CONTENTS The subject of this Chapter is not unsimilar to the former. The Holy Ghost, by his servant the Prophet, is reproving the unfaithfulness of the people. The close of the Chapter contains one of the most sublime and consolatory representations of Jehovah, in the greatness and graciousness of his character, that can be conceived. read more
The chapter open, with remarking the inattention of the world to the operations of God in his providence's. God's faithful servants die, and the breach is not lamented as it ought; none considering that by so much grace as they possessed, that portion is taken from among men. Their prayers for Zion, those graces they exercised, and the supplications they put up for poor perishing sinners, cease with them. Here is cause for lamentation; for then it may be said, as by the Church of old, Abraham... read more
The just. Christ, (Calmet) Josias, (Grotius) or any whose cause is just, yet finds no protection from such corrupt magistrates. (Haydock) --- Evil, by the wicked, or to prevent his fall, 4 Kings xii. 20. People little consider what a loss the world sustains, when those die who might have averted the divine wrath. (Calmet) --- They are usually taken away, that they may not witness such misfortunes, and are settled in eternal peace. (Worthington) read more
Bed. The grave which affords rest to the virtuous, Josias, &c. (Calmet) read more
1,2 The righteous are delivered from the sting of death, not from the stroke of it. The careless world disregards this. Few lament it as a public loss, and very few notice it as a public warning. They are taken away in compassion, that they may not see the evil, nor share in it, nor be tempted by it. The righteous man, when he dies, enters into peace and rest. read more
v. 1. The righteous perisheth, namely, while the false teachers are forsaking their duties, and no man layeth it to heart, no one is aware of the fact that the hand of God interferes in graciously taking the believing Israelite out of this world before the great Judgment descends upon it; and merciful men are taken away, by a sudden death, apparently before their time, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. v. 2. He shall enter into peace, namely, the one... read more
IX.—THE NINTH DISCOURSEConcluding Word: The Mournful Present, which will not be Prevented by the Approach of the Glorious Future.Isaiah 56:10 to Isaiah 57:21.Isaiah is wont to set the present in the light of the future, in order to make an impression on it by the contrast. I appeal to chapters 2–5, and to my interpretation of Isaiah 2:5. Jeremiah also imitates Isaiah in this (Jeremiah 3:11 to Jeremiah 4:4). The sudden spring from the remotest, the glorious future into the mournful, immediate... read more
No Peace to the Wicked Isaiah 57:1-21 A terrible portrayal is given here of the idolatries and impurities into which the Chosen People had fallen. These scenes under “the oaks” (r.v.) and in the valleys remind us of the invariable evils associated with idolatry which the great Apostle has recorded in Romans 1:23-28 . They refused to retain God in their knowledge, and He gave them over to a reprobate mind; that is, He ceased to restrain them. But amid the degenerate nation, there was a... read more
Because of the failure of these blind watchmen and drunken leaders, righteous men perish, while none lay it to heart. Moreover, the people have yielded to the evil influences of such leaders; "sons of the sorceress" are summoned to judgment. Their sin has been exalted and manifest, and their judgment is to be conspicuous and complete. Yet again the declaration turns to such as are contrite and penitent. Jehovah declares Himself to be the One inhabiting eternity, and yet dwelling with the... read more
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James Gray's Concise Bible Commentary - Isaiah 57:1-21
THE MESSIAH REVEALED The thirty-two chapters deal particularly with the Person and work of the Messiah. Isaiah has sometimes been called the evangelical prophet because of the large space he gives to that subject a circumstance the more notable because of the silence concerning it since Moses. The explanation of this silence is hinted at in the lesson on the introduction to the prophets. In chapter 49, the Messiah speaks of Himself and the failure of His mission in His rejection by His... read more