The righteous person entered a condition of peace by dying and going to his or her eternal reward. The end of the righteous, then, contrasts with that of the wicked leaders (Isaiah 56:9-12). read more
2. The peace of the grave is better than the condition of unrest under their rulers (Isaiah 57:1).Shall enter.. shall rest] RV ’entereth.. rest.’3, 5. Sons, etc.] i.e. descendants, perpetuating the character of their ancestors. Seed, etc.] i.e. through your idolatry violating the mystical union between Jehovah and His people: cp. Ezekiel 16:44.4. Sport yourselves] implying that they find delight in the misfortune of the servants of Jehovah. 5. Enflaming] The word describes the excitement... read more
LVII.(1) The righteous perisheth . . .—The words seem written as if in the anticipation or in the actual presence of Manasseh’s persecution of the true prophets. Even before that persecution burst out in its full violence, the “righteous” survivors of Hezekiah’s régime may well have vexed their souls even to death with the evils that were around them. The prophet finds comfort in the thought that their death was a deliverance from yet worse evils. The singular number points to the few... read more
(2) He shall enter into peace . . .—Notice- able as presenting the brighter side of the dim thoughts of Israel as to the life behind the veil, and so far contrasted with Hezekiah’s shrinking fear. (Comp. Job 3:17.) For the righteous there was peace in death as in life. For the wicked there was peace in neither (Isaiah 57:21).They shall rest in their beds.—The “bed” is obviously the grave, the thought following naturally on that of death being as the sleep “after life’s fitful fever.” (Ezekiel... read more
Wearied in the Greatness of the Way Isaiah 57:10 Weariness spiritual weariness that is our subject tonight. It seems that in this chapter, as so often, the language of the Prophet is suggested by the incidents of national history. The memorable journey of Israel through the wilderness, in the passage from Egypt to Canaan, was fraught with many lessons concerning human infirmity and concerning Divine righteousness and grace. In this passage, where Isaiah laments the sinful defections of the... read more
CHAPTER XXIIITHE REKINDLING OF THE CIVIC CONSCIENCEIsaiah 56:9-12; Isaiah 57:1-21; Isaiah 58:1-14; Isaiah 59:1-21IT was inevitable, as soon as their city was again fairly in sight, that there should re-awaken in the exiles the civic conscience; that recollections of those besetting sins of their public life, for which their city and their independence were destroyed, should throng back upon them; that in prospect of their again becoming responsible for the discharge of justice and other... read more
Chapters 56:9-57:14 must be read continuously. CHAPTERS 56:9-57:21 The Condition of the Apostate Nation and the two Classes 1. The condition of the shepherds of Israel (Isaiah 56:9-12 ) 2. Apostate Israel (Isaiah 57:1-14 ) 3. The two classes (Isaiah 57:15-21 ) The final chapter of this second section corresponds to the last chapter of the first section (chapter 48). The sad condition of the people Israel is pictured. This is their national apostasy throughout this age, while strangers... read more
57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth [it] to heart: and merciful men [are] taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away {a} from the evil [to come].(a) From the plague that is at hand, and also because God will punish the wicked. read more
57:2 {b} He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, [each one] walking [in] his uprightness.(b) The soul of the righteous will be in joy, and their body will rest in the grave to the time of the resurrection, because they walked before the Lord. read more
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Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Isaiah 57:1
As the leadership of the nation grew worse, the number of righteous people shrank, without people perceiving what was happening. God allowed this disappearance of the devout to spare them the judgment He would bring on the evil nation and its ungodly rulers. Few people in the nation, however, understood this reason for the depletion of the righteous."Such deaths are not understood by the godless, for they do not realize that God in His goodness often takes righteous men to Himself to deliver... read more