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    him a magnificent present of the sHyer and gold which he found in the house of the Lord , and in the treasures of the king ' s house ( 2 Kings xvi . 7 , 8 ) , God is always gracious , patient and long-suffering . He is willing , before Ahaz absolutely and entirely casts him off , by trusting in princes instead of Jehovah , in an arm of flesh instead

    of the Most High , to try Wm , by clearly manifesting mercy and love in the midst of deserved judgment . Hence , when Ahaz is alarmed at the tidings that Syria and Israel are confederate against him , God sends the prophet Isaiah to give him comfort , and console Mm with the assurance , that

    though Syria and Israel had taken counsel against him , yet it should ifot stand , neither should it come to pass ( Isa . vii . 2 , 3 , 5 , 7—9 ) . " The head of Syria is Damascus , and the head of Damascus is Rezin ; the head of Ephraim ( or Israel ) is Samaria , and the head of Samaria is Remaliah ' s son

    ( Pekah ) . Within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken , that it be not a people . " Such are the tidings of comfort which Isaiah the prophet brought from the Lord to Anafc the king—tidings which , had he believed in God , would have allayed his fears and filled his heart with confidence

    and joy . To this it is added , " If ye will not believe , surely ye shall not be established *—an intimation this to Ahaz , that though such as is mentioned in the 16 th verse would be the fate of

    Samaria and Pekah and Rezin , yet he must not thence indulge a confidence , and rejoice in the expectation that he and his posterity would therefore be secure in possession of the crown and kingdom of Judah . For though he would be saved from the bands of his

    present enemies , yet unless he believed in the Lord , and turned his heart towards him , neither should he be established : his setfyirity and confidence would be tfietf of only short duration . It * a little tliiie the Lord

    would bring ti&aift&t him othei * efaemies who should mtefully fysirass him , tod who ahall finatlty btfki £ Mm irfcto aubiection , reduce Ms kihgtfbiii wder « Ke ! r dominion , £ ffkce all ft * \ & ® tf , * && ttiStfy away thfe ytft < Wfe ttfeiWfr < # ¦ itfwirar Jtfty atid ca ^ ratwa : ^ itit generally agreed in tmt interpre-

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    tation of t $ ie prophecy , and as to the meaning of wharttte prophet had declared . The variety of opinion and difference of interpretation arise from what follows from the 10 th to the 16 th verse inclusive . But the chief difficulty lies in the 14 th , 15 th and 16 th verses . There is a general agreement with respect to the explanation of the others , except so far as that

    interpretation may be affected by the meaning given to the three verses just mentioned . ** Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahai , " or as it is in the margin , and literally translated frpm the Hebrew , And the Lord added to speak

    unto Ah&z ; he ,, at that time , after having mentioned what occurs in the preceding verses , continued to speak unto Ahaz , saying , as it there follows ; or , if it was at another time , it was nevertheless relating to the same things on which he had already spoken to him , or to such as were in some

    way immediately connected with them — "Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God , " which it was then usual for m £ n to ask and fbr God to grant , in confirmation of what had been

    declared by the month , of the prophet ; %€ ask it either in the dteptli or in the height abovfe /* you are at liberty to choose the sign from any thing on earth , or any thing in heaven , according to what you may deem most convincing and satisfactory to your own mind . " 'But Ahaz said , I will not ask for

    a sign , neither will I tempt the Lord /' Not that he hearkened and readily believed , without any such ! sign , what G 6 d had declared , and , therefore , did not need one for the confirmation of his faith , did he reftise to choose a

    sign ; but because he was an idolater , walking in the ways of the kings ot Israel , and his heart being alienated from Jehovah he hardened himself in his iniquity / and refused to turn to the Lord , and give ear to his words by the mouth of the prophet . " And he , " the Lord , or rather the ptophet by thfc command of the Lord , ( for it is said , " my God , " ) said , " Hci ^ r ye now , O house of David , of wHicli femily was Ahaz , hearKen

    WMto . " Is it a feaU thing for yoa tfr vkkri & ** , " by fltespising what m # --- a * ti « HH * tti ^ w&tinfe ^ e ? , !™ em&Mg teHitfifc' ; " wst wrf » y °

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    498 Mr . S . freeman on the J ^ rophecies of Isaiah , ch . vii .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1823, page 498, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1788/page/2/