mh_parser/vol_split/23 - Isaiah/Chapter 48.xml

<div2 id="Is.xlix" n="xlix" next="Is.l" prev="Is.xlviii" progress="18.14%" title="Chapter XLVIII">
<h2 id="Is.xlix-p0.1">I S A I A H.</h2>
<h3 id="Is.xlix-p0.2">CHAP. XLVIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Is.xlix-p1" shownumber="no">God, having in the foregoing chapter reckoned with
the Babylonians, and shown them their sins and the desolation that
was coming upon them for their sins, to show that he hates sin
wherever he finds it and will not connive at it in his own people,
comes, in this chapter, to show the house of Jacob their sins, but,
withal, the mercy God had in store for them notwithstanding; and he
therefore sets their sins in order before them, that by their
repentance and reformation they might be prepared for that mercy.
I. He charges them with hypocrisy in that which is good and
obstinacy in that which is evil, especially in their idolatry,
notwithstanding the many convincing proofs God had given them that
he is God alone, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.47.1-Isa.47.8" parsed="|Isa|47|1|47|8" passage="Isa 47:1-8">ver.
1-8</scripRef>. II. He assures them that their deliverance would be
wrought purely for the sake of God's own name and not for any merit
of theirs, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.47.9-Isa.47.11" parsed="|Isa|47|9|47|11" passage="Isa 47:9-11">ver. 9-11</scripRef>.
III. He encourages them to depend purely upon God's power and
promise for this deliverance, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.47.12-Isa.47.15" parsed="|Isa|47|12|47|15" passage="Isa 47:12-15">ver.
12-15</scripRef>. IV. He shows them that, as it was by their own
sin that they brought themselves into captivity, so it would be
only by the grace of God that they would obtain the necessary
preparatives for their enlargement, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.47.16-Isa.47.19" parsed="|Isa|47|16|47|19" passage="Isa 47:16-19">ver. 16-19</scripRef>. V. He proclaims their
release, yet with a proviso that the wicked shall have no benefit
by it, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.47.20-Isa.47.22" parsed="|Isa|47|20|47|22" passage="Isa 47:20-22">ver. 20-22</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Is.xlix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48" parsed="|Isa|48|0|0|0" passage="Isa 48" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Is.xlix-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.1-Isa.48.8" parsed="|Isa|48|1|48|8" passage="Isa 48:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xlix-p1.8">
<h4 id="Is.xlix-p1.9">God's Expostulation with His
People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xlix-p1.10">b. c.</span> 708.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xlix-p2" shownumber="no">1 Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are
called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters
of Judah, which swear by the name of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xlix-p2.1">Lord</span>, and make mention of the God of Israel,
<i>but</i> not in truth, nor in righteousness.   2 For they
call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God
of Israel; The <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xlix-p2.2">Lord</span> of hosts
<i>is</i> his name.   3 I have declared the former things from
the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed
them; I did <i>them</i> suddenly, and they came to pass.   4
Because I knew that thou <i>art</i> obstinate, and thy neck
<i>is</i> an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;   5 I have even
from the beginning declared <i>it</i> to thee; before it came to
pass I showed <i>it</i> thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol
hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath
commanded them.   6 Thou hast heard, see all this; and will
not ye declare <i>it?</i> I have showed thee new things from this
time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.   7
They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the
day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I
knew them.   8 Yea, thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not;
yea, from that time <i>that</i> thine ear was not opened: for I
knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a
transgressor from the womb.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p3" shownumber="no">We may observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p4" shownumber="no">I. The hypocritical profession which many
of the Jews made of religion and relation to God. To those who made
such a profession the prophet is here ordered to address himself,
for their conviction and humiliation, that they might own God's
justice in what he had brought upon them. Now observe here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p5" shownumber="no">1. How high their profession of religion
soared, what a fair show they made in the flesh and how far they
went towards heaven, what a good livery they wore and what a good
face they put upon a very bad heart. (1.) They were the <i>house of
Jacob;</i> they had a place and a name in the visible church.
<i>Jacob have I loved.</i> Jacob is God's chosen; and they are not
only retainers to his family, but descendants from him. (2.) They
were <i>called by the name of Israel,</i> an honourable name; they
were of that people to whom pertained both the giving of the law
and the promises. <i>Israel</i> signifies <i>a prince with God;</i>
and they prided themselves in being of that princely race. (3.)
<i>They came forth out of the waters of Judah,</i> and thence were
called <i>Jews;</i> they were of the royal tribe, the tribe of
which Shiloh was to come, the tribe that adhered to God when the
rest revolted. (4.) They <i>swore by the name of the Lord,</i> and
thereby owned him to be the true God, and their God, and gave glory
to him as the righteous Judge of all. They <i>swore to the name of
the Lord</i> (so it may be read); they took an oath of allegiance
to him as their King and joined themselves to him in covenant. (5.)
