Isaiah 54 commentary

Observe the low state of religion in the world, for a long time before Christianity was brought in. But by preaching the gospel, multitudes were converted from idols to the living God. This is matter of great rejoicing to the church. The bounds of the church were extended. Though its state on earth is but mean and movable, like a tent or tabernacle, it is sometimes a growing state, and must be enlarged as the family increases. But the more numerous the church grows, the more she must fortify herself against errors and corruptions. Thy Maker is thy Husband. Christ is the Holy One of Israel, the Mediator of the covenant made with the Old Testament church. Long he had been called the God of Israel; but now he shall be called the God of the whole earth. And he will cleanse from sin, and cause every true believer to rejoice in this sacred union. We never can enough admire this mercy, or duly value this privilege.

As God is slow to anger, so he is swift to show mercy. And how sweet the returns of mercy would be, when God should come and comfort them! He will have mercy on them. God's gathering his people takes rise from his mercy, not any merit of theirs; and it is with great mercies, with everlasting kindness. The wrath is little, the mercies great; the wrath for a moment, the kindness everlasting. We are neither to despond under afflictions, nor to despair of relief. Mountains have been shaken and removed, but the promises of God never were broken by any event. Mountains and hills also signify great men. Creature-confidences shall fail; but when our friends fail us, our God does not. All this is alike applicable to the church at large, and to each believer. God will rebuke and correct his people for sins; but he will not cast them off. Let this encourage us to give the more diligence to make our calling and election sure.

Let the people of God, when afflicted and tossed, think they hear God speaking comfortably to them by these words, taking notice of their griefs and fears. The church is all glorious when full of the knowledge of God; for none teaches like him. It is a promise of the teaching and gifts of the Holy Spirit. All that are taught of God are taught to love one another. This seems to relate especially to the glorious times to succeed the tribulations of the church. Holiness, more than any thing, is the beauty of the church. God promises protection. There shall be no fears within; there shall be no fightings without. Military men value themselves on their splendid titles, but God calls them, "Wasters made to destroy," for they make wasting and destruction their business. He created them, therefore he will serve his own designs by them. The day is coming when God will reckon with wicked men for their hard speeches, Jude 1:15. Security and final victory are the heritage of each faithful servant of the Lord. The righteousness by which they are justified, and the grace by which they are sanctified, are the gift of God, and the effect of his special love. Let us beseech him to sanctify our souls, and to employ us in his service.

CHAPTER 54

Is 54:1-17. The Fruit of Messiah's Sufferings, and of Israel's Final Penitence at Her Past Unbelief (Is 53:6): Her Joyful Restoration and Enlargement by Jehovah, Whose Wrath Was Momentary, but His Kindness Everlasting.

Israel converted is compared to a wife (Is 54:5; Is 62:5) put away for unfaithfulness, but now forgiven and taken home again. The converted Gentiles are represented as a new progeny of the long-forsaken but now restored wife. The pre-eminence of the Hebrew Church as the mother Church of Christendom is the leading idea; the conversion of the Gentiles is mentioned only as part of her felicity [Horsley].

1. Sing--for joy (Zep 3:14).

barren--the Jewish Church once forsaken by God, and therefore during that time destitute of spiritual children (Is 54:6).

didst not bear--during the Babylonian exile primarily. Secondarily, and chiefly, during Israel's present dispersion.

the children--the Gentiles adopted by special grace into the original Church (Is 54:3; Is 49:20, 21).

than ... married wife--than were her spiritual children, when Israel was still a married wife (under the law, before the Babylonian exile), before God put her away [Maurer]. So Paul contrasts the universal Church of the New Testament with the Church of the Old Testament legal dispensation, quoting this very passage (Ga 4:27). But the full accomplishment of it is yet future.

2. (Is 49:19, 20; Jr 31:31-36, 38, 39). Thy children shall be so many that thy borders must be extended to contain them.

curtains--the cloth forming the covering of the tent.

spare not--give abundantly the means for the enlargement of the Church (2Co 9:5-7).

cords ... stakes--The more the tent is enlarged by lengthening the cords by which the cloth covering is fastened to the ground, the more the stakes supporting the tent need to be strengthened; the Church is not merely to seek new converts, but to strengthen those she has in the faith. The image is appropriate, as the tabernacle was the symbol of the old Israelitish Church (see on Is 33:20).

3. break forth--rather, "burst forth" with increase; thy offspring shall grow, answering to "thy seed" in the parallel clause.

thy seed--Israel and her children, as distinguished from "the Gentiles."

desolate cities--of Israel (Is 44:26).

4. (Is 41:10, 14).

shame of thy youth--Israel's unfaithfulness as wife of Jehovah, almost from her earliest history.

reproach of widowhood--Israel's punishment in her consequent dismissal from God and barrenness of spiritual children in Babylon and her present dispersion (Is 54:1; Is 49:21; Jr 3:24, 25; 31:19; Ho 2:2-5).

5. (Is 62:5; Jr 3:14). That God was Israel's "Maker," both as individuals and as the theocratic kingdom, is the pledge of assurance that He will be her Redeemer (Is 43:1-3). Hebrew, "makers ... husbands"; plural for singular, to denote excellency.

of Israel ... whole earth--Not until He manifests Himself as God of Israel shall He appear as God of the whole earth (Psa 102:13, 15, 16; Zec 14:5, 9).

6. called--that is, recalled: the prophetic past for the future.

forsaken--that had been forsaken.

when thou--or, "when she was rejected"; one who had been a wife of youth (Eze 16:8, 22, 60; Jr 2:2) at the time when (thou, or) she was rejected for infidelity [Maurer]. "A wife of youth but afterwards rejected" [Lowth].

7. small moment--as compared with Israel's coming long prosperity (Is 26:20; 60:10). So the spiritual Israel (Psa 30:5; 2Co 4:17).

gather thee--to Myself from thy dispersions.

8. In a little wrath--rather, "In the overflowing of wrath"; as Pr 27:4, Margin, [Gesenius]. The wrath, though but "for a moment," was overflowing while it lasted.

hid ... face--(Is 8:17; Psa 30:7).

everlasting--in contrast to "for a moment."

9. I am about to do the same in this instance as in Noah's flood. As I swore then that it should not return (Ge 8:21; 9:11), and I kept that promise, so I swear now to My people, and will perform My promise, that there shall be no return of the deluge of My wrath upon them. Lowth, on insufficient authority, reads (the same will I do now as), "in the days of Noah."

10. (Is 51:6; Psa 89:33, 34; Ro 11:29).

covenant of my peace--(2Sa 23:5). The covenant whereby I have made thee at peace with Me.

11. not comforted--by anyone; none gave her help or comfort.

lay ... with fair colours--rather, "lay ... in cement of vermilion" [Lowth]. The Hebrew for "fair colors" means stibium, the paint with which Eastern women painted their eyelids and eyelashes (2Ki 9:30). The very cement shall be of the most beautiful color (Re 21:18-21).

12. windows--rather, "battlements"; literally, "suns"; applied to battlements from their radiated appearance.

agates--rather, "rubies."

carbuncles--literally, "sparkling gems"; the carbuncle when held to the sun becomes like a burning coal.

all thy borders--rather, "thy whole circuit," consisting of precious stones. The glory of the Church on earth, when the Hebrew Church, according to the original design, shall be the metropolis of Christendom.

13. Quoted by the Saviour (Joh 6:45), to prove that in order to come to Him, men must be "drawn" by the Father. So Jr 31:34; Mi 4:2; 1Co 2:10; He 8:10; 10:16; 1Jo 2:20.

great ... peace--generally (Psa 119:165). Specially referring to the peaceful prosperity which shall prevail under Messiah in the latter days (Is 2:4, 9:6).

14. righteousness--the characteristic of the reign of Messiah (Is 11:4, 5; Psa 72:2, 4; Re 19:11).

far from oppression, &c.--far from suffering oppression; "for thou shall have nothing to fear."

15. gather together, &c.--that is, If it should happen that enemies "gather together" against thee (Psa 2:2), they will not have been sent by Me (compare Ho 8:4) as instruments of My wrath (nay, it will be with My disapproval); for "whosoever shall gather together," &c. (Psa 59:3).

fall for thy sake--rather, "shall come over to thy side" [Lowth]. Literally, "fall to thee" (Jr 21:9; 39:9). To be fully fulfilled to Jerusalem hereafter (Zec 14:16).

16. The workman that forms "weapons against thee" (Is 54:17) is wholly in My power, therefore thou needest not fear, having Me on thy side.

for his work--rather, "by his labor [Horsley]. "According to the exigencies of his work" [Maurer].

waster to destroy--(Is 10:5-7; 37:26, 27; 45:1-6). Desolating conquerors who use the "instruments" framed by "the smith." The repetition of the "I" implies, however, something in the latter half of the verse contrasted with the former understand it, therefore, thus: "I have in My power both him who frames arms and him who destroys them (arms)" [Rosenmuller].

17. tongue ... condemn--image from a court of justice. Those who desire to "condemn" thee thou shalt "condemn" (Ex 11:7; Jos 10:21; Psa 64:8; Ro 8:1, 33).

righteousness ... of me--(Is 45:24; 46:13). Rather, "(this is) their justification from Me." Their enemies would "condemn" them, but I justify and vindicate them, and so they condemn their enemies.

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear "Shout for joy, O thou barren, that didst not bear" - The Church of God under the Old Testament, confined within the narrow bounds of the Jewish nation, and still more so in respect of the very small number of true believers, and which sometimes seemed to be deserted of God her husband, is the barren woman, that did not bear, and was desolate. She is exhorted to rejoice, and to express her joy in the strongest manner, on the reconciliation of her husband, (see Isa 54:6), and on the accession of the Gentiles to her family. The converted Gentiles are all along considered by the prophet as a new accession of adopted children, admitted into the original Church of God, and united with it. See Isa 49:20, Isa 49:21.

For thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth - That is, "The bondage of Egypt: widowhood, the captivity of Babylon." - Secker.

For a small moment "In a little anger" - So the Chaldee and Syriac, either reading רגז regaz, for רגע rega; or understanding the latter word as meaning the same with the former, which they both make use of. See Psa 30:5; Psa 35:20, in the Septuagint, where they render רגע rega by οργη, anger.

I hid my face from thee for a moment - The word רגע rega is omitted by the Septuagint, Syriac, and two MSS. of Kennicott's, and two of De Rossi's. It seems to embarrass rather than to help the sentence. Forte reponi debet pro שצף shetseph, quod potest a קצף ketseph errore scribae originem duxisse. "Perhaps it ought to be substituted for שצף shetseph, an error probably made by some scribe from its similarity to קצף ketseph." - Secker

Thy Redeemer - גאלך goalech: but for this word three of De Rossi's MSS. have מרחמך merachamech, thy commiserator.

