Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that [are] far from righteousness:
12, 13. A call to repentance based on the nearness of deliverance.
ye stouthearted ] The phrase means in Psa 76:5 “courageous”; here it is rather akin to “stiff-hearted” in Eze 2:4. The LXX. reads “ye that have lost heart” ( for ), and this is accepted as the true text by certain commentators. The sense is too weak in this connexion; if there are men who on the eve of deliverance are “far from righteousness” they are surely those who are in more or less conscious opposition to the divine purpose (cf. Isa 45:9). “Righteousness” in Isa 46:13 is parallel to “salvation,” and denotes the manifestation of Jehovah’s righteousness in the deliverance of Israel. In this verse it is more natural to understand it in its forensic sense, of the right relation to God, which is the condition of sharing in the outward salvation. see Appendix, Note II.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Hearken unto me – This is designed to call the attention of the skeptical and unbelieving Jews to the important truth which he was delivering. Many among them might be disposed to say that the fulfillment was delayed, and he therefore calls upon them to attend particularly to his solemn declarations.
Ye stout-hearted – The phrase stout-hearted would naturally, denote those who were bold and courageous. But here it evidently means those whose hearts were strong against God; who nerved themselves to resist and oppose his plans and government; who were stubborn and rebellious.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 46:12-13
Hearken unto Me, ye stout-hearted
Gods voice to sinners
I.
A WRETCHED CONDITION.
1. Insensibility to the good. Stout-hearted. The word stout-hearted does not mean courageous, intrepid, morally brave; it means hardness, obduracy, spiritual stubbornness. It represents a soul dead to all that is spiritually true and good.
2. Alienation from the good. Far from righteousness. To be far from righteousness is to be far from all that is noble, Godlike, and happy; it is to be in the kingdom of darkness, and in regions under the ban of Heaven.
II. A GLORIOUS PROMISE. I bring near My righteousness, &c. Righteousness and salvation are in morals convertible terms. The promise is, Divine deliverance to men in this wretched condition. This deliverance God brings near to the sinner. Near–
1. In the Gospel of Christ.
2. In the ministry of the good.
3. In the suggestions of conscience.
4. In the spiritual influence of events.
III. AN URGENT DUTY. Hearken unto Me.
1. Earnestly. Withdraw thine ear from the din of worldliness, sinful thoughts, and carnal passions, and open it to Me when I speak. Adjust yourself in a listening attitude.
2. Constantly. I am constantly speaking in nature, in conscience, in history, as well as in the Gospel. All My voices are one in significance and aim. I am calling you to My righteousness and salvation.
3. Practically. What I say attend to. Dont let My voice pass away in mere impressions. Act on My counsels, obey My behests. (Homilist.)
Gods call to the unrighteous
1. The first thing on which we would fasten your attention is that Gods dealings with mankind have been all of a character which may be called unexpected. We do not believe that any reason could have been given why men should be redeemed, had the question been proposed to higher ranks of intelligence. Nay, forasmuch as no provision had been made for the rescue of fallen angels, it could not have been imagined that any would have been made for the rescue of fallen man; the conclusion must rather have been that ruin followed inevitably on rebellion, and there could not be reconciliation where once there had been offence. Even now that we know of the Mediators interference we can trace it to nothing but the unmeasured love of God, and can give no account of the wondrous matter of our redemption save that so it pleased Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.
2. We may be sure, that having summoned the stout-hearted to hearken, the words which immediately follow are such as God knows to be specially adapted to the case of the stout-hearted, that is, to contain the motives which are most likely to bring them to contrition and repentance. The nearness of salvation is made an argument with the ungodly why they should turn from evil courses, just as preached the Baptist–Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
3. God goes on to speak with more distinctness of His purposes of mercy And I will place salvation in Zion for Israel My glory. We may believe of this prophecy as of similar ones where Zion is mentioned, that it refers originally to what Christ would accomplish at His first appearing in Judea, and delineates also what He would effect at His Second Advent. This salvation God placed in Zion, for it was only by the going up of the Mediator as a victim to the altar, by His ascending the Cross erected upon Calvary, that the curse of the law was exhausted and the honour of the Divine attributes secured. For Israel My glory. Wonderful words! I had thought that the heavens declared Thy glory; I read of the glory of the Lord like a devouring fire abiding in Sinai; and when the sun and moon are withdrawn from the firmament, of the New Jerusalem I am told that the glory of God doth lighten, it. In such cases, if I cannot define the glory, I am at least dazzled by its shinnings, and there Is something of correspondence between what I know of the nature of God and what I hear of His glory. But that man, fallen, sinful man should be His glory, the mortal the glory of the immortal, the corruptible the glory of the incorruptible–in this is a mystery which might seem too deep to be fathomed by our searchings, yet not a mystery while I have the Bible in my hands and know what God hath done for us men and for our salvation. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
The ungodly world
I. THE UNHAPPY MORAL CONDITION OF THE WORLD.
1. A condition of moral stubbornness.
2. Of moral unrighteousness.
II. THE GLORIOUS REMEDIAL PROVISION OF HEAVEN. I bring near, &c.
1. Christ has brought righteousness very near to mankind. It is inculcated in His teaching, exemplified in His life, honoured in His death.
