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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
I S A I A H.
CHAP. XLV.
Cyrus was nominated, in the foregoing chapter, to be God’s shepherd;
more is said to him and more of him in this chapter, not only because
he was to be instrumental in the release of the Jews out of their
captivity, but because he was to be therein a type of the great
Redeemer, and that release was to be typical of the great redemption
from sin and death; for that was the salvation of which all the
prophets witnessed. We have here,
I. The great things which God would do for Cyrus, that he might be put
into a capacity to release God’s people,
II. The proof God would hereby give of his eternal power and godhead,
and his universal, incontestable, sovereignty,
III. A prayer for the hastening of this deliverance,
IV. A check to the unbelieving Jews, who quarrelled with God for the
lengthening out of their captivity,
V. Encouragement given to the believing Jews, who trusted in God and
continued instant in prayer, assuring them that God would in due time
accomplish this work by the hand of Cyrus,
VI. A challenge given to the worshippers of idols and their doom read,
and satisfaction given to the worshippers of the true God and their
comfort secured, with an eye to the Mediator, who is made of God to us
both righteousness and sanctification,
And here, as in many other parts of this prophecy, there is much of
Christ and of gospel grace.
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1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right
hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will
loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved
gates; and the gates shall not be shut;
2 I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight:
I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the
bars of iron:
3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden
riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD,
which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.
4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have
even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou
hast not known me.
Cyrus was a Mede, descended (as some say) from Astyages king of Media.
The pagan writers are not agreed in their accounts of his origin. Some
tell us that in his infancy he was an outcast, left exposed, and was
saved from perishing by a herdsman’s wife. However, it is agreed that,
being a man of an active genius, he soon made himself very
considerable, especially when Crœsus king of Lydia made a descent upon
his country, which he not only repulsed, but revenged, prosecuting the
advantages he had gained against Crœsus with such vigour that in a
little time he took Sardis and made himself master of the rich kingdom
of Lydia and the many provinces that then belonged to it. This made him
very great (for Crœsus was rich to a proverb) and enabled him to
pursue his victories in many countries; but it was nearly ten years
afterwards that, in conjunction with his uncle Darius and with the
forces of Persia, he made this famous attack upon Babylon, which is
here foretold, and which we have the history of Dan.
5. Babylon had now grown exorbitantly rich and strong. It was
forty-five miles in compass (some say more): the walls were thirty-two
feet thick and 100 cubits high. Some say, They were so thick that six
chariots might drive abreast upon them; others say, They were fifty
cubits thick and 200 high. Cyrus seems to have had a great ambition to
make himself master of this place, and to have projected it long; and
at last he performed it. Now here, 210 years before it came to pass, we
are told,
I. What great things God would do for him, that he might put it into
his power to release his people. In order to this he shall be a mighty
conqueror and a wealthy monarch and nations shall become tributaries to
him and help him both with men and money. Now that which God here
promised to do for Cyrus he could have done for Zerubbabel, or some of
the Jews themselves; but the wealth and power of this world God has
seldom seen fit to entrust his own people with much of, so many are the
snares and temptations that attend them; but if here has been occasion,
for the god of the church, to make use of them, God has been pleased
rather to put them into the hands of others, to be employed for them,
than to venture them in their own hands. Cyrus is here called God’s
anointed, because he was both designed and qualified for this
great service by the counsel of God, and was to be herein a type of the
Messiah. God engages to hold his right hand, not only to strengthen and
sustain him, but to direct his motions and intentions, as Elisha put
his hands upon the king’s hands when he was to shoot his arrow against
Syria,
Being under such direction,
1. He shall extend his conquests very far and shall make nothing of the
opposition that will be given him. Babylon is too strong a place for a
young hero to begin with; and therefore, that he may be able to deal
with that, great additions shall be made to his strength by other
conquests.
(1.) Populous kingdoms shall yield to him. God will subdue nations
before him; when he is in the full career of his successes he shall
make nothing of a nation’s being born to him at once: yet it is not he
that subdues them; it is God that subdues them for him; the battle is
his, and therefore his is the victory.
(2.) Potent kings shall fall before him: I will loose the loins of
kings, either the girdle of their loins (divesting them of their
power and dignity) or the strength of their loins, and then it was
literally fulfilled in Belshazzar, for, when he was terrified by the
handwriting on the wall, the joints of his loins were loosed,
Dan. v. 6.
(3.) Great cities shall surrender themselves into his hands, without
giving him or themselves any trouble. God will incline the keepers of
the city to open before him the two-leaved gates, not
treacherously nor timorously, but from a full conviction that it is to
no purpose to contend with him; and therefore the gates shall not be
shut to keep him out as an enemy, but thrown open to admit him as a
friend.