For this is as the waters of Noah unto me "The same will I do now, as in the days of Noah" - כימי kimey, in one word, in a MS., and some editions; and so the Syriac, Chaldee, Vulgate, Symmachus, Theodotion, Abarbanel, Sal. ben Melec, and Kimchi acknowledge that their copies vary in this place.

It is certain that these two words כי מי ki mey, were written formerly as one. Taken as two כי מי ki mey, they signify for as the waters - when as one, כימי kimey, they signify as the days. This latter reading is found in about four of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. In one of my own it appears to have been intended as one word: but he who added the points, which are by a much later hand than the MS. itself, has pointed the letters so as to make the two words which are commonly found in the text. For the waters, Symmachus, Theodotion, the Syriac, Vulgate, and Arabic have days. The former seems to make the best sense; and the ancient Versions, except the Septuagint, support it.

Behold, I will lay thy stones "Behold, I lay thy stones" - These seem to be general images to express beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the eastern nations; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and particularly explained, as if they had each of them some precise, moral, or spiritual meaning. Tobit, in his prophecy of the final restoration of Israel, describes the New Jerusalem in the same oriental manner: "For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones; thy walls, and towers, and battlements, with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones of ophir." Tob. 13:16, 17. Compare also Rev 21:18-21.

Shall fall for thy sake "Shall come over to thy side" - For יפול yippol, twenty-eight MSS. (eight ancient) have יפל yipal, in its more common form. For the meaning of the word in this place, see Jer 37:13.

Sing - The prophet having largely discoursed of the sufferings of Christ, and of the blessed fruits thereof, and here foreseeing that glorious state of the church, he breaks forth into this song of triumph. And as the foregoing chapter literally speaks of Christ, so doth this of the church of Christ. This church, consisting at first of the Jews, and afterwards of the Gentiles, had been barren, 'till the coming of Christ. The desolate - The church of the Gentiles, which in the times of the Old Testament was desolate, does now bring forth to God a more numerous posterity than that of the Jews.

Enlarge - That it may be capable of the Gentiles, who shall flock to thee in great numbers. Strengthen - That they may be able to support that great weight which the tents thus enlarged, shall be upon them.

For - Thou shalt bring forth a multitude of children; for this word is commonly used of any extraordinary propagation of living creatures. On the left - On every side, in all the parts of the world. Thy seed - Thy spiritual seed, the church of the New Testament, which is accounted Abraham's seed, or children.

Ashamed - For the barrenness and widowhood, which once was the matter of thy grief and shame. Forget - Thou shalt not be upbraided with thy former barrenness in thy youthful state.

Thy maker - Will own thee for his spouse. The Lord - Who hath the sovereign command of all men and creatures, and therefore can subdue the Gentiles to thee, and can make thee to increase and multiply in so prodigious a measure, even in thine old age, notwithstanding thy barrenness in the days of thy youth, of which he speaks in the foregoing verse. The God - The God and father of all nations, whereas formerly he was called only the God of Israel.

Called thee - To return to him. As forsaken - When thou wast like a woman forsaken. And grieved - For the loss of her husband's favour. Of youth - As affectionately as an husband recalls his wife which he married in his youth.

For a moment - In comparison of God's everlasting kindness. Gather thee - From all the places where thou art dispersed, from all parts of the world.

With everlasting kindness - With kindness to thee and thy seed through all succeeding generations.

This - This covenant of grace and peace made with thee shall be as certain and perpetual as that which I made with Noah, that there should never be another flood to drown the world. Wrath - So as to forsake thee utterly.

The mountains - Shall sooner depart from their places than any kindness shall depart from thee. The covenant - That covenant whereby I have made peace and friendship with thee, and have promised to thee all manner of happiness. God will not cast off his Christian church, as he cast off the church of the Jews, the New covenant is established upon better and surer promises than the Old. The Lord - Who doth this not for thine own merits, but merely for his own grace and mercy.

O thou - Who hast been, in a most afflicted and comfortless condition. With sapphires - I will make thee exceeding beautiful and glorious, by a plentiful effusion of excellent gifts, and graces.

Agates - The proper signification of the Hebrew names of precious stones is unknown to the Jews themselves. It may suffice us to know that this was some very clear and transparent, and precious stone. Thy borders - The utmost parts or walls.

Taught - Not only outwardly by his word, but inwardly by his spirit. The peace - Inward peace arising from the clear discoveries of God's love and reconciliation to us, and wrought by the spirit of adoption, which is more abundantly given to believers under the gospel, than under the law. Outward peace, safety, and happiness.

Established - Thine affairs shall be managed with righteousness, which is the glory of any society. Oppression - Either by thine own governors, or by foreign powers.

Behold - It is true some will combine and make an attempt against thee. But - Without any such commission from me, as Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar had.

The smith - Both the smith that makes warlike instruments, and the soldier that uses them, are my creatures, and totally at my command, and therefore they cannot hurt you without my leave. The waster - To destroy only whom and when I please.

Condemn - And I will deliver thee not only from the fury of war, but also from the strife of tongues. This - This blessed condition, is the portion allotted them by me. Righteousness - The reward of their righteousness. Of me - I give it, and I will continue it to them.

1 SIng, O barren , thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate, than the children of the married wife , saith the LORD▪

The Prophet having largely discoursed of the sufferings of Christ, and of the blessed fruits or effects thereof, among which one is that he should have a numerous seed that should believe on him, and that when the Jews rejected him, the Gentiles should gladly receive him, and here foreseeing by the Spirit of God that glorious state of the Church, he rejoiced in it, as Abraham did upon the like occasion, Ioh. 8. 56. and breaks forth into this song of triumph. He turneth his Speech to the Church and Spouse of God, or of Christ, as is manifest from the following words, and especially from v. 5. and from Gal. 4. 27. where it is so expounded. And although this Chapter is by some understood of the flourishing condition of the Jewish Church and State after their return from Babylon, yet the magnificent and glorious Promises here following do so vastly exceed their condition at that time, which was full of uncertainties, and Distractions, and Troubles, as all the Histories of those times assure us, and far from that Glory and lasting Tranquillity which is here assured to her, that it must necessarily be referred to the times of the Gospel, in which all that is here said was or will be remarkably fulfilled. And therefore as the foregoing Chapter doth directly and literally speak of Christ, so doth this literally speak of the Church of Christ, or of the Kingdom of the Messiah, of whom the ancient Hebrew Doctors understood it. And this Church, consisting at first of the Jews, and afterwards of the Gentiles, who were incorporated with them into the same Body, he calleth barren, not because it now was so, but because before and until the coming of Christ it had been so, as Simon is called the leper, Mat. 26. 6. after he was cured. Now this Church of the Jews might well be called, and had been, barren, because the sincere converts brought forth to God by her Ministry had been but few among the Jews comparatively, and simply few among the Gentiles.

The Church or Congregation of the Gentiles, which in the times of the Old Testament was desolate, having neither Husband nor Children, doth now under the Gospel bring forth unto God a far more numerous posterity than the Church of the Jews, which had been married to God for many ages, until by her Apostacy from God, and from her Messiah, she provoked God to put her away. He alludeth here either to the History of Sarah, who was long and naturally barren, but by the supernatural power of God, was enabled to bring forth a numberless issue: or to that remarkable passage of Gods Providence concerning Hannah and Peninnah, 1 Sam. 2. 5. the barren hath born seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.

Marginal references: Zeph. 3. 14. Gal. 4. 27.; 1 Sam. 2. 5.; [illegible: 1+ letters] Ch. 49. 20, 21.

2 Enlarge the place of thy tent , and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes .

That it may be capable of the Gentiles, which shall flock to thee in great numbers, and desire to associate themselves with thee.

Those to whom that work belongs. The meaning is, they must and shall be stretched out.

That they may be able to support that great weight which the Tents thus enlarged shall be upon them.

Marginal references: Ch. 49. 19, 20.

3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand, and on the left , and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles , and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

Thou shalt bring forth a multitude of Children; for this word is commonly used of any great and extraordinary propagation of living Creatures, whether Beasts or Men, Gen. 30. 30. Exod. 1. 12.

On every side, in all the parts of the World.

Either 1. Thy spiritual seed, the Church of the New Testament, which is accounted Abraham's Seed, or Children, Gal. 3. 7, 8, 9, 29. Or 2. Thy natural seed, Christ and his Apostles, and other Ministers, who were Jews, by whom this work was first and most eminently done.

Shall subdue the Gentile World to the Church, and to the Obedience of the Faith.

These Cities and Countries which in a spiritual sense were desolate and forsaken by God.

Marginal references: Ch. 61. 4, 5, 6.

4 Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed : neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth , and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.

For that Barrenness and Widow-hood, which once was the matter of thy grief and shame, because now thou shalt be delivered from it, and God will own thee for his Wife, and beget Children of thee; as it is explained in the following words.

It shall be forgotten both by thee and others: thou shalt not be upbraided with thy former barrenness in thy youthful state, nor consounded and tormented with the remembrance of it; both remembring and forgetting in Scripture use connote or comprehend those affections which naturally and usually follow upon them; so great shall be thy fertility and felicity, that it shall cause thee to forget thy former unfruitfulness and misery, as Men commonly do in like cases, as Gen. 41. 51. Iob 11. 16. Isa. 65. 16. Ioh. 16. 21.

That time and state when thou wert like a Widow disconsolate and desolate, forsaken by her Husband, and having in a manner no Children; which was a great reproach, especially among the Jews.

Marginal references: Ezek. 23. 8.

5 For thy maker is thine husband , (the LORD of hosts is his name) and thy redeemer the holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called.

He who made thee out of nothing, and therefore can easily fulfil all these Promises, how unlikely soever they seem to be; and he who made thee a people, and, which is far more & better, his People, & therefore will not easily nor utterly forsake thee.

He will own thee for his Spouse, and will do the part of an Husband to thee.

Who hath the soveraign command of all Men and Creatures, and therefore can subdue the Gentiles to thee, and can make thee to encrease and multiply in so prodigious a measure, even in thine old age, notwithstanding thy barrenness in the days of thy youth, of which he speaketh in the foregoing verse.

The God and Father of all Nations, whereas formerly he was called only the God of Israel, and the Gentiles had no special Relation to him, nor Interest in his Covenant and Favour, as was observed Psal. 147. 19, 20. and elsewhere.

Marginal references: Luk. 1. 32.

6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit , and a wife of youth , when thou wast refused , saith thy God .

To return and come again to him.

When thou wast like a Woman forsaken. Or, as an Husband recalleth his Wife.

For the loss of her Husbands Favour and Society, and for the reproach attending upon it.

Or, and, as (which note of similitude is supplied here by the Seventy, and Chaldee Interpreters, and is easily understood out of the foregoing clause, in which it is expressed) a wife of youth, i. e. as readily and affectionately as an Husband recalleth his Wife which he married in her and his own youth, of whom see on Prov. 5. 18. whom though he might through a sudden and violent passion put away, yet he soon repents of it, and his Affections work towards her, and he invites her to return to him.

