Isaiah 49:1-13
THE TESTIMONY OF JEHOVAH'S SERVANT... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TESTIMONY OF JEHOVAH'S SERVANT... [ Continue Reading ]
Listen, O isles, unto Me, and hearken, ye people, from far, the entire heathen world being called upon to give attention to the proclamation here being made: THE LORD HATH CALLED ME FROM THE WOMB, designating the Servant of Jehovah for His special service from the very hour of His birth; FROM THE BO... [ Continue Reading ]
And He hath made My mouth like a sharp sword, in the proclamation of His Word, Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 2:12; IN THE SHADOW OF HIS HAND HATH HE HID ME, as an instrument prepared for His service, AND MADE ME A POLISHED SHAFT, an arrow of unsullied purity; IN HIS QUIVER HATH HE HID ME, to be used at t... [ Continue Reading ]
and said unto Me, Thou art My Servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified, the Messiah being the true Israel, He who battled with God and with men and remained victorious and was therefore elevated to the divine glory and majesty. Cf Philippians 2:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
Then I said, the Messiah speaking here in His role of true human being, in the weakness which beset Him in Gethsemane, I HAVE LABORED IN VAIN, I HAVE SPENT MY STRENGTH FOR NAUGHT AND IN VAIN, being oppressed with sorrow and the fear of death in the midst of his work of atonement; YET SURELY, in spit... [ Continue Reading ]
And now, saith the Lord that formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, as stated in verse 1, TO BRING JACOB AGAIN TO HIM, namely, the true spiritual children of Jacob, THOUGH ISRAEL BE NOT GATHERED, rather, "and that Israel may he gathered to Him," for this is one of the purposes for which the Serv... [ Continue Reading ]
And He, Jehovah, SAID, IT IS A LIGHT THING THAT THOU SHOULDEST BE MY SERVANT TO RAISE UP THE TRIBES OF JACOB AND TO RESTORE THE PRESERVED OF ISRAEL, those whom the Lord had chosen for His own out of the descendants of the patriarchs, Cf Matthew 15:24; I WILL ALSO GIVE THEE FOR A LIGHT TO THE GENTILE... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, the almighty and merciful Vindicator of His people, AND HIS HOLY ONE, who is zealous for His honor, TO HIM WHOM MAN DESPISETH, whom people generally hold in contempt, TO HIM WHOM THE NATION ABHORRETH, whom they regard as an abomination, TO A SERVANT OF RU... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the Lord, once more in answer to the complaint voiced in verse 4, IN AN ACCEPTABLE TIME HAVE I HEARD THEE, in the Messianic period, when His grace and mercy would be evident in an extraordinary measure, AND IN A DAY OF SALVATION HAVE I HELPED THEE, at the time when help came out of Zion u... [ Continue Reading ]
that Thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth, to them that are in darkness, namely, the darkness of sinfulness and unbelief, SHOW YOURSELVES. The reference is to the spiritual deliverance, which is the fruit of the Gospel-message. Isaiah 42:22. THEY SHALL FEED IN THE WAYS, the entire number of th... [ Continue Reading ]
They shall not hunger nor thirst, having food and drink for their souls in abundance in the Word of His grace; NEITHER SHALL THE HEAT NOR SUN SMITE THEM, the tribulations of this world being unable permanently to harm them; FOR HE THAT HATH MERCY ON THEM SHALL LEAD THEM, EVEN BY THE SPRINGS OF WATER... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will make all My mountains a way, and My highways shall be exalted, all obstructions and difficulties will be removed, so that the Lord's children will have their pathway to heaven made smooth.... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, these, those who belonged to the Lord by virtue of their salvation, SHALL COME FROM FAR; AND, LO, THESE FROM THE NORTH AND FROM THE WEST, AND THESE FROM THE LAND OF SINIM, probably China, for the Lord has His own in every country of the world. For that reason the prophet inserts a powerful a... [ Continue Reading ]
Sing, O heavens, and be Joyful, O earth, all creatures everywhere raising their voices in grateful anthems, AND BREAK FORTH INTO SINGING, O MOUNTAINS; FOR THE LORD HATH COMFORTED HIS PEOPLE, refreshing and healing them in the midst of their afflictions, AND WILL HAVE MERCY UPON HIS AFFLICTED, giving... [ Continue Reading ]
