Post by Lee on Jul 2, 2014 3:21:45 GMT
Hezekiah reversed the insane policy of his father, and did much towards purging Jerusalem and Judah. But there was a relapse again in the reign of Manasseh, his son, who attained an evil eminence that is on record in the scriptures, and in whose early years, according to the tradition in the Talmud, and in the early Christian ecclesias, Isaiah himself perished, being sawn asunder. Manasseh, “filled Jerusalem with innocent blood from one end to the other” (2 Kings 21:16). And “the Lord would not pardon it,” but gave Jerusalem into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:4).
It was in this massacre of the innocents that Isaiah is believed to have “perished,” and the reference of Heb. 11:37: “sawn asunder,” is considered to support the Jewish and Christian tradition, since no other case of such an end is current in the annals of those “of whom the world was not worthy.”
....
We can well imagine that he would often and painfully recognise that his fiery denunciations would expose him to such possibilities, even if it were not, as in the case of Paul afterwards, that he was directly forewarned by the spirit. What proportionate comfort then would there be in the thought of “rest in sheol” till “the day of vengeance of our God,” when he should “awake and sing” and rejoice in the triumph of the Son of David in a new, and purified, and glorified Jerusalem.
....
But the righteous were the natural “sport” of “the seed of the adulterer and the whore,” whose ways are here so terribly denounced. Rightly to appreciate the prophet’s position and the divine indignation against that which he denounced, it is necessary to have some acquaintance with the manners and customs of the nations dispossessed by Israel, and whose ways they copied with such fatal result. The following extract from a note by Rotherham on “The Destruction of the Canaanite Nations,” will be sufficient indication of the true state of the case, monumental evidences of which are being brought to light in Palestine by excavations at the present time. In the above-named note, at the end of the book of Joshua, Rotherham says:—
“In reviewing the destruction of the nations of Canaan, it is most important to bear in mind the terrible nature of the crimes for which they were exterminated. Their very worship was grossly sensual and revoltingly cruel. In honour of their deities, women surrendered their virtue. Their sacred places were brothels. The generative organs were openly represented by disgusting symbols. The temples had holy (!) prostitutes, male and female—kedheshim and kedheshoth. Lustful gods are cruel, and demand to be worshipped with human blood. Hence, to the king-idol Molech, the Canaanites, with some contiguous nations, immolated their sons and daughters. At such crimes as these, nature shudders; and Palestine was fain in abhorrence, to eject her inhabitants. Who shall say that the Most High has not the right to extinguish such polluters of the earth and contaminators of mankind as these?… Divine equity warned the Hebrews that if they fell into the same sins, they should receive a like punishment. For their Father’s sake, indeed, they were not to be utterly annihilated; but short of that, if they would sin, they must suffer. We know the sad sequel.”
“The king-idol Molech” of the foregoing note is thought to be that meant by the allusion here in vs:9 to “the king” (Melek, or Molech). And the reference to the “slaying of the children in the valleys” (vs5), with the history of Manassah’s crimes, seems to justify the conclusion
In view of such “debasement unto hell” (vs9), God “gave them over” (Rom. 1:28), and said by the prophet: “When thou criest, let thy companies (multitude of idols), deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them; but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain” (5:13). We are witnesses of the fulfilment of the first half of this prediction, which is but the earnest of that of the last. Where are the apostates of Isaiah’s time? The wind has taken them all away, and the city that was polluted by them has been in disgrace among the Gentiles for about two thousand years. And if it be retorted, “But the prophet also is ‘taken away,’ ” the answer is, “Yes, but not for ever.” He will inherit the holy mountain at the time appointed, which is not yet.
Robert Roberts, & Walker, C. C. (1907). The Ministry of the Prophets: Isaiah (683–684). The Publishing Commitee, Christadelphian Old Paths Ecclesia.
It was in this massacre of the innocents that Isaiah is believed to have “perished,” and the reference of Heb. 11:37: “sawn asunder,” is considered to support the Jewish and Christian tradition, since no other case of such an end is current in the annals of those “of whom the world was not worthy.”
....
We can well imagine that he would often and painfully recognise that his fiery denunciations would expose him to such possibilities, even if it were not, as in the case of Paul afterwards, that he was directly forewarned by the spirit. What proportionate comfort then would there be in the thought of “rest in sheol” till “the day of vengeance of our God,” when he should “awake and sing” and rejoice in the triumph of the Son of David in a new, and purified, and glorified Jerusalem.
....
But the righteous were the natural “sport” of “the seed of the adulterer and the whore,” whose ways are here so terribly denounced. Rightly to appreciate the prophet’s position and the divine indignation against that which he denounced, it is necessary to have some acquaintance with the manners and customs of the nations dispossessed by Israel, and whose ways they copied with such fatal result. The following extract from a note by Rotherham on “The Destruction of the Canaanite Nations,” will be sufficient indication of the true state of the case, monumental evidences of which are being brought to light in Palestine by excavations at the present time. In the above-named note, at the end of the book of Joshua, Rotherham says:—
“In reviewing the destruction of the nations of Canaan, it is most important to bear in mind the terrible nature of the crimes for which they were exterminated. Their very worship was grossly sensual and revoltingly cruel. In honour of their deities, women surrendered their virtue. Their sacred places were brothels. The generative organs were openly represented by disgusting symbols. The temples had holy (!) prostitutes, male and female—kedheshim and kedheshoth. Lustful gods are cruel, and demand to be worshipped with human blood. Hence, to the king-idol Molech, the Canaanites, with some contiguous nations, immolated their sons and daughters. At such crimes as these, nature shudders; and Palestine was fain in abhorrence, to eject her inhabitants. Who shall say that the Most High has not the right to extinguish such polluters of the earth and contaminators of mankind as these?… Divine equity warned the Hebrews that if they fell into the same sins, they should receive a like punishment. For their Father’s sake, indeed, they were not to be utterly annihilated; but short of that, if they would sin, they must suffer. We know the sad sequel.”
“The king-idol Molech” of the foregoing note is thought to be that meant by the allusion here in vs:9 to “the king” (Melek, or Molech). And the reference to the “slaying of the children in the valleys” (vs5), with the history of Manassah’s crimes, seems to justify the conclusion
In view of such “debasement unto hell” (vs9), God “gave them over” (Rom. 1:28), and said by the prophet: “When thou criest, let thy companies (multitude of idols), deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them; but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land, and shall inherit my holy mountain” (5:13). We are witnesses of the fulfilment of the first half of this prediction, which is but the earnest of that of the last. Where are the apostates of Isaiah’s time? The wind has taken them all away, and the city that was polluted by them has been in disgrace among the Gentiles for about two thousand years. And if it be retorted, “But the prophet also is ‘taken away,’ ” the answer is, “Yes, but not for ever.” He will inherit the holy mountain at the time appointed, which is not yet.
Robert Roberts, & Walker, C. C. (1907). The Ministry of the Prophets: Isaiah (683–684). The Publishing Commitee, Christadelphian Old Paths Ecclesia.