Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might.”
The sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling has seized the godless ones. Who among us can live with the devouring fire? Who among us can live with everlasting burning?
He who walks righteously and speaks blamelessly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing to take a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking at evil—
he will dwell on high. His place of defense will be the fortress of rocks. His bread will be supplied. His waters will be sure.
Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will see a distant land.
Your heart will meditate on the terror. Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers?
You will no longer see the fierce people, a people of a deep speech that you can’t comprehend, with a strange language that you can’t understand.
Look at Zion, the city of our appointed festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that won’t be removed. Its stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken.
But there Yahweh will be with us in majesty, a place of wide rivers and streams, in which no galley with oars will go, neither will any gallant ship pass by there.
For Yahweh is our judge. Yahweh is our lawgiver. Yahweh is our king. He will save us.
Your rigging is untied. They couldn’t strengthen the foot of their mast. They couldn’t spread the sail. Then the prey of a great plunder was divided. The lame took the prey.
The inhabitant won’t say, “I am sick.” The people who dwell therein will be forgiven their iniquity.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 21, 23 His vengeance shall be so great, that all the…
His vengeance shall be so great, that all the world shall talk thereof.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv13–24 Isa 33:13 Hear, ye [that are] far off, what…
Isa 33:13 Hear, ye [that are] far off, what I have done; and, ye [that are] near, acknowledge my might.
Ver. 13. Hear, ye that are afar off.] Longinqui, propinqui. God’s great works are to be noted and noticed by all. The Egyptians heard of what God had done to the Assyrian army, and memorised it by a monument, as Herodotus {a} relateth.
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{a} Herod., lib. ii.; Justin.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv13–24 My power and justice in destroying the Assyrians shall…
My power and justice in destroying the Assyrians shall be so evident, that people, both far and near, shall be forced to acknowledge it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v13 Here is a preface that commands attention; and it…
Here is a preface that commands attention; and it is fit that all should attend, both near and afar off, to what God says and does (Isa 33:13): Hear, you that are afar off, whether in place or time. Let distant regions and future ages hear what God has done. They do so; they will do so from the scripture, with as much assurance as those that were near, the neighbouring nations and those that lived at that time. But whoever hears what God has done, whether near or afar off, let them acknowledge his might, that it is irresistible, and that he can do every thing. Those are very stupid who hear what God has done and yet will not acknowledge his might. Now what is it that God has done which we must take notice of, and in which we must acknowledge his might?
I. He has struck a terror upon the sinners in Zion (Isa 33:14): Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites. There are sinners in Zion, hypocrites, that enjoy Zion's privileges and concur in Zion's services, but their hearts are not right in the sight of God; they keep up secret haunts of sin under the cloak of a visible profession, which convicts them of hypocrisy. Sinners in Zion will have a great deal to answer for above other sinners; and their place in Zion will be so far from being their security that it will aggravate both their sin and their punishment. Now those sinners in Zion, though always subject to secret frights and terrors, were struck with a more than ordinary consternation from the convictions of their own consciences. 1. When they saw the Assyrian army besieging Jerusalem, and ready to set fire to it and lay it in ashes, and burn the wasps in the nest. Finding they could not make their escape to Egypt, as some had done, and distrusting the promises God had made by his prophets that he would deliver them, they were at their wits' end, and ran about like men distracted, crying, "Who among us shall dwell with devouring fire? Let us therefore abandon the city, and shift for ourselves elsewhere; one had as good live in everlasting burnings as live here." Who will stand up for us against this devouring fire? so some read it. See here how the sinners in Zion are affected when the judgments of God are abroad; while they were only threatened they slighted them and made nothing of them; but, when they come to be executed, they run into the other extreme, then they magnify them, and make the worst of them; they call them devouring fire and everlasting burnings, and despair of relief and succour. Those that rebel against the commands of the word cannot take the comforts of it in a time of need. Or, rather, 2. When they saw the Assyrian army destroyed; for the destruction of that is the fire spoken of immediately before, Isa 33:11, Isa 33:2. When the sinners in Zion saw what dreadful execution the wrath of God made they were in a great fright, being conscious to themselves that they had provoked this God by their secretly worshipping other gods; and therefore they cry out, Who among us shall dwell with this devouring fire, before which so vast an army is as thorns? Who among us shall dwell with these everlasting burnings, which have made the Assyrians as the burnings of lime? Isa 33:12. Thus they said, or should have said. Note, God's judgments upon the enemies of Zion should strike a terror upon the sinners in Zion, nay, David himself trembles at them, Psa 119:120. God himself is this devouring fire, Heb 12:29. Who is able to stand before him? Sa1 6:20. His wrath will burn those everlastingly that have made themselves fuel for it. It is a fire that shall never be quenched, nor will ever go out of itself; for it is the wrath of an everlasting God preying upon the conscience of an immortal soul. Nor can the most daring sinners bear up against it, so as to bear either the execution of it or the fearful expectation of it. Let this awaken us all to flee from the wrath to come, by fleeing to Christ as our refuge.
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II. He has graciously provided for the security of his people that trust in him: Hear this, and acknowledge his power in making those that walk righteously, and speak uprightly, to dwell on high, Isa 33:15, Isa 33:16. We have here,
1. The good man's character, which he preserves even in times of common iniquity, in divers instances. (1.) He walks righteously. In the whole course of his conversation he acts by rules of equity, and makes conscience of rendering to all their due, to God his due, as well as to men theirs. His walk is righteousness itself; he would not for a world wilfully do an unjust thing. (2.) He speaks uprightly, uprightnesses (so the word is); he speaks what is true and right, and with an honest intention. He cannot think one thing and speak another, nor look one way and row another. His word is to him as sacred as his oath, and is not yea and nay. (3.) He is so far from coveting ill-gotten gain that he despises it. He thinks it a mean and sordid thing, and unbecoming a man of honour, to enrich himself by any hardship put upon his neighbour. He scorns to do a wrong thing, nay, to do a severe thing, though he might get by it. He does not over-value gain itself, and therefore easily abhors the gain that is not honestly come by. (4.) If he have a bribe at any time thrust into his hand, to pervert justice, he shakes his hands from holding it, with the utmost detestation, taking it as an affront to have it offered him. (5.) He stops his ears from hearing any thing that tends to cruelty or bloodshed, or any suggestions stirring him up to revenge, Job 31:31. He turns a deaf ear to those that delight in war and entice him to cast in his lot among them, Pro 1:14, Pro 1:16. (6.) He shuts his eyes from seeing evil. He has such an abhorrence of sin that he cannot bear to see others commit it, and does himself watch against all the occasions of it. Those that would preserve the purity of their souls must keep a strict guard upon the senses of their bodies, must stop their ears to temptations, and turn away their eyes from beholding vanity.
2. The good man's comfort, which he may preserve even in times of common calamity, Isa 33:16. (1.) He shall be safe; he shall escape the devouring fire and the everlasting burnings; he shall have access to, and communion with, that God who is a devouring fire, but shall be to him a rejoicing light. And, as to present troubles, he shall dwell on high, out of the reach of them, nay, out of the hearing of the noise of them; he shall not be really harmed by them, nay, he shall not be greatly frightened at them: The floods of great waters shall not come nigh him; or, if they should attack him, his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks, strong and impregnable, fortified by nature as well as art. The divine power will keep him safe, and his faith in that power will keep him easy. God, the rock of ages, will be his high tower. (2.) He shall be supplied; he shall want nothing that is necessary for him: Bread shall be given him, even when the siege is straitest and provisions are cut off; and his waters shall be sure, that is, he shall be sure of the continuance of them, so that he shall not drink his water by measure and with astonishment. Those that fear the Lord shall not want any thing that is good for them.
III. He will protect Jerusalem, and deliver it out of the hands of the invaders. This storm that threatened them should blow over, and they should enjoy a prosperous state again. Many instances are here given of this prosperity.
1. Hezekiah shall put off his sackcloth and all the sadness of his countenance, and shall appear publicly in his beauty, in his royal robes and with a pleasing aspect (Isa 33:17), to the great joy of all his loving subjects. Those that walk uprightly shall not only have bread given them, and their water sure, but they shall with an eye of faith see the King of kings in his beauty, the beauty of holiness, and that beauty shall be upon them.
2. The siege being raised, by which they were kept close within the walls of Jerusalem, they shall now be at liberty to go abroad upon business or pleasure without danger of falling into the enemies' hand: They shall behold the land that is very far off; they shall visit the utmost corners of the nation, and take a prospect of the adjacent countries, which will be the more pleasant after so long a confinement. Thus believers behold the heavenly Canaan, that land that is very far off, and comfort themselves with the prospect of it in evil times.
3. The remembrance of the fright they were in shall add to the pleasure of their deliverance (Isa 33:18): Thy heart shall meditate terror, meditate it with pleasure when it is over. Thou shalt think thou still hearest the alarm in thy ears, when all the cry was, "Arm, arm, arm! every man to his post. Where is the scribe or secretary of war? Let him appear to draw up the muster-roll. Where is the receiver and pay-master of the army? Let him see what he had in bank, to defray the charge of a defence. Where is he that counted the towers? Let him bring in the account of them, that care may be taken to put a competent number of men in each." Or these words may be taken as Jerusalem's triumph over the vanquished army of the Assyrians, and the rather because the apostle alludes to them in his triumphs over the learning of this world, when it was baffled by the gospel of Christ, Co1 1:20. The virgin, the daughter of Zion, despises all their military preparations. Where is the scribe or muster-master of the Assyrian army? Where is their weigher (or treasurer), and where are their engineers that counted the towers? They are all either dead or fled. There is an end of them.
