(24) They shall not be planted . . .—Better, Hardly are they planted, hardly are they sown. Such are empires before the eternity of Jehovah: so soon withered that we cannot say that they were ever really planted (Psalms 129:6). read more
Comfort Ye! Comfort Ye! Isaiah 40:1 How lovable the God who speaks thus! He allures us irresistibly. He commands our hearts. And the quality of the consolation He enjoins is so rich. Comfort, in the Bible, means strengthening. The word has deteriorated of late. It now too often signifies soothing, lulling to rest. But when God says 'Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,' He calls His prophets to strengthen them, to arouse them, to nerve them. It is a great and enduring empowerment which God... read more
CHAPTER XIVTHE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF ISRAEL AND THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GODIsaiah 40:1-31; Isaiah 41:1-29; Isaiah 42:1-25; Isaiah 43:1-28; Isaiah 44:1-28; Isaiah 45:1-25; Isaiah 46:1-13; Isaiah 47:1-15; Isaiah 48:1-22; Isaiah 49:1-26; Isaiah 50:1-11; Isaiah 51:1-23; Isaiah 52:1-15; Isaiah 53:1-12; Isaiah 54:1-17; Isaiah 55:1-13; Isaiah 56:1-12; Isaiah 57:1-21; Isaiah 58:1-14; Isaiah 59:1-21; Isaiah 60:1-22; Isaiah 61:1-11; Isaiah 62:1-12; Isaiah 63:1-19; Isaiah 64:1-12; Isaiah 65:1-25; Isaiah 66:1-24IN... read more
II. THE LATER PROPHECIES OF COMFORT AND GLORY (40-66) Like the first part this second part of Isaiah has three sections. The three sections of the first part revealed the judgments to come upon the Jewish people, Jerusalem, the nations and the earth. The three sections of the second part reveal the great blessings in store for the people of Israel, Jerusalem, the nations and the earth, after the judgments are passed. These sections give the past, present, and the future history of the Jewish... read more
40:24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also {a} blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.(a) So that his power appears in every place we turn our eyes. read more
ISAIAH INTRODUCTION TO PART TWO The chapters of Part 2 (chaps. 40-46) are chiefly millennial, and so different from the prevailing themes preceding, as to raise a query whether they were not written by some other author a second, or deutero-Isaiah, as some call him. We do not hold that opinion, the reasons for which are briefly stated in the author’s Primers of the Faith. In Synthetic Bible Studies, it was found convenient to treat this part as a single discourse though doubtless, such is not... read more
Who but must feel humbled to the very dust of the earth, while reading, in these verses, the sad state to which man is reduced by the fall? We see man so prone to idolatry, that if the poor creature be so poor, that he cannot have a golden image to fall down to, he will be content with a wooden one, nay, any dunghill-god, rather than the true God. Reader, be not offended with the remark, for, depend upon it, it is founded in truth: Every son and daughter of Adam is equally disposed, by nature,... read more
18-26 Whatever we esteem or love, fear or hope in, more than God, that creature we make equal with God, though we do not make images or worship them. He that is so poor, that he has scarcely a sacrifice to offer, yet will not be without a god of his own. They spared no cost upon their idols; we grudge what is spent in the service of our God. To prove the greatness of God, the prophet appeals to all ages and nations. Those who are ignorant of this, are willingly ignorant. God has the command of... read more
Jehovah the Supreme Ruler. The connection of thought between this section and the foregoing one is this, that the majesty and glory of God over against the idolatry of the heathen nations guarantees the security and the deliverance of the believers of all times. v. 12. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand? fixing the quantity of all the water in ocean, seas, and streams, and meted out heaven with the span, the measure between the thumb and middle finger, and comprehended... read more
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John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 40:1-31
The Proclamation of Deliverance1, 2. The theme of the prophecies following: the period of Zion’s trouble and affliction is over. 3-26. Celestial voices give the message of restoration to God’s people, who are encouraged by the thought of His infinite power. 27-31. Trust in Jehovah is, therefore, the source of true strength.2. Warfare] RM ’time of service,’ i.e. enforced service and hardship: cp. Job 7:1. Double] i.e. double (ample) penalty (Jeremiah 17:18), in the sufferings of the exile.3-5. A... read more