At
this chapter begins another sermon, which is continued to the end of ch.
xi. It is called, "The burden of the word of the Lord," for every
word of God has weight in it to those who regard it, and will be a heavy
weight upon those who do not, a dead weight. Here is, I. A prophecy against
the Jews' unrighteous neighbours--the Syrians, Tyrians, Philistines, and
others (ver. 1-6), with an intimation of mercy to some of them, in their
conversion (ver. 7), and a promise of mercy to God's people, in their
protection, ver. 8. II. A prophecy of their righteous King, the Messiah, and
his coming, with a description of him (ver. 9) and of his kingdom, the
nature and extent of it, ver. 10. III. An account of the obligation the Jews
lay under to Christ for their deliverance out of their captivity in Babylon,
ver. 11, 12. IV. A prophecy of the victories and successes God would grant
to the Jews over their enemies, as typical of our great deliverance by
Christ, ver. 13-15. V. A promise of great plenty, and joy, and honour, which
God had in reserve for his people (ver. 16, 17), which was written for their
encouragement.
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Prophecy
against Syria; Prophecy against the Enemies of Israel;
Judgments and Mercies.
B. C. 510.
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1 The burden of the word of the LORD
in the land of Hadrach, and Damascus shall be the rest thereof: when
the eyes of man, as of all the tribes of Israel, shall be toward the
LORD.
2 And Hamath also shall border thereby; Tyrus, and Zidon, though it be very
wise. 3 And Tyrus did build herself a strong hold, and heaped up
silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets. 4
Behold, the Lord will cast her out, and he will smite her power in the sea;
and she shall be devoured with fire. 5 Ashkelon shall see it,
and fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron;
for her expectation shall be ashamed; and the king shall perish from Gaza,
and Ashkelon shall not be inhabited. 6 And a bastard shall dwell
in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. 7
And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from
between his teeth: but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our
God, and he shall be as a governor in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite.
8 And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him
that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall
pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.
After the precious promises we had in the foregoing chapter of favour to
God's people, their persecutors, who hated them, come to be reckoned with,
those particularly that bordered close upon them.
I. The Syrians had been bad neighbours to Israel, and God had a controversy
with them. The word of the Lord shall be a burden in the land of Hadrach,
that is, of Syria, but it does not appear why it was so called. That
that kingdom is meant is plain, because Damascus, the metropolis of that
kingdom, is said to be the rest of this burden; that is, the
judgments here threatened shall light and lie upon that city. Those are
miserable upon whom the burden of the word of the Lord rests, upon whom the
wrath of God abides (John iii. 36); for it is a weight that they can
neither shake off nor bear up under. There are those whom God causes his
fury to rest upon. Those whom the wrath of God makes its mark it will be
sure to hit; those whom it makes its rest it will be sure to sink. And the
reason of this burden's resting on Damascus is because the eyes of man,
as of all the tribes of Israel (or rather, even of all the tribes of
Israel), are towards the Lord, because the people of God by faith
and prayer look up to him for succour and relief and depend upon him to take
their part against their enemies. Note, It is a sign that God is about to
appear remarkably for his people when he raises their believing expectations
from him and dependence upon him, and when by his grace he turns them from
idols to himself. Isa. xvii. 7, 8, At that day shall a man look to his
Maker. It may be read thus, for the Lord has an eye upon man, and
upon all the tribes of Israel; he is King of nations as well as King of
saints; he governs the world as well as the church, and therefore will
punish the sins of other people as well as those of his own people. God is Judge
of all, and therefore all must give account of themselves to him. When
St. Paul was converted at Damascus, and preached there, and disputed with
the Jews, then the word of the Lord might be said to rest there, and then the
eyes of men, of other men besides the tribes of Israel, began to
be towards the Lord; see Acts ix. 22. Hamath, a country which lay
north of Damascus, and which we often read of, shall border thereby (v.
