The Arm of the LORD
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Scripture reading Isa 51:4-11
GI:
Scripture reading Isa 51:4-11
GI:
Kamala’s concession speech
In our nation we owe loyalty not to a president nor to a party but to the constitution of the united states, and loyalty to our conscience and to our God, my allegience to
Some swear by Yahweh but not in truth.
SI:
SI:
George Washington Quote on swearing oaths - without truth they are worthless,
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to
political prosperity, religion and morality are
indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim
the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert
these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest
props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere
politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect
and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their
connections with private and public felicity. Let it
simply be asked where is the security for property, for
reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation
desert the oaths, which are the instruments of
investigation in courts of justice? And let us with
caution indulge the supposition that morality can be
maintained without religion. Whatever may be
conceded to the influence of refined education on
minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience
both forbid us to expect that national morality can
prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
The necessity of faith and true belief for swearing to have any
There was a time when atheists couldn’t give testimony in court in this country, because they couldn’t swear by God, and if they swear not by God how can they be trusted?
Those who call themselves after the covenant of God, must walk faithfully to that covenant, because many claim outwardly to have a covenant with the Lord, but they do not have the root of the matter within them.
Purpose:
Purpose:
My purpose today is to talk continue our study of this great prophecy, we will see three more truths about the Lord’s relationship to His people.
PNP:
The Lord reveals Himself to His unworthy people, the Lord Redeems His unworthy people, and the Lord prospers His faithful people.
Review:
Review:
We are walking through Isaiah, 40-66
-This is one long excursis, one continual prophecy, some of the most principle points we’ve spoke of so far are these:
-Israel is to be comforted, her punishment is done.
-The Lord is coming to visit His people.
-The Lords Arm is going to rule for Him.
-A great and grand truth told is emphasized over and over again, is that the Lord is absolutely sovereignty over all creation, both in creating the world and in it’s constant governance:
-in establishing and deposing ruler.
-in rescuing the needy and afflicted, in renewing the strength of His people
-in breaking the wicked and proud, in the destruction of the babylonians, who stand in for all the enemies of God’s people.
-in good, and even in calamity, in the destructions and devastation of the world, He is sovereign.
-The Lord call the ends from the beginnings, perfectly always.
-He is God, and there is no one else.
-He gives a specific example of raising of Cyrus the conqueror, by name. And the specific details of Cyrus’ life and campain described in a way far any natural explanation.
- because of these things, those who trust in idols are fools.
-Continually throws down the gauntlet on false gods, which are the objects of worship of the pagan nations.
-On the basis of these things, God’s people are to believe in new things.
-He has called forth Israel, His chosen people, from the ends of the earth. He has constituted them as a nation, that they may know and believe that God is, and there is no other. They will be His witnesses. His conquerors, His servants.
-Yet, they fail. There is still the greater Servant, the Head of the Servant of the Lord,
-The Father promises His Servant that He will give Him to be a covenant to the world. We see this with later revelation as being a promise from the Father to the Son.
-who is given as a covenant with the world, for the salvation of the world - the salvation of the nations
-He is the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ,
-He will lead forth JUSTICE TO VICTORY, and the coastlands, the distant shores, will wait for His law.
43,
-We see prediction of latter day glory, of great outpouring of the Spirit of God on all flesh, on the dry places, and the sons of Israel will pop up all over. They will write Yahweh on themselves and call upon the name of Jacob with reverence.
-Yahweh has redeemed Israel, and no other nation. This is stated, and then immediatly shown afterward that God has called forth His sons and daughts from the east and the west,
He has brought them together, and has gathered them, He challenges them out of their ignorance, and reveals Himself to them, that they would be Israel, His people.
**read 43:5-10**
You see Israel constituted as a nation gathered together, for the purpose of them knowing and believing that God is He. He is. He does not change.
He cannot be resisted!
And He does not remember the sins of His people.
