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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
I S A I A H.
CHAP. L.
In this chapter,
I. Those to whom God sends are justly charged with bringing all the
troubles they were in upon themselves, by their own wilfulness and
obstinacy, it being made to appear that God was able and ready to help
them if they had been fit for deliverance,
II. He by whom God sends produces his commission
(ver. 4),
alleges his own readiness to submit to all the services and sufferings
he was called to in the execution of it
(ver. 5, 6),
and assures himself that God, who sent him, would stand by him and bear
him out against all opposition,
III. The message that is sent is life and death, good and evil, the
blessing and the curse, comfort to desponding saints and terror to
presuming sinners,
Now all this seems to have a double reference,
1. To the unbelieving Jews in Babylon, who quarrelled with God for his
dealings with them, and to the prophet Isaiah, who, though dead long
before the captivity, yet, prophesying so plainly and fully of it, saw
fit to produce his credentials, to justify what he had said.
2. To the unbelieving Jews in our Saviour’s time, whose own fault it
was that they were rejected, Christ having preached much to them, and
suffered much from them, and being herein borne up by a divine power.
The “contents” of this chapter, in our Bibles, give this sense of it,
very concisely, thus:–“Christ shows that the dereliction of the Jews
is not to be imputed to him, by his ability to save, by his obedience
in that work, and by his confidence in divine assistance.” The prophet
concludes with an exhortation to trust in God and not in ourselves.
| Expostulations with Israel. | B. C. 706. |
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1 Thus saith the LORD, Where is the bill of your mother’s
divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is
it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye
sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put
away.
2 Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called,
was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it
cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my
rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their
fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.
3 I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth
their covering.
Those who have professed to be the people of God, and yet seem to be
dealt severely with, are apt to complain of God, and to lay the fault
upon him, as if he had been hard with them. But, in answer to their
murmurings, we have here,
I. A challenge given them to prove, or produce any evidence, that the
quarrel began on God’s side,
v. 1.
They could not say that he had done them any wrong or had acted
arbitrarily.
1. He had been a husband to them; and husbands were then allowed a
power to put away their wives upon any little disgust: if their wives
found not favour in their eyes, they made nothing of giving them a bill
of divorce,
But they could not say that God had dealt so with them. It is true they
were now separated from him, and had abode many days without ephod,
altar, or sacrifice; but whose fault was that? They could not say that
God had given their mother a bill of divorce; let them produce it if
they can, for a bill of divorce was given into the hand of her that was
divorced.
2. He had been a father to them; and fathers had then a power to sell
their children for slaves to their creditors, in satisfaction for the
debts they were not otherwise able to pay. Now it is true the Jews were
sold to the Babylonians then, and afterwards to the Romans; but did God
sell them for payment of his debts? No, he was not indebted to any of
those to whom they were sold, or, if he had sold them, he did not
increase his wealth by their price,
Ps. xliv. 12.
When God chastens his children, it is neither for his pleasure
nor for his profit. All that are saved are saved by a prerogative of
grace, but those that perish are cut off by an act of divine holiness
and justice, not of absolute sovereignty.
II. A charge exhibited against them, showing them that they were
themselves the authors of their own ruin: “Behold, for your
iniquities, for the pleasure of them and the gratification of your
own base lusts, you have sold yourselves, for your iniquities you
are sold; not as children are sold by their parents, to pay their
debts, but as malefactors are sold by the judges, to punish them for
their crimes. You sold yourselves to work wickedness, and therefore God
justly sold you into the hands of your enemies,
It is for your transgressions that your mother is put away, for her
whoredoms and adulteries,” which were always allowed to be a just cause
of divorce. The Jews were sent into Babylon for their idolatry, a sin
which broke the marriage covenant, and were at last rejected for
crucifying the Lord of glory; these were the iniquities for which they
were sold and put away.
III. The confirmation of this challenge and this charge.
1. It is plain that it was owing to themselves that they were cast off;
for God came and offered them his favour, offered them his helping
hand, either to prevent their trouble or to deliver them out of it, but
they slighted him and all the tenders of his grace. “Do you lay it upon
me?” (says God); “tell me, then, wherefore, when I came, was there
no man to meet me, when I called, was there none to answer
me?”
v. 2.