2); it joins to Syria, and shall share in the burden of the word of the
Lord that rests upon Damascus. The Jews have a proverb, Woe to the
wicked man, and woe to his neighbour, who is in danger of partaking in
his sins and in his plagues. Woe to the land of Hadrach, and woe to Hamath
that borders thereby.
II. Tyre and Zidon come next to be called to an account here, as in other
prophecies, v. 2-4. Observe here,
1. Tyrus flourishing, thinking herself very safe, and ready to set God's
judgments, not only at a distance, but at defiance: for, (1.) She is very
wise. It is spoken ironically; she thinks herself very wise, and able to
outwit even the wisdom of God. It is granted that her king is a great
politician, and that her statesmen are so, Ezek. xxviii. 3. But with all
their wit and policy they shall not be able to evade the judgments of God
when they come with commission; there is no wisdom nor counsel
against the Lord; nay, it is his honour to take the wise in their own
craftiness. (2.) She is very strong, and well fortified both by nature and
art: Tyrus did build herself a strong-hold, which she thought could
never be brought down nor got over. (3.) She is very rich; and money is a
defence; it is the sinews of war, Eccl. vii. 12. By her vast trade she
has heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the
streets, that is, she has an abundance of them, heaps of silver as
common as heaps of sand, Job xxvii. 16. Solomon made silver to be in
Jerusalem as the stones of the streets; but Tyre went further, and
made fine gold to be as the mire of the streets. It were well
if we could all learn so to look upon it, in comparison with the merchandise
of wisdom and grace and the gains thereof.
2. Tyrus falling, after all. Her wisdom, and wealth, and strength, shall not
be able to secure her (v. 4): The Lord will cast her out of
that strong-hold wherein she has fortified herself, will make her poor
(so some read it); there have been instances of those that have fallen from
the height of plenty to the depth of poverty, and great riches have come to
nothing. God will smite her power in the sea; her being surrounded by
the water shall not secure her, but she shall be devoured with fire,
and burnt down to the ground. Tyrus, being seated in the midst of the water,
was, one would have thought, in danger of being some time or other
overflowed or washed away by that; yet God chooses to destroy it by the
contrary element. Sometimes he brings ruin upon his enemies by those means
which they least suspect. Water enough was nigh at hand to quench the flames
of Tyre, and yet by them she shall be devoured; for who can put out the fire
which the breath of the Almighty blows up?
III. God next contends with the Philistines, with their great cities and
great lords, that bordered southward upon Israel.
1. They shall be alarmed and affrighted by the word of the Lord lighting and
resting upon Damascus (v. 5); the disgraces of Israel had many a time
been published in the streets of Ashkelon, and they had triumphed in
them; but now Ashkelon shall see the ruin of her friends and allies,
and shall fear; Gaza also shall see it, and be very sorrowful, and Ekron,
concluding that their own turns come next, now that the cup of trembling
goes round. What will become of their house when their neighbour's is on
fire? They had looked upon Tyre and Zidon as a barrier to their country;
but, when those strong cities were ruined, their expectations from
them were ashamed, as our expectation from all creatures will be in
the issue.
2. They shall themselves be ruined and wasted. (1.) The government shall be
dissolved: The king shall perish from Gaza, not only the present king
shall be cut off, but there shall be no succession, no successor, (2.) The
cities shall be dispeopled: Ashkelon shall not be inhabited; the
rightful owners shall be expelled, either slain or carried into captivity.
(3.) Foreigners shall take possession of their land and become masters of
all its wealth (v. 6): A bastard shall dwell in Ashdod; a
spurious brood of strangers shall enter upon the inheritances of the
natives, which they have no more right to than a bastard has to the estates
of the legitimate children. And thus God will cut off the pride of the
Philistines, all the strength and wealth which they prided themselves
in, and which were the ground of their confidence in themselves and their
contempt of the Israel of God. This prophecy of the destruction of the
Philistines, and of Damascus, and Tyre, was accomplished, not long after
this, by Alexander the Great, who ravaged all these countries with his
victorious army, took the cities, and planted colonies in them, which
Quintus Curtius gives a particular account of in the history of his
conquests. And some think he is meant by the bastard that shall dwell in
Ashdod, for his mother Olympia owned him begotten in adultery, but pretended
it was by Jupiter. The Jews afterwards got ground of the Philistines,
Syrians, and others of their neighbours, took some of their cities from them
and possessed their countries, as appears by the histories of Josephus and
the Maccabees, and this was foretold before, Zeph. ii. 4, &c.; Obad. 20.