He promises that the plunder of the nations will be given to His people,
That the gentile nations will come and bow down toward them and know that God is with them,
A promise which Jesus takes and applies to a little Gentile church congregation, that the Jews persecuting who are really not Jews, they will come and bow down before them and know that God has loved them.
The Lord declares in 45 that He created the world to be inhabited, that He has made Himself available to the world.
He culminates with the command to all the world, to be saved! For unto Jesus Christ, every knee will bow.
Every knee, the ends of the earth will say “Only in Yahweh have they righteousness and strength,” the men will come to Him from a far, and thus in Yahweh shall all the seed of Israel be justified and boast.
-I believe we have seen very repeatedly that Israel is identified with those whom God has called. Those whom God calls and brings from the ends of the earth.
46
-Yahweh carries His people, while the idols are carried off. - the absolute lameness of the idols
-fallen and can’t get up.
-He firmly establishes His counsels,
-He brings His rightousness from afar upon His people.
-He bestows His glory on His people in Zion and because of that Israel radiates His glory.
Then we saw last month that
the Lord throws down Babylon,
That the Lord brings evil upon Babylon
That the Lord burns Babylon
PNP:
PNP:
The Lord reveals Himself to His unworthy people, the Lord Redeems His unworthy people, and the Lord prospers His faithful people.
Although Israel is God’s chosen and peculiar people, he is in himself unworthy of the honour and unfaithful to the trust, vers. 1, 2. Former predictions had been uttered expressly to prevent his ascribing the event to other gods, vers. 3–5. For the same reason new predictions will be uttered now, of events which have never been distinctly foretold, vers. 6–8. God’s continued favour to his people has no reference to merit upon their part, but is the fruit of his own sovereign, mercy, and intended to promote his own, designs, vers. 9–11. He again asserts his own exclusive deity, as proved by the creation of the world, by the prediction of events still future, and especially by the raising up of Cyrus, as a promised instrument to execute his purpose, vers. 12–16. The sufferings of Israel are the fruit of his own sin, but his prosperity and glory, of God’s sovereign grace, vers. 17–19. The book closes as it opened with a promise of deliverance from exile, accompanied, in this case, by a solemn limitation of the promise to its proper objects, vers. 20–22.
The Lord reveals Himself to His unworthy people (1-11)
The Lord reveals Himself to His unworthy people (1-11)
His Acting
His Acting
1 “Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name Israel And who came forth from the loins of Judah, Who swear by the name of Yahweh And bring to remembrance the God of Israel, But not in truth or in righteousness.
Judah of course being where the name Jew comes from,
and this name, though designated one tribe, overtime became a name for all of God’s chosen people, His ancient church. Judah was always planned to have preeminenece. God promised to raise up the deliever out of Judah.
10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
They Swear by God’s name, they publically acknowledge God’s authority, and their own covenant relationship to Him. They bring to rememberance the true God, but not in truth. They don’t do it with sincerity, with genuine faith, with purity or uprightness.
The Lord here is designating and reminding Israel of their lack of merit, that they are altogether unworthy of their election, and that they were broughtforth and called because of God’s own purpose, which has already been seen in this book, and we will see more of later in this chaptrer.
2 “For they call themselves after the holy city And are supported by the God of Israel; Yahweh of hosts is His name.
The Holy City, is Jerusalem, which is the place which God set for Himself to have a peculiar presence.
The Lord is addressing God’s peculiar people, who are unworthy, they lack merit, they are iniquitous, but they are also the covenant people of God,
This applies to the church again in that we are unworthy people, even at large the church often very sinful, even though the Church has the blessing of a greater strength of regeneration in this age, but she often fails and does not live up to her calling, nevertheless she still is the covenanted people of God and God honors His covenant.
Despite the failings and shortcomings of man, God still honors his covenant.
The old covenant was much more external than the new.
