Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 61:11
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
11. as the earth &c. ] i.e. as surely as the seed germinates in the earth, so surely will Jehovah bring to pass the great redemption here promised through the self-fulfilling power of His word. Cf. ch. Isa 55:10, Isa 42:9, Isa 43:19, Isa 58:8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For as the earth bringeth forth – This figure is several times used by the prophet (see the notes at Isa 45:8; Isa 55:10-11). The idea is an exceedingly beautiful one, that, on the coming of the Messiah, truth and righteousness would spring up and abound like grass and fruits in the vegetable world when the earth is watered with rain.
Her bud – The word bud we now apply usually to the small bunch or protuberance on the branches of a plant, containing the rudiments of the future leaf or flower. The Hebrew word, however, ( tsemach), rather means the germ, the shoot, or the young and tender plant as it comes up from the earth; that which first appears from the seed.
So the Lord God will cause righteousness to spring forth – (See the notes at Isa 42:19; Isa 43:9; Isa 44:4; Isa 45:8).
Before all the nations – The sense is, that righteousness would abound over all the earth, and that all the world would yet join in celebrating the praises of God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 61:11
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud
Gods Word as seed
The Word in the mouth of the servant of Jehovah is the seed out of which great things are developed before all the world.
The ground and soil of this development is mankind, the garden enclosed in it is the Church, and the great things themselves are righteousness as the present inner nature of His Church, and renown as its present outward manifestation. The impulsive force of the seed is Jehovah, but the bearer of the seed is the Servant of Jehovah, and the fact that it is possible to scatter the seed of a future so full of grace and glory is the ground of His festive rejoicing. (F. Delitzsch, D. D.)
Certainty in redemption as in nature
As surely as the seed germinates in the earth, so surely will Jehovah bring to pass the great redemption here promised through the self-fulfilling power of His Word (cf. Isa 55:10; Isa 42:9; Isa 43:19; Isa 58:8). (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
The springing forth of righteousness
It is a great act that God performs before our eyes during the spring and summer.
I. It is a MANIFESTATION that we see. A mystery hidden during the winter months is being revealed. As Nature hides and then reveals, So the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth.
1. It is a great manifestation of power that we see. We more readily associate Gods power with vast convulsions; but this is the continuously working and gentle power of the Most High. Mark the consummate case with which all is done. Yet not a sheath is split, not a flower starts from the earth, but it is moved to do so by some power.
2. Is not this putting forth of leaves a great manifestation of mind? Suppose we discard the word design and accept the word adaptation, do we escape from the suggestion of mental action? It is not possible to describe the facts as they appear to us without using language that implies adjustment by means of mind.
3. It is something more than mind that is manifested in the beauty of nature. Beauty is only visible to reason, indeed to the higher kind of reason. Your horse sees nothing of the beauty of the landscape; your dog despises your flowers. The images of all these things are reflected on their eyes as on yours, but they produce no emotion. So that in nature, it seems, special provision is made for the peculiar gratification of the higher mind of man. Surely it must be reason that thus addresses itself to reason, and if reason, then benevolence.
II. The prophet sees in this THE PARABLE OF ANOTHER MANIFESTATION–a great moral and spiritual manifestation. So the Lord God, etc. It is pathetic that he should maintain this faith through the winter of his discontent. All spiritual influences are treasured up, and there is a conservation of spiritual force as of natural. But the preparation is long, as the winter that precedes the spring. How great the joy of knowing that we may help to provide or strengthen the forces of the worlds true vernal hour.
III. Remember that WE SHALL BE MANIFESTED (2Co 5:10). Forces arc gathering within us. When we awake, may our surprise, even in respect to ourselves, be like that with which we look upon the new heavens and the new earth! (A. H. Vine.)
The reign of righteousness
I. THE GOSPEL IS THE DISPENSATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. The love it reveals is a just love; the love it requires is a just love. It is a righteous system on two accounts.
1. It defends the rights of man. It takes nothing from him but his sin.
(1) Every man has a right over his own person. God has given him a body, and over its senses and members he has a sovereign right; and if he does not by the use, or rather by the abuse of this right, sin against the laws, order, and welfare of society, no one but God has any authority to take it away. But, alas! man is often robbed of his original right. There are two systems in the world, which, without shame or apology, perpetuate and sanction the guilty act; slavery and religious persecution. Now the Gospel detects, condemns, and in proportion to its progress destroys, these dark and direful systems.