But Zion, the capital of the chosen people as type of the Church of God, SAID, THE LORD HATH FORSAKEN ME, the God of the covenant having apparently turned against her, AND MY LORD HATH FORGOTTEN ME, her Bridegroom and Husband was utterly estranged from her. It is an expression of the deepest afflict... [ Continue Reading ]
The Glorification of Zion by Jehovah's Servant... [ Continue Reading ]
Can a woman forget her sucking child, the tiny infant in her arms; THAT SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE COMPASSION ON THE SON OF HER WOMB? It is the strongest comparison which the Lord can find for human understanding. But His love and mercy surpass even the intense love of the fondest mother. YEA, THEY MAY FOR... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands, as a token that the picture of the Lord's pity is indelibly impressed upon His heart and mind, that He has it before the eyes of His mind always; THY WALLS ARE CONTINUALLY BEFORE ME, He has them before Him in their proper and correct reconstruct... [ Continue Reading ]
Thy children shall make haste, hurrying to the side of their mother as though they could not come fast enough to save and to glorify her; THY DESTROYERS AND THEY THAT MADE THEE WASTE SHALL GO FORTH OF THEE, leaving Zion in undisturbed possession of her city.... [ Continue Reading ]
Lift up thine eyes round about and behold, so the Lord's consoling admonition proclaims, all these, the people gained for the Lord by the proclamation of the Gospel, GATHER THEMSELVES TOGETHER AND COME TO THEE, to join the Church. AS I LIVE, SAITH THE LORD, with a solemn oath of reassurance, THOU SH... [ Continue Reading ]
For thy waste and thy desolate places and the land of thy destruction, the land of Judah with its many sacked cities and ruined farms being a type of the Church's desolation in consequence of the Babylonian captivity, SHALL EVEN NOW BE TOO NARROW BY REASON OF THE INHABITANTS, AND THEY THAT SWALLOWED... [ Continue Reading ]
The children which thou shalt have, the spiritual offspring of Zion, AFTER THOU HAST LOST THE OTHER, those that were born to her during the time of the exile, SHALL SAY AGAIN IN THINE EARS, this would surely come to pass once more that they would clamor, THE PLACE IS TOO STRAIT FOR ME, too narrow fo... [ Continue Reading ]
Then shalt thou say in thine heart, in joyful surprise, WHO HATH BEGOTTEN ME THESE, SEEING I HAVE LOST MY CHILDREN, before and during the Babylonian captivity, AND AM DESOLATE, A CAPTIVE, AND REMOVING TO AND FRO? Zion was childless and unfruitful, rejected of her Lord and left by the wayside; she th... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the Lord God, the all-powerful Ruler and Sovereign of the universe, BEHOLD, I WILL LIFT UP MINE HAND TO THE GENTILES, in a signal which bids them come, AND SET UP MY STANDARD TO THE PEOPLE, a guide directing them in the right way; AND THEY SHALL BRING THY SONS IN THEIR ARMS, the spiritual... [ Continue Reading ]
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, protecting and nurturing the Church, AND THEIR QUEENS THY NURSING MOTHERS, fostering the cause of the believers in every conceivable manner; THEY SHALL BOW DOWN TO THEE WITH THEIR FACE TOWARD THE EARTH, in the attitude of submission and worship, AND LICK UP TH... [ Continue Reading ]
Shall the prey be taken from the mighty or the lawful captive, the entire band of captives, DELIVERED? this being the somewhat dubious question put by the more timid, who see nothing of the promised deliverance.... [ Continue Reading ]
But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty, those whom the enemies thought they were holding most securely, SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY, AND THE PREY OF THE TERRIBLE SHALL BE DELIVERED; FOR I WILL CONTEND WITH HIM THAT CONTENDETH WITH THEE, overcoming those who made war on His chosen people, A... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh, in revenging the wrongs done to His people; AND THEY SHALL BE DRUNKEN WITH THEIR OWN BLOOD, AS WITH SWEET WINE, in a slaughter brought upon them by Jehovah; AND ALL FLESH, all people of the world, SHALL KNOW THAT I, THE LORD, AM THY SAVIOR... [ Continue Reading ]