21 The LORD is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honourable. 24 Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the LORD, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were they obedient unto his law. 25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to 22 But this is a people robbed and spoiled; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore. 23 Who among you will give ear to this? who will hearken and hear for the time to come? heart. LECTURE 1150. Against being ashamed of God and of his Gospel. St. Matthew quotes the first verses of this chapter as fulfilled in our Lord's ministry. See Matt. 12. 18-20. Here then it is foretold, that the Messiah would impart true religion "to the Gentiles." And He would convert them not by violent means, but by the power of gentleness and love. His success in this marvellous undertaking is set forth. And the ground of his succeeding is declared to be no less than the appointment, the purpose, and the covenant, of the God of heaven and earth; who resolves, and proclaims long before, that the Gentiles shall not always be in darkness, that his glory shall not be given perpetually to others, but that a new and better order of things shall be established in the world. Hereupon the most remote inhabitants of the earth are called on to sing unto the Lord a new song, and to declare his praise from beyond the mountains and the seas. And the benefits for which they must glorify his name are stated by God; namely, his going forth with power to overthrow idolatry, his abolishing that worship of rival gods which He had long put up with, see Acts 17. 30, his renovating the spiritual condition of mankind, his giving sight to the blind, and hearing to the deaf, and his not forsaking those whom He thus enlightened and renewed. But upon this enlightening of the Gentiles, the Jews, who had been chosen, and trained, and commissioned, to be messengers of the truth unto their brethren, would prove more blind than they. Though the Gospel would in reality greatly glorify the Lord, the Jews, out of a mistaken and perverse zeal for their own dispensation, would reject their Messiah. And in consequence they would be given up by God to various calamities here mentioned, and which, as all the world well knows, they have now for many centuries been enduring. God forbid then, that we should ever risk the guilt of rejecting our Saviour, of crucifying our King! God grant, that as we have been so far enlightened as to be ashamed of images and of false gods, we may have the grace to glorify his name, by never being ashamed of Him, or of his truth, never deterred by shame from doing that which is pleasing in his sight! The Lord promiseth to recall his dispersed people. 1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, 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 will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 3 For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. 4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. 5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; 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 created have ears. 9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them. can declare this, and shew 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 the LORD, 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 formed, neither shall there be after me. 11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. 12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. 13 Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let it? LECTURE 1151. The Jews witnesses to the truth of God's word. Though it is the object of Isaiah, in this part of his prophecies, to speak comfortably to Jerusalem, yet he is far from saying, Peace, when there is no peace. And as at the close of the last chapter he put on record a fearful threatening, so here also he implies, that God's people must pass through many a severe trial of affliction, which he describes under the figures of waters, and rivers, fire, and flame. But at the same time, he charges them, in the name of the Lord, not to be dismayed, never to despair. For God, they might be assured, would be ever with them, to protect them in all dangers, and to bring them out at last in safety from all their tribulations. If we apply this promise to the case of their captivity in Babylon, we cannot but be struck by its literal fulfilment in the instance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; of whom it is testified, that upon their bodies "the fire had no power," and who, though cast down bound into the furnace, were seen "loose, walking in the midst of the fire," and with them one of whom it was said, "the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." Dan. 3. 25, 27. In the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon God speaks of giving Egypt, Ethiopia, and Seba, for their ransom. That is to say, He would give these nations into the hands of Cyrus the Persian, who had let the Jews go free. This He mentions, as one proof of that unchangeable regard, which He had from the first shewn towards his people. And thence He would have them take courage and comfort, under the afflictions of much longer continuance, which were to follow on their rejecting the Messiah; and after which, He assures them, that He would again gather them together into one, for the glory of his holy name. Such at least seems to be the event chiefly pointed out in these gracious promises. For though they might have a primary fulfilment in the return from Babylon, we cannot confine to an event like that such terms as these, "I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; 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; even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have