Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Isaiah 49:24

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Isaiah 49:24. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty - "Shall the prey seized by the terrible be rescued"] For צדיק tsaddik, read עריץ arits. A palpable mistake, like that in Isaiah 42:19. The correction is self-evident from the very terms of the sentence; from the necessity of the strict correspondence in the expressions between the question and the answer made to it, - and it is apparent to the blindest and most prejudiced eye. However, if authority is also necessary, there is that of the Syriac and Vulgate for it; who plainly read עריץ arits, in Isaiah 49:24 as well as in Isaiah 49:25, rendering it in the former place by the same word as in the latter. - L.

These two last verses contain a glorious promise of deliverance to the persecuted Church of Christ from the terrible one - Satan, and all his representatives and vicegerents, persecuting antichristian rulers. They shall at last cease from destroying the Church of God, and destroy one another.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Israel rebuilt (49:8-50:3)

Once more God promises the return of the captive Jews to their homeland. God will protect them along the journey and help them as they rebuild their ruined country (8-10). Whether exiled in Babylon or scattered in other places, the people will return home amid much rejoicing (11-13).
Some of the Jews thought God had forgotten them. God now shows that for him this is impossible (14-16). Israel will return and rebuild its homeland. Opponents who try to ruin Israel’s work will not be successful and will leave in shame and defeat (17-18). People born in exile will flock to the rebuilt Jerusalem. The land previously uninhabited and in ruins will become well populated and prosperous again (19-21). Scattered Jews in other countries will also return, helped by generous aid from the nations among whom they have lived (22-23).
Among the exiles were some who apparently doubted the prophet’s promise of restoration, for Babylon seemed unconquerable. How can a captive people possibly be freed when they are in the grip of such a powerful tyrant (24)? God replies that he can do it. He reminds the doubting exiles that he is the all-powerful God and Israel’s covenant redeemer. He will crush the Babylonians in a judgment suited to the cruel oppression that they inflicted on their helpless victims (25-26).
Other Jews blamed God for their troubles, as if he had cast them off like a husband who divorces his wife or a father who sells his children to pay off his debts. God replies that they have no evidence to support such an accusation, for he has neither ‘divorced’ them nor ‘sold’ them. Rather their sins are the cause of their troubles (50:1). They ignored God when he spoke to them through his servants the prophets. But he still loves them and has the power to save them. Nothing in all creation can withstand his power (2-3).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

"Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive be delivered? But thus saith Jehovah, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered; for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, Jehovah, am thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

Here is God's dogmatic promise to deliver Israel from Babylonian captivity. He will feed the captors with their own flesh, and make them drunk with their own blood. This language seems to be metaphorical with the meaning, "Not that the Babylonians would literally resort to cannibalism, but that they would destroy themselves through civil war and internal strife."Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 332.

It will be remembered that Cyrus' siege of Babylon went on for quite a long time before Babylon was captured; and Rawlinson explains how this prophecy was fulfilled during that interval:

"The prophecy meant that civil disunion would break the power of Babylon and render her an easy prey to the Persians. Recently discovered inscriptions clearly show that this was the case. Nabonidus had alienated the affection of his subjects by changes in the religion of the country, and during the course of the war with Cyrus, many Babylonian tribes went over to the invaders and fought against their own countrymen (from the Cylinder of Nabonidus)."Pulpit Commentary, Vol. II, p. 234.

Despite the application of these last two verses to the breaking of Babylonian power and the delivery of the captives, there is a much more universal prophecy here of the ultimate victory of the New Israel, the Church of our Lord, over a more powerful enemy than Babylon, namely, Satan himself. As Clarke accurately stated:

"These last two verses contain a glorious promise of deliverance to the persecuted Church of Christ from the "terrible one," Satan, and all his representatives and vicegerents, and persecuting anti-Christian rulers. They shall at last cease from persecuting the Church of God, and destroy one another."Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (London: T. Mason and G. Lane, 1837), Vol. IV, p. 195.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty? - This seems to be the language of Zion. It is not exactly the language of incredulity; it is the language of amazement and wonder. God had made great promises. He had promised a restoration of the captive Jews to their own land, and of their complete deliverance from the power of the Chaldeans. He had still further promised that the blessings of the true religion should be extended to the Gentiles, and that kings and queens should come and show the profoundest adoration for God and for his cause. With amazement and wonder at the greatness of these promises, with a full view of the difficulties to be surmounted, Zion asks here how it can be accomplished. It would involve the work of taking the prey from a mighty conqueror, and delivering the captive from the hand of the strong and the terrible - a work which had not been usually done.

