Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
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Isaiah
Book: Isaiah
Chapter: 7
Overview:
Ahaz threatened
By Israel and
Syria; and is assured their
attack would be in vain.
(1-9) God gives a sure sign
By the
promise of the long-expected
Messiah.
(10-16) The folly and
Sin
of seeking relief from
Assyria are reproved.
(17-25)
1-9 Ungodly men are often punished
By others as bad as
themselves. Being in great distress and confusion, the Jews gave
up all for lost. They had made
God their enemy, and knew not how
to make him their friend. The
Prophet must teach them to despise
their enemies, in
Faith and dependence
On God.
Ahaz, in fear,
called them two powerful princes.
No, says the
Prophet, they are
but tails of smoking firebrands, burnt out already. The two
kingdoms of
Syria and
Israel were nearly expiring. While
God has
work for the firebrands of the
Earth, they consume all before
them; but when their work is fulfilled, they will be
extinguished in smoke. That which
Ahaz thought most formidable,
is made the ground of their defeat; because they have taken evil
counsel against thee; which is an
Offence to
God.
God scorns the
scorners, and gives his
Word that the attempt should not
succeed.
Man purposes, but
God disposes. It was folly for those
to be trying to ruin their neighbours, who were themselves near
to ruin.
Isaiah must urge the Jews to rely
On the assurances
given them.
Faith is absolutely necessary to quiet and compose
the mind in trials.
10-16 Secret disaffection to
God is often disguised with the
Colour of respect to him; and those who are resolved that they
will not trust
God, yet pretend they will not tempt him. The
Prophet reproved
Ahaz and his
Court, for the little value they
had for Divine
Revelation. Nothing is more grievous to
God than
distrust, but the unbelief of
Man shall not make the promise of
God of
No effect; the
Lord himself shall give a sign. How great
soever your distress and danger, of you the
Messiah is to be
born, and you cannot be destroyed while that blessing is in you.
It shall be brought to pass in a glorious manner; and the
strongest consolations in time of trouble are derived from
Christ, our relation to him, our interest in him, our
expectations of him and from him. He would grow up like other
children,
By the use of the diet of those countries; but he
would, unlike other children, uniformly refuse the evil and
choose the good. And although his
Birth would be
By the power of
the
Holy Ghost, yet he should not be fed with angels'
Food. Then
follows a sign of the speedy
Destruction of the princes, now a
terror to
Judah. "Before this
Child,"
So it may be read; "this
Child which I have now in my arms,"
(Shear-Jashub, the Prophet's
own son, ver. 3,) shall be three or four years older, these
enemies'
Forces shall be forsaken of both their
Kings. The
Prophecy is
So solemn, the sign is
So marked, as given
By God
himself after
Ahaz rejected the offer, that it must have raised
hopes far
Beyond what the present occasion suggested. And, if
the prospect of the coming of the Divine
Saviour was a
never-failing support to the hopes of ancient believers, what
cause have we to be thankful that the
Word was made
Flesh! May
we trust in and
Love Him, and copy his
Example.
17-25 Let those who will not believe the promises of
God,
expect to hear the alarms of his threatenings; for who can
resist or escape his judgments? The
Lord shall sweep all away;
and whomsoever he employs in any service for him, he will pay.
All speaks a sad change of the
Face of that pleasant land. But
what melancholy change is there, which
Sin will not make with a
people?
Agriculture would cease. Sorrows of every kind will come
upon all who neglect the great
Salvation. If we remain
unfruitful under the
Means of Grace, the
Lord will say, Let
No
Fruit grow
On thee henceforth for ever.