The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 78

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 fucts that 'God takes note of all that pns~es in our human communities, that he holds those who are in powet responsible for the effects of their administration, that he regards with severest indigna- tion those who abuse their trust., that he will visit them in his own time and way here or hereafter, with proofs of his Divine displeasure.-C. ' Vera. 16--26.-The vanity of vanity. The graphic pen of the prophet bring& before us the thoughts- I. THAT THE LAST AND SADDEST SYMPTOM OF NA1'I0NAL DECLINE IB FOUND IN WOMANLY FOLLY. "Moreover . . . the daughters of Zion," etc. (ver. 16). Corruption may have spreac. far and done much evil work in the community, but there is hope for the city or the Church so long as the wives and the mothers, the daughters and the sisters, retain their moral and spiritual integrity. When that is gone all is gone. Purity and worth find their last retreat under the domestic roof; if they be driven thence they •are doomed to die, and \\'ith them perish the prospects of the land. • II. THAT PRIDE AND VANITY IN WOMAN ARE OFFENSIVE IN THE SIGHT OF GoD. His prophet here condemns them "because they are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks " (ver. 16) ; he also describes, evidently in the spirit of strong reprobation, the ,·arious articles and instruments of vanity (vers. 18-23). Here are denounced the two sins of pride and vanity-the overweening estimate of self, and the foolish desire to excite the attention and the passing admiration of others. To bo blind to our own defects and, at the same time, to magnify our own excellences, thus gaining and exhibiting a sense of our own goodness and importance quite beyond the measure of our deserts,-such prUe is hateful to God (Ps. xviii. 27 ; ci. 5; Prov. vi. 17; 1 Pet. v. 5). And vanity is nearly as offensive as pride. To be studying, by every art, to attract the notice of our fellows, and to be peevishly, nervously anxious to· secure their praise, instead of seeking first the approval of God and then the commendation of our . own conscience,-this is sinful in the sight of the holy and the true On:e. We may safely say- . Ill. THAT THESE ARE NOT ONLY HEINOUS OFFENCES AGAINST GoD, BUT PITIABLE· )[lSTAKES I~ THE SIGHT OF MAN. 1. Those who assume a worth to which they are· not entitled, and hence walk arrogantly before the world, do not receive the tribute .of honour which they claim; they only excite derision and contempt. 2. They who; by meretricious ornamentations of their person or their style, endeavour to draw to them• selves admiring observation, only succeed in provoking the bmile of pity or disdain. IV. THAT FRIVOLITY IN MAN on WOMAN WILL MEET ITS DOOM IN THE DAY 011' DIVINE PENALTY. (Vers. 24-26.) This will involve: 1. The removal of the SOUl'CeS of frivolous deliO'ht. These "the Lord will take away" (ver. 18). For how brief a day do the pleasures" of sense last! How soon the sun goes down on the trivialities and t.emporalities with which the sons e.nd daughters of men amuse themselves and waste their time! 2. A visitation answering to the folly (ver. 24). Sin finds itself paid in its own coin. 3. The sorrow which comes with a sense of desolation (ver. 26). The "arm of flesh" will fail ; the human admiration and attention will soon pass. And if the esteem of the wise and the favour of God have been unsought, there is nothing left; everything is in ruins.-C. Ver. 1.-The mission of famines. The words "stay and staff" are by the prophet referred to the two necessaries of life, bread and water. The judgments of God, in the older time, often came in the fonn of famine and drought; famine as the result of the drought. It was necessary, and it still is necessary, that men should be made to feel their entire dependence upon God for little things as well as great, for common everyday necessities as well as for special days' gifts and mercies. The necessaries of every day seem to be our right; famine-times remind us that they are always direct Fathorly providings. Entering into covenant with Noah, God promised that "while the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day a11d night shall 11ot cease." But the promise concerned the ce.1th as a whole, and CR. lll, 1-26,] 'l'HE BOOK OF 'l'HE PROPHET ISAIAg; 63