Isaiah 1–5

The title... gives unity to the entire collection, unlike the particular dates found in Isaiah 6:1; 7:1; 14:28; 20:1. In keeping with all this, the first chapter is more general in character than any other in the book. With deep feeling it charges the people, the capital and the sanctuary with the worst ingratitude.

The word translated "prophet" in the Old Testament comes from a word meaning "bubbling or pouring forth." It points to God's action in inspiring him. "Seer" points to the vision that marked such a man out. The meaning this word carries in Scripture rises far above its ordinary use among the nations, just as the living and true God rises above the demons. Those demons worked behind the idols that the nations worshipped and their prophets interpreted.

Intuition, as the word is normally used, does not mean the same thing as "vision" in the prophets. Did Nahum pour out the burden of Nineveh by intuition? Did Isaiah give his predictions about God's people and the nations by intuition?

We know very little about his personal life. Jewish tradition claims he was related to King Uzziah. He must have come from a leading family, since he could go in freely before the kings of Judah, Ahaz and Hezekiah, and likely the others too. The book tells us he was married. He had two sons who bore prophetic names. The first was Shear-Jashub ("a remnant shall return"), which showed that God would leave a remnant of His people. The second was Maher-shalal-hash-baz, which means "hurrying to the spoil, rushing to the prey" — a prophecy of the coming, threatening invasion by Assyria.

The name Isaiah means "Jehovah saves" or "Jehovah is salvation." He has rightly been called the prophet of the gospel. The New Testament quotes this great book directly, and hints at it, more often than any other prophetic book.

Some people say that the prophet Isaiah is full of the Church of God... But to give even a shadow of proof for this, they take "Jerusalem" to mean the Church, the "house of David" to mean the Church, "Zion" to mean the Church, and I don't know what else to mean the Church. As far as I can see, they have no authority at all for doing so. But the book of Isaiah is headed with the words "concerning Judah and Jerusalem." So while the Holy Spirit, in writing the Scriptures, may weave in most precious truths that we can now take up and use for our own building up, it is clear that the plain teaching of these Scriptures refers to the nation and people of Israel, and not to the Church of God.

Chapter 1:1 tells us Isaiah's vision concerns Judah and Jerusalem. Since Jerusalem is the true capital of all the tribes, God brushes aside the division that had happened. Again and again He prophesies of Israel's glory — and Israel here covers the whole twelve tribes.

The first verse shows that Isaiah's ministry was in the southern kingdom and ran through four reigns. Three of the kings named did mostly what was right, and one of them stood out. Only one — Ahaz — turned aside and did evil. Yet the prophet's opening words reveal a sad state of departure and rebellion among the people... They were sinful and marked by iniquity, evil-doing, corruption and alienation. All this went on while God-fearing kings were on the throne.

The prophets all alike spoke with the highest authority. Take the first of them: "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken" (Isa. 1:2).

So Moses, who gave the law, called the heavens and the earth to listen in his song (Deut. 32:1). He proclaimed the name of Jehovah. He also set before the people a searching look into the future, which by divine power took in the failure and ruin of Israel… Here it is the dark picture of their sins. What a protest from God and for God! Heaven and earth are summoned to hear the complaint against His people.

Moses began his song by calling heaven and earth to hear the words of his mouth. What he was about to say concerned indeed heaven and earth. Isaiah too began his book with the same call (Isa. 1:2).

As a nation, God gave special care to His people Israel. He nourished them and protected them. He disciplined them for their sins, and forgave them when they turned back to Him. Despite all God's goodness and care, Israel rebelled against His authority and worshipped idols… All people are God's offspring (Acts 17:29), since we all come from Adam, into whom God breathed the breath of life. But that is very different from the new birth, which brings us into God's family as His children.

The opening appeal of the prophet is to the conscience. Every reader can see it. Through Isaiah, Jehovah charges His people with ungrateful, enormous, and lasting rebellion. It is all the worse because the charge is plainly general… True, no one can point to one particular period, or to one outbreak of unusually vicious evil. Even that, however sad, would not be as hopeless as a settled state of alienation.

Three of the kings mentioned did mostly what was right, and one of them stood out. Only one — Ahaz — turned aside and did evil. Yet the prophet's opening words reveal a sad state of departure and rebellion among the people… They were sinful and marked by iniquity, evil-doing, corruption, and alienation. All this went on while God-fearing kings were on the throne.

The very first words of Isaiah's prophecy were, "The LORD has spoken: 'Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me.'" So then, Jehovah had taken the place of Father to Israel. The prophet's faith counted on that, and he based his appeal on it.

He has a Father's heart, He knows what it is to bring up children; as we read in Isaiah 1:2: "Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me." He knows every feeling that stirs a parent's heart.

So the law-giver in his song (Deuteronomy 32:1) called the heavens and the earth to give ear, as he proclaimed the name of the LORD. … Heaven and earth are summoned to hear the complaint against His people. The dullest of their own beasts of burden put them to shame. God's correction did as little good as His gracious training.

Isaiah 1:3 was addressed to a people of pastoral habits. It was not yet the day of great manufacturing cities. Every man owned oxen and donkeys. So the LORD tells His people to go to their own stockyards and learn a lesson there. "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand." These are not the most intelligent farm animals. Even so, they are a rebuke to man.

These beasts at least know who they belong to. Man does not: in the stupidity of his unbelief he fails to see that his owner and master is God.

The donkey knows who feeds it, "but my people do not understand." The beast knows whose hand its good things come from, but not man! Yet, as Paul told the men of Lystra in Acts 14:17, God has never left Himself without witness. He has done men good, giving rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling men's hearts with food and gladness. But do men acknowledge His hand? … If men fail to own God in His lesser gifts, what is their attitude toward the overwhelming gift of His Son? Is Christ valued?

"Israel does not know, my people do not understand," is the LORD's weighty conclusion. When it comes to grateful recognition of the hand that fed them, He finds the children of His covenant lower than the beasts that perish (Isaiah 1). … He tests hearts. He saw that they did not really know Him just as clearly when they were diligently waiting in His courts as when they openly paraded their shame. … This national ignorance reached its lowest depth when, not knowing what they did, they crucified the Son of God. … Yet God has promised and provided this for the house of Israel and the house of Judah: in the days to come, all that nation, from the smallest to the greatest, shall truly know the LORD.

Isaiah, in his day, said, "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know." That word might now be said with far greater emphasis. Jesus the Son of God was among them. Did they know Him? They did not. They had not the sense of a donkey!

Everyone who reads Isaiah can see that through him the LORD charges His people with ungrateful, huge, and lasting rebellion. It is all the worse because the charge is plainly general... True, no one can point to one particular period, or to one outbreak of unusually vicious sin. But even that, however sad, would not be as hopeless as a settled state of alienation. Their corruption went hand in hand with the contempt they showed to Him Who had always watched over them with a patience and tender mercy as perfect as His righteousness.

As a nation, God gave His people Israel special care. He nourished and protected them, disciplined them for their sins, and forgave them when they turned to Him in repentance. Despite all God's goodness and care, Israel rebelled against His authority and gave their worship to idols. They were "offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly" (verse 4). These are plainly not the marks of true children of God, of those who are born of God and belong to His family.

The name "Holy One of Israel" implies that the God of Israel is completely separated from all evil, for His eyes are too pure to look at evil. The seraphim say the same when they call out before His throne: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts."

Isaiah calls Him "the Holy One of Israel" all through the book. This title of the Lord, who deals with His people in judgment and in mercy, appears twenty-five times in Isaiah... The Holy One of Israel is the LORD; He is the Redeemer of His people. "Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—is the Holy One of Israel" (47:4).

In Isaiah's day we hear the sigh of Israel's God... The foolish people threw away all they enjoyed in the golden days of Solomon, so that they might "enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin."

Do not think, dear reader, that all this was written only as the history of one unusually corrupt people. Oh no; by it God wants to show us what the human heart is — my heart, your heart — even when God has poured out all His care on us. The human heart is completely corrupt; good does not exist in it; and so it is impossible to get any good out of it.

The first chapter gives a true picture of Israel as a sinful nation, weighed down with sin (Isa. 1:4). Despite all their sins, God will step in to purge away their dross and take away all their sin: "Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness" (Isa. 1:25-27).

The opening appeal of the prophet is to the conscience. No reader can avoid seeing that through Isaiah the Lord charges His people with ungrateful, enormous, and persistent rebellion. It is all the more terrible because it is plainly general... In themselves they were hopelessly evil... One outbreak of unusually vicious evil, however sad, would not be as desperate as a continuous state of alienation. Their corruption went hand in hand with contempt for Him. He had always watched over them with a patience and tender mercy as perfect as His righteousness. Yet each time He disciplined them, they revolted more.

The dullest of their own beasts of burden put them to shame. God's chastenings were as useless as His gracious training. The nation as a body was diseased and repulsive from head to foot. Medicine and treatment were completely ignored.

Long before, the Spirit of God had made known the leprous condition of the people... This describes the leper perfectly: wounds, bruises and sores, as he wanders as an outcast toward even greater suffering. Here then Israel's Messiah, the same who spoke in Exodus, "I am the Lord, your Healer," meets His poor, unclean people.

The Holy Spirit is dealing with the question of sin, that evil nature which belongs to the whole race of Adam. Sin does not affect us only in part... The cross has brought this fully to light. Before the cross the Lord could give the law its full moral force as forbidding certain acts... but the cross has shown that man's whole condition is sinful. Who can read words like "Away with this Man!" and "Crucify Him!" and not feel that the cross brought out the true nature of sin as the law never could?

The creature that has proved itself able to withstand such arguments and persuasions as these cases show, has proved itself to be beyond the reach of all moral influence. Hell itself would not cure him or deter him. Man is incorrigible and incurable. Again, we may say with Isaiah, "Why should you be stricken any more? you will revolt more and more." Sovereign grace and power must come in. If God does not have a seed, it will all be Sodom.

God's chastenings were as useless as His gracious training. The whole nation was diseased and loathsome from head to foot. No one gave it medicine or treatment.

Isaiah 1 begins with a testimony to the sad condition of the people. They were all wounds and corruption. It was useless to chastise them any more. Their ceremonies were an abomination to Jehovah. He desired righteousness. Still, the prophecy calls the people to repentance, and promises that blessing will follow it.

People applied it to wounds or bruises to soothe them. Isa. 1:6.

Israel felt nothing of their loathsome wounds and fatal disease, which came from the hand of Him who loved them. Their callous indifference treated His readiness to heal as nothing.

Suppose there had been one string in man's fallen nature that could have answered to God's touch. He would have developed eternal harmonies out of that string. Suppose there had been any fibre in what is born of the flesh that was untainted and holy and subject to the will of God. In that fibre there would have been a basis of life, and God's cultivation would have grown it into a glorious kingdom for Him. But there was none.

You don't like it, but the fact remains, you are a poor, loathsome leper in God's sight. You don't believe it; that does not alter the fact. From the crown of your head to the soles of your feet there is not one sound spot about you.

Here is a helpless man with nothing to commend him. He has no power even to resist. "But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine." That is the way of the Lord's love to the needy one. He saw what man was in himself, and it brought Him to the cross. He came to bring life and comfort to the needy on earth, pouring oil and wine into our death wounds, and recovering us from our lost condition. The needy one is cured where he suffered.

Our Lord's words in Luke 5:31-32 are familiar to all: "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Man is here shown to be both diseased and guilty. As the first, he needs healing; as the second, he needs pardon. The Son of God is both Physician and Saviour, and besides Him there is no other.

The nation as a body was diseased and sickening from head to foot, and no one gave it any treatment. Country and town were a waste and a scene of destruction. Strangers ate up the ground. The daughter of Zion no longer enjoyed that holy fortress. She was left in distress and alone, like a city under siege.

Look at famine in that land which the Lord had promised would flow with milk and honey for His chosen people! But this was sure proof that His chosen people had been unfaithful. So all this evil state — the sorrows of the land and the captivity of her children — shows Israel as they now are, suffering for their unfaithfulness under the righteous displeasure of the Lord. Their cities are ruined and empty of people. The land is completely desolate. The Lord has removed her children far away, and there is a great forsaking in the middle of the land. Only one reason explains their sorrows in every period.

All this had brought upon them the heavy hand of God in discipline and disaster, yet without any reforming effect, as verses 5-9 show. Vivid word pictures bring home to the people their terrible state.

We never find that God's dealings in judgment change people for the better. In Egypt God dealt with Pharaoh, increasing the severity of His strokes. Was his heart softened? No, it was hardened.

In Deuteronomy 28 Moses warns Israel in great detail and with great seriousness. If they would not listen to His voice, the Lord would send curses on them. Those curses would consume Israel off the land and chase them elsewhere, so that they became a horror, a proverb and a byword among all nations. In Deuteronomy 29 Moses pictures all the nations asking why the Lord had made the holy land such a waste, and why the anger was so fierce. The answer is this: Israel abandoned the covenant of the Lord for false gods, so the curse fell, and He uprooted them from their land in great anger.

Cities would be ruined and the place of worship destroyed. The land would become so desolate that even their enemies would be shocked. The people of Israel would be scattered among the nations. They would not lose their identity, but they would be persecuted without mercy wherever they went. All this has taken place.

Though He struck them, they were only hardened, and rebelled more and more. Outward disasters achieved nothing. He had allowed things to go so far that only His mercy held back a destruction as merciless as the one that fell on the doomed cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. How very few were left!

This is always God's way. Again and again in the past He had kept a small remnant for Himself while most people turned away. He has done so through the church's history. He is doing so today.

Still, the people are called to repentance, and promised that blessing would follow it. That is the place prophecy gives them. But God knew the people: they and their rulers were wicked and corrupt. So God declares what will happen. He will carry out judgment, and so cleanse the people and set up blessing again. Two great principles are laid down. Blessing is offered on repentance; but in fact blessing will be brought in by judgment.

It grieved the LORD at His heart to see how great man's wickedness was in the earth, and to wipe him off the face of the ground. What was it now for Him to give up like this on the chosen people, full of disease and wounds? For though He struck them, they were only hardened, and rebelled more and more. Outward disasters failed completely. Yet He had let matters go so far that only His mercy held back destruction. It would have been as complete as the destruction that fell on the doomed cities, Sodom and Gomorrah. How very small the remnant!

It rests on this: man cannot be corrected. Man may smart and cry out under the rod, but he goes back to his badness again and again. The book of Judges illustrates this. And Isaiah 1 shows us that the idea of a remnant, as I have said, comes out of this. For the prophet there tells us that those brought up as loved children had rebelled. Afterwards, punished as disobedient children, they refused to repent. They were incorrigible. Whether played happy music or sad, they had no answer. And on this the Lord has only to act on the sovereignty of grace, or on the principle of a remnant.

We do not meet with this name until 1 Samuel 1:3. It came in with prophetic testimony, faith taking hold of the LORD's glory when Israel had corrupted themselves and were in a weak and low state. … The same title occurs in the New Testament as the LORD OF SABAOTH, Romans 9:29 (in a quotation from Isaiah 1:9), and James 5:4.

Verse 29 [of Romans 9] quotes an earlier prophecy of Isaiah — from Isaiah 1:9, confirming the truth of mercy for a remnant only. Here "a seed" is spoken of — a small part. The verse quoted uses the term "a very small remnant." If the Lord had not preserved this feeble seed, Israel's destruction would have been as complete as that of Sodom and Gomorrah.

The true Israel, or the Israel of God, has at all times been only a remnant inside a nation that had turned away. And the true Israel will still be only a remnant when Israel becomes a nation again, settled once more in the land of their fathers. This last remnant will become the seed of the future nation, the "all Israel," which is to be saved (Romans 11:26). As it is written, "The least one shall become a clan, and the smallest one a mighty nation."

Verse 9 reveals that only a small remnant existed that God could recognise. Had that remnant not been there, a judgment like that of Sodom and Gomorrah would have fallen on them. This is always God's way. Again and again in the past He had kept a small remnant for Himself in the middle of general departure. He has done so through the church's history. He is doing so today.

The chosen people were meant and bound to displace the nations that the land spat out because of their abominations. So no figure could cut deeper than the one that traces the origin and birth of Jerusalem to Canaan, with the Amorite for a father and the Hittite for a mother. It is of course moral, not historical: so Isaiah branded the rulers as "of Sodom," and the people as "of Gomorrah."

Scripture treats Sodom as a symbol of wickedness. Isaiah calls the heads of Judah the "rulers of Sodom." … The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah stands as a warning to sinners of judgments to come. It was both sudden and complete.

As to Israel, they were more guilty than the heathen, as bad as the worst. So it is no longer the doom, but the abominations of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Only the mercy of the LORD kept them from the doom of Sodom. In character they were already Sodom. So their sacrifices, feasts and assemblies were all the more hateful to Him. He felt that their feet profaned His courts, and He refused to hear their many prayers.

Verse 10 has a solemn voice for us. The prophet compares the religious leaders of his day to the rulers and people of those wicked cities God destroyed centuries before. We say religious leaders because of the verses that follow. There they and the people keep the ritual of Judaism with zeal and exact care. What were they doing? They were offering sacrifices and burnt offerings. They brought offerings and incense. They kept new moons, sabbaths, appointed feasts and assemblies, and spread out their hands with many prayers. Were these things not right, as ordered through Moses? Yes, they were. Yet God declared all of it a weariness to Him and detestable in His sight. As verses 16 and 17 show, their careful ritual was only a decent outside covering a mass of moral evil and uncleanness. This state of things later grew into the religion of the Pharisees, which our Lord denounced so sharply.

There was much piety according to the world. They kept up a round of religious forms to worship God. They never noticed the lack of life, faithfulness and purity that marked them (v. 10–13). Having a form of godliness, they had denied its power. … The multitude of sacrifices did not make their ways true in relation to God. So the very things God had set up or commanded became things He hated in their hands. The reason was that the conscience of His people did not match His mind.

Yet the LORD stoops to call them to repentance and to the fruits that suit it. … God can tolerate iniquity nowhere, least of all in His people. They must therefore stop doing evil and learn to do good, showing it in the ways of ordinary life. But He adds with it a gracious invitation that He and they should reason together. They would soon find where the fault lay, and who has the grace that is willing to wash the foulest clean.

Verse 10 has a solemn voice to us. The prophet compares the religious leaders of his day to the rulers and people of wicked cities long since destroyed. We say "religious leaders" because of the verses that follow. There the leaders and the people keep the ritual of Judaism with zeal and exactness. What were they doing? They were offering sacrifices and burnt offerings. They brought offerings and incense. They kept new moons, sabbaths, appointed feasts and assemblies, and spread out their hands with many prayers. Were not these things right, as ordered through Moses? Yes, they were. Yet God called all this a weariness to Him, and hateful in His sight. Verses 16 and 17 show why. Their ceremonial exactness was only a decent outside, covering a mass of moral evil and uncleanness.

Isaiah names the animals — rams, bulls, lambs and goats. In the original Hebrew all these names are masculine. Under the Mosaic Law, only the males were lawful for burnt offerings.

God says the same thing again and again in the prophets — the negative side. In Isaiah we have the added thought of a mere empty ritual, an outward form with no piety or devotedness in it. He says, "I do not delight in the blood of bulls." That was because those who brought them had no faith or piety.

They did not lack religious zeal. They did look for a remedy for the obvious troubles of their day. But their remedies were worse than useless. Divine privileges only made their moral state more alarming and unbearable. Only the LORD's mercy kept them back from the doom of Sodom. In moral character they were already Sodom. So their sacrifices, feasts and assemblies were all the more hateful to Him. He felt that their feet profaned His courts, and He refused to hear their many prayers. There was no real repentance and no trembling at His word. Their religion was only a veil over utter, shameless wickedness.

Yet in those countless altars and sacrifices God had no pleasure. He had no pleasure in Israel's offerings because of the character of those who brought them. Their hearts were not sincere. But the great, the basic reason for God's displeasure was this: the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin… Then why were they offered? They were a shadow of good things to come, and they filled up the period of waiting until the Substance appeared. The substance is Christ; it was to Him that all these ancient sacrifices pointed.

Yet the LORD stoops to call them to repentance, and to the fruit that fits it… God will put up with evil nowhere, least of all in His people. They must therefore stop doing evil and learn to do good, proving it in the ways of ordinary life. But He adds a gracious invitation that He and they should reason together. Soon they would find where the fault lay, and with whom is the grace that is willing to wash the foulest clean.

Does the Lord like a correct form and fine outward worship any better, if the heart is away from God? What if the hands are unclean with sin and the feet are not walking in the truth? The Lord says plainly, "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22).

When Isaiah says, "I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats" — in the original the names of the animals are all masculine. That is because the law of Moses allowed only males for burnt offerings. In the next verse, "When you come to appear before me," he uses the language of Exodus 34:24, about the three great feasts.

They did not lack religious zeal. They even looked for a remedy for the obvious troubles of their day. But their remedies were worse than useless. Their divine privileges only made their moral state more shocking and unbearable. Only the Lord's mercy kept them from the doom of Sodom; morally they were Sodom already. So their sacrifices, feasts, and assemblies were all the more hateful to Him. He felt that their feet profaned His courts, and He refused to hear their many prayers. There was no real repentance, no trembling at His word, but a religious veil thrown over utter and shameless wickedness.

