Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 50:11
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass [yourselves] about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks [that] ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
11. that compass yourselves about with sparks ] Lit. as R.V., that gird yourselves about with firebrands (cf. Pro 26:18). The verb “gird” hardly suits the metaphor; hence it is better with many authorities to change into (“that kindle”). “Fire” and “firebrands” are both images for the machinations of the ungodly party against the true servants of Jehovah (cf. Psa 7:13; Eph 6:16).
walk in the light &c. ] Rather: walk into the flame of your fire &c. Their mischievous designs shall recoil on themselves (Psa 7:15 f.).
this shall ye have of mine hand ] Better: from my hand is this ( appointed) for you.
ye shall lie down in sorrow ] perhaps: in the place of torment; see on ch. Isa 66:24.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire – This verse refers to the wicked. In the previous verse, the Messiah had called upon all the pious to put their trust in God, and it is there implied that they would do so. But it would not be so with the wicked. In times of darkness and calamity, instead of trusting in God they would confide in their own resources, and endeavor to kindle a light for themselves in which they might walk. But the result would be, that they would find no comfort, and would ultimately under his hand lie down in sorrow. The figure is continued from the previous verse. The pious who are in darkness wait patiently for the light which Yahweh shall kindle for them But not so with the wicked. They attempt to kindle a light for themselves, and to walk in that. The phrase, that kindle a fire, refers to all the plans which people form with reference to their own salvation; all which they rely upon to guide them through the darkness of this world. It may include, therefore, all the schemes of human philosophy, of false religion, of paganism, of infidelity, deism, and self-righteousness; all dependence on our good works, our charities ties, and our prayers. All these are false lights which people enkindle, in order to guide themselves when they resolve to cast off God, to renounce his revelation, and to resist his spirit. It may have had a primary reference to the Jews, who so often rejected the divine guidance, and who relied so much on themselves; but it also includes all the plans which people devise to conduct themselves to heaven. The confidence of the pious Isa 50:10 is in the light of God; that of the wicked is in the light of people.
That compass yourselves about with sparks – There has been considerable variety in the interpretation of the word rendered here sparks ( ziyqoth). It occurs nowhere else in the Bible, though the word ziqqiym occurs in Pro 26:18, where it is rendered in the text firebrands, and in the margin flames, or sparks. Gesenius supposes that these are different forms at the same word, and renders the word here, burning arrows, fiery darts. The Vulgate renders it flames. The Septuagint, phlogi – flame. In the Syriac the word has the sense of lightning. Vitringa supposes it means faggots, and that the sense is, that they encompass themselves with faggots, in order to make a great conflagration. Lowth renders it, very loosely, Who heap the fuel round about. But it is probable that the common version has given the true sense, and that the reference is to human devices, which give no steady and clear light, but which may be compared with a spark struck from a flint. The idea probably is, that all human devices for salvation bear the same resemblance to the true plan proposed by God, which a momentary spark in the dark does to the clear shining of a bright light like that of the sun. If this is the sense, it is a most graphic and striking description of the nature of all the schemes by which the sinner hopes to save himself.
Walk in the light of your fire – That is, you will walk in that light. It is not a command as if he wished them to do it, but it is a declaration which is intended to direct their attention to the fact that if they did this they would lie down in sorrow. It is language such as we often use, as when we say to a young man, go on a little further in a career of dissipation, and you will bring yourself to poverty and shame and death. Or as if we should say to a man near a precipice, go on a little further, and you wilt fall down and be dashed in pieces. The essential idea is, that this course would lead to ruin. It is implied that they would walk on in this way, and be destroyed.
This shall ye have – As the result of this, you shall lie down in sorrow. Herder renders this:
One movement of my hand upon you,
And ye shall lie down in sorrow.
How simple and yet how sublime an expression is this! The Messiah but lifts his hand and the lights are quenched. His foes lie down sad and dejected, in darkness and sorrow. The idea is, that they would receive their doom from his hand, and that it would he as easy for him as is the uplifting or waving of the hand, to quench all their lights, and consign them to grief (compare Matt. 25)
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 50:11
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire
A child of darkness walking in light
By the fire and the light of their fire which wicked men are said to walk in, two things must be meant.
I. THEIR OWN NATURAL RIGHTEOUSNESS and the sparks and acts thereof.
II. THE LIGHT OF OUTWARD COMFORTS from the creatures, which in this world they enjoy, and the sparkling pleasures thereof which they walk in, and content themselves with, neglecting communion with God, being estranged from the life of God, and living without Him in the world. (T. Goodwin, D.D.)
