Isaiah (Ch 5-6)
Answering his call, Isaiah said, “Here I am; send me” (Isaiah 6:8); we learn that this that this was the beginning of his mission, and this prophecy was written later. Hence understanding the timing of the message of the wordings in Isaiah are more subjective than either the books of Ezekiel or Revelation.
Isaiah 5
1 Now will I sing to my Well-beloved a song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard: my Well-beloved hath a vineyard on a very fruitful hill. — now will Prophet Isaiah sing to his Well-beloved a song of his Beloved God the Father, singing to Yehovah, the Lord of hosts, expressing the thoughts of the Lord with all his heart and soul,
— touching His vineyard, that of His Kingdom at the time of the prophet. His Well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, literally, “on the horn, or summit, of a son of oil,” the vineyard being situated on a hill and having most fertile soil;
— the Targum, whose origin in the Aramaic language could be traced to Ezra, paraphrases the words thus, “the prophet said, I will sing now to Israel, who is like unto a vineyard, the seed of Abraham, my beloved, a song of my beloved, concerning his vineyard. My people, my beloved Israel, I gave to them an inheritance in a high mountain, in a fat land.”
2 And He fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine; and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine press therein. And He looked for it to bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. — and He fenced it, rather, spaded or hoed it thoroughly, and gathered out the stones thereof, which hindered the proper cultivation of the ground, and planted it with the choicest vine, a very fine Oriental variety of grape, called sorek, and built a tower in the midst of it, this being interpreted as a watchtower; but the Targum says, “and I built my sanctuary in the midst of them:”
— and also made a winepress therein, the lower trough into which the grape-juice flowed from the winepress proper; and He looked that it should bring forth grapes, the fruit of the excellent vine which He had planted there, but it brought forth wild grapes: bad grapes; corrupt, rotten, stinking ones, the sour product of the wild vine or of a similar plant;
— that is, God had planted the vineyard indeed which was composed of Israel and Judah; He would now remove all of the protection from his people and cause them to be overrun and be destroyed.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard. — and now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, to whom the prophet is specifically addressing himself, appealing to them to be judges in this difficult situation, judge, I pray you, between Me and My vineyard, making their decision on the basis of the evidences presented to them, which were visible to even the casual onlooker.
4 What could have been done more to My vineyard than I have not done in it? Why, when I looked for it to bring forth good grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? — what could have been done more to My vineyard that I have not done in it? The Targum says, “what good have I said to do more to my people, which I have not done to them? and what is this I have said, that they should do good works, and they have done evil works?”
— wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes? Surely if the Lord now abandoned this vineyard, the people themselves must admit that they had fully deserved such treatment, that they had but themselves to blame for their destruction, as the Lord states.
5 “And now, I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. — and now God will tell you what He will do to His vineyard, the Judge Himself announcing judgement and punishment which He had decided upon:
— I will take away the hedge thereof, one of thorns and briers being the usual protection of vineyards of the nation, and it shall be eaten up, and break down the wall thereof, as a second means of keeping out marauders, and it shall be trodden down, the emphatic statement of the original being “for a treading down”
6 And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor dug, but there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.” — and God will lay it waste, for a complete ruin; it shall not be pruned, to remove the superfluous shoots, nor digged, to loosen the ground for the admission of air to the roots;
— but there shall come up briers and thorns, making the growth of vines of the right and welcome kind impossible; God will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it; hence the land would turn into a desert.
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, His pleasant plant. And He looked for judgment, but behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry. — for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah, His pleasant plant, literally, “the plant of His pleasure” and He looked for justice and judgement would be executed in the land in all respects; that the people would do what is right and good;
— but behold oppression resulted, the infringement of rights by graft and other forms of corruption and wickedness; for righteousness, that is, an outward dealing according to the demands of a righteous conduct, but behold a cry, namely, that of the people who suffer wrong and duffered for such oppression.
8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth! — woe unto them that join house to house, the insatiable desire of men to own more and more is the direct and certain result of a gross materialism in the heart of men, in a greed for wealth which is never satisfied, that lay field to field, their covetousness causing them to add one piece of property to another;
— till there be no place, no room for any one else, that they, literally, “ye” for the prophet here turns directly to the Jews, may be placed alone in the midst of the earth, thus violating the statutes both concerning the inheritance of real estate and the year of jubilee, Numbers 27:9-11; Leviticus 25:10-13.
9 In mine ears said the Lord of hosts: “In truth many houses shall be desolate, even the great and fair, without inhabitant. — in mine ears said the Lord of hosts, the cry of the sins of covetousness and ambition before mentioned; the great Ruler of the universe Himself making it known to His prophet,
— of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, the beautiful homes of the rich, such as the houses of the king, of the princes, and nobles, judges, counsellors, without inhabitant, as a punishment upon their greed.
10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield but one bath, and a homer of seed shall yield but an ephah.” — yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one hath, for their fields shall be barren and unfruitful; and the seed of an homer, about eight bushels, shall yield an ephah; the Targum makes this barrenness to be the punishment of their sin, in not paying tithes paraphrasing the words thus, “for because of the sin of not giving tithes, the place of ten acres of vineyard shall produce one bath.”
11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may pursue strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! — woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow, eagerly pursue, strong drink, a kind of brandy prepared from dates, apples, pomegranates, honey, and barley;
— that continue until night, protracting their session of excessive indulgence until the cool of the evening and beyond, till wine inflame them, putting them into a condition where they are ready for all the works of darkness. Note that the moderate use of even intoxicating beverages is not in itself condemned, but every form of excess, as further description shows.
12 And the harp and the viol, and the taboret and pipe, and wine are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of His hands. — and the harp, or zither and the viol, a guitar-like instrument, the tabret, the tambourine and pipe, a kind of flute and wine are in their feasts, so that they lived jovially and merrily, of these their banquets consist, this is all they have in mind in planning and executing their drinking-bouts;
— but they regard not the work of the Lord, meaning the work of the law as the Targum says; they were deaf to the message of Yehovah the Almighty in the law, in nature, in history, especially in the preaching of His prophets, neither consider the operation of His hands, in preparing the punishment of all unrighteousness and wickedness for all the guilty.
13 Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. — therefore My people, as the Lord still affectionately calls them, are gone into captivity, the visitation of the Assyrian captivity for the house of Israel being pictured as already taken place, because they have no knowledge, or as some render it, “because they knew not the Lord” not only it caught them unaware but because they had hardened their hearts against all understanding;
— and their honorable men are famished, literally, “become starvelings,” people suffering hunger, and their multitude dried up with thirst, a vivid description of Israel as it was driven into exile. Such is ever the consequence when the greed and luxury-craving people of this world deliberately exclude the understanding of spiritual things from their hearts.
14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth beyond measure; and their glory and their multitude and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. — therefore hell, that is, the grave, to receive the dead who die from famine and thirst; signifying that the number of the dead would be so great, that the common burying places would not be sufficient to hold them hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure, to receive the great number of victims;
— and their glory, the splendor of their wickedness and their multitude and their pomp, the tumult and noise of their drunken shouting, and he that rejoiceth, those finding their enjoyment in the excesses of this world shall descend into it. Then all the laughter and shouting of the children of this world will be changed to cries of woe, weeping and gnashing of teeth.
15 And the lowly man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. — and the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, laid low in the dust, and be equal to the poor; for in the grave, princes and peasants are alike; men of every rank and station being included in the Lord’s condemnation, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled, so that they are no longer lifted up in pride.
16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgement, and God who is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. — but the Lord of hosts, the Father, He who exerts unlimited authority over the world and all its fortunes, shall be exalted in judgement, the very overthrow of the wicked redounding to His glory, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness, give evidence of His holiness in exercising justice upon the ungodly.
17 Then shall the lambs feed according to their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. — then shall the lambs feed after their manner, that is, the people of God, the disciples of Christ, as on their usual pasturage, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat, the nomad tribes of the desert again occupying the land which had been held by similar people in ancient days. Thus the land of Canaan would become a monument of God’s justice.
