Isaiah 57:1-2

IX.—THE NINTH DISCOURSE

Concluding Word: The Mournful Present, which will not be Prevented by the Approach of the Glorious Future.

Isaiah 56:10 to Isaiah 57:21.

Isaiah is wont to set the present in the light of the future, in order to make an impression on it by the contrast. I appeal to chapters 2–5, and to my interpretation of Isaiah 2:5. Jeremiah also imitates Isaiah in this (Jeremiah 3:11 to Jeremiah 4:4). The sudden spring from the remotest, the glorious future into the mournful, immediate present that the Prophet makes between Isaiah 56:9-10, need not therefore seem strange to us. It is to be admitted that the description of the bad shepherds, Isaiah 56:10-12, can suit also the period of the Exile. That it at least fits Isaiah’s contemporaries very well is undeniably plain from Isaiah 28:0. That in the exile, prophets of Jehovah were murdered (Isaiah 57:1) simply for being such, is possible, but not probable, and not proved. That remnants of idolatry continued through the whole exile, is not only possible but also probable. However the time before and after the destruction of Jerusalem must be distinguished. But that all kinds of idolatry even Moloch worship, with its sacrifices of children (Isaiah 57:5), still occurred in the Exile, is not probable and not proved. It is utterly inconceivable, or, as Hengstenberg says (Christol. II. p. 201, 2 edit.), “it has no meaning,” that Israel even in exile sent to foreign kings for help (Isaiah 57:9). The threat: because thou hast not laid to heart my silence מֵעוֹלם, thy works shall be made manifest and thy idols be swept away (Isaiah 57:11-13), certainly suits better the time before than the time after the Exile. For this reason even the opponents of the genuineness have been obliged to admit that the authorship of our section dates before the Exile (comp. Kleinert, Echth. D. jes. Weiss. p. 305 sqq.; Stier in his Comm.; Hengstenberg, l.c.). They do so partly by forced interpretations; partly by assuming that the whole passage Isaiah 56:10 to Isaiah 57:21 (Eichhorn), or at least Isaiah 56:9 to Isaiah 57:11 (Ewald) is repeated “from older prophets.” I am for this reason of the opinion (with Kleinert, Stier, Hengstenberg) that the grounds already given are opposed to the idea that in writing our passage, too, Isaiah’s view-point was that of the Exile (Del.).

The section divides into three parts. In the First the Prophet contrasts the conduct and the fate of the bad and of the good shepherds of the present (Isaiah 56:10; Isaiah 57:2). In the Second he describes the mournful signs of the present, the idolatrous doings of the nation (Isaiah 57:3-14). In the Third he returns to promising salvation, and announces that God’s love will still bring salvation and healing to those that let themselves be healed (Isaiah 57:15-21).

_______________1.—THE MOURNFUL PRESENT MARKED BY THE CONTRAST OF THE BAD AND GOOD SHEPHERDS

Isaiah 56:10 to Isaiah 57:2

10     His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant,

They are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark;

9Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

11     Yea, they are 10greedy dogs which 11can never have enough,

12And they are shepherds that cannot understand:

They all look to their own way,Every one for his gain, 13from his quarter.

12     Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine,

And we will fill ourselves with strong drink;And to-morrow shall be as this day,

And much more abundant.

57 1     The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart:

And 14merciful men are taken away, none considering

15That the righteous is taken away 16from the evil to come.

2     17He shall 18enter into peace:

They shall rest in their beds,

Each one walking 19in his uprightness.

TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL

See List for the recurrence of the words: Isaiah 56:10. הזה. Verse 12. יתר מאד; Isaiah 57:1. אנשׁי־חסד– שׂם על לב; Isaiah 57:2. מִשְׁכָּב.

Isaiah 56:10. The suffix in צֹכּוֹ undoubtedly refers to Israel.

Isaiah 56:11. The suffix in מקצהו is related to the ideal totality to which the אִישׁ belongs.