(4.) The longest and most dangerous marches shall be made easy and
ready to him: I will go before thee, to clear the way, and to
conduct thee in it, and then the crooked places, shall be made
straight; or, as some read it, the hilly places shall be
levelled and made even. Those will find a ready road that have God
going before them.
(5.) No opposition shall stand before him. He that gives him his
commission will break in pieces the gates of brass that are shut
against him, and cut asunder the bars of iron wherewith they are
fastened. This was fulfilled in the letter, if that be true which
Herodotus reports, that the city of Babylon had 100 gates all of brass,
with posts and hooks of the same metal.
2. He shall replenish his coffers very much
(v. 3):
I will give thee the treasures of darkness, treasures of gold
and silver, that have been long kept close under lock and key and had
not seen the light of many years, or had been buried under ground by
the inhabitants, in their fright, upon the taking of the city. The
riches of many nations had been brought to Babylon, and Cyrus seized
all together. The hidden riches of secret places, which belonged
either to the crown or to private persons, shall all be a prey to
Cyrus. Thus God, designing him to do a piece of service to his church,
paid him richly for it beforehand; and Cyrus very honestly owned God’s
goodness to him, and, in consideration of that, released the captives.
God has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and thereby has
obliged me to build him a house at Jerusalem.
II. We are here told what God designed in doing all this for Cyrus.
What Cyrus aimed at in undertaking his wars we may easily guess; but
what God aimed at in giving him such wonderful success in his wars we
are here told.
1. It was that the God of Israel might be glorified: “That thou
mayest know by all this that I the Lord am the God of
Israel; for I have called thee by thy name long before thou
wast born.” When Cyrus should have this prophecy of Isaiah shown to
him, and should there find his own name and his own achievements
particularly described so long before, he should thereby be brought to
acknowledge that the God of Israel was the Lord, Jehovah, the only
living and true God, and that he continued to own his Israel though now
in captivity. It is well when thus men’s prosperity brings them to the
knowledge of God, for too often it makes them forget him.
2. It was that the Israel of God might be released,
v. 4.
Cyrus knew not God as the God of Israel. Having been trained up in the
worship of idols, the true God was to him an unknown God. But, though
he knew not God, God not only knew him when he came into being, but
foreknew him, and bespoke him for his shepherd. He called him by his
name, Cyrus, nay, which was yet great honour, he surnamed him
and called him his anointed. And why did God do all this for
Cyrus? Not for his own sake, be it known to him; whether he was a man
of virtue or no is questioned. Xenophon indeed, when he would describe
the heroic virtues of an excellent prince, made use of Cyrus’s name,
and many of the particulars of his story, in his Cyropædia; but
other historians represent him as haughty, cruel, and bloodthirsty. The
reason why God preferred him was for Jacob his servant’s sake.
Note,
(1.) In all the revolutions of states and kingdoms, the sudden falls of
the great and strong, and the surprising advancements of the weak and
obscure, God is designing the good of his church.
(2.) It is therefore the wisdom of those to whom God has given wealth
and power to use them for his glory, by showing kindness to his people.
Cyrus is preferred that Israel may be released. He shall have a
kingdom, only that God’s people may have their liberty; for their
kingdom is not of this world, it is yet to come. In all this Cyrus was
a type of Christ, who was made victorious over principalities and
powers, and entrusted with unsearchable riches, for the use and benefit
of God’s servants, his elect. When he ascended on high he led
captivity captive, took those captives that had taken others
captives, and opened the prison to those that were bound.
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5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God
beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the
west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there
is none else.
7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and
create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour
down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth
salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD
have created it.
9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd
strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to
him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no
hands?
10 Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest
thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?
God here asserts his sole and sovereign dominion, as that which he
designed to prove and manifest to the world in all the great things he
did for Cyrus and by him. Observe,
I. How this doctrine is here laid down concerning the sovereignty of
the great Jehovah, in two things:–
1. That he is God alone, and there is no God besides him. This is here
inculcated as a fundamental truth, which, if it were firmly believed,
would abolish idolatry out of the world. With what an awful,
commanding, air of majesty and authority, bidding defiance, as it were,
to all pretenders, does the great God here proclaim it to the world:
I am the Lord, I the Lord, Jehovah, and there is none else,
there is no God besides me, no other self-existent,
self-sufficient, being, none infinite and eternal. And again
(v. 6),
There is none besides me; all that are set up in competition
with me are counterfeits; they are all vanity and a lie, for I am
the Lord, and there is none else. This is here said to Cyrus, not
only to cure him of the sin of his ancestors, which was the worshipping
of idols, but to prevent his falling into the sin of some of his
predecessors in victory and universal monarchy, which was the setting
up of themselves for gods and being idolized, to which some attribute
much of the origin of idolatry. Let Cyrus, when he becomes thus rich
and great, remember that still he is but a man, and there is no God but
one.
