In
this chapter we have an answer expected by the prophet (ver. 1), and
returned by the Spirit of God, to the complaints which the prophet made of
the violences and victories of the Chaldeans in the close of the foregoing
chapter. The answer is, I. That after God has served his own purposes by the
prevailing power of the Chaldeans, has tried the faith and patience of his
people, and distinguished between the hypocrites and the sincere among them,
he will reckon with the Chaldeans, will humble and bring down, not only that
proud monarch Nebuchadnezzar, but that proud monarchy, for their boundless
and insatiable thirst after dominion and wealth, for which they themselves
should at length be made a prey, ver. 2-8. II. That not they only, but all
other sinners like them, should perish under a divine woe. 1. Those that are
covetous, are greedy of wealth and honours, ver. 9, 11. 2. Those that are
injurious and oppressive, and raise estates by wrong and rapine, ver. 12-14.
3. Those that promote drunkenness that they may expose their neighbours to
shame, ver. 15-17. 4. Those that worship idols, ver. 18-20.
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Waiting
upon God; The People Directed.
B. C. 600.
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1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon
the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall
answer when I am reproved. 2 And the LORD
answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon
tables, that he may run that readeth it. 3 For the vision is
yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie:
though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not
tarry. 4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not
upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.
Here, I. The prophet humbly gives his attendance upon God (v. 1):
"I will stand upon my watch, as a sentinel on the walls of a
besieged city, or on the borders of an invaded country, that is very
solicitous to gain intelligence. I will look up, will look round, will look
within, and watch to see what he will say unto me, will listen
attentively to the words of his mouth and carefully observe the steps of his
providence, that I may not lose the least hint of instruction or direction. I
will watch to see what he will say in me" (so it may be read),
"what the Spirit of prophecy in me will dictate to me, by way of answer
to my complaints." Even in a ordinary way, God not only speaks to us by
his word, but speaks in us by our own consciences, whispering to us, This
is the way, walk in it; and we must attend to the voice of God in both.
The prophet's standing upon his tower, or high place, intimates his
prudence, in making use of the helps and means he had within his reach to
know the mind of God, and to be instructed concerning it. Those that expect
to hear from God must withdraw from the world, and get above it, must raise
their attention, fix their thought, study the scriptures, consult
experiences and the experienced, continue instant in prayer, and thus set
themselves upon the tower. His standing upon his watch intimates his
patience, his constancy and resolution; he will wait the time, and weather
the point, as a watchman does, but he will have an answer; he will know what
God will say to him, not only for his own satisfaction, but to enable
him as a prophet to give satisfaction to others, and answer their
exceptions, when he is reproved or argued with. Herein the prophet is an
example to us. 1. When we are tossed and perplexed with doubts concerning
the methods of Providence, are tempted to think that it is fate, or fortune,
and not a wise God, that governs the world, or that the church is abandoned,
and God's covenant with his people cancelled and laid aside, then we must
take pains to furnish ourselves with considerations proper to clear this
matter; we must stand upon our watch against the temptation, that it may not
get ground upon us, must set ourselves upon the tower, to see if we can
discover that which will silence the temptation and solve the objected
difficulties, must do as the psalmist, consider the days of old and
make a diligent search (Ps. lxxvii. 6), must go into the sanctuary of
God, and there labour to understand the end of these things (Ps. lxxiii.
17); we must not give way to our doubts, but struggle to make the best of
our way out of them. 2. When we have been at prayer, pouring out our
complaints and requests before God, we must carefully observe what answers
God gives by his word, his Spirit, and his providences, to our humble
representations; when David says, I will direct my prayer unto thee,
as an arrow to the mark, he adds, I will look up, will look after my
prayer, as a man does after the arrow he has shot, Ps. v. 3. We must hear
what God the Lord will speak, Ps. lxxxv. 8. 3. When we go to read and
hear the word of God, and so to consult the lively oracles, we must set
ourselves to observe what God will thereby say unto us, to suit our
case, what word of conviction, caution, counsel, and comfort, he will bring
to our souls, that we may receive it, and submit to the power of it, and may
consider what we shall answer, what returns we shall make to the word of
God, when we are reproved by it. 4. When we are attacked by such as quarrel
with God and his providence as the prophet here seems to have been--beset,
besieged, as in a tower, by hosts of objectors--we should consider how to
answer them, fetch our instructions from God, hear what he says to us for
our satisfaction, and have that ready to say to others, when we are
reproved, to satisfy them, as a reason of the hope that is in us
(1 Pet. iii. 15), and beg of God a mouth and wisdom, and that it may
be given us in that same hour what we shall speak.