Sparks of our own kindling
Our mistake is, not that we seek happiness (for to do so is inherent in the constitution of our nature), but that we seek it from fictitious and artificial sources, which are not naturally calculated to yield it. The many fictitious sources, from which men seek to derive happiness, are compared to a fire kindled, and sparks struck out, by way of relieving the darkness of the night. It is, of course, implied in the metaphor, that true happiness, the real and adequate complement of mans nature, resembles the Divinely-created and golden sunlight.
I. THIS COMPARISON DOES NOT LEAD US TO DENY THAT PLEASURE AND GRATIFICATION OF A CERTAIN KIND ARE DERIVABLE FROM WORLDLY SOURCES. Just as man can relieve himself in great measure from the discomfort and inconvenience of natural darkness, by kindling a fire and surrounding himself with sparks, so can he alleviate, to a certain extent, the instinctive sense of disquietude and dissatisfaction, so irksome to him at intervals of leisure, by the various enjoyments which life has to offer.
II. THE DRAWBACKS OF WORLDLY ENJOYMENTS.
1. Unsatisfactoriness inheres in their very nature, inasmuch as they are all more or less artificial. They are miserable substitutes, which man has set up to stand him in stead of that true happiness, which is congenial to his nature, and adapted to his wants. The light of the sun is natures provision for man. That light answers all the purposes for which light is required, far more beautifully, as well as far more simply, than the most splendid artificial illumination. But the shedding abroad of the golden sunlight is not dependent on mans will, or within the compass of his ability. Effectually to remove the pall of darkness from the face of nature, and to spread the morning upon the mountains, is the prerogative of the Divine Being. Whereas in the alleviation of the darkness, man has a share. He can kindle a fire, and compass himself about with sparks. During the period of the suns absence, he can replace his light, by the sorry substitute of torch and taper. The glare, however, which these shed around, is not like the genial, cheering, cherishing light, which proceeds from the great luminary which rules the day. It exercises no quickening influence on vegetable life,–its clear shining brings not out the bloom and perfume of the flower, nor the verdure of the tender grass, nor sends a thrill of joy through the whole realm of nature. Now, every fact which has here been stated, in regard to things natural, finds its counterpart in things spiritual.
2. The fitful character of the enjoyment derived from worldly sources renders it comparable to a fire and sparks struck out. The glow of a kindled fire is not equable. It casts a flickering and uncertain light, now smouldering beneath the fuel which feeds it, now bursting forth into bright and vivid flashes. Thus it presents us with a lively emblem of worldly joy, which is subject to repeated alternations of revival and decay, and whose high pitch can be sustained, only for a very short period of time. Not so the peace and pleasantness derived from walking with God. If it be not a light so dazzling as that which is sometimes shed abroad by the kindled firebrands of worldly joys, it is at least subject to no such variations of lustre.
3. A fire requires continually to be fed with fresh fuel, if its brilliancy and warmth are to be maintained. Hence it becomes an apt emblem of the delusive joy of this world, falsely called happiness, which is only kept alive in the worldlings heart by the fuel of excitement.
4. But perhaps the chief drawback of the worldlings so-called happiness is that it is consistent with so much anxiety–that it is subject to frequent intrusions from alarm, whenever a glimpse of the future untowardly breaks in upon the mind. And possibly this feature of it too is symbolized in the prophetic imagery, which is here employed to denote it. It is in the night-time, when the kindled fire glows upon the hearth, and man pursues his employments by the light of torch and taper, that apprehensions visit his mind, and phantom forms are conjured up which scare the ignorant and the superstitious. Would that the forebodings of the worldling were equally groundless with the fears of the superstitious! What makes the Christians joy so intrinsically preferable to his, is that it can endure the survey of the hour of death, and of the day of judgment. (E. M. Goulburn, D.C.L.)
False religions
I. MAN CREATES THEM. Ye have kindled the fires. What are they? There are at least five false religions that prevail in Christendom, and under the name of Christianity.
1. The religion of creed. A sound creed is essential to a sound religion, but is not itself a sound religion.
2. The religion of moods. Desires for heaven, dread of hell, sensuous sympathy with Christs sufferings, these are the religious sparks.
3. The religion of ordinance.
4. The religion of proxyism. Many are depending upon services.
5. The religion of merit. All these are false religions prevalent amongst us, as man is the creator of them.
II. HEAVEN ALLOWS THEM. Walk in the light, etc.
1. The permission is strange.
2. The permission is significant.
(1) It shows Gods respect for that freedom with which He has endowed human nature.
(2) It suggests that in giving the Gospel, He has given all that is necessary for man to get the right religion.
