CONTENTS This Chapter is a continuation of the former, in which the Lord comforteth the church with assurances of salvation. An allusion is made to Babylon, but still with reference to the rich purposes of grace in Christ. Isaiah 43:1 If we connect this verse, and indeed the whole opening of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Mark well the causes of the divine love; Jacob and Israel are the objects of God's care, from every consideration: Jehovah created them, and hath newly created them in Christ; he hath redeemed them also, and he hath called them. He is their God in covenant; and so dear are they to him, that he hath... [ Continue Reading ]
What a blessed provision do we find in these divine promises, for the recovery of God's ancient people, the Jews! Neither the north nor the south shall be able to detain the seed of Jesus, when the hour of their deliverance shall come. There is a set time to favor Zion; and, as in grace, so in glory... [ Continue Reading ]
Some have supposed this to be a challenge to the worshippers of idols; but I humbly conceive, that as these verses follow the account of Him, of whom Jehovah speaketh so gloriously, it is rather a demand, in reference to gospel days, to bring forth the blind and the deaf, spiritually considered, to... [ Continue Reading ]
How truly blessed are these verses in relation to the witnesses of Jehovah! The people saved by the Lord are his witnesses, his prophets are his witnesses, and yet, above all, the Lord Christ, as Jehovah's servant, is his witness. So Jehovah declared him to be, when he said, I have given him for a w... [ Continue Reading ]
The title which, upon this occasion, the Lord takes to himself, is most gracious: for as the Church was about to be led into Babylon, nothing could more tend to keep up the spirits of the people during their captivity, than the recollection that still Jehovah was their Redeemer! And, Reader, is not... [ Continue Reading ]
It is worth observing how often, under the Old Testament dispensation, the Lord reminds the Church of that wonderful deliverance which he wrought in Egypt, and at the Red Sea, by way of teaching the people, in the review of past mercies, to be looking for renewed manifestations; Micah 6:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
The last of these verses gives a full answer to the inquiry, wherefore the Lord so favoured Israel? All is for the divine glory; and all that glory is in Christ; Ephesians 1:10; Revelation 4:11. Oh, how truly blessed, to behold all glory given to our glorious Head, Christ Jesus, that all may termina... [ Continue Reading ]
Reader, do not fail to overlook the very great tenderness of this expostulation, which the Lord makes with his people. What did the Lord look for, and expect in his people? Evidently, from what is here said, the Lord was jealous of their not calling upon him: Jacob, father of the Israelites; was rem... [ Continue Reading ]
What a verse of mercy, grace, and goodness is here! One might justly have been led to expect, after what the Lord had said in the preceding paragraph, that for such baseness and ingratitude, punishment and correction would have followed. But God's ways are not our ways; nor our thoughts his thoughts... [ Continue Reading ]
The Lord still dwells upon the subject of his grace, and Israel's unworthiness, by way of pointing out his long-suffering, and the necessity of their soul exercises. And, Reader, in this charge, you and I may, equally with Israel, plead guilty. In all ages of the Church, it will be found the same. I... [ Continue Reading ]
REFLECTIONS LISTEN, my soul, to what the Lord speaks, in this most blessed and precious chapter, to Jesus, as the Head of his church, and to his redeemed in him. Read first, the promises, everyone of them, as made to the Person of thy great Surety and Saviour; and then, from thy union and interest i... [ Continue Reading ]