22I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
23Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees, for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel.
24Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb says: “I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself;
22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
23 Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth! Break out into singing, you mountains, O forest, all of your trees, for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel.
24 Yahweh, your Redeemer, and he who formed you from the womb says: “I am Yahweh, who makes all things; who alone stretches out the heavens; who spreads out the earth by myself;
KJVKing James Version
22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
23 Sing, O ye heavens; for the LORD hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.
24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins; return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.
23 Sing, O ye heavens, for the LORD hath done it; shout, ye lowest parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein; for the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and doth glorify Himself in Israel.
24 Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb: I am the LORD, that maketh all things; that stretched forth the heavens alone; that spread abroad the earth by Myself;
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Who created heaven and earth?Genesis 1:1 and Isaiah 44:24 state that God the Father created everything alone, explicitly stretching out the heavens 'by myself.' John 1:3 and Colossians 1:1…
Isaiah 43:25(v22)I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
1 Corinthians 6:20(v22)for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Isaiah 42:5(v24)God Yahweh, he who created the heavens and stretched them out, he who spread out the earth and that which comes out of it, he who gives…
Isaiah 45:12(v24)I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens. I have commanded all their army.
Acts 3:18-19(v22)But the things which God announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. “Repent therefore, and…
Show all 84 cross-references
Isaiah 43:1(vv22, 24)But now Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel, says: “Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by…
Isaiah 54:5(v24)For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the…
1 Peter 1:18-19(v22)knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your…
Psalms 103:12(v22)As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Isaiah 45:18(v24)For Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed…
Isaiah 44:2(v24)This is what Yahweh who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you says: “Don’t be afraid, Jacob my servant; and you,…
Ephesians 1:6-7(v23)to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved, in whom we have our redemption through his blood,…
Job 9:8(v24)He alone stretches out the heavens, and treads on the waves of the sea.
Isaiah 43:14(v24)Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “For your sake, I have sent to Babylon, and I will bring all of them down as fugitives,…
Isaiah 51:13(v24)Have you forgotten Yahweh your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? Do you live in fear continually…
Isaiah 55:7(v22)Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him, to our God,…
Revelation 5:9(v24)They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your…
Isaiah 40:22(v24)It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,…
Jeremiah 33:8(v22)I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against me. I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have…
Titus 2:12-14(v22)instructing us to the intent that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present…
Job 26:7(v24)He stretches out the north over empty space, and hangs the earth on nothing.
Isaiah 44:6(v24)This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there…
Isaiah 48:13(v24)Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens. when I call to them, they stand up…
Jeremiah 51:15(v24)“He has made the earth by his power. He has established the world by his wisdom. By his understanding he has stretched out the heavens.
John 1:3(v24)All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made.
Ephesians 3:9(v24)and to make all men see what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things through…
Colossians 1:16-17(v24)For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or…
Hebrews 1:2(v24)has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds.
Hebrews 1:10-12(v24)And, “You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands. They will perish, but you…
Revelation 5:8-14(v23)Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and…
Psalms 104:2(v24)He covers himself with light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain.
Galatians 1:15(v24)But when it was the good pleasure of God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through his grace
Psalms 51:1(v22)Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
Psalms 51:9(v22)Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all of my iniquities.
Psalms 69:34(v23)Let heaven and earth praise him; the seas, and everything that moves therein!
Isaiah 48:20(v22)Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a voice of singing announce this, tell it even to the end of the earth: say, “Yahweh has…
Isaiah 49:1(v24)Listen, islands, to me. Listen, you peoples, from afar: Yahweh has called me from the womb; from the inside of my mother, he has mentioned…
Isaiah 63:16(v24)For you are our Father, though Abraham doesn’t know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, Yahweh, are our Father. Our Redeemer from…
Jeremiah 3:12-14(v22)Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, ‘Return, you backsliding Israel,’ says Yahweh; ‘I will not look in anger on you;…
Jeremiah 50:34(v24)Their Redeemer is strong: Yahweh of Armies is his name. He will thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, and…
Psalms 71:6(v24)I have relied on you from the womb. You are he who took me out of my mother’s womb. I will always praise you.
Psalms 78:35(v24)They remembered that God was their rock, the Most High God, their redeemer.
Psalms 96:11-12(v23)Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar, and its fullness! Let the field and all that is in it exult! Then all…
Psalms 98:7-8(v23)Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy…
Psalms 139:13-16(v24)For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully…
Isaiah 1:27(v22)Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness.
Isaiah 43:7(v24)everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, yes, whom I have made.’ ”
Isaiah 49:3(v23)He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”
Isaiah 59:20(v24)“A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says Yahweh.
Isaiah 59:20-21(v22)“A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says Yahweh. “As for me, this is my covenant with them,”…
Isaiah 60:16(v24)You will also drink the milk of the nations, and will nurse from royal breasts. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, your…
Jeremiah 51:48(v23)Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is therein, will sing for joy over Babylon; for the destroyers will come to her from the…
Hosea 14:1-4(v22)Israel, return to Yahweh your God; for you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you, and return to Yahweh. Tell him, “Forgive…
Revelation 19:1-6(v23)After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation, power, and glory…
Nehemiah 4:5(v22)Don’t cover their iniquity. Don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.”
Job 31:15(v24)Didn’t he who made me in the womb make him? Didn’t one fashion us in the womb?
Job 37:11(v22)Yes, he loads the thick cloud with moisture. He spreads abroad the cloud of his lightning.
Psalms 109:14(v22)Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by Yahweh. Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Isaiah 1:18(v22)“Come now, and let’s reason together,” says Yahweh: “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they are red…
Isaiah 46:3-4(v24)“Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been carried from their birth, that have been carried…
Isaiah 48:17(v24)Yahweh, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says: “I am Yahweh your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way that you…
Isaiah 49:7(v24)Yahweh, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, says to him whom man despises, to him whom the nation abhors, to a servant of rulers:…
Isaiah 49:13(v23)Sing, heavens, and be joyful, earth! Break out into singing, mountains, for Yahweh has comforted his people, and will have compassion on…
Isaiah 49:26(v24)I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they will be drunk on their own blood, as with sweet wine. Then all flesh shall…
Isaiah 51:11(v22)Those ransomed by Yahweh will return, and come with singing to Zion. Everlasting joy shall be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and…
Isaiah 54:8(v24)In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you,” says Yahweh your…
Isaiah 55:12-13(v23)For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills will break out before you into singing; and all the…
Lamentations 3:42-44(v22)“We have transgressed and have rebelled. You have not pardoned. “You have covered us with anger and pursued us. You have killed. You have…
Luke 1:73-74(v22)the oath which he swore to Abraham our father, to grant to us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, should serve him…
Psalms 148:7(v23)Praise Yahweh from the earth, you great sea creatures, and all depths;
Isaiah 26:15(v23)You have increased the nation, O Yahweh. You have increased the nation! You are glorified! You have enlarged all the borders of the land.
Isaiah 42:10-12(v23)Sing to Yahweh a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that is therein, the islands and…
Isaiah 60:21(v23)Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be…
Isaiah 61:3(v23)to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the…
Jeremiah 3:1(v22)“They say, ‘If a man puts away his wife, and she goes from him, and becomes another man’s, should he return to her again?’ Wouldn’t that…
Ezekiel 36:1(v23)You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, “You mountains of Israel, hear Yahweh’s word.
Ezekiel 36:8(v23)“ ‘ “But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot out your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to…
Luke 2:10-14(v23)The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born…
Ephesians 3:21(v23)to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
2 Thessalonians 1:10-12(v23)when he comes in that day to be glorified in his saints and to be admired among all those who have believed, because our testimony to you…
1 Peter 4:11(v23)If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in…
Revelation 12:12(v23)Therefore rejoice, heavens, and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having…
Revelation 18:20(v23)“Rejoice over her, O heaven, you saints, apostles, and prophets; for God has judged your judgment on her.”
Ezekiel 39:13(v23)Yes, all the people of the land will bury them; and they will become famous in the day that I will be glorified,” says the Lord Yahweh.
84 distinct cross-references across this passage (85 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (21 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn v23He showeth that the work of the Lord toward…
He showeth that the work of the Lord toward his people shall be so great, that the insensible creatures shall be moved therewith.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv22–24Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick…
Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Ver. 22. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.] God blotteth out, or wipeth away, the thick cloud as well as the cloud, enormities as infirmities: like as the sun dispelleth fogs and mists with his bright beams. Think of this sweet similitude, together with that other in Mic 7:19, "Thou wilt cast all our sins into the bottom of the sea," and then despair if thou canst. The sea by its vastness can drown mountains as well as mole hills; and the sun by his force can scatter the greatest mist, as well as the least vapour. So here.
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 Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv22–24I have blotted out, as a thick cloud; as…
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud; as the sun commonly dissolveth, or the wind scattereth, the thickest and blackest cloud, so as there is no remnant nor appearance of it left. Return from thine idolatry, and other wicked practices.