The verses that follow show that the religious leaders and the people were zealous and exact observers of the ritual of Judaism. What were they doing? They were offering sacrifices and burnt offerings. They brought grain offerings and incense. They kept new moons, sabbaths, appointed feasts and assemblies, and spread out their hands in many prayers. Were not these things right, as ordered through Moses? Yes, they were. Yet God declared all of it a weariness to Him and an abomination in His sight. As verses 16 and 17 reveal, their exact ritual was only a decent outside covering a mass of moral evil and uncleanness.

There was much piety of a worldly kind. They kept up a round of religious forms to render worship to God, without noticing the lack of life, of faithfulness, and of purity that marked them. Having a show of godliness they had denied its power. They made long prayers at the street corners, but their conscience was not right with God. There was a moral blindness before the judicial blindness. Their many sacrifices did not make their ways true before God. So the very things God had set up and commanded became, in their hands, things He hated, because the conscience of His people was not in line with His mind.

Right ways in practical life are the garments that must first clothe those who are to be worshippers. The removal of evil and the pursuit of righteousness must mark those who offer their gifts to God. The fine white linen the priests wear for service is the symbol of this. Where obedience and practical righteousness are missing, God takes no pleasure in outward observance and lip worship. He desires mercy and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Do you think the Lord likes a correct form and fine outward worship any better, if the heart is away from God? What if the hands are defiled with sin, and the feet are not walking in the truth? The Lord says plainly, "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams." We hear people say, "You worship your way, and I worship mine; we all have a right to our own opinions." This is exactly what we do not have.

They were offering sacrifices and burnt offerings. They were bringing grain offerings and incense. They were keeping new moons, sabbaths, appointed feasts and assemblies, and spreading out their hands in many prayers. Were not these things right, as ordered through Moses? Yes, they were. Yet God called all of it a weariness to Him and an abomination in His sight. The reason was simple: their exact ritual was only a respectable outside, covering a mass of moral evil and uncleanness.

Isaiah not only refers to several Mosaic precepts, but shows the same exact knowledge. He puts the grain offering together with incense, because the grain offering required incense. See Leviticus 2:1, 16, and Leviticus 6:14-15. Next to new moons and sabbaths he mentions the calling of assemblies, or holy convocations. These convocations took place at those times, and at the great feasts too. See the whole of the twenty-third chapter of Leviticus.

The word "abomination" is used in the Old Testament for any iniquity as a holy God sees it. It also marks out what was unfit to be brought into the service of God — an animal with any kind of blemish offered as a sacrifice, for example. The service God had appointed became an abomination to Him when it sank into mere outward observance, or when it went along with iniquity. Isaiah 1:13; Proverbs 28:9.

Only Jehovah's mercy kept them back from the doom of Sodom. Morally they were already Sodom. So their sacrifices, feasts, and assemblies were all the more hateful to Jehovah. He felt that their feet profaned His courts, and He refused to hear their many prayers. There was no real repentance, no trembling at His word, only a religious veil over utter and shameless iniquity.

They kept up a round of religious forms to worship God, and never saw how little life, faithfulness, and purity marked them. They had a show of godliness, but they had denied its power... There was a moral blindness before the judicial blindness... The very things God had set up or commanded became, in their hands, things He hated. The reason: the conscience of His people did not match His mind.

God can tolerate iniquity nowhere, least of all in His people. They must therefore cease from evil and learn to do well, proving it in ways of ordinary life. But He adds a gracious invitation that He and they should reason together. They would soon find where the fault lay, and with whom is the grace that is willing to wash the foulest clean.

We go, no doubt, week by week to the meetings. We sing our hymns, we read out of the Bible, we say our "Amen" at the end of each prayer — but is there any more heart in it than in the time of Malachi? "Bring no more vain oblations," although addressed to Judah in the days of Isaiah, could well be the message to many of us today.

The religious leaders and the people were zealous and exact observers of the ritual of Judaism. What were they doing? They were offering sacrifices and burnt offerings, bringing offerings and incense, observing new moons, sabbaths, appointed feasts and assemblies, spreading out their hands with many prayers. Were not these things right, as ordered through Moses? Yes, they were. Yet God declared all this a weariness to Him and hateful in His sight. As verses 16 and 17 show, their exact ceremony was only a decent exterior covering a mass of moral evil and uncleanness.

There was much piety of a worldly kind. They kept up a round of religious forms to worship God. They never noticed the lack of life, faithfulness and purity that marked them (v. 10-13). Having a show of godliness they had denied its power... There was a moral blindness before the judicial blindness... The multitude of sacrifices did not make their ways true in relation to God. So (v. 14, 15) the very things God had set up or commanded became in their hands things He hated, because the conscience in His people was not according to His mind.

There was no lack of zeal in religion. They did look for a remedy for the obvious troubles of their day, but their remedies were worse than useless. Divine privileges only made their moral state more alarming and intolerable... their sacrifices, feasts, and assemblies were all the more hateful to Jehovah. He felt that their tread defiled His courts, and He refused to hear their many prayers. There was no real repentance, no trembling at His word. There was only a religious veil over open, shameless wickedness.

In the Gospel of John, chapter 2:13, we read of the Passover, the first of "the feasts of Jehovah." But here it is not called the "Feast of Jehovah." It is "the Jews' Passover." In chapter 7:2 we read, "The Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand." "The Feasts of Jehovah" have become the "Feasts of the Jews." The outward form was there, but the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son, had been rejected. What joy could God have in empty forms?

Why was this? Was it not because the people kept the feasts in a formal, empty way, while they were defiled with sin and going on with evil?... Does the Lord like a correct form and fine outward worship any better, if the heart is away from God, the hands are defiled with sin, and the feet are not walking in the truth? The Lord says plainly, "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22).

"Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good." There is the weighty matter. Have a good conscience before God: if not, you make yourselves blind before God blinds you. God distinguishes between actions. One cannot learn to do good before ceasing from evil. One cannot have the light in the conscience without first leaving what wounds the conscience.

They were offering sacrifices and burnt offerings. They brought offerings and incense. They observed new moons, sabbaths, appointed feasts and assemblies, and spread out their hands with many prayers. Were not these things right, as ordered through Moses? Yes, they were. Yet God called all of it a weariness to Him and an abomination in His sight. The reason appears in verses 16 and 17: their ceremonial exactness was only a decent exterior covering a mass of moral evil and uncleanness.

They did not lack zeal in religion. They did look for a remedy for the clear problems of their day, but their remedies were worse than useless. Divine privileges only made their moral state more alarming and intolerable. Only Jehovah's mercy kept them from the doom of Sodom; morally they were Sodom already. So their sacrifices, feasts, and assemblies were all the more offensive to Him. He felt that their tread profaned His courts, and He refused to hear their many prayers. There was no real repentance, no trembling at His word, but a religious veil over utter and shameless wickedness.

Jehovah called the leaders of the people "rulers of Sodom," because of the corruption among them. Because of the violence He said, "your hands are full of blood."

"Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear." And what a picture follows in the verses just after! "For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity..."

And can God not intervene again in answer to the cries of His people? He can, blessed be His name... He has set a limit to the tides of evil, and it is our part to pray. And yet the question ought to be raised in many of our hearts as to whether we are ready and fit to pray.

But right moral condition still stands — "raising up holy hands, without anger and doubting," or perhaps "reasoning." The holiness meant here is godly integrity, not the holiness of a person set apart... A man who knew of evil in himself that he had not judged should not take so solemn a part, or any part, in the assembly.

Let us never forget one thing. With God, right moral condition matters far more than ceremonial exactness in Judaism, or even correct church procedure in Christianity. If careful church correctness encourages moral carelessness, it becomes an abomination to God.

Yet Jehovah stoops to call them to repentance and to the fruits that suit it. The language draws on the ceremonial washings so familiar to the Jews, but moral reality is the point... God can tolerate evil nowhere, least of all in His people. They must therefore stop doing evil and learn to do good, proving it in ordinary daily life. But He adds a gracious invitation that He and they should reason together. Soon they would find where the fault lay, and with whom is the grace that is willing to wash the foulest clean.

They had plenty of religious zeal. They also looked for a remedy for the obvious troubles of their day. But their remedies were worse than useless. Their divine privileges only made their moral state more shocking and unbearable. Apart from the Lord's mercy they were close to the doom of Sodom. Morally they were Sodom already. So their sacrifices, feasts, and assemblies were all the more hateful to the Lord. He felt their tread profaned His courts, and He refused to hear their many prayers. There was no real repentance and no trembling at His word — only a religious veil over open and shameless wickedness.

Yet the Lord still stoops to call them to repentance and to the fruits that suit it. The wording comes from the ceremonial washings so familiar to the Jews. But moral reality is the point, as the next words make plain. God can tolerate iniquity nowhere, least of all in His people. They must therefore stop doing evil and learn to do good, proving it in the ways of ordinary life. But He also adds a gracious invitation: that He and they should reason together. Then they would soon find where the fault lay, and with whom is the grace that is willing to wash the foulest clean.

One thing is certain. Ordinary water could never remove the defilement of the Jew, or the blood-guilt of the Gentile (Job 9:30-31). And God's appeal still goes out: "O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, so that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?" (Jer. 4:14). "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes" (Isa. 1:16)… But there can be no real national response until they look to Him whom they pierced. Then the Lord Himself will undertake their purification. He promised long ago: "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses" (Ezek. 36:25).

So the word is (vv. 16, 17): "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean … cease to do evil, learn to do good." There is the weighty matter. Have a good conscience before God: if not, you become blind of yourselves before you are blinded by God. God distinguishes between actions. No one can learn to do good before ceasing from evil. No one can have light in the conscience without first leaving what wounds the conscience.

Are you doing what you know to be wrong? Does anything tie you to what you admit is against Scripture? Then listen to the word of the Lord: "Cease to do evil." And be sure of this: once you obey this word, you will not stay in the dark about your path for long. It is sheer unbelief that makes us say, "I cannot cease to do evil until I find something better."

In the Old Testament God's people heard, "cease to do evil" and "learn to do good." In the New Testament we hear, "Abhor what is evil" and "hold fast to what is good," and the like (Isa. 1:16-17; Rom. 12:9). In Spirit-led, God-fearing souls these always go together. To rest in having separated from evil would be a real danger. It might soon lean toward greater evil, or end in cold and dry orthodoxy.

That is the serious matter. Have a good conscience before God. If you do not, you blind yourselves before God blinds you. God distinguishes between actions. No one can learn to do good before he stops doing evil. No one can have light in the conscience without first leaving what wounds the conscience.

Separation from evil is always insisted upon throughout the Bible. It is especially stressed as a prime necessity for the godly soul in days of ruin. By it one gives a visible proof of the activity of a divine nature that hates evil and loves good and desires to obey and honour the Lord. "Cease to do evil; learn to do well" (Isa. 1:16, 17); this is always God's order. The first step is to separate from evil and then God will teach that one His will and will show him the next step.

Study the prophets, the greater and the minor, and you will find that their ministry always had this one end. It was to bring the people into moral conformity with God. Because this was missing, the time came when even their sacrifices and feasts were an abomination. However carefully they tried to carry out the temple worship, God would not accept it. These are the terrible words from the lips of Isaiah, "Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates." Then he tells them what the Lord requires: "seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." Again, "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?" (Isa. 1 and 58).

God next commends the helpless to their hearts. Of all the helpless ones who appeal to our compassion, the widow and the fatherless surely have the first claim. So God surrounds them here with the powerful defence of His own arm. If anyone afflicted them, he would be killed, and his own wife and children would be left a widow and orphans. All through Scripture God marks out these two groups as the special object of His care, so they should be the object of our compassionate concern. So James says, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." (James 1:27.)

But this cared for, they must show Him also on His salvation side, in His regard for the poor, the weak, the defenceless, and the oppressed. "Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute." It must still be justice: pity for the poor must never violate it. There was a special commandment about this (Ex. 23:3). Yet his poverty should still make him an object of special and tender interest.

God can tolerate iniquity nowhere, least of all in His people. So they must cease from evil and learn to do well, proving it in the ways of ordinary life… In the earlier of these verses there is much that we can freely take to ourselves now. God's unchanging principle is to join repentance to faith, and to insist on suitable works and ways in everyone He draws to Himself. The words apply in a special way to believers who shirk responsibility and trifle with a clear conscience.

Yet Jehovah stoops to call them to repentance and to the fruits that match it. The wording clearly comes from the ceremonial washings the Jews knew so well, but moral reality is the point... God can tolerate iniquity nowhere, least of all in His people. They must therefore stop doing evil and learn to do good, showing it in the ways of ordinary life. But He adds a gracious invitation, that He and they should reason together... The call ends with His promise to help them if they were broken down and obedient. It ends too with His threat to devour them by the sword if they refused.

Notice too how "if" occurs in verses 19 and 20. The cleansing and blessing offered hinge upon obedience. To refuse and rebel brings judgment. Both the blessing and the judgment deal with matters of this life. The Old Testament says little about the life to come.

God's government of the world has Israel at its centre and its immediate sphere. But we have to remember that grace must have a part in this government, or it would not be the government of God. It would be nothing but judicial condemnation, with no possibility of blessing.

Under law, they failed to meet the conditions that their continued enjoyment of earthly blessing depended on. So they failed to keep hold of it, even when God had given it to them so fully, in Joshua's day and in Solomon's. In days to come, grace will restore and save them. They will stand in grace, no longer holding their blessings on the terms of their own obedience. Yet their blessings — the blessings that belong to their calling and position — will still be earthly.

Israel's inheritance depended on their conduct. If they were willing and obedient, they were to eat the good of the land. Do you think — does anyone here think — that his obedience could get him to heaven? Could it win him that inheritance which is reserved in heaven for believers? If he does, he is very greatly mistaken. In thinking that way he is not obeying God; he is only disobeying Him. The one who trusts his own obedience or faithfulness is not trusting Christ at all. He is not really believing the gospel.

Nothing could be plainer, and when a sinner feels his need of the Saviour and is ready to say "I will" to Him — to the Lord Jesus Christ — the great transaction is for ever done.

Notice too how "if" occurs in verses 19 and 20. The cleansing and blessing offered hinge on obedience. To refuse and rebel brings judgment. Both the blessing and the judgment concern this life, because the Old Testament says little about the life to come. Today's gospel preacher gladly and rightly uses these verses. Of course he points to the eternal results of accepting or refusing the offer, and he bases what he says on New Testament scripture.

But when Israel forgot the Lord and abandoned His precious commandments, the sky became like brass and the ground like iron. Barrenness, ruin, famine and misery were the sad companions of disobedience. How could it be otherwise? "If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land..."

They did not lack religious zeal. They did look for a cure for the clear problems of their day. But their cures were worse than useless. The privileges God gave them only made their moral state more alarming and unbearable. Only the Lord's mercy kept them from the doom of Sodom, yet morally they were already Sodom. So their sacrifices, feasts, and assemblies offended Him all the more. He felt that their feet defiled His courts, and He refused to hear their many prayers. There was no real repentance, no trembling at His word, but a religious veil over utter and shameless iniquity.

The call ends with His promise to help them if they were broken down and obedient. It also ends with His threat to devour them by the sword if they refused. In the earlier verses there is much we can take to ourselves now. God's principle never changes: He joins repentance to faith, and He looks for fitting works and ways in all whom He draws to Himself... But there we must stop. Verses 19 and 20 cannot be cut off from their Jewish root. Christians have plenty of appeals, and more direct ones, in the New Testament.

They did refuse and rebel. They ignored all His counsel and refused His correction. The sad and solemn result is recorded for us: the foe and the enemy entered the gates of Jerusalem. What the kings of the earth and all the people of the world would not have believed came to pass.

It is striking to remember how prophet after prophet spoke in this way: "Thus says the LORD," "The mouth of the LORD has spoken." They begin and end their whole prophecy with words like these.

A woman given over to sexual immorality: there were such women as early as Gen. 38:15. The word also stands as a picture of unfaithfulness: "How the faithful city has become a harlot!" Isa. 1:21; Ezek. 16:31, 35. Revelation calls the symbolic Babylon "The mother of harlots" (Rev. 17:5) — not only unfaithful herself, but the mother of others like her.

The saddest thing for the heart of God is not that the world is wicked. It is that the city which bears His name, the city His eyes rest on continually, should be so evil… His judgment begins with His house. In Ezekiel 9, once the remnant are marked, He has the whole city struck, beginning at His sanctuary. He points out the sins in detail afterward. We have here a great present principle: if Christendom has deserved the judgment of God, His judgment begins with His house to purify it. In this sense we are saved with difficulty. It was over Jerusalem that Jesus wept.

How very sad it is to see the temple defiled in the days of David's unfaithful sons. Its treasures gone, its doors shut, the house needed repair and cleansing. The state of God's house reflected the moral state of the city, as Isaiah wrote: "How the faithful city has become a harlot" (Isa. 1:21). Everyone shared in the evil, as Jeremiah 32:32 shows — kings, princes, priests, prophets and people. So the glory of the Lord had to leave, unwillingly, the city that had so terribly dishonoured the holy Name of the God of Israel. And this happened before the temple and the city were destroyed.

In Isaiah 1 we have a moral pleading between God and Israel. It is the same Jerusalem all the way through; but at first Jerusalem appears as no better than Sodom and Gomorrah… There can be no question what city is meant. It is certainly not the heavenly Jerusalem. It is the literal, historical, earthly Jerusalem — already corrupt, growing more and more rebellious, about to turn away from God completely.

In chapter 1 Isaiah speaks of Jerusalem as a harlot, with murderers living in it. This is true now, and blood-guilt rests on the city. But afterward, Isaiah announces, "you shall be called the city of righteousness, the faithful city." That will be after the Lord has come.

In the past, Jerusalem had been full of iniquity… Wherever God stoops to dwell — in the tabernacle, the temple, or the church — truth and holiness must be maintained.

The saddest thing for the heart of God is not that the world is wicked. It is that the city which bears His name, the city His eyes always rest on, should be so evil. "How the faithful city has become a prostitute! It was full of justice; righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers… your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves." His judgment begins with His house.

Scripture likens God's ancient people, in their morally degraded state, to "reprobate silver," or "refuse silver" as the margin has it, in Jeremiah 6:30. Isaiah 1:22 reads, "your silver has become dross" — rejected.

The noun kapelos means someone who sells wine. You can see it in the Greek Old Testament at Isaiah 1:22, which speaks of "wine merchants" — and then adds at once that they "mix the wine with water." The practice became so common that the verb kapeleuo came to mean making a profit by corrupting what is sold. That verb appears in 2 Corinthians 2:17. The verse may therefore be translated "traffic in," or "make gain by corrupting the word of God." So the passage implies that the people it speaks of falsified the word of God to gain something for themselves.

So when a Christian, or a whole assembly of believers, mixes with the world, the loss is always on the Christian's side. The world always acts from its own motives, and the flesh is always in the Christian. He may draw near to the world, but the world does not draw near to the Spirit. The testimony, however, is lost. Wine mixed with water is no longer pure wine; it has lost its taste. The friendship of the world is enmity against God.

Mixing what is of God with what is of man is a special form of evil. It is a very effective tool in Satan's hand for spoiling the testimony of Christ on the earth. This mixing often looks like something very desirable. It can look like a wider spread of what is of God — a fuller, stronger flow of a divine influence — something to welcome rather than regret. But our judgement about it depends entirely on where we stand when we look at it.

Their present ruin stands in contrast with what the city was and what it is to be. "Therefore says the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah, I will get relief from My adversaries and avenge Myself on My enemies. And I will turn My hand on you and thoroughly purge away your dross, and take away all your alloy. And I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counsellors as at the beginning. Then you will be called The city of righteousness, the faithful town."

There can be no question which city is meant. It is not the heavenly Jerusalem. The prophet has in view the literal, historical Jerusalem on earth, already corrupt, growing more and more rebellious, about to turn away from God completely… Can any fair-minded person claim, or even imagine, that there has ever been so much as the appearance of this moral restoration being fulfilled?

The saddest thing for the heart of God is not that the world is wicked. It is that the city which bears His name, the city His eyes rest on continually, should be so evil.

The princes of the people should have displayed God's own justice and mercy. Instead they had become rebellious and companions of thieves. They loved gifts and hated what is right, and their selfish, wicked deeds polluted Jehovah's holy name completely. God's truth and love were gone from them, and they had no fear of Him before their eyes. Yet they might still use His name to justify their unjust and oppressive acts.

A gift that twists the course of judgment blinds the eyes. It marks out the man who takes it as wicked, and the man who gives it no less. Taking it in secret ought to be a signal of danger. No other human eye sees it, but God hates the wrong, and He is not mocked.

Where bribery is widespread, justice is almost unknown. "The bribe blinds those whose eyes are open." Let us read this verse in its spirit as well as in its letter. Self-interest can blind the eyes of a sincere Christian, who would never for one moment consider accepting a bribe.