II. God graciously gives him the meeting; for he will not disappoint the
believing expectations of his people that wait to hear what he will say unto
them, but will speak peace, will answer them with good words and
comfortable words, Zech. i. 13. The prophet had complained of the
prevalence of the Chaldeans, which God had given him a prospect of; now, to
pacify him concerning it, he here gives him a further prospect of their fall
and ruin, as Isaiah, before this, when he had foretold the captivity in
Babylon, foretold also the destruction of Babylon. Now, this great and
important event being made known to him by a vision, care is taken to
publish the vision, and transmit it to the generations to come, who should
see the accomplishment of it.
1. The prophet must write the vision, v. 2. Thus, when St.
John had a vision of the New Jerusalem, he was ordered to write, Rev.
xxi. 5. He must write it, that he might imprint it on his own mind, and make
it more clear to himself, but especially that it might be notified to those
in distant places and transmitted to those in future ages. What is handed
down by tradition is easily mistaken and liable to corruption; but what is
written is reduced to a certainty, and preserved safe and pure. We have
reason to bless God for written visions, that God has written to us the
great things of his prophets as well as of his law. He must write the
vision, and make it plain upon tables, must write it legibly, in
large characters, so that he who runs may read it, that those who
will not allow themselves leisure to read it deliberately may not avoid a cursory
view of it. Probably, the prophets were wont to write some of the most
remarkable of their predictions in tables, and to hang them up in the
temple, Isa. viii. 1. Now the prophet is told to write this very plain.
Note, Those who are employed in preaching the word of God should study
plainness as much as may be, so as to make themselves intelligible to the
meanest capacities. The things of our everlasting peace, which God has
written to us, are made plain, they are all plain to him that understands
(Prov. viii. 9), and they are published with authority; God himself has
prefixed his imprimatur to them; he has said, Make them plain.
2. The people must wait for the accomplishment of the vision (v.
3): "The vision is yet for an appointed time to come. You shall
now be told of your deliverance by the breaking of the Chaldeans' power, and
that the time of it is fixed in the counsel and decree of God. There is
an appointed time, but it is not near; it is yet to be deferred a great
while;" and that comes in here as a reason why it must be written, that
it may be reviewed afterwards and the event compared with it. Note, God has
an appointed time for his appointed work, and will be sure to do the work
when the time comes; it is not for us to anticipate his appointments, but to
wait his time. And it is a great encouragement to wait with patience, that,
though the promised favour be deferred long, it will come at last, and be an
abundant recompence to us for our waiting: At the end it shall speak and
not lie. We shall not be disappointed of it, for it will come at the
time appointed; nor shall we be disappointed in it, for it will fully answer
our believing expectations. The promise may seem silent a great while, but
at the end it shall speak; and therefore, though it tarry longer than
we expected, yet we must continue waiting for it, being assured it
will come, and willing to tarry until it does come. The day that God has set
for the deliverance of his people, and the destruction of his and their
enemies, is a day, (1.) That will surely come at last; it is never adjourned
sine die--without fixing another day, but it will without fail come
at the fixed time and the fittest time. (2.) It will not tarry, for
God is not slack, as some count slackness (2 Pet. iii. 9); though
it tarry past our time, yet it does not tarry past God's time,
which is always the best time.
