 |  |
in I Kings 18: 21 and 26, and "lame" in II Sam. 4: 4, together with the figure, in
Isa. 31: 5, of the outstretched, protecting, wing, shows that in the great Passover itself,
the thought is that the Lord stayed to preserve against the destroying angel rather than
that he "passed over" and left them.
The final section begins with a call to repentance, which is characteristic of all God's
dealings in grace with Israel: "Turn ye unto Him from Whom the children of Israel have
so deeply revolted" (Isa. 31: 6). Similarly, Moses and the Prophets emphasize the
necessity for "turning""
"If thou turn" (Deut. 4: 30);
"Turn thou unto Me" (Jer. 3: 7);
"Repent and turn" (Ezek. 14: 6; 18: 30);
"That we might turn" (Dan. 9: 13);
"Take with you words and turn to the Lord" (Hos. 14: 2);
"Turn ye unto Me . . . . . and I will turn unto you" (Zech. 1: 3);
"Rend your heart . . . . . and turn unto the Lord' (Joel 2: 12);
"Repent" cried John the Baptist, followed by the Lord Himself and, later, by the apostles.
This "turning to God" will be "from idols" (I Thess. 1: 9, 10), for "in that day every
man shall cast away his idols" (Isa. 31: 7). Just as Isa. 30: ended with Tophet, so
chapter 30: ends with the destruction of the Assyrian and with Jerusalem described as
the Lord's "fire" and "furnace". Vitringa comments on verse 9 as follows:
"The Assyrian king shall be struck with so great a panic at the slaughter of his army,
that in his flight he shall pass by his strongholds on the borders of his empire, not daring
to trust himself to them."
ISAIAH.
#11.
Woes and Glories (28: - 35:).
Glories when the King reigns.
Woe to the vile and the careless (32:).
pp. 185 - 190
Isaiah, after his alternation of "woe and glory", pauses at chapter 32:, while he
envisages that glorious reign which, at intervals, has shed light, in prospect, upon the dark
picture of his people's sin. Twice, already, the prophet has followed the mention of the
Assyrian by a glorious reference to Christ.
A |
The greaves and war cloaks of the warrior become fuel for burning.
B
| "Unto us a child is born, etc." (Isa. 9: 5, 6).
A |
The thickets of the Assyrian forest are cut down.
B
| "There shall come forth a rod . . . . . of Jesse" (Isa. 10: 34 - 11: 1).
He does so again in the opening of the section now before us.