Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions Volume Ii Part 8

CHAPTERS XVII., XVIII.

These two chapters form one whole, as, generally, the series of the ten _burdens_ is nowhere interrupted by inserted, heterogeneous, independent portions. Chapter xx. forms an appendix only to chapter xix. In the same manner, the prophecy against Sebna in chap. xxii.

16-25, stands in an internal connection with vers. 1-15; in that which befel him, the destinies of the people were to be typified. That these two chapters belong to one another is clearly proved by the parallelism of chap. xvii. 10, 11, and chap. xviii. 4-6.

The inscription runs: "Burden of Damascus." It is at the commencement of the prophecy that the Syrians of Damascus are spoken of; the threatening soon after turns against Judah and Israel. This is easily accounted for by the consideration that the prophecy refers to a relation where Judah and Israel appear in the retinue of Damascus. It was from Damascus that, in the Syrico-Damascenic war, the whole complication proceeded. Aram induced Israel to join him in the war against Judah, and misled Judah to seek help from a.s.shur. In a general religious point of view, also, all Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes, as well as Judah, were at that time, as it were, incorporated into Damascus; comp. ver. 10, according to which Israel's guilt consisted in having planted strange vines in his vineyard, with 2 Kings xvi. 10, according to which Ahaz got an altar made at Jerusalem after the pattern of that which he had seen at Damascus. The circ.u.mstance that Israel had become like Damascus, was the reason why it was given up to the Gentiles for punishment.

From the comparison of chap. x. 28-34, it appears that chap. xvii.

12-14 belongs to the time of Hezekiah, when Israel was threatened by the invasion of Sennacherib. In chap. xvii. 1-11, in which, at first, the overthrow of Damascus and the kingdom of the ten tribes appears as still future, the Prophet [Pg 138] thus transfers himself back to the stand-point of an earlier time. To this result we are also led by the chronological arrangement of the whole collection. The Prophet, stepping back in spirit to the beginning of the complication, surveys the whole of the calamity and salvation which arise to Israel from the relation to a.s.shur and the whole world's power represented by a.s.shur--a relation into which it had been led by Damascus--and takes a view of the punishment which it receives by its sins, by its having become worldly, and of the Divine mercy which sends deliverance and salvation.

The threatening goes as far as chap. xvii 11. The rod of chastis.e.m.e.nt is, in the first instance, in the hand of a.s.shur; but he, as has been already mentioned, represents the world's power in general. With this, the promise connects itself. The oppressors of the people of G.o.d are annihilated, chap. xvii. 12-14. All the nations of the earth, especially Ethiopia, which was, no less than Israel, threatened by a.s.shur (comp. chap. x.x.xvii. 9), and to which Egypt at that time occupied the position of a subordinate ally, perceive with astonishment the catastrophe by which G.o.d brings about the destruction of His enemies, chap. xviii. 1-3. Or, to state it more exactly: Messengers who, from the scene of the great deeds of the Lord, hasten in s.h.i.+ps, first, over the Mediterranean, then, in boats up the Nile, bring the intelligence of the catastrophe which has taken place to Cush, the land of the rustling of the wings--thus named from the rustling of the wings of the royal eagle of the world's power, which, being in birth equal to a.s.shur, has there its seat, vers. 1 and 2; comp. chap. viii. 8. All the inhabitants of the earth shall look with astonishment at the catastrophe which is taking place, ver. 3, where the Prophet who, in vers. 1 and 2, had described the catastrophe as having already taken place, steps back to the stand-point of reality. In vers. 4-6, we have the graphic description of the catastrophe. At the close, we have, in ver. 7, the words which impart to the prophecy importance for our purpose.

