The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 80

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 118 feel that God has" made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the e.arth ; " and that brothers of the one family, whose Head is the everlasting Father, may well be brotherly and kind. In conclusion, gathering up what has been illustrated and enforced, it may be shown that (1) famine makes & public testimony for the one living God; (2) famine, reaching to affect all classes, makes this testimony everywhere'. and (3) famine becomes everywhere a test of characters and beliefs.-R. '1'. ' Ver. 4.-The evil, of childish rulers. "Babes shall rule over them." No greater calamity can come on a nation than the succession of mere children to the throne, and go,ernment by regency and party. .Ahaz ascended the throne at the age of twenty (2 Chron. xxviii. 1). Manasseh at age of twelve; Josiah at age of eight (2 Chron. xxxiii. 1; xx.xiv. 1). The evil was, of course, exaggerated in Eastern countries where kings are irresponsible despots. "In an Eastern monarchy the rule of a your{., kinu, rash and without experience, guided by counsellors like himself, was naturally regarde°d as the greatest of evils, and the history of Rehoboam had impressed this truth on the mind of every Israelite." "Woe to thee, 0 land, when thy king is a child" (Eccles. x. 16). When the strong men and wise men are removed by disease and calamity, weaklings get into office and place of authority, and surely create fresh evils by their incapacity. I. TnE EVIL OF RULERS WHO AllE CHILDREN IN AGE. Such, being unable to decide and act for themselves, are dependent on court advisers; so there is every opportunity for court intrigue, rivalry of parties, and the sacrifice of national interests to party advantage. Under weak governments class is set against class. Illustrate the petulance of boys in the exercise of assumed authority. It comes out even in their play. In old times young kings were under the supreme influence of the queen-mother, and she might be a Jezebel or an Athaliah. The most an.x.ioll8 times of English history are times of regency. II. THE EVIL OF RULERS WHO AllE CHILDREN IN UNDERSTANDING. Such as Reho- boam. The evil is qualified in constitutional countries; but even in them the king gives tone to society. It has often been a consequence of war that a land has been left to the go"emment of the incompetent. Corruption at court has sometimes led the best men to retire from the government. Under such inefficient rule, in an Eastern kingdom, all is chaotic and anarchic; there is a condition which can only be fittingly represented by the Turkey or Egypt of our own times. Apply to the small kingdoms of (1) society, (2) friendship, (3) families, and urge the importance, to the well-being of a nation, of manly men, and manly, strong, wisely ruling fathers.-R. T. Ver. 8.-The secret of national ruin. " Their tongue and their doings are against the Lord." This is given distinctly as the reason and the explanation of the ruin of Judah. The prophet goes right past all accidents and all national events, and fixes on the moral cause of the ruin. A nation is bad at the core when it can doubt and dishonour God; and no such nation can stand long. God will surely arise to vindicate himself and to shake terribly the earth. Isaiah uses a singular figure: "To provoke the eyes of his glory." The offence which wilfulness and iniquity give to the holiness of God is com- pared to the sensitiveness of the human eye. Matthew Henry says, "In word and action they brake the Law of God, and therein designed nn affront to him; they wilfully intended to offend him, in contempt of his authority and defiance of his justice. Their tongue was against the Lord, for they contradicted his prophets; and their doings were no better, for they acted as they talked. It was an aggravation of their sin that God's eye was upon them, and that his glory was manifested among them; but they provoked him to his face, as if the more they knew of his glory the greater pride they took in Rlighting it, and turning it into shame." I. REBELLIOUS SPEECH A OORRUPI'ING FORCE. Apply to boastful, self-conceited ~peech; the speech of the masterful and ambitious man. Apply to the influence of the infidel lecturer, or infidel literatu.re. The young especi<:llly are earned away by it to OR, llJ. 1-06,] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 66