The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 382

Ver. 9.-God's comtant woi-k. of humbling priilt. "Jehovah Sabl\oth hath devised it, to desecrate the pride of all glory." It is possible that reference 11111.y bo intended to the desecration of the 1'yrian temple of Hercules, which is said to have been the oldest in the world. But the reference may be general, anq any actual case wou,ld but illus- trate the general truth. " G,,d (lid uot bring these ealamities upon 1'yre in a wa'y of eovereignty, to show an arbitrary and irrcsistible power·; but he did it to pu11ieh tht1 Tyrians for their pride. Mnnr other sins, no doubt, reigned among them-idolatry, ~ensnality, and oppression; but the sin of pride is fastened upon as that which was.the particular ground of God's contro,ersy with Tyre, for he resists the proud. Let the ruin of Tyre be a warning to all places and persona to take heed of pride; for it proclaims to all the world that he who exalts himself shall be abased." Thomson, in ' The Laud and the Book,' forcibly describes the present condition of humbled, ruined Tyre: "It (an insignifica.nt village) is all that remains of her. But weep not for Tyre; this very silence and repose are most eloquent and emphatic on themes of the last impor- tance to the Christian faith. There is nothing here of that which led Joshua to call it 'the strong city' more than three thousand years ago (Josh. xix. 29); nothing of that mighty metropolis which baffled the proud Nebuchadnezzar and all his power for thirteen years, until every head in his army was bald, and every shoulder peeled in tl:le hard sen-ice age.inst Tyrus (Ezek. xxix. 18); nothing in this wretched roadstead and empty markets to remind one of the times when merry mariners did sing in her markets ; no visible trace of those towering ramparts which so long resisted the efforts of the great Alexander ;-all have vanished like a troubled d1:eam. As she now is and hu long been, Tyre is God's witness; but great, powerful, a.rid populous, she would ~e the infidel's boast." The poiLt to be illustrated is that God will be sure to deal with individuals and with nations, for the humbling and crushing of pride. He will do ,BO because-- 1 PRIDE INVOLVES PERIL ro A llA.N'B OWN CHA.llACTEB. There can be no 'healthy growth where it is present. The passive virtues, which are so specially commended in Christianity, cannot dwell with pride, which is so closely allied with satisfaction in self and the despising of others. Pride is a worm at the root of the tree of character. !I. PRIDE DESTROYS THE COMFORTAJILENESS OF A MAN'S RELATIONS WITH HIS FELLOW- KEN. The proud man tries to keep away from his fellows. And his fellow& are glad enough to keep away from him. It is incouceivably miserable for a" man to be placed alone in the midst of the earth." , , III. PRIDE SPOILS A ='s RELATIONS WITH Gon." They ;1re fonncled on the prpper humility of the submissive and dependent creature. For man tho universal law is. "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that. he may exalt you in dt;ie time," or else you certainly must, as Tyre, be humbled.-R. T. Ver. 12.-No &oopefrom God', judgments. "There'also ·shalt 'thou have nor~t." Either the colonists would not receive them, or their enemies would stil,1 pursue after them, seeking them out even where they had found shelter. Reference is intended to those calamities which befell the Tyrians in their subsequent settlernents-Cyprul!, Sicily, Carthage, and Spain. Cheyne illustrates the expression by showing that "the long arm of Assyria reached them even in Cyprus, where Luli, King of Zidon, had already sought refuge." The importance of Cyprus as a naval statipn was recognized by the Babyloniaos fifteen or sixteen centuries before Christ. 'l'he inscription of Sargon, King of Agane, relates how " the sea of the setting sun he crossed," and in the third year conquered a land which can hardly be any other than Cyprus. Cyprus was also conquered by the Assyrian Sargon. Go.d's judgments never exhaust themselves in acts which fail to accomplish the desired ends of humbling men's pride and correcting men's faults. They go on until their purpose is reached. The point to be illustrated here is that God's judgments cannot be escaped by any fleeing from the plau where God's judgments are resting. The judgmeut was on the 'l'yrians, and it affected Tyra only for their sakes. So to escape from Tyre could not result in getting away from th afflicting and humbling hand of God. This may be efficiently illustrated fro~ the story of Jonah, who hurried from the upland district.s of Palestine to tako ship at Joppa, flee across the great sea, and get away from the presence of the Lord. He could not. God huldetb " the winds in his fists, and the wa~rs in the hollow of" his hand,"  THE 1300K or THE PTIOPHET ISAIAH. CDI. :IXIV, 1-23.] 383 ---------------------------------- and can send Lheee to execute his judgments.. And still it is a fixed idea of men, out of which they need to be driven, that they can get free of their disabilities, and or Divine jndgment 118 correction of sin, by changing their circumstances, or goin<Y from one p!Rce to another, Never. God deals with them, and only in a secondary sense with their circumstances, As long as we sin we come into the Divine jnrlgment. If we suffer, and yet the evil is not cured, the Divine judgments must continue. "For all this his anger is not turned away, bnt his hand is stretched out still." And some- times the freedom we have sought by changing our place is changed to an even more humiliating form of chastisement, as the Tyrians endured worse things in their escape than if they had remained at home, However we flee from troubles, we can never flee from ourselves, and never flee from God,-R. 'l'. Ver. 18.-C'ommel'ce the· handmaid of religion. "Her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness unto tbo Lord." This appears to be a prediction of the conversion of the Tyrians to the worship and service of the true God. "Instead of hoarding up their gains, or devoting them as presents·to the temple of Hercules, as they had formerly done, they would now consecrate them to the support of true religion." Jn tbe·Jine of fulfilment we may note that Jesus Christ :visited the neighbonrhood (Matt. xv. 21); St. Paul found disciples there (Acts xxi. 3--:-6); ancl it early 1,ecame a Christian bishopric. The prophecy would ·be accomplished if the Christians of Tyre sent gifts to Jerusalem; as such gifts would be regarded as .representative of the "merchandise." Dea.n. Plumptre says, "Interpreted religiously, the prophet sees the admission of proselytes to the worship of Israel in the future, as be had seen it probably in the days of-Hezekiah (Ps. lxxxvii. 4). Interpreted politically, the words point to a return to the old alliance between Judah and Tyre in the days of Solomon (1 Kings v. 1-12), and to the gifts which that alliance involved (Pa. xiv. 12)." The Tyrians and Zidonia.ns contributed to the erection of the second temple (Ezra iii. 7). Commerce, as havin~ regard to purely worldly interests, is called " harlotry." "Large marts of commerce are often compared to harlots seeking many lovers, that is, they court merchants, and admit any one for the sake of gain." Commerce is the handmaid of religion wben she is- I. TnE AGENT FOB RIGHTEOUSNESS. In the sense of uprightness and fairness between man and man. Religion is the chief support of practical rightness, truth to word and promise, fair taking of samples, honest wages, reasonable prolits, and doing the best for those who buy of us and those who sell to us. But religion is glad of the help of all good business principles, and all good business customs. Religion is strengthened by the sense of honour that is found iii c·ommercial men. Honest commerce helps on the work which religion would_ do in the world. II. THE AGENT FOB CHARITY. In the sense of gentle consideration for others, a.nd helpfulness to all who are in distress. 'l'be tendency of commerce is towards selfishness, but when touched by the spirit of religion, it is sensitive to the needs of the poor, who are always multiplied by advancing civilization. Religion inspires workers among the poor and suffering and disabled. Commerce is noble when, acting M handmaid to religion, it supports the workers with its wraltb, helping the hungry and the outcast to "sufficiency for eating, and to durable clothiug."-R. T.