PREFACE
IT must appear an act of great daring,
for any of talents and learning inferior to the celebrated Lowth, to attempt a version of
the Prophet Isaiah after that Prelate’s admired composition. But though the Prophet is greatly indebted to
his labours for a restoration in very many places of what was evidently the
original text, it did appear to the author that though the Bishop
had derived and acknowledged much assistance from the Septuagint, there was yet
much more concealed beneath that translation which has not been wrought as yet
by any.
He was also grieved to see so little notice taken of the scriptural
quotations of Isaiah; so little done towards manifesting the honesty of the
citations made by the inspired writers, and the justness of the testimonies
they derive thence to their arguments. It is
a subject but little noticed, yet surely of considerable importance; and much
attention is paid to it in the present work. The investigations on this point have led to the conviction that in
many instances the Jews have wilfully corrupted the oracles of God committed to
their care; while in other cases mistakes have arisen from the inaccuracy of
transcribers. The Septuagint version most clearly establishes both these facts; and the sentiments
of such critics as Kennicott, De Rossi, and Bos, confirm the conviction. Far be it from the author unjustly to accuse
the Jews; that first of the nations to whom “pertained the adoption, and the
glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service, and the
promises, whose are the fathers, and of whom (mightiest privilege of
all!) as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God
blessed for ever, Amen.” But a firm belief of the justice of
the charge, based on a broad foundation of evidence, has led him to make and to sustain the accusation. “Let God be true, and every man a liar!”
His interpretation of Isaiah is as completely in their favour as, he
supposes, any Jew by birth could desire; his expectation of their final glory
as distinct as they are wont to form.
The frequent use of the Greek translation is vindicated in the
Dissertation, with
what success the reader must determine.
Not that it was his intention always to uphold the Greek against the
Hebrew; but so far to establish his conclusion, as to make it manifest that the
Hebrew is not so, perfect but that it may and should accept the aid of ancient
MSS. and versions. Asterisks at the side
of texts mark that the reader is referred to the notes* for the reversions not received
into the text, but worthy of notice. They are given in English for the
convenience of the general reader.
[* NOTE. The author’s ‘Notes’ (in the latter pages of his
book) are not included because Greek lettering is not available. The reader is advised to purchase the book
form its publisher. Also, the format
here is not as it is set out in the book: each chapter translation,
is immediately followed by the author’s exposition of that chapter. Dissertations 1. & 2. are to be found at the
end, (D.V.) - Ed.]
It was primarily his intention to put forth simply a new
version with notes critical and explanatory; but finding that so many had
anticipated him in this, and that though the text should be perfect as it came
from the prophet’s pen, it might still leave his oracles little understood,
giving full scope to the work of an interpreter, he was induced to offer an
Exposition. To this he was led by the
belief that ancient and modern writers had combined to furnish him with a key
to its just explanation. Certain it is that the Exposition now offered does not wittingly omit
to face any difficulty, and the reader is requested to compare the Commentary
with the text chapter by chapter as he proceeds. Let him not be startled or throw aside the
book if he finds interpretations given which differ greatly from those of
modern commentators, but suffer the whole of its bearings to be seen. For if the author be not mistaken, he has
kept throughout to the principles laid down in the commencement; the chief of which is that the true key of Scripture prophecy is
LITERAILITY of interpretation, restrained, by common sense from running into
absurdity, such as attributing passions to inanimate things.
The reader will, it is believed, receive much confirmation of
his belief in the truth of the Exposition given, if he will compare at large
the passages cited as parallel from the Old Testament, as much evidence thence
deducible was not capable of being brought forward, lest the discussion should
become prolix and full of episode. And if
it be found that the general scheme of prophecy as exhibited here accords
remarkably with the tenor of the Psalms, the Prophets, and the Revelation, will
not this be an argument of invincible power that it is the true? It certainly
is agreeable to the ancient belief of the Christian Church, before Origen and Jerome by their spiritualizing mode of
interpretation, turned the tide against the literal acceptation. It is
which is higher ground still, accordant with the literal fulfilments
which, as Evangelists and Apostles have shown, have already occurred.
And if the principles here advocated be just - if a time be coming when
the Christian, Church shall be beset with trials and persecution, mightier and
fiercer than has yet been recorded, then it becomes us to turn with zealously
inquiring eye to the sure word of prophecy, that in the sifting that shall take
place, our faith fail not. Is it not also an argument worth consideration, that if in the present
day the key be found to unlock the mysteries of prophecy that have been hid for
so many generations from the Christian Church, it may in God’s mercy be
restored, that his people may be found wakeful and patient; and that the cry, “The
bridegroom cometh,” betokens that the hour of “midnight” is not far off, and the time of the revelation of the Lord
Jesus not far onward in futurity?
If these principles be true, the writer is confident that they
will make their way amongst all the real servants of the Redeemer; for he is
cheered by the promise vouchsafed of old to Daniel, “The wise
shall understand.”
* *
*
A TRANSLATION AND
EXPOSITION OF ISAIAH
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 1
1 THE VISION OF ISAIAH THE SON OF AMOS, WHICH HE SAW CONCERNING
2 Hear, 0 heaven! and give ear, 0 earth!
For JEHOVAH speaketh.
I have begotten children and
brought them up,
But they have set me at
nought.
3 The ox knoweth his owner,
And the ass the crib of his lord;
But
Nor doth my people discern me.
4 Ah sinful nation! A people laden with iniquity!
An evil seed, corrupted
children!
Ye have forsaken JEHOVAH,
Ye have provoked the Holy
One of Israel.
5 On what part shall ye be smitten again, if ye
repeat transgression?
The whole
head is sick, the whole heart faint,
6 From the sole of the feet to the head there is no
soundness therein,
But a wound,
a bruise, and putrefying sores:
*They have not been closed,
nor bound up,
Nor mollified with ointment.
7 Your land is desolate, your cities burnt with fire;
Your country oppressors
devour in your presence,
And it is laid waste as overthrown by stranger
nations.
8 And the daughter of
As a shed in a garden of cucumbers, as a captured
city.
9 And except JEHOVAH of hosts
had left us a seed,
We had been as
10 Hear the word Of JEHOVAH, ye
rulers of
Give ear to the law of our God, oh people of
11 What regard I the multitude of your sacrifices?
Saith JEHOVAH:
I am full of burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of
fed beasts,
The blood of bullocks and lambs, and he-goats, I
desire not.
12 Nor come ye to appear
before me:
For who hath required this at your hands?
Ye shall tread my courts no more.
13 If ye bring a
flower-offering, it is vain;
(Or) incense,
it is an abomination to me:
14 Your new moons, and Sabbaths, and the calling of
assemblies I cannot endure;
The fast, and the day of restraint.
Your new moons and your festivals my soul hateth;
Ye have cloyed me: no longer will I endure your
sins.
15 When ye stretch forth your hands, I will turn mine
eyes from you,
Yea, when ye multiply your supplications, I will not
give ear,
For your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash you, make you clean
take away the iniquity of your doings
17 From before mine eyes: cease from evil doing, learn to do
well:
Seek out justice; succour
the injured;
Do justice to the
fatherless, right to the widow.
18 Come, now, let us plead
together, saith JEHOVAH;
Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them
white as snow;
And though they be red as crimson, yet will I whiten
them as wool.
19 If ye be willing and obey me,
Ye shall eat the good of the earth.
20 But if ye refuse, and will
not obey me,
The sword shall devour you,
For the mouth of JEHOVAH
hath spoken it.
21 How is the faithful city of
Therein once lodged righteousness, but now
murderers.
22 Thy silver is become dross,
thy wine mixed with water.
23 Thy princes are rebellious,
associates of robbers,
Every one loving gifts, and seeking rewards,
They do not justice to the fatherless; the cause of
the widow they regard not.
24 Therefore thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts,
Woe to the mighty ones of
For my wrath shall not cease against mine
adversaries:
And I will deal vengeance on my foes.
25 And I will turn mine hand
upon thee,
And will refine thee until thou art pure;
*And I will purge thy dross,
And take away all thy tin;
26 Then will I restore thy
judges as at the first,
And thy counsellors, as at the beginning:
And afterwards thou
shalt be called, The city of righteousness
The faithful metropolis.
27 For with judgement shall
And her captivity with righteousness.
28 And the transgressors and the sinners shall be
destroyed together;
And they that forsake JEHOVAH shall
be cut off.
29 For they shall be ashamed of the idols, they have
desired;
And confounded at the gardens, they have chosen.
30 For they shall be as an
ilex whose leaves fade;
And as a garden that hath no water.
31 And the strong shall be as
tow,
And their workmanship as sparks;
And the lawless and sinners shall be burnt up together,
Nor shall any quench them.
* *
*
[Page 123]
EXPOSITION OF ISAIAH
In endeavouring to illustrate the prophecies of Isaiah, the
principles on which the exposition is conducted shall be briefly stated.
First, That “no
prophecy is of any private interpretation.” Against this
inspired rule those offend who, like Grotius, interpret the prophecies as fulfilled in the person
of Isaiah, David, or Solomon, and in events which have no reference to us at
the present day.
Secondly, That as, in the accomplishment of
those prophecies declared by Scripture itself to be fulfilled, the
accomplishment was literal, so the fulfilment of those yet to be accomplished
will be literal also. Hence
the tendency of the present interpretation will be to regard every affirmation
of the prophet as intended literally which, when so taken, does not involve
absurdity. This principle is,
in short, opposed to that popular mode of explaining prophecy, which interprets
as many passages as possible in a figurative sense. It is founded on the Saviour’s word, “that one
jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.”
(Matt. 5: 18.)
Here the word “law” is to be taken in its fullest sense, as including the Old Testament, and, indeed,
the sacred Scriptures generally. That it
comprehends more than the five books of Moses is evident from our Saviour’s
words, John
10: 34, where the passage
quoted is from the Psalms.
On these principles we shall arrive at
the conclusion, that the greater part of Isaiah’s
prophecies have yet to be fulfilled; and that much which is
generally supposed to be accomplished, had only a commencing fulfilment in the
events referred to. On this point
accept, the testimony of [Page 124] Bishop Horsley:- “You are perfectly right in the
opinion you maintain, that a far greater proportion of the
prophecies, even of the Old Testament, than is generally imagined, relate to
the second advent of our Lord. Few,
comparatively, relate to the first advent by itself, without reference to the
second. And of those that
have been supposed to be accomplished in the first, many had in that only an
inchoate fulfilment, and have yet to receive their full completion.”
Since it is a principle in the Scriptures of the prophets,
that the Holy Ghost inspired those persons to prophesy of future events, whose
times and circumstances the nearest resembled those scenes of the future which
they were commissioned to predict, it is highly probable, that when Isaiah
prophesied, he had before his eyes some such scene, in many points, as in the
four first chapters is depicted. Yet, combined with the general outlines, were peculiar declarations,
not to be understood of those times, which therefore carried onward, and were
intended to carry onward, the thoughts of the hearers and readers to events yet
future. For, in the days of
Isaiah, the measure of
Isaiah prophesied, we are told, in the reigns of Uzziah,
Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of
* Rev. 19: 19.
Ahaz, in his distress, applied to Tiglath Pileser, the monarch
of Assyria, who accordingly took
In reference to this association, and its disastrous issue,
the prophet, declares by inspiration, that in the time of
At this time the Assyrian empire had attained its height, and
In accordance with this sketch, it will be my endeavour to
point out where the prophecies before us resembled in the main the state of Jerusalem
and Judaea, in the days when they were delivered; next, the points in which
they obtained a partial completion at the first advent of the Saviour; and
still more fully explain those prophecies which yet expect their complete
development in the times preceding, attending, and succeeding his return.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 1
THE first chapter of the prophet rebukes severely the Jews for
the national desertion of Jehovah. But the
pathetic appeal, that the ox knew its owner, and the most stupid of animals his
master’s crib, yet that Israel “knew not HIM,” applies in its fullest force to the
Jews’ rejection of Jesus, by whom they were created, and for whose pleasure
they were made. “They did not
understand,” says Procopius, “who he was,
who was seen even by their fathers in a human form. Therefore he saith, ‘Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it,
and was glad.’ And, ‘
It was to the times bordering on this
overthrow that Paul, guided by the sacred Spirit, applied the succeeding verse,
“Except
the Lord had left unto us a very little remnant, we had been as
[* That is, with reference to the time
of RESURRECTION: not the time of DEATH.]
By calling them “
The Lord himself then attacks the next object of their
dependence – their rites and sacrifices.
He discovers to them that when these were not offered with a prepared
and contrite heart they were no longer acceptable. But, beside this general subject of
disparagement, there was a yet deeper cause of dissatisfaction. The sacrifice of Jesus being now offered, the
significance of the temple service had departed, and its victims were no longer
worthy of regard; but rather an abomination, since they could no longer be
offered in faith. Another reason
assigned for disregarding their most solemn rites and prayers, is, that their “hands were
full of blood.” And this doubtless had an especial reference
to the Saviour’s death, as Procopius
also remarks. “His blood be
on us and on our children!” was the cry which fixed their condemnation. Thenceforth their prayers were abomination,
for their hands were imbrued in the blood of the Son of God. Even this the Saviour himself threatened: “Behold, I
send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes; and some of them ye shall
kill, and crucify, and some of them ye shall scourge in your [Page 129] synagogues, and persecute from city to city: that
upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood
of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom ye
slew between the temple and altar.” Thus the law ended with a curse: for it found
its professed subjects “laden with guilt.” But then the prophet
addresses them with Gospel exhortations, “Wash you, make you clean; put away
the evil of your doings, cease to do evil, learn to do well:” words which are re-echoed by St. Peter in his exhortations at
Pentecost; “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” “Repent ye,
therefore, and be converted, that
your sins may be blotted [out] when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”
Even yet their scarlet sins might be made white by the blood they had
wickedly shed. But if not, “the sword
should devour them:” and so it happened; the Roman armies with keen severity redeemed the
pledged faithfulness of Jehovah’s word.
The character given of
But let us fill up more definitely the prophet’s sketch.
Eusebius agrees with Jerome in explaining the
expression in verse 22, “Thy dealers mix wine with water” (the version of the LXX.), as signifying
that the Scribes and Pharisees adulterated the true and pure word of the Most
High with their puerile and corrupt traditions.
Their hypocrisy the Saviour exhibited, “Woo unto you Scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites!”
That their
princes were “rebellious,” was seen by their revolting from Rome; that they were “companions of
thieves,” was
fulfilled, as both Eusebius and Jerome conceive, by their league with Judas, the
traitor and thief. That they “judged not
the cause of the widow,” we learn from the Saviour’s reproach, “that [Page 130] they devoured widows’ houses.” In consequence of all these sins,
the vengeance of God, it is threatened, should come upon them; yet this
judgement should destroy only the wicked.
His wrath accomplished, the remnant shall yet come forth, Isaiah assures us, purified as gold
without alloy, and
61
Her
judges restored would be such men as Moses and Joshua, or in the latter times such
as Ezra and Nehemiah; or more properly still, such as the Apostles of the Lord.
The general features which this chapter exhibits as
characteristic of the Jews, are, a hypocritical show of righteousness, and
attention to ceremonies, joined with a real disregard of God, and a heart full
of malice, envy, and avarice. How truly
this was fulfilled in the Jews of our Saviour’s time we know from the
Evangelists. Connected with this their
sin, is the threat which was afterwards executed, that the temple and its
service should be no longer continued to their nation. “Tread my courts no more,” which is not so much a prohibition,
as a prophecy that soon they should not be able to enter those courts which
they had so profaned. And Procopius justly
observes, “The prophet does not accuse them at this time of idolatry,
but of murder,”
with which the Saviour charged them, “0
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 2
1. THE WORD WHICH ISAIAH THE SON OF AMOS RECEIVED CONCERNING
JUDJEA AND
2 It shall come to pass in the last days,
That the
And the house of God on the
top of the mountains;
And it shall be exalted
above the hills:
And all nations shall flow
unto it.
3 And many nations shall go and say,
Come, and let us go up to
the
And to the house of the God
of Jacob.
And he will teach us of his ways,
And we will walk in his
paths:
For out of
And the word of JEHOVAH from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the Gentiles;
And shall work conviction among many people:
And they shall beat their swords into plough-shares,
And their spears into pruning-hooks.
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
Neither shall they learn war any more,
5 And now, 0 house of Jacob, come ye,
Let us walk in the light of
JEHOVAH.
6 For he hath forsaken his people, the house of Jacob:
Because their country is
filled with diviners as of old time,
And with soothsayers like
the (land of) foreigners:
*And they multiply a spurious
brood of strange children.
7 Their land also is full of silver and gold;
Neither is there any
numbering of their treasures;
And their land is filled
with horses;
Neither is there any end of
their chariots.
8 Their land also is filled
with idols, the work of their own hands;
That which their own fingers have made they worship.
9 And the mean man boweth down,
And the great man humbleth
himself;
Therefore will I not forgive
them.
10 And now enter into the rocks, and hide thyself in the dust,
From the terror of JEHOVAH and the glory of his majesty,
When he ariseth
to smite terribly the earth.
11 For the lofty looks of man shall be humbled;
And the haughtiness of men
bowed down;
And JEHOVAH alone
shall be exalted in that day:
12 For a day is appointed by JEHOVAH of hosts against every
insolent and haughty one,
And against every one that
is lofty, and he shall be brought low.
13 And against all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and
exalted,
And against all the oaks of
14 And against all the lofty mountains,
And against all the hills
that are lifted up;
15 And against every high tower,
And against every fenced
wall.
16 And against all the ships of Tarshish,
And against every spectacle
of beauty.
17 And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down,
And the haughtiness of men
brought low.
And JEHOVAH alone
exalted in that day.
18 And the idols they shall utterly abolish,
19 Carrying them into the caverns and clefts of the rocks,
And into the holes of the
earth;
From the terror of
JEHOVAH, and the glory of his majesty,
When be ariseth
to smite terribly the earth.
20 In that day a man shall hide his idols of silver,
And his idols of gold, which
they made to worship,
21To enter into the caves of the rocks, and the holes of the
craggy rocks;
From the terror
of JEHOVAH, and the glory of his
majesty,
When he ariseth
to smite terribly the earth.
22 Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils:
For wherein is he to be
accounted of?
* *
*
[Page 130]
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 2
JEROME, in the commencement of this chapter,
remarks upon the words “the last days,” that this may remind us of the blessing of Jacob recorded in Gen. 49., a prophetic blessing, which was to
reveal to them what should be “in the last days.”
Specially does he refer to the promise to
* Septuagint [LXX] version – Here the correct reading.
The consequences of this rejection the prophet traces in the
state of the Jewish nation before that scene of millennial glory, while they
are yet forsaken of the Lord for their sins, which provoke the Son of Man at
last to appear with his mighty angels unto judgment. The first sin for which they are reproved is
divination – which is reiterated in other passages. The Jews of our Saviour’s time were according
to Lightfoot, addicted to magic, and
this is corroborated by the evidence of the Talmud; but the accusation of the
present chapter appears specially to refer to the times immediately preceding
our Lord’s second advent. And, strange
as it may sound to many an ear, the Scripture prophesies that this shall be one
of the sins of the last days, “Neither repented they of their murders nor of
their sorceries.” (Rev.
9: 21.)
The charge that “many foreign children are born unto
them,” would seem
to signify, that they disregarded the command of God in marrying or committing
fornication with the females of other countries. Their land is described as full of silver,
and gold, and horses. This was probably
partly the case when Isaiah prophesied; it was perhaps more fully the case in
the Saviour’s time: but it has yet to receive its final accomplishment when the
Jews return to [Page 132] their own land in unbelief, and by
their sins draw down God’s vengeance on their heads. Their land, it is also said, is “full of idols:” and idolatry the Revelations inform
us, will be the last form of wickedness which shall defile the earth. Absurd as this may appear to many, the means
that shall bring it to pass are fully equal to its accomplishment; the reigning
of One by the power of Satan, who shall by infernal influence be able to work
miracles, “so as to deceive, if it were possible, even the very elect”
– and who, possessing authority
throughout the habitable world, shall command all to worship or die. But a fuller consideration of the Man of Sin
is reserved for the tenth and fourteenth chapters. And for this cause, God saith by Isaiah, “I will not
forgive them.” He arises to judgement; and the prophet bids
his foes “hide them in the rocks for fear of the Lord, and for the
glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake
terribly the earth.” Even thus did the Saviour describe
his return: “Behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall begin to
say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.” (Luke 23: 29, 30.) To a like
effect does St. John describe that day, “And the kings of the earth, and the
great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and
every bondman and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks
of the mountains; and said
unto the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that
sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: FOR THE GREAT DAY OF HIS WRATH IS COME; and who shall be able to
stand?” (Rev. 6: 16, 17.)
And with this accords the 12th verse, “For a day is
appointed by Jehovah of hosts against every insolent and haughty one;” where Antichrist is probably intended
primarily, because of the expressions being in the singular number, though of
course it does not exclude any who are his followers.
There is no reason why the cedars, and towers, and ships, and
pictures, should not be taken literally, since the great day of the Lord’s
return shall produce, the Scripture tells us, a mighty change in the face of
the whole earth: “The earth shall be removed, and the mountains carried into
the midst of the sea; the waters thereof roar and be troubled, and the
mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” (Psalm
46: 2, 3.) The declaration that [Page 133] “Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day,” surely needs no further proof, than
that on that day all [then living upon the earth*] shall stand before the judgement-seat
of Christ, to “give an account of the deeds done in the body, whether they
be good or evil.” Every face, both of the risen saints
and of the living wicked, must needs be then cast down; for who will not be
obliged not to confess himself a transgressor?
None but he who shall alone be conspicuous in that day. But at that time the Spirit shall be poured
out on the remnant that remains upon earth, and thenceforth the idols during
the Saviour’s [millennial] reign of glory shall be cast into dens and caves, “to the moles
and to the bats.”
[* NOTE. There must be a judgment prior
to this time; a judgment of the souls of the dead now in the underworld of
Hades. This prior judgment will
determine who shall be “deemed worthy to
obtain … THAT RESURRECTION [out] FROM
THE DEAD” (Luke 20: 35), when our
Lord will return to earth, (1 Thess.
4: 16). See also Phil. 3: 11; Heb. 11: 35b; Rev. 20: 4-6. – Ed.]
The concluding verse contains a rebuke to them that put their
trust in man, though that man should be one so
exalted as Antichrist himself; for “he shall come to his end, and none
shall help him.” (Dan. 11: 45.)
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTERS 3 & 4
1 For, behold, the Lord JEHOVAH of hosts
Taketh away from
The strong both male and
female;
The whole stay of bread, and
the whole stay of water.
2 The mighty man and the man of war,
The judge, and the prophet,
the diviner, and the ancient,
The captain of fifty and the
honourable man,
And the counsellor, and the skilful artificer, and
the skilful in incantation.
3 And I will make youths
their princes,
And scorners shall rule over them.
4 And the people shall be
oppressed, every one by another,
And every one against his neighbour shall behave
insolently:
The child against the ancient, the base against the
honourable.
5 Then shall a man lay hold
of his brother,
Or some relation of his father’s, saying,
6 Thou hast raiment, be thou
our ruler;
And let my food be under thy control.
7 And he shall answer and say
in that day,
I will not be your ruler,
For in my house is neither bread nor raiment.
I will not be the ruler of this people.
8 For
Because their words are with iniquity,
And in their inventions, they disobey JEHOVAH.
9 For now is their glory
humbled;
*And the confusion of their
countenance hath arisen against them,
But they published their sin as
Woe to their souls! For they have devised a wicked
counsel.
10 Saying among themselves,
Let us destroy the Just One,
For he is displeasing unto
us;
Therefore shall they eat the fruit of their deeds.
11 Woe to the Wicked One! Evil
According to the works of his hands shall befall
him.
12 O my people, oppressors spoil you,
And exactors lord it over you;
O my people, they that flatter you, cause you to
err,
And pervert the path of your feet.
13 But now JEHOVAH shall arise
up to judgement,
And shall cause the nations
to stand for trial.
14 JEHOVAH himself cometh to judgement
With the elders of his people, and with his princes:
Wherefore now have ye set on fire my vineyard!
And (why) is the plunder of the poor in your houses
15 Why do ye afflict my
people?
* And grind the faces of the
poor?
16 Thus moreover, saith JEHOVAH,
Because the daughters of
And walk with a lofty neck
and with wanton eyes,
And draw a sweeping train as
they go,
And march with stately step.
17 Therefore JEHOVAH will humble the head of the daughters of
And JEHOVAH will expose
their nakedness.
18*And in that day shall
JEHOVAH take from them,
The bravery of the tinkling
ornaments about their feet,
And their cauls, and round
tires like the moon,
19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,
20 The bonnets, and ornaments of the legs,
And the headbands, and the
tablets, and earrings,
21 The rings and nose jewels,
22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles,
And the wimples, and the
crisping pins,
23 The glasses and the fine linen,
And the hoods and the vails.
24 And there shall be instead of sweet smell, a stench;
And instead of a girdle, a
rent;
And instead of a well-set
hair, baldness;
And instead of a stomacher,
a girding of sackcloth.
25 And thy very beautiful son whom thou lovest shall fall by the
sword,
And thy strong men be
brought low in the war.
26 And thy coffers of jewels shall mourn,
And thou shalt be left
solitary and sit on the ground.
CHAPTER 4
1 And seven women shall lay hold of one man in that day saying,
We will eat our own bread
and wear our own apparel,
Only let us be called by thy
name,
To take away our reproach.
2*In that day shall the branch of JEROVAH be
beautiful and glorious,
And
the fruit of the earth excellent and comely for the escaped of Israel.
3 And it shall be that the
remnant in
And the escaped in
Shall be
called holy,
Even all that are enrolled unto life in Jerusalem.
4 For JEHOVAH shall wash away the filth
(Of the sons) and daughters of
And shall purge the blood of
With the spirit of judgement and the spirit of
burning.
5*And JEHOVAH shall create
On every place of
And all the surrounding
parts,
A cloud and smoke by day,
And the shining of a burning fire by night;
For with all the glory of JEHOVAH shall it be
covered.
6 And it shall be a tabernacle for shade from the
heat by day,
And a refuge and a covert from storm and rain.
* * *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTERS 3 & 4
[Page 133]
IN this chapter
is described the utter overthrow of Jerusalem; an overthrow so complete, that
the simple opinion that one was possessed of food and clothing, would create an
eminence sufficient to cause a desire in the desolate remnant to appoint him
king. This had a first accomplishment in
the captivity by Nebuchadnezzar. Thus we
read, 2
Kings 24: 14, 16, “And he carried away all
The curse of the 4th
verse, that young men should rule over them, and scoffers be their
lords, was fulfilled in the various seditions that arose within the city. A young man was the cause of the war with the
Romans. “At the
same time,” says Josephus, “Eleazer the son of
Ananias the high-priest, a very bold youth, who was at that time governor of
the temple, persuaded those that officiated in the divine service, to receive
no gift nor sacrifice from any foreigner.
And this was the true beginning of our war with the Romans; for they
rejected the sacrifice of Caesar upon this account, and when many of the
high-priests and [Page 135] principal men besought
them not to omit the sacrifice, when it was customary to offer for their
princes, they would not be prevailed upon.” That “the people were oppressed, every one
by another,” is proved
from every page of Josephus, the daily murders of John and Simon, and the Sicarii, and the fierce search for provisions, which
Josephus thus describes: “The madness of the seditious did also increase
together with the famine, and both these miseries were inflamed every day more
and more ... the robbers came running into and searched men’s private
houses; and then if they found any, they tormented them because they denied
they had any: and if they found none, they tormented them worse, because they
supposed that they more carefully concealed it.” (Book v., c. x., §. 2.) The following passage confirms what has been
affirmed above: “At the first this quarrelsome temper caught hold of private
families, who could not agree among themselves; after which, those people that
were the dearest one to another, brake through all restraints with regard to
one another, and every one associated with those of his own opinion, and began
already to stand in opposition one to another; so that seditious arose
everywhere, while those that were for innovations, and were desirous of war, by
their youth and boldness, were too hard for the aged and prudent men.” Add to this the character drawn by Josephus of the Zealots: and it will be seen how at once they were
both oppressors and “scorners.” “They looked
upon the doing of mischief to strangers only, as a work beneath their courage,
but thought their barbarity towards their nearest relations would be a glorious
demonstration thereof. The Idumeans also
strove with these men, who should be guilty of the greatest madness; for they
all, vile wretches as they were, cut the throats of the high-priests, that
so no part of a religious regard to God might be preserved; … under which scene, that sort of
people that were called Zealots grew up, and who indeed corresponded to the
name: for they imitated every evil course.
Nor if their memory suggested any evil thing that formerly had been
done, did they avoid zealously to pursue the same, and although they gave
themselves that name from their zeal for what was good, yet did it agree to
them only by way of irony, on account of those they had unjustly treated by
their wild and brutish disposition, or as thinking the [Page 136] greatest mischief to be the greatest good.” Their utter disregard of all religious feeling was likewise
shown by their jesting with perjury, their seizing on the temple, appropriating
its precincts and vessels to their use, and defiling its courts with
blood. Well therefore might the prophet
call them “scorners.”
And what was the reason that thus “
61
See
note on this passage.
It
was the discovery of the remarkable prophecy restored in the 9th and 10th
verses of this chapter, that first induced the author to think of a new
version of this prophet. For here is a
clear unambiguous prophecy of the plots of the Jews against the life of our
Saviour, who is called “the Just One:” which title is also used by the Apostles, who refer to this
very passage, whenever they accuse the Jews of his death.
“Ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and
desired a murderer to be granted unto you, and killed the Prince of Life.”
(Acts 3: 14, 15.)
Such also is the accusation of Stephen: “They have slain them [Page 137] which showed before the coming of the Just
One: of whom ye have been now
the betrayers and murderers.” (Acts 7: 52.)
It is not wonderful then, as this passage so clearly pointed out their
sin, and was doubtless often quoted against them by the early Christians, that the Jews should endeavour to corrupt it; which they have done in the
Hebrew entirely, and in the Greek partially: yet God, jealous of the
honour of his sacred oracles, has left us the means of detecting the fraud. But let the accuser speak for himself. “But herein consists the exceeding
greatness of your wickedness that you hate that Just One, whom you have put to
death, and those who have received from him, that they are what they are,
namely, just, righteous, and humane.
Wherefore ‘Woe unto their soul,’ saith the Lord, “because
they have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying, Let us destroy the
Just One, because he is displeasing to us.” And again, “And as they still remained silent, I
said, I will now quote the Scriptures as they are translated by the LXX.: for
when I cited them before, as you have them, I did it to try what was your
opinion. For in reciting that Scripture
which saith, ‘Woe unto them, because they have
taken evil counsel against themselves, saying,’
I added, according to the translation of the Septuagint, ‘Let us destroy
the Just One, because he is displeasing to us.’ When at the
beginning of this conference I said, as you would have it translated, saying, ‘Let us bind the Just One, because he is displeasing unto us.’” – Just.
Martyr, Dial. With Trypho.
Eusebius also
testifies that the original words of the LXX. Were, “Let us
destroy the Just One.” And which is very remarkable, the multitude
demanding the death of Jesus made use of this very word. “And they all cried out at once, Away
with this (…) man,
and release unto us Barabbas.” (Luke 23: 18.) Exactly the same word
is made use of by
This, their grievous crime, saith the prophet, “they declare
as
But notwithstanding these fearful judgements thus fulfilling
the Word of the Most High, other passages of [Page 139] Scripture, and the concluding portion of this prophecy, seem to show that yet
a third and final accomplishment awaits it in the times of Antichrist. For the succeeding verse addresses the
lawless one, who is described by St.
Paul under this very title, 2 Thess. 2: 8, “And then
shall that wicked (one) be revealed;” who in this chapter of Isaiah, and in
Daniel (chap. 11.)
is characterized by his “flattering” first, and afterwards oppressing the people of the Jews; and
by his “perverting the path of their feet,” in asserting himself to be the
long-looked for Messiah. That their
oppressors and flatterers are spoken of in the plural number, is doubtless
owing to the fact mentioned by Daniel, that “he (Antichrist) shall cause them (his adherents) to rule over many, and
divide the land for gain.”
Yet in spite of their oppression, both he and they shall pretend to
serve the people they oppress, as it is written, “And such as do wickedly
against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries.” “And many shall
cleave to them with flatteries.” (Dan. 11:
32, 34.) But as St. Paul threatens, that “the Lord will
consume him with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of
his coming,” so is
the same here declared, “But now Jehovah shall arise up to judgement, and shall cause
his people to stand for trial.” Moreover, the glorious
array of the Saviour is noticed as he comes to judgement. “Jehovah himself cometh to judgement
with the elders of his people and with his princes,” or as our Lord differently expresses
the same thing. “The Son of
Man shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels with him, and then shall
he sit on the throne of his glory.” (Matt.
25: 31.) Isaiah proceeds to charge his enemies with
burning up his vineyard and oppressing his saints; even so the same rule of
judgement is seen to be exhibited in this parable of the Lord, “I was an
hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was
a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in
prison, and ye visited me not. Depart
from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels.” “It is quite in keeping;” says Eusebius, “that after he had prophesied the first coming of the Saviour,
and the overthrow of the people, he should also hand down the knowledge of his
second coming in these words: ‘Jehovah himself cometh to judgement with the elders of [Page 140] his people, and with his princes: wherefore have ye
set on fire my vineyard? And why is the plunder of the poor in your houses?’ (ver. 14); whom he chides as if standing
before the judgement-seat of the Lord.”
At the 16th verse
begins a new subject, which is continued to the end of the fourth chapter, and
contains God’s threats against the daughters of
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 5
1 Now will I sing to my beloved,
A tender song touching my
vineyard.
The beloved had a vineyard
on a very fruitful hill,
2 And I fenced it, and gathered
out the stones thereof,
And planted it with the
choicest vine,
And built a tower in the
midst thereof,
And dug out a wine vat
therein,
3 And I waited that it should
bring forth grapes,
But it produced poisonous berries.
And now, ye inhabitants of
Judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard.
4 What could be done more for
my vineyard,
That I have not done for it?
Therefore I expected that it
should bring forth grapes,
But it produced poisonous berries.
5 But now, go to, will I tell
you what I will do to my vineyard,
I will take away the hedge
thereof, and it shall be eaten up;
I will break down the wall
thereof, and it shall be trodden down.
6 And I will forsake it; it
shall not be pruned nor digged,
But there shall come up thereon thorns and briars.
I will also command the clouds, that they rain no
rain upon it.
7 For the vineyard Of JEHOVAH
of hosts is the house of
And the men of
I expected that it should bring forth justice, but
behold oppression;
And righteousness, but behold a cry.
8 Woe unto them that join house to house,
And lay field to field, till
there be no place,
Would ye dwell alone upon the earth?
9 And JEHOVAH of hosts made me to hear this (word);
Though there be many houses: they shall be desolate;
Though fair, they shall be without inhabitant.
10*Yea,
ten acres of vineyards shall yield one bath,
And the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.
11 Woe unto them that rise
early in the morning, to follow strong drink,
That continue until night, till wine inflame them!
12 For the harp and the viol,
the tabret and the pipe, are in their feasts.
But they regard not the work
of JEHOVAH
Nor consider the operations of his hands.
13 Therefore my people are gone
into captivity,
Because they know not JEHOVAH;
* And
their honourable men are famished,
And their multitude dried up with thirst.
14 Therefore Hades hath enlarged his desire,
And hath opened his mouth without measure.
And their glorious ones, and
their multitude,
And their rich ones, and they that exult, shall
descend into it,
15 And the mean man shall be brought down,
And the mighty man shall be humbled;
And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
16 And JEHOVAH of hosts shall
be exalted in judgement,
And the Holy God shall be glorified in
righteousness.
17 Then shall they that have
been plundered feed like oxen,
And the wastes of the transgressors shall strangers
eat.
18 Woe unto them that draw
iniquity as with a long cord,
And sins as with 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!
20 Woe unto them that call
evil good, and good evil.
That put darkness for light, and light for darkness:
That put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.
21 Woe unto them that are wise
in their own eyes;
And prudent in their own
sight!
22 Woe unto your powerful ones, the wine-bibbers;
And those in authority,
mixers of strong drink!
23 That justify the wicked man
for reward,
And take away the righteous of the just man from
him.
24 Therefore as the fire
devoureth the stubble,
And the flame consumeth the
chaff,
So their root shall be as
rottenness,
And their blossom shall go up as dust.
Because they have cast away the law of JEHOVAH of
hosts,
And despised the word of the
Holy One of Israel.
25 Therefore the anger of JEHOVAH of hosts is kindled
against his people.
And he
hath laid his hand upon them,
And he smote them; and the mountains trembled:
And their carcases became as dung in the midst of
the streets;
Yet for all this his anger
is not turned away,
But his hand is stretched out still.
26 Therefore shall he lift an
ensign to the nations afar off,
And shall hiss for them from the ends of the earth:
And behold, they shall come with speed swiftly.
27 None shall be weary, nor
stumble among them,
None shall slumber, nor sleep;
Nor shall the girdle of
their loins be loosed,
Nor the latchet of their shoes be broken.
28 Whose arrows are sharp, and
their bow bent,
Their horses’ hoofs shall be
counted a flint,
And their chariot wheels like a whirlwind.
29 They shall be angry as
lions,
And roar as lions’ whelps;
And they shall roar and
seize the prey,
And they shall carry it away, and none shall deliver it.
30 In that day there shall be a cry because of them,
As the sound of a billowy
sea;
And they shall look to the heaven above,
And to the earth beneath.
And
behold darkness, horrible darknes, in their (time of)
distress.
* * *
[Page 140]
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 5
THE strong resemblance which exists between this sacred song
and our Lord’s parable of the wicked husbandmen is such as must strike every
reader: and it seems beyond a doubt that our Saviour took his description from
hence, by which means he identified himself as “the Beloved,” whose [Page 141] vineyard, as, being the heir, it was.
And this title of the Saviour was twice given him from heaven. (Matt. 3:
17, and 17: 5.) In this chapter Christ is represented as performing
those kind offices to the vineyard which in the parable are attributed to the
householder. But this difference is no
objection; as the work of creation is, in various places, ascribed to Father,
Son, and Spirit; and the Son and the Father are one. Nor are we left in doubt what is the
vineyard: “For the vineyard of Jehovah of hosts is the house of
“I will take away the hedge thereof;” that is, according to
Then follow, in verses 8, 9,
and 10, God’s curses against the avaricious;
and the desolation of “houses great and fair,” and the diminution of the produce of the land, were
literally fulfilled to the Jews of the Apostles’ times, not only by the famines
which took place, but also by the devastation of Judaea, first under Titus, and
finally under Hadrian.
The next woe is directed against the voluptuary and the
drunkard, and it is regarded as his heavy crime that he forgets his God, amidst
his many bounties; but his end will be according, to the words of the Psalmist,
“The
wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that forget God.”
The threat of captivity which follows was, to the letter,
fulfilled, and that, “because they
knew not Jehovah.” They beheld amongst them “the glory, as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth,” but because they “knew him not,” but rejected and crucified him,
therefore they were not only led into captivity, but were smitten with famine
and thirst during the fearful siege of
Verse 17 is probably corrupt; as seems apparent from the variety of
readings proposed by the ancient versions. The Chaldee paraphrase gives as its
meaning, “Then shall the just feed as is written of them, and shall be
multiplied, and the just shall possess the substance of the ungodly.”
The woe next denounced falls upon the libertine, who deride
the threats of Christ’s return. “Let him make
speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it.”
Precisely parallel to this is the prophecy of St. Jude, “There shall be
mockers in the last time, walking after their own ungodly lusts.”
So also St. Peter, “There shall come in the last days scoffers,
walking after their own lusts, and
saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the [Page 143] fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from
the beginning of the creation.” (2 Pet. 3: 3, 4.)
Those who endeavour to do away with the distinctions between
right and wrong, then receive the prophet’s curse. Jerome and Eusebius apply it to the Jews, and
remark that they called good evil, in attributing the miracles of Christ to
Beelzebub; and put darkness for light, in choosing Barrabas before Jesus, and
in turning to their corrupt fables rather than to the holy doctrines of the
Gospel. But the passage appears to have
a wider scope, and to be levelled at the forms of evil that shall arise
especially at the end of the world [age], when men shall endeavour to make it appear that
there is no difference between good and evil, and “many shall
follow their pernicious ways.”
The prophet then
successively rebukes pride, drunkenness, and abuse of power; and pride and covetousness are two of the features
which the Apostle sketches as the characteristics of the last times. (2 Tim. 3: 2.) That drunkenness will also be in
characteristic of the last days, is implied in the Saviour’s warning that his disciples’ hearts be not “overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness”(Luke 21: 34); and his threat against his servant that shall “eat
and drink with the drunken.”
The woe threatened against those who “take away the
righteousness of the righteous man from him,” was once accomplished in the mock
trial of our blessed Lord, and the false witnesses brought against him; and “the carcases” of the people that condemned him, did
indeed become “as dung in the midst of the streets.”
The threat of nations to come from afar, was partially accomplished in
the advance of the destroying Roman force against
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 6.
1 In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw JEHOVAH sitting
upon a throne high and lifted up, and the house was full of his glory. 2 Above him stood seraphim;
each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he
covered his feet; and with twain he did fly.
3 And they cried one to the other, and said,
Holy, holy, holy, is JEHOVAH
of hosts.
The whole earth is filled
with his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the sound of their cry: and
the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said, Woe is me, for I am undone: for I am a man, and
have unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, and
mine eyes have seen the King, JEHOVAH of hosts.
6 Then was sent to me one of the seraphim, having a
live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he laid it on my mouth,
and said,
Lo, this hath touched thy lips:
And thine iniquity is purged, and thy sin taken
away.
8 And I heard the voice of
Jehovah, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? 9 And I said, Here am I: send me. And he said,
Go, and say to this people,
By hearing ye shall hear, and not understand;
And seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
10 For this people’s heart is waxed gross,
And their ears are dull of hearing:
And their eves they have
closed,
Lest at any time they should
see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their
heart,
And be converted, and I should heal them.
11 And I said, How long, 0 JEH OVAH? And he said,
Till the cities be desolate
from not being inhabited,
And the houses, because
there is no man:
And the land be utterly
desolate.
12 And after that God shall remove men to a distance;
And they that are left in
the land shall be multiplied.
13 Because yet in it shall be a tenth,
And again it shall be for
preservation,
As an oak, that drops its
leaf,
And as an acorn, when it
falls from its cup,
So the holy seed shall be
support thereof.
* *
*
[Page 144]
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 6
The vision contained in this chapter is deeply mysterious, and
yet equally important. In it the mystery
of the blessed Trinity is not obscurely declared; and the blindness of the Jews
is explicitly foretold.
The vision opens with describing Jehovah as seen by the prophet
in the temple, when his glory filled its courts. Above him stood seraphim, who
cried thrice, “Holy holy, holy, is the Lord of
hosts,” thus
intimating the trinity of persons in One Jehovah. According to the remarks of an acute writer,
“The inner part of the Jewish sanctuary was called the
Holy of Holies; that is, ‘the holy place of the Holy Ones.’ And the number of these is limited to three, by the acts of adoration mentioned above. It is further worthy of serious notice that a
voice from that excellent glory responded in the same language of
plurality. ‘Whom shall I send? And who
shall go for us?’ Here the being addressed is the ‘Lord of hosts.’ This all acknowledge to include the Father:but the Evangelist John (12: 41), in manifest
reference to this transaction, observes, ‘These things spake Esaias, when he
saw his (Christ’s) glory, and spake of him.’
In this vision, therefore, we have the Son also, whose glory, on this
occasion, the prophet is said to have beheld.
Acts
28: 25 determines that there was also the presence of the Holy
Ghost: ‘Well spake the Holy Ghost, by Esaias the prophet, unto our fathers, saying, Go
unto this people, and say, Hearing shall hear, and not understand.’ These words quoted from
Isaiah the Apostle Paul declares to have been spoken by the Holy Ghost, and
Isaiah declares them to have been spoken on this occasion by the ‘Lord of hosts.’”
The passage which follows this scene is one of the most
remarkable in the Old Testament, being quoted at least five times in the
New. It is alleged by the four
Evangelists; by St. Matthew (in the thirteenth chapter, and 14th and
15th verses), as the principal reason why Jesus discoursed in
parables to the multitude. The same [Page 145] application is made by St. Mark and
St. Luke; and this not by way of accommodation, but with just reason, and by
the dictation of the sacred Spirit. For
we see that parables had this effect: the people understood him not, as we may
be sure. Since His own disciples did
not; and the Saviour remarked it, as their peculiar privilege, that unto them
the “mysteries of the kingdom” were manifested, while to others they
were enveloped in parables of which they were too idle, or too faithless, or
too proud, to seek the meaning.
This passage is quoted by
It is, then, only to withdraw this
grace, that is, this unmerited favour, from either a nation or an individual, and the nation
or the individual heart is hardened.
Take an illustration. Our world
possesses neither light nor heat itself, to enlighten us in our occupations, or
to ripen its produce. All, then, that
were necessary to harden and darken it would be to withdraw the sun. No need to send Planets of ice to hover above
our atmosphere – no need to surround the globe with a brazen wall: simply left
to itself it would freeze to iron hardness, and be dark with the blackness of
darkness. It is even thus with man. Withdraw the sacred Spirit, that only source
of light and warmth, and man becomes dark and cold. And the Spirit’s aid is of grace; and grace
means a gift during pleasure; - and a gift during pleasure depends upon the
giver to continue or to withdraw.
Thus, then, we have arrived at the
conclusion which bears upon the present topic.
God, in his infinite wisdom, withdrew his Spirit’s aid. Long time had they grieved that Spirit: now
did He withdraw. This was an act of
justice. The speaking in parables did
not begin till after [Page 147] the memorable blasphemy against the
Holy Ghost which sealed the doom of the haughty, malignant Pharisees. It was, in fact, a consequence of this. The Spirit, by whom alone man can be
regenerated, being insulted beyond endurance by the declaration that He was the
spirit of Satan, left those miserable men for ever to the blindness and
inexorable hardness of their own malicious hearts.
This
passage is quoted a fifth time by
In this transaction, then, is represented
to us in miniature the main dealings of God concerning the Jews and the
Gentiles, that mystery into which Paul enters in the eleventh chapter of the
Epistle to the Romans. Did it not show
fickleness on the part of God, to cast off his ancient people, and take to
himself the Gentiles? Did it not involve
an annulling of the promises of God, made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? By no means.
God had,
even then, during
But this unbelief of the Jews is made,
in the wisdom of God, a purpose of mercy to the Gentiles. We “have obtained mercy through their
unbelief:” “They are enemies to the Gospel for our sakes,” that it might now be justly preached
to us for our salvation.
