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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Isaiah XLIII].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XLIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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The contents of this chapter are much the same with those of the
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foregoing chapter, looking at the release of the Jews out of their
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captivity, but looking through that, and beyond that, to the great work
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of man's redemption by Jesus Christ, and the grace of the gospel, which
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through him believers partake of. Here are,
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I. Precious promises made to God's people in their affliction, of his
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presence with them, for their support under it, and their deliverance
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out of it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:1-7">ver. 1-7</A>.
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II. A challenge to idols to vie with the omniscience and omnipotence of
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God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:8-13">ver. 8-13</A>.
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III. Encouragement given to the people of God to hope for their
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deliverance out of Babylon, from the consideration of what God did for
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their fathers when he brought them out of Egypt,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:14-21">ver. 14-21</A>.
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IV. A method taken to prepare the people for their deliverance, by
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putting them in mind of their sins, by which they had provoked God to
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send them into captivity and continue them there, that they might
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repent and seek to God for pardoning mercy,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:22-28">ver. 22-28</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa43_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa43_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa43_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa43_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa43_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa43_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa43_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Encouragement to God's People.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 But now thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> that created thee, O Jacob, and
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he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed
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thee, I have called <I>thee</I> by thy name; thou <I>art</I> mine.
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2 When thou passest through the waters, I <I>will be</I> with thee;
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and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou
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walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall
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the flame kindle upon thee.
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3 For I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy
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Saviour: I gave Egypt <I>for</I> thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for
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thee.
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4 Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been
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honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for
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thee, and people for thy life.
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5 Fear not: for I <I>am</I> with thee: I will bring thy seed from
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the east, and gather thee from the west;
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6 I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not
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back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of
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the earth;
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7 <I>Even</I> every one that is called by my name: for I have
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created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made
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him.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This chapter has a plain connexion with the close of the foregoing
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chapter, but a very surprising one. It was there said that Jacob and
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Israel would not walk in God's ways, and that when he corrected them
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for their disobedience they were stubborn and laid it not to heart; and
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now one would think it should have followed that God would utterly
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abandon and destroy them; but no, the next words are, <I>But now, fear
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not, O Jacob! O Israel! I have redeemed thee, and thou art mine.</I>
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Though many among them were untractable and incorrigible, yet God would
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continue his love and care for his people, and the body of that nation
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should still be reserved for mercy. God's goodness takes occasion from
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man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious. <I>Where sin
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abounded, grace did much more abound</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+5:20">Rom. v. 20</A>),
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and mercy <I>rejoices against judgment,</I> as having prevailed and
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carried the day,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+2:13">Jam. ii. 13</A>.
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Now the sun, breaking out thus of a sudden from behind a thick and dark
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cloud, shines the brighter, and with a pleasing surprise. The
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expressions of God's favour and good-will to his people here are very
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high, and speak abundance of comfort to all the spiritual seed of
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upright Jacob and praying Israel; for <I>to us is this gospel preached
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as well as unto those</I> that were captives in Babylon,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+4:2">Heb. iv. 2</A>.
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Here we have,</P>
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<P>
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I. The grounds of God's care and concern for his people and the
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interests of his church and kingdom among men. Jacob and Israel, though
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in a sinful miserable condition, shall be looked after; for,
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1. They are God's <I>workmanship, created by him unto good works,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eph+2:10">Eph. ii. 10</A>.
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He has created them and formed them, not only given them a being, but
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this being, formed them into a people, constituted their government,
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and incorporated them by the charter of his covenant. The new creature,
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wherever it is, is of God's forming, and <I>he will not forsake the
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work of his own hands.</I>
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2. They are the people of his purchase: he has redeemed them. Out of
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the land of Egypt he first redeemed them, and out of many another
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bondage, <I>in his love, and in his pity</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+63:9"><I>ch.</I> lxiii. 9</A>);
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much more will he take care of those who are redeemed with the blood of
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his Son.
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3. They are his peculiar people, whom he has distinguished from others,
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and set apart for himself: he has called them by name, as those he has
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a particular intimacy with and concern for, and they are his, are
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appropriated to him and he has a special interest in them.
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4. He is their God in covenant
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>I am the Lord thy God,</I> worshipped by thee and engaged by promise
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to thee, <I>the Holy One of Israel,</I> the God of Israel; for the true
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God is a holy one, and holiness becomes his house. And upon all these
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accounts he might justly say, <I>Fear not</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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and again
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>,
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<I>Fear not.</I> Those that have God for them need not fear who or what
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can be against them.</P>
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<P>
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II. The former instances of this care.
