6 Let your eyes be lifted up to the heavens, and turned to the earth which is under them: for the heavens will go in flight like smoke, and the earth will become old like a coat, and its people will come to destruction like insects: but my salvation will be for ever, and my righteousness will not come to an end.
Heaven and earth will come to an end, but my words will not come to an end.
And the heavens will be rolled together like the roll of a book: and all their army will be gone, like a dead leaf from the vine, or a dry fruit from the fig-tree.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; and in that day the heavens will be rolled up with a great noise, and the substance of the earth will be changed by violent heat, and the world and everything in it will be burned up. Seeing then that all these things are coming to such an end, what sort of persons is it right for you to be, in all holy behaviour and righteousness, Looking for and truly desiring the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will come to an end through fire, and the substance of the earth will be changed by the great heat?
Let your eyes be lifted up on high, and see: who has made these? He who sends out their numbered army: who has knowledge of all their names: by whose great strength, because he is strong in power, all of them are in their places.
And I saw when the sixth stamp was undone, and there was a great earth-shock; and the sun became black as haircloth, and all the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven were falling to the earth, like green fruit from a tree before the force of a great wind. And the heaven was taken away like the roll of a book when it is rolled up; and all the mountains and islands were moved out of their places.
My sheep give ear to my voice, and I have knowledge of them, and they come after me: And I give them eternal life; they will never come to destruction, and no one will ever take them out of my hand. That which my Father has given to me has more value than all; and no one is able to take anything out of the Father's hand.
For like a coat they will be food for the insect, the worm will make a meal of them like wool: but my righteousness will be for ever, and my salvation to all generations.
In the past you put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will come to an end, but you will still go on; they all will become old like a coat, and like a robe they will be changed:
And I saw a great white seat, and him who was seated on it, before whose face the earth and the heaven went in flight; and there was no place for them.
And for this cause it is through him that a new agreement has come into being, so that after the errors under the first agreement had been taken away by his death, the word of God might have effect for those who were marked out for an eternal heritage.
You, Lord, at the first did put the earth on its base, and the heavens are the works of your hands: They will come to their end; but you are for ever; they will become old as a robe; They will be rolled up like a cloth, even like a robe, and they will be changed: but you are the same and your years will have no end.
Truly I say to you, The man whose ears are open to my word and who has faith in him who sent me, has eternal life; he will not be judged, but has come from death into life.
So that whoever has faith may have in him eternal life. For God had such love for the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever has faith in him may not come to destruction but have eternal life.
Seventy weeks have been fixed for your people and your holy town, to let wrongdoing be complete and sin come to its full limit, and for the clearing away of evil-doing and the coming in of eternal righteousness: so that the vision and the word of the prophet may be stamped as true, and to put the holy oil on a most holy place.
See, the Lord God is my helper; who will give a decision against me? truly, all of them will become old like a robe; they will be food for the worm.
For this cause the heavens will be shaking, and the earth will be moved out of its place, in the wrath of the Lord of armies, and in the day of his burning passion.
When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have put in their places; What is man, that you keep him in mind? the son of man, that you take him into account?
And when your eyes are lifted up to heaven, and you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the army of heaven, do not let yourselves be moved to give them worship, or become the servants of what the Lord has given equally to all peoples under heaven.
And has gone once and for ever into the holy place, having got eternal salvation, not through the blood of goats and young oxen, but through his blood.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Isaiah 51
Commentary on Isaiah 51 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 51
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.
1. me—the God of your fathers.
ye … follow after righteousness—the godly portion of the nation; Isa 51:7 shows this (Pr 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, 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 man's opposition (Isa 51:7, 8, 12, 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 (Ro 9:31, 32; 10:3, 4; 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 Mt 3:9).
2. 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 (Ge 12:1; 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, 9).
3. For—See for the argument, see on Isa 51:2.
the garden of the Lord—restoration of the primeval paradise (Ge 2:8; Eze 28:13; Re 2:7).
melody—Hebrew, "psalm." God's praises shall again be heard.
4. 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, &c.—(Isa 42:6).
5. righteousness … near—that is, faithful fulfilment of the promised deliverance, answering to "salvation" in the parallel clause (Isa 46:13; 56:1; Ro 10:8, 9). Ye follow after "righteousness"; seek it therefore, from Me, and you will not have far to go for it (Isa 51:1).
arms—put for Himself; I by My might.
judge—(Isa 2:3, 4; Ps 98:9).
isles, &c.—(Isa 60:9).
arm—(Ro 1:16), "the power of God unto (the Gentiles as well as the Jews) salvation."
6. (Isa 40:6, 8; Ps 102:26; Heb 1:11, 12).
vanish away—literally, "shall be torn asunder," as a garment [Maurer]; which accords with the context.
in like manner—But Gesenius, "Like a gnat"; like the smallest and vilest insect. Jerome translates, as English Version, and infers that "in like manner" as man, the heavens (that is, the sky) and earth are not to be annihilated, but changed for the better (Isa 65:17).
righteousness—My faithfully fulfilled promise (see on Isa 51:5).
7. know righteousness—(See on Isa 51:1).
8. (See on Isa 50:9; Job 4:18-20). Not that the moth eats men up, but they shall be destroyed by as insignificant instrumentality as the moth that eats a garment.
9. Impassioned prayer of the exiled Jews.
ancient days—(Ps 44:1).