III. MISERY FOLLOWS THEM. This shall ye have at My hands, etc Death will put out all false light from the soul. Who shall imagine the sorrow that follows the extinction of all the religious lights of the soul!
1. There is the sorrow of bitter disappointment;
2. of poignant remorse;
3. of black despair. All hopes of improvement gone. No religion will beam on with increased radiance up to and beyond the grave for ever, but the religion of Christ. (Homilist.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. Ye that kindle a fire] The fire of their own kindling, by the light of which they walk with security and satisfaction, is an image designed to express, in general, human devices and mere worldly policy, exclusive of faith, and trust in God; which, though they flatter themselves for a while with pleasing expectations and some appearance of success, shall in the end turn to the confusion of the authors. Or more particularly, as Vitringa explains it, it may mean the designs of the turbulent and factious Jews in the times succeeding those of Christ, who, in pursuit of their own desperate schemes, stirred up the war against the Romans, and kindled a fire which consumed their city and nation.
That compass yourselves about with sparks – “Who heap the fuel round about”] ” megozeley, accendentes, Syr.; forte legerunt pro meazzerey meirey; nam sequitur ur.” – Secker. Lud. Capellus, in his criticism on this place, thinks it should be meazzerey, from the Septuagint, .
There are others who are widely different from those already described. Without faith, repentance, or a holy life, they are bold in their professed confidence in God – presumptuous in their trust in the mercy of God; and, while destitute of all preparation for and right to the kingdom of heaven, would think it criminal to doubt their final salvation! Living in this way, what can they have at the hand of God but an endless bed of sorrow! Ye shall lie down in sorrow.
But there is a general sense, and accordant to the design of the prophecy, in which these words may be understood and paraphrased: Behold, all ye that kindle a fire – provoke war and contention; compass yourselves about with sparks – stirring up seditions and rebellions: walk in the light of your fire – go on in your lust of power and restless ambition. Ye shall lie down in sorrow – it will turn to your own perdition. See the Targum. This seems to refer to the restless spirit of the Jews, always stirring up confusion and strife; rebelling against and provoking the Romans, till at last their city was taken, their temple burnt to the ground, and upwards of a million of themselves destroyed, and the rest led into captivity!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All ye that kindle a fire, that you may enjoy the light and comfort of it, as it is explained in the following words. You that reject the light which God hath set up, and refuse the counsel of his servant, and seek for comfort, and safety, and the knowledge of Gods mind, and the enjoyment of his favour, by your own inventions; which was the common error of the Jews in all ages, and especially in the days of the Messiah, when they refused him, and that way of righteousness and salvation which he appointed, and rested upon their own traditions and devices, going about to establish their own righteousness, and not submitting unto the righteousness of God, as is expressed, Rom 10:3.
That compass yourselves about; endeavouring to warm and refresh yourselves on all sides.
With sparks; or rather, with firebrands, as this very word is fitly rendered, Pro 26:18, which is better than sparks or flames, which is there put in the margin, because firebrands only, and not sparks or flames, are capable of being thrown by one man at another. And this word is no where else used in Scripture. He mentions firebrands, either to imply that these fires yielded more smoke than heat or light, of because these were the usual materials of a fire.
Walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled; use your utmost endeavours to get comfort and satisfaction from these devices.
This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow; this shall be the fruit of all, through my just judgment, that instead of that comfort and security which you expect by these means, you shall receive nothing but vexation and misery, which shall pursue you both living and dying; for this word, which is here rendered lie down, is frequently used for dying, as Gen 47:30; Job 21:26, and elsewhere. Or it is a metaphor from a man that lying down on his bed for rest and ease, meets with nothing but trouble and pain, as Job complained, Job 7:13,14.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. In contrast to the godly(Isa 50:10), the wicked, intimes of darkness, instead of trusting in God, trust in themselves(kindle a light for themselves to walk by) (Ec11:9). The image is continued from Isa50:10, “darkness”; human devices for salvation (Pro 19:21;Pro 16:9; Pro 16:25)are like the spark that goes out in an instant in darkness (compareJob 18:6; Job 21:17;Psa 18:28).
sparksnot a steadylight, but blazing sparks extinguished in a moment.