When thou wast in a desolate Estate, and hadst been for some time rejected by me, then I recalled thee. Or, although thou wast refused, or dismissed, or despised by me, and that justly, yet I had mercy upon thee, and freely offered Reconciliation to thee.

Who will again be, and still shew himself to be, thy God, and will renew his Covenant with thee.

u By her Husband, who hath given her a Bill of Divorce.

Marginal references: Jer. 30. 17.

7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee , but with great mercies will I gather thee .

For the space of some few years, as Seventy years in Babylon, and some such intervals, which may well be called a small moment in comparison of Gods everlasting Kindness mentioned in the next verse.

Withdrawn my favour and help from thee, and left thee in thine Enemies hands.

Such as are most precious and sweet for quality, as is here said, and such as are of long continuance, as is said in the following verse.

From all the places where thou art dispersed, from all the parts of the World.

Marginal references: Ps. 30. 5. Ch. 26. 20. 2 Cor. 4. 17.

8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee, for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy redeemer.

I removed the means and pledges of my presence and kindness.

With kindness to thee and thy seed through all succeeding Generations, here and unto all eternity.

9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me : for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee , nor rebuke thee.

This Covenant of Grace and Peace made with thee shall be as certain and perpetual as that which I made with Noah, that there should never be another flood of waters to drown the World▪ of which see Gen. 9. 11.

To wit, so as I have been, or so as to forsake thee utterly.

Marginal references: Gen. 8. 21. & 9. 11.; Ps. 9. 5.

10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed , but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD, that hath mercy on thee .

Which hath been verified in some Mountains and Hills, that by Earth-quakes, or otherwise, have been removed from their places. But these kinds of absolute expressions are oft times comparatively understood, of which see on Isa. 51. 6. and so the sense is, The Mountains shall sooner depart from their places, than my kindness shall depart from thee. As when it is said absolutely, I desired Mercy and not Sacrifice, it is meant comparatively, I desired Mercy more than Sacrifice, as it is explained in the following clause.

That covenant whereby I have made Peace and Friendship with thee, and have promised unto thee all manner of happiness▪ which frequently comes under the name of peace in Scripture. The sense of the place is, That God will not cast off his Christian Church, as he did cast off the Church of the Jews; and that the New Covenant is established upon better and surer Promises than the Old, as is observed Heb. 8. 6, 7, &c. and elsewhere.

Who doth thus with thee not for thy own merits, but meerly for his own Grace and Mercy.

Marginal references: Ps. 46. 2. Mat. 5. 18.

11 Oh thou afflicted, tossed with tempests, and not comforted , behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with saphires .

Oh thou my poor Church, who hast frequently been, and wilt again and again be in a most afflicted and comfortless condition for a time; be not discouraged thereby.

I will make thee exceeding beautiful and glorious. Which yet is not to be understood of outward Pomp and worldly Glory, as is evident from many places of Scripture, which assure us that Christs Kingdom is of another nature, and that the external condition of Gods Church is, and for the most part will be, mean and calamitous in this World, but of a spiritual Beauty and Glory consisting in the plentiful effusion of excellent Gifts, and Graces, and Comforts: although these shall be followed with eternal Glory in Heaven. See the like description of the Churches Glory, Rev. 21. 11, &c.

Marginal references: 1 Chr. 29. 2. Rev. 21. 19.

12 And I will make thy windows of agates , and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

One kind of which stones was transparent like glass, as Pliny writes in his natural History, b. 37. ch. 10. But some render this word, crystal, and the Seventy, and some other of the ancients, translate it jasper. But the proper signification of the Hebrew names of precious stones is unknown to the Jews themselves, as hath been noted before. It may suffice us to know that this was some very clear, and transparent, and precious stone.

The utmost parts or Walls. The Church is here evidently compared to a Building, whose Foundation, Pavement, Gates, and Windows, were named before.

13 And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD , and great shall be the peace of thy children.

Not only outwardly by his word, which was made known to all the Jews under the Old Testament, but inwardly by his Spirit, which is poured forth under the New Testament, both upon a far greater number of persons, and in a far higher measure, and with much more efficacy and success than it was under the Old.

1. Inward Peace of Mind or Conscience arising from the clear discoveries of Gods Love and Reconciliation to us, and wrought by the spirit of adoption which is more abundantly given to Believers under the Gospel, whereas the spirit of bondage was more common and prevalent under the Law. 2. Outward Peace, Safety, and Happiness, which is more fully promised in the following verses, and which God, when he sees fit will confer upon his Church.

Marginal references: Ch. 11. 9. Jer. 31. 34. Joh. 6. 45. 1 Cor. 2. 16. 1 Thes. 4. 9. 1 Joh. 2. 20.

14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression ▪ for thou shalt not fear , and from terrour, for it shall not come near thee.

Either 1. As the means of thy Establishment. This Kingdom shall not be set up, and settled by fraud or Tyranny, as other Kingdoms frequently are, but by Justice: Or rather 2. As the effect of the establishment. Thine affairs shall be managed with Righteousness, which is the Glory and Felicity of any society, and not with oppression, as it follows. Justice shall be freely and impartially executed.

Either by thine own Governours, or by forreign Powers.

Thou shalt neither have any just cause of fear, nor be given up to the torment of fear without cause.

15 Behold they shall surely gather together , but not by me : whosoever shall gather together against thee , shall fall for thy sake .

It is true, there will not want some that shall combine and make an attempt against thee.

As they do this without any such commission from me, as Sennacherib and Nebuchadnezzar had, Isa. 10. 6, 7. Ier. 25. 9. so they shall not have my help in it, without which all their endeavours will be vain and unsuccessful.

To battle, as is manifest from the following words, of which kind of gathering this word is used Psal. 140. 2. and elsewhere.

Heb. with thee. But to fight with a man is all one with fighting against him.

For that Respect and Love which I bear to thee. Or, before thee, as this particle is sometimes used, so as thine Eyes shall behold it.

16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the waster to destroy .

Both the Smith that maketh all warlike Instruments, and the Souldier that useth them, are my Creatures, and totally at my Command, and therefore they cannot hurt you without my leave.

To destroy only whom and when I please.

17 No weapon that is formed against thee▪ shall prosper , and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn . This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me , saith the LORD.

And as they cannot do any thing against thee without my leave, so I assure thee I will not suffer them to do it: and if any Smith shall make any weapons to be employed against thee, he shall not succeed in it.

And I will deliver thee not only from the fury of War, but also from the strife of Tongues, from all the threatnings and boasts, and reproaches of thine Enemies, and from all the claims and pretences which they have of any right and power over thee. So thine Enemies shall neither prevail against thee by violence, nor by pretences of Justice.

This blessed condition described in this Chapter, is the portion allotted to them by me.

Either 1. The Reward or Fruit of their Righteousness, as Righteousness is used Psal. 112. 3, 9. Or 2. Their Right or the righteous Administration of all their concerns whereby they are preserved from all manner of oppressions, as Righteousness was used v. 14.

I give it, and I will continue it to them, and who then can take it away from them.

Isa 54:1

After the “Servant of God” has expiated the sin of His people by the sacrifice of Himself, and Israel has acknowledged its fault in connection with the rejected One, and entered into the possession and enjoyment of the salvation procured by Him, the glory of the church, which has thus become a partaker of salvation through repentance and faith, is quite ready to burst forth. Hence the prophet can now exclaim, Isa 54:1 : “Exult, O barren one, thou that didst not bear; break forth into exulting, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for there are more children of the solitary one than children of the married wife, saith Jehovah.” The words are addressed to Jerusalem, which was a counterpart of Sarah in her barrenness at first, and her fruitfulness afterwards (Isa 41:1-3). She is not תלד לא עקרה (Job 24:21), but ילדה לא עקרה (Jdg 13:2); not indeed that she had never had any children, but during her captivity and exile she had been robbed of her children, and as a holy city had given birth to no more (Isa 49:21). She was shōmēmâh, rendered solitary (2Sa 13:20; the allusion is to her depopulation as a city), whereas formerly she was בּעוּלה, i.e., enjoyed the fellowship of Jehovah her husband (ba‛al). But this condition would not last (for Jehovah had not given her a divorce): she was therefore to exult and shout, since the number of children which she would now have, as one desolate and solitary, would be greater than the number of those which she had as a married wife.

Isa 54:2

With this prospect before her, even her dwelling-place would need enlarging. “Enlarge the space of thy tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of thy habitations; forbid not! lengthen thy cords, and fasten thy plugs.” She is to widen out the space inside her tent, and they (יטּוּ has no definite subject, which is often the case where some subordinate servant is to be thought of) are to spread out far and wide the coverings of the framework of her dwelling, which is called mishkenōth (in the plural) on account of its roominess and magnificence: she is not to forbid it, thinking in her weakness of faith, “It is good enough as it is; it would be too large.” The cords which hold up the walls, she is to lengthen; and the plugs, to which the cords are fastened, she is to ram fast into the earth: the former because the tent (i.e., the holy city, Jer 31:38-40, and the dwelling-place of the church generally, Isa 26:15) has to receive a large number of inhabitants; the latter because it will not be broken up so soon again (Isa 33:20).

Isa 54:3

The reason why the tent is to be so large and strong is given in Isa 54:3 : “For thou wilt break forth on the right and on the left; and thy seed will take possession of nations, and they will people desolate cities.” “On the right and on the left” is equivalent to “on the south and north” (Psa 89:13, the speaker being supposed to have his face turned towards the east: compare the Sanscrit apân, situated at the back, i.e., towards the west). We must supply both west and east, since the promises contained in such passages as Gen 15:18-21 remained unfulfilled even in the age of David and Solomon. Jerusalem will now spread out, and break through all her former bounds (pârats is used in the same sense in Gen 28:14); and her seed (i.e., the seed acquired by the Servant of Jehovah, the dead yet eternally living One, the σπέρμα, whose σπέρμα He Himself is) will take possession of nations (yârash, yârēsh, capessere, occupare; more especially κληρονομεῖν, syn. nâchal); and they (i.e., the children born to her) will people desolate cities (hōshı̄bh, the causative of yâshabh, to be inhabited, Isa 14:20). Thus will the promise be fulfilled, that “the meek shall inherit the earth,” - a promise not confined to the Preacher on the mount, but found also in Psa 37:9-11, and uttered by our own prophet in Isa 60:21; Isa 65:9.

Isa 54:4

The encouraging promise is continued in Isa 54:4 : “Fear not, for thou wilt not be put to shame; and bid defiance to reproach, for thou wilt not blush: no, thou wilt forget the shame of thy youth, and wilt no more remember the reproach of thy widowhood.” Now that redemption was before the door, Israel was not to fear any more, or to be overcome (as the niphal nikhlam implies) by a felling of the shame consequent upon her state of punishment, or so to behave herself as to leave no room for hope. For a state of things was about to commence, in which she would have no need to be ashamed (on bōsh and châphēr or hechpı̄r), but which, on the contrary (כּי, imo, as in Isa 10:7; Isa 55:9), would be so glorious that she would forget the shame of her youth, i.e., of the Egyptian bondage, in which the national community of Israel was still but like a virgin (‛almâh), who entered into a betrothal when redeemed by Jehovah, and became His youthful wife through a covenant of love (ehe = berı̄th) when the law was given at Sinai (Jer 2:2; Eze 16:60); so glorious indeed, that she would never again remember the shame of her widowhood, i.e., of the Babylonian captivity, in which she, the wife whom Jehovah had taken to Himself, was like a widow whose husband had died.

