PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1
George Rawlinson [1812-1902] · 527,316 words · 579 reading sections
The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 61
Is right in the midst of the world and the people. A mountain towers up above the plain, within eight of all ; and eo the gospel Church ilf such a striking and impreeei ve thing that all eyes must be turned to it. Men cannot be blind to it; men dare not ignore it. Like the mountain, it is an indestructible fact, of whi…
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Ver. 5.-Walking in the li,ght. That is in the path ,of present d~ty on w:l:µch the light of revelation shines. The.text is part of a spirited 3,\idress to the·Jews tQ, ,avail themselves of the privileges they had. The prospects of a gloriollll peace-time mtAAt not keep thsm from fixing their thoughts on their immedi…
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market-place. A frame was fastened round the neck and wrists, which left the head and hands exposed. Crowds gathered below, and scorned the poor man, throwing at him·all manner of vile things, and then raising the laugh at his soiled and bemired face. The shame of ·such a punishment must have been very hard to bear. Th…
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It will c()mo as long as the world endures; that is, so lor.g as God neecls, by external judgments, to mR.I'k the evil of sin. The sin of all others that clt.I:s for a "day of the Lorcl " is pride, self-confidence, rebellious self-assertion ; and this was precisely the sin of the times in which Isaiah wrote. Man is …
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to cast them to the "moles and to the bate," creatures of the darkne~s. "God can make men eick of thoee idols that they have been most tond of, even the idols of silver, nnd the idols of gold, the most precious. The idolaters here throw away their idols because (1) they are ashamed of them, and of their own folly in tr…
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therefore coming under the prophet's reproach. But man-trusting ie a oharaoterietio sin of ow· age ; and we also need to learn that there is- I. No TRUSTING IN MAN'S POWEil. That is within very narrow limits. "Let not your eye be t-0 the power of man, for it is finite ahd limited, derived and depending; it is n<1t fr…
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order in which he valuoe them, !18 to that in be felt that something must be clone. A whioh they were valued by the people. Tile man will take hold of hie brother (i.e. hi8 ancient; /;e .. " the elder," as tho word is fellow) in his (i.e. the latter's) father's house, translated commonly. The '' ekkra" had where he …
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of hie very essence; and tbue "provoking themselves women, aud hie women meo; •• the eyes of his glory" is simply provol..-ing and see also Virg., • lEueid •- him tc look on them with anger. Yer. 9.-The show of their oountenanoJ " 0 vere P\rygim, neque enim Phrygea." doth witness against them. Thie is not The ruler…
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13), there should be 11n incre11ee of luxury, Ver. 19.-The ohaina, and the braoeiete, and quite in accord11nco with Eastern ideas and the mufflers; rather, the (J(JJT'-drops, and that the luxury should particul11rly show the armlets, and the veil,. Ear-rings were worn from very ancient times by both the itself in t…
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Ver. 23.-The gl&SSea; rather, the mif'f'or&, with such euctness 1md order as to look In ancient times these were not m&de of like a work of o.rt." The exnot arronge- glRss, but of some metal which took I\ high ment of tl,e hair is very rernarkoble, both in polish. Most commonly, the material seems the Egyptian and t…
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they 11re willing to follow the traditions of the past, to work upt'.>n well-known lines, and carry out establiAhecl practices, no very great harm can !\rise. But they are seldom content for many years to act thus. A childish de.~ire Reizes them to attract attention, to exhibit their powor. Hence they plunge into activ…
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Vers. 16--24.-'I'he share which women have in prod'UCing the ruin of a nation. The influence of women upon men was intended to be helpful (Gen. ii. 20), purifying, and refining. Woman is naturally more pure than man, more modest, more retiring, more instinctively right in her moral judgments. Good women exercise e.n…
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HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers. 1-7.-.A picture of anarchy. The words carry on the sense of the closing saying of the preceding paragraph, "Cease ye from man." I. 'l'BE RULERS OF THE PEOPLE REMOVED. Government is one of the necessities of human life. Hence the rulers are spoken of as "staff and stay, staff of brea…
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luxury as Judnh bad been. The hollowness consists in the reference of everything to· a low _standa~ 0t value.. Not until a great preacher, prophet, or writer-a Savonarola, a Latimer, a Carl)·lc-anses to shed the splendour of eternal truth upon our ways, do we discover how false and mean they have been. 2. We find we…
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will havo their reward. For sloth, neglect, waste, and abuse, God will ent.er into judgment with us.-J. Ver. 16-ch. iv. l.-771e women of Jerusalem. The habits and the morale in general of the court 1md the aristocracy are a sure index of the state of the nation. Fashion guides, but is in a measure controlled by the ge…
