The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 165

keeping nlive in their hearts the hopeful prophecy of his father. Before the boy can lisp hie parents' names, that prophecy will be fulfilled, A.nd the wealth of DamascUB and the spoil of SJmaria will be carried away before the ABsyrian king. (1) The lessonH of the teacher need to be addressed to the senses of the multitude. The sign for the eye, the parable for the imagination, the illustration which " strikes," the epigram and "winged word" which fastens in the memory,-all may be pressed into the service. (2) Pith and condensation should be studied. A sermon is not wasted if the text sticks, or if a single pregnant saying has lodged itself in the mind, as a seed to stir and quicken thought to purpose.-J. Vere. 5-15.-" God with ua." The prophet looks out on the troubled prospect as on a deluge, amidst which the ark of promise carrying the elect, the remnant, the Church of the faithful and chosen, is seen riding. I. TEMPORAL ALLUSIONS, 1. The foreign sympathies of the people. Tired of the inefficient reign of Ahaz, they watch for the approach of the two northern kings with interest. 'fhey have forgotten their patriotism, which once rallied round the house of David as a political and spiritual centre. 'l'he "softly flowing brook of Siloah" by Jeru- salem was symbolic of that house. 'Twas the river that made glad the city of God, the holy place of the Highest's dwelling (Ps. xlvi.). Small was it compared with the great flood of Nile or Euphrates, but mild and gentle. "Nile, with its monstrous crocodile and behemah, might be the image of the cruel Egyptian rule; and mighty Euphrates, with its frequent overflowings, that of the Assyrian power and of its swift extension." As in ancient folk-lore dragons were supposed to haunt the waters, so the Assyrian power was like the dwmon of the great river ( cf. eh. :x:.xvii. 1). 2. The wave of Assyrian conquest. Onward it will come, a magnificent flood, to punish, to purify. The Assyrian king, with all the" pomp and circumstance of war," an awful array, will, as the rivcr breaking its bounds and overflowing all banks, rush into Judah, overflowing and rolling, till the :flood reaches to men's necks; or, as with the outspread wings of the flying dragon, the foe will cover all the breadth of the land-land of the passionately hoped- for Immanuel. II. VICTORIOUS sPmITUAL HOPES. The name of the Messiah," God with us," acts like a charn1 on the troubled spirit of the seer. His discourse suddenly becomes a bol,I menace against all heathendom. 1. Material power defied. Let the nations rage and let them-despair I Let them fit out their armaments and-despair! exclaims the prophet. Let them form their plans-they shall be broken; speak their words-they shall not stand. For " with us is God I " What magic in a name, in a phrase I Carry- ing our thought forward through the ceuturies, we recall what powers were defied, what wonders wrought, what force"reduced to impotence, what counsels reduced to folly, by the magic of the Name of Jesus. Yet it is not the mere name, but the reality denoted by the name, believed and felt to be operating through the human spirit, which is the source of energy. 2. Personal inspiration. Idle had been these defiances, if the prophet did not know of a secret warranty for them in his own breast, in his own spiritual record. "Thus said Jehovah unto me in the ecstasy." He had heard a voice which all could not hear, and had cleared bis vision in a light not vouchsafed to the vulgar. It was a discriminating light. He was taught to see that not all the multitude called rebellious was really such, nor all that it feared was really to be dreaded. The allusion is somewhat obscure. Probably under tbe guise of fear the people were secretly rejoicing, and meditating the dethronement of Ahaz. Tbe language strikes a side- blow at the pusillanimity of the time. The prophet has learned that Jehovah is tho true Object of fear; that noble and steadfast reverence which, a mighter passion, expels the feebler and baser. "Fear him, ye saints, and you will then Have nothing else to fear." If this condition be fulfilled, Jehovah will be found an inviolable Sanctuary, a Shclter from 1\11 coming tril\ls. We find the same thought in Ezek. xi. 16. He will be a " ltti:le Sanctuary" to the fugitive and dispersed amotig the nations. Fleeing from the pursuer, men laid hold of the" horns of the altar." These things a.re to us a parable. Religion ia the spirit's asylum from all distress, In times when the newspaper teems with war, 151 1'HE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. (OH, VttI, 1-22.