God came to them by his servants the prophets, demanding the fruits of
his vineyard
he sent them his messengers, rising up betimes and sending them
he called to them to leave their sins, and so prevent their own ruin:
but was there no man, or next to none, that had any regard to
the warnings which the prophets gave them, none that answered the calls
of God, or complied with the messages he sent them; and this was it for
which they were sold and put away. Because they mocked the
messengers of the Lord, therefore, God brought upon them the
king of the Chaldeans,
2 Chron. xxxvi. 16, 17.
Last of all he sent unto them his Son. He came to his
own, but his own received him not; he called them to
himself, but there were none that answered; he would have gathered
Jerusalem’s children together, but they would not; they knew not,
because they would not know, the things that belonged to their peace,
nor the day of their visitation, and for that transgression it was that
they were put away and their house was left desolate,
Luke xix. 41, 42.
When God calls men to happiness, and they will not answer, they are
justly left to be miserable.
2. It is plain that it was not owing to a want of power in God, for he
is almighty, and could have recovered them from so great a death; nor
was it owing to a want of power in Christ, for he is able to save to
the uttermost. The unbelieving Jews in Babylon thought they were
not delivered because their God was not able to deliver them; and those
in Christ’s time were ready to ask, in scorn, Can this man save
us? For himself he cannot save. “But” (says God) “is my
hand shortened at all, or is it weakened?” Can any limits be set to
Omnipotence? Cannot he redeem who is the great Redeemer? Has he no
power to deliver whose all power is? To put to silence, and for
ever to put to shame, their doubts concerning his power, he here gives
unquestionable proofs of it.
(1.) He can, when he pleases, dry up the seas, and make the
rivers a wilderness. He did so for Israel when he redeemed them out of
Egypt, and he can do so again for their redemption out of Babylon. It
is done at his rebuke, as easily as with a word’s speaking. He
can so dry up the rivers as to leave the fish to die for want of water,
and to putrefy. When God turned the waters of Egypt into blood
he slew the fish,
Ps. cv. 29.
The expression our Saviour sometimes used concerning the power of
faith, that it will remove mountains and plant sycamores in the
sea, is not unlike this; if their faith could do that, no doubt
their faith would save them, and therefore they were inexcusable if
they perished in unbelief.
(2.) He can, when he pleases, eclipse the lights of heaven, clothe
then with blackness, and make sackcloth their covering
(v. 3)
by thick and dark clouds interposing, which he balances,
| Work and Sufferings of the Messiah. | B. C. 706. |
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4 The Lord GOD hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I
should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary:
he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as
the learned.
5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious,
neither turned away back.
6 I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that
plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be
confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know
that I shall not be ashamed.
8 He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me?
let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near
to me.
9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall
condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth
shall eat them up.
Our Lord Jesus, having proved himself able to save, here shows himself
as willing as he is able to save, here shows himself as willing as he
is able. We suppose the prophet Isaiah to say something of himself in
these verses, engaging and encouraging himself to go on in his work as
a prophet, notwithstanding the many hardships he met with, not doubting
but that God would stand by him and strengthen him; but, like David, he
speaks of himself as a type of Christ, who is here prophesied of and
promised to be the Saviour.
I. As an acceptable preacher. Isaiah, a a prophet, was qualified for
the work to which he was called, so were the rest of God’s prophets,
and others whom he employed as his messengers; but Christ was anointed
with the Spirit above his fellows. To make the man of God perfect, he
has,
1. The tongue of the learned, to know how to give instruction,
how to speak a word in season to him that is weary,
v. 4.
God, who made man’s mouth, gave Moses the tongue of the learned, to
speak for the terror and conviction of Pharaoh,
He gave to Christ the tongue of the learned, to speak a word in season
for the comfort of those that are weary and heavily laden under the
burden of sin,
Grace was poured into his lips, and they are said to drop
sweet-smelling myrrh. See what is the best learning of a minister,
to know how to comfort troubled consciences, and to speak pertinently,
properly, and plainly, to the various cases of poor souls. An ability
to do this is God’s gift, and it is one of the best gifts, which we
should covet earnestly. Let us repose ourselves in the many comfortable
words which Christ has spoken to the weary.