4. They shall no more be terrified with the sight of the Assyrians, who were a fierce people naturally, and were particularly fierce against the people of the Jews, and were of a strange language, that could understand neither their petitions nor their complaints, and therefore had a pretence for being deaf to them, nor could themselves be understood: "They are of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive, which will make them the more formidable, Isa 33:19. Thy eyes shall no more see them thus fierce, but their countenances changed when they shall all become dead corpses."
5. They shall no more be under apprehensions of the danger of Jerusalem-Zion, and the temple there (Isa 33:20): "Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities, the city where our solemn sacred feasts are kept, where we used to meet to worship God in religious assemblies." The good people among them, in the time of their distress, were most in pain for Zion upon this account, that it was the city of their solemnities, that the conquerors would burn their temple and they should not have that to keep their solemn feasts in any more. In times of public danger our concern should be most about our religion, and the cities of our solemnities should be dearer to us than either our strong cities or our store-cities. It is with an eye to this that God will work deliverance for Jerusalem, because it is the city of religious solemnities: let those be conscientiously kept up, as the glory of a people, and we may depend upon God to create a defence upon that glory. Two things are here promised to Jerusalem: - (1.) A well-grounded security. It shall be a quiet habitation for the people of God; they shall not be molested and disturbed, as they have been, by the alarms of the sword either of war or persecution, Isa 29:20. It shall be a quiet habitation, as it is the city of our solemnities. It is desirable to be quiet in our own houses, but much more so to be quiet in God's house and have none to make us afraid there. Thus it shall be with Jerusalem; and the eyes shall see it, which will be a great satisfaction to a good man, Psa 128:5, Psa 128:6. "Thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem, and peace upon Israel; thou shalt live to see it and share in it." (2.) An unmoved stability. Jerusalem, the city of our solemnities, is indeed but a tabernacle, in comparison with the New Jerusalem. The present manifestations of the divine glory and grace are nothing in comparison with those that are reserved for the future state. But it is such a tabernacle as shall not be taken down. After this trouble is over Jerusalem shall long enjoy a confirmed peace; and her sacred privileges, which are the stakes and cords of her tabernacle, shall not be removed from her, nor any disturbance given to the course and circle of her religious services. God's church on earth is a tabernacle, which, though it may be shifted from one place to another, shall not be taken down while the world stands; for in every age Christ will have a seed to serve him. The promises of the covenant are its stakes, which shall never be removed, and the ordinances and institutions of the gospel are its cords, which shall never be broken. They are things which cannot be shaken, though heaven and earth be, but shall remain.
6. God himself will be their protector and Saviour, Isa 33:21, Isa 33:22. This the principal ground of their confidence: "He that is himself the glorious Lord will display his glory for us and be a glory to us, such as shall eclipse the rival-glory of the enemy." God, in being a gracious Lord, is a glorious Lord; for his goodness is his glory. God will be the Saviour of Jerusalem and her glorious Lord, (1.) As a guard against their adversaries abroad. He will be a place of broad rivers and streams. Jerusalem had no considerable river running by it, as most great cities have, nothing but the brook Kidron, and so wanted one of the best natural fortifications, as well as one of the greatest advantages for trade and commerce, and upon this account their enemies despised them and doubted not but to make an easy prey of them; but the presence and power of God are sufficient at any time to make up to us the deficiencies of the creature and of its strength and beauty. We have all in God, all we need or can desire. Many external advantages Jerusalem has not which other places have, but in God there is more than an equivalent. But, if there be broad rivers and streams about Jerusalem, may not these yield an easy access to the fleet of an invader? No; these are rivers and streams in which shall go no galley with oars, no man of war or gallant ship. If God himself be the river, it must needs be inaccessible to the enemy; they can neither find nor force their way by it. (2.) As a guide to their affairs at home: "For the Lord is our Judge, to whom we are accountable, to whose judgment we refer ourselves, by whose judgment we abide, and who therefore (we hope) will judge for us. He is our lawgiver; his word is a law to us, and to him every thought within us is brought into obedience. He is our King, to whom we pay homage and tribute, and an inviolable allegiance, and therefore he will save us." For, as protection draws allegiance, so allegiance may expect protection, and shall have it with God. By faith we take Christ for our prince and Saviour, and as such depend upon him and devote ourselves to him. Observe with what an air of triumph, and with what an emphasis laid upon the glorious name of God, they comfort themselves with this: Jehovah is our Judge, Jehovah is our Lawgiver, Jehovah is our King, who, being self-existent, is self-sufficient, and all-sufficient to us.
7. The enemies shall be quite infatuated, and all their powers and projects broken, like a ship at sea in stress of weather, that cannot ride out the storm, but having her tackle torn, her masts split, and nothing wherewith to repair them, is given up for a wreck, Isa 33:23. The tacklings of the Assyrian are loosed; they are like a ship whose tacklings are loose, or forsaken by the ship's crew, when they give it over for lost, finding that they cannot strengthen the mast, but it will come down. They thought themselves sure of Jerusalem; but when they were just entering the port as it were, and though all was their own, they were quite becalmed, and could not spread their sail, but lay wind-bound till God poured the fury of his wrath upon them. The enemies of God's church are often disarmed and unrigged when they think they have almost gained their point.
8. The wealth of their camp shall be a rich booty for the Jews: Then is the prey of a great spoil divided. When the greater part were slain the rest fled in confusion, and with such precipitation that (like the Syrians) they left their tents as they were, so that all the treasure in them fell into the hands of the besieged; and even the lame take the prey. Those that tarried at home did divide the spoil. It was so easy to come at that not only the strong man might make himself master of it, but even the lame man, whose hands were lame, that he could not fight, and his feet, that he could not pursue. As the victory shall cost them no peril, so the prey shall cost them no toil. And there was such abundance of it that when those who were forward, and came first, had carried off as much as they would, even the lame, who came late, found sufficient. Thus God brought good out of evil, and not only delivered Jerusalem, but enriched it, and abundantly recompensed the losses they had sustained. Thus comfortably and well do the frights and distresses of the people of God often end.
9. Both sickness and sin shall be taken away; and then sickness is taken away in mercy when this is all the fruit of it, and the recovery from it, even the taking away of sin. (1.) The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick. As the lame shall take the prey, so shall the sick, notwithstanding their weakness, make a shift to get to the abandoned camp and seize something for themselves; or there shall be such a universal transport of joy upon this occasion that even the sick shall, for the present, forget their sickness and the sorrows of it, and join with the public in its rejoicings; the deliverance of their city shall be their cure. Or it intimates that, whereas infectious diseases are commonly the effect of long sieges, it shall not be so with Jerusalem, but the inhabitants of it with their victory and peace shall have health also, and there shall be no complaining upon the account of sickness within their gates. Or those that are sick shall bear their sickness without complaining as long as they see it goes well with Jerusalem. Our sense of private grievances should be drowned in our thanksgivings for public mercies. (2.) The people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity, not only the body of the nation forgiven their national guilt in the removing of the national judgment, but particular persons, that dwell therein, shall repent, and reform, and have their sins pardoned. And this is promised as that which is at the bottom of all other favours; he will do so and so for them, for he will be merciful to their unrighteousness, Heb 8:12. Sin is the sickness of the soul. When God pardons the sin he heals the disease; and, when the diseases of sin are healed by pardoning mercy, the sting of bodily sickness is taken out and the cause of it removed; so that either the inhabitant shall not be sick or at least shall not say, I am sick. If iniquity be taken away, we have little reason to complain of outward affliction. Son, be of good cheer; thy sins are forgiven thee.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv13–24 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have…
Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done,.... Not meaning the destruction of the Assyrian, as it is commonly interpreted; but the ruin of antichrist, the beast, and false prophet, and the burning of the city and whore of Rome; for, whoever will be the instruments, the work is the Lord's, and therefore it will be done: "she shall be utterly burnt with fire, for strong is the Lord who judgeth her", Rev 18:8 and this shall be heard of far and near, who shall applaud the mighty work, and give God the glory of it, Rev 19:1,
and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might; even his omnipotence, which will be seen, observed, and owned by multitudes, who will say, "Allelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth", Rev 19:6 there will be some that will be nigh, that shall stand afar off, lamenting her case, and will not own the hand of God in it, Rev 18:9 but others will.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv14–24 The sinners - This is spoken of the Jews.…
The sinners - This is spoken of the Jews. The prophet having foretold the deliverance of God's people, and the destruction of their enemies, gives a lively representation of the unbelieving condition, in which the Jews were, before their deliverance came. Who - How shall we be able to endure, or avoid the wrath of that God, who is a consuming fire; who is now about to destroy us utterly by the Assyrians, and will afterwards burn us with unquenchable fire?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24 Verse 14. The sinners in Zion are afraid] Zion…
Verse 14. The sinners in Zion are afraid] Zion has been generally considered as a type of the Church of God. Now all the members of God's Church should be holy, and given to good works; sinners in Zion, therefore, are portentous beings! but, alas! where are they not? The Targum on this verse is worthy of notice: "The sinners in Zion are broken down; fear hath seized the ungodly, who are suffering for their ways. They say, Who among us shall dwell in Zion, where the splendour of the Divine Majesty is like a consuming fire? Who of us shall dwell in Jerusalem, where the ungodly are judged and delivered into hell for an eternal burning?" Everdurynge brennyngis. Old MS. Bible.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 23 Isa 33:14. The sinners in Zion are afraid —…
Isa 33:14. The sinners in Zion are afraid — This is spoken, not of the Assyrians, but of the Jews. The prophet, having foretold the deliverance of God’s people, and the destruction of their enemies, for the greater illustration of that wonderful work, may be here considered as returning to the description of the dismal condition in which the Jews, especially such of them as were unbelieving and ungodly, should be before this deliverance came. For, although the pious Jews would be, in some measure, supported by a sense of God’s favour, and by his promises, delivered to them by Isaiah, yet very many of them, probably the generality, he foresaw, would be filled with horrors, and expectations of utter destruction. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? — How shall we be able to abide the presence, and endure, or avoid, the wrath of that God, who is a consuming fire; who is now about to destroy us utterly by the Assyrians, and will afterward burn us with unquenchable fire? Or, the prophet may be considered as describing, in these words, the consternation with which the sinners in Zion would be struck, when they should see the Assyrian army destroyed; for the destruction of that is the fire spoken of immediately before, (Isa 33:11-12,) and they were conscious to themselves of having provoked this God, by their secret worshipping of other gods, as well as by many other sins. As if he had said, This miraculous destruction of the Assyrians shall strike even the most profane among the Jews, who used to scoff at God’s threatenings, with terror, lest he should proceed in wrath against themselves; so that they shall say, Who among us shall dwell with this devouring fire — Before which so vast an army is as thorns? Who shall dwell with these everlasting burnings — Which have made the Assyrians as the burnings of lime? How shall we be able to endure the wrath of this God, which, if it once seize upon us, will utterly consume us, and will also be a pledge and forerunner of eternal torments in hell, if not prevented by timely repentance? For, since it is sufficiently evident from both the Old and New Testaments, that the Jews, except the Sadducees, did generally believe in the rewards and punishments of a future life; it is not strange if their guilty consciences made them dread both present judgments here, and the terrible consequences of them hereafter.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv13–24 Hear, ye that are far off - This is…
Hear, ye that are far off - This is an address of Yahweh, indicating that the destruction of the Assyrian army would be so signal that it would be known to distant nations, and would constitute an admonition to them.