18 Woe unto them that draw along iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope; — woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, their first excuses to themselves being like hair-strings, but their increasing callousness finally causing them boldly to draw their guilt to them as with heavy cords;
— and sin, as it were, with a cart-rope, they hitch it to them like draft-horses dragging a heavy wagon, laying themselves to the traces with all their might, utterly ignoring the thought of a day of vengeance; thus the Targum interprets it of such that begin with lesser sins, and increase to more ungodliness; paraphrasing it thus, “woe to them that begin to sin a little, and they go on and increase until that they are strong, and “their” sins “are” as a cart rope”
19 who say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it.” — that say, Let Him make speed and hasten His work that we may see it, that is, the threatened retribution, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come that we may know it!
— their blasphemous mockery will surely draw down upon them the punishment of the Lord. And so far as the mockers of our day are concerned, the time will come when they, overcome with terror at the revelation of God’s judgement upon them, will call upon the mountains to fall upon them and to the hills to cover them.
20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that count darkness as light, and light as darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! — woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, or that call evil men good, and good men evil; thus reversing all principles of true morality; that is, that excuse the one and reproach the other; that put darkness for light and light for darkness, particularly in palliating the wickedness of sin, in representing avarice, luxury, the lust of the flesh as harmless; and pervert the order which God hath appointed;
— it started with the ten tribes preferring the worship at Dan and Bethel, before that at Jerusalem; and today, they prefer worshipping (a) Astarte, the queen of heaven; from whom Easter is derived; and (b) the palm tree, Mithra, the Persian Sun-god now proliferates during Christmas; with decorated with lights; in preference to God’s commandments in their celebration of the Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, which are dismissed as legalism (more at the end);
— that put bitter for sweet, by condemning the godly, the children of God as enemies of mankind, and sweet for bitter, by glossing over transgression and thus leading men into further destruction.
21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! — woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, arrogant in their self-conceit, prudent in their own sight, such people being beyond the necessity of learning, their lack of humility causing them to reject all instruction that is brought to their notice, especially the message from the prophets of the Lord of hosts.
22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink, — woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink, champions of dissolute living, selling justice in order to obtain the means to indulge in the service of mammon and luxury; the Targum interprets it, “men of riches” one who can afford to drink wine and strong drink; which carries the sense not to the strength of their bodies, but of their purses;
23 who justify the wicked for a reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him! — speaking of judges and civil magistrates, which justify the wicked for reward, openly seeking bribes and in fulfilling the promises made on the strength of such gifts, take away the righteousness of the righteous from him, deciding against him in court and thus frustrating the ends of justice; note that all the sins which are here condemned with such harsh words are found in our day and age as in the days of Isaiah.
24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. — therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, in a sudden and thorough destruction, so their root, the supposed firm hold of these transgressors, shall be as rottenness, moldy and decayed;
— and their blossom, their outward prosperous appearance, shall go up as dust, flying away like small particles, because they have cast away the Law of the Lord of hosts, in a deliberate, blasphemous rejection, and despised the Word of the Holy One in Israel as in Leviticus 23 to keep His commandment to celebrate the Feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles.
25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people, and He hath stretched forth His hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. — therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against His people, and He hath stretched forth His hand against them and hath smitten them, the scene again being painted before the eyes of the people, in order to urge them to repentance;
— and the hills did tremble, under the blow delivered bythe Almighty as from a mighty earthquake, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets, lying there as dung, even as it had happened before, II Chronicles 28:6. For all this, although the punishment of the Lord has repeatedly gone forth, His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. So great was the apostasy in Israel cerebrating Astarte and Mithra that the wrath of the Lord was not yet appeased, especially since the nation showed no signs of any repentance; it will be a shaking of every nation before the wrath of God’s Judgement.
26 And He will lift up an ensign to the nations from afar, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly. — and He, the Lord of hosts in delivering the last great blow, will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, as a signal for them to attack and punish Israel;
— and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth, the figure being taken from the work of the bee-keeper, who coaxes the bees from their hives by a hissing sound; and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly, most eager to carry out the Lord’s will upon the house of Israel, like Shalmaneser and Nebuchadnezzar did as the Lord’s horsewhips; as the Targum paraphrases it, “and behold, a king with his army shall come swiftly, as light clouds.”
