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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. XLI.</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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This chapter, as the former, in intended both for the conviction of
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idolaters and for the consolation of all God's faithful worshippers;
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for the Spirit is sent, and ministers are employed by him, both to
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convince and to comfort. And however this might be primarily intended
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for the conviction of Babylonians, and the comfort of Israelites, or
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for the conviction of those in Israel that were addicted to idolatry,
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as multitudes were, and the comfort of those that kept their integrity,
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doubtless it was intended both for admonition and encouragement to us,
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admonition to keep ourselves from idols and encouragement to trust in
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God. Here,
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I. God by the prophet shows the folly of those that worshipped idols,
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especially that thought their idols able to contest with him and
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control him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:1-9">ver. 1-9</A>.
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II. He encourages his faithful ones to trust in him, with an assurance
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that he would take their part against their enemies, make them
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victorious over them, and bring about a happy change of their affairs,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:10-20">ver. 10-20</A>.
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III. He challenges the idols, that were rivals with him for men's
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adoration, to vie with him either for knowledge or power, either to
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show things to come or to do good or evil,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:21-29">ver. 21-29</A>.
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So that the chapter may be summed up in those words of Elijah, "If
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Jehovah be God, then follow him; but, if Baal be God, then follow him;"
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and in the people's acknowledgment, upon the issue of the trial,
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"Jehovah he is the God, Jehovah he is the God."</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa41_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_9"> </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>Idolatry Exposed.</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 Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew
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<I>their</I> strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us
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come near together to judgment.
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2 Who raised up the righteous <I>man</I> from the east, called him
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to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made <I>him</I> rule
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over kings? he gave <I>them</I> as the dust to his sword, <I>and</I> as
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driven stubble to his bow.
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3 He pursued them, <I>and</I> passed safely; <I>even</I> by the way
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<I>that</I> he had not gone with his feet.
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4 Who hath wrought and done <I>it,</I> calling the generations from
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the beginning? I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the first, and with the last; I <I>am</I>
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he.
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5 The isles saw <I>it,</I> and feared; the ends of the earth were
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afraid, drew near, and came.
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6 They helped every one his neighbour; and <I>every one</I> said to
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his brother, Be of good courage.
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7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, <I>and</I> he that
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smootheth <I>with</I> the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It
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<I>is</I> ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails,
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<I>that</I> it should not be moved.
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8 But thou, Israel, <I>art</I> my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen,
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the seed of Abraham my friend.
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9 <I>Thou</I> whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and
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called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou
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<I>art</I> my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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That particular instance of God's care for his people Israel in raising
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up Cyrus to be their deliverer is here insisted upon as a great proof
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both of his sovereignty above all idols and of his power to protect his
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people. Here is,</P>
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<P>
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I. A general challenge to the worshippers and admirers of idols to make
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good their pretensions, in competition with God and opposition to him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Is is renewed
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>):
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<I>Produce your cause.</I> The court is set, summonses are sent to the
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islands that lay most remote, but not out of God's jurisdiction, for he
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is the <I>Creator and possessor of the ends of the earth,</I> to make
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their appearance and give their attendance. Silence (as usual) is
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proclaimed while the cause is in trying: "<I>Keep silence before
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me,</I> and judge nothing before the time" ; while the cause is in
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trying between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan it becomes
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all people silently to expect the issue, not to object against God's
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proceedings, but to be confident that he will carry the day. The
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defenders of idolatry are called to say what they can in defence of it:
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"<I>Let them renew their strength,</I> in opposition to God, and see
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whether it be equal to the strength which those renew that wait upon
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him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+40:31"><I>ch.</I> xl. 31</A>);
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let them try their utmost efforts, whether by force of arms or force of
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argument. <I>Let them come near;</I> they shall not complain that God's
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<I>dread makes them afraid</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+13:21">Job xiii. 21</A>),
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so that they cannot say what they have to say, in vindication and
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honour of their idols; no, <I>let them speak</I> freely: <I>Let us come
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near together to judgment.</I>" Note.
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1. The cause of God and his kingdom is not afraid of a fair trial; if
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the case be but fairly stated, it will be surely carried in favour of
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religion.
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2. The enemies of God's church and his holy religion may safely be
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challenged to say and do their worst for the support of their
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unrighteous cause. He that <I>sits in heaven laughs at them,</I> and
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the <I>daughter of Zion despises them;</I> for <I>great is the truth
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and will prevail.</I></P>
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<P>
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II. He particularly challenges the idols to do that for their
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worshippers, and against his, which he had done and would do for his
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worshippers, and against theirs. Different senses are given of
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>,
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concerning <I>the righteous man raised up from the east;</I> and, since
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we cannot determine which is the true, we will make use of each as
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good.</P>
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<P>
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1. That which is to be proved is,
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(1.) That <I>the Lord is God</I> alone, <I>the first and with the
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last</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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that he is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, that he governed the
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world from the beginning, and will to the end of time. He has reigned
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of old, and will reign for ever; the counsels of his kingdom were from
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eternity, and the continuance of it will be to eternity.
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(2.) That <I>Israel</I> is <I>his servant</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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whom he owns, and protects, and employs, and in whom he is and will be
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glorified. As there is a God in heaven, so there is a church on earth
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that is his particular care. Elijah prays
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+18:36">1 Kings xviii. 36</A>),
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<I>Let it be known that thou art God, and that I am thy servant.</I>
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Now,</P>
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<P>
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2. To prove this he shows,</P>
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<P>
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(1.) That it was he who called Abraham, the father of this despised
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nation, out of an idolatrous country, and by many instances of his
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favour <I>made his name great,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+12:2">Gen. xii. 2</A>.
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He is <I>the righteous man whom God raised up from the east.</I> Of him
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the Chaldee paraphrast expressly understands it: <I>Who brought Abraham
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publicly from the east?</I> To maintain the honour of the people of
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Israel, it was very proper to show what a figure this great ancestor of
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theirs made in his day; and
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>
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seems to be the explication of it, where God calls Israel the <I>seed
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of Abraham my friend;</I> and
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>)
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he <I>calls the generations</I> (namely, the generations of Israel)
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<I>from the beginning.</I> Also, to put contempt upon idolatry, and
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particularly the Chaldean idolatry, it was proper to show how Abraham
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was called from serving other gods
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+24:2,3">Josh. xxiv. 2, 3</A>,
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&c.), so that an early testimony was borne against that idolatry which
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boasted so much of its antiquity. Also, to encourage the captives in
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Babylon to hope that God would find a way for their return to their own
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land, it was proper to remind them how at first he brought their father
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Abraham out of the same country into this land, to give it to him for
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an inheritance,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+15:7">Gen. xv. 7</A>.
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Now observe what is here said concerning him.
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[1.] That he was a <I>righteous man,</I> or <I>righteousness,</I> a
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<I>man of righteousness,</I> that <I>believed God, and it was counted
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to him for righteousness;</I> and so he became the father of all those
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who by faith in Christ are made the <I>righteousness of God through
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him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+4:3,11,2Co+5:21">Rom. iv. 3, 11; 2 Cor. v. 21</A>.
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He was a great example of righteousness in his day, and <I>taught his
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household to do judgment and justice,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+18:19">Gen. xviii. 19</A>.
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[2.] That God <I>raised him up from the east,</I> from Ur first and
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afterwards from Haran, which lay east from Canaan. God would not let
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him settle in either of those places, but did by him as the eagle by
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her young, when she stirs up her nest: he raised him out of iniquity
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and made him pious, out of obscurity and made him famous.
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[3.] He <I>called him to his foot,</I> to follow him with an implicit
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faith; for he <I>went out, not knowing whither he went,</I> but whom he
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followed,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:8">Heb. xi. 8</A>.
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Those whom God effectually calls he calls to his foot, to be subject to
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him, to attend him, and <I>follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes;</I>
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and we must all either come to his foot or be made his footstool.
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[4.] <I>He gave nations before him,</I> the nations of Canaan, which he
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promised to make him master of, and thus far gave him an interest in
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that the Hittites acknowledged him a mighty prince among them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+23:6">Gen. xxiii. 6</A>.
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He <I>made him rule over</I> those <I>kings</I> whom he conquered for
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the rescue of his brother Lot,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+14:1-24">Gen. xiv</A>.
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And when God <I>gave them as dust to his sword, and as driven stubble
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to his bow</I> (that is, made them an easy prey to his catechised
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servants), <I>he</I> then <I>pursued them, and passed safely,</I> or in
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peace, under the divine protection, though it was in a way he was
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altogether unacquainted with; and so considerable was this victory that
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Melchizedec himself appeared to celebrate it. Now who did this but the
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great Jehovah? Can any of the gods of the heathen do so?</P>
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<P>
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(2.) That it is he who will, ere long, raise up Cyrus from the east. It
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is spoken of according to the language of prophecy as a thing past,
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because as sure to be done in its season as if it were already done.
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<I>God will raise him up in righteousness</I> (so it may be read,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+45:13"><I>ch.</I> xlv. 13</A>),
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<I>will call him to his foot,</I> make what use of him he pleases, and
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make him victorious over the nations that oppose his coming to the
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crown, and give him success in all his wars; and he shall be a type of
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Christ, who is righteousness itself, the Lord our righteousness, whom
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God will, in the fulness of time, raise up and make victorious over the
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powers of darkness; so that he shall spoil them and make a show of them
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openly.</P>
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<P>
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III. He exposes the folly of idolaters, who, notwithstanding the
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convincing proofs which the God of Israel had given of his being God
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alone, obstinately persisted in their idolatry, nay, were so much the
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more hardened in it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>The isles of the Gentiles saw this,</I> not only what God did for
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Abraham himself, but what he did for his seed, for his sake, how he
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brought them out of Egypt, and made them <I>rule over kings,</I> and
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<I>they feared,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+15:14-16">Exod. xv. 14-16</A>.
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They were afraid, and, according to the summons
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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they <I>drew near, and came;</I> they could not avoid taking notice of
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what God did for Abraham and his seed; but, instead of helping to
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reason one another out of their sottish idolatries, they helped to
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confirm one another in them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>.
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1. They looked upon it as a dangerous design upon their religion,
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which they were jealous for the honour of, and were resolved, right or
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wrong, to adhere to, and therefore were alarmed to appear vigorously
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for the support of it, as the Ephesians for their Diana. When God, by
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his wonderful appearances on the behalf of his people, went about to
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wrest their idols from them, they held them so much the faster, and
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said one to another, "<I>Be of good courage;</I> let us unanimously
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agree to keep up the reputation of our gods. Though Dagon fall before
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the ark, he shall be set up again in his place." One tradesman
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encourages another to come into a confederacy for the keeping up of the
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noble craft of god-making. Thus men's convictions often exasperate
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their corruptions, and they are made worse both by the word and the
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works of God, which should make them better.
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2. They looked upon it as a dangerous design upon themselves. They
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thought themselves in danger from the growing greatness both of Abraham
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that was a convert from idolatry, and of the people of Israel that were
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separatists from it; and therefore they not only had recourse to their
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old gods for protection, but made <I>new</I> ones,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:17">Deut. xxxii. 17</A>.
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<I>So the carpenter,</I> having done his part to the timberwork,
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<I>encouraged the goldsmith</I> to do his part in gilding or overlaying
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it; and, when it came into the goldsmith's hand, <I>he that smooths
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with the hammer</I> that polishes it, or beats it thin, quickened
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<I>him that smote the anvil,</I> bade him be expeditious, and told him
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it was <I>ready for the soldering,</I> which perhaps was the last
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operation about it, and then it is <I>fastened with nails,</I> and you
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have a god of it presently. Do sinners thus animate and quicken one
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another in the ways of sin? And shall not the servants of the living
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God both stir up one another to, and strengthen one another in, his
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service? Some read all this ironically, and by way of permission:
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<I>Let them help every one his neighbour; let the carpenter encourage
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the goldsmith;</I> but all in vain; idols shall fall for all this.</P>
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<P>
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IV. He encourages his own people to trust in him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:8,9"><I>v.</I> 8, 9</A>):
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"<I>But thou, Israel, art my servant.</I> They know me not, but thou
|
|
knowest me, and knowest better than to join with such ignorant besotted
|
|
people as these" (for it is intended for a warning to the people of God
|
|
not to <I>walk in the way of the heathen</I>); "they put themselves
|
|
under the protection of these impotent deities, but thou art under my
|
|
protection. <I>Those that make them are like unto them, and so is
|
|
every one that trusts in them; but thou, O Israel!</I> art the servant
|
|
of a better Master." Observe what is suggested here for the
|
|
encouragement of God's people when they are threatened and insulted
|
|
over.
|
|
|
|
1. They are God's servants, and he will not see them abused, especially
|
|
for what they do in his service: <I>Thou art my servant</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
and
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>)
|
|
|
|
"<I>I have said unto thee, Thou art my servant;</I> and I will not go
|
|
back from my word."
|
|
|
|
2. He has <I>chosen</I> them to be a peculiar people to himself. They
|
|
were not forced upon him, but of his own good-will he set them apart.
|
|
|
|
3. They were the seed of Abraham his friend. It was the honour of
|
|
Abraham that he was <I>called the friend of God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+2:23">James ii. 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
whom God covenanted and conversed with as a friend, and the <I>man of
|
|
his counsel;</I> and <I>this honour have all the saints,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+15:15">John xv. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
And for the father's sake the people of Israel were beloved. God was
|
|
pleased to look upon them as the posterity of an old friend of his, and
|
|
therefore to be kind to them; for the covenant of friendship was made
|
|
with Abraham and his seed.
|
|
|
|
4. He had sometimes, when they had been scattered among the heathen,
|
|
fetched them from the ends of the earth and taken them out of the hands
|
|
of the chief ones thereof, and therefore he would not now abandon them.
|
|
Abraham their father was fetched from a place at a great distance, and
|
|
they in his loins; and those who had been thus far-fetched and
|
|
dear-bought he could not easily part with.
|
|
|
|
5. He had not yet cast them away, though they had often provoked him,
|
|
and therefore he would not now abandon them. What God has done for his
|
|
people, and what he has further engaged to do, should encourage them to
|
|
trust in him at all times.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Isa41_10"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa41_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa41_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa41_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa41_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa41_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa41_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa41_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa41_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa41_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Isa41_20"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Israel Encouraged.</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>10 Fear thou not; for I <I>am</I> with thee: be not dismayed; for I
|
|
<I>am</I> thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea,
|
|
I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
|
|
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be
|
|
ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that
|
|
strive with thee shall perish.
|
|
12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, <I>even</I> them
|
|
that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as
|
|
nothing, and as a thing of nought.
|
|
13 For I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto
|
|
thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
|
|
14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, <I>and</I> ye men of Israel; I will
|
|
help thee, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of
|
|
Israel.
|
|
15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument
|
|
having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat <I>them</I>
|
|
small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
|
|
16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and
|
|
the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>and</I> shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
|
|
17 <I>When</I> the poor and needy seek water, and <I>there is</I> none,
|
|
<I>and</I> their tongue faileth for thirst, I the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> will hear them,
|
|
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
|
|
18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the
|
|
midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
|
|
and the dry land springs of water.
|
|
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree,
|
|
and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the
|
|
fir tree, <I>and</I> the pine, and the box tree together:
|
|
20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand
|
|
together, that the hand of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath done this, and the Holy
|
|
One of Israel hath created it.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
The scope of these verses is to silence the fears, and encourage the
|
|
faith, of the servants of God in their distresses. Perhaps it is
|
|
intended, in the first place, for the support of God's Israel, in
|
|
captivity; but all that faithfully serve God <I>through patience and
|
|
comfort of this scripture may have hope.</I> And it is addressed to
|
|
Israel as a single person, that it might the more easily and readily be
|
|
accommodated and applied by every Israelite indeed to himself. That is
|
|
a word of caution, counsel, and comfort, which is so often repeated,
|
|
<I>Fear thou not;</I> and again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Fear not;</I> and
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
"<I>Fear not, thou worm Jacob;</I> fear not the threatenings of the
|
|
enemy, doubt not the promise of thy God; fear not that thou shalt
|
|
perish in thy affliction or that the promise of thy deliverance shall
|
|
fail." It is against the mind of God that his people should be a
|
|
timorous people. For the suppressing of fear he assures them,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. That they may depend upon his presence with them as their God, and a
|
|
God all-sufficient for them in the worst of times. Observe with what
|
|
tenderness God speaks, and how willing he is to let the heirs of
|
|
promise know the immutability of his counsel, and how desirous to make
|
|
them easy: "<I>Fear thou not, for I am with thee,</I> not only within
|
|
call, but present with thee; <I>be not dismayed</I> at the power of
|
|
those that are against thee, for <I>I am thy God,</I> and engaged for
|
|
thee. Art thou weak? <I>I will strengthen thee.</I> Art thou destitute
|
|
of friends? <I>I will help thee</I> in the time of need. Art thou ready
|
|
to sink, ready to fall? <I>I will uphold thee with the right hand of my
|
|
righteousness,</I> that right hand which is full of righteousness, in
|
|
dispensing rewards and punishments,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+48:10">Ps. xlviii. 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
And again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>)
|
|
|
|
it is promised,
|
|
|
|
1. That God will strengthen their hands, that is, will help them: "<I>I
|
|
will hold thy right hand,</I> go hand in hand with thee" (so some): he
|
|
will take us by the hand as our guide, to lead us in our way, will help
|
|
us up when we are fallen or prevent our falls; when we are weak he will
|
|
hold us up-wavering, he will fix us-trembling, he will encourage us,
|
|
and so <I>hold us by the right hand,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+73:23">Ps. lxxiii. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. That he will silence their fears: <I>Saying unto thee, Fear
|
|
not.</I> He has said it again and again in his word, and has there
|
|
provided sovereign antidotes against fear: but he will go further; he
|
|
will by his Spirit say it to their hearts, and make them to hear it,
|
|
and so will help them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. That though their enemies be now very formidable, insolent, and
|
|
severe, yet the day is coming when God will reckon with them and they
|
|
shall triumph over them. There are those that are incensed against
|
|
God's people, that <I>strive with them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
|
|
that war against them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
that hate them, that seek their ruin, and are continually picking
|
|
quarrels with them. But let not God's people be incensed at them, nor
|
|
strive with them, nor render evil for evil; but wait God's time, and
|
|
believe,
|
|
|
|
1. That they shall be convinced of the folly, at least, if not of the
|
|
sin of striving with God's people; and, finding it to no purpose,
|
|
<I>they shall be ashamed and confounded,</I> which might bring them to
|
|
repentance, but will rather fill them with rage.
|
|
|
|
2. That they shall be quite ruined and undone
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They shall be as nothing</I> before the justice and power of God.
|
|
When God comes to deal with his proud enemies he makes nothing of them.
|
|
Or they shall be brought to nothing, shall be as if they had never
|
|
been. This is repeated
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
They <I>shall be as nothing and as a thing of nought,</I> or as that
|
|
which is gone and has failed. Those that were formidable shall become
|
|
despicable; those that fancied they could do any thing shall be able to
|
|
bring nothing to pass; those that made a figure in the world, and a
|
|
mighty noise, shall become mere ciphers and be buried in silence. They
|
|
shall perish, not only be nothing, but be miserable: <I>Thou shalt seek
|
|
them,</I> shalt enquire what has become of them, that they do not
|
|
appear as usual, but thou <I>shalt not find them</I> as David,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+37:36">Ps. xxxvii. 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>I sought him, but he could not be found.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. That they themselves should become a terror to those who were now
|
|
a terror to them, and victory should turn on their side,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:14-16"><I>v.</I> 14-16</A>.
|
|
|
|
See here,
|
|
|
|
1. How Jacob and Israel are reduced and brought very low. It is the
|
|
<I>worm Jacob,</I> so little, so weak, and so defenceless, despised and
|
|
trampled on by every body, forced to creep even into the earth for
|
|
safety; and we must not wonder that Jacob has become a worm, when even
|
|
Jacob's King calls himself <I>a worm and no man,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+22:6">Ps. xxii. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
God's people are sometimes as worms, in their humble thoughts of
|
|
themselves and their enemies' haughty thoughts of them--worms, but not
|
|
vipers, as their enemies are, not of the serpent's seed. God regards
|
|
Jacob's low estate, and says, "<I>Fear not, thou worm Jacob;</I> fear
|
|
not that thou shalt be crushed; and <I>you men of Israel</I>" (<I>you
|
|
few men,</I> so some read it, <I>you dead men,</I> so others) "do not
|
|
give up yourselves for gone notwithstanding." Note, The grace of God
|
|
will silence fears even when there seems to be the greatest cause for
|
|
them. <I>Perplexed but not in despair.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. How Jacob and Israel are advanced from this low estate, and made as
|
|
formidable as ever they have been despicable. But <I>by whom shall
|
|
Jacob arise, for he is small?</I> We are here told: <I>I will help
|
|
thee, saith the Lord;</I> and it is the honour of God to help the weak.
|
|
He will help them, for he is their Redeemer, who is wont to redeem
|
|
them, who has undertaken to do it. Christ is the Redeemer, from him is
|
|
our help found. He will help them, for he is the <I>Holy One of
|
|
Israel,</I> worshipped among them in the beauty of holiness and engaged
|
|
by promise to them. The Lord will help them by enabling them to help
|
|
themselves and making Jacob to become <I>a threshing instrument.</I>
|
|
Observe, He is but an instrument, a tool in God's hand, that he is
|
|
pleased to make use of; and he is an instrument of God's making and is
|
|
no more than God makes him. But, if God make him a threshing
|
|
instrument, he will make use of him, and therefore will make him fit
|
|
for use, <I>new</I> and <I>sharp,</I> and <I>having teeth,</I> or sharp
|
|
spikes; and then, by divine direction and strength, <I>thou shalt
|
|
thresh the mountains,</I> the highest, and strongest, and most stubborn
|
|
of thy enemies: thou shalt not only be at them, but <I>beat them
|
|
small;</I> they shall not be a corn threshed out, which is valuable,
|
|
and is carefully preserved (such God's people are when they are under
|
|
the flail,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+21:10"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 10</A>:
|
|
|
|
<I>O my threshing!</I> yet <I>the corn of my floor,</I> that shall not
|
|
be lost); but these are made <I>as chaff,</I> which is good for
|
|
nothing, and which the husbandman is glad to get rid of. He pursues the
|
|
metaphor,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Having threshed them, <I>thou shalt winnow them, and the wind shall
|
|
scatter them.</I> This perhaps had its accomplishment, in part, in the
|
|
victories of the Jews over their enemies in the times of the Maccabees;
|
|
but it seems in general designed to read the final doom of all the
|
|
implacable enemies of the church of God, and to have its accomplishment
|
|
like wise in the triumphs of the cross of Christ, the gospel of Christ,
|
|
and all the faithful followers of Christ, over the powers of darkness,
|
|
which, first or last, shall all be dissipated, and in Christ all
|
|
believers shall be more than conquerors, and <I>he that overcomes shall
|
|
have power over the nations,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+2:26">Rev. ii. 26</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. That, hereupon, they shall have abundance of comfort in God, and
|
|
God shall have abundance of honour from them: <I>Thou shalt rejoice in
|
|
the Lord,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
When we are freed from that which hindered our joy, and are blessed
|
|
with that which is the matter of it, we ought to remember that God is
|
|
our exceeding joy and in him all our joys must terminate. When we
|
|
rejoice over our enemies we must rejoice in the Lord, for to him alone
|
|
we owe our liberties and victories. "Thou shalt also <I>glory in the
|
|
Holy One of Israel,</I> in thy interest in him and relation to him, and
|
|
what he has done for thee." And, if thus we make God our praise and
|
|
glory, we become to him for a praise and a glory.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. That they shall have seasonable and suitable supplies of every thing
|
|
that is proper for them in the time of need; and, if there be occasion,
|
|
God will again do for them as he did for Israel in their march from
|
|
Egypt to Canaan,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:17-19"><I>v.</I> 17-19</A>.
|
|
|
|
When the captives, either in Babylon or in their return thence, are in
|
|
distress for want of water or shelter, God will take care of them, and,
|
|
one way or other, make their journey, even through a wilderness,
|
|
comfortable to them. But doubtless this promise has more than such a
|
|
private interpretation. Their return out of Babylon was typical of our
|
|
redemption by Christ; and so the contents of these promises,
|
|
|
|
1. Were provided by the gospel of Christ. That glorious discovery of
|
|
his love has given full assurance to all those who hear this joyful
|
|
sound that God has provided inestimable comforts for them, sufficient
|
|
for the supply of all their wants, the balancing of all their griefs,
|
|
and the answering of all their prayers.
|
|
|
|
2. They are applied by the grace and Spirit of Christ to all believers,
|
|
that they may have strong consolation in their way and a complete
|
|
happiness in their end. Our way to heaven lies through the wilderness
|
|
of this world. Now,
|
|
|
|
(1.) It is here supposed that the people of God, in their passage
|
|
through this world, are often in straits: <I>The poor and needy seek
|
|
water, and there is none; the poor in spirit hunger and thirst after
|
|
righteousness.</I> The soul of man, finding itself empty and
|
|
necessitous, seeks for satisfaction somewhere, but soon despairs of
|
|
finding it in the world, that has nothing in it to make it easy:
|
|
creatures are <I>broken cisterns, that can hold no water;</I> so that
|
|
<I>their tongue fails for thirst,</I> they are weary of seeking that
|
|
satisfaction in the world which is not to be had in it. Their sorrow
|
|
makes them thirsty; so does their toil.
|
|
|
|
(2.) It is here promised that, one way or other, all their grievances
|
|
shall be redressed and they shall be made easy.
|
|
|
|
[1.] God himself will be nigh unto them in all that which they call
|
|
upon him for. Let all the praying people of God take notice of this,
|
|
and take comfort of it; he has said, "<I>I the Lord will hear them,</I>
|
|
will answer them; <I>I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them;</I> I
|
|
will be with them, as I have always been, in their distresses." While
|
|
we are in the wilderness of this world this promise is to us what the
|
|
pillar of cloud and fire was to Israel, an assurance of God's gracious
|
|
presence.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They shall have a constant supply of fresh water, as Israel had in
|
|
the wilderness, even where one would least expect it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will open rivers in high places,</I> rivers of grace, rivers of
|
|
pleasure, <I>rivers of living water,</I> which he spoke of the Spirit
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+7:38,39">John vii. 38, 39</A>),
|
|
|
|
that Spirit which should be poured out upon the Gentiles, who had been
|
|
as high places, dry and barren, and lifted up on their own conceit
|
|
above the necessity of that gift. And there shall be <I>fountains in
|
|
the midst of the valleys,</I> the valleys of Baca
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+84:6">Ps. lxxxiv. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
that are sandy and wearisome; or among the Jews, who had been as
|
|
fruitful valleys in comparison with the Gentile mountains. The
|
|
preaching of the gospel to the world turned that wilderness into a pool
|
|
of water, yielding fruit to the owner of it and relief to the
|
|
travellers through it.
|
|
|
|
[3.] They shall have a pleasant shade to screen them from the scorching
|
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heat of the sun, as Israel when they pitched at Elim, where they had
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not only wells of water, but palm-trees
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+15:27">Exod. xv. 27</A>):
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"<I>I will plant in the wilderness the cedar,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
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I will turn the wilderness into an orchard or garden, such as used to
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be planted with these pleasant trees, so that they shall pass through
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the wilderness with as much ease and delight as a man walks in his
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|
grove. These trees shall be to them what the pillar of cloud was to
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Israel in the wilderness, a shelter from the heat." Christ and his
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grace are so to believers, <I>as the shadow of a great rock,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+32:2"><I>ch.</I> xxxii. 2</A>.
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When God sets up his church in the Gentile wilderness there shall be as
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|
great a change made by it in men's characters as if thorns and briers
|
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were turned into cedars, and fir-trees, and myrtles; and by this a
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blessed change is described,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+55:13"><I>ch.</I> lv. 13</A>.
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[4.] They shall see and acknowledge the hand of God, his power and his
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favour, in this,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
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God will do these strange and surprising things on purpose to awaken
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|
them to a conviction and consideration of his hand in all: <I>That they
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may see</I> this wonderful change, <I>and knowing</I> that it is above
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|
the ordinary course and power of nature may consider that therefore it
|
|
comes from a superior power, and, comparing notes upon it, <I>may
|
|
understand together,</I> and concur in the acknowledgment of it,
|
|
<I>that the hand of the Lord,</I> that mighty hand of his which is
|
|
stretched out for his people and stretched out to them, <I>has done
|
|
this,</I> and <I>the Holy One of Israel has created it,</I> made it
|
|
anew, made it out of nothing, made it for the comfort of his people.
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Note, God does great things for his people, that he may be taken notice
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|
of.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa41_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa41_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Idolatry Exposed.</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>21 Produce your cause, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; bring forth your strong
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<I>reasons,</I> saith the King of Jacob.
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22 Let them bring <I>them</I> forth, and show us what shall happen:
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|
let them show the former things, what they <I>be,</I> that we may
|
|
consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us
|
|
things for to come.
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23 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know
|
|
that ye <I>are</I> gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be
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|
dismayed, and behold <I>it</I> together.
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24 Behold, ye <I>are</I> of nothing, and your work of nought: an
|
|
abomination <I>is he that</I> chooseth you.
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|
25 I have raised up <I>one</I> from the north, and he shall come:
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|
from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he
|
|
shall come upon princes as <I>upon</I> mortar, and as the potter
|
|
treadeth clay.
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26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and
|
|
beforetime, that we may say, <I>He is</I> righteous? yea, <I>there is</I>
|
|
none that showeth, yea, <I>there is</I> none that declareth, yea,
|
|
<I>there is</I> none that heareth your words.
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27 The first <I>shall say</I> to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I
|
|
will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.
|
|
28 For I beheld, and <I>there was</I> no man; even among them, and
|
|
<I>there was</I> no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could
|
|
answer a word.
|
|
29 Behold, they <I>are</I> all vanity; their works <I>are</I> nothing:
|
|
their molten images <I>are</I> wind and confusion.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
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<P>
|
|
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|
The Lord, by the prophet, here repeats the challenge to idolaters to
|
|
make out the pretentions of their idols: "<I>Produce your cause</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>)
|
|
|
|
and make your best of it; <I>bring forth the strongest reasons</I> you
|
|
have to prove that your idols are gods, and worthy of your adoration."
|
|
Note, There needs no more to show the absurdity of sin than to produce
|
|
the reasons that are given in defence of it, for they carry with them
|
|
their own confutation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The idols are here challenged to bring proofs of their knowledge and
|
|
power. Let us see what they can inform us of, and what they can do.
|
|
Understanding and active power are the accomplishments of a man.
|
|
Whoever pretends to be a god must have these in perfection; and have
|
|
the idols made it to appear that they have? No;</P>
|
|
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|
<P>
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|
|
|
1. "They can tell us nothing that we did not know before, so ignorant
|
|
are they. We challenge them to inform us,"
|
|
|
|
(1.) "What has been formerly: <I>Let them show the former things,</I>
|
|
and raise them out of the oblivion in which they were buried" (God
|
|
inspired Moses to write such a history of the creation as the gods of
|
|
the heathen could never have dictated to any of their enthusiasts); or
|
|
"let the defenders of idols tell us what mighty achievements they can
|
|
boast of as performed by their gods in former times. What did they ever
|
|
do that was worth taking notice of? Let them specify any thing, and it
|
|
shall be considered, its due weight shall be given it, and it shall be
|
|
compared with the latter end of it; and if, in the issue, it prove to
|
|
be as great as it pretended to be, they shall have the credit of it."
|
|
|
|
(2.) "We challenge them to tell us what shall happen, to declare to us
|
|
<I>things to come</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
and again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>show the things that are to come hereafter.</I> Give this evidence
|
|
of your omniscience, that nothing can be hidden from you, and of your
|
|
sovereignty and dominion. Make it to appear that you have the doing of
|
|
all, by letting us know beforehand what you deign to do. Do this
|
|
kindness to the world; let them know what is to come, that they may
|
|
provide accordingly. Do this, and we will own that you are gods above
|
|
us, and gods to us, and worthy of our adoration." No creature can
|
|
foretel things to come, otherwise than by divine information, with any
|
|
certainty.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. "They can do nothing that we cannot do ourselves, so impotent are
|
|
they." He challenges them to do either <I>good or evil,</I> good to
|
|
their friends or evil to their enemies: "Let them do, if they can, any
|
|
thing extraordinary, that people will admire and be affected with. Let
|
|
them either bless or curse, with power. Let us see them either inflict
|
|
such plagues such as God brought on Egypt or bestow such blessings as
|
|
God bestowed on Israel. Let them do some great thing, and we shall be
|
|
amazed when we see it, and frightened into a veneration of them, as
|
|
many have been into a veneration of the true God." That which is
|
|
charged upon these idols, and let them disprove it if they can, is that
|
|
<I>they are of nothing,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
Their claims have no foundation at all, nor is there any ground or
|
|
reason in the least for men's paying them the respect they do; there is
|
|
nothing in them worthy our regard. "They are less than nothing, worse
|
|
than nothing;" so some read it. "<I>The work they do is of nought,</I>
|
|
and so is the ado that is made about them. There is no pretence or
|
|
colour for it; it is all a jest; it is all a sham put upon the world;
|
|
and therefore <I>he that chooses you,</I> and so give you your deity,
|
|
and" (as some read it) "that delights in you, <I>is an
|
|
abomination;</I>" so some take it. A servant is at liberty to choose
|
|
his master, but a man is not at liberty to choose his God. He that
|
|
chooses any other than the true God chooses an abomination; his
|
|
choosing it makes it so.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. God here produces proofs that he is the true God, and that there is
|
|
none besides him. Let him produce his strong reasons.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He has an irresistible power. This he will shortly make to appear in
|
|
the raising up of Cyrus and making him a type of Christ
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>He will raise him up from the north</I> and <I>from the rising of
|
|
the sun.</I> Cyrus by his father was a Mede, by his mother a Persian;
|
|
and his army consisted of Medes, whose country lay north, and Persians,
|
|
whose country lay east, from Babylon. God will raise him up to great
|
|
power, and he shall come against Babylon with ends of his own to serve.
|
|
But,
|
|
|
|
(1.) <I>He shall proclaim God's name;</I> so it may be read. He shall
|
|
publish the honour of the God of Israel; so he did remarkably when, in
|
|
his proclamation for the release of the Jews out of their captivity, he
|
|
acknowledged that the Lord God of Israel was the Lord God of heaven,
|
|
and <I>the God:</I> and he might be said to call on his name when he
|
|
encouraged the building of his temple, and very probably did himself
|
|
call upon him and pray to him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ezr+1:2,3">Ezra i. 2, 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) All opposition shall fall before him: <I>He shall come upon the
|
|
princes of Babylon,</I> and all others that stood in his way, <I>as
|
|
mortar,</I> and trample upon them <I>as the potter treads clay,</I> to
|
|
serve his own purposes with it. Christ, as man, was raised up from the
|
|
north, for Nazareth lay in the northern parts of Canaan; as the angel
|
|
of the covenant, he ascends from the east. He maintained the honour of
|
|
heaven (<I>he shall call upon my name</I>), and broke the powers of
|
|
hell, came upon the prince of darkness as mortar and trod him down.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He has an infallible foresight. He would not only do this, but he
|
|
did now, by his prophet, foretel it. Now the false gods not only could
|
|
not do it, but they could not foresee it.
|
|
|
|
(1.) He challenges them to produce any of their pretended deities, or
|
|
their diviners, that had given notice of this, or could
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Who has declared from the beginning</I> any thing of this kind, or
|
|
has told it before-time? Tell us if there be any that you know of, for
|
|
we know not any; if there be any, <I>we will say, He is righteous,</I>
|
|
he is true, his cause is just, his claims are proved, and he is in the
|
|
right in demanding to be worshipped." This agrees with
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:22,23"><I>v.</I> 22, 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) He challenges to himself the sole honour of doing it and
|
|
foretelling it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I am the first</I> (so it may be read) <I>that will say to Zion,
|
|
Behold, behold them,</I> that will let the people of Israel know their
|
|
deliverers are at hand (for there were those who understood by books,
|
|
God's books, the approach of the time,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+9:2">Dan. ix. 2</A>),
|
|
|
|
and I am he that <I>will give to Jerusalem one that brings good
|
|
tidings,</I> these good tidings of their enlargement. This is
|
|
applicable to the work of redemption, in which the Lord showed himself
|
|
much more than in the release of the Jews out of Babylon: he it was
|
|
that contrived our salvation, and he brought it about, and he has given
|
|
to us the glad tidings of reconciliation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. Judgment is here given upon this trial.
|
|
|
|
1. None of all the idols had foretold, or could foresee, this work of
|
|
wonder. Other nations besides the Jews were released out of captivity
|
|
in Babylon by Cyrus, or at least were greatly concerned in the
|
|
revolution of the monarchy and there transferring of it to the
|
|
Persians; and yet none of them had any intelligence given them of it
|
|
beforehand, by any of their gods or prophets: "<I>There is none that
|
|
shows</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>none that declares,</I> none that gives the least intimation of it;
|
|
<I>there is none</I> of the nations <I>that hears your words,</I> that
|
|
can pretend to have heard from their gods such words as you, O
|
|
Israelites! have heard from your God, by your prophets,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+147:20">Ps. cxlvii. 20</A>.
|
|
|
|
None of all the gods of the nations have shown their worshippers the
|
|
way of salvation, which God will show by the Messiah. The good tidings
|
|
which the Lord will send in the gospel is a mystery hidden from ages
|
|
and generations,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+16:25,26">Rom. xvi. 25, 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. None of those who pleaded for them could produce any instance of
|
|
their knowledge or power that had in it any colour of proof that they
|
|
were gods. All their advocates were struck dumb with this challenge
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>I beheld, and there was no man</I> that could give evidence for
|
|
them, even among those that were their most zealous admirers; <I>and
|
|
there was no counsellor,</I> none that could offer any thing for the
|
|
support of their cause. Even among the idols themselves there was none
|
|
fit to give counsel in the most trivial matters, and yet there were
|
|
those that asked counsel of them in the most important and difficult
|
|
affairs. When I asked them what they had to say for themselves they
|
|
stood mute; the case was so plain against them that there was <I>none
|
|
who could answer a word.</I>" Judgment must therefore be given against
|
|
the defendant upon <I>Nihil dicit--He is mute.</I> He has nothing to
|
|
say for himself. <I>He was speechless,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+22:12">Matt. xxii. 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
3. Sentence is therefore given according to the charge exhibited
|
|
against them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Behold, they are all vanity</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+41:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>);
|
|
|
|
they are a lie and a cheat; they are not in themselves what they
|
|
pretend to be, nor will their worshippers find that in them which they
|
|
promise themselves. <I>Their works are nothing,</I> of no force, of no
|
|
worth; their enemies need fear no hurt from them; their worshippers can
|
|
hope for no good from them. <I>Their molten images,</I> and indeed all
|
|
their images, <I>are wind and confusion,</I> vanity and vexation; those
|
|
that worship them will be deceived in them, and will reflect upon their
|
|
own folly with the greatest bitterness. Therefore, <I>dearly beloved,
|
|
flee from idolatry,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+10:14">1 Cor. x. 14</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
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