Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

By the ferpent's root may be meant king Uzziah, who was always inimical to the Philiftines, whom he fometimes greatly diftreffed. From this root arose

another prince, who was ftill more feverely to afflict them; and, inflamed with a ftrong defire of vengeance, fhould come upon the inhabitants of Paleftina with the utmost expedition, and, advancing toward them with the most rapid motion, fhould ftrike them with a mortal wound. He is therefore spoken of as a cockatrice, and a fiery flying ferpent. This defcrip. tion does not relate to his temper and practice, which was mild and gentle, but to that irremediable deftruc tion which he was to be the inftrument of inflicting on the Philistines. This perfon can be no other than Hezekiah, king of Judah. Though, at first sight, this interpretation may appear fomewhat ftrained and unnatural, I hope you will be fatisfied of its juftness and propriety, by attending to the general import and defign of the prophecy. In fome prophetic emblems, we observe a strict agreement and refemblance between the names and figurative descriptions, and the perfons who are fignified by them; in others, the likeness and correfpondence is not fo confpicuous, as in the instance before us. This circumstance however, in fome measure, arifes from our unacquaintednefs with ancient manners and modes of expreffion. Among the Egyptians, ferpents were confidered as emblematical of kings, who often dangerously wound those who provoke them, when they come within their reach. The patriarch Jacob uses the fame emblem, when bleffing his fons, and pronouncing their future fortunes. Dan (faid he) fhall be a ferpent by the way, an adder in the path; that biteth the horfe-heels, so that his rider fhall fall backward *.' In like manner, Ifaiah here speaks of the king of Judah, under a fymbolic expreffion, that he might, in fome measure, conceal his meaning, until the

* Gen. xlix. 17.

completion

completion of the prophecy fhould difcover its import. Nor ought we to be furprised at this; the genius of the prophetic ftyle being enigmatical, this caft is fometimes purpofely given to it, even when the expreffion is most plain and direct.

30 And the firft-born of the poor fhall feed, and the needy fhall lie down in fafety and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall flay thy remnant.

The happy confequences which were to arife in Judah, from the flaughter to be made among the Philistines, are here represented.By the poor and needy, feem to be meant the inhabitants of Judea, who were reduced to low and ftraitened circumftances, by the encroachments of their enemies, under the reign of Ahaz. Whilft that wicked prince fat upon the throne, the Jewish people were much haraffed by the incurfions of neighbouring nations, and exposed to many hardships, as Hezekiah plainly intimates, in the proclamation which he sent throughout all Ifrael: Be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, who trefpaffed against the Lord God * of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to defolation, as ye fee. By the firft-born of the poor, are meant, not the eldest sons of the poor, who, in the language of Jacob, were their might, and the beginning of their strength, but those who were extremely poor, who, inftead of having a double portion of the good things of this world, had a double fhare of poverty, and were oppreffed with penury and want. People of this description, our prophet foretels, fball lie down in fafety. God was about to elevate them, from that forlorn ftate wherein many of the lower ranks had been expofed to danger and want, to a comfortable condition, in which they were to en

VOL. II.

2 Chron. xxx. 7.

L

joy

[ocr errors]

joy tranquillity and affluence. Even thofe who had been exceedingly poor, and greatly diftreffed, were to find agreeable relief, and deliverance from the evils and enemies by which they had been greatly afflicted.

And I will kill thy root with famine, and he fhall flay thy remnant. A root, properly fpeaking, is the lower part of the tree, by which it is fastened in the earth, by means of which it receives moisture and nourishment, and the tree itself is fupported. When used in a figurative sense, and applied, as in the words before us, to a nation, it may denote whatever conftitutes its ftrength and fupport, and is the means of promoting its establishment and increafe. All things having this tendency, God declares, by our prophet, that he would kill by famine, and fo deprive the Philiftines of what was neceffary to ftrengthen and uphold them as a people. Their root was to perish, their strength was quickly to decay, and they were to lofe their stability. The neceffary fupports of life being removed; they would lofe their vigour and influence as a people, and fall from their former flourishing eftate. And he shall flay thy remnant.