Isaiah 57:1. I cannot approve the view that כי מפני וגו׳ is an objective clause depending on מֵבִין. For how could then the wicked know that the pious by their death only escape the impending evil? And must it not then read, as Vitringa has said, לִפְגֵי or at least מִלִּכְּנֵי? I believe that we must construe מִפְנֵי as causal, as in countless instances beside.

Isaiah 57:2. This verse is very difficult on grammatical and lexical grounds. For if one take הֹלֵךְ as the subject of יָבוֹא, then this insertion of a clause whose subject is identical with that of the principal clause, but expressed in the plural, is very violent, and, so far as I see, unexampled, notwithstanding the great freedom usual in Hebrew in respect to the change of person and number. It is also very questionable whether מִשְׁכָּב can mean “burying place,” and whether נוֹחַ with עַל can mean “rest in the grave.” For משׁכב is only twice beside this used of a bed prepared for a dead person. In 2 Chronicles 16:14 it designates the bed of state on which king Asa was laid before his burial (משׁכב and קְבָרוֹת are expressly distinguished). Also in Ezekiel 32:25 there is prepared for Elam a משׁכב in the under-world, around about which are the עְבָרוֹת of his adherents. Thus it appears that משׁכב can indeed designate the place of repose of a dead person, but that is not then the grave in which he lies, but a distinguished elevated couch, on which he lies. But here nothing else is meant to be said of the righteous than that he, as one who has walked uprightly, finds rest in his grave. For this reason I am unable also to agree with the explanation, grammatically admissible, that treats יבוא שׁלום as a clause by itself, and הלך as the subject of ינוהו. Then the participle is regarded as collective: the upright walking, i. e., the total of those walking uprightly. But here על משׁכבותם remains an oddity. For this reason I am of the opinion, that ינוחו על מ׳ is to be treated as clause thrown in, expressive of the situation (comp. Jeremiah 13:21): “comes to peace—while they rest on their beds—who walks uprightly”. In this way is made prominent the contrast between the fleshly rest on soft pillows (comp. Isaiah 66:10. שׁכבים אהבי לנום) that the bad shepherds enjoy, and the rest of everlasting peace of God enjoyed by the righteous whom the world persecutes (comp. Luke 16:22). It is true one looks for וְחֵמָּה before יָנוּחוּ. Still Vav. in such clauses is not unfrequently omitted (comp. e. g., Psalms 57:4; חֵרֵף שׁאֲפִי; Ewald, § 311, a), and the omission of הֵמָּה finds compensation in the striking prominence of the plural.—The plural משׁכבות is found beside here in Hosea 7:14; Micah 2:1; Psalms 149:5. It is also perhaps not unimportant to remark that this plural only occurs with עַל, and that both the singular and the plural with עַל never mean anything else than the bed on which the living repose. The passages with משׁכב in the singular with על: 2 Samuel 4:11; 2 Samuel 11:2; 2 Samuel 13:6; 1 Kings 1:47; Psalms 4:5; Psalms 36:5; Job 33:19; Song of Solomon 3:1. For the use of both sing. and plur. in Isaiah, see List.—נָכֹחַ is τὸ ἐναντίον, ex adverso positum, that which lies directly opposite, directly before a man. Hence הלך נכחו is he that goes the way lying directly before him. הלך with the accusative as in Isaiah 33:15; Isaiah 50:10.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

