The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 485

Ver. 2.-Divine corrections t1wough temporal distr6Ssea. This subject may be treated in the larger spheres of nations, classes of society, or Churches, and applications may be made to indi,idual experience. God's ways in the world of men are designed to rew~l the mystery of his ways with each man. That impression which we are now gai11ing concerning the constancy and inexorableness of law, godly people have long },t.d coucerning the constancy aud inexorableness of the Divine dealings. What God &as bern to one man, he has been to many, he has been to all. What God hns been here, he has been there, and he bas been everywhere. It is a law and order with him tbnt he should correct men for their faults by means of temporal distresses. The calamities that come to men and nations a.re no accidents. In them God is working 10r righteousness. The term .Ariel is one of Isaiah's favourite symbolical names. It stands for Jerusalem. 'l'he prophet exclaims, "Alas for Ariel I" because of the wrong- headedness and the wilfulness which were leading its rulers a.way from reliance on Jehovah to confidence in Egypt. The word "Ariel" means" God's lion," but it is not easy for us to recognize the appropriateness of the figure. Some think it may mean the luJarth, or altar of God, and then the reference to "sacrifices" in ver. 1 is seen to be nppropri:lt-c. Henderson, feeling that the figure of Jerusalem as a lion, devouring the flesh of many sacrifices, is very strained, accepts the figure of "hearth or altar," and says, "The reference is to Jerusalem as the centre of the Jewish polity, where a.lone it was lawful to sacrifice to Jehovah" (comp. eh. xxxi. 9). In favour of the translation, "Lion of God," it may be noticed that the lion was the emblem of the tribe of Judah. The historical reference of these verses is to the coming attack of Sennacherib's army, which would be a. distress to Ariel, but would not involve her ruin. It would be a providence with the evident design of warning and correcting. It is matched by many circumstances in individual lives which are distressing rather than nfil.icting or overwhelming. I. l' ABTICULAB EVILS IN AmEL. Perhaps the point of reproach here is the insin- cerity attending the reformation which Hezekiah instituted. There is an important difference between a reformation which starts from the people and reaches to affect the throne, as in the case of Nineveh in the time of Jonah ; or as in the case of the German Protestant Reformation, which was in the heart and purpose of the people before Luther found it voice; and a reformation which starts from the throne and tries to carry the people with it, as in the cases of Hezekiah and Josiah. '!'here is the grave danger of the people's acceding to the wish, of the sovereign, and the example of tba court, apart from their own convictions. This was the particular evil .of the time which needed correction. There were signs of religious awakening which were insin- cere. How insincerity in the leaders was shown in the efforts of a. considerable party to turn from Jehovah and negotiate for help with Egypt I Still, we may observe the prevalence of insincerity, and the fact that "distresses" are just the fitting corrective of this evil. IL THE DELUSION OF KEEPING UP SACRIFICES IN A.BIEL, An important part of prophetical work was the denunciation of sacrifices and religious rites when the soul of meanina0 was lost out of them, and they ex.pressed no devotion, no thankfulness, no love, and no consecration (see eh. i. 11-15). Here Isaiah intimates that increasing the number of festivals and multiplying sacrifices could not deceive God or hide fr~m him the real moral and religious condition of the people. Keeping _up the for010.l!t1~s of religion is often successful in deceiving men, but it never deceives God. This _is his absolute condition, "They that worship him must worship him in spirit and Ill truth." III. THE FORMS IN WJJICH A.BIEL KIGHT BE DOPEFULLY DIBTBESSED. The Mosaio system had established the idea that men would be sure to get good things by being on. x:nx.1-24.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAR. 485