them see the destruction of the Assyrians, and that afterwards they should enjoy peace and happiness. This prosperity the prophet expresses, by saying, that then the light of the sun and moon should be much greater than usual, and by other figurative expressions.

Reflections.

THE Completion of what is here read we find in the following chapters, wherein Isaiah relates what happened when the Assyrians came to make war upon Jerusalem. In the mean time we must make these three reflections on what we read in this chapter. I. The threatenings denounced by Isaiah against the Jews, who, instead of depending upon God alone, imagined they should be defended by the king of Egypt, teach us, that God does not bless those, who, in time of danger, have recourse to ill means for their deliverance, and who trust in men rather than in him. To this purpose the prophet says, In rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength. II. Isaiah's sharp rebuke of the Jews, for refusing to obey the prophets, and for stopping their mouths, and not suffering them to speak, shows us, that it is a token of the greatest obstinacy not to hearken to the voice of God, nor suffer his servants to speak the truth. III. God expresses his great kindness when, regardless of the sins of the Jews, he tells them, he waited to be gracious unto them; that he would again have mercy on them, and protect Jerusalem and its inhabitants against the Assyrians. This kindness and mercy of God towards men should engage us chiefly to seek his favour, to rely on him alone, and to live in such a manner, that we may have him for our protector, and put our whole confidence in him.

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE prophet continues to threaten those who should seek for help from the Egyptians against the Assyrians, and to assure the Jews of the divine protection.

Reflections.

THE principal instruction to be drawn from this chapter is, that to put our confidence in man, rather than in the divine assistance, is to sin against God, and to deceive ourselves. As Isaiah said, that the Egyptians were men, and not God, we should always remember, that men are very weak, that all their power is but vanity, and that they who depend upon them shall be deceived in their expectation; whereas those who hope in God, and fear him, and rest wholly upon his power, are entirely safe. This the Jews should have acknowledged when Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came against Jerusalem. His approach and progress at first threw terror all around; but God confounded the enterprises of that prince, and, moved by the prayers of Hezekiah, who trusted in God alone, restored peace to Jerusalem, as we read in the sequel.

CHAPTER XXXII.

I. Isaiah describes the felicity which the Jews, would enjoy under the reign of king Hezekiah, after the defeat and retreat of the king of Assyria, and he foretells that then good men should be exalted, and that unjust and wicked men should be abased. II. He applies himself to the women of Jerusalem, who lived in luxury and effeminacy, and warns them to bewail the calamities which were to fall upon them; promising, at the same time, that peace and prosperity should succeed sorrow and trouble, and that the judgments of God should fall heavy like hail upon the Assyrians.

Reflections.

THIS chapter affords us the same reflections as the former, upon the great deliverance that God was to grant to Jerusalem in Hezekiah's time. Besides, what Isaiah says, concerning the happiness and peace which the Jews should enjoy under the government of that king, after having been in extreme

danger, should make us sensible, that it is a great blessing to a nation to be subject to just and religious princes and magistrates. But it is a much greater happiness to have God for our protector, and to be assured of his assistance and favour in all our wants and necessities.

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THIS is again a prophecy of the ruin of the Assyrians, who were to come against Jerusalem, and greatly alarm the Jews in the reign of Hezekiah. Isaiah promises, that this just and pious king should be blessed; that Jerusalem should be preserved by the power of God, and the army of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, destroyed.

Reflections.

THE first instruction this chapter affords us is, that all the designs, and all the attempts of the enemies of God and his church, are vain and ineffectual: that they cannot resist the power of the Lord, and that whatever they undertake against him, does only turn to his glory, and their confusion. It must further be considered, that the threatenings contained in this chapter relate in general to all wicked men, since God is to them a consuming fire. Sinners are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites; so that they shall say, Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? These words present us with a lively image of the horror and despair which shall seize the wicked, when God shall come to judge them. Take notice likewise, that what Isaiah said of good king Hezekiah, agrees to all good men; and, as the prophet expresses it, He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil, he shall dwell on high, and shall lack nothing. In these words we see what are the characters of true piety, and the happy condition of its votaries. Lastly, From this chapter we

may conclude, that as God formerly delivered Jerusalem, when invaded by the Assyrians, he will constantly be the protector of the church, and of all that fear him; so that they may boldly say, The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, the Lord is our king, he will save us.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

THIS chapter contains threatenings against the Edomites, whose ruin God denounces. Isaiah prophesies, that Idumea should be desolate; that kings should no longer reign there; and that it should be reduced to a wilderness.

Reflections.

THERE are two reflections to be made upon this chapter. I. That the Edomites, who were neighbours to the Jews, and who were descended from Esau, brother to the patriarch Jacob, were quite destroyed by the king of Assyria, some time after this prediction of Isaiah; that their country was made a wilderness, and that they never did recover from that desolation; so that the threatenings which Isaiah and other prophets had pronounced against them were put in execution. II. We are to take notice, that God dealt thus with them, because they, at all times, dealt wickedly with the Jews, who were their brethren, and because they rejoiced at their fall. Thus the destruction of Idumea is an example of God's judgment upon those that are cruel and unjust, and who wish ill to others, and rejoice in their miseries.

CHAPTER XXXV.

THE prophet describes, in figurative expressions, the Jews' joy in their own deliverance, and the confusion of their enemies.

Reflections.

WHAT is here said relates first to the happy state of the Jews, when God delivered them from the invasion of the king of Assyria, and afterwards, when

they were brought again from the captivity of Babylon, whilst the Edomites, whose ruin Isaiah had foretold in the foregoing chapter, and their other enemies, were destroyed. This passage of the prophet is likewise to be applied to the Christian church, and to the blessings which God would bestow upon it, by the means of the Messiah redeeming and sanctifying the faithful, destroying their spiritual enemies, and conferring on them eternal happiness. The last words of this chapter express the sentiments of joy and gratitude, which so great a deliverance produces in the hearts of all true believers.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

THE history contained in this and the following chapters proves the completion of the predictions set down in the foregoing chapters, which foretold, that God would deliver Jerusalem from the invasion of the Assyrians. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, makes war against Hezekiah, king of Judah, and after he had taken several cities from him, he sends Rabshakeh to Jerusalem, to summon Hezekiah and the Jews to surrender, and to blaspheme against God, saying, that as the gods of the nations which he had conquered had not been able to deliver their land, so neither would the God whom Hezekiah worshipped be able to deliver him. This same history is recorded in the sixteenth and following chapters of the Second Book of Kings.

Reflections.

WE must look upon the war which the king of Assyria made against Hezekiah, and the advantages which that idolatrous king obtained over him, as a punishment to Hezekiah's subjects, and a trial sent by God to this pious prince, to engage him and all his people to have recourse to him, and to give them afterwards extraordinary proofs of his power in delivering them from so great a danger. It is next to be observed, that the haughty and impious speeches

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