11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, 12 And the LORD have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. 13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. ΑΝ CHAP. VII. 4 ND it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. 2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of, the wood are moved with the wind. 3 Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; And say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against thee, saying, "Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeal: Thus saith the Lord GOD, it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken, that it be not a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established. 8 5 V. 9. 'If ye will not believe,' &c.— The sin of unbelief may be called, The white devil, for it oftentimes, in its mischievous doings in the soul, appears as if it were an angel of light; yea, it acteth like a counsellor of heaven. 1. It is that sin, above all others, that hath some show of reason in its attempts. For it keeps the soul from Christ by pretending its present unfitness and unpreparedness. 2. It is the sin that most suiteth with the conscience; the conscience of the coming sinner tells him that he hath nothing good. Will you,' says unbelief, 'in such a case as you now are, presume to come to Jesus Christ?' 3. It is that sin, above all others, that most suiteth with the wisdom of the flesh. The wisdom of the flesh thinks it prudent. to question awhile, to stand back awhile, and not to be rash in too bold a presuming upon Jesus Christ. And this wisdom unbelief falls in with. 4. It is that sin, above all others, that continually is whispering in the soul's ear mistrusts of the faithfulness of God, and of the willingness of Christ to save. No sin can do this so artificially as unbelief. 5. It is also that sin which is always at hand to enter an objection against this or that promise, that by the Spirit of God is brought to our heart to comfort us; and if the poor coming sinner is not aware of it, it will by some evasion, sleight, trick, or cavil, quickly wrest from him the promise again, and he shall have but little bene fit from it. This is the devilish counsel of unbelief, which is so covered over with specious pretences, that the wisest Christian can hardly shake off these reasonings.-Bunyan. 10 Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, "Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. 12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. 13 And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Men love not to be limited, but God ought not. We at once provoke and dishonour the Lord by thinking that our wants can renew faster than His supplies. We weary men, when we come often to them, to do great things for us; yea, to come often for small matters, will weary men. But we never weary the Lord by coming often; we weary God only when we will not come often. It is no weariness to God to work innumerable miracles for us; but He is weary when we will not believe He can do them. To be distrusted the doing of one, is more laborious to God than to work a million of miracles. -Caryl. 14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. 15 Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. 16 For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings. 17 The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; even the king of Assyria. 18 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all thorns, and upon all bushes. 20 In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, namely, by them beyond the river, by the king of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard. 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep; 22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk that they shall give he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land. 23 And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place shall be, where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silverlings, it shall even be for briers and thorns. 24 With arrows and with bows shall men come thither; because all the land shall become briers and thorns. 25 And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle. CHAP. VIII. [OREOVER the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Maler-shalal-hashbaz. 2 And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. 3 And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Maher-shalal-hash-baz. For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria. 'Maher-shalal-hash-baz.'-These are the very Hebrew words which were written in the roll: it being the Lord's will that this prediction of the prophet should be remembered of all men, by the name of his child.-Diodati. corded in the Scriptures; and perhaps one can scarcely give an instance in which the name has been conferred by a parent on his child; although I have been credibly informed that a person of this name lies interred in Barking churchyard.-L. This is the most peculiar name re5 The LORD spake also unto me again, saying, "Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son; Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and go over all his banks: And he shall pass through Judah; he shall overflow and go over, he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel. Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. 10 Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us. 11 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, "2 Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 13 V. 13. There is not more diversity found in the outward features, than in the inward tempers and dispositions of men. Some are as timorous as hares and start at every sound, or at the yelp of a dog; others are as bold as lions, and can face dangers without tremb 12 ling. Some fear more than they ought, and some before they ought, and others when they ought not to fear at all. The carnal person fears man, not God; the strong Christian fears God, not man; the weak Christian fears man too much, and God too little.