Or the lawful captive delivered? - Margin, ‘The captivity of the just.’ Lowth reads this, ‘Shall the prey seized by the terrible be rescued?’ So Noyes. Lowth says of the present Hebrew text, that the reading is a ‘palpable mistake;’ and that instead of צדיק tsadiyq (“the just”), the meaning should be עריץ ‛ârı̂yts (“the terrible”). Jerome so read it, and renders it, A robusto - ‘The prey taken by the strong.’ So the Syriac reads it. The Septuagint renders it, ‘If anyone is taken captive unjustly (ἀδίκως adikōs), shall he be saved?’ But there is no authority from the manuscripts for changing the present reading of the Hebrew text; and it is not necessary. The word ‘just,’ here may either refer to the fact that the just were taken captive, and to the difficulty of rescuing them; or perhaps, as Rosenmuller suggests, it may be taken in the sense of severe, or rigid, standing opposed to benignity or mercy, and thus may be synonymous with severity and harshness; and the meaning may be that it was difficult to rescue a captive from the hands of those who had no clemency or benignity, such as was Babylon. Grotius understands it of those who were taken captive in a just war, or by the rights of war. But the connection rather demands that we should interpret it of those who were made captive by those who were indisposed to clemency, and who were severe and rigid in their treatment of their prisoners. The idea is, that it was difficult or almost impossible to rescue captives from such hands, and that therefore it was a matter of wonder and amazement that that could be accomplished which God here promises.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

24.Shall the prey be taken from the mighty? Having solved, in the former verse, an objection which might occur to the mind of believers, he now confirms that solution still more; for it might have been thought incredible that the Jews should be rescued out of the hands of so powerful an enemy, by whom they had been taken in fair battle and reduced to slavery, He therefore adds this question as uttered by the whole of the common people, among whom it probably flew universally from mouth to mouth; and he immediately replies, as we shall sec.

Shall the captivity of the righteous (or,the righteous captivity) be delivered? And we ought, first, to observe this metaphor, that the Church is called “the prey of the mighty” and “the captivity of the righteous,” that is, lawful captivity. He is said to be the “righteous” possessor who is the lawful possessor; just as the prey, when the war has been righteous, passes into the hands of a righteous possessor. ⁽¹³⁾ Such was the condition of the ancient people, after having been driven into captivity; for, along with their native country, they had lost their liberty, and were entirely in the power, and at the disposal, of the conqueror. And yet we ought carefully to observe this metaphor, that the Church is oppressed by the tyranny of princes, and exposed to the jaws of wolves, and nevertheless is supposed to be their “just” prey. This is, indeed, shamefully wicked; but thus were our fathers treated, and we are not more virtuous or more excellent than our fathers.

(13) “Quand la guerre est juste, celuy qui prend la prove est juste possesseur d’icelle.” “When the war is righteous, he who takes the prey is the righteous possessor of it.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 49

Now in chapter 49, we have a fabulous prophecy of Jesus Christ in the first seven verses as God speaks of the Redeemer that He is sending.

Listen, O coasts, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; For the LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me ( Isaiah 49:1-2 );

You go back to Psalms 22:1-31 , that glorious prophetic Messianic psalm of David, and we read there in Psalms 22:1-31 verse Isaiah 49:8 , or no, verse Isaiah 49:9 : "But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly" ( Psalms 22:9-10 ). And that is the equivalent here to, "Thou hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hast thou made mention of my name. You have made my mouth like a sharp sword." We are told that the word the goes forth out of his mouth is like a sharp, two-edged sword--Revelation. "In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me."

And he said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel ( Isaiah 49:3 ),

And in this Israel is the true name expressed. That is in Christ, he was a man who was governed by God.

in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have labored in vain ( Isaiah 49:3-4 ),

"For He came to His own, His own received Him not" ( John 1:11 ). He was despised and rejected. He was crucified. He said, "I have labored in vain."