In the new coveannt the promise is that all who are in the covenant, are really in the covenant. You could be in the old coveant and not be saved,
There are certainly covenant breakers now still, who appear to be in the covenant but do not have the root of the matter within them and they fall asway. There are those who think they are in the covenant but are not, and this is known by their lawless deeds.
With this said, it is still true, that despite the church’s failings, God is still faithful to His promise, and HIs promise a regenerated people and a regenerated world.
3 “I declared the former things long ago, And they went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to be heard. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
The Lord declared from long ago His prophecies, He made them heard, and known, and the they took place, and then God acted, and these things came to pass.
Remark here on the order of fulfilled prophecy, God declares it, and then God acts to bring it to pass. It is an anathama thought that God’s prophecy is based on Him foreseeing and responding. That He looks and sees things, and they as a response, declares what is going to come pass.
-He speaks it, He acts it, He brings it about.
God did this for a purpose which about to be told us.
4 “Because I know that you are stiff, And your neck is an iron sinew And your forehead bronze,
They do not submit to the truth, their neck is iron, and their forehead bronze. They do not submit to the truth but are stubborn in their rebellion. They are hardharted, they have to be disciplined and chastized many times. They are obstinant.
-Let this not be you, do not be hardened by the instruction of the Lord, but seek to take every matter to a soft heart.
5 Therefore I declared them to you long ago, Before they happened I caused them to be heard by you, Lest you say, ‘My idol has done them, And my graven image and my molten image have commanded them.’
God declared enough, sufficient that the people would not be able to credit their dumb idols with the results and the events which ocurred.
6 “You have heard; look at all this. And you, will you not declare it? I caused you to hear new things from this time, Even hidden things which you have not known.
The results of God’s prophetic power are given, they are undeniable. Will you still be stiffnecked. This “will you not declare it” i believer is a another challegnge to the idols in the same way we saw in 41, just abreviated.
22 Let them bring it forth and declare to us what is going to take place; As for the former events, declare what they were, That we may establish our heart on them and know their outcome. Or cause us to hear of what is coming;
23 Declare the things that are to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.
The Lord has caused His people to hear these things, and now He is causing them to hear NEW things, hidden things which have not been known. Which hereunto, there has been no mention. The Lord is going to give new prophecy.
7 “They are created now and not long ago; And before today you have not heard them, Lest you say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’
So He is creating these things to prevent a pride of them and that they would have any way of saying that they knew of these things
8 “Indeed, you have not heard; indeed, you have not known. Indeed, even from long ago your ear has not been open Because I knew that you would deal very treacherously; And you have been called a transgressor from the womb.
So these new things, they have not known, from long ago their ear hasn’t been opened to them, and the reason which God did this is because knew they would abuse this knowledge, they would deal treacherously with Him, they been unfaithful treacherous and oathbreakers from the womb, so God in His wisdom hid these things from them.
They knew certain things from of old, so that they could not attribute the prophetic fulfillment to their idols,
but other things they are learning of now, because they would wickedly abuse the knowledge, and God hid it from them because they were treacherous.
In His wisdom, He waited to reveal specific things to them, due to their habitual apostacy.
-Are you worthy of God revealing more truth to you?
-not in dreams and vision, but a greater and deeper understanding of the revealed word of God?
-Do you obey what you already know, do you cherish what He has already told you.
9 “For the sake of My name I delay My anger, And for My praise I restrain it for you, In order not to cut you off.
For the sake of God’s character, His attributes,
His name is treated like Himself, His name is His fame:
Josh 9:9
9 They said to him, “Your servants have come from a very far country because of the fame of Yahweh your God; for we have heard the report of Him and all that He did in Egypt,
16 “But, indeed, for this reason I have caused you to stand, in order to show you My power and in order to recount My name through all the earth.
And His name is to be praised:
2 I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.
God’s name is what we call upon for our salvation according to Rom 10, and in acts, as you may know, it is said that there is no other Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
So God’s name is very important.
For the sake of His reputation, the revelation of HIs attributes to the world,
For the sake of His name, He has not cut off His chosen people.
