Matthew Poole and continuators on Isaiah 48

1. HEar ye this , O House of Jacob, which are called by the Name of Israel , and are come forth out of the waters of Judah : which swear by the Name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel , but not in Truth, nor in Righteousness .

What I am now going to say against thee, that thou mayest be assured, that that great deliverance, which I have determined and declared to give thee, is not for thy own sake, but for my names sake.

Which are Israelites in name, but not in Truth, as it follows.

From the linage of your Progenitor, Iudah, as waters flow from a Fountain, and as the Israelites are said to be of the Fountain of Israel, Psal. 68. 26. Compare also, Deut. 33. 28. Prov. 5. 15 &c.

Which profess the true Religion; one act of Religion being put for all.

Either in Oaths, or otherwise: that own him, and seem to glory in him as their God, and call themselves by his name.

Which are the two chief ingredients of a lawful oath, Ier. 4. 2. They are guilty of falshood and injustice both in oaths, and in their whole Conversation.

2. For they shall call themselves of the Holy City , and stay themselves upon the God of Israel, the LORD of Hosts is his Name .

Or, as others render it, and this particle frequently signifies, Though. And so this is added as a great aggravation of their want, and neglect of Truth and Righteousness.

They glory in this, that they are Citizens of Ierusalem, a City sanctified by God himself to be the onely place of his true worship, and gracious presence; which as it is a great priviledge, so it laid a great obligation upon them, to walk more holily than they did.

Not by a true and well-grounded Faith, but by a vain and presumptuous confidence, flattering themselves, as that people commonly did, that they should enjoy peace and safety, notwithstanding all their wickedness; because they were the Lords people, and had his Temple and Ordinances among them; which disposition the Prophets frequently observe, and sharply censure in them.

Or, Whose name is the Lord of Hosts.

3. I have declared the former things from the beginning , and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them, I did them suddenly, and they came to pass .

Those things which have formerly come to pass, which I punctually foretold from time to time before they came to pass: Whereby I gave you full proof of my godhead.

What my mouth foretold my hand effected.

4. Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy Neck is an Iron sinew , and thy brow brass .

Therefore I gave thee the more and clearer demonstrations of my divine nature and providence, because I knew thou wast an unbelieving and perverse Nation, that would not easily nor willingly be convinced.

Which will not bow down to receive my yoke, nor to obey my commands. It is a metaphor taken from untamed and stubborn cattel: of which see also Nehe. 9. 29. Zech. 7. 11. Act. 7. 51. The sence is, I considered that thou wast unteachable and incorrigible.

Thou wast impudent, and therefore wouldst boldly pretend, that thou didst forsake me, for want of full conviction of my divine Authority, and of thy duty: therefore I determined that I would leave thee without excuse.

Marginal references: Heb. hard.

5. I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee least thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them.

I foretold these things, that it might be evident, that they were the effects of my counsel, and not of thine Idols as I knew thou wast very inclinable to believe.

6. Thou hast heard, see all this , and will not ye declare it ? I have shewed thee new things from this time , even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.

As thou hast heard all these things from my mouth, from time to time, so now I advise thee to see, i. e. seriously to consider them, and to lay them to heart.

I call you to witness: must you not be forced to acknowledge the truth of what I say? Deny it if you can: Or, have ye not declared it unto all People as occasion required it? Have you not boasted unto the Gentiles of this as your Honour and Priviledge?

And I have now given thee new predictions of secret things, and such as till this time were wholly unknown to thee, as it follows, concerning thy deliverance out of Babylon by Cyrus.

7. They are created now , and not from the beginning , even before the day when thou heardest them not ; lest thou shouldest say, Behold I kn[illegible: 1+ letters]w them .

i. e. Revealed unto thee by me; brought to light, as things are by Creation. Things are frequently said to be made or done in Scripture, when they are declared or manifested, Iob. 5. 3. I cursed, i. e. I pronounced it cursed, Psal. 51. 4. That thou mightest be justified, i. e. declared and acknowledged to be just Hos. 5. 15. Till they acknowledge their offence; which in the Hebrew is, till they be guilty.

Heb. Not from thence, not from these antient times when other things were revealed unto thee.

Heb. and (or, or, as this particle is frequently used:) before this day, Such pronouns are oft understood, as we have seen: and this day answers to none in the first clause: and this clause seems to be added as an exposition of the next foregoing clause which is more general and ambiguous, not from then or before this day.

Heb. and thou didst not hear them, to wit, before this time in which God hath revealed them to thee by my Ministry.