3. Some among them shall be converted, and brought home to God, by his
gospel and grace; so some understand v. 7, as a promise, (1.) That
God would take away the sins of these nations--their blood and their
abominations, their cruelties and their idolatries. God will part
between them and these sins which they have rolled under their tongue as a
sweet morsel, and are as loth to part with as men are to part with the meat
out of their mouths, and which they hold fast between their teeth. Nothing
is too hard for the grace of God to do. (2.) That he would accept of a
remnant of them for his own: He that remains shall be for our God.
God would preserve a remnant even of these nations, that should be the
monuments of his mercy and grace and be set apart for him; and the
disadvantages of their birth shall be no bar to their acceptance with God,
but a Philistine shall be as acceptable to God, upon gospel-terms, as one of
Judah, nay, as a governor, or chief one, in Judah, and a man of Ekron shall
be as a Jebusite, or a man of Jerusalem, as a proselyted Jebusite, as
Araunah the Jebusite, 2 Sam. xxiv. 16. In Christ Jesus there is no
distinction of nations, but all are one in him, all alike welcome to him.
IV. In all this God intends mercy for Israel, and it is in kindness to them
that God will deal thus with the neighbouring nations, to avenge their
quarrel for what is past and to secure them for the future.
1. Thus some understand the seventh verse, as intimating, (1.) That thus God
would deliver his people from their bloody adversaries, who hated them, and
to whom they were an abomination, when they were just ready to devour them
and make a prey of them: I will take away his blood (that is, the
blood of Israel) out of the mouth of the Philistines and from between
their teeth (Amos iii. 12), when, in their hatred of them and enmity to
them, they were greedily devouring them. (2.) That lie would thus give them
victory and dominion over them: And he that remains (that is, the
remnant of Israel) shall be for our God, shall be taken into his
favour, shall own him and be owned by him, and he shall be as a governor
in Judah; though the Jews have been long in servitude, they shall
recover their ancient dignity, and be victorious, as David and other
governors in Judah formerly were; and Ekron (that is, the Philistines) shall
be as the Jebusites, and the rest of the devoted nations, who were brought
into subjection under them.
2. However, this is plainly the sense of v. 8, that God will take his
people under his special protection, and therefore will weaken their
neighbours, that it may not be in their power to do them a mischief: I
will encamp about my house because of the army. Note, God's house lies
in the midst of an enemy's country, and his church is as a lily among
thorns; and therefore God's power and goodness are to be observed in the
special preservation of it. The camp of the saints, being a little
flock in comparison with the numerous armies of the powers of darkness that
are set against it round about, would certainly be swallowed up if the
angels of God did not encamp about it, as they did about Elisha, to deliver
it, Rev. xx. 9; Ps. xxxiv. 7. When the times are unusually perilous, when
armies are marching and counter-marching, and all bearing ill-will to Zion,
then Providence will as it were double its guards upon the church of God, because
of him that passes by and because of him that returns, that whether he
return a conqueror or conquered he may do it no harm. And, as none that pass
by shall hurt them, so no oppressor shall pass through them any more;
they shall have no enemy within themselves to rule them with rigour, and to
make their lives bitter to them with sore bondage, as of old in
Egypt. This was fulfilled when, for some time after the struggles of the
Maccabees, Judea was a free and flourishing state, or perhaps when Alexander
the Great, struck with an awe of Jaddus the high priest, favoured the Jews,
and took them under his protection, at the same time when he wasted the
neighbouring countries. And the reason given for all this is, "For
now have I seen with my eyes, now have I carefully distinguished between
my people and other people, with whom before they seemed to have their lot
in common, and have made it to appear that I know those that are mine,"
This agrees with Ps. xxxiv. 15, The eyes of the Lord are upon the
righteous; now his eyes, which run to and fro through the earth,
shall fix upon them, that he may show himself tender of them, and strong
on their behalf, 2 Chron. xvi. 9.
