Isaiah 26:1-10

5. THE JUDGMENT AS REALIZATION OF THE IDEA OF JUSTICE

Isaiah 26:1-10

1          In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah;

We have a strong city:Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.

2     Open ye the gates,

That the righteous nation which keepeth the 1truth may enter in.

3     2Thou wilt keep him 3in perfect peace whose 4mind is stayed on thee;

Because he trusteth in thee.

4     Trust ye in the Lord for ever;

For in the Lord Jehovah Isaiah 5:0 everlasting strength.

5     For he bringeth down them that dwell on high;

The lofty city, he layeth it low;He layeth it low, even to the ground;

He bringeth it even to the dust.

6     The foot shall tread it down,

Even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

7     The way of the just is uprightness;

6Thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.

8     Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, have we waited for thee;

The desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.

9     With my soul have I desired thee in the night;

Yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early;For when thy judgments are in the earth,

The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

10     Let favor be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness;

In the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly,And will not behold the majesty of the Lord.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

Isaiah 26:1. Hophal הוּשַׁר only here. According to the punctuation עז ought to be connected with לנו. But most interpreters take עִיר עז together after Proverbs 18:19. I believe, however, that the Masoretes indicate the correct sense, and the one which corresponds to the context. We must not forget that the inhabitants of the “land” of Judah speak thus. עִיר stands consequently in opposition to ארץ. The redeemed of the Lord do not all dwell in the city. They dwell also in the country round about. But the city is their עֹז, their strong defence, and place of refuge. It is therefore as if they said: We dwell indeed in the country, but yet we are not without protection; for we have a city into which we can hasten and find shelter. Comp. Psalms 28:8; Psalms 84:6; Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 45:24; Isaiah 49:5; Isaiah 2:9; Isaiah 3:1; Isaiah 62:8. Observe the structure of the second sentence of this verse. The sentence consists of three members, each member has two words; for even עז־לנו is rendered by Maqqeph one word. The first two words begin each with ע; the second two with ישׁ; the third two with ח.

Isaiah 26:4. That בְּ before יהָּ is not the so-called Beth essentiae was already perceived by Drechsler. בְּ serves here not as a mere periphrasis of the predicate (Psalms 68:5); but it marks the idea צוּר, which is by no means coincident with Jehovah (since it can be sought out of Jehovah), as one which believers find in Jehovah (comp. Psalms 31:3; Psalms 89:27; Psalms 94:22; Psalms 95:1 et saepe). ערי ער comp. Isaiah 65:18. The plural עולָמִים besides here Isaiah 45:17; Isaiah 51:9.

Isaiah 26:6. רָמַס (comp. on Isaiah 1:12; Isaiah 28:3), עָנִי (comp. on Isaiah 3:14 sq.), דַּל (comp. on Isaiah 25:4) are all expressions characteristic of Isaiah.

Isaiah 26:8. אַף is an antithetic “yea.” Not only does the righteous man wish himself to do right, but he desires also to see the righteousness of God. The word belongs especially to poetry. It is remarkable that it is found in Isaiah in such specifically poetic sections in which בַּל also occurs. אֹרַח is acc. loci. נפשׁי and רוחי, Isaiah 26:9 a, are acc. instrum. שָׁחַר, Piel שִׁחַר, is a word current chiefly in the book of Job, in the Psalms and Proverbs. To משׁפטך a verb is to be supplied (say, יָבֹאוּ as Kimchi and Rashi propose). The perfect לָֽמְדוּ does not appear to me to be used in its paradigmatic force to express a matter of experience that has frequently happened (Delitzsch), for the Prophet complains of a want in this respect,—but the perfect is intended to mark this learning as a certain, infallible effect of the desired judgments.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. Here, too, the Prophet relates a hymn which he hears coming from the holy mountain, and out of the holy city. Its leading thought corresponds to the declaration 2 Peter 3:13 regarding the new earth in which righteousness dwells. This thought is here carried out in all directions. The redeemed, who sing the hymn, begin with telling that they dwell in a strong city well provided with walls (Isaiah 26:1). But the gates of the city shall be open only to a righteous people that keepeth truth (Isaiah 26:2), as the salvation also which this city affords, the peace which is through faith, rests on the foundation of the faithfulness of God, who will just as surely never disappoint faith (Isaiah 26:3-4) as He has humbled the proud, unbelieving worldly power, and bowed it under the feet of the once despised believers (Isaiah 26:5-6). The righteous people, who dwell in the city, walk in righteous ways (Isaiah 26:7). But they long exceedingly to see the righteousness of God reveal itself free and unrestricted in all directions. Therefore they wait for the Lord in the way of His judgments (Isaiah 26:8). Only when the earth is visited by these judgments, do men learn righteousness (Isaiah 26:9). The wicked man, when favored, does not learn righteousness: he pursues his sinful course even in the land of virtue, and never comes to know the majesty of God (Isaiah 26:10).