But have they stumbled that they may
utterly be cast off? No; there is a
limit to their unbelief, fixed by two independent landmarks in the counsels of
God. “Then said I, Lord,
how long” shall
this blindness last? This beholding thee, yet not recognising thee as the
Christ; this hearing of thy words such as never man spake, yet not
understanding? And he answered,
“Until the
cities be desolate from not being inhabited,
And the houses because there
is no man:
And the land be utterly
desolate.
And after that God shall
remove men to a distance;
And they that are left in
the land shall be multiplied,
Because yet in it shall be a
tenth,
And again it shall be for
preservation,
As an oak (that casts its
leaf),
And as an acorn when it
falls from its cup,
So the holy seed shall be
the support thereof.”
In spite of the many difficulties and varieties of reading
that encompass this passage, we may yet discern the general meaning, which must
certainly be that of merciful promise.
For the question of the prophet is, How long should the Jews thus be
cast off? And the reply is, that it
shall last till a great desolation has taken place, either in the land or in the earth (for the word
signifies both), perhaps the latter.
When this is accomplished, it is [Page 149] clearly implied that the mercy of God
shall return. Nor are we left to the
force of deduction alone. For St. Paul assures us, “that
blindness in part is happened unto
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 7
1 And it came to pass, in the days of Ahaz, the son of
Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of
4 And say unto him,
Take heed, and be still,
fear not, neither be faint-hearted,
Because of the two tails of these smoking
fire-brands.
For when the anger of my indignation is ceased,
Again I will heal thee.
5 Because
Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, saying,
6 Let us go up against
And let us turn them away unto ourselves,
And set a king over it, the son of Tabeal.
7 Thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts,
This counsel shall not stand nor take effect.
8 Though the head of
And the head of
9 And the head of Ephraim, be
And the head of
Yet within threescore and five years
Ephraim shall be broken, that he be no more a
people;
* If ye will not believe in
me, ye shall not be established.
10 Moreover JEHOVAH spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
11 Ask thee a sign of JEROVAH thy God,
Go deep to Hades, or high to heaven above.
12 But Abaz
said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt
JEHOVAH.
13 And he said, Hear ye now, 0
house of David;
Is it a small thing for you to contend with men,
And how can ye contend with JEHOVAH?
14 Therefore JEHOVAH himself shall give you a sign,
Behold the Virgin shall be with child, and shall
bear a son
And they shall call his name
Emmanuel.
15 Butter and honey shall he eat,
Before he know to refuse the evil, and choose the
good.
16 For before the child shall
know how to refuse the evil, and choose the good,
The land for which thou fearest,
Shall be forsaken of the two kings.
17 But JEHOVAH shall bring upon thee
And upon thy people, and upon thy father’s house,
Days, such as shall not be
* From the day that the King
of Assyria shall take away Ephraim from
18 And it shall come to pass in that day,
That JEHOVAII shall hiss for the fly,
That dwelleth in the utmost part of the
And for the bee, that is in the
19 And they shall come and rest all of them
Upon the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the
rocks;
And on all thorny trees, and on all bushes.
20 In that day JEHOVAH shall shave with his hired razor,
(Even) by the king of
The head, and hair of the feet, and moreover shall
take away the beard.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day,
That a man shall feed a young cow and two sheep,
22 And it shall be, from their producing much milk,
That he shall eat butter;
For butter and honey shall every one eat that remaineth
upon the land.
23 And it shall be in that day, that every place
Where there were a thousand vines, at a thousand
pieces of silver,
Shall be for a wilderness, and for thorns.
24 With arrows and bows shall they come thither,
For a wilderness of thorns shall the whole land become.
25 And on every mountain once tilled with the mattock,
Thither shall no fear approach,
For because of its briars and thorns,
It shall be for the feeding of sheep, and the
trampling of the ox.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 7
[Page 149]
We arrive now at a chapter beset with
many difficulties, yet whose general tenour exhibits the power and
foreknowledge of God, and the pride and unbelief of man, surmounted by a
glorious prophecy of the Redeemer’s advent.
We are informed, at its commencement,
that the king of Assyria and the king of
Yet idolatrous Ahaz and his people, who took no heed to the
promises of God, were moved at the tidings of this war, “as the trees
of the wood are moved by the wind.” The heart of the
believer is kept in perfect peace: the heart of the faithless is not so. Had they but recalled to mind the words of
God, they would have perceived that while he lived and ruled, the design was
impossible.
But to quiet their fears, the prophet was directed to take
his son, perhaps an infant, and named Shear Jashub, (“the
remnant shall return,”) and to assure Ahaz that these kings were now only two
firebrands, no longer emitting flame but smoke, the signal of their being
nearly extinguished. Also, because
Ephraim must have known the prophecy respecting the integrity of the line of
David, yet attempted to overthrow it; therefore within sixty-five years it
should be smitten, “that it be not a people;” which was accomplished by
Shalmaneser’s carrying captive the tribes of Israel out of their own land,
since which day, they have no more appeared as a people, and their very
locality is a matter of doubt.
But the fate of Ahaz was not to be
tried by waiting to the end of so long a period as sixty-five years. Since the honour of God was concerned, the
Lord was willing to give any sign that he might devise, either from Hades or
from heaven. On which point take the
following quotation from Jerome:- “Would you have,” says he, “the
earth to cleave, that with a mighty yawning, Hades (which is said to be in the
heart of the earth) should be laid open? Or that the heavens should be
opened? Both which refer to the type of
the Saviour’s death and resurrection.
For he that descended is the same as he who ascended. ‘Now that he ascended what is it, but that he descended first
into the lower parts of the earth? He
that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens that he
might fill all things.’ (Eph. 4: 9, 10.) And again, Romans 10: 6, 7,- ‘Say not in thine heart, Who
shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from aboveJ or, Who shall descend, into the deep? (that
is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.’)”
This sign Ahaz
refused, either from superstitious slavish [Page 151] fear or from pride, lest the true God
should show his superiority to the idols of his worship. For which sin the prophet uttered his just
rebuke: of which the meaning probably is this – Are you fearful when you have
only to contend with men like yourselves, what then must it be to contend with
God? For by thus refusing his offer, you
do in fact oppose his gracious purpose towards you.
But since Ahaz thus refused, Jehovah himself would give them a
miraculous sign. “Behold, the
virgin shall conceive.” The promise in
The succeeding verses contain the intimation of a great
desolation that was to befall the land of Judaea, in spite of this promise, and
seem to be an expansion of the prophecy in the preceding chapter, where it was
said that “the cities should be desolate without inhabitant;” and that, owing to a double
infliction of wrath by the king of Assyria on the one hand, and a plague of
insects on the other; as of old time the Almighty threatened to send “the hornet” as the instrument of his vengeance
against the Canaanites. And so great
should be the desolation of the poor remnant, that instead of their possessing
herds of oxen and flocks of sheep, as in the days of their prosperity, a man
should but possess a single cow and two sheep.
Also, instead of the provisions being of the “finest
wheat-flour,” the
wild productions of the country would be the only sustenance, for the vineyards
should be desolate with briers and thorns, and the survivors should be obliged
to go forth with arrows and bows to obtain the wild animals necessary to their
subsistence. Procopius further supposes that this passage implies the fear of
the survivors. “The
small remnant shall be so possessed with fear as to take up their abodes in the
mountains, woods, and thickets, according to the Saviour’s words, ‘Then let them which are in
Judaea flee to the mountains.’”
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 8
1 And JEHOVAH said unto me,
Take unto thee a large roll, and write on it with a man’s tool,‘Quickly
take the spoil, haste to the prey.’ 2 And I took me faithful witnesses, Uriah
the priest, and Zechariah the son of Baruchiah. 3 And I went unto the prophetess, and she conceived, and bare a
son. And JEHOVAH said unto me,
Call his name, ‘Quickly
spoil, - with speed take the prey:’
4 For before the child shall know
To call, My father and My mother,
The power of
And the spoil of
5 JEHOVAH spake also unto me
again, saving,
6 Because this people refuseth
The waters of Siloam that flow softly,
And desire to have Rezin,
And the son of Remaliah as king over them:
7 Therefore behold the Lord bringeth upon them,
The waters of the river, the strong and mighty
(Even)
the king of
And he shall come up on all their valleys,
And march over all their walls.
8* And he shall pass through
He shall overflow and go
over, he shall reach even to the neck;
And the breadth of his wings shall even fill
The extent of thy land, 0 Immanuel
9 Confederate yourselves, ye Gentiles, and ye shall be
defeated.
Give ear, from the ends of the earth;
Strengthen yourselves, and ye shall be defeated;
And if again ye strengthen yourselves,
Again shall ye be defeated.
10 And what counsel soever ye devise, JEHOVAH shall scatter it,
And what word soever ye
speak, it shall not stand,
For God is with us.
11 For thus said JEHOVAH unto me,
As with the strength of his
hand he turned me aside,
From walking in the way of
the people, saying,
12 Say not ye, ‘A confederacy,’
To all to whom this people shall say, ‘A confederacy.’
Neither fear, nor be troubled.
13 But JEHOVAH of hosts, sanctify him,
And let him be your fear.
14 And if thou trust in him, he shall be to thee a sanctuary,
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence
To the two houses of
And a gin and a snare to the inhabitants of
15 For many among them shall stumble and fall,
And be broken and snared and taken.
16* Bind
up the testimony, and seal the law among my disciples.
17 And thou shalt say, I will wait for the Lord
That turneth away his face
from the house of Jacob,
And I will trust in him.
18* Behold
I and the children whom God hath given me,
Are for signs and for
wonders to
From Jehovah of hosts, who dwelleth in
19 And if they say unto you,
Seek unto them that have
familiar spirits,
And to wizards that speak
spells and mutter,
Should not a nation seek unto their God?
Why enquire they of the dead concerning the living?
20 To the law and to the testimony,
If they speak not according
to this word,
There shall be to them no reward.
21 And there shall come unon you
severe famine.
And it shall be that when ye
hunger,
Ye shall fret and blaspheme your king and your fathers’ God,
And ye shall look to heaven above,
22 And to the earth beneath shall ye look,
And behold, straits and darkness!
Affliction, misery, and
darkness, so that ye cannot see!
For he shall not see who is
in darkness,
Till the time when they shall also turn to the Lord:
This will I perform very speedily.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 8
[Page 152]
This series of prophecy does not end with the last chapter:
the same subject is continued throughout chapter the eighth. The child to be born was not only to be named
Emmanuel, but also Maher-shalal; Hash-baz, or “Haste-to-the-spoil,
Quick-to-the-prey,” as Bishop Lowth expresses the name.
Jerome supposes that a mystery is contained
in the names of the witnesses to this transaction. Isaiah signifying the Salvation of God; Uriah, the Light of God; Zechariah, the Remembrance of God,
whose son was Barachias, or the Blessing of God. That the last of these was a “faithful witness,” our Lord himself informs us,
where, speaking of the righteous blood shed by the Jews, he mentions [Page 153] Zechariah the son of Barachias as being slain by them between the temple
and altar.
In this prophecy, as has been remarked above, there was given
an earnest at the time then present, of the greater things in store. The prophetess conceived and bore a son,
whose name was called, in obedience to the Lord’s command, Maher-shalal, Hash-baz. And within three years Tiglath Pileser went
up against
“Why do the heathen (or Gentiles) rage, and the
peoples (or nations) imagine a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel against
the Lord. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion,” where, from the verse last quoted, we see that the
confederacy of the nations is against the reign of Jesus, And this also, we are
informed in the Revelations, is the object of the Great Confederacy. “I saw the beast (Antichrist) and the kings of the earth,
and their
armies, gathered together to
make war against him that sat on the horse (who is in verse 13 called the Word
of God) and his army.” And as
the issue of the confederacy is declared to be that the nations shall be broken
in pieces, so is it asserted in the second Psalm, “Thou shalt
break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s
vessel.” So in the passage quoted from the Revelations
the sequel is the same. “And the beast
was taken and with him the false prophet ... And
the [Page 155] remnant were slain with the
sword of him that sat upon the horse.” Again, as the camp of the Assyrian is here
said to fill the breadth of Emmanuel’s land, so in the fourteenth chapter of
this book and the 25th verse, it
is declared, “I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under
foot. This is the purpose that is
purposed upon the whole earth, and this
is the hand that is stretched out on all the nations.”
It was in the foresight of this confederacy of the Gentiles,
and the counsel against the Lord Jesus, that the prophet was instructed by God
to warn the people of
At this time we are moreover informed that men shall advise to
seek counsel “of them that have familiar spirits and wizards.”
Even as Christ declared that “false Christs
and false prophets should arise, and do great signs and wonders, so as to
deceive, if it were possible, even the very elect.”
In reference to which times he gave his disciples this warning, “Wherefore if
they say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth; behold, he is in
the secret chamber, believe it not.” (Matt.
24: 26) Rather than betake themselves to the delusive
spirits of evil, as did Saul in his despair, they were to consult the law and
their testimony, as saith the apostle, “Ye have also a more sure word of prophecy,
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed until the day dawn.”
[Page 157]
The concluding verses describe that period called by the
Saviour and his Apostle John “the Great Tribulation,”
which immediately precede the coming of the Lord, when the “sun shall be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light;” days, which, except they should be “shortened for
the elect’s sake, there should no flesh be saved.”
And in this time, it is prophesied, that the Jews shall curse Christ
their king, and the God of their fathers, and there shall be darkness in the
heavens and affliction upon the earth; affliction, which shall not cease till
they believe in Jesus as their Messiah.
Now that the effect of God’s last plagues shall be, that they shall
curse, instead of repenting, we are informed also by St. John, when, in the
chapter which describes the seven last plagues of the wrath of God, it is
written, “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and
power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed
the name of God (the Lord Jesus, called in Isaiah, “their King
and their God,”) which had power over these
plagues, and they repented not to give him glory.” (Rev. 16: 8, 9.)
Why may not this be taken literally?
It is, I suppose, in the power of God to make the sun scorch as easily
as to make him shine. Again, ver. 10,“And the fifth angel
poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast,” (we have seen already that the
Antichrist and his confederacy is described in this chapter, the succeeding
verses in St. John describe it,) “and his kingdom was full of darkness,
and they gnawed their tongues for pain. And
blasphemed the God of heaven because of their
pains and their sores: and repented not of their deeds.” (Ver. 10, 11.) Again, “And there
fell upon men a great hail out of heaven,” (why not literal?) “every stone about the weight of a
talent; and men blasphemed God because
of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceeding great.”
(Ver. 21.) Yet on some of the Jews (and perhaps
also of the Gentiles) the Lord will pour his Spirit, and they shall believe “on him whom
they have pierced and mourn.” And then shall the
Saviour return according to his implied promise, “Ye shall not see me henceforth
till
ye say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
And to this implied promise is added the warning of his speedy approach.
“This will I perform very speedily,” as in [Page 158]
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 9
1 The
By way of the sea, beyond
2 The people which sat in darkness have seen great light,
And to them which sat in the
region and shadow of death
Light is sprung up.
3 Thou, O Cod, hast multiplied the nation, and increased the
joy;
They joy before thee according
to the joy in harvest,
And as men rejoice when they
divide the spoil.
4 For thou hast broken the yoke, his burthen;
And the staff that was upon
his shoulder, -
The rod of their oppressor,
JEHOVAH hath broken,
As in the day of Midian.
5* For every battle of the warrior is with
confused noise,
And garments rolled in
blood,
But this shall be with
burning and fuel of fire.
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
And the government shall be
upon his shoulder, -
And his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counsellor,-
The Mighty God, the Father
of the future age, the
Prince of Peace.
7 Mighty shall be his dominion, and of his peace no end:
He shall ascen
the throne of David, and his kingdom.
To order it, and establish
with judgment,
And with righteousness,
henceforth and for ever.
The zeal of the JEHOVAH of
hosts will perform this.
8 Jehovah hath sent a word upon Jacob,
And it hath lighted upon
9 And all the nations have become wicked,
Ephraim, and the inhabitants
of
Who say in their pride and
loftiness of heart,
10 The bricks have fallen,
but come, let us hew stone:
The sycamores are cut down,
but we will replace them with cedars;
And we will build ourselves a tower.
11 Therefore God shall smite on
And at
12 The Syrians on the east, and the Greeks on the
west,
That devour
For all this his anger is not turned away,
But his hand is stretched out still.
13 Yet this people returned
not to him that smote them.
And JEHOVAH of hosts have
they not sought.
14 Thererore shall JEHOVAH cut off
from
The head and the tail, the little and the great, in
one day.
15 The ancient and venerable,
he is the head;
And the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
16 For they that flatter this people shall be deceivers,
And they shall deceive, that they may swallow them
up.
17 Therefore in their young men shall JEHOVAH have no
joy,
And on their fatherless and widows no pity.
For they are all lawless and evil,
And every mouth speaketh falsity.
For all these things his wrath is not turned away,
But his hand is stretched out still.
18 And wickedness shall be
devoured as with fire;
And as dry grass shall it be consumed by flame;
(A fire) shall be kindled in
the thickets of the forest,
And all things around the hills shall be devoured
together.
19 By the wrath of JEHOVAH of
hosts is the whole land burnt,
And the people shall be as burned by the fire,
No man shall have pity on his brother.
20 But he shall snatch on the
right, yet be hungry,
And eat on the left, yet not be filled;
Yea, a man shall eat the flesh of his children.
21 Manasseh shall devour
Ephraim,
And Ephraim Manasseh;
And they together shall besiege
For all this his anger is not turned away,
But his hand is stretched out still.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 9
The
passage with which this chapter commences is quoted by St. Matt. 4: 16, as a prophecy of Christ’s residence in
Capernaum, a town situated on the borders of Zabulon and Naphtali, on the
western side of Jordan, lying on the coast of the sea of Gennesaret, and
situated iii Galilee, called also Galilee of the Gentiles.* Now it was
prophesied that this region especially, should see a great light, and the town
where Christ was to reside was definitely marked out, by all the conditions
above mentioned meeting in Capernaum.
* Galilee was called “of the Gentiles” because in this part foreigners were
more mixed with native Jews than in any other part of
It is important to remark, that though prophecy is delivered
absolutely, without assigning the reason why it shall thus take place, yet when
it is accomplishing or accomplished, it seems most naturally or even
necessarily accomplished in consequence of the state of circumstances at that
time. Thus it was prophesied of the
Saviour, “Out of
The same remark applies to the present instance. Had [Page 159] Jesus, after dwelling at Nazareth
during the first thirty years of his life, suddenly and without any further
reason than that he might accomplish prophecy, left Nazareth and settled in
Capernaum, though we should have acknowledged the prediction fulfilled, it
would not have struck the mind with the force and beauty with which it now
does, viewing it the just and righteous consequence of the Saviour’s rejection
by the people of Nazareth, and their daring attempt to cast him headlong down
the hill on which their city was built.
But this behaviour clearly obliged our Lord to change his residence, and
hence the accomplishment of the prophecy naturally followed. Nor were other reasons wanting to show that
this was a fit spot for the sojourn of the Lord: (as Greswell has shown in his second volume of “Dissertations:”)
the chief of which was, its nearness to the lake or sea of Gennesaret, across
which he could easily pass, and thus escape the importunities of the vast
multitudes, or the observation of his malignant enemies, the Pharisees.
The words of Theodoret on this passage are
worthy of notice:- “Zabulon and Naphtali obtained that inheritance (the “great
light” mentioned in verse 1). In that region the Lord wrought the chief of
his miracles; there he cleansed the leper; there he restored health to the
centurion’s servant; there he quenched the fever of Peter’s wife’s mother:
there he restored to life the deceased daughter of Jairus; there he calmed the
waves of the sea; there he multiplied the loaves; there he changed the water
into wine, which was the beginning of all his miracles, as John the Evangelist
teaches.”
But another topic opens upon us from this passage. The quotation, as given by the apostle, runs
thus: “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the
prophet, saying, The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, by way of the
sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people that sat in darkness
have seen a great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of
death light is sprung up.” But when we refer to
the prophet Isaiah for confirmation of the above, we find it written, “Nevertheless the dimness
shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at the first he lightly
afflicted, the land of Zabulon and the land of Naphtali, and after did more
previously afflict her by the way of the sea, [Page 160] beyond Jordan, in Galilee
of the nations.” What vexation? What dimness? Is this the passage to which the Evangelist
referred? The Evangelist speaks not of
vexation, but of joy, - not of affliction, but of a great blessing! How is this?
Did the Evangelist forge a prophecy for Isaiah? for here are not only
not the same words, but an opposite sense?
I answer, which is
most probable, that the Evangelist, writing by inspiration of the Spirit of
truth, should have falsified this passage, or that the Jews corrupted it? If
we suppose that the Old Testament, as we now have it, is absolutely perfect,
and uncorrupted in every point, who shall defend the New Testament from the
charge of forgery? But if it be beyond
all doubt, that the Jews have wilfully corrupted the oracles of God in those
passages which bore hardest on their unbelief, then let us by all means restore
them as they were quoted by the Spirit that wrote them! This might be said, though we had no further
evidence to produce than the fact that they are thus quoted by the
Evangelists. To Christians, who admit
the inspiration of Holy Scripture, the question must be decided at once. But there is also documentary
evidence in almost every case, to prove this corruption. It is so with the present passage. The Arabic begins this chapter with the
words, “The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephtali,” &c., very nearly in the same
words as the Evangelist, and discovers to us that the words “dimness” and “vexation” do, in fact, belong to the former chapter,
the close of which predicted distress of the severest kind.
But to proceed. As Bishop Horsley observes, the first and second advent are here brought together; which remark,
indeed, there will be frequent occasion to repeat, as it is the practice of the
Sacred Spirit so to blend them; and this was partly the - occasion of the
blindness of the Jews to the pretensions of Jesus since they did not separate,
in their minds, the various prophecies which spoke of the Messiah; - at one
time, as humbled below the ordinary lot of man; and at another, as victorious
and dominant above all the kings of the earth.
But we know that the Lord’s first coming was to be that of his humiliation; and
we are assured, by abundant passages, that the second advent is the time of his
glory, and of that of his people. Hence the two first verses of this chapter,
and the light they predict, may yet [Page 161] have a further accomplishment; as it is clear that the third has
yet to be fulfilled. It represents the joy of the Jewish nation,
compared to that of “harvest,” which is the continual emblem of the ingathering of the
righteous into the garner of the Lord, at “the consummation of this age” or dispensation, as the parable
of the tares and the wheat declares. That it was not fulfilled at Christ’s first coming is evident, from the
history. There was,
indeed, a partial rejoicing at Christ’s entry into
Again, the prophet returns to the first advent, and discovers
to us, that he who shall accomplish this should one day be presented to man in
the form of a child, yet with the mighty titles that distinguish him so far
above all of mortal kind, that Jerome
supposed the Greek interpreters were afraid to translate them. Here the divine and human natures of Christ
are seen united.
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
And the
government shall be upon his shoulder:
And his name
shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor,
The mighty
God, the Father of the future age, the
Prince of
peace.”
Christ's human nature is described where he is spoken of as a
child, and also where the government is promised to him; for only as Son of Man
can this be said; as God, he is co-eternal in power and authority with the
Father. The angel that appeared to Manoah, who was doubtless the Lord Jesus Christ, declared
his name to be “Secret,” the word in the Hebrew
being the same as in this place, and signifying, “Wonderful,” as well as hidden. That his name is also Counsellor, the eighth
chapter of Proverbs will instruct us, where the Lord Jesus describes himself
under the title of the Wisdom or Logos of the Father. “Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I
am understanding, have strength.” (Ver. 14.) “The Lord possessed
me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the
beginning, or ever the earth was.” (Ver. 22, 23.)
That he is also “the Mighty God,” various passages of Holy Writ do plainly assert. “That we may
know him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and everlasting life.”
(1 John 5: 20.)
The next title, “the Father of the future age” … describes the kingdom of the Son of Man, that period of blessedness of
which the prophets have spoken from the beginning. Of this future age or dispensation, our Lord spake when he
answered the Sadducees’ question, respecting the resurrection. “The children of this AGE (…)
marry, and are given in marriage, but they which are
accounted worthy to attain that AGE and the
resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage, neither
can they die any more, but are equal unto the angels.” (Luke 20: 34-36.) And again, in Heb. 2: 5: “Unto the
angels hath he not put into subjection the world to come” (“the habitable earth in its future state,” …); but, as the apostle proceeds to
show, from the eighth Psalm, this power and government is committed to the Son of Man, who is, accordingly, here styled “the Father of the future age,” – of “the earth in its future state” of bliss. In connexion with this,
he is called also “the Prince of
peace.”
And St. Paul notices this as one of his titles, where he discovers to us,
that Melchisedec was a type of the Son of God, “first being by interpretation ‘king of righteousness,’ “first being by
interpretation ‘king of righteousness,’
(Melech, in Hebrew, signifying ‘king,’ and Zedek, ‘righteousness’) and afterwards king of Salem, which is, King of peace. Thus it is with
Jesus, his first advent made him “king of righteousness” by his
observance and death; his second advent shall reveal him as Prince of peace.
Can any seriously consider that
the promise which accompanies this announcement, that “he shall
ascend the throne of David,” is fulfilled? Yet it was affirmed again and again by God, and re-echoed by the angel to
Mary: “The Lord God shall give him the throne of his father
David.” (Luke 1: 32.) Now, if David’s was not a spiritual throne;
if the throne of David were not a visible throne, nor a throne in the heavens, (and, we know, on inspired authority, that “David is not
(even) ascended into the heavens,”) then must the throne here specified be the rule of Christ in
Jerusalem over the people of the
Jews, and “from the river to the ends of the earth.”
(See the seventy-second and eighty-ninth Psalms)
From the eighth verse to the
conclusion of the chapter is described the wickedness of
Following which, after the wilful king has thus
wrought God’s vengeance on
By the 20th verse seems to
be described that dreadful time of great tribulation, predicted to the Jews in Deuteronomy chap. 28:
49-68, where it is
foretold [Page 164] that in the famine, “Thou shalt eat the fruit of
thine own body, the flesh of thy sons, and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy
God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness wherewith thine
enemies shall distress thee.” I am aware that this
is generally understood of the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans, and it was
doubtless partially accomplished then, but other passages, as, for
instance, the sixty-fourth verse, which foretells that they shall serve wood
and stone in the countries whither they are carried captive, should lead us to
believe that there is yet a completion more terrible even than that of the
Roman siege.
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 10
1 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees,
Unto the scribes, that
prescribe oppression.
2 That turn aside the
judgement of the needy;
That snatch away the right of the poor of my people;
That the widow may become
their prey,
And that they may rob the fatherless.
3 And what will ye do in the
day of visitation?
And in the desolation that shall come from afar?
To whom will ye flee for succour?
And where will ye leave your glory?
4 That ye be not carried into
captivity,
And that ye fall not under the slain?
For all this his anger is not turned away,
But his hand is stretched out still.
5 Ho! to the Asrian, the rod of mine
anger!
And in whose hands is the
staff of mine indignation.
6 Against a lawless nation
will I send him,
And against the people of my wrath will I give him a
charge,
To take the spoil, and to gather the prey:
And to tread underfoot their
cities,
And to make them as the mire of the streets.
7 Howbeit, he meaneth not so,
Neither in his heart doth he so purpose:
But to destroy is in his
heart,
And to cut off nations not a few.
8 And if they say unto him,
Art thou not the only King?
9 He shall say, I have not
taken the country above
And Calno,
where the tower was built,
But I have taken Arabia, and
10 As I have taken these, so will I take all kingdoms,
Howl, ye graven images in
11 For as I have done to
So will I do to
12 And it shall be, that when I JEHOVAH, have performed
the whole work,
Upon
I will punish the proud
heart of the king of
And the loftiness of his
haughty eyes,
13 For he hath said, By the
strength of my hand I have done it,
And by the wisdom of my understanding;
I will take away the
boundaries of the nations,
And their strength I will spoil.
14 AndIwill
shake cities with their inhabitants,
And the whole world will I
seize like a nest in my hand,
And like deserted eggs will
I take them,
And none shall escape me, nor contradict;
Nor any open the beak or chirp.
15 Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth
therewith?
Shall the saw magnify itself against him that moveth
it?
Or shall the staff be proud against him who heweth
it?
16 Wherefore JEHOVAH of hosts shall send
Upon thy honour, dishonour;
And upon thy glory a burning fire shall be kindled.
17 And the light of
And his Holy One a burning flame;
And it shall consume the briers and thorns in that
day.
18 And the mountains and the hills and the forests
Shall be consumed, and the fire shall devour both
soul and body,
And he that fleeth shall
be as one fleeing from burning flame.
19 And the remnant of the
trees of his forest shall be few,
So that a child shall number them.
20 And it shall come to pass, in that day,
That no longer the remnant
of
And the escaped of the house
of Jacob,
Trust in him that smote them:
But shall trust in JEHOVAH
The Holv One of Israel in
truth.
21 The remnant shall return,
the remnant of Jacob,
Unto
the mighty God;
22 For though the number of the children of
The remnant (only) shall be
saved:
23 For he will finish the
work, and cut it short in righteousness,
Because a short work will JEHOVAH make upon the earth.
24 For thus saith JEHOVAH of
hosts:
Fear not, my people, that dwell in
Because of the Assyrian, because he shall smite thee
with a staff,
And shall lift up his rod against thee after the
manner of
25 For yet a little while, and
mine anger shall cease,
And mine indignation against their designs.
26 And God shall raise up
against him a scourge,
According to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb:
And like the rod which he lifted up over the sea,
He shall lift it up in the way of
27 And it shall come to pass
in that day,
That his yoke shall be removed from thy shoulder,
And his fear shall be taken away from thee;
And the yoke shall be broken from your shoulders.
28 For he shall come to Aiath, he shall pass on to
At Michmash he shall
deposit his bagerage.
29 He shall pass the strait (of Michniath);
Geba shall be his lodging for
the night;
Fear shall seize Ramah, Gibeah of Saul shall flee.
30 Cry with thy voice, 0
daughter of Gallim!
Hearken, 0 Laish; answer
her, 0 Anathoth.
31 Madmenah
is stupefied, and the inhabitants of Gebim flee.
32 There is yet daylight, that he may stay in Nob,
He shall shake his hand over the mount of the
daughter of
And against the hill of Jerusalem.
33 Beliold
JEHOVAH, the Lord of hosts,
Shall trouble the mighty with strength,
And the lofty that rise up against him shall be
broken,
And the haughty shall be humbled.
34 And the thick forest shall
be laid low with the axe,
And
* * *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 10
[Page 164]
The tenth chapter contains a clear
prophecy of the great and wilful king, of Daniel’s vision, who is here
represented as ambitious to extend his sway over all the nations of the world,
and set by God for the purpose of avenging the wickedness of the world, and
especially of his people the Jews.
They are here described as returned to
their own land, but still avaricious and unjust, for which sins they are again
to be carried captive, and to “fall under the slain.”
For this cause Jehovah calls to the Assyrian to execute his wrath, “to gather the
prey, and tread under foot their cities.” Not that it is
his design to fulfil the purposes of God; far from it, his own lust of power
and of blood shall lead him on. So was
it of old with Pharaoh; so with “Herod and Pontius Pilate, the
Gentiles, and the people of
The same announcement is made in other
words by Daniel, respecting the Wilful King: “And the king shall [Page 165] do according to his will, and he shall exalt himself and shall
prosper until the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.” (Dan.
11: 36.) Another point of
resemblance between the two pictures is, that of Isaiah’s king it is said, that
“to
destroy is in his heart; and to cut off nations not a few.”
Coincidently we read in Daniel verse 44, that “tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble
him; therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to
make away many!”
At the concluding clause of verse
tenth, God, I apprehend, begins to speak,‑
“Howl, ye
graven images, in
For, as I have done to
So will I do to
And after the Assyrian has thus accomplished the wrath of
Jehovah, he himself also shall be punished for his pride. Of which pride a specimen is given us in the 13th verse: “By the
strength of my hand have I done it, and by the wisdom of my understanding.”
In the same strain he declares his ambitious
purpose of subduing the whole world. His
flatterers, astonished at his prowess, call him “the only sovereign,” but, as Eusebius observes, he replies, that so long as any kingdoms remain
un-captured, he will not so consider himself.
The case with which he expects to perform it, is compared to a man
seizing a nest when the parent bird is departed, a beautiful, original, and
highly expressive image.* The whole picture strongly resembles the ambitious and
boastful message of Sennacherib to Hezekiah: “Behold, thou hast heard what
the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly, and
shalt thou be delivered? Have the gods
of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan and
“Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth
therewith?
Shall the saw magnify
itself against him that moveth it?”
Dost thou, only the instrument of my anger, fancy that thou art the prime mover?
“Wherefore (for
this thy pride) JEHOVAH
shall send
Upon thine honour dishonour,
And upon thy glory a burning
fire shall be kindled.”
* In a note on ver. 23, Eusebins says, “this is his boasting style, who
is called Antichrist.” Bishop
Horsley also considers that this chapter refers to him.
Thus is it also written in Daniel, of the “little horn,” whom all commentators agree in regarding
as identical with Antichrist, or the Wilful King. “I beheld, then, because of the voice
of the great words (of pride and blasphemy, ver. 25)
which the horn
spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and
given to the burning flame.” And the time of this his destruction
is also the time of the Saviour’s coming, as is evident from the next words:
“And the light
of
And his Holy One a burning
flame; ...
And the fire shall devour
both soul and body,
And he that fleeth shall be as one fleeing from burning flame.”
Moreover, the sequel proves the justness of this conclusion;
for the remnant of Israel shall no more trust in him that smote them (i. e., Antichrist, as remarked above), but shall trust in
the Holy One of Israel in truth.
This inference is further confirmed by the 22nd and 23rd
verses, which are quoted by St. Paul in Romans 9: 27, 28, who there applies them to the small elect remnant that
shall be saved out of Israel, though “its numbers be as the sand of the sea,” and at the time when God “shall finish
the work, and cut it short in
righteousness, even when Jehovah shall make a short work upon the earth,” which seems evidently to refer to that time of trouble of
which Christ said, that “except those days should be shortened, [Page 167] there
should no flesh be saved, but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
For the sake of this elect remnant the prophet proceeds to
speak words of comfort. True it is, that
the Assyrian must come and “smite with a rod;” but, yet a little while, and God’s
anger shall cease. For when his time
shall come, God shall destroy him as he destroyed Pharaoh and his host by the uplifting
of the rod of Moses over the sea, when the waters, before suspended like walls
on either side, rolled down upon the encircled bravery of the Egyptian and his
forces. It shall also, be like the
destruction of the Midianites, recorded in the 7th and 8th of Judges, when Gideon, with his few followers, routed the invaders of
At the 28th verse begins the spirited description of that great invasion of
Judaea by Antichrist, when the Saviour counsels all them that are in Judaea, to
“flee
to the mountains”
at once, without looking back, lest they perish, like
Yet in spite of this his resistless attack, when the
indignation shall be accomplished, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
to smite the mighty, and the haughty shall be humbled to the dust.
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 11
1 But there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,
And a branch shall come up out of his roots.
2 And the Spirit of JEHOVAH
shall rest upon him;
The spirit of wisdom and
understanding;
The spirit of counsel and
might;
The
spirit of knowle and piety.
3 And the spirit of the fear
of JEHOVAH shall fill him;
Not according to the sight
of his eyes shall he judge,
Not according to the hearing
of his ears shall he reprove:
4 But he shall judge judgement for the poor,
And reprove with equity for the meek of the earth;
And he shall smite the earth
with the blast of his mouth,
And with the breath of his
lips shall he slay the Wicked One.
5 And righteousness shall be
the girdle of his loins,
And faithfulness the cincture of his reins.
6 And the wolf shall feed with the lamb,
And the leopard lie down with the kid;
And the calf, and the lion,
and the fatling shall feed together
And a
little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear
shall feed together:
Their
young ones shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp,
And the weaned child shall put his hand on the
cockatrice’ den.
9 They shall not hurt, nor
destroy,
Upon my holy mountain:
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of JEHOVAH,
As the mighty waters cover
the sea.
10 And it shall come to pass in that day,
There shall be the root of
Jesse;
And he that shall rise to
reign over the Gentiles,
In him shall the Gentiles
trust,
And his rest shall be glorious.
11 And it shall come to pass in that in that day,
That JEHOVAH shall manifest
his hand the second time,
To recover the remnant of
his people that are left,
From Assyria and from
And from Pathros, and from
And from
And from
12 And he shall lift up a standard for the Gentiles,
And shall assemble the
outcasts of
And gather the dispersed of
13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart,
And the adversaries of
Ephraim shall not envy
And
14 But they shall fly in the
ships of strangers over the sea,
Together shall they spoil the sons of the east:
Upon
But the children of Ammon shall first obey them.
15 And JEHOVAH shall dry up
the tongue of the Egyptian sea.
And with a mighty wind shall he lay his hand on the
river,
And shall smite it into
seven streams,
So that men shall pass it dry-shod.
16 And there shall be an
highway
For the remnant of my people from
And it shall happen unto
As in the day when he came
up out of the
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 11
[Page 167]
Nor does the subject cease in the last chapter. After the destruction of Antichrist, the
prophet beholds the rise of the Christ, expressively described as a rod from
the stem or rather stump of Jesse. For,
as Bishop Horsley observes, the word made use of signifies the stump of a tree [Page 168] after being cut down; an emblem exactly fulfilled by the cutting off of
David’s line from the throne of
But the succeeding words can only
refer to the second [Page 169] presence
(…) on earth. At the first, he came “not to judge
the world, but to save the world:” but then “he shall reprove with equity for the meek of
the earth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the Wicked One.”
Here is a declaration of Christ’s giving salvation to the
remnant of his people that shall escape the persecution of Antichrist, who is
here mentioned under the same title that
Nor is the idea novel, that because the word “wicked” is in
the singular number, it alludes to the Man of Sin. “The Chaldee
and many Jews,”
says Dodson, “suppose
their last cruel enemy to be intended, whom they call Armillus.”
But there is a proof much stronger than this, arising from
It needs no comment to show that
perfect justice shall signalize the Lord’s advent, as the 5th verse announces to us. But the 6th has given occasion to much doubt. Jerome,
who denounces the literal meaning, and finds a figurative interpretation
wherever he can, yet confesses that the majority of Christians of
his day received this passage literally,
“The wolf shall lie down with the lamb,
And the
leopard lie down with the kid.”
“These things,”
says he, “the Jews and our Judaizers
(i.e. the Millenarians) contend will take place literally, that at the splendour of Christ’s
appearance, who, they think, [Page 170] will come in the end of
the world, all the beasts will be reduced to tameness, and that laying aside
their ancient ferocity, the wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the other
animals with those others which we now see to be contrary to them.” His arguments against
the Millenarians, whom he thus scornfully calls “Judaizers,” have been satisfactorily met by Greswell, in his
work on the Parables. But, that these
verses are not figurative, I conceive, follows easily on our admitting the
principle that we are not to reject the literal sense, unless it leads us to an
absurdity. But here is no absurdity - no necessity for taking the
words figuratively. Nor does it accord either with the
Old Testament or with the New to regard it as figurative. For the prophecies that have
preceded, and those that follow, join in declaring, that at the Saviour’s
return, all the wicked shall be judged and removed from the earth: therefore it
cannot signify the harmonious intercourse of the wicked with the
righteous. Neither again shall the
wicked be found upon the earth, because a succeeding verse announces, that “the earth
shall be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah, as the mighty waters cover the
sea,” evenly, uninterruptedly, universally. To the same truth the New Testament responds; for
the Redeemer declares, that at the harvest, “the end of
the age, the Son of Man shall send forth his
angels, and shall gather out of his
kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of
fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” But still further the New Testament declares, that
the Lord Jesus shall remain in heaven “till the times
of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of his holy
prophets which have heen since the world began.” Coincidently, therefore, with the return of Jesus, there will
be a “restitution” or restoration of all things. But a restoration supposes a prior state of
things to which return is made. And what
can that state be, but the condition of Paradisiacal innocence? At that time, (with deference to the
geologists be it spoken!) before the curse, there was no death, either amongst
animals or men; nor had the fierce and voracious instincts of animals been
excited or implanted by the Most High. To that state, then, there shall be a
return. But what shall be the food of
the beasts of prey? “The lion shall eat straw like the ox.” But his stomach is not capacitated
for such food! “It is
written.” Is he a Christian who cannot
believe that what the Creator wills to do he has power to effect? And as there is no happiness while
there is sin, so at the restoration of peace shall be a destruction of sin by
the outpouring of holiness. “The earth shall
be filled with the knowledge of the Lord,” and that shall take place, not by the means now in use (though it is
perfectly right to make use of every means), but because, as said the Lord by
Joel, “It
shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all
flesh.”
Now the Sacred Spirit bloweth where he listeth:
his gracious rain falls but here and there: then it shall be universal “upon all flesh.”
“And it shall
come to pass in that day,
That there shall be a root of
Jesse,
And he that shall rise to
reign over the Gentiles,
In him shall the Gentiles
trust.”
Here the Saviour is promised as a ruler not only to the Jews but
to the Gentiles also, as saith Paul, who quotes this
verse in Romans
15: 12, where he observes, that though Jesus Christ was a
minister to the Jews especially, “to confirm the promises made to the fathers,” yet it was also intended “that the Gentiles should glorify God for his
mercy,” according to the tenour of various passages
which expressly predict such a thing.
Thus, also, in the second Psalm it is written, “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen
(‘Gentiles,’
… LXX.) for thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for
thy possession.”
And thus all the promise to Abraham be fulfilled, “In thy seed” (“which;” says the apostle, “is Christ,”) “shall ALL THE NATIONS OF THE EARTH BE BLESSED.” The verse of Isaiah just quoted, is another of the texts corrupted in the Hebrew, but correct
in the Septuagint.
At the 11th verse begins the promise of the restoration of
The means of return shall be afforded by the eagerness [Page 172] of the Gentiles: as formerly in their departure from Egypt, the Egyptians,
seeing the signs and wonders God wrought on their behalf, “lent,” or rather gave, “them
such things as they required;” so at this time, the Gentiles shall bring
to Palestine, in the various modes described in the last chapter of Isaiah, the
sons of Jacob, as an offering to the Lord.
And henceforth the enmity between the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel
shall cease; they shall be no more two,
but one people, as was signified to Ezekiel; who was directed to take two
sticks, and cutting them in half, to unite one half of each, which should
become really one stick in his hand, thoroughly cohering throughout. “Say unto them, Behold, I will take
the stick of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel
his fellows, and will put them with him,
even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in
mine hand.” “And I will make them
one nation in the land upon the mountains of
This return into their land shall be more signalized by
wonders than their first passage into it; for at their first leaving of
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 12
1 And in that day thou
shalt say,
I will give thanks unto thee, O JEHOVAH!
Though thou wast angry with
me.
And thou hast compassion on
me.
2 Behold, God is my
salvation;
I will trust in him, and not be afraid.
For Jehovah is my strength
and my song,
And he hath become my
Saviour.
3 Therefore with joy shall ye
draw water from the wells of salvation.
4 And thou shalt say in that day,
Praise ye JEHOVAH, call upon
his name;
Declare his glorious doings
among the Gentiles
Make mention that his name
is exalted,
5 Sing unto JEHOVAH’S name: for he hath done mighty things:
Publish this in all the
earth;
Rejoice and shout for joy, ye inhabitants of
For exalted is the Holy
One of
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 12
The subject is
still carried on. “In that day thou shalt say.” Hence, as Bishop Horsley observes. it is a song
for the Jewish Church (though not for them alone, but for the risen saints also)
after the destruction of Antichrist.
After first mentioning God’s wrath against his people, poured out on
them during the Great Tribulation, the Church offers praise for Christ’s
mercies returned to them. “With joy
shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”
The Jews had a remarkable custom which they referred to this verse. On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles
they drew water from a golden pitcher at the fountain of
This chapter the Jews understand of the times of the Messiah. The great deeds here mentioned are his last triumph over the
Apostates of the last days.
And these being destroyed,
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 13
1 THE VISION AGAINST
2 Upon a mountain of the plain lift up a banner,
Exalt the voice unto them (fear not);
Beckon with the hand; open
the gates, ye rulers!
3 I have commanded: they are
set apart:
I have
called them; the giants come to fulfil my wrath,
Exulting and insulting together.
4 The noise of a multitude on
the mountains, as of many nations;
A sound of the tumult of kingdoms, and nations
gathered together!
JEHOVAH
of hosts hath commanded a warrior nation
5 To come from a country afar,
from the end of heaven,
JEHOVAH, and the weapons of his wrath, to destroy
the whole earth.
6 Howl ye, for the day of
JEHOVAH is nigh,
And destruction
from the Almighty shall come
7 For this cause all hands
shall faint;
8 And every man’s heart shall
melt; and they shall be terrified;
Pangs
and sorrows shall seize them, as of a woman in travail,
They shall be amazed one at another.
Their countenances shall change like flames.
9 For behold, the day Of
JEHOVAH cometh.
Inexorable with wrath and
indignation,
To lay
the world desolate,
And to destroy the sinners out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven, and the constellations thereof,
Shall not give their light.,
The sun
shall be darkened in his going forth,
And the moon shall not cause
her light to shine.
11 And 1 will punish the world for their evil,
And the wicked for their
iniquity;
And I will destroy the
arrogancy of the proud,
And lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 And the remnant of men shall be more precious than gold,
Even a man, than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 For the heaven shall be shaken,
And the
earth removed from her foundations:
Through the anger of JEHOVAH of hosts;
In the day when his wrath is accomplished.
14 And the remnant shall be as
the chased roe,
And as the wandering sheep, and there shall be none
to gather them.
So that a man shall return to his own people;
And shall flee every one into his own land.
15 For whosoever is taken,
shall be thrust through;
And they that are marshalled, shall fall by the
sword.
16 Their children also shall be
dashed in pieces before their eyes:
Their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives
ravished.
17 Behold, I stir up against them the Medes:
Who shall not regard silver,
And gold, they shall not delight in.
18 The bows of the young men
they shall break,
Their children they shall not pity:
Nor their eye have compassion on the babe.
19 And
The beauty of the Chaldees’
excellency,
Shall be as when God overthrew
20 It shall not be inhabited for ever.
Nor dwelt I from generation
to generation:
Neither shall the Arabian
pitch tent there,
Nor shall the shepherds make
their fold therein,
21 But wild beasts of the
desert shall lie there,
And their houses shall be full of howlings:
And there shall the
daughters of the ostrich dwell,
And demons shall dance there:
22 And wolves shall howl one
to another in their palaces,
And porcupines in their houses of luxury.
Also her time is near to
come,
And her days shall not be prolonged.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 13
[Page 173]
With the thirteenth chapter a new subject begins. A vision of Isaiah against
What is meant by the “mountain of the plain” is difficult to say. It appears to refer to some mountain in the
neighbourhood of
If this be granted, then the answer to the question, Who are
these thus addressed, and what is that which is opened? will be less
incredible. For the reply, then, let us
turn to Rev.
