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Isaiah Chapter
Fourteen
Isaiah 14
Chapter Contents
The destruction of Babylon, and the death of its proud
monarch. (1-23) Assurance of the destruction of Assyria. (24-27) The
destruction of the Philistines. (28-32)
Commentary on Isaiah 14:1-23
(Read Isaiah 14:1-23)
The whole plan of Divine Providence is arranged with a
view to the good of the people of God. A settlement in the land of promise is
of God's mercy. Let the church receive those whom God receives. God's people,
wherever their lot is cast, should endeavour to recommend religion by a right and
winning conversation. Those that would not be reconciled to them, should be
humbled by them. This may be applied to the success of the gospel, when those
were brought to obey it who had opposed it. God himself undertakes to work a
blessed change. They shall have rest from their sorrow and fear, the sense of
their present burdens, and the dread of worse. Babylon abounded in riches. The
king of Babylon having the absolute command of so much wealth, by the help of
it ruled the nations. This refers especially to the people of the Jews; and it
filled up the measure of the king of Babylon's sins. Tyrants sacrifice their
true interest to their lusts and passions. It is gracious ambition to covet to
be like the Most Holy, for he has said, Be ye holy, for I am holy; but it is
sinful ambition to aim to be like the Most High, for he has said, He who exalts
himself shall be abased. The devil thus drew our first parents to sin. Utter
ruin should be brought upon him. Those that will not cease to sin, God will
make to cease. He should be slain, and go down to the grave; this is the common
fate of tyrants. True glory, that is, true grace, will go up with the soul to
heaven, but vain pomp will go down with the body to the grave; there is an end
of it. To be denied burial, if for righteousness' sake, may be rejoiced in, Matthew 5:12. But if the just punishment of sin,
it denotes that impenitent sinners shall rise to everlasting shame and
contempt. Many triumphs should be in his fall. God will reckon with those that
disturb the peace of mankind. The receiving the king of Babylon into the
regions of the dead, shows there is a world of spirits, to which the souls of
men remove at death. And that souls have converse with each other, though we
have none with them; and that death and hell will be death and hell indeed, to
all who fall unholy, from the height of this world's pomps, and the fulness of
its pleasures. Learn from all this, that the seed of evil-doers shall never be
renowned. The royal city is to be ruined and forsaken. Thus the utter
destruction of the New Testament Babylon is illustrated, Revelation 18:2. When a people will not be made
clean with the besom of reformation, what can they expect but to be swept off
the face of the earth with the besom of destruction?
Commentary on Isaiah 14:24-27
(Read Isaiah 14:24-27)
Let those that make themselves a yoke and a burden to
God's people, see what they are to expect. Let those that are the called
according to God's purpose, comfort themselves, that whatever God has purposed,
it shall stand. The Lord of hosts has purposed to break the Assyrian's yoke;
his hand is stretched out to execute this purpose; who has power to turn it
back? By such dispensations of providence, the Almighty shows in the most
convincing manner, that sin is hateful in his sight.
Commentary on Isaiah 14:28-32
(Read Isaiah 14:28-32)
Assurance is given of the destruction of the Philistines
and their power, by famine and war. Hezekiah would be more terrible to them
than Uzziah had been. Instead of rejoicing, there would be lamentation, for the
whole land would be ruined. Such destruction will come upon the proud and
rebellious, but the Lord founded Zion for a refuge to poor sinners, who flee
from the wrath to come, and trust in his mercy through Christ Jesus. Let us
tell all around of our comforts and security, and exhort them to seek the same
refuge and salvation.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Isaiah》
Isaiah 14
Verse 1
[1] For
the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in
their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall
cleave to the house of Jacob.
Chuse —
Will renew his choice of them; for he had rejected them.
Verse 2
[2] And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the
house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and
handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and
they shall rule over their oppressors.
Rule —
Which they literally did, after their return into their own land. But this was
more eminently verified in a spiritual sense, in the days of the gospel.
Verse 4
[4] That
thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath
the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
Golden city — As
they used to call themselves; which therefore he expresses here in a word of
their own language.
Verse 6
[6] He
who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the
nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
Anger —
With rigour and not with clemency.
None —
Neither the Babylonians themselves, nor their confederates.
Verse 7
[7] The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
The earth —
The subjects of that vast empire, who groaned under their cruel bondage.
Verse 8
[8] Yea,
the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou
art laid down, no feller is come up against us.
The trees —
Which were felled for the service of her pride and luxury, but now are suffered
to stand.
Verse 9
[9] Hell
from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the
dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from
their thrones all the kings of the nations.
Thrones —
From their graves, which he seems to call their thrones by way of irony: the
only thrones now left to them. Thrones both paved and covered with worms,
instead of their former thrones, adorned with gold and precious stones.
