The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 151

p11,rpose, of God, When '! Jeans wss here among men," God wa.s with us 38 never before, as never since. VI. THE ANSWER OF OUR OWN CONBOIOUBNEBB. That his presence is in and through hit Holy Spirit. God Is with us because in 118; present, themfore, in the deepest, truest, most potent, and influential of all ways and forms ; in us, enlightening our minds, subduing our wills, enlarging onr hearts, uplifting our souls, strengthening and sancti· fying our spiritual nature. Then, indeed, is he nearest to us when he comes unto us and makes his ·abode with us, and thus , "dwells in us and we in him." Our duty, which is our privilege, is (1) to realize, increasingly, the nearness of the living God; (2) to rejoice, practically, in the coming of God to man in the presence of the virgin-born Immanuel ; (3) to gain, by believing prayer, the presence of the Divine Spirit in the sanctuary of our own soul.--,.C. ,Vers.17-25..-Dwine retribution. The reference of these verses is clearly national ; nevertheless they may be pointed so as. to bear upon individual men ; for we may be sure that-it is on the same principles on which God governs communities that he rules the heart.,and.life of each one of.bis subjects. We gather concerning Divine retri- bution- • • I ..THAT IT MAY BE WROUGHT BY VARIOUS INSTRUMENTALITIES. L SQmetimes by unconscious instruments., (1) It may be, as here, by men acting blindly. Egypt and Assyria would be wholly. unaware that they were employed by God to do his punitive work. It often happens that men suppose themselves to be simply seeking their own ends:when they are really fulfilling the purpose of the Most High. (2) Or it more fre- quently is by the regular action of physical or social laws. 2. Sometimes by conscious agents. As when the parent utters his strong displeasure in the Name of the heavenly Father, or the Church paeses its sentence of reproach or exclusion in the Name of the Divine Master. • II'. THAT IT MAY TAKE ONE OR MORE OF VARIOUS FORMS, Retribution may assume the form of: 1. Diminution. (Vers. 21-23.) All diminution is not directly caused by sin, but sin-always tends to despoil' and to diminish. The result of doing wrong b to come down from the· higher estate to the lower, from power to feebleness, from eminence to.obscurity, from influence to nothingness. 2. Dishonour. "It shall also consume; the beard" (ver. 20): When men have long persisted in folly and in trans- gression they become the· mark of general dishonour. From qualified respect down, through all stages of ill opinion, to absolute aversion and contempt, does sin conduct its vic_tims. Sin may start in lofty defiance, but; it ends in lowest shame. 3. De,;ra- dation, (Vers. 24, 25.) The country that was once cultivated by the hand of skilful diligence is left to yield the wr~tched and useless crop of "briers and thorns." Tlle mind that once produced noble thoughts DOW yields. guilty imaginations ; the heart that was once full of holy love is now crowded with unworthy passions; the spirit that once soared heavenward with lofty hopes now circles round ignoble aims and ambitions that a.re of earth and sense; the life which once brought forth all honourable and admirable activities -has nothing to offer Dow but selfish schemes or even deeds of darkness,-C. Vets. 1, 2.-National rnl,amity 'With God and without God. 'l'he historical circnm- stances connected with this and the following two chapters throw light on the object and meaning of the prophecy. At the close of Jotham's reign, both the neighbouring nations of Israel and of Syria invaded the country of Judah, wasting and desolating it. Now, in the beginning of the reign of Ahaz, they agreed to unite their forces, and so they Loped to take even the chief city, deth~one the reigning king, and partition the land between them. News of this confederacy reached Ahaz, and produced the utmost consternation and bewilderment both in him and in the people of Jerusalem. Hurried efforts were made to fortify the cit.y, and especially to secure the water-stores, on which their ability to 11taud a siege so directly depeuded, Plans were also formed to secure the help of the King of Assyria, though th., price of such help would too surely be the Joss of national independence, and the payment of tribute to Assyria. Jn those deaenerate dnys few people even thought of seeking help from Jehovah, the mighty God of their fathers. While busy, inspecting the waterworks, and probably  140 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [olt. vn. 1-25,