3. This vision, the accomplishment of which is so long waited for, will be
such an exercise of faith and patience as will try and discover men what
they are, v. 4. (1.) There are some who will proudly disdain this
vision, whose hearts are so lifted up that they scorn to take notice of it;
if God will work for them immediately, they will thank him, but they will
not give him credit; their hearts are lifted up towards vanity, and, since
God puts them off, they will shift for themselves and not be beholden to
him; they think their own hands sufficient for them, and God's
promise is to them an insignificant thing. That man's soul that is thus lifted
up is not upright in him; it is not right with God, is not as it should
be. Those that either distrust or despise God's all-sufficiency will not
walk uprightly with him, Gen. xvii. 1. But, (2.) Those who are truly good,
and whose hearts are upright with God, will value the promise, and venture
their all upon it; and, in confidence of the truth of it, will keep close to
God and duty in the most difficult trying times, and will then live
comfortably in communion with God, dependence on him, and expectation of
him. The just shall live by faith; during the captivity good people
shall support themselves, and live comfortably, by faith in these precious
promises, while the performance of them is deferred. The just shall live
by his faith, by that faith which he acts upon the word of God. This is
quoted in the New Testament (Rom. i. 17; Gal. iii. 11; Heb. x. 38), for the
proof of the great doctrine of justification by faith only and of the
influence which the grace of faith has upon the Christian life. Those that
are made just by faith shall live, shall be happy here and for ever;
while they are here, they live by it; when they come to heaven faith shall
be swallowed up in vision.
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Judgment
Predicted; Judgment of the King of Babylon.
B. C. 600.
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5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine,
he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire
as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto
him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people: 6 Shall not
all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him,
and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long?
and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! 7 Shall they not
rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and
thou shalt be for booties unto them? 8 Because thou hast spoiled
many nations, all the remnant of the people shall spoil thee; because of
men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of
all that dwell therein. 9 Woe to him that coveteth an evil
covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be
delivered from the power of evil! 10 Thou hast consulted shame
to thy house by cutting off many people, and hast sinned against thy
soul. 11 For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam
out of the timber shall answer it. 12 Woe to him that buildeth a
town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity! 13 Behold, is
it not of the LORD
of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall
weary themselves for very vanity? 14 For the earth shall be
filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD,
as the waters cover the sea.
The prophet having had orders to write the vision, and the people to
wait for the accomplishment of it, the vision itself follows; and it is, as
divers other prophecies we have met with, the burden of Babylon and
Babylon's king, the same that was said to pass over and offend,
ch. i. 11. It reads the doom, some think, of Nebuchadnezzar, who was
principally active in the destruction of Jerusalem, or of that monarchy, or
of the whole kingdom of the Chaldeans, or of all such proud and oppressive
powers as bear hard upon any people, especially upon God's people. Observe,
I. The charge laid down against this enemy, upon which the sentence is
grounded, v. 5. The lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye,
and the pride of life, are the entangling snares of men, and great
men especially; and we find him that led Israel captive himself led captive
by each of these. For, 1. He is sensual and voluptuous, and given to his
pleasures: He transgresses by wine. Drunkenness is itself a
transgression, and is the cause of abundance of transgression. We read of
those that err through wine, Isa. xxviii. 7. Belshazzar (in whom
particularly this prophecy had its accomplishment) was in the height of his
transgression by wine when the hand-writing upon the wall signed the warrant
for his immediate execution, pursuant to this sentence, Dan. v. 1. 2. He is
haughty and imperious: He is a proud man, and his pride is a certain
presage of his fall coming on. If great men be proud men, the great God will
make them know he is above them. His transgressing by wine is made the cause
of his arrogance and insolence: therefore he is a proud man. When a
man is drunk, though he makes himself as mean as a beast, yet he thinks
himself as great as a king, and prides himself in that by which he shames
himself. We find the crown of pride upon the head of the drunkards
of Ephraim, and a woe to both, Isa. xxviii. 1. 3. He is covetous
and greedy of wealth, and this is the effect of his pride; he thinks himself
worthy to enjoy all, and therefore makes it his business to engross all. The
Chaldean monarchy aimed to be a universal one. He keeps not at home,
is not content with his own, which he has an incontestable title to, but
thinks it too little, and so enjoys it not, nor takes the comfort he might
in his own palace, in his own dominion. His sin is his punishment, his
ambition is his perpetual uneasiness. Though the home be a palace, yet to a
discontented mind it is a prison. He enlarges his desire as hell, or the
grave, which daily receives the body of the dead, and yet still cries, Give,
give; he is as death, which continues to devour, and cannot be
satisfied. Note, It is the sin and folly of many who have a great deal
of the wealth of this world that they do not know when they have enough, but
the more they have the more they would have, and the more eager they are for
it. And it is just with God that the desires which are insatiable should
still be unsatisfied; it is the doom passed on those that love silver
that they shall never be satisfied with it, Eccl. v. 10. Those that
will not be content with their allotments shall not have the comfort of
their achievements. This proud prince is still gathering to him all
nations, and heaping to him all people, invading their rights, seizing
their properties, and they must not be unless they will be his, and under
his command. One nation will not satisfy him unless he has another, and then
another, and all at last; as those in a lower sphere, to gratify the same
inordinate desire, lay house to house, and field to field, that they may
be placed alone in the earth, Isa. v. 8. And it is hard to say which is
more to be pitied, the folly of such ambitious princes as place their honour
in enlarging their dominions, and not in ruling them well, or the misery of
those nations that are harassed and pulled to pieces by them.
