ISAIAH 51 COMMENTARY

EDITED BY GLENN PEASE

Everlasting Salvation for Zion

1 Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness

and who seek the Lord:

Look to the rock from which you were cut

and to the quarry from which you were hewn;

1.BARNES, Hearken unto me - That is, to the God of their fathers, who now addresses them. They are regarded as in exile and bondage, and as desponding in regard to their prospects. In this situation, God, or perhaps more properly the Messiah (compare the notes at Isa. 1), is introduced as addressing them with the assurances of deliverance.

Ye that follow after righteousness - This is addressed evidently to those who sought to be righteous, and who truly feared the Lord. There was a portion of the nation that continued faithful to Yahweh. They still loved and worshipped him in exile, and they were anxiously looking for deliverance and for a return to their own land.

Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn - To Abraham the founder of the nation. The figure is taken from the act of quarrying stone for the purposes of building; and the essential idea here is, that God had formed the nation from the beginning, as a mason constructs a building; that he had, so to speak, taken the materials rough and unhewn from the very quarry; that he had shaped, and fitted them, and moulded them into an edifice. The idea is not that their origin was dishonorable or obscure. It is not that Abraham was not an honored ancestor, or that they should be ashamed of the founder of their nation. But the idea is, that God had had the entire moulding of the nation; that he had taken Abraham and Sarah from a distant land, and bad formed them into a great people and nation for his own purpose. The argument is, that he who had done this was able to raise them up from captivity, and make them again a great people. Probably allusion is made to this passage by the Saviour in Mat_3:9, where he says, For I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

The hole of the pit - The word rendered hole means such an excavation as men make who are taking stones from a quarry. It expresses substantially the same idea as the previous member of the verse. This language is sometimes addressed to Christians, with a view to produce humility by reminding them that they have been taken by God from a state of sin, and raised up, as it were, from a deep and dark pit of pollution. But this is not the sense of the passage, nor will it bear such an application. It may be used to denote that God has taken them, as stone is taken

from the quarry; that he found them in their natural state as unhewn blocks of marble are; that he has moulded and formed them by his own agency, and fitted them into his spiritual temple; and that they owe all the beauty and grace of their Christian deportment to him; that this is an argument to prove that he who had done so much for them as to transform them, so to speak, from rough and unsightly blocks to polished stones, fitted for his spiritual temple on earth, is able to keep them still, and to fit them for his temple above. Such is the argument in the passage before us; and such a use of it is, of course, perfectly legitimate and fair.

2. CLARKE, Ye that follow after righteousness - The people who, feeling the want of salvation, seek the Lord in order to be justified.

The rock - Abraham.

The hole of the pit - Sarah; as explained in Isa_51:2.

3. GILL, Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness,.... After having declared the doom of the wicked, and those that trust to their own righteousness, the Lord returns to them that fear him, whom he describes as such that "follow after righteousness"; not the righteousness of the law, it is the character of carnal Israel to follow after that; nor is that attainable in the way it is pursued by such; nor is there any justification by it; nor is following that consistent with seeking the Lord, in the next clause: but the righteousness of Christ is meant; not his essential righteousness as God; nor the righteousness of his office as Mediator; but that which consists of his active and passive obedience; of which he is the author and giver, and is in him as its subject: this is what is commonly called imputed righteousness, an evangelical one, the righteousness of faith, and is justifying: "following after" this supposes a want of one; a sense of that want; a view of this as out of themselves, and in another; a love and liking of it, and a vehement desire for it; and what determines to an eager pursuit of it are its perfection, suitableness, and use: now such persons are called to hearken to the Lord; to the Word of the Lord, as the Targum; to Christ, to his Gospel, and to his ordinances, particularly to what is after said: ye that seek the Lord: the Lord Christ, for life and salvation; for righteousness and strength; for more grace from him; a greater knowledge of him, and of doctrine from him, as the Targum; and more communion with him; that seek his honour and glory in the world, and to be for ever with him; who seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; that seek him where he may be found, affectionately and sincerely, carefully, diligently, constantly, and for everything they want: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn; which is in the next verse interpreted of Abraham; so called, not so much for the strength of his faith, as for his old age; when he looked like a hard dry rock, from whom no issue could be expected; and yet from hence a large number of stones were hewn, or a race of men sprung: and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged; that is, to Sarah, who was for a long time barren, whose womb was shut up, but afterwards opened; and from whom, as from a cistern, (to which a wife is sometimes compared, Pro_5:15) flowed the waters of Judah, Isa_48:1 or the Jewish nation. Jerom thinks Christ is meant by both, the Rock of ages, in whom is everlasting strength; to whom men are to look for salvation, righteousness, and strength; and out of whose

pierced side flowed blood and water: and in this sense he is followed by Cocceius, who interprets the rock of Christ, the Rock of salvation; out of whose side flowed the church, as out of the hole of a pit or cistern.

4. HENRY, Observe, 1. How the people of God are here described, to whom the word of this consolation is sent and who are called upon to hearken to it, Isa_51:1. They are such as follow after righteousness, such as are very desirous and solicitous both to be justified and to be sanctified, are pressing hard after this, to have the favour of God restored to them and the image of God renewed on them. These are those that seek the Lord, for it is only in the say of righteousness that we can seek him with any hope of finding him. 2. How they are here directed to look back to their original, and the smallness of their beginning: Look unto the rock whence you were hewn (the idolatrous family in Ur of the Chaldees, out of which Abraham was taken, the generation of slaves which the heads and fathers of their tribes were in Egypt); look unto the hole of the pit out of which you were digged, as clay, when God formed you into a people. Note, It is good for those that are privileged by a new birth to consider what they were by their first birth, how they were conceived in iniquity and shapen in sin. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. How hard was that rock out of which we were hewn, unapt to receive impressions, and how miserable the hole of that pit out of which we were digged! The consideration of this should fill us with low thoughts of ourselves and high thoughts of divine grace. Those that are now advanced would do well to remember how low they began (Isa_51:2):

5. JAMISON, Isa_51:1-23. Encouragement to the faithful remnant of Israel to trust in God for deliverance, both from their long Babylonian exile, and from their present dispersion. me the God of your fathers.

ye ... follow after righteousness the godly portion of the nation; Isa_51:7 shows this (Pro_15:9; 1Ti_6:11). Ye follow righteousness, seek it therefore from Me, who bring it near, and that a righteousness not about to be abolished (Isa_51:6, Isa_51:7); look to Abraham, your father (Isa_51:2), as a sample of how righteousness before Me is to be obtained; I, the same God who blessed him, will bless you at last (Isa_51:3); therefore trust in Me, and fear not mans opposition (Isa_51:7, Isa_51:8, Isa_51:12, Isa_51:13). The mistake of the Jews, heretofore, has been, not in that they followed after righteousness, but in that they followed it by the works of the law, instead of by faith, as Abraham did (Rom_9:31, Rom_9:32; Rom_10:3, Rom_10:4; Rom_4:2-5).

hole of ... pit The idea is not, as it is often quoted, the inculcation of humility, by reminding men of the fallen state from which they have been taken, but that as Abraham, the quarry, as it were (compare Isa_48:1), whence their nation was hewn, had been called out of a strange land to the inheritance of Canaan, and blessed by God, the same God is able to deliver and restore them also (compare Mat_3:9).

5B. MEYER, AWAKE, O ARM OF JEHOVAH!

Isa_51:1-11

This chapter is extremely dramatic. We are conscious that we are nearing a revelation of unparalleled sublimity. As we hear the thrice Hearken in Isa_1:1-8, and the thrice Awake, Isa_51:9, which follows, we realize that we are traversing the entrance portico of a noble temple. When God says, Hearken, it is for us to ask Him to fulfill-Awake!

Recall the loneliness of Abraham. He was but one! Terah died, Lot dropped away, Hagar was thrust out, Isaac was laid on the altar, but the fire that burned in his heart only grew brighter. Do not despair if you are alone in your stand for God. One acorn, when the life of Nature touches it, may become parent to a forest. These exiled Jews hardly dared to hope that they could escape from their foes. The air was heavy with their revilings, but compare Isa_51:8 with Isa_50:9. With such assurances we may face a world in arms. The forces of evil are strong, but God is stronger. The clouds threaten, but the sun is shining. Dont forget the Lord thy Maker, thy Redeemer, thy Father! He cannot fail or forsake!

