to the material bias by which men roll off into other professions1 they pray for something of a similar kind to prevail with them in this direction also4 ,there are men who pass into the ministry by social pressure or the opinion of the circles they belong to1 and there are men who adopt the profession simply because it is on the line of least resistance4 ,from which false beginnings rise the spent force1 the premature stoppages1 the stagnancy1 the aimlessness and heartlessness1 which are the scandals of the professional ministry and the weakness of the ,christian ,church in our day4 ,men who drift into the ministry1 as it is certain so many do1 become mere ecclesiastical flotsam and jetsam1 incapable of giving carriage to any soul across the waters of this life1 uncertain of their own arrival anywhere1 and of all the waste of their generation1 the most patent and disgraceful4 ,god will have no drift-wood for ,his sacrifices1 no drift-men for ,his ministers4 ,self-consecration is the beginning of ,his service1 and a sense of our own freedom and our own responsibility is an indispensable element in the act of self-consecration4 ,we--not ,god--have to make the decision4 ,we are not to be dead1 but living1 sacrifices1 and everything which renders us less than fully alive both mars at the time the sincerity of our surrender and reacts for evil upon the whole of our subsequent ministry4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,commission 7vv4 #i-ac74 ,a heart so resolutely devoted as we have seen ,isaiah's to be was surely prepared against any degree of discouragement1 but probably never did man receive so awful a commission as he describes himself to have done4 ,not that we are to suppose that this fell upon ,isaiah all at once1 in the suddenness and distinctness with which he here records it4 ,our sense of its awfulness will only be increased when we realize that ,isaiah became aware of it1 not in the shock of a single discovery1 sufficiently great to have carried its own ansthetic along with it1 but through a prolonged process of disillusion1 and at the pain of those repeated disappointments1 which are all the more painful that none singly is great enough to stupefy4 ,it is just at this point of our chapter1 that we feel most the need of supposing it to have been written some years after the consecration of ,isaiah1 when his experience had grown long enough to articulate the dim forebodings of that solemn moment4 ,go and say to this people1 ,hearing1 hear ye1 but understand not2 seeing1 see ye1 but know not4 ,make fat the heart of this people1 and its ears make heavy1 and its eyes smear1 lest it see with its eyes1 and hear with its ears1 and its heart understand1 and it turn again and be healed4 ,no prophet1 we may be sure1 would be asked by ,god to go and tell his audiences that in so many words1 at the beginning of his career4 ,it is only by experience that a man understands that kind of a commission1#aj and for the required experience ,isaiah had not long to wait after entering on his ministry4 ,ahaz himself1 in whose death-year it is supposed by many that ,isaiah wrote this account of his consecration--the conduct of ,ahaz himself was sufficient to have brought out the convictions of the prophet's heart in this startling form1 in which he has stated his commission4 ,by the word of the ,lord and an offer of a sign from ,him1 ,isaiah did make fat that monarch's heart and smear his eyes4 ,and perverse as the rulers of ,judah were in the examples and policies they set1 the people were as blindly bent on following them to destruction4 ,every one1 said ,isaiah1 when he must have been for some time a prophet--every one is a hypocrite and an evildoer1 and every mouth speaketh folly4 #aj ,even ,calvin1 though in order to prove that ,isaiah had been prophesying for some time before his inaugural vision1 says that his commission implies some years' actual experience of the obstinacy of the people4 ,but if that clear1 bitter way of putting the matter can have come to ,isaiah only with the experience of some years1 why does he place it upon the lips of ,god1 as they give him his commission8 ,because ,isaiah is stating not merely his own singular experience1 but a truth always true of the preaching of the word of ,god1 and of which no prophet at the time of his consecration to that ministry can be without at least a foreboding4 ,we have not exhausted the meaning of this awful commission when we say that it is only a forcible anticipation of the prophet's actual experience4 ,there is more here than one man's experience4 ,over and over again are these words quoted in the ,new ,testament1 till we learn to find them true always and everywhere that the ,word of ,god is preached to men1--the description of what would seem to be its necessary effect upon many souls4 ,both ,jesus and ,paul use ,isaiah's commission of themselves4 ,they do so like ,isaiah at an advanced stage in their ministry1 when the shock of misunderstanding and rejection has been repeatedly felt1 but then not solely as an apt description of their own experience4 ,they quote ,god's words to ,isaiah as a prophecy fulfilled in their own case--that is to say1 as the statement of a great principle or truth of which their own ministry is only another instance4 ,their own disappointments have roused them to the fact1 that this is always an effect of the word of ,god upon numbers of men--to deaden their spiritual faculties4 ,while ,matthew and the book of ,acts adopt the milder ,greek version of ,isaiah's commission1 ,john gives a rendering that is even stronger than the original4 ,he hath blinded1 he says of ,god ,himself1 their eyes and hardened their hearts1 lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their hearts4 ,in ,mark's narrative ,christ says that ,he speaks to them that are outside in parables1 for the purpose that seeing they may see1 and not perceive1 and hearing they may hear1 and not understand1 lest haply they should turn again and it should be forgiven them4 ,we may suspect1 in an utterance so strange to the lips of the ,lord of salvation1 merely the irony of ,his baffled love4 ,but it is rather the statement of what ,he believed to be the necessary effect of a ministry like ,his own4 ,it marks the direction1 not of ,his desire1 but of natural sequence4 ,with these instances we can go back to ,isaiah and understand why he should have described the bitter fruits of experience as an imperative laid upon him by ,god4 ,make fat the heart of this people1 and its ears make heavy1 and its eyes do thou smear4 ,it is the fashion of the prophet's grammar1 when it would state a principle or necessary effect1 to put it in the form of a command4 ,what ,god expresses to ,isaiah so imperatively as almost to take our breath away2 what ,christ uttered with such abruptness that we ask1 ,does ,he speak in irony8 what ,paul laid down as the conviction of a long and patient ministry1 is the great truth that the ,word of ,god has not only a saving power1 but that even in its gentlest pleadings and its purest ,gospel1 even by the mouth of ,him who came1 not to condemn1 but to save the world1 it has a power that is judicial and condemnatory4 ,it is frequently remarked by us as perhaps the most deplorable fact of our experience1 that there exists in human nature an accursed facility for turning ,god's gifts to precisely the opposite ends from those for which ,he gave them4 ,so common is man's misunderstanding of the plainest signs1 and so frequent his abuse of the most evident favours of ,heaven1 that a spectator of the drama of human history might imagine its ,author to have been a ,cynic or ,comedian1 portraying for ,his own amusement the loss of the erring at the very moment of what might have been their recovery1 the frustration of love at the point of its greatest warmth and expectancy4 ,let him look closer1 however1 and he will perceive1 not a comedy1 but a tragedy1 for neither chance nor cruel sport is here at work1 but free will and the laws of habit1 with retribution and penalty4 ,these actors are not puppets in the hand of a ,power that moves them at will2 each of them plays his own part1 and the abuse and contradiction1 of which he is guilty1 are but the prerogative of his freedom4 ,they are free beings who thus reject the gift of ,divine assistance1 and so piteously misunderstand ,divine truth4 ,look closer still1 and you will see that the way they talk1 the impression they accept of ,god's goodness1 the effect of ,his judgements upon them1 is determined not at the moment of their choice1 and not by a single act of their will1 but by the whole tenor of their previous life4 ,in the sudden flash of some gift or opportunity1 men reveal the stuff of which they are made1 the disposition they have bred in themselves4 ,opportunity in human life is as often judgement as it is salvation4 ,when we perceive these things1 we understand that life is not a comedy1 where chance governs or incongruous situations are invented by an ,almighty ,satirist for his own sport1 but a tragedy1 with all tragedy's pathetic elements of royal wills contending in freedom with each other1 of men's wills clashing with ,god's3 men the makers of their own destinies1 and ,nemesis not directing1 but following their actions4 ,we go back to the very fundamentals of our nature on this dread question4 ,to understand what has been called a great law in human degeneracy1 that the evil heart can assimilate good to itself and convert it to its nature1 we must understand what free will means1 and take into account the terrible influence of habit4 ,now there is no more conspicuous instance of this law1 than that which is afforded by the preaching of the ,gospel of ,god4 ,god's ,word1 as ,christ reminds us1 does not fall on virgin soil2 it falls on soil already holding other seed4 ,when a preacher stands up with the ,word of ,god in a great congregation1 vast as ,scripture warrants us for believing his power to be1 his is not the only power that is operative4 ,each man present has a life behind that hour and place1 lying away in the darkness1 silent and dead as far as the congregation are concerned1 but in his own heart as vivid and loud as the voice of the preacher1 though he be preaching never so forcibly4 ,the prophet is not the only power in the delivery of ,god's ,word1 nor is the ,holy ,spirit the only power4 ,that would make all preaching of the ,word a mere display4 ,but the ,bible represents it as a strife4 ,and now it is said of men themselves that they harden their hearts against the ,word1 and now--because such hardening is the result of previous sinning1 and has therefore a judicial character--that ,god hardens their hearts4 ,simon1 ,simon1 said ,christ to a face that spread out to ,his own all the ardour of worship1 ,satan is desiring to have you1 but ,i have prayed that your faith fail not4 ,god sends ,his ,word into our hearts2 the ,mediator stands by1 and prays that it make us ,his own4 ,but there are other factors in the operation1 and the result depends on our own will2 it depends on our own will1 and it is dreadfully determined by our habits4 ,now this is one of the first facts to which a young reformer or prophet awakes4 ,such an awakening is a necessary element in his education and apprenticeship4 ,he has seen the ,lord high and lifted up4 ,his lips have been touched by the coal from off the altar4 ,his first feeling is that nothing can withstand that power1 nothing gainsay this inspiration4 ,is he a ,nehemiah1 and the hand of the ,lord has been mighty upon him8 ,then he feels that he has but to tell his fellows of it to make them as enthusiastic in the ,lord's work as himself4 ,is he a ,mazzini1 aflame from his boyhood with aspirations for his country1 consecrated from his birth to the cause of duty8 ,then he leaps with joy upon his mission2 he has but to show himself1 to speak1 to lead the way1 and his country is free4 ,is he--to descend to a lower degree of prophecy--a ,fourier1 sensitive more than most to how anarchic society is1 and righteously eager to settle it upon stable foundations8 ,then he draws his plans for reconstruction1 he projects his phalanges and phalansteres1 and believes that he has solved the social problem4 ,is he--to come back to the heights--an ,isaiah1 with the ,word of ,god in him like fire8 ,then he sees his vision of the perfect state2 he thinks to lift his people to it by a word4 ,o house of ,jacob1 he says1 come ye1 and let us walk in the light of the ,lord6 ,for all of whom the next necessary stage of experience is one of disappointment1 with the hard commission1 ,make the heart of this people fat4 ,they must learn that1 if ,god has caught themselves young1 and when it was possible to make them entirely ,his own1 the human race to whom ,he sends them is old1 too old for them to effect much upon the mass of it beyond the hardening and perpetuation of evil4 ,fourier finds that to produce his perfect ,state he would need to re-create mankind1 to cut down the tree to the very roots1 and begin again4 ,after the first rush of patriotic fervour1 which carried so many of his countrymen with him1 ,mazzini discovers himself in a moral desert1 confesses that the struggle to liberate his fatherland1 which has only quickened him to further devotion in so great a cause1 has been productive of scepticism in his followers1 and has left them withered and hardened of heart1 whom it had found so capable of heroic impulses4 ,he tells us how they upbraided and scorned him1 left him in exile1 and returned to their homes1 from which they had set out with vows to die for their country1 doubting now whether there was anything at all worth living or dying for outside themselves4 ,mazzini's description of the first passage of his career is invaluable for the light which it throws upon this commission of ,isaiah4 ,history does not contain a more dramatic representation of the entirely opposite effects of the same ,divine movement upon different natures4 ,while the first efforts for the liberty of ,italy materialized the greater number of his countrymen1 whom ,mazzini had persuaded to embark upon it1 the failure and their consequent defection only served to strip this heroic soul of the last rags of selfishness1 and consecrate it more utterly to the will of ,god and the duty that lay before it4 ,a few sentences from the confessions of the ,italian patriot may be quoted1 with benefit to our appreciation of what the ,hebrew prophet must have passed through4 ,it was the tempest of doubt1 which ,i believe all who devote their lives to a great enterprise1 yet have not dried and withered up their soul--like ,robespierre--beneath some barren intellectual formula1 but have retained a loving heart1 are doomed1 once at least1 to battle through4 ,my heart was overflowing with and greedy of affection1 as fresh and eager to unfold to joy as in the days when sustained by my mother's smile1 as full of fervid hope for others1 at least1 if not for myself4 ,but during these fatal months there darkened round me such a hurricane of sorrow1 disillusion and deception as to bring before my eyes1 in all its ghastly nakedness1 a foreshadowing of the old age of my soul1 solitary in a desert world1 wherein no comfort in the struggle was vouchsafed to me4 ,it was not only the overthrow for an indefinite period of every ,italian hope1 444 it was the falling to pieces of that moral edifice of faith and love from which alone ,i had derived strength for the combat2 the scepticism ,i saw arising round me on every side2 the failure of faith in those who had solemnly bound themselves to pursue unshaken the path we had known at the outset to be choked with sorrows2 the distrust ,i detected in those most dear to me1 as to the motives and intentions which sustained and urged me onward in the evidently unequal struggle4444 ,when ,i felt that ,i was indeed alone in the world1 ,i drew back in terror at the void before me4 ,there1 in that moral desert1 doubt came upon me4 ,perhaps ,i was wrong1 and the world right8 ,perhaps my idea was indeed a dream8444 ,one morning ,i awoke to find my mind tranquil and my spirit calmed1 as one who has passed through a great danger4 ,the first thought that passed across my spirit was1 ,your sufferings are the temptations of egotism1 and arise from a misconception of life4444 ,i perceived that although every instinct of my heart rebelled against that fatal and ignoble definition of life which makes it to be a search after happiness1 yet ,i had not completely freed myself from the dominating influence exercised by it upon the age4444 ,i had been unable to realize the true ideal of love--love without earthly hope4444 ,life is a mission1 duty therefore its highest law4 ,from the idea of ,god ,i descended to faith in a mission and its logical consequence--duty the supreme rule of life2 and having reached that faith1 ,i swore to myself that nothing in this world should again make me doubt or forsake it4 ,it was1 as ,dante says1 passing through martyrdom to peace--'a forced and desperate peace4' ,i do not deny1 for ,i fraternized with sorrow1 and wrapped myself in it as in a mantle2 but yet it was peace1 for ,i learned to suffer without rebellion1 and to live calmly and in harmony with my own spirit4 ,i reverently bless ,god the ,father for what consolations of affection--,i can conceive of no other--,he has vouchsafed to me in my later years2 and in them ,i gather strength to struggle with the occasional return of weariness of existence4 ,but even were these consolations denied me1 ,i believe ,i should still be what ,i am4 ,whether the sun shine with the serene splendour of an ,italian noon1 or the leaden1 corpse-like hue of the northern mist be above us1 ,i cannot see that it changes our duty4 ,god dwells above the earthly heaven1 and the holy stars of faith and the future still shine within our souls1 even though their light consume itself unreflected as the sepulchral lamp4 ,such sentences are the best commentary we can offer on our text4 ,the cases of the ,hebrew and ,italian prophets are wonderfully alike4 ,we who have read ,isaiah's fifth chapter know how his heart also was overflowing with and greedy of affection1 and in the second and third chapters we have seen the hurricane of sorrow1 disillusion and deception darken round him4 ,the falling to pieces of the moral edifice of faith and love1 scepticism rising on every side1 failure of faith in those who had solemnly bound themselves1 distrust detected in those most dear to me--and all felt by the prophet as the effect of the sacred movement ,god had inspired him to begin3--how exact a counterpart it is to the cumulative process of brutalizing which ,isaiah heard ,god lay upon him1 with the imperative ,make the heart of this people fat6 ,in such a morally blind1 deaf and dead-hearted world ,isaiah's faith was indeed to consume itself unreflected like the sepulchral lamp4 ,the glimpse into his heart given us by ,mazzini enables us to realize with what terror ,isaiah faced such a void4 ,o ,lord1 how long8 ,this1 too1 breathes the air of a forced and desperate peace1 the spirit of one who1 having realized life as a mission1 has made the much more rare recognition that the logical consequence is neither the promise of success nor the assurance of sympathy1 but simply the acceptance of duty1 with whatever results and under whatever skies it pleases ,god to bring over him4 ,until cities fall into ruin without an inhabitant1 ,and houses without a man1 ,and the land be left desolately waste1 ,and ,jehovah have removed man far away1 ,and great be the desert in the midst of the land2 ,and still if there be a tenth in it1 ,even it shall be again for consuming4 ,like the terebinth1 and like the oak1 ,whose stock when they are felled remaineth in them1 ,the holy seed shall be its stock4 ,the meaning of these words is too plain to require exposition1 but we can hardly over-emphasize them4 ,this is to be ,isaiah's one text throughout his career4 ,judgement shall pass through2 a remnant shall remain4 ,all the politics of his day1 the movement of the world's forces1 the devastation of the holy land1 the first captivities of the holy people1 the reiterated defeats and disappointments of the next fifty years--all shall be clear and tolerable to ,isaiah as the fulfilling of the sentence to which he listened in such forced and desperate peace on the day of his consecration4 ,he has had the worst branded into him2 henceforth no man nor thing may trouble him4 ,he has seen the worst1 and knows there is a beginning beyond4 ,so when the wickedness of ,judah and the violence of ,assyria alike seem most unrestrained--,assyria most bent on destroying ,judah1 and ,judah least worthy to live--,isaiah will yet cling to this1 that a remnant must remain4 ,all his prophecies will be variations of this text2 it is the key to his apparent paradoxes4 ,he will proclaim the ,assyrians to be ,god's instrument1 yet devote them to destruction4 ,he will hail their advance on ,judah1 and yet as exultingly mark its limit1 because of the determination in which he asked the question1 ,o ,lord1 how long8 and the clearness with which he understood the until1 that came in answer to it4 ,every prediction he makes1 every turn he seeks to give to the practical politics of ,judah1 are simply due to his grasp of these two facts--a withering and repeated devastation1 in the end a bare survival4 ,he has1 indeed1 prophecies which travel farther2 occasionally he is permitted to indulge in visions of a new dispensation4 ,like ,moses1 he climbs his ,pisgah1 but he is like ,moses also in this1 that his lifetime is exhausted with the attainment of the margin of a long period of judgement and struggle1 and then he passes from our sight1 and no man knoweth his sepulchre unto this day4 ,as abruptly as this vision closes with the announcement of the remnant1 so abruptly does ,isaiah disappear on the fulfilment of the announcement--some forty years subsequent to this vision--in the sudden rescue of the holy seed from the grasp of ,sennacherib4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we have now finished the first period of ,isaiah's career4 ,let us catalogue what are his leading doctrines up to this point4 ,high above a very sinful people1 and beyond all their conceptions of ,him1 ,jehovah1 the national ,god1 rises holy1 exalted in righteousness4 ,from such a ,god to such a people it can only be judgement and affliction that pass2 and these shall not be averted by the fact that ,he is the national ,god1 and they ,his worshippers4 ,of this affliction the ,assyrians gathering far off upon the horizon are evidently to be the instruments4 ,the affliction shall be very sweeping2 again and again shall it come2 but the ,lord will finally save a remnant of ,his people4 ,three elements compose this preaching--a very keen and practical conscience of sin2 an overpowering vision of ,god1 in whose immediate intimacy the prophet believes himself to be2 and a very sharp perception of the politics of the day4 ,one question rises4 ,in this part of ,isaiah's ministry there is no trace of that ,figure whom we chiefly identify with his preaching1 the ,messiah4 ,let us have patience2 it is not time for him2 but the following is his connection with the prophet's present doctrines4 ,isaiah's great result at present is the certainty of a remnant4 ,that remnant will require two things--they will require a rallying-point1 and they will require a leader4 ,henceforth ,isaiah's prophesying will be bent to one or other of these4 ,the two grand purposes of his word and work will be1 for the sake of the remnant1 the inviolateness of ,zion1 and the coming of the ,messiah4 ,the former he has1 indeed1 already intimated 7chap4 iv472 the latter is now to share with it his hope and eloquence4 ,illustration3 7,map7 ,isaiah's ,world ,,chapter ,v4 ,,the ,,world ,,in ,,isaiah',s ,,day ,,and ,,israel',s ,,god4 #gce-gcj ,b4,c4 ,up to this point we have been acquainted with ,isaiah as a prophet of general principles1 preaching to his countrymen the elements of righteousness and judgement1 and tracing the main lines of fate along which their evil conduct was rapidly forcing them4 ,we are now to observe him applying these principles to the executive politics of the time1 and following ,judah's conduct to the issues he had predicted for it in the world outside herself4 ,hitherto he has been concerned with the inner morals of ,jewish society2 he is now to engage himself with the effect of these on the fortunes of the ,jewish ,state4 ,in his seventh chapter ,isaiah begins that career of practical statesmanship1 which not only made him the greatest political power in ,israel since ,david1 but placed him1 far above his importance to his own people1 upon a position of influence over all ages4 ,to this eminence ,isaiah was raised1 as we shall see1 by two things4 ,first1 there was the occasion of his times1 for he lived at a juncture at which the vision of the ,world1 as distinguished from the ,nation1 opened to his people's eyes4 ,second1 he had the faith which enabled him to realize the government of the ,world by the ,one ,god1 whom he has already beheld exalted and sovereign within the ,nation4 ,in the ,nation we have seen ,isaiah led to emphasize very absolutely the righteousness of ,god2 applying this to the whole ,world1 he is now to speak as the prophet of what we call ,providence4 ,he has seen ,jehovah ruling in righteousness in ,judah2 he is now to take possession of the nations of the ,world in ,jehovah's name4 ,but we mistake ,isaiah if we think it is any abstract doctrine of providence which he is about to inculcate4 ,for him ,god's providence has in the meantime but one end3 the preservation of a remnant of the holy people4 ,afterwards we shall find him expecting besides1 the conversion of the whole ,world to faith in ,israel's ,god4 ,the ,world in ,isaiah's day was practically ,western ,asia4 ,history had not long dawned upon ,europe2 over ,western ,asia it was still noon4 ,draw a line from the ,caspian to the mouth of the ,persian ,gulf2 between that line and another crossing the ,levant to the west of ,cyprus1 and continuing along the ,libyan border of ,egypt1 lay the highest forms of religion and civilisation which our race had by that period achieved4 ,this was the ,world on which ,isaiah looked out from ,jerusalem1 the furthest borders of which he has described in his prophecies1 and in the political history of which he illustrated his great principles4 ,how was it composed8 ,there were1 first of all1 at either end of it1 north-east and south-west1 the two great empires of ,,assyria and ,,egypt1 in many respects wonderful counterparts of each other4 ,no one will understand the history of ,palestine1 who has not grasped its geographical position relative to these similar empires4 ,syria1 shut up between the ,mediterranean sea and the ,arabian desert1 has its outlets north and south into two great river-plains1 each of them ending in a delta4 ,territories of that kind exert a double force on the world with which they are connected1 now drawing across their boundaries the hungry races of neighbouring highlands and deserts1 and again sending them forth1 compact and resistless armies4 ,this double action summarises the histories of both ,egypt and ,assyria from the earliest times to the period which we are now treating1 and was the cause of the constant circulation1 by which1 as the ,bible bears witness1 the life of ,syria was stirred from the ,tower of ,babel downwards4 ,mesopotamia and the ,nile valley drew races as beggars to their rich pasture grounds1 only to send them forth in subsequent centuries as conquerors4 ,the century of ,isaiah fell in a period of forward movement4 ,assyria and ,egypt were afraid to leave each other in peace2 and the wealth of ,phoenicia1 grown large enough to excite their cupidity1 lay between them4 ,in each of these empires1 however1 there was something to hamper this aggressive impulse4 ,neither ,assyria nor ,egypt was a homogeneous ,state4 ,the valleys of the ,euphrates and the ,nile were1 each of them the home of two nations4 ,beside ,assyria lay ,babylonia1 once ,assyria's mistress1 and now of all the ,assyrian provinces by far the hardest to hold in subjection1 although it lay the nearest to home4 ,in ,isaiah's time1 when an ,assyrian monarch is unable to come into ,palestine1 ,babylon is generally the reason2 and it is by intriguing with ,babylon that a king of ,judah attempts to keep ,assyria away from his own neighbourhood4 ,but ,babylon only delayed the ,assyrian conquest4 ,in ,egypt1 on the other hand1 power was more equally balanced between the hardier people up the ,nile and the wealthier people down the ,nile--between the ,ethiopians and the ,egyptians proper4 ,it was the repeated and undecisive contests between these two during the whole of ,isaiah's day1 which kept ,egypt from being an effective force in the politics of ,western ,asia4 ,in ,isaiah's day no ,egyptian army advanced more than a few leagues beyond its own frontier4 ,next in this world of ,western ,asia come the ,,phoenicians4 ,we may say that they connected ,egypt and ,assyria1 for although ,phoenicia proper meant only the hundred and fifty miles of coast between ,carmel and the bay of ,antioch1 the ,phoenicians had large colonies on the delta of the ,nile and trading posts upon the ,euphrates4 ,they were gathered into independent but more or less confederate cities1 the chief of them ,tyre and ,sidon2 which1 while they attempted the offensive only in trade1 were by their wealth and maritime advantages capable of offering at once a stronger attraction and a more stubborn resistance to the ,assyrian arms1 than any other power of the time4 ,between ,phoenicia proper and the mouths of the ,nile1 the coast was held by groups of ,,philistine cities1 whose nearness to ,egypt rather than their own strength was the source of a frequent audacity against ,assyria1 and the reason why they appear in the history of this period oftener than any other ,state as the object of ,assyrian campaigns4 ,behind ,phoenicia and the ,philistines lay a number of inland territories3 the sister-,states of ,judah and ,northern ,israel1 with their cousins ,edom1 ,moab1 and ,aram or ,syria4 ,of which ,,judah and ,,israel were together about the size of ,wales2 ,,edom a mountain range the size and shape of ,cornwall2 ,,moab1 on its north1 a broken tableland1 about a ,devonshire2 and ,,aram1 or ,,syria1 a territory round ,damascus1 of uncertain size1 but considerable enough to have resisted ,assyria for a hundred and twenty years4 ,beyond ,aram1 again1 to the north1 lay the smaller ,state of ,,hamath1 in the mouth of the pass between the ,lebanons1 with nothing from it to the ,euphrates4 ,and then1 hovering upon the east of these settled ,states1 were a variety of more or less ,,nomadic ,,tribes1 whose refuges were the vast deserts of which so large a part of ,western ,asia consists4 ,here was a world1 with some of its constituents wedged pretty firmly by mutual pressure1 but in the main broken and restless--a political surface that was always changing4 ,the whole was subject to the movements of the two empires at its extremes4 ,one of them could not move without sending a thrill through to the borders of the other4 ,the approximate distances were these3--from ,egypt's border to ,jerusalem1 about one hundred miles2 from ,jerusalem to ,samaria1 forty-five2 from ,samaria to ,damascus1 one hundred and fifteen2 from ,damascus to ,hamath1 one hundred and thirty2 and from ,hamath to the ,euphrates1 one hundred2 in all from the border of ,egypt to the border of ,assyria four hundred and ninety ,english statute miles4 ,the main line of war and traffic1 coming up from ,egypt1 kept the coast to the plain of ,esdraelon1 which it crossed towards ,damascus1 travelling by the north of the sea of ,galilee1 the way of the sea4 ,northern ,israel was bound to fall an early prey to armies1 whose easiest path thus traversed her richest provinces4 ,judah1 on the other hand1 occupied a position so elevated and apart1 that it was likely to be the last that either ,assyria or ,egypt would achieve in their subjugation of the ,states between them4 ,thus1 then1 ,western ,asia spread itself out in ,isaiah's day4 ,let us take one more rapid glance across it4 ,assyria to the north1 powerful and on the offensive1 but hampered by ,babylon2 ,egypt on the south1 weakened and in reserve2 all the cities and ,states between turning their faces desperately northwards1 but each with an ear bent back for the promises of the laggard southern power1 and occasionally supported by its subsidies2 ,hamath1 their advanced guard at the mouth of the pass between the ,lebanons1 looking out towards the ,euphrates2 ,tyre and ,sidon attractive to the ,assyrian king1 whose policy is ultimately commercial1 by their wealth1 both they and the ,philistine cities obstructing his path by the coast to his great rival of ,egypt2 ,israel bulwarked against ,assyria by ,hamath and ,damascus1 but in danger1 as soon as they fall1 of seeing her richest provinces overrun2 ,judah unlikely in the general restlessness to retain her hold upon ,edom1 but within her own borders tolerably secure1 neither lying in the ,assyrian's path to ,egypt1 nor wealthy enough to attract him out of it2 safe1 therefore1 in the neutrality which ,isaiah ceaselessly urges her to preserve1 and in danger of suction into the whirlpool of the approach of the two empires only through the foolish desire of her rulers to secure an utterly unnecessary alliance with the one or the other of them4 ,for a hundred and twenty years before the advent of ,isaiah1 the annals of the ,assyrian kings record periodical campaigns against the cities of the land of the west1 but these isolated incursions were followed by no permanent results4 ,in #gde1 however1 five years before ,king ,uzziah died1 a soldier ascended the throne of ,assyria1 under the title of ,tiglath-pileser ,,ii41#aa who was determined to achieve the conquest of the whole world and its organization as his empire4 ,where his armies came1 it was not simply to chastise or demand tribute1 but to annex countries1 carry away their populations and exploit their resources4 ,it was no longer kings who were threatened2 peoples found themselves in danger of extinction4 ,this terrible purpose of the ,assyrian was pursued with vast means and the utmost ferocity4 ,he has been called the ,roman of the ,east1 and up to a certain degree we may imagine his policy by remembering all that is familiar to us of its execution by ,rome3 its relentlessness1 impetus and mysterious action from one centre2 the discipline1 the speed1 the strange appearance1 of his armies4 ,but there was an ,oriental savagery about ,assyria1 from which ,rome was free4 ,the ,assyrian kings moved in the power of their brutish and stormy gods--gods that were in the shape of bulls and had the wings as of the tempest4 ,the annals of these kings1 in which they describe their campaigns1 are full of talk about trampling down their enemies2 about showering tempests of clubs upon them1 and raining a deluge of arrows2 about overwhelming them1 and sweeping them off the face of the land1 and strewing them like chaff on the sea2 about chariots with scythes1 and wheels clogged with blood2 about great baskets stuffed with the salted heads of their foes4 ,it is a mixture of the ,roman and ,red ,indian4 #aa ,the ,pul of #b ,kings xv4 #ai and the ,tiglath-pileser of #b ,kings xvi4 are the same4 ,picture the effect of the onward movement of such a force upon the imaginations and policies of those little ,states that clustered round ,judah and ,israel4 ,settling their own immemorial feuds1 they sought alliance with one another against this common foe4 ,tribes1 that for centuries had stained their borders with one another's blood1 came together in unions1 the only reason for which was that their common fear had grown stronger than their mutual hate4 ,now and then a king would be found unwilling to enter such an alliance or eager to withdraw from it1 in the hope of securing by his exceptional conduct the favour of the ,assyrian1 whom he sought further to ingratiate by voluntary tribute4 ,the shifting attitudes of the petty kings towards ,assyria bewilder the reader of the ,assyrian annals4 ,the foes of one year are the tributaries of the next2 the ,state1 that has called for help this campaign1 appears as the rebel of that4 ,in #gdb1 ,uzziah of ,judah is cursed by ,tiglath-pileser as an arch-enemy2 ,samaria and ,damascus are recorded as faithful tributaries4 ,seven years later ,ahaz of ,judah offers tribute to the ,assyrian king1 and ,damascus and ,samaria are invaded by the ,assyrian armies4 ,what a world it was1 and what politics6 ,a world of petty clans1 with no idea of a common humanity1 and with no motive for union except fear2 politics without a noble thought or long purpose in them1 the politics of peoples at bay--the last flicker of dying nationalities1-- stumps of smoking firebrands1 as ,isaiah described two of them4 ,when we turn to the little we know of the religions of these tribes1 we find nothing to arrest their restlessness or broaden their thoughts4 ,these nations had their religions1 and called on their gods1 but their gods were made in their own image1 their religion was the reflex of their life4 ,each of them employed1 rather than worshipped1 its deity4 ,no nation believed in its god except as one among many1 with his sovereignty limited to its own territory1 and his ability to help it conditioned by the power of the other gods1 against whose peoples he was fighting4 ,there was no belief in ,providence1 no idea of unity or of progress in history1 no place in these religions for the great world-force that was advancing upon their peoples4 ,from this condemnation we cannot except the people of ,jehovah4 ,it is undeniable that the mass of them occupied at this time pretty much the same low religious level as their neighbours4 ,we have already seen 7chap4 i47 their mean estimate of what ,god required from themselves2 with that corresponded their view of ,his position towards the world4 ,to the majority of the ,israelites their ,god was but one out of many1 with ,his own battles to fight and have fought for ,him1 a ,patron sometimes to be ashamed of1 and by no means a ,saviour in whom to place an absolute trust4 ,when ,ahaz is beaten by ,syria1 he says3 ,because the gods of the kings of ,syria helped them1 therefore will ,i sacrifice to them1 that they may help me 7#b ,chron4 xxviii4 #bc74 ,religion to ,ahaz was only another kind of diplomacy4 ,he was not a fanatic1 but a diplomat1 who made his son to pass through the fire to ,moloch1 and burnt incense in the high places and on the hills1 and under every green tree4 ,he was more a political than a religious eclectic1 who brought back the pattern of the ,damascus altar to ,jerusalem4 ,the ,temple1 in which ,isaiah saw the ,lord high and lifted up1 became under ,ahaz1 and by the help of the priesthood1 the shelter of various idols2 in every corner of ,jerusalem altars were erected to other gods4 ,this religious hospitality was the outcome neither of imagination nor of liberal thought2 it was prompted only by political fear4 ,ahaz has been mistaken in the same way as ,charles ,i4 was--for a bigot1 and one who subjected the welfare of his kingdom to a superstitious regard for religion4 ,but beneath the cloak of religious scrupulousness and false reverence1#ab there was in ,ahaz the same selfish fear for the safety of his crown and his dynasty1 as those who best knew the ,english monarch tell us1 was the real cause of his ceaseless intrigue and stupid obstinacy4 #ab ,isa4 vii4 #ab4 ,now that we have surveyed this world1 its politics and its religion1 we can estimate the strength and originality of the ,hebrew prophets4 ,where others saw the conflicts of nations1 aided by deities as doubtfully matched as themselves1 they perceived all things working together by the will of one supreme ,god and serving ,his ends of righteousness4 ,it would be wrong to say1 that before the eighth century the ,hebrew conception of ,god had been simply that of a national deity1 for this would be to ignore the remarkable emphasis placed by the ,hebrews from very early times upon ,jehovah's righteousness4 ,but till the eighth century the horizon of the ,hebrew mind had been the border of their territory2 the historical theatre on which it saw ,god working was the national life4 ,now1 however1 the ,hebrews were drawn into the world2 they felt movements of which their own history was but an eddy2 they saw the advance of forces against which their own armies1 though inspired by ,jehovah1 had no chance of material success4 ,the perspective was entirely changed2 their native land took to most of them the aspect of a petty and worthless province1 their ,god the rank of a mere provincial deity2 they refused the waters of ,shiloah1 that go softly1 and rejoiced in the glory of the king of ,assyria1 the king of the great ,river and the hosts that moved with the strength of its floods4 ,it was at this moment that the prophets of ,israel performed their supreme religious service4 ,while ,ahaz and the mass of the people illustrated the impotence of the popular religion1 by admitting to an equal place in the national temple the gods of their victorious foes1 the prophets boldly took possession of the whole world in the name of ,jehovah of hosts1 and exalted ,him to the throne of the supreme ,providence4 ,now they could do this only by emphasizing and developing the element of righteousness in the old conception of ,him4 ,this attribute of ,jehovah took absolute possession of the prophets2 and in the strength of its inspiration they were enabled1 at a time when it would have been the sheerest folly to promise ,israel victory against a foe like ,assyria1 to asseverate that even that supreme world-power was in the hand of ,jehovah1 and that ,he must be trusted to lead up all the movements of which the ,assyrians were the main force to the ends ,he had so plainly revealed to ,his chosen ,israel4 ,even before ,isaiah's time such principles had been proclaimed by ,amos and ,hosea1 but it was ,isaiah1 who both gave to them their loftiest expression1 and applied them with the utmost detail and persistence to the practical politics of ,judah4 ,we have seen him1 in the preliminary stages of his ministry under ,uzziah and ,jotham1 reaching most exalted convictions of the righteousness of ,jehovah1 as contrasted with the people's view of their ,god's nationalism4 ,but we are now to follow him boldly applying this faith--won within the life of ,judah1 won1 as he tells us1 by the personal inspiration of ,judah's ,god--to the problems and movements of the whole world as they bear upon ,israel's fate4 ,the ,god1 who is supreme in ,judah through righteousness1 cannot but be supreme everywhere else1 for there is nothing in the world higher than righteousness4 ,isaiah's faith in a ,divine ,providence is a close corollary to his faith in ,jehovah's righteousness2 and of one part of that ,providence he had already received conviction--,a remnant shall remain4 ,ahaz may crowd ,jerusalem with foreign altars and idols1 so as to be able to say3 ,we have with us1 on our side1 ,moloch and ,chemosh and ,rimmon and the gods of ,damascus and ,assyria4 ,isaiah1 in the face of this folly1 lifts up his simple gospel3 ,immanu-,el4 ,we have with us1 in our own ,jehovah of hosts1 ,el1 the one supreme ,god1 ,ruler of heaven and earth4 ,,chapter ,,vi4 ,,king ,,and ,,messiah2 ,,people ,,and ,,church4 ,,isaiah vii41 viii41 ix4 #a-h4 #gce-gcb ,b4,c4 ,this section of the book of ,isaiah 7vii4-ix4 #g7 consists of a number of separate prophecies uttered during a period of at least three years3 #gce-gcb ,b4,c4 ,by #gce ,ahaz had ascended the throne2 ,tiglath-pileser had been occupied in the far east for two years4 ,taking advantage of the weakness of the former and the distance of the latter1 ,rezin1 king of ,damascus1 and ,pekah1 king of ,samaria1 planned an invasion of ,judah4 ,it was a venture they would not have dared had ,uzziah been alive4 ,while ,rezin marched down the east of the ,jordan and overturned the ,jewish supremacy in ,edom1 ,pekah threw himself into ,judah1 defeated the armies of ,ahaz in one great battle1 and besieged ,jerusalem1 with the object of deposing ,ahaz and setting a ,syrian1 ,ben-,tabeel1 in his stead4 ,simultaneously the ,philistines attacked ,judah from the south-west4 ,the motive of the confederates was in all probability anger with ,ahaz for refusing to enter with them into a ,pan-,syrian alliance against ,assyria4 ,in his distress ,ahaz appealed to ,tiglath-pileser1 and the ,assyrian swiftly responded4 ,in #gcd--;it must have been less than a year since ,ahaz was attacked--the hosts of the north had overrun ,samaria and swept as far south as the cities of the ,philistines4 ,then1 withdrawing his troops again1 ,tiglath-pileser left ,hoshea as his vassal on ,pekah's throne1 and sending the population of ,israel east of the ,jordan into distant captivity1 completed a two years' siege of ,damascus 7#gcd-gcb7 by its capture4 ,at ,damascus ,ahaz met the conqueror1 and having paid him tribute1 took out a further policy of insurance in the altar-pattern1 which he brought back with him to ,jerusalem4 ,such were the three years1 whose rapid changes unfolded themselves in parallel with these prophecies of ,isaiah4 ,the details are not given by the prophet1 but we must keep in touch with them while we listen to him4 ,especially must we remember their central point1 the decision of ,ahaz to call in the help of ,assyria1 a decision which affected the whole course of politics for the next thirty years4 ,some of the oracles of this section were plainly delivered by ,isaiah before that event1 and simply seek to inspire ,ahaz with a courage which should feel ,assyrian help to be needless2 others1 again1 imply that ,ahaz has already called in the ,assyrian3 they taunt him with hankering after foreign strength1 and depict the woes which the ,assyrian will bring upon the land2 while others 7for example1 the passage ix4 #a-g7 mean that the ,assyrian has already come1 and that the ,galilean provinces of ,israel have been depopulated1 and promise a ,deliverer4 ,if we do not keep in mind the decision of ,ahaz1 we shall not understand these seemingly contradictory utterances1 which it thoroughly explains4 ,let us now begin at the beginning of chapter vii4 ,it opens with a bare statement1 by way of title1 of the invasion of ,judah and the futile result2 and then proceeds to tell us how ,isaiah acted from the first rumour of the confederacy onward4 ,i4 ,,the ,,king 7chap4 vii474 ,and it came to pass in the days of ,ahaz1 the son of ,jotham1 the son of ,uzziah1 king of ,judah1 that ,rezin1 the king of ,syria1 and ,pekah1 the son of ,remaliah1 king of ,israel1 went up to ,jerusalem to war against it1 but could not prevail against it4 ,this is a summary of the whole adventure and issue of the war1 given by way of introduction4 ,the narrative proper begins in verse #b1 with the effect of the first news of the league upon ,ahaz and his people4 ,their hearts were moved1 like the trees of the forest before the wind4 ,the league was aimed so evidently against the two things most essential to the national existence and the honour of ,jehovah2 the dynasty of ,david1 namely1 and the inviolability of ,jerusalem4 ,judah had frequently before suffered the loss of her territory2 never till now were the throne and city of ,david in actual peril4 ,but that1 which bent both king and people by its novel terror1 was the test ,isaiah expected for the prophecies he had already uttered4 ,taking with him1 as a summary of them1 his boy with the name ,shear-,jashub--,a-remnant-shall-return- -,isaiah faced ,ahaz and his court in the midst of their preparation for the siege4 ,they were examining--but more in panic than in prudence--the water supply of the city1 when ,isaiah delivered to them a message from the ,lord1 which may be paraphrased as follows3 ,take heed and be quiet1 keep your eyes open and your heart still2 fear not1 neither be faint-hearted1 for the fierce anger of ,rezin and ,remaliah's son4 ,they have no power to set you on fire4 ,they are but stumps of expiring firebrands1 almost burnt out4 ,while you wisely look after your water supply1 do so in hope4 ,this purpose of deposing you is vain4 ,thus saith the ,lord ,jehovah3 ,it shall not stand1 neither shall it come to pass4 ,of whom are you afraid8 ,look those foes of yours in the face4 ,the head of ,syria is ,damascus1 and ,damascus' head is ,rezin3 is he worth fearing8 ,the head of ,ephraim is ,samaria1 and ,samaria's head is ,remaliah's son3 is he worth fearing8 ,within a few years they will certainly be destroyed4 ,but whatever estimate you make of your foes1 whatever their future may be1 for yourself have faith in ,god2 for you that is the essential thing4 ,if ye will not believe1 surely ye shall not be established4#ac #ac ,there is a play upon words here1 which may be reproduced in ,english by the help of a ,north-,england term3 ,if ye have not faith1 ye cannot have staith4 ,this paraphrase seeks to bring out the meaning of a passage confessedly obscure4 ,it seems as if we had only bits of ,isaiah's speech to ,ahaz and must supply the gaps4 ,no one need hesitate1 however1 to recognize the conspicuous personal qualities--the combination of political sagacity with religious fear1 of common-sense and courage rooted in faith4 ,in a word1 this is what ,isaiah will say to the king1 clever in his alliances1 religious and secular1 and busy about his material defences3 ,take unto you the shield of faith4 ,you have lost your head among all these things4 ,hold it up like a man behind that shield2 take a rational view of affairs4 ,rate your enemies at their proper value4 ,but for this you must believe in ,god4 ,faith in ,him is the essential condition of a calm mind and a rational appreciation of affairs4 ,it is1 no doubt1 difficult for us to realize that the truth which ,isaiah thus enforced on ,king ,ahaz--the government of the world and human history by one supreme ,god--was ever a truth of which the race stood in ignorance4 ,a generation like ours cannot be expected to put its mind in the attitude of those of ,isaiah's contemporaries who believed in the real existence of many gods with limited sovereignties4 ,to us1 who are full of the instincts of ,divine ,providence and of the presence in history of law and progress1 it is extremely hard even to admit the fact--far less fully to realize what it means--that our race had ever to receive these truths as fresh additions to their stock of intellectual ideas4 ,yet1 without prejudice to the claims of earlier prophets1 this may be confidently affirmed3 that ,isaiah where we now meet him stood on one side believing in one supreme ,god1 ,lord of heaven and earth1 and his generation stood on the other side1 believing that there were many gods4 ,isaiah1 however1 does not pose as the discoverer of the truth he preaches2 he does not present it as a new revelation1 nor put it in a formula4 ,he takes it for granted1 and proceeds to bring its moral influence to bear4 ,he will infect men with his own utter conviction of it1 in order that he may strengthen their character and guide them by paths of safety4 ,his speech to ,ahaz is an exhibition of the moral and rational effects of believing in ,providence4 ,ahaz is a sample of the character polytheism produced2 the state of mind and heart to which ,isaiah exhorts him is that induced by belief in one righteous and almighty ,god4 ,we can make the contrast clear to ourselves by a very definite figure4 ,the difference1 which is made to the character and habits of men if the country they live in has a powerful government or not1 is well known4 ,if there be no such central authority1 it is a case of every man's hand against his neighbour4 ,men walk armed to the teeth4 ,a constant attitude of fear and suspicion warps the whole nature4 ,the passions are excited and magnified2 the intelligence and judgement are dwarfed4 ,just the same after its kind is life to the man or tribe1 who believe1 that the world in which they dwell and the life they share with others have no central authority4 ,they walk armed with prejudices1 superstitions and selfishnesses4 ,they create1 like ,ahaz1 their own providences1 and still1 like him1 feel insecure4 ,everything is exaggerated by them2 in each evil there lurks to their imagination unlimited hostility4 ,they are without breadth of view or length of patience4 ,but let men believe that life has a central authority1 that ,god is supreme1 and they will fling their prejudices and superstitions to the winds1 now no more needed than the antiquated fortresses and weapons by which our forefathers1 in days when the government was weak1 were forced to defend their private interests4 ,when we know that ,god reigns1 how quiet and free it makes us6 ,when things and men are part of ,his scheme and working out ,his ends1 when we understand that they are not monsters but ministers1 how reasonably we can look at them6 ,were we afraid of ,syria and ,ephraim8 ,why1 the head of ,syria is this fellow ,rezin1 the head of ,ephraim this son of ,remaliah6 ,they cannot last long2 ,god's engine stands behind to smite them4 ,by the reasonable government of ,god1 let us be reasonable6 ,let us take heed and be quiet4 ,have faith in ,god1 and to faith will come her proper consequent of commonsense4 ,for the higher a man looks1 the farther he sees3 to us that is the practical lesson of these first nine verses of the seventh chapter4 ,the very gesture of faith bestows upon the mind a breadth of view4 ,the man1 who lifts his face to ,god in heaven1 is he whose eyes sweep simultaneously the farthest prospect of earth1 and bring to him a sense of the proportion of things4 ,ahaz1 facing his nearest enemies1 does not see over their heads1 and in his consternation at their appearance prepares to embark upon any policy that suggests itself1 even though it be so rash as the summoning of the ,assyrian4 ,isaiah1 on the other hand1 with his vision fixed on ,god as the ,governor of the world1 is enabled to overlook the dust that darkens ,judah's frontier1 to see behind it the inevitable advance of the ,assyrians1 and to be assured that1 whether ,ahaz calls them to his quarrel or no1 they will very soon of their own motion overwhelm both of his enemies4 ,from these two smoking firebrands there is then no real danger4 ,but from the ,assyrian1 if once ,judah entangle herself in his toils1 there is the most extreme danger4 ,isaiah's advice is therefore not mere religious quietism2 it is prudent policy4 ,it is the best political advice that could have been offered at that crisis1 as we have already been able to gather from a survey of the geographical and political dispositions of ,western ,asia1#ad apart altogether from religious considerations4 ,but to ,isaiah the calmness requisite for this sagacity sprang from his faith4 ,mr4 ,bagehot might have appealed to ,isaiah's whole policy in illustration of what he has so well described as the military and political benefits of religion4 ,monotheism is of advantage to men not only by reason of the high concentration of steady feeling which it produces1 but also for the mental calmness and sagacity1 which surely spring from a pure and vivid conviction that the ,lord reigneth4#ae #ad ,page #if4 #ae ,physics and ,politics 7,international ,scientific ,series71 pp4 #ge ff4 ,one of the finest modern illustrations of the connection between faith and common-sense is found in the ,letters of ,general ,gordon to ,his ,sister4 ,gordon's coolness in face of the slave trade1 the just survey he makes of it1 and the sensible advice which he gives about meeting it stand well in contrast to the haste and rash proposals of philanthropists at home1 and are evidently due to his conviction that the slave trade1 like everything else in the world1 is in the hands of ,god1 and so may be calmly studied and wisely checkmated4 ,gordon's letters make very clear how much of his shrewdness in dealing with men was due to the same source4 ,it is instructive to observe throughout1 how his complete resignation to the will of ,god and his perfect obedience delivered him from prejudices and partialities1 from distractions and desires1 that make sober judgement impossible in other men4 ,one other thing it is well we should emphasize1 before we pass from ,isaiah's speech to ,ahaz4 ,nothing can be plainer than that ,isaiah1 though advocating so absolutely a quiescent belief in ,god1 is no fatalist4 ,now other prophets there have been1 insisting just as absolutely as ,isaiah upon resignation to ,god the supreme1 and the evident practical effect of their doctrine of the ,divine sovereignty has been to make their followers1 not shrewd political observers1 but blind and apathetic fatalists4 ,the difference between them and ,isaiah has lain in the kind of character1 which they and he have respectively attributed to the ,deity1 before exalting ,him to the throne of absolute power and resigning themselves to ,his will4 ,isaiah1 though as disciplined a believer in ,god's sovereignty and man's duty of obedience as any prophet that ever preached these doctrines1 was preserved from the fatalism to which they so often lead by the conviction he had previously received of ,god's righteousness4 ,fatalism means resignation to fate1 and fate means an omnipotence either without character1 or 7which is the same thing7 of whose character we are ignorant4 ,fate is ,god minus character1 and fatalism is the characterless condition to which belief in such a ,god reduces man4 ,history presents it to our view amid the most diverse surroundings4 ,the ,greek mind1 so free and sunny1 was bewildered and benumbed by belief in an inscrutable ,nemesis4 ,in the ,east how frequently is a temper of apathy or despair bred in men1 to whom ,god is nothing but a despot6 ,even within ,christianity we have had fanatics1 so inordinately possessed with belief in ,god's sovereignty of election1 to the exclusion of all other ,divine truths1 as to profess themselves1 with impious audacity1 willing to be damned for ,his glory4 ,such instances are enough to prove to us the extreme danger of making the sovereignty of ,god the first article of our creed4 ,it is not safe for men to exalt a deity to the throne of the supreme providence1 till they are certified of his character4 ,the vision of mere power intoxicates and brutalizes1 no less when it is hallowed by the name of religion1 than when1 as in modern materialism1 it is blindly interpreted as physical force4 ,only the people who have first learned to know their ,deity intimately in the private matters of life1 where heart touches heart1 and the delicate arguments of conscience are not overborne by the presence of vast natural forces or the intricate movements of the world's history1 can be trusted afterwards to enter these larger theatres of religion1 without risk of losing their faith1 their sensibility or their conscience4 ,the whole course of revelation has been bent upon this3 to render men familiarly and experimentally acquainted with the character of ,god1 before laying upon them the duty of homage to ,his creative power or submission to ,his will4 ,in the ,old ,testament ,god is the ,friend1 the ,guide1 the ,redeemer of men1 or ever ,he is their ,monarch and ,lawgiver4 ,the ,divine name which the ,hebrew sees excellent through all the earth is the name that he has learned to know at home as ,jehovah1 our ,lord 7,ps4 viii474 ,jehovah trains ,his people to trust ,his personal troth and lovingkindness within their own courts1 before ,he tests their allegiance and discipline upon the high places of the world4 ,and when1 amid the strange terrors of these and the novel magnitudes with which ,israel1 facing the world1 had to reckon1 the people lost their presence of mind1 ,his elegy over them was1 ,my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge4 ,even when their temple is full and their sacrifices of homage to ,his power most frequent1 it is still their want of moral acquaintance with ,himself of which ,he complains3 ,israel doth not know2 ,my people doth not consider4 ,what else was the tragedy in which ,jewish history closed1 than just the failure to perceive this lesson3 that to have and to communicate the knowledge of the ,almighty's character is of infinitely more value than the attempt to vindicate in any outward fashion ,jehovah's supremacy over the world8 ,this latter1 this forlorn1 hope was what ,israel exhausted the evening of their day in attempting4 ,the former--to communicate to the lives and philosophies of mankind a knowledge of the ,divine heart and will1 gained throughout a history of unique grace and miracle--was the destiny which they resigned to the followers of the crucified ,messiah4 ,for under the ,new ,testament this also is the method of revelation4 ,what our ,king desires before ,he ascends the throne of the world is that the world should know ,him2 and so ,he comes down among us1 to be heard1 and seen1 and handled of us1 that our hearts may learn ,his heart and know ,his love1 unbewildered by ,his majesty4 ,and for our part1 when we ascribe to our ,king the glory and the dominion1 it is as unto ,him that loved us and washed us from our sins in ,his blood4 ,for the chief thing for individuals1 as for nations1 is not to believe that ,god reigneth so much as to know what kind of ,god ,he is who reigneth4 99 99 99 99 99 ,but ,ahaz would not be persuaded4 ,he had a policy of his own1 and was determined to pursue it4 ,he insisted on appealing to ,assyria4 ,before he did so1 ,isaiah made one more attempt on his obduracy4 ,with a vehemence1 which reveals how critical he felt the king's decision to be1 the prophet returned as if this time the very voice of ,jehovah4 ,and ,jehovah spake to ,ahaz1 saying1 ,ask thee a sign of ,jehovah thy ,god2 ask it either in ,sheol below or in the height above4 ,but ,ahaz said1 ,i will not ask1 neither will ,i tempt the ,lord4 ,isaiah's offer of a sign was one which the prophets of ,israel used to make when some crisis demanded the immediate acceptance of their word by men1 and men were more than usually hard to convince--a miracle such as the thunder that ,samuel called out of a clear sky to impress ,israel with ,god's opinion of their folly in asking for a king2#af or as the rending of the altar which the man of ,god brought to pass to convict the sullen ,jeroboam2#ag or as the regress of the shadow on the sun-dial1 which ,isaiah himself gave in assurance of recovery to the sick ,hezekiah4#ah ,such signs are offered only to weak or prejudiced persons4 ,the most real faith1 as ,isaiah himself tells us1 is unforced1 the purest natures those which need no signs and wonders4 ,but there are certain crises at which faith must be immediately forced1 and ,ahaz stood now at such a crisis2 and there are certain characters who1 unable to read a writ from the court of conscience and reason1 must be served with one from a court--even though it be inferior--whose language they understand2 and ,ahaz was such a character4 ,isaiah knew his man1 and prepared a pretty dilemma for him4 ,by offering him whatever sign he chose to ask1 ,isaiah knew that the king would be committed before his own honour and the public conscience to refrain from calling in the ,assyrians1 and so ,judah would be saved2 or if the king refused the sign1 the refusal would unmask him4 ,ahaz refused1 and at once ,isaiah denounced him and all his house4 ,they were mere shufflers1 playing fast and loose with ,god as well as men4 ,hear ye now1 ,o house of ,david4 ,is it a small thing for you to weary men1 that ye must weary my ,god also8 ,you have evaded ,god2 therefore ,god ,himself will take you in hand3 the ,lord ,himself shall give you a sign4 #af #a ,sam4 xii4 #ag4 #ag #a ,kings xiii4 #c4 #ah ,chap4 xxxviii4 ,in order to follow intelligently the rest of ,isaiah's address1 we must clearly understand how the sign which he now promises differs in nature from the sign he had implored ,ahaz to select1 of whatever sort he may have expected that selection to be4 ,the king's determination to call in ,assyria has come between4 ,therefore1 while the sign ,isaiah first offered upon the spot was intended for an immediate pledge that ,god would establish ,ahaz1 if only he did not appeal to the foreigner1 the sign ,isaiah now offers shall come as a future proof of how criminal and disastrous the appeal to the foreigner has been4 ,the first sign would have been an earnest of salvation2 the second is to be an exposure of the fatal evil of ,ahaz's choice4 ,the first would have given some assurance of the swift overthrow of ,ephraim and ,syria2 the second shall be some painful illustration of the fact that not only ,syria and ,ephraim1 but ,judah herself1 shall be overwhelmed by the advance of the northern power4 ,this second sign is one1 therefore1 which only time can bring round4 ,isaiah identifies it with a life not yet born4 ,a ,child1 he says1 shall shortly be born to whom his mother shall give the name ,immanu-,el--,god-with-us4 ,by the time this ,child comes to years of discretion1 he shall eat butter and honey4 ,isaiah then explains the riddle4 ,he does not1 however1 explain who the mother is1 having described her vaguely as a or the young woman of marriageable age2 for that is not necessary to the sign1 which is to consist in the ,child's own experience4 ,to this latter he limits his explanation4 ,butter and honey are the food of privation1 the food of a people1 whose land1 depopulated by the enemy1 has been turned into pasture4 ,before this ,child shall arrive at years of discretion not only shall ,syria and ,ephraim be laid waste1 but the ,lord ,himself will have laid waste ,judah4 ,jehovah shall bring upon thee1 and upon thy people and upon thy father's house days1 that have not come1 from the day that ,ephraim departed from ,judah2 even the king of ,assyria4 ,nothing more is said of ,immanuel1 but the rest of the chapter is taken up with the details of ,judah's devastation4 ,now this sign and its explanation would have presented little difficulty but for the name of the ,child--,immanuel4 ,erase that1 and the passage reads forcibly enough4 ,before a certain ,child1 whose birth is vaguely but solemnly intimated in the near future1 shall have come to years of discretion1 the results of the choice of ,ahaz shall be manifest4 ,judah shall be devastated1 and her people have sunk to the most rudimentary means of living4 ,all this is plain4 ,it is a form which ,isaiah used more than once to measure the near future4 ,and in other literatures1 too1 we have felt the pathos of realizing the future results of crime and the length to which disaster lingers1 by their effect upon the lives of another generation3-- ,the child that is unborn shall rue ,the hunting of that day6 ,but why call the ,child ,immanuel8 ,the name is evidently part of the sign1 and has to be explained in connection with it4 ,why call a ,child ,god-with-us who is not going to act greatly or to be highly honoured1 who is only going to suffer1 for whom to come to years of intelligence shall only be to come to a sense of his country's disaster and his people's poverty8 ,this ,child who is used so pathetically to measure the flow of time and the return of its revenges1 about whom we are told neither how he shall behave himself in the period of privation1 nor whether he shall survive it--why is he called ,immanuel8 or why1 being called ,immanuel1 has he so sordid a fate to contrast with so splendid a name8 ,it seems to the present expositor quite impossible to dissociate so solemn an announcement by ,jehovah to the house of ,david of the birth of a ,child1 so highly named1 from that expectation of the coming of a glorious ,prince which was current in this royal family since the days of its founder4 ,mysterious and abrupt as the intimation of ,immanuel's birth may seem to us at this juncture1 we cannot forget that it fell from ,isaiah's lips on hearts which cherished as their dearest hope the appearance of a glorious descendant of ,david1 and were just now the more sensitive to this hope that both ,david's city and ,david's dynasty were in peril4 ,could ,ahaz possibly understand by ,immanuel any other child than that ,prince whose coming was the inalienable hope of his house8 ,but if we are right in supposing that ,ahaz made this identification1 or had even the dimmest presage of it1 then we understand the full force of the sign4 ,ahaz by his unbelief had not only disestablished himself 7ver4 #i73 he had mortgaged the hope of ,israel4 ,in the flood of disaster1 which his fatal resolution would bring upon the land1 it mattered little what was to happen to himself4 ,isaiah does not trouble now to mention any penalty for ,ahaz4 ,but his resolve's exceeding pregnancy of peril is borne home to the king by the assurance that it will devastate all the golden future1 and must disinherit the promised ,king4 ,the ,child1 who is ,israel's hope1 is born2 he receives the ,divine name1 and that is all of salvation or glory suggested4 ,he grows up not to a throne or the majesty which the seventy-second ,psalm pictures--the offerings of ,sheba's and ,seba's kings1 the corn of his land shaking like the fruit of ,lebanon1 while they of the city flourish like the grass of the earth--but to the food of privation1 to the sight of his country razed by his enemies into one vast common fit only for pasture1 to loneliness and suffering4 ,amid the general desolation his figure vanishes from our sight1 and only his name remains to haunt1 with its infinite melancholy of what might have been1 the thorn-choked vineyards and grass-grown courts of ,judah4 ,but even if it were to prove too fine a point1 to identify ,immanuel with the promised ,messiah of ,david's house1 and we had to fall back on some vaguer theory of him1 finding him to be a personification1--either a representative of the coming generation of ,god's people1 or a type of the promised to-morrow1--the moral effect of the sign would remain the same2 and it is with this alone that we have here to do4 ,be this an individual1 or a generation1 or an age1--by the ,name bestowed upon it1 it was to have been a glorious1 ,god-inhabited age1 generation1 or individual1 and ,ahaz has prematurely spoiled everything about it but the ,name4 ,the future shall be like a boy cursed by his fathers1 brought into the world with glorious rights that are stamped in his title1 but only to find his kingdom and estates no longer in existence1 and all the circumstances dissipated1 in which he might have realized the glorious meaning of his name4 ,type of innocent suffering1 he is born to an empty title1 his name the vestige of a great opportunity1 the ironical monument of an irreparable crime4 ,if ,ahaz had any conscience left1 we can imagine the effect of this upon him4 ,to be punished for sin in one's own body and fortune1 this is sore enough2 but to see heaven itself blackened and all the gracious future frustrate1 this is unspeakably terrible4 ,ahaz is thus the ,judas of the ,old ,testament1 if that conception of ,judas' character be the right one which makes his wilful desire to bring about the kingdom of ,god in his own violent fashion the motive of his betrayal of ,jesus4 ,of his own obduracy ,ahaz has betrayed the ,messiah and ,deliverer of his people4 ,the assurance of this betrayal is the sign of his obduracy1 a signal and terrible proof of his irretrievable sin in calling upon the ,assyrians4 ,the king has been found wanting4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,people 7chap4 viii474 ,the king has been found wanting2 but ,isaiah will appeal to the people4 ,chap4 viii4 is a collection of addresses to them1 as chap4 vii4 was an expostulation with their sovereign4 ,the two chapters are contemporary4 ,in chap4 viii4 ver4 #a1 the narrative goes back upon itself1 and returns to the situation as it was before ,ahaz made his final resolution of reliance on ,assyria4 ,vv4 #a-d of chap4 viii4 imply that the ,assyrian has not yet been summoned by ,ahaz to his assistance1 and therefore run parallel to chap4 vii4 vv4 #c-i2 but chap4 viii4 ver4 #e and following verses sketch the evils that are to come upon ,judah and ,israel1 consequent upon the arrival of the ,assyrians in ,palestine1 in answer to the appeal of ,ahaz4 ,these evils for land and nation are threatened as absolutely to the people1 as they had been to the king4 ,and then the people are thrown over 7viii4 #ad71 as the king had been2 and ,isaiah limits himself to his disciples 7ver4 #af7--the remnant that was foretold in chap4 vi4 ,this appeal from monarch to people is one of the most characteristic features of ,isaiah's ministry4 ,whatever be the matter committed to him1 ,isaiah is not allowed to rest till he has brought it home to the popular conscience2 and however much he may be able to charge national disaster upon the folly of politicians or the obduracy of a king1 it is the people whom he holds ultimately responsible4 ,the statesman1 according to ,isaiah1 cannot rise far above the level of his generation2 the people set the fashion to their most autocratic rulers4 ,this instinct for the popular conscience1 this belief in the moral solidarity of a nation and their governors1 was the motive of the most picturesque passages in ,isaiah's career1 and inspired some of the keenest epigrams in which he conveyed the ,divine truth4 ,we have here a case in illustration4 ,isaiah had met ,ahaz and his court at the conduit of the upper pool1 in the highway of the fuller's field1 preparing for the expected siege of the city1 and had delivered to them the ,lord's message not to fear1 for that ,syria-,ephraim would certainly be destroyed4 ,but that was not enough4 ,it was now laid upon the prophet to make public and popular advertisement of the same truth4 ,isaiah was told to take a large1 smooth board1 and write thereon in the character used by the common people--with the pen of a man--as if it were the title to a prophecy1 the compound word ,maher-shalal-hash-baz4 ,this was not only an intelligibly written1 but a significantly sonorous1 word--one of those popular cries in which the liveliest sensations are struck forth by the crowded1 clashing letters1 full to the dullest ears of rumours of war3 speed-spoil-hurry-prey4 ,the interpretation of it was postponed1 the prophet meantime taking two faithful witnesses to its publication4 ,in a little a son was born to ,isaiah1 and to this child he transferred the noisy name4 ,then its explanation was given4 ,the double word was the alarm of a couple of invasions4 ,before the boy shall have knowledge to cry1 ,my father1 my mother1 the riches of ,damascus and the spoil of ,samaria shall be carried away before the king of ,assyria4 ,so far nothing was told the people that had not been told their king2 only the time of the overthrow of their two enemies was fixed with greater precision4 ,at the most in a year1 ,damascus and ,samaria would have fallen4 ,the ground was already vibrating to the footfall of the northern hosts4 ,the rapid political changes1 which ensued in ,palestine1 are reflected on the broken surface of this eighth chapter4 ,we shall not understand these abrupt and dislocated oracles1 uttered at short intervals during the two years of the ,assyrian campaign1 unless we realize that northern shadow passing and repassing over ,judah and ,israel1 and the quick alternations of pride and penitence in the peoples beneath it4 ,we need not try to thread the verses on any line of thought4 ,logical connection among them there is none4 ,let us at once get down into the currents of popular feeling1 in which ,isaiah1 having left ,ahaz1 is now labouring1 and casting forth these cries4 ,it is a period of powerful currents1 a people wholly in drift1 and the strongest man of them arrested only by a firm pressure of the ,lord's hand4 ,for ,jehovah spake thus to me with a strong hand1 and instructed me1 that ,i should not walk in the way of this people4 ,the character of the popular movement1 the way of this people1 which nearly lifted ,isaiah off his feet1 is evident4 ,it is that into which every nation drifts1 who have just been loosened from a primitive faith in ,god1 and by fear or ambition have been brought under the fascination of the great world4 ,on the one hand1 such a generation is apt to seek the security of its outward life in things materially large and splendid1 to despise as paltry its old religious forms1 national aspirations and achievements1 and be very desirous to follow foreign fashion and rival foreign wealth4 ,on the other hand1 the religious spirit of such an age1 withdrawn from its legitimate objects1 seeks satisfaction in petty and puerile practices1 demeaning itself spiritually1 in a way that absurdly contrasts with the grandeur of its material ambitions4 ,such a stage in the life of a people has its analogy in the growth of the individual1 when the boy1 new to the world1 by affecting the grandest companions and models1 assumes an ambitious manner1 with contempt for his former circumstances1 yet inwardly remains credulous1 timid and liable to panic4 ,isaiah reveals that it was such a stage1 which both the kingdoms of ,israel had now reached4 ,this people hath refused the waters of ,shiloah1 that go softly1 and rejoice in ,rezin and ,remaliah's son4 ,it was natural1 that when the people of ,judah contrasted their own estate with that of ,assyria1 or even of ,damascus1 they should despise themselves4 ,for what was ,judah8 ,a petty principality1 no larger than three of our own counties4 ,and what was ,jerusalem8 ,a mere mountain village1 some sixty or seventy acres of barren rock1 cut into tongues by three insignificant valleys1 down which there sometimes struggled tiny threads of water1 though the beds were oftener dry1 giving the town a withered and squalid look--no great river to nourish1 ennoble or protect4 ,what were such a country and capital to compare with the empire of ,assyria8--the empire of the two rivers1 whose powerful streams washed the ramparts1 wharves1 and palace stairs of mighty cities6 ,what was ,jerusalem even to the capital of ,rezin8 ,were not ,abana and ,pharpar1 rivers of ,damascus1 better than all the waters of ,israel1 let alone these waterless wdys1 whose bleached beds made the ,jewish capital so squalid8 ,it was the ,assyrian's vast water system--canals1 embankments1 sluices1 and the wealth of water moving through them--that most impressed the poor ,jew1 whose streams failed him in summer1 and who had to treasure up his scanty stores of rainwater in the cisterns1 with which the rocky surface of his territory is still so thickly indented4 ,there had1 indeed1 been at ,jerusalem some attempt to conduct water4 ,it was called ,the ,shiloah--conduit or aqueduct1 literally emissary in the old sense of the word--a rough1 narrow tunnel of some thousand feet in length1 hewn through the living rock from the only considerable spring on the east side of ,jerusalem1 to a reservoir within the walls4 ,to this day ,the ,shiloah presents itself as not by any means a first-class piece of engineering4 ,ahaz had either just made the tunnel or repaired it2 but if the water went no faster than it travels now1 the results were indeed ridiculous4 ,well might this people despise the waters of the ,shiloah1 that go trickling1 when they thought upon the rivers of ,damascus or the broad streams of ,mesopotamia4 ,certainly it was enough to dry up the patriotism of the ,judean1 if he was capable of appreciating only material value1 to look upon this bare1 riverless capital1 with its bungled aqueduct and trickling water supply4 ,on merely material grounds1 ,judah was about the last country at that time1 in which her inhabitants might be expected to show pride or confidence4 ,but woe to the people1 whose attachment to their land is based upon its material advantages1 who have lost their sense for those spiritual presences1 from an appreciation of which springs all true love of country1 with warrior's courage in her defence and statesman's faith in her destiny6 ,the greatest calamity1 which can befall any people1 is to forfeit their enthusiasm for the soil1 on which their history has been achieved and their hearths and altars lie1 by suffering their faith in the presence of ,god1 of which these are but the tokens1 to pass away4 ,with this loss ,isaiah now reproaches ,judah4 ,the people are utterly materialized2 their delights have been in gold and silver1 chariots and horses1 fenced cities and broad streams1 and their faith has now followed their delights4 ,but these things to which they flee will only prove their destruction4 ,the great foreign river1 whose waters they covet1 will overflow them3 even the king of ,assyria and all his glory1 and he shall come up over all his channels