walknot a command, butimplying that as surely as they would do so, they should liedown in sorrow (Jer 3:25). Inexact proportion to mystic Babylon’s previous “glorifying”of herself shall be her sorrow (Mat 25:30;Mat 8:12; Rev 18:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire,…. To enlighten and warm yourselves; who, rejecting Christ the Light of the world, and despising the glorious light of his Gospel, and loving darkness rather than light, set up the light of nature and reason as the rule of faith and practice; or the traditions and doctrines of men to be guided by; or their own righteousness for their justification before God, and acceptance with him:
that compass yourselves about with sparks, that fly out of the fire kindled, or are struck out of a flint, which have little light and no heat, and are soon out; which may denote the short lived pleasures and comforts which are had from the creature, or from anything of a man’s own:
walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled; an ironical expression, bidding them take all the comfort and satisfaction they could in their own works and doings, and get all the light and heat they could from thence:
this shall ye have of mine hand; which you may depend upon receiving from me, for rejecting me and my righteousness, and trusting in your own:
ye shall lie down in sorrow; instead of being justified hereby, and having peace with God, and entering into heaven, ye shall be pressed down with sore distress, die in your sins, and enter into an everlasting state of condemnation and death; see Mr 16:16. This was the case and state of the Jews, Ro 9:31. This is one of the passages the Jews g say is repeated by the company of angels, which meet a wicked man at death.
g T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 104. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
11. Lo, all of you kindle a fire. He upbraids the Jews with choosing to kindle for themselves their own light, instead of drawing near to the light of God. This passage has been badly expounded; and if we wish to understand its true meaning, we must attend to the contrast between the light of God and the light of men; that is, between the consolation which is brought to us by the Word of God and the empty words of comfort uttered by men, when by idle and useless things they attempt and toil to alleviate their distresses. Having formerly spoken of “light” and “darkness,” and having promised light to believers, who hear the voice of the Lord, he shews that the Jews had rejected this light, in order to kindle another light for themselves, and threatens that ultimately they shall be consumed by this light, as by a conflagration. Thus Christ upbraids the Jews with “rejoicing in John’s light,” (Joh 5:35,) because they made a wrong use of his official character, in order to obscure or rather to extinguish the glory of Christ. To bring forward John’s official character, in order to cover with darkness the glory of Christ, was nothing else than to extinguish the light of God shining in a mortal man, in order to kindle another light for themselves, not that it might guide them by pointing out the road, but that, by foolishly rejoicing in it, they might be driven about in every direction.
When he says that they are surrounded by sparks, he glances at their various thoughts, by which they were agitated and carried about in uncertainty sometimes in one direction and sometimes in another; and in this way he mocks at their folly, because they willingly and eagerly ran wheresoever their foolish pleasures drew them.
Walk in the light of your fire. As if he had said, “You shall know by experience how useless and transitory is your light, when your unwarranted hopes shall have deceived you.” The ironical permission denotes disappointment. Others explain it, that wicked men kindle against themselves the fire of God’s wrath; but the Prophet looked higher, and that sentiment appears not to agree with this passage.
From my hand. Because wicked men, being intoxicated by false confidence, think that they are placed beyond the reach of all danger, and, viewing the future with reckless disregard, trust to “their own light,” that is, to the means of defense with which they imagine themselves to be very abundantly provided; the Lord declares, that they shall lie down in sorrow, and that this shall proceed “from his hand;” and, in a word, that men who have forsaken the light of the Word, and who seek consolation from some other quarter, shall miserably perish.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(11) All ye that kindle a fire.The words obviously point to any human substitute for the Divine light, and thus include the two meanings which commentators have given them: (1) Mans fiery wrath, that worketh not the righteousness of God; and (2) mans attempt to rest in earthly comforts or enjoyments instead of in the light and joy that comes from God.
That compass yourselves about with sparks.The words are rendered by many commentators, gird yourselves with burning darts, or firebrands, i.e., with calumnies and execrations as your weapons of warfare (Comp. Eph. 6:16.)
Ye shall lie down in sorrow.The words point to a death of anguish, perhaps to the torment that follows death (comp. Luk. 16:24), as the outcome of the substitution of the earthly for the heavenly light.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. Ye that compass yourselves about with sparks If any son of Israel is neglecting Jehovah his God, is self-sufficient, is kindling his own fire and walking by the light of it, even daring the perils of stumbling on account of the darkness which his own soon-to-be-quenched light shall occasion, then, be sure, God’s own right hand shall send a doom heavier than can be imagined.
Ye shall lie down in sorrow Or in a place of torment, where there shall be no remedy. Vitringa, and those who follow him, suppose allusion here is direct to the Pharisaical party who at first listened to Christ’s teachings, then rejected them, then murdered him. For all which their doom as a nation was precipitated in forty years.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Behold all you who kindle a fire,
Who gird yourselves about with firebrands,
Walk in the flame of your fire,
And among the brands that you have kindled.
This is what you will have from my hand,
You will lie down in sorrow.’
