Vers. 14-17.-Man in God's view. There a.re three classes among ma11ki11d in reference to whom we here learn tLe thought and feeling of God. We infer from what u. 11t&ted in the text-- • I. H.rs SPECIAL INTEREST IN THE YOUNG. '!'hinge liad come to such a state, the natural order of things was so reversed, that "the Lord would-have no joy in their young men" (ver. 17). Hence we may hurly argue that the common and normal condition i~ that THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 179
in wbioh God has joy in the young. It is e. etirange and. unnatural thing to him, that whhlh le nltogether a.Hen to hie own'diepoeitioo, to take no <leep and Divine interest in t.hcm, God bas the young people in hie thought, in his affection ; they are the object."! of his peculiar •l'egnrd and tender interest. He ie seeking their true welfare; be i1 addressing himself to them in the terms and the tones of fatherly love. There is nothing more pleasing in his eyes than the response which the young heart makes to h'lil In vrtiJ1g',voiee: . I II; HIS 'l'EOtJLIAB 'l'ENDERNESB TOWARD THE AFFLICTED, It is a sign of the very extremity of the ,Divine displeasure that the Lord will not even "have mercy on the fatherless and widows.", The rebelliousness of Israel must have been great indeed, her iniquity heinous and aggravated' indeed, to bring about a conclusion so startling and so otrange as that., For it Is the'rnost wide departure from the constant thought and habit of the Most High. It is in his heart of pity to show peculiar kindness to his afflicted children. Those who are in sorrow commonly receive the precious sympathy of ,their fellow•men; this may fail, but it is certainly insufficient. Then the wounded spirit finds refuge in the sympathy. of Christ; it has the strongest assurance of bis presence/his pity, his succour (Ps. ciii. 13; Heh. iv. 15, etc.). .III. His SEVERITY TOWARD THE FALSE. The prophet regarded himself as being at the' head ·or the1 nation, and expected to be so re,,,<Tarded by others. But not so did the Loi-d· regard him:rif, he were false to his vocation. In the Divine view be was not the distinguishedrbough waving from the top of the .palm tree; he was the coarse reed that grew in the rank ttiarshes (see vers. 14, 15). I. Any and every dissembler is hateful to God. He denounces the hypocrite, wherever he is found (ver. 17). 2. But the false teacher is the object of especial Divine displeasure. " The prophet that teacbeth lies is the tail." Be it remembered that the prophet is now, what he was then, the man who professes t,J speak for God; that if, making this profession, we publish that which is error rather tban truth, we do two things which are most deplorable. In the first place we draw down on ourselves the awful anger of the righteous Ruler; and in the second placo we slay those whom we pretend to heal: they" that are led (misled) of us a:re destroyed" (ver. 16). 'l'o receive religious error into the soul is to be poisoned with a deadly d11ug; guilty indeed is the hand tbat administers it.-C. r· ,;
Vers. 18.._2'L-Sin suicidal. From this declaration of judgment against a guilty nation we·may·gather some·principles which are applicable to men as well aa nations elsewhere, and indeed everywhere. We learn- • I. THAT ·sm 1s· A WASTING POWER. '' Wickedness bnrneth as a fire" (ver. 18). Wher1flin abounds there de·solation abounds. The longer a man (or nation) bas lived under its dominion· th'e more bas power withered and possession decreased, the more has heritage been wasted and lost. I. Sinfirst destroys the less valuable. "The brier and the thorn it shaH consume ''-the visible, the temporal, the pecuuiary, the material, the fleshly. 2., Then the more valuable. "It shall kindle in the thickets of the grove." The reputation, the intelligence, the character, the influence for good,-these disappear und11r the consuming fires of sin. 3. Then it amounts to a conspicuous disa.ater. "They shall mount up in volumes of rising smoke." 'l'be ruin is so striking that attention is commailded; all surrounding nations must observe it; all neighbours must remark it. • II. THAT I'F TURNS ITS BAND UPON ITSELF. Of the fire of human sin humanity itself is the fuel (ver. 19), This is palpably and painfully true: 1. Of the individual. He that Rine against God wrongs his own soul, first and most (Prov. viii. 36). It is not only the drunkard and the debauchee who injure themselves by their iniquities. Look on far enough, or look down deep enough, and you will find that every transgressor is putting his own most precious interests, as fuel, into the devouring flame; every such mo.wt"eats the flesh of his own arm" (ver. 20). 2. Of the community, It is sin, the departure from the Divine will, which brings about (1) faction in the state; (2) con- tention in the Church; ·(3) discord iu the family. Often, in its ultimate outworkings. it becomes remorseless and insatiable. "No man will spare his brother;" he "eats and is not sa.tisfied" (ver. 19; see Gal. v. 15). III. THAT THE WASTE OF BIN IS 1TB DIVINELY APPOINTED PENAL'IT, '"Ebrough the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened." It seems to be in the very nature of things that sin, whether in the individual or the community, should consume anJ 180 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH, [CR, IX. 1-21,
destroy; but. so much has the Lord of hosts to do with the nt\ture of things the.t those who thus suffer the oonsequences of their guilt ml\y well feel that the punitive hand of C'-..-od is laid upon them. And they will also do well to feel- IV. THAT GoD HAS SOMETHING KOBE TO BAY TRAN BB BAB YET BPOKBN, "For all this," etc.-C.