2. In that day——enter in.

Isaiah 26:1-2. By the expression in that day, what follows is marked as contemporaneous and homogeneous with Isaiah 25:9-12. (Comp. “in that day,” Isaiah 26:9). There the redeemed praise the person of their God. They rejoice that they have this Lord for their God. Here they extol the righteousness of their God and of His kingdom. The expression land of Judah is plainly employed to form an antithesis to Moab, Isaiah 25:10 sqq. For not Zion or Jerusalem, but only Judah can stand contrasted with Moab, whether this name denotes country or people, or, as is most probable (comp. Isaiah 26:12), denotes both. At the same time it is self-evident that they who dwell in the land of Judah, are the same as those who according to Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 25:6-10, are to be found on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, i.e., not merely the people of Judah in the ethnographical sense, but all those who according to Isaiah 25:6 sqq., are called and entitled to partake of the great feast on Mount Zion, i.e., the entire ’Ισραὴλ πνευματικός. The hymn itself begins with a brief description of the city of God. ישׁועה ישׁית וגו׳. Very many interpreters understand that the Prophet here affirms that the city has no walls, but has instead of walls ישׁועה. Appeal is made to Isaiah 60:18 and to Zechariah 2:9 [E. V., Isaiah 2:5]. Comp. Psalms 125:2. But it is said, Revelation 21:12, of the city of God, that it had “a wall great and high, and had twelve gates,” etc. There would therefore exist a contradiction between the Apocalypse and the places that have been quoted from the Old Testament. But this contradiction disappears when we understand Isaiah 60:18 to mean: thou shalt give names to thy walls and gates, and designate thy walls by the name “Salvation,” and thy gates by the name “Praise,” (as e.g. the walls of Babylon had names: Imgur-Bel and Nivitti-bel. See Comment. on Jeremiah 51:58). The passage Zechariah 2:8 sq. is no more to be taken literally than Psalms 125:2. But the Jerusalem, Revelation 21:22, is a quite definite locality, not merely ideal, but real, though spiritual, (pneumatisch-real). Therefore this latter Jerusalem has walls, while Jerusalem, as the spiritual mother that includes all nations (Galatians 4:26; Zechariah 2:8 sq.), has no material, outward, visible walls. But in our place where the Prophet, as has been shown, distinguishes the land of Judah and the city belonging to it, we have first of all to think of that city spoken of in Revelation 21:22. This Jerusalem has a real wall. If this wall, according to Isaiah 60:18, bears the name Salvation, this can be the case only because it actually affords safety, deliverance. And therefore I take ישׁועה, as placed first, in apposition to חמות וחל, or as the accusative predicate, although Delitzsch rejects this construction. [The mode of construing this sentence proposed by our author I cannot assent to. He renders “God places walls and bulwark, for salvation or safety.” This rendering is not so well recommended as that given in the E. V., and the thought thus expressed is incomparably less grand and exalted. This bald, prosaic translation is sought out in order to avoid a contradiction with the Apocalypse which speaks of the New Jerusalem as girt with a wall. But the Apocalypse is pre-eminently a symbolical book; and by taking its imagery in the literal sense, it could be easily shown not only to contradict statements of the Old Testament, but to be self-contradictory. E. G. According to Revelation 21:2 there is no temple in the New Jerusalem; but Ezekiel describes at large a temple that will be in it, and according to Revelation 3:12 the believer will abide perpetually in the temple of the city of God. Is there then a contradiction here? No. But when in symbolical language it is said that there will be a temple in the New Jerusalem, the meaning is that what will answer to the idea of a temple will be found there. God’s servants will dwell in His presence and continually worship Him. Symbolically a temple can be spoken of. But a material temple will be wanting in the holy city. So it can be said to have a sun which will never go down; and again, no sun will be seen there. So, too, the most perfect protection can be symbolized under the figure of a wall great and high; but the essential meaning of this statement (not a contradiction of it), is given when it is declared “Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwark.” The divine help is a better defence of the city than artificial fortifications. Verse 2 shows that the whole righteous nation will dwell within the strong city whose walls and bulwark are Salvation. The city is thus set forth as the abode of more than a portion of the inhabitants of the land of Judah. “The nations of them that are saved shall walk in the light of it,” Revelation 21:24. The church, too, can exult in a strong city which she has even now, Psalms 46:4-5.—D. M.]. The words walls and bulwark are used together as here, Lamentations 2:8, (comp. 2 Samuel 20:15). חל is the pomoerium, the outer circumvallation before the chief wall. Comp. Comment. on Lamentations 2:8 and Jeremiah 51:58.