But there are those who kindle a false light. The way is dark and so they seek to stir up flames and clothe themselves with firebrands, that they may see. This is their way of dealing with life. But there is no answer in the flames. Flames are destructive not constructive. They clothe themselves with false fire, anything rather than trusting in God. Then there grow up among them the product of such fires, fiery men, men of violence, men of deceit, and men of destruction. And they will walk in the midst of what they have kindled. And they will have from God’s hand a sorrowful end, an end in torment. The judgment of God will come upon them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 50:11. Behold, all ye, &c. Behold, all ye who strike out fire, and place fuel around; walk in the light of your fire, and of the fuel you have kindled. It is universally agreed, that the adversaries of the kingdom of Christ are here meant, particularly the Scribes and Pharisees, and all those who were most solicitous for the destruction of Christ, and who became afterwards the principal cause of the destruction of their own nation. The prophet’s metaphor, in a general view, exhibits seditious and restless men, who, accustomed to stir up and to cherish commotions and seditions to ruin others, are by those very means themselves involved in ruin. See chap. 17, 18. The prophet seems to refer more immediately to the state of Jerusalem besieged and destroyed by the Romans.
REFLECTIONS.1st, God will vindicate his ways to men, and prove his justice in the rejection of the Jewish people.
1. He desires that the cause of their rejection may be examined. Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement? intimating, either that God had not cast them off, but they, like an adultress, had treacherously departed from him; or, that if he had divorced them, if the bill was produced, the cause would be found abundantly to vindicate his proceeding: or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? fathers having such a right over their children among the Jews: but God owed nothing either to the Babylonians or Romans; and therefore, if they were captives, it was not of him, but themselves. Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away; to gratify their vile lusts, they provoked God, by their idolatries especially; and at last, by crucifying the Redeemer, they brought upon themselves destruction. Note; (1.) Though all who are saved owe it to God’s free and unmerited grace, none are damned but must own it the just reward of their own obstinate impenitence. (2.) If sinners sell themselves to work wickedness, they can only hope to earn the wages of sin.
2. He upbraids them with their inattention to his calls by all his prophets, and especially by his Son, who came himself to warn them, yet none regarded. They paid no credit to his word, nor would be persuaded, that he who appeared in circumstances so mean was the almighty Redeemer promised, though he had given such instances of his glorious power in their former deliverances. At his rebuke the sea was divided; by him Jordan became a dry ground; he slew the fish of Egypt, when the rivers were turned into blood, and covered the Egyptians with that thick darkness which might be felt. Or it may refer to his power in raising the thick clouds, and, when he pleases, eclipsing the luminaries of heaven; in all which works his omnipotence is manifested.
2nd, We have our Lord proceeding in his work of redemption, for which he is every way so fully qualified.
1. As endued with the higher wisdom, that he might know how to preach the Gospel which brings rest to the weary soul; and constantly receiving from his Father, as the great prophet of his church, those lessons of instruction, which, with fidelity and zeal, rising up early, he inculcated on his disciples. Note; (1.) One of the greatest qualifications of a minister of God is, to know how to address the troubled conscience, and to speak the reasonable word to calm the tumult of the soul. (2.) It is God who gives the ability, and he alone can add the blessing. (3.) They who would serve God in the Gospel of his Son, must attentively hear him speaking in his revealed word, for there are all the hidden treasures of wisdom. (4.) Morning by morning must we be found upon our knees, asking the wisdom which cometh from above; for the most laborious researches of the human understanding in the Scriptures, without the teaching of God’s Spirit, will never make us wise unto salvation.
2. Patiently suffering, he voluntarily yielded himself up to his Father’s will; as the servant who had his ear bored, Exo 21:5-6 became his master’s property for ever; and when he was called to the severest trials, in the course of his obedience unto death for our redemption, he cheerfully met his sufferings, submitting to all that shame, insult, pain, and agony, which he endured from his wicked persecutors; see Mat 26:67; Mat 27:26. Mar 14:65. Joh 18:22. Note; The more we consider what Jesus so readily submitted to on our behalf, the more shall our hearts be comforted in the persuasion of his willingness to save all who come to him.
3. Powerfully supported, and boldly accomplishing his work in the face of all opposition. For the Lord will help me; as man, he needed support from his Father, and found it in the day of his calamity; therefore shall I not be confounded, so as to faint under his sufferings. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, against all the ignominious treatment to which he was exposed; and I know that I shall not be ashamed; his cause was good, and he was assured that in the issue he should not be disappointed, but see the redemption of all his faithful people completed. He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? Let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. The charges that were laid against him by Satan, or by his malicious persecutors, were all answered; and God, by his resurrection from the dead, declared him fully acquitted of every accusation, and that he had made complete satisfaction for the sins of the world. Thus holpen of God, no condemnation remained against him; whilst all his enemies, doomed to ruin, like a moth-eaten garment, should utterly and irrecoverably perish. Note; (1.) They who are called to stand up for Christ, have need of courage, and to set their faces as a flint against the revilings of men. (2.) Christ’s service will bear us out; and, however shameful in the eyes of men the preaching of the cross may appear, it is our greater glory. (3.) While our hearts are led up to God for strength, he will not fail us. (4.) A believer in Jesus may now challenge every accuser; the resurrection of his Lord gives him a plea which silences all condemnation. (5.) The enemies of Christ and his people, however they may prevail for a time, are doomed at last to perish for ever, and the worm which dieth not shall feed upon them.
3rdly, The sufficiency of the Lord Jesus for his undertaking being shewn, he here addresses saints and sinners, comforting the one, and warning the other.
1. He speaks a word of kind encouragement to sincere penitents. Their character is drawn as fearing the Lord, with reverence and regard, and obeying the voice of his servant; yet they walk in darkness, and see no light; exposed to severe afflictions, or destitute of their comfort, and full of fears and doubts about their interest in the Redeemer. In such a state of distress he bids them trust in the name of the Lord, against hope believing in hope; and staying themselves on their God, who, though they are in darkness, is willing to reveal himself to them. Note; In the darker dispensations of Providence there is still ground to say, My God; and as long as our faith do not fail, we shall not be cast away.
2. He speaks a word of conviction to the presumptuous. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks; like Nadab and Abihu offering strange fire, setting up the light of nature instead of revelation; seeking, by works of righteousness which they can do, to obtain pardon from God, instead of renouncing themselves, to trust alone in the infinite merit of a Redeemer. Walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled; ironically spoken, as intimating the vanity and insufficiency of the methods they pursued: this shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow. The issue of your ways will be fatal: the light of nature can only lead you to outer darkness, and dependence on your own deserts and duties prove at last your eternal ruin. Note; Creature-comforts may administer a short-lived enjoyment, and self-dependence flatter us with a momentary hope; but soon will these sparks be extinguished, and death undeceive those who would not be undeceived before.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
We have several examples in the ministry of God’s servants, who, in their animated expostulations, adopt language like this. The Apostle Paul, after finishing a solemn discourse to his countrymen, on the subject of Christ’s redemption, makes use of the same, Act 13:41 ; and what an awful darkness will that be, in which men must lie down forever, if they refuse all light to walk by, but of their own kindling; despising the light of Jesus, who is the light, and the life of the world! Oh! for grace, that it may never be the condemnation of the writer, or reader, that light is come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil! Joh 3:19 .
REFLECTIONS
Lamb of God! do I not behold thee, in this representation of the Prophet, the man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief? And though thou didst set thy face as a flint, amidst all the despisings of men, when condescending to the deepest abasement; yet, Lord, thou hadst indeed the tongue of the learned, and now, thou knowest how to speak a word in season to weary souls, as thou didst then, when thine own soul was put to grief, and it pleased the Lord to bruise thee. Oh! speak to me that sweet word, in every season, which may make me rest with full assurance of faith on thy blood and righteousness!
Why, blessed Lord, was it, that thou, who art thyself the light, and the life of men, didst walk in darkness? Wherefore wast thou deserted of the Father, when, in that unequalled season of agony on the cross, it forced dolorous cries from thy soul? Was it, dearest Jesus, that thy people might know, from thy bright example, where to look, and in whom to confide? And wast thou for a time deserted, and in darkness, that thy people might not be deserted forever? Arise, ye poor benighted souls, who now walk in darkness! Look unto Jesus, and let him be your light, and your life, and your salvation! And while others are walking in the glow worm sparks of their own confidence, do ye behold the glory of the Lord risen upon thee, whose light shall no more go down, neither cause thee to lie down in sorrow, for the Lord Jesus shall be to thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 50:11 Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass [yourselves] about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks [that] ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
Ver. 11. Behold, all ye that kindle a fire. ] That instead of relying upon God, would relieve yourselves by carnal shifts and fetches, a fire of your own kindling, or rather sparks of your own tinderboxes, strange fire, and not that of God’s sanctuary. Or say they be your own good works you trust to. Like as the phoenix gathereth sweet odoriferous sticks in Arabia together, aud then blows them with her wings, and burns herself with them.
That compass yourselves about with sparks.
Walk in the light of your fire.
This shall ye have of my hand.