Ye that are near - Ye Jews; or the nations immediately adjacent to Judea. The phrase ‘far and near,’ is equivalent to all.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24 Of you. Hebrew, "of us." (Haydock) --- They are…
Of you. Hebrew, "of us." (Haydock) --- They are seriously alarmed at the sight of the fires prepared to burn the dead bodies of the Assyrians, (chap. xxx. 33.) and begin to think of hell, (Calmet) which their sins deserve. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On vv13, 23 13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I…
4. THE ALARM OF SINERS; THE COMFORT OF THE PIOUS
Isa_33:13-22
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13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done;
And, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
Fearfulness hath surprised the 9 hypocrites.
Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
15 He that walketh 10 righteously, and speaketh 11 uprightly
He that despiseth the gain of 12 oppressions,
That shaketh his hands from holding of bribes,
That stoppeth his ears from hearing of 13blood,
And shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
16 He shall dwell on 14 high:
His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks:
15 Bread shall be given him;
His waters shall be sure.
17 Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty:
They shall behold 16 the land 17 that is very far off.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror.
Where is the scribe? where is the 18 receiver?
Where Isaiah 19 he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see 20 a fierce people,
A people of deeper speech than thou canst perceive:
Of a 21 stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities:
Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation,
A tabernacle that 22 shall not be taken down;
Not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed,
Neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
21 But there the glorious Lord will be unto us
23 A place 24 of broad rivers and streams;
Wherein shall go no galley with oars,
Neither shall gallant ship pass thereby.
22 For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our 25 lawgiver,
The Lord is our king; he will save us.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_33:14. רעדה only here in Isaiah. Comp. Psa_2:11; Psa_48:7; Job_4:14.—גּוּר with accus. loc. comp. Jdg_5:17; Psa_5:5; Psa_120:5. Elsewhere Isaiah construes גּוּר with prepositions; Isa_11:6; Isa_16:4; Isa_54:15.—לָנוּ is the so called dativus ethicus. Though elsewhere this dative refers to the actual subject (comp. Gen_21:16; Gen_31:41; Isa_2:22; Isa_31:8; Isa_36:9, etc.), according to which it would need to read here מִי יָגוּר לוֹ it is in this place related to the ideal subject, i.e., to the speakers, who properly affirm of themselves this inability to dwell with Jehovah. This dative everywhere represents a phrase that affirms an intensive relation to the interests of the speaker: in this place say: who will dwell (we say this in relation to ourselves, in our own interest) with devouring fire, etc.?—מוקד again only Psa_102:4.—מִי יָגוּר is the beginning of Psalms 15. Moreover the words הולך צ׳ וד׳ מישׂ׳׳ Isa_33:15 recall Psa_15:2.
Isa_33:15. The plural צדקות, juste facta occurs again in Isa_45:24; Isa_64:5.—דבר מישׁרים comp. Pro_23:16; the latter word again in Isa_26:7; Isa_45:19.—בצע (comp. Exo_18:21) again in Isa_56:11; Isa_57:17. What sort of בצע is meant is explained by the addition מעשׁקות (oppressiones, again only Pro_28:16).—נער see Isa_33:9.—The construction with מן is constr. prægnans. For the preposition depends on the notion of refraining ideally present in נער, “to shake.”—שׁחד comp. Psa_15:5; Isa_1:23; Isa_5:23; Isa_45:13.—אֹטֵם אָזְנוֹ with following מן occurs Pro_21:13,comp. Pro_17:28.—דָּמִים is “bloodshed, murder,” (comp. Exo_22:1; Isa_4:4).—עצם rhyming with אטם, we find here in Kal. with the same meaning that it has in the Piel Isa_29:10.—ראה ברע “to look on evil with pleasure.”
Isa_33:16. מרומים, plural, in Isaiah only here; comp. Jdg_5:18; Pro_8:2, etc.—מְצָדוֹת as st. constr. comp. 1Sa_24:1.—משׂגב , “asylum,” “refuge,” again only Isa_25:12.
Isa_33:17. The 2 pers. masc. suffix, as in Isa_33:6; Isa_33:20, refers to the nation regarded as a unit.
Isa_33:18. הָגָה, “to think, consider, meditari” (Jos_1:8; Psa_1:2; Psa_2:1, etc.; Isa_59:13) may relate also to what is past.—אֵימָה, “terror,” only here in Isaiah.—סֹפֵר again Isa_36:3; Isa_37:2.—שֹׁקֵל as substantive only here in Isaiah; the verb “to weigh out” money Isa_46:6; Isa_55:2.
Isa_33:19. The two halves of this verse contain the antithesis of seeing and hearing. This proves that the explanation of נוֹעָז= לוֹעֵז barbare loquens (Psa_114:1), does not agree with the context. That נועז means “mute beckoning” according to the Arab. wa‘asa (Hitzig) is disproved by Gesen. Thes. p. 607 sq. There remains thus the explanation that takes נוֹעָז as part. Niph. from עָזַז = יָעַז (comp. יָחַם and יָמַשׁ ,חָמַם, and יָרַק ,מָשַׁשׁ and רָקַק) and that with the meaning “hard, audacious, overweening conduct” (Symm. ἀναιδής, Vulg. impudens). The word, moreover, is ἅπ. λεγ. and for this reason it may be possible that Isaiah hints at some Assyrian word at present unknown to us.
Isa_33:20. צָעַן ἅπ. λεγ. Arab. ta‘ana of the roaming of the nomads.
Isa_33:21. כי ים corresponds to the negations of Isa_33:21.—אדיר in Isaiah again only Isa_10:34.—Delitzsch after Luzzatto has proved that מקום is not to be taken=loco, “instead.” The suffixes in בו and יעברנו are manifestly to be referred to מקום—שַׁיִט “oar” (comp. מָשׁוֹט Eze_27:29 and מִשּׁוֹט Eze_27:6) is ἅπ. λεγ.—צִי contracted from צְוִי, cavum, rotundum aliquid, is a great bellied-out ship (Num_24:24; Eze_30:9; Psa_105:41).
Isa_33:22. Since it does not read מוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ (Isa_43:3; Isa_47:15, etc.), I would accord with Hitzig, who takes מלכנו, מחקקנו ,שׁפטנו, not as predicates but as apposition with יהוה, so that ושׁיענו is the sole predicate of the foregoing three subjects which are comprehended emphatically in the הוא.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. Here we have the final and broadest circuit of waves before us. According to Isa_33:10, Jehovah was about to arise and come to the rescue. He has done so. The rescue is accomplished in an astounding fashion. The present passage belongs to time after the rescue. It presupposes it. For it contains glances into the future, that rest upon that deed as their foundation. First the Lord summons those far and near to give proper attention to what He does (Isa_33:13). Then the Prophet describes the effect of what has been done on the sinners in Jerusalem. They are terrified: they would flee the neighborhood of this mighty God, for they are ill-at-ease in it. Hence they ask: who can abide by this devouring fire? (Isa_33:14). To this is replied: this fire is harmless for the pious, the lovers of truth, the righteous (Isa_33:15), for such will dwell in Jerusalem in security and abundance (Isa_33:16); and will see the king of Israel sitting in might and glory at the head of a wide empire (Isa_33:17). As one thinks of something that has disappeared from memory, so shall men reflect on the time of war’s distress (Isa_33:18), and of the terrific presence of the barbaric nation in the land (Isa_33:19). Zion will be a secure fortress, a quiet, abiding place of worship, and no more a shifting tabernacle as in the time of the journey through the wilderness (Isa_33:20). For Jehovah is there Himself in His majesty; protecting waters surround the place (Isa_33:21), and the Lord Himself as judge, law-giver and king is the deliverer of His people (Isa_33:22).
