sin, and awful the judgments he pronounces in view of it, as coming
directly from God, yet he seldom closes one of his dreadful sentences
without holding out the hope of divine forgiveness in case of
repentance, and the peace and comfort which will follow. In his view the
mercy of the Lord is more impressive than his judgments. Isaiah is
anything but a prophet of wrath; his soul overflows with tender
sentiments and loving exhortation. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come
to the waters! Come ye, buy and eat! Yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price!... Let the wicked forsake his way, and
the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and
he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon...Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save;
neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear...Though your sins be as
scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool."
According to modern standards, we are struck with the absence of what we
call art, in the writings of Isaiah. History, woes, promises, hopes,
aspirations, and exultations are all mingled together in scarcely
logical sequence. He exhorts, he threatens, he reproaches, he promises,
often in the same chapter. The transition between preacher and prophet
is very sudden. But it is as prophet that Isaiah is most frequently
spoken of; and he is the prophet of hope and consolation, although he
denounces woes upon the nations of the earth. In his prophetic office he
predicts the future of all the people known to the Hebrews. He does not
preach to _them_: they do not hear his voice; they do not know what
tribulations shall be sent upon them. He commits his prophecies to
writing for the benefit of future ages, in which he gives reasons for
the judgments to be sent upon wicked nations, so that the great
principles seen in the moral government of God may remain of perpetual
significance. These principles centre around the great truth that
national wickedness will certainly be followed by national calamities,
which is also one of the most impressive truths that all history
teaches; and so uniform is the operation of this great law that it is
safe to make deductions from it for the guidance of statesmen and the
teachings of moralists. National effeminacy which follows luxury, great
injustices which cry to heaven for vengeance, and practical atheism and
idolatry are certain to call forth divine judgments,--sometimes in the
form of destructive wars, sometimes in pestilence and famine, and at
other times in the gradual wasting away of national resources and
political power. In conformity with this settled law in the moral
government of God, we read the fate of Nineveh, of Babylon, of Tyre, of
Jerusalem, of Carthage, of Antioch, of Corinth, of Athens, of Rome; and
I would even add of Venice, of Turkey, of Spain. Nor is there anything
which can save modern cities and countries, however magnificent their
civilization, from a like visitation of Almighty power, if they continue
in the iniquity which all the world perceives, and sometimes deplores.
It must have seemed as absurd to the readers of Isaiah's predictions
twenty-five hundred years ago that Babylon and Tyre should fall, as it
would to the people of our day should one predict the future ruin of
Paris or London or New York, if the vices which now flourish in these
cities should reach an overwhelming preponderance, but which we hope may
be wholly overcome by the influence of Christianity and the spirit and
interference of God himself; for He governs the world by the same
principles that He did two thousand years ago,--a fact which seldom is
ignored by any profound and religious inquirer.
I have no faith in the permanence of any form of civilization, or of any
government, where a certain depth of infamy and depravity is reached;
because the impressive lesson of history is that righteousness exalteth
a nation, and iniquity brings it low. Isaiah predicted woes which came
to pass, since the cities and peoples against whom he denounced them
remained obstinately perverse in their iniquity and atheism. Their doom
was certain, without that repentance which would lead to a radical
change of life and opinions. He held out no hope unless they turned to
the Lord; nor did any of the prophets. Jeremiah was sad because he knew
they would not repent, even as Christ himself wept over Jerusalem. No
maledictions came from the pen or voice of Isaiah such as David breathed
against his enemies, only the expression of the sad and solemn
conviction that unless the people and the nation repented, they would
all equally and surely perish, in accordance with the stern laws written
on the two tables of Moses,--for "I, thy God, am a jealous God, visiting
the iniquities of the fathers upon the children, even to the third and
fourth generation;"--yea, written before Moses, and to be read unto this
day in the very constitution of man, physical, mental, spiritual,
and social.
The prophet first announces the calamities which both Judah and
Ephraim--the southern and the northern kingdoms--shall suffer from
Assyrian invasions. "The Lord shall shave Judah with a razor, not only
the head, but the beard,"--thus declaring that the land would be not
only depopulated, but become a desert, and that men should no longer
live by agriculture, or by trade and commerce, but by grazing alone.
"Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious
beauty is a fading flower; it shall be trodden under foot." The sins of
pride and drunkenness are especially enumerated as the cause of their
chastisement. "Woe to Ariel [that is Jerusalem]! I will camp against
thee round about, and lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will
raise forts against thee, and thou shalt be brought down.... Forasmuch
as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with lips do they
honor me, but have removed their heart far from me,"--hereby showing
that hypocrisy at Jerusalem was as prevalent as drunkenness in Samaria,
and as difficult to be removed.