Isa 54:5

It was no real widowhood, however, but only an apparent one (Jer 51:5), for the husband of Jerusalem was living still, “For thy husband is thy Creator; Jehovah of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; God of the whole earth is He called.” The plurals בעליך and עשׂיך (see at Isa 22:11) are to be explained from the plural 'Elōhı̄m, which is connected with plural attributes in Jos 24:19; 1Sa 17:26, Ps. 58:12 (compare מרימיו in Isa 10:15), and with plural predicates in Gen 20:13; Gen 35:7, and 2Sa 7:23. By such expressions as these, which represent all the plurality of the divine nature as inherent in the One, the religion of revelation, both Israelitish and Christian, exhibits itself as embodying all that is true in polytheism. He who has entered into the relation of husband to Jerusalem (בעליך, not בעליך, Isa 1:3) is the very same through whom she first came into existence, the God whose bidding the heavenly hosts obey; and the Redeemer of Jerusalem, the Holy One of Israel, is called the God of the whole earth, and therefore has both the power and the means to help her, as prompted by the relation of love which exists between them.

Isa 54:6

And this relation He now renews. “For Jehovah calleth thee as a wife forsaken and burdened with sorrow, and as a wife of youth, when once she is despised, saith thy God.” The verb קרא, which is the one commonly used in these prophecies to denote the call of grace, on the ground of the election of grace, is used here to signify the call into that relation, which did indeed exist before, but had apparently been dissolved. קראך is used here out of pause (cf., Isa 60:9); it stands, however, quite irregularly for the form in ēkh, which is the one commonly employed (Jdg 4:20; Eze 27:26). “And as a wife:” ואשׁת is equivalent to וּכאשׁת. The hypothetical תמּאס כּי belongs to the figure. Jehovah calls His church back to Himself, as a husband takes back the wife he loved in his youth, even though he may once have been angry with her. It is with intention that the word נמאסה is not used. The future (imperfect) indicates what partially happens, but does not become an accomplished or completed fact: He is displeased with her, but He has not cherished aversion or hatred towards her.

Isa 54:7-8

Thus does Jehovah’s displeasure towards Jerusalem pass quickly away; and all the more intense is the manifestation of love which follows His merely momentary anger. “For a small moment have I forsaken thee, and with great mercy will I gather thee. In an effusion of anger I hid my face from thee for a moment, and with everlasting grace I have compassion upon thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer.” “For a small moment” carries us to the time of the captivity, which was a small moment in comparison with the duration of the tender and merciful love, with which Jehovah once more received the church into His fellowship in the person of its members. רגע in Isa 54:8 is not an adverb, meaning momentarily, as in Isa 47:9, but an accusative of duration, signifying a single moment long. Ketseph signifies wrath regarded as an outburst (fragor), like the violence of a storm or a clap of thunder; shetseph, which rhymes with it, is explained by A. Schultens, after the Arabic, as signifying durum et asperum esse: and hence the rendering adopted by Hitzig, “in hard harshness.” But this yields no antithesis to “everlasting kindness,” which requires that shetseph should be rendered in some way that expresses the idea of something transitory or of short duration. The earlier translators felt this, when like the lxx for example, they adopted the rendering ἐν θυμῷ μικρῷ, and others of a similar kind; and Ibn Labrât, in his writing against Menahem b. Zerûk, who gives chŏrı̄, burning heat, as a gloss to shetseph, explains it by מעט (as Kimchi and others did afterwards). But, as Jakob Tam correctly observes, “this makes the sense purely tautological.” In all probability, shâtsaph is a form allied to shâtaph, as nâshabh (Isa 40:7) is to nâshaph (Isa 40:24), and qâmat (Job 16:8) to qâmats, which stand in the same relation to one another, so far as the sense is concerned, as bubbling over to flowing over: so that the proper rendering would not be “in the overflowing of glowing heat,” as Umbreit thinks, which would require קצף בּשׁטף (Pro 27:4), but in the gushing up of displeasure, the overflowing of indignation (Meier). The ketseph is only a shetseph, a vanishing moment (Jer. in momento indignationis), when compared with the true feeling of Jehovah towards Jerusalem, which is chesed ‛ōlâm, everlasting kindness.

Isa 54:9

The ground of this “everlasting kindness” is given in Isa 54:9 : “For it is now as at the waters of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah should not overflow the earth any more; so have I sworn not to be wroth with thee, and not to threaten thee.” The commencement of this v. has been a fluctuating one from the earliest times. The Sept. reading is ממּי; that of the Targ., S., Jerome, Syriac, and Saad., כּימי; and even the Codd. read sometimes כּי־מי, sometimes כּימי (compare Mat 24:37, ὥσπερ αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ Νῶε οὕτως κ.τ.λ - a passage which appears to derive its shape from the one before us, with the reading כימי, and which is expounded in Luk 17:26). If we read כימי, the word זאת must refer to the present, as the turning-point between wrath and mercy; but if we read כי־מי, זאת denotes the pouring out of wrath in connection with the captivity. Both readings are admissible; and as even the Septuagint, with its ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕδατος (from the water), gives an indirect support to the reading כּימי as one word, this may probably merit the preference, as the one best sustained. אשׁר is ubi, quum, as in Num 20:13; Psa 95:9, etc., although it might also be taken as the correlate of the kēn which follows, as in Jer 33:22 (cf., Isa 48:8); and in accordance with the accents, we prefer the former. The present turning-point resembles, in Jehovah’s esteem, the days of Noah - those days in which He swore that a flood should not any more come upon the earth (min as in Isa 5:6 and many other passages): for so does He now confirm with an oath His fixed purpose that no such judgment of wrath as that which has just been endured shall ever fall upon Jerusalem again (גּער denotes threatening with a judicial word, which passes at once into effect, as in Isa 51:20). Hendewerk has the following quibbling remark here: “What the comparison with the flood is worth, we may gather from the alter history, which shows how soon the new Jerusalem and the renovated state succumbed to the judicial wrath of God again.” To this we reply: (1.) That the prophecy refers to the converted Israel of the last days, whose Jerusalem will never be destroyed again. These last days appear to the prophet, according to the general character of all prophecy, as though linked on to the close of the captivity. For throughout all prophecy, along with the far-sightedness imparted by the Spirit, there was also a short-sightedness which the Spirit did not remove; that is to say, the directly divine element of insight into the future was associated with a human element of hope, which was nevertheless also indirectly divine, inasmuch as it subserved the divine plan of salvation; and this hope brought, as it were, the far distant future into the closest proximity with the troubled present. If, the, we keep this in mind, we shall see that it was quite in order for the prophet to behold the final future on the very edge of the present, and not to see the long and undulating way between. (2.) The Israel which has been plunged by the Romans into the present exile of a thousand years is that part of the nation (Rom 11:25), which has thrust away the eternal mercy and the unchangeable covenant of peace; but this rejection has simply postponed, and not prevented, the full realization of the salvation promised to Israel as a people. The covenant still exists, primarily indeed as an offer on the part of Jehovah, so that it rests with Israel whether it shall continued one-sided or not; but all that is wanted on the part of Israel is faith, to enable it to exchange the shifting soil of its present exile for the rocky foundation of that covenant of peace which has encircled the ages since the captivity (see Hag 2:9), as the covenant with Noah encircled those after the flood with the covenant sign of the rainbow in the cloud.

Isa 54:10 “For the mountains may depart, and the hills may shake; my grace will not depart from thee, and my covenant of peace will not shake, saith Jehovah who hath compassion on thee.” Jehovah’s grace and covenant of peace (cf., Num 25:12) stand as firm as the mountains of God (Psa 36:7), without departing from Jerusalem (מאתּך instead of the usual מאתּך) and without shaking; and they will be fulfilled. This fulfilment will not take place either by force or by enchantment; but the church which is to be glorified must pass through sufferings, until it has attained the form which answers to the glory promised to it on oath. And this will also take place; for the old Jerusalem will come forth as a new one out of the furnace of affliction.

Isa 54:11-12 “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted, behold, I lay thy stones in stibium, and lay thy foundations with sapphires; and make thy minarets of ruby, and thy gates into carbuncles, and all thy boundary into jewels.” At the present time the church, of which Jerusalem is the metropolis, is sunk in misery, driven with tempest like chaff of the threshing-floor (Hos 13:3), without comfort; because till now it has waited in vain for any act of consolation on the part of God, and has been scorned rather than comforted by man (סערה is a part. kal, not pual; and נחמה   3rd pers. praet. like נעזבה, Isa 62:12, and רחמה, Hos 1:6; Hos 2:3). But this will be altered; Jerusalem will rise again from the dust, like a glorious building of God. Jerome makes the following apt remark on Isa 54:11: “in stibio, i.e., in the likeness of an elegant woman, who paints her eyes with stibium; referring to the beauty of the city.” Pūkh is eye-black (kohl, cf., kâchal, Eze 23:40), i.e., a sooty compound, the chief component of which was powdered antimony, or else manganese or lead, and with which oriental women coloured their eyebrows, and more particularly the eyelids both above and below the eyes, that the beauty of the latter might be all the more conspicuous (2Ki 9:30). The classic φῦκος, fucus, has a meaning foreign to the Hebrew word, viz., that of rouge for the cheeks. If, then, stibium (antimony), or any blackening collyrium generally, served the purpose of mortar in the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the stones of its walls (not its foundation-stones, אדניך, which is the reading adopted by Ewald, but, on the contrary, the visible stones of its towering walls) would look like the eyes of a woman shining forth from the black framework of their painted lids, i.e., they would stand out in splendour from their dark ground. The Beth in bassappı̄rı̄m indicates the means employed. Sapphires serve as foundation-stones, for the foundation of Jerusalem stands as immoveably firm as the covenant of God. The sapphire blue is the colour of the heaven, of revelation, and of the covenant. The shemâshōth, however, i.e., the minarets which stand out like rays of the sun, and also the gates, have a red appearance. Red is the colour of blood, and hence of life and of imperishableness; also the colour of fire and of lightning, and hence of wrath and victory. Jehovah makes the minarets of “ruby.” The Sept. and Jerome adopt the rendering iaspidem (a jasper); at any rate, כּדכד (which is the proper way of writing the word: Ewald, §48,c)The first כ is dagessatum, the second raphatum: see Norzi. The word forms one of the eighteen which have a dagesh after a word ending with a vowel sound (בלא מבטל בתר יה וא דגשין): see Masora Magna on Dan 5:11, and Heidenheim’s הטעמים משפטי, 41 a. The object is to secure greater euphony, as in ככרכמישׁ (הלא), Isa 10:9, which is one of the eighteen words. is a red sparkling jewel (from kidkēd; cf., kı̄dōd, scintilla). The arches of the gates He forms of אקדּח אבני, stones of fiery splendour (from qâdach, to burn: hence qaddachath, πυρετός), that is to say, or carbuncle stones (from carbunculus, a small red-hot coal), like ruby, garnet, etc. Jerome has adopted the false rendering lapides sculptos, after Symm. λίθοι γλυφῆς (from קדח = קדד, findere?). The accusative of the predicate כדכד is interchanged with עקדח לבני, and then with לאבני־חפץ, to denote the materia ex qua. The whole territory (precinct) of Jerusalem is turned by Jehovah into precious stones, that is to say, it appears to be paved with such stones, just as in Tobit 13:17 the streets are said to be “paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones of Ophir,” i.e., to be covered with a mosaic formed of precious stones. It is upon the passage before us that Tobit 13:16, 17, and Rev 21:18-21, are founded. The motley colours of the precious stones, with which the new Jerusalem is adorned, are something more than a mere childish fancy. Whence, then, do the precious stones derive their charm? The ultimate ground of this charm is the fact, that in universal nature everything presses to the light, and that in the mineral world the jewels represent the highest stage of this ascending process. It is the self-unfolding process of the divine glory itself, which is reflected typologically in the several gradations of the manifold play of colours and the transparency of the precious stones. For this reason, the high priest wore a breastplate with twelve precious stones, upon which were the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; and for this same reason, the author of the Apocalypse carries out into detail in chapter 21 the picture of the new Jerusalem, which is here sketched by the prophet of the Old Testament (without distinguishing time from eternity), adding crystals and pearls to the precious stones which he there mentions one by one. How can all this be explained, except on the ground that even the mineral world reflects the glory of those eternal lights from which God is called the “Father of lights,” or except on the assumption that the saints in light will one day be able to translate these stony types into the words of God, out of which they have their being?