Heartless dishonesty toward anyone, and above all toward the fatherless, draws out a far graver warning... If they have no father, they need no lawyer, and they need not take the law into their own hands. Their Kinsman, their Redeemer, is strong. He will plead their cause against the cheat, high or low.

All the people have their responsibility, but the chief weight must fall according to each person's position. Wickedness in someone who holds an office of trust is worse than the same evil in a man under him, and it justly counts as more serious. Wrongdoing in a judge, for instance, is graver than dishonesty in a stable-hand or his master. Corruption or tyranny in a king is deeper guilt than failings here or there in any of his subjects.

Judgment must take its course against stubborn wrongdoers. Sadly, these are above all the men who have held the places of rule and judgment among them. The twisting of judgment must be stopped with a strong hand, and the places of authority cleansed of their defilement with evil. For this God Himself must take the judgment seat and rule among men. He is ready to do it — not in Israel alone, though He begins there, but over all the earth.

The corruption of Jerusalem, and above all of its rulers, now lies exposed. "How the faithful city has become a whore, she who was full of justice! Righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. Your silver has become dross, your best wine mixed with water. Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves." Finally Jehovah shows that He must deal with His adversaries, and must Himself restore Zion. This comes when idols and their makers perish together under His mighty hand. He sets their present ruin against what the city once was and what it will yet be.

When Jehovah says (Isa. 1:24), "I will get relief from my enemies and avenge myself on my foes," He was speaking of people in Israel. It is a most terrible thing when the people of God take a place that is never said of the poor sinner who does not know God. There is a consuming fire for the adversaries (Heb. 10:27). God's people come under His judgments. There will be a remnant, but for the mass of the people, judgment. Yet Zion will be restored, in keeping with God's faithfulness. God separates out the remnant at the end, and judgment falls on the people, not on the remnant.

He will avenge Himself of His enemies who corrupted Zion; He will satisfy Himself in dealing with His adversaries. And when He has carried out His judgment, He will restore Jerusalem as it was of old. But if judgment must fall on Israel, the result will be that the law goes out from Zion. Jerusalem will then be, more truly than ever, the throne of Jehovah.

The rarer title "Mighty One of Israel" appears in both halves of Isaiah. Elsewhere it is found only in Genesis 49:24 and Psalm 132:2, 5, as others have noted.

So we learn that Israel's future restoration is tied to the great crisis coming so fast upon us. In that crisis God will step in with power to settle His long-standing dispute with His rebellious creatures.

God purifies Jerusalem not by grace but by power. Where in the New Testament is there a prophecy that after the Church that professes His name becomes corrupt, God would step in and restore purity by the severe judgments spoken of in these verses? Christianity is the time of God's patience and long-suffering. It is the time when Christ waits at God's right hand until God makes His foes His footstool. Judgment is what marks God's dealings with the earth.

The promise and the judgment go far beyond the circumstances before and after the Babylonian captivity. The last fiery trial of Israel is in view, and grace will use it for spiritual refining. But it is in no way the gospel as it is now, which is grace reigning through righteousness to eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Here it is destructive judgment carried out on the evil, when the repentant remnant of the Jews enjoy God's mercy.

This is the metal the ancients called stannum. It is found mixed with lead and other metals, but smelting separates it out.

It matters all the more, if there is precious metal, that the cheap alloy is taken away. Only then does something beautiful and useful come out.

In verse 24 the prophet announces that the Lord is going to act in judgment, treating them as adversaries. But in the next verse he declares that He will turn His hand upon the remnant, refining them as silver and purging away their dross. The phrase "turn My hand" also appears in Zechariah 13:7, where, as here, it means an act of blessing and not judgment.

The faithful must feel the condition of Israel, and the sin they are all caught up in. But for them, living through Him, it is passing through the fire to be purified. I think Isaiah 1:25, Amos 1:8, and Psalm 81:14 show that "turning the hand upon" means judgment.

Isaiah 1:25-28 decrees the full restoration of the Jews; but by judgments which cut off the wicked.

The last fiery trial of Israel is in view, which grace will use for spiritual refining... But it is in no way the gospel as now, which is grace reigning through righteousness to life eternal by Jesus Christ our Lord. Here God carries out destructive judgment on the wicked, while the repentant remnant of the Jews enjoy His mercy... Jerusalem must be purged before God can make her a centre of the nations.

There can be no question which city is meant. It is not the heavenly Jerusalem. The prophet is speaking of the literal, historical Jerusalem on earth, seen here as already corrupt, growing more and more rebellious, and about to turn away from God completely... Can any fair-minded person claim, or even imagine, that this moral restoration has ever looked like it happened?

Here we see that the judgments of God are to visit the people. The dross of the nation is to be removed. The rest are to learn righteousness. Then Jerusalem is to become what God designed it to be: the centre of righteous government in the earth.

All through the chapter it is the same Jerusalem. At first Jerusalem looks no better than Sodom and Gomorrah. The faithful city had become a harlot... There is no question which city is meant. It is not the heavenly Jerusalem. It is the literal, historical Jerusalem here on earth — already corrupt, growing more and more rebellious, about to fall away from God altogether.

He will avenge Himself on the enemies who corrupted Zion. He will satisfy Himself in dealing with those who oppose Him. And when He has carried out His judgment, He will restore Jerusalem as it was of old. Judgment must fall on Israel. But the result will be that the law goes out from Zion. Jerusalem will then be, more truly than ever, the throne of the Lord.

He will straighten out what they have perverted, when He rules.

Here we see God's judgments coming on the people. The dross of the nation is taken away. The rest learn righteousness. Then Jerusalem becomes what God meant it to be: the centre of righteous government on the earth... Everyone admits that the woes and judgments announced in this same chapter refer to the real Judah and Jerusalem. How, then, can we say that the promises that come right after them, and are closely tied to them, refer to a symbolic Judah and Jerusalem? And what have righteous judges and counsellors to do with the Church? Their unrighteousness was one of the great crimes charged against Jerusalem, while their purity is essential to carrying out God's purposes of earthly government, of which Zion is the chosen centre.

Has there been anything since that answers to this promise? A small body of Jews did return from the captivity in Babylon. But was Zion restored as at the beginning? Was Jerusalem at any time afterwards the city of righteousness? On the contrary, did they not come back weak and few, a poor broken remnant, the slaves and prey of foreign rulers? Did they not then go on to the deeper guilt of rejecting their own Messiah?

The promised restoration of Jerusalem is still future. The "afterward," when the earthly Jerusalem will be called "The City of Righteousness," points to the second coming of Christ.

Every word of the chapter concerns the Jews only: their moral judgment, God's wrath carried out on those who will not repent, and their glorious restoration when they repent and the Lord avenges Himself on His enemies... This is not under the gospel or the church at all. It is when Zion is redeemed with judgment and those in her who repent are redeemed with righteousness. It is not "this evil age," but the age to come.

The same thing is obviously true if, turning from Israel we look back over the history of Christendom... In each case that which was at the first was a work of God, though committed into the hands of men; and that which was introduced later was not an advance or an improvement, but an adulteration.

When the Lord has once more made His home in Jerusalem... the city will be a city of truth. Zion, God's holy mountain, set apart by His own glory and undefiled by His worshippers, will be kept in holiness. Wherever God stoops to live among His people — in the tabernacle, the temple, or the church — truth and holiness must be maintained.

Zion was literally the south-eastern height called David's city. Moriah was the north-eastern height, and the Lord's house stood there. But the prophets often use Zion (Isaiah 1:27) in a figurative way. They also use it as another name for Jerusalem as a whole… We may add that it is nothing but ignorance to assume that Zion anywhere means the church of God, even as a metaphor.

In verse 24 he announces that the Lord is going to act in judgment, treating them as adversaries. But in the next verse He declares that He will turn His hand upon the remnant. He will refine them as silver and purge away their dross. You also find the expression "turn My hand" in Zechariah 13:7. There, as here, it means an action of blessing and not judgment. This is quite plain in the next verses of our chapter. But the redemption of Zion and her converts will be through judgment.

Redemption is God stepping in (and in the end for the body) to break the bond of the enemy and deliver the one who was captive. It may be by blood for the soul, but finally by power for the body.

The people are assured of God's blessing if they repent. But first the One who alone is capable of righteousness must punish the wicked in His government. Then, and not before, will Zion be redeemed in deed and truth. This redemption comes in power and with judgement. It is clearly distinct from redemption by blood only, which we know in Christ through the gospel of salvation. God's judgement goes with Judah's deliverance. Jerusalem's heart is at last reached, her time of hardness finished, her iniquity pardoned.

The Greek word is epistrephō, "to turn to." In Scripture it is the real effect that accompanies the new birth, a turning to God. The Thessalonians show it beautifully: they "turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God" (1 Thessalonians 1:9)… In the Old Testament the Hebrew words mean the same, "to be turned," "to turn back."

In the third section (vv. 21-31) He promises that "Zion shall be redeemed with judgement, and they that return of her with righteousness." This describes the redemption that is coming. It comes not only as a witness by the blood of the Saviour who rose again, but with the mighty execution of God's judgement on His adversaries, when He purges away Israel's dross.

The promise and the judgement go far beyond what happened before and after the Babylonian captivity. The last fiery trial of Israel is in view. Grace will use it for spiritual refining, and then will follow the times of restoration of all things… Only "in that day" will the Lord restore the judges and the counsellors of Jerusalem as at the beginning. Only then will the city itself be one of righteousness and faithfulness… It is a victory reserved for Christ's appearing at the close of the age. Jerusalem must be purged before God can make her a centre of the nations.

Chapter 1 proposes blessing and rest as a result of the nation's repentance; but they would not listen. Eventually judgment brings it in — "Zion shall be redeemed by justice… but rebels and sinners shall be broken together" (Isaiah 1:27-28). Isaiah 2:1-4 and Isaiah 4:2-6 show the result of this judgment: a time of peace and glory.

Scripture testifies with one voice: the earthly blessing of the coming age will come by judgment, not by the preaching of the Gospel. Isaiah 26:9-10 states this again in the plainest terms. Revelation 15:4 confirms it in the New Testament. This judgment will mean the destruction of the transgressors. They may have forsaken the Lord and turned to false gods with their oaks and gardens, but these evil powers will avail them nothing. All will be consumed together.

Here God carries out destructive judgment on the evil, while the repentant remnant of the Jews enjoy His mercy. Only "in that day" will Jehovah restore the judges and counsellors of Jerusalem as at the beginning. Then the city itself will be one of righteousness and faithfulness. In that day Zion will be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. At the same time Jehovah will execute vengeance on the wicked and on her idols. It is a victory reserved for Christ's appearing at the close of the age. Jerusalem must be purged before God can make her a centre of the nations. It is Christ there in power which accounts for all.

He will avenge Himself of His enemies who corrupted Zion; He will satisfy Himself in dealing with His adversaries. And when He has carried out His judgment, He will restore Jerusalem as of old.

From the first chapter of Isaiah the day of the Lord is in view. Jehovah speaks of that day when He says, "I will turn My hand upon you, and thoroughly purge away your dross … afterward you shall be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness" (Isa. 1:25-27). That day will also bring judgment on the wicked under antichrist. The Lord added, "And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed" (Isa. 1:28).

"The destruction of the transgressors and sinners shall be together" (Isa. 1:28) — which applies to the purification of Zion in the last days. Not one of these texts can be shown to apply to the final judgment of the wicked.

No Christian should need proof of how different the ground of the gospel is from the intervention of Jehovah that the prophet describes here. The Lord Jesus, the Son of God, was sent as Man in the infinite love of God. All have rejected and crucified Him. Yet the judgment of sins and sinners was then and there laid on Him. God is so glorified in His sacrificial death that He can and does proclaim to everyone who believes: eternal life in His name, forgiveness of sins, justification, and salvation as everlasting as glory.

There are four Hebrew words translated this way. They all appear to come from the same root, meaning "strong, hardy." Most often they refer to the oak, which lives to a great age... It is a symbol of strength, and gives shade from the heat of the sun.

Gardens were also secluded places of secret sin. Isa. 65:3; Isa. 66:17.

Israel's departure from God took an outward form: they made themselves "high places." It was only a heathen habit. It played on the imagination with a worship that has no heart in it. Men still try to satisfy themselves the same way — with music, architecture, drapery, and that most typical "dim religious light." And in it they worship a God who is Light itself, and in whom there is no darkness at all... On the mountain tops a man could imagine himself nearer to God than in the valleys. The depths of groves and forests helped too, along with the beauty of nature. They made him think he was nearer to the God of nature than he really was... And it is just here that man so often makes the fatal mistake. He puts what is only natural in the place of what is spiritual, and so deceives himself. In heathenism these high places and groves turned, as was bound to happen, to evil instead of good, and the worst abominations of heathenism attached themselves to them.

Deuteronomy 12 opens with the words, "These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land." Then come the bans on the high places and groves, or gardens, and altars which the heathen nations had made. So God's way for them was to bring all their offerings to His place in Jerusalem, offering as He had commanded. But they preferred to worship the way they thought best. These verses describe the result.

God must and does choose for Himself — a simple yet most important point. Worship of our own invention is intolerable. It ought to shock the Christian most of all. If it were only a question of man, nobody would think of choosing for another. Nobody likes that. People like to choose for themselves, as mere men. What an awful delusion it is, then, to choose for God — to let your own will govern you in matters of religion! We can all see how bad it was in Israel. But do we feel that it is still worse in the Christian? God has given no right to adopt doctrines, practices, ways, government, or any one thing that is not His expressed will for His children.

The judgement will mean the destruction of the transgressors. They may have forsaken the Lord and turned to false gods with their oaks and gardens. But these evil powers will be of no use to them. All will be consumed together.

The promise and the judgement go far beyond the events before and after the captivity in Babylon. The last fiery trial of Israel is in view, and grace will use it for spiritual refining... In that day Zion will be redeemed with judgement, and her converts with righteousness. At the same time God will carry out vengeance on the wicked and on her idols. This is a victory reserved for Christ's appearing at the end of the age.

The judgment will mean the destruction of the transgressors. They may have forsaken the Lord and turned to false gods with their oaks and gardens, but these evil powers will avail them nothing. All will be consumed together.

There are four Hebrew words translated this way. They all seem to come from the same root, meaning "strong, hardy." They are mostly applied to the oak, which lives to a great age... It is a symbol of strength, and gives shade from the heat of the sun. Scholars take the word elah to mean the terebinth, though most versions translate it oak.

In the East the gardens were plots of ground under cultivation, often enclosed by walls, where fruit and herbs were grown. Water was always necessary. So people described a fruitful place as well watered, "like the garden of the LORD." The garden also pictures great blessing: when God restores Israel, "their life shall be like a watered garden." Under God's judgements, though, they were like a garden that had no water.

So the first chapter of the prophecy applies to the state of the Jews. It announces the judgment. It also gives hope beyond the judgment: God will purge His people by it. This will be the means of gathering the nations.

The promise and judgement go far beyond the circumstances before and after the Babylonian exile. The last fiery trial of Israel is in view. Grace will use it for spiritual refining. After that will come the time when God restores all things... But this is in no way the gospel as we know it now. That gospel is grace reigning through righteousness to eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Here God carries out destructive judgement on the evil, when the repentant remnant of the Jews enjoy His mercy.

The prophet compares Israel in their decline to "a garden without water." But in the day of their future restoration he can say to Israel, "you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail"... And so the garden of the King has a "spring locked, a fountain sealed." It does not depend on the surrounding desert for its supply. The spring is within the garden. And so with the Lord's people; they have a secret source of supply, the Holy Spirit... It is possible to grieve the Spirit into silence, and then how parched our souls become.

Such is the sad result of leaning on the creature — barrenness, desolation, disappointment. Like the shrub in the desert. No refreshing showers, no dew from heaven, nothing but drought and sterility. How can it be otherwise when the heart is turned away from the Lord, the only source of blessing?

So the first chapter of the prophecy applies to the state of the Jews. It announces the judgment. And it gives hope across the judgment: God will purge His people in it. This will be the means of gathering the nations.

Finally Jehovah shows He must deal with His adversaries. He must also restore Zion Himself, when idols and their makers perish together under His mighty hand. Their present ruin contrasts with what it once was and what it is to be.

What is the force of poalo ("the maker of it")? Is it poalo, or po'lo ("his work")? In sense, "his work"; or, in general, the active man who works? "Maker of it" is difficult — maker of what?

But God is not mocked, and His purposes are not in doubt. He has given all to Jesus. Man and his works are to be judged by Him. What now flourishes in "man's day" is the fruit of human effort, raised to exalt the sinful creature in his own esteem. It will be like lighted tow. In that day the breath of the Lord will kindle both the maker and his work into the flame of a lasting destruction.

Everyone must give an account for the talents they received. Those who know and therefore love the Lord will give it willingly. Those who name Him only to deny Him in their works will give it unwillingly, yet of necessity (Titus 1:16)... God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ; both the maker and his work will be brought to light in that day (Rom. 2:16; Isa. 1:31, margin).

The promise and judgment go far beyond the circumstances before and after the Babylonian captivity. The last fiery trial of Israel is in view, which grace will use for spiritual refining... But this is in no way the gospel as it is now. The gospel is grace reigning through righteousness to eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Here it is destructive judgment carried out on the evil, when the repentant remnant of the Jews enjoy God's mercy... It is a victory reserved for Christ's appearing at the close of the age. Jerusalem must be purged before God can make her a centre of the nations. It is Christ there in power that accounts for all.

Isaiah 1 is introduced as a "vision;" Isaiah 2 is "the word;" but again concerning Judah and Jerusalem. The opening verses say more about the good things that will come when redemption by judgment takes place. The first thing is that the house of Jehovah will be established and lifted high. It is always so, and must be. God must have His rightful place, and from that place blessing will flow out to men.

The word translated "prophet" in the Old Testament comes from "bubbling or pouring forth." It points to God's action in inspiring him. "Seer" points to the vision that marked such men out.

The first verse says that the vision was concerning Judah and Jerusalem. If readers had paid proper attention to this, they would not have assigned so many things to the church in the chapter headings, and they would have understood the prophecy better.

No doubt we have all often heard this passage quoted at missionary meetings and on other similar occasions, quoted in connection with the spread of the gospel. But however important missions and the spread of the gospel may be — and I would never undervalue them for a moment — they are not the subject of the passage before us, and they are in no way connected with it. This passage records "the word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem." Judah and Jerusalem are the subject, not the Church and its missions. "Out of Zion," not out of the Church, "shall go forth the law: and the word of the Lord," not from Britain, but "from Jerusalem."

Clearly we have here the same prediction, or nearly the same, that Micah gives in his prophecy (Micah 4:1-3). The two prophets lived at the same time. So the question comes up: who first delivered it from God? Three answers are possible... The certain fact is that one prophet uses another prophet's words, with only the changes the inspiring Spirit was pleased to allow. We find Daniel doing the same, drawing light from the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah, still waiting to be fulfilled (Daniel 9:2).

Isaiah 2-4. Here the kingdom, pictured as "a mountain," is looked for at the beginning, and shown in some of its glories at the end. But corruption and judgment are the main material of this burden in the middle, between that opening and closing in glory. Yet the remnant appear for a moment (Isaiah 3:10)... Scripture gives the judgment of God its usual title, "the day of the Lord."

If you take the trouble to read that chapter, you will find that it is about Judah and Jerusalem. It describes the blessing as brought in by the dreadful judgment of Jehovah. Men will go into the clefts of the rocks for fear of Jehovah and for the glory of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth terribly. No wonder the Spirit of God adds, "Cease from man."

The meaning seems to be the supremacy that God will give, in the last days, to Mount Moriah. That mountain is the seat and centre of the worship of Jehovah, just as Zion was and will be the seat of royalty, given in the grace of God after man's king had failed. When the mountain of Jehovah's house is lifted above all rivals, great or small, all nations will flow to it. For the city of the great king — the earthly Jerusalem under the Messiah and the New Covenant — is the appointed capital of the world during the millennium. The New Jerusalem of John is another and higher thing, and this passage does not refer to it. What is predicted stands in contrast with what is going on now. Now the house is left desolate, Jerusalem is trampled down by the nations, and nation rises against nation.

The familiar term "the last days" is found in both the Old and New Testaments, but it does not always point to the same time. In 2 Timothy 3:1 we read, "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty." Read on in that passage, and you find many of the features we see around us today. This confirms that the "last days" of 2 Timothy 3:1 are the closing days of the history of the church, just before the rapture. But when the Old Testament uses this expression, it points to the period after the removal of the church.

No doubt we have all often heard this passage quoted at missionary meetings and on other such occasions, quoted in connection with the spread of the gospel. Missions and the spread of the gospel may be very important, and God forbid that I should undervalue them for a moment. But they are not the subject of the passage before us, and they are not connected with its subject in any way… Judah and Jerusalem are the subject, not the Church and its missions. "Out of Zion," not out of the Church, "shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD," not from Britain, but "from Jerusalem."