-Flavel. 14 And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15 And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. 16 Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 17 And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 18 Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion. 19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? 20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. V. 20. Whatever disagrees or jars with Scripture, must not pass for an inspiration of God, but for a deluding sophism, and an insinuation of Satan. -Flavel. All error dreads the light of the Word, and fears more to be examined by that, than a thief does to be tried before a strict judge. Bring all false heresies and the Word face to face, and, like Cain, they hang down their head, and are put to shame. This is the only certain ordeal to try suspected opinions by. If they can walk upon this fiery law unhurt, unreproved, they may safely pass for truths, and none else.-Gurnall. The Christian hath one standing rule, the Word of God, able to make the man of God perfect:' now he that would excel in the power of holiness must study this. The physician consults with his Galen; the lawyer with his Littleton; and the philosopher with his Aristotle,-the masters of these arts. How much more should the Christian with the Word, so as to be determined by that, and drawn by that, more than by a whole team of arguments from men!-Ibid. But some will say, 'Is there no use for reason?' Beyond all doubt there is; wherefore else did God set up such a light, if not to guide us? But it must keep its place, and that is to follow faith, not be the ground of it, or to give law and measure to it. Our faith must not depend on our reason, but our reason on our faith. I am not to believe what the Word saith, merely because it agrees with my reason; but to believe my reason, because it is suitable to the Word. The more perfect light is to rule the less. Now, the light of the Word which faith follows, is more clear and sure than reason is, or can be; therefore it was written, because man's natural light was so defective. Thou readest in the Word, that there is a God, and that He made the world; thy eye of reason sees this also, but thou layest the stress of thy faith on the Word, not on thy reason; and so of other truths. The carpenter lays his rule to the timber, and by his eye sees it to be straight or crooked; yet it is not the eye, but the rule, which is the measure, without which his eye might fail him. All that I shall add for such as are annoyed with atheistical injections, is this: fix thy faith strongly on the Word, by which thou shalt be able to overcome this Goliath; and when thou art more free and composed, and the storm is over, thou wilt do well to strengthen thy faith as thou canst with thy reason. Let the Word, like David's stone, in the sling of faith, first prostrate the temptation, and then, as he used Goliath's sword to cut off his head, so mayest thou, with more ease and safety, make use of thy reason to complete thy victory over these atheistical suggestions.Ibid. The claims of the Church of Rome are in direct opposition to the declarations of Scripture, concerning its own sufficiency and supremacy. The Catholic judge in controversies,' says Bishop Chaloner, 'is the Church of God from whose decisions no appeal is allowed to the dead letter of Scripture.' Hence they assert that the fact of the inspiration of Scripture rests ultimately on the testimony of the Church of Rome; and the infallibility of the Church is involved in the admission, that the canonical books of Scripture are the Word of God. Forthey triumphantly inquire--who declared them canonical? Was it not the testimony of the Church that established their authority? Hence, they infer, that there previously existed a living, oracular, and infallible tribunal; and that to that tribunal we must appeal in order to determine the authority, and ascertain the sense of Scripture!-Dr. Josh. Fletcher. We must not let Christ be displaced by the Church. We must enter, as Zuingle said, into God's thoughts in His own Word; and we must dwell there, as in a tower of invincible strength and glory! Hear an old, noble, martyred saint, now in glory. I had rather follow the shadow of Christ,' said the blessed reformer and martyr, Bishop Hooper, than the body of all the general councils or doctors since the death of Christ. It is mine opinion unto all the world, that the Scriptures solely, and the apostles' Church, is to be followed, and no man's authority, be he Augustine, Tertullian, or even cherubim or seraphim.'-Dr. Cheever. · 21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to dark ness. NEV CHAP. IX. JEVERTHELESS the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations. 2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. V. 3. Among all earthly joys, these four sorts are noted in Scripture as the most excellent and remarkable :1. Nuptial joys (Cant. iii. 11.) 2. The joy of children. Though now it seems but a common mercy to most, and a burden to some, yet the people of God were wont to esteem it a choice mercy, and rejoiced greatly in it (John xvi. 21.) 3. The joy of conquests, when men divide the spoil; and, lastly, The joy of harvest. These two are here put together. 'Tis usual with men, when they have reaped down their harvest, to demonstrate their joy by shouting, and loud acclamations. Thus, and unspeakably more than thus, do saints rejoice and shout for joy, when they reap the favour and love of God, for which they have laboured in many a weary duty. Carnal joys are but as soul-fevers, the agues of the inward man. There is a great difference between the unnatural inflammations of |