2. Hear—my might
Isa_33:13. The piece begins with the cry of a herald that makes known to the whole world the accomplished mighty act. For the perfect אשׂיתי without doubt designates the act of rescue as accomplished, which verses 1, 3, 10 held in prospect; and we must regard גְּבֻרָה (as often in the Books of Kings, where גברה and אשׂה continually stand parallel: 1Ki_15:23; 1Ki_16:27; 1Ki_22:46, etc.), in the concrete sense as a display of power, and, because of אשיתי, as already come to pass. But the herald’s cry would intimate that an event of vast and wide effect has happened, of concern to all men, even to those far remote. For they may know from this who is the true, and therefore also who is their God. For He that did what happened to the Assyrian host in the neighborhood of Jerusalem in Hezekiah’s time must be God over all gods (comp. Isa_36:18-20; Isa_37:10-13) and Lord over all lords. Those near are plainly the Israelites, who had in great part been witnesses of the deed. These should acknowledge the demonstration of the Lord’s power. According to their inward condition they should draw from it comfort or warning.
3. The sinners—seeing evil.
Isa_33:14-15. The Prophet first presents that mighty deed as a warning to the wicked. Such were the idolaters who had no joy in a proof so irrefragable of the sole power and divinity of Jehovah. Therefore these sinners (Isa_1:28; Isa_13:9) and the unclean (Isa_9:16; Isa_10:6; Isa_32:6—there lies in the word a hint at idolatry) in Zion are terrified. Devoid of the right knowledge of God, because they would not, not because they could not have it, the nearness of this almighty, and above all of this holy God is in the highest degree burdensome to these people. Living in Jerusalem where this God has His fire and His furnace (Isa_31:9) is painful to them. Hence they cry: who among us,etc. It is manifest that by the devouring fire they mean Jehovah. By the strages Assyriorum He had proved Himself to be such. And shall they ever remain near this power that is as irresistibly present as it is terrible? The expression is taken from Deu_4:24; Deu_9:3, comp. Isa_29:6; Isa_30:27; Isa_30:30. מוקד designates here the place where the fire burns, “the hearth.” By calling this everlasting they judge themselves: for they show by that a knowledge, that it is a veritable divine fire, that burns there, not an imaginary one. But just with this they will have nothing to do.
The Prophet (Isa_33:15) replies to their inquiry, that one may dwell very well by this burning fire. But with the Holy One, one must live holy. The image He proceeds to draw of a holy life is an Old Testament one. The traits of it are chiefly taken from passages in the Psalms (see Text. and Gram.). Shaking the hands, (thus refraining them) from taking a bribe, is a strong expression for striving to keep and prove the integrity of the hands.
4. He shall dwell——will save us.
Isa_33:16-22. This is the confirmation that one may dwell happily with the devouring fire. For these verses show what blessings they shall have who live agreeably to the holy being of God. And since there shall never be wanting such in Zion, the salvation and glory of Zion is assured for all time. Thus these verses contain the same thought uttered by the Prophet already Isa_28:16 sqq.; Isa_29:22 sqq.; Isa_30:15; Isaiah 19 sqq.; Isa_31:6 sq.; Isa_32:1 sqq., 15 sqq., that Israel’s deliverance depends on an upright and thorough conversion to the Lord; that on this condition, however, it is secure forever. נאמן “what is certain, never deceives expectation, never fails” (comp. Isa_33:6; Jer_15:18; Isa_22:23; Isa_22:25). As happened Isa_33:5-6, so here, for the Prophet the salvation of the near present merges into one with the great, final Messianic period. And so, influenced perhaps by the then oppressed look of the king of Judah, he contemplates the latter beaming with the joy of victory, and at the same time as the type of the Messiah, resplendent in the supremest beauty and glory, whose beauty the author of Psalms 45. (Isa_33:3) had also seen prefigured in the appearance of the bridegroom-king whom he celebrated. That the Prophet’s glance penetrates into the Messianic future appears from the expression the land that is very far off (Isa_8:9; Jer_8:19). The expression is too strong to be understood merely of free motion in the land in contrast with the confining siege, or of the normal extending of Israelitish territory according to Deu_1:7; Deu_11:24. As royal pomp and beauty adorns the person of the king, so immeasurable extent does his land. ארץ מ׳ is thus not a far distant, but a wide extended land. It is the same thought that meets us Isa_2:2 sqq.; Isa_9:7; Isa_11:10; Isa_25:6 sqq.
The Prophet in Isa_33:18-19 connects his glorious image of the future with the mournful condition of the present. For he describes it as a chief blessing of that future, that the bad things of the present will be present to thoughtful contemplation as things that one rejoices to have overcome. Et hoc meminisse juvabit. In his graphic way the Prophet gives prominence to particular terrors that must have left a peculiarly deep impression. The סֹפֵר, “writer,” and the שֹׁקֵל, “weigher,” before whom one had to appear and pay tribute, and who then weighed the valuables received, and made a list of them, were certainly persons of terror from whose mouths they had often had experience of the Vae victis (Livy, 5, 48). [“The Apostle Paul in 1Co_1:20, has a sentence so much like this, in the threefold repetition of the question where, and in the use of the word scribe, that it cannot be regarded as a mere fortuitous coincidence.” “It may be regarded as a mere imitation, as to form and diction, of the one before us.”—J. A. Alexander,in loc.]. Again it must have made a terrible impression, when from the walls they saw the enemy taking the first steps toward attacking the city by one of the leaders riding around the walls, regarding the towers, counting them and taking notes of his observations (comp. Psa_48:13). What happiness to be able to call out: “where are they now those fearful men? They have disappeared forever!” What felicity to be quit of the foreign, repulsive appearance of this enemy; no more to be compelled to see the overweening nation; no more to hear its barbarous sounds! The Israelites will no more hear “the nation too deep of lip to be understood” and “stammering and jabbering with the tongue (comp. on Isa_28:11; Isa_37:22) without meaning.”
The Prophet having enumerated the bad things, now directs attention to the good that is to be seen in and about Jerusalem. He first describes Zion as the religious centre of the nation. There is the temple; there Jehovah dwells (comp. on Isa_33:14); thither the people assemble to worship the Lord and keep His feasts. Thus He calls the city קרית מועדנו (comp. הַר מוֹעֵד14:13, comp. Isa_1:14). That he intends an antithesis to אהל מועד appears from Isa_33:15. Israel then has no more a tabernacle, a city for festival gathering (of the people with one another, and with Jehovah). As such Zion must be especially looked to. And if one looks more narrowly, then the meaning of this designation appears to be that Jerusalem will be a secure, quiet abode (Isa_32:18), of course still a tabernacle, but no longer so in the original, nomadic sense; not like the travelling tent of the wilderness, but one that does not move about. The Prophet signifies that there shall happen to it neither a voluntary nor a violent breaking up of the tabernacle (נתק means a violent rending, comp. Isa_5:27, not the usual striking of a tent). This permanent tabernacle shall be attended with a glorious rest for the people of God in the future that is described, that shall be founded on the presence in the midst of them of Jehovah, the highest Majesty. The Lord is called a place of rivers, of course in a figure. In all this figurative description lies the notion of defence, refuge. Hence “a place of rivers” may as appropriately be used of Jehovah, as “rock, tower, shield, horn of salvation,” (Psa_18:3). But commentators are right in saying that the Prophet has in mind cities like Babylon, Nineveh, No-Ammon (Nah_3:8), that were defended by great rivers and river canals. The present Jerusalem lacked such defences, but, such is the meaning, Jehovah Himself will be river-defences. נחרים may allude to the cities of Mesopotamia, and יארים to the similarly located cities of Egypt; for הַנָּהָר is κατ’ ’εξοχὴν the Euphrates (Isa_8:7; Isa_11:15) and יְאֹר the Nile (Isa_19:7-8; Isa_23:10). Those streams and canals that recede right and left, and thus are very broad, are called רחבי ידים (comp. Psa_104:25; Isa_22:18; Gen_34:21; Jdg_18:10; 1Ch_4:10; Neh_7:4). Neither oared-ship, nor sail-ship shall be able to pass these mighty waters. The Prophet ends with rhymes that make the conclusion sound like a hymn. Jehovah, Israel’s judge (Isa_2:4; Isa_11:3-4), lawgiver (comp. Deu_33:21), and king, is also its deliverer.
Footnotes:
[9]unclean.
[10]Heb. in righteousness.
[11]Heb. uprightness.
[12]Or, deceits.
[13]Heb. bloods.
[14]Heb. heights, or, high places.
[15]His bread.
[16]a wide extended land.
[17]Heb. of far distances.
[18]Heb. weigher.
[19]the inscriber of the towers.
[20]the audacious.
[21]Or, ridiculous.
[22]that does not wander.
[23]A place of streams, of rivers broad on either side.
[24]Heb. broad spaces, or hands.