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Predictions
Relating to Messiah.
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B.
C. 510.
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9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout,
O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is
just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt
the foal of an ass. 10 And I will cut off the chariot from
Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off:
and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be
from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of
the earth. 11 As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I
have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.
That here begins a prophecy of the Messiah and his kingdom is plain from the
literal accomplishment of the ninth verse in, and its express application
to, Christ's riding in triumph into Jerusalem, Matt. xxi. 5; John
xii. 15.
I. Here is notice given of the approach of the Messiah promised, as matter
of great joy to the Old-Testament church: Behold, thy king cometh unto
thee. Christ is a king, invested with regal powers and prerogatives, a
sovereign prince, an absolute monarch, having all power both in heaven and
on earth. He is Zion's king. God has set him upon his holy hill of Zion,
Ps. ii. 6. In Zion his glory as a king shines; thence his law went forth,
even the word of the Lord. In the gospel-church his spiritual kingdom
is administered; it is by him that the ordinances of the church are
instituted, and its officers commissioned; and it is taken under his
protection; he fights the church's battles and secures its interests, as its
king. "This King has been long in coming, but now, behold, he
cometh; he is at the door. There are but a few ages more to run out, and
he that shall come will come. He cometh unto thee; the Word will
shortly be made flesh, and dwell within thy borders; he will come to his
own. And therefore rejoice, rejoice greatly, and shout
for joy; look upon it as good news, and be assured it is true;
please thyself to think that he is coming, that he is on his way towards
thee; and be ready to go forth to meet him with acclamations of joy, as one
not able to conceal it, it is so great, nor ashamed to own it, it is so
just; cry Hosanna to him." Christ's approaches ought to be the
church's applauses.
II. Here is such a description of him as renders him very amiable in the
eyes of all his loving subjects, and his coming to them very acceptable. 1.
He is a righteous ruler; all his acts of government will be exactly
according to the rules of equity, for he is just. 2. He is a powerful
protector to all those that bear faith and true allegiance to him, for he has
salvation; he has it in his power; he has it to bestow upon all his
subjects. He is the God of salvation; treasures of salvation are in
him. He is servatus--saving himself (so some read it), rising
out of the grave by his own power and so qualifying himself to be our
Saviour. (3.) He is a meek, humble, tender Father to all his subjects
as his children; he is lowly; he is poor and afflicted
(so the word signifies), so it denotes the meanness of his condition; having
emptied himself, he was despised and rejected of men. But the
evangelist translates it so as to express the temper of his spirit: he is meek,
not taking state upon him, nor resenting injuries, but humbling himself
from first to last, condescending to the mean, compassionate to the
miserable; this was a bright and excellent character of him as a prophet
(Matt. xi. 29, Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart), and no
less so as a king. It was a proof of this that, when he made his
public entry into his own city (and it was the only passage of his life that
had any thing in it magnificent in the eye of the world), he chose to ride,
not upon a stately horse, or in a chariot, as great men used to ride, but upon
an ass, a beast of service indeed, but a poor silly and contemptible
one, low and slow, and in those days ridden only by the meaner sort of
people; nor was it an ass fitted for use, but an ass's colt, a little
foolish unmanageable thing, that would be more likely to disgrace his rider
than be any credit to him; and that not his own neither, nor helped off, as
sometimes a sorry horse is, by good furniture, for he had no saddle, no
housings, no trappings, no equipage, but his disciples' clothes thrown upon
the colt;' for he made himself of no reputation when he visited us in
great humility.