and go over all his banks2 and he shall sweep onward into ,judah2 he shall overflow and pass through2 he shall reach even to the neck2 and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land1 ,o ,immanuel1 thou who art ,god-with-us4 ,at the sound of the ,name1 which floats in upon the floods of invasion like the ,ark on the waters of old1 ,isaiah pulls together his distraught faith in his country1 and forgetting her faults1 flings defiance at her foes4 ,associate yourselves1 ye peoples1 and ye shall be broken in pieces2 and give ear1 all ye of far-off countries1 gird yourselves1 and ye shall be broken in pieces4 ,take counsel together1 and it shall be brought to nought2 speak the word1 and it shall not stand3 for ,immanu-,el--,with us is ,god4 ,the challenge was made good4 ,the prophet's faith prevailed over the people's materialism1 and ,jerusalem remained inviolable till ,isaiah's death4 ,meantime the ,assyrian came on4 ,but the infatuated people of ,judah continued to tremble rather before the doomed conspirators1 ,rezin and ,pekah4 ,it must have been a time of huge excitement4 ,the prophet tells us how he was steadied by the pressure of the ,lord's hand1 and how1 being steadied1 the meaning of the word ,immanuel was opened out to him4 ,god-with-us is the one great fact of life4 ,amid all the possible alliances and all the possible fears of a complex political situation1 ,he remains the one certain alliance1 the one real fear4 ,say ye not1 ,a conspiracy1 concerning all whereof this people say1 ,a conspiracy2 neither fear ye their fear1 nor be in dread thereof4 ,jehovah of hosts1 ,him shall ye sanctify2 and let ,him be your fear1 and let ,him be your dread4 ,god is the one great fact of life1 but what a double-edged fact--a sanctuary to all who put their trust in ,him1 but a rock of offence to both houses of ,israel6 ,the figure is very picturesque4 ,an altar1 a common stone on steps1 one of those which covered the land in large numbers--it is easy to see what a double purpose that might serve4 ,what a joy the sight would be to the weary wanderer or refugee who sought it1 what a comfort as he leant his weariness upon it1 and knew he was safe6 ,but those who were flying over the land1 not seeking ,jehovah1 not knowing indeed what they sought1 blind and panic-stricken--for them what could that altar do but trip them up like any other common rock in their way8 ,in fact1 ,divine justice is something which is either observed1 desired1 or attained1 and is then man's weal1 or1 on the other hand1 is overlooked1 rejected1 or sought after in a wild1 unintelligent spirit1 and only in the hour of need1 and is then their lasting ruin4#ai #ai ,ewald4 ,the ,assyrian came on1 and the temper of the ,jews grew worse4 ,samaria was indeed doomed from the first1 but for some time ,isaiah had been excepting ,judah from a judgement for which the guilt of ,northern ,israel was certainly riper4 ,he foresaw1 of course1 that the impetus of invasion might sweep the ,assyrians into ,judah1 but he had triumphed in this3 that ,judah was ,immanuel's land1 and that all who arrayed themselves against her must certainly come to nought4 ,but now his ideas have changed1 as ,judah has persisted in evil4 ,he knows now that ,god is for a stumbling-block to both houses of ,israel2 nay1 that upon ,jerusalem herself ,he will fall as a gin and a snare4 ,only for a little group of individuals1 separate from both ,states1 and gathered round the prophet and the word of ,god given to him1 is salvation certain4 ,people1 as well as king1 have been found wanting4 ,there remains only this remnant4 ,isaiah then at last sees his remnant4 ,but the point we have reached is significant for more than the fulfilment of his expectations4 ,this is the first appearance in history of a religious community1 apart from the forms of domestic or national life4 ,till then no one had dreamed of a fellowship of faith dissociated from all national forms1 bound together by faith in the ,divine word alone4 ,it was the birth of a new era in religion1 for it was the birth of the conception of the ,church1 the first step in the emancipation of spiritual religion from the forms of political life4#bj #bj ,robertson ,smith1 ,prophets of ,israel1 p4 #bge4 ,the plan of the seventh and eighth chapters is now fully disclosed4 ,as the king for his unworthiness has to give place to the ,messiah1 so the nation for theirs have to give place to the ,church4 ,in the seventh chapter the king was found wanting1 and the ,messiah promised4 ,in the eighth chapter the people are found wanting2 and the prophet1 turning from them1 proceeds to form the ,church among those who accept the ,word1 which king and people have refused4 ,bind thou up the testimony1 and seal the teaching#ba among my disciples4 ,and ,i will wait on ,jehovah1 who hideth ,his face from the house of ,jacob1 and ,i will look for ,him4 ,behold1 ,i and the children ,jehovah hath given me are for signs and wonders in ,israel from ,jehovah of hosts1 ,him that dwelleth in ,mount ,zion4 #ba ,english ,version1 law1 but not the law of ,moses4 ,isaiah refers to the word that has come by himself4 ,this1 then1 is the situation3 revelation concluded1 the ,church formed upon it1 and the nation abandoned4 ,but is that situation final8 ,the words just quoted betray the prophet's hope that it is not4 ,he says3 ,i will wait4 ,he says again3 ,the ,,lord is only hiding ,his face from the house of ,jacob4 ,i will expect again the shining of ,his countenance4 ,i will hope for ,divine grace and the nation being once more conterminous4 ,the rest of the section 7to ix4 #g7 is the development of this hope1 which stirs in the prophet's heart after he has closed the record of revelation4 ,the darkness deepened across ,israel4 ,the ,assyrian had come4 ,the northern floods kept surging among the little ,states of ,palestine1 and none knew what might be left standing4 ,we can well understand ,isaiah pausing1 as he did1 in face of such rapid and incontrollable movements4 ,when ,tiglath-pileser swept over the plain of ,esdraelon1 casting down the king of ,samaria and the ,philistine cities1 and then swept back again1 carrying off upon his ebb the populations east of the ,jordan1 it looked very like as if both the houses of ,israel should fall4 ,in their panic1 the people betook themselves to morbid forms of religion2 and at first ,isaiah was obliged to quench the hope and pity he had betrayed for them in indignation at the utter contrariety of their religious practices to the word of ,god4 ,there can be no ,divine grace for the people as long as they seek unto them that have familiar spirits1 and unto the wizards that chirp and that mutter4 ,for such a disposition the prophet has nothing but scorn1 ,should not a people seek unto their ,god8 ,on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead8 ,they must come back to the prophet's own word before hope may dawn4 ,to the revelation and the testimony6 ,if they speak not according to this word1 surely there is no morning for them4 ,the night1 however1 grew too awful for scorn4 ,there had been no part of the land so given to the idolatrous practices1 which the prophet scathed1 as the land of ,zebulon and the land of ,naphtali1 by the sea beyond ,jordan1 ,galilee of the ,gentiles4 ,but all the horrors of captivity had now fallen upon it1 and it had received at the ,lord's hand double for all its sins4 ,the night had been torn enough by lightning2 was there no dawn8 ,the darkness of these provinces fills the prophet's silenced thoughts4 ,he sees a people hardly bestead and hungry1 fretting themselves1 cursing their king1 who had betrayed them1 and their ,god1 who had abandoned them1 turning their faces upwards to heaven and downwards to the sacred soil from which they were being dragged1 but1 behold1 distress and darkness1 the gloom of anguish2 and into thick darkness they are driven away4 ,it is a murky picture1 yet through the smoke of it we are able to discern a weird procession of ,israelites departing into captivity4 ,we date it1 therefore1 about #gcb ,b4,c41 the night of ,israel's first great captivity4 ,the shock and the pity of this rouse the prophet's great heart4 ,he cannot continue to say that there is no morning for those benighted provinces4 ,he will venture a great hope for their people4 ,over how many months the crowded verses1 viii4 #ba-;ix4 #g1 must be spread1 it is useless now to inquire--whether the revulsion they mark arose all at once in the prophet's mind1 or hope grew gradually brighter as the smoke of war died away on ,israel's northern frontier during #gca ,b4,c4 ,it is enough that we can mark the change4 ,the prophet's tones pass from sarcasm to pity 7viii4 #bj1 #ba72 from pity to hope 7viii4 #bb-;ix4 #a72 from hope to triumph in the vision of salvation actually achieved 7ix4 #b74 ,the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light2 they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death1 on them hath the light shined4 ,for a mutilated1 we see a multiplied1 nation2 for the fret of hunger and the curses of defeat1 we hear the joy of harvest and of spoil after victory4 ,for the yoke of his burden1 and the staff of his shoulder1 the rod of his oppressor1 ,thou hast broken as in the day of ,midian4 ,war has rolled away for ever over that northern horizon1 and all the relics of war in the land are swept together into the fire4 ,for all the armour of the armed man in the tumult1 and the garments rolled in blood1 shall even be for burning1 and for fuel of fire4 ,in the midday splendour of this peace1 which1 after the fashion of ,hebrew prophecy1 is described as already realized1 ,isaiah hails the ,author of it all in that gracious and marvellous ,child whose birth he had already intimated1 ,heir to the throne of ,david1 but entitled by a fourfold name1 too generous1 perhaps1 for a mere mortal1 ,wonderful-,counsellor1 ,hero-,god1 ,father-,everlasting1 ,prince-of-peace1 who shall redeem the realms of his great forerunner and maintain ,israel with justice and righteousness from henceforth1 even for ever4 ,when1 finally1 the prophet inquires what has led his thoughts through this rapid change from satisfaction 7chap4 viii4 #af7 with the salvation of a small remnant of believers in the word of ,god--a little kernel of patience in the midst of a godless and abandoned people--to the daring vision of a whole nation redeemed and established in peace under a ,godlike ,king1 he says3 ,the zeal of the ,lord of hosts hath performed this4 ,the zeal1 translates our ,english version1 but no one ,english word will give it4 ,it is that mixture of hot honour and affection to which jealousy in its good sense comes near4 ,it is that overflow of the love that cannot keep still1 which1 when men think ,god has surely done all ,he will or can do for an ungrateful race1 visits them in their distress1 and carries them forward into unconceived dispensations of grace and glory4 ,it is the ,spirit of ,god1 which yearns after the lost1 speaks to the self-despairing of hope1 and surprises rebel and prophet alike with new revelations of love4 ,we have our systems representing ,god's work up to the limits of our experience1 and we settle upon them2 but the ,almighty is ever greater than ,his promise or than ,his revelation of ,himself4 ,,chapter ,,vii4 ,,the ,,messiah4 ,we have now reached that point of ,isaiah's prophesying at which the ,messiah becomes the most conspicuous figure on his horizon4 ,let us take advantage of it1 to gather into one statement all that the prophet told his generation concerning that exalted and mysterious ,person4#bb #bb ,the ,messiah1 or ,anointed1 is used in the ,old ,testament of many agents of ,god3 high-priest 7,lev4 iv4 #c72 ministers of the ,word 7,ps4 cv4 #ae72 ,cyrus 7,isa4 xlv4 #a72 but mostly of ,god's king1 actual 7#a ,sam4 xxiv4 #g71 or expected 7,dan4 ix4 #be74 ,so it became in ,jewish theology the technical term for the coming ,king and the ,captain of salvation4 ,when ,isaiah began to prophesy1 there was current among the people of ,judah the expectation of a glorious ,king4 ,how far the expectation was defined it is impossible to ascertain2 but this at least is historically certain4 ,a promise had been made to ,david 7#b ,sam4 vii4 #d-ag7 by which the permanence of his dynasty was assured4 ,his offspring1 it was said1 should succeed him1 yet eternity was promised not to any individual descendant1 but to the dynasty4 ,prophets earlier than ,isaiah emphasized this establishment of the house of ,david1 even in the days of ,israel's greatest distress2 but they said nothing of a single monarch with whom the fortunes of the house were to be identified4 ,it is clear1 however1 even without the evidence of the ,messianic ,psalms1 that the hope of such a hero was quick in ,israel4 ,besides the documentary proof of ,david's own last words 7#b ,sam4 xxiii471 there is the manifest impossibility of dreaming of an ideal kingdom apart from the ideal king4 ,orientals1 and especially ,orientals of that period1 were incapable of realizing the triumph of an idea or an institution without connecting it with a personality4 ,so that we may be perfectly sure1 that when ,isaiah began to prophesy the people not only counted upon the continuance of ,david's dynasty1 as they counted upon the presence of ,jehovah ,himself1 but were familiar with the ideal of a monarch1 and lived in hope of its realization4 ,in the first stage of his prophecy1 it is remarkable1 ,isaiah makes no use of this tradition1 although he gives more than one representation of ,israel's future in which it might naturally have appeared4 ,no word is spoken of a ,messiah even in the awful conversation1 in which ,isaiah received from the ,eternal the fundamentals of his teaching4 ,the only hope there permitted to him is the survival of a bare1 leaderless few of the people1 or1 to use his own word1 a stump1 with no sign of a prominent sprout upon it4 ,in connection1 however1 with the survival of a remnant1 as we have said on chap4 vi4 7p4 #hi71 it is plain that there were two indispensable conditions1 which the prophet could not help having to state sooner or later4 ,indeed1 one of them he had mentioned already4 ,it was indispensable that the people should have a leader1 and that they should have a rallying-point4 ,they must have their ,king1 and they must have their ,city4 ,every reader of ,isaiah knows that it is on these two themes the prophet rises to the height of his eloquence--,jerusalem shall remain inviolable2 a glorious ,king shall be given unto her4 ,but it has not been so generally remarked1 that ,isaiah is far more concerned and consistent about the secure city than about the ideal monarch4 ,from first to last the establishment and peace of ,jerusalem are never out of his thoughts1 but he speaks only now and then of the ,king to come4 ,through long periods of his ministry1 though frequently describing the blessed future1 he is silent about the ,messiah1 and even sometimes so groups the inhabitants of that future1 as to leave no room for ,him among them4 ,indeed1 the silences of ,isaiah upon this ,person are as remarkable as the brilliant passages1 in which he paints ,his endowments and ,his work4 ,if we consider the moment1 chosen by ,isaiah for announcing the ,messiah and adding his seal to the national belief in the advent of a glorious ,son of ,david1 we find some significance in the fact that it was a moment1 when the throne of ,david was unworthily filled and ,david's dynasty was for the first time seriously threatened4 ,it is impossible to dissociate the birth of a boy called ,immanuel1 and afterwards so closely identified with the fortunes of the whole land 7vii4 #h71 from the public expectation of a ,king of glory2 and critics are almost unanimous in recognizing ,immanuel again in the ,prince-of-the-,four-,names in chap4 ix4 ,immanuel1 therefore1 is the ,messiah1 the promised ,king of ,israel4 ,but ,isaiah makes his own first intimation of ,him1 not when the throne was worthily filled by an ,uzziah or a ,jotham1 but when a fool and traitor to ,god abused its power1 and the foreign conspiracy to set up a ,syrian prince in ,jerusalem imperilled the whole dynasty4 ,perhaps we ought not to overlook the fact1 that ,isaiah does not here designate ,immanuel as a descendant of ,david4 ,the vagueness with which the mother is described has given rise to a vast amount of speculation as to what particular person the prophet meant by her4 ,but may not ,isaiah's vagueness be the only intention he had in mentioning a mother at all8 ,the whole house of ,david shared at that moment the sin of the king 7vii4 #ac72 and it is not presuming too much upon the freedom of our prophet to suppose1 that he shook himself loose from the tradition1 which entailed the ,messiah upon the royal family of ,judah1 and at least left it an open question1 whether ,immanuel might not1 in consequence of their sin1 spring from some other stock4 ,it is1 however1 far less with the origin1 than with the experience1 of ,immanuel that ,isaiah is concerned2 and those who embark upon curious inquiries1 as to who exactly the mother might be1 are busying themselves with what the prophet had no interest in1 while neglecting that in which really lay the significance of the sign that he offered4 ,ahaz by his wilfulness has made a ,substitute necessary4 ,but ,isaiah is far more taken up with this3 that he has actually mortgaged the prospects of that ,substitute4 ,the ,messiah comes1 but the wilfulness of ,ahaz has rendered ,his reign impossible4 ,he1 whose advent has hitherto not been foretold except as the beginning of an era of prosperity1 and whose person has not been painted but with honour and power1 is represented as a helpless and innocent ,sufferer--,his prospects dissipated by the sins of others1 and ,himself born only to share ,his people's indigence 7p4 #aae74 ,such a representation of the ,hero's fate is of the very highest interest4 ,we are accustomed to associate the conception of a suffering ,messiah only with a much later development of prophecy1 when ,israel went into exile2 but the conception meets us already here4 ,it is another proof that ,esaias is very bold4 ,he calls his ,messiah ,immanuel1 and yet dares to present ,him as nothing but a ,sufferer--a ,sufferer for the sins of others4 ,born only to suffer with ,his people1 who should have inherited their throne--that is ,isaiah's first doctrine of the ,messiah4 ,through the rest of the prophecies published during the ,syro-,ephraitic troubles the ,sufferer is slowly transformed into a ,deliverer4 ,the stages of this transformation are obscure4 ,in chap4 viii4 ,immanuel is no more defined than in chap4 vii4 ,he is still only a ,name of hope upon an unbroken prospect of devastation4 ,the stretching out of his wings--i4e41 the floods of the ,assyrian--shall fill the breadth of ,thy land1 ,o ,immanuel4 ,but this time that the prophet utters the ,name1 he feels inspired by new courage4 ,he grasps at ,immanuel as the pledge of ultimate salvation4 ,let the enemies of ,judah work their worst2 it shall be in vain1 for ,immanuel1 ,god is with us4 ,and then1 to our astonishment1 while ,isaiah is telling us how he arrived at the convictions embodied in this ,name1 the personality of ,immanuel fades away altogether1 and ,jehovah of hosts ,himself is set forth as the sole sanctuary of those who fear ,him4 ,there is indeed a double displacement here4 ,immanuel dissolves in two directions4 ,as a ,refuge1 ,he is displaced by ,jehovah2 as a ,sufferer and a ,symbol of the sufferings of the land1 by a little community of disciples1 the first embodiment of the ,church1 who now1 with ,isaiah1 can do nothing except wait for the ,lord 7pp4 #abd-abf74 ,then1 when the prophet's yearning thoughts1 that will not rest upon so dark a closure1 struggle once more1 and struggling pass from despair to pity1 and from pity to hope1 and from hope to triumph in a salvation actually achieved1 they hail all at once as the ,hero of it the ,son whose birth was promised4 ,with an emphasis1 which vividly reveals the sense of exhaustion in the living generation and the conviction that only something fresh1 and sent straight from ,god ,himself1 can now avail ,israel1 the prophet cries3 ,unto us a ,child is born2 unto us a ,son is given4 ,the ,messiah appears in a glory that floods ,his origin out of sight4 ,we cannot see whether ,he springs from the house of ,david2 but the government is to be upon ,his shoulder1 and ,he shall reign on ,david's throne with righteousness for ever4 ,his title shall be fourfold3 ,wonderful-,counsellor1 ,god-,hero1 ,father-,everlasting1 ,prince-of-,peace4 ,these ,four ,names do certainly not invite us to grudge them meaning1 and they have been claimed as incontrovertible proofs1 that the prophet had an absolutely ,divine ,person in view4 ,some distinguished scholars insist that the promised ,deliverer is nothing less than a ,god in the metaphysical sense of the word4#bc ,there are serious reasons1 however1 which make us doubt this conclusion1 and1 though we firmly hold that ,jesus ,christ was ,god1 prevent us from recognizing these names as prophecies of ,his ,divinity4 ,two of the names are capable of being used of an earthly monarch3 ,wonderful-,counsellor and ,prince-of-,peace1 which are1 within the range of human virtue1 in evident contrast to ,ahaz1 at once foolish in the conception of his policy and warlike in its results4 ,it will be more difficult to get ,western minds to see how ,father-,everlasting may be applied to a mere man1 but the ascription of eternity is not unusual in ,oriental titles1 and in the ,old ,testament is sometimes rendered to things that perish4 ,when ,hebrews speak of any one as everlasting1 that does not necessarily imply ,divinity4 ,the second name1 which we render ,god-,hero1 is1 it is true1 used of ,jehovah ,himself in the very next chapter to this1 but in the plural it is also used of men by ,ezekiel 7xxxii4 #ba74 ,the part of it translated ,god is a frequent name of the ,divine ,being in the ,old ,testament1 but literally means only mighty1 and is by ,ezekiel 7xxxi4 #aa7 applied to ,nebuchadnezzar4 ,we should hesitate1 therefore1 to understand by these names a ,god in the metaphysical sense of the word4 #bc ,i regret very much that in previous editions ,i should have erroneously imputed this opinion to ,dr4 ,hermann ,schultz--through a mistranslation of his words on pp4 #gbf1 #gbg of his ,a4 ,t4 ,theologie4 ,we fall back with greater confidence on other arguments of a more general kind1 which apply to all ,isaiah's prophecies of the ,messiah4 ,if ,isaiah had one revelation rather than another to make1 it was the revelation of the unity of ,god4 ,against king and people1 who crowded their temple with the shrines of many deities1 ,isaiah presented ,jehovah as the one only ,god4 ,it would simply have nullified the force of his message1 and confused the generation to which he brought it1 if either he or they had conceived of the ,messiah1 with the conceiving of ,christian theology1 as a separate ,divine personality4 ,again1 as ,mr4 ,robertson ,smith has very clearly explained1#bd the functions assigned by ,isaiah to the ,king of the future are simply the ordinary duties of the monarchy1 for which ,he is equipped by the indwelling of that ,spirit of ,god1 that makes all wise men wise and valorous men valorous4 ,we believe in a ,divine and eternal ,saviour1 because the work of salvation as we understand it in the light of the ,new ,testament is essentially different from the work of the wisest and best earthly king4 ,but such an earthly king's work is all ,isaiah looks for4 ,so that1 so far from its being derogatory to ,christ to grudge the sense of ,divinity to these names1 it is a fact that the more spiritual our notions are of the saving work of ,jesus1 the less inclined shall we be to claim the prophecies of ,isaiah in proof of ,his ,deity4 #bd ,prophets of ,israel1 p4 #cjf4 ,there is a third argument in the same direction1 the force of which we appreciate only when we come to discover how very little from this point onwards ,isaiah had to say about the promised king4 ,in chaps4 i4-xxxix4 only three other passages are interpreted as describing the ,messiah4 ,the first of these1 xi4 #a-e1 dating perhaps from about #gbj1 when ,hezekiah was king1 tells us1 for the first and only time by ,isaiah's lips1 that the ,messiah is to be a scion of ,david's house1 and confirms what we have said3 that ,his duties1 however perfectly they were to be discharged1 were the usual duties of ,judah's monarchy4#be ,the second passage1 xxxii4 #a ff41 which dates probably from after #gje1 when ,hezekiah was still king1 is1 if indeed it refers at all to the ,messiah1 a still fainter1 though sweeter1 echo of previous descriptions4 ,while the third passage1 xxxiii4 #ag3 ,thou shalt see thy king in his beauty1 does not refer to the ,messiah at all1 but to ,hezekiah1 then prostrate and in sackcloth1 with ,assyria thundering at the gate of ,jerusalem 7#gja74 ,the mass of ,isaiah's predictions of the ,messiah thus fall within the reign of ,ahaz1 and just at the point at which ,ahaz proved an unworthy representative of ,jehovah1 and ,judah and ,israel were threatened with complete devastation4 ,there is a repetition when ,hezekiah has come to the throne4 ,but in the remaining seventeen years1 except perhaps for one allusion1 ,isaiah is silent on the ideal king1 although he continued throughout that time to unfold pictures of the blessed future which contained every other ,messianic feature1 and the realization of which he placed where he had placed his ,prince-of-the-,four-,names--in connection1 that is1 with the approaching defeat of the ,assyrians4 ,ignoring the ,messiah1 during these years ,isaiah lays all the stress of his prophecy on the inviolability of ,jerusalem2 and while he promises the recovery of the actually reigning monarch from the distress of the ,assyrian invasion1--as if that were what the people chiefly desired to see1 and not a brighter1 stronger substitute1--he hails ,jehovah ,himself1 in solitary and undeputed sovereignty1 as ,judge1 ,lawgiver1 ,monarch and ,saviour 7xxxiii4 #bb74 ,between ,hezekiah1 thus restored to his beauty1 and ,jehovah's own presence1 there is surely no room left for another royal personage4 ,but these very facts--that ,isaiah felt most compelled to predict an ideal king when the actual king was unworthy1 and that1 on the contrary1 when the reigning king proved worthy1 approximating to the ideal1 ,isaiah felt no need for another1 and indeed in his prophecies left no room for another--form surely a powerful proof that the king he expected was not a supernatural being1 but a human personality1 extraordinarily endowed by ,god1 one of the descendants of ,david by ordinary succession1 but fulfilling the ideal which his forerunners had missed4 ,even if we allow that the four names contain among them the predicate of ,divinity1 we must not overlook the fact that the ,prince is only called by them4 ,it is not that ,he is1 but that ,he shall be called1 ,wonderful-,counsellor1 ,god-,hero1 ,father-,everlasting1 ,prince-of-,peace4 ,nowhere is there a dogmatic statement that ,he is ,divine4 ,besides1 it is inconceivable that if ,isaiah1 the prophet of the unity of ,god1 had at any time a second ,divine ,person in his hope1 he should have afterwards remained so silent about ,him4 ,to interpret the ascription of the ,four ,names as a conscious definition of ,divinity1 at all like the ,christian conception of ,jesus ,christ1 is to render the silence of ,isaiah's later life and the silence of subsequent prophets utterly inexplicable4 #be ,see further on this passage pp4 #ahj-ahc4 ,as is there pointed out1 while these passages on the ,messiah are indeed infrequent and unconnected1 there is a very evident progress through them of ,isaiah's conception of his ,hero's character4 ,on these grounds1 then1 we decline to believe that ,isaiah saw in the king of the future a ,god in the metaphysical sense of the word4 ,just because we know the proofs of the ,divinity of ,jesus to be so spiritual1 do we feel the uselessness of looking for them to prophecies1 that manifestly describe purely earthly and civil functions4 ,but such a conclusion by no means shuts us out from tracing a relation between these prophecies and the appearance of ,jesus4 ,the fact1 that ,isaiah allowed them to go down to posterity1 proves that he himself did not count them to have been exhausted in ,hezekiah4 ,and this fact of their preservation is ever so much the more significant1 that their literal truth was discredited by events4 ,isaiah had evidently foretold the birth and bitter youth of ,immanuel for the near future4 ,immanuel's childhood was to begin with the devastation of ,ephraim and ,syria1 and to be passed in circumstances consequent on the devastation of ,judah1 which was to follow close upon that of her two enemies4 ,but although ,ephraim and ,syria were immediately spoiled1 as ,isaiah foresaw1 ,judah lay in peace all the reign of ,ahaz and many years after his death4 ,so that had ,immanuel been born in the next twenty-five years after the announcement of ,his birth1 ,he would not have found in ,his own land the circumstances which ,isaiah foretold as the discipline of ,his boyhood4 ,isaiah's forecast of ,judah's fate was1 therefore1 falsified by events4 ,that the prophet or his disciples should have allowed it to remain1 is proof that they believed it to have contents1 which the history they had lived through neither exhausted nor discredited4 ,in the prophecies of the ,messiah there was something ideal1 which was as permanent and valid for the future as the prophecy of the ,remnant or that of the visible majesty of ,jehovah4 ,if the attachment1 at which the prophet aimed when he launched these prophecies on the stream of time1 was denied them by their own age1 that did not mean their submersion1 but only their freedom to float further down the future and seek attachment there4 ,this boldness1 to entrust to future ages a prophecy discredited by contemporary history1 argues a profound belief in its moral meaning and eternal significance2 and it is this boldness1 in face of disappointment continued from generation to generation in ,israel1 that constitutes the uniqueness of the ,messianic hope among that people4 ,to sublimate this permanent meaning of the prophecies from the contemporary material1 with which it is mixed1 is not difficult4 ,isaiah foretells his ,prince on the supposition that certain things are fulfilled4 ,when the people are reduced to the last extreme1 when there is no more a king to rally or to rule them1 when the land is in captivity1 when revelation is closed1 when1 in despair of the darkness of the ,lord's face1 men have taken to them that have familiar spirits and wizards that peep and mutter1 then1 in that last sinful1 hopeless estate of man1 a ,deliverer shall appear4 ,the zeal of the ,lord of hosts will perform it4 ,this is the first article of ,isaiah's ,messianic creed1 and stands back behind the ,messiah and all ,messianic blessings1 their exhaustless origin4 ,whatsoever man's sin and darkness be1 the ,almighty lives1 and ,his zeal is infinite4 ,therefore it is a fact eternally true1 that whatsoever ,deliverer ,his people need and can receive shall be sent to them1 and shall be styled by whatsoever names their hearts can best appreciate4 ,titles shall be given ,him to attract their hope and their homage1 and not a definition of ,his nature1 of which their theological vocabulary would be incapable4 ,this is the vital kernel of ,messianic prophecy in ,isaiah4 ,the zeal of the ,lord1 kindling the dark thoughts of the prophet as he broods over his people's need of salvation1 suddenly makes a ,saviour visible--visible just as ,he is needed there and then4 ,isaiah hears ,him hailed by titles that satisfy the particular wants of the age1 and express men's thoughts as far up the idea of salvation and majesty as they of that age can rise4 ,but the prophet has also perceived that sin and disaster will so accumulate before the ,messiah comes1 that1 though innocent1 ,he shall have to bear tribulation and pass to ,his prime through suffering4 ,no one with open mind can deny1 that in this moderate estimate of the prophet's meaning there is a very great deal of the essence of the ,gospel as it has been fulfilled in the personal consciousness and saving work of ,jesus ,christ1--as much of that essence1 indeed1 as it was possible to communicate to so early a generation1 and one whose religious needs were so largely what we call temporal4 ,but if we grant this1 and if at the same time we appreciate the uniqueness of such a hope as this of ,israel1 then surely it must be allowed to have the appearance of a special preparation for ,christ's life and work2 and so1 to use very moderate words which have been applied to ,messianic prophecy in general1 it may be taken as a proof of its true connection with the ,gospel dispensation as part of one grand scheme in the counsels of ,providence4#bf #bf ,stanton3 ,the ,jewish and ,christian ,messiah4 99 99 99 99 99 ,men do not ask when they drink of a streamlet high up on the hills1 ,is this going to be a great river8 ,they are satisfied if it is water enough to quench their thirst4 ,and so it was enough for ,old ,testament believers if they found in ,isaiah's prophecy of a ,deliverer--as they did find--what satisfied their own religious needs1 without convincing them to what volumes it should swell4 ,but this does not mean that in using these ,old ,testament prophecies we ,christians should limit our enjoyment of them to the measure of the generation to whom they were addressed4 ,to have known ,christ must make the predictions of the ,messiah different to a man4 ,you cannot bring so infinite an ocean of blessing into historic connection with these generous1 expansive intimations of the ,old ,testament without its passing into them4 ,if we may use a rough figure1 the ,messianic prophecies of the ,old ,testament are tidal rivers4 ,they not only run1 as we have seen1 to their sea1 which is ,christ2 they feel ,his reflex influence4 ,it is not enough for a ,christian to have followed the historical direction of the prophecies1 or to have proved their connection with the ,new ,testament as parts of one ,divine harmony4 ,forced back by the fulness of meaning to which he has found their courses open1 he returns to find the savour of the ,new ,testament upon them1 and that where he descended shallow and tortuous channels1 with all the difficulties of historical exploration1 he is borne back on full tides of worship4 ,to use the appropriate words of ,isaiah1 the ,lord is with him there1 a place of broad rivers and streams4 ,with all this1 however1 we must not forget that1 beside these prophecies of a great earthly ruler1 there runs another stream of desire and promise1 in which we see a much stronger premonition of the fact that a ,divine ,being shall some day dwell among men4 ,we mean the ,scriptures in which it is foretold that ,jehovah ,himself shall visibly visit ,jerusalem4 ,this line of prophecy1 taken along with the powerful anthropomorphic representations of ,god1--astonishing in a people like the ,jews1 who so abhorred the making of an image of the ,deity upon the likeness of anything in heaven and earth1--we hold to be the proper ,old ,testament instinct that the ,divine should take human form and tabernacle amongst men4 ,but this side of our subject--the relation of the anthropomorphism of the ,old ,testament to the ,incarnation--we postpone till we come to the second part of the book of ,isaiah1 in which the anthropomorphic figures are more frequent and daring than they are here4 ,,book ,,ii4 ,,prophecies ,,from ,,the ,,accession ,,of ,,hezekiah ,,to ,,the ,,death ,,of ,,sargon1 #gbg-gje ,b4,c4 ,,isaiah3-- xxviii4 #gbe ,b4,c4 x4 #e-cd4 #gba ,b4,c4 xi41 xii4 ,about #gbj ,b4,c48 xx4 #gaa ,b4,c4 xxi4 #a-aj4 #gaj ,b4,c4 xxxviii41 xxxix4 ,between #gab and #gje ,b4,c4 ,,book ,,ii4 ,the prophecies with which we have been engaged 7chaps4 ii4-x4 #d7 fall either before or during the great ,assyrian invasion of ,syria1 undertaken in #gcd-gcb by ,tiglath-pileser ,,ii41 at the invitation of ,king ,ahaz4 ,nobody has any doubt about that4 ,but when we ask what prophecies of ,isaiah come next in chronological order1 we raise a storm of answers4 ,we are no longer on the sure ground we have been enjoying4 ,under the canonical arrangement the next prophecy is ,the ,woe upon the ,assyrian 7x4 #e-cd74 ,in the course of this the ,assyrian is made to boast of having overthrown ,samaria 7vv4 #i-aa73 ,is not ,samaria as ,damascus8444 ,shall ,i not1 as ,i have done unto ,samaria and her idols1 so do to ,jerusalem and her idols8 ,if ,samaria mean the capital city of ,northern ,israel--and the name is never used in these parts of ,scripture for anything else--and if the prophet be quoting a boast which the ,assyrian was actually in a position to make1 and not merely imagining a boast1 which he would be likely to make some years afterwards 7an entirely improbable view1 though held by one great scholar#bg71 then an event is here described as past and over which did not happen during ,tiglath-pileser's campaign1 nor indeed till twelve years after it4 ,tiglath-pileser did not require to besiege ,samaria in the campaign of #gcd-gcb4 ,the king1 ,pekah1 was slain by a conspiracy of his own subjects2 and ,hoshea1 the ringleader1 who succeeded1 willingly purchased the stability of a usurped throne by homage and tribute to the king of kings4 ,so ,tiglath-pileser went home again1 satisfied to have punished ,israel by carrying away with him the population of ,galilee4 ,during his reign there was no further appearance of the ,assyrians in ,palestine1 but at his death in #gbg ,hoshea1 after the fashion of ,assyrian vassals when the throne at ,nineveh changed occupants1 attempted to throw off the yoke of the new king1 ,salmanassar ,,iv4 ,along with the ,phoenician and ,philistine cities1 ,hoshea negotiated an alliance with ,so1 or ,seve1 the ,ethiopian1 a usurper who had just succeeded in establishing his supremacy over the land of the ,pharaohs4 ,in a year ,salmanassar marched south upon the rebels4 ,he took ,hoshea prisoner on the borders of his territory 7#gbe71 but1 not content1 as his predecessor had been1 with the submission of the king1 he came up throughout all the land1 and went up to ,samaria1 and besieged it three years4#bh ,he did not live to see the end of the siege1 and ,samaria was taken in #gbb by ,sargon1 his successor4 ,sargon overthrew the kingdom and uprooted the people4 ,the northern tribes were carried away into a captivity1 from which as tribes they never returned4 #bg ,delitzsch1 who fancies that the fall of ,samaria is a completed affair only in the vision of the prophet1 not in reality4 #bh #b ,kings xvii4 #e4 ,it was evidently this complete overthrow of ,samaria by ,sargon in #gbb-gba1 which ,isaiah had behind him when he wrote x4 #i-aa4 ,we must1 therefore1 date the prophecy after #gba1 when nothing was left as a bulwark between ,judah and the ,assyrian4 ,we do so with reluctance4 ,there is much in x4 #e-cd which suits the circumstances of ,tiglath-pileser's invasion4 ,there are phrases and catch-words coinciding with those in vii4-ix4 #g2 and the whole oration is simply a more elaborate expression of that defiance of ,assyria1 which inspires such of the previous prophecies as viii4 #i1 #aj4 ,besides1 with the exception of ,samaria1 all the names in the ,assyrian's boastful catalogue--,carchemish1 ,calno1 ,arpad1 ,hamath and ,damascus--might as justly have been vaunted by the lips of ,tiglath-pileser as by those of ,sargon4 ,but in spite of these things1 which seem to vindicate the close relation of x4 #e-cd to the prophecies which precede it in the canon1 the mention of ,samaria as being already destroyed justifies us in divorcing it from them4 ,while they remain dated from before #gcb1 we place it subsequent to #gbb4 ,was ,isaiah1 then1 silent these ten years8 ,is there no prophecy lying farther on in his book that treats of ,samaria as still standing8 ,besides an address to the fallen ,damascus in xvii4 #a-aa1 which we shall take later with the rest of ,isaiah's oracles on foreign states1 there is one large prophecy1 chap4 xxviii41 which opens with a description of the magnates of ,samaria lolling in drunken security on their vine-crowned hill1 but ,god's storms are ready to break4 ,samaria has not yet fallen1 but is threatened and shall fall soon4 ,the first part of chap4 xxviii4 can only refer to the year1 in which ,salmanassar advanced upon ,samaria--#gbf or #gbe4 ,there is nothing in the rest of it to corroborate this date2 but the fact1 that there are several turns of thought and speech very similar to turns of thought and speech in x4 #e-cd1 makes us the bolder to take away xxviii4 from its present connection with xxix4-xxxii41 and place it just before x4 #e-cd4 ,here then is our next group of prophecies1 all dating from the first seven years of the reign of ,hezekiah3 xxviii41 a warning addressed to the politicians of ,jerusalem from the impending fate of those of ,samaria 7date #gbe72 x4 #e-cd1 a woe upon the ,assyrian 7date about #gbj71 describing his boasts and his progress in conquest till his sudden crash by the walls of ,jerusalem2 xi41 of date uncertain1 for it reflects no historical circumstance1 but standing in such artistic contrast to x4 that the two must be treated together2 and xii41 a hymn of salvation1 which forms a fitting conclusion to xi4 ,with these we shall take the few fragments of the book of ,isaiah which belong to the fifteen years #gbj-gje1 and are as straws to show how ,judah all that time was drifting down to alliance with ,egypt--xx41 xxi4 #a-aj1 and xxxviii4-xxxix4 ,this will bring us to #gje1 and the beginning of a new series of prophecies1 the richest of ,isaiah's life1 and the subject of our third book4 ,,chapter ,,viii4 ,,god',s ,,commonplace4 ,,isaiah xxviii4 7,,about #gbe ,b4,c47 ,the twenty-eighth chapter of the ,book of ,isaiah is one of the greatest of his prophecies4 ,it is distinguished by that regal versatility of style1 which places its author at the head of ,hebrew writers4 ,keen analyses of character1 realistic contrasts between sin and judgement1 clever retorts and epigrams1 rapids of scorn1 and a spate of judgement1 but for final issue a placid stream of argument banked by sweet parable--such are the literary charms of the chapter1 which derives its moral grandeur from the force with which its currents set towards faith and reason1 as together the salvation of states1 politicians and private men4 ,the style mirrors life about ourselves1 and still tastes fresh to thirsty men4 ,the truths are relevant to every day in which luxury and intemperance abound1 in which there are eyes too fevered by sin to see beauty in simple purity1 and minds so surfeited with knowledge or intoxicated with their own cleverness1 that they call the maxims of moral reason commonplace and scorn religious instruction as food for babes4 ,some time when the big1 black cloud was gathering again on the north1 ,isaiah raised his voice to the magnates of ,jerusalem3 ,lift your heads from your wine-bowls2 look north4 ,the sunshine is still on ,samaria1 and your fellow-drinkers there are revelling in security4 ,but the storm creeps up behind4 ,they shall certainty perish soon2 even you cannot help seeing that4 ,let it scare you1 for their sin is yours1 and that storm will not exhaust itself on ,samaria4 ,do not think that your clever policies1 alliance with ,egypt or the treaty with ,assyria herself1 shall save you4 ,men are never saved from death and hell by making covenants with them4 ,scorners of religion and righteousness1 except ye cease being sceptical and drunken1 and come back from your diplomacy to faith and reason1 ye shall not be saved6 ,this destruction that looms is going to cover the whole earth4 ,so stop your running to and fro across it in search of alliances4 ,he that believeth shall not make haste4 ,stay at home and trust in the ,god of ,zion1 for ,zion is the one thing that shall survive4 ,in the parable1 which closes the prophecy1 ,isaiah offers some relief to this dark prospect3 ,do not think of ,god as a mere disaster-monger1 maker of terrors for men4 ,he has a plan1 even in catastrophe1 and this deluge1 which looks like destruction for all of us1 has its method1 term and fruits1 just as much as the husbandman's harrowing of the earth or threshing of the corn4 ,the chapter with this argument falls into four divisions4 ,i4 ,,the ,,warning ,,from ,,samaria 7vv4 #a-f74 ,they had always been hard drinkers in ,north ,israel4 ,fifty years before1 ,amos flashed judgement on those who trusted in the mount of ,samaria1 lolling upon their couches and gulping their wine out of basons1 women as well as men4 ,upon these same drunkards of ,ephraim1 now soaked and stunned with wine1 ,isaiah fastens his ,woe4 ,sunny the sky and balmy the air in which they lie1 stretched upon flowers by the heads of their fat valleys--a land that tempts its inhabitants with the security of perpetual summer4 ,but ,god's swift storm drives up the valley--hail1 rain and violent streams from every gorge4 ,flowers1 wreaths and pampered bodies are trampled in the mire4 ,the glory of sunny ,ephraim is as the first ripe fig a man findeth1 and while it is yet in his hand1 he eateth it up4 ,but while drunken magnates and the flowers of a rich land are swept away1 there is a residue who can and do abide even that storm1 to whom the ,lord ,himself shall be for a crown1 a spirit of justice to him that sitteth for justice1 and for strength to them that turn back the battle at the gate4 ,isaiah's intention is manifest1 and his effort a great one4 ,it is to rob passion of its magic and change men's temptations to their disgusts1 by exhibiting how squalid passion shows beneath disaster1 and how gloriously purity shines surviving it4 ,it is to strip luxury and indulgence of their attractiveness by drenching them with the storm of judgement1 and then not to leave them stunned1 but to rouse in them a moral admiration and envy by the presentation of certain grand survivals of the storm--unstained justice and victorious valour4 ,isaiah first sweeps the atmosphere1 hot from infective passion1 with the cold tempest from the north4 ,then in the clear shining after rain he points to two figures1 which have preserved through temptation and disaster1 and now lift against a smiling sky1 the ideal that those corrupt judges and drunken warriors have dragged into the mire--him that sitteth for justice and him that turneth back the battle at the gate4 ,the escape from sensuality1 this passage suggests1 is two-fold4 ,there is the exposure to nature where ,god's judgements sweep their irresistible way2 and then from the despair1 which the unrelieved spectacle of judgement produces1 there is the recovery to moral effort through the admiration of those purities and heroisms1 that by ,god's ,spirit have survived4 ,when ,god has put a conscience into the art or literature of any generation1 they have followed this method of ,isaiah1 but not always to the healthy end which he reaches4 ,to show the slaves of ,circe the physical disaster impending--which you must begin by doing if you are to impress their brutalized minds--is not enough4 ,the lesson of ,tennyson's ,vision of ,sin and of ,arnold's ,new ,sirens1 that night and frost1 decay and death1 come down at last on pampered sense1 is necessary1 but not enough4 ,who stops there remains a defective and morbid moralist4 ,when you have made the sensual shiver before the disease that inevitably awaits them1 you must go on to show that there are men who have the secret of surviving the most terrible judgements of ,god1 and lift their figures calm and victorious against the storm-washed sky4 ,preach the depravity of men1 but never apart from the possibilities that remain in them4 ,it is ,isaiah's health as a moralist that he combines the two4 ,no prophet ever threatened judgement more inexorable and complete than he4 ,yet he never failed to tell the sinner1 how possible it was for him to be different4 ,if it were necessary to crush men in the mud1 ,isaiah would not leave them there with the hearts of swine4 ,but he put conscience in them1 and the envy of what was pure1 and the admiration of what was victorious4 ,even as they wallowed1 he pointed them to the figures of men like themselves1 who had survived and overcome by the ,spirit of ,god4 ,here we perceive the ethical possibilities1 that lay in his fundamental doctrine of a remnant4 ,isaiah never crushed men beneath the fear of judgement1 without revealing to them the possibility and beauty of victorious virtue4 ,had we lived in those great days1 what a help he had been to us--what a help he may be still6--not only firm to declare that the wages of sin is death1 but careful to effect that our humiliation shall not be despair1 and that even when we feel our shame and irretrievableness the most1 we shall have the opportunity to behold our humanity crowned and seated on the throne from which we had fallen1 our humanity driving back the battle from the gate against which we had been hopelessly driven6 ,that seventh verse sounds like a trumpet in the ears of enervated and despairing men4 ,,ii4 ,,god',s ,,commonplace 7vv4 #g-ac74 ,but ,isaiah has cast his pearls before swine4 ,the men of ,jerusalem1 whom he addresses1 are too deep in sensuality to be roused by his noble words4 ,even priest and prophet stagger through strong drink2 and the class that should have been the conscience of the city1 responding immediately to the word of ,god1 reel in vision and stumble in judgement4 ,they turn upon ,isaiah's earnest message with tipsy men's insolence4 ,verses #i and #aj should be within inverted commas1 for they are the mocking reply of drunkards over their cups4 ,whom is he going to teach knowledge1 and upon whom is he trying to force the ,message1 as he calls it8 ,them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts8 ,are we school-children1 that he treats us with his endless platitudes and repetitions--precept upon precept and precept upon precept1 line upon line and line upon line1 here a little and there a little8 ,so did these bibulous prophets1 priests and politicians mock ,isaiah's messages of judgement1 wagging their heads in mimicry of his simple1 earnest tones4 ,we must conceive the abrupt1 intentionally short1 reiterated and almost childish words of verse #aj as spoken in mimicry1 with a mocking motion of the head1 and in a childish1 stammering1 taunting tone4#bi #bi ,ewald4 ,the original runs thus3 ,ki tsav la-tsav1 tsav la-tsav qav la-qav1 qav la-qav2 z'eir sham z'eir sham4 ,but ,isaiah turns upon them with their own words3 ,you call me1 ,stammerer6 ,i tell you that ,god1 ,who speaks through me1 and ,whom in me you mock1 will one day speak again to you in a tongue that shall indeed sound stammering to you4 ,when those far-off barbarians have reached your walls1 and over them taunt you in uncouth tones1 then shall you hear how ,god can stammer4 ,for these shall be the very voice of ,him1 and as ,he threatens you with captivity it shall be your bitterness to remember how by me ,he once offered you a rest and refreshing1 which you refused4 ,i tell you more4 ,god will not only speak in words1 but in deeds1 and then truly your nickname for ,his message shall be fulfilled to you4 ,then shall the word of the ,lord be unto you precept upon precept1 precept upon precept1 line upon line1 line upon line1 here a little and there a little4 ,for ,god shall speak with the terrible simplicity and slowness of deeds1 with the gradual growth of fate1 with the monotonous stages of decay1 till step by step you go1 and stumble backward1 and be broken1 and snared1 and taken4 ,you have scorned my instruction as monosyllables fit for children6 ,by irritating monosyllables of gradual penalty shall ,god instruct you the second time4 ,this is not only a very clever and cynical retort1 but the statement of a moral principle4 ,we gather from ,isaiah that ,god speaks twice to men1 first in words and then by deeds1 but both times very simply and plainly4 ,and if men deride and abuse the simplicity of the former1 if they ignore moral and religious truths because they are elementary1 and rebel against the quiet reiteration of simple voices1 with which ,god sees it most healthy to conduct their education1 then they shall be stunned by the commonplace pertinacity1 with which the effects of their insolence work themselves out in life4 ,god's ways with men are mostly commonplace2 that is the hardest lesson we have to learn4 ,the tongue of conscience speaks like the tongue of time1 prevailingly by ticks and moments2 not in undue excitement of soul and body1 not in the stirring up of our passions nor by enlisting our ambitions1 not in thunder nor in startling visions1 but by everyday precepts of faithfulness1 honour and purity1 to which conscience has to rise unwinged by fancy or ambition1 and dreadfully weighted with the dreariness of life4 ,if we1 carried away upon the rushing interests of the world1 and with our appetite spoiled by the wealth and piquancy of intellectual knowledge1 despise the simple monitions of conscience and ,scripture1 as uninteresting and childish1 this is the risk we run1--that ,god will speak to us in another1 and this time unshirkable1 kind of commonplace4 ,what that is we shall understand1 when a career of dissipation or unscrupulous ambition has bereft life of all interest and joy1 when one enthusiasm after another grows dull1 and one pleasure after another tasteless1 when all the little things of life preach to us of judgement1 and the grasshopper becometh a burden1 and we1 slowly descending through the drab and monotony of decay1 suffer the last great commonplace1 death4 ,there can be no greater irony than for the soul1 which has sinned by too greedily seeking for sensation1 to find sensation absent even from the judgements she has brought upon herself4 ,poor ,heine's ,confessions acknowledge1 at once with the appreciation of an artist and the pain of a victim1 the satire1 with which the ,almighty inflicts1 in the way that ,isaiah describes1 ,his penalties upon sins of sense4 ,,iii4 ,,covenants ,,with ,,death ,,and ,,hell 7vv4 #ad-bb74 ,to ,isaiah's threats of destruction1 the politicians of ,jerusalem replied1 ,we have bought destruction off6 ,they meant some treaty with a foreign power4 ,diplomacy is always obscure1 and at that distance its details are buried for us in impenetrable darkness4 ,but we may safely conclude that it was either the treaty of ,ahaz with ,assyria1 or some counter-treaty executed with ,egypt since this power began again to rise into pretentiousness1 or more probably still it was a secret agreement with the southern power1 while the open treaty with the northern was yet in force4 ,isaiah1 from the way in which he speaks1 seems to have been in ignorance of all1 except that the politician's boast was an unhallowed1 underhand intrigue1 accomplished by much swindling and false conceit of cleverness4 ,this wretched subterfuge ,isaiah exposes in some of the most powerful sentences he ever uttered4 ,a faithless diplomacy was never more thoroughly laid bare1 in its miserable mixture of political pedantry and falsehood4 ,therefore hear the word of ,jehovah1 ye men of scorn1 rulers of this people1 which is in ,jerusalem6 ,because ye have said1 ,we have entered into a covenant with ,death1 and with ,hell have we made a bargain2 the ,overflowing ,scourge1 a current phrase of ,isaiah's which they fling back in his teeth1 when it passeth along1 shall not come unto us1 for we have set lies as our refuge1 and in falsehood have we hidden ourselves the prophet's penetrating scorn drags up into their boast the secret conscience of their hearts1 that after all lies did form the basis of this political arrangement1 therefore thus saith the ,lord ,jehovah3 ,behold1 ,i lay in ,zion for foundation a stone1 a tried stone1 a precious corner-stone of sure foundation2 he that believeth shall not make haste4 ,no need of swift couriers to ,egypt1 and fret and fever of poor political brains in ,jerusalem6 ,the word make haste is onomatopoetic1 like our fuss1 and1 if fuss may be applied to the conduct of high affairs of state1 its exact equivalent in meaning4 ,and ,i will set justice for a line1 and righteousness for a plummet1 and hail shall sweep away the subterfuge of lies1 and the secrecy shall waters overflow4 ,and cancelled shall be your covenant with ,death1 and your bargain with ,hell shall not stand4 ,the ,overflowing ,scourge1 indeed6 ,when it passeth over1 then ye shall be unto it for trampling4 ,as often as it passeth over1 it shall take you away1 for morning by morning shall it pass over1 by day and by night4 ,then shall it be sheer terror to realize the ,message6 ,too late then for anything else4 ,had you realized the ,message now1 what rest and refreshing6 ,but then only terror4 ,for the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself upon it1 and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it4 ,this proverb seems to be struck out of the prophet by the belief of the politicians1 that they are creating a stable and restful policy for ,judah4 ,it flashes an aspect of hopeless uneasiness over the whole political situation4 ,however they make their bed1 with ,egypt's or ,assyria's help1 they shall not find it comfortable4 ,no cleverness of theirs can create a satisfactory condition of affairs1 no political arrangement1 nothing short of faith1 of absolute reliance on that bare foundation-stone laid in ,zion1--,god's assurance that ,jerusalem is inviolable4 ,for ,jehovah shall arise as on ,mount ,peratsim2 ,he shall be stirred as in the valley of ,gibeon1 to do ,his deed--strange is this deed of ,his1 and to bring to pass ,his act--strange is ,his act4 ,now1 therefore1 play no more the scorner1 lest your bands be made tight1 for a consumption1 and that determined1 have ,i heard from the ,lord1 ,jehovah of hosts1 upon the whole earth4 ,this finishes the matter4 ,possibility of alliance there is for sane men nowhere in this world of ,western ,asia1 so evidently near convulsion4 ,only the foundation-stone in ,zion shall be left4 ,cling to that6 ,when the pedantic members of the ,general ,assembly of the ,kirk of ,scotland1 in the year #afej1 were clinging with all the grip of their hard logic1 but with very little heart1 to the ,divine right of kings1 and attempting an impossible state1 whose statute-book was to be the ,westminster ,confession1 and its chief executive officer ,king ,charles ,,ii41 ,cromwell1 then encamped at ,musselburgh1 sent them that letter in which the famous sentence occurs3 ,i beseech you in the bowels of ,christ1 think it possible you may be mistaken4 ,precept may be upon precept1 line may be upon line1 he goes on to say1 and yet the ,word of the ,lord may be to some a word of ,judgement2 that they may fall backward1 and be broken1 and be snared1 and be taken6 ,there may be a spiritual fulness1 which the world may call drunkenness2 as in the second ,chapter of the ,acts4 ,there may be1 as well1 a carnal confidence upon misunderstood and misapplied precepts1 which may be called spiritual drunkenness4 ,there may be a ,covenant made with ,death and ,hell6 ,i will not say yours was so4 ,but judge if such things have a politic aim3 ,to avoid the overflowing scourge2 or1 ,to accomplish worldly interests8 ,and if therein you have confederated with wicked and carnal men1 and have respect for them1 or otherwise have drawn them in to associate with us1 ,whether this be a covenant of ,god and spiritual8 ,bethink yourselves2 we hope we do4 ,i pray you read the ,twenty-eighth of ,isaiah1 from the fifth to the fifteenth verse4 ,and do not scorn to know that it is the ,spirit that quickens and giveth life4#cj #cj ,cromwell's ,letters and ,speeches1 ,letter cxxxvi4 ,cromwell1 as we have said1 is the best commentator ,isaiah has ever had1 and that by an instinct born1 not only of the same faith1 but of experience in tackling similar sorts of character4 ,in this letter he is dealing1 like ,isaiah1 with stubborn pedants1 who are endeavouring to fasten the national fortunes upon a ,procrustean policy4 ,the diplomacy of ,jerusalem was very clever2 the ,covenanting ecclesiasticism of ,edinburgh was logical and consistent4 ,but a ,jewish alliance with ,assyria and the attempt of ,scotsmen to force their covenant upon the whole ,united ,kingdom were equally sheer impossibilities4 ,in either case the bed was shorter than that a man could stretch himself on it1 and the covering narrower than that he could wrap himself in it4 ,both1 too1 were covenants with ,death and ,hell2 for if the attempt of the ,scots to secure ,charles ,,ii4 by the ,covenant was free from the falsehood of ,jewish diplomacy1 it was fatally certain if successful to have led to the subversion of their highest religious interests2 and history has proved that ,cromwell was no more than just in applying to it the strong expressions1 which ,isaiah uses of ,judah's ominous treaties with the unscrupulous heathen4 ,over against so pedantic an idea1 as that of forcing the life of the three nations into the mould of the one ,covenant1 and so fatal a folly as the attempt to commit the interests of religion to the keeping of the dissolute and perjured king1 ,cromwell stands in his great toleration of everything but unrighteousness and his strong conviction of three truths3--that the religious life of ,great ,britain and ,ireland was too rich and varied for the ,covenant3 that national and religious interests so complicated and precious could be decided only upon the plainest principles of faith and justice3 and that1 tested by these principles1 ,charles ,,ii4 and his crew were as utterly without worth to the nation and as pregnant with destruction1 as ,isaiah felt ,assyria and ,egypt to be to ,judah4 ,the battle-cries of the two parties at ,dunbar are significant of the spiritual difference between them4 ,that of the ,scots was ,the ,covenant6 ,cromwell's was ,isaiah's own1 ,the ,lord of hosts6 ,however logical1 religious and sincere theirs might be1 it was at the best a scheme of men too narrow for events1 and fatally compromised by its association with ,charles ,,ii4 ,but ,cromwell's battle-cry required only a moderately sincere faith from those who adopted it1 to ensure their victory4 ,for to them it meant just what it had meant to ,isaiah1 loyalty to a ,divine providence1 supreme in righteousness1 the willingness to be guided by events1 interpreting them by no tradition or scheme1 but only by conscience4 ,he who understands this will be able to see which side was right in that strange civil war1 where both so sincerely claimed to be ,scriptural4 ,it may be wondered why we spend so much argument on comparing the attempt to force ,charles ,,ii4 into the ,solemn ,league and ,covenant with the impious treaty of ,judah with the heathen4 ,but the argument has not been wasted1 if it have shown how even sincere and religious men may make covenants with death1 and even ,church creeds and constitutions become beds too short that a man may lie upon them1 coverings narrower than that he can wrap himself in them4 ,not once or twice has it happened that an old and hallowed constitution has become1 in the providence of ,god1 unfit for the larger life of a people or of a ,church1 and yet is clung to by parties in that ,church or people from motives of theological pedantry or ecclesiastical cowardice4 ,sooner or later a crisis is sure to arrive1 in which the defective creed has to match itself against some interest of justice2 and then endless compromises have to be entertained1 that discover themselves perilously like bargains with hell4 ,if we of this generation have to make a public application of the twenty-eighth chapter of ,isaiah1 it lies in this direction4 ,there are few things1 to which his famous proverb of the short bed can be applied more aptly1 than to the attempt to fasten down the religious life and thought of the present age too rigorously upon a creed of the fashion of two or three hundred years ago4 ,but ,isaiah's words have wider application4 ,short of faith as he exemplified it1 there is no possibility for the spirit of man to be free from uneasiness4 ,it is so all along the scale of human endeavour4 ,no power of patience or of hope is his1 who cannot imagine possibilities of truth outside his own opinions1 nor trust a justice larger than his private rights4 ,it is here very often that the real test of our faith meets us4 ,if we seek to fit life solely to the conception of our privileges1 if in the preaching of our opinions no mystery of higher truth awe us at least into reverence and caution2 then1 whatever religious creeds we profess1 we are not men of faith1 but shall surely inherit the bitterness and turmoil that are the portion of unbelievers4 ,if we make it the chief aim of our politics to drive cheap bargains for our trade or to be consistent to party or class interests2 if we trim our conscience to popular opinion2 if we sell our honesty in business or our love in marriage1 that we may be comfortable in the world2 then1 however firmly we be established in reputation or in welfare1 we have given our spiritual nature a support utterly inadequate to its needs1 and we shall never find rest4 ,sooner or later1 a man must feel the pinch of having cut his life short of the demands of conscience4 ,only a generous loyalty to her decrees will leave him freedom of heart and room for his arm to swing4 ,nor will any philosophy1 however comprehensive1 nor poetic fancy1 however elastic1 be able without the complement of faith to arrange1 to account for1 or to console us for1 the actual facts of experience4 ,it is only belief in the ,god of ,isaiah1 a true and loving ,god1 omnipotent ,ruler of our life1 that can bring us peace4 ,there was never a sorrow1 that did not find explanation in that1 never a tired thought1 that would not cling to it4 ,there are no interests so scattered nor energies so far-reaching that there is not return and rest for them under the shadow of ,his wings4 ,he that believeth shall not make haste4 ,be still1 says a psalm of the same date as ,isaiah--,be still1 and know that ,i am ,god4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,almighty ,,the ,,all-,,methodical 7vv4 #bc-bi74 ,the patience of faith1 which ,isaiah has so nobly preached1 he now proceeds to vindicate by reason4 ,but the vindication implies that his audience are already in another mood4 ,from confidence in their clever diplomacy1 heedless of the fact that ,god has ,his own purposes concerning them1 they have swung round to despair before ,his judgements4 ,their despair1 however1 is due to the same fault as their careless confidence--the forgetfulness that ,god works by counsel and method4 ,even a calamity1 so universal and extreme as that1 of whose certainty the prophet has now convinced them1 has its measure and its term4 ,to persuade the crushed and superstitious ,jews of this1 ,isaiah employs a parable4 ,you know1 he says1 the husbandman4 ,have you ever seen him keep on harrowing and breaking the clods of his land for mere sport1 and without farther intention8 ,does not the harrowing time lead to the sowing time8 ,or again1 when he threshes his crops1 does he thresh for ever8 ,is threshing the end he has in view8 ,look1 how he varies the rigour of his instrument by the kind of plant he threshes4 ,for delicate plants1 like fitches and cummin1 he does not use the threshing sledge with the sharp teeth1 or the lumbering roller1 but the fitches are beaten out with a staff and the cummin with a rod4 ,and in the case of bread corn1 which needs his roller and horses1 he does not use these upon it till it is all crushed to dust4 ,the application of this parable is very evident4 ,if the husbandman be so methodical and careful1 shall the ,god who taught him not also be so8 ,if the violent treatment of land and fruits be so measured and adapted for their greater fruitfulness and purity1 ought we not to trust ,god to have the same intentions in ,his violent treatment of ,his people8 ,isaiah here returns to his fundamental gospel3 that the ,almighty is the ,all-methodical1 too4 ,men forget this4 ,in their times of activity they think ,god indifferent2 they are too occupied with their own schemes for shaping life1 to imagine that ,he has any4 ,in days of suffering1 again1 when disaster bursts1 they conceive of ,god only as force and vengeance4 ,yet1 says ,isaiah1 ,jehovah of hosts is wonderful in counsel1 and excellent in that sort of wisdom which causes things to succeed4 ,this last word of the chapter is very expressive4 ,it literally means furtherance1 help1 salvation1 and then the true wisdom or insight which ensures these3 the wisdom which carries things through4 ,it splendidly sums up ,isaiah's gospel to the ,jews1 cowering like dogs before the coming calamity3 ,god is not mere force or vengeance4 ,his judgements are not chaos4 ,but ,he is wonderful in counsel1 and all ,his ways have furtherance or salvation for their end4 ,we have said this is one of the finest prophecies of ,isaiah4 ,his political foresight was admirable1 when he alone of his countrymen predicted the visitation of ,assyria upon ,judah4 ,but now1 when all are convinced of it1 how still more wonderful does he seem facing that novel disaster1 with the whole world's force behind it1 and declaring its limit4 ,he has not the temptation1 so strong in prophets of judgement1 to be a mere disaster-monger1 and leave judgement on the horizon unrelieved4 ,nor is he afraid1 as other predicters of evil have been1 of the monster he has summoned to the land4 ,the secret of this is that from the first he predicted the ,assyrian invasion1 not out of any private malice nor merely by superior political foresight1 but because he knew--and knew1 as he tells us1 by the inspiration of ,god's own ,spirit--that ,god required such an instrument to punish the unrighteousness of ,judah4 ,if the enemy was summoned by ,god at the first1 surely till the last the enemy shall be in ,god's hand4 ,to this enemy we are now to see ,isaiah turn with the same message he has delivered to the men of ,jerusalem4 ,,chapter ,,ix4 ,,atheism ,,of ,,force ,,and ,,atheism ,,of ,,fear4 ,,isaiah x4 #e-cd 7,,about #gba ,b4,c474 ,in chap4 xxviii4 ,isaiah1 speaking in the year #gbe when ,salmanassar ,,iv4 was marching on ,samaria1 had explained to the politicians of ,jerusalem how entirely the ,assyrian host was in the hand of ,jehovah for the punishment of ,samaria and the punishment and purification of ,judah4 ,the invasion which in that year loomed so awful was not unbridled force of destruction1 implying the utter annihilation of ,god's people1 as ,damascus1 ,arpad and ,hamath had been annihilated4 ,it was ,jehovah's instrument for purifying ,his people1 with its appointed term and its glorious intentions of fruitfulness and peace4 ,in the tenth chapter ,isaiah turns with this truth to defy the ,assyrian himself4 ,it is four years later4 ,samaria has fallen4 ,the judgement1 which the prophet spoke upon the luxurious capital1 has been fulfilled4 ,all ,ephraim is an ,assyrian province4 ,judah stands for the first time face to face with ,assyria4 ,from ,samaria to the borders of ,judah is not quite two days' march1 to the walls of ,jerusalem a little over two4 ,now shall the ,jews be able to put to the test their prophet's promise6 ,what can possibly prevent ,sargon from making ,zion as ,samaria1 and carrying her people away in the track of the northern tribes to captivity8 ,there was a very fallacious human reason1 and there was a very sound ,divine one4 ,the fallacious human reason was the alliance which ,ahaz had made with ,assyria4 ,in what state that alliance now was1 does not clearly appear1 but the most optimist of the ,assyrian party at ,jerusalem could not1 after all that had happened1 be feeling quite comfortable about it4 ,the ,assyrian was as unscrupulous as themselves4 ,there was too much impetus in the rush of his northern floods to respect a tiny province like ,judah1 treaty or no treaty4 ,besides1 ,sargon had as good reason to suspect ,jerusalem of intriguing with ,egypt1 as he had against ,samaria or the ,philistine cities2 and the ,assyrian kings had already shown their meaning of the covenant with ,ahaz by stripping ,judah of enormous tribute4 ,so ,isaiah discounts in this prophecy ,judah's treaty with ,assyria4 ,he speaks as if nothing was likely to prevent the ,assyrian's immediate march upon ,jerusalem4 ,he puts into ,sargon's mouth the intention of this1 and makes him boast of the ease with which it can be accomplished 7vv4 #g-aa74 ,in the end of the prophecy he even describes the probable itinerary of the invader from the borders of ,judah to his arrival on the heights1 over against the ,holy ,city 7vv4 #bg last clause to #cb74ca #ca ,it will be noticed that in the above version a different reading is adopted from the meaningless clause at the end of verse #bg in the ,english version1 out of which a proper heading for the subsequent itinerary has been obtained by ,robertson ,smith 7,journal of ,philology1 #ahhd1 p4 #fb74 ,cometh up from the ,north the ,destroyer4 ,he is come upon ,ai2 marcheth through ,migron2 at ,michmash musters his baggage4 ,they have passed through the ,pass2 ,let ,geba be our bivouac4 ,terror-struck is ,ramah2 ,gibeah of ,saul hath fled4 ,make shrill thy voice1 ,o daughter of ,gallim6 ,listen1 ,laishah6 ,answer her1 ,anathoth6 ,in mad flight is ,madmenah2 the dwellers in ,gebim gather their stuff to flee4 ,this very day he halteth at ,nob2 he waveth his hand at the ,mount of the ,daughter of ,zion1 the ,hill of ,jerusalem4 ,this is not actual fact2 but it is vision of what may take place to-day or to-morrow4 ,for there is nothing--not even that miserable treaty--to prevent such a violation of ,jewish territory1 within which1 it ought to be kept in mind1 lie all the places named by the prophet4 ,but the invasion of ,judah and the arrival of the ,assyrian on the heights over against ,jerusalem does not mean that the ,holy ,city and the shrine of ,jehovah of hosts are to be destroyed2 does not mean that all the prophecies of ,isaiah about the security of this rallying-place for the remnant of ,god's people are to be annulled1 and ,israel annihilated4 ,for just at the moment of the ,assyrian's triumph1 when he brandishes his hand over ,jerusalem1 as if he would harry it like a bird's nest1 ,isaiah beholds him struck down1 and crash like the fall of a whole ,lebanon of cedars 7vv4 #cc1 #cd74 ,behold the ,lord1 ,jehovah of hosts1 lopping the topmost boughs with a sudden crash1 ,and the high ones of stature hewn down1 and the lofty are brought low6 ,yea1 ,he moweth down the thickets of the forest with iron1 and ,lebanon by a ,mighty ,one falleth4 ,all this is poetry4 ,we are not to suppose that the prophet actually expected the ,assyrian to take the route1 which he has laid down for him with so much detail4 ,as a matter of fact1 ,sargon did not advance across the ,jewish frontier1 but turned away by the coast-land of ,philistia to meet his enemy of ,egypt1 whom he defeated at ,rafia1 and then went home to ,nineveh1 leaving ,judah alone4 ,and1 although some twenty years later the ,assyrian did appear before ,jerusalem1 as threatening as ,isaiah describes1 and was cut down in as sudden and miraculous a manner1 yet it was not by the itinerary ,isaiah here marked for him that he came1 but in quite another direction3 from the south-west4 ,what ,isaiah merely insists upon is that there is nothing in that wretched treaty of ,ahaz--that fallacious human reason--to keep ,sargon from overrunning ,judah to the very walls of ,jerusalem1 but that1 even though he does so1 there is a most sure ,divine reason for the ,holy ,city remaining inviolate4 ,the ,assyrian expected to take ,jerusalem4 ,but he is not his own master4 ,though he knows it not1 and his only instinct is that of destruction 7ver4 #g71 he is the rod in ,god's hand4 ,and when ,god shall have used him for the needed punishment of ,judah1 then will ,god visit upon him his arrogance and brutality4 ,this man1 who says he will exploit the whole earth as he harries a bird's nest 7ver4 #ad71 who believes in nothing but himself1 saying1 ,by the strength of my hand ,i have done it1 and by my wisdom1 for ,i am prudent1 is but the instrument of ,god1 and all his boasting is that of the axe against him that heweth therewith and of the saw against him that wieldeth it4 ,as if1 says the prophet1 with a scorn still fresh for those who make material force the ultimate power in the universe--,as if a rod should shake them that lift it up1 or as if a staff should lift up him that is not wood4 ,by the way1 ,isaiah has a word for his countrymen4 ,what folly is theirs1 who now put all their trust in this world-force1 and at another time cower in abject fear before it6 ,must he again bid them look higher1 and see that ,assyria is only the agent in ,god's work of first punishing the whole land1 but afterwards redeeming ,his people6 ,in the midst of denunciation the prophet's stern voice breaks into the promise of this later hope 7vv4 #bd-bg;a72 and at last the crash of the fallen ,assyrian is scarcely still1 before ,isaiah has begun to declare a most glorious future of grace for ,israel4 ,but this carries us over into the eleventh chapter1 and we had better first of all gather up the lessons of the tenth4 ,this prophecy of ,isaiah contains a great ,gospel and two great ,protests1 which the prophet was enabled to make in the strength of it3 one against the ,atheism of ,force1 and one against the ,atheism of ,fear4 ,the ,gospel of the chapter is just that which we have already emphasized as the gospel par excellence of ,isaiah3 the ,lord exalted in righteousness1 ,god supreme over the supremest men and forces of the world4 ,but we now see it carried to a height of daring not reached before4 ,this was the first time that any man faced the sovereign force of the world in the full sweep of victory1 and told himself and his fellow-men3 ,this is not travelling in the greatness of its own strength1 but is simply a dead1 unconscious instrument in the hand of ,god4 ,let us1 at the cost of a little repetition1 get at the heart of this4 ,we shall find it wonderfully modern4 ,belief in ,god had hitherto been local and circumscribed4 ,each nation1 as ,isaiah tells us1 had walked in the name of its god1 and limited his power and prevision to its own life and territory4 ,we do not blame the peoples for this4 ,their conception of ,god was narrow1 because their life was narrow1 and they confined the power of their deity to their own borders because1 in fact1 their thoughts seldom strayed beyond4 ,but now the barriers1 that had so long enclosed mankind in narrow circles1 were being broken down4 ,men's thoughts travelled through the breaches1 and learned that outside their fatherland there lay the world4 ,their lives thereupon widened immensely1 but their theologies stood still4 ,they felt the great forces which shook the world1 but their gods remained the same petty1 provincial deities4 ,then came this great ,assyrian power1 hurtling through the nations1 laughing at their gods as idols1 boasting that it was by his own strength he overcame them1 and to simple eyes making good his boast as he harried the whole earth like a bird's nest4 ,no wonder that men's hearts were drawn from the unseen spiritualities to this very visible brutality6 ,no wonder all real faith in the gods seemed to be dying out1 and that men made it the business of their lives to seek peace with this world-force1 that was carrying everything1 including the gods themselves1 before it6 ,mankind was in danger of practical atheism3 of placing1 as ,isaiah tells us1 the ultimate faith which belongs to a righteous ,god in this brute force3 of substituting embassies for prayers1 tribute for sacrifice1 and the tricks and compromises of diplomacy for the endeavour to live a holy and righteous life4 ,behold1 what questions were at issue3 questions that have come up again and again in the history of human thought1 and that are tugging at us to-day harder than ever6--whether the visible1 sensible forces of the universe1 that break so rudely in upon our primitive theologies1 are what we men have to make our peace with1 or whether there is behind them a ,being1 who wields them for purposes1 far transcending them1 of justice and of love2 whether1 in short1 we are to be materialists or believers in ,god4 ,it is the same old1 ever-new debate4 ,the factors of it have only changed a little as we have become more learned4 ,where ,isaiah felt the ,assyrians1 we are confronted by the evolution of nature and history1 and the material forces into which it sometimes looks ominously like as if these could be analysed4 ,everything that