2. That he is Lord of all, and there is nothing done without him
(v. 7):
I form the light, which is grateful and pleasing, and
I create darkness, which is grievous and unpleasing. I make
peace (put here for all good) and I create evil, not the
evil of sin (God is not the author of that), but the evil of
punishment. I the Lord order, and direct, and do all these
things. Observe,
(1.) The very different events that befal the children of men. Light
and darkness are opposite to each other, and yet, in the course of
providence, they are sometimes intermixed, like the morning and evening
twilights, neither day nor night,
Zech. xiv. 6.
There is a mixture of joys and sorrows in the same cup, allays to each
other. Sometimes they are counterchanged, as noonday light and
midnight darkness. In the revolution of every day each takes its turn,
and there are short transitions from the one to the other, witness
Job’s case.
(2.) The self-same cause of both, and that is he that is the first
Cause of all: I the Lord, the fountain of all being, am the
fountain of all power. He who formed the natural light
still forms the providential light. He who at first made peace among
the jarring seeds and principles of nature makes peace in the affairs
of men. He who allowed the natural darkness, which was a mere
privation, creates the providential darkness; for concerning troubles
and afflictions he gives positive orders. Note, The wise God has the
ordering and disposing of all our comforts, and all our crosses, in
this world.
II. How this doctrine is here proved and published.
1. It is proved by that which God did for Cyrus: “There is no God
besides me, for
(v. 5)
I girded thee, though thou hast not known me. It was not thy own
idol, which thou didst know and worship, that girded thee for this
expedition, that gave thee authority and ability for it. No, it was I
that girded thee, I whom thou didst not know, nor seek to.” By
this it appears that the God of Israel is the only true God,
that he manages and makes what use he pleases even of those that are
strangers to him and pay their homage to other gods.
2. It is published to all the world by the word of God, by his
providence, and by the testimony of the suffering Jews in Babylon, that
all may know from the east and from the west, sunrise and sun-set, that
the Lord is God and there is none else. The wonderful deliverance of
the Israel of God proclaimed to all the world that there is none
like unto the God of Jeshurun, that rides on the heavens for their
help.
III. How this doctrine is here improved and applied.
1. For the comfort of those that earnestly longed, and yet quietly
waited, for the redemption of Israel
(v. 8):
Drop down, you heavens, from above. Some take this as the
saints’ prayer for the deliverance. I rather take it as God’s precept
concerning it; for he is said to command deliverances,
Ps. xliv. 4.
Now the precept is directed to heaven and earth, and all the hosts of
both, as royal precepts commonly run–To all officers, civil and
military. All the creatures shall be made in their places to
contribute to the carrying on of this great work, when God will have it
done. If men will not be aiding and assisting, God will produce it
without them, as he does the dews of heaven and the grass of the earth,
which tarry not for man, nor wait for the sons of men,
Mic. v. 7.
Observe,
(1.) The method of this great deliverance that is to be wrought for
Israel. Righteousness must first be wrought in them; they must
be brought to repent of their sins, to renounce their idolatries, to
return to God, and reform their lives, and then the salvation shall be
wrought for them, and not till then. We must not expect salvation
without righteousness, for they spring up together and together the
Lord hath created them; what he has joined together, let not us
therefore put asunder. See
Christ died to save us from our sins, not in our sins, and is made
redemption to us by being made to us righteousness and sanctification.
(2.) The means of this great deliverance. Rather than it shall fail,
when the set time for it shall come, the heavens shall drop down
righteousness, and the earth shall open to bring forth salvation,
and both concur to the reformation, and so to the restoration, of God’s
Israel. It is from heaven, from above the skies, that righteousness
drops down, for every grace and good gift is from above; nay, since the
more plentiful effusion of the Spirit it is now poured down,
and, if our hearts be open to receive it, the product will be the
fruits of righteousness and the great salvation.
2. For reproof to those of the church’s enemies that opposed this
salvation, or those of her friends that despaired of it
(v. 9):
Woe unto him that strives with his Maker! God is the Maker of
all things, and therefore our Maker, which is a reason why we should
always submit to him and never contend with him.
(1.) Let not the proud oppressors, in the elevation of their spirits,
oppose God’s designs concerning the deliverance of his people, nor
think to detain them any longer when the time shall come for their
release. Woe to the insulting Babylonians that set God at defiance, as
Pharaoh did, and will not let his people go!