Isa 54:13

The outward glory of the city is only the manifestation, which strikes the senses, of the spiritual glory of the church dwelling therein. “And all thy children will be the learned of Jehovah; and great the peace of thy children.” We translate both halves of the v. as substantive clauses, although they might be accusatives of both the object and predicate, dependent upon שׂמתּי. ה למּוּדי are disciples of Jehovah, but, as in Isa 50:4, with the subordinate idea of both docility and learning. The children of Jerusalem will need no instruction from man, but carry within them the teaching of heaven, as those who are “taught of God” (διδακτοὶ Θεοῦ, Joh 6:45; θεοδίδακτοι, 1Th 4:9). Essentially the same promise is given in Joe 3:1-2, and Jer 31:34; and represented in 1Jo 2:20 (“Ye have the anointing of the Holy One, and know all things”) as already fulfilled. In the place of the former inward and outward distress, there has no entered shâlōm, perfect inward and outward peace, complete salvation, and blessedness as its result. רב is an adjective, for this form cannot be shown to have existed as a syncopated third pers. praet., like שׁח, חי (= חיי). The v. closes palindromically.

Isa 54:14-15

In perfect keeping with this grace through righteousness, Jerusalem will then stand firm and impregnable. “Through righteousness wilt thou be fortified: be far from anxiety, for thou hast nothing to fear; and from terror, for it will not come near thee. Behold, men crowd together in crowds; my will is not there. Who crowd together against thee? - he shall fall by thee.” Both the thought and action of Jerusalem will be righteousness then, and it will thereby acquire strength; תּכּונני is a pausal future hithpalel, with the ת of the reflective opening syllable assimilated (Ges. §53, 2,b). With this reciprocal influence of its moral character and imparted glory, it can, and is to keep far away from all thought of oppression and terror; for, through divine grace and a corresponding divine nature, it has nothing to fear. הן (Isa 54:15), when pointing to any transaction as possible (as, for example, in Job 12:14; Job 23:8), acquires almost the significance of a conditional particle (Ewald, §103,g). The equally hypothetical parallel clause is clothed in the form of an interrogative. For the verb gūr, the meaning “to gather together” (related to אגר), more especially to join together with hostile intention (cf., συνάγεσθαι, Rev 19:19; Rev 20:8), is sustained by Psa 56:7; Psa 59:4; and with גּרה, lacessere, it has nothing to do (Hitzig and Ewald). אתּך has the force of contra te, as in the case of verbs of combat. The first apodosis is this: “but it takes place entirely away from me,” i.e., without and against my will; מאותי = מאתּי (as in Isa 59:21), and אותם = אתּם, are no sure signs of a later usage; for this alternation of the two forms of את is met with as early as Jos 14:12. The second apodosis is, “he will fall upon (or against) thee,” or, as we should say, “founder,” or “be wrecked.” It is far more likely that this is the meaning of the words, than that they mean “he will fall to thy lot” (על נפל, like ל נפל elsewhere, to fall to a person); for the context here is a totally different one from Isa 45:14, and we look for nothing more than a declaration of the utter failure and ruin of the undertaking.

Isa 54:16-17

Jerusalem will be thus invincible, because Jehovah, the Almighty One, is its protector. “Behold, I have created the smith who bloweth the coal-fire, and brings to the light a weapon according to his trade; and I have created the destroyer to destroy. Every weapon formed against thee has no success, and every tongue that cometh before the judgment with thee thou wilt condemn. This the inheritance of the servants of Jehovah; and their righteousness from me, saith Jehovah.” If Jehovah has created the armourer, who forges a weapon למעסהוּ (i.e., according to his trade, or according to the thing he has to finish, whether an arrow, or a sword, or a spear; not “for his own use,” as Kimchi supposes), to be used in the hostile army against Jerusalem, He has also created a destroyer (לחבּל) to destroy. The very same creative might, to which the origin of the weapon is to be traced as its primary cause, has opposed to it beforehand a defender of Jerusalem. And as every hostile weapon fails, Jerusalem, in the consciousness of its divine right, will convict every accusing tongue as guilty and deserving of utter condemnation (הרשׁיע as in Isa 50:9, cf., 1Sa 14:47, where it denotes the punishment of the guilty). The epiphonem in Isa 54:17, with the retrospective זאת and the words “saith the Lord,” which confirm the certainty of the fulfilment, forms an unmistakeable close to the prophecy. This is the position in which Jehovah has placed His servants as heirs of the future salvation; and this the righteousness which they have received as His gift, and which makes them strong within and victorious without. The individual idea of the church, which we find elsewhere personified as “the servant of Jehovah,” equivalent to “the people in whose heart is my law” (Isa 51:7), or “my people that have sought me” (Isa 65:10), is here expanded into “the servants of Jehovah” (as in Isa 65:8-9; compare Isa 59:21 with Isa 51:16). But totally different colours are employed in Isa 52:13 to Isa 53:1-12 to depict the exaltation of the one “Servant of Jehovah,” from those used here to paint the glory of the church of the “servants of Jehovah,” a proof that the ideas do not cover one another. That which is the reward of suffering in the case of the former, is the experience of divine mercy in that of the latter: it becomes a partaker of the salvation purchased by the other. The one “Servant of Jehovah” is the heart of the church, in which the crisis which bursts forth into life is passing; the righteousness of the “servants of Jehovah” is the fruit of the sufferings of this one “Servant of Jehovah,” who is Himself צדיק and מצידק. He is the Mediator of all the salvation of the church. He is not only its “head,” but its “fulness” (πλήρωμα) also.

The Prosperity of the Church. (b. c. 706.)

1 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord . 2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; 3 For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. 5 For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

If we apply this to the state of the Jews after their return out of captivity, it is a prophecy of the increase of their nation after they were settled in their own land. Jerusalem had been in the condition of a wife written childless, or a desolate solitary widow; but now it is promised that the city should be replenished and the country peopled again, that not only the ruins of Jerusalem should be repaired, but the suburbs of it extended on all sides and a great many buildings erected upon new foundations,—that those estates which had for many years been wrongfully held by the Babylonian Gentiles should now return to the right owners. God will again be a husband to them, and the reproach of their captivity, and the small number to which they were then reduced, shall be forgotten. And it is to be observed that, by virtue of the ancient promise made to Abraham of the increase of his seed, when they were restored to God's favour they multiplied greatly. Those that first came out of Babylon were but 42,000 (Ezra ii. 64), about a fifteenth part of their number when they came out of Egypt; many came dropping to them afterwards, but we may suppose that to be the greatest number that ever came in a body; and yet above 500 years after, a little before their destruction by the Romans, a calculation was made by the number of the paschal lambs, and the lowest computation by that rule (allowing only ten to a lamb, whereas they might be twenty) made the nation to be nearly three millions. Josephus says, seven and twenty hundred thousand and odd, Jewish War 6.425. But we must apply it to the church of God in general; I mean the kingdom of God among men, God's city in the world, the children of God incorporated. Now observe,

I. The low and languishing state of religion in the world for a long time before Christianity was brought in. It was like one barren, that did not bear, or travail with child, was like one desolate, that had lost husband and children; the church lay in a little compass, and brought forth little fruit. The Jews were indeed by profession married to God, but few proselytes were added to them, the rising generations were unpromising, and serious godliness manifestly lost ground among them. The Gentiles had less religion among them than the Jews; their proselytes were in a dispersion; and the children of God, like the children of a broken, reduced family, were scattered abroad (John xi. 52), did not appear nor make any figure.

II. Its recovery from this low condition by the preaching of the gospel and the planting of the Christian church.

1. Multitudes were converted from idols to the living God. Those were the church's children that were born again, were partakers of a new and divine nature, by the word. More were the children of the desolate than of the married wife; there were more good people found in the Gentile church (when that was set up) that had long been afar off, and without God in the world, than ever were found in the Jewish church. God's sealed ones out of the tribes of Israel are numbered (Rev. vii. 4), and they were but a remnant compared with the thousands of Israel; but those of other nations were so many, and crowded in so thickly, and lay so much scattered in all parts, that no man could number them, v. 9. Sometimes more of the power of religion is found in those places and families that have made little show of it, and have enjoyed but little of the means of grace, than in others that have distinguished themselves by a flourishing profession; and then more are the children of the desolate, more the fruits of their righteousness, than those of the married wife; so the last shall be first. Now this is spoken of as matter of great rejoicing to the church, which is called upon to break forth into singing upon this account. The increase of the church is the joy of all its friends and strengthens their hands. The longer the church has lain desolate the greater will the transports of joy be when it begins to recover the ground it has lost and to gain more. Even in heaven, among the angels of God, there is an uncommon joy for a sinner that repents, much more for a nation that does so. If the barren fig-tree at length bring forth fruit, it is well; it shall rejoice, and others with it.