2. Christ has brought salvation very near to mankind. It comes within the reach of all to whom His Gospel is preached. Say not in thine heart who shall ascend up into heaven, &c.
III. THE URGENT SPIRITUAL DUTY OF MANKIND. Hearken unto Me. Why this attention?
1. It is only by faith that the remedial provision can be enjoyed.
2. It is only by attention that this faith can be attained. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. (Homilist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 12. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted – This is an address to the Babylonians, stubbornly bent on the practice of injustice towards the Israelites.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ye stout-hearted; or, ye whose hearts are proud, or hard, or stubborn. He speaks either,
1. To the Babylonians, You who are stout against God, and say or think that neither God nor any man can deliver my people out of your hands: or rather,
2. To the house of Jacob, expressed Isa 46:3, where he bespeaks them in the same words here used, hearken to me; and to whom alone he directeth his speech in this whole chapter; for though he speaketh of the Babylonians, yet he doth not speak to them; and to whom the prophet, for the most part, turneth his speech in all his prophecies, unless where there is something in the text or context which determineth it to some other person or people. And this very crime of stoutness or hardness of heart is most justly and most frequently charged upon the Jews by their own prophets every where, because of their gross contempt of and incorrigibleness under all Gods words and works. And the prophet speaks this either to the Jews of his generation, or rather to that generation which was carried captive to Babylon, whose stout-heartedness is particularly noted and reproved, Zec 7:11,12. Compare Mal 3:1,3-15.
That are far from righteousness; that are not only void of, but enemies to righteousness and true holiness; that give up yourselves to wickedness, that despise my counsels, and promises, and threatenings.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12. stout-heartedstubborn inresisting God (Psa 76:5; Act 7:51).
far from righteousness(Isa 59:9; Hab 2:4).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Hearken unto me, ye stout hearted,…. This is not an address to the Chaldeans, as Kimchi and others think, who were merciless and cruel to the Jews, and far from doing that which was right unto them, but oppressed them, and would not let them go; but to the Jews themselves, at least to the wicked and profligate among them, who were always a stouthearted, stiffnecked, and a rebellious people; and even those who made more presences to religion were only self-righteous, and were far from true righteousness. The whole may be applied to all persons destitute of the grace of God, professors or profane, who are stout or stubborn hearted; have hard and impenitent hearts; proud and haughty in their hearts; proud of their wisdom, power, and strength; stout in their hearts against God, as appears by their words and actions; oppose themselves to the people of God, his word and ordinances; and some so daring as to make a mock at sin, at religion, and a future state, and outbrave death itself; though when God calls them to an account, as he sometimes does by his judgments here, and will at the last judgment hereafter; or by the workings of his Spirit upon them, convincing them of sin, righteousness, and judgment; their hearts fail, and they cannot be strong and endure; when his word comes with power, and they hear it, and feel the energy of it, they are cut to the heart, and their stout and proud spirits are brought down, and made to submit: even such
that are far from righteousness; as all men are in a state of nature, none are righteous, no, not one, but are full of all unrighteousness; even those that are the most righteous and religious, externally, are without a righteousness; they do not attain to one by the law of works; they go about to establish their own, and do not submit to the righteousness of God, and so are far from it: and indeed all God’s elect, in a state of unregeneracy, are far from any knowledge of the righteousness of Christ, they not being yet convinced of the need of it, and it having not yet been revealed and applied unto them, and received by faith; now these are called upon to hear the word externally, which coming with power, causes them to hear spiritually what follows:
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