3. Open ye—everlasting strength.

Isaiah 26:2-4. These gates, according to Isaiah 60:11 and Revelation 21:25 are never shut. In Isaiah 60:11 it is said that they will always, night and day, stand open; but in Revelation 21:0 it is said they will not be shut by day. But the latter statement is identical with the former; for there will be no night there, as is expressly declared in the Revelation. I do not think that Isaiah 26:2 is to be regarded as spoken by angels’ voices, and that the city is to be supposed empty. It is not intended merely to express the first opening of the gates in order to admit inhabitants. The same persons who said “We have a city,” say also “Open the gates,” and they at the same time declare that they know what their city is intended to be according to the will of God. They know that there shall not enter into it anything that is common, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or a lie (Revelation 21:27; Revelation 22:14 sq.). This fundamental law of their city they here declare. The gates shall always stand open that a righteous nation that keepeth faith may go in. The words recall to mind Psalms 24:7; Psalms 24:9 as they are reproduced in Psalms 118:19-20. גוי stands here not in an ethnographical, but in a rhetorical signification. It denotes a multitude of people, as e.g., Genesis 20:4; Isaiah 49:7. An essential part of the צְדָקָה of this righteous people is that it keeps faith.אמנים is found only here in Isaiah. Not a superficial, vacillating righteousness, but a righteousness having a firm foundation is required. For as God is a sure stronghold, a צוּר עוֹלָמִים in which we can confide, so He requires also a people that trusts firmly in Him, and cleaves to Him with a fidelity that cannot be shaken. אמנים therefore, as the Latin fides, signifies both faith and fidelity. Comp. Isaiah 1:26. The Lord, on His part, offers as a firm formation, peace, peace (Isaiah 57:19; Isaiah 27:5). יֵצֶר is a formation, frame. When it denotes a thought that is framed, then יֵצֶר is almost always united with מחשׁבות or לֵב (Genesis 6:5; Genesis 8:21; 1 Chronicles 28:9; 1 Chronicles 29:18). As יֵצֶר stands alone in our place, it signifies here what it means elsewhere when standing alone;—a thing framed of any kind (Isaiah 29:16; Psalms 103:14; Habakkuk 2:18). סָמוּךְ (Psalms 111:8; Psalms 112:8) is = established, firmly founded. As now in a city there are many artificial formations, things framed, both of a visible and invisible nature, as pillars, statues, buildings, contrivances, institutions, and such like, which serve partly for ornament, partly for use, so here peace is called a formation or thing framed which the Lord keeps on its firm foundation. The participle passive בָּדטוּחַ is found further only in Psalms 112:7, where it is used as synonymous with נָכוֹן. We may take it in our place also as = confiding, confidently established (conglutinatum, copulatum ac tanquam concretum, ac coagmentatum.Fuerst). Peace is a structure that rests on a good foundation, because it is founded on the Lord. But the fact that peace objectively is founded on the Lord does not exclude the necessity for individuals subjectively to found themselves on the Lord,i.e., in faith to rely upon Him. On the contrary, he who does not subjectively yield Himself to the Lord in faith will not be partaker of the blessing of the objective salvation that has been constituted, established (John 3:14 sqq.). Hence (Isaiah 26:4) the emphatic exhortation: “trust in the Lord,“ etc. [I cannot accept the interpretation of Isaiah 26:3 given by Dr. Naegelsbach. The best modern interpreters are substantially in accord with the E. V. The most literal translation of the verse that can be given is: “The mind stayed or supported (on Thee) Thou wilt keep (in) peace, peace, because it trusteth in Thee.” Peace as an objective formation could not be said to trust in God, for it is not a living being possessed of will. This objection is fatal to the view wrought out so ingeniously and elaborately by our author.—D. M.] The abbreviation יָהּ standing alone is found in Isaiah besides here, Isaiah 38:11. The combination forming a climax יה יהוה occurs in Isaiah besides here only Isaiah 12:2. צוּר in the spiritual signification is found in Isaiah 8:14; Isaiah 17:10; Isaiah 30:29; Isaiah 44:8; Isaiah 51:1. [This hallowed designation of the Lord, “Rock of Ages,” is found as marginal rendering of what in the text of the E. V. is translated “everlasting strength.” The rendering of the margin is literal and accurate. The expression “Rock of Ages” is found in the Bible in this place only.”—D. M.]

4. For he bringeth——the needy.

Isaiah 26:5-6. A pledge that the Lord will be the everlasting refuge of His people is seen by the Prophet in this, that the Lord has already humbled, cast down the worldly power. He expresses this partly in words which he repeats from Isaiah 25:12. Those who dwell on high (Isaiah 33:5; Isaiah 33:16), the lofty city (comp. 11:11, 17; Isaiah 12:4; Isaiah 30:13), He has brought low [instead of the first verb being in the present tense, as in the E. V., it should be in the perfect]. The following imperfects (futures) express the permanent condition of humiliation in consequence of the overthrow. The Prophet depicts the endless duration of the humiliation by the repetition of the verb expressing it (Anadiplosis). The different forms of the pronominal suffix attached to the verb are an agreeable variation. The feet of those who had before been trodden in the dust by the violent foot of the worldly power now pass without danger over the city of the world which has been laid by God in the dust.

5. The way—majesty of the Lord.

Isaiah 26:7-10. In Isaiah 26:3-6 the Prophet, in connection with אמנים had discussed the idea of the reciprocal fides implied in the life of the redeemed in communion with their God and in the city of God. In the following verses he discusses the idea of צדיק, so that the words righteous nation that keepeth faith, Isaiah 26:2, appear as the theme on which the Prophet here enlarges. The people of God must before all be themselves righteous. They are such when their path is מֵישָׁרִים, which is here the subject, and means rectitudo, sinceritas. It forms the ground which serves the righteous as substratum of His walk, as the pathway of life. But the glory is due to God. For He it is who so levels (properly rolls, the Prophet had here in view Proverbs 4:26; Proverbs 5:6; Proverbs 5:21) the path (מענל only here in Isaiah) of the righteous that it becomes יָשָׁר. The structure of the sentence forms a prolepsis similar to Isaiah 26:1. But in order that the idea of righteousness may attain its full realization in the world, it is necessary that the divine righteousness also should unfold itself freely and unconfined. The unrighteousness which reigns in the world must be judged, the holy nature of God must become manifest in its full splendor. And this manifestation of the holiness and righteousness of God forms an object of the most intense desire of the believers of the Old Testament. This desire finds expression in many Psalms, and the Prophet here again adopts quite the tone of the Psalms. We wait for thee in the way of thy judgments, means: We expect to see Thee march through the world as a righteous judge (comp. Isaiah 40:14; Proverbs 2:8; Proverbs 17:23). This manifestation of justice is hoped for by the righteous, not for their own sake, but for the sake of the honor of God. Their desire, therefore, is to the name and remembrance (comp. Exodus 3:15 and Psalms 135:13) of the Lord,i.e., that the Lord may so manifest Himself that men may be put in a position to call Him by the right name, and to spread and propagate the right knowledge of Him. But even for the sake of the world, i.e. of unrighteous men themselves, the Prophet most fervently longs for the full manifestation of the divine righteousness, which he here conceives of not exactly as that which destroys the ungodly, but rather as that which punishes them for their own profit (Isaiah 26:9). After having hitherto used the plural, the Prophet passes over into the singular, I desire, I seek. This can be explained only on the supposition that he here gives expression to a wish in which he personally was intensely interested. Was he not himself the object and perpetual witness of human injustice? He whom the question: How can God tolerate such injustice? and the wish that an end may soon be put to it, does not suffer to rest even in the night, is the Prophet himself rather than those who, dwelling already in the glorified city of God, have behind them the chief stages of the judgment of the world (24; Isaiah 25:10 sqq.). We cannot ascribe this longing to carnal vindictiveness. In what follows the Prophet gives reasons for his desire in such a way as to show clearly to what an extent he transfers the actual necessities of the present time to that ideal future which he depicts. We have here another example of the Prophet’s manner of representing the future with the materials which the present time supplies. The Prophet longs for the judgments of God, because he hopes that in proportion as the earth is visited by them, men will learn righteousness. We recognize here the teacher and preacher, who deeply laments that words produce but little impression, that facts which make themselves profoundly felt are necessary to bring men to the knowledge and practice of righteousness. In Isaiah 26:10 the Prophet declares that if judgments do not take place, if the wicked has favor shown him he does not learn righteousness (יֻחַן Hoph of חָנַן, only here in Isaiah; it occurs, Proverbs 21:10. The conditional sentence is without the hypothetical particle, as is often the case). The wicked is not improved when favor is shown to him, but proceeds even when surrounded by the righteous (נְכֹחוֹת30:10; comp. Isaiah 57:2; Isaiah 59:14) to act perversely (עִוֵּל, Piel in the causative sense, besides only Psalms 71:4), and will never perceive the nature of God in all its glory and majesty (גֵאוּת a word characteristic of Isaiah’s writings, Isaiah 9:17; Isaiah 12:5; Isaiah 28:3; it occurs besides only Psalms 17:10; Psalms 89:10; Psalms 93:1). We must indeed acquit the Prophet of a low carnal desire of revenge, but I am decidedly of opinion that the passage, nevertheless, breathes the legal spirit of the Old Testament (comp. Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7), and is not born of the Spirit whose children we are to be. [A corrective to this last observation is furnished in the Exposition, which well sets forth the motives which inspired the Prophet to desire God’s judgments on the earth. Without them men will not learn righteousness. God’s goodness is despised or made the occasion of licentiousness, if there is no clear demonstration by terrible things in righteousness, that verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth. If John the Baptist’s words (Matthew 3:7 and Luke 3:7) are, like those of Isaiah, pronounced inconsistent with the Spirit of the New Testament, what shall be said of the words of our Saviour, Matthew 23:33, and elsewhere? The desire that evil-doers should be punished, and that there should be a manifestation of the retributive justice of God, is not at variance with the Spirit of the Gospel, or that love of our enemies which Christ enjoined and exemplified, comp. Revelation 6:10; Revelation 15:4; Revelation 19:1-2; 1Co 16:22; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, etc.—D. M.].

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1.Isaiah 24:2. “When general judgments take place, no distinction is observed between man and wife, master and servant, mistress and maid, learned and unlearned, noble and plebeian, clergy and laity; therefore let no one rely on any external prerogative or superiority, but let every one without distinction repent and forsake sin.”—Cramer. Though this is right, yet we must, on the other hand, remember that the Lord declares in reference to the same great event, “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Matthew 24:10 sq.). There is no contradiction in these two statements. Both are true: outward relations will make no difference; there shall be no respect of persons. But the state of the heart will make a difference. According to the inward character there will, in the case of those whose external position in the world is perfectly alike, be some who enter life, others whose doom is death.