2. The bounds of the church were extended much further than ever before, v. 2, 3. (1.) It is here supposed that the present state of the church is a tabernacle state; it dwells in tents, like the heirs of promise of old (Heb. xi. 9); its dwelling is mean and movable, and of no strength against a storm. The city, the continuing city, is reserved for hereafter. A tent is soon taken down and shifted, so the candlestick of church privileges is soon removed out of its place (Rev. ii. 5), and, when God pleases, it is as soon fixed elsewhere. (2.) Though it be a tabernacle state, it is sometimes very remarkably a growing state; and, if this family increase, no matter though it be in a tent. Thus it was in the first preaching of the gospel; it was the business of the apostles to disciple all nations, to stretch forth the curtains of the church's habitation, to preach the gospel where Christ had not yet been named (Rom. xv. 20), to leaven with the gospel those towns and countries that had hitherto been strangers to it, and so to lengthen the cords of this tabernacle, that more might be enclosed, which would make it necessary to strengthen the stakes proportionably, that they might bear the weight of the enlarged curtains. The more numerous the church grows the more cautious she must be to fortify herself against errors and corruptions, and to support her seven pillars, Prov. ix. 1. (3.) It was a proof of divine power going along with the gospel that in all places it grew and prevailed mightily, Acts xix. 20. It broke forth, as the breaking forth of waters—on the right hand and on the left, that is, on all hands. The gospel spread itself into all parts of the world; there were eastern and western churches. The church's seed inherited the Gentiles, and the cities that had been desolate (that is, destitute of the knowledge and worship of the true God) came to be inhabited, that is, to have religion set up in them and the name of Christ professed.

3. This was the comfort and honour of the church (v. 4): "Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed, as formerly, of the straitness of thy borders, and the fewness of thy children, which thy enemies upbraided thee with, but shalt forget the reproach of thy youth, because there shall be no more ground for that reproach." It was the reproach of the Christian religion, in its youth, that none of the rulers or princes of this world embraced it and that it was entertained and professed by a despicable handful of men; but, after awhile, nations were discipled, the empire became Christian, and then this reproach of its youth was forgotten.

4. This was owing to the relation in which God stood to his church, as her husband (v. 5): Thy maker is thy husband. Believers are said to be married to Christ, that they may bring forth fruit unto God (Rom. vii. 4); so the church is married to him, that she may bear and bring up a holy seed to God, that shall be accounted to him for a generation. Jesus Christ is the church's Maker, by whom she is formed into a people—her Redeemer, by whom she is brought out of captivity, the bondage of sin, the worst of slaveries. This is he that espoused her to himself; and, (1.) He is the Lord of hosts, who has an irresistible power, an absolute sovereignty, and a universal dominion! Kings who are lords of some hosts, find there are others who are lords of other hosts, as many and mighty as theirs; but God is the Lord of all hosts. (2.) He is the Holy One of Israel, the same that presided in the affairs of the Old-Testament church and was the Mediator of the covenant made with it. The promises made to the New-Testament Israel are as rich and sure as those made to the Old-Testament Israel; for he that is our Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. (3.) He is and shall be called the Lord of the whole earth, as God, and as Mediator, for he is the heir of all things; but then he shall be called so, when the ends of the earth shall be made to see his salvation, when all the earth shall call him their God and have an interest in him. Long he had been called, in a peculiar manner, the God of Israel; but now, the partition wall between Jew and Gentile being taken down, he shall be called the God of the whole earth even where he has been, as at Athens itself, an unknown God.

The Prosperity of the Church. (b. c. 706.)

6 For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. 7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8 In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. 9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. 10 For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.

The seasonable succour and relief which God sent to his captives in Babylon, when they had a discharge from their bondage there, are here foretold, as a type and figure of all those consolations of God which are treasured up for the church in general and all believers in particular, in the covenant of grace.

I. Look back to former troubles, and in comparison with them God's favours to his people appear very comfortable, v. 6-8. Observe, 1. How sorrowful the church's condition had been. She had been as a woman forsaken, whose husband was dead, or had fallen out with her, though she was a wife of youth, upon which account she is grieved in spirit, takes it very ill, frets, and grows melancholy upon it; or she had been as one refused and rejected, and therefore full of discontent. Note, Even those that are espoused to God may yet seem to be refused and forsaken, and may be grieved in spirit under the apprehensions of being so. Those that shall never be forsaken and left in despair may yet for a time be perplexed and in distress. The similitude is explained (v. 7, 8): For a small moment have I forsaken thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee. When God continues his people long in trouble he seems to forsake them; so their enemies construe it (Ps. lxxi. 11); so they themselves misinterpret it, ch. xlix. 14. When they are comfortless under their troubles, because their prayers and expectations are not answered, God hides his face from them, as if he regarded them not nor designed them any kindness. God owns that he had done this; for he keeps an account of the afflictions of his people, and, though he never turned his face against them (as against the wicked, Ps. xxxiv. 16), he remembers how often he turned his back upon them. This arose indeed from his displeasure. It was in wrath that he forsook them and hid his face from them (ch. lvii. 17); yet it was but in a little wrath: not that God's wrath ever is a little thing, or to be made light of (Who knows the power of his anger?), but little in comparison with what they had deserved, and what others justly suffer, on whom the full vials of his wrath are poured out. He did not stir up all his wrath. But God's people, though they be sensible of ever so small a degree of God's displeasure, cannot but be grieved in spirit because of it. As for the continuance of it, it was but for a moment, a small moment; for God does not keep his anger against his people for ever; no, it is soon over. As he is slow to anger, so he is swift to show mercy. The afflictions of God's people, as they are light, so they are but for a moment, a cloud that presently blows over. 2. How sweet the returns of mercy would be to them when God should come and comfort them according to the time that he had afflicted them. God called them into covenant with himself when they were forsaken and grieved; he called them out of their afflictions when they were most pressing, v. 6. God's anger endures for a moment, but he will gather his people when they think themselves neglected, will gather them out of their dispersions, that they may return in a body to their own land,—will gather them into his arms, to protect them, embrace them, and bear them up,—and will gather them at last to himself, will gather the wheat into the barn. He will have mercy on them. This supposes the turning away of his anger and the admitting of them again into his favour. God's gathering his people takes rise from his mercy, not any merit of others; and it is with great mercies (v. 7), with everlasting kindness, v. 8. The wrath is little, but the mercies are great; the wrath is for a moment, but the kindness everlasting. See how one is set over against the other, that we may neither despond under our afflictions nor despair of relief.

II. Look forward to future dangers, and in defiance of them God's favours to his people appear very constant, and his kindness everlasting; for it is formed into a covenant, here called a covenant of peace, because it is founded in reconciliation and is inclusive of all good. Now,

1. This is as firm as the covenant of providence. It is as the waters of Noah, that is, as that promise which was made concerning the deluge that there should never be the like again to disturb the course of summer and winter, seed-time and harvest, v. 9. God then contended with the world in great wrath, and for a full year, and yet at length returned in mercy, everlasting mercy; for he gave his word, which was as inviolable as his oath, that Noah's flood should never return, that he would never drown the world again; see Gen. viii. 21, 22; ix. 11. And God has ever since kept his word, though the world has been very provoking; and he will keep it to the end; for the world that now is is reserved unto fire. And thus inviolable is the covenant of grace: I have sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, as I have been, and rebuke thee, as I have done. He will not be so angry with them as to cast them off and break his covenant with them (Ps. lxxxix. 34), nor rebuke them as he has rebuked the heathen, to destroy them, and put out their name for ever and ever, Ps. ix. 5.

2. It is more firm than the strongest parts of the visible creation (v. 10): The mountains shall depart, which are called everlasting mountains, and the hills be removed, though they are called perpetual hills, Hab. iii. 6. Sooner shall they remove than God's covenant with his people be broken. Mountains have sometimes been shaken by earthquakes, and removed; but the promises of God were never broken by the shock of any event. The day will come when all the mountains shall depart and all the hills be removed, not only the tops of them covered, as they were by the waters of Noah, but the roots of them torn up; for the earth and all the works that are therein shall be burned up; but then the covenant of peace between God and believers shall continue in the everlasting bliss of all those who are the children of that covenant. Mountains and hills signify great men, men of bulk and figure. Do these mountains seem to support the skies (as Atlas) and bear them up? They shall depart and be removed. Creature-confidences shall fail us. In vain is salvation hoped for from those hills and mountains. But the firmament is firm, and answers to its name, when those who seem to prop it are gone. When our friends fail us our God does not, nor does his kindness depart? Do these mountains threaten, and seem to top the skies, and bid defiance to them, as Pelion and Ossa? Do the kings of the earth, and the rulers, set themselves against the Lord? They shall depart and be removed. Great mountains, that stand in the way of the salvation of the church, shall be made plain (Zech. iv. 7); but God's kindness shall never depart from his people, for whom he loves he loves to the end; nor shall the covenant of his peace ever be removed, for he is the Lord that has mercy on his people. Therefore the covenant is immovable and inviolable, because it is built not on our merit, which is a mutable uncertain thing, but on God's mercy, which is from everlasting to everlasting.

The Prosperity of the Church; The Prosperity of Zion. (b. c. 706.)

11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. 12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. 13 And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord ; and great shall be the peace of thy children. 14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. 15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. 16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord , and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord .

Very precious promises are here made to the church in her low condition, that God would not only continue his love to his people under their troubles as before, but that he would restore them to their former prosperity, nay, that he would raise them to greater prosperity than any they had yet enjoyed. In the foregoing chapter we had the humiliation and exaltation of Christ; here we have the humiliation and exaltation of the church; for, if we suffer with him, we shall reign with him. Observe,

I. The distressed state the church is here reduced to by the providence of God (v. 11): "O thou afflicted, poor, and indigent society, that art tossed with tempests, like a ship driven from her anchors by a storm and hurried into the ocean, where she is ready to be swallowed up by the waves, and in this condition not comforted by any compassionate friend that will sympathize with thee, or suggest to thee any encouraging considerations (Eccl. iv. 1), not comforted by any allay to thy trouble, or prospect of deliverance out of it." This was the condition of the Jews in Babylon, and afterwards, for a time, under Antiochus. It is often the condition of Christian churches and of particular believers; without are fightings, within are fears; they are like the disciples in a storm, ready to perish; and where is their faith?

II. The glorious state the church is here advanced to by the promise of God. God takes notice of the afflicted distressed state of his church, and comforts her, when she is most disconsolate and has no other comforter. Let the people of God, when they are afflicted and tossed, think they hear God speaking comfortably to them by these words, taking notice of their griefs and fears, what afflictions they are under, what distresses they are in, and what comforts their case calls for. When they bemoan themselves, God bemoans them, and speaks to them with pity: O thou afflicted, tossed with tempests, and not comforted; for in all their afflictions he is afflicted. But this is not all; he engages to raise her up out of her affliction, and encourages her with the assurance of the great things he would do for her, both for her prosperity and for the securing of that prosperity to her.