1. The Prophet stands at the conclusion of the task he proposed for the second Ennead. He has pursued the word of the Servant of God through all its alternations to its glorious goal. From the light of the final glorification he turns his eye back and observes with pain the contrast between the glorious future and the mournful present. As we notice in Isaiah 48:6 that the Prophet by no means becomes unconscious of the present in his contemplation of the future, so we see here, too, that he cannot avoid instituting a comparison between that hereafter and the now. The difference is so great, that one does not comprehend how from the now the hereafter can ever come to be. But nothing is impossible with God. Spite of the heinousness of the present, the word of the Lord stands fast, that the people of God (those of course excepted that persistently resist the drawings of the Spirit) shall come to the peace and refreshment on the mount of God. The Prophet describes first the heinousness of the present. His eye falls chiefly on those that ought to be leaders and exemplars to the nation in the good way. But these are blind watchmen, and dumb, lazy dogs (Isaiah 56:10) and insatiably greedy. They are shepherds without knowledge, only keen for their own interest (Isaiah 56:11), and carousers that each day carry on worse than the day before (Isaiah 56:12). Where such men rule, of course the lot of the righteous is outwardly mournful; unregarded by the crowd they are borne away by the evil (Isaiah 57:1). But happily for them! For while others on their luxurious pillows surrender themselves to a fatal repose, the righteous go in to everlasting peace (Isaiah 57:2).

2. His watchmen——more abundant.—Isaiah 56:10-12. Although in general the transition here is sharp from the future to the immediate present, still the figure used in Isaiah 56:9 prepares the transition in a very artistic way. For, although I do not think that there the Prophet summons the wild beasts to devour Israel, because they may easily do this on account of the bad watch that is kept, still I think it likely, that the Prophet, by the mention of the future of the beasts, is led to think of the beasts of the present, and of the way in which Israel is given over to them. צֹפִים (Isaiah 21:5-6; Isaiah 52:7), which means primarily “spies, sentinels on guard,” we are to understand here as meaning those whose duty it is, on account of their office, to warn the community of evil, and with it to contend against wickedness. Such, first of all, are the prophets. But also the priests (Malachi 2:7) and worldly superiors, in short all that are entrusted with the shepherd office (וְהֵמָּה רעִים56:11) are included. But what sort of watchmen are those that cannot see? In the ordinary sense there are none such. But in a spiritual sense there are. For there are, alas, those spiritually blind, whose spiritual eye is plastered up, and who consequently “do not know,” i. e., have no knowledge, no understanding of what they ought to know, יָדע in this absolute sense we had already Isaiah 44:9; Isaiah 44:18; Isaiah 45:20. Changing his figure, the Prophet further compares those bad shepherds to dogs that should watch the flock, and which though not blind, indeed, are yet dumb. But a protector that sees the enemy and gives no notice, is just as bad as one that does not see him at all (indeed worse subjectively). Thus the second figure intensifies the charge; for it adds a bad will to incapacity. Why they do not bark is said in the following words (added in the form of apposition): snarling in sleep, lying down, loving to slumber.הָזָה, ἅπ. λεγ. seems to designate the sounds a dog utters in sleep, and therefore the meanings “to sleep, dream, snore, to be delirious” are ascribed to the word; comp. Bochart, Hieroz. ed. Lips. I. p. 781 sqq. With the Arabs the dog passes for a sleepy beast (comp. Hitzigin loc.), while, on the contrary, in the Occident it is the type of watchfulness (see Bochart, l. c.). The Prophet would say of the bad shepherds under all circumstances, that they cannot bark because they love their comfort and advantage beyond everything. Hence they get off nothing more than a snarl or a growl, such as a dog utters in slumber. Bochartl.c. adduces several passages from the ancients that show that they regarded these sounds in sleep as a characteristic peculiarity of dogs. They are lazy, yet insatiably greedy dogs (עַזֵּי־נֶפֶשׁ strong in greed, Isaiah 5:14; Isaiah 29:8; Isaiah 55:2); they do not know what it is to be satisfied. And they are shepherds! adds the Prophet indignantly, with reference to “his watchmen,” etc., Isaiah 57:10 init. Then, as is his manner, Isaiah proceeds, in what follows, to explain the figure: answering to the ignorance of what is enough, is a worse ignorance with respect to הָבִין, “to distinguish “(comp. the reverse of this Isaiah 32:4). They are strangers to true wisdom. They let selfishness essentially determine the direction of their efforts (comp. Isaiah 58:6), and especially greediness for gain. בֶּצַע is “that cut off, the cutting, gain” (Isaiah 33:15; Isaiah 57:17), קָצֶה is the end in the sense of the periphery (comp. Genesis 19:4; Jeremiah 50:26). Thus the idea is: from the utmost periphery in to the very centre every one of this fine fellowship turns only to gain. Accordingly they all do so without exception.