found him; yea, I have made him." And hereupon God calls on all mankind to observe his dealings with his people. And especially He challenges the long benighted Gentiles, to say whether any such divine protection was afforded, or any such divine foreknowledge manifested, by those whom they held for gods. And He addresses his own people as his witnesses, who could testify from what they had experienced when they obeyed his will, and had no other gods but Him, how mighty He is to save, how irresistible when He purposes to destroy. And is not this same people even now a witness unto us of these very attributes of God? Is not their present actual condition, agreeing as it does so beyond all question with God's prophetic word, and with his assertion of his own omnipotence, is not this one of the most striking proofs we can conceive, that He is the one only true and eternal God? How much more, when their state shall be renewed, and their dispersion cease, and when the remnant that has survived all their calamities shall be reestablished in the favour of the Lord, how much more will they be witnesses to the word of God, so unexceptionable, and undeniable, as to compel the most reluctant to "hear, and say, It is truth!" The calling of the Gentiles, on the defection of the Jews. 14 Thus saith the LORD, your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; For your sake I have sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their nobles, and the Chaldeans, whose cry is in the ships. 15 I am the LORD, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. 16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; 17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. 18 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. 19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 20 The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. 21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. 22 But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. 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, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices: but thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. 25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. 26 Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified. 27 Thy first father hath sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. 28 Therefore I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to reproaches. LECTURE 1152. Duties accompany the privileges of God's people. In proof of the regard which He felt towards his people, God here appeals to their deliverance from captivity in Babylon; speaking of a thing future as though it were already past; it being sure, when his word had spoken it. He appeals also to that which He had done in redeeming them from the land of Egypt, making for them a pathway through the sea, and overwhelming their enemies, with their chariots and horse, in the mighty waters. But marvellous as were these acts, He here speaks of them as scarcely worth remembering, compared with a new thing which He would now next perform, a redemption which He would bring to pass, far exceeding all others that He had ever wrought, and for a people who would "shew forth his praise." This also is to be a chosen people, a people formed by God for himself, foreknown, called, justified, glorified; a people taken from them that were no people, gathered from among the wild inhabitants of the wilderness, in which God would make the rivers of his goodness to flow, and wherein the most unlikely and unpromising of his creatures would be found willing to give honour to his name. This prophecy, of the Church to be gathered from among the Gentiles, seems designed to provoke the Jews to a holy emulation, and godly jealousy. See Rom. 11. 11. For it is straightway followed by a severe expostulation with the children of Israel according to the flesh, for neglecting to worship God as they ought to do, and for being weary of serving Him according to his will. They are charged with not offering the appointed sacrifices; instead of honouring God, rather burdening Him with their sins. In aggravation of their sinfulness, they are reminded, how often He had forgiven their transgressions, they are assured how willing He is ever to forgive. They are invited to put God in remembrance, if they could think of any one thing that would excuse their misdeeds, that so they might be justified. They are told "Thy first father hath sinned;" which words perhaps allude to Jacob's guile in obtaining Isaac's blessing. And it is added, "thy teachers have transgressed against me," as it is likewise testified in Jeremiah, "The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means.' "Jer. 5. 31. And for these things, God declares, that He has resolved to give up to profanation his sanctuary, and them that minister in it; yea, to deliver over the whole people to the curse and to reproaches. Awfully was this divine purpose fulfilled when first their temple was levelled to the ground, after many a long intermission of the sacrifices appointed in the Law. And when in later times this people obstinately refused to acknowledge the fulfilment of the Law in the Gospel, and to honour God and worship Him accordingly, these words were still more awfully fulfilled once more. Let us then, who have been chosen in their place, "be not high minded, but fear." Rom. 11. 20. In succeeding to their privileges, we have also succeeded to their duties. And surely we shall succeed to their judgments also, if instead of shewing forth God's praise we do dishonour to his name, if instead of rendering Him our devoted service with a willing heart, we do as far as in us lies cause Him to serve with our sins, and weary Him with our iniquities. PART VII. O. T. I |