2.Isaiah 24:5; Isaiah 24:5 sq. “The earth is burdened with sins, and is therefore deprived of every blessing. The earth must suffer for our guilt, when we have as it were spoilt it, and it must be subject to vanity for our sakes (Romans 8:20). What wonder is it that it should show itself ungrateful toward us?”—Cramer.

[3.Isaiah 24:13; Isaiah 24:13 sq. “Observe the small number of this remnant; here and there one who shall escape the common calamity (as Noah and his family, when the old world was drowned), who when all faces gather blackness, can lift up their head with joy. Luke 21:26-28.” Henry.—D. M.].

4.Isaiah 24:17-20. Our earth is a volcanic body. Mighty volcanic forces were active at its formation. That these are still in commotion in the interior of the earth is proved by the many active volcanoes scattered over the whole earth, and by the perpetual volcanic convulsions which we call earthquakes. These have hitherto been confined to particular localities. But who can guarantee that a concentration and simultaneous eruption of those volcanic forces, that is, a universal earthquake, shall not hereafter occur? The Lord makes express mention of earthquakes among the signs which shall precede His second coming (Matthew 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11). And in 2 Peter 3:5 sqq. the future destruction of the earth by fire is set over against the destruction of the old world by water. Isaiah in our place announces a catastrophe whose characteristic features will be that, 1) there will be no escape from it; 2) destructive forces will assail from above and below; 3) the earth will be rent asunder; 4) it will reel and totter; 5) it will suffer so heavy a fall that it will not rise again (Isaiah 24:20 b). Is there not here a prophecy of the destruction of the earth by volcanic forces? And how suddenly can they break loose! The ministers of the word have every reason to compare this extreme exposedness of our earth to fire, and the possibility of its unexpectedly sudden collapse with the above-cited warnings of the word of God, and to attach thereto the admonition which is added in 2 Peter 3:11.

5.Isaiah 24:21. The earth is a part of our planetary system. It is not what it appears to the optical perception to be, a central body around which worlds of a different nature revolve, but it, together with many similar bodies, revolves round a common centre. The earth according to that view of the account of the creation in Genesis 1:0, which appears to me the true one, has arisen with all the bodies of our Solar system out of one primary matter, originally united, common to them all. If our Solar System is a well-ordered, complete organism, it must rest on the basis of a not merely formal, but also material unity; i.e., the separate bodies must move, not only according to a principle of order which governs all, but they must also as to their substance be essentially like. And as they arose simultaneously, so must they perish simultaneously. It is inconceivable that our earth alone should disappear from the organism of the Solar System, or pass over to a higher material condition. Its absence, or ceasing to exist in its previous form and substance, would necessarily draw after it the ruin of the whole system. Hence the Scripture speaks every where of a passing away and renovation of the heaven and the earth (Psalms 102:26; Isaiah 51:6; Isaiah 65:17; Isaiah 66:22; Matthew 5:18; Matthew 24:29; Mat 24:35; 2 Peter 3:7; 2Pe 3:10; 2 Peter 3:13; Hebrews 12:26; Revelation 20:11; Revelation 21:1). The heaven that shall pass away with a great noise, whose powers shall be shaken, whose stars shall fall, is the planetary heaven. The same lot will happen to the companions of our earth, to the other planets, and to the centre, the sun, and to all other co-ordinate and subordinate stellar bodies, which will befall the earth itself. This is the substance of the view which serves as a basis for our place. But personal beings are not thereby by any means excluded from the צבא מרום. The parallel expression מלכי האדמה, and the use in other places of the related expression צבא השׁמים lead us rather to suppose personal beings to be included. But I believe that a distinction must be made here. As the heavenly bodies which will pass away simultaneously with the earth, can only be those which arose together with it, and which stand in organic connection with it, so also the angelic powers, which are judged simultaneously with us men, can be only those which stand in connection with the heavenly bodies of our Solar System, i.e., with the earthly material world. There are heavenly bodies of glorious pneumatic substance. If personal beings stand in connection with them, they must also be pure, glorious, resplendent beings. These will not be judged. They are the holy angels, who come with the Lord (Matthew 25:31). But it is quite conceivable that all the bodies of our Solar System are till the judgment like our earth suffered to be the theatre of the spirits of darkness.

6. Isaiah 24:21-23, It seems to me that the Prophet has here sketched the chief matters pertaining to eschatology. For the passing away of heaven and earth, the binding of Satan (Revelation 20:1-3), the loosing of Satan again (Revelation 20:7), and finally the reign of God alone, which will make sun and moon unnecessary (Revelation 21:23)—are not these the boundary-stones of the chief epochs of the history of the end of the world?