Isaiah also reproves Judah for relying on the aid of Egypt in the
threatened Assyrian invasion, instead of putting confidence in God, but
declares that the evil day will be deferred in case that Judah repents;
however, he holds out no hope that her people may escape the final
captivity to Babylon. All that the prophet predicted in reference to
the desolation of Palestine by Syrians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, as
instruments of punishment, came to pass.
From the calamities which both Judah and Israel should suffer for their
pride, hypocrisy, drunkenness, and idolatry, Isaiah turns to predict the
fall of other nations. "Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the
Lord hath performed his whole work upon Jerusalem, I will punish the
fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his
high looks.... For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom; for I am prudent, and I have removed the bounds of the
people, and have robbed their treasures, and put down the inhabitants
like a valiant man: and as I have gathered all the earth, as one
gathereth eggs, therefore shall the Lord of Hosts send among his fat
ones leanness, and under his glory He shall kindle a burning like the
burning of a fire." In the inscriptions which have recently been
deciphered on the broken and decayed monuments of Nineveh nothing is
more remarkable than the boastful spirit, pride, and arrogance of the
Assyrian kings and conquerors.
The fall of still prouder Babylon is next predicted. "Since thou hast
said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne
above the stars of God, thou shalt be brought down to hell.... Babylon,
the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldean excellency, shall be
as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall never be inhabited,
neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither
shall the Arabians pitch tent there, neither shall the shepherds make
their fold there; but wild beasts of the deserts shall lie there, and
the owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there." Both Nineveh
and Babylon arose to glory and power by unscrupulous conquests, for
their kings and people were military in their tastes and habits; and
with dominion cruelly and wickedly obtained came arrogance and pride
unbounded, and with these luxury and sensuality. The wickedest city of
antiquity meets with the most terrible punishment that is recorded of
any city in the world's history. Not only were pride and cruelty the
peculiar vices of its kings and princes, but a gross and degrading
idolatry, allied with all the vices that we call infamous, marked the
inhabitants of the doomed capital; so that the Hebrew language was
exhausted to find a word sufficiently expressive to mark its
foul depravity, or sufficiently exultant to rejoice over its
predicted \fall. Most cities have recovered more or less from their
calamities,--Jerusalem, Athens, Rome,--but Babylon was utterly
destroyed, as by fire from heaven, and never has been rebuilt or again
inhabited, except by wild beasts. Its very ruins, the remains of walls
three hundred and fifty feet in height, and of hanging gardens, and of
palaces a mile in circuit, and of majestic temples, are now with
difficulty determined. Truly has that wicked city been swept with the
besom of destruction, as Isaiah predicted.
The prophet then predicts the desolation of Moab on account of its
pride, which seems to have been its peculiar offence. It is to be noted
that the sin of pride has ever called forth a severe judgment. "It goeth
before destruction." Pride was one of the peculiarities of both Nineveh
and Babylon. But that which is exalted shall be brought low. A bitter
humiliation, at least, has ever been visited upon those who have
arrogated a lofty superiority. It presupposes an independence utterly
inconsistent with the real condition of men in the eyes of the
Omnipotent; in the eyes of men, even, it is offensive in the extreme,
and ends in isolation. We can tolerate certain great defects and
weaknesses, but no one ever got reconciled to pride. It led to the ruin
of Napoleon, as well as of Caesar; it creates innumerable enemies, even
in the most retired village; it separates and alienates families; and
when the punishment for it comes, everybody rejoices. People say
contemptuously, "Is this the man that made the earth to tremble?" There
is seldom pity for a fallen greatness that rejoiced in its strength, and
despised the weakness of the unfortunate. If anything is foreign to the
spirit of Christianity it is boastful pride, and yet it is one of those
things which it is difficult for conscience to reach, as it is generally
baptized with the name of self-respect.
The next woe which Isaiah denounced was on Egypt, which had played so
great a part in the history of ancient nations. The judgments sent on
this civilized country were severe, but were not so appalling as those
to be visited upon Babylon. With Egypt was included Ethiopia. Civil war
should desolate both nations, and it should rage so fiercely that "every
one should fight against his brother, and every one against his
neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom." Moreover, the
famed wisdom of Egypt should fail; the people in their distress should
seek to gain direction from wizards and charmers and soothsayers. It
always was a country of magicians, from the time that Aaron's rod
swallowed up the rods of those boastful enchanters who sought to repeat
his miracles; it was a country of soothsayers and sorcerers when finally
conquered by the Romans; it was the fruitful land of religious
superstitions in every age. It was governed in the earliest times by
pagan priests; the early kings were priests,--even Moses and Joseph were
initiated into the occult arts of the priests. It was not wholly given
to idolatry, since it is supposed that there was an esoteric wisdom
among the higher priests which held to the One Supreme God and the
immortality of the soul, as well as to future rewards and punishments.
