The Book of the Prophet Isaiah
Isaiah 51
Chapter LI · Vol. III, pp. 1209–1210
1 An exhortation, after the pattern of Abraham, to trust in Christ, by reason of his comfortable promises, 4 of his righteous salvation, 7 and man's mortality. 9 Christ by his sanctified arm defendeth his from the fear of man. 17 The prophet bewaileth the afflictions of Jerusalem, 21 and promiseth deliverance.
1 Hearken to me, aye that follow after righteousness, ye that bseek the LORD: look unto cthe rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.1
2 Lookd unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called ehim alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
3 Forg the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
g ver.12. Ps.85.8. 2 Co.1.3,4. 2 Th.2.16,17. Lu.2.25,38. ch.52.9; 40.1,2; 65.18,19; 66.10-14; 49.8,12; 35.1-4,10. Jn.16.22. 1 Pe.1.8. Ac.9.31. Ro.11.25-32. Re.19.1-7. ch.29.17; 32.15; 35.1,6; 41.18,19; 54.1-17, with Ge.13.10.
4 Hearken unto me, hmy people, and give ear unto me, O my nation: for ia law shall proceed from me, and I jwill make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.
5 Myk righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people: lthe isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.
k ch.56.1; 46.13; 54.17; 63.1-5. Ro.10.4-8. Ps.110.2,3,5,6. Ps.98.9. 1 Th.5.24. 2 Th.1.6,7.
l ch.42.4; 60.9; 11.9,10. Ro.15.9-12. Je.14.22. Ho.12.7. Mi.7.7. Ps.130.7. 1 Co.15.19.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for nthe heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner:2 but omy salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
n He.1.11,12. Ps.102.26. ch.50.9. Lu.16.17. Mat.5.18; 24.35. 1 Co.7.31. 2 Pe.3.7,10-12.
2 Vanishing as smoke, or it may be 'like the ephemera,' a worthless insect, whose life is but a day.—C.
o ch.45.17; 34.16. Da.9.24. Ps.119.89. Mat.5.18. Jn.3.16; 6.40; 8.51; 10.28,29. He.12.27,28. ver.8.
7 Hearken unto me, ye that pknow righteousness, the people qin whose heart is my law; rfear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
8 Fors the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: tbut my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
9 Awake,u awake, put on strength, O 3arm of the LORD; awake, as vin the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab,4 and xwounded the dragon?5
u Ps.44.23,26. ch.52.10. Re.11.17.
3 Power, ver.5; ch.53.1; 30.30; 33.2; 52.10; 62.8. Ps.118.15,16. Ex.6.5. De.4.34. 1 Co.1.24.
4 Egypt strong and proud, Ps.87.4; 89.10.
x Ps.74.13,14. ch.27.1. Eze.29.3; 32.3. Hab.3.13.
5 In ver.9 and 10 the captive exiles speak and plead with God for deliverance. The language is at once noble, and expressive of strong faith in the divine mercy.—P.
10 Art thou not it which yhath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?
11 Thereforez the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.6
12 I,a even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou bshouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made cas grass;
a ch.43.25; 40.2,3. 2 Co.1.3-6. Ps.102.13. See ver.3.
b ver.7,8; ch.2.22. Mat.10.28. Ps.118.6; 39.5; 89.48; 9.19,20. Pr.29.25.
c ch.40.6. 1 Pe.1.24?. Ja.1.10,11.
13 And dforgettest the LORD ethy 7maker, thatg hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hhast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready8 to destroy? and wherei is the fury of the oppressor?
7 Compare this title and this work with He.1.8,10. Is not Jesus 'God manifest in the flesh?'—C.
e ch.43.7; 44.2; 54.5. Ps.100.3. ver.16. Ep.2.10.
A.M. cir. 3302. B.C. cir. 702.
g Job 9.8. Ps.104.2. ch.40.22; 42.5; 44.24, with ver.16.
h Pr.29.25. He.2.15. See ver.12.
8 Or, made himself ready.
i Job 20.5-9. ch.33.18,19; 16.4. Ps.9.5,6; 37.35,36; 76.10. ch.16.4. 1 Co.1.20.
14 The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die jin the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
j Je.37.16,21; 38.6. ch.49.21. La.3.53. Zec.9.11. ch.33.16. Jn.8.51.
15 But I am the LORD thy God, that kdivided the sea, whose waves roared: The LORD of hosts is his name.
k Je.31.35. Job 26.12. Ex.14.21. Jos.3.13,16. Ps.114.3,5. ch.43.16; 50.2; 63.13; ver.10, with Ps.65.7; 46.3; 93.3,4. ch.17.12.
16 And lI have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that nI may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
17 Awake,o awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the LORD the cupp of his fury: thou hast drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out.9
o ch.52.1; 60.1,2; 40.1,2; 41.10; 64.7.
p ver.22. De.28.28. Ps.60.3. Zec.12.2. Ps.75.8; 11.6. Je.25.15,16. La.4.21. Eze.23.32-34. Mat.20.22; 26.39. Re.14.10. 1 Pe.4.17,18.
9 Most probably alluding to the custom of condemning culprits to drink some bitter intoxicating and poisonous draught.—C.
18 Thereq is none to guide her among all the sons whom she hath brought forth; neither is there any that taketh her by the hand of all the sons that she hath brought up.
19 Theser two things1 are come2 unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction,3 and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
r ch.47.9; 1.7. Ps.69.20. Am.7.2. Je.15.2,3; 16.3,4. Lu.21.20-24; 19.27,43,44. Job 2.11.
1 That is, desolation and destruction by these two, famine and sword.—C.
2 Heb. happened.
3 Heb. breaking.
20 Thys sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as a wild bull in a net: theyt are full of the fury of the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.
21 Therefore, hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
22 Thus saith uthy Lord the LORD, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, vBehold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:4
u Ps.35.1. Mi.7.9. Ge.17.6,7. Je.50.17-20,28,33,34; 51.5,33-36.
v ch.35.8-10; 52.1; 60.15; 62.8; 54.7-9. Ps.129.4. Eze.39.28. Je.31.12; 30.8,11,20. La.4.22. Joel 2.19. Am.9.15. Ps. xlvi.
4 The time of this prophecy is still future, inasmuch as judgment upon Jerusalem is never to be inflicted again.—C.
23 But xI will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to thy soul, Bowy down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.5
x Pr.11.8; 21.18. Je.25.17-29. ch.49.25,26; 54.17. Re.18.6.
y Jos.10.24. Ps.66.11,12; 57.6.
5 This chapter, with the first twelve verses of ch. lii., forms a connected passage of exquisite beauty. It is in part designed to be an introduction to the description of the person and work of the Messiah which follows. It is dramatic in form. The scene is laid in Babylon. The time is near the close of the captivity. The persons are the Lord and his people, who address each other alternately, God giving comfort and consolation, and the people pleading for deliverance.—P.
Notes
Ver. 1-3. The God who delivered Abraham from among his idolatrous friends, and, contrary to every natural appearance, made him and Sarah the parents of millions, can easily make you to flourish after your captivity in Canaan, and can easily form for himself a flourishing gospel church in the world. 4-8. The gospel, authorized by God, shall be published; and the ordinances of it, established and attended by his power, shall be effectual for converting men to Christ, and for revealing and bestowing upon them his everlasting righteousness and salvation. 9-16. The almighty power of God, which plagued the Egyptians and divided the Red Sea, shall bring the Jews from Babylon and their present dispersion with great joy, and deliver the church from heathenish or antichristian oppressors.—And for your comfort against the threatened fury of oppressors, the almighty Creator has given you his promises, and has protected you, that he may re-establish you as his church and people; and has raised up and qualified Jesus Christ in order to the erection and establishment of the gospel church. 17-23. Let not therefore the Jews, or the Christian church, despair under the terrible and destructive, and even stupifying judgments of God inflicted upon them: he will, in his proper time, deliver them, and execute judgment upon the Chaldeans, Syro-Grecians, Romans, Antichristians, and Turks, who cruelly oppressed them.