[25]Heb. statutemaker.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv13–24 far off--distant nations.
far off--distant nations.
near--the Jews and adjoining peoples (Isa 49:1).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv13, 17, 18, 20, 23 13-16. And then, as if this judgment were accomplished,…
13-16. And then, as if this judgment were accomplished, the prophet turns to the sinners by whom himself, as counsellor to the pious king, has been so long baffled in Jerusalem. These he addresses as the near ones; those living to witness the power of the Almighty in breaking the Assyrian yoke. Hitherto they had scouted Isaiah’s theory of deliverance from such a source, and they sought aid from Egypt. The far-off peoples are also called to witness this almighty power in behalf of Israel. The sinners in Jerusalem are now struck dumb, and they are forced to say,
Who among us shall — rather, can — dwell with the devouring fire… everlasting burnings — That is, in such a fire as that which has so signally destroyed the Assyrian forces? The parallel member states the same thing, only with more intense emotion. The answer is, in substance, the same as Psalms 15. He that walketh righteously, etc., in all the relations of life; despiseth the gain of oppressions, hazarding every thing to be just, absolutely just, etc: only such can endure the presence and power of a just God, and they, seeking to be entirely righteous, shall, in all events, be secure. Spiritual plenty shall abound to them. Those who are of this character in Jerusalem now realize their own more exultant fortune over the sinners that have counselled opposition in civil affairs in Judah.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv13–24 13. The signal deliverance of Jerusalem will be a…
13. The signal deliverance of Jerusalem will be a great demonstration to all the world of the omnipotence of Israel’s God. The verse is usually taken, and perhaps rightly, as an introduction to the second half of the poem, which deals mainly with the consequences of the great act of judgment.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 (13) Hear, ye that are far off . .…
(13) Hear, ye that are far off . . .—The fate of Assyria is proclaimed as a warning to other nations, and to Israel itself. For the “sinners in Zion” also there is the furnace of fire of the wrath of God. “Who,” they ask, “can dwell with that consuming fire, those everlasting (œonian?) burnings,” which are one aspect of the righteousness of God?
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24 Vers. 13-24. REFLECTIONS ON ASSYRIA"S OVERTHROW VIEWED AS ACCOMPLISHED.…
Vers. 13-24. REFLECTIONS ON ASSYRIA"S OVERTHROW VIEWED AS ACCOMPLISHED. The prophet"s first thought is, how wonderfully the overthrow has manifested the might of God (ver. 13). Next, how it must thrill with fear the hearts of the wicked among his people (ver. 14). Thirdly, how the righteous are by it placed in security, and can look back with joy to their escape, and can with confidence look forward to a future of happiness and tranquil lily (vers. 15-24). Messianic ideas intermingle with these latter thoughts (vers. 17, 23), the image of a happy, tranquil Judah melting into that of Messiah"s glorious kingdom.
Hear, ye that are far off, etc. Jehovah speaks by the mouth of his prophet, and calls on the nations of the earth, far and near, to consider and acknowledge his might, as shown in his judgment on Assyria. (comp. Exo_15:14-16)
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Vers. 13-16. Living near to God.
Jehovah has uprisen; he has revealed his might in the destruction of the Assyrian host; he calls through the prophet upon all the nations to acknowledge him.
I THE AWFULNESS OF GOD. We see it reflected from the horror-struck faces of the ungodly and the profane, He is indeed seen to be a "consuming Fire," having his "furnace in Jerusalem". (Isa_31:1-9) And all the immoral and the unprincipled, the heedless and the worldly, feel themselves as fuel for his wrath they whom the continual returns of the Word preached do not alter, so that their old sins remain firm, entire, and unbattered, the baseness of their inclinations unchanged, the levity of their discourse and behavior; those whose former distresses and disasters have not laid low in the valleys of humility, nor circumscribed the lashings out of their luxury; they whose past miseries and restraints give only a relish instead of a check to present pride and intemperance; those whom all the caresses of Providence have not been able to win upon, so as to endear them to a virtuous strictness, or deter them from a vicious extravagance; all such unless the great God be trivial and without concern in his grand transactions with our immortal souls during this condition, so far as we can judge, are fashioning for wrath. "He is a probationer for hell, and carries about with him the desperate symptoms and plague-tokens of a person likely to be sworn against by God, and hastening apace to a sad eternity" (South).
II DWELLING NEAR TO GOD. Who can endure the vicinity of this devouring Fire? Only they who have intrinsic spiritual worth, which when tried by fire will appear unto "praise and glory." "Only that which yields itself willingly to be God"s organ can abide those flames. (cf. on the burning Exo_3:2) "Of all else, like briars and thorns, the "end is to be burned". (Isa_10:17 Isa_30:27) The fire ever burning on the altar (Lev_6:13) is the symbol of him in whose nature wrath and love unite; the wrath being the symptom of love, which must ever glow against evil. The answer to the question is given in the picture of the good man which follows; his character positively and negatively, his consequent security.
III PICTURE OF TRUE PIETY.
1. Its completeness. He walks in "perfect righteousness." Not so the righteousness of "scribes and Pharisees," partial and imperfect, but rounded out to the full requirements of the Divine Law. The hypocrite "singles out some certain parts, which best suit his occasions and least thwart his corruptions." The proud or impure man may be liberal to the poor, may abhor lying and treachery, and may be ready in the fulfillment of duties which do not jostle his darling sin. But it "will not suffice to chop and change one duty for another; he cannot clear his debts by paying part of the great sum he owes" (South). To offend in one is to be guilty of all. (Jam_2:10) The chain of duty is broken by the removal of a single link. "Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments". (Psa_119:6) It is not a handsome feature or a handsome limb which makes the handsome man, but the symmetry and proportion of all. So, not the practice of this or that virtue, but an entire complexion of all, can alone render a man righteous in the sight of God.
2. Its leading characteristics. It unites what human corruption is ever tending to dissever, religion and morality. It imitates the Father in heaven in the justice of his perfect Being. It rejects unjust gain, flings the bribe as a thing of pollution from the hand. It is abstinent from the greed of gold, that most downward and degrading vice, making the soul all earth and dirt, burying that noble thing which can never die." "Thou shalt not take a gift, because a gift blinds the eyes of the wise". (Deu_16:9; cf. 1Sa_12:3 Ecc_7:7) Covetousness is a thing directly contrary to the very spirit of Christianity; which is a free, a large, and an open spirit open to God and man, and always carrying charity in one hand, and generosity in the other (South). It is exclusive in reference to evil, as inclusive in reference to good. The good man walks with ear and eye shut against the moral contagion around him. As the leaven of disease will not develop save in the unhealthy body, so moral evil will not grow to a head in the soul antipathetic to it. He "seals up the avenues of ill." By listening and looking come all our best and all our worst inspirations. Dead to sin, he "neither hears nor sees;" alive to God, he is all ears and all eyes, for his words, his inspirations. The chastity of the spirit extends to the senses, and if the mind be full of the love of purity, "each thing of sin and guilt" is driven far from it. Itself remains intact as the sunbeams glancing on the garbage-heap.
3. Its security and satisfaction. The good man dwells on the heights, (cf. Ps 15 24:3, 4) inaccessible to miasmata from the poisonous swamps below, braced by the different air, enlivened by glorious prospects. He will have food, and that in abundance. To "eat and be satisfied" is the simplest and strongest figure for intellectual satisfaction, for a rich inner life; as hunger that of an empty, distressed, self-torturing spirit. But as food is of no service without an appetite for it, so this spiritual satisfaction can only be theirs who hunger and thirst after righteousness, who have fixed their minds upon an Object, which still invites the most boundless and unlimited appetite. The nobler senses are never weary of exercise upon objects which delight them. We do not surfeit upon noble music, nor do rare pictures cloy. The desires of the righteous are so agreeable to the ways of God that they find a continual freshness growing upon them in the performance of duty; like a stream, which, the further it has ran, the more strength and force it has to run further (South). J.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 The sinners in Zion are afraid
Isa_33:14-15
The sinners in Zion are afraid
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The sinners in Zion
What a contradiction in terms! what a shock to the fancy! Zion! fair Zion, a dewdrop, a glittering star, a garden of beauty, a sweet flower, porcelain without a flaw, honey without wax--Zion! Then, sinners in Zion--sinners out of place; they spoil the situation; they are an evil blot in the fair landscape.
Sinners in the wilderness, sinners in polluted cities, sinners in hell--there you have a kind of music that has an accord and consonance of its own; but sinners in Zion! (J. Parker, D. D.)
The devouring fire
I. THE CHARACTERS REFERRED TO. Sinners in Zion, and the hypocrites. Those who are in Zion by a mere profession of religion. The self-righteous. Proud formalists.
II. THEIR PRESENT STATE. Afraid, &c. If temporal judgments, like those which God wrought upon the Assyrian army, had such an effect upon the sinners in Zion, what will be the terror of transgressors in prospect, of the everlasting judgments of God?
III. THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? &c. (J. E. Starey.)
Security in testing times
It is certain that no man shall find his profession to be of use to him in testing times but he that is true in it, he that is thorough in it, he that is neither a sinner nor a hypocrite in the sense in which those words are here used. Safety in Zion belongs to those born in her by regeneration, reared in her by sanctification, enfranchised in her by faith in the Son of God, settled in her by fixed principles, confirmed in her by obedience to her laws, and bound to her by intense love of her King and her citizens. Such shall dwell on high secure from danger, and only such: the aliens and foreigners within her gates shall ere long be driven forth with shame. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The hypocrite
The man that stole the livery of heaven to serve the devil in. (Robert Pollok.)
Hypocrisy detected
A large price was demanded for a picture as being the work of an old master. It was on a panel, and some one looking behind it saw that the panel was mahogany. The picture was at once seen to be a fraud, for mahogany was not known in Europe until long after the death of the artist who was said to have painted it. A man by craft and hypocrisy may make himself look beautiful to his fellowmen, and be honoured for saintliness of character, but God looks behind the goodly show and detects the imposture at a glance. Only what is real will bear His inspection. (Gates of Imagery.)
Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?--
How to dwell in the fire of God
(with 1Jn_4:16 : He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God):--These two passages, striking as is the contrast, refer to the same subject, and substantially preach the same truth. A hasty reader, who is more influenced by sound than by sense, is apt to suppose that the solemn expressions in my first text--the devouring fire and the everlasting burnings--mean hell. They mean God, as is quite obvious from the context. The man who is to dwell in the devouring fire is the good man; he that is able to abide the everlasting burnings is the man that walks righteously and speaks uprightly, that despises the gain of oppression, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil. So that, plainly, here the fire is the destructive side of that Divine nature which, in its flashing brightness of holiness, cannot but burn up and consume evil. And the question of my text is in effect equivalent to this question: Who among us can abide peacefully, joyfully, fed and brightened, not consumed and annihilated, by that flashing brightness and purity? The prophets answer is the answer of common sense. Like draws to like. If the fire of God be the holiness of God in its lustrous brilliance, then a holy God must have holy companions. But that is not all. The fire of God is the fire of love as well as the fire of purity; a fire that blesses and quickens, as well as a fire that destroys and consumes. So the Apostle John comes with his answer, not contradicting the other one, but deepening it, expanding it, letting us see the foundations of it, and proclaiming that as a holy God must be surrounded by holy hearts, which will open themselves to the flame as flowers to the sunshine, so a loving God must be clustered about by loving hearts, who alone can enter into deep and true fellowship with Him. The two answers, then, are one at bottom; and when Isaiah asks, Who shall dwell with the ever-lasting fire?--the perpetual fire, burning and unconsumed, of that Divine righteousness--the deepest answer, which is no stern requirement but a merciful promise, is Johns answer, He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The fire of God
I. THE WORLDS QUESTION. Frequently in the Old Testament the emblem of fire is employed to express the Divine nature. In many places, though by no means in all, the prominent idea in the emblem is that of the purity of the Divine nature, which flashes and flames as against all which is evil and sinful. So we read in one grand passage in this very book, the Light of Israel shall become a fire. And we read, too, in the description of the symbolical manifestation of the Divine nature which accompanied the giving of the law on Sinai, that the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain, and yet into that blaze and brightness the Law-giver went and moved in it. There is in the Divine nature a side of antagonism and opposition to evil, which fights against it, and flames against it, and labours to consume it. But then, on the other side, the fire is also the fire of perfect love that quickens and blesses. And these two are one. Gods wrath is a form of Gods love; God hates because He loves. Well, that being so, the question rises to every mind of ordinary thoughtfulness: Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? A God fighting against evil; can you and I hope to hold familiar fellowship with Him? To dwell with everlasting burnings means two things--first, to hold familiar intercourse and communion with God. What sort of a man will do that? Can you? Is it likely that you should? The second of the things that it means is to face and bear the action of the fire, the judicial action, the judgment of the present and of the future.
II. THE PROPHETS ANSWER. He says if a man is to hold fellowship with, or to face the judgment of the pure and righteous God, the plainest dictate of reason and common sense is that he himself must be pure and righteous to match. And the details into which his answer to the question runs out are all very homely, prosaic, pedestrian kind of virtues, nothing at all out of the way, nothing that people would call splendid or heroic. If you will turn to the Psa_24:1-10. you will find there two other variations of the same questions, and the same answer, both of which were obviously in our prophets mind when he spoke. The requirements of the most moderate conscience are such as none of us is able to comply with. And what then? Am I to be shut up to despair? am I to say, then, nobody can dwell with that bright flame?
III. THE APOSTLES ANSWER. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God. Now, to begin with, let us distinctly understand that the New Testament answer, represented by Johns great words, entirely endorses Isaiahs; and the difference between the two is not that the Old Testament, as represented by Psalmist and Prophet, said: You must be righteous in order to dwell with God, and that the New Testament says: You need not be! Not at all! John is just as vehement in saying that nothing but purity can bind a man in thoroughly friendly and familiar conjunction with God as David or Isaiah was. What, then, is the difference between them? It is this, for one thing. Isaiah tells us we must be righteous; John tells us how we may be. And now you have got to the very bottom of the matter. That is the first step of the ladder--faith: the second step is love, and the third is righteousness. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Gods anger
If you will only remove from that word anger the mere human associations which cleave to it, of passion on the one hand, and of a wish to hurl its object on the other, then you cannot, I think, deny to the Divine nature the possession of that passionless and unmalignant wrath without striking a fatal blow at the perfect purity of God. A God that does not hate evil, that does not flame out against it, using all the energies of His being to destroy it, is a God to whose character there cleaves the fatal suspicion of indifference to good, of moral apathy. If I have not a God to trust in that hates evil because He loveth righteousness, then the pillared firmament itself were rottenness, and earths base built on stubble; nor were there any hope that this damnable thing that is killing and sucking the life-blood out of our spirits should ever be destroyed and cast aside. It is short-sighted wisdom, and it is cruel kindness, to tamper with the thought of the wrath of God, the everlasting burnings of that eternally pure nature wherewith it wages war against all sin! (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Gods justice in human life
To Isaiah, life was so penetrated by the active justice of God, that he described it as bathed in fire, as blown through with fire. (Prof. G. A. Smith, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 Isa_33:15-17. He that walketh righteously, &c.
A BLESSED LIFE
Isa_33:15-17. He that walketh righteously, &c.
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This is a gleam of bright sunshine after a heavy storm. It describes a truly happy, holy life, such as we may all attain, and may all well desire to be ours.
1. It is a gracious life. This is not specially mentioned here. We have only what is outward and visible described. But this always implies an inward hidden life. When we see such a great, green, spreading, fruitful tree of righteousness as this, we may always assuredly conclude that, deep in the heart out of sight, there must be a great, strong, living Lebanon-root of faith and love (Tit_2:12). This is the secret or source of all that follows (H. E. I. 2840, 2841, 4092–4095).
2. It is an upright life. “He that walketh righteously.” A man’s “walk” is his whole conduct in all the positions and relations in which he stands. All that this man does is conformed to the law of God and the example of Christ (Luk_1:6). “He speaketh uprightly.” Most important (Jas_3:2; Jas_1:26; P. D. 3384, 3394). “He despiseth the gain of oppressions.” He will not take advantage of his neighbour’s distress; will not be hard upon him when his back is at the wall; will not abuse his ignorance or simplicity by charging more than a commodity is worth. “He shaketh his hands from holding of bribes.” He abhors such temptations. Judas, from an awakened conscience, horror-struck at what he had done, cast the blood-money which he had received on the ground; but this man, from a clear, enlightened conscience, at peace with God, casts from him all that would offend the Lord. “He stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood.” There is a killing of character by slander and insinuation, but he will have none of it (P. D. 3108). “He shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.” He is like God; he cannot look upon sin. He hates it; can find no amusement in it; knows its tendency and its fearful end. Through the unguarded eye comes ruin (Jos_7:21; 2Sa_11:2). Pictures and descriptions of evil often destroy. Have we not here a beautiful, noble character? and yet this is what believing in Christ and walking in His footsteps will always produce. But there must be the root, Christ dwelling in the heart by faith, else the outward life, however fair and seemly, will be only a make-believe, a wretched caricature, that will break down in the time of trial, and be rejected in the day of the Lord.
3. It is a heavenly life. “He shall dwell on high.” His heart is set on things above (Eph_2:5-6; Col_3:1-3; Php_3:20). He has already come to Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem: he really dwells on high (H. E. I. 2766–2779).
4. It is a safe life. His real all is above, beyond the reach of chance and change. He is still beset by foes, but he is safe. “His place of defence is the munitions of rocks” (Psa_18:2-3, &c.)
5. It is a well-supplied life. “His bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure” (Psa_34:10). But man needs more than bread to eat and raiment to put on; like the Master, the servant has meat to eat of which the world knows not (Psa_4:6-7; Psa_53:5-6). He has growing light, increasing life, fuller assurance, and fresh Ebenezers from day to day.
6. It is a hopeful life. “Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty.” There is a blessed beginning of the fulfilment of this promise now (Joh_14:21-23; H. E. I. 974, 975). “They shall behold the land that is very far off.” To Christ’s friends things to come are revealed by the Holy Ghost. They see Jesus, already crowned with glory and honour, and fairer than the sons of men. Like the patriarchs, they see the city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Like Moses, they gaze the landscape over and gird their loins; they take courage and press on (H. E. I. 2771–2779).
Such a life leads to a blessed death. The two go together. We cannot have the one without the other. Balaam thought he could, but it was in vain. Such a life prepares for a happy meeting with the Lord, if He should come while we are still present on the earth (Mat_24:46).—John Milne: Gatherings from a Ministry, pp. 325–331.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv14, 16, 21, 22 Isa 33:14 - Isa 33:15. - 1Jn 4:16.
Isaiah
HOW TO DWELL IN THE FIRE OF GOD
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Isa 33:14 - Isa 33:15. - 1Jn 4:16.
I have put these two verses together because, striking as is at first sight the contrast in their tone, they refer to the same subject, and they substantially preach the same truth. A hasty reader, who is more influenced by sound than by sense, is apt to suppose that the solemn expressions in my first text, ‘the devouring fire’ and’ everlasting burnings,’ mean hell. They mean God, as is quite obvious from the context. The man who is to ‘dwell in the devouring fire’ is the good man. He that is able to abide ‘the everlasting burnings’ is ‘the man that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly,’ that ‘despiseth the gain of oppression, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.’ The prophet has been calling all men, far and near, to behold a great act of divine judgment in which God has been manifested in flaming glory, consuming evil; now he represents the ‘sinners in Zion,’ the unworthy members of the nation, as seized with sudden terror, and anxiously asking this question, which in effect means: ‘Who among us can abide peacefully, joyfully, fed and brightened, not consumed and annihilated, by that flashing brightness and purity?’ The prophet’s answer is the answer of common-sense-like draws to like. A holy God must have holy companions.
