Chapter X: Part 10

II. ITS CAUSES. There must be powerful causes to produce such a wide-spread effect. Like all things that are wrong, these evil things--the pride and luxury of so many women--are due to perversions of things that are right,--mainly, to certain things which are among the _differentia_ of the female sex, such as--1. A keener love of beauty than is common among men. The love of many women for soft textures and bright colours is as innocent, and free from all trace of personal vanity, as is the love of children for flowers. 2. A stronger yearning for admiration than is common among men. There are vain men, always on the outlook for indications of admiration, and they are simply contemptible. But it is an instinct of the true woman-nature to desire to be loved, and to value highly all things that tend to win love. 3. A recognition of the gifts of personal beauty. As a rule, women have more to be proud of in this respect than have men. If a woman is fair, she is simply a hypocrite if she pretends not to know it. Then there come in, 4. Rivalry, which in itself is a right thing, but becomes a harmful thing when women set themselves to out-dress each other. 5. Timidity, one of the graces of the female character, but that often leads to great evils. Few men have the courage to be singular, and fewer women sufficient self-reliance not to follow the fashion. But the pride and luxury of women is largely due also to the folly of men:--(1) Most men esteem and reward clothes more than character. Men are taken by such things as are mentioned in our text, and the fisher is not much to be blamed for adapting the bait to the taste of the fish. (2.) Even of those men who condemn female luxury in the abstract, few have the courage to banish it from their own homes. (3.) The lips of many men are sealed on this question by their own vices. They have _their_ indulgences, and one of the prices which they pay for peace in their pursuit is silence as to this indulgence on the part of their wives and daughters. There is an unexpressed but wicked compromise on this matter.

III. ITS CONSEQUENCES. 1. The intellectual degradation of woman, the concentration of nearly all her thoughts on the question of dress. 2. The moral debasement of many women. For the means of gratifying their craving for luxury and display, how many have sold their virtue! 3. The destruction of that female influence which should always be exerted, and when exerted is so powerful in aid of moral nobility. Sensual grossness in men is at once a cause and consequence of licentious vanity in women. 4. Commercial frauds, to which men resort to provide the means for the maintenance of the luxury of their homes.

Men and women are thus partakers in this sin, and as such, in the days of visitation, they shall suffer together (ver. 17, 25; iv. 1).[1]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] vi. 1. The Jewess, like the ancient Roman, or modern
Englishwoman, was called by her husband's name; and she
prized the honour of wedlock, and dreaded the reproach of
childlessness, at least as much as either of these; but we
must contrast the dignified expression of these feelings by
Sarah, Hannah, and Elizabeth, nay, even that of the jealous
and petulant Rachel, with the exhibition which the prophet
now contemplates in his mind's eye, in order to see the
picture of social disorganisation which he sees. If a harem
of wives and concubines was still a part of the king's
state in Isaiah's time, though we have no proof of this, it
is quite improbable that polygamy was the common custom of
the nation, or that they had not long passed out of the
half-civilised condition and habits for which Moses had
provided in the laws for the protection of the female
slaves whom a man might take at the same time for his
wives; but now Isaiah says that these women, whose luxury
and pride he has just described, will abandon even the
natural reserve of their sex, and not only force themselves
several upon one man, but declare that they will be content
to share with each other a legalised concubinage in which
they will not claim the concubine's ancient right of bread
and apparel, which the old law (Exod. xxi. 10) had in
express terms secured to her, if only they may bear his
name. It need not be supposed that Isaiah anticipated the
literal fulfilment of his words; we shall probably
understand him better by taking this as an instance of that
poetic or rhetorical hyperbole, which he so delights to use
for the more forcible expression of his moral and political
teaching. The mystery which some commentators have seen in
the numbers "seven" and "one" in this passage, and which is
even said to have occasioned the separation of this portion
of the prophecy into a distinct chapter, perhaps makes
worth while the obvious remark that it is nothing more than
the wide-spread idiom of modern as well as ancient
languages, by which a definite or round number is put for
an indefinite. Seven is thus generally used by the Hebrews
for any considerable number, as it was among the Egyptians
and Persians, and is still said to be in the East. The
Moguls are said to employ nine in like manner. So, in
English, we put five or ten for any small, and a hundred
for a large number, in conversation; though the genius of
our language forbids such idioms in graver
discourse.--_Strachey,_ pp. 55, 56.

THE DESOLATED AND DISORGANISING POWER OF WAR.

iv. 1. _And in that day seven women shall take hold of one
man, saying, We will eat our own bread and wear our own
apparel, only let us be called by thy name to take away our
reproach._[1]

This verse gives us a vivid picture of the desolating and disorganising power of war. The 25th and 26th verses of the previous chapter say "Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the war. And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she being desolate shall sit on the ground." This righteous chastisement has come. So often have the men been called into the field, so exterminating has been the carnage, as that now few men remain. The natural proportion of the sexes is disturbed. This disorganisation invades woman's nature. Her natural modesty departs. With violent importunity seven women press marriage on one man. They will be no expense to him; they will earn their own food and raiment, if he will only give them his name in marriage. The writer of this outline has recently travelled in a land [Mexico] whose revolutions during the last fifty years have been so frequent as that he found parts of the country where the prophet's words are true to-day. The men have been killed in battle. In some districts there are seven women to one man.