This is similar to Moses’ Intercession:
10 And all the people would see the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent. And all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent.
11 Thus Yahweh used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, and his attendant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.
12 Then Moses said to Yahweh, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’
13 “So now, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. See also, that this nation is Your people.”
14 And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.”
His Refining
His Refining
10 “Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
The Lord has brought about afflictions not them for refinement!
10 but not as silver, - not as pure metal, it is a remark which refers to their lack of merit. He refined them, but they are not precious and pure metal. it expresses their lack of merit. he has refined them, but they are not as precious metal as a result of the process.
-the purpose of trials for refinement, as discipline, prevention, and teaching.
-he has proved and tried thee, he has purified them,
verse 10 should be chosen, not tried. God has chosen them in the furnance of affliction, which I believe refferes to Egypet. God elected and chose them not as being precious and valuable, but when they were at their lowest.
I have found no merit in thee, and have chosen thee in the extreme of degradation and affliction. If the furnace of affliction was designed to have a distinct historical meaning, it probably refers not to Babylon, but Egypt, which is repeatedly called an iron furnace. This would agree exactly with the representations elsewhere made respecting the election of Israel in Egypt.
11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.
Again, we see that is not for anything other that His own purse and reasons that He acts. How can His name be profaned? How can He be distained, He will show His power in the earth, and He will not give His glory to another.
He will save Israel, He will save the world, He will save by grace, that none may boast. He gives not His glory to any other. There is no other Mediator, no other Savior, just Yahweh our God, Father Son and Spirit
The Lord Redeems His unworthy People (12-16)
The Lord Redeems His unworthy People (12-16)
His Call
His Call
12 - My called one
12 “Hear Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.
He is bringing another declaration:
We have a nice Triade, three fold declaration. Some early commentators saw a subtle reference to the Trinity here, which there may be something to, maybe not. But in this context it may make sense, as you will see soon.
13 “Also, My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together.
His hand, His right hand. (Who is at the right of God?) Our Lord sits at His right hand as the Christ. And through Christ all things were created,
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
He founded the earth and spread them out, the first two are past action,
but the call: this is not a past and completed action, but a present and continuous actions.
17 And He is before all things, And in Him all things hold together.
He is before all things, and He sustains all things:
He is constantly sending forth His power to sustain all things.
His Arm
His Arm
No I’m going to make an argument, which is not very common in understanding concerning the interpretation of this seciton, but I believe it’s accurate, and I will defend it to you, and you can take it or leave it. But I believe it’s solid.
My argument is that the Arm of the Lord specifically should be concevied of as the second person of the Trinity. That God’s Arm, at least in Isaiah, needs to be thought of as personified, and to be the eternal Son of God, the word of God.
Preincarnate Christ.
Recall,
Isa 40:10
10 Behold, Lord Yahweh will come with strength, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him.
God is coming with His Arm ruling for Him. His arm is ruling to shepherd His flock and gather the lambs into His Arm.
Ok, interesting,
5 “My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples; The coastlands will hope in Me, And for My arm they will wait expectantly.
So I believe here the metaphore is used for those servants of God who carry out God’s will, I would say faithful Christians are to fuilfill that role,
But it also sayd that for His arm they will wait expectantly, which is again I
They will wait, they will serve God, they will serve His arm. Again, I believe this is speaking about the nations turning to Chirst, in this metaphore.
Now you may say, meh, maybe,
this is the most clear one:
9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of Yahweh; Awake as in the days of old, the generations of long ago. Was it not You who chopped Rahab in pieces, Who pierced the dragon?
10 Was it not You who dried up the sea, The waters of the great deep, Who made the depths of the sea a pathway For the redeemed to cross over?
11 So the ransomed of Yahweh will return And come with joyful shouting to Zion, And everlasting gladness will be on their heads. They will obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
So the arm here is directly addressed, as the one who delievered Israel out of Egypt. Rahab, which is a name for a giant dragon is a derogatory nickname for Egypt.