"_In that time shall be brought, as a present unto the Lord of hosts, the people far stretched and shorn, and from the people terrible since it_ (has been) _and onward, and from the people of law-law and trampling down, whose land streams divide, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, the Mount Zion._"

[Pg 139]

The expression, "shall be brought as a present," (the word ?? occurs, besides in this pa.s.sage, only in Ps. lxviii. 30; lxxvi. 12) points back to the fundamental pa.s.sage in Ps. lxviii. 30, where David says, "Because of thy temple over Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto thee." As outwardly, so spiritually too, the sanctuary lies _over_ Jerusalem. The sanctuary of G.o.d over Jerusalem is the emblem of His protecting power, of His saving mercy watching over Jerusalem; so that, "because of thy temple over Jerusalem they bring," &c., is equivalent to: On account of thy glorious manifestation as the G.o.d of Jerusalem.

Cush is in that Psalm, immediately afterwards, expressly mentioned by the side of Egypt, which, at the Prophet's time, was closely connected with it. "Princes shall come out of Egypt, Cush makes her hands to hasten towards G.o.d."--According to _Gesenius_, and other interpreters, the ?? from the second clause is to be supplied before ?? ????. But this is both hard and unnecessary. It is quite in order that, first, the offering of persons, and, afterwards, the offering of their gifts should be mentioned. Parallel is chap. xlv. 14: "The labour of Egypt and the merchandize of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine;" the difference is only this, that there first the goods are mentioned, and then the men. In chap. lxvi. 20, we likewise meet men who are brought for an offering.

The designations of the people who here appear as the type of the whole Gentile world to be converted at some future period, and who have been chosen for this honour in consequence of the historical circ.u.mstances which existed at the time of the Prophet, are taken from ver. 2.

_Gesenius_ is wrong in remarking in reference to them: "All these epithets have for their purpose to designate that distant people as a powerful and terrible one." As _Gesenius_ himself was obliged to remark in reference to the last words, "Whose land streams divide:" "This is a designation of a striking peculiarity of the country, not of the people,"--the purpose of the epithets can generally be this only, to characterise the people according to their different prominent peculiarities.--???? properly "_drawn out_," "_stretched_," Prov. xiii.

12, corresponds to the ???? ??? "men of extension or stature," in chap.

xlv. 14. High stature appears, in cla.s.sical writers also, as a characteristic sign of the [Pg 140] Ethiopians.--On ???? "_closely shorn_," comp. chap. l. 6, where ??? is used of the plucking out of the hair of the beard.---"To the people fearful since it and onward,"

equivalent to: which all along, and throughout its whole existence, has been terrible; compare ???? ??? Nah. ii. 9, and the expression: "from this day and forward," 1 Sam. xviii. 9. For everywhere one people only is spoken of, comp. ver. 1, according to which Egypt cannot be thought of--?? ?? "law-law" is explained from chap. xxviii. 10, 13, where it stands beside ?? ??, and designates the ma.s.s of rules, ordinances, and statutes. This is characteristic of the Egyptians, and likewise of the Ethiopians, who bear so close an intellectual resemblance to them. With regard to the connection of the verse with what precedes, _Gesenius_ remarks: "The consequence of such great deeds of Jehovah will be, that the distant, powerful people of the Ethiopians shall present pious offerings to Jehovah,"--more correctly, "present themselves and their possessions to Jehovah."--A prelude to the fulfilment Isaiah beheld with his own eyes. It is said in 2 Chron. x.x.xii. 33: "And many (in consequence of the manifestation of the glory of G.o.d in the defeat of a.s.shur before Jerusalem) brought gifts unto the Lord to Jerusalem."

Yet, we must not limit ourselves to that. The real fulfilment can be sought for only at a later time, as certainly as that which the Prophet announces about the destruction of the world's power exceeds, by far, that isolated defeat of a.s.shur, which can be regarded as a prelude only to the real fulfilment; and as certainly as he announces the destruction of a.s.shur generally, and, under his image, of the world's power. "He who delights in having pointed out the fulfilment of such prophecies in the later history"--_Gesenius_ remarks--"may find it in Acts viii. 26 ff., and still more, in the circ.u.mstance that Abyssinia is, up to this day, the only larger Christian State of the East."--In consequence of the glorious manifestation of the Lord in His kingdom, and of the conquering power which, in Christ, He displayed in His relation to the world's power, there once existed in Ethiopia a flouris.h.i.+ng Christian Church; and on the ground of this pa.s.sage before us, we look at its ruins which have been left up to this day, with the hope that the Lord will, at some future time, rebuild it.

