The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 2 — Section 219

(For God's Name,eeeExod. xxxiv. 6, 7.) For II New Testament plra, drawn from the jealousy for the honour of the Divine Name, recall the sentence, "Though we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself." It may be shown that- I. GoD IS SEVERE, Fon THE BAKE OF HIS HONOUR. That he may not be blasphemed, and represente<l as indifferent to the obedience offered to bis commandments. "Behold the severity of God," which should be a theme of admiration, and a bulwark of con- fidence to us. II. GoD IS PATIENT, FOR THE SAKE OF ms HONOUR. In order that be might reveal himself as the Good, and win confidence. "Behold the goodness of God," into which we may run and find shelter. See the Name of God as revealed to Moses. The most marvellous triumphs over human self-willedness are won by patient mercy, Divine long-suffering. Forbearance and enduring love are some of the sweetest things in the Divine Name. A more subtle course of thought is indicated by the following two divisions. I. GOD IS ANXIOUS THAT MEN SHOULD HONOUR ms NAME. And this anxiety he cherishes for their salces. It is supremely important that men should have high thoughts of God. II. GoD IS ANXIOUS TO BE FOUND TRUE TO HIS OWN NAME, And this anxiety he cherishes for his own salce; for his rest involves the sense of being true to himself. -R.T. Ver. 10.-The refining power of ajfliclion. The likeness of Divine dealings to the refining of metals by fire is somewhat frequent in Scripture. In this passage there is a qualification which is peculiar. God's message, through his prophet, is, "Behold, I have refined thee, but not as silver." There was evidently something unusual a.bout the treatment of silver, and we get some idea as to what it was from an expression of the psalmist (xii. 6), "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." In the case of silver great severity and many repetitions were necessary. Had God treated Israel with the severity due to its ioiquity, it must have been cut off. He therefore reined in, restrained, qualified his anger, and corrected them only "in measure." "God would refine them, but not so thoroughly as men refine their silver, which they continue in the furnace till all the dross is separated from it; if God should take that course with them, they would be a.lw11.ys in the furnace, for they are all dross, and, as such, might justly be put away, as reprobate silver. He therefore takes them as they are, refined in part only, and not thoroughly." "The art of smelting ore, which must have been known to the Israelites from the time of .their sojourning in Egypt, bnt bad, probably, been brought into fresh prominence through intercourse with the Phcenicians and with Sheba, is here used as an illustration. Wonderful as is the separation of the pure metal from the dross with which it has mingled, there is something yet more wonderful in the Divine discipline which purifies the good that lies hid, like a grain of gold, even in rough and common natures, and frees it from all admixture of evil" (' Speaker's Commentary'). Dr. Guthrie says, "It is rough work that polishes. Look at the pebbles on the shore! Far inland, where some arm of the sea thrusts itself deep into the bosom of the land, and, expanding iuto a salt loch, lies girdled by the mountains, sheltered from the storm~ that agitate the deep, the pebbles on the beach are rough, not beautiful, angular, not rounded. It is where long white lines of breakers roar, and the rattling shingle is rolled about the strand, that its pebbles are rounded and polished. As in nature, as in the arts, so in grace; it is rough treatment that gives souls 11s well as stones their lustre; the more the diamond is cut, the brighter it sparkles; and in what seems hard dealing their God has no end in view but to perfect his people's graces. Our Father, and the kindest of fathers, he afflicts not willingly; he sends tribulations, but hear St. Paul tell their purpose: • Tribulation worketh patience, patience experieuce, experience hope.'" I. GoD's PURPOSE OONCERNING ms PEOPLE. This may be expressed ia the word "redemption," which means much more than rescue from peril. It means deliverance from all evil, and more especially from the evil within. Th~ full idea. of God's purpose is best realized through the purpose concerning her child of a saintly mother. She seeks her child's redemption. She would have him delivered from his various  228 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. [oH. xLvm.1-22.