Rahab—poetical name for Egypt (see on Isa 30:7).
dragon—Hebrew, tannin. The crocodile, an emblem of Egypt, as represented on coins struck after the conquest of Egypt by Augustus; or rather here, "its king," Pharaoh (see on Isa 27:1; Ps 74:13, 14; Eze 32:2, Margin; Eze 29:3).
10. it—the arm.
Art not Thou the same Almighty power that … ? dried the sea—the Red Sea (Isa 43:16; Ex 14:21).
11. (Isa 35:10).
Therefore—assurance of faith; or else the answer of Jehovah corresponding to their prayer. As surely as God redeemed Israel out of Egypt, He shall redeem them from Babylon, both the literal in the age following, and mystical in the last ages (Re 18:20, 21). There shall be a second exodus (Isa 11:11-16; 27:12, 13).
singing—image from the custom of singing on a journey when a caravan is passing along the extended plains in the East.
everlasting joy—(Jude 24).
sorrow … flee away—(Re 21:4).
12. comforteth—(Isa 51:3; Isa 40:1).
thou—Zion.
son of man—frail and dying as his parent Adam.
be made as grass—wither as grass (Isa 40:6, 7).
13. (Isa 40:12, 26, 28), the same argument of comfort drawn from the omnipotence of the Creator.
as if … ready, &c.—literally, "when he directs," namely, his arrow, to destroy (Ps 21:12; 7:13; 11:2) [Maurer].
14. captive exile—literally, one bowed down as a captive (Isa 10:4) [Maurer]. The scene is primarily Babylon, and the time near the close of the captivity. Secondarily, and antitypically, the mystical Babylon, the last enemy of Israel and the Church, in which they have long suffered, but from which they are to be gloriously delivered.
pit—such as were many of the ancient dungeons (compare Jer 38:6, 11, 13; Ge 37:20).
nor … bread … fail—(Isa 33:16; Jer 37:21).
15. divided … sea—the Red Sea. The same Hebrew word as "make to rest" (Isa 51:4). Rather, "that terrify the sea," that is, restrain it by My rebuke, "when its waves roar" [Gesenius]. The Hebrew favors Maurer, "that terrify the sea so that the waves roar." The sense favors Gesenius (Jer 5:22; 31:35), or English Version (Isa 51:9, 10, which favors the special reference to the exodus from Egypt).
16. Addressed to Israel, embodied in "the servant of Jehovah" (Isa 42:1), Messiah, its ideal and representative Head, through whom the elect remnant is to be restored.
put my words in thy mouth—true of Israel, the depository of true religion, but fully realized only in Israel's Head and antitype, Messiah (Isa 49:2; 50:4, 5; 59:21; De 18:18; Joh 3:34).
covered … in … shadow of … hand—protected thee (see on Isa 49:2).
plant—rather, "fix" as a tabernacle; so it ought to be rendered (Da 11:45). The "new creation," now going on in the spiritual world by the Gospel (Eph 2:10), and hereafter to be extended to the visible world, is meant (Isa 65:17; 66:22; compare Isa 13:13; 2Pe 3:10-13).
Zion—Its restoration is a leading part in the new creation to come (Isa 65:17, 19).
17. Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, &c.—(Isa 52:1).
drunk—Jehovah's wrath is compared to an intoxicating draught because it confounds the sufferer under it, and makes him fall (Job 21:20; Ps 60:3; 75:8; Jer 25:15, 16; 49:12; Zec 12:2; Re 14:10); ("poured out without mixture"; rather, "the pure wine juice mixed with intoxicating drugs").
of trembling—which produced trembling or intoxication.
wrung … out—drained the last drop out; the dregs were the sediments from various substances, as honey, dates, and drugs, put into the wine to increase the strength and sweetness.
18. Following up the image in Isa 51:17, intoxicated and confused by the cup of God's anger, she has none to guide her in her helpless state; she has not yet awakened out of the sleep caused by that draught. This cannot apply to the Babylonish captivity; for in it they had Ezekiel and Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah, as "guides," and soon awoke out of that sleep; but it applies to the Jews now, and will be still more applicable in their coming oppression by Antichrist.
19. two—classes of evils, for he enumerates four, namely, desolation and destruction to the land and state; famine and the sword to the people.
who shall be sorry for thee—so as to give thee effectual relief: as the parallel clause, "By whom shall I comfort thee?" shows (La 2:11-13).
20. head of all … streets—(La 2:19; 4:1).
wild bull—rather, "oryx" [Jerome], or gazelle [Gesenius], or wild goat [Bochart]; commonly in the East taken in a net, of a wide sweep, into which the beasts were hunted together. The streets of cities in the East often have gates, which are closed at night; a person wishing to escape would be stopped by them and caught, as a wild animal in a net.
21. drunken … not with wine—(Isa 29:9; compare Isa 51:17, 20, here; La 3:15).
22. pleadeth … cause—(Ps 35:1; Jer 50:34; Mic 7:9).
no more drink it—(Isa 54:7-9). This cannot apply to Israel after the return from Babylon, but only to them after their final restoration.
23. (Isa 49:26; Jer 25:15-29; Zec 12:2).
Bow down that … go over—Conquerors often literally trod on the necks of conquered kings, as Sapor of Persia did to the Roman emperor Valerian (Jos 10:24; Ps 18:40; 66:11, 12).