I have spent my strength for nothing, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God ( Isaiah 49:4 ).

As they rejected Him, as they despised Him, His coming to them was in vain.

And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him ( Isaiah 49:5 ),

The purpose of Jesus Christ was to bring Jacob back to God, back to the Father, and to restore the preserved of Israel. "I will also give thee." Beg your pardon, I jumped.

Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength. And he said, It is a light thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the eaRuth ( Isaiah 49:5-6 ).

And so Jesus, who was rejected by the Jews, has become a light unto the Gentiles, and the gospel of Jesus Christ has come unto us who were once alienated from God and far off from the promises. But through Him, we've been brought nigh. Oh, thank God for the light of Jesus Christ unto the Gentiles.

Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despised, to him whom the nation abhorred, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, because of the LORD that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, and he shall choose thee ( Isaiah 49:7 ).

So the work of Christ among the Gentiles, the kings worshipping and so forth as the gospel of Jesus Christ has permeated many kingdoms of the Gentiles. Now even so, God is going to preserve the people of Israel.

Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That you may say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in the high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them ( Isaiah 49:8-10 ).

This brings to mind in Revelation chapter 7, "And they shall hunger and thirst no more and neither shall the sun shine upon them and all." And it is equivalent to Revelation 7:16 .

And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of [China] Sinim ( Isaiah 49:11-12 ).

Is the land of the east.

Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me ( Isaiah 49:13-14 ).

Now He speaks here about the fact that He's going to bring them back again. He'll gather them from the north and from the west and from the east. And yet they are going to say, "The Lord has forsaken me." And you go today and the declaration of so many Jews is, "Where was God during the Holocaust? God has forsaken us." And they are still proclaiming that God has forsaken them. But God said,

Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? well, they may forget, but I will not forget thee ( Isaiah 49:15 ).

They accused God of forsaking them. God said, "No way. I haven't forgotten you. Can a nursing mother forget her nursing child?"

You remember in Psalms 137:1-9 is the psalm of Babylonian captivity, "When we were in Babylon by the rivers we sat down. We wept when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps on the willows in the midst thereof. And they that had carried us away captive said, 'Sing us one of your songs.' And they required some happy songs from us saying, 'Sing one of the songs of Zion.' But how shall we sing the Lord's songs in a strange land?" ( Psalms 137:1-4 ) Now some of the old rabbis say that the next two verses are God's response to this cry. And that it was actually God who declared, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy" ( Psalms 137:4-6 ). And some of the old rabbis say that that is God speaking there in response to the people who were captives in Babylon, who said, "God has forgotten us. God has forsaken us." And, of course, here God said, "Can a mother forsake her or forget her nursing child? She would not have compassion, well she might. But I won't forget." You might find case where you say, "Well, there's a mother forgot." God says, "It's all right, but I still won't."

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. Your children shall make haste; your destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? ( Isaiah 49:16-21 )

So he speaks about them coming into the land and being prospered and the land being too small for them and their desire to extend and expand their borders.

Now the regathering and the rebuilding of the nation Israel has been a very remarkable thing in our days. And God's purposes are to be fulfilled there. It's exciting, because God fulfilled His promise. He's brought them back in the land. They are dwelling there. But they are seeking to expand. They say, "The area that we have is too small." And if you look at it, it is a very small area. Not much. Well, actually, you can drive from one side of Israel to the other in two hours; you can drive from one end to the other in six hours. Gives you the idea of the size of Israel. It's two hours wide and six hours long driving in a car. But it's about 5,800 years deep. The history that is there in the land goes back.

Now there are those who see an interesting scenario arising in the Middle East right now. I've heard some Bible scholars suggest the possibility and some analysts, and I've talked to some Israelis who have suggested also the possibility, that the next outbreak of warfare over there in the Middle East, that Israel plans for it to be the last outbreak by so thoroughly defeating all of those who have risen against them that they will not be able to rise against them again. They intend to thoroughly thrash their enemies. All of the Arab states that have been giving them such a bad time, they are planning to go full on against the Arab world. And a part of their plan, very shrewd indeed, is to take Saudi Arabia and immediately cut the price of oil in half. And who in the world would object? That's pretty smart. You see, our world problems today, especially the problem of starving, the great starvation that is coming in the third world is all the result of the increased oil prices. The whole problem that we're having here with inflation, our whole problem of economy is based to the increased oil prices. That's where it all comes from.

