This is done by the Spirit working like fire Mt. It is done as in the day of Midian, by a work of God upon the hearts of men.
Christ is our Gideon; it is his sword that doeth wonders. But who, where, is he that shall undertake and accomplish these great things for the church? The prophet tells us v. As he was the Lamb slain, so he was the child born, from the foundation of the world, Rev. All the great things that God did for the Old-Testament church were done by him as the eternal Word, and for his sake as the Mediator.
He was the Anointed, to whom God had respect Ps. The Jewish nation, and particularly the house of David, were preserved many a time from imminent ruin only because that blessing was in them. What greater security therefore could be given to the church of God then that it should be preserved, and be the special care of the divine Providence, than this, that God had so great a mercy in reserve for it?
The Chaldee paraphrast understands it of the man that shall endure for ever, even Christ. And it is an illustrious prophecy of him and of his kingdom, which doubtless those that waited for the consolation of Israel built much upon, often turned to, and read with pleasure. See him in his humiliation. The same that is the mighty God is a child born; the ancient of days becomes an infant of a span long; the everlasting Father is a Son given.
Such was his condescension in taking our nature upon him; thus did he humble and empty himself, to exalt and fill us. He is born into our world. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He is given, freely given, to be all that to us which our case, in our fallen state, calls for. God so loved the world that he gave him. He is born to us, he is given to us, us men, and not to the angels that sinned. It is spoken with an air of triumph, and the angel seems to refer to these words in the notice he gives to the shepherds of the Messiah's having come Lu.
Note, Christ's being born and given to us is the great foundation of our hopes, and fountain of our joys, in times of greatest grief and fear. See him in his exaltation. This child, this son, this Son of God, this Son of man, that is given to us, is in a capacity to do us a great deal of kindness; for he is invested with the highest honour and power, so that we cannot but be happy if he be our friend. See the dignity he is advanced to, and the name he has above every name. He shall be called and therefore we are sure he is and shall be Wonderful, Counsellor, etc.
His people shall know him and worship him by these names; and, as one that fully answers them, they shall submit to him and depend upon him. Justly is he called wonderful, for he is both God and man. His love is the wonder of angels and glorified saints; in his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, he was wonderful. A constant series of wonders attended him, and, without controversy, great was the mystery of godliness concerning him. He is the counsellor, for he was intimately acquainted with the counsels of God from eternity, and he gives counsel to the children of men, in which he consults our welfare.
It is by him that God has given us counsel, Ps. He is the wisdom of the Father, and is made of God to us wisdom. Some join these together: He is the wonderful counsellor, a wonder or miracle of a counsellor; in this, as in other things, he has the pre-eminence; none teaches like him.
As he has wisdom, so he has strength, to go through with his undertaking: he is able to save to the utmost; and such is the work of the Mediator that no less a power than that of the mighty God could accomplish it. He is the author of everlasting life and happiness to them, and so is the Father of a blessed eternity to them. He is the Father of the world to come so the Septuagint reads it , the father of the gospel-state, which is put in subjection to him, not to the angels, Heb.
He was, from eternity, Father of the great work of redemption: his heart was upon it; it was the product of his wisdom as the counsellor, of his love as the everlasting Father. As a King, he preserves the peace, commands peace, nay, he creates peace, in his kingdom.
He is our peace, and it is his peace that both keeps the hearts of his people and rules in them. He is not only a peaceable prince, and his reign peaceable, but he is the author and giver of all good, all that peace which is the present and future bliss of his subjects. See the dominion he is advanced to, and the throne he has above every throne v. He shall not only wear the badge of it upon his shoulder the key of the house of David, ch. The Father shall devolve it upon him, so that he shall have an incontestable right to govern; and he shall undertake it, so that no doubt can be made of his governing well, for he shall set his shoulder to it, and will never complain, as Moses did, of his being overcharged.
I am not able to bear all this people, Num. Glorious things are here spoken of Christ's government, v. It shall be multiplied; the bounds of his kingdom shall be more and more enlarged, and many shall be added to it daily. The lustre of it shall increase, and it shall shine more and more brightly in the world. The monarchies of the earth were each less illustrious than the other, so that what began in gold ended in iron and clay, and every monarchy dwindled by degrees; but the kingdom of Christ is a growing kingdom, and will come to perfection at last.
He shall rule by love, shall rule in men's hearts; so that wherever his government is there shall be peace, and as his government increases the peace shall increase. The more we are subject to Christ the more easy and safe we are. He that is the Son of David shall reign upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, which he is entitled to. God shall give him the throne of his father David, Lu. The gospel church, in which Jew and Gentile are incorporated, is the holy hill of Zion, on which Christ reigns, Ps.