I have redeemed thee; therefore thou art mine, and obliged to return and adhere to me.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv22–24I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy…
I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins,.... Sins and transgressions are compared to clouds, for the number of them, they being many as the fleeting clouds of the air; and for the nature and quality of them: as clouds are vapours rising out of the earth and sea, so these arise out of the earthly and corrupt heart of man, which is as a troubled sea; and, like the clouds, they reach up to the heavens, and the cry of them calls aloud for vengeance from thence; they cause darkness, even all that darkness, both in unregeneracy, and after conversion; they intercept the light of God's countenance, and interpose between God and the souls of men, and cause him to hide his face from them; they come between them and the sun of righteousness, and cover him out of their sight; and by means of them the light and comfort of the Holy Spirit are withdrawn; and they hinder the free passage of prayer to God, at least as to the apprehension of God's people; see Isa 59:2, and they portend a storm, and threaten with a tempest of divine wrath and vengeance; but God graciously forgives them; which is meant by "blotting" them out. Clouds are blotted out either by the wind dissipating and scattering them; or by the sun breaking through them, conquering and dispersing them, which perhaps is alluded to here; and designs not the satisfaction of Christ for sin; by which he has finished and made an end of it; but rather God's act of pardon upon it, and the application of it to his people; or the discoveries of it by Christ himself, the sun of righteousness, arising upon them with healing in his wings, that is, with pardon to their souls; saying to them, thy sins, though many, are forgiven thee; and they are so blotted out and removed as to be seen no more, and as if they had never been, as a cloud is; not only no more seen by the avenging eye of divine justice, but so removed from them as not to be seen by them, as to have no more conscience of them, or feel the load and burden of them; and though other clouds or sins may arise, yet these also are blotted out in the same way, and shall never appear against the saints to their condemnation. And as, when clouds are blotted out, there is a clear sky, a serene heaven, the sun shines in its brightness, and everything is pleasant and delightful; so when sin is pardoned, or it appears to be so, then God is beheld as the God of all grace, as all grace and love; the sinner can go with a holy boldness to him, through the blood of Christ, as being pardoned, and has fellowship with him; the evidences of interest in Christ become clear, and the comforts of the Holy Ghost are enjoyed. And let it be observed, that as no man can reach the clouds, and blot any of them out; so none can forgive sins but God, this is his sole prerogative, Isa 43:25. Here is mention made of a cloud, and a thick cloud; no clouds are so thick but God can blot them out, and these are no sins so great but he can forgive them; clouds, and thick clouds, are blotted out, lesser and greater sins are forgiven by him. Some read the words thus, "I have blotted out", wiped or washed away, "as with a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as with a cloud thy sins" (n); and give the sense thus, as clouds pouring down with rain wash the streets from the filth of them, so the Lord, as with a deluge of pardoning grace and mercy, washes away the sins of his people; grace superabounds abounding sin, and carries it all before it, and removes it clear away; now this blessing of grace is mentioned, to attach the people of God to his service, as it follows:
return unto me, for I have redeemed thee; this supposes them to have backslidden from the Lord in heart or in practice, in life and conversation, or in both, and yet the Lord had forgiven them; and which was a reason why they should return to him by repentance; as nothing is a greater motive to it, or more strongly influences it, than a discovery of pardoning grace; and then the people of God do return to God as their Father, who graciously receives them, and to Christ as their husband, to whom they are married, though backslidden, and to their duty to both. So the Targum,
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"return to my worship or service;''
the reason or argument enforcing it is very strong, "for I have redeemed thee"; from sin, and all its sad effects; from the law, and the curses of it; and from death and hell, and wrath to come; and therefore need not fear any of these things, or fear coming to the Lord on account of them. Such, who are redeemed, need not doubt but they shall be kindly received, though they have backslidden, and that no good thing will be withheld from them; for if God has given his Son to redeem them, he will give all things freely with him; besides, being redeemed, they are the Lord's, and therefore ought to return to him, and glorify him with their bodies and spirits, which are his; and as they are redeemed from our vain conversation, they should return from it, and not indulge one, or otherwise the end of redemption is not answered: and this being joined with the forgiveness of sin in the preceding clause, shows that that proceeds upon the foot of redemption, or upon the foot of satisfaction made by Christ; and both furnish out arguments engaging to the service of God.
(n) So some in Gataker.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv22–23As a cloud - So that there is no…
As a cloud - So that there is no remnant of it left.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv22, 24Verse 22. I have blotted out, as a thick…
Verse 22. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins - "I have made thy transgressions vanish away like a cloud, and thy sins like a vapour"] Longinus admired the sublimity of the sentiment, as well as the harmony of the numbers, in the following sentence of Demosthenes: Τουτο το ψηφισμα τον τοτε τῃ πολει τερισταντα κινδυνον παρελθειν εποιησεν ὡσπερ νεφος. "This decree made the danger then hanging over the city pass away like a cloud." Probably Isaiah alludes here to the smoke rising up from the sin-offering, dispersed speedily by the wind. and rendered invisible. He who offered his sacrifice aright was as sure that the sin for which he offered it was blotted out, as that the smoke of the sacrifice was dispersed by the wind, and was no longer discernible.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn v24Isa 44:24-27. I am the Lord that maketh all…
Isa 44:24-27. I am the Lord that maketh all things — And therefore I can save thee without the help of any other gods, or any creature; that frustrateth the tokens of the liars — Of the magicians and astrologers, who were numerous and greatly esteemed in Babylon, and who had foretold the long continuance and prosperity of the Chaldean empire. And maketh the diviners mad — With grief for the disappointment of their predictions, and their disgrace which followed it. That turneth wise men backward — Stopping their way, and blasting their designs. That confirmeth the word of his servants — The prophets, as appears from the next clause, namely, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others, whom God sent to foretel the destruction of Babylon, and the redemption of his people. The connection of this with Isa 44:25, is, As God discovers the folly and madness of such false prophets, so he punctually fulfils the predictions of his own prophets. That saith to the deep, Be dry — That with a word can dry up the sea and rivers, and remove all impediments. “Cyrus took Babylon by laying the bed of the Euphrates dry, and leading his army into the city by night, through the empty channel of the river. This remarkable circumstance, in which the event so exactly corresponded with the prophecy, was also noted by Jeremiah. A drought shall be upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: I will lay her sea dry; and I will scorch up her springs, Jer 50:38; Jer 51:36. It is proper here to give some account of the method by which the stratagem of Cyrus was effected. The Euphrates, in the middle of summer, from the melting of the snows on the mountains of Armenia, like the Nile, overflows the country. In order to diminish the inundation, and carry off the waters, two canals were made by Nebuchadnezzar a hundred miles above the city; the first on the eastern side, called Naharmalca, or the Royal river, by which the Euphrates was let into the Tigris; the other on the western side, called Pallacopas, or Naharaga, (Hebrew, נהר אגם, the river of the pool,) by which the redundant waters were carried into a vast lake, forty miles square, contrived, not only to lessen the inundation, but for a reservoir, with sluices to water the barren country on the Arabian side. Cyrus, by turning the whole river into the latter lake, laid the channel, where it ran through the city, almost dry; so that his army entered it both above and below by the bed of the river, the water not reaching above the middle of the thigh. By the great quantity of water let into the lake, the sluices and dams were destroyed; and being never repaired afterward, the waters spread over the whole country below, and reduced it into a morass, in which the river is lost.” — Bishop Lowth.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv22–24I have blotted out - The word used here…
I have blotted out - The word used here (מחח mâchâh), means properly “to wipe away,” and is often applied to sins, as if the account was wiped off, or as we express it, blotted out (Psa 51:3, Psa 51:11; see the note at Isa 43:25). The phrase, ‘to blot out sins like a cloud,’ however, is unusual, and the idea not very obvious. The true idea would be expressed by rendering it, ‘I have made them to vanish as a thick cloud;’ and the sense is, as the wind drives away a thick cloud, however dark and frowning it may be, so that the sky is clear and serene, so God had caused their sins to disappear, and had removed the storm of his anger. Nothing can more strikingly represent sin in its nature and consequences, than a dense, dark, frowning cloud that comes over the heavens, and shuts out the sun, and fills the air with gloom; and nothing can more beautifully represent the nature and effect of pardon than the idea of removing such a cloud, and leaving the sky pure, the air calm and serene, and the sun pouring down his beams of warmth and light on the earth. So the soul of the sinner is enveloped and overshadowed with a dense cloud; but pardon dissipates that cloud, and it is calm, and joyful, and serene.
And as a cloud - The Chaldee render this, ‘As a flying cloud.’ The difference between the two words rendered here ‘thick cloud,’ and ‘cloud’ ( עב ‛âb and ענן ‛ânân) is, that the former is expressive of a cloud as dense, thick, compact; and the latter as covering or veiling the heavens. Lowth renders the latter word ‘Vapour;’ Noyes, ‘Mist.’ Both words, however, usually denote a cloud. A passage similar to this is found in Demosthenes, as quoted by Lowth: ‘This decree made the danger then hanging over the city pass away like a cloud.
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Return unto me - Since your sins are pardoned, and such mercy has been shown, return now, and serve me. The argument here is derived from the mercy of God in forgiving them, and the doctrine is, that the fact that God has forgiven us imposes the strongest obligations to devote ourselves to his service. The fact that we are redeemed and pardoned is the highest argument why we should consecrate all our powers to him who has purchased and forgiven us.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn v22Return from captivity, (Calmet) and from their former errors,…
Return from captivity, (Calmet) and from their former errors, Matthew xi. 26. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv22–24blotted out--the debt of thy sin from the account-book…
blotted out--the debt of thy sin from the account-book in which it was entered (Exo 32:32-33; Rev 20:12).
as a thick cloud--scattered away by the wind (Psa 103:12).
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as a cloud--a descending gradation. Not only the "thick cloud" of the heavier "transgressions," but the "cloud" ("vapor" [LOWTH], not so dense, but covering the sky as a mist) of the countless "sins." These latter, though not thought much of by man, need, as much as the former, to be cleared away by the Sun of righteousness; else they will be a mist separating us from heaven (Psa 19:12-13; Jo1 1:7-9).
return . . . for--The antecedent redemption is the ground of, and motive to, repentance. We do not repent in order that He may redeem us, but because He hath redeemed us (Zac 12:10; Luk 24:47; Act 3:18-19). He who believes in his being forgiven cannot but love (Luk 7:43, Luk 7:47).
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. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv22–2422. Blotted… clouds… sins — Two-fold figure of clouds…
22. Blotted… clouds… sins — Two-fold figure of clouds obscuring the sun and of sins hiding the face of God. Clouds being removed, the sun, with the clear blue heavens, comes to view; so sins repented of, bring sense of approval from God, revealing the truth, I have redeemed thee.
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 Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv22–2422. Cf. ch. Isa_43:25. “The sense of being forgotten…
22. Cf. ch. Isa_43:25. “The sense of being forgotten of God is produced by the consciousness of guilt; hence the promise of forgiveness is here repeated” (Dillmann).
as a thick cloud … as a cloud] An image of transitoriness; Hos_6:4; Hos_13:3; Job_7:9; Job_30:15.
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 Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv22–24(22) I have blotted out, as a thick cloud.—Better,…
(22) I have blotted out, as a thick cloud.—Better, mist. The Authorised Version half suggests the idea that it is the cloud that hides the sins from view. What is meant is that the sins of Israel are put away, as the sun and wind drive away the mists and fogs (Job_30:15); and that this is, in idea at least, if not in time, prior to the conversion as that which makes it possible.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv22–24I have blotted out... thy sins. (comp. Isa_43:25) The…
I have blotted out... thy sins. (comp. Isa_43:25) The promise there made is here represented as having its fulfilment. Before God reverses his sentence and restores his people, he must first forgive them. As a thick cloud... as a cloud. It would be better to translate, as a cloud... as a thick cloud. The latter of the two Hebrew words used is the more emphatic. Return unto me. This is an underlying condition, both of restoration and of forgiveness. Only the penitent can be received back into favour. The knowledge, however, that God has, in Iris counsels, "redeemed" his people generally, may act as a stimulus on individuals to repent and turn to him.
God"s way of pleading with men.