II. The sentence passed upon him (v. 6): Shall not all these take
up a parable against him? His doom is,
1. That, since pride has been his sin, disgrace and dishonour shall be his
punishment, and he shall be loaded with contempt, shall be laughed at and
despised by all about him, as those that look big, and aim high, deserve to
be, and commonly are, when they are brought down and baffled.
2. That, since he has been abusive to his neighbours, those very persons
whom he has abused shall be the instruments of his disgrace: All those
shall take up a taunting proverb against him. They shall have the
pleasure of insulting over him and he the shame of being trampled upon by
them. Those that shall triumph in the fall of this great tyrant are here
furnished with a parable, and a taunting proverb, to take up
against him. He shall say (he that draws up the insulting ditty shall
say thus), Ho, he that increases that which is not his! Aha! what has
become of him now? So it may be read in a taunting way. Or, He shall say,
that is, the just, who lives by his faith, he to whom the
vision is written and made plain, with the help of that shall say this,
shall foretel the enemy's fall, even when he sees him flourishing, and suddenly
curse his habitation, even when he is taking root, Job v. 3. He
shall indeed denounce woes against him.
(1.) Here is a woe against him for increasing his own possessions by
invading his neighbour's rights, v. 6-8. He increases that which
is not his, but other people's. Note, No more of what we have is to be
reckoned ours than what we came honestly by; nor will it long be ours, for wealth
gotten by vanity will be diminished. Let not those that thrive in the
world be too forward to bless themselves in it, for, if they do not thrive
lawfully, they are under a woe. See here, [1.] What this prosperous prince
is doing; he is lading himself with thick clay. Riches are but clay,
thick clay; what are gold and silver but white and yellow earth? Those that
travel through thick clay are both retarded and dirtied in their journey; so
are those that go through the world in the midst of an abundance of the
wealth of it; but, as if that were not enough, what fools are those that load
themselves with it, as if this trash would be their treasure! They
burden themselves with continual care about it, with a great deal of guilt
in getting, saving, and spending it, and with a heavy account which they
must give of it another day. They overload their ship with this thick clay,
and so sink it and themselves into destruction and perdition. [2.]
See what people say of him, while he is thus increasing his wealth; they
cry, "How long? How long will it be ere he has enough?"