They <i>made mention of the God of Israel</i> in their prayers and
praises; they often spoke of him, observed his memorials, and
pretended to be very mindful of him. (6.) They <i>called themselves
of the holy city,</i> and, when they were captives in Babylon,
purely from a principle of honour, and jealousy for their native
country, they valued themselves upon their interest in it. Many,
who are themselves unholy, are proud of their relation to the
church, the holy city. (7.) They <i>stayed themselves upon the God
of Israel,</i> and boasted of his promises and his covenant with
them; they <i>leaned on the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Mic.3.11" parsed="|Mic|3|11|0|0" passage="Mic 3:11">Mic. iii. 11</scripRef>. And, if they were asked
concerning their God, they could say, "<i>The Lord of hosts is his
name,</i> the Lord of all;" happy are we therefore, and very great,
who have relation to him!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p6" shownumber="no">2. How low their profession of religion
sunk, notwithstanding all this. It was all in vain; for it was all
a jest; it was <i>not in truth and righteousness.</i> Their hearts
were not true nor right in these professions. Note, All our
religious professions avail nothing further than they are made in
truth and righteousness. If we be not sincere in them, we do but
<i>take the name of the Lord our God in vain.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p7" shownumber="no">II. The means God used, and the method he
took, to keep them close to himself, and to prevent their turning
aside to idolatry. The many excellent laws he gave them, with their
sanctions, and the hedges about them, it seems, would not serve to
restrain them from that sin which did most easily beset them, and
therefore to those God added remarkable prophecies, and remarkable
providences in pursuance of those prophecies, which were all
designed to convince them that their God was the only true God and
that it was therefore both their duty and interest to adhere to
him. 1. He both dignified and favoured them with remarkable
prophecies (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.3" parsed="|Isa|48|3|0|0" passage="Isa 48:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>):
<i>I have declared the former things from the beginning.</i>
Nothing material happened to their nation from its original which
was not prophesied of before—their bondage in Egypt, their
deliverance thence, the situation of their tribes in Canaan,
&amp;c. All these things <i>went forth out of God's mouth and he
showed them.</i> Herein they were honoured above any nation, and
even their curiosity was gratified. Their prophecies were such as
they could rely upon, and such as concerned themselves and their
own nation; and they were all verified by the accomplishment of
them. <i>I did them suddenly,</i> when they were least expected by
themselves or others, and therefore could not be foreseen by any
but a divine prescience. <i>I did them and they came to pass;</i>
for what God does he does effectually. The very calamities they
were now groaning under in Babylon God did from the beginning
declare to them by Moses, as the certain consequences of their
apostasy from God, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.26.31 Bible:Deut.28.36 Bible:Deut.29.28" parsed="|Lev|26|31|0|0;|Deut|28|36|0|0;|Deut|29|28|0|0" passage="Le 26:31,De 28:36,29:28">Lev.
xxvi. 31, &amp;c.; Deut. xxviii. 36, &amp;c.; xxix. 28</scripRef>.
He also declared to them their return to God, and to their own land
again, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.30.4 Bible:Lev.26.44-Lev.26.45" parsed="|Deut|30|4|0|0;|Lev|26|44|26|45" passage="De 30:4,Le 26:44,45">Deut. xxx. 4,
&amp;c.; Lev. xxvi. 44, 45</scripRef>. Thus he showed them how he
would deal with them long before it came to pass. Let them compare
their present state together with the deliverance they had now in
prospect with what was written in the law, and they would find the
scripture exactly fulfilled. 2. He both dignified and favoured them
with remarkable providence (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.6" parsed="|Isa|48|6|0|0" passage="Isa 48:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): <i>I have shown thee new things from this time.</i>
Besides the general view given from the beginning of God's
proceedings with them, he showed them new things by the prophets of
their own day, and created them. They were <i>hidden things,</i>
which they could not otherwise know, as the prophecy concerning
Cyrus and the exact time of their release out of Babylon. These
things God <i>created now,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.7" parsed="|Isa|48|7|0|0" passage="Isa 48:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Their restoration was in effect
their creation, and they had a promise of it not from the
beginning, but of late; for to prevent their apostasy from God, or
to recover them, prophecy was kept up among them. Yet it was told
them when they could not come to the knowledge of it in any other
way than by divine revelation. "Consider," says God, "how much
soever it is talked of now among you and expected, it was told you
by the prophets, when it was the furthest thing from your thoughts,
when you had not heard it, when you had not known it, nor had any
reason to expect it, and when your ear was not opened concerning it
(<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.7-Isa.48.8" parsed="|Isa|48|7|48|8" passage="Isa 48:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>), when
the thing seemed utterly impossible, and you would scarcely have
given any one the hearing who should have told you of it." God had
shown them hidden things which were out of the reach of their
knowledge, and done for them great things, out of the reach of
their power: "Now," says he (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.6" parsed="|Isa|48|6|0|0" passage="Isa 48:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>), "<i>thou hast heard; see all this.</i> Thou hast
heard the prophecy; see the accomplishment of it, and observe
whether the word and works of God do not exactly agree; <i>and will
you not declare it,</i> that as you have heard so you have seen?