has come forcibly and gloriously to the front of things1 every drift that appears to dominate history1 all that asserts its claim on our wonder1 and offers its own simple and strong solution of our life--is our ,assyria4 ,it is precisely now1 as then1 a rush of new powers across the horizon of our knowledge1 which makes the ,god1 who was sufficient for the narrower knowledge of yesterday1 seem petty and old-fashioned to-day4 ,this problem no generation can escape1 whose vision of the world has become wider than that of its predecessors4 ,but ,isaiah's greatness lay in this3 that it was given to him to attack the problem the first time it presented itself to humanity with any serious force1 and that he applied to it the only sure solution--a more lofty and spiritual view of ,god than the one which it had found wanting4 ,we may thus paraphrase his argument3 ,give me a ,god who is more than a national patron1 give me a ,god who cares only for righteousness1 and ,i say that every material force the world exhibits is nothing but subordinate to ,him4 ,brute force cannot be anything but an instrument1 an axe1 a saw1 something essentially mechanical and in need of an arm to lift it4 ,postulate a supreme and righteous ,ruler of the world1 and you not only have all its movements explained1 but may rest assured1 that it shall only be permitted to execute justice and purify men4 ,the world cannot prevent their salvation1 if ,god have willed this4 ,isaiah's problem was thus the fundamental one between faith and atheism2 but we must notice that it did not arise theoretically1 nor did he meet it by an abstract proposition4 ,this fundamental religious question--whether men are to trust in the visible forces of the world or in the invisible ,god--came up as a bit of practical politics4 ,it was not to ,isaiah a philosophical or theological question4 ,it was an affair in the foreign policy of ,judah4 ,except to a few thinkers1 the question between materialism and faith never does present itself as one of abstract argument4 ,to the mass of men it is always a question of practical life4 ,statesmen meet it in their policies1 private persons in the conduct of their fortunes4 ,few of us trouble our heads about an intellectual atheism1 but the temptations to practical atheism abound unto us all day by day4 ,materialism never presents itself as a mere ism2 it always takes some concrete form4 ,our ,assyria may be the world in ,christ's sense1 that flood of successful1 heartless1 unscrupulous1 scornful forces which burst on our innocence1 with their challenge to make terms and pay tribute1 or go down straightway in the struggle for existence4 ,beside their frank and forceful demands1 how commonplace and irrelevant do the simple precepts of religion often seem2 and how the great brazen laugh of the world seems to bleach the beauty out of purity and honour6 ,according to our temper1 we either cower before its insolence1 whining that character and energy of struggle and religious peace are impossible against it2 and that is the ,atheism of ,fear1 with which ,isaiah charged the men of ,jerusalem1 when they were paralysed before ,assyria4 ,or we seek to ensure ourselves against disaster by alliance with the world4 ,we make ourselves one with it1 its subjects and imitators4 ,we absorb the world's temper1 get to believe in nothing but success1 regard men only as they can be useful to us1 and think so exclusively of ourselves as to lose the faculty of imagining about us any other right or need or pity4 ,and all that is the ,atheism of ,force1 with which ,isaiah charged the ,assyrian4 ,it is useless to think1 that we common men cannot possibly sin after the grand manner of this imperial monster4 ,in our measure we fatally can4 ,in this commercial age private persons very easily rise to a position of influence1 which gives almost as vast a stage for egotism to display itself as the ,assyrian boasted4 ,but after all the human ,ego needs very little room to develop the possibilities of atheism that are in it4 ,an idol is an idol1 whether you put it on a small or a large pedestal4 ,a little man with a little work may as easily stand between himself and ,god1 as an emperor with the world at his feet4 ,forgetfulness that he is a servant1 a trader on graciously entrusted capital--and then at the best an unprofitable one--is not less sinful in a small egoist than in a great one2 it is only very much more ridiculous1 than ,isaiah1 with his scorn1 has made it to appear in the ,assyrian4 ,or our ,assyria may be the forces of nature1 which have swept upon the knowledge of this generation with the novelty and impetus1 with which the northern hosts burst across the horizon of ,israel4 ,men to-day1 in the course of their education1 become acquainted with laws and forces1 which dwarf the simpler theologies of their boyhood1 pretty much as the primitive beliefs of ,israel dwindled before the arrogant face of ,assyria4 ,the alternative confronts them either to retain1 with a narrowed and fearful heart1 their old conceptions of ,god1 or to find their enthusiasm in studying1 and their duty in relating themselves to1 the forces of nature alone4 ,if this be the only alternative1 there can be no doubt but that most men will take the latter course4 ,we ought as little to wonder at men of to-day abandoning certain theologies and forms of religion for a downright naturalism--for the study of powers that appeal so much to the curiosity and reverence of man--as we wonder at the poor ,jews of the eighth century before ,christ forsaking their provincial conceptions of ,god as a tribal ,deity for homage to this great ,assyrian1 who handled the nations and their gods as his playthings4 ,but is such the only alternative8 ,is there no higher and sovereign conception of ,god1 in which even these natural forces may find their explanation and term8 ,isaiah found such a conception for his problem1 and his problem was very similar to ours4 ,beneath his idea of ,god1 exalted and spiritual1 even the imperial ,assyrian1 in all his arrogance1 fell subordinate and serviceable4 ,the prophet's faith never wavered1 and in the end was vindicated by history4 ,shall we not at least attempt his method of solution8 ,we could not do better than by taking his factors4 ,isaiah got a ,god more powerful than ,assyria1 by simply exalting the old ,god of his nation in righteousness4 ,this ,hebrew was saved from the terrible conclusion1 that the selfish1 cruel force which in his day carried all before it was the highest power in life1 simply by believing righteousness to be more exalted still4 ,but have twenty-five centuries made any change upon this power1 by which ,isaiah interpreted history and overcame the world8 ,is righteousness less sovereign now than then1 or was conscience more imperative when it spoke in ,hebrew than when it speaks in ,english8 ,among the decrees of nature1 at last interpreted for us in all their scope and reiterated upon our imaginations by the ablest men of the age1 truth1 purity and civic justice as confidently assert their ultimate victory1 as when they were threatened merely by the arrogance of a human despot4 ,the discipline of science and the glories of the worship of nature are indeed justly vaunted over the childish and narrow-minded ideas of ,god1 that prevail in much of our average ,christianity4 ,but more glorious than anything in earth or heaven is character1 and the adoration of a holy and loving will makes more for victory and law than the discipline or the enthusiasm of science4 ,therefore1 if our conceptions of ,god are overwhelmed by what we know of nature1 let us seek to enlarge and spiritualize them4 ,let us insist1 as ,isaiah did1 upon ,his righteousness1 until our ,god once more appear indubitably supreme4 ,otherwise we are left with the intolerable paradox1 that truth and honesty1 patience and the love of man to man1 are after all but the playthings and victims of force2 that1 to adapt the words of ,isaiah1 the rod really shakes him who lifts it up1 and the staff is wielding that which is not wood4 ,,chapter ,x4 ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,god ,,in ,,man ,,and ,,the ,,animals4 ,,isaiah xi41 xii4 7,,about #gbj ,b4,c487 ,beneath the crash of the ,assyrian with which the tenth chapter closes1 we pass out into the eleventh upon a glorious prospect of ,israel's future4 ,the ,assyrian when he falls shall fall for ever like the cedars of ,lebanon1 that send no fresh sprout forth from their broken stumps4 ,but out of the trunk of the ,judan oak1 also brought down by these terrible storms1 ,isaiah sees springing a fair and powerful ,branch4 ,assyria1 he would tell us1 has no future4 ,judah has a future1 and at first the prophet sees it in a scion of her royal house4 ,the nation shall be almost exterminated1 the dynasty of ,david hewn to a stump2 yet there shall spring a shoot from the stock of ,jesse1 and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit4 ,the picture of this future1 which fills the eleventh chapter1 is one of the most extensive that ,isaiah has drawn4 ,three great prospects are unfolded in it3 a prospect of mind1 a prospect of nature and a prospect of history4 ,to begin with1 there is 7vv4 #b-e7 the geography of a royal mind in its stretches of character1 knowledge and achievement4 ,we have next 7vv4 #e-i7 a vision of the restitution of nature1 ,paradise regained4 ,and1 thirdly 7vv4 #i-af71 there is the geography of ,israel's redemption1 the coasts and highways along which the hosts of the dispersion sweep up from captivity to a station of supremacy over the world4 ,to this third prospect chapter xii4 forms a fitting conclusion1 a hymn of praise in the mouth of returning exiles4#cb ,the human mind1 nature and history are the three dimensions of life1 and across them all the prophet tells us that the ,spirit of the ,lord will fill the future with ,his marvels of righteousness1 wisdom and peace4 ,he presents to us three great ideals3 the perfect indwelling of our humanity by the ,spirit of ,god2 the peace and communion of all nature1 covered with the knowledge of ,god2 the traversing of all history by the ,divine purposes of redemption4 #cb ,the authenticity of this hymn has been called in question4 ,i4 ,,the ,,messiah ,,and ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,the ,,lord 7xi4 #a-e74 ,the first form1 in which ,isaiah sees ,israel's longed-for future realised1 is that which he so often exalts and makes glistering upon the threshold of the future--the form of a king4 ,it is a peculiarity1 which we cannot fail to remark about ,isaiah's scattered representations of this brilliant figure1 that they have no connecting link4 ,they do not allude to one another1 nor employ a common terminology1 even the word king dropping out of some of them4 ,the earliest of the series bestows a name on the ,messiah1 which none of the others repeat1 nor does ,isaiah say in any of them1 ,this is ,he of whom ,i have spoken before4 ,perhaps the disconnectedness of these oracles is as strong a proof as is necessary of the view we have formed that throughout his ministry our prophet had before him no distinct1 identical individual1 but rather an ideal of virtue and kinghood1 whose features varied according to the conditions of the time4 ,in this chapter ,isaiah recalls nothing of ,immanuel1 or of the ,prince-of-the-,four-,names4 ,nevertheless 7besides for the first time deriving the ,messiah from the house of ,david71 he carries his description forward to a stage which lies beyond and to some extent implies his two previous portraits4 ,immanuel was only a ,sufferer with ,his people in the day of their oppression4 ,the ,prince-of-the-,four-,names was the ,redeemer of his people from their captivity1 and stepped to his throne not only after victory1 but with the promise of a long and just government shining from the titles by which ,he was proclaimed4 ,but now ,isaiah not only speaks at length of this peaceful reign--a chronological advance--but describes his hero so inwardly that we also feel a certain spiritual advance4 ,the ,messiah is no more a mere experience1 as ,immanuel was1 nor only outward deed and promise1 like the ,prince-of-the-,four-,names1 but at last1 and very strongly1 a character4 ,the second verse is the definition of this character2 the third describes the atmosphere in which it lives4 ,and there shall rest upon him the ,spirit of ,jehovah1 the spirit of wisdom and understanding1 the spirit of counsel and might1 the spirit of knowledge and the fear of ,jehovah2 and he shall draw breath in the fear of ,jehovah--in other words1 ripeness but also sharpness of mind2 moral decision and heroic energy2 piety in its two forms of knowing the will of ,god and feeling the constraint to perform it4 ,we could not have a more concise summary of the strong elements of a ruling mind4 ,but it is only as ,judge and ,ruler that ,isaiah cares here to think of his hero4 ,nothing is said of the tender virtues1 and we feel that the prophet still stands in the days of the need of inflexible government and purgation in ,judah4 ,dean ,plumptre has plausibly suggested1 that these verses may represent the programme which ,isaiah set before his pupil ,hezekiah on his accession to the charge of a nation1 whom his weak predecessor had suffered to lapse into such abuse of justice and laxity of morals4#cc ,the acts of government described are all of a punitive and repressive character4 ,the hero speaks only to make the land tremble3 ,and ,he shall smite the land#cd with the rod of ,his mouth what need1 after the whispering1 indecisive ,ahaz61 and with the breath of ,his lips shall ,he slay the wicked4 #cc ,dean ,plumptre notes the identity of the ethical terminology of this passage with that of the book of ,proverbs1 and conjectures that the additions to the original nucleus1 chaps4 x4-xxiv41 and therefore the whole form1 of the book of ,proverbs1 may be due to the editorship of ,isaiah1 and perhaps was the manual of ethics1 on which he sought to mould the character of ,hezekiah 7,expositor1 series ii41 v41 p4 #bac74 #cd ,perhaps for land--'arets--we ought1 with ,lagarde1 to read tyrant--'arits4 ,this1 though a fuller and more ethical picture of the ,messiah than even the ninth chapter1 is evidently wanting in many of the traits of a perfect man4 ,isaiah has to grow in his conception of his ,hero1 and will grow as the years go on1 in tenderness4 ,his thirty-second chapter is a much richer1 a more gracious and humane picture of the ,messiah4 ,there the ,victor of the ninth and righteous ,judge of the eleventh chapters is represented as a ,man1 who shall not only punish but protect1 and not only reign but inspire1 who shall be life as well as victory and justice to ,his people--an hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tempest1 as rivers of water in a dry place1 as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land4 ,a conception so limited to the qualifications of an earthly monarch1 as this of chap4 xi41 gives us no ground for departing from our previous conclusion1 that ,isaiah had not a supernatural personality in his view4 ,the ,christian ,church1 however1 has not confined the application of the passage to earthly kings and magistrates1 but has seen its perfect fulfilment in the indwelling of ,christ's human nature by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,but it is remarkable1 that for this exegesis she has not made use of the most supernatural of the details of character here portrayed4 ,if the ,old ,testament has a phrase for sinlessness1 that phrase occurs here1 in the beginning of the third verse4 ,in the authorized ,english version it is translated1 and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the ,lord1 and in the ,revised ,version1 ,his delight shall be in the fear of the ,lord1 and on the margin the literal meaning of delight is given as scent4 ,but the phrase may as well mean1 ,he shall draw his breath in the fear of the ,lord2 and it is a great pity1 that our revisers have not even on the margin given to ,english readers any suggestion of so picturesque1 and probably so correct1 a rendering4 ,it is a most expressive definition of sinlessness--sinlessness which was the attribute of ,christ alone4 ,we1 however purely intentioned we be1 are compassed about by an atmosphere of sin4 ,we cannot help breathing what now inflames our passions1 now chills our warmest feelings1 and makes our throats incapable of honest testimony or glorious praise4 ,as oxygen to a dying fire1 so the worldliness we breathe is to the sin within us4 ,we cannot help it2 it is the atmosphere into which we are born4 ,but from this ,christ alone of men was free4 ,he was ,his own atmosphere1 drawing breath in the fear of the ,lord4 ,of ,him alone is it recorded1 that1 though living in the world1 ,he was never infected with the world's sin4 ,the blast of no man's cruelty ever kindled unholy wrath within ,his breast2 nor did men's unbelief carry to ,his soul its deadly chill4 ,not even when ,he was led of the devil into the atmosphere of temptation1 did ,his heart throb with one rebellious ambition4 ,christ drew breath in the fear of the ,lord4 ,but draughts of this atmosphere are possible to us also1 to whom the ,holy ,spirit is granted4 ,we too1 who sicken with the tainted breath of society1 and see the characters of children about us fall away and the hidden evil within leap to swift flame before the blasts of the world--we too may1 by ,christ's grace1 draw breath1 like ,him1 in the fear of the ,lord4 ,recall some day when1 leaving your close room and the smoky city1 you breasted the hills of ,god1 and into opened lungs drew deep draughts of the fresh air of heaven4 ,what strength it gave your body1 and with what a glow of happiness your mind was filled6 ,what that is physically1 ,christ has made possible for us men morally4 ,he has revealed stretches and eminences of life1 where1 following in ,his footsteps1 we also shall draw for our breath the fear of ,god4 ,this air is inspired up every steep hill of effort1 and upon all summits of worship4 ,in the most passion-haunted air1 prayer will immediately bring this atmosphere about a man1 and on the wings of praise the poorest soul may rise from the miasma of temptation1 and sing forth her song into the azure with as clear a throat as the lark's4 ,and what else is heaven to be1 if not this8 ,god1 we are told1 shall be its ,sun2 but its atmosphere shall be ,his fear1 which is clean and endureth for ever4 ,heaven seems most real as a moral open-air1 where every breath is an inspiration1 and every pulse a healthy joy1 where no thoughts from within us find breath but those of obedience and praise1 and all our passions and aspirations are of the will of ,god4 ,he that lives near to ,christ1 and by ,christ often seeks ,god in prayer1 may create for himself even on earth such a heaven1 perfecting holiness in the fear of ,god4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,seven ,,spirits ,,of ,,god 7xi4 #b1 #c74 ,this passage1 which suggests so much of ,christ1 is also for ,christian ,theology and ,art a classical passage on the ,third ,person of the ,trinity4 ,if the texts in the book of ,revelation 7chaps4 i4 #d2 iii4 #a2 iv4 #e2 v4 #f7 upon the ,seven ,spirits of ,god were not themselves founded on this text of ,isaiah1 it is certain that the ,church immediately began to interpret them by its details4 ,while there are only six spirits of ,god named here--three pairs--yet1 in order to complete the perfect number1 the exegesis of early ,christianity sometimes added the ,spirit of the ,lord at the beginning of verse #b as the central branch of a seven-branched candlestick2 or sometimes the quick understanding in the fear of the ,lord in the beginning of verse #c was attached as the seventh branch4 7,compare ,zech4 iv4 #f47 ,it is remarkable that there is almost no single text of ,scripture1 which has more impressed itself upon ,christian doctrine and symbol than this second verse of the eleventh chapter1 interpreted as a definition of the ,seven ,spirits of ,god4 ,in the theology1 art and worship of the ,middle ,ages it dominated the expression of the work of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,first1 and most native to its origin1 arose the employment of this text at the coronation of kings and the fencing of tribunals of justice4 ,what ,isaiah wrote for ,hezekiah of ,judah became the official prayer1 song or ensample of the earliest ,christian kings in ,europe4 ,it is evidently the model of that royal hymn--not by ,charlemagne1 as usually supposed1 but by his grandson ,charles the ,bald--the ,veni ,creator ,spiritus4 ,in a ,greek miniature of the tenth century1 the ,holy ,spirit1 as a dove1 is seen hovering over ,king ,david1 who displays the prayer3 ,give the king ,thy judgements1 ,o ,god1 and ,thy righteousness to the king's son1 while there stand on either side of him the figures of ,wisdom and ,prophecy4#ce ,henry ,,iii4's order of knighthood1 ,du ,saint ,esprit1 was restricted to political men1 and particularly to magistrates4 ,but perhaps the most interesting identification of the ,holy ,spirit with the rigorous virtues of our passage occurs in a story of ,st4 ,dunstan1 who1 just before mass on the day of ,pentecost1 discovered that three coiners1 who had been sentenced to death1 were being respited till the ,festival of the ,holy ,ghost should be over4 ,it shall not be thus1 cried the indignant saint1 and gave orders for their immediate execution4 ,there was remonstrance1 but he1 no doubt with the eleventh of ,isaiah in mind1 insisted1 and was obeyed4 ,i now hope1 he said1 resuming the mass1 that ,god will be pleased to accept the sacrifice ,i am about to offer4 ,whereupon1 says the veracious ,acts of the ,saints1 a snow-white dove did1 in the vision of many1 descend from heaven1 and until the sacrifice was completed remain above his head in silence1 with wings extended and motionless4 ,which may be as much legend as we have the heart to make it1 but nevertheless remains a sure proof of the association1 by discerning medivals who could read their ,scriptures1 of the ,holy ,spirit with the decisiveness and rigorous justice of ,isaiah's mirror for magistrates4#cf #ce ,didron1 ,christian ,iconography1 ,engl4 trans41 i41 #dcb4 #cf ,didron1 ,christian ,iconography1 ,engl4 trans41 i41 #dbf4 ,but the influence of our passage may be followed to that wider definition of the ,spirit's work1 which made ,him the ,fountain of all intelligence4 ,the ,spirits of the ,lord mentioned by ,isaiah are prevailingly intellectual2 and the medival ,church1 using the details of this passage to interpret ,christ's own intimation of the ,paraclete as the ,spirit of truth1--remembering also the story of ,pentecost1 when the ,spirit bestowed the gifts of tongues1 and the case of ,stephen1 who1 in the triumph of his eloquence and learning1 was said to be full of the ,holy ,ghost1--did regard1 as ,gregory of ,tours expressly declared1 the ,holy ,spirit as the ,god of the intellect more than of the heart4 ,all ,councils were opened by a mass to the ,holy ,ghost1 and few1 who have examined with care the windows of medival churches1 will have failed to be struck with the frequency with which the ,dove is seen descending upon the heads of miraculously learned persons1 or presiding at discussions1 or hovering over groups of figures representing the sciences4#cg ,to the medival ,church1 then1 the ,holy ,spirit was the ,author of the intellect1 more especially of the governing and political intellect2 and there can be little doubt1 after a study of the variations of this doctrine1 that the first five verses of the eleventh of ,isaiah formed upon it the classical text of appeal4 ,to ,christians1 who have been accustomed by the use of the word ,comforter to associate the ,spirit only with the gentle and consoling influences of heaven1 it may seem strange to find ,his energy identified with the stern rigour of the magistrate4 ,but in its practical1 intelligent and reasonable uses the medival doctrine is greatly to be preferred1 on grounds both of ,scripture and common-sense1 to those two comparatively modern corruptions of it1 one of which emphasizes the ,spirit's influence in the exclusive operation of the grace of orders1 and the other1 driving to an opposite extreme1 dissipates it into the vaguest religiosity4 ,it is one of the curiosities of ,christian theology1 that a ,divine influence1 asserted by ,scripture and believed by the early ,church to manifest itself in the successful conduct of civil offices and the fulness of intellectual learning1 should in these latter days be so often set up in a sort of supernatural opposition to practical wisdom and the results of science4 ,but we may go back to ,isaiah for the same kind of correction on this doctrine1 as he has given us on the doctrine of faith2 and while we do not forget the richer meaning the ,new ,testament bestows on the operation of the ,divine ,spirit1 we may learn from the ,hebrew prophet to seek the inspiration of the ,holy ,ghost in all the endeavours of science1 and not to forget that it is ,his guidance alone which enables us to succeed in the conduct of our offices and fortunes4 #cg ,see ,didron for numerous interesting instances of this4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,redemption ,,of ,,nature 7xi4 #f-i74 ,but ,isaiah will not be satisfied with the establishment of a strong government in the land and the redemption of human society from chaos4 ,he prophesies the redemption of all nature as well4 ,it is one of those errors1 which distort both the poetry and truth of the ,bible1 to suppose that by the bears1 lions and reptiles which the prophet now sees tamed in the time of the regeneration1 he intends the violent human characters which he so often attacks4 ,when ,isaiah here talks of the beasts1 he means the beasts4 ,the passage is not allegorical1 but direct1 and forms a parallel to the well-known passage in the eighth of ,romans4 ,isaiah and ,paul1 chief apostles of the two covenants1 both interrupt their magnificent odes upon the outpouring of the ,spirit1 to remind us that the benefits of this will be shared by the brute and unintelligent creation4 ,and1 perhaps1 there is no finer contrast in the ,scriptures than here1 where beside so majestic a description of the intellectual faculties of humanity ,isaiah places so charming a picture of the docility and sportfulness of wild animals1--,and a little child shall lead them4 ,we1 who live in countries1 from which wild beasts have been exterminated1 cannot understand the insecurity and terror1 that they cause in regions where they abound4 ,a modern seer of the times of regeneration would leave the wild animals out of his vision4 ,they do not impress any more the human conscience or imagination4 ,but they once did so most terribly4 ,the hostility between man and the beasts not only formed once upon a time the chief material obstacle in the progress of the race1 but remains still to the religious thinker the most pathetic portion of that groaning and travailing of all creation1 which is so heavy a burden on his heart4 ,isaiah1 from his ancient point of view1 is in thorough accord with the order of civilisation1 when he represents the subjugation of wild animals as the first problem of man1 after he has established a strong government in the land4 ,so far from rhetorizing or allegorizing--above which literary forms it would appear to be impossible for the appreciation of some of his commentators to follow him--,isaiah is earnestly celebrating a very real moment in the laborious progress of mankind4 ,isaiah stands where ,hercules stood1 and ,theseus1 and ,arthur when ,there grew great tracts of wilderness1 ,wherein the beast was ever more and more1 ,but man was less and less till ,arthur came4 ,and he drave ,the heathen1 and he slew the beast1 and felled ,the forest1 and let in the sun1 and made ,broad pathways for the hunter and the knight1 ,and so returned4 ,but ,isaiah would solve the grim problem of the warfare between man and his lower fellow-creatures in a very different way from that1 of which these heroes have set the example to humanity4 ,isaiah would not have the wild beasts exterminated1 but tamed4 ,there our ,western and modern imagination may fail to follow him1 especially when he includes reptiles in the regeneration1 and prophesies of adders and lizards as the playthings of children4 ,but surely there is no genial man1 who has watched the varied forms of life that sport in the ,southern sunshine1 who will not sympathize with the prophet in his joyous vision4 ,upon a warm spring day in ,palestine1 to sit upon the grass1 beside some old dyke or ruin with its face to the south1 is indeed to obtain a rapturous view of the wealth of life1 with which the bountiful ,god has blessed and made merry man's dwelling-place4 ,how the lizards come and go among the grey stones1 and flash like jewels in the dust6 ,and the timid snake rippling quickly past through the grass1 and the leisurely tortoise1 with his shiny back1 and the chameleon1 shivering into new colour as he passes from twig to stone and stone to straw1--all the air the while alive with the music of the cricket and the bee6 ,you feel that the ideal is not to destroy these pretty things as vermin4 ,what a loss of colour the lizards alone would imply6 ,but1 as ,isaiah declares1--whom we may imagine walking with his children up the steep vineyard paths1 to watch the creatures come and go upon the dry dykes on either hand1--the ideal is to bring them into sympathy with ourselves1 make pets of them and playthings for children1 who indeed stretch out their hands in joy to the pretty toys4 ,why should we need to fight with1 or destroy1 any of the happy life the ,lord has created8 ,why have we this loathing to it1 and need to defend ourselves from it1 when there is so much suffering we could cure1 and so much childlikeness we could amuse and be amused by1 and yet it will not let us near8 ,to these questions there is not another answer but the answer of the ,bible3 that this curse of conflict and distrust between man and his fellow-creatures is due to man's sin1 and shall only be done away by man's redemption4 ,nor is this ,bible answer1--of which the book of ,genesis gives us the one end1 and this text of ,isaiah the other1--a mere pious opinion1 which the true history of man's dealing with wild beasts by extermination proves to be impracticable4 ,we may take on scientific authority a few facts as hints from nature1 that after all man is to blame for the wildness of the beasts1 and that through his sanctification they may be restored to sympathy with himself4 ,charles ,darwin says3 ,it deserves notice1 that at an extremely ancient period1 when man first entered any country the animals living there would have felt no instinctive or inherited fear of him1 and would consequently have been tamed far more easily than at present4 ,and he gives some very instructive facts in proof of this with regard to dogs1 antelopes1 manatees and hawks4 ,quadrupeds and birds which have seldom been disturbed by man dread him no more than do our ,english birds the cows or horses grazing in the fields4#ch ,darwin's details are peculiarly pathetic in their revelation of the brutes' utter trustfulness in man1 before they get to know him4 ,persons1 who have had to do with individual animals of a species that has never been thoroughly tamed1 are aware that the difficulty of training them lies in convincing them of our sincerity and good-heartedness1 and that when this is got over they will learn almost any trick or habit4 ,the well-known lines of ,burns to the field-mouse gather up the cause of all this in a fashion very similar to the ,bible's4 #ch ,darwin1 ,variation of ,animals and ,plants under ,domestication1 pp4 #bj1 #ba4 ,i'm truly sorry man's dominion ,has broken nature's social union1 ,and justifies that ill opinion1 ,which makes thee startle ,at me1 thy poor earth-born companion ,and fellow-mortal4 ,how much the appeal of suffering animals to man--the look of a wounded horse or dog with a meaning which speech would only spoil1 the tales of beasts of prey that in pain have turned to man as their physician1 the approach of the wildest birds in winter to our feet as their ,providence--how much all these prove ,paul's saying that the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of ,god4 ,and we have other signals1 than those afforded by the pain and pressure of the beasts themselves1 of the time when they and man shall sympathize4 ,the natural history of many of our breeds of domesticated animals teaches us the lesson that their growth in skill and character--no one who has enjoyed the friendship of several dogs will dispute the possibility of character in the lower animals--has been proportionate to man's own4 ,though savages are fond of keeping and taming animals1 they fail to advance them to the stages of cunning and discipline1 which animals reach under the influence of civilised man4#ci ,no instance is on record1 says ,darwin1 of such dogs as bloodhounds1 spaniels or true greyhounds having been kept by savages2 they are the products of long-continued civilisation4 #ci ,galton1 quoted by ,darwin4 ,these facts1 if few1 certainly bear in the direction of ,isaiah's prophecy1 that not by extermination of the beasts1 but by the influence upon them of man's greater force of character1 may that warfare be brought to an end1 of which man's sin1 according to the ,bible1 is the original cause4 ,the practical uses of such a passage of ,scripture as this are plain4 ,some of them are the awful responsibility of man's position as the keystone of creation1 the material effects of sin1 and especially the religiousness of our relation to the lower animals4 ,more than once do the ,hebrew prophets liken the ,almighty's dealings with man to merciful man's dealings with his beasts4#dj ,both ,isaiah and ,paul virtually declare that man discharges to the lower creatures a mediatorial office4 ,to say so will of course seem an exaggeration to some people1 but not to those who1 besides being grateful to remember what help in labour and cheer in dreariness we owe our humble fellow-creatures1 have been fortunate enough to enjoy the affection and trust of a dumb friend4 ,men who abuse the lower animals sin very grievously against ,god2 men who neglect them lose some of the religious possibilities of life4 ,if it is our business in life to have the charge of animals1 we should magnify our calling4 ,every coachman and carter ought to feel something of the priest about him2 he should think no amount of skill and patience too heavy if it enables him to gain insight into the nature of creatures of ,god1 all of whose hope1 by ,scripture and his own experience1 is towards himself4 #dj ,isa4 lxiii4 #ac1 #ad2 ,hos4 xi4 #d4 ,our relation to the lower animals is one of the three great relations of our nature4 ,for ,god our worship2 for man our service2 for the beasts our providence1 and according both to ,isaiah and ,paul1 the mediation of our holiness4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,return ,,and ,,sovereignty ,,of ,,israel 7xi4 #aj-af74 ,in passing from the second to the third part of this prophecy1 we cannot but feel that we descend to a lower point of view and a less pure atmosphere of spiritual ambition4 ,isaiah1 who has just declared peace between man and beast1 finds that ,judah must clear off certain scores against her neighbours before there can be peace between man and man4 ,it is an interesting psychological study4 ,the prophet1 who has been able to shake off man's primeval distrust and loathing of wild animals1 cannot divest himself of the political tempers of his age4 ,he admits1 indeed1 the reconciliation of ,ephraim and ,judah2 but the first act of the reconciled brethren1 he prophesies with exultation1 will be to swoop down upon their cousins ,edom1 ,moab and ,ammon1 and their neighbours the ,philistines4 ,we need not longer dwell on this remarkable limitation of the prophet's spirit1 except to point out that while ,isaiah clearly saw that ,israel's own purity would not be perfected except by her political debasement1 he could not as yet perceive any way for the conversion of the rest of the world except through ,israel's political supremacy4 ,the prophet1 however1 is more occupied with an event preliminary to ,israel's sovereignty1 namely the return from exile4 ,his large and emphatic assertions remind the not yet captive ,judah through how much captivity she has to pass before she can see the margin of the blessed future which he has been describing to her4 ,isaiah's words imply a much more general captivity than had taken place by the time he spoke them1 and we see that he is still keeping steadily in view that thorough reduction of his people1 to the prospect of which he was forced in his inaugural vision4 ,judah has to be dispersed1 even as ,ephraim has been1 before the glories of this chapter shall be realized4 ,we postpone further treatment of this prophecy1 along with the hymn 7chap4 xii471 which is attached to it1 to a separate chapter1 dealing with all the representations1 which the first half of the book of ,isaiah contains1 of the return from exile4 ,,chapter ,,xi4 ,,drifting ,,to ,,egypt4 ,,isaiah xx42 xxi4 #a-aj2 xxxviii42 xxxix4 7#gbj-gje ,b4,c474 ,from #gbj1 when chap4 xi4 may have been published1 to #gje--or1 by rough reckoning1 from the fortieth to the fifty-fifth year of ,isaiah's life--we cannot be sure that we have more than one prophecy from him2 but two narratives have found a place in his book which relate events that must have taken place between #gab and #gje4 ,these narratives are chap4 xx43 ,how ,isaiah ,walked ,stripped and ,barefoot for a ,sign against ,egypt1 and chaps4 xxxviii4 and xxxix43 ,the ,sickness of ,hezekiah1 with the ,hymn he wrote1 and his ,behaviour before the ,envoys from ,babylon4 ,the single prophecy belonging to this period is chap4 xxi4 #a-aj1 ,oracle of the ,wilderness of the ,sea1 which announces the fall of ,babylon4 ,there has been considerable debate about the authorship of this oracle1 but ,cheyne1 mainly following ,dr4 ,kleinert1 gives substantial reasons for leaving it with ,isaiah4 ,we postpone the full exposition of chaps4 xxxviii41 xxxix41 to a later stage1 as here it would only interrupt the history4 ,but we will make use of chaps4 xx4 and xxi4 #a-aj in the course of the following historical sketch1 which is intended to connect the first great period of ,isaiah's prophesying1 #gdj-gbj1 with the second1 #gje-gja4 ,all these fifteen years1 #gbj-gje1 ,jerusalem was drifting to the refuge into which she plunged at the end of them--drifting to ,egypt4 ,ahaz had firmly bound his people to ,assyria1 and in his reign there was no talk of an ,egyptian alliance4 ,but in #gbe1 when the overflowing scourge of ,assyrian invasion threatened to sweep into ,judah as well as ,samaria1 ,isaiah's words give us some hint of a recoil in the politics of ,jerusalem towards the southern power4 ,the covenants with death and hell1 which the men of scorn flaunted in his face as he harped on the danger from ,assyria1 may only have been the old treaties with ,assyria herself1 but the falsehood and lies that went with them were most probably intrigues with ,egypt4 ,any ,egyptian policy1 however1 that may have formed in ,jerusalem before #gai1 was entirely discredited by the crushing defeat1 which in that year ,sargon inflicted upon the empire of the ,nile1 almost on her own borders1 at ,rafia4 ,years of quietness for ,palestine followed this decisive battle4 ,sargon1 whose annals engraved on the great halls of ,khorsabad enable us to read the history of the period year by year1 tells us that his next campaigns were to the north of his empire1 and till #gaa he alludes to ,palestine only to say that tribute was coming in regularly1 or to mention the deportation to ,hamath or ,samaria of some tribe he had conquered far away4 ,egypt1 however1 was everywhere busy among his feudatories4 ,intrigue was ,egypt's forte4 ,she is always represented in ,isaiah's pages as the talkative power of many promises4 ,her fair speech was very sweet to men groaning beneath the military pressure of ,assyria4 ,her splendid past1 in conjunction with the largeness of her promise1 excited the popular imagination4 ,centres of her influence gathered in every state4 ,an ,egyptian party formed in ,jerusalem4 ,their intrigue pushed mines in all directions1 and before the century was out the ,assyrian peace in ,western ,asia was broken by two great ,explosions4 ,the first of these1 in #gaa1 was local and abortive2 the second1 in #gje1 was universal1 and for a time entirely destroyed the ,assyrian supremacy4 ,the centre of the ,explosion of #gaa was ,ashdod1 a city of the ,philistines4 ,the king had suddenly refused to continue the ,assyrian tribute1 and ,sargon had put another king in his place4 ,but the people--in ,ashdod1 as everywhere else1 it was the people who were fascinated by ,egypt--pulled down the ,assyrian puppet and elevated ,iaman1 a friend to ,pharaoh4 ,the other cities of the ,philistines1 with ,moab1 ,edom and ,judah1 were prepared by ,egyptian promise to throw in their lot with the rebels4 ,sargon gave them no time4 ,in the wrath of my heart1 ,i did not divide my army1 and ,i did not diminish the ranks1 but ,i marched against ,asdod with my warriors1 who did not separate themselves from the traces of my sandals4 ,i besieged1 ,i took1 ,asdod and ,gunt-,asdodim4444 ,i then made again these towns4 ,i placed the people whom my arm had conquered4 ,i put over them my lieutenant as governor4 ,i considered them like ,assyrians1 and they practised obedience4#da ,it is upon this campaign of ,sargon that ,mr4 ,cheyne argues for the invasion of ,judah1 to which he assigns so many of ,isaiah's prophecies1 as1 e4g41 chaps4 i4 and x4 #e-cd4 ,some day ,assyriology may give us proof of this supposition4 ,we are without it just now4 ,sargon speaks no word of invading ,judah1 and the only part of the book of ,isaiah that unmistakably refers to this time is the picturesque narrative of chap4 xx4 #da ,records of the ,past1 vii41 #dj4 ,in this we are told that in the year the ,tartan1 the ,assyrian commander-in-chief1 came to ,ashdod when ,sargon king of ,assyria sent him that is to be supposed the year of the first revolt in ,ashdod1 to which ,sargon himself did not come1 and he fought against ,ashdod and took it3--in that time ,jehovah had spoken by the hand of ,isaiah the son of ,amoz1 saying1 ,go and loose the sackcloth1 the prophet's robe1 from off thy loins1 and thy sandal strip from off thy foot2 and he did so1 walking naked1 that is unfrocked1 and barefoot4 ,for ,egyptian intrigue was already busy2 the temporary success of the ,tartan at ,ashdod did not discourage it1 and it needed a protest4 ,and ,jehovah said1 ,as ,my servant ,isaiah hath walked unfrocked and barefoot three years for a sign and a portent against ,egypt and against ,ethiopia note the double name1 for the country was now divided between two rulers1 the secret of her impotence to interfere forcibly in ,palestine so shall the king of ,assyria lead away the captives of ,egypt and exiles of ,ethiopia1 young and old1 stripped and barefoot1 and with buttocks uncovered1 to the shame of ,egypt4 ,and they shall be dismayed and ashamed1 because of ,ethiopia their expectation and because of ,egypt their boast4 ,and the inhabitant of this coastland that is1 all ,palestine1 and a name for it remarkably similar to the phrase used by ,sargon1 the people of ,philistia1 ,judah1 ,edom and ,moab1 dwelling by the sea#db shall say in that day1 ,behold1 such is our expectation1 whither we had fled for help to deliver ourselves from the king of ,assyria1 and how shall we escape--we8 #db ,cheyne4 ,this parade of ,isaiah for three years1 unfrocked and barefoot1 is another instance of that habit on which we remarked in connection with chap4 viii4 #a3 the habit of finally carrying everything committed to him before the bar of the whole nation4 ,it was to the mass of the people ,god said1 ,come and let us reason together4 ,let us not despise ,isaiah in his shirt any more than we do ,diogenes in his tub1 or with a lantern in his hand1 seeking for a man by its rays at noonday4 ,he was bent on startling the popular conscience1 because he held it true that a people's own morals have greater influence on their destinies than the policies of their statesmen4 ,but especially anxious was ,isaiah1 as we shall again see from chap4 xxxi41 to bring this ,egyptian policy home to the popular conscience4 ,egypt was a big-mouthed1 blustering power1 believed in by the mob3 to expose her required public1 picturesque and persistent advertisement4 ,so ,isaiah continued his walk for three years4 ,the fall of ,ashdod1 left by ,egypt to itself1 did not disillusion the ,jews1 and the rapid disappearance of ,sargon to another part of his empire where there was trouble1 gave the ,egyptians audacity to continue their intrigues against him4#dc #dc ,w4 ,r4 ,smith1 ,prophets of ,israel1 p4 #bhb4 ,sargon's new trouble had broken out in ,babylon1 and was much more serious than any revolt in ,syria4 ,merodach ,baladan1 king of ,chaldea1 was no ordinary vassal1 but as dangerous a rival as ,egypt4 ,when he rose1 it meant a contest between ,babylon and ,nineveh for the sovereignty of the world4 ,he had long been preparing for war4 ,he had an alliance with ,elam1 and the tribes of ,mesopotamia were prepared for his signal of revolt4 ,among the charges brought against him by ,sargon is that1 against the will of the gods of ,babylon1 he had sent during twelve years ambassadors4 ,one of these embassies may have been that which came to ,hezekiah after his great sickness 7chap4 xxxix474 ,and ,hezekiah was glad of them1 and showed them the house of his spicery1 the silver1 and the gold1 and the spices1 and the precious oil1 and all the house of his armour and all that was found in his treasures2 there was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that ,hezekiah showed them not4 ,isaiah was indignant4 ,he had hitherto kept the king from formally closing with ,egypt2 now he found him eager for an alliance with another of the powers of man4 ,but instead of predicting the captivity of ,babylon1 as he predicted the captivity of ,egypt1 by the hand of ,assyria1 ,isaiah declared1 according to chap4 xxxix41 that ,babylon would some day take ,israel captive2 and ,hezekiah had to content himself with the prospect that this calamity was not to happen in his time4 ,isaiah's prediction of the exile of ,israel to ,babylon is a matter of difficulty4 ,the difficulty1 however1 is not that of conceiving how he could have foreseen an event which took place more than a century later4 ,even in #gaa ,babylon was not an unlikely competitor for the supremacy of the nations4 ,sargon himself felt that it was a crisis to meet her4 ,very little might have transferred the seat of power from the ,tigris to the ,euphrates4 ,what1 therefore1 more probable than that when ,hezekiah disclosed to these envoys the whole state of his resources1 and excused himself by saying that they were come from a far country1 even ,babylon1 ,isaiah1 seized by a strong sense of how near ,babylon stood to the throne of the nations1 should laugh to scorn the excuse of distance1 and tell the king that his anxiety to secure an alliance had only led him to place the temptation to rob him in the face of a power that was certainly on the way to be able to do it8 ,no1 the difficulty is not that the prophet foretold a captivity of the ,jews in ,babylon1 but that we cannot reconcile what he says of that captivity with his intimation of the immediate destruction of ,babylon1 which has come down to us in chap4 xxi4 #a-aj4 ,in this prophecy ,isaiah regards ,babylon as he has been regarding ,egypt--certain to go down before ,assyria1 and therefore wholly unprofitable to ,judah4 ,if the ,jews still thought of returning to ,egypt when ,sargon hurried back from completing her discomfiture in order to beset ,babylon1 ,isaiah would tell them it was no use4 ,assyria has brought her full power to bear on the ,babylonians2 ,elam and ,media are with her4 ,he travails with pain for the result4 ,babylon is not expecting a siege2 but preparing the table1 eating and drinking1 when suddenly the cry rings through her1 ,arise1 ye princes2 anoint the shield4 ,the enemy is upon us4 ,so terrible and so sudden a warrior is this ,sargon6 ,at his words nations move2 when he saith1 ,go up1 ,o ,elam6 ,besiege1 ,o ,media6 it is done4 ,and he falls upon his foes before their weapons are ready4 ,then the prophet shrinks back from the result of his imagination of how it happened--for that is too painful--upon the simple certainty1 which ,god revealed to him1 that it must happen4 ,as surely as ,sargon's columns went against ,babylon1 so surely must the message return that ,babylon has fallen4 ,isaiah puts it this way4 ,the ,lord bade him get on his watchtower--that is his phrase for observing the signs of the times--and speak whatever he saw4 ,and he saw a military column on the march3 a troop of horsemen by pairs1 a troop of asses1 a troop of camels4 ,it passed him out of sight1 and he hearkened very diligently for news4 ,but none came4 ,it was a long campaign4 ,and he cried like a lion for impatience1 ,o my ,lord1 ,i stand continually upon the watchtower by day1 and am set in my ward every night4 ,till at last1 behold1 there came a troop of men1 horsemen in pairs1 and now one answered and said1 ,fallen1 fallen is ,babylon1 and all the images of her gods he hath broken to the ground4 ,the meaning of this very elliptical passage is just this3 as surely as the prophet saw ,sargon's columns go out against ,babylon1 so sure was he of her fall4 ,turning to his ,jerusalem1 he says1 ,my own threshed one1 son of my floor1 that which ,i have heard from ,jehovah of hosts1 the ,god of ,israel1 have ,i declared unto you4 ,how gladly would ,i have told you otherwise6 ,but this is ,his message and ,his will4 ,everything must go down before this ,assyrian4 ,sargon entered ,babylon before the year was out1 and with her conquest established his fear once more down to the borders of ,egypt4 ,in his lifetime neither ,judah nor her neighbours attempted again to revolt4 ,but ,egypt's intrigue did not cease4 ,her mines were once more laid1 and the feudatories of ,assyria only waited for their favourite opportunity1 a change of tyrants on the throne at ,nineveh4 ,this came very soon4 ,in the fifteenth year of his reign1 having finally established his empire1 ,sargon inscribed on the palace at ,khorsabad the following prayer to ,assur3 ,may it be that ,i1 ,sargon1 who inhabit this palace1 may be preserved by destiny during long years for a long life1 for the happiness of my body1 for the satisfaction of my heart1 and may ,i arrive to my end6 ,may ,i accumulate in this palace immense treasures1 the booties of all countries1 the products of mountains and valleys6 ,the god did not hear4 ,a few months later1 in #gje1 ,sargon was murdered2 and before ,sennacherib1 his successor1 sat down on the throne1 the whole of ,assyrian supremacy in the south-west of ,asia went up in the air4 ,it was the second of the great ,explosions we spoke of1 and the rest of ,isaiah's prophecies are concerned with its results4 ,,book ,,iii4 ,,orations ,,on ,,the ,,egyptian ,,intrigues ,,and ,,oracles ,,on ,,foreign ,,nations1 #gje-gjb ,b4,c4 ,,isaiah3-- xxix4 ,about #gjc4 xxx4 ,a little later4 xxxi4 xxxii4 #a-h4 xxxii4 #i-bj4 ,date uncertain4 xiv4 #bh-xxi4 #gcf-gjb4 xxiii4 ,about #gjc4 ,,book ,,iii4 ,we now enter the prophecies of ,isaiah's old age1 those which he published after #gje1 when his ministry had lasted for at least thirty-five years4 ,they cover the years between #gje1 the date of ,sennacherib's accession to the ,assyrian throne1 and #gja1 when his army suddenly disappeared from before ,jerusalem4 ,they fall into three groups3-- #a4 ,chaps4 xxix4-xxxii41 dealing with ,jewish politics while ,sennacherib is still far from ,palestine1 #gjd-gjb1 and having ,egypt for their chief interest1 ,assyria lowering in the background4 #b4 ,chaps4 xiv4 #bh-xxi4 and xxiii41 a group of oracles on foreign nations1 threatened1 like ,judah1 by ,assyria4 #c4 ,chaps4 i41 xxii41 and xxxiii41 and the historical narrative in xxxvi41 and xxxvii41 dealing with ,sennacherib's invasion of ,judah and siege of ,jerusalem in #gja2 ,egypt and every foreign nation now fallen out of sight1 and the storm about the ,holy ,city too thick for the prophet to see beyond his immediate neighbourhood4 ,the first and second of these groups--orations on the intrigues with ,egypt and oracles on the foreign nations--delivered while ,sennacherib was still far from ,syria1 form the subject of this ,third ,book of our exposition4 ,the prophecies on the siege of ,jerusalem are sufficiently numerous and distinctive to be put by themselves1 along with their appendix 7xxxviii41 xxxix471 in our ,fourth ,book4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,,ariel1 ,,ariel4 ,,isaiah xxix4 7about #gjc ,b4,c474 ,in #gje ,sargon1 ,king of ,assyria1 was murdered1 and ,sennacherib1 his second son1 succeeded him4 ,before the new ruler mounted the throne1 the vast empire1 which his father had consolidated1 broke into rebellion1 and down to the borders of ,egypt cities and tribes declared themselves again independent4 ,sennacherib attacked his problem with ,assyrian promptitude4 ,there were two forces1 to subdue which at the beginning made the reduction of the rest certain3 ,assyria's vassal kingdom and future rival for the supremacy of the world1 ,babylon2 and her present rival1 ,egypt4 ,sennacherib marched on ,babylon first4 ,while he did so the smaller ,states prepared to resist him4 ,too small to rely on their own resources1 they looked to ,egypt1 and among others who sought help in that quarter was ,judah4 ,there had always been1 as we have seen1 an ,egyptian party among the politicians of ,jerusalem2 and ,assyria's difficulties now naturally increased its influence4 ,most of the prophecies in chaps4 xxix4-xxxii4 are forward to condemn the alliance with ,egypt and the irreligious politics of which it was the fruit4 ,at the beginning1 however1 other facts claim ,isaiah's attention4 ,after the first excitement1 consequent on the threats of ,sennacherib1 the politicians do not seem to have been specially active4 ,sennacherib found the reduction of ,babylon a harder task than he expected1 and in the end it turned out to be three years before he was free to march upon ,syria4 ,as one winter after another left the work of the ,assyrian army in ,mesopotamia still unfinished1 the political tension in ,judah must have relaxed4 ,the ,government--for ,king ,hezekiah seems at last to have been brought round to believe in ,egypt--pursued their negotiations no longer with that decision and real patriotism1 which the sense of near danger rouses in even the most selfish and mistaken of politicians1 but rather with the heedlessness of principle1 the desire to show their own cleverness and the passion for intrigue which run riot among statesmen1 when danger is near enough to give an excuse for doing something1 but too far away to oblige anything to be done in earnest4 ,into this false ease1 and the meaningless1 faithless politics1 which swarmed in it1 ,isaiah hurled his strong prophecy of chap4 xxix4 ,before he exposes in chaps4 xxx41 xxxi41 the folly of trusting to ,egypt in the hour of danger1 he has here the prior task of proving that hour to be near and very terrible4 ,it is but one instance of the ignorance and fickleness of the people1 that their prophet has first to rouse them to a sense of their peril1 and then to restrain their excitement under it from rushing headlong for help to ,egypt4 ,chap4 xxix4 is an obscure oracle1 but its obscurity is designed4 ,isaiah was dealing with a people1 in whom political security and religious formalism had stifled both reason and conscience4 ,he sought to rouse them by a startling message in a mysterious form4 ,he addressed the city by an enigma3-- ,ho6 ,ari-,el1 ,ari-,el6 ,city ,david beleaguered6 ,add a year to a year1 let the feasts run their round1 then will ,i bring straitness upon ,ari-,el1 and there shall be moaning and bemoaning1#dd and yet she shall be unto ,me as an ,ari-,el4 #dd ,cheyne4 ,the general bearing of this enigma became plain enough after the sore siege and sudden deliverance of ,jerusalem in #gja4 ,but we are unable to make out one or two of its points4 ,ari-,el may mean either ,the ,lion of ,god 7#b ,sam4 xxiii4 #bj71 or ,the ,hearth of ,god 7,ezek4 xliii4 #ae1 #af74 ,if the same sense is to be given to the four utterances of the name1 then ,god's-,lion suits better the description of ver4 #d2 but ,god's-,hearth seems suggested by the feminine pronoun in ver4 #a1 and is a conception to which ,isaiah returns in this same group of prophecies 7xxxi4 #i74 ,it is possible that this ambiguity was part of the prophet's design2 but if he uses the name in both senses1 some of the force of his enigma is lost to us4 ,in any case1 however1 we get a picturesque form for a plain meaning4 ,in a year after the present year is out1 says ,isaiah1 ,god ,himself will straiten the city1 whose inhabitants are now so careless1 and she shall be full of mourning and lamentation4 ,nevertheless in the end she shall be a true ,ari-,el3 be it a true ,god's-,lion1 victor and hero2 or a true ,god's-,hearth1 ,his own inviolate shrine and sanctuary4 ,the next few verses 7#c-h7 expand this warning4 ,in plain words1 ,jerusalem is to undergo a siege4 ,god ,himself shall encamp against thee--round about reads our ,english version1 but more probably1 as with the change of a letter1 the ,septuagint reads it--like ,david4 ,if we take this second reading1 the reference to ,david in the enigma itself 7ver4 #a7 becomes clear4 ,the prophet has a very startling message to deliver3 that ,god will besiege ,his own city1 the city of ,david6 ,before ,god can make her in truth ,his own1 make her verify her name1 ,he will have to beleaguer and reduce her4 ,for so novel and startling an intimation the prophet pleads a precedent3 ,city which ,david himself beleaguered6 ,once before in thy history1 ere the first time thou wast made ,god's own hearth1 thou hadst to be besieged4 ,as then1 so now4 ,before thou canst again be a true ,ari-,el ,i must beleaguer thee like ,david4 ,this reading and interpretation gives to the enigma a reason and a force which it does not otherwise possess4 ,jerusalem1 then1 shall be reduced to the very dust1 and whine and whimper in it 7like a sick lion1 if this be the figure the prophet is pursuing71 when suddenly it is the surge of her foes--literally thy strangers--whom the prophet sees as small dust1 and as passing chaff shall the surge of tyrants be2 yea1 it shall be in the twinkling of an eye1 suddenly4 ,from ,jehovah of hosts shall she be visited with thunder and with earthquake and a great noise1--storm-wind1 and tempest and the flame of fire devouring4 ,and it shall be as a dream1 a vision of the night1 the surge of all the nations that war against ,ariel1 yea all that war against her and her stronghold1 and they that press in upon her4 ,and it shall be as if the hungry had been dreaming1 and lo6 he was eating2 but he hath awaked1 and his soul is empty3 and as if the thirsty had been dreaming1 and lo6 he was drinking2 but he hath awaked1 and lo6 he is faint1 and his soul is ravenous3 thus shall be the surge of all the nations that war against ,mount ,zion4 ,now that is a very definite prediction1 and in its essentials was fulfilled4 ,in the end ,jerusalem was invested by ,sennacherib1 and reduced to sore straits1 when very suddenly--it would appear from other records1 in a single night--the beleaguering force disappeared4 ,this actually happened2 and although the main business of a prophet1 as we now clearly understand1 was not to predict definite events1 yet1 since the result here predicted was one on which ,isaiah staked his prophetic reputation and pledged the honour of ,jehovah and the continuance of the true religion among men1 it will be profitable for us to look at it for a little4 ,isaiah foretells a great event and some details4 ,the event is a double one3 the reduction of ,jerusalem to the direst straits by siege and her deliverance by the sudden disappearance of the besieging army4 ,the details are that the siege will take place after a year 7though the prophet's statement of time is perhaps too vague to be treated as a prediction71 and that the deliverance will come as a great natural convulsion--thunder1 earthquake and fire--which it certainly did not do4 ,the double event1 however1 stripped of these details1 did essentially happen4 ,now it is plain that any one with a considerable knowledge of the world at that day must easily have been able to assert the probability of a siege of ,jerusalem by the mixed nations who composed ,sennacherib's armies4 ,isaiah's orations are full of proofs of his close acquaintance with the peoples of the world1 and ,assyria1 who was above them4 ,moreover1 his political advice1 given at certain crises of ,judah's history1 was conspicuous not only for its religiousness1 but for what we should call its worldly-wisdom3 it was vindicated by events4 ,isaiah1 however1 would not have understood the distinction we have just made4 ,to him political prudence was part of religion4 ,the ,,lord of hosts is for a spirit of judgement to him that sitteth in judgement1 and for strength to them that turn back the battle to the gate4 ,knowledge of men1 experience of nations1 the mental strength which never forgets history1 and is quick to mark new movements as they rise1 ,isaiah would have called the direct inspiration of ,god4 ,and it was certainly these qualities in this ,hebrew1 which provided him with the materials for his prediction of the siege of ,jerusalem4 ,but it has not been found that such talents by themselves enable statesmen calmly to face the future1 or clearly to predict it4 ,such knowledge of the past1 such vigilance for the present1 by themselves only embarrass1 and often deceive4 ,they are the materials for prediction1 but a ruling principle is required to arrange them4 ,a general may have a strong and well-drilled force under him1 and a miserably weak foe in front2 but if the sun is not going to rise to-morrow1 if the laws of nature are not going to hold1 his familiarity with his soldiers and expertness in handling them will not give him confidence to offer battle4 ,he takes certain principles for granted1 and on these his soldiers become of use to him1 and he makes his venture4 ,even so ,isaiah handled his mass of information by the grasp which he had of certain principles1 and his facts fell clear into order before his confident eyes4 ,he believed in the real government of ,god4 ,i also saw the ,lord sitting1 high and lifted up4 ,he felt that ,god had even this ,assyria in ,his hands4 ,he knew that all ,god's ends were righteousness1 and he was still of the conviction that ,judah for her wickedness required punishment at the ,lord's hands4 ,grant these convictions to him in the superhuman strength in which he tells us he was conscious of receiving them from ,god1 and it is easy to see how ,isaiah could not help predicting a speedy siege of ,jerusalem1 how he already beheld the valleys around her bristling with barbarian spears4 ,the prediction of the sudden raising of this siege was the equally natural corollary to another religious conviction1 which held the prophet with as much intensity1 as that which possessed him with the need of ,judah's punishment4 ,isaiah never slacked his hold on the truth that in the end ,god would save ,zion1 and keep her for ,himself4 ,through whatever destruction1 a root and remnant of the ,jewish people must survive4 ,zion is impregnable because ,god is in her1 and because her inviolateness is necessary for the continuance of true religion in the world4 ,therefore as confident as his prediction of the siege of ,jerusalem is ,isaiah's prediction of her delivery4 ,and while the prophet wraps the fact in vague circumstance1 while he masks1 as it were1 his ignorance of how in detail it will actually take place by calling up a great natural convulsion1 yet he makes it abundantly clear--as1 with his religious convictions and his knowledge of the ,assyrian power1 he cannot help doing--that the deliverance will be unexpected and unexplainable by the natural circumstances of the ,jews themselves1 that it will be evident as the immediate deed of ,god4 ,it is well for us to understand this4 ,we shall get rid of the mechanical idea of prophecy1 according to which prophets made exact predictions of fact by some particular and purely official endowment4 ,we shall feel that prediction of this kind was due to the most unmistakeable inspiration1 the influence upon the prophet's knowledge of affairs of two powerful religious convictions1 for which he himself was strongly sure that he had the warrant of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,into the easy1 selfish politics of ,jerusalem1 then1 ,isaiah sent this thunderbolt1 this definite prediction3 that in a year or more ,jerusalem would be besieged and reduced to the direst straits4 ,he tells us that it simply dazed the people4 ,they were like men suddenly startled from sleep1 who are too stupid to read a message pushed into their hands 7vv4 #i-ab74 ,then ,isaiah gives ,god's own explanation of this stupidity4 ,the cause of it is simply religious formalism4 ,this people draw nigh unto ,me with their mouth1 and with their lips do they honour ,me1 but their heart is far from ,me1 and their fear of ,me is a mere commandment of men1 a thing learned by rote4 ,this was what ,israel called religion--bare ritual and doctrine1 a round of sacrifices and prayers in adherence to the tradition of the fathers4 ,but in life they never thought of ,god4 ,it did not occur to these citizens of ,jerusalem that ,he cared about their politics1 their conduct of justice1 or their discussions and bargains with one another4 ,of these they said1 taking their own way1 ,who seeth us1 and who knoweth us8 ,only in the ,temple did they feel ,god's fear1 and there merely in imitation of one another4 ,none had an original vision of ,god in real life2 they learned other men's thoughts about ,him1 and took other men's words upon their lips1 while their heart was far away4 ,in fact1 speaking words and listening to words had wearied the spirit and stifled the conscience of them4 ,for such a disposition ,isaiah says there is only one cure4 ,it is a new edition of his old gospel1 that ,god speaks to us in facts1 not forms4 ,worship and a lifeless doctrine have demoralized this people4 ,god shall make ,himself so felt in real life that even their dull senses shall not be able to mistake ,him4 ,therefore1 behold1 ,i am proceeding to work marvellously upon this people1 a marvellous work and a wonder6 and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish1 and the cleverness of their clever ones shall be obscured4 ,this is not the promise of what we call a miracle4 ,it is a historical event on the same theatre as the politicians are showing their cleverness1 but it shall put them all to shame1 and by its force make the dullest feel that ,god's own hand is in it4 ,what the people had ceased to attribute to ,jehovah was ordinary intelligence2 they had virtually said1 ,he hath no understanding4 ,the marvellous work1 therefore1 which ,he threatens shall be a work of wisdom1 not some convulsion of nature to cow their spirits1 but a wonderful political result1 that shall shame their conceit of cleverness1 and teach them reverence for the will and skill of ,god4 ,are the politicians trying to change the surface of the world1 thinking that they are turning things upside down1 and supposing that they can keep ,god out of account3 ,who seeth us1 and who knoweth us8 ,god ,himself is the real ,arranger and ,politician4 ,he will turn things upside down6 ,compared with their attempt1 how vast ,his results shall be6 ,as if the whole surface of the earth were altered1 ,lebanon changed into garden-land1 and garden-land counted as forest6 ,but this1 of course1 is metaphor4 ,the intent of the miracle is to show that ,god hath understanding2 therefore it must be a work1 the prudence and intellectual force of which politicians can appreciate1 and it shall take place in their politics4 ,but not for mere astonishment's sake is the wonder to be done4 ,for blessing and morality shall it be3 to cure the deaf and blind2 to give to the meek and the poor a new joy2 to confound the tyrant and the scorner2 to make ,israel worthy of ,god and her own great fathers4 ,therefore thus saith ,jehovah to the house of ,jacob1 ,he that redeemed ,abraham3 ,not now ashamed shall ,jacob be1 and not now shall his countenance blanch4 ,so unworthy hitherto have this stupid people been of so great ancestors6 ,but now when his 7,jacob's7 children behold the work of ,my hand in the midst of him1 they shall hallow ,my name1 yea1 they shall hallow the ,holy ,one of ,jacob1 and the ,god of ,israel shall they make their fear4 ,they also that err in spirit shall know understanding1 and they that are unsettled shall learn to accept doctrine4 ,such is the meaning of this strong chapter4 ,it is instructive in two ways4 ,first1 it very clearly declares ,isaiah's view of the method of ,god's revelation4 ,isaiah says nothing of the ,temple1 the ,shechinah1 the ,altar1 or the ,scripture2 but he points out how much the exclusive confinement of religion to forms and texts has deadened the hearts of his countrymen towards ,god4 ,in your real life1 he says to them1 you are to seek1 and you shall find1 ,him4 ,there ,he is evident in miracles1--not physical interruptions and convulsions1 but social mercies and moral providences4 ,the quickening of conscience1 the dispersion of ignorance1 poor men awakening to the fact that ,god is with them1 the overthrow of the social tyrant1 history's plain refutation of the atheist1 the growth of civic justice and charity--,in these1 said the ,hebrew prophet to the ,old ,testament believer1 ,behold your ,god6 ,wherefore1 secondly1 we also are to look for ,god in events and deeds4 ,we are to know that nothing can compensate us for the loss of the open vision of ,god's working in history and in life about us1--not ecstasy of worship nor orthodoxy of doctrine4 ,to confine our religion to these latter things is to become dull towards ,god even in them1 and to forget ,him everywhere else4 ,and this is a fault of our day1 just as it was of ,isaiah's4 ,so much of our fear of ,god is conventional1 orthodox and not original1 a trick caught from men's words or fashions1 not a part of ourselves1 nor won1 like all that is real in us1 from contact with real life4 ,in our politics1 in our conduct with men1 in the struggle of our own hearts for knowledge and for temperance1 and in service--there we are to learn to fear ,god4 ,but there1 and wherever else we are busy1 self comes too much in the way2 we are fascinated with our own cleverness2 we ignore ,god1 saying1 ,who seeth us8 who knoweth us8 ,we get to expect ,him only in the ,temple and on the ,sabbath1 and then only to influence our emotions4 ,but it is in deeds1 and where we feel life most real1 that we are to look for ,him4 ,he makes ,himself evident to us by wonderful works4 ,for these ,he has given us three theatres--the ,bible1 our country's history1 and for each man his own life4 ,we have to take the ,bible1 and especially the life of ,christ1 and to tell ourselves that these wonderful events did really take place4 ,in ,christ ,god did dwell2 by ,christ ,he spoke to man2 man was converted1 redeemed1 sanctified1 beyond all doubt4 ,these were real events4 ,to be convinced of their reality were worth a hundred prayers4 ,then let us follow the example of the ,hebrew prophets1 and search the history of our own people for the realities of ,god4 ,carlyle says in a note to ,cromwell's fourth speech to ,parliament1 that the ,bible of every nation is its own history4 ,this note is drawn from ,carlyle by ,cromwell's frequent insistence1 that we must ever be turning from forms and rituals to study ,god's will and ways in history4 ,and that speech of ,cromwell is perhaps the best sermon ever delivered on the subject of this chapter4 ,for he said3 ,what are all our histories but ,god manifesting ,himself1 that ,he hath shaken1 and tumbled down and trampled upon everything that ,he hath not planted6 ,and again1 speaking of our own history1 he said to the ,house of ,commons3 ,we are a people with the stamp of ,god upon us1 444 whose appearances and providences among us were not to be outmatched by any story4 ,truly this is national religion3--the reverential acknowledgment of ,god's hand in history2 the admiration and effort of moral progress2 the stirring of conscience when we see wrong2 the expectation1 when evil abounds1 that ,god will bring justice and purity to us if we labour with ,him for them4 ,but for each man there is the final duty of turning to himself4 ,my soul repairs its fault ,when1 sharpening sense's hebetude1 ,she turns on my own life6 ,so viewed1 ,no mere mote's breadth but teems immense ,with witnessings of providence3 ,and woe to me if when ,i look ,upon that record1 the sole book ,unsealed to me1 ,i take no heed ,of any warning that ,i read6#de #de ,browning's ,christmas ,eve4 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,,politics ,,and ,,faith4 ,,isaiah xxx4 7,,about #gjb ,b4,c474 ,this prophecy of ,isaiah rises out of circumstances a little more developed than those in which chap4 xxix4 was composed4 ,sennacherib is still engaged with ,babylon1 and it seems that it will yet be long before he marches his armies upon ,syria4 ,but ,isaiah's warning has at last roused the politicians of ,judah from their carelessness4 ,we need not suppose that they believed all that ,isaiah predicted about the dire siege which ,jerusalem should shortly undergo and her sudden deliverance at the hand of the ,lord4 ,without the two strong religious convictions1 in the strength of which1 as we have seen1 he made the prediction1 it was impossible to believe that this siege and deliverance must certainly happen4 ,but the politicians were at least startled into doing something4 ,they did not betake themselves to ,god1 to whom it had been the purpose of ,isaiah's last oration to shut them up4 ,they only flung themselves with more haste into their intrigues with ,egypt4 ,but in truth haste and business were all that was in their politics3 these were devoid both of intelligence and faith4 ,where the sole motive of conduct is fear1 whether uneasiness or panic1 force may be displayed1 but neither sagacity nor any moral quality4 ,this was the case with ,judah's ,egyptian policy1 and ,isaiah now spends two chapters in denouncing it4 ,his condemnation is twofold4 ,the negotiations with ,egypt1 he says1 are bad politics and bad religion2 but the bad religion is the root and source of the other4 ,yet while he vents all his scorn on the politics1 he uses pity and sweet persuasiveness when he comes to speak of the eternal significance of the religion4 ,the two chapters are also instructive1 beyond most others of the ,old ,testament1 in the light they cast on revelation--its scope and methods4 ,isaiah begins with the bad politics4 ,in order to understand how bad they were1 we must turn for a little to this ,egypt1 with whom ,judah was now seeking an alliance4 ,in our late campaign on the ,upper ,nile we heard a great deal of the ,mudir of ,dongola4 ,his province covers part of the ancient kingdom of ,ethiopia2 and in ,meirawi1 the village whose name appeared in so many telegrams1 we can still discover ,meroe1 the capital of ,ethiopia4 ,now in ,isaiah's day the king of ,ethiopia was1 what the ,mudir of ,dongola was at the time of our war1 an ambitious person of no small energy2 and the ruler of ,egypt proper was1 what the ,khedive was1 a person of little influence or resource4 ,consequently there happened what might have happened a few years ago but for the presence of the ,british army in ,egypt4 ,the ,ethiopian came down the ,nile1 defeated ,pharaoh and burned him alive4 ,but he died1 and his son died after him2 and before their successor could also come down the ,nile1 the legitimate heir to ,pharaoh had regained part of his power4 ,some years ensued of uncertainty as to who was the real ruler of ,egypt4 ,it was in this time of unsettlement that ,judah sought ,egypt's help4 ,the ignorance of the policy was manifest to all who were not blinded by fear of ,assyria or party feeling4 ,to ,isaiah the ,egyptian alliance is a folly and fatality that deserve all his scorn 7vv4 #a-h74 ,woe to the rebellious children1 saith the ,lord1 executing a policy1 but it is not from ,me2 and weaving a web1 but not of ,my spirit1 that they may heap sin upon sin2 who set themselves on the way to go down to ,egypt1 and at ,my mouth they have not inquired1 to flee to the refuge of ,pharaoh1 and to hide themselves in the shadow of ,egypt4 ,but the refuge of ,pharaoh shall be unto you for shame1 and the hiding in the shadow of ,egypt for confusion6 ,how can a broken ,egypt help you8 ,when his princes are at ,zoan1 and his ambassadors are come to ,hanes1 they shall all be ashamed of a people that cannot profit them1 that are not for help nor for profit1 but for shame1 and also for reproach4 ,then ,isaiah pictures the useless caravan which ,judah has sent with tribute to ,egypt1 strings of asses and camels struggling through the desert1 land of trouble and anguish1 amid lions and serpents1 and all for a people that shall not profit them 7ver4 #f74 ,what tempted ,judah to this profitless expenditure of time and money8 ,egypt had a great reputation1 and was a mighty promiser4 ,her brilliant antiquity had given her a habit of generous promise1 and dazzled other nations into trusting her4 ,indeed1 so full were ,egyptian politics of bluster and big language1 that the ,hebrews had a nickname for ,egypt4 ,they called her ,rahab--,stormy-speech1 ,blusterer1 ,braggart4 ,it was the term also for the crocodile1 as being a monster1 so that there was a picturesqueness as well as moral aptness in the name4 ,ay1 says ,isaiah1 catching at the old name and putting to it another which describes ,egyptian helplessness and inactivity1 ,i call her ,rahab ,sit-still1 ,braggart-that-sitteth-still1 ,stormy-speech ,stay-at-home4 ,blustering and inactivity1 blustering and sitting still1 that is her character2 for ,egypt helpeth in vain and to no purpose4 ,knowing how sometimes the fate of a ,government is affected by a happy speech or epigram1 we can understand the effect of this cry upon the politicians of ,jerusalem4 ,but that he might impress it on the popular imagination and memory as well1 ,isaiah wrote his epigram on a tablet1 and put it in a book4 ,we must remind ourselves here of chap4 xx41 and remember how it tells us that ,isaiah had already some years before this endeavoured to impress the popular imagination with the folly of an ,egyptian alliance1 walking unfrocked and barefoot three years for a sign and a portent upon ,egypt and upon ,ethiopia 7see p4 #aii74 ,so that already ,isaiah had appealed from politicians to people on this ,egyptian question1 just as he appealed thirty years ago from court to market-place on the question of ,ephraim and ,damascus4#df ,it is another instance of that prophetic habit of his1 on which we remarked in expounding chap4 viii42 and we must again emphasize the habit1 for chap4 xxx4 here swings round upon it4 ,whatever be the matter committed to him1 ,isaiah is not allowed to rest till he brings it home to the popular conscience2 and however much he may be able to charge national disaster upon the folly of politicians or the obduracy of a king1 it is the people whom he holds ultimately responsible4 ,to ,isaiah a nation's politics are not arbitrary2 they are not dependent on the will of kings or the management of parties4 ,they are the natural outcome of the nation's character4 ,what the people are1 that will their politics be4 ,if you wish to reform the politics1 you must first regenerate the people2 and it is no use to inveigh against a senseless policy1 like this ,egyptian one1 unless you go farther and expose the national temper which has made it possible4 ,a people's own morals have greater influence on their destinies than their despots or legislators4 ,statesmen are what the ,state makes them4 ,no ,government will attempt a policy for which the nation behind it has not a conscience2 and for the greater number of errors committed by their rulers1 the blame must be laid on the people's own want of character or intelligence4 #df ,chap4 viii4 #a 7p4 #aai74 ,this is what ,isaiah now drives home 7xxx4 #i ff474 ,he tracks the bad politics to their source in bad religion1 the ,egyptian policy to