6. BI 1-8, The thrice Hearken

These paragraphs are exceedingly dramatic. We become conscious that we are approaching a revelation of unparalleled sublimity which shall be in Scripture what heart or brain or eye is in the human body. And as we consider the thrice Hearken of this paragraph, and the thrice Awake of the succeeding one, we realize that we are entering the presence-chamber of the profoundest mysteries of love and redemption. The people, notwithstanding the promises of deliverance from exile and the summons to depart, seemed unable to believe that they were destined to become again a great nation, or that Zions wastes would be repaired! Already the Servant of Jehovah had sought to answer their anxious questionings, and reassure them by announcing a love that would not let them go. And in these words He betakes Himself to the same strain. He prefaces His words by the thrice-repeated Hearken, addressed to those that follow after righteousness in the first verse; and to those that know righteousness in the seventh. These are always the stages in the development of character: they that follow presently possess.

I. THE LESSONS OF RETROSPECT. It was for her encouragement that Israel was primarily directed to this retrospect. Let us recount the steps of Abrahams pruning, on which God lays stress in saying, When he was but one, I called him.

1. He stood alone. First, Terah died, after having started with him for the Land of Promise, emblem of those who in old age start on the pilgrimage of faith and hope, not too much tied by the conservatism of nature, or the traditions of the past. Then Lot dropped away, and went down to Sodom; and it must have been difficult for the old man, as he saw the retreating forms of his camp followers, to be wholly unmoved. Then Sarahs scheme miscarried, and Hagar was thrust from his tents with her child. Lastly, his Isaac was laid upon the altar. By successive strokes the shadows grew deeper and darker; and he stood alone, face to face with God and His purpose. But the fire that burned in his heart rose higher, shone brighter, and has ignited myriads with its flame.

2. His faith was sorely tried.

3. His history is the type of Gods dealings with men. Not once nor twice in the record of the Church the cause of truth has been entrusted to a tiny handful of defenders, who have deemed it forlorn or lost. Sir Walter Scotts picture of the apparently empty glen suddenly teeming with armed men at the sign of the chieftain has often had its counterpart in the great army which has arisen from the life, or words, or witness, of a single man. Art thou a cypher? but thou mayest have God in front of thee! Art thou but a narrow strait? yet the whole ocean of Godhead is waiting to pour through thee! The question is not what thou canst or canst not do, but what thou art willing for God to do.

II. THE IMPERISHABLENESS OF SPIRITUAL QUALITY. In the following verses there is a marvellous contrast between the material and the unmaterial, the temporal and the eternal. The gaze of the people is directed to the heavens above and the earth beneath. Those heavens seem stable enough. Yet they shall vanish like a puff of smoke borne down the wind. And as for the earth, it shall wax old. But amid the general wreck, spiritual qualities will remain imperishably the same. My salvation shall be for ever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished.

1. This shall be for ever true of God. God will be the same in His feelings and dealings towards us amid the crash of matter and the wreck of worlds as He is to-day. The Jews took great comfort in the thought of Gods unchangeableness.

2. This shall be for ever true of man. When we partake of Gods righteousness and assimilate it, we acquire a permanence which defies time and change. What a lesson is given in these words of the relative value of things!

III. THE IMPOTENCE OF MAN. These exiled Jews hardly dared to hope that they would be able to break away from their foes. To us, as to the exiles in Babylon, the Divine word comes, Fear ye not, neither be dismayed (Isa_51:7). The paragraph closes with an application of the word used by the great Servant of Himself. The moth shall eat them up, we heard Him saying to Himself; they shall all wax old as a garment (chap. 50:9). But now we are bidden to apply those same expressions to ourselves (Isa_51:8). With these assurances behind us, we may face a world in arms. Men may try to wear out the saints, but they must fail. (F. B. Meyer, B.A.)

A bright light in deep shades

The remembrance of Gods mercy in the past is helpful to us in many ways. Isaiah was led by the Spirit of God to admonish the Israelites to look back that they might be cheered and encouraged in a time of gloom and sadness, and that they might be animated with fresh confidence in Gods power to bring them up again from their sad condition, as they thought of all that He had done for them in times past, when they were equally low, or when, peradventure, they were even in a worse plight than they were at present. It is a great thing for people to be encouraged.

I. WE SHALL EXPOUND THE TEXT IN ITS APPLICATION TO ISRAEL LITERALLY. They are bidden to look back to the origin of their nation, in order that they may be comforted. Abraham was the stock out of which the nation of Israel came. Moreover, the man was well stricken in years. As for his wife, she also, it is said, was barren; and yet from these two, who seemed the least likely of all flesh and blood, God was pleased to create a people countless as the stars. Abraham was not a man in a commanding position, with large armies at his feet, who could make a show in the world. He was a dweller in tents, a Bedouin sheik, wandering through the plains of Palestine, yet was he never injured; for God had sent forth a secret mandate, which fell, though they knew it not, upon mens hearts. Now, the prophet turns to the Israelites, and says, You say God can never restore us, we have been thinned out by innumerable invasions, the sword of war hath slain the tribes, Judah and Israel can never rise again. But are there not more left of you than there were at first? There were but two, Abraham and Sarah, that bare you, and yet God made you a people. Can He not make you a people again? etc. The thoughts which would be awakened in the heart of a Jew by these reflections would be eminently consolatory. They ought to be consolatory to us now with regard to the Jewish people. We are encouraged from the very origin of Israel to hope that great things shall yet be done for her.

II. Our text may be used in reference to the CONDITION OF THE CHURCH OF GOD IN THE WORLD.

1. I know many of the people of God who scarcely dare look for brighter times, because they say the people of God are few. Was not the Church very small at the first? It could all be

contained in one upper room. Has it not been very small many times since then? But did not the Lord strengthen

His Church in the apostolic times? And, in the dark ages, how very speedily did the time of the singing of birds come! God had but to speak by His servant Luther, and brave men came to His side, and right soon His Church sprang up.

2. But, is it possible, you say, while the Church of God in these days possesses so few men of influence? Did not inspiration say, Not many great men after the flesh, not many mighty have been called, but God hath chosen the poor of this world? Do ye suppose that God has changed His plans, or that men s hearts have changed their bias?

3. But alas, saith one, I see grave cause for sorrow, for in these days many have departed from the faith, and truth lies in the streets bespattered. There have been eras and epochs in which gross heresies spread a contagion through the entire Church.

4. Again, I hear the voice of lamentation, It is not merely that error spreads in the land, but the Church is lukewarm in these times. The Church has: been in a like listless state before, and out of that languid condition God has roused her up and brought her forth.

5. There is a complaint made by some, and I fear there is some truth in it, that we have not many valiant ministers now-a-days. But, for all that, there have been periods in the Church s history when she lacked for men of valour, and God has found them. Why should He not find them again?

III. OUR TEXT MAY BE VIEWED AS INSTRUCTIVE TO OURSELVES. Our experience, varies. It sometimes happens to men who are truly saved, that they fall from the, condition which they occupied when they were in their first love. Your present condition is not what your past one was, and yet the Lord visited you when in your lost estate. There is the same God to-day as there was when first you sought Him.

IV. OUR TEXT MAY BE FITTINGLY USED TO ENCOURAGE OUR HOPE FOR OTHERS. Do you say of some sinner, I am afraid his is a hopeless case? look unto the rock whence you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged. Remember again, that that poor sinner whose soul you are going to seek is where the best and brightest of the saints were. And, recollect, that that sinner you are going to speak with is, to-day, where those that are in heaven once were. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The benefit of reflection

It is the duty, and will be for the benefit of every true servant of God, occasionally to reflect, with due seriousness, on his own original state, on the rise and progress of religion in his own soul, and of the experience which he has thus individually had of the Divine power, goodness and mercy.

I. THE PERSONS HERE ADDRESSED. Those who follow after righteousness and seek the Lord. How exactly does this description accord to the true people of God under the Christian Church?

II. THE EXHORTATION ADDRESSED TO THEM. Look unto the rock, ete. The meaning is obvious, Look back unto yourselves. Consider what you once were; in what a depth of misery you were originally sunk. Reflect on the natural hardness of your heart: on its insensibiliyt to spiritual things; on its dreadful alienation from God. See this state of things exemplified

1. In your original conversion to God.

2. In your subsequent conduct towards God. Since the time in which you first knew Him in truth, and gave yourself up to serve Him in the gospel of His Son, what has been the state of your heart, of its affections, its tempers, and its dispositions? Have all these been uniformly such as this surrender and profession imply and require? Application: Whet lessons do these reflections teach.

1. Humility and-self-abasement.

2. Patience, contentment and resignation.

3. The necessity of a continual dependence on Divine grace to work in you both to will and to do.

4. Hope and encouragement.

But the subject admits also of another less exclusive application. It furnishes one lesson of general importance: for it teaches ,as how holy and practical in its tendency is true, evangelical religion. (E. Cooper.)

Seeking souls directed

All the invitations and exhortations of the Word of God for spiritual blessings are accompanied with a description of character.