A third admonition is addressed to the forts esprits in Isa 46:12, Isa 46:13. “Hearken to me, ye strong-hearted, that are far from righteousness! I have brought my righteousness near; it is not far off, and my salvation tarrieth not: and I give salvation in Zion, my glory to Israel.” All that is called in Hellenic and Hellenistic , is comprehended in ; and everything by which basar and nephesh are affected comes into the light of consciousness in the heart ( Psychol. p. 251). According to this biblico-psychological idea, may signify either the courageous (Psa 76:6), or, as in this instance, the strong-minded; but as a synonym of (Eze 2:4) and (Eze 3:7), viz., in the sense of those who resist the impressions of the work and grace of God in their consciousness of mental superiority to anything of the kind, and not in the sense of those who have great mental endowments. These are “far from righteousness” ( ts e daqah ), that is to say, they have despaired of the true, loving fidelity of Jehovah, and have no wish for any further knowledge of it. Therefore they shall hear, and possibly not without impression, that this loving fidelity is about to manifest itself, and salvation is about to be realized. Jehovah has given salvation in Zion, that is to say, is giving it even now, so that it will become once more the centre of the renovated nation, and impart its glory to this, so that it may shine in the splendour bestowed upon it by its God. We have here the side of light and love, turned towards us by the two-faced ts e daqah , as a parallel word to th e shuah , or salvation. With this admonition to the indifferent and careless, to whom the salvation of which they have given up all hope is proclaimed as at the door, this prophecy is brought to a close. In three distinct stages, commencing with “hearken,” “remember,” “hearken,” it has unfolded the spiritual influences which the fact declared in Isa 46:1, Isa 46:2 ought to have upon Israel, and resembles a pastoral sermon in its tone.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Vs. 12-13: A WARNING OF IMPENDING JUDGMENT
1. Once again God summons men to “hearken” – to hear and obey, (vs. 12); He specifically addresses:
a. The “stouthearted” – those who stubbornly resist His will and refuse to acknowledge His supreme and sole deity, (Isa 48:4; Zec 7:11-12; Mal 3:13; comp. Isa 10:12).
b. Those who are “far from righteousness”, (Isa 48:1; Jer 2:5; Psa 119:150).
1) Despairing, because they cannot understand how God’s word can possibly be fulfilled, they no longer want to hear it.
2) Consequently, they are without the experience and joy of that salvation which He grants, to the believing, on the basis of His own righteousness, (Rom 3:21-26).
2. To such as will acknowledge His lordship, and believe His word, He gives assurance of the nearness of His saving strength, (vs. 13).
a. He is not a far-off God, but One whose righteousness (and sufficiency) is as near as one’s need, (Deu 30:13; Rom 10:6-10).
b. His salvation (deliverance) will not tarry once the nation has heeded His call to repentance, (Isa 59:20; Rom 11:26-27).
c. For Israel, His glory, He will bring deliverance to Zion so that His divine splendor will once again be reflected through His restored people, (comp. Eze 9:3; Eze 11:23).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
12. Hear me. He again rebukes the Israelites, because they could not place confidence in God, or receive any consolation in adversity. That rebuke is indeed sharp and severe, but was well deserved by those whose hearts were not soothed by any promise, or by any invitation, however gracious, which God addressed to them.
We ought to observe the two epithets which he employs here, Hardened in heart and Far from righteousness By these expressions he means that poor distressed persons shut the door against God’s assistance on account of their obstinacy; because by murmuring or fretting they shake off the fear of God, and thus throw themselves into despair, so that they openly rage against God. He addresses the Jews, who, though they were almost overwhelmed, yet were swelled with pride and insolence, and, having thrown off the fear of God, rose to more and more outrageous madness; as frequently happens to many persons in the present day, whom distresses and afflictions render more rebellious. Accordingly, they refused to receive any medicine, any remedy for their distresses. If any one prefer to consider the word righteousness to be put for “the assistance of God,” as in the following verse, let him enjoy his opinion, which indeed is not inappropriate; because obstinate men, who refuse to believe the promises of God, drive God away from them, and reject his grace; for they do not suffer God to confer benefits upon them, though he offered to them his assistance.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) Ye stouthearted.The word, like analogous terms in Eze. 2:4; Eze. 3:7, implies at once obduracy and ignorance. Such as these are self-excluded at once from the righteousness and the salvation of Jehovah, which ultimately imply, and coincide with each other. Their unfaithfulness, however, does not hinder the faithfulness of God. He brings near His salvation to all who are ready to receive it. (Comp. Isa. 56:1.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
12, 13. Hearken ye stout-hearted The strong of heart, who are far from righteousness, are all who, despite of these almighty demonstrations, still harden themselves, whether heathen or apostate Jews. The Lord still entreats them, showing unwillingness to give them up. As usual, there is in him compassion as well as power. These show unalterable love on Jehovah’s part, and exhibit his character as one with that of our blessed Lord in the New Testament. See Matthew 2.
I bring my righteousness “Righteousness,” here, has the elements of demanding and bestowing demanding men to submit, and be-stowing pardon on submission. This attribute is in constant exercise.
It shall not be far off Salvation is the object for which it is in exercise, for which it is present. Zion is the seat of the devotions of the true Israel. The shekinah, or divine glory, shines within Zion and upon a regenerate people.
This is the theology of Isaiah, and it is the glorious Gospel throughout the Bible.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Listen to me you stubborn-hearted,
You who are far from righteousness,
I am bringing near my righteousness,
It will not be far off,
And my salvation will not linger,
And I will place salvation in Zion,
For Israel my glory.”
This is an apt ending to a chapter which has concentrated on God’s uniqueness and the fulfilment of His purposes, which is Isaiah’s constant prime concern. It explains why Yahweh has brought His bird of prey, who executes His counsel, from the east. It is a call to the stubborn people of his day, in accordance with his instructions at his inaugural call (Isa 6:9-13), to recognise all that God is going to do. For through His Servant Yahweh will certainly bring about His salvation in Zion for the sake of the true Israel, who are His prized possession, the one who is to bring glory to His name.
‘You stubborn-hearted who are far from righteousness.’ There could be no more apt description than this of Isaiah’s hearers as Isa 6:9-13 makes clear. Their hearts are stubborn, they are far from righteousness. But God is going to bring His righteousness near. He is going to establish a righteous people. And from the point of view of God’s timing it is not far off. His deliverance in righteousness will not linger.
This last is a constant theme of Scripture. Man may see the end as delayed, but God sees it as fast approaching (e.g. Hab 2:3; Heb 10:37). Note the paralleling of righteousness and deliverance. When God delivers it is always in righteousness, and God’s deliverance is always a righteous act and contains, and results in, righteousness.
And then finally salvation will be in Zion, the end to which all has been leading up, the culmination of the call of Abraham, the bird of prey from the East. And God’s true and faithful Israel will be His glory, His prized possession, that which brings glory to Him and in which He delights. The picture is of God’s final triumph, the establishing of the everlasting kingdom, the full deliverance of the true people of God.
(For the use of glory to mean prized possessions, wealth and power see for example Isa 8:7; Isa 10:3; Isa 10:16; Isa 16:14; Isa 17:3-4 (where the glory is sparse); Isa 21:16; Eze 24:25; Eze 25:9; Eze 26:20; Zec 11:3).
To the prophets, apart from Ezekiel who sidelines Jerusalem and places the heavenly Temple well away from it, allowing Jerusalem only peripheral significance as far as the worship of God is concerned, a restored and glorified ‘Zion’ is seen as the final goal of history. They had little conception of an afterlife, although Isaiah does occasionally have moments of inspiration concerning such (Isa 26:19; Isa 51:6). Instead they use a renewed Zion as a picture of God’s final triumph. The whole world will respond to Mount Zion where God dwells. They will all come to His feet. But as Isaiah constantly makes clear he has in mind the everlasting kingdom. He is depicting pictorially God’s final triumph. Any literal interpretation of Zion’s future as depicted in the prophets can only end up in contradiction and chaos. (We note that few ever try to bring them all together).
If we cavil at this we must remember that the truth is that even we cannot speak of Heaven literally. It is beyond our conceptions as well, so that even John in Revelation had to use earthly figures which if taken literally become absurd. All have to speak of God’s future kingdom in idealistic terms, based on pictures from this world which must not be overpressed, and constant reference to its everlastingness is to warn us against taking it too literally. They had no other method that they could use.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 46:12-13. Hearken unto me God had addressed those kindly, who had suffered themselves, through imprudence, to be seduced from the right way, and whose conversion might more reasonably be expected; but he speaks more severely to the hypocrites, the incredulous, the fierce and proud in heart, who obstinately doubted the completion of his excellent promises: “O you,” says he, “who are yourselves far from faith, truth, integrity, and all propriety, full of deceit, hypocrisy, incredulity, hard and bold of heart, and who complain that my salvation is far off, and call my fidelity in question; hearken to me, and know, that my righteousness, or justification, is not far off, but near at hand, and shortly to be revealed.” The 13th verse is to be explained from chap. Isa 44:23. See ch. Isa 62:3 and Hab 2:3.
REFLECTIONS.1st, Two things are here foretold:
1. The miserable estate to which Babylon and her idols would be reduced; Bel and Nebo, the deities they worshipped, so far from being able to protect their votaries, would not be able to save themselves, but, among other spoil, be plucked from their pedestals, and laid as heavy burdens on the weary beasts who carried them: Israel therefore must not fear or worship such wretched and impotent idols.
2. When Babylon’s gods shall fail her, the Lord will eminently appear the protector of his people: great had been the care that he had shown them from their infant days, when first they began to grow into a nation, and never would he leave or forsake them in their old age, but bear them above their difficulties, carry them back to their own land, and deliver them from all their oppressors; and such is still his tender regard toward his faithful people. From the womb he took us, and preserved our natural life amid the perils of helpless infancy; but more, he took us from the womb of nature, that we might become children of grace, bore with our weakness and infirmities, and watched over us with more than maternal tenderness; nor will he ever fail the faithful, when the infirmities of old age creep upon them, and infantile weakness returns: his hoary-headed saints are precious in his sight, and he will bear them through all the storms of life, and land them safe on the blissful shores of immortality, where their youth will be renewed as the eagle.
2nd, Israel’s besetting sin was idolatry, and many of them, it is to be feared, in Babylon would easily be brought to worship the gods of their conquerors: to them therefore Jehovah seems especially to address himself.
1. God shows them the folly of the most expensive idols: Though they lavished gold and silver out of the bag, it were vain to attempt representing the eternal Spirit, or equalling him who is above all. Their richest gods were motionless and senseless, must be carried to their places, and neither could hear nor grant the prayers of their petitioners. Note; To serve their idol lusts men grudge no expence; to serve the glorious God shall we then count any thing too much to bestow? These idolaters shall rise up in judgment against niggardly professors.
2. He calls upon them to remember and repent of these sinful works. Shew yourselves men, for such service is brutish; or, be ye strong to oppose the torrent of idolatry; or, be fired with zeal against the dishonour hereby shown to God: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors; remember your evil ways, and, as sinners, with shame return to God, who is the only true God; the evidence of which he hath given in all the prophesies, which from the beginning have been exactly accomplished according to his word, and which continue daily fulfilling, and shall all come to pass in their appointed time; for his counsel must stand, and he will do all his pleasure, particularly his design of delivering his people shall be accomplished by Cyrus, called a ravenous, or swift-winged bird, with impetuosity advancing against the Babylonians, to execute God’s counsel in their destruction, which, as he hath purposed and foretold, he will perform, and prove therein his divine power and prescience. Note; (1.) It is good for us often to remember and reflect upon our ways, and we shall, in general, find much in them to bewail, repent of, and amend. (2.) As God in all his providences fulfils his own pleasure, it becomes us ever to rest satisfied in his dispensations, and to acknowledge that he doth all things well. (3.) God’s people may comfort themselves in the confidence of the accomplishment of those prophesies which are yet unfulfilled, as surely as they have seen the former ones verified: Rome, with her idols, as Babylon, must fall, and God’s kingdom be more eminently than ever yet exalted in the earth.
3. God addresses the stout-hearted Jews, that were far from righteousness, who continued unhumbled under all their visitations, and distrusted God’s faithfulness; or though they kept up an exterior of religion, and trusted that they were righteous, yet being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and proud of their own, were so much the farther removed from the way of salvation. God saith, I bring near my righteousness; either his faithfulness in the fulfilment of his promises, or that glorious display of his righteousness, manifested in the Redeemer, his work and sufferings: it shall not be far off, but in the word of the Gospel brought near to every awakened sinner, to believe in and trust upon; and my salvation shall not tarry, it shall quickly be accomplished; the deliverance of the Jews from their captivity, and the greater deliverance which Jesus should work for every faithful soul; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory; when they were restored to their own land; or more eminently when the Lord Jesus came to Zion, publishing the Gospel of the kingdom, and his believers received him, glorifying God for the gift of his Son, and eminently shewing forth his praise, both by their lips and in their lives. Note; (1.) Nothing is so fatal to unawakened souls as pride and conceit of their own righteousness. (2.) A free and full salvation is now offered to the perishing sinner. (3.) The stout-hearted, who reject Jesus as a Saviour, will find their stout hearts fail them, when they shall meet him as their judge. (4.) His faithful Israel is the Redeemer’s glory; for this he hath formed us; let it be our constant care to approve ourselves to him, that he may be glorified in us and by us.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 946
CHRIST THE SALVATION OF ISRAEL
Isa 46:12-13. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry; and I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.
THEY who deny or doubt the existence of a Supreme Being, may discover his eternal power and godhead by the works of creation, and ascertain his infinite superiority above all false gods, by the numberless predictions which he has given by his prophets, and the never-failing accomplishment of them in their appointed season. To this last criterion God himself refers idolaters in the chapter before us, and challenges them to bring any of their false deities, who should be able to stand in competition with him. To us, who acknowledge his unrivalled glory, there is one thing which displays, in a wonderful manner, the transcendent riches of his grace; I mean, the freeness with which his offers of mercy are made even to the most abandoned of mankind. This remark obviously avises from the words of our text; and will be fully illustrated by considering,
I.