Will you not own that the Lord is the true God, the only true God,
that he has the knowledge and power which no creature has and which
none of the gods of the nations can pretend to? Will you not own
that your God has been a good God to you? Declare this to his
honour, and your own shame, who have dealt so deceitfully with him
and preferred others before him."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p8" shownumber="no">III. The reasons why God would take this
method with them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p9" shownumber="no">1. Because he would anticipate their
boastings of themselves and their idols. (1.) God by his prophets
told them beforehand of their deliverance, lest they should
attribute the accomplishment of it to their idols. Thus he saw it
necessary to secure the glory of it to himself, which otherwise
would have been given by some of them to their graven images: "I
spoke of it," says God, "<i>lest thou shouldst say, My idol has
done it or has commanded it to be done,</i>" <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.5" parsed="|Isa|48|5|0|0" passage="Isa 48:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. There were those that would be
apt to say so, and so would be confirmed in their idolatry by that
which was intended to cure them of it. But they would now be for
ever precluded from saying this; for, if the idols had done it, the
prophets of the idols would have foretold it; but, the prophets of
the Lord having foretold it, it was no doubt the power of the Lord
that effected it. (2.) God foretold it by his prophets, lest they
should assume the foresight of it to themselves. Those that were
not so profane as to have ascribed the thing itself to an idol were
yet so proud as to have pretended that by their own sagacity they
foresaw it, if God had not been beforehand with them and spoken
first: <i>Lest thou shouldst say, Behold, I knew them,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.7" parsed="|Isa|48|7|0|0" passage="Isa 48:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Thus vain men,
who would be thought wise, commonly undervalue a thing which is
really great and surprising with this suggestion, that it was no
more than they expected and they knew it would come to this. To
anticipate this, and that this boasting might for ever be excluded,
God told them of it before the day, when as yet they dreamed not of
it. God has said and done enough to prevent men's boastings of
themselves, and that <i>no flesh may glory in his presence,</i>
and, if it have not the intended effect, it will aggravate the sin
and ruin of the proud; and, sooner, or later, <i>every mouth shall
be stopped, and all flesh shall become silent before God.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p10" shownumber="no">2. Because he would leave them inexcusable
in their obstinacy. <i>Therefore</i> he took this pains with them,
because he knew they were obstinate, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.4" parsed="|Isa|48|4|0|0" passage="Isa 48:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. He knew they were so obstinate
and perverse that, if he had not supported the doctrine of
providence by prophecy, they would have had the impudence to deny
it, and would have said that their idol had done that which God
did. He knew very well, (1.) How wilful they would be, and how
fully bent they would be upon that which is evil: <i>I knew that
thou wast hard;</i> so the word is. There were prophecies as well
as precepts which God gave them because of the hardness of their
hearts: "<i>Thy neck is an iron sinew,</i> unapt to yield and
submit to the yoke of God' commandments, unapt to turn and look
back upon his dealings with thee or look up to his displeasure
against thee; not flexible to the will of God, nor pliable to his
intentions, nor manageable by his word or providence. <i>Thy brow
is brass;</i> thou art impudent and canst not blush, insolent and
wilt not fear or give back, but wilt thrust on in the way of thy
heart." God uses means to bring sinners to comply with him, though
he knows they are obstinate. (2.) How deceitful they would be and
how insincere in that which is good, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.8" parsed="|Isa|48|8|0|0" passage="Isa 48:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. God sent his prophets to them,
but they did not hear, they would not know, and it was no more than
was expected, considering what they had been. Thou <i>wast
called,</i> and not miscalled, <i>a transgressor from the womb.</i>
Ever since they were first formed into a people they were prone to
idolatry; they brought with them out of Egypt a strange
addictedness to that sin; and they were murmurers as soon as ever
they began their march to Canaan. They were justly upbraided with
it then, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.9.7 Bible:Deut.9.24" parsed="|Deut|9|7|0|0;|Deut|9|24|0|0" passage="De 9:7,24">Deut. ix. 7, 24</scripRef>.
Therefore <i>I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously.</i>
God foresaw their apostasy, and gave this reason for it, that he
had always found them false and fickle, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.31.16 Bible:Deut.31.27 Bible:Deut.31.29" parsed="|Deut|31|16|0|0;|Deut|31|27|0|0;|Deut|31|29|0|0" passage="De 31:16,27,29">Deut. xxxi. 16, 27, 29</scripRef>. This is
applicable to particular persons. We are all born children of
disobedience; we were called <i>transgressors from the womb,</i>
and therefore it is easy to foresee that we shall deal
treacherously, very treacherously. Where original sin is actual sin
will follow of course. God knows it, and yet deals not with us
according to our deserts.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.xlix-p10.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.9-Isa.48.15" parsed="|Isa|48|9|48|15" passage="Isa 48:9-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xlix-p10.6">
<h4 id="Is.xlix-p10.7">Encouragement to God's
People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xlix-p10.8">b. c.</span> 708.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xlix-p11" shownumber="no">9 For my name's sake will I defer mine anger,
and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
  10 Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have
chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.   11 For mine own
sake, <i>even</i> for mine own sake, will I do <i>it:</i> for how
should <i>my name</i> be polluted? and I will not give my glory
unto another.   12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my
called; I <i>am</i> he; I <i>am</i> the first, I also <i>am</i> the
last.   13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the
earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: <i>when</i> I
call unto them, they stand up together.   14 All ye, assemble
yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these
<i>things?</i> The <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xlix-p11.1">Lord</span> hath loved
him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm <i>shall be
on</i> the Chaldeans.   15 I, <i>even</i> I, have spoken; yea,
I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way
prosperous.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p12" shownumber="no">The deliverance of God's people out of
their captivity in Babylon was a thing upon many accounts so
improbable that there was need of line upon line for the
encouragement of the faith and hope of God's people concerning it.