Now the byproducts of the oil, the fertilizers and the chemical fertilizers that help grow the crops have become so expensive that your food bill has gone up tremendously. The whole inflationary cycle can be placed on the increased oil prices. And it is a thing that is actually causing millions of people to starve to death in the third world. Because they do not have the economic base to afford the worldwide inflation that has ensued from the increased oil prices. Now those men in Libya, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, they could care less what havoc they've wrecked upon the world. And when the Israelis go in and take the oil and cut the prices in half, everybody is going to hail them as the heroes, because suddenly this whole problem of world economy is going to be reversed. Price of gasoline will go down, price of raw materials will go down. The whole thing comes back to the oil. So it's a wise plan, and who's going to object?

So God speaks here that they're going to say, "Hey, we need to expand our borders. There's not enough room." The land will be too narrow for you by reason of the inhabitants.

Thus saith the Lord GOD ( Isaiah 49:22 ),

Now God here speaks of the judgment He's going to bring on their oppressors.

Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring their sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me ( Isaiah 49:22-23 ).

The glorious day of Israel's future when the kings of the earth come and pay their homage year by year.

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contends with you, and I will save thy children ( Isaiah 49:24-25 ).

God is saying, "I'll fight with those that fight with you." So any nation or any people that opposes the Jews is not just contending with a race of people. They are contending with the eternal God of heaven.

And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob ( Isaiah 49:26 ).

The whole world will know it, and of course, God tells us in that day that He destroys the invading Russian army with her allies shall the whole world know that I am God. And I'll be sanctified before the nations of the earth.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Zion’s prominence before God 49:14-26

God had not forgotten Israel. Even though He would leave her for a time, He would re-gather all her children from all over the world to Himself. Therefore she should continue to trust in Him.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Isaiah addressed an objection that some in his audience evidently entertained. Is it possible that Yahweh could really overturn the power of the mighty nations that scattered the Israelites and kept them from their land? Of course! God had already rescued Israel from one mighty man at the Exodus. Typically, mighty men and tyrants tenaciously cling to their prey and captives.

The Masoretic Text presents the tyrants as righteous. If accurate, the meaning would be: "Can a captor who has every right to his captives be deprived of them?" The answer (Isaiah 49:25) would be: "The Lord will do what is right to redeem His people as well as exercise His power to do so."

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Shall the prey be taken from the mighty,.... This is an objection to the accomplishment of what is predicted and promised above, taken from the power of the enemy, and his right to detain the people; and are either the words of the nations among whom the Jews were, according to Kimchi, boasting of, and presuming upon, and opposing to what is said, both their might and right, to keep the people in their own hands, bidding as it were defiance to any to attempt to take them from them; or the words of the prophet, in the name of the people, as Aben Ezra, objecting to their deliverance, doubting the effecting of it, or admiring at it: it may be applied to the taking of the Lord's people out of the hands of Satan, who may be said to be "mighty" or "strong", as he appears to be from his nature, a spirit; from his names, the strong man armed, a roaring lion, the great red dragon, leviathan, the piercing serpent, c. and from his power and dominion over the evil angels, and over men, both their bodies and souls; and to whom the Lord's own people are a "prey", while they are in a state of nature, as all mankind, and every unconverted man, be; a difficult thing it is to take any out of his hands, and a wonder of grace it is when it is done:

or the lawful captive delivered? justly and lawfully taken captive in war, as the Jews were by the Babylonians: or, "the captivity of the righteous be delivered" t; that is, either the righteous who were taken captives; or those that took them, who were so in their opinion, at least with respect to the taking of them, doing, as they judged, what was lawful and just. The people of God are in their state of nature led by Satan at his will, and are lawful captives in the judgment of him, and his principalities; and are in reality taken in war by him, and not only led captive by him at his will, but with their own will, and are justly given up unto him. Perhaps all this may be better referred to the people of God being a prey to the Romish antichrist, and detained as a lawful captive by him, and to the difficult and wonderful deliverance of them from him in the latter day; see Revelation 13:4. The Targum interprets this and the following verse of the captives of Esau and Ishmael, by whom seem to be meant the Pope and Turk.