(2) Man has a right over his property. The Gospel, by prohibiting fraud, theft, robbery, and every form of dishonesty, defends this right. It teaches men to be righteous in the acquisition, the enjoyment, and the disposal of wealth.
(3) Man has a right over his mind. And it is the mind, after all, that gives value to man. But it is injured, enslaved by ignorance, error and the world. For there is a slavery darker and deeper than that which tortures the flesh. A mind in chains is the greatest injustice and the greatest distress in the universe. It is painful to think how little real advantage the souls of men have derived from civilization, and its attendant blessings. There is nothing on earth that can give purity, freedom, righteousness, and comfort to the soul, except the truth and spirit of Christ. If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
2. The Gospel also reveals a righteousness which God has provided for man as a guilty and lost sinner. It shows that God can save transgressors without transgressing Himself the eternal laws and the general interests of His government. To show this is its peculiar use. The chief object of the Gospel is not to prove that there is love in God, but to show the nature and extent of that love. Natural religion preaches the benevolence of God; revealed religion preaches the justice of His benevolence. The creation proves the existence of Gods perfections; the cross of Christ harmonizes them.
II. THE SPIRIT OF GOD ALONE CAN RENDER THIS SYSTEM OPERATIVE AND EFFICIENT IN THE WORLD. The Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. The process by which this is to be accomplished is figuratively described in the text: As the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord God will make the Gospel effectual to the salvation of men. The process is Divine, vivifying, progressive, and beautiful. (Caleb Morris.)
Spring
I. THE ONCOMING OF SPRING TEACHES THAT THERE IS A GOD. There is an invisible Creator, a reflection of whose thoughts and a product of whose power are all these magic spring wonders.
II. Another lesson which spring particularly teaches is that THERE ARE ALLOTTED SEASONS FOR CERTAIN TASKS. Our Saviour thus on several occasions speaks of times and seasons ordained by God. And the Psalmist refers to this same arrangement when he says,: The Lord appointeth the moon for seasons, the sun knoweth his going down. In nature, therefore, spring holds an ordered place. As summer is for ripening and autumn for reaping, so is this season for planting. It is the season for beginnings, the time for casting in the seed. Just such an order there is in the vineyard of grace. There is a spring-time of the Gospel, when all the conditions are favourable to making secure our eternal interests. Let every one heed this period. For it is most critical. It is his accepted time; it it his day of salvation. Ordinarily, the spring season is your youth. But in some cases it, doubtless owing to unfavourable early circumstances, comes later.
III. ANOTHER LESSON OF SPRING WE LEARN ALONE FROM INSPIRATION. It is that taught by the prophet in the text: For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, etc. That is, as Christians look upon nature putting on her flowery spring attire, and as they see a universal bursting forth of life, activity and joy, they are to behold in this a sign and a pledge of the progress, triumph and universal prevalence of the kingdom of God.
IV. SPRING, MOREOVER, TEACHES THE DIVINE ORIGIN AND POWER OF BEAUTY. Does it not fulfil that Scripture which says He hath made everything beautiful in his time? And we learn therefrom that beauty is Divine. That we live not for blind utility and stern necessities alone.
V. SPRING IS AN EMBLEM OF IMMORTALITY. This rejuvenation coming out of the icy tomb of winter shows us that Nature does not die–she only sleeps. Emerson puts this argument thus: The soul does not age with the body. On the borders of the grave the wise man looks forward with equal elasticity of mind and hope. For it is the nature of intelligent beings to be for ever new to life. (J. B. Remensnyder, D. D.)
Spring
The teaching is that there is a spiritual spring-time appointed of God, and it will surely come. As certainly as spring comes to the earth physically, so surely will it come to the Church spiritually.
I. CONTEMPLATE THIS TRUTH IN REFERENCE TO THE BROAD FIELD OF THE WORLD. Let our meditations range through history and into prophecy.
1. This leads us to expect that there may be in Gods work, and in our work for God, a period of unrequited labour. The analogy between the processes of nature and Gods work in the Church holds good not only as to the revivals of spring, but as to the depressing incidents of winter. We must not always reckon to see nations converted the moment the Gospel is preached to them, and especially where new ground has been broken up Jam 5:7). While the seed is under the ground a thousand adversaries present themselves, all apparently in array against its ever rising from the earth. When we survey the condition of affairs apart from faith in God, it may even seem to us that, our cause is hopeless.