[Pg 141]

CHAPTER XIX.

The burden of Egypt begins with the words: "Behold the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and cometh into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt are moved at His presence, and the heart of Egypt melteth in the midst of it."

The clouds with which, or accompanied by which, the Lord comes, are, in the Old and New Testament writings, symbolical indications and representations of judgment; comp. my remarks on Rev. i. 7; and besides the pa.s.sages quoted there, compare in addition Jer. iv. 13; Rev. xiv.

14. But what judgment is here spoken of? According to _Gesenius_ and other interpreters, the calamity is the victory of Psammeticus over the twelve princes, with which physical calamities are to be joined. But against this view, ver. 11 alone is conclusive, inasmuch as, according to this verse, Pharaoh, at the time when this calamity breaks in upon Egypt, is the ruler of the whole land: "How say ye unto Pharaoh: I am the Son of the wise a (spiritual) son of the kings of ancient times,"

who are celebrated for their wisdom. In ver. 2, according to which, in Egypt, kingdom fights against kingdom, we cannot, therefore, think of independent kingdom s; but following the way of the LXX., ???? ?p?

????, of provinces only. Further,--According to _Gesenius_, the fierce lord and cruel king in ver. 4 is a.s.sumed to be Psammeticus. But against this the plural alone is decisive. Ezek. x.x.x. 12--according to which outward enemies, the ????, are the cause of the drying up of the Nile, of the ceasing of wealth and prosperity--militates against the a.s.sumption of a calamity independent of the political one. The circ.u.mstance, that the prophecy under consideration belongs to the series of the _burdens_, and was written in the view of a.s.shur's advance, leaves us no room to doubt that the Lord is coming to judgment in the oppression by the Asiatic world's power. To this may be added the a.n.a.logy of the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel against Egypt, which are evidently to be considered as a resumption of the prophecy under consideration, and as an announcement that its realization is constantly going on. They do not know any other calamity than being given up to the Asiatic world's power. Compare _e.g._ Jer. xlvi. 25, 26: "And behold, I visit Pharaoh and Egypt, and their G.o.ds and their kings, Pharaoh [Pg 142] and them that trust in him. And I deliver them into the hand of those that seek their soul, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon." After what we have remarked, the discord among the Egyptians in ver. 2, can be considered as the consequence and concomitant of the real and main calamity only: Where G.o.d is not in the midst, there, commonly, internal discord is wont to follow upon severe outward affliction, inasmuch as one always imputes to the other the cause of matters going on so badly. And what is said of the drying up of the Nile, we shall thus likewise be obliged to consider as a consequence of the hostile oppression. Waters are, in Scripture, the ordinary image of prosperity; compare remarks on Rev.

xvii. 1, 8, 40; xvi. 4. Here the Nile specially is chosen as the symbol of prosperity, inasmuch as upon it the woe and weal of Egypt chiefly depended. In consequence of the hostile invasion which consumes all the strength of the land, the Nile of its prosperity dries up; "its very foundations are destroyed, all who carry on craft are afflicted."

The scope of the prophecy is this: The Lord comes to judgment upon Egypt (through a.s.shur and those who follow in his tracks), ver. 1.

Instead of uniting all the strength against the common enemy, there arises, by the curse of G.o.d, discord and dissolution, ver. 2. Egypt falls into a helpless state of distress, ver. 3. "And I give over Egypt into the hand of hard rule, and a fierce king (_Jonathan_: _potens_, sc. Nebuchadnezzar) shall rule over them, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts," ver. 4. The fierce king is the king of a.s.shur, the Asiatic kingdom; compare the mention of a.s.shur in ver. 23-25; LXX. as??e??

s??????. For, the fact that the unity is merely an _ideal_ one, is most distinctly and intentionally pointed at by the ????? preceding. The prosperity of the land is destroyed, ver. 5-10. The much boasted Egyptian wisdom can as little avert the ruin of the country as it did formerly, in ancient times; its bearers stand confounded and ashamed; nothing will thrive and prosper, vers. 11-15. But the misery produces salutary fruits; it brings about the conversion of Egypt to the G.o.d of Israel, and, with this conversion, a full partic.i.p.ation in all the privileges and blessings of the Kingdom of G.o.d shall be connected, ver.

