Isaiah 29

WO to Ariel This Word signifies a strong Lion, or the Lion of God; and is used concerning Lion-like Men, as it is rendred, 1 Chron. 11. 22. and of God's Altar, as it is rendred, Ezek. 43. 15, 16. which seems to be thus called, because it devoured and consumed the Sacrifices put upon it as greedily, and as irresistably, as the Lion does his prey. If the Altar be here meant, it is put Synecdochically for the Temple, and the words may be rendred, Wo to Ariel, to Ariel of or in the City, or, and the City; for that conjunction is sometimes understood, as Isa. 22. 6. Hab. 3. 11. And so the Threatning is denounced both against the Temple, and against Ierusalem. But he seems rather to understand it of Ierusalem, as may be gathered: 1. From the next words, which seem to be added by way of Apposition, to explain what he meant by that obscure and ambiguous Term: Wo to Ariel, to Ariel, even to the City: 2. From the following Verses, which plainly declare, That this Ariel is the place which God threatens, that he would distress and fill with heaviness, ver. 2. and lay siege against Her, ver. 3. And that the Nations should fight against her, ver. 7. All which Expressions agree much better to Ierusalem, than to the Altar. And this City might be called Ariel, or the strong Lion: Either 1. For its eminent strength in regard of its Scituation and Fortifications, by reason whereof, it was thought almost impregnable, both by themselves and others, Lam. 4. 12. Or, 2. For its Lion-like Fierceness and Cruelty, for which she is called the bloody City, Ezek. 7. 23. and 22. 2. and in effect, Isa. 1. 15. and 59. 3. and Ier. 19. 4. and for which her Princes are called Lions, Ezek. 19. 2. Zeph. 3. 3. Or. 3. In respect of the Altar of God, which was Erected in, and confined to that City, and in which the Strength and Glory of that City did chiefly consist., to Ariel the city where David dwelt The Royal City, and Seat of David and his Posterity. Which is here mentioned, as the ground of their Confidence; and withal, it is implyed, That their Relation to David, and their supposed Interest in the promises made to him, and to his Seed, should not secure them from the Destruction here threatned.: add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices Go on in killing Sacrifices from time to time, one year after another, whereby you think to appease me, and to secure your selves: But all shall be in vain..

Yet Notwithstanding all your Sacrifices. I will distress Ariel By bringing and strengthning her Enemies against Her., and there shall be heaviness and sorrow, and it shall be unto me as Ariel The Sense is, Either 1. I will treat Her like a strong and fierce Lion, which the People, among whom it is, indeavour by Nets, or Pits, and all other ways to take and to destroy. Or. 2. I will make Ariel the City, like Ariel the Altar, filling it with Sacrifices, even with Men, whom I will Slay in my Anger; which Act of God's is called his Sacrifice, Ezek. 39. 17, 19..

And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee By those Enemies whom I will assist, and enable to Destroy thee. This was fulfilled, Either 1. by Sennacherib, as some Learned Men think. But what is here affirmed of these Enemies, is expresly denied concerning Sennacherib, Isa. 37. 33. or rather 2. by the Chaldeans, 2 Kings 25. 1. &c. with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.

And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust Thou who now speakest so loftily, and scornfully against the Lord's Prophets and others, shalt be humbled and confounded, & afraid & ashamed to speak aloud, & shalt in a submiss manner, and with a low Voice, beg the favour of thine Enemies., and thy voice shall be as of one that has a familiar spirit out of the ground Who, that they might possess the People with a kind of Reverence and Horror, used to speak and deliver their Answers with a low Voice, either out of their Bellies, or from some dark Cave under the ground., and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.

Moreover, the multitude of thy strangers Either 1. of the Strangers that Encamp and Fight against thee. Or, 2. of the Egyptians, and other Strangers, whom thou hast hired to assist thee, as indeed they did, when the Chaldeans came against them. This Exposition seems to agree best, as with the phrase, thy strangers, so with the scope of the place, and with the whole Context, especially the foregoing Verses; which plainly shows, that this is not a Promise to Ierusalem, but a Threatning against it. shall be like small dust Quickly blown away with the least Wind, by comparing this with the following Clause., and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff that passeth away: yea it shall be This dissipation and destruction of thy Strangers, and terrible Ones shall come to pass. at an instant suddenly. b Of thy great Commanders, and stoutest Souldiers.

Thou Thou, O Ariel or Ierusalem, of, or to whom this whole Context manifestly speaks. shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire With dreadful Judgments, which are frequently expressed in the Prophets, by these and such like Metaphors..

And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel, even all that fight against her, and her munition, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision Wherein it shall be so, is explained in the next Verse..