I. THE WORSHIPPERS DESCRIBED.

1. These characters who follow after and seek after must be spiritually alive. It would be strange to talk of a corpse in a churchyard following after or seeking any favours at our hands. As strange would it be to talk of a post in the street following after us, and pursuing us for the same purpose.

2. There is a stirring in the living persons that begins to render them somewhat conspicuous. Wherever there is this stirring inquiry, this dissatisfaction with self, and a stirring to be right for eternity, there is life Divine.

3. Then, there must be sincerity. Then shall ye find Me, when ye seek Me with your whole heart.

4. We will go on to notice their eager following after righteousness. It must be a righteousness that will justify. A righteousness that will sanctify. A righteousness that will glorify. It is imperishable.

5. Follow on to the next description of character. Ye that seek the Lord. Mark a few characteristics of these seekers. They seek Him privately. They seek Him in the place where His honour dwelleth. In His Word. Perseveringly. Seeking souls are well known in heaven, earth and hell.

II. THE EXHORTATION GIVEN. Look unto the rock, etc. (J. Irons.)

The Lords people

I. A DESCRIPTION OF THE LORDS PEOPLE. They follow after righteousness. If you ask what righteousness is, I call upon you to behold Jesus! He is righteousness. The Lords people follow after righteousness. They therefore follow Him. Far better for a man to strive to love Christ than to be trying to lay down certain rules of morality. They follow after righteousness. Does not this imply that they cannot find it in themselves? Some follow after righteousness in

fear. Others with many slips. The Lords people follow after righteousness with humility. They follow after righteousness in love. Willingly. Perseveringly. I saw a steamer on the canal drawing after it three large boats. The steamer contained its own motive power, but had there been an engine and boiler in each of those boats they also would have gone on to Liverpool urged on by inward strength. Well, we follow after righteousness, not because Christ has placed some band between Himself and us, but because He has Himself entered our hearts. Christ is the living and moving power in our souls.

II. A KINDLY REMEMBRANCE. The Lord speaks very kindly to those who seek but have not yet found Him. Many are seeking the Lord without a light. Some may seek the Lord in unbelief. Some in a wrong way.

Somebody else replies, Ah, sir, I have no spiritual life, such as I had once. Well, who gave it to you in days gone by? The Lord. And will He not restore it again?

III. A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT.

1. Is your soul cast down? Well, remember what God has done for you. Did He not hew you from the rock of the world?

2. If God has hewn us from the rock we ought to hope for all humanity. (W. Birch.)

Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn

Looking to beginnings

1. Look back to beginnings; look along the line from the beginning to the sensations of to-day. A man should have his whole self before him in making his forecast of the future. His whole self should be a Bible, chaptered and versed, well numbered and properly displayed, having its Genesis, and running straight on through prophecy and tragedy, and music and Gospel, into mysterious Apocalypse. You have expurgated this life Bible, killed the promises and Psalms, and have only failures left.

2. Take in all your life: if God has made so much of you, He can make still more. The miracle is not in the great umbrageous tree; it is in that little green blade that pierces the earth and looks like a thing that means to pray. It is not the universe, but the molecule, that is a miracle to me. Looking back at what we were, it is easy to believe and yearn to be more.

3. If God has made so much of you, he can make as much of others. Therefore, do not contemn any man. God shows us in cathedrals what can be done with all stones; He shows us in gardens what can be made of all waste places. I do not read that there are two rocks out of which men are dugone a very low and disreputable rock, and the other a very high and grand piece of masonry. We are all from the same rock and the same pit; we all have one Father, and we have all suffered the catastrophe of a common apostasy. Have pity upon those who are far behind.

4. Whence are ye hewndigged; not whence ye hewed, digged yourselves. Are you well educated? It is because others made the way plain and smooth. Are you successful? It is the Lord thy God giveth thee power to get wealth. How much you owe father, mother! As we rise, the account grows, and if God do not forgive us we are lost. (J. Parker, D.D.)

Comparisons

Comparisons are odious; comparisons are highly profitable. They are odious if prompted by malice or meanness. A genius who had risen to a seat in the Commons was reminded by a shallow aristocrat in the lobby that he had formerly been his servant. Well, retorted the man of talent, and did I not serve you well? Such comparisons are hateful; but they may also prove beneficial as promoting due humility and appreciative thankfulness. Take the case of Paul, who, though an apostle of very exceptional ability, would remind himself that he was the chief of sinners. As though he had said, Now, Paul, look unto the rock whence you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence you were digged. (W. J. Acomb.)

Spiritual statuary

It is doubtless serviceable for each of us, however devoted and pure, to be now and then presented with a photograph of our former selves. We can thus see what we should have remained if grace had not refined us. We can measure our growth and development. We can certainly better understand the obligations arising from improved conditions.

I. THE RETROSPECT THAT WAS RECOMMENDED to this godly remnant of Israel. In all ages have existed those to whom God could thus appeal. Their characteristics are ever the sameviz, the endeavour to live righteously and the instinctive craving for a fuller knowledge of God. Such were here bidden to recall the period when their great father, Abraham, had been separated from heathen surroundings, led, and instructed by the Divine Spirit till worthy of the appellation, Friend of God. The nation had been a stone cut out of the mountain without hands and fashioned into something like beauty and grace. In regard to individual stones, it would appear that the work of the Divine statuary is threefold

1. Detachment from the common mass of material. A stone has no ability to leap from its place. The quarryman must by pick and gunpowder and hammer set the granite free. There is grace at the outset, either in national or individual life. People need graciously saving. You have to be rescued, separated from the power of death, lifted from the sphere of human passion. To do this, various agencies are employedsome almost dynamic, others more gentle.

2. Moulding by religious education and attrition of association. Quarried stones need moulding, whether granite, limestone or freestone. Hammer and chisel must be applied. So, when detached must expect to submit to peculiar processes. Some stones necessitate great labour; others can easily be wrought to any form. Heaps of stones about and in every one an angel!only the angel requires to be modelled out, chiselled out, filed out. We cant see the angel; God can. None can be a holy person without pain. Salvation is not the deed of a moment, but is a gradual work, stage by stage, here a little and there a little.

3. Vivification of spiritual faculties by the Holy Ghost. Many of you have been extracted from the quarry and rough-hewn by Christian civilization; but you require the grandest thing of all, the breath of spiritual life. Like the child-delighting marionettes that are so skilfully moved by invisible machinery, but which have no appreciation of the part they play, you may be actuated by the forces of custom, or ambition, or fear, but remain dead to all sensations of a purely spiritual nature.

II. THE PURPOSES OF THE SUGGESTED RETROSPECTION. Judging from the context, the intention was

1. To promote humility.

2. To stimulate hopefulness.

We instinctively argue, If so much, why not more? God has always some better thing in store for us. Have we not a sure word of prophecy which declares that Christ is able to present each one of us faultless before the throne? (W. J. Acomb.)

Characters: unhewn and hewn

Shakespeare is given to present abstract ideas in concrete forms to suit the ordinary obtuse Englishman. Thus we understand Caliban. This low-type creature stands before us destitute of moral sense; his strongest motive to action fear of punishment; he hates unreasonably the best of beings; he luxuriates in grossest vice; his brain so feeble that he kneels to a drunkard. Now the national poet has contrasted this brute-man with Prospero, the refined courtier, the gentle father, the magnanimous Duke of Milan, thus exhibiting the diverse effects of Christian culture and heathen neglect. In one you behold the rough, angular, unhewn block; in the other the exquisitely moulded statue. To assimilate them, what a complicated miracle would be requisite! This is the mission of our Lord and Redeemer. (W. J. Acomb.)

Nature and grace

It is good for those that are privileged by a new birth to consider what they were by their first birth; how they were conceived in iniquity and shapen in sin. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. How hard was that rock out of which we were hewn, unapt to receive impressions; and how dirty the hole of the pit out of which we were digged! The consideration hereof should fill us with low thoughts of ourselves, and high thoughts of Divine grace. (M. Henry.)

A humble origin: John Bunyan

I was of a low and inconsiderable generation, my fathers house being of that rank that is meanest and most despised of all families in the land. I never went to school to Aristotle or Plato, but was brought up in my fathers house in a very mean condition, among a company of poor countrymen. Nevertheless, I bless God that by this door He brought me into the world to partake of the grace and life that is by Christ in His Gospel. This is the account given of himself and his origin by a man whose writings have for two centuries affected the spiritual opinions of the English race in every part of the world more powerfully than any book or books, except the Bible. (J. A. Froude.)

