In Isaiah, chapter twenty-seven, verses seven through eleven, God promises not to destroy His chosen nation completely as He will do to many of their enemies; Yet, punishment will surely come to many of God’s people because of their transgression and their need to be pruned to bear fruit again.
In the days of the gospel, the latter days, the gospel church shall be more firmly fixed than other churches, and shall spread further. May our souls be continually watered and kept, that we may abound in the fruits of the Spirit, in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. God’s people are kept separate. They have not been rooted out as those who slew them. The condition of God’s nation, through so many ages, forms a certain proof of the Divine origin of the Scriptures.
God’s chosen people live amongst us, a continued warning against sin. But though winds are ever so rough, ever so high, God can say to them, Peace, be still. And though God will afflict His people, yet He will make their afflictions work for the good of their souls. According to this promise, since the captivity in Babylon, no people have shown such hatred to idols and idolatry as the people of God. And to all God’s people, the design of affliction is to part between them and sin.
For the godly, the affliction has done them good. When we keep at a distance from the occasions of sin, and use care that we may not be tempted to it. Today, trying affliction has awfully come to pass. And this is a figure of the deplorable state of the vineyard, the church, when it brought forth wild grapes. Sinners flatter themselves, they shall not be dealt with severely, because God is merciful, and is their Maker.