III. His kingdom is here set forth in the glory of it. This king has, and
will have, a kingdom, not of this world, but a spiritual kingdom, a kingdom
of heaven. 1. It shall not be set up and advanced by external force, by
an arm of flesh or carnal weapons of warfare. No; he will cut off the
chariot from Ephraim and the horses from Jerusalem (v. 10), for
he shall have no occasion for them while he himself rides upon an ass. He
will, in kindness to his people, cut off their horses and chariots, that
they may not cut themselves off from God by putting that confidence in them
which they should put in the power of God only. He will himself undertake
their protection, will himself be a wall of fire about Jerusalem and
give his angels charge concerning it (those chariots of fire and horses
of fire), and then the chariots and horses they had in their service
shall be discarded and cut off as altogether needless. 2. It shall be
propagated and established by the preaching of the gospel, the speaking
of peace to the heathen; for Christ came and preached peace to those
that were afar off and to those that were nigh; and so established his
kingdom by proclaiming on earth peace, and good-will towards men.
3. His kingdom, as far as it prevails in the minds of men and has the
ascendant over them, will make them peaceable, and slay all enmities; it
will cut off the battle-bow, and beat swords into plough-shares. It
will not only command the peace, but will create the fruit of the lips,
peace. 4. It shall extend itself to all parts of the world, in defiance
of the opposition given to it. "The chariot and horse that come against
Ephraim and Jerusalem, to oppose the progress of Zion's King, shall be cut
off; his gospel shall be preached to the world, and be received among the
heathen, so that his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the
river even to the ends of the earth, as was foretold by David," Ps.
lxxii. 8. The preachers of the gospel shall carry it from one country, one
island, to another, till some of the remotest corners of the world are
enlightened and reduced by it.
IV. Here is an account of the great benefit procured for mankind by the
Messiah, which is redemption from extreme misery, typified by the
deliverance of the Jews out of their captivity in Babylon (v. 11):
"As for thee also (thee, O daughter of Jerusalem! or thee, O
Messiah the Prince!) by the blood of thy covenant, by force and
virtue of the covenant made with Abraham, sealed with the blood of
circumcision, and the covenant made with Israel at Mount Sinai, sealed with
the blood of sacrifices, in pursuance and performance of that covenant, I
have now of late sent forth thy prisoners, thy captives out of
Babylon, which was to them a most uncomfortable place, as a pit in
which was no water." It was part of the covenant that, if in the
land of their captivity, they sought the Lord, he would be found of them,
Lev. xxvi. 42, 44, 45; Deut. xxx. 4. It was by the blood of that
covenant, typifying the blood of Christ, in whom all God's covenants
with man are yea and amen, that they were released out of captivity; and
this was but a shadow of the great salvation wrought out by thy King, O
daughter of Zion! Note, A sinful state is a state of bondage; it is a
spiritual prison; it is a pit, or a dungeon, in which there is no water,
no comfort at all to be had. We are all by nature prisoners in this pit; the
scripture has concluded us all under sin, and bound us over to
the justice of God. God is pleased to deal upon new terms with these
prisoners, to enter into another covenant with them; the blood of Christ is
the blood of that covenant, purchased it for us and all the benefits of it;
by that blood of the covenant effectual provision is made for the sending
forth of these prisoners upon easy and honourable terms, and proclamation
made of liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those
that were bound, like Cyrus's proclamation to the Jews in Babylon, which
all those whose spirits God stirs up will come and take the benefit of.
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Gospel
Invitations; Promises of God's Favour to Israel.
B. C. 510.
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12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners
of hope: even to day do I declare that I will render double unto
thee; 13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with
Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and
made thee as the sword of a mighty man. 14 And the LORD
shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and
the Lord GOD
shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
15 The LORD
of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling
stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and
they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the
altar. 16 And the LORD
their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall
be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.
17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty!
corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.
The prophet, having taught those that had returned out of captivity to
attribute their deliverance to the blood of the covenant and to the
promise of the Messiah (for they were so wonderfully helped because that
blessing was in them, was yet in the womb of their nation), now comes to
encourage them with the prospect of a joyful and happy settlement, and of
glorious times before them; and such a happiness they did enjoy, in a great
measure, for some time; but these promises have their full accomplishment in
the spiritual blessings of the gospel which we enjoy by Jesus Christ.
I. They are invited to look unto Christ, and flee unto him as their city of
refuge (v. 12): Turn you to the strong-hold, you prisoners of
hope. The Jews that had returned out of captivity into their own land
were yet, in effect, but prisoners (We are servants this day, Neh.
ix. 36), yet prisoners of hope, or expectation, for God had
given them a little reviving in their bondage, Ezra ix. 8, 9. Those
that yet continued in Babylon, detained by their affairs there, yet lived in
hope some time or other to see their own land again. Now both these are
directed to turn their eyes upon the Messiah, set before them in the promise
as their strong-hold, to shelter themselves in him, and stay themselves upon
him, for the perfecting of the mercy which by his grace, and for his sake,
was so gloriously begun. Look unto him, and be you saved, Isa. xlv.
22. The promise of the Messiah was the strong-hold of the faithful long
before his coming; they saw his day at a distance and were glad, and the
believing expectation of the redemption in Jerusalem was long the
support and consolation of Israel, Luke ii. 25, 38. They, in their
dangers and distresses, were ready to turn towards this and the other
creature for relief; but the prophets directed them still to turn to Christ,
and to comfort themselves with the joy of their king coming to them with
salvation. But, as their deliverance was typical of our redemption by Christ
(v. 11), so this invitation to the strong-hold speaks the language of
the gospel-call. Sinners are prisoners, but they are prisoners of hope;
their case is sad, but it is not desperate; yet now there is hope in Israel
concerning them. Christ is a strong-hold for them, a strong tower, in whom
they may be safe and quiet from the fear of the wrath of God, the curse of
the law, and the assaults of their spiritual enemies. To him they must turn
by a lively faith; to him they must flee, and trust in his name.
II. They are assured of God's favour to them: "Even to day do I
declare, when things are at the worst, and you think your case
deplorable to the last degree, yet I solemnly promise that I will render
double unto thee, to thee, O Jerusalem! to every one of you prisoners of
hope. I will give you comforts double to the sorrows you have experienced,
or blessings double to what I ever bestowed upon your fathers, when their
condition was at the best; the glory of your latter state, as well as of
your latter house, shall be greater, shall be twice as great as that of your
former." And so it was no otherwise than by the coming of the Messiah,
the preaching of his gospel, and the setting up of his kingdom; these
spiritual blessings in heavenly things were double to what they had ever
enjoyed in their most prosperous state. As a pledge of this, in the fulness
of time God here promises to the Jews victory, plenty, and joy, in their own
land, which yet should be but a type and shadow of more glorious victories,
riches, and joys, in the kingdom of Christ.
1. They shall triumph over their enemies. The Jews, after their return, were
surrounded with enemies on all sides. They were as a speckled bird;
all the birds of the field were against them. Their land lay between the two
potent kingdoms of Syria and Egypt, branches of the Grecian monarchy, and
what frequent dangers they should be in between them was foretold, Dan. xi.
But it is here promised that out of them all the Lord would deliver them;
and this promise had its primary accomplishment in the times of the
Maccabees, when the Jews made head against their enemies, kept their head
above water, and, after many struggles and difficulties, came to be head
over them. It is promised, (1.) That they shall be instruments in God's hand
for the defeating and baffling of their persecutors: "I have bent
Judah for me, as my bow of steel; that bow I have filled with Ephraim
as my arrows, have drawn it up to its full bent, till the arrow be at the
head;" for some think that this is signified by the phrase of filling
the bow. The expressions here are very fine, and the figures lively.
