1 The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south pass through; so it cometh from the desert, from a terrible land. The burdens of the desert of the sea, of Dumah, and of Arabia. chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. 2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease. 3 Therefore are my loins filled with pain pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it. 4 My heart panted, fearfulness affrighted me: the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. 5 Prepare the table, watch in the watchtower, eat, drink: arise, ye princes, and anoint the shield. 6 For thus hath the LORD said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth. 7 And he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen, a chariot of asses, and a chariot of camels; and he hearkened diligently with much heed: 8 And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights: 9 And, behold, here cometh a 10 O my threshing, and the corn of my floor: that which I have heard of the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, have I declared unto you. 11 The burden of Dumah. He calleth to me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? 12 The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the night: if ye will enquire, enquire ye return, come. 13 The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. 14 The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they prevented with their bread him that fled. 15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword, and from the bent bow, and from the grievousness of war. 16 For thus hath the LORD said unto me, Within a year, according to the years of an hireling, and all the glory of Kedar shall fail: 17 And the residue of the number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Kedar, shall be diminished: for the LORD God of Israel hath spoken it. LECTURE 1123. That no might nor glory of man can avail before God. "The burden of the desert of the sea" relates to Babylon, so called, on account of the wide expanse of land and flood, in the midst of which it stood. Whilst yet this city was rising towards the height of power, the prophet here signifies, that it would hereafter be taken by stratagem, and spoiled; summoning Elam and Media to besiege it, that so it might no more make other nations sigh. He represents it as describing its woes and fears, and telling how the night of its festivity was turned into terror. We hear the orders given to prepare and to enjoy the feast, the watch being first set for security, but the feast soon interrupted by a summons to arise and prepare for battle. A watchman, charged to declare the prophetic truth, gives notice of troops approaching two and two, on horses, on asses, and on camels. And a voice is heard to proclaim aloud, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground." On which the prophet turns in his vision to God's people, who would then have been long captives in the devoted city, and addressing them as corn threshed by their afflictions, assures them, for their comfort, that he had God's warrant for all that he had said. Next follows "the burden of Dumah," a place lying beyond Seir, on the borders of Arabia; whence some one is heard to ask the prophetic watchman, "What of the night ?" probably as reproaching the people of the Lord for their long continued affliction in captivity. To which the watchman answers in the vision, "The morning cometh, and also the night;" the morning to God's people, the night to their enemies, a night in which the city of them that led them away captive shall be surprised and taken. "If ye will enquire, enquire ye;" ask in a right spirit, as really wishing to hear good tidings; such as these, that God has again called unto Him his people, saying, "Return, come." But they who thus reproach God's people have a burden of their own to hear. The wandering tribes of Arabia must take refuge in such thickets as their bare land affords, fleeing from "the grievousness of war," and relieved in their distress with bread and water by the kindness of their neighbours. Their glory, the glory of never being conquered, which is even now the Arab's pride, must fail for once, and the numbers of their warriors must be greatly diminished within one year's time; owing to some enemy, of whom neither the prophecy nor history gives us any information. Enough it was for God's people to know beforehand, that their proud neighbours in Arabia, as well as their future oppressors in Babylon, must in God's good time be humbled. Enough it is for us to be assured, that neither the strength of the most mighty, nor the glory of the most renowned, can avail in upholding those, whom God has determined to lay low. The burden of the valley of vision. 1 The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly gone up to the housetops? 2 Thou that art full of stirs, a tumultuous city, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle. 3 All thy rulers are fled together, they are bound by the archers all that are found in thee are bound together, which have fled from far. 4 Therefore said I, Look away from me; I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, because of the spoiling of the daughter of my people. 5 For it is a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains. 6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield. 7 And it shall come to pass, that thy choicest valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall set themselves in array at the gate. 8 And he discovered the covering of Judah, and thou didst look in that day to the armour of the house of the forest. 9 Ye have seen also the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and ye gathered together the waters of the lower pool. 10 And ye have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses have ye broken down to fortify the wall. 11 Ye made alsó a ditch be tween the two walls for the water of the old pool: but ye have not looked unto the maker thereof, neither had respect unto him that fashioned it long ago. 12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: 13 And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink for to morrow we shall die. ; 14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. 15 Thus saith the Lord GOD of hosts, Go, get thee unto this treasurer, even unto Shebna, which is over the house, and say, 16 What hast thou here? and whom hast thou here, that thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, as he that heweth him out a sepulchre on high, and that graveth an habitation for himself in a rock? 17 Behold, the LORD will carry thee away with a mighty captivity, and will surely cover thee. 18 He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house. 19 And I will drive thee from thy station, and from thy state shall he pull thee down. 20 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliakim the son of Hilkiah : 21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him his father's house. 22 And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. 23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to 24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. 25 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it. LECTURE 1124. The care and concern of Christ for his people. The valley of vision, is the city of Jerusalem, in which the prophet here describes the alarm of the rulers and people, hemmed in by the besieging army of Sennacherib, and in jeopardy of perishing by famine. He gives expression to his own grief in the affliction of his countrymen. He relates the appearance of the enemy as seen from the city. He makes mention of the searching for armour, and examining the weak parts of the walls, and forming a reservoir of water. He reproves the besieged, for looking to these means of defence, without having respect unto God, who had brought this evil upon them. And he charges them with abandoning themselves to festivity, when they had this strong call from the Lord to godly sorrow and repentance. And especially he is commissioned to reprove the haughty Shebna, who had hewed out for himself a monumental sepulchre, such as according to the fashion of the country would rather become his master. To be whirled away swiftly into captivity is his fearful sentence; there to have the spoil of his state and glory made matter of triumph against his master's house. This probably took place when Manasseh, the successor of Hezekiah, was carried away in fetters unto Babylon. And when on Manasseh's repentance, God brought him again unto his kingdom, then probably it was that Eliakim was promoted to the office which Shebna had previously held. Then was the one nail surely fastened in the place of the other. Then was the son of Hilkiah privileged to fill a station of such high honour and usefulness, as ministering to the welfare of God's people, that amongst the tokens of his office here set down, one is applied in the Book of Revelation to our blessed Lord Himself. See Rev. 3. 7. And not only one, but all, may be justly applied to Him; whose care and concern in behalf of all, both high and low, rich and poor, whether likened to that of a shepherd for his flock, or to that of a ruler for the people committed to his charge, is far beyond any language of ours to describe, or any thoughts of ours to conceive. The burden of Tyre. 1 The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. 2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. 3 And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. 4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. 5 As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. 6 Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. 7 Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. 8 Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? 9 The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth. doms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof. 12 And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest. 13 Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness : they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin. 14 Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste. 15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. 16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. 17 And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. 18 And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. LECTURE 1125. 10 Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength. 11 He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the king The right use of wealth. The merchants of Tyre, returning in their ships from Tarshish, a Tyrian settlement on the coast of Spain, are here warned to |