_THE CARE OF GOD OVER HIS VINEYARD: HIS CHASTISEMENTS DIFFER FROM JUDGMENTS. THE CHURCH OF JEWS AND GENTILES._ _Before Christ 715._ The latter part of the first discourse is contained in this chapter, wherein the prophet declares two great future events; the _first_ is the destruction of the enemi... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THAT DAY, &C.— _In that day shall Jehovah punish with his sword; his well-tempered, and great, and strong sword; Leviathan the rigid serpent, and Leviathan the winding serpent: and shall slay the monster, that is in the sea._ Lowth. This prophesy may be connected either with the last verse of the... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THAT DAY, &C.— The church, being purified by the fire of affliction, shall at that time, the prophet informs us, appear in its true character: Fervent in faith, love, zeal, piety, it shall be beheld in all its full beauty and comeliness, which is the end and design of all its afflictions and tria... [ Continue Reading ]
I THE LORD DO KEEP IT— We have in these verses a fine testimony of the divine grace and clemency towards the church, of God's constant care and continued affection to it. This elegant period contains a declaration of God's gracious purpose toward his church, Isaiah 27:3 and the reason of it: the dec... [ Continue Reading ]
HE SHALL CAUSE THEM, &C.— Or, _In times to come, Jacob shall take root: Israel,_ &c. Isaiah 27:7. _Hath he smitten him according to the stroke of those that smote him?_ &c. Isaiah 27:8. _In measure, when thou didst send it_ [the stroke] _forth, thou didst contend with her, when he blew with his stor... [ Continue Reading ]
BY THIS THEREFORE, &C.— By _this,_ &c.—_And this shall be all the fruit of removing his sin, that he make all the stones of the altar as chalkstones beaten asunder,_ &c. Isaiah 27:10 _because the defenced city_ [Babylon] _shall be desolate; a mansion broken in pieces and left,_ &c. Nothing can more... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS, &C.— This verse contains the 5th attribute of that time, in which God, raising his church as it were from the dead, and purifying it from idolatry and superstition, collected together by his powerful arm the dispersed members thereof. The prophet makes use of a peculiar ex... [ Continue Reading ]
AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY.— Every one must observe, that the present verse is similar to that preceding, though it contains something greater and more expressive. The allusion is, probably, to the trumpets blown at the Jewish festivals; and the sense of the metaphor or emblem is, that it... [ Continue Reading ]