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Put in other words, the statement of this text is, "As a cloud is blotted out of the heavens, so have I blotted out thy transgressions." But it is difficult for us to realize what is meant by "blotting out a cloud." So far as we have to do with clouds, we cannot speak of them as "blotted out." Some swiftly hurry by; others move majestically along, they go out of sight into some other quarter of the heavens; but we do not see them vanish from their place in mid-sky, and become "blotted out." Sometimes the cloud sends down showers upon the earth, and so it exhausts itself; but that cannot be the image of our text, because it intimates a putting away of our sins, so that they shall not shower down upon us the tribulation and anguish that is gathered up in all transgression. But the image which our damp climate cannot furnish is given in the sunny lands of the East. There, in the morning, will often be seen dull heavy masses of clouds, and there is every indication of a showery day. But as the sun rises and gathers strength, these clouds all varnish and disappear; they do not drift away, or pass into another part of the heavens; they just vanish on the spot, they die away, they are "blotted out." Understood thus, it is a striking and impressive figure. Even thus the thick clouds of our sins darken the sky, and those sin-clouds bear manifest tokens of punishment and wrath. But thus also God"s love, the sun of his forgiving love, arises, shines out full, and the sin-cloud is dispelled, it vanishes away. It is not driven into the future, to await us there; it is just "blotted out," forgiven and forgotten. With other most impressive figures God endeavours to convince us of the fulness of his forgiving. He makes his servant say, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. " Where is the east? Where is the west? Is it yonder ridge of hill, behind which we saw the sun set yesterday? Nay, did you stand on that very spot, the west would be still away, away, in the dim distance. The more you hurry toward the east, the further you get away from the west. Go east, and try to find your forgiven sins; behold God has put them in the utmost west. Elsewhere we renal of God"s "casting our sins behind his back." He not merely puts them behind his back, he casts them there; his love refuses to look on them, his forgiving restoring love will not treasure them up against us; they are flung away; they are done with; they are bonds cancelled, debts settled for ever. And there is another figure that of "casting our sins into the depths of the sea." Take a jewel, and when upon mid-ocean, drop it over the ship"s side into the waters. It is gone. None can descend into those depths and bring it back again. So God, as it were, binds up the book, the "handwriting of ordinances that was against us." He drops it in mid-ocean. And as we see it go, our hearts should be filled with thankful, trustful love to the great Forgiver. To a full return to him who has so dealt with our sins the text invites. This is God"s way of pleading.
I OUR REDEMPTION IS AN ACCOMPLISHED FACT. The terms of the text are very explicit: "I have blotted out I have redeemed." Redemption is not a matter which has to be settled; it is settled. We too often speak of needing to be redeemed; we should speak much more of realizing our redemption entering into the life and privilege bought for us, and offered to us in the sovereign mercy of our God. That redemption should be regarded as an accomplished fact is taught by our Lord.
1. See the parable of the prodigal son. The charm of the parable is the lookit gives us into the lather"s heart. He had forgiven the son in his heart long before the forgiving word could be spoken.
2. The parable of the feast. The message sent forth is, "Come, for all things are now ready.
3. Notice how Christ directed the thoughts of men to himself. If our redemption were. not an accomplished fact, of which our Lord was the Divine expression and persuasion, how could he say, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"?
4. This is, indeed, involved in the doctrine of the cross of Christ. God provided that cross as the highest expression of his love to us; it is the persuasion that he has forgiven. It is not in order that he may love us, it is because he did love us, that he gave his only begotten Son.
5. Observe the new terms of condemnation set forth in the gospel: "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life;" "He that believeth not is condemned already." God looks on men as forgiven, but tested by their thoughts of Christ, by their acceptance of his offered love and friendship in the person of Jesus Christ. God says, "I have redeemed you." If you will turn to God, return to God, you shall realize that you are redeemed. If you will not return, then that very redemption will gather into a burden, weightier far than all others that can come upon you.
II OUR REDEMPTION, AS AN ACCOMPLISHED FACT, IS GOD"S GREAT POWER ON HUMAN SOULS. This is the very essence of the gospel the "good news" of God. God is a forgiving God. He has forgiven in his heart; he speaks his forgiveness in Christ. He can pass by iniquity, transgression, and sin. He can keep his righteousness before all his creatures, and Yet reach down a hand of acceptance to us.
1. The cry of God, in olden days, was the cry of this forgiving love, "Ho, every one that thirsteth," etc. (Isa_55:1) The wine and milk are bought; they are set ready; take, and eat.
2. Apostles preached a perfect salvation. They told men it was wrought it was done. They preached remission of sins in the Name of Jesus. Our faith is not asked for a scheme partially realized, a salvation partially accomplished, that needs the addition of our delayings, our tears, our prayers, our goodnesses. It was perfect before we had one thought about it. It sprang out of God"s own love; it was manifested in God"s own perfect way. He has redeemed us, and wants the fact of his redemption to be a gracious persuasion of us to come to him. We have seen the little bird taken from its nest in the woods, and put into the cage, and it seemed to be happy even with the bars all round it. Not always happy. Sometimes it would flap its wings against the bars, and try to get free, when a glint of warmer sunshine broke in upon it. And when the door was opened, wide opened, the bird scarcely knew what to do; it seemed bewildered, as if it could not believe such good news. But at last it seemed to flash upon it, "I am free free to the wild woods, and the open sky, and the glad sunshine." And at once it spread its wings and fled away. We are like that bird, caged in with sin: the bars are all round us. Some of us are willing to be caged, some of us fret to be caged. And the fact is that God has set before us an open door. Yet we stand irresolute. What! is the cage really open? May we come forth into the sky of God"s free favour and acceptance? Has God kept his holiness and his truth, and yet can he open the door? That is the truth, that is the assurance of the text. That is God"s way of pleading, "Return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. R.T.
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 Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn vv22–24I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy…
Isa_44:22
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions
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Sin blotted out
The meaning of the verse may be--He who offered his sacrifice aright, was as sure that the sin for which he offered it was blotted out, as that the smoke of the sacrifice was dispersed by the wind, and was no longer discernible.
(E. Thompson, D. D.)
Blotting out sin: a classical side-light:
This decree made the danger then hanging over the city, pass away like a cloud. (Demosthenes.)
Clouds and sins:
Clouds do good; but transgressions and sins never do good. They do no good to the body, no good to the soul, no good to the spirit, no good to our present condition, or to our future circumstances; and, in this respect, clouds are unlike sins. Yet there are points of resemblance between clouds and sins. Clouds veil the sun; and sins hide the loving face of God. Clouds hide the lofty firmament; and sins conceal heaven. Clouds contract the prospect; and sins prevent the sight of all coming good. Clouds drop down in rain; and sins fall in punishment. Clouds are beyond our control; and sins committed are entirely out of our power. Clouds are dispersible only by God; and sins God alone can drive away. This is the point of the analogy instituted in our text. (S. Martin.)
Not a cloud to be seen:
I. THE DIVINENESS OF FORGIVENESS. I have blotted out, &c. I, even I. All sin is against God. When you sin against each other you sin against God. And all punishment is in Gods hands; and the dispensation of pardon is His prerogative. Blessed be God for keeping it within His own power! Pardon is dispensed faithfully and wisely, for God is light. Pardon is dispensed graciously, for God is love. And pardon is given according to the Divine promise and covenant, for God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
II. THE COMPLETENESS OF PARDON. In the country which Isaiah knew, the clouds were entirely blotted out during four months of the year; so that it was an extraordinary thing from May to September, to see a cloud: and the clearness of the atmosphere enabled the prophet to appreciate this illustration to an extent impossible to us, who are so often under a leaden sky. Still, even here, we do know what it is to stand under a blue sky. In the morning, or in the evening, or late at night, we know what it is to stand under the cloudless heavens, and to say, There is not a cloud to be seen. And when God pardons a man there is not a sin to be seen. The sins of childhood, and youth, and maturity-the sins of every year, and day, and hour--are blotted out. The sins of the body, and the sins of the soul--the sins of the tongue, and of the hand, and of every member of the body--the sins of the thought, and of the imagination, and of desire, and ofaffection, and of volition, are all blotted out. The sins of the heart, and the sins of the home, the sins of the place of business, and the sins of the Church, and the sins committed against brothers and sisters, and kindred of every degree--against husband, and wife, and children, and neighbours, and friends, and the country, sins against the Saviour, and against the Holy Spirit, and against our Father in Heaven are blotted out. Sins wilful, sins careless, sins repeated, sins aggravated, are all blotted out. Not some sins, but all sins. The least are not overlooked; the worst are not reserved. Pardon is not the mitigation of punishment--it is not the passing by of some transgressions and the bringing forward of others--but an entire remission of future punishment. Sin is not behind following us; sin is not before preventing us; sin is not above falling upon us; sin is not on either hand hemming us in. Pardoned by God, our sins are gone; actually gone for ever.
III. THE ASSURANCE WHICH GOD GIVES THE PARDONED THAT THEY ARE FORGIVEN. God might forgive without telling us now that He has pardoned us. He might reserve the communication of this fact until the last great day. But He would have the forgiven know that they are pardoned. Now what profit is there in this? Knowledge of pardon is a particular knowledge of God. A man who is pardoned sees God in the dispensation of Divine forgiveness, as God is not to be seen elsewhere, or in any other dispensation. It is one thing to see God in the general provision He has made for the supply of our wants, and quite another thing for us to see God applying that provision to ourselves. A knowledge of pardon is a source of joy and peace. It is, moreover, a power awakening love. You remember the case of the woman who came to Christ, upon the occasion of the great banquet given to Him by one of the chief of the Pharisees. Then, the knowledge of pardon is a motive to the pursuit of holiness.
IV. THE KNOWLEDGE OF PARDON ENCOURAGES US TO BRING OTHERS TO GOD.
V. WHO ARE THE ASSURED?
1. Those who confess to Him their sins.
2. The confession is to be accompanied by the forsaking of sin.
3. There is no forsaking sin, without turning to God. (S. Martin.)
What man can and cannot do:
Man may divert the course of a river, and fill up the former bed; thus blotting out in certain places the river. Man may pare down portions of the hills; thus blotting out the hills. Man may raise the valley; thus blotting out the valley. Man may drain the lake, and sow it with seed, and raise crops upon the soil of the lakes bed; thus blotting out the lake. Man may, to a small extent, alter the boundaries of the ocean; thus blotting out in some places even the sea. Man may tunnel the earth and make a highway where foot never trod. But man can neither bring clouds into the firmament, nor send them away. Moreover a man may blot out ignorance by teaching, and folly by instruction, and some bad habits by good training, and animal wants by the supply of temporal necessities, and captivity by release, and disease by healing; but no man can forgive sins. The dispensation of pardon is too precious, and too important, to be entrusted to men or to angels. (S. Martin.)
Pardon not entrusted to men or angels:
A man, if he were entrusted with the dispensation of forgiveness, might be sleeping, or journeying, or sick, or in various ways out of reach. A man might be angry, or morose, or occupied, or unloving, when the penitent was calling for forgiveness. And an angel might take a hypocrite for a true penitent, or a contrite one for a hypocrite; or he might hesitate to forgive some chief of sinners. God keeps the dispensation of forgiveness in His own kind hand. (S. Martin.)