And what good does their money do them? Isaiah 57:12 shows this by examples. Such a blind, dumb watchman, who can open eye and mouth well enough when it concerns his belly, calls out to the passer-by, or a visitor: Come ye, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink (שֵׁכָר comp. on Isaiah 5:11). This friendly host, however, does not invite to merely a short banquet, but, (answering to “they know not satiety” Isaiah 57:10), also to one that the following day will be continued in grander style. The words גדול are both a nearer definition and also intensify the meaning. The next day is to be like the first only as a drunken day in general, but distinguished as to species by being of a much higher quality. Who does not think here of what the Prophet says Isaiah 28:7 sqq. of the vice of drunkenness that invaded both Judah and Israel? At all events, this moral aberration agrees very well with the religious degeneracy spoken of in Isaiah 57:3 sqq.

3. The righteous perish——uprightness, Isaiah 57:1-2. If Isaiah 56:10-12 describes the doings of the bad shepherds, especially of false prophets, then by the righteous man here must be understood also a prophet. And אבד and נאסף cannot mean a natural death, for that would be much more an encouragement than a warning to the bad. Rather the context seems to me to demand that the mournful fate of the true and righteous servants of Jehovah be contrasted with the lazy, jovial doings of the dumb dogs. Therefore (with Umbreit and others) I understand אבד and נאספ to denote a violent death. I cannot avoid the impression that the Prophet here alludes to circumstances that he sees quite near, and as perhaps personally threatening to himself. Of course, precise proof of this cannot be offered; and I will only offer the view as a conjecture. The flood of unbelief had only swelled to greater magnitude under the idolatrous Manasseh. The apostacy was universal. It was much as in the days of Elijah (1 Kings 19:10). It is also expressly said of Manasseh, that he shed very much innocent blood, and filled Jerusalem with it from one end to the other (2 Kings 21:16); and tradition (handed down by Josephus,Antiq. X. 3, 1) refers that bloodshed especially to execution of numerous prophets. Even though Isaiah himself may not so have perished, and though the tradition to that effect be unfounded (see Introduction, Philippians 3:4), still Isaiah, while writing this, may have had this atrocious period in mind, and even have regarded it as threatening himself with destruction. That no man laid it to heart, if again a Jehovah-prophet was slain, is perfectly explained by the frequency of such events and by the apostacy being so universal and intense. The expression אנשׁי־חסד might in parallelism have a general meaning. Yet history justifies our construing it in a particular sense. חֶסֶד is “pietas, piety.” באין מבין is said as בְּהִמָ‍ֽצְאוֹ, Isaiah 55:6. On כי מפני וגו׳, see Text. and Gram. It was said before only, that the pious are taken away without any one regarding it. Now the reason of this is given. It is the רָעָה, the universally prevalent wickedness. That explains that the righteous are not only taken away, but that it is done without opposition, yea, even without causing any disturbance.

Isaiah 57:2. But that is only a seeming misfortune for the righteous. In fact in this way he enters into peace, while they, the wicked, are fatally reposing on their beds of luxury (see Text. and Gram.).

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. On Isaiah 56:11. (Every one looks to his own way). “Potest intelligi de externis criminibus, sed magis placet, ut accipiatur de speciosis viis, in quibus ambulant hypocritae. Sic Franciscanus Francisci regulam sequitur, decalogum et evangelii doctrinam negligit tanquam rem vulgarem, quae ad vulgus pertirneant.”—Luther.