7. CALVIN, 1Hearken to me, ye that follow righteousness. The Prophet now exhorts the Jews not to

despair because they are few in number; for they had been cut down and diminished to such a degree

that they appeared to be on the eve of being reduced to nothing, while there was little or no hope of any

to succeed them. He therefore reminds them of their origin, that they may know that, though they are a

small remnant, God can increase and multiply them; and he bids them contemplate their father Abraham,

who, though he was a single individual, grew to a vast number, and received from God a numerous

posterity. Hence they might infer that God, who, in so short a period, had multiplied their fathers, would in

future multiply them also; because his power has not been diminished, and his will has not been

changed.

Look to the rock of your hewing. (21) Some are of opinion that Abraham is called a because, as Paul

declares, was strong in faith. (Rom_4:20.) Others assign a totally opposite meaning to this metaphor;

for they think that he is called a because he was worn out by age, and that Sarah is called

a Pit, because she was barren. But both, in my opinion, are in the wrong; for it is a simple metaphor,

taken from quarries, and declares that they have descended from Abraham and Sarah, as stones are cut

out of a and a Amidst the ruin of the nation it was highly necessary that the godly should be

supported by this doctrine and admonition. God had promised that the seed of Abraham should be the

stars of heaven, (Gen_15:5,) and as sand of the sea. (Gen_22:17.) This promise had apparently failed

amidst that desolation in which they who were left hardly differed at all from a few clusters when the

vintage was ended.

But since they had already known by experience how powerful was the strength of God to create a vast

people out of nothing, the Prophet bids them cherish favorable hopes, that they may not be ungrateful to

God; and he addresses his discourse directly to believers, to whom this was a sore temptation. He does

not speak to all, but to those only who could rely on the promise, that is, to those whom he calls of

righteousness; for the country abounded with unbelievers and hypocrites, who had formerly revolted

from the practice of piety; and so much the more laudable was the steadfastness of those who did not

cease to follow what was right. Wherever is practiced, there God is listened to; and wherever unbelief

reigns, reliance cannot be placed on any promise. (22) Although therefore they boasted that they were the

children of Abraham, yet all were not capable of receiving this doctrine.

Ye that seek Jehovah. He explains the method of righteousness to consist in the Lord; for they who

make an outward shew of and do not aim at this end, must have wandered during their whole life.

These two things, therefore, must be joined together; namely, the practice of righteousness and seeking

God.

(21) Regardez a la pierre dont vous avez este coupez. to the stone whence you were hewn.

(22) On ne sauroit recevoir promesse queleonque. promise whatever can be believed.

8. Charles Simeon, Isa_51:1-3. Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord:

look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and in the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto

Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and

increased him. For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her

wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord: joy and gladness shall be found therein,

thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

AN attention to the voice of God in his word would comfort us under all troubles, and keep us steadfast

amidst all the vicissitudes of life. God, anxious for the welfare of his people, has just before exhorted

them, when walking in darkness, to trust in him [Note: Isa_50:10.]. He now bids them bear in mind his

former mercies, and expect yet richer blessings at his hands, when the destined period of their captivity

shall have elapsed. Thus did God provide comfort for them against the day of their calamity; and the

same comfort is reserved for all his people in their seasons of darkness or affliction. To obtain the

consolation which the text is suited to convey, it will be proper to consider,

I. What God has done for us already

The description given of Gods people is sufficiently appropriate, and will distinguish them from all other

people upon earth. They seek the favour of the Lord, and follow after it with incessant care in the way

of righteousness. But,

They once had little prospect of ever attaining to the blessings they enjoy

[The Jewish nation was to descend from Abraham; but the promised seed was not given him till,

according to the course of nature, there was no probability that his family should be increased. There

was then little reason to expect that that nation ever should exist. Thus the people of God may look back

upon the time that they were lying as stones in a quarry, and as clay in a pit. How little prospect was

there then, that they should ever form a part of Gods spiritual building! They were as blind, as stupid, as

averse to God and holy exercises, as any people in the universe [Note: Rom_3:10-19; Rom_8:7.]. If they

ran not to the same excess of riot as others, they were restrained merely by the overruling providence of

God, and not by any hatred of sin which they had more than others.]

Yet they are now called and blessed of the Lord

[The descendants of Abraham rapidly increased, and in process of time formed a very numerous and

powerful nation. Who that beheld them at their departure from Egypt would have imagined that, only four

hundred years before, these two millions of people had no existence but in the loins of Abraham? And

who, that sees a person now following after righteousness, would imagine that he was once a

determined enemy to God, and had a nature as corrupt as any of his fellow-creatures? Let the saints

remember what they were, that they may see what great things the Lord has done for them: let them

walk softly all the days of their life under a sense of their former guilt; and stand amazed at the

goodness of their God, who has so distinguished them with his favour.]

Nor is this any thing more than an earnest of,

II. What he has engaged to do

As the Church at large, so every individual member of it may be in very afflictive circumstances

[The Jews were reduced to the greatest distress during their captivity in Babylon; and their once fertile

country was become a wilderness; nor could they remember Zion but with deep sorrow and regret. Thus

the people of God at this time may be brought into great tribulation. Through persecution or temptation

their sorrows may be enlarged, and their joys be turned into pain and anguish.]

But God promises to interpose for them in the time of need

[He repeatedly foretold that he would deliver his people from their Babylonish captivity; and restore them

with joy and triumph to their own land. This was a faint representation of what he would do for the true

seed of Abraham under the Christian dispensation. He will revive his people with spiritual consolations.

He will make their hearts, which now seem barren, or productive only of thorns, to be fruitful in every

good word and work. Paradise itself, before sin had deformed its beauty, was a just emblem of what the

soul shall be when God returns to visit it. The harp hung upon the willows shall be strung anew; joy and

gladness shall succeed to the effusions of sorrow, and the groans of contrition yield to thanksgivings

and the voice of melody. Let but the afflicted soul tarry the Lords leisure, and it shall surely experience

the wished-for deliverance.]

To encourage all to confide in this promise, let us consider,

III. In what respects the recollection of mercies received may strengthen our expectations of those that

are promised

Nothing could be more animating to the Jews in Babylon than the recollection of what God had done in

raising so flourishing a tree from the dead stock of Sarahs womb, and in continuing to water it for so

many centuries, notwithstanding the bad fruit it had continued to produce. Nor can any thing be more

consoling to us than a retrospective view of Gods dealings with us. In them we may behold,

1. His sovereign grace

[In every thing relative to the raising of the Jewish nation God displayed his sovereignty. And may we not

behold the same in his choice of us? Why did he hew us out of the quarry, while such a mass of stone,

equally fit for his purpose, was left behind? Why did he form us into vessels of honour, while so much of

the very same lump was left to form vessels of dishonour? Who shall deny the fact that such a selection

has been made? or Who shall say unto God, What doest thou? Shall any drooping saints then despond

because of their unworthiness? Let them remember, that, as God never chose them for their superior

worthiness, so he may still continue his favours towards them notwithstanding their unworthiness: his

grace is still his own as much as ever; and, if they do but lament their unworthiness and cast themselves

on his mercy, it shall still be glorified in their restoration and bliss.]

2. His almighty power

[As the Omnipotence of God was manifest in producing such a nation from two, whose bodies were as

good as dead, so is it no less visible in the quickening of those who are dead in sin, and forming an

host of living saints from those who were like dry bones scattered over the face of the earth. Can any

then, who have been quickened by grace, doubt whether God be able to preserve or restore them? Can

any thing appear to them too hard for God? Surely though their souls appear at present only like a

desert or a wilderness, they need not stagger at the promises of God; but yet may entertain the hope

that they may blossom as the rose, yea, that they shall put off their sackcloth, and gird them with

gladness.]

3. His unchanging faithfulness

[After God had promised to Abraham, he never would recede: though he delayed, he did not forget his

promise: and even when constrained to punish his people, he did not cast them off. Not even at this time

are they finally abandoned; but are preserved a distinct people, monuments of Gods faithfulness, and a

seed for a future harvest. And is not every saint a distinguished monument of Gods faithfulness? Would

any one stone of Gods building have withstood the shocks and tempests that have assaulted it, if God

himself had not interposed to keep it fixed on the foundation? Would not every vessel of his sanctuary

have been dashed in pieces times without number, if the potter himself had not averted the stroke, or

hardened us to endure it? Where is there a saint who is not a wonder to himself, a spark kept alive in the

midst of the ocean? Well then may the faithfulness we have already experienced confirm our hope, that

God will never leave us nor forsake us. And well may the most disconsolate of Gods people wait,

knowing in whom they have believed, and assuredly expecting the promised revival.]

Application

Let us hearken to the advice given us in the text:

1. Let us, both for our humiliation and comfort, review the dispensations of Gods providence and

grace towards us G

2. Let us, under our heaviest trials, look forward to the season when Gods promises shall receive

their final accomplishment G

2 look to Abraham, your father,

and to Sarah, who gave you birth.

