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Isaiah Chapter
Sixty-two
Isaiah 62
Chapter Contents
God's care of his church and people. (1-5) The office of
ministers in preaching the gospel. (6-9) Every hinderance shall be removed from
the way of salvation. (10-12)
Commentary on Isaiah 62:1-5
(Read Isaiah 62:1-5)
The Son of God here assures his church of his unfailing
love
and his pleading for her under all trails and difficulties. She shall be
called by a new name
a pleasant name
such as she was never called by before.
The state of true religion in the world
before the preaching of the gospel
no
man seemed to have any real concern for. God
by his grace
has wrought that in
his church
which makes her his delight. Let us thence learn motives to
holiness. If the Lord rejoices over us
we should rejoice in his service.
Commentary on Isaiah 62:6-9
(Read Isaiah 62:6-9)
God's professing people must be a praying people. He is
not displeased with us for being earnest
as men commonly are; he bids us to
cry after him
and give him no rest
Luke 11:5
6. It is a sign that God is coming to
a people in mercy
when he pours out a spirit of prayer upon them. See how
uncertain our creature-comforts are. See also God's mercy in giving plenty
and
peace to enjoy it. Let us delight in attending the courts of the Lord
that we
may enjoy the consolations of his Spirit.
Commentary on Isaiah 62:10-12
(Read Isaiah 62:10-12)
Way shall be made for Christ's salvation; all
difficulties shall be removed. He brings a reward of comfort and peace with
him; but a work of humiliation and reformation before him; and they shall be
called
The holy people
and
The redeemed of the Lord. Holiness puts honour
and beauty upon any place or person
makes them admired
beloved
and sought
after. Many events may have been part fulfilments of this
as earnests of more
glorious times yet to come. The close connexion between the blessedness of the
Jews and of the Gentiles
runs through the Scriptures. The Lord Jesus will
complete his work
and he never will forsake one whom he has redeemed and
sanctified.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Isaiah》
Isaiah 62
Verse 1
[1] For
Zion's sake will I not hold my peace
and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest
until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness
and the salvation
thereof as a lamp that burneth.
Zion's sake —
Zion and Jerusalem are both put for the church
Hebrews 12:22.
My peace —
These seem to be the words of the prophet strongly resolving
notwithstanding
all difficulties
to solicit God for the church's happiness
and constantly
excite to the belief of it by his preaching
though it were long before it
came
for Isaiah lived near two hundred years before this was accomplished.
Righteousness —
With reference to the Babylonians
understand it of the righteousness of God
who hath promised his people deliverance
and he must be righteous
and so
understand salvation before; or rather
the vindicating of his people's cause
in the eyes of the nations by the ruin of the Babylonians; he will shew that
his people have a righteous cause.
Lamp —
And to that purpose is set up where it may be seen continually
to signify how
eminently conspicuous this prosperous estate of the church should be among the
nations
and as it may particularly relate to revealing of Christ unto the
world.
Verse 2
[2] And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness
and all kings thy glory: and
thou shalt be called by a new name
which the mouth of the LORD shall name.
A new name —
The church shall be more renowned than ever
both in respect of her condition
and so called Hephzi-bah
and of her relation
and so called Beulah
and this
new name the Lord gives them accordingly
verse 4.
Verse 3
[3] Thou
shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD
and a royal diadem in
the hand of thy God.
Crown of glory — An
expression to set forth the dignity of her state.
In the hand —
Preserved and defended by God's hand.
Royal diadem —
The same thing with the former for substance. Or
the royal priesthood
whereof
the apostle speaks
1 Peter 2:9.
Verse 4
[4] Thou
shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed
Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah
and thy land Beulah: for the LORD
delighteth in thee
and thy land shall be married.
Forsaken — As
a woman forsaken by her husband.
Thy land —
The inhabitants of the land.
Hephzi-bah — My
delight is in her; a new name agreeing with her new condition.
Beulah —
Married; agreeing to her new relation.
Married —
Thou shalt see the increase of thy children again in the land
as the fruit of
thy married condition
which by reason of thy being forsaken of thy husband
were in a manner wasted and decayed: and this refers to the great enlargement
of the church in the gospel days.
Verse 6
[6] I have set watchmen upon thy walls
O Jerusalem
which shall never hold
their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the LORD
keep not silence
Day nor night —
There shall be a vigilant and industrious ministry.
Ye — That is
are his
servants. And here especially are meant his servants in ordinary
his
remembrancers
such as put God in mind of his promise
and such as make the
Lord to be remembered
putting his people in mind of him.
Verse 7
[7] And
give him no rest
till he establish
and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the
earth.
A praise — By
sending the Messiah
and those labourers into his vineyard
whereby the church
may be established
and settled on sure foundations
and so become a matter of
praise to God. All the nations shall praise him for her.
Verse 9
[9] But
they that have gathered it shall eat it
and praise the LORD; and they that
have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness.
But —
Thou shalt not sow
and another reap
as formerly.
Courts — In
my courts: holiness being put for God himself.
Verse 10
[10] Go
through
go through the gates; prepare ye the way of the people; cast up
cast
up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.
Go through — It
is doubled by way of emphasis. Go meet the Gentiles
whom God purposes to bring
into the church.
Prepare —
Let them not have any obstructions in their way.
Stones —
That there be no stumbling-stone
or offence in their way.
Standard — An
allusion to soldiers
that set up their standard that the army may know where
to repair from all quarters.
Verse 11
[11]
Behold
the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world
Say ye to the
daughter of Zion
Behold
thy salvation cometh; behold
his reward is with him
and his work before him.
Zion — To
Jerusalem
or the church.
Thy salvation —
Thy saviour.
Reward —
The reward due to the work.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Isaiah》
62 Chapter 62
Verse 1
For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace
The Church blessed and made a blessing
(Isaiah 62:1-12):--The words of the great
Deliverer are continued from the foregoing chapter.
1. He will not rest until the glorious change in the condition of His
people is accomplished (Isaiah 62:1).
2. They shall be recognized by kings and nations as the people of
Jehovah (Isaiah 62:2-3).
3. She who seemed to be forsaken is still His spouse (Isaiah 62:4-5).
4. The Church is required to watch and pray for the fulfilment of the
promise (Isaiah 62:6-7).
5. God has sworn to protect her and supply her wants (Isaiah 62:8-9).
6. Instead of a single nation
all the nations of the earth shall
flow into her (verse
10).
7. The good news of salvation shall no longer be confined
but
universally diffused (Isaiah 62:11).
8. The glory of the Church is the redemption of the world (Isaiah 62:12). (J. A. Alexander.)
The gradual development of the glory of Jerusalem
“For Zion’s sake I shall not be silent
and for Jerusalem’s sake I
shall not rest
until her righteousness breaks forth like morning-splendour
and her salvation like a burning torch.” (F. Delitzsch
D. D.)
The moral illumination of the world
I. THE PRESENT
IMPLIED OBSCURITY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. “The righteous One and the Saviour”
(Vulgate). Whenever the righteous One and Saviour are hidden there is
obscurity.
II. HER ANTICIPATED
GLORY. The burning lamp is a symbol of the presence of Jehovah. Jesus is termed
“the brightness of His Father’s glory and the express image of His person.”
Connect both the figures in the text. The Sun of Righteousness shall go forth
like the light of the morning.
1. Manifestly. Light maketh manifest.
2. Irresistibly
as the light of the morning.
3. Universally. As all the earth turns to the sun
all are visited by
the morning light. “Righteousness shall go forth as brightness” in all the
earth.
III. THE MEANS BY
WHICH THE WORK IS TO BE ACCOMPLISHED. “For Zion’s sake I will not hold My
peace
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest.” Some think these are expressions
of Jehovah. Correct or not
it is a Scriptural truth; it has long lain near the
heart of God! Others
that Jesus is the speaker. The world is His purchased
property
but His own world received him not. Yet the Father has pledged
Himself to vindicate His right: “Ask of me.” The most common opinion is that
these words are Isaiah’s
as a man of God and as a minister of God. It is
proper to be used by all who mention the name of the Lord. Human agency
then
is the means employed. In providence God helps man by man. In grace the same.
The Word of God is to be carried and held forth as light. The text indicates
the manner also.
1. It shall be consistent--prayer and exertion. “Not hold my peace
not rest.”
2. Affectionate exertions also--from a principle of love. “For Zion’s
sake.”
3. Persevering. “Until the righteousness go forth.” (J.
Summerfield
M. A.)
The extension of the Gospel
I. THE BLESSING OF
THE GOSPEL AS APPLIED TO YOUR OWN SOULS. Two inclusive blessings
righteousness
and salvation.
II. THE EXTENSION
OF THIS BLESSING THROUGHOUT THE EARTH. It is evident that it is in the promise
of God that it shall be so
because it is made the subject of the persevering
intercession of Christ. “For Zion’s sake will I
” etc.
