Bria, and flrael, Shall both kings; the ki

the house of David, this is a sign that that house Mall not 16 fall. For before the child, that is, this child that is now

in ny hand, Shearjaskub my son, v. 3, shall know to re-,
fuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou -
abhorrest, the land that thou carest for with great concern,

the land of Judah, of which they have now got possesion, my shall be forsaken of both her kings; the king of Syria.

and the king of Ijrael, Jhall both be destroyed by the king of
Allyria, and the two hundred thousand captives they have
tonen skall be restored by the influence of God upon their
minds; according to the meaning of the name of the pro-
phet's fon. See 2 Kings xv. 29, 30. xvi. 9.
• Netertheless God will send a more terrible enemy upon :

them, because Anaz will not truft God but seek help from 17 Albyrin: 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, to whom you 18 have fought for help. 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; the multitude of

their enemies shall be like swarms of flies or bees, from which 19 no rank, and no place shall be secure. 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; overspread and make havock of the whole 20 country. In the same day shall the Lord shave with a

rasor, that is hired, the Assyrians, whom thou hast hired to
defend thee, [namely,] by them beyond the river Eu.
phrates, by the king of Asiyria, the head, and the hair

of the feet: and it shall also consume the beard; he 21 mall make a great and general deftru&tion. And it shall

come to pass in that day, [that] a man shall nourish a * young cow, and two sheep, so few cattle fall be left; 22 And it shall come to pass, for the abundance of milk

[that] they shall give, by reason of their having so much
room to feed, on account of the country being depopulated,

that The Assyrians had conquered Egypt before this, and had many Egyptians in their army.

that he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that is left in the land ; 'they all have no flesh to

eat, neither corn, wine, nor oil, the produce of cultivation, 23 but only milk and honey, the gifts of nature. And it shall

come to pass in that day, [that] every place shall be,

where there were a thousand vines at a thousand silver: lings, or shekels, that is, so much a year, it shall [even] i be for briers and thorns; it shall be wasted, and over-run 24 with briers and thorns. With arrows and with bows;

shall (men) come thither, to destroy wild beasts or hunt

for food; because all the land shall become briers and 25 thorns. And [on] all hills that shall be digged with

the mattock, that is, the choicest grounds that were used to be tilled, and where the vineyards used to be planted, 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 lefser cattle; there shall be no hedge to defend them, but the cattle fall graze upon them, that is, there hall be a general defolation of all the country. It

11 REFLECTIONS 1. UV E are here showil the necessity and advantage of

V faith in God in troublesome and dangerous times. It is our duty to take heed, to be quiet, to rule our fpirits, to command our passions, and have faith in God, that is, to maintain a firm belief of his over-ruling providence, and guard against that fear which hath torment. His words are true, his declarations are faithful; he knows how to deliver from the most formidable enemies; let us therefore commit our way to the Lord, trust also in him; and thus shall we dwell safely, and be quiet from the fear of evil.

2. Let us bless God that this fign is come to pass, and that this glorious prophecy of Christ is fulfilled! He was born of the Virgin Mary; his name was called Immanuel. God is with us, dwelling in human nature, and at peace with us. We should thankfully receive him as the Messiah, who is to reign over the house of David, and whose kingdom is everlasting. We should diligently seek an intereit

in him, and all lefser deliverances should lead our thoughts ot this great deliverer, who is God's salvation to the ends of the earth.

3. Tho' God may not entirely cast off his people, yet he may see it needful to correct them. Tho' Judah should be delivered from the defigns of Syria and Israel, yet they should be punished by the king of Assyria; tho' the house of David should not totally be ruined, yet great calamities should come upon the land. God often deals thus with his people. Tho' he does not quite forsake them, or give , them up to ruin, yet he visits their iniquity with a rod, and their transgresion with stripes. We should therefore maintain a holy caution and fear of sin, and glorify God by a faithful obedience to all his commands.

**L.CHA P. VIII. : ** This""and several following chapters are prophecies of the * troubles of Judah by the Asyrians; intermingled with pro

phecies of the Mesah, for the encouragement of the believing Jews.