Some might think that the law goes out of Zion by the gospel. But the gospel does not work by carrying out judgment on the nations, as it is here. God will deal with the nations by public judgment and righteousness on earth. The subject here is not the church but the Lord, and this has clearly never happened yet.

Rivers flow down; that is their natural course. But the peoples will flow up, around the sanctuary of Jehovah — then indeed a house of prayer for all. The change will be supernatural everywhere. Heaven and earth will gladly bear witness to the glory and the power of Jehovah… That day will proclaim the Lord. It will sweep away everything man takes pride in. It will prove that, though man may have done his best, the time has come for God to show a greatness no one can dispute.

The first thing is that the house of Jehovah will be established and exalted. This is always the way, and it must be. God must have His rightful place, and from that place blessing will flow out to men.

What ends the strife and wars that have ruined the earth for so many ages? Not the slow, gradual spread of peaceful principles. It is God stepping in with judgment at the coming of the Lord… Does the Spirit say, "Make every effort — put out all your energy — work with all your might to fill society with principles that will bring in the golden age of peace and harmony"? No, my friends, it is this: "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

It is a great mistake to think that Isaiah 2:2-4 is yet accomplished.

Some might think that the law goes out of Zion through the gospel. But the gospel does not work by carrying out judgment on the nations, as this passage does. God will deal with the nations by public judgment and righteousness on earth (vv. 1-4). The passage speaks of the Lord, not of the church, and this has clearly never happened yet.

The prophet does not say that the gospel goes out of Zion, as it does now, but that the law shall go out of Zion. It is not the Father's word, which we know, but Jehovah's word from Jerusalem. Even those who turn the passage into a symbol are not bold enough to deny that Jerusalem here means the real Jerusalem. Yet they drop that at once and slip in the gospel and the church... It is "the kingdom"; and the Great King will judge among the nations, and will rebuke many peoples.

Zion was not the place of the temple. It was the place of royalty — but first of all, the place of grace. It was where God was linked, in grace, with the earth before the temple was built, and where David had prepared a place for the ark. It stands in contrast with Sinai, the place of law for the earth. And from Zion, too, the law was to go out in grace, from the city of the great King.

They need no force then, no incentives, and no rivalry. They have seen Jehovah's hand lifted up; they have seen His arm laid bare. His judgments have been in the earth, and the people of the world are now learning righteousness.

In this honoured woman from outside Israel we have a sample, or picture, of the nations later on. She lived in the days of Solomon, the son of David — the days of a glory that was only a picture. She went up to Jerusalem, looking for the wisdom that was in the Lord's anointed one. In the same way, in the age of the real glory, the thousand-year reign of the true Solomon, the nations will wait in that same city, with the same desire and purpose of heart.

The "He" who reigns like this is Jehovah. But having become man, He is also the Messiah, the Son of Man, given universal rights.

Missions and the spread of the gospel may be very important, and God forbid that I should undervalue them for a moment. But they are not the subject of the passage before us, and they are not connected with its subject in any way... "Out of Zion," not out of the Church, "shall go forth the law: and the word of the Lord," not from Britain, but "from Jerusalem." ... Ours is a far higher calling — a heavenly one; a calling above earthly things and earthly scenes altogether.

The "He" who reigns like this is Jehovah. But having become man, He is also the Messiah, and the Son of man, with universal rights given to Him.

His wisdom will settle every problem and put every wrong right. The groaning creation will reach the end of its pain and will rejoice in the power and presence of Emmanuel.

It is a great mistake to think that Isaiah 2:2-4 has already been fulfilled.

However important missions and the spread of the gospel may be — and God forbid that I should undervalue them for a moment — they are not the subject of this passage, and they are not connected with it in any way. This passage records "the word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem." Judah and Jerusalem are the subject, not the Church and its missions. "Out of Zion," not out of the Church, "shall go forth the law: and the word of the Lord," not from Britain, but "from Jerusalem."

Wars have laid the earth waste for age after age. What puts an end to them, and brings in the time of universal peace, is not the slow and gradual progress of peaceful principles. It is God solemnly stepping in with judgment at the coming of the Lord. And what lesson does the Holy Spirit draw from all this? Is it, "Make every effort — put out all your energy — work with all your might to fill society with principles that will bring in the golden age of universal agreement, harmony and peace"? No, it is this: "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

This, according to the Bible, is the reign of peace — then, and not before. Meanwhile all the efforts of peace societies are at best a pleasant illusion, at worst an unbelieving confidence in man, and always ignorance of God's word… Wars certainly have their roots in the passions and lusts of man. To escape the bad fruit you must first make the tree good. But the day of the Lord will deal with man in righteousness and power, and peace will follow according to His mind and glory.

Riots, bloodshed, turmoil, strife and crime continue in the world to this day, despite all its boasted progress. The reason is that men reject the rightful King. They will not own the Prince of Peace. They will not have Jesus as Lord.

Nations will some day no longer turn, as they do now, their plowshares into swords, but change their swords into plowshares. Righteousness and peace will surely kiss each other and creation's curse and travail pains will end.

That age of peace will be an age of farming. Men will go back to the land, and God's original purpose for man on the earth will come into effect (Genesis 2:15). The forge and the anvil will no longer groan and ring out the death of millions. They will ring out their gladness along with the songs of the field and vineyard.

As for the nations, we cannot escape the sorrow and strife they are caught up in, though in spirit we may be apart from it. But God has set us in His field (1 Corinthians 3), which is His assembly. We are not there to use the sword and spear of party strife, but the ploughshare and the pruning hook, as workers together with God in His garden.

It has no basis, and shows no discernment, to treat this as fulfilled in the mission of the gospel or the calling of the church, or even as applying to them... What follows in Isaiah 2 fits the future blessing and glory of Israel under the new covenant, and the King who will reign in righteousness. So in verse 5, after that happy picture of the new age, the prophet says, "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD." Think of that vision of glory, when the Gentiles would bow and bless the LORD. How it should shame Judah now!

Once Zion, the mountain of the LORD, is re-established, it will be the centre of blessing and peace to all the nations (Isaiah 2:1-4). This puts an invitation into the prophet's mouth: he calls the people to come and walk in the light of the LORD. Why has He forsaken His people? Because they have learned the ways of the nations around them.

The prophet pleads with the house of Jacob to leave the false lights of their idolatries and walk in "the light of the LORD." That is what they will do when the coming age arrives. It is our privilege today, for God has brought us into the light as children of light, and of the day that will dawn when Christ appears.

God always has a present purpose in the revelations He gives. He sets the past against the future. His aim is practical sanctification in the present: ceasing to do evil and learning to do well. Isaiah first describes the glory of the millennial age, then urges the people, "O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD."

All the efforts of men to bring in such a state of things have completely failed. They boasted with proud presumption in the great achievements of science and education, and imagined these would lift them at last into a millennium of human glory. Instead those achievements are now pushed to their limits to devise fresh and more frightful ways of destroying life... The roar of the furnace at home and the shrieking of the shells over the battlefields are only the echoes of the laughter of demons over the blindness of men. They thought they were wise when they chose their own way and refused to walk in the light of the LORD.

As it was with Israel in Isaiah's day, so in the world today: everything caters to man, and man is magnified. But if we "walk in the light of the LORD" (verse 5), we see how little he is, and we "cease from man." He is only a dying creature because of his sin. Before God he counts for nothing in himself. In the light of the cross of Christ we know he is worse than nothing. How amazing, then, is the grace that has stooped to bless people like ourselves.

How should the vision of glory, when the Gentiles would bow and bless Jehovah, shame Judah now! Then he speaks directly to Him. He owns why Jehovah had forsaken His people instead of setting them on high: they were filled "from (or, more than) the east" with everything that man craves and worships. Their sin had no excuse. Judah had such glorious prospects from God's sure word, yet chased heathen superstitions — not only Gentile wealth and power, but their idols too.

The prophet returns to the existing state of the people in verses 6-9. From other peoples they had imported various forms of spiritist practices. They were prosperous in material things: plenty of silver and gold and treasures, and also horses. Horses were a luxury forbidden to Israel's kings, according to Deuteronomy 17:16. All this led to the land being full of idols, before which both poor and great bowed down. Truly a deplorable state of things.

They turn for advice to their diviners, for which the Philistines were famed (Isa. 2:6).

They were turning to the spiritist practices of the heathen, with mediums and fortune-tellers. They tried to get guidance for the living from those who were dead. Yet the law and the testimony were available to them, with light from God shining in them. If they did not speak according to that, there would be "no light in them"; or, "for them there is no daybreak."

Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of Josiah. He had something special to say about the young princes and the king's children... "I will punish the officials and the king's sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire" (Zeph. 1:8). In our days young people feel a great pull to clothe themselves with strange apparel. But they will do well to remember, and their parents too: this strange apparel was part of the cause of the awful downfall of the kingdom of Judah. About 150 years earlier, Isaiah had warned Israel of judgment to come because "they are full of things from the east."

The rejection of the people had not yet happened. Judgment begins at the house of God, but it does not stop there. God will judge His people; and will He not judge the idolatrous world?

Not even those who turn this into an allegory are bold enough to deny that Jerusalem here is literal. Yet they leave that behind in a moment and insert the gospel and the church. Yet in verse 6 the prophet goes on to say, "You have rejected your people, the house of Jacob." How can that be said of the church? This is "the kingdom."

Then the prophet speaks straight to Him. He admits why Jehovah had forsaken His people instead of setting them on high. It was because they were filled "from (or, more than) the east" with everything man craves and worships… Their sin was completely inexcusable. Judah had glorious prospects from God's sure word, yet they went after the superstitions of the nations around them — not only their wealth and power, but sadly, their idols too.

They were prosperous in material things. They had plenty of silver and gold and treasures, and horses too. Horses were a luxury that Deuteronomy 17:16 forbade to Israel's kings. All this led to the land being full of idols, and both poor and great bowed down before them. It was a truly terrible state of things.

Again, in Isaiah 2:7, he complains, "Their land is filled with horses, and there is no end to their chariots." And in Isaiah 31:1 he pronounces a woe against those "who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong." Without the first five books of the Bible it would be hard to explain the sin of having horses and chariots. Deuteronomy 17:16 tells us that Jehovah forbade both owning them and sending down to fetch them.

This is why God forbade them to multiply horses. Egypt was famous for its horses and chariots, and the Lord's command to the king takes note of it: "Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, 'You shall never return that way again.'" Their redemption from Egypt and all its power should have been final. Nothing should have tempted them to return.

"Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands," says the psalmist (Psalm 115:4). "Their land is filled with silver and gold… their land is filled with idols," says the prophet (Isaiah 2:7-8). What a man thinks is most precious, what his heart craves, what feeds his glory — he makes it into a god. That is the root of idolatry. In lifting up his idol he pushes God out and lifts himself up.

Their land was full of silver and gold, with no end of treasures. It was full of horses and chariots. And it was also full of idols! What sin and shame! "So man is humbled, and each one is brought low — do not forgive them!" (v. 9), cries the indignant prophet.

The reader will do well to compare Isaiah 2:7 to the end of the chapter… That day will deal with everyone who is proud and lofty, and with everyone who is lifted up. It will deal with every high tower and every fortified wall, with all the ships of Tarshish and all the beautiful works of art. God is against their cherished wealth and their endless store of clothing… The selfish unbelief that stored up treasure in closing days was no small thing in God's sight.

In all men's activities they need some means of help or support, and in battle they find horses of great benefit. Of course now they need motorised equipment. But whether horses or tanks, these are no guarantee of success. Deliverance comes only from the Lord. We are indeed slow to learn this elementary lesson.

The vision of glory, when the Gentiles would bow and bless Jehovah — how it should shame Judah now! The prophet then owns why Jehovah had forsaken His people instead of setting them on high: because they were filled from the east with everything man craves and worships. … Their sin was completely unpardonable. Judah had such glorious prospects from God's sure word, yet they chased after heathen superstitions — not only Gentile wealth and power, but sadly their idols as well.

They had imported various forms of spiritist practices from other peoples. They were prosperous in material things: plenty of silver and gold and treasures, and also horses. Horses were a luxury forbidden to Israel's kings, according to Deuteronomy 17:16. All this led to the land being full of idols, before which both poor and great bowed themselves down. Truly a deplorable state of things.

"The works of their hands" is a phrase used only of heathen idolatry (Isa. 2:8; Jer. 1:16; 25:6-7, 14; Deut. 4:28; Ps. 115:4-7; 135:15).

"Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands," says the psalmist (Ps. 115:4). "Their land is filled with silver and gold … their land is filled with idols," says the prophet (Isa. 2:7-8). Man makes a god out of whatever he counts most precious, whatever his heart craves, whatever serves his glory. That is the root of idolatry. In exalting his idol, man pushes God out and exalts himself. An awful degradation follows, as the first chapter of Romans tells us (Rom. 1:25).

He blindly forgets that he must put himself lower than the god he worships — even the lowest of creeping things. So the objects of his worship bear vivid witness to his own wretched degradation.

We read that most nations will return to this sin and worship idols again (Isa. 2:20; Isa. 17:7-8; Isa. 30:22; Isa. 31:7; Hosea 14:3). And the call to trust in Jehovah will be needed all the more. In that day those who fall away will be prosperous on the outside, with more than the heart could wish.

It is the day of the Lord upon all the pride of man, to bring it low. It is the day when every refuge of lies will be swept away, and all the emptiness of his thoughts exposed. "The idols He shall utterly abolish." Yes, those who were once their slaves will fling them to the moles and to the bats. "And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day." Then the way opens for blessing, as wide as the judgment that came before it.

The prophet returns to the present state of the people in verses 6-9. From other peoples they had imported various forms of spiritism. They were rich in material things: plenty of silver and gold and treasures. They also had horses, a luxury forbidden to Israel's kings in Deuteronomy 17:16. All this led to the land being full of idols, and both poor and great bowed low before them. A truly sad state of things.

Judah's sin could not be pardoned. God's sure word had given them glorious prospects, yet they went after the superstitions of the nations — not only Gentile wealth and power, but sadly their idols too. […] Their land was full of silver and gold, with no end of treasures. It was full of horses and chariots. And it was full of idols as well! Oh what sin and shame! "And the mean man is bowed down, and the great man is brought low: therefore forgive them not" (v. 9), cries the indignant prophet.

The people are plainly taught this: when they made an image and bowed down to it, they really lowered and corrupted themselves. So when they made the golden calf, the Lord told Moses to go down, because the people Moses had brought out of Egypt had corrupted themselves. It could not be otherwise. The worshipper must be lower than the object he worships. So in worshipping a calf, they put themselves below the level of the animals that perish.

The true God would break down those who bowed down to idols. The hand of the Highest will be on all that is high and lifted up. The idols will pass away for good. Men will go into caves and holes, away from the terror of Jehovah and from the glory of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth with power. All will be verified when Christ appears, not before.

The rejection of the people had not yet happened. Judgment begins at the house of God, but does not stop there. God will judge His people; and will He not judge the idolatrous world?

This does not mean Christ, or man in Christ. It means man in nature — man who exalts himself and yet loves idols. "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" That breath is easily put out, as far as life here is concerned. The man whose pride and idolatry are to meet so striking a doom in the day of the Lord can never be a support to lean on.

The more they grasp the greatness of God, the less man will appear to be in their estimation.

He calls on them to hide in the dust because of the day of the LORD. There is no doubt that day has not yet fallen on the pride and idolatry of man. Read this passage in a believing spirit, and any fair mind will be convinced. Neither Nebuchadnezzar nor Titus on the one hand, nor the gospel on the other, has anything to do with the Lord's coming to carry out the all-embracing judgment of man pictured here. The true God would break down those who bowed down to idols. The hand of the Highest would be on everything high and lifted up. The idols will pass away completely, and men will go into caves and holes from before the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth. All will be verified when Christ appears, not before.

The day of the LORD will be upon all the glory of man, and upon all his idols. They may well stop regarding man, for their own God will judge and strike down His people on the earth, the place of His rest.

The day of the LORD will fall on everything that has fed the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. It will fall on everything men have delighted in, so as to shut God out and shut Christ out of their hearts. It will fall on everything that has fed the self-exaltation which has marked man all along, which marks him more and more now, and which marks this present day to a degree that is frightening to think about.

Verse 10 invites everyone who has ears to hear. It calls them in where the remnant hide through the upheavals and terrors of that day. Their voice is the one we have been hearing in Psalm 46.

The prophet sees the LORD rising up out of the dwelling place of His holiness, coming out in judgment to carry out the purposes just announced. Seeing the effect on men, the prophet cries, "Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD." For when the day of His wrath comes, who will be able to stand? Isaiah cries out with the same event in view: "Enter into the rock and hide in the dust."

The rest of the chapter goes on to show how this period of blessing comes in. Is it by grace proclaimed? No, but by fearful judgments carried out. This terrible shaking of the earth, and this bringing down of man's pride, has one result: "the LORD alone will be exalted in that day."

He comes with the clouds. Every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Where then will the rock be, or the dust, to hide man from the LORD? For "the haughty looks of man shall be brought low… and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day."

If their land was full of silver and gold, and endless treasures; if it was full of horses and chariots, it was also full of idols! What sin and shame! "So man is humbled, and each one is brought low—do not forgive them!" (v. 9), cries the angry prophet.

Read this passage in a believing spirit, and any fair mind will be convinced. Neither Nebuchadnezzar nor Titus on one side, nor the gospel on the other, has anything to do with the Lord's coming to carry out the judgment of all mankind pictured here. The true God would break down those who bowed down to idols. The hand of the Highest would be on all that is high and lifted up. It will all come true when Christ appears, and not before.

"Man's Day" (1 Cor. 4:3, margin) is that long period of human pride and self-will. It began when sin entered the world, and God's judgment will end it at the revelation of Jesus Christ. During Man's Day God is nothing, and man is all. The Day of the Lord will reverse the conditions. Isaiah 2:10-22 is the first passage of Scripture that names that Day. It vividly describes the complete overthrow of everything man has boasted in, so that Jehovah alone may be exalted. Terror will fill men's minds when this happens. All human schemes and achievements will fall to pieces, never to be patched up again.

The list of things on which the day of the Lord will fall in judgment is very impressive. It is clear: it will make a clean sweep of all the things in which fallen man boasts, even things pleasant and artistic. Some have imagined that this day will accept and even expand what man's inventive skill has produced, as the way into the millennial age. Instead it will remove those things, along with the idols and the idol-worshipping ideas that gave them birth.

It is the day of the Lord on all the pride of man, to bring it low. It is the day when every refuge of lies will be swept away, and every empty thought of his laid bare. He will completely abolish the idols. Yes, those who were their slaves will throw them to the moles and the bats. "And the LORD alone will be exalted in that day." Then the way is open for blessing, as wide as the judgment that has brought it in.

Grace bows our hearts now, and with joy we confess His name! Judgment will in that day break the proud spirit of the enemy.

The solemn winding up of Man's Day, and the ushering in of the Day of the Lord. "Man's Day" is that long period of human pride and self-will which began when sin entered the world, and divine judgment will end it at the revelation of Jesus Christ. During Man's Day God is nothing, and man is everything. The Day of the Lord will reverse the conditions. Isaiah 2:10-22 is the first passage of Scripture that names that Day. It describes in vivid detail the complete overthrow of everything man has boasted in, so that Jehovah alone may be exalted.

From these and similar passages, we learn that "the day of the Lord" carries the deeply solemn thought of judgment on the world — on apostate Israel — on man and his ways — on everything the human heart prizes and longs after… Man has the upper hand now, the Lord will have the upper hand then.

It is man, whom God has exalted in Christ, in His own gracious and wonderful way, but who, on the other hand, by self-exaltation debases himself to his own ruin… "Man's day" is a day of human aggrandisement with what he has robbed from God, and of self-exaltation by the very things God's mercy has enriched him with. And therefore the day of the Lord must fall "against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up."

You only need to read this passage in a believing spirit, and it will convince any fair mind. Neither Nebuchadnezzar nor Titus, nor the gospel, has anything to do with the Lord's coming to carry out the all-embracing judgment of man pictured here… All of it will come true when Christ appears, not before.

The day of the Lord will come upon everything that has served the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. It will come upon everything men have delighted in, so as to shut out God and exclude Christ from their hearts. It will come upon everything that has fed man's self-exaltation. That self-exaltation has marked him all along. It marks him more and more now, and it marks this day we live in to a frightening degree.

How good to know, in all that day of terror, that God is supreme above and within all the schemes of His enemies!… It is the day of the Lord upon all the pride of man, to bring it low. It is the day when every refuge of lies will be swept away and all the emptiness of his thoughts exposed. "The idols He shall utterly abolish." Yes, those who were their slaves will fling them to the moles and the bats. "And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." Then the way is prepared for blessing, as wide as the judgment that introduced it.

Man delights in display. The testimony is simply to be lowly in heart. This is not natural to the mind. In trying to avoid display one may easily make an idol out of apparent humility. There is a humility of the flesh as well as a pride of the flesh, and both fall under the heading of pride. To work at appearing humble is to be proud… "The pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world." The world is passing away. So the pride of life must be passing too, because it is part of the world. It will meet its end in the day of the Lord.