9: 1, “And the fifth angel sounded, and 1 saw a star fall from
heaven unto the earth; and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.” By the star we cannot understand a literal star,
because it is added, “to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.”
This star thus falling from heaven to the earth is, it would seem,
Satan, who shall be cast out of heaven when “Michael stands up for the children of
the people” of the
Jews. That this war is literal and
future, see Burgh on the
Revelation. Thus then, to him and his
angels is given a charge to open the bottomless pit. “Open, ye princes.” “And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit; and the sun and air
were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon
the earth.” “And it was commanded them that they” should hurt “only those
men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads.”
In Isaiah these are represented as “giants:” and instead of the agency of Satan in
loosing them, which is remarked in Revelation, we are directed to the
all-ordaining word of Jehovah in this place as the Mighty One, from whom the
design of wrath originally proceeds, and of which Satan is but the instrument.
“I have
commanded: they are set apart:
And I bring them; the giants
come to fulfil my wrath,
Exulting and insulting
together.”
The passage quoted from Revelation, mentions these as “locusts:” thereby referring us to Joel 1: 1, where the same evil spirits are in
like manner described as locusts. “Hear ye this,
ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land” (or of the earth), “Hath this
been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? That which the palmerworm hath left hath the LOCUST eaten.” That this is not a literal locust, we are led to suppose, both
from the question, whether they or their fathers had ever heard of such a
thing? which would not be true of the literal locust, and also from the
succeeding description. “For a nation
is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, [Page 175] whose teeth
are the teeth of a lion,” (agreeing with the
description in Revelation,) “and he hath the cheek-teeth of a great lion.”
In the second chapter this description is continued, and the introduction
is so very similar to that of the chapter of Isaiah now before its, that it
would perhaps lead to the belief that the “mountain of the plain” of Isaiah may be Zion, as it
expressly is mentioned in this chapter of Joel.
“Blow ye the trumpet in
Their mighty sound when gathered together is then described; a
point also touched on by Joel: “Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains
they shall leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble,
as a strong people set in battle array.” Their
commission, as given in Isaiah, is “to destroy the whole earth;” as given by
The effect of this terrible visitation next falls beneath the
prophet’s notice; astonishment mixed with terror, and incapacity to resist,
rendering men’s faces livid. Even thus [Page 177] the Prophet Joel, “Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.” (Joel 2: 6.)
The next striking feature, marking the near advance of that
day of the lord, is the signs in heaven, “The sun shall be darkened in his
going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.” It is usual, indeed, to regard these as
figurative; but where is the necessity for so doing? This passage evidently refers us to the
prophecy of the Lord Jesus on
Close following on the signs in the heavenly bodies, as St.
Matthew also testifies, is the day of recompense. “I will punish the world for their
evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.” On which Jerome remarks, that some regarded this
as a prediction concerning the consummation of the world (or age). This conclusion is capable of being
established on the firmest evidence. The
commencement of the vision is, indeed, respecting
In the 14th
and 15th verses Isaiah appears to return to the more immediate
subject of the vision; the effect of the terrible army of spirits, desolating
the earth. “Whoever is
taken shall be thrust through, and they that are marshalled shall fall by the
sword.” The further horrors of their invasion are
described in the destruction of the young, the abuse of the women, the spoiling
of the houses. A similar threatening is
predicted against
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 14
1 For JEHOVAH will have mercy on Jacob,
And will yet choose
And will give them rest
in their own land.
And the stranger shall be joined
to them;
And shall cleave to the
house of Jacob.
2 And the Gentiles shall take them,
And bring them unto their
place;
And the children of
And they shall be increased
in the land of the Lord,
For servants and handmaids;
And they shall take them captives whose captives they
were,
And they shall rule over their oppressors.
3 And it shall come to in that day that JEHOVAH shall give thee
rest from thy sorrow,
And from thy fear, and from the hard bondage,
Wherein thou wast made to serve.
4 That thou shalt raise this
dirge over the king of
How hath the oppressor ceased, and the haughty one
ceased!
5 JEHOVAH hath broken the
yoke of the wicked, the staff of the rulers.
6 He that smote the nation in
anger, with an inexorable stroke;
He that subdued the Gentiles in wrath, the cruel
persecutor, hath ceased.
7 All the earth is at rest, and
quiet; it breaks forth into singing.
8 Yea, the fir-trees rejoice
over thee, and the cedars of Libanus say,
Since thou art laid to sleep, no feller has come up
against us.
9 Hades from below is moved to meet thee at thy coming;
All the Giants, the rulers of the earth, have risen
up to thee,
Even they that shook from their thrones all the
kings of the nations.
10 All they shall speak and
say unto thee,
Art thou also captured as we?
Art thou become like unto us?
11 Thy glory hath descended
into Hades; thy great rejoicing:
Beneath thee is strewed corruption, and the worm is
thy covering.
12 How hast thou fallen, 0 Lucifer, son of the morning!
(How) art
thou crushed to the earth, who didst wound all the nations!
13 For thou saidst in thine
heart, I will ascend into heaven;
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.
I will also sit on the mount of the covenant, in the
sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds: I will be like the Most High!
15 But now thou shalt descend
into Hades - to the foundations of the earth.
16 They that see shall wonder at thee, and meditate on
thee, and say,
Is this the man that made
the earth to tremble, that shook kingdoms?
17 That made the whole world a wilderness, and
destroyed the cities!
That opened not the house of his prisoners!
18 All the kings of the nations are laid to sleep in
honour, every one in his own house.
19 But thou art cast out among the mountains, as a
defiled carcase,
With many corpses pierced through with the sword, of
them that go down into Hades.
20 As a garment smeared with blood is not clean,
So neither
shalt thou be clean,
Because thou hast destroyed my land, and slain my
people,
Thou shalt not remain for ever, thou seed of
wickedness!
21 Prepare thy children to be slain for the iniquities
of their father,
That they may not rise up and possess the earth,
And fill the face of the world with wars.
22 For I will rise up against
them, saith JEHOVAH of hosts,
And destroy their name, and remnant, and seed, saith
JEHOVAH.
23 And I will make
And I will make it a miry gulph of destruction,
saith JEHOVAH of hosts.
24 Thus JEHOVAH of hosts hath sworn, saying,
Surely as I have spoken, so
shall it be,
And as I have purposed, so
shall it stand,
25 That I will destroy the Assyrian on my land,
And his burden on my
mountains tread him under foot:
Then shall his yoke be taken
from off them,
And his burden be taken from
off their shoulders.
26 This is the purpose which JEHOVAH hath purposed on the whole
earth;
And this is the hand which is stretched out in all
nations.
27 For what God the holy hath
purposed, who shall disannul?
And his hand outstretched,
who shall turn back?
28 IN THE YEAR IN WHICH KING AHAZ DIED WAS THIS PROPHECY.
29 REJOICE not, all ye foreign
(nations), because the rod of him that smote you is broken,
For from the serpent’s seed
shall come forth a cockatrice;
And its progeny shall be
flying serpents.
30 But the poor of JEHOVAH
shall feed through him,
And the needy shall rest in safety,
But he shall slay thy root with famine;
And thy remnant he shall cut off.
31 Howl, ye gates; let the cities cry aloud
Be troubled, all ye foreigners; for from the north
cometh a smoke;
Nor shall one escape his army.
32 What shall they answer,
then, to the angels of the nation?
That JEHOVAH hath founded
And the poor of his people shall be saved by him.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 14
[Page 179]
The subject is not concluded with the thirteenth chapter, but
continued throughout the present.
At this time Jehovah shall give to
But this conclusion is yet powerfully
corroborated by the Apocalypse and the Acts.
In Acts
3: 19 mention is made of “times of
refreshing to come from the presence of the Lord”-
in which Jesus, who is now in heaven, there to remain “till the
restitution (restoration) of all things,” shall be sent to the Jews.
These “times of refreshing” are evidently
coincident with the “rest” here promised also to the Jews, and it shall be after the great and
terrible “day of the Lord,” we learn from the preceding chapter. But the Apocalypse is full to the point. This “rest,” we learn from verse 3 of the chapter before us, is to be
given when the hard rule of the king of
The second verse of this chapter of Isaiah announces that the
Gentiles shall restore the Jews from their captivity, and bring them back in
various conveyances to their own land; a feature of prophecy which will be
noticed again in the concluding chapter of Isaiah.
We come, then, to the consideration of the dirge over the
fallen king of
But the
conclusion here to be established need not rest on authority, for it can be
made good by argument. It would appear
that Antichrist is called the King of Babylon for two reasons; first, because
he will greatly resemble Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, in the vastness of
his dominion, in his carrying captive the Jews, his erecting an image to be
worshipped, in his arrogance, and in his fall.
And secondly, it would appear, that as by
But be this as it may, the characteristics of the King of
Babylon, as here set forth, agree exactly with those laid down by Daniel and
“I, even I, am
he that comforteth you:
Who art thou that thou
shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die,
And the son of man that
shall dry up as grass?
And didst forget JEHOVAH thy
Maker,
Who stretchest forth the
heavens and laid the foundations of the earth,
And fearedst
continually every day the wrathful face of the OPPRESSOR,
Because he devised to
destroy thee:
And where is now the fury of
thine OPPRESSOR?”
In the Psalms continual mention is made of him under this
character. In the seventy-second Psalm
the Lord Jesus is presented to us in his kingly office, and the object of his
rule is stated in verse 4
to be, “He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of
the needy, and break in pieces the Oppressor.”
His haughtiness will be considered at the 13th and 14th verses.
He is next presented as smiting “the nation” (of the Jews) “with an
inexorable stroke, and subduing the nations in wrath.” That he will be a cruel foe to the Jews many
Scriptures foretell: thus Isaiah 10: 20,
“No longer
shall the remnant of
And the escaped of the house
of Jacob,
Trust in him that smote them.”
Again, in the 24th
verse:-
“Fear not my
people that dwell in
Because of the Assyrian,
because he shall smile thee with a
staff.”
That he shall be a tyrannical ruler of the nations his
subjects, is also capable of being proved from other passages, “He shall go forth,” says Daniel in a passage already
quoted, “with great fury, to destroy and utterly to make away many.” “To destroy,” adds Isaiah, “is in his
heart, and to cut off nations not a few.”
Again,
he is entitled, “the cruel Persecutor.” So is he represented
in Dan. 7:
21, “I beheld, and the same" (little) “horn made war with the saints and prevailed against them.”
“He shall prosper and practise, and destroy the mighty and the
holy people.” (Dan. 8: 24.) “He shall wear
out the saints of the Most High,
and think to change times and laws: they shall be given into his hand for a
time and times and the dividing of time.” (Dan. 7: 25.) Similar is the
testimony of the Psalms. “Thou hast
given us like sheep appointed for meat; and hast scattered us among the
heathen. ... My confusion is continually
before me: and the shame of my face hath covered me. For the voice of him that reproacheth
and blasphemeth; by reason of the Enemy and Avenger.” (Psalm 44:
11, 15, 16.)
In accordance with this,
But what is the meaning of the eighth
verse? Most appear to regard the
fir-trees and cedars as figuratively spoken of the nobles and princes of the
earth. But a like passage occurs in the
prophecy against Sennacherib. “By the multitude of my chariots I am come up to
the heights of the mountains, to the sides of
* Vide Dissertation 1
“Art thou also
captured as we?
Art thou become like unto us?”
All writers possessed of any taste have justly commended this
passage as sublime poetry; yet it will be not less fulfilled to the
letter. The mighty spirits that in the
greatness of their power “shook from the thrones all the kings of the
nations,” but were
swept away by the flood, even as mortal men, may well say with emphasis, “Art thou also
captured as we”
were by the flood? “Art thou
become like unto us,” in thy descent into Tartarus? To a like effect,
The succeeding words describe the extravagant ambition of this
“Son
of the morning.”
“I will ascend
into heaven;
I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God;
I will also sit in the mount
of the covenant, on the sides of the north.”
By the “stars of God,” is probably meant the angels or archangels attendant on God,
as we find them called by a like name in Job 38: 7, “When the morning-stars sang
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy!”
By “the mount of the covenant” is meant
* LXX.
translation.
His last assumption of blasphemy is, “I will be like the
Most High.” Intoxicated with a power, which none of
the nations of earth can resist, supported by the energy of Satan, and capable
of working miracles, this will be his final height of arrogance. Thus St. Paul, in words exactly [Page 186] parallel, “That man of sin (shall) be revealed, the son of
perdition, who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God, or
that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth
in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Hear also the witness of the Spirit by
Daniel. He had “a mouth
speaking great things.” (Dan. 7: 8.)
“I beheld then because of the voice of the great
words which the horn spake: I
beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the
burning flame.” (Ver. 11.) “And he shall speak great words against the Most High.” (Ver. 25.) “And the King shall
do according to his will; and he shall exalt and magnify himself above every God,
and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods.” (Dan. 11: 36.) Confirmatory is also
the testimony of
But there is yet one prophecy more of Antichrist, in his
full-blown iniquity, as the “Man of the Sin” (of blasphemy, as we may suppose),
which, having received little or no attention by other writers, is given here
at length, as strongly corroborative of all that has been advanced, the text amended from the
Septuagint where the original has suffered variation, or is unintelligible.
He is described as the “king of Tyrus;”
and Tyrus, apparently, signifies the same city as the
“1 The word of JEHOVAH
came again unto me, saying,
2 Son of man,
say unto the prince of Tyrus,
Thus saith the Lord God,
Because thine heart is
lifted up,
And thou hast said, I am
God,
I sit in the habitation of
God, between the seas.
Yet art thou a man, and not
God,
Though thou hast set thine
heart as the heart of God.
3 Art thou wiser than Daniel?
Is there no secret that they
can hide from thee?
4 Hast thou by
thy wisdom and understanding gotten riches?
Hast thou procured gold and
silver in thy treasures? [Page 188]
5 By thy great
wisdom and thy traffic hast thou increased thy power?
And is thy heart lifted up
because of thy power?
6 Therefore
thus saith JEHOVAH,
Because thou hast set thine
heart as the heart of God,
7 Behold,
therefore, I will bring strangers on thee, the terrible of the nations:
And they shall draw their
swords against thee,
And against the beauty of
thy wisdom;
And they shall lay waste thy
brightness, even unto perdition.
8 And they
shall bring thee down to the pit,
And thou shalt die the death
of them that are slain between the seas.
9 Wilt thou say
before them that slay thee, I am God?
But thou shalt be as a man,
and not God,
In the hands of them that
slay thee.
10 Amidst the multitude of the
uncircumcised thou shalt die,
By the hands of strangers;
for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.
11 Moreover, the
word of JEHOVAH came again unto me,
saying,
12 Son of man,
take up a dirge upon the prince of Tyrus, and say to him,
Thus saith the Lord God,
Thou art the sealing up of
the term (of time),
Full of wisdom, perfect in
beauty.
13 Thou wast in
With every precious stone
art thou covered,
The sardius,
topaz, and the diamond,
The beryl, the onyx, and the
jasper,
The sapphire, the emerald,
the carbuncle;
And with silver hast thou
filled thy treasures,
And with gold thy
storehouses that are with thee.
14 From the day
thou wert created, thou wast with the cherub;
I stationed thee in the holy
Thou hast been in the midst
of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wert perfect in thy
ways, from the day of thy creation,
Until iniquity was found in
thee.
16 By the
multitude of thy merchandise
Thou didst fill thy stores
with iniquity;
Thou didst sin, and wert wounded from the mount of God;
And the cherub dragged thee from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thy heart was
lifted up, because of thy beauty,
Thy wisdom, together with
thy brightness, is corrupted:
For the multitude of thy sins I have cast thee to
the earth.
I have caused thee before kings to be made a public example (of wrath).
18 For the
multitude of thy transgressions,
And the lawlessness of thy
traffic,
I have defiled thy
sanctuaries,
And I will bring fire from
the midst of thee,
It shall devour thee:
And I will bring thee to
ashes on the earth,
In the sight of all them
that behold thee.
19 All they that
know thee among the Gentiles shall be astonished at thee;
Thou art become perdition, and shalt be no more (found)
for ever.”
Here the
coincidences are so numerous, that it seems highly probable that they refer to
the same person who forms the subject of the present chapter of Isaiah. His boast, “I am God,” seems at once to identify him. His “sitting in the habitation
(temple) of God between the seas,” confirms it. His wisdom is compared to Daniel’s: “and Daniel
had understanding in all visions and dreams;” was continually visited by angels,
and possessed of understanding in the interpretation of mysteries. In perfect harmony with this, Daniel
prophesies of Armillus, “A king of
fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his
own power” (Dan. 8: 23, 24), that is, as Burgh well understands it, by Satanic agency and supernatural
powers he shall reach his height of dominion.
His wealth offers the next feature.
This also is predicted by Daniel.
“He shall have power over the treasures of gold and
silver, and over all the
precious things of
“They shall
lay waste thy brightness, even unto
perdition,
They shall bring thee down
to the pit,” (saith Ezekiel).
“Thy glory
hath descended into Hades,” (saith Isaiah).
“Thou shalt
die the death of them that are slain between the seas,” (saith Ezekiel).
“The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, … I will
break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot,”
is the burthen of the Lord against him
by Isaiah. So, likewise, Daniel, after declaring that he
shall set his tabernacle “between the seas (Dead Sea, Mediterranean, and
Still further, a dirge is raised over the king of Tyrus, as
over the king of
“They that see
thee shall wonder at thee, and meditate on thee, and say,
Is this the man that made
the earth to shake, that shook kingdoms?”
The spectators cannot but remark the greatness of his might
during his three years and a half of empire, and the fierceness of his
destructive ambition, that made the whole world a wilderness, as has been
already noticed.
His state of punishment is next
described, as not buried with honour, like kings in general, but cast into
Tophet, amongst the mountains of
To complete the awe and importance of the subject, is added
the oath of God, that the believers of that day, when ready to faint, and
almost supposing that God has forsaken the earth, may have strong consolation
in the midst of their suffering, even unto death. As soon as Antichrist is destroyed in
The new prophecy following this was given in the last year of
king Ahaz. Its first sentiment is a
command to all nations not to rejoice (that is, not without fear and
trembling), because, even after the mighty evil that had been predicted,
something yet more terrible should arise.
What can this be, but the scene presented by
After this final destruction of the wicked, what remains but
that the prophet speak of that “city which hath the foundations, whose
builder and maker is God,” which, as
From the foregoing interpretation (if
correct, and it invites examination), it will follow, 1st, That Antichrist
will be an individual, not a succession of men: 2nd ly, That he is some one yet to arise.
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 15
1 THE ORACLE AGAINST
By night
2 Grieve ye over them,
because Beth-Dibon also is destroyed:
Where your altar was built, there shall ye go up to
weep:
Over Nebo, and over Medeba,
shall
On every head is baldness, every beard is shorn.
3 In her streets be ye clad
with sackcloth:
Lament ye on her housetops,
and into her streets;
Let every one howl and descend with weeping.
4 And Heshbon
and Elealeh have cried aloud:
Even unto Jassa is their
voice heard:
Yea, the very loins of
Her very soul shall cry.
5 The heart of
Unto Segor she crieth out
like a young heifer;
Yea, the ascent of Luhith
with weeping shall they ascend;
In the way of Horonaim
shall they raise a cry of destruction.
6 The waters of Nimrim shall be desolate;
And its grass withereth; the tender plant faileth,
the green herb is no more.
7 But shall she even thus
escape?
(Nay:)
for I will bring Arabians into the valley, and they shall take her.
8 For the cry is gone round
the borders of
The howling thereof unto Eglaim;
(Yea) unto
the well of Elim shall be her howling.
9 And the water of Dimon shall be full of blood,
For I will bring upon Dimon
Arabians,
And I will destroy the seed of
And Ariel, and the remnant of Admah.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 15
[Page 191]
The fifteenth
chapter begins a new subject - the judgements upon
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 16
1 I will send forth the LAMB of
JEHOVAH to be ruler over the earth,
From the rock of the wilderness, to the mount of the
daughter of
2 For it shall be that as a
wandering bird, cast out of the nest.
So my daughters, 0
3 Take counsel, exercise
justice;
Make thy shadow as night in the midst of the
noonday:
Hide the outcasts; discover not him that wandereth.
4 Let mine outcasts dwell
with thee,
Be thou a covert to them from the face of the
Destroyer;
For the Oppressor is at an end; the Destroyer ceaseth;
The Ruler perisheth that trampled under foot the
earth.
5 And in mercy shall the
throne be established,
And my Exalted One shall sit upon it in truth,
In the tabernacle of David,
a Judge,
Seeking judgement, and hasting righteousness.
6 I have heard of the pride of
His loftiness he hath greatly exalted,
His pride of heart I have seen; I have known his
deeds, saith JEHOVAH.
Not according to his necessity shall be his
strength.
7 Therefore howl ye in
In
To the inhabitants of Kir-heres
shall be moanings,
They shall sing a mournful dirge;
The plains of Heshbon
shall be ashamed.
8 Oh ye lords of the nations, tread down the vine of Sibmah!
Her shoots reached even unto Jazer,
Her branches roamed the desert,
They extended beyond the sea.
9 Therefore will I bewail, with the weeping of Jazer, the vine of Sibmah;
I will water thee with my
tears, 0 Heshbon and Elealeh:
For upon thy vintage and
summer fruits the Destroyer hath fallen.
10 And joy and gladness is taken away from the fruitful field.
And in the vineyards there shall be no singing;
Neither shall they tread
wine into the vats [in the morning,]
Nor [at evening] shall
they raise the vintage shouting.
11 Therefore the heart of
And her bowels like a pipe
for the men of Kir-heres.
12 And it shall come to pass,
that when
Because he is wearied at his
altars,
That he shall enter to his
shrines,
To pray: but he shall not
prevail to extricate himself.
13 This is the word which
JEHOVAH spake
Concerning
After three years as the
years of an hireling,
The glory of
And the remnant shall be left small and without
honour.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 16
“I will send
forth the LAMB of Jehovah to be
ruler over the earth.” To prepare the way for the
following interpretation, let us take the words of Jerome:- “This is the sense: 0
That the opening verse of this chapter
should predict the reign of Christ, is perfectly in accordance with what
follows in the fifth verse, where the throne is promised to an Exalted One of
the seed of David, who should rule in justice
That he should be called the Lamb of Jehovah is agreeable with Scriptures,
especially with his designation by his forerunner, “Behold the
Lamb of God!”
His dominion shall be universal, as we read in many Scriptures,
especially in the seventy-second Psalm, in which is, exactly parallel with
this, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the
river even, to the ends of the earth.” (Ver. 8.)
Under the very title given in this chapter is universal dominion
ascribed to the Saviour in the Revelation.
“Worthy is the LAMB that slain to receive power.”
– “Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power
be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the LAMB for ever and ever.”(Rev. 5:
12, 13.) “These [Page 193] shall make war on the Lamb (the ten kings and Antichrist, their chief), and the LAMB shall
overcome them; for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings.”
(Rev. 17: 14.)
The second verse refers, I believe, not to the daughters of
Now, how exactly does this tally with the prophecy [Page 194] on
The application of this text will be seen more clearly, if it
be remarked that the “abomination of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel, is that set up
by Antichrist (of which, on a future occasion, I may have somewhat more to say)
in the rebuilt
“Son of man, set thy face against Gog, and the
We see, then, why
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 17
1THE ORACLE AGAINST
Behold,
And it shall become a
ruinous heap,
2 Forsaken for ever (a place) for the couching of flocks,
*Which shall lie down, and none shall
scare them away.
3*And the
fortress shall cease from Ephraim,
Nor shall there be a kingdom in
*And the
remnant of the Syrians
Shall be for the glory of
the children of
Saith JEHOVAH of hosts.
4 And it shall come to pass
in that day,
That the glory of Jacob
shall fail,
And the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
5 And he shall be as when the
harvestman gathereth the corn,
And reapeth with his arm the ears thereof;
And he shall be as when one gathereth ears of corn
in the vale of Rephaim.
6 Yet gleaning grapes shall
be left in him,
Or as the berries of a gleaned olive-tree.
Two or three in the top of
the uppermost bough,
Or four or five may be left in the outmost fruitful
branches,
Saith JEHOVAH, the God of
7 In that day shall
a man trust in his Maker,
And his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of
Israel.
8 And they shall not trust in their altars,
Nor in the works of their
hands, which their fingers made,
Nor shall they respect the groves, nor the images.
9 In that day shall thy cities
become deserted,
As the Amorites and Hivites
deserted theirs,
Before the face of the
children of
And they shall become a desolation.
10 Because thou hast deserted God thy Saviour,
And JEHOVAH thy helper thou
hast not remembered,
Therefore thou shalt plant
faithless plants,
And an unbelieving seed.
11* In the day that thou plantest, thou shalt be deceived,
And when thou sowest, in
the morning it shall blossom;
And
the harvest shall wave for the day of grief
And of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many nations,
Which make a noise
like the noise of the seas:
And to the rushing of the
nations,
That make a rushing like the
rushing of mighty waters!
16 Like the rushing of mighty
waters shall the nations rush,
But (God) shall rebuke them, and they shall flee afar,
And they shall be pursued,
As the chaff of straw before
the wind,
And like the dust of the chariot-wheel before the
whirlwind.
14 At even there shall be sorrow,
Before the morning he is no
more!
This is the portion of those
that spoil us,
And the lot of them that rob us.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 17
[Page 196]
The seventeenth chapter refers, it
would seem, to the same times. This appears
from its being the day of Israel’s [Page 197] trouble and humiliation, “when the
glory of Jacob shall fail,” and his numbers shall be so decreased that, in place of being
as the stars that cannot be reckoned, and as the sand on the sea-shore, there
shall be only a small remnant, such as the gleaner might gather in his hand, or
as might be found on the olive-tree, when its fruits have been collected. This great final devastation of
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 18
1* Ho! land that spreadest wide the
shadow of thy wings,
Which art beyond the rivers
of
2 Accustomed to send
messengers by sea (to all nations),
And letters of papyrus on the surface of the waters:
Go, swift messengers,
To a nation dragged away and
plucked,
To a people wonderful from
their beginning hitherto,
An always expectant nation,
yet trampled under foot,
Whose land rivers have spoiled.
3 All ye inhabitants of the
world, and dwellers upon the earth,
When as it were a banner is lifted tip from the
mountains, ye shall behold;
And
when the trumpet is sounded, ye shall hear!
4 For thus said JEHOVAH
unto me:
*I will sit still (but I will keep my eye oil my prepared habitation);
As the parching heat just
before lightning,
And as the dewy cloud in the
day of harvest,
5 For before the harvest,
when the bud is coming to perfection,
And the blossom is become a
juicy berry,
He will cut off the useless
shoots with priming-hooks,
And with the bill take away the luxuriant branches.
6 And they shall be
left together for the birds of prey of the air;
And for the wild beasts of the earth.
And to them shall the birds of prey of the
air’
be
gathered, And to them shall the wild beasts of the field come.
7 At that season a
present shall be brought to JEHOVAH of hosts,
Even a people
dragged away and plucked,
A people terrible from their beginning
hitherto,
A nation always expectant, yet trampled under
foot,
Whose land rivers have spoiled.
Unto the place of the Name of JEHOVAH Of
hosts, Mount
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 18
[Page 198]
The meaning of this chapter has been
very variously given by those who have interpreted it. I prefer that of Bishop Horsley, as the most literal, consistent with itself, and
agreeable to the ancient interpretations and general tenour of prophecy. Dr.
Henderson’s offends against that great canon of prophecy, which forbids us to
regard as of private interpretation that which is of universal import to the
Church. The following are some of the
Bishop’s commencing observations:-
“I set out with considering every one of these
assumptions (that the prophecy regarded
A summons is uttered to some mighty nation, situated either
towards the east or west of
A commercial and maritime nation is certainly pointed out by
these various yet harmonious features.
But to whom are the messengers to be sent? Jerome,
Horsley, and others, understand the
Jews, and it will be seen that the lineaments accord with the historical
character of that people. They are “dragged away
and plucked” -
torn from their native country again and again.
They are “a people wonderful from their beginning hitherto.”
Moses brings this observation before their eyes in his day. “Did ever people hear the voice of God
speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? Or hath God essayed to go and take him a
nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by
wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by
great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt
before your eyes?” (Dent. 4: 33, 34.)
Nor has their singularity and the awe of their history ceased since
then. The wonders of Joshua’s day, of
the Judges, and the Kings, of the Saviour’s appearance, and their scattering
through the world, combined with their present existence still unchanged and
unchangeable, confirm their title to be considered the most wonderful people of
the earth. To a like effect speaks the Geneva Bible on this clause – “The Jews (are the nation spoken of) who, because [Page 200] of God’s plagues, made all
others afraid of the like.” They are also “an always expectant nation.” Perpetually disappointed in the hope
of a Messiah yet to come, still in every country and under every disappointment
they are expectant, even to the present day.
Yet in spite of their hope of one day ruling the world, they are also “trampled
under foot.” Who more so than the Jews? Their very name a proverbial expression of
insult, their persons despised everywhere, and in former times subjected to
every species of ignominy, injury, and death. “Whose land rivers have spoiled.”
That is, according to Bishop Horsley, whose country kings have
frequently plundered. This
interpretation seems borne out by chapter 8: 6, 7, nor is
there need to prove at length that the
country of the Jews has been subject to invading armies. In addition, however, the confirmatory words
of Jerome may not be unacceptable – “Go swiftly
to the nation of the Jews, plucked up and torn by the Assyrian invasion; to a
people once terrible, who were under the rule of God, with whose power none may
be compared; to a nation always expecting the aid of God, and nevertheless
trodden down by man; whose land, rivers, that is, different kings, have laid
waste.”
Nor are the messengers to go to them alone; but their cry is
to all the nations of the world, to announce to them the appearing as of a
banner on the mountains, and the sound of a trumpet. Now as the appearance of a banner and the
sound of a trumpet are the signals for an army to gather, so I apprehend are
these. We read of both these signals in
the Saviour’s great prophecy of his return; to which time, as Horsley justly
observes, this prophecy reaches. “And then
shall they see the sign of the Son of man in heaven,” whatever it be: whether or not, as
the Fathers expected, it signify the cross, which is indeed the emblem of the
Son of Man. But the Saviour proceeds to
declare, “He shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from
one end of heaven to the other.” Nor is this all. The coincidence is yet more complete. Isaiah assures us that the message is to all
nations. St. Luke, immediately before
this prophecy of the sign of the Son of Man and of the last trumpet of the
Archangel, places “the distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men’s hearts
failing them for fear;” while St. Matthew adds, [Page 201] “And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory.”
Respecting the 4th verse there is so much uncertainty, that
though Horsley’s version is retained
in the text, that of the LXX. seems
almost equally worthy of reception:-
“For thus said
Jehovah unto me,
There shall be safety in my
city;
As a cloud in the mid-day
light and heat,
And as dew in the day of
harvest.”
If Bishop Horsley’s be preferred, the verse will signify a
long withdrawal of the miraculous interposition of God in the affairs of the
world. He will sit still in his dwelling
place until the inhabitants will think that he has forgotten; that he hideth
away his face and will never regard what is done on earth, and that, just before
God’s vengeance shall burst forth like lightning. This is in entire accordance with the tenour of
prophecy. “The Lord said unto my Lord,
Sit thou at my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.”
If the Septuagint version be
adopted, the sense will be, that when the banner is thus erected, and the
trumpet blown, “Jerusalem shall be a quiet habitation,” and the security experienced shall be
the more grateful because of the preceding time of great tribulation, even as a
cloud is grateful in the midst of the glare and heat of a tropical clime, and,
as Jerome observes, “as the dew is
pleasant to the panting reaper.”
Which of these is to be preferred, as both exceedingly well
accord with the analogy of prophecy, is left to the reader’s choice.
The 5th verse describes the judgements of God just before the harvest (or
ingathering of believers, as the Saviour explains it in his parable of the
tares and wheat), upon his professing Church.
As at the time immediately preceding harvest, when the vine is in
blossom, the husbandman prunes it of its luxuriant and useless shoots, so will
Christ deal with his Church; he will send such troubles and persecutions upon
it, that all who are mere professors will be severed from it, as the useless
boughs by the pruning-knife. The time
will come “that judgement must begin at the house of God.”
This interpretation is made good by the fifteenth of
Yet at
that time when the wickedness of man has come to the full, the Lord Jesus shall
appear, and then shall his ancient people become glorious in the eyes of the
Gentiles, who shall bring them by every mode of conveyance to their native land,
and especially to the Saviour’s abode on
The observations of Procopius on this point are here
presented to the reader’s notice. “After ‘the harvest’ of the present life,
they that are though worthy of that consummation, shall partake of unmixed
divinity, when the separation shall take place of those who are now gathered
together in the
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 19
1 THE SENTENCE OF
BEHOLD, JEHOVAH
rideth
On a swift cloud,
and shall come into
And the idols of
And the heart of
2 And the Egyptians
I will cause to rise up against the Egyptians,
And they shall
fight every one against his brother,
And every one
against his neighbour,
City against city, and kingdom against
kingdom.
3 And the spirit of
And her counsel will I scatter;
And they shall
inquire of the idols,
And the sorcerers, and the necromancers,
and the wizards.
4 And I will give
up the Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord,
And a fierce king shall rule over them:
Saith JEHOVAH of hosts.
5 And the Egyptians
shall drink water from the sea,
For the river shall be wasted and dried
up.
6 And the rivers
shall fail, and the canals of the river,
[And every collection of
waters shall be dried up:]
And the reeds and flags shall wither.
7*And
the paper reeds beside the river, at its mouth,
And all that is
sown by the river
Shall perish, be driven away and be no
more.
8 The fishers also shall mourn,
And all that cast angle into the brooks
shall lament,
And they that spread nets on the waters
shall languish.
9 Moreover they
that work in fine flax shall be confounded,
And they that weave net-work.
10 The artificers of
these things shall be sorrowful,
Yea, all that make drink of barley shall
mourn, and he grieved in soul.
11 And the princes
of Zoan shall be fools;
As for Pharaoh’s wise counsellors, their
counsel shall be turned into folly.
How will ye say unto Pharaoh,
We are the sons of the wise, the children
of the kings of old?
12 Where now are thy wise men? let
them come and tell thee,
Let them declare to thee, what JEHOVAH of hosts
hath purposed against
13 The princes of
Zoan have become fools,
The princes of Noph (
They shall deceive
Even they that are the stay of the tribes
thereof.
14 For JEHOVAH hath
mingled for them a spirit of error;
And they have caused
As the drunkard staggereth and vomiteth at
once:
15 Nor shall there
be any work for
Which the head or tail, the beginning and
the end, may perform.
16 In that day the
Egyptians shall become
Like women in fear and trembling,
Because of the hand of JEHOVAH of hosts
Which he shall lay upon them.
17
And
the
Every one that mentioneth it, shall be
afraid in himself,
Because of the counsel of JEHOVAH of
hosts, which he hath determined against it.
18 In that day shall
five cities in the
Speak the language of
And swear unto JEHOVAH of hosts;
*One shall be called, The
City of the Sun.
19 In that day shall there be an
altar to JEHOVAH,
In the midst of
the laud of
And a pillar at the border thereof unto
JEHOVAH.
20 And it shall be
for a perpetual sign
Unto JEHOVAH of hosts in the
For they shall cry unto JFHOVAH because of
their oppressors,
And he shall send
them a Saviour,
And a Judge that shall deliver them.
21 And JEHOVAH shall
be known unto the Egyptians:
And the Egyptians
shall know JEHOVAH in that day,
And shall do
sacrifice and oblation,
Yea, shall vow a vow unto JEHOVAH, and
perform it.
22 And Jehovah shall
smite
Yet he shall surely heal it;
And they shall
return unto JEHOVAH,
And he shall be entreated of them, and
heal them.
23 In that day there
shall be a high-way out of
And the Assyrians
shall come into
And the Egyptians
shall go into Assria,
And the Egyptians shall worship with the
Assyrians.
24 In that day shall
Even a blessing in
the midst of the earth,
25 Whom JEHOVAH of
hosts shall bless, saying,
“Blessed be my people,
And
And
* * *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 19
[Page 203]
There is one passage in the Apocalypse bearing strongly on the
chapter before us, which has received little attention, though on it would seem
to depend the true interpretation of many of the prophetic visions. It is found in chapter
11: 8.
“The great city, which spiritually is
called
It remains then that this foretells Christ’s judgement on the
* Dr. Henderson on the first verse of this chapter has
the following note. “It is common in Scripture to
represent any great calamity, or
the infliction of a remarkable judgement, under the idea of the Coming of the
Lord.” The passages adduced in
support of this are, first, Psalm 50: 3. But this psalm is surely as clear a prophecy
of Christ’s coming as almost any that can be found. His appearance on
Next the prophet unfolds the sway of magical superstition to
which
A dreadful drought is the succeeding judgement. “The river shall be wasted and dried
up.” With what delight and veneration the
Egyptians regard their river is well known.
Its waters are, according to the testimony of all travellers, peculiarly
pleasant. Not only so, - almost the
existence of
At these fearful judgements the heart
of
But the coming of the Lord Jesus
himself, when on a swift cloud he passes through Egypt, and “causes the
heart of Egypt to melt within her,” shall produce a lasting effect of good; for then shall the “Spirit be
poured out from on high,” and the Egyptians at length shall believe, and the pillar and
altar spoken of be erected. And because
the tongue of the Egyptian sea is dried up by the hand of God, therefore the
highway between the three countries of
“Blessed be my
people,
And
And
That the interpretation here given was
the original idea [Page 206] entertained by the ancient Church,
the following comments of Jerome on
the 19th, 23rd, and 24th verses
will show. “From
this place to the end of the ‘vision on
On the 23rd verse, though as usual he disapproves, he
remarks: “Some of our people refer this to the
thousand years, and after the Jewish fashion, decide that it shall take place
in the consummation of the world, when Antichrist coming from Assyria shall
have possessed
On the 24th verse his observation is as follows: “Then shall it be said by the
Lord, Blessed is my people of Egypt, when not Moses, but Christ the Lord
ruling, endless thousands of men shall fill the deserts, and Pharaoh being
drowned [Antichrist being destroyed as was Pharaoh], they shall say in the desert, ‘Let us sing unto the Lord: for he hath been exalted
gloriously, the horse and his rider hath he cast into the sea.’”
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 20
1 In the year that Tartan entered into
2 At that time JEHOVAH spake unto Isaiah, the son of Amoz,
saying,
Go and loose the
sackcloth from off thy loins,
And put off thy
shoes from thy feet.
3 And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And JEHOVAH said,
As my servant
Isaiah hath walked naked and bare foot three years,
For a sign and
wonder to the Egyptians and Ethiopians;
4 So shall the king of
Egyptians and Ethiopians, young and old,
naked and barefoot,
With their hinder-parts discovered, to the
shame of
5 And they shall be afraid and ashamed
Of
And of
6 And the inhabitants of this seacoast shall say in that day,
Behold, we trusted
to flee unto them for succour,
Who could not
deliver themselves from the King of Assyria,
And how then shall
we escape?
* * *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 20
[Page 206]
The meaning of this prophecy as bearing on the future (for all
prophecy not having a notorious fulfilment is, I apprehend, to be considered as
having yet a future reference) is by no means evident: yet it is intended
probably to foretell to the Jews the certainty of their falling under the power
of the Assyrian, the burthen of so many prophecies; in spite of their
dependence upon Egypt for aid. This the
prophet was directed to make known to those of his day, by walking naked for
three years, in the condition in which captives were driven like beasts before
their conquerors. [Page 207] This passage is decisive against those who hold the theory that in the announcement of time in
prophecy, a day stands for a year, and a year for 360 years. And on this point I am happy in being able to
coincide with the learned writer on Isaiah who has just preceded me. “Every statement,” he says, “which
has been made to show that Isaiah did not appear in this symbolical state for
the space of three years has proved abortive, being contradictory of the plain
statement of the text.” It is still more directly
contradictory of the Septuagint,
which, after all, is probably the true reading.
“As my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and sandal-less three
years, so for three years shall there be signs and wonders to the Egyptians and
Ethiopians.”
Thus was Isaiah to foretell to the
Jews that the Egyptians and Ethiopians, on whom they placed their hopes of
support, should be led captive by the Assyrian.
And how naturally and clearly does their reflection, as given by the Septuagint, follow? “Behold, we trusted to flee unto them for succour, who could not deliver themselves from the King of Assyria; and how then
shall we escape?”
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 21
THE SENTENCE OF THE DESERT OF THE WEST.
1 Like a tempest rushing from the south,
From the desert
there cometh, from the terrible land,
2 A fearful vision,
and a dark (prophecy) was revealed unto
me.
The Scorner is scorning; and the Lawless
One is doing lawlessly.
3 Therefore my
loins are filled with pain,
Pangs have taken hold on me, as a woman in
travail,
I was cast down, so that I could not hear;
I was astonished, so that I could not see.
4
My
heart doth palpitate: wickedness is flooding me,
My soul is distracted with terror.
Go up,
All the groaning [of
her captives] I have made to cease.
5 Prepare the table, set the watch; eat, drink:
Rise, ye princes, seize
the shields.
6 For thus said JEHOVAH unto me,
Go, set thyself as
a watchman,
And what thou
seest, declare.
7 And I beheld a chariot with two beasts of draught,
The one beast, an
ass; and the other, a camel.
And I heard a long
narrative.
8
Then
I called Uriah to the watch-tower, and he said,
My Lord, I have kept my station all day;
And at my post I stood all night,
9 And behold here
cometh the very rider of the pair of beasts.
And he answered and said,
Fallen, fallen is
And all the idol-works of her hands are
crushed to the earth.
10 Hear, 0 ye
remnant, and ye that mourn, give ear;
What I have heard from JEHOVAH God of
Israel,
That have I declared unto you.
THE ORACLE CONCERNING IDUMEA.
11 The night-watchman called to me from Seir,
12 “Guard the battlements.” I guard them morning and night.
Why
mournest thou, watchman? What of the
night?
The
watchman answered, The morning cometh,
And
also the night; if ye will enquire, enquire ye:
Repent
ye, come!
THE ORACLE CONCERNING
13 In the wood, at even shall they
lodge, on the road towards Dedan.
14 Bring water to meet the thirsty,
Ye that dwell in the
Meet with bread them that flee,
15 Because of the multitude of the slaughtered,
[Because
of the multitude of the wanderers],
And because of the
multitude of the swordsmen,
And because of the
multitude of bended bows,
And the multitude
of the fallen in battle.
16 For thus said
JEHOVAH unto me,
Yet a year, as the year of an hireling,
And the glory of Kedar shall fail,
And the remainder of the mighty bowmen
17 Of the sons of
Kedar shall be few,
For JEHOVAH of hosts hatlx spoken it.
* * *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 21
The first vision of this chapter
contains the execution of God’s vengeance against
The time predicted is, I suppose, that
day when Antichrist, and
*That
But as then, the Most High soon after made the one of these
parties execute his vengeance on the other, so will it be in that day. After they have thus agreed to destroy God’s
saints for a time, Armillus, as we
have seen, becomes jealous of
This is the
next scene of the prophetic vision.
“Go up,
All the groaning of her
captives I have made to cease.
Prepare the table, set the
watch; eat, drink;
Rise, ye princes: seize the
shields!”
How strikingly is this in unison with Jer. 51: 11, 27, 28.
“Make bright
the arrows; gather the shields:
JEHOVAH hath raised up the
spirit of the kings (‘king,’ LXX.) of the Medes,
For his purpose is against
Because it is the vengeance
of JEHOVAH,
The vengeance of his temple.” (‘people’
Sept.)
Ver. 27, 11 “Set ye up a
standard in the land (earth),
Blow the trumpet among the
nations;
Prepare the nations against
her,
Call against her kingdoms,
Ararat, Miniri,
and Aschenaz.”
The last lines, according to the LXX., run thus -
“Commission
against her the catapults,
Cause cavalry to come
against her like a multitude of locusts;
Enlist nations against her,
[Page 209] THE KING of the Medes and of OF ALL THE EARTH,
His rulers, and all his generals,
And his forces of all the
earth.”
In these two remarkably accordant passages, we have the forces
arrayed against
This is confirmed and expounded yet further by
But to return. Whilst
thus on his watch-tower, the prophet heard a long narration, which he was not
suffered, we may suppose, to write; as
“Fallen,
fallen is
And all the idol-works of
her hand are crushed to the earth.”
As this is precisely similar to the announcement
of
“The vision against Idumea.” This prophecy is extremely obscure, but a
passage in the before mentioned fiftieth
of Jeremiah appears to throw much light on this short vision. After the declared judgement of God on
Babylon, and the coming up of the nation from the north to destroy her, it is
said, “In those days, and in that time, saith Jehovah, the
children of Israel shall come, they
and the children of Judah together, going and weeping; they shall go and seek the Lord
their God.” (Ver. 4.) “Unto Zion shall they inquire the way, setting their faces thitherward; and they shall
come and flee for refuge to the Lord their God, for the everlasting covenant shall not be forgotten.” (Septuagint translation of ver. 5.)
Hence the inquiry appears to be that of the Jews asking of the prophet,
whilst captive in mystical
The vision of Arabia is, I conceive, a
further enlargement of the vision respecting
Jerome’s remarks on the 15th verse are as follows:
“Therefore it is now predicted to the
Jews who shall be able to escape the Babylonian siege, and after the desolation
of the whole province, to cross over to the neighbouring desert, that they
shall dwell in the solitude of
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 22
1 THE ORACLE CONCERNING THE
What aileth thee now, that thou art wholly
gone up to the housetops?
2 Thou city that was full of them that shout!
Tumultuous city, exulting city!
Thy wounded are not the wounded of war,
Nor thy dead the dead of battle.
3 All thy rulers
have fled together from the bow,
And they that are caught are straitly
bound;
And thy mighty ones have fled afar.
4 Wherefore, said
I, Leave me alone, I will weep bitterly;
Strive not to comfort me, because of the
desolation of the daughter of my people.
5 For it is a day
of trouble and destruction,
And of trampling down, and delusion from
JEHOVAH of hosts.
In the
From the greatest to the least, they roam
upon the mountains.
6
And
they of
And with chariots came the Syrian, and
with horsemen,
And Kir set the battle in array.
7 And thy choice
valleys shall be full of chariots,
And horsemen shall besiege thy gates.
8 And in that day
they shall discover the gates of
And shall look on the chosen houses of the
city,
9 And shall uncover
the secret things of the houses of the mount of David,
And they shall see that ye are many;
And how ye turned the water of the old
pool into the city,
10 And how ye numbered the houses of
And destroyed them for the fortification
of the city-wall.