2. On Isaiah 56:12. In the Alexandrian and Vatican texts of the LXX., the words from מקצהו Isaiah 56:11 to the end of Isaiah 56:12 are wanting, which even Jerome remarks on. He adds: “denique hos versiculos nullus ecclesiasticorum interpretum disseruit, sed quasi patentem in medio foveam transiliunt atque transmittunt.”—That the Fathers, unacquainted as they were with Hebrew, pass the words by, is simply explained by the LXX. omitting them. Jerome, because he knew Hebrew, as he himself says, “added them ex hebraico.” But why the Greek translator left them out is doubtful: Theodotion (see Hexapla Orig. ed. Montfaucon II., p. 179) has them.—“Ab hoc vitio (ebrietatis) abstinere debent pii ecclesiae ministri memores interdicti apostolici 1 Timothy 3:2-3, considerantes secum, nullam horulam ipsis esse adeo liberam ac vacuam, qua non ad officia functionis suis possint avocari.”—Foerster.—“Let one point the rough figure for himself for the more delicate spiritual form also, quite as Matthew 24:49; Ephesians 5:18, and the like are meant. For there is a drunkenness and voluptuousness in all kinds of wine and intoxication, which only the eye of the Spirit beholds in many an honorable Bishop, General-superintendent or Superior-court-preacher. Stier. “Vita concionatoris optimus syllogismus.” Chrysostom.

3. On Isaiah 57:1. “Against the heedlessness of the world, that regards the life and death of men alike. For because Pharaoh and Moses, Saul and Jonathan, Judas and Peter, must temporally die, the one as the other, they suppose it is as much to one as to the other. But on the contrary, one should lay it to heart when useful and pious men fall, because, first, one must miss them afterwards, especially their prayers by which they stand in the breach and run to the walls (Ezekiel 22:30); second, because the destruction of such people is wont to be an evil omen of a great impending misfortune and change, [“It is a sign that God intends war when He calls home His ambassadors.”—M. Henry]. Examples: When Noah turns his back on the world and shuts himself in the ark, the deluge comes (Genesis 7:17). When Lot goes out of Sodom and Gomorrah, fire from heaven falls on them (Genesis 19:24). When Joseph dies in Egypt, the bondage of the children of Israel begins, together with the murder of their infant boys (Exodus 1:8). When Hezekiah died, then followed the tyranny of Manasseh (2 Kings 20:21) When Christ and His disciples were made way with, then began the destruction of Jerusalem.”—Cramer.—“Sicut ad Josiam dicit: tolleris, ne videant occuli tui hoc malum, etc. (2 Kings 22:18-20). Sic excidio Hierosolymitano erepti sunt apostoli et reliqui Sancti. Idem nobis accidet. Vivunt adhuc passim quidam pii homines, propter iliis Deus differt poenam. Sublatis autem iis sequetur Germaniae ruina.”—Luther.—“Blessed are the dead, which die in the Lord, for they rest from their labor (Revelation 14:13). And hellish enemies, as little as human, can do them any harm.”—“It is a misfortune for the whole country when distinguished and deserving people are taken out of the midst by temporal death. For them, indeed, it is well; but God have mercy on those that are left. For as in a great storm, when the heavens are overcast with clouds, the shepherd leads in the sheep, the husbandman hastily gathers his sheaves, the parents call in the children from the streets, so our dear God calls His dearest children together, that the calamity may not touch them.”—Cramer.—“The men of grace or mercy are receivers and distributers, thus also the mediators of the grace of God for their people; the men of grace, that atoningly represent the land by intercessions and conduct, postpone its judgment (Genesis 18:24; Ezekiel 22:30).” Stier.—“The mere presence of an honest man is still a, restraint on the unbridledness of blasphemers.” G. Mueller in Stier.