The characters addressed
The words, in their primary meaning, were intended to describe those who were unhumbled by the judgments inflicted on them in the Babylonish captivity, and unaffected with his promises of deliverance from it. As applied to us, they comprise two common characters:
1.
Those who feel no remorse for their past sins
[All must acknowledge that they have sinned against God, and that, as sinners, they ought to humble themselves before him. But how many never call their past ways to remembrance, or say with themselves, what have I done [Note: Jer 8:6.]! Their sins give them no uneasiness: instead of mourning over their offences, they palliate them; and, instead of imploring mercy at Gods hands, they deny that they have any need to deprecate his wrath and indignation. And must not such people be called stout-hearted? If God himself complains of those who represent it as a vain thing to serve the Lord, that their words are stout against him [Note: Mal 3:13-14.], surely the same complaint may justly be made against those who practically declare his service to be a needless yoke, and an intolerable burthen.]
2.
Those who are unconcerned about their eternal salvation
[Many, alas! are as improvident about the future as they are unconcerned about the past. They will profess indeed that heaven is a desirable portion; but they will never inquire seriously whether they be in the way to attain it; nor ever exert themselves in earnest to secure it. If an empty wish, or a formal round of duties, will suffice for the acquisition of it, they will be content to pay the price: but if they are to run as in a race, and to fight as in a single combat, in order to have it awarded to them, they do not think it worth the contest. What now must we say of these, but that they are far from righteousness and salvation? Surely, if they be far from a concern about these things, much more must they be from the attainment of them.]
When we reflect upon the characters here addressed, how shall we stand amazed at,
II.
The address itself
The prophet, in these words, foretold both the deliverance of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, and the coming of their Messiah to save the world. To sinners of our day the text declares,
1.
That God has provided a Saviour for them
[Christ is undoubtedly that salvation whom God has placed in Zion, and whom we are commanded to call, The Lord our righteousness. Him has God sent into the world to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself Hearken to this, ye stout-hearted: though ye have despised your God, your God has not despised you; but has pitied your fallen state, and made provision for your restoration to happiness. Yes; for the angels that fell, he instantly prepared a place of unutterable and everlasting torment [Note: Mat 25:41.]: but for you he prepared a Saviour, even his only dear Son. And shall not this make your obdurate hearts relent? Or will ye receive such stupendous grace in vain?]
2.
That God now offers salvation to them
[This salvation is nigh to all of us, and the tidings of it are now sounding in our ears. It is placed in this our Zion as much as ever it was in Zion of old. Christ is now present in his ordinances according to his promise; and will be so even to the end of the world. At this very hour he proclaims liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. To you, even to you, ye stout-hearted, is the word of this salvation sent. Your past iniquities shall be forgiven, if only you will humble yourselves before him. Nor is this all: your God will not only restore you to his favour, but will glory over you with unutterable joy. You shall be even a crown of glory and a royal diadem in his hands [Note: Isa 62:3.]. Let not then your hearts be yet hardened against him; but let his transcendent goodness lead you to repentance.]
Advice
1.
Endeavour to see your obduracy in its true colours
[If you are free from gross sins, you think but little of an unhumbled and impenitent state. But what can be worse than a seared conscience and a callous heart? What can be worse than to feel no sorrow or contrition for your past offences, no desire to please your God, no anxiety to save your souls? Be assured that such a state, with whatever name it may be glossed over, is hateful in the extreme: and that, if continued in, it will prove as fatal as a course of open profligacy and profaneness.]
2.
Fear lest God should give you up to final impenitence
[The present address, which is made by God himself, shews clearly enough, that he has no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live. But he is a holy God; nor will his Spirit always strive with man. He may be provoked at last to swear in his wrath that you shall never enter into his rest. This he most assuredly does with respect to many, who grieve his Spirit till they have altogether quenched his sacred motions. To-day therefore, while it is called to-day, harden not your hearts, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.]
3.