7. Isaiah 25:6. [“The Lord of hosts makes this feast. The provision is very rich, and every thing is of the best. It is a feast, which supposes abundance and variety; it is a continual feast to believers: it is their fault if it be not. It is a feast of fat things and full of marrow; so relishing, so nourishing are the comforts of the Gospel to all those that feast upon them and digest them. The returning prodigal was entertained with the fatted calf; and David has that pleasure in communion with God, with which his soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness. It is a feast of wines on the lees; the strongest-bodied wines, that have been long kept upon the lees, and then are well refined from them, so that they are clear and fine. There is that in the Gospel which, like fine wine, soberly used, makes glad the heart, and raises the spirits, and is fit for those that are of a heavy heart, being under convictions of sin, and mourning for it, that they may drink and forget their misery (for that is the proper use of wine; it is a cordial for those that need it, Proverbs 31:6-7) may be of good cheer, knowing that their sins are forgiven, and may be vigorous in their spiritual work and warfare, as a strong man refreshed with wine.” Henry.—D. M.]

8. Isaiah 25:9. “In the Old Testament the vail and covering were before men’s eyes, partly because they waited for the light that was to appear, partly because they sat in darkness and in the shadow of death (Luke 1:79). The fulfilment of this prediction has in Christ already begun, and will at last be perfectly fulfilled in the Church triumphant where all ignorance and sorrow shall be dispelled (1 Corinthians 13:12).” Cramer.

9. Isaiah 25:8. “God here represents Himself as a mother, who presses to her bosom her sorrowful son, comforts him and wipes away his tears (Isaiah 66:13). The righteous are to believe and appropriate this promise, that every one may learn to speak with Paul in the time of trial: the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, Romans 8:18.” Cramer.

10. Isaiah 25:10. “This is now the hope and consolation of the church that the hand of the Lord rests on this mountain, that is, that He will be gracious, and let His power, help and grace be there seen and felt. But the unbelieving Moabites, i.e., the Jews, with all others who will not receive the gospel, shall be threshed to pieces as straw in the mire; these the Lord’s hand will not rescue, as it helps those who wait on Him, but it shall press them down so that they will never rise, according to the saying, Mark 16:16.” Veit Dietrich.

11.Isaiah 25:0 Three thoughts contained in this chapter we should hold fast: 1) When we see the world triumph over every thing which belongs to the Lord and His kingdom, when our hearts are anxious about the preservation in the world of the Church of Christ, which is sore oppressed, let this word of the Prophet comfort our hearts. The world-city which contains all that is of the world, sinks into the dust, and the church of Christ goes from her chains and bands into the state of freedom and glory. We have often seen that it is the Lord’s way to let every thing come to maturity. When it is once ripe, He comes suddenly with His sentence. Let us comfort ourselves therewith, for thus will it happen with the world and its dominion over the faithful followers of Christ. When it is ripe, suddenly it will come to an end. 2) No one who has a heart for the welfare of the nations can see without the deepest pain how all hearts are now seduced and befooled, and all eyes closed and covered. The simplest truths are no longer acknowledged, but the more perverse, brutal and mean views and doctrines are, the more greedily are they laid hold of. We cannot avert this. But our comfort is that even this seduction of the nations will reach its climax. Then men will come to themselves. The vail and covering will fall off, and the Gospel will shine with new light before the nations. Therewith let us comfort ourselves. 3) Till this happens, the church is sorrowful. But she shall be full of joy. The promise is given to her that she shall be fully satisfied with the good things of the house of the Lord. A life is promised to her which neither death nor any pain can affect, as she has rest from all enemies. The word of the Lord shall be fulfilled in her: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. The Church that has such a promise may wait in patient quietness for its accomplishment, and praise the Lord in affliction, till it pleases Him to glorify her before all nations.” Weber, The Prophet Isaiah. 1875.

12.Isaiah 26:1. “The Christian church is a city of God. God has built it, and He is the right Master-builder. It is strong: 1) on account of the Builder; 2) on account of the foundation and corner-stone, which is Christ; 3) on account of the bond wherewith the living stones are bound together, which is the unity of the faith.” Cramer. [The security and happiness of true believers, both on earth and in heaven, is represented in Scripture under the image of their dwelling in a city in which they can bid defiance to all their enemies. We dwell in such a city even now, Psalms 46:4-5. We look for such a city, Hebrews 11:10; Hebrews 11:16; Revelation 21:0—D. M.]

13.Isaiah 26:2. [These words may be taken as a description of the people whom God owns, who are fit to be accounted members of the church of the living God on earth, and who will not be excluded from the celestial city. Instead of complaining that only the righteous and the faithful will be admitted into the heavenly city, it should rather give us joy to think that there will be no sin there, that none but the just and true will there be found. This has been a delightful subject of reflection to God’s saints. The last words written by Henry Martyn were: “Oh! when shall time give place to eternity? When shall appear that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness? There, there shall in no wise enter in any thing that defileth; none of that wickedness which has made men worse than wild beasts—none of their corruptions which add to the miseries of mortality shall be seen or heard of any more.”—D. M.]

