Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 42:5
Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
5 9. Jehovah’s promise to Israel, based on the preceding description.
God ] in the Heb. h-’l, the God, the God who alone is truly God, who has created and sustains all things.
spread forth ] or “made firm.” The word means to beat out into a thin surface, and probably (as in the noun “firmament”) combines the ideas of density and extension (cf. ch. Isa 44:24; Psa 136:6). By a strong zeugma this verb is made to govern a second object, that which cometh out of it, which here probably denotes “vegetation” (see on ch. Isa 34:1).
breath and spirit are here nearly identical, the divine principle of life breathed into man at his creation; Gen 2:7.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Thus saith God the Lord – This verse commences a new form of discourse. It is still Yahweh who speaks; but in the previous verses he had spoken of the Messiah in the third person; here he is introduced as speaking to him directly. He introduces the discourse by showing that he is the Creator and Lord of all things. The object of his dwelling on this seems to have been, to show that he had power to sustain the Messiah in the work to which he had called him; and to secure for him respect as having been commissioned by him who had formed the heavens and the earth, and who ruled over all. He shows that he had power to accomplish all that he had promised: and he seeks thus to elevate and confirm the hopes of the people with the assurance of their deliverance and salvation.
And stretched them out – The heavens are often represented as stretched out as a veil (Gen 1:6, Hebrew) or as an expanse that can be rolled up (see the note at Isa 34:4), or as a tent for the appropriate dwelling-place of God (see the note at Isa 40:22). His great power and glory are indicated by the fact that he has stretched out what to us appears a vast expanse over our heads. On the grammatical construction of the word which occurs here in the Hebrew, see Rosenmuller in loc.
He that spread forth the earth – He stretched it out as a plain – retaining the idea which was so common among the ancients that the earth was a vast plain, reaching from one end of the heavens to the other. The words, however, which are used here are not inconsistent with the idea that the earth is a sphere, since it may still be represented as stretched out, or expanded to a vast extent. The main idea in the passage is not to teach the form in which the earth is made, but to show that it has been made by God.
And that which cometh out of it – The productions of the earth – the trees, shrubs, grain, etc. As the verb to stretch out cannot be applied to these, some verb must be understood; as he produced, or caused to grow.
He that giveth breath and spirit to them – This refers, doubtless, to beasts as well as to people; and the idea is, that God is the source of life to all the creatures that live and move on the earth. The argument in the passage is, that as God is the creator and upholder of all; as he has given life to all, and has the universe entirely under his control, he has a right to appoint whom he will to be the medium of his favors to people, and to demand that suitable respect shall be shown to the Messiah whom he has designated for this work.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 42:5-6
Thus saith God the Lord, He that created the heavens
The oneness of God in revelation and in nature
The first of the two verses is a description of God; the second is a declaration of His purposes.
What is the declaration which is introduced so impressively? It is often an idiom of prophetic speech, and especially of the style of Isaiah, when a declaration is to be made respecting the work of redemption, to give it the form of a direct address to the Messiah, and to declare to Him the thing which God was about to perform. Such is the idiom now before us. I, that is, the God of nature who had just been described,–I, the Lord, have called Thee in righteousness–that is, I who created the heavens, have summoned Thee as the Redeemer of men, in execution of My righteous purpose. I will hold Thine hand, and will keep Thee–that is, I, the Former of the earth, will be faithful unto Thee. I will give Thee for a covenant of the people, and for a light of the Gentiles–that is, I, the Author of the souls of men, will give Thee as a pledge of My love, and the nations shall be redeemed. The sentiment is that the God of nature is the God also of redemption. From the fact that the Author of nature and the God of revelation are one, we may infer–
I. THAT RELIGIOUS INVESTIGATION SHOULD BE CHARACTERISED BY THE SPIRIT OF DOCILE INQUIRY. If there be one thing which more than another vitiates the methods by which men form their religious opinions, it is the want of the humility of inquirers after truth; and yet, if there be one thing more firmly settled than another in the methods of science, it is that the docility of inquiry after truth is the only spirit becoming to scientific discovery. How often are we compelled to note the distinction, that in religion men feel at liberty to create their opinions; while in natural science, and in all that domain of truth which lies outside of the realm of conscience, they feel bound to seek for their opinions. In the one case we assume that we know, in the other we consent to be taught.
II. THE PRESUMPTION THAT IN A REVEALED THEOLOGY WILL BE FOUND A DEFINITE AND POSITIVE SYSTEM OF TRUTH. Side by side with Christian dogmatism there grows up a Christianised scepticism, within the range of scriptural thought. We must presume, especially, that when we open this revelation of God in language, we shall come upon certain verities which shall be patent, on the face of the record, to unperverted inquiry. We do not so much find them here, as that they find us. They are verities which unbiassed readers in all ages will read here, and will believe; verities which infidelity will always read here; and verities which it is as unphilo-sophical for a believer in the inspiration of the Bible to deny, as it is for any sane mind to refuse credence to the elementary facts of geology, or of anatomy. Moreover, we must presume that these Scriptures contain a theology, not only of robust material, and of graphic outline, but of such firmness of construction that it can be positively preached. It must be free from self-contradictions, as other sciences are, so that an athletic faith can use it. And we must look for a theology which, when it is thus preached, shall prove itself to be a power in the earth.
III. THE CERTAINTY THAT THE PACTS OF THESE TWO DEPARTMENTS OF GODS WORKING WILL NEVER CONTRADICT EACH OTHER.
IV. THAT WE SHOULD EXPECT TO FIND THE REVEALED GOVERNMENT OF GOD TO BE A SYSTEM CHARACTERISED BY SACREDNESS AND UNIFORMITY OF LAW. In the natural world we find no such thing as caprice. Why, then, should we not expect to find in a revelation respecting the moral world, a similar omnipresence and omnipotence of law? It would be instructive to pursue this analogy between law in the natural world and law in Gods moral government to certain other results. We might see–
1. How accordant with nature it is that the laws of religion cannot be violated with impunity.
2. How natural it is that fatal consequences in respect of religion should follow from apparently trifling disobedience of Gods commands.
3. The foundation which is laid in the nature of things for that law of Gods government by which sin often reaches over from the time when it is committed, and strikes its penalty in a remote experience of the sinner.
4. We might infer the credibility and the probability that the sins of one brief life on earth should pass on, beyond the grave, to reap their reward in eternity.
5. The naturalness of the faith that, if God has devised any remedial scheme to meet the emergency of sin, it must be one that shall honour delicately and rigidly the sacredness of law.
V. THAT WE HAVE REASON TO EXPECT THIS OCCURRENCE OF MYSTERIES IN A REVEALED THEOLOGY. The mysteries of theology always meet us before we have travelled far on any track of religious inquiry. But this is no anomaly peculiar to religious thought. Science in the world of matter is thwarted in all its investigations, sooner or later, by insolvable mysteries.
VI. A CONFIRMATION OF OUR FAITH IN THE CERTAINTY OF THIS WORLDS CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. We are too often unmindful that the creation of this world and the redemption of this world are, in a truthful sense, parallel acts of omnipotence. It is as certain that the one will occur as that the other has occurred; for the revelation of that which God will do in the one case is as worthy of trust as the history of that which He has done in the other. This luxuriance of metaphor which the kingdom of nature yields up to the portraiture of the kingdom of grace, springs from no fortuitous resemblances. Our God is one God; and therefore it is that a mind inspired to foresee the success of omnipotence in redemption, carries over into this moral kingdom its conceptions of the working of omnipotence in nature. The mountains, rivers, seas, flocks of Kedar, sun, moon, in which God has wrought, become, not only the emblems, but the pledges of the mighty works which He will do for mans recovery. (A. Phelps, D. D.)
The analogy between Gods working in revelation and in nature
The analogy between these two departments of Gods working discloses some striking resemblances of method in the details of His work.
1. A resemblance between the Divine methods of working in nature and in grace is seen in the law common to both kingdoms, that great results ensue from feeble beginnings.
2. It is also a law of the two kingdoms of Gods working, that results are often for a long time suppressed from human view. Kepler said, when he published his system of astronomy, that the world had waited six thousand years for some one to read the heavens aright. The coal mines of Pennsylvania and the quarries of Quincy were forming before the garden of Eden existed. Who can tell us why the western continent lay for fifty-four centuries unknown to the dominant races of men? Our God is one God.
3. It is furthermore a law in the two kingdoms of Gods working, that results often come to human view suddenly and by seeming accident. The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. But have we not told our children of the falling apple, which was so instructive to the mind of Newton; and of the invention of the mariners compass by an unknown genius; and of the gold mines of California, which a labourer accidentally discovered in building a sawmill? Our God is one God.
4. It is a law of the two kingdoms of Gods working, that His work proceeds with great apparent waste. This work of the worlds conversion is a costly labour. But Gods plans have this evidence of their greatness, that they go on with that which to us appears like waste. The earth every year produces food sufficient for three times its burden of inhabitants. The sun wastes two-thirds of its beams on trackless waters and deserts. The stars are not put out, like your street lamps, when the traveller has no further need of them. Poets have sung of flowers that waste their sweetness. God works on a generous scale. Even of suffering He is not sparing in the laws of His providence. How much of apparently useless suffering is endured under the laws of disease! What a waste of life do we see everywhere in the death of the young! In this seeming prodigality of the Divine procedure, we see evidence that God has plans too deep for us to fathom. And these plans run under the two systems of nature and of grace alike. (H. Macmillan, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
This large description of Gods infinite power is here seasonably added, to give them assurance of the certain accomplishment of these great and wonderful promises, which otherwise would seem incredible.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. Previously God had spoken ofMessiah; now (Isa 42:5-7)He speaks to Him. To show to all that He is able to sustainthe Messiah in His appointed work, and that all might accept Messiahas commissioned by such a mighty God, He commences by announcingHimself as the Almighty Creator and Preserver of all things.
spread . . . earth (Ps136:6).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Thus saith God the Lord,…. The God of the world, as the Targum. This, with what follows, is a preface to the call of Christ, to the great work of redemption; setting forth the greatness of God as a Creator, that calls him to it, and thereby encouraging him as man and Mediator in it, as well as the faith of his people to regard him as their Saviour and Redeemer, and believe that this work he was called unto should be performed by him; for what is it that God, the Creator of all things, cannot do?