When I called him he was only one man,

and I blessed him and made him many.

1.BARNES, Look unto Abraham - What was figuratively expressed in the former verse is here expressed literally. They were directed to remember that God had taken Abraham and Sarah from a distant land, and that from so humble a beginning he had increased them to a great nation. The argument is, that he was able to bless and increase the exile Jews, though comparatively feeble and few.

For I called him alone - Hebrew, For one I called him; that is, he was alone; there was but one, and he increased to a mighty nation. So Jerome, Quia unum vocavi eum. So the Septuagint,

hoti heis en - For he was one. The point of the declaration here is, that God had called one individual - Abraham - and that he had caused him to increase until a mighty nation had sprung from him, and that he had the same power to increase the little remnant that remained in Babylon until they should again become a mighty people.

2. CLARKE, I called him alone - As I have made out of one a great nation; so, although ye are brought low and minished, yet I can restore you to happiness, and greatly multiply your number.

3. GILL, Look unto Abraham your father,.... Not only the father of the Jewish nation, but of all them that believe: this explains what is meant by the rock, in the former verse, who is to be looked unto for imitation in the exercise of faith, and performance of duty, and for encouragement in distressed times and circumstances: and unto Sarah that bare you; signified by the pit or cistern; who was not only the mother of the Jewish nation; but such also are her daughters who do well, and tread in her steps: now the very unpromising circumstances these two persons were in, are proposed to be considered by the church in her present ones, for the encouragement of her faith; that as a numerous issue proceeded from them, so also should she become fruitful and multiply: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him; he was without issue when he was "called" out of Chaldea into another country, and also the only one of the family; and the Lord "blessed" him not only with flocks and herds, and gold and silver, but with a son in his old age; and so "increased" him, that there sprung from him as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand by the sea shore innumerable, Heb_11:12. The Septuagint and Arabic versions, between "blessed" and "increased", insert these words, "and I loved him", which are not in the Hebrew text. The Targum is, "and one was Abraham, alone in the world, and I brought him to my service, and I blessed him, and multiplied him.''

4. HENRY, Look unto Abraham your father, the father of all the faithful, of all that follow after the righteousness of faith as he did (Rom_4:11), and unto Sarah that bore you, and whose daughters you all are as long as you do well. Think how Abraham was called alone, and yet was blessed and multiplied; and let that encourage you to depend upon the promise of God even when a sentence of death seems to be upon all the means that lead to the performance of it. Particularly let it encourage the captives in Babylon, though they are reduced to a small number, and few of them left, to hope that yet they shall increase so as to replenish their own land again. When Jacob is very small, yet he is not so small as Abraham was, who yet became father of many nations. Look unto Abraham, and see what he got by trusting in the promise of God, and take example by him to follow God with an implicit faith

5. JAMISON, alone translate, I called him when he was but one (Eze_33:24). The argument is: the same God who had so blessed one individual, as to become a mighty nation (Gen_12:1; Gen_22:7), can also increase and bless the small remnant of Israel, both that left in the Babylonish captivity, and that left in the present and latter days (Zec_14:2); the residue (Isa_13:8, Isa_13:9).

6. DAVID THOMPSON, Look backward at what I have already done in the past. 51:2, 9,

10

In these verses there are three past memories God challenges Israel to think about:

Past Memory #1 - Look back to what I did with Abraham . 51:2

God basically says to Israel, those who want My righteousness and want to seek Me can be

comforted by thinking about your historical roots . Think about where you came from as a

nation. Look to your father, Abraham, and think for a moment what I did for him and

with him. God entered into a covenant relationship with Abraham when he was nothing.

He was a 75 year old man living in Haran when God first chose him. God promised that He

would make of him a great nation and bless him, but that birth process was painful for

Sarah, both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He was 100 years old and Sarah was

90 when God finally fulfilled His promise. Both Abraham and Sarah wondered if He ever

would give them a child, but in the end these two experienced the great blessings of God.

God blessed him and multiplied him.

All Abraham had to do was to believe God and totally trust in God. That was it. The only

thing God asked Him to do was to follow His Word and trust in Him. Abraham did and

God blessed him. Gods point to His people is look back on this and be comforted with this.

God says I chose one man (Abraham) just like I chose one nation (Israel). I am a God who

always fulfills My Word to those who place their faith in Me. I may not fulfill it instantly,

but I always fulfill what I said I would do eventually. Abraham proves that. All I ask you to

do is trust Me, be faithful to Me and My Word and I will bless you.

Past Memory #2 - Look back to what I did to Satan . 51:9

Notice the source of our strength, not from us but from the arm of the Lord. God says

put on strength by thinking back to what I did to Satan. Now Rahab was the name of a

person, but it was also a symbolic name applied to Egypt (Psalm 87:4; 89:10). By linking

this name to the crushing of the dragon, God is connecting this to Satan.

As I understand it, God is basically saying think back to what I did when Satan led Egypt

to try and destroy you in the days of old. I cut him to pieces .God says I have already dealt

Satan one death blow and so My people may be comforted by knowing that trusting in Me

is what will save them. My peoples strength is in My arms.

Past Memory #3 - Look back to what I did for Israel . 51:10

Gods people need to think back and remember how powerful God is. He can cut down any

power and He can remove any obstacle so Israel will be in her land. God dried up the sea

for Israel so they could escape from Egypt. This is a great memory for Israel to have. God

is capable of using the same kind of strength to permit Israel to return to her land again.

She needs to reflect on the past and see what God has done.

7. CALVIN, 2.For I called him alone. This application plainly shews what was the design of this

exhortation of the Prophet. It was to encourage the hearts of believers to cherish the hope of a better

condition. He says that he him one or alone, not only because he had none along with him, when he

was called out of his country, but because the Lord suffered him to dwell in the land of Canaan without

children up to a worn out old age, so that he had no hope of having children, especially because Sarah

(Gen_16:2) also was barren; and when at length, as a solace for their childless condition, one son was

given to them, not long afterwards he appeared to be led forth to slaughter. Yet the Lord increased and

enriched him with a great number of children.

How needful this consolation was to the Jews has been remarked by me a little before, and may be easily

learned from their condition, which history plainly declares to have been wretched and unhappy. To us

also, in the present day, amidst this distracted condition of the Church, it is highly necessary, that we may

not be discouraged because our number is small, and that we may hope that God will increase his

Church by unexpected methods. We behold a very clear and striking testimony of this in the blessing by

which the Lord increased, even to extreme old age, the posterity of Abraham, who was childless and

solitary. That promise relates not to the Jews only, but to other nations; and on this account also he

no longer called Abram, but Abraham.

(Gen_17:5.)

3 The Lord will surely comfort Zion

and will look with compassion on all her ruins;

he will make her deserts like Eden,

her wastelands like the garden of the Lord.

Joy and gladness will be found in her,

thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

1.BARNES, For the Lord shall comfort Zion - On the word Zion, see the notes at Isa_1:8. The meaning here is, that he would again restore it from its ruins. The argument is drawn from the statement in the previous verses. If God had raised up so great a nation from so humble all origin, he had power to restore the waste places of Judea to more than their former beauty and prosperity (see the notes at Isa_40:1).

And he will make her wilderness - Judea is here represented as lying waste. It is to be remembered that the time to which the prophet here refers is that of the captivity, and near its close. Of course, as that would have continued seventy years, in so long a period Judea would have become almost an extended wilderness, a wide waste. Any country, that was naturally as fertile as Judea, would in that time be overrun with briers, thorns, and underbrush, and even with a wild and luxuriant growth of the trees of the forest.

Like Eden - Gen. 2 Like a cultivated and fertile garden - distinguished not only for its fertility, but for its beauty and order.

Her desert like the garden of the Lord - Like the garden which the Lord planted

Gen_2:8. Septuagint, Hos paradeison kuriou - As the paradise of the Lord. The idea is. that it should be again distinguished for its beauty and fertility.

Joy and gladness - The sound of rejoicing and praise shall be again heard there, where are now heard the cries of wild beasts.

The voice of melody - Hebrew, A psalm The praises of God shall again be celebrated.

2. SPURGEON, "He will make her wilderness like Eden."

- Isaiah 51:3

Methinks, I see in vision a howling wilderness, a great and terrible desert, like to the Sahara. I

perceive nothing in it to relieve the eye, all around I am wearied with a vision of hot and arid sand,

strewn with ten thousand bleaching skeletons of wretched men who have expired in anguish, having

lost their way in the pitiless waste. What an appalling sight! How horrible! a sea of sand without a

bound, and without an oasis, a cheerless graveyard for a race forlorn! But behold and wonder! Upon a

sudden, upspringing from the scorching sand I see a plant of renown; and as it grows it buds, the bud

expands-it is a rose, and at its side a lily bows its modest head; and, miracle of miracles! as the

fragrance of those flowers is diffused the wilderness is transformed into a fruitful field, and all around

it blossoms exceedingly, the glory of Lebanon is given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon.