27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken; — none shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep, neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, to retard their movements; they should make such haste, they should not stumble at any thing by the way, nor rush one against another,
— nor the latchet of their shoes be broken, all this being descriptive of their tireless activity, their unwearied zeal, and their readiness for battle;
28 whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind. — whose arrows are sharp and all their bows bent, ready to shoot their arrows upon any occasionready to send the arrows to their mark;
— their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, a most important attribute for a campaign of war carried to such distances, and their wheels like a whirlwind, for their rolling resembled the sound of an advancing tempest; the Targum says, “and his wheels swift as a tempest.”
29 Their roaring shall be like a lion; they shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it. — their roaring shall be like a lion, a fearful battle-cry, they shall roar like young lions, eager for their prey;
— yea, they shall roar and lay hold of the prey, Israel becoming an easy victim, and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it, no one being strong enough to come to Israel’s aid in this emergency laid upon it by the Lord.
30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow; and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof. — and in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea, the surf breaking on the precipitous shore with a fearful thunder;
— and if one look unto the land, seeking a firm foothold, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof, literally, “darkness distress and light night in the clouds of heaven above,” that is, tribulation and relief would change off quickly in the fate of Israel; but the final result would be the blackest night, shutting out all light. That, in brief, is the outline of Israel’s history until the exile, not only the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar, but that of the Romans in the year 70 AD as well.
~~~
Parallel Scriptures in Malachi 2:
3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it. — even the dung of your solemn feasts, that of the excesses of such pagan feasts (1) Astarte, the queen of heaven; from whom Easter is derived; Jeremiah 7 and Jeremiah 44; (2) Mithra, the sun-god, the palm tree, now proliferates during Christmas; with decorated with lights, tinsel, red and green ribbon, poinsettias and other crowning glory; Jeremiah 10:3-5;
— (3) heavenly bodies, especially the Sun, hence professing Christians have shifted the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday by outlawing the keeping of the Sabbath. — thus saith the Lord: “Learn not the way of the heathens. . .” Jeremiah 10:2; His wrath and subsequent judgement of throwing dungs onto our faces is the central theme of Jeremiah’s message against idolatrous worship!
— and one shall take you away with it, treating them as though they were themselves dung, to be thrown out in disgraceful heaps; with the dung spread upon them; they looking like a heap of dung, being covered with it, and had in no more account than that;
— the Targum says, “I will make manifest the shame of your sins upon your faces; and will cause to cease the magnificence of your feasts.”
Isaiah 6
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. — in the year 758 BC when King Uzziah died, that is, in the last year of this king’s successful reign, II Kings 15:1-7; II Chronicles 26, saiahI saw the Lord, the Almighty, sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, the prophetic vision, not face to face, beyond the range of the normal ability of human senses, permitting the prophet to see the revelation of God,
— for God dwells in an inaccessible light, in a manner which uncovered the divine glory to his inner mind, and his train (the “train” is the skirts, borders, or lower parts of the garments) filled the Temple, that is, His kingly robe with its majestic train, fitting emblem of the divine glory, covered and filled the heavenly Sanctuary; the Targum says, “and the temple was filled with the splendour of his glory.”
2 Above it stood the seraphims; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. — above the temple stood the seraphim, heavenly spirits of the highest rank, ministers of the Lord serving as guardians of the throne. Each one had six wings, in accordance with their nature as heavenly beings;
— with twain he covered his face, for even the seraphim cannot endure the sight of the essential holiness of God, and with twain he covered his feet, for even the angels, with a proper feeling of humility and modesty, prefer to keep their forms covered before the eyes of the Most Holy One, and with twain he did fly, floating about the throne of the Lord.
3 And one cried unto another and said, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory.” — and one cried unto another, in a wonderful antiphonal chorus, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, thrice holy not only on account of the supreme excellence of His essential holiness, but false shepherds had taken the opportunity to propagate the false doctrine of the Trinity of the Godhead;
— the whole earth is full of His glory, literally, “filling the whole earth is His glory” for all men on earth will see the revelation of His divine majesty, all His works, in creation, redemption, sanctification, will serve to magnify Him as the supreme and only God. Cf Revelation 4:8.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. — and the posts of the door of the temple, the foundations of the sills, or thresholds, the heavenly temple with its portals down to the lowest foundation;
— moved at the voice of him that cried, the powerful sound of the entire chorus, and the temple was filled with smoke, as from the incense of all the prayers of the saints, uniting with the angels above to give praise and adoration to the great Lord of heaven, Revelation 5:8; Revelation 8:3-4.
5 Then said I, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” — then said Isaiah, overcome with awe and terror at the tremendous impressiveness of the scene, Woe is me! for I am undone, lost, threatened with death and destruction,
— because I am a man of unclean lips, the feeling of his own sinfulness coming over him all the more strongly in view of the perfect holiness which he had just seen, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, descendant and member of a generation of sinners; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts, between whom and man is not only the gulf separating the Creator from His creatures, but the greater abyss between the holy God and the world of sinners. Cf Exodus 33:20.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. — then flew one of the seraphim unto Isaiah, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar, the altar of incense evidently being referred to;
7 And he laid it upon my mouth and said, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” — and he laid it upon Isaiah’s mouth, he caused the glowing coal to come into contact with the prophet’s lips, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged, which was abominable in his sight; a burden to him, and the cause of his distress; even all his iniquity, all atoned for;
— the act of the angel evidently had a symbolical meaning, first of all with reference to the atonement made in and through the person of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the work of redemption carried out in accordance with God’s counsel. Not only, however, is the prophet, sinful man as he was, assured of the redemption and grace of God, but the Lord also imparts special strength to him and fits him to be the instrument of His inspiration.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then said I, “Here am I. Send me!” — also Isaiah heard the voice of the Lord, of the All-powerful, the great Ruler of the universe, saying, Whom shall I send? the call being for volunteers to proclaim the atonement set forth in the vision just vouchsafed the prophet.
— And who will go for Us? Then Isaiah said, ‘Here am I; send me.’ The prophet, in the spirit of voluntary service wrought by the Lord, a principal requisite for the proper and effective ministry of the Word, is ready to undertake the task.
9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: “‘Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.’ — and God said, Go and tell your people, to which He no longer refers as His people, but as strangers, in the third person, Hear ye indeed, constantly within reach of the Word of God, but understand not; the great works of God by which He reveals Himself to mankind, but they perceive not, not really grasping their significance nor applying them to their own condition.
10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert and be healed.” — make the heart of this people fat, insensitive to impressions for good, so that feeling, reason, and will become callous, cold or heartless, and make their ears heavy, the hearing of the mind becoming impaired beyond the possibility of understanding;
— and shut their eyes, namely, those of the spirit, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, that is, be converted, and be healed. Note that the members or organs spoken of are given in inverted order in the second part of the sentence, to increase its impressiveness. It is the judicial hardening, the judgement of obduration, which is here described; it is not that God works obduration, but He surrenders the godless to their evil intent; He withdraws from their hearts with His spirit of understanding.
11 Then said I, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, — then Isaiah asked, Lord, how long? that is, how long would this hardening continue?
— and the Lord answered, Until the cities (Detroits, Chicago, New York, London, Paris) be wasted, altogether desolate, without inhabitant, and the houses without man, without a protector, and the land be utterly desolate, literally, “made desolate a desert,”
12 and the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. — and the Lord have removed men far away; not to nearby Babylon, but to the ends of the earth, into the most distant countries, by having them led away into exile, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land; and dispersing them among several nations of the world.
13 “But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and shall be eaten, as a teil tree and as an oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof.” — but yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return and shall be eaten, that is, it shall be burnt again; it was burnt a first time by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and his army, Jeremiah 52:13 and a second time by Titus Vespasian, to which this prophecy refers; “And if there is yet in it a tenth, it will once more become subject to devouring,”
— and as an oak, whose substance is in them, a mere stump being left, when they cast their leaves, when they are felled, so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof, the stump or stem. Thus the obduration upon Israel would continue until the last wrath would come upon Israel, resulting in its destruction; the “holy seed” understand the Messiah; and yet, after the trunk would be hewn down, the stump which remained would bring forth new shoots, a people, the Kingdom of God, consecrated to God. As in Israel, so in all the nations of the world the Lord has His holy seed, people who by His grace accept the Gospel and are saved.
Joel Huan
The Mystery of Ephraim 
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