11 And how ye made yourselves an aqueduct
Between the two walls, for the water of
the old pool:
But ye looked not to him that made it from
the beginning,
Nor had ye respect to him that fashioned
it long ago.
12 And JEHOVAH of hosts called in that day
To weeping and lamentation,
To shaving of the
head, and girding with sackcloth
13 But behold joy
and gladness,
Slaying of oxen, and killing of sheep,
Eating of flesh, and drinking of wine,
saying,
Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we
die!
14 Then was revealed
to mine ears the voice of JEHOVAH of hosts,
Surely this iniquity shall not be
forgiven, till ye die,
Saith the Lord JEHOVAH of hosts.
15 Thus saith
JEHOVAH of hosts,
Go, get thee to the bride-chamber, to
Shelma the steward, and say unto him,
16 What doest thou here? and what hast thou here?
That thou hast
hewn thyself here a sepulchre,
And hast made
thyself a tomb on high,
And hast carved
thyself a habitation in the rock!
17 Behold, JEHOVAH will surely cast thee out,
And will destroy
thy (house) male and female,
And will take away thy robe, and diadem,
and glorious crown.
18 And will cast thee into a country
great and unmeasured,
And there shalt thou die;
And he will bring
thy chariot of beauty to dishonour,
And the house of
thy Lord, to be trodden under foot,
19 And thou shalt be taken from thy stewardship,
And from thy station he will pluck thee
away.
20 And it shall come to pass in that day,
That I will call
my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah,
21 And I will clothe him with thy robe,
And I will set on
him thy crown with power,
And thy stewardship will I commit into his
hand;
And he shall be a father to the
inhabitants of
And to the house of
22 [And I will give the glory of David unto him,
And he shall rule, and there shall be none
to gainsay,]
And I will lay the key of the house of
David on his shoulder,
And he shall open,
and none shall shut,
And he shall shut, and none shall open.
23 And I will make him ruler in a sure place,
And he shall be for a throne of glory to
his father’s house.
24 And on him shall trust every one that is honourable
In the house of
his father,
And on him shall
they hang.
25 In that day, saith JEHOVAH of hosts,
The man that is
fastened in a faithful place
Shall be moved,
yea, be cut down and fall,
And the glory that
was upon him shall utterly perish,
For JEHOVAH hath
spoken it.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 22
[Page 212]
This vision begins in the spirited and poetically abrupt
manner of many of the prophecies, as if the prophet saw before his very eye the
scenes described. He beholds here the
whole city of
Yet in spite of this terrible calamity of their being besieged
by so many nations, a spirit of recklessness instead of sorrow will seize on
the Jews, and they will say in the voluptuary’s despair, “Let us eat
and drink, for to-morrow we die.” A similar desperation
appears to have seized that nation during the siege by Titus. Yet such conduct is highly displeasing to
God: for such a providence is a call to a people on the part of Jehovah to
mourn, and humble themselves. Whence we
learn that national humiliation under national judgements is an evident
duty.
The 15th verse introduces a new subject: the reproof of Shebna the
steward. He is accused of unbelief and
pride: of pride, in hewing himself a tomb on high in the rock, like one of the
kings, and, as Procopius adds, in
inscribing over it, “The sepulchre of Shebna,”
which seems not improbable. He is also
rebuked for unbelief in gathering to himself riches, and priding himself in his
dress, and chariots, and a crown, in a land which God had threatened to
devastate. Hence he should be cast out
into a wide and foreign land, and there should die. This, the Jews tell us,
took place soon after the embassy of Rabshakeh to Hezekiah. Shebna was terrified, they say, by the
boastful speeches of Rabshakeh, and leaving
But this is only the primary and private interpretation. It is easy to see, indeed difficult not to
see, that far higher truths are contained herein. The notice of the key of David, which is by
our Lord Jesus Christ appropriated to himself (Rev. 3: 9), shows that the passage before us is a prophecy of
him. Whence it is lawful to argue, that
as one is to be cast down, and the other who is to succeed is the Christ, so,
by parity of reason, he who is to be cast down is Antichrist; who, like Shebna,
shall be remarkable for his crown, and chariots, and shrine (…). Next the
very word Eliakim, as Eusebius
notices, conveys an intimation of Christ.
“The Lord shall cause him to rise,” is its meaning, and the resurrection of Jesus is the very declaration the
part of God that he is the Son of God; - the Son of David that shall sit on his
father’s throne, according to the argument of St. Peter in his first sermon.
To none but him can the prophecy allude -
“I will clothe
him with thy robe,
And I will set on him thy
crown with power,
And thy stewardship (or
government) will I commit to his hand.
[Page 215] And he shall be a Father to
the inhabitants of
And to the house of
“And I will
lay the key of the house of David on his shoulder,
And he shall open, and none
shall shut;
And he shall shut, and none
shall open:”
with the succeeding words.
And accordantly with the whole tenour of prophecy, then shall the
Traitorous King that has usurped his name and place be cut off, and the glory
that was upon him shall utterly perish; for the “Lord shall consume him with
the spirit of his mouth, and destroy him with the brightness of his coming.”
“To those of that day,” says Procopius, “was Shebna a type.
But Eliakim (which being translated signifies the resurrection of God)
was a figure of the new priesthood, which the resurrection of our Saviour hath
instituted in his Church throughout the world.
For Christ is called ‘high priest’ in the place of them, as was Eliakim in the place of
Shebna. But Christ being high-priest, no
one shall contradict him, as it is written, ‘The
Enemy shall not gain an advantage over him, the Son of Wickedness [Man of Sin]
shall not hurt him.’” (Psalm 89: 22.)
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 23
1 THE SENTENCE OF
Howl, ships of Tarshish, for it hath been
spoiled!
And men come no more from the coast of
They are carried captive.
2 To whom Were they
like, they that dwelt in this island?
The traders of
3 On mighty waters
was the nation of merchants.
As when the harvest of
4 Be ashamed, 0
Zidon, said the sea;
And the strength
of the sea said,
I have not
travailed, nor have I brought forth,
Nor nourished young men, nor brought up
virgins.
5 But when it shall
be known in
Sorrow on behalf
of
6 Go ye over to
Tarshish,
Howl, ye inhabitants of this isle!
7 Was this your haughtiness
of old time,
Before it was delivered up?
Her own feet shall carry her afar unto a
strange land.
8 Who hath taken
this counsel against
Was she poor, or without strength?
Her merchants were
princes,
Her traffickers the honourable of the earth!
9 JEHOVAH of hosts bath purposed it,
To wound the pride
of all glory,
And to bring into contempt, all the
honourable of the earth.
10 Till thou thy
land, for no longer
Shall ships come to thee from Tarshish.
11 And thy hand,
that provoked kings,
Hath no more strength at sea.
JEHOVAH of hosts hath given command
against the merchant (city),
To destroy the strong hold thereof.
12 And he hath said,
Thou shalt no more despise, nor oppress
The virgin, the daughter of
Arise, pass over to Chittim;
There, also, thou shalt have no rest.
13 And though thou
shouldst go to the land of the Chaldeans,
That also is laid waste by the Assyrians:
Neither there shall there be rest for
thee,
(The men of Siim founded it,
Set up its battlements, and raised its
tower,
But its wall is fallen.)
14 Howl, ships of Tarshish
For your
stronghold is laid waste.
15 And it shall
come to pass in that day,
That
As the years of
one king,
And after seventy
years,
Shall
16 Take an harp,
stroll hither and thither, forgotten harlot-city!
Make sweet melody, sing many songs,
That thou mayest be remembered.
17 And it shall come to pass, at the end of seventy years,
That God shall
make a visitation of
And she shall be
restored to her site of old,
And be a mart for
all the kingdoms of the world.
18 And her
merchandise and her hire,
Shall be holiness to JEROVAH:
They shall not gather it nor store it for
themselves.
But all her traffic shall be for them that
dwell before JEHOVAH in
For meat and for drink, even to the full,
And for clothing that shall not wax old.
* * *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 23
[Page 215]
As the original and literal Tyre has long ago been destroyed,
and her part in the fulfilment of the prophecies long since accomplished, it
may be asked by some, what further interest has the Church in the prophecies
respecting her? To which be it replied,
that the Scripture has taught us, that under the name of a city or country of
old, a city or country of modern times may be intended. This the Apocalypse asserts respecting
[Page 216] It has been already intimated, that
by
But further, those who have perused Burgh’s “Exposition of the Revelation,” and are satisfied
with his literal scheme of interpretation, will be apt to think with him, that
Let us, then, compare the features of
Let us, then, set side by side the twenty-seventh of Ezekiel,
and the eighteenth of the Apocalypse.
The first point of resemblance is the “lamentation to be taken up for
Tyrus,” who is
described as “a
merchant of the nations for many isles.” This is paralleled
in Revelation by the dirge of the angel, “
Next note the pride of Tyrus, “0 Tyrus, thou
hast said, I am of perfect beauty.” So
After this description of the wealth of
[Page 219]
So complete a coincidence we may safely argue could not be the
effect of chance, but the harmonious account of the destruction of the same
city by two of the inspired penmen. To
this comparison might be added that also of the fifty-first chapter of
Jeremiah, which agrees remarkably with the chapter of Revelation referred to,
but as this would render the investigation prolix, it is left to the reader’s
own discovery.
But by whom is this great catastrophe to be efected? We are
informed in the former chapter of Ezekiel, “Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus
Nebuchadnezzar, king of
Yet this view does not embrace the whole of the intimations
respecting
But, on the supposition of a twofold
“Till thou thy
land, for no longer
Shall ships come to thee
from Tarshish;
And thy hand that provoked
kings,
Hath no more strength by sea.”
But how is this to be effected? What power is there, mighty enough to deal
the destroying blow? First, Jeremiah
introduces us to the counsels of Jehovah.
“For thus saith the Lord God of
In the twenty-seventh chapter the instrument of this vengeance
is declared. “Thus saith
the Lord to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them on thy neck, And send
them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the
Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon,
by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king [Page 224] of Judah; And command them to say unto their
masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Thus shall ye say
unto your masters; I have made the earth, the man and beast that are upon the
ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto
whom it seemed meet to me. And now have
I given all these lands into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of
But it may be said, with strong indignation, ‘Who shall presume to think that England, whence the light of
God has so long shone forth as a beacon to other lands, shall be so fatally
eclipsed as to be subjugated under Antichrist?’ Alas! there is more reason to be apprehensive
than to boast. “Be not
high-minded, but fear. If God spared not
the natural
branches, take heed lest he
also spare not thee.” If
Nor is that which is here supposed something of which history
has given no type. What say the annals
of old of insular
How far the parallel in the future scenes of the world will be
kept up, cannot be decided, though it seems to invite speculation; for this
were to wander from the solid basis of Scripture into the regions of unstable
conjecture. All that is intended is, to
show that the general scheme of what is here supposed is not without a
precedent, and that one of a very close and striking character. The last clause of the quotation from Prideaux,
stating that, after effecting the destruction of Tyre, he marched towards
Jerusalem, naturally recalls to our notice the fact, that these troubles appear
to be sent on Tyre for oppression of Israel, and she is found at last in the
Great Confederacy of Nations against the Jews, as several places of Holy Writ
declare.
Thus Joel 3: 1-6: “For, behold, in those days, and in that time,
when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also
gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat,
and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom
they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. And they have cast lots for my people; and
have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might
drink. Yea, and what have ye to do with
me, 0
It should also be observed, in confirmation of what has been
laid down in a former part, respecting the two-fold character of Tyre, that “Edom,” in several of the prophecies which
have preceded, and in this instance also, is distinguished from “Tyre,” both being mentioned together, as in the
sending round of the cup, and in the prophecy of Amos 1. Hence, if it has been
made out that
Nor should it be forgotten, in further support of this
supposition, that the prophecies relating to the Saviour are generally of a twofold construction, referring to times as
widely separated and different as his first and second advent; and if this be
true of times, may it not hold
good of places also?
But the prospect, though sad, is not eternally over-clouded; this
duration of Tyre’s humiliation is to last but the length of Israel’s captivity
in Babylon; after which she is to be visited by Jehovah, not in vengeance, but
in mercy, at the end of the seventy years of the reign of the destroyer, and “her
merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to Jehovah.”
Her provision is to be stored, not for the Tyrians
themselves, but for them that minister [Page 230] before Jehovah “in
The incidental notices of
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 24
1 BEHOLD, JEHOVAH emptieth the world;
And maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down,
And scattereth
abroad the inhabitants thereof,
2 And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest;
As with the servant, so with his master;
As with the maid, so with her mistress;
As with the buyer, so with the seller;
As with the lender, so with the borrower;
As with the debtor, so with the creditor.
3 The earth shall be utterly emptied,
The habitable world shall be utterly
spoiled;
For the mouth of JEHOVAH hath spoken this
word.
4
The
earth mourneth, and is cast down;
The world is wasted, and is cast down;
They that are on high mourn with the earth.
5 But the earth
mourneth because of its inhabitants,
Because they have
transgressed the law,
Changed the statutes, and broken the
everlasting covenant.
6 Therefore hath
the curse devoured the earth,
Because its
inhabitants are found guilty,
Therefore the
inhabitants of the earth shall be burned,
And few men left.
7 The wine shall
mourn, the vine shall languish,
All the merry hearted shall groan.
8 The joy of
tabrets shall cease,
The sound of
rejoicing shall be at an end,
The sound of the harp shall cease.
9 They shall not
drink wine with a song,
Strong drink shall be bitter to them that
drink it.
10 Every city is
devastated and laid waste,
The houses are shut up, that none may
enter.
11 There shall be a
mournful cry for wine ill the streets,
All joy hath ceased from the world;
All gladness is cut off from the earth.
12
And
cities shall be left desolate,
And houses shut up shall perish.
13 When all these
things shall come to pass,
In the land that
is in the midst of the Gentiles,
There shall be as it were (the remnant)
when the olive is shaken,
And as it were the
gleaning grapes,
When the vintage hath ceased.
14 These shall lift
up their voice,
[And
they that remain on earth shall rejoice,]
They shall hymn
the majesty of JEHOVAH,
For the waters of the sea shall greatly
roar.
15 Therefore shall
the glory of JEHOVAH be in the islands,
In the isles of
the sea shall the name of JEHOVAH,
The God of
16*
From the ends of the earth have we heard songs,
Glory to the
righteous
And JEHOVAH said,
My secret is for
myself, and my secret is for my people,
(But) woe to the
scorners that scorn the law!
17 Fear, and the
pit, and the snare,
Are upon thee,
inhabitant of the world!
18 And it shall come
to pass, that he who fleeth from the snare,
Shall fall into the pit;
And he that cometh
up out of' the pit,
Shall be caught in the snare;
For the windows of
heaven are opened,
And the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is
exceedingly troubled;
The earth is exceedingly broken up;
The earth is exceedingly shaken;
20 The earth shall
reel to and fro like a drunkard,
And shall be
mightily shaken, like a shed of autumn,
For iniquity hath prevailed upon it;
21 And it shall
fall, and not be able to resist.
And it shall come
to pass in that day,
That JEHOVAH shall punish the host of the
high ones in the height,
And the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And their
multitude shall be gathered as prisoners into the pit,
And in the dungeon shall they be shut up:
And after many generations shall be their
visitation.
23 Then the moon
shall be confounded,
And the sun ashamed;
For JEHOVAH of hosts shall reign in
And in
* * *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 24
[Page 230]
Bishop Horsley, in his commencing note on this
chapter, observes, that it “can be expounded of nothing less than the
tribulation of the last ages, and the succeeding prosperity of the Church in the end of the world.” He remarks justly, that the preceding
prophecies have led us over the fortunes of Judah, Babylon, Philistia, Moab,
Damascus, Israel, Egypt, the desert of the West, Arabia, and Tyre; and now what
remains, but that the prophet should foretell by the Spirit the destiny of the
whole world? This is expressly foretold,
in characters which he who runs may read, and in terms beautifully accordant
with the intimations of other places, both of the Old and New Testament.
First is presented to us the dreadful visitation of vengeance
with which the Lord Jesus, on his return, will be constrained to visit the
world and its inhabitants, for their gross and open rebellion against him, and
bloody persecution of his saints. Therefore
he shall lay waste the world, and turn it upside down. Subsequently, the [Page 231] prophet predicts his judgment of its inhabitants: “For we must ALL stand before the judgement-seat of
Christ.” People and priest, master and servant, will
be alike brought before his bar; for
there is “no acceptance of persons with him.” “In the prophetic
style, he signifies,” says Eusebius, “the
resurrection of the dead. For when the
bodies hidden in the earth shall be revealed, all they that are to be Judged
shall stand on an equal footing before the great Judge; so that there shall be
no difference between those who once, in mortal life, seemed to possess more
than others, either in dignity, or birth, or wealth; and the poorest. For all then will stand equally before the
judgment-seat of Christ; as the priest, so the people: and all alike: since
there is no acceptance of persons with God.”
Similar is the exposition of Jerome,
indisposed as he is to admit the future reference of prophecy.
The
succeeding verses describe the desolation to which the world will at that time,
and by that event, be reduced; and the reason is stated why “the curse
hath devoured the earth,” even because its inhabitants have “transgressed
the law, changed the statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.”
The Saviour’s rebuke, with flames of fire, is incidentally alluded to in
the sixth verse, which declares that the “inhabitants of the earth are burned,
and few men left.” The thirteenth declares that this
desolation shall take place in
The eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth verses describe [Page 232] the mighty convulsions which the globe itself shall experience on that
awful day, when, as the forty-sixth Psalm
declares, “the earth shall he removed, and the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea, when the waters thereof shall roar and be troubled, and
the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.”
The sentiment of the twenty-first is
exactly parallel with that declaration in the Saviour’s prophecy of his return,
“And
the powers of heaven shall be shaken,” which Greswell understands, with great reason, of Christ’s
judgement of the “Prince of the power of the air,” and “his wicked spirits in heavenly
places.” In Isaiah the same vengeance against them is
threatened, and a distinction evidently insisted on between the mortal kings of
the earth, and the immortal host of those on high.
“And it shall
come to pass in that day,
That JEHOVAH shall punish
the host of the high ones in the height,
And the kings of the earth
upon the earth;
And their multitude shall be
gathered into prison,
And in the dungeon shall
they be shut up.”
How exactly the accordance of this with Rev. 20: 1-3, “And I saw
an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a
great chain in his band. And he laid
hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound
him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut
hint up, and set a seal upon him.” Here the judgement of Satan alone is spoken
of, though the first verse declares that it shall be “as with the master, so with the servant.” But, in our Lord’s parable of the sheep and the goats,
which forms a part of the great discourse respecting his coming, it is said, to
the wicked, then living and condemned, “Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt.
25: 41.)
Confirmatory are the words of Jerome:- “In that day, that is, in the day of judgement, the Lord will
visit the ‘host’
or the ‘pomp’ of
heaven on high, so that he will judge not earthly things alone, but heavenly also.”
Afterwards he adds, “These princes, therefore, he will
cast into the pit of Hades, and they shall he shut up in prison, according to
the words of the Lord.” (Matt. 25: 41.)
It should be observed, however, that he applies the term, [Page 233] “kings of the earth,” to evil spirits, as supposing that evil angels will
then be rulers of the world. Similar is
the interpretation of Bishop Horsley,
who contends with reason that the imprisonment in the pit proves, that Pit
proves, that not the stars, but intelligent beings are intended: and he refers
to the passages just quoted. “I think,” he says, “the host of
the height may be expounded of intelligent beings, the rulers of the darkness
of this world.” (Rev. 20.; Matt. 24.)
This view is
corroborated by the next announcement -
“And after many generations shall be
their visitation.”
From which passage
Similar is the exposition of Theodoret. “These things also declare the end of
all. For then, according to the word of
the Lord (Matt. 24: 29), ‘The sun shall be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven.’
Then the kingdoms of the earth, and they who are worthy of punishment,
shall be shut up, as into some stronghold and prison, into the place set apart
for those who are to undergo punishment.”
The last verse describes the confounding of the sun and moon,
before Christ comes to reign at
Lastly, as in Isaiah 3: 14, the Saviour is represented as coming with the “elders of his people” (who in Rev. 5: 10, declare,
that they “shall reign on the earth”),
so here Christ is presented before us as “being glorified in
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 25
1. O JEHOVAH, thou art my God: I will exalt thee:
I will praise thy
name, for thou hast performed wondrous deeds;
(Even) thine ancient counsels of faithfulness. Amen!
2 For thou hast
made of a city an heap:
The palace of a defenced city, a ruin:
The city of the proud shall never be
built.
3 Therefore the
poor people shall glorify thee;
The cities of the terrified shall fear
thee.
4 For thou hast been a strength to the
lowly,
A strength to the needy in his distress:
A refuge from the storm; a shadow from the
heat,
When the blast of the terrible ones is as
a storm against the wall.
5 The noise of
strangers shalt thou bring down,
As the heat in a
dry place,
As the heat with the shadow of a cloud;
The triumphal song of the terrible ones
thou shalt bring down.
6 And in this
mountain shall JEHOVAH of hosts
Make to all nations a feast of fat things;
A feast of wines on the lees;
Of fat things full
of marrow,
Of wine on the lees well refined.
7 And he will
destroy on this mountain,
The covering that covered the face of all
nations;
And the vail that is spread over all
nations.
8 Death is swallowed
up in victory,
And the Lord God hath wiped away every
tear from all faces,
And the rebuke of his people hath he taken
from all the earth,
For the mouth of JEHOVAH hath spoken it.
9 And they shall
say, in that day,
Lo, this is our
God, we have waited for him
And he will save
us; he is JEHOVAH
We have waited for him, we will be glad
and rejoice in his salvation.
10
For
on this mountain shall the hand of JEHOVAH give rest,
And
As the straw is trodden by waggons.
11
And
he shall stretch forth his hand over him
As the swimmer
stretcheth forth his hands to swim,
And shall bring down his pride, with the
spoils of his hands.
12 And the high fort of his walled refuge shall he bring down,
Lay low, and bring
to the ground, even to the dust.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 25
[Page 234]
The twenty-fifth chapter is evidently a continuation of the
twenty-fourth, and describes the joyousness of the saints at the first
resurrection. “The Jews,” says Jerome, in commenting on the 18th verse, “think that this is the voice of the
saints, and the believing people, when God shall have performed against the
whole world what is spoken above, and the prophecies of all the prophets are completed;
and they interpret the overthrown city (ver. 2) to signify Rome, which is to be utterly destroyed; and the
mighty people [Page 235] who shall praise Jehovah,
and to whom Jehovah hath been a strength in their trouble and distress, they
refer to Israel who shall be freed from the persecution of the Gentiles.” In this opinion they
are confirmed by
But the correspondence in verse 4 is still more remarkable. “The four and twenty elders and the four
beasts,” saith.
Eusebius, commenting on the words, “Thine ancient
counsel,”
beautifully refers to Matthew 25: 34, - “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world,” and
to Eph. 1:
4, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the
world.”
He proceeds to
say, - “That therefore was an ancient counsel. And in truth these
were the wonderful things foreseen by me before the [Page 236] foundation of the world, but to be fulfilled at the completion of the
ages. This counsel, then, was ‘ancient’ on account of the
foreknowledge and ordaining of God; and ‘true’ because of the issue at last.” “Which blessings,” says Procopius, “the prophet desiring to see as
speedily as possible, offers as his prayer, ‘So be it,
Lord!’”
The 6th verse describes that meeting of the just of
which the Saviour spake, when he said, that “many should come from the east and
from the west, and sit down with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the
At this time Isaiah assures us the vail shall be taken away
from all nations, which covers the glory of the Gospel from their eyes. And the reason has been given above: for why
is “the Gospel hidden to them that are lost?” “Because,” says the apostle, “in them the god of this world hath blinded
the minds of them that believe
not, lest the light of the glorious
Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” But in the former chapter it was
declared that Satan should be removed and shut up during this blessed period,
and the Spirit of God poured out. Then
also shall be destroyed the vail that covers the face of
And then shall “death be
swallowed up in victory.” [Page 237] For then, according to the apostle’s declaration in the fifteenth of the 1st Corinthians, “This
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on
immortality; and then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’”
For the risen
saints shall then have put on their glorious bodies, and then shall in them be
fulfilled the words of the Lord, “They that are accounted worthy to
attain that world (‘dispensation,’ …), and the
resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither
can they die any more: but are equal unto the angels; and are the
children of God, being the children of the resurrection” (Luke 20: 35, 36); which last words show that this is the first “resurrection of the Just” alone, else it would not be
true that they would be “the children of God,” because “the children of the resurrection.”
To a like purpose saith
Then, and not till then, shall the offence of the cross cease:
for then “all shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest,”
and out of the Saviour’s
kingdom will the reaping angels have gathered all things “that offend
and those that do iniquity.”
It should be noticed here that one of the Greek interpreters has translated differently the 7th verse, and gives it thus,-
“And he will
destroy on this mountain
The face of the Ruler that
ruleth over all nations.”
On which Jerome observes, “Some will have Antichrist to be signified who is
to be consumed on
[Page 238]
The conclusion of the chapter foretels God’s vengeance on
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 26
1 IN that day shall this song be sung in the
Behold our strong city, and our Saviour!
He will build us a wall and a circumvallation.
2 Open the gates,
that the nation that keepeth righteousness may enter;
Constant in truth, the stayed in mind,
3 Thou wilt keep
them in perfect peace,
For in thee, JEHOVAH, have they trusted
with confidence for ever.
4 For in the Lord
JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.
5 He hath humbled
them that dwelt on high!
The lofty city, he hath laid low!
Yea, he hath brought it even to the dust.
6 And the feet of
the humble,
And the steps of the needy shall tread it
down.
7 The way of the
just is made straight,
The path of the saints is made ready.
8 For the way of
JEHOVAH is justice;
We have waited for thy name;
And at the memory of thee our soul was
affectionately desirous.
9 By night my soul
desireth thee, 0 God,
Yea, my spirit within me seeketh thee
early;
*For when thy judgements are
in the earth,
The inhabitants of the world will learn
righteousness.
10 For the Wicked
One hath ceased;
(And) every one that will not learn righteousness on earth,
And will not observe truth;
Be the Wicked One removed,
That he see not the glory of JEHOVAH
11 JEHOVAH, high
lifted is thy hand,
Yet they know it not!
But let them know it, and be ashamed!
Thine anger, JEHOVAH, shall seize on in
unsubdued nation,
And now shall fire devour thine
adversaries.
12 0 JEHOVAH our
God, ordain us peace,
For all our doings hast thou wrought for
us.
13*0
JEHOVAH our God, other lords have ruled us:
(But of) thy name only will we make mention.
14 They are dead,
let them not see life!
Nor let the giants rise again!
For thou hast
visited and destroyed them,
And made all their memory to perish.
15 Thou hast
increased woes to the nations, 0 JEHOVAH
Thou hast increased woes to the honourable
of nations,
Thou hast removed them all afar to the
ends of the earth.
16 JEHOVAH, in trouble
we remembered thee:
We poured out prayer, when thy chastening
was on us.
17 As a woman in
travail draweth near to her delivery,
*And crieth out in her
pangs, so have we been in thy sight.
18 Through thy fear,
0 JEHOVAH, have we conceived,
We have travailed, we have brought forth;
The spirit of salvation hath been procured
for the earth;
We shall not fall, but they shall fall
that dwell in the world.
19 For thy dead
shall rise,
And their corpses shall arise:
Awake, and sing,
ye tenants of the dust,
For the dew from thee is healing to them;
But the land of the giants thou shalt
destroy.
20 Come, my people,
enter into thy chambers,
And shut thy door about thee;
Hide thyself as it
were a little moment,
Till the indignation of JEHOVAH be
overpast.
21 For behold,
JEHOVAH cometh out of his holy place,
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for
their iniquity;
And the earth
shall disclose her blood,
And shall no more cover her slain.
* * *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 26
[Page 238]
In the twenty-sixth chapter the same subject continues. Here is given the very song that shall be
sung “in that day,” showing that if the promise of the
swallowing up of death, quoted by St. Paul, refers, as beyond a question it
does, to the resurrection,* so does this song to the time immediately
following. The strong city here is
evidently
* It is
gratifying to be able to quote on this passage the following excellent remark
of Dr. H.,‑“By, his (Paul’s) inspired
authority I deem it the only wise, because the only safe course, in this and
all similar cases to abide.” Would that it had been so always!
Thus, then, the dead in Christ shall rise; not all the dead, but as they are beautifully
called, “thy dead,” 0 Christ! “for the dew from thee is healing unto them.”
Perfectly accordant is the explanation of Theodoret, “For as the
rain vivifies the seeds covered with earth, and as it were buried, so thy word,
like the dew, shall call men to arise.” Again and again does the Saviour declare it as the
peculiar blessedness of each believing member, “I will raise him up at the
last day.” Here is the prediction reiterated, and its
peculiar significance defined. But, when
destruction shall come on “the giants,” - the Powers of evil gathered against the Lord - the
people of Jehovah shall be caught up in the air, and “hide
themselves a little moment,” till the indignation of Jehovah is overpast,
“For,
behold, Jehovah cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.”
As when the world perished by the flood, Noah was caught up into the
chamber of the ark, and “the Lord shut him in” till he came
forth into the new world, so shall it be in this day of vengeance; the saints
shall “shut their door about them” till the woes on the wicked are
inflicted. And as the children of
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 27
1 In that day
JEHOVAH shall punish with his sword
[His sword] the
holy, great, and strong,
Leviathan, the
fleeing serpent,
Even Leviathan the
crooked serpent,
And shall slay the
dragon that is in the sea.
2 In that day shall his
vineyard be beautiful,
From of old his desire was towards it.
3 I, JEHOVAH, do
keep it, I will water it every moment,
Lest (any) hurt it, I will keep it night and day.
4 Fury is not in
me: who would set the briars
And thorns against me in battle?
I would go through them, I would burn them
together!
5 Her inhabitants
shall say,
Let us make peace
with him,
Peace let us make with him!
6 They, that come from the root of Jacob shall flourish,
And
And fill the face of the world with fruit.
7 As he smote (thee) shall not
he also himself be sinitten
And as he slew, shall he not also be
slain?
8 With the measure, wherewith thou didst mete,
They shall measure again unto thee.
Didst thou not
commune in thy hard heart
To destroy them
with the breath of thy wrath?
9 Wherefore the iniquity of Jacob shall be purged
And this is their
blessing,
When I shall take away their sins.
When they pound even to fine dust, the
stones of their altars,
And their groves stand no more:
And their idols are cut down like a forest
afar.
10 The defenced city shall be left desolate,
As it were a deserted flock.
For a long time
shall it be for pasture,
And there shall the flocks rest.
11 And after awhile there shall be nothing green therein,
Because it shall be dried up:
Ye women returning from the spectacle,
come hither (and declare unto us),
For it is a people
that hath no understanding,
Therefore he that made them will not have
mercy on them,
And he that formed them shall show them no
favour.
12 And it shall come to pass in that day,
That JEHOVAH shall
have a threshing
From the channel of the river unto the stream
ot
And ye shall be gathered one by one, 0
children of
13 And it shall come to pass in that day,
That the great
trumpet shall be blown,
And they shall
come that were perishing in the
And the outcasts in the
And shall worship JEHOVAH
On the holy mount at Jerusalem.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 27
[Page 240]
The twenty-seventh chapter is connected with the twenty-sixth
by precisely the same bond as the twenty-sixth with the twenty-fifth. “In that day” is the connecting phrase, which shows
that this chapter refers to the same time of Christ’s advent, - of vengeance to
his enemies, and joy to friends.
By the punishment of Leviathan, the crooked serpent, is
evidently intended the punishment to be inflicted on Satan, who is in the
Revelation called, “The great dragon, that old serpent, the devil, and Satan.”
Thus Procopius, “And after
all these things (for this is the meaning of ‘In
that day’) God shall bring to bear his holy and
powerful sword, (instead of ‘holy,’ the others translate
it ‘sore,’) which never having been used against any other, was kept
for a degree of wickedness proportionate to his, who overthrew Adam
in Paradise, and cast him down from his condition before God. Of whom it is written, ‘Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts that
are in the earth.’ He, after that he had deceived our first
parents and their posterity, is rightly named ‘the
serpent,’ as creeping on the ground, and lying
in wait for the feet of men, that he may inject into them the same venom, and
turn them aside from the right way that ‘leadeth
unto God.’”
The time of his overthrow will be the time of the flourishing of lsrael - the vineyard of Jehovah. For the sake of his elect among that people,
he will keep it and watch it day by day.
In spite of their last great enemy Armillus, [Page 241] “
At the tenth verse a new subject apparently begins, a description of the
desolation of
But as the Jews would not believe this testimony - this last
effort of God’s mercy on their behalf, therefore the Most High should show no
mercy on them, but give them up to the Roman conqueror and to the various evils
of succeeding ages. But when “the times of
the Gentiles shall be fulfilled,” and the “day of great slaughter” shall have come, the Lord shall make
a highway for his people through the bed of the Egyptian sea, and the river
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 28
1 Woe to the crown of mockery, ye hirelings of Ephraim!
And to the flower
that falleth from its glorious beauty
On the top of
Ye drunkards, but
not with wine!
2 Behold the anger
of JEHOVAH is mighty and terrible,
Like a destroying hail-storm sweeping
down;
Like a flood of
mighty waters overwhelming a land,
He shall give rest
to the earth by his power,
3 And under foot
shall be trodden, ye hirelings of Ephraim,
The crown of mockery!
4 And the flower
that falleth from its glorious beauty,
On the top of Getlisemane,*
Shall be like the
premature fig before the summer,
Which he that
seeth plucketh immediately,
And it is no
sooner in his hand than he swalloweth it!
5 In that day shall
JEHOVAH of hosts
Be a crown of
glory, and a diadem of beauty,
To the residue of his people.
6 And for a spirit
of judgement to them that sit in judgement,
And for strength to those that cause the
storm of war to cease.
7 For these have
erred through wine,
And through strong drink have they
wandered;
The priest and the prophet have erred
through strong drink;
They are swallowed
up of wine,
They are beside
themselves with strong drink;
They err in
vision, they stumble in judgement.
8*
For all tables are full of vomit and filth,
So that there is no place clean.
9
To
whom shall we proclaim wisdom?
To whom shall we declare the message?
To them that are weaned from milk
And withdrawn from the breasts.
10 Expect trouble after trouble, hope after hope,
Still a little,
still a little.
11 With men of other tongues and
other lips
Will
1 speak unto this people,
And
yet for all that will they not hear me, saith JEHOVAH.
12 To whom he said, This is my rest for the weary,
And this is my
refreshment: But they would not hear.
13 Therefore the oracle of JEHOVAH
shall be to them
Trouble
after trouble, hope after hope;
Yet
a little, yet a little,
That
they may go, and fall backward,
And
be broken, and snared, and taken.
14 Wherefore hear the
word of JEHOVAH, ye men of
And ye rulers of this people in
15 Because ye have said, We have made
a covenant witb death,
And
with Hades are at agreement:
If
the sweeping whirlwind pass by,
It
shall not light on us:
For
we have made a lie our refuge;
And
by a falsehood shall we be protected.
16 Therefore thus saith JEHOVAH,
Behold I lay in
But a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offence,
And he that
believeth on him shall not be confounded,
17 And I will make justice a line,
And judgement a
plummet;
And the hail shall
sweep away the refuge of lies,
And the waters
shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall
be disannulled,
And
your agreement with Hades shall not stand:
When
the sweeping whirlwind shall come on you,
Ye
shall be overwhelmed by it.
19 When it passeth by, it shall seize you,
With visitation,
with visitation in the day shall it pass by,
And at night, shall be a vain hope:
20 He that heareth, let him understand!
For the bed is too
short to stretch out one’s self,
And the covering
too narrow to wrap up one’s self.
21 As on
And as in
To perform his
work, his strange work,
And to bring to
pass his act, his strange act.
22 Wherefore scoff ye not, lest your chains be made strong:
For I have heard
from JEHOVAH of hosts,
A decreed and
brief work upon all the earth.
23 Give ye ear, and hear my voice;
Hearken, and hear
my speech.
24*
Will the plowman plow the whole day?
Or will he set about the sowing, before he
have tilled the land?
25 When he hath levelled the surface thereof,
Doth he not cast
abroad dill,
And scatter
cummin, and again sow wheat,
And the barley and
millet,
And the spelt in
its bed!
26 So shalt thou be instructed
By the judgement
of thy God, and shalt rejoice.
27 For dill is not threshed with a threshing-wand,
Nor is a waggon
wheel turned about on cummin;
But dill is beaten
out with a staff,
And cummin with a
flail.
28 Bread corn is for eating,
*
For not perpetually will it be threshing,
Nor a waggon wheel
be turned over it,
Nor be bruised
with hoofs.
29 This also hath proceeded from JEHOVAH of hosts:
He hath made
illustrious his counsel,
He hath magnified
his salvation.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 28
[Page 244]
In
the present chapter a new subject opens, discovering in its first verses
the Jews’ treatment of the Saviour and the treachery of Judas. The words, “Woe to the crown of mockery!” refer to the “crown of thorns” with which the
Jews in mockery encircled the Saviour’s
forehead. “And when they had
platted a CROWN of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed
in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and MOCKED him, saying, Hail, king of the Jews!” (Matt.
27: 29.) This then, was the “crown of insult,” or “mockery,” against which the prophet justly predicted the woe of
God. By “the hirelings of Ephraim” are signified the chief priests,
Scribes, and Pharisees, because of their mercenary transaction with Judas. “Then one of the twelve, called Judas
Iscariot, went unto the Chief Priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty
pieces of silver.” (Matt. 26: 14, 15.) By “the flower
falling from its glory,” both Eusebius and Jerome understand Judas, “who was of
the apostolic choir,” remarks Eusebius, “but his mind
being turned to evil, he became the flower falling from glory.” So Jerome, “Judas - of the tribe of Ephraim, and of one of its villages - Iscariot, sold the Lord for a price, who truly being a ‘flower’ of the apostolic
glory, fell upon the most fertile valley, or, according to the Hebrew, on ‘the valley of the fat ones’ (Gethsemanim), in which even the name of the place is
signified in which Judas betrayed the Lord.” “Which word,” (Gethsemane) says Eusebius, “I have heard
one of our beloved explaining, and saying that it was the place, called in the
Gospel Gethsemane, where the betrayer coming on the Saviour wrought the
betrayal.” On the expression, “Ye drunkards,
but without wine!” Jerome observes, “But the
betrayer was drunken, not with [Page 245] wine, but avarice, and the
incurable venom of asps, and the food of the devil, who after the sop entered
into him, he was utterly devoured.” Nor is this drunkenness to be predicated of
Judas alone, but of all those who had a hand in the Saviour’s seizure,
humiliation, and death. That evil
spirits were engaged throughout, intoxicating their victims, seems evident from
the Lord’s declaration that Satan had obtained permission (…) to “sift the apostles as wheat.” The same inference seems derivable, from the
Saviour’s agony, and the disciples’ slumbrousness in
the garden, and more evidently from the words of Jesus to his betrayer, and the
multitude that apprehended him, “This is your hour, and the
power of darkness.”
In consequence of this, the great crime of the Jewish nation,
fastened upon them by their own voluntary demand, that his blood should be “on them and
their children,”
the anger of Jehovah should violently descend like a violent flood and sweeping
hail-shower, which was most truly fulfilled by the Roman devastation of
Jehovah proceeds to declare that this, their attempt to insult
his Anointed, shall be utterly overthrown; because, in spite of the heathen’s rage and the vain imagination of the
people, Christ shall be set as king on the holy hill of Zion.
Then follows the denunciation against Judas, that he should be
like the first ripe fig, easily shaken off, and no sooner coveted than
despatched. “He became of
such a character,” says Eusebius, “as to be
compared to the first ripe fig, an imperfect fruit, beautiful indeed and
pleasing to the sight, but otherwise useless, because of its not being fit for
food. Wherefore he that is the
Calumniator of the good seeing the premature one (…) hastily seized him; so
that he desired to devour him before he laid hands on him; thus indeed
prevailing, he also did devour him.”
“After the sop, Satan entered” into Judas Iscariot, and incited him
to the treason, which was quickly accomplished, and as soon did his fruitless
repentance follow, and then his suicide, all probably occurring in the compass
of less than a single day.
Yet it is worthy of remark that this prophecy, though
primarily accomplished, appears to be constructed with a twofold reference, not
merely as a denunciation of the treason of Judas, but also of Antichrist; of
whom, as the ancient fathers believed, Judas was a type. The “crown [Page 246] of insult,” or “mockery;” will then signify the presumptuous
insolence of the Destroyer, in professing himself to be the Messiah, and
crowning himself as such. Thus
In “the day” above mentioned of the Saviour’s
return, so much insisted on in the former chapters, the Lord Jesus shall be a
crown of glory to the residue of his people, and for a spirit of judgement to
those whom he shall appoint to judge the nations, when war shall be no
more. With that glorious time is
contrasted the state of the Jewish people forsaken by Jehovah, for this their chief
provoking iniquity. A curse is also
denounced on their counsel against Jesus, as being for covetousness; “If we let him
alone, said they, all men will believe on him, and the Romans will come and
take away our place and nation.”
Such, then, being the state of the
Jews, to whom should the Gospel be preached?
Who would endure evils for the Saviour’s sake? Not those who were yet “babes,”
“in bondage under the elements of the world,” who were yet “children in
understanding,” “fed with the milk” of the Jewish rites and ceremonies:
but those sustained by the Holy Spirit with the strong meat
of the Gospel.
On the 10th verse Jerome
comments as follows. “He is
speaking to the choir of apostles and of all believers, to prepare themselves
not for one, but many trials; that when they are troubled and
depressed they should still hope, and hold hope after hope. And if the promise should tarry a little, not
to be unbelieving. ‘For yet a very little while, and the promise shall come.’” He quotes also, very appropriately, Romans 5: 3, 4, 5, “We glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh [Page 247] patience: and patience,
experience; and experience, hope; And hope maketh not ashamed.”
The 11th verse being cited by
The words which occur between the parts of the apostle’s quotation,
contain the proclamation, made to the Jews by means of the miraculous tongues,
that in the Gospel of Christ was offered God’s rest to the weary, as said the
Saviour himself, “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest:” and that Jesus of Nazareth was his Holy One,* agreeably with the declarations of
the prophets of old, and the voice of the Father at his baptism and
transfiguration.
* Theodotion’s translation.
But because they would not listen, Jehovah could predict to
them nothing but woe after woe, one false hope after another, in the various
lying personations of the Messiah who arose to delude
the Jews. As it regarded the real
Christian; the very same oracle was not evil, because “all things work together
for good to them that love the Lord,” and because of the promise that in the
day of his return Christ would be a diadem of beauty to them; but to the
unbelieving, the sentence bore -
“That they
might go and fall backward,
And be broken, and snared,
and taken.”
The prophet then proceeds to predict that though they trusted
in supernatural aids, and in an agreement with superhuman beings that death
should not seize them, nor God’s vengeance light on them, yet that if they, the
master-builders, refused Christ, the foundation-stone elect and precious laid
by the Father, their devices should be vain; and their destruction
inevitable. This, though it may have had
a primary fulfilment in some of the Jews of the apostle’s days, has yet
probably a future bearing, and regards those times when men in general, and
especially the Jews, will seek to provide themselves with supernatural and
forbidden aids. At that time Jehovah
will arise against his enemies as he did in
[Page 250]
Now the Lord Jesus informs us in his parable of the nobleman
(by whom he evidently intends himself), that while he was in the far country, “his citizens
who hated him, sent a message after him, We will not have this man to reign
over us.” By this is intended the Great Confederacy of
the nations and their kings against the Saviour. As then, the appointment of
David (or the Beloved) over Israel, excited the indignation of the Philistines
(or the foreigners), and induced them to gather together to fight against him,
so the appointment of the true David, - the Beloved of the Father, over not
Israel alone, but the whole world, will excite the rebellious spirit of the
nations against him. Moreover, as, at
the Lord’s word, David went forth and smote his enemies, so when the time comes
that Jehovah shall make Christ’s “enemies his footstool,” he shall send forth the rod of his
power out of Zion, that he may rule in the midst of his enemies. And as David burned the idols left by the
conquered host, so we are informed that at the Lord’s coming they shall carry
them into the holes of the rocks, to the moles and the bats; and “the idols,” says our authorized translation, “he shall
utterly abolish.” Thus shall be finished “his decreed
and brief work upon all the earth.”
The latter part of the chapter is rather obscure in its
meaning, but appears to signify that the providential dealings of God are all
with as definite an end, and will obtain as triumphant a completion as the
toils of the husbandman. But in order to
the harvest there must be various kinds of labour; not always the labour of the
plough; not perpetually the sowing; but each in its season furthering the great
result. The various means also of
collecting the seed, according to the nature of the grain and its coverings,
appear to have reference to the different methods which Jehovah is using, and
will use, with regard to the various nations from whom he is gathering in his
elect, and the varying style of his dispensations towards individuals. All have their ultimate design in gathering
the prepared seed into the garner of the Lord, and that which is not known now,
we shall know hereafter. So with
especial reference to
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 29
1 Woe to Ariel, to
Ariel!
The city that
David besieged
Gather the fruits
year after year;
Let the feasts be
celebrated in their turn.
2 For I will distress Ariel;
* And
there shall be mourning
And sorrow for me
in Ariel.
3 And I will encompass thee, like David,
And will cast a trench about thee,
And will set towers against thee.
4 And thy words shall be brought down to the ground,
And thy speech
shall be low out of the dust.
And thy voice as
of one that hath a familiar spirit,
And thy speech
shall whisper out of the dust.
5 Moreover, the multitude of thine oppressors
Shall be as the
small dust;
And like chaff
that passeth away,
The multitude of
the terrible:
And it shall be at
an instant suddenly.
6 For thou shalt be visited by JEHOVAH of hosts,
With thunder, and
earthquake, and a mighty voice,
Sweeping storm,
and flame of devouring fire.
7
And
as the dream of a night vision
Shall be the multitude of all nations that
war against Ariel,
[And they that fight against
And they that marshal themselves against
her and oppress her.
8 It shall be even
as when a hungry man dreameth,
And behold, he eateth,
But he awaketh, and his soul is empty!
Or as when a thirsty man dreameth,
And behold, he drinketh;
But he awaketh, and behold, he is faint,
And his soul is craving.
So shall be the multitude of all nations,
That fight against
9 Be astonished and amazed!
They stare hither
and thither with surprise:
They are drunken,
but not with wine;
And stagger, but
not with strong drink.
10
For
God hath given the spirit of slumber;
Eyes that they should not see,
And ears that they should not hear.
And their prophets and rulers and seers
hath he covered.
11 And all this vision shall be unto you,
As the words of a
book that is sealed,
Which is delivered
to one that is learned,
Saying, Read this,
I pray thee;
And he saith, I
cannot read it, for it is scaled.
12 And the book is delivered to him that is not learned,
Saying, Read this,
I pray thee,
And he saith, I know not letters.
13 Wherefore (thus)
saith JEHOVAH,
This people
draweth nigh to me with their mouth,
And honoureth me
with their lips,
But their heart is far from me;
But in vain do they worship me;
Teaching for doctrines the commandments of
men.
14*
Therefore behold, again will I do marvels among this people,
(Even) a marvellous work and a wonder;
And I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the, understanding of
the prudent.
15 Woe to them that lay deep their counsel,
To hide it from
JEHOVAH,
And their works
are in the dark,
And they say, Who knoweth us, or what we
do?
16 Shall ye not be regarded as the clay of the potter?
Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it,
Thou hast not made me?
Or the work say to
the work-man,
Thou hast not made me wisely?
17 Is it not yet a very little while,
And
And
18 And in that day
shall the deaf hear the words of the book,
And out of mist and darkness the eyes of
the blind shall see.
19 And the poor
shall increase in joy through JEHOVAH;
And the needy among men shall be glad in
the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the Terrible One is brought to nought,
The Scorner is consumed;
And all they that watch for iniquity are
cut off.
21 And they that make men to offend in word;
And they that lay snares for him that
reproveth in the gates,
And with falsehood subvert the righteous.
22 Therefore, thus saith JEHOVAH,
God
of the house of Jacob,
Whom he elected
with Abrabam,
Jacob shall not now be ashamed,
Nor shall
23 But when his children see the work of my hands,
Among themselves
shall they sanctify my name;
And shall hallow
the Holy One of Jacob,
And the God of
Israel shall they fear.
24 They also that
erred in spirit shall know understanding,
And the murmurers shall learn doctrine.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 29
In this chapter the
siege is predicted of some city, which a number of concurring intimations prove
to be the city of
“Gather the
fruits, year after year,”
is thus given by Eusebius: “While you have time, use these years for the good of your
souls: since the time is near that ye shall be deprived of the food of the
Word. In these words he seems to denote,
in a mystery, the time of the Saviour’s preaching: according to which the
Saviour sojourned among them, and preached the acceptable year of the Lord, and
the day of retribution. And perhaps he
seems to have conversed with them a second or even a third year. That same year, then, during which he
afforded them the teaching respecting the kingdom of heaven, he signifieth when
he says, ‘Gather the fruits; year after year eat
ye.” But, since this the Saviour’s preaching was
in vain, therefore should
The extreme desolation of
“Thunder,
earthquake, and a mighty voice,
Sweeping storm, and flame of
devouring fire.”
These
characteristics point out that time as the day of [Page 252] the Saviour’s second advent. Moreover, as the enemies of
But the succeeding verse certainly describes the blindness of
the Jews: for it is quoted by
Because of such withdrawal of the Spirit, though his prophets
predicted with the utmost accuracy events occurring under their eyes, and
fulfilled in their very ears, still they should not understand: but the book
should be to them as completely sealed, as though a clasp were on its leaves,
or as though they were unable to read its letters. Thus also said Christ himself. “For judgement am I come into the
world, that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made
blind.” This verse is also well illustrated by Eusebius, “Because they
had heard the Lord when he was present with them as a man, and saw him with
their eyes, but not with the sight of their soul, and made dull their ears that
they might not hear, Jehovah shall give them to drink of the spirit of
drowsiness.”
The 14th verse being quoted by the Saviour in reproof of the Pharisees for
their outside show of religion whilst destitute of the spirit, furnishes
another proof of the correctness of the application of the chapter to
But there is yet a future accomplishment awaiting them in the
rest of the chapter. The woe to the
secret counsel of wickedness appears to be yet future. The absurdity of such an attempt to hide
anything from God is shown by the reference to the clay, over which the potter
has unlimited power. A daring spirit of
blasphemy seems to be reproved in those words cited by St. Paul, “Shall the
thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” wherein the apostle argues with
justice the absolute right of the Creator over the creature, in consequence of
his being the work of the Most High.
Now, as the apostle rebukes so impious a spirit in the words, “Nay, but 0
man, who art thou that repliest against God?” it would appear to be implied by the
passage before us, that at the period here prophesied of, such daring blasphemy
against the wisdom and power of the Creator should not be uncommon. But, let men refuse or rebel as they will,
the purposes of the Almighty shall all be accomplished. And “in that day” of the Son of Man’s advent, the
Jewish nation shall understand their prophets, then no longer veiled by
prejudice and pride, but illuminated by the [Holy] Spirit that gave them. Then the despairing saints almost ready to
faint at the prosperity of the wicked, and their own sufferings, shall be glad
in the Holy One of Israel: for then “the Lawless One shall be cut off,” and with him all that abetted
wickedness, and sought to “wear out the saints of a the Most High.”
Then also shall the promised blessings to Abraham Isaac,
and Jacob be fully accomplished, nor shall they thenceforward fall
into sin; but shall recognise [Page 254] Jesus as their Messiah, in his mighty
works at his return; and because the Spirit of the Lord is poured out, men
shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, “and the murmurers shall learn to obey.”
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 30
1 Woe to the apostate children! saith JEHOVAH,
That take counsel,
but not of me;
And make treaties,
but not by my Spirit;
To add sin to sin.
2 That march to go down into
And have not asked
at my mouth:
To strengthen
themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in
the shadow of
3 Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame,
And your trust in
the shadow of
4* For his princes were at Zoan,
And his
ambassadors laboured in vain.
5 They were all ashamed of a people that shall not profit,
Nor be a succour,
but a shame, and also a reproach.
6 THE SENTENCE OF BEHEMOTH IN THE DESERT.
Into the land of
trouble and anguish,
Whence come the
lion, and the lion’s cub,
Asps, and the
fiery flying serpent,
Will they carry
their riches on the shoulders of asses,
And their
treasures on the bunches of camels,
To a people that
shall not profit them.
7 For bootless and
vain shall be the Egyptians’ help:
Declare unto them, that this their
consolation is in vain.
8 Now, therefore, go, write it on a
tablet,
And
note it in a book before them,
That
it may be for the time to come for a testimony for ever;
9 That this is a rebellious people, false children,
That will not hear
the law of JEHOVAH.
10 That say to the prophets,
Declare not; And
to the beholders of visions, Speak not to us right things,
Speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits.
11 And turn us aside
from this path,
And take away from
us this way,
Cause the oracle of the Holy One of Israel
to cease from before us.
12 Therefore thus
saith the Holy One of Israel,
Because ye despise
this word,
And trust in
falsehood and perverseness,
And have stayed yourselves thereon:
13 Therefore this
iniquity shall be to you,
As a breach ready
to fall, swelling out in a high wall,
Whose bursting cometh suddenly, at an
instant.
14 And its breaking shall be as the
breaking of a potter’s vessel
He shall shatter and not spare: so that
there shall not be found,
In the bursting thereof a sherd to take
fire from the hearth,
Or to take water withal from the pit.
15 For thus saith the Lord God, the
Holy One of Israel,
In repentance and patience ye shall be
saved;
In quietness and
in faith shall be your strength
16 But ye would
not. But ye said,
Nay, but we will flee upon horses;
Therefore shall ye flee:
And we will ride upon the swift;
Therefore shall they that pursue you be
swift.
17 A thousand shall
flee at the shout of one,
And at the shout
of five shall ten thousand flee,
Till ye be left as
a shipmast on the top of a mountain,
And as a beacon on an hill.
18 Yet afterwards shall God wait that
he may be gracious to you;
And therefore will he be exalted, that he
may have mercy upon you.
For JEHOVAH our God is judge:
Blessed are all they that wait for him!
19 For an holy
people shall dwell in
And at
He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice
of thy cry;
When he shall hear it he shall answer
thee.
20 And (though) JEHOVAH have given you the bread of adversity,
And the water of
affliction:
Yet shall not thy teachers be removed into
a corner any more:
But thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
21 And thine ears
shall hear a voice behind thee, saying,
This is the way, walk ye in it;
When ye turn to
the right hand,
And when ye turn to the left.
22
And
ye shall defile your graven images covered with silver,
And your molten images covered with gold.
Thou shalt cast
them away as a menstruous cloth,
And as dung thou shalt cast them forth.
23 Then shall rain
be granted to the seed of this land,
Which thou dost sow the ground withal:
And bread, the produce of your land, shall
be fat and plenteous.
And in that day shall your cattle feed in
spacious pastures.
24 Your oxen, and
the young asses that till the ground,
Shall eat mixed
fermented provender,
Winnowed with the shovel and the fan.
25 And there shall be on every high mountain, rivers;
And on every lofty hill, streams of water.
In the Day of Great Slaughter, When the
mighty fall.
26 And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the Sun,
And the light of the sun shall be
sevenfold,
As the light of seven days;
In the day that JEHOVAH bindeth up the
breach of his people,
And healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of JEHOVAH cometh from afar.
His anger burneth;
the burden thereof is heavy.
His lips are full
of indignation,
And his tongue as
devouring fire;
28 And his breath, like a torrent’s rushing,
Shall reach even
to the neck:
To sift the
Gentiles with the sieve of vanity;
And there shall be a bridle in the jaws of
the nations, causing to err:
29 (But) ye shall
have a song, as in the night
When an holy
solemnity is kept;
And gladness of
heart, as when men go with a pipe,
To enter into the
mount of JEHOVAH,
To the Mighty One
of
30 And JEHOVAH shall cause his glorious voice to be heard,
And shall show the
lighting down of his arm;
With the indignation
of his anger,
And with the flame
of a devouring fire,
And with vehement
tempest,
And rushing
showers and hailstones.
31 For at the voice
of JEHOVAH shall the Assyrian be routed,
And by a rod shall he be smitten.
32 And it shall come
to pass, that all around him,
They, from whom he looked for the aid
whereon he trusted,
Shall, on the contrary, make war on him,
With tabrets, and harps, and ordained
warfare.
33 For Tophet is
ordained of old,
Yea, for the king is it prepared,
He hath made it deep and large,
The pile thereof is fire and much wood;
The breath of JEHOVAH, like a stream of
brimstone, doth kindle it.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 30
[Page 254]
The commencement of this chapter is obscure, probably because it
is yet to be accomplished. It predicts
the Jews’ trust in a power adverse to God, which shall not profit them, however
great be their confidence therein. But who is this king of
The Septuagint, in the 4th verse, reads thus, - “For there are
at Tanais evil angels as rulers,” which is not improbably the true
reading: on which Eusebius comments
in the following terms, - “He openly declares that there [Page 255] were then daemons in Egypt, whom he calls evil angels, who
wrought many things in that city of Egypt, which is called Tanais,
where Pharaoh’s palace was. But even,
saith he, these evil angels shall not profit those who flee to them for succour
and implore their aid.”
It is signified in the following verses that the Jews, in
order to escape from this “Terrible One of the heathen,” shall flee into
Similar is the prophecy in this place. The iniquity of the Jews at the time
foretold, is precisely that of which they were guilty in the day of
Jeremiah. They would have been glad had
he not “spoken to them right things,” but declared “smooth things
and prophesied deceits,” and “caused the oracle of the Holy One of Israel to cease before
them.”
At the same time is offered to our notice the state of the
Jewish people in their own land, just before the wrath of God sends against
them the mighty Assyrian, with whose coming, under various names, prophecy is
so burthened. Nor let it be esteemed
wearisome or suspicious that a commentator is obliged thus frequently to speak
of Antichrist; for since Christ is the testimony of all prophecy, it is not
wonderful that he who is the traitorous likeness of the Christ - he who shall
assume his power and authority, [Page 256] and by his miracles deceive all but
the elect, should be so frequently spoken of, in order that the people of God
may be forewarned and prepared against his blasphemy and delusion.
Yet, in spite of all their disobedience, Christ Jesus shall be
merciful to their nation, and be a joy to all them that wait for him, for “an holy
people” shall, at
his second advent, “dwell in
Then shall the idols with which Antichrist made them to defile
themselves be cast forth with abhorrence.
For that men in the last days shall worship “idols of
gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and wood, which can neither see, nor
hear, nor walk,”
and that they shall make an image of the Destroyer which all must worship under
pain of death, the Revelation of St. John once and again affirms, Rev. 9: 20, 13: 15.
But this day past, to
The 27th verse represents the Saviour as coming from afar, as he said
himself, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for
himself a kingdom, and to return!” (Luke 19:
12.) His coming is a day of wrath to his enemies, “The great day
of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?”
“By the name of Jehovah,” says Eusebius, “Christ is indicated.
And when he cometh and revealeth his second glorious appearance, then
shall follow those avenging Powers whom the present passage calls the anger and
wrath of God, by whom punishment will be inflicted on the wicked. His wrath shall be like the sudden over-[Page 257] flowing of a torrent in a narrow ravine, whose
waters speedily enclose the traveller, and reaching even to his neck soon drown
him.” “The bridle in the
jaws of the people causing them to err,” is the delusion of the Man of Sin, who shall cause men
to trust in him as God, as saith the apostle, “For this cause God shall send
them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be
damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” Coincident are the words of St. John, “I saw three
unclean spirits like frogs, come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the
mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working
miracles, which go forth unto
the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them together to the
By this terrible coming shall the Antichrist be smitten by the
voice of Jehovah and the “rod of subjugation.”
But what is signified by the warring against him “with tabrets and harps?” It is not easy
to explain this unless we adopt the Septuagint translation, and the comment of Eusebius thereon. The Septuagint
gives the verse in question thus, -
“And it shall
come to pass that on all sides of him,
They from whom came the
expectation of succour,
Whereon he trusted, shall [far from
rendering aid],
On the contrary, make war on
him with tabrets and harps.”
On which the note of Eusebius
is as follows, - “Then (saith he) those who smote and beat them (the people of God) shall be punished; for the daemons that stand round them
(i.e., Antichrist and his host), shall punish
them. And who ‘they’ are he reveals, when he says,
‘From whom
came the expectation of succour
Whereon he trusted.’
The hope of the impious was in their gods: that is,
the Antagonist Powers and Evil Spirits.
To these they applied themselves; in these they placed their hopes of
succour, not knowing that these shall be their punishers; for the indignation
and wrath sent on the wicked shall take effect by means of wicked spirits. ‘They on the other hand with tabrets
and harps shall make war on him:’ as delighting themselves in calamities; ‘for from friends they shall
become enemies.’”
That this is the true interpretation is confirmed by the
succeeding verse.
“For Tophet is
ordained of old;
Yea, for The King is it
prepared;
He hath made it deep and
large,
The pile thereof is fire and
much wood,
The breath of Jehovah like a
stream of brimstone doth kindle it.”
Tophet is a valley near
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 31
1 WOE to them that go down to
That confide in
horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many;
And in horsemen,
because they are very strong;
But they trust not
the Holy One of lsrael,
Neither seek they
JEHOVAH.
2* Yet he also is wise; he hath brought evils on
them;
And his words
shall not be annulled;
But he will rise
up against the house of the evil-doers,
And against the
help of them that do iniquity.
3* For the Egyptians are men, and not God:
And their horses
flesh, and not spirit:
When JEHOVAH shall
stretch forth his hand upon them,
Both he that
helpeth shall fall,
And he that is
helped shall fall down;
And all shall perish together.
4 For thus said
JEHOVAH unto me,
Like as the lion,
and the young lion roaring on his prey,
When a multitude
of the shepherds is called forth against him,
He will not be
afraid of their voice,
Nor abase himself for the noise of them:
So shall JEHOVAH
of hosts descend to fight
On Mount
5 As birds hovering
(over their young),
So shall JEHOVAH of hosts defend
Defending, he will
also deliver it,
And hovering over, he will preserve it.
6* Return, ye children of
Unto him from whom ye have deeply
revolted.
7 For in that day
every man shall cast away
His idols of
silver, and his idols of gold,
The sin which their own hands made.
8 Then shall the
Assyrian fall by the sword,
Not that of a
mighty man; and the sword,
Not of a mean man, shall devour him.
And he shall flee, but not from the sword;
And his young men shall be discomfited.
9 For they shall be
surrounded in a rock, as in a trench,
And his princes shall be routed unto
flight.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 31
The subject of this chapter so nearly resembles that of the
preceding, that a few observations will suffice. The same warning is given against the help of
Then shall
On that day shall be the destruction of their last enemy,
Armillus, who shall be smitten, not by man, but by the Lord himself; and his
chosen men shall be discomfited. For
they shall be caught in the rocky
How well this accords with the preceding need not be
noticed. The words of Jerome may now be added in
confirmation. “The Jews understand this of Gog
and Magog, of whom Ezekiel speaks more fully.”
In illustration of the sixth verse he writes, “The Nazarenes understand this passage thus: ‘0 sons of
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 32
1 Thus saith JEHOVAH, Blessed is he that hath a seed in
And relatives in
For behold, a king
shall reign in righteousness,
And his princes shall rule with judgement.
2
And
a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind,
And as a covert from the tempest;
As rivers of water
in a dry place,
As the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land.
3 And no more shall
men trust in men;
But their ears shall they lend to listen.
4 And the heart of
the foolish shall understand knowledge,
And the tongue of the stammerers shall
soon speak plainly.
5*
And no more shall the call the vile person liberal;
Nor shall the churl
be said to be bountiful.
6 For the vile one will speak villainy,
And his heart will devise iniquity:
To do lawlessly,
to speak falsely against JEHOVAH,
To make empty the
soul of the hungry,
And to cause the
drink of the thirsty to fail.
7 The plans of the churl are evil,
He deviseth wicked devices;
To destroy the
humble with words of injustice,
And to scatter the
words of the poor in judgement.
8* But the liberal have devised liberal things,
And by liberal things they shall stand.
9 Rise up, ye women at ease, and hear my voice:
Ye daughters of security, give ear unto my
words!
10*
Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women;
For the vintage shall fail, the gathering
shall not come.
11 Tremble, ye women
that are at ease!
Be troubled, ye
careless ones!
Strip you, make
you bare,
Gird sackcloth on your loins.
12 And beat ye upon
your breasts,
For the pleasant
fields, and for the fruitful vine
13
Upon
the land of my people shall thorns and grass come up;
And on every mirthful house of the joyous
city.
14 The palaces shall
be forsaken;
The populous city deserted;
Ophel and the
watch-tower for dens,
Until the Age the
joy of wild asses,
The pasture of flocks.
15*
Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high,
And the desert
shall be a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be counted for a
forest.
16 Then justice
shall dwell in the wilderness,
And righteousness remain in the fruitful
field.
17*
And the work of righteousness shall be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness
and assurance for ever.
18 And my people
shall dwell in a habitation of peace,
And in mansions of
security,
And in tranquil dwellings.
19
And
if the hail descend, it shall not come on you;
And they that dwell in the woods
Shall be as secure as they of the plain.
20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters,
That send forth (thither) the feet of the ox and ass.
* * *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 32
[Page 261]
The present chapter
opens with a declaration of the blessedness of those who shall then be written
among the living in
It should be noted, that this chapter is a continuation of the
last; for the destruction of Christ’s foes is the time of his commencing
reign. The gathering up of the tares and
binding them in bundles to burn, is the time of the ingathering of the wheat into
the garner.
Who, then, is the king that shall in that day rule
righteously, but Christ? Who “his princes,” but the twelve apostles? For thus did the Saviour promise them, “Ye which have
followed me, in the Regeneration (or restoration of all things) when the Son
of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit on twelve
thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of
Again, as this blessedness is to be at
Then shall take place that moral renovation of man, which the
mighty power of God is always able to effect. “Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power.” No false names any longer shall be
used to gloss over iniquity, but all the workers of wickedness shall be cut
off.
The ninth verse reverts to
the time of great tribulation, in which the condition of females shall be
peculiarly helpless and sad; and the desolation of
Of the Spirit’s outpouring, Joel testifies.* “And it shall
come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh.” And in a following verse he gives the signs which shall
precede the Saviour’s coming, in [Page 261] words nearly resembling those of our
Lord. “I will show wonders in the
heaven above, and in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapour of
smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and terrible day of the
Lord come.” (Joel 2: 28. 30, 31.)
* That this was not fulfilled on the occasion in illustration of which St. Peter quotes it, I
hope on a future occasion to show.
The world being thus restored to the purity of Eden (not by the gradual extension and
improvement of the preaching of the Gospel, and the means now in use, but by
the miraculous outpouring of the Spirit at Christ’s second coming,) then, as the world shall be full of holiness, it shall be also full of
peace. For God shall shower down most plenteously his physical blessings on
those who have received his spiritual mercies; and it will be seen, with complete evidence, that sin is the great
curse of the world, and that all schemes for the regeneration of man, which are
not schemes for the destruction of sin, and restoring him to the image and love
of God, are fruitless folly.
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 33
1
Woe
Unto thee that spoilest! shalt thou not also be spoiled?
And scornest: shalt thou not also be
scorned?
*When thou shalt cease to
spoil, thou shalt be spoiled;
And when thou shalt cease to scorn, thou
shalt be scorned!
2 0 JEHOVAH, be gracious unto us; we
have waited for thee:
The seed of the unbelieving shall be for
the time of their visitation,
But our salvation shall be in the time of
tribulation.
3* At
the voice of thine angel the nations fled;
And at the lifting up of thyself the
Gentiles were scattered.
4
And
now shall your spoils be gathered,
From the least to the greatest, like the
gathering of locusts,
As when men collect locusts shall they run
to and fro on you.
5 JEHOVAH is exalted who dwelleth on high,
6 And faith shall
be the stability of thy times,
The knowledge of salvation and wisdom,
And the fear of JEHOVAH, these shall be
thy treasures.
7* Behold,
I will appear unto them; I will shout mightily:
The messengers of peace shall weep
bitterly.
8*
For their highways lie waste; the wayfaring man hath ceased:
The covenant he hath broken; he hath
despised the cities;
He regardeth no man.
9 The earth mourneth
and languisheth;
*
Bashan and
10 Now will I arise, saith JEHOVAH;
Now will I be glorified;
Now will I lift up
myself.
11* Ye
shall conceive chaff; ye shall bring forth stubble;
Your breath as fire shall devour you.
12 And the nations
shall be burnt up as lime,
* As thorns cut up shall
they be burned in the fire.
13 Hear, ye that are
afar, what I have done;
Acknowledg? ye that are near, my might!
14
The
sinners in
Trembling hath seized the lawless ones:
* Who among you can dwell
with devouring fire?
Who of you can dwell with everlasting
burnings?
15 He that walketh uprightly, and speaketh truth,
That hateth
violence and oppressions,
That shaketh his
hands from holding of bribes,
That stoppeth his ears from hearing the
unjust sentence of death,
That shutteth his eyes from seeing of
evil.
16 He shall dwell on
high -
His place of
defence shall be munitions of rocks,
Bread shall be
given him,
Water shall be assured to him.
17 Thine eyes shall
behold the king in his beauty,
And thine eyes shall behold the land that
is afar.
18 Your heart shall
meditate the fear of JEHOVAH:
Where is the scribe? where is the
counsellor?
Where the instructor of the young?
19 Thou shalt no
longer behold a fierce people,
A people of deep language, whom thou canst
not understand;
Of a stammering tongue, nor can the hearer
comprehend them.
20
Behold
Thine eyes shall
behold
A tabernacle that shall not be taken down;
Not one of its
stakes shall be moved for ever,
Neither shall any of its cords be broken.
21 For the Name of JEHOVAH shall be glorious:
There shall be a place for us, of broad
rivers and streams;
Wherein shall go
no galley with oars,
Neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
22 For JEHOVAH is
our judge,
JEHOVAH is our
lawgiver,
JEHOVAH is our king:
JEHOVAH himself shall save us.
23 Thy ropes are broken, because they had no strength;
Thy mast hath
slanted, thou shalt not spread the sails,
Thou shalt not lift the ensign, till thou
hast been delivered up to the spoil:
Then many lame shall take the prey.
24 Nor shall the
inhabitant thereof say, “I am sick,”
For the people
that dwelleth therein,
Shall have their iniquity forgiven.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 33
[Page 261]
Again is the
great Persecutor of the Church brought before our notice in the present
prophecy. He is represented as injuring
those who offer him no in injury in return, but quietly submit to the terrors,
pains, and death, he is able to inflict.
A warning, with a view to ensure this temper, is given in the thirteenth
of Revelation, which treats of the rise of the Beast. “He that leadeth into captivity shall
go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the
sword. Here is the patience and faith of
the saints.”
Parallel with
this is the prophetic announcement of St. James: “Ye have condemned and killed
the just, and he doth not resist you. Be
patient, therefore, brethren,
unto the coming of the Lord for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” (James 5:
6-8.)
In exact accordance therewith, Isaiah, in the next verse,
furnishes us prophetically with the prayers of Christ’s waiting saints for his
return, and the speedy answer to their petitions; for the reign of the
destroyer shall last but three years and a half - the 1260 days of
prophecy. “At the voice of thine angel,” it is said, “the nations
fled:” doubtless
that “voice of the archangel and trump
of God” with which
Christ shall come, “and at whose lifting up of [Page 262] himself the Gentiles shall
be scattered.” Then follows the description of the glories of
Christ’s reign.
The seventh verse, though its readings are by no means certain, discovers by its general
tenour that it is spoken of “the destroyer of the Gentiles,” before whose wrath many nations are
cut off; who makes the highways lie desolate, “breaks his covenant” (as was noted above, and corroborated
by the testimony of the Psalms); and “regardeth no man.”
What wonder, that he who blasphemes God should disregard man! By the weeping of the messengers of peace,
one of the fathers understands the departing of the angels from the nations of
which they are the guardians: as at the time of the destruction of
Yet, at this very height of his enemy’s power, shall Christ
come, and with “flaming fire” take vengeance on him and his host:
“And the
nations shall be burned up as lime;
As thorns in a field, cut up
and burned.”
To which last line the reference of the parable of “the tares
bound in bundles to burn them,” is not improbably intended by our Lord. So the destruction of Christ’s enemies in the
fire of Tophet is alluded to in those terrible words of warning,
“Who among you
can dwell with devouring fire?
Who of you can dwell with
everlasting burnings?”
Then follows the blessedness of the ransomed, even as the
Saviour, in his interpretation of the parable of the tares, adds, “Then shall
the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
So Isaiah,- “Their eyes shall behold the King in his beauty.”
What is meant by “the land that is afar,” is not apparent; the Chaldee understands it of those going down into punishment. The remark of Procopius upon it is as follows:- “Some refer the words ‘afar off’ to the wicked, -
that they shall see ‘the land’ of promise at a distance, not to dwell in it themselves,
but to inherit consuming fire, who, being in fear of their own condemnation,
will be cast away afar from that land.
Whom he rebukes, because they obeyed evil instructors, saying, ‘Where are they that knew only the letter of the law?’ To whom the
Saviour said, ‘Woe unto you, Scribes, and
Pharisees, hypocrites!’ ‘For where [Page 263] will these appear, saith
he, in the day of judgement, who flatter their disciples, instead of giving
wholesome counsel?’”
Then shall all the wisdom and might of the world be scattered,
according to the passage of Paul (who probably quotes Isaiah, though, if so,
the last words of the quotation have undergone much variation) : “Were is the
wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God
made foolish the wisdom of this world?” - words, which agree exceedingly well with the scope
of this passage: for in that day will it be seen that no counsel can prosper,
no wisdom avail, against the design of Jehovah; that “the
foolishness of God is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is stronger than
man.”
The succeeding portion of the chapter describes the millennial
blessedness, and the security then to be enjoyed.
The last two verses are obscure; but they probably intend the
great humiliation of Jerusalem before her final exaltation, under the figure of
a vessel in a storm, its tackling torn, its mast ready to fall, its flag
displaced. Till she shall have been
spoiled herself she shall not take the prey.
But then, as the four lepers of
In that happy time, there shall no more be sickness in
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 34
1 Draw near, ye
nations, to hear!
And hearken to me, ye Gentiles!
Let the earth hear, and all that is
therein;
The world, and all the inhabitants its
offspring.
2 For the
indignation of JEHOVAH is upon all the Gentiles,
And his fury upon all their armies;
To destroy them, and deliver them up to
the slaughter.
3 Their slain also
shall be cast down,
And their stench
shall come up from their carcases,
And the mountain shall be watered with
their blood.
4 And all the Powers of the heavens shall
be dissolved,
And the heavens shall be rolled together
as a scroll:
*And all the stars shall
fall as a leaf falleth from a vine,
And as a fallen fig from a fig-tree.
5 For my sword
shall be drunken in heaven:
Behold, upon
Idumea shall it come down,
And upon the people of my curse to
judgement.
6 The sword of
JEHOVAH is filled with blood,
It is made fat with fatness;
With the blood of
lambs and goats,
With the fat of kidneys of rams:
For JEHOVAH hath a
sacrifice in Boazah,
And a great slaughter in the
7 And the unicorns
shall be brought down together with them,
And the rams with the bulls;
And the earth
shall be drunken with their blood,
And the dust made fat with their fatness.
8
For
it is the day of JEHOVAH’S vengeance,
And the year of recompensing the
controversy of
9 And its streams
shall be turned into pitch,
And the dust thereof into brimstone;
And its land shall become burning pitch.
10 It shall not be
quenched night or day,
The smoke thereof shall go up for ever:
From generation to
generation it shall lie waste,
None shall pass through it for ever.
11 But the pelican
and the porcupine shall possess it,
The owl also and
the raven shall dwell in it,
And there shall be stretched out thereon
the line of confusion,
*And the stones of
emptiness.
12 And of all its
princes there shall be none there;
Its kings shall be sought for (in vain);
its nobles shall cease.
13 And in their
palaces shall thorns come up,
Nettles and brambles in the fortresses
thereof;
And it shall be a
habitation of dragons,
And a court for the daughters of the
ostrich.
14 And devils shall meet with habitations,
And the daemon shall call to his fellow;
The screech-owl
also shall rest there,
And find for herself a place of repose.
15 There shall the
great owl make its nest, and lay eggs,
And hatch and gather under her shadow;
There shall the vultures meet, every one
with her mate.
16 Seek ye out of
the book of JEHOVAH, and read,
No one of these shall fail; none shall
want her mate.
For JEHOVAH’S mouth hath commanded them;
And his Spirit hath gathered them.
17
And
he hath cast the lot for them,
And his hand hath
divided it to them by line,
They shall possess
it in perpetuity,
From generation to generation they shall
dwell therein.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 34
The opening verses of this section of
Isaiah are an appeal to “ALL NATIONS” to listen. It is, therefore, some prophecy that concerns
the whole world. Therefore it is yet
future, since nothing has occurred that at all comes up to the descriptions of
the text. Those who suppose it fulfilled
in the destruction of the literal Edom are obliged to talk of its expressions “being in the
highest degree hyperbolical,” and “merely adequate to meet the expectation of a patriotic Jew
in reference to the infliction of Divine judgement on those who had been the
ancient and most inveterate enemies of his country.” Alas for inspiration! It is obliged strongly to colour, as it is
softly called, the poverty of its themes with hyperboles, in order, by the
false and foolish arts of weak and vain man, to give dignity to its
subject! The word of truth and holiness
is bound to pander to the hatred of a patriotic Jew against the enemies of his
country! Where, then, we ask in vain,
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? But,
repudiating so deadly an hypothesis, let us see if it will not admit a future
and literal interpretation. Is there not
some time of universal concernment, when the wrath of God shall be poured upon
all nations? Does not Joel attest it,
and Daniel confirm it, and
But the signs that accompany this dreadful day of the Great
Slaughter identify it beyond a doubt. “All the
powers of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together
as a scroll; and the stars shall fall as a leaf falleth from a vine, and as the
falling fig from a fig-tree.” It is, I know,
generally considered as a thing to be taken for granted by commentators, that
these signs in the sun, moon, and stars, mean only convulsions in kingdoms and
nations, - an opinion most unfounded, and utterly destructive of prophetic
clearness and simplicity. On the
contrary, whenever these signs are spoken of, they refer to the one great day
of the Saviour’s advent, and are literally to be fulfilled. Hence the passage before us refers to that
same time in the prophecy of the Saviour on Olivet, when “the sun shall
be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall
from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken” (Matt. 21: 29) - words almost identical with those
of Isaiah just adduced. Such, also, is
that passage of the Revelation, “And I beheld when he had opened the
sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as
sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell
unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty
wind. And the heaven departed as a
scroll when it is rolled together.” (Rev. 6:
12-14.) The succeeding verses determine that it is
the time immediately preceding the Saviour’s appearance to all the world. This is the time indicated by Isaiah
likewise.
But what is meant by the powers of heaven? Doubtless the same beings that are meant in Eph. 3: 10: “To the
intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the
manifold wisdom of God.” Doubtless those
mentioned also in Col. 2: 15: “And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them in it.” According to the
testimony of
Accordingly, we find that the destruction of
The whole of the argument from Aaron Pick (late Professor of Hebrew and Chaldee in the
The succeeding verses of this chapter contain an account of
its future desolation, answering to the prophecy in Rev. 18.; and the assertion is again made,
that “the demon shall there call to his fellow,” for Babylon or Edom must “become the
hold of every foul spirit,” because the Lord hath spoken it.
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 35
1 Thou thirsty
wilderness, rejoice!
Thou desert, be glad, and blossom as the
lily!
2 And the waste
places of
The glory of
The excellency of
And my people shall see the glory of
JEHOVAH,
And the excellency of our God.
3 Strengthen the
weak hands,
And confirm the feeble knees.
4 Say to them that
are of a fearful heart,
Be strong, fear not!
Behold, your God shall come with
vengeance,
Even God himself with recompense shall
come, and save you!
5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of
the deaf unstopped.
6 Then shall the
lame man leap as an hart,
And the tongue of the dumb shall sing;
For in the wilderness shall waters break
out,
And streams in the desert.
7 And the parched ground shall become a pool,
And the thirsty
land springs of water;
*In the habitation of
dragons shall spring
Grass with reeds and rushes.
8 And a pure way
shall be there,
The Way of Holiness, shall it be called:
And the unclean shall not pass over it;
But He himself shall be with them, walking
in the way;
And the dispersed shall walk in it, and
not err.
9 And no lion shall
be there,
Nor any ravenous beast go up thereon, nor
be found there;
But the redeemed shall walk there [for
ever.]
10 And the ransomed
of JEHOVAH shall return,
And come to
And everlasting gladness shall be upon
their heads;
They shall obtain joy and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 35
[Page 267]
The thirty-fifth chapter is a continuation of the
preceding. For the time of the vengeance
on
In accordance with this, the first two verses represent the
renovated beauty of the earth when Christ shall come: parts now desert and
incapable of affording habitation and sustenance to man, shall rejoice “and blossom
as the rose.” “The wastes of
In expectation of these things believers are commanded to be
strong, to endure patiently till the time of Christ’s appearing, as also saith
St. Peter: “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope
to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ.” (1 Pet. 1: 13.)
In the time of trouble that shall try all the saints before
the coming of the Saviour, the motive for patience is his speedy appearing -
“Behold, your
God shall come with vengeance,
Even God himself with recompense
shall come and save us.”
Thus St. James prophetically encourages believers. (James
5: 5-8.)
At his coming diseases and disorders shall depart, of which
the Saviour gave a type at his first sojourn on earth, by his “opening the
eyes of the blind, and unstopping the ears of the deaf, and bidding the lame
man leap as a hart.” For, that the accomplishment of the
prophecy did not take place, except partially in the point alluded to, is
evident from this, that Christ did not come “with vengeance or recompense,” as he expressly declared that he came
at that time, not to judge, but to save the world. The blessings of the earth,
renovated as the garden of Eden, are described in the fifth and sixth verses. After which the joys of the
redeemed, in “being ever with
the Lord,” are specially insisted on, with the
absence of everything that could affright or annoy; and the locality of their joy is specified as being
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTERS
36 & 37
1 Now it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah,
that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fenced cities of
4 And Rabshakeh
said unto them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of
11 Then said
Eliakim, and Joab, and Shebna, unto Rabshakeh, Speak, I pray thee, unto thy
servants in the Syrian language, for we understand it; and speak not to us in
the Jews’ language, in the ears of the people that are on the wall. 12 But Rabshakeh
said, Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee to speak these words?
hath he not (sent me) to the men that sit
on the wall, lest they eat their own dung, and drink their own water with you?
13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and cried with a loud voice in the
Jews’ language, and said, Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of
22 Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, which was over the
household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joab, the
son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah, with their clothes rent, and told him
the words of Rabshakeh.
CHAPTER 37
1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah
heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sack- cloth, and went into the house of
JEHOVAH.
2
And he sent Eliakim, who
was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests
covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah, the prophet, the son of Amos. And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiab, 3
This day is a day of
trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the
birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 4 It may be JEHOVAH thy God will hear all the words of
Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living
God, and will reprove the words which JEHOVAH thy God hath heard; wherefore
lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. 5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your
master; Thus saith JEHOVAH, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard,
wherewith the servants of the king of
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the
hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of
JEHOVAH, and spread it before JEHOVAII. 15
And Hezekiah prayed to
JEHOVAH, saying, 16 0 JEHOVAH of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the
cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth;
thou hast made heaven and earth. 17
Incline, 0 JEHOVAH, thine
ear and hear; open, 0 JEHOVAH, thine eyes and see; and hear all the words of
Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. 18 Of a truth, 0 JEHOVAH, the kings of
21 Then Isaiah the son of Amos sent unto
Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith JEHOVAH God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to
me against Sennacherib king of
The virgin, the daughter of
She hath laughed thee to scorn;
The daughter of
23 Whom hast thou reproached and
blasphemed?
And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice,
And lifted up thine eyes on high?
Even against the Holy One of
24 By thy servants hast thou reproached
JEHOVAH, and said,
By the multitude of my chariots am I come up
To the height of the mountains, to the sides of
And I have cut down the tall cedars thereof, and its choice
fir-trees,
And I have entered into the lodge of his border,
And into the forest of his
25* I have met with and drunk
strange waters;
And with the sole of my feet have I dried up
All the rivers of besieged places.
26 Hast thou not heard long ago that I have
done it?
And of ancient times, that I have formed
it?
Now have I brought it to pass, that thou
shouldst be to lay waste
Defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
27
Therefore their inhabitants
were of small power,
They were dismayed and confounded;
They were as the grass of the field, and as
the green herb;
As the grass on the housetops,
* As corn blasted before it
beareth fruit.
28
But I know thy abode,
And thy going out, and thy coming in.
And thy rage against me.
29
Because thy rage against
me, and thy bitterness,
Is come up into mine ears,
Therefore will I put my hook in thy nose,
And my bridle in thy lips,
And I will turn thee back by the way by
which thou camest.
And this shall be a sign to thee:
30*Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of
itself,
And the second year, that which springeth of
the same:
And in the third year, sow ye and reap;
And plant vineyards, and eat the fruit
thereof.
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the
house of
Shall again take root downward, and bear
fruit upward;
32 For out of
And they that escape out of
The zeal of JEHOVAH of hosts shall do
this.
33 Therefore thus saith JEHOVAH concerning the
king of
He shall not come into this city;
Nor shoot an arrow against it,
Nor come before it with shields,
Nor cast a bank against it.
34
By the way that he came, by
the same shall he return;
And shall not come into this city, saith
JEHOVAH.
35 For I will defend this city to save it,
For mine own sake, and for my servant
David’s sake.
36
Then the angel of JEHOVAH
went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and fourscore and
five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all
dead corpses! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed,
and went and returned, and dwelt at
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 36 & 37
[Page
268]
If
it be inquired why the two chapters under discussion were twice inserted
in Holy Scripture, - once in the history of the Kings, and once in the
prophecies of Isaiah, the just answer
would probably be, that they have both an historical and a predictive force. In one point of
view they are a part of the history of the Jewish nation; and in another, they
refer onward to a time and circumstances which shall nearly resemble them. So nearly,
indeed, do the times and destinies of the Man of Sin accord therewith, that
prophecies which speak of the final overthrow of the last “destroyer of the Gentiles,” have been supposed to be fulfilled in the destruction
of Sennacherib.
Let
us, then, endeavour to gather up and present in one view those parts of the
history before us which have a predictive force, in which Sennacherib and Rabshakeh
and Hezekiah stand only in the light of types.
First,
then, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, is the type of the Great Assyrian, whom the
Lord shall tread under foot on the mountains of
The
next feature of strong resemblance is the boasting and blasphemous message to
Hezekiah. Multitudes of passages attest
that proud blasphemy shall be the peculiar characteristic of the last ages, and
especially of Antichrist. Thus Psalm 52., “Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, thou
mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually. Thy tongue deviseth mischief, like a sharp
razor” (compare Is. 7: 20, where the Assyrian is also compared to a ‘razor;’) “working deceitfully.
Thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak
righteousness. Thou lovest all devouring
words, 0 thou false tongue.” His predicted end, in the next verses,
sufficiently corroborates this conclusion.
Such is also the testimony of Psalm 12. with regard to
the times of Antichrist generally. But
Daniel’s attestation to the pride and blasphemy of the Man of Sin in
particular, is full and explicit. He had
a “mouth speaking
great things.” “Because of the great [Page 270] words which the horn spake, I beheld even
till the Beast was slain.” “And he shall speak
great words against the Most High.” (Dan. 7:
8. 11: 25.) “He shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods.”
(Dan. 11: 36.) Similarly
But
at that time the Jews shall return and repent, and their prayer and
humiliation, typified by the prayer and humility of Hezekiah, shall bring down
a gracious answer, as the prayer of Hezekiah received the glorious prophecy of
Jehovah by the mouth of Isaiah. That
prophecy notes, first, that God used Sennacherib solely as his instrument, and
that his mighty deeds were only because the Almighty for their iniquities had
given the nations into his hand.
Parallel with this is the declaration in the tenth chapter of Isaiah
already referred to. “Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither does his heart think so,” and the noble rebuke of his vain boasting is added,
in which God compares his pride to the axe exalting itself against him that
heweth therewith. He shall resemble him
also in the deception he shall himself experience. Sennacherib was drawn away from the attack of
Next
follows in the 30th and following verses of the consolatory message to
Hezekiah, a prophecy of the continued prosperity of
The
last point of evident and especial resemblance is the sudden destruction of the
Assyrian’s host by night, to the amount of 185,000 men. This was effected, we are told, by “The Angel” (or messenger) of the Lord, a name referring so
evidently to Christ in many passages, that no proof is here attempted. In like manner shall take place the slaughter
of the armies of Antichrist so often noticed above: the Lord shall go forth and
suddenly destroy them, coming upon them “as a thief in the night.”
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 38
1 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death;
and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amos came unto him, and said unto him, Thus
saith JEHOVAH, Set thine house in order,
for thou shalt die and not live. 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the
wall, and prayed unto JEHOVAH, and said, 3 Remember now, 0 JEHOVAH, I beseech thee how
I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that
which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah
wept sore. 4 Then came the word of JELIOVAH unto Isaiah,
saying, Go and say to Hezekiah, 5 Thus saith JEHOVAH, the God of David thy father, I have heard
thy prayer, I have seen thy tears; behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen
years. 6 And I will deliver thee, and this city, out
of the hand of the king of
9 THE
WRITING OF HEZEKIAH KING OF
10 I said in the meridian of my days,
I shall go down to the gates of Hades;
I shall leave the residue of my years.
11 I said, I shall no more see the salvation
of God in the land of the living:
[I shall not behold the salvation of
I shall see man no more, with the dwellers in peace.
12 [I have faded from among my acquaintance],
The remainder of my life hath failed,
* And departed from me like a shepherd’s tent.
My spirit within me hath been as a web,
When the weaver approaches to cut it off,
From day even unto night was I cast down:
13 I roared until the morning.
Like a lion so brake he all my bones,
For from the daytime even until night was I delivered up.
14 As a swallow, and like the crane so did I
twitter,
As a dove, so did I moan.
For mine eyes fail with looking to the heights of heaven,
To JEHOVAH, Who hath rescued me,
And taken from me the sorrow of my soul.
15 What shall I say? or what will he answer
me,
Since he himself hath done it?
I will reflect all my years on this bitterness of my soul.
16 0 JEHOVAH, respecting this did I tell thee,
And thou didst raise up my spirit,
And I was comforted and lived.
17 Behold, in time of peace came this my
tribulation,
But thou hast rescued my soul, that it should not perish.
And thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
18 For they that are in Hades shall not praise
thee,
Nor shall the dead bless thee;
Nor shall they that go down into the pit expect thy mercy.
19 The living, the living shall praise thee,
as 1 do this (lay ;
*The father to the children shall make known
Thy truth, 0 God of my salvation!
20 And I will not cease to praise thee,
With a psaltery all the days of my life,
Before the house of my God.
21 For Isaiah had said to Hezekiah, Take a
lump of figs, and bruise and spread it as a plaister on the ulcer, and thou
shalt be healed. And Hezekiah had said,
What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of JEROVAH?
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 38
[Page 271]
In this account of Hezekiah’s
sickness and recovery there [Page 272] is no particular difficulty.
Its prophetic import is, probably, that his sentence of death and
recovery typifies the death of the righteous, according to the sentence on
Adam, and their resurrection at the appearance of Christ. Hence his song of recovery has a probable
reference to its future use by the risen saints.
The
reason of Hezekiah’s affliction, as the rabbies say, was because after so
mighty a deliverance as God vouchsafed him, he did not compose a song of
thanks, as did Deborah, Moses, and David.
His great fear of death is also accounted for by Jerome and Eusebius on
the consideration that as yet he had no son; hence his hope that the Messiah
should spring from his family was cut off.
For as Jerome remarks, after his death, which occurred fifteen years
after, Manasseh his son was only twelve years of age, whence it follows that he
was born in the third year of Hezekiah’s restored life.
His song describes his despair because he should “not see the salvation of God (or the Saviour of God) in the land of the living.” This is of no
private interpretation, but refers to the Church at large. A like feeling was experienced by the ancient
Christian Church. After St. Paul had
declared that Christ was speedily to come, the Thessalonian believers mourned
over those who died, because they would not
be witnesses of Christ’s coming in glory, nor obtain their reward “in the land of the living,” that is, amongst the elect
in his kingdom. In his Epistle to that Church, therefore, St.
Paul meets this very difficulty, and dissipates it: shows that, so far from the
dead saints not being participants of Christ’s glory, those living at his
coming should not even “prevent” or get
the start of them; but that “the dead in Christ should
rise first;” “then they which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet
him in the air, and so be ever with the Lord. Wherefore,” saith he, “comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:
13-18.)
Now
as the command to Abraham to slay Isaac, and his intention to do so, rendered
that act a figure of the resurrection of the dead, “from whence also he received
him in a figure,” so God’s command
to Hezekiah to prepare for death, and his sentence to that effect, renders his
recovery a just figure of the death and resurrection of our Surety Christ
Jesus, and of his people through him.