2. The ear of the learned, to receive instruction. Prophets have as
much need of this as of the tongue of the learned; for they must
deliver what they are taught and no other, must hear the word from
God’s mouth diligently and attentively, that they may speak it exactly,
Christ himself received that he might give. None must undertake to be
teachers who have not first been learners. Christ’s apostles were first
disciples, scribes instructed unto the kingdom of heaven,
Matt. xiii. 52.
Nor is it enough to hear, but we must hear as the learned, hear
and understand, hear and remember, hear as those that would learn by
what we hear. Those that would hear as the learned must be awake, and
wakeful; for we are naturally drowsy and sleepy, and unapt to hear at
all, or we hear by the halves, hear and do not heed. Our ears need to
be wakened; we need to have something said to rouse us, to awaken us
out of our spiritual slumbers, that we may hear as for our lives. We
need to be awakened morning by morning, as duly as the day
returns, to be awakened to do the work of the day in its day. Our case
calls for continual fresh supplies of divine grace, to free us from the
dulness we contract daily. The morning, when our spirits are most
lively, is a proper time for communion with God; then we are in the
best frame both to speak to him (my voice shalt thou hear in the
morning) and to hear from him. The people came early in the
morning to hear Christ in the temple
(Luke xxi. 38),
for, it seems, his were morning lectures. And it is God that wakens us
morning by morning. If we do any thing to purpose in his service, it is
he who, as our Master, calls us up; and we should doze perpetually if
he did not waken us morning by morning.
II. As a patient sufferer,
One would think that he who was commissioned and qualified to speak
comfort to the weary should meet with no difficulty in his work, but
universal acceptance. It is however quite otherwise; he has both hard
work to do and hard usage to undergo; and here he tells us with what
undaunted constancy he went through with it. We have no reason to
question but that the prophet Isaiah went on resolutely in the work to
which God had called him, though we read not of his undergoing any such
hardships as are here supposed; but we are sure that the prediction was
abundantly verified in Jesus Christ: and here we have,
1. His patient obedience in his doing work. “The Lord God has not only
wakened my ear to hear what he says, but has opened my ear to receive
it, and comply with it”
My ear hast thou opened; then said I, Lo, I come); for when he
adds, I was not rebellious, neither turned away back, more is
implied than expressed–that he was willing, that though he foresaw a
great deal of difficulty and discouragement, though he was to take
pains and give constant attendance as a servant, though he was to empty
himself of that which was very great and humble himself to that which
was very mean, yet he did not fly off, did not fail, nor was
discouraged. He continued very free and forward to his work even when
he came to the hardest part of it. Note, As a good understanding in the
truths of God, so a good will to the work and service of God, is from
the grace of God.
2. His obedient patience in his suffering work. I call it obedient
patience because he was patient with an eye to his Father’s will, thus
pleading with himself, This commandment have I received of my
Father, and thus submitting to God, Not as I will, but as thou
wilt. In this submission he resigned himself,
(1.) To be scourged: I gave my back to the smiters; and that not
only by submitting to the indignity when he was smitten, but by
permitting it (or admitting it rather) among the other instances of
pain and shame which he would voluntarily undergo for us.
(2.) To be buffeted: I gave my cheeks to those that not only
smote them, but plucked off the hair of the beard, which was a
greater degree both of pain and of ignominy.
(3.) To be spit upon: I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
He could have hidden his face from it, could have avoided it, but he
would not, because he was made a reproach of men, and thus he would
answer to the type of Job, that man of sorrows, of whom it is said that
they smote him on the cheek reproachfully
(Job xvi. 10),
which was an expression not only of contempt, but of abhorrence and
indignation. All this Christ underwent for us, and voluntarily, to
convince us of his willingness to save us.
III. As a courageous champion,
The Redeemer is as famous for his boldness as for his humility and
patience, and, though he yields, yet he is more than a conqueror.