(2.) Let not the poor oppressed, in the dejection of their spirits,
murmur and quarrel with God for the prolonging of their captivity, as
if he dealt unjustly or unkindly with them, or think to force their way
out before God’s time shall come. Note, Those will find themselves in a
woeful condition that strive with their Maker; for none ever hardened
his heart against God and prospered. Sinful man is indeed a quarrelsome
creature; but let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the
earth. Men are but earthen pots, nay, they are broken potsherds,
and are made so very much by their mutual contentions. They are dashed
in pieces one against another; and, if they are disposed to strive, let
them strive with one another, let them meddle with their match; but let
them not dare to contend with him that is infinitely above them, which
is as senseless and absurd as,
[1.] For the clay to find fault with the potter: Shall the clay say
to him that forms it, “What makest thou? Why dost thou make me of
this shape and not that?” Nay, it is as if the clay should be in such a
heat and passion with the potter as to tell him that he has no
hands, or that he works as awkwardly as if he had none. “Shall the
clay pretend to be wiser than the potter and therefore to advise him,
or mightier than the potter and therefore to control him?” He that gave
us being, that gave us this being, may design concerning us, and
dispose of us, as he pleases; and it is impudent presumption for us to
prescribe to him. Shall we impeach God’s wisdom, or question his power,
who are ourselves so curiously, so wonderfully, made? Shall we say,
He has no hands, whose hands made us and in whose hands we are?
The doctrine of God’s sovereignty has enough in it to silence all our
discontents and objections against the methods of his providence and
grace,
[2.] It is as unnatural as for the child to find fault with the parents,
to say to the father, What begettest thou? or to the mother,
“What hast thou brought forth? Why was I not begotten and born
an angel, exempt from the infirmities of human nature and the
calamities of human life?” Must not those who are children of men
expect to share in the common lot and to fare as others fare? If God is
our Father, where is the honour we owe to him by submitting to his
will?
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11 Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker,
Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the
work of my hands command ye me.
12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my
hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I
commanded.
13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all
his ways: he shall build my city, and he shall let go my
captives, not for price nor reward, saith the LORD of hosts.
14 Thus saith the LORD, The labour of Egypt, and merchandise of
Ethiopia and of the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto
thee, and they shall be thine: they shall come after thee; in
chains they shall come over, and they shall fall down unto thee,
they shall make supplication unto thee, saying, Surely God is
in thee; and there is none else, there is no God.
15 Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of
Israel, the Saviour.
16 They shall be ashamed, and also confounded, all of them:
they shall go to confusion together that are makers of idols.
17 But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting
salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without
end.
18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God
himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established
it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I
am the LORD; and there is none else.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I
said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD
speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
The people of God in captivity, who reconciled themselves to the will
of God in their affliction and were content to wait his time for their
deliverance, are here assured that they should not wait in vain.
I. They are invited to enquire concerning the issue of their troubles,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, though he does not allow
them to strive with him, yet encourages them,
1. To consult his word: “Ask of me things to come; have recourse
to the prophets and their prophecies, and see what they say concerning
these things. Ask the watchmen, What of the night? Ask them, How
long?” Things to come, as far as they are revealed, belong to us and to
our children, and we must not be strangers to them.
2. To seek unto him by prayer: “Concerning my sons and concerning
the work of my hands, which as becomes them submit to the will of
their Father, the will of their potter, command you me, not by
way of prescription, but by way of petition. Be earnest in your
requests, and confident in your expectations, as far as both are guided
by and grounded upon the promise.” We may not strive with our Maker by
passionate complaints, but we may wrestle with him by faithful and
fervent prayer. My sons, and the work of my hands, commend to me
(so some read it), bring them to me and leave them with me. See the
power of prayer, and its prevalency with God: Thou shalt cry, and he
shall say, Here I am; what would you that I should do unto you?
Some read it with an interrogation, as carrying on the reproof
(v. 9, 10):
Do you question me concerning things to come? and am I bound to
give you an account? And concerning my children, even concerning the
work of my hands, will you command me, or prescribe to me? Dare you
do so? Shall any teach God knowledge, or give law to him? Those
that complain of God do in effect assume an authority over him.
II. They are encouraged to depend upon the power of God when they are
brought very low and are utterly incapable of helping themselves,
Their help stands in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and
earth, which he mentions here, not only for his own glory, but for
their comfort. The heavens and earth shall contribute, if he please, to
the deliverance of the church
(v. 8),
for he created both, and therefore has both at command.