Sin and forgiveness:
There is, at first sight, a little obscurity in this expression. Is the cloud intended to represent the sin, or is it the obscurity with which the sin is to be obliterated? Does the text liken transgressions to a cloud which is to be driven away, or the transgression to be covered and blotted out as if by a cloud? There is a difference in opinion with regard to the matter. But there is no reason for not taking the words literally as they stand, and looking upon sin as likened to a cloud.
I. THE FIGURE UNDER WHICH SIN IS REPRESENTED. A cloud; a thick cloud. It affords an apt illustration of human evil.
1. Clouds obscure the beauty of the earth. Sin obscures the prospects of the soul and shuts out the glories of the heavenly horizon! It blurs the outline of truth, it disturbs our views of life, of our fellow-creatures, of our own actions and the actions and motives of others, of the providence and dealings of God, of the true import of existence, of the future and the past. What is evil seems good; what is good seems evil; what is real seems false; and what is false appears true.
2. Clouds intercept the light of heaven. And what hides the full brightness of the face of God, who is the source of all spiritual light and warmth and joy, but sin? Your iniquities have separated between Me and you. Our sins have kept the revelation of full light and the manifestation of fullest love from vivifying and rejoicing our hearts. Not that even sin entirely obscures Gods mercy and love. The darkest cloud cannot altogether hide the light of day. The suns rays are so powerful that they penetrate even through the thickest mists. But what a contrast is the feeble light of a November day to that of the genial sunbeam in June! So not even sin can entirely hide the Divine influence of the love of God or prevent it from warming the earth. But how different is its manifestation to what it was amid the glories of Paradise!
3. Clouds cause inconvenience and discomfort. The traveller amid the mountain mists, with his garments soddened and weighted with the moisture, his breathing laboured and his movements hampered, is a fitting representative of the Christian journeying heavenwards amid the many hindrances which check his progress through the uncongenial atmosphere of this sinful world, saturated with the essence, as it were, of iniquity.
4. Clouds are about us everywhere.
(1) They overshadow every portion of the globe. Not in the same intensity, not always in the same place, not similar in appearance and density.
(2) Does not sin, like the clouds, everywhere compass the spiritual world? It varies, indeed, Some countries are more enlightened, and the clouds not being so dense, more is seen and felt of the light and warmth of the Sun of Righteousness. But there are other countries where mental and spiritual clouds dominate in various degrees of density, till we arrive at those places where the savage reigns supreme and no ray of the light of heaven ever penetrates.
(3) Are not the clouds a fitting image of sin in their deceptive beauty? There are occasions when evil shines resplendent with the borrowed glory of heaven. How many noble characters have, in the virtues reflected from Christianity, attracted for a time the admiration and rapture of an astonished and delighted world! For a time! For as soon as the reflection from above, which imparted glory to their characters, was gone, they sank: again into their native nature of darkness and gloom. And observe how much the reflection of Divine truth and heavenly law beautifies this world of ours, with all its sin! The philanthropy towards those who are weak and suffering, the courtesy towards the feeble, the hospitals which are provided, the many means which are adopted for exalting the race: all these are the glints of heavenly sunshine reflected upon the clouds of sin.
(4) We also see that the clouds resemble sin because of their unreality. There is nothing on which a man can trust or lean or hope. They are unsubstantial, empty, frail.
(5) They also are changing, fleeting, driven away by all kinds and by every breath of wind; never the same, unstable, assuming all sorts of guises in the presence of the light.
II. THE PROMISE WHICH IS HERE BESTOWED. Although the statement is put in the past--I have blotted out--yet it is really a future and a conditional declaration. The early part of this chapter is a description of awful impenitence and apostasy. In purpose, in intention, this is forgiven, but it is not a forgiveness independent of reformation. We have seen the sky when the summer sun has driven away the clouds. It is deep, unfathomable, ethereal, blue. The suns glory is undimmed. The whole of nature rejoices with unspeakable joy. The heart rebounds with lightness. Not a speck on the surface of the heaven casts a shadow on the earth. Such is the idea of a world without sin. All brightness and no clouds, all joy without a sorrow to dim its glory. And this is the spiritual gist of the promise which the great God has made to His believing people. It is an assurance so certain that it is spoken of as having actually taken place. And how will God blot out the sins of His people? By the same means as physically disperse the clouds of earth.
1. By the tempests of wrath. The tempest of Gods wrath, as it fell upon the head of Christ, sent a current of electric justice through the load of sin and rendered it possible for its power to be removed.
2. By the glorious shining of rays of warmth and light. It is the warmth of Gods infinite, eternal love that shall disperse the last trace of sin. That love shining from His throne shall drive all the consequences of evil from the heart, from the life. And with the clouds of sin shall go all other clouds--the clouds of suffering, of sorrow, of death. And when sin is driven away, that love shall shine in unceasing glory. It will not be limited to time, or place, or season, or circumstance. It will not come in diminished or lessened degrees, but it will be perfect, pure, and complete. Still, this is but a figure--an incomplete one, too--one which has its deficiencies. But God Himself gave it out. (J. J. S. Bird, B. A.)
Forgiveness: its blessings and its duties:
I. AN IMPORTANT DECLARATION. I have blotted out, &c.
II. A CORRESPONDING DUTY. Return unto Me.
III. AN ALL-CONSTRAINING MOTIVE. I have redeemed thee. (S. Bridge, M. A.)
Sin and grace:
I. THERE IS RECOGNISED THE EXISTENCE OF SIN.
II. THERE IS AFFIRMED THE EXISTENCE OF MERCY. (W. M.Punshon, LL. D.)
Invitation:
The features of the Divine character, and the blessings of salvation, which are to be manifested in Gods dealings with Israel in the latter days, are the very same as are now manifested in Gods dealings with all believers. We may consider the text, then, as an exhibition of Gods mercy, in which we are ourselves interested.
I. With reference to HIS MERCY.
1. The first words of the text denote an act of Gods gracious forgiveness. I have blotted out thy transgressions and thy sins. In the New Testament scriptures, this expression blotting out is connected with the atonement Col_2:14).
2. The language of pardoning mercy goes still farther. As a thick cloud. How is a thick cloud blotted out? When a debt is blotted out from a debt book, the blot remains. It is true there is no evidence against the sinner; the charge against him is at an end; but the remains of what was a debt are to be seen, and the very act of cancelling it shows that there was a debt. But when a cloud is blotted out, it is different. How is that cloud blotted out? Either by the wind dispersing it, or by the sun breaking through it and dispersing it; and when this is done, we say either that the storm is blown over, or that there is now a clear sky, and all that we can see, if we see anything, with regard to the threatening cloud, is now composed of those beautiful hues which are lighted up by the shining of a bright sun in a clear sky. Well, then, when God says that He will blot out as a thick cloud our transgressions, and as a cloud our sin, we are to understand that He undertakes to remove all traces of our transgressions and all remains of guilt from the conscience, so that the sinner thus pardoned may look up to God as a Father full of grace and love, and may approach Him with holy boldness, and without any particle of fear. Observe, then, what full forgiveness God assures us of in this language. Thick clouds, as well as ordinary clouds,--two expressions which must be taken in a figurative meaning, as including all kinds of sin--what we call greater and lesser sins alike--are what the Lord declares His purpose to do away with, and completely to remove from being a ground of fear to those who approach Him in the name of His dear Son.
3. Now, inasmuch as no one can disperse a thick cloud but the God who can send His bright sun to shine through it, so none hut that God who proclaims Himself a pardoning God and Saviour can say, so that the conscience of the sinner shall respond, I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. And this is the forgiveness in which God delights--full, complete, and such as only He Himself can bestow.
II. But in order that this mercy may be ours, and that we may rejoice in it, IT IS NEEDFUL THAT WE SHOULD RIGHTLY RESPOND to that intimation of Gods grace. I have blotted out thy transgressions. Return unto Me.
1. It is the Redeemer who calls, because it says, Return, for I have redeemed thee.
2. How different to our natural expectation is this! The Redeemer crying after the sinner, instead of the sinner crying after the Redeemer.
3. Then observe how the language before us manifests the deep concern of God our Saviour. Return to Me. He would not speak in language like this, if it were not a matter of immense moment to the sinner to return.
4. There is another suggestion: for what purpose is this call of entreaty made? Not that the sinner may receive punishment. God calls thee, O careless one, not to be frowned upon, but smiled upon.
5. Then, after all this intimation of grace on the part of God, there can be no hope of lasting peace or a future glory, except as we return.
III. NOTICE THE LOVE IN THE ASSURANCE THAT HE GIVES ABOUT REDEMPTION. Return, for I have redeemed thee. What return do you make to the call of Him who assures of mercy and redemption, and who graciously says, Return? (W. Cadman, M. A.)
The cloud of sin and its dispersion:
I. A wonderful teaching as to the INMOST NATURE OF SIN. I refer especially to the two words for sin which are employed here. That translated transgression literally means treachery or rebellion, and that translated sin missing a mark. All iniquity is stamped with this damning characteristic, it is rebellion against a loving will, an infinite King, a tender Father. And all iniquity has this, by the merciful irony of Providence, associated with it, that it is a blunder as well as a crime.
II. THE PERMANENT RECORD OF SIN. I have blotted out. That points, of course, to something that has been written, and which it promises shall be erased. It may be, perhaps, the idea rather of a stain which is covered and removed, but that I think less probable than the other one, that the evil is written down somewhere. A book written; a permanent record of my evil doing. Where is it written? Where, rather, is it not written? Written on character, written to a very large extent even on circumstances, written above all in the calm, perfect memory of the all-judging God. The book is written by ourselves, moment by moment, and day by day. We write it with invisible ink, and it only needs to be held to the fire to flash up into legibility.
III. THE DARKENING POWER OF SIN. I have blotted out as a thick cloud. When the cloud draws its veil over the heavens, the sunshine and the blue are shut out from a mans eye, and all the flowerets close; and when the heaven is veiled the birds cease to sing. So, like a misty veil drawn across the face of the heavens are mans sins. Our only way of knowing God is by sympathy, by conformity.