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Vers. 1-8.-National and spiritual ana1·chy. We have a vivid picture here of- I. NATIONAL ANARCHY. 1. Its cau.se is found in national rebellion against its rightful Lord. " Their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory" (ver. 8). Sin, both in word and deed, draws down the righte…
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course of life "whose eyes are full of adultery," or whose cheeks aro stained with intoxi- cation, or whose features are drawn together with cruelty; those who, instead of" bearing in their body the marks of the Lord Jesus," carry with them the signs of Satan's service? It is a fact which may well make the guilty wi…
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judge the people." He confronts and contounds those who have wronged and oppressed his people. If the usurper, the tyrant., the oppressor, the debauchee, the mislender of the nation (the Church), should not meet with the resentme;nt and feel the blows of those whom he has wronged, he must lay his account with the fu…
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cBDnot be applied to particular portions of it. Seeding time has always been kept; harvesting work has always been done. Where man has not come to aid the operations of nature, God hae provided seeding times and seeding ways for himself. In desert districts, where tribes wander, and corn cannot be grown, God makes two …
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the common feast we cultivate the common brotherhood. And it may be further said, nothing binds men together and breaks down prejudices and enmities like a common trouble. How we are drawn together when a common woe lies upon our town, or upon the community to which we belong I Mutual sympathy and mutual sacrifice make…
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eelf-indulgenco, and find in it excuse for vicio111 practices. Infidelity never lnya foundntione for virtue to build on. It Is ever the substratum of vice. Illustrate from the French Revolution. II. REBELLIOUS DEEDS A OALL FOR JUDGMENT, The bad deeds are the proper fruitage of bad speech. Illustrate by the evil work o…
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general conviction of the national sin,a.nd disgrace and, impending ruin, he singles .out the women of that day; he bids us trace the influence of a godless luxury in .their vain dressing, frivolous manners,-And· ovedoad.ed ornamentation and jewellery. He intimates. that tbe nobler qualities of womanly mind and char…
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are foremost in foshibn, but by observing those persons for whom you have the most renl reHpect, WhBtevM mny be the clMs of society to which you belong, you can discern, within the limits of your sphere, the contre.et between the dress of the shallow the frivolous, nnd vain, and the dress of the thoughtful, the humbl…
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EXPOSITION. OHAPTEB IV. she descends to the tomb unwed (Soph., 'Antig.,' ll. 813-816). Among the Jews Tbe existing division between eh. iii. and ?hildlessness was a special reproach, because iv. is scarcely satisfactory. Ver. 1 of eh. iv. 1t took away all possibility of the woman belongs to the minatory portion of…
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And the fruit of the eBrth. It is Brgued 15; lix. 8). It ie possible, however, that with reoeon thot the two clauses of this the murde1 of infants in se.crifice to Moloch verse are p1uallel, not antithetical, e.nd that may be in the p1ophet's mind. Abaz "burnt BB we unclcrste.ud the one, so must we under- hie childr…
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protection. At all periods of its existence, the Church will do well to bel\r in mind that these are its special glories, and to make each a subject of frequent thought and meditation. I. 'l'HE COMING OF MESSIAH TO FOUND ms CHURCH LIBS AT TIIE ROOT OF ALL. The p:lorious "Branch "-the new shoot of the house of David…
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fr9J!l .Jude.h's rnlere (eh. iii. 14; cpmp. eh, i. 25; vi.13; Mau. iii.11). Then,11nd then on)y, can the glorious day come fo :t~e visiqn..of which the prophet exults. I. NATIONAL .ooNDITIONB OF PROSPERITY.. UThe shoot of Jehovah will be for adom- ·ment an<l honour." Erit germen IJomini wi, magnificentia et gloria. '…
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me.y be the ea;perience of the individool. "Evil she.ll sle.y the wicked, and they the.t l1ate the righteous shall be desolate" (Ps. xxxiv. 21). Sin is likely, if indeed it is not sure, to lead down to this sad este.te. It manifests itself in folly 11J1d, through folly, conducts to loss, privation, loneliness, desol…
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(fruit of the earth), the worth which springs up from the restored nation, shall be excel• lency and ornamentation. The Holy One of Israel will not only accept the new national life thus presented to him; be will regard it with distinct, Divine satisfaction. And that which is pleasing in hie eight will be attractive an…
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may be re~arded as introducing the person by whom the Church is to be delivered and saved; and the terms employed appear to bear an intimation of his Divine and human natures. The figure of the" Branch" suggests his divinity (comp. Jer. xxiii. 5; xxxiii. 15; Zech. iii. 8; vi. 12). The figure" fruit of the earth" sugges…