Call it not Sahara, call it Paradise. Speak not of it any longer as the valley of deathshade, for where

the skeletons lay bleaching in the sun, behold a resurrection is proclaimed, and up spring the dead, a

mighty army, full of life immortal. Jesus is that plant of renown, and his presence makes all things

new. Nor is the wonder less in each individual's salvation. Yonder I behold you, dear reader, cast out,

an infant, unswathed, unwashed, defiled with your own blood, left to be food for beasts of prey. But

lo, a jewel has been thrown into your bosom by a divine hand, and for its sake you have been pitied

and tended by divine providence, you are washed and cleansed from your defilement, you are adopted

into heaven's family, the fair seal of love is upon your forehead, and the ring of faithfulness is on your

hand-you are now a prince unto God, though once an orphan, cast away. O prize exceedingly the

matchless power and grace which changes deserts into gardens, and makes the barren heart to sing

for joy.

3. GILL, For the Lord shall comfort Zion,.... The church, by his Spirit, in the ministration of the word, and administration of ordinances; by the donation of the blessings of grace, and by

the application of Gospel promises; by the discoveries of his love; by granting his gracious presence; by blessing his word; and by calling many souls, and adding them to his people: and in order to engage the church and people of God to believe God will do this, and that he can and will bless and increase them when in a low estate, the above instances of calling Abraham alone, and the blessing and increasing him, are produced: he will comfort all her waste places; by rebuilding them, and restoring them to their former lustre and glory: the church may be said to be "waste" and desolate, and like "a wilderness" and "desert", as in the next clauses, when the doctrines of the Gospel are departed from, the ordinances of public worship are not attended to, and the discipline of it is not kept up; when there are great declensions among the Lord's people, in their faith, love, patience, forbearance, self-denial, spirituality, and heavenly mindedness; when divisions and animosities prevail among them; when there is a negligence in their lives and conversations; and there are but few instances of conversion, and a general unconcernedness about those things; but so it will not always be: and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; the church is a "garden", a small spot, in comparison of the world, distinguished and separated by the grace of God from others; in which are many precious souls, comparable to trees, herbs, and plants; and these do not grow up of themselves, but are planted there by the Lord; and much pains are taken by him, the husbandman, to cultivate this garden: for it is his, the garden of the Lord; it is of his planting; it is his property, and enclosed for his rise; it is an Eden, pleasantly situated on a fruitful hill, Christ Jesus, by the river of divine love; is full of pleasant plants, pleasant to the owner of the garden, and to the saints themselves; it becomes fruitful through the dews of divine grace, the rising of Christ, the sun of righteousness, and the blowing of the south wind, the blessed Spirit; and may be said to be in a very comfortable condition, when the word and ordinances are duly ministered; when the graces of the Spirit are in exercise, and many souls are converted: the consequence of which is, joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody; for the pure preaching of the Gospel; the feast of fat things made in the holy mountain; the presence of God enjoyed; a lively exercise of grace in the saints; and many souls born again. The Targum is, "joy and rejoicing shall be found in her; they that offer thanksgiving, and the voice of them that praise;'' all hearts filled with joy and gladness.

4. HENRY, . How they are here assured that their present seedness of tears should at length end in a harvest of joys, Isa_51:3. The church of God on earth, even the gospel Zion, has sometimes had her deserts and waste places, many parts of the church, through either corruption or persecution, made like a wilderness, unfruitful to God or uncomfortable to the inhabitants; but God will find out a time and way to comfort Zion, not only by speaking comfortably to her, but by acting graciously for her. God has comforts in store even for the waste places of his church, for those parts of it that seem not regarded or valued. (1.) He will make them fruitful, and so give them cause to rejoice; her wildernesses shall put on a new face, and look pleasant as Eden, and abound in all good fruits, as the garden of the Lord. Note, It is the greatest comfort of the church to be made serviceable to the glory of God, and to be as his garden in which he delights. (2.) He will make them cheerful, and so give them hearts to rejoice. With the fruits of righteousness, joy and gladness shall be found therein; for the more holiness men have, and the more good they do, the more gladness they have. And where there is

gladness, to their satisfaction, it is fit that there should be thanksgiving, to God's honour; for whatever is the matter of our rejoicing ought to be the matter of our thanksgiving; and the returns of God's favour ought to be celebrated with the voice of melody, which will be the more melodious when God gives songs in the night, songs in the desert.

5. JAMISON, For See for the argument, see on Isa_51:2.

the garden of the Lord restoration of the primeval paradise (Gen_2:8; Eze_28:13; Rev_2:7).

melody Hebrew, psalm. Gods praises shall again be heard.

6. COFFMAN, Isaiah 51:1-3

"Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek Jehovah: look unto the rock whence ye were hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye were digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you; for when he was but one I called him, and I blessed him, and made him many. For Jehovah hath comforted Zion; he hath comforted all her waste places, and hath made her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah; and joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody."

"Look unto the rock ..." (Isaiah 51:1). Actually, the meaning here is not merely a rock, as indicated by its being called "hole" in the next line. The passage "should be read, `Look unto the quarry whence ye were digged.'"[3] The comparison, of course, is a metaphor instructing faithful believers to look back to their ancestry, Abraham and Sarah.

The persons addressed in this paragraph are called Israelites; but it is obvious that only the "righteous remnant" are meant; and therefore the ultimate application of the passage extends to the Ideal Servant and his holy Church. This does not diminish either the need of the discouraged captives in Babylon for such marvelous encouragement as that given here, or its ultimate application to all the discouraged followers of the Messiah in future generations.

The purpose of the encouragement given here is, "To convince them of the certainty and permanence of the coming deliverance."[4]

"He was but one when I called him ..." (Isaiah 51:2). The point here, given for the encouragement of the captive remnant is simple enough. If God called Abraham when he was only one person, and a hundred years old at that, and his wife barren at the age of 90 years, yet, despite all that, did indeed make him a mighty nation as he had promised, why should the thousands of the "righteous remnant" have any doubt whatever that God indeed had the power to bless and multiply them, overthrow their enemies and pour out the blessings of heaven upon them that trusted him? Kelley also pointed out that, "The fact that the prophet addressed these words to them in the very land in which Abraham and Sarah had indeed received their first call gave added meaning to what is said here."[5]

Note that these sacred promises should be restricted to the "righteous remnant," despite the fact of their being identified as "posterity of Abraham" (which, of course, they were). That portion of rebellious Israel, however, that included sons of the devil such as Manasseh and the nation of blind and deaf hypocrites, most of whom remained in Babylon even after being commanded to leave, certainly never participated in

the consolation and blessing detailed in this passage. Of course, this remark is not intended as a judgment upon Manasseh following his repentance.

The promise in Isaiah 51:3 that God would comfort Zion means that he would intervene to rescue the "righteous remnant" and return them to Jerusalem.

"Ye that pursue righteousness ..." (Isaiah 51:1). This mark of identification eliminates all of the captives except the righteous remnant, the ones who would return. As to what the "pursuit of righteousness" actually meant, Lowth cautioned us that, "The word has a great latitude in meaning, signifying: justice, truth, faithfulness, goodness, mercy, deliverance, salvation, etc."[6] In this particular verse, Cheyne was sure that the meaning of the word was "fair dealing."[7] This may be correct, because a great many Jews by their unfair dealings became wealthy citizens of Babylon and refused to leave when the time came

7. CALVIN, 3.Surely Jehovah will comfort Zion. The Prophet shews that in the person of Abraham

there was exhibited an example which applies to all ages; for, as the Lord suddenly produced from one

man so numerous an offspring, so he will also people his Church by wonderful and unknown methods,

and not once only, but whenever she shall be thought to be childless and solitary. In like manner, Paul,

after having spoken of the faith of Abraham and praised his excellence, applies that doctrine to each of

us, that

believed in hope against hope, and that his mind was not driven hither and thither, but that he was fully

persuaded that what God had promised he was able also to perform, though it appeared to be incredible

and at variance with all reason.

(Rom_4:18.)

He will comfort all her desolations. This may be explained to mean, Lord will comfort his Church, not

only when she shall be in a flourishing condition, but likewise when she shall be desolate and reduced to

solitude; for she must have been laid desolate, and her frightful ruins must have brought her to the verge

of destruction, before she felt the aid which is here described.