In Scripture the earth stands for the nations under settled, stable government. The sea naturally suggests great crowds, and especially people in a state of disorder. A tree, on the other hand, is a well known Scripture figure for a great one of the earth.

Nothing lifts itself up the way a tree does, so the "tree" is singled out here: the axe is laid at its root.

In Scripture the cedar is always used to picture power or high standing, if not pride. When the king of Israel wanted to pour contempt on the king of Judah, he compared himself to a cedar and Judah's king to a thistle. The Psalmist uses it for the prosperity of the righteous: he will "grow like a cedar in Lebanon." When judgment comes on the great of the earth, the prophet Isaiah says it is the day of the Lord on the cedars of Lebanon. These mark the cedar as the symbol of dignity and power.

The oaks of Bashan stand as a symbol of great strength and height, which God brings down in His judgment.

Even the grandeur of nature as it now is must fall. Still more the impressive buildings of man, which are small by comparison. What are their high towers and walled defences beside lofty hills and towering mountains? Strong, fine ships will be broken, and pleasant pictures will fade into nothing. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

Everything that has served the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life — everything men have delighted in, so as to shut God out and keep Christ out of their hearts — everything that has fed the self-exaltation that has marked man all along… the day of the Lord will fall on all of it.

You only need to read this passage in a believing spirit, and any fair mind will be convinced. Neither Nebuchadnezzar or Titus on the one hand, nor the gospel on the other, has anything to do with the Lord's coming to carry out the all-embracing judgment of man pictured here… All will be proved true when Christ appears, not before.

It is the day of the Lord on all the pride of man, to bring it low. It is the day when every refuge of lies will be swept away, and all the emptiness of his thoughts will be laid bare… "And the Lord alone will be exalted in that day." Then the way is open for blessing, as wide as the judgment that has brought it in.

The day of the Lord will be upon everything that has fed the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life. It will be upon everything men have delighted in, so as to shut out God and exclude Christ from their hearts. It will be upon everything that has contributed to the self-exaltation which has marked man all along, and marks him more and more now.

There is a day of Jehovah on all the earth... The hand of Jehovah will be against all that the world exalts. Everything or everyone that is lifted up shall be brought low: Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.

Scripture itself gives the force of the figure. Jeremiah speaks of the mighty Babylonian kingdom this way. It looked so firmly established in its might and greatness that no one could overthrow it, yet Jehovah threatens it with consuming judgment — a "burnt mountain." A mountain as a symbol represents a kingdom (Isa. 2:2; Zech. 4:7; Jer. 51:25) or a firmly established power (Ps. 46:2; Rev. 6:14; Rev. 16:20). The idea to grasp in these prophetic symbols is a strong, united, established power — and this power itself becomes the subject of God's governmental vengeance.

The mountains speak of higher governmental authorities, and the little hills, lesser authorities.

Not a single relic shall be left... He will show that where man has most pride, God will do better. For all that is in the world, the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life must pass away. Even the grandeur of nature as it now stands must fall. Still more must the imposing structures of man fall, small as they are by comparison. What are their high towers and fenced walls next to lofty hills and sublime mountains?

Whatever the gospel may achieve for believers — and it makes them fit for God's light and heavenly glory — there can be no real deliverance for the earth and the nations until Messiah comes again in glory. Then He will execute judgment on the living and reign in peace... The judgment of man, of his pride and his idols, will come in the day of Jehovah, so that all the nations may flow to Zion in heart-homage, as the beginning of Isaiah 2 describes.

The rest of the chapter goes on to show how this period of blessing will be brought in. Is it by grace proclaimed? No, but by fearful judgments carried out... The result of this terrible shaking of the earth, and bringing down the pride of man, is that "Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day."

Grace bows our hearts now, and with joy we confess His name! Judgment will in that day break the proud spirit of the enemy. When His wrath is kindled but a little — the beginning of His judgment — they perish from the way.

A place to which ships were sent from Palestine. Some suppose it refers to a Spanish city named Tartessus. This would seem a suitable place from which to obtain silver, iron, tin and lead.

Here the expression "pleasant pictures" is thought to mean "pictures of desire," as the margin reads. It refers to anything their hearts were set on.

The true God would break down those who bowed down to idols. The hand of the Highest would be on all that is high and lifted up. The idols will pass away completely. Men will go into caves and holes because of the terror of Jehovah and the glory of His majesty, when He arises to shake the earth with great power. All of this will come true when Christ appears, not before.

The day of the Lord will be upon everything that has fed the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life. It will be upon everything people have delighted in, so as to shut out God and exclude Christ from their hearts. It will be upon everything that has fed the self-exaltation that has marked man all along. Think what the pride of man's heart is doing at this very moment. It is gathering the wealth and energies of all nations into one grand display, to show the whole world what human skill and energy can achieve.

The day of the Lord will clearly make a clean sweep of all the things fallen man boasts in, even things pleasant and artistic. Some have imagined that it will accept and even enlarge the products of man's inventive skill, as an opening to the thousand-year age to come. Instead, it will remove them, along with the idols and idolatrous notions that produced them. Today men are humbled as they receive the grace and truth of the gospel. Then they will be brought low and their false glory will depart, as the glory of the Lord shines out.

Not a single relic will be left. God will wipe the slate clean of all the busy works of man on the earth for the last six thousand years… and He will show that where man has most pride, God will do better… Even the grandeur of nature as it is must fall. Still more must the imposing structures of man fall, small as they are in comparison. What are their high towers and fenced walls next to lofty hills and grand mountains? Strong and splendid ships will be broken and pleasant pictures will fade into nothing. Jehovah alone will be exalted in that day… The day of Jehovah joins two things: God will deal with the heavens and the earth, the whole vast creation, and at the same time He will stoop to the smallest trifles of men and women… Nothing will escape His eye and hand.

"Pleasant pictures" are named by Isaiah among the things on which judgment will fall in the day of the Lord. We must not expect to find a literal text that speaks directly to each of the artificial occupations of this highly artificial age. And if the Lord has not laid down rules for His people in these matters, it is certainly not fitting for them to lay down rules for one another. A single eye will enable us to form a sound judgment in all such things.

Lastly, he calls on them to hide in the dust because of the day of Jehovah. That day certainly has not yet fallen on the pride and idolatry of man… You only need to read the passage in a believing spirit. It will convince any fair mind that neither Nebuchadnezzar nor Titus on the one hand, nor the gospel on the other, has anything to do with the Lord's coming to carry out the all-embracing judgment of man pictured here. The true God would break down those who bowed down to idols. The hand of the Highest would be on all that is high and lifted up.

It is man, whom God has exalted in Christ, in His own gracious and wonderful way. But by exalting himself, man debases himself to his own ruin… "man's day" is a day when man makes himself great with what he has robbed from God, and lifts himself up by what God's mercy has given him.

Instead of accepting and even enlarging the products of man's inventive skill as an introduction to the millennial age, as some have imagined, it will remove them, along with the idols and the idolatrous notions that gave them birth.

It is the day of the Lord upon all the pride of man, to bring it low. It is the day when every refuge of lies shall be swept away and all the vanity of his thoughts shall be exposed. "The idols He shall utterly abolish." Yes, those who have been their slaves shall fling them to the moles and the bats. "And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." Then the way is prepared for blessing, as wide as the judgment which introduced it.

Grace bows our hearts now, and with joy we confess His name! Judgment will in that day break the proud spirit of the enemy.

This is not yet eternity. It is the age to come, when the idols will completely pass away and Jehovah alone will be exalted. The word, therefore, is "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" (v. 22). Man as such cannot hold on to his own breath, still less keep others in that day. Everything must depend on the sovereign pleasure of Him whose glory will no longer be hidden, and whose will is then shown in righteousness.

There is a day of Jehovah on all the earth. The hand of Jehovah will be against all that the world exalts. Everything or everyone that is lifted up shall be brought low: Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day. God will purify the earthly people by His judgments.

The true God would break down those who bowed down to idols. The hand of the Most High would fall on all that is high and lifted up. The idols shall utterly pass away. Men will go into caves and holes, away from the terror of Jehovah and from the glory of His majesty, when He rises up to shake the earth with power. All of this will come true when Christ appears, and not before. How can Christians imagine that the gospel has done this work, or ever could? Most of mankind are openly idolaters, and most of the baptized are really idolaters too.

This is not eternity yet. It is the age to come, when the idols shall utterly pass away and Jehovah alone shall be exalted... The gospel does much for believers. It makes them fit for God's light and heavenly glory. But there can be no real deliverance for the earth and the nations until Messiah comes again in glory, judging the living and reigning in peace.

This controversy with idolatry is now coming to an end. The sun rises and drives away the unclean things of the night: "Jehovah is to be feared above all gods." Truly: for what are they? "all the gods of the peoples are idols" — or as the word means, "nothings" — "but Jehovah made the heavens."

It is the day of the Lord on all the pride of man, to bring it low. On that day God sweeps away every refuge of lies and exposes the emptiness of man's thoughts. "The idols He shall utterly abolish." Yes, those who have been their slaves shall fling them to the moles and to the bats. "And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." Then the way is open for blessing, as wide as the judgment that brought it in.

Isaiah, the son of Amoz, looked forward to idols being utterly abolished (Isa. 2:18). Earthly saints will look back on that once it is done, for only one object of adoration will remain. Men will then turn to one object of worship alone. He is the True God, the Living God, the Everlasting God, the Maker of all things, the Creator of heaven and earth, and also the Redeemer and Saviour of His people.

A short and solemn warning comes with all this truth and grace: "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." Every object outside Christ that man's heart sets up and clings to, Satan makes into an idol. They may not for the present be gold or silver, or stone or wood, but of a subtler kind. Yet the day hastens when the mass of the Jews, little as they think it possible, will return to their old sin; and so will Christendom, even where they have boasted of their Protestantism and of their unbeatable hatred of Roman idolatry.

Read this passage in a believing spirit, and any fair mind will be convinced. Here the Lord comes to carry out the all-embracing judgment of man. That has nothing to do with Nebuchadnezzar or Titus. It has nothing to do with the gospel either. The true God would break down those who bowed down to idols. The hand of the Highest would be on all that is high and lifted up. All this will come true when Christ appears, not before.

The God whom creation has offended keeps silent for now. But the moment is coming fast when He will speak — not in grace, but in unsparing judgment. He "rises to terrify the earth" (Isa. 2:19, 21).

The day of the Lord will be upon everything that has fed the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. It will be upon everything men have delighted in, so as to shut out God and keep Christ out of their hearts. It will be upon everything that has fed man's self-exaltation. That self-exaltation has marked man all along. It marks him more and more now, and it marks the day we live in to a degree that is fearful to think about.

It is the day of the Lord upon all the pride of man, to bring it low. It is the day when every refuge of lies will be swept away, and all the emptiness of his thoughts exposed. He will utterly abolish the idols. Yes, those who were once their slaves will fling them to the moles and to the bats. The Lord alone will be exalted in that day. Then the way opens for blessing, as wide as the judgment that brought it in.

Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of God. Then they were afraid, and they tried to hide from His presence among the trees of the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:8, 10). People will repeat that useless hiding on a huge scale in the future. Kings and great men and rich men will call on the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of the One sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6:15-16).

What a contrast with Israel's own sweet singer! Despite his sins, he could say by grace, "You are my hiding place!" (Ps. 32:7). He hid in God, not from God. Before him stood One who could and would cover all his iniquities, and charge nothing to his account. Our effort to cover our sins, or to escape from His presence, is useless.

It would be useless then to call for the help of man: his day will have ended. In that day Jehovah rises to terrify the earth… "Stop regarding man, whose breath is in his nostrils; of what account is he?" (v. 22). Man as such cannot even hold on to his own breath, still less keep others alive in that day. The judgment of man, his pride and his idols, falls in the day of Jehovah, so that all the nations may then flow to Zion in heart-homage, as the beginning of Isaiah 2 describes.

How can anyone confuse this with the gospel! It is not yet eternity but the age to come, when the idols shall utterly pass away and Jehovah alone shall be exalted. So the word is, "Stop relying on man, whose breath is in his nostrils. What is he worth?" Man cannot hold on to his own breath. Still less can he keep others alive in that day... "That day" is the day of Jehovah. Whatever the gospel may do for believers, there can be no real deliverance for the earth and the nations until Messiah comes again in glory. He will come judging the living and reigning in peace.

"Their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, what their own fingers have made." Their sin was completely unpardonable. Judah had such glorious prospects from God's sure word, yet they chased heathen superstitions, not only Gentile wealth and power, but sadly their idols too.

The bat was forbidden to be eaten under the law (Leviticus 11:19; Deuteronomy 14:18). Several species are found in Palestine: they live in the tombs and caves, and are at home in darkness. Where there are many of them the smell is very offensive. Their home is a fitting picture of darkness and foulness. It is the place where men will throw their idols of gold and silver, when Jehovah rises up to deal with the earth.

The rest of the chapter shows how this period of blessing will come in. Is it by grace preached? No, it is by fearful judgments carried out. "The day of Jehovah" comes and destroys the pride of man. It makes him throw his idols to the moles and to the bats, and run "into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the rugged cliffs, for fear of Jehovah, and for the glory of His majesty."

The Jews have long and completely laid aside idolatry... The iniquity was only suppressed and shifted for the time. It is only held down, not destroyed or rooted out... Idolatry will surely come back. It will come back not only among the Christianised Gentiles, but among the Jews, little as they may expect it. It is a settled truth of Scripture that the mere absence of evil is never deliverance from its power. An empty, swept, or even decorated condition in itself means no final escape.

It is the day when every refuge of lies shall be swept away, and all the emptiness of his thoughts shall be exposed. "The idols He shall utterly abolish." Yes, those who have been their slaves shall fling them to the moles and to the bats. "And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." Then the way is prepared for blessing, as wide as the judgment that has brought it in.

You need only read this passage in a believing spirit to convince any fair mind of one thing. Neither Nebuchadnezzar or Titus on the one hand, nor the gospel on the other, has anything to do with the Lord's coming to carry out the all-embracing judgment of man pictured here… The idols will completely pass away, and men will go into caves and holes from before the terror of the LORD and from the glory of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth mightily. All of it will come true when Christ appears, not before.

The rest of the chapter shows how this time of blessing comes in. Is it by grace proclaimed? No, by fearful judgments carried out. "The day of the LORD" comes, destroying the pride of man… This terrible shaking of the earth brings the pride of man down. The result is that "the LORD alone will be exalted in that day."

The day of the Lord will be upon everything that has served the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. It will be upon everything men have delighted in, so as to shut out God and exclude Christ from their hearts. It will be upon everything that has fed the self-exaltation that has marked man all along, and marks him more and more now.

It is the day when God sweeps away every refuge of lies and exposes the emptiness of man's thoughts… The people who were slaves to their idols will fling them to the moles and to the bats… Then the way is open for blessing, as wide as the judgment that brought it in.

Idolatry is only held down, not destroyed or uprooted. God will judge it in that day… Idolatry will certainly reappear… It is an unchanging truth of Scripture that the mere absence of evil is never a deliverance from its power.

Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of God. They were afraid, so they tried to hide from His presence among the trees of the garden of Eden (Gen. 3:8, 10). People will try the same useless hiding on a huge scale in the future. Kings and great men and rich men will call on the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of the One sitting on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb (Rev. 6:15-16).

There is wrath coming upon the world, but God has made a hiding-place for you. Isaiah spoke of it: "a man will be like a hiding place from the wind." If you want shelter from the wrath to come, you will find it in Christ. You will find Him an ark of refuge. Noah was warned by God about things not yet seen, and in fear he built an ark to save his household. But a judgment is coming that no wooden ark could shelter you from. Where will you find a hiding place in that day? God has prepared a shelter from that storm. Where is it? It is Christ at the right hand of God.

It is not yet eternity but the age to come when the idols shall utterly pass away and Jehovah alone shall be exalted. The word, therefore, is "Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for what is he worth?" (v. 22). Man as such is not able to keep his own life-breath, still less to keep others in that day. Everything must depend on the sovereign pleasure of Him whose glory will no longer be hidden. His will is then to be displayed in righteousness.

The sense seems simple to me, though many translators and commentators miss it. It is not Christ, nor man in Christ, that is meant, but man in nature, man self-exalting and yet idol-loving. "Cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils (easily snuffed out, therefore, as far as life here is concerned): for what is he worth?" The man whose pride and idolatry will meet such a striking doom in the day of the Lord can never be a support to rest on. On the other hand, 2 Chronicles 35:21 has a different subject, so the English translators had to change the wording there. The sense there is not at all "cease from leaning on God," but, as the English version rightly has it, "hold back from meddling with God." It is a question of context, not of Hebrew.

The people were extremely ungrateful and in revolt. Provoked by this, Moses "spoke rashly with his lips." "Hear now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" Who asked this of him? Moses was overcome by evil instead of overcoming evil with good. The man who had so long lived as the meekest of men failed completely in that very respect at the last… "Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils; for what is he worth?"

Adam, as God made him, was a picture of Christ; as he made himself in his fall, he becomes a contrast to Christ… Never was a finer man placed in finer circumstances than Adam — yet he fell. As fallen, he became the head of a race of men like himself. What can come from such a source? If the fountain is polluted we shall not expect clean water to flow from it. Let us once and for all "cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils," and turn to Him in whom alone perfection beyond compare dwells.

How instructive all this is! What a sad mistake it is to lean on human strength! And yet how prone we all are to do so in one way or another! We lean on our fellow-mortal instead of leaning on the living God, and in the end we find we have been trusting a broken reed. "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, or a foot out of joint."

Isaiah 2–4. Here the kingdom appears at the beginning under the picture of "a mountain," and shows some of its glories at the end. But corruption and judgment fill the middle, between that opening and closing with glory. Yet we see the remnant for a moment (Isaiah 3:10). Isaiah 3:1-9 looks ahead to the blind folly that in God's way usually comes before destruction.

There is an important principle to notice: every prophecy assumes the ruin of the state of things in which the prophecy is given. When everything goes according to the mind of God, there is no need of warning. We see it here in a striking way. Prophecy reveals all the hopes that belong to the faithful when the existing order breaks down. It announces the failures, and the judgments on what man tries to do because of the evil.

Adon (lord) first occurs in Genesis 18:12, where Sarah speaks of Abraham as "her lord"... This is the common use: the open respect given to the one addressed. The superior may be a husband addressed by his wife, a master addressed by a servant, or a king addressed by a subject.

In Isaiah 1:24, "Thus says the Lord, Jehovah of hosts"; so in Isaiah 3:1; so in Isaiah 10:33.

The humbling of human pride must be universal. Yet this chapter shows that the blow will fall hardest on Jerusalem and Judah. It falls not only on their public political life, but in searching detail on the daughters of Zion in all their petty pride and empty show. What surer sign of decay and coming collapse could there be than the absence of all power in those who hold authority, when the men who should be the props of the state are children — not literally, but in mind and purpose?... There is no ruin without sin; and here it was frightful and shameless.

Divine judgment notices every detail of iniquity, oppression, and even vanity. All must be brought low.

"And if you will not be disciplined by me through these, but walk contrary to me, then I also will walk contrary to you. I will strike you Myself, sevenfold for your sins... When I break the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven. They shall hand the bread back to you by weight, and you shall eat, and not be satisfied."

The word, therefore, is "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" (v. 22). Man as such is not able to hold on to his own breath, still less to keep others alive in that day. Everything must plainly hang on the sovereign pleasure of Him who will hide His glory no longer.

How full of warning all this is! What a sad mistake it is to lean on an arm of flesh! And yet how ready we all are to do so in one way or another! We lean on another human being instead of leaning on the living God. In the end we find we have been trusting a broken reed.

God pushes the judgment and the ruin to the very limit. But Christ the Branch of beauty and glory will appear at that time for the remnant... The glory will shine out over the whole extent of the holy city.

In Isaiah 2 the prophet spoke of the day of the Lord and its effects. In Isaiah 3 he turns again to the state of the people in his own day. He also makes plain how God was disciplining them, and would go on doing so. The famine, the confusion and the oppression, with all the misery they brought, would leave Jerusalem in ruins. This might not fall on them at once, but in the end it would. God would still favour the righteous, as verse 10 shows. The ancients and princes of the people were the leaders in the evil of that day.

lachash. In Isaiah 3:3 the King James Version joins this word with "eloquent," but it means "a whisper" or "incantation." A better translation is "one versed in enchantments." The Revised Version has "skilful enchanter."

"For all that do these things are an abomination to Jehovah: and because of these abominations Jehovah your God drives them out from before you. You shall be perfect with Jehovah your God."

"He leads counsellors away plundered, and makes fools of the judges." That is, He strips counsellors of the value of their advice. So man's wisdom comes to nothing, and the judges turn foolish. Man's authority becomes as useless as his wisdom. Men everyone thought dependable lose their speech and their power to help others. Even elders known for their experience find their good judgment taken away.

What surer sign of decay, and of a state about to fall apart, than the total lack of power in the men who hold authority! Those who should be the props of the state are children — not literally, but in mind and purpose. Respect for high office must then give way to contempt on every side. Oppression and shameless wrongdoing parade unchecked, and anarchy is the result… There is no ruin without sin, and here the sin was dreadful and shameless.