Two things were discouraging to them—their own unworthiness that
God should do it for them and the many difficulties in the thing
itself; now, in these verses, both these discouragements are
removed, for here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p13" shownumber="no">I. A reason why God would do it for them,
though they were unworthy; not for their sake, be it known to them,
but <i>for his name's sake, for his own sake,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.9-Isa.48.11" parsed="|Isa|48|9|48|11" passage="Isa 48:9-11"><i>v.</i> 9-11</scripRef>. 1. It is true they
had been very provoking, and God had been justly angry with them.
Their captivity was the punishment of their iniquity; and if, when
he had them in Babylon, he had left them to pine away and perish
there, and made the desolations of their country perpetual, he
would only have dealt with them according to their sins, and it was
what such a sinful people might expect from an angry God. "But,"
says God, "<i>I will defer my anger</i>" (or, rather, <i>stifle and
suppress it</i>); "I will make it appear that I am slow to wrath,
and will refrain from thee, not pour upon thee what I justly might,
that I should cut thee off from being a people." And why will God
thus stay his hand? <i>For my name's sake;</i> because this people
was called by his name, and made profession of his name, and, if
they were cut off, the enemies would blaspheme his name. <i>It is
for my praise;</i> because it would redound to the honour of his
mercy to spare and reprieve them, and, if he continued them to be
to him a people, they might be to him for a name and a praise. 1.
It is true they were very corrupt and ill-disposed, but God would
himself refine them, and make them fit for the mercy he intended
for them: "<i>I have refined thee,</i> that thou mightest be made a
vessel of honour." Though he does not find them meet for his
favour, he will make them so. And this accounts for his bringing
them into the trouble, and continuing them in it so long as he did.
It was not to cut them off, but to do them good. It was to refine
them, <i>but not as silver,</i> or <i>with silver,</i> not so
thoroughly as men refine their silver, which they continue in the
furnace till all the dross is separated from it; if God should take
that course with them, they would be always in the furnace, for
they are all dross, and, as such, might justly be put away
(<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.119.119" parsed="|Ps|119|119|0|0" passage="Ps 119:119">Ps. cxix. 119</scripRef>) as
reprobate silver, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.6.30" parsed="|Jer|6|30|0|0" passage="Jer 6:30">Jer. vi.
30</scripRef>. He therefore takes them as they are, refined in part
only, and not thoroughly. "<i>I have chosen thee in the furnace of
affliction,</i> that is, I have made thee a choice one by the good
which the affliction has done thee, and then designed thee for
great things." Many have been brought home to God as chosen vessels
and a good work of grace has been begun in them in the furnace of
affliction. Affliction is no bar to God's choice, but subservient
to his purpose. 3. It is true they could not pretend to merit at
God's hand so great a favour as their deliverance out of Babylon,
which would put such an honour upon them and bring them so much
joy; therefore, says God, <i>For my own sake, even for my own sake,
will I do it,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.11" parsed="|Isa|48|11|0|0" passage="Isa 48:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. See how the emphasis is laid upon that; for it is a
reason that cannot fail, and therefore the resolution grounded upon
it cannot fall to the ground. God will do it, not because he owes
them such a favour, but to save the honour of his own name, that
that may not be polluted by the insolent triumphs of the heathen,
who, in triumphing over Israel, thought they triumphed over the God
of Israel and imagined their gods too hard for him. This was
plainly the language of Belshazzar's revels, when he profaned the
holy vessels of God's temple at the same time that he praised his
idols (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.5.2 Bible:Dan.5.4" parsed="|Dan|5|2|0|0;|Dan|5|4|0|0" passage="Da 5:2,4">Dan. v. 2, 4</scripRef>), and
of the Babylonians' demand (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.137.3" parsed="|Ps|137|3|0|0" passage="Ps 137:3">Ps.