he that created the heavens, and stretched them out: he first made them out of nothing, and stretched out the firmament of them as a curtain and canopy over the earth, and them as a tent for himself to dwell in,
Isa 40:22:
he that spread forth the earth; into the length and breadth it has, for man and beast to dwell on it:
and that which cometh out of it; grass, herbs, and trees, which he has spread all over it:
he that giveth breath unto the people upon it; as he did to man at first, he breathed into him the breath of life, and as he gives to all since, Ge 2:7:
and spirit to them that walk therein; not only breath in common with the beasts of the field, and other creatures, but a rational spirit, or a reasonable soul, an intellective faculty, a capacity of understanding things, as brutes have not. Jarchi interprets this of the Holy Spirit, which God gives to them that walk before him.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The words of Jehovah are now addressed to His servant himself. He has not only an exalted vocation, answering to the infinite exaltation of Him from whom he has received his call; but by virtue of the infinite might of the caller, he may be well assured that he will never be wanting in power to execute his calling. “Thus saith God, Jehovah, who created the heavens, and stretched them out; who spread the earth, and its productions; who gave the spirit of life to the people upon it, and the breath of life to them that walk upon it: I, Jehovah, I have called thee in righteousness, and grasped thy hand; and I keep thee, and make thee the covenant of the people, the light of the Gentiles, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners out of the prison, them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.” The perfect ‘ amar is to be explained on the ground that the words of God, as compared with the prophecy which announces them, are always the earlier of the two. (the absolutely Mighty) is an anticipatory apposition to Jehovah (Ges. 113**). The attributive participles we have resolved into perfects, because the three first at least declare facts of creation, which have occurred once for all. is not to be regarded as a plural, after Isa 54:5 and Job 35:10; but as precedes it, we may take it as a singular with an original quiescent Yod , after Isa 5:12; Isa 22:11; Isa 26:12. On (construct of ), see Isa 40:19. The of (a word found both in Job and Isaiah, used here in its most direct sense, to signify the vegetable world) must be taken in accordance with the sense, as the Vav of appurtenance; since may be affirmed of the globe itself, but not of the vegetable productions upon it (cf., Gen 4:20; Jdg 6:5; 2Ch 2:3). N e shamah and ruach are epithets applied to the divine principle of life in all created corporeal beings, or, what is the same thing, in all beings with living souls. At the same time, n e shamah is an epithet restricted to the self-conscious spirit of man, which gives him his personality ( Psychol. p. 76, etc.); whereas ruach is applied not only to the human spirit, but to the spirit of the beast as well. Accordingly, signifies the human race, as in Isa 40:7. What is it, then, that Jehovah, the Author of all being and all life, the Creator of the heaven and the earth, says to His servant here? “I Jehovah have called thee ‘in righteousness’” ( b e tsedeq : cf., Isa 45:13, where Jehovah also says of Cyrus, “I have raised him up in righteousness”). , derived from , to be rigid, straight, denotes the observance of a fixed rule. The righteousness of God is the stringency with which He acts, in accordance with the will of His holiness. This will of holiness is, so far as the human race is concerned, and apart from the counsels of salvation, a will of wrath; but from the standpoint of these counsels it is a will of love, which is only changed into a will of wrath towards those who despise the grace thus offered to them. Accordingly, tsedeq denotes the action of God in accordance with His purposes of love and the plan of salvation. It signifies just the same as what we should call in New Testament phraseology the holy love of God, which, because it is a holy love, has wrath against its despisers as its obverse side, but which acts towards men not according to the law of works, but according to the law of grace. The word has this evangelical sense here, where Jehovah says of the Mediator of His counsels of love, that He has called Him in strict adherence to the will of His love, which will show mercy as right, but at the same time will manifest a right of double severity towards those who scornfully repel the offered mercy. That He had been called in righteousness, is attested to the servant of Jehovah by the fact that Jehovah has taken Him by the hand ( contracted after the manner of a future of sequence), and guards Him, and appoints Him . These words are a decisive proof that the idea of the expression “servant of Jehovah” has been elevated in Isa 42:1., as compared with Isa 41:8, from the national base to the personal apex. Adherence to the national sense necessarily compels a resort to artifices which carry their own condemnation, such as that signifies the “covenant nation,”as Hitzig supposes, or “the mediating nation,” as Ewald maintains, whereas either of these would require ; or “national covenant” (Knobel), in support of which we are referred, though quite inconclusively, to Dan 11:28, where does not mean the covenant of the patriots among themselves, but the covenant religion, with its distinctive sign, circumcision; or even that is collective, and equivalent to (Rosenmller), whereas and , when standing side by side, as they do here, can only mean Israel and the Gentiles; and so far as the passage before us is concerned, this is put beyond all doubt by Isa 49:8 (cf., Isa 42:6).
An unprejudiced commentator must admit that the “servant of Jehovah” is pointed out here, as He in whom and through whom Jehovah concludes a new covenant with His people, in the place of the old covenant that was broken – namely, the covenant promised in Isa 54:10; Isa 61:8; Jer 31:31-34; Eze 16:60. The mediator of this covenant with Israel cannot be Israel itself, not even the true Israel, as distinguished from the mass (where do we read anything of this kind?); on the contrary, the remnant left after the sweeping away of the mass is the object of this covenant.
(Note: This is equally applicable to V. F. Oehler ( Der Knecht Jehova’s im Deuterojesaia, 2 Theile, 1865), who takes the “servant of Jehovah” as far as Isa 52:14 in a national sense, and supposes “the transition from the ‘servant’ as a collective noun, to the ‘servant’ as an individual,” to be effected there; whereas two younger theologians, E. Schmutz ( Le Serviteur de Jhova, 1858) and Ferd. Philippi ( Die bibl. Lehre vom Knechte Gottes, 1864), admit that the individualizing commences as early as Isa 42:1.)
Nor can the expression refer to the prophets as a body, or, in fact, have any collective meaning at all: the form of the word, which is so strongly personal, is in itself opposed to this. It cannot, in fact, denote any other than that Prophet who is more than a prophet, namely, Malachi’s “Messenger of the covenant” (Isa 3:1). Amongst those who suppose that the “servant of Jehovah” is either Israel, regarded in the light of its prophetic calling, or the prophets as a body, Umbreit at any rate is obliged to admit that this collective body is looked at here in the ideal unity of one single Messianic personality; and he adds, that “in the holy countenance of this prophet, which shines forth as the idea of future realization, we discern exactly the loved features of Him to whom all prophecy points, and who saw Himself therein.” This is very beautiful; but why this roundabout course? Let us bear in mind, that the servant of Jehovah appears here not only as one who is the medium of a covenant to the nation, and of light to the Gentiles, but as being himself the people’s covenant and heathen’s light, inasmuch as in his own person he is the band of a new fellowship between Israel and Jehovah, and becomes in his own person the light which illumines the dark heathen world. This is surely more than could be affirmed of any prophet, even of Isaiah or Jeremiah. Hence the “servant of Jehovah” must be that one Person who was the goal and culminating point to which, from the very first, the history of Israel was ever pressing on; that One who throws into the shade not only all that prophets did before, but all that had been ever done by Israel’s priests of kings; that One who arose out of Israel, for Israel and the whole human race, and who stood in the same relation not only to the wider circle of the whole nation, but also to the inner circle of the best and noblest within it, as the heart to the body which it animates, or the head to the body over which it rules. All that Cyrus did, was simply to throw the idolatrous nations into a state of alarm, and set the exiles free. But the Servant of Jehovah opens blind eyes; and therefore the deliverance which He brings is not only redemption from bodily captivity, but from spiritual bondage also. He leads His people (cf., Isa 49:8-9), and the Gentiles also, out of night into light; He is the Redeemer of all that need redemption and desire salvation.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Messiah’s Approach. | B. C. 708. |
5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: 6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; 7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. 8 I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. 9 Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them. 10 Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. 11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. 12 Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands.
Here is I. The covenant God made with and the commission he gave to the Messiah, v. 5-7, which are an exposition of v. 1, Behold my servant, whom I uphold.
1. The royal titles by which the great God here makes himself known, and distinguishes himself from all pretenders, speak very much his glory (v. 5): Thus saith God the Lord. And who are thou, Lord? Why, he is the fountain of all being and therefore the fountain of all power. He is the fountain of being, 1. In the upper world; for he created the heavens and stretched them out (ch. xl. 22), and keeps the vast expanse still upon the stretch. 2. In the lower world: for he spread forth the earth, and made it a capacious habitation, and that which comes out of it is produced by his power. 3. In the world of mankind: He gives breath to the people upon it, not only air to breathe in, but the breath of life itself and organs to breathe with; nay, he gives spirit, the powers and faculties of a rational soul, to those that walk therein. Now this is prefixed to God’s covenant with the Messiah, and the commission given him, not only to show that he has authority to make such a covenant and give such a commission, and had power sufficient to bear him out, but that the design of the work of redemption was to maintain the honour of the Creator, and to restore man to the allegiance he owes to God as his Maker.
2. The assurances which he gives to the Messiah of his presence with him in all he did pursuant to his undertaking speak much encouragement to him, v. 6. (1.) God owns that the Messiah did not take the honour of being Mediator to himself, but was called of God, that he was no intruder, no usurper, but was fairly brought to it (Heb. v. 4): I have called thee in righteousness. God not only did him no wrong in calling him to this hard service, he having voluntarily offered himself to it, but did himself right in providing for his own honour and performing the word which he had spoken. (2.) He promises to stand by him and strengthen him in it, to hold his hand, not only to his work, but in it, to hold his hand, that it might not shake, that it might not fail, and so to keep him. When an angel was sent from heaven to strengthen him in his agonies, and the Father himself was with him, then this promise was fulfilled. Note, Those whom God calls he will own and help, and will hold their hands.
3. The great intentions of this commission speak abundance of comfort to the children of men. He was given for a covenant of the people, for a mediator, or guarantee, of the covenant of grace, which is all summed up in him. God, in giving us Christ, has with him freely given us all the blessings of the new covenant. Two glorious blessings Christ, in his gospel, brings with him to the Gentile world–light and liberty. (1.) He is given for a light to the Gentiles, not only to reveal to them what they were concerned to know, and which otherwise they could not have known, but to open the blind eyes, that they might know it. By his Spirit in the word he presents the object; by his Spirit in the heart he prepared the organ. When the gospel came light came, a great light, to those that sat in darkness, Mat 4:16; Joh 3:19. And St. Paul was sent to the Gentiles to open their eyes, Acts xxvi. 18. Christ is the light of the world. (2.) He is sent to proclaim liberty to the captives, as Cyrus did, to bring out the prisoners; not only to open the prison-doors, and give them leave to go out, which was all that Cyrus could do, but to bring them out, to induce and enable them to make use of their liberty, which none did but those whose spirits God stirred up. This Christ does by his grace.
II. The ratification and confirmation of this grant. That we may be assured of the validity of it consider, 1. The authority of him that makes the promise (v. 8): I am the Lord, Jehovah, that is my name, and that was the name by which he made himself known when he began to perform the promise made to the patriarchs; whereas, before, he manifested himself by the name of God Almighty, Exod. vi. 3. If he is the Lord that gives being and birth to all things, he will give being and birth to this promise. If his name be Jehovah, which speaks him God alone, we may be sure his name is jealous, and he will not give his glory to another, whoever it is that stands in competition with him, especially not to graven images. He will send the Messiah to open men’s eyes, that so he may turn them from the service of dumb idols to serve the living God, because, though he has long winked at the times of ignorance, he will now maintain his prerogative, and will not give his glory to graven images. He will perform his word because he will not lose the honour of being true to it, nor be ever charged with falsehood by the worshippers of false gods. He will deliver his people from under the power of idolaters because it looks as if he had given his praise to graven images when he gives up his own worshippers to be worshippers of images. 2. The accomplishment of the promises he had formerly made concerning his church, which are proofs of the truth of his word and the kindness he bears to his people (v. 9): “Behold, the former things have come to pass; hitherto the Lord has helped his church, has supported her under former burdens, relieved her in former straits; and this in performance of the promises made to the fathers. There has not failed one word, 1 Kings viii. 56. And now new things do I declare. Now I will make new promises, which shall as certainly be fulfilled in their season as old ones were; now I will bestow new favours, such as have not been conferred formerly. Old-Testament blessings you have had abundantly; now I declare New-Testament blessings, not a fruitful country and dominion over your neighbours, but spiritual blessings in heavenly things. Before they spring forth in the preaching of the gospel I tell you of them, under the type and figure of the former things.” Note, The receipt of former mercies may encourage us to hope for further mercies; for God is constant in his care for his people, and his compassions are still new.