its roots in the prevailing tempers of the people4 ,the ,egyptian policy was doubly stamped4 ,it was disobedience to the word of ,god2 it was satisfaction with falsehood4 ,the statesmen of ,judah shut their ears to ,god's spoken word2 they allowed themselves to be duped by the ,egyptian ,pretence4 ,but these1 says ,isaiah1 are precisely the characteristics of the whole ,jewish people4 ,for it is a rebellious people1 lying children1 children that will not hear the revelation of the ,,lord4 ,it was these national failings--the want of virtues which are the very substance of a nation3 truth and reverence or obedience--that had culminated in the senseless and suicidal alliance with ,egypt4 ,isaiah fastens on their falsehood first3 ,which say to the seers1 ,ye shall not see1 and to the prophets1 ,ye shall not prophesy unto us right things2 speak to us smooth things3 prophesy deceits4 ,no wonder such a character had been fascinated by ,rahab6 ,it was a natural ,nemesis1 that a people who desired from their teachers fair speech rather than true vision should be betrayed by the confidence their statesmen placed in the ,blusterer1 that blustered and sat still4 ,truth is what this people first require1 and therefore the revelation of the ,,lord will in the first instance be the revealing of the truth4 ,men who will strip pretence off the reality of things2 men who will call things by their right names1 as ,isaiah had set himself to do2 honest satirists and epigrammatists--these are the bearers of ,god's revelation4 ,for it is one of the means of ,divine salvation to call things by their right names1 and here in ,god's revelation also epigrams have their place4 ,so much for truth4 ,but reverence is truth's other self1 for reverence is simply loyalty to the supremest truth4 ,and it is against the truth that the ,jews have chiefly sinned4 ,they had shut their eyes to ,egypt's real character1 but that was a small sin beside this3 that they turned their backs on the greatest reality of all--,god ,himself4 ,get you out of the way1 they said to the prophets1 turn out of the path2 keep quiet in our presence about the ,holy ,one of ,israel4 ,isaiah's effort rises to its culmination when he seeks to restore the sense of this ,reality to his people4 ,his spirit is kindled at the words the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 and to the end of chap4 xxxi4 leaps up in a series of brilliant and sometimes scorching descriptions of the name1 the majesty and the love of ,god4 ,isaiah is not content to have used his power of revelation to unveil the political truth about ,egypt4 ,he will make ,god ,himself visible to this people4 ,passionately does he proceed to enforce upon the ,jews what ,god thinks about their own condition 7vv4 #ab-ad71 then to persuade them to rely upon ,him alone1 and wait for the working of ,his reasonable laws 7vv4 #ae-ah74 ,rising higher1 he purges with pity their eyes to see ,god's very presence1 their ears to hear ,his voice1 their wounds to feel ,his touch 7vv4 #ai-bf74 ,then he remembers the cloud of invasion on the horizon1 and bids them spell1 in its uncouth masses1 the articulate name of the ,lord 7vv4 #bg-cc74 ,and he closes with another series of figures by which ,god's wisdom1 and ,his jealousy and ,his tenderness are made very bright to them 7chap4 xxxi474 ,these brilliant prophecies may not have been given all at the same time3 each is complete in itself4 ,they do not all mention the negotiations with ,egypt1 but they are all dark with the shadow of ,assyria4 ,chap4 xxx4 vv4 #ai-bf almost seem to have been written in a time of actual siege2 but vv4 #bg-cc represent ,assyria still upon the horizon4 ,in this1 however1 these passages are fitly strung together3 that they equally strain to impress a blind and hardened people with the will1 the majesty and the love of ,god their ,saviour4 ,i4 ,,the ,,bulging ,,wall 7vv4 #ab-ad74 ,starting from their unwillingness to listen to the voice of the ,lord in their ,egyptian policy1 ,isaiah tells the people that if they refused to hear ,his word for guidance1 they must now listen to it for judgement4 ,wherefore thus saith the ,holy ,one of ,israel3 ,because ye look down on this word1 and trust in perverseness and crookedness1 and lean thereon1 therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall1 bulging out in a high wall1 whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant4 ,this iniquity1 of course1 is the embassy to ,egypt4 ,but that1 as we have seen1 is only the people's own evil character coming to a head2 and by the breaking of the wall1 we are therefore to suppose that the prophet means the collapse not only of this ,egyptian policy1 but of the whole estate and substance of the ,jewish people4 ,it will not be your enemy that will cause a breach in the nation1 but your teeming iniquity shall cause the breach--to wit1 this ,egyptian folly4 ,judah will burst her bulwarks from the inside4 ,you may build the strongest form of government round a people1 you may buttress it with foreign alliances1 but these shall simply prove occasions for the internal wickedness to break forth4 ,your supposed buttresses will prove real breaches2 and of all your social structure there will not be left as much as will make the fragments of a single home1 not a sherd big enough to carry fire from the hearth1 or to hold water from the cistern4 ,,ii4 ,,not ,,alliances1 ,,but ,,reliance 7vv4 #ae-ah74 ,at this point1 either ,isaiah was stung by the demands of the politicians for an alternative to their restless ,egyptian policy which he condemned1 or more likely he rose1 unaided by external influence1 on the prophet's native instinct to find some purely religious ground on which to base his political advice4 ,the result is one of the grandest of all his oracles4 ,for thus saith the ,lord ,jehovah1 the ,holy ,one of ,israel3 ,in returning and rest shall ye be saved2 in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength2 and ye would not4 ,but ye said1 ,no1 for upon horses will we flee2 wherefore ye shall flee3 and upon the swift will we ride2 wherefore swift shall be they that pursue you6 ,one thousand at the rebuke of one--at the rebuke of five shall ye flee3 till ye be left as a bare pole on the top of a mountain1 and as a standard on an hill4 ,and therefore will the ,,lord wait that ,he may be gracious unto you1 and therefore will ,he hold aloof that ,he may have mercy upon you1 for a ,god of judgement is the ,,lord2 blessed are all they that wait for ,him4 ,the words of this passage are their own interpretation and enforcement1 all but one2 and as this one is obscure in its ,english guise1 and the passage really swings from it1 we may devote a paragraph to its meaning4 ,a ,god of judgement is the ,,lord is an unfortunately ambiguous translation4 ,we must not take judgement here in our familiar sense of the word4 ,it is not a sudden deed of doom1 but a long process of law4 ,it means manner1 method1 design1 order1 system1 the ideas1 in short1 which we sum up under the word law4 ,just as we say of a man1 ,he is a man of judgement1 and mean thereby not that by office he is a doomster1 but that by character he is a man of discernment and prudence1 so simply does ,isaiah say here that ,jehovah is a ,god of judgement1 and mean thereby not that ,he is ,one1 whose habit is sudden and awful deeds of penalty or salvation1 but1 on the contrary1 that1 having laid down ,his lines according to righteousness and established ,his laws in wisdom1 ,he remains in ,his dealings with men consistent with these4 ,now it is a great truth that the ,all-mighty and ,all-merciful is the ,all-methodical too2 and no religion is complete in its creed or healthy in its influence1 which does not insist equally on all these4 ,it was just the want of this third article of faith which perverted the souls of the ,jews in ,isaiah's day1 which 7as we have seen under ,chapter ,i47 allowed them to make their worship so mechanical and material--for how could they have been satisfied with mere forms if they had but once conceived of ,god as having even ordinary intelligence8--and which turned their political life into such a mass of intrigue1 conceit and falsehood1 for how could they have dared to suppose that they would get their own way1 or have been so sure of their own cleverness1 if only they had had a glimpse of the perception1 that ,god1 the ,ruler of the world1 had also ,his policy regarding them8 ,they believed ,he was the ,mighty1 they believed ,he was the ,merciful1 but because they forgot that ,he was the ,wise and the ,worker by law1 their faith in ,his might too often turned into superstitious terror1 their faith in ,his mercy oscillated between the sleepy satisfaction that ,he was an indulgent ,god and the fretful impatience that ,he was an indifferent one4 ,therefore ,isaiah persisted from first to last in this3 that ,god worked by law2 that ,he had ,his plan for ,judah1 as well as these politicians2 and1 as we shall shortly find him reminding them when intoxicated with their own cleverness1 that ,he also is wise 7xxxi4 #b74 ,here by the same thought he bids them be at peace1 and upon the rushing tides of politics1 drawing them to that or the other mad venture1 to swing by this anchor3 that ,god has ,his own law and time for everything4 ,no man could bring the charge of fatalism against such a policy of quietness4 ,for it thrilled with intelligent appreciation of the ,divine method4 ,when ,isaiah said1 ,in returning and rest shall ye be saved2 in quietness and confidence shall be your strength1 he did not ask his restless countrymen to yield sullenly to an infinite force or to bow in stupidity beneath the inscrutable will of an arbitrary despot1 but to bring their conduct into harmony with a reasonable and gracious plan1 which might be read in the historical events of the time1 and was vindicated by the loftiest religious convictions4 ,isaiah preached no submission to fate1 but reverence for an all-wise ,ruler1 whose method was plain to every clear-sighted observer of the fortunes of the nations of the world1 and whose purpose could only be love and peace to ,his own people 7cf4 p4 #aaj74 ,,iii4 ,,god',s ,,table ,,in ,,the ,,midst ,,of ,,the ,,enemies 7vv4 #ai-bf74 ,this patient purpose of ,god ,isaiah now proceeds to describe in its details4 ,every line of his description has its loveliness1 and is to be separately appreciated4 ,there is perhaps no fairer prospect from our prophet's many windows4 ,it is not argument nor a programme1 but a series of rapid glimpses1 struck out by language1 which often wants logical connection1 but never fails to make us see4 ,to begin with1 one thing is sure3 the continuance of the national existence4 ,isaiah is true to his original vision--the survival of a remnant4 ,for a people in ,zion--there shall be abiding in ,jerusalem4 ,so the brief essential is flashed forth4 ,thou shalt surely weep no more2 surely ,he will be gracious unto thee at the voice of thy crying2 with ,his hearing of thee ,he will answer thee4 ,thus much of general promise had been already given4 ,now upon the vagueness of the ,lord's delay ,isaiah paints realistic details1 only1 however1 that he may make more vivid the real presence of the ,lord4 ,the siege shall surely come1 with its sorely concrete privations1 but the ,lord will be there1 equally distinct4 ,and though the ,lord give you the bread of penury and the water of tribulation--perhaps the technical name for siege rations--yet shall not thy ,teacher hide ,himself any more1 but thine eyes shall ever be seeing thy ,teacher2 and thine ears shall hear a word behind thee1 saying1 ,this is the way3 walk ye in it1 when ye turn to the right hand or when ye turn to the left4 ,real1 concrete sorrows1 these are they that make the heavenly ,teacher real6 ,it is linguistically possible1 and more in harmony with the rest of the passage1 to turn teachers1 as the ,english version has it1 into the singular1 and to render it by ,revealer4 ,the word is an active participle1 ,moreh1 from the same verb as the noun ,torah1 which is constantly translated ,law in our version1 but is1 in the ,prophets at least1 more nearly equivalent to instruction1 or to our modern term revelation 7cf4 ver4 #i74 ,looking thus to the ,one ,revealer1 and hearkening to the ,one ,voice1 the lying and rebellious children shall at last be restored to that capacity for truth and obedience the loss of which has been their ruin4 ,devoted to the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 they shall scatter their idols as loathsome 7ver4 #bb74 ,but thereupon a wonder is to happen4 ,as the besieged people1 conscious of the ,one ,great ,presence in the midst of their encompassed city1 cast their idols through the gates and over the walls1 a marvellous vision of space and light and fulness of fresh food bursts upon their starved and straitened souls 7ver4 #bc74 ,promise more sympathetic was never uttered to a besieged and famished city4 ,mark that all down the passage there is no mention of the noise or instruments of battle4 ,the prophet has not spoken of the besiegers1 who they may be1 how they may come1 nor of the fashion of their war1 but only of the effects of the siege on those within3 confinement1 scant and bitter rations4 ,and now he is almost wholly silent about the breaking up of the investing army and the trail of their slaughter4 ,no battle breaks this siege1 but a vision of openness and plenty dawns noiselessly over its famine and closeness4 ,it is not vengeance or blood that an exhausted and penitent people thirst after4 ,but as they have been caged in a fortress1 narrow1 dark and stony1 so they thirst for the sight of the sower1 and the drop of the rain on the broken1 brown earth1 and the juicy corn1 and the meadow for their cribbed cattle1 and the noise of brooks and waterfalls1 and above and about it all fulness of light4 ,and ,he shall give the rain of thy seed1 that thou shalt sow the ground withal1 and bread1 even the increase of the ground1 and it shall be juicy and fat2 thy cattle shall feed that day in a broad meadow4 ,and the oxen and the young asses that till the ground shall eat savoury provender1 winnowed with the shovel and with the fan4 ,and there shall be upon every lofty mountain and upon every lifted hill rivers1 streams of water1 in the day of the great slaughter1 when the towers fall4 ,and the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun1 and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold1 as the light of seven days1 in the day that the ,,lord bindeth up the hurt of ,his people and healeth the stroke of their wound4 ,it is one of ,isaiah's fairest visions1 and he is very much to be blamed who forces its beauty of nature into an allegory of spiritual things4 ,here literally ,god spreads ,his people a table in the midst of their enemies4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,name ,,of ,,the ,,lord 7vv4 #bg-cc74 ,but ,isaiah lays down the oaten pipe and lifts again a brazen trumpet to his lips4 ,between him and that sunny landscape of the future1 of whose pastoral details he has so sweetly sung1 roll up now the uncouth masses of the ,assyrian invasion1 not yet fully gathered1 far less broken4 ,we are back in the present again1 and the whole horizon is clouded4 ,the passage does not look like one from which comfort or edification can be derived1 but it is of extreme interest4 ,the first two verses1 for instance1 only require a little analysis to open a most instructive glimpse into the prophet's inner thoughts about the ,assyrian progress1 and show us how they work towards the expression of its full meaning4 ,behold1 the ,name of ,jehovah cometh from afar--burning ,his anger and awful the uplifting smoke2 ,his lips are full of wrath1 and ,his tongue as fire that devoureth2 and ,his breath is as an overflowing torrent--even unto the neck it reacheth--to shake the nations in a sieve of destruction1 and a bridle that leadeth astray on the jaws of the peoples4 ,the ,name of ,jehovah is the phrase the prophets use when they wish to tell us of the personal presence of ,god4 ,when we hear a name cried out1 we understand immediately that a person is there4 ,so when the prophet calls1 ,behold1 the ,name of ,jehovah1 in face of the prodigious advance of ,assyria1 we understand that he has caught some intuition of ,god's presence in that uplifting of the nations of the north at the word of the great ,king and their resistless sweep southward upon ,palestine4 ,in that movement ,god is personally present4 ,the ,divine presence ,isaiah then describes in curiously mingled metaphor1 which proves how gradually it was that he struggled to a knowledge of its purpose there4 ,first of all he describes the advance of ,assyria as a thunderstorm1 heavy clouds and darting1 devouring fire4 ,his imagination pictures a great face of wrath4 ,the thick curtains of cloud as they roll over one another suggest the heavy lips1 and the lightnings the fiery tongue4 ,then the figure passes from heaven to earth4 ,the thunderstorm has burst1 and becomes the mountain torrent1 which speedily reaches the necks of those who are caught in its bed4 ,but then the prophet's conscience suggests something more than sudden and sheer force in this invasion1 and the tossing of the torrent naturally leads him to express this new element in the figure of a sieve4 ,his thought about the ,assyrian flood thus passes from one of simple force and rush to one of judgement and being well kept in hand4 ,he sees its ultimate check at ,jerusalem1 and so his last figure of it is the figure of a bridle1 or lasso1 such as is thrown upon the jaws of a wild animal when you wish to catch and tame him4 ,this gradual progress from the sense of sheer wild force1 through that of personal wrath1 to discipline and sparing is very interesting4 ,vague and chaotic that disaster rolled up the horizon upon ,judah4 ,it cometh from afar4 ,the politicians fled from it to their refuge behind the ,egyptian ,pretence4 ,but ,isaiah bids them face it4 ,the longer they look1 the more will conscience tell them that the unavoidable wrath of ,god is in it2 no blustering ,rahab will be able to hide them from the anger of the ,face that lowers there4 ,but let them look longer still1 and the unrelieved features of destruction will change to a hand that sifts and checks1 the torrent will become a sieve1 and the disaster show itself well held in by the power of their own ,god4 ,so wildly and impersonally still do the storms of sorrow and disaster roll up the horizon on men's eyes1 and we fly in vague terror from them to our ,egyptian refuges4 ,so still does conscience tell us it is futile to flee from the anger of ,god1 and we crouch hopeless beneath the rush of imaginations of unchecked wrath1 blackening the heavens and turning every path of life to a tossing torrent4 ,may it then be granted us to have some prophet at our side to bid us face our disaster once more1 and see the discipline and judgement of the ,lord1 the tossing only of ,his careful sieve1 in the wild and cruel waves6 ,we may not be poets like ,isaiah nor able to put the processes of our faith into such splendid metaphors as he1 but faith is given us to follow the same course as his thoughts did1 and to struggle till she arrives at the consciousness of ,god in the most uncouth judgements that darken her horizon--the consciousness of ,god present not only to smite1 but to sift1 and in the end to spare4 ,of the angel who led ,israel to the land of promise1 ,god said1 ,my ,name is in him4 ,our faith is not perfect till we can1 like ,isaiah1 feel the same of the blackest angel1 the heaviest disaster1 ,god can send us1 and be able to spell it out articulately3 ,the ,,lord1 the ,,lord1 a ,god merciful and gracious1 long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth4 ,for delivery1 says ,isaiah1 shall come to the people of ,god in the crisis1 as sudden and as startling into song as the delivery from ,egypt was4 ,ye shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept1 and gladness of heart1 as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the ,,lord1 to the ,rock of ,israel4 ,after this interval of solemn gladness1 the storm and fire break out afresh1 and rage again through the passage4 ,but their direction is reversed1 and whereas they had been shown rolling up the horizon as towards ,judah1 they are now shown rolling down the horizon in pursuit of the baffled ,assyrian4 ,the music of the verses is crashing4 ,and the ,,lord shall cause the peal#dg of ,his voice to be heard1 and the lighting down of ,his arm to be seen in the fury of anger1 yea flame of devouring fire--bursting and torrent and hailstones4 ,for from the voice of the ,,lord shall the ,assyrian be scattered when ,he shall smite with the rod4 ,and every passage of the rod of fate which the ,,lord bringeth down upon him shall be with tabrets and harps1 and in battles of waving shall he be fought against4 ,the meaning is obscure1 but palpable4 ,probably the verse describes the ritual of the sacrifice to ,moloch1 to which there is no doubt the next verse alludes4 ,to sympathize with the prophet's figure1 we need of course an amount of information about the details of that ritual which we are very far from possessing4 ,but ,isaiah's meaning is evidently this4 ,the destruction of the ,assyrian host will be liker a holocaust than a battle1 like one of those fatal sacrifices to ,moloch which are directed by the solemn waving of a staff1 and accompanied by the music1 not of war1 but of festival4 ,battles of waving is a very obscure phrase1 but the word translated waving is the technical term for the waving of the victim before the sacrifice to signify its dedication to the deity2 and these battles of waving may perhaps have taken place in the fashion in which single victims were thrown from one spear to another till death ensued4#dh ,at all events1 it is evident that ,isaiah means to suggest that the ,assyrian dispersion is a religious act1 a solemn holocaust rather than one of this earth's ordinary battles1 and directed by ,jehovah ,himself from heaven4 ,this becomes clear enough in the next verse3 ,for a ,topheth hath been set in order beforehand2 yea1 for ,moloch is it arranged2 ,he hath made it deep and broad2 the pile thereof is fire and much wood2 the breath of the ,,lord1 like a torrent of brimstone1 shall kindle it4 ,so the ,assyrian power was in the end to go up in flame4 #dg ,so ,dr4 ,b4 ,davis1 quoted by ,cheyne4 #dh ,so ,bredenkamp in his recent commentary on ,isaiah4 ,we postpone remarks on ,isaiah's sense of the fierceness of the ,divine righteousness till we reach his even finer expression of it in chap4 xxxiii4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,,three ,,truths ,,about ,,god4 ,,isaiah xxxi4 7,,about #gjb ,b4,c474 ,chap4 xxxi41 which forms an appendage to chaps4 xxix4 and xxx41 can scarcely be reckoned among the more important prophecies of ,isaiah4 ,it is a repetition of the principles which the prophet has already proclaimed in connection with the faithless intrigues of ,judah for an alliance with ,egypt1 and it was published at a time when the statesmen of ,judah were further involved in these intrigues1 when events were moving faster1 and the prophet had to speak with more hurried words4 ,truths now familiar to us are expressed in less powerful language4 ,but the chapter has its own value2 it is remarkable for three very unusual descriptions of ,god1 which govern the following exposition of it4 ,they rise in climax1 enforcing three truths3--that in the government of life we must take into account ,god's wisdom2 we must be prepared to find many of ,his providences grim and savage-looking2 but we must also believe that ,he is most tender and jealous for ,his people4 ,i4 ,,yet ,,he ,,also ,,is ,,wise 7vv4 #a-c74 ,we must suppose the negotiations with ,egypt to have taken for the moment a favourable turn1 and the statesmen who advocated them to be congratulating themselves upon some consequent addition to the fighting strength of ,judah4 ,they could point to many chariots and a strong body of cavalry in proof of their own wisdom and refutation of the prophet's maxim1 ,in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength2 in returning and rest shall ye be saved4 ,isaiah simply answers their self-congratulation with the utterance of a new ,woe1 and it is in this that the first of the three extraordinary descriptions of ,god is placed4 ,woe unto them that go down to ,egypt for help2 upon horses do they stay1 and trust in chariots because they are many1 and in horsemen because they are very strong3 but they look not unto the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 and ,jehovah they do not seek4 ,yet ,he also is wise4 ,you have been clever and successful1 but have you forgotten that ,god also is wise1 that ,he too has ,his policy1 and acts reasonably and consistently8 ,you think you have been making history2 but ,god also works in history1 and surely1 to put it on the lowest ground1 with as much cleverness and persistence as you do4 ,yet ,he also is wise1 and will bring evil1 and will not call back ,his words1 but will arise against the house of the evil-doers1 and against the help of them that work iniquity4 ,this satire was the shaft best fitted to pierce the folly of the rulers of ,judah4 ,wisdom1 a reasonable plan for their aims and prudence in carrying it out1 was the last thing they thought of associating with ,god1 whom they relegated to what they called their religion--their temples1 worship and poetry4 ,when their emotions were stirred by solemn services1 or under great disaster1 or in the hour of death1 they remembered ,god and it seemed natural to them that in these great exceptions of life ,he should interfere2 but in their politics and their trade1 in the common course and conduct of life1 they ignored ,him and put their trust in their own wisdom4 ,they limited ,god to the ceremonies and exceptional occasions of life1 when they looked for ,his glory or miraculous assistance1 but they never thought that in their ordinary ways ,he had any interest or design4 ,the forgetfulness1 against which ,isaiah directs this shaft of satire1 is the besetting sin of very religious people1 of very successful people1 and of very clever people4 ,it is the temptation of an ordinary ,christian1 church-going people1 like ourselves1 with a religion so full of marvellous mercies1 and so blessed with regular opportunities of worship1 to think of ,god only in connection with these1 and practically to ignore that along the far greater stretches of life ,he has any interest or purpose regarding us4 ,formally-religious people treat ,god as if ,he were simply a constitutional sovereign1 to step in at emergencies1 and for the rest to play a nominal and ceremonial part in the conduct of their lives4 ,ignoring the ,divine wisdom and ceaseless providence of ,god1 and couching their hearts upon easy views of ,his benevolence1 they have no other thought of ,him1 than as a philanthropic magician1 whose power is reserved to extricate men when they have got past helping themselves4 ,from the earliest times that way of regarding ,god has been prevalent1 and religious teachers have never failed to stigmatize it with the hardest name for folly4 ,fools1 says the ,psalmist1 are afflicted when they draw near unto the gates of death2 then1 only then1 do they cry unto the ,lord in their trouble4 ,thou fool6 says ,christ of the man who kept ,god out of the account of his life4 ,god is not mocked1 although we ignore half ,his being and confine our religion to such facile views of ,his nature4 ,with this sarcasm1 ,isaiah reminds us that it is not a ,fool who is on the throne of the universe2 yet is the ,being whom the imaginations of some men place there any better8 ,o wise men1 ,god also is wise4 ,not by fits and starts of a benevolence similar to that of our own foolish and inconsistent hearts does ,he work4 ,consistency1 reason and law are the methods of ,his action2 and they apply closely1 irretrievably1 to all of our life4 ,hath ,he promised evil8 ,then evil will proceed4 ,let us believe that ,god keeps ,his word2 that ,he is thoroughly attentive to all we do2 that ,his will concerns the whole of our life4 ,but the temptation to refuse to ,god even ordinary wisdom is also the temptation of very successful and very clever people1 such as these ,jewish politicians fancied themselves to be1 or such as the ,rich ,fool in the parable4 ,they have overcome all they have matched themselves against1 and feel as if they were to be masters of their own future4 ,now the ,bible and the testimony of men invariably declare that ,god has one way of meeting such fools--the way ,isaiah suggests here4 ,god meets them with their own weapons2 ,he outmatches them in their own fashion4 ,in the eighteenth ,psalm it is written1 ,with the pure ,thou wilt show ,thyself pure1 and with the perverse ,thou wilt show ,thyself froward4 ,the ,rich ,fool congratulates himself that his soul is his own2 says ,god1 ,this night thy soul shall be required of thee4 ,the ,jewish politicians pride themselves on their wisdom2 ,yet ,god also is wise1 says ,isaiah significantly4 ,after ,moscow ,napoleon is reported to have exclaimed1 ,the ,almighty is too strong for me4 ,but perhaps the most striking analogy to this satire of ,isaiah is to be found in the ,confessions of that ,jew1 from whose living sepulchre we are so often startled with weird echoes of the laughter of the ancient prophets of his race4 ,when ,heine1 ,germany's greatest satirist1 lay upon a bed to which his evil living had brought him before his time1 and the pride of art1 which had been1 as he says1 his god1 was at last crushed1 he tells us what it was that crushed him4 ,they were singing his songs in every street of his native land1 and his fame had gone out through the world1 while he lay an exile and paralysed upon his mattress-grave4 ,alas6 he cries1 the irony of ,heaven weighs heavily upon me4 ,the great ,author of the universe1 the celestial ,aristophanes1 wished to show me1 the petty1 earthly1 ,german ,aristophanes1 how my most trenchant satires are only clumsy patchwork compared with ,his1 and how immeasurably ,he excels me in humour and colossal wit4 ,that is just a soul writing in its own heart's blood this terrible warning of ,isaiah3 ,yet ,god also is wise4 ,yea1 the ,egyptians are men1 and not ,god1 and their horses flesh1 and not spirit2 and when ,jehovah shall stretch out ,his hand1 both he that helpeth shall stumble1 and he that is holpen shall fall1 and they all shall perish together4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,lion ,,and ,,his ,,prey 7ver4 #d74 ,but notwithstanding what he has said about ,god destroying men who trust in their own cleverness1 ,isaiah goes on to assert that ,god is always ready to save what is worth saving4 ,the people1 the city1 ,his own city--,god will save that4 ,to express ,god's persistent grace towards ,jerusalem1 ,isaiah uses two figures borrowed from the beasts4 ,both of them are truly ,homeric1 and fire the imagination at once2 but the first is not one we should have expected to find as a figure of the saving grace of ,god4 ,yet ,isaiah knows it is not enough for men to remember how wise ,god always is4 ,they need also to be reminded how grim and cruel ,he must sometimes appear1 even in ,his saving providences4 ,for thus saith ,jehovah unto me3 ,like as when the lion growleth1 and the young lion over his prey1 if a mob of shepherds be called forth against him1 from their voice he will not shrink in dismay1 nor for their noise abase himself2 so shall ,jehovah of hosts come down to fight for ,mount ,zion and the hill thereof4 ,a lion with a lamb in his claws1 growling over it1 while a crowd of shepherds come up against him2 afraid to go near enough to kill him1 they try to frighten him away by shouting at him4 ,but he holds his prey unshrinking4 ,it is a figure that startles at first4 ,to liken ,god with a saving hold upon ,his own to a wild lion with his claws in the prey6 ,but horror plays the part of a good emphasis2 while if we look into the figure1 we shall feel our horror change to appreciation4 ,there is something majestic in that picture of the lion with the shouting shepherds1 too afraid to strike him4 ,he will not be dismayed at their voice1 nor abase himself for the noise of them4 ,is it1 after all1 an unworthy figure of the ,divine ,claimant for this city1 who kept unceasing hold upon her after ,his own manner1 mysterious and lionlike to men1 undisturbed by the screams1 formulas1 and prayers of her mob of politicians and treaty-mongers8 ,for these are the shepherds ,isaiah means--sham shepherds1 the shrieking crew of politicians1 with their treaties and military display4 ,god will save and carry ,jerusalem ,his own way1 paying no heed to such4 ,he will not be dismayed at their voice1 nor abase ,himself for the noise of them4 ,there is more than the unyielding persistency of ,divine grace taught here4 ,there is that to begin with4 ,god will never let go what ,he has made ,his own3 the souls ,he has redeemed from sin1 the societies ,he has redeemed from barbarism1 the characters ,he has hold of1 the lives ,he has laid ,his hand upon4 ,persistency of saving grace--let us learn that confidently in the parable4 ,but that is only half of what it is meant to teach4 ,look at the shepherds3 shepherds shouting round a lion2 why does ,isaiah put it that way1 and not as ,david did--lions growling round a brave shepherd1 with the lamb in his arms8 ,because it so appeared then in the life ,isaiah was picturing1 because it often looks the same in real life still4 ,these politicians--they seemed1 they played the part of1 shepherds2 and ,jehovah1 who persistently frustrated their plans for the salvation of the ,state--,he looked the lion1 delivering ,jerusalem to destruction4 ,and very often to men does this arrangement of the parts repeat itself2 and while human friends are anxious and energetic about them1 ,god ,himself appears in providences more lionlike than shepherdly4 ,he grasps with the savage paw of death some one as dear to us as that city was to ,isaiah4 ,he rends our body or soul or estate4 ,and friends and our own thoughts gather round the cruel bereavement or disaster with remonstrance and complaint4 ,our hearts cry out1 doing1 like shepherds1 their best to scare by prayer and cries the foe they are too weak to kill4 ,we all know the scene1 and how shabby and mean that mob of human remonstrances looks in face of the great ,foe1 majestic though inarticulate1 that with sullen persistence carries off its prey4 ,all we can say in such times is that if it is ,god who is the lion1 then it is for the best4 ,for though ,he slay me1 yet will ,i trust ,him2 and1 after all1 it is safer to rely on the mercies of ,god1 lionlike though they be1 than on the weak benevolences and officious pities of the best of human advisers4 ,thy will be done--let perfect reverence teach us to feel that1 even when providence seems as savage as men that day thought ,god's will towards ,jerusalem4 ,in addition then to remembering1 when men seem by their cleverness and success to rule life1 that ,god is wiser and ,his plans more powerful than theirs1 we are not to forget1 when men seem more anxious and merciful than ,his dark providence1 that for all their argument and action ,his will shall not alter4 ,but now we are to hear that this will1 so hard and mysterious1 is as merciful and tender as a mother's4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,mother-,,bird ,,and ,,her ,,nest 7ver4 #e74 ,as birds hovering1 so will ,jehovah of hosts cover ,jerusalem1 ,he will cover and deliver it3 ,he will pass over and preserve it4 ,at last we are through dark providence1 to the very heart of the ,almighty4 ,the meaning is familiar from its natural simplicity and frequent use in ,scripture4 ,two features of it our version has not reproduced4 ,the word birds means the smaller kind of feathered creatures1 and the word hovering is feminine in the original3 ,as little mother-birds hovering1 so will ,jehovah of hosts protect ,jerusalem4 ,we have been watching in spring the hedge where we know is a nest4 ,suddenly the mother-bird1 who has been sitting on a branch close by1 flutters off her perch1 passes backwards and forwards1 with flapping wings that droop nervously towards the nest over her young4 ,a hawk is in the sky1 and till he disappears she will hover--the incarnation of motherly anxiety4 ,this is ,isaiah's figure4 ,his native city1 on which he poured so much of his heart in lyrics and parables1 was again in danger4 ,sennacherib was descending upon her2 and the pity of ,isaiah's own heart for her1 evil though she was1 suggested to him a motherhood of pity in the breast of ,god4 ,the suggestion ,god ,himself approved4 ,centuries after1 when ,he assumed our flesh and spoke our language1 when ,he put ,his love into parables lowly and familiar to our affections1 there were none of them more beautiful than that which ,he uttered of this same city1 weeping as ,he spake3 ,o ,jerusalem1 ,jerusalem1 how often would ,i have gathered thy children together1 as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings1 and ye would not6 ,with such fountains in ,scripture1 we need not1 as some have done1 exalt the ,virgin1 or virtually make a fourth person in the ,godhead1 and that a woman1 in order to satisfy those natural longings of the heart which the widespread worship of the mother of ,jesus tells us are so peremptory4 ,for all fulness dwelleth in ,god ,himself4 ,not only may we rejoice in that pity and wise provision for our wants1 in that pardon and generosity1 which we associate with the name of father1 but also in the wakefulness1 the patience1 the love1 lovelier with fear1 which make a mother's heart so dear and indispensable4 ,we cannot tell along what wakened nerve the grace of ,god may reach our hearts2 but ,scripture has a medicine for every pain4 ,and if any feel their weakness as little children feel it1 let them know that the ,spirit of ,god broods over them1 as a mother over her babe2 and if any are in pain or anxiety1 and there is no human heart to suffer with them1 let them know that as closely as a mother may come to suffer with her child1 and as sensitive as she is to its danger1 so sensitive is ,god ,almighty to theirs1 and that ,he gives them proof of their preciousness to ,him by suffering with them4 99 99 99 99 99 ,how these three descriptions meet the three failings of our faith6 ,we forget that ,god is ceaselessly at work in wisdom in our lives4 ,we forget that ,god must sometimes1 even when ,he is saving us1 seem lionlike and cruel4 ,we forget that the heart of the ,eternal is most wonderfully kind4 ,having thus made vivid the presence of their ,lord to the purged eyes of ,his people1 patient1 powerful in order1 wise in counsel1 persistent in grace1 and1 last of all1 very tender1 ,isaiah concludes with a cry to the people to turn to this ,lord1 from whom they have so deeply revolted4 ,let them cast away their idols1 and there shall be no fear of the result of the ,assyrian invasion4 ,the ,assyrian shall fall1 not by the sword of man1 but the immediate stroke of ,god4 ,and his rock shall pass away by reason of terror1 and his princes shall be dismayed at the ensign1 saith the ,lord1 whose fire is in ,zion1 and ,his furnace in ,jerusalem4 ,and so ,isaiah closes this series of prophecies on the keynote with which it opened in the first verse of chap4 xxix43 that ,jerusalem is ,ariel--the hearth and altar1 the dwelling-place and sanctuary1 of ,god4 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,a ,,man3 ,,character ,,and ,,the ,,capacity ,,to ,,discriminate ,,character4 ,,isaiah xxxii4 #a-h 7,,about #gjb ,b4,c4874 ,the ,assyrians being thus disposed of1 ,isaiah turns to a prospect1 on which we have scarcely heard him speak these twenty years1 since ,assyria appeared on the frontier of ,judah--the religious future and social progress of his own people4 ,this he paints in a small prophecy of eight verses1 the first eight of chap4 xxxii4--verses #i-bj of that chapter apparently springing from somewhat different conditions4 ,the first eight verses of chap4 xxxii4 belong to a class of prophecies which we may call ,isaiah's escapes4 ,like ,st4 ,paul1 ,isaiah1 when he has finished some exposition of ,god's dealings with ,his people or argument with the sinners among them1 bursts upon an unencumbered vision of the future1 and with roused conscience1 and voice resonant from long debate1 takes his loftiest flights of eloquence4 ,in ,isaiah's book we have several of these visions1 and each bears a character of its own according to the sort of sinners from whom the prophet shook himself loose to describe it and the kind of indignation that filled his heart at the time4 ,we have already seen1 how in some of ,isaiah's visions the ,messiah has the chief place1 while from others ,he is altogether absent4 ,but here we come upon another inconsistency4 ,sometimes1 as in chap4 xi41 ,isaiah is content with nothing but a new dispensation--the entire transformation of nature1 when there shall be no more desert or storm1 but to the wild animals docility shall come1 and among men an end to sorrow1 fraud and war4 ,but again he limits his prophetic soul and promises less4 ,as if1 overcome by the spectacle of the more clamant needs and horrible vices of society1 he had said1 we must first get rid of these1 we must supply those1 before we can begin to dream of heaven4 ,such is ,isaiah's feeling here4 ,this prophecy is not a vision of society glorified1 but of society established and reformed1 with its foundation firmly settled 7ver4 #a71 with its fountain forces in full operation 7ver4 #b71 and with an absolute check laid upon its worst habits1 as1 for instance1 the moral grossness1 lying and pretence which the prophet has been denouncing for several chapters 7vv4 #c-h74 ,this moderation of the prophecy brings it within the range of practical morals2 while the humanity of it1 its freedom from ,jewish or ,oriental peculiarities1 renders it thoroughly modern4 ,if every unfulfilled prophecy ought to be an accusing conscience in the breast of the ,christian ,church1 there will be none more clamant and practical than this one4 ,its demands are essential to the social interests of to-day4 ,in ver4 #a we have the presupposition of the whole prophecy3 ,behold1 in righteousness shall a king reign1 and princes--according to justice shall they rule4 ,a just government is always the basis of ,isaiah's vision of the future4 ,here he defines it with greater abstractness than he has been wont to do4 ,it is remarkable1 that a writer1 whose pen has already described the figure of the coming ,king so concretely and with so much detail1 should here content himself with a general promise of a righteous government1 regarding1 as he seems to do1 rather the office of kinghood1 than any single eminent occupier of it4 ,that the prophet of ,immanuel1 and still more the prophet of the ,prince-of-the-,four-,names 7chap4 ix4 #g71 and of the ,son of ,jesse 7chap4 xi4 #a71 should be able to paint the ideal future1 and speak of the just government that was to prevail in it1 without at the same time referring to his previous very explicit promises of a royal ,individual1 is a fact which we cannot overlook in support of the opinion we have expressed on pp4 #ahj and #aha concerning the object of ,isaiah's ,messianic hopes4 ,nor is the vagueness of the first verse corrected by the terms of the second3 ,and a man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind1 etc4 ,we have already spoken of this verse as an ethical advance upon ,isaiah's previous picture of the ,messiah 7see p4 #ahb74 ,but while1 of course1 the ,messiah was to ,isaiah the ideal of human character1 and therefore shared whatsoever features he might foresee in its perfect development1 it is evident that in this verse ,isaiah is not thinking of the ,messiah alone or particularly4 ,when he says with such simplicity a man1 he means any man1 he means the ideal for every man4 ,having in ver4 #a laid down the foundation for social life1 he tells us in ver4 #b what the shelter and fountain force of society are to be3 not science nor material wealth1 but personal influence1 the strength and freshness of the human personality4 ,a man shall be as an hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tempest1 as rivers of water in a dry place1 as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land4 ,after just government 7ver4 #a7 great characters are the prophet's first demand 7ver4 #b71 and then 7vv4 #c-h7 he will ask for the capacity to discriminate character4 ,character and the capacity to discriminate character indeed summarizes this prophecy4 ,i4 ,a ,,man 7ver4 #b74 ,isaiah has described personal influence on so grand a scale that it is not surprising that the ,church has leapt to his words as a direct prophecy of ,jesus ,christ4 ,they are indeed a description of ,him1 out of whose shadow advancing time has not been able to carry the children of men1 who has been the shelter and fertility of every generation since ,he was lifted up1 and to whom the affections of individual hearts never rise higher than when they sing-- ,rock of ages1 cleft for me1 ,let me hide myself in ,thee4 ,such a rock was ,christ indeed2 but1 in accordance with what we have said above1 the prophet here has no individual specially in his view1 but is rather laying down a general description of the influence of individual character1 of which ,christ ,jesus was the highest instance4 ,taken in this sense1 his famous words present us1 first1 with a philosophy of history1 at the heart of which there is1 secondly1 a great gospel1 and in the application of which there is1 thirdly1 a great ideal and duty for ourselves4 #a4 ,isaiah gives us in this verse a ,,philosophy ,,of ,,history4 ,great men are not the whole of life1 but they are the condition of all the rest2 if it were not for the big men1 the little ones could scarcely live4 ,the first requisites of religion and civilisation are outstanding characters4 ,in the ,east the following phenomenon is often observed4 ,where the desert touches a river-valley or oasis1 the sand is in a continual state of drift from the wind1 and it is this drift which is the real cause of the barrenness of such portions of the desert at least as abut upon the fertile land4 ,for under the rain1 or by infiltration of the river1 plants often spring up through the sand1 and there is sometimes promise of considerable fertility4 ,it never lasts4 ,down comes the periodic drift1 and life is stunted or choked out4 ,but set down a rock on the sand1 and see the difference its presence makes4 ,after a few showers1 to the leeward side of this some blades will spring up2 if you have patience1 you will see in time a garden4 ,how has the boulder produced this8 ,simply by arresting the drift4 ,now that is exactly how great men benefit human life4 ,a great man serves his generation1 serves the whole race1 by arresting the drift4 ,deadly forces1 blind and fatal as the desert wind1 sweep down human history4 ,in the beginning it was the dread of ,nature1 the cold blast which blows from every quarter on the barbarian1 and might have stunted men to animals4 ,but into some soul ,god breathed a great breath of freedom1 and the man defied ,nature4 ,nature has had her revenge by burying the rebel in oblivion4 ,on the distant horizon of history we can see1 merely in some old legend1 the evidence of his audacity4 ,but the drift was arrested2 behind the event men took shelter1 in the shelter grew free1 and learned to think out what the first great resister felt4 ,when history had left this rock behind1 and the drift had again space to grow1 the same thing happened2 and the hero this time was ,abraham4 ,he laid his back to the practice of his forefathers1 and lifting his brow to heaven1 was the first to worship the ,one ,unseen ,god4 ,abraham believed2 and in the shadow of his faith1 and sheltered by his example1 his descendants learned to believe too4 ,to-day from within the three great spiritual religions men look back to him as the father of the faithful4 ,when ,isaiah1 while all his countrymen were rushing down the mad1 steep ways of politics1 carried off by the only powers that were as yet known in these ways1 fear of death and greed to be on the side of the strongest--when ,isaiah stood still amid that panic rush1 and uttered the memorable words1 ,in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength2 in returning and rest shall ye be saved1 he stopped one of the most dangerous drifts in history1 and created in its despite a shelter for those spiritual graces1 which have always been the beauty of the ,state1 and are now coming to be recognized as its strength4 ,when1 in the early critical days of the ,church1 that dark drift of ,jewish custom1 which had overflown the barriers set to the old dispensation1 threatened to spread its barrenness upon the fields of the ,gentile world1 already white to the harvest of ,christ1 and ,peter and ,barnabas and all the ,apostles were carried away by it1 what was it that saved ,christianity8 ,under ,god1 it was this3 that ,paul got up and1 as he tells us1 withstood ,peter to the face4 ,and1 again1 when the powers of the ,roman ,church and the ,roman ,empire1 checked for a little by the efforts which began the ,reformation1 gathered themselves together and rose in one awful front of emperor1 cardinals1 and princes at the ,diet of ,worms1 what was it that stood fast against that drift of centuries1 and proved the rock1 under whose shelter men dared to read ,god's pure word again1 and preach ,his ,gospel8 ,it was the word of a lonely monk3 ,here stand ,i4 ,i cannot otherwise4 ,so help me1 ,god4 ,so that ,isaiah is right4 ,a single man has been as an hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the tempest4 ,history is swept by drifts3 superstition1 error1 poisonous custom1 dust-laden controversy4 ,what has saved humanity has been the upraising of some great man to resist those drifts1 to set his will1 strong through faith1 against the prevailing tendency1 and be the shelter of the weaker1 but not less desirous1 souls of his brethren4 ,the history of what man has accomplished in the world is at bottom the history of the great men who have worked there4 ,under ,god1 personal human power is the highest force1 and ,god has ever used it as ,his chief instrument4 #b4 ,but in this philosophy of history there is a ,,gospel4 ,isaiah's words are not only man's ideal2 they are ,god's promise1 and that promise has been fulfilled in ,jesus ,christ4 ,jesus ,christ is the most conspicuous example--none others are near ,him--of this personal influence in which ,isaiah places all the shelter and revival of society4 ,god has set ,his seal to the truth1 that the greatest power in shaping human destiny is man himself1 by becoming one with man1 by using a human soul to be the ,saviour of the race4 ,a man1 says ,isaiah1 shall be as an hiding-place from the wind1 as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land2 and the ,rock of ages was a ,man4 ,the world indeed knew that personal character could go higher than all else in the world1 but they never knew how high till they saw ,jesus ,christ1 or how often till they numbered ,his followers4 ,this figure of a rock1 a rock resisting drift1 gives us some idea1 not only of the commanding influence of ,christ's person1 but of that special office from which all the glory of ,his person and of ,his name arises3 that ,he saves ,his people from their sins4 ,for what is sin8 ,sin is simply the longest1 heaviest drift in human history4 ,it arose in the beginning1 and has carried everything before it since4 ,the oldest custom of the race1 it is the most powerful habit of the individual4 ,men have reared against it government1 education1 philosophy1 system after system of religion4 ,but sin overwhelmed them all4 ,only ,christ resisted1 and ,his resistance saves the world4 ,alone among human lives presented to our view1 that of ,christ is sinless4 ,what is so prevalent in human nature that we cannot think of a human individual without it never stained ,christ's life4 ,sin was about ,him2 it was not that ,he belonged to another sphere of things which lay above it4 ,sin was about ,him4 ,he rose from its midst with the same frailty as other men1 encompassed by the same temptations2 but where they rose to fall1 ,he rose to stand1 and standing1 became the world's ,saviour4 ,the great tradition was broken2 the drift was arrested4 ,sin never could be the same again after the sinless manhood of ,christ4 ,the old world's sins and cruel customs were shut out from the world that came after4 ,some of them ceased so absolutely as scarcely to be afterwards named2 and the rest were so curbed that no civilised society suffered them to pass from its constraint1 and no public conscience tolerated them as natural or necessary evils4 ,what the surface of the world's life bears so deeply1 that does every individual1 who puts his trust in ,jesus1 feel to the core4 ,of ,jesus the believer can truly say that life on this side of ,him is very different from life on that4 ,temptations keep far away from the heart that keeps near to ,christ4 ,under the shadow of our ,rock1 for us the evil of the present loses all its suggestiveness1 the evil of the past its awful surge of habit and guilty fear4 #c4 ,but there is not only a philosophy of history and a gospel in this promise of a man4 ,there is a great ,,duty and ,,ideal for every one4 ,if this prophecy distinctly reaches forward to ,jesus ,christ as its only perfect fulfilment1 the vagueness of its expression permits of its application to all1 and through ,him its fulfilment by all becomes a possibility4 ,now each of us may be a rock1 a shelter and a source of fertility to the life around him in three modes of constant influence4 ,we can be like ,christ1 the ,rock1 in shutting out from our neighbours the knowledge and infection of sin1 in keeping our conversation so unsuggestive and unprovocative of evil1 that1 though sin drift upon us1 it shall never drift through us4 ,and we may be like ,christ1 the ,rock1 in shutting out blame from other men2 in sheltering them from the east wind of pitiless prejudice1 quarrel or controversy2 in stopping the unclean and bitter drifts of scandal and gossip4 ,how many lives have lost their fertility for the want of a little silence and a little shadow6 ,some righteous people have a terribly north-eastern exposure2 children do not play about their doors1 nor the prodigal stop there4 ,and again1 as there are a number of men and women who fall in struggling for virtue simply because they never see it successful in others1 and the spectacle of one pure1 heroic character would be their salvation1 here is another way in which each servant of ,god may be a rock4 ,of the late ,clerk ,maxwell it was said1 ,he made faith in goodness easy to other men4 ,a man shall be as streams of water in a desert place4 ,,ii4 ,,capacity ,,to ,,distinguish ,,character 7vv4 #c-h74 ,but after the coming of this ideal1 it is not paradise that is regained4 ,paradise is farther off4 ,we must have truth to begin with3 truth and the capacity to discriminate character4 ,the sternness with which ,isaiah thus postpones his earlier vision shows us how sore his heart was about the lying temper of his people4 ,we have heard him deploring the fascination of their false minds by the ,egyptian ,pretence4 ,their falseness1 however1 had not only shown itself in their foreign politics1 but in their treatment of one another1 in their social fashions1 judgements and worships4 ,in society there prevailed a want of moral insight and of moral courage4 ,at home also the ,jews had failed to call things by their right names 7cf4 p4 #bbf74 ,therefore next in their future ,isaiah desires the cure of moral blindness1 haste and cowardice 7vv4 #c1 #d71 with the explosion of all social lies 7ver4 #e74 ,men shall stand out for what they are1 whether they be bad--for the bad shall not be wanting 7vv4 #f1 #g7--or good 7ver4 #h74 ,on righteous government 7ver4 #a7 and influence of strong men 7ver4 #b7 must follow social truthfulness 7vv4 #c-h74 ,such is the line of the prophet's demands4 ,the details of vv4 #c-h are exceedingly interesting4 ,and not closed shall be the eyes of them that see1 and the ears of them that hear shall be pricked up4 ,the context makes it clear that this is spoken1 not of intellectual1 but of moral1 insight and alertness4 ,and the heart of the hasty shall learn how to know1 and the tongue of the stammerer be quick 7the verb is the same as the hasty of the previous clause7 to speak plain things4 ,startlingly plain things--for the word literally means blinding-white1 and is so used of the sun--startlingly plain1 like that scorching epigram upon ,egypt4 ,the morally rash and the morally timid are equal fathers of lies4 ,in illustration ,isaiah takes the conventional abuse of certain moral terms1 exposes it and declares it shall cease3 ,the vile person shall no more be called liberal1 nor the churl said to be bountiful4 ,liberal and bountiful were conventional names4 ,the ,hebrew word for liberal originally meant exactly that--open-hearted1 generous1 magnanimous4 ,in the ,east it is the character which above all they call princely4 ,so like our words noble and nobility1 it became a term of rank1 lord or prince1 and was often applied to men who were not at all great-hearted1 but the very opposite--even to the vile person4 ,vile person is literally the faded or the exhausted1 whether mentally or morally--the last kind of character that could be princely4 ,the other conventional term used by ,isaiah refers to wealth rather than rank4 ,the ,hebrew for bountiful literally means abundant1 a man blessed with plenty1 and is used in the ,old ,testament both for the rich and the fortunate4 ,its nearest ,english equivalent is perhaps the successful man4 ,to this ,isaiah fitly opposes a name1 wrongly rendered in our version churl1 but corrected in the margin to crafty--the fraudulent1 the knave4 ,when moral discrimination comes1 says ,isaiah1 men will not apply the term princely to worn-out characters1 nor grant them the social respect implied by the term4 ,they will not call the fraudulent the fortunate1 nor canonise him as successful1 who has gotten his wealth by underhand means4 ,the worthless character shall no more be called princely1 nor the knave hailed as the successful4 ,but men's characters shall stand out true in their actions1 and by their fruits ye shall know them4 ,in those magic days the heart shall come to the lips1 and its effects be unmistakeable4 ,for the worthless person1 worthlessness shall he speak--what else can he8--and his heart shall do iniquity1 to practise profaneness and to utter against the ,,lord rank error1 to make empty the soul of the hungry1 and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail4 ,the tools1 too1 of the knave 7a play upon words here--,keli ,kelav1 the knave his knives7 are evil2 he6 low tricks he deviseth to destroy the poor with words of falsehood1 even when the poor speaks justice 7that is1 has justice as well as poverty to plead for him74 ,but the princely things deviseth1 and he upon princely things shall stand--not upon conventional titles or rank1 or the respect of insincere hearts1 but upon actual deeds of generosity and sacrifice4 ,after great characters1 then1 what society needs is capacity to discern character1 and the chief obstacle in the way of this discernment is the substitution of a conventional morality for a true morality1 and of some distinctions of man's making for the eternal difference which ,god has set between right and wrong4 ,human progress consists1 according to ,isaiah1 of getting rid of these conventions2 and in this history bears him out4 ,the abolition of slavery1 the recognition of the essential nobility of labour1 the abolition of infanticide1 the emancipation of woman--all these are due to the release of men's minds from purely conventional notions1 and the courageous application in their place of the fundamental laws of righteousness and love4 ,if progress is still to continue1 it must be by the same method4 ,in many directions it is still a false conventionalism1--sometimes the relic of barbarism1 sometimes the fruit of civilisation1--that blocks the way4 ,the savage notions which obstruct the enforcement of masculine purity have to be exposed4 ,nor shall we ever get true commercial prosperity1 or the sense of security which is indispensable to that1 till men begin to cease calling transactions all right merely because they are the custom of the trade and the means to which its members look for profits4 ,but1 above all1 as ,isaiah tells us1 we need to look to our use of language4 ,it is one of the standing necessities of pure science to revise the terminology1 to reserve for each object a special name1 and see that all men understand the same object by the same name4 ,otherwise confusion comes in1 and science is impossible4 ,the necessity1 though not so faithfully recognized1 is as imperative in morals4 ,if we consider the disgraceful mistakes in popular morals which have been produced by the transference and degradation of names1 we shall feel it to be a religious duty to preserve for these their proper meaning4 ,in the interests of morality1 we must not be careless in our use of moral terms4 ,as ,socrates says in the ,phdo3 ,to use words wrongly and indefinitely is not merely an error in itself2 it also creates evil in the soul4#di ,what noxious misconceptions1 what mistaken ideals of life1 are due to the abuse of these four words alone3 noble1 gentleman1 honour and ,christian6 ,by applying these1 in flattery or deceit1 to persons unworthy of them1 men have not only deprived them of the virtue which originally the mere utterance of them was enough to instil into the heart1 but have sent forth to the world under their attractiveness second-rate types of character and ideals4 ,the word gentleman6 ,how the heart sickens as it thinks what a number of people have been satisfied to aim at a shoddy and superficial life because it was labelled with this gracious name4 ,conventionalism has deprived the ,english language of some of its most powerful sermons by devoting terms of singular moral expressiveness to do duty as mere labels upon characters that are dead1 or on ranks and offices1 for the designation of which mere cyphers might have sufficed4 #di ,cf4 further with this passage ,f4 ,j4 ,church1 ,trial and ,death of ,socrates1 ,introd4 xli4 ff4 ,we must not forget1 however1 ,isaiah's chief means for the abolition of this conventionalism and the substitution of a true moral vision and terminology4 ,these results are to follow from the presence of the great character1 ,a ,man1 whom he has already lifted up4 ,conventionalism is another of the drifts which that ,rock has to arrest4 ,setting ourselves to revise our dictionaries or to restore to our words their original meanings out of our memories is never enough4 ,the rising of a conspicuous character alone can dissipate the moral haze2 the sense of his influence will alone fill emptied forms with meaning4 ,so ,christ ,jesus judged and judges the world by ,his simple presence2 men fall to ,his right hand and to ,his left4 ,he calls things by their right names1 and restores to each term of religion and morals its original ideal1 which the vulgar use of the world had worn away4#ej #ej ,cf4 with the fifth and sixth verses of chap4 xxxii4 the forcible passage in the introduction to ,carlyle's ,cromwell's ,letters1 beginning1 ,sure enough1 in the ,heroic ,century1 as in the ,unheroic1 knaves and cowards 444 were not wanting4 ,but the question always remains1 ,did they lie chained8 etc4 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,,isaiah ,,to ,,women4 ,,isaiah xxxii4 #i-bj 7,,date ,,uncertain74 ,the date of this prophecy1 which has been appended to those spoken by ,isaiah during the ,egyptian intrigues 7#gjd-gjb71 is not certain4 ,it is addressed to women1 and there is no reason why the prophet1 when he was upbraiding the men of ,judah for their false optimism1 should not also have sought to awaken the conscience of their wives and daughters on what is the besetting sin rather of women than of men4 ,the chief evidence for dissociating the prophecy from its immediate predecessors is that it predicts1 or apparently predicts 7vv4 #ac-ad71 the ruin of ,jerusalem1 whereas in these years ,isaiah was careful to exempt the ,holy ,city from the fate which he saw falling on the rest of the land4 ,but otherwise the argument of the prophecy is almost exactly that of chaps4 xxix4-xxx4 ,by using the same words when he blames the women for ease and carelessness in vv4 #i-aa1 as he does when he promises confidence and quiet resting-places in vv4 #ag1 #ah1 ,isaiah makes clear that his purpose is to contrast the false optimism of society during the postponement of the ,assyrian invasion with that confidence and stability upon righteousness which the ,spirit of ,god can alone create4 ,the prophecy1 too1 has the usual three stages3 sin in the present1 judgement in the immediate future1 and a state of blessedness in the latter days4 ,the near date at which judgement is threatened--days beyond a year--ought to be compared with chap4 xxix4 #a3 ,add ye a year to a year2 let the feasts come round4 ,the new points are--that it is the women who are threatened1 that ,jerusalem itself is pictured in ruin1 and that the pouring out of the ,spirit is promised as the cause of the blessed future4 ,i4 ,,the ,,charge ,,to ,,the ,,women 7vv4 #i-ab7 is especially interesting1 not merely for its own terms1 but because it is only part of a treatment of women which runs through the whole of ,scripture4 ,isaiah had already delivered against the women of ,jerusalem a severe diatribe 7chap4 iii471 the burden of which was their vanity and haughtiness4 ,with the satiric temper1 which distinguishes his earlier prophecies1 he had mimicked their ogling and mincing gait1 and described pin by pin their fashions and ornaments1 promising them instead of these things rottenness and baldness1 and a girdle of sackcloth and branding for beauty4 ,but he has grown older1 and penetrating below their outward fashion and gait1 he charges them with thoughtlessness as the besetting sin of their sex4 ,ye women that are at ease1 rise up1 and hear my voice2 ye careless daughters1 give ear to my speech4 ,for days beyond a year shall ye be troubled1 ,o careless women1 for the vintage shall fail2 the ingathering shall not come4 ,tremble1 ye women that are at ease2 be troubled1 ye careless ones4 ,by a pair of epithets he describes their fault2 and almost thrice does he repeat the pair1 as if he would emphasize it past all doubt4 ,the besetting sin of women1 as he dins into them1 is ease2 an ignorant and unthinking contentment with things as they are2 thoughtlessness with regard to the deeper mysteries of life2 disbelief in the possibility of change4 ,but ,isaiah more than hints that these besetting sins of women are but the defects of their virtues4 ,the literal meaning of the two adjectives he uses1 at ease and careless1 is restful and trustful4 ,scripture throughout employs these words both in a good and a bad sense4 ,isaiah does so himself in this very chapter 7compare these verses with vv4 #ag1 #ah74 ,in the next chapter he describes the state of ,jerusalem after redemption as a state of ease or restfulness1 and we know that he never ceased urging the people to trustfulness4 ,for such truly religious conditions he uses exactly the same names as for the shallow optimism with which he now charges his countrywomen4 ,and so doing1 he reminds us of an important law of character4 ,the besetting sins of either sex are its virtues prostituted4 ,a man's greatest temptations proceed from his strength2 but the glory of the feminine nature is repose1 and trust is the strength of the feminine character1 in which very things1 however1 lies all the possibility of woman's degradation4 ,woman's faith amounts at times to real intuition2 but what risks are attached to this prophetic power--of impatience1 of contentment with the first glance at things1 the inclination1 as a great moralist has put it1 to take too easily the knowledge of the problems of life1 and to rest content with what lies nearest her1 instead of penetrating to a deeper foundation4 ,women are full of indulgence and hope2 but what possibilities lie there of deception1 false optimism1 and want of that anxiety which alone makes progress possible4 ,women are more inclined than men to believe all things2 but how certain is such a temper to sacrifice the claims of truth and honour4 ,women are full of tact1 the just favourites of success1 with infinite power to plead and please2 but if they are aware of this1 how certain is such a self-consciousness to produce negligence and the fatal sleep of the foolish virgins4 ,scripture insists repeatedly on this truth of ,isaiah's about the besetting sin of women4 ,the prophet ,amos has engraved it in one of his sharpest epigrams1 declaring that thoughtlessness is capable of turning women into very brutes1 and their homes into desolate ruins3 ,hear this word1 ye kine of ,bashan1 that are in the mountain of ,samaria1 which oppress the poor1 which crush the needy1 which say unto their lords1 ,bring and let us drink4 ,the ,lord ,jehovah hath sworn by ,his holiness that1 lo1 the days shall come upon you that they shall take you away with hooks1 and your residue with fish-hooks1 and ye shall go out at the breaches1 every one straight before her1 and ye shall cast yourselves into ,harmon1 saith ,jehovah4 ,it is a cowherd's picture of women3 a troop of cows1 heavy1 heedless animals1 trampling in their anxiety for food upon every frail and lowly object in the way4 ,there is a cowherd's coarseness in it1 but a prophet's insight into character4 ,not of ,jezebels1 or ,messalinas1 or ,lady-,macbeths is it spoken1 but of the ordinary matrons of ,samaria4 ,thoughtlessness is able to make brutes out of women of gentle nurture1 with homes and a religion4 ,for thoughtlessness when joined to luxury or beauty plays with cruel weapons4 ,it means greed1 arrogance1 indifference to suffering1 wantonness1 pride of conquest1 dissimulation in love1 and revenge for little slights2 and there is no waste1 unkind sport1 insolence1 brutality1 or hysterical violence to which it will not lead4 ,such women are known1 as ,amos pictured them1 through many degrees of this thoughtlessness3 interrupters of conversation1 an offence to the wise2 devourers of many of the little ones of ,god's creation for the sake of their own ornament2 tormentors of servants and subordinates for the sake of their own ease2 out of the enjoyment of power or for admiration's sake breakers of hearts4 ,and are not all such victims of thoughtlessness best compared1 with ,amos1 to a cow--an animal that rushes at its grass careless of the many daisies and ferns it tramples1 that will destroy the beauty of a whole country lane for a few mouthfuls of herbage8 ,thoughtlessness1 says ,amos--and the ,lord ,,god hath sworn it by ,his holiness--is the very negation of womanhood1 the ruin of homes4 ,but when we turn from the degradation of woman as thus exposed by the prophets to her glory as lifted up in the ,new ,testament1 we find that the same note is struck4 ,woman in the ,new ,testament is gracious according as she is thoughtful2 she offends even when otherwise beautiful by her feeling overpowering her thought4 ,martha spoils a most estimable character by one moment of unthinking passion1 in which she accuses the ,master of carelessness4 ,mary chooses the better part in close attention to her ,master's words4 ,the ,ten ,virgins are divided into five wise and five foolish4 ,paul seems to have been struck1 as ,isaiah was1 with the natural tendency of the female character1 for the first duty he lays upon the old women is to teach the young women to think discreetly1 and he repeats the injunction1 putting it before chastity and industry--,teach them1 he says1 teach them discretion 7,titus ii4 #d1 #e74 ,in ,mary herself1 the mother of our ,lord1 we see two graces of character1 to the honour of which ,scripture gives equal place--faith and thoughtfulness4 ,the few sentences1 which are all that he devotes to ,mary's character1 the ,evangelist divides equally between these two4 ,she was called blessed because she believed the word of the ,lord4 ,but trustfulness did not mean in her1 as in other women1 neglect to think4 ,twice1 at an interval of twelve years1 we are shown thoughtfulness and carefulness of memory as the habitual grace of this first among women4 ,mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart4 ,his mother kept all these sayings in her heart4#ea ,what was ,mary's glory was other women's salvation4 ,by her own logic the sufferer of ,capernaum1 whom many physicians failed to benefit1 found her cure2 by her persistent argument the ,syrophenician woman received her daughter to health again4 ,and when our ,lord met that flippant descendant of the kine of ,bashan1 that are in the mount of ,samaria1 how did ,he treat her that ,he might save her but by giving her matter to think about1 by speaking to her in riddles1 by exploding her superficial knowledge1 and scattering her easy optimism8 #ea ,cf4 ,newman1 ,oxford ,university ,sermons1 xv4 ,so does all ,scripture declare1 in harmony with the oracle of ,isaiah1 that thoughtlessness and easy contentment with things as they be1 are the besetting sins of woman4 ,but her glory is discretion4 ,,ii4 ,the next new point in this prophecy is the ,,destruction ,,of ,,jerusalem 7vv4 #ac-ae74 ,upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers2 yea1 upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city3 for the palace shall be forsaken2 the populous city shall be deserted2 ,ophel and the ,watch-tower shall be for dens for ever1 a joy of wild asses1 a pasture of flocks4 ,the attempt has been made to confine this reference to the outskirts of the sacred city1 but it is hardly a just one4 ,the prophet1 though he does not name the city1 evidently means ,jerusalem1 and means the whole of it4 ,some therefore deny the authenticity of the prophecy4 ,certainly it is almost impossible to suppose1 that so definite a sentence of ruin can have been published at the same time as the assurances of ,jerusalem's inviolability in the preceding orations4 ,but that does not prevent the hypothesis that it was uttered by ,isaiah at an earlier period1 when1 as in chaps4 ii4 and iii41 he did say extreme things about the destruction of his city4 ,it must be noticed1 however1 that ,isaiah speaks with some vagueness2 that at the present moment he is not concerned with any religious truth or will of the ,almighty1 but simply desires to contrast the careless gaiety of the women of ,jerusalem with the fate hanging over them4 ,how could he do this more forcibly than by turning the streets and gardens of their delights into ruins and the haunts of the wild ass1 even though it should seem inconsistent with his declaration that ,zion was inviolable8 ,licence for a certain amount of inconsistency is absolutely necessary in the case of a prophet who had so many divers truths to utter to so many opposite interests and tempers4 ,besides1 at this time he had already reduced ,jerusalem very low 7xxix4 #d74 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,spirit ,,outpoured 7vv4 #ae-bj74 ,the rest of the prophecy is luminous rather than lucid1 full of suffused rather than distinct meanings4 ,the date of the future regeneration is indefinite--another feature more in harmony with ,isaiah's earlier prophecies than his later4 ,the cause of the blessing is the outpouring of the ,spirit of ,god 7ver4 #ae74 ,righteousness and peace are to come to earth by a distinct creative act of ,god4 ,isaiah adds his voice to the invariable testimony of prophets and apostles1 who1 whether they speak of society or the heart of individual man1 place their hope in new life from above by the ,spirit of the living ,god4 ,victor ,hugo says1 ,there are no weeds in society1 only bad cultivators2 and places all hope of progress towards perfection in proper methods of social culture4 ,these are needed1 as much as the corn1 which will not spring from the sunshine alone1 requires the hand of the sower1 and the harrow4 ,and ,isaiah1 too1 speaks here of human conduct and effort as required to fill up the blessedness of the future3 righteousness and labour4 ,but first1 and indispensably1 he1 with all the prophets1 places the ,spirit of ,god4 ,it appears that ,isaiah looked for the fruits of the ,spirit both as material and moral4 ,he bases the quiet resting-places and regular labours of the future not on righteousness only1 but on fertility and righteousness4 ,the wilderness shall become a fruitful field1 and what is to-day a fruitful field shall be counted as a forest4 ,that this proverb1 used by ,isaiah more than once1 is not merely a metaphor for the moral revolution he describes in the next verse1 is proved by his having already declared the unfruitfulness of their soil as part of his people's punishment4 ,fertility is promised for itself1 and as the accompaniment of moral bountifulness4 ,and there shall dwell in the wilderness justice1 and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field4 ,and the work of righteousness shall be peace1 and the effect1 or service1 of righteousness1 quietness and confidence for ever4 ,and my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation1 and in sure dwellings1 and in quiet resting-places4444 ,blessed are ye that sow beside all waters1 that send forth the feet of the ox and the ass6 ,there is not a prophecy more characteristic of ,isaiah4 ,it unfolds what for him were the two essential and equal contents of the will of ,god3 a secure land and a righteous people1 the fertility of nature and the purity of society4 ,but in those years 7#gje-gjb7 he did not forget that something must come between him and that paradise4 ,across the very middle of his vision of felicity there dashes a cruel storm4 ,in the gap indicated above ,isaiah wrote1 ,but it shall hail in the downfall of the forest1 and the city shall be utterly laid low4 ,a hailstorm between the promise and fulfilment of summer6 ,isaiah could only mean the ,assyrian invasion1 which was now lowering so dark4 ,before it bursts we must follow him to the survey which he made1 during these years before the siege of ,jerusalem1 of the foreign nations on whom1 equally with ,jerusalem1 that storm was to sweep4 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,,isaiah ,,to ,,the ,,foreign ,,nations4 ,,isaiah xiv4 #bd-cb1 xv4-xxi41 and xxiii4 7#gcf-gjb ,b4,c474 ,the centre of the ,book of ,isaiah 7chaps4 xiii4 to xxiii47 is occupied by a number of long and short prophecies which are a fertile source of perplexity to the conscientious reader of the ,bible4 ,with the exhilaration of one who traverses plain roads and beholds vast prospects1 he has passed through the opening chapters of the book as far as the end of the twelfth2 and he may look forward to enjoying a similar experience when he reaches those other clear stretches of vision from the twenty-fourth to the twenty-seventh and from the thirtieth to the thirty-second4 ,but here he loses himself among a series of prophecies obscure in themselves and without obvious relation to one another4 ,the subjects of them are the nations1 tribes and cities with which in ,isaiah's day1 by war or treaty or common fear in face of the ,assyrian conquest1 ,judah was being brought into contact4 ,there are none of the familiar names of the land and tribes of ,israel which meet the reader in other obscure prophecies and lighten their darkness with the face of a friend4 ,the names and allusions are foreign1 some of them the names of tribes long since extinct1 and of places which it is no more possible to identify4 ,it is a very jungle of prophecy1 in which1 without much ,gospel or geographical light1 we have to grope our way1 thankful for an occasional gleam of the picturesque--a sandstorm in the desert1 the forsaken ruins of ,babylon haunted by wild beasts1 a view of ,egypt's canals or ,phoenicia's harbours1 a glimpse of an ,arab raid or of a grave ,ethiopian embassy4 ,but in order to understand the ,book of ,isaiah1 in order to understand ,isaiah himself in some of the largest of his activities and hopes1 we must traverse this thicket4 ,it would be tedious and unprofitable to search every corner of it4 ,we propose1 therefore1 to give a list of the various oracles1 with their dates and titles1 for the guidance of ,bible-readers1 then to take three representative texts and gather the meaning of all the oracles round them4 ,first1 however1 two of the prophecies must be put aside4 ,the twenty-second chapter does not refer to a foreign ,state1 but to ,jerusalem itself2 and the large prophecy which opens the series 7chaps4 xiii4-xiv4 #bc7 deals with the overthrow of ,babylon in circumstances that did not arise till long after ,isaiah's time1 and so falls to be considered by us along with similar prophecies at the close of this volume4 7,see ,book ,v47 ,all the rest of these chapters--xiv4-xxi4 and xxiii4--refer to ,isaiah's own day4 ,they were delivered by the prophet at various times throughout his career2 but the most of them evidently date from immediately after the year #gje1 when1 on the death of ,sargon1 there was a general rebellion of the ,assyrian vassals4 #a4 xiv4 #bd-bg4 ,,oath ,,of ,,jehovah that the ,assyrian shall be broken4 ,probable date1 towards #gja4 #b4 xiv4 #bh-cb4 ,,oracle ,,for ,,philistia4 ,warning to ,philistia not to rejoice because one ,assyrian king is dead1 for a worse one shall arise3 ,out of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk4 ,philistia shall be melted away1 but ,zion shall stand4 ,the inscription to this oracle 7ver4 #bh7 is not genuine4 ,the oracle plainly speaks of the death and accession of ,assyrian1 not ,judan1 kings4 ,it may be ascribed to #gje1 the date of the death of ,sargon and accession of ,sennacherib4 ,but some hold that it refers to the previous change on the ,assyrian throne--the death of ,salmanassar and the accession of ,sargon4 #c4 xv4-xvi4 #ab4 ,,oracle ,,for ,,moab4 ,a long prophecy against ,moab4 ,this oracle1 whether originally by himself at an earlier period of his life1 or more probably by an older prophet1 ,isaiah adopts and ratifies1 and intimates its immediate fulfilment1 in xvi4 #ac1 #ad4 ,this is the word which ,jehovah spake concerning ,moab long ago4 ,but now ,jehovah hath spoken1 saying1 ,within three years1 as the years of an hireling1 and the glory of ,moab shall be brought into contempt with all the great multitude1 and the remnant shall be very small and of no account4 ,the dates both of the original publication of this prophecy and of its reissue with the appendix are quite uncertain4 ,the latter may fall about #gaa1 when ,moab was threatened by ,sargon for complicity in the ,ashdod conspiracy 7p4 #aih71 or in #gjd1 when1 with other ,states1 ,moab came under the cloud of ,sennacherib's invasion4 ,the main prophecy is remarkable for its vivid picture of the disaster that has overtaken ,moab and for the sympathy with her which the ,jewish prophet expresses2 for the mention of a remnant of ,moab2 for the exhortation to her to send tribute in her adversity to the mount of the daughter of ,zion 7xvi4 #a72 for an appeal to ,zion to shelter the outcasts of ,moab and to take up her cause3 ,bring counsel1 make a decision1 make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday2 hide the outcasts1 bewray not the wanderer2 for a statement of the ,messiah similar to those in chaps4 ix4 and xi42 and for the offer to the oppressed ,moabites of the security of ,judah in ,messianic times 7vv4 #d1 #e74 ,but there is one great obstacle to this prospect of ,moab lying down in the shadow of ,judah--,moab's arrogance4 ,we have heard of the pride of ,moab1 that he is very proud 7ver4 #f1 cf4 ,jer4 xlviii4 #bi1 #db2 ,zeph4 ii4 #aj71 which pride shall not only keep this country in ruin1 but prevent the ,moabites prevailing in prayer at their own sanctuary 7ver4 #ab7--;a very remarkable admission about the worship of another god than ,jehovah4 #d4 xvii4 #a-aa4 ,,oracle ,,for ,,damascus4 ,one of the earliest and most crisp of ,isaiah's prophecies4 ,of the time of ,syria's and ,ephraim's league against ,judah1 somewhere between #gcf and #gcb4 #e4 xvii4 #ab-ad4 ,,untitled4 ,the crash of the peoples upon ,jerusalem and their dispersion4 ,this magnificent piece of sound1 which we analyse below1 is usually understood of ,sennacherib's rush upon ,jerusalem4 ,verse #ad is an accurate summary of the sudden break-up and retreat from ,moscow of his army4 ,the ,assyrian hosts are described as nations1 as they are elsewhere more than once by ,isaiah 7xxii4 #f1 xxix4 #g74 ,but in all this there is no final reason for referring the oracle to ,sennacherib's invasion1 and it may just as well be interpreted of ,isaiah's confidence of the defeat of ,syria and ,ephraim 7#gcd-gbc74 ,its proximity to the oracle against ,damascus would then be very natural1 and it would stand as a parallel prophecy to viii4 #i3 ,make an uproar1 ,o ye peoples1 and ye shall be broken in pieces2 and give ear1 all ye of the distances of the earth3 gird yourselves1 and ye shall be broken in pieces2 gird yourselves1 and ye shall be broken in pieces--a prophecy which we know belongs to the period of the ,syro-,ephraimitic league4 #f4 xviii4 ,untitled4 ,an address to ,ethiopia1 land of a rustling of wings1 land of many sails1 whose messengers dart to and fro upon the rivers in their skiffs of reed4 ,the prophet tells ,ethiopia1 cast into excitement by the news of the ,assyrian advance1 how ,jehovah is resting quietly till the ,assyrian be ripe for destruction4 ,when the ,ethiopians shall see ,his sudden miracle1 they shall send their tribute to ,jehovah1 to the place of the name of ,jehovah of hosts1 ,mount ,zion4 ,it is difficult to know to which southward march of ,assyria to ascribe this prophecy--,sargon's or ,sennacherib's8 ,for at the time of both of these an ,ethiopian ruled ,egypt4 #g4 xix4 ,oracle for ,egypt4 ,the first fifteen verses describe judgement as ready to fall on the land of the ,pharaohs4 ,the last ten speak of the religious results to ,egypt of that judgement1 and they form the most universal and missionary of all ,isaiah's prophecies4 ,although doubts have been expressed of the ,isaian authorship of the second half of this chapter on the score of its universalism1 as well as of its literary style1 which is judged to be a pale reflection of ,isaiah's own1 there is no final reason for declining the credit of it to ,isaiah1 while there are insuperable difficulties against relegating it to the late date which is sometimes demanded for it4 ,on the date and authenticity of this prophecy1 which are of great importance for the question of ,isaiah's missionary opinions1 see ,cheyne's introduction to the chapter and ,robertson ,smith's notes in ,the ,prophets of ,israel 7p4 #dcc74 ,the latter puts it in #gjc1 during ,sennacherib's advance upon the south4 ,the former suggests that the second half may have been written by the prophet much later than the first1 and justly says1 ,we can hardly imagine a more 'swan-like end' for the dying prophet4 #h4 xx4 ,,untitled4 ,also upon ,egypt1 but in narrative and of an earlier date than at least the latter half of xix4 ,tells how ,isaiah walked naked and barefoot in the streets of ,jerusalem for a sign against ,egypt and against the help ,judah hoped to get from her in the years #gaa-gji1 when the ,tartan1 or ,assyrian commander-in-chief1 came south to subdue ,ashdod4 ,see pp4 #aih-bjj4 #i4 xxi4 #a-aj4 ,,oracle ,,for ,,the ,,wilderness ,,of ,,the ,,sea1 announcing but lamenting the fall of ,babylon4 ,probably #gji4 ,see pp4 #bjb1 #bjc4 #aj4 xxi4 #aa1 #ab4 ,,oracle ,,for ,,dumah4 ,dumah1 or ,silence--in ,ps4 xciv4 #ag1 cxv4 #ag1 the land of the silence of death1 the grave--is probably used as an anagram for ,edom and an enigmatic sign to the wise ,edomites1 in their own fashion1 of the kind of silence their land is lying under--the silence of rapid decay4 ,the prophet hears this silence at last broken by a cry4 ,edom cannot bear the darkness any more4 ,unto me one is calling from ,seir1 ,watchman1 how much off the night8 how much off the night8#eb ,said the watchman1 ,cometh the morning1 and also the night3 if ye will inquire1 inquire1 come back again4 ,what other answer is possible for a land on which the silence of decay seems to have settled down8 ,he may1 however1 give them an answer later on1 if they will come back4 ,date uncertain1 perhaps between #gjd and #gja4 #eb ,our translation1 though picturesque1 is misleading4 ,the voice does not inquire1 ,what of the night8 i4e41 whether it be fair or foul weather1 but ,how much of the night is passed8 literally ,what from off the night8 ,this brings out a pathos that our ,english version has disguised4 ,edom feels that her night is lasting terribly long4 #aa4 xxi4 #ac-ag4 ,,oracle ,,for ,,arabia4 ,from ,edom the prophet passes to their neighbours the ,dedanites1 travelling merchants4 ,and as he saw night upon ,edom1 so1 by a play upon words1 he speaks of evening upon ,arabia3 in the forest1 in ,arabia1 or with the same consonants1 in the evening4 ,in the time of the insecurity of the ,assyrian invasion the travelling merchants have to go aside from their great trading roads in the evening to lodge in the thickets4 ,there they entertain fugitives1 or 7for the sense is not quite clear7 are themselves as fugitives entertained4 ,it is a picture of the grievousness of war1 which was now upon the world1 flowing down even those distant1 desert roads4 ,but things have not yet reached the worst4 ,the fugitives are but the heralds of armies1 that within a year shall waste the children of ,kedar1 for ,jehovah1 the ,god of ,israel1 hath spoken it4 ,so did the prophet of little ,jerusalem take possession of even the far deserts in the name of his nation's ,god4 #ab4 xxiii4 ,,oracle ,,for ,,tyre4 ,elegy over its fall1 probably as ,sennacherib came south upon it in #gjc or #gjb4 ,to be further considered by us 7pp4 #bhh ff474 99 99 99 99 99 ,these then are ,isaiah's oracles for the ,nations1 who tremble1 intrigue and go down before the might of ,assyria4 ,we have promised to gather the circumstances and meaning of these prophecies round three representative texts4 ,these are-- #a4 ,ah6 the booming of the peoples1 the multitudes1 like the booming of the seas they boom2 and the rushing of the nations1 like the rushing of mighty waters they rush2 nations1 like the rushing of many waters they rush4 ,but ,he rebuketh it1 and it fleeth afar off1 and is chased like the chaff on the mountains before the wind and like whirling dust before the whirlwind 7xvii4 #ab1 #ac74 #b4 ,what then shall one answer the messengers of a nation8 ,that ,jehovah hath founded ,zion1 and in her shall find refuge the afflicted of ,his people 7xiv4 #cb74 #c4 ,in that day shall ,israel be a third to ,egypt and to ,assyria1 a blessing in the midst of the earth1 for that ,jehovah of hosts hath blessed them1 saying1 ,blessed be ,my people ,egypt1 and the work of ,my hands ,assyria1 and ,mine inheritance ,israel 7xix4 #bd1 #be74 #a4 ,the first of these texts shows all the prophet's prospect filled with storm1 the second of them the solitary rock and lighthouse in the midst of the storm3 ,zion1 his own watchtower and his people's refuge2 while the third of them1 looking far into the future1 tells us1 as it were1 of the firm continent which shall rise out of the waters--,israel no longer a solitary lighthouse1 but in that day shall ,israel be a third to ,egypt and to ,assyria1 a blessing in the midst of the earth4 ,these three texts give us a summary of the meaning of all ,isaiah's obscure prophecies to the foreign nations--a stormy ocean1 a solitary rock in the midst of it1 and the new continent that shall rise out of the waters about the rock4 ,the restlessness of ,western ,asia beneath the ,assyrian rule 7from #gai1 when ,sargon's victory at ,rafia extended that rule to the borders of ,egypt7 found vent1 as we saw 7p4 #aih71 in two great ,explosions1 for both of which the mine was laid by ,egyptian intrigue4 ,the first ,explosion happened in #gaa1 and was confined to ,ashdod4 ,the second took place on ,sargon's death in #gje1 and was universal4 ,till ,sennacherib marched south on ,palestine in #gja1 there were all over ,western ,asia hurryings to and fro1 consultations and intrigues1 embassies and engineerings from ,babylon to ,meroe in far ,ethiopia1 and from the tents of ,kedar to the cities of the ,philistines4 ,for these ,jerusalem the one inviolate capital from the ,euphrates to the river of ,egypt1 was the natural centre4 ,and the one far-seeing1 steady-hearted man in ,jerusalem was ,isaiah4 ,we have already seen that there was enough within the city to occupy ,isaiah's attention1 especially from #gje onward2 but for ,isaiah the walls of ,jerusalem1 dear as they were and thronged with duty1 neither limited his sympathies nor marked the scope of the gospel he had to preach4 ,jerusalem is simply his watchtower4 ,his field--and this is the peculiar glory of the prophet's later life--his field is the world4 ,how well fitted ,jerusalem then was to be the world's watchtower1 the traveller may see to this day4 ,the city lies upon the great central ridge of ,palestine1 at an elevation of two thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea4 ,if you ascend the hill behind the city1 you stand upon one of the great view-points of the earth4 ,it is a forepost of ,asia4 ,to the east rise the red hills of ,moab and the uplands of ,gilead and ,bashan1 on to which wandering tribes of the ,arabian deserts beyond still push their foremost camps4 ,just beyond the horizon lie the immemorial paths from ,northern ,syria into ,arabia4 ,within a few hours' walk along the same central ridge1 and still within the territory of ,judah1 you may see to the north1 over a wilderness of blue hills1 ,hermon's snowy crest2 you know that ,damascus is lying just beyond1 and that through it and round the base of ,hermon swings one of the longest of the old world's highways--the main caravan road from the ,euphrates to the ,nile4 ,stand at gaze for a little1 while down that road there sweep into your mind thoughts of the great empire1 whose troops and commerce it used to carry4 ,then1 bearing these thoughts with you1 follow the line of the road across the hills to the western coastland1 and so out upon the great ,egyptian desert1 where you may wait till it has brought you imagination of the southern empire to which it travels4 ,then1 lifting your eyes a little further1 let them sweep back again from south to north1 and you have the whole of the west1 the new world1 open to you1 across the fringe of yellow haze that marks the sands of the ,mediterranean4 ,it is even now one of the most comprehensive prospects in the world4 ,but in ,isaiah's day1 when the world was smaller1 the high places of ,judah either revealed or suggested the whole of it4 ,but ,isaiah was more than a spectator of this vast theatre4 ,he was an actor upon it4 ,the court of ,judah1 of which during ,hezekiah's reign he was the most prominent member1 stood in more or less close connection with the courts of all the kingdoms of ,western ,asia2 and in those days when the nations were busy with intrigue against their common enemy this little highland town and fortress became a gathering place of peoples4 ,from ,babylon1 from far-off ,ethiopia1 from ,edom1 from ,philistia1 and no doubt from many other places also1 embassies came to ,king ,hezekiah1 or to inquire of his prophet4 ,the appearance of some of them lives for us still in ,isaiah's descriptions3 tall and shiny figures of ,ethiopians 7xviii4 #b71 with whom we are able to identify the lithe1 silky-skinned1 shining-black bodies of the present tribes of the ,upper ,nile4 ,now the prophet must have talked much with these strangers1 for he displays a knowledge of their several countries and ways of life that is full and accurate4 ,the agricultural conditions of ,egypt2 her social ranks and her industries 7xix472 the harbours and markets of ,tyre 7xxiii472 the caravans of the ,arab nomads as in times of war they shun the open desert and seek the thickets 7xxi4 #ad7--;,isaiah paints these for us with a vivid realism4 ,we see how this statesman of the least of ,states1 this prophet of a religion which was confessed over only a few square miles1 was aware of the wide world1 and how he loved the life that filled it4 ,they are no mere geographical terms with which ,isaiah thickly studs these prophecies4 ,he looks out upon1 and paints for us1 lands and cities surging with men--their trades1 their castes1 their religions1 their besetting tempers and sins1 their social structures and national policies1 all quick and bending to the breeze and the shadow of the coming storm from the north4 ,we have said that in nothing is the regal power of our prophet's style so manifest as in the vast horizons1 which1 by the use of a few words1 he calls up before us4 ,some of the finest of these revelations are made in this part of his book1 so obscure and unknown to most4 ,who can ever forget those descriptions of ,ethiopia in the eighteenth chapter8--,ah6 the land of the rustling of wings1 which borders on the rivers of ,cush1 which sendeth heralds on the sea1 and in vessels of reed on the face of the waters6 ,travel1 fleet messengers1 to a people lithe and shining1 to a nation feared from ever it began to be1 a people strong1 strong and trampling1 whose land the rivers divide2 or of ,tyre in chapter xxiii48--,and on great waters the seed of ,shihor1 the harvest of the ,nile1 was her revenue2 and she was the mart of nations4 ,what expanses of sea6 what fleets of ships6 what floating loads of grain6 what concourse of merchants moving on stately wharves beneath high warehouses6 ,yet these are only segments of horizons1 and perhaps the prophet reaches the height of his power of expression in the first of the three texts1 which we have given as representative of his prophecies on foreign nations 7p4 #bgh74 ,here three or four lines of marvellous sound repeat the effect of the rage of the restless world as it rises1 storms and breaks upon the steadfast will of ,god4 ,the phonetics of the passage are wonderful4 ,the general impression is that of a stormy ocean booming in to the shore and then crashing itself out into one long hiss of spray and foam upon its barriers4 ,the details are noteworthy4 ,in ver4 #ab we have thirteen heavy ,m-sounds1 besides two heavy ,b's1 to five ,n's1 five ,h's1 and four sibilants4 ,but in ver4 #ac the sibilants predominate2 and before the sharp rebuke of the ,lord the great1 booming sound of ver4 #ab scatters out into a long yish-sha 'oon4 ,the occasional use of a prolonged vowel amid so many hurrying consonants produces exactly the effect now of the lift of a storm swell out at sea and now of the pause of a great wave before it crashes on the shore4 ,ah1 the booming of the peoples1 the multitudes1 like the booming of the seas they boom2 and the rushing of the nations1 like the rushing of the mighty waters they rush3 nations1 like the rushing of many waters they rush4 ,but ,he checketh it--a short1 sharp word with a choke and a snort in it--and it fleeth far away1 and is chased like chaff on mountains before wind1 and like swirling dust before a whirlwind4 ,so did the rage of the world sound to ,isaiah as it crashed into pieces upon the steadfast providence of ,god4 ,to those who can feel the force of such language nothing need be added upon the prophet's view of the politics of the outside world these twenty years1 whether portions of it threatened ,judah in their own strength1 or the whole power of storm that was in it rose with the ,assyrian1 as in all his flood he rushed upon ,zion in the year #gja4 #b4 ,but amid this storm ,zion stands immovable4 ,it is upon ,zion that the storm crashes itself into impotence4 ,this becomes explicit in the second of our representative texts3 ,what then shall one answer the messengers of a nation8 ,that ,jehovah hath founded ,zion1 and in her shall find a refuge the afflicted of ,his people 7xiv4 #cb74 ,this oracle was drawn from ,isaiah by an embassy of the ,philistines4 ,stricken with panic at the ,assyrian advance1 they had sent messengers to ,jerusalem1 as other tribes did1 with questions and proposals of defences1 escapes and alliances4 ,they got their answer4 ,alliances are useless4 ,everything human is going down4 ,here1 here alone1 is safety1 because the ,,lord hath decreed it4 ,with what light and peace do ,isaiah's words break out across that unquiet1 hungry sea6 ,how they tell the world for the first time1 and have been telling it ever since1 that1 apart from all the struggle and strife of history1 there is a refuge and security of men1 which ,god ,himself has assured4 ,the troubled surface of life1 nations heaving uneasily1 kings of ,assyria and their armies carrying the world before them--these are not all4 ,the world and her powers are not all4 ,religion1 in the very teeth of life1 builds her refuge for the afflicted4 ,the world seems wholly divided between force and fear4 ,isaiah says1 ,it is not true4 ,faith has her abiding citadel in the midst1 a house of ,god1 which neither force can harm nor fear enter4 ,this then was ,isaiah's ,interim-,answer to the ,nations--,zion at least is secure for the people of ,jehovah4 #c4 ,isaiah could not remain content1 however1 with so narrow an interim-answer3 ,zion at least is secure1 whatever happens to the rest of you4 ,the world was there1 and had to be dealt with and accounted for--had even to be saved4 ,as we have already seen1 this was the problem of ,isaiah's generation2 and to have shirked it would have meant the failure of his faith to rank as universal4 ,isaiah did not shirk it4 ,he said boldly to his people1 and to the nations3 ,the faith we have covers this vaster life4 ,jehovah is not only ,god of ,israel4 ,he rules the world4 ,these prophecies to the foreign nations are full of revelations of the sovereignty and providence of ,god4 ,the ,assyrian may seem to be growing in glory2 but ,jehovah is watching from the heavens1 till he be ripe for cutting down 7xviii4 #d74 ,egypt's statesmen may be perverse and wilful2 but ,jehovah of hosts swingeth ,his hand against the land3 they shall tremble and shudder 7xix4 #af74 ,egypt shall obey ,his purposes 7#ag74 ,confusion may reign for a time1 but a signal and a centre shall be lifted up1 and the world gather itself in order round the revealed will of ,god4 ,the audacity of such a claim for his ,god becomes more striking when we remember that ,isaiah's faith was not the faith of a majestic or a conquering people4 ,when he made his claim1 ,judah was still tributary to ,assyria1 a petty highland principality1 that could not hope to stand by material means against the forces which had thrown down her more powerful neighbours4 ,it was no experience of success1 no mere instinct of being on the side of fate1 which led ,isaiah so resolutely to pronounce that not only should his people be secure1 but that his ,god would vindicate ,his purposes upon empires like ,egypt and ,assyria4 ,it was simply his sense that ,jehovah was exalted in righteousness4 ,therefore1 while inside ,judah only the remnant that took the side of righteousness would be saved1 outside ,judah wherever there was unrighteousness1 it would be rebuked1 and wherever righteousness1 it would be vindicated4 ,this is the supremacy which ,isaiah proclaimed for ,jehovah over the whole world4 ,how spiritual this faith of ,isaiah was1 is seen from the next step the prophet took4 ,looking out on the troubled world1 he did not merely assert that his ,god ruled it1 but he emphatically said1 what was a far more difficult thing to say1 that it would all be consciously and willingly ,god's4 ,god rules this1 not to restrain it only1 but to make it ,his own4 ,the knowledge of ,him1 which is to-day our privilege1 shall be to-morrow the blessing of the whole world4 ,when we point to the ,jewish desire1 so often expressed in the ,old ,testament1 of making the whole world subject to ,jehovah1 we are told that it is simply a proof of religious ambition and jealousy4 ,we are told that this wish to convert the world no more stamps the ,jewish religion as being a universal1 and therefore presumably a ,divine1 religion than the ,mohammedans' zeal to force their tenets on men at the point of the sword is a proof of the truth of ,islam4 ,now we need not be concerned to defend the ,jewish religion in its every particular1 even as propounded by an ,isaiah4 ,it is an article of the ,christian creed that ,judaism was a minor and imperfect dispensation1 where truth was only half revealed and virtue half developed4 ,but at least let us do the ,jewish religion justice2 and we shall never do it justice till we pay attention to what its greatest prophets thought of the outside world1 how they sympathized with this1 and in what way they proposed to make it subject to their own faith4 ,firstly then1 there is something in the very manner of ,isaiah's treatment of foreign nations1 which causes the old charges of religious exclusiveness to sink in our throats4 ,isaiah treats these foreigners at least as men4 ,take his prophecies on ,egypt or on ,tyre or on ,babylon--nations which were the hereditary enemies of his nation--and you find him speaking of their natural misfortunes1 their social decays1 their national follies and disasters1 with the same pity and with the same purely moral considerations1 with which he has treated his own land4 ,when news of those far-away sorrows comes to ,jerusalem1 it moves this large-hearted prophet to mourning and tears4 ,he breathes out to distant lands elegies as beautiful as he has poured upon ,jerusalem4 ,he shows as intelligent an interest in their social evolutions as he does in those of the ,jewish ,state4 ,he gives a picture of the industry and politics of ,egypt as careful as his pictures of the fashions and statecraft of ,judah4 ,in short1 as you read his prophecies upon foreign nations1 you perceive that before the eyes of this man humanity1 broken and scattered in his days as it was1 rose up one great whole1 every part of which was subject to the same laws of righteousness1 and deserved from the prophet of ,god the same love and pity4 ,to some few tribes he says decisively that they shall certainly be wiped out1 but even them he does not address in contempt or in hatred4 ,the large empire of ,egypt1 the great commercial power of ,tyre1 he speaks of in language of respect and admiration2 but that does not prevent him from putting the plain issue to them which he put to his own countrymen3 ,if you are unrighteous1 intemperate1 impure--lying diplomats and dishonest rulers1 you shall certainly perish before ,assyria4 ,if you are righteous1 temperate1 pure1 if you do trust in truth and ,god1 nothing can move you4 ,but1 secondly1 he1 who thus treated all nations with the same strict measures of justice and the same fulness of pity with which he treated his own1 was surely not far from extending to the world the religious privileges1 which he has so frequently identified with ,jerusalem4 ,in his old age1 at least ,isaiah looked forward to the time when the particular religious opportunities of the ,jew should be the inheritance of humanity4 ,for their old oppressor ,egypt1 for their new enemy ,assyria1 he anticipates the same experience and education1 which has made ,israel the firstborn of ,god4 ,speaking to ,egypt1 ,isaiah concludes a missionary sermon1 fit to take its place beside that which ,paul uttered on the ,areopagus to the younger ,greek civilisation1 with the words1 ,in that day shall ,israel be a third to ,egypt and to ,assyria1 a blessing in the midst of the earth1 for that ,jehovah of hosts hath blessed them1 saying1 ,blessed be ,egypt ,my people1 and ,assyria the work of ,my hands and ,israel ,mine inheritance4 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,,tyre2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,mercenary ,,spirit4 ,,isaiah xxiii4 7#gjb ,b4,c474 ,the task1 which was laid upon the religion of ,israel while ,isaiah was its prophet1 was the task1 as we have often told ourselves1 of facing the world's forces1 and of explaining how they were to be led captive and contributory to the religion of the true ,god4 ,and we have already seen ,isaiah accounting for the largest of these forces3 the ,assyrian4 ,but besides ,assyria1 that military empire1 there was another power in the world1 also novel to ,israel's experience and also in ,isaiah's day grown large enough to demand from ,israel's faith explanation and criticism4 ,this was ,commerce1 represented by the ,phoenicians1 with their chief seats at ,tyre and ,sidon1 and their colonies across the seas4 ,not even ,egypt exercised such influence on ,isaiah's generation as ,phoenicia did2 and ,phoenician influence1 though less visible and painful than ,assyrian1 was just as much more subtle and penetrating as in these respects the influence of trade exceeds that of war4 ,assyria herself was fascinated by the glories of ,phoenician commerce4 ,the ambition of her kings1 who had in that century pushed south to the ,mediterranean1 was to found a commercial empire4 ,the mercenary spirit1 as we learn from prophets earlier than ,isaiah1 had begun also to leaven the life of the agricultural and shepherd tribes of ,western ,asia4 ,for good or for evil commerce had established itself as a moral force in the world4 ,isaiah's chapter on ,tyre is1 therefore1 of the greatest interest4 ,it contains the prophet's vision of commerce the first time commerce had grown vast enough to impress his people's imagination1 as well as a criticism of the temper of commerce from the standpoint of the religion of the ,god of righteousness4 ,whether as a historical study or a message addressed to the mercantile tempers of our own day1 the chapter is worthy of close attention4 ,but we must first impress ourselves with the utter contrast between ,phoenicia and ,judah in the matter of commercial experience1 or we shall not feel the full force of this excursion which the prophet of a high1 inland tribe of shepherds makes among the wharves and warehouses of the great merchant city on the sea4 ,the ,phoenician empire1 it has often been remarked1 presents a very close analogy to that of ,great ,britain2 but even more entirely than in the case of ,great ,britain the glory of that empire was the wealth of its trade1 and the character of the people was the result of their mercantile habits4 ,a little strip of land1 one hundred and forty miles long1 and never more than fifteen broad1 with the sea upon one side and the mountains upon the other1 compelled its inhabitants to become miners and seamen4 ,the hills shut off the narrow coast from the continent to which it belongs1 and drove the increasing populations to seek their destiny by way of the sea4 ,these took to it kindly1 for they had the ,semite's born instinct for trading4 ,planting their colonies all round the ,mediterranean1 exploiting every mine within reach of the coastland1 establishing great trading depts both on the ,nile and the ,euphrates1 with fleets that passed the ,straits of ,gibraltar into the ,atlantic and the ,straits of ,bab-el-,mandeb into the ,indian ,ocean1 the ,phoenicians constructed a system of trade1 which was not exceeded in range or influence till1 more than two thousand years later1 ,portugal made the discovery of ,america and accomplished the passage of the ,cape of ,good ,hope4 ,from the coasts of ,britain to those of ,northwest ,india1 and probably to ,madagascar1 was the extent of ,phoenician credit and currency4 ,their trade tapped river basins so far apart as those of the ,indus1 the ,euphrates1 probably the ,zambesi1 the ,nile1 the ,rhone1 the ,guadalquivir4 ,they built ships and harbours for the ,pharaohs and for ,solomon4 ,they carried ,egyptian art and ,babylonian knowledge to the ,grecian archipelago1 and brought back the metals of ,spain and ,britain4 ,no wonder the prophet breaks into enthusiasm as he surveys ,phoenician enterprise6 ,and on great waters the seed of ,shihor1 the harvest of the ,nile1 was her revenue2 and she was the mart of nations4 ,but upon trade the ,phoenicians had built an empire4 ,at home their political life enjoyed the freedom1 energy and resources which are supplied by long habits of an extended commerce with other peoples4 ,the constitution of the different ,phoenician cities was not1 as is sometimes supposed1 republican1 but monarchical2 and the land belonged to the king4 ,yet the large number of wealthy families at once limited the power of the throne1 and saved the commonwealth from being dependent upon the fortunes of a single dynasty4 ,the colonies in close relation with the mother country assured an empire with its life in better circulation and with more reserve of power than either ,egypt or ,assyria4 ,tyre and ,sidon were frequently overthrown1 but they rose again oftener than the other great cities of antiquity1 and were still places of importance when ,babylon and ,nineveh lay in irreparable ruin4 ,besides their native families of royal wealth and influence and their flourishing colonies1 each with its prince1 these commercial ,states kept foreign monarchs in their pay1 and sometimes determined the fate of a dynasty4 ,isaiah entitles ,tyre the giver of crowns1 the maker of kings1 whose merchants are princes1 and her traffickers are the honourable of the earth4 ,but trade with political results so splendid had an evil effect upon the character and spiritual temper of the people4 ,by the indiscriminating ancients the ,phoenicians were praised as inventors2 the rudiments of most of the arts and sciences1 of the alphabet and of money have been ascribed to them4 ,but modern research has proved that of none of the many elements of civilisation which they introduced to the ,west were they the actual authors4 ,the ,phoenicians were simply carriers and middlemen4 ,in all time there is no instance of a nation so wholly given over to buying and selling1 who frequented even the battlefields of the world that they might strip the dead and purchase the captive4 ,phoenician history--though we must always do the people the justice to remember that we have their history only in fragments--affords few signs of the consciousness that there are things which a nation may strive after for their own sake1 and not for the money they bring in4 ,the world1 which other peoples1 still in the reverence of the religious youth of the race1 regarded as a house of prayer1 the ,phoenicians had already turned into a den of thieves4 ,they trafficked even with the mysteries and intelligences2 and their own religion is largely a mixture of the religions of the other peoples1 with whom they came into contact4 ,the national spirit was venal and mercenary--the heart of an hireling1 or1 as ,isaiah by a baser name describes it1 the heart of an harlot4 ,there is not throughout history a more perfect incarnation of the mercenary spirit than the ,phoenician nation4 ,now let us turn to the experience of the ,jews1 whose faith had to face and account for this world-force4 ,the history of the ,jews in ,europe has so identified them with trade that it is difficult for us to imagine a ,jew free from its spirit or ignorant of its methods4 ,but the fact is that in the time of ,isaiah ,israel was as little acquainted with commerce as it is possible for a civilised nation to be4 ,israel's was an inland territory4 ,till ,solomon's reign the people had neither navy nor harbour4 ,their land was not abundant in materials for trade--it contained almost no minerals1 and did not produce a greater supply of food than was necessary for the consumption of its inhabitants4 ,it is true that the ambition of ,solomon had brought the people within the temptations of commerce4 ,he established trading cities1 annexed harbours and hired a navy4 ,but even then1 and again in the reign of ,uzziah1 which reflects much of ,solomon's commercial glory1 ,israel traded by deputies1 and the mass of the people remained innocent of mercantile habits4 ,perhaps to moderns the most impressive proof of how little ,israel had to do with trade is to be found in their laws of money-lending and of interest4 ,the absolute prohibition which ,moses placed upon the charging of interest could only have been possible among a people with the most insignificant commerce4 ,to ,isaiah himself commerce must have appeared alien4 ,human life1 as he pictures it1 is composed of war1 politics and agriculture2 his ideals for society are those of the shepherd and the farmer4 ,we moderns cannot dissociate the future welfare of humanity from the triumphs of trade4 ,for ,i dipt into the future1 far as human eye could see1 ,saw the vision of the world and all the wonder that would be2 ,saw the heavens fill with commerce1 argosies of magic sails1 ,pilots of the purple twilight1 dropping down with costly bales4 ,but all ,isaiah's future is full of gardens and busy fields1 of irrigating rivers and canals3-- ,until the ,spirit be poured upon us from on high1 and the wilderness become a fruitful field1 and the fruitful field be counted for a forest4444 ,blessed are ye1 that sow beside all waters1 that send forth the feet of the ox and the ass4 ,and ,he shall give the rain of thy seed1 that thou shalt sow the ground withal1 and bread-corn1 the increase of the ground2 and it shall be juicy and fat3 in that day shall thy cattle feed in large pastures4 ,conceive how trade looked to eyes which dwelt with enthusiasm upon scenes like these6 ,it must have seemed to blast the future1 to disturb the regularity of life with such violence as to shake religion herself6 ,with all our convictions of the benefits of trade1 even we feel no greater regret or alarm than when we observe the invasion by the rude forces of trade of some scene of rural felicity3 blackening of sky and earth and stream2 increasing complexity and entanglement of life2 enormous growth of new problems and temptations2 strange knowledge1 ambitions and passions1 that throb through life and strain the tissue of its simple constitution1 like novel engines1 which shake the ground and the strong walls1 accustomed once to re-echo only the simple music of the mill-wheel and the weaver's shuttle4 ,isaiah did not fear an invasion of ,judah by the habits and the machines of trade4 ,there is no foreboding in this chapter of the day when his own people were to take the place of the ,phoenicians as the commercial harlots of the world1 and a ,jew was to be synonymous with usurer and publican4 ,yet we may employ our feelings to imagine his1 and understand what this prophet--seated in the sanctuary of a pastoral and agricultural tribe1 with its simple offerings of doves1 and lambs and sheaves of corn1 telling how their homes1 and fields and whole rustic manner of life were subject to ,god--thought1 and feared1 and hoped of the vast commerce of ,phoenicia1 wondering how it also should be sanctified to ,jehovah4 ,first of all1 ,isaiah1 as we might have expected from his large faith and broad sympathies1 accepts and acknowledges this great world-force4 ,his noble spirit shows neither timidity nor jealousy before it4 ,before his view what an unblemished prospect of it spreads6 ,his descriptions tell more of his appreciation than long laudations would have done4 ,he grows enthusiastic upon the grandeur of ,tyre2 and even when he prophesies that ,assyria shall destroy it1 it is with the feeling that such a destruction is really a desecration1 and as if there lived essential glory in great commercial enterprise4 ,certainly from such a spirit we have much to learn4 ,how often has religion1 when brought face to face with the new forces of a generation--commerce1 democracy or science--shown either a base timidity or baser jealousy1 and met the innovations with cries of detraction or despair6 ,isaiah reads a lesson to the modern ,church in the preliminary spirit with which she should meet the novel experiences of ,providence4 ,whatever judgement may afterwards have to be passed1 there is the immediate duty of frankly recognising greatness wherever it may occur4 ,this is an essential principle1 from the forgetfulness of which modern religion has suffered much4 ,nothing is gained by attempting to minimise new departures in the world's history2 but everything is lost if we sit down in fear of them4 ,it is a duty we owe to ourselves1 and a worship which ,providence demands from us1 that we ungrudgingly appreciate every magnitude of which history brings us the knowledge4 ,it is almost an unnecessary task to apply ,isaiah's meaning to the commerce of our own day4 ,but let us not miss his example in this3 that the right to criticise the habits of trade and the ability to criticise them healthily are alone won by a just appreciation of trade's world-wide glory and serviceableness4 ,there is no use preaching against the venal spirit and manifold temptations and degradations of trade1 until we have realised the indispensableness of trade and its capacity for disciplining and exalting its ministers4 ,the only way to correct the abuses of the commercial spirit1 against which many in our day are loud with indiscriminate rebuke1 is to impress its victims1 having first impressed yourself1 with the opportunities and the ideals of commerce4 ,a thing is great partly by its traditions and partly by its opportunities--partly by what it has accomplished and partly by the doors of serviceableness of which it holds the key4 ,by either of these standards the magnitude of commerce is simply overwhelming4 ,having discovered the world-forces1 commerce has built thereon the most powerful of our modern empires4 ,its exigencies compel peace2 its resources are the sinews of war4 ,if it has not always preceded religion and science in the conquest of the globe1 it has shared with them their triumphs4 ,commerce has recast the modern world1 so that we hardly think of the old national divisions in the greater social classes which have been its direct creation4 ,commerce determines national policies2 its markets are among the schools of statesmen2 its merchants are still princes1 and its traffickers the honourable of the earth4 ,therefore let all merchants and their apprentices believe1 ,here is something worth putting our manhood into1 worth living for1 not with our brains only or our appetites1 but with our conscience1 with our imagination1 with every curiosity and sympathy of our nature4 ,here is a calling with a healthy discipline1 with a free spirit1 with unrivalled opportunities of service1 with an ancient and essential dignity4 ,the reproach which is so largely imagined upon trade is the relic of a barbarous age4 ,do not tolerate it1 for under its shadow1 as under other artificial and unhealthy contempts of society1 there are apt to grow up those sordid and slavish tempers1 which soon make men deserve the reproach that was at first unjustly cast upon them4 ,dissipate the base influence of this reproach by lifting the imagination upon the antiquity and world-wide opportunities of trade--trade1 whose origin1 as ,isaiah so finely puts it1 is of ancient days2 and her feet carry her afar off to sojourn4 ,so generous an appreciation of the grandeur of commerce does not prevent ,isaiah from exposing its besetting sin and degradation4 ,the vocation of a merchant differs from others in this1 that there is no inherent nor instinctive obligation in it to ends higher than those of financial profit--emphasized in our days into the more dangerous constraint of immediate financial profit4 ,no profession is of course absolutely free from the risk of this servitude2 but other professions offer escapes1 or at least mitigations1 which are not possible to nearly the same extent in trade4 ,artist1 artisan1 preacher and statesman have ideals which generally act contrary to the compulsion of profit and tend to create a nobility of mind strong enough to defy it4 ,they have given1 so to speak1 hostages to heaven--ideals of beauty1 of accurate scholarship or of moral influence1 which they dare not risk by abandoning themselves to the hunt for gain4 ,but the calling of a merchant is not thus safeguarded4 ,it does not afford those visions1 those occasions of being caught away to the heavens1 which are the inherent glories of other lives4 ,the habits of trade make this the first thought--not what things of beauty are in themselves1 not what men are as brothers1 not what life is as ,god's discipline1 but what things of beauty1 and men and opportunities are worth to us--and in these times what they are immediately worth--as measured by money4 ,in such an absorption art1 humanity1 morals and religion become matters of growing indifference4 ,to this spirit1 which treats all things and men1 high or low1 as matters simply of profit1 ,isaiah gives a very ugly name4 ,we call it the mercenary or venal spirit4 ,isaiah says it is the spirit of the harlot4 ,the history of ,phoenicia justified his words4 ,to-day we remember her by nothing that is great1 by nothing that is original4 ,she left no art nor literature1 and her once brave and skilful populations degenerated till we know them only as the slave-dealers1 panders and prostitutes of the ,roman empire4 ,if we desire to find ,phoenicia's influence on the religion of the world1 we have to seek for it among the most sensual of ,greek myths and the abominable practices of ,corinthian worship4 ,with such terrible literalness was ,isaiah's harlot-curse fulfilled4 ,what is true of ,phoenicia may become true of ,britain1 and what has been seen on the large scale of a nation is exemplified every day in individual lives4 ,the man who is entirely eaten up with the zeal of gain is no better than what ,isaiah called ,tyre4 ,he has prostituted himself to covetousness4 ,if day and night our thoughts are of profit1 and the habit1 so easily engendered in these times1 of asking only1 ,what can ,i make of this8 is allowed to grow upon us1 it shall surely come to pass that we are found sacrificing1 like the poor unfortunate1 the most sacred of our endowments and affections for gain1 demeaning our natures at the feet of the world for the sake of the world's gold4 ,a woman sacrifices her purity for coin1 and the world casts her out4 ,but some who would not touch her have sacrificed honour and love and pity for the same base wage1 and in ,god's sight are no better than she4 ,ah1 how much need is there for these bold1 brutal standards of the ,hebrew prophet to correct our own social misappreciations6 ,now for a very vain delusion upon this subject6 ,it is often imagined in our day that if a man seek atonement for the venal spirit through the study of art1 through the practice of philanthropy or through the cultivation of religion1 he shall surely find it4 ,this is false--plausible and often practised but utterly false4 ,unless a man see and reverence beauty in the very workshop and office of his business1 unless he feel those whom he meets there1 his employs and customers1 as his brethren1 unless he keep his business methods free from fraud1 and honestly recognise his gains as a trust from the ,lord1 then no amount of devotion elsewhere to the fine arts1 nor perseverance in philanthropy1 nor fondness for the ,church evinced by ever so large subscriptions1 will deliver him from the devil of mercenariness4 ,that is a plea of alibi that shall not prevail on the judgement day4 ,he is only living a double life1 whereof his art1 philanthropy or religion is the occasional and dilettante portion1 with not nearly so much influence on his character as the other1 his calling and business1 in which he still sacrifices love to gain4 ,his real world--the world in which ,god set him1 to buy and sell indeed1 but also to serve and glorify his ,god--he is treating only as a big warehouse and exchange4 ,and so much is this the case at the present day1 in spite of all the worship of art and religion which is fashionable in mercantile circles1 that we do not go too far when we say that if ,jesus were now to visit our large markets and manufactories1 in which the close intercourse of numbers of human persons renders the opportunities of service and testimony to ,god so frequent1 ,he would scourge men from them1 as ,he scourged the traffickers of the ,temple1 for that they had forgotten that here was their ,father's house1 where their brethren had to be owned and helped1 and their ,father's glory revealed to the world4 ,a nation with such a spirit was of course foredoomed to destruction4 ,isaiah predicts the absolute disappearance of ,tyre from the attention of the world4 ,tyre shall be forgotten seventy years4 ,then1 like some poor unfortunate whose day of beauty is past1 she shall in vain practise her old advertisements on men4 ,after the end of seventy years it shall be unto ,tyre as in the song of the harlot3 ,take an harp1 go about the city1 thou harlot that hast been forgotten2 make sweet melody1 sing many songs1 that thou mayest be remembered4 ,but ,commerce is essential to the world4 ,tyre must revive2 and the prophet sees her revive as the minister of ,religion1 the purveyor of the food of the servants of the ,lord1 and of the accessories of their worship4 ,it must be confessed1 that we are not a little shocked when we find ,isaiah continuing to apply to ,commerce his metaphor of a harlot1 even after ,commerce has entered the service of the true religion4 ,he speaks of her wages being devoted to ,jehovah1 just in the same manner as those of certain notorious women of heathen temples were devoted to the idol of the temple4 ,this is even against the directions of the ,mosaic law4 ,isaiah1 however1 was a poet2 and in his flights we must not expect him to carry the whole ,law on his back4 ,he was a poet1 and probably no analogy would have more vividly appealed to his ,oriental audience4 ,it will be foolish to allow our natural prejudice against what we may feel to be the unhealthiness of the metaphor to blind us to the magnificence of the thought which he clothes in it4 ,all this is another proof of the sanity and far sight of our prophet4 ,again we find that his conviction that judgement is coming does not render his spirit morbid1 nor disturb his eye for things of beauty and profit in the world4 ,commerce1 with all her faults1 is essential1 and must endure1 nay shall prove in the days to come ,religion's most profitable minister4 ,the generosity and wisdom of this passage are the more striking when we remember the extremity of unrelieved denunciation to which other great teachers of religion have allowed themselves to be hurled by their rage against the sins of trade4 ,but ,isaiah1 in the largest sense of the expression1 is a man of the world--a man of the world because ,god made the world and rules it4 ,yet even from his far sight was hidden the length to which in the last days ,commerce would carry her services to man and ,god1 proving as she has done1 under the flag of another ,phoenicia1 to all the extent of ,isaiah's longing1 one of ,religion's most sincere and profitable handmaids4 ,,book ,,iv4 ,,jerusalem ,,and ,,sennacherib1 #gja ,b4,c4 ,,isaiah3-- xxxvi4 #a4 ,early in #gja4 i4 xxii4 xxxiii4 ,a little later4 xxxvi4 #b-xxxvii4 xxxviii4-xxxix4 ,date uncertain4 ,,book ,,iv4 ,into this fourth book we put all the rest of the prophecies of the ,book of ,isaiah1 that have to do with the prophet's own time3 chaps4 i41 xxii4 and xxxiii41 with the narrative in xxxvi41 xxxvii4 ,all these refer to the only ,assyrian invasion of ,judah and siege of ,jerusalem3 that undertaken by ,sennacherib in #gja4 ,it is1 however1 right to remember once more1 that many authorities maintain that there were two ,assyrian invasions of ,judah--one by ,sargon in #gaa1 the other by ,sennacherib in #gja--;and that chaps4 i4 and xxii4 7as well as x4 #e-cd7 belong to the former of these4 ,the theory is ingenious and tempting2 but1 in the silence of the ,assyrian annals about any invasion of ,judah by ,sargon1 it is impossible to adopt it4 ,and although chaps4 i4 and xxii4 differ very greatly in tone from chap4 xxxiii41 yet to account for the difference it is not necessary to suppose two different invasions1 with a considerable period between them4 ,virtually1 as will appear in the course of our exposition1 ,sennacherib's invasion of ,judah was a double one4 #a4 ,the first time ,sennacherib's army invaded ,judah they took all the fenced cities1 and probably invested ,jerusalem1 but withdrew on payment of tribute and the surrender of the casus belli1 the ,assyrian vassal ,padi1 whom the ,ekronites had deposed and given over to the keeping of ,hezekiah4 ,to this invasion refer ,isa4 i41 xxii4 and the first verse of xxxvi43 ,now it came to pass in the fourteenth#ec year of ,king ,hezekiah that ,sennacherib1 ,king of ,assyria1 came up against all the fenced cities of ,judah and took them4 ,this verse is the same as #b ,kings xviii4 #ac1 to which1 however1 there is added in vv4 #ad-af an account of the tribute sent by ,hezekiah to ,sennacherib at ,lachish1 that is not included in the narrative in ,isaiah4 ,compare #b ,chron4 xxxii4 #a4 #ec ,it is confusing to find this date attached to ,sennacherib's invasion of #gja1 unless1 with one or two critics1 we place ,hezekiah's accession in #gae4 ,but ,hezekiah acceded in #gbh or #gbg1 and #gja would therefore be his twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh year4 ,mr4 ,cheyne1 who takes #gbg as the year of ,hezekiah's accession1 gets out of the difficulty by reading ,sargon for ,sennacherib in this verse and in #b ,kings xiii41 and thus secures another reference to that invasion of ,judah1 which he supposes to have taken place under ,sargon between #gab and #gaj4 ,by the change of a letter some would read twenty-fourth for fourteenth4 ,but in any case this date is confusing4 #b4 ,but scarcely had the tribute been paid when ,sennacherib1 himself advancing to meet ,egypt1 sent back upon ,jerusalem a second army of investment1 with which was the ,rabshakeh2 and this was the army that so mysteriously disappeared from the eyes of the besieged4 ,to the treacherous return of the ,assyrians and the sudden deliverance of ,jerusalem from their grasp refer ,isa4 xxxiii41 xxxvi4 #b-xxxvii41 with the fuller and evidently original narrative in #b ,kings xviii4 #ag-xix4 ,compare #b ,chron4 xxxii4 #i-bc4 ,to the history of this double attempt upon ,jerusalem in #gja--xxxvi4 and xxxvii4--there has been appended in xxxviii4 and xxxix4 an account of ,hezekiah's illness and of an embassy to him from ,babylon4 ,these events probably happened some years before ,sennacherib's invasion4 ,but it will be most convenient for us to take them in the order in which they stand in the canon4 ,they will naturally lead us up to a question that it is necessary we should discuss before taking leave of ,isaiah--whether this great prophet of the endurance of the kingdom of ,god upon earth had any gospel for the individual who dropped away from it into death4 ,,chapter ,,xix4 ,,at ,,the ,,lowest ,,ebb4 ,,isaiah i4 and xxii4 7#gja ,b4,c474 ,in the drama of ,isaiah's life we have now arrived at the final act--a short and sharp one of a few months4 ,the time is #gja ,b4,c41 the fortieth year of ,isaiah's ministry1 and about the twenty-sixth of ,hezekiah's reign4 ,the background is the invasion of ,palestine by ,sennacherib4 ,the stage itself is the city of ,jerusalem4 ,in the clear atmosphere before the bursting of the storm ,isaiah has looked round the whole world--his world--uttering oracles on the nations from ,tyre to ,egypt and from ,ethiopia to ,babylon4 ,but now the ,assyrian storm has burst1 and all except the immediate neighbourhood of the prophet is obscured4 ,from ,jerusalem ,isaiah will not again lift his eyes4 ,the stage is thus narrow and the time short1 but the action one of the most critical in the history of ,israel1 taking rank with the ,exodus from ,egypt and the ,return from ,babylon4 ,to ,isaiah himself it marks the summit of his career4 ,for half a century ,zion has been preparing for1 forgetting and again preparing for1 her first and final struggle with the ,assyrian4 ,now she is to meet her foe1 face to face across her own walls4 ,for forty years ,isaiah has predicted for the ,assyrian an uninterrupted path of conquest to the very gates of ,jerusalem1 but certain check and confusion there4 ,sennacherib has overrun the world1 and leaps upon ,zion4 ,the ,jewish nation await their fate1 ,isaiah his vindication1 and the credit of ,israel's religion1 one of the most extraordinary tests to which a spiritual faith was ever subjected4 ,in the end1 by the mysterious disappearance of the ,assyrian1 ,jerusalem was saved1 the prophet was left with his remnant and the future still open for ,israel4 ,but at the beginning of the end such an issue was by no means probable4 ,jewish panic and profligacy almost prevented the ,divine purpose1 and ,isaiah went near to breaking his heart over the city1 for whose redemption he had travailed for a lifetime4 ,he was as sure as ever that this redemption must come1 but a collapse of the people's faith and patriotism at the eleventh hour made its coming seem worthless4 ,jerusalem appeared bent on forestalling her deliverance by moral suicide4 ,despair1 not of ,god but of the city1 settled on ,isaiah's heart2 and in such a mood he wrote chap4 xxii4 ,we may entitle it therefore1 though written at a time when the tide should have been running to the full1 ,at the ,lowest ,ebb4 ,we have thus stated at the outset the motive of this chapter1 because it is one of the most unexpected and startling of all ,isaiah's prophecies4 ,in it we can discern precipices4 ,beneath our eyes1 long lifted by the prophet to behold a future stretching very far forth1 this chapter suddenly yawns1 a pit of blackness4 ,for utterness of despair and the absolute sentence which it passes on the citizens of ,zion we have had nothing like it from ,isaiah since the evil days of ,ahaz4 ,the historical portions of the ,bible which cover this period are not cleft by such a crevasse1 and of course the official ,assyrian annals1 full as they are of the details of ,sennacherib's campaign in ,palestine1 know nothing of the moral condition of ,jerusalem4#ed ,yet if we put the ,hebrew and ,assyrian narratives together1 and compare them with chaps4 i4 and xxii4 of ,isaiah1 we may be sure that the following was something like the course of events which led down to this woeful depth in ,judah's experience4 #ed ,records of the ,past1 i4 #cc ff4 vii42 ,schrader's ,cuneiform ,inscriptions and the ,old ,testament 7,whitehouse's translation74 ,in a ,syrian campaign ,sennacherib's path was plain--to begin with the ,phoenician cities1 march quickly south by the level coastland1 subduing the petty chieftains upon it1 meet ,egypt at its southern end1 and then1 when he had rid himself of his only formidable foe1 turn to the more delicate task of warfare among the hills of ,judah--a campaign which he could scarcely undertake with a hostile force like ,egypt on his flank4 ,this course1 he tells us1 he followed4 ,in my third campaign1 to the land of ,syria ,i went4 ,luliah 7,elulus71 ,king of ,sidon--for the fearful splendour of my majesty overwhelmed him--fled to a distant spot in the midst of the sea4 ,his land ,i entered4 ,city after city fell to the invader4 ,the princes of ,aradus1 ,byblus and ,ashdod1 by the coast1 and even ,moab and ,edom1 far inland1 sent him their submission4 ,he attacked ,ascalon1 and captured its king4 ,he went on1 and took the ,philistine cities of ,beth-dagon1 ,joppa1 ,barka and ,azor1 all of them within forty miles of ,jerusalem1 and some even visible from her neighbourhood4 ,south of this group1 and a little over twenty-five miles from ,jerusalem1 lay ,ekron2 and here ,sennacherib had so good a reason for anger1 that the inhabitants1 expecting no mercy at his hands1 prepared a stubborn defence4 ,ten years before this ,sargon had set ,padi1 a vassal of his own1 as king over ,ekron2 but the ,ekronites had risen against ,padi1 put him in chains1 and sent him to their ally ,hezekiah1 who now held him in ,jerusalem4 ,these men1 says ,sennacherib1 were now terrified in their hearts2 the shadows of death overwhelmed them4#ee ,before ,ekron was reduced1 however1 the ,egyptian army arrived in ,philistia1 and ,sennacherib had to abandon the siege for these arch-enemies4 ,he defeated them in the neighbourhood1 at ,eltekeh1 returned to ,ekron1 and completed its siege4 ,then1 while he himself advanced southwards in pursuit of the ,egyptians1 he detached a corps1 which1 marching eastwards through the mountain passes1 overran all ,judah and threatened ,jerusalem4 ,and ,hezekiah1 ,king of ,judah1 who had not bowed down at my feet1 forty-six of his strong cities1 his castles and the smaller towns in their neighbourhood beyond number1 by casting down ramparts and by open attack1 by battle--zuk1 of the feet2 nisi1 hewing to pieces and casting down 787--,i besieged1 ,i captured4444 ,he himself1 like a bird in a cage1 inside ,jerusalem1 his royal city1 ,i shut him up2 siege-towers against him ,i constructed1 for he had given command to renew the bulwarks of the great gate of his city4#ef ,but ,sennacherib does not say that he took ,jerusalem1 and simply closes the narrative of his campaign with the account of large tribute which ,hezekiah sent after him to ,nineveh4 #ee ,records of the ,past1 i4 #ch2 vii4 #fb4 #ef ,ibid41 i41 #dj2 ,schrader1 i41 #bhf4 ,here1 then1 we have material for a graphic picture of ,jerusalem and her populace1 when chaps4 i4 and xxii4 were uttered by ,isaiah4 ,at ,jerusalem we are within a day's journey of any part of the territory of ,judah4 ,we feel the kingdom throb to its centre at ,assyria's first footfall on the border4 ,the nation's life is shuddering in upon its capital1 couriers dashing up with the first news2 fugitives hard upon them2 palace1 arsenal1 market and temple thrown into commotion2 the politicians busy2 the engineers hard at work completing the fortifications1 leading the suburban wells to a reservoir within the walls1 levelling every house and tree outside which could give shelter to the besiegers1 and heaping up the material on the ramparts1 till there lies nothing but a great1 bare1 waterless circle round a high-banked fortress4 ,across this bareness the lines of fugitives streaming to the gates2 provincial officials and their retinues2 soldiers whom ,hezekiah had sent out to meet the foe1 returning without even the dignity of defeat upon them2 husbandmen1 with cattle and remnants of grain in disorder2 women and children2 the knaves1 cowards and helpless of the whole kingdom pouring their fear1 dissoluteness and disease into the already-unsettled populace of ,jerusalem4 ,inside the walls opposing political factions and a weak king2 idle crowds1 swaying to every rumour and intrigue2 the ordinary restraints and regularities of life suspended1 even patriotism gone with counsel and courage1 but in their place fear and shame and greed of life4 ,such was the state in which ,jerusalem faced the hour of her visitation4 ,gradually the ,visitant came near over the thirty miles which lay between the capital and the border4 ,signs of the ,assyrian advance were given in the sky1 and night after night the watchers on ,mount ,zion1 seeing the glare in the west1 must have speculated which of the cities of ,judah was being burned4 ,clouds of smoke across the heavens from prairie and forest fires told how war1 even if it passed1 would leave a trail of famine2 and men thought with breaking hearts of the villages and fields1 heritage of the tribes of old1 that were now bare to the foot and the fire of the foreigner4 ,your country is desolate2 your cities are burned with fire2 your land1 strangers devour it in your presence1 and it is desolate as the overthrow of strangers4 ,and the daughter of ,zion is left as a booth in a vineyard1 as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers4 ,except ,jehovah of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant1 we should have been as ,sodom1 we should have been like unto ,gomorrah4#eg ,then came touch of the enemy1 the appearance of armed bands1 vistas down ,jerusalem's favourite valleys of chariots1 squadrons of horsemen emerging upon the plateaus to north and west of the city1 heavy siege-towers and swarms of men innumerable4 ,and ,elam bare the quiver1 with troops of men and horsemen2 and ,kir uncovered the shield4 ,at last they saw their fears of fifty years face to face6 ,far-away names were standing by their gates1 actual bowmen and flashing shields6 ,as ,jerusalem gazed upon the terrible ,assyrian armaments1 how many of her inhabitants remembered ,isaiah's words delivered a generation before6--,behold1 they shall come with speed swiftly2 none shall be weary or stumble among them2 neither shall the string of their loins be lax nor the latchet of their shoes be broken2 whose arrows are sharp1 and all their bows bent2 their horses' hoofs shall be counted like flint1 and their wheels like a whirlwind2 their roaring shall be like a lion3 they shall roar like young lions4 ,for all this ,his anger is not turned away1 but ,his hand is stretched out still4 #eg ,chap4 i4 #g-i4 ,there were1 however1 two supports1 on which that distracted populace within the walls still steadied themselves4 ,the one was the ,temple-worship1 the other the ,egyptian alliance4 ,history has many remarkable instances of peoples betaking themselves in the hour of calamity to the energetic discharge of the public rites of religion4 ,but such a resort is seldom1 if ever1 a real moral conversion4 ,it is merely physical nervousness1 apprehension for life1 clutching at the one thing within reach that feels solid1 which it abandons as soon as panic has passed4 ,when the crowds in ,jerusalem betook themselves to the ,temple1 with unwonted wealth of sacrifice1 ,isaiah denounced this as hypocrisy and futility4 ,to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto ,me8 saith ,jehovah4444 ,i am weary to bear them4 ,and when ye spread forth your hands1 ,i will hide ,mine eyes from you2 yea1 when ye make many prayers1 ,i will not hear 7i4 #aa-ae74 ,isaiah might have spared his scornful orders to the people to desist from worship4 ,soon afterwards they abandoned it of their own will1 but from motives very different from those urged by him4 ,the second support to which ,jerusalem clung was the ,egyptian alliance--the pet project of the party then in power4 ,they had carried it to a successful issue1 taunting ,isaiah with their success4#eh ,he had continued to denounce it1 and now the hour was approaching when their cleverness and confidence were to be put to the test4 ,it was known in ,jerusalem that an ,egyptian army was advancing to ,sennacherib1 and politicians and people awaited the encounter with anxiety4 #eh ,see p4 #bch4 ,we are aware what happened4 ,egypt was beaten at ,eltekeh2 the alliance was stamped a failure2 ,jerusalem's last worldly hope was taken from her4 ,when the news reached the city1 something took place1 of which our moral judgement tells us more than any actual record of facts4 ,the ,government of ,hezekiah gave way2 the rulers1 whose courage and patriotism had been identified with the ,egyptian alliance1 lost all hope for their country1 and fled1 as ,isaiah puts it1 en masse 7xxii4 #c74 ,there was no battle1 no defeat at arms 7id4 #b1 #c72 but the ,jewish ,state collapsed4 ,then1 when the last material hope of ,judah fell1 fell her religion too4 ,the ,egyptian disappointment1 while it drove the rulers out of their false policies1 drove the people out of their unreal worship4 ,what had been a city of devotees became in a moment a city of revellers4 ,formerly all had been sacrifices and worship1 but now feasting and blasphemy4 ,behold1 joy and gladness1 slaying oxen and killing sheep1 eating flesh and drinking wine3 ,let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we die 7id4 #ac4 ,the reference of ver4 #ab is probably to chap4 i474 ,now all ,isaiah's ministry had been directed just against these two things3 the ,egyptian alliance and the purely formal observance of religion--trust in the world and trust in religiousness4 ,and together both of these had given way1 and the ,assyrian was at the gates4 ,truly it was the hour of ,isaiah's vindication4 ,yet--and this is the tragedy--it had come too late4 ,the prophet could not use it4 ,the two things he said would collapse had collapsed1 but for the people there seemed now no help to be justified from the thing which he said would remain4 ,what was the use of the city's deliverance1 when the people themselves had failed6 ,the feelings of triumph1 which the prophet might have expressed1 were swallowed up in unselfish grief over the fate of his wayward and abandoned ,jerusalem4 ,what aileth thee now--and in these words we can hear the old man addressing his fickle child1 whose changefulness by this time he knew so well--what aileth thee now that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops--we see him standing at his door watching this ghastly holiday--,o thou that art full of shoutings1 a tumultuous city1 a joyous town8 ,what are you rejoicing at in such an hour as this1 when you have not even the bravery of your soldiers to celebrate1 when you are without that pride which has brought songs from the lips of a defeated people as they learned that their sons had fallen with their faces to the foe1 and has made even the wounds of the dead borne through the gate lips of triumph1 calling to festival6 ,for thy slain are not slain with the sword1 neither are they dead in battle4 ,all thy chiefs fled in heaps2 ,without bow they were taken3 ,all thine that were found were taken in heaps2 ,from far had they run4 ,wherefore ,i say1 ,look away from me2 ,let me make bitterness bitterer by weeping4 ,press not to comfort me ,for the ruin of the daughter of my people4 ,urge not your mad holiday upon me6 ,for a day of discomfiture and of breaking and of perplexity hath the ,lord1 ,jehovah of hosts1 in the valley of vision1 a breaking down of the wall and a crying to the mountain4 ,these few words of prose1 which follow the pathetic elegy1 have a finer pathos still4 ,the cumulative force of the successive clauses is very impressive3 disappointment at the eleventh hour2 the sense of a being trampled and overborne by sheer brute force2 the counsels1 courage1 hope and faith of fifty years crushed to blank perplexity1 and all this from ,himself--the ,lord1 ,jehovah of hosts--in the very valley of vision1 the home of prophecy2 as if ,he had meant of purpose to destroy these long confidences of the past on the floor where they had been wrestled for and asserted1 and not by the force of the foe1 but by the folly of ,his own people1 to make them ashamed4 ,the last clause crashes out the effect of it all2 every spiritual rampart and refuge torn down1 there is nothing left but an appeal to the hills to fall and cover us--a breaking down of the wall and a crying to the mountain4 ,on the brink of the precipice1 ,isaiah draws back for a moment1 to describe with some of his old fire the appearance of the besiegers 7vv4 #f-h;a74 ,and this suggests what kind of preparation ,jerusalem had made for her foe--every kind1 says ,isaiah1 but the supreme one4 ,the arsenal1 ,solomon's forest-house1 with its cedar pillars1 had been looked to 7ver4 #h71 the fortifications inspected and increased1 and the suburban waters brought within them 7vv4 #i-aa;a74 ,but ye looked not unto ,him that had done this1 who had brought this providence upon you2 neither had ye respect unto ,him that fashioned it long ago1 whose own plan it had been4 ,to your alliances and fortifications you fled in the hour of calamity1 but not to ,him in whose guidance the course of calamity lay4 ,and therefore1 when your engineering and diplomacy failed you1 your religion vanished with them4 ,in that day did the ,lord1 ,jehovah of hosts1 call to weeping1 and to mourning1 and to baldness1 and to girding with sackcloth2 but1 behold1 joy and gladness1 slaying oxen and killing sheep1 eating flesh and drinking wine3 ,let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we shall die4 ,it was the dropping of the mask4 ,for half a century this people had worshipped ,god1 but they had never trusted ,him beyond the limits of their treaties and their bulwarks4 ,and so when their allies were defeated1 and their walls began to tremble1 their religion1 bound up with these things1 collapsed also2 they ceased even to be men1 crying like beasts1 ,let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we die4 ,for such a state of mind ,isaiah will hold out no promise2 it is the sin against the ,holy ,ghost1 and for it there is no forgiveness4 ,and ,jehovah of hosts revealed ,himself in mine ears4 ,surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die1 saith the ,lord1 ,jehovah of hosts4 ,back forty years the word had been1 ,go and tell this people1 ,hear ye indeed1 but understand not2 and see ye indeed1 but perceive not4 ,make the heart of this people fat1 and make their ears heavy1 and shut their eyes1 lest they see with their eyes1 and hear with their ears1 and understand with their heart1 and turn again and be healed4 ,what happened now was only what was foretold then3 ,and if there be yet a tenth in it1 it shall again be for consumption4 ,that radical revision of judgement was now being literally fulfilled1 when ,isaiah1 sure at last of his remnant within the walls of ,jerusalem1 was forced for their sin to condemn even them to death4 99 99 99 99 99 ,nevertheless1 ,isaiah had still respect to the ultimate survival of a remnant4 ,how firmly he believed in it could not be more clearly illustrated than by the fact that when he had so absolutely devoted his fellow-citizens to destruction he also took the most practical means for securing a better political future4 ,if there is any reason1 it can only be this1 for putting the second section of chap4 xxii41 which advocates a change of ministry in the city 7vv4 #ae-bb71 so close to the first1 which sees ahead nothing but destruction for the ,state 7vv4 #a-ad74 ,the mayor of the palace at this time was one ,shebna1 also called minister or deputy 7lit4 friend of the king74 ,that his father is not named implies perhaps that ,shebna was a foreigner2 his own name betrays a ,syrian origin2 and he has been justly supposed to be the leader of the party then in power1 whose policy was the ,egyptian alliance1 and whom in these latter years ,isaiah had so frequently denounced as the root of ,judah's bitterness4 ,to this unfamilied intruder1 who had sought to establish himself in ,jerusalem1 after the manner of those days1 by hewing himself a great sepulchre1 ,isaiah brought sentence of violent banishment3 ,behold1 ,jehovah will be hurling1 hurling thee away1 thou big man1 and crumpling1 crumpling thee together4 ,he will roll1 roll thee on1 thou rolling-stone1 like a ball thrown out on broad level ground2 there shall thou die1 and there shall be the chariots of thy glory1 thou shame of the house of thy lord4 ,and ,i thrust thee from thy post1 and from thy station do they pull thee down4 ,this vagabond was not to die in his bed1 nor to be gathered in his big tomb to the people on whom he had foisted himself4 ,he should continue a rolling-stone4 ,for him1 like ,cain1 there was a land of ,nod2 and upon it he was to find a vagabond's death4 ,to fill this upstart's place1 ,isaiah solemnly designated a man with a father3 ,eliakim1 the son of ,hilkiah4 ,the formulas he uses are perhaps the official ones customary upon induction to an office4 ,but it may be also1 that ,isaiah has woven into these some expressions of even greater promise than usual4 ,for this change of office-bearers was critical1 and the overthrow of the party of action meant to ,isaiah the beginning of the blessed future4 ,and it shall come to pass that in that day ,i will call ,my servant ,eliakim1 the son of ,hilkiah2 and ,i will clothe him with thy robe1 and with thy girdle will ,i strengthen him1 and thine administration will ,i give into his hand1 and he shall be for a father to the inhabitant of ,jerusalem and to the house of ,judah4 ,and ,i will set the key of the house of ,david upon his shoulder2 and he shall open1 and none shut3 and he shall shut1 and none open4 ,and ,i will hammer him in1 a nail in a firm place1 and he shall be for a throne of glory to his father's house4 ,thus to the last ,isaiah will not allow ,shebna to forget that he is without root among the people of ,god1 that he has neither father nor family4 ,but a family is a temptation1 and the weight of it may drag even the man of the ,lord's own hammering out of his place4 ,this very year we find ,eliakim in ,shebna's post1#ei and ,shebna reduced to be secretary2 but ,eliakim's family seem to have taken advantage of their relative's position1 and either at the time he was designated1 or more probably later1 ,isaiah wrote two sentences of warning upon the dangers of nepotism4 ,catching at the figure1 with which his designation of ,eliakim closed1 that ,eliakim would be a peg in a solid wall1 a throne on which the glory of his father's house might settle1 ,isaiah reminds the much-encumbered statesman that the firmest peg will give way if you hang too much on it1 the strongest man be pulled down by his dependent and indolent family4 ,they shall hang upon him all the weight of his father's house1 the scions and the offspring 7terms contrasted as degrees of worth71 all the little vessels1 from the vessels of cups to all the vessels of flagons4 ,in that day1 saith ,jehovah of hosts1 shall the peg that was knocked into a firm place give way1 and it shall be knocked out and fall1 and down shall be cut the burden that was upon it1 for ,jehovah hath spoken4 #ei ,isa4 xxxvi4 #c4 ,so we have not one1 but a couple of tragedies4 ,eliakim1 the son of ,hilkiah1 follows ,shebna1 the son of ,nobody4 ,the fate of the overburdened nail is as grievous as that of the rolling stone4 ,it is easy to pass this prophecy over as a trivial incident2 but when we have carefully analysed each verse1 restored to the words their exact shade of signification1 and set them in their proper contrasts1 we perceive the outlines of two social dramas1 which it requires very little imagination to invest with engrossing moral interest4 ,,chapter ,,xx4 ,,the ,,turn ,,of ,,the ,,tide3 ,,moral ,,effects ,,of ,,forgiveness4 ,,isaiah xxii41 contrasted with xxxiii4 7#gja ,b4,c474 ,the collapse of ,jewish faith and patriotism in the face of the enemy was complete4 ,final and absolute did ,isaiah's sentence ring out3 ,surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die1 saith ,jehovah of hosts4 ,so we learn from chap4 xxii41 written1 as we conceive1 in #gja1 when the ,assyrian armies had at last invested ,jerusalem4 ,but in chap4 xxxiii41 which critics unite in placing a few months later in the same year1 ,isaiah's tone is entirely changed4 ,he hurls the woe of the ,lord upon the ,assyrians2 confidently announces their immediate destruction2 turns1 while the whole city's faith hangs upon him1 in supplication to the ,lord2 and announces the stability of ,jerusalem1 her peace1 her glory and the forgiveness of all her sins4 ,it is this great moral difference between chaps4 xxii4 and xxxiii4--prophecies that must have been delivered within a few months of each other--which this chapter seeks to expound4 ,in spite of her collapse1 as pictured in chap4 xxii41 ,jerusalem was not taken4 ,her rulers fled2 her people1 as if death were certain1 betook themselves to dissipation2 and yet the city did not fall into the hands of the ,assyrian4 ,sennacherib himself does not pretend to have taken ,jerusalem4 ,he tells us how closely he invested ,jerusalem1 but he does not add that he took it1 a silence which is the more significant that he records the capture of every other town which his armies attempted4 ,he says that ,hezekiah offered him tribute1 and details the amount he received4 ,he adds that the tribute was not paid at ,jerusalem 7as it would have been had ,jerusalem been conquered71 but that for the payment of the tribute and the performance of homage ,hezekiah despatched his envoy#fj to him when he was at some distance from ,jerusalem4 ,all this agrees with the ,bible narrative4 ,in the book of ,kings we are told how ,hezekiah sent to the ,king of ,assyria at ,lachish1 saying1 ,i have offended2 return from me2 that which thou puttest upon me ,i will bear4 ,and the ,king of ,assyria appointed unto ,hezekiah1 ,king of ,judah1 three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold4 ,and ,hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of ,jehovah and in the treasures of the king's house4 ,at the same time did ,hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of ,jehovah1 and from the pillars which ,hezekiah1 ,king of ,judah1 had overlaid1 and gave it to the ,king of ,assyria4#fa ,it was indeed a sore submission1 when even the ,temple of the ,lord had to be stripped of its gold4 ,but it purchased the relief of the city2 and no price was too high to pay for that at such a moment as the present1 when the populace was demoralised4 ,we may even see ,isaiah's hand in the submission4 ,the integrity of ,jerusalem was the one fact on which the word of the ,lord had been pledged1 on which the promised remnant could be rallied4 ,the ,assyrian must not be able to say that he has made ,zion's ,god like the gods of the heathen1 and her people must see that even when they have