2. Our text excites the hope of a sacred spring-time. Gods Gospel cannot perish. That which is sown in the garden springs up because there is vitality in it. Even so the truth of God is an incorruptible seed, which liveth and abideth for ever. Life in garden seeds may be destroyed; under certain influences the life-germ may perish, but the living truth of God is immortal and unconquerable (1Pe 1:24-25). But seed springs up, not only because of its own vitality, but because of its surrounding circumstances. So we may rest assured that Godwill make all things propitious in His providence to the growth of His own truth. But the corn comes not up out of the earth because it is vital, or because of its surroundings merely, for, as we believe, there is the actual power of God at work throughout nature. And it is because God is at work in His Gospel–mysteriously at work, it is true, but certainly at work, for the Spirit of the living God which was given at Pentecost has never gone back to heaven–that we expect the Gospel to flourish. If at any time our mind should grow desponding concerning the progress of the Gospel, it ought to encourage us to remember that the Gospel will conquer, not because it looks as if it would, but because God has declared and decreed that it shall do so. The disheartening circumstances of the winter may have been, all of them, promotive of the success of the spring. Remember what sowing has already gone before. Christ sowed the earth with His own self. Remember, too, who is the Husbandman of this field. Moreover, there is the Spirit Himself, as well as the Father and the Son, and He has designed to dwell in the midst of the Church.
II. CONTEMPLATE THIS TRUTH IN REFERENCE TO THE GARDEN COMMITTED TO YOUR OWN PERSONAL CULTURE. As Gods people you have all something to do for Him; I want you to do it in the best possible manner; but you will not do so unless you are of good heart. Be not impatient with regard to the result of what you are doing. Exercise faith as to results.
III. CONTEMPLATE THIS SAME TRUTH IN REFERENCE TO THE BELIEVERS SPIRITUAL STATE. Do you not sometimes fall into a wintry condition? There are times when we feel as if we had no life at all. In such times as these we cannot make any change in ourselves. What we cannot do, God can do. Spring comes from yonder sun, and so must our revival in religion, and our restored joy and peace, come from God.
IV. CONTEMPLATE ALL THIS IN REFERENCE TO THOSE WHO ARE NEWLY AWAKENED. Those very desires of yours show that there is some good seed sown in you. It is winter-time with you; may that winter do you good. Your only hope of anything better than what you arc passing through lies in Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 11. The Lord God – “The Lord JEHOVAH”] ” Adonai, the Lord, makes the line longer than the preceding and following; and the Septuagint, Alexandrian, (and MSS. Pachom. and I. D. II.,) and Arabic, do not so render it. Hence it seems to be interpolated.” – Dr. JUBB. Three MSS. have it not. See on Isa 61:1 of this chapter. Both words Adonai Jehovah, are wanting in one of my MSS.; but are supplied in the margin by a later hand.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth: by this and the other metaphor he shows not only the reviving of the blessings of the church after they had been as it were dead in the winter of affliction, but the great plenty and abundance of blessings that should break forth; that which had been as a wilderness shall be as a paradise, pointing at the effects of his grace and bounty.
So the Lord God will cause righteousness to spring forth, i.e. his great work of salvation shall break out and appear.
And praise, as the natural product and fruit of it; his own glory being the principal end of making his righteousness to appear and manifest itself.
Before all nations: these things will not be done in a corner, but will be eminently conspicuous in the sight of all the world, for which purpose those hymns penned by the godly will ever be famous in the churches of Christ to all ages, as of Moses, Hannah, Mary, Zacharias, Simeon, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. (Isa 45:8;Isa 55:10; Isa 55:11;Psa 72:3; Psa 85:11).
budthe tender shoots.
praise (Isa 60:18;Isa 62:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud,…. Of tender grass in the spring of the year, after a long and cold winter, being well manured:
and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth being enclosed, and better taken care of, and well watered, and dunged, and cultivated; seeds sown in such a rich soil spring up freely, strongly, and constantly:
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations; that is, the righteousness and salvation of his people through Christ, by which they shall be justified and saved; and on account of which they shall praise the Lord, and shall be to honour and praise themselves, being interested in those blessings in the sight of all the Christian nations around them. It respects the conversion of the Jews, and their justification and salvation, and the suddenness of it, and the large numbers of them converted, who should rise up at once like the buds of grass out of the earth; and denotes the flourishing condition in which they shall be, like a garden abounding with all manner of flowers and fruit; and suggests how full of joy, thankfulness, and praise to God they should be, and how honourable in the sight of men; and all this will be the Lord’s doing, and owing to his efficacious grace. The Targum is,
“so the Lord God will reveal the righteousness and praise of Jerusalem before all the people.”