+I. The tendency of sin is to produce war and to degrade women.+ The apostle James has described the generals of war (iv. 1). Nations are but the aggregate of individuals. If the lusts of selfishness, greed, malice, &c., nestle like vipers in the hearts of individual men, they will be manifest in the nation. 1. _Sin deteriorates man's intellectual faculties._ In its present unpurified condition, the human intellect is not inventive enough to discover those commercial relationships which will eventually bind in bonds of amity the nations of the world together. 2. _Sin intensifies human selfishness._ One of the most desolating wars of modern times originated in that gross selfishness which was too blind to see that it was a sin to hold property in man. 3. _Sin intensifies human greed._ "Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmark," is a despised threat. Again and again his war originated in greed of territory and lust of plunder. 4. _Sin intensifies human ambition._ In the heart of all great conquerors, from Nimrod to Napoleon, has lain the lust of unholy ambition. Their motto has ever been "Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven." 5. Side by side with these lusts of selfishness, greed, ambition, &c., there has _been a lack of justice and mercy._ No mind having these latter sentiments healthily developed could "cry havock and let slip the dogs of war." When the leaders of nations learn "to do justly and love mercy," wars will be less common. 6. _With war have come numerous evils to woman._ The text describes some of them. Others come to the surface every day. Her husband has been forced from her side, or her sons have died on the battlefield; very bitter have been woman's sorrows,--"Yea, a sword hath pierced through her own soul also." And always where soldiers are multiplied in a land, and taken away from useful employment, women have been polluted and degraded. War and womanly degradation are inseparable evils.

+II. It is the tendency of Christianity to produce peace and elevate women.+ 1. _To produce peace in its loftiest and widest sense Christ came into the world._ The prophet Isaiah predicted Him as the Prince of Peace (ix. 6). At His birth angels sang, "Peace on earth, good-will to man" (Luke ii. 14). 2. _By His atoning work He has laid the foundation of peace between man and God,_ and consequently between man and man. 3. _The direct influence of Christ's religion is to restrain and destroy those evil propensities out of which wars originate--lust of greed, ambition, malice, &c._ What is in the individual comes out in the community. As individuals and nations become truly Christian and form the majority, wars will cease. 4. _Prophecy speaks of a time coming when the principles of Christianity shall be in the ascendant,_ and then men shall beat their swords into ploughshares, &c., &c. (chap. ii. 4). 5. _As the gospel of peace advances in a land woman's condition is always elevated._ The Christian man honours woman as no other man does. As he grows into the stature of Christ, woman's lot is always happier. Compare woman's status in pagan, Mohammedan, and barbarous lands, with her status in Christendom.

+III. Hence while the Gospel claims as its advocate every Christian man, it has special claims on the service of every pious woman.+--Every good man is called upon to spread the blessings of Christianity as widely as possible. But there are some evils whose removal appeals specially to pious women. Every good woman should throw her influence into the aggregate of the peace spirit, as against that war spirit which in certain stages of civilisation seems so natural to man. All women should join together to make up an army of peace promoters, outnumbering the men of the sword. To relieve their sisters from sorrow and save them from degradation, should be the aim of all good women.--_William Parkes._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See note to preceding outline.

THE DIVINE IDEAL OF ISRAEL REALISED.

iv. 2-6. _In that day shall the Branch of the Lord, &c._

"That day" is the glorious period described in ch. ii. 1-4, and those verses and our text should be read together, as the beginning and conclusion of one prophecy. At the beginning, the prophet fixes his gaze upon the sun-illumined peaks of holiness and blessing in the far future, and his spirit rises within him in exultant gladness (ii. 5); and then he begins to survey the spaces of time that lie between. Immediately at his feet he sees almost the whole nation given over to utter ungodliness, the men and the women vying with each other in their pride and luxuriousness, and in their contempt and oppression of the poor; and then he beholds the clouds of Divine vengeance gathering and bursting over the stout-hearted sinners; he sees the nation spoiled of the men who had constituted its strength, and the enfeebled people utterly desolated by war. All is blackness and darkness. But he lifts his eyes again, and there still shines before him the true Zion, dwelling in inviolable peace beneath the manifestations of the presence of her God. This was the vision which was granted him, and which he recorded for the instruction of men in all aftertime.

