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,
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 Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness. 2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is 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 them suddenly, and they came to pass. 4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is 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 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 it? 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 that thine ear was not opened: for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.
We may observe here,
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,
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 house of
Jacob; they had a place and a name in the visible church.
Jacob have I loved. Jacob is God's chosen; and they are not
only retainers to his family, but descendants from him. (2.) They
were called by the name of Israel, an honourable name; they
were of that people to whom pertained both the giving of the law
and the promises. Israel signifies a prince with God;
and they prided themselves in being of that princely race. (3.)
They came forth out of the waters of Judah, and thence were
called Jews; 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 swore by the name of the Lord, and
thereby owned him to be the true God, and their God, and gave glory
to him as the righteous Judge of all. They swore to the name of
the Lord (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 made mention of the God of Israel in their prayers and
praises; they often spoke of him, observed his memorials, and
pretended to be very mindful of him. (6.) They called themselves
of the holy city, 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 stayed themselves upon the God
of Israel, and boasted of his promises and his covenant with
them; they leaned on the Lord,
2. How low their profession of religion sunk, notwithstanding all this. It was all in vain; for it was all a jest; it was not in truth and righteousness. 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 take the name of the Lord our God in vain.
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 (
III. The reasons why God would take this method with them.
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, "lest thou shouldst say, My idol has
done it or has commanded it to be done,"
2. Because he would leave them inexcusable
in their obstinacy. Therefore he took this pains with them,
because he knew they were obstinate,
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, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another. 12 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last. 13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together. 14 All ye, assemble yourselves, and hear; which among them hath declared these things? The Lord hath loved him: he will do his pleasure on Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 15 I, even I, have spoken; yea, I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous.
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,
I. A reason why God would do it for them,
though they were unworthy; not for their sake, be it known to them,
but for his name's sake, for his own sake,
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, called according to his purpose, called by him out
of Egypt (
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 am I: and now the Lord God, and his Spirit, hath sent me. 17 Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that 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 even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. 21 And they thirsted not when 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 There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked.
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: Come near therefore, and hear this. 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,
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
from the beginning, by Moses and all the prophets: I have
not spoken in secret, 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,
II. The prophet himself, as a type of the
great prophet, asserts his own commission to deliver this message:
Now the Lord God (the same that spoke from the beginning and
did not speak in secret) has by his Spirit sent me,
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 (
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 am thy God that
teaches thee to profit, that is, teaches thee such things as
are profitable for thee, things that belong to thy peace." By
this God shows himself to be a God in covenant with us, by
his teaching us (
2. Here is the good-will which God declares
he had for them by his good wishes concerning them,
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.
(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 (
(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, to
the ends of the earth." 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: The Lord has redeemed his
servant Jacob; 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 (
(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 (