Isaiah 57:1

The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. In the midst of the excesses of the unfaithful watchmen (Isaiah 56:10), most of the few that are godly perish: partly by vexation at the prevailing ungodliness; partly by violent death in persecution: prophetic of the persecuting times of Manasseh, before God's judgments in causing the captivity in Babylon; and again those in the last age of the Church, before the final judgments on the apostasy (; Matthew 23:29; ;...

1._The righteous man hath perished. _Isaiah continues his subject; for, after having shown how fearlessly hypocrites indulge in their luxuries, and with what impudence they despise the word of God, he likewise complains that they do not consider the works of God. We have been placed here, as in a spacious theater, to behold the works of God; and there is no work of God so small that we ought to pass by it; lightly, but all ought to be carefully and diligently observed. _And no man layeth it to heart. _The Lord holds out as a mirror this event of his providence, more remarkable than all others, that he takes away good and worthy men out of this life, when he determines to chastise his people severely. But no man considers it, or reflects that it is a token of approaching destruction, that God gathers them, and places them in safety from being distressed by prevailing afflictions. The gene...

1,2 The righteous are delivered from the sting of death, not from the stroke of it. The careless world disregards this. Few lament it as a public loss, and very few notice it as a public warning. They are taken away in compassion, that they may not see the evil, nor share in it, nor be tempted by it. The righteous man, when he dies, enters into peace and rest....

CHAPTER LVII _After mentioning the removal of righteous persons as an awful_ _symptom of the approach of Divine judgments_, 1, 2, _the prophet goes on to charge the nation in general with_ _idolatry, and with courting the unprofitable alliance of_ _idolatrous kings_, 3-12. _In opposition to such vain confidence, the prophet enjoins_ _trust in God, with whom the penitent and humble are sure to_ _find acceptance, and from whom they should obtain temporal and_ _spiritual deliverances_, 13-19. Awful condition of the wicked and fin

THE RIGHTEOUS PERISHETH - This refers, as I suppose, to the time of Manasseh (see the Introduction, Section 3). Grotius supposes, that it refers to king Josiah; Vitringa, that it refers to martyrs in general. But it seems probable to me that the prophet designs to describe the state of stupidity which prevailed in his own time, and to urge as one proof of it, that the pious part of the nation was taken away by violent death, and that the nation was not affected by it. Such was the guilt of Manasseh; so violent was the persecution which he excited against the just, that it is said of him that he ‘shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another’ 2 Kings 22:16. There is evidence (see the Introduction, Section 2), that Isaiah lived to his time, and it is probable that he himself ultimately fell a victim to the race of Manasseh.

EXPOSITION ISAIAH 57:1, ISAIAH 57:2 THE EARLY DEATH OF RIGHTEOUS MEN ACCOUNTED FOR. The Hebrews were given to expect that long life should, as a general rule, accompany righteousness (Exodus 20:12; 1 Kings 3:14; Psalms 91:16; Proverbs 3:1,...

THE RIGHTEOUS PERISHETH,.... Not eternally; he may fear he shall, by reason of sin and temptation; he may say his strength and hope are perished; and his peace and comfort may perish for a time; but he cannot perish everlastingly, because he is one that believes in Christ, and is justified by his righteousness, from whence he is denominated righteous; and such shall never perish, but have everlasting life: but the meaning is, that he perisheth as to his outward man, or dies corporeally, which is called perishing, Ecclesiastes 7:15 and so the Targum renders it, "the righteous die.'' Or it may be rendered, "the righteous man is lost" b; not to himself, his death is a gain to him; but to the church, and to the world, which yet is not considered: AND NO MAN LAYETH IT TO HEART; takes any notice of it, thinks at all about it, far from being co

A lament for the death of the righteous many of them put to death by persecution. Isaiah 57:1. _The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness._ When there is a storm coming on, you may see the shepherds among the hills, gathering their sheep and taking them home, and when good men die in large numbers, and the Church's ranks are thinned, it is sometimes a token that bad times are coming on, and so God takes away the righteous from the evil to come. Oh! did men know what the world loses when a good man dies, they would regret it far more than the death of emperors and kings who fear not God. But as for those who are made righteous by the grace of God, they need no

Chapter s 56:9-57:14 must be read continuously. CHAPTER S 56:9-57:21 The Condition of the Apostate Nation and the two Classes 1. _The condition of the shepherds of Israel (Isaiah 56:9) _ 2. _Apostate Israel (Isaiah 57:1) _ 3. _The two classes (Isaiah 57:15) _ The final chapter of this second section corresponds to the last chapter of the first section (chapter 48). The sad condition of the people Israel is pictured. This is their national apostasy throughout this age, while strangers are joined to the Lord and the church is gathered. The worst is yet to come. Chapter 57:9 looks forward to the great apostasy during the great tribulation. The king is the Antichrist, who takes his seat in t

ISAIAH 56:9 TO ISAIAH 57:2. A DENUNCIATION OF THE RULERS OF THE COMMUNITY. This oracle seems not to be connected with the preceding, though, it arises out of the same circumstances. Yahweh bids the beasts of prey (_cf._ Jeremiah 12:9), hostile nations, ravage the flock, since the watchdogs are not alert, but crouched in the slumber of gluttons. Vividly then one of the rulers is introduced, inviting his fellows to a drunken orgy (_cf._ Amos 6:6), and gloating over a like prospect for the morrow. But, while the rulers gorge and swill, the man who keeps the law and is godly (_mg._) perishes through these evils (_mg.),_ unnoticed: