Annotations Upon Isaiah, Chapter 48
CHAP. XLVIII.
Ver. 1. HEar ye this, &c.] Having in the foregoing Chapters foretold the deſtruction of Babylon, and the deliverance of his people from thence; leſt this ſhould make his people think highly of themſelves, here the Prophet addreſſeth his ſpeech to them, convincing them of their groſs hypocriſie and wickedneſs, and that their deliverance would be meerly of God's free grace, Hear ye this, O Houſe of Jacob, which art called by the Name of Iſrael, That is, that are called Iſraelites, and glory much therein, though you be not ſo indeed; and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, That is, that are the off-ſpring of Judah, and therefore called Jews, deſcending from his Stock, as ſtreams of water from their Spring; See the Notes, Numb. 24.7. Deut. 33.28. and Pſal. 68. And this is mentioned as another thing wherein they gloried much, becauſe this was the royal Tribe, that had retained the worſhip of God with them, when the other Tribes fell away to Idolatry: which ſwear by the name of the Lord, to wit, as owning him to be the only true God, and make mention of the God of Iſrael, to wit, in ſwearing by him; or more generally, in that they talked much of God, and gloried in him as their God peculiarly, Pſal. 50.16. But not in truth nor in righteouſneſs, that is, not ſincerely, but hypocritically.
Ver. 2. For they call themſelves of the holy City, &c.] That is, they boaſt that they are Citizens of the Holy City Jeruſalem, in regard of Gods dwelling there amongſt them, and their worſhipping him there, and the confidence they had, that upon this account God would certainly defend the City; and ſtay themſelves upon the God of Iſrael; that is, they profeſs much confidence in God, and make a great ſhew of relying upon him, though indeed there is no ſuch thing. The Lord of hoſts is his name, which is added, not to imply that God, Almighty Al-ruling power was the ground why they did with ſuch confidence rely upon him; but rather how able he was every moment to deſtroy them that did thus groſly diſſemble with him.
Ver. 3. I have declared the former things from the beginning, &c.] That is, from the time when I firſt took you to be my people, I have ſucceſſively in former Ages foretold you future things: and they went out of my mouth, and I ſhewed them, That is, I determined on the things to be done, and then revealed them by my Prophets to you. I did them ſuddenly, and they came to paſs: That is, when the time determined came, they were ſuddenly done: when they, concerning whom they were foretold, did little think of any ſuch thing. See the Note, Chap. 42.9. All which is alledged, as often formerly (ſee the Note, Chap. 46.10.) to make it clear to them, that hereby he had ſufficiently approved himſelf to them to be the only true God. And what his aim was in aſſerting this here; is ſet forth in the following Verſes.
Ver. 4. Becauſe I knew that thou art obſtinate, and thy neck is an iron ſinew, and thy brow braſs) Here the reaſon is given, why he had, by foretelling things before he did them, prov'd himſelf to be the only true God (as is ſaid in the foregoing Verſe, and repeated again in that which follows) namely, becauſe he knew that they were a ſtubborn, ſtiff-necked, impudent people, that would hardly be brought to believe his words by his Prophets, and very prone to rebel againſt him; and ſo to prevent this (and that meerly of his own free grace, notwithſtanding this their wickedneſs) he had thus clearly manifeſted himſelf to them, even from their firſt being his people, unto that preſent time, when he had foretold them their captivity in Babylon, the deſtruction of Babylon by Cyrus, and their deliverance from thence.
Ver. 5. I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to paſs I ſhewed it thee, &c.] See the two foregoing Notes, leſt thou ſhouldeſt ſay, mine Idol hath done them, &c. And this is mentioned as one of the main effects of their ſtubborneſs, which God ſought to prevent by foretelling before-hand what he meant to do in future times, namely, their aſcribing the great things which he did to their Idol-gods.
Ver. 6. Thou haſt heard, ſee all this, &c.) That is, you have heard how in all Ages I have foretold what ſhould come to paſs in future times, and how all things have exactly come to paſs as they were foretold; now mark and conſider all this, and lay it ſeriouſly to heart: And will not ye declare it? That is, will ye not declare unto others this which you have heard concerning my Predictions and the accompliſhment of them, and ſo bear witneſs to the truth, that it may be ſeen that I have omitted no neceſſary means of manifeſting my ſelf to you? I have ſhewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didſt not know them: As if he ſhould have ſaid, As formerly, ſo now alſo I have foretold thee new things, which were wholly hidden, and which of thy ſelf thou couldeſt never have known, to wit, the deſtruction of Babylon, and thy deliverance from thence.
Ver. 7. They are created now, and not from the beginning, &c.] That is, they are now revealed and brought to light (as things are when created) and not in former times, ſee the Notes, Ver. 3, 5. Even before the day when thou heardeſt them not, That is, before the time when thou hadſt heard any thing of them; leſt thou ſhouldeſt ſay, behold, I knew them, that is, leſt thou ſhouldeſt ſay, when they came to paſs, I knew well enough that theſe things would be.
Ver. 8. Yea, thou heardest not, &c.] Some would have the meaning of this whole Verſe to be, that God had revealed theſe new things to them, of which mention was made in the forgoing Verſe, to wit, the deſtruction of Babylon, and the deliverance of his people, when they heard not, &c. when they obſtinately ſtopped their ears, and would not hear what he ſaid to them. But it is rather a continuation of what he had ſaid before; yea, thou heardeſt not, that is, the things that I now reveal to thee, are things which thou hadſt never heard before from thy Star-gazers, or Soothſayers, or any body elſe; yea, thou kneweſt not, That is, thou kneweſt them not any other way: Yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened, That is, even when the leaſt of this buſineſs had never yet come to thine ear: for I knew that thou wouldeſt deal very treacherouſly. As if he ſhould have ſaid, Therefore do I repeat this, and preſs this ſo often upon thee, that it is I that have foretold thee theſe future things that ſhall befall thee, to make ſure thou ſhouldeſt know, that it was I that cauſed thee to be carried away into Babylon, and that it was I that delivered thee from thence; and that becauſe I knew that thou wouldeſt not own mine hand in all that befel thee, but wouldeſt treacherouſly aſcribe it to other things: And waſt called a tranſgreſſor from the womb, That is, that haſt been a tranſgreſſor from the womb, to wit, ſay ſome, from thy Nativity, or from thy firſt coming out of Egypt, when God firſt took thee upon Mount Sinai to be his covenant-people (but ſee alſo the Note, Chap. 46.3.) and therefore mayeſt deſervedly be ſo called, rather than as it is ſaid, Ver. 1. they were commonly called by the name of Iſrael.
Ver. 9. For my names ſake will I defer mine anger, &c.) As if God ſaid, though thou art, and haſt always been ſo wicked, as is before ſaid, yet will I ſtay and ſuppreſs mine anger for my names ſake, That is, ſay ſome, becauſe thou art called by my name, as being accounted my people: Or rather for mine own ſake, ſee the Note, Pſal. 25.11. That is, with reſpect to mine own glory. It was not becauſe you deſerved not to be deſtroyed, but that men might not queſtion mine Almighty power and faithfulneſs towards my people; or ſay the gods of the Gentiles were mightier than I. See the Note alſo, Deut. 32.20. And for my praiſe will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off; That is, I will for thy good withhold my ſelf from deſtroying thee, that I may be praiſed for my mercy and faithfulneſs to thee. All which is inſerted for the comfort of the faithful amongſt Gods people; and that when they were delivered, they might aſcribe it wholly to Gods free Grace.
Ver. 10. Behold, I have refined thee, &c.] As if the Lord had ſaid, Though with reſpect to mine own Glory I would not utterly deſtroy thee (as was ſaid in the forgoing Verſe) yet with reſpect to thy good, I have ſought to purge away thy Droſs in the fire of Affliction. The greateſt difficulty is in the following words; which ſome read, as they are in the Margin, I have refined thee, but not for ſilver, and ſo underſtand it, that it was not for any gain or advantage that God got by it, that he caſt them into the furnace of Babylon; and indeed we have the like expreſſions, Chap. 45.13. and Pſal. 44.12. for which ſee the Notes there. But by moſt interpreters the words are rendered, as in our Tranſlation, I have refined thee, but not with ſilver; which though ſome underſtand of the ſucceſleſneſs of Gods afflicting them, to wit, that though he had ſought to refine them in the furnace of affliction, yet it had not been with them, as it is with Silver, which is purged from its droſs in the Refiners furnace; they being ſtill as wicked as before; yet the moſt and beſt Expoſitors underſtand it of the gentelneſs of Gods afflicting them, I have refined thee, but not with ſilver; that is, not with ſo hot, and fierce, and vehement a Fire, as the Refiners uſe in refining their Silver: I have afflicted thee but lightly and moderately, having reſpect to thine infirmity, rather than to the greatneſs of thy ſin and ſtubbornneſs; I have not refined ſo accurately and exactly, as Refiners do their Silver, who keep it in the Fire, till all the Droſs be waſted and purged out of it; for then they would have been quite conſumed. I have choſen thee in the furnace of affliction, That is, ſay ſome, I will make a choice one of thee, by purging thee; or I have purged thee, like choice Silver, in the Furnace of Babylon. But rather I conceive the meaning is, either that God had choſen their captivity in Babylon to be as a Refining Furnace to them; or elſe, that in this their affliction he had ſet his heart upon them, and had choſen and called them out, as we do things we mean to preſerve to be delivered.
Ver. 11. For mine own ſake even for mine own ſake, will I do it, &c.] ſee the note before, Ver. 9. For how ſhall my Name be polluted? That is, otherwiſe how exceedingly would my name be polluted? (which I can by no means ſuffer) to wit, by the enemies blaſpheming my name; and I will not give my glory unto another. See the Note, Chap. 42.8.
Ver. 12. Hearken unto me, O Jacob, &c.] Here God addreſſeth himſelf again to promiſe them deliverance out of Babylon, Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Iſrael, my called. That is, whom I have called to be my peculiar people, and whom I cannot but own, in regard of the Covenant I have made with you, though you indeed deſerve not to be called by that name, I am he, to wit, that muſt deliver thee; I am the Firſt, I alſo am the laſt, See the Note, Chap. 4.14.
Ver. 13. Mine hand alſo hath laid the foundation of the Earth, &c.] See the Notes, Chap. 40.11, 12. and 45.12. and Pſal. 104.2. and my Right hand hath ſpanned the Heavens, which is ſpoken after the manner of Workmen, that were wont ſometimes to meaſure things by their ſpan; when I call unto them, they ſtand up together, to wit, as my Servants, ready to do whatever I command them, See the Note, Chap 40.26. and this expreſſion is the rather uſed in relation to that which follows afterward Ver. 15. concerning Gods calling of Cyrus.
Ver. 14. All ye aſſembler your ſelves and hear, &c] That is, as it was expreſſed before, Ver. 1 and 11. All ye my people Iſrael, conſidering I am ſo great a God (as was ſaid in the foregoing verſe) hearken diligently to what I ſay; ſome would have it that the Prophet ſpeaks here in his own perſon, becauſe of thoſe words in this verſe, the Lord loved him. But nothing is more uſual than for God to ſpeak of himſelf in the third perſon; It is therefore more probable, that as before, and after, ſo here alſo, the Prophet ſpeaks in the name of God; which among them have declared theſe things? that is, which of the Idol gods (ſee the Note before, Verſe 5.) their Diviners or Aſtrologers, have foretold theſe things that I have foretold? See the Notes Chap. 44.7. and 45.21. The Lord hath loved him, that is, Cyrus, named before, Chap. 45.1. to wit, in that he exalted him ſo highly, and made uſe of him in ſo great a Service: He will do his pleaſure on Babylon. See the Note, Chap 44.28. and his arm ſhall be on the Caldeans, that is, he ſhall fall heavily on them, and deſtroy them.
Ver. 15. I, even I, have ſpoken, &c.] That is, I, even I alone, who am a faithful God, and ſure to perform what I ſay: yea, I have called him, to wit Cyrus, (as before, Ver. 14. to the doing of that great work, whereunto I have appointed him; I have brought him, that is, I will bring him; and he ſhall make his way proſperous, that is, he ſhall proſper in whatever he undertakes.
Ver. 16. Come ye near unto me, hear ye this, &c.] ſee the Note before, Ver. 14. I have not ſpoken in ſecret from the beginning, the meaning whereof muſt needs be this (if we take them to be the words of the Prophet, as many do, and as the laſt words in this Verſe clearly are) that from the beginning of Gods calling him to his Prophetical Office, he had publickly and plainly made known to them what God had revealed to him; and accordingly the following words muſt alſo be underſtood, from the time that it was, there am I; as if the Prophet had ſaid, from the time that any thing was revealed to me, there ſtill am I (as in my watch-tower) faithfully and plainly declaring the whole will of God unto his People. But this Expoſition is ſomewhat hard; rather therefore it is God that ſpeaks here to his People, I have not ſpoken in ſecret from the beginning, that is, from the firſt time that I took you to be my people, or from the time that I firſt began to foretel you future things by my Prophets, I have always made known ſuch things to you clearly and in publick: ſee the Note, Chap. 45.19. And then agreeably hereto, muſt the following words be underſtood, from the time that it was, I am there; namely, either 1. that from the time that any thing was foretold by his Prophets, he was there revealing to them, by his ſpirit; the things which they did foretel; ſo that it was he indeed that ſpake by them. Or 2. That from the time that any thing came to paſs which was foretold, he was there accompliſhing the things foretold, by his Almighty power; as they were foretold, ſo they were alſo accompliſhed by him. And then for the laſt clauſe there, as is ſaid before, it is clear that the Prophet ſpeaks in his own perſon; and now the Lord God and his Spirit hath ſent me, that is, as formerly in other things foretold by me and other the Prophets of God; ſo now in this which I ſay concerning Babylon and Cyrus, I ſay nothing but by commiſſion from God, and by the inſpiration of his Spirit.
Ver. 17. Thus ſaith the Lord thy Redeemer, the holy one of Iſrael, &c.] See the Note, Chap. 1.4. I am the Lord thy God, which teacheth thee to profit; that is, who teacheth thee by my Word and Spirit, thoſe things which will be for thy welfare; which leadeth thee by the way that thou ſhouldeſt go; that is, teaching and directing thee how to order thy converſation. And the aim of theſe words, I conceive, is this; leſt the Jews ſhould ſay, If the Lord meant to fetch us back out of Babylon, why did he bring us hither? Therefore the Lord tells them here, that he had done enough to make them a Righteous people, which had they improved for good, they might have been ſtill in their own Land.
Ver. 18. O that thou hadſt hearkened to my Commandments, &c.] Implying, that then they had been free from all thoſe miſeries, which by their diſobeying Gods commands they had brought upon themſelves, & particularly in the Babylonian captivity, ſee the foregoing Note: then had thy peace been as a river, that is, then had thy peace or thy proſperity in every regard (See the Note, Pſal. 119.165.) been abundantly, and in a continued courſe, exceeding great, over-bearing any thing that might in likelihood be any hinderance to it: And to the ſame purpoſe is the following clauſe, and thy righteouſneſs as the Waves of the Sea; for by Righteouſneſs here, is meant, either the reward of Righteouſneſs, namely, Peace and Proſperity, as before (as iniquity is ſometimes put for the reward of iniquity, Gen. 4.13.) See the Note, Chap. 32.17. Or more particularly, a State rightly and well ordered and eſtabliſhed; ſee the Note, Pſal. 72.3.