But the [Page 273] resemblance as regards the Lord Jesus is yet more exact, Hezekiah was
told that he should recover “the third day,” and
“go up to the
house of the Lord.” How evident, then, that the Spirit intended
Hezekiah, that king of matchless piety, to be a type of the Saviour! The very words in which his character is
couched are also applicable to the Messiah, Christ Jesus. “He trusted in the Lord God of
Israel; so that after him were none like him among all the kings of Judah
(‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’),
nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not
from following him, but kept
his commandments, as the Lord commanded Moses.
And the Lord was with him.” (2 Kings
18: 5, 6.) Surely a greater than Hezekiah is here, one
who, in all the strictness of the expression, fulfilled the commands of Moses,
and swerved not one jot from cleaving to the Lord! The Saviour’s rising again “the third day,” was intimated by the recovery of Hezekiah on that
day, as at a former time the same truth was intimated by the three days that
elapsed between the sentence on Isaac (who was from that time legally dead in
the sight of Abraham. and of God), till the Most High, in both instances,
restored the life he claimed.
But
the reader will trace its further application for himself, as some remarks must
now be made on its applicability to believers in general. The first part of the ode describes the risen
believer’s desire for the kingdom of Christ, his death before its appearance,
and his desire even whilst in
the state [and place] of
the dead: as we read in the Revelation, of “the souls
under the altar” crying to God, “How long, 0
Lord, holy, just, and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them
that dwell on the earth?” which
vengeance, as we have seen, is to take place at Christ’s coming.
The
16th verse records the answer to this prayer, -
“0 Jehovah, respecting this
did 1 tell thee,
And thou didst raise up my spirit.
Thou hast rescued my soul
that it should not perish,
And thou hast cast all my sins behind thy
back.”
Here,
then, the saint praises God in Christ Jesus, because
his spirit and soul are rescued from Hades, and his body from the grave, and because his sins are thereby shown to be utterly
forgotten of God. “Blessed and holy [Page 274] is he that hath part in the first
resurrection: over such the second death (that
of sin) hath no
power,” because their sins are forgiven.
As
regards the statement that those “in Hades will not praise God, nor can those that go down to
the pit hope for God’s mercy,” this, understood of those times, presents
a strong confirmation of the above interpretation. For at that
time the “dead in
Christ” shall all rise and be
delivered from Hades, while they that are left there, will be the wicked dead
alone, and they who at that time “go down to the pit,” will be the servants of the Man of Sin, whom Christ will slay at his
coming. Just such is also the statement
of Psalm 115. After affirming the vanity of idols, with especial
reference to those of Antichrist, the risen saints mention the blessedness they
have received from Jehovah Christ, and then add, “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that
go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time
forth and for evermore.” Even thus does Hezekiah in this place, after speaking
of the Impossibility of the dead expecting the mercy of God, subjoin, “The living, the living, he shall
praise thee as I do.”
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 39
1. At that time Merodach-Baladan, son of
Baladan, king of
3 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king
Hezekiah, and said unto him, What say these men? And whence came they to thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come to me from a
far country; even
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 39
[Page
274]
After
the recovery of Hezekiah, the king of Babylon and his wise men, struck with
astonishment at the preternatural lengthening of the day, which they could not
account for upon astronomical principles, sent messengers and a present to him
to congratulate him on his restored life, and to inquire of him the reason of
the miracle which was exhibited on his behalf.
This had a tendency to tempt Hezekiah to pride, as being the subject of
a special embassy and inquiry on the part of so great a king as the king of
[Page 275]
Hezekiah
is, therefore, presented to us as another instance of the frailty of man. But the lesson is beautifully expanded to the
plenitude of the believer’s experience under the Gospel, by the concluding
remark of the inspired writer of the Chronicles: “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death,
and prayed unto the Lord, and he spake unto him, and gave him a sign. But Hezekiah rendered not again according to
the benefit done unto him, for his heart was lifted up: therefore was there
wrath upon him, and upon
[* See also Psa. 50: 10:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right
spirit in my inward parts. Cast me not away from thy presence; and remove not thy holy Spirit from me. Restore
to me the joy of thy salvation: establish me with thy directing Spirit.”
LXX.]
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 40
1 Comfort ye, comfort ye, 0 priests, my
people, saith your God!
2 Speak ye comfortably to
That her humiliation is accomplished, that
her iniquity is pardoned;
For she hath received at JEHOVAH’S hand
double for all her sins.
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of JEHOVAH, make his
paths straight.
4 Every valley shall be filled,
And every mountain and hill shall be brought
low;
And the crooked shall be made straight,
And the rough ways shall be made smooth:
5 [And the glory of JEHOVAH shall be revealed:]
And all flesh shall see the salvation of God,
For the mouth of JEHOVAH hath spoken it.
6 The voice of one saying, Cry!
And he said, What shall I cry?
All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man, as the flower of
grass;
7 The grass withereth, and the flower thereof
falleth away,
[Because the Spirit of JEHOVAH
bloweth upon it,]
8 But the word of JEHOVAH endureth for ever.
9 0 thou that bringest good tidings to
Get thee up upon a lofty mountain
Lift up with strength thy voice,
Thou that bringest good tidings to
Lift it up; be not afraid:
Say unto the cities of
10 Behold, the Lord JEHOVAH shall come with might,
And his arm shall be with sovereignty:
Behold, his reward is with him,
And the work of every man is before him.
11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd,
And shall gather the lambs with his arm,
And shall carry them in his bosom,
And shall gently lead those that are with
young,
12 Who bath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand?
And meted out heaven with a span,
And comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure,
And weighed the mountains in scales,
And the valleys in a balance?
13 Who thah known the mind of JEHOVAII?
Or who hath been his counsellor?
14 [Or with whom took he counsel, and received advice,
Or who showed him the path of judgement,
And taught him the way of understanding?]
Or who hath first given to him?
And it shall be recompensed to him again!
15 Behold,
all nations are before him as the drop of a bucket,
And are counted as the small
dust of the balance;
*Yea, as a mote he taketh up
the isles,
16 And
Nor all
beasts sufficient for a burnt-offering.
17 All
nations are as nothing before him,
And are counted by him, as
less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom
then will ye liken God?
Or with what likeness will
ye compare him?
19 To the graven image which the workman
melteth,
And which the goldsmith covereth with gold,
And the silversmith with plates of silver?
20 He that is too poor for an oblation
chooseth a tree that will not rot;
And the cunning workman seeketh how lie may place
The image, that it be not moved.
21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard?
Hath it not been told you from the beginning?
Have ye not known, 0 foundations of the
earth,
22 Him that dwelleth above the circle of the
earth,
And its inhabitants are as grasshoppers
before him;
That fixed as a chamber the heaven,
And stretched it out as a tent to dwell in?
23 Who bringeth princes to nought,
And maketh judges of
the earth as vanity?
24 Yea, they shall not be planted,
Yea, nor shall they be sown;
Yea, nor shall their stock root in the
earth;
And he also shall blow upon them, and they shall wither,
And the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.
25 Now therefore to whom will ye liken me,
Or to whom shall I be equalled? saith the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high,
And behold, who hath created these things,
That leadeth forth their host by number,
And calleth them all by their names:
Through the greatness of his power, glory,
and might,
Not one escapeth his notice.
27
How then sayest thou, 0
Jacob,
And speakest thou, 0
My way is hidden from JEHOVAH,
And my judgement is departed from my God?
28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard?
That the everlasting God-JEHOVAH
The Creator of the
ends of the earth,
Fainteth not, neither
is weary?
And there is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint;
And to them at have no might, he encreaseth strength.
30 For even the young men shall faint,
And the youths shall be weary,
And the chosen men shall become powerless altogether.
31 But they that wait for JEHOVAH shall
renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles,
They shall run, and not be weary,
They shall walk, and not faint.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 40
[Page 275]
This chapter is signalized by being thrice quoted in the New
Testament; and inspired quotations are of singular service in enabling the
interpreter to discover whether his explanation is correct.
The first is that in Matt. 3., who declares that the passage (ver. 3, 4) was fulfilled in the preaching of John
the Baptist in the wilderness of
Whence we conclude that in this chapter,
as in many, indeed in most prophecies of the Saviour’s appearance, his first and
second advents are closely bound up together.
But the prediction here bears principal reference to the second; which
will be seen as we proceed.
For then
So also as John Baptist heralded the first coming of Christ
“in the
spirit and power of Elias,” shall Elijah himself herald the second coming in conjunction
with Enoch [or possibly Moses]: as it is written of him, “Behold, I
will send unto you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
terrible day of the Lord.” (Mal. 4: 5.)
And he shall cry “in the wilderness” as one of the Two Witnesses: for thither shall the
Jewish Church be driven, as we have seen in the remarks on chap. 16.
This testimony is confirmed by the twelfth of the Apocalypse, where we read
that the woman (the Jewish Church) “fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of
God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days” (the three years and a half of the
reign of Antichrist). In the desert, therefore,
(as well as in
But he has yet to be proclaimed as the “Lord Jehovah
coming with might, when his arm shall rule with sovereignty, and his reward be
with him, and the work of every man before him,” words which, as Eusebius perceived, must be spoken of his second appearing. Then shall also his gracious character of a
shepherd be manifested in its full blessedness to his risen saints, and the
inhabitants of the world living under his rule.
The greatness and Divine Majesty of the Lord Jesus is then set
forth, in his creation of the world, and the [Page 278] augustness of his presence, before
whom “all nations are the drop of a bucket.”
The depth of his understanding who is the Wisdom of God, is
next announced in the bold and sublime verses quoted by
“Who hath known
the mind of JEHOVAH?
Or who hath been his
counsellor?
Or who hath first given to
him?
And it shall be recompensed
to him again!”
In the first of these questions, the depth of his plans is implied
as far beyond the comprehension of any created being, so that, if we find
difficulties therein, it becomes us to wonder and adore. In the two last clauses, his sovereign right
as Creator - the bestower of all benefits, the receiver of none, is set forth;
on the ground of which he justly challenges the absolute right of disposing of
them as he pleases.
Such being his majesty, with what force of argument and
eloquence is he contrasted with the pitiful image of dumb and motionless wood,
to which the blinded idolater would liken him!
In the 23rd verse, his power in “bringing princes to nought,” alludes to the overthrow of the
Anti-christian faction. Indeed the whole
picture is designed with a special view to the encouragement of the believers,
in particular those of the Jewish Church, in their last great conflict with the
enemy, when their faith is almost failing, because they see the wicked in such
prosperity, and themselves as sheep appointed for slaughter, and shall almost
begin to conclude that God has forsaken the earth; a state of mind which is
beautifully and prophetically depicted in the seventy-third Psalm, to which the reader is
referred. Still, in spite of their
trials, that they should think that “their way is hidden from Jehovah,” is derogatory to his justice, and the
truth of his promises. The Creator
fainteth not, neither is weary; his plan from eternity once settled is never
altered: in effecting it, “he fainteth not, neither is weary.”
Nor can his wisdom, in thus severely trying the patience and faith of
his saints, be understood by man. And if
faith be ready to fail, he is able to strengthen it: the door stands always
open: the believer is “to pray always and not to faint,” for “shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night
unto [Page
279] him,
though he bear long with them? I tell
you, he will avenge them
speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of
Man cometh shall he find [the] faith on the earth?” (Luke 18: 7, 8.) Yet the few that are
found to believe, shall at the Saviour’s voice, “mount up with wings
as eagles, shall run, and not be
weary; shall walk, and not faint;” as saith the apostle in a verse quoted before, “Then we
which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.”
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 41
1 Be renewed before me, 0 islands!
And let the nations recover their strength!
Let them approach, and speak,
Let them draw near together unto judgement.
2 Who raised up the righteous man from the
east,
Called him to his feet, and made the nations yield before his face,
And bid him rule over kings?
He shall make their swords as dust,
And their bows as driven stubble.
3 He shall pursue them and pass safely;
Even a way not trodden with his feet.
4 Who hath performed and done these things?
Who called him from the generations of old?
I JEHOYAH, the first, and to the last, I am He.
5 The nations saw and feared,
And the ends of the earth were astonished, drew near, and came
together;
6 They helped every one his neighbour;
And every one said to his brother, Be of
good courage!
7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith,
And he that smootheth with the hammer, him that smote the anvil:
Saying, It is ready for the soldering:
And he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8 But thou,
Thou, Jacob, whom I have chosen,
The seed of Abraham, my friend.
9 Thou on whom I have laid hold from the ends
of the earth,
And from afar I have called thee,
And said unto thee, Thou art my servant,
I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10 Fear not, for I am with thee;
Be not dismayed, for I am thy God;
I will strengthen thee, and help thee,
Yea, uphold thee with my right hand of righteousness.
11 Behold, thine adversaries shall be ashamed
and confounded,
All thine opposers shall be as nothing, and perish.
12 Thou shalt seek them, but not find the men
that fight against thee:
They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and a thing of
nought.
13 For I, JEHOVAH thy God, will hold thee by
thy right hand,
Saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee.
14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye dead of
I will help thee, saith JEHOVAH,
And thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
15 Behold, I will make thee a threshing-wain,
A new corn-drag, armed with teeth,
And thou shalt thresh the mountains, and grind them to dust,
And make the hills like chaff.
16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall
carry them away,
And the whirlwind shall scatter them,
But thou shalt rejoice in JEHOVAH,
And shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 The poor
and needy are seeking water, and there is none,
Their tongue faileth for thirst;
I, JEHOVAH, will hear them,
I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
18 But I will open in the mountains, rivers;
And fountains in the midst of valleys:
I will make the wilderness pools of water;
And the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar,
The box, and myrtle, and olive.
I will set in the desert the fir-tree, the pine, and larch together;
20 That they may see, and know, and consider,
And understand together, that the hand of JEROVAH hath done this,
And that the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
21* Produce your cause, saith
JEHOVAH;
Bring forth your mighty Powers, saith the King of Jacob.
22 Let them draw near, and show us what shall
happen,
Or let them show the former things, what
they were,
That we may observe, and know what the last events shall be,
Or what shall be the future, declare unto us!
23 Show the things that are to come to pass at
the last,
And we shall know that ye are gods:
Do evil, or do good, that we may be astonished, and behold it
together.
24 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of
nought;
*An abomination is he that chooseth you.
25 But I have raised up One from the north;
And One shall come from the rising of the sun;
And by my name shall he be called,
*And he shall come upon princes as upon mortar,
And as the potter treadeth clay.
26 For who hath told us the events from the
beginning,
That we may know them; and the events of the former time,
That we may say, He is just?
There is none to foretell, none to make us
know,
Yea, none that heareth your words.
27 Behold, I will make
And
28 For among the nations behold there was no
man:
And among their idols none to foretell;
And if I ask them, Whence are ye?
They cannot answer me a word.
29* Behold, they are all vanity,
Their works are nought.
And their molten images are wind and confusion.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 41
[Page 279]
The
subject that engaged us in the former chapter did not conclude there. In the present, the Saviour, now returned,
sends forth his command that the earth be renovated, and that the remnant of
the nations that came not against
It
has been supposed by many critics that the 6th and 7th verses are out of place, and should succeed the 20th verse of the former chapter. But it is probable that the prophet’s
introduction of the manufacture of an idol is not misplaced: though, whether
the 5th verse belongs to what precedes or follows is not
evident. I take it to refer to what
follows: and consider it a brief and spirited description of the times of the
Man of Sin. This idol-manufacture is
different from any that the world has yet seen.
It is produced by the joint design and workmanship of all nations,
induced thereto, as the 5th
verse tells us, by astonishment and
fear. Just such a scene is presented in
the Apocalypse during the times of the Beast.
The same astonishment is there predicted. “And all the world wondered after the Beast …. And the
worshipped the Beast, saying, Who is like unto the Beast? who is able to make
war with him?” “And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the [Page 280] book of life from the
foundation of the world, when they behold the Beast that was, and is not, and
yet is.” Besides this, we are informed that the false prophet, by his great
power and wonders in causing “fire to come down from heaven in the sight of men,” shall deceive the world, and cause them by fear to
obey his command: “saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should
make an image to the Beast, which
had the wound by a sword, and live.” (Rev.
13: 3, 4; 17: 8; 13: 11. 14.) That
fear shall be an ingredient in this service is also clear from his mighty power
and miracles, especially those of giving “life to this image, enabling it to speak, and causing that as
many as would not worship the image of the Beast should be killed.” (Verse 15.)
But, turning from this scene, the Lord (as in Psalm 115.) addresses his faithful people, and discovers to them his power and
protection of them. Even though their
adversaries shall rule the whole world, yet shall they “be as nothing and perish.” Though all the
earth join “hand
in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished.” The day shall
come that Jehovah shall make
The 17th
verse depicts, as appears most likely,
the condition of the Jewish believers ready to perish in the wilderness, after
their flight from Antichrist. To relieve
them in the first stages of their journey, the inhabitants of Teman were
commanded to bring water to meet the thirsty, and bread to support the hungry. But in this place it would appear, they are
introduced in the wide howling wilderness.
Therefore when human aid will not avail, Jehovah will, as of old, exert
his miraculous powers in supporting them.
So, when in the desert, which ever since the flood has been barren, and
parched, and desolate, there shall spring up evergreens and trees of lofty
stature, all men must see and be obliged to confess (though then they will do
it willingly) that not some abstract thing, distinct from God and binding him,
- a something called “The Laws of Nature,” - but solely the good pleasure of the Most High, has effected all
things.
The remainder of the chapter contains an argument for
the divine origin of Scripture prophecy drawn from the inability of any
supernatural beings to predict the things [Page 281] mentioned there.
And in the challenge of the Almighty it is implied that evil spirits are
directing and deceiving the men of that day; as it is written, “In the latter days men shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and
doctrines (teachings) of devils speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their
conscience seared with a hot iron.” (1 Tim.4: 1, 2.)
In
the command to “do
evil or good,” the Supreme taunts
them with their impotence, however much their worshippers may admire their
power and put their trust in them. For,
as we see from the Scripture, Job could not be touched, nor the very swine
injured, without the special permission of the Most High; on the other hand, we
observe the apostles from the very first gifted by the Saviour with the power
of casting them out through his name.
But though they are unable to predict, Jehovah has foretold all that
shall be. He it is that shall raise up “one from the north,” - even the Wilful King; - and one from the east -
that is, Christ. For that by “One from the North” is meant the Wilful King, is clear, from the eleventh
chapter of Daniel, where he is entitled the “King of the North.” So
also from Jeremiah 1: 13-15, where the prophet, looking forth by the command of
God, sees “a
seething-pot; and the face thereof is toward the north. Then Jehovah said unto me,
From
the north an evil shall break
forth upon all the inhabitants of the land (earth). For, lo, I will call
all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith Jehovah; and they shall come, and set every one his throne
at the entering in of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof
round about, and against all the cities of Judaea.” It will be
seen at once that this answers to the description of Antichrist’s Great
Confederacy of Kings against
But
one more proof shall be given from the same prophet, chap. 4. verses 6, 7, “Set up the standard towards
“Calling an eagle from the
east,
From a distant land the man of my counsel:”
and
in the succeeding clauses of verse
13,
“And my salvation
shall not tarry;
But I will set salvation in
For
That
Christ is the “man
of Jehovah’s counsel” needs no
proof; that he is called an eagle would seem to be because of the speed with
which he shall come, and his end in coming - judgement. Perhaps to this passage the Saviour alluded,
when, upon his disciples asking where all the signs he mentioned should take
place, he replied, “Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be
gathered together.” But another proof is apparent from the first
reading of Ezekiel 43: 2. 4, “And, behold, the glory of
the God of Israel came from the way of the East: and his voice
was like the noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. And the glory of the Lord came into the house
(the rebuilt temple) by the way of the gate whose
prospect is toward the East.” This is identified with the coming of Christ
by a comparison of it with Zech.
14: 4, “And his
feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 42
1 Behold my servant whom I have chosen,
My beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased;
I will put my Spirit upon him,
And he shall show judgement to the Gentiles.
2 He shall not strive nor cry,
Neither shall any man hear his voice in the
streets.
3 A bruised reed shall he not break,
And smoking flax shall he not quench;
Till he send forth judgement unto victory.
4 He shall not fail, not be discouraged,
Till he
hath planted justice in the earth,
And in his
name shall the Gentiles trust.
5 Thus saith
God, even JEHOVAH,
That created the heavens, and
stretched them out,
That fixed the world, and the
things that are in it,
That giveth breath to the
people upon it,
And spirit to them that walk
therein.
6 I, JEHOVAH, have called thee
in righteousness,
And will hold thine hand, and keep thee,
And give thee for a covenant to my people,
And for a light to the Gentiles.
7 To open the eyes of the blind.
To bring out the prisoners from the prison,
-
And from the dungeon, those that sit in darkness.
8 I am JEHOVAH; that is my name;
And my glory will I not give to another,
Nor my praise to graven images.
9 Behold, the things from the beginning are come to pass,
And new things do I declare unto you:
Before they spring forth, I tell you of them.
10 Sing unto JEHOVAH a new song:
His praise from the ends of the earth;
Ye that go down to the sea, and the fulness
thereof,
The isles, and the inhabitants thereof!
11 Rejoice, thou desert, and the villages
thereof!
Ye cottages and inhabitants of Kedar!
Let the inhabitants of the rock sing,
Let them shout from the tops of the mountains!
12 Let them give glory to God,
And declare his praise
in the islands
13* JEHOVAH shall go forth as a
mighty man,
He shall stir up his wrath like a man of war;
He shall cry, yea, roar; and prevail against his enemies.
14 Long time have I held my peace:‑
But shall I for ever be silent and forbear?
I have endured like a travailing woman;
Now will I destroy and devour at once.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills:
And dry up all their herbs;
I will make the rivers, islands;
And dry up the pools.
16 And I will bring the blind by a way that
they knew not;
And I will lead them in paths that they have not known:
I will make darkness, light before them:
And crooked things, straight:
These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.
17 They
shall be turned back that trust in graven images;
They shall be greatly confounded that say to the molten images,
Ye are our gods.
18 Ye deaf, hear; ye blind, look up and see!
19 Who is blind, but the people that are my
servants?
*And deaf, but they to whom I sent my messengers?
Who is blind, as he that is perfect,
And deaf, as the servant of JEHOVAH?
20 Ye have seen often, but ye have not heeded:
Your ears are open, yet ye have not heard.
21 JEHOVAH hath desired that he might be
justified,
And magnify himself with glory, and make himself illustrious.
22 But I
beheld, and the people was spoiled and plundered,
For the snare was in their chambers
everywhere,
And in their barricaded houses
Where they hid themselves, they became a
prey,
And there was none to rescue the spoil,
And none to say, Restore.
23* Who is there among you that will give ear to this?
Will attend thereto, and listen to the things that shall be?
24 Who gave Jacob to the spoil,
And
Was it not the God against whom they sinned?
For they would not walk in His ways,
Neither were obedient unto his law.
25 Therefore he poured on them the fury of his
anger,
And the fierceness of war;
He set them on fire round about,
But none noticed it:
He burned them; but they laid it not to heart.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 42
[Page 282]
The present chapter is connected
with the former in the [Page 283] following manner. After God the
Father had in the preceding verses rebuked the spirits of evil, and defied
their powers of foresight to predict, and their powers of performance to do,
aught beyond what “his hand and counsel hath before determined to be done,” he presents to their notice the Messiah of his
appointment.
The
first verse of this chapter having been quoted by St. Matthew,
presents us with an infallible guide as to their subject. He assures us, that the commencing words were
fulfilled by Jesus in an especial manner, when, after that the Pharisees were
so enraged against him as to take counsel to put him to death, he retired to
the sea of Gennesaret, and healed great multitudes of them who came to him, but
forbid them to make him known. The words
quoted were then truly fulfilled by Jesus, as a glance at the prophecy will
show. For it declares that the Messiah
should be one on whom the Lord would put his Spirit. This was fulfilled openly at the Saviour’s
baptism. Also, that he should “show judgement to the
Gentiles:” which, whether it
signify the teaching of Christ’s doctrine to the Gentiles, or his judging them
at the last, is equally certain of fulfilment.
But
the 2nd verse contains the pith of the Apostolic quotation. Herein he teaches us that the Saviour should
not contend with those that contended with him, nor loudly revile those that
reviled him, but meekly give way. “He shall not strive nor cry!” Hence, when
the Pharisees were enraged against him and sought his death, he did not oppose
them on their own ground and dispute their power, but meekly retired from
In
the 6th verse the Father again addresses his Son, and declares,
that he had “given
him for a covenant to the people (
The
opening of the blind eyes, promised as part of the Messiah’s office, refers probably
to the taking away the veil of prejudice and unbelief from Jewish minds. The “bringing out the prisoners, and those that sit in darkness
from the dungeon,” I believe to be
spoken of Christ’s raising again his dead saints to life, as Bishop Horsley
also supposed. For in St. Peter we read
of “the
spirits in prison,”* or
safe custody, as it may be translated; whence we learn that Hades is, in a
certain sense, a prison, though the
souls of the righteous in Abraham’s bosom are in joy and felicity. So the
apostle teaches us that though the soul be redeemed here, yet that our “adoption” is yet to be “waited
for,” and will come only with the arrival of the Lord Jesus, and the “redemption of the body.”
* That this is spoken of the dead, and not the living
- that in short it is to be taken literally as it stands, is evident from the
same Epistle, chap. 4: 6. Bit see Dissertation.
The
command to those that “go down to the sea”
to declare the praises of the Lord, the fathers understood of the apostles, [Page
285] originally fishermen, whose
business was at sea, but were called by Christ to preach his Gospel. But it has a yet future and universal reference to the times of the
renovated earth, which is called on in the succeeding verses to rejoice.
The
13th verse presents us with another of the noble prophecies of
the second advent of our blessed Lord; so that in this chapter, as on former
occasions, the first and second advent are blended in one prophecy. His meekness and patience are noted,
“Long time have I held my
peace.”
And yet that his forbearance must have its limit,
“But shall I for ever be
silent and forbear?”
That
such is the meaning of the passage, was perceived by Jerome, who observes, “The prophetic word describes the glorious advent of the
Saviour, and compares him to a mighty man, who is to fight with his
adversaries, and stir up his courage.” In the 16th verse is a promise that he will lead again the Jews to
their own land, removing all impediments; whilst the adorers of idols shall be
confounded. The Jews are then addressed
as both blind and deaf: and well may they be so characterised, being possessors
of the prophecies that testify of Jesus of Nazareth and his twofold coming, yet
obstinately rejecting him. In the
conclusion, their state in the times of their foe Armillus is described, when they shall be snared and plundered,
while none can deliver. Yet in spite of
every warning, only a remnant will discover that God had predicted this, and
given them up for their sins; the majority madly perishing in their rebellion,
as in the Roman siege of
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 43
1 But now, thus saith JEHOVAH, that created
thee, 0 Jacob,
And he that formed thee, 0
Fear not, for I have redeemed thee,
I have called thee by thy name: thou art
mine.
2 When thou passest through the waters, I am
with thee;
And the rivers, they shall not overflow thee;
When though walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned,
Neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
3 For I am JEHOVAH thy God,
The Holy One of
I gave
4 From the time that thou wert precious in my
sight,
Thou wert glorified, and I loved thee;
Therefore will I give many men for thee,
And nations for thy life.
5 Fear not; for I am with thee;
I will bring thy seed from the east,
And from the west will I gather thee.
6 I will say to the north, Give up;
And to the south, keep not back:
Bring my sons from far,
And my daughters from the ends of the earth.
7 Even every one that is called by my name;
For I have made him for my glory,
Yea, fashioned, yea, created him.
8 Bring forth the blind people that have
eyes,
And the deaf, that have ears!
9 Let all the Gentiles be gathered together,
And let the nations be assembled;
Who among them can declare this,
Or who will tell us former things?
Let them bring forth their witnesses,
That they may be justified;
Or let them hear, and say, It is truth.
10 Ye are my witnesses, saith JEHOVAH,
And my servant, whom I have chosen:
That ye may know and believe me,
And understand that I am he.
Before me there was no God,
Neither after me shall there be.
11 I, even I, am JEHOVAH,
And besides me there is no Saviour.
12 I have
declared, and have saved:
I caused you to hear, and
there was no strange (god) among you:
Ye yourselves are my
witnesses,
Saith JEHOVAH your God.
13 Even from
the beginning, I am he;
And there is none that can
deliver out of my hand;
I willwork, and who shall
let it?
14 Thus saith
JFHOVAH, the God, your Redeemer,
The Holy One of
* For your sakes I have sent to
And I will subdue all the fugitives;
And the Chaldaeans shall be bound in their ships.
15 I am JEHOVAH, your Holy One,
* The Creator of
16 Thus saith JEHOVAII, that maketh a way in
the sea,
And a path in the mighty waters:
17 That bringeth forth the chariot,
And the horse, and the mighty army;
Together they shall sleep; they shall not
arise:
They are quenched and extinguished as tow.
18 Remember
ye not the former things,
Neither consider the things
of old time.
19 Behold, I
do things new, which shall now spring forth,
And shall ye not perceive
them?
I will even make a way in the
wilderness,
And streams in the desert.
20 The beasts of the field shall bless me,
The dragons, and daughters of the ostrich;
Because I give waters in the wilderness,
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to my chosen nation.
21This people I have formed for myself;
They shall show
forth my praise.
22 But thou hast not called on me, 0 Jacob;
But thou hast been weary of me, 0
23 Thou hast not brought me the small cattle
of thy burnt-offerings,
Neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices.
*I have not caused thee to serve with an offering,
Nor wearied thee with incense.
24 Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with
money;
Nor caused me to be filled with the fat of thy sacrifices.
25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy
transgressions for mine own sake,
And will not remember thy sins.
26 But do thou remember, and let us plead
together;
Speak thou first of thy sins, that thou mayest be justified!
27 Thy fathers sinned against me,
*And thy teachers have transgressed against me.
28 And thy princes profaned my sanctuary:
*Therefore I gave Jacob to the curse,
And
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 43
[Page
285]
But
after the outpouring of the wrath of God on the rebellious of his nation,
Jehovah shall be gracious to the remnant.
“The Jews,” as Jerome informs
us, “understand
this of the second advent of the Saviour, when after the fulness of the
Gentiles, all
Their
restoration, after being carried captive into all parts of the earth, is
predicted in the 5th and 6th verses, for they will be the elect
of God among that rebellious people, even every one “that is created for his glory.”
[Page 286]
Again,
the nations are challenged to find one that could reveal the future, and thence
a triumphant argument is drawn, that he who alone could foretell these things
must be the only God, the Maker and Disposer of all events and persons.
The
ransomed Jews, and the Lord Jesus, exalted “above every name,”
are next appealed to as evident witnesses that such deeds are the work of
Jehovah alone.
In
the 14th verse our blessed Lord speaks as the Deliverer of Israel
and their King, and thence continues his address to the end of the
chapter. For his people’s sakes he
declares that he smote the mystic Babylon and its inhabitants; and that it was
by his providence that the horses, and chariots, and armies of the Destroyer
came against them: but they are now cut off for ever: war hath ceased out of
the earth. A similar picture is
presented in the forty-sixth
Psalm, “The
heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth
melted. Come, behold the works of the
Lord, what desolations he hath wrought in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the
earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the
chariot in the fire.” And the seventy-sixth Psalm
specifies the locality of this great achievement. “In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling in
Then
follows a command to
After
these signal instances of his mercy, the Saviour beautifully contrasts with it
their ingratitude towards him. Yet in
spite of all, he “would blot out their transgressions for his own sake, and not remember
their sins,” especially their
crowning sin in putting him to death “with wicked hands.”
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 44
1 Yet now hear, 0 Jacob, my servant,
And
2 Thus saith JEHOVAH that made thee,
And formed thee from the womb; thy helper:
Fear not, 0 Jacob, my servant,
And Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty,
And floods upon the dry ground;
I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed,
And my blessing upon thine offspring.
4 And they shall spring up as grass in the
midst of the waters,
And as willows beside the flowing streams.
5 One shall say, I am JEHOVAH’S,
And another shall call himself by the name
of Jacob,
And shall write on his hand, I belong to
JEHOVAH,
And shall surname himself by the name of
6 Thus saith JEHOVAH, King of Israel,
And thy Redeemer, JEHOVAH of hosts:
I am the first, and I am the last,
And beside me there is no God.
7 Who
is like unto me? Let him call
And declare the order (of events) since I made man
unto the (coming)
age,
And the future signs, before they come, let him tell us.
8* Fear ye not, neither be
afraid;
Have not I told thee from the beginning?
Ye are even my witnesses. Is
there a God beside me?
*Yea, there is no God: I know not any.
9 They that make a graven image, are all
vanity:
And their lusts shall not profit them;
For they are their own witnesses,
That they (the idols) see not, nor
understand;
10 That
every one may be ashamed who hath formed a god,
And molten a graven image profitable for nought.
11 Behold, all his associates shall be
confounded;
And the workmen shall be dumb:
Let them all be gathered together, and stand;
Let them be confounded and ashamed together.
12* The smith with the file both
worketh it in the coals,
And fashioneth it with hammers,
And worketh it with the strength of his arms:
Yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth;
He drinketh no water, and is faint.
13* The carpenter stretcheth out
his rule,
He marketh it with a pencil, he shapeth it with planes:
And he marketh it out with the compass;
And maketh it after the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man,
That it may remain in the house.
14* He heweth him down cedars:
And taketh the cypress and oak,
Which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest:
He planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.
15 Then shall it be for a man to burn:
For he will take thereof, and warm himself;
He will light a fire, and bake bread,
Yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it:
He maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.
16 He burneth part thereof in the fire;
With part thereof he cooketh flesh,
He roasteth roast, and is satisfied;
And saith, Well, I am warmed, I have seen the fire.
17 And the
residue thereof he maketh a God, - a graven image:
He falleth down to it, and
worshippeth it, and prayeth to it,
And saith, Deliver me, for
thou art my god!
18 They have
not known, nor been wise;
For their eyes are sealed,
that they may not see;
And their hearts, that they
may not understand.
19 And none considereth in his heart,
Nor regardeth in his soul, nor saith,
I have burned part of it in the fire;
Yea, I have also baked bread in the coals
thereof:
I have roasted flesh, and eaten;
And shall I make the residue an abomination?
Shall I bow down to the stock of a tree?
20 Know that their deceived heart is ashes;
They err,
and none can deliver his soul,
Nor say, Is
there not a lie in my right hand?
21 Remember these things, 0 Jacob,
And
I have made thee: thou art my servant:
0
22 For
behold, I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions;
And as a cloud, thy sins:
Return unto me: for I will
redeem thee.
23 Be glad,
ye heavens, for JEHOVAH hath showed mercy to
Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth.
Ye mountains, break forth into
singing,
0 forest, and every tree
therein;
For God hath redeemed Jacob,
And will be glorified in
24 Thus
saith JEHOVAH, thy Redeemer,
And he that formed thee from
the womb,
I, JEHOVAH, make all things;
I have stretched out the
heavens, alone:
And fastened the earth by
myself:
25 That frustrate the signs of magicians,
And make diviners mad:
That turn wise men backward,
And make their wisdom, folly:
26 That confirm the word of his servant,
And perform the counsel of his messengers;
That say to
And to the cities of
And her waste places I will raise up.
27 That say to the abyss, Thou shalt be dry;
And thy rivers I will dry up.
28 That sayeth of Cyrus, Thou art my shepherd,
And shalt perform all my pleasure;
Even saying to
And to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 44
[Page 287]
The
first verses of this chapter describe the blessedness of the Millennial reign,
when the Spirit shall be poured out upon all flesh, and all shall be anxious to
dedicate themselves to Jehovah.
But
at the 6th verse the subject changes, and the Redeemer appropriates to
himself the name of “the First and the Last,” which in the Apocalypse he rightfully assumes. (Rev. 1: 11.) A third time
he challenges any to predict the future as he has done, and on the strength and
clearness of the proof arising from prophecy, he bids the believer to
rest. The assertion, several times
repeated, that there is none other God but he, refers doubtless to the
blasphemous assumption of the Man of Sin, commanding that all worship him as
God. So the consolation, “Fear not,” has relation to the terror that his prowess and
miracles will enkindle even in the saints.
The scene of idolatry which succeeds, is beautifully and with intense
power of argument painted in its mingled folly and wickedness, and has
reference to the image of the Beast and the adoration of it by all but the
elect of Jehovah.
Following thereon, is the declaration of the Most High
to Israel, at which all the earth shall rejoice.* In that day shall “the signs of magicians” and the “tokens of diviners”
be seen to be frustrated by Jehovah, whilst the truth of the prophecies,
declared of old by the appointed ministers of God, shall be confessed to have
been evidently fulfilled: so that even Jerusalem, so long hopelessly desolate,
shall be restored, and with her all the waste places of the land, or more
generally, of the earth.
* By “the lower parts of the
earth” is signified the souls of the righteous dead. Thus we find
in Rev. 5: 13, “And every creature which is
in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth ... heard I saying, Blessing and honour ... be unto him that sitteth
upon the throne, and to the Lamb for ever.” So Psalm
72: 20, and Psalm 63: 9.
In the last verse is a prophecy of Cyrus by name: a
most wonderful instance of the
omniscience of God. The prophecy of his
giving command to rebuild
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 45
1 Thus say I, JEHOVAH, to my anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden,
I will subdue nations before him,
*And loose the loins of kings;
I will open before him the two-leaved doors,
And the gates shall not be shut.
2* I will go before thee, and
level the mountains:
I will break in pieces the gates of brass;
And cut in sunder the bars of iron:
3
And I will give the
treasures of darkness,
And hidden riches of secret places will I open
to thee;
That thou mayest know that I, JEHOVAH,
Who call thee by thy name, am the God of
Israel.
4 For Jacob my servant’s sake,
And
I have even called thee by thy name:
I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not
known me.
5 For I am JEHOVAH, the God,
And there is no God beside me:
I have girded thee, though thou hast not
known me.
6 That men may know, from the sun-rising
Even unto the west, that there is no God
beside me.
I am JEHOVAH, and there is none else.
7 I form the light, and create darkness:
I make peace, and create troubles:
I am JEHOVAH that do all these things.
8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above;
And let the clouds rain down the Just One:
Let the earth bud, and bring forth the Saviour,
And let righteousness spring forth together.
I am JEHOVAH, that have created these things.
9 Woe to him
that striveth with his Maker!
The earthenware with the
moulder of the clay!
Shall the thing formed say
to him that formed it,
Why hast thou made me thus?
Or his work, He hath no
hands?
10 Woe unto him that saith to his father, What
begettest thou?
Or to his mother, What hast thou brought forth?
11 So thus
saith JEHOVAH, the Holy One of Israel,
He that createth the things
that shall be,
Do ye inquire of Me
concerning my sons,
And do ye command Me
concerning the work of my hands?
12 I have
made the earth, and created man upon it:
I have stretched forth the
heavens with my hands:
I have commanded all their
host to shine.
13 I have raised up one in righteousness,
A king, and all his ways I will prosper:
He shall build my city,
And turn again the captivity of my people,
Not for ransom, nor for gifts,
Saith JEHOVAH of hosts.
14 For thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts,
The labour of
And the merchandise of
And the Sabaeans, men of stature,
Shall come over unto thee:
And shall be thy servants,
And shall follow after thee bound in chains:
They shall come over to thee,
And fall down before thee,
And make supplications unto thee;
And shall say, Only with thee is God:
And there is no God beside.
15 For thou
art God, and we knew it not;
0 God of
16 All thine adversaries shall be ashamed and
confounded,
All shall steal away together ashamed
That are the makers of idols.
17 (But)
Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
18 For thus saith JEHOVAH, that created the
heavens,
The God that made the earth, and fashioned it, and fixed it,
He created it not in vain;
But formed it to be inhabited.
I am JEHOVAH, and there is none else.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark
place of the earth:
I have not said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain.
I am JEHOVAH, that speak righteousness, that declare truth.
20 Assemble yourselves, and come;
Draw nigh, ye escaped of the Gentiles
*They have no knowledge that set up their wooden graven
images,
And pray to a god that cannot save.
21 Publish ye, let them draw near;
Yea, let them take counsel together:
Who made these things known from the beginning?
From what time were they foretold?
Did not I, JEHOVAH (foretell them)?
And beside me there is no other;
A just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
22 Turn ye to me, and ye shall be saved,
Ye of the ends of the earth;
I am JEHOVAH, and there is none beside.
23 I have sworn by myself;
The truth hath gone out of my mouth;
The word, and it shall not return.
As I live, saith JEHOVAH,
Every knee shall bow to me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.
24 Saying, Let righteousness and glory come
unto him;
And let all them that separate themselves
from JEHOVAH be ashamed!
25 In JEHOVAH shall all the seed of
Be
justified, and shall glory.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 45
[Page288]
The
prophecy respecting Cyrus proceeds: predicts his taking of Babylon with its
hundred brazen gates, conquering the Syrians, Assyrians, Arabians,
Cappadocians, both the Phrygias, Lydians, Adrians, Phoenicians, and
Babylonians; and taking the treasures of Babylon and Sardis with the wealth of
Croesus. All this was done for the sake
of God’s people
The
Magian religion (that of Cyrus) which adored two nearly equal and antagonist
beings, one good, named Ormuzd; the other evil, named Ahriman, is here
reproved, by the declaration that the blessings and the evils of the world both
spring from the same one source.
At
this point the prophecy drops the mention and notice of Cyrus, and passes on to
him of whom Cyrus was a type. The clouds
are bidden to usher him, and “he shall come with the clouds of heaven;” and the earth to bring him forth, as it is written, “The whole creation groaneth
and travaileth in pain together until now. For the earnest expectation of the creature
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Because the creature itself also shall be
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the
children of God.” (
But
this decree of God, to exalt Christ Jesus and his people
As
Cyrus set
“Thou art God, and we knew it
not;
0 God of
for
“he came unto his
own, and his own received him not.” But then shall they say, “Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord!”
That
this chapter is rightly interpreted of Christ we have the sanction of inspired
authority. “For we shall all stand,”
says
Then
also shall all “the
seed of
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 46
1 Bel hath fallen, Dagon is broken:
Their idols were upon the beasts and the
cattle:
Bind them together, and lift them up,
As a burden for the weary, weak, hungry, and
jaded beast.
2 They shall not be able to save him that
carrieth them;
But themselves shall go into captivity.
3 Hearken unto me, 0 house of Jacob;
And all the remnant of the house of
Who are borne by me from the belly,
And carried by me from the womb.
4 Even to old age, Iam He,
And to hoary hair will Icarry you:
I have made, and I will bear you:
I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 To whom will ye liken me?
*And compare me, that we may be like?
6 They contribute gold out of the bag,
And weigh silver in the balance;
And hire a goldsmith to make a god,
And they fall down, and worship it.
They bear it upon the shoulder, they carry
it:
They set him in his place, and he standeth;
And if one cry unto him, he shall not
answer,
Nor deliver him out of his trouble.
8 Remember these things, and be ashamed;
Repent, ye transgressors, - return in your
hearts!
9 Remember ye the former things of old time;
For I am God, and there is none else:
10 Declaring the end from the beginning,
And
from ancient times the things not yet accomplished;
Saying, My counsel shall stand;
And I will do all my pleasure.
11
Calling an eagle from the
east;
And from a distant land the man of my counsel:
I have spoken, and will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, I will also do it:
12 Hearken unto me, ye hard of heart;
Ye that are far from righteousness.
13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not
be far off:
And my salvation shall not tarry;
But I will set salvation in
For
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 46
[Page 290]
This
section of the prophet is similar in its tenor to some before delivered. It discovers the folly of idolatry in another
point of view, showing that the idols must needs be borne by men or cattle, if
the land be threatened by invading armies, so that far from protecting their
worshippers, their worshippers must protect them, lest they should fall into
captivity. Contrasted with this is the
power of Jehovah, whereby
The
11th verse predicts the advent of Christ under the emblem of an
eagle, a bird swift of wing to come from afar, and to pounce upon the
prey. He is promised as “the man of Jehovah’s counsel,” as said the apostle, “He hath appointed a day wherein he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance in that
he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:
3l.) And he shall be the righteousness and
salvation of God, as it is written, “I will raise unto
David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute
judgement and justice in the earth. In
his days
* *
*
TRNSLATION
CHAPTER 47
1 Come down, and sit in the dust,
0 virgin daughter of
Sit on the ground - there is no throne -
0 daughter of the Chaldeans!
For thou shalt no more be called tender and
delicate.
2 Take the mill-stone, and grind corn;
Lift off thy veil, discover thy hoary locks,
Make bare thy leg, cross the rivers.
3
Thy nakedness shall be
discovered,
Yea, thy shame shall appear:
I will take vengeance on thee,
And no man shall resist me,
4 Saith JEHOVAH of hosts, thy deliverer,
The Holy One of Israel is his name.
5 Sit down in
silence, and get thee into darkness,
0 daughter of the Chaldeans!
For no more shalt thou be
called,
The Mistress of Kingdoms.
6 I was wroth with my people,
I defiled my heritage, I gave them into thy
hands:
But thou didst show them no mercy;
Upon the aged thou didst greatly aggravate
thy yoke.
7 And thou saidst, For ever shall I be a
potentate;
But thou didst not weigh these things in
thine heart,
Thou didst not consider thy latter end.
8 Therefore now hear this, thou luxurious,
That sittest in security, that sayest in
thine heart,
I am, and there is none else;
I shall not sit a widow, nor experience
bereavement.
9 But now these two things shall come upon
thee sudddenly;
In one day bereavement and widowhood shall come upon thee.
At an instant shall they come upon thee;
Because of the multitude of thy sorceries,
And the great abundance of thine enchantments.
10 For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness,
Thou hast said, None seeth me.
Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee;
And thou hast said in thy heart,
I am, and there is none beside me.
11 Therefore destruction shall come upon thee,
A pit, and thou shalt fall therein.
And calamity which thou shalt not be able to deprecate;
And misery shall fall
upon thee
Suddenly, that thou mayest not be aware.
12 Stand now in thine enchantments;
And in thy many sorceries;
Wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth:
If perchance thou mayest be profited,
If perchance thou mayest prevail.
13 Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy
counsels.
Let now the astrologers stand forth and save
thee,
Let the star-gazers tell thee what shall come on thee.
14 Behold, they all shall be as stubble; the
fire shall devour them.
They shall not deliver their soul from the power of the flame;
For thou shalt have coals of fire to sit upon.
15 Shall such as these be thine aid?
Thou hast wearied thyself in thy merchandise from thy youth:
(But) they shall depart every
man to his own affairs,
And for thee shall there be no deliverance.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 47
[Page 291]
This
is another of the sentences against
“For ever shall 1 be a
potentate,
I am and there is none else,
I shall not sit as a widow, nor experience
bereavement,”
is
paralleled by
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 48
1 Hear ye this, 0 house of Jacob,
Who are called by the name of
And have come forth from
Who swear by the name of JEHOVAH,
And make mention of the God of Israel,
But not in truth, nor in righteousness.