1. Whereas now she lay in disgrace, God promises that which would be her beauty and honour, which would make her easy to herself and amiable in the eyes of others.

(1.) This is here promised by a similitude taken from a city, and it is an apt similitude, for the church is the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. Whereas now Jerusalem lay in ruins, a heap of rubbish, it shall be not only rebuilt, but beautified, and appear more splendid than ever; the stones shall be laid not only firm, but fine, laid with fair colours; they shall be glistering stones, 1 Chron. xxix. 2. The foundations shall be laid or garnished with sapphires, the most precious of the precious stones here mentioned; for Christ (the church's foundation), and the foundation of the apostles and prophets, are precious above any thing else. The windows of this house, city, or temple, shall be made of agates, the gates of carbuncles, and all the borders (the walls that enclose the courts, or the boundaries by which her limits are marked, the mere-stones) shall be of pleasant stones, v. 12. Never was this literally true; but it intimates, [1.] That, God having graciously undertaken to build his church, we may expect that to be done for it, that to be wrought in it, which is very great and uncommon. [2.] That the glory of the New-Testament church shall far exceed that of the Jewish church, not in external pomp and splendour, but in those gifts and graces of the Spirit which are infinitely more valuable, that wisdom which is more precious than rubies (Prov. iii. 15), than the precious onyx and the sapphire, and which the topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal, Job xxviii. 16, 19. [3.] That the wealth of this world, and those things of it that are accounted most precious, shall be despised by all the true living members of the church, as having no value, no glory, in comparison with that which far excels. That which the children of this world lay up among their treasures, and too often in their hearts, the children of God make pavements of, and put under their feet, the fittest place of it.

(2.) It is here promised in the particular instances of those things that shall be the beauty and honour of the church, which are knowledge, holiness, and love, the very image of God, in which man was created, renewed, and restored. And these are the sapphires and carbuncles, the precious and pleasant stones, with which the gospel temple shall be enriched and beautified, and these wrought by the power and efficacy of those doctrines which the apostle compares to gold or silver, and precious stones, that are to be built upon the foundation, 1 Cor. iii. 12. Then the church is all glorious, [1.] When it is full of the knowledge of God, and that is promised here (v. 13): All thy children shall be taught of the Lord. The church's children, being born of God, shall be taught of God; being his children by adoption, he will take care of their education. It was promised (v. 1) that the church's children should be many; but lest we should think that being many, as sometimes it happens in numerous families, they will be neglected, and not have instruction given them so carefully as if they were but few, God here takes that work into his own hand: They shall all be taught of the Lord; and none teaches like him. First, It is a promise of the means of instruction and those means authorized by a divine institution: They shall all be taught of God, that is, they shall be taught by those whom God shall appoint and whose labours shall be under his direction and blessing. He will ordain the methods of instruction, and by his word and ordinances will diffuse a much greater light than the Old-Testament church had. Care shall be taken for the teaching of the church's children, that knowledge may be transmitted from generation to generation, and that all may be enriched with it, from the least even to the greatest. Secondly, It is a promise of the Spirit of illumination. Our Saviour quotes it with application to gospel grace, and makes it to have its accomplishment in all those that were brought to believe in him (John vi. 45): It is written in the prophets, They shall be all taught of God, whence he infers that those, and those only, come to him by faith that have heard and learned of the Father, that are taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, Eph. iv. 21. There shall be a plentiful effusion of the Spirit of grace upon Christians, to teach them all things, John xiv. 26. [2.] When the members of it live in love and unity among themselves: Great shall be the peace of thy children. Peace may be taken here for all good. As where no knowledge of God is no good can be expected, so those that are taught of God to know him are in a fair way to prosper for both worlds. Great peace have those that know and love God's law, Ps. cxix. 165. But it is often put for love and unity; and so we may take it. All that are taught of God are taught to love one another (1 Thess. iv. 9) and that will keep peace among the church's children and prevent their falling out by the way. [3.] When holiness reigns; for that above any thing is the beauty of the church (v. 14): In righteousness shall thou be established. The reformation of manners, the restoration of purity, the due administration of public justice, and the prevailing of honesty and fair dealing among men, are the strength and stability of any church or state. The kingdom of God, set up by the gospel of Christ, is not meat and drink, but this righteousness and peace, holiness and love.

2. Whereas now she lay in danger, God promises that which would be her protection and security.

(1.) God engages here that though, in the day of her distress, without were fightings and within were fears, now she shall be safe from both. [1.] There shall be no fears within (v. 14): "Thou shalt be far from oppression. Those that have oppressed thee shall be removed, those that would oppress thee shall be restrained, and therefore thou shalt not fear, but mayest look upon it as a thing at a great distance, that thou art now in no danger of. Thou shalt be far from terror, not only from evil, but from the fear of evil, for it shall not come near thee so as to do thee any hurt or to put thee in any fright." Note, Those are far from terror that are far from oppression; for it is as great a terror as can fall on a people to have the rod of government turned into the serpent of oppression, because against this there is no fence, nor is there any flight from it. [2.] There shall be no fightings without. Though attempts should be made upon them to insult them, to invade their country, or besiege their towns, they should all be in vain, and none of them succeed, v. 15. It is granted, "They shall surely gather together against thee; thou must expect it." The confederate force of hell and earth will be renewing their assaults. As long as there is a devil in hell, and a persecutor out of it, God's people must expect frequent alarms; but, First, God will not own them, will not give them either commission or countenance; they gather together, hand joins in hand, but it is not by me. God gave them no such order as he did to Sennacherib, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, ch. x. 6. And therefore, Secondly, Their attempt will end in their own ruin: "Whosoever shall gather together against thee, be they ever so many and ever so mighty, they shall not only be baffled, but they shall fall for thy sake, or they shall fall before thee, which shall be the just punishment of their enmity to thee." God will make them to fall for the sake of the love he bears to his church and the care he has of it, in answer to the prayers made by his people, and in pursuance of the promises made to them. "They shall fall, that thou mayest stand," Ps. xxvii. 2.

(2.) That we may with the greatest assurance depend upon God for the safety of his church, we have here, [1.] The power of God over the church's enemies asserted, v. 16. The truth is they have no power but what is given them from above, and he that gave them their power can limit and restrain them. Hitherto they shall go, and no further. First, They cannot carry on their design without arms and weapons of war; and the smith that makes those weapons is God's creature, and he gave him his skill to work in iron and brass (Exod. xxxi. 3, 4) and particularly to make proper instruments for warlike purposes. It is melancholy to think, as if men did not die fast enough of themselves, how ingenious and industrious they are to make instruments of death and to find out ways and means to kill one another. The smith blows the coals in the fire, to make his iron malleable, to soften it first, that it may be hardened into steel, and so he may bring forth an instrument proper for the work of those that seek to destroy. It is the iron age that is the age of war. But God has created the smith, and therefore can tie his hands, so that the project of the enemy shall miscarry (as many a project has done) for want of arms and ammunition. Or the smith that forges the weapons is perhaps put here for the council of war that forms the design, blows the coals of contention, and brings forth the plan of the war; these can do no more than God will let them. Secondly, They cannot carry it on without men, they must have soldiers, and it is God that created the waster to destroy. Military men value themselves upon their great offices and splendid titles, and even the common soldiers call themselves gentlemen; but God calls them wasters made to destroy, for wasting and destruction are their business. They think their own ingenuity, labour, and experience, made them soldiers; but it was God that created them, and gave them strength and spirit for that hazardous employment; and therefore he not only can restrain them, but will serve his own purposes and designs by them. [2.] The promise of God concerning the church's safety solemnly laid down, as the heritage of the servants of the Lord (v. 17), as that which they may depend upon and be confident of, that God will protect them from their adversaries both in camps and courts. First, From their field-adversaries, that think to destroy them by force and violence, and dint of sword: "No weapon that is formed against thee (though ever so artfully formed by the smith that blows the coals, v. 16, though ever so skilfully managed by the waster that seeks to destroy) shall prosper; it shall not prove strong enough to do any harm to the people of God; it shall miss its mark, shall fall out of the hand or perhaps recoil in the face of him that uses it against thee." It is the happiness of the church that no weapons formed against it shall prosper long, and therefore the folly of its enemies will at length be made manifest to all, for they are but preparing instruments of ruin for themselves. Secondly, From their law-adversaries, that think to run them down under colour of right and justice. When the weapons of war do not prosper there are tongues that rise in judgment. Both are included in the gates of hell, that seek to destroy the church; for they had their courts of justice, as well as their magazines and military stores, in their gates. The tongues that rise in judgment against the church are as such as either demand a dominion over it, as if God's children were their lawful captives, pretending an authority to oppress their consciences, or they are such as misrepresent them, and falsely accuse them, and by slanders and calumnies endeavour to make them odious to the people and obnoxious to the government. This the enemies of the Jews did, to incense the kings of Persia against them, Ezra iv. 12; Esth. iii. 8. "But these insulting threatening tongues thou shalt condemn; thou shalt have wherewith to answer their insolent demands, and to put to silence their malicious reflections. Thou shalt do it by well-doing (1 Pet. ii. 15), by doing that which will make thee manifest in the consciences even of thy adversaries, that thou art not what thou art represented to be. Thou shalt condemn them, that is, God shall condemn them for thee. He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, Ps. xxxvii. 6. Thou shalt condemn them as Noah condemned the old world that reproached him, by building the ark, and so saving his house, in contempt of their contempts." The day is coming when God will reckon with the wicked men for all their hard speeches which they have spoken against him, Jude 15.

The last words refer not only to this promise, but to all that go before: This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. God's servants are his sons, for he has provided an inheritance for them, rich, sure, and indefeasible. God's promises are their heritage for ever (Ps. cxix. 111); and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord. God will clear up the righteousness of their cause before men. It is with him, for he knows it; it is with him, for he will plead it. Or their reward for their righteousness, and for all that which they have suffered unrighteously, is of God, that God who judges in the earth, and with whom verily there is a reward for the righteous. Or their righteousness itself, all that in them which is good and right, is of God, who works it in them; it is of Christ who is made righteousness to them. In those for whom God designs a heritage hereafter he will work righteousness now.

CHAP. LIV.

Ver. 1. SIng O barren, thou that didſt not bear] O Church Chriſtian, O Jeruſalem that art above, the mother of us all, the purchaſe of Chriſts paſſion, chap. 53. to whom thou haſt been a bloody ſpouſe, Acts 20.28. an Acheldama or field of blood, 1 Pet. 1.18, 19. he hath paid dear for thy fruitfulneſſe. As the blood of beaſts applied to the roots of trees maketh them ſprout and bear more fruit: ſo doth the blood of Chriſt, ſprinckled on the roots of mens hearts, make them more fruitful Chriſtians: as it did the Gentiles whoſe hearts were purified by Faith, Acts 15.9. See Gal. 4.27. The corn of wheat that fell into the ground and died there, abode not alone, but brought forth much fruit, Joh. 12.44.

