Lathrop, Joseph, 1731-1820. Sermons, 1758-1810. Sermon, November 10, 1776. bMS 383/1 (19), Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School.

Nov-10-1776 No 1751

For Dr Williams LM. {November} 14 1776 {December} 18 1785. {February} 10. 1799

Isaiah 6.9.10. And he said, Go and tell this {people} Hear ye indeed, but understand not & see ye indeed but perceive not. Make ye heart of this {people} fat and make yr ears heavy & shut yr eyes, lest they see with yr eyes, and hear with yr ears & understand with yr heart, & convert & be healed.

//In the whole Bible there is not a more awful passage than this. It denounces the more terrible of all Judgements the final withdrawment of divine grace.

//But awful as it is, it has more than once (been applied) not meerly to some particular person but even to ye main body of a {people} professing religion -

//It was first delivered delivered by this Prophet to the Nation of Judah in, or evan after, ye reign of Uzziah. At this period they were fallen into great corruption & were ripening apace for yt dreadful desolation {which} befell ym in ye time of Zedekiah when they (were) conquered by the King of Babylon and carried into a long and dismal captivity.

//Humbled and reformed by ther captivity illegible they were restored to yr

own country: but here again they soon corrupted ymselves; and by degrees contractd such a hardness of heart, yt our Savior i(n his day), applies to them this prophecy, as being eminently fulfilled by yr opposition of to his Gospel.

//As they rejected the Gospel preached by the Son of God himself so they forfeited in yr unbelief & impenitence under ye preaching of his Apostles: And thy St Paul tells you yt what ye {Holy Ghost} make by Esaias to yr Fathers, was fulfilled in you - The heart of this {people} is waxed gross, & yr ears are dull of hearing, & yr eyes have they glazed, lest they should be converted & I shall heal them.

//The Prophets were usually sent with messages, {which} contained or implied offers of peace - They were to instruct men in ye will of God, to reprove ym for yr iniquities & call ym to repentance with ye promises of pardon -

//But here the Prophet is sent upon a different errand; to tell ym, that they were grown so perverse and incorrigible, yt all means were likely to prove ineffectual - and tho he preached God's word (to them) it was with ye melancholly (apprehension) yt they would not hear and regard it. This message (is) designed as one of ye last means of awakening - It seems to speak ye parting language of divine grace.

//The conveyance of the (message) the prophet was (extremely) reluctant to undertake. He is thus prepared for it by a most extraordinary vision.

//The Law the divine majesty seated upon a throne of glory & ye & surrounded by ye Seraphim, covering yr faces in token of reverence and displaying yr wings in token of obedience, & celebrating ye divine Holiness of God in songs of adoration.

//Struck with illegible such a view of ye glory of God, the Prophet sinks into nothing in his own apprehension and says. I have seen ye Thing ye land of Hosts - Wo is me - I am undone for I am a man of unclean life & I dwell in ye midst of a {people} of unclean life.

//He was sensible yt this vision was in order to lead him on some great & important message to his {people}. He deprecates ye undertaking, conscious yt he had no extraordinary talent in speaking especially to a {people} who he knew, had no disposition to hear. I am a man of unclean life- So Moses, when he excuses himself frm ye like employment on account of his own incapacity, & ye cold reception he was like to meet with says I am a man (of) uncircumised Life.

//Then one of ye Seraphim took a live

coal frm ye alter to signify ye gift of utterance {which} is elsewhere represented by fiery tongues and to denote ye efficacy of God's word {which} is also compared to fire & flew to to him & laid it upon his mouth and said Thine iniquity is purged away.

//- He was hereby given to understand yt God had qualified (him) for & authorized (him to) the prophetic office - & especially to the service {which} was now to be given in charge.

//He next heard the voice of God making proclamation -- whom shall I send -- who will go for us? The Prophet then prepared readily answered Here am I: Send me.

– illegible The offer is accepted and the Substance of his message is delivered in the words of the Text.

– Go, and tell this {people} hear ye indeed but understand not &c &c

– These are some d

I. It is proper yt {which} should, in ye {present} place, explain the illegible meaning & import of these words & remove some difficulty yt attend them.

I. Our first business shall (be) to explain the meaning of ye Text & the im port of the several phrases used in it. illegible

The order to ye Prophet (begins thus.) Tell this people, Hear ye, but understand not. See ye, but perceive not. - Why sh-d ye prophet command you to hear & see, but not forbid them to understand & perceive what they heard & saw? - To wt what purpose is it to hear ye word, unless we understand it, or to see an object, unless we preceive wt it is?

//Now this is not to be understood as taken as a command, yt they should not, but as a prediction, yt they would not, understand & perceive ye truth how plainly so ever it was laid before ym. -The Hebrew language often uses the imperative for the future - This manner of speaking is very common in prophesy.

//That this is ye sense of ye Text is evident from Pauls interpretation of it in ye last {Chapter} of ye Acts - Well spoke Esaias unto our Fathers, saying, go unto this {people] & say, Hearing ye shall hear, & shall not understand, & seeing ye shall see, & shall not perceive.

//Instances of this manner of speaking are numerous. {Chapter} 2.9. Their land is full of idols - they {worship} ye {work} of yr own hands - {therefore} forgive ym not; i.e. Thou wilt not forgive ym. {Chapter} 23.16. The Prophet says to ye City of Tyre, {which} he compares to an Harlot Take an harp, & go about the city, thou harlot