62. Some Trusted in Chariots

Hymns: RHC 43 God Is Still On the Throne 353 God Will Take Care of You 354 God Leads Us Along

Isaiah 18:1-7

¹ Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: ² That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled! ³ All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. ⁴ For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. ⁵ For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. ⁶ They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. ⁷ In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled, and from a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, the mount Zion.

Some Trusted in Chariots

OUTLINE

(1)  Trusting the LORD

(2)  Submitting to the LORD

INTRODUCTION

The people of Ethiopia (ancient Cush) sent ambassadors to Israel, hoping to form a strong alliance against Assyria, but the venture was doomed to fail. God was not in it, because all of man’s clever ideas are worthless if they run contrary to the will of God (1 Corinthians 3:18-20).

1 Corinthians 3:18-20 (KJV) Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

The Assyrian invasion was God’s plan, and He would not intervene until He accomplished His divine purposes. He would hover over the scene like summer heat or the morning dew (v3-4). When the time was right, He would reap the harvest (v5) and leave the corpses to the scavengers (v6). It is not a very pretty scene, but that is the way civilization is moving today (Matthew 24:28; Rev. 19:17-21).

Matthew 24:28 (KJV) For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

Revelation 19:17-21 (KJV) And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.

Those clean-shaven ambassadors should have gone to Jerusalem with a gift for the Lord. They should have been humble worshippers, not haughty negotiators (v7), and trusted in the God of Israel, not their armies or treaties (Psalm 20:7). [Wiersbe]

His introductory word may be a cry of anguish or it may simply be designed to point out the great distance of the people of whom he is about to speak.’’

(1)  Trusting the LORD

¹ Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:

The language is arresting, and prepares the hearer for a description of the nation to be addressed. This nation is said to be a land of the rustling of wings, or “the buzzing insect of wings.” We may not be able to identify the insect precisely, but it may be that the prophet had in mind the tsetse fly which is found in Ethopia. It was sufficiently obnoxious that Moses should mention it as a punishment to be brought against the Israelites.

Deuteronomy 28:42 (KJV) All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume.

The prophet’s purpose was to mention Ethiopia to show that its swarming hordes were like insects. For that reason he mentions the wings. When insects have wings they can fly and accomplish devastating purposes.

Ethiopia’s armies are equipped for foraging and conquering. They have all the capabilities of insects provided with wings.

This land which Isaiah mentions is said to be beyond the rivers of Cush, and hence, at a great distance. In Cush is the Nile with its tributaries, yet even beyond these, farther to the south, is the land which Isaiah mentions. [EJ Young]

Whatever country it is that is meant here by “the land shadowing with wings,” here is a woe denounced against it, for God has, upon His people’s account, a quarrel with it. They threaten God’s people (v1-2). All the neighbours are hereupon called to take notice what will be the issue (v3). Though God seem unconcerned in the distress of his people for a time, he will at length appear against their enemies and will remarkable cut them off (v4-6). This shall redound very much to the glory of God (v7).

² That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

Here is the attempt made by this land (whatever it is) upon a nation scattered and peeled (v2). Swift messengers are sent by water to proclaim war against them, as a nation marked by Providence, and meted out, to be trodden under foot. Whether this refer to the Ethiopians waging war with the Assyrians, or the Assyrians with Judah, it teaches us, that a people which have been terrible from their beginning, have made a figure and borne a mighty sway, may yet become scattered and peeled, and may be spoiled even by their own rivers, that should enrich both the husbandman and the merchant. Nations which have been formidable, and have kept all in awe about them, may by a concurrence of incidents become despicable and an easy prey to their insulting neighbours.

Princes and states that are ambitious of enlarging their territories will always have some pretence or other to quarrel with those whose countries they have a mind to. “It is a nation that has been terrible, and therefore we must be revenged on it; it is now a nation scattered and peeled, meted out and trodden down, and therefore it will be an easy prey for us.” Perhaps it was not brought so low as they represented it. God’s people are trampled on as a nation scattered and peeled; but whoever think to swallow them up may find them still as terrible as they have been from their beginning; they are cast down, but not deserted, not destroyed.

³ All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.

The alarm sounded to the nations about, by which they are summoned to take notice of what God is about to do (v3). The Ethiopians and Assyrians have their counsels and designs, which they have laid deep, and promise themselves much from, and, in prosecution of them, send their ambassadors and messengers from place to place; but let us now enquire what the great God says to all this.

He lifts up an ensign upon the mountains, and blows a trumpet, by which he proclaims war against the enemies of his church, and calls in all her friends and well-wishers into her service (v3). He gives notice that he is about to do some great work, as Lord of hosts.