Ye shall lie down in sorrow.
a Jacob. Revius, Hist. Pontif., p. 199.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah
DYING FIRES
Isa 50:11
The scene brought before us in these words is that of a company of belated travellers in some desert, lighting a little fire that glimmers ineffectual in the darkness of the eerie waste. They huddle round its dying embers for a little warmth and company, and they hope it will scare wolf and jackal, but their fuel is all burned, and they have to go to sleep without its solace and security. The prophet’s imaginative picture is painted from life, and is a sad reality in the cases of all who seek to warm themselves at any fire that they kindle for themselves, apart from God.
I. A sad, true picture of human life.
Scripture uses the image of darkness as symbolic of three sad facts of our experience: ignorance, sin, sorrow. Are not all these the characteristics of godless lives?
As for ignorance-a godless man has no key to the awful problems that front him. He knows not God, who is to him a dread, a name, a mystery. He knows not himself, the depths of his nature, its possibilities for good or evil, whence it cometh nor whither it goeth. He has no solution for the riddle of the universe. It is to him a chaos, and darkness is upon the face of the deep.
As to sin, the darkness of ignorance is largely due to the darkness of sin. In every heart comes sometimes the consciousness that it is thus darkened by sin. The sense of sin is with all men more or less-much perverted, often wrong in its judgments, feeble, easily silenced, but for all that it is there-and it is great part of the cold obstruction that shuts out the light. Sin weaves the pall that shrouds the world.
As for darkness of sorrow-we must beware that we do not exaggerate. God makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and there is gladness in every life, much that arises from fulfilled desires, from accomplished purposes, from gratified affections. But when all this has been freely admitted, still sadness crouches somewhere in all hearts, and over every life the storm sometimes stoops.
We need nothing beyond our own experience and the slightest knowledge of other hearts to know how shallow and one-sided a view of life that is which sees only the joy and forgets the sorrow, which ignores the night and thinks only of the day; which, looking out on nature, is blind to the pain and agony, the horror and the death, which are as real parts of it as brightness and beauty, love and life. Every little valley that lies in lovely loneliness has its scenes of desolation, and tempest has broken over the fairest scenes. Every river has drowned its man. Over every inch of blue sky the thunder cloud has rolled. Every summer has its winter, every day its night, every life its death. All stars set, all moons wane. ‘Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang’ come after every leafy June.
Sorrow is as deeply embedded in the necessity and constitution of things as joy. ‘God hath set one over against another, and hath made all things double.’
II. The vain attempts at light.
Men try to free themselves from the miseries of ignorance, sin, and sorrow.
Think of the insufficiency of all such attempts, the feeble flicker which glimmers for an hour, and then fuel fails and it goes out. Then the travellers can journey no further, but ‘lie down in sorrow,’ and without a watchfire they become a prey to all the beasts of the field. It is a little picture taken from the life.
It vividly paints how men will try to free themselves from the miseries of their condition, how insufficient all their attempts are, how transient the relief, and how bitter and black the end.
We may apply these thoughts to-
1. Men-made grounds of hope before God.
2. Men-made attempts to read the mysteries.
We do not say this of all human learning, but of that which, apart from God’s revelation, deals with the subjects of that revelation.
3. Men-made efforts at self-reformation.
4. Men-made attempts at alleviating sorrow.
Scripture abounds in other metaphors for the same solemn spiritual facts as are set before us in this picture of the dying watchfire and the sad men watching its decline. Godless lives draw from broken cisterns out of which the water runs. They build with untempered mortar. They lean on broken reeds that wound the hand pressed on them. They spend money for that which is not bread. But all these metaphors put together do not tell all the vanity, disappointments, and final failure and ruin of such a life. That last glimpse given in the text of the sorrowful sleeper stretched by the black ashes, with darkness round and hopeless heaviness within, points to an issue too awful to be dwelt on by a preacher, and too awful not to be gravely considered by each of us for himself.
III. The light from God.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
that kindle a fire = that are incendiaries; not the ordinary word for lighting a fire. Only in Deu 32:2 (the first occurrence). Jer 15:14; Jer 17:4. Jer 64:2.
compass = gird. See note on Isa 8:9.
sparks = fiery darts.
walk. This is Divine irony (App-6).
your = your own.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Isa 50:11
Isa 50:11
“Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that gird yourselves about with firebrands; walk ye in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.”
Wardle summarized the meaning of Isa 50:10-11 thus:
“Let the pious Jew hear the Servant’s voice, and despite his pitiful plight trust in Jehovah. Those who kindle the flames of persecution and strife shall become the victims of their own fire, and by his doom shall lie in a place of flame (Gehenna may be meant).”