14.Isaiah 26:4. “The fourth privilege of the church is trust in God the Rock of Ages, i.e., in Christ, who not only here, but also Matthew 16:0; 1 Corinthians 10:0; 1 Peter 2:0, is called a rock in a peculiar manner, because no other foundation of salvation and of the church can be laid except this rock, which is here called the rock of ages on account of the eternity of His being, merit and office. Hence a refutation can be drawn of the papistical fable which makes Peter and his successors, the Roman Pontiffs, to be the rock on which the church is built.” Foerster. [“Whatever we trust to the world for, it will be but for a moment. All we expect from it is confined within the limits of time; but what we trust in God for will last as long as we shall last. For in the Lord Jehovah, Jah, Jehovah, in Him who was, and is, and is to come, there is a rock of ages, a firm and lasting foundation for faith and hope to build upon; and the house built on that rock will stand in a storm.” Henry.”—D. M.]

15.Isaiah 26:5. “It is very common with the prophets, when they prophesy of the kingdom of Christ to make reference to the proud and to the needy, and to represent the latter as exalted and the former as brought low. This truth is directed properly against the self-righteous. For Christ and His righteousness will not endure spiritual pride and presumption; but the souls that are poor, that hunger and thirst for grace, that know their need, these Christ graciously receives.” Cramer.

16. Isaiah 26:6. “It vexes the proud all the more that they will be overcome by those who are poor and of no consequence. For example, Goliath was annoyed that a boy should come against him with a staff (1 Sam. 13:43) Cramer.

17. Isaiah 26:8-10. That the justice of God must absolutely manifest itself that the majesty of the Lord may be seen, and that the wicked may learn righteousness, must even from a new Testament view-point be admitted. But the New Testament disputes the existence of any one who is righteous when confronted by the law, and who is not deserving of punishment. [But that there is none righteous, no not one, is taught most emphatically in the Old Testament also.—D. M.]. But it (the New Testament) while it shuts up all, Jews and Gentiles, without exception, under sin (Galatians 3:22; Romans 3:9; Romans 11:32), sets forth a scheme of mediation, which, while it renders full satisfaction to justice, at the same time offers to all the possibility of deliverance. This mediation is through the Cross of Christ. It is only when this mediation has not been accepted that punitive justice has free course. It should not surprise us that even the Evangelist of the Old Covenant, who wrote chap. 53, did not possess perfect knowledge of this mediation. Let us remember John the Baptist (Matthew 3:7; Matthew 11:11) and the disciples of the Lord (Luke 9:54). [Let us not forget that Isaiah was a true Prophet, and spoke as he was moved by the Spirit of God. The Apostle Paul did not find fault with the most terrible denunciations of judgment contained in the Old Testament, or affect a superiority over the men who uttered them. On the contrary, he quotes them as words which could not be suffered to fall, but which must be fulfilled in all their dreadful import. See e.g. Romans 11:9-10.—D. M.].

18. Isaiah 26:12. “It is a characteristic of true, sincere Christians, that they give God the glory and not themselves, and freely confess that they have nothing of themselves, but everything from God (1 Corinthians 4:7; Philippians 2:13; Hebrews 12:2).” Cramer.

19. Isaiah 26:16. The old theologians have many comforting and edifying thoughts connected with this place: “A magnet has the power to raise and attract to itself iron. Our heart is heavy as iron. But the hand of God is as a magnet. When that hand visits us with affliction, it lifts us up, and draws us to itself.” “Distress teaches us to pray, and prayer again dispels all distress. One wedge displaces the other.” “Ex gravibus curis impellimur ad pia vota.” “Ex monte myrrhae procedimus ad collem thuris (Cant. 9:6). In amaritudine crucis exsurgit odor devotae precationis (Psalms 86:6 sq.).” “Ubi nulla crux et tentatio, ibi nulla vera oratio. Oratio sine mails est tanquam avis sine alis. Optimus orandi magister necessitas. Τὰ παθήματα μαθήματα. Quae nocent, docent. Ubi tentatio, ibi oratio. Mala, quae hic nos premunt, ad Deum ire compellunt. Qui nescit orare, ingrediatur mare.” “When the string is most tightly drawn, it sounds best. Cross and temptation are the right prayer-bell. They are the press by which God crushes out the juice of prayer.” Cramer and Foerster.

20. Isaiah 26:20. As God, when the deluge was about to burst, bade Noah go into his ark as into his chamber, and Himself shut the door on him (Genesis 7:6); so does the Lord still act when a storm is approaching; He brings His own into a chamber where they can be safe, either for their temporal preservation and protection against every might (Psalms 91:1), or, on the other hand, to give them repose by a peaceful and happy death.” “His anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life (Psalms 30:6).” Cramer.

21.Isaiah 27:1. [“Great and mighty princes [nations] if they oppose the people of God, are in God’s account, as dragons and serpents, and plagues of mankind; and the Lord will punish them in due time. They are too big for men to deal with, and call to an account; and therefore the great God will take the doing of it into His own hands.” Henry.—D. M.].