III. The song of joy and praise which should be sung hereupon to the glory of God (v. 10): Sing unto the Lord a new song, a New-Testament song. The giving of Christ for a light to the Gentiles (v. 6) was a new thing, and very surprising. The apostle speaks of it as a mystery which, in other ages, was not made known, as it is now revealed, that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs,Eph 3:5; Eph 3:6. Now, this being the new thing which God declares, the newness of the song which is to be sung on this occasion is this, that whereas, before, the songs of the Lord were very much confined to the temple at Jerusalem (David’s psalms were in the language of the Jews only, and sung by them in their own country only; for, when they were in a strange land, they hung their harps on the willow-trees and could not sing the Lord’s song, as we find, Ps. cxxxvii. 2-4), now the songs of holy joy and praise shall be sung all the world over. The Gentile nations shall share equally with the Jews in New-Testament blessings, and therefore shall join in New-Testament praises and acts of worship. There shall be churches set up in Gentile nations and they shall sing a new song. The conversion of the Gentiles is often foretold under this notion, as appears, Rom. xv. 9-11. It is here promised that the praises of God’s grace shall be sung with joy and thankfulness, 1. By those that live in the end of the earth, in countries that lie most remote from Jerusalem. From the uttermost parts of the earth have we heard songs, ch. xxiv. 16. This was fulfilled when Christianity was planted in our land. 2. By mariners and merchants, and those that go down to the sea, that do business in great waters, and suck the riches of the sea, and so make themselves masters of the fulness thereof and all that is therein, with which they shall praise God, and justly, for it is his, Psa 24:1; Psa 95:5. The Jews traded little at sea; if therefore God’s praises be sung by those that go down to the sea, it must be by Gentiles. Sea-faring men are called upon to praise God, Ps. cvii. 23. 3. By the islands and the inhabitants thereof, v. 10, and again, v. 12. Let them declare his praise in the islands, the isles of the Gentiles, probably referring to the islands of Greece. 4. By the wilderness and the cities thereof, and the villages of Kedar. These lay east from Jerusalem, as the islands lay west, so that the gospel songs should be sung from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same. The whole Gentile world had been like an island, cut off from communication with God’s church, and like a wilderness, uncultivated and bringing forth no fruit to God; but now the islands and the wilderness shall praise God. 5. By the inhabitants of the rock, and those that dwell on the tops of the mountains, not only the Gentiles, but the poorest and meanest and most despicable, those that dwell in cottages, as well as those that inhabit cities and villages. The rude and most barbarous, as the mountaineers commonly are, shall be civilized by the gospel. Or by the inhabitants of the rock may be meant the inhabitants of that part of Arabia which is called Petra–the rocky. Perhaps the neighbouring countries shared in the joy of the Israelites when they returned out of Babylon and some of them came and joined with them in their praises; but we find not that it was to any such degree as might fully answer this illustrious prophecy, and must conclude that it reaches further, and was fulfilled in that which many other prophecies of the joy of the nations are said in the New-Testament to be fulfilled in, the conversion of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ. When they are brought into the church they are brought to give glory to the Lord; then they are to him for a name and a praise, and they make it their business to praise him. He is glorified in them and by them.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Vs. 5-9: THE SPIRITUAL EFFECTS OF HIS INFUENCE
1. By this time it is surely evident, to every serious student of the word, that “the LORD” (Jehovah) is a designation of the covenant God of Israel, and is a term used of both the Father and the Son; (vs. 6; Joh 12:41).
a. God the LORD applies to Himself titles of eternal omnipotence.
b. He is the Creator (Arranger) of the heavens, the earth and all things therein, (vs. 5a; Isa 45:18; Psa 102:25-27; Isa 40:22; Psa 104:2; Psa 24:1-2; Psa 136:6).
c. He is the Giver and Sustainer of all life, (vs. 5b; Isa 57:16; Da 5 23: Joh 1:4; Act 17:25).
d. The very nature of His being is set forth as a basis of assurance that His promises, and the revelation of His purposes will never fail!
2. Beginning with verse 6, the Lord (Father) addresses and assures the Servant (His Son) Whom He has called in righteousness, (comp. Isa 41:2; Jer 23:5-6):
a. He will “hold His hand” (suggesting nearness and companionship, Isa 41:13; Isa 45:1), and “Keep” Him – justifying His perfect trust, (Isa 26:3; Isa 27:3).
b. A two-fold task is set before Him, (vs. 7).
1) He will be the means of restoring His people (Israel) to covenant fellowship with God – a position which they forfeited through the disobedience of their wretched unbelief, (Isa 49:6-8).
2) He will also be a source of “light to the Gentiles” – the very “Light of the World”! (Isa 51:4; Isa 60:1-3; Luk 2:32; Act 13:46-47; Act 26:22-23; comp. Mat 5:14-16).
c. To both He will bring liberation and life.
1) From the darkness of spiritual blindness, unto the light of truth.
2) From bondage to self, sin and the world, unto the glorious liberty of divine sonship.
3) But, primarily, the passage depicts deliverance from death and the grave through resurrection.
3. He Whose name is “Jehovah” (the LORD) will not give His glory to another, (vs. 8; Isa 48:11; Exo 20:3-5).
a. In the Servant-Son dwells “the fullness of the Godhead bodily”, (Col 1:19; Col 2:9).
b. He comes as the “express image” of the Father’s person to scatter His glory abroad, (Heb 1:3).
4. Nor will the Lord permit graven images to share the praise that is due His matchless name; yet, He will share all His glorious fullness with those who, through identification with His dear Son, lose their lives in the joy of His service, (Joh 1:14; Joh 1:16; Eph 1:5-6; Eph 1:17-23; 1Co 1:9; Rom 8:14-18; Zep 3:19-20).
5. The Lord’s purpose will not fail, (vs. 9).
a. The things He promised in former times have been fulfilled, (Jos 21:45; Jos 23:14; 1Ki 8:56).
b. There need be no surprises for the trusting Servant – though He is totally dependent on the Father, (Joh 5:19; Joh 5:30); He is given assurance that “before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
c. It must be understood that the trials of the Messianic Servant were very real; He (temporarily, and voluntarily) laid aside many of His divine prerogatives, that He might take our place and purchase our redemption! (Php_2:5-8; Heb 5:7-9; Heb 4:15-16).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
5. Thus saith Jehovah. He confirms what he said in the beginning of the chapter about the reign of Christ, that he will renew and restore all things; and as this might be thought to be incredible, he has here added a magnificent description of the power of God, by which our faith ought to be confirmed, especially when the outward aspect of things is directly contrary. On this account he brings forward clear proofs of the power of God, that all may be aroused by the mention of them, and may be convinced that he who created all things out of nothing, who spread out the heavens, who produced vegetation, who gave life to animals, and who upholds and defends all things by his power, will easily perform what he promises concerning the reign of Christ. These forms of expression remind us that we ought always to consider the power of God, that we may be fully convinced of the authority and undoubted certainty of his word; for it is not without reason that Isaiah makes this preface, but in order to remove every doubt, because nothing is too hard for God, who keeps the whole world in subjection to his authority; and in the following chapters he will employ similar modes of expression.
האל ( hael) is rendered by some “powerful,” and by others “God;” but it is of little consequence, for the meaning is the same; because he exhibits his power and majesty, and adorns him with this variety of titles, that we may know that he will easily restore all that is fallen and laid low.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE ONENESS OF GOD IN REVELATION AND IN NATURE
Isa. 42:5-6. Thus saith God the Lord, &c.
Isa. 42:5 is a description of God; Isa. 42:6, a declaration of His purposes. The sentiment is that the God of nature is the God also of redemption.
Assuming the truth of the identity of the Author of nature with the God of revelation, consider certain lessons which follow as corollaries from it:
I. That religious investigation should be characterised by the spirit of docile inquiry. Want of humility vitiates the methods by which men form their religious opinions. In science, it is settled that docility of inquiry is the one spirit which can lead to scientific discovery; in religion many feel at liberty to create their opinions. Especially is the faith which men think they derive from revelation often formed arrogantly. We bring to it a burden of habits of mind, of purposes of life, of usages in society, of the demands of science, the necessities of philosophy, and of authorities in theology. Pursuing our researches thus, we do not discover our facts; we make them (H. E. I. 558, 559). What is the reception which the civilised world now gives to the old astronomy of the Ptolemies, which mapped out the heavens like a Chinese atlas? The truth which we infer as indisputable from the fact of the oneness of the God of nature with the God of revelation is that the disclosures of God in the one should be received in the same spirit as the disclosures of God in the other.
II. That in revealed theology will be found a definite and positive system of truth. Side by side with Christian dogmatism there grows up a Christianised scepticism within the range of Scriptural thought. On the one hand, it is claimed that a revelation shall teach this; and on the other, that this revelation, properly speaking, can teach nothing. We begin with inquiry, we end with inquiry. It is refreshing to turn to the confidence with which, in the natural sciences, men express their convictions. How courageous is the etymology of the very word science! It is power, because it is knowledge. It even believes that it knows things which are not demonstrable. But our God is one God. We must look for a theology which is a system, not of inquiries, but of answers. We must presume, especially, that in the Book of God we shall come upon certain verities which shall be patent to unperverted inquiry. We do not so much find them as they find us. They come home to the heart of a child as readily as to that of a sage, just as the facts of nature do. Moreover, we must presume that these Scriptures contain a theology that can be positively preached. It must be free from self-contradictions, as other sciences are, so that an athletic faith can use it. It must be such as can show its strength in its methods of working; such as can penetrate and agitate and instrumentally regenerate souls.
III. That the facts of these two departments of Gods working will never contradict each other. The trial which Christianity has undergone from its imagined conflict with the discoveries of science has now a history. The history of science confirms the faith which we should cherish, that there is a oneness of God in revelation and in nature. Science itself has established it as an axiom that there are no insulated departments of inquiry. When men think they discover in nature something antagonistic to revelation, we may safely reply, as did the three men at the mouth of the furnace, We are not careful to answer thee, &c. (Dan. 3:16-17).
IV. That we should expect to find the revealed government of God to be a system characterised by sacredness and uniformity of law. In the natural world we find no such thing as caprice. Disease, even, has laws which are as beautiful in their operation as the laws of health. Law in nature,Decree in religion. The two revolve around each other like twin stars; both are developments of one truththat God acts by plan, and not by caprice (Mat. 10:29-30).
V. That from the unity of God in nature and in revelation we have reason to expect the occurrence of mysteries in a revealed theology. Science, in the world of matter, is thwarted in all its investigations, sooner or later, by insoluble mysteries; and just so, and no otherwise, is it with certain problems in religion. Nor is it any more marvellous that revealed theology does not solve such problems in the one realm of thought, than that natural science does not in the other. Is the connection of the race with Adam one of the hard sayings of a revealed theology? But is it more easy of solution that the vices of a father become a poison in the veins of his children and childrens children?
VI. That from the oneness of God in nature and revelation we may infer a confirmation of our faith in the certainty of this worlds conversion to Christianity. The creation of this world and its redemption are, in a truthful sense, parallel acts of omnipotence. It is as certain that the one will occur as that the other has occurred. The necessity of law in nature,the certainty of law in redemption. The heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water; He turneth it whithersoever He will. Who has not observed the profusion with which the natural world is made emblematic, in the prophetic Scriptures, of the final triumphs of the Gospel? (chap. Isa. 55:10-11; Isa. 60:21; Psa. 72:16; Isa. 35:2; Isa. 2:2; Isa. 66:12; Isa. 11:9; Psa. 72:7; Psa. 72:17; Isa. 60:6-7; Isa. 11:6-8). The mountains, &c., become not only the emblems, but the pledges of the mighty works which He will do for mans recovery.Austin Phelps, D.D.: Exegete and Homiletic Monthly, vol. i. pp. 281292.
CALLED IN RIGHTEOUSNESS
Isa. 42:5-8. Thus saith God the Lord, &c.
Some of the most wonderful words ever uttered. It is God speaking to His own Son. It is as if we were secretly admitted into the counsel of God.
I. God provided the Saviour. I have called Thee in righteousnessI have asked Thee to do this work of righteousness; to work out this salvation, which shall show me to be a righteous God. God did, as it were, look round all the creatures to see whom He would call to this great work. But He chose His Son. None other could be a sufficient Saviour.
II. God upheld the Saviour. I will hold, &c. The figure seems taken from a father and his little child. When God called His Son to the work it could not but be a fearful work in His eyes. God here comforts His Son under the view. Learn
(1.) How dreadful the sufferings of Christ were.
(2.) The greatness of your sins.
(3.) Gods great hand in Christs work.