IV. THE REMOVAL OF THE SIN. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. The erasure implies the making a clean sheet of the blurred page; the cancelling of the whole long formidable column of figures that expresses the debt. The blotting out as a cloud implies the disappearing of the misty vapour, as some thin fleecy film will do in the dry Eastern heavens, melting away as a man looks. So God, in His marvellous patience, shining on the upper side, as it were, of all the mists that wrap and darken our souls, thins these away by the process of self-communication, until they gather themselves up, routed and broken, and disappear, floating in thin fragments beneath the visual horizon. It is to no purpose to ask whether that means pardon or cleansing. It means both. Isaiah could proclaim: I have blotted out thy transgressions, because Isaiah could also proclaim: The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. Now, mark this, that this removal of sin, in all its aspects and powers, is regarded in my text as a past accomplished fact. It is not set forth as contingent upon the mans return, but as the reason for his return. I have redeemed thee, therefore come back to Me, not Come back to Me that I may redeem thee. You have to take your portion of the great blessing by the simple act and exercise of faith in Jesus Christ. Then it becomes yours. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Sin as clouds
It is by no means an uncommon circumstance to find in the Bible the very same natural object employed as a symbol of very different and even opposite things. Thus, the lion is used as the emblem both of Christ and of the Prince of Darkness; fire is used as the emblem both of Divine purity and of human suffering; water is used as the emblem both of peace and of trouble; and the cloud is employed as an emblem both of good and evil. Here the Almighty Himself speaks of sin as a cloud. In order to guard against an abuse of the comparison, notice two striking points of dissimilarity.
(1) Clouds are objects of beauty.
(2) Clouds are sources of blessing. In what respect, then, is sin like a cloud?
I. He blotteth out sin as a cloud which OBSTRUCTS THE GENIAL INFLUENCES OF HEAVEN. It rolls like a thick cloud between God and the soul. It obstructs the rays of His love; it makes life gloomy and sad.
II. He blotteth out sins as a cloud which RISES FROM BENEATH. Whence come these clouds? Not from the celestial regions. They are exhalations from the earth. From noxious marshy lands and stagnant pools, as well as from restless seas they rise. So it is with sin. It is an exhalation from the depraved heart. The clouds that roll between the soul and its God are an aggregation of the noxious vapours that have risen from the heart.
III. He blotteth out sins as a cloud which EXISTS IN EVERY VARIETY OF FORM. Clouds are endless in their variety. It is so with sin. You have it in the fleeting thought, the transient feeling, the passing word; as well as in the deep plot, the cherished passions, the confirmed habits, the dark, dark life.
IV. He blotteth out sins as a cloud which is CHARGED WITH EVIL. Whilst clouds are sources of blessings to the world, they are often filled with elements of destruction. There are forged the thunderbolts that terrify; there are kindled the lightnings that consume; there are the floods that deluge. It is so with sin. The miseries of retribution are all nursed in it as storms in the cloud.
V. He blotteth out sins as a cloud WHICH NO FINITE INTELLIGENCE CAN DISPERSE. Who can dispel the smallest cloud from the face of the sky? No skill, no strength, can dispel one cloud. It is so with sin. No finite being can dispel it. No Church, priesthood, &c.
VI. He blotteth out sins as a cloud, which ONCE DISPERSED, IS GONE FOR EVER. Sins pardoned, like clouds dispersed, are lost for ever. In those days, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found, for I will pardon them.
VII. He blotteth out sins as a cloud, which WHEN DISSIPATED BENEFITS THE UNIVERSE. (Homilist.)
Gods forgiveness:
I. A DESCRIPTION OF SIN. Mans transgressions are as a thick cloud.
1. In their number.
(1) The sins of the wicked--murders, revellings, debaucheries, and the like.
(2) The sins of the moral man--intellectual sins, worse than the animal--avarice, pride, ambition, unbelief.
(3) The sins of the good. The lives of the best of men may seem, to the natural eye, holy and good; but, seen under the microscope of Gods law, these are full of impurities.
2. Because they intervene between God and man.
3. Because they engloom the earth.
4. Because they contain the consequences which we dread. Out of the cloud the angry lightnings flash, and in the cloud the fury of the tempest sleeps.
II. A DESCRIPTION OF FORGIVENESS. I have blotted out, &c. You have witnessed the dispersion of a storm. This is a symbol of Gods forgiveness.
1. It is so because it is the work of God only. It is a transaction in which man has no share.
2. Gods forgiveness is a complete forgiveness.
3. May we not learn that all sin is overruled to our good? After the storm has gone over us, have we not found the atmosphere purified? Can we not see that the world is disciplined by the deluge of evils which pours forth from the clouds of sin?
4. This is a symbol of Gods forgiveness in respect to the gladness which succeeds the storm. The prophet represents the whole earth as awakening, after the dispersion of the storm, to exultant joy. Sing, O ye heavens, &c. Such is the joy of the world on account of Gods forgiveness.
III. A DESCRIPTION OF THE CONDUCT OF THE FORGIVEN. Return unto Me, &c. (H. M. Jackson.)
Departing clouds:
The bestowment of spiritual blessings is a warrant for the expectation of all needful temporal blessings. This passage is the foundation on which God causes His ancient people to rest. Gods forgiving love is the promise of all needful help and grace.
I. WE MAKE OUR OWN CLOUDS. As the natural clouds are formed by the vapours drawn up from the sea, so, in a degree, those clouds which darken our skies are the effects of our transgressions.
II. GOD MAKES OUR CLOUDS THE MINISTERS OF HIS MERCY. The natural clouds are the ministers of His mercy, the testimonies of His faithful care, of His loving thoughtfulness for the children of men. But how wonderful that the clouds of our sins should be the ministers of His mercy! The clouds lead us to appreciate the glorious sunlight.
III. GOD DISPERSES OUR CLOUDS BY THE INTERVENTION OF HIS REDEEMING LOVE AND POWER. Clouds move in obedience to natures laws; and the clouds of our sins cannot be blotted out in an arbitrary method. Not as a bad debt, not as chalked figures may be obliterated. God is a Father, but He is a moral Governor. Even He has only a right to blot out transgressions, because He has redeemed.
IV. GOD DISPERSES OUR CLOUDS IN ORDER THAT WE MAY STAND IN THE CLEAR SUNSHINE. When sin is blotted out, then the soul is started on a career of never-ending fruitfulness.
V. GOD MAKES THE DEPARTING CLOUDS HIS PATHETIC PREACHERS. Return unto Me. Every time we see the clouds sweeping across the heavens, let us listen to their still small voice. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
Gods abundant pardon:
In pardoning His people God freely forgives them all their sins of every description, flowing from corrupt propensities and evil habits, committed through ignorance, infirmity, temptation, or presumption. (R. Macculloch.)
Barriers obliterated:
I. HERE IS AN INTERPOSING AND DIVIDING MEDIUM: a cloud of sins. A vapour, says the Hebrew; and, then, a thick cloud. Gods people ought always to dwell in fellowship with their God. There ought to be nothing between the renewed heart and God to prevent joyful and hallowed fellowship; but it is not so. Sometimes a cloud comes between,--a cloud of sin; and, whenever that cloud of sin comes between us and God, it speedily chills us. Our delight in God is no longer manifest; we have little or no zeal in His service, or joy in His worship. Beneath that cloud, we feel like men who are frozen; and, at the same time, darkness comes over us. We get into such a sad state that we hardly know whether we are Gods people or not. Besides that, it threatens us. Remember, clouds are earthborn things. Yet, recollect that the sun is not affected by the clouds.
II. THE COMPLETE REMOVAL OF THIS BARRIER. I have blotted out, &c.
1. No known human power can remove the clouds. So it is with your darkness and doubts if you have fallen into sin.
2. But what a mercy it is that God can remove these clouds of sin.
3. When God drives away these clouds from us, though we may see other clouds, we shall never see those black ones any more. When the Lord takes away His peoples sins, they are gone, and gone for ever.
4. The glory of it is that the Lord has already done this great work of grace. I have, &c.
III. THE TENDER COMMAND. Return unto Me. The great barrier that separated us, is removed; so let us not be divided from one another any longer.
1. When He says, Return, He wants you to give up that which has grieved Him.
2. The Lords gracious invitation also means, Come back, and love Me. See how I have loved you. I have already forgiven you your sin, you who are, indeed, My child, but whose faith has almost disappeared. Though you have provoked Me, I still love you. Will you not love Me? After such pleading, can you keep on in this cold-hearted state towards your God?
3. The Lord also means, Return again to your old joys.
IV. THE SACRED CLAIM WHICH BACKS UP THE GRACIOUS INVITATION. I have redeemed thee.
1. The meaning is this: I have loved you so much that I redeemed you with the blood of My dear Son; and, having loved you so much in the ages past, I love you still. Come back to Me. I did not make a mistake when I first loved you, through which I shall have to change the object of My choice. I knew all about you from eternity,;, all that you ever would be or could be, I knew it; yet I loved you and bought you, &c.
2. You belong to Me. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Return unto Me
The freeness of the gospel scheme, and the universality of Gods love
I. THE FREENESS OF THE METHOD OF MANS ACCEPTANCE. Return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee. There can be no difficulty in proving that we are bought with a price; there can be no difficulty in showing that it was God Himself to whom the price was paid. But there is something of a difficulty in understanding how purchase can consist with gift; and how that which is dearly bought can be said to be freely bestowed. The difficulty is just what follows. Much is said in the Bible as to our deliverance being perfectly gratuitous; but if God bestows nothing that has not been paid for, what becomes of that gratuitous character of redemption? Certainly it would seem that purchase is so inconsistent with donation, that He of whom forgiveness is bought can lay but slight claim to a surprising liberality. Careful examination, however, will set this in a proper light. Return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee, is an assertion whose proof lies in the assurance that God is ready to receive the prodigal. A deliverance that has been bought for the world is more illustrative of Gods free grace than any other which would have required no satisfaction. For a plan of deliverance in every sense gratuitous is one of those absurd creations of the fancy which it would have been impossible to turn into reality. If it could not have been said to man, Thou art a redeemed thing, and a purchased thing, it must have been said, in opposition to our text, Thou shalt not return; thou shalt continue a ruined thing. It fell not within the power of Deity to grant what men call unconditional forgiveness. It is requiring God to undeify Himself--to cease to be the Just One, the Faithful One. The fact that we may return to the Father only because we are purchased by the blood of His Son, wondrously demonstrates the freeness of the grace. The death of the Son does not, after all, place the Father under the necessity of extending forgiveness to sinners; He need not have said, Return, even though we were redeemed. We are not merely debtors who have nothing to pay--we are criminals who have punishment to endure. If I were only a debtor, and Christ had discharged the debt, I cease to be a debtor, and God cannot, in justice, refuse to release me; but, if I were a criminal, I do not cease to be a criminal because another might have died in my room. Hence it is free grace, and nothing else, that grants me forgiveness.
II. THE EARNEST LONGING THAT GOD HAS THAT SINNERS SHOULD BE SAVED, DISCOVERED IN THE PATHOS OF THE ENTREATY. Men are bid to return because they are redeemed. There are, therefore, two conditions: they must have faith in the Redeemer, and they must have that repentance which includeth forsaking of sin: so precious are you in Gods sight that to return is to please God. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
I have redeemed thee
I have redeemed thee
To redeem is to buy back; and our redemption is a buying us out of bondage. We are sold under sin, and God has bought us back with the precious blood of His well-beloved Son. If you will look at Lev_25:23, &c., you will find the law by which the land could be redeemed; or those persons who had waxen poor and sold themselves as bondmen--the law of redemption.