Confining our attention to the closing section of it, we are instructed--+I. That underneath all God's purposes of judgment He has designs of mercy.+ In certain portions of this great prophecy God comes forth in terrible majesty, and were we to have regard to them only we should be moved to pray that He would not speak to us any more (Exod. xx. 19). But these judgments that cause us to tremble--what is their purpose? Not merely the infliction of righteous vengeance, but also and more that a way may be opened for manifestations of the Divine goodness. If into Zion He sends "the spirit of judgment and burning," it is that by the purging away of her filth and blood-guiltiness she may be made meet to be the dwelling-place of God. +II. That God resolved to carry out His purposes of mercy by a suitable agent.+ He is here designated by a twofold description, the parts of which appear to be contradictory. He is at once "the Branch of the Lord" and "the Fruit of the earth." The significance of the first of these titles becomes more plain as we trace it in prophecy (Jer. xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 15; Zech. iii. 8, vi. 12). So that "the Branch of the Lord" is a man, the son of David, that son concerning whom he sang in the seventy-second Psalm, the Messiah--our Lord Jesus Christ! As soon as we arrive at this great truth, we perceive what is the explanation of the mysterious contradiction in the two parts of the title of the great Deliverer whom God was about to raise up for Zion (1 Tim. iii. 16; Rom. i. 3, 4). +III. That in the day when God's designs of mercy are fulfilled, the suitability and glory of the Agent whom God resolved to employ will be universally recognised.+ We know how He was treated when He came forth on His great mission: He was despised and rejected of men. Yet not long after He had been put to the most ignominious of deaths, an apostle could write, "Unto you that believe He is precious." So even on earth there was a commencement of the fulfilment of the prediction that He should be "beautiful and glorious . . . excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel." We have been permitted also to see how He is regarded by the ransomed ones who have entered into the rest in which they await the manifestation of the sons of God (Rev. v. 6-14). By this disclosure we are enabled to form some conception of the manner in which this portion of the prophecy will be fulfilled "in that day" which upon the new earth "the holy city, New Jerusalem," has come down from God out of heaven. +IV. That God's great design both in the infliction of His judgments and the operation of His mercy is the creation of universal holiness.+ The work entrusted to the Messiah was to "wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and to purge the blood-guiltiness of Jerusalem from the midst thereof." There were some "written down for life in Jerusalem" (Acts xiii. 48),--doubtless those who God foresaw would tremble at His threatenings and accept His gracious offers of mercy; and these the Messiah was so to purify that they should be worthy to "be called holy." Thus one part of GOD'S IDEAL CONCERNING ISRAEL (Exod. xix. 6) was to be realised. It was for the accomplishment of this great purpose that Christ died (Eph. v. 25-27). It was for this end that He was exalted to God's right hand (Acts v. 31). It is for the accomplishment of this great purpose that He now sometimes subjects His people to painful discipline (Heb. xii. 10).[1] +V. That the day of universal holiness will be a day of universal blessing.+ This great truth is set forth by symbols which would appeal most powerfully to the imagination and the hopes of the godly among Isaiah's contemporaries (ver. 5, 6). That which had been the distinguishing glory of the Tabernacle was to become the common glory of every dwelling in the New Jerusalem. Moreover, the whole city was to be a covering--a canopy such as in a Jewish wedding was held over the bride and bridegroom; the symbol of God's protecting love. Beneath it, as in a tabernacle, they should dwell securely. Thus the second portion of God's ideal concerning Israel was to be realised (Deut. xxviii. 9, 10; xxxiii. 28). First purity, then peace; perfect purity, perfect peace. A little later Isaiah had another vision concerning this tabernacle (xxxii. 2). God's protecting love for His people is embodied in our Lord Jesus Christ; "in _Him_ all the promises of God are Yea and Amen" (2 Cor. i. 20).

FOOTNOTES:

[1] As God makes use of all the seasons of the year for the
harvest, the frost of winter as well as the heat of summer,
so doth He of fair and foul, pleasing and unpleasing
providences for promoting holiness. Winter providences kill
the weeds of lusts, and summer providences ripen and mellow
the fruits of righteousness. When He afflicts it is for our
profit, to make us partakers of His holiness (Heb.
xii. 10). Bernard compares afflictions to the teasel, which
though it be sharp and scratching, is to make the cloth
more pure and fine. God would not rub so hard if it were
not to fetch out the dirt that is ingrained in our natures.
God loves purity so well that He would rather see a hole
than a spot in His child's garments. When He deals more
gently in His providences, and lets His people sit under
the sunny bank of comforts and enjoyments, fencing them
from the cold blasts of affliction, it is to draw forth the
sap of grace, and hasten their growth in
holiness.--_Gurnall,_ 1617-1679.

GOD'S PERPETUAL PRESENCE WITH HIS PEOPLE.

iv. 2-5. _In that day shall the Branch of the Lord, &c._

Note the contrast between the preceding chapter, in which denunciations fall upon the ear like thunder, and the sunny promise of this. The references to Zion both in the Psalms and in the Prophecies are frequent and striking. Originally crowned by the Jebusite citadel, it was besieged and taken by David, who transferred his court from Hebron thither; he afterwards erected a tabernacle upon its height, and it there became the chosen resting-place of the ark of the Lord. Hence, in Scripture language, it came sometimes to denote the entire city of Jerusalem, and sometimes the Church or commonwealth of the faithful, which the Highest has promised to establish, and out of which God, the perfection of beauty, shines. You will have no difficulty in thus understanding the reference in the words before us. Applied to the ancient Zion, or even to the entire city of Jerusalem, the words are extravagant and unmeaning; applied to the Church of God--His living, spiritual temple--they are sober, comforting truths. Consider