4. On Isaiah 57:2. “Against the idle fancy of the fire of purgatory. For here it is said of those who have walked uprightly, not that they get into trouble, unrest, pain and torment, by which they must be purged; but that, with respect to their souls, they come to peace. But as to their bodies, they rest in their sleeping chamber. They are not on this account driven about; they seek also no mass or soul baths, as the Papists pretend.”—Cramer.

“Nam stultum est mortem matrem timuisse quietis,

Quam fugiunt morbi, moestaque pauperies.”

(Attributed to Cornelius Gallus, the friend of Virgil).

5. On Isaiah 52:4. It should be a wreath of honor to all faithful teachers and preachers, that they are regarded as monsters and are lampooned by the wise of this world. For if the great Prophet Isaiah in this passage, item, Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:8), Elijah (2 Kings 2:24), Ezekiel (Ezekiel 33:31), Job (Job 17:6), yea, even Christ Himself had to suffer this, what wonder is it if the scoffing birds sharpen their beaks on us and chatter like the storks?” Cramer.

6. [On Isaiah 52:8. “When a people forget God, the memorials of their apostacy will be found in every part of their habitations. The shrines of idol gods may not be there; the beautiful images of the Greek and Roman mythology, or the clumsy devices of less refined heathens may not be there; but the furniture, the style of living will reveal from ‘behind every door and the posts” of the house that God is forgotten, and that they are influenced by other principles than a regard for His name. The sofa, the carpet, the chandelier, the centre-table, the instruments of music, the splendid mirror, may be of such workmanship as to show, as clearly as the image of a heathen god, that Jehovah is not honored in the dwelling, and that His law does not control the domestic arrangements.” Barnes].

7. [On Isaiah 57:10. “Thou art wearied——no hope. This is a striking illustration of the conduct of men in seeking happiness away from God. They wander from object to object; they become weary in the pursuit, yet they do not abandon it; they still cling to hope though often repulsed—and though the world gives them no permanent comfort—though wealth, ambition, gayety, and vice all fail in imparting the happiness which they sought, yet they do not give it up in despair. They still feel that it is to be found in some other way, than by the disagreeable necessity of returning to God, and they wander from object to object, and from land to land, and become exhausted in the pursuit, and still are not ready to say there is no hope, we give it up in despair, and we will now seek happiness in God.” Barnes.

“Note.—Despair of happiness in the creature, and of satisfaction in the service of sin, is the first step toward a well-grounded hope of happiness in God, and a well-fixed resolution to keep to His service; and those are inexcusable who have had sensible convictions of the vanity of the creature, and yet will not be brought to say, ‘There is no hope to be happy short of the Creator.’—Note.—Prosperity in sin (Thou hast found the life of thy hand) is a great bar to conversion from sin.” M. Henry].

8. On Isaiah 57:11. “God keeps silence only for a while, but yet not for ever and continually, with respect to men’s sins; but the longer He has kept silence, the harder He punishes afterwards.”—Starke.

9. On Isaiah 57:12. “Tuam justitiam. Est emphasis in pronomine tuam. Quasi dicat: mea justitia firma et perpetua est, tua non item.… In calamitate nihil desperatius est justitiariis, cum secundis rebus nihil quoque iis sit confidentius.—Luther.”

10. On Isaiah 57:15 sq. “God has three sorts of dwellings: first in the highest, second in the sanctuary, third in humble hearts. The first dwelling is the universalis praesentia, the universal presence, by which He fills all (Jeremiah 23:24); but there He is too high and incomprehensible for us. The other is gratiosa, the gracious presence, by which He lets Himself be found in the word and sacraments, and also comes finally to us and makes His dwelling in our hearts (John 14:23).” Cramer, comp. Renner, p. 199.—“Humilis anima est Dei sessio et delectabile cubile.” “Excelsus es Domine, sed humiles corde sunt domus tua” (Psalms 113:6; Psalms 138:6). Augustin.—“Fluenta gratiae deorsum non sursum fluunt.” Bernhard.—“Here is a principal passage beaming with evidence, that “holy” means not merely the tremenda majestas, but essentially comprehends the self-communicating condescension of love.” Stier.—Comp. His Reden Jesu V., p. 499, and the essays of Schoeberlein and Achelis in Stud. and Krit. 1847, I., IV.