It shall even be as when a hungry man dreameth, and behold he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty His appetite or desire (as the soul is taken, Psal. 41. 4. and 78. 18. and elsewhere) is unsatisfied. Or, his stomack or body (as the soul is used, Psal. 16. 10.) is empty.: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold he drinketh; but he awaketh, and behold he is faint, and his soul has appetite: so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight against mount Zion No less unsatisfied and insatiable, shall the Enemies of the Iews be, with all the Cruelties which they have committed against you; and they shall be always thirsting after more of your Blood, as if they had never tasted any of it..

Stay your selves and wonder Pause upon it, and you will see cause to wonder at the stupidity of this People, of which he is now about to speak. He directeth his Speech, either to the Religious part of the People, or to those particular persons, who heard him, when he delivered this Prophecy., cry ye out, and cry Cry out again and again, either in way of Supplication for them; or rather through Astonishment and Horror. Or, They take pleasure or sport themselves (as this word most commonly signifies) and riot: In the midst of all these Threatnings and Dangers, they are secure, and give up themselves to sensuality; which is matter of just wonder.: they are drunken, but not with wine But either 1. With drinking the Cup of God's fury, wherewith they are said to be made drunk, Isa. 51. 17, 20. And then they are drunk, is put for, they shall be drunk, after the manner of the Prophets. Or 2. With the spirit of giddiness or stupidity, which makes them like drunken Men, insensible of their Danger, and not knowing what to do.; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

For the LORD has poured out upon you Which Phrase notes the plenty, and vehemency of this Judgment. the spirit of dead sleep Hardness of heart, and insensibleness of your Danger and Misery, which God is said to send, because He denies, or withdraws His Light and Grace, which alone can cure those Maladies., and has closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers Your Magistrates and Ministers, whose blindness or stupidity is a great Curse and Plague to the people. Or, the Prophets, even the chief (for the head is oft put for the chief of persons or things, as Exod. 30. 23. 1 Chron. 12. 18. and elsewhere) of your seers. has he covered With the veil of ignorance and stupidity, or as to their Eyes, which is understood out of the former Clause. And this last Clause is, and may be rendred thus, The Eyes (which may be repeated out of the foregoing Clause) of your Prophets, and of, or even of your principal seers (or, and of your most intelligent rulers.) has he covered..

And the vision of all Of all your Prophets, whether the true of false Ones. is become unto you, as the words of a book that is sealed In which no Man can read, whilst it is scaled up, as books then sometimes were, 1 Kings 21. 8. Esth. 3. 12, 13. being made in the form of Rolls, which was convenient for that purpose., which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee; and he says, I cannot, for it is sealed:

And the book is delivered to him that is not learned Unsealed and opened, as the following Clause implies. God so orders the manner of delivering this Book, that neither the learned nor unlearned could read and understand it., saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he says, I am not learned.

Wherefore the LORD said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me To wit, in acts of worship. with their mouth, and with their lips With outward Devotions, and the profession of Religion. do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me They do not pay Me that Love, and Fear, and Obedience, which I require, and prefer before all Sacrifices, and external Services., and their fear towards me is taught by the precept of men They Worship Me not in such way and manner, as I have commanded and prescribed, but according to their own, and other Mens inventions, preferring the devices and traditions of their false Prophets, before My Institutions. For this was a common Errour among the Iews, as we learn from Ier. 7. 31. Hos. 5. 11. and many other Scriptures, And thus our blessed Saviour expounds this very place, Mat. 15. 7, 8, 9.:

Therefore behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work amongst this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid Shall disappear and vanish; for this answers to, shall perish, in the former Clause. A veil shall be cast upon the Eyes of their Minds: they shall give no evidences or proofs of their Wisdom, but their Folly shall be made manifest. And this was indeed a wonderful Thing for their wise Men to be made fools..

Wo unto them that seek deep Heb. that make deep. A Metaphor from Men, who use to dig deep into the Earth, that they may hide any thing there, which they would keep safe and unknown. to hide their counsel from the LORD Vainly imagining, That they can keep all their Hypocrisy and secret Wickedness out of God's fight, and that they can deceive, not only Men, but God, by their external Professions and Services., and their works are in the dark Their wicked Counsels are contrived, and their Idolatry is practised in secret and dark places, of which, see Ezek. 8. 12., and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us We act so cunningly, that neither God nor Man can discover us.?

Surely your turning of things upside down All your subtile devices, by which you turn your selves into all shapes; and turn your Thoughts hither and thither, and pervert the order which God has appointed. shall be esteemed as the potters clay It is no more to me, than the Clay is to the Potter, who can not only discern it thoroughly, but alter and dispose it as he seeth fit.: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not, or shall the thing framed, say of him that framed it, He had no understanding And no less absurd and ridiculous is your Conceit, that I your Maker, and supream Governor, cannot discover, and controul all your Artifices at my Pleasure.?

Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field: and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forrest? h The Forrest of Lebanon, which was a barren Mountain, and a desolate Wilderness, shall, by God's wonderful providence, become a fruitful and populous Place; and these places which are now Fruitful and Populous, shall then become as Barren and Desolate, as that Forrest. This Sense is confirmed by that parallel Place, Isa. 32 15. And from both places compared together, this seems to be a Prophecy of the rejection of the wicked and unbelieving Iews, whose Sins and marvellous Judgments, and particularly Infatuation, are declared in the foregoing Verses; and of the calling of the Gentiles, of which he speaks in the following Verse, as appears further by comparing that Verse with Isa. 35. 5, And this Opinion may receive some Countenance from Mat. 15. 7. &c. where Christ expounds the foregoing words, ver. 13. upon which these have a dependence, of his own times.

And in that day shall the deaf Who were deaf before, God by His Word and Grace, did open their Ears: even the deaf and blind Gentiles, as was now noted. Compare Isa. 35. 5. hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and of darkness Being, by God's Grace, brought out of that grols, and worse than Egyptian darkness of ignorance and wickedness, in which they formerly lived, unto a clear and saving Knowledge of the Truth..

The meek The humble and meek Believers, opposed to those proud and scornful Israelites or Iews, of whom He speaks in this, and in the foregoing Chapter. also shall increase their joy in the LORD Shall greatly rejoyce in this, that the Lord, and holy One of Israel is now their God and Portion., and the poor Either 1. Spiritually; of which Mat. 5. 3. Or 2. outwardly, mean and despicable People, such as the Gentiles were in the Opinion of the Iews, and such as the greatest part of the first believing Christians were, Mat. 11. 5. 1 Cor. 1. 26. Iam. 2. 5. among men shall rejoyce in the holy one of Israel.

For the terrible one The proud and potent Enemies of those meek and poor Believers now mentioned, shall as the unbelieving Iews, and the heathen Potentates were in the first Age of Christianity. is brought to nought, and the scorner The scornful Opposers of God's Word and People. is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity That early and diligently Apply themselves to the practice of Wickedness, or to do mischief to others. are cut off:

That make a man an offender That condemn and punish a Man, as if he were a great Criminal. for a word For a verbal Reproof, as appears from the next Clause., and lay a snare for him that reproveth For God's faithful Prophets and Ministers, whose Office it is to reprove ungodly Men, such as these were. in the gate Publickly; which they took for a great Affront and Disgrace, although the Reproof ought to be publick, where the Sin is publick and scandalous. He mentions the gate, because there the People used to Assemble, both upon civil and sacred Accounts, and there Prophets used to deliver their Prophecies; of which, see Ier. 7. 2. and 17. 19., and turn aside To wit, from judgment, as this phrase is more fully delivered, Isa. 10. 2. or from his Right; which is elsewhere called the perverting, or overturning, or overthrowing of a man's right or judgment, as Deut. 27. 19. Prov. 17. 23. Lam. 3. 35. the just The faithful Prophets and Ministers of God, and among others Christ, who is oft called the just or righteous one, both in the Old and New-Testament. for a thing of nought Not for any great advantage, but for a trifle, which is a great Aggravation of their injustice. Or, with vanity, i. e. with vain and frivolous Pretences, or without any colour of Reason or Justice..

Therefore thus says the LORD, who redeemed Abraham From manifold dangers, and especially from that Idolatry in which his Family and Ancestors were generally involved, Ios. 24. 2, 3., concerning the house of Iacob, Iacob The Israelites or posterity of Iacob, who are oft called in Scripture, who had great cause to be ashamed,... heir continued infidelity, and for their Persecutions of God's Prophets, and righteous Servants, and for their Rejection of their own Messiah; but shall at last be brought back unto the God of their Fathers, and to their Messiah. shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale Through fear of their Enemies, who, from time to time, have molested them, but now they shall be delivered from them all, and shall serve God without fear, as is said, Luk. 1. 74..

But when he seeth his children When the believing Seed of Iacob shall see those Children, whom they have begotten to God; by the Preaching of the Gospel, even the Gentiles converted by their Ministry., the work of mine hands The children, not of the flesh, but of the promise, Rom. 9. 8. whom I, by My almighty Power and Grace, have Created or Regenerated, of Stones raising up Children to Abraham., in the midst of him Which Gentiles shall be incorporated with the Iews, into one and the same Body and Church., they shall sanctify my name, They shall not despise and hate the Gentiles, and envy them the Grace of God, and an interest in their Messiah, but shall praise and glorify God, with them and for them, as the believing Iews did, Act. 11. 18., and sanctify the holy one of Iacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.

They also that erred in spirit Those Gentiles, whose Spirits or Minds were ignorant of, and erred from God's Truth; and who were led aside by a lying Spirit, or by the Spirit of errour and delusion to Idolatry, and all manner of Impiety. shall come to understanding Shall come to the knowledge of the Truth., and they that Murmured, shall learn doctrine They that would not receive the doctrine of God, but murmured at God's faithful Prophets and Teachers, who delivered it, which was the practice of divers, both Iews and Gentiles, shall now learn Doctrine, and receive God's Truth in the Love of it..