16, and especially vers. 18-25. This close of the prophecy, which for our purpose is of special consequence, we must still submit to a closer examination.

[Pg 143]

Ver. 18. "_In that day shall be five cities in the land of Egypt which speak the language of Canaan and swear to the Lord of hosts; city of destruction the one shall be called._"

_Five_, as usual, here comes into consideration as the half of _ten_, which number represents the whole; "_five_ cities," therefore, is equivalent to: a goodly number of cities. On the words: "Who speak the language of Canaan," _Gesenius_ remarks: "With the spreading of a certain religion resting on certain doc.u.ments of revelation, as _e.g._ the Jewish religion, the knowledge of their language, too, must be connected." We must not, of course, limit the thought to this, that Hebrew was learned wherever the religion of Jehovah spread. When viewed more deeply, the language of Canaan is spoken by all those who are converted to the true G.o.d. Upon the Greek language, _e.g._ the character of the language of Canaan has been impressed in the New Testament. That language which, from primeval times, has been developed in the service of the Spirit, imparts its character to the languages of the world, and changes their character in their deepest foundation.--"To swear to the Lord" is to do Him homage; Michaelis: _Juramento se Domino obstringent_; comp. chap. xlv. 23: "Unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." In the words: "City of destruction," ???, one shall be called, there is contained an allusion to ??? ???, "_city of the Sun_" (Heliopolis) which was peculiar to one of the chief seats of Egyptian idolatry. It is the celebrated _On_ or _Bethshemish_ of which Jeremiah prophesies in chap. xliii. 13: "And he (Nebuchadnezzar) breaketh the pillars in Beth-shemish, that is in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the G.o.ds of Egypt he burneth with fire." This allusion was perceived as early as by _Jonathan_, who thus paraphrases: "_Urbs domus solis quae destruetur._" By this allusion it is intimated that salvation cannot be bestowed upon the Gentile world in the state in which it is; that punitive justice must prepare the way for salvation: that everywhere the destructive activity of G.o.d must precede that which builds up; that the way to the Kingdom of G.o.d pa.s.ses through the fire of tribulation which must consume every thing that is opposed to G.o.d; compare that which Micah, even in reference to the covenant-people, says regarding the necessity of taking, before giving can have place, vol. i., p. 517.

[Pg 144]

Ver. 19. "_In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord._"

That the altar is to be considered as a "monument" only is a supposition altogether far-fetched, and which can the less find any support in the isolated case, Josh. xxii., that that account clearly enough intimates how decidedly the existence of an altar furnishes a foundation for the supposition that sacrifices are to be offered up there, a supposition intimated by the very name in Hebrew. If it was meant to serve some other purpose, it would have been necessary expressly to state it, or, at least, some other place of sacrifice ought to have been a.s.signed for the sacrifices mentioned in ver. 21.

But as it stands, there cannot be any doubt that the altar here and the sacrifices there belong to one another. This pa.s.sage under consideration is of no little consequence, inasmuch as it shows that, in other pa.s.sages where a going up of the Gentiles to Jerusalem in the Messianic time is spoken of, as, _e.g._, chap. lxvi. 23, we must distinguish between the thought and the embodiment. The _pillar_ at the border bears an inscription by which the land is designated as the property of the Lord, just as it was the custom of the old eastern conquerors, and especially of the Egyptians, to erect such pillars in the conquered territories.

Ver. 20. "_And it is for a sign and for a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: When they cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, He shall send them a Saviour and a Deliverer; and he shall deliver them._"

Altar and pillar, as a sign and witness of the confession to the Lord, are, at the same time, a guarantee of the deliverance to be granted by Him. According to _Gesenius_, the Prophet speaks "without a definite historical reference, of a saving or protecting angel." But we cannot think of an angel on account of the plain reference to the common formula in the Book of Judges, by which it is intimated that, as far as redemption is concerned, Egypt has been made a partaker of the privileges of the covenant-people. It is just this reference which has given rise to the general expression; but it is Christ who is meant; for the prophets, and especially Isaiah, are not cognizant of any other Saviour for the Gentile world [Pg 145] than of Him; and it is He who is suggested by the Messianic character of the whole description.