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1. God has purchased them dearly: <I>I gave Egypt for thy ransom;</I>
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for Egypt was quite laid waste by one plague after another, all their
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first-born were slain and all their men of war drowned; and all this to
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force a way for Israel's deliverance from them. Egypt shall be
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sacrificed rather than Israel shall continue in slavery, when the time
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has come for their release. The Ethiopians had invaded them in Asa's
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time; but they shall be destroyed rather than Israel shall be
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disturbed. And if this was reckoned so great a thing, to give Egypt for
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their ransom, what reason have we to admire God's love to us in giving
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his own Son to be a <I>ransom for us!</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Jo+4:10">1 John iv. 10</A>.
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What are Ethiopia and Seba, all their lives and all their treasures,
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compared with the blood of Christ?
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2. He had prized them accordingly, and they were very dear to him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>Since thou hast been precious in my sight thou hast been
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honourable.</I> Note, True believers are precious in God's sight; they
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are his jewels, his peculiar treasure
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+19:5">Exod. xix. 5</A>);
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he loves them, his delight is in them, above any people. His church is
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his vineyard. And this makes God's people truly honourable, and their
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name great; for men are really what they are in God's eye. When the
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forces of Sennacherib, that they might be diverted from falling upon
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Israel, were directed by Providence to fall upon Egypt, Ethiopia, and
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Seba, then God gave those countries for Israel, and showed how precious
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his people were in his sight. So so me understand it.</P>
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<P>
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III. The further instances God would yet give them of his care and
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kindness.
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1. He would be present with them in their greatest difficulties and
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dangers
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"<I>When thou passest</I> through the waters and the rivers, through
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the fire and the flame, <I>I will be with thee,</I> and that shall be
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thy security; when dangers are very imminent and threatening, thou
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shalt be delivered out of them." Did they, in their journey, pass
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through deep water? They should not perish in them: "<I>The rivers
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shall not overflow thee.</I>" Should they by their persecutors be cast
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into a fiery furnace, for their constant adherence to their God, yet
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then the flame should not kindle upon them, which was fulfilled in the
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letter in the wonderful preservation of the three children,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+3:1-30">Dan. iii.</A>
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Though they went through fire and water, which would be to them as the
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<I>valley of the shadow of death,</I> yet, while they had God with
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them, they need fear no evil, they should be borne up, and <I>brought
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out into a wealthy place,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+66:12">Ps. lxvi. 12</A>.
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2. He would still, when there was occasion, make all the interests of
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the children of men give way to the interests of his own children:
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"<I>I will give men for thee,</I> great men, mighty men, and men of
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war, <I>and people</I> (men by wholesale) <I>for thy life.</I> Nations
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shall be sacrificed to thy welfare." All shall be cut off rather than
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God's Israel shall, so precious are they in his sight. The affairs of
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the world shall all be ordered and directed so as to be most for the
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good of the church,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+16:9">2 Chron. xvi. 9</A>.
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3. Those of them that were scattered and dispersed in other nations
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should all be gathered in and share in the blessings of the public,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:5-7"><I>v.</I> 5-7</A>.
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Some of the seed of Israel were dispersed into all countries, east,
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west, north, and south, or into all the parts of the country of
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Babylon; but those whose spirits God stirred up to go to Jerusalem
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should be fetched in from all parts; divine grace should reach those
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that lay most remote, and at the greatest distance from each other;
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and, when the time should come, nothing should prevent their coming
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together to return in a body, in answer to that prayer
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+106:47">Ps. cvi. 47</A>),
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<I>Gather us from among the heathen,</I> and in performance of that
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promise
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+30:4">Deut. xxx. 4</A>),
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<I>If any of thine be driven to the utmost parts of heaven, thence will
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the Lord thy God gather thee,</I> which we find pleaded on behalf of
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the children of the captivity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ne+1:9">Neh. i. 9</A>.
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But who are the seed of Israel that shall be thus carefully gathered
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in? He tells us
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>)
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they are such as God has marked for mercy; for,
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(1.) They are called by his name; they make profession of religion, and
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are distinguished from the rest of the world by their covenant-relation
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to God and denomination from him.
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(2.) They are created for his glory; the spirit of Israelites is
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created in them, and they are formed according to the will of God, and
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these shall be gathered in. Note, Those only are fit to be called by
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the name of God that are created by his grace for his glory; and those
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whom God has created and called shall be gathered in now to Christ as
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their head and hereafter to heaven as their home. <I>He shall gather
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in his elect from the four winds.</I> This promise points at the
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gathering in of the dispersed of the Gentiles, and the strangers
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scattered, by the gospel of Christ, who died to <I>gather together in
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one</I> the children of God that were scattered abroad; for the promise
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was to all that were afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
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call and create. God is with the church, and therefore let her not
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fear; none that belong to her shall be lost.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa43_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa43_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa43_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa43_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa43_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa43_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>A Challenge to Idolaters.</I></FONT></TD>
|
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf
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that have ears.
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9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people
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be assembled: who among them can declare this, and show us former
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things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be
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justified: or let them hear, and say, <I>It is</I> truth.
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10 Ye <I>are</I> my witnesses, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and my servant whom I
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have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that
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I <I>am</I> he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there
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be after me.
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11 I, <I>even</I> I, <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; and beside me <I>there is</I> no
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saviour.
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12 I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when
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<I>there was</I> no strange <I>god</I> among you: therefore ye <I>are</I> my
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witnesses, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that I <I>am</I> God.
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13 Yea, before the day <I>was</I> I <I>am</I> he; and <I>there is</I> none
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that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let
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it?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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God here challenges the worshippers of idols to produce such proofs of
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the divinity of their false gods as even this very instance (to go no
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further) of the redemption of the Jews out of Babylon furnished the
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people of Israel with, to prove that their God is the true and living
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God, and he only.</P>
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<P>
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I. The patrons of idolatry are here called to appear, and say what they
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have to say in defence of their idols,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>.
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Their gods have <I>eyes and see not, ears and hear not,</I> and those
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that make them and trust in them are like unto them; so David had said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+115+8">Ps. cxv. 8</A>),
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to which the prophet seems here to refer when he calls idolaters
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<I>blind people that have eyes, and deaf people that have ears.</I>
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They have the shape, capacities, and faculties, of men; but they are,
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in effect, destitute of reason and common sense, or they would never
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worship gods of their own making. "<I>Let all the nations therefore be
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gathered together,</I> let them help one another, and with a combined
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force plead the cause of their dunghill gods; and, if they have nothing
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to say in their own justification, let them hear what the God of Israel
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has to say for their conviction and confutation."</P>
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<P>
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II. God's witnesses are subpoenaed, or summoned to appear, and give in
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evidence for him
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
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"<I>You, O Israelites!</I> all you that are <I>called by my name,</I>
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you <I>are all my witnesses, and so</I> is <I>my servant whom I have
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chosen.</I>" It was Christ himself that was so described
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+42:1"><I>ch.</I> xlii. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>My servant and my elect.</I> Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. All the prophets that testified to Christ, and Christ himself, the
|
|
great prophet, are here appealed to as God's witnesses.
|
|
|
|
(1.) God's people are witnesses for him, and can attest, upon their own
|
|
knowledge and experience, concerning the power of his grace, the
|
|
sweetness of his comforts, the tenderness of his providence, and the
|
|
truth of his promise. They will be forward to witness for him that he
|
|
is gracious and that no word of his has fallen to the ground.
|
|
|
|
(2.) His prophets are in a particular manner witnesses for him, with
|
|
whom his secret is, and who know more of him than others do. But the
|
|
Messiah especially is given to be a witness for him to the people;
|
|
having lain in his bosom from eternity, he has declared him. Now,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Let us see what the point is which these witnesses are called to
|
|
prove
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.</I> Note, Those
|
|
who do themselves acknowledge that the Lord is God should be ready to
|
|
testify what they know of him to others, that they also may be brought
|
|
to the acknowledgement of it. <I>I believed, therefore have I
|
|
spoken.</I> Particularly, "Since you cannot but know, and believe, and
|
|
understand, you must be ready to bear record,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That I am he, the only true God, that I am a being self-existent
|
|
and self-sufficient; I am he whom you are to fear, and worship, and
|
|
trust in. Nay
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>before the day was</I> (before the first day of time, before the
|
|
creation of the light, and, consequently, from eternity) <I>I am
|
|
he.</I>" The idols were but of yesterday, <I>new gods that came newly
|
|
up</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:17">Deut. xxxii. 17</A>);
|
|
|
|
but the God of Israel was from everlasting.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That <I>there was no God formed before me, nor shall be after
|
|
me.</I> The idols were gods formed (<I>dii facti--made gods,</I> or
|
|
rather <I>fictitii--fictitious</I>); <I>by nature they were no
|
|
gods,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:8">Gal. iv. 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
But God has a being from eternity, yea, and a religion in this world
|
|
before there were either idols or idolaters (truth is more ancient than
|
|
error); and he will have a being to eternity, and will be worshipped
|
|
and glorified when idols are famished and abolished and idolatry shall
|
|
be no more. True religion will keep its ground, and survive all
|
|
opposition and competition. <I>Great is the truth, and will
|
|
prevail.</I>
|
|
|
|
(3.) That <I>I, even I, am the Lord,</I> the great Jehovah, who is, and
|
|
was, and is to come; and <I>besides me there is no Saviour,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
See what it is that the great God glories in, not so much that he is
|
|
the only ruler as that he is the only Saviour; for he <I>delights to do
|
|
good:</I> he is the <I>Saviour of all men,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+4:10">1 Tim. iv. 10</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
3. Let us see what the proofs are which are produced for the
|
|
confirmation of this point. It appears,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) That the Lord is God, by two proofs:
|
|
|
|
[1.] He has an infinite and infallible knowledge, as is evident from
|
|
<I>the predictions of his word</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>I have declared and I have shown</I> that which has without fail
|
|
come to pass; nay, I never declared nor showed any thing but it has
|
|
been accomplished. <I>I showed when there was no strange god among
|
|
you,</I> that is, when you pretended not to consult any oracles but
|
|
mine, nor to have any prophets but mine." It is said, when they came
|
|
out of Egypt, that <I>the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no
|
|
strange god with him.</I>
|
|
|
|
[2.] He has an infinite and irresistible power, as is evident from the
|
|
performances of his providence. He pleads not only, I have
|
|
<I>shown,</I> but, I have <I>saved,</I> not only foretold what none
|
|
else could foresee, but done what none else could do; for
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>None can deliver out of my hand</I> those whom I will punish; not
|
|
only no man can, but none of all the gods of the heathen can protect."
|
|
It is therefore a <I>fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
|
|
God,</I> because there is no getting out of them again. "I will work
|
|
what I have designed, both in mercy and judgment, and who shall either
|
|
oppose or retard it?"</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) That the gods of the heathen, who are rivals with him, are not
|
|
only inferior to him, but no gods at all, which is proved
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>)
|
|
|
|
by a challenge: <I>Who among them can declare this</I> that I now
|
|
declare? Who can foretel things to come? Nay, which of them can
|
|
<I>show us former things?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:22"><I>ch.</I> xli. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
They cannot so much as inspire an historian, much less a prophet. They
|
|
are challenged to join issue upon this: <I>Let them bring forth their
|
|
witnesses,</I> to prove their omniscience and omnipotence. And,
|
|
|
|
[1.] If they do prove them, they shall be justified, the idols in
|
|
demanding homage and the idolaters in paying it.
|
|
|
|
[2.] If they do not prove them, <I>let them say, It is truth;</I> let
|
|
them own the true God, and receive the truth concerning him, that he is
|
|
God alone. The cause of God is not afraid to stand a fair trial; but it
|
|
may reasonably be expected that those who cannot justify themselves in
|
|
their irreligion should submit to the power of the truth and true
|
|
religion.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_21"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Promises to God's People.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, 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 <I>is</I> in the ships.
|
|
15 I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your
|
|
King.
|
|
16 Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, 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,
|
|
<I>and</I> 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, <I>and</I> rivers in
|
|
the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen.
|
|
21 This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth
|
|
my praise.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
To so low an ebb were the faith and hope of God's people in Babylon
|
|
brought that there needed line upon line to assure them that they
|
|
should be released out of their captivity; and therefore, that they
|
|
might have strong consolation, the assurances of it are often repeated,
|
|
and here very expressly and encouragingly.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. God here takes to himself such titles of his honour as were very
|
|
encouraging to them. He is <I>the Lord their Redeemer,</I> not only he
|
|
will redeem them, but will take it upon him as his office and make it
|
|
his business to do so. If he be their God, he will be all that to them
|
|
which they need, and therefore, when they are in bondage, he will be
|
|
their Redeemer. He is the <I>Holy One of Israel</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
and again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>their Holy One,</I> and therefore will make good every word he has
|
|
spoken to them. He is <I>the Creator of Israel,</I> that made them a
|
|
people out of nothing (for that is creation), nay, worse than nothing;
|
|
and he is their <I>King,</I> that owns them as his people and presides
|
|
among them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He assures them he will find out a way to break the power of their
|
|
oppressors that held them captives and filled up the measure of their
|
|
own iniquity by their resolution never to let them go,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+14:17"><I>ch.</I> xiv. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
God will take care to send a victorious prince and army to Babylon,
|
|
that shall <I>bring down all their nobles,</I> and lay their honour in
|
|
the dust, and all their people too, even <I>the Chaldeans, whose cry is
|
|
in the ships</I> (for seamen are apt to be noisy), or whose cry is
|
|
<I>to the ships,</I> as their refuge when the city is taken, that they
|
|
may escape by the benefit of their great river. Note, The destruction
|
|
of Babylon must make way for the enlargement of God's people. And in
|
|
the prediction of the fall of the New-Testament Babylon we meet with
|
|
the cries and lamentations of the sailors,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+18:17,18">Rev. xviii. 17, 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
And observe, It is for Israel's sake that Babylon is ruined, to make
|
|
way for their deliverance.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He reminds them of the great things he did for their fathers when
|
|
he brought them out of the land of Egypt; for so it may be read
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:16,17"><I>v.</I> 16, 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Thus saith the Lord, who did make a way in the sea,</I> the Red
|
|
Sea, and did <I>bring forth</I> Pharaoh's <I>chariot and horse,</I>
|
|
that they might lie down together in the bottom of the sea, and never
|
|
rise, but be extinct. He that did this can, if he please, make a way
|
|
for you in the sea when you return out of Babylon, and will do so
|
|
rather than leave you there." Note, For the encouragement of our faith
|
|
and hope, it is good for us often to remember what God has done
|
|
formerly for his people against his and their enemies. Think
|
|
particularly what he did at the Red Sea, how he made it,
|
|
|
|
1. A road to his people, a straight way, a near way, nay, a refuge to
|
|
them, into which they fled and were safe the waters being a wall unto
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
2. A grave to his enemies. The chariot and horse were drawn out by him
|
|
who is Lord of all hosts, on purpose that they might fall together;
|
|
howbeit, <I>they meant not so,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+4:11,12">Mic. iv. 11, 12</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. He promises to do yet greater things for them than he had done in
|
|
the days of old; so that they should not have reason to ask, in a way
|
|
of complaint, as Gideon did, <I>Where are all the wonders that our
|
|
fathers told us of?</I> for they should see them repeated, nay, they
|
|
should see them outdone
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Remember not the former things,</I> from them to take occasion, as
|
|
some do, to undervalue the present things, as if <I>the former days
|
|
were better than these;</I> no, you may, if you will, comparatively
|
|
forget them, and yet know enough by the events of your own day to
|
|
convince you that the Lord is God alone; for, <I>behold, the Lord will
|
|
do a new thing,</I> no way inferior, both for the wonder and the worth
|
|
of the mercy, to the things of old." The best exposition of this is,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+16:14,15,23:7,8">Jer. xvi. 14, 15; xxiii. 7, 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>It shall no more be said, The Lord liveth that brought up the
|
|
children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;</I> that is an old thing,
|
|
the remembrance of which will be in a manner lost in the new thing, in
|
|
the new proof that the Lord liveth, for he <I>brought up the children
|
|
of Israel out of the land of the north.</I> Though former mercies must
|
|
not be forgotten, fresh mercies must in a special manner be improved.
|
|
<I>Now it springs forth,</I> as it were a surprise upon you; you are
|
|
like those that dream. <I>Shall you now know it?</I> And will you not
|
|
own God's hand in it?</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. He promises not only to deliver them out of Babylon, but to conduct
|
|
them safely and comfortably to their own land
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:19,20"><I>v.</I> 19, 20</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert;</I>
|
|
for, it seems, the way from Babylon to Canaan, as well as from Egypt,
|
|
lay through a desert land, which, while the returning captives passed
|
|
through, God would provide for them, that their camp should be both
|
|
well victualled and under a good conduct. The same power that made <I>a
|
|
way in the sea</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
|
|
|
|
can make a <I>way in the wilderness,</I> and will force its passage
|
|
through the greatest difficulties. And he that made dry land in the
|
|
waters can produce waters in the dryest land, in such abundance as not
|
|
only to <I>give drink to his people, his chosen,</I> but to the
|
|
<I>beasts of the field,</I> also <I>the dragons and the ostriches,</I>
|
|
who are therefore said to honour God for it; it is such a sensible
|
|
refreshment, and yields them so much satisfaction, that, if they were
|
|
capable of doing it, they would praise God for it, and shame man, who
|
|
is made capable of praising his benefactor and does not. Now,
|
|
|
|
1. This looks back to what God did for Israel when he led them through
|
|
the wilderness from Egypt to Canaan, and fetched water out of a rock to
|
|
follow them; what God did for them formerly he would do again, for he
|
|
is still the same. And, though we do not find that the miracle was
|
|
repeated in their return out of Babylon, yet the mercy was, in the
|
|
common course of Providence, for which it became them to be no less
|
|
thankful to God.
|
|
|
|
2. It looks forward, not only to all the instances of God's care of the
|
|
Jewish church in the latter ages of it, between their return from
|
|
Babylon and the coming of Christ, but to the grace of the gospel,
|
|
especially as it is manifested to the Gentile world, by which a way is
|
|
opened in the wilderness and rivers in the desert; the world, which lay
|
|
like a desert, in ignorance and unfruitfulness, was blessed with divine
|
|
direction and divine comforts, and, in order to both, with a plentiful
|
|
effusion of the Spirit. The sinners of the Gentiles, who had been as
|
|
the beasts of the field, running wild, fierce as the dragons, stupid as
|
|
the owls or ostriches, shall be brought to honour God for the extent of
|
|
his grace to his chosen among them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
VI. He traces up all these promised blessings to their great original,
|
|
the purposes and designs of his own glory
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>This people have I formed for myself,</I> and therefore I do all
|
|
this for them, that they may <I>show forth my praise.</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
1. The church is of God's forming, and so are all the living members of
|
|
it. The new heaven, the new earth, the new man, are the work of God's
|
|
hand, and are no more, no better, than he makes them; they are
|
|
fashioned according to his will.
|
|
|
|
2. He forms it for himself. He that is the first cause is the highest
|
|
end both of the first and of the new creation. <I>The Lord has made all
|
|
things for himself,</I> his Israel especially, to be to him for <I>a
|
|
people, and for a name, and for a praise;</I> and no otherwise can they
|
|
be for him, or serviceable to him, than as his grace is glorified in
|
|
them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+13:11,Eph+1:6,12,14">Jer. xiii. 11; Eph. i. 6, 12, 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. It is therefore our duty to show forth his praise, not only with our
|
|
lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to his service. As he
|
|
formed us, so he feeds us, and keeps us, and leads us, and all for
|
|
himself; for every instance therefore of his goodness we must praise
|
|
him, else we answer not the end of the beings and blessings we
|
|
have.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa43_28"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Reproof to God's People.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 708.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>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, <I>even</I> I, <I>am</I> 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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This charge (and a high charge it is which is here exhibited against
|
|
Jacob and Israel, God's professing people) comes in here,
|
|
|
|
1. To clear God's justice in bringing them into captivity, and to
|
|
vindicate that. Were they not in covenant with him? Had they not his
|
|
sanctuary among them? <I>Why then did the Lord deal thus with his
|
|
land?</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+29:24">Deut. xxix. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here is a good reason given: they had neglected God and had cast him
|
|
off, and therefore he justly rejected them and <I>gave them to the
|
|
curse</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>);
|
|
|
|
and they must be brought to own this before they are prepared for
|
|
deliverance; and they did so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+9:5,Ne+9:33">Dan. ix. 5; Neh. ix. 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. To advance God's mercy in their deliverance and to make that appear
|
|
more glorious. Many things are before observed to magnify the power of
|
|
God in it; but this magnifies his goodness, that he should do such
|
|
great and kind things for a people that had been so very provoking to
|
|
him and were now suffering the just punishment of their iniquity. The
|
|
pardoning of their sin was as great an instance of God's power (for so
|
|
Moses reckons it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+14:17">Num. xiv. 17</A>,
|
|
|
|
&c.) as the breaking of the yoke of their captivity. Now observe
|
|
here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. What the sins are which they are here charged with.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. Omissions of the good which God had commanded; and this part of the
|
|
charge is here much insisted upon. Observe how it comes in with a
|
|
<I>but;</I> compare
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>,
|
|
|
|
where God tells them what favours he had bestowed upon them and what
|
|
his just expectations were from them. He had formed them for himself,
|
|
intending they should show forth his praise. But they had not done so;
|
|
they had frustrated God's expectations from them, and made very ill
|
|
returns to him for his favours. For,
|
|
|
|
(1.) They had cast off prayer: <I>Thou hast not called upon me, O
|
|
Jacob!</I> Jacob was a man famous for prayer
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+12:4">Hosea xii. 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
his seed bore his name, but did not tread in his steps, and therefore
|
|
are justly upbraided with it. God takes it ill when children degenerate
|
|
from the virtue and devotion of their pious ancestors. To boast of the
|
|
name of Jacob, and yet live without prayer, is to mock God and deceive
|
|
ourselves. If Jacob does not call upon God, who will?
|
|
|
|
(2.) They had grown weary of their religion: "Thou art Israel, the seed
|
|
not only of a praying but of a prevailing father, that was a prince
|
|
with God; and yet, not valuing his experiences any more than his
|
|
example, <I>thou hast been weary of me.</I>" They had been in relation
|
|
to God, employed in his service and in communion with him; but they
|
|
began to snuff at it, and to say, <I>Behold, what a weariness is
|
|
it!</I> Note, Those who neglect to call upon God do in effect tell him
|
|
they are weary of him and have a mind to change their Master.
|
|
|
|
(3.) They grudged the expense of their devotion, and were niggardly and
|
|
penurious in it. They were for a cheap religion; and in those acts of
|
|
devotion that were costly they desired to be excused. They had <I>not
|
|
brought,</I> no, not their <I>small cattle,</I> the lambs and kids,
|
|
which God required for <I>burnt-offerings</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
much less did they bring their greater cattle, pretending they could
|
|
not spare them, they must have them for the maintenance of their
|
|
families. So little sense had they of the greatness of God and their
|
|
obligations to him that they could not find in their hearts to part
|
|
with a lamb out of their flock for his honour, though he called for it
|
|
and would graciously have accepted it. <I>Sweet cane,</I> or
|
|
<I>calamus,</I> was used for the holy oil, incense, and perfume; but
|
|
they were not willing to be at the charge of that,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
What they had must serve, though it was old and good for nothing; they
|
|
would not buy fresh. Perhaps it was usual for devout pious persons to
|
|
bring free-will incense as well as other free-will offerings; but they
|
|
were not so generous, nor did they fill the altar of God, nor moisten
|
|
it abundantly, as they should have done, <I>with the fat of their
|
|
sacrifices;</I> what sacrifices they did bring were of the lean and
|
|
refuse of their cattle, that had no fat in them to regale the altar
|
|
with.
|
|
|
|
(4.) What sacrifices they did offer they did not honour God with them,
|
|
and so they were, in effect, as no sacrifices
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Neither hast thou honoured me with thy sacrifices.</I> Some of them
|
|
offered their sacrifices to false gods; others, who offered them to the
|
|
true God, were either careless in the manner of offering them or
|
|
hypocritical in their intentions, so that they might be truly said not
|
|
to honour God with them, but rather to dishonour him.
|
|
|
|
(5.) That which aggravated their neglect of sacrificing was that, as
|
|
God had appointed it, it was no burdensome thing; it was not a service
|
|
that they had any reason at all to complain of: "<I>I have not caused
|
|
thee to serve with an offering;</I> I have not made it a task and
|
|
drudgery to you, whatever you, through the corruption of your natures,
|
|
have made it yourselves. I have <I>not wearied thee with incense.</I>"
|
|
None of God's commandments are grievous, no, not those concerning
|
|
sacrifice and incense. They were not more costly than might be afforded
|
|
by those that lived in such a plentiful country, nor did their
|
|
attendance on them require any more time than they could well spare.
|
|
But that which especially forbade them to call it <I>a wearisome
|
|
service</I> was that they were required to be cheerful and pleasant,
|
|
and to rejoice before God in all their approaches to him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+12:12">Deut. xii. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
They had many feasts and good days, but only one day in all the year in
|
|
which they were to afflict their souls. The ordinances of the
|
|
ceremonial law, though, in comparison with Christ's easy yoke, they are
|
|
spoken of as heavy
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+15:10">Acts xv. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
yet, in comparison with the service that idolaters did to their false
|
|
gods, they were light, and not to be called <I>services</I> nor found
|
|
fault with as wearisome. God did not require them to sacrifice their
|
|
children, as Moloch did.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Commissions of the evil which God had forbidden; and omissions
|
|
commonly make way for commissions: <I>Thou hast made me to serve with
|
|
thy sins.</I> When we make God's gifts the food and fuel for our lusts,
|
|
and his providence the patron of our wicked projects, especially when
|
|
we encourage ourselves to continue in sin because grace has abounded,
|
|
then we make God to serve with our sins. Or it may denote what a grief
|
|
and burden sin is to God; it not only wearies men and makes the
|
|
creation groan, but it <I>wearies my God also</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+7:13"><I>ch.</I> vii. 13</A>)
|
|
|
|
and makes the Creator complain that he is <I>grieved</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+95:10">Ps. xcv. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
that he is <I>broken</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+6:9">Ezek. vi. 9</A>),
|
|
|
|
that he is pressed with sinners <I>as a cart is pressed that is full of
|
|
sheaves</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+2:13">Amos ii. 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
and to cry out, <I>Ah! I will ease me of my adversaries,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:24"><I>ch.</I> i. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
The antithesis is observable: God had not made them to serve with their
|
|
sacrifices, but they had made him to serve with their sins. The master
|
|
had not tired the servants with his commands, but they had tired him
|
|
with their disobedience. Those are wicked servants indeed that behave
|
|
so ill to so good a Master. God is tender of our comfort, but we are
|
|
careless of his honour. Let <I>this</I> engage us to keep close to our
|
|
duty, that it is easy and reasonable, and no disparagement to us, nor
|
|
too hard for us.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. What were the aggravations of their sin,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. That they were children of disobedience; for their <I>first
|
|
father</I> (that is, their forefathers) <I>had sinned;</I> and they had
|
|
not only sinned in their loins, but sinned like them. Ezra confesses
|
|
this: <I>Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great
|
|
trespass,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+9:7"><I>ch.</I> ix. 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
But their forefathers are called their <I>first father</I> to put us in
|
|
mind of the apostasy and rebellion of our first father Adam, to which
|
|
corrupt fountain we must trace up the streams of all our
|
|
transgressions.
|
|
|
|
2. That they were scholars of disobedience too: for <I>their teachers
|
|
had transgressed against God,</I> were guilty of gross scandalous sins,
|
|
and the people, no doubt, would learn to do as they did. It is ill with
|
|
a people when their leaders cause them to err, and their teachers, who
|
|
should reform them, corrupt them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. What were the tokens of God's displeasure against them for their
|
|
sins,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
He brought ruin both upon church and state.
|
|
|
|
1. The honour of their church was laid in the dust and trampled on:
|
|
<I>I have profaned the princes of the sanctuary,</I> that is, the
|
|
priests and Levites who presided with great dignity and power in the
|
|
temple-service; they profaned themselves, and made themselves vile, by
|
|
their enormities, and then God profaned them and made them vile, by
|
|
their calamities and the contempt they fell into,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+2:9">Mal. ii. 9</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. The honour of their state was ruined likewise: "<I>I have given
|
|
Jacob to the curse,</I> that is, to be cursed, and hated, and abused by
|
|
all their neighbours, <I>and Israel to reproach,</I> to be insulted,
|
|
ridiculed, and triumphed over by their enemies." They reproached them
|
|
perhaps for that in them that was good; they <I>mocked at their
|
|
sabbaths</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+1:7">Lam. i. 7</A>);
|
|
|
|
but God gave them up to reproach, to correct them for what was amiss.
