The entire desolation of Babylon foretold. 1 The burden of Babylon, cause her light to shine. which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. 2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. 3 I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. 4 The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. 5 They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. 6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: 8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. 9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not 11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. 14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. 15 Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. 16 Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. 17 Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it. 18 Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children. 19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. 21 But wild beasts of the de- 22 And the wild beasts of the sert shall lie there; and their islands shall cry in their dehouses shall be full of doleful solate houses, and dragons in creatures; and owls shall dwell their pleasant palaces: and her there, and satyrs shall dance time is near to come, and her there. days shall not be prolonged. LECTURE 1113. That the mystic Babylon shall surely fall. The Assyrian, the rod of God's anger, who proudly deemed that in his own strength he did that which God brought to pass by his means, see chap. 10, must now learn his final doom; the doom of his mighty empire, the doom of his renowned Babylon, the city, which after Nineveh had fallen, became the capital, and the wonder, of the world. That empire must be brought to an end. That city must be blotted out from the face of the earth. Improbable as it must have seemed when these words were written, yet within about a century and a half the empire of Assyria was extinct. Almost incredible as it appears, that a city of such enormous extent as Babylon, with walls so thick and lofty, should vanish from the sight; yet such is the fact, so few ruins of it, if any, can be now discovered, that the best judges have long differed in opinion as to where its site actually is. And all this is here set down beforehand, by the voice of prophecy. And a portion of God's word is occupied with "the burden of Babylon," foreshewing the multitude, the character, and the name of the people, who would give it its first deadly defeat. All this is then set down, because God would have us know, that He is and always has been the God not only of one nation, but of all the earth; that it is He who rules supreme even over those who know Him not. And further it is written for the comfort of his people, in order for those who know and serve Him to be aware, that though He may see fit to employ others to chastise their transgressions, yet the mightiest of empires could have no power against them without his permission, nay, and can themselves have no existence longer than He thinks fit. And this is true of that other Babylon, spoken of in the Book of Revelation; see Rev. 17. 5; whose fall is described in language closely copied from Isaiah's words. See Rev. 18. 2. The same wisdom has foretold its doom. The same power will accomplish it. And when in the total ruin of the capital of Assyria we contemplate the transitory nature of the most mighty empires of the world, we may have the comfort of reflecting, that in like manner, that despotic power, which, under the Gospel dispensation, has been reared within the Church on the principles of the world, and has been the rod of God's anger to chastise his people, shall surely and quickly fall; never more to lift up its head, never more to dishonour God, nor to destroy the souls of men. D 2 The song of triumph over the king of Babylon. 1 For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. 2 And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. 3 And it shall come to pass in the day that the LORD shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, 4 That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! 5 The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the 6 He who smote the people in · wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. 7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. 8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. 9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? 11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. LECTURE 1114. It is well to be reminded of our mortality. On the overthrow of that power, spoken of under the name of Babylon, in the Book of Revelation, a voice from above is heard to say, "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles, and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her." Rev. 18. 20. And so it was to be in the overthrow of the capital of Assyria, in the discomfiture and disgrace of its haughty monarch; when the people of the Lord, whom he had held in captivity should be replaced in their own land, ruling over their oppressors, and taking their captors captive, see Ezra 2. 65, when the Lord should give them rest and liberty, after their wearisome years of bondage; then would the king of Babylon in his turn be an object of universal scorn, and they whom he had most severely oppressed would most signally triumph in his fall. And how awful are the words of this triumphant song, here set down for the use of the people of the Lord, ready against the time of their return, ere yet they had been carried into captivity! How fearfully does it instruct us, that however unfit scorn may be for man as man to feel towards his fellow creatures, yet it is meet for God to express towards the wicked, meet for Him to authorize his people to express towards the most mighty and most haughty of mankind. The satisfaction which we naturally feel, in the downfall of pride, and of oppressive power, is too apt to be tainted with a proud and uncharitable disposition in our own hearts. But let us endeavour to learn of Him, who is at once just and merciful, whose perfect holiness is in entire harmony with his perfect love. For doubtless He would here teach his people, so to triumph, as never to presume, so to rejoice in the overthrow of the godless great, as to harbour no ill will against the persons overthrown. And therefore it is stated, at the outset of this song, that the fall of the wicked king of Babylon is God's doing; "the Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers." The peace enjoyed by all men, high and low, is next dwelt upon as following on the downfall of this tyranny. Then comes a most appalling description of kings rising from their thrones in the regions of the dead, to greet the fallen potentate with words like these, "Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us? Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee." Such is the end of worldly greatness! Such must be at last the couch and the coverlid of those, whose persons are now pampered with indulgence the most tender, and lodged in state the most magnificent! How salutary for the great and wealthy of the earth, to be reminded of the vanity of worldly pomp, and worldly luxury! How profitable for all of us to reflect, that in the midst of life we are in death! How happy they, and only they, who whether they be high or low, rich or poor, live here as citizens of heaven; delivered by God's grace from the fear of death and hell; and, heirs though they be of an unfading crown of glory, yet meek and lowly in heart, humble before God, and charitable to all their fellow creatures! May God teach us so to abhor iniquity, as at the same time to compassionate, sinners! May He so nourish in our hearts true Christian love, that we may be fitted to acquiesce and join, without default of charity, in the triumphs of divine justice ! The purposes of God against Assyria and Palestine. 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? 18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. 19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. 20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned. 21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. 22 For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, 24 The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: 25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. 26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back? 28 In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. 29 Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken : for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. 30 And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant. 31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city ; thou, whole Palestina, art dissolved: for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his ap |