Divine judgment notices every detail of iniquity, oppression, and even vanity. All must be brought low.

This chapter describes the corrupt conditions among the professing people of God in Isaiah's day. A similar corruption and worldliness prevailing in our age demands divine judgment.

However complete the fall of human pride must be, this chapter shows that the blow will fall hardest on Jerusalem and Judah. […] "For behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole supply of bread, and the whole supply of water; the mighty man, and the man of war; the judge, and the prophet, and the diviner, and the elder; the captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the skilled craftsman, and the expert enchanter. And I will give youths to be their princes, and children shall rule over them."

What surer sign of decay and coming collapse than the loss of all power among those who hold authority! Those who should be the props of the state are children — not in years, but in mind and purpose. Respect for high office must then give way to open contempt. Oppression and shameless wrongdoing flaunt themselves unchecked, and anarchy is the result.

Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, a book with much sound wisdom about "things under the sun": "Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child" (Ecc. 10:16). In earlier days than those of Josiah, Jehovah said about Israel: "I will give children to be their princes, and with childishness shall they rule over them" (Isa. 3:4). This was judgment on a people who did not value His word and had no desire to walk in His ways. It is hard to say which is worse for a nation, a child in years, or a man with a childish mind.

Isaiah 2 spoke of the day of the Lord and its effects. In Isaiah 3 Isaiah deals again with the state of the people. He also makes plain how God was chastising them, and would go on doing so. The famine, confusion and oppression, with the miseries that go with them, would leave Jerusalem in ruins. They might not come at once, but they would come in the end, though God would favour the righteous, as verse 10 shows. The elders and princes of the people were the leaders in the evil of that day.

It is startling to read in 2 Chronicles 34:1: "Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign." […] What could a child of eight do with a turbulent people far advanced in wickedness, and dangerously near to overwhelming judgment? What follows will show that Jehovah had mercy on the child, and also on the nation.

They may stop trusting in man, for their God will judge and strike His own people on the earth, the place of His rest (Isa. 3, 4). But in that day the Branch of Jehovah shall be glorious, and the earth shall be blessed. He who strikes binds up the wounds by bringing in the Messiah, and blessing the earth through Him.

Why has He forsaken His people? Because they have learned the ways of the nations. The day of the LORD will fall on all the glory of man, and on all his idols. Let them stop trusting in man, for God will judge and strike His own people on the earth, the place of His rest.

What surer sign of decay and coming collapse can there be than a total lack of power among those in authority? Those who should hold up the state are children — not literally, but in mind and purpose! Respect for high office must then give way to contempt from everyone. Oppression and shameless wrongdoing parade unchecked, and anarchy is the result.

The famine, the confusion, the oppression and all the misery that goes with them would leave Jerusalem in ruins. They might not come on the people at once, but in the end they would come. Even so, God would favour the righteous, as verse 10 shows. The elders and princes of the people were the leaders in the evil of that day.

This was judgment on a people who did not value His word and had no desire to walk in His ways. It is hard to say which is worse for a nation: a child in years, or a man with a childish mind... God shows what He thinks kingship should be in His description of David: "With upright heart he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand." A land with such a ruler is blessed indeed. But David was far from perfect, and no one will see God's ideal king until our Lord Jesus returns from heaven.

Man's self-will, which puts up with no restraint, is casting off authority more and more... The people are seeking to rule in place of the King and his representatives. Men are seeking to rule in place of masters, and children in place of parents. The result is that the whole world system is losing its moral bearings and falling fast into ruin and chaos.

Here the kingdom, pictured as "a mountain," is looked forward to at the beginning, and shown in some of its glories at the end. But corruption and judgment are the main material of this prophecy, in between that opening and closing glory. The faithful remnant, though, comes into view for a moment. Blind self-confidence, which in God's ways usually comes before destruction, is pictured in Isaiah 3:1-9.

In that day the Branch of the LORD will be glorious, and the earth will be blessed. The One who strikes binds up the wounds, by bringing in the Messiah and through Him blessing the earth.

Human pride must be brought low everywhere. Yet this chapter shows that the blow falls most crushingly on Jerusalem and Judah. It falls not only on their public political life. It reaches, in close detail, the daughters of Zion in all their proud, trivial show.

Divine judgment notices every detail of wrongdoing, oppression, and even vanity. All must be brought low.

What surer sign of decay and coming collapse could there be than this? Those who hold authority have no power at all. The men who should be the pillars of the state are children — not in age, but in mind and purpose. Respect for high office must then give way to contempt on every side. Oppression and shameless wrongdoing flaunt themselves unchecked, and the result is anarchy.

Having spoken of the day of the Lord and its effects in Isaiah 2, Isaiah deals again with the existing state of the people in Isaiah 3. He also makes plain how God was chastising them, and would go on doing so. The famine, confusion and oppression, with all the misery they brought, would leave Jerusalem in ruins. They might not come on the people at once, but they would come in the end. Yet God would favour the righteous, as verse 10 shows. The elders and princes of the people were the leaders in the evil of that day.

Corruption and judgment are the main material of this prophecy, set between an opening and a closing that speak of glory. But the remnant appears for a moment (Isa. 3:10). Isaiah 3:1-9 looks at the blind folly which, in God's way, usually comes before destruction. Scripture gives this judgment of God its usual name, "the day of the Lord."

So Isaiah 4 shows the Branch. He alone produces such excellent fruit in Israel, once His judgment has purged the guilty. The part of Isaiah 2 in between, and the whole of Isaiah 3, uncovers the evil and ruin of Zion, publicly and privately. Judgment begins at God's house. What will it be for Christendom, which is still more favoured?

Is there any surer sign of decay and coming collapse than this? Those who hold the place of authority have no power at all. Those who should be the props of the state are children — not in age, but in mind and purpose. Respect for high office must then give way to contempt from everyone. Oppression and shameless wrongdoing parade themselves unchecked, and anarchy is the result. … There is no ruin without sin; and here it was frightful and shameless.

Isaiah has spoken of the day of the Lord and its effects in Isaiah 2. In Isaiah 3 he deals again with the state the people were in. He also makes plain how God was chastising them, and would go on doing so. The famine, confusion and oppression, with the miseries they bring, would leave Jerusalem in ruins. This might not come on the people at once, but it would come in the end. Even so, God would favour the righteous, as verse 10 shows. The elders and princes of the people were the leaders in the evil of that day.

The blindness which commonly, in God's way, comes before destruction is anticipated in Isaiah 3:1-9.

The middle part of Isaiah 2 and all of Isaiah 3 uncovers the evil and ruin of Zion, publicly and privately. Judgment begins at God's house. What will it be for Christendom, which is still more favoured?

Still the cry because of oppression goes up into the ear of God, and He is quiet, and men think He does not notice. And because they think so, they are rising up today to take things into their own hands, and settle them in their own fashion. Yet they can never be settled that way: where are the righteous who are fit to rule? … And if they could find one perfectly righteous, would they gladly submit to him? What does the Cross say about that? The One they need has come and been rejected. … There is One who can be safely trusted — only One. He had power in His hand on earth once, and He used it, but never for Himself.

In the days of the prophet Malachi, the godly had the coming of Christ before them. They knew there would be no recovery for Israel until the Sun of righteousness rose with healing in His wings. In the same way, it is our privilege to have the coming of the Lord before us. We own that no power on earth can patch up the fragments of the scattered church, or heal the sorrows of the world. He alone can gather His people together, heal the broken hearts, bind up our wounds and still the storms of life.

The men who should hold up the state are children — not in age, but in mind and purpose. Those in authority have no power at all. What clearer sign of decay and coming collapse could there be? Respect for high office must then give way to contempt everywhere. Oppression and shameless wrongdoing go unchecked, and anarchy follows… There is no ruin without sin; and here it was appalling and shameless.

This provocation comes from the proud, insolent ways and speeches of Jerusalem. See verse 8. A similar word appears in 1 Corinthians 10:22: "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?" There the provocation comes from the saints, the worshippers of God, being present in idol-temples.

I think that those who go to this International Exhibition are, in a way, provoking the Lord to jealousy, and provoking the eyes of His glory. They are in something like a temple of idol-worship. By their high admiration of man and his skill and his successes, they give the creature what is due to the Creator.

In Isaiah 2 the prophet spoke of the day of the Lord and its effects. In Isaiah 3 he deals again with the state of the people at that time. He also makes plain how God was chastising them, and would continue to do so. The famine, confusion and oppression, with the miseries that go with them, would ruin Jerusalem. They might not come on the people at once, but they would come in the end.

This chapter describes the corrupt conditions among the people who claimed to belong to God in Isaiah's day. A similar corruption and worldliness are widespread in our own age, and they call for God's judgment.

Their memories might well bring back painful thoughts of past dark days. God had warned their guilty fathers again and again. Because of their shameless wickedness, Jehovah's eye would not spare them, and He would not pity them; their tongue and their doings had been against the Lord, "to provoke the eyes of His glory" (Isa. 3:8). But fear like a slave's did not suit these living representatives of the same nation. Their safe return to the land had made them examples of mercy glorying against judgment.

Respect for high office must then give way to contempt from everyone. Oppression and shameless wrongdoing flaunt themselves without check, and the result is anarchy… There is no ruin without sin; and here it was frightful and shameless.

Corruption and judgment are the main material of this prophecy, which opens and closes with glory. But the remnant appears for a moment (Isa. 3:10). Blind folly, which in God's ways usually comes before destruction, is pictured in advance in Isa. 3:1-9.

They had plenty of religious zeal. They also looked for a remedy for the obvious troubles of their day, but their remedies were worse than useless. God-given privileges only made their moral state more alarming and intolerable. Without Jehovah's mercy they stood near the doom of Sodom. Morally they were already Sodom. So their sacrifices, feasts, and assemblies were all the more hateful to Him. He felt that their feet defiled His courts, and He refused to hear their many prayers. There was no real repentance, no trembling at His word, but a religious veil over utter and shameless sin.

They are children as "impudent of face" as they are "hard of heart." Their heart spoke in their faces, so that they could hide nothing any longer. God sends to them knowing this completely. Against their blasphemous words He sets the speech of the Unchangeable One whom they have refused.

God is not arbitrary in the punishment of the wicked… How wickedly empty is the talk about God being "too merciful to send men to hell." Men show no mercy to themselves. They have only themselves to blame for their doom. All this is sharper still, because infinite love has provided a free remedy, which so many reject.

It was an Amalekite who killed Saul, which shows what we have already seen: sin is self-destruction. One of the very nation he had failed to destroy completely now rises up to make an end of him… A spared Amalekite is some desire of the flesh indulged and allowed. It may seem harmless in itself, but a deliberate sparing of evil opens the way for this closing act of shame.

The unbridled lust, lawlessness, boldness, self-will and corruption of the last days will be worse than any outbreak of evil in the past. It is found among people who claim the Christian name, and it goes on in the full light of the truth. Out of sheer shame, men usually wait for the darkness of night to do their evil deeds. These men, without shame, "revel in the daytime." As one has said, "They have learned to face the light and defy it."

Yet the evil day only brings out God's faithful care over the righteous. The wicked, just as surely, meet the due reward of their deeds. It is, however, a humiliating as well as a sifting time for God's people... God holds to His righteous government in a day of confusion, and warns.

Here the kingdom, pictured as "a mountain," comes into view at the beginning, and appears in some of its glories at the end. But corruption and judgment are the main material in between, though this prophecy opens and closes with glory. Yet the remnant are seen for a moment (Isa. 3:10).

It is the Apostle of grace who writes: "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap" (Gal. 6:7), and again: "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully" (2 Cor. 9:6)... "Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed on the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner" (Prov. 11:31).

A soul kept in holiness before God enjoys the sense of His favour, and this soon proves to be the secret of all true happiness... So Isaiah speaks: "Tell the righteous that it shall be well with them." Peter teaches the same in his first letter: God's government is in favour of His people. So the godly Israelite is taught this. Sorrows and trials might still lie ahead. But God's eye was upon him, and good would be the certain outcome of God's government and ways.

The famine, confusion and oppression, with the miseries that go with them, would ruin Jerusalem. They might not come on the people at once, but they would come in the end. Even so, God would favour the righteous, as verse 10 shows.

Isaiah seems to see those two in the bed, at the mill, and in the field, in this day of the Lord (Isa. 3:10-11; Isa. 33:14-16). Malachi also looks at them in the day of discerning. The same Sun that rises with healing in His wings on the one will burn like an oven for the other (Mal. 3, 4). For this day of the Lord will act with discerning, or in judgment. One shall be taken, and the other left.

The evil day only brings out the faithful care of God over the righteous, just as surely as the wicked meet with the due reward of their deeds. It is, however, a humbling as well as a sifting time for God's people. Yet the prophet declares in the liveliest terms how the Lord takes up the cause of the poor against those who crush them… God holds to His righteous government in a day of confusion, and warns.

This, however, is not grace but government. It is true of a saint as well as of a sinner. "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked… the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption." It is grace as to sins eternally, but righteous government as to wrongdoing down here. God never lets go the reins of government, even over the world, although for a season He did not step in with governmental power.

He has only himself to blame. He is reaping what he sowed… God is not arbitrary when He punishes the wicked. They store up wrath for themselves "on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed."… The talk about God being "too merciful to send men to hell" is wicked and empty. Men show no mercy to themselves. They have only themselves to blame for their doom. And all this is the sharper because infinite love has provided a free remedy, which so many reject.

Is it not His reign? Yet evil abounds and the righteous suffer. Still His moral government never fails, whatever appearances may promise for a while. The day will declare everything.

The contrast in Proverbs between the righteous and the wicked continues in this chapter. It shows mostly the advantage of the righteous, and it illustrates a statement in the prophet Isaiah: it will be well with the righteous, for they will eat the fruit of their deeds (Isaiah 3:10). Then the contrast: "Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him" (verse 11). The righteous eats good by the fruit of his mouth; the transgressor receives violence. There is plenty for the soul of the diligent and nothing for the soul of the lazy. Righteousness keeps; wickedness overthrows. While the light of the righteous rejoices, the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

Isaiah appears to see those two in the bed, at the mill, and in the field, in this day of the Lord… Malachi also looks at them in the day of discerning, when the same Sun that rises with healing in His wings on the one will burn as an oven for the other. For this day of the Lord will act with discerning, or in judgment. One will be taken, and the other left.

This is a humiliating time for God's people, and a sifting one. Yet the prophet declares in the most vivid terms how Jehovah takes up the cause of the poor against those who grind down their faces... That covers the rulers and princes. Others might plunder their enemies and enrich their followers at their neighbours' expense. But the civil and religious chiefs of Israel were so degraded and depraved that they preyed on the flesh and blood of their own brothers for their own greed and gain. The defenceless poor came off worst in this scene of flattery one moment and oppression the next. How true it is that the corruption of the best thing is the worst corruption!

We find God taking the government into His own hands. He had set up authority on the earth, and especially in Israel. The judges in Israel had carried the name of God (Elohim). His word guided them in judgment, and His authority armed them. But none of them would understand or act righteously... God, who had given the authority, judged among the gods — He must have righteousness.

All the people have their responsibility. But the chief weight must fall according to each person's position. Wickedness in a man who holds an office of trust is worse than the same evil in someone under him, and justice rightly counts it as more serious. Wrongdoing in a judge, for instance, is graver than dishonesty in a stable-hand or his master. Corruption or tyranny in a king is deeper guilt than faults here or there among his subjects.

Divine judgment notices every detail of wrongdoing, oppression, and even vanity. All must be brought low.

Isaiah exposes the luxury that ruins a people inside their own homes. No historian, in the Bible or outside it, does it as fully or in as much detail... Inspired prophecy deals with the infinitely great. It also digs into the smallest things and lays them bare, because these too come under God's eyes. History in man's hand would be ashamed to go down so low.

The middle part of Isaiah 2 and the whole of Isaiah 3 uncover the evil and ruin of Zion, both publicly and privately. Judgment begins at God's house. What will it be for Christendom, which is favoured still more?

Isaiah 3:14, "You have eaten up the vineyard," points back to Exodus 22:5. That law says: "If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten, and puts in his own beast, and it feeds in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field and of his own vineyard." The Hebrew word for "eat" is unusual, and it is the same in both places. So there is no doubt about the reference.

Isaiah 5:1-7 explains the truth of the vineyard planted by a man: "the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel" (v. 7). The hedge speaks of her separation from the nations. The place for the winepress tells of the provision God had made, so that Israel could give Him some return for His great goodness. The tower shows watchfulness against the intrusion of evil. The tenant farmers are of course the elders of the people, and God gave them the responsibility of caring for the nation on His behalf.

Others might plunder their enemies and enrich their followers at their neighbours' expense. But the civil and religious chiefs of Israel were so degraded and depraved that they preyed on the flesh and blood of their own brothers for their own greed and gain. The defenceless poor came off worst in this scene of flattery and oppression by turns. How true it is that the corruption of the best thing is the worst corruption!

All the people have their responsibility. But the chief weight must fall according to a person's position. Wickedness in a man who holds an office of trust is worse than the same evil in someone under him, and it deserves to be treated as more serious. Sin in a judge, for instance, has a graver character than dishonesty in a stableman or his master. Corruption or tyranny in a king is deeper guilt than failings here or there in any of his subjects.

What the leaders in Israel did, it is possible for the leaders in the Christian assembly to do, but for the grace of God. In later years the Apostle Paul warns us about men of corrupt minds who push into the Christian circle. They "suppose gain to be the end of piety" (1 Tim. 6:5). The Apostle Peter, who presents the Church as the House of God, warns leaders against feeding the flock of God for dishonest gain (1 Peter 5:2). So we learn that the flesh never changes.

All through the Word of God we are told to remember the poor with kindness. God gives most blessed promises to those who obey these gracious words. See Proverbs 14:21; 19:17; Psalm 41:1. Oppression of the poor is a sin God takes special note of. See Isaiah 3:14, 15; 10:2; Amos 2:6; James 2:6. When the Lord comes He will remember the poor and deliver them. See Psalm 72:2, 4, 12, 13; Isaiah 11:4.

Even so, the evil day only brings out God's faithful care over the righteous, as surely as the wicked receive what their deeds deserve. It is a humiliating time for God's people, and a sifting one. Yet the prophet declares in the liveliest terms how Jehovah takes up the cause of the poor against those who grind down their faces.

Others might plunder their enemies and enrich their followers at their neighbours' expense. But the civil and religious chiefs of Israel were so degraded and depraved that they preyed on the flesh and blood of their own brothers for their own greed and gain. The defenceless poor fared worst in this scene of flattery and oppression by turns. How true it is that the corruption of the best thing is the worst corruption!

All the people have their responsibility. But the chief weight must fall according to each person's position. Wickedness in a man who holds an office of trust is worse than the same evil in someone under him, and rightly counts as more serious. Wrongdoing in a judge, for instance, is graver than dishonesty in a stable-hand or his master. Corruption or tyranny in a king is deeper guilt than this or that failing in any of his subjects.

The employment of labour is often carried on in a hard spirit, grinding the faces of the poor. It is no compensation when employers give generously to so-called Christian or charitable causes what has been wrung out of tears and curses. In God's eyes it makes matters worse. And how much do trade and commerce have to answer for in the oppressive desire to grow rich!

Jehovah-Sabaoth carries the meaning, the Lord of hosts. It occurs over three hundred times in the Old Testament. Among the Jehovah names it is the one exception that finds its place in the New Testament. (See Romans 9:29; James 5:4.) This combination is spread widely through the Old Testament. Isaiah alone has sixty occurrences of this beautiful title. It carries the thought of mighty, irresistible power and resource in the hands of the Lord.

God's judgment notices every detail of wrongdoing, oppression, and even vanity. All must be brought low.

Oppression of the poor is a sin that God specially marks. See Isaiah 3:14, 15; 10:2; Ezekiel 18:11-13; Amos 2:6; 4:1; 5:11; James 2:6. When the Lord comes He will remember the poor and deliver them. See Psalm 72:2, 4, 12, 13; 113:7; 132:15; Isaiah 11:4.

Zion was literally the south-eastern height called David's city. Moriah was the north-eastern one, where the Lord's house stood. But the prophets often use Zion in a figurative way, and as another word for Jerusalem as a whole. "Daughter of Zion" is a poetic expression for the inhabitants of the Jewish capital, and so for the people in general. "Daughters of Zion" would represent rather its female inhabitants.

When women live for display in clothing, nothing more is needed to charge them with this: the holiness of the home is spoiled, and there is no real heart for the relationships God has set up. Such finery is certainly not for a husband or the family. Small as it is, it does not escape the withering notice of the Judge of all. Dress, walk, glances, are all noticed by the Spirit of God.

No historian, in the Bible or outside it, exposes so fully and in such detail the luxury that ruins a people from the inside, in their own homes, as Isaiah does here... Along with the infinitely great, inspired prophecy penetrates and lays bare the smallest things, as coming equally under God's eyes. History in man's hand would be ashamed to go down so low.

