_Thus saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother’s
divorcement?_
JEHOVAH AND UNFAITHFUL ISRAEL
These Israelites went to the only kind of law with which they were
familiar, and borrowed from it two of its forms, which were not only
suggested to them by the relations in which the nation and th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore, when I came, was there no man?_
THE MEDIATOR: DIVINE AND HUMAN
These words could have been spoken only by the Mediator between God
and man, the man Christ Jesus They place before our thoughts--
I. His DIVINE POWER AND GLORY. Power is naturally calm. The power that
sustains the univers... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord God hath given Me the tongue of the learned_
THE LORD’S SERVANT MADE PERFECT THROUGH SUFFERINGS
In Isaiah 50:4 the servant is again introduced, speaking of Himself
and His work, as in Isaiah 49:1.
He describes--
1. The close, intimate, and continuous communion with God through
which He... [ Continue Reading ]
_I gave My back to the smiters_
THE SHAME AND SMITING
I. AS THE REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD. In the person of Christ Jesus, God
himself came into the world, making a special visitation to Jerusalem
and the Jewish people, but at the same time coming very near to all
mankind. When our Lord came into this w... [ Continue Reading ]
_For the Lord God will help Me_
MESSIAH NEITHER ASHAMED NOR PUT TO SHAME
The verse is better rendered thus: “But the Lord Jehovah helps Me,
therefore I was not ashamed” (_i e._
, felt no shame)
; “therefore I made My face like flint” (figure for determination,
Ezekiel 3:9), “and knew that I shou... [ Continue Reading ]
_He is near that justifieth Me_
JEHOVAH THE JUSTIFIER
The consciousness of innocence is expressed (as often in the Book of
Job) under the conception of a legal process.
(_Prof. J. Skinner, D. D._)
TO “JUSTIFY”
To “justify” is to show to be in the right, by giving Him victory
in His cause. The t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who is among you that feareth the Lord?_
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
The fear of the Lord blends its operations with the exercise of every
other grace. It intermixes with faith, and renders it fruitful; it
co-operates with love, and prevents it from becoming secure; it unites
with hope, and keeps it fro... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, all ye that kindle a fire_
A CHILD OF DARKNESS WALKING IN LIGHT
By the “fire” and “the light of their fire” which wicked men
are said to walk in, two things must be meant.
I. THEIR OWN NATURAL RIGHTEOUSNESS and the sparks and acts thereof.
II. THE LIGHT OF OUTWARD COMFORTS from the crea... [ Continue Reading ]