Calling a ravenous bird; Cyrus, called a bird for his swiftness and great expedition, and ravenous for his fierceness and victoriousness over his enemies. From the east; from Persia, as Isaiah 41:2. That executeth my counsel, concerning the deliverance of my people, and the destruction of their cruel oppressors, the Babylonians. From a far country; from Persia, which was far from Babylon, but much farther from Judea. read more
Ye stout-hearted; or, ye whose hearts are proud, or hard, or stubborn. He speaks either, 1. To the Babylonians, You who are stout against God, and say or think that neither God nor any man can deliver my people out of your hands: or rather, 2. To the house of Jacob, expressed Isaiah 46:3, where he bespeaks them in the same words here used, hearken to me; and to whom alone he directeth his speech in this whole chapter; for though he speaketh of the Babylonians, yet he doth not speak to them; and... read more
Isaiah 46:12-13 I. God's dealings with mankind have all been of a character which may be called unexpected. We do not know in the whole of Scripture a more beautiful transition than that of the text, one less to have been anticipated where there was no acquaintance with redemption. The very circumstance that men are addressed as stouthearted, and far from righteousness, prepares you for an announcement at which the boldest should tremble; it is as the prelude to the storm, and you can look for... read more
DISCOURSE: 946CHRIST THE SALVATION OF ISRAELIsaiah 46:12-13. Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry; and I will place salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.THEY who deny or doubt the existence of a Supreme Being, may discover his eternal power and godhead by the works of creation, and ascertain his infinite superiority above all false gods, by the numberless predictions which... read more
Isaiah chapter 46. Now in Isaiah 46:1-13 we get a short contrast between God, the true and the living eternal God that created the heavens and the earth, and the false gods that these people were worshipping. And the tragic thing is these people were the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They had turned to idolatry. And as you read the prophecy of Isaiah and of Jeremiah, they are crying out against the idolatry of the people, warning them that their continued idolatry... read more
Isaiah 46:1 . Bel or Baal. See on Numbers 32:38. It is understood that the name is derived from Belus; the history is involved in obscurity. The priests every night prepared him a voluptuous supper, and they and their wives entered by a private door and ate the meat. Daniel detected this imposture, as mentioned in the Apocrypha. Nebo stoopeth. קרס korais, stoops or crouches. His worshippers used to bow to receive his oracles; now the god himself stoopeth. The verb occurs only in this... read more
Isaiah 46:9-11Remember the former things of oldThe purposes of GodI.When we come to look at THE PURPOSES OF GOD, we must not be misled by words. The word “purpose,” with us, supposes several things, which have nothing to do with the same term when applied to God. There is, with God, no ignorance previously to the formation of His purposes; no new light thrown on circumstances, out of which His purpose arises; no period in His past eternity, when His purposes were not formed; no consulting... read more
Isaiah 46:12-13Hearken unto Me, ye stout-heartedGod’s voice to sinnersI.A WRETCHED CONDITION. 1. Insensibility to the good. “Stout-hearted.” The word “stout-hearted” does not mean courageous, intrepid, morally brave; it means hardness, obduracy, spiritual stubbornness. It represents a soul dead to all that is spiritually true and good. 2. Alienation from the good. “Far from righteousness.” To be “far from righteousness” is to be far from all that is noble, Godlike, and happy; it is to be in the... read more
Isa 46:11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken [it], I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed [it], I will also do it. Ver. 11. Calling a ravenous bird, ] i.e., Cyrus, who was ‘hawk-nosed,’ and came swiftly to seize upon Babylon like a falcon, or some such ravenous bird. So Nebuchadnezzar is called an "eagle"; Jer 48:40 Xenophone testifieth that Cyrus had in his standard a golden spread eagle, as had after him... read more
Get Bible verse every day in your inbox
Read on Mobile
Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible - Isaiah 46:1-13
Isaiah 46:1-1 Chronicles : . The Helpless Plight of Babylon’ s Gods Contrasted with the Saving Might of Yahweh. Isaiah 46:1 f. In vision the prophet sees the images of Babylon’ s gods (two of the most prominent are named), taken from their proud pedestals and placed upon the victor’ s beasts. So far from delivering others, or even their own images, Bel and Nabu are carried away captive. The general drift is clear, but details are uncertain owing to corruption of the text. Isaiah 46:1 . and... read more