The

person of whom the prophet speaks, who was to flay the remnant of the Philiftines, which remained after the famine, seems to have been Hezekiah, king of Judah, who, in the preceding verfe, was spoken of under the emblem of a cockatrice. The root, or great bulk of the nation, having been destroyed, through want of the neceffary means of fubfiftence, the Jewish prince was to flay the refidue, in confequence of which all their power and glory fhould be abolished.The fulfilment of this prediction is recorded, 2 Kings xviii. 8.; where we read, that "Hezekiah fmote the Philiftines, even unto Gaza, and 'the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.' This flaughter was probably made after fome fevere famine which they fuffered, arifing from the ravages made upon their country by fome of their enemies.-How variable

is the condition of mankind, and how often is it reverfed in the course of divine providence! Those who were oppreffed with indigence, and expofed to danger, are frequently advanced to enjoy abundance and fafety, whilft thofe who were ready to exult and triumph in the fuperior advantages of their ftate, are reduced to a low and deplorable condition. Their power, riches, and honours, are blafted at the root, and down they fall from their former eminence and grandeur. Day unto day makes report of fuch revolutions, and night unto night fheweth us this knowledge. The prophecy which we have now been confidering, prefents this truth to our view in a very ftriking light; and our own experience confirms the uncertainty and mutability of every worldly enjoy

ment,

31 Howl, O gate; cry, O city; thou whole Paleftina art diffolved: for there fhall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.

Our prophet not only diffuaded the Philiftines from rejoicing, but he called them to mourning and lamentation, on account of the approaching calamities with which they were to be vifited. He addreffes the gate and the city. By the gate, may be meant more especially the chief magistrates, the elders, and the judges of the people, who anciently fat in the gates of the cities; and the foldiers, who were placed there, as centinels for their defence, to repel the hoftile attacks of their enemies. Thefe two claffes of men conftituted, in great meafure, the ftrength of the city. By the city, might be intended the inhabitants who dwelt in it, fubject to the magiftrates, and defended by the military. The people residing in the five principal cities of the Philiftines, already mentioned, were probably, in a particular manner, in Ifaiah's view, when he invited them to howl and to cry, in the prospect

of

[ocr errors][ocr errors]

of the great calamities which, ere long, were to feize upon them. Thou whole Palestina art diffolved. The expreffion is metaphorical; and borrowed from folid bodies, which, when thrown into the fire, lofe their folidity, are melted, and become liquid. In like manner, the inhabitants of Philiftia, being caft into the furnace of affliction, were to be divefted of their former ftrength and firmnefs of mind, which was to be exchanged for timidity and terror, joined with melancholy defpair. The condition of the republic in Palestina fhould be reverfed: being deprived of its former confiftency and ftability, it was to be reduced to a weak, fluctuating condition, unable any longer to refift the affaults of its adverfaries.The reafon of this diffolution is fubjoined:

For there fhall come from the north a smoke, and none fhall be alone in his appointed times. The fmoke which fhould come out of the north, feems intended to fig nify the great Affyrian army, which was to march into Palestine in deep columns, and, like smoke, to darken the air, by the dust they would raise in their rapid movements, fo that the figns of their approach were to be visible at a great distance.- None fhall be alone in his appointed times; or, as the bishop of London tranflates the Hebrew words, "There fhall "not be a ftraggler among his levies." When the appointed feafon fhould arrive, for collecting and marching the powerful army, here fpoken of, into Palestine, the whole troops were voluntarily, and with alacrity, to engage in the fervice. None fhould ftraggle from the main body; but all were to march forward with unanimity and courage, in the firm expectation of fuccefs and victory. You may fee this prophecy beautifully illuftrated in the forty-feventh chapter of Jeremiah, where the fame fubject is treated. Thus have we contemplated another inftance of what we may have often obferved, that the time wherein the enemies of God's people are most apt to rejoice and triumph, on account of flattering appearances in their favour,

« AnteriorContinuar »