2 Ye that call yourselves of the holy city,
And stay on the God of Israel,
JEHOVAH of hosts is his name.
3 The former things from the beginning have I
declared;
And they went forth from my mouth, and I showed them:
I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that thou wert obstinate,
And thy neck an iron sinew,
And thy brow brass;
5 I have even from the beginning declared it
to thee;
Before it came to pass I showed it thee,
Lest thou shouldst say, Mine idol did them;
My graven image and my molten image hath commanded them.
6 Ye have heard all these things, but ye know
them not;
But I make thee to hear of things new from
this time,
Even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.
7 Now do they take place, and not of old;
And thou hast not heard them in former days;
Lest thou shouldst say, Behold, I knew them.
8 Thou knewest not nor didst understand them;
Nor at the first did I open thine ears;
For I knew that thou wouldst surely be a
scorner,
And wert called a transgressor from the womb.
9 For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger,
For my glory will I refrain myself;
That I cut thee not off.
10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not as
silver;
I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake
will I do it;
That my name be not blasphemed,
And my glory will I not give to another.
12
Hearken unto me, 0 Jacob,
my servant!
And
13 Yea, my hand hath laid the foundations of
the earth;
And my right hand hath set firmly the heavens.
I call them, and they stand up together.
14 Assemble all of you, and hear!
Who among you hath declared these things?
He whom JEHOVAH loveth will execute his desire on
To destroy the seed of the Chaldeans.
15 I have spoken, yea, called;
I have led him, and will make his way prosperous.
16 Come near unto me, and hear these things;
I have not spoken in secret of old;
When it took place, I had decreed it;
And now the Lord JEHOVAH hath sent me, and his Spirit.
17
Thus saith JEHOVAH, thy
Redeemer,
The Holy One of
I have shewed thee things profitable,
I make thee to go in the way wherein thou
shouldst walk.
18 0 that thou hadst hearkened to my
commandments!
Then had thy peace been as a river,
And thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.
19 Thy seed also had been as the sand;
And the offspring of thy bowels as the dust of the earth.
Nor shouldst thou now be destroyed,
Nor thy name cut off from before me.
20 Go ye forth out of
Flee from the Chaldeans:
With a voice of joy declare ye, and let it be heard;
Tell this even to the ends of the earth;
Say ye, JEHOVAH hath redeemed his servant Jacob!
21 And they thirsted not in the desert, when
he led them;
He made water flow from the rock for them;
He cleft the rock, and the waters gushed forth.
22 There is no peace, saith JEHOVAH, to the
ungodly.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 48
[Page 292]
This chapter is addressed to the Jews supposed to be
quietly seated in their own land, yet still in unbelief. For they are characterized as making mention
of “the God of
“Very many Christians,” writes Jerome, “think that this prophecy is
concerning the advent of Christ, because he shall come suddenly when not looked
for;” agreeably with those words of
the 3rd verse, “I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.” That Christ is the speaker is evident from the
expression in the 12th
verse, “I am the
first and the last,” and from the
declaration of his creative power in the succeeding, for “all things were created by
him and for him.” The announcement of the 16th verse confirms this conclusion, and shows that this chapter
had a primary fulfilment in the Redeemer’s first advent, for then Christ taught
them profitable doctrine, and besought them to hearken unto him. Had they believed, their “peace had been as a river,
and their offspring multiplied; nor should their city and country have been
desolated by the Roman invasion.”
But it has also yet a future plenary accomplishment. For at the Saviour’s first presence on earth
the Spirit was not sent together with himself. “But now the Lord Jehovah hath
sent me
and his Spirit.” Before the Lord “showed them things profitable,” but then he shall “make them to go in the
way wherein they should walk,” and the blessings promised conditionally shall then be fulfilled, in the security of their nation, and their
increase as the stars of heaven, according to the promise to Abraham.
The
command also to go forth of
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 49
1 Listen unto me, 0 isles!
And give ear, ye Gentiles, from afar!
JEHOVAII hath called me from the womb,
From the bowels of my mother hath he made
mention of my name.
2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp
sword;
And in the shadow of his hand hath he hid
me;
He hath made me a polished shaft;
In his quiver hath he hid me:
3
And said unto me, Thou art
my servant;
And in thee, 0
4
But I said, I have laboured
in vain,
And fruitlessly and vainly have I spent my strength;
Yet surely my cause is with JEHOVAH,
And my work with my God.
5 And now thus saith JEHOVAH,
That formed me from the womb to be his
servant,
To bring again Jacob to him,
And to restore
I shall be glorious in the eyes of JEROVAH,
And my God shall be my strength.
6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou
shouldst be my servant,
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
* And to restore the preserved of
Behold, I will give thee for a light to the
Gentiles,
That thou mayest be salvation unto the ends of the earth.
7 Thus saith JEHOVAH, thy Redeemer, the God of
Israel;
Call ye him holy that disregardeth his life,
Him that is abhorred of my nation, the servant of rulers.
Kings shall see him and arise,
Princes, and they shall worship him;
For JEHOVAH is faithful,
And the Holy One of Israel hath chosen thee.
8 Thus saith JEHOVAH,
In an acceptable time have I heard thee,
And in a day of salvation have I succoured thee;
I will preserve thee and give thee for a covenant to the Gentiles,
That thou mightest restore the earth,
And possess the desolate heritages.
9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go
forth;
And to those that are in darkness, Show yourselves.
In all highways shall they feed,
In all paths shall be their pasture.
10 They shall not hunger nor thirst;
Nor shall the heat smite them, nor the sun:
For he that hath mercy on them shall lead
them,
Even beside the springs of waters shall he
guide them.
11 And I will make all my mountains a way:
*And all my highways shall be exalted.
12 Behold, there shall come from afar;
And lo! these from the north and the west;
And these from the land of the Sinim.
13 Sing, 0 heavens, and be joyful, 0 earth
Break forth into singing 0 mountains!
For God hath comforted his people,
And hath mercy on his afflicted.
14 But
And the Lord bath forgotten me.
15 Can a woman forget her infant,
That she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Yea, though they should forget,
Yet will I remember thee, saith JEHOVAH.
16 Behold I have graven thee upon my hands,
Thy walls are continually before me.
17 Soon shalt
thou be built by those by whom thou wert overthrown;
And they that made thee desolate shall go forth out of thee.
18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold:
Lo, all these (thy sons)
gather themselves together,
And are coming unto thee.
As I live, saith JEHOVAH,
Thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with a garment;
And bind them about thee, as a bride her jewels.
19 For thy waste and desolate places,
And the land of thy destruction,
Shall now be too narrow by reason of inhabitants;
And they that devoured thee shall be far off thee.
20 For the children whom thou hast lost,
Shall yet say in thine ears, The place is too narrow for me,
Make me room that I may dwell.
21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart,
Who hath begotten me these?
Seeing I was desolate and a widow,
A captive, and journeying to and fro?
Who hath brought up these?
I was left alone; these, where have they been?
22 Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH:
Behold, I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles;
And set up my standard to the islands,
And they shall bring thy sons in their
bosom,
And thy daughters they shall carry on their shoulders.
23 And kings shall be thy nursing-fathers,
And queens thy nursing-mothers:
And they shall reverence thee with their faces to the earth,
And the dust of thy feet shall they lick;
And thou shalt know that I am JEHOVAH;
And they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
24 (But) shall the prey be taken
from the giant?
Or shall the captivity of the Terrible One be delivered?
25 (Yea) for thus saith JEHOVAH:
Even the captives of the giant shall be
taken away,
And the prey of the Terrible One shall be delivered;
For I will contend with him that contendeth with thee;
And thy sons will I rescue.
26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with
their own flesh;
And with their own blood, as with sweet wine shall they be drunken:
And all flesh shall know that I am JEHOVAH that deliverest thee,
And that thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Jacob.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 49
[Page 293]
The
same speaker continues his exhortation in this chapter, and is clearly proved
to be the Christ by the character laid down.
From the womb Jehovah called his Son, sending an angel to announce his
birth and make “mention
of his name.” “Thou shalt bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name
Jesus.” “And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of
the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel, before
he was conceived in the womb.” (Luke 2: 21.)
Concurrent is the application of the passage by Theodoret, “This is said in the person of Christ, who
is the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, by whom the Gentiles received
the promise; and he informs us how [Page
294] before
his birth he received the name, for the holy Gabriel brought the name from on
high, and said to the Virgin (Luke 1: 31), ‘Behold, thou shalt bring
forth a son, and call his name Jesus.’”
Christ’s
hiding in the shadow of God’s hand like an arrow in a quiver, is understood by Eusebius of the humiliation of the
Saviour and the concealment of his dignity at his first advent; but it appears
also to have an intended reference to the Lord’s present concealment from the
world, in the presence of the Father, like an arrow hidden in the quiver till
the time come that it be placed on the string, and emitted with power and
swiftness from the bow.
The
prophet then presents him as the servant of Jehovah, and giving him the name of
So
Theodoret, “This is said in the person
of Christ, grieved at the unbelief of the Jews; for neither saith he, have they
profited by my so great humiliation. Yet
he adds, though they have received no
benefit, yet I have fulfilled my proper work, and this is manifest to God.”
The
intention of the raising up of Messiah is stated to be that God might “restore Israel unto him,” and this is true whether it be regarded as spoken of
the literal or the spiritual Israel; whether we consider it as equivalent to the
expression of St. John, “that he might gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad,” or whether we understand it of the restoration of the
Jews to their land. From what follows it
would appear that
On
this passage the words of Jerome,
after giving Symmachus’s translation
of this passage, are well deserving of notice.
“‘Thus saith Jehovah ... to him that disregardeth his life,
Who is an abomination to the nation, a
servant of rulers.’
This evidently accords with the person of Christ. He was the Good Shepherd (John 10.) who gave
his life for the sheep and despised it, who is an abomination to the nation of
the Jews, whom thrice every day under the name of the Nazarene they curse in
their synagogues; who was the ‘servant
of princes,’ and so lowly as
to stand before Annas and Caiaphas, and when about to be crucified was sent to
Pilate and Herod. Yet though thus
despised at first, when he cometh again kings shall worship him. For thus it is written, ‘The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall
bring presents: the kings of
Similar
is the explication given by Procopius,
“Hallow ye him
that despiseth his life.” – “For by how much he
humbleth himself to death, and that the death of the cross, so much the more glorify ye him, and ‘hallow him;’ and this word
signifies, regard him as worthy of veneration, and holy, for while we were yet
sinners, he suffered for the ungodly, who said, ‘The Good Shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep.’ Confess him, then,
to be ‘holy,’ an attribute belonging to God alone. For a resemblance of holiness accrues to
others from communion with him; as he who is light says, ‘Ye are the light of this world.’ But the prophet
adds, ‘Him who is abhorred by the nations,’ the unbelieving nations; that is to say, for they abhor,
and ridicule his death. And when he was delivered to Pilate, some of the
soldiers abhorred him, spitting on him, and smiting him, and crying in scorn, ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ But even all shall worship him, then chiefly
when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the angels, and [Page
296] the throne of his
glory to judge the living and dead. And
they shall worship him for his Father’s sake, for he shall be glorified as Son
of God, for ‘Faithful is the
Holy One of Israel that hath chosen him.’”
On
this passage Theodoret observes, “The nature of the Lord
according to the flesh was that which is common to all men, but peculiarly and
in an especial manner he was an Israelite.
Hence, therefore, he came in person to
The
next verse is quoted in the Hebrews to show that all times are not alike
acceptable with God, that he has set for everything a season: a time for the
Saviour’s humiliation, a time for his exaltation; and also (which was the point
at issue in the apostle’s argument on that place), a time for the repentance of
the sinner, which is the present moment.
“Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation.”
This acceptable
time to the Messiah is that day in which he shall “establish
the earth and its desolate heritages” - the period, in short, of the “restoration of all things.” It is a time, also, when he shall be a light
to the Gentiles, as it is written in the second Psalm, “Ask of me, and I
shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the
earth for thy possession.” The
command to “the prisoners to go forth, and to those
that are in darkness to show themselves,” refers to the resurrection of
the just from the custody or prison of Hades. (See Job
10: 21, 22.) The correctness
of this interpretation is evinced by the following context, where it is
promised of those thus rescued that “they shall not
hunger or thirst, neither shall the heat smite them, nor the sun, for he that
hath mercy on them shall lead them.”
This is affirmed in the Apocalypse of those sealed of God that came out
of “the Great Tribulation” in the times of Antichrist. (Rev. 7: 16, 17.)
Therefore doth the Saviour bestow on them a reward proportionate to their sufferings, as it is
said, “If we suffer we shall also reign with him.”
The
promise that many shall come “from the north, and from the west,” at a time when the earth shall be full of joy because
the Most High hath comforted his people, doubtless refers to that period of
which the Lord Jesus spoke when he foretold, that “many should come
from the east, and from the west, and sit
down with Abraham Isaac, [Page 297] and Jacob, in the kingdom of God.” And this kingdom of joy will arise when even believers
will be ready to say, The Lord hath forgotten me, and the promises to
Accordant
with this are the words of Procopius,
“Some conceive
that these words refer to the piercing of Christ’s hands on the cross. For how should he forget us for whom he
suffered? for he hinted partly at the whole of his passion. But the same may be said also in another
point of view. For it is said, that all
believers are in the Father’s hands. For
Christ said of his own sheep, ‘None shall pluck
them out of my Father's hands,’ signifying
their protection therein.”
When
the “set time to
favour
In
this place, also, is reiterated the prophecy that the Gentiles shall be the
instruments of bringing them back to their land, and that the kings and queens
of the Gentiles shall honour and caress them, because of the glory of the Lord
Jesus, as the exalted head of their nation.
Yet
to all these promises there will in that day appear an almost insuperable
objection. “Shall the prey be taken from
the giant?” Shall
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 50
1 Thus saith
JEHOVAH, Where is the bill of your mother’s divorce,
Whereby I put her amay?
Or to which of my creditors have I sold you?
Behold, for your iniquities were ye sold;
*And for your transgressions is your mother sent away.
2 Why, when I came, was there no man?
When I called, was there none to answer?
Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot save?
Or have I no power to deliver?
Behold, at my rebuke I will dry up the sea,
And make the rivers dry, and their fish
drieth up,
Because there is no water, and die for thirst.
3 I will clothe the heavens with blackness,
And make sackcloth its covering.
4 The Lord JEHOVAH hath given me a wise
tongue,
That I might know how to speak a word in season to the weary.
He bath made me to understand by enquiry,
He hath given me an ear to hearken to instruction.
5 The Lord JEHOVAH hath opened mine cars:
And I was not disobedient, nor gainsaying:
I gave my back to the scourgers,
My Cheeks to them that smote me on the face;
*And I hid not my face from the shame of spittings,
6 But the Lord JEHOVAH is my helper;
Therefore shall I not be confounded.
Therefore I have set my face as a flint;
And I know that I shall not be ashamed.
8 He is near that justifieth me:
Who will contend with me? let us stand
together;
Who is mine adversary? let him come near to
me.
9 Behold, the Lord JEHOTAH will help me.
Who will condemn me!
Lo! they all shall wax old as a garment;
The moth shall eat them up.
10 Who among you feareth JEHOVAH?
Let him listen to the voice of his servant!
He that walketh in darkness and hath no light,
Let him trust in the name of JEHOTAH;
And stay upon his God.
11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire;
And that compass yourselves with flame:
Walk in the light of your fire,
And in the flame that; ye have kindled.
Ye shall have this at mine hand -
Ye shall lie down in sorrow.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 50
[Page
298]
The
subject of this prophecy is the rejection of the Jewish nation for their sins,
especially their great sin, the rejection of Christ Jesus. The 2nd verse seems
to show that it is spoken of the same time as the preceding chapter, - the
captivity of the Jews to their last great foe, for the Lord inquires why there
is none to rescue, and then reproves them for not trusting in him. Did they doubt whether he had power to
deliver or not? Then follow some of the
wonders to be accomplished by the power of the Lord, as the drying up of
rivers, and the smiting the heavenly bodies with darkness.
The
threat that the heavens shall be clothed with blackness, Theodoret understands of the three hours’ darkness at the
crucifixion, and this was probably its primary accomplishment; its plenary
fulfilment being postponed to the time of the smiting of the sun and moon, as
predicted by the Lord.
The
Saviour next adverts to his first coming of humiliation, when the Father sent
him to declare his words of wisdom kept secret from the foundation of the
world. He remarks his meekness in
suffering “such
contradiction of sinners against himself,” his endurance of scourging, smiting on the face, and
spitting, all which were literally fulfilled.
“And when
he had scourged Jesus, he delivered
him to be crucified.” “Then did they spit in his face, and buffetted him, and others smote him with the palms of their
hands.” “And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face.” (Matthew 27: 27, 26: 67; Luke 22: 64.)
The
same view is presented by Procopius,
- “But return we
to Christ, who saith to the Jews, Though ye indeed after being invited refuse,
yet will not I disobey my Father who desires to gather together all things in
me. And humbling myself, I suffered the
most shameful possible treatment, knowing that I do not suffer shame by
obedience to my Father. Though,
therefore, Pilate scourged me, and one of the servants smote me, and others
spit on me, I set my face as a hard rock.
For it was of Divine power that I endured. For I came down from heaven not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me.”
[Page 299]
But
now the Saviour speaks in the majesty of his return, when the Father having
justified him by raising him from the dead, he and all his members may well
defy all their accusers and enemies. “Who shall lay any thing to
the charge of God’s elect? it is God that justifieth.” Hence they
shall all pass away, despite their power, and boasting, and persecution; and
the Redeemer encourages the persecuted still to wait for him and expect his
return. For as for all the various
devices of those who seek to fulfil their own counsels, and are opposed to the
plans of the Almighty, their fire shall not be a light to them, but they shall
receive the wrath of God and lie down in sorrow. The figure employed appears to be taken from
the travellers through the desert, who are obliged in consequence of the
coldness of the night, even in those tropical regions, to light a fire for the
purpose of warmth and light and to keep off wild beasts. Yet these their devices should not prevail to
ward off the judgements of an angry God.
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 51
1 Hearken unto me, ye that follow after
righteousness:
Ye that seek JEROVAH, look to the rock
whence ye were hewn,
And to the hole of the pit whence ye were
digged.
2 Look to Abraham your father,
And to Sarah that bare you;
For when he was but an individual
I called him, and blessed him, and increased
him.
3 And thus will I, JEHOVAH, now comfort
I will comfort all her waste places,
And I will make her wilderness like
And her desert as the
Joy and gladness shall be found therein,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
4 Hearken unto me, 0 ye Gentiles!
And give ear unto me, 0 nations:
For a law shall go forth from me,
And my judgement will I fix as a light to the Gentiles.
5 My righteousness is near;
My salvation shall go forth as light;
*And my arm shall judge the nations;
The isles shall wait for me,
And on mine arm shall they trust.
6
Lift up your eyes to the
heavens;
And look upon the earth beneath:
For the heaven shall vanish away like smoke,
And the earth shall wax old like a garment;
And they that dwell therein shall die in
like manner:
But my salvation shall be for ever,
And my righteousness shall not be abolished.
7 Hearken
unto me, ye that know the Just One,
The people in whose heart is
my law:
Fear ye not the reproach of
men;
Nor be overcome by their
revilings.
8* For the moth shall eat them
up as a garment,
And the worm shall eat them like wool;
But my righteousness shall be for ever,
And my salvation from generation to generation.
9 Awake, awake,
Put on strength, 0 arm of JEHOVAH:
Awake, as in ancient times;
As in the generations of old.
*Art not thou it that hath cut Rahab,
And wounded the dragon?
10 Art not thou it that did dry up the sea,
The waters of the great deep?
That madest the depths of the ocean
A way for the ransomed to pass over?
11 Therefore the redeemed of JEHOVAH shall
return,
And come to
And everlasting joy shall be on their heads.
They shall obtain gladness and delight:
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12 I,
even I, am he that comforteth you:
Who art thou, afraid of a man that shall
die,
And of the son of man, that shall dry up as
grass?
13 And didst forget God thy maker,
That hath stretched forth the heavens,
And laid the foundations of the earth;
And fearedst continually every day
The wrathful face of thine oppressor,
Who devised to destroy thee;
And where now is the wrath of thine oppressor?
14* He marcheth with speed that cometh to set free the captive,
He shall not die unto
corruption:
Nor shall his vigour fail.
15 For I am
JEHOVAH thy God,
That still the sea, whose waves roared,
JEHOVAH of hosts is my name.
16 I will put my words in thy mouth,
And cover thee in the shadow of my hand,
Wherewith I planted the heavens,
And laid the foundations of the earth;
And I will say unto
17 Awake,
awake, stand up, 0
Which hast drunk at
JEHOVAH’S hand his cup of fury;
Thou hast drunk up and
drained the dregs of his cup of terror.
18 And there
is none to guide thee
Among all the sons whom thou
hast brought forth;
And none to take thee by the
hand
Of all the sons whom thou
hast brought up.
19 These two things have beset thee,
Who shall be sorry for thee?
Desolation and destruction, famine and the
sword:
Who shall give thee consolation?
20 Thy sons
are stupefied; they lie at the head of every passage,
Like an oryx in a net;
They are full of the fury of
JEHOVAH,
The rebuke of thy God.
21 Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted,
And drunken, not with wine:
22 Thus saith JEHOVAH thy God,
That pleadeth the cause of his people,
Behold, I have taken out of thy hand the cup
of terror,
The dregs of the cup of my fury;
Thou shalt no more drink it again:
23 But I will put it into the hands of them
that afflict thee;
That said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over:
And thou laidest thy body even with the ground,
And like the street to the passers by.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 51
[Page 299]
An address is now made to believers both of the
natural and spiritual
In
hope of this “kingdom
not to be moved,” believers are
exhorted to hold fast their steadfastness, and not to regard the laugh or
reproaches of men. For yet a little
while, and the “arm
of Jehovah” shall awake “as in ancient times, as in
the generations of old,” when
Again is added
an exhortation against the fear of the Man of Sin, showing how terrific will be
his power, how great the dread of all men, that the believers have need of
perpetual warning against his subtlety, and encouragement against his
power. Yet, mighty as he maybe, he “shall die;” “his breath is in his nostrils.” The remedy for the fear of man is to fear Jehovah, as said the Redeemer, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
rather fear Him, who is able
to destroy both body and soul in hell.” (Matt.
10: 28.) Soon shall his day pass, and his fury vanish,
and it shall be said, “Where is the fury of thine oppressor?”
On
the fourteenth verse, Jerome has these remarks:- “Symmachus thus interpreted it, ‘Soon shall Hades be opened,
and he shall not die into corruption,’ where Christ is understood, who, in the fifteenth Psalm says, ‘Thou wilt not
leave my soul in Hades, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see
corruption.’” But does it not
also refer to the resurrection of the saints from Hades? For thus spake the Lord, “On this rock will I build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it:” that is, My
people shall be delivered from the custody in which they are at present held,
and shall attain “the adoption, to wit, the redemption
of the body.”
[Page 301]
This
shall be the time when God’s wrath against
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 52
1 Awake,
awake! put on thy strength, 0
Put on thy beautiful
garments, 0
For no more shall come into
thee the uncircumcised and unclean.
2 Shake thyself from the dust,
Arise, 0 captive
Break off the bands from thy neck,
0 captive daughter of
3 For thus saith JEHOVAH,
Ye sold yourselves for nought,
And ye shall be redeemed without money.
4
Thus saith JEHOVAH,
My people went down into
Of old time, to sojourn there;
And they were carried by force into
5
And now, why are ye here,
saith JEHOVAH;
Why is my people seized for nought?
Howl ye, and mourn, for thus saith JEHOVAH;
Woe unto you! for my name through you
Is blasphemed among the Gentiles.
6 Therefore my people shall
know my name in that day;
For I myself, that speak, will be
present.
7 How
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the good news of peace,
And bring glad tidings of
good things
That publish salvation;
That say to
8 For the voice of thy watchmen shall be
lifted up,
And with their voice shall they sing
together;
For they shall see eye to eye,
*When JEHOVH shall return to
9 Break forth into joy, [0
Shout together, ye waste places of
For JEHOVAH hath comforted his
people
And he hath redeemed
10 And JEHOVAH
shall reveal his holy arm before all the Gentiles;
And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation
of our God.
11* Depart, depart, go out
thence,
Touch not the unclean thing:
Go ye out of the midst of them,
And be ye separate, that bear the vessels of JEHOVAH.
12 For ye shall not go out with haste,
Nor depart by flight:
For JEHOVAH shall go before you,
And the God of Israel shall be your rearward.
13 Behold, servant shall be wise and great:
Shall be exalted, and lifted very high.
14 As many were astonished at him,
So inglorious was his countenance among men,
And his form amongst the sons of men:
15 So shall many nations admire
him,
And kings shall shut their mouths at him:
For they to whom he was not spoken of, shall see;
And they that have not heard shall understand.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 52
[Page
301]
The command given at the commencement of this chapter
shows, that God’s time of favour to
That
it is not the restoration from the literal Babylon which is spoken of in this
and the preceding chapters, is clear from the declaration there that
But after the promise, her sins against God are
enumerated, and the captivities to which she was and will be subjected. The next scene presents them as in subjection
to their last oppressor; and the Lord assures them, that to him they have been
delivered up, because “through them his name was blasphemed amongst the Gentiles.”
This passage is quoted by St. Paul, in Rom. 2: 24, where he proves that the Jews, “wherein they judged another, condemned themselves,” and both foolishly and impiously supposed, that their
privileges would redeem them from the wrath of Jehovah, when their deeds were
such, that occasion was given even to the unbelieving heathen to slander
through them the God whom they pretended to worship. This passage in the Hebrew has been wilfully corrupted by the Jews,
because of their hatred to the prophet’s testimony against them, and still more
to
In
that day
The
eleventh verse is, perhaps, cited by
Then
follows a prediction of Jesus, and a comparison is instituted between his first
and second coming. As many were
astonished at his marred countenance when he came in humility, so “when he shall be exalted, and
lifted very high,” many nations
shall admire him, as did St. John, when he beheld him in his glory, and as
Solomon in his Song prophetically describes him. The ancient fathers testify,
that Christ’s figure and countenance had nothing in it beautiful or very
remarkable; he emptied himself of all glory at the first appearance, but he
shall be surrounded with all his rightful honours at the second.
The
last verse is adopted by
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 53
1 0 JEHOVAH, who bath believed our report?
And to whom is the arm of JEHOVAH revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender
plant,
And as a root out of a dry ground:
He hath no form nor comeliness in him;
And we saw him, but there was no beauty that we should desire him.
3* He was despised and rejected
of men,
A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.
And we hid as it were our faces from him:
He was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely himself took our sicknesses,
And bare our infirmities:
Yet we did esteem him stricken;
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions,
And he was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement, of our peace was upon him:
And by his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray:
We have turned every one to his own way;
And JEHOVAH hath made to light on him
The iniquities of us all.
7 He was offered up, because himself willed
it,
And he opened not his mouth:
He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And like a lamb dumb before the shearer,
So he opened not his mouth:
8 In his humiliation his judgement was taken
away,
And who shall declare his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth.
For the transgression of my people was he
led to death.
9 He was taken up with wicked men in his death,
And with the rich man was his sepulchre:
Because he had done no iniquity,
Neither was guile found in his mouth.
10* Yet it pleased JEHOVAH to bruise him:
He hath put him to grief:
When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin,
He shall behold his seed that shall prolong its days,
And the pleasure of JEHOVAH shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul,
and be satisfied;
By the knowledge of him shall my servant the Just One justify many;
For their sins he himself shall bear.
12*Therefore shall he inherit
many,
And shall divide the spoils of the strong;
Because his soul was betrayed unto death,
And he was numbered amongst the transgressors;
And himself bear the sins of many,
* And made intercession for the transgressors.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 53
[Page 303]
The fifty-third chapter, by the confession of all
rightly-minded Christian authors, relates most perspicuously to Jesus of
Nazareth. Indeed, it is hard to conceive
how any can admit the inspiration of the Scripture, and interpret it of any
other, as the New Testament writers, by various quotations of its text,
authoritatively apply it to the Saviour.
It commences abruptly by a strongly implied charge of
disbelief of the Christ, brought against the Jewish nation by the apostles and
messengers of the Gospel.
It is adduced, most justly, by
It
is foretold that the Messiah should grow up before the Father as a tender
plant, or, as the Septuagint translates
it, “as an infant;” and “as a root out of a dry ground,” alluding, probably, to the unbelieving state of the
Jewish people, and also to the lowly and degraded state of the family of David,
whence the Lord was to spring. He was to
possess no outward comeliness; and this was true, as far as tradition can
inform us. Nor does there need any proof
that he was despised and rejected of men, or that his people hid their faces
from him. The Evangelist Matthew
quotes the next verse in the following connexion: “When the even was come, they
brought unto him many that were possessed [Page 304] with devils; and he cast out the spirits by
his word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare
our sicknesses.” From which we
learn, that our blessed Lord’s curing of diseases was the fulfilment of this
verse.
The
vicarious nature of the Redeemer’s suffering is next opened to our view. The prophet teaches the atoning nature of
Christ’s death. His afflictions were not
for any sin of his own, but for our transgressions, because he bare the penalty
of them, that by his “stripes we might be healed.” Because “we like sheep have gone
astray, the Lord bath made to light on him the iniquities of us all:” in which words the extent of his atonements is made
equal to the extent of man’s sinfulness: or as the New Testament Scriptures
phrase the same truth, “He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.”
The
next feature commended to our notice is his silence under judicial accusation,
and in the presence of his enemies. This
is discovered to be more worthy of regard, if we consider that “he endured such contradiction
of sinners against himself,” who hates all sin: that the
accusations were false, an
aggravation felt with peculiar force by men in general: still further, that it
was at any time in his power to have destroyed his false accusers; “Thinkest thou that I cannot
now pray to the Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions
of angels?” And lastly, that these false accusations were
the return for his mighty benevolence and boundless beneficence of word and of
miracle - that they who thirsteth for his blood were those whom he came to redeem
by the sacrifice of himself! This point
was literally fulfilled, as the Evangelists discover to us in their sacred
narrative of his trial. “Now the chief priests, and
elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to
death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they
none. At the last came two false
witnesses, And said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the
The
passage now before us is, in another place, by evident implication of the
strongest kind, interpreted by inspiration of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is cited in the Acts as read by the Eunuch
of Candace Queen of
“In his humiliation, his judgement” was indeed “taken away,” for
all justice was abandoned at his trial - and even he who decreed that he should
be crucified, and he that betrayed him to death, confessed his innocence. On
which verse the words of Procopius
may not be unacceptable.
“The ensuing declaration is
therefore perfectly true, that ‘In his
humiliation his judgement was taken away.’ For they gave their vote against him
carelessly, as respecting a person of no importance: so that the prophet
intends to remark their unlawful and unjust ‘judgement’ of him. And though
he was judged in his humility, yet he was by nature, God. Whence, he adds, ‘Who shall declare his generation?’ And the difficulty
of declaring it lies alike on both his generations. In a certain sense he was born of God, and in
a certain sense of a virgin. For thus
much alone we know, on the one hand that he is God of God, Light of light; and
on the other, that ‘the Holy Ghost shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.’ On each side,
therefore, the question, What is his generation? is ineffable. For ‘his life
is taken away from the earth;’ that is, the
economy thereof and his life according to the flesh is higher than the
earthly. And in another point of view,
the essence of the only-begotten [Page 306] is above every created thing. But some say, that the words, ‘he is taken away from the earth’ declare his glory after his resurrection;
for experience showed the Divine value of the economy instituted here below;
for though he was himself subjected to death, yet by his grace he made us alive
unto incorruption, and by faith in him are we redeemed. But wherefore was he ‘who knew no sin’ subjected to the penalty of death? The Father makes reply, ‘For the transgressions of my people he was
led to death:’ either
signifying, vicariously suffering for their sins, or because they in their
transgression slew him.”
The
question, “Who
shall declare his generation?”
refers doubtless, as Procopius observes,
to his mysterious eternity as Son of the Father. Jerome
hereupon refers to Prov. 8:
25, “Before the
mountains were settled, before the hills was I set forth.” There is
likewise a reference to the Saviour’s birth of a virgin by the mysterious
operation of the Holy Spirit. The
translation of the 9th
verse is that of Dr. Kennicott, and by the transposition of two words, clearness is
restored to that which was before obscure.
Such a transposition has before occurred in the words “sheep” and “lamb” in the 7th verse: as is proved by the Evangelist’s quotation.
Moreover, it is but the natural order of events to speak of the Saviour’s death before
his burial. The
natural order of his life has been followed hitherto, beginning with his
infancy: why should it not be followed here? But to one who believes the
Scriptures there is a still stronger proof, arising from its thus corresponding
exactly with fact. He was “lifted up,” as he himself prophesied, “signifying what death he
should die” - and with wicked men
- the two thieves crucified on each side of him. With the “rich man moreover was his sepulchre;” as the Evangelist notices. “When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who also
himself was Jesus’ disciple. …
And when Joseph had taken his body, he wrapped it in a
clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb.” (Matt. 27:
57. 59, 60.) His suffering accomplished, it is predicted that the
Lord shall behold a “seed that shall prolong its days,” to be accomplished in that day when all shall know
the Lord, and when, as Isaiah subsequently prophesies, the days of the Lord’s
people shall be as the “days of a tree;”
or as the Septuagint has it, as “the days [Page
307] of the tree of life.” A passage
similar to this is found at the end of the twenty-second Psalm, in which the
Saviour describes his crucifixion; and then adds, “My seed shall serve him, it shall be counted unto the Lord for
a generation.* They shall come and shall declare
his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, whom the Lord hath made.”
(Prayer-book version.) But its final reference is certainly to the eternal
life of his people - the “life and immortality brought to light by the Gospel.”
* Better punctuated with the LXX., “The coming generation shall
be counted as Jehovah’s.”
“The pleasure also of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand,” for then shall be accomplished all that the Most High
designed, even to give into the hands of Christ Jesus all power in heaven and
earth, and openly to subdue all things to his will, thereby completing the
prophecies uttered by his servants.
Because
“he humbled
himself, even to the death of the cross,” God shall also highly exalt him: and give him the souls of his people,
even all those that are justified through the knowledge of the Just One.
He
shall inherit the earth and all its inhabitants by the Father’s gift, both Jews
and Gentiles; as the second Psalm, with many other passages, declare. Such shall be his reward,
for patiently enduring the agony of the garden, the treachery of Judas, and the
ignominy of his trial and of his crucifixion in company with malefactors.
For through this “bearing of the sins of many,”
and his present intercession at the throne of God, is satisfaction made to the
justice of the Most High, and a way opened to the holiest through the blood of
Jesus.
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 54
1 Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not:
Break
forth and cry, thou that travailest not!
For the desolate hath many more children
Than she which hath an husband.
2 Enlarge the place of thy tent:
Stretch forth the curtains of thy tabernacles:
Spare not: lengthen thy cords,
And strengthen thy stakes.
3 For thou shalt break forth on the right and
on the left;
And thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles,
And make the desolate cities to be inhabited.
4 Fear not: for thou shalt not be ashamed:
Neither be confounded, nor put to shame:
For thou shalt forget the shame of old time,
And the reproach of thy widowhood remember no more.
5 For thy Maker shall be thy husband:
JEHOVAH of hosts is his name;
And thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Shall be called, The God of the whole earth.
6* For JEHOVAH hath called thee
to him,
As a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit,
And a woman put away from her youth, saith thy God.
7 For a little while I forsook thee,
But with great mercies will I compassionate thee.
8
In a little wrath I hid my
face from thee for a moment;
But with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee,
Saith thy Redeemer, JEHOVAH.
9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me;
For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah
Shall no more flood the earth,
So have I sworn that I will not be wroth
with thee,
Nor rebuke thee any more.
10 For the mountains shall depart,
And the hills be removed:
But my kindness shall not depart from thee,
Neither shall my covenant of peace be
removed,
Saith JEHOVAH, that hath compassion on thee.
11 0 thou afflicted and tempest-tost, without
consolation!
Behold, I will prepare carbuncles as thy
Stones,
And sapphires as thy foundations.
12 And I will make thy battlements of jasper,
And thy gates of crystal,
And thy circumference of precious stones.
13 And all thy sons shall be taught of God:
And great shall be the peace of thy children.
14 Thou shalt be built in righteousness,
And far from oppression;
Thou shalt not be affrighted,
Nor shall terror draw nigh thee.
15 Behold, strangers shall come to thee,
Through me shall they dwell in thee;
And they that were aliens,
Shall be joined unto thee.
16 * Behold, I have created the smith,
That bloweth the coals in the fire,
And that bringeth forth an instrument for
his work,
And I have created the desolator to destroy.
17 No weapon formed against thee shall
prosper;
And every tongue that riseth against thee in judgement thou shalt
condemn.
This is the inheritance of the servants of
JEHOVAH,
*And their righteousness is of me, saith JEHOVAH.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 54
[Page 307]
An
inspired comment on the 1st
verse of this chapter enables us to
decide upon the intention of this prophecy.
“Abraham,
had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. But he who was of the bondmaid was born after
the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise. Which things are an allegory: for these are
the two covenants; the one from
From
this passage it appears that the present chapter is a description of “
The
sons of Hagar (that is, the Law) answer to
But
Sarah, as the mother of the child of promise, answers to the Gospel, and the
heavenly
Now, therefore, the prophet addresses her, and bids
her to enlarge the place of her tent; for the Gentiles, as well as the Jews,
shall be her children, and perhaps the inhabitants of other worlds, even all
the elect of God, as saith the Scripture, “Ye are come unto Mount Zion, and the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and Church of the firstborn, which are written in
heaven.” These, the sealed of God, are taken from every tribe
of the literal Israel, and from the Gentiles also, as it is written, “After this (numbering of
Israel), I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, with white robes
and palms in their hands.” (Rev 7: 1-9.)
Yet, though this chapter strictly, and in a plenary
manner, refers to the new Jerusalem, it has also a commencing fulfilment in the
last glorious state of
Though,
then, the members of the invisible Church of God, the “first-born, whose names are written in heaven,” are now
despised, - though they
have at various past times suffered, and have yet at a future period to suffer,
persecution, yet “with everlasting mercies” shall they be “gathered” at last. This promise rests, moreover, on the oath of God, “that by
two immutable things (the promise and oath of
God) we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us.” (Heb.
6: 18.) This oath of Jehovah is
compared to his covenant with Noah, that the waters should no more destroy the
earth and its inhabitants. As, then, the
faithfulness of the Most High has been seen in thus remembering his promise to
Noah and every living thing, so shall his oath to the Church [of the firstborn] be
also faithfully fulfilled; nor, when once his redeemed are gathered into their
final abode, shall he be angry with them any more, but he will uphold them in
holiness and love, as he has sustained the “elect angels.” For the world and “its mountains shall depart,” but the word of God shall not pass away: nay, then,
the rather shall it be conspicuous, in his preparing for his people’s
reception, a world into which neither sorrow, nor sin, nor death, shall ever
enter.
Following
this gracious promise is the description of the new Jerusalem, agreeing
beautifully with that in the Revelation.
“I will
prepare sapphires as thy foundations,” saith Isaiah. “The second” (foundation)
saith
But
its chief bliss shall not be the splendour of its decorations, but the fact “that they shall be all,” as the Saviour remarked, “taught of God.” “Every man, therefore,” said he, “that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me.” (John 6: 45.) As there is no
way to the Father but by Christ, so all that have part in the final glory of
the saints must be taught by him in the present life, and drawn to him by the
Father’s gracious influences. “No man can come to me, except
the Father which hath sent me draw him;” and in connexion therewith is promised his participation in “Christ’s resurrection;” that is,
the “resurrection
of the just,” - “and I will raise him up at the
last day.”
Participants
in those sacred mansions shall be those who were “strangers” and “aliens” once, as
it is written, “Wherefore
remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by
hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes
were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” (Eph. 2: 11-13.)
Against
such, the chosen of God, all devices shall fail, as saith our blessed Lord, “I give unto them eternal
life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my
hand. My Father which gave them me is
greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand!” So, then,
although the Man of Sin shall arise, and discover himself as the Destroyer,
persecuting, deceiving by his miracles, and putting to death, yet it is written
of his miracles, “He shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Blessed words!
how consoling to those called to abide that fiery trial! Like this is also the declaration of the
Apocalypse: “And
all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in
the book of life of the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world.” (Rev. 13:
8.) Thus, therefore, rage and [Page
313] destroy as he may, the elect of God shall still attain the reward
destined for them; and when “the indignation is
accomplished,” he shall perish for
ever.
The
next promise of Isaiah, that “every tongue which riseth against them in judgement they
shall condemn,” receives a
glorious illustration from the words of Paul, “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s
elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is
he that condemneth? Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ?” (
The
concluding words substantiate the correctness of the foregoing interpretation: “This is the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah.” And
that “their
righteousness is of Jehovah” is
witnessed again and again by
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 55
1 Ho! every
one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters!
And he that hath no money,
come ye, buy and eat;
Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
2 Wherefore do ye spend your money on that
which is no bread,
And your labour on that which satisfieth not?
Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good,
And let your soul delight itself in fatness.
3 Incline your ear, and come unto me:
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with
you,
Even the sure mercies of David.
4 Behold, I have made him a witness to the
Gentiles;
A ruler and governor to the nations.
5 Nations that have not known thee, shall
call on thee,
And countries unacquainted with thee,
Shall betake themselves unto thee,
Because of JEHOVAH thy God,
And the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee.
6 Seek ye JEHOVAH, while he may be found;
Call upon him, while he is near.
7 Let the wicked man forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts,
And turn unto JLHOVAH,
And he will have mercy upon him,
And to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
Neither are
your ways my ways, saith JEHOVAH
9 For high as the heavens are above the
earth,
So are my ways higher than your ways,
And my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down,
And the snow from heaven,
And returneth not thither again,
Till it have nourished it, and made it bud and bring forth,
That it may give seed to the sower,
And bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth out of my,
mouth;
It shall not return unto me void:
But shall accomplish that which I please,
And prosper in that whereto I send it.
12 For ye shall go out with joy,
And be led forth with peace:
The mountains and hills shall leap before
you with joy,
And all the trees of the field shall applaud you with their boughs.
13 And instead of the thorn shall conic up the
Instead of the nettle, the myrtle shall grow up;
And it shall be to JEHOVAH for renown,
And an everlasting sign that shall not be destroyed.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 55
[Page
313]
The
first verses of the chapter before us are generally understood to promise
Gospel blessings in figurative language; an interpretation which is confirmed by
the words of the Lord Jesus. “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which
the Son of Man shall give unto you” (John 6:
27) - a passage exactly
corresponding in its tenour with the words of Isaiah, “Wherefore do ye spend your
money on that which is not bread? and your labour on that which satisfieth not?” All, then, are
called upon that are “weary and heavy laden,” to “incline their ear” unto Jesus the Lord, that their soul may live; for “he that believeth on the Son
hath life, and he that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abideth on him.” All that thus come shall be partakers in the
covenants with David and Abraham, the former of whom is especially signalized
here. On which passage take the inspired
comment of St. Paul: “And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the
promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he
hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm, [Page
314] Thou art my Son,
this-day have I begotten thee. And as
concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to
corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.” (Acts 13: 32-34.) Now the
covenant with David was, that “there should not fail him a man to be ruler in
A
call to repentance rightly follows this, because the forbearance of the
Redeemer will not always last, but one day “his enemies must be made his footstool.” A similar
warning succeeds a like promise in the second Psalm, where, after declaring the
kingship of Christ on
Concluding
the chapter is a sketch of the glory of the latter day, when the creation that
groaneth now shall then rejoice, and the noxious weed and briar, the effects of
the curse on Adam in
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 56
1 Thus saith JEHOVAH,
Keep ye judgement, and do justice
For my salvation is near to come,
And my righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this
And the son of man that layeth hold on it
That keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it;
And keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
3 Let not the son of the stranger,
That hath joined himself to JEHOVAH, (speak,) saying,
JEHOVAH hath utterly separated me from his
people,
Neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a
dry tree.
4 For thus saith JEH0VAH,
Unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths,
And choose the things that please me.
And take hold of my covenant;
5 Even unto them will I give in mine house a
place,
And within my walls a name better than of sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name,
That shall not be cut off.
6* Also the sons of the
stranger,
That join themselves to JEHOVAH to serve
him,
And to love the Dame of JEHOVAH, to be his
servants,
Every one that keepeth the sabbath from
polluting it,
And taketh hold of my covenant:
7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain,
And make them joyful in my house of prayer;
Their burnt-offerings and sacrifices shall be accepted on mine
altar,
For mine house shall be called
The house of prayer for ill nations.
8 The Lord JEHOVAH who gathereth the outcasts of
I will gather against him a congregation.
9 All ye beasts of the field, come hither;
Devour all, ye beasts of the forest.
10 All his watchmen are blind, and ignorant;
Dumb dogs - that cannot bark:
Sleeping lying down, loving to slumber.
11 They are greedy dogs that can never have
enough,
And shepherds that cannot understand;
They all turn aside each to his own way,
* Every one to his covetousness, from his quarter.
12 Come ye, [say they,] let
us fetch wine,
And fill ourselves with strong drink:
And to-morrow shall be as this day;
And yet more abundant.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 56
[Page
313]
On
the first verse of this prophecy Jerome
remarks, “Isaiah
is speaking to the listeners of that time that they should do all things which
are right, and prepare themselves for the advent of the Saviour, for he is the
justice and mercy of God.” The context shows that this advent of the Lord
is his second advent; and the interpretation is confirmed by a similar warning
from the pen of
The
seventh verse introduces a new, and to many, I doubt not, a startling topic. “Their burnt-offerings and sacrifices shall be accepted on mine altar.”
The restoration of sacrifices is a truth which
many will not receive. Yet Ezekiel distinctly affirms it, and is corroborated
by the Psalms. Not that they shall be regarded as possessing inherent efficacy
to take away the guilt of sin - far from it.
This the apostle, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, denies by the full
bearing of his argument; but no passage of Scripture contradicts the
supposition that they may be restored again with a commemorative intention, looking back to the past Great Sacrifice,
as of old they looked forward to it,
as yet to come. In this view a
remark of Greswell’s is very
valuable, that the Millennium
will be of an intermediate type between the Law and the Gospel, possessing the
characters of the Law in the restoration of the Jews and their temple, with the
blessings of abundant fertility promised to the fathers, and the features of
the Gospel, in the presence of the Lord, and the outpouring of the Spirit, “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
Then shall be fulfilled the words
adduced by the Saviour in reproof of the Jews, “Mine
house shall be called, The house of prayer for
all nations,” a question
which will be noticed more particularly in the remarks on the last chapter.
