John Wesley

Therefore the LORD who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed and no more will his face grow pale.

“Redeemed - From manifold dangers, and especially from idolatry. Jacob - The Israelites or posterity of Jacob, who had great cause to be ashamed, for their continued infidelity, shall at last be brought back to the God of their fathers, and to their Messiah.”

For when he sees his children around him, the work of My hands, they will honor My name, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and they will stand…

“He seeth - When the believing seed of Jacob shall see those children, whom they have begotten to God, by the gospel, even the Gentiles.”

“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin…

“Cover - That seek protection. But not - Not such as by my spirit, speaking in my word, I have required them to do.”

O people in Zion who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. He will surely be gracious when you cry for help; when He hears, He will answer you.

“Shall dwell - After a set time, they shall return to Jerusalem, and have a fixed abode. This was in part accomplished upon their return from Babylon; but more fully in the times of the gospel, when many of them were, and the whole body…”

So you will desecrate your silver-plated idols and your gold-plated images. You will throw them away like menstrual cloths, saying to them, “Be gone!”

“Defile - To shew your contempt of it. Covering - The leaves or plates wherewith their images were frequently covered. Ornament - It was a costly and glorious robe.”

Then He will send rain for the seed that you have sown in the ground, and the food that comes from your land will be rich and plentiful.

“Bread - Which shall be the fruit of thy own land and labour: and excellent for quality, which is called, fat, Deut. xxxii, 14, and abundant for quantity.”

You will sing as on the night of a holy festival, and your heart will rejoice like one who walks to the music of a flute, going up to the…

“A song - You shall have songs of praise. The night - He seems to have a particular respect to the solemnity of the passover, in which they spent some considerable part of the night in rejoicing, and singing psalms before the Lord.”

And with every stroke of the rod of punishment that the LORD brings down on them, the tambourines and lyres will sound as He battles with weapons brandished.

“The rod - Hebrew. the founded rod, the judgment of God, called a founded rod, because it was firmly established, by God's immutable purpose. With harps - Their destruction shall be celebrated by God's people, with joy and musick, and songs of praise.”

For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood.

“It may be put, for any place of torment; and particularly it is put for hell. For the king - For the king of Assyria. Fire - He alludes to the ancient custom, of burning sacrifices, and particularly of burning children to Moloch.”

For this is what the LORD has said to me: “Like a lion roaring or a young lion over its prey—and though a band of shepherds is called out against…

“For - Although you have done evil in sending to Egypt for help, yet the Lord himself will, of his own grace, give you that help which you do not deserve.”

Like birds hovering overhead, so the LORD of Hosts will protect Jerusalem. He will shield it and deliver it; He will pass over it and preserve it.”

“As birds - Which come from above, and so cannot be kept off; which fly swiftly, and engage resolutely, when their young ones are in danger. Passing over - The destroying angel shall pass over Jerusalem.”

“Then Assyria will fall, but not by the sword of man; a sword will devour them, but not one made by mortals.

“The sword - Not of any man, but of an angel. Discomfited - Hebrew. shall melt away, a great part of them being destroyed by the angel; and the hearts of the rest melting for fear.”

Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vines, and for the land of my people, overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merriment in this…

“The foregoing prophecy was delivered, not in the time of Ahaz for he sent to the Assyrian, not the Egyptian, for help; it was Hezekiah, who rebelled against the king of Assyria, and was too prone to trust upon the staff of Egypt.”

until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.

“Until - Until the time come, in which God will pour, or, as the Hebrew word properly signifies, reveal, evidently and plentifully pour out his spirit from heaven upon his people, which was fully accomplished in the days of the Messiah.”

But hail will level the forest, and the city will sink to the depths.

“The city - Jerusalem, which, though now it was the seat of God's worship and people, yet he foresaw, would be the great enemy of the Messiah. Low - Hebrew. shall be humbled with humiliation: shall be greatly humbled, or brought very low.”

Blessed are those who sow beside abundant waters, who let the ox and donkey range freely.

“Waters - In all moist grounds, which are like to yield good fruit. But this also is to be understood of the times of the gospel, and of the great and happy success of the ministers of it.”

O LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble.

“O Lord - The prophet contemplating the judgment which was now coming upon God's people, directs his prayer to God for them. Their arm - Our arm or strength. The change of persons is frequent in prophetical writings.”

Behold, their valiant ones cry aloud in the streets; the envoys of peace weep bitterly.

“Behold - That the mercy promised might be duly magnified, he makes a lively representation of their great danger and distress. The ambassadors - Whom he shall send to beg peace of the Assyrian.”

The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. The treaty has been broken, the witnesses are despised, and human life is disregarded.

“The covenant - Sennacherib broke his faith, given to Hezekiah, of departing for a sum of money, 2 Kings xviii, 14, 17. Cities - The defensed cities of Judah, which he contemned, and easily took.”

The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the ungodly: “Who of us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting flames?”

“The sinners - This is spoken of the Jews. The prophet having foretold the deliverance of God's people, and the destruction of their enemies, gives a lively representation of the unbelieving condition, in which the Jews were, before their deliverance came.”

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty and behold a land that stretches afar.

“The king - First Hezekiah, and then Christ, triumphing over all enemies, and ruling his own people with righteousness. Very far - Thou shalt not be shut up in Jerusalem, but shalt have free liberty to go abroad with honour and safety.”

Your mind will ponder the former terror: “Where is he who tallies? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who counts the towers?”

“Thine heart - This is a thankful acknowledgment of deliverance from their former terrors and miseries. Where - These words they spoke in the time of their distress.”

You will no longer see the insolent, a people whose speech is unintelligible, who stammer in a language you cannot understand.

“A fierce - That fierce and warlike people, whom thou hast seen with terror, near the walls of Jerusalem, thou shalt see no more. A people - A foreign nation, whose language is unknown to thee.”

Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled…

“Look upon - Contemplate Zion's glorious and peculiar privileges. Solemnities - This was the chief part of Zion's glory, that God was solemnly worshipped, and the solemn assemblies and feasts kept in her.”

Your ropes are slack; they cannot secure the mast or spread the sail. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided, and even the lame will carry off plunder.

“Tacklings - He directs his speech to the Assyrians; and having designed their army under the notion of a gallant ship, ver.”