III. God gave Christ for a covenant. Gave Him away to be a covenant Saviour to the people and a light to lighten the Gentiles. The Son was infinitely dear to the Father. Sinners were infinitely vile in the sight of the Father. Yet, I will give Thee! Learn
(1.) The intense love of God for sinners.
(2.) That God must have the glory of their redemption.
IV. God gave Christ for a light.
1. By nature men have blind eyes.
2. Are bound in prison.
3. Sit in a dark prison-house. A change comes through the gift of God.
CONCLUSION.Has Christ been made to rise upon your soul? Plead with God to fulfil His word.R. M. MCheyne: additional Remains, pp. 61, &c.
THE COVENANT OF GRACE ESTABLISHED IN CHRIST
Isa. 42:6. I will give Thee for a covenant of the people.
These words are repeated by the prophet (Isa. 49:8). There are three things which have affinity one to another, and yet differ one from anothera purpose, a promise, a covenant. A purpose differs from a promise and a covenant, in that it lays no obligation upon a man. A promise lays an obligation upon him who makes it. There is in every covenant a mutual promise and stipulation between the parties covenanting, whereby they are equally bound each to other in certain articles and agreements consented to by both. Consider, then
I. WHAT COVENANT IS HERE MEANT.
There are covenants between men and men. Abimelech and Abraham made a covenant (Gen. 21:32); Jacob and Laban (Gen. 31:44). Such are called civil covenants. There are also religious covenants, of which two have become famous. One of these was made in the state of mans innocency (Gen. 2:16-17). In this, God promised to Adam, for himself and his posterity, life and happiness, upon the condition of perfect and perpetual obedience. This is called the covenant of works. The other was made after the Fall (Gen. 3:15); it was renewed with Abraham (Gen. 12:3), and with Isaac (Gen. 26:4), and with Jacob (Gen. 28:14). In this covenant eternal life is promised to man upon the condition of faith in Christ. The apostle calls it the law of faith (Rom. 3:27). It is of this the text speaks. Christ, the Mediator of the New Covenant, had nothing to do in the first. It was fdus amiciti. God and Adam were perfect friends when it was made. That of which Christ is Mediator was made to bring man to life and salvation, after his sinful violation of the first covenant.
II. WHO THIS PEOPLE IS TO WHOM CHRIST IS GIVEN AS A COVENANT.
By the people we are to understand the people of Israel. These are principally mentioned for three reasons. 1Because Christ, according to His human nature, descended from them (Rom. 1:3; Isa. 11:1).
2. Because this covenant of grace was first made with them (Rom. 9:4).
3. Because when Christ should come in the flesh, this covenant was first to be pressed upon them (Mat. 10:5-6; Mat. 15:24). Still, the promise of Christ to Abraham extends to the elect of all nations (Gen. 12:3).
III. IN WHAT RESPECTS CHRIST IS CALLED A COVENANT OF THE PEOPLE.
1. He is the Head of the covenant. Adam was the head of the covenant of works; Christ, the second Adam, is the Head of the covenant of grace. He is caput electionis; and He is caput fderis, in whom all the elect are fderati, entered into covenant with God. Fallen man was unmeet to enter into covenant immediately with the holy God. All the promises of God are in Christ (2Co. 1:20).
2. He is the Purchaser and Procurer of the covenant. We read of the blood of the testament (Heb. 9:20; Isa. 53:10).
3. He is the Sum and Substance of the covenant. Take Christ out of it, and it will be but an empty thing; He is its Alpha and its Omega, its very pith and kernel.
4. He is the Messenger of the covenant (Mal. 3:1). He published it of old by the prophets (1Pe. 1:11), and alterwards in His own person (Eph. 2:17); when He was ascended, by the apostles (Mar. 16:15); and still by the ministry instituted by Him to continue to the end of the world (2Co. 5:18-19).
5. He is the Surety of the covenant (Heb. 7:22). He undertakes on Gods part that all that He hath promised shall be made good to the believer.
(1.) By His Word (Joh. 5:24).
(2.) By the shedding of His blood. His blood was poured out to ratify the covenant.
(3.) By the ordinances of Baptism and the Lords Supper. One end of these is to confirm the covenant; they are both outward seals of the covenant.
(4.) By His Spirit. The Spirit is a sealing as well as a sanctifying Spirit (1Co. 2:12). And Christ is a Surety on our part. He undertakes that we shall close with the covenant, and that we shall walk according to it (Eph. 4:11-13; 2Co. 4:13; Rom. 1:4).
CONCLUSION.
1. The whole business of our salvation centres in Christ Jesus. Who can express the strong, rich comfort which springs out of this to all that have an interest in Christ?
2. Let the unbeliever be warned that the covenant of peace is built on Christ. He that hath not Christ hath not the covenant; out of Christ, out of the covenant (Eph. 2:12).Ralph Robinson: Sermons, pp. 462479.
He who is promised as the chief matter, the mediator, surety, scope of the covenant, is by a metonymy called the covenant. I will give Thee for a covenant; that is, I covenant to give Thee to the people. Jesus is granted in the covenant to bring us to God. To which blessed and glorious purposes He is exhibited
I. AS THE LIGHT OF LIFE (Luk. 2:32; Joh. 1:4; Joh. 8:12). There is a light that serves to kill and destroy, to bring death and condemnation to light: the light of the law, that killing letter concerning which the apostle says (Rom. 7:9-10). But Christ brings life and immortality to light (2Co. 4:6; Joh. 14:8-9; Joh. 17:3).
II. AS THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. This is His name (Jer. 23:6). To this end He is given to us
1. As our propitiatory sacrifice (1Jn. 2:2; Rom. 3:25).
2. As a merciful and faithful High Priest (Heb. 2:17; Heb. 9:24; Exo. 28:12; Exo. 28:29; Heb. 12:24; 1Jn. 2:1-2; Rom. 8:33-34). Not only a righteous, but a merciful High Priest, that is provided with a sacrifice, and hath a heart to offer (Heb. 5:2). No dignity to which He is exalted can make Him forget His friends (2Ti. 2:13).
III. AS OUR LORD AND KING (Zec. 9:9; Isa. 9:6). God hath more care of His saints than to leave the government of them on their shoulder. He is a King to gather them, to govern them, to defend and save them (Mat. 1:21). Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
IV. AS OUR HEAD AND HUSBAND (Eph. 1:22-23; 1Co. 11:3). Believers are joined to the Lord (1Co. 6:17; Col. 2:19). They are married to Christ (2Co. 11:2). From this union follows:
1. A communication of influences (Col. 2:3; Col. 1:19). This fulness of Christ is ours, and for us (Joh. 1:16; Col. 3:3).
2. A complication of interests. Christ and His saints are mutually concerned. They have nothing but through Him; their whole tenure is in the Head; and whatsoever is His is theirsHis God His Father, His merits, &c.R. Alleine: Gods Covenant Grant, pp. 2436.
The word covenant stands in the centre of this passage (Isa. 42:5-8), and we may well conclude, on a consideration of the whole context, that the idea of covenant is central also in meaning. In (Isa. 42:5) we are reminded of Gods creative, providential, and sustaining energy, as manifested in the material universe and in the region of human souls. From this elementary truth we are led on to the deep secret which God is ever unfolding in His revelations of mercy and saving love. The whole passage teaches us
I. THAT JEHOVAH, WHO IS THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE, IS ALSO THE KING OF GRACE. Isa. 42:5 sublimely expresses His supremacy over nature and man, and is suggestive
1. Of what He teaches us in astronomy (He that created the heavens and stretched them out).
2. Of what He teaches us in geology, botany, and related sciences (He that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it).
3. Of what He teaches us in the history of nations (He that giveth breath, &c.; comp. Act. 17:25). So also is He supreme in the empire of soulsin the work of redeeming as well as of creating. His glory in this respect cannot be shared by another (Isa. 42:8). He is the Originator of all saving methods, and the Source of all spiritual fulness.
II. THAT HIS PURPOSES IN THE DOMAIN OF GRACE ARE EQUALLY REAL AND SURE AS THOSE IN THE SPHERE OF NATURE. He disdains not to make a covenant with the people. His gracious intentions are not capricious, haphazard, accidental, or in any way partaking of the nature of after-thought. They are of the nature of a covenanta divine purpose, treasured up and unfolded in the course of the ages. Modern science loves to trace the invariability of natural laws. Christian theism, also, accepts the teaching as proof of the divine veracity. In nature and in grace we learn of a covenant-keeping God. Indeed, the one is but an illustration of the other. (See Jer. 31:36; Jer. 33:25-26; Isa. 55:10-11.)
III. THAT THE DIVINE COVENANT IS SPECIALLY ATTESTED. God would have us know, beyond all mistake, that He is covenanting with us.
1. The earlier forms of pledge were given in the special selection of the Jewish nation to bear testimony for Him.
2. The crowning pledge of His covenant is afforded us in the gift of Christ. Only in Him do the words of Isa. 42:6-7 find their true fulfilment.
IV. THAT THE DIVINE COVENANT HAS RESPECT TO ALL NATIONS AND PEOPLES. For the blind and self-righteous Jew of ancient times, or the hard and unsympathetic dogmatist of modern times, to regard the covenant as expressive of an exclusive compact by which a vast portion of mankind was to be shut out from Gods pitying favour, is to mistake its significance. This is to turn a sublime truth into a keynote of caprice and unworthy favouritism. It is a covenant of the people, a light of the Gentiles (Isa. 42:6), that is here indicated. So the earliest form of the promise was comprehensive, and looked onward to an all-inclusive plan (see Gen. 12:3). We see in Jehovahs covenant, then, a basis of redemption for all men, an offer of saving help to every sinner of every race.William Manning.
THE GREAT NAME
Isa. 42:8. I am the Lord: that is my name.
The names and titles of the Almighty, which convey ideas of overwhelming greatness and glory mingled with awful mysteriousness, are most worthy of our best attention.
I. THE NAME BY WHICH GOD HAS GRACIOUSLY REVEALED HIMSELF.
Our translators have only retained the word JEHOVAH four times out of 6855 instances in which it occurs in the original Hebrew. Seldom, if ever, used by the Jews after the Babylonish captivity; on account of their great reverence for the Divine Being, they substituted AdonaiLord; and their example was followed by our translators, who, out of respect to this feeling, have almost invariably rendered it Lord, always, however, directing it to be printed in capitals, to denote that the original word is JEHOVAH, and to distinguish it from every other name.
Its derivation and meaning. The incommunicable name. Psa. 83:18 accords with this declaration. In two instances we have Gods own interpretation of this great name (Exo. 3:14; Exo. 34:6-7, more fully interpreted). In the former instance He announced Himself to Moses in the glory of His self-existent and eternal majesty, as I AM; in the latter, in the glory of His grace and goodnessthe most ample and particular description of the Divine character, as given by Himself, in the sacred records.
It also denotes Gods special relation of love and care to His people. The covenant name. He is the God of all flesh, but He is the JEHOVAH of His people (Psa. 68:4). If we would rejoice before the Lord, we must contemplate Him in the special relation of love and care. Our comfort very much depends upon the views we cherish of our God. The splendour of His attributes cannot of itself awaken joy. Trusting in Him, through Christ, as our JEHOVAHan unchangeable Lord of purpose and promisegives comfort, and we can view His glorious perfections with holy, chastened joy, that softens down to adoring love. For, Heb. 6:17-18. Our hearts can only find satisfaction in union with a Being such as God has revealed Himself to be.
II. THIS GREAT NAME IN UNION WITH SOME OF ITS OLD TESTAMENT COMBINATIONS.
1. JEHOVAH TSIDKENU (Jer. 23:6). Jesus is not only the righteous Lord, but the Lord our righteousness. This short sentence, only two words in the Hebrew, comprises the whole Gospel. As sinners need a righteousness in which to stand before the Holy One, Christs Gospel is the grand provision for the restoration of righteousness in fallen and sinful men (2Co. 5:21; Rom. 3:25-26); personal righteousness, obtained only by faith (Rom. 4:5; Rom. 5:1; Rom. 10:3-4).