Think what regret you will feel, when that salvation, which is now so near you, shall be removed to an unapproachable distance
[Of all the miseries that can afflict a soul in the future world, we cannot conceive any more distressing than the thought of having had a Saviour provided for us, and salvation through him offered to us. No words can express the sense which a self-ruined sinner will have of his folly, when he sees in one view the mercies he has slighted and the judgments he has brought upon himself. Now he can be far from righteousness, and glory in his shame: but then he will see that, which even courted his embraces here, removed afar off indeed; so far, as to preclude a possibility of ever attaining the possession of it. The Lord grant, that they who have hitherto slighted these overtures of mercy, may now embrace them with their whole hearts!]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
I beg the Reader to ponder over these verses, and keep them in remembrance. Here is God’s call to the unhumbled in Zion, the unawakened, unregenerate of his people, if I mistake not: and this is the first class the Lord speaks to in this sermon. In the successive chapters, he speaks to several other characters, among his people, on the same subject. But this is to the stout-hearted: to these he proposed Jesus and his salvation. And observe, that Jesus and his salvation is for Jehovah’s glory, agreeably to all our Lord taught; Joh 17:12 . If the Reader wishes to trace the beautiful connection of Jehovah’s preaching on this as addressed to the several characters of his Church, before he comes to the passages themselves, he may find the subject carried on in a progressive manner, by consulting the scriptures in the way I have marked them. In these verses, the appeal is to the stout-hearted, the unconvinced, unawakened. In Isa 48:12 , it is to the called. In Isa 51:1 , it is to the followers after Jesus. In Isa 51:5 , it is to those who believe in the Lord, but who, through the weakness of their faith, are fluctuating, and too apt to forget that Jehovah’s salvation is forever, and his righteousness that which shall not be abolished. And in Isa 51:7 , the appeal is to those who truly know, and as truly live up to their privileges, in having Christ formed in their heart the hope of glory. According to my view, I conceive that there is a beautiful gradation here pointed out in the divine life: and the Reader that is taught of God, will, I humbly believe, find much blessedness in the connection, and discover suitable directions, as here given by the Lord, for every state.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 46:12 Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that [are] far from righteousness:
Ver. 12. Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted. ] Ye cruel Chaldeans; and here some begin the next chapter.
That are far from righteousness.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah
A RIGHTEOUSNESS NEAR AND A SWIFT SALVATION
Isa 46:12 – Isa 46:13
God has promised that He will dwell with him that is humble and of a contrite heart. Jesus has shed the oil of His benediction on the poor in spirit. It is the men who form the exact antithesis to these characters who are addressed here. The ‘stout-hearted’ are those who, being untouched in conscience and ignorant of their sin, are self-reliant and almost defiant before God. That temper is branded here, though, of course, there is a sense in which a stout heart is a priceless possession, but that sort of stoutness of heart is best secured by the contrite of heart. Those who are far from righteousness are those who are not only sinful in act, but do not desire to be otherwise, having no approximation or drawing towards a nobler life, by aspiration or effort.
To such men God speaks, as in the tone of a royal proclamation; and what should we expect to hear pealing from His lips? Words of rebuke, warning, condemnation? No; His voice is gentle and wooing, and does not threaten blows, but proffers blessings: ‘I will bring near My righteousness. It shall not be far off,’ though the stout-hearted maybe ‘far from’ it. Here we have a divine proclamation of a divine Love that will not let us away from its presence; of a divine Work for us that is finished without us; of an all-sufficient Gift to us.
I. A divine proclamation of a divine Love that will not let us away from its presence.
1. In general terms God keeps near us, however far away we go from Him.
Think of our forgetfulness of Him and His continual thought of us. Think of our alienated hearts and His unchanging love.
We cannot turn away His care, we cannot exhaust His compassion, we cannot alienate His heart. All men everywhere are objects of these, as in every corner of the world the sky is overhead, and all lands have sunshine.
What a picture of divine patience and placability that truth points for us! It shows the Father coming after His prodigal son, and so surpasses even the pearl of the parables.
2. The special reference to Christ’s work.
That work is the exhibition in manhood and to men of a perfect righteousness.
It is the implanting in the corrupt world of a new beginning. It is the clothing us with Christ’s righteousness, for which we are forgiven and in which we are sanctified.
So Christ’s work is God’s coming to bring near His righteousness, and now ‘it is nigh thee in thy mouth and in thy heart.’
II. A divine proclamation of a divine Work which is finished without us.
The divine love is not drawn out by anything in us, but pours out on us, even while we are far off and indifferent to it. His bringing near of righteousness, and setting His salvation to run very swiftly side by side with it, originates in Himself. It is the self-impelled and self-fed flow of a fountain, and we need no pump or machinery to draw it forth.
The divine work is accomplished without man’s co-operation.
‘It is finished,’ was Christ’s dying cry. But what is finished?- Bringing the righteousness near. What still remains to be done?-Making it mine. And that is accomplished by faith.
It is mine if by faith I claim it as mine, and knit myself with Him who is righteousness and salvation for every man that they may be accessible to and possessed by any man.
A man may be far from righteousness though it is near him and all around him. Like Gideon’s fleece, he may be dry when all is wet, or like some rock in a field, barren and sullen, while all around the corn is waving.