Ver. 19. Thy ſeed alſo had been as the Sand, and the Off-ſpring of thy Bowels like the Gravel thereof, &c.] As if he had ſaid, Whereas your number hath been of late much diminiſhed, by the breaking in pieces of ten of your Tribes, and the carrying of them away into Captivity, and by the havock alſo that your enemies have made, even amongſt you of Judah, had you been Obedient to my Commandments, it would have been quite contrary with you; God would have exceedingly multiplied you according to his promiſe of old, Gen. 22.17. His Name ſhould not have been cut off, nor deſtroyed from before me; that is, my people Iſrael, their State and Commonwealth, and ſo their name and memory, and the great renown which formerly they enjoyed, ſhould not have been cut off from the Land, where in the Temple I dwelt amongſt them, as now it is like to be, to wit, in the Babylonian Captivity.
Ver. 20. Go ye forth, &c.] Having in the foregoing verſes told them, that they by their ſins had been the cauſe of the miſeries that were come upon them, here he adds, that yet notwithſtanding, to wit, of his own free grace, and for his own name-ſake, as he had ſaid before, he would deliver them out of Babylon. And this he ſpeaks of, as if it were then a doing (though it were not to be done till about a hundred years after) to make the tidings thereof the more joyful to them, and the better to aſſure them of the certainty of it, Go ye forth of Babylon; flee ye from the Caldeans, to wit, that ye may not be deſtroyed with them. Some indeed conceive, that in theſe laſt words the Jews are adviſed, upon the firſt report of the approach of Cyrus, to get them away from amongſt the Caldeans; but the following words do rather import a departure with full and free Liberty upon the proclamation of Cyrus, than an eſcape by flight; with a voice of ſinging declare ye; that is, with great joy declare what God hath done for you; and therefore it is repeated again and again, as a matter of great joy, tell this, utter it even to the end of the Earth, &c. that is, ſpread it abroad, ſo that the ſame may be carried to the ends of the Earth.
Ver. 21. And they thirſted not when he led them through the Deſarts, &c.] As if he ſhould have ſaid, Though in this return of my People from Babylon to their own Countrey, they went through many wild and dry deſarts, yet they wanted nothing that was neceſſary for them, I provided for them as I did for their Anceſtors, when I carried them out of Egypt through the Wilderneſs into the Land of Canaan; He cauſed the waters to flow out of the Rock for them, &c. that is, he did in a wonderful manner provide for them, as once for their Anceſtors in their paſſage to the Promiſed Land, ſee the notes, Chap. 41.18. and 43.19. But yet, though this be thus expreſſed as done already, to imply the certainty of it; yet; that I conceive which the Prophet intended, was, that thus it ſhould be when they were delivered out of Babylon.
Ver. 22. There is no peace, ſaith the Lord, unto the wicked.] Having before told them, Ver. 18. That if they would have obeyed Gods Commandments, their peace ſhould have been always abundantly great; here he aſſures them, that it is never ſo with wicked men. But the drift of the Prophet in cloſing this Prophecy with this general Propoſition, may ſeem to be, to imply, either, 1. that whilſt God ſhewed ſo much Mercy and Goodneſs to his people, yet it ſhould be quite otherwiſe with the wicked Babylonians, they ſhould certainly be deſtroyed; and therefore it would be wiſdom in the Jews to haſte out of Babylon. Or 2ly. that though the Jews might have been in a moſt proſperous eſtate, had they obeyed Gods Commandments (as was ſaid before, Verſe 18, 19.) yet it was no wonder that it was ſo ill with them at preſent, becauſe of their great wickedneſs. Or 3dly. that in the foregoing promiſe, made to the Jews, there was nothing of Peace ſpoken to the wicked amongſt them, but only to the godly; for though they might go out of Babylon together with others, yet this would not be done for them, becauſe God was reconciled to them, but ſtill they would lye under Gods wrath, becauſe of their wickedneſs.