Either by thine own sagacity: or by the help of thine Idols. The sence is, That it might appear, that thou hadst the knowledge of these things onely from me, who made known unto thee onely what, and when I pleased.

8. Yea thou heardest not, yea thou knewest not , yea from that time that thine ear was not opened : for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously , and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

The same thing is repeated again and again, because this was so illustrious a proof of the infinite power and providence of the God of Israel, and so clear and full a discovery of the vanity of Idols.

Heb. Yea from then (of which phrase see the foregoing verse) thine ear was not opened, i. e. thou didst not hear, to wit, from me: I did not reveal these things unto thee: for so this Phrase of opening the ear is understood, 1 Sam. 9. 15. 2 Sam. 7. 27.

I knew all these cautions were necessary to cure thine infidelity and Apostacy.

To wit, justly and truly: Or, thou wast indeed such a person, to be called put for to be as we have oft noted.

9. For my Names sake will I defer mine anger , and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.

And although thou dost justly deserve my hottest anger and most dreadful judgments, which also, if thou repentest not, I will in due time inflict, yet at present I will spare thee, and deliver thee out of Captivity, not for thy sake, be it known to thee, but meerly for my own sake, and for the vindication of my name and glory, as it follows, ver. 11.

That I may be praised and magnified for my Power, Faithfulness and Goodness, and other perfections.

To wit, mine anger; which is easily understood out of the forgoing clause.

10. Behold, I have refined thee , but not with silver , I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

Or, I will refine thee. Although I will not cut thee off, or utterly destroy thee, as I now said, yet I will put thee into the Furnace, not to consume thee, but to purifie thee from that dross which cleaveth to thee, and needs such afflictions to purge it away.

Or, not among Silver: Or, not as Silver, which is put into, and kept in the Furnace so long till all the dross he purged away from it. I will not deal so rigorously with thee; for then I should wholly consume thee: in judgment I will remember mercy.

Or, I will chuse thee: Or, I will yet chuse thee, as it is expressed Isa. 14. 1. Zech. 1. 17. Or, I will chuse thee again, as Zech. 2. 12. For it must be considered, that God had in a manner rejected Israel, when he sent them into Captivity, and given her a bill of divorce, as he saith, Ier. 3. 8. see also Isa. 50. 1. and therefore it was necessary that God should chuse this people a second time, that they might be betrothed to him again, as is expressed and promised, Hos. 2. 19, 20. This seems to me the true sence; although it may be thus understood, I will chuse thee, i. e. I will manifest by my carriage to thee that I have chosen thee: Or, that thou art my chosen People. Things being oft said to be done when they are manifested, as was observed on ver. 7.

Marginal references: Or, for sil[illegible: 1+ letters]er.

11. For mine own sake, even for my own sake will I do it ; for how should my Name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another .

This great work of delivering my People out of Babylon.

My Name is here fitly supplied both out of ver. 9. where it is expressed, and out of the following clause of this verse, where he saith, my glory, which is equivalent to it. The sence is, if I should not spare and deliver my People, my name would be sadly profaned and [illegible: 1 word], as if I were either impotent or implacable to them.

I will not give any colour or occasion to Idolaters, to ascribe the Divine Nature and Properties, which are my peculiar, unto Idols, as they would do if I did not rescue my People out of their hands in spight of their Idols.

Marginal references: Chap. 42. 8.

12. Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called ; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.

Who I have called out of the World to be my peculiar People, to serve, and glorify, and enjoy me, and therefore you of all others have least cause to forsake me, or to follow after Idols.

Marginal references: Chap. 41. 4. & 44. 6. Revel. 1. 17. and 22. 13.

13. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together .

Or, doth span, i. e. mete out the Heavens with a span, as the Phrase is, Isa. 40. 12. Although that be expressed there in other Hebrew words. Or, hath spread them out with its palm, or like a palm, when the hand is stretched out.

Either they stood up and arose out of nothing, when I commanded them to do [illegible: 1 word]: Or, they are still continually in readiness to execute my commands.

Marginal references: Or, the palm of my right hand hath spread out.

14. All ye assemble your selves and hear: which among them hath declared these things ? the LORD hath loved him : he will do his pleasure on Babylon , and his arm shall be on the Caldeans .

Ye Jews, to whom he addressed his speech, ver. 12. and continueth his speech, ver. 16. 17, &c.

I challenge you all to answer what I have said before and am now a going to say again.