2. JEHOVAH-SHALOMJehovah is peace (Jdg. 6:24). The Lord speaks peace unto His people. He who is our righteousness is also our peace (Eph. 2:14; Rom. 5:1). Our legacy (Joh. 14:27).
3. JEHOVAH-NISSIJehovah is my banner (Exo. 17:15). Material warfare an emblem of the spiritual.
(1.) The Church of God is a Church militant; ever at war with the kingdom of darkness. The world must be conquered for Christ. The banner of King Jesus is not placed in our hands for us to be calmly indifferent, but to inspire us with an absorbing ambition for its increase of glory. Victory is sure.
(2.) Our Christian life is a battle. Not only troubles to meet and pass through, but active enemies to resist and overcome. There is no furlough and no discharge. Yet we need not fear.
4. JEHOVAH-JIREHThe Lord will provide (Gen. 22:14). Let this memorial of the past be our watchword for the future. The Lord will provide for us in wisdom according to our necessities (Php. 4:19). He has done so, and He will (Rom. 8:32).
5. JEHOVAH-SHAMMAHThe Lord is there (Eze. 48:35). Doubtless Ezekiel has another city and another promised land in viewthe Gospel church and the Heavenly Jerusalem. The Church is called the city of the living God. The Lord is thereour joy and rejoicingnor will He ever forsake His people. Of the Church triumphant JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH is the chief glory and happiness. God Himself shall be with them, and dwell among them.
This is their supreme delight,
And makes a heaven, of heaven.
CONCLUSION.This Infinite Jehovah is anxious to become your Covenant Friend, and Guide, and Portion.Alfred Tucker.
THE RIGHTS OF GOD MAINTAINED
Isa. 42:8. I am the Lord; that is my name, &c.
God is jealous of His honour (Exo. 20:2-5). The injunctions against idolatry have been repeatedly violated by all the nations of the earth: in ancient times by the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and even the Israelites; in somewhat later times by the Persians, Greeks, Romans; and every modern nation known to us is either now idolatrous or has been rescued from idolatry through the influence of Christianity. To the corrupted mind of man idolatry has peculiar charms: it gratifies his desire for outward signs; it meets his craving after the material and the visible.
The text is of vital interest to ourselves, inasmuch as every impenitent sinner and every unfaithful follower of Christ dishonours God and is chargeable with a kind of idolatry. Mark
I. THE IMPORT OF GODS NAME. I am Jehovah, that is my name.
1. It means the Being that exists. Of every other being, animate and inanimate, it can be affirmed that there was a time when it did not exist; but of Jehovah no such affirmation can be made (Psa. 90:2; Isa. 40:14).
2. It implies that He is the fountain of all being. A false philosophy affirms the existence of other beings independent of God, and maintains especially the eternity of matter. But such views are irrational and absurd (Jer. 10:12; Isa. 40:26). Nor may it be affirmed that these passages imply no more than that God worked on pre-existent matter (Heb. 11:3; H. E. I. 353359).
3. The word signifies that God is also the preserver of being. He made all things for Himselfnot to be abandoned to themselves and fate; but to be watched over and sustained, that the end of their creation might be fully answered (H. E. I. 362365).
4. The name Jehovah indicates that God is the God of Providence. It is admitted that God operates by law; but it is as certainly His power that upholds the worlds as it would be were there no law of gravitation. The laws of nature, so called, are but the modes in which God works. Miracles show that those laws are under His control (Psa. 148:8; H. E. I. 35303538).
5. The sublimest feature in His Providence is that which was exhibited in the redemption of mankind. The name Jehovah leads us to this point. God is the Saviour of the world, since for a sinful world there could have been no preservation without redemption. In Christ the character of God as the merciful I AM is clearly manifested (Joh. 1:14).
II. THE GLORY WHICH BELONGS TO HIM. My glory will I not give to another, &c. The term glory is sometimes used in Scripture in reference to the visible symbol of Jehovahs presencethe Shekinah; at other times it denotes the manifestation of His power and wisdom in creation; and at other times again it is employed in a more general sense to set forth the attributes and perfections of His character. But in the text the word is equivalent to honour, worship, adoration. What, then, is the glory which belongs exclusively to God?
1. The glory of the creation of all things (Rev. 4:11).
2. The glory of the worlds redemption. The work to be achieved was not simply the redemption of mankind, but their redemption in a way consistent with the law of God. But achieved it was, and achieved by God Himself; no angelic being aided in the enterprise, and of the people there was none with Him.
3. The glory of the application of redemption to the case of each individual believer in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:8; Tit. 3:5-6). Where is boasting then? It is excluded.
4. The glory of the advancement of mankind in knowledge, holiness, and peace. The human race is certainly improving; and it is to Christianity we are indebted chiefly for our civil privileges, and for all our social and domestic comforts. To whom is the glory of our national greatness due? To Him by whom kings reign, to whom the wise owe their wisdom, and from whom every good and every perfect gift descends. Christianity, moreover, is the means which God employs for the worlds regeneration; for though other instrumentalities may be brought into operation, they are but subordinate.
III. HIS DETERMINATION TO MAINTAIN HIS RIGHTS. I will not give my glory to another, &c. This declaration may be viewed as corrective
1. Of the sin of idolatry. He has not given His glory to the gods of the heathen, nor will He permit their devotees to give it them. But there are forms of idolatry practised by the Christian professor. What is the worship of the Virgin Mary, of saints and martyrs, of relics and of pictures, but idolatry? And what is the inordinate love of the creature but idolatry? What is covetousness but idolatry? What is the grasping after wealth which prevails but idolatry? (1Jn. 2:15).
2. Of the sin of pride. The proud man takes Gods glory to Himself. Perhaps one reason why Christians are less useful than they might be is that they fail to give God the glory due unto His name, and would fain reserve a measure of praise for themselves (1Sa. 2:30).
3. Of the sin of unbelief. This is allied to pride. It scorns to be indebted for eternal life to grace; it will not submit to the righteousness of God. It robs God of His claims to our confidence and love; but God will not give His glory to another, and never will the terms of mercy be other than they are (Mar. 16:16).Thornley Smith: Sermons by Wesleyan Ministers (1852), pp. 172187.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(5) He that created.The accumulation of Divine attributes, as enhancing the solemnity of a revelation, has an earlier parallel in Amo. 5:8; a later one in Zec. 12:1.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5-9. The words of Jehovah here are not, as in Isa 42:1-4, so much about as to his “servant.”
God the Lord , Hael Jehovah. This phrase is peculiar. It means the Mighty One, the Lord. The great Creator, the Mighty One, proclaims himself also the mighty Redeemer. But why announced just here? (1) To keep still in view the infinite contrast between the only true God and the miserable nothingness of idolatry. (2) To give solidity to the hopes and faith which Israel, and the concentrative idea of Messiah springing out of the true Israel, should have in the work now before Messiah to accomplish. And (3) to show, as the predicates expressing creation, etc., are all participles in the present tense, that God, in creating worlds, does not wind up the machinery, set it a going, and then retire, but that his omnipotent presence is as needful to preserve as his power had been to create. Heb 1:3. The language here is simple, phenomenal, and descriptive.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
God’s Charge to His Servant ( Isa 42:5-9 ).
We continue to see here the joint ministries of Israel and their coming King, reaching out and drawing men within the covenant and bringing them light out of darkness and release from the captivity of sin.
Isa 42:5
‘Thus says God (El) Yahweh,
He who created the heavens, and stretches them forth,
He who spread abroad the earth and that which comes out of it,
He who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk in it.’
God now gives His charge to His Servant. But before He does so we have a description of the One Who is giving the charge. It is El Yahweh, the Creator and ruler of heaven and earth, Who is active within them. It is He Who constantly stretches out the heavens, maintaining the day, bringing out the stars nightly under His control. He is the One Who made the earth so expansive, and is the cause of the fruitfulness of the earth. He is the One Who is the source of all life and breath and inward spirit, without whose work they would have no life sustaining source. He is the One Who has provided for and sustains all, without Whom no man would have food or life. And thus He is over all and His concern is for all. And His Servant is here to perform His service on behalf of the whole world.
One important implication behind this was that the host of heaven was of His doing and the fruitfulness of the ground was His work. There was no necessity of, or room for any interference from any ‘gods’, whether in heaven or earth.
Isa 42:6-7
“I am Yahweh, who has called you in righteousness,
And will hold your hand, and will keep you,
And will give you for a covenant of the people,
For a light to the Gentiles,
To open the blind eyes,
To bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
And those who sit in darkness out of the prison house.”
Note again the stress on righteousness. The Servant is ‘called in righteousness’, as was Abraham (Isa 41:2). He is accepted as righteous by Yahweh and righteousness is required of him. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness (Isa 15:6). His initial call was all of God’s grace (Isa 12:1) but demanded a response in righteousness and it resulted in him becoming righteous before God through faith. The same was true for His people at Sinai. The covenant, which is here seen as directly connected with the person of the Sevant, was an offer of grace, but it had to be accepted, acknowledging a requirement that they be righteous, both by atonement through the shedding of blood and through subsequent obedience. David too was a man of righteousness (1Ki 9:4). Thus the continual requirement for the Servant is righteousness and acceptability to God and obedience to the covenant, and until Israel are righteous they cannot be His effective Servant. Indeed in the end their being accounted righteous, when they are, will be the result of the work of Another (Isa 53:11), the Servant supreme, because they cannot make themselves righteous.
‘And will hold your hand, and will keep you.’ Every one who walks as one with The Servant will be able to know that God walks with him and ‘holds his hand’, that is, walks alongside him. But it will especially be true of the One Who could say, ‘I a My Father are one’. The holding of the hand is in order to demonstrate that God is with His Servant and working through him, so that he need not fear. It is an expression previously used of ‘Israel – My servant’ (Isa 41:13 with 8). It is in order to demonstrate that he can know that he is being guided by Him (Psa 73:23), and will be delivered from danger and from the darkness. The angels held Lot’s hand when they delivered him from danger (Gen 19:16). God will also hold Cyrus’ hand when He is using him as His shepherd (Isa 45:1). It denotes God’s control. It is a strong hand. ‘And will keep you.’ The word means to preserve. See Deu 33:10. Thus the Servant can be sure of the closeness of, and the protecting and confirming presence of, God.
‘And give you for a covenant of the people.’ The basic idea is that God’s covenant of grace and mercy will be extended to the nations through the Servant who will be its guarantee and mediator. There was a very real sense in which Israel as God’s covenant people could offer that covenant to the world, but in the end it was most full offered in Jesus Christ, Who as the Servant came to give His life a ransom for many (Mar 10:45). He contains within Himself all that is the covenant. He is the fulfilment of the offer in the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 12:3), and this also has in mind the extension of that covenant in the covenant with David (2Sa 7:13; 2Sa 7:16), and the Davidic covenant promised in Isa 55:3. David was the guarantee to his people of God’s care and protection through his house by an everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David, which nothing could rescind. And that covenant was revealed as something that would become worldwide because of the promise to the Davidic King of the future, of worldwide dominion (Isa 9:7; Psalms 2). It may be suggesting that the Servant as the greater David will renew and extend that covenant and offer it to the nations (Isa 55:3), a guarantee that those who respond to Him will enter into a covenant relationship with God (which would eventually be revealed as through His blood of the new covenant shed for the remission of sins – Mat 26:28).
Or the thought may be that the nations will be able to enter the covenant of Abraham through uniting with his seed, the Servant, who represents the covenant, and becoming one with them by adoption, thus being guaranteed membership of the covenant. This indeed is what happened to new Christians who were adopted through baptism into the Apostolic (and thus by source Jewish-Christian) community of the people of God and became members of the Israel of God on their conversion (Gal 6:16), in a community where there was neither Jew nor Greek, but all are one in Christ Jesus, all are the true Israel (Eph 2:11-22). For the covenant with Abraham contained within it from the beginning the fact that through him and his seed the whole world would be blessed (Gen 12:3; Gen 26:4-5), and it too was an everlasting covenant (Gen 17:19).