Les **

Sw . M OREOVER the Lord said unto me, Take thee

a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen, in the common way of writing, and in a plain, legible man,

ner, for the use of all, concerning Maher-shalal-hash-baz, i ? the name of his child. And I took unto me faithful wit. • nesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the

"fon of Jeberechiah, to be witnesses that I now delivered *3 and recorded these prophecies. And I went unto the pro- phetess my wife; and the conceived, and bare a son.

Then said the Lord to me, Call his name Maher

shalal-hash-baz, which fignifies, make fpeed to the spoil; 4 haften to the prey.' For before the child shall have ** knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, that is,

before the child hall be able to speak plein enough to say . father and mother, the first thing that children commonly

learn, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria fhall be taken away before, or by, the king of Affyria,

overflow

And he shall paling river does then the whole

"and the wealth' thereof sent into his own country; (which , 5 accordingly came to pass, 2 Kings xvi. 9. XV. 29.) The .6 Lord fpake also unto me again, saying, Forasmuch as

this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah, a little brook, that ran thro? Jerusalem, that go softly, and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son, are many of them uneasy at

Hezekiah's reformation, and wish well to the confederates; 7 Now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon

them the waters of the river Euphrates, strong and
many; a great power, as much superior to their's as Eu
phrates was superior to Shiloah; [even the king of

Allyria, and all his glory: and he shall come up over
* all his channels, and go over all his banks; not keep
within his own bounds, but invade and over-run the whole

land of Israel, as an overflowing river does the neighbouring
8 meadows: And he shall pass through Judah; he shall

overflow and go over, he shall reach [even] to the
neck, to Jerusalem;. fo that the kingdom shall be like a man
up to his neck in water and in danger of drowning; and
the stretching out of his wings, his spreading army,
shall fill the breadth of thy land, O Immanuel; a plain *.
intimation that Judah should not be quite forsaken, since it to
was Christ's land; he was to be born, to live, and to die ***

there.
99" Associate yourselves, O ye people of Syria and Israel,

and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye
of far countries, ye Asyrians; gird yourselves, and ye

Thall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall 'To be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it

shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not

stand; however confident of success, all is in vain; for het God [is] with us, or, it is Immanuel's land. 1 For the LORD spake thus to me with a strong hand,

by an extraordinary impulse he infused courage into me, and

instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this 12 people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all

[them to] whom this people shall say, A confederacy;

tho' this is the popular cry, and every one is afraid of it, -13 yet neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify berp the LORD of hosts himself; and [let] him [be] your eines

N4

fear,

fear, and [let] him[be] your dread; give him glory for
14 his power and providence. And he shall be for a fanctu- !

ary, that is, a place of defence ; or He, according to fome, on
refers to Immanuel, spoken of before; he shall be a fanétuary
to all believers, especially among the gentiles; but for a
stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the
houses of Israel, that is, both Benjamin and Judah, who

would not believe, for a gin and for a snare to the inha-
$15 bitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall

stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and
be taken ; their fin Mall be aggravated, and their punish- gelo

ment increased, by what Christ hall do, and he will give
16 them up to ci spirit of blindness and error. Bind up the **

testimony, seal the law among my disciples. These are :
the words of Christ; as if he had said, Let the meaning of
these prophecies be in righteous judgment concealed from the
wicked jews, but let my disciples receive them, that is, un-
derstand and believe them: the accomplishment will explain

them, be an evidence of God's truth, and a justification of
17 those who depend upon him. And I will wait upon the *
* LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, ...,
* .. and I will look for him. This, fome think, is the language

of the prophet; as if he had said, I will firmly expect this
will happy event, tho”I see no present marks of the divine favour
be to Ifrael: but it is rather, the language of Christ; I will
18 wait for him to manifest his favour to the gentiles, Behold,

I and the children whom the Lord hath given me sare)
for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of,
hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion; which may mean,

that the children of the prophet were types and figures of
a great things; or rather, that the gentiles, Christ's Spiritual ?
* Teed, the children of Abraham by faith, should be wondered

at for believing these promises, and trusting in the Mesrah.
19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them
, that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep,

and that mutter: the pious Israelites shall answer, should
not a people seek unto their God? for the living to

the dead? Should they seek for living men to dead idols?
20 how absurd and ftupid were this! To the law and to the

testimony, keep close to them: if they speak not accord

*

à thiat mole feels they seek, this!