But that is not all. The fire of God is the fire of love as well as the fire of purity; a fire that blesses and quickens, as well as a fire that destroys and consumes. So the Apostle John comes with his answer, not contradicting the other one, but deepening it, expanding it, letting us see the foundations of it, and proclaiming that as a holy God must be surrounded by holy hearts, which will open themselves to the flame as flowers to the sunshine, so a loving God must be clustered about by loving hearts, who alone can enter into deep and true friendship with Him.
The two answers, then, of these texts are one at bottom; and when Isaiah asks, ‘Who shall dwell with the everlasting fire?’-the perpetual fire, burning and unconsumed, of that divine righteousness-the deepest answer, which is no stern requirement but a merciful promise, is John’s answer, ‘He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God.’
The simplest way, I think, of bringing out the force of the words before us will be just to take these three points which I have already suggested: the world’s question, the partial answer of the prophet, the complete answer of the Apostle.
I. The World’s Question.
I need only remind you how frequently in the Old Testament the emblem of fire is employed to express the divine nature. In many places, though by no means in all, the prominent idea in the emblem is that of the purity of the divine nature, which flashes and flames as against all which is evil and sinful. So we read in one grand passage in this book of Isaiah, ‘the Light of Israel shall become a fire’; as if the lambent beauty of the highest manifestation of God gathered itself together, intensified itself, was forced back upon itself, and from merciful, illuminating light turned itself into destructive and consuming fire. And we read, you may remember, too, in the description of the symbolical manifestation of the divine nature which accompanied the giving of the Law on Sinai, that ‘the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain,’ and yet into that blaze and brightness the Lawgiver went, and lived and moved in it.
There is, then, in the divine nature a side of antagonism and opposition to evil, which flames against it, and labours to consume it. I would speak with all respect for the motives of many men in this day who dread to entertain the idea of the divine wrath against evil, lest they should in any manner trench upon the purity and perfectness of the divine love. I respect and sympathise with the motive altogether; and I neither respect nor sympathise with the many ferocious pictures of that which is called the wrath of God against sin, which much so-called orthodox teaching has indulged in. But if you will only remove from that word ‘anger’ the mere human associations which cleave to it, of passion on the one hand, and of a wish to hurt its object on the other, then you cannot, I think, deny to the divine nature the possession of such passionless and unmalignant wrath, without striking a fatal blow at the perfect purity of God. A God that does not hate evil, that does not flame out against it, using all the energies of His being to destroy it, is a God to whose character there cleaves a fatal suspicion of indifference to good, of moral apathy. If I have not a God to trust in that hates evil because He loveth righteousness, then ‘the pillared firmament itself were rottenness, and earth’s base built on stubble’; nor were there any hope that this damnable thing that is killing and sucking the life-blood out of our spirits should ever be destroyed and cast aside. Oh! it is short-sighted wisdom, and it is cruel kindness, to tamper with the thought of the wrath of God, the ‘everlasting burnings’ of that eternally pure nature wherewith it wages war against all sin.
But then, let us remember that, on the other side, the fire which is the destructive fire of perfect purity is also the fire that quickens and blesses. God is love, says John, and love is fire, too. We speak of ‘the flame of love,’ of ‘warm affections,’ and the like. The symbol of fire does not mean destructive energy only. And these two are one. God’s wrath is a form of God’s love; God hates because He loves.
And the ‘wrath’ and the ‘love’ differ much more in the difference of the eyes that look, than they do in themselves. Here are two bits of glass; one of them sifts out and shows all the fiery-red rays, the other all the yellow. It is the one same pure, white beam that passes through them both, but one is only capable of receiving the fiery-red beams of the wrath, and the other is capable of receiving the golden light of the love. Let us take heed lest, by destroying the wrath, we maim the love; and let us take heed lest, by exaggerating the wrath, we empty the love of its sweetness and its preciousness; and let us accept the teaching that these are one, and that the deepest of all the things that the world can know about God lies in that double saying, which does not contradict its second half by its first, but completes its first by its second-God is Righteousness, God is Love.
Well, then, that being so, the question rises to every mind of ordinary thoughtfulness: ‘Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?’ A God fighting against evil; can you and I hope to hold familiar fellowship with Him? A God fighting against evil; if He rises up to exercise His judging and His punishing energies, can we meet Him? ‘Can thy heart endure and thy hands be strong, in the day that I shall deal with thee?’ is the question that comes to each of us if we are reasonable people. I do not dwell upon it; but I ask you to take it, and answer it for yourselves.
To ‘dwell with everlasting burnings’ means two things. First, it means to hold familiar intercourse and communion with God. The question which presents itself to thoughtful minds is-What sort of man must I be if I am to dwell near God? The lowliest bush may be lit by the divine fire and not be consumed by it; and the poorest heart may be all aflame with an indwelling God, if only it yield itself to Him, and long for His likeness. Electricity only flames into consuming fire when its swift passage is resisted. The question for us all is-How can I receive this holy fire into my bosom, and not be burned? Is any communion possible, and if it is, on what conditions? These are the questions which the heart of man is really asking, though it knows not the meaning of its own unrest.
‘To dwell with everlasting burnings’ means, secondly, to bear the action of the fire-the judgment of the present and the judgment of the future. The question for each of us is-How can we face that judicial and punitive action of that Divine Providence which works even here, and how can we face the judicial and punitive action in the future?
I suppose you all believe, or at least say that you believe, that there is such a future judgment. Have you ever asked yourselves the question, and rested not until you got a reasonable answer to it, on which, like a man leaning on a pillar, you can lean the whole weight of your expectations-How am I to come into the presence of that devouring fire? Have you any fireproof dress that will enable you to go into the furnace like the Hebrew youths, and walk up and down in the midst of it, well and at liberty? Have you? ‘Who shall dwell amidst the everlasting fires?’
That question has stirred sometimes, I know, in the consciences of every man and woman that is listening to me. Some of you have tampered with it and tried to throttle it, or laughed at it and shuffled it out of your mind by the engrossments of business, and tried to get rid of it in all sorts of ways: and here it has met you again to-day. Let us have it settled, in the name of common-sense {to invoke nothing higher}, once for all, upon reasonable principles that will stand; and do you see that you settle it to-day.
II. And now, look next at the prophet’s answer.
It is simple. He says that if a man is to hold fellowship with, or to face the judgment of, the pure and righteous God, the plainest dictate of reason and common-sense is that he himself must be pure and righteous to match. The details into which hid answer to the question runs out are all very homely, prosaic, pedestrian kind of virtues, nothing at all out of the way, nothing that people would call splendid or heroic. Here they are:-’He that walks righteously,’-a short injunction, easily spoken, but how hard!-’and speaketh uprightly, he that despiseth the gain of oppression, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, that shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.’ Righteous action, righteous speech, inward hatred of possessions gotten at my neighbour’s cost, and a vehement resistance to all the seductions of sense, shutting one’s hands, stopping one’s ears, fastening one’s eyes up tight so that he may not handle, nor hear, nor see the evil-there is the outline of a trite, everyday sort of morality which is to mark the man who, as Isaiah says, can ‘dwell amongst the everlasting fires.’
Now, if at your leisure you will turn to Psa 15:1 - Psa 15:5 and Psa 24:1 - Psa 24:10, you will find there two other versions of the same questions and the same answer, both of which were obviously in our prophet’s mind when he spoke. In the one you have the question put: ‘Who shall abide in Thy tabernacle?’ In the other you have the same question put: ‘Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?’ And both these two psalms answer the question and sketch the outline {and it is only an outline} of a righteous man, from the Old Testament point of view, substantially in the same fashion that Isaiah does here.
I do not need to remark upon the altogether unscientific and non-exhaustive nature of the description of righteousness that is set forth here. There are a great many virtues, plain and obvious, that are left out of the picture. But I ask you to notice one very special defect, as it might seem. There is not the slightest reference to anything that we call religion. It is all purely pedestrian, worldly morality; do righteous things; do not tell lies; do not cheat your neighbour; stop your ears if people say foul things in your hearing; shut your eyes if evil comes before you. These are the kind of duties enjoined, and these only. The answer of my text moves altogether on the surface, dealing only with conduct, not with character, and dealing with conduct only in reference to this world. There is not a word about the inner nature, not a word about the inner relation of a man to God. It is the minimum of possible qualifications for dwelling with God.
Well, now, do you achieve that minimum? Suppose we waive for the moment all reference to God; suppose we waive for the moment all reference to motive and inward nature; suppose we keep ourselves only on the outside of things, and ask what sort of conduct a man must have that is able to walk with God? We have heard the answer.
Now, then, is that me? Is this sketch here, admittedly imperfect, a mere black-and-white swift outline, not intended to be shaded or coloured, or brought up to the round; is this mere outline of what a good man ought to be, at all like me? Yes or no? I think we must all say No to the question, and acknowledge our failure to attain to this homely ideal of conduct. The requirement pared down to its lowest possible degree, and kept as superficial as ever you can keep it, is still miles above me, and all I have to say when I listen to such words is, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner.’
My dear friends, take this one thought away with you:-the requirements of the most moderate conscience are such as no man among us is able to comply with. And what then? Am I to be shut up to despair? am I to say: Then nobody can dwell within that bright flame? Am I to say: Then when God meets man, man must crumble away into nothing and disappear? Am I to say, for myself: Then, alas for me! when I stand at His judgment bar?