cxxxvii. 3</scripRef>), <i>Sing us one of the songs of Zion.</i>
God will <i>therefore</i> deliver his people, because he will not
suffer his glory to be thus given to another. Moses pleaded this
often with God: Lord, <i>what will the Egyptians say?</i> Note, God
is jealous for the honour of his own name, and will not suffer the
wrath of man to proceed any further than he will make it turn to
his praise. And it is matter of comfort to God's people that,
whatever becomes of them, God will secure his own honour; and, as
far as is necessary to that, God will work deliverance for
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p14" shownumber="no">II. Here is a proof that God could do it
for them, though they were unable to help themselves and the thing
seemed altogether impracticable. Let Jacob and Israel hearken to
this, and believe it, and take the comfort of it. They are God's
called, <i>called according to his purpose,</i> called by him out
of Egypt (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.11.1" parsed="|Hos|11|1|0|0" passage="Ho 11:1">Hos. xi. 1</scripRef>) and
now out of Babylon, a people whom with a distinguishing favour he
calls by name, and to whom he calls. They are his called, for they
are called to him, called by his name, and called his; and
therefore he will look after them, and they may be assured that, as
he will deliver them for his own sake, so he will deliver them by
his own strength. They need not fear them, for, 1. He is God alone,
and the eternal God (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.12" parsed="|Isa|48|12|0|0" passage="Isa 48:12"><i>v.</i>
12</scripRef>): "<i>I am he</i> who can do what I will and will do
what is best, he whom none can compare with, much less contend
with. <i>I am the first; I also am the last.</i>" Who can be too
quick for him that is the first, or anticipate him? Who can be too
hard for him that is the last, and will keep the field against all
opposers, and will reign till they are all made his footstool? What
room then is left to doubt of their deliverance when <i>he</i>
undertakes it whose designs cannot but be well laid, for he is the
first, and well executed, for he is the last. As for this God, his
work is perfect. 2. He is the God that made the world, and he that
did that can do any thing, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.13" parsed="|Isa|48|13|0|0" passage="Isa 48:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. Look we down? We see the earth firm under us, and
feel it so; it was his hand that <i>laid the foundation</i> of it.
Look we up? We see the heavens spread out as a canopy over our
heads, and it was his hand that spread them, that <i>spanned</i>
them, that stretched them out, and did it by an exact measure, as
the workman sometimes metes out his work by spans. This intimates
that God has a vast reach and can compass designs of the greatest
extent. <i>If the palm of his right hand</i> (so the margin reads
it) has gone so far as to stretch out the heavens, what will he do
with his outstretched arm? Yet this is not all: he has not only
made the heavens and the earth, and therefore he in whom our hope
and help is omnipotent (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.124.8" parsed="|Ps|124|8|0|0" passage="Ps 124:8">Ps. cxxiv.
8</scripRef>), but he has the command of all the hosts of both;
when he calls them into his service, to go on his errands, they
stand up together, they come at the call, they answer to their
names: "Here we are; what wilt thou have us to do?" They stand up,
not only in reverence to their Creator, but in a readiness to
execute his orders: <i>They stand up together,</i> unanimously
concurring, and helping one another in the service of their Maker.
If God therefore will deliver his people, he cannot be at a loss
for instruments to be employed in effecting their deliverance. 3.
He has already foretold it, and, having infinite knowledge, so that
he foresaw it, no doubt he has almighty power to effect it: "<i>All
you</i> of the house of Jacob, <i>assemble yourselves, and hear</i>
this for your comfort, <i>Which among them,</i> among the gods of
the heathen, or their wise men, <i>has declared these things,</i>
or could declare them?" <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.14" parsed="|Isa|48|14|0|0" passage="Isa 48:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>. They had no foresight of them at all, but those who
consulted them were very confident that Babylon should be a lady
for ever and Israel perpetual slave; and their oracles did not give
them the least hint to the contrary, to undeceive them; whereas God
by his prophets had given notice to the Jews, long before, of their
captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem, as he had now likewise
given them notice of their release (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.15" parsed="|Isa|48|15|0|0" passage="Isa 48:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>I, even I, have
spoken;</i> and he would not have spoken it if he could not have
made it good: none could out-see him, and therefore we may be sure
that none could outdo him. 4. The person is pitched upon who is to
be employed in this service, and the measures are concerted in the
divine counsels, which are unalterable. Cyrus is the man who must
do it; and it tends much to strengthen our assurance that a thing
shall be done when we are particularly informed how and by whom. It
is not left at uncertainty who shall do it, but the matter is
fixed. (1.) It is one whom God is well pleased in, upon this
account, because he is designed for this service: <i>The Lord has
loved him</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.14" parsed="|Isa|48|14|0|0" passage="Isa 48:14"><i>v.</i>
14</scripRef>); he has done him this favour, this honour, to make
him an instrument in the redemption of his people and therein a
type of the great Redeemer, God's beloved Son, <i>in whom he was
well pleased.</i> Those God does a great kindness to, and has a
great kindness for, whom he makes serviceable to his church. (2.)
It is one to whom God will give authority and commission: <i>I have
called him,</i> have given him a sufficient warrant, and therefore
will bear him out. (3.) It is one whom God will by a series of
providences lead to this service: "<i>I have brought him from a
far</i> country, brought him to engage against Babylon, brought him
step by step, quite beyond his own intentions." Whom God calls he
will bring, will <i>cause them to come</i> (so the word is), to
come at the call. (4.) It is one whom God will own and give success
to. Cyrus will <i>do God's pleasure on Babylon,</i> that which it
is his pleasure should be done and which he will be pleased with
the doing of, though Cyrus has ends of his own to serve and has no
regard either to the will of God or to his favour in the doing of
it. <i>His arm</i> (Cyrus's army, and in it God's arm) <i>shall</i>
come, and <i>be upon the Chaldeans,</i> to bring them down
(<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.14" parsed="|Isa|48|14|0|0" passage="Isa 48:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>); for, if
God call him and bring him, he will certainly <i>make his way
prosperous,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p14.9" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.15" parsed="|Isa|48|15|0|0" passage="Isa 48:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>. <i>Then</i> we may hope to prosper in our way when
we follow a divine call and guidance.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Is.xlix-p14.10" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.16-Isa.48.22" parsed="|Isa|48|16|48|22" passage="Isa 48:16-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Is.xlix-p14.11">
<h4 id="Is.xlix-p14.12">Encouragement to God's
People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xlix-p14.13">b. c.</span> 708.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Is.xlix-p15" shownumber="no">16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have
not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was,
there <i>am</i> I: and now the Lord <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xlix-p15.1">God</span>, and his Spirit, hath sent me.   17
Thus saith the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xlix-p15.2">Lord</span>, thy Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel; I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xlix-p15.3">Lord</span> thy God which teacheth thee to profit,
which leadeth thee by the way <i>that</i> thou shouldest go.  
18 O 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 like the gravel thereof; his name should
not have been cut off nor destroyed from before me.   20 Go ye
forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of
singing declare ye, tell this, utter it <i>even</i> to the end of
the earth; say ye, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xlix-p15.4">Lord</span> hath
redeemed his servant Jacob.   21 And they thirsted not
<i>when</i> he led them through the deserts: he caused the waters
to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the
waters gushed out.   22 <i>There is</i> no peace, saith the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Is.xlix-p15.5">Lord</span>, unto the wicked.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p16" shownumber="no">Here, as before, Jacob and Israel are
summoned to hearken to the prophet speaking in God's name, or
rather to God speaking in and by the prophet, and that as a type of
the great prophet by whom God has in these last days spoken unto
us, and that is sufficient: <i>Come near</i> therefore, <i>and hear
this.</i> Note, Those that would hear and understand what God says
must come near, and approach to him; let them come as near as they
can. Let those that have hearkened to the tempter now come near,
and hear this, that they may be confirmed in their resolutions to
serve God. Those that draw nigh to God may depend upon this, that
his secret shall be with them. Here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p17" shownumber="no">I. God refers them to what he hath both
said to them and done for them formerly, which if they would
reflect upon, they might thence fetch great encouragement to trust
in God at this time. 1. He had always spoken plainly to them
<i>from the beginning,</i> by Moses and all the prophets: <i>I have
not spoken in secret,</i> but publicly, from the top of Mount
Sinai, and in the chief places of concourse, the solemn assemblies
of their tribes; he did not deliver his oracles obscurely and
ambiguously, but so that they might be understood, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Hab.2.2" parsed="|Hab|2|2|0|0" passage="Hab 2:2">Hab. ii. 2</scripRef>. 2. He had always acted
wonderfully for them: "<i>From the time</i> that they were first
formed into a people <i>there I am,</i> there have I been resident
among them and presiding in their affairs (he sent them prophets,
raised them up judges, and frequently appeared for them), and
therefore there I will be still." He that has been with his people
hitherto will be to the end.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p18" shownumber="no">II. The prophet himself, as a type of the
great prophet, asserts his own commission to deliver this message:
<i>Now the Lord God</i> (the same that spoke from the beginning and
did not speak in secret) <i>has by his Spirit sent me,</i>
<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.16" parsed="|Isa|48|16|0|0" passage="Isa 48:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. The Spirit
of God is here spoken of as a person distinct from the Father and
the Son, and having a divine authority to send prophets. Note, Whom
God sends the Spirit sends. Those whom God commissions for any
service the Spirit in some measure qualifies for it; and those may
speak boldly, and must be heard obediently, whom God and his Spirit
send. As that which the prophet says to the same purport with this
(<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.61.1" parsed="|Isa|61|1|0|0" passage="Isa 61:1"><i>ch.</i> lxi. 1</scripRef>) is
applied to Christ (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Luke.4.21" parsed="|Luke|4|21|0|0" passage="Lu 4:21">Luke iv.