22.Isaiah 27:2-5. “It seems to the world that God has no concern for His church and Christians, else, we imagine, they would be better off. But certain it is, that it is not the angels but God Himself that will be watcher over this vineyard, and will send it gracious rain.” Veit Dietrich. [“The church is a vineyard of red wine, yielding the best and choicest grapes, intimating the reformation of the church, that it now brings forth good fruit unto God, whereas before it brought forth fruit to itself, or brought forth wild grapes, Isaiah 5:4.” “God takes care (1) of the safety of this vineyard; I the Lord do keep it. He speaks this, as glorying in it, that He is, and has undertaken to be, the keeper of Israel; those that bring forth fruit to God are, and shall be always, under His protection. (2) God takes care of the fruitfulness of this vineyard: I will water it every moment; and yet it shall not be over watered. We need the constant and continual waterings of the divine grace; for if that be at any time withdrawn, we wither and come to nothing.” Henry. D. M.].

23.Isaiah 27:4. “Est aurea promissio, qua praecedentem confirmat. Indignatio non est mihi, fury is not in me. Quomodo enim is nobis irasci potest, qui pro nobis est mortuus? Quanquam igitur appareat, eum irasci, non tamen est verum, quod irascatur. Sic Paulo immittitur angelus Satanae, sed non est ira, nam ipse Christus dicit: sufficit tibi gratia mea. Sic pater filium delinquentem castigat, sed non est ira, quanquam appareat ira esse. Custodia igitur vineae aliquando cogit Deum immittere speciem irae, ne pereat luxurie, sed non est ira. Est insignis textus, which we should inscribe on all tribulations: Non est indignatio mihi, non possum irasci. Quod autem videtur irasci est custodia vineae, ne pereas et fias securus. Luther. “In order to understand fully the doctrine of the wrath of God we must have a clear perception of the antithesis: the long-suffering of God, and the wrath of God, wrath and mercy.” Lange.

24.Isaiah 27:7-9. “Christ judges His church, i.e., He punishes and afflicts it, but He does this in measure. The sorrow and cross is meted out, and is not, as it appears to us, without measure and infinite. It is so measured that redemption must certainly follow. But why does God let His Christians so suffer? Why does He not lay the cross on the wicked? God answers this question and speaks: the sin of Jacob will thereby cease. That is: God restrains sin by the cross, and subdues the old Adam.” Veit Dietrich.

25.Isaiah 27:13. [“The application of this verse to a future restoration of the Jews can neither be established nor disproved. In itself considered, it appears to contain nothing which may not be naturally applied to events long past.” J. A. Alexander.—“This prediction was completely and entirely fulfilled by the return of the Jews to their own country under the decree of Cyrus.” Barnes.—D. M.].

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

1. On Isaiah 24:4-6. Fast-day sermon. Warning against dechristianization of the life of the people. 1) Wherein such dechristianization consists: a, transgression of the commandments that are in force; b, alteration of the commandments which are essential articles of the everlasting covenant, as e.g. removing of all state institutions from the basis of religion. 2) Its consequences: a, Desecration of the land (subjectively, by the spread of a profane, godless sentiment; objectively, by the secularization of relations hitherto held sacred); b, the curse consumes the land, Isaiah 24:4.

2. On Isaiah 25:1-5. The Lord, the refuge of the needy. 1) He has the power to help. This we perceive a, from His nature (Lord, God, Wonderful); b, from His deeds (Isaiah 25:1 b, Isaiah 25:2). 2) He gives His strength even to the feeble, (Isaiah 25:4). 3) These are thereby victorious, (Isaiah 25:5).

3. On Isaiah 25:6-9. Easter Sermon, by T. Schaeffer (Manch. Gab. u. ein Geist III. p. 269):—“The glorious Easter-blessing of the Risen One: 1) Wherein it consists? 2) who receive it? 3) what are its effects? Christmas Sermon, by Romberg [ibid. 1869, p. 78): Our text represents to us Christmas joy under the image of a festive board. Let us consider, 1) the host; 2) the guests; 3) the gifts.”

4. On Isaiah 26:1-4. Concerning the church. 1) She is a strong city in which salvation is to be found. 2) The condition of having a portion in her is faith. 3) The blessing which she is instrumental in procuring is peace.

5.Isaiah 26:19-21. The comfort of the Christian for the present and future. 1) For the present the Christian is to betake himself to his quiet chamber, where he is alone with his Lord and by Him made cheerful and secure. 2) For the future he has the certain hope, a, that the Lord will judge the wicked, b, raise the believer to everlasting life.

6. Isaiah 27:2-9. How the Lord deals with His vineyard, the church. 1) Fury is not in Him towards it; 2) He protects and purifies it; 3) He gives it strength, peace and growth; 4) He chastens it in measure; 5) He makes the chastisement itself serve to purge it from sins.

Footnotes:

[1]Heb. truths.

[2]As firm formation wilt thou preserve peace, peace, for upon thee it is confided.

[3]Heb. peace, peace.

[4]Or, thought, or, imagination.

[5]Heb. the rock of ages.

[6]Thou wilt level right the path of the just.