Nevertheless, the disgusting ceremonies connected with the worship of
animals were far below the level of true religion, and the sorceries and
magical incantations and superstitious rites which kept the people in
ignorance, bondage, and degradation called loudly for rebuke. By reason
of these things the nation was to be still farther subjected to the
grinding rule of tyrants. It was a fertile and fruitful land, in which
all the arts known to antiquity flourished; but the rains of Ethiopia
were to be withheld, and such should be the unusual and abnormal drouth
that the Nile should be dried up, and the reeds upon its banks should
wither and decay. The river was stocked with fish, but the fishermen
should cast their hooks and arrange their nets in vain. Even the workers
in flax (one great source of Egyptian wealth and luxury) should be
confounded. The princes were to become fools; there was to be general
confusion, and no work was to be done in manufactures. Even Judah should
become a terror to Egypt, and fear should overspread the land. To these
calamities there was to be some palliation. Five cities should speak the
language of Canaan, and swear by the Lord of Hosts; and an altar should
be erected in the middle of the land which should be a witness unto the
Lord of Hosts, to whom the people should cry amid their oppressions and
miseries; and Jehovah should be known in Egypt. "He shall smite it, but
he also shall heal it." And when we remember what a refuge the Jews
found in Alexandria and other cities in the no very distant future,
keeping alive there the worship of the true God, and what a hold
Christianity itself took in the second and third centuries in that old
country of priests and sorcerers, producing a Clement, a Cyprian, a
Tertullian, an Athanasius, and an Augustine; yea, that when conquered by
the Mohammedans, the worship of the one true God was everywhere
maintained from that time to the present,--we feel that the mercy of God
followed close upon his justice. Isaiah predicted even the divine
blessing on the land, which it should share with Palestine: "Blessed be
Egypt my people, and Israel mine inheritance."
It is not to be supposed that Tyre would escape from the calamities
which were to be sent on the various heathen nations. Tyre was the great
commercial centre of the world at that time, as Babylon was the centre
of imperial power. Babylon ruled over the land, and Tyre over the sea;
the one was the capital of a vast empire, the other was a maritime
power, whose ships were to be seen in every part of the Mediterranean.
Tyre, by its wealth and commerce, gained the supremacy in Phoenicia,
although Sidon was an older city, five miles distant. But Tyre was
defiled by the worship of Baal and Astarte; it was a city of exceeding
dissoluteness. It was not only proud and luxurious, but abominably
licentious; it was a city of harlots. And what was to be its fate? It
was to be destroyed, and its merchandise was to be scattered. "Howl, ye
ships of Tarshish! for your strength is laid waste, so that there is no
house, no entering in.... The Lord of Hosts hath purposed it, to stain
the pride of glory, and bring to contempt all the honorable of the
earth." The inhabitants of the city who sought escape from death were
compelled to take refuge in the colonies at Cyprus, Carthage, and
Tartessus in Spain. The destruction of Tyre has been complete. There are
no remains of its former grandeur; its palaces are indistinguishable
ruins. Its traffic was transferred to Carthage. Yet how strong must have
been a city which took Nebuchadnezzar thirteen years to subdue! It arose
from its ashes, but was reduced again by Alexander.
Isaiah condenses his judgment in reference to the other wicked nations
of his time in a few rapid, vigorous, and comprehensive clauses.
"Behold, Jehovah emptieth the earth, and layeth it waste, and scattereth
its inhabitants. And it happeneth, as to the people, so to the priest;
as to the servant, so to the master; as to the maid, so to her mistress;
as to the buyer, so to the seller; as to the lender, so to the
borrower; as to the creditor, so to the debtor. The earth has become
wicked among its inhabitants, therefore hath the curse devoured the
earth, and they who dwelt in it make expiation." We observe that these
severe calamities are not uttered in wrath. They are not maledictions;
they are simply divine revelations to the gifted prophet, or logical
deductions which the inspired statesman declares from incontrovertible
facts. In this latter sense, all profound observations on the tendency
of passing events partake of the nature of prophecy. A sage is
necessarily a prophet. Men even prophesy rain or heat or cold from
natural phenomena, and their predictions often come to pass. Much more
to be relied on is the prophetic wisdom which is seen among great
thinkers and writers, like Burke, Webster, and Carlyle, since they rely
on the operation of unchanging laws, both moral and physical. When a
nation is wholly given over to lying and cheating in trade, or to
hypocritical observances in religion, or to practical atheism, or to
gross superstitions, or abominable dissoluteness in morals, or to the
rule of feeble kings controlled by hypocritical priests and harlots, is
it presumptuous to predict the consequences? Is it difficult to predict
the ultimate effect on a nation of overwhelming standing armies eating
up the resources of kings, or of the general prevalence of luxury,
effeminacy, and vice?
