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'He ... lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation' (verse 15).
'Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful' (verse 18).
'Except their Rock had sold them' (verse 30).
'Their rock is not as our Rock' (verse 31).
'Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted' (verse 37).
We have here five references to the Lord, and two to false gods; making
a total of seven occurrences.
Coming to the next section, we have the question, 'do ye thus requite
the Lord?' And in the structure there is a note to the effect that 'requite'
is connected with fruit-bearing. The corresponding member speaks of their
vine being 'the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah'; their grapes
of gall; and their wine as the poison of asps. This is the strange requital
for all the Lord's goodness to them, and is the burden of the Song of Isaiah
5. Gamal, the word 'requite', comes in Isaiah 18:5, where it speaks of the
sour grape 'ripening'. It comes also in Numbers 17:8 where it speaks of the
rod 'yielding' almonds.
Israel are looked upon in this second section as unclean: 'A perverse
and crooked generation hath corrupted itself: to be no sons of His is their
blemish' (Deut. 32:5, The Companion Bible). (The Septuagint reads: 'spotted
children').
In the corresponding member, we read: 'The Lord shut up His people'.
This word ('shut up') is used in connection with the cleansing of the
leper (see Lev. 13:4,5,11, etc.). The LXX uses the word paradidomai,
translated 'to give up' in Romans 1:24. And the words of the apostle in
Romans 11:32 (margin) refer directly to this clause in the Song:
'For God hath shut them all up together in unbelief, that He might have
mercy upon all' (Author's translation).
Israel are called a 'perverse and crooked generation' in Deuteronomy
32:5 -8, and likened to Sodom and Gomorrah in verses 29 -33. In their
blessing, the bounds of the nations are set in deference to Israel:
'according to the number of the children of Israel'. And in their
dispersion, the reference to numbers appears again:
How is it possible that one of the nations should chase a thousand of
Israel, and two put ten thousand to flight, except it be that their
Rock had sold them? (Deut. 32:30 author's translation).
Neither Pharaoh nor Nebuchadnezzar with all their hosts could have made
bondmen of Israel, unless the Lord had 'sold them' and 'shut them up'.
The members C 9 and C 34 -43 speak for themselves. Israel and their
land are the Lord's. However much the nations may be permitted to punish
that people and desolate that land, they have at last to reckon with the
Lord; and Israel and their land shall eventually find mercy.
Members D 10 -14 and D 15 -25 have their own story to tell. The first
term of the covenant deals with idolatry; and this term was sadly broken by
Israel again and again. Prosperity found them out. They waxed fat, but did
not gratefully recognize the Lord Who 'led' them and Who 'fed' them (two
words which speak of the Lord as their Shepherd).