The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 159

threshold, They will join in one confession, It will be recorded that this and that man was born a.new in Zion (Ps. lxxxvii.). Each Jew will be as it were the centre of a little synagogue; ten men will seize his skirts and say, "We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you" (Zech. viii. 23). The frequent confession will be heard, "I belong to Jehovah;" or be found taking upon his person the stigmata, or sacred marks, which denote him as vowed to Jehovah's service (cf. Herod., ii. 113). We may learn: (1) The blessedneae of pious parents, and their corresponding responsi- bilities. (2) The gift of God's Spirit is the source of true happiness and prosperity. Piety alone can be the root of the Church's and the nation's weal. (3) God will never permit true religion to be extinct. It may appear to wither; but so long as he lives it will certainly know its recurring times of revival.-J. Vers. 6-28.-Jehovah and the images. I. SELF-MANIFESTATION OF JEHOVAH. He is the First and the Last, Alpha and Omega. Existing before the creatfon, be will endure when it shall have passed away (eh. xlviii.12). It is a thought which strikes us at once by its sublimity ,and, what is better, with its truth. Men sometimes speak of the material world as real, of the world of faith and imagination as dreamy. Not so the greatest prophets aud poets. Shakespeare describes the globe and all its human splendours as passing away like an "insubstantial pageant faded." But Isaiah outdoes Shakespeare, making the very heavens themselves pass; and perhaps St. Paul goes a step further when he sees" knowledge itself" vanishing away. Moreover, Jehovah is the incomparable God. He can admit no" rival near the throne;" cannot accommodate other deities to places in a tolerant pantheon. He is the sole Object of worship, the only Being to whom is due the title "God." So, too, he alone can tell the futui·e. Let the long p:i.st bear witness. He placed the "ancient people," or the "everlasti!lg people." The reference seems to be to the ever-enduring covenant spoken of in Exod. xxxi. 16, to the priest- hood and the kingdom which are everlasting (Exod. xl. 15; 2 Sam. xiii. 16). It sug• gests "the everlastingness of God's people," in opposition to the proximate fall of tha idolatrous nations. Or, the reference may be to the days before the Flood-to the most ancient inhabitants of the world. In any case, he has appoiuted beforehand the times and the bounds of the habitations of men. And history is intended to teach men of him, that they may with miud and heart glorify him. Israel herself is the great witness on the earth to God. He is her "Rock "-a great and memorable figure (Deut. xxxii. 4, 30, 31; Ps. xix. 14; xxxi. 2, 3; xiii. 9). Rock of Ages, Dwclling-pla.ce of all genera• tions: who can wear such titles but himself? "If there were another Rock of Ages, Jehovah would not complain; but as his Being is unique, it pains him that men will not have him for e. God." II. looLATRY CRITICIZED. The image-makers are all of them" chaos "-an expres- sion of extreme contempt. There is no use, no profit, in their trade. To that question of use all institutions, yea, all men, mw;t ultimately come. Now, what can be said on behalf of idolatry? Produce the witnesses. Blind and ignorant, what he.ve they to say? To produce them is to a.bash and confound them. And so it is with many an idol and institution of our time. It tries to keep off criticism under the plea of sacredness; when the age insists on criticism, and will have an answer, its silence or its confused apologies are its condemnation. What can be answered to the following questions? How can you turn an image into a living spiritual being , Q1iis nisi demens-who but one out of his senses can confound the one with the other? The worship of these idols was sacra- mental, e.nd was kept up by societies and guilds. The mem hers were in e.ssociation with the idol and with one another; like Ephraim (Hos. iv. 17), they were in fellowship with demons (cf, 1 Cor. x. 20). If the idol be nothing in the world, what becomes ol those "joined to him"? Let that question be answered. And then, again, how can these human craftsmen make their Maker? Let them all combine in their toil: the ludicrousness of their endeavours is the more manifest. There is the smith with his sharp e.xe e.nd his he.mmers, sweating at the fire till he is faint; the carpenter with his line and sharp chisel, plane and compasses. The semblance of a human figure appears. 'l'he god is made; and sacrifice and prayer follow. "Save me I" the benighted wor- shipper cries to his manufacture. 'l'he scene is enough to carry conviction to the specte.tor's mind, and to convince him that these votaries can havo no perception, so "daubed" are their eyes and their hearts by the habits of sense, Tho power of reflection  164 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [oH, xuv. 1-28.