11. On Isaiah 57:18. Here again we have one of those words in which Isaiah shows Himself to be the Evangelist of the Old Testament. For in the old covenant God does not yet heal men, else the new were superfluous. The law only effects knowledge of sin, but it does not give the power to overcome sin. One fancies here again that he hears the Apostle that wrote Romans 8:0.

12. On Isaiah 57:19-21. “The gospel in a sermon of peace to the heathen that were far off, and to the Jews that were near. For by it we both have access in one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). But the wicked quakes all his life and what he hears terrifies him (Job 15:20; Isaiah 48:22). And especially in conflicts, and notably in the last hour, and when they see God’s judgment near, one sees this in them, that they not only therefore often spit out blasphemies, but that for great anguish they have laid hands on themselves. Examples: Saul, Ahithophel, Judas, Franciscus Spiera. For because such peace is not to be brought about with works, they must ever stick in anger, resentment, discontent and disfavor with and before God. And it is only pure folly to wish to give the terrified hearts rest by their own expiation, merit and self-elected holiness. Much less will there be rest if one teaches such people to doubt the forgiveness of sins.” Cramer.

HOMILETICAL HINTS

1. On Isaiah 56:10 to Isaiah 57:2. These words may be used as the text of a sermon for a fast-day, or also for a synodical sermon. One might then regard the Prophet’s words as a mirror, or as a measure whereby to measure the condition of the church (of the country, of the times). From this would then come 1) earnest warning to those that belong to the wicked here described, or who do not oppose their doings; 2) comfort for those that have “walked straight before them,” for, though hated and persecuted by men, they shall still come to peace.

2. On Isaiah 57:1-2. These words (also “a Jewish formula solennis for the pious dead,” Stier) have very often been used as texts for funeral discourses for celebrated men.

3. On Isaiah 57:2. Those that have walked in their uprightness, i. e., who during their lives have served the Lord in a living faith, need not fear death. It is to them a bringer of joy. For it brings 1) eternal peace to their soul, 2) rest to their body in the chamber of the grave, till the day of the blessed resurrection.

4. On Isaiah 57:3-10. A description of the coarse idolatry, to which in our day correspond only too many appearances of the modern and subtile heathenism. Only too many have sucked in with their mother’s milk superstition and unbelief, which as a rule go together. As Ishmael, who was begotten after the flesh, mocked and persecuted Isaac that was born according to the promise (Galatians 4:28 sqq.), so also now. The false seed, i. e., those that are not born of the Spirit of the church, although by their fleshly birth they belong to it, mock and persecute the genuine children of the church. With insatiable greed people run daily, but especially on the Lord’s day, under all green trees, i. e., to the places of worldly pleasure-seeking, where the idols of the belly and of mammon are served! And how many children are from their earliest youth led away to the service of these idols! Are not thereby their immortal souls spiritually slain? And is not that, in the end, a worse sacrifice of children than that ancient sort? All that puts men in mind of the service of God, men get out of their sight (pious customs, Sunday, feast days, church acts, as baptism, marriage, burial), in order to be able to surrender themselves undisturbed and wholly to the modern idols. Men no longer seek their strength in the covenant with the Lord, but among men in associations of every kind. And, because that does not instantly reveal its ruinous effects, but often seems to have a good effect, men never weary of this conduct, but confirm themselves in it more and more.

5. On Isaiah 57:12. Many men will not by any means believe that their good works are wholly insufficient to obtain the righteousness that is of avail with God. Now God will, indeed, not suffer to go unrewarded the cup of water that we give to the thirsty in the proper spirit (Matthew 10:42; Mark 9:41). But could we point to ever so many such cups, still they do not suffice to pay our ten thousand talents (Matthew 18:24 sqq.). One must therefore remind his charge of the great reckoning that the Lord will one day have with us. In this 1) will be had a complete and perfectly correct investigation into our indebtedness and assets. 2) Then it will appear that our assets will be too defective to be of any use whatever against our indebtedness.