Ver. 21. "_And the Lord is known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians know the Lord in that day, and offer sacrifice and oblation, and vow vows unto the Lord, and perform them._"

Ver. 22. "_And the Lord smiteth the Egyptians so that He healeth them, and they are converted to the Lord, and He shall be entreated by them, and shall heal them._"

We have here simply a recapitulation. The prophet describes anew the transition from the state of wrath to that of grace--not, as _Drechsler_ thinks, what they experience in the latter. Upon Egypt is fulfilled what, in Deut. x.x.xii. 39, has been said in reference to Israel.

Ver. 23. "_In that day there shall be a highway out of Egypt to a.s.shur, and a.s.shur cometh into Egypt, and Egypt into a.s.shur, and Egypt serveth with a.s.shur._"

??? with ?? has commonly the signification "to serve some one;" here, however, ?? is used as a preposition: Egypt serves G.o.d _with_ a.s.shur.

Yet there is an allusion to the ordinary use of ??? with ?? in order to direct attention to the wonderful change: First, Egypt serves a.s.shur, and the powers that follow its footsteps; then, it serves _with_ a.s.shur. Here also it becomes manifest that the deliverer in ver. 20 is no ordinary human deliverer; for such an one could help his people only by inflicting injury upon the hostile power.

Ver. 24. "_In that day Israel shall be the third with Egypt and with a.s.shur, a blessing in the midst of the earth._"

The "blessing" is not "that union of people formerly separated," but it is _Israel_ from which the blessing is poured out upon all the other nations; compare the fundamental pa.s.sage, Gen. xii. 1-3, and the word of the Lord: ? s?t???a ?? t?? ???da??? ?st?, John iv. 22.

Ver. 25. "_For the Lord of Hosts blesseth him, saying: Blessed be Egypt my people, and a.s.shur the work of mine hands, and Israel mine inheritance._"

The suffix in ??? refers to every thing mentioned in ver. 24. "a.s.syria and Egypt are called by epithets which elsewhere are wont to be bestowed upon Israel only."

It is scarcely necessary to point out how gloriously this, [Pg 146]

prophecy was fulfilled; how, at one time, there existed a flouris.h.i.+ng Church in Egypt. Although the candlestick of that Church be now removed from its place ("_Satanas in hac gente sevit zizania_"--_Vitringa_), yet we are confident of, and hope for, a future in which this prophecy shall anew powerfully manifest itself The broken power of the Mahommedan delusion opens up the prospect, that the time in which this hope is to be realized is drawing nigh.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE BURDEN UPON TYRE.

In the view of Sennacherib's invasion, the eyes of the Prophet are opened, so that he beholds the future destinies of the nations within his horizon. It is under these circ.u.mstances that it is revealed to him that Tyre also, which, not long before, had successfully resisted the attack of a.s.shur, and had imagined herself to be invincible, would not, for any length of time, be able to resist the attack of the Asiatic world's power.

The threatening goes on to ver. 14; it is, in ver. 13, concentrated in the words: "Behold the land of the Chaldeans, this people which was not, which a.s.shur a.s.signs to the beasts of the wilderness,--they set up their watch-towers, they arouse her palaces, they bring them to ruin."

The correct explanation of this verse has been given by _Delitzsch_ in his Commentary on Habakkuk, S. xxi. Before the capture of Tyre could be a.s.signed to the Chaldeans, it was necessary to point out that they should overthrow a.s.shur, the representative of the world's power in the time of the Prophet. The Chaldeans, a people which, up to that time, were not reckoned in the list of the kingdoms of the world, destroy, in some future period, the a.s.syrian power, and shall then inflict upon Tyre that destruction which a.s.shur intended in vain to bring upon it.