_He, every one that thirsteth_ THE CRIES OF THE WATER-CARRIERS Public messages [Isaiah] would, as a matter of course, deliver publicly in the frequented streets and bazaars, and in khans, and in the temple area, frequently using the common cries of the forerunners of the nobles, the morning call o... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore do ye spend money_ WEIGHING MONEY In the first clause there is reference to the primitive custom of weighing instead of counting money, from which have arisen several of the most familiar denominations, such as the Hebrew “shekel,” the Greek “talent,” the French “livre,” and the English... [ Continue Reading ]
_Incline your ear_ GOD’S VOICE To incline your ear and hearken diligently unto God is to follow the Divine teachings as to the aims and methods of life. And God has a thousand voices for those who will hearken. 1. The voice of experience is His, and experience is loud and emphatic in assuring us... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold I have given Him for a Witness to the people_ WITNESS; LEADER; COMMANDER 1. Most modern authorities hold that the person spoken of in Isaiah 55:4. is the historical David, and that Isaiah 55:4 institute a parallel between the position he occupied in the heathen world of his time and that w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, Thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not_ ISAIAH’S ANTICIPATION. We cannot tell what picture was in Isaiah’s mind and hovering before his eyes. We do not know just what degree of visible sovereignty he hoped to see Jerusalem attain--but the essential idea is clear enough. He believes... [ Continue Reading ]
_Seek ye the Lord while He may be found_ THE LORD TO BE SOUGHT Notice how it reads: “Seek the Lord. ” It don’t say seek happiness; it don’t say seek peace; it don’t say seek joy. A good many people seek after joy, after peace, after happiness. I cannot find any place in the Bible where we are tol... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let the wicked forsake his way_ THE WAY OF RETURN TO GOD AND ITS ENCOURAGEMENTS 1_._ Here there are apparently two things expressed--a negative and a positive, two lines of conduct expressed--a forsaking one way of living and the adoption of another, but in reality the two things are but one. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
_For My thoughts are not your thoughts_ GOD’S THOUGHTS The thought of God! Who can fathom it? Astronomers tell us of stars in the sky at such infinite distances that their light, shooting through space at the inconceivable rate of 185,000 miles a second, would require 3,500 years to reach this ea... [ Continue Reading ]
_For as the heavens are higher than the earth,--_ THE NEAR AND HEAVENLY HORIZONS I. THE HEAVENS ARE SO FAR ABOVE THE EARTH, AND THEREFORE SO PURE. By nature, the trend of our thinkings and activities is downward, earthly, sensual, devilish. Hence the awful disparity between the ways and thoughts o... [ Continue Reading ]
_For as the rain cometh down_ RAIN SNOW, SYMBOLIC OF THE WORD OF GOD The fitness of the symbolism is apparent even to the most casual observer. 1. Snow and rain are characterized by gentleness which merges into force. One drop of rain falls upon my hand, and I crush it, and it is not; but when th... [ Continue Reading ]
_So shall My Word be_ FINALITY OF THE DIVINE PURPOSE I. TRUTH IN ITS MISSION. “It shall accomplish that which I please,” etc. 1. We may take our first illustration of this mission from the spirit and contents of the truth itself. It; is “the Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Nature is... [ Continue Reading ]
_For ye shall go out with joy_ THE REVERSALS OF PARDONING MERCY The wealth of God’s abundant pardon is here set forth in metaphors which the least imaginative can understand. Not only were the exiles forgiven, their warfare accomplished, their iniquity pardoned; but they would be restored to the l... [ Continue Reading ]
_Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree_ THE BRIAR The word for briar (sirpad) is unknown. LXX. renders Κόνυζα (fleabane). All that can be said is that some desert plant is meant. (_Prof. J. Skinner, D. D._) THE LORD’S NAME AND MEMORIAL These words are a poetical description of great m... [ Continue Reading ]