1. Christ is born in our midst that He may become a Kinsman, a Brother to us all, He comes bringing our ransom price. But he does not bid the angels bring the gold and pearls for our deliverance. He gives Himself a ransom for all. And now Jesus comes to us, our loving Brother, and He saith, I have redeemed thee.
2. Now do not let us serve sin any more. Jesus has bought us back from this hard master. He has bought for us the Fathers house too. He has put us in possession of heaven and all its joys. And thus from the bondage of sin and evil of our hearts, we can cry to the King for His help. Prayer is the white-winged bird that can bear our message right up to the Fathers house. And an answer shall come. (M. G. Pearse.)
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 Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v23Isa_44:23. Sing, O ye heavens, for the LORD hath…
A CALL FOR UNIVERSAL PRAISE
Isa_44:23. Sing, O ye heavens, for the LORD hath done it, &c.
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The prophet, beholding Israel’s redemption achieved and the people restored to their land and privileges, exulted in the blessed change, and burst forth in this impassioned address to all nature above and around him, and lest it should be supposed that his transport was premature, and that he had anticipated more than could reasonably be expected, Jehovah resumes the discourse and names the man whom He had destined to be His people’s deliverer (Isa_44:28). It is natural to ask, Was the deliverance of the Jews so great, so blissful, so universally interesting as to justify the prophet’s rapturous call? In reply, we observe that the Jews exclusively were the Church of the living God, and their restoration was necessary to the accomplishment of the predictions concerning the Messiah. It was a shadow and pledge of the spiritual and eternal redemption which He was to obtain. The primary subject is the liberation of the captive Jews, but that speedily merges in a more glorious theme.
I. The work which it is here said God hath performed. This work, though then future and still only in progress, is spoken of as already effected. The purpose of God renders its completion absolutely certain.
1. The nature and extent of that deliverance with which the Israel of God are blessed. It is not only redemption from evil but redemption to God, and includes the restoration of His image to our souls. We are only yet beginning to enjoy these high privileges. Where is the man who can sufficiently appreciate the magnitude and blessedness of that change which takes place in the relations, character, and prospects of a sinner when he passes from darkness to light,—from life to death,—from bondage to freedom? Every scene around him seems now to smile upon him,—to speak to him of the goodness and greatness of his divine Benefactor, and animates his gratitude and praise. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” designate all who prove themselves Israelites indeed. What a multitude of all ages, countries, characters, and conditions this name embraces!
2. The display of the divine glory in this redemption. Who but a Being of boundless benevolence, wisdom, and power could have conceived and accomplished it? It delights Him to be known and acknowledged as its Author. How did He effect this redemption? It is the result of His Son’s sacrifice in our nature (Heb_9:11-12). “It is finished;” the work is done (Psa_22:31), and in it God “has glorified Himself” (Psa_85:10).—Consider, further, that God Himself is the source and sum of all the good which this redemption comprises. What must be the fulness of His knowledge and wisdom who irradiates so many minds; of His love who feeds this celestial flame in so many hearts; and of His blessedness who gladdens and delights so many immortal creatures?—Further, think of the means He employs for putting His people in possession of this redemption. Among these, the word and the ministry of reconciliation occupy the chief place,—means which in the estimation of the world are weak and foolish (2Co_4:7). Think, too, of the opposition offered to the execution of His gracious designs,—opposition from ignorance and depravity, from the world, and from the hosts of hell; yet it is ineffectual to frustrate the counsels of His wisdom and love.
II. This work of redemption supplies, not to the redeemed only, but to the creation of God, a fit theme of the highest exultation and praise. The prophet calls on all orders of creatures. The redeemed are not themselves addressed. Could they need any excitement to joy and praise? There are beings, indeed, who will not sing. They rather look on with malignity and “howl for vexation;” for this deliverance frustrates their designs, abolishes the evil they labour to extend, and exalts the name they dishonour (1Jn_3:8). What must be the mortification of that proud and wicked spirit! What fills others with joy will be to him a source of bitter disappointment. It does not surprise us that the fallen angels should raise no song of praise. But what shall we say when we recollect that there are human beings for whose redemption Christ died, to whom the glad news are proclaimed, but who yet reject salvation? This is impiety, folly, and madness, of which even devils cannot be accused.
With these exceptions of fallen spirits and impenitent men, the whole creation of God obeys the joyous call.
1. The holy angels delight to behold sin condemned, its works abolished, and its slaves disenthralled (Luk_2:14; Luk_15:10).
2. Even the inanimate and irrational parts of creation have an interest in Israel’s redemption. As this work advances, creation is freed from the vanity to which it is subject (Rom_8:20-21). Not only has earth, as smitten with the curse, been comparatively unfruitful, but its various productions have been desecrated to the vilest purposes,—have been compelled to minister to the sensuality, avarice, and other passions of mankind. The prevalence of purity, justice, sobriety, and mercy will deliver the inferior creatures from a load of misery, and restore all things to their right uses. No sooner is a sinner born of God than he contemplates the works of God with a new eye. He hears them proclaiming the goodness of his heavenly Father, and praising Him by fulfilling His word. Meditating on these results, it is no wonder that the prophet should represent nature in the happy coming age as inspired with new life, clothed with new beauty, and delighting to open her treasures and pour forth from them abundance of good (Psa_96:11-13; Psa_98:7-9).
If, then, we would see God’s glory, we must study His chief work. There is enough in redemption to awaken our joy.—James Stark, D.D., of Dennyloanhead: Posthumous Discourses, pp. 59–99.
This is the response of the prophet’s soul to the redemption announced in the preceding verses. His joy is as reasonable as it is excellent; the demand he makes is as just as it is poetic. There is instruction here as well as eloquence.
I. Redemption is peculiarly God’s work. “The Lord hath done it; the Lord hath redeemed Jacob.”
1. This is the teaching of Scripture throughout.
2. On enlightened and careful consideration, reason pronounces that it could have been accomplished by God only.
II. Redemption is the work in which the glory of God is most conspicuously manifested. “The Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel.” In His material works we see His wisdom, power, and goodness, and they should be devoutly studied by us as revelations of what He is: but in this work we have a disclosure of His patience, His forbearance, His love, His self-sacrificing pity—those moral attributes which are most worthy of our admiration.
III. The redemption that God has wrought is a work that demands universal praise. The heavens and the earth may well be called upon to unite with us in thanksgiving, for they also shall share in the blessings of this wonderful redemption (Rom_8:19-21; P. D. 975, 2465).—J. Alwin Flide.
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 MacLaren1905 · Public DomainOn v22
Isaiah
WRITING BLOTTED OUT AND MIST MELTED
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Isa 44:22.
Isaiah has often and well been called the Evangelical Prophet. Many parts of this second half of his prophecies referring to the Messiah read like history rather than prediction. But it is not only from the clearness with which the great figure of the future king of Israel stands out on his page that he deserves that title. Other thoughts belonging to the very substance of the gospel appear in him with a vividness and a frequency which well warrants its application to him. He speaks much of the characteristically Christian conceptions of sin, forgiveness, and redemption. The whole of the latter parts of this book are laden with that burden. They are gathered up in the extraordinarily pregnant and blessed words of my text, in which metaphors are blended with much disregard to oratorical propriety, in order to bring out the whole fulness of the prophet’s meaning. ‘I have blotted out’-that suggests a book. ‘I have blotted out as a cloud’-that suggests the thinning away of morning mists. The prophet blends the two thoughts together, and on that great revelation of a forgiveness granted before it has been asked, and given, not only to one penitent soul wailing out like the abased king of Israel in his deep contrition, ‘according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions,’ but promised to a whole people, is rested the great invitation, ‘Return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.’
Let me try and bring out, as simply and earnestly as I can, the great teaching that is condensed into these words.
I. Observe here the penetrating glance into the very essential characteristics of all sin.
There are two words, as you see, employed in my text, ‘transgressions’ and ‘sins.’ They apply to the same kind of actions, but they look at them from different angles and points of view. They are partially synonymous, but they cover very various conceptions, and if we take note of the original significations of the two words, we get two very important and often forgotten thoughts.
For that expression rendered in my text, and rendered correctly enough -transgressions-means at bottom, ‘rebellion,’ the rising up of a disobedient will, not only against a law, but against a lawgiver. There we have a deepening of that solemn fact of a man’s wrongdoing, which brings it into immediate connection with God, and marks its foulness by reason of that connection.
Ah! brethren, it makes all the difference to a man’s notions of right and wrong, whether he stops on the surface or goes down to the depths; whether he says to himself, ‘The thing is a vice; it is wrong; it is contrary to what I ought to be’; or whether he gets down to the darker, deeper, and truer thought, and says, ‘The damnable thing about every little evil that I do is this, that in it I-poor puny I-perk myself up against God, and say to Him, “Thou wilt; wilt thou? I shall not!”‘ Sin is rebellion.
And so what becomes of the hazy distinction between great sins and little ones? An overt act of rebellion is of the same gravity, whatsoever may be its form. The man that lifts his sword against the sovereign, and the man behind him that holds his horse, are equally criminal. And when once you let in the notion that in all our actions we have to do with a Person, to whom we are bound to be obedient, then the distinction which sophisticates so many people’s consciences, and does such infinite harm in so many lives, between great and small transgressions, disappears altogether. Sin is rebellion.
Then the other word of my text is equally profound and significant. For it, literally taken, means-as the words for ‘sin’ do in other languages besides the Hebrew-missing a mark. Every wrong thing that any man does is beside the mark, at which he, by virtue of his manhood, and his very make and nature, ought to aim. It is beside the mark in another sense than that. As some one says, ‘A rogue is a roundabout fool.’ No man ever secures that, and only that, which he aims at by any departure from the straight path of imperative duty. For if he gets some vulgar and transient titillation of appetite, or satisfaction of desire, he gets along with it something that takes all the gilt off the gingerbread, and all the sweetness out of the satisfaction. So that it is always a blunder to be bad, and every arrow that is drawn by a sinful hand misses the target to which all our arrows should be pointed, and misses even the poor mark that we think we are aiming at. Take these two thoughts with you-I will not dwell on them, but I desire to lay them upon all your hearts-all evil is sin, and every sin is rebellion against God, and a blunder in regard to myself.