At
the eighth verse a new subject begins.
The state of
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 57
1
Behold! the Just One
perisheth,
And no one layeth it to heart;
And merciful men are taken away,
And no one taketh notice
That from the presence of evil is he taken away.
2* He shall enter into peace,
He shall rest in his bed;
Even the perfect man, that walketh in the
strait path.
3 But draw ye nigh hither, ye seed of
evil-doers;
Ye children of
the adulterer and the harlot.
4 At what do ye sport? at whom do ye open the
mouth?
At what do ye loll out the tongue?
Are ye not sons of sin?
A seed of falsehood ?
5 Who inflame yourselves with idols beneath
every thick tree,
And slay your children in valleys under the clefts of the rocks,
And in the portions of the glen?
6 These are thy portion: these are thy lot;
To these thou hast poured out a drink-offering,
And to these hast thou offered sacrifice.
Shall I not be indignant at these things, saith JEHOVAH?
7 Upon a high and lofty mountain thou didst
set thy bed;
Even there didst thou ascend to offer
sacrifice.
8*And behind thy door-posts
didst thou set up thy memorial:
Didst thou think that in revolting from me,
Thou shouldst be a gainer thereby?
Thou lovedst them that slept with thee,
And didst increase thy fornications with them:
9 Thou wentest to the king with ointment,
And didst multiply thy perfumes:
And didst send thy messengers afar,
And didst debase thyself even unto Hades.
10 With thy many devices wert thou wearied;
But thou
saidst not, I will refrain and rest:
Because
thou hast done these things,
Therefore
entreat me not.
11 Whom didst thou fear and dread,
That thou
hast lied unto me?
And hast not
remembered me,
Nor thought
of me in thine heart.
*And shall I behold and overlook thee,
Though thou fearest me not?
12 old, 1 will declare my righteousness,
And thy
works shall not profit thee.
13When thou criest, let the companies deliver thee,
But the wind shall carry them all away;
And the whirlwind remove them:
But
they that trust in me shall possess the earth,
And inherit my holy mountain.
14*And I will say, Cast ye up,
Cast ye up, prepare the way;
Take up the stumbling-block
Out of the way of my people.
15 *For thus saith JEHOVAH, the
High and Lofty One
That inhabiteth eternity:
And his holy name (that is) on high,
And the Holy
One that dwelleth with the contrite and poor of spirit,
To revive the spirit of the humble,
And to give life to the broken in heart;
16 I will not always execute judgement upon
you:
Nor for ever will I be angry with you;
* For the Spirit shall go
forth from me,
And all his breathing will I send.
17 For his iniquity a little while I was
wroth,
And smote him, and hid my face from him;
And he was angry, and went sullenly on in the ways of his heart.
18 I have seen his ways, and will heal him,
And will make him to rest;
And will give to him consolation and to his mourners.
19 I create plenty: I have ordained peace:
Peace to him that is afar off, and to him
that is near,
Saith JEHOVAH, and I will heal him.
20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea
when it cannot rest,
Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.
21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the
ungodly.
*
* *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 57
[Page 317]
By
the Just One that perisheth, Eusebius,
Jerome, and Horsley, understand our blessed Lord; the ominous nature of whose death,
in its consequences to the Jewish nation, was disregarded, and of the vicarious
intent of whose sufferings they took no heed.
By the “merciful
men” are probably intended the
apostles and martyrs for Christ. In the 2nd verse the reference is again to the Lord Jesus; for though
he died as a malefactor, his burial was in peace. This verse, as Eusebius conceives, foreshadows the Saviour’s resurrection; his
death - because his sepulchre is spoken of; his resurrection - because he was “taken away from the midst” (LXX. translation) of the sepulchre, and his body
found there no more.
The primary fulfilment of the two next verses appears
to have taken place in the conduct of the spectators, and especially of the
chief priests and Pharisees, during the crucifixion. In the terms by which they are here
characterized, did the Saviour himself address them, “An evil and adulterous generation.” And we learn
from the test proposed by the Redeemer (John 8: 7-9),
that these words were literally true.
The question, “At what do ye sport yourselves?” is illustrated by St.
Matthew. “And
they that passed by reviled him, waging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in
three days, save thyself.” “Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He
saved others; himself he cannot save.” (Matthew
27: 39-42.)
But from the subsequent context it would seem that the
plenary fulfilment is yet future, in that time of universal idolatry, so often
before noticed; and that the derision expressed is that of the “scoffers of the last
days, saying, Where is the
promise of his coming?”
The
expostulation that succeeds is principally, if not entirely, with the Jewish
nation - the bride of Messiah – in revolting from him, and leaguing herself
with the “false Christs and false prophets” then
to arise; especially with [Page 318] the chief and crowning master of iniquity here called, “THE
KING.” At this last crime of the Jews, Jehovah shall
visit them with his indignation, because he who “is from eternity” is thereby renounced, and their fear and worship
given to a creature. Therefore shall
their trust in the false Christ be punished by his breaking his covenant and
destroying them.
But
the righteous shall still trust in Christ Jesus, and their reward shall be, “the resurrection of the just.”
The
15th and 16th
verses constitute, I apprehend, an
address of the Sacred Trinity, first as distinguished in their three Persons,
and afterwards speaking as the One God, and promising the mighty influences of
the Holy Spirit which shall signalize the last days. “Some understand,” says Jerome, “the Holy Spirit who in the beginning moved on the waters and
vivified all things; who comes forth from the Father, and by reason of the
union of nature is sent by the Son, as he says, ‘If I depart I will send him unto you.’”
(John 16: 7.)
For
after the Lord’s anger hath ceased, he will bestow on the remnant of his people
“true consolation” by his own return, and the Spirit’s outpouring. Great in that
day shall be the peace of the world.
But “the
wicked” never can attain this “peace,”
either the external or the inward repose of the time spoken of; but they are
compared in their last Great Confederacy to a stormy sea, unable to rest,
dissatisfied, and rebellious, vomiting forth boastings, transgressions, and
blasphemies!
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 58
1 Cry aloud, spare not; lift up thy voice
like a trumpet:
And show my people their transgressions,
And the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek me daily,
And delight to know my ways,
As a nation that did righteousness,
And forsook not the ordinances of their God:
They ask of me a just judgement,
And seek to draw nigh unto God.
3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and
thou seest not?
Afflicted our soul, and thou takest no
notice?
Behold, in the day of your fast ye follow
your own wills,
And oppress those that are in your power.
4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate
And smite with your fists the lowly;
Why fast ye unto me as on this day,
To cause your voice to be heard with shouting?
5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen?
A day for a man to afflict his soul,
To bow down his head like a bulrush,
And to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Wilt thou call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to JEHOVAH?
6 Is not this the fast that 1 have chosen?
saith JEROVAH.
To cancel every unfair bond,
To annul the deceitful and violent contract,
To let the oppressed go free,
And to tear up every iniquitous agreement?
7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry,
And to bring the outcast poor to thy house?
When thou seest the naked, that thou cover
him,
*And that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,
And thy healing shall speedily arise;
And thy righteousness shall go before thee,
And the glory of JEHOVAH shall be thy rearward.
9 Then shalt thou call, and JEHOVAH shall
answer:
Whilst thou art yet speaking, he shall say, Here I am!
If thou take away from the midst of thee the
yoke,
And the putting forth of the finger, and word of murmuring,
10 And give thy bread to the hungry with deligh
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then shall thy light rise in obscurity,
And thy darkness be as the noon-day:
11 And JEHOVAH shall guide thee continually,
* And satisfy thy soul in drought:
And make fat thy bones:
And thou shalt be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
12 And thy posterity shall rebuild the old
wastes,
And thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations:
And thou shalt be called, The repairer of
the breach,
* The restorer of paths to dwell in.
13 If thou turn away
thy foot from the Sabbath;
From doing thy pleasure on my holy day:
And shalt call the Sabbath a delight,
The holy to JEHOVAH, honourable,
And shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways,
Nor finding thine own pleasure,
Nor speaking a word in anger from thy mouth;
14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in JEHOVAH:
And I will exalt thee on the high places of the earth;
And feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father:
For the mouth of JEHOVAH hath spoken it.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 58
[Page 318]
The fifty-eighth chapter is a reproof of the Jews, primarily
perhaps those of the Saviour’s day, as Bishop Horsley thinks; but ultimately
those of the last times restored to their land in unbelief, and characterized by
oppression, covetousness, and hypocrisy.
Their hypocritical fasting the Lord would not
acknowledge as acceptable, so long as they held iniquitous agreements, and
violated justice and integrity in their commercial dealings with each
other. On which Jerome observes, - “He refers to the bundle of papers in which the
false accusations of usurers are contained, and whereby the poor are oppressed
with debt.” If instead of this cruelty to the poor, they
would deal forth [Page 319] their bread to the hungry, they
should, as the Saviour declared, “be recompensed at the resurrection of
the just.” (Luke 14: 14.)
On the 11th verse the observations of Procopius
are worthy of notice, - “‘And thy bones,’” he saith, ‘shall spring up like an herb, and they shall be made fat, and
they shall inherit the generations of generations.’ In which passage he seems to signify the resurrection of the body,
arising like some herb, which lies dead during the winter, but flourishes again
in the spring. But how will they arise? Being ‘made fat’ by the life-giving grace of the Spirit, as saith David, ‘Thou shalt send forth thy Spirit, and they shall be created,
and thou shalt renew the face of the earth’ (Psalm 103: 30); that is,
the face of those upon earth, when we shall inherit generation after generation
in interminable life, death and corruption being entirely destroyed.”
Coincidently Theodoret, “He seems in these words to notify the mystery of the
resurrection. For then men’s bodies
shall spring up as grass in the field.”
Nor should these alone be blest; their
posterity also should rebuild the waste places, which as Jerome tells us the
Christians understood of the restoration of the cities of
A like promise follows the command [for the
Jews] to keep holy the Sabbath; for to this Sabbath of the world, this seventh millenary of the creation,
does the keeping of the Sabbath or seventh day look forward; and all
that refuse to rest on the seventh day on which Jehovah rested, and to hallow
that which Jehovah hallowed from the first, shall have no part in that glorious
period of “rest,” that “Sabbatism” (Gk.
…, Heb. 4: 9),
“which remaineth for the people of God.”
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 59
1 Is the hand of JEHOVAH powerless to save?
Or is his ear heavy that he cannot hear?
2 (Nay) but your iniquities have
separated between you and your God,
And your sins have hid his face from you,
That he will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with
iniquity:
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue hath muttered
perverseness.
4 None calleth for justice,
Nor any pleadeth for
truth:
They trust in vanity and speak lies;
They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
5 They hatch the eggs of
asps, and weave the spider’s web;
He that eateth of their eggs,
shall die:
And that which is hatched, shall break forth into a
viper.
6 Their web shall not become a garment;
Nor shall they cover
themselves with their own works:
Their works are works of
iniquity,
And the deed of violence is
in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil, and
make haste to shed innocent blood:
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
Wasting and destruction are in their paths.
8 The way of peace have they not known;
And there is no judgement in
their goings;
They have made them crooked paths;
Whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
9 Therefore is judgement far
from us;
Neither doth justice overtake us:
We wait for light, but behold obscurity;
And for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
10 We grope for the wall like
the blind,
And feel hither and thither
as if we had no eyes:
We stumble at noonday as at
midnight;
As dying men do we groan.
11 Like bears we all roar, and moan sore like doves:
We wait for justice, but
there is none:
For salvation,
but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,
And our sins testify against
us:
For our transgressions are
with us;
And as for our iniquities,
we know them.
13 In doing wickedly and lying to JEHOVAH,
And departing
away from our God;
Speaking
oppression and treason;
Conceiving
and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 And judgement is turned away backward,
And justice
standeth afar off.
Truth is
fallen in the street,
And equity
cannot enter.
15* Yea, truth faileth, and the forsaker of evil becometh a prey:
And JEHOVAH
saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgement.
16 And he saw that there was no man,
And he
wondered that there was no intercessor;
Therefore his own arm brought salvation,
And his
justice, it upheld him.
17 For he put on justice as a breastplate,
And an helmet of salvation upon his head:
And he put on
the garments of vengeance for clothing;
And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18* According to their deeds, so will he
repay:
Fury to his
adversaries, recompense to his enemies:
To the islands he will repay recompense.
19 They of the west shall fear the Name of JEHOVAH:
And they of
the sunrise, his glory:
* For his wrath shall come as a
violent river,
From JEHOVAH with indignation shall he come.
20 And the Deliverer shall
come out of
And shall turn away ungodliness from
Jacob.
21 For this is my covenant with them,
When I take away their sins, saith JEHOVAH:
My Spirit, which is upon
thee,
And my words, which I have put into thy mouth;
Shall not depart out of thy
mouth,
Nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith
JFHOVAH;
From henceforth and for
ever.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 59
[Page 319]
The present section of prophecy
relates ultimately to the last state of iniquity of the Jews in their own land
before the wrath of God breaks forth on them.
They are described as persecuting even to death the people of God, as
lying and unjust.
Because of these things God shall leave them to themselves, to
grope in darkness, and be full of disquiet. The [Page 320] darkness mentioned is literal as well
as figurative. For thus we read in Rev. 16: 10, “And the
fifth angel poured out his vial on the seat of the Beast; and his kingdom was
full of darkness; and they gnawed
their tongues for pain, and
blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains, and their sores, and
repented not of their deeds.” This was foreshadowed
of old by the three days’ darkness in
[* NOTE. The ‘and,’
as a disjunction
separates two distinct groups – the unregenerate from the disobedient
regenerate.]
By this mighty display of his glory and power, all the
remainder of men shall fear him. Then
shall have arrived that blessed time which the apostle foretells in the Romans,
where he quotes the succeeding words of Isaiah, “And so all
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 60
1 Arise, shine forth, 0
And the glory of JEHOVAH hath risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, darkness shall
cover the earth;
And gross darkness the Gentiles;
But upon thee shall JEHOVAH
arise,
And his glory shall be seen
upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come
to thy light;
And kings
to the brightness of thy rising.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about,
And see all thy children assembled:
All thy sons come from afar;
And thy daughters shall be
carried upon the shoulder.
5 Then shalt thou see, and be awed with surprise,
And thy heart be in
ecstasy;
Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to
thee;
The forces of the Gentiles
shall come unto thee.
6 The multitudes of camels shall cover thee,
The dromedaries of Midian and Ephah;
All they of
And shall show forth the
salvation of JEHOVAH.
7 All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered unto thee;
And the rams of Nebaioth
shall minister unto thee;
They shall go up wit
acceptance on mine altar,
*And my house
of majesty I will glorify,
8 Who these that fly as a cloud,
And like doves with their
young unto me?
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me,
And the ships of Tarshish
first,
To bring thy sons from far,
Their silver and their gold with them
Unto the name of JEHOVAH thy God,
And to the Holy One of
Because he hath glorified
thee.
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls,
And their kings shall
minister unto thee:
For in my wrath I smote
thee,
But in my favour have I had
mercy on thee:
11 Therefore shall thy gates be open continually;
They shall
not be shut day nor night:
That men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles,
And that
their kings may be brought.
12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee
shall perish;
Yea, those
nations shall be utterly wasted.
13 The glory of
The fir-tree,
the pine-tree, and the box together,
To beautify
the place of my sanctuary,
And to make glorious the place of my feet.
14 The sons also of them that afflicted thee,
Shall come bending unto
thee;
And all they that despised
thee
Shall bow themselves down at
the soles of thy feet:
And they shall call thee, The city of
The
15 Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated,
* So that no man went through thee,
I will make thee an eternal excellency,
A joy of many generations.
16 Thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles,
And eat the riches of kings;
And thou shalt know that I,
JEHOVAH, am thy Saviour,
And thy
Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
17 For brass I will bring gold;
And for iron I will bring
silver;
And for wood, brass;
And for stones, iron;
I will make thine officers,
peace;
And thine exactors,
righteousness.
18 Violence
shall no more be heard in thy land,
Wasting nor destruction in thy borders:
But thou shalt call thy walls, Salvation,
* And thy gates, Praise.
19 The sun shall no more be thy light by day;
Neither for brightness shall the moon give light
unto thee:
But JEHOVAH shall be thine
everlasting light,
And thy God thy glory.
20 Thy sun shall no more go
down;
Neither shall thy moon withdraw itself:
For JEHOVAH shall be thine
everlasting light,
And the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
21 Also thy people shall be all
righteous:
For ever shall they inherit the earth,
The branch of my planting,
the work of my hands,
That I may be glorified.
A little one shall become a
thousand,
And a small one a strong
nation,
I, JEHOVAH will hasten it in its time.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 60
[Page 320]
With the return of the Saviour as the “Deliverer” of
The interpretation of Procopius
on the former verses is here submitted to the reader’s attention: “He announces
to them that sit in darkness, the coming of the light of Christ; a declaration
which is suitable not merely to his first coming, but also to his second, of
which the Saviour saith, ‘And then shall they
see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven;’ and by his angels he assures us that he will gather his elect from
every side; and again, ‘When the Son of Man
shall come in his glory.’ Then he speaks of the judgement of the
righteous and the ungodly, under the figure of sheep and goats, and the
delivering up of the one to the fire and of the other invited unto the new ‘Age;’ wherein shall not be
any corporeal sources of light, for Christ himself, the ‘Sun of Righteousness,’ shall
suffice for enlightening. And then,
according to the words of most holy Paul, ‘The
dead in Christ shall rise first,’ and they
which are alive and remain shall meet Christ in the clouds. To such then, addressing himself, he says, ‘Shine, 0
The Saviour’s return shall be the signal
for the restoration of
But the exposition given by Procopius is also worthy of the
reader’s consideration, “‘Who are these that fly as a cloud?’ This Paul has made clear, when he said, ‘We shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air, and so shall we be ever with the Lord;’ being joined, that is, to the assembly of those of the ancient people
who did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, who also, being represented
as beholding the upward flight of the saved from among the Gentiles, wonder at
the multitude thereof.”
So great shall be the peace of those
days, that the gates of
The Jews, moreover, from being the
despised, shall become the admired of all nations, and all shall press forward
to serve them. Then shall God pour out
his blessing, and for “brass bring gold, and for iron silver,” as it was remarked in the typical
reign of Solomon, “And all the vessels of the house of the
The 19th verse, however, will probably at that time receive but a commencing
fulfilment, as it is only of the final state of the blessed that it is said, “And the city had no need of
the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten
it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” (Rev.
21: 23.)
Lastly, the mighty increase of the
Jews is promised, for then shall be fulfilled to the letter the promise to
Abraham of the multitude of his seed.
But as the spiritual and the natural Israel shall then be united, the
words of Procopius, in his comment
on the 21st
verse, are here added, “Us, then,
the people of the Church, Christ himself justifieth by grace, and we are the ‘planting’ of ‘his hands,’ who hath grafted
us into the good olive-tree. At present,
indeed, during this age, the glory of the saints is hidden, but in the future,
the least of them shall rule over very many, in which prospect the saints
rejoicing say, ‘He hath subjected the nations
unto us, and the people under our feet.’ And this shall take place, when I gather them
at my descent from heaven, and they shall be caught up in the clouds to meet me.”
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 61
1 The Spirit of JEHOVAH is upon me,
Because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor;
He hath sent me to heal the
broken-hearted,
To preach deliverance to the
captives,
And recovery of sight to the
blind;
To set at liberty them that are bruised;
2 To preach the acceptable
year of JEHOVAH,
And the day of vengeance of our God:
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in
The garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness
That they
might be called trees of righteousness,
The planting
of JEHOVAH, that he might be glorified.
4 And they
shall build the old wastes;
They shall raise up the former
desolations;
And they shall repair the waste cities,
The desolations of many
generations.
5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks.
And the sons of the alien be
your ploughmen and vinedressers.
6 But ye shall be named the priests of JEHOVAH;
Men shall call you the ministers of our God:
Ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,
And in their wealth shall ye boast yourselves.
7 For your shame and confusion,
Ye shall possess a double inheritance in your land;
Therefore shall they
possess their land the second time,
And everlasting joy shall be
upon their heads.
8 For I, JEHOVAH, love
judgement:
I hate the robbery of injustice;
But I will render unto the just their doings,
And make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles,
And their offspring among
the nations;
All that see them shall
acknowledge them,
That they
are the seed which JEHOVAH hath blessed.
10 I will greatly rejoice in JEHOVAH,
My soul shall be joyful in
my God:
For he hath clothed me with
the garments of salvation;
He hath covered me with the
robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decketh
himself with ornaments,
And as a
bride adorneth herself with jewels.
11 For as the earth bringeth
forth her flower,
And as the garden causeth the things sown in it to
spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness
And praise to spring forth before all the nations.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 61
[Page 323]
The
commencing verses of this chapter were read by our blessed Saviour in the
synagogue at
Then shall the former desolations of
The other promises of the chapter do not require explanation,
but follow readily in the train of the observations made above.
* *
*
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 62
1 For
And for
Until the Just One come forth as the light,
And her Saviour as a lamp
that burneth.
2 And the Gentiles shall see thy Just One,
And all kings thy Renowned
One:
And thou shalt be called by
a new name,
Which the
mouth of JEHOVAH shall name.
3 Thou shalt also be a crown
of glory in the hand of JEHOVAH,
And a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.
4 Thou shalt no more be termed, Forsaken;
Neither shall thy land any more be
called, Desolate:
But thou shalt be called, My
Delight (Hephzi-bah);
And thy land, The Married
(Beulah);
For JEROVAH hath delighted
in thee,
And thy land shall be
inhabited.
5 For as a young man marrieth
a virgin,
So shall thy sons dwell with thee;
And as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the
bride,
So shall thy God rejoice over thee.
6 I have set watchmen upon thy walls, 0
Which
shall not hold their peace day nor night;
Ye that mention JEHOVAH,
keep not silence,
7 And give him no rest, Till he shall establish and make
8 JEHOVAH hath sworn by his
right hand,
And by the arm of his strength;
Surely no more will I give thy corn for meat to thy
foes,
Nor shall the sons of the alien drink thy wine,
For which thou hast laboured.
9 But they that have gathered (corn)
Shall eat it, and praise
JEHOVAH:
And they that have collected
(wine)
Shall
drink it in my courts of holiness.
10 Go through, go through my
gates;
Prepare ye a way for my
people;
Cast up, cast up the highway;
Gather out the stones,
Lift up a standard to the Gentiles.
11 For behold, JEHOVAH hath
proclaimed unto the world’s end,
Say ye to the daughter of
Behold, thy Saviour cometh!
Behold, his reward
is with him,
And his work before his
face.
12 And they shall call them, The Holy People,
The redeemed of JEHOVAH:
And thou shalt be called, Sought out;
A city not
forsaken.
* * *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 62
[Page 325]
The sixty-second section is a continuation of the preceding, and
literally taken scarcely requires an exposition. The Father promises at its
commencement that “the Just One” his Son, shall be sent forth for
The latter part describes the Saviour’s advent, and the
highway made for his people “from
Lastly, Jerome
confesses that the Christians of his day understood this of “the last
time, when after the fulness of the Gentiles,
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTERS 63 & 64
1 Who is this that cometh from
With dyed garments from Bozrah?
He that is so glorious in
his apparel,
Travelling in the greatness
of his strength?
I, the Word of
Righteousness; mighty to save
2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel?
And thy garments like him
that treadeth the wine-vat?
3 I have trodden the
wine-press alone:
And of the nations was there none on my side,
So I will tread them down in mine anger,
*And trample them in my fury!
And their blood shall be sprinkled on my garments,
And I will stain all my raiment.
4 For the day of vengeance is in my heart,
And the year of my redeemed
is come.
5 And I looked, but there was none to help,
And I wondered, but there
was none to uphold;
Therefore mine own arm
brought salvation,
And my fury, it upheld me.
6 And I will tread down the nations in mine anger,
And make them drunk in my
fury:
And will bring down their
blood to the earth.
7 I will make mention of the mercies of JEHOVAH,
And the praises of JEHOYAH;
For all things that he hatil rendered unto us:
JEHOVAH is a just judge to
the house of lsrael;
He rendereth
to us according to his mercies,
According
to the multitude of his loving-kindness.
8 For he said, Surely they are my
people,
Children
that will not lie; so he was their Saviour.
9 From all their affliction, not an
ambassador
Nor an angel saved them, but
he himself;
Because he loved them, and
pitied them,
Himself redeemed and bare
them up,
And
carried them all the days of old.
10 But they rebelled and vexed
his Holy Spirit,
Therefore was he turned to
be their enemy, and fought against them.
11 Then he remembered the days of old,
Moses and his people, (saying,)
Where is he that led up out
of the sea,
The
shepherd with his fock?
Where is he that put in them his Holy Spirit?
12 That led by his right hand,
Moses -
the arm of his glory.
Dividing the water before
them,
To make to himself an everlasting name?
13 That led them through the deep, and they stumbled not,
As a horse (passing) through the desert,
And as a beast through the
plain.
14 The Spirit descended from
JEHOVAH, - and gave them rest;
So leddest thou thy people,
To make thyself a name of
glory.
15 Look down from heaven,
And behold from thy habitation of holiness and glory:
Where is thy zeal and strength?
The multitude of thy mercies
and compassions to us,
Are they restrained?
16 For thou art our Father,
Because Abraham knoweth us
not,
And
But do thou, JEHOVAH, our
Father, redeem us!
From the beginning was thy name upon us.
17 0 JEHOVAH, why hast thou
made us err from thy ways,
And hardened our heart from thy fear?
Return for thy servants’
sake,
The tribes of thine
inheritance.
18 Thy people have possessed
the mountain of thy holiness but a little while:
Our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
19* We have become as at the beginning,
Thou didst not rule over them:
Nor was thy name called on them.
CHAPTER 64
1 0, that that thou wouldst
rend the heavens, and come down!
The mountains should tremble
at thy presence
And melt, as wax melteth before the fire!
2 And fire should burn up
thine adversaries,
And thy name should be known
to thy foes,
And at thy face the nations be
troubled!
3 When thou shalt do terrible
things and unexpected,
And come down at thy presence the mountains shall
flow down.
4 For from the beginning, eye
hath not seen,
Nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man,
The things which God hath prepared for them that
love him.
5 For mercy shall meet those that do justly,
(And)
that remember thee in thy ways:
Behold, thou hast been angry; for we have sinned:
Therefore have we gone astray.
6 And we are all as an unclean thing,
And all our righteousness is
as filthy rags
And we all do fade as a
leaf,
And our iniquities, like the
wind, have carried us away.
7 And none calleth upon thy name,
Nor remembereth to lay hold
on thee,
For thou hast hid thy face
from us:
And
delivered us up because of our transgressions.
8 But now, 0 JEHOVAH, thou art
our father,
We are the clay, and thou our potter;
And the work of thine hands are
we all.
9 Be not wroth very sore, 0 JEHOVAH!
Neither remember
iniquity for ever:
And now behold, we beseech
thee;
For we are
all thy people.
10 The city of thine Holy One is become deserted;
11 Our holy and beautiful house,
Wherein our fathers praised
thee,
Is burned up with fire;
And all our glorious things
are laid waste.
12* Wilt thou refrain thyself for all these things, JEHOVAH?
Wilt thou hold thy peace,
and afflict us very sore?
* * *
EXPOSITIONS
CHAPTERS 63 & 64
[Page 325]
“Many of our party” (the
Christians), confesses Jerome, “refer this to the consummation of the world. They think that this is to be accomplished in
the second advent of the Saviour, who is described as victorious and bloody; in
which (advent) his voice is heard as judging, yea fighting and slaying, his own
enemies and those of his people.”
Indeed, what other interpretation will it bear? It cannot refer to the scene on the cross,
for the hero of this prophecy is one coming in the greatness of splendour and
might, whereas Jesus on the cross was abased to the lowest depths of sorrow,
pain, and desertion of God. Here he is
represented as trampling his enemies in his fury and staining his apparel with
their blood.
The time, therefore, is that of the second
advent: the interlocutor, as Dr.
Henderson well observes, “the Divine Logos, or Speaker, who from the
beginning, revealed the will of God to men: and as the Angel or Messenger of [Page 326] the Divine Presence, acted as the protector and Saviour of
ancient
But why he is said to come from
The whole scene so exactly corresponds with the nineteenth of
Revelation, that he must be wilfully blind, who does not recognise the same
prediction in both. The hero of the
present chapter comes “glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his
strength.” In the Apocalypse, “I saw heaven
opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat on him was called Faithful
and True, and in righteousness (‘I that speak in righteousness,’ Isaiah) he doth
judge and make war. His eyes were as a
flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns.”
In Isaiah he is called “the Speaker,” or “Word of Righteousness;” in the Apocalypse, “his name is
called the Word of God.”
Do the wondering chorus in Isaiah ask him, “wherefore he is red in his apparel?”
The same scene of vengeance does the “song of Moses” foretell. “If I whet my
glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgement; I will render vengeance
to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and
my sword shall devour flesh, (and that) with the blood of the slain and the
captive, from the beginning
of revenges on the enemy. Rejoice, 0 ye
nations, (with) his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and
will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful
to his land, and to his people.” (Dent.
32: 41-43.) Or as I would prefer to render it from the Septuagint and ancient versions, backed
in one restoration by inspired authority, “For I will whet my sword like the
lightning, and my hand shall lay hold on judgement; I will repay vengeance to
mine adversaries, and to them that hate me I will give recompence. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and
my sword shall devour flesh, from the blood of the wounded and captives; from
the head of the leaders of the enemies.
Rejoice, ye heavens, with him!
And let all the angels of God worship him! Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people! And let all the sons of God put their trust
in him, for he shall revenge the blood of his sons: and shall repay vengeance
to his enemies, and recompense them that hate him, and he shall purify
the land of his people.”
That this “song of Moses” refers to the period in question is
evidenced by a double proof from the New Testament. The first is, that immediately following the scene
of the wine-press in the fourteenth chapter it is said, “I saw as it
were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory
over the Beast, and over his
image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of
glass, having the harps of God. And they
sing
the song of Moses the servant of God,
and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great, and
marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy works, thou [Page 328] King of saints. Who
shall not fear thee, 0 Lord, and glorify thy name? for
thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for
thy judgements are made manifest.”
The second proof is derived from Heb.
1: 6, “And
when he bringeth in the First-begotten a second time (See Gk. …) into the
habitable world (See Gk. …), he saith, And
let all the angels of God worship him.” Now these words have been wilfully omitted by the Jews in this song, but
are retained by the Septuagint. It follows, then, that this song refers
to Christ’s second advent into the world, which, as we have seen,
will be for terrible vengeance on his enemies.
Yet then shall all the angels of God worship Christ, when he comes
hither with all their host, and then shall the
Gentiles rejoice together with the Jews, and the blood of the martyrs shall be
avenged, and the earth purified. For it
is a time of joy to his people, as the 7th verse of the present chapter of Isaiah
discovers: though it is a day of universal wrath to his foes. This mercy is moreover mainly seen in God’s
sending “not an angel or delegate” to relieve his saints, but his own
Son. He shall come, that bore with
“The city of
thine Holy One is become deserted,
Our holy and beautiful house
Wherein our fathers praised
thee,
Is burned up with fire.”
Even thus spake the Saviour, “
The rest of this chapter of Isaiah is a prayer for Christ’s
return, at whose presence “the mountains shall melt, and fire devour the adversaries.”
This very scene is frequently described in the
Psalms. Thus, in the hundred and
forty-fourth is a passage exactly parallel: “Bow thy
heavens, 0 Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. Cast forth
lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.” So in Psalm 46: 6: “The heathen [Gentiles] raged, the kingdoms were
moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted:” after which follows the [Page 330] description of the thousand-years’
blessedness. And as in the third verse
it is said that “trembling at Christ’s presence shall seize the mountains,” so do the Psalms prophesy. “The mountains skipped like rams, and the little
hills like lambs. Tremble, thou earth,
at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob.” (Psalm 114 4, 7.)
Similar is the prediction of Christ’s kingdom in the ninety-seventh Psalm: “A fire
goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. His
lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the
presence of the Lord, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.”
To this succeeds a prophecy of the good things to be enjoyed
at the resurrection of the righteous, in a passage cited by St. Paul in the
Epistle to the Corinthians, where, after speaking of the ignorance of the world
and its princes of the “hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world, unto our
glory,” he adds,
that this happens in fulfilment of the words of Jehovah: “Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things
which God bath prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them to us by his Spirit.” (1 Cor. 2: 9,
10.) To a like effect is the testimony of Daniel, in
speaking of these very mysteries of Christ’s coming: “None of the
wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” (Dan. 12: 10.)
*
* *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 65
1 I was found of them that
sought me not:
I was made manifest unto
them that asked not for me.
I said, Behold
me, Behold me,
To a people that was not
called by my name.
2 All day long have I stretched forth my hands
Unto a disobedient and
gainsaying people,
Walking in a way that is not
good,
But after their own
transgressions;
3* This
people that provoketh me continually to my face,
That
sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on brick (altars) unto devils.
4 That dwell in the tombs,
And sleep in caves to obtain
visions:
That eat swine’s flesh, and drink
broth of their sacrifices:
Defiled are all their
vessels.
5 Who say, Stand afar off from me;
Come not nigh unto me: for I
am holier than thou.
These are a smoke in my nose,
A fire that burneth every
day.
6 Behold, it is written before me;
I will not desist until I repay
them double into their bosom
7 The iniquities of themselves
and of their fathers together,
Who burned incense on the mountains,
And blasphemed me on the
hills:
Therefore will I measure their former work into
their bosom.
8 Thus saith JEHOVAH, as the green berry is found in
the grape-bunch,
And men say, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it;
*So will I do for my servants’ sake,
That I may not destroy them
all.
9 And I will bring forth
a seed out of Jacob,
And out of Judah an
inheritor of my holy mountain;
And mine elect shall inherit
it,
And my servant shall dwell
there.
10And
And the
For my people that have
sought me.
11 But ye have forsaken JEHOVAH,
And forgotten my holy
mountain;
Ye prepare for the Devil a
table,
And fill up a drink offering
to Fortune.
12 Therefore will I number you
to the sword,
And ye shall
all bow down to the slaughter:
Because when
I called ye did not answer:
When I spake,
ye did not hear,
But did evil
before mine eyes,
And chose that wherein I delighted not.
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH,
Behold, my servants shall
eat,
But ye shall be hungry:
Behold, my servants shall
drink,
But ye shall be thirsty:
Behold, my servant shall
rejoice,
But ye shall be ashamed:
14 Behold,
my servants shall sing for joy of heart;
But ye shall
cry for sorrow of heart,
And howl for vexation of spirit.
15 And ye shall leave your name for a curse to mine
elect,
For the Lord
JEHOVAH shall slay you:
And shall
call his servants by another name,
16 So that he who blesseth himself on
the earth,
Shall bless himself in the
God of truth:
And he that sweareth on the
earth,
Shall swear by the God of
truth;
For they shall forget the former
tribulations,
Even
because they are hidden from their eyes.
17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth,
And the former shall not be
remembered,
Nor come into their mind.
18* But be ye glad and rejoice for ever
in my creation;
For, behold,
I make
And my people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in
And joy in
my people.
And the
voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her,
Nor the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more there one born prematurely,
Nor an old man that hath not
filled his days:
For the youth shall be an
hundred years of age,
But the sinner that dieth at
a hundred years shall be accursed.
And they shall build houses,
and inhabit them;
And they shall plant
vineyards,
And eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and others inhabit;
They shall not plant, and
others eat:
For as the days of the tree
of life
Shall be the days of my
people,
*And mine elect shall long enjoy the
works of their hands.
23 They shall not labour in
vain,
Nor bring forth unto a curse,
For they are a seed blessed by God,
And their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass,
That before
they call I will answer,
*And while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25 Then the wolf and the lamb shall feed together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the bullock:
But dust shall be the serpent’s meat.
They shall not hurt nor
destroy
In all my holy mountain,
saith JEHOVAH.
* *
*
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 65
[Page 330]
The opening verses of the sixty-fifth chapter are thus quoted
in the Epistle to the Romans: “But I say, Did not
Again the transgressions of the latter days are brought before
our eyes - rites of demonolatry and sorcery. For these the Lord shall be wroth, and send
his judgements upon the nation. To which
succeed the promises of joy to the righteous: “All which things,” says Jerome, “the Chiliasts [as he calls the Christians of his day who held Millennarian
opinions] think
shall take place in the thousand years.” The seventeenth verse declares that there shall be “new heavens
and new earth,” a
promise of which there will be a commencing fulfilment in the Millennium: for
the earth will then be renovated. But its full accomplishment is not to take place till after the
destruction of the present world, as we learn from Rev. 21: 1: “And I
saw a new heaven, and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away: and there was no
more sea.” (Compare also chap. 20: 11.)
During the thousand years, we are informed that the life of
the inhabitants of the earth shall be lengthened to the time of the
antediluvian patriarchs; so that a hundred years shall be reckoned boyhood. The declaration that the “sinner dying
even at that age shall be accursed,” appears to refer to the time, when after his binding, Satan
shall go forth and deceive mankind again, and sin again shall enter, [Page 332] be finally punished, and, (blessed be God!) everlastingly removed!
This was the ancient interpretation, as Procopius discovers to us. “Some explain
the declaration that there shall not be there one premature or aged, in the
following manner: that all those who attain to my
resurrection shall be perfect and vigorous in soul, so that there
shall be nothing imperfect, or infantile, or aged, but all equals in age, as
obtaining at the same period the resurrection, and partaking of one regeneration.
The adult then that is saved, will be
young, and will find him that is lost of the same age with himself. … Then, also,
they who by their works have prepared themselves habitations, shall obtain them,
and enjoy their own labours, cultivating their own fruits, fearless of any
stranger seizing on the result of their labours, but shall live in endless
enjoyment of life; ‘according to the days of the
tree of life;’ which words intimate also that the promises made in Paradise will be fulfilled, and that he that obtains them will be immortal, not growing old.” Yet the distinction should be made between those living on the earth, or
born into the world at that time, and the risen [resurrected] saints. It is of the former of these that the text appears
specially to speak;
though the remarks of Procopius are
also worthy of attention, as applying to those who have received their
spiritual bodies. Nor must it be supposed
that all will be equal in rank. Analogy
and Scripture both combine to declare, that “as one star differeth from another
star in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.”
The rest of the promises are intelligible at once, if taken
literally. The intimation that “dust shall be
the serpent’s meat” is highly worthy of observation, and discovers the far-reaching eye of God,
who, in the first promise in the garden, bound up together in a few simple and
ordinary words the history of our world, connecting together the commencement
with the close of his dispensations! For
then shall the bruising of Satan’s head, begun by the Lord’s death, be
effectually performed; and the time of Millennial blessedness is distinctly
notified in the curse then entailed on the serpent, “dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” The former part of its curse was literally and
at once fulfilled, “upon thy belly shalt thou go;” whence we learn that it once had
feet: but the curse [Page 333] that its meat should be dust, has
never yet been accomplished. The fulfilment of this is
reserved till the thousand years: but a pledge was given of the fulfilment of
the whole, by an immediate accomplishment of a part. Finally, Jerome
reinforces this interpretation by his testimony that the Jews and early Christians understood these
things literally.
* * *
TRANSLATION
CHAPTER 66
1 Thus saith JEHOVAH -
Heaven is my throne,
And earth my footstool.
What is the house ye will
build me? saith JEHOVAH,
Or what is the place of my
rest?
2 Hath not my hand made all
these things?
And are not these things mine? saith
JEHOVAH.
But to whom shall I look,
But to the humble and
contrite of spirit,
And that trembleth at my
words?
3 But the ungodly that sacrificeth to
me a calf,
Is as if he murdered a man;
He that offereth a sheep,
as if he slew a dog;
He that presenteth
a flour-offering, as if it were swine’s blood.
He that offereth
frankincense, as if he were a blasphemer.
As these have chosen their
own ways,
And their soul delighteth in
their own abominations,
4* I also will choose their delusions,
*And will bring their fears upon them:
Because when I called, none did answer:
When I spake, they did not hear;
But they did evil before
mine eyes,
And chose that in which I
delighted not.
5 Hear the word of JEHOVAH,
ye that tremble at his word:
Say unto your brethren that hate and cast you out
for my Name’s sake,
JEHOVAH shall be glorified!
Yea, he shall appear to your joy:
But they shall be ashamed:
6. A sound of noise from the city
A voice from the temple! a voice of JEHOVAH,
Rendering
recompense to his enemies.
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth;
Before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child.
8 Who hath heard such a thing?
Or who hath seen it thus?
Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as
She brought forth her children.
9* Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith JEHOVAIL
Have I not made both the fertile and the barren? saith your God.
10 Rejoice with
All ye
that love her. Rejoice with joy with her,
All ye
that mourn on her behalf.
11 That ye may suck, and be
satisfied
With the breast of her consolation;
That ye may milk out, and be
delighted
*With the abundance of her glory.
12 For thus saith JEHOVAH:
*Behold, I will turn peace upon her as
a river;
And like a flowing stream the glory of the Gentiles.
Then shall ye suck, ye shall
be borne on her shoulders
And on her
knees, caressed.
13 As one whom his mother
comforteth,
So will I comfort you;
And ye shall be comforted in
14 And when ye see (this)
your heart shall rejoice,
And your bones flourish like an herb;
And the hand of JEHOVAH shall be known to his
servants;
And his indignation towards
his enemies.
15 For, behold! JEHOVAH
shall come with fire;
And with his chariots like a whirlwind:
To render his anger with
fury,
And his rebuke with flames
of fire.
16 For by the fire of JEHOVAH shall all the earth be judged;
And by his sword all flesh
shall fall;
And the slain of JEHOVAH shall
be many.
17 They that sanctify and purify themselves in the gardens.
And behind the doors eat swine’s flesh.
And the abomination, and the mouse,
Shall perish together, saith JEHOVAH.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts
I come to gather all nations
and tongues;
And they shall come and see
my glory.
19 And I will set on them a sign,
And I will send forth those
that escape of them,
Unto the Gentiles - to
Tarshish, and Pul, and Lud,
*And Meshech, and Tubal,
and Javan,
And to the isles afar off,
That have not heard my fame,
Nor seen my glory:
And they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
20 And they shall bring all your brethren,
As a present to JEHOVAH out
of all nations,
On horses and in chariots,
and in litters,
And upon mules with
panniers,
Unto my holy city
As the children of
With
instruments of song unto the house of JEHOVAH.
21 And I will take of them priests and Levites, saith
JEHOVAH.
22 For as the new heavens and the new earth,
Which I shall
make, shall remain before me, saith JEHOVAH;
So shall your
seed and name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass, that month by month,
And Sabbath by Sabbath, all
flesh shall come,
To worship before me in
24 And they shall go forth and look on the carcases
Of the men
that have transgressed against me;
For their
worm shall not die, nor their fire be quenched:
*But they shall be an abhorring to all
flesh.
* * *
EXPOSITION
CHAPTER 66
[Page 333]
St. Stephen adduces
the opening words of this chapter, in his sermon to the Jews, as follows: “But Solomon built him an house. Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples
made with hands: as saith the prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my
footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the
Lord: or what is the place of my rest? Hath
not my hand made all these things? Ye stiffnecked
and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as
your fathers did, so do ye.” (Acts
7: 47-5l.) Therefore, from
the tenor of this passage, it appears that it was intended to reprove the
Jewish nation for boasting of the possession of the temple
of the Lord, while they were in their hearts “uncircumcised and stiffnecked.” And precisely thus does Isaiah continue his
rebuke: “But to whom shall I look but to the humble
and contrite of spirit, and that trembleth at my word?” Thus were they taught that the [humble
and obedient] “believer” is the “temple of the Holy Ghost,” in which, after a peculiar and
intimate sense, God will dwell. Its prophetic reference may be twofold,
either as a warning to the Jews when returned in unbelief to their own land,
reconstructing the temple, and restoring its sacrifices, that a building
will not cause Jehovah to
dwell among them, seeing he will not dwell with any but the contrite in heart. It may also have a reference to the Millennial
times; and as
After giving utterance to this sentiment, consolation is
offered to the believers in Jesus, who “are abhorred for his name’s sake” - words which clearly designate the
time of which this is spoken, as the time of Great Tribulation and of persecution
on account of belief in Christ Jesus. For
thus did the Saviour predict of the times preceding his coming, in words almost
identical with those quoted above. “Then shall
they deliver you up to be afflicted
and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s
sake!” But the coincidence is yet more exact, for it is “their
brethren” that
abhor them; and thus the Lord prophesies, “Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks,
and some of you they shall cause to be put to death.” (Luke 21: 16.) So in another place, “And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child, and
children shall rise up against their, parents, and cause them to be put to
death. And ye shall be hated of all men
for my name’s sake.” (Matt. 10: 21, 22.) Then shall be
fulfilled also that which is written in John 16: 1, 2, “These things have I spoken unto
you, that ye should not be offended. They
shall put you out of the synagogues: yea the time cometh, that whosoever killeth
you shall think that he doeth God service.” Yet in the midst of the saints’ trouble, Christ “shall appear
to their joy,” and
the persecutors shall be ashamed. Immediately
after follows the description of that coming, [Page 335] in the sound of Christ’s vengeance in
the city and
Take also the coinciding interpretation of Procopius on the 15th verse. “Having declared the promises to
believers, and the threats to unbelievers, he now exhibits his glorious coming,
and proclaims that he will come with ‘the glory
of his Father and his angels’ to judge the
living and the dead. By the word ‘chariots’ he means his angels
and attendant powers, as it is written in the Psalms, ‘The chariots of
God are ten thousandfold, even thousands of the happy ones’ [‘of angels,’ our
translation.] And
as a whirlwind shall he come to them that are worthy of vengeance. And his ‘rebuke’ signifies the rejection of those to whom he will say, ‘Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.’”
That by the “sword of Jehovah and his devouring fire all flesh
shall be judged,”
has been frequently proved before. His
especial vengeance shall fall on those who addict themselves to magical and
forbidden practices.
For Christ comes “to gather all
nations and tongues,” as he foretels in his parable of the sheep and
goats.
“When the Son of Man shall come in his glory and all
his holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the
throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations (‘all the Gentiles,’ [See Gk. …]), and he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats.” (Matt. 25: 31, 32.) In which parable the “judgement of
the quick,” or of
those living on earth, and of the risen saints, is foreshown.
Subsequently is a prediction of the bringing back of
“At that season a
present shall be brought to Jehovah of hosts,
Even a people dragged away
and plucked,
A people terrible from their
beginning hitherto,
A nation always expectant,
yet trodden under foot,
Whose land rivers have spoiled,
Unto the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, Mount
Zion.”
After this it is promised that as the final abode of the
blessed shall ever remain unshaken before God, so shall the name and seed of
To be continued, D.V. …