Yet we do not have to choose between them, for in the end there is only one covenant, even though it has many facets. It is God’s covenant with His own, continued and expanded through the ages, for God is unchanging.
‘For a light to the Gentiles, to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and those who sit in darkness out of the prison house.’ The Servant would through the covenant bring light to the Gentiles. This was a primary work of Immanuel (Isa 9:1-6). But this was also to be the work of the spiritual in Israel (Isa 49:6). The blind eyes of the nations would be opened, they would be released from their dungeon chains, they would come out of the darkness of the prison house into the freedom and light. They will no longer be darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that was in them because of the hardness of their hearts (Eph 4:18). For they will have received light.
Isa 42:8-9
“I am Yahweh. That is my name.
And my glory I will not give to another,
Nor my praise to graven images.
Behold the former things are come about,
And new things do I declare.
Before they spring forth I will tell you of them.”
‘I am Yahweh. That is my name.’ This is not just the announcing of His name, it is drawing attention to Who and What He is. The name was seen as indicating character and being. And He is Yahweh, the One Who has caused to be from the beginning, the One Who will be, the One Who is there.
And being Yahweh, the living, active God He will not allow the credit for what He has done, ‘the former things’, in the raising up of Abraham and David, and what He is going to doing to do, ‘the new things’ that He is now declaring, in the effective choosing of the greater David and spiritual Israel, to go to anyone else. Certainly not to graven images. The glory belongs to Him and to Him alone.
So far from this Servant song being an independent unit we find that it is an essential part of the context (although there is nothing to stop it being both, a sacred song incorporated into a context, and yet a part of that context).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 42:5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Isa 42:5
Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
Isa 42:7 Isa 42:8 Isa 42:9 Isa 42:9
Isa 48:3-5, “I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee : lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them.”
Isa 42:11 Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar doth inhabit: let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Isa 42:11
Isa 42:19 Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the LORD’S servant?
Isa 42:19
Jesus warned the Pharisees that they, too, were blind and needed to see (Joh 9:39-41).
Joh 9:39-41, “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.”
Saul of Tarsus was struck blind so that he might see. The light of God’s presence simply revealed Saul’s inner condition of blindness.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Isa 42:5-9. Thus saith God The prophet here continues the address of God to the Messiah, and that in a very lofty and magnificent manner. First, the Messiah is animated to continue his course with alacrity and spirit, amid the many difficulties which his enemies would throw in his way, since God, by his sovereign decree, had ordained him for the Saviour of both Jews and Gentiles, and would support him by his most powerful aid, and by the singular care of his providence, Isa 42:5-8. The discourse being then turned to men, on account of this new prediction concerning the coming of his Son into the world, the Lord again urges the truth of his divinity, Isa 42:9 though possibly this last verse may more properly be assigned to the prophet himself. To be given for a covenant of the people, means, “To perform for the people the promises given by the covenant with Abraham.” This refers to the Jews, as the next clause does to the Gentiles. The former things in the ninth verse, may refer to the Egyptian and Babylonish deliverances; and the new things, to that true deliverance whereof they were types; the illumination of Jews and Gentiles through the redemption of Jesus Christ. In Isa 42:7 we may read, Them that sit in darkness from out of the dungeon.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 928
CHRISTS COMMISSION
Isa 42:5-7. Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, end give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.
HEAR, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! for the Lord speaketh. In the preceding verses he speaks to us, and calls our attention to his elect servant, whom he had appointed to the office of saving man, and qualified to execute it in a manner honourable to himself, and effectual for that end [Note: Compare Mat 12:15-21. which shews that the whole of this passage relates to Christ.]. But, in the words of our text, we overhear the almighty Jehovah, the eternal Father, addressing his co-equal, co-eternal Son. Ineffable mystery! And what a stupendous privilege to be admitted thus into the council chamber of the Most High! Surely if Moses was commanded to put off his shoes because the place where he stood was sanctified by the Divine presence, it becomes us to express the profoundest reverence, while we listen to the God of heaven giving his commission to his only dear Son respecting the redemption of a ruined world.
In this address to Jesus we see,
I.
The commission given him
Though Christ in his own nature is God equal with the Father, yet as man, and as Mediator, he acts as the Fathers servant. In this capacity he received a commission,
1.
To undertake the work of our salvation
[The first covenant which was made with Adam, being broken, it pleased God to make a new covenant; not so much with man, as with his own Son in mans behalf [Note: Gal 3:17. Tit 1:2. Eph 1:4.].
The terms of this covenant were, that Christ should make his soul an offering for sin, and that he should have the souls of men for his reward [Note: Isa 53:10-12.].
Christ was not only a party in this covenant, but also the Mediator and Surety of it [Note: Heb 8:6; Heb 7:22.]. He mediated between God and man; and became a surety, both for God to man, and for man to God. He engaged on mans part, that he should be renewed after the Divine image, and be made obedient to the Divine will; and on Gods part he engaged, that his mercy should be extended to every believing penitent.
In this view Christ is said to be given for a covenant; because he alone fulfils the conditions of it, and because we, in laying hold on him, become partakers of all its benefits.]
2.
To perform it effectually in our behalf
[Man being blinded by Satan and enslaved by sin, it was necessary that he should be enlightened with divine truth, and liberated from the dominion of his lusts. Accordingly Christ undertook to bring him forth into light, and liberty. In execution of his office he illuminated the Jewish Church by the revelations made to Moses and the prophets; and since that period he has been a light to the Gentiles also, even to the very ends of the earth. Nor is it only by the outward manifestation of his truth that he instructs the world: he teaches men by his Spirit also: he opens the eyes of the blind, and causes them to see out of obscurity and out of darkness. By the same Spirit also he enables them to burst the chains with which they are bound, and to come forth from their dungeons in which they are immured. As in delivering Peter from his prison, where he lay sleeping on the night preceding his intended execution, he caused the light to shine in upon him, and his chains to fall off, and the prison doors to fly open of their own accord [Note: Act 12:1-10.]; so now he delivers the souls of men, turning them from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God [Note: Act 26:18.].
All this is Christs covenanted work: he performs it to consequence of his own engagements: and he will perform it as long as there shall continue one on whose behalf the mighty working of his power shall be necessary.]
In the text we notice,
II.
His ability to execute it
We cannot doubt of this, when we are informed,
1.
By whom he was called to it
[The Father gives in this place a glorious description of his own majesty, as the Creator of heaven and earth, yea of man also, with his animal life, his rational faculties, and his immortal soul. Nor is this description without a very important meaning, as introductory to the commission given to his Son; because it shews us by what high authority his Son acted, and how certainly his undertaking shall be effectual for the end designed.
Christ glorified not himself to become an high priest, but was called of God, as was Aaron. The Father called him in righteousness. In execution of his own righteous purpose, and in accomplishment of his righteous promises, he gave him this commission. He called him when first he entered into covenant with him; and again, when he provided him a body for the discharge of his office; and again, when by an audible voice from heaven he testified, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
From these repeated calls we are assured, that Christ was fully authorized to undertake our cause, and that in all that he did and suffered for us he was accepted of his heavenly Father.]
2.
By whom he was assisted in it
[The trials which Jesus met with from man, though exceeding great, might have been borne: but when he conflicted with all the powers of darkness, and sustained all the weight of his Fathers wrath, he must have sunk under the load, had not his almighty Father supported him. But never did he want effectual aid. He complained of dereliction indeed in his most trying hour: but this dereliction related only to the sensible presence of his Father, whereby he might have been comforted: that which was necessary for his support, was never withdrawn: the Father had said to him, I will hold thine hand, and will keep thee; and never for one moment was he forgetful of his promise.
But this promise was not confined to the period of Christs existence upon earth: it includes also a concurrence with him in his work, even to the end of the world. What then can be wanting, when the Father and the Son are ever combining their efforts for the salvation of men? None, however blind, need to despair of beholding the light; none, however rivetted in bonds, need despair of attaining liberty.]
We cannot close this subject without suggesting some obvious reflections
1.
How deeply are we interested in the covenant of grace!
[It is generally imagined, that the mysterious engagements between the Father and the Son are merely speculative points, in which mankind are little interested. But what can be conceived more interesting than the offices of Christ, or his ability to fulfil them? Would persons destitute of vision, or imprisoned and under sentence of death, feel no interest in the inquiry, whether they could find relief, or whether one professing to offer it were able to fulfil his word? On the covenant of redemption rests all our hope. If Christ be not authorized to save us, his good-will towards us will be to little purpose: if he be not qualified, his endeavours will be all in vain.
Let us then acquaint ourselves with the proper grounds of our hope. Let us consider the parties contracting, and the engagements which they have respectively entered into; and let us lay hold on that covenant as all our salvation and all our desire [Note: 2Sa 23:5.].]
2.
What encouragement have all to embrace that covenant!
[Are any persons ready to apprehend that they are excluded from it as unworthy? Behold the provisions of the covenant itself! See for whose benefit it is particularly designed! Are we not only in darkness, but blind also? Are we enslaved, and so fast bound in prison that we cannot come forth? We then are the very persons for whose sake the Son of God became incarnate, and for whose relief both his and his Fathers honour are mutually pledged.
Let none then listen to such unfounded apprehensions; but rather let every one remember, that Christ is given for a covenant to the whole Gentile world; and that the more desperate our condition be, the more will God be glorified in our acceptance of his proffered mercy.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
In the former verses, Jehovah was speaking of Christ; here we find him speaking to Christ: and a most blessed discourse it is. The Lord opens it with a sublime preface, in asserting his own divine authority, as the fountain of all being, giving existence to all his creatures, and incessantly supporting the life he hath given. Reader, is it not most blessed to your mind, to behold the source of the believer’s hope in Christ? Oh, what a divine warrant and authority is here for faith to act upon, in the accepting, receiving, and resting the whole of our salvation upon Christ, when we behold how God the Father’s hand is in the whole appointment! Having prepared the Church for the cordial reception of Christ, by asserting his own supremacy in the ordination of Christ to the office of Mediator; Jehovah goeth on to address Christ, his chosen, by opening the great mystery of redemption in the covenant, and giving Christ his commission. The Lord begins with calling him; I the Lord have called thee in righteousness. Christ came forth voluntarily to the service, but did not come uncalled; see Heb 5:4-6 ; Psa 40:7-8 . Next, the promises come in: I will hold thine hand, and will keep thee. The human nature of Christ needed support in the vast work of redemption; and it was a grand part of the covenant, that the Father should give it to him Psa 89:19-23 . Next come in the glorious object of this call of Jehovah, and his support of Christ in his services: I will give thee for a covenant of the people. Here is the momentous cause of the whole; that Jesus should be the representative of his people, and the whole of the covenant for them, acting in their name and stead, in all he did and suffered. This is at the bottom of all our hopes and assurances of redemption by Christ’s blood. Then follow the blessed and gracious effects upon his people, by virtue of his undertaking and accomplishment: To open the eyes of the blind, and to bring forth the prisoners out of the prison-house; to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of his people. Israel. And oh, how truly blessed is it, not only to see, but feel, the gracious effects wrought in our own hearts by the Holy Ghost, in confirmation of this most precious doctrine! Isa 35:4-6 , compared with Mat 9:35 . And, Reader, do not overlook the blessed verse with which this passage is closed: Jehovah, who declares his . jealousy of his own name and glory to be such as that he will not give his glory to another; yet, as if to show his oneness in nature and in glory with his dear Son, here gives him the whole glory of the covenant. He is to open blind eyes: and who less, than a God could do this, and have the glory of it what a decided testimony doth this become, and from God the Father himself, that Christ is God? Indeed, none but God could be competent to the work, or to the honour of redemption. Reader, I pray you cherish the blessed thought (for it is most blessed) which this verse fully gives, as an unanswerable evidence in the soul, by the Spirit’s confirmation, against all the heresies of the present day; 2Pe 2:1 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Majestic Claims
Isa 42:5-25
That is a grand preamble. Words of this character excite thrilling expectation. Go to Oriential lands for magnificence of description, for redundance of self-eulogium; read the Babylonian records to find how ancient kings adorned themselves with imposing titles. Something must always be allowed for Orientalism; it is not irreverent to say that something must be allowed for Orientalism in certain parts of the Bible itself. Here is a title which, standing by itself, might challenge comparison with other royal designations. We must, therefore, go further, and inquire for what purpose the title was used. This is not all sound and fury, signifying nothing; this is but a beginning; this great title only excites astonishment, creates interest, prepares the mind to hear some great revelation that is about to be made, and that takes its tone and quality from the title itself. That is the vital and impassable distance between all other titles and the title Jehovah. Kings in ancient times and eastern lands have exhausted epithets in their self-description, but one of them came nothing but boasting, vanity, self-laudation. Our enquiry turns upon the uses to which this title is about to be committed. Who is to be entrusted with it? To whom is it to be handed as a charge, entitling the messenger to go forth and work upon it, turning it to real and blessed utility? Is it a decoration, or an authority? Is it a piece of Oriental rhetoric, or is it the very comfort of God addressed to the souls of men?