They cry to God, "How long wilt thou suffer this proud oppressor to
trouble the nations?" Or they say to one another, "See how long it
will last, how long he will be able to keep what he gets thus
dishonestly." They dare not speak out, but we know what they mean when
they say, How long? [3.] See what will be in the end hereof. What he
has got by violence from others, others shall take by violence from him. The
Medes and Persians shall make a prey of the Chaldeans, as they have done of
other nations, v. 7, 8. "There shall be those that will bite
thee and vex thee; those from whom thou didst not fear any
danger, that seemed asleep, shall rise up and awake to
be a plague to thee. They shall rise up suddenly when thou are most
secure, and least prepared to receive the shock and ward off the blow. Shall
they not rise up suddenly? No doubt they shall, and thou thyself hast
reason to expect it, to be dealt with as thou hast dealt with others, that thou
shalt be for booties unto them, as others have been unto thee, that,
according to the law of retaliation, as thou hast spoiled many nations
so thou shalt thyself be spoiled (v. 8); all the remnant of
the people shall spoil thee." The king of Babylon thought he had
brought all the nations round about him so low that none of them would be
able to make reprisals upon him; but though they were but a remnant of
people, a very few left, yet these shall be sufficient to spoil him, when
God has such a controversy with him, First, For men's blood,
and the thousands of lives that have been sacrificed to his ambition and
revenge, especially for the blood of Israelites, which is in a special
manner precious to God. Secondly, For the violence of the land, his
laying waste so many countries, and destroying the fruits of the earth,
especially in the land of Israel. Thirdly, For the violence of the
city, the many cities that he had turned into ruinous heaps, especially
Jerusalem the holy city, and of all that dwelt therein, who were
ruined by him. Note, The violence done by proud men to advance and enrich
themselves will be called over again (and must be accounted for) another
day, by him to whom vengeance belongs.
(2.) Here is a woe against him for coveting still more, and aiming to be
still higher, v. 9-11. The crime for which this woe is denounced is
much the same with that in the foregoing article--an insatiable desire of
wealth and honour; it is coveting an evil covetousness to his house,
that is, grasping at an abundance for his family. Note, Covetousness is a
very evil thing in a family; it brings disquiet and uneasiness into it (he
that is greedy of gain troubles his own house), and, which is worse, it
brings the curse of God upon it and upon all the affairs of it. Woe to
him that gains an evil gain; so the margin reads it. There is a lawful
gain, which by the blessing of God may be a comfort to a house (a good
man leaves an inheritance to his children's children), but what is got
by fraud and injustice is ill-got, and will be poor gain, will not only do
no good to a family, but will bring poverty and ruin upon it. Now observe,
[1.] What this covetous wretch aims at; it is to set his nest on high,
to raise his family to some greater dignity than it had before arrived at,
or to set it, as he apprehends, out of the reach of danger, that he may be delivered
from the power of evil, that it may not be in the power of the worst of
his enemies to do him a mischief nor so much as to disturb his repose. Note,
It is common for men to pretend it as an excuse for their covetousness and
ambition that they only consult their own safety, and aim to secure
themselves; and yet they do but deceive themselves when they think their
wealth will be a strong city to them, and a high wall, for
it is so only in their own conceit, Prov. xviii. 11. [2.] What he
will get by it: Thou hast consulted, not safety, but shame, to thy
house, by cutting off many people, v. 10. Note, An estate raised
by iniquity is a scandal to a family. Those that cut off, or undermine,
others, to make room for themselves, that impoverish others to enrich
themselves, do but consult shame to their houses, and fasten upon them a
mark of infamy. Yet that is not the worst of it: "Thou hast sinned
against thy own soul, hast brought that under guilt and wrath, and
endangered that." Note, Those that do wrong to their neighbour do a
much greater wrong to their own souls. But if the sinner pleads, Not guilty,
and thinks he has managed his frauds and violence with so much art and
contrivance that they cannot be proved upon him, let him know that if there
be no other witnesses against him the stone shall cry out of the wall
against him, and the beam out of the timber in the roof shall
answer it, shall second it, shall witness it, that the money and
materials wherewith he built the house were unjustly gotten, v. 11.
The stones and timber cry to heaven for vengeance, as the whole creation
groans under the sin of man and waits to be delivered from that bondage
of corruption.
(3.) Here is a woe against him for building a town and a city by blood and
extortion (v. 12): He builds a town, and is him-self lord of
it; he establishes a city, and makes it his royal seat. So
Nebuchadnezzar did (Dan. iv. 30): Is not this great Babylon that I have
built for the house of the kingdom? But it is built with the blood of
his own subjects, whom he has oppressed, and the blood of his neighbours,
whom he has unjustly invaded; it is established by iniquity, by the
unrighteous laws that are made for the security of it. Woe to him
that does so; for the towns and cities thus built can never be established;
they will fall, and their founders be buried in the ruins of them. Babylon,
which was built by blood and iniquity, did not continue long; its day soon
came to fall; and then this woe took effect, when that prophecy, which is
expressed as a history (Isa. xxi. 9), proved a history indeed: Babylon
has fallen, has fallen! And the destruction of that city was, [1.] The
shame of the Chaldeans, who had taken so much pains, and were at such a vast
expense, to fortify it (v. 13): Is it not of the Lord of hosts
that the people who have laboured so hard to defend that city shall labour
in the very fire, shall see the out-works which they confided in the
strength of set on fire, and shall labour in vain to save them? Or they, in
their pursuits of worldly wealth and honour, put themselves to great
fatigue, and ran a great hazard, as those that labour in the fire do.
