Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly
... the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and
many.' ISAIAH viii. 6, 7.
The kingdom of Judah was threatened with a great danger in an alliance
between Israel and Damascus. The cowardly King Ahaz, instead of
listening to Isaiah's strong assurances and relying on the help of God,
made what he thought a master-stroke of policy in invoking the help of
the formidable Assyrian power. That ambitious military monarchy was
eager to find an excuse for meddling in the politics of Syria, and
nothing loath, marched an army down on the backs of the invaders, which
very soon compelled them to hasten to Judah in order to defend their
own land. But, as is always the case, the help invoked was his ruin.
Like all conquering powers, once having got its foot inside the door,
Assyria soon followed bodily. First Damascus and Israel were ravaged
and subdued, and then Judah. That kingdom only purchased the privilege
of being devoured last. Like the Spaniards in Mexico, the Saxons in
England, the English in a hundred Indian territories, the allies that
came to help remained to conquer, and Judah fell, as we all know.
This is the simple original application of these words. They are a
declaration that in seeking for help from others Judah was forsaking
God, and that the helper would become ruler, and the ruler an
oppressive tyrant.
The waters of Shiloah that go softly stand as an emblem of the Davidic
monarchy as God meant it to be, and, since that monarchy was itself a
prophecy, they therefore represent the kingdom of God or the Messianic
King. The 'waters strong and many' are those of the Euphrates, which
swells and overflows and carries havoc, and are taken as the emblem of
the wasting sweep of the Assyrian king, whose capital stood on its
banks.
But while thus there is a plain piece of political history in the
words, they are also the statement of general principles which apply to
every individual soul and its relations to the kingdom, the gentle
kingdom, of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.