|
|
Note, The dishonour which men at any time do us should humble us for
|
|
the dishonour we have done to God; and we must bear it patiently
|
|
because we suffer it justly, and must acknowledge that to us belongs
|
|
confusion.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. What were the riches of God's mercy towards them notwithstanding
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I even I, am he who</I> notwithstanding all this <I>blotteth out thy
|
|
transgressions.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. This gracious declaration of God's readiness to pardon sin comes in
|
|
very strangely. The charge ran very high: <I>Thou hast wearied me with
|
|
thy iniquities,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Now one would think it would follow: "<I>I, even I, am he</I> that will
|
|
destroy thee, and burden myself no longer with care about thee." No,
|
|
<I>I, even I, am he that will forgive thee;</I> as if the great God
|
|
would teach us that forgiving injuries is the best way to make
|
|
ourselves easy and to keep ourselves from being wearied with them. This
|
|
comes in here to encourage them to repent, because there is forgiveness
|
|
with God, and to show the freeness of divine mercy; where sin has been
|
|
exceedingly sinful grace appears exceedingly gracious. Apply this,
|
|
|
|
(1.) To the forgiving of the sins of Israel as a people, in their
|
|
national capacity. When God stopped the course of threatening
|
|
judgments, and saved them from utter ruin, even then when he had them
|
|
under severe rebukes, then he might be said to <I>blot out their
|
|
transgressions.</I> Though he corrected them, he was reconciled to them
|
|
again, and did not cut them off from being a people. This he did many
|
|
a time, till they rejected Christ and his gospel, which was a sin
|
|
against the remedy, and then he would forgive them no more as a nation,
|
|
but utterly destroyed them.
|
|
|
|
(2.) To the forgiving of the sins of every particular believing
|
|
penitent--<I>transgressions and sins,</I> infirmities though ever so
|
|
numerous, backslidings though ever so heinous. Observe here,
|
|
|
|
[1.] How the pardon is expressed; he will <I>blot them out,</I> as a
|
|
cloud is blotted out by the beams of the sun
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+44:22"><I>ch.</I> xliv. 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
as a debt is blotted out not to appear against the debtor (the book is
|
|
crossed as if the debt were paid, because it is pardoned upon the
|
|
payment which the surety has made), or as a sentence is blotted out
|
|
when it is reversed, as the curse was blotted out with the waters of
|
|
jealousy, which made it of no effect to the innocent,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+5:23">Num. v. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
He <I>will not remember</I> the sin, which intimates not only that he
|
|
will remit the punishment of what is past, but that it shall be no
|
|
diminution to his love for the future. When God forgives he forgets.
|
|
|
|
[2.] What is the ground and reason of the pardon. It is not for the
|
|
sake of any thing in us, but for his own sake, for his mercies'-sake,
|
|
his promise-sake, and especially for his Son's sake, and that he may
|
|
himself be glorified in it.
|
|
|
|
[3.] How God glories in it: <I>I, even I, am he.</I> He glories in it
|
|
as his prerogative. None can forgive sin but God only, and he will do
|
|
it; it is his settled resolution. He will do it willingly and with
|
|
delight; it is his pleasure; it is his honour; so he is pleased to
|
|
reckon it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. Those words
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Put me in remembrance,</I> may be understood either
|
|
|
|
(1.) As a rebuke to a proud Pharisee, that stands upon his own
|
|
justification before God, and expects to find favour for his merits and
|
|
not to be beholden to free grace: "If you have any thing to say in your
|
|
own justification, any thing to offer for the sake of which you should
|
|
be pardoned, and not for my sake, put me in remembrance of it. I will
|
|
give you leave to plead your own cause with me; declare what your
|
|
merits are, that you may be justified by them:" but those who are thus
|
|
challenged will be speechless. Or,
|
|
|
|
(2.) As a publican. Is God thus ready to pardon sin, and, when he
|
|
pardons it, will he remember it no more? Let us then put him in
|
|
remembrance, mention before him those sins which he has forgiven; for
|
|
they must be ever before us, to humble us, though they are pardoned,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+51:3">Ps. li. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
Put him in remembrance of the promises he has made to penitents, and
|
|
the satisfaction his Son has made for them. Plead these with him in
|
|
wrestling for pardon, and declare these things, in order that thou
|
|
mayest be justified freely by his grace. This is the only way, and it
|
|
is a sure way, to peace. <I>Only acknowledge thy transgression.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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