given her up ,jehovah can hold her for ,himself1 though in holding ,he tear and wound 7xxxi4 #d74 ,the ,temple is greater than the gold of the ,temple2 let even the latter be stripped off and sold to the heathen if it can purchase the integrity of the former4 ,so ,jerusalem remained inviolate2 she was still the virgin1 the daughter of ,zion4 #fj ,schrader1 ,cuneiform ,inscriptions1 ,o4,t41 i41 p4 #bhf4 #fa #b ,kings xviii4 #ac-af4 ,here closes a paragraph4 ,ver4 #ag begins to describe what ,sennacherib did1 in spite of ,hezekiah's submission4 ,he had withdrawn the army that had invested ,jerusalem1 for ,hezekiah purchased its withdrawal by the tribute he sent4 ,but ,sennacherib1 in spite of this1 sent another corps of war against ,jerusalem1 which second attack is described in ver4 #ag and onwards4 ,and now upon the redeemed city ,isaiah could proceed to rebuild the shattered faith and morals of her people4 ,he could say to them1 ,everything has turned out as1 by the word of the ,lord1 ,i said it should4 ,the ,assyrian has come down2 ,egypt has failed you4 ,your politicians1 with their scorn of religion and their confidence in their cleverness1 have deserted you4 ,i told you that your numberless sacrifices and pomp of unreal religion would avail you nothing in your day of disaster1 and lo6 when this came1 your religion collapsed4 ,your abounding wickedness1 ,i said1 could only close in your ruin and desertion by ,god4 ,but one promise ,i kept steadfast3 that ,jerusalem would not fall2 and to your penitence1 whenever it should be real1 ,i assured forgiveness4 ,jerusalem stands to-day1 according to my word2 and ,i repeat my gospel4 ,history has vindicated my word1 but ,come now1 let us bring our reasoning to a close1 saith the ,lord2 though your sins be as scarlet1 they shall be white as snow3 though they be red like crimson1 they shall be as wool4 ,i call upon you to build again on your redeemed city1 and by the grace of this pardon1 the fallen ruins of your life4 ,some such sermon--if indeed not actually part of chap4 i4--we must conceive ,isaiah to have delivered to the people when ,hezekiah had bought off ,sennacherib1 for we find the state of ,jerusalem suddenly altered4 ,instead of the panic1 which imagined the daily capture of the city1 and rushed in hectic holiday to the housetops1 crying1 ,let us eat and drink1 for to-morrow we die1 we see the citizens back upon the walls1 trembling yet trusting4 ,instead of sweeping past ,isaiah in their revelry and leaving him to feel that after forty years of travail he had lost all his influence with them1 we see them gathering round about him as their single hope and confidence 7xxxvii474 ,king and people look to ,isaiah as their counsellor1 and cannot answer the enemy without consulting him4 ,what a change from the days of the ,egyptian alliance1 embassies sent off against his remonstrance1 and intrigues developed without his knowledge2 when ,ahaz insulted him1 and the drunken magnates mimicked him1 and1 in order to rouse an indolent people1 he had to walk about the streets of ,jerusalem for three years1 stripped like a captive6 ,truly this was the day of ,isaiah's triumph1 when ,god by events vindicated his prophecy1 and all the people acknowledged his leadership4 ,it was the hour of the prophet's triumph1 but the nation had as yet only trials before it4 ,god has not done with nations or men when ,he has forgiven them4 ,this people1 whom of ,his grace1 and in spite of themselves1 ,god had saved from destruction1 stood on the brink of another trial4 ,god had given them a new lease of life1 but it was immediately to pass through the furnace4 ,they had bought off ,sennacherib1 but ,sennacherib came back4 ,when ,sennacherib got the tribute1 he repented of the treaty he had made with ,hezekiah4 ,he may have felt that it was a mistake to leave in his rear so powerful a fortress1 while he had still to complete the overthrow of the ,egyptians4 ,so1 in spite of the tribute1 he sent a force back to ,jerusalem to demand her surrender4 ,we can imagine the moral effect upon ,king ,hezekiah and his people4 ,it was enough to sting the most demoralised into courage4 ,sennacherib had doubtless expected so pliant a king and so crushed a people to yield at once4 ,but we may confidently picture the joy of ,isaiah1 as he felt the return of the ,assyrians to be the very thing required to restore spirit to his demoralised countrymen4 ,here was a foe1 whom they could face with a sense of justice1 and not1 as they had met him before1 in carnal confidence and the pride of their own cleverness4 ,now was to be a war not1 like former wars1 undertaken merely for party glory1 but with the purest feelings of patriotism and the firmest sanctions of religion1 a campaign to be entered upon1 not with ,pharaoh's support and the strength of ,egyptian chariots1 but with ,god ,himself as an ally--of which it could be said to ,judah1 ,thy righteousness shall go before thee1 and the glory of the ,lord shall be thy rereward4 ,on what free1 exultant wings the spirit of ,isaiah must have risen to the sublime occasion6 ,we know him as by nature an ardent patriot and passionate lover of his city1 but through circumstance her pitiless critic and unsparing judge4 ,in all the literature of patriotism there are no finer odes and orations than those which it owes to him2 from no lips came stronger songs of war1 and no heart rejoiced more in the valour that turns the battle from the gate4 ,but till now ,isaiah's patriotism had been chiefly a conscience of his country's sins1 his passionate love for ,jerusalem repressed by as stern a loyalty to righteousness1 and all his eloquence and courage spent in holding his people from war and persuading them to returning and rest4 ,at last this conflict is at an end4 ,the stubbornness of ,judah1 which has divided like some rock the current of her prophet's energies1 and forced it back writhing and eddying upon itself1 is removed4 ,isaiah's faith and his patriotism run free with the force of twin-tides in one channel1 and we hear the fulness of their roar as they leap together upon the enemies of ,god and the fatherland4 ,woe to thee1 thou spoiler1 and thou wast not spoiled1 thou treacherous dealer1 and they did not deal treacherously with thee6 ,whenever thou ceasest to spoil1 thou shall be spoiled2 and whenever thou hast made an end to deal treacherously1 they shall deal treacherously with thee4 ,o ,jehovah1 be gracious unto us2 for ,thee have we waited3 be ,thou their arm every morning1 our salvation also in the time of trouble4 ,from the noise of a surging the peoples have fled2 from the lifting up of ,thyself the nations are scattered4 ,and gathered is your spoil1 the gathering of the caterpillar2 like the leaping of locusts1 they are leaping upon it4 ,exalted is ,jehovah2 yea1 ,he dwelleth on high3 ,he hath filled ,zion with justice and righteousness4 ,and there shall be stability of thy times1 wealth of salvation1 wisdom and knowledge2 the fear of ,jehovah1 it shall be his treasure 7xxxiii4 #a-f74 ,thus1 then1 do we propose to bridge the gulf which lies between chaps4 i4 and xxii4 on the one hand and chap4 xxxiii4 on the other4 ,if they are all to be dated from the year #gja1 some such bridge is necessary4 ,and the one we have traced is both morally sufficient and in harmony with what we know to have been the course of events4 ,what do we learn from it all8 ,we learn a great deal upon that truth which chap4 xxxiii4 closes by announcing--the truth of ,divine forgiveness4 ,the forgiveness of ,god is the foundation of every bridge from a hopeless past to a courageous present4 ,that ,god can make the past be for guilt as though it had not been is always to ,isaiah the assurance of the future4 ,an old ,greek miniature#fb represents him with ,night behind him1 veiled and sullen and holding a reversed torch4 ,but before him stands ,dawn and ,innocence1 a little child1 with bright face and forward step and torch erect and burning4 ,from above a hand pours light upon the face of the prophet1 turned upwards4 ,it is the message of a ,divine pardon4 ,never did prophet more wearily feel the moral continuity of the generations1 the lingering and ineradicable effects of crime4 ,only faith in a pardoning ,god could have enabled him1 with such conviction of the inseparableness of yesterday and to-morrow1 to make divorce between them1 and turning his back on the past1 as this miniature represents1 hail the future as ,immanuel1 a child of infinite promise4 ,from exposing and scourging the past1 from proving it corrupt and pregnant with poison for all the future1 ,isaiah will turn on a single verse1 and give us a future without war1 sorrow or fraud4 ,his pivot is ever the pardon of ,god4 ,but nowhere is his faith in this so powerful1 his turning upon it so swift1 as at this period of ,jerusalem's collapse1 when1 having sentenced the people to death for their iniquity--,it was revealed in mine ears by ,jehovah of hosts1 ,surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die1 saith the ,lord1 ,jehovah of hosts 7xxii4 #ad7--;he swings round on his promise of a little before--,though your sins be as scarlet1 they shall be white as snow--and to the people's penitence pronounces in the last verse of chap4 xxxiii4 a final absolution3 ,the inhabitant shall not say1 ,i am sick2 the people that dwell therein are forgiven their iniquity4 ,if chap4 xxxiii4 be1 as many think1 ,isaiah's latest oracle1 then we have the literal crown of all his prophesying in these two words3 forgiven iniquity4 ,it is as he put it early that same year3 ,come now and let us bring our reasoning to a close2 though your sins be as scarlet1 they shall be as white as snow3 though they be red like crimson1 they shall be as wool4 ,if man is to have a future1 this must be the conclusion of all his past4 #fb ,didron ,christian ,iconography1 fig4 #eb4 ,but the absoluteness of ,god's pardon1 making the past as though it had not been1 is not the only lesson which the spiritual experience of ,jerusalem in that awful year of #gja has for us4 ,isaiah's gospel of forgiveness is nothing less than this3 that when ,god gives pardon ,he gives ,himself4 ,the name of the blessed future1 which is entered through pardon--as in that miniature1 a child--is ,immanuel3 ,god-with-us4 ,and if it be correct that we owe the forty-sixth ,psalm to these months when the ,assyrian came back upon ,jerusalem1 then we see how the city1 that had abandoned ,god1 is yet able to sing when she is pardoned1 ,god is our refuge and our strength1 a very present help in the midst of troubles4 ,and this gospel of forgiveness is not only ,isaiah's4 ,according to the whole ,bible1 there is but one thing which separates man from ,god--that is sin1 and when sin is done away with1 ,god cannot be kept from man4 ,in giving pardon to man1 ,god gives back to man ,himself4 ,how gloriously evident this truth becomes in the ,new ,testament6 ,christ1 who is set before us as the ,lamb of ,god1 who beareth the sins of the world1 is also ,immanuel--,god-with-us4 ,the ,sacrament1 which most plainly seals to the believer the value of the ,one ,sacrifice for sin1 is the ,sacrament in which the believer feeds upon ,christ and appropriates ,him4 ,the sinner1 who comes to ,christ1 not only receives pardon for ,christ's sake1 but receives ,christ4 ,forgiveness means nothing less than this3 that in giving pardon ,god gives ,himself4 ,but if forgiveness mean all this1 then the objections frequently brought against a conveyance of it so unconditioned as that of ,isaiah fall to the ground4 ,forgiveness of such a kind cannot be either unjust or demoralising4 ,on the contrary1 we see ,jerusalem permoralised by it4 ,at first1 it is true1 the sense of weakness and fear abounds1 as we learn from the narrative in chaps4 xxxvi4 and xxxvii4 ,but where there was vanity1 recklessness and despair1 giving way to dissipation1 there is now humility1 discipline and a leaning upon ,god1 that are led up to confidence and exultation4 ,jerusalem's experience is just another proof that any moral results are possible to so great a process as the return of ,god to the soul4 ,awful is the responsibility of them who receive such a ,gift and such a ,guest2 but the sense of that awfulness is the atmosphere1 in which obedience and holiness and the courage that is born of both love best to grow4 ,one can understand men scoffing at messages of pardon so unconditioned as ,isaiah's1 who think they mean no more than a clean slate4 ,taken in this sense1 the gospel of forgiveness must prove a savour of death unto death4 ,but just as ,jerusalem interpreted the message of her pardon to mean that ,god is in the midst of her2 she shall not be moved1 and straightway obedience was in all her hearts1 and courage upon all her walls1 so neither to us can be futile the ,new ,testament form of the same gospel1 which makes our pardoned soul the friend of ,god1 accepted in the ,beloved1 and our body ,his holy temple4 ,upon one other point connected with the forgiveness of sins we get instruction from the experience of ,jerusalem4 ,a man has difficulty in squaring his sense of forgiveness with the return on the back of it of his old temptations and trials1 with the hostility of fortune and with the inexorableness of nature4 ,grace has spoken to his heart1 but ,providence bears more hard upon him than ever4 ,pardon does not change the outside of life2 it does not immediately modify the movements of history1 or suspend the laws of nature4 ,although ,god has forgiven ,jerusalem1 ,assyria comes back to besiege her4 ,although the penitent be truly reconciled to ,god1 the constitutional results of his fall remain3 the frequency of temptation1 the power of habit1 the bias and facility downwards1 the physical and social consequences4 ,pardon changes none of these things4 ,it does not keep off the ,assyrians4 ,but if pardon means the return of ,god to the soul1 then in this we have the secret of the return of the foe4 ,men could not try nor develop a sense of the former except by their experience of the latter4 ,we have seen why ,isaiah must have welcomed the perfidious reappearance of the ,assyrians after he had helped to buy them off4 ,nothing could better test the sincerity of ,jerusalem's repentance1 or rally her dissipated forces4 ,had the ,assyrians not returned1 the ,jews would have had no experimental proof of ,god's restored presence1 and the great miracle would never have happened that rang through human history for evermore--a trumpet-call to faith in the ,god of ,israel4 ,and so still the ,lord scourgeth every son whom ,he receiveth1 because ,he would put our penitence to the test2 because ,he would discipline our disorganised affections1 and give conscience and will a chance of wiping out defeat by victory2 because ,he would baptize us with the most powerful baptism possible--the sense of being trusted once more to face the enemy upon the fields of our disgrace4 ,that is why the ,assyrians came back to ,jerusalem1 and that is why temptations and penalties still pursue the penitent and forgiven4 ,,chapter ,,xxi4 ,,our ,,god ,a ,,consuming ,,fire4 ,,isaiah xxxiii4 7#gja ,b4,c474 ,we have seen how the sense of forgiveness and the exultant confidence1 which fill chap4 xxxiii41 were brought about within a few months after the sentence of death1 that cast so deep a gloom on chap4 xxii4 ,we have expounded some of the contents of chap4 xxxiii41 but have not exhausted the chapter2 and in particular we have not touched one of ,isaiah's principles1 which there finds perhaps its finest expression3 the consuming righteousness of ,god4 ,there is no doubt that chap4 xxxiii4 refers to the sudden disappearance of the ,assyrian from the walls of ,jerusalem4 ,it was written1 part perhaps on the eve of that deliverance1 part immediately after morning broke upon the vanished host4 ,before those verses which picture the disappearance of the investing army1 we ought in strict chronological order to take the narrative in chaps4 xxxvi4 and xxxvii4--the return of the besiegers1 the insolence of the ,rabshakeh1 the prostration of ,hezekiah1 ,isaiah's solitary faith1 and the sudden disappearance of the ,assyrian4 ,it will be more convenient1 however1 since we have already entered chap4 xxxiii41 to finish it1 and then to take the narrative of the events which led up to it4 ,the opening verses of chap4 xxxiii4 fit the very moment of the crisis1 as if ,isaiah had flung them across the walls in the teeth of the ,rabshakeh and the second embassy from ,sennacherib1 who had returned to demand the surrender of the city in spite of ,hezekiah's tribute for her integrity3 ,woe to thee1 thou spoiler1 and thou wast not spoiled1 thou treacherous dealer1 and they did not deal treacherously with thee6 ,when thou ceasest to spoil1 thou shalt be spoiled2 and when thou makest an end to deal treacherously1 they shall deal treacherously with thee4 ,then follows the prayer1 as already quoted1 and the confidence in the security of ,jerusalem 7ver4 #b74 ,a new paragraph 7vv4 #g-ab7 describes ,rabshakeh and his company demanding the surrender of the city2 the disappointment of the ambassadors who had been sent to treat with ,sennacherib 7ver4 #g72 the perfidy of the great king1 who had broken the covenant they had made with him and swept his armies back upon ,judah 7ver4 #h72 the disheartening of the land under this new shock 7ver4 #i72 and the resolution of the ,lord now to rise and scatter the invaders3 ,now will ,i arise1 saith ,jehovah2 now will ,i lift up ,myself2 now will ,i be exalted4 ,ye shall conceive chaff2 ye shall bring forth stubble2 your breath is a fire1 that shall devour you4 ,and the peoples shall be as the burnings of lime1 as thorns cut down that are burned in the fire 7vv4 #aj-ab74 ,after an application of this same fire of ,god's righteousness to the sinners within ,jerusalem1 to which we shall presently return1 the rest of the chapter pictures the stunned populace awaking to the fact that they are free4 ,is the ,assyrian really gone1 or do the ,jews dream as they crowd the walls1 and see no trace of him8 ,have they all vanished--the ,rabshakeh1 by the conduit of the upper pool1 with his loud voice and insults2 the scribes to whom they handed the tribute1 and who prolonged the agony by counting it under their eyes2 the scouts and engineers insolently walking about ,zion and mapping out her walls for the assault2 the close investment of barbarian hordes1 with their awesome speech and uncouth looks6 ,where is he that counted8 where is he that weighed the tribute8 where is he that counted the towers8 ,thou shall not see the fierce people1 a people of a deep speech that thou canst not perceive1 of a strange tongue that thou canst not understand4 ,they have vanished4 ,hezekiah may lift his head again4 ,o people--sore at heart to see thy king in sackcloth and ashes#fc as the enemy devoured province after province of thy land and cooped thee up within the narrow walls1 thou scarcely didst dare to peep across--take courage1 the terror is gone6 ,a king in his beauty thine eyes shall see2 they shall behold the land spreading very far forth 7ver4 #ag74 ,we had thought to die in the restlessness and horror of war1 never again to know what stable life and regular worship were1 our ,temple services interrupted1 our home a battlefield4 ,but look upon ,zion2 behold again she is the city of our solemn diets2 thine eyes shall see ,jerusalem a quiet habitation1 a tent that shall not be removed1 the stakes whereof shall never be plucked up1 neither shall the cords thereof be broken4 ,but there ,jehovah1 whom we have known only for affliction1 shall be in majesty for us4 ,other peoples have their natural defences1 ,assyria and ,egypt their ,euphrates and ,nile2 but ,god ,himself shall be for us a place of rivers1 streams1 broad on both hands1 on which never a galley shall go1 nor gallant ship shall pass upon it4 ,without sign of battle1 ,god shall be our refuge and our strength4 ,it was that marvellous deliverance of ,jerusalem by the hand of ,god1 with no effort of human war1 which caused ,isaiah to invest with such majesty the meagre rock1 its squalid surroundings and paltry defences4 ,the insignificant and waterless city was glorious to the prophet because ,god was in her4 ,one of the richest imaginations which patriot ever poured upon his fatherland was inspired by the simplest faith saint ever breathed4 ,isaiah strikes again the old keynote 7chap4 viii47 about the waterlessness of ,jerusalem4 ,we have to keep in mind the ,jews' complaints of this1 in order to understand what the forty-sixth ,psalm means when it says1 ,there is a river the streams whereof make glad the city of our ,god1 the holy place of the tabernacles of the ,most ,high--or what ,isaiah means when he says1 ,glorious shall ,jehovah be unto us1 a place of broad rivers and streams4 ,yea1 he adds1 ,jehovah is everything to us3 ,jehovah is our ,judge2 ,jehovah is our ,lawgiver2 ,jehovah is our ,king3 ,he will save us4 #fc ,chap4 xxxvii4 99 99 99 99 99 ,such were the feelings aroused in ,jerusalem by the sudden relief of the city4 ,some of the verses1 which we have scarcely touched1 we will now consider more fully as the expression of a doctrine which runs throughout ,isaiah1 and indeed is one of his two or three fundamental truths--that the righteousness of ,god is an all-pervading atmosphere1 an atmosphere that wears and burns4 ,for forty years the prophet had been preaching to the ,jews his gospel1 ,god-with-us2 but they never awakened to the reality of the ,divine presence till they saw it in the dispersion of the ,assyrian army4 ,then ,god became real to them 7ver4 #ad74 ,the justice of ,god1 preached so long by ,isaiah1 had always seemed something abstract4 ,now they saw how concrete it was4 ,it was not only a doctrine3 it was a fact4 ,it was a fact that was a fire4 ,isaiah had often called it a fire2 they thought this was rhetoric4 ,but now they saw the actual burning--the peoples as the burning of lime1 as thorns cut down that are burned in the fire4 ,and when they felt the fire so near1 each sinner of them awoke to the fact that he had something burnable in himself1 something which could as little stand the fire as the ,assyrians could4 ,there was no difference in this fire outside and inside the walls4 ,what it burned there it would burn here4 ,nay1 was not ,jerusalem the dwelling-place of ,god1 and ,ariel the very hearth and furnace of the fire which they saw consume the ,assyrians8 ,who1 they cried in their terror--,who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire8 ,who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings8 ,we are familiar with ,isaiah's fundamental ,god-with-us1 and how it was spoken not for mercy only1 but for judgement 7chap4 viii474 ,if ,god-with-us meant love with us1 salvation with us1 it meant also holiness with us1 judgement with us1 the jealousy of ,god breathing upon what is impure1 false and proud4 ,isaiah felt this so hotly1 that his sense of it has broken out into some of the fieriest words in all prophecy4 ,in his younger days he told the citizens not to provoke the eyes of ,god's glory1 as if ,heaven had fastened on their life two gleaming orbs1 not only to pierce them with its vision1 but to consume them with its wrath4 ,again1 in the lowering cloud of calamity he had seen lips of indignation1 a tongue as a devouring fire1 and in the overflowing stream which finally issued from it the hot breath of the ,almighty4 ,these are unforgettable descriptions of the ceaseless activity of ,divine righteousness in the life of man4 ,they set our imaginations on fire with the prophet's burning belief in this4 ,but they are excelled by another1 more frequently used by ,isaiah1 wherein he likens the holiness of ,god to an universal and constant fire4 ,to ,isaiah life was so penetrated by the active justice of ,god1 that he described it as bathed in fire1 as blown through with fire4 ,righteousness was no mere doctrine to this prophet3 it was the most real thing in history2 it was the presence which pervaded and explained all phenomena4 ,we shall understand the difference between ,isaiah and his people if we have ever for our eyes' sake looked at a great conflagration through a coloured glass which allowed us to see the solid materials--stone1 wood and iron--but prevented us from perceiving the flames and shimmering heat4 ,to look thus is to see pillars1 lintels and cross-beams twist and fall1 crumble and fade2 but how inexplicable the process seems6 ,take away the glass1 and everything is clear4 ,the fiery element is filling all the interstices1 that were blank to us before1 and beating upon the solid material4 ,the heat becomes visible1 shimmering even where there is no flame4 ,just so had it been with the sinners in ,judah these forty years4 ,their society and politics1 individual fortunes and careers1 personal and national habits--the home1 the ,church1 the ,state--common outlines and shapes of life--were patent to every eye1 but no man could explain the constant decay and diminution1 because all were looking at life through a glass darkly4 ,isaiah alone faced life with open vision1 which filled up for him the interstices of experience and gave terrible explanation to fate4 ,it was a vision that nearly scorched the eyes out of him4 ,life as he saw it was steeped in flame--the glowing righteousness of ,god4 ,jerusalem was full of the spirit of justice1 the spirit of burning4 ,the light of ,israel is for a fire1 and his ,holy ,one for a flame4 ,the ,assyrian empire1 that vast erection which the strong hands of kings had reared1 was simply their pyre1 made ready for the burning4 ,for a ,topheth is prepared of old2 yea1 for the king it is made ready2 ,he hath made it deep and large2 the pile thereof is fire and much wood2 the breath of ,jehovah1 like a stream of brimstone1 doth kindle it4#fd ,so ,isaiah saw life1 and flashed it on his countrymen4 ,at last the glass fell from their eyes also1 and they cried aloud1 ,who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire8 ,who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings8 ,isaiah replied that there is one thing which can survive the universal flame1 and that is character3 ,he that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly2 he that despiseth the gain of fraud1 that shaketh his hands from the holding of bribes1 that stoppeth his ears from the hearing of blood1 and shutteth his eyes from looking on evil1 he shall dwell on high3 his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks3 his bread shall be given him3 his water shall be sure4 #fd ,chaps4 iv4 #d2 xxx4 #cc4 99 99 99 99 99 ,isaiah's ,vision of ,fire suggests two thoughts to us4 #a4 ,have we done well to confine our horror of the consuming fires of righteousness to the next life8 ,if we would but use the eyes which ,scripture lends us1 the rifts of prophetic vision and awakened conscience by which the fogs of this world and of our own hearts are rent1 we should see fires as fierce1 a consumption as pitiless1 about us here as ever the conscience of a startled sinner fearfully looked for across the grave4 ,nay1 have not the fires1 with which the darkness of eternity has been made lurid1 themselves been kindled at the burnings of this life8 ,is it not because men have felt how hot this world was being made for sin that they have had a certain fearful expectation of judgement and the fierceness of fire8 ,we shudder at the horrible pictures of hell which some older theologians and poets have painted for us2 but it was not morbid fancy1 nor the barbarism of their age nor their own heart's cruelty that inspired these men4 ,it was their hot honour for the ,divine holiness2 it was their experience of how pitiless to sin ,providence is already in this life2 it was their own scorched senses and affections--brands1 as many honest men among them felt themselves1 plucked from the burning4 ,our ,god is a consuming fire--here as well as yonder4 ,hell has borrowed her glare from the imagination of men aflame with the real fieriness of life1 and may be--more truly than of old--pictured as the dead and hollow cinder left by those fires1 of which1 as every true man's conscience is aware1 this life is full4 ,it was not hell that created conscience2 it was conscience that created hell1 and conscience was fired by the vision which fired ,isaiah--of all life aglow with the righteousness of ,god--,god with us1 as ,he was with ,jerusalem1 a spirit of burning and a spirit of justice4 ,this is the pantheism of conscience1 and it stands to reason4 ,god is the one power of life4 ,what can exist beside ,him except what is like ,him8 ,nothing--sooner or later nothing but what is like ,him4 ,the will that is as ,his will1 the heart that is pure1 the character that is transparent--only these dwell with the everlasting fire1 and burning with ,god1 as the bush which ,moses saw1 are nevertheless not consumed4 ,let us lay it to heart--,isaiah has nothing to tell us about hell-fire1 but a great deal about the pitiless justice of ,god in this life4 #b4 ,the second thought suggested by ,isaiah's ,vision of ,life is a comparison of it with the theory of life which is fashionable to-day4 ,isaiah's figure for life was a burning4 ,ours is a battle1 and at first sight ours looks the truer4 ,seen through a formula which has become everywhere fashionable1 life is a fierce and fascinating warfare4 ,civilised thought1 when asked to describe any form of life or to account for a death or survival1 most monotonously replies1 ,the struggle for existence4 ,the sociologist has borrowed the phrase from the biologist1 and it is on everybody's lips to describe their idea of human life4 ,it is uttered by the historian when he would explain the disappearance of this national type1 the prevalence of that one4 ,the economist traces depression and failures1 the fatal fevers of speculation1 the cruelties and bad humours of commercial life1 to the same source4 ,a merchant with profits lessening and failure before him relieves his despair and apologizes to his pride with the words1 ,it is all due to competition4 ,even character and the spiritual graces are sometimes set down as results of the same material process4 ,some have sought to deduce from it all intelligence1 others more audaciously all ethics2 and it is certain that in the silence of men's hearts after a moral defeat there is no excuse more frequently offered to conscience by will than that the battle was too hot4 ,but fascinating as life is when seen through this formula1 does not the formula act on our vision precisely as the glass we supposed1 which when we look through it on a conflagration shows us the solid matter and the changes through which this passes1 but hides from us the real agent8 ,one need not deny the reality of the struggle for existence1 or that its results are enormous4 ,we struggle with each other1 and affect each other for good and for evil1 sometimes past all calculation4 ,but we do not fight in a vacuum4 ,let ,isaiah's vision be the complement of our own feeling4 ,we fight in an atmosphere that affects every one of us far more powerfully than the opposing wits or wills of our fellow-men4 ,around us and through us1 within and without as we fight1 is the all-pervading righteousness of ,god2 and it is far oftener the effects of this which we see in the falls and the changes of life than the effects of our struggle with each other1 enormous though these may be4 ,on this point there is an exact parallel between our days and the days of ,isaiah4 ,then the politicians of ,judah1 looking through their darkened glass at life1 said1 ,life is simply a war in which the strongest prevail1 a game which the most cunning win4 ,so they made fast their alliances1 and were ready to meet the ,assyrian1 or they fled in panic before him1 according as ,egypt or he seemed the stronger4 ,isaiah saw that with ,assyrian and ,jew another ,power was present--the real reason of every change in politics1 collapse or crash in either of the empires--the active righteousness of ,god4 ,assyrian and ,jew had not only to contend with each other4 ,they were at strife with ,him4 ,we now see plainly that ,isaiah was right4 ,far more operative than the intrigues of politicians or the pride of ,assyria1 because it used these simply as its mines and its fuel1 was the law of righteousness1 the spiritual force which is as impalpable as the atmosphere1 yet strong to burn and try as a furnace seven times heated4 ,and ,isaiah is equally right for to-day4 ,as we look at life through our fashionable formula it does seem a mass of struggle1 in which we catch only now and then a glimpse of the decisions of righteousness1 but the prevailing lawlessness of which we do not hesitate to make the reason of all that happens1 and in particular the excuse of our own defeats4 ,we are wrong4 ,righteousness is not an occasional spark2 righteousness is the atmosphere4 ,though our dull eyes see it only now and then strike into flame in the battle of life1 and take for granted that it is but the flash of meeting wits or of steel on steel1 ,god's justice is everywhere1 pervasive and pitiless1 affecting the combatants far more than they have power to affect one another4 ,we shall best learn the truth of this in the way the sinners in ,jerusalem learned it--each man first looking into himself4 ,who among us shall dwell with the everlasting burnings8 ,can we attribute all our defeats to the opposition that was upon us at the moment they occurred8 ,when our temper failed1 when our charity relaxed1 when our resoluteness gave way1 was it the hotness of debate1 was it the pressure of the crowd1 was it the sneer of the scorner1 that was to blame8 ,we all know that these were only the occasions of our defeats4 ,conscience tells us that the cause lay in a slothful or self-indulgent heart1 which the corrosive atmosphere of ,divine righteousness had been consuming1 and which1 sapped and hollow by its effect1 gave way at every material shock4 ,with the knowledge that conscience gives us1 let us now look at a kind of figure which must be within the horizon of all of us4 ,once it was the most commanding stature among its fellows1 the straight back and broad brow of a king of men4 ,but now what is the last sight of him that will remain with us1 flung out there against the evening skies of his life8 ,a bent back 7we speak of character71 a stooping face1 the shrinking outlines of a man ready to collapse4 ,it was not the struggle for existence that killed him1 for he was born to prevail in it4 ,it was the atmosphere that told on him4 ,he carried in him that on which the atmosphere could not but tell4 ,a low selfishness or passion inhabited him1 and became the predominant part of him1 so that his outward life was only its shell2 and when the fire of ,god at last pierced this1 he was as thorns cut down1 that are burned in the fire4 ,we can explain much with the outward eye1 but the most of the explanation lies beyond4 ,where our knowledge of a man's life ends1 the great meaning of it often only begins4 ,all the vacancy beyond the outline we see is full of that meaning4 ,god is there1 and ,god is a consuming fire4 ,let us not seek to explain lives only by what we see of them1 the visible strife of man with man and nature4 ,it is the invisible that contains the secret of what is seen4 ,we see the shoulders stoop1 but not the burden upon them2 the face darken1 but look in vain for what casts the shadow2 the light sparkle in the eye1 but cannot tell what star of hope its glance has caught4 ,and even so when we behold fortune and character go down in the warfare of this world1 we ought to remember that it is not always the things we see that are to blame for the fall1 but that awful flame which1 unseen by common man1 has been revealed to the prophets of ,god4 ,righteousness and retribution1 then1 are an atmosphere--not lines or laws that we may happen to stumble upon1 not explosives1 that1 being touched1 burst out on us1 but the atmosphere--always about us and always at work1 invisible and yet more mighty than aught we see4 ,god1 in whom we live and move and have our being1 is a consuming fire4 ,,chapter ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,rabshakeh2 ,,or1 ,,last ,,temptations ,,of ,,faith4 ,,isaiah xxxvi4 7#gja ,b4,c474 ,it remains for us now to follow in chaps4 xxxvi41 xxxvii41 the historical narrative of the events1 the moral results of which we have seen so vivid in chap4 xxxiii4--the perfidious return of the ,assyrians to ,jerusalem after ,hezekiah had bought them off and their final disappearance from the ,holy ,land4 ,this historical narrative has also its moral4 ,it is not annals1 but drama4 ,the whole moral of ,isaiah's prophesying is here flung into a duel between champions of the two tempers1 which we have seen in perpetual conflict throughout his book4 ,the two tempers are--on ,isaiah's side an absolute and unselfish faith in ,god1 ,sovereign of the world and ,saviour of ,his people2 on the side of the ,assyrians a bare1 brutal confidence in themselves1 in human cleverness and success1 a vaunting contempt of righteousness and of pity4 ,the main interest of ,isaiah's book has consisted in the way these tempers oppose each other1 and alternately influence the feeling of the ,jewish community4 ,that interest is now to culminate in the scene which brings near such thorough representatives of the two tempers as ,isaiah and the ,rabshakeh1 with the crowd of wavering ,jews between4 ,most strikingly1 ,assyria's last assault is not of force1 but of speech1 delivering upon faith the subtle arguments of the worldly temper2 and as strikingly1 while all official religion and power of ,state stand helpless against them1 these arguments are met by the bare word of ,god4 ,in this mere statement of the situation1 however1 we perceive that much more than the quarrel of a single generation is being decided4 ,this scene is a parable of the everlasting struggle between faith and force1 with doubt and despair between them4 ,in the clever1 self-confident1 persuasive personage with two languages on his tongue and an army at his back2 in the fluttered representatives of official religion who meet him and are afraid of the effect of his speech on the common people2 in the ranks of dispirited men who hear the dialogue from the wall2 in the sensitive king so aware of faith1 and yet so helpless to bring faith forth to peace and triumph2 and1 in the background of the whole situation1 the serene prophet of ,god1 grasping only ,god's word1 and by his own steadfastness carrying the city over the crisis and proving that faith indeed can be the substance of things hoped for--we have a phase of the struggle ordained unto every generation of men1 and which is as fresh to-day as when ,rabshakeh played the cynic and the scribes and elders filled the part of nervous defenders of the faith1 under the walls of faith's fortress1 two thousand five hundred years ago4 ,,the ,,rabshakeh4 ,this word is a ,hebrew transliteration of the ,assyrian ,rab-sak1 chief of the officers4 ,though there is some doubt on the point1 we may naturally presume from the duties he here discharges that the ,rabshakeh was a civilian--probably the civil commissioner or political officer attached to the ,assyrian army1 which was commanded1 according to #b ,kings xviii4 #af1 by the ,tartan or commander-in-chief himself4 ,in all the ,bible there is not a personage more clever than this ,rabshakeh1 nor more typical4 ,he was an able deputy of the king who sent him1 but he represented still more thoroughly the temper of the civilisation to which he belonged4 ,there is no word of this man which is not characteristic4 ,a clever1 fluent diplomatist1 with the traveller's knowledge of men and the conqueror's contempt for them1 the ,rabshakeh is the product of a victorious empire like the ,assyrian1 or1 say1 like the ,british4 ,our services sometimes turn out the like of him--a creature able to speak to natives in their own language1 full and ready of information1 mastering the surface of affairs at a glance1 but always baffled by the deeper tides which sway nations2 a deft player upon party interests and the superficial human passions1 but unfit to touch the deep springs of men's religion and patriotism4 ,let us speak1 however1 with respect of the ,rabshakeh4 ,from his rank 7,sayce calls him the ,vizier71 as well as from the cleverness with which he explains what we know to have been the policy of ,sennacherib towards the populations of ,syria1 he may well have been the inspiring mind at this time of the great ,assyrian empire--,sennacherib's ,bismarck4 ,the ,rabshakeh had strutted down from the great centre of civilisation1 with its temper upon him1 and all its great resources at his back1 confident to twist these poor provincial tribes round his little finger4 ,how petty he conceived them we infer from his never styling ,hezekiah the king4 ,this was to be an occasion for the ,rabshakeh's own glorification4 ,jerusalem was to fall to his clever speeches4 ,he had indeed the army behind him1 but the work to be done was not the rough work of soldiers4 ,all was to be managed by him1 the civilian and orator4 ,this fellow1 with his two languages and clever address1 was to step out in front of the army and finish the whole business4 ,the ,rabshakeh spoke extremely well4 ,with his first words he touched the sore point of ,judah's policy3 her trust in ,egypt4 ,on this he spoke like a very ,isaiah4 ,but he showed a deeper knowledge of ,judah's internal affairs1 and a subtler deftness in using it1 when he referred to the matter of the altars4 ,hezekiah had abolished the high places in all parts of the land1 and gathered the people to the central sanctuary in ,jerusalem4 ,the ,assyrian knew that a number of ,jews must look upon this disestablishment of religion in the provinces as likely to incur ,jehovah's displeasure and turn ,him against them4 ,therefore he said1 ,but if thou say unto me1 ,we trust in ,jehovah our ,god1 is not that ,he whose high places and whose altars ,hezekiah hath taken away1 and hath said to ,judah and to ,jerusalem1 ,ye shall worship before this altar8 ,and then1 having shaken their religious confidence1 he made sport of their military strength4 ,and finally he boldly asserted1 ,jehovah said unto me1 ,go up against this land and destroy it4 ,all this shows a master in diplomacy1 a most clever demagogue4 ,the scribes and elders felt the edge1 and begged him to sheathe it in a language unknown to the common people4 ,but he1 conscious of his power1 spoke the more boldly1 addressing himself directly to the poorer sort of the garrison1 on whom the siege would press most heavily4 ,his second speech to them is a good illustration of the policy pursued by ,assyria at this time towards the cities of ,palestine4 ,we know from the annals of ,sennacherib that his customary policy1 to seduce the populations of a hostile ,state from allegiance to their rulers1 had succeeded in other cases2 and it was so plausibly uttered in this case1 that it seemed likely to succeed again4 ,to the common soldiers on the walls1 with the prospect of being reduced to the foul rations of a prolonged siege 7ver4 #ab71 ,sennacherib's ambassador offers rich and equal property and enjoyment4 ,make a treaty with me1 and come out to me1 and eat every one of his vine and every one of his fig tree1 and drink ye every one of the water of his cistern1 until ,i come and take you away to a land like your own land1 a land of corn and grapes1 a land of bread-corn and orchards4 ,every one6--it is a most subtle assault upon the discipline1 comradeship and patriotism of the common soldiers by the promises of a selfish1 sensuous equality and individualism4 ,but then the speaker's native cynicism gets the better of him--it is not possible for an ,assyrian long to play the part of clemency--and1 with a flash of scorn1 he asks the sad men upon the walls whether they really believe that ,jehovah can save them3 ,hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the ,king of ,assyria1 444 that ,jehovah should deliver ,jerusalem out of my hand8 ,all the range of their feelings does he thus run through1 seeking with sharp words to snap each cord of faith in ,god1 of honour to the king and love of country4 ,had the ,jews heart to answer him1 they might point out the inconsistency between his claim to have been sent by ,jehovah and the contempt he now pours upon their ,god4 ,but the inconsistency is characteristic4 ,the ,assyrian has some acquaintance with the ,jewish faith2 he makes use of its articles when they serve his purpose1 but his ultimatum is to tear them to shreds in their believers' faces4 ,he treats the ,jews as men of culture still sometimes treat barbarians1 first scornfully humouring their faith and then savagely trampling it under foot4 ,so clever were the speeches of the ,rabshakeh4 ,we see why he was appointed to this mission4 ,he was an expert both in the language and religion of this tribe1 perched on its rock in the remote ,judan highlands4 ,for a foreigner he showed marvellous familiarity with the temper and internal jealousies of the ,jewish religion4 ,he turned these on each other almost as adroitly as ,paul himself did in the disputes between ,sadducees and ,pharisees4 ,how the fellow knew his cleverness1 strutting there betwixt army and town6 ,he would show his soldier friends the proper way of dealing with stubborn barbarians4 ,he would astonish those faith-proud highlanders by exhibiting how much he was aware of the life behind their thick walls and silent faces1 for the king's commandment was1 ,answer him not4 ,and yet did the ,rabshakeh1 with all his raking1 know the heart of ,judah8 ,no1 truly4 ,the whole interest of this man is the incongruity of the expertness and surface-knowledge1 which he spattered on ,jerusalem's walls1 with the deep secret of ,god1 that1 as some inexhaustible well1 the fortress of the faith carried within her4 ,ah1 ,assyrian1 there is more in starved ,jerusalem than thou canst put in thy speeches6 ,suppose ,heaven were to give those sharp eyes of thine power to look through the next thousand years1 and see this race and this religion thou puffest at1 the highest-honoured1 hottest-hated of the world1 centre of mankind's regard and debate1 but thou1 and thy king and all the glory of your empire wrapped deep in oblivion4 ,to this little fortress of highland men shall the heart of great peoples turn3 kings for its nursing-fathers and queens for its nursing-mothers1 the forces of the ,gentiles shall come to it1 and from it new civilisations take their laws2 while thou and all thy paraphernalia disappear into blackness1 haunted only by the antiquary1 the world taking an interest in thee just in so far as thou didst once hopelessly attempt to understand ,jerusalem and capture her faith by thine own interpretation of it4 ,curious pigmy1 very grand thou thinkest thyself1 and surely with some right as delegate of the king of kings1 parading thy cleverness and thy bribes before these poor barbarians2 but the world1 called to look upon you both from this eminence of history1 grants thee to be a very good head of an intelligence department1 with a couple of languages on thy glib tongue's end1 but adjudges that with the starved and speechless men before thee lies the secret of all that is worth living and dying for in this world4 ,the ,rabshakeh's plausible futility and ,jerusalem's faith1 greatly distressed before him1 are typical4 ,still as men hang moodily over the bulwarks of ,zion1 doubtful whether life is worth living within the narrow limits which religion prescribes1 or righteousness worth fighting for with such privations and hope deferred1 comes upon them some elegant and plausible temptation1 loudly calling to give the whole thing up4 ,disregarding the official arguments and evidences that push forward to parley1 it speaks home in practical tones to men's real selves--their appetites and selfishnesses4 ,you are foolish fellows1 it says1 to confine yourselves to such narrowness of life and self-denial6 ,the fall of your faith is only a matter of time3 other creeds have gone2 yours must follow4 ,and why fight the world for the sake of an idea1 or from the habits of a discipline8 ,such things only starve the human spirit2 and the world is so generous1 so free to every one1 so tolerant of each enjoying his own1 unhampered by authority or religion4 ,in our day what has the greatest effect on the faith of many men is just this mixture1 that pervades the ,rabshakeh's address1--of a superior culture pretending to expose religion1 with the easy generosity1 which offers to the individual a selfish life1 unchecked by any discipline or religious fear4 ,that modern ,rabshakeh1 ,ernest ,rnan1 with the forces of historical criticism at his back1 but confident rather in his own skill of address1 speaking to us believers as poor picturesque provincials1 patronising our ,deity1 and telling us that he knows ,his intentions better than we do ourselves1 is a very good representative of the enemies of the ,faith1 who owe their impressiveness upon common men to the familiarity they display with the contents of the ,faith1 and the independent1 easy life they offer to the man who throws his strict faith off4 ,superior knowledge1 with the offer on its lips of a life on good terms with the rich and tolerant world--pretence of science promising selfishness--that is to-day1 as then under the walls of ,jerusalem1 the typical enemy of the ,faith4 ,but if faith be held simply as the silent garrison of ,jerusalem held it1 faith in a ,lord ,god of righteousness1 who has given us a conscience to serve ,him1 and has spoken to us in plain explanation of this by those whom we can see1 understand and trust--not only by an ,isaiah1 but by a ,jesus--then neither mere cleverness nor the ability to promise comfort can avail against our faith4 ,a simple conscience of ,god and of duty may not be able to answer subtle arguments word for word1 but she can feel the incongruity of their cleverness with her own precious secret2 she can at least expose the fallacy of their sensuous promises of an untroubled life4 ,no man1 who tempts us from a good conscience with ,god in the discipline of our religion and the comradeship of ,his people1 can ensure that there will be no starvation in the pride of life1 no captivity in the easy tolerance of the world4 ,to the heart of man there will always be captivity in selfishness2 there will always be exile in unbelief4 ,even where the romance and sentiment of faith are retained1 after the manner of ,rnan1 it is only to mock us with mirage4 ,as in a dry and thirsty land1 where no water is1 our heart and flesh shall cry out for the living ,god1 as we have aforetime seen ,him in the sanctuary4 ,the land1 in which the tempter promises a life undisturbed by religious restraints1 is not our home1 neither is it freedom4 ,by the conscience that is in us1 ,god has set us on the walls of faith1 with ,his law to observe1 with ,his people to stand by2 and against us are the world and its tempters1 with all their wiles to be defied4 ,if we go down from the charge and shelter of so simple a religion1 then1 whatever enjoyment we have1 we shall enjoy it only with the fears of the deserter and the greed of the slave4 ,in spite of scorn and sensuous promise from ,rabshakeh to ,rnan1 let us lift the hymn which these silent ,jews at last lifted from the walls of their delivered city3 ,walk about ,zion and go round about her2 tell ye the towers thereof4 ,mark ye well her bulwarks1 and consider her palaces1 that ye may tell it to the generation to come4 ,for this ,god is our ,god for ever and ever4 ,he will be our ,guide even unto death4 ,,chapter ,,xxiii4 ,,this ,,is ,,the ,,victory4444 ,,our ,,faith4 ,,isaiah xxxvii4 7#gja ,b4,c474 ,within the fortress of the faith there is only silence and embarrassment4 ,we pass from the ,rabshakeh1 posing outside the walls of ,zion1 to ,hezekiah1 prostrate within them4 ,we pass with the distracted councillors1 by the walls crowded with moody and silent soldiers1 many of them--if this be the meaning of the king's command that they should not parley--only too ready to yield to the plausible infidel4 ,we are astonished4 ,has faith nothing to say for herself8 ,have this people of so long ,divine inspiration no habit of self-possession1 no argument in answer to the irrelevant attacks of their enemy8 ,where are the traditions of ,moses and ,joshua1 the songs of ,deborah and ,david8 ,can men walk about ,zion1 and their very footsteps on her walls ring out no defiance8 ,hezekiah's complaint reminds us that in this silence and distress we have no occasional perplexity of faith1 but her perpetual burden4 ,faith is inarticulate because of her greatness4 ,faith is courageous and imaginative2 but can she convert her confidence and visions into fact8 ,said ,hezekiah1 ,this is a day of trouble1 and rebuke and contumely1 for the children are come to the birth1 and there is not strength to bring them forth4 ,these words are not a mere metaphor for anguish4 ,they are the definition of a real miscarriage4 ,in ,isaiah's contemporaries faith has at last engendered courage1 zeal for ,god's house and strong assurance of victory2 but she1 that has proved fertile to conceive and carry these confidences1 is powerless to bring them forth into real life1 to transform them to actual fact4 ,faith1 complains ,hezekiah1 is not the substance of things hoped for4 ,at the moment when her subjective assurances ought to be realized as facts1 she is powerless to bring them to the birth4 ,it is a miscarriage we are always deploring4 ,wordsworth has said1 ,through love1 through hope1 through faith's transcendent dower1 we feel that we are greater than we know4 ,yes1 greater than we can articulate1 greater than we can tell to men like the ,rabshakeh1 even though he talk the language of the ,jews2 and therefore1 on the whole1 it is best to be silent in face of his argument4 ,but greater also1 we sometimes fear1 than we can realise to ourselves in actual character and victory4 ,all life thrills with the pangs of inability to bring the children of faith to the birth of experience4 ,the man1 who has lost his faith or who takes his faith easily1 never knows1 of course1 this anguish of ,hezekiah4 ,but the more we have fed on the promises of the ,bible1 the more that the ,spirit of ,god has engendered in our pure hearts assurances of justice and of peace1 the more we shall sometimes tremble with the fear that in outward fact there is no life for these beautiful conceptions of the soul4 ,do we really believe in the ,fatherhood of ,god--believe in it till it has changed us inwardly1 and we carry a new sense of destiny1 a new conscience of justice1 a new disgust of sin1 a new pity for pain8 ,then how full of the anguish of impotence must our souls feel when they consciously survey one day of common life about us1 or when we honestly look back on a year of our own conduct6 ,does it not seem as if upon one or two hideous streets in some centre of our civilisation all ,christianity1 with its eighteen hundred years of promise and impetus1 had gone to wreck8 ,is ,god only for the imagination of man8 ,is there no ,god outwardly to control and grant victory8 ,is ,he only a ,voice1 and not the ,creator8 ,is ,christ only a ,prophet1 and not the ,king8 ,and then over these disappointments there faces us all the great miscarriage itself--black1 inevitable death4 ,hezekiah cried from despair that the ,divine assurance of the permanence of ,god's people in the world was about to be wrecked on fact4 ,but often by a deathbed we utter the same lament about the individual's immortality4 ,there is everything to prove a future life except the fact of it within human experience4 ,this life is big with hopes1 instincts1 convictions of immortality2 and yet where within our sight have these ever passed to the birth of fact8#fe ,death is a great miscarriage4 ,the children have come to the birth1 and there is not strength to bring them forth4 #fe ,cf4 ,browning's ,la ,saisiaz4 ,and yet within the horizon of this life at least--the latter part of the difficulty we postpone to another chapter--faith is the substance of things hoped for1 as ,isaiah did now most brilliantly prove4 ,for the miracle of ,jerusalem's deliverance1 to which the narrative proceeds1 was not that by faith the prophet foretold it1 but that by faith he did actually himself succeed in bringing it to pass4 ,the miracle1 we say1 was not that ,isaiah made accurate prediction of the city's speedy relief from the ,assyrian1 but far more that upon his solitary steadfastness1 without aid of battle1 he did carry her disheartened citizens through this crisis of temptation1 and kept them1 though silent1 to their walls till the futile ,assyrian drifted away4 ,the prediction1 indeed1 was not1 although its terms appear exact1 so very marvellous for a prophet to make1 who had ,isaiah's religious conviction that ,jerusalem must survive and ,isaiah's practical acquaintance with the politics of the day4 ,behold1 ,i am setting in him a spirit2 and he shall hear a rumour1 and shall return into his own land4 ,we may recall the parallel case of ,charlemagne in his campaign against the ,moors in ,spain1 from which he was suddenly and unseasonably hastened north on a disastrous retreat by news of the revolt of the ,saxons4#ff ,in the vast ,assyrian territories rebellions were constantly occurring1 that demanded the swift appearance of the king himself2 and ,god's ,spirit1 to whose inspiration ,isaiah traced all political perception1 suggested to him the possibility of one of these4 ,in the end1 the ,bible story implies that it was not a rumour from some far-away quarter so much as a disaster here in ,syria1 which compelled ,sennacherib's retreat from ,moscow4 ,but it is possible that both causes were at work1 and that as ,napoleon offered the receipt of news from ,paris as his reason for hurriedly abandoning the unfortunate ,spanish campaign of #ahjh1 so ,sennacherib made the rumour of some news from his capital or the north the occasion for turning his troops from a theatre of war1 where they had not met with unequivocal success1 and had at last been half destroyed by the plague4 ,isaiah's further prediction of ,sennacherib's death must also be taken in a general sense1 for it was not till twenty years later that the ,assyrian tyrant met this violent end3 ,i will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land4 ,but do not let us waste our attention on the altogether minor point of the prediction of ,jerusalem's deliverance1 when the great wonder1 of which the prediction is but an episode1 lies lengthened and manifest before us--that ,isaiah1 when all the defenders of ,jerusalem were distracted and her king prostrate1 did by the single steadfastness of his spirit sustain her inviolate1 and procure for her people a safe and glorious future4 #ff ,a still more striking analogy may be found in the case of ,napoleon ,i4 when in the ,east in #agii4 ,he had just achieved a small victory which partly masked the previous failure of his campaign1 when ,sir ,sydney ,smith now contrived that he should receive a packet of journals1 by which he was informed of all that had passed recently in ,europe and the disasters that ,france had suffered4 ,his resolution was immediately taken4 ,on ,august #bbnd he wrote to ,kleber announcing that he transferred to him the command of the expedition1 and that he himself would return to ,europe4444 ,after carefully spreading false accounts of his intentions1 he set sail on the night of the same day 7,professor ,seeley1 article ,napoleon in the ,ency4 ,brit474 ,the baffled ,rabshakeh returned to his master1 whom he found at ,libnah1 for he had heard that he had broken up from ,lachish4 ,sennacherib1 the narrative would seem to imply1 did not trouble himself further about ,jerusalem till he learned that ,tirhakah1 the ,ethiopian ruler of ,egypt1 was marching to meet him with probably a stronger force than that which ,sennacherib had defeated at ,eltekeh4 ,then1 feeling the danger of leaving so strong a fortress as ,jerusalem in his rear1 ,sennacherib sent to ,hezekiah one more demand for surrender4 ,hezekiah spread his enemy's letter before the ,lord4 ,his prayer that follows is remarkable for two features1 which enable us to see how pure and elevated a monotheism ,god's ,spirit had at last developed from the national faith of ,israel4 ,the ,being whom the king now seeks he addresses by the familiar name ,jehovah of hosts1 ,god of ,israel1 and describes by the physical figure--who art enthroned upon the cherubim4 ,but he conceives of this ,god with the utmost loftiness and purity1 ascribing to ,him not only sovereignty and creatorship1 but absolute singularity of ,godhead4 ,we have but to compare ,hezekiah's prayer with the utterances of his predecessor ,ahaz1 to whom many gods were real1 and none absolutely sovereign1 or with the utterances of ,israelites far purer than ,ahaz1 to whom the gods of the nations1 though inferior to ,jehovah1 were yet real existences1 in order to mark the spiritual advance made by ,israel under ,isaiah4 ,it is a tribute to the prophet's force1 which speaks volumes1 when the deputation from ,hezekiah talk to him of thy ,god 7ver4 #d74 ,for ,isaiah by his ministry had made ,israel's ,god to be new in ,israel's eyes4 ,hezekiah's lofty prayer drew forth through the prophet an answer from ,jehovah 7vv4 #ba-cb74 ,this is one of the most brilliant of ,isaiah's oracles4 ,it is full of much1 with which we are now familiar3 the triumph of the inviolable fortress1 the virgin daughter of ,zion1 and her scorn of the arrogant foe2 the prophet's appreciation of ,asshur's power and impetus1 which only heightens his conviction that ,asshur is but an instrument in the hand of ,god2 the old figure of the enemy's sudden check as of a wild animal by hook and bridle2 his inevitable retreat to the north4 ,but these familiar ideas are flung off with a terseness and vivacity1 which bear out the opinion that here we have a prophecy of ,isaiah1 not revised and elaborated for subsequent publication1 like the rest of his book1 but in its original form1 struck quickly forth to meet the city's sudden and urgent prayer4 ,the new feature of this prophecy is the sign added to it 7ver4 #cj74 ,this sign reminds us of that which in opposite terms described to ,ahaz the devastation of ,judah by the approaching ,assyrians 7chap4 vii474 ,the wave of ,assyrian war is about to roll away again1 and ,judah to resume her neglected agriculture1 but not quite immediately4 ,during this year of #gja it has been impossible1 with the ,assyrians in the land1 to sow the seed1 and the ,jews have been dependent on the precarious crop of what had fallen from the harvest of the previous year and sown itself--saphah1 or aftergrowth4 ,next year1 it being now too late to sow for next year's harvest1 they must be content with the shahs--wild corn1 that which springs of itself4 ,but the third year sow ye1 and reap1 and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof4 ,perhaps we ought not to interpret these numbers literally4 ,the use of three gives the statement a formal and general aspect1 as if the prophet only meant1 ,it may be not quite at once that we get rid of the ,assyrians2 but when they do go1 then they go for good1 and you may till your land again without fear of their return4 ,then rings out the old promise1 so soon now to be accomplished1 about the escaped and the remnant2 and the great pledge of the promise is once more repeated3 ,the zeal of ,jehovah of hosts will perform this4 ,with this exclamation1 as in ix4 #g1 the prophecy reaches a natural conclusion2 and vv4 #cc-ce may have been uttered by ,isaiah a little later1 when he was quite sure that the ,assyrian would not even attempt to repeat his abandoned blockade of ,jerusalem4 99 99 99 99 99 ,at last in a single night the deliverance miraculously came4 ,it is implied by the scattered accounts of those days of salvation1 that an ,assyrian corps continued to sit before ,jerusalem even after the ,rabshakeh had returned to the headquarters of ,sennacherib4 ,the thirty-third of ,isaiah1 as well as those ,psalms which celebrate the ,assyrian's disappearance from ,judah1 describe it as having taken place from under the walls of ,jerusalem and the astonished eyes of her guardians4 ,it was not1 however1 upon this force--perhaps little more than a brigade of observation 7xxxiii4 #ah7--that the calamity fell which drove ,sennacherib so suddenly from ,syria4 ,and there went forth 7that night1 adds the book of ,kings7 the angel of ,jehovah2 and he smote in the camp of ,assyria one hundred and eighty-five thousand2 and when the camp arose in the morning1 behold all of them were corpses1 dead men4 ,and ,sennacherib1 ,king of ,assyria1 broke up1 and returned and dwelt in ,nineveh4 ,had this pestilence dispersed the camp that lay before ,jerusalem1 and left beneath the walls so considerable a number of corpses1 the exclamations of surprise at the sudden disappearance of ,assyria1 which occur in ,isa4 xxxiii4 and in ,psalms xlviii4 and lxxvi41 could hardly have failed to betray the fact4 ,but these simply speak of vague trouble coming upon them that were assembled about ,zion1 and of their swift decampment4 ,the trouble was the news of the calamity1 whose victims were the main body of the ,assyrian army1 who had been making for the borders of ,egypt1 but were now scattered northwards like chaff4 ,for details of this disaster we look in vain1 of course1 to the ,assyrian annals1 which only record ,sennacherib's abrupt return to ,nineveh4 ,but it is remarkable that the histories of both of his chief rivals in this campaign1 ,judah and ,egypt1 should contain independent reminiscences of so sudden and miraculous a disaster to his host4 ,from ,egyptian sources there has come down through ,herodotus 7ii4 #ad71 a story that a king of ,egypt1 being deserted by the military caste1 when ,sennacherib ,king of the ,arabs and ,assyrians invaded his country1 entered his sanctuary and appealed with weeping to his god2 that the god appeared and cheered him1 that he raised an army of artisans and marched to meet ,sennacherib in ,pelusium2 that by night a multitude of field-mice ate up the quivers1 bow-strings and shield-straps of the ,assyrians2 and that1 as these fled on the morrow1 very many of them fell4 ,a stone statue of the king1 adds ,herodotus1 stood in the temple of ,hephstus1 having a mouse in the hand4 ,now1 since the mouse was a symbol of sudden destruction1 and even of the plague1 this story of ,herodotus seems to be merely a picturesque form of a tradition that pestilence broke out in the ,assyrian camp4 ,the parallel with the ,bible narrative is close4 ,in both accounts it is a prayer of the king that prevails4 ,in both the ,deity sends ,his agent--in the grotesque ,egyptian an army of mice1 in the sublime ,jewish ,his angel4 ,in both the effects are sudden1 happening in a single night4 ,from the ,assyrian side we have this corroboration3 that ,sennacherib did abruptly return to ,nineveh without taking ,jerusalem or meeting with ,tirhakah1 and that1 though he reigned for twenty years more1 he never again made a ,syrian campaign4 ,sennacherib's convenient story of his return may be compared to the ambiguous account which ,csar gives of his first withdrawal from ,britain1 laying emphasis on the submission of the tribes as his reason for a swift return to ,france--a return which was rather due to the destruction of his fleet by storm and the consequent uneasiness of his army4 ,or1 as we have already said1 ,sennacherib's account may be compared to ,napoleon's professed reason for his sudden abandonment of his ,spanish campaign and his quick return to ,paris in #ahjh4 ,the neighbourhood in which the ,assyrian army suffered this great disaster#fg was notorious in antiquity for its power of pestilence4 ,making every allowance for the untutored imagination of the ancients1 we must admit the ,serbonian bog1 between ,syria and ,egypt1 to have been a place terrible for filth and miasma4 ,the noxious vapours travelled far2 but the plagues1 with which this swamp several times desolated the world1 were first engendered among the diseased and demoralised populations1 whose villages festered upon its margin4 ,a ,persian army was decimated here in the middle of the fourth century before ,christ4 ,the fatal disease which depopulated the earth in the time of ,justinian and his successors first appeared in the neighbourhood of ,pelusium1 between the ,serbonian bog and the eastern channel of the ,nile4#fh ,to the north of the bog the ,crusaders also suffered from the infection4 ,it is1 therefore1 very probable that the moral terror of this notorious neighbourhood1 as well as its malaria1 acting upon an exhausted and disappointed army in a devastated land1 was the secondary cause in the great disaster1 by which the ,almighty humbled the arrogance of ,asshur4 ,the swiftness1 with which ,sennacherib's retreat is said to have begun1 has been equalled by the turning-points of other historical campaigns4 ,alexander the ,great's decision to withdraw from ,india was1 after victories as many as ,sennacherib's1 made in three days4 ,attila vanished out of ,italy as suddenly as ,sennacherib1 and from a motive less evident4 ,in the famous ,war of the ,fosse the ,meccan army broke off from their siege of ,mohammed in a single stormy night4 ,napoleon's career went back upon itself with just as sharp a bend no less than thrice--in #agii1 on ,sennacherib's own ground in ,syria2 in #ahjh1 in ,spain2 and in #ahab1 when he turned from ,moscow upon one memorable night of frost1 in which twenty thousand horses perished1 and the strength of the ,french army was utterly broken4#fi #fg ,the statement of the ,egyptian legend1 that it was from a point in the neighbourhood of ,pelusium that ,sennacherib's army commenced its retreat1 is not contradicted by anything in the ,jewish records1 which leave the locality of the disaster very vague1 but1 on the contrary1 receives some support from what ,isaiah expresses as at least the intention of ,sennacherib 7chap4 xxxvii4 #be74 #fh ,gibbon1 ,decline and ,fall1 xliii4 #fi ,arnold1 ,lectures on ,modern ,history1 #agg1 quoted by ,stanley4 ,the amount of the ,assyrian loss is enormous1 and implies of course a much higher figure for the army which was vast enough to suffer it2 but here are some instances for comparison4 ,in the early ,german invasions of ,italy whole armies and camps were swept away by the pestilential climate4 ,the losses of the ,first ,crusade were over three hundred thousand4 ,the soldiers of the ,third ,crusade1 upon the scene of ,sennacherib's war1 were reckoned at more than half a million1 and their losses by disease alone at over one hundred thousand4#gj ,the ,grand ,army of ,napoleon entered ,russia two hundred and fifty thousand1 but came out1 having suffered no decisive defeat1 only twelve thousand2 on the retreat from ,moscow alone ninety thousand perished4 #gj ,gibbon1 xlii42 lix4 ,what we are concerned with1 however1 is neither the immediate occasion nor the exact amount of ,sennacherib's loss1 but the bare fact1 so certainly established1 that1 having devastated ,judah to the very walls of ,jerusalem1 the ,assyrian was compelled by some calamity apart from human war to withdraw before the sacred city itself was taken4 ,for this was the essential part of ,isaiah's prediction2 upon this he had staked the credit of the pure monotheism1 whose prophet he was to the world4 ,if we keep before us these two simple certainties about the great ,deliverance3 first1 that it had been foretold by ,jehovah's word1 and second1 that it had been now achieved1 despite all human probability1 by ,jehovah's own arm1 we shall understand the enormous spiritual impression which it left upon ,israel4 ,the religion of the one supreme ,god1 supreme in might because supreme in righteousness1 received a most emphatic historical vindication1 a signal and glorious triumph4 ,well might ,isaiah exclaim1 on the morning of the night during which that ,assyrian host had drifted away from ,jerusalem1 ,jehovah is our ,judge2 ,jehovah is our ,lawgiver2 ,jehovah is our ,king3 ,he saveth us4 ,no other god for the present had any chance in ,judah4 ,idolatry was discredited1 not by the political victory of a puritan faction1 not even by the distinctive genius or valour of a nation1 but by an evident act of ,providence1 to which no human aid had been contributory4 ,it was nothing less than the baptism of ,israel in spiritual religion1 the grace of which was never wholly undone4 ,nevertheless1 the story of ,jehovah's triumph cannot be justly recounted without including the reaction which followed upon it within the same generation4 ,before twenty years had passed from the day1 on which ,jerusalem1 with the forty-sixth ,psalm on her lips1 sought with all her heart the ,god of ,isaiah1 she relapsed into an idolatry1 that wore only this sign of the uncompromising puritanism it had displaced3 that it was gloomy1 and filled with a sense of sin unknown to ,israel's idolatries previous to the age of ,isaiah4 ,the change would be almost incomprehensible to us1 who have realized the spiritual effects of ,sennacherib's disappearance1 if we had not within our own history a somewhat analogous experience4 ,puritanism was as gloriously accredited by event and seemed to be as generally accepted by ,england under ,cromwell as faith in the spiritual religion of ,isaiah was vindicated by the deliverance of ,jerusalem and the peace of ,judah under ,hezekiah4 ,but swiftly as the ruling temper in ,england changed after ,cromwell's death1 and ,puritanism was laid under the ban1 and persecution and licentiousness broke out1 so quickly when ,hezekiah died did ,manasseh his son--no change of dynasty here--do evil in the sight of ,jehovah1 and make ,judah to sin1 building again the high places and rearing up altars for ,baal and altars in the house of ,jehovah1 whereof ,jehovah had said1 ,in ,jerusalem will ,i put ,my name4 ,idolatry was never so rampant in ,judah4 ,moreover1 ,manasseh shed innocent blood till he filled ,jerusalem from one end to another4 ,it is in this carnage that tradition has placed the death of ,isaiah4 ,he1 who had been ,judah's best counsellor through five reigns1 on whom the whole nation had gathered in the day of her distress1 and by whose faith her long-hoped-for salvation had at last become substantive1 was violently put to death by the son of ,hezekiah4 ,it is said that he was sawn asunder4#ga #ga ,heb4 xi4 ,the parallel1 which we are pursuing1 does not1 however1 close here4 ,as soon1 says an ,english historian1 as the wild orgy of the ,restoration was over1 men began to see that nothing that was really worthy in the work of ,puritanism had been undone4 ,the whole history of ,english progress since the ,restoration1 on its moral and spiritual sides1 has been the history of ,puritanism4 ,for the principles of ,isaiah and their victory we may make a claim as much larger than this claim1 as ,israel's influence on the world has been greater than ,england's4 ,israel never wholly lost the grace of the baptism wherewith she was baptized in #gja4 ,even in her history there was no event in which the unaided interposition of ,god was more conspicuous4 ,it is from an appreciation of the meaning of such a ,providence that ,israel derives her character--that character which marks her off so distinctively from her great rival in the education of the human race1 and endows her ministry with its peculiar value to the world4 ,if we are asked for the characteristics of the ,hellenic genius1 we point to the august temples and images of beauty in which the wealth and art of man have evolved in human features most glorious suggestions of divinity1 or we point to ,thermopyl1 where human valour and devotion seem grander even in unavailing sacrifice than the almighty ,fate1 that renders them the prey of the barbarian4 ,in ,greece the human is greater than the divine4 ,but if we are asked to define the spirit of ,israel1 we remember the worship which ,isaiah has enjoined in his opening chapter1 a worship that dispenses even with temple and with sacrifice1 but1 from the first strivings of conscience to the most certain enjoyment of peace1 ascribes all man's experience to the word of ,god4 ,in contrast with ,thermopyl1 we recall ,jerusalem's ,deliverance1 effected apart from human war by the direct stroke of ,heaven4 ,in ,judah man is great simply as he rests on ,god4 ,the rocks of ,thermopyl1 how imperishably beautiful do they shine to latest ages with the comradeship1 the valour1 the sacrificial blood of human heroes6 ,it is another beauty which ,isaiah saw upon the bare1 dry rocks of ,zion1 and which has drawn to them the admiration of the world4 ,there1 he said1 ,jehovah is glory for us1 a place of broad rivers and streams4 99 99 99 99 99 ,in returning and rest shall ye be saved2 in quietness and in confidence is your strength4 ,how divine ,isaiah's message is1 may be proved by the length of time mankind is taking to learn it4 ,the remarkable thing is1 that he staked so lofty a principle1 and the pure religion of which it was the temper1 upon a political result1 that he staked them upon1 and vindicated them by1 a purely local and material success--the relief of ,jerusalem from the infidel4 ,centuries passed1 and ,christ came4 ,he did not--for even ,he could not--preach a more spiritual religion than that which ,he had committed to ,his greatest forerunner1 but ,he released this religion1 and the temper of faith which ,isaiah had so divinely expressed1 from the local associations and merely national victories1 with which even ,isaiah had been forced to identify them4 ,the destruction of ,jerusalem by the heathen formed a large part of ,christ's prediction of the immediate future2 and ,he comforted the remnant of faith with these words1 to some of which ,isaiah's lips had first given their meaning3 ,ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet in ,jerusalem worship the ,father4 ,god is a ,spirit1 and they that worship ,him must worship ,him in spirit and in truth4 ,again centuries passed--no less than eighteen from ,isaiah--and we find ,christendom1 though ,christ had come between1 returning to ,isaiah's superseded problem1 and1 while reviving its material conditions1 unable to apply to them the prophet's spiritual temper4 ,the ,christianity of the ,crusades fell back upon ,isaiah's position without his spirit4 ,like him1 it staked the credit of religion upon the relief of the holy city from the grasp of the infidel2 but1 in ghastly contrast to that pure faith and serene confidence with which a single ,jew maintained the inviolateness of ,mount ,zion in the face of ,assyria1 with what pride and fraud1 with what blood and cruelty1 with what impious invention of miracle and parody of ,divine testimony1 did countless armies of ,christendom1 excited by their most fervent prophets and blessed by their high-priest1 attempt in vain the recovery of ,jerusalem from the ,saracen6 ,the ,crusades are a gigantic proof of how easy it is to adopt the external forms of heroic ages1 how difficult to repeat their inward temper4 ,we could not have more impressive witness borne to the fact that humanity--though obedient to the orthodox ,church1 though led by the strongest spirits of the age1 though hallowed by the presence of its greatest saints1 though enduring all trials1 though exhibiting an unrivalled power of self-sacrifice and enthusiasm1 though beautified by courtesy and chivalry1 and though doing and suffering all for ,christ's sake--may yet fail to understand the old precept that in returning and rest men are saved1 in quietness and in confidence is their strength4 ,nothing could more emphatically prove the loftiness of ,isaiah's teaching than this failure of ,christendom even to come within sight of it4 ,have we learned this lesson yet8 ,o ,god of ,israel1 ,god of ,isaiah1 in returning to whom and resting upon whom alone we are saved1 purge us of self and of the pride of life1 of the fever and the falsehood they breed4 ,teach us that in quietness and in confidence is our strength4 ,help us to be still and know that ,thou art ,god4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv4 ,a ,,review ,,of ,,isaiah',s ,,predictions ,,concerning ,,the ,,deliverance ,,of ,,jerusalem4 ,as we have gathered together all that ,isaiah prophesied concerning the ,messiah1 so it may be useful for closer students of his book if we now summarise 7even at the risk of a little repetition7 the facts of his marvellous prediction of the siege and delivery of ,jerusalem4 ,such a review1 besides being historically interesting1 ought to prove of edification in so far as it instructs us in the kind of faith by which the ,holy ,ghost inspired a prophet to foretell the future4 #a4 ,the primary conviction with