Commentary on Isaiah, Commentary on Isaiah · Chapter 1 · Verse 19 – Verse 20
Verſ. 19. If yee will conſent and obey, yee ſhall eate the good things of the land.
ISaiah ſtill pleades the cauſe of God againſt the people: and in briefe affirmes, that all the calamities which the people ſuſteined ought to be imputed to their owne default: and that they were to blame themſelues for not recouering a more happie and comfortable eſtate. Why ſo? Becauſe God for his part is alwaies readie to pardon their ſinnes, if they harden not their owne hearts againſt him. But for as much as it ſeemes, that the Prophet placeth felicitie here, in the will and power of man, Obiect. the Papiſts contend with open mouth that men hauehave power of their owne free mouing to doe good or euill. Is it ſo? Anſ. As if God diſcourſed here how great the abilitie of men is; when hee accuſeth their obſtinacie. But he ſhould then ſay in vaine, Obiect. if yee will conſent, if ſo be it were not in their power. I anſwere, Anſ. that howſoeuer the choice bee not in our owne power, as they would make vsus beleeue it is, yet God iuſtly chargeth ſinners to be the voluntarie authors of their euils, becauſe they pull downe the wrath of God vponupon their owne heads willingly, and without conſtraint. I grant then, that it is a ſpeciall gift of God for a man to endeuour to doe good: but it is alſo as true, that the wickednes of reprobates hindreth them from applying themſelues thereunto: and therefore that al the fault of their hardning abides and remaines in themſelues. And hereupon dependes this reproach, namely, That the people might hauehave had an happie iſſue, and a comfortable life, if they would hauehave become teachable and obedient to God. For ſeeing that of his owne nature hee deſires nothing more then to doe good, we may iuſtly impute it vntounto our owne malice, and vnthankfulnes, that this liberalitie which hee daily offereth, comes not vntounto vsus.
On the contrarie, he addes a terrible and grieuous threatning, to wit, that the vengeance of God is readie to ſeaſe vponupon them, to the end they might feele that the contemners of God ſhall not remaine vnpuniſhed. We muſt alſo note that there is but one only rule of well liuing; that is, the obedience which wee yeeld vntounto God, and to his word. Alſo in theſe words, there is a trāſported ſentence by a figure which wee call Hypallage, becauſe the ſpeech ſhould be reſolued thus, If you be of a readie mind, and hauehave full conſent of will to obey; or elſe thus, and yet in the ſame ſenſe: If ye hearken and obey me, and my word. Seing then that God placeth the felicitie of men in obedience, it followes that our life is then well ordered when wee heare God ſpeak…ng, and that we obey him in all things. Now wee may ſee how great the wickednes of men is when they vouchſafe not to lend their eare to God, but reiect the felicitie which hee offereth and prepareth for them. Truely their froward affections ought to bee timed, to the end that whilſt theſe poore wretches draw the wrath of God vponupon their owne heads, they might not wittingly and willingly caſt themſelues headlong vponupon the edge of the ſword. Wee muſt note alſo, that in the verſe followin,g which is the concluſion, he threatens them with extreame ruine, if ſo be they ſtill continue to rebell obſtinately againſt God.
The good things of the earth.] He meanes the fruites which the earth brings forth for the neceſſitie of our life. For the earth ſeemes to bee ſomewhat vnkind when it brings not forth her fruites, but keeps them as it were in her boſome. Although I make no queſtion but hee alludes to the promiſes of the law, where God promiſeth that he will bleſſe the ground of ſuch as walke in his commandements, that they may hauehave abundance of all good things. And yet hee offereth not the commodities of this life vntounto vsus to the end he would ſtay vsus in an earthly felicity, which hypocrits indeed only gape after, wholly imploying all their wits thereabouts: but that by the contemplation thereof, we ſhould lift vp our minds to the heauenly and ſpirituall felicity: as alſo that by the taſte of his ſo great goodnes he might accuſtome vsus to relliſh the eſtate of eternall happines. Now the ancient people were inured rather to be called by ſuch ſhadowes and reſemblances to the heauenly inheritance, namely; by the taſte of earthly benefits. And this difference is well to be noted, that we may applie this doctrine to our vſe according to that degree whereunto God hath been pleaſed to exalt vsus. Now the Prophet would teach vsus that true felicity, with the complements thereof, conſiſts in the obedience of God: alſo, that the wicked, in rebelling againſt him, doe draw vponupon themſelues all manner of calamities: and that we therfore ought to impute all the euils which we endure, to our ſinnes and rebellions, as to the proper cauſe thereof.
Verſ. 20. But if yee refuſe and be rebellious, yee ſhall be deuoured with the ſword: for the mouth of the Lord hath ſpoken it.
TThe wicked alwaies thinke the puniſhments which they ſuffer are farre greater then their fault, although God deale mercifully and fauourably with them. And howſoeuer they dare not wholly iuſtifie themſelues; yet notwithſtanding they ceaſe not (as we hauehave ſaid heretofore) to accuſe him of too great ſeueritie. But the Prophet ſhewes how there ſhall bee no end of their plagues which they often ſuffer, till they bee wholly conſumed: as alſo that there are yet more heauie chaſtiſements prepared for them of God, that they ſhould not imagine to eſcape with thoſe light fillips wherewith they were hitherto ſmitten. The Papiſts wreſt this place to eſtabliſh their free will. And thus they reaſon: If men be happie when they will obey God, then it followes that it is in their owne power to will. Behold a childiſh argument. For the Lord by the mouth of his Prophet diſputes not what or how great our power of will is to good or euill: but admoniſheth, that it is by our owne default that we enioy not the abundance of all good things: and further that the neceſſities wherewith wee bee pinched, are the iuſt rewards of our diſobedience and rebellion. Now there is great ods betwixt demanding, whether a man bee able to make his will which is euill, good; and, whether by his wicked will (which is his owne by nature) hee drawes vponupon himſelfe all the plagues which he endureth. Theſe ſubtile and craftie doctors therfore do vniuſtly and falſelie ground their doctrine of free choice of good and euill vponupon this place.
For the mouth of the Lord hath ſpoken it.] Becauſe threatnings ordinarily doe not much moue ſuch as are carried away with their inordinate deſires and luſts, the Prophet to the end he might awaken them from out of their ſo great drouſines, admoniſheth them that this ſentence proceeds not from the mouth of a mortall man, but that it is come out of the mouth of the eternall God, who is not mutable as men are, but is alwaies as good as his word. He ſets the authoritie of God before them then to feare and terrifie them; to the end that ſuch among them as were fallen into a dead ſleepe in their vices, might earneſtly giuegive themſelues to hearken to his threatnings.