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
11. For as the earth putteth forth. By a beautiful comparison the Prophet confirms the former promises; for he reminds the Jews of the ordinary power of God, which shines brightly in the creatures themselves. The earth every year puts forth her bud, the gardens grow green after the sowing time, and, in short, herbs and plants, which appear to be dead during the winter, revive in the spring and resume their vigor. Now these are proofs and very clear illustrations of the divine power and kindness toward us; and since it is so, ought men to doubt of it? Will not he who gave this power and strength to the earth display it still more in delivering his people? And will he not cause to bud the elect seed, of which he promised that it should remain in the world for ever?
Before all the nations. He again shews that the boundaries of the Church shall no longer be as narrow as they formerly were, for the Lord will cause her to fill the whole world.
Will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth, He mentions “righteousness,” which was fully displayed when the Lord redeemed his people; but the righteousness of God was chiefly seen, when Christ was manifested to the world; not that God kept his righteousness concealed till that time, but that men did not know it. It is, as if he had said, “God will deliver and restore his people in such a manner that all shall acknowledge him to be righteous.” For redemption is a striking proof of the justice of God.
He next mentions praise; because such a benefit ought to be accompanied by thanksgiving. The end of “righteousness” is, that glory may be given to God; and therefore he exhorts us to gratitude; for it is exceedingly base to be dumb after having received God’s benefits.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL ASSURED AND ILLUSTRATED
(Missionary Sermons.)
Isa. 61:11. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden, &c.
I. The seed. II. The extent of the ground to be brought under cultivation. III. The manner in which the fruit-fulness is produced.Bishop Wilson: Sermons delivered in India, pp. 395417.
The vision of the prophet extends from the prosperous state of restored Israel to the ultimate glory of Christian Zion in the universal diffusion of righteousness and praise. We have here a beautiful and suggestive analogy between things natural and things spiritual.
I. The life and sprouting of spring follow the desolation and death of winter. Far deeper is the moral deformity and death which has come upon our race by sin. Man, made in the image of God, has lost the holiness which made him one with God; is now dead in trespasses and sins, &c. The curse of evil extends to the whole race in all its generations. The facts that show the moral condition of the mass of mankind, looked at in the light of Divine truth, and judged by the purity of the Divine law, are more appalling than any winter blight and desolation.
II. The earth, and garden bring forth their precious fruits and flowers under culture. In nothing does man toil more laboriously against the curse than in tilling the ground. There is the same necessity for labour in the moral culture of the world. Corrupted human nature is not made to yield the fruits of holiness without toil. Every conversion represents more labour than can be made to appear to the eye. Wherever the Word of God has had free course and been glorified are found proofs of Gods blessing on labour.
III. The earth and garden cause the things that are sown in them to spring forth with certainty. As surely as winter passes away and spring returns, seeds germinate, grasses grow, plants and trees put forth new beauty and fruitfulness, and this with a regularity that amounts to certainty (Gen. 8:22). So, in like manner, with equal certainty, will the Lord God, &c. Righteousness, lost to our race by the sin of Adam, is restored by the mediation of Christ. As sin and dishonour were joined together as a twofold curse, so righteousness and praise are joined together as a double blessing. Let the work of righteousness appear in social order and purity, commercial and political integrity; let the people be all righteous, and glory will dwell in the land. The text assures us that God will do all this. Delay is no falsification of His promise (Isa. 55:10-11).
IV. The earth brings forth the things that are sown in it mysteriously as to manner. Beneath the surface are subtle forces and workings of nature by which the seed is made to grow. These hidden workings fitly represent the operation of God in the production of moral results.
V. The earth and garden bring forth their fruits universally. There are sandy deserts and miry places that cannot be cultivated, but generally speaking, the earth gives her increase. With more literal truth it may be said the moral world is capable of universal cultivation. The necessity for cultivation is universal, and the Church is Gods husbandry that it might be His husbandman. The Divine covenant that assured success is made with the race, not with any particular portion; and the Spirit who glorifies Christ in the work of human salvation is given to the world. If, therefore, the Church will extend the means which God has appointed, He will accompany them by His sure effectual blessing, and cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations.William Jackson.