Isa 30:7
7 Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty. Therefore, I have called her “Rahab who has ceased.”
4 “I shall mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me; Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia: ‘This one was born there.’”
10 You Yourself crushed Rahab like one who is slain; You scattered Your enemies with Your strong arm.
But what 51 is saying that it was the ARM of the Lord who chopped raham in pieces. Which again, when you read the exodus, narrative, the Angel of the Lord is critical to the bringing of the people out of Egypt: He leads them out.
19 Then the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them.
Exodus 23:20–23 (LSB)
20 “Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to keep you along the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared.
21 “Keep watch of yourself before him and listen to his voice; do not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is in him.
22 “But if you truly listen to his voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
23 “For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will annihilate them.
So the angel of the Lord who lead Israel out of Egypt, I believe is being referred to here, and I believe that that angel is the preincarnate Christ, the second person of the Trinity.
So again I see all this as the Arm of the Lord being a shadowy way of speaking of the eternally sent forth Son of God. The Arm is personified.
14 “Assemble, all of you, and hear! Who among them has declared these things? Yahweh loves him; he will carry out His good pleasure on Babylon, And His arm will be against the Chaldeans.
The Lord calling to most probably the whole heathen world here,
My argument goes back to verse 10
Now you may be familiary with Isaiah 53? the first of the passage begins,
1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?
2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should desire Him.
So even though I haven’t found this particular view in any commentary, I think I’m on solid ground, and I think this context informs how we should read our text.
Back to our text:
So with this is mind, the Lord says His Hand spread out the heavens, when he calls they assemble together,
then He calls them all, assemble all together, who among you has declared these things, this is a rehotorical challenge,
-It breaks into 2 person plural, which is why I think it’s a general challenge as I’ve stated,
And then ,it says, Yahweh loves Him - I believe that Him should be capitalized, It’s reffering back to the same person who it God’s Hand.
He will carry out all His (Yahweh’s) good pleasure on Babylon. The Arm of the Lord will execute God’s judgment for Him,
And His Arm (captial) will be against the Chaldeans.
I believe there is Trinitarian speaking going on here.
Ok then,
16 “Draw near to Me, hear this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, From the time it took place, I was there. So now Lord Yahweh has sent Me, and His Spirit.”
As if saying, listen to this, pay attention, I’m going to let you in on this little secret.
From the first I have not spoken in secret - this is not hidden,
So now, Lord Yahweh has sent Me and His Spirit.
-Who is speaking here? He was there from the begging, and Lord Yahweh sent Him, and His Spirit.
Father, Son, Spirit.
This is one of the most Trinitarian verses in the Old Testament.
Now I may not have been able to find someone else to support my view of the the interpreting 14 as reffering to the Hand of Yahweh personified, (but I didn’t look that hard also)
But this text is widely and has for a long time been seen by the Church as a reference to the Son of God clearly speaking in the Old Testmanet. A Trinitarian verse.
It’s very similar to the way that wisdom personified, speaking in Prov also has been taking in the same way.
Wisdom personified speaking says:
16 Prov 8:22-29
22 “Yahweh possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His deeds of old.
23 “From everlasting I was installed, From the beginning, from the earliest times of the earth.
24 “When there were no depths I was brought forth, When there were no springs heavy with water.
25 “Before the mountains were settled, Before the hills I was brought forth;
26 While He had not yet made the earth and the fields outside, Nor the first dust of the world.
27 “When He established the heavens, I was there, When He marked out a circle on the face of the deep,
28 When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became strong,
29 When He set for the sea its boundary So that the water would not pass over His command, When He marked out the foundations of the earth;
Which has also been seen to be the Son of God speaking.
We see this truth which is fully revealed in the NT iun shadowy form.