Will God thus share his title, and create co-partners of his glory? He will never give his name to another, that that other may be equal to him, and use it for purposes other than those which harmonise with divine love: but there is a sense in which he will share his throne: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” There is a blessed sense in which the Scriptures teach that even mortal man may handle the eternity of God. Yet we need this element of majesty in the Bible. We have it in nature. Whatever is small in nature is only such relatively. The earth would be much larger if the sky were less that all-dwarfing firmament; it makes all other things look insignificant: in themselves they may be great and precious, but when related to what is to us the best symbol of infinity they fall into nothingness. If we have, therefore, this element of majesty in nature, why not in revelation? There must be no trifling with God; even when he condescends it must be with majesty; when he draws near it must be to create astonishment and reverence, and fill the soul with awe, which alone can prepare it for deepest and highest revelations. It does us good to come near men who are greater than ourselves, for it rebukes our self-appraisement where it is exaggerated or marked by vanity; we thought ourselves wise until we heard them speak, then we fled away to resume our studies, because our acquisitions were so small. It does us good to come near great sights of all kinds. A man then puts off his shoes, and leaves his staff behind, and goes forward tremblingly, that he may hear voices from other worlds. “I will now turn aside, and see this great sight.” So in page after page of the Bible, the Lord comes down in his full title, he brings with him his whole dignity; and the firmament itself closes its eyes in reverence and wonder. There is a sun which puts out our sun, paling its radiance as if in shame. Thus we must bring both the Old Testament and the New together in order to see at once the majesty and the condescension of God, the infinite grandeur and the infinite love of him who is Creator-Father. Neither is sufficient by itself. Union alone gives completeness. He who begins by creating ends by redeeming. In redeeming the world we see what value God set upon it. Viewed in the light of omnipotence, creation is nothing, it is less than a handful of dust or a wreath of smoke but when God comes forth to redeem what he made he writes upon it the value which he assigns to it. We must take God’s estimate of God’s work.
Let us now ask whether this title is ostentatious or beneficent The answer is in the sixth verse,
“I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.” ( Isa 42:6 )
So then, God’s eternity is to be turned to the uses of time. This is no revelation of overpowering majesty; this is the key of the door. O Messenger or the Covenant, take this key, it will open creation; the universe knows it; at its touch the lock will spring back, and thy progress will lie before thee like a straight line. This is the name to conjure with, in the noblest religious sense of that term, to bring down mountains, to raise valleys, and dry up rivers and seas. Without this name we can make no real advancement in any direction that is upward. We can dig without it, and can go to hell without it. So then the Lord himself comes forth to invest the Church with all riches: Because I live, ye shall live also: If I go, I will come again: “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you,” “I” and “you:” what Christ can do the Church can do: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me: I glory in tribulation also: I have learned the divine art of turning sorrow into wine, and I drink it for the soul’s comfort. The title of God, therefore, is not so much verbiage, and elaboration of eulogium, a rhetorical effort to magnify God in words; it is an inspiration and encouragement; it is a feast never to be exhausted, it is a fountain of water in the wilderness; it is the beginning and the necessity of utility; it is the guarantee of progress; it is the assurance of victory. Let us, then, take it with us everywhere: I will go in the name of the Lord God, and make mention of his righteousness, even of his only: when I see great doors and bars and gates, I will say, Lift up your heads, fall back, ye portals, and the King of glory shall come in; I will beat them down with thy name and when the river comes, flowing and uproariously, plunging through the great valley as if it would drive everything before it, I will strike it with the eternal name, and make it stand back, until I have passed through on dry ground. This should be the noble language of the Church. Wherein the Church falls into fearfulness and dejection, she has forgotten her own resources, she has humbled herself into an equality with the powers of the earth, she has waited until some painted mockery of a king has passed by. The Church should always claim precedence. The state is nothing a pasteboard frame run up in a nighttime for purposes of mere convenience in the way of commerce and exchange and so-called civilisation. If there be a Church, a redeemed and sanctified life, it will go in before every beggar-prince that wants to carry his hoarded gold along with him. The Church goes by right of the divine title. The Church stands by the dignity of God. Men should sometimes realise their representative capacity and their symbolic function; and whilst they in themselves wish to be the most modest of men, yet they have to bear a testimony, and to take a position, and to advance a banner. O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain! Zion, put on thy beautiful garments! shake them from the dust, and stand up, the princess of God. All this accords with gentleness, modesty, self-obliteration in all narrow senses: and all this is consonant with the majesty of God. Let us remember that as a Church we are created anew, redeemed with the infinitely precious blood of Christ, washed and cleansed, and that we are without stain or flaw, or any such thing, a glorious Church. There are too many bent heads amongst us; too many fearful spirits; too many who say, Let gold go first, then silver, then copper, then piety. God would reverse the process; he would throw away the gold and the silver and the copper and say, This is the order of precedence: goodness first, piety at the head; gentleness, pureness, love, charity, brotherly kindness, forward. We must not reverse the processes and precedences of God.
That the title is not ostentatious but beneficent is proved also by the seventh verse
“To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” ( Isa 42:7 )
The Lord sent to Saul when he prayed that his eyes might be opened, and Saul himself described the vision as marvellous light. We want, too, to be brought out of prison. The word “prison” is a large word; it signifies ignorance, prejudice, criminality, all manner of unlawful or needless or self-imposed limitation; it means independence of all the allurements, snares, fascinations, temptations, of time and space: it means spiritual freedom; it is described in the gospel as “glorious liberty.” All liberty may be said to be glorious, yet there is a liberty that needs an epithet to give it just the particular accentuation which expresses its range and quality; so the word “glorious” is attached to the word liberty. They match each other well; the words fall into blessed accord and mutual complement; they belong to one another; it is the liberty, not of the dawn, which is useful, not of the growing day, which is inspiring, but of the noontide, which is glorious. Men are in various stages of liberty. We are not all equally the free men of God. There are men even now who are under the disadvantage of prejudice. Even today superstition lives chilling, fear-exciting, soul-depressing, superstition. There are those who still live in the letter of the Word. They have never felt the summer warmth of the Spirit; the juices, the sap of life may be said not to have risen in the stem of their manhood yet, even in vernal days. Others are far on; they are high up the hill; they can almost touch the sky, and warm themselves at the higher fire; they are marked by what timid souls would call audacity; and indeed when timid souls so criticise these higher freemen they speak their own language, because to them the action of the higher men would indeed be audacity. But we must not curb one another, and especially the small nature must never fix itself as the measure of manhood. Better that the great souls should say, “All others are like us,” than that little invisible natures should say, There are some who have gone astray by going upward. Blessed are they who are straying towards heaven! May the pastures through which they pass be green, may they be able to quaff the water out of the river of God! Christ has come for the express purpose of opening blind eyes and releasing prisoners. The question which men ought to put to themselves is this, “Do we see; are we free, or are we blind; and are we still in prison? If the Son shall make you free, ye should be free indeed. Only the truth can give liberty; and truth is a term so large that only one other term can stretch a line upon it, and say, I am as large as you; and that other term is Love.”
But here comes a great indictment:
“Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord’s servant?” ( Isa 42:19 ).
Israel is here referred to. The servant that ought to have seen everything sees nothing; the messenger that ought to have the hearing ear has lost his faculty of hearing; and he that ought to have been perfect is blind. A curious word is this which is rendered “perfect.” In sound it is like “Moslem,” and it means literally, the resigned man. That is what Moslem affects to be. That is the very genius of Islam, the resigned man; the man who says he will make no effort, because what will be will be; he need not bestir himself in the morning, because he can effect nothing by all his labour and energy; he will resign himself to the rocking of nature, and be lulled to rest by its soothing movement. There is a charm in fatalism. If it could call itself Calvinism it would make more progress. There is a fascination in the faith that says, Sit still; do nothing; hold your hands; close your eyes, let sleep steal upon you; and the stars will go on just the same as if you were making frantic endeavours to be wise and great and strong. But nature feels an indefinite antagonism to that base suggestion. Nature now and again rises and says, No: I was made to be active; I know it, I feel it: why were these faculties given if they were not to be used? Possession is inspiration: to have eyes is to be entitled to see; to have ears means that we have a right to listen to music, and eloquence, and learning, and persuasion. Let the voice of nature prevail. To have a faculty means that that faculty is to be used. Herein is the tremendous indictment correct “Seeing many things, but thou observest not, opening the ears, but he heareth not.” To have faculties that have fallen into disuse, to have the symbols of manhood but no virility, to look a man, and yet be but a thing, to seem to have a heart and yet have no response to human want and pain, that is the inconceivable but possible irony. Having eyes, they see not; having ears, they hear not; having hearts, they do not understand. Yet are they counted as of the population of the earth. A man may withdraw himself from the working force of society, and from the real manhood of the world, and may occupy room of which he is not worthy. Only they should be counted whose souls are alive. The first question should be, What are you? What is your purpose? What is the tone of your life? What use do you make of your faculties? Are you helpers of society, or burdens? Do you carry, or are you to be carried? Thus Christianity becomes a most active religion. It does not count a man when he is asleep the same as it counts him when he is awake; it counts the day population; and there are men walking about who are really walking in their sleep, and they are not counted at all. Christianity makes no account of somnambulists in the daytime. Christianity expects us to use our faculties. Christianity in the person of its Infinite Founder, says, How is it that ye do not understand? Ye can discern the signs of the sky, how is it that ye cannot read the signs of the times? O fools and slow of heart! The Church is to be the most sagacious of all institutions. The Christian is to be the most statesmanlike of all men. He is not concerned in some little problems, in some arrangements which may be thus or otherwise, and yet no great interests are affected by their distribution. He is in burning earnest, in deadly earnest; he deals with great questions, he addresses himself to infinite difficulties; he needs all his mental power, all his moral sympathy, all his social resources. So then, we go back to the divine title “Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;” I will be with thee, I will hold thy hands, I will keep thee, I will see that all thy way is marked out for thee, I will lead the blind by a way that they know not, and by paths that they have not understood. “I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs; and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools.” Thus the title passes down from pompous rhetoric into beneficent service.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
Isa 42:5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
Ver. 5. Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out. ] Heb., And they that stretched them out; noting the Trinity in unity. as Deu 6:4 Some pagans concluded the world must needs have had a beginning, otherwise we could not know whether the egg or the bird, the seed or the plant, the day or the night, the light or the darkness, were first.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 42:5-9
5Thus says God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it
And spirit to those who walk in it,
6I am theLORD, I have called You in righteousness,
I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations,
7To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
8I am the LORD, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.
9Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.