Could anything be more incredible than; prophecy of spring in winter time to a man not already familiar with the glory with which summer can clothe the world? Who can wonder that the heathen found this the divinest thing which they could imagine; that the power which drew forth these glorious hoards from the dark treasures of earth, and flung them with such royal hand abroad, was to them the most God-like God? Life rising year by year, nay, day by day, out of death. Just as incredible as spring is to winter, as life is to death, is the summer splendour that shall one day mantle this sad world.
Let us consider
I. The concords of the natural and the human worlds. The worlds are one; the author is one; the life is one. One living breath breathes through both. The poet, in the highest form, is the man who can disclose the unity. The culture of the spiritual life in man is like the culture of a seed field. Behold a sower went forth to sow. This stands as the image of the divinest work ever accomplished in this great universe. Isaiah had a keen eye for this unity. His prophecies are full of imaginative revelations of the likeness between the ways of God in nature and in man. The future of the world unfolded itself before him as the outburst of a glorious spring, a spring which should know no autumn, a dawn that should never darken into night. Yes, hopeless as it may seem, it shall be (Isa. 35:1-2; Isa. 35:5-10).
II. The winter of life and of the world. All that we look upon, all that strains our pity, oppresses our sympathy, saddens our heart, and kills our hope, to the prophets eye was but as the earth in winterbare, bleak, stern, cold, dank, dark, tainted with decay, storm-beaten, frost-nipped, snow-wreathed, a wilder ness of desolation, a waste of death. There are times when the wrong, the selfishness, the unholy passion, the bitter misery which fills the world, quite distracts us. We dream of what a home of the sons of God might be like; the life that beings made in Gods image, in His likeness, might live. And we look round, and the heart sinks in utter despair. Where is the trace of it? Isaiah saw it all in his dayworld and Church rotten together (Isa. 1:21). But he saw something which Christ also sees beyond. He saw that it was a winter, out of which the Lord God would bring a glorious periodspring.
III. The certainty of a future everlasting spring. The law reigns throughout all the spheres that light shall burst out of darkness, spring out of winter, life out of death. Does the law range through all the stages of creation, and fail in the highest? Does the Lord cause the earth to bring forth and bud, and fail to touch the coldness and deadness of the winter of our world? Does man break the chain of the victorious purpose that runs through creation, and defy successfully the Eternal Ruler to bring summer, out of His winter, life out of His death? No, a thousand times no, or the world had been dead long ago. The fact that God bears it all is, knowing what we know of God, profoundly significant. It means that He sees already a tint of greenness crisping over the wintry barrenness, and foresees the day when (Isa. 35:1). But to an intelligent eye winter is not all desolation. There is a prophecy in every shrinking bud and blade, &c. Those see it most fully whose hearts are most attuned to sympathy with the patience and the hope of God. The Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. It is a significant collocation. Praise is the voice of joy. To be joyful man must be rightright within, right all roundthat is, right with God. Right-doing makes the soul glow, as the blood glows in the rosy morning air; and as it glows it sings. Here is the principle of the reformation, the revival, the restitution, and all are images of spring. It is the turning mans heart to righteousness, to Gods righteousness, to Christ. The world had once a vision of what life may grow to when mans heart is turned to righteousness by being made the captive of the Divine love. What outburst of all beautiful things, what joy, what praise was there (Act. 2:41-47). Thus shall it be one day when the Pentecostal fire leaps from heart to heart through the great world, the world which is redeemed, and waits only to be renewed and restored.J. Baldwin Brown, B.A.: The Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi. p. III, &c.
Isa. 61:11. I. The wintry aspect of the world. II. The promise of spring. III. The power by which the change is effected.Dr. Lyth.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(11) As the earth bringeth forth her bud . . .The passage is memorable as at least suggesting the leading thought of the parable of the sower, and the appropriation of that title to Himself by the Son of Man (Mat. 13:3-23; Mat. 13:37; Mar. 4:26-29).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11. As the earth bringeth as the garden causeth to spring forth For similarly as the earth in detailed order brings forth her productions, and as a garden its plants, so shall the Lord Jehovah cause righteousness, or righteous and holy character, and praise, or gratitude, on account of such character, to spring forth, and become abundant to the presence and perpetual observation of all peoples. And this shall be the reward the compensating result, of all the travail undergone by the world’s priestly Messiah.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
DISCOURSE: 1007
THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD TO GOD PROMISED
Isa 61:11. As the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to bring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
TRUTH when delivered in simple terms, does not so forcibly impress the mind, as when it is embodied, as it were, in some image that is visible before our eyes: for a great number of ideas are, by means of a metaphor, presented to us at once; and, having been long familiarized to our mind, they require no stretch or intenseness of thought to bring them together; so that we view a subject, as it were, almost in its full extent, without the labour of prosecuting it in its several parts. To the great mass of mankind this species of instruction is peculiarly beneficial; because it puts the poor on an equal footing with the rich, and, in many respects, enables the illiterate peasant to comprehend truth as extensively and as accurately as the most learned philosopher. The conversion of the world, and of the Jewish nation more especially, is the subject here spoken of [Note: If it were a Sermon for the Jews (to whom the passage primarily refers), the reference to them should be made somewhat more prominent in the discourse.]; and it is predicted as resembling the spring season, wherein the whole face of nature is changed. Now, every one, however ignorant, beholds this change, and is able, in a great measure, to appreciate both its extent and value; and consequently may look forward to the accomplishment of the prediction with an interest which a more laboured and extended statement might fail to excite.