which ,isaiah felt himself inspired by the ,spirit of ,jehovah was a purely moral one--that a devastation of ,judah was necessary for her people's sin1 to which he shortly added a religious one3 that a remnant would be saved4 ,he had this double conviction as early as #gdj ,b4,c4 7vi4 #aa-ac74 #b4 ,looking round the horizon for some phenomenon with which to identify this promised judgement1 ,isaiah described the latter at first without naming any single people as the invaders of ,judah 7v4 #bf ff474 ,it may have been that for a moment he hesitated between ,assyria and ,egypt4 ,once he named them together as equally the ,lord's instruments upon ,judah 7vii4 #ah71 but only once4 ,when ,ahaz resolved to call ,assyria into the ,syrian quarrels1 ,isaiah exclusively designated the northern power as the scourge he had predicted2 and when in #gcb the ,assyrian armies had overrun ,samaria1 he graphically described their necessary overflow into ,judah also 7viii474 ,this invasion did not spread to ,judah1 but ,isaiah's combined moral and political conviction1 for both elements of which he claimed the inspiration of ,god's ,spirit1 seized him with renewed strength in #gbe1 when ,salmanassar marched south upon ,israel 7xxviii472 and in #gba1 when ,sargon captured ,samaria1 ,isaiah uttered a vivid description of his speedy arrival before ,jerusalem 7x4 #bh ff474 ,this prediction was again disappointed4 ,but ,sargon's departure without invading ,judah1 and her second escape from him on his return to ,syria in #gaa1 did not in the least induce ,isaiah to relax either of his two convictions4 ,judah he proclaimed to be as much in need of punishment as ever 7xxix4-xxxii472 and1 though on ,sargon's death all ,palestine revolted from ,assyria to ,egypt1 he persisted that this would not save her from ,sennacherib 7xiv4 #bi ff42 xxix4-xxx474 ,the dourness with which his countrymen believed in ,egypt naturally caused the prophet to fill his orations at this time with the political side of his conviction that ,assyria was stronger than ,egypt2 but because ,jerusalem's ,egyptian policy springs from a deceitful temper 7xxx4 #a1 #i1 #aj7 he is as earnest as ever with his moral conviction that judgement is coming4 ,after #gje his pictures of a siege of ,jerusalem grow more definite 7xxix42 xxx474 ,he seems scorched by the nearness of the ,assyrian conflagration 7xxx4 #bg ff474 ,at last in #gja1 when ,sennacherib comes to ,palestine1 the siege is pictured as immediate--chaps4 i4 and xx41 which also show at its height the prophet's moral conviction of the necessity of the siege for punishing his people4 #c4 ,but over against this moral conviction1 that ,judah must be devastated for her sin1 and this political1 that ,assyria is to be the instrument1 even to the extreme of a siege of ,jerusalem1 the prophet still holds strongly to the religious assurance that ,god cannot allow ,his shrine to be violated or ,his people to be exterminated4 ,at first it is only of the people that ,isaiah speaks--the remnant 7vi42 viii4 #ah74 ,jerusalem is not mentioned in the verses that describe the overflowing of all ,judah by ,assyria 7viii4 #g74 ,it is only when at last1 in #gba1 the prophet realizes how near a siege of ,jerusalem may be 7x4 #aa1 #bh-cb71 that he also pictures the sudden destruction of the ,assyrian on his arrival within sight of her walls 7x4 #cc74 ,in #gje1 when the siege of the sacred city once more becomes imminent1 the prophet again reiterates to the heathen that ,zion alone shall stand among the cities of ,syria 7xiv4 #cb74 ,to herself he says that1 though she shall be besieged and brought very low1 she shall finally be delivered 7xxix4 #a-h2 xxx4 #ai-bf2 xxxi4 #a1 #d1 #e74 ,it is true1 this conviction seems to be broken--once by a prophecy of uncertain date 7xxxii4 #ad71 which indicates a desolation of the buildings of ,jerusalem1 and once by the prophet's sentence of death upon the inhabitants in the hour of their profligacy 7xxii47--but when the city has repented1 and the enemy have perfidiously come back to demand her surrender1 ,isaiah again asseverates1 though all are hopeless1 that she shall not fall 7xxxvii474 #d4 ,now1 with regard to the method of ,jerusalem's deliverance1 ,isaiah has uniformly described this as happening not by human battle4 ,from the beginning he said that ,israel should be delivered in the last extremity of their weakness 7vi4 #ac74 ,on the ,assyrian's arrival over against the city1 ,jehovah is to lop him off 7x4 #cc74 ,when her enemies have invested ,jerusalem1 ,jehovah is to come down in thunder and a hurricane and sweep them away 7after #gje1 xxix4 #e-h74 ,they are to be suddenly disappointed1 like a hungry man waking from a dream of food4 ,a beautiful promise is given of the raising of the siege without mention of struggle or any weapon 7xxx4 #bj-bf74 ,the ,assyrian is to be checked as a wild bull is checked with a lasso1 is to be slain by the lighting down of the ,lord's arm1 by the voice of the ,lord1 through a judgement that shall be like a solemn holocaust to ,god than a human battle 7xxx4 #cj-cc74 ,when the ,assyrian comes back1 and ,hezekiah is crushed by the new demand for surrender1 ,isaiah says that1 by a ,divinely inspired impulse1 ,sennacherib1 hearing bad news1 shall suddenly return to his own land 7xxxviii4 #g74 ,it is only in very little details that these predictions differ4 ,the thunderstorm and torrents of fire are1 of course1 but poetic variations4 ,in #gba1 however1 the prophet hardly anticipates the very close siege1 which he pictures after #gje2 and while from #gje to #gjb he identifies the relief of ,jerusalem with a great calamity to the ,assyrian army about to invade ,judah1 yet in #gja1 when the ,assyrians are actually on the spot1 he suggests that nothing but a rumour shall cause their retreat and so leave ,jerusalem free of them4 #e4 ,in all this we see a certain ,,fixity and a certain ,,freedom4 ,the freedom1 the changes and inconsistencies in the prediction1 are entirely limited to those of ,isaiah's convictions which we have called political1 and which the prophet evidently gathered from his observation of political circumstances as these developed before his eyes from year to year4 ,but what was fixed and unalterable to ,isaiah1 he drew from the moral and religious convictions to which his political observation was subservient2 viz41 ,judah's very sore punishment for sin1 the survival of a people of ,god in the world1 and their deliverance by ,his own act4 #f4 ,this ,bible-reading in ,isaiah's predictive prophecies reveals very clearly the nature of inspiration under the old covenant4 ,to ,isaiah inspiration was nothing more nor less than the possession of certain strong moral and religious convictions1 which he felt he owed to the communication of the ,spirit of ,god1 and according to which he interpreted1 and even dared to foretell1 the history of his people and the world4 ,our study completely dispels1 on the evidence of the ,bible itself1 that view of inspiration and prediction1 so long held in the ,church1 which it is difficult to define1 but which means something like this3 that the prophet beheld a vision of the future in its actual detail and read this off as a man may read the history of the past out of a book or a clear memory4 ,this is a very simple view1 but too simple either to meet the facts of the ,bible1 or to afford to men any of that intellectual and spiritual satisfaction which the discovery of the ,divine methods is sure to afford4 ,the literal view of inspiration is too simple to be true1 and too simple to be edifying4 ,on the other hand1 how profitable1 how edifying1 is the ,bible's own account of its inspiration6 ,to know that men interpreted1 predicted and controlled history in the power of the purest moral and religious convictions--in the knowledge of1 and the loyalty to1 certain fundamental laws of ,god--is to receive an account of inspiration1 which is not only as satisfying to the reason as it is true to the facts of the ,bible1 but is spiritually very helpful by the lofty example and reward it sets before our own faith4 ,by faith differing in degree1 but not in kind1 from ours1 faith which is the substance of things hoped for1 these men became prophets of ,god1 and received the testimony of history that they spoke from ,him4 ,isaiah prophesied and predicted all he did from loyalty to two simple truths1 which he tells us he received from ,god ,himself3 that sin must be punished1 and that the people of ,god must be saved4 ,this simple faith1 acting along with a wonderful knowledge of human nature and ceaseless vigilance of affairs1 constituted inspiration for ,isaiah4 ,there is thus1 with great modifications1 an analogy between the prophet and the scientific observer of the present day4 ,men of science are able to affirm the certainty of natural phenomena by their knowledge of the laws and principles of nature4 ,certain forces being present1 certain results must come to pass4 ,the ,old ,testament prophets1 working in history1 a sphere where the problems were infinitely more complicated by the presence and powerful operation of man's free-will1 seized hold of principles as conspicuous and certain to them as the laws of nature are to the scientist2 and out of their conviction of these they proclaimed the necessity of certain events4 ,god is inflexibly righteous1 ,he cannot utterly destroy ,his people or the witness of ,himself among men3 these were the laws4 ,judah shall be punished1 ,israel shall continue to exist3 these were the certainties deduced from the laws4 ,but for the exact conditions and forms both of the punishment and its relief the prophets depended upon their knowledge of the world1 of which1 as these pages testify1 they were the keenest and largest-hearted observers that ever appeared4 ,this account of prophecy may be offered with advantage to those who are prejudiced against prophecy as full of materials1 which are inexplicable to minds accustomed to find a law and reason for everything4 ,grant the truths of the spiritual doctrines1 which the prophets made their premises1 and you must admit that their predictions are neither arbitrary nor bewildering4 ,or begin at the other end3 verify that these facts took place1 and that the prophets actually predicted them2 and if you are true to your own scientific methods1 you will not be able to resist the conclusion that the spiritual laws and principles1 by which the predictions were made1 are as real as those by which in the realm of nature you proclaim the necessity of certain physical phenomena--and all this in spite of there being at work in the prophets' sphere a force1 the free-will of man1 which cannot interfere with the laws you work by1 as it can with those on which they depend4 ,but1 to turn from the apologetic value of this account of prophecy to the experimental1 we maintain that it brings out a new sacredness upon common life4 ,if it be true that ,isaiah had no magical means for foretelling the future1 but simply his own spiritual convictions and his observation of history1 that may1 of course1 deprive some eyes of a light which they fancied they saw bursting from heaven4 ,but1 on the other hand1 does it not cast a greater glory upon daily life and history1 to have seen in ,isaiah this close connection between spiritual conviction and political event8 ,does it not teach us that life is governed by faith2 that the truths we profess are the things that make history2 that we carry the future in our hearts2 that not an event happens but is to be used by us as meaning the effect of some law of ,god1 and not a fact appears but is the symbol and sacrament of ,his truth8 ,,chapter ,,xxv4 ,,an ,,old ,,testament ,,believer',s ,,sick-,,bed2 ,,or1 ,,the ,,difference ,,christ ,,has ,,made4 ,,isaiah xxxviii42 xxxix4 7,,date ,,uncertain74 ,to the great national drama of ,jerusalem's deliverance1 there have been added two scenes of a personal kind1 relating to her king4 ,chaps4 xxxviii4 and xxxix4 are the narrative of the sore sickness and recovery of ,king ,hezekiah1 and of the embassy which ,merodach-baladan sent him1 and how he received the embassy4 ,the date of these events is difficult to determine4 ,if1 with ,canon ,cheyne1 we believe in an invasion of ,judah by ,sargon in #gaa1 we shall be tempted to refer them1 as he does1 to that date--the more so that the promise of fifteen additional years made to ,hezekiah in #gaa1 the fifteenth year of his reign1 would bring it up to the twenty-nine1 at which it is set in #b ,kings xviii4 #b4 ,that1 however1 would flatly contradict the statement both of ,isaiah xxxviii4 #a and #b ,kings xx4 #a that ,hezekiah's sickness fell in the days of the invasion of ,judah by ,sennacherib2 that is1 after #gje4 ,but to place the promise of fifteen additional years to ,hezekiah after #gje1 when we know he had been reigning for at least twenty years1 would be to contradict the verse1 just cited1 which sums up the years of his reign as twenty-nine4 ,this is1 in fact1 one of the instances1 in which we must admit our present inability to elucidate the chronology of this portion of the book of ,isaiah4 ,mr4 ,cheyne thinks the editor mistook the siege by ,sennacherib for the siege by ,sargon4 ,but as the fact of a siege by ,sargon has never been satisfactorily established1 it seems safer to trust the statement that ,hezekiah's sickness occurred in the reign of ,sennacherib1 and to allow that there has been an error somewhere in the numbering of the years4 ,it is remarkable that the name of ,merodach-baladan does not help us to decide between the two dates4 ,there was a ,merodach-baladan in rebellion against ,sargon in #gaj1 and there was one in rebellion against ,sennacherib in #gje4 ,it has not yet been put past doubt as to whether these two are the same4 ,the essential is that there was a ,merodach-baladan alive1 real or only claimant king of ,babylon1 about #gje1 and that he was likely at that date to treat with ,hezekiah1 being himself in revolt against ,assyria4 ,unable to come to any decision about the conflicting numbers1 we leave uncertain the date of the events recounted in chaps4 xxxviii41 xxxix4 ,the original form of the narrative1 but wanting ,hezekiah's hymn1 is given in #b ,kings xx4#gb #gb ,isa4 xxxviii41 xxxix41 has evidently been abridged from #b ,kings xx4 and in some points has to be corrected by the latter4 ,chap4 xxxviii4 #ba1 #bb1 of course1 must be brought forward before ver4 #g4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we have given to this chapter the title ,an ,old ,testament ,believer's ,deathbed2 or1 ,the ,difference ,christ has made1 not because this is the only spiritual suggestion of the story1 but because it seems to the present expositor as if this were the predominant feeling left in ,christian minds after reading for us the story4 ,in ,hezekiah's conduct there is much of courage for us to admire1 as there are other elements to warn us2 but when we have read the whole story1 we find ourselves saying1 ,what a difference ,christ has made to me6 ,take ,hezekiah from two points of view1 and then let the narrative itself bring out this difference4 ,here is a man1 who1 although he lived more than twenty-five centuries ago is brought quite close to our side4 ,death1 who herds all men into his narrow fold1 has crushed this ,hebrew king so close to us that we can feel his very heart beat4 ,hezekiah's hymn gives us entrance into the fellowship of his sufferings4 ,by the figures he so skilfully uses he makes us feel that pain1 the shortness of life1 the suddenness of death and the utter blackness beyond were to him just what they are to us4 ,and yet this kinship in pain1 and fear and ignorance only makes us the more aware of something else which we have and he has not4 ,again1 here is a man to whom religion gave all it could give without the help of ,christ2 a believer in the religion out of which ,christianity sprang1 perhaps the most representative ,old ,testament believer we could find1 for ,hezekiah was at once the collector of what was best in its literature and the reformer of what was worst in its worship2 a man permeated by the past piety of his ,church1 and enjoying as his guide and philosopher the boldest prophet who ever preached the future developments of its spirit4 ,yet when we put ,hezekiah and all that ,isaiah can give him on one side1 we shall again feel for ourselves on the other what a difference ,christ has made4 ,this difference a simple study of the narrative will make clear4 ,i4 ,in those days ,hezekiah became sick unto death4 ,they were critical days for ,judah--no son born to the king 7#b ,kings xxi4 #a71 the work of reformation in ,judah not yet consolidated1 the big world tossing in revolution all around4 ,under ,god1 everything depended on an experienced ruler2 and this one1 without a son to succeed him1 was drawing near to death4 ,we will therefore judge ,hezekiah's strong passion for life to have been patriotic as well as selfish4 ,he stood in the midtime of his days1 with a faithfully executed work behind him and so good an example of kinghood that for years ,isaiah had not expressed his old longing for the ,messiah4 ,the ,lord had counted ,hezekiah righteous2 that twin-sign had been given him which more than any other assured an ,israelite of ,jehovah's favour--a good conscience and success in his work4 ,well1 therefore1 might he cry when ,isaiah brought him the sentence of death1 ,ah1 now1 ,jehovah1 remember1 ,i beseech ,thee1 how ,i have walked before ,thee in truth and with a perfect heart1 and have done that which is good in ,thine eyes4 ,and ,hezekiah wept with a great weeping4 ,there is difficulty in the strange story which follows4 ,the dial was probably a pyramid of steps on the top of which stood a short pillar or obelisk4 ,when the sun rose in the morning1 the shadow cast by the pillar would fall right down the western side of the pyramid to the bottom of the lowest step4 ,as the sun ascended the shadow would shorten1 and creep up inch by inch to the foot of the pillar4 ,after noon1 as the sun began to descend to the west1 the shadow would creep down the eastern steps2 and the steps were so measured that each one marked a certain degree of time4 ,it was probably afternoon when ,isaiah visited the king4 ,the shadow was going down according to the regular law2 the sign consisted in causing the shadow to shrink up the steps again4 ,such a reversal of the ordinary progress of the shadow may have been caused in either of two ways3 by the whole earth being thrown back on its axis1 which we may dismiss as impossible1 or by the occurrence of the phenomenon known as refraction4 ,refraction is a disturbance in the atmosphere by which the rays of the sun are bent or deflected from their natural course into an angular one4 ,in this case1 instead of shooting straight over the top of the obelisk1 the rays of the sun had been bent down and inward1 so that the shadow fled up to the foot of the obelisk4 ,there are many things in the air which might cause this2 it is a phenomenon often observed2 and the ,scriptural narratives imply that on this occasion it was purely local 7#b ,chron4 xxxii4 #ca74 ,had we only the narrative in the book of ,isaiah1 the explanation would have been easy4 ,isaiah1 having given the sentence of death1 passed the dial in the palace courtyard1 and saw the shadow lying ten degrees farther up than it should have done1 the sight of which coincided with the inspiration that the king would not die2 and ,isaiah went back to announce to ,hezekiah his reprieve1 and naturally call his attention to this as a sign1 to which a weak and desponding man would be glad to cling4 ,but the original narrative in the book of ,kings tells us that ,isaiah offered ,hezekiah a choice of signs3 that the shadow should either advance or retreat1 and that the king chose the latter4 ,the sign came in answer to ,isaiah's prayer1 and is narrated to us as a special ,divine interposition4 ,but a medicine accompanied it1 and ,hezekiah recovered through a poultice of figs laid on the boil from which he suffered4 ,while recognising for our own faith the uselessness of a discussion on this sign offered to a sick man1 let us not miss the moral lessons of so touching a narrative1 nor the sympathy with the sick king which it is fitted to produce1 and which is our best introduction to the study of his hymn4 ,isaiah had performed that most awful duty of doctor or minister the telling of a friend that he must die4 ,few men have not in their personal experience a key to the prophet's feelings on this occasion4 ,the leaving of a dear friend for the last time2 the coming out into the sunlight which he will nevermore share with us2 the passing by the dial2 the observation of the creeping shadow2 the feeling that it is only a question of time1 the passion of prayer into which that feeling throws us that ,god may be pleased to put off the hour and spare our friend2 the invention1 that is born1 like prayer1 of necessity3 a cure we suddenly remember2 the confidence which prayer and invention bring between them2 the return with the joyful news2 the giving of the order about the remedy--cannot many in their degree rejoice with ,isaiah in such an experience8 ,but he has1 too1 a conscience of ,god and ,god's work to which none of us may pretend3 he knows how indispensable to that work his royal pupil is1 and out of this inspiration he prophesies the will of the ,lord that ,hezekiah shall recover4 ,then the king1 with a sick man's sacramental longing1 asks a sign4 ,out through the window the courtyard is visible2 there stands the same step-dial of ,ahaz1 the long pillar on the top of the steps1 the shadow creeping down them through the warm afternoon sunshine4 ,to the sick man it must have been like the finger of death coming nearer4 ,shall the shadow1 asks the prophet1 go forward ten steps or go back ten steps8 ,it is easy1 says the king1 alarmed1 for the shadow to go down ten steps4 ,easy for it to go down6 ,has he not been feeling that all the afternoon8 ,do not1 we can fancy him saying1 with the gasp of a man who has been watching its irresistible descent--do not let that black thing come farther2 but let the shadow go backward ten steps4 ,the shadow returned1 and ,hezekiah got his sign4 ,but when he was well1 he used it for more than a sign4 ,he read a great spiritual lesson in it4 ,the time1 which upon the dial had been apparently thrown back1 had in his life been really thrown back2 and ,god had given him his years to live over again4 ,the past was to be as if it had never been1 its guilt and weakness wiped out4 ,thou hast cast behind ,thy back all my sins4 ,as a newborn child ,hezekiah felt himself uncommitted by the past1 not a sin's-doubt nor a sin's-cowardice in him1 with the heart of a little child1 but yet with the strength and dignity of a grown man1 for it is the magic of tribulation to bring innocence with experience4 ,i shall go softly1 or literally1 with dignity or caution1 as in a procession1 all my years because of the bitterness of my soul4 ,o ,lord1 upon such things do men live2 and altogether in them is the life of my spirit4444 ,behold1 for perfection was it bitter to me1 so bitter4 ,and through it all there breaks a new impression of ,god4 ,what shall ,i say8 ,he hath both spoken with me1 and ,himself hath done it4 ,as if afraid to impute his profits to the mere experience itself1 ,in them is the life of my spirit1 he breaks in with ,yea1 ,thou hast recovered me2 yea1 ,thou hast made me to live4 ,and then1 by a very pregnant construction1 he adds1 ,thou hast loved my soul out of the pit of destruction2 that is1 of course1 loved1 and by ,thy love lifted1 but he uses the one word loved1 and gives it the active force of drawing or lifting4 ,in this lay the head and glory of ,hezekiah's experience4 ,he was a religious man1 an enthusiast for the ,temple services1 and had all his days as his friend the prophet whose heart was with the heart of ,god2 but it was not through any of these means ,god came near him1 not till he lay sick and had turned his face to the wall4 ,then indeed he cried1 ,what shall ,i say8 ,he hath both spoken with me1 and ,himself hath done it6 ,forgiveness1 a new peace1 a new dignity and a visit from the living ,god6 ,well might ,hezekiah exclaim that it was only through a near sense of death that men rightly learned to live4 ,ah1 ,lord1 it is upon these things that men live2 and wholly therein is the life of my spirit4 ,it is by these things men live1 and therein ,i have learned for the first time what life is6 ,in all this at least we cannot go beyond ,hezekiah1 and he stands an example to the best ,christian among us4 ,never did a man bring richer harvest from the fields of death4 ,everything that renders life really life--peace1 dignity1 a new sense of ,god and of ,his forgiveness--these were the spoils which ,hezekiah won in his struggle with the grim enemy4 ,he had snatched from death a new meaning for life2 he had robbed death of its awful pomp1 and bestowed this on careless life4 ,hereafter he should walk with the step and the mien of a conqueror--,i shall go in solemn procession all my years because of the bitterness of my soul--or with the carefulness of a worshipper1 who sees at the end of his course the throne of the ,most ,high ,god1 and makes all his life an ascent thither4 ,this is the effect which every great sorrow and struggle has upon a noble soul4 ,come to the streets of the living4 ,who are these1 whom we can so easily distinguish from the crowd by their firmness of step and look of peace1 walking softly where some spurt and some halt1 holding1 without rest or haste1 the tenor of their way1 as if they marched to music heard by their ears alone8 ,these are they which have come out of great tribulation4 ,they have brought back into time the sense of eternity4 ,they know how near the invisible worlds lie to this one1 and the sense of the vast silences stills all idle laughter in their hearts4 ,the life that is to other men chance or sport1 strife or hurried flight1 has for them its allotted distance2 is for them a measured march1 a constant worship4 ,for the bitterness of their soul they go in procession all their years4 ,sorrow's subjects1 they are our kings2 wrestlers with death1 our veterans3 and to the rabble armies of society they set the step of a nobler life4 ,count especially the young man blessed1 who has looked into the grave before he has faced the great temptations of the world1 and has not entered the race of life till he has learned his stride in the race with death4 ,they tell us that on the outside of civilisation1 where men carry their lives in their hands1 a most thorough politeness and dignity are bred1 in spite of the want of settled habits1 by the sense of danger alone2 and we know how battle and a deadly climate1 pestilence or the perils of the sea have sent back to us the most careless of our youth with a self-possession and regularity of mind1 that it would have been hopeless to expect them to develop amid the trivial trials of village life4 ,but the greatest duty of us men is not to seek nor to pray for such combats with death4 ,it is when ,god has found these for us to remain true to our memories of them4 ,the hardest duty of life is to remain true to our psalms of deliverance1 as it is certainly life's greatest temptation to fall away from the sanctity of sorrow1 and suffer the stately style of one who knows how near death hovers to his line of march to degenerate into the broken step of a wanton life4 ,this was ,hezekiah's temptation1 and this is why the story of his fall in the thirty-ninth chapter is placed beside his vows in the thirty-eighth--to warn us how easy it is for those who have come conquerors out of a struggle with death to fall a prey to common life4 ,he had said1 ,i will walk softly all my years2 but how arrogantly and rashly he carried himself when ,merodach-baladan sent the embassy to congratulate him on his recovery4 ,it was not with the dignity of the veteran1 but with a childish love of display1 perhaps also with the too restless desire to secure an alliance1 that he showed the envoys his storehouse1 the silver1 and the gold1 and the spices1 and the precious oil1 and all the house of his armour and all that was found in his treasures4 ,there was nothing which ,hezekiah did not show them in his house nor in all his dominion4 ,in this behaviour there was neither caution nor sobriety1 and we cannot doubt but that ,hezekiah felt the shame of it when ,isaiah sternly rebuked him and threw upon all his house the dark shadow of captivity4 ,it is easier to win spoils from death than to keep them untarnished by life4 ,shame burns warm in a soldier's heart when he sees the arms he risked life to win rusting for want of a little care4 ,ours will not burn less if we discover that the strength of character we brought with us out of some great tribulation has been slowly weakened by subsequent self-indulgence of vanity4 ,how awful to have fought for character with death only to squander it upon life6 ,it is well to keep praying1 ,my ,god1 suffer me not to forget my bonds and my bitterness4 ,in my hours of wealth and ease1 and health and peace1 by the memory of ,thy judgements deliver me1 good ,lord4 ,,ii4 ,so far then ,hezekiah is an example and warning to us all4 ,with all our faith in ,christ1 none of us1 in the things mentioned1 may hope to excel this ,old ,testament believer4 ,but notice very particularly that ,hezekiah's faith and fortitude are profitable only for this life4 ,it is when we begin to think1 ,what of the life to come8 that we perceive the infinite difference ,christ has made4 ,we know what ,hezekiah felt when his back was turned on death1 and he came up to life again4 ,but what did he feel when he faced the other way1 and his back was to life8 ,with his back to life and facing deathwards1 ,hezekiah saw nothing1 that was worth hoping for4 ,to him to die was to leave ,god behind him1 to leave the face of ,god as surely as he was leaving the face of man4 ,i said1 ,i shall not see ,jah1 ,jah in the land of the living2 ,i shall gaze upon man no more with the inhabitants of the world4 ,the beyond was not to ,hezekiah absolute nothingness1 for he had his conceptions1 the popular conceptions of his time1 of a sort of existence that was passed by those who had been men upon earth4 ,the imagination of his people figured the gloomy portals of a nether world--,sheol1 the ,hollow 7,dante's hollow realm71 or perhaps the ,craving--into which death herds the shades of men1 bloodless1 voiceless1 without love or hope or aught that makes life worth living4 ,with such an existence beyond1 to die to life here was to ,hezekiah like as when a weaver rolls up the finished web4 ,my life may be a pattern for others to copy1 a banner for others to fight under1 but for me it is finished4 ,death has cut it from the loom4 ,or it was like going into captivity4 ,mine age is removed and is carried away from me into exile1 like a shepherd's tent--exile which to a ,jew was the extreme of despair1 implying as it did absence from ,god1 and salvation and the possibility of worship4 ,sheol cannot praise ,thee2 death cannot celebrate ,thee3 they that go down into the pit cannot hope for ,thy faithfulness4 ,of this then at the best ,hezekiah was sure3 a respite of fifteen years--nothing beyond4 ,then the shadow would not return upon the dial2 and as the king's eyes closed upon the dear faces of his friends1 his sense of the countenance of ,god would die too1 and his soul slip into the abyss1 hopeless of ,god's faithfulness4 ,it is this awful anticlimax1 which makes us feel the difference ,christ has made4 ,this saint stood in almost the clearest light that revelation cast before ,jesus4 ,he was able to perceive in suffering a meaning and derive from it a strength not to be exceeded by any ,christian4 ,yet his faith is profitable for this life alone4 ,for him character may wrestle with death over and over again1 and grow the stronger for every grapple1 but death wins the last throw4 ,it may be said that ,hezekiah's despair of the future is simply the morbid thoughts of a sick man or the exaggerated fancies of a poet4 ,we must not1 it is urged1 define a poet's language with the strictness of a theology4 ,true1 and we must also make some allowance for a man dying prematurely in the midst of his days4 ,but if this hymn is only poetry1 it would have been as easy to poetise on the opposite possibilities across the grave4 ,so quick an imagination as ,hezekiah's could not have failed to take advantage of the slightest scintilla of glory that pierced the cloud4 ,it must be that his eye saw none1 for all his poetry droops the other way4 ,we seek in heaven for praise in its fulness2 there we know ,god's servants shall see ,him face to face4 ,but of this ,hezekiah had not the slightest imagination2 he anxiously prayed that he might recover to strike the stringed instruments all the days of his life in the house of ,jehovah4 ,the living1 the living1 he praiseth thee1 as ,i do this day2 the father to the children shall make known ,thy truth4 ,but they that go down into the pit cannot hope for ,thy faithfulness4 ,now compare all this with the ,psalms of ,christian hope2 with the faith that fills ,paul2 with his ardour who says1 ,to me to depart is far better2 with the glory which ,john beholds with open face3 the hosts of the redeemed praising ,god and walking in the light of ,his face1 all the geography of that country laid down1 and the plan of the new ,jerusalem declared to the very fashion of her stones2 with the audacity since of ,christian art and song3 the rapture of ,watts' hymns and the exhilaration of ,wesley's praise as they contemplate death2 and with the joyful and exact anticipations of so many millions of common men as they turn their faces to the wall4 ,in all these1 in even the ,book of the ,revelation1 there is of course a great deal of pure fancy4 ,but imagination never bursts in anywhither till fact has preceded4 ,and it is just because there is a great fact standing between us and ,hezekiah that the pureness of our faith and the richness of our imagination of immortality differ so much from his4 ,that fact is ,jesus ,christ1 ,his resurrection and ascension4 ,it is ,he who has made all the difference and brought life and immortality to light4 ,and we shall know the difference if we lose our faith in that fact4 ,for except ,christ be risen from the dead and gone before to a country which derives all its reality and light for our imagination from that ,presence1 which once walked with us in the flesh1 there remains for us only ,hezekiah's courage to make the best of a short reprieve1 only ,hezekiah's outlook into ,hades when at last we turn our faces to the wall4 ,but to be stronger and purer for having met with death1 as he was1 only that we must afterwards succumb1 with our purity and our strength1 to death--this is surely to be1 as ,paul said1 of all men the most miserable4 ,better far to own the power of an endless life1 which ,christ has sealed to us1 and translate ,hezekiah's experience into the new calculus of immortality4 ,if to have faced death as he did was to inherit dignity and peace and sense of power1 what glory of kingship and queenship must sit upon those faces in the other world who have been at closer quarters still with the ,king of terrors1 and through ,christ their strength have spoiled him of his sting and victory6 ,to have felt the worst of death and to have triumphed--this is the secret of the peaceful hearts1 unfaltering looks and faces of glory1 which pass in solemn procession of worship through all eternity before the throne of ,god4 99 99 99 99 99 ,we shall consider the ,old ,testament views of a future life and resurrection more fully in chaps4 xxvii4 and xxx4 of this volume4 ,,chapter ,,xxvi4 ,,had ,,isaiah ,a ,,gospel ,,for ,,the ,,individual8 ,the two narratives1 in which ,isaiah's career culminates--that of the ,deliverance of ,jerusalem 7xxxvi42 xxxvii47 and that of the ,recovery of ,hezekiah 7xxxviii42 xxxix47--cannot fail1 coming together as they do1 to suggest to thoughtful readers a striking contrast between ,isaiah's treatment of the community and his treatment of the individual1 between his treatment of the ,church and his treatment of single members4 ,for in the first of these narratives we are told how an illimitable future1 elsewhere so gloriously described by the prophet1 was secured for the ,church upon earth2 but the whole result of the second is the gain for a representative member of the ,church of a respite of fifteen years4 ,nothing1 as we have seen1 is promised to the dying ,hezekiah of a future life2 no scintilla of the light of eternity sparkles either in ,isaiah's promise or in ,hezekiah's prayer4 ,the net result of the incident is a reprieve of fifteen years3 fifteen years of a character strengthened1 indeed1 by having met with death1 but1 it would sadly seem1 only in order to become again the prey of the vanities of this world 7chap4 xxxix474 ,so meagre a result for the individual stands strangely out against the perpetual glory and peace assured to the community4 ,and it suggests this question3 ,had ,isaiah any real gospel for the individual8 ,if so1 what was it8 ,first of all1 we must remember that ,god in ,his providence seldom gives to one prophet or generation more than a single main problem for solution4 ,in ,isaiah's day undoubtedly the most urgent problem--and ,divine problems are ever practical1 not philosophical--was the continuance of the ,church upon earth4 ,it had really got to be a matter of doubt whether a body of people possessing the knowledge of the true ,god1 and able to transfuse and transmit it1 could possibly survive among the political convulsions of the world1 and in consequence of its own sin4 ,isaiah's problem was the reformation and survival of the ,church4 ,in accordance with this1 we notice how many of his terms are collective1 and how he almost never addresses the individual4 ,it is the people1 upon whom he calls--the nation1 ,israel1 the house of ,jacob ,my vineyard1 the men of ,judah ,his pleasant plantation4 ,to these we may add the apostrophes to the city of ,jerusalem1 under many personifications3 ,ariel1 ,ariel1 inhabitress of ,zion1 daughter of ,zion4 ,when ,isaiah denounces sin1 the sinner is either the whole community or a class in the community1 very seldom an individual1 though there are some instances of the latter1 as ,ahaz and ,shebna4 ,it is ,this people hath rejected1 or ,the people would not4 ,when ,jerusalem collapsed1 although there must have been many righteous men still within her1 ,isaiah said1 ,what aileth thee that all belonging to thee have gone up to the housetops8 7xxii4 #a74 ,his language is wholesale4 ,when he is not attacking society1 he attacks classes or groups3 the rulers1 the land-grabbers1 the drunkards1 the sinners1 the judges1 the house of ,david1 the priests and the prophets1 the women4 ,and the sins of these he describes in their social effects1 or in their results upon the fate of the whole people2 but he never1 except in two cases1 gives us their individual results4 ,he does not make evident1 like ,jesus or ,paul1 the eternal damage a man's sin inflicts on his own soul4 ,similarly when ,isaiah speaks of ,god's grace and salvation the objects of these are again collective--the remnant2 the escaped 7also a collective noun72 a holy seed2 a stock or stump4 ,it is a restored nation whom he sees under the ,messiah1 the perpetuity and glory of a city and a ,state4 ,what we consider to be a most personal and particularly individual matter--the forgiveness of sin--he promises1 with two exceptions1 only to the community3 ,this people that dwelleth therein hath its iniquity forgiven4 ,we can understand all this social1 collective and wholesale character of his language only if we keep in mind his ,divinely appointed work--the substance and perpetuity of a purified and secure ,church of ,god4 ,had ,isaiah then no gospel for the individual8 ,this will indeed seem impossible to us if we keep in view the following considerations3-- #a4 ,,isaiah ,,himself had passed through a powerfully individual experience4 ,he had not only felt the solidarity of the people's sin--,i dwell among a people of unclean lips--he had first felt his own particular guilt3 ,i am a man of unclean lips4 ,one who suffered the private experiences which are recounted in chap4 vi42 whose own eyes had seen the ,king1 ,jehovah of hosts2 who had gathered on his own lips his guilt and felt the fire come from heaven's altar by an angelic messenger specially to purify him2 who had further devoted himself to ,god's service with so thrilling a sense of his own responsibility1 and had so thereby felt his solitary and individual mission--he surely was not behind the very greatest of ,christian saints in the experience of guilt1 of personal obligation to grace and of personal responsibility4 ,though the record of ,isaiah's ministry contains no narratives1 such as fill the ministries of ,jesus and ,paul1 of anxious care for individuals1 could he who wrote of himself that sixth chapter have failed to deal with men as ,jesus dealt with ,nicodemus1 or ,paul with the ,philippian gaoler8 ,it is not picturesque fancy1 nor merely a reflection of the ,new ,testament temper1 if we realize ,isaiah's intervals of relief from political labour and religious reform occupied with an attention to individual interests1 which necessarily would not obtain the permanent record of his public ministry4 ,but whether this be so or not1 the sixth chapter teaches that for ,isaiah all public conscience and public labour found its necessary preparation in personal religion4 #b4 ,but1 again1 ,isaiah had an ,,individual ,,for ,,his ,,ideal4 ,to him the future was not only an established ,state2 it was equally1 it was first1 a glorious king4 ,isaiah was an ,oriental4 ,we moderns of the ,west place our reliance upon institutions2 we go forward upon ideas4 ,in the ,east it is personal influence that tells1 persons who are expected1 followed and fought for4 ,the history of the ,west is the history of the advance of thought1 of the rise and decay of institutions1 to which the greatest individuals are more or less subordinate4 ,the history of the ,east is the annals of personalities2 justice and energy in a ruler1 not political principles1 are what impress the ,oriental imagination4 ,isaiah has carried this ,oriental hope to a distinct and lofty pitch4 ,the ,hero whom he exalts on the margin of the future1 as its ,author1 is not only a person of great majesty1 but a character of considerable decision4 ,at first only the rigorous virtues of the ruler are attributed to ,him 7chap4 xi4 #a ff471 but afterwards the graces and influence of a much broader and sweeter humanity 7xxxii4 #b74 ,indeed1 in this latter oracle we saw that ,isaiah spoke not so much of his great ,hero1 as of what any individual might become4 ,a man1 he says1 shall be as an hiding-place from the wind4 ,personal influence is the spring of social progress1 the shelter and fountain force of the community4 ,in the following verses the effect of so pure and inspiring a presence is traced in the discrimination of individual character--each man standing out for what he is--which ,isaiah defines as his second requisite for social progress4 ,in all this there is much for the individual to ponder1 much to inspire him with a sense of the value and responsibility of his own character1 and with the certainty that by himself he shall be judged and by himself stand or fall4 ,the worthless person shall be no more called princely1 nor the knave said to be bountiful4 #c4 ,if any details of character are wanting in the picture of ,isaiah's ,hero1 they are supplied by ,,hezekiah',s ,,self-,,analysis 7chap4 xxxviii474 ,we need not repeat what we have said in the previous chapter of the king's appreciation of what is the strength of a man's character1 and particularly of how character grows by grappling with death4 ,in this matter the most experienced of ,christian saints may learn from ,isaiah's pupil4 ,isaiah had then1 without doubt1 a gospel for the individual2 and to this day the individual may plainly read it in his book1 may truly1 strongly1 joyfully live by it--so deeply does it begin1 so much does it help to self-knowledge and self-analysis1 so lofty are the ideals and responsibilities which it presents4 ,but is it true that ,isaiah's gospel is for this life only8 ,was ,isaiah's silence on the immortality of the individual due wholly to the cause we have suggested in the beginning of this chapter--that ,god gives to each prophet his single problem1 and that the problem of ,isaiah was the endurance of the ,church upon earth8 ,there is no doubt that this is only partly the explanation4 ,the ,hebrew belonged to a branch of humanity--the ,semitic--which1 as its history proves1 was unable to develop any strong imagination of1 or practical interest in1 a future life apart from foreign influence or ,divine revelation4 ,the pagan ,arabs laughed at ,mahommed when he preached to them of the ,resurrection2 and even to-day1 after twelve centuries of ,moslem influence1 their descendants in the centre of ,arabia1 according to the most recent authority1#gc fail to form a clear conception of1 or indeed to take almost any practical interest in1 another world4 ,the northern branch of the race1 to which the ,hebrews belonged1 derived from an older civilisation a prospect of ,hades1 that their own fancy developed with great elaboration4 ,this prospect1 however1 which we shall describe fully in connection with chaps4 xiv4 and xxvi41 was one absolutely hostile to the interests of character in this life4 ,it brought all men1 whatever their life had been on earth1 at last to a dead level of unsubstantial and hopeless existence4 ,good and evil1 strong and weak1 pious and infidel1 alike became shades1 joyless and hopeless1 without even the power to praise ,god4 ,we have seen in ,hezekiah's case how such a prospect unnerved the most pious souls1 and that revelation1 even though represented at his bedside by an ,isaiah1 offered him no hope of an issue from it4 ,the strength of character1 however1 which ,hezekiah professes to have won in grappling with death1 added to the closeness of communion with ,god which he enjoyed in this life1 only brings out the absurdity of such a conclusion to life as the prospect of ,sheol offered to the individual4 ,if he was a pious man1 if he was a man who had never felt himself deserted by ,god in this life1 he was bound to revolt from so ,god-forsaken an existence after death4 ,this was actually the line along which the ,hebrew spirit went out to victory over those gloomy conceptions of death1 that were yet unbroken by a risen ,christ4 ,thou wilt not1 the saint triumphantly cried1 leave my soul in ,sheol1 nor wilt ,thou suffer ,thine holy one to see corruption4 ,it was faith in the almightiness and reasonableness of ,god's ways1 it was conviction of personal righteousness1 it was the sense that the ,lord would not desert ,his own in death1 which sustained the believer in face of that awful shadow through which no light of revelation had yet broken4 #gc ,doughty's ,arabia ,deserta3 ,travels in ,northern ,arabia1 #ahgf-ahgh4 ,if these1 then1 were the wings by which a believing soul under the ,old ,testament soared over the grave1 ,isaiah may be said to have contributed to the hope of personal immortality just in so far as he strengthened them4 ,by enhancing as he did the value and beauty of individual character1 by emphasizing the indwelling of ,god's ,spirit1 he was bringing life and immortality to light1 even though he spoke no word to the dying about the fact of a glorious life beyond the grave4 ,by assisting to create in the individual that character and sense of ,god1 which alone could assure him he would never die1 but pass from the praise of the ,lord in this life to a nearer enjoyment of ,his presence beyond1 ,isaiah was working along the only line by which the ,spirit of ,god seems to have assisted the ,hebrew mind to an assurance of heaven4 ,but further in his favourite gospel of the ,,reasonableness ,,of ,,god--that ,god does not work fruitlessly1 nor create and cultivate with a view to judgement and destruction--,isaiah was furnishing an argument for personal immortality1 the force of which has not been exhausted4 ,in a recent work on ,the ,destiny of ,man#gd the philosophic author maintains the reasonableness of the ,divine methods as a ground of belief both in the continued progress of the race upon earth and in the immortality of the individual4 ,from the first dawning of life we see all things working together towards one mighty goal--the evolution of the most exalted and spiritual faculties which characterize humanity4 ,has all this work been done for nothing8 ,is it all ephemeral1 all a bubble that bursts1 a vision that fades8 ,on such a view the riddle of the universe becomes a riddle without a meaning4 ,the more thoroughly we comprehend the process of evolution by which things have come to be what they are1 the more we are likely to feel that to deny the everlasting persistence of the spiritual element in man is to rob the whole process of its meaning4 ,it goes far towards putting us to permanent intellectual confusion4 ,for my own part1 ,i believe in the immortality of the soul1 not in the sense in which ,i accept demonstrable truths of science1 but as a supreme act of faith in the reasonableness of ,god's work4 #gd ,by ,professor ,fiske4 ,from the same argument ,isaiah drew only the former of these two conclusions4 ,to him the certainty that ,god's people would survive the impending deluge of ,assyria's brute force was based on his faith that the ,lord is a ,god of judgement1 of reasonable law and method1 and could not have created or fostered so spiritual a people only to destroy them4 ,the progress of religion upon earth was certain4 ,but does not ,isaiah's method equally make for the immortality of the individual8 ,he did not draw this conclusion1 but he laid down its premises with a confidence and richness of illustration that have never been excelled4 ,we1 therefore1 answer the question we put at the beginning of the chapter thus3--,isaiah had a gospel for the individual for this life1 and all the necessary premises of a gospel for the individual for the life to come4 ,,book ,v4 ,,prophecies ,,not ,,relating ,,to ,,isaiah',s ,,time4 ,,isaiah3-- xiii4-xiv4 #bc xxiv4-xxvii4 xxxiv4 xxxv4 ,,book ,v4 ,in the first thirty-nine chapters of the ,book of ,isaiah--the half which refers to the prophet's own career and the politics contemporary with that--we find four or five prophecies containing no reference to ,isaiah himself nor to any ,jewish king under whom he laboured1 and painting both ,israel and the foreign world in quite a different state from that in which they lay during his lifetime4 ,these prophecies are chap4 xiii41 an ,oracle announcing the ,fall of ,babylon1 with its appendix1 chap4 xiv4 #a-bc1 the ,promise of ,israel's ,deliverance and an ,ode upon the ,fall of the ,babylonian ,tyrant2 chaps4 xxiv4-xxvii41 a series of ,visions of the breaking up of the universe1 of restoration from exile1 and even of resurrection from the dead2 chap4 xxxiv41 the ,vengeance of the ,lord upon ,edom2 and chap4 xxxv41 a ,song of ,return from ,exile4 ,in these prophecies ,assyria is no longer the dominant world-force1 nor ,jerusalem the inviolate fortress of ,god and ,his people4 ,if ,assyria or ,egypt is mentioned1 it is but as one of the three classical enemies of ,israel2 and ,babylon is represented as the head and front of the hostile world4 ,the ,jews are no longer in political freedom and possession of their own land2 they are either in exile or just returned from it to a depopulated country4 ,with these altered circumstances come another temper and new doctrine4 ,the horizon is different1 and the hopes that flush in dawn upon it are not quite the same as those which we have contemplated with ,isaiah in his immediate future4 ,it is no longer the repulse of the heathen invader2 the inviolateness of the sacred city2 the recovery of the people from the shock of attack1 and of the land from the trampling of armies4 ,but it is the people in exile1 the overthrow of the tyrant in his own home1 the opening of prison doors1 the laying down of a highway through the wilderness1 the triumph of return and the resumption of worship4 ,there is1 besides1 a promise of the resurrection1 which we have not found in the prophecies we have considered4 ,with such differences1 it is not wonderful that many have denied the authorship of these few prophecies to ,isaiah4 ,this is a question that can be looked at calmly4 ,it touches no dogma of the ,christian faith4 ,especially it does not involve the other question1 so often--and1 we venture to say1 so unjustly--started on this point1 ,could not the ,spirit of ,god have inspired ,isaiah to foresee all that the prophecies in question foretell1 even though he lived more than a century before the people were in circumstances to understand them8 ,certainly1 ,god is almighty4 ,the question is not1 ,could ,he have done this8 but one somewhat different3 ,did ,he do it8 and to this an answer can be had only from the prophecies themselves4 ,if these mark the ,babylonian hostility or captivity as already upon ,israel1 this is a testimony of ,scripture itself1 which we cannot overlook1 and beside which even unquestionable traces of similarity to ,isaiah's style or the fact that these oracles are bound up with ,isaiah's own undoubted prophecies have little weight4 ,facts of style will be regarded with suspicion by any one who knows how they are employed by both sides in such a question as this2 while the certainty that the ,book of ,isaiah was put into its present form subsequently to his life will permit of1--and the evident purpose of ,scripture to secure moral impressiveness rather than historical consecutiveness will account for1--later oracles being bound up with unquestioned utterances of ,isaiah4 ,only one of the prophecies in question confirms the tradition that it is by ,isaiah1 viz41 chap4 xiii41 which bears the title ,oracle of ,babylon which ,isaiah1 son of ,amoz1 did see2 but titles are themselves so much the report of tradition1 being of a later date than the rest of the text1 that it is best to argue the question apart from them4 ,on the other hand1 ,isaiah's authorship of these prophecies1 or at least the possibility of his having written them1 is usually defended by appealing to his promise of the return from exile in chap4 xi4 and his threat of a ,babylonish captivity in chap4 xxxix4 ,this is an argument that has not been fairly met by those who deny the ,isaianic authorship of chaps4 xiii4-xiv4 #bc1 xxiv4-xxvii41 and xxxv4 ,it is a strong argument1 for while1 as we have seen 7p4 #bja71 there are good grounds for believing ,isaiah to have been likely to make such a prediction of a ,babylonish captivity as is attributed to him in chap4 xxxix4 #f1 almost all the critics agree in leaving chap4 xi4 to him4 ,but if chap4 xi4 is ,isaiah's1 then he undoubtedly spoke of an exile much more extensive than had taken place by his own day4 ,nevertheless1 even this ability in xi4 to foretell an exile so vast does not account for passages in xiii4-xiv4 #bc1 xxiv4-xxvii41 which represent the ,exile either as present or as actually over4 ,no one who reads these chapters without prejudice can fail to feel the force of such passages in leading him to decide for an exilic or post-exilic authorship 7see pp4 #dbi ff474 ,another argument against attributing these prophecies to ,isaiah is that their visions of the last things1 representing as they do a judgement on the whole world1 and even the destruction of the whole material universe1 are incompatible with ,isaiah's loftiest and final hope of an inviolate ,zion at last relieved and secure1 of a land freed from invasion and wondrously fertile1 with all the converted world1 ,assyria and ,egypt1 gathered round it as a centre4 ,this question1 however1 is seriously complicated by the fact that in his youth ,isaiah did undoubtedly prophesy a shaking of the whole world and the destruction of its inhabitants1 and by the probability that his old age survived into a period1 whose abounding sin would again make natural such wholesale predictions of judgement as we find in chap4 xxiv4 ,still1 let the question of the eschatology be as obscure as we have shown1 there remains this clear issue4 ,in some chapters of the ,book of ,isaiah1 which1 from our knowledge of the circumstances of his times1 we know must have been published while he was alive1 we learn that the ,jewish people has never left its land1 nor lost its independence under ,jehovah's anointed1 and that the inviolateness of ,zion and the retreat of the ,assyrian invaders of ,judah1 without effecting the captivity of the ,jews1 are absolutely essential to the endurance of ,god's kingdom on earth4 ,in other chapters we find that the ,jews have left their land1 have been long in exile 7or from other passages have just returned71 and that the religious essential is no more the independence of the ,jewish ,state under a theocratic king1 but only the resumption of the ,temple worship4 ,is it possible for one man to have written both these sets of chapters8 ,is it possible for one age to have produced them8 ,that is the whole question4 ,,chapter ,,xxvii4 ,,babylon ,,and ,,lucifer4 ,,isaiah xiii4 #b-xiv4 #bc 7,,date ,,uncertain74 ,this double oracle is against the ,city 7xiii4 #b-xiv4 #b7 and the ,tyrant 7xiv4 #c-bc7 of ,babylon4 ,i4 ,,the ,,wicked ,,city 7xiii4 #b-xiv4 #bc74 ,the first part is a series of hurried and vanishing scenes--glimpses of ruin and deliverance caught through the smoke and turmoil of a ,divine war4 ,the drama opens with the erection of a gathering standard upon a bare mountain 7ver4 #b74 ,he who gives the order explains it 7ver4 #c71 but is immediately interrupted by ,hark6 a tumult on the mountains1 like a great people4 ,hark6 the surge of the kingdoms of nations gathering together4 ,jehovah of hosts is mustering the host of war4 ,it is the day of ,jehovah that is near1 the day of ,his war and of ,his judgement upon the world4 ,this ,old ,testament expression1 the day of the ,,lord1 starts so many ideas that it is difficult to seize any one of them and say this is just what is meant4 ,for day with a possessive pronoun suggests what has been appointed aforehand1 or what must come round in its turn2 means also opportunity and triumph1 and also swift performance after long delay4 ,all these thoughts are excited when we couple a day with any person's name4 ,and therefore as with every dawn some one awakes saying1 ,this is my day2 as with every dawn comes some one's chance1 some soul gets its wish1 some will shows what it can do1 some passion or principle issues into fact3 so ,god also shall have ,his day1 on which ,his justice and power shall find their full scope and triumph4 ,suddenly and simply1 like any dawn that takes its turn on the round of time1 the great decision and victory of ,divine justice shall at last break out of the long delay of ages4 ,howl ye1 for the day of ,jehovah is near2 as destruction from the ,destructive does it come4 ,very savage and quite universal is its punishment4 ,every human heart melteth4 ,countless faces1 white with terror1 light up its darkness like flames4 ,sinners are to be exterminated out of the earth2 the world is to be punished for its iniquity4 ,heaven1 the stars1 sun and moon aid the horror and the darkness1 heaven shivering above1 the earth quaking beneath2 and between1 the peoples like shepherdless sheep drive to and fro through awful carnage4 ,from ver4 #ag the mist lifts a little4 ,the vague turmoil clears up into a siege of ,babylon by the ,medians1 and then settles down into ,babylon's ruin and abandonment to wild beasts4 ,finally 7xiv4 #a7 comes the religious reason of so much convulsion3 ,for ,jehovah will have compassion upon ,jacob1 and choose again ,israel1 and settle them upon their own ground2 and the foreign sojourner shall join himself to them1 and they shall associate themselves to the house of ,jacob4 ,this prophecy evidently came to a people already in captivity--a very different circumstance of the ,church of ,god from that in which we have seen her under ,isaiah4 ,but upon this new stage it is still the same old conquest4 ,assyria has fallen1 but ,babylon has taken her place4 ,the old spirit of cruelty and covetousness has entered a new body2 the only change is that it has become wealth and luxury instead of brute force and military glory4 ,it is still selfishness and pride and atheism4 ,at this1 our first introduction to ,babylon1 it might have been proper to explain why throughout the ,bible from ,genesis to ,revelation this one city should remain in fact or symbol the enemy of ,god and the stronghold of darkness4 ,but we postpone what may be said of her singular reputation1 till we come to the second part of the ,book of ,isaiah where ,babylon plays a larger and more distinct role4 ,here her destruction is simply the most striking episode of the ,divine judgement upon the whole earth4 ,babylon represents civilisation2 she is the brow of the world's pride and enmity to ,god4 ,one distinctively ,babylonian characteristic1 however1 must not be passed over4 ,with a ring of irony in his voice1 the prophet declares1 ,behold1 ,i stir up the ,medes against thee1 who regard not silver and take no pleasure in gold4 ,the worst terror that can assail us is the terror of forces1 whose character we cannot fathom1 who will not stop to parley1 who do not understand our language nor our bribes4 ,it was such a power1 with which the resourceful and luxurious ,babylon was threatened4 ,with money the ,babylonians did all they wished to do1 and believed everything else to be possible4 ,they had subsidised kings1 bought over enemies1 seduced the peoples of the earth4 ,the foe whom ,god now sent them was impervious to this influence4 ,from their pure highlands came down upon corrupt civilisation a simple people1 whose banner was a leathern apron1 whose goal was not booty nor ease but power and mastery1 who came not to rob but to displace4 ,the lessons of the passage are two3 that the people of ,god are something distinct from civilisation1 though this be universal and absorbent as a very ,babylon2 and that the resources of civilisation are not even in material strength the highest in the universe1 but ,god has in ,his armoury weapons heedless of men's cunning1 and in ,his armies agents impervious to men's bribes4 ,every civilisation needs to be told1 according to its temper1 one of these two things4 ,is it hypocritical8 ,then it needs to be told that civilisation is not one with the people of ,god4 ,is it arrogant8 ,then it needs to be told that the resources of civilisation are not the strongest forces in ,god's universe4 ,man talks of the triumph of mind over matter1 of the power of culture1 of the elasticity of civilisation2 but ,god has natural forces1 to which all these are as the worm beneath the hoof of the horse3 and if moral need arise1 ,he will call ,his brute forces into requisition4 ,howl ye1 for the day of ,jehovah is near2 as destruction from the ,destructive does it come4 ,there may be periods in man's history when1 in opposition to man's unholy art and godless civilisation1 ,god can reveal ,himself only as destruction4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,tyrant 7xiv4 #c-bc74 ,to the prophecy of the overthrow of ,babylon there is annexed1 in order to be sung by ,israel in the hour of her deliverance1 a satiric ode or taunt-song 7,heb4 mashal1 ,eng4 ver4 parable7 upon the ,king of ,babylon4 ,a translation of this spirited poem in the form of its verse 7in which1 it is to be regretted1 it has not been rendered by the ,english revisers7 will be more instructive than a full commentary4 ,but the following remarks of introduction are necessary4 ,the word mashal1 by which this ode is entitled1 means comparison1 similitude or parable1 and was applicable to every sentence composed of at least two members that compared or contrasted their subjects4 ,as the great bulk of ,hebrew poetry is sententious1 and largely depends for rhythm upon its parallelism1 mashal received a general application2 and while another term--shr--more properly denotes lyric poetry1 mashal is applied to rhythmical passages in the ,old ,testament of almost all tempers3 to mere predictions1 proverbs1 orations1 satires or taunt-songs1 as here1 and to didactic pieces4 ,the parallelism of the verses in our ode is too evident to need an index4 ,but the parallel verses are next grouped into strophes4 ,in ,hebrew poetry this division is frequently effected by the use of a refrain4 ,in our ode there is no refrain1 but the strophes are easily distinguished by difference of subject-matter4 ,hebrew poetry does not employ rhyme1 but makes use of assonance1 and to a much less extent of alliteration--a form which is more frequent in ,hebrew prose4 ,in our ode there is not much either of assonance or alliteration4 ,but1 on the other hand1 the ode has but to be read to break into a certain rough and swinging rhythm4 ,this is produced by long verses rising alternate with short ones falling4 ,hebrew verse at no time relied for a metrical effect upon the modern device of an equal or proportionate number of syllables4 ,the longer verses of this ode are sometimes too short1 the shorter too long1 variations to which a rude chant could readily adapt itself4 ,but the alternation of long and short is sustained throughout1 except for a break at ver4 #aj by the introduction of the formula ,and they answered and said1 which evidently ought to stand for a long and a short verse if the number of double verses in the second strophe is to be the same as it is--seven--in the first and in the third4 ,the scene of the poem1 the ,underworld and abode of the shades of the dead1 is one on which some of the most splendid imagination and music of humanity has been expended4 ,but we must not be disappointed if we do not here find the rich detail and glowing fancy of ,virgil's or of ,dante's vision4 ,this simple and even rude piece of metre1 liker ballad than epic1 ought to excite our wonder not so much for what it has failed to imagine as for what1 being at its disposal1 it has resolutely stinted itself in employing4 ,for it is evident that the author of these lines had within his reach the rich1 fantastic materials of ,semitic mythology1 which are familiar to us in the ,babylonian remains4 ,with an austerity1 that must strike every one who is acquainted with these1 he uses only so much of them as to enable him to render with dramatic force his simple theme--the vanity of human arrogance4#ge #ge ,those principles of natural philosophy which smothered the religions of the ,east with their rank and injurious growth are almost entirely absent from the religion of the ,hebrews4 ,here the motive-power of development is to be found in ethical ideas1 which1 though not indeed alien to the life of other nations1 were not the source from which their religious notions were derived4--7,lotze's ,microcosmos1 ,eng4 ,transl41 il41 #dff47 ,for this purpose he employs the idea of the ,underworld which was prevalent among the northern ,semitic peoples4 ,sheol--the gaping or craving place--which we shall have occasion to describe in detail when we come to speak of belief in the resurrection1#gf is the state after death that craves and swallows all living4 ,there dwell the shades of men amid some unsubstantial reflection of their earthly state 7ver4 #i71 and with consciousness and passion only sufficient to greet the arrival of the new-comer and express satiric wonder at his fall 7ver4 #i74 ,with the arrogance of the ,babylonian kings1 this tyrant thought to scale the heavens to set his throne in the mount of assembly of the immortals1 to match the ,most ,high4#gg ,but his fate is the fate of all mortals--to go down to the weakness and emptiness of ,sheol4 ,here1 let us carefully observe1 there is no trace of a judgement for reward or punishment4 ,the new victim of death simply passes to his place among his equals4 ,there was enough of contrast between the arrogance of a tyrant claiming ,divinity and his fall into the common receptacle of mortality to point the prophet's moral without the addition of infernal torment4 ,do we wish to know the actual punishment of his pride and cruelty8 ,it is visible above ground 7strophe #d72 not with his spirit1 but with his corpse2 not with himself1 but with his wretched family4 ,his corpse is unburied1 his family exterminated2 his name disappears from the earth4#gh #gf ,p4 #ddg ff4 #gg ,it is1 however1 only just to add that1 as ,mr4 ,sayce has pointed out in the ,hibbert ,lectures for #ahhg 7p4 #cfe71 the claims of ,babylonian kings and heroes for a seat on the mountain of the gods were not always mere arrogance1 but the first efforts of the ,babylonian mind to emancipate itself from the gloomy conceptions of ,hades and provide a worthy immortality for virtue4 ,still most of the kings who pray for an entrance among the gods do so on the plea that they have been successful tyrants--a considerable difference from such an assurance as that of the sixteenth ,psalm4 #gh ,the popular ,semitic conception of ,hades contained within it neither grades of condition1 according to the merits of men1 nor any trace of an infernal torment in aggravation of the unsubstantial state to which all are equally reduced4 ,this statement is true of the ,old ,testament till at least the ,book of ,daniel4 ,sheol is lit by no lurid fires1 such as made the later ,christian hell intolerable to the lost4 ,that life is unsubstantial2 that darkness and dust abound2 above all1 that ,god is not there1 and that it is impossible to praise ,him1 is all the punishment which is given in ,sheol4 ,extraordinary vice is punished above ground1 in the name and family of the sinner4 ,sheol1 with its monotony1 is for average men2 but extraordinary piety can break away from it 7,ps4 xvi474 ,thus1 by the help of only a few fragments from the popular mythology1 the sacred satirist achieves his purpose4 ,his severe monotheism is remarkable in its contrast to ,babylonian poems upon similar subjects4 ,he will know none of the gods of the underworld4 ,in place of the great goddess1 whom a ,babylonian would certainly have seen presiding1 with her minions1 over the shades1 he personifies--it is a frequent figure of ,hebrew poetry--the abyss itself4 ,sheol shuddereth at thee4 ,it is the same when he speaks 7ver4 #ac7 of the deep's great opposite1 that mount of assembly of the gods1 which the northern ,semites believed to soar to a silver sky in the recesses of the north 7ver4 #ad71 upon the great range which in that direction bounded the ,babylonian plain4 ,this ,hebrew knows of no gods there but ,one1 whose are the stars1 who is the ,most ,high4 ,man's arrogance and cruelty are attempts upon ,his majesty4 ,he inevitably overwhelms them4 ,death is their penalty3 blood and squalor on earth1 the concourse of shuddering ghosts below4 ,the kings of the earth set themselves1 ,and the rulers take counsel together1 ,against the ,lord and against ,his ,anointed4 ,he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh2 ,the ,lord shall have them in derision4 ,he who has heard that laughter sees no comedy in aught else4 ,this is the one unfailing subject of ,hebrew satire1 and it forms the irony and the rigour of the following ode4#gi #gi ,readers will remember a parallel to this ode in ,carlyle's famous chapter on ,louis the ,unforgotten4 ,no modern has rivalled ,carlyle in his inheritance of this satire1 except it be he whom ,carlyle called that ,jew blackguard ,heine4 ,the only other remarks necessary are these4 ,in ver4 #i the ,authorized ,version has not attempted to reproduce the humour of the original satire1 which styles them that were chief men on earth chief-goats of the herd1 bell-wethers4 ,the phrase they that go down to the stones of the pit should be transferred from ver4 #ai to ver4 #bj4 ,and thou shalt lift up this proverb upon the ,king of ,babylon1 and shalt say1-- ,i4 ,ah6 stilled is the tyrant1 ,and stilled is the fury6 ,broke hath ,jehovah the rod of the wicked1 ,sceptre of despots3 ,stroke of 7the7 peoples with passion1 ,stroke unremitting1 ,treading in wrath 7the7 nations1 ,trampling unceasing4 ,quiet1 at rest1 is the whole earth1 ,they break into singing2 ,even the pines are jubilant for thee1 ,lebanon's cedars6 ,since thou liest low1 cometh not up ,feller against us4 ,,ii4 ,sheol from under shuddereth at thee ,to meet thine arrival1 ,stirring up for thee the shades1 ,all great-goats of earth6 ,lifteth erect from their thrones ,all kings of peoples4 #aj4 ,all of them answer and say to thee1-- ,thou1 too1 made flaccid like us1 ,to us hast been levelled6 ,hurled to ,sheol is the pride of thee1 ,clang of the harps of thee2 ,under thee strewn are 7the7 maggots ,thy coverlet worms4 ,,iii4 ,how art thou fallen from heaven ,daystar1 son of the dawn 7,how7 art thou hewn down to earth1 ,hurtler at nations4 ,and thou1 thou didst say in thine heart1 ,the heavens will ,i scale1 ,far up to the stars of ,god ,lift high my throne1 ,and sit on the mount of assembly1 ,far back of the north1 ,i will climb on the heights of 7the7 cloud1 ,i will match the ,most ,high6 ,ah6 to ,sheol thou art hurled1 ,far back of the pit6 ,,iv4 ,who see thee at thee are gazing2 ,upon thee they muse3 ,is this the man that staggered the earth1 ,shaker of kingdoms8 ,setting the world like the desert1 ,its cities he tore down2 ,its prisoners he loosed not 7,each of them7 homeward4 ,all kings of peoples1 yes all1 ,are lying in their state2 ,but thou6 thou art flung from thy grave1 ,like a stick that is loathsome4 ,beshrouded with slain1 the pierced of the sword1 ,like a corpse that is trampled4 ,they that go down to the stones of a crypt1 ,shalt not be with them in burial4 ,for thy land thou hast ruined1 ,thy people hast slaughtered4 ,shall not be mentioned for aye ,seed of the wicked6 ,set for his children a shambles1 ,for guilt of their fathers6 ,they shall not rise1 nor inherit 7the7 earth1 ,nor fill the face of the world with cities4 ,v4 ,but ,i will arise upon them1 ,sayeth ,jehovah of hosts2 ,and ,i will cut off from ,babel ,record and remnant1 ,and scion and seed1 ,saith ,jehovah3 ,yea1 ,i will make it the bittern's heritage1 ,marshes of water6 ,and ,i will sweep it with sweeps of destruction1 ,sayeth ,jehovah of hosts4 ,,chapter ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,effect ,,of ,,sin ,,on ,,our ,,material ,,circumstance4 ,,isaiah xxiv4 7,,date ,,uncertain74 ,the twenty-fourth of ,isaiah is one of those chapters1 which almost convince the most persevering reader of ,scripture that a consecutive reading of the ,authorized ,version is an impossibility4 ,for what does he get from it but a weary and unintelligent impression of destruction1 from which he gladly escapes to the nearest clear utterance of gospel or judgement8 ,criticism affords little help4 ,it cannot clearly identify the chapter with any historical situation4 ,for a moment there is a gleam of a company standing outside the convulsion1 and to the west of the prophet1 while the prophet himself suffers captivity4#hj ,but even this fades before we make it out2 and all the rest of the chapter has too universal an application--the language is too imaginative1 enigmatic and even paradoxical--to be applied to an actual historical situation1 or to its development in the immediate future4 ,this is an ideal description1 the apocalyptic vision of a last1 great day of judgement upon the whole world2 and perhaps the moral truths are all the more impressive that the reader is not distracted by temporary or local references4 #hj vv4 #ad-af1 which are very perplexing4 ,in #ad a company is introduced to us very vaguely as those or yonder ones1 who are represented as seeing the bright side of the convulsion which is the subject of the chapter4 ,they cry aloud from the sea2 that is1 from the west of the prophet4 ,he is therefore in the east1 and in captivity1 in the centre of the convulsion4 ,the problem is to find any actual historical situation1 in which part of ,israel was in the east in captivity1 and part in the west free and full of reasons for praising ,god for the calamity1 out of which their brethren saw no escape for themselves4 ,with the very first verse the prophecy leaps far beyond all particular or national conditions3 ,behold1 ,jehovah shall be emptying the earth and rifling it2 and ,he shall turn it upside down and scatter its inhabitants4 ,this is expressive and thorough2 the words are those which were used for cleaning a dirty dish4 ,to the completeness of this opening verse there is really nothing in the chapter to add4 ,all the rest of the verses only illustrate this upturning and scouring of the material universe4 ,for it is with the material universe that the chapter is concerned4 ,nothing is said of the spiritual nature of man--little1 indeed1 about man at all4 ,he is simply called the inhabitant of the earth1 and the structure of society 7ver4 #b7 is introduced only to make more complete the effect of the convulsion of the earth itself4 ,man cannot escape those judgements which shatter his material habitation4 ,it is like one of ,dante's visions4 ,terror1 and ,pit and ,snare upon thee1 ,o inhabitant of the earth6 ,and it shall come to pass that he who fleeth from the noise of the ,terror shall fall into the ,pit1 and he who cometh up out of the midst of the ,pit shall be taken in the ,snare4 ,for the windows on high are opened1 and the foundations of the earth do shake4 ,broken1 utterly broken1 is the earth2 shattered1 utterly shattered1 the earth2 staggering1 very staggering1 the earth2 reeling1 the earth reeleth like a drunken man3 she swingeth to and fro like a hammock4 ,and so through the rest of the chapter it is the material life of man that is cursed3 the new wine1 the vine1 the tabrets1 the harp1 the song1 and the merriness in men's hearts which these call forth4 ,nor does the chapter confine itself to the earth4 ,the closing verses carry the effect of judgement to the heavens and far limits of the material universe4 ,the host of the high ones on high 7ver4 #ba7 are not spiritual beings1 the angels4 ,they are material bodies1 the stars4 ,then1 too1 shall the moon be confounded1 and the stars ashamed1 when the ,lord's kingdom is established and ,his righteousness made gloriously clear4 ,what awful truth is this for illustration of which we see not man1 but his habitation1 the world and all its surroundings1 lifted up by the hand of the ,lord1 broken open1 wiped out and shaken1 while man himself1 as if only to heighten the effect1 staggers hopelessly like some broken insect on the quaking ruins8 ,what judgement is this1 in which not only one city or one kingdom is concerned1 as in the last prophecy of which we treated1 but the whole earth is convulsed1 and moon and sun confounded8 ,the judgement is the visitation of man's sins on his material surroundings--,the earth's transgression shall be heavy upon it2 and it shall rise1 and not fall4 ,the truth on which this judgement rests is that between man and his material circumstance--the earth he inhabits1 the seasons which bear him company through time and the stars to which he looks high up in heaven--there is a moral sympathy4 ,the earth also is profaned under the inhabitants thereof1 because they have transgressed the laws1 changed the ordinance1 broken the everlasting covenant4 ,the ,bible gives no support to the theory that matter itself is evil4 ,god created all things2 and ,god saw everything that ,he had made2 and1 behold1 it was very good4 ,when1 therefore1 we read in the ,bible that the earth is cursed1 we read that it is cursed for man's sake2 when we read of its desolation1 it is as the effect of man's crime4 ,the ,flood1 the destruction of ,sodom and ,gomorrah1 the plagues of ,egypt and other great physical catastrophes happened because men were stubborn or men were foul4 ,we cannot help noticing1 however1 that matter was thus convulsed or destroyed1 not only for the purpose of punishing the moral agent1 but because of some poison which had passed from him into the unconscious instruments1 stage and circumstance of his crime4 ,according to the ,bible1 there would appear to be some mysterious sympathy between man and ,nature4 ,man not only governs ,nature2 he infects and informs her4 ,as the moral life of the soul expresses itself in the physical life of the body for the latter's health or corruption1 so the conduct of the human race affects the physical life of the universe to its farthest limits in space4 ,when man is reconciled to ,god1 the wilderness blossoms like a rose2 but the guilt of man sullies1 infects and corrupts the place he inhabits and the articles