Here i think we can kind of see what the Lord isz talking about in 7-8,
God has revealed Himself as a Trinity from the beginning,
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, so that they will have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
We see in Gen with the Judgement on Sodom
24 And Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of heaven,
this is revealed, but it’s just enough. It’s there, now that we have the NT revelation, we can look back and say, yea that was there, that’s the same God that we know from the NT. He does not allow any false conception to take credit, His thumbprint is all over it,, and it takes away the possibility of giving false credit to any other idea of the Lord, We can look back on this and explain it and give an account for it because of What God has revealed.
However, there is a significant amount of new information revealed here, There is a much more clear statement about the Son of God.
-Not spoken of in secret,
But now the Arm of the Lord speaks and reveals and in a very clear way demonstrates His eternality, and being sent by the Lord.
It’s so important to understand this. You see this exchange of divine persons in the Godhead. The Son of God is speaking here.
His being sent , something that is spoken of elseware in the Scripture.
Isa 61:1
1 “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says Yahweh of hosts.
That the Lord has predicted the send of the Messiah.
when Jesus in His ministry is repeated constantly “He who sent Me”, this is somethat that the Scriptures spoke of before He came. He was expected, He was sent, the Father makes promises in the Scriptures to Him, and promises to prosper His Hand in all which He did!
This doctrine, is the etneral sending of the Son. The Son has always been with the Father. The Father and His Word and His Spirit have always been, and the Son is eternally sent, He goes forth from the Father to accomplish the will of the Father, and this is what He was doing in going into the world to lay down His life for the sins of the elect people which the Father Had chosen before the foundation of the world.
The sending of the Son by the Father is a standing form of speech in Scripture. (Exod. 23:20, Isa. 61:1, Mal. 3:1, John 3:34, 17:3, Heb. 3:1.)
Joseph Addison Alexander, trans., The Prophecies of Isaiah: Translated and Explained (vol. 2; New York: Charles Scribner & Co., 1870), 219.
And there’s more in the description which again shows the second person in the Trinity.
--
On the whole this may be fairly represented as one of the most doubtful questions of construction in the book, and the safest course is either to admit that both ideas were meant to be suggested, although probably in different degrees, or else to fall back upon the general rule, though liable to numberless exceptions, that the preference is due to the nearest antecedent or to that construction which adheres most closely to the actual collocation of the words
17 - continuous teaching
The ellipsis of the relative is just the same as in familiar English. The future includes the ideas of obligation and necessity, without expressing them directly; the precise sense of the words is, the way thou wilt go if thou desirest to profit. Angusti and Ewald make it present (goest); but this is at the same time less exact and less expressive.—J. H. Michaelis understands these as the words of Christ, the teaching mentioned as the teaching of the gospel, the way, the way of salvation, &c. To all this the words are legitimately applicable, but it does not follow that they were specifically meant to convey this idea to the reader.
So, draw near and hear it. This truth is hidden from the jews, from the cultists, from many, because God reveals these things to whom He wishes, and the rest He blinds.
It’s something which is in the very Scripture, but it’s difficult because it’s mysterious.
We ought never to try to remove the mystery from God, because that’s where most heresies come from. Instead we recognize and submit to them, and thank God for what He has revealed to us.
The Lord Prospers His faithful People (17-22)
The Lord Prospers His faithful People (17-22)
His Lamentation!
His Lamentation!
17 Thus says Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go.
The Lord is the one who brings us success. In His paths are the fullness of joy, in His right hand are pleasures forevermore.
God here laments over the wickedness of His people:
18 “If only you had paid attention to My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
Nothing could well be more appropriate at the close of this division of the prophecies, than such an affecting statement of the truth, so frequently propounded in didactic form already, that Israel, although the chosen people of Jehovah, and as such secure from total ruin, was and was to be a sufferer, not from any want of faithfulness or care on God’s part, but as the necessary fruit of his own imperfections and corruptions.
They suffered from their own sins.
This is true of the Church, the church often suffers because of her own sins, because the church fails to make use of the resources which God has given her, not because of a lack of power in God but because of a lack of merit in the church.
God speaks here to Israel, that if they had listened to the commandments, then there would be prosperity! blessing brings obededience!
This gets back to why the old covenant was a minsitry of death - that the blessing comes from obedience, but people are fleshly and sold under the power of sin, and without the regenerating force of the Holy Spirit, they only fail to obey God and bring God’s wrath.
The promise of the New Covenant is the Spirit, which enables one to walk in the commandments, and keep the statues.
Back to the text, the Lord Laments, if they had obeyed, there was blessing for them, like a river, it would have flowed, it woudl have been abnunday,
The righteouessness and peace would have been abundant! two things which you cannot have independently of one anothyer.
their seed would have been like the sand! Now there are places in the historical books where it says that they were like the sand, but here the Lord is saying, it would have been way more sand!
The name of the seed, it’s actually singular, his name, as the offspring of Israel is pictured as a uniform whole body.
His Jubilation!
His Jubilation!
20 Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare with the sound of joyful shouting, cause this to be heard, Bring it forth to the end of the earth; Say, “Yahweh has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
Despite Israel’s unworthiness, the Lord turns again to an exhortation and rememberence of the deliverance which He has already promised! God will not forsake him, he will be delieved from Babylon, and this is an example and demonstration of the eternal deliverance and saftey which God is bringing towards His people for all time.
20
The connection may be thus stated. After the general reproof and promise of the nineteenth verse, he recurs to the great example of deliverance so often introduced before. As if he had said, Israel, notwithstanding his unworthiness, shall be preserved; even in extremity his God will not forsake him; even from Babylon he shall be delivered:—and then turning in prophetic vision to the future exiles, he invites them to come forth.
this redemption which He spoke of already here:
6 “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar And My daughters from the ends of the earth,
10 Sing to Yahweh a new song, Sing His praise from the end of the earth! You who go down to the sea, as well as its fullness. You coastlands, and those who inhabit them.
The Lord has redeemed His people
21 And they did not thirst when He led them through the waste places. He made the water flow out of the rock for them; He split the rock, and the water gushed forth.
And you see here both the delieverance of BAbylon and the bringing out of Egypt conflated, they are brought together udner one figure, which is another demonstration that what Isaiah is doing here is not reffering to one event historically exclusively, as some would interpret all the salvation talk to only refer to the deliverance of Babylon,
But that these are historic examples to exemplify the principle that God delievers HIs peopel
and finally in Isa 48:22
22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says Yahweh.
God makes it clear that these promises are restricted to the faithful remenat. To the true Israel, He will weed out the wicked.
The Newtestament as well is clear, as we have mentioned, that there are people in the external covenant community who do have the inward reality,
And the sign of this are 1 apostacy, 2 false teaching 3 bad works/lawlessness
And so we must examine ourselves, and be on guard against every sceheme of the devil.
Here in it is just demontrated that the Lord is restricted this His covenant people.
21
that Isaiah meant to foretell a miraculous supply of water during the journey from Babylon to Jerusalem, or that the whole description is a figurative one, meaning simply that the wonders of the exodus should be renewed. Against the former is the silence of history, alleged by Kimchi; against the latter, nothing but the foregone conclusion that this and other like passages must relate exclusively to Babylon and the return from exile.
that this verse was intended to restrict the operation of the foregoing promises to true believers, or the genuine Israel; as if he had said, All this will God accomplish for his people, but not for the wicked among them. The grand conclusion to which all tends is, that God is all and man nothing; that even the chosen people must be sufferers, because they are sinners; that peculiar favour confers no immunity to sin or exemption from responsibility, but that even in the Israel of God and the enjoyment of the most extraordinary privileges, it still remains for ever true that “there is no peace to the wicked.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
The Lord reveals Himself to His unworthy people,
the Lord Redeems His unworthy people, and
the Lord prospers His faithful people.
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