There is no doubt at all that showy, gaudy clothing shows pride of heart. It also shows a desire to attract admiring looks from the people around. We have an instance in Isaiah 3:16 and following... They wanted others to notice their chains and bracelets, rings and nose-jewels, their bonnets and mantles, hoods and veils. All this showed plainly enough that their hearts were as empty of the fear of the Lord as their heads were of any sense of womanly propriety. So the Lord warns them that He will certainly judge them for their worldly ways.

The evil of the day was not confined to the leaders, or to the men of the nation... The women also were deeply involved. Their state is denounced from verse 16 to the end of the chapter. They used every trick well practised in the pagan world to make themselves more attractive. And, as the closing verses state, the very men they tried to attract would fall by the sword, and so fail them.

Scripture does not tell us to neglect dress, or even adornment. On the contrary, we should pay attention to it, but according to the word of God... Our dress should suit the "meek and quiet spirit," so that dress and character agree. Ornaments are allowed too. But they should be made of good works, not of gold or pearls, "as becomes women professing godliness."

This chapter describes the corrupt conditions among the professing people of God in Isaiah's day. A similar corruption and worldliness prevailing in our age demands divine judgment.

The prophet describes the wide-spreading judgment of the day of the Lord in vivid detail. It ends with the cloud of glory, familiar to the people in the wilderness, resting over the earthly Jerusalem, "when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from its midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning."

"Daughter of Zion" (as in Isaiah 1:9) is a poetic phrase for the people who live in the Jewish capital, and so for the people in general. "Daughters of Zion" (as in Isaiah 3:16) stands instead for its women. We may add that it is nothing but ignorance to assume that Zion anywhere means the church of God, even as a picture.

When women live for display in dress, no further proof is needed to charge them with this: the holiness of the home is spoiled, and there is no real heart for the relationships God has set up. Such finery is certainly not for a husband or the family. Small as it is, it does not escape the withering notice of the Judge of all. Dress, walk and glances are all noticed by the Spirit of God.

Divine judgment notices every detail of iniquity, oppression, and even vanity. All must be brought low.

There is no doubt at all that showy, flashy clothing shows pride of heart and a wish to attract admiring looks from the people around. We have an example in Isaiah 3:16... They wanted others to notice their chains and bracelets, rings and nose-jewels, their bonnets and cloaks, hoods and veils. All this showed clearly that their hearts were as empty of the fear of the Lord as their heads were of any sense of what is fitting for a woman. So the Lord warns them that He will certainly judge them for their worldly ways... This is one side. And, wrong as this side is, those who rush into the opposite extreme are just as wrong... Dress, we must remember, is only the outward thing. Unless the heart is right, all else is wrong.

Human pride everywhere must be brought down. But this chapter shows that the blow will fall hardest on Jerusalem and Judah — not only on their public political life, but closely and searchingly on the daughters of Zion, in all their proud little shows of vanity. Here we have this double ground for God stepping in... Everyone left in Jerusalem will then be called holy, when the Lord has washed away the filth of Zion's daughters.

This time of trouble is followed by a shining out of beauty and glory, and abundant mercy for the saved and holy remnant... This one Man, the Messiah, will be the restorer of all breaches, and holiness will be a reality, not a mere name, in Jerusalem. Yet it is not by the gospel of grace as we have it now, but by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning... It is not the church but Israel that is in question, and her purification by judgment.

Similar corruption and worldliness in our own age call for God's judgment.

The daughters of Zion also decked themselves out in fine linen, hoods and veils — until burning came instead of beauty, and desolation came to the gates of the city. Scripture calls the Christian woman to modest dress, modest bearing and self-control, and to a meek and gentle spirit, which in the sight of God is of great worth.

A jewel or appendage. Judges 8:26. In the margin it is 'sweet jewels.' The Revised Version has 'pendants.' The same word is translated 'chains' in Isaiah 3:19. In Job 30:18 it is simply the collar of a coat: the mouth or opening for the throat.

Mentioned among the women's ornaments in Isaiah 3:19. The word is raal, which is translated 'trembling' in Zechariah 12:2. It is thought to refer to some light ornament that would flutter as the wearer moved. The margin renders it 'spangled ornaments.' Gesenius has 'veils.'

When women live for display in dress, that alone proves the charge against them. The holiness of the home is tainted, and there is no real heart for the relations God has set up. Such finery is certainly not for a husband or the family. Small as it is, it does not escape the withering notice of the Judge of all. Dress, gait, glances, are all noticed by the Spirit of God.

Nowhere in the Bible or outside it does any historian expose so fully and in such detail the luxury that ruins a people from within, in their homes, as Isaiah does here. He does so after striking a deadly blow at their dishonour of the true God and their craving for false gods. It would be truer to say this: alongside the infinitely great, inspired prophecy digs down and lays bare the smallest things, as equally under God's eyes. History in man's hand would be ashamed to go down so low.

They speak of separation from the world, but their houses look painfully worldly… Someone may say it is taking low ground to go down to such details. I reply: the daughters of Zion might just as well have said the same about this solemn appeal: "In that day the Lord will take away the finery of the anklets…"

There is no doubt at all that bright, showy clothing shows pride of heart and a wish to attract admiring looks from people around… They wanted others to notice their chains and bracelets, rings and nose-jewels, their bonnets and mantles, hoods and veils… This is one side. And, wrong as this side is, those who rush into the other extreme are no less wrong. When the Pharisees fasted, they put ashes on their head and dirtied and disfigured their faces. They looked deeply sad — but only so that people would think they were fasting.

"Do not let your adorning be external — the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear — but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." There is a beautiful hint at fashion here, because nothing changes like fashion. But the apostle says you are to have an ornament that is always the same.

In this connection it is very instructive to compare what is said of ornaments in Isaiah 3 and 4. In the earlier chapter, the Lord takes away all the ornaments of the daughters of Zion, and everything would be ruin and corruption. But chapter 4 speaks of Christ as "a sprout of Jehovah for beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth for excellency and for ornament for those that are escaped of Israel."

Having spoken of the day of the Lord and its effects in Isaiah 2, Isaiah deals again in Isaiah 3 with the state the people were in. He also makes plain how God was chastening them, and would go on doing so. The famine, confusion and oppression, with all the misery that came with them, would ruin Jerusalem. It might not come on them at once, but it would come in the end — though God would favour the righteous, as verse 10 shows. The elders and princes of the people were the leaders in the evil of that day.

The well-known ornament worn by women and men in the East. Genesis 24:22, 30, 47; Job 42:11; Hosea 2:13; etc. In Isaiah 3:20 the allusion is not to a ring for the ear, but to an amulet on which a charm could be written.

In the Old Testament the word kumaz signifies ornaments. Exodus 35:22; Numbers 31:50. In Isaiah 3:20 they are supposed to be receptacles for perfume. The margin reads 'houses of the soul,' which agrees with the Hebrew beth nephesh.

When women live for display in clothing, nothing more is needed to lay this charge at their door: the holiness of the home is spoiled, and there is no real heart for the relationships God has set up. Such finery is certainly not for a husband or the family. Small as it is, it does not escape the withering notice of the Judge of all. Dress, walk and looks are all noticed by the Spirit of God.

Nowhere in the Bible, or outside it, does any historian expose so fully and in such detail the luxury that ruins a people from within, in their own homes, as Isaiah does here. And he does it after striking a deadly blow at their dishonour of the true God and their craving for false gods. It would be truer to say that, along with the infinitely great, inspired prophecy searches out and lays bare the smallest things as coming alike under God's eyes. History written by man would be ashamed to go down so low.

There can be no doubt at all that showy, gaudy clothing shows pride of heart and a wish to draw admiring looks from the people around. We have an example in Isaiah 3:16 and the verses after it. There the Lord speaks very sternly to the daughters of Zion... They wanted others to notice their chains and bracelets, rings and nose-jewels, their bonnets and mantles, hoods and veils. All this showed plainly that their hearts were as empty of the fear of the Lord as their heads were of any proper sense of how a woman should behave. So the Lord warns them that He will surely judge them for their worldly ways. This is one side. And wrong as this side is, those who rush to the other extreme are just as wrong.

These were rings decorated with jewels. They usually passed through the right side of the nostril and hung down by the mouth. Proverbs 11:22 points to this way of decorating: "Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman without discretion." Isaiah 3:21 lists the nose jewels among the other ornaments of women that God would take away in His judgments. Ezekiel 16:12 lists ornaments as a picture of how God adorned Jerusalem, and there the words "a jewel on your forehead" should read "a ring upon your nose."

When women live for display in clothing, that is proof enough in itself. It lays the charge at their door: the holiness of the home is spoiled, and there is no real heart for the relationships God has set up. Such finery is certainly not for a husband or the family. Small as it is, it does not escape the searching notice of the Judge of all. Dress, walk, glances, are all noticed by the Spirit of God.

Isaiah first deals a deadly blow at their dishonouring of the true God and their craving after false ones. Then he exposes the luxury that ruins a people from within, in their own homes. No other historian, in the Bible or outside it, has exposed it so fully or in such detail. It would be truer to say that inspired prophecy reaches the infinitely great and lays bare the smallest things too. Both alike come under God's eyes. History written by men would be ashamed to stoop this low.

The Spirit of God can go down to small details when the details are there to go down to. But someone may object further: "We must furnish our houses according to our rank in life." Wherever people press this objection, it fully reveals the real ground of the objector's soul. That ground is the world, without question. "Our rank in life!" What does this really mean, as applied to those who profess to be dead?

It is very instructive to compare what Isaiah 3 and 4 say about ornaments. In chapter 3, all the ornaments of the daughters of Zion are to be taken away, and everything would be ruin and corruption. But chapter 4 speaks of Christ as "a sprout of Jehovah for beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth for excellency and for ornament for those that are escaped of Israel."

There is a beautiful allusion to fashion here, because nothing changes so fast as fashion. But the apostle says you are to have an ornament that is always the same. Oh, to own what is of great price in the sight of God — the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit! It does not show in the things the world around notices. Only those who are in close contact with the wearer can see it and understand it.

Most take these to be bags or purses, richly decorated. Isaiah 3:22. The Hebrew word is charitim, and it is translated 'bags' in 2 Kings 5:23.

The wimple, or veil, was a wide outer garment or shawl that covered the head and part of the body. Ruth could carry six measures of barley in such a veil. Ruth 3:15; Isaiah 3:22. There are four other Hebrew words translated 'veils.'

When women live to show off their clothes, you need no further proof to lay this charge at their door: the holiness of the home is spoiled, and there is no real heart for the relationships God has set up. Such finery is certainly not for a husband or the family. Small as it is, it does not escape the searching notice of the Judge of all. Dress, walk and looks are all noticed by the Spirit of God.

Nowhere in the Bible or outside it does any historian expose so fully and in such detail the luxury that ruins a people from the inside, in their own homes, as Isaiah does here. He has just struck a deadly blow at their dishonour of the true God and their craving for false gods. It would be truer to say that, along with the infinitely great, inspired prophecy searches out and lays bare the smallest things, as things that equally come under God's eyes. History written by man would be ashamed to go down so low.

There is no doubt at all that showy, flashy clothing shows pride of heart and a desire to draw admiring looks from the people around. We have an example in Isaiah 3:16 and the verses after it. There the Lord speaks very sternly to the daughters of Zion. They walked with their necks stretched out and their eyes full of desire, taking short, dainty steps and jingling the ornaments on their feet. They wanted others to notice their chains and bracelets, rings and nose-rings, their bonnets and mantles, hoods and veils. All this showed clearly that their hearts were as empty of the fear of the Lord as their heads were of any sense of what was fitting for a woman. So the Lord warns them that He will surely judge them for their worldly ways.

The Spirit of God can go down to details when the details are there to go down to. But someone may object further, "We must furnish our houses to match our rank in life." Wherever people press this objection, it shows exactly what ground their soul is standing on. That ground is the world, without question.

It is very instructive to compare what is said about ornaments in Isaiah 3 and 4. In chapter 3, all the ornaments of the daughters of Zion are to be taken away, and everything would be ruin and corruption. But in chapter 4, Christ is spoken of as "a sprout of Jehovah for beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth for excellency and for ornament for those that are escaped of Israel."

Divine judgment notices every detail of iniquity, oppression, and even vanity. All must be brought low.

Look at this long stretch of detail. How can anyone still claim, as many have, that history gives particular facts while prophecy gives only general principles? No historian, in the Bible or outside it, exposes so fully and in such detail the luxury that ruins a people inside their own homes. Isaiah does it here, straight after striking a deadly blow at their dishonouring of the true God and their craving for false ones. It is truer to say that inspired prophecy reaches the infinitely great and the smallest things alike, because both come under God's eyes. History in man's hand would be ashamed to go down so low. Poor, proud, deceived man!

The picture of home life is a sorrowful one. When women live for display in clothing, no more proof is needed. The charge lies at their door: the holiness of the home is spoiled, and there is no real heart for the relationships God has set up. Such finery is certainly not for a husband or the family. Small as it is, it does not escape the withering notice of the Judge of all. The Spirit of God notices dress, walk and glances.

The STOMACHER, apparently a wide ornamented belt. The word occurs only in Isaiah 3:24.

A rough cloth made of hair, used for sacks and coarse clothing. As a symbol of sorrow or repentance, people wore it next to the skin and kept it on at night. They often wore ashes with it.

God forbade the Israelites to cut themselves or to make themselves bald for the dead, as the nations around them did, because they were a holy people to the Lord. Baldness is one of the judgements of the Lord: perhaps they would make themselves bald in their distress. Isaiah 3:24; Isaiah 15:2; Isaiah 22:12; Ezekiel 7:18; Amos 8:10; Micah 1:16.

The blackness she speaks of is on the outside. It is a darkness of complexion — she is sunburnt. The prophet's warning word has come true: "There shall be burning instead of beauty."... The time was when the daughter of Zion was beautiful and glorious, a praise in the earth... But her ingratitude and unfaithfulness had reduced her to the sad condition of a poor sunburnt slave.

It is very instructive to compare what Isaiah 3 and 4 say about ornaments. In chapter 3, all the ornaments of the daughters of Zion are to be taken away, and everything would be ruin and corruption. But chapter 4 speaks of Christ as "a sprout of Jehovah for beauty and glory, and the fruit of the earth for excellency and for ornament for those that are escaped of Israel."

The daughters of Zion, too, decked themselves out in fine linen, hoods and veils. In the end there was burning instead of beauty, and desolation in the gates of the city. Scripture urges modest clothing, modest bearing and self-control on the Christian woman, along with a meek and gentle spirit. In the sight of God that spirit is of great price.

Gates protected a city, but "in the gate" was also the place where people settled many important matters. Boaz wanted the question about Ruth and the inheritance settled, so he went up to the gate. There he debated it with a nearer relative and closed the matter, and the elders witnessed it... To "sit in the gate" was a place of honour: "they who sit in the gate speak against me." Psalm 69:12. It should have been the place of true judgement and justice, but was not always so. Isaiah 29:21; Amos 5:10, 12; Zechariah 8:16... From this it would be a symbol of power.

"For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of His glory. The look on their faces witnesses against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they do not hide it" (vv. 8, 9). There is no ruin without sin; and here it was frightful and shameless.

Divine judgment notices every detail of iniquity, oppression, and even vanity. All must be brought low.

Dress, walk, glances — the Spirit of God notices them all.

But the evil of that day was not limited to the leaders, or to the men of the nation whom verses 2 and 3 describe. The women shared in the guilt. They used every device, well practised among the pagan nations, to make themselves more alluring. And, as the closing verses state, the very men they tried to attract would fall by the sword, and so fail them.

This is a significant expression. It points to Israel in her relationship to Jehovah. It reminds us of Isaiah 3:26 about Jerusalem: "And her gates shall lament and mourn; empty, she shall sit on the ground." It reminds us also of Isaiah 54:6: "For the Lord has called you as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were refused, says your God."

Everywhere in Scripture this time of tribulation is tied to the Jews in the last days, before their deliverance. After it comes an outshining of beauty and glory, and abundant mercy for the saved and holy remnant... However many the slain, this one Man will repair every breach. In Jerusalem holiness will be real, not just a name.

Jerusalem is seen as barren and desolate, after she rejected Him who came to be her husband. But now grace has made Jehovah her righteousness, and He calls her to enlarge the place of her tent... For a little while God treated her as a rejected wife. Now He has comforted her with everlasting mercies.

Isaiah exposes the luxury that ruins a people from the inside, in their own homes. No historian, in the Bible or outside it, has done it so fully or in such fine detail… There is a change, and an exposure that deeply humiliates pride. But there is more. The desolation would be so complete that Isaiah describes the shortage of men as tempting women into a boldness contrary to female modesty.

The first verse of Isaiah 4 completes this grievous theme, and here we believe we do travel on to the last days. So many men will be destroyed that women themselves will argue for some form of polygamy, to cover the shame of being unmarried. They are ready to be no real cost to the man whose name they take. This may sound strange to us. But Scripture predicts the strife and warfare that will mark the end of the age, so we are not surprised.

The law made a merciful provision that no man's family should be allowed to die out, while a brother survived to continue the line. In Israel, to be childless was a reproach. For a man's name to be blotted out — his family to become extinct — was seen as a special mark of God's displeasure… That provision also seems to recognise the hope in the heart of every Hebrew woman, that through her the promise of "the woman's seed" might somehow be fulfilled.

Serious readers will be surprised to hear of an old idea, held by those who turn everything into symbol, that the "one man" is Christ and the "seven women" believers! Perhaps this absurd result of leaving the plain, real meaning is what led someone to cut the verse off from Isaiah 3 and move it into Isaiah 4, where the Branch follows at once.

Scripture everywhere ties this time of tribulation to the Jews in the last days, before their deliverance. Then comes an outshining of beauty and glory, and abundant mercy for the saved and holy remnant… The Branch is a favourite and frequent picture of the Messiah, as any reader of Jeremiah and Zechariah will recognise. He will be there in His beauty and glory, and everything will be in harmony for the escaped of Israel. However many are killed, this one Man will be the restorer of all that was broken.

It is to be a real work of God. No Christian should entertain the idea of a merely outward restoration, or of anything a turn of the political wheel could achieve. But neither is it the result of preaching the gospel as we do now. That nation will once more come into prominence, and in their own land — at least the escaped of Israel. They will be souls blessed by God, but blessed at the same time as the descendants of Jacob on the earth.

The words "in that day" open verse 2 as well as verse 1. The "day" in question is plainly the period that introduces the age to come, the time of Christ's second coming. The Old Testament uses the word translated "Branch" of our Lord five times, and it means a sprout — "a Sprout of Jehovah for glory and beauty" (New Trans). Here, though it is veiled, we see a hint of the Deity of the promised Messiah. The picture is of a living tree putting out a sprout that shows the tree's own nature and character. And the living tree here is Jehovah Himself.

Jeremiah speaks of the Lord Jesus twice as the Branch, or Sprout (Jer. 23:5; Jer. 33:15). There the stress falls on righteousness. It is the character He displays, not the Source He springs from. Zechariah uses the word twice as well (Zech. 3:8; Zech. 6:12). There the stress is different: though He springs from Jehovah, He takes the place of the Servant and enters Manhood to serve. Read the five occurrences in the fuller light of the New Testament, and you see how full these early predictions were about our blessed Lord. The one in our chapter is the first and deepest of them all.

A title of the Lord Jesus, which He will bear in connection with Israel in the future… He will be a "righteous Branch and a King." He will "build [or advance in honour] the temple of Jehovah; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on His throne; and He shall be a priest on His throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both." It is a description of the Lord Jesus in the millennium.

When the Lord came the first time, the nation rejected Him. The prophet foresaw this in Isaiah 53. God's tender plant, the root out of dry ground, held no attraction for the people He came to. As Isaiah wrote, He had "no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him" (Isa. 53:2). It will be completely different when the Lord returns in His glory to save the godly remnant from the dreadful conflicts of the last days. They will truly see the excellence and beauty of the One whom the leaders and nation of Israel once rejected and crucified.

Scripture everywhere ties this time of tribulation to the Jews in the last days, before God delivers them. After it comes an outshining of beauty and glory, and abundant mercy for the saved and holy remnant… The Branch is a familiar picture of the Messiah. He will be there in His beauty and glory, and everything will be in harmony for the escaped of Israel. However many are slain, this one Man will repair every breach. Holiness in Jerusalem will be a reality, not a mere name. Yet this does not come by the gospel of grace as now. It comes, in the prophet's own words, "by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning."

It is to be a real work of God. No Christian should entertain the idea of a merely worldly restoration, or of anything that political upheaval could achieve. Nor, on the other hand, is it the effect of preaching the gospel as now. "That nation" will once more come into prominence, and in their own land — at least the escaped of Israel. These will be souls blessed by God, but blessed at the same time as the seed of Jacob on the earth.

The Lord Jesus as the BRANCH will give infinite delight to God, just as He brought unbroken pleasure to His Father when He was here as the TRUE VINE. For men there will be peace and joy — the fruit of His work on the cross, flowing from His good and generous reign.

In that day Christ will be revealed, and a godly remnant will be there too, spoken of as those of Israel who have escaped. This shows how fierce and destructive of life the great tribulation foretold elsewhere will be. Verse 3 makes the same point. From our Lord's prophetic discourse, recorded in three of the Gospels, we learn that Judah and Jerusalem will be the very centre of that time of trial and persecution. It will only end when the Lord intervenes in power at His second coming. Those who remain will be alive spiritually and holy, and will enjoy the excellent fruits produced by His presence.

A registry of people's names as living. One (also simply called God's book) may be a book of those who only have a name to live, and God may therefore blot out their names: Exodus 32:32-33; Revelation 3:5. Another is a book of the saved, and no one will be erased from it: Philippians 4:3; Revelation 20:12, 15; Revelation 21:27. A third, called simply "the book," contains the names of the remnant of Israel: Daniel 12:1.

Whether they are in the land, or come out of the dust of the earth, or come from among the Gentiles, God will deliver none but those who are the objects of His counsels — those "found written in the book." Some of them may awake, as the figure puts it, to take part in the great struggle at the close. But their names are not registered in God's book, so they will be given up to shame and everlasting contempt. For the rest it is not a mere national deliverance, but much more. Those who are delivered will be truly born of God. A spiritual character will attach to their rise, as well as a national one.

However many the slain, this one Man will be the restorer of all breaches, and holiness will be a reality, and not a mere name, in Jerusalem. Yet it is not by the gospel of grace as now, but "by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning." It is not the church but Israel that is in question here, and her purification by judgment. Then the Lord's open presence will be her security as much as her glory.

The separation is dwelt on in the next verse, and in plain words, Israel becomes what it never yet has been, an "assembly of the righteous."

Before this happy state of things can come, there must be the work of cleansing that verse 4 speaks of. It is "a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning" — that is, fire. We may remember that John the Baptist said of our Lord, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matthew 3:11). He also showed that the fire burns the chaff, while the wheat goes into His barn. Burning the chaff will purge and wash away the filth. God will cleanse Jerusalem, indeed the whole earth, by a work of judgment and not by the preaching of grace.

There is no room to say that this was fulfilled at any time in their past history. The prophet goes straight on to what is still future.

We see in Isaiah 4:3 that all who escape in Jerusalem will be written to life... Prophecy always assumes a state of displeasure on God's part, but blessing and glory after judgment. God gave it to be believed and understood before it happened. If someone only understands it once it has happened, the moral effect is lost. When God makes His mind known to us about what does not touch us directly, we have great proof of His love and enjoy communion with Him. That communion always separates us more from a world about to be judged.

But this happy state of things cannot come before the work of cleansing that verse 4 speaks of. Verse 4 describes it as "a spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning" — that is, by fire. We may remember that John the Baptist said of our Lord, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire" (Matt. 3:11). He also showed that the fire would burn the chaff, while He gathered the wheat into His barn. In our chapter, verses 2 and 3 describe the wheat. The burning of the chaff will purge and wash away the filth. The cleansing of Jerusalem, indeed of the whole earth, will be by a work of judgment and not by the preaching of grace.

He will be there in His beauty and glory, and all will be in unison for the escaped of Israel. No matter how many are killed, this one Man will repair every breach. Holiness will be real in Jerusalem, not just a name. Yet this does not come by the gospel of grace as it does now, but expressly "by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning." … It is not the church but Israel that is in question, and her purification by judgment. Then the manifested presence of the Lord will follow, and will be her security as well as her glory.

Vitringa applied the spirit of judgment and the spirit of destruction to the Holy Spirit guiding the ruler and ministers of the church in discernment. That is the old source of endless error — it turns Jewish scripture aside to a Christian purpose. This is plainly the day of righteous judgment on earth, above all in its chief city, Jerusalem. Yet the action of the Spirit is certainly meant here, but in judicial power. First comes purity, then glory shines brightly on Zion.

He does not come as the Spirit of grace in an arena as wide as the world. He comes in Israel, especially in Jerusalem, as the Spirit of judgment (Isa. 4:4).

I was watching a man painting a gate. He had a lamp with the flame directed forward. He held this against the old, dirty paint, scorching and blistering it. Then with the sharp edge of a tool he scraped it off. All this had a final purpose in view. He was preparing the gate, by flame and burning, for the new paint. … In the same way the Spirit of judgment will work by "burning," removing all that is evil. This prepares the way for the Kingdom of Christ to be set up in glory.

In these four chapters one can see the importance God attaches to the land. He takes account of the iniquity of His earthly people, cleansing them by His judgment. He washes away the filth of the nations also.

Here, surely, we have a symbolic picture of the Spirit of God in His fullness. But the picture ties Him to the fire of judgment. That reminds us that, as with Israel so with the world, God is going to purge away all filth "by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning" (Isa. 4:4). Some today refuse the One who speaks in grace from heaven. In the day to come they will find that "our God is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29).

This is clearly the day of righteous judgment on earth, and above all in its capital city, Jerusalem... God first makes Zion pure, and then glory shines brightly on her. Just as the cloudy pillar once covered the tabernacle of God's presence, so Jehovah will now create that same cloud and fire over every dwelling-place of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies.

It will be a visible glory. It will be a permanent glory. He will now dwell gloriously among the children of Israel. People will see this glory over Jerusalem, as they did long ago — a cloud by day, and a shining, flaming fire by night.

Once judgment has done its cleansing work, God's presence can return to Jerusalem. It will not rest on one special building, like the temple in Solomon's day, but on every dwelling-place and convocation.

It means "a calling together," and it is always called "holy." Leviticus 23 lists the occasions called "holy convocations," in the chapter that records the Feasts. They included the Sabbath and ended with the Feast of Tabernacles. The same Hebrew word is translated "assemblies" in Isaiah 1:13 and Isaiah 4:5.

Long ago God spread His tabernacle over the tent of meeting. That tent then became the centre and resting place of the thousands of Israel. It covered them in the desert. The huge canopy God spread over them sheltered two and a half million people — the redeemed host of Jehovah pictured in type — from scorching sun and winter storms. It was the nation's glory and defence. In the eternal state the tabernacle of God is with men (Revelation 21:3); in the days of Christ's coming reign God's tabernacle will be over them (Revelation 7:15). What security that white-robed crowd will enjoy as they rest under the glorious canopy spread over them, each one equally sheltered!

When that happens, who will be able to strike a blow at Jerusalem? The presence of God and the glory that comes with it will be protection. Who can strike through a defence like that?

Clearly the images used do not fit heaven. They fit the earth, and above all the land and people of Israel. So this is not about eternity, when all distinctions of land and race have passed away. It is also wide of the mark to treat the history of the early church as the fulfilment of this prophecy. It is really a vision of future divine glory for Israel on the earth, after judgments, under the Messiah.

It is clearly the day of righteous judgment on earth, and especially in its chief city, Jerusalem. No one denies for a moment that the Spirit acts here, but He acts in judicial power. First purity is brought about, then glory shines brightly on Zion.

There will be a display of glory in this world, as in a small measure there was in the wilderness… Here we have the judgment of Israel and the glory displayed. The first four chapters give us the end of everything as far as Israel is concerned — but glory at last.

The word translated "tabernacle" in verse 6 is not the one used for the tabernacle in the wilderness, but the one used for the feast of tabernacles, or booths. Any extreme, either of heat or of rain, will be so slight that nothing more than a booth will be needed. Everything necessary will come with the presence of God among His people, redeemed by judgment.

A foreshadowing of the rest that remains, and of the rejoicing that will take place when all their earthly troubles are ended, and Messiah is reigning over them.

Once judgment has done its cleansing work, God's presence can return to Jerusalem. It will rest not merely on a special building, like the temple in Solomon's day, but on every dwelling place and gathering. As of old, a cloud in the daytime and a flame by night will mark His presence. When that happens, who will be able to strike a blow at Jerusalem? The presence of God and the glory that goes with it will be the protection. Who can strike through a defence like that?

Clearly the images used do not suit heaven but the earth, especially the land and people of Israel. This again shows that eternity is not in question here, for in eternity all distinctions of land and race have passed away… It is really a vision of future divine glory for Israel on the earth, after judgments, under the Messiah.

God spread His tabernacle over the tent of meeting long ago, which became the centre and rest of the thousands of Israel. It covered them in the desert. The huge canopy God spread over them sheltered them from scorching suns and winter blasts. It was the nation's glory and defence… In the eternal state the tabernacle of God is with men (Rev. 21:3); in millennial times God's tabernacle will be over them (Rev. 7:15). What a sense of security the white-robed crowd will enjoy as they rest under that glorious canopy — each one equally sheltered, equally protected!

In Isaiah 5 the prophet sings a song of Jehovah, his well beloved, about His vineyard. Moses had already (Deut. 32) spoken a song in the ears of Israel. In magnificent language it celebrates the sovereign choice and blessing of God, the sins and punishment of the people, and also His final mercy to His land and people... Our chapter takes in a narrower field of view.

God calls His people to consider their state. He would reveal His judgments to them, but He begins by making them pay attention... It is the complaint of God as He reminds His people of what He has done for them.

Two terms of affection open Jehovah's song about His vineyard: "My wellbeloved" and "My beloved." There seems to be prophetic reference in them to the love within the Godhead... Jehovah sings the song (Isa. 5:1), and the vineyard, the house of Israel, belongs to Him (Isa. 5:7), and to His beloved also (Isa. 5:1). The title "wellbeloved" (y'deed) points to the Messiah. It stands inside Jehovah's name for Solomon (Jedidiah), the "beloved of his God" (2 Sam. 12:25; Neh. 13:26). Solomon is a picture of Him who was the true Heir of Jehovah's vineyard (Mark 12:6, 7).

In Isaiah 5 the wellbeloved is very clearly Jehovah; it is His vineyard. In the parable in Mark's gospel the one sent by the householder into the vineyard is his wellbeloved son. There is a remarkable testimony to the deity of Christ here. It has often been said that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New.

The key to the interpretation of the song is found in verse 7, "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant."

There was no failure on God's part. He had established Israel in the most favourable position and separated them to Himself. He removed stumbling-blocks, crowned them with favours, and granted not only protection but every means of blessing. "And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it?"... Yet all was in vain. The result was only bad fruit.

They go back to the deliverance out of Egypt, in which He had separated them to Himself for fruit. The vine is good for nothing else but fruit, and with its trailing branches is the very image of dependence.

This applies to our consciences. God has a right to look for fruit in proportion to the pains He took, and if there were none, judgment must follow. God never stops at what is spoiled to patch up the gaps. He looks at what He did at the beginning, and compares it with the present state. That is why the Lord says to the angel of the church in Ephesus, "You have abandoned the love you had at first."

Then at last Israel will be no longer a fruitless vine but rather "A vineyard of red wine." Then peace will follow. Israel will be like a tree full of blossom, and will fill the face of the world with fruit. Israel will become what God from the outset intended them to be. This will never come about as the result of their efforts.

There was no failure on God's part. He had established Israel in the most favourable position. He separated them to Himself, removed obstacles, and crowned them with favours. He gave them not only protection but every means of blessing.

The law, given through Moses, fenced them in. It was there to protect them from outside contamination, if they kept it. What is more, they were a "choicest vine," for they had descended from Abraham, one of God's choicest saints.

The hedge speaks of her separation from the nations. The place for the winepress tells of the provision God had made, so that Israel could give Him some return for His great goodness. The tower shows watchfulness against evil getting in.

There was a result, but it was completely worthless and evil. Where there should have been justice, there was oppression; where there should have been righteousness, only a cry of distress. Again we must notice this: the charge against them is moral corruption, not a failure to keep religious ceremonies.

But it was a natural vine. It was only the vine of earth, given every chance to show what fruit it could produce. Israel was the best nation on earth. So we, and all humanity, are under review.

They, like Adam, broke the covenant. It was the old story over again. Human responsibility ends in total ruin.

In Isaiah the reason for the desolation is made plain. Israel as the vine brought forth nothing but wild and worthless grapes. There was no fruit for God. Jesus Himself was the Branch made strong for Jehovah, and He now presents Himself as the real Source of all fruit for God on the earth.

God has a right to look for fruit, in keeping with the trouble He took. If there is none, judgment must follow. God never stops at what is spoilt in order to repair the damage. He looks at what He did at the beginning, and compares it with the present state. That is why the Lord says to the angel of the church in Ephesus, "You have abandoned the love you had at first." What God asks of us is this. We must look at what He did at the beginning. Then we compare ourselves with the fruits and testimonies given at the start, not with the spoilt state we are in now.

The "Well-beloved" is the Lord Jesus. God asks people to judge between Him and His vineyard — even the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah. He has done much for a nation that had a certain responsibility on the earth. He will carry out all His purposes, but first He tests Israel to see whether they will fulfil God's design themselves.

So the nation as a whole is weighed in the divine balances, and found wanting. The case is so plain and so serious that God challenges the men of Judah to judge between Him and His vineyard. Yet they themselves are the degenerate trees in question. The goodness shown to Israel was beyond doubt. So was their obligation to yield fruit for God. But obligation produces no fruit fit for Him.

He had blessed them with every earthly blessing in a pleasant land. The Lord set them apart for Himself, surrounded them with His favours, and gave them His law... Nothing was lacking on God's part. But the nation, as a whole, had turned away from Him, broken the covenant, and corrupted their ways entirely. And now Jehovah appeals to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah. His appeal is full of the most melting grace and tenderness.

There was no failure on God's part... Yet it was all in vain. The result was only bad fruit... They, like Adam, broke the covenant. It was the old story over again. Human responsibility ends in total ruin.

He has to portray His own death as man's answer to God. God had lavished favours and blessings on man since the day he fell in Eden, and this was the answer He got. He has to speak of how God patiently sent one servant after another, and how the tenants treated them all the same way. God had tried every possible means to get fruit from the vineyard, but all in vain. Only one hope remained. "They will respect my son."

God has a right to look for fruit in keeping with the trouble He took. If there was none, judgment must follow. God never stops at what is spoiled to patch up the gaps. He looks at what He did at the beginning, and compares it with the present state... What God asks of us is that we look at what He did at the beginning. We must compare ourselves, not with the spoiled present state, but with the fruits and testimonies given at the start. If we do not bear these fruits, we are guilty, and here is the consequence: "Judge between me and my vineyard." The principle of verses 3 and 4 applies also to the church.

He had planted a hedge, and He required fruit. He was fully entitled to require fruit... But when He looked for grapes, it brought forth wild grapes. He has tried requiring fruit, but man has not produced it. He has found too much bad fruit to require it again. Do not then pretend to uphold the claims of God; if you do, you must satisfy them.

God weighs the whole nation in His scales and finds it wanting. The case is so plain and so serious that He challenges the men of Judah to judge between Him and His vineyard — though they themselves are the degenerate trees in question. God's goodness to Israel was beyond doubt. So was their duty to bear fruit for God.

There was no failure on God's part. He had put Israel in the best possible position. He set them apart for Himself, cleared away obstacles, and crowned them with favours. He gave them not only protection but every means of blessing… Yet it was all in vain. The result was only bad fruit… They, like Adam, transgressed the covenant. It was the old story over again. Human responsibility ends in total ruin.

In the vineyard God had planted the choicest vine. He had done everything to get fruit. He put a winepress there so that it would bring forth grapes — and it brought forth wild grapes. There was no fruit for God! The passage shows the fruit God sought: "He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!"

We must also remember that Israel was representative of the whole human family. God took a vine out of Egypt and planted it on a fruitful hill. He put a hedge around it and worked it with all the skill of a divine gardener. He asks, "What more was there to do for My vineyard, that I have not done in it?" But it was a natural vine. It was only the vine of earth, given every chance to show what fruit it could produce.

God has a right to look for fruit in keeping with the pains He took. If there were none, judgment had to follow. God never stops at what is spoiled to patch up the gaps. He looks at what He did at the beginning and compares it with the present state. This is why the Lord says to the angel of the church in Ephesus, "You have abandoned the love you had at first." God asks us to look at what He did at the beginning. We must compare ourselves, not with the present spoiled state, but with the fruits and testimony given at the start.

The world is a moral wilderness. Into it, and into that little plot on which He had lavished such care, came His final trial of man! "I have one Son, it may be they will respect him when they see him." The story is soon told. They gave Him a cross when He came looking for a crown! They gave Him spitting when He came looking for fruit! And so ended the four thousand years of testing under every form of trial. Man cannot now say that God left one single method untried; he is without excuse.

Isaiah makes the reason for the desolation plain. Israel as the vine brought forth nothing but wild and worthless grapes. There was no fruit for God. Jesus Himself was the Branch made strong for the Lord. He now presents Himself as the real Source of all fruit for God on the earth.

This was God's tender care of Israel. He blessed them with every earthly blessing in a pleasant land. The Lord set them apart for Himself, surrounded them with His favours, and gave them His law... Nothing was lacking on God's part. But the nation, as a whole, had turned away from Him, broken the covenant, and completely corrupted their ways... Under the law there was no fruit fit for God. With man on the ground of responsibility there is nothing but failure, and since law must take its course, judgment follows.

Isaiah 5:1-7 gives a clear explanation of the vineyard a man planted: "the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the whole house of Israel" (v.7). The hedge speaks of her separation from the nations. The place for the winepress tells of the provision God had made, so that Israel might give Him back some return for His great goodness. The tower shows watchfulness against evil getting in.

But man always fails in what God expects from him, and He would have it seen what man is. God does all that man could ask, and this only shows man's ill will. Sacrifices, temple, service — God had arranged all. The people fail in all; and God destroys what He had Himself made. He breaks the fence... God entrusted man with true privileges; but man fails: God takes all away, and the result is a judgment.

And so the Lord permitted the "wild boar out of the wood" to waste it. He also says, "I will take away the hedge of it"; "I will lay it waste"; and "I will command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." It bore fruit only in sin and was false to the Lord... So the Lord gave him up to the Gentile king Nebuchadnezzar, to rule over him. He commanded him to accept this punishment as coming from the Lord.

Israel, as a vessel to bear God's name to the world, was set aside; but this did not touch the question of God's faithfulness. He will restore Israel in the last days... The question here is not the certainty of individual salvation, but about the vessel God is using to bear His name before the world. People who believe will go to heaven, but the vessel of testimony, having failed, must be broken.

Judah was the plant of Jehovah's pleasure, but it brought forth wild grapes. God judges the vineyard, and Christendom as well. We have enjoyed greater advantages. Our Christian responsibility is greater, so our judgment will be greater too. God enters into details to show the righteousness of His judgments.

There was no failure on God's part. He had established Israel in the most favourable position. He separated them to Himself, removed obstacles, and crowned them with favours. He granted not only protection but every means of blessing... Yet it was all in vain. The result was only bad fruit... They, like Adam, transgressed the covenant. It was the old story over again. Human responsibility ends in total ruin.

The wild grapes were the product of their corrupt nature. They were the oppression and unrighteousness that raised a cry to God, instead of the praise, thanksgiving and worship the Lord looked for. Moreover, the history of Judah, like the history of the ten tribes, was one of idolatry... No wonder God threatened to leave the land to "briers and thorns," and to "command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it."

But man always fails in what God expects from him, and God wants it seen what man is. God does all that man could ask, and this only shows the ill-will of man. Sacrifices, temple, service — God had arranged it all. The people fail in all of it; and God destroys what He had Himself made. He breaks the fence... God entrusted true privileges to man; but man fails: God takes it all away, and the result is judgment.

It shows how many the fruits are of the curse pronounced in Eden because of the sin of man. But that curse will be removed in the millennium, when the myrtle and such trees will take their place.

First the land had to lose its people, and second it had to become barren and sterile. Titus scattered the Jews, and that brought the first. God withheld the latter rain, and that brought the second. The rain failed in May, when the land needed it most. The effects were so serious that the country turned sterile and barren, and became overrun with thorns.

Judah was the plant of Jehovah's pleasure, but it brought forth wild grapes. God judges the vineyard, and He also judges Christendom. We have enjoyed greater advantages. Our responsibility as Christians is greater, so the judgment will be greater too. God enters into details to show the righteousness of His judgments.

Can we not see a fitting and striking picture here? The barren land and the desolate wilderness show a soul out of communion, a soul that has disobeyed the precious commandments of Christ. Such a person has no refreshing communications with heaven. No showers come down. There are no unfoldings of the preciousness of Christ to the heart, and no sweet ministry from an ungrieved Spirit to the soul. The Bible seems a sealed book. All is dark, dreary and desolate.

Isaiah 5:1-7 explains the truth of the vineyard planted by a man: "the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the whole house of Israel" (v. 7). The hedge speaks of her separation from the nations. The place for the winepress tells of the provision God had made for Israel to give Him some return for His great goodness. The tower shows watchfulness against the intrusion of evil.

There was no failure on God's part. He had established Israel in the most favourable position. He separated them to Himself, removed stumbling-blocks, and crowned them with favours. He granted not only protection but every means of blessing… Yet all was in vain. The result was only bad fruit… They, like Adam, broke the covenant. It was the old story over again. Human responsibility ends in total ruin.