And will make her desert like a place of delights. The Prophet here alludes to a passage in the writings of

Moses, in which he relates that man was at first placed in garden of Eden, (Gen_2:15,) that is, in

place of delights, from which he was driven out by his own fault. (Gen_3:24.) Now we, who have been

deprived of that blessing which he bestowed on our first parent, are exiles throughout the whole world,

and are deprived of that paradise. Accordingly, whenever great calamities happen, and the order of

events is overturned, and everything is thrown into wretched desolation and ruin, let us know that we are

punished for our unbelief and for our heinous sins; and let us remember that sentence which was

pronounced on our first parent, or rather on all mankind; and that in every part of life, but especially when

we see the condition of the Church ruined and overturned. The earth, which otherwise would abound in

blessings of every kind, has been reduced to solitude through our fault; and the Church, which would

flourish everywhere, has been ruined and laid desolate.

Joy and gladness. He means that the change shall be so great that the Church will no longer groan or

complain; for, so long as the Church was oppressed by a harsh captivity, nothing could be heard in her

but mouming and lamentation. Now restored, she shall rejoice and render thanksgiving to God. Thus we

are also exhorted to gratitude, that we may burst out into praise and thanksgiving to God, when we have

had experience of his goodness.

4 Listen to me, my people;

hear me, my nation:

Instruction will go out from me;

my justice will become a light to the nations.

1.BARNES, Hearken unto me, my people - Lowth reads this;

Attend unto me, O ye people, And give ear unto me, O ye nations.

The reason why he proposes this change is, that he supposes the address here is made to the Gentiles and not to the Jews, and in favor of the change he observes, that two manuscripts read

it in this manner. Gesenius (Commentary) says that three codices read ammiym

(peoples), instead of amiy (my people); and that thirteen MSS. read le'u0miym

(nations), instead of leu0miy (my nation). Noyes also has adopted this reading. But the authority is too slight to justify a change in the text. The Vulgate reads it in accordance with the present Hebrew text, and so substantially do the Septuagint. They render it, Hear me, hear me, my people, and ye kings, give ear unto me. It is not necessary to suppose any change in the text. The address is to the Jews; and the design is, to comfort them in view of the fact that the pagan would be brought to partake of the privileges and blessings of the true religion. They would not only be restored to their own land, but the true religion would be extended also to the distant nations of the earth. In view of this great and glorious truth, Yahweh calls on his people to hearken to him, and receive the glad announcement. It was a truth in which they were deeply interested, and to which they should therefore attend.

For a law shall proceed from me - The idea here is, that Yahweh would give law to the distant nations by the diffusion of the true religion.

And I will make my judgment to rest for a light - The word judgment here is equivalent to law, or statute, or to the institutions of the true religion. The word rendered here

to rest ( aregiya from ra0ga), Lowth renders, I will cause to break forth. Noyes renders it, I will establish. The Vulgate, Requiescet - Shall rest. The Septuagint renders it simply, My judgment for a light of the nation. The word properly means to make afraid, to terrify, to

restrain by threats; rendered divideth in Job_26:12; Isa_51:15; then, to be afraid, to shrink from fear, and hence, to be still, or quiet, as if cowering down from fear. Here it means that he would set firmly his law; he would place it so that it would be established and immovable.

2. CLARKE, By people - O my nation O ye peoples - O ye nations - For ammi,

my people, the Bodleian MS. and another read ammim, ye peoples; and for leumi, my nation, the Bodleian MS. and eight others, (two of them ancient), and four of De Rossis, read

leummim, ye nations; and so the Syriac in both words. The difference is very material; for in this case the address is made not to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, as in all reason it ought to be; for this and the two following verses express the call of the Gentiles, the islands, or the distant lands on the coasts of the Mediterranean and other seas. It is also to be observed that

God in no other place calls his people leummi, my nation. It has been before remarked that

transcribers frequently omitted the final mem of nouns plural, and supplied it, for brevitys

sake, and sometimes for want of room at the end of a line, by a small stroke thus /; which mark, being effaced or overlooked, has been the occasion of many mistakes of this kind.

A law shall proceed from me - The new law, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. Kimchi says, After the war with Gog and Magog the King Messiah will teach the people to walk in the ways of the Lord.

3. GILL, Hearken unto me, my people,.... His special people, whether Jews or Gentiles, chosen by him, taken into covenant with him; given to Christ, redeemed by him as a peculiar people, and called by his grace; these are exhorted to hearken to him; to his word, as the Targum; see Isa_51:1, and give ear unto me, O my nation; not the nation of the Jews only, but the Gentiles; a nation taken out of a nation, even out of all nations; a chosen and a holy nation. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it "kings"; such are made kings and priests unto God: see 1Pe_2:9, for a law shall proceed from me; not the Sinai law, but the Gospel; that doctrine that is said to go out of Zion, Isa_2:3, as Kimchi rightly observes, who adds, "for the King Messiah shall teach the people to walk in the ways of the Lord; and this shall be after the war of Gog and Magog:'' and this law or doctrine of God comes from Christ, and is dictated, directed, and made effectual by his Spirit: and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people; this is the same with the law, or doctrine of the Gospel, called "judgment", because it comes from the God of judgment, flows from his wisdom and counsel, and is a declaration of his will; it expands his method of justifying sinners, and is the means of awakening, convincing, and judging the consciences of men, and of informing and establishing the judgments of the saints, and by which the world will be judged at the last day. Now this is

for a light of the people; to enlighten unconverted ones, such who sit in darkness, to turn them from it, and call them out of it into marvellous light; and to illuminate the saints yet more and more, both with respect to doctrine and duty. And this is said to be made to "rest"; which denotes both the continuance of it in the world, until all the ends of it are answered; and the spiritual rest it gives to weary souls now, as well as points out to them that which remains for them hereafter. Though the words may be rendered, "I will cause my judgment to break forth" (h); like the morning, suddenly, and in a "moment" (i); to which agrees what follows.

4. HENRY, Both these proclamations, as I may call them, end alike with an assurance of the perpetuity of God's righteousness and his salvation; and therefore we put them together, both being designed for the comfort of God's people. Observe,

I. Who they are to whom this comfort belongs: My people, and my nation, that I have set apart for myself, that own me and are owned by me. Those are God's people and his nation who are subject to him as their King and their God, pay allegiance to him, and put themselves under his protection accordingly. They are a people who know righteousness, who not only have the means of knowledge, and to whom righteousness is made known, but who improve those means, and are able to form a right judgment of truth and falsehood, good and evil. And, as they have good heads, so they have good hearts, for they have the law of God in them, written and ruling there. Those God owns for his people in whose hearts his law is. Even those who know righteousness, and have the law of God in their hearts, may yet be in great distress and sorrow, and loaded with reproach and contempt; but their God will comfort them with the righteousness they know and the law they have in their hearts.

II. What the comfort is that belongs to God's people. 1. That the gospel of Christ shall be

preached and published to the world: A law shall proceed from me, an evangelical law, the law of Christ, the law of faith, Isa_2:3. This law is his judgment; for it is that law of liberty by which

the world shall be governed and judged. This shall not only go forth, but shall continue and rest,

it shall take firm footing and deep root in the world. It shall rest, not only for the benefit of the

Jews, who had the first notice of it, but for a light of the people of other nations. It is this law, this judgment, that we are required to hearken and give ear to, at our peril; for how shall we

escape if we neglect it and turn a deaf ear to it? When a law proceeds from God, he that has ears to hear, let him hear.

5. JAMISON, my people the Jews. This reading is better than that of Gesenius: O peoples ... nations, namely, the Gentiles. The Jews are called on to hear and rejoice in the extension of the true religion to the nations; for, at the first preaching of the Gospel, as in the final age to come, it was from Jerusalem that the gospel law was, and is, to go forth (Isa_2:3).

law ... judgment the gospel dispensation and institutions (Isa_42:1, judgment).

make ... to rest establish firmly; found.

light, etc. (Isa_42:6).

6. K&D, But the great work of the future extends far beyond the restoration of Israel, which becomes the source of salvation to all the world. Hearken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me, O my congregation! for instruction will go forth from me, and I make a place for my right, to be a light of the nations. My righteousness is near, my salvation is drawn out, and my

arms will judge nations: the hoping of the islands looks to me, and for mine arm is their

waiting. It is Israel which is here summoned to hearken to the promise introduced with k.

