ARIEL Isaiah 29:1. _Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt_. The word “Ariel” properly means “the Lion of God,” and is elsewhere used of the great brazen altar on which the sacred fire blazed, and which might be said to devour as a lion the sacrifices presented on it to God. In our text... [ Continue Reading ]
DREAMING Isaiah 29:7. _Shall be as a dream of a night vision, &c._ The reference in these two verses is to the threatened attack on Jerusalem by the Assyrian invasion in the reign of Hezekiah. They take us to the time the invader had taken all the other fortified places in the kingdom; and now his... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FUTILITY OF FIGHTING AGAINST MOUNT ZION (_Missionary Sermon_.) Isaiah 29:8. _So shall the multitude of the nations be that fight against Mount Zion_. Nothing tends to inspirit exertion in any great enterprise so much as the certain prospect of success. Hope is the spur of action, the very life... [ Continue Reading ]
LIP-SERVICE INSTEAD OF HEART-WORSHIP Isaiah 29:13. _Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near to Me with their mouth, &c._ The charge against the people is clear; it is that of a heartless religion, formal and full of hypocrisy. “Their fear toward me is taught by the _precept of... [ Continue Reading ]
THE JOY OF THE MEEK Isaiah 29:19. _The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord_. I. THE PERSONS HERE DESCRIBED. Meekness does not mean timidity (2 Timothy 1:7); not the craven spirit of the coward, but the quiet power of the strong man (Proverbs 28:1). It does not mean the absence of courag... [ Continue Reading ]