Verse 11
[11] Thy
pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is
spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
Thy pomp —
All thy glory is buried with thee.
Viols —
All thy musical instruments, which were much used in Babylon, and were
doubtless used in Belshazzar's solemn feasts, Daniel 5:1, at which time the city was taken; to
which possibly the prophet here alludes.
The worm —
Instead of those stately carpets upon which thou didst frequently tread.
Verse 12
[12] How
art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut
down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Fallen —
From the height of thy glory.
Lucifer —
Which properly is a bright star, that ushers in the morning; but is here
metaphorically taken for the mighty king of Babylon.
Son —
The title of son is given in scripture not only to a person or thing begotten
or produced by another, but also to any thing which is related, to it, in which
sense we read of the son of a night, Jonah 4:10, a son of perdition, John 17:12, and, which is more agreeable, to the
present case, the sons of Arcturus, Job 38:32.
Verse 13
[13] For
thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north:
I — I will advance myself
above the state of a weak man.
Above —
Above all other kings and potentates; or, above the most eminent persons of
God's church.
North —
This is added as a more exact description of the place of the temple; it stood
upon mount Moriah, which was northward from the hill of Zion strictly so
called.
Verse 14
[14] I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Like — In
the uncontrolableness of my power, and the universal extent of my dominion.
Verse 17
[17] That
made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened
not the house of his prisoners?
Cried not —
Whereby he signifies both his irresistible power, and his continued cruelty.
Verse 18
[18] All
the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own
house.
All —
That is, other things most commonly do.
Lie —
Are buried in their own sepulchres, having stately monuments erected to their
memory.
Verse 19
[19] But
thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of
those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones
of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet.
Cast out —
Or, cast from thy grave or burying-place. Which very probably happened to
Belshazzar, when his people had neither opportunity nor heart to bestow an
honourable interment upon him, and the conquerors would not suffer them to do
it.
Like —
Like a rotten twig of a tree, which he that prunes the trees, casts away.
Raiment —
Which, being mangled, and besmeared with mire, and blood, was cast away with
contempt.
Go down —
Who being slain, are cast into some pit. He saith, to the stones of the pit,
because when dead bodies are cast in thither, men use to throw an heap of
stones upon them.
Trodden —
Neglected, like such a carcase. And this might literally happen to Belshazzar's
dead body.
Verse 20
[20] Thou
shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land,
and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
Joined —
Not buried as they are.
Slain —
Thou hast exercised great tyranny and cruelty, not only to thine enemies, but
even to thine own subjects.
The seed —
Such as Belshazzar was, being descended from that Nebuchadnezzar who had made
such horrid slaughters and devastations in the world, merely to gratify his own
insatiable lusts, and who had been so impious towards God and his temple, and
so bloody towards his church and people.
Renowned —
Or, shall not be renowned for ever: although I have long borne with thee and
thy family.
Verse 21
[21]
Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they
do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities.
Children —
Cut off all the branches of the royal family.
Rise —
Not recover their former power.
Verse 22
[22] For
I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon
the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.
Remnant —
The remembrance of those that are dead, and the persons of those who yet
survive.
Verse 23
[23] I
will also make it a possession for the bittern, and pools of water: and I will
sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith the LORD of hosts.
Bittern — A
great water fowl, which delights in solitary places, as also in watery grounds.
Such as those were about Babylon.
Pools —
The ground about Babylon was of itself very moist, because of the great river
Euphrates, running by it, which was kept from overflowing the country with
charge and labour; this being neglected, when the city was destroyed, it was
easily turned into pools of water.
Verse 24
[24] The
LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to
pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
Saying —
This verse does not only concern Babylon's destruction, but also the overthrow
of Sennacherib and the Assyrian host, which was a pledge of the destruction of
the city and empire of Babylon.
Verse 25
[25] That
I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under
foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off
their shoulders.
My land — In
Judea, which is my land in a peculiar manner.
Mountains — In
my mountainous country, for such Judea was, especially about Jerusalem.
Verse 26
[26] This
is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that
is stretched out upon all the nations.
The earth —
Upon this vast empire, now in the hands of the Assyrians, and shortly to come
into the hands of the Babylonians.
The hand —
The providence of God executing his purpose.
Verse 28
[28] In
the year that king Ahaz died was this burden.
This burden —
This following burdensome prophecy concerning the Philistines, who in Ahaz's
time, made an inroad into Judah, and took divers of their cities.
Verse 29
[29]
Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is
broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his
fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
Of him —
Most understand this of Uzziah, who did then much mischief, 2 Chronicles 26:3,6. But he was dead thirty-two
years before this time, and therefore their joy for his death was long since
past. Others understand it of Ahaz: but he was so far from smiting them, that
he was smitten by them. We may understand this of the royal race of Judah, who
had been a terrible scourge to them, whose rod might be said to be broken,
because that scepter was come into the hands of slothful princes.