Let us then consider,
I.
The comparison here instituted between the natural and moral world
In the natural world, the parts which are uncultivated present to the view a dreary and desolate wilderness; but, when brought into cultivation, they assume altogether a new appearance, producing every thing which is beautiful to the eye, or profitable for the use of man. It is necessary, however, that human agency should be employed in effecting this change: though, after all that man can do, the work is Gods alone.
In these four particulars the comparison may well be traced.
Barren beyond expression are the countries that are destitute of spiritual cultivation
[What is the very religion of such countries, but a mixture of the darkest ignorance with the most gloomy superstition? And if such be their religion, which is under regulation and restraint, what must be their habits when subjected to no restraint? A desert, or a wilderness, that brings forth nothing but briers and thorns, is but too just a picture of their state.]
But, through the Gospel of Christ, a wonderful change is wrought
[See it in the people on the day of Pentecost; their hands were yet reeking with the Saviours blood; yet, by the labours of a few short hours, not less than three thousand souls were turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God. Such is the change which the Gospel operates, wheresoever it is received into the heart [Note: Col 1:6.]: instead of the brier grows up the fir-tree, and instead of the thorn grows up the myrtle-tree [Note: Isa 55:13.]; and the whole desert rejoices and blossoms as the rose.]
This is effected through the instrumentality of man
[As, in the productions of the garden and the field, it is by human labour that fertility is produced; so it is by the ministry of man that God extends to men the blessings of salvation: as it is said, How can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how can they hear without a preacher [Note: Rom 10:14.]?]
The power, however, that effects it is Gods alone
[In man himself there exists no power to produce any thing that is spiritually good; no, not so much as to think a good thought [Note: 2Co 3:5.]: on the contrary, in his heart there is nothing but evil, and that continually [Note: Gen 6:5.]. The work, as far as it prevails in any man, is Gods alone [Note: 2Co 5:5.]. As to him must be ascribed the glory of all the products of the earth; so must all spiritual good, in whomsoever it be found, be referred to him as its true and proper source [Note: 1Co 4:7.]. And if this be the case with respect to all the good that is in man, much more must it be so as it respects any good that is wrought by man. Even Paul may plant, and Apollos water; but God alone can give the increase [Note: 1Co 3:6.]. As far as relates to the practical efficiency even of the best means, the creature is nothing, and God is all [Note: 1Co 3:7.].]
From the image in which the prediction is conveyed, let us turn to,
II.
The change itself, which is predicted in it
The passage primarily belongs to the Jews; and declares, as the whole preceding and following contexts do, their restoration to God, to the admiration and astonishment of the whole world. We need not, however, confine it to them [Note: This observation, if the subject be used as a Sermon for the Jews, should, of course, be omitted.]; but may contemplate generally,
1.
The change described
[Behold the whole world, Jewish as well as Gentile, yea, and I must add, the Christian too; how little is there of vital and evangelical righteousness to be seen! As for praise, except amongst a very small remnant of true Believers, it is never heard ascending to the throne of God. A form of godliness, indeed, is common: but such piety as existed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and such devotions as were poured forth by the holy Apostles, are rare indeed: so rare, that neither is the one seen, nor the other heard, but as a strange thing, to be gazed at with wonder, or be stigmatized as folly [Note: 1Pe 4:4.].