Isa 42:5-9 This section is very similar to Isa 40:12-17, which emphasizes YHWH as Creator and Sovereign of physical creation.
Isa 42:5 God the LORD These are two names for Deity (see Special Topic: Names for Deity ).
1. El – the general name for Deity in the Ancient Near East (BDB 42). Here it has the DEFINITE ARTICLE
2. YHWH – the covenant name for Deity from the VERB to be (BDB 217)
created This VERB (BDB 135, KB 153, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) is used uniquely of God’s creating (cf. Gen 1:1).
the heavens See Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: HEAVEN
NASBoffspring
NKJV, NRSVthat which comes from it
TEVall that lives there
NJBwhat comes from it
JPSOAwhat it brings forth
The term (KB 993) has two orientations.
1. plants – Job 31:8; Isa 34:1; Isa 42:5
2. humans (metaphor of descendants) – Job 5:25; Job 21:8; Job 27:14; Isa 22:24; Isa 44:3; Isa 48:19; Isa 61:9; Isa 65:23
Notice the series of Who
1. created the heavens
2. stretched them out
3. spread out the earth
4. spread out its offspring
5. gives breath (nephesh, BDB 675) to the people on it
6. gives spirit (ruah, BDB 924) to those who walk in it
If they are meant to form a chain like Genesis 1, then plants are the probable meanings. If they are a type of synonymous parallelism then people are the focus. Life, not just matter, is from YHWH. He is the ever-living, only-living God!
Isa 42:6-7 These verses describe what YHWH is doing for His covenant people. He chose them for a purpose (see Special Topic: YHWH’s Eternal Redemptive Plan ).
1. called (BDB 894, KB 1128, Qal PERFECT) them in righteousness
2. held them by the hand (BDB 304, KB 302, Hiphil JUSSIVE)
3. watched over them (BDB 665, KB 718, Qal IMPERFECT)
4. appointed them as a covenant people (BDB 678, KB 733, Qal IMPERFECT)
a. as a light to the nations (see full note at Isa 45:22)
b. to open blind eyes
c. to bring out prisoners
Abraham’s seed was both
1. a kingdom of priests
2. a King/Priest (Messiah, cf. Psalms 110)
who came to deliver the world from the darkness and prison of sin (Genesis 3).
There is some doubt about the Hebrew root of #3
1. protect ( BDB 665) – NASB, NKJV, NRSV
2. form ( BDB 427) – NJB, JPSOA, REB
Notice what the Messiah/Servant will accomplish.
1. government in righteousness (cf. Isa 9:6-7; Isa 11:3-4)
2. worldwide reign (cf. Isa 45:22; Isa 49:6; Isa 52:10; Mic 5:4)
3. open blind eyes (cf. Isa 29:18; Isa 32:3; Isa 35:5)
4. release prisoners (cf. Isa 61:1)
Isa 42:8 I am the LORD, that is My name This is the covenant name of God. See Special Topic: The Name of YHWH .
My glory This is a difficult term (BDB 458) to define. In Isa 6:3 it fills the whole earth. In Isa 40:5 it will be revealed to the whole earth. In a sense it represents YHWH’s personal presence.
In the NT YHWH’s glory is fully revealed in the person of the Messiah, Jesus (cf. Joh 1:14; Joh 11:4; Joh 11:40; Joh 17:4).
SPECIAL TOPIC: GLORY
I will not give My glory to another See Isa 40:18-26, which speaks of YHWH’s reality and the idols’ non-reality.
Isa 42:9-10 new things. . .new song The term new (BDB 294) is a recurrent theme in Isa 43:19; Isa 48:6; Isa 62:2; Isa 65:17; Isa 66:22 and also in the NT book of the Revelation. See full note at Isa 62:2.
Isa 42:9 Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you This also goes back to Isa 40:18-26, where YHWH asks the idols to make a prediction to show their reality and they could not, but YHWH can!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Isa 42:5-9
Isa 42:5-9
“Thus saith God Jehovah, he that created the heavens, and stretched them forth; he that spread abroad the earth and that which cometh out of it; he hath given breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. I, Jehovah, have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. I am Jehovah, that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise unto graven images. Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”
This paragraph, like all the rest of these final chapters of Isaiah is loaded with the earmarks of Isaianic authorship, Note the repetition in Isa 42:5-6; Isa 42:8, calling attention to the fact that it is Jehovah God who is promising these wonderful things; and, “This is one of Isaiah’s favorite means of emphasizing the certainty of the fulfillment of the things prophesied.
Concerning the specific things prophesied in these five verses, Archer listed them thus: “God’s twofold mission for his Servant would be: (a) to fulfill his covenant promises to Israel, and (b) to bring the light of revelation to the Gentiles (Isa 42:5-6). The first of these concerned especially the bringing of the Messiah into the world, which event God had specifically tied to the posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and therein lies the fact of God’s refraining from the destruction of the “chosen people” until A.D. 70. Ages before the Messiah finally came, the apostate nation of the fleshly descendants of Abraham fully deserved to be destroyed, yet God, in a sense, was `stuck with them’ until Messiah was born. Paul commented on this thus: “God endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction; and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory” (Rom 9:22). The profound English Scholar John Locke commented on this as follows:
“By `the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction’ (mentioned in Isa 42:22), he manifestly means the nation of the Jews, who were now (in Paul’s day) grown ripe, and fit for the destruction God was bringing upon them. And by `vessels of mercy,’ he means the Christian Church gathered out of a small collection of convert Jews, and the rest made up of Gentiles, who were together from thenceforward to be `the people of God’ in the room of the Jewish nation, now cast off, as apparent in Rom 9:24.”
The Gospel which would be proclaimed by the Servant would specifically invite the Gentiles of all mankind to share and share alike with the Jews the New Covenant and the blessings of salvation and eternal life. Isa 42:7 prophesied that the Servant would open the eyes of the blind and release the captives from prison. Christ did indeed open the eyes of the physically blind; but both that miracle and the releasing from prison found their real fulfillment in the spiritual sector. Christ referred to this in Luk 4:18-19, where he quoted from another passage in Isaiah (Isa 61:1 f) which is very similar to this. In Isa 42:8-9, God again announced his refusal to share his glory with idols and graven images, and once more proclaimed God’s ability to foretell events before they came to pass.
Isa 42:5-9 COMMISSION OF THE SERVANT: Gods Servant will come (a) with all the power of the Almighty Creator, (b) in divine righteousness, (c) in divine fellowship, (d) as the covenant of God personified, (e) to deliver, (f) and to fulfill the promises of Jehovah and thus to glorify Him.
This Servant will be sent with all the authority and power of Jehovah. He will have creative power resident in Him. He will do the work of the One and Only True God. The implication of Isa 42:5-6 are that the Servant will have all the power to create matter and life that Jehovah has. But the most important mission of the Servant will be righteousness and for a covenant. The Servants primary objective will be to involve the Gentiles! This is no covenant of commandments, only, but a covenant whose terms and relationships are in a Person, a Life, the Son of God. The Servant Himself will come as Man to accomplish and earn the covenant relationship with Jehovah by suffering the penalty of mans breaking covenant (cf. Mat 26:26-29; Mat 20:28; Luk 24:44-49; Heb 10:1-25, etc.). Men may enter into that covenant by a relationship of personal faith in Him and His redemptive work, allowing that faith to produce His character in them. The Servant furnishes the righteousness-the covenant-members receive it by faith and obedience. The main thrust of Jesus ministry was to persuade His people that He was equal with the Creator and that the Covenant of Jehovah was to be Personified in Him. Both of these concepts were rejected and despised by the main body of Jewish people in Jesus day, not because Jesus failed to demonstrate evidence to substantiate His claims, but because they did not have the love of God in their hearts (cf. John, ch. 7, 8, 9).
To understand the primary meaning of the prediction that the Servant will open the blind eyes, and bring out the prisoners, etc., one must compare Isa 61:1-2 with Luk 4:16 f. Jesus did not do many mighty works in Nazareth, and yet He declared the release of captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, was being fulfilled in the very act of preaching the good news to the poor there in Nazareth. So, this mission of the Messiah-Servant is not to find its ultimate fulfillment in physical healing alone.
The people of Isaiahs day may as well stop worshipping idols for the glory of Jehovah will be manifested in only one, Himself, Incarnate in the Servant-Son. This is final, absolute and certain to come to pass. Just as surely as the former things God predicted through previous prophets (Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Elijah, et al.) so these new things which Jehovah predicts through Isaiah, as incredible as they are, will certainly come to pass. The indication is that the people must surrender to the will of God that their salvation is not in national or ethnic relationship but relationship to Him and the Servant whom He shall send, (cf. Joh 5:23; Joh 5:38; Joh 6:29).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
he that created: Isa 40:12, Isa 40:22, Isa 40:28, Isa 44:24, Isa 45:12, Isa 45:18, Isa 48:13, Psa 102:25, Psa 102:26, Psa 104:2-35, Jer 10:12, Jer 32:17, Amo 9:6, Zec 12:1, Heb 1:2, Heb 1:10-12
he that spread: Gen 1:10-12, Gen 1:24, Gen 1:25, Psa 24:1, Psa 24:2, Psa 136:6
he that giveth: Gen 2:7, Job 12:10, Job 27:3, Job 33:4, Job 34:14, Psa 33:6, Dan 5:23, Act 17:25
Reciprocal: Gen 2:1 – Thus 1Ch 16:26 – the Lord 1Ch 29:11 – all that Job 9:8 – Which Job 26:7 – General Psa 96:5 – but Isa 51:13 – that hath Isa 57:16 – the souls Jer 27:5 – made Jer 51:15 – and hath Mal 3:6 – I am Heb 12:9 – the Father
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 42:5-7. Thus saith God the Lord, &c. This large description of Gods infinite power is here seasonably added, to give assurance of the certain accomplishment of these great and wonderful promises, which otherwise would seem incredible. I the Lord have called thee in righteousness To declare my righteousness, as is said Rom 3:26 : or, my faithfulness, manifested in fulfilling my promises, long since made, and often renewed; and will hold thy hand Will give thee counsel and strength for thy great and mighty work. And will keep thee That thou shalt not fail in, nor, by thine enemies, be hindered from, the accomplishment of thy work; and give thee for a covenant of the people To be the Angel of the covenant, Mal 3:1; or, the Mediator, in and by whom my covenant of grace is made and confirmed with mankind, even with all people who will accept of it. For a light of the Gentiles To enlighten them with true and saving knowledge, and to direct them in the right way to true happiness, out of which they had miserably wandered. To open the blind eyes The eyes of mens minds, blinded with long ignorance, deep prejudice, and inveterate error, and by the god of this world, 2Co 4:4. And to bring out the prisoners, &c. Namely, sinners who are taken captive by the devil at his will, (2Ti 2:26,) and enslaved by their own lusts, and who can only be made free by Christ, Joh 8:32; Joh 8:36 : compare Isa 61:1, and Luk 4:17-21.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 42:5-7. An Exposition of the Theme of Isa 42:1-4.Yahweh the Creator, has called Israel, taken him by the hand, made him a covenant and light to the nations, to bring them forth from their prison-house of glimmering darkness.
Isa 42:5. God, the Lord: read, Yahweh, the (true) God.Insert brought forth before that which.
Isa 42:6. in righteousness: i.e. truly, of set purpose.will hold . . . will keep . . . and give: read, have held . . . have formed . . . and have given.covenant of the people: an obscure expression, best interpreted as a parallel to the following clause, a people embodying a covenant which Yahweh will make with the nations.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
The speaker identified Himself, for the benefit of the idol-worshipping nations (cf. Isa 40:1). He was the transcendent God who created all things (Heb. ha’el, cf. Isa 40:18), namely, Yahweh, the covenant-keeping God of Israel. He described Himself further as He who established the earth and who alone cares for it and sustains its inhabitants. The Servant’s ministry will fulfill the Creator’s original intention for the earth.