For more are the children of the deſolate] The Chriſtian Church, made up of Jews and Gentiles, ſhall have a more numerous and glorious off-ſpring then ever the Synagogue had: Sarah ſhall have more iſſue then Hagar, Hannah then Peninnah.

Ver. 2. Enlarge the place of thy tent] Thus he ſpeaketh after the cuſtom of thoſe Countries, wherein was frequent uſe of tents: neither is it without a myſtery, fith we are all ſtrangers in this world,Epiſt. ad Diog. neither have we here any continuing City. Juſtin Martyr ſaith of the Chriſtians of his time, that every ſtrange Land was to them a Country, and every Country a ſtrange Land: they looked upon themſelves as Citizens of the new Jeruſalem.

M. Fuller hiſt. of Cambridge. p. 28.Ver. 3. For thou ſhalt break forth] i. e. Bring forth abundantly, and beyond belief. Margaret Counteſſe of Henneberg, brough forth at a birth in Holland 365 children, one skul whereof I have ſeen, ſaith mine Author, no bigger then a bead or bean. The Church brought forth three thouſand at one birth, Acts 2.41. and ſome whole Nations at another, Iſa. 66.8. Rom. 10.18.

And thy ſeed ſhall inherit the Gentiles] Shall ſpiritually become Lords of the world, peopling it with a new and holy generation of ſuch as ſeek Gods Face: this is Jacob, Pſal. 24.6. This text the Jews and Millenaries carnally conſtrue.

Ver. 4. Fear not, for thou ſhalt not be aſhamed] As widdows and barren women wont to be. Thou haſt been without God and without Chriſt in the world: but henceforth thou ſhalt be married to him who is raiſed from the dead, that thou maiſt bring forth fruit unto God, Rom. 7.4. Ipſe enim quod vult jubet, Act. & M[illegible: 1 letter]n. 1490. & dat quod jubet. When you would and ſhould be certain and quiet in Conſcience (ſaith Mr. Bradford Martyr, in a ſweet letter of his to a woman troubled in mind) then ſhould your faith burſt through all things, until it come to Chriſt crucified, and the eternal ſweet mercies and goodneſſe of God in Chriſt. Here, here is the bridal-bed, here is you Spouſes reſting-place: creep into it, and in your armes of faith embrace him. Bewail your weakneſſe, your unworthineſſe, your diffidence, &c. and you ſhall ſee he will turn to you: what ſaid I you ſhall ſee? nay I ſhould have ſaid you ſhall feel he will turn to you.

Ver. 5. For thy Maker is thine husband] Heb. thy Makers, as Job 35.10. See the Note there. De ſancta Trinitate dictum, ſaith Junius. Mariti tui factores tui. Iſaac hath the name of the moſt loving husband we read of in holy Writ: but his love to Rebecca was not comparable to this of Chriſt to his Church, Epheſ. 5.25, 26. where I doubt not but the Apoſtle Paul had reſpect to this paſſage in Iſaiah.

The Lord of Hoſts is his name] Therefore thou his wife art ſure of Protection and proviſion, of all things neceſſary to life and godlineſſe: for he hateth putting away, Mal. 2.16. and will bear with more then any husband elſe would, Jer. 3.1. Joh. 13.1. Surely as the heaven is high above the earth, ſo great is his mercy toward them that fear him, Pſal. 103.11.

The God of the whole earth] Of the Church univerſal.

Ver. 6. For the Lord hath called thee] Or, recalled thee.

As a woman foſaken, grieved in spirit] Becauſe forſaken. This, the Lord, out of his conjugal affection, cannot endure.

And a wife of youth] Which can leaſt of all bear ſuch a rejection, as being in her prime, and likely to be longtime deſolate and diſconſolate. If the Church in this condition can but ſay (as that Dutcheſſe Douager of Millain once did) Sola facta ſolum Deum ſequor, he will ſay as Jer. 2.2. I remember thee, the kindneſſe of thy youth, the love of thine eſpouſals.

Ver. 7. For a ſmall moment have I forſaken thee] I have made thee believe ſo at leaſt, by ſuffering thee to fall into manifold temptations, Jam. 1.2. but for thy greateſt good, Heb. 12.11. as 1. For Probation. 2. For Prevention. 3. For Purgation. 4. For Preparation to mercy. And although it ſhould laſt as long as life, yet that were but for a moment: for what is life but a ſpot of time betwixt two eternities? And God therefore taketh liberty to do it, becauſe he hath ſuch an eternity of time to reveale his kindneſſe in; time enough for kiſſes and embraces. But uſually God taketh off the ſmarting plaiſter, as ſoon as it hath eaten away the proud fleſh.

But with great mercies] Heb. with great tender mercies, ſuch as the mother beareth towards the babe of her own body, 1 King. 3.16. Gods Mercies are more then maternal.

Will I gather thee] Or, take thee up, as Pſal. 27.10. See the Note there.

Ver. 8. In a little wrath] God can let forth his wrath in minnums, in little bubbles, as the word here rendered wrath properly ſignifieth. This wrath to the Saints, is but love displeaſed, and ſoon pacified again.

I hid my face from thee] God ſometimes concealeth his love out of increaſement of love: he departeth from us, but then turneth again and looketh through the chinkers (as that Martyr phraſed it) to ſee how we take it. Fathers leave their children (ſaith One) the other ſide the ſtile, and help them over when they cry: they ſeem to leave them ſometimes in a throng, and then reach them the hand again upon their complaint: So is it here. To ſay God hath caſt me off becauſe he hath hid his Face, is a fallacy fetcht out of the devils Topicks. When the Sun is eclipſed, fooliſh people may think it will never recover light: but wiſe men know it will. As, during the Eclipſe,Dr. Goodwin. though the earth wanteth the light of the Sun for a time, yet not the influence thereof: for the mettals that are ingendred in the bowels of the earth are concocted by the Sun at the ſame time: ſo doth Gods favour viſit mens hearts in the power, heat, and vigorous influence of his grace, when the light and comfort of it is intercluded.

But with everlaſting kindneſſe] See a like elegant Antitheſis with a double Hyperbole to boot, 2 Cor. 4.17.

Ver. 9. For this is as the waters of Noah] Gen. 9.9, 11,

For as I have ſworn] i. e. I have ſaid it: Gods Word is as good as his oath. See the like Exod. 32.13. with Gen. 12.7.

So have I ſworn] And given thee the Sacraments for thy confirmation, like as I gave him the Rainbow.

Ver. 10. For the mountains ſhall depart] See Mat. 24.35. Pſal. 46.2. with the Notes.

But my kindneſſe ſhall not depart from thee] This ſweet Promiſe comforted Olevian at the point of death; Although ſight, hearing, ſpeech depart from me, ſaid he, yet Gods loving-kindneſſe ſhall never depart. This was ſomewhat like that of David, Pſal. 73.26. my fleſh and my heart faileth: but God is the ſtrength of my heart, and my portion for ever.

Neither ſhall the Covenant of my peace] God is in a league with his people, offenſive and defenſive, ſuch as was that of Jehoſophat with Ahab: and this Covenant is an hive of heavenly honey.

Ver. 11. O thou afflicted, toſſed with tempeſt, and not comforted] This is the Churches ſtile and ſtate in this preſent life: Eccleſia eſt haeres crucis. Luth. None out of hell have ſuffered more than Saints.

Behold I will lay thy ſtones with fair colours] So that thou ſhalt be a City of pearl, having for thy foundation the Lord Chriſt, 1 Cor. 3.11. for thy windows, the holy Prophets,Dan. 12.3. Apoſtles and other faithful Preachers, by whoſe miniſtry thou ſhalt receive the light of true knowledge; and for thy walls and gates the divine protection. See Rev. 21.11.—21. All this is to be underſtood of the ſpiritual excellency of the Church, which is begun in this life, and to be perfected in the life to come.

And lay thy foundations with Saphirs] Confer Exod. 24.10. where Moſes and the Elders are ſaid to have ſeen the God of Iſrael; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a Saphir-ſtone, and as it were the body of heaven in its clearneſſe: To ſhew that God had now changed their condition, their brickes made in their bondage to Saphir, their lying and ſooting among the pots into the wings of a Dove covered with ſilver, and her feathers of pure gold, as Pſal. 68.13.

Ver. 12. And I will make thy windows of Agates] Or of Cryſtal, which is purus & durus.

And thy gates of Carbuncles] Which are of a flame-colour.

And all thy borders] That is, all thy bordering Cities, ſay the Rabbines: As Plutarch ſaith of the neighbour-villages of Rome, in Numa's time, that ſucking in the aire of that City they breathed righteouſneſſe, may be much better affirmed of the Church.

Ver. 13. And all thy children ſhall be taught of the Lord] Outwardly by his Word, inwardly by his Spirit: and here he explaineth that which he had ſpoken before concerning gemmes and jewels. The glory of the Church conſiſteth not in outward ſplendour, but in inward virtues and gifts of the Holy Ghoſt, which are found only in Gods Diſciples.

Ver. 14. In righteouſneſſe ſhalt thou be eſtabliſhed] Righteouſneſſe is here oppoſed to oppreſſion. Regiment without righteouſneſſe, is but robbery with authority.

For thou ſhalt not fear] Or, that thou mayſt not fear.

And from terrour] Tyranny is terrible.

For it ſhall not come near thee] See Pſal. 32.6. with the Note.

Ver. 15. Behold they ſhall ſurely (or ſedulouſly) gather together] Heb. He ſhall gathering gather together, [illegible: 2 letters]mmo[illegible: 1 letter]abun [illegible: 3 letters]. i. e. the enemies as one man. Some underſtand it of hereticks and hypocrites, who ſhall dwell together with the Church (ſo they render it) but ſhall be evil-affected toward it, but to their own ruine.

Whoſoever ſhall gather together againſt thee] Qui accolit tecum contra te. Such are thoſe Renegado Jeſuites, that run over to the Lutherans, pretending to be Converts, when it is only to keep up the bitter contention that is between them and us.

Ver. 16. Behold I have created the Smith that bloweth the Coales] i. e. The devil ſay ſome; rather his impes, and inſtruments, thoſe kindle-coales, and tooles of his.

And I have created the waſter to deſtroy] Thoſe brats of Abaddon: I have determined their evil-doings, over ruling the ſame, and directing them to a good end.

Ver. 17. No weapon that is formed againſt thee ſhall proſper] But ſhall be as the Poets fain of Aiax his ſword, which ſo long as he uſed againſt men, his enemies, ſerved for help and defence: but after he began to abuſe it to the hurt of hurtleſs beaſts, it turned into his own bowels.

And every tongue—thou ſhalt condemn] As the eclipſed Moon by keeping her motion, wades out of the ſhadow, and recovers her ſplendour, ſo ſhalt thou when ſlandered. See Pſal. 37.6. with the Note.

This is the heritage] Given them freely, and for perpetuity.

And their righteouſneſſe] The clearing up of their wronged innocency.