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