Which of the Gods whom any of you have served or do still han[illegible: 1+ letters]er after?

To wit, Cyrus, who might easily be understood out of the foregoing context, in which he is frequently mentioned. The pronoun is put for the noun, as is usual both in Scripture and in other Authors. Now God loved Cyrus, not with a special, and everlasting, and complacential love, for he was an Heathen, and had some great Vices as well as Vertues, but with that general love and kindness, which God hath for all his Creatures, as is observed, Psal. 145. 9. and moreover with that particular kind of love, which God hath for such men as excel others in any Vertues, as Cyrus did; in which sence Christ loved the young man, Mark. 10. 21. and with a love of good will, and beneficence. God had such a kindness for him, as to make him a most glorious and victorious General and King, and the great instrument for the deliverance of his own People; which was a singular honour and advantage to him, and might have been far greater, and extended to the eternal Salvation of his soul, if he had not wanted an heart to use the price which God hereby put into his hand. And as anger being ascribed to God, is not meant of the affection, for such passions are inconsistent with the perfection of Gods nature, but of the effect; so the Love of God when it is applied in Scripture, to such Persons as Cyrus, is not so much to be understood of an inward affection, as of the outward effects of it; and so this Love is explained in the following Words, by that prosperous Success which God gave him against the Chaldeans.

Cyrus shall Execute all that I have appointed him to do for the Destruction of Babylon, and for the Redemption of my People; which was in it self a good Work: And therefore this is added, as the reason why God loved him.

He shall smite and subdue them.

15. I, even I have spoken, yea I have called him: I have brought him, and he shall make his way prosperous .

Both the foreknowledge and the execution of this great Atchievement cannot be ascribed to Idols, but to me onely.

God will give him good Success in this undertaking. Here is a sudden change of the Person, from I to he, which is very usual. Or, as others render it, he shall prosper in his way: the preposition in being most frequently understood.

16. Come ye near unto me ; hear ye this; I have not spoken in secret from the begining : from the time that it was▪ , there am I : and now the Lord GOD and his spirit hath sent me .

That you may the better hear me, as it follows. A Speech of God after the manner of Men.

I have not smothered the Counsel and Word of God, but have plainly and publickly declared it unto you: Or, I have openly Revealed my mind to you. See the Note on Isa. 45. 19. where these very Words are spoken by God in his own Name, as here by the Prophet in God's name; and so all comes to one.

Either 1. from the first time that I began to Prophecy until this time. Or 2. from the beginning of my taking you to be my People, and of revealing my Mind to you. See on Isa. 41. 26.

These Words also, as well as the former, are the Words, Either 1. of the Prophet; and so the Sence seems to be this, From the time that I was first called to be a Prophet, I have been there, i. e. I have diligently pursued my prophetical Function; I have hearkned from time to time, to hear what God would speak to me, that I might impart it to you: Or 2. of God; and then the Sence may be this, From the time that I first spoke of it, or foretold it, I am or was there, to take care to effect what I had foretold: I minded it carefully from that time, as being then more especially obliged to do it, lest my Truth or Power should be questioned. Or the Words may be thu[illegible: 1+ letters] rendred and explained, From the time that this shall be, when the time appointed for the doing of this Work shall come, there I will be, to encourage and [illegible: 1 word] Cyrus in the Work.

This is opposed to those foregoing Words, from the beginning.

God by his Spirit; or God, even the Spirit or the Holy Ghost, to whom the sending and inspiring of God's Prophets is ascribed. 2 Pet. 1. 21.

To wit, the Prophet Isaiah; who yet was a Type of Christ, and so this may have a Respect unto him also.

17. Thus saith the LORD thy Redeemer, the holy One of Israel▪ I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit , which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.

Which from time to time have made known unto thee, not vain and frivolous things, but all necessary and useful Doctrines; which, if believed and observed by thee, would have been infinitely profitable to thee, both for this life and that to come. So that it is not my fault, but thine own, if thou dost not profit.

Which acquainteth thee with thy Duty and Interest in all the parts and concerns of thy Life; so that thou canst not pretend ignorance.

18. O that thou hadst hearkened to my Commandements , then had thy peace been as a river , and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea .

The failure hath not been on my part, but on thine: I gave thee my Counsels and Commands, but thou hast neglected and disobeyed them, and that to thy own great disadvantage. Such wishes as these are not to be taken properly, as if God longed for something, which he gladly would but could not effect; or as if he wished that to be undone, which was irrecoverably past and done; which is a vain and foolish wish even in a Man; and much more are such wishes inconsistent with the infinite perfection and happiness of the divine Nature: but they are onely significations of God's good and holy Will, whereby he requires and loves Obedience, and condemns and hates Disobedience.