III. THE GROUND OF
OUR ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE EXTENSION OF THIS BLESSING. What can be stronger? It
is the grace of the intercession of the Son of God. (C. Bridges
M. A.)
Divine unrest
(with Isaiah 62:6-7):--
I. THE CAUSE OF
DIVINE UNREST. The needs of the Church
Zion; the condition of the city
Jerusalem. It is in the lack of “righteousness
” the need of “salvation.” This
is still true of our Churches and cities. The sin is pro found
the sorrow
unfathomable. Yet there is not total darkness. There is twilight; but all the
Divine yearning is
that the twilight may brighten into noon.
II. THE NATURE OF
THIS DIVINE UNREST. It is not chiefly that of indignation at wrong
but it is
the unrest of anxiety for others
the unrest of pity. It is--
1. Unselfish.
2. Universal. Even God will share it.
III. THE
MANIFESTATION OF THIS DIVINE UNREST.
1. In loud human proclamation of the truth.
2. In prayer to God.
3. In God’s unrest
in which He gives Jesus to save and bless. Christ’s
piercing cry of grief
“O Jerusalem
” utters the unrest in God. Learn--
The heavenly workers and the earthly watchers
(with verses6
7)--
1. The preceding chapter brings in Christ as proclaiming the great
work of deliverance for which He is anointed of God; the following chapter
presents Him as treading the wine-press alone
which is a symbol of the future
judgment by the glorified Saviour. Between these two prophecies of the earthly
life and the still future judicial energy
this chapter lies
referring
as I
take it
to the period between these two--i.e to all the ages of the
Church’s development on earth. For these Christ here promises His continual
activity
and His continual bestowment of grace to His servants who watch the
walls of Jerusalem.
2. Notice the remarkable parallelism in the expressions: “I will not
hold My peace;” the watchmen “shall never hold their peace.” And His command to
them is literally
“Ye that remind Jehovah--no rest (or silence) to you! and
give not rest to Him.” So we have here Christ
the Church and God
all
represented as unceasingly occupied in the one great work of establishing “Zion
‘ as the centre of light
salvation and righteousness for the whole world.
I. THE GLORIFIED
CHRIST IS CONSTANTLY WORKING FOR HIS CHURCH. We are too apt to regard our.
Lord’s real work as all lying in the past
and
from the very greatness of our
estimate of what He has done
to forget the true importance of what He evermore
does.. He was received up into heaven
and sat on the right hand of God. In
that session on the throne manifold and mighty truths are expressed. It
proclaims the full accomplishment of all the purposes of His earthly ministry;
it emphasizes the triumphant completion of His redeeming work by His death; it
proclaims the majesty of HIS nature
which returns to the glory which He had
with the Father before the world was; it shows to the world
as on some
coronation day
their King on His throne
girded with power. But whilst on the
one side Christ rests as from a perfected work which needs no addition nor
repetition
on the other He rests not day nor night. When the heavens opened to
the rapt eyes of John in Patmos
the Lord whom he beheld was not only revealed
as glorified in the lustre of the inaccessible light
but as actively
sustaining and guiding the human reflectors of it. He “holdeth the seven stars
in HIS right hand
” and “walketh in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks.” Not otherwise does my text represent the present relation of
Christ to His Church. “I will not rest.” Through all the ages His power is in
exercise. He inspires in good men all their wisdom: and every grace of life and
character. Nor is this all. There still remains the wonderful truth of His
continuous intercession for us. In its widest meaning that word expresses the
whole of the manifold ways by which Christ undertakes and maintains our cause.
So we have not only to look back to the cross
but up to the throne. From the
cross we hear a voice
“It is finished.” From the throne a voice
“For Zion’s
sake I will not hold My peace
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest.”
II. CHRIST’S
SERVANTS ON EARTH DERIVE FROM HIM A LIKE PERPETUAL ACTIVITY FOR THE SAME
OBJECT. “I have set watchmen upon thy walls
O Jerusalem
which shall never
hold their peace day nor night. On the promise follows
as ever a command “Ye
that remind Jehovah
keep not silence.” There is distinctly traceable here a
reference to a twofold form of occupation devolving on these Christ-sent
servants. They are watchmen
and they are also God’s remembrancers. In the one
capacity as in the other
their voices are to be always heard. The former
metaphor is common in the Old Testament
as a designation of the prophetic
office
but
in accordance with the genius of the New Testament
as expressed
on Pentecost
when the spirit was poured out on the lowly as well as on the
high
on the young as on the old
and all prophesied
may be fairly extended to
disignate not some select few
but the whole mass of Christian people. The
remembrancer’s priestly office belongs to every member of Christ’s priestly
kingdom
the lowest and least of whom has the privilege of unrestrained entry
into God’s presence-chamber
and the power of blessing the world by faithful
prayer.
1. Our voices should ever he heard on earth. A solemn message is
committed to us by the very fact of our belief in Jesus Christ and His work.
2. Our voices should ever be heard in heaven. They who trust God
remind Him of His promises by their very faith; it is a mute appeal to His
faithful love
which He cannot but answer. Beyond that
their prayers come up
for a memorial before God and have as real an effect in furthering Christ’s
kingdom on earth as is exercised by their entreaties and proclamations to men.
3. These two forms of action ought to be inseparable. Each
if
genuine
will drive us to the other
for who could fling himself into the
watchman’s work
with all its solemn consequences
knowing how weak his voice
was
and how deaf the ears that should hear
unless he could bring God’s might
to his help? And who could honestly remind God of His promises and forget his
own responsibilities?
4. The power for both is derived from Christ. He sets the watchmen;
He commands the remembrancers. And
as the Christian power of discharging these
twofold duties is drawn from Christ
so our pattern is His manner of
discharging them
and the condition of receiving the power is to abide in Him.
Christ asks no romantic impossibilities from us
but He does ask a continuous
systematic discharge of the duties which depend on our relation to the world
and on our relation to Him.
III. THE CONSTANT
ACTIVITY OF THE SERVANTS OF CHRIST WILL SECURE THE CONSTANT OPERATION OF GOD’S
POWER. “Give Him no rest: “ let there be no cessation to Him. These are bold words.
Those who remind God are not to suffer Him to be still. The prophet believes
that they can regulate the flow of Divine energy
can stir up the strength of
the Lord. It is easy to puzzle ourselves with insoluble questions about the
co-operation of God’s power and man’s; but practically
is it not true that God
reaches His end
of the establishment of Zion
through the Church? The great
reservoir
is always.
full to the brim; however much may be drawn from it
the
water sinks not a hair’s breadth; but the bore of the pipe and the power of the
pumping-engine determine the rate at which the stream flows from it. “He could
there do no mighty works because of their unbelief.” (A. Maclaren
D. D.
Hindrances to the spread of the Gospel
Our particular inquiry is
What obstacles to the conversion of the
world are found among those who
in different ways
are enlisted in the cause
of foreign missions?
I. THE DEFECT OF
OUR CHRISTIAN CHARACTER
OR THE WANT OF A HIGHER DEGREE OF HOLINESS.
II. THE DIRECT
INDULGENCE OF AFFECTIONS WHICH ARE SELFISH AND EARTHLY.
III. DIVISION AND
STRIFE AMONG CHRIST’S FOLLOWERS.
IV. THE UNNECESSARY
EXCITEMENT OF POPULAR PREJUDICE.
V. FALLING SHORT
IN OUR DUTY IN REGARD TO THE BENEVOLENT USE OF
PROPERTY.
VI. THE WANT OF A
PROPER FEELING AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF OUR
DEPENDENCE ON GOD FOR THE SUCCESS OF OUR EFFORTS. (Leonard
Woods
D. D.)
I. ENCOURAGEMENTS.
The encouragements and duties of Christians
1. There are declarations respecting the character and essential
attributes of God
as
for example
His sovereignty
His power
His justice
His wisdom
His love; even from which
if we had no express or specific
direction
we might justly and safely infer that the Almighty cannot always
permit His own world to remain the almost unmitigated form of general apostasy
and wretchedness; and that for the sake of His own glory He will cause a vast
and mighty change
by which the revolt of the world shall be terminated
and by
which it shall be recovered and reclaimed to Himself.
2. There are declarations with regard to the sufficiency and design
of our Saviour’s sacrifice (John 1:29; John 12:32; Hebrews 2:9; 1 John 2:2). That the sacrifice of
Christ
of which such is the declared sufficiency and design has hitherto but
very partially and imperfectly accomplished its object is plain; that
so long
as the world continues as it is
that partiality and imperfection must still
continue is plain also; and we must therefore judge that it never can fulfil
the objects for which it was originally offered
except in the final effusion
of the Divine Spirit among all the nations of the earth.
3. There are declarations in regard to thee majesty and extent of the
Saviour’s exaltation and royalty. As the reward and the recompense of His
sufferings
He has been made the possessor of a wonderful mediatorial kingdom
a kingdom in the gaining and maintaining of the authority of which the Spirit
is the agent
and the Word is the instrument--that kingdom in which the Spirit
through the Word
is destined to maintain a universal sway (Psalms 2:7-8; Isaiah 9:6; Psalms 62:8
etc.).