1. He made the earth, and created man upon it, for it was
intended to be a habitation for man,
He has therefore not only authority, but wisdom and power sufficient to
govern man here on this earth and to make what use he pleases of him.
2. His hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their hosts he
commanded into being at first, and therefore still governs all
their motions and influences. It is good news to God’s Israel that
their God is the creator and governor of the world.
III. They are particularly told what God would do for them, that they
might know what to depend upon; and this shall lead them to expect a
more glorious Redeemer and redemption, of whom, and of which, Cyrus and
their deliverance by him were types and figures.
1. Liberty shall be proclaimed to them,
Cyrus is the man that shall proclaim it; and, in order hereunto, God
will put power into his hands: I have raised him up in
righteousness, that is, in pursuance and performance of my promises
and to plead my people’s just but injured cause. He will give him
success in all his enterprises, particularly that against Babylon: I
will direct all his ways; and then it follows that he will prosper
him, for those must needs speed well that are under a divine direction.
God will make plain the way of those whom he designs to employ for him.
Two things Cyrus must do for God:–
(1.) Jerusalem is God’s city, but it is now in ruins, and he must
rebuild it, that is, he must give orders for the rebuilding of it, and
give wherewithal to do it.
(2.) Israel is God’s people, but they are now captives, and he must
release them freely and generously, not demanding any ransom, nor
compounding with them for price or reward. And Christ is anointed to
do that for poor captive souls which Cyrus was to do for the captive
Jews, to proclaim the opening of the prison to those that were
bound
(ch. lxi. 1),
enlargement from a worse bondage than that in Babylon.
2. Provision shall be made for them. They went out poor, and unable to
bear the expenses of their return and re-establishment; and therefore
it is promised that the labour of Egypt and other nations should
come over to them and be theirs,
v. 14.
Cyrus, having conquered those countries, out of their spoils provided
for the returning Jews; and he ordered his subjects to furnish them
with necessaries
(Ezra i. 4),
so that they did not go out empty from Babylon any more than from
Egypt. Those that are redeemed by Christ shall be not only provided
for, but enriched. Those whose spirits God stirs up to go to the
heavenly Zion may depend upon him to bear their charges. The world is
theirs as far as is good for them.
3. Proselytes shall be brought over to them: Men of stature shall
come after thee in chains; they shall fall down to thee, saying, Surely
God is in thee. This was in part fulfilled when many of the people
of the land became Jews
and said, We will go with you, humbly begging leave to do so,
for we have heard that God is with you,
Zech. viii. 23.
The restoration would be a means of the conviction of many and the
conversion of some. Perhaps many of the Chaldeans who were now
themselves conquered by Cyrus, when they saw the Jews going back in
triumph, came and begged pardon for the affronts and abuses they had
given them, owned that God was among them and that he was God alone,
and therefore desired to join themselves to them. But this promise was
to have its full accomplishment in the gospel church,–when the
Gentiles shall become obedient by word and deed to the faith of Christ
(Rom. xv. 18),
as willing captives to the church
(Ps. cx. 3),
glad to wear her chains,–when an infidel, beholding the public worship
of Christians, shall own himself convinced that God is with them of
a truth
and shall assay to join himself to them,–and when those that had been
of the synagogue of Satan shall come and worship before the church’s
feet, and be made to know that God has loved her
(Rev. iii. 9),
and the kings of the earth and the nations shall bring their glory
into the gospel Jerusalem,
Rev. xxi. 24.
Note, It is good to be with those, though it be in chains, that have
God with them.
IV. They are taught to trust God further than they can see him. The
prophet puts this word into their mouths, and goes before them in
saying it
(v. 15):
Verily, thou art a God that hidest thyself.
1. God hid himself when he brought them into the trouble, hid
himself and was wroth,
ch. lvii. 17.
Note, Though God be his people’s God and Saviour, yet sometimes, when
they provoke him, he hides himself from them in displeasure, suspends
his favours, and lays them under his frowns: but let them wait upon
the Lord that hides his face,
ch. viii. 17.
2. He hid himself when he was bringing them out of the trouble. Note,
When God is acting as Israel’s God and Saviour commonly his way is
in the sea,
Ps. lxxvii. 19.
