The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 287

obey? In obedience only will be their salvation, Will these trembling fugitives, seeking escape on the banks of .Amon, bear the timely voice of counsel? How readily d~ t:hese ~istt~rical pictures suggest a spir!tual ~ppl!cation I The first impression of the D1vme v01ce 1s that of fea.r; next there 1s hes1tat1on; next the critical choice, accept- ance of the Divine offers, or recalcitrat;on and refusal. The merciful God, the Saviour of men, would gather us fugitives from the world's tl'oubles to his arms. Shall we run to him as a strong Tower and be safe, or seek by perilous paths another course, only to rush upon fresh woes ? " To-day if ye will hea.r his voice, harden not your hearts." II. 'l'HE REPLY OF MoAB. 1. They appeal to Zion for counsel and arbitrament. The_ powerful nei~hbour and suzera~n is asked to intervene between the contending parties as an umpire, so that the unJustly oppressed may be succoured. And here is a sublime image of the Judge arid Protector. May he be "a shadow like night at high moon." In our cold northern clime our poets chiefly borrow images from the wintry season to represent distress. We speak of the wintry frost of calamity, the cmel wind, the sno"'.s of adversity,_ etc. N_ot so the Hebrew ; ~ him the hot season is typical of all that 1s most cruel m physical or mental suffering. Hence, by opposition, the shadow of the great rock, or the shadow deep as night, remind of all that is most grateful in deliverance and repose. Of a great man it is proverbially said, in the East, " Like the snn, he warmed in the cold, and when Sirius shone, then was he coolness and shade." And in the Sunna seven classes of good men are enumerated, whom "the Lord will overshadow with his shade, when no shade will be like his" (cf. eh. xxx. 2, 3; xxxii 2). So may the out-O&Sts be hidden, the wanderers faithfully pro- tected, and Zion throw her regis over the land of Moab, and guard it from the spoiler. 2. They extol the governmen_t of Judah. "Oppression has ceased, the spoiling is at end, the tormentors have vanished from the land." We see what good administration is in the light of the bitter experience of tyranny and its attendant evils. Notice the strong images of harsh rule : pressure, applied so as to press out the marrow from the bones of the people, as it were; preying and spoiling (cf. eh. x. 6); trampling and tremling down of the multitude of the poor. These tyrants exhibit all "the proud man's scorn, the oppressor's contumely." Iniquity is their pastime, their game. '!'hey " watch for it, they lay snares and gins for good men, as the hunter does for wild beasts. The liberty of speech is denied, and men are made offenders for a word" (eh. xxix. 20, 21). They are faithless to the faithful, they break treaties, they despise cities, they regard no man (eh. xx.xi. l, 8). Nature seems to mourn beneath the infliction, and society and commerce languish. The highways are deserted of the merchant and the traveller. The glories of Lebanon, the loveliness of Sharon, the fruitful glades of Bashan and Carmel, are dishonoured, and seen to weep in sympathy with man. Is there a more odious offence on God's earth than the tyrant-than despotism and all its horrible selfishness? " Man's inhumanity to man makes countless myriads mourn." But these things have passed, are passing, or shall pass away. A new era dawns with the establishment of the throne of DavU. This throne is symbolic of: (1) Grace, or gra,- ciousnesa. The word stands for all that is good in princi pie, benevolent in purpose, benign and healing in administrative effort. No king truly rules except Dei gratiii, by the favour of God, nor is kingly unless he illustrates the benignant spirit of the Divine rule. (2) Faithfulness, or truth. He is the extreme opposite to those treacherous covenant-breakers, who have made tyranny odious and contemptible. His words are .tingly because true, and the expression of a truthful character. The character of the liar and the hypocrite sullies the crown more than any blot. (3) Justice. "A judge both seeking right and expert in justice." A Burning zeal in his temper for the right, and the habit of making it prevail. Such are the signs of Messianic times-the dawn of God's kingdom upon earth. The tent of David which had fallen and been ruined is indeed raised up again, and built as in the days of old (A.mos ix. 11). And it shelters a king in whom the ideal of Jehovah is realized. III. REBUKE OF MoAB. It seems best to take what follows as the utterance of the prophet, pursuing the thread of meditation. We have heard what Moab might have said, and should have said; but alas l her accustomed pride and haughtiness will be her bane. Her insolence and insincerity are also stigmatized, as in Jer. xlviii. 30, 81, "I know his wrath, saitb the Lord; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not effect it. Therefore I will howl for Moab, and will cry out for all Moab; my heart shall mourn 011. xvr. 1-14.) THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 281