Verse 1
The "coastlands" were the farthest reaches of the Gentile world: the ends of the earth then known. By summoning them to be silent, the Lord was appealing to all the Gentiles to listen to Him (cf. Isaiah 1:2). In chapter 40 Isaiah spoke of God in the third person, but in this chapter, God Himself speaks. Note this oscillation in the chapters that follow. By heeding Him they would gain new strength, the same strength that was Israel’s privilege (cf. Isaiah 40:31). The Gentiles were to be fellow heirs with Israel (cf. Isaiah 19:24-25; Isaiah 27:13). But before that could happen, they had to meet with the Lord and arrive at a decision (cf. Job 38:3).
"The words are addressed to the whole of the heathen world, and first of all to the inhabitants of the western islands and coasts. This was the expression commonly employed in the Old Testament to designate the continent of Europe, the solid ground of which is so deeply cut, and so broken up, by seas and lakes, that it looks as if it were about to resolve itself into nothing but islands and peninsulas." [Note: Delitzsch, 2:157.]
Be the first to react on this!