Judah had been taught the use of the bow (2 Sam. i. 18), and Ephraim
had been famous for it, Ps. lxxviii. 9. But let them not think that they
gain their successes by their own bow, for they themselves are no more than
God's bow and his arrows, tools in his hands, which he makes use of and
manages as he pleases, which he holds as his bow and directs to the mark as
his arrows. The best and bravest of men are but what God makes them, and do
no more service than he enables them to do. The preachers of the gospel were
the bow in Christ's hand, with which he went forth, he went on, conquering
and to conquer, Rev. vi. 2. The following words explain this: I have
raised up and animated thy sons, O Zion! against thy sons, O Greece!
This was fulfilled when against Antiochus, one of the kings of the
Grecian monarchy, the people that knew their God were strong and did
exploits, Dan. xi. 32. And they in the hand of an almighty God were made
as the sword of a mighty man, which none can stand before. Wicked men
are said to be God's sword (Ps. xvii. 13), and sometimes good men are made
so; for he employs both as he pleases. (2.) That God will be captain, and
commander-in-chief, over them, in every expedition and engagement (v.
14): The Lord shall be seen over them; he shall make it appear that
he presides in their affairs, and that in all their motions they are under
his direction, as apparently, though not as sensibly, as he was seen over
Israel in the pillar of cloud and fire when he led them through the
wilderness. [1.] Is their army to be raised, or mustered, and brought into
the field? The Lord shall blow the trumpet, to gather the forces
together, to proclaim the war, to sound the alarm, and to give directions
which way to march, which way to move; for, if God blow the trumpet, it
shall not give an uncertain sound, nor a feeble ineffectual one. [2.] Is the
army taking the field, and entering upon action? Whatever enterprise the
campaign is opened with, God shall go forth at the head of their forces, with
whirlwinds of the south, which were of incredible swiftness and
fierceness; and before these whirlwinds thy sons, O Greece! shall be as
chaff. [3.] Is the army actually engaged? God's arrows shall go forth as
lightning, so strongly, so suddenly, so irresistibly; his lightnings
shall go forth as arrows and scattered them, that is, he shot
out his lightnings and discomfited them. This alludes to that which God
had done for Israel of old when he brought them out of Egypt, and into
Canaan, and had its accomplishment partly in the wonderful successes which
the Jews had against their neighbours that attacked them in the time of the
Maccabees, by the special appearances of the divine Providence for them, and
perfectly in the glorious victories gained by the cross of Christ and the
preaching of the cross over Satan and all the powers of darkness, whereby we
are made more than conquerors. [4.] Are they in danger of being overpowered
by the enemy? The Lord of hosts shall defend them (v. 15); The
Lord their God shall save them (v. 16); so that their enemies
shall not prevail over them, nor prey upon them. God shall be unto them for
defence as well as offence, the shield of their help as well as the
sword of their excellency, and this as the Lord of hosts, who has
power to defend them, and as their God, who is engaged by promise to
defend them, and by the property he has in them. He shall save them in that
day, that critical dangerous day, as the flock of his people,
with the same care and tenderness that the shepherd protects his sheep with.
Those are safe whom God saves. [5.] Did their enemies hope to swallow them
up? It shall be turned upon them, and they shall devour their
enemies, and shall subdue with sling-stones, for want of better
weapons, those that come forth against them. The stones of the brook,
when God pleases, shall do as great execution as the best train of
artillery; for the stars in their courses shall fight on the same
side. Goliath was subdued with a sling-stone. Having subdued, they shall devour,
shall drink the blood of their enemies, as it were, and, as conquerors
are wont to do, they shall make a noise as through wine. It is usual
for conquerors with loud huzzas and acclamations to glory in their victories
and proclaim them. We read of those that shout for mastery, and of
the shout of a king among God's people. They shall be filled with
blood and spoil, as the bowls and basins of the temple, or the corners of
the altar, were wont to be filled with the blood of the sacrifices; for
their enemies shall fall as victims to divine justice.