II. And now I come to the second point of our text, and ask you to note the permanent record which every sin leaves.
I explained in the earlier part of my remarks that we have a case here of the thing that horrifies rhetoricians, but does not matter a bit to a prophet, the blending or confusing of two metaphors. The first of them-’I have blotted out’-suggests a piece of writing, a book, or manuscript of some sort. And the plain English of what lies behind that metaphor is this solemn thought, which I would might blaze before each of us, in all our lives, that God’s calm and all-comprehensive knowledge and remembrance takes and keeps filed, and ready for reference, the whole story of our whole acts. There is a book. It is a violent metaphor, no doubt, but there is a solemn truth underlying it which we are too apt to forget. The world is groaning nowadays with two-volume memoirs of men that nobody wants to know anything more about. But every man is ever writing his autobiography with invisible but indelible ink. You have seen those old-fashioned ‘manifold writers’ in your places of business, and the construction of them is this: a flimsy sheet of tissue paper, a bit of black to be put in below it, and then another sheet on the other side; and the pen that writes on the flimsy top surface makes an impression that is carried through the black to the sheet below, and there is a duplicate which the writer keeps. You and I, upon the flimsinesses of this fleeting-sometimes, we think, futile-life, are penning what is neither flimsy nor futile, which goes through the opaque dark, and is reproduced and docketed yonder. That is what we are doing every day and every minute, writing, writing, writing our own biography. And who is going to read it? Well, God does read it now, and you will have to read it out one day, and how will you like that?
This metaphor will bear a little further expansion. Scripture tells us, and conscience tells us, what manner of manuscript it is that we are each so busy adding line upon line to. It is a ledger; it is an indictment. Our own handwriting puts down in the ledger our own debts, and we cannot deny our own handwriting when we are confronted with it. It is an indictment, and our own hand draws it, and we have to plead ‘guilty,’ or ‘not guilty,’ to it. Which, being translated into plain fact, is this-that there goes with all our deeds some sense and reality of responsibility for them, and that all our rebellions against God, and our blunders against self, be they great or small, carry with them a sense of guilt and a reality of guilt whether we have the sense of it or not. God has a judgment at this moment about every man and woman, based upon the facts of the unfinished biography which they are writing.
Mystical and awful, yet blessed and elevating, is the thought that nothing-nothing, ever dies; and that what was, is now, and always will be.
Amongst the specimens from the coal measures in a museum you will find slabs upon which the tiniest fronds of ferns that grew nobody knows how many millenniums since are preserved for ever. Our lives, when the blow of the last hammer lays them open, will, in like manner, bear the impress of the minutest filament of every deed that we have ever done.
But my metaphor will bear yet further expansion, for this autobiographical record which we are busy preparing, which is at once ledger and indictment, is to be read out one day. There is a great scene in the last book of Scripture, the whole solemn significance of which, I suppose, we shall not understand till we have learned it by experience, but the truth of which we have sufficient premonitions to assure us of, which declares that at a given time, on the confines of Eternity, the Great White Throne is to be set, and the books are to be opened, and the dead are judged ‘out of the books,’ which, the seer goes on to explain, is ‘according to their works.’ The story of Esther tells us how the sleepless monarch in the night-watches sent for the records of the kingdom and had them read to him. The King who never slumbers nor sleeps, in that dawning of heaven’s eternal morning, will have the books opened before Him, and my deeds will be read out. He and I will hear them, whether any else may hear or no. That is my second lesson.
III. The third is, that we have here suggested the darkening power of sin.
The prophet, as I said, mixes metaphors. ‘I have blotted out as a cloud thy transgressions.’ He uses two words for ‘cloud’ here; both of them mean substantially the same thing, and both suggest the same idea. When cloud fills the sky it darkens the earth, and shuts out the sunshine and the blue, it closes the petals of the little flowers, it hushes the songs of the birds. Sin makes for the sinning man ‘an under-roof of doleful grey,’ which shuts out all the glories above. Put that metaphor into plain English, and it is just this, ‘Your sins have separated between you and your God, and your iniquities have hid His face from you that He will not hear.’ It is impossible for a man that has his heart all stiffened by the rebellion of his will against God’s, or all seething with unrestrained passions, or perturbed with worldly longings and desires, to enter into calm fellowship with God or to keep the thought of God clear before his mind. For we know Him, not by sense nor by reason, but by sympathy and by feeling. And whatsoever comes in to disturb a man’s purity, comes in to hinder his vision of God. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they’-and they only-’shall see God.’ Whenever from the undrained swamps of my own passions and sensualities, or from the as malarious though loftier grounds of my own self-regard, be I student or thinker, or moral man, there rise up these light mists, they will fill the sky and hide the sun. On a winter’s night you will see the Pleiades, or other bright constellations, varying in brilliancy from moment to moment as some invisible cloud-wrack floats across the heavens. So, brother, every evil thing that we do rises up and gets diffused through our atmosphere, and blots out from our vision the face of God Himself, the blessed Son.
Not only by reason of dimming and darkening my thoughts of Him is my sin rightly compared to an obscuring cloud; but the comparison also holds good because, just as the blanket of a wet mist swathing the wintry fields prevents the sunshine from falling upon them in blessing, so the accumulated effect of my evil doings and evil designings and thinkings and willings comes between me and all spiritual blessings which God can bestow, so that the very light of light, the highest blessings that He yearns to give, and we faint for want of possessing, are impossible even to His love to communicate until the cloud is swept away. So my sin darkens my soul, and separates me from the light of life.
But the metaphor carries with it, too, a suggestion of the limitations of the power of sin. For when the cloud is thickest and most obscuring it only hugs the earth, and rises but a little way Into the heavens; and far above it the blue is as blue, and the sunshine as bright, as if there were no mist or fog in the lower regions. Therefore, let us remember that, while the cloud must veil us from the light, the light is above it, and ‘every cloud that veileth love’ may some day be thinned away by the love it veils.
IV. That brings me to the last word of my text,-viz. the prophet’s teaching as to the removal of the sin.
We have to carry both the metaphors together with us here. ‘I have blotted out’-that is, as erasing from a book. ‘I have blotted out as a cloud’-that is, the thinning away of the mist. The blurred and stained page can be cancelled. Chemicals will take the ink out. ‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin’; and it, passed over all that foul record, makes it pure and clean. ‘What I have written, I have written,’ said Pilate in his obstinacy. ‘What I have written, I have written,’ wails many a man in the sense of the irrevocableness of his past. Brother! be not afraid. Christ can take away all that stained record, and give you back the page ready to receive holier words.
The cloud is thinned away. What thins the cloud? As I have said, the light which the cloud obscures, shining on the upper surface of it, dissipates it layer by layer till it gets down at last to the lowermost, and then rends a gap in it, and sends the shaft of the sunbeam through on to the green earth. And that is only a highly imaginative way of saying that it is the love against which we transgress that thins away the cloud of transgression, and at last, as the placid moon, by simply shining silently on, will sweep the whole sky clear of its clouds, dissipates them all, and leaves the calm blue. God forgives. The ledger account-if I may use so grossly commercial a figure-is settled in full; the indictment is endorsed, ‘acquitted.’ He remembers the sins only to breathe into the child’s heart the assurance of pardon, and no obstacle rises by reason of forgiven transgression between the sinning man and the reconciled God.
Now, all this preaching of Isaiah’s is enlarged and confirmed, and to some extent the rationale of it is set before us in the great Gospel truth of forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. Unless we know that truth, we may well stand amazed and questioning as to whether a righteous God, administering a rigorous universe, can ever pardon sin. And unless we know that by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, granted to our spirits, our whole nature may be remade and moulded, we might well be tempted to say, Ah! the Ethiopian cannot change his skin nor the leopard his spots. But Jesus Christ can change more than skin, even the heart and spirit, the inmost depths of the nature.
Now, brother, my text speaks of this great blotting out as a past fact. It is so in the divine mind with regard to each of us, because Christ’s great work has made reconciliation and atonement for all the sins of all the world. And on the fact that it is past is based the exhortation, ‘Return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.’ God does not say, ‘Come back and I will forgive’; He does not say, ‘Return and I will blot out’; but He says, ‘Return, for I have blotted out.’ Though accomplished, the forgiveness has to be appropriated by individual faith. The sins of the world have been borne, and borne away, by the Lamb of God, but your sins are not borne away unless your hand is laid on this head.
If it is, then you do not need to say, ‘What I have written is written, and it cannot be blotted out.’ But as in the old days a monk would take some manuscript upon which filthy stories about heathen gods and foolish fables were written, and erase these to write the legends of saints, or perhaps the words of the Gospels themselves; so on our hearts, which have been scribbled all over with obscenities and follies, He will write His new best name of Love, and we may be epistles of Christ, written with the Spirit of the living God.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield1917 · Public DomainOn vv22–23Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
redeemed
Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v24The Promise to have Jerusalem Rebuilt
The Promise to have Jerusalem Rebuilt
This section, according to a careful analysis, belongs to the next chapter, for it takes up the deliverance of Israel as effected in consequence of the decree of Cyrus.
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v. 24. Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, Cf v. 2: I am the Lord that maketh all things, the supreme Ruler and Guide of the universe, the Sovereign of the world and all it contains; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, 40:22; 42:5; that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself, without assistance,
v. 25. that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, of the vain talkers, especially the necromancers, and maketh diviners mad, so that they appear as fools with their false prophecies; that turneth wise men backward, so that they are relegated to the background, and maketh their knowledge foolish, exhibiting their ignorance before the whole world;
v. 26. that, by way of contrast, confirmeth the word of His servant, establishing the prophetic message which His prophets proclaimed, and performeth the counsel of His messengers, so that not one of His words falls to the ground; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited, rising once more out of the ruins, and to the cities of Judah, which had likewise been plundered and sacked, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof;
v. 27. that saith to the deep, in another exhibition of His power, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers, to serve His purpose at all times;
v. 28. that saith of Cyrus, the prophecy here giving the exact words of the Lord’s command to him as it came to pass more than a century later, He Is My shepherd, the designation referring to his leadership of nations, and shall perform all My pleasure, namely, in bringing about the deliverance of Israel; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the Temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. This prophecy was literally fulfilled; for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and of the Temple took place in accordance with the express command of Cyrus. That his name is mentioned so many years in advance need cause no more surprise than the fact that Josiah’s work of reformation was predicted at the time of Jeroboam I, more than three centuries intervening between prophecy and fulfillment. The God of prophecy is the omniscient God, before whom nothing is hidden.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv23–24Sing, you heavens ... glory in Israel
Sing, you heavens ... glory in Israel
Here Isaiah speaks various parts of creation as if they were people and commands them to praise Yawheh. (See: Apostrophe and Personification)
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you depths of the earth
"you lowest parts of the earth." Possible meanings are 1) that this refers to very deep places on the earth such as caves or canyons and forms a merism with "heavens" in the previous phrase or 2) that this refers to the place of the dead. (See: Merism)
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v23 He showeth that the work of the Lord toward…
He showeth that the work of the Lord toward his people shall be so great, that the insensible creatures shall be moved therewith.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv22–24 Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick…
Isa 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Ver. 22. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins.] God blotteth out, or wipeth away, the thick cloud as well as the cloud, enormities as infirmities: like as the sun dispelleth fogs and mists with his bright beams. Think of this sweet similitude, together with that other in Mic 7:19, "Thou wilt cast all our sins into the bottom of the sea," and then despair if thou canst. The sea by its vastness can drown mountains as well as mole hills; and the sun by his force can scatter the greatest mist, as well as the least vapour. So here.