III. The proclamation of an all-sufficient Gift.
That encyclopaedical gift, which in regard to man considered as sinful brings pardon and a new nature ‘in righteousness and holiness of truth,’ brings deliverance from peril and from every form of evil and death, to him considered as exposed to consequences of sin both physical and moral, and a true though limited participation in the divine glory, even now, with the hope of entering into the blaze of it hereafter, to him as considered as made in the divine image and having lost it.
And all this wonderful triple hope, rapturous and impossible as it seems when we think of man as he is, and of each of ourselves as we each feel ourselves to be, is for us a sober certainty and a fact sufficiently accomplished, to give firm ground for our largest expectations if we hold fast by Jesus who brings that all-sufficient gift of God within reach of each of us. The divine patience and love follow us in all our wild wanderings, praying us ‘with much entreaty that we should receive the gift.’ Jesus, who is God’s righteousness and love incarnate, beseeches us to take Him, and in Him righteousness, salvation, and glory.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 46:12-13
12Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded,
Who are far from righteousness.
13I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off;
And My salvation will not delay.
And I will grant salvation in Zion,
And My glory for Israel.
Isa 46:12-13 This is a very important passage and shows that God will have mercy even on unbelieving Israel. This shows that the Jewish people did not deserve God’s love and mercy. Many of them were still stubborn and stiff-necked (cf. Isa 48:4), but God brought salvation to them because of Who He is and not because of who they are (cf. Eze 36:22-38). This is the New Covenant model (cf. Jer 31:31-34).
Isa 46:12
NASB, NKJV,
LXX, PESHITTArighteousness
NRSVdeliverance
TEV, JPSOA,
NJBsaving justice. . . justice
The Hebrew word used twice is righteousness (BDB 842). BDB says it is used of the salvation of God (#6a), Isa 45:8; Isa 46:13; Isa 51:6.
The Hebrew term salvation (BDB 448) is parallel in Isa 46:13 b.
This is literally
1. My counsel (BDB 420) will stand – BDB 877, KB 1086, Qal IMPERFECT
2. All My purpose (BDB 481 CONSTRUCT 343), I will accomplish – BDB 793 I, KB 889, Qal IMPERFECT
Who are far from This description of God’s covenant people is contrasted with the nearness (it is not far off, Isa 46:13 b) of YHWH’s deliverance
1. through Cyrus II (temporal)
2. through the Messiah (eschatological)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Hearken: Isa 46:3, Isa 28:23, Isa 45:20, Psa 49:1, Pro 1:22, Pro 1:23, Pro 8:1-5, Eph 5:14, Rev 3:17, Rev 3:18
ye stouthearted: Isa 48:4, Psa 76:5, Zec 7:11, Zec 7:12, Mal 3:13-15, Act 7:51
that: Psa 119:150, Psa 119:155, Jer 2:5, Eph 2:13
Reciprocal: 2Ki 22:19 – thine heart Isa 9:9 – in the pride Isa 42:21 – well Mar 4:3 – Hearken
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 46:12-13. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted God had addressed those kindly who had suffered themselves, through imprudence, to be seduced from the right way, and whose conversion might more reasonably be expected; but he speaks more severely to the hypocrites, the incredulous, the fierce and proud in heart, who obstinately doubted the completion of his excellent promises: O you, says he, who are yourselves far from faith, truth, integrity, and all true piety, but full of deceit, hypocrisy, incredulity, and who complain that my salvation is far off, and call my fidelity in question, hearken to me, and know that my righteousness, or justification, is not far off, but near at hand, and shortly to be revealed. I bring near my righteousness Though you are unrighteous, I will show myself a righteous and faithful God, making good my promise of delivering you out of Babylon after seventy years. It shall not be far off Namely, my work of saving you from captivity. I will place salvation in Zion I will bring my people from Babylon to Zion, and there I will save them from all their enemies; for Israel my glory In whom I will again glory, as my people, and the illustrious monuments of my wisdom, power, truth, and goodness; whom I will make a great and glorious people, though now they are mean and contemptible, and among whom I will once more settle my glorious presence and ordinances.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
46:12 Hearken to me, ye stubborn in heart, that [are] far from {l} righteousness:
(l) Who by your incredulity would prevent the performance of my promise.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
God challenged the hard-hearted Israelites, who found it hard to believe that God would deliver them, to pay attention to Him (cf. Isa 46:3). They were far short of fulfilling the righteous act of believing God, which constitutes conformity to His will.
"Those who are far from righteousness are those who are far from being right with God, and so are deep in their own sin and depravity." [Note: Young, 3:229.]