The salvation of the church is carried on in a mysterious way, by the
Spirit of the Lord of hosts working on men’s spirits
(Zech. iv. 6),
by weak and unlikely instruments, small and accidental occurrences, and
not wrought till the last extremity; but this is our comfort, though
God hide himself, we are sure he is the God of Israel, the
Saviour. See
V. They are instructed to triumph over idolaters and all the
worshippers of other gods
(v. 16):
Those who are makers of idols, not only who frame them, but who
make gods of them by praying to them, shall be ashamed and
confounded, when they shall be convinced of their mistakes and
shall be forced to acknowledged that the God of Israel is the only true
God, and when they shall be disappointed in their expectations from
their idols, under whose protection they had put themselves. They shall
go to confusion when they shall find that they can neither excuse the
sin nor escape the punishment of it,
It is not here and there one more timorous than the rest that shall
thus shrink, and give up the cause, but all of them; nay, though
they appear in a body, though hand join in hand, and they do all they
can to keep one another in countenance, yet they shall go to
confusion together. Bind them in bundles, to burn them.
VI. They are assured that those who trust in God shall never be made
ashamed of their confidence in him,
Now that God was about to deliver them out of Babylon he directed them
by his prophet,
1. To look up to him as the author of their salvation: Israel shall
be saved in the Lord. Not only their salvation shall be wrought out
by his power, but it shall be treasured up for them in his grace and
promise, and so secured to them. They shall be saved in him; for his
name shall be their strong tower, into which they shall run, and in
which they shall be safe.
2. To look beyond this temporal deliverance to that which is spiritual
and has reference to another world, to think of that salvation by the
Messiah which is an everlasting salvation, the salvation of the soul, a
rescue from everlasting misery and a restoration to everlasting bliss.
“Give diligence to make that sure, for it may be made sure, so sure
that you shall not be ashamed nor confounded world with out end.
You shall not only be delivered from the everlasting shame and
contempt which will be the portion of idolaters
(Dan. xii. 2),
but you shall have everlasting honour and glory.”
[1.] There is a world without end; and it will be well or ill with us
according as it will be with us in that world.
[2.] Those who are saved with the everlasting salvation shall never be
ashamed of what they did or suffered in the hopes of it; for it will so
far outdo their expectations as to be a more abundant reimbursement.
The returning captives owned that to them did belong confusion of
face
yet God tells them that they shall not be confounded, but shall have
assurance for ever. Those who are confounded as penitents for their
own sin shall not be confounded as believers in God’s promise and
power.
VII. They are engaged for ever to cleave to God, and never to desert
him, never to distrust him. What had been often inculcated before is
here again repeated, for the encouragement of his people to continue
faithful to him, and to hope that he would be so to them: I am the
Lord, and there is none else. That the Lord we serve and trust in
is God alone appears by the two great lights, that of nature and that
of revelation.
1. It appears by the light of nature; for he made the world, and
therefore may justly demand its homage
(v. 18):
“Thus saith the Lord, that created the heavens and formed the earth,
I am the Lord, the sovereign Lord of all, and there is none
else.” The gods of the heathen did not do this, nay, they did not
pretend to do it. He here mentions the creation of the heavens, but
enlarges more upon that of the earth, because that is the part of the
creation which we have the nearest view of and are most conversant
with. It is here observed,
(1.) That he formed it. It is not a rude and indigested chaos, but cast
into the most proper shape and size by Infinite Wisdom.
(2.) That he fixed it. When he had made it he established it,
founded it on the seas,
(Ps. xxiv. 2),
hung it on nothing
as at first he made it of nothing, and yet made it substantial an hung
it fast, ponderibus librata suis–poised by its own weight.
(3.) That he fitted it for use, and for the service of man, to whom he
designed to give it. He created it not in vain, merely to be a
proof of his power; but he formed it to be inhabited by the
children of men, and for that end he drew the waters off from it, with
which it was at first covered, and made the dry land appear,
Ps. civ. 6, 7.
Be it observed here, to the honour of God’s wisdom, that he made
nothing in vain, but intended every thing for some end and fitted it to
answer the intention. If any man prove to have been made in vain, it is
his own fault. It should also be observed, to the honour of God’s
goodness and his favour to man, that he reckoned that not made in vain
which serves for his use and benefit, to be a habitation and
maintenance for him.
2. It appears by the light of revelation. As the works of God
abundantly prove that he is God alone, so does his word, and the
discovery he has made of himself and of his mind and will by it. His
oracles far exceed those of the Pagan deities, as well as his
operations,
The preference is here placed in three things:–All that God has said
is plain, satisfactory, and just.
(1.) In the manner of the delivery of it it is plain and open: I
have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth. The Pagan
deities delivered their oracles out of dens and caverns, with a low and
hollow voice, and in ambiguous expressions; those that had familiar
spirits whispered and muttered
(ch. viii. 19);
but God delivered his law from the top of Mount Sinai before all the
thousands of Israel, in distinct, audible, and intelligible sounds.
Wisdom cries in the chief places of concourse,
Prov. i. 20, 21; viii. 1-3.
