A swift and sudden destruction is denounced on Babylon. 1 Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. 2 Take the millstones, and grind meal: uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover the thigh, pass over the rivers. 3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. 4 As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. 5 Šit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called, The lady of kingdoms. 6 I was wroth with my people, I have polluted mine inheritance, and given them into thine hand thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the ancient hast thou very heavily laid thy yoke. 7 And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it. 8 Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: 9 But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments. 10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me. 11 Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. 12 Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. 13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. 15 Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee. LECTURE 1158. The awful end which awaits ungodly Christians. The city of Babylon, which had never yet been taken, is therefore here addressed as a "virgin daughter," and is summoned to descend from the throne of her pride and luxury, to "sit in the dust," and do the work of a slave in grinding meal; her countenance unveiled, and her person disgracefully exposed, in passing barefoot over the rivers of affliction, to the land of captivity. One who is more than man will meet her, and take vengeance. And whilst his people, whom this proud mistress of kingdoms had oppressed, are heard to praise the name of their Redeemer, He charges her to sit silent, and to retire into darkness; He taxes her with merciless cruelty towards those, whom He had delivered into her hand for wholesome chastisement. What a fearful warning is there here for such as abuse any station of authority over others, to an indulgence of an oppressive disposition in themselves! And in the loss of children and widowhood, which as here foretold befel Babylon most signally in one day, what a terrible instance of God's judgments against pride, sensuality, self sufficiency, and the substituting superstition for religion! Far be it from us to dwell at ease in sin, and not remember the latter end of it! Far be it from us to dwell in sin at all, least of all in such sins as these of Babylon, the love of pleasure, the neglect of God, and thinking to be independent of Him, and trusting to be unseen by Him, and relying for help and safety on means which He has forbidden us to resort to, and which are altogether powerless to save! Far be all such thoughts and prac tices from us, bound though we be to live in the midst of many who hold and do them; dwelling not far removed from that mystic Babylon, of which it is testified in the Book of Revelation, that "she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." Rev. 18. 7, 8. Who that reads of these dreadful judgments, as foreshewn in either Testament, who that hears of this awful fire, not "to warm at," but to consume, who but must tremble to look around him, and observe the godlessness which prevails, in nations professing faith in God through Christ? Who but must admit, that no wickedness of idolaters in Babylon of old could possibly deserve worse at the hand of God, than the superstitions, the covetousness, the cruelty, the pride, and the sensuality, of mammon's worshippers in Christian lands? The ungodly are warned that there is no peace for them. 1 Hear ye this, O house of but not with silver; I have chosen Jacob, which are called by the thee in the furnace of affliction. name of Israel, and are come 11 For mine own sake, even forth out of the waters of Judah, for mine own sake, will I do which swear by the name of the it for how should my name be LORD, and make mention of polluted? and I will not give the God of Israel, but not in my glory unto another. truth, nor in righteousness. 2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name. 3 I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; 5 I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. 6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. 7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them. 8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb. 9 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. 10 Behold, I have refined thee, 12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. 14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The LORD hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous. 16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me. 17 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea: 19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me. 20 Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob. he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. 22 There is no peace, saith the 21 And they thirsted not when LORD, unto the wicked. LECTURE 1159. How God has chosen us, and also warned us. For several chapters past the prophet has been fulfilling the injunction of the Lord," comfort ye my people." Ch. 40. 1. And now, at the close of this section of his prophecies, he warns them solemnly, in the Lord's name, that the comfort of these gracious promises, though addressed to all, is not meant for those among them who were evil doers: "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." To such He declares, that He had spoken his prophetic word, and done his marvellous acts, well knowing their obstinate perversity of heart, to cut off all occasion of their ascribing their blessings to their idols. He was well aware, He tells them, that they would deal treacherously after all. For his own name's sake alone would He defer the execution of his wrath against them. For the manifestation of his own divine glory, and not for any desert of theirs, would He raise up, as He had foretold, a conqueror to deliver them from Babylon. And yet, little as they had hitherto hearkened to his words, He would continue to teach them by his prophet; who in the midst of God's warnings testifies, "and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me.' And still does God continue to intreat them, still work for their conversion, still graciously set before them the inestimable blessings which had all along been within their reach. Still does He invite them to go forth from out of Babylon, with songs of praise to their Redeemer, and to partake of all the joys attending their redemption. This He does, at the very time when He tells them, that for the wicked "there is no peace.' Such was God's forbearance towards his people of old. Such was his election of Israel according to the flesh. And such is his election of them that are his people now. Such is his long suffering towards Christians. For no desert of ours, He has chosen us, He has called us. He teaches us, He leads us in the way we ought to walk in. He sends his own Son to be our Saviour. He gives us in his word the most full demonstration of his power, and wisdom, of his truth, his justice, and his love. He refines us in the furnace of affliction. And He invites us to come forth out of a wicked world, singing songs of praise to our Redeemer, and having for our portion "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Rom. 14. 17. But at the same time He most expressly warns us, and in the midst of our rejoicing in his goodness may we ever bear his warning in mind, "There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked." Christ is to be glorified in the salvation of the Gentiles. 1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. 2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; 3 And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. 4 Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God. 5 And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. 6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 7 Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee. 8 Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; 9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. 10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. 11 And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. 12 Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. 13 Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. LECTURE 1160. How our present privileges and future bliss are foretold. In the remaining portion of the book of Isaiah, we meet with prophecies relating to Christ, and to the Gospel, and to its effect in the world, more full and explicit than those which have gone |