27:5. Or rather shall it take hold of my strength, shall it make peace with me, shall it make peace with me?
27:6. When they shall rush in unto Jacob, Israel shall blossom and bud, and they shall fill the face of the world with seed.
When they shall rush in, etc... Some understand this of the enemies of the true Israel, that shall invade it in vain. Others of the spiritual invasion made by the apostles of Christ.
27:7. Hath he struck him according to the stroke of him that struck him?
or is he slain, as he killed them that were slain by him?
Hath he struck him, etc... Hath G.o.d punished the carnal persecuting Jews, in proportion to their doings against Christ and his saints?
27:8. In measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, thou shalt judge it. He hath meditated with his severe spirit in the day of heat.
When it shall be cast off, etc... When the synagogue shall be cast off, thou shalt judge it in measure, and in proportion to its crimes.-Ibid.
He hath meditated, etc... G.o.d hath designed severe punishments in the day of his wrath.
27:9. Therefore upon this shall the iniquity of the house of Jacob be forgiven: and this is all the fruit, that the sin thereof should be taken away, when he shall have made all the stones of the altar, as burnt stones broken in pieces, the groves and temples shall not stand.
Of the house of Jacob... Viz., of such of them as shall be converted.
27:10. For the strong city shall be desolate, the beautiful city shall be forsaken, and shall be left as a wilderness: there the calf shall feed, and there shall he lie down, and shall consume its branches.
The strong city... Jerusalem.
27:11. Its harvest shall be destroyed with drought, women shall come and teach it: for it is not a wise people, therefore he that made it, shall not have mercy on it: and he that formed it, shall not spare it.
27:12. And it shall come to pa.s.s, that in that day the Lord will strike from the channel of the river even to the torrent of Egypt, and you shall be gathered together one by one, O ye children of Israel.
27:13. And it shall come to pa.s.s, that in that day a noise shall be made with a great trumpet, and they that were lost, shall come from the land of the a.s.syrians, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall adore the Lord in the holy mount in Jerusalem.
A great trumpet... The preaching of the gospel for the conversion of the Jews.
Isaias Chapter 28
The punishment of the Israelites, for their pride, intemperance, and contempt of religion. Christ the cornerstone.
28:1. Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower the glory his joy, who were on the head of the fat valley, staggering with wine.
Ephraim... That is, the kingdom of the ten tribes.-Ibid. The head of the fat valley... Samaria, situate on a hill, having under it a most fertile valley.
28:2. Behold the Lord is mighty and strong, as a storm of hail: a destroying whirlwind, as the violence of many waters overflowing, and sent forth upon a s.p.a.cious land.
28:3. The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet.
28:4. And the fading tower the glory of his joy, who is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as a hasty fruit before the ripeness of autumn: which when he that seeth it shall behold, as soon he taketh it in his hand, he will eat it up.
28:5. In that day the Lord of hosts shall be a crown of glory, and a garland of joy to the residue of his people:
28:6. And a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and strength to them that return out of the battle to the gate.
28:7. But these also have been ignorant through wine, and through drunkenness have erred: the priest and the prophet have been ignorant through drunkenness, they are swallowed up with wine, they have gone astray in drunkenness, they have not known him that seeth, they have been ignorant of judgment.
These also... The kingdom of Juda.
28:8. For all the tables were full of vomit and filth, so that there was no more place.
28:9. Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn away from the b.r.e.a.s.t.s.
28:10. For command, command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; a little there, a little there.
Command, command again, etc... This is said in the person of the Jews, resisting the repeated commands of G.o.d, and still putting him off.
28:11. For with the speech of lips, and with another tongue he will speak to this people.
28:12. To whom he said: This is my rest, refresh the weary, and this is my refreshing: and they would not hear.
28:13. And the word of the Lord shall be to them: Command, command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; a little there, a little there: that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
28:14. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, who rule over my people that is in Jerusalem.
28:15. For you have said: We have entered into a league with death, and we have made a covenant with h.e.l.l. When the overflowing scourge shall pa.s.s through, it shall not come upon us: for we have placed our hope in lies, and by falsehood we are protected.
28:16. Therefore thus saith the Lord G.o.d: Behold I will lay a stone in the foundations of Sion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation. He that believeth, let him not hasten.
A stone in the foundations... Viz., Christ.-Ibid. Let him not hasten, etc... Let him expect his coming with patience.
28:17. And I will set judgment in weight, and justice in measure: and hail shall overturn the hope of falsehood: and waters shall overflow its protection.
28:18. And your league with death shall be abolished, and your covenant with h.e.l.l shall not stand: when the overflowing scourge shall pa.s.s, you shall be trodden down by it.
28:19. Whensoever it shall pa.s.s through, it shall take you away: because in the morning early it shall pa.s.s through, in the day and in the night, and vexation alone shall make you understand what you hear.
28:20. For the bed is straitened, so that one must fall out, and a short covering cannot cover both.
The bed is straitened, etc... It is too narrow to hold two: G.o.d will have the bed of our heart all to himself.
28:21. For the Lord shall stand up as in the mountain of divisions: he shall be angry as in the valley which is in Gabaon: that he may do his work, his strange work: that he may perform his work, his work is strange to him.
As in the mountain, etc... As the Lord fought against the Philistines in Baal Pharasim, 2 Kings 5., and against the Chanaanites, in the valley of Gabaon, Jos. 10.
28:22. And now do not mock, lest your bonds be tied strait. For I have heard of the Lord the G.o.d of hosts a consumption and a cutting short upon all the earth.
28:23. Give ear, and hear my voice, hearken, and hear my speech.
28:24. Shall the ploughman plough all the day to sow, shall he open and harrow his ground?
28:25. Will he not, when he hath made plain the surface thereof, sow gith, and scatter c.u.mmin, and put wheat in order, and barley, and millet, and vetches in their bounds?
28:26. For he will instruct him in judgment: his G.o.d will teach him.