Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble
Sin brings judgment in its train
Let not those expect to live easily that live thus wickedly, for the righteous God wilt take vengeance.
Observe--
I. HOW COMPLETE this ruin will be, and how necessarily and unavoidably it will follow upon their sins. The prophet had compared this people to a vine (Isaiah 5:7), well fixed and which it was hoped would be flourishing and fruitful. But the grace of God towards it was received in vain, and then the root became rottenness, being dried up from beneath, and the blossom would of course blow off as dust, as a light and worthless thing (Job 18:16). Sin weakens the strength the root of a people, so that they are easily rooted up; it defaceth the beauty, the blossoms of a people, and takes away the hopes of fruit. Sinners make themselves as stubble and chaff, combustible matter, proper fuel to the fire of God’s wrath.
II. How Just the ruin will be. “Because they have cast away the law,” etc. God doth not reject men for every transgression of His law and word, but when His word is despised and His law cast away, what can they expect but that God should utterly abandon them?
III. WHENCE this ruin should come (Isaiah 5:25). It is destruction from the Almighty.
1. The justice of God appoints it.
2. The power of God effects it. “He hath stretched forth His hand against them.
IV. The CONSEQUENCES AND CONTINUANCE of this ruin. When God comes forth in wrath against a people, “the hills tremble”; fear seizeth even their great men, that are strong and high; the earth shakes under men, and is ready to sink; and as this feels dreadful (what doth more so than an earthquake?) so what sight can be more frightful than the carcasses of men torn with dogs, or thrown “as dung” (margin) “in the midst of the streets”? This intimates that great multitudes should be slain, not only soldiers in the field of battle, but the inhabitants of their cities put to the sword in cold blood, and that the survivors should neither have hands nor hearts to bury them.
V. The INSTRUMENTS that should be employed in bringing this ruin upon them. It should be done by the incursions of a foreign enemy. When God designs the rum of a provoking people--
1. He can send a great way off for instruments to be employed in it. “From the end of the earth” (Isaiah 5:26). If God set up His standard, He can incline men’s hearts to enlist themselves under it, though, perhaps, themselves know not why or wherefore.
2. He can make them come into the service with incredible expedition. “With speed swiftly” (Isaiah 5:26). Those that defy God’s judgments will be ashamed of their insolence when it is too late; they scornfully said (Isaiah 5:19), “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work,” and they shall find to their terror and confusion that so He will.
3. He can carry them on in the service with amazing forwardness and fury (Isaiah 5:27-30).
(1) Though their marches be very long, yet “none among them shall be weary”; so desirous shall they be to engage that they shall forget their weariness and make no complaints of it.
(2) Though the way be rough, and, perhaps embarrassed by the usual policies of war, yet none among them shall stumble, but all the difficulties in their way shall easily be got over.
(3) Though they are forced to keep constant watch, yet “none shall slumber or sleep”; so intent shall they be upon their work in prospect of having the plunder of the city for their pains.
(4) They shall not desire any rest or relaxation; they shall not put off their clothes, not “loose the girdle of their loins,” but shall always have their belts on and swords by their sides.
(5) They shall not meet with the least hindrance to retard their march, or oblige them to halt; not a “latchet of their shoes shall be broken,” which they must stay to mend, as Joshua 9:13.
(6) Their arms and ammunition should all be fixed and in good posture (verse 28).
(7) Their horses and chariots of war shall all be fit for service (verse 28).
(8) All the soldiers bold and daring; “their roaring,” or shouting before a battle, “shall be like a lion,” who with his roaring animates himself and terrifies all about him.
(9) There shall not be the least prospect of relief or succour. Let the distressed look which way they will, everything appears dismal; for if God frown upon us how can any creature smile? (M. Henry.)
Divine judgments as fire and flame
They cannot be resisted, their direction cannot be altered, their force abated, nor can the flame be extinguished by human efforts. As threatened calamities cannot be averted, so inflicted judgments cannot be removed, unless by true repentance and earnest supplication to the supreme Disposer of all events. (R. Macculloch.)
Root and blossom
The posterity of Israel are here compared to a fruit-bearing tree, whose root gives it strength and stability, conveys to it nourishment, and preserves it firm amidst the storms to which it may be exposed. By their root may be meant everything whereby they thought to secure and establish themselves, such as their secret counsels, their deep-laid designs, their strength and riches, their friends and connections, from all which they derived support, and expected to keep their station. Viewing them in their social capacity, by their root we may understand parents, heads of families, judges, governors and princes, who give stability and support to the state and preserve it in a flourishing condition. .. The blossoms denote the beautiful promising appearances among that people, which seemed to presage plenty of fruit; such as their religion, their children, their magnificence and influence as a nation; in short, everything which constituted their excellence, and displayed their glory was to be consumed. (R. Macculloch.)
Universal judgment
The judgment here foretold was to prove universal; for what remains of a tree when its roots and branches are destroyed! (R. Macculloch.)
Sin and judgment
Sin doth as naturally draw and suck judgments to it as the loadstone doth iron, as dry stubble and light chaff doth fire. (J. Trapp.)
The “law” and the “word”
The “law” of Jehovah was given by Moses and embodied in institutions and a code; the “word” was that exposition of the meaning and life of these which the prophets were, from time to time, declaring in the ears of the people. The nation had cast away this law and despised this word. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
Withered roots
When all heart and morality are gone from a nation, its roots below ground are rotten, and its flourishing appearance is ready to turn to dust. There is no substance in such a people, nothing which can stand calamity of any kind. It will sweep them away as the fire licks up the stubble which men burn when the crop of corn or hay has been gathered in. (Sir E. Strachey, Bart.)
Unfruitfulness: cause and effect
The sin of unfruitfulness is punished with the plague of unfruitfulness. (M. Henry.)