All the world is bidden to take notice of it; all the dwellers on earth must see the ensign and hear the trumpet, must observe the motions of the divine providence and attend the directions of the divine will. Let all enlist under God’s banner, and be on his side, and hearken to the trumpet of his word, which gives not an uncertain sound.

(2)  Submitting to the LORD

⁴ For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.

The assurance God gives to His prophet, by him to be given to His people, that, though He might seem for a time to sit by as an unconcerned spectator, yet He would certainly and seasonably appear for the comfort of His people and the confusion of His and their enemies (v4): So the Lord said unto me. Men will have their saying, but God also will have his; and, as we may be sure his word shall stand, so he often whispers it in the ears of his servants the prophets.

When he says, I will take my rest, it is not as if He were weary of governing the world, of as if He either needed or desired to retire from it and repose Himself; but it intimates that the great God has a perfect, undisturbed, enjoyment of Himself, in the midst of all the agitations and changes of this world (the Lord sits even upon the floods unshaken; the Eternal Mind is always easy), and, though He may sometimes seem to His people as if he took not wonted notice of what is done in this lower world (they are tempted to think He is as one asleep, or as one astonished), yet even then he knows very well what men are doing and what He Himself will do.

Psalm 44:23 (KJV) Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, cast us not off for ever.

Jeremiah 14:9 (KJV) Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.

He will take care of His people, and be a shelter to them. He will regard His dwelling-place; His eye and His heart are, and shall be, upon it for good continually. Zion is His rest for ever, where He will dwell; and He will look after it; He will lift up the light of His countenance upon it, will consider over it what is to be done, and will be sure to do all for the best. He will adapt the comforts and refreshments he provides for his people to the exigencies of their case; and they will therefore be acceptable, because seasonable.

Like a clear heat after rain, which is very reviving and pleasant, and makes the herbs to flourish. Like a dew and a cloud in the heat of harvest, which are very welcome, the dew to the ground and the cloud to the labourers. There is that in God which is a shelter and refreshment to His people in all weathers and arms them against the inconveniences of every change. Is the weather cool? There is that in His favour which will warm them. Is it hot? There is that in His favour which will cool them. Great men have their winter-house and their summer-house (Amos 3:15); but those that are at home with God have both in Him.

Amos 3:15 (KJV) And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.

⁵ For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches. ⁶ They shall be left together unto the fowls of the mountains, and to the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall summer upon them, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them.

He will reckon with His and their enemies (v5-6). When the Assyrian army promises itself a plentiful harvest in the taking of Jerusalem and the plundering of that rich city, when the bud of that project is perfect, before the harvest is gathered in, while the sour grape of their enmity to Hezekiah and his people is ripening in the flower and the design is just ready to be put in execution, God shall destroy that army as easily as the husbandman cuts off the sprigs of the vine with pruning hooks, or because the grape is sour and good for nothing, and will not be cured, takes away and cuts down the branches.

This seems to point at the overthrow of the Assyrian army by a destroying angel, when the dead bodies of the soldiers were scattered like the branches and sprigs of a wild vine, which the husbandman has cut to pieces. And they shall be left to the fowls of the mountains, and the beasts of the earth, to prey upon, both winter and summer; for as God’s people are protected all seasons of the year, both in cold and heat (v4), so their enemies are at all seasons exposed; birds and beasts of prey shall both summer and winter upon them, till they are quite ruined.

The tribute of praise which should be brought to God from all this (v7): In that time, when this shall be accomplished, shall the present be brought unto the Lord of hosts.

Some understand this of the conversion of the Ethiopians to the faith of Christ in the latter days, of which we have the specimen and beginning in Philip’s baptizing the Ethiopian eunuch.

Acts 8:27 (KJV) And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

Those that were a people scattered and peeled, meted out, and trodden down (v2), shall be a present to the Lord: and, though they seem useless and worthless, they shall be an acceptable present to him who judges of men by the sincerity of their faith and love, not by the pomp and prosperity of their outward condition.

Therefore the gospel was ministered to the Gentiles that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable (Romans 15:16).

Romans 15:16 (KJV) That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

It is prophesied (Psalm 83:31) that Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.

Psalm 68:31 (KJV) Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.

Others understand it of the spoil of Sennacherib’s army, out of which, as usual, presents were brought to the Lord of hosts (Numbers 31:50).

Numbers 31:50 (KJV) We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the LORD.

It was the present of a people scattered and peeled. It was won from the Assyrians, who were now themselves reduced to such a condition as they scornfully described Judah to be in (v1). Those that unjustly trample upon others shall themselves be justly trampled upon. It was offered by the people of God, who were, in disdain, called a people scattered and peeled. God will put honour upon His people, though men put contempt upon them. Lastly, the present that is brought to the Lord of hosts must be brought to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts; what is offered to God must be offered in the way that He has appointed; we must be sure to attend Him, and expect Him to meet us, where He records His name.