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I. 80111E DEB0RIPTI0NB OF CHRIST'S CHUBOH are given us ln the paesage now before us. The Church is composed of those who are" escaped of Israel;" those, tho.t is, who have come out from the world, and are separate; who have escaped through the re~cuinge of Divine mercy; who have been "plucked as brands from the burn…
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Asia given In the Book of Revelation accurately present the conditions into which Churches still fall. Losing their first love. Yielding to the enticements of the world. Weo.kened by false doctrine. Deadened by the evil influence of unworthy members. Proud of outwo.rd prosperities. Lukewarm in Christian service. Surely…
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nnsntiBfA.rtory from too fact that the eong vinoy1trd." Coropl\re: Ne.thl\n'e appeal to whic!l follows is not a "love-song." M:l.y David by the parable of the owe ll\mb we not. understand the words to mecin (2 Sl\m. xii. 1-4). "a song conc-<'rning my Well-beloved in Ver. 4.-What oould have been don• re,ipert of his vin…
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seed sown .fo them. ticularized as those 'll'hicq. -,he.ve especially Ver. 11.-Woe unto them that . . . follow pr~voked God to gi;e the warning. On strong drink. ·we have here the second each of these woe . is denounced. Two woe, It is pronounced on d:runkenne88 and have special punishmenrs l!,SSigned to them revelry. …
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W88 moat likely a tambourine. AU four tivity and the consequent suft'eringa and instrument1' had in the earlier times been deaths, both high and low are brought down dedi('.ated to the worship of Jehovah and humbled, while God is exalted in mnn's (I 8am. i.. 5); now they were employed to sight. The future is through…
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olggctrdlincse thrift, cind wctsteful profusion the latter from the nataml decBy of a blos- goneroeity. The enme men nre apt nleo to soming plant or tree. In either cRae the 01111 good evil ; they brnnd prudence with destruction is complete, bot in the one it tho nctmo of ounning, coll meekneee wnnt arieee from en exte…
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tbe desolntC'd lnnd m ono sc-en under tbe Ver. 2'i'.-Nono ahall be weary nor atumblo. gloom of a preternatural darln1ess (ver. 30). None sht\ll lag behind on the mo.roh none Yer. 25.-The threats of this .erse are all foll aud be disribled. Nono she.ll el~mber. Tague and general, for there is no reason to They sht\ll…
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HOMil,ETlCS, Vers. 1-7.-Gnt!'a crrre for man, and m'l,11'1 ingratieud~. Three timea ha11 God made himself I\ vineyard upon earth, planted a plantation of choice vines, endued by him with .the capacity of br.inging forlh excellent fruit, fenced his vineyard round with care, cleared its soil of stones, pruned its superf…
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awakened the gratitude which it ought to have awakened? Has his Ohurch brought forth such fruit as might have been anticipated? Is it not to be feared that eTen now bis eye, resting on bis third vineyard "ith its searching gaze, looks for something which it does not find-demands "grapes," and sees little but "wild grap…
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system, and using it unsparingly to crush all her rivals, is ruined by being brought into conto.ct with a mililary system superior to her own. Spain, elevated to the first position in Europe by her colonial greatness, is corrupted by her colonial wealth, and sinks faster th11n she had risen. States formed by conquest u…
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loves the open sunny hills (Virgil,' Georg.,' ii.113). The description ie of fruitful Canean, flowing with milk, honey, and wine. We may think of the beautiful elopes of the Rhine. 2. TM care ea:pended on tM 'Vineyard. It had been fenced, the atones had been cleared from it, and it had been planted with the choicest…
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'I. THE INSTITUTION OF -LANDED PROPEUTY IN ISRAEL. According to the Law, each of the twelve tribes was to have its la.i;ided possessions, and each particular household WRS to have its definite portion of the land belonging to the tribe; and this was to be nn foali1:mable herit.age. Among an agricultural people it is…
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devised it. The all-seeing eye of Zens looks upon these things, and they escape him not" (Hesiod, 'Works and Days,' 265, 266). Judgment gets the better of injustice when it comes to the final issue, and the fool who suffers from his avarice knows it to his cost. Like a wroni(ed woman, she passes through the city, be…
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a night's debauch. They cannot understand what bas happened to them. They talk of "strange misfortunes," of inexplicable calamities. But they have an explanation. The decay of a fe.mily, or of e. class, or of a nation, is as much the result of Divine law aa any other form of dece.y. In exile and suffering men pay the …
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habit of saying false things disable the mind from seeing the ~rue. South has some powerful sermons from this text, 1=11tit,led "'The fatal force and imposture ot,.words." Tl'hongh an absolute falsehood cannot live, adulterntions of the truth may and do .QbttLin n wide currency,just as adulterations of meat and drink…