The vision is written, and made plain, so that he who runs may read it;
if he be obscure to any, they may thank themselves. Christ pleaded in
his own defence what God says here, In secret have I said
nothing,
John xviii. 20.
(2.) In the use and benefit of it it was highly satisfactory: I said
not unto the seed of Jacob, who consulted these oracles and
governed themselves by them, Seek you me in vain, as the false
gods did to their worshippers, who sought for the living to the
dead,
ch. viii. 19.
This includes all the gracious answers that God gave both to those who
consulted him (his word is to them a faithful guide) and to those that
prayed to him. The seed of Jacob are a praying people; it is the
generation of those that seek him,
Ps. xxiv. 6.
And, as he has in his word invited them to seek him, so he never denied
their believing prayers nor disappointed their believing expectations.
He said not to them, to any of them, Seek you me in vain; for,
if he did not think fit to give them the particular thing they prayed
for, yet he gave them such a sufficiency of grace and such comfort and
satisfaction of soul as were equivalent. What we say of winter is true
of prayer, It never rots in the skies. God not only gives a gracious
answer to those that diligently seek him, but will be their bountiful
rewarder.
(3.) In the matter of it it was incontestably just, and there was no
iniquity in it: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things
that are right, and consonant to the eternal rules and reasons of
good and evil. The heathen deities dictated those things to their
worshippers which were the reproach of human nature and tended to the
extirpation of virtue; but God speaks righteousness, dictates that
which is right in itself and tends to make men righteous; and therefore
he is God, and there is none else.
| The Folly of Idolatry; Salvation in Christ. | B. C. 708. |
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20 Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that
are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up
the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot
save.
21 Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel
together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath
told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no
God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none
beside me.
22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth:
for I am God, and there is none else.
23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth
in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee
shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
24 Surely, shall one say, in the LORD have I righteousness
and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are
incensed against him shall be ashamed.
25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and
shall glory.
What here is said is intended, as before,
I. For the conviction of idolators, to show them their folly in
worshipping gods that cannot help them, and neglecting a God that can.
Let all that have escaped of the nations, not only the people of
the Jews, but those of other nations that were by Cyrus released out of
captivity in Babylon, let them come, and hear what is to be said
against the worshipping of idols, that they may be cured of it as well
as the Jews, that Babylon, which had of old been the womb of idolatry,
might now become the grave of it. Let the refugees assemble themselves
and come together; God has something to say to them for their own good,
and it is this, that idolatry is a foolish sottish thing, upon two
accounts:–
1. It is setting up a refuge of lies for themselves: They set up the
wood of their graven image; for that is the substratum.
Though they overlay it with gold, deck it with ornaments, and make a
god of it, yet still it is but wood. They pray to a god that cannot
save; for he cannot hear, he cannot help, he can do nothing. How do
those disparage themselves who give honour to that as a god which
cannot, as a god, give good to them! How do those deceive themselves
who pray for relief to that which is in no capacity at all to relieve
them! Certainly those have no knowledge, or are brutish in their
knowledge, who take so much pains, and do so much penance, in seeking
the favour of a god that has no power.
2. It is setting up a rival with God, the only living and true God
(v. 21):
“Summon them all; tell them that the great cause shall again be tried,
though once adjudged, between God and Baal. Bring them near, and let
them take counsel together what to say in defence of themselves and
their idols. It shall, as before, be put upon this issue: let them show
when any of their gods did with any certainty foretel future events, as
the God of Israel has done, and it shall be acknowledged that they have
some colour for their pretensions. But None of them ever did; their
prophets were lying prophets; but I the Lord have told it from that
time, long before it came to pass; therefore you must own thee
is no other God besides me.”
(1.) None besides is fit to rule. He is a just God, and rules in
justice, and will execute justice for those that are oppressed.
(2.) None besides is able to help. As he is a just God, so he is the
Saviour, who can save without the assistance of any, but without
whom none can save. Those therefore have no sense of truth and
falsehood, good and evil, no, nor of their own interest, that set up
any in competition with him.
II. For the comfort and encouragement of all God’s faithful
worshippers, whoever they are,
Those that worship idols pray to gods that cannot save; but the God of
Israel says it to all the ends of the earth, to his people, though they
are scattered into the utmost corners of the world and seem to be lost
and forgotten in their dispersion, “Let them but look to me by
faith and prayer, look above instruments and second causes, look off
from all pretenders, and look up to me, and they shall be
saved.” It seems to refer further to the conversion of the Gentiles
that live in the ends of the earth, the most distant nations, when the
standard of the gospel is set up. To it shall the Gentiles seek.