4. There are those declarations with regard to the final and
renovating change
as we find them expressed throughout the general structure
of the prophetical writings. Because He who cannot lie has promised
therefore
we believe.
II. OBLIGATIONS.
1. There are peculiar duties pressing upon the ministers and other
public officers of the Church of Christ. The ministers are called upon to
cultivate peculiar eminence in personal holiness; they ought to cultivate an
enlarged and most accurate acquaintance with evangelical truth
an ardent zeal
for the glory of God
a tender compassion for the souls of men! They ought to
give themselves up wholly to their high vocation. They ought to labour with
quenchless ardour and perseverance
while prayer ought to be
as it were
their
very food
their very air
and their very being. As to the other public
officers of the Church
their special duty appears to be the
following--exemplary firmness in the belief of Christian doctrine
in the
practice ofChristian precepts
and in the manifestation of a Christian spirit;
fervent
brotherly love amongst themselves
towards all their
fellow-Christians
and especially towards the poor
whose interest they are
invoked to superintend; cheerful assistance to the pastors of the flock
in all
measures which may be deemed proper for preserving the purity of the Church
and for the conversion of the ungodly; and an earnest endeavour with regard to
all departments of Christian character
that they may shine as lights in the
world.
2. But there are general duties which press upon all the members of a
Christian Church.
Intercessory prayer and the Divine reapers
The prophet here tells us--
I. WHAT HE WILL DO
FOR THE CHURCH (Isaiah 62:1).
II. WHAT GOD WILL
DO FOR THE CHURCH (Isaiah 62:2-5).
1. The Church shall be greatly admired. “And the Gentiles shall see
thy righteousness” etc.
2. She shall be truly admirable. “Thou shalt be called by a new name
etc. Two names God shall give her.
Verse 2
And thou shalt be called by a now name
The new name
(with Isaiah 62:12):--According to the Hebrew
idiom
the name which expresses the nature and character of a person is used as
equivalent to that nature and character.
The promises of these verses involve
accordingly
far more than appears upon
the surface.
I. THE NEW NAME
ABOLISHES THE OLD. In the prophetical writings Israel’s sins are very plainly
described and very faithfully upbraided. The favoured people are called rebels
and traitors
idolaters and spiritual adulterers. Upon their repentance
the
old reproach is wiped away
and the old appellations are discarded. This is how
Divine mercy treats all true penitents and believers. Former sins are
forgotten
former rebukes are reversed
former sentences of condemnation are
cancelled.
II. THE NEW NAME
EXPRESSES A NEW CHARACTER. The Christian dispensation
by peculiar agencies and
spiritual powers
for the removal of the nature and life of men (2 Corinthians 5:17). In accordance
with the fact is the expression of the fact; in accordance with the new nature
the new birth
the new life
is the new name.
III. THE NEW NAME IS
SIGNIFICANT OF A NEW STATE OF FAVOUR AND ACCEPTANCE. Especially those upon whom
the great change has passed are the Lord’s. His possession and property
His
beloved and honoured
for whom no privileges are too great and no dignities too
eminent. The new name is His name who confers it
and who delights to deem and
to call His beloved ones His own. (Homiletical Library.)
Verses 3-5
Thou shalt also be a crown of glory
Zion a crown of glory God’s hand
It is only through figurative representations that prophecy here
sees what Zion will be in the future; she becomes a crown of adornment
a tiara
(the head-dress of the high priest
Exodus 33:4; Zechariah 3:5; and of the King
Ezekiel 21:26) of royal dignity in the
hand of Jehovah her God.
It is a leading feature in the picture that Jehovah holds the crown in His
hand. Zion is not the ancient crown which the Eternal bears on His head
but
she is the crown which He holds in His hand
because in Zion He is recognized by
all creation; the whole history of redemption is the history of Jehovah’s
taking the kingdom and bringing it to perfection
in other words
the history
of the working out of this crown. (F. Delitzsch
D. D.)
Verse 4
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken
A joyful change of condition
“No more shall it be called to thee (shalt thou be called) Azubah
(Forsaken)
and thy land shall no more be called Shemamah (Desolate); but thou
shalt be called Hephzibah (My delight is in her)
and thy land Beulah
(Married)
for Jehovah delights in thee
and thy land shall be married.
The joyful change of condition is expressed in the prophet’s favourite manner
by significant names. The common version not only mars the beauty of the
passage
but renders it in some degree unintelligible to the English reader
by
translating the first two names and retaining the others in their Hebrew dress.
It is obvious that all four should be treated alike
i.e that all the Hebrew
forms should be retained
or none. Henderson prefers the latter method
on the
ground
that “the names are merely symbolical
and will
never be employed as
proper names. It is probable
however
that they were all familiar to the Jews
as female names in real life. This we know to have been the ease with two of
them (1 Kings 22:42; 2 Kings 21:1). It is better
therefore
to retain the Hebrew forms
in order to give them an air of reality
as proper names
and at the same time to render them intelligible by
translation. In the last clause there is reference to the primary meaning of
the verb
viz that of owning or possessing; and as the inhabitants of towns are
sometimes called in Hebrew their “possessors
” its use here would suggest
as
at least one meaning of the promise
thy land shall be inhabited
and so it is
translated in the Targum. (J. A. Alexander.)
Spiritual espousal
I invite your attention to some reflections on the Scriptural use
of marriage
as a type of the mystical union betwixt Christ and His Church.
This tender
beautiful image implies--
I. CHOICE. In all
nations there has been the instinctive rule that the initiative choice is not
with the bride
but with the bridegroom. Its spiritual parallel is in the
declaration of Jesus to His disciples
“Ye has not chosen Me
but I have chosen
you.” “I am jealous over you
” said Paul
“with godly jealousy
for I have
espoused you to one husband
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to
Christ.” At the same time all are bound
because all are invited
to “seek the
Lord while He may be found
” to “choose this day whom ye serve;” then the
farther element in the marriage symbol will be verified.
II. DEVOTION. You
will love Him because He first loved you. It is often observed in ordinary
married life
how the mutual love of husband and wife enables them to bear
not
only without bitterness or mutual recriminations
but with a greater clinging
to
and confidence in each other
the trials
sorrows
and burdens of life.
Love lightens the load
when each one
for the other’s sake
cheerfully takes
his or her share. The love of Christ endears Him to the believer
and the
believer to Him.
III. INSEPARABLE
UNION. Earthly ties of man and wife are liable to many incidents of severance.
Necessities of particular callings in life sometimes separate them
lands and
seas asunder. Guilt
aversion
insanity
disease and death
often dissolve the
union
which once bid fair to be firmly riveted “till death them should part.”
The believer’s union with Christ is liable to no such disastrous issues.
Not that this consolatory doctrine dispenses with the necessity of a faithful
obedient
and devout course of effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace and in righteousness of life. The Divine idea of marriage is
a united family
basing its bond of union on the unity of its parentage. “For
this cause shall a man leave his father and mother
” etc. True spiritual union
with Christ involves an ascendency of affection. “If any man love father or
mother more than Me
” etc. In a deep sense it may be said of Christ and His
disciple
“They twain are one Spirit.” (J. B. Owen
M. A.)
Thy land shall be married
“Thy land shall be married
”
“Thy land shall be married
” i.e it shall become fruitful
again and be replenished.
1. Her sons shall heartily espouse the land of their nativity
and
the interests of it
which they had for a long time neglected
as despairing
ever to have any comfortable enjoyment of it. Thy sons shall marry thee
i.e
they shall live with thee
and take delight in thee. When they were in Babylon
they seemed to have espoused that land
for they were appointed to settle
and
to seek the peace of it (Jeremiah 29:5-7); but now they shall
again marry their own land
“as a young man marrieth a virgin” that he takes
great delight in
is extremely fond of
and is likely to have many children by.
It bodes well to a land when its own natives and inhabitants are pleased with
it
prefer it before other lands; when its princes marry their country
and
resolve to take their lot with it.
2. Which is much better
her God shall betroth her to Himself in
righteousness (Hosea 2:19-20). (M. Henry.)
Monopoly and communism
I propose to name some of the suitors who are claiming the hand of
this Republic.
1. There is a greedy
all-grasping monster who comes in as suitor
seeking the hand of this Republic
and that monster is known by the name of
Monopoly. His sceptre is made out of the iron of the rail-track and the wire of
telegraphy. He does everything for his own advantage and for the robbery of the
people. Such monopolies imply an infinite acreage of wretchedness. Great
monopolies in any land imply great privation.
2. Another suitor claiming the hand of this Republic is Nihilism. He
owns nothing but a knife for universal blood-letting and a nitro-glycerine bomb
for universal explosion. He believes in no God
no government
no heaven
and
no hell
except what he can make on earth. He slew the Czar of Russia
killed
Abraham Lincoln
and would put to death every king and president on earth
if
he had the power. (T. De W. Talmage
D. D.)
Verse 5
For as a young man marrieth a virgin
Fervid devotion to a cause
It is difficult to see how any real parallel can exist between an
intellectual interest or reasoned sense of duty to a public cause or
institution
although prescribing exertion and even sacrifice
and the
spontaneous
glowing
fervid devotion of a young man to his chosen bride.
Say you so? Then let me say that as yet you know not some salient features of
human nature. As a matter of fact abstractions
as we call them
do provoke
passion; the passion of love and the passion of hate
no less truly than do
concrete and visible objects. Millions of human beings have worked
suffered
fought and died for these very abstractions; for a political or social
doctrine
for the fame of a fallen dynasty
for the credit of some secret club
or association
for a country that has been crushed out of existence
for some
wild undemonstrable theory
for some baseless or grotesque superstition
no
less than for a true and soul-inspiring faith or principle. (H. P. Liddon
D. D.)
Practical devotion to the Church of Christ
Isaiah’s comparison would suggest that the devotion of her sons to
the city of God would have three characteristics.
I. AN UNRESERVED
WHOLE-HEARTED DEVOTION a devotion which bestows on its object its best and its
all. “With my body I thee worship; and with all my worldly goods I thee endow
”
is the language not only of a Christian Church formulary
but of the human
heart in its better mood
throughout all time; and it marks the first
characteristic of that devotion to the Church of God which Isaiah saw in vision
across the centuries. Undoubtedly a partial fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy may
be recognized in the love and service which Israel after the flesh received
from a long line of patriot children. Noblest among them were the Maccabees;
but they were only samples of a spirit which was shared
in their day and
afterwards
by thousands of their countrymen. That temper was indeed too often
mingled with moral alloy that sullied its purity. But the men who saved their
country from the cultured Paganism of Antiochus Epiphanes
and who even after
the utter ruin of their sacred house by Titus
rose once and again to pour out
their blood like water in an unavailing struggle with Imperial Rome at the
epoch of its greatest military power
were assuredly not men only under the
sway of a common or sordid motive. In their love to “Jerusalem the Holy
” whose
name was stamped upon their coins
they surely exhibit the careless
self-abandonment of the passion which gives itself without stint to the object
of its choice. The Lord had chosen Zion to be a habitation for Himself
and
this choice made her
to those who had faith in it
the object of a passionate
attachment in some respects without a parallel in history. Now
our Lord
proclaimed and founded
within the Jewish nation
yet with a capacity and
indeed
an internal necessity of passing beyond its bounds
a new Society
which was to be more to the intellect and heart of man than the Greek πόλις
or the Roman World Empire
or the Jewish theocracy itself
ever
had been or could be; yet which should sanction and satisfy
in ample measure
those instincts of union
brotherhood
improvement
order
of which earlier
forms of association among men were the outcome and assertion. This Society
in
virtue of its origin
its object
and its compass
He named the Kingdom of
Heaven. Certain is it that the Church of Christ has inspired millions of
Christians with mingled love and enthusiasm. If we believe that Christ’s
Church
though built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets
has for the
chief cornerstone
Himself; if we see in her
not a self-formed collection of
individuals who agree in following Him
but
as Scripture says
His Body
instinct with His life; if for her He shed His most precious blood that He
might present her glorious and immaculate in the realms of purity; then
in
making much of her
we surely are doing no wrong to Him. Only because
notwithstanding the sears and stains which mark her sojourn here below
she is
yet so intimately His
should she be so precious to His servants;--drawing the
noblest souls into the highest paths of service.
II. THE DEVOTION
WHICH ISAIAH PREDICTS WILL BE DISINTERESTED. The truehearted bridegroom
marries
not that he may win rank or wealth
or public recognition
or any
outward advantages whatever.
he weds his” bride” for her own sake
because she
is what she is
because in wedding her he finds the joy and satisfaction of his
heart. It is “for better for worse
for richer for poorer
in sickness and in
health.” So was it also to be with the espousals of the soul. The Holy Bride is
wooed for her own sake
and not for anything that she may bestow on those who
would win her.
III. AND THE
PROPHET’S COMPARISON SUGGESTS A DEVOTION THAT WILL LAST TILL DEATH. “Till death
us do part.” Weariness
impaired health
diminished opportunities for
usefulness may come with years; but the tie of sacred service to the cause and
Church of Christ can only end with life. (H. P.Liddon
D. D.)
Verse 6-7
I have set watchmen upon thy walls
O Jerusalem
The watchman’s call
The prosperity of the kingdom of Jesus Christ
which teaches the
Gentile world through Hebrew channels
depends on two conditions--watchfulness
and prayer.
To the latter of these subjects this discourse will be devoted. Let us dwell on
importunity in prayer. “And give Him no rest.”
I. THIS IS A CALL
TO THE INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN
and to a particular duty. Personal devotion will
largely relate to matters affecting the individual and the family
but it must
not stop there. The Christian must not forget that he is a member of the great
Catholic Church
and must bear its burdens on his spirit to God in prayer.
II. THE CHURCH ALSO
MUST MEET ON SPECIAL OCCASIONS TO PRAY FOR A LARGER OUTPOURING OF THE HOLY
GHOST.
III. BY A FEW
CONSIDERATIONS WE WILL ENDEAVOUR TO ENFORCE THE DUTY.
1. One is the fact that God has promised to meet us on the ground of
earnest and constant prayer.
2. The history of importunate prayer is full of marvels.
3. If we survey the situation of the Church
and call to mind the
responsibility which rests upon it
our own souls would be moved to greater
earnestness. Precious souls are perishing around us; the Cross of Calvary
the
love of God
the traditions of the Church
conscience
humanity
the judgment
heaven
hell
beseech us to rescue the perishing. There is but one power that
will make the Church of Christ equal to every task which the Master has set
before it--earnest prayer.
4. Importunate prayer ends in praise. Jerusalem will be established
and will become the praise--the glory--of the earth.
5. Although prayer in all its aspects is the inheritance of every
Christian
yet every Christian is not a watchman. Therefore a word to Church
leaders will be in place. Let them look round and survey the state of the
Church. (T. Davies
M. A.)
The saints’ importunity for Zion’s prosperity
It is a truth which holds good
both in Scripture and experience
that the care of Zion lies at the bottom of all God’s powerful actings among
the sons of men. All that He is and does
in the methods of His common and
extraordinary providence
is for the sake of His Church
which is the principal
cause and interest; He has in the world.
I. WHAT ARE THOSE
SHAKINGS TO WHICH THE CAUSE AND CHURCH OF CHRIST ARE EXPOSED IN THE EARTH?
1. There are shakings to which the cause of Christ is exposed
which
arise from outward violence (Psalms 2:2).
2. There are shakings which arise from inward decays A building will
shake and totter and grow ruinous
without any outward violence
if the
foundation is undermined ‘; or if the pins and fastenings
whereby it is held
together
decay. This is the ease(l)
When Gospel-truth is perverted or denied.
II. WHEN MAY GOD BE
SAID SO TO ESTABLISH HIS CHURCH AS TO MAKE IT A PRAISE IN THE EARTH? To make up
this praise and renown there are four or five things. As--
1. Abundance of light and knowledge.
2. High degrees of holiness.
3. Abundance of peace (Psalms 72:7).
4. A. multitude of converts.
5. A rich supply of all temporal good things.
Men’s natures shall be changed; their corrupt lusts and passions
shall be subdued; and all their riches
honour
and power shall be employed for
the support of Christ’s cause and kingdom.
III. THE DUTY OF
SUCH AS MAKE ANY PROFESSION OF CHRIST WITH REFERENCE TO THIS GREAT AND GLORIOUS
DAY. “Ye that make
” etc.
1. This day of Zion’s establishment and praise should be uppermost in
our thoughts. That which has no place in our thoughts and affections will have
very little in our prayers. The Church of old deprecated this as an abominable
sin; (Psalms 137:5-6).
2. It should be continually in our prayers.
3. Prayer for Zion’s establishment must be with a holy importunity
and constancy. It is not the work of one day
but of every day; the blessing
prayed for has every other blessing and mercy in the bowels of 2:4. Zion’s
friends are called to pray and work. The former branch of the verse commands
action: “I have set watchmen upon thy walls
O Jerusalem. It is hypocrisy to
ask in private what you would not be glad to do in public. Your time
gifts
substance and lives are God’s.” (J. Hill.)
Spiritual patriotism
We propose to put this illustration of Jewish patriotism into
another frame. For in the New Testament Jerusalem stands metaphorically for the
Church of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:22; Galatians 9:26). The rebuilding of the Jewish
capital will thus signify in Gospel speech the establishment of the Christian
Church.
I. A CALL TO
SPIRITUAL PATRIOTISM. All through the second part of Isaiah Jerusalem is
idealized
for Jerusalem
as the city actually was
presented small occasions for
felicitation. But the Jerusalem “the Servant of the Lord” saw was the world’s
centre--the capital of all the nations! It was “the city of the Great
King
” and while the power and glory of other nations lay in their armies
their wealth
their population
their culture
the glory of Jerusalem was her
religion. Now
what Jerusalem was to “the Servant of the Lord” the Christian
Church is to the Christian; he is a fellow-citizen with the saints
bound
therefore
to be a spiritual
patriot. Only the Christian Church is not limited
to one nation. Above all
the Church is a spiritual metropolis among the world
powers
a heavenly fatherland on earthly soil
an eternal State established
amidst temporal surroundings. Thus the love of a Jew for Jerusalem comes to represent
the solicitude of a Christian for the Church. The Jew never forgot his
fatherland.
II. THE OUTCOME OF
SPIRITUAL PATRIOTISM IN WATCHFULNESS AND PRAYER. Patriotism is hers set forth
under two similes.
1. Spiritual patriots are to be sentinels. “I have set watchmen upon
thy walls
2. Jerusalem. The godly life is ever a campaign
and spiritual men
are “men with an eye
” as Carlyle phrases it. When others cry
“Peace
peace
”
it is often their painful duty to be nonconformists to a general delusion and
to sound an alarm. And how great a result may be produced by the faithfulness
of even one man! On a dark night in December 1602
when the inhabitants of
Geneva
lulled by peaceful professions
slept
but never dreamed of danger
a
daring attempt known in history as the “Escalade” was made by their foes. The
Savoyards scaled the walls
and would have admitted their comrades but for the
discharge of the musket of one of the sentries. He fell a martyr
but the crack
of his piece brought the citizens from their beds
and the city was saved
while Beza
then eighty years of age
returned to God public thanksgiving
announcing the 124 th Psalm for singing. There is work for our sentinels
to-day.
3. But spiritual patriots are also “the Lord’s remembrancers. The old
State appointment is our illustration. In the Book of Esther the work of the
remembrancer comes out in the chronicles which were read before the king on the
occasion of his attack of insomnia; and the office
in a modified form
is
known to us to-day in connection with our city councils. But there are elect
souls who are the Lord’s remembrancers. It may be that not every Christian has
leisure of heart for this full consecration
for these remembrancers are such
as make the progress of God’s kingdom their prime solicitude. Eli could bear to
hear of the ruin of his
house in the death of his sons
but died on learning
of the capture of God’s ark. This is the highest style of patriotism. General
Wolfe
in shattered health
led the handful of English that took Quebec from
the French. Stricken down just as victory was assured
yet stimulated by the
cry
“They run
” he could just inquire who ran
and when told it was the
French
forgetful of his own interests
he gasped
“I die happy
” and closed
his eyes. Shall spiritual patriots show less devotion? It is theirs to exercise
unbounded faith in the Divine the text lies in its emphasis of urgent and
perpetual prayer. Take ye no rest
and give Him no rest. This is the Old
Testament anticipation of the parable of the importunate widow. When a lady
appealed to the great Protector for the release of her husband
Cromwell
preserved a stolid demeanour so long as the wife confined herself to the
proprieties of measured speech
but directly she burst into tears her plea was
granted. Prayer is the wireless telegraphy which unites heaven and earth; if
only each heart be a “receiver ‘ it shall never lack a message from on high
and there is always a great “receiver” there in the heart of our God.
III. FOR THE TRIUMPH
OF THIS SPIRITUAL PATRIOTISM “THE SERVANT OF THE LORD.” RENDERS HIMSELF
RESPONSIBLE. The prayers of the Church and the purpose of Jesus Christ run in
parallel lines when the prayer-spirit is deep and real; or better
our prayer
and His purpose are two streams that run into one channel with united force.
True prayer is not the attempt to wring benediction from an unwilling hand. God
is not in danger of forgetting His pledges only His pledges can scarcely take
effect in spiritual benediction till the Church is ready to claim her own.
There are millions of money in Chancery with no one to claim it; there is
boundless grace in God waiting to be appropriated by man. While our prayers
co-operate with God’s purpose never may we forget that all real prayer has its
origin in God: it is the Divine purpose struggling for expression in the human
heart. This brings us to our point of rest. “The Servant of the Lord” has
rendered Himself responsible for His Church. The proof lies in His Cross
in
His intercession
in the wonderful providence by which His Church has been
preserved from extinction all along the ages
notwithstanding that she has
lived all the while in the midst of foes. While we leave the responsibility of
final issues with our Lord
we may share the glory and the joy of being
“workers together” with Him. How clearly this comes out “ this connection! For
Zion’s sake
says He
will I not hold my peace.” “I have set watchmen upon thy
walls or
they shall never hold their peace.” “I will not rest.” “Take ye no
rest.” The Christ-spirit is thus the Christian spirit; the work of Christ is
continued by His Church. Now look at the magnificent result anticipated! The
Church is to become God’s city of light (verse 1). The ideal is developed in
the Revelation (Revelation 21:23-24). Whatever light
stands for
whether revelation
or brightness
or beauty
or safety
or purity
all these are to find their home and sphere in Christ’s Church. The Church of
Christ is to be first a guiding light to men--but afterwards she is to be as a
sunrise to the nations (Isaiah 9:2). For the Church is to be at
once the expositor of God’s righteousness and the channel of God’s salvation. (J.
T. Briscoe.)
No rest for God or His people
In its present position
Jerusalem is at once a witness for God
and a type of man--a witness to God’s truth and justice
and a type of man’s
sin and sorrow. Prayer to God is enjoined as a means to secure the renovation
and blessing of the temporal Jerusalem; and prayer is still one of the
mightiest forces which can be brought to bear on the waste places and ruined
magnificence of man’s spiritual nature.
I. A CHARACTER WE
MUST ENDEAVOUR TO DESERVE. The prophet describes God’s servants as those who
“make mention of the Lord
” or
in other words
are “the Lord’s rembrancers.”
Not that they had need to remind Him of their needs or His fulness
but that
their business was to bring Him to the remembrance of those about them.
II. If we are thus
to be the Lord’s remembrancers THERE IS A DANGER WE MUST SEEK TO AVOID. This
is
the danger of keeping silence
of withholding our testimony
or giving it
half-heartedly and in a perfunctory manner. There are not a few roads which end
at this habitation of “silence.
1. Doubt.
2. Despair
whether it be despair of ourselves or of others.
Hopefulness is as necessary as faithfulness.
3. We shall “keep silence” if we grow weary in well-doing; if patience
gives place to fretfulness
and love of ease cries out against the practice of
self- denial; if the crown is longed for while the cross is shunned
and the
reaping is desired while the sowing is neglected.
III. In connection
with all this
THERE IS A DUTY WE MUST FAITHFULLY PERFORM. “Give Him no rest.”
No rest for the servant
and no rest for the Master. Surely this means: “Be
earnest in supplication.”
IV. A RESULT IN
WHICH WE MUST STEADFASTLY BELIEVE. We are to be “remembrancers” and “pleaders”
till He establish
and “till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” That He
will do these great things we are devoutly to believe; that He may do them we
are earnestly to pray. The early verses of our chapter draw a picture already
seen by the prophetic eye. Righteousness
bright as the light going forth with
salvation
clear as the burning lamp. The new name given to betoken the new
nature. The joy of wedding festivity celebrating the union of the once forsaken
city- with her new-found Lord and King. Glowing picture this; yet to be fully
realized in the capital of the Holy Land
and yet to be spiritually realized in
the fulness of blessing which shall crown all faithful labour
and be the
answer to every earnest prayer. (W. J. Mayers.)
The Lord’s rembrancers
(R.V.):--It is hardly possible not to linger a little over this
curious appellation
“the Lord’s remembrancers
” given in the margin of the
Authorised Version
and in the text of the Revised. Several interpretations of
it have been suggested. The original word itself has both the ordinary meaning
of one who reminds another
and a technical meaning 2 Samuel 20:24) akin to
though not
identical with
that of the English word. By some it is applied to the angels
who are also supposed to be the “watchmen upon the walls
referred to in the
preceding clause. But such an explanation lifts the passage entirely out of the
sphere of human privilege and duty
and introduces into it allusions to matters
about which very little is known. There may be in it a special reference to
prophets
whose functions would naturally include that of leading the people in
their supplications to God
as well as that of warning them of danger and
inciting them to effort. But there is no need to confine the term to officials
of any kind. The entire New Testament is a sufficient authority for applying it
to all true Christians. If
indeed
there be truth in the tradition
in Judaism
itself it was recognized in part of the sacrificial ritual that every man could
be and ought to be the Lord’s remembrancer. Psalms 44:1-26. describes some of the
marvellous things done by Jehovah for Israel in the past
and the forsaken and
oppressed condition of Israel in the present; and one of its closing verses is
said to have been regularly sung for long in the temple worship--the one in
which Jehovah’s rembrancers
after having reminded Him of their need and of His
promised help
call upon Him: “Awake
why sleepest Thou
O Lord? Arise
cast us
not off for ever.” John Hyrcanus is reputed to have abolished this custom
in
spleen at the refusal of the Pharisees to let him reign in peace
or possibly
according to a more charitable conjecture
under the feeling that the idea of
awakening and reminding Jehovah involves a defect of faith. The psalm
however
is entirely true to human nature. For when men are tempted to imagine
themselves forsaken of God and begirt inextricably by perils
it is an immense
stimulus and encouragement of faith to remind God of their needs and of His
promises
of their present reliance upon Him
and even (for Scripture warrants
it elsewhere) of the way in which His faithfulness and honour are concerned in
their protection and deliverance. Jacob prayed in that way
when he trembled at
the thought of his brother’s probable rage
pleading God’s actual words of
promise: “O God of my fathers
the Lord which saidst unto me
Return unto thy
country
and to thy kindred
and I will deal well with thee:. . . Deliver me
I
pray thee
from the hand of my brother:. . . for (again) Thou saidst
I will
surely do thee good
and make thy seed as the sand of the sea. Two
rembrancings
and between them a little prayer; and of course the result was
that
when Esau came
instead of pouring his rough followers upon the
struggling and indefensible caravan
he fell on his brother’s “neck and kissed
him.” David was surprised and almost staggered in unbelief at the prospect of
greatness and renown which the prophet Nathan opened up to him
but he
recovered and fed his faith by reminding Himself and his God of the promise
and prayed
“Now
O Lord God
the word that Thou hast spoken concerning Thy
servant and concerning his house
establish it for ever
and do as Thou hast
said. In this very prophecy Israel first of all reminds Jehovah of what He has
been wont to do
anti what needs to be done now: “Awake
awake
put on
strength
O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days
in the generations
of old. The result is seen in vision at once: “Therefore the redeemed of the
Lord shall return
and come with singing unto Zion;” and so all the watchmen
lift up their voices: “Break forth unto joy
sing together
ye waste places of
Jerusalem
for the Lord hath comforted His people
He hath redeemed Jerusalem:
the Lord hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations
and all
the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. We shall never suffer
much prolonged doubt as to our own establishment or the Church’s
if we will
only duly remember and exercise our high vocation
to remind God of our perils
and needs and of His promised grace and help. (R. W. Moss.)
Watchers
Not watchmen (lit. “lookers out”) as in Isaiah 52:8; Isaiah 56:10
but as in Isaiah 21:11; Song of Solomon 5:7
lit. “keepers
’
those who guard the city
especially dining the night. (Prof. S. R. Driver
D. D.)
Three kinds of ministers
The ministers of the temple of truth
it has been said
are of
three kinds: first
those stationed at the gate of the temple to constrain the
passers-by to come in; secondly
those whose function is to accompany inside
all who have been persuaded to enter
and display and explain to them the
treasures and secrets of the place; and
thirdly
those whose duty is to patrol
round the temple
keeping watch and ward and defending the shrine from the
attacks of enemies. We are only speaking very roughly if we say that the first
of these three functions is that of the
Preacher
the second that of the Teacher
and the third that of
the
Controversialist. (J. Stalker
D. D.)
Verses 10-12
Go through
go through the gates
The conversion of the Jews
I.
THE
GLORIOUS EVENT TO BE PROCLAIMED (Isaiah 62:11). When the Divine Spirit
would attract special attention to any subject
He prefixes “Behold” to the
truth revealed. We have here “Behold thrice repeated.
1. The nature of the event. “Thy salvation cometh. Thy salvation is
rendered by the ancient versions (Syriac
Arabic
LXX
Chaldee
Vulgate) and
the best modern interpreters
“Thy Saviour;” and from the words
“His reward is
with Him
” it is clear that this is the intended meaning of the prophet. The
glowing promises of our text
and the prophecies connected with it
were most
manifestly never fulfilled at His first coming. The second coming of Christ as
the Deliverer of His people Israel is then the event here foretold; an event
yet before the Church (Romans 11:26-27). It is not enough to
proclaim Christ crucified to the Jews; we must also proclaim the once crucified
Immanuel speedily to appear in glory
to punish His rebellious subjects
and to
save His people.
2. The things connected with this event. “His reward is with Him
and
His work before Him.” It is not quite clear whether “His reward” refers to the
reward which Christ receives or which He bestows. Our Lord is to “see of the
travail of His soul
and be satisfied
” and He is to be “glorified in His
saints
and admired in all them that believe.” But I apprehend that the reward
which He bestows is here intended (Revelation 22:12). He has also a work to
perform. What that work is
we may learn from the following chapters. It
comprehends
doubtless
a lengthened series of events. Notice these three--the
overthrow of His enemies; the mercies in store for Israel; the establishment of
His kingdom.
3. Its required proclamation. By “the daughter of Zion ‘ is meant the
Jewish nation. It is a solemnly announced command to all to tell the Jews of
the Coming Saviour. But why should the Lord tell the ends of the world to care
for Zion? He foresaw and foreordained that the Jews should be scattered
everywhere
that there might not be a spot upon the earth uninterested in or
unmoved by their return. It was always the duty of Christians to preach the
Gospel “to the Jew first
” and then to the Gentile.
II. THE BLESSED
RESULT OF THIS EVENT TO THE JEWS (Isaiah 62:12). The words apparently lead
us to two classes of persons to be blessed at our Saviour’s coming.
1. “They shall call them the holy people
the redeemed of the Lord;”
2. “Thou shalt be called
Sought out
A city not forsaken?’ There may
be a reference in the first class to the converted Gentiles (Justin Martyr)
and in the second to the converted Jews. Through the chapter these are
combined
while the Jews arc addressed by the personal pronoun (Isaiah 62:2). In this view
our text
would contain a delightful reciprocation of congratulation between Jews and
Gentiles. Yet
as the leading subject of the chapter is the restoration of the
Jews
and as
in the preceding verse
the ends of the world are to be addressed
on the subject
it is rather probable that the word “they” may here refer to
the admiring nations of the earth. They shall call them
i.e the Jews
the holy or consecrated people
the redeemed of the Lord;” and then the prophet
himself
as if beholding Jerusalem thus glorious
changes the person and number
of his language
and in the rapture of exultation exclaims
“Thou shalt be
called
Sought out
A city not forsaken.”
III. THE. DUTIES TO
“WHICH WE ARE CALLED (Isaiah 62:10). Here the inhabitants of
cities
where ever the Jews may be
are called to prepare roads for their
return to their own land
that they and the nations at large may be ready to
receive and welcome the great Lord and King of the whole earth. The general
direction is to prepare the Jews
and thus also the Gentiles
for the coming
Saviour.
1. Indifference is to be cast off. “Go through
go through the gates.”
The double direction shows the ardour of the Divine mind
the importance of the
duty
how dull Christians in general would be to it
and how needful to rouse
them by repeated exhortations.
2. A way is to be prepared. “Prepare ye the way of the people
” etc.
3. A standard is also to be lifted up for the nations. “Lift up a
standard for the people.” This is added not only as a duty to be discharged
but as a great encouragement to fulfil duties to the Jews
by the blessed
effect it will undoubtedly have upon all nations. The meaning of this standard
will be more clear by referring to Isaiah 11:10-12. A standard is a token
ofwar: it is to assemble
direct and encourage the army
and to animate them in
proceeding against their enemies. To lift up this standard is to preach the
Gospel. But for whom is this standard to be lifted up? “For the people. The
original is in the plural number
“for the peoples
” and it is by the best
translators rendered
“the nations.” The restoration of the Jews
then
is a
part of the Divine plan for attracting the attention of and for blessing the
whole world. (E. Bickersteth.)
Gather out the stones
Clearing the road to heaven
I. ENDEAVOUR TO
REMOVE SOME OF THE STUMBLING-BLOCKS OUT OF THE POOR BEGINNER’S WAY.
1. Let us begin with a very old and common difficulty
the doctrine
of election. Many will say
“Perhaps I am not one of God’s chosen.” I know not
any better way of practically treating the matter than of saying
“I will go to
Jesus because He bids me.’ When you are ill you do not know whether you are
ordained to get well
but you send for the doctor; you cannot toll whether you
are predestined to be rich
but you endeavour to make money; you do not know
whether you will live through the day
but you work to provide yourself with
bread; thus common-sense cuts the knot which mere theory can never untie. Leave
the subtleties of argument alone
and act as sensible men. Go to Jesus and try
whether He will reject you.
2. A deep sense of sin. If there had not been great sin
there would
not have been need of a great Saviour.
3. A fear that the day of grace has passed. The Lord’s grace can come
to a man at any time
and at any hour.
4. A tendency to blasphemous thoughts. They should lead you to go and
tell Jesus Christ about it
but they should not drive you to despair.
5. The absence of anything like a horrible thought
or a terror
or
an alarm. If you arc allowed to come to Jesus without being so molested by the
Evil One
do not fret about that
but rather rejoice. There is no need to go
round by bell’s gate to get to heaven.
6. A want of sensibility with regard to their sins. A man is saved by
having his heart broken
and being led to cast himself upon Jesus; and if you
have not yet received this part of salvation
your business is to come to Jesus
for it
not to stay away till you get it of yourself
and then come to Christ
with your feelings as a recommendation.
7. “I cannot believe.” The smallest grain of saving faith will save a
man. It is the object of faith we should look to.
8. “I do not think I can be saved
because I am not like so-and-so.”
Do be content to have nothing good in yourself
and to be nothing good
and to
take all your good from Jesus Christ.
9. “I never have any joy and peace.” You shall receive the joy when
you exercise the faith.
II. POINT YOU TO
HIM WHO IS “THE WAY
THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE” who has already cleared the
stumbling-blocks out of the way. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 11-12
Behold
the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world
Who
is this?
(with Isaiah 63:1):--As in God’s immediate
dealingswith men we usually see the Son of God most manifest
this passage may
fitly represent the glorious appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ whenever He
has come forth to vindicate the cause of His people and to overthrow their
enemies. This vision will be astoundingly fulfilled in the second coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. The fourteenth and nineteenth chapters of the Book of
Revelation give us parallel passages to this. The scene before us describes an
interposition of the Messiah; the return of the Divinely-appointed Champion
from the defeat of His enemies. As it is evidently picture of salvation rather
than of damnation; as the main feature in it is that He is mighty to save; as
the great and chief element of the whole thing is that the year of His redeemed
is come
and that the Warrior’s own arm has brought salvation to His people; I
cannot question that this text is applicable to the first coming of Christ.
Then He did battle with the hosts of sin and death and hell
and so vanquished
them that in His resurrection He returned with the keys of death and hell at
HIS girdle. Then was He seen as “mighty to save.”
I. THERE IS A
PROCLAMATION (verses 11
12). The commentators as a whole can see no connection
between the sixty-third chapter and the preceding part of the Book of Isaiah;
but surely that connection is plain enough to the common reader. In these
verses the coming of the Saviour is proclaimed
and in the next chapter that
coming is seen in vision
and the evangelical prophet beholds the Saviour so
vividly that he is startled
and inquires
“Who is this?’
1. This great announcement tells you that there is a salvation from
without. Within your heart there is nothing that can save you. The proclamation
is
“Behold
thy salvation cometh.” It comes from a source beyond yourself.
2. It is a salvation which comes through a person. “Thy salvation
cometh; behold
His reward is with Him
and His work before Him.” The great
salvation which we have to proclaim is salvation by Jesus Christ
the Son of
God.
3. This salvation leads to holiness; for the text says of those who
receive the Saviour
“They shall call them
The holy people.”
4. It is salvation by
redemption; for it is written that they shall
be called “The redeemed of the Lord. In the sacred Scriptures there is no
salvation for men except by redemption.
5. This salvation is complete. “Thou shalt be called
Sought out
A
city not forsaken.” See the beginning of it: “Sought out
” See the end of it:
“Not forsaken.” You will not begin with God
but God will begin with you. You
shall be sought out
and then you will seek Him. He seeks you even now. But
suppose the Lord found you
and then left you; you would perish
after all. But
it shall not be so; for the same Lord who calls you “Sought out also calls you
Not forsaken.” You shall never be forsaken of the grace of God
nor of the God
of grace.
II. CONSIDER THE
QUESTION
“Who is this that cometh from Edom?” The prophet beholds in vision
the Captain of salvation
returning from battle
arrayed like the warriors of
whom we read
“the valiant men are in scarlet.” He beholds the majestic march
of this mighty Conqueror
and he cries
“Who is this?” When a soul first hears
the proclamation of God’s salvation
and then sees Jesus coming to him
he
says
“Who is this?”
1. The question in part arises from anxiety
as if he said
“Who is
this that espouses my cause? Is He able to save?”
2. The question also indicates ignorance. We do not any of us know
our Lord Jesus to the full yet. “Who is this?” is a question we may still put
to the sacred oracle. Paul
after he had known Christ fifteen years
yet
desired that he might know Him; for His love passeth knowledge.
3. As the sinner looks
and looks again
he cries
“Who is this?” in
delighted amazement. Is it indeed the Son of God? Does He intervene to save me?
The God whom I offended
does He stoop to fight and rout my sins? It is even
He.
4. I think the question is asked
also
by way of adoration. As the
soul begins to see Jesus
its anxiety is removed by knowledge
and is replaced
by an astonishment which ripens into worship.
5. It appears from the question that the person asking it knows
whence the Conqueror came; for it is written
“Who is this that cometh from
Edom
with dyed garments from Bozrah?” Yes
our Redeemer has returned from
death
as said the Psalmist
“Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell
neither wilt
Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption”? Next notice that the prophet in
vision observes the colour of the Conqueror’s garments. “Who is this that
cometh from Edom
with dyed garments from Bozrah?” Red is not Christ’s colour;
hence the question arises
“Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel. Our
beloved’s garments are whiter than any fuller can make them. The glory of His
purity is such that we say to ourselves
“Red
why
that is the colour of Edom
the adversary! Red
that is the colour of the earth of our manhood. Red is the
colour of our scarlet sins. Why is He red? Although the text treats of the
blood of His adversaries
yet I would have you devoutly think of our Lord
literally as shedding His own blood
for His victory was thus accomplished. The
text sets forth the result of that blood-shedding in the overthrow of His
enemies and ours; but we cannot separate the effect from the cause. I remember
how Rutherford seems to glow and burn when in his prose poetry he talks of “the
bonnie red man.”
7. But yet the question comes from one who perceives that the
Conqueror is royally arrayed. “This that is glorious in His apparel. The Jesus
we have to preach to you is no mean Saviour; He is clothed with glory and
honour because of the suffering of death.
8. The question ends with “travelling in the greatness of His
strength.” He did not come back from slaughtering our enemies feeble and
wounded
but He returned in majestic march
like a victor who would have all
men know that his force is irresistible. The earth shook beneath our Lord’s
feet on the resurrection morning
for “there was a great earthquake.” The Roman
guards became as dead men at His appearing. The Lord Jesus Christ is no petty
puny Saviour. As He travels through the nations it is as a strong man against
whom none can stand
mighty to rescue every soul that puts its trust in Him.
III. CONSIDER THE
ANSWER. NO one can answer for Jesus: He must speak for Himself. Like the sun
He can only be seen by His own light. He is His own interpreter. Not even the
angels could explain the Saviour: they get no further than desiring to look
into the things which are in Him. He himself answers the question “Who is
this?” The answer which our Lord gives is twofold. He describes Himself--
IV. As a Speaker “I
that speak in righteousness.” Is He not the Word? Every word that Christ speaks
is true. The Gospel which He proclaims is a just and righteous one
meeting
both the claims of God and the demands of conscience.
2. Our Lord also describes Himself as a Saviour. “I that speak in
righteousness
mighty to save. Observe that the word “mighty is joined with His
saving
and not with his destroying.” Conclusion: Hearken to the proclamation
“Behold thy salvation cometh.” Jesus can save you
for He is mighty to save! He
has saved others like you. He can overthrow
all your enemies. He can do this
alone. He is able to save you now. It is a sad wonder that men do not believe
in Jesus. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Verse 12
Thou shalt be called
Sought out
“Sought out”
1.
The
first meaning of our text is very clear. Here is a prophecy
that as Jerusalem
having been despoiled her beauty by her enemies
was for a long time forsaken
and worthy to be called
“A city which no man seeketh after
” so
in a brighter
day
her glory shall return
she shall be an attraction to all lands
and the
joy of the whole earth; multitudes of willing pilgrims shall seek her out that
they may behold her beauty. She shall be a city greatly set by and greatly
sought out by those who love the hallowed spots where the mighty deeds of the
Lord were wrought
and the arm of Jehovah made bare.
2. The text
doubtless
has a similar reference to the Church of God.
During many centuries the Church of Christ was hidden--a thing obscure
despised
unknown
abhorred; she concealed herself in the catacombs; her
followers were the poorest and most illiterate of men
proscribed by cruel
laws
and hunted by ferocious foes Although the royal bride of Christ
and
destined to be the ruler of nations
she “made no figure in the world’s eye;
she was but a little stone cut out of the mountain without hands. But the day
is already come in which multitudes seek the Church of Christ. (C.
H.Spurgeon.)
Am I sought out?
In a fuller and more spiritual sense the Church of God may well be
called “Sought out”; and the like title may truthfully be applied to every
single member of that dearly-loved and dearly-purchased family.
I. THE NATURAL
CONDITION IMPLIED IN THE TITLE
“SOUGHT OUT.”
1. If the Church of God has been “sought out
” then it is clear
enough that originally it was lost.
2. We were so lost that we did not seek the Lord.
3. As we had no thought of coming to God
so we never should have
willed to return.
4. So far from seeking God
we did not desire Him to seek us.
5. Our being sought out
considering our condition
was one of the
greatest wonders ever known or heard of. I have heard this expressed in words
occasionally; when a man has come to join the Church
he has said to me
“If any one had told me six months ago that I should make a
profession of being a follower of Christ
I would have knocked him down.’ And
yet the thing did occur.
II. WE HAVE
SURPASSING GRACE REVEALED. This grace lies in several particulars.
1. That they were sought out at all. It is very wonderful grace on
the part of God that He should plan a way of salvation; but there is something
more gracious than this generous summons. One would have supposed that after
the invitation had been freely given and the preparation for the feast had been
generously made
the Lord would leave men to come or not as they willed.
2. But this grace appears even more conspicuous if you consider the
persons sought out. That any should be sought out is matchless grace
but that
we should be sought is grace beyond degree.
3. Nor must I fail to bring to your recollection
that the surpassing
grace of God is seen very clearly in that we were sought “out.” The word “out”
conveys a mass of meaning. Men go and seek for a thing which is lost upon the
floor of the house
but in such a case there is only seeking
not seeking out.
The loss is more perplexing
and the search more persevering
when a thing is
sought out. We were mingled with the mire; we were as when some precious piece
of gold falls into the sewer
and men have to gather out and carefully inspect
a heap of abominable filth
to turn it over
and over
and over
and continue
to stir and rake
and search among the heap until the thing is found. Or
to
use another figure
we were lost in a labyrinth; we wandered hither and
thither
and when ministering mercy came after us
it did not find us at the
first coming; it had to go to the right hand and to the left
and search hither
and thither
and everywhere
to seek us out
for we were so desperately lost
and had got into such a strange position
that it did not seem possible that
ever grace could come to us. And yet we were sought out! No gloom could hide
us
no filthiness could conceal us
we were found. The lives of some of God’s
people
if they could be written
would make you marvel. The romance of Divine
grace is infinitely more interesting than the romance of imagination.
4. The grace of God is illustrious in the Divine Agent by whom we are
sought out. It was not the minister; he might have sought thee year after year
and never have found thee. Thy tearful mother
with her many prayers
would
have missed thee. Thine anxious father
with his yearning bowels of compassion
would never have discovered thee. Those providences
which like great nets were
seeking to entangle thee
would all have been broken by thy strong dashings
after evil. Who was it sought thee out? None other than Himself. The Great
Shepherd could not trust His under-shepherds; He must Himself come
and oh! if
it had not been for those eyes of omniscience
He never would have seen thee;
He never would have read thy history and known thy ease: if it had not been for
those arms of omnipotence
He never could have grasped thee; He never could
have thrown thee on His shoulders and brought thee home rejoicing.
5. Remember that the glory of it is that we were sought out
effectually. We are a people not sought out and then missed at the last.
III. THE
DISTINGUISHING TITLE JUSTIFIED. How were we sought out?. Let us justify the
name.
1. We are sought out in the eternal purposes and the work of Christ.
2. This seeking out
as far as we know it
began by gracious words of
mercy. A godly mother told us the truth with weeping
a holy father set us a
good example; we were sought out by that little Bible we were taught to read
and that hymn-book which was put into our hands. We were sought out when we
were taken to the house of God. We were sought out while the preacher called
the Sabbath-breaker
the hard-hearted
the hypocrite
the formalist
the
abandoned
the profane. According to our case we felt that he was calling us
and the eyes of Jesus were looking on us
and His voice was bidding us repent
and live.
3. Afflictions sought us out. The fever hunted us to the Cross. When
the cholera came
it carried a great whip in its hand to flog us to the Saviour.
We had serious losses
a decaying business
all which should have weaned us
from the world. Our friends sickened; from their graves we heard the voice of
invitation
“Come unto Christ and live. ‘ We were disappointed in some of our
fondest hopes
and our heart
riven for the time
yearned after a higher life
and a deeper satisfaction.
4. Then came mysterious visitations. It was in the night season when
all was still
we sat up in our bed
and solemn thoughts passed through us; the
preacher’s words which we had heard years ago came back fresh as when we heard
them for the first time; old texts of Scripture
the recollection of a mother’s
tears
all these came upon us. Or it was in the midst of business
and we did
not know how it was
but suddenly a deep calm came over us.
5. But after all
these visitations
these providences
these
preachings
and so on
would all have been nothing
if it had not been for the
appointed time when the Holy Spirit came and sought us out.
IV. A SPECIAL DUTY
INCUMBENT UPON THOSE WHO WEAR THE TITLE
“SOUGHT OUT.” If it be really so that
you are such debtors to Divine seeking
ought you not to spend your whole
lifetime in seeking others out? We are not to preach merely to those who come
to listen. Let us hunt for souls by visitation. Where all other means fail
seek men by our prayers. As long as a man has one other man to pray for him
there is a hope of his salvation. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
A city not forsaken
“A city not forsaken”
1. A forsaken city! What a picture it presents. Streets once crowded
with life
left desolate. Halls once ablaze with light--darkened. Every voice
of music hushed
every dancer gone. No man of wisdom to advise. No soldier to
defend. No peopled homes. No schools with children. No trade. No port. No active
work for God or man. A city forsaken! Bereft
indeed!
2. But “A city not forsaken”! How different I with its crowded
streets; its marts of trade; its palace of legislature; its courts of
administration and justice; its glory of magnificent architecture; its busy
river; its turrets ablaze with the glory of their gold; its towers of strength;
its bulwarks of defence; its processions of royalty; its merchants; its
scholars; its citizens
good
bad and indifferent; its sanctuaries; its slums;
its manifold life and stir. Ay
verily
“a city not forsaken” is a place of
interest and power; a place to live in; where the pulse beats; where men feel
the blessings of community
and find the possibilities of success; where trade
has its markets; where intellect is sharpened
and where extremes meet--the
place of the temple
the arena
the theatre
the gymnasium
and the forum. (C.
H. Kelly.)
The Church
a city not forsaken
The text is uttered respecting the Church of the Lord
and is true
of every part of that Church. It is descriptive. It is historic. It is
prophetic. (C. H. Kelly.)
The presence of God in His Church
If it was the delight of the ancient Jews to know that the Lord
was in His temple in Jerusalem
it is also ours to know that He is with us.
1. His Church abounds in splendour; in numbers; in wealth; in
structures. She is rich in schools and universities. Her sons are among the
greatest scholars; the bravest soldiers; the most eloquent speakers. She is
like the King’s daughter
arrayed in costly attire
and all beautiful within
having external adornment and internal excellence; but what of all that
if
that were all? What if she were forsaken of God? If there were no shout of the
King in the camp?
2. But there is the presence of God--the Father in His family; the
Captain with His hosts; the King in His city.
3. Having this truth
how rich is the Church of God! It involves the
heritage of power
wisdom
love.
4. We will rejoice because
having God in the city
the commonwealth
is safe; truth will be victorious; vice will be curbed; crime will cease;
ignorance will be instructed; men and women will be saved; children will be
nurtured and trained aright; true spiritual religion
as contrasted with mere
conventional Churchism
will prevail; the love of worldliness will give place
to spirituality of life; there will be honesty instead of theft; truthfulness
instead of lies; purity instead of wickedness holiness instead of mere
professional Church membership. (C. H. Kelly.)
The Church
“a city not forsaken” by its own people
1. Its numbers are larger to-day than ever. They help to constitute
its wealth
to make it full of power; they make its defence stronger than walls
of brick and stone; mightier than ramparts. The fellowship of believers; the
communion of saints; the brotherhood of Christians is very real. It is found in
this city--this Church of God. It is illustrated in the lives of myriads who
dedicate their intellect
their love
to it. Verily
this city is not forsaken.
Its dwellings are peopled. Its population increases.
2. And more are coming. One day Henry Clay stood on a peak on the
Aleghany Mountains
with arms folded
and as though looking into the distance
far beyond. Some one said to the rapt thinker
“Mr. Clay
what are you thinking
about?” He replied
“I am listening to the ontramping of the feet of future
generations of Americans. He knew they would come. So we. We rejoice in the
millions of our city. But yet there is room. They come. They will continue to
come. This is no forsaken spot. It never will be. Desolation does not belong to
this Zion.
3. There are good reasons for its sons not forsaking it. In it they
have found salvation. In it they have been made joyful. When they were pursued
and troubled
it opened its gates to them
and gave them refuge and safety The
walls which surround It can never be broken through by any foe; for God is the
strength of those walls
and every citizen is absolutely safe. (C. H. Kelly.)
Backslider’s
But have not any forsaken this city? The answer is
to their own sad
sorrow
Yes! At this hour there are sheep that have strayed; prodigals that
have wandered; backsliders that have fallen. They have forsaken purity; they
have turned their backs on God. What has the City herald to proclaim to such?
What is the message of the King? The proclamation is mercy; amnesty; full
forgiveness. The message of the King is
Return. Will you come? The gates of
the city are open: Will you enter? You have forsaken the Church; but God has not
forsaken you. But
so far as you are concerned
the gates of the city will soon
be closed. Take care that you are on the right side. One of our ministers said
that one evening
after a day’s excursion
he and his party were about to enter
an Eastern city. They saw a horseman approach at a gallop. Our friend asked
“Why does he ride so fast?” “Because
” said the guide
“he knows that in a few
moments it will be sunset
and the city gate will be closed; and
if he is not
in before that
he will be too late
and must remain outside in the dark.” It
is nearly sunset with some of you who have forsaken the city; soon the gate
will be closed; be quick and enter in! (C. H. Kelly.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》