he employs2 and their destruction becomes necessary1 not for his punishment so much as because of the infection and pollution that is in them4 ,the ,old ,testament is not contented with a general statement of this great principle1 but pursues it to all sorts of particular and private applications4 ,the curses of the ,lord fell1 not only on the sinner1 but on his dwelling1 on his property and even on the bit of ground these occupied4 ,this was especially the case with regard to idolatry4 ,when ,israel put a pagan population to the sword1 they were commanded to raze the city1 gather its wealth together1 burn all that was burnable and put the rest into the temple of the ,lord as a thing devoted or accursed1 which it would harm themselves to share 7,deut4 vii4 #be1 #bf2 xiii4 #g74 ,the very site of ,jericho was cursed1 and men were forbidden to build upon its horrid waste4 ,the story of ,achan illustrates the same principle4 ,it is just this principle which chap4 xxiv4 extends to the whole universe4 ,what happened in ,jericho because of its inhabitants' idolatry is now to happen to the whole earth because of man's sin4 ,the earth also is profane under her inhabitants1 because they have transgressed the laws1 changed the ordinance1 broken the everlasting covenant4 ,in these words the prophet takes us away back to the covenant with ,noah1 which he properly emphasizes as a covenant with all mankind4 ,with a noble universalism1 for which his race and their literature get too little credit1 this ,hebrew recognises that once all mankind were holy unto ,god1 who had included them under ,his grace1 that promised the fixedness and fertility of nature4 ,but that covenant1 though of grace1 had its conditions for man4 ,these had been broken4 ,the race had grown wicked1 as it was before the ,flood2 and therefore1 in terms which vividly recall that former judgement of ,god--the windows on high are opened--the prophet foretells a new and more awful catastrophe4 ,one word which he employs betrays how close he feels the moral sympathy to be between man and his world4 ,the earth1 he says1 is profane4 ,this is a word1 whose root meaning is that which has fallen away or separated itself1 which is delinquent4 ,sometimes1 perhaps1 it has a purely moral significance1 like our word abandoned in the common acceptance3 he who has fallen far and utterly into sin1 the reckless sinner4 ,but mostly it has rather the religious meaning of one who has fallen out of the covenant relation with ,god and the relevant benefits and privileges4 ,into this covenant not only ,israel and their land1 but humanity and the whole world1 have been brought4 ,is man under covenant grace8 ,the world is also4 ,does man fall8 ,so does the world1 becoming with him profane4 ,the consequence of breaking the covenant oath was expressed in ,hebrew by a technical word2 and it is this word which1 translated curse1 is applied in ver4 #f to the earth4 ,the whole earth is to be broken up and dissolved4 ,what then is to become of the people of ,god--the indestructible remnant8 ,where are they to settle8 ,in this new deluge is there a new ark8 ,for answer the prophet presents us with an old paradise 7ver4 #bc74 ,he has wrecked the universe2 but he says now1 ,jehovah of hosts shall dwell in ,mount ,zion and in ,jerusalem4 ,it would be impossible to find a better instance of the limitations of ,old ,testament prophecy than this return to the old dispensation after the old dispensation has been committed to the flames4 ,at such a crisis as the conflagration of the universe for the sin of man1 the hope of the ,new ,testament looks for the creation of a new heaven and a new earth1 but there is no scintilla of such a hope in this prediction4 ,the imagination of the ,hebrew seer is beaten back upon the theatre his conscience has abandoned4 ,he knows the old is out of date1 but for him the new is not yet born2 and1 therefore1 convinced as he is that the old must pass away1 he is forced to borrow from its ruins a provisional abode for ,god's people1 a figure for the truth which grips him so firmly1 that1 in spite of the death of all the universe for man's sin1 there must be a visibleness and locality of the ,divine majesty1 a place where the people of ,god may gather to bless ,his holy name4 ,in this contrast of the power of spiritual imagination possessed respectively by the ,old and ,new ,testaments we must not1 however1 lose the ethical interest which the main lesson of this chapter has for the individual conscience4 ,a breaking universe1 the great day of judgement1 may be too large and too far off to impress our conscience4 ,but each of us has his own world--body1 property and environment--which is as much and as evidently affected by his own sins as our chapter represents the universe to be by the sins of the race4 ,to grant that the moral and physical universes are from the same hand is to affirm a sympathy and mutual reaction between them4 ,this affirmation is confirmed by experience1 and this experience is of two kinds4 ,to the guilty man ,nature seems aware1 and flashes back from her larger surfaces the magnified reflection of his own self-contempt and terror4 ,but1 besides1 men are also unable to escape attributing to the material instruments or surroundings of their sin a certain infection1 a certain power of recommunicating to their imaginations and memories the desire for sin1 as well as of inflicting upon them the pain and penalty of the disorder it has produced among themselves4 ,sin1 though born1 as ,christ said1 in the heart1 has immediately a material expression2 and we may follow this outwards through man's mind1 body and estate1 not only to find it hindering1 disturbing1 complicating all1 but reinfecting with the lust and odour of sin the will which gave it birth4 ,as sin is put forth by the will1 or is cherished in the heart1 so we find error cloud the mind1 impurity the imagination1 misery the feelings1 and pain and weariness infect the flesh and bone4 ,god1 who modelled it1 alone knows how far man's physical form has been degraded by the sinful thoughts and habits of which for ages it has been the tool and expression2 but even our eyes may sometimes trace the despoiler1 and that not only in the case of what are preferably named sins of the flesh1 but even with lusts that do not require for their gratification the abuse of the body4 ,pride1 as one might think the least fleshly of all the vices1 leaves yet in time her damning signature1 and will mark the strongest faces with the sad symptoms of that mental break-down1 for which unrestrained pride is so often to blame4 ,if sin thus disfigures the body1 we know that sin also infects the body4 ,the habituated flesh becomes the suggester of crime to the will which first constrained it to sin1 and now wearily1 but in vain1 rebels against the habits of its instrument4 ,but we recall all this about the body only to say that what is true of the body is true of the soul's greater material surroundings4 ,with the sentence ,thou shalt surely die1 ,god connects this other3 ,cursed is the ground for thy sake4 ,when we pass from a man's body1 the wrapping we find next nearest to his soul is his property4 ,it has always been an instinct of the race1 that there is nothing a man may so infect with the sin of his heart as his handiwork and the gains of his toil4 ,and that is a true instinct1 for1 in the first place1 the making of property perpetuates a man's own habits4 ,if he is successful in business1 then every bit of wealth he gathers is a confirmation of the motives and tempers in which he conducted his business4 ,a man deceives himself as to this1 saying1 ,wait till ,i have made enough2 then ,i will put away the meanness1 the harshness and the dishonesty with which ,i made it4 ,he shall not be able4 ,just because he has been successful1 he will continue in his habit without thinking2 just because there has been no break-down to convict of folly and suggest penitence1 so he becomes hardened4 ,property is a bridge on which our passions cross from one part of our life to another4 ,the ,germans have an ironical proverb3 ,the man who has stolen a hundred thousand dollars can afford to live honestly4 ,the emphasis of the irony falls on the words in italics3 he can afford1 but never does4 ,his property hardens his heart1 and keeps him from repentance4 ,but the instinct of humanity has also been quick to this3 that the curse of ill-gotten wealth passes like bad blood from father to child4 ,what is the truth in this matter8 ,a glance at history will tell us4 ,the accumulation of property is the result of certain customs1 habits and laws4 ,in its own powerful interest property perpetuates these down the ages1 and infects the fresh air of each new generation with their temper4 ,how often in the history of mankind has it been property gained under unjust laws or cruel monopolies which has prevented the abolition of these1 and carried into gentler1 freer times the pride and exclusiveness of the age1 by whose rude habits it was gathered4 ,this moral transference1 which we see on so large a scale in public history1 is repeated to some extent in every private bequest4 ,a curse does not necessarily follow an estate from the sinful producer of it to his heir2 but the latter is1 by the bequest itself generally brought into so close a contact with his predecessor as to share his conscience and be in sympathy with his temper4 ,and the case is common where an heir1 though absolutely up to the date of his succession separate from him who made and has left the property1 nevertheless finds himself unable to alter the methods1 or to escape the temper1 in which the property has been managed4 ,in nine cases out of ten property carries conscience and transfers habit2 if the guilt does not descend1 the infection does4 ,when we pass from the effect of sin upon property to its effect upon circumstance1 we pass to what we can affirm with even greater conscience4 ,man has the power of permanently soaking and staining his surroundings with the effect of sins in themselves momentary and transient4 ,sin increases terribly by the mental law of association4 ,it is not the gin-shop and the face of wanton beauty that alone tempt men to sin4 ,far more subtle seductions are about every one of us4 ,that we have the power of inflicting our character upon the scenes of our conduct is proved by some of the dreariest experiences of life4 ,a failure in duty renders the place of it distasteful and enervating4 ,are we irritable and selfish at home8 ,then home is certain to be depressing1 and little helpful to our spiritual growth4 ,are we selfish and niggardly in the interest we take in others8 ,then the congregation we go to1 the suburb we dwell in1 will appear insipid and unprofitable2 we shall be past the possibility of gaining character or happiness from the ground where ,god planted us and meant us to grow4 ,students have been idle in their studies till every time they enter them a reflex languor comes down like stale smoke1 and the room they desecrated takes its revenge on them4 ,we have it in our power to make our workshops1 our laboratories and our studies places of magnificent inspiration1 to enter which is to receive a baptism of industry and hope2 and we have power to make it impossible ever to work in them again at full pitch4 ,the pulpit1 the pew1 the very communion-table1 come under this law4 ,if a minister of ,god have made up his mind to say nothing from his accustomed place1 which has not cost him toil1 to feel nothing but a dependence on ,god and a desire for souls1 then he will never set foot there but the power of the ,lord shall be upon him4 ,but there are men who would rather set foot anywhere than in their pulpit--men who out of it are full of fellowship1 information1 and infective health1 but there they are paralysed with the curse of their idle past4 ,how history shows us that the most sacred shelters and institutions of man become tainted with sin1 and are destroyed in revolution or abandoned to decay by the intolerant conscience of younger generations6 ,how the hidden life of each man feels his past sins possessing his home and hearth1 his pew1 and even his place at the ,sacrament1 till it is sometimes better for his soul's health to avoid these6 ,such considerations give a great moral force to the doctrine of the ,old ,testament that man's sin has rendered necessary the destruction of his material circumstances1 and that the ,divine judgement includes a broken and a rifled universe4 ,the ,new ,testament has borrowed this vision from the ,old1 but added1 as we have seen1 with greater distinctness1 the hope of new heavens and a new earth4 ,we have not concluded the subject1 however1 when we have pointed this out1 for the ,new ,testament has another gospel4 ,the grace of ,god affects even the material results of sin2 the ,divine pardon that converts the sinner converts his circumstance also2 ,christ ,jesus sanctifies even the flesh1 and is the ,physician of the body as well as the ,saviour of the soul4 ,to ,him physical evil abounds only that ,he may show forth ,his glory in curing it4 ,neither did this man sin nor his parents1 but that the works of ,god should be made manifest in him4 ,to ,paul the whole creation groaneth and travaileth with the sinner till now1 the hour of the sinner's redemption4 ,the ,gospel bestows an evangelic liberty which permits the strong ,christian to partake of meats offered to idols4 ,and1 finally1 all things work together for good to them that love ,god1 for although to the converted and forgiven sinner the material pains which his sins have brought on him may continue into his new life1 they are experienced by him no more as the just penalties of an angry ,god1 but as the loving1 sanctifying chastisements of his ,father in heaven4 ,,chapter ,,xxix4 ,,god',s ,,poor4 ,,isaiah xxv4-xxvii4 7,,date ,,uncertain74 ,we have seen that no more than the faintest gleam of historical reflection brightens the obscurity of chap4 xxiv41 and that the disaster which lowers there is upon too world-wide a scale to be forced within the conditions of any single period in the fortunes of ,israel4 ,in chaps4 xxv4-xxvii41 which may naturally be held to be a continuation of chap4 xxiv41 the historical allusions are more numerous4 ,indeed1 it might be said they are too numerous1 for they contradict one another to the perplexity of the most acute critics4 ,they imply historical circumstances for the prophecy both before and after the exile4 ,on the one hand1 the blame of idolatry in ,judah 7xxvii4 #i71 the mention of ,assyria and ,egypt 7xxvii4 #ab1 #ac71 and the absence of the name of ,babylon are indicative of a pre-exilic date4#ha ,arguments from style are always precarious2 but it is striking that some critics1 who deny that chaps4 xxiv4-xxvii4 can have come as a whole from ,isaiah's time1 profess to see his hand in certain passages4#hb ,then1 secondly1 through these verses which point to a pre-exilic date there are woven1 almost inextricably1 phrases of actual exile3 expressions of the sense of living on a level and in contact with the heathen 7xxvi4 #i1 #aj72 a request to ,god's people to withdraw from the midst of a heathen public to the privacy of their chambers 7#bj1 #ba72 prayers and promises of deliverance from the oppressor 7passim72 hopes of the establishment of ,zion1 and of the repopulation of the ,holy ,land4 ,and1 thirdly1 some verses imply that the speaker has already returned to ,zion itself3 he says more than once1 in this mountain2 there are hymns celebrating a deliverance actually achieved1 as--,god has done a marvel4 ,for ,thou hast made a citadel into a heap1 a fortified city into a ruin1 a castle of strangers to be no city1 not to be built again4 ,such phrases do not read as if the prophet were creating for the lips of his people a psalm of triumph against a far future deliverance2 they have in them the ring of what has already happened4 #ha ,the mention of ,moab 7xxv4 #aj1 #aa7 is also consistent with a pre-exilic date1 but does not necessarily imply it4 #hb ,e4g41 xxv4 #f-h1 #aj1 #aa2 xxvii4 #aj1 #aa1 #i1 #ab1 #ac4 ,this bare statement of the allusions of the prophecy will give the ordinary reader some idea of the difficulties of ,biblical criticism4 ,what is to be made of a prophecy uttering the catch-words and breathing the experience of three distinct periods8 ,one solution of the difficulty may be that we have here the composition of a ,jew already returned from exile to a desecrated sanctuary and depopulated land1 who has woven through his original utterances of complaint and hope the experience of earlier oppressions and deliverances1 using even the names of earlier tyrants4 ,in his immediate past a great city that oppressed the ,jews has fallen1 though1 if this is ,babylon1 it is strange that he nowhere names it4 ,but his intention is rather religious than historical2 he seeks to give a general representation of the attitude of the world to the people of ,god1 and of the judgement which ,god brings on the world4 ,this view of the composition is supported by either of two possible interpretations of that difficult verse xxvii4 #a3 ,in that day ,jehovah with ,his sword1 the hard and the great and the strong1 shall perform visitation upon ,leviathan1 ,serpent ,elusive1 and upon ,leviathan1 ,serpent ,tortuous2 and ,he shall slay the ,dragon that is in the sea4 ,cheyne treats these monsters as mythic personifications of the clouds1 the darkness and the powers of the air1 so that the verse means that1 just as ,jehovah is supreme in the physical world1 ,he shall be in the moral4 ,but it is more probable that the two ,leviathans mean ,assyria and ,babylon--the ,elusive one1 ,assyria on the swift-shooting ,tigris2 the ,tortuous one1 ,babylon on the winding ,euphrates--while the ,dragon that is in the sea or the west is ,egypt4 ,but if the prophet speaks of a victory over ,israel's three great enemies all at once1 that means that he is talking universally or ideally2 and this impression is further heightened by the mythic names he gives them4 ,such arguments1 along with the undoubted post-exilic fragments in the prophecy1 point to a late date1 so that even a very conservative critic1 who is satisfied that ,isaiah is the author1 admits that the possibility of exilic authorship does not allow itself to be denied4 ,if this character which we attribute to the prophecy be correct--viz41 that it is a summary or ideal account of the attitude of the alien world to ,israel1 and of the judgement ,god has ready for the world--then1 though itself be exilic1 its place in the ,book of ,isaiah is intelligible4 ,chaps4 xxiv4-xxvii4 fitly crown the long list of ,isaiah's oracles upon the foreign nations2 they finally formulate the purposes of ,god towards the nations and towards ,israel1 whom the nations have oppressed4 ,our opinions must not be final or dogmatic about this matter of authorship2 the obscurities are not nearly cleared up4 ,but if it be ultimately found certain that this prophecy1 which lies in the heart of the ,book of ,isaiah1 is not by ,isaiah himself1 that need neither startle nor unsettle us4 ,no doctrinal question is stirred by such a discovery1 not even that of the accuracy of the ,scriptures4 ,for that a book is entitled by ,isaiah's name does not necessarily mean that it is all by ,isaiah2 and we shall feel still less compelled to believe that these chapters are his when we find other chapters called by his name while these are not said to be by him4 ,in truth there is a difficulty here1 only because it is supposed that a book entitled by ,isaiah's name must necessarily contain nothing but what is ,isaiah's own4 ,tradition may have come to say so2 but the ,scripture itself1 bearing as it does unmistakable marks of another age than ,isaiah's1 tells us that tradition is wrong3 and the testimony of ,scripture is surely to be preferred1 especially when it betrays1 as we have seen1 sufficient reasons why a prophecy1 though not ,isaiah's1 was attached to his genuine and undoubted oracles4 ,in any case1 however1 as even the conservative critic whom we have quoted admits1 for the religious value of the prophecy the question of the authorship is thoroughly irrelevant4 ,we shall perceive this at once as we now turn to see what is the religious value of our prophecy4 ,chaps4 xxv4-xxvii4 stand in the front rank of evangelical prophecy4 ,in their experience of religion1 their characterisations of ,god's people1 their expressions of faith1 their missionary hopes and hopes of immortality1 they are very rich and edifying4 ,perhaps their most signal feature is their designation of the people of ,god4 ,in this collection of prayers and hymns the people of ,god are not regarded as a political body4 ,they are only once called the nation and spoken of in connection with a territory 7xxvi4 #ae74 ,only twice are they named with the national names of ,israel and ,jacob 7xxvii4 #f1 #i1 #ab74 ,we miss ,isaiah's promised king1 his pictures of righteous government1 his emphasis upon social justice and purity1 his interest in the foreign politics of his ,state1 his hopes of national grandeur and agricultural felicity4 ,in these chapters ,god's people are described by adjectives signifying spiritual qualities4 ,their nationality is no more pleaded1 only their suffering estate and their hunger and thirst after ,god4 ,the ideals that are presented for the future are neither political nor social1 but ecclesiastical4 ,we saw how closely ,isaiah's prophesying was connected with the history of his time4 ,the people of this prophecy seem to have done with history1 and to be interested only in worship4 ,and along with the assurance of the continued establishment of ,zion as the centre for a secure and holy people1 filling a secure and fertile land1--with which1 as we have seen1 the undoubted visions of ,isaiah content themselves1 while silent as to the fate of the individuals who drop from this future through death1--we have the most abrupt and thrilling hopes expressed for the resurrection of these latter to share in the glory of the redeemed and restored community4 ,among the names applied to ,god's people there are three which were destined to play an enormous part in the history of religion4 ,in the ,english version these appear as two3 poor and needy2 but in the original they are three4 ,in chap4 xxv4 #d3 ,thou hast been a stronghold to the poor and a stronghold to the needy1 poor renders a ,hebrew word1 dal1 literally wavering1 tottering1 infirm1 then slender or lean1 then poor in fortune and estate2 needy literally renders the ,hebrew 'ebhyn1 ,latin egenus4 ,in chap4 xxvi4 #f3 the foot of the poor and the steps of the needy1 needy renders dal1 while poor renders 'an1 a passive form--forced1 afflicted1 oppressed1 then wretched1 whether under persecution1 poverty1 loneliness or exile1 and so tamed1 mild1 meek4 ,these three words1 in their root ideas of infirmity1 need and positive affliction1 cover among them every aspect of physical poverty and distress4 ,let us see how they came also to be the expression of the highest moral and evangelical virtues4 ,if there is one thing which distinguishes the people of the revelation from other historical nations1 it is the evidence afforded by their dictionaries of the power to transmute the most afflicting experiences of life into virtuous disposition and effectual desire for ,god4 ,we see this most clearly if we contrast the ,hebrews' use of their words for poor with that of the first language which was employed to translate these words--the ,greek in the ,septuagint version of the ,old ,testament4 ,in the ,greek temper there was a noble pity for the unfortunate2 the earliest ,greeks regarded beggars as the peculiar protegs of ,heaven4 ,greek philosophy developed a capacity for enriching the soul in misfortune2 ,stoicism gave imperishable proof of how bravely a man could hold poverty and pain to be things indifferent1 and how much gain from such indifference he could bring to his soul4 ,but in the vulgar opinion of ,greece penury and sickness were always disgraceful2 and ,greek dictionaries mark the degradation of terms1 which at first merely noted physical disadvantage1 into epithets of contempt or hopelessness4 ,it is very striking that it was not till they were employed to translate the ,old ,testament ideas of poverty that the ,greek words for poor and lowly came to bear an honourable significance4 ,and in the case of the ,stoic1 who endured poverty or pain with such indifference1 was it not just this indifference that prevented him from discovering in his tribulations the rich evangelical experience which1 as we shall see1 fell to the quick conscience and sensitive nerves of the ,hebrew8 ,let us see how this conscience was developed4 ,in the ,east poverty scarcely ever means physical disadvantage alone3 in its train there follow higher disabilities4 ,a poor ,eastern cannot be certain of fair play in the courts of the land4 ,he is very often a wronged man1 with a fire of righteous anger burning in his breast4 ,again1 and more important1 misfortune is to the quick religious instinct of the ,oriental a sign of ,god's estrangement4 ,with us misfortune is so often only the cruelty1 sometimes real sometimes imagined1 of the rich2 the unemployed vents his wrath at the capitalist1 the tramp shakes his fist after the carriage on the highway4 ,in the ,east they do not forget to curse the rich1 but they remember as well to humble themselves beneath the hand of ,god4 ,with an unfortunate ,oriental the conviction is supreme1 ,god is angry with me2 ,i have lost ,his favour4 ,his soul eagerly longs for ,god4 ,a poor man in the ,east has1 therefore1 not only a hunger for food3 he has the hotter hunger for justice1 the deeper hunger for ,god4 ,poverty in itself1 without extraneous teaching1 develops nobler appetites4 ,the physical1 becomes the moral1 pauper2 poor in substance1 he grows poor in spirit4 ,it was by developing1 with the aid of ,god's ,spirit1 this quick conscience and this deep desire for ,god1 which in the ,east are the very soul of physical poverty1 that the ,jews advanced to that sense of evangelical poverty of heart1 blessed by ,jesus in the first of ,his ,beatitudes as the possession of the kingdom of heaven4 ,till the ,exile1 however1 the poor were only a portion of the people4 ,in the ,exile the whole nation became poor1 and henceforth ,god's poor might become synonymous with ,god's people4 ,this was the time when the words received their spiritual baptism4 ,israel felt the physical curse of poverty to its extreme of famine4 ,the pains1 privations and terrors1 which the glib tongues of our comfortable middle classes1 as they sing the psalms of ,israel1 roll off so easily for symbols of their own spiritual experience1 were felt by the captive ,hebrews in all their concrete physical effects4 ,the noble and the saintly1 the gentle and the cultured1 priest1 soldier and citizen1 woman1 youth and child1 were torn from home and estate1 were deprived of civil standing1 were imprisoned1 fettered1 flogged and starved to death4 ,we learn something of what it must have been from the words which ,jeremiah addressed to ,baruch1 a youth of good family and fine culture3 ,seekest thou great things for thyself8 ,seek them not1 for1 behold1 ,i will bring evil upon all flesh1 saith the ,,lord2 only thy life will ,i give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest4 ,imagine a whole nation plunged into poverty of this degree--not born into it having known no better things1 nor stunted into it with sensibility and the power of expression sapped out of them1 but plunged into it1 with the unimpaired culture1 conscience and memories of the flower of the people4 ,when ,god's own hand sent fresh from ,himself a poet's soul into the clay biggin' of an ,ayrshire ploughman1 what a revelation we received of the distress1 the discipline and the graces of poverty6 ,but in the ,jewish nation as it passed into exile there were a score of hearts with as unimpaired an appetite for life as ,robert ,burns2 and1 worse than he1 they went to feel its pangs away from home4 ,genius1 conscience and pride drank to the dregs in a foreign land the bitter cup of the poor4 ,the ,psalms and ,lamentations show us how they bore their poison4 ,a ,greek ,stoic might sneer at the complaint and sobbing1 the self-abasement so strangely mixed with fierce cries for vengeance4 ,but the ,jew had within him the conscience that will not allow a man to be a ,stoic4 ,he never forgot that it was for his sin he suffered1 and therefore to him suffering could not be a thing indifferent4 ,with this1 his native hunger for justice reached in captivity a famine pitch2 his sense of guilt was equalled by as sincere an indignation at the tyrant who held him in his brutal grasp4 ,the feeling of estrangement from ,god increased to a degree that only the exile of a ,jew could excite3 the longing for ,god's house and the worship lawful only there2 the longing for the relief which only the sacrifices of the ,temple could bestow2 the longing for ,god's own presence and the light of ,his face4 ,my soul thirsteth for ,thee1 my flesh longeth after ,thee1 in a dry and thirsty land1 where no water is1 as ,i have looked upon ,thee in the sanctuary1 to see ,thy power and ,thy glory4 ,for ,thy lovingkindness is better than life6 ,thy lovingkindness is better than life6--is the secret of it all4 ,there is that which excites a deeper hunger in the soul than the hunger for life1 and for the food and money that give life4 ,this spiritual poverty is most richly bred in physical penury1 it is strong enough to displace what feeds it4 ,the physical poverty of ,israel which had awakened these other hungers of the soul--hunger for forgiveness1 hunger for justice1 hunger for ,god--was absorbed by them2 and when ,israel came out of exile1 to be poor meant1 not so much to be indigent in this world's substance as to feel the need of pardon1 the absence of righteousness1 the want of ,god4 ,it is at this time1 as we have seen1 that ,isa4 xxiv4-xxvii4 was written2 and it is in the temper of this time that the three ,hebrew words for poor and needy are used in chaps4 xxv4 and xxvi4 ,the returned exiles were still politically dependent and abjectly poor4 ,their discipline therefore continued1 and did not allow them to forget their new lessons4 ,in fact1 they developed the results of these further1 till in this prophecy we find no fewer than five different aspects of spiritual poverty4 #a4 ,we have already seen how strong the sense of sin is in chap4 xxiv4 ,this ,,poverty of ,,peace is not so fully expressed in the following chapters1 and indeed seems crowded out by the sense of the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth and the desire for their judgement 7xxvi4 #ba74 #b4 ,the feeling of the ,,poverty of ,,justice is very strong in this prophecy4 ,but it is to be satisfied2 in part it has been satisfied 7xxv4 #a-d74 ,a strong city1 probably ,babylon1 has fallen4 ,moab shall be trodden down in his place1 even as straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill4 ,the complete judgement is to come when the ,lord shall destroy the two ,leviathans and the great ,dragon of the west 7xxvii4 #a74 ,it is followed by the restoration of ,israel to the state in which ,isaiah 7chap4 v4 #a7 sang so sweetly of her4 ,a pleasant vineyard1 sing ye of her4 ,i1 ,jehovah1 her ,keeper1 moment by moment do ,i water her2 lest any make a raid upon her1 night and day will ,i keep her4 ,the ,hebrew text then reads1 ,fury is not in ,me2 but probably the ,septuagint version has preserved the original meaning3 ,i have no walls4 ,if this be correct1 then ,jehovah is describing the present state of ,jerusalem1 the fulfilment of ,isaiah's threat1 chap4 v4 #f3 ,walls ,i have not2 let there but be briers and thorns before me6 ,with war will ,i stride against them2 ,i will burn them together4 ,but then there breaks the softer alternative of the reconciliation of ,judah's enemies3 ,or else let him seize hold of ,my strength2 let him make peace with ,me--peace let him make with ,me4 ,in such a peace ,israel shall spread1 and his fulness become the riches of the ,gentiles4 ,in that by-and-bye ,jacob shall take root1 ,israel blossom and bud1 and fill the face of the world with fruit4 ,perhaps the wildest cries that rose from ,israel's famine of justice were those which found expression in chap4 xxxiv4 ,this chapter is so largely a repetition of feelings we have already met with elsewhere in the ,book of ,isaiah1 that it is necessary now only to mention its original features4 ,the subject is1 as in chap4 xiii41 the ,lord's judgement upon all the nations2 and as chap4 xiii4 singled out ,babylon for special doom1 so chap4 xxxiv4 singles out ,edom4 ,the reason of this distinction will be very plain to the reader of the ,old ,testament4 ,from the day the twins struggled in their mother ,rebekah's womb1 ,israel and ,edom were either at open war or burned towards each other with a hate1 which was the more intense for wanting opportunities of gratification4 ,it is an ,eastern edition of the worst chapters in the history of ,england and ,ireland4 ,no bloodier massacres stained ,jewish hands than those which attended their invasions of ,edom1 and ,jewish psalms of vengeance are never more flagrant than when they touch the name of the children of ,esau4 ,the only gentle utterance of the ,old ,testament upon ,israel's hereditary foe is a comfortless enigma4 ,isaiah's ,oracle for ,dumah 7xxii4 #aa f471 shows that even that large-hearted prophet1 in face of his people's age-long resentment at ,edom's total want of appreciation of ,israel's spiritual superiority1 could offer ,edom1 though for the moment submissive and inquiring1 nothing but a sad1 ambiguous answer4 ,edom and ,israel1 each after his fashion1 exulted in the other's misfortunes3 ,israel by bitter satire when ,edom's impregnable mountain-range was treacherously seized and overrun by his allies 7,obadiah #d-i72 ,edom1 with the harassing1 pillaging habits of a highland tribe1 hanging on to the skirts of ,judah's great enemies1 and cutting off ,jewish fugitives1 or selling them into slavery1 or malignantly completing the ruin of ,jerusalem's walls after her overthrow by the ,chaldeans 7,obadiah #aj-ad2 ,ezek4 xxxv4 #aj-ae2 ,ps4 cxxxi4 #g74 ,in the quarrel of ,zion with the nations of the world ,edom had taken the wrong side1--his profane1 earthy nature incapable of understanding his brother's spiritual claims1 and therefore envious of him1 with the brutal malice of ignorance1 and spitefully glad to assist in disappointing such claims4 ,this is what we must remember when we read the indignant verses of chap4 xxxiv4 ,israel1 conscious of his spiritual calling in the world1 felt bitter resentment that his own brother should be so vulgarly hostile to his attempts to carry it out4 ,it is not our wish to defend the temper of ,israel towards ,edom4 ,the silence of ,christ before the ,edomite ,herod and his men of war has taught the spiritual servants of ,god what is their proper attitude towards the malignant and obscene treatment of their claims by vulgar men4 ,but at least let us remember that chap4 xxxiv41 for all its fierceness1 is inspired by ,israel's conviction of a spiritual destiny and service for ,god1 and by the natural resentment that his own kith and kin should be doing their best to render these futile4 ,that a famine of bread makes its victims delirious does not tempt us to doubt the genuineness of their need and suffering4 ,as little ought we to doubt or to ignore the reality or the purity of those spiritual convictions1 the prolonged starvation of which bred in ,israel such feverish hate against his twin-brother ,esau4 ,chap4 xxxiv41 with all its proud prophecy of judgement1 is1 therefore1 also a symptom of that aspect of ,israel's poverty of heart1 which we have called a hunger for the ,divine justice4 #c4 ,,poverty ,,of ,,the ,,exile4 ,but as fair flowers bloom upon rough stalks1 so from ,israel's stern challenges of justice there break sweet prayers for home4 ,chap4 xxxiv41 the effusion of vengeance on ,edom1 is followed by chap4 xxxv41 the going forth of hope to the return from exile and the establishment of the ransomed of the ,lord in ,zion4#hc ,chap4 xxxv4 opens with a prospect beyond the return1 but after the first two verses addresses itself to the people still in a foreign captivity1 speaking of their salvation 7vv4 #c1 #d71 of the miracles that will take place in themselves 7vv4 #e1 #f7 and in the desert between them and their home 7vv4 #f1 #g71 of the highway which ,god shall build1 evident and secure 7vv4 #h1 #i71 and of the final arrival in ,zion 7ver4 #aj74 ,in that march the usual disappointments and illusions of desert life shall disappear4 ,the mirage shall become a pool2 and the clump of vegetation which afar off the hasty traveller hails for a sign of water1 but which on his approach he discovers to be the withered grass of a jackal's lair1 shall indeed be reeds and rushes1 standing green in fresh water4 ,out of this exuberant fertility there emerges in the prophet's thoughts a great highway1 on which the poetry of the chapter gathers and reaches its climax4 ,have we of this nineteenth century1 with our more rapid means of passage1 not forgotten the poetry of the road8 ,are we able to appreciate either the intrinsic usefulness or the gracious symbolism of the king's highway8 ,how can we know it as the ,bible-writers or our forefathers knew it when they made the road the main line of their allegories and parables of life8 ,let us listen to these verses as they strike the three great notes in the music of the road3 ,and an highway shall be there1 and a way2 yea1 ,the ,way of ,holiness shall it be called1 for the unclean shall not pass over it--that is what is to distinguish this road from all other roads4 ,but here is what it is as being a road4 ,first1 it shall be unmistakably plain3 ,the wayfaring man1 yea fools1 shall not err therein4 ,second1 it shall be perfectly secure3 ,no lion shall be there1 nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon2 they shall not be met with there4 ,third1 it shall bring to a safe arrival and ensure a complete overtaking3 ,and the ransomed of the ,lord shall return and come with singing unto ,zion1 and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads2 they shall overtake gladness and joy1 and sorrow and sighing shall flee away4 #hc ,even at the risk of incurring ,canon ,cheyne's charge of ineradicable error1 ,i feel ,i must keep to the older view of chap4 xxxv4 which makes it refer to the return from exile4 ,no doubt the chapter covers more than the mere return1 and includes the glorious condition of ,israel after the return2 but vv4 #d and #aj are undoubtedly addressed to ,jews still in exile and undelivered4 #d4 ,so ,israel was to come home4 ,but to ,israel home meant the ,temple1 and the ,temple meant ,god4 ,the poverty of the ,exile was1 in the essence of it1 ,,poverty ,,of ,,god1 ,,poverty ,,of ,,love4 ,the prayers which express this are very beautiful1--that trail like wounded animals to the feet of their master1 and look up in ,his face with large eyes of pain4 ,and they shall say in that day1 ,lo1 this is our ,god3 we have waited for ,him1 that ,he should save us2 this is the ,,lord3 we have waited for ,him2 we will rejoice and be glad in ,his salvation4444 ,yea1 in the way of ,thy ordinances1 ,o ,,lord1 have we waited for ,thee2 to ,thy name and to ,thy ,memorial was the desire of our soul4 ,with my soul have ,i desired ,thee in the night2 yea1 by my spirit within me do ,i seek ,thee with dawn 7chaps4 xxv4 #i2 xxvi4 #h74 ,an ,arctic explorer was once asked1 whether during eight months of slow starvation which he and his comrades endured they suffered much from the pangs of hunger4 ,no1 he answered1 we lost them in the sense of abandonment1 in the feeling that our countrymen had forgotten us and were not coming to the rescue4 ,it was not till we were rescued and looked in human faces that we felt how hungry we were4 ,so is it ever with ,god's poor4 ,they forget all other need1 as ,israel did1 in their need of ,god4 ,their outward poverty is only the weeds of their heart's widowhood4 ,but ,jehovah of hosts shall make to all the peoples in this mountain a banquet of fat things1 a banquet of wines on the lees1 fat things bemarrowed1 wines on the lees refined4 ,we need only note here--for it will come up for detailed treatment in connection with the second half of ,isaiah--that the centre of ,israel's restored life is to be the ,temple1 not1 as in ,isaiah's day1 the king2 that her dispersed are to gather from all parts of the world at the sound of the ,temple trumpet2 and that her national life is to consist in worship 7cf4 xxvii4 #ac74 99 99 99 99 99 ,these then were four aspects of ,israel's poverty of heart3 a hunger for pardon1 a hunger for justice1 a hunger for home1 and a hunger for ,god4 ,for the returning ,jews these wants were satisfied only to reveal a deeper poverty still1 the complaint and comfort of which we must reserve to another chapter4 ,,chapter ,,xxx4 ,,the ,,resurrection4 ,,isaiah xxvi4 #ad-ai2 xxv4 #f-i4 ,granted the pardon1 the justice1 the ,temple and the ,god1 which the returning exiles now enjoyed1 the possession of these only makes more painful the shortness of life itself4 ,this life is too shallow and too frail a vessel to hold peace and righteousness and worship and the love of ,god4 ,st4 ,paul has said1 ,if in this life only we have hope in ,christ1 we are of all men most miserable4 ,what avails it to have been pardoned1 to have regained the ,holy ,land and the face of ,god1 if the dear dead are left behind in graves of exile1 and all the living must soon pass into that captivity1#hd from which there is no return8 #hd ,hezekiah's expression for death1 xxxviii4 #ab4 ,it must have been thoughts like these1 which led to the expression of one of the most abrupt and powerful of the few hopes of the resurrection which the ,old ,testament contains4 ,this hope1 which lightens chap4 xxv4 #g1 #h1 bursts through again--without logical connection with the context--in vv4 #ad-ai of chap4 xxvi4 ,the ,english version makes ver4 #ad to continue the reference to the lords1 whom in ver4 #ac ,israel confesses to have served instead of ,jehovah4 ,they are dead2 they shall not live3 they are deceased2 they shall not rise4 ,our translators have thus intruded into their version the verb they are1 of which the original is without a trace4 ,in the original1 dead and deceased 7literally shades7 are themselves the subject of the sentence--a new subject and without logical connection with what has gone before4 ,the literal translation of ver4 #ad therefore runs3 ,dead men do not live2 shades do not rise3 wherefore ,thou visitest them and destroyest them1 and perisheth all memory of them4 ,the prophet states a fact1 and draws an inference4 ,the fact is1 that no one has ever returned from the dead2 the inference1 that it is ,god's own visitation or sentence which has gone forth upon them1 and they have really ceased to exist4 ,but how intolerable a thought is this in presence of the other fact that ,god has here on earth above gloriously enlarged and established ,his people 7ver4 #ae74 ,thou hast increased the nation1 ,jehovah2 ,thou hast increased the nation4 ,thou hast covered ,thyself with glory2 ,thou hast expanded all the boundaries of the land4 ,to this follows a verse 7#af71 the sense of which is obscure1 but palpable4 ,it feels to mean that the contrast which the prophet has just painted between the absolute perishing of the dead and the glory of the ,church above ground is the cause of great despair and groaning3 ,o ,jehovah1 in ,the ,trouble they supplicate ,thee2 they pour out incantations when ,thy discipline is upon them4#he ,in face of ,the ,trouble and ,the ,discipline par excellence of ,god1 what else can man do but betake himself to ,god8 ,god sent death2 in death ,he is the only resource4 ,israel's feelings in presence of ,the ,trouble are now expressed in ver4 #ag3 ,like as a woman with child that draweth near the time of her delivery writheth and crieth out in her pangs1 so have we been before ,thee1 ,o ,jehovah4 ,thy ,church on earth is pregnant with a life1 which death does not allow to come to the birth4 ,we have been with child2 we have been in the pangs1 as it were2 we have brought forth wind2 we make not the earth1 in spite of all we have really accomplished upon it in our return1 our restoration and our enjoyment of ,thy presence--we make not the earth salvation1 neither are the inhabitants of the world born4#hf #he ,i think this must be the meaning of ver4 #af1 if we are to allow that it has any sympathy with vv4 #ad and #ae4 ,bredenkamp suggests that the persons meant are themselves the dead4 ,jehovah has glorified the ,church on earth2 but the dead below are still in trouble1 and pour out prayers 7,virgil's preces fundunt1 neid1 vi41 #ee71 beneath this punishment which ,god causes to pass on all men 7ver4 #ad74 ,bredenkamp bases this exegesis chiefly on the word for prayer1 which means chirping or whispering1 a kind of voice imputed to the shades by the ,hebrews and other ancient peoples4 ,but while this word does originally mean whispering1 it is never in ,scripture applied to the dead1 but1 on the other hand1 is a frequent name for divining or incantation4 ,i therefore have felt compelled to understand it as used in this passage of the living1 whose only resource in face of death--,goa's discipline par excellence--is to pour out incantations4 ,if it be objected that the prophet would scarcely parallel the ordinary incantations on behalf of the dead with supplications to ,jehovah1 the answer is that he is talking poetically or popularly4 #hf ,english version1 fallen2 i4e41 like our expression for the birth of animals1 dropped4 ,the figures are bold4 ,israel achieves1 through ,god's grace1 everything but the recovery of her dead2 this1 which alone is worth calling salvation1 remains wanting to her great record of deliverances4 ,the living ,israel is restored1 but how meagre a proportion of the people it is6 ,the graves of home and of exile do not give up their dead4 ,these are not born again to be inhabitants of the upper world4 ,the figures are bold1 but bolder is the hope that breaks from them4 ,like as when the ,trumpet shall sound1 ver4 #ai peals forth the promise of the resurrection--peals the promise forth1 in spite of all experience1 unsupported by any argument1 and upon the strength of its own inherent music4 ,thy dead shall live6 my dead bodies shall arise6 ,the change of the personal pronoun is singularly dramatic4 ,returned ,israel is the speaker1 first speaking to herself3 thy dead1 as if upon the depopulated land1 in face of all its homes in ruin1 and only the sepulchres of ages standing grim and steadfast1 she addressed some despairing double of herself2 and secondly speaking of herself3 my dead bodies1 as if all the inhabitants of these tombs1 though dead1 were still her own1 still part of her1 the living ,israel1 and able to arise and bless with their numbers their bereaved mother4 ,these she now addresses3 ,awake and sing1 ye dwellers in the dust1 for a dew of lights is ,thy dew1 and the land bringeth forth the dead4#hg #hg ,technical ,hebrew word for the inhabitants of the underworld--the shades4 ,if one has seen a place of graves in the ,east1 he will appreciate the elements of this figure1 which takes dust for death and dew for life4 ,with our damp graveyards mould has become the traditional trappings of death2 but where under the hot ,eastern sun things do not rot into lower forms of life1 but crumble into sapless powder1 that will not keep a worm in life1 dust is the natural symbol of death4 ,when they die1 men go not to feed fat the mould1 but down into the dust2 and there the foot of the living falls silent1 and his voice is choked1 and the light is thickened and in retreat1 as if it were creeping away to die4 ,the only creatures the visitor starts are timid1 unclean bats1 that flutter and whisper about him like the ghosts of the dead4 ,there are no flowers in an ,eastern cemetery2 and the withered branches and other ornaments are thickly powdered with the same dust that chokes1 and silences and darkens all4 ,hence the ,semitic conception of the underworld was dominated by dust4 ,it was not water nor fire nor frost nor altogether darkness1 which made the infernal prison horrible1 but that upon its floor and rafters1 hewn from the roots and ribs of the primeval mountains1 dust lay deep and choking4 ,amid all the horrors he imagined for the dead1 ,dante did not include one more awful than the horror of dust4 ,the picture which the northern ,semites had before them when they turned their faces to the wall was of this kind4#hh #hh ,extracted from the ,assyrian ,descent of ,istar to ,hades 7,dr4 ,jeremias' ,german translation1 p4 #aa1 and ,records of the ,past1 i41 #ade74 ,the house of darkness4444 ,the house men enter1 but cannot depart from4 ,the road men go1 but cannot return4 ,the house from whose dwellers the light is withdrawn4 ,the place where dust is their food1 their nourishment clay4 ,the light they behold not2 in darkness they dwell4 ,they are clothed like birds1 all fluttering wings4 ,on the door and the gateposts1 the dust lieth deep4 ,either1 then1 an ,eastern sepulchre1 or this its infernal double1 was gaping before the prophet's eyes4 ,what more final and hopeless than the dust and the dark of it8 ,but for dust there is dew1 and even to graveyards the morning comes that brings dew and light together4 ,the wonder of dew is that it is given from a clear heaven1 and that it comes to sight with the dawn4 ,if the ,oriental looks up when dew is falling1 he sees nothing to thank for it between him and the stars4 ,if he sees dew in the morning1 it is equal liquid and lustre2 it seems to distil from the beams of the sun--the sun1 which riseth with healing under his wings4 ,the dew is thus doubly dew of light4 ,but our prophet ascribes the dew of ,god1 that is to raise the dead1 neither to stars nor dawn1 but1 because of its ,divine power1 to that higher supernal glory which the ,hebrews conceived to have existed before the sun1 and which they styled1 as they styled their ,god1 by the plural of majesty3 ,a dew of lights is ,thy dew4#hi ,as1 when the dawn comes1 the drooping flowers of yesterday are seen erect and lustrous with the dew1 every spike a crown of glory1 so also shall be the resurrection of the dead4 ,there is no shadow of a reason for limiting this promise to that to which some other passages of resurrection in the ,old ,testament have to be limited3 a corporate restoration of the holy ,state or ,church4 ,this is the resurrection of its individual members to a community which is already restored1 the recovery by ,israel of her dead men and women from their separate graves1 each with his own freshness and beauty1 in that glorious morning when the ,sun of righteousness shall arise1 with healing under ,his wings--,thy dew1 ,o ,jehovah6 #hi ,cf4 ,james i4 #ag4 ,attempts are so often made to trace the hopes of resurrection1 which break the prevailing silence of the ,old ,testament on a future life1 to foreign influences experienced in the ,exile1 that it is well to emphasize the origin and occasion of the hopes that utter themselves so abruptly in this passage4 ,surely nothing could be more inextricably woven with the national fortunes of ,israel1 as nothing could be more native and original to ,israel's temper1 than the verses just expounded4 ,we need not deny that their residence among a people1 accustomed as the ,babylonians were to belief in the resurrection1 may have thawed in the ,jews that reserve which the ,old ,testament clearly shows that they exhibited towards a future life4 ,the ,babylonians themselves had received most of their suggestions of the next world from a non-,semitic race2 and therefore it would not be to imagine anything alien to the ascertained methods of ,providence if we were to suppose that the ,hebrews1 who showed what we have already called the ,semitic want of interest in a future life1 were intellectually tempered by their foreign associations to a readiness to receive any suggestions of immortality1 which the ,spirit of ,god might offer them through their own religious experience4 ,that it was this last1 which was the effective cause of ,israel's hopes for the resurrection of her dead1 our passage puts beyond doubt4 ,chap4 xxvi4 shows us that the occasion of these hopes was what is not often noticed3 the returned exiles' disappointment with the meagre repopulation of the holy territory4 ,a restoration of the ,state or community was not enough3 the heart of ,israel wanted back in their numbers her dead sons and daughters4 ,if the occasion of these hopes was thus an event in ,israel's own national history1 and if the impulse to them was given by so natural an instinct of her own heart1 ,israel was equally indebted to herself for the convictions that the instinct was not in vain4 ,nothing is more clear in our passage than that ,israel's first ground of hope in a future life was her simple1 untaught reflection upon the power of her ,god4 ,death was ,his chastening4 ,death came from ,him1 and remained in ,his power4 ,surely ,he would deliver from it4 ,this was a very old belief in ,israel4 ,the ,lord killeth and maketh alive2 ,he bringeth down to ,sheol and bringeth up4 ,such words1 of course1 might be only an extreme figure for recovery from disease1 and the silence of so great a saint as ,hezekiah about any other issue into life than by convalescence from mortal sickness staggers us into doubt whether an ,israelite ever did think of a resurrection4 ,but still there was ,jehovah's almightiness2 a man could rest his future on that1 even if he had not light to think out what sort of a future it would be4 ,so mark in our passage1 how confidence is chiefly derived from the simple utterance of the name of ,jehovah1 and how ,he is hailed as our ,god4 ,it seems enough to the prophet to connect life with ,him and to say merely1 ,thy dew4 ,as death is ,god's own discipline1 so life1 ,thy dew1 is with ,him also4 ,thus in its foundation the ,old ,testament doctrine of the resurrection is but the conviction of the sufficiency of ,god ,himself1 a conviction which ,christ turned upon ,himself when ,he said1 ,i am the ,resurrection and the ,life4 ,because ,i live1 ye shall live also4 ,if any object that in this picture of a resurrection we have no real persuasion of immortality1 but simply the natural1 though impossible1 wish of a bereaved people that their dead should to-day rise from their graves to share to-day's return and glory--a revival as special and extraordinary as that appearing of the dead in the streets of ,jerusalem when the ,atonement was accomplished1 but by no means that general resurrection at the last day which is an article of the ,christian faith--if any one should bring this objection1 then let him be referred to the previous promise of immortality in chap4 xxv4 ,the universal and final character of the promise made there is as evident as of that for which ,paul borrowed its terms in order to utter the absolute consequences of the resurrection of the ,son of ,god3 ,death is swallowed up in victory4 ,for the prophet1 having in ver4 #f described the restoration of the people1 whom exile had starved with a famine of ordinances1 to a feast in ,zion of fat things and wines on the lees well refined1 intimates that as certainly as exile has been abolished1 with its dearth of spiritual intercourse1 so certainly shall ,god ,himself destroy death3 ,and ,he shall swallow up in this mountain--perhaps it is imagined1 as the sun devours the morning mist on the hills--the mask of the veil1 the veil that is upon all the peoples1 and the film spun upon all the nations4 ,he hath swallowed up death for ever1 and the ,lord ,jehovah shall wipe away tears from off all faces1 and the reproach of ,his people shall ,he remove from off all the earth1 for ,jehovah hath spoken it4 ,and they shall say in that day1 ,behold1 this is our ,god3 we have waited for ,him1 and ,he shall save us2 this is ,jehovah3 we have waited for ,him2 we will rejoice and be glad in ,his salvation4 ,thus over all doubts1 and in spite of universal human experience1 the prophet depends for immortality on ,god ,himself4 ,in chap4 xxvi4 #c our version beautifully renders1 ,thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on ,thee1 because he trusteth in ,thee4 ,this is a confidence valid for the next life as well as for this4 ,therefore trust ye in the ,,lord for ever4 ,amen4 ,almighty ,god1 we praise ,thee that1 in the weakness of all our love and the darkness of all our knowledge before death1 ,thou hast placed assurance of eternal life in simple faith upon ,thyself4 ,let this faith be richly ours4 ,by ,thine omnipotence1 by ,thy righteousness1 by the love ,thou hast vouchsafed1 we lift ourselves and rest upon ,thy word4 ,because ,i live1 ye shall live also4 ,oh keep us steadfast in union with ,thyself1 through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,amen4 ,,index ,,to ,,chaps4 ,i4-,,xxxix4 ,,chapters ,,of ,,date ,b4,c4 ,,chapters ,,of ,,the ,,isaiah4 ,,exposition4 i4 #gja ,i41 ,,xix41 p4 #caa ff4 ii4-iv4 #gdj-gce ,,ii4 v4 #gce ,,iii4 vi4 #gdj2 ,,iv41 ,,xxvi41 #cia f4 written #gce or #gbg vii4-ix4 #g #gcd-gcb ,,vi4 vii4 #ad ff4 #gcd ,,vii4 #acc viii4 #gcd-gcc ,,vii4 #ace ix4 #a-g #gcb ,,vii4 #acf ix4 #h-x4 #d #gce ,,iii4 #dg ff4 x4 #e-cd ,about #gba ,,ix4 #adg xi4 xii4 ,about #gbj8 ,x4 xi4 #a-f ,,vii4 #ach xiii4-xiv4 #bc 8 ,,xxvii4 xiv4 #bd-bg ,towards #gja ,,xvii4 #bgb xiv4 #bh-cb #gje ,,xvii4 #bgb xv4-xvi4 #ab 8 ,,xvii4 #bgc xvi4 #ac1 #ad #gaa or #gjd8 ,,xvii4 #bgc xvii4 #a-aa ,between #gcf and #gcb ,,xvii4 #bgd xvii4 #ab-ad 8 ,,xvii4 #bgd1 #bgg1 #bha f4 xviii4 #gaa or towards #gja8 ,,xvii4 #bge xix4 #gjc or after #gjj8 ,,xvii4 #bge1 #bgh1 #bhd ff4 xx4 #gaa-gji ,,xi4 #aih-bjj1 ,,xvii4 #bgf xxi4 #a-aj ,probably #gji ,,xi4 #bja1 ,,xvii4 #bgf xxi4 #aa1 #ab ,between #gjd and #gja ,,xvii4 #bgf xxi4 #ac1 #ag ,,xvii4 #bgg xxii4 #gja ,,xix41 ,,xx4 xxiii4 #gjc or #gjb ,,xvii4 #bgg1 ,,xviii4 xxiv4 8 ,,xxviii4 xxv4-xxvii4 8 ,,xxix4-,,xxx4 xxviii4 ,about #gbe ,,viii4 #adi xxix4-xxxii4 p4 #bjg xxix4 ,about #gjc ,,xii4 xxx4 ,about #gjb ,,xiii4 xxxi4 ,about #gjb ,,xiv4 xxxii4 #a-h ,about #gjb8 ,,xv4 xxxii4 #i-bj ,date uncertain ,,xvi4 xxxiii4 #gja ,,xx41 ,,xxi41 #bjg1 #cjd xxxiv4 8 ,,xxix4 #dch ff4 xxxv4 8 ,,xxix4 #ddj f4 xxxvi4 #a #gja #cjc f4 xxxvi4 #b-xxxvii4 #gja #cjc f4 xxxvi4 #b-bb #gja ,,xxii4 #cjc f4 xxxvii4 #gja ,,xxiii4 xxxviii4-xxxix4 ,date uncertain ,,xxv4 #cjd xxxviii4 ,,xxvi4 #cic xxxix4 ,,xi4 #bja ,,short ,,index ,,of ,,subjects4 ,ahaz1 #ih2 compared with ,charles ,i41 #ii1 #ajc ff41 #aac2 ,judas of ,old ,testament1 #aah4 ,animals1 the lower1 #aij ff42 our mediatorship to1 #aic4 ,anthropomorphism1 #add4 ,arabia1 #bgg4 ,aram1 #id1 #ajc ff4 ,ashdod1 #aih4 ,assyria and ,assyrians1 #ec1 #ib f41 #ie1 #ig1 #ajc f41 #abb1 and passim4 ,atheism1 two kinds of1 #agb ff4 ,babylon1 #ic1 #bja1 #dje4 ,babylonian captivity1 #bja1 #djb4 ,bribery1 #dg4 ,captivity of ,israel1 first1 #abh2 second1 #adh4 ,christ1 #hj1 #adb ff41 #bed ff41 #cbh1 #dbf4 ,church1 origin of idea of1 #abf4 ,commerce1 #bif4 ,conscience1 #f2 its threefold character1 #ab2 simplicity1 #aea4 ,cromwell1 #afj ff41 #bbj4 ,damascus1 #ie1 #abj1 #abb1 #bgd4 ,drunkenness1 #dd f41 #aeb ff4 ,earthquake1 #ej4 ,edom1 #id1 #bgf1 #dch ff4 ,egypt1 #ib1 #if1 #aig ff41 #bbb ff41 passim4 ,ekron1 #cjh f4 ,eliakim1 #cag4 ,ethiopia1 #ic1 #bbb1 #bge4 ,faith1 moral results of1 #ajf f41 #afc f42 power to shape history1 #aji1 #ceb ff4 ,fatalism1 #aaj4 ,forgiveness of sin1 #ac1 #ga ff41 #cbf ff41 #cfa1 #cha4 ,formalism1 #baf1 #bdj4 ,free-will1 #hb4 ,glory1 #fh4 ,hamath1 #id4 ,heine1 #aeh1 #bdb1 #dac4 ,hezekiah1 #ceb1 #cgh ff41 passim4 ,holiness1 #fc ff4 ,holy ,spirit1 #ahe-ahh4 ,immanuel1 #ajb1 #aae1 #abd ff41 #acc ff4 ,immortality1 #che ff41 #cid ff41 #daj1 #ddd ff4 ,individual1 the1 and the community1 #chi ff4 ,inspiration1 #bc ff41 #bac1 #cgb4 ,isaiah3 apprenticeship1 #ai2 youth1 #ba1 #ei2 a son of ,jerusalem1 #bb2 threefold vision1 #bc-be2 idealist1 #be2 realist1 #bg2 prophet1 #cj2 patriotism1 a conscience of his country's sins1 #cj f42 call and consecration1 #eg ff42 personality1 #ge f41 #bec2 comp4 with ,mazzini1 #he-hg2 with ,moses1 #hh2 contribution to religious development of ,israel1 #aja1 #bhd1 #bhh2 no fatalist1 #aaj2 habit of appealing to the people1 #aai2 saved from the popular drift1 #aba2 scorn1 #abg2 sanity1 #aji1 #aed f41 #aff1 #cjj2 comp4 with ,cromwell1 #afj ff41 #bbj2 self-control1 #aff2 regard for animals1 #aij2 walks stripped for a sign1 #aii2 inspiration1 #bac1 #cgb2 working of his imagination1 #bcd2 style1 #bha2 humanity1 #bhe1 #bid2 triumph1 #cbc ff42 imagination and conscience1 #cce2 lesson for all time1 #cff2 contrasted with ,crusaders1 #cfg2 personal religion1 #cia2 ideal1 #cib2 satire1 #bi1 #aci1 #aef4 ,israel1 religious condition1 #ii2 and ,greece1 #cfe4 ,jerusalem1 #bb1 #be ff41 #afi f41 #baa f41 #bca f41 #bdc1 #bfg f41 #bgi1 ,book ,,iv41 passim4 ,king ,lear1 #di1 #ee4 ,land question1 #da ff4 ,language1 abuse of1 #bfj4 ,maher-shalal-hash-baz1 #abj4 ,mazzini1 #hd-hf4 ,merodach-baladan1 #bjj1 #cgf4 ,messiah1 #hi1 #ij1 #aae ff41 #abi1 #aca-add1 #ahj ff41 #bdi4 ,moab1 #id1 #bgc4 ,monotheism1 moral and political advantages1 #ajh-aaj2 growth in ,israel1 #ceg1 #cfc4 ,name of the ,,lord1 #bcc ff4 ,nature1 fourfold use of by the prophets1 #af f42 redemption of1 #ahh2 destruction of1 #dag ff4 ,palestine1 #ib4 ,people1 the1 ultimately responsible1 #aai1 #aih1 #bbd ff4 ,philistines1 #id1 #bgb4 ,phoenicia1 #id1 #if1 #bhh ff4 ,poetry1 ,hebrew1 #daa4 ,polytheism1 #ii1 #ajg4 ,preaching the word1 #hb1 #hc4 ,prophecy1 its power of vision1 #bc-be2 its service to religion1 #ajj f4 ,providence1 #ih4 ,rabshakeh1 the1 #cdc ff4 ,remnant1 the1 #ca1 #hg1 #aja1 #abf1 #abi1 and passim4 ,resurrection1 #chg1 #ddd ff4 ,return from exile1 #aie1 #dja ff41 #dbi1 #ddj f41 #dej4 ,righteousness1 ,isaiah's doctrine of1 #ccd ff4 ,sacrament1 an ,old ,testament1 #gd4 ,samaria1 #ie1 #adg1 #aeb ff4 ,sargon1 #adh1 #afi1 #aih ff4 ,scepticism1 #ae4 ,sennacherib1 #bji1 #cjb1 #cjh ff41 #cee ff4 ,serbonian bog1 #cfa4 ,shebna1 #cag4 ,sheol1 #che1 #daj1 #ddg ff4 ,shiloah1 #abb4 ,sin1 #eb1 #fi1 passim2 effect on man's material circumstance1 #daf4 ,sorrow1 man's abuse of1 #ed4 ,tiglath-pileser ,,ii41 #if1 #ajc f4 ,uzziah1 #ei f41 #ih4 ,war1 #ea4 ,women1 ,isaiah to1 #bfb4 ,wrath of ,god1 #dg f41 #ee4 ,printed by ,hazell1 ,watson ,viney1 ,ld41 ,london and ,aylesbury4 ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #gs4 #f;d4 each vol4 ,,first ,,series4 ,colossians4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d41 ,d4,lit4 ,st4 ,mark4 ,by the ,right ,rev4 the ,bishop of ,derry4 ,genesis4 ,by ,prof4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 #a ,samuel4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,g4 ,,blaikie1 ,d4,d4 #b ,samuel4 ,by the same ,author4 ,hebrews4 ,by ,principal ,t4 ,c4 ,,edwards1 ,d4,d4 ,,second ,,series4 ,galatians4 ,by ,prof4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,plummer1 ,d4,d4 ,isaiah ,i4--,,xxxix4 ,by ,prin4 ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,the ,book of ,revelation4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,,milligan1 ,d4,d4 #a ,corinthians4 ,by ,prof4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,epistles of ,st4 ,john4 ,by the ,most ,rev4 the ,archbishop of ,armagh4 ,,third ,,series4 ,judges and ,ruth4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,jeremiah4 ,by the ,rev4 ,c4 ,j4 ,,ball1 ,m4,a4 ,isaiah ,,xl4--,,lxvi4 ,by ,prin4 ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,st4 ,matthew4 ,by the ,rev4 ,j4 ,,monro ,,gibson1 ,d4,d4 ,exodus4 ,by the ,right ,rev4 the ,bishop of ,derry4 ,st4 ,luke4 ,by the ,rev4 ,h4 ,,burton1 ,m4,a4 ,,fourth ,,series4 ,ecclesiastes4 ,by the ,rev4 ,,samuel ,,cox1 ,d4,d4 ,st4 ,james and ,st4 ,jude4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,plummer1 ,d4,d4 ,proverbs4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,f4 ,,horton1 ,d4,d4 ,leviticus4 ,by the ,rev4 ,s4 ,h4 ,,kellogg1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,prof4 ,m4 ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,by ,prof4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,,fifth ,,series4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 #a and #b ,thessalonians4 ,by ,prof4 ,,james ,,denney1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,book of ,job4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,ephesians4 ,by ,prof4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,prof4 ,m4 ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,by ,prof4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,,sixth ,,series4 #a ,kings4 ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,f4 ,w4 ,,farrar1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,philippians4 ,by ,principal ,,rainy1 ,d4,d4 ,ezra1 ,nehemiah1 ,esther4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,f4 ,,adeney1 ,m4,a4 ,joshua4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,g4 ,,blaikie1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,the ,epistles of ,st4 ,peter4 ,by ,prof4 ,,rawson ,,lumby1 ,d4,d4 ,,seventh ,,series4 #b ,kings4 ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,f4 ,w4 ,,farrar1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,romans4 ,by the ,right ,rev4 ,h4 ,c4 ,g4 ,,moule1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,books of ,chronicles4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,h4 ,,bennett1 ,d4,d41 ,d4,lit4 #b ,corinthians4 ,by ,prof4 ,,james ,,denney1 ,d4,d4 ,numbers4 ,by the ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by the ,rev4 ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,iii4 ,,eighth ,,series4 ,daniel4 ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,f4 ,w4 ,,farrar1 ,f4,r4,s4 ,the ,book of ,jeremiah4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,h4 ,,bennett1 ,d4,d41 ,d4,lit4 ,deuteronomy4 ,by ,prof4 ,,andrew ,,harper1 ,b4,d4 ,the ,song of ,solomon and ,lamentations4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,f4 ,,adeney1 ,m4,a4 ,ezekiel4 ,by ,prof4 ,,john ,,skinner1 ,m4,a4 ,the ,books of the ,twelve ,prophets4 ,by ,prin4 ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,d4,d4 ,two ,vols4 ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #gs4 #f;d4 ,,volume ,,ii4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,isaiah4 ,,chaps4 ,,xl4-,,lxvi4 ,,rev4 ,,dr4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 in ,the ,british ,weekly1 says3 ,that criticism so keen and so well principled should co-exist with a historical sense so fully developed as ,mr4 ,smith's1 is perhaps not so wonderful as that both these high and useful faculties should seem not to overwhelm and smother1 but rather to stimulate and find opportunity for the faculty of dramatic presentation1 for the magical ,english style1 and1 above all1 for the singular spiritual insight which this volume exhibits4 ,,rev4 ,,dr4 ,,beet says3 ,the first volume of ,smith's ,isaiah took us all by surprise1 and revealed the advent of an expositor of the first rank4 ,the high standard thus set up is fully maintained in the second volume4 ,indeed1 as dealing with more difficult topics it increases greatly our respect for the author4 ,we have accurate ,hebrew scholarship1 keen insight into the life and thought of ,isaiah's day1 and devout appreciation of the abiding spiritual worth of this ancient prophecy presented in a form intelligible and attractive to all4 ,,the ,,record4 ,mr4 ,smith is a sound and thoroughly capable ,hebrew scholar1 and he has written in these volumes an exposition of ,isaiah which every scholarly teacher and every conscientious expounder of the evangelical prophet1 even though he may differ from ,mr4 ,smith upon occasion1 ought to possess4 ,,the ,,academy4 ,it is needless to mention the literary merits which in reviews of the first volume of this work were so abundantly recognised4 ,this is1 indeed1 one of the few theological books which it is a pure pleasure to read2 nor need one1 in the case of the present volume1 add the qualifying remark that the homiletical element is somewhat unduly large4 ,the scholarship too1 is still as accurate as might be expected from ,mr4 ,smith's excellent training4 ,,the ,,independent3 ,it is in every way a notable book1 and will even add to the now established reputation of its author among ,old ,testament students4 ,the two volumes taken together constitute one of the most successful attempts ever made to expound an ,old ,testament book in the light of modern research4 ,mr4 ,smith has here shown something of the power of criticism to do constructive work1 and has made it abundantly evident that some1 at least1 of the recent critical results may be used with most illuminating and inspiring effect4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 #hvo1 cloth1 #aes4 ,with ,six ,maps1 specially prepared4 ,,the ,,historical ,,geography ,,of ,,the ,,holy ,,land4 ,especially in ,relation to the ,history of ,israel and of the ,early ,church4 ,in some respects the book is the most comprehensive and complete contribution to ,palestinian literature of the last twenty years4444 ,in ,english1 at least1 there is no book from which the reader can carry away in his mind's eye so clear1 connected1 and permanent a picture of ,palestine as from ,dr4 ,smith's4--,daily ,news4 ,a very noteworthy contribution to the study of sacred history1 based upon the three indispensable conditions of personal acquaintance with the land1 a study of the explorations1 discoveries1 and decipherments1 especially of the last twenty years1 and the employment of the results of ,biblical criticism during the same period4 ,the necessity and importance of such an undertaking need no demonstration1 and the results as set forth in ,dr4 ,smith's learned and laborious work will be appreciated by all competent scholars4--,times4 ,it is not often that we have to review a book so thorough and so masterly1 and1 at the same time1 written in a style which commands attention as well as admiration4444 ,it contains and 'uses' the important parts of all the immense mass of modern research and discovery1 enriched and illuminated by a mind of imagination and poetry1 as well as scholarship4--,saturday ,review4 ,this is really a great book4 ,a subject of fascinating interest has been treated with an ability and a fulness which leave nothing to be desired4--,westminster ,gazette4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 ,,four ,,psalms4 ,cloth1 #as4 #f;d4 ,these expositions are in every way admirable1 and worthy of the highest admiration4--,aberdeen ,free ,press4 ,very choice expositions in a deeply spiritual vein4 ,learning1 genius1 and grace combine to make these four choice psalms more precious than ever4--,baptist4 ,,modern ,,criticism ,,and ,,preaching ,,of ,,the ,,old ,,testament4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #fs4 ,,dr4 ,,robertson ,,nicoll says in ,the ,british ,weekly3 ,dr4 ,george ,adam ,smith has given us a fresh1 brilliant1 ,christian book on a vital subject4 ,in some respects it is perhaps on an even higher level than anything else he has written4 ,it would be impertinent in us to speak of the scholarship shown everywhere4 ,dr4 ,smith is as accurate as he is brilliant4 ,there are many evidences not only of his scholarship1 but of the wide range his reading has covered4 ,the book is written throughout with marked distinction1 and in a high and generous spirit4 ,it is anything but a mere rsum4 ,it is full of originality and suggestiveness1 and is alive and challenging from end to end4 ,it is as powerful and ardent as anything ,dr4 ,smith has written1 and it is also spiritual and subtle4 ,,the ,,forgiveness ,,of ,,sins4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #fs4 ,,jerusalem4 ,in ,two ,volumes4 ,net1 #bds4 ,,the ,,life ,,of ,,henry ,,drummond1 ,f4,r4,s4,e4 ,with ,portrait4 ,cloth1 #cs4 #f;d4 ,a very large audience may safely be predicted for his biography4 ,the work is well done4444 ,a more devote life has rarely been portrayed1 a cleaner soul has not often been unveiled4--,spectator4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,the ,,twelve ,,prophets4 ,commonly called the ,minor4 ,in ,two ,volumes4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #gs4 #f;d4 each4 ,,vol4 ,i4--,,amos1 ,,hosea ,,and ,,micah4 ,,vol4 ,,ii4--,,zephaniah1 ,,nahum1 ,,habakkuk1 ,,obadiah1 ,,haggai1 ,,zechariah ,i4-,,viii41 ,,malachi1 ,,joel1 ,,zechariah ,,ix4-,,xiv41 ,,and ,,jonah4 ,in ,dr4 ,smith's volumes we have much more than a popular exposition of the minor ,prophets4 ,we have that which will satisfy the scholar and the student quite as much as the person who reads for pleasure and for edification4444 ,if the minor ,prophets do not become popular reading it is not because anything more can be done to make them attractive4 ,dr4 ,smith's volumes present this part of ,scripture in what is at once the most attractive and the most profitable form4--,,dr4 ,,marcus ,,dods in the ,british ,weekly4 ,by his two volumes on ,isaiah1 and that preceding the present one of the ,prophets1 ,professor ,smith gave abundant evidence both of his ,hebrew scholarship and his capacity as an expositor of ,scripture1 444 and he has now put us under fresh obligations by publishing this volume1 which in no respect falls behind its predecessors4--,scotsman4 ,the volume which completes the great enterprise is one of the best4--,methodist ,times4 ,the volume altogether1 in its accurate scholarship1 its vivid descriptions1 its bold and candid treatment of difficulties1 and its fulness of reference to the labours of other critics of every school1 forms not only one of the most brilliant of the series1 but one of the foremost of ,british contributions to the literature of its special subject4--,christian ,world4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 ,,the ,,second ,,volume ,,of ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,greek ,,testament4 ,,edited ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,w4 ,,robertson ,,nicoll1 ,m4,a41 ,,ll4,d4 ,editor of the ,expositor1 ,expositor's ,bible1 etc4 ,,containing ,,the ,,acts ,,of ,,the ,,apostles4 ,by the ,rev4 ,professor ,r4 ,j4 ,,knowling1 ,d4,d41 ,vice-,principal of ,king's ,college1 ,london4 ,,the ,,epistle ,,to ,,the ,,romans4 ,by the ,rev4 ,professor ,,james ,,denney1 ,d4,d4 ,,the ,,first ,,epistle ,,to ,,the ,,corinthians4 ,by the ,rev4 ,professor ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a41 ,d4,d4 ,,the ,,third ,,volume1 ,,containing ,,the ,,second ,,epistle ,,to ,,the ,,corinthians4 ,by the ,very ,rev4 ,dean ,,bernard1 ,d4,d4 ,,the ,,epistle ,,to ,,the ,,galatians4 ,by the ,rev4 ,,frederic ,,rendall1 ,m4,a4 ,,the ,,epistle ,,to ,,the ,,ephesians4 ,by the ,rev4 ,principal ,,salmond1 ,d4,d4 ,,the ,,epistle ,,to ,,the ,,philippians4 ,by the ,rev4 ,h4 ,a4 ,a4 ,,kennedy1 ,d4,sc4 ,,the ,,epistle ,,to ,,the ,,colossians4 ,by the ,rev4 ,professor ,a4 ,s4 ,,peake1 ,m4,a4 ,the price of each volume is #bhs4 ,volumes ,i4 and ,,ii4 may still be had at subscription price1 viz4 #cjs4 ,those who have subscribed for ,volumes ,i4 and ,,ii4 may have ,volume ,,iii4 on payment of #aes4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 ,,the ,,first ,,volume ,,of ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,greek ,,testament4 ,,edited ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,w4 ,,robertson ,,nicoll1 ,m4,a41 ,,ll4,d4 ,editor of the ,expositor1 ,expositor's ,bible1 etc4 ,the ,first ,volume1 of #hhj pages1 handsomely bound in buckram cloth1 consists of the ,gospels of ,,st4 ,,matthew1 ,,st4 ,,mark1 and ,,st4 ,,luke by the ,rev4 ,professor ,a4 ,b4 ,,bruce1 ,d4,d41 and the ,gospel of ,,st4 ,,john by the ,rev4 ,professor ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,price of each volume is #bhs2 but for those who ,,pay ,,in ,,advance the price for two volumes is #cjs4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,from ,,press ,,notices ,,of ,,volume ,i4 ,dr4 ,bruce's commentary on the ,synoptics is a notable piece of work4 ,it is cheering and refreshing to find these books1 with which our inner life is so closely bound up1 treated frankly and honestly1 as well as adequately for ,english readers1 and withal in so believing and reverent a spirit that the treatment need not repel the most orthodox4444 ,all is set forth with great frankness and admirable common sense1 and often in racy language1 not without an occasional ,scottish flavour4--,athenum4 ,the first thing that strikes one when he takes up the volume on the ,gospels is the uncommon handsomeness of the book4 ,it is a joy to handle it and look into its pages4 ,it is the very book to lure a student into reading4 ,the form is so superb1 the paper so choice and so light1 the margins so delightfully broad1 the type so clear and so tasteful4444 ,the two scholars to whom this volume has been committed are the very men for the work4 ,each is a master of his subject1 and each has gone into his task con amore4444 ,a work worthy of the most cordial appreciation4--,critical ,review4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,a4 ,m4 ,,fairbairn1 ,m4,a41 ,d4,d41 ,,ll4,d41 ,,principal ,,of ,,mansfield ,,college1 ,,oxford4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #gs4 #f;d4 ,,catholicism--,,roman ,,and ,,anglican4 ,dr4 ,fairbairn's able and striking volume4444 ,the treatment is throughout so thoughtful and free from narrow polemical bias4--,times4 ,the book is certainly one every theologian must welcome--high-minded in tone1 broad in its outlook1 penetrating in its vision1 and full of luminous apercus on the history of thought and of events4--,literature4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #cs4 #f;d4 ,,religion ,,in ,,history ,,and ,,in ,,modern ,,life4 ,together with an ,essay on the ,church and the ,working ,classes4 ,in its new dress1 ',religion in ,history' is a timely and weighty contribution to a subject with which theologians but too seldom venture to grapple4--,scotsman4 ,it is one of the best pieces of work which even ,principal ,fairbairn has ever done4--,aberdeen ,free ,press4 #hvo1 cloth1 #abs4 ,,the ,,place ,,of ,,christ ,,in ,,modern ,,theology4 ,his work is1 without doubt1 one of the most valuable and comprehensive contributions to theology that has been made during this generation4--,the ,spectator4 ,a more vivid summary of church history has never been given4 ,with its swift characterisation of schools and politics1 with its subtle tracings of the development of various tendencies through the influence of their invironment1 of reaction1 and of polemic2 with its contrasts of different systems1 philosophies1 and races2 with its portraits of men2 with its sense of progress and revolt--this part of ,dr4 ,fairbairn's book is no mere annal1 but drama1 vivid and full of motion1 representative of the volume and sweep of ,christianity through the centuries4--,the ,speaker4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4 ,,works ,,by ,,sir ,w4 ,m4 ,,ramsay1 ,d4,c4,l41 ,,ll4,d41 ,,professor ,,of ,,humanity ,,in ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,aberdeen1 ,,and ,,hon4 ,,fellow ,,of ,,exeter ,,and ,,lincoln ,,colleges1 ,,oxford4 #hvo1 cloth1 with ,map1 #ajs4 #f;d4 ,,st4 ,,paul ,,the ,,traveller ,,and ,,the ,,roman ,,citizen4 ,professor ,ramsay brings not only his great experience as a traveller and archologist1 but the resources of an ingenious mind1 and a lively style4 ,the book is1 like everything ,professor ,ramsay does1 extraordinarily alive4 ,it shows everywhere personal learning1 personal impression2 it has the sharp touch of the traveller and the eye-witness4--,times4 ,with ,maps and ,illustrations1 #hvo1 cloth1 #abs4 ,,the ,,church ,,in ,,the ,,roman ,,empire ,,before ,a4,d4 #agj4 ,the whole volume is full of freshness and originality4444 ,i lay down his book with warm and sincere admiration4 ,he has succeeded in investing a number of critical discussions with extraordinary vividness and reality4--,,professor ,w4 ,,sanday1 in ,the ,expositor4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 #es4 ,,was ,,christ ,,born ,,at ,,bethlehem8 ,a ,study in the ,credibility of ,st4 ,luke4 ,the work is characterised by great earnestness as well as ability1 while the learning which it displays is such as may be expected from one who has long made the topics discussed matter of special study1 for the pursuit of which he has also had special opportunities4--,scotsman4 ,there is much interesting matter on allied topics in this learned and informing work1 which will sustain ,professor ,ramsay's reputation as an accomplished and courageous scholar4--,christian ,world4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton4