Isaiah 40

Notes

Ver. 2. God punished the Jews in Babylon enough to answer the purposes of his glory, and more than he did many of the heathens; and in Christ he received the most abundant satisfaction to his justice; and bestows great and manifold blessings instead of punishments. 3-8. By the providence of God and proclamation of Cyrus everything shall tend to promote the return of the Jews from Babylon; and no human power shall, in the least, be able to hinder the fulfilment of his promises. And by the preaching of John Baptist shall the Jewish nation be prepared for the manifestation of the Messiah in his sufferings and glory; and all attempts of men to hinder the erection of his kingdom shall quickly be frustrated. 9-11. Let the Jews loudly triumph in God's powerful and tenderly-careful deliverance of them from Babylon, and conducting them back to their own country. And especially let the gospel church rejoice in the incarnation and mighty works of the great God our Saviour: his erection, nourishment, preservation, and government of her, and every one of her members, however weak and distressed. 21, 22. Do not even ye Gentiles know, by the light of nature, and by information derived from your ancestors, that Jehovah, the Creator and Governor of the world, is of such infinite perfection, that no image can represent him. 23, 24. He, with infinite ease, destroys the most powerful princes, and bereaves them of their power. 27, 28. Since God is so infinitely powerful, wise, and good, why should his own people ever distrust him, as if he disregarded their afflictions, or could not find out a way for their deliverance, or as if he neglected to redress their grievances? Know they not that he never becomes unable to help or take care of his people, and that there is no finding out the reasons of his dispensations? 30, 31. Whatever may become of persons of the greatest natural abilities, they who depend on the Lord for his assistance, and the performance of his promises, shall grow stronger in grace, and easily overcome every difficulty in the way of their duty.

Ver. 1. The second great division of the Book of Isaiah begins with this chapter. It is supposed to have been written towards the close of the prophet's life. It constitutes by far the most important part of his writings, and in some respects the most important part of the Old Testament. Its style is sublime; its subject the highest and holiest on which the human mind can dwell; its delineation of the work and character of the Messiah clear and full almost as the gospel narrative. It is this part of his writings which gives Isaiah a just title to the name 'evangelical prophet.' Professor Alexander has given the following clear summary of the leading points embraced in this division. A preliminary examination of them will help to prepare the reader for a full understanding of the various parts:—'1. The carnal Israel, the Jewish nation, in its proud self-reliance and its gross corruption, whether idolatrous or only hypocritical and formal. 2. The spiritual Israel, the true church, the remnant according to the election of grace, considered as the object of Jehovah's favour and protection, but at the same time as weak in faith and apprehensive of destruction. 3. The Babylonish exile and the restoration from it, as the most important intermediate point between the date of the prediction and the advent of the Messiah, and as an earnest or a sample of Jehovah's future dealings with his people both in wrath and mercy. 4. The advent itself, with the person and character of Him who was to come for the deliverance of his people not only from eternal ruin, but from temporal bondage, and their introduction into glorious liberty. 5. The character of this new condition of the church or of the Christian dispensation, not considered in its elements, but as a whole; not in the way of chronological succession, but at one view; not so much in itself, as in contrast with the temporary system which preceded it.' P. —Comfort ye my people. The parties exhorted to give comfort are such as hear 'the voice in the wilderness,' ver. 3, and in faith of his coming, 'prepare in the desert a highway for their God.' —Note, It is thus the duty of believers to comfort one another, 1 Th. 4. 18. C.

Ver. 2. She hath received . . . double. Not double chastisement, for that is simply impossible, but the blessings of 'grace, mercy, and peace'—the double of all the miseries sin had brought upon her. C.

Ver. 4. The fulfilment of this prophecy began in the days of John the Baptist, and will, like the formation of a highway amidst forests, morasses, rugged mountains, and deep valleys, progressively advance to completion in God's good time. C.

Ver. 6. The voice said, Cry. That is, the voice of the Lord who had spoken, ver. 5. 'And he said,' that is, he that 'cried in the wilderness' said, 'What shall I cry?' C.

Ver. 7. This verse is liable to be misunderstood in its present form. The spirit of the Lord is not the Holy Spirit. Such an interpretation does not suit the passage. The literal rendering would be 'the breath of Jehovah:' and the figure is that of a person breathing upon the tender grass and delicate flower, and thus causing them to droop and die. The whole verse may be translated as follows:—'The grass is dried; the flower is faded; for the breath of Jehovah has blown upon it.—Surely the people is grass.' P.

Ver. 9. 'Ascend, O virgin daughter, into the high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Zion: exalt thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem.'—Note, The title 'virgin daughter,' ch. 37. 22, is inserted to express the feminine form of the Hebrew: and is in strict accordance with the custom of the Jewish women in celebrating victories. See Ex. 15. 20,21; Ju. 11. 34; 1 Sa. 18. 6, 7.—Behold your God! It is not possible to imagine any stronger evidence that Jesus was 'God manifest in the flesh,' 'seen of angels,' and seen also of men. C.

Ver. 12. The object of the voice is twofold: (1) comfort to Jerusalem, (2) the preparation of the way of the Lord; and to remove all doubt that the Lord can bring comfort by his Spirit, and prepare the way for his people, see ver. 13, 26—31, the prophet here describes at length the almighty power.—Measured the waters. There is no fact more demonstrable than the perfect exactness of the proportion of water to dry land for all the uses of vegetables and animals. See Whewell's Bridgewater Treatise. —Meted out heaven. So exact is the measurement of the heavens, that astronomers have calculated where an undiscovered planet should be, and have thus been enabled to find it. See Herschel's Astronomy.—Comprehended the dust . . . in a measure. This fact follows from the relative extent of land and water, as already stated.—Weighed the mountains. Every planet takes its place and orbit in exact proportion to its weight: the earth is depressed at the poles and elevated at the equator in virtue of its weight and rotation; and, so far as known to man, every object on earth and in the heavens is literally 'weighed in a balance.' C.

Ver. 17. How can anything be less than nothing? The rhetoricians call it a hyperbole; but such a mode of speech seems unbecoming the Spirit of God. The Hebrew word signifies 'a defect.' The nations are worse than what is merely defective: besides being defective in righteousness, they are positively wicked. C.

Ver. 20. A graven image that shall not be moved. The smaller metallic images were carried about; the wooden images were nailed immovably to the walls, ch. 41. 7. C.

Ver. 24. How awfully has this truth been verified in the fall of every empire of antiquity, and the many revolutions of modern times! O that kings would be wise to acknowledge Jesus as their King and Lord! Ps. ii. C.

Ver. 31. They that wait. Who wait in faith, in patience, in watchfulness, in cheerfulness, in love—who wait as subjects bound, as servants bought, as friends invited, as children beloved. C.

Reflections.—God's abundant consolations graciously follow his messages of terror and conviction; and he takes pleasure in the comfort and prosperity of his servants. How delightful is the real preaching of the gospel of Christ! It proclaims that forgiveness of sins, without which it is impossible to obtain any true comfort. God easily removes every bar out of his way in coming to us. And it is necessary that we lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, in our approaches to him. It is a happy token of deliverance when our hearts are levelled by his grace, and made to behold his glory! Human power is little to be feared when against us, or trusted to when on our side! But infinite is the power, the faithfulness, the duration of the truths of Christ. Happy tidings are those which relate to him and his salvation! and happy is the period when he comes and performs all in all in and for his church; when he manifests his activity, care, and tenderness in gathering sinners to himself, and in bearing and nourishing them up to eternal life! What empty nothings are all creatures in comparison of him! Why then should we not trust him in every difficulty, cleave to him under every discouragement, and revere him in the receipt of every favour! What image can ever truly represent the infinite Jehovah! What idol can deserve a comparison with the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth! It is weak and sinful to suspect that he has or can cast off his people. To them that wait on him, his infinite power and grace are a never-failing and abundant source of strength, quickening, and comfort.