The worst that can be said of the labourers in God's vineyards is that they
have borne the burden and heat of the day (Matt. xx. 12); but those that
are eager in their worldly pursuits labour in the very fire, make
themselves perfect slaves to their lusts. There is not a greater drudge in
the world than he that is under the power of reigning covetousness. And what
comes of it? Though they take a world of pains they are but poorly paid for
it; for, after all, they weary themselves for very vanity; they were
told it was vanity, and when they find themselves disappointed of it, and
disappointed in it, they will own it is worse than vanity, it is vexation
of spirit. [2.] It was the honour of God, as a God of impartial justice
and irresistible power; for by the ruin of the Chaldean monarchy (which all
the world could not but take notice of) the earth was filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, v. 14. The Lord is known
by these judgments which he executes, especially when he is
pleased to look upon proud men and abase them, for he thereby proves
himself to be God alone, Job xl. 11, 12. See what good God brings out
of the staining and sinking of earthly glory; he thereby manifests and
magnifies his own glory, and fills the earth with the knowledge of it
as plentifully as the waters cover the sea, which lie deep, spread
far, and shall not be dried up until time shall be no more. Such is the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ given by the gospel (2
Cor. iv. 6), and such was the knowledge of his glory by the miraculous ruin
of Babylon. Note, Such as will not be taught the knowledge of God's glory by
the judgments of his mouth shall be made to know and acknowledge it by the
judgments of his hand.
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Judgment
Predicted.
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B.
C. 600.
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15 Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour
drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken
also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness! 16 Thou art
filled with shame for glory: drink thou also, and let thy foreskin be
uncovered: the cup of the LORD's
right hand shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be
on thy glory. 17 For the violence of Lebanon shall cover thee,
and the spoil of beasts, which made them afraid, because of men's
blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell
therein. 18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker
thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the
maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? 19 Woe
unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall
teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is
no breath at all in the midst of it. 20 But the LORD
is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
The three foregoing articles, upon which the woes here are grounded, are
very near akin to each other. The criminals charged by them are oppressors
and extortioners, that raise estates by rapine and injustice; and it is
mentioned here again (v. 17), the very same that was said v.
8, for that is the crime upon which the greatest stress is laid; it is because
of men's blood, innocent blood, barbarously and unjustly shed, which is
a provoking crying thing; it is for the violence of the land, of the
city, and of all that dwell therein, which God will certainly reckon
for, sooner or later, as the asserter of right and the avenger of wrong.
But here are two articles more, of a different nature, which carry a woe
to all those in general to whom they belong, and particularly to the
Babylonian monarchs, by whom the people of God were taken and held captives.
I. The promoters of drunkenness stand here impeached and condemned.
Belshazzar was one of those; he was so, remarkably that very night that the
prophecy of this chapter was fulfilled in the period of his life and
kingdom, when he drank wine before a thousand of his lords (Dan. v.
1), began the healths, and forced them to pledge him. And perhaps it was one
reason why the succeeding monarchs of Persia made it a law of their kingdom
that in drinking none should compel, but they should do according
to every man's pleasure (as we find, Esth. i. 8), because they had seen
in the kings of Babylon the mischievous consequences of forcing healths and
making people drunk. But the woe here stands firm and very fearful against
all those, whoever they are, who are guilty of this sin at any time, and in
any place, from the stately palace (where that was) to the paltry ale-house.
