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5. A Promised Ruler From Bethlehem

¹ In Hebrew texts 5:1 is numbered 4:14, and 5:2-15 is numbered 5:1-14.Marshal your troops now, city of troops,
for a siege is laid against us.
They will strike Israel’s ruler
on the cheek with a rod.

    ² “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
   though you are small among the clans Or rulers of Judah,
out of you will come for me
   one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
   from ancient times.”

    ³ Therefore Israel will be abandoned
   until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
   to join the Israelites.

    ⁴ He will stand and shepherd his flock
   in the strength of the LORD,
   in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
   will reach to the ends of the earth.

    ⁵ And he will be our peace
   when the Assyrians invade our land
   and march through our fortresses.
We will raise against them seven shepherds,
   even eight commanders,
⁶ who will rule Or crush the land of Assyria with the sword,
   the land of Nimrod with drawn sword. Or Nimrod in its gates
He will deliver us from the Assyrians
   when they invade our land
   and march across our borders.

    ⁷ The remnant of Jacob will be
   in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the LORD,
   like showers on the grass,
which do not wait for anyone
   or depend on man.
⁸ The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
   in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
   like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
which mauls and mangles as it goes,
   and no one can rescue.
⁹ Your hand will be lifted up in triumph over your enemies,
   and all your foes will be destroyed.

¹⁰ “In that day,” declares the LORD,

   “I will destroy your horses from among you
   and demolish your chariots.
¹¹ I will destroy the cities of your land
   and tear down all your strongholds.
¹² I will destroy your witchcraft
   and you will no longer cast spells.
¹³ I will destroy your idols
   and your sacred stones from among you;
you will no longer bow down
   to the work of your hands.
¹⁴ I will uproot from among you your Asherah poles That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah
   when I demolish your cities.
¹⁵ I will take vengeance in anger and wrath
   on the nations that have not obeyed me.”

He now adds, I will cut off thy graven images and thy statues from the midst of thee; and thou shalt not hereafter bend down before the works of thine hands This verse is plain and contains nothing new: for the Prophet teaches that God cannot become propitious to his Church, to keep and make her safe, until he purges her from her filth, even from idolatry and other vices, by which the worship of God was corrupted, or even entirely subverted. I will, therefore, cut off thy graven images and statues ¹⁵⁸¹⁵⁸ מצבות, rather pillars or columns than statues: τας στηλας in the Sept. The pillar of stone which Jacob set up is called by this name, Genesis 28:18. They were commemorative pillars at which the Canaanites, and afterwards the Jews, offered idolatrous worship. There was a pillar of this kind in the house of Baal, 2 Kings 10:26, 27. They were not altars, though altars might have been reared by them, for both are mentioned together in Deuteronomy 12:3. The word is derived from יצב, to set, to fix firmly. The noun is rendered by Parkhurst, a standing pillar. — Ed. from the midst of thee We see that God anticipates us by his gratuitous goodness, not only by forgiving us, but also by calling us back, when wandering, into the right way. Since then we have deviated from the right way, and God thus withdraws his hand that it might appear that he has cast us away it is certain that we ought not only to pray him to have mercy on us, but also to ascribe to him a higher favor, inasmuch as he takes away the very impediments which separate us from him, and suffer him not to come nigh us. We hence see that God is not only inclined to pardon when men repent, but that it is his peculiar office to remove the obstacles.

This ought to be carefully noticed, that we may know that our salvation, from the first beginning, proceeds from the mere favor of God, — and that we may also learn, that all those things, of which the Papists vainly talk respecting preparations, are mere figments.

He then adds, thou shalt not bend hereafter before the work of thine hands. God expresses here the cause why he so much abominates idols, even because he sees that his honor is transferred to them: this is one thing. He further arraigns the Jews as guilty, while he makes evident their defection: for surely nothing could have been more shameful, than to take away from God his honor and worship, and to transfer them to dead things; and he says here by way of reproach, that they were the work of their hands. What can be more insane, than for men to ascribe divinity to their own inventions, or to believe that it is in the power of men to make a god from wood or stone? This is surely monstrous in the extreme. Then the Prophet by this form of speaking aggravates the sin of the people of Israel, that is, when he says that they bowed the head before the work of their oven hands.