INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 54 As the former chapter is a prophecy of the humiliation and exaltation of Christ, of his sufferings and death, and the glory that should follow; this is a prophecy of that part of his glory which relates to the flourishing estate of his church, as the fruit of his death, an... [ Continue Reading ]
SING, O BARREN, THOU THAT DIDST NOT BEAR,.... The Targum interprets this of Jerusalem, paraphrasing the words thus, "sing praise, O Jerusalem, which was as a barren woman that bears not;'' and so the apostle applies the words of the text to the Jerusalem above, the mother of us all, the then prese... [ Continue Reading ]
ENLARGE THE PLACE OF THY TENT,.... To which the church is compared, because of its uncertain and movable condition, being sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another; and because of its outward meanness and weakness, as well as its small extent; but now it is signified that it should be enlarge... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THOU SHALL BREAK FORTH ON THE RIGHT HAND AND ON THE LEFT,.... To the south, and to the north, as the Targum, like an inundation of water, that breaks through and overflows the banks of the river, and spreads itself in the adjacent countries; or like a warehouse overstocked with goods, bursts the... [ Continue Reading ]
FEAR NOT,.... The fulfilment of these things; however unlikely and unpromising they might seem, yet God was able to perform them; and therefore way should not be given to a fearful, distrustful, and unbelieving heart: FOR THOU SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED; as men are, when disappointed of what they have be... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THY MAKER [IS] THINE HUSBAND,.... That is, Christ, the Husband of the church, and of every true believer; who secretly betrothed them to himself in eternity, having asked him of his father; and, being given to him, openly espouses them in conversion, one by one, as a chaste virgin; which he will... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE LORD HATH CALLED THEE AS A WOMAN FORSAKEN AND GRIEVED IN SPIRIT,.... That has lost her husband by death, is solitary upon it, is like one forsaken, and mourns for the loss of him; or is forsaken by a living husband, rejected by him, having a bill of divorce from him, and so she grieves at hi... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR A SMALL MOMENT HAVE I FORSAKEN THEE,.... The people of God seem to be forsaken by him when he hides his face from them, as it is afterwards explained; when they are in distress, and he does not immediately appear for them; when they are afflicted in body and mind, though these afflictions are bu... [ Continue Reading ]
IN A LITTLE WRATH I HID MY FACE FROM THEE FOR A MOMENT,.... This signifies much the same as before, when God hides his face from his people, withdraws his gracious presence, and does not grant the discoveries of his love; or they are under the frowns of his providence, and have not the smiles of his... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THIS IS AS THE WATERS OF NOAH UNTO ME,.... Some copies, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, read these two words, כי מי, as one, thus, כימי, "as the days of Noah"; and this is followed by the Targum, Vulgate Latin, and Syriac versions; both readings may be kept, and joined in one, and the sense be... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THE MOUNTAINS SHALL DEPART, AND THE HILLS BE REMOVED,.... As sometimes by earthquakes, and as they will at the last day, when the earth shall be dissolved, and all in it, things the most solid, firm, and durable: it may be understood comparatively; sooner shall these depart and be removed than t... [ Continue Reading ]
O THOU AFFLICTED, TOSSED WITH TEMPESTS, AND NOT COMFORTED,.... Or, "O thou poor" s church; for the first Christian churches chiefly consisted of poor persons, not many mighty and noble being called; and which were greatly "afflicted" with false teachers, who broached errors and heresies, and made sc... [ Continue Reading ]
AND I WILL MAKE THY WINDOWS OF AGATES,.... Some sort of which stones, Pliny x says, were valued for their clearness like glass; but the stone which bears this name with us is not clear and lucid enough to make windows of. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, render it, "of jas... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ALL THY CHILDREN SHALL BE TAUGHT OF THE LORD,.... The children of the church, who are born in her, and nursed up at her side, and who are the children of God by adoption, which is made manifest by regeneration; these the Lord will take care of that they be "taught", even "all" of them, from the... [ Continue Reading ]
IN RIGHTEOUSNESS SHALT THOU BE ESTABLISHED,.... In the righteousness of Christ, from whence flows the peace before spoken of, and which is the stability of the church of Christ, and the security of it and its members from condemnation. The doctrine of justification by Christ's righteousness is, as L... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THEY SHALL SURELY GATHER TOGETHER, BUT NOT BY ME,.... Not by the Lord, by his command or order to do his will, and execute his pleasure, which sometimes was the case, as in Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and others; but so it shall not be, when the enemies of Christ and his people gather toget... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, I HAVE CREATED THE SMITH THAT BLOWETH THE COALS IN THE FIRE,.... Into which he puts his iron to soften it, that he may beat it, and form it into what shape he pleases; which descriptive clause is added to show that it is a blacksmith that is intended, and to distinguish him from the carpente... [ Continue Reading ]
NO WEAPON THAT IS FORMED AGAINST THEE SHALL PROSPER,.... All weapons of war, as the Targum, which are made with a design to hurt and destroy the people of God, shall be rendered useless; not one of them shall prosper to the advantage of their enemies, or so as to answer their design; nor to the hurt... [ Continue Reading ]