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 active follies, wild schemes of aggression and conquest, or imprudent and unsuitable alliances, as that of Ahaz with Tiglath-Pileser (2 Chron. xxviii. 16, 20). 'fhe state is brought into difficulties and entanglements, and the wisdom is wanting th:it should have seen a way out of them. One embarrass- ment follows another. Unexpected circumstances arise, and it is not perceived how they should be met. The unwisdom of the good is perhaps as fatal as the folly of the wicked (e.g. Josiah'e uncalled-for resistance of Pharaoh-.Nechob, 2 Kings xxiii. 29), and leads to great disasters. Meanwhile other causes are ar'work, which advance the general confusio!l and accelerate the final catastrophe. III. DEVELOPMENT OF SELFISHNE8~ AMONG THE PEOPLE. (Ver. 5.) Society is based upon the principles of justice and mutual good will. While states prosper, it requires no extraordinary virtue in men to deal justly by their neighbours, and act towards them in a friendly spirit. But when the times are out of joint, when there is general im- poverishment.and distress, it is no longer easy to be amicable or even just. "Every man for himself!" becomes the cry; the spirit of selfishness is evoked and runs riot; "the people" (no longer the "rulers" or the "judges," eh. i. 10, 23) "oppress every one another, and every one his neighbour" (eh. iii. 5). This indulge.nee of the selfish spirit acts as a solvent-loosens the bonds which have hitherto held society together, and goes far to reduce the united mass, in whose union was its strength, to a congeries of atoms. IV. CESSATION OF RESPECT FOR AGE OR SOCIAL RANK. (Ver. 5.) The disintegration of society tends to placo all the atoms upon a par. While the social order was maintained, and the whole society felt itself one, the parts knew their need one of the other, and recognized their respective positions of inferiority and superiority. But with the loosening of the social ties comes -naturally a general self-assertion, In a physical chaos atoms are of equal value, and why not in a disintegrated society? Hence the young in such a state· throw off their allegiance to the old ; even sons cease to respect or obey their fathers, and daughters their mothers. The humbler classes of toilers for daily bread no longer look up to their more favoured brethren, but rather view them with jealousy and hatred.-, Class is alienated from class, and the tendency to a complete dissolution of society aggravated. , V. NEGLECT OF THKlR CIVIL DUTIES, ON THE PAB'r OF THE WELL-TO-DO CLASSES. (V ers. 6, 7.) Noblesse oblige. In a distracted state of society, it is especially incum- bent on those whose means µlace them beyond the reach of want, and allow them ample leisure, to come to the relief of their neighbours by undertaking those civil duties and offices on which the welfare of the body politic depends. But it is exactly at such times that we find this class of person11 most inclined to ignore this obligation, and with- draw wholly from political life (ver. 7) .. Some, like Plato, justify themselves under the plea that nothing can be done to save society, and that they may be excused for taking refuge under the first shelter that offers while the storm rages and exhausts itself. Others plead the vulgarizing effect of actirn political life, and claim the right of keeping their superfine humanity free from the smears and stains which mixture with the crowd would bring upon it. On one excuse or another, or not unfrequently without condescending to make any excuse, the upper classes in.a.distracted state stand aloof, neglect their civil duties, and refuse all the calls that are made on them to come to the rescue, and do their best to eave the "ruin:" that is tottering to its fall.
Vera. 9-11 ..-:.The law of retributive justice not mechanical, but moral. The doctrine of future rewards and punishments is sometimes preached in a way that is, if not offeusive, at any rate unsntisfactory. God is made to deal with men as not even judicious parents would den! with their c)l;ildren-vi-z. for so much obedience, so much bestowal of pleasure or indulgence; for so·much disobedience, an equal award of pain and punishment. But this is certainly not the doctrine of Holy Scripture. Scripture represents the reward of well-doing as "eternal life," and this "eternal life" is the vigorous energy of all that ill good in the man himself, sustained and strengthened by the Spirit of Christ in the soul, and accompanied by happy feelings of love and trust and thankfulness. "Eternal lifo '' 56 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH.
begin~ in this world, and is only carried out to perfection in the next. It is, In the main, a state of feeling-consciousness of being at one with God, consciousness of communion wit.Ji _him. I~ ~d~its, no doubt, of exaltation from without, as here by the special i;:heddmg of Divme mfluences upon the soul, and hereafter by the transcendent blessin.,. of the beatific vision; but it is principally in the man himself. It is a condition of mind, not a set of external circu~stances.. And so wi!h ill-doing and its consequence, "eternal death." Men make their own misery by their deeds. They" receive within themselves the recompense of their errors." They mar their moral nature; they refuse to hold communion with God; and then, thrown back upon themselves, and having nothing within them pleasing to contemplate or to be conscioUB of, they find themselves wretched-they have created their own hell.