When Christ is lifted up from the earth, as the brazen serpent upon the
pole, he shall draw the eyes of all men to him. They shall all be
invited to look unto him, as the stung Israelites did to the brazen
serpent; and so strong is the eye of faith that by divine grace it will
reach the Saviour and fetch in salvation by him even from the ends of
the earth; for he is God, and the is none else. Two things are
here promised, for the abundant satisfaction of all that by faith look
to the Saviour:–
1. That the glory of the God they serve shall be greatly advanced; and
this will be good news to all the Lord’s people, that, how much soever
they and their names are depressed, God will be exalted,
This is confirmed by an oath, that we might have strong consolation:
I have sworn by myself (and God can swear by no greater,
the word has gone out of my mouth, and shall neither be recalled
nor return empty; it has gone forth in righteousness, for it is
the most reasonable equitable thing in the world that he who made all
should be Lord of all, that, since all beings are derived from him,
they should all be devoted to him. He has said it, and it shall be made
good, I will be exalted,
Ps. xlvi. 10.
He has assured us,
(1.) That he will be universally submitted to, that the kingdoms of the
world shall become his kingdom. They shall do him homage–Unto me
every knee shall bow; and they shall bind themselves by an oath of
allegiance to him–Unto me every tongue shall swear. This is
applied to the dominion of our Lord Jesus,
We shall all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ and give
account to him, for it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every
knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God; and it
seems to be referred to,
If the heart be brought into obedience to Christ, and made willing in
the day of his power, the knee will bow to him in humble adorations and
addresses, and in cheerful obedience to his commands, submission to his
disposals, and compliance with his will in both; and the tongue will
swear to him, will lay a bond upon the soul to engage it for ever to
him; for he that bears an honest mind never startles at assurances.
(2.) That he will be universally sought unto, and application shall be
made to him from all parts of the world: Unto him shall men of
distant countries come, to implore his favour. Unto thee shall
all flesh come with their request,
And, when Christ was lifted up from the earth, he drew all men to
him.
(3.) That it will be to no purpose to make opposition to him. All
that are incensed against him, that rage at his bonds and
cords–the nations that are angry because he has taken to himself his
great power and has reigned, that have been incensed at the strictness
of his laws, the success of his gospel, and the spiritual nature of his
kingdom–they shall be ashamed; some shall be brought to a
penitential shame for it, others to a remediless ruin. One way or
other, sooner or later, all that are uneasy at Christ’s government and
victories will be made ashamed of their folly and obstinacy. Blessed be
God for the assurance here given us that, whatever becomes of us and
our interests, the Lord will reign for ever!
2. That the welfare of the souls they are concerned for shall be
effectually secured: Surely shall one say, and another shall
learn by his example to say the same, so that all the seed of Israel,
according to the Spirit, shall say, and stand to it,
(1.) That God has a sufficiency for them and that in Christ there is
enough to supply all their needs: In the Lord is all righteousness
and strength (so the margin reads it); he is himself righteous and
strong. He can do every thing, and yet will do nothing but what is
unquestionably just and equitable. He has also wherewithal to supply
the needs of those that seek to him and depend upon him, upon the
equity of his providence and the treasures of his grace; nay, we may
say, not only “He has it,” but, “In him we have it,”
because he has said that he will be to us a God. In the Lord the
captive Jews had righteousness (that is, grace both to sanctify their
afflictions to them and to qualify them for deliverance) and strength
for their support and escape. In the Lord Jesus we have righteousness
to recommend us to the good-will of God towards us, and strength to
begin and carry on the good work of God in us. He is the fountain of
both, and on him we must depend for both, must go forth in his
strength, and make mention of his righteousness,
Ps. lxxi. 16.
(2.) That they shall have an abundant bliss and satisfaction in this.
[1.] The people of the Jews shall in the Lord be justified before men
and openly glory in their God. The oppressors reproached them, loaded
them with calumny, and boasted even of a right to oppress them, as
abandoned by their God; but, when God shall work out their deliverance,
that shall be their justification from these hard censures, and
therefore they shall glory in it.
[2.] All true Christians, that depend upon Christ for strength and
righteousness, in him shall be justified and shall glory in that.
Observe, First, All believers are the seed of Israel, an upright
praying seed. Secondly, The great privilege they enjoy by Jesus
Christ is that in him, and for his sake, they are justified before God,
Christ being made of God to them righteousness. All that are justified
will own it is in Christ that they are justified, nor could they be
justified by any other; and those who are justified shall be glorified.
And therefore, Thirdly, The great duty believers owe to Christ
is to glory in him, and to make their boast of him. Therefore he
is made all in all to us, that whose glories may glory in the
Lord; and let us comply with this intention.
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