2. They shall triumph in their God. They shall take the comfort and give God
the glory of their successes. So some read v. 15. They shall eat
(that is, they shall quietly enjoy) what they have got; God will give them
power to eat it after they have subdued the sling-stones (that is,
their enemies that slung stones at them), and they shall drink and make a
noise, a joyful noise, before the Lord their maker and protector, as
through wine, as men are merry at a banquet of wine. Being not drunk
with wine, wherein is excess, but filled with the Spirit, they
shall speak to themselves and one another in psalms, and hymns,
and spiritual songs, as those that are drunk do with vain and foolish
songs, Eph. v. 18, 19. And, in the fulness of their joy, they shall offer
abundance of sacrifices to the honour of God, so that they shall fill
both the bowls and the corners of the altar with the fat and blood of
their sacrifices. And, when they thus triumph in their successes, their joy
shall terminate in God as their God, the God of their salvation. They shall
triumph, (1.) In the love he has for them, and the relation wherein they
stand to him, that they are the flock of his people and he is their
Shepherd, and that they are to him as the stones of a crown, which
are very precious and of great value, and which are kept under a strong
guard. Never was any king so pleased with the jewels of his crown as God is,
and will be, with his people, who are near and dear unto him, and in whom he
glories. They are a crown of glory and a royal diadem in his
hand, Isa. lxii. 2, 3. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that
day when I make up my jewels, Mal. iii. 17. And they shall be lifted
up as an ensign upon his land, as the royal standard is displayed in
token of triumph and joy. God's people are his glory; so he is pleased to
make them, so he is pleased to reckon them. He sets them up as a banner upon
his own land, waging war against those who hate him, to whom it is a flag of
defiance, while it is a centre of unity to all that love him, to all the
children of God, that are scattered abroad, who are invited to come and
enlist themselves under this banner, Isa. xi. 10, 12. (2.) In the provision
he makes for them, v. 15. This is the matter of their triumph (v.
17): For how great is his goodness and how great is his beauty! This
is the substance, this the burden, of the songs wherewith they shall make
a noise before the Lord. We are here taught, [1.] To admire and praise
the amiableness of God's being: How great is his beauty! All the
perfections of God's nature conspire to make him infinitely lovely in the
eyes of all that know him. They are to him as the stones of a crown;
but what is he to them? Our business in the temple is to behold the
beauty of the Lord (Ps. xxvii. 4), and how great is that beauty!
How far does it transcend all other beauties, particularly the beauty of
his holiness. This may refer to the Messiah, to Zion's King that cometh.
See that king in his beauty (Isa. xxxiii. 17), who is fairer than
the children of men, the fairest of ten thousand, and altogether
lovely. Though, in the eye of the world, he had no form or comeliness,
in the eye of faith how great is his beauty! [2.] To admire and give thanks
for the gifts of God's favour and grace, his bounty as well as his beauty;
for how great is his goodness! How rich in mercy is he! How deep, how
full, are its springs! How various, how plenteous, how precious, are its
streams! What a great deal of good does God do! How rich in mercy is he!
Here is an instance of his goodness to his people: Corn shall make the
young men cheerful and new wine the maids; that is, God will bless his
people with an abundance of the fruits of the earth. Whereas they had been
afflicted with scarcity to such a degree that the young men and the maidens
were ready to swoon and faint away for hunger and thirst (Lam. ii. 12, 21;
iv. 7, 8; v. 10), now they shall have bread enough and to spare, not water
only, but wine, new wine, which shall make the young people grow and
be cheerful, and (which some have observed to be the effect of plenty and
the cheapness of corn) the poor will be encouraged to marry, and re-people
the land, when they shall have wherewithal to maintain their families. Note,
What good gifts God bestows upon us we must serve him cheerfully with, and
must race the streams up to the fountain, and, when we are refreshed with
corn and wine, must say, How great is his goodness!