A serpent —
From the root of David shall come Hezekiah, who, like a serpent, shall sting
thee to death, as he did, 2 Kings 18:8.
Verse 30
[30] And
the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety:
and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.
The poor —
The people of the Jews, who are brought to extreme poverty. The title of
first-born is given to persons or things which are most eminent in their kinds,
as to the people of Israel, Exodus 4:22, to David, Psalms 89:27; Job 18:13, and here to persons eminently poor.
Feed —
Shall have plenty of provisions.
Kill — I
will utterly destroy thee both root and branch.
Verse 31
[31]
Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there
shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed
times.
Gate —
The gate is put for the city.
City —
City is here put collectively for their cities.
The north —
From Chaldea.
A smoak — A
grievous judgment and calamity.
Times —
When God's appointed time shall come, not one of all that numerous army shall
desert his colours, or lag behind the rest.
Verse 32
[32] What
shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the LORD hath founded
Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.
What —
What shall a Jew say to the people of other nations, who shall enquire
concerning the state of Zion, when not only the Philistines, but even the Jews
themselves, shall fall by the hands of the same enemy? That - They shall give
them this answer, That although Zion at present be in a very distressed condition,
yet she stands upon a firm foundation, and God who first founded her, will
restore her, and his poor despised people shall resort to her, as to a strong
refuge.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Isaiah》
14 Chapter 14
Verses 1-23
Verses 1-32
Verse 1
For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob
God’s mercy and Israel’s converts
I.
THE
PRINCIPLE OF GOD’S MORAL GOVERNMENT--Mercy. This people had grievously sinned.
1. They had sinned against light. The direct revelation of heaven had
been given to them as a nation
2. They rebelled amid privileges. The Mighty God interfered to protect
them from their foes.
3. They had sinned in spite of rebukes and punishments. The
rebellious people had been carried captive into a heathen nation.
II. THE CONSTANCY
OF DIVINE PURPOSES--“I will yet choose,” etc. Notwithstanding all their
rebellion I will yet have mercy on them. Nothing can separate from the love of
God.
III. THE RESTORATIVE
BLESSEDNESS OF RELIGION. When God takes a man in hand, He restores him. In
paradise he was the image and associate of God. Salvation will make him nothing
more. Heaven will contain additional elements of joy, but the man will be
restored.
IV. THE CONTAGION
OF ENTHUSIASM. When the Jews should return, many of the heathen, leaving their
own country and their idols, would return along with them. “And the strangers
shall be joined with them.” This was part of God’s design in the Captivity. It
was not only to punish His people for their sin, but also to render them a
blessing to others. God often appoints the afflictions of His people for His
own glory, and we must not mourn but rejoice if we are counted worthy of
forwarding His cause.
V. THE
ATTRACTIVENESS OF RELIGION. It commands affection and regard. It is our duty to
render it attractive so as to win others. (Homilist.)
God’s passion to Israel
We have here in nuce the comforting substance of chaps.
40-46. Babylon falls in order that Israel may rise. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
Verse 3
The Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow
Sorrow’s crown
I.
SORROW
IS THE COMMON LOT. Though nobody is always sorrowful, there is in every life
many a time when the mind is sore and the heart bruised. Yet people with a sore
heart often sing; they find relief in breathing a hymn of prayerful trust. How
beautiful is a good man under affliction! A child is often sore in mind because
he is not understood and has not the heart-felt sympathy of those who direct
him, Women also are sorrowful. Though a man be (n the most fortunate state of
life he will have something to bruise his heart. I have heard of a lady whose
husband was the worship of both her mind and heart; and when he was killed in a
railway accident, her grief was so terrible that in a moment she seemed ten
years older. A short time afterwards, she lost her children, and later on,
through the failure of a bank, her fortune disappeared; but she endured these
misfortunes with calmness, and her minister once asked, “How is it that you can
bear up so well after the loss of your children and your money?” She replied,
“In the death of my husband the greatest wound came the first.” It is unwise to
meet sorrow halfway. But there is one sorrow that we should seek and cultivate;
it is the sorrow that we are not more godly. There is another sorrow which is
worth having; it is that pain of heart which feels for the man or woman who is
wounded in the conflict of life. In the ancient world, sorrow was considered to
be God’s curse, but the early Christians saw that God meant it as a sacred
discipline: and therefore when sorrow came to them, they called it
“tribulatio,” using the word and image to set forth an elevating truth, namely,
the separation of the evil in them from the good.
II. Let us notice
ONE OR TWO PERSONAL SORROWS IN WHICH SOME OF YOU ARE MORE OR LESS CONCERNED.
1. If you are sore in mind because you have done wrong, let your
first thought be one of gratitude, that God can and does forgive your sins.
2. Many good people are sore in mind through a physical or temporal
trouble. What is more unpleasant than to hear a cart wheel screeching every
time it turns? So, you have in your lot something like a screeching wheel, and
every move makes you feel the affliction. But the oil of Divine grace will cure
it.
III. THE CROWN OF
SORROW IS TRUSTING GOD. “In all thy ways acknowledge Him,” etc.
IV. Let us learn
THE OBJECT OF SORROW. It is to teach us to be patient and kindly. If you put
roses into a cracked pot of commonest clay, it will breathe forth perfume; and
from the most prickly plant, the thorn, we gather the sweetest flowers, So if
the peace of God perfume your sorrowing heart, the thorns and briars of your
affliction shall make your life bright with the flowers of godliness and
charity. Bear your sorrow with true courage and sublime cheerfulness, not only
for your own sake, but for our sake who look on you; for we wish to learn the
way to bear our pain. (W. Birch.)
God an island when fortunes are wrecked
Let me tell you of a man who went home one day, and sitting down
in his armchair, put his hand on his brow as if in great trouble. His little
child went up to him, saying, “Father, what’s the matter?” Looking down upon
her with eyes of despair, he replied, “Ah, little Mary, I’m ruined!” She said,
“Ruined, father, what’s that?” He answered, “Why, my child, I’m like a man in a
boat on the sea, and during a storm the boat has upset, and he is east on a
desolate island.” She climbed on his knee, stroking his face, and after awhile,
exclaimed. “Well but, father, you know, you have only lost the boat; you
haven’t lost yourself, have you?” With tears in his eyes, he said, “Ah, no,
thank God! I have only lost the boat; my heart and my life remain!” Then she
asked, “Father, what’s the name of the island?” He replied, “That is the worst
of it Mary.” “I don’t know.” She said, “But, father, I know; yea, I know the
name of the island you are on; why, father, it is a nice island!” The wretched
man tried to smile, and drawing the dear little face to his breast, said,
“Mary, dear, tell me the name of the island!” She replied, “Oh, father, don’t
you know? you are dull tonight! why, father, the name of the island is God!”
The sorrowful man was very, still, and little Mary looking up in his face, put
her arms round his neck, saying, “Poor father, what makes you cry? Why don’t
you go upstairs and tell God about it?” Then he gently lifted the dear child
down, and went to tell out his heart’s sorrow to God. It is true his business
had fallen but a Divine hand upheld him. (W. Birch.)
Trusting God in affliction
A coloured preacher was in the habit of exhorting his people when
they were in affliction to “Truss de Lord.” When they were in sore distress, he
had only one remedy, “Brudder, truss de Lord!” One day, however, while the old
parson was crossing a river, the boat upset, and being unable to swim, he made
a great splutter and screamed like a madman. After much trouble, he was got out
and brought safely to the river bank, when one of his congregation said, “Masea
Preacher, why didn’t you truss de Lord; why did you holler and scream when you were
in de river; why didn’t you truss de Lord, and be patient?” The dark minister
exclaimed, “Ah, you know, brudder, It is truss de Lord on de land, not on de
water.” Of course, anybody can trust in the Lord when they are on the land of
peace and comfort; but it needs Christian faith and fortitude to be contented
in the waters of affliction. (W. Birch.)
The Christian attitude towards trouble
Christians who give up their special religious work because they
are in sorrow, may be likened to rusty nails in a bag under the counter of the
ironmonger’s shop; while the man who keeps on doing his best, believing that
God is with him, is a man in a sure place, ready to bear all the weight that is
hung on it. (W. Birch.)
Verses 4-23
Thou shalt take up this proverb against the King of Babylon
The “proverb against the King of Babylon”
Lowth is generally thought not to speak with exaggeration when he
calls it the finest [song] of its kind extant in any language.
It is a song of triumph in the form of a dirge, and therefore involves an
undercurrent of sarcasm or irony. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
An ode of triumph
This ode, if it is to be admired as it deserves, must be read as a
whole: its perfection as a work of art, its picturesque imagery, the delicate
and subtle vein of irony by which it is penetrated--it is called a “taunt
song”--will not endure partial quotation or paraphrase. The line of thought is
as follows. In the first strophe (Isaiah 14:4-8), the prophet declares
exultingly how at length the tyrant is stilled, the earth is at peace; only the
sound of rejoicing is heard. In the second (Isaiah 14:9-11), he accompanies in
thought the Shade of the King of Babylon as it journeys to the Underworld, and
imagines the ironical greeting which there meets it from the lips of the other
kings--still, as on earth, supposed to be invested with the panoply of State.