Isaiah having declared the judgment of God on apostate, idolatrous, and
wicked nations; having emphasized the great principle of retribution,
even on nations that in his day were prosperous and powerful; having
rebuked the sins of the people among whom he dwelt, and exposed
hypocrisy and dead-letter piety,--lays down the fundamental law that
chastisements are sent to lead men to repentance, and that where there
is repentance there is forgiveness. Severe as are his denunciations of
sin, and certain as is the punishment of it, yet his soul dwells on the
mercy and love of God more than even on His justice. He never loses
sight of reconciliation, although he holds out but little hope for
people wedded to their idols. There is no hope for Babylon or Tyre; they
are doomed. Nor is there much encouragement for Ephraim, which composed
so large a part of the kingdom of Israel; its people were to be
dispersed, to become captives, and never were to return to their native
hills. But he holds out great hope for Judah. It will be conquered, and
its people carried away in slavery to Babylon,--that is their
chastisement for apostasy; but a remnant of them shall return. They had
not utterly forgotten God, therefore a part of the nation shall be
rescued from captivity. So full of hope is Isaiah that the nation shall
not utterly be destroyed, that he names his son Shear-jashub,--"a
remnant shall return." This is his watchword. Certain is it that the
Lord will have mercy on Jacob whom he hath chosen; his promises will not
fail. Judah shall be chastised; but a part of Judah shall return to
Jerusalem, purified, wiser, and shall again in due time flourish as
a nation.
Isaiah is the prophet of hope, of forgiveness, and of love. Not only on
Judah shall a blessing be bestowed, but upon the whole world.
Forgiveness is unbounded if there is repentance, no matter what the sin
may be. He almost anticipates the message of Jesus by saying, "Though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." God's mercy is
past finding out. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters!"
So full is he of the boundless love of God, extended to all created
things, that he calls on the hills and the mountains to rejoice. Here he
soars beyond the Jew; he takes in the whole world in his rapturous
expectation of deliverance. He comforts all good people under
chastisement. He is as cheerful as Jeremiah is sad.
Having laid down the conditions of forgiveness, and expatiated on the
divine benevolence, Isaiah now sings another song, and ascends to
loftier heights. He is jubilant over the promised glories of God's
people; he speaks of the redemption of both Jew and Gentile. His
prophetic mission is now more distinctly unfolded. He blends the
forgiveness of sins with the promised Deliverer; he unfolds the advent
of the Messiah. He even foretells in what form He shall come; he
predicts the main facts of His personal history. Not only shall there
"come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch out of its
roots," but he shall be "a man despised and rejected, a man of sorrows
and acquainted with grief; who shall be wounded for our transgressions
and bruised for our iniquities, brought as a lamb to the slaughter, cut
off from the living, making his grave with the wicked and with the rich
in his death; yet bruised because it pleased the Lord, and because he
made his soul an offering for sin, and made intercession with the
transgressors." Who is this stricken, persecuted, martyred personage,
bearing the iniquity of the race, and thus providing a way for future
salvation? Isaiah, with transcendent majesty of style, clear and
luminous as it is poetical, declares that this person who is still
unborn, this light which shall appear in Galilee, is no less than he on
whose shoulders shall be the government, "whose name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the
Prince of Peace; of the increase of whose kingdom and peace there shall
be no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it,
and to establish it with judgment and justice forever."
Only in some of the Messianic Psalms do we meet with kindred passages,
indicating the reign of the Christ upon the earth, expressed with such
emphatic clearness. How marvellous and wonderful this prophecy! Seven
hundred years before its fulfilment, it is expressed with such
minuteness, that, had the prophet lived in the Apostolic age, he could
not have described the Messiah more accurately. The devout Jew,
especially after the Captivity, believed in a future deliverer, who
should arise from the seed of David, establish a great empire, and reign
as a temporal monarch; but he had no lofty and spiritual views of this
predicted reign. To Isaiah, more even than to Abraham or David or any
other person in Jewish history, was it revealed that the reign of the
Christ was to be spiritual; that he was not to be a temporal deliverer,
but a Saviour redeeming mankind from the curse of sin. Hence Isaiah is
quoted more than all the other prophets combined, especially by the
writers of the New Testament.