The Afflictions of God’s People.
xxvii. 7–9. Hath He smitten him as He smote his smiter, or was he slain as his slayers were slain? In exact measure, when dismissing her, Thou didst contend with her; He scared her away with His rough blast in the day of the east wind. Therefore on these terms [or, hereby] shall the guilt of Jacob be purged, and this shall be all the fruit of taking away his sin, when he maketh all the altar-stones like lime-stones dashed in pieces, that Ashéras and sun-images rise up no more.—Cheyne.
This is a continuation of the song of the vineyard (vers. 2–6). That song was to be sung after deliverance from disasters which had come upon God’s chosen people, as the chastisement of their sins. The prophet here pauses to reflect and to instruct them. His instructions are of exceeding value to us, for God acts on the same principles in every age.
I. God’s people are often severely afflicted.
They fail in duty, or they even transgress His commandments. Then they certainly suffer. Utter is the delusion that they may sin with impunity. Unlike human parents, God never spoils His children; He has no foolish fondness for them that would lead Him to be blind to or tolerant of their faults. On the contrary, sin in them is most grievous to Him (H. E. I., 4563–4570), and the chastisement thereof is certain and often severe (Amos iii. 2). Terrible was the punishment which Isaiah foresaw would come upon Israel—deportation to the land of their conquerors. In that calamity what varied and awful sufferings were involved! So it is still! there is severity as well as mercy in the God we serve. Because he loves us, He will not allow us to go on to ruin unchecked. By terrible calamities, if need be, He will arrest us in the path to perdition.
II. In the severest afflictions wherewith God visits His people His mercy is manifest.
Manifest, 1. In the fact that they befall them here and now. How kind in Him, not to stand silently by, and leave them to go on unchecked to ruin! Remember, the sinner has no claim upon the mercy of God in any form. 2. In the restraint with which they are measured out.[1] There is no passion or vindictiveness in God’s dealings with them that provoke Him to anger. Though His chastisements may seem to burst upon the backslider like a hurricane of east wind, in reality mercy controls and directs the storm. “In exact measure,” &c.[2] Because it is so exactly measured out by mercy, (1) it always falls short of the guilt of the sinner. Did justice measure it out, so that it should be commensurate with the guilt of the transgressor, it would mean destruction. This is seen in the case of the enemies of God. Persistent ungodliness is visited at length, not with chastisement, but with judgment, i.e., utter ruin (note the picture of the doom of Babylon in verses 10, 11). So that when God’s erring people have been chastened most severely, His prophets can put to them Isaiah’s question in verse 7. To it they can only return the answer given in Ps. ciii. 10. (2) It always falls short of the transgressor’s power of endurance (H. E. I., 180, 187). When it is ended, he still lives—lives to bless the hand that smote him (Ps. cxix. 71, 75, 67). 3. In the motive that inspires them all. By them God seeks, not the destruction of His erring people, but their deliverance. Israel was held in the degrading bondage of idolatry; the terrible calamites of the captivity were the strokes by which He brake their fetters. When the discipline was over, they hated idolatry in all its forms; all the altar-stones in which they had delighted were “like lime-stones dashed in pieces,” and the Ashérahs and sun-images rose in their midst no more. It is the same motive that inspires Him in all His afflictive dealings with His people to-day (H. E. I., 56–59, 66–74). Therefore, if He is visiting us with afflictions,—1. Let us not be rebellious, but submissive (H. E. I., 158). 2. Let us be moved to penitential self-examination (H. E. I., 145–147). 3. Let us give heartfelt thanks to God because He is resolved to make us like Himself (Heb. xii. 10; H. E. I., 162–165).
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See pp. 5 ([God’s Indictment Against Israel]), 20 ([God’s Reluctance to Punish]).
[2] Verse 8, In measure. Rather, with measure by measure: Heb. “with seah-seah,” a seah, being the third part of an ephah, was a moderate measure. With forbearance and graduated severity, dealing out punishment in carefully adjusted quantities, and at successive times, “not suffering Thy whole displeasure to arise,” “correcting with judgment, not in anger” (Jer. x. 24, xxx. 11).—Kay.