Observe,
1. Who the sinner is that is here articled against; it is he that makes
his neighbour drunk, v. 15. To give a neighbour drink who is in
want, who is thirsty and poor, though it be but a cup of cold water to a
disciple, in the name of a disciple, to give drink to weary traveller, nay,
and to give strong drink to him that is ready to perish, and wine to those
that are heavy of heart, is a piece of charity which is required of us, and
shall be recompensed to us. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. But
to give a neighbour drink who has enough already, and more than enough, with
design to intoxicate him, that he may expose himself, may talk foolishly,
and make himself ridiculous, may disclose his own secret concerns, or be
drawn in to agree to a bad bargain for himself--this is abominable
wickedness; and those who are guilty of it, who make a practice of it, and
take a pride and pleasure in it, are rebels against God in heaven, and his
sacred laws, factors for the devil in hell, and his cursed interests, and
enemies to men on earth, and their honour and welfare; they are like the son
of Nebat, who sinned and made Israel to sin. To entice others to
drunkenness, to put the bottle to them, that they may be allured to
it by its charms, by looking on the wine when it is red and gives its
colour in the cup, or to force them to it, obliging them by the rules of
the club (and club-laws indeed they are) to drink so many glasses, and so
filled, is to do what we can, and perhaps more than we know of, towards the
murder both of soul and body; and those that do so have a great deal to
answer for.
2. What the sentence is that is here passed upon him. There is a woe to him
(v. 15), and a punishment (v. 16) that shall answer to the
sin. (1.) Does he put the cup of drunkenness into the hand of his neighbour?
The cup of fury, the cup of trembling, the cup of the Lord's right hand,
shall be turned unto him; the power of God shall be armed against
him. That cup which had gone round among the nations, to make them a
desolation, an astonishment, and a hissing, which had made them stumble
and fall, so that they could rise no more, shall at length be
put into the hand of the king of Babylon, as was foretold, Jer. xxv. 15, 16,
18, 26, 27. Thus the New-Testament Babylon, which had made the nations drunk
with the cup of her fornications, shall have blood given her to drink,
for she is worthy, Rev. xviii. 3, 6. (2.) Does he take a pleasure in
putting his neighbour to shame? He shall himself be loaded with contempt:
"Thou art filled with shame for glory, with shame instead of glory,
or art filled now with shame more than ever thou wast with glory; and the
glory thou hast been filled with shall but serve to make thy shame the more
grievous to thyself, and the more ignominious in the eyes of others. Thou also
shalt drink of the cup of trembling, and shalt expose thyself by thy
fear and cowardice, which shall be as the uncovering of thy nakedness,
to thy shame; and all about thee shall load thee with disgrace, for shameful
spewing shall be on thy glory, on that which thou hast most prided
thyself in, thy dignity, wealth, and dominion; those whom thou hast made
drunk shall themselves spew upon it. For the violence of Lebanon shall
cover thee, and the spoil of beasts (v. 17); thou shalt be hunted
and run down with as much violence as ever any wild beasts in Lebanon were,
shall be spoiled as they are, and thy fall made a sport of; for thou art as
one of the beasts that made them afraid, and therefore they triumph when
they have got the mastery of thee." Or, "It is because of the
violence thou hast done to Lebanon, that is, the land of Israel (Deut. iii.
25) and the temple (Zech. xi. 1), that God now reckons with thee; that is
the sin that now covers thee."
II. The promoters of idolatry stand here impeached and condemned; and this
also was a sin that Babylon was notoriously guilty of; it was the mother
of harlots. Belshazzar, in his revels, praised his idols. And for
this, here is a woe against them, and in them against all others that do
likewise, particularly the New-Testament Babylon. Now see here,
1. What they do to promote idolatry; they are mad upon their idols;
so the Chaldeans are said to be, Jer. l. 38. For, (1.) They have a great
variety of idols, their graven images and molten images, that
people may take their choice, which they like best. (2.) They are very nice
and curious in the framing of them: The maker of the work has
performed his part admirably well, the fashioner of his fashion (so
it is in the margin), that contrived the model in the most significant
manner. (3.) They are at great expense in beautifying and adorning them: They
lay them over with gold and silver; because these are things people love
and dote upon wherever they meet with them, they dress up their idols in
them, the more effectually to court the adoration of the children of this
world. (4.) They have great expectations from them: The maker of the work
trusts therein as his god, puts a confidence in it, and gives honour to
it as his god. The worshippers of God give honour to him, by offering up
their prayers to him, and waiting to receive instructions and directions
from him; and these honours they give to their idols. [1.] They pray to
them: They say to the wood, Awake for our relief, "awake to hear
our prayers;" and to the dumb stone, "Arise, and save
us," as the church prays to her God, Awake, O Lord! arise, Ps.
