THE AFFLICTIONS OF GOD’S PEOPLE
Isaiah 27:7-9. 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 Ashérahs and sun-images rise up no more.—Cheyne.
This is a continuation of the song of the vineyard (Isaiah 27:2-6). 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 3:2). 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 [1096] 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., [1099] 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 Isaiah 27:10-11). So that when God’s erring people have been chastened most severely, His prophets can put to them Isaiah’s question in Isaiah 27:7. To it they can only return the answer given in Psalms 103:10.
(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 (Psalms 119:71; Psalms 119:75; Psalms 119:67).
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 calamities 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 limestones 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 (Hebrews 12:10; H. E. I., 162–165).
[1096] See pp. 6, 20.
[1099] Isaiah 27:8. In measure. Rather, with measure by measure: Heb. “with seah-seah,” a seah, being the third part of an ephab, 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” (Jeremiah 10:24; Jeremiah 30:11).—Kay.
THE DISCIPLINE OF SIN
Isaiah 27:9. By this, therefore, shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin.
The history of God’s ancient people is a divine teaching. He had brought them into special relations to Himself, and had conferred on them special privileges. They were intended to be witnesses for Him in the world. To a large extent they failed. Instead of persistent faithfulness to their mission, they repeatedly fell into idolatrous practices. Punishment came. They repented. But when the impression was gone, they renewed the sin. For centuries this continued, until the terrible disaster of the Babylonian captivity. Then they finally renounced idolatry. This was the divine design in permitting that disaster to befall them. The prophet foretold it with suggestive accuracy. “By this shall the iniquities of Jacob be purged,” &c.
Their conduct, and the divine dealing with them, finds its parallel in the history of the modern Church. The parallel holds—
I. WITH REGARD TO THEIR SIN.
The spiritual Jacob sins. Saintly individuals, here and there, whose conduct is an honour to the gospel; but comparatively limited number. Many who in youth felt strongly have seriously declined from the warmth of their first love. Instead of keeping themselves from the world, they are under its influence; like imperfect swimmers, who get within the power of a wave and find they have neither strength nor skill to cope with it. They listen to the sentiments of the world on matters of religion and morality. By little and little they conform. Like Samson, when shorn of his locks, they become weak as other men. From contentment with imperfection they become reconciled to positive sin. Sometimes they even exceed their teachers. Christian professors who have declined into sinful ways often become worse than those from whom they have taken their lesson.
And does not God hate sin in them as He hates it in others? A man’s standing in Christ is nothing, if he is living in wilful sin. It deadens his conscience, interrupts his communion with God, exposes him to the peril of final apostasy and perdition. Read the former as well as the latter part of 1 John 1:7. (H. E. I., 4563–4570.)
II. WITH REGARD TO THE DISCIPLINE OF SIN.
The discipline God sent to the Jewish people was—
(1.) Severe. It seemed hard to be driven from their beautiful city to a foreign land, possibly to be absorbed in its population or held in slavery. Nor had they the consolation of knowing that they had not brought it on themselves. God knows how to regulate the severity of suffering according to all the facts that must be taken into account, and all the ends that are to be served. However severe our sufferings, we are compelled to admit that they are always less than we deserve. But if His strokes are to be felt, they must sometimes be severe.
(2.) Punitive. God punished Jacob for his sin; but He did not cast him off. His disapprobation of sin had been shown in words; now it must be shown by punishment (Hosea 12:2). The sufferings of God’s people are sometimes trials of faith. But they are often punishments. When a parent inflicts punishment, does he mean that he has disowned his child? Does it not spring from and prove the relation between them? God punishes as a father: and because He is a father. But this is different from allowing the penal consequences of sin to fall fully on them. That would be disownment, perdition. He fulfils His word (Psalms 89:30-37. H. E. I., 56–59, 66–70).
(3.) Corrective. “Purged; and this is all the fruit, to take away his sin.” It does not win the pardon of sin. No man’s suffering can atone for his sin. That comes another way. The divine One has atoned. Here repentance, reformation is contemplated. As when the husbandman prosecutes his labours he aims to produce the fruit, so God’s design in His people’s troubles is to take away their sin. A rough method; but necessary. The wild storm damages but purifies. The vine-dresser cuts off branches that the tree may bear more fruit. The sharp frosts of affliction kill the weeds of sin. The medicine is distasteful, but it attacks and dislodges the disease.
But have afflictions invariably this effect? No. Sometimes received in a rebellious spirit; God not recognised in them; thoughtfulness not encouraged; the heart is hardened; comfort is sought from pernicious sources; the soul is driven further from God and deeper into sin.
But when trouble is sanctified—
(1.) It suggests serious thoughtfulness. How has it come? From God? Why? Sin. Our moral instincts point to retribution. Perhaps some particular sin. May be an immediate connection of the punishment—with intemperance for instance, or fraudulent business transactions. There will be self-examination. God, responsibility, eternity will be realised.
(2.) It produces self-humiliation. Confession of sin. Penitential cry for mercy at the cross. Renewed self-dedication.
(3.) It reawakens spiritual life. It is a reason for the reception of fresh impetus. New earnestness in the culture of holiness; new watchfulness against evil. Like a child corrected.
Then if troubles surround you—
(1.) Be conscious of God’s hand. Look beyond the secondary causes.
(2.) Justify God in His dealing.
(3.) Be patient; wait His time.
(4.) Study His design in sending the trouble. And unite with Him for the accomplishment of that design (H. E. I., 143–154).—J. Rawlinson.