I. THE PREPARATION FOR THE PROMISE--(2-4). Two things are presented as antecedent to the gifts of blessing--the coming of the Divine Saviour, and His discipline for holiness within His Church. +1. The coming of the Divine Saviour+ (ver. 2). The transition from the gloomy judgment to the grandeur of deliverance is abrupt and striking, as if from a savage wilderness one were to emerge suddenly into green pastures and among gay flowers. So great a change passes upon human destinies when Christ the Lord comes down. We are naturally heirs of judgment. But a Saviour has been provided--a Saviour who, in the mysterious union of natures, combines perfection of sympathy and almightiness of power. Without Christ, we are hopeless and lost. Give us Christ, and we are heirs to all the fulness of God. +2. The Saviour's discipline for holiness within His Church+ (ver. 3, 4). With God the great thing is holiness. To work this holiness in His people, God subjects them to discipline, and, if necessary, to the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. There are some stains so deep that the fire must purge them. The constant superintendence over human affairs which these words imply is assured to us by the experience of our own witnessing hearts, which corroborate the declarations of the inspired Word. In this superintendence the Christian will rejoice. In his anxiety to be conformed to the whole image of God, he will not be careful or delicate about the means God may use. Here is a test by which to try yourselves. Are you willing to submit to this preparation for the promise? Do not shrink from the hissing brand; it will only burn away the core of the ulcer.

II. THE PROMISE ITSELF (ver. 5). As we read these words, we go back to former ages and a fierce wilderness, where a pilgrim host marches, and there, now in their van for guidance, now in their rear for protection, races a pillar of cloud by day, and by night a pillar of flame. This was the vision prominent in the prophet's mind, when he symbolised by it God's presence and protection to His chosen Church. We are the heirs of the glorious things thus spoken of the city of God. There is the presence of God with His Church--that is the central thought; then there are right-hand and left-hand thoughts or aspects in which that presence manifests itself, radiating itself on the one hand for counsel, and on the other hand for defence. 1. The central thought, +The presence of God.+ It was in cloud and in fire that God specially revealed Himself for His people in days of old (Gen. xv. 17; Exod. xix. 18; xxxiii. 9; 1 Kings viii. 10; Hab. iii. 3-5). So long as the cloud and fire were in the camp, so long the wilderness lost half its terror, because the Israelites knew that God was in the midst of them for good. That God is still present in His church is no impious fanatic's dream. To be sure He does not come as He did in former times, bewildering the sight and overawing the mind. The Divine manifestations of terror which made even Moses fear and quake, would not suit this later and better dispensation of love. Yet our tabernacles are not merely places of human assembly; they are tabernacles of God's presence, and our worship ascends not to a remote or absent God. 2. The right-hand thought, +The presence of God for counsel.+ You remember that this was the primary purpose for which the pillar of cloud and fire was given. Consider how much it was needed by the Israelites in the trackless wilderness. (1.) For guidance in their perplexities, God's presence is promised to the churches of to-day. Nobody can look upon the history of the Church with eyes that are not blinded by infidel films without discovering traces of a presence and counsel higher than that of the mightiest and wisest men. What chance had she at the beginning but in the support and upholding that was itself Divine! Through what perils she has been safely guided since! (2.) If I were to come nearer home, if I were to ask you to not look at the history of the Church, but at your own history, is there not something that would cause you to respond with a joy not less deep and solemn, as you think how the Lord through all your wanderings has been a guide and counsel for you? 3. The left-hand thought, +The presence of God for defence.+ You know what the pillar of fire was--to the Israelites a lamp, brilliant, exquisite, and heartening; to the Egyptians that followed, a consuming fire. There is defence as well as counsel for the Church to-day. Expositors have differed a little about the reading of the last clause in this verse. Some tell us it ought to read, "upon all the _glory_ shall be a defence;" that is, there shall be protection round about the glory which is created by this luminous cloud and by this kindled fire. Some tell us it should be read, "upon _all_ the glory shall be a defence;" that is, the luminous cloud and the brilliant fire shall be itself the defence of the Church. What does it matter which way we take it? The defence is sure, the salvation of the Lord is for bulwarks equally in the one case as in the other; and so the Church is safe, whatever betide. Powerful adversaries have banded themselves for her destruction, and yet she still lives, while their names are forgotten, or remembered with accusation and shame. Let us, then, not be afraid of future assaults (Num. xxiii. 23). The defence is not merely for Zion as a whole, but for every dwelling-place therein. Every believer has a pillar of cloud and fire over his own homestead, visible not to your eyes, but to those of the angels. There cannot be a cloud upon "the assembly" unless there are first clouds upon the dwelling-places. Consecrated homes furnish consecrated congregations; consecrated homes bring the baptism of fire. Dear brethren, this promise is yours, if you like to have it. It is the simple, quiet soul that sits at the feet of Jesus and listens to His voice, that has all this done for him (Heb. i. 14).

"Which of the petty kings of earth
Can boast a guard like ours,
Encircled from our second birth
With all the heavenly powers?"

--_W. Morley Punshon, LL.D., Christian World Pulpit,_ ii. 372-377.