If Wardle’s interpretation of Isa 50:11 is correct (as in Footnote No. 16, above), then the most remarkable fulfillment of it took place when the nation of the Jews stirred up the Roman government against the Christians and enlisted their support against the Church, with the result that Rome indeed tried to stamp out Christianity; but Rome soon learned that Christianity was indeed a true derivative of Judaism; and armed with that information, they decided to stamp out Judaism as well. The resulting Jewish war culminated in the utter destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. bythe armies of Vespasian and Titus. Thus the apostate, hardened, and rejected Israel perished in the flames they themselves had kindled.
This may not be the only application of the passage, because it is always true that people who stir up troubles for others sometimes entrap themselves, as did Haman who perished upon the very gallows he had erected for the purpose of hanging Mordecai (Est 5:14 to Est 7:10).
Isa 50:11 SORROW: The other option is rebellion. Those who opt for rebellion are those who play with fire. Fire is used chiefly as a figure of destruction, doom, torment, wrath, anger. Those who rebel against God are toying with forces that destroy those who continue to kindle them. Rebellion against the Creator is self-destructive for the creature (Rom 1:18 ff). Jehovah speaks ironically, walk ye in the flame of your fire . . . or, Go ahead and rebel if you insist. . . . (cf. Isa 1:2; Isa 1:20; Eze 2:3; Eze 20:8; Eze 20:13; Eze 20:21; Dan 9:5; Dan 9:9; Isa 30:1; Isa 30:9; Isa 65:2, etc.). The Lord will take this rebellion in His hand and turn it against the rebels until they are struck down in sorrow. Rebellion can never lead to happiness. It always leads to sorrow. When the Jewish people rejected their Servant-Messiah their rebellion eventuated in the Roman holocaust. The sorrow of the Jew has been unceasing. He can never find happiness until he obeys the voice of the Servant.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
all ye: Isa 28:15-20, Isa 30:15, Isa 30:16, Isa 55:2, Psa 20:7, Psa 20:8, Jer 17:5-7, Jon 2:8, Mat 15:6-8, Rom 1:21, Rom 1:22, Rom 10:3
walk: Exo 11:9, Exo 11:10, Eze 20:39, Amo 4:4, Amo 4:5
This shall: Joh 9:39
ye shall: Isa 8:22, Isa 65:13-16, Psa 16:4, Psa 32:10, Mat 8:12, Mat 22:13, Joh 8:24, 2Th 1:8, 2Th 1:9, Rev 19:20, Rev 20:15
Reciprocal: Job 18:5 – spark Pro 13:9 – lamp Ecc 2:1 – I will Ecc 5:7 – but Isa 1:28 – they that Isa 1:31 – as tow Isa 2:5 – come ye Isa 10:12 – I will Jer 3:25 – lie down Hab 2:13 – is it
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
A FIRE OF DYING SPARKS
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of Mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
Isa 50:11
In this text the many fictitious sources from which men seek to derive happiness are compared to a fire kindled, and sparks struck out by way of relieving the darkness of the night. It is of course implied in the metaphor that true happiness, the real and adequate complement of mans nature, resembles the Divinely created and golden sunlight.
I. This comparison does not lead us to deny that pleasure and gratification of a certain kind are derivable from worldly sources.
II. Consider the drawbacks of worldly enjoyments.(1) Unsatisfactoriness adheres in their very nature, inasmuch as they are all (more or less) artificial. (2) The fitful character of the enjoyment derived from worldly sources renders it comparable to a fire and sparks struck out. (3) A fire requires constantly to be fed with fresh fuel, if its brilliancy and warmth are to be maintained. (4) But perhaps the chief drawback of the worldlings so-called happiness is that it is consistent with so much anxietythat it is subject to frequent intrusions from alarm, whenever a glimpse of the future untowardly breaks in upon his mind.
Dean Goulburn.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
50:11 Behold, all ye that kindle {m} a fire, that surround [yourselves] with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks [that] ye have kindled. This shall ye have of my hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
(m) You have sought consolation by your own devises, and have refused the light and consolation which God has offered: therefore you will remain in sorrow and not be comforted.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The Lord contrasted the way of sorrow, in this verse, with the way of trust, in Isa 50:10. The Israelites who refused to trust God and obey the Servant in their dark mission, and instead tried to escape the dark by lighting their own fires, would experience torment. They would encounter this if they refused to trust God for deliverance from the Babylonians, and they would encounter it in their larger relationship with God. The Lord would send them torment, not vindication (cf. Isa 50:8-9). The Lord may have been using the figure of a person binding a flaming torch to himself so he could keep his hands free while working his way out of darkness. In such a case, it would have been only too common for people to set their own clothes on fire accidentally. The prophet used fire here to describe human wickedness, not divine wrath.