xliv. 23. They own their image to be a god by praying to it. Deliver me,
for thou art my God, Isa. xliv. 17. Deos qui rogat ille facit--That
to which a man addresses petitions is to him a god. [2.] They consult
them as oracles, and expect to be directed and dictated to by them: They
say to the dumb stone, though it cannot speak, yet it shall teach.
What the wicked demon, or no less wicked priest, speaks to them from the
image, they receive with the utmost veneration, as of divine authority, and
are ready to be governed by it. Thus is idolatry planted and propagated
under the specious show of religion and devotion.
2. How the extreme folly of this is exposed. God, by Isaiah, when he
foretold the deliverance of his people out of Babylon, largely showed the
shameful stupidity and sottishness of idolaters, and so he does here by the
prophet, on the like occasion. (1.) Their images, when they have made them,
are but mere matter, which is the meanest lowest rank of being; and all the
expense they are at upon them cannot advance them one step above that. They
are wholly void both of sense and reason, lifeless and speechless (the idol
is a dumb idol, a dumb stone, and there is no breath at all
in the midst of it), so that the most minute animal, that has but breath
and motion, is more excellent then they. They have not so much as the spirit
of a beast. (2.) It is not in their power to do their worshippers any good (v.
18): What profits the graven image? Though it be mere matter, if it
were cast into some other form it might be serviceable to some purpose or
other of human life; but, as it is made a god of, it is of no profit at all,
nor can do its worshippers the least kindness. Nay, (3.) It is so far from
profiting them that it puts a cheat upon them, and keeps them under the
power of a strong delusion; they say, It shall teach, but it is a teacher
of lies; for it represents God as having a body, as being finite,
visible, and dependent, whereas he is a Spirit, infinite, invisible, and
independent, and it confirms those that become vain in their imaginations in
the false notions they have of God, and makes the idea of God to be a
precarious thing, and what every man pleases. If we may say to the works
of our hands, You are our gods, we may say so to any of the creatures of
our own fancy, though the chimera be ever so extravagant. An image is a doctrine
of vanities; it is falsehood, and a work of errors, Jer.
x. 8, 14, 15. It is therefore easy to see what the religion of those is, and
what they aim at, who recommend those teachers of lies as laymen's books,
which they are to study and govern themselves by, when they have locked up
from them the book of the scriptures in an unknown tongue.
3. How the people of God triumph in him, and therewith support themselves,
when the idolaters thus shame themselves (v. 20): But the Lord is
in his holy temple. (1.) Our rock is not as their rock, Deut.
xxxii. 31. Theirs are dumb idols; ours is Jehovah, a living God, who is what
he is, and not, as theirs, what men please to make him. He is in his holy
temple in heaven, the residence of his glory, where we have access to him in
the way, not which we have invented, but which he himself has instituted.
Compare Ps. cxv. 3, But our God is in the heavens, and Ps. xi. 4.
(2.) The multitude of their gods which they set up, and take so much pains
to support, cannot thrust out our God; he is, and will be, in his holy
temple still, and glorious in holiness. They have laid waste his temple at
Jerusalem; but he has a temple above that is out of the reach of their rage
and malice, but within the reach of his people's faith and prayers. (3.) Our
God will make all the world silent before him, will strike the idolaters as
dumb as their idols, convincing them of their folly, and covering them with
shame. He will silence the fury of the oppressors, and check their rage
against his people. (4.) It is the duty of his people to attend him with
silent adorings (Ps. lxv. 1), and patiently to wait for his appearing to
save them in his own way and time. Be still, and know that he is God,
Zech. ii. 13.
