By J.C. Philpot
Preached on Lord's Day Morning, October 16th, 1842, at Trinity Chapel, Alfred Street, Leicester
"At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel." Isaiah 17:7
We are very much, I think, in the dark as to the historical interpretation of the prophecies of the Old Testament. We are so little acquainted with the various circumstances of the different times and periods, that there must needs be many obscurities connected with the historical interpretation. But I know not whether we are very great losers on this account. There is another interpretation about which we are not so much in the dark, one which is far more suitable to our case as individuals, and, when made known by the Spirit, far more sweet and profitable; I mean the experimental vein that runs through these prophecies.
I shall not attempt, therefore, to explain this morning the historical meaning of this text, though no doubt it has one, but confine myself almost entirely to its spiritual interpretation.
"At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel."
We find mention made in the text of a certain "day." This expression occurs very frequently in Isaiah, and the other prophets of the Old Testament. For instance, in Isa. 26:1, we read, "In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city: salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks." So again, 27:1, "In that day the Lord, with His sore and great and strong sword, shall punish leviathan, the piercing serpent," &c. The meaning of this "day," thus emphatically spoken of, we must gather generally from the context. Guided by this clue, we shall sometimes find it to point out a season of great trial, and sometimes one of great joy. It is not a literal day of twenty-four hours, but a certain season, which, whether of joy or trouble, takes place in the hearts of God's people. Which of these days it is generally pretty clear from the context, and therefore we will, with God's blessing, look back a little at the verses immediately preceding the text, in order to discover whether the day of trouble or the day of joy be intended in the passage before us. We will commence with verse 4 of this chapter. "And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean. And it shall be as when the harvest-man gathereth the corn, and reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim. Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive-tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel. At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel." The day spoken of in the text is when "the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean." It cannot therefore be the same day of which we read, Isa. 12:1, where the Church, blessed with a sense of the pardon of her sins, says, "O Lord, I will praise Thee: though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortedst me." But it points to a season of trouble, when the Church is brought down and laid low. The work, then, upon her soul which is carried on in this season is pointed out in the words, "The glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean."
What is this glory of Jacob? It is not the real glory of Jacob, which consisted in their peculiar relationship to God, which glory could not diminish nor fade; but it is anything in which the people of God (who are pointed out by the word "Jacob") may glory naturally--anything in which they may take an idolatrous pleasure, or boast of after the flesh. "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches." Thus some boast in riches, some in strength, some in learning, some in talents; all of us, more or less, have, or think we have, something in which to glory--to boast of--to take pride in. But in the case of the elect family of God, a day comes when this "glory is made thin."