Which runs Sweetly, Strongly, Plentifully, and Constantly; and such had been thy Prosperity. Then thou hadst never gone into this Babylonish Captivity, nor needed such prodigies of my power and goodness to Deliver thee out of it.

Not properly so called (for he is not now speaking of their Vertues, but of their Priviledges) but thy Peace and Prosperity, as appears by the foregoing Clause, to which this manifestly answers; which is called Righteousness here, as it is also, 1 Sam. 12. 7. and Hos. 10. 12. and elsewhere, by a Metonymy, because it is the fruit of Righteousness both of God's Righteousness, and of Man's Righteousness; as by the very same figure, iniquity is very frequently put for the fruit and punishment of iniquity.

Infinite and continual.

19. Thy seed also had been as the sand , and the off-spring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof: his name should not have been cut off , nor destroyed from before me .

To wit, for multitude, according to my Promise made to Abraham: Whereas now I have, for thy Sins, made thee to know thy breach of Promise, as is said, Numb. 14. 34. and greatly diminished thy Numbers.

Which come out of thy Bowels, or Belly, or Loins; for all these are but various Expressions of the same thing.

Which is continued in a Man's Posterity, and commonly dies with them; and so the name here, is the same thing in effect with the seed and off-spring in the former Clauses, which, for the most part, are the onely memorialls of Men, and of their Names, when they are dead and gone.

As now it hath been in a great measure, and should have been totally and finally cut off, if I had not spared them for my own Names sake, as he said before.

Or, out of my sight, out of their own Land, the place of my special Presence and Residence.

20. Go ye forth of Babylon : flee ye from the Caldeans, with a voice of singing , declare ye , tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Iacob.

The imperative is here, as it is very frequently, put for the future, Ye shall go forth, &c. for this is not so much a command as a promise. Although this form of speech may be the rather used to intimate, That it was their duty to go forth, as well as God's promise to carry them forth.

With Joy and Songs of Praise to the Lord.

Publish God's wonderful Works on your behalf to all Nations.

Marginal references: Exod. 19. 4, 5, 6.

21. And they thirsted not when he led them through the desarts : he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out.

This is part of the matter which the Iews are obliged to declare to all People, as they have opportunity, to wit, That God took the same care of them in their return from Babylon to Canaan, which was through many dry and desert places, as he did in their march from Egypt to Canaan. They thirsted not, &c. i. e. They shall not Thirst. He speaks of things to come, as if they were already past or present, as the Prophets commonly do.

Marginal references: Exod. 17. 6. Num. 20. 11.

22. There is no peace saith the LORD, unto the wicked .

God having, in the next foregoing Verses, foretold that Peace and blessed Deliverance which he would certainly give to his servant Iacob, ver. 20. He here adds an explication and limitation of this Mercy; and declareth, That wicked Men should not enjoy the benefit of this Mercy. Where, by the wicked, he means, Either 1. the Babylonians, who well deserved that Title; who shall be destroyed, when God's Israel shall be delivered: Or rather 2. the unbelieving and ungodly Iews; of whom these very Words are used again, Isa. 57. 21. and to whom such a Denunciation as this, was far more proper and necessary, at least in this place, than to the Babylonians; for he had already said far more and worse things, than this concerning them, having again and again de[illegible: 1+ letters]ared, That Babylon should be destroyed, in order to this deliverance of God's People out of it. But there was great need why he should say this to the ungodly Iews, because they were exceeding prone to cry peace, peace to themselves, when there was no solid ground of Peace; and they confidently expected a share in this great Deliverance. This therefore was a very seasonable Caution to the Iews in Babylon, to take heed to themselves, and to prepare for this Mercy, and to purify themselves from all Wickedness; because those of them, who should either wickedly tarry in Babylon, when God invited and required them to go out of it; and when their Godly Brethren returned to their own Land, and to the place of God's Worship, or continue in Wickedness, when they were restored to their own Country, should not enjoy that Tranquillity and Comfort which they promised to themselves. And the necessity of this Commination appears from the event; for the Iews that returned to Canaan, did, for the most part, relapse to many of their former Sins, and therefore fell short of that Peace and Prosperity, which otherwise they might have enjoyed.

Marginal references: Chap. 52. 21.