6. On Isaiah 57:13-14. It depends very much on the sort of spirit with which one turns to God for help. If one does it in order to make a trial also with the dear God, then one will certainly be denied. But if one does it because one knows no other helper, and wishes to know no other, then one may confidently count on being heard. How differently the answers sound that God gives to the cries for help that reach Him. 1) To the one it is said: let thy gatherings help thee. 2) But to the others is called out: a. make a road, clear the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people; b. inherit the land, possess my holy mountain.

7. On Isaiah 57:15-16. “I know that these sayings speak especially of penitent sinners and aroused consciences; but I do not see why they may not with good right be applied also to other alarmed and anxious people. One has here to look also at the examples of the dear children of God who are presented to us in the Holy Scriptures full of fear and alarm. Think of Job (Job 9:34; Job 13:21), David (Psalms 25:17; Psalms 55:5 sqq.), Daniel (Daniel 8:17 sq.), Paul (1 Corinthians 2:3; 2 Corinthians 7:5), yea, of Jesus Christ Himself (Matthew 26:37; Mark 14:33; Luke 22:44). From this thou seest clearly, thou lover of God, but timid and frightened soul, that thou art not the first among the children of God, that suffer His terrors and must go about with an anxious heart. It is also therewith sufficiently shown that such an event is not a reminder of anger, but rather of the grace of the kind and gracious God.”—Scriver.

8. On Isaiah 57:15-16. “A holy shudder goes through my soul when, in receiving Thy body and blood, I think of who they are to whom Thou so communicatest Thyself! That is Thy way, Thou wonderful Lord, that Thou utterly humblest and castest down to the ground before Thou raisest up. Thou sayest: ‘I who dwell in the high and holy place am with those that are of a contrite and humble spirit.’ Has the greatness of my sin already melted my heart, it melts still more at the greatness of Thy grace.”—Tholuck.

9 On Isaiah 57:15-16. Sermon for Whitsun week: “Wherein do we behold the greatest glory of the God of grace? 1) Therein, that He does not despise a poor sinner’s heart for a dwelling. 2) Therein, that He manifests Himself in it not as a judge, but as a comforter.” Taube, in Gottes Bruenl. hat Wassers die Fuelle. Hamburg, 1872.

10. On Isaiah 57:17-18. One is reminded here of 1 Kings 19:11 sq. God is not in the tempest, nor in the earthquake, but He is in the still, gentle breeze. The gospel goes more to the hearts of men, and lays deeper hold on them than the law. The conversion of men. 1) It is prepared by being angry and smiting (Isaiah 57:17). 2. It is accomplished by God’s inwardly healing the heart.

11. On Isaiah 57:19. Missionary Sermon. The work of missions: 1) By whom is it accomplished? 2) On whom is it accomplished? 3) What end does it serve?

12. On Isaiah 57:20. “The whole Scripture testifies that what it says of the grace of God, of the forgiveness of sins and of the assurance of bliss belongs to the penitent. For those that are ever stirred up and driven on by their malignant desires (like the sea by the winds), and commit one sin after another (like the sea casts out all sorts of dirt), are wicked men, and have no peace to expect.”—Scriver.

Footnotes:

[9]Or, Draming, or, talking in their sleep.

[10]Heb. strong of appetite.

[11]Heb. know not to be satisfied.

[12]And they are shepherds! They know not how to distinguish.

[13]without exception.

[14]Heb. men of kindness, or, godliness.

[15]For.

[16]Or, from that which is evil.

[17]He enters into peace (while they rest on their beds) who walks straight before him.

[18]Or, go in peace.

[19]Or, before him.