THE CLEANSING SPIRIT.

iv. 4. _By the Spirit of judgment, and by the Spirit of
burning._

In ch. ii. 1-5, the prophet gives us a vision of the glory which shall distinguish Messianic times. From ver. 6, however, and through that chapter and the next, he depicts scenes of darkness and distress, that were to come upon the Jewish nation in correction of its haughtiness, arrogance, and rebellion. In ch. iv. the light again breaks through these fearful clouds of judgment, and under the glory of the Messianic period we see the beauty and purity of the chastened people of the Lord. The filth of the daughters of Zion has been washed away, the blood of Jerusalem has been purged from the midst thereof. But how? "By the Spirit of judgment, and by the Spirit of burning." Here we have the source and cause of the change.--This language is very striking and suggestive, _and reveals the Divine procedure in the cleansing of the heart._

I. THE SPIRIT OF JUDGMENT. God's Spirit effects this reformation by a process of discernment and conviction. We observe--1. That a real change of heart is usually preceded by a discovery of its sinful condition. The natural tendency of the depraved heart is to ignore and deny its corrupted state. The light must be let in to show that it _is_ depraved.[1] 2. That this reformation is preceded by a discovery of the _enormity_ as well as the fact of sin. Even a converted sinner tries to palliate or soften the sins that condemn him. Hence men contrive such flimsy distinctions as "white lies" and "black lies." But "the Spirit of judgment" goes to the root of the matter, and discovers sin _as_ sin (1 Kings viii. 28). So in the text, it is the _filth_ of the daughters of Zion that has to be washed away; it is the _blood_ of Jerusalem that has had to be purged from its midst.[2]

II. THE SPIRIT OF BURNING. From this description of the Holy Ghost, we learn--1. That _the detection of sin is, in the Divine purpose, to be followed by its destruction._ There can be no _home_ for sin in a pure heart, nor will God make any concession to it (Hab. i. 13; Ps. v. 5). 2. _This process is extremely searching and painful._ It is one of "burning" (Matt. iii. 11). How many have quailed under the testing ordeal!--_e.g.,_ loss of wealth! loss of friends! personal affliction, &c.

From the subject three general reflections arise:--1. God does not chastise arbitrarily or at random. He does it by "the Spirit of judgment." 2. Neither does He fail in the work by reason of a weak indulgence, which really would be unkindness. He does it by "the Spirit of burning." 3. The object He has in view is to promote and secure our personal holiness, to make us indeed _like Himself_ (Heb. xii. 10)--the most blessed result to which discipline can lead us.--_W. Manning._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] It is with the children of men as with the housewife, that
having diligently swept the house, and cast the dust out of
doors, can see nothing amiss, not so much as a speck of
dust in it; whereas if the sun do but a little shine in,
through some cranny in the wall or some broken quarry in
the window, she may soon see the whole house swim and swarm
with innumerable atoms of dust, floating to and fro in the
air, which, for dimness of light or sight, she was not able
to discern. Even so is it with many that were careful of
their ways, so that little may be seen that is amiss; yet,
when they shall come to look more attentively into God's
law, a little beam of light, reflecting upon their souls
for it, will discover unto them such an innumerable
company, as well as corruptions in their heart as of error
and oversight in their lives, that it shall make them, as
men amazed, cry out, "Lord, what earthly man doth know the
errors of his life?"--_Spencer,_ 1658.

[2] As the Lord led Ezekiel from one place to another, and the
further he went the greater abominations he discerned
(Ezek. viii.), from the door of the court to the door of
the gate of the Lord's house, and from thence to the inner
court; so the Spirit of the Lord leads the sinner from one
part of his house to another, from one room--one faculty of
his soul to another, and still discovers greater, more and
more abominations,--leads from the profaneness of his
ordinary conversation to the sins of his religious duties,
from the sins of his life to the sins of his heart, from
the streams of sin in his actions to the spring of sin
which bubbles up continually in every part of his soul. He
brings to mind the sins that he has forgotten, makes him
"possess the sins of his youth;" and now the "bag" (Job.
xiv. 17) is opened, and the sinner sees what he is to
reckon for, he cries out as the prophet's servant, "How
shall we do?" and as David (Ps. xxxviii. 4). He comes not
to the assizes as formerly, to see others tried and
condemned; he sees himself now at the bar, himself
arraigned and indicted; he cannot but plead guilty. He is
clearly cast in law, and bears the sentence of condemnation
as though the Lord did by name pronounce sentence of
condemnation against him.--_Clarkson,_ 1621-1686.

THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD.

v. 1-7. _Now will I sing, &c._

+I. The privileges conferred on the Jewish nation+ (ver. 2, 3). It would be vain and useless to attempt, as some have done, to find in the privileges of the Jews an exact counterpart to the various items here specified concerning this "vineyard." For example, Jerome regards the fencing of the vineyard as symbolical of the protection of the Jews by the angels; the gathering out of the stones, the removal of the idols; the tower, the temple erected in Jerusalem; the wine-press, the altar.[1] To seek thus for minute analogies is at once to destroy the oratorical force and the simplicity of the parable. Rather let us lay hold of its leading truths. The prophet desired to remind the Jews that they had received extraordinary privileges from God; consequently he employed figures calculated to impress his hearers with that truth; and he does not fail to specify every particular which those acquainted with a vineyard would expect, if it were one from which a copious supply of choice fruit might be reasonably expected. 1. _The choice which God made of the Jews as a nation_ was the first and fundamental privilege which He conferred upon them. 2. Having chosen them, God revealed Himself to them as clearly as was then possible through the symbolism of _the Mosaic Law._ Through its statutes and ceremonies were shadowed forth the great truths of His holiness, His mercy, His sanctifying grace, and the Sacrifice which in the fulness of time was to be offered for the sin of the world (Rom. iii. 1, 2). 3. In addition to the Law, God gave to His people the inestimable help of _Prophetical Teaching,_ to assist them to understand its meaning, and to stimulate them to keep it with full purpose of heart.

+II. The consequent obligations under which the Jews were laid.+ From the vineyard, for which the great Husbandman has done so much, He naturally looked for fruit. The fruits which the prophet specifies as being required by God from the Jews correspond precisely with their privileges (ver. 7). He had given them a code of laws by which their actions were to be guided, and had impressed upon them the duty of doing to others as they would be done to. Now He looked for the fruits of justice and righteousness. It was a reasonable demand, the lowest that could have been made. Yet even this demand was not met.

+III. The judgment which God designed to bring upon them+ (ver. 6, 7). As we objected to the attempt to find exact counterparts between the various privileges of the Jews and the labours which had been bestowed upon the vineyard, so we set aside as needless all attempts to discover parallels between the various items of the threatening against the vineyard and the judgments by which the Jews were visited. All that the prophet means to say is this, that the privileges which the Jews enjoyed pre-eminently above all the other nations God would take from them, and they should be reduced to the level of their neighbours. The removal of these privileges was itself the heaviest judgment that could have befallen them.

PRACTICAL LESSON.--_Where there is privilege there is obligation._ 1. You who are Christians are responsible for your privileges. Consider how great they are: a knowledge of the will of God; the example of Christ; a throne of grace ever accessible; the counsel and help of the Holy Spirit. If God looked for the fruits of justice and righteousness from the Jews, what manner of fruit may He reasonably expect from you? 2. Even those of you who are not Christians, but are still living in sin, have privileges; a preached Gospel; the offer of a free, full, and present salvation; the strivings with you of the Holy Ghost. Despise them not, or you will perish.--_Thomas Neave._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] "The house of Israel" (beth Yisrâel) was the whole nation,
which is also represented in other passages under the same
figure of a vineyard (ch. xxvii. 2, _sqq._; Ps. lxxx., &c).
But as Isaiah was prophet in Judah, he applies the figure
more particularly to Judah, which was called Jehovah's
favourite plantation, inasmuch as it was the seat of the
Divine sanctuary and of the Davidic kingdom. This makes it
easy enough to interpret the different parts of the simile
employed. The fat mountain horn was Canaan, flowing with
milk and honey (Exod. xv. 17); the digging of the vineyard,
and clearing it of stones, was the clearing of Canaan from
its former heathen inhabitants (Ps. xliv. 3); the
sorek-vines were the holy priests and prophets and kings of
Israel of the earlier and better times (Jer. ii. 21); the
defensive and ornamental tower in the midst of the vineyard
was Jerusalem as the royal city, with Zion the royal
fortress (Micah iv. 8); the winepress-trough was the
temple, where, according to Ps. xxxvi. 8, the wine of
heavenly pleasures flowed in streams, and from which,
according to Ps. xlii. and many other passages, the thirst
of the soul might all be quenched. The grazing and treading
down are explained in Jer. v. 10 and xii. 10.--_Delitsch._

I believe that in a poetical allegory there is always more
or less an allusion to the details of that which is
allegorised; but it is only allusion,--to be realised by
the imagination, rather than by the understanding, of the
reader, as well as the poet. The several images are parts
of a picture, which must be contemplated as a picture, and
its meaning is to enter into the mind through the
imagination. Still, a matter-of-fact commentator, like
Vitrings, deeply imbued with the spirit of his author, will
sometimes greatly help his reader's imagination by his
minute analysis; and I think this is the case in his
explanation of the details of this description of the
vineyard. _"A vineyard"_ consists of vines planted for the
sake of their fruit: the Hebrew nation with its tribes, its
families, and its persons, was such a vineyard, appointed
to bring forth the fruits of personal and social religion
and virtue,--holiness, righteousness, and love to God and
man: this nation was established in a land flowing with
milk and honey, endowed with all natural advantages, all
circumstances which could favour inward life by outward
prosperity; and the grace and favour of Jehovah, and the
influence of His Spirit, always symbolised by oil, were
continually causing it to be fruitful. _"And He fenced
it,"_--the arm of the LORD of hosts, employing kings and
heroes, was its defence against all enemies; its
institutions were fitted to preserve internal order, and to
prevent the admixture of evil from without, with the chosen
and separated nation; and its territory was marked out and
protected by natural boundaries in a noticeable manner.
_"Gathered out the stones,"_--the heathen nations, and the
stocks and stones they worshipped. _"And planted it with
the choicest vine,"_--a nation of the noble stock of the
patriarchs, and chosen and cultivated by the Lord of the
vineyard, with especial care, for His own use. _"And built
a tower in it,"_--namely, Jerusalem--for the protection and
superintendence of the vineyard, as well as to be its
farmhouse, so to speak. _"And also made a wine-press
therein,"_--where the wine-press seems to point to the same
idea as the sending the servants to receive the fruit, in
our Lord's modification of this parable: lawgivers, kings,
and judges, the temple with its priesthood and ordinances,
and the schools of the prophets, were the appointed means
for pressing out and receiving the wine--the spiritual
virtues and graces of the vineyard. And the end is, that
_"He looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it
brought forth wild grapes."_--_Strachy,_ pp. 62, 63.

THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD.

v. 1-7. _Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song, &c._

The points of moral instruction made prominent in this parable are--I. That God's gifts of truth, light as to duty, moral culture, and opportunities for doing good, create peculiar obligations to be morally fruitful, to do justice, and love mercy. II. That men so blessed with privileges will be held to a stern accountability. III. That failing to meet this, they must expect that God will take away their privileges and give them to others who will render the fruits in their season (Matt. xxi. 43). IV. That there is a line beyond which God does not deem it wise to waste His moral efforts upon self-hardened sinners. V. That in His view the exigencies of His moral kingdom demand of Him rather that He made sinners, beyond that line, an example of His righteous displeasure against their awful wickedness, and a warning to other sinners lest they venture too far in abusing His compassionate and long-suffering efforts to reclaim and save them. It is a terrible thing to withstand God in His labours to save the soul.--_Henry Cowles, D.D., Commentary on Isaiah,_ p. 30.

GREAT PRIVILEGES.

v. 1-7. _Now will I sing to my well-beloved, &c._

+I. Great privileges are bestowed by God according to the good pleasure of His will.+ 1. Obviously this is true of the great privileges accorded to the Jewish nation. They were not granted because of anything in them (Deut. vii. 7; ix. 4-6, &c.). There were other "hills" that would have been just as suitable for a vineyard, and just as fruitful, had the great Husbandman been pleased to deal with them in the same manner. 2. If we consider our own religious privileges, we must acknowledge the same great principle: other nations still heathen _deserve_ them just as much as we do; and our heathen forefathers to whom they were first granted were in no sense superior to the heathen of to-day. We owe our superiority to our privileges, not our privileges to our superiority. 3. The same principle is as true of temporal as of spiritual privileges. Why are some born clever, and others stupid? some strong and others weak? some rich, and others poor? We can return no other answer than that such is the will of God.--This principle seems to be surrounded by a cloud of mystery; but there are rays of light that relieve it,--to some of them we shall presently refer; and we must be careful not to darken it by our own folly. We must not imagine, because God acts according to the good pleasure of His will, that therefore He acts arbitrarily, capriciously, out of mere whim and fancy. Though He may not disclose to us the reasons for many of His procedures, we may be sure that He has good reasons. In withholding them from us--possibly because we are as yet incapable of understanding them,--and thus making demands upon our faith, He deals with us just as we frequently deal with our children.

+II. Great privileges involve great responsibilities.+ From the vineyard so carefully cultivated choice grapes are justly expected. This is a truth so familiar that it is apt to become to us a mere truism. But we shall do well to look at it steadily,--1. _As a guide to us in our duty._ It is well to pause and consider what privileges God has conferred upon is, that we may be aroused to a perception of the nature and extent of the demands which He is certain to make upon us. In view of our privileges, what ought our life to be? (Luke xii. 48). 2. _As a help to us in our perplexities._ In view of such providential arrangements as have been referred to, these are sometimes very painful. But we must remember that the great principle before us admits of being very variously stated. It is just as true that "small privileges involve small responsibilities." We shall adopt the slander of the wicked and slothful servant if we think of God as a hard master who seeks to reap where He has not sown. If God has entrusted to any man only one talent,--and He entrusts to every man at least as much as that,--He will not demand from him the usury upon ten talents, nor upon two.

+III. Great privileges do not necessarily result in great happiness.+ They ought to do so; they often do so; but as frequently they fail to do so. Even in temporal things, the happiest men are not always those whose possessions are most various and ample. The most learned men are not always those who own the largest libraries. And the holiest men are not always those whose religious opportunities are most numerous and great. Why is it, that great privileges and great happiness are not always associated? Because man is a voluntary agent, and God will not force happiness upon any man. He may offer us eternal life, but we must "lay hold" of it. He may shed upon our path great light, but we must walk in it (ch. ii. 5).

PRACTICAL LESSON.--Instead of repining because our privileges are not more numerous and great, let us diligently use those which have been granted to us, and so make them what they were intended to be--sources of blessing to us. Enclosed within God's vineyard, and carefully cultured by Him, let us see to it that the grapes we bring forth are not wild grapes.