III. Let us take the Apostle’s answer.
God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God.’ Now, to begin with, let us distinctly understand that the New Testament answer, represented by John’s great words, entirely endorses Isaiah’s; and that the difference between the two is not that the Old Testament, as represented by psalmist and prophet, said, ‘You must be righteous in order to dwell with God,’ and that the New Testament says, ‘You need not be.’ Not at all! John is just as vehement in saying that nothing but purity can bind a man in thoroughly friendly and familiar conjunction with God as David or Isaiah was. He insists as much as anybody can insist upon this great principle, that if we are to dwell with God we must be like God, and that we are like God when we are like Him in righteousness and love.
‘He that saith he hath fellowship with Him, and walketh in darkness, is a liar!’ That is John’s short way of gathering it all up. Righteousness is as essential in the gospel scheme for all communion and fellowship with God as ever it was declared to be by the most rigid of legalists; and if any of you have the notion that Christianity has any other terms to lay down than the old terms-that righteousness is essential to communion-you do not understand Christianity. If any of you are building upon the notion that a man can come into loving and familiar friendship with God as long as he loves and cleaves to any sin, you have got hold of a delusion that will wreck your souls yet,-is, indeed, harming, wrecking them now, and will finally destroy them if you do not got rid of it. Let us always remember that the declaration of my first text lies at the very foundation of the declaration of my second.
What, then, is the difference between them? Why, for one thing it is this-ISAIAH tells us that we must he righteous, John tells us how we may be. The one says, ‘There are the conditions,’ the other says, ‘Here are the means by which you can have the conditions.’ Love is the productive germ of all righteousness; it is the fulfilling of the law. Get that into your hearts, and all these relative and personal duties will come. If the deepest, inmost life is right, all the surface of life will come right. Conduct will follow character, character will follow love.
The efforts of men to make themselves pure, and so to come into the position of holding fellowship with God, are like the wise efforts of children in their gardens. They stick in their little bits of rootless flowers, and they water them; but, being rootless, the flowers are all withered to-morrow and flung over the hedge the day after. But if we have the love of God in our hearts, we have not rootless flowers, but the seed which will spring up and bear fruit of holiness.
But that is not all. Isaiah says ‘Righteousness,’ John says ‘Love,’ which makes righteousness. And then he tells us how we may get love, having first told us how we may get righteousness: ‘We love Him because He first loved us.’ It is just as impossible for a man to work himself into loving God as it is for a man to work himself into righteous actions. There is no difference in the degree of impossibility in the two cases. But what we can do is, we can go and gaze at the thing that kindles the love; we can contemplate the Cross on which the great Lover of our souls died, and thereby we can come to love Him. John’s answer goes down to the depths, for his notion of love is the response of the believing soul to the love of God which was manifested on the Cross of Calvary. To have righteousness we must have love; to have love we must look to the love that God has to us; to look rightly to the love that God has to us we must have faith. Now you have gone down to the very bottom of the matter. Faith is the first step of the ladder, and the second step is love and the third step is righteousness.
And so the New Testament, in its highest and most blessed declarations, rests itself firmly upon these rigid requirements of the old law. You and I, dear brethren, have but one way by which we can walk in the midst of that fire, rejoicing and unconsumed, namely that we shall know and believe the love which God hath to us, love Him back again ‘with pure hearts fervently,’ and in the might of that receptive faith and productive love, become like Him in holiness, and ourselves be ‘baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire.’ Thus, fire-born and fiery, we shall dwell as in our native home, in God Himself.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v13 The Sinners Alarmed, the Pious Comforted
The Sinners Alarmed, the Pious Comforted
v. 13. Hear, ye that are far off, all the distant nations of the world, what I have done; and, ye that are near, the Jews and the nations near them, acknowledge My might, so Jehovah calls out through His herald.
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v. 14. The sinners in Zion, those who falsely professed the religion of Israel, though their heart was not in their worship, are afraid, terrified because their hypocrisy is about to be revealed; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites, who were often addicted to secret idolatry while they continued their outward membership in the true Church. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Such is the cry of the sinners as they contemplate the devouring fierceness of Jehovah’s anger. Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? They themselves realize and must admit it that they cannot endure the flames of God’s divine anger which is bound to strike them in righteous judgment. The prophet himself, on the basis of Psalms 15; Psa 24:3-6 answers their question:
v. 15. He that walketh righteously, practicing the proper righteousness of life in every respect, and speaketh uprightly, without a trace of hypocrisy; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, repudiating the very idea of enriching himself by means which savor of blackmail, that shaketh his hands, interlocking them tightly, from holding of bribes, his act being conducive to that end, helping him to refrain from accepting bribe money, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, refusing to listen to any plan which involves revenge, hatred, or violence, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil, sanctioning wickedness or yielding to lust, in short, one who "rejoiceth not in iniquity" in any form, 1Co 13:6,
v. 16. he shall dwell on high, in places inaccessible to the foe, his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks, the fastnesses of the mountains, where he dwells under the protection of Jehovah; bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure, he will have both food and drink in rich abundance. Thus the prophet draws a sketch of one who, under the guidance and by the power of Jehovah, does not need to fear the judgment of wrath which will came upon those who delight in wickedness. The description causes the prophet to forget the sordid present and to look forward to the time when the congregation of the Lord would consist entirely of such desirable members.
v. 17. Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty, the Messiah in the glory of His redemptive work; they shall behold the land that is very far off, for the Messiah’s kingdom would extend over the whole earth.
v. 18. Thine heart, once more conscious of the mournful condition of the present, so unlike the future glorious state, shall meditate terror, considering what fearful things have been left behind. Where is the scribe? the man who supervised the paying of tribute according to the assessments entered in his books. Where is the receiver? the weigher, who weighed the valuables received as tribute and was most exacting in his demands. Where is he that counted the towers? making a plan of the city, which was to be taken by storm. All these officers in the employ of the enemy were well known to the Jews, the mere mention of whose names filled their hearts with terror. But the prophet comforts his people with reassuring words.
v. 19. Thou shalt not see a fierce people, for the terrible enemies will then have disappeared forever, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive, whose language is difficult to understand; of stammering tongue, indistinguishable to those not familiar with the dialect, that thou canst not understand. It is a picture of happy deliverance which the prophet paints before the eyes of the true Israel.
v. 20. Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities, where Jehovah dwells and the people assemble for worship, to praise the Lord and to keep his feasts; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down, as was the case with the Tabernacle in the wilderness; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken, both the tent-pins and the guy-ropes remaining intact forever. The reference is to the security and stability of the Church of God, as established upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, the entire passage reminding one strongly of Psalms 46.
v. 21. But there the glorious Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams, that is, by virtue of the indwelling of God in the midst of His people the Church would be like a great city, which is both defended and watered by rich streams, wherein shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship, one of the mighty sail-ships which ventured out on the mighty ocean, pass thereby, Jehovah Himself being the defense of His people and protecting them against all enemies.
v. 22. For the Lord is our Judge, who watches over His people’s rights and honor; the Lord is our Lawgiver, He who wields the general’s staff in their midst; the Lord is our King, His throne of power and mercy being established in their midst; He will save us, to Him they could confidently look for deliverance from all harm and danger. And so the chapter concludes with a description of the City of God, the Church of Christ, its present distress being contrasted with its future glory.
v. 23. Thy tacklings are loosed, Jerusalem being considered a ship whose cables and rigging have been torn by adverse winds; they could not well strengthen their mast, for the mast had no hold without the cables, they could not spread the sail, for the same reason, their vessel thus practically being at the mercy of wind and waves. Then is the prey of a great spoil divided, immense booty is distributed, at the very moment of the greatest helplessness the Lord grants victory; the lame take the prey, the very cripples being able to share in the plunder.
v. 24. And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick, not one of them shall be subject to illness or weakness; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity, this, in fact, being the secret of their strength. And thus the Church of God is constituted—it consists of people who have come to the full realization of their own helplessness, who are deeply repentant, and who, as a consequence, have received the gift of the forgiveness of their sins and draw upon the Lord alone for all their strength. That is the abiding comfort of all believers.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 23 General Information:
General Information:
Yahweh continues to speak.
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You who are far away, hear what I have done; and, you who are near, acknowledge my might
Yahweh uses the words "far away" and "near" to mean all people. The word "might" can be expressed with the adjective "mighty." AT: "All people everywhere hear what I have done and acknowledge that I am mighty" (See: Merism and Abstract Nouns)
trembling has seized the godless ones
This speaks of the godless people trembling as if their trembling were an enemy that had seized them. AT: "the godless ones are overwhelmed with trembling" (See: Personification)
Who among us ... burnings?
It is implied that the sinners in Zion ask these questions. AT: "They say, 'Who among us ... burnings?'" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Who among us can sojourn with a raging fire? Who among us can sojourn with everlasting burnings?
These rhetorial questions have basically the same meaning and emphasize that no one can live with fire. Here fire represents Yahweh's judgment. AT: "No one can live with raging fire! No one can live with everylasting burns!" or "No one can live bearing Yahweh's judgment, it is like an everlasting fire!" (See: Rhetorical Question and Metonymy)
sojourn
live in a place that is not one's home
translationWords
might
sin
Zion
fear
eternity
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 24 33:14 The godless were people who lived without regard…
33:14 The godless were people who lived without regard for God and his law. • The image of a devouring fire came from God’s judgment of offenders during the wilderness journey (Exod 24:17; Deut 4:24). God still expects people to worship him with reverence and awe (Heb 12:29).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.