The third strophe (Isaiah 14:12-15) depicts the abasement of
the Babylonian monarch in its full magnitude: he who would have joined the
ranks of the gods, is east down to the inmost recesses of the pit. In the
fourth and last strophe (verse 16-20), the prophet’s thought passes to the
battlefield--from the feeble Shade to the unburied, dishonoured corpse: the
passers-by express their amazement at the contrast which its fate presents to
that of other kings after their death; it is excluded from the royal burial
place, flung aside as a worthless bough, hidden amongst the bodies of slain,
common soldiers, The prophet concludes with an epilogue, spoken in his own
person, and re-asserting emphatically the final and irretrievable ruin of the
great city (Isaiah 14:21-23).
The best commentary on this prophecy is the long and impassioned
invective against Babylon contained in Jeremiah 50:1-46; Jeremiah 51:1-58.(Prof. E. R. Driver,
D. D.)
Destruction of the King of Babylon
The Babylonian monarchy bade fair to be an absolute, universal,
and perpetual one, and in these pretensions vied with the Almighty; it is,
therefore, very justly not only brought down, but exulted over when it is down.
(M. Henry.)
“The golden city”
(Isaiah 14:4) is a graphical description
of that city, which was renowned for its immense riches and intern parable
splendour. (R. Macculloch.)
Deliverance from an evil dominion
If the nations rejoice at the overthrow of a haughty, tyrannical
prince, and the re-establishment of tranquillity and liberty, how much greater
ought to be the triumph of those who are delivered from the dominion of divers
impetuous lusts, and enjoy the earnests of spiritual and eternal rest! (R.
Macculloch.)
“Hell”
(Isaiah 14:9), as always in the Old
Testament = the Greek Hades; not a place of torment, but the “meeting place of
all living” (Job 30:23). The prophet’s representation
is based upon the ideas current among the people. See Bishop Lowth’s “Lectures
on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews,” Lecture 7. The same idea is elaborated in
greater detail by Ezekiel 32:17-32. (Prof. S. R. Driver,
D. D.)
An image of the soul
The mythological idea of Hades proceeds on the two-fold truth,
that what and how man has been in this world is not obliterated in the other
world, but becomes essentially manifest, and that there is an immaterial
self-formation of the soul in which all that the individual man has become
through his own self-determination under God-given relations is reflected as in
a mirror, and that in an abiding figure. This image of the soul, to which the
dead body is related as the shattered form of a mould, is the shadowy
corporeity of the inhabitants of Hades, in which they appear essentially,
although in the condition of spirits, as what they were in this life. (F.
Delitzsch.)
“Hell”
“Hell” is moved as a city is moved when a great king is brought
prisoner thither, and everyone runs out of his house to see him. (W. Day, M.
A.)
Lucifer
(Isaiah 14:12):--In his splendour [the
King of Babylon] is likened to the morning star, which was worshipped by the
Babylonians under the name of Istar. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
Impious expectations disappointed
(Isaiah 14:13-15):--That he should go to
Sheol at all was a fate never contemplated by his soaring and self-deifying
pride. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
Pride
Pride and ambition know no bounds (Isaiah 14:14). (R. Macculloch.)
“The bittern”
(Isaiah 14:23), Hebrews kippod. The
word occurs also in chap. Zephaniah 2:14. It has been rendered
otter, tortoise, owl, beaver, porcupine (R.V.). No one of the renderings
proposed is satisfactory. “Bittern” is freer from objection than any other bird
which might be proposed. It is a solitary bird, and loves such haunts as would
be supplied by the marshes which were found in districts of Edom and Babylon
and Nineveh, as the fruit of the desolation sent on them. It feeds at night,
and hides during the day among the long grass and rushes of its favourite
habitats. (J. Duns, D. D., F. R. S. E.)
“The bosom of destruction”
(Isaiah 14:23):--When a people have
nothing among them but dirt and filth, and will not be made clean with the
besom of reformation, what can they expect but to be swept off the face of the
earth with “the bosom of destruction”? (M. Henry.)
The Church’s exultation over her foes
Surely, in some such terms as these, the Church shall one day
exult over all her foes, and especially over the great apostate power of
Babylon the Great, the City of the Seven Hills. And still more, over the cast
out prince of this world, of whom the King of Babylon and other princes of this
world have been the types and representatives. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Verse 9
Hell from beneath is moved for thee
The first five minutes after death
There is a very well-known story told of a man who had served his
king and country in many a distant land, and in many a strange experience,
coming back home, and talking to his friends of the wonderful sights which he
had seen, and the wonderful experiences which he had gone through.
And when they remarked to him on the sort of wonders he had experienced and
known, he checked them with saying, “There is something more wonderful than
anything I have yet known, which I still have to experience,” and when they
asked him what it was, he said, “It is the first five minutes after death.” The
first five minutes after death! It was upon what happens in the first five
minutes after death that the prophet was exercising himself here in this
particular prophecy. (Davey Biggs, D. D.)
Life beyond the grave
1. The prophet believed that for those who pass through the gate of
death there would be recognition in the strange life beyond the grave. He
believed that those who were inhabiting that world before other individuals
entered into it would know them, would be there ready to greet them, greet them
as in this ease with horror, with dismay, with, as it were, congratulations
that what had been tyrannical in the world of life before death had now, as it
were, found its level, the opportunity of tyranny gone.
The prophet pictures the expectation that there was in the hearts
of those who had known what it was to be cruelly oppressed in this world when
their oppressor came to join them. He shows that the attitude of those who were
within the grave in the unseen world was one of expectation.
2. There is memory there, memory not only of our past selves, but
about other people; memory, too, of those living on the earth. (Davey Biggs,
D. D.)
Recognition beyond the grave
We know that what was only conjecture in the mind of the prophet
when he painted hell stirring up the dead to meet Belshazzar, King of Babylon,
has become certainty through the revelation given to us by our Lord Jesus
Christ. I do not know how anybody can read through the parable of the rich man
and Lazarus and not feel that, whatever the intention was with which the
parable was spoken, incidentally our Lord does teach us that in the life beyond
the grave the personality which we have known here in this life continues. As
personality shows itself in self-consciousness, so our Lord shows that the rich
man and Lazarus are conscious of their own existence. There is mutual recognition
too. The rich man has not any doubt whatever who it is in whose bosom Lazarus
was reposing; and I suppose at the very least fifteen centuries parted them. In
the same mysterious way Peter, James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration
knew that it was Moses and Elijah who were talking with the Messiah. There is a
wonderful power of recognition of even those whom we have never met. We shall
know, and our Lord Jesus Christ wishes us to know that we shall know, the great
people in the past to whom we owe such great debts. (Davey Biggs, D. D.)
Verses 24-32
Verse 24
Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass
God’s infinite intelligence
To think and to purpose are the attributes of all rational beings,
whether created or uncreated.
I. God is such an
infinitely perfect being, that His thoughts and purposes are CO-ETERNAL WITH
HIMSELF. God cannot possibly exist Without His thoughts and purposes. A child
at school in France, was asked whether God reasoned or not. The child paused
awhile, and answered, “No: God is too perfect to reason. He knows everything
without reasoning.” Newton himself could not have given a better answer.
Everything that exists in God now, has existed in Him from eternity.
II. As His thoughts
and put poses flow exclusively from Himself, they are ABSOLUTE they are,
primarily considered, unconditional. This is a necessity that does not
militate, in the least degree, against the accountability of man. They must
have been absolute, or no being could possibly have existed.
III. The thoughts
and purposes of the Almighty are INFINITELY GLORIOUS in other words, are
infinitely worthy of Himself. It is in the fulfilment of His own thoughts and
purposes that He develops all the beauty of His own perfections; it is in the
development of all the beauty of His own perfections, that He confers every
good on the creature. Take two axioms in divinity. All good is from God--all
evil is from the creature. Do justice to these truths, and they will, as two
keys, unlock some of the most difficult passages in Scripture.
IV. The purpose of
God is REPLETE WITH LOVE AND TENDERNESS. The sovereign purpose of God, properly
speaking, involves nothing but good. Evil is to be traced to another source.
But what does it comprise chiefly? A Saviour. We were suffered to fall into the
deepest guilt, that God might display His glory to the utmost in our salvation.
(W. Howels.)
God’s purposes must be fulfilled
The wheels in a watch or a clock move contrary one to another,
someone way, and some another, yet all serve the intent of the workman, to show
the time, or to make the clock to strike. So in the world the providence of God
may seem to run cross to His promises. One man takes this way, another runs
that way. Good men go one way, wicked men another. Yet all in conclusion
accomplish the will, and centre in the purpose of God, the great Creator of all
things. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)
Verses 29-32
Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina
Philistia
Philistia was the southwest coast of the land of Canaan, to the
whole of which it afterwards gave its name in the Greek form of Palestine, and
was nominally included in the tribe of Judah.
It was originally inhabited by the Avites, who were expelled by the Caphtorim,
a race of Egyptian origin, but supposed to have come immediately from Crete or
Cyprus, and who, under the name of Philistines, continued as a distinct, and
for the most part independent nation, in spite of the efforts of Israel to
subdue them. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
The Philistines
The Philistines were very formidable enemies to Israel in the days
of Samuel and of Saul. The strong kings, David, Solomon, and Jehoshaphat, kept
them in subjection, but in the days of Jehoram they invaded Judah 2 Samuel 5:17-25; 2 Samuel 21:15; 2 Chronicles 17:11; 2 Chronicles 21:16-17). Uzziah again
repressed them, and crippled their power, dismantling their walled cities, and
building fortresses of his own to command them (2 Chronicles 26:6-7); and no doubt
they continued tributary during the still vigorous government of his successor
Jotham. But during the weak reign of Ahaz, they “invaded the cities of the low
country, and of the south of Judah”; and not only invaded, but settled
themselves in them and their neighbouring villages (2 Chronicles 28:18): and to this
state of things Isaiah addresses himself in this prophecy. (Sir E. Strachey,
Bart.)