+IV. Great privileges neglected or misused bring on great condemnations+ (ver. 5, 6). Compare also Luke xiii. 6-9. Had that fig-tree been growing on some open common, notwithstanding its barrenness, it might have stood till it decayed, but because it was barren in a "vineyard" the righteous order is given, "Cut it down!" This principle, also, we may turn to practical account. Like a former one, we may use it--1. _To help us in our perplexities._ Sometimes we are in trouble to know what will become of the heathen in the day of judgment. Well, even if they are condemned, they will be condemned less severely than those who have misused greater privileges (Matt. xi. 22; Luke xii. 48). 2. _To stimulate us to a faithful discharge of duty._ Fear is not the highest motive, but it is a very useful one, and not truly wise man will leave it out of account. We need every kind of help to fortify us against temptation, and it is good to remember what will be the result if we yield to it, and so remain barren and unfruitful, or even bring forth "wild grapes" (Heb. iv. 1; 1 Pet. i. 7; Phil. ii. 12).

Fear is useful as a motive, but hope is still more helpful; and in the matter of our salvation we may employ both fear and hope as allies. Reverse the last principle, and read it thus, +Great privileges well used secure corresponding rewards.+ Compare Luke xix. 17. If the choice vine planted in the fruitful vineyard brings forth "good grapes," the Husbandman will pronounce over it rejoicing benedictions (Heb. vi. 7).

DIVINE DISAPPOINTMENTS.

v. 2. _He looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it
brought forth wild grapes._

"I believe in God." Which god? The god constructed for us by philosophers, who is impassive, throned in eternal calm, unmoved by the crimes or the virtues of men, all of which he has foreseen from eternal ages, and which cannot in any way affect him at the time of their occurrence; a god who towers above men, majestic and unchangeable, like an Alpine peak, which is the same whether sunlight cheers or clouds darken the valleys beneath? No, but the God of the Bible, who loves and hates, who rejoices with us in our gladness and sorrows with us in our griefs, who foresees and overrules all, and yet can hope and be disappointed.

I. That God can be disappointed is distinctly the implication of our text. "He _looked_ that it," &c. 1. Isaiah's parable recalls the privileges which God had conferred upon the Jews; and we know that He dealt with them as He did, in order that they might become a holy nation (Exod. xix. 6; Deut. vii. 6, xxvi. 18, 19). Was their persistent unholiness no disappointment to Him? 2. The same truth is implied in what we are told of God's feelings in view of the wickedness of the antediluvians (Gen. vi. 5, 6). He had made man in His own image, in order that He might continue therein, and shine with the lustre of His own moral perfections; each man was to be a _planet_ in the moral universe, reflecting the glory of the great central Sun; and when He saw man transformed into the image of Satan, and His purposes concerning him frustrated, He was filled with profound regret. 3. The same truth is implied in what we are told concerning Christ. "He came unto His own" (John i. 11). For what purpose? Certainly not that He might be rejected, but that He might be received by them. But He _was_ rejected! See how forcibly this is brought out in His parable (Luke xx. 9-15--especially verse 13). 4. It is implied in Christ's tears and lament over Jerusalem (Luke xix. 41; Matt xxiii. 37). 5. It is implied in the apostolic declarations, that God is desirous that all men should repent and be saved (1 Tim. ii. 4; 2 Pet. iii. 9). We must not minimise the force of θέλει--ὂς πάντας άνθρώποʊς θέλεɩ σωθῆναɩ. The strength of any one's desire is to be measured by what he will do or sacrifice to accomplish it; and God gave His only begotten Son in order that all men might have everlasting life. But all men are not saved. That the Scriptures teach that God can be--and often is--disappointed, is clear.

II. "But it is impossible that God can be disappointed, seeing that He is omniscient and foresees all things. Surprise, and consequently disappointment, is not possible to perfect knowledge." 1. This objection appears to be very reasonable, but against it there is this fatal objection, that we cannot measure God by our reason.[1] We cannot tell how He will act or feel under certain circumstances: all we know is, that under all circumstances God will act and feel in a manner worthy of Himself. But what is, or is not, consistent with His attributes, we are not in a position to determine. Take, for instance, His omnipresence. If we were present when dastardly wrongs and great crimes are committed, and were clothed with power to prevent them, how certain it is that we should prevent them![2] But every day He stands by and sees such wickednesses perpetrated, and is silent, and gives no sign. Let us, then, not be in a hurry to decide that disappointment is not consistent with omniscience. 2. There is an experience very frequent among men, which may perhaps help us a little to understand what disappointment is in God. Evils may be long distinctly foreseen--as, for example, the death of a dear friend suffering from an incurable disease--but yet not realised until they actually occur. The blow is foreseen long before it falls, but it is felt when it falls. Every man knows that he must die, and yet how nearly a surprise is death to every man! 3. Whether we can understand it or not, it is our duty to accept this declaration, that in view of the ingratitude and sinfulness of men whom God has blessed and has sought to win by virtue and holiness, He is profoundly grieved and disappointed. Such declarations are not to be dismissed as "anthropomorphological." However much that is in them may be figurative, there is a reality behind the figures.