21</scripRef>), so may this be; the Lord God sent him, and he had
the Spirit without measure.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p19" shownumber="no">III. God by the prophet sends them a
gracious message for their support and comfort under their
affliction. The preface to this message is both awful and
encouraging (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.17" parsed="|Isa|48|17|0|0" passage="Isa 48:17"><i>v.</i>
17</scripRef>): <i>Thus saith Jehovah,</i> the eternal God, <i>thy
Redeemer,</i> that has often been so, that has engaged to be so,
and will be faithful to the engagement, for he is <i>the Holy
One,</i> that cannot deceive, <i>the Holy One of Israel,</i> that
will not deceive them. The same words that introduce the law, and
give authority to that, introduce the promise, and give validity to
that: "<i>I am the Lord thy God,</i> whom thou mayest depend upon
as in relation to thee and in covenant with thee."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p20" shownumber="no">1. Here is the good work which God
undertakes to fulfil in them. He that is their Redeemer, in order
to that, will be, (1.) Their instructor: "<i>I am thy God that
teaches thee to profit,</i> that is, teaches thee such things as
are profitable for thee, things that belong to thy peace." By
<i>this</i> God shows himself to be a God in covenant with us, by
his <i>teaching us</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.8.10-Heb.8.11" parsed="|Heb|8|10|8|11" passage="Heb 8:10,11">Heb. viii.
10, 11</scripRef>); and none teaches like him, for he gives an
understanding. Whom God redeems he teaches; whom he designs to
deliver out of their afflictions he first teaches to profit by
their afflictions, makes them partakers of his holiness, for that
is the <i>profit for which he chastens us,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.12.10" parsed="|Heb|12|10|0|0" passage="Heb 12:10">Heb. xii. 10</scripRef>. (2.) Their guide: <i>He leads
them</i> to the way and <i>in the way by which they should go.</i>
He not only enlightens their eyes, but directs their steps. By his
grace he leads them in the way of duty, by his providence he leads
them in the way of deliverance. Happy are those that are under such
a guidance!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p21" shownumber="no">2. Here is the good-will which God declares
he had for them by his good wishes concerning them, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.18-Isa.48.19" parsed="|Isa|48|18|48|19" passage="Isa 48:18,19"><i>v.</i> 18, 19</scripRef>. He had indeed
brought them into captivity, but it was owing to themselves, nor
did he afflict them willingly. (1.) As when he gave them his law he
earnestly wished they might be obedient (<i>O that there were such
a heart in them!</i> <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.5.29" parsed="|Deut|5|29|0|0" passage="De 5:29">Deut. v.
29</scripRef>. <i>O that they were wise!</i> <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.29" parsed="|Deut|32|29|0|0" passage="De 32:29">Deut. xxxii. 29</scripRef>), so, when he had punished
them for the breach of his law, he wished they had been obedient:
<i>O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments!</i> <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.18" parsed="|Isa|48|18|0|0" passage="Isa 48:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. <i>O that my people
had hearkened unto me!</i> <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.81.13" parsed="|Ps|81|13|0|0" passage="Ps 81:13">Ps. lxxxi.
13</scripRef>. This confirms what God had said and sworn, that he
has <i>no pleasure in the death of sinners.</i> (2.) He assures
them that, if they had been obedient, that would not only have
prevented their captivity, but would have advanced and perpetuated
their prosperity. He had abundance of good things ready to bestow
upon them if their sins had not <i>turned them away,</i> <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.59.1-Isa.59.2" parsed="|Isa|59|1|59|2" passage="Isa 59:1,2"><i>ch.</i> lix. 1, 2</scripRef>. [1.] They
should have been carried on in a constant uninterrupted stream of
prosperity: "<i>Thy peace should have been as a river;</i> thou
shouldst have enjoyed a series of mercies, one continually
following another, as the waters of a river, which always last."
<i>Labitur, et labetur in omne volubilis ævum—It flows, and will
for ever flow;</i> not like the waters of a land-flood, which are
soon gone. [2.] Their virtue and honour, and the justice of their
cause, should in all cases have borne down opposition by their own
strength, <i>as the waves of the sea.</i> Such should their
righteousness have been that nothing should have stood before it;
whereas, now they had been disobedient, the current of their
prosperity was interrupted, and their righteousness overpowered.
[3.] The rising generation should have been very numerous and very
prosperous; whereas they were now very few, as appears by the small
number of the returning captives (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p21.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.2.64" parsed="|Ezra|2|64|0|0" passage="Ezr 2:64">Ezra
ii. 64</scripRef>), not so many as of one tribe when they came out
of Egypt. They should have been <i>numberless as the sand,</i>
according to the promise (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p21.8" osisRef="Bible:Gen.22.17" parsed="|Gen|22|17|0|0" passage="Ge 22:17">Gen. xxii.
17</scripRef>), which they had forfeited the benefit of: "<i>The
offspring of thy bowels</i> would have been innumerable, <i>like
the gravel of the sea,</i> if thy righteousness had been
irresistible and unconquerable as the waves of the sea." [4.] The
honour of Israel should still have been unstained, untouched:
<i>His name should not have been cut off,</i> as now it is in the
land of Israel, which is either desolate or inhabited by strangers;
nor should it have <i>been destroyed from before God.</i> We cannot
reckon the name either of a family or of a kingdom destroyed till
it is destroyed from before God, till it ceases to be a name in his
holy place. Now God tells them thus what he would have done for
them if they had persevered in their obedience, <i>First,</i> That
they might be the more humbled for their sins, by which they had
forfeited such rich mercies. Note, <i>This</i> should engage us (I
might say, enrage us) against sin, that it has not only deprived us
of the good things we have enjoyed, but prevented the good things
God had in store for us. It will make the misery of the disobedient
the more intolerable to think how happy they might have been.