t ואם שבי צדיק ימלט "et an captivitas justi evadet", Montanus; "vel liberabitur", Munster; "captiva turba justi", Vitringa. And by the righteous Gussetius (Ebr. Comment. p. 709.) understands God the Father, who is righteous as a judge, exercising vindictive justice; and from him another person delivers us, namely, God the Son, the Messiah. A sense truly evangelical.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      24 Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered?   25 But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.   26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

      Here is, I. An objection started against the promise of the Jews' release out of their captivity in Babylon, suggesting that it was a thing not to be expected; for (Isaiah 49:24; Isaiah 49:24) they were a prey in the hand of the mighty, of such as were then the greatest potentates on earth, and therefore it was not likely they should be rescued by force. Yet that was not all: they were lawful captives; by the law of God, having offended, they were justly delivered into captivity; and by the law of nations, being taken in war, they were justly detained in captivity till they should be ransomed or exchanged. Now this is spoken either, 1. By the enemies, as justifying themselves in their refusal to let them go. They plead both might and right. Proud men think all their own that they can lay their hands on and their title good if they have but the longest sword. Or, 2. By their friends, either in a way of distrust, despairing of the deliverance ("for who is able to deal with those that detain us, either by force of arms or a treaty of peace?"), or in a way of thankfulness, admiring the deliverance. "Who would have thought that ever the prey should be taken from the mighty? Yet it is done." This is applicable to our redemption by Christ. As to Satan, we were a prey in the hand of the mighty, and yet delivered even from him that had the power of death, by him that had the power of life. As to the justice of God, we were lawful captives, and yet delivered by a price of inestimable value.

      II. This objection answered by an express promise, and a further promise; for God's promises being all yea, and amen, they may well serve to corroborate one another. 1. Here is an express promise with a non-obstante--notwithstanding to the strength of the enemy (Isaiah 49:25; Isaiah 49:25): "Even the captives of the mighty, though they are mighty, shall be taken away, and it is to no purpose for them to oppose it; and the prey of the terrible, though they are terrible, shall be delivered; and, as they cannot with all their strength outforce, so they cannot with all their impudence outface, the deliverance, and the counsels of God concerning it." The Lord saith thus, who, having all power and all hearts in his hands is able to make his words good. 2. Here is a further promise, showing how, and in what way, God will bring about the deliverance. He will bring judgments upon the oppressors, and so will work salvation for the oppressed: "I will contend with him that contends with thee, will plead thy cause against those that justify themselves in oppressing thee; whoever it be, though but a single person, that contends with thee, he shall know that it is at his peril, and thus I will save thy children." The captives shall be delivered by leading captivity captive, that is, sending those into captivity that had held God's people captive, Revelation 13:10. Nay, they shall have blood for blood (Isaiah 49:26; Isaiah 49:26): "I will feed those that oppress thee with their own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own blood. The proud Babylonians shall become not only an easy, but an acceptable, prey to one another. God will send a dividing spirit among them, and their ruin, which was begun by a foreign invasion, shall be completed by their intestine divisions. They shall bite and devour one another, till they are consumed one of another. They shall greedily and with delight prey upon those that are their own flesh and blood." God can make the oppressors of his church to be their own tormentors and their own destroyers. The New-Testament Babylon, having made herself drunk with the blood of the saints, shall have blood given her to drink, for she is worthy. See how cruel men sometimes are to themselves and to one another: indeed those who are so to others are so to themselves, for God's justice and men's revenge will mete to them what they have measured to others. They not only thirst after blood, but drink it so greedily that they are drunken with it, and with as much pleasure as if it were sweet wine. If God had not more mercy on sinners than they would have one upon another were their passions let loose, the world would be soon an Aceldama, nay, a desolation.

      III. See what will be the effect of Babylon's ruin: All flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour. God will make it to appear, to the conviction of all the world, that, though Israel seem lost and cast off, they have a Redeemer, and, though they are made a prey to the mighty, Jacob has a mighty One, who is able to deal with all his enemies. God intends, by the deliverances of his church, both to notify and to magnify his own name.