The rod of the taskmaster
The rod of the taskmaster is Isaiah’s frequent image for the control
of a dependent and tributary nation: all Philistia had rejoiced when the rod of
David and of Uzziah fell broken from the hands of Ahaz, and expressed their joy
by wasting or taking possession of their former master’s lands; but Isaiah
warns them that the old root of Israel, which from the days of Samson had sent
forth many a rod with a serpent’s life like the rod of Moses, would soon again
produce a basilisk with its royal crest, its inevitable spring, and its mortal
bite, to take vengeance on his enemies. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
Hezekiah and the Messiah
The basilisk is Hezekiah, and the flying dragon is the Messiah
(such is the explanation of the Targum); or, what is the same thing, the former
is the Davidic kingdom of the immediate future, and the latter the Davidic
kingdom of the ultimate future. The figure may appear inappropriate, because
the serpent is a symbol of evil; but it is not a symbol merely of creaturely
evil, but also of the Divine curse; the curse, however, is the energy of penal
justice, and as the executor of this justice as a judgment of God on Philistia,
the Davidic king is here called a serpent in a climax rising through three
stages. Perhaps the choice of the figure was suggested by Genesis 49:17; for the saying concerning
Dan was fulfilled in Samson the Danite, the sworn enemy of the Philistines. (F.
Delitzsch.)
The law of conquests and exterminations
If the spread of civilisation, knowledge, justice, virtue,
religion, and whatever else distinguishes men from beasts, is a good and not an
evil, then it is good for men to use all the means which are really necessary
to effect that end, even though some of them be never so rough and unpleasing;
and it is not less base in public than in private morals to shrink from the
responsibility of ourselves doing that which we know it is good to have done.
If a weak, effeminate, degenerate nation can be improved by subjection to a
stronger, manlier, more virtuous nation, then it is not only the right but the
duty of the latter to bring it into subjection, whenever the indications of
God’s providence, be they of peace or war, show that the time has come. And if
the nation is not merely degenerate but hopelessly corrupt, then it is not only
the right but the duty of some worthier nation to destroy it, and rid the world
of its abominations. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
The Gospel a means of national salvation
The Gospel has given to us, in modem Christendom, means of
reclaiming nations who would have been irreclaimable by any measures which
Greeks or Romans or even Jews could apply; and we are bound to act with
corresponding gentleness and forbearance. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
“The first born of the poor”
(Isaiah 14:30) seems to be a Hebrew idiom
for the “really, eminently poor,” like that of “Son of Man” to express the man.
Or the prophet may mean that the first of the next generation, the children of
the present depressed Israelites, shall he delivered from the miseries which
the Philistines are now inflicting on their fathers. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
Verse 32
What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation?
--
God’s work in founding Zion
The kingdom of Judah was low and broken; foreign invasions and
intestine divisions had made it so. In this state of things God takes notice of
the joy and triumphing of the Philistines. To take them off from their pride
and boasting He lets them know that from the people whom they despised their
desolation was at hand, though they seemed to be perplexed and forsaken for a
season (Isaiah 14:29-31).
I. There is AN
INQUIRY. “What shall one answer,” etc. They come to make inquiry after the work
of God among His people, and it is fit that an answer be given to them. Two
things are observable in this interrogation.
1. The nations about will be diligently inquiring after God’s
dispensations among His people. There are certain affections and principles
that are active in the nations, that will make them restless, and always put
them upon this inquiry. The people of God, on one account or other, shall be in
all seasons a separated people. No sooner, then, is any people, or portion of
them, thus dedicated to God, but all the nations about, and those amongst them
not engaged in the same way with them, instantly look on them as utterly
severed from them, having other ways, ends, and interests than they; being
built up wholly on another account and foundation. They reckon not of them as a
people and a nation. The conclusion they make concerning them is, that of Haman
(Esther 3:8).
2. The issues of God’s dispensations amongst His people shall be so
evident and glorious, that everyone, anyone, though never so weak, if not
blinded by prejudice, shall be able to give a convincing answer concerning them
to the inquiries of men.
II. THERE IS THE
RESOLUTION GIVEN OF THE INQUIRY. Hereof are two parts--
1. The great design of God in His mighty works and dispensations is
the establishment of His people, and their proper interest, in their several
generations. To make this clear some few things are previously to be
considered--
2. It is the duty of God’s preserved remnant, laying aside all other
aims and contrivances, to betake themselves to the work of God, founding Zion,
and preserving the common interest of His people. “God hath founded Zion, and
the poor of the people shall trust therein,” or betake themselves unto it. We
are apt to wander on hills and mountains, everyone walking in the imagination
of his own heart, forgetting our resting place. When God was bringing the power
of the Babylonian upon His people, the prophet Jeremiah could neither persuade
the whole nation to submit to his government, nor many individuals among them
to fall to him in particular. And when the time of their deliverance from that
captivity was accomplished, how hardly were they persuaded to embrace the
liberty tendered! (J. Owen, D. D.)