But it shall not be always so: for, in Gods time, righteousness shall spring up, as it were, not partially on this or that favoured spot, but simultaneously, like the verdure of the spring upon the face of the whole earth. Though the word be sown only like an handful of corn upon the tops of the mountains, its fruit shall shake like the woods of Lebanon, and the converts be like the piles of grass that cover the earth [Note: Psa 72:16.]. In every place, too, will incense be offered, and a pure offering of praise and thanksgiving [Note: Mal 1:11.]; so that earth will be an emblem, and an antepast, of heaven. Then will be realized that vision of the beloved Apostle, who saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband [Note: Rev 21:2.]. For this period we look with the strongest possible assurance, even for the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness [Note: 2Pe 3:13.].]
2.
The excellency of it
[View this change, either as it respects God and his honour, or man and his happiness. Is it not grievous to reflect that God is almost banished from this lower world; and that the Saviour, who came down from heaven to redeem it, is scarcely known, or known only to be dishonoured and blasphemed? Verily, it is a wonder that a world so lost in wickedness is not burnt up, as Sodom and Gomorrah. Indeed it would be so, but for the elects sake. God in tender mercy spares it, because he has ordained that one day this barren fig-tree shall yield him fruit; and unnumbered millions, who shall spring from the loins of his inveterate foes, shall rise a new creation, and be to him for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, to all eternity.
And how blessed will this change be to our fallen race! At present, men are but miserable creatures, full of evil passions, hateful in themselves, and hating all around them [Note: Tit 3:3.]; yea, filled also with terrible forebodings in relation to their eternal state. But then, freed from the bonds of sin and the apprehensions of death, and living in the enjoyment of Gods presence and in the prospect of his glory, they will go on their way rejoicing. Every day will bring them an augmentation of bliss, and be, as it were, a prelude of eternal felicity. Not that this blessedness shall then commence on earth: no; it is already experienced by thousands, who can bear their testimony, that, both in respect of holiness and happiness, they have known a transition, great as from the wintry aspect of a desolate wilderness to the vernal beauty of a highly-cultivated garden.
Such is the change which is now fast approaching; and such is the work of Gods hands, wherein he will ere long be glorified throughout the earth [Note: Isa 60:21.].]
See then, Beloved,
1.
What you should seek for yourselves
[Look for such a change to be wrought in your hearts. This is conversion: this is salvation begun in the soul: this is the indispensable requisite for the enjoyment of heaven. Cast your eyes around you, and see the face of nature now, as contrasted with its appearance during the winter months: you see it; you admire it; you enjoy it. O! let the great Husbandman behold this blessed change in you! Let not the showers of grace, which he pours forth around you, and the rays of the Sun of Righteousness, which he causes to shine upon you, be received in vain: for then will you only bring down the heavier curse upon your souls, as the Apostle Paul has warned you: The earth that drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: but that which beareth briers and thorns is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing: whose end is, to be burned. Pray rather to God, that his Holy Spirit may be poured out upon you, as rain upon the mown grass [Note: Psa 72:6.]; and that your beloved Saviour may come down into your souls, as into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits [Note: Son 4:16.]. And be not contented with any measure of fruitfulness which at any time you may have attained: but, if there be the blade, look for the ear; and if there be the ear, look for the full corn in the ear [Note: Mar 4:28.]; that you may be trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord; and that he may be glorified.]
2.
What you should desire for the world at large
[Take for your prayer these words of the prophet: Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation; and let righteousness spring up together [Note: Isa 45:8.]. You have abundant encouragement to address your God in these terms, because he has absolutely promised that the event predicted shall be accomplished: The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose: it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon; they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God [Note: Isa 35:1-2.]. Shall such prospects be opened to us, and we feel no desire to have them realized? Let us be ashamed that we can be so regardless of Gods honour, and so indifferent about the salvation of our fellow-men. And, whilst we pray to God to effect this great work, let us, according to our respective abilities, be fellow-workers with him; and never rest till the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest [Note: Isa 32:15.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
REFLECTIONS
BLESSED Lord Jesus! while I read this Chapter, methinks I would beg for grace and faith to be in lively exercise, that I might figure to myself, my God and Saviour, thus speaking to my soul, and to the souls of his people, in the same gracious words, as thou didst in the Jewish synagogue in the days of thy flesh. Surely the Spirit of Jehovah was upon thee then, when thou wast anointed to preach the gospel to the poor; and surely now thou hast finished redemption work, and art returned to glory, thou wilt send down, according to thy promise before thy departure, the Spirit upon thy people, that all may bear thee witness, while receiving those gracious words which still proceed out of thy mouth. Thine arm of power is the same, and thy love is the same, all the purposes of thy salvation are the same; and thou art now daily, by the sweet influences of thy Spirit, preaching good tidings to the meek, binding up the broken in heart, proclaiming liberty to poor captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. Hail! thou Almighty Saviour of poor lost sinners.