Ver. 1. Righteousness is exactly equivalent to obedience; that is, perfect, not partial, obedience. This will appear evident from comparing 'the gift of righteousness,' Ro. 5. 17, with 'the obedience of one,' whereby 'many are made righteous,' Ro. 5. 19.—Note, It is of the utmost importance in theology to observe, that it is through this 'righteousness,' and this righteousness alone, that 'grace reigns unto (the exhibition and bestowment of) eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.' Grace ascends the throne of mercy only by the steps of righteousness.—Look unto the rock, &c. Israel, in his origin, is reminded that he was, for hardness, as a stone hewed out of a rock; and for filthiness, as clay digged out of a pit. C.
Ver. 5. My righteousness is near—even so near, that it is 'unto all, and upon all them that do believe,' Ro. 3. 22; yea, so near, as to dwell within the very heart of every believer, Ro. 10. 6-10. C.
Ver. 7. My law. This law in the heart is the promise of the new covenant established in Jesus as Mediator, and which is rendered effectual through free grace in justification, He. 6. 12.—Fear ye not the reproach, &c. How strange that free grace has ever been the subject of reproach and reviling! nay, of persecution unto death! Yet how glorious when persecuted believers can say, 'Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it.' And without this 'mind that was in Jesus,' we are 'none of his,' Ro. 8. 9. C.
Ver. 11. This prediction indicates a time still future; for though there have been restorations with joy, as under Cyrus and Artaxerxes, there has yet been no 'everlasting joy.' See Re. 21. 4. C.
Ver. 14. Die in the pit. Casting into a deep pit, with a little food, was an ancient mode of punishment; thus inflicting a slow and proportionally cruel death. It may here be also an allusion to the treatment Joseph received from his unnatural and jealous brethren, Ge. 37. 24. C.
Ver. 16. I have put my words in thy mouth. 'I have made thee my oracle,' see Ro. 3. 2; 9. 4. The address from ver. 12 seems directed to Zion, comp. ver. 3, and Zion is the representative of God's redeemed people, see ver. 16.—Plant the heavens—the kingdom of heaven on earth, with the 'tree of life,' Re. 2. 2; with 'trees of righteousness,' Is. 61. 3. C.
Ver. 18. One of God's greatest mercies is the raising up of men distinguished by knowledge, sagacity, prudence, courage, and piety, as guides to a church or a nation. Such was Moses, such was David in Israel, such was Paul in the primitive church, such many of the glorious band of reformers—mighty minds, receiving their character from God's Spirit, and enstamping that character upon their own and after ages. C.
Reflections.—The perfections, relations, gracious promises, and providences of God are an infinite source of consolation to the saints. With ease he accomplishes the most remarkable events in mercy. And yet it is hard to make those who are in anguish of spirit to hearken to his words of comfort, or to review what he has done for them, either for their humiliation or encouragement, or for their excitement to holiness. How strangely God connects his mercies and his judgments! But there is little reason to regard either the reproaches or terrors of wicked men, when Jehovah and his blessings are ours, and near to us. And quickly will our waiting, weeping, and working for him, be graciously rewarded with unutterable and everlasting joys. How easily can Jehovah renew and restore souls, and form and re-establish churches, by the word of his power! But terrible are even his paternal chastisements. And unfaithfulness to him is often punished by the unfaithfulness of our relations to us. By sinfully quarrelling with his providences we but entangle and torment ourselves. None can comfort when God wounds us. But though he cause grief, he will have compassion. Whom he loveth he will love unto the end. And if judgments begin at the house of God, where shall the ungodly sinner and persecutor appear?