God’s care for His people
1. The great things God doth for His people are, and cannot but be,
taken notice of by their neighbours (Psalms 126:2).
2. Messengers will be sent to inquire concerning them. Jacob and
Israel have long been a people distinguished from all others, and dignified
with uncommon favours; and therefore, some for goodwill, others for ill-will,
and all for curiosity, are inquisitive concerning them.
3. It concerns us always to be ready to “give a reason of the hope”
that we have in the providence of God, as well as in His grace, in answer to
everyone that asks it, “with meekness and fear.”
4. The issue of God’s dealings with His people shall be so manifestly
glorious that anyone, everyone, shall be able to give an account of them to
those that inquire concerning them. (M. Henry.)
The Church founded for a refuge
At first sight the prediction which closes the fourteenth chapter
of Isaiah seems of temporary interest only, and to speak of judgments which
within a very few years were destined to fall upon one of the most inveterate
enemies of God’s ancient people; and yet I cannot but think those commentators
right who, following the opinion of divers of the fathers of the Church, have
found in the passage an allusion to the Gospel and Church of Christ.
I. That the prophecy
would be one of PRESSING AND IMMEDIATE INTEREST TO THE CONTEMPORARIES OF THE
PROPHET is obvious from the manner in which it is ushered in: “In the year that
King Ahaz died was this burden” (or, as we should nowadays say, this
denunciation of wrath) against the Philistines. After bidding the inhabitants
of Palestine howl for the judgments that were impending, Isaiah, speaking as he
was moved by the Holy Ghost, makes the inquiry and gives the answer of the
text. It was usual for neighbouring nations, who were friends and allies, to
send ambassadors, and congratulate each other on success. When, therefore, the
coming triumph over the Philistines should be known abroad, and the envoys of
friendly states should inquire of Judah into the circumstances of his success,
“let this answer,” said the prophet, “suffice: that the Lord hath founded Zion,
and the poor of His people shall trust in it.”
II. No one can read
that promise and not feel that it was INTENDED TO HAVE AN AMPLER SCOPE for its
fulfilment than in the personal security of a handful of Jewish peasants; the
whole turn of expression is redolent of Gospel times. Such words were never
fully verified till Christ, the Son of David, had founded the Christian Church,
and made His gracious offer to a world enslaved in the most cruel of all
bondage: “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.” (F. E.Paget, D. D.)
The Church’s heavenly origin and beneficent mission
I. “The Lord hath
founded Zion”; THIS IS THE GUARANTEE OF HIS LOVE AND HER STABILITY. The
strongest, most fundamental title of protection is creation. Even among
ourselves, no one frames an object to destroy it; he who makes, makes that he
may preserve. And if this be so in human nature, shall there be nothing to compare
with it in the Divine? God, indeed, who is eternal, can require no successor to
whom to devise His purposes of love; but all the claims that the thing framed
can have on Him who framed it, hold with tenfold force when the object is not,
as in our humbler works, the mere apposition of pre-existing materials, in
which nothing is ours except the order of arrangement, but is itself, alike in
matter and in form, the direct offspring of His own inexhaustible power and
goodness.
1. Behold, then, how as His own “God loved the world”; how as not
only His own, but His own in pain and anguish, and endeared to His inmost heart
as such, God hath loved His Church. He spoke to bid the one, He died to make
the other, exist.
2. In this Church of His is His own honour pledged. He hath not
covenanted with the world that now is to immortalise it; but He has passed His
own word for the perpetuity of His Church. Nothing so framed was ever framed to
perish; He has infused into it His own Spirit, and His Spirit is life.
3. Is not the Church in its ultimate perfection set forth as the very
reward of all the sorrows of its Lord; and shall He be defrauded of His
recompense?
4. There is more than creation to bind the Church to Christ, more
than promise, more than reward; there is communion, oneness, identification. A
man may desert his child; he cannot desert himself. With such a union there can
be no separation; if Christ be immortal, the Church is so; when He dies she
shall perish, but not till then.
II. “The poor of
her people shall trust in it”--or, as the margin has it, shall betake
themselves unto it: THIS IS ONE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH’S MISSION UPON EARTH--the
care, the teaching, the education, the guidance of the poor. (W. Archer
Butler, D. D.)
God the Protector of His Church
We tell our Lord God that if He will have His Church, He must keep
it Himself, for we cannot do it; and it is well for us that we cannot, else we
should be the proudest asses under heaven (M. Luther.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》