<i>Secondly,</i> That his mercy might appear the more illustrious
in working deliverance for them, though they had forfeited it and
rendered themselves unworthy of it. Nothing but a prerogative of
mercy would have saved them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p22" shownumber="no">3. Here is assurance given of the great
work which God designed to work for them, even their salvation out
of their captivity, when he had accomplished his work in them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p23" shownumber="no">(1.) Here is a commission granted them to
leave Babylon. God proclaimed, long before Cyrus did, that whoever
would might return to his own land (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.20" parsed="|Isa|48|20|0|0" passage="Isa 48:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): "You have a full discharge
sent you: <i>Go you forth out of Babylon;</i> the prison-doors are
thrown open, and the trumpet sounds, proclaiming a release."
Perhaps with this word, as a means, the Spirit of the Lord stirred
up the spirits of those that did take the benefit of Cyrus's
proclamation (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezra.1.5" parsed="|Ezra|1|5|0|0" passage="Ezr 1:5">Ezra i. 5</scripRef>):
<i>Flee you from the Chaldeans,</i> not with an ignominious stolen
flight, as Jacob fled from Laban, but with a holy disdain, as
scorning to stay any longer among them; flee you, not silently and
sorrowfully, but with a voice, with a voice of singing, as they
fled of old out of Egypt, <scripRef id="Is.xlix-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.15.1" parsed="|Exod|15|1|0|0" passage="Ex 15:1">Exod. xv.
1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p24" shownumber="no">(2.) Here is the news of this sent to all
parts: "Let it be declared; let it be told; let it be uttered; make
it to be heard by the most remote, by the most remiss; send the
tidings of it by word of mouth; send it by writing, from city to
city, from kingdom to kingdom, even to the utmost regions, <i>to
the ends of the earth.</i>" This was a figure of the publishing of
the gospel to all the world; but that brings glad tidings which all
the world is concerned in, this only that which it is fit all
should take notice of, that they may be invited by it to forsake
their idols and come into the service of the God of Israel. Let
them all know then, [1.] That those whom God owns for his are such
as he has dearly bought and paid for: <i>The Lord has redeemed his
servant Jacob;</i> he has done it formerly, when he brought them
out of Egypt, and now he is about to do it again. Jacob was God's
servant, and therefore he redeemed him; for what had other masters
to do with God's servants? Israel is God's son, therefore Pharaoh
must let him go. God redeemed Jacob, and therefore it was fit that
he should be his servant (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.116.16" parsed="|Ps|116|16|0|0" passage="Ps 116:16">Ps. cxvi.
16</scripRef>); the bonds God had loosed tied them the faster to
him. He that redeemed us has an unquestionable right to us. [2.]
That those whom God designs to bring home to himself he will take
care of, that they want not for the necessary expenses of their
journey. When he brought them out of Egypt, and <i>led them through
the deserts,</i> they <i>thirsted not</i> (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.21" parsed="|Isa|48|21|0|0" passage="Isa 48:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), for in all their removals the
water out of the rock followed them; thence <i>he caused the waters
to flow,</i> and, since rock-water is the clearest and finest, God
<i>clave the rock, and the waters gushed out;</i> for he can fetch
in necessary supplies for his people in a way that they think the
least likely. This refers to what he did for them when he brought
them out of Egypt; when all this was literally true. But it should
now be in effect done again, in their return out of Babylon, so
well provided for should they and theirs be in their return. God
does his work as effectually by marvellous providences as by
miracles, though perhaps they are not so much taken notice of. This
is applicable to those treasures of grace laid up for us in Jesus
Christ, from which all good flows to us as the water did to Israel
out of the rock, for that rock is Christ.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Is.xlix-p25" shownumber="no">(3.) Here is a caveat put in against the
wicked who go on still in their trespasses. Let not them think to
have any benefit among God's people. Though in show and profession
they herd themselves among them, let them not expect to come in
sharers; no (<scripRef id="Is.xlix-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.48.22" parsed="|Isa|48|22|0|0" passage="Isa 48:22"><i>v.</i>
22</scripRef>), though God's thoughts concerning the body of that
people were thoughts of peace, yet to those among them that were
<i>wicked</i> and hated to be reformed <i>there is no peace,</i> no
peace with God or their own consciences, no real good, whatever is
pretended to. What have those to do with peace who are enemies to
God? Their false prophets cried Peace to those to whom it did not
belong; but God tells them that there shall be no peace, nor any
think like it, to the wicked. The quarrel sinners have commenced
with God, if not taken up in time by repentance, will be an
everlasting quarrel.</p>
</div></div2>