lot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. 22. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: 23. Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. 24. Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies: 25. And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: 26. And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, The faithful city. 27. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. 28. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed. 29. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. 30. For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. 31. And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.
Here,
I. The woful degeneracy of Judah and Jerusalem is sadly lamented. See, 1. What the royal city had been; a faithful city, faithful to God and the interests of his kingdom among men; faithful to the nation and its public interests. It was full of judgment; justice was duly administered upon the thrones of judgment which were set there, the thrones of the house of David, Ps. cxxii. 5. Men were generally honest in their dealings, and abhorred to do an unjust thing; righteousness lodged in it, was constantly resident in their palaces and in all their dwellings, not called in now and then to serve a turn, but at home there. Note, Neither holy cities, nor royal ones, neither places where religion is professed, nor places where government is administered, are faithful to their trust, if religion do not dwell in them. 2. What it was now become: that beauteous virtuous spouse was now debauched, and become an adulteress; righteousness no longer dwelt in Jerusalem, (terras Astraea reliquit—Astrea left the earth,) even murderers were unpunished, and lived undisturbed there; nay, the princes themselves were so cruel and oppressive, that they were become no better than murderers; an innocent man might better guard himself against a troop of banditti or assassins, than against a bench of such judges. Note, It is a great aggravation of the wickedness of any family or people, that their ancestors were famed for virtue and probity; and commonly those that thus degenerate, prove the most wicked of all others. Corruptio optimi est pessima—That which originally was the best, when corrupted, becomes the worst, Luke xi. 26. Eccl. iii. 16. See Jer. xxiii. 15··17.
This is illustrated, (1.) By similitudes; (v. 22.) Thy silver is become dross; this degeneracy of the magistrates, whose character is the reverse of that of their predecessors, is as great a reproach and injury to the kingdom, as the debasing of their coin would be, and the turning of their silver into dross. Righteous princes, and righteous cities, are as silver for the treasury; but unrighteous ones are as dross for the dunghill—How is the gold become dim! Lam. iv. 1. Thy wine is mixed with water, and so is become flat and sour. Some understand both these literally; the wine they sold was adulterated, it was half water; the money they paid was counterfeit, and so they cheated all they dealt with. But it is rather to be taken figuratively: justice was perverted by their princes; and religion and the word of God were sophisticated by their priests, and made to serve what turn they pleased. Dross may shine like silver, and the wine that is mixed with water may retain the colour of wine, but neither is worth any thing. Thus they retained a show and pretence of virtue and justice, but had no true sense of either. (2.) By some instances; (v. 23.) "Thy princes, that should keep others in their allegiance to God, and subjection to his law, are themselves rebellious, and set God and his law at defiance." They that should restrain thieves, proud and rich oppressors, those worst of robbers, and those that designedly cheat their creditors, who are no better, they are themselves companions of thieves, connive at them, do as they do, and with greater security and success, because they are princes, and have power in their hands; they share with the thieves they protect in their unlawful gain, (Ps. l. 18.) and cast in their lot among them, Prov. i. 13, 14. [1.] The profit of their places is all their aim; to make the best hand they can of them, right or wrong. They love gifts, and follow after reward; they set their hearts upon their salary, the fees and perquisites of their offices, and are greedy of them, and never think they can get enough; nay, they will do any thing, though ever so contrary to law and justice, for a gift in secret. Presents and gratuities will blind their eyes at any time, and make them pervert judgment: these they love, and are eager in the pursuit of, Hos. iv. 18. [2.] The duty of their places is none of their care; they ought to protect those that are injured, and take cognizance of the appeals made to them; why else were they preferred? But they judge not the fatherless, take no care to guard the orphans, nor does the cause of the widow come unto them; because the poor widow has no bribe to give, with which to make way for her, and to bring her cause on. Those will have a great deal to answer for, who, when they should be the patrons of the oppressed, are their greatest oppressors.
II. A resolution is taken up to redress these grievances; (v. 24.) Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, who has power to make good what he says, who has hosts at command for the executing of his purposes, and whose power is engaged for Israel; Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries. Observe, 1. Wicked people, especially wicked rulers that are cruel and oppressive, are God's enemies, his adversaries, and shall so be accounted of, and so dealt with. If the holy seed corrupt themselves, they are the foes of his own house. 2. They are a burthen to the God of heaven, which is implied in his easing himself of them; the Mighty One of Israel, that can bear any thing, nay, that upholds all things, complains of his being wearied with men's iniquities, ch. xliii. 24. Amos ii. 13. 3. God will find out a time and a way to ease himself of this burthen, by avenging himself on those that thus bear hard upon his patience. He here speaks as one triumphing in the foresight of it; Ah, I will ease me. He will ease the earth of the burthen under which it groans, (Rom. viii. 21, 22.) will ease his own name of the reproaches with which it is loaded.