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Vera. 26-'-30.-Foreign ,nvasion. This powerful picture points to the threatened Assyrian invasion. , 'L 'l'HE IMAllE OF A WARLIKE ADVANCE. It is wrought out with singular boldness. Jehovah of hosts is conceived as lifting up a signal visible to the far-off nations, and sounding at the same -time a whistle-:cr:y, so th…
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and luscious at first, afterwards " it biteth like a nerpent, and stingeth like an adder," We c,m never make a philosophy of life out of "first'' experiences. We have only to wait and we shall find that "the way of transgressors is hard." III. 'I'HE MORAL JUDGMENT OF Goo. " Woe unto them I" Who? Why, special woe to th…
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against those that joined hoUBe to hoase and field to field brings into view the nature of the ein of covetousness, and the desolation in which it ends. L THE l!:BSENTIAL NATUBl!I OJ' THE BIN. It is an immoderak ambition. To secure a hoUBe or a piece of land, or to extend that which has been acquired, may be not only …
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turn away but oannot. At first a etnall silken cord, U become& at last an adatnantlne chain. II. I-rs l'OWER OF PERVERSION, Itcompels good things to minister to evil (ver. 12). ., The harp and the viol," ~to., Rre e:1:ccl1ent things in theil· way Rnd in thoir place; but, used for the purpose or enlivening and protrac…
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aching heart. "The honoumble !Tien are famished, and the multitude dried np with thirst" (ver. 13). Not knowing Goel and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, depriving themselves of the deep and l:isting satisfactions of his l'l!.vonr and friendship, men find all material sources of joy utterly unsatisfying; they eat, and hu…
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Ver. 20.-Spiri'.tu.al ~sity. Ant.ecedcntly we should hardly have expected that t1 being created in the image of God, a rational spiritual agent, would so far depart from all that is reasonable and right M to put evil for good, and good for evil, ete. Yot such is the case. We have to consider- !. THE FAOT OF SPIRITU…
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minds foi' those Divine teachings which save, which purify, which enlarge, which transform the heart and life (see 1 Cor. iii. 18). III. THEY ABE IN A 8PIB1TUAL CONDITION WHICH 18 POSITIVELY AND EVEN PECULIARLY OFFENSIVE TO Oon. The Word of God, Old Testament and New, is studded with texts in which the displeasure of …
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the day long;" and preBently he comes to pray, with a great intensity of feeling, "Restore unto me the joy of thy !!i!.lvation." 'l'here is a sense in which, like Jerusalem, our "day of grace may be passed," and we may be left to ourselves, to the woe of being ourselves only.-R. T. Ver. 7.-The diffe- ktween what God G…
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forbids our ma.king any personal gal.Ii the end and aim of life. Show under what self- deceiving forms this covetous de8ire to get ensnares men nowadays. 2. We may live to be. Thitt is, to culture ourselves, and win the worship of men for what we are, in talent, skill, and virtue. This is nobler ; and this is, in me…
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Vers. 18, 20, 21, 23.-Four grievous si~ The ~ngodly spirit finds very variou~ modes of .expression in wilful '&Ild self-pleasing actions. Men's sins are-repeated over aud over again in every age, sometimes ~king more open a.nd defi;uit forms, a,nd.some- times hiding behind a pleasant outward _show of delicacy .and r…
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of righ~cousness/' ·, This form of !li,n js .m familiar to need, much sugges~on l\8 to its tre~tment..J _Qpd r~~i~t~th those who are conc~ite? o~ their own wisdom and lean tJ t/1e.1r own:underatan<lmg.. "Seest tho~ a man wise m bis own eyes? tllere is more hope of a fool than of -l1im," •• ' •• • ; I'7. 'l'1rn ~i1( OF …
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fountains! Is it nothing to us that multitudes are -~inking, going down to t,erditlol'l, under the name of ~hristian, from under the means of life.and sa.lvatiott..'.....perishing- and we can do nothing to prevent it? We know thtiy must perish that do ·n:ot repent and tum to ~ ~nd love him above all; .that do not be…
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the Divine will nnd Uw. "The constant increaae of the power and secnrity of the realm, o.nd the profusion ot an age rendered prosperous by the development of arts and distant commerce, were accompanied by an equally vigorous growth of other things; tho craving for enjoyment and lu:tury among the people, and especially …
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th,m he must find. some instruments of chastiaeme~t whioh will dirccLly affect oliles and oat.ions. His instruments m11y be the destructiveforc'es of n11ture~famine, peslilcncc, fear, ancl war-which directly r~h corp!)rllte au_d natio11al feeling. .Herein is !'I cllri?ll!I thing. Men 11,e ready enough to hear the vo…
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and ls enppoeed: ~o; denote the burning· love earth is full of hill glog1 ]liven in h~ven of the blessed spuits epokon of. .They 11p- f1i' e a e ~ed fo C!i.fili;.. peu.rcd to the prophet u.s standing nb9ve the 1 r !l . ne lfr'eo.Tur is King as he s11* upoi:i his thro.ne-" atanding" m e~l , s. . eet of_ e,ngeuo_::JJI.Wr…
1,070 wordsSource & rights
Public domain historical Pulpit Commentary. Source page identifies the volume as Public Domain; text extracted from its historical PDF.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.