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The Righteous Reign of the Coming King

But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness—

on them light has shined.

You have multiplied the nation,

you have increased its joy;

they rejoice before you

as with joy at the harvest,

as people exult when dividing plunder.

For the yoke of their burden,

and the bar across their shoulders,

the rod of their oppressor,

you have broken as on the day of Midian.

For all the boots of the tramping warriors

and all the garments rolled in blood

shall be burned as fuel for the fire.

For a child has been born for us,

a son given to us;

authority rests upon his shoulders;

and he is named

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

His authority shall grow continually,

and there shall be endless peace

for the throne of David and his kingdom.

He will establish and uphold it

with justice and with righteousness

from this time onward and forevermore.

The zeal of the L ord of hosts will do this.

Judgment on Arrogance and Oppression

The Lord sent a word against Jacob,

and it fell on Israel;

and all the people knew it—

Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria—

but in pride and arrogance of heart they said:

“The bricks have fallen,

but we will build with dressed stones;

the sycamores have been cut down,

but we will put cedars in their place.”

So the L ord raised adversaries against them,

and stirred up their enemies,

the Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west,

and they devoured Israel with open mouth.

For all this his anger has not turned away;

his hand is stretched out still.

The people did not turn to him who struck them,

or seek the L ord of hosts.

So the L ord cut off from Israel head and tail,

palm branch and reed in one day—

elders and dignitaries are the head,

and prophets who teach lies are the tail;

for those who led this people led them astray,

and those who were led by them were left in confusion.

That is why the Lord did not have pity on their young people,

or compassion on their orphans and widows;

for everyone was godless and an evildoer,

and every mouth spoke folly.

For all this his anger has not turned away;

his hand is stretched out still.

For wickedness burned like a fire,

consuming briers and thorns;

it kindled the thickets of the forest,

and they swirled upward in a column of smoke.

Through the wrath of the L ord of hosts

the land was burned,

and the people became like fuel for the fire;

no one spared another.

They gorged on the right, but still were hungry,

and they devoured on the left, but were not satisfied;

they devoured the flesh of their own kindred;

Manasseh devoured Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,

and together they were against Judah.

For all this his anger has not turned away;

his hand is stretched out still.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

19. Through the anger of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened. After having shown that the cause of all our evils proceeds from ourselves, and that therefore the blame of it should be laid upon us, he at the same time shows that God is a most righteous avenger. When men draw down upon themselves calamities and distresses, God does not suffer them to escape his hand; not that he is inclined to cruelty, for he is gracious and merciful, (Exodus 34:6,) but because he is just, and cannot endure the wicked. The dreadful nature of God’s vengeance is described by the metaphor of darkness, than which nothing can be more dismal; for without figures of speech a judgment so revolting cannot be expressed. And yet he appears to allude to smoke, of which he spoke in the former verse; for when a conflagration extends, and rages with such violence, the light must be overpowered by the thick smoke

No man shall spare his brother. In this last clause and in the following verse, the Prophet describes the methods and means, as they are called, by which the Lord will execute his vengeance, when his wrath has been thus kindled. When no enemies shall be seen whom we have cause to dread, he will arm ourselves for our destruction. As if he had said, “The Lord will find no difficulty in executing the vengeance which he threatens; for though there be none to give us any annoyance from without, he will ruin us by intestine broils and civil wars.” It is shocking and monstrous to relate, No man shall spare his brother, “every man shall devour his own flesh;” for no man ever hated his own flesh. (Ephesians 5:29.) But when the Lord hath blinded us, what remains but that we mutually destroy each other? And though it is monstrous, yet it happens almost every day.

We are not restrained by any relationship either of blood, or of religion, or of the image of God, which we all bear; though even the heathen, on the contrary, were prevented, by sharing in this common nature, from injuring each other, because they perceived that the beasts themselves are restrained by similarity of nature from cruelty against their own kind; for a wolf does not devour a wolf, and a bear does not devour a bear. That human beings, from whom the name of humanity is derived, should fight with such cruelty and fierceness against one another as to exceed the rage of wild beasts, is monstrous; and this evil can arise from no other source than that God hath blinded them, and given them up to a reprobate sense. (Romans 1:28.) Justly hath Isaiah described this kind of revenge; for when men enjoy peace, they think that they are placed beyond the reach of danger, and dread nothing. But the Lord laughs at this indifference, and shows that he will execute his vengeance by their own hand, which he will arm and direct against them.

20. Every one shall snatch on the right hand. It is equivalent to a phrase in common use, prendre et ravir a toutes mains, to take and seize at all hands. This mode of expression denotes either insatiable covetousness or insatiable cruelty; for the eagerness to snatch excites to savage cruelty. That they will be insatiable he expresses more emphatically, by saying that, in consequence of being impelled by blind fierceness and inconceivable rage, they will suck their brother’s blood as freely as they would devour the flesh which was their own property. The bitterness of the vengeance is greatly heightened by this circumstance, that the children of Abraham, and the holy posterity of the chosen race, break out into such beastly fury. Let us therefore remember that it is a dreadful proof of heavenly punishment, when brothers are hurried on, with irreconcilable eagerness, to inflict mutual wounds.

21. Manasseh, Ephraim. These tribes were closely related to each other; for besides their being descended from the same ancestor, Abraham, a close relationship arose out of their being descended from one patriarch, his grandson, Joseph. (Genesis 41:50-52.) But though they were closely allied, still God threatens that he will cause them to destroy themselves by mutual conflict, as if they were devouring the flesh of their own arm, and, consequently, that there will be no need of foreign enemies. He likewise adds that, after having wearied themselves out by mutual wounds, both will unite against Judah, in order to destroy it.

And for all this his anger shall not be turned away. If any one take into consideration those calamities which Isaiah threatened, he will be amazed and greatly astonished that still more severe chastisements are foretold. But in this manner God acts towards the wicked, and does not cease to afflict till he utterly overwhelm and destroy them, when, after having been frequently invited, they refuse to be reconciled to him. We need not wonder, therefore, that he inflicts stroke after stroke, as he also foretold by Moses that he would punish seven times more (Leviticus 26:18), and bring seven times more plagues upon (Leviticus 26:21) those who would not repent; lest they should think that, when they had been punished once or twice, they would not be punished again.

But his hand is stretched out still. By this he means that rods are prepared, that he may immediately strike with them; for it is not with a woman’s passion that the Lord is angry, but his wrath is immediately followed by revenge.