6 is only used here of Israel, like 9 in Zep_2:9; and the lxx (:;>) have quite misunderstood it. An address to the heathen would be quite out of harmony with the character

of the whole prophecy, which is carried out quite consistently throughout. and , therefore, are not plurals, as the Syriac supposes, although it cannot be disputed that it is a rare thing to meet with the plural form apocopated thus, after the form of the talmudic Aramaean; and see also at Psa_45:9). What Isa_42:1. describes as the calling of the servant of Jehovah, viz., to carry out justice among the nations, and to plant it on the earth, appears here as the act of

Jehovah; but, as a comparison of ? with BC (Isa_2:3) clearly shows, as the act of the God who is present in Israel, and works from Israel outwards. Out of Israel sprang the Saviour; out of Israel the apostleship; and when God shall have mercy upon Israel again, it will become to the

whole world of nations life from the dead. The thora0h referred to here is that of Sion, as

distinguished from that of Sinai, the gospel of redemption, and mishpa0t the new order of life in which Israel and the nations are united. Jehovah makes for this a place of rest, a firm standing-

place, from which its light to lighten the nations streams forth in all directions. 9 as in

Jer_31:2; Jer_50:34, from , in the sense of the Arabic rj, to return, to procure return,

entrance, and rest; a different word from in Isa_51:15, which signifies the very opposite, viz.,

to disturb, literally to throw into trembling. and , which occur in Isa_51:5, are synonyms throughout these prophecies. The meaning of the former is determined by the character of the thorah, which gives the knowledge of salvation (Luk_1:77), and with that the righteousness of God (Rom_1:17; cf., Isa_53:11). This righteousness is now upon the point of being revealed; this salvation has started on the way towards the fullest realization. The great mass of the nations fall under the judgment which the arms of Jehovah inflict, as they cast down to the ground on the right hand and on the left. When it is stated of the islands, therefore, that they hope for Jehovah, and wait for His arm, the reference is evidently to the remnant of the heathen nations, which outlives the judgment, and not only desires salvation, and is susceptible of it, but which actually receives salvation (compare the view given in Joh_11:52, which agrees with that of Isaiah, and which, in fact, is the biblical view generally, e.g., Joe_3:5). To these the saving arm (the singular only was suitable here; cf., Psa_16:11) now brings that salvation, towards which their longing was more or less consciously directed, and which satisfied their inmost need. Observe in Isa_51:5 the majestic and self-conscious movement of the rhythm, with the effective

tone of yeyachelu0n.

4B. COFFMAN, "This second strophe describes God's salvation as comprehending all mankind and as outlasting the heavens and the earth."[8] This analysis is certainly true, and therefore, we must question the use of the word "nation" here instead of "nations," the latter word meaning "Gentiles," and the former leaving the impression that the old fleshly nation of the Jews were God's chosen people. That was never the case. The chosen were then, and always, the persons of like faith and character of Abraham. Both Lowth and Adam Clarke who quoted him correctly rendered the word here "O my peoples." adding that, "The address here is not to Jews but to Gentiles."[9]

Two additional meanings of "righteousness" appear in Isaiah 51:4,5; it means "justice" in Isaiah 51:4, and "salvation" in Isaiah 51:5. "It means here the faithful completion of God's promise to deliver his people."[10]See also Footnote No. 6.

"Isaiah 51:6 here affirms that the heavens and the earth are less stable than God's Word; and Isaiah 51:7goes on to urge the exiles to trust God's promises, putting aside any fear of men who, after all, are far more transient than the material universe."[11] There are reflections of this passage (and of all of Isaiah) throughout the New Testament, especially in Hebrews 1:11.

"It is a justifiable conclusion from this paragraph that: Since all Christ-rejecting unbelievers are doomed to utter destruction, no believer should ever quail before the menace of the world or the hostility of ungodly men, whose plight is desperate, and their doom sure."[12]

7. CALVIN, 4.Attend to me, my people. There are good reasons why the Lord so frequently demands

that he shall be heard. We know by experience how slow we are to hear him, especially in adversity; and

even when we would have great need of consolation, we reject it by our impatience, and faint. Each of us,

therefore, the sorer are the afflictions which press upon him, ought to endeavor more earnestly to enlarge

his heart, and in this way to arouse himself, and to shake off his slothfulness, that he may receive

consolation. What is here demanded is attention, to sustain our hearts by patience, till the season of

grace be fully come.

For the law shall go forth from me. The meaning is, that the Lord will again reign, and will arouse his

Church to call on his name. Though the word Law is equivalent to the edict which God shall order to be

proclaimed, when he shall be pleased to gather his Church, yet at the same time he describes his manner

of reigning; namely, by his and byhis doctrine. Hence we see that wherever doctrine is rejected, God

government is not found, that is, is not recognised by men. Byjudgment he means the order and

administration of government, by which he shall restore his kingdom.

For a light of the peoples, He says that this will be a light of the peoples, because, when God begins to

reign, miserable men (23) are rescued from darkness and enlightened by the doctrine of the word.

I will reveal. This vero (argiang) is variously expounded by commentators, because (ragang)

has various significations. Sometimes it signifies to and and sometimes be at rest. Some therefore

explain it, will cause to rest, that is, will establish; and that meaning is not inappropriate. Most of the

Jewish writers explain it differently, but I shall not relate their crooked and harsh interpretations. I rather

approve of this translation, will manifest judgment, or, will cause judgment to break forth, or, which

means the same thing, will reveal; because I think that it agrees better with the former clause.

Repetitions, we know, are very customary among the Hebrew writers. Although, therefore, he employs

different words, still the meaning is the same. Having formerly said that law shall go forth from him, he

now says that will reveal judgment.

(23) Les hommes miserables de nature. who are by nature miserable.

5 My righteousness draws near speedily,

my salvation is on the way,

and my arm will bring justice to the nations.

The islands will look to me

and wait in hope for my arm.

1.BARNES, My righteousness is near - The word righteousness is used in a great variety of significations. Here it means, probably, the faithful completion of his promises to his people (Lowth).

My salvation is gone forth - The promise of salvation is gone forth, and already the execution of that purpose is commenced. He would soon deliver his people; he would at no distant period extend salvation to all nations.

And mine arm shall judge the people - That is, shall dispense judgment to them. The arm here is put for himself, as the arm is the instrument by which we execute our purposes (see the notes at Isa_51:9).

The isles shall wait upon me - The distant nations; the pagan lands (see the note at Isa_41:1). The idea is, that distant lands would become interested in the true religion, and acknowledge and worship the true God.

2. CLARKE, My righteousness is near - The word tsedek, righteousness, is used in such a great latitude of signification, for justice, truth, faithfulness, goodness, mercy, deliverance, salvation, etc., that it is not easy sometimes to give the precise meaning of it without much circumlocution; it means here the faithful completion of Gods promises to deliver his people.

3. GILL, My righteousness is near,.... These are either the words of God the Father, and to be understood not of his essential righteousness, nor of his vindictive justice; but of the

righteousness of his Son, which he calls his own, because he approves and accepts of it, imputes and reckons it to his people, and with it justifies them. The words may be rendered, "my righteous One", as in the Vulgate Latin version; not Cyrus, as Grotius; but Christ, God's righteous servant, who was near to come in the flesh, in order to work righteousness. Or these are the words of Christ, speaking of his own righteousness, which was near being wrought out by him, as it was when he became the end of the law for it, by obeying its precept, and bearing its penalty; and near being revealed in the Gospel, where it is revealed from faith to faith; and near being applied by the blessed Spirit, as it is to all that believe; and is near to be come at, and laid hold on, by faith: my salvation is gone forth: the "salvation" appointed by the Lord; provided in covenant; wrought out by Christ; applied by the Spirit; and fully enjoyed in heaven: this is "gone forth" in the purpose and decree of God, in prophecy and promise, and in the declaration of the Gospel: or, "my Saviour", as the Vulgate Latin version; the Saviour of God's appointing, providing, and sending. Or these are the words of the Saviour himself, who has wrought it out, in whom it is, and of whom it is to be had; it is done, and ready for sinners to look unto and embrace; it is ready to be revealed, and to be fully enjoyed: and mine arms shall judge the people; to whom the arm of the Lord is revealed, and the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation; both the arms of Christ are ready to receive them, and these protect and defend them, and judge, condemn, and destroy those that despise it: the isles shall wait upon me; upon Christ, for his coming; for his salvation and righteousness; for his Gospel, the truths, promises, and blessings of it; and in his house and ordinances, for his presence. This is a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles, even in the isles of the sea, those afar off, as ours of Great Britain and Ireland, in which there have been and are many waiting upon him: and on mine arm shall they trust; as on Christ, the arm of the Lord, for salvation; so on the power of Christ for protection and preservation; and on his promises in the Gospel, for their support; which is the arm of the Lord revealed unto them, and yields much support and comfort, and makes known that which is a proper object of trust.

4. HENRY, That this law and judgment shall bring with them righteousness and salvation, shall open a ready way to the children of men, that they may be justified and saved, Isa_51:5. These are called God's righteousness and his salvation, because of his contriving and bringing them about. The former is a righteo