Observe,
1. The dependence he has upon God. What was the prophet Isaiah’s
support was the support of Christ himself
(v. 7):
The Lord God will help me; and again,
v. 9.
Those whom God employs he will assist, and will take care they want not
any help that they or their work call for. God, having laid help upon
his Son for us, gave help to him, and his hand was all along with
the man of his right hand. Nor will he only assist him in his work,
but accept of him
(v. 8):
He is near that justifieth. Isaiah, no doubt, was falsely
accused and loaded with reproach and calumny, as other prophets were;
but he despised the reproach, knowing that God would roll it away and
bring forth his righteousness as the light, perhaps in this world
at furthest in the great day, when there will be a resurrection of
names as well as bodies, and the righteous shall shine forth as the
morning sun. And so it was verified in Christ; by his resurrection he
was proved to be not the man that he was represented, not a blasphemer,
not a deceiver, not an enemy to Cæsar. The judge that condemned
him owned he found no fault in him; the centurion, or sheriff, that had
charge of his execution, declared him a righteous man: so near was he
that justified him. But it was true of him in a further and more
peculiar sense: the Father justified him when he accepted the
satisfaction he made for the sin of man, and constituted him the
Lord our righteousness, who was made sin for us. He was
justified in the Spirit,
1 Tim. iii. 16.
He was near who did it; for his resurrection, by which he was
justified, soon followed his condemnation and crucifixion. He was
straightway glorified,
2. The confidence he thereupon has of success in his undertaking: “If
God will help me, if he will justify me, will stand by me and bear me
out, I shall not be confounded, as those are that come short of
the end they aimed at and the satisfaction they promised themselves:
I know that I shall not be ashamed.” Though his enemies did all
they could to put him to shame, yet he kept his ground, he kept his
countenance, and was not ashamed of the work he had undertaken. Note,
Work for God is work that we should not be ashamed of; and hope in God
is hope that we shall not be ashamed of. Those that trust in God for
help shall not be disappointed; they know whom they have trusted, and
therefore know they shall not be ashamed.
3. The defiance which in this confidence he bids to all opposers and
opposition: “God will help me, and therefore have I set my face like
a flint.” The prophet did so; he was bold in reproving sin, in
warning sinners
and in asserting the truth of his predictions. Christ did so; he went
on in his work, as Mediator, with unshaken constancy and undaunted
resolution; he did not fail nor was discouraged; and here he challenges
all his opposers,
(1.) To enter the lists with him: Who will contend with me,
either in law or by the sword? Let us stand together as
combatants, or as the plaintiff and defendant. Who is my
adversary? Who is the master of my cause? so the word is,
“Who will pretend to enter an action against me? Let him appear, and
come near to me, for I will not abscond.” Many offered to
dispute with Christ, but he put them to silence. The prophet speaks
this in the name of all faithful ministers; those who keep close to the
pure word of God, in delivering their message, need not fear
contradiction; the scriptures will bear them out, whoever contends with
them. Great is the truth and will prevail. Christ speaks this in
the name of all believers, speaks it as their champion. Who dares be an
enemy to those whom he is a friend to, or contend with those for whom
he is an advocate? Thus St. Paul applies it
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect?
(2.) He challenges them to prove any crime upon him
(v. 9):
Who is he that shall condemn me? The prophet perhaps was
condemned to die; Christ we are sure was; and yet both could say,
Who is he that shall condemn? For there is no condemnation to
those whom God justifies. There were those that did condemn them, but
what became of them? They all shall wax old as a garment. The
righteous cause of Christ and his prophets shall outlive all
opposition. The moth shall eat them up silently and insensibly;
a little thing will serve to destroy them. But the roaring lion himself
shall not prevail against God’s witnesses. All believers are enabled to
make this challenge, Who is he that shall condemn? It is Christ that
died.
| The Disconsolate Encouraged. | B. C. 706. |
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10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the
voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no
light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his
God.
11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves
about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the
sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand;
ye shall lie down in sorrow.
The prophet, having the tongue of the learned given him, that he might
give to every one his portion, here makes use of it, rightly dividing
the word of truth. It is the summary of the gospel. He that believes
shall be saved (he that trusts in the name of the Lord shall be
comforted, though for a while he walk in darkness and have no light),
but he that believes not shall be damned; though for a while he
walk in the light of his own fire, yet he shall lie down in sorrow.
I. Comfort is here spoken to disconsolate saints, and they are
encouraged to trust in God’s grace,
Here observe,
1. What is always the character of a child of God. He is one that fears
the Lord with a filial fear, that stands in awe of his majesty and is
afraid of incurring his displeasure. This is a grace that usually
appears most in good people when they walk in darkness, when other
graces appear not. They then tremble at his word
and are afraid of his judgments,
Ps. cxix. 120.
He is one that obeys the voice of God’s servant, is willing to be ruled
by the Lord Jesus, as God’s servant in the great work of man’s
redemption, one that yields a sincere obedience to the law of Christ
and cheerfully comes up to the terms of his covenant. Those that truly
fear God will obey the voice of Christ.
2. What is sometimes the case of a child of God. It is supposed that
though he has in his heart the fear of God, and faith in Christ, yet
for a time he walks in darkness and has no light, is disquieted and has
little or no comfort. Who is there that does so? This intimates that
it is a case which sometimes happens among the professors of religion,
yet not very often; but, whenever it happens, God takes notice of it.
It is no new thing for the children and heirs of light sometimes to
walk in darkness, and for a time not to have any glimpse or gleam of
light. This is not meant so much of the comforts of this life (those
that fear God, when they have ever so great an abundance of them, do
not walk in them as their light) as of their spiritual comforts, which
relate to their souls. They walk in darkness when their evidences for
heaven are clouded, their joy in God is interrupted, the testimony of
the Spirit is suspended, and the light of God’s countenance is
eclipsed. Pensive Christians are apt to be melancholy, and those who
fear always are apt to fear too much.
3. What is likely to be an effectual cure in this sad case. He that is
thus in the dark,
(1.) Let him trust in the name of the Lord, in the goodness of
his nature, and that which he has made known of himself, his wisdom,
power, and goodness. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, let
his run into that. Let him depend upon it that if he walk before God,
which a man may do though he walk in the dark, he shall find God
all-sufficient to him.
(2.) Let him stay himself upon his God, his in covenant; let him
keep hold of his covenant-relation to God, and call God his God,
as Christ on the cross, My God, My God. Let him stay himself
upon the promises of the covenant, and build his hopes on them. When a
child of God is ready to sink he will find enough in God to stay
himself upon. Let him trust in Christ, for God’s name is in him
trust in that name of his, The Lord our righteousness, and stay
himself upon God as his God, in and through a Mediator.
II. Conviction is here spoken to presuming sinners, and they are warned
not to trust in themselves,
Observe,
1. The description given of them. They kindle a fire, and
walk in the light of that fire. They depend upon their own
righteousness, offer all their sacrifices, and burn all their incense,
with that fire (as Nadab and Abihu) and not with the fire from heaven.
In their hope of acceptance with God they have no regard to the
righteousness of Christ. They refresh and please themselves with a
conceit of their own merit and sufficiency, and warm themselves with
that. It is both light and heat to them. They compass themselves
about with sparks of their own kindling. As they trust in their own
righteousness, and not in the righteousness of Christ, so they place
their happiness in their worldly possessions and enjoyments, and not in
the favour of God. Creature-comforts are as sparks, short-lived and
soon gone; yet the children of this world, while they last, warm
themselves by them, and walk with pride and pleasure in the light of
them.
2. The doom passed upon them. They are ironically told to walk in
the light of their own fire. “Make your best of it, while it lasts.
But what will be in the end thereof, what will it come to at last? This
shall you have of my hand (says Christ, for to him the judgment is
committed), you shall lie down in sorrow, shall go to bed in the
dark.” See
His candle shall be put out with him. Those that make the world
their comfort, and their own righteousness their confidence, will
certainly meet with a fatal disappointment, which will be bitterness in
the end. A godly man’s way may be melancholy, but his end shall be
peace and everlasting light. A wicked man’s way may be pleasant, but
his end and endless abode will be utter darkness.
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