Every thing is, and shall be, well managed, in the kingdom of Christ, and none of his subjects shall ever have cause to complain. He shall reign henceforth even for ever; not only throughout all generations of time, but, even when the kingdom shall be delivered up to God even the Father, the glory both of the Redeemer and the redeemed shall continue eternally.
Isa Here are terrible threatenings, which are directed primarily against Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes, Ephraim and Samaria, the ruin of which is here foretold, with all the woeful confusions that were the prefaces to that ruin, all which came to pass within a few years after; but they look further, to all the enemies of the throne and kingdom of Christ the Son of David, and read the doom of all the nations that forget God, and will not have Christ to reign over them.
Observe, I. The preface to this prediction v. He warns before he wounds. He sent notice what he would do, that they might meet him in the way of his judgments; but they would not take the hint, took no care to turn away his wrath, and so it lighted upon Israel; for no word of God shall fall to the ground. It fell upon them as a storm of rain and hail from on high, which they could not avoid: It has lighted upon them, that is, it is as sure to come as if come already, and all the people shall know by feeling it what they would not know by hearing of it.
Those that are willingly ignorant of the wrath of God revealed from heaven against sin and sinners shall be made to know it. The sins charged upon the people of Israel, which provoked God to bring these judgments upon them. Their insolent defiance of the justice of God, thinking themselves a match for him: "They say, in the pride and stoutness of their heart, Let God himself do his worst; we will hold our own, and make our part good with him.
If he ruin our houses, we will repair them, and make them stronger and finer than they were before. If the houses that were built of bricks be demolished in the war, we will rebuild them with hewn stones, that shall not so easily be thrown down.
If the enemy cut down the sycamores, we will plant cedars in the room of them. Their incorrigibleness under all the rebukes of Providence hitherto v. Note, That which God designs, in smiting us, is to turn us to himself and to set us a seeking him; and, if this point be not gained by less judgments, greater may be expected. God smites that he may not kill. Their general corruption of manners and abounding profaneness.
Those that should have reformed them helped to debauch them v. But it is ill with a people when their physicians are their worst disease. Wickedness was universal, and all were infected with it v. If there be any that are good, they do not, they dare not appear, for every mouth speaks folly and villany; every one is profane towards God so the word properly signifies and an evil doer towards man.
These two commonly go together: those that fear not God regard not man; and then every mouth speaks folly, falsehood, and reproach, both against God and man; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The judgments threatened against them for this wickedness of theirs; let them not think to go unpunished. In general, hereby they exposed themselves to the wrath of God, which should both devour as fire and darken as smoke.
It should devour as fire v. It should darken as smoke. The briers and thorns, when the fire consumes them, shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke, so that the whole land shall be darkened by it; they shall be in trouble, and see no way out v. God's wrath fastens upon none but those that make themselves fuel for it, and then they mount up as the smoke of sacrifices, being made victims to divine justice.
God would arm the neighbouring powers against them, v. At this time the kingdom of Israel was in league with that of Syria against Judah; but the Assyrians, who were adversaries to the Syrians, when they had conquered them should invade Israel, and God would stir them up to do it, and join the enemies of Israel together in alliance against them, who yet had particular ends of their own to serve and were not aware of God's hand in their alliance.
Note, When enemies are set up, and joined in confederacy against a people, God's hand must be acknowledged in it. Note further, Those that partake with each other in sin, as Syria and Israel in invading Judah, must expect to share in the punishment of sin.
Subscribe to the Verse of the day. Never miss a post Name. Verification Code. Today's Devotionals. Divine Considerations not Human Compromise. Cross-less Church. In, Of and Thru Christ. And in a slightly broader perspective, the popularity of ancestor veneration in Asian cultures, and the Mexican Day of the Dead indicate that this is not entirely an antiquarian concern.
These phenomena are not equivalent, yet they may all point to a similar human desire for contact with our forebears. The preceding verses make it clear that the deeper issue is something that almost every believer struggles with at one time or another: Divine silence, and the seemingly interminable wait for divine action. The implicit logic of the transition from to is that since YHWH has brought this oppression upon the nation, salvation will come only through seeking him and not other powers such as the dead ancestors.
The military notes in Isaiah may seem disjointed from any context — not only from the previous imagery but also from the hymn of —7, which is entirely different in literary form. It would seem that this text found its way into this position at a later time, perhaps when the hymn was composed.
They do, however, indicate the hope that God will intervene to save Judah. The comparison would have been evoked by the similarly long odds of Judah surviving the mighty Neo-Assyrian empire.
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