And oh! ye ministers of my God! behold in Jesus, what ought to be your plan of ministration. Sent by him to act as under-pastors in his name, shall not the meekness, the gentleness of Christ, be your pattern and example? Did the Son of God come to preach good tidings to the meek and will not ye, who have felt in your own souls the blessedness of those tidings of salvation, gladly go forth, and preach the gospel to every creature. Did Jesus bind up the broken in heart, and open the prison doors to them that were bound; and will not ye tell every poor broken-hearted sinner, whom ye meet with, that there is salvation for them in his name? Was Jesus mild and gracious; not breaking the bruised reed, nor quenching the smoking flax; and shall not the servant of the Lord, be apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God peradventure, will give them repentance, to the acknowledging of the truth?
Ye followers of Jesus! whose seed are known among the Gentiles, and your offspring among the people, behold, here, what is said of your Lord; yea, what he saith most graciously of himself; and put in your humble modest claim, that he may comfort all who mourn, and give unto you beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Blessed Lord Jesus? cause all thy people, thy redeemed, to rejoice in thee, as thou hast rejoiced in the salvation of Jehovah! And while thou art clothing all thine, with the garments of thy salvation, and covering them with the robe of thy righteousness; cause them to live to thy glory, and let their righteousness and praise in thee spring forth before all the nations. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 61:11 For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.
Ver. 11. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud. ] Hic rursum loquitur Christus, saith Piscator: here Christ speaketh again, giving us to understand that piety is planted by God in the hearts of his people. We are God’s husbandry, saith the apostle; see Mar 3:26-28 . The Church is Christ’s garden. Son 5:1 Howbeit it is with holy affections as with exotic noble plants; this country is not so kindly for them, being but a stepmother to them; therefore must they be much watered and cherished, &c. We have a gracious promise that our hearts shall be like watered gardens, Isa 58:11 and that if we quench not the Spirit, but quicken and cherish it, there shall flow out of our belly, that is, out of the bosom and bottom of our souls shall flow rivers of living water, Joh 7:38 better than those that watered the garden of Eden; so that we shall be filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. Php 1:11
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the LORD* GOD = Adonai Jehovah. This is one of the 134 places where the Sopherlm changed “Jehovah” of the primitive text to “Adonai”; but both words have been retained instead of the one : namely, Jehovah.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
as the earth: Isa 55:10, Isa 55:11, Isa 58:11, Son 4:16, Son 5:1, Mat 13:3, Mat 13:8, Mat 13:23, Mar 4:26-32
so: Isa 45:8, Isa 62:1, Psa 72:3, Psa 72:16, Psa 85:11
praise: Isa 60:18, Isa 62:7, 1Pe 2:9
Reciprocal: Gen 1:12 – earth Psa 65:12 – rejoice Psa 72:7 – In his days Psa 98:7 – world Psa 99:4 – thou dost Son 2:13 – fig tree Son 4:12 – garden Son 4:13 – are Son 6:2 – gone Isa 33:5 – he hath Isa 35:1 – desert Isa 41:16 – thou shalt rejoice Isa 41:19 – plant Isa 44:4 – spring Isa 46:13 – bring Isa 54:14 – righteousness Hos 14:7 – revive Mar 4:28 – the earth Luk 13:19 – cast 1Co 3:6 – God 1Co 3:9 – ye are God’s 1Co 15:38 – General Eph 1:6 – praise Phi 1:11 – are
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 61:11. For as the earth bringeth forth, &c. By this and the other metaphor here used, the church shows, not only the revival and restoration of her blessings, after they had been, as it were, dead and lost in the winter of affliction, but the great plenty and abundance of them that should spring forth and flourish: what had been as a wilderness should be as a paradise, referring to the effects of Gods grace and bounty. So the Lord will cause righteousness That is, his great work of salvation; and praise As the natural product and fruit of it; to spring forth To break out and appear; before all nations These things will not be done in a corner, but will be eminently conspicuous in the sight of all the world.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Finally, the harvest of righteousness that the Lord planted in Israel, when He redeemed her by the Servant’s work, would come to fruition (cf. Isa 55:10-11). With that righteousness will come praise, not only from Israel, but from the whole earth.