The infatuation of idolaters. The commission of Cyrus. 18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. 19 And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? 20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand? 21 Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me. 22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. 23 Sing, Oye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye moun tains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel. 24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; 25 That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; 26 That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: 27 That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers: 28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. LECTURE 1154. Thankfulness due to God for the revelation of Himself. So irrational is image worship, so unworthy of a reasonable being, that it is even beyond the power of our reason to account for the prevalence of such a practice, as that a man, formed with the same faculties as our own, should bow down before the stock of a tree; should take a part of it, and use it for his fuel, and "make the residue thereof an abomination," a thing most hateful and offensive, should make it his idol, and pray to it and say, "Deliver me; for thou art my God." Ver. 17. The true account of this matter is here given. He, whose majesty they have affronted, by forgetting his being, his attributes, and his name, He "hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts that they cannot understand." And in like manner St. Paul accounts for the vile practices of the heathen, so abominable and unnatural, as to be otherwise unaccountable: "even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind." Rom. 1. 28. And in like manner it surely can be nothing short of judicial blindness, inflicted for obstinate transgression, that can account for the infatuation of those, who living in the full light of the Gospel, yet worship mammon, or bow down to sensuality, and seem all the while incapable of reflecting, "Is there not a lie in my right hand ?" "Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant." Yes, Lord, whilst memory endures, these we will remember with compassionate concern, and Thee, who makest us to differ from them, Thee we will remember with thankfulness and love. Thou hast taught us to keep ourselves from idols. Thou hast revealed Thyself unto us as a God of mercy, forgiving sins, redeeming sinners. Therefore will we glorify thy holy name. Therefore will we call on all creation to celebrate thy power and wisdom, thy goodness, and thy truth. Thou didst make heaven and earth. Thou hast confounded the pretences of false prophets, and all the superstitious devices of false religion. Thou hast marvellously guided thine own inspired messengers to foretel things to come; and Thou hast marvellously brought to pass what they have foretold. Praised be thy name for giving us the knowledge of these thy prophecies, and the evidence of their exact fulfilment ! Praised be thy name for the conviction hereby impressed upon our minds, that Thou knowest all things, the end from the beginning, long before, all that shall ever happen in every land, and who shall do it, the very name by which every one of thy servants shall be named, and the means by which each shall accomplish thy holy will and pleasure! Lord, fulfil in us the words of this prophecy, by making us to be inhabitants of the heavenly Jerusalem! Build up in our times the decayed places of thy church! Dry up the deep waters that forbid approach to the strong hold of thine enemies! And by a Shepherd greater than Cyrus of old, gather in thy sheep that are dispersed abroad; build to thy own glory a city that shall never fall, lay the foundation of a temple which shall endure to all eternity! The ends for which Cyrus is to be raised up. 1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; 2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: 3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. 5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all : 8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it. 9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? 10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth? 11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. 12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. 13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts. LECTURE 1155. Against irreverent speculations on the origin of evil. The prophecies in Isaiah relating to Cyrus are remarkable, not only for mentioning him by name, about two hundred years before his birth, but also for describing his excellent disposition, pointing out the singular means by which he succeeded in taking Babylon, and mentioning the enormous treasures which his successes placed at his disposal. By the independent testimony of heathen writers, it is clearly established, that this Cyrus was considered a pattern of every virtue, or rather exceeded the utmost measure of wisdom, justice, benevolence, and self denial, which they could conceive attainable by man. Setting out from a small beginning, he met with such unparalleled success, as to subdue under his dominion the chief nations in those parts of the earth. And having gathered all his forces against Babylon, then the capital of Assyria, a place celebrated in all antiquity for the extent and height of its walls, the strength of its brazen gates, and the protection it derived from its deep and rapid river, he turned aside the waters into a new channel; see ch. 44. 27; and thus entering the place where he was least expected, in the darkness of the night, he found the gates all open, and the people off their guard, and became the master of their treasures, the conqueror of those who had been heretofore the great conquerors of the world. This extraordinary success was to be attained by Cyrus, and is here foreshewn by God, partly out of regard to God's elect people, who would then be captives in the land of Babylon; and partly with a view to a manifestation of his name and being, unto all the nations of the earth. "For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name." Thus is Cyrus addressed by the Lord. And afterwards he is spoken of as follows: "I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts." As to the other great object, it is thus expressed: "I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else." And then in refutation of false notions long prevalent in the east, as to the origin of evil, God declares that He made the darkness as well as the light, that which is evil, no less than that which is good; and He straightway calls on heaven and earth to yield unto Him that which is especially his work, delight, and glory, namely, righteousness and salvation. And as if purposely to meet and silence all presumptuous enquirers as to the origin of evil, all irreverent speculations as to his having made us as we are, He denounces woe on those who strive with their Maker, or reflect injuriously on their heavenly Father; pointing out how grossly absurd it is, for the thing formed to question Him who made it; and declaring, that though He graciously vouchsafes to foretel his future dealings, He will give no account of that which He has created, except that He is the omnipotent Creator of all things everywhere. This then is a truth which He would have all men know. Happy they who make it known among the heathen. Happy our own nation, in proportion as the eminence and influence which we possess throughout the world, is employed in recommending the truth of God to those who are ignorant of his name! God calleth his people, and not in vain. 14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine they shall come after thee; in chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee, they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God. 15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour. 16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them: they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols. 17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. 18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. 19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I 21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. 24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. 25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. LECTURE 1156. The doctrines of the Gospel preached in prophecy. Isaiah had previously foretold the conversion of many, both in Egypt and in Ethiopia. See Ch. 18, 19. Here the converts are represented as saying to Jerusalem, "Surely God is in thee; and there is none else, there is no God." And to God himself they thus express themselves: "Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour." For from them He had heretofore hidden Himself purposely: see ch. 44. 18; though at |