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 vv22–24 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud; as…
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud; as the sun commonly dissolveth, or the wind scattereth, the thickest and blackest cloud, so as there is no remnant nor appearance of it left. Return from thine idolatry, and other wicked practices.
I have redeemed thee; therefore thou art mine, and obliged to return and adhere to me.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv22–24 I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy…
I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins,.... Sins and transgressions are compared to clouds, for the number of them, they being many as the fleeting clouds of the air; and for the nature and quality of them: as clouds are vapours rising out of the earth and sea, so these arise out of the earthly and corrupt heart of man, which is as a troubled sea; and, like the clouds, they reach up to the heavens, and the cry of them calls aloud for vengeance from thence; they cause darkness, even all that darkness, both in unregeneracy, and after conversion; they intercept the light of God's countenance, and interpose between God and the souls of men, and cause him to hide his face from them; they come between them and the sun of righteousness, and cover him out of their sight; and by means of them the light and comfort of the Holy Spirit are withdrawn; and they hinder the free passage of prayer to God, at least as to the apprehension of God's people; see Isa 59:2, and they portend a storm, and threaten with a tempest of divine wrath and vengeance; but God graciously forgives them; which is meant by "blotting" them out. Clouds are blotted out either by the wind dissipating and scattering them; or by the sun breaking through them, conquering and dispersing them, which perhaps is alluded to here; and designs not the satisfaction of Christ for sin; by which he has finished and made an end of it; but rather God's act of pardon upon it, and the application of it to his people; or the discoveries of it by Christ himself, the sun of righteousness, arising upon them with healing in his wings, that is, with pardon to their souls; saying to them, thy sins, though many, are forgiven thee; and they are so blotted out and removed as to be seen no more, and as if they had never been, as a cloud is; not only no more seen by the avenging eye of divine justice, but so removed from them as not to be seen by them, as to have no more conscience of them, or feel the load and burden of them; and though other clouds or sins may arise, yet these also are blotted out in the same way, and shall never appear against the saints to their condemnation. And as, when clouds are blotted out, there is a clear sky, a serene heaven, the sun shines in its brightness, and everything is pleasant and delightful; so when sin is pardoned, or it appears to be so, then God is beheld as the God of all grace, as all grace and love; the sinner can go with a holy boldness to him, through the blood of Christ, as being pardoned, and has fellowship with him; the evidences of interest in Christ become clear, and the comforts of the Holy Ghost are enjoyed. And let it be observed, that as no man can reach the clouds, and blot any of them out; so none can forgive sins but God, this is his sole prerogative, Isa 43:25. Here is mention made of a cloud, and a thick cloud; no clouds are so thick but God can blot them out, and these are no sins so great but he can forgive them; clouds, and thick clouds, are blotted out, lesser and greater sins are forgiven by him. Some read the words thus, "I have blotted out", wiped or washed away, "as with a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as with a cloud thy sins" (n); and give the sense thus, as clouds pouring down with rain wash the streets from the filth of them, so the Lord, as with a deluge of pardoning grace and mercy, washes away the sins of his people; grace superabounds abounding sin, and carries it all before it, and removes it clear away; now this blessing of grace is mentioned, to attach the people of God to his service, as it follows:
return unto me, for I have redeemed thee; this supposes them to have backslidden from the Lord in heart or in practice, in life and conversation, or in both, and yet the Lord had forgiven them; and which was a reason why they should return to him by repentance; as nothing is a greater motive to it, or more strongly influences it, than a discovery of pardoning grace; and then the people of God do return to God as their Father, who graciously receives them, and to Christ as their husband, to whom they are married, though backslidden, and to their duty to both. So the Targum,
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"return to my worship or service;''
the reason or argument enforcing it is very strong, "for I have redeemed thee"; from sin, and all its sad effects; from the law, and the curses of it; and from death and hell, and wrath to come; and therefore need not fear any of these things, or fear coming to the Lord on account of them. Such, who are redeemed, need not doubt but they shall be kindly received, though they have backslidden, and that no good thing will be withheld from them; for if God has given his Son to redeem them, he will give all things freely with him; besides, being redeemed, they are the Lord's, and therefore ought to return to him, and glorify him with their bodies and spirits, which are his; and as they are redeemed from our vain conversation, they should return from it, and not indulge one, or otherwise the end of redemption is not answered: and this being joined with the forgiveness of sin in the preceding clause, shows that that proceeds upon the foot of redemption, or upon the foot of satisfaction made by Christ; and both furnish out arguments engaging to the service of God.
(n) So some in Gataker.
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 vv22–23 As a cloud - So that there is no…
As a cloud - So that there is no remnant of it left.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv22, 24 Verse 22. I have blotted out, as a thick…
Verse 22. I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins - "I have made thy transgressions vanish away like a cloud, and thy sins like a vapour"] Longinus admired the sublimity of the sentiment, as well as the harmony of the numbers, in the following sentence of Demosthenes: Τουτο το ψηφισμα τον τοτε τῃ πολει τερισταντα κινδυνον παρελθειν εποιησεν ὡσπερ νεφος. "This decree made the danger then hanging over the city pass away like a cloud." Probably Isaiah alludes here to the smoke rising up from the sin-offering, dispersed speedily by the wind. and rendered invisible. He who offered his sacrifice aright was as sure that the sin for which he offered it was blotted out, as that the smoke of the sacrifice was dispersed by the wind, and was no longer discernible.
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 v24 Isa 44:24-27. I am the Lord that maketh all…
Isa 44:24-27. I am the Lord that maketh all things — And therefore I can save thee without the help of any other gods, or any creature; that frustrateth the tokens of the liars — Of the magicians and astrologers, who were numerous and greatly esteemed in Babylon, and who had foretold the long continuance and prosperity of the Chaldean empire. And maketh the diviners mad — With grief for the disappointment of their predictions, and their disgrace which followed it. That turneth wise men backward — Stopping their way, and blasting their designs. That confirmeth the word of his servants — The prophets, as appears from the next clause, namely, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others, whom God sent to foretel the destruction of Babylon, and the redemption of his people. The connection of this with Isa 44:25, is, As God discovers the folly and madness of such false prophets, so he punctually fulfils the predictions of his own prophets. That saith to the deep, Be dry — That with a word can dry up the sea and rivers, and remove all impediments. “Cyrus took Babylon by laying the bed of the Euphrates dry, and leading his army into the city by night, through the empty channel of the river. This remarkable circumstance, in which the event so exactly corresponded with the prophecy, was also noted by Jeremiah. A drought shall be upon her waters, and they shall be dried up: I will lay her sea dry; and I will scorch up her springs, Jer 50:38; Jer 51:36. It is proper here to give some account of the method by which the stratagem of Cyrus was effected. The Euphrates, in the middle of summer, from the melting of the snows on the mountains of Armenia, like the Nile, overflows the country. In order to diminish the inundation, and carry off the waters, two canals were made by Nebuchadnezzar a hundred miles above the city; the first on the eastern side, called Naharmalca, or the Royal river, by which the Euphrates was let into the Tigris; the other on the western side, called Pallacopas, or Naharaga, (Hebrew, נהר אגם, the river of the pool,) by which the redundant waters were carried into a vast lake, forty miles square, contrived, not only to lessen the inundation, but for a reservoir, with sluices to water the barren country on the Arabian side. Cyrus, by turning the whole river into the latter lake, laid the channel, where it ran through the city, almost dry; so that his army entered it both above and below by the bed of the river, the water not reaching above the middle of the thigh. By the great quantity of water let into the lake, the sluices and dams were destroyed; and being never repaired afterward, the waters spread over the whole country below, and reduced it into a morass, in which the river is lost.” — Bishop Lowth.
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 vv22–24 I have blotted out - The word used here…
I have blotted out - The word used here (מחח mâchâh), means properly “to wipe away,” and is often applied to sins, as if the account was wiped off, or as we express it, blotted out (Psa 51:3, Psa 51:11; see the note at Isa 43:25). The phrase, ‘to blot out sins like a cloud,’ however, is unusual, and the idea not very obvious. The true idea would be expressed by rendering it, ‘I have made them to vanish as a thick cloud;’ and the sense is, as the wind drives away a thick cloud, however dark and frowning it may be, so that the sky is clear and serene, so God had caused their sins to disappear, and had removed the storm of his anger. Nothing can more strikingly represent sin in its nature and consequences, than a dense, dark, frowning cloud that comes over the heavens, and shuts out the sun, and fills the air with gloom; and nothing can more beautifully represent the nature and effect of pardon than the idea of removing such a cloud, and leaving the sky pure, the air calm and serene, and the sun pouring down his beams of warmth and light on the earth. So the soul of the sinner is enveloped and overshadowed with a dense cloud; but pardon dissipates that cloud, and it is calm, and joyful, and serene.
And as a cloud - The Chaldee render this, ‘As a flying cloud.’ The difference between the two words rendered here ‘thick cloud,’ and ‘cloud’ ( עב ‛âb and ענן ‛ânân) is, that the former is expressive of a cloud as dense, thick, compact; and the latter as covering or veiling the heavens. Lowth renders the latter word ‘Vapour;’ Noyes, ‘Mist.’ Both words, however, usually denote a cloud. A passage similar to this is found in Demosthenes, as quoted by Lowth: ‘This decree made the danger then hanging over the city pass away like a cloud.
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Return unto me - Since your sins are pardoned, and such mercy has been shown, return now, and serve me. The argument here is derived from the mercy of God in forgiving them, and the doctrine is, that the fact that God has forgiven us imposes the strongest obligations to devote ourselves to his service. The fact that we are redeemed and pardoned is the highest argument why we should consecrate all our powers to him who has purchased and forgiven us.
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 v22 Return from captivity, (Calmet) and from their former errors,…
Return from captivity, (Calmet) and from their former errors, Matthew xi. 26. (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).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv22–24 blotted out--the debt of thy sin from the account-book…
blotted out--the debt of thy sin from the account-book in which it was entered (Exo 32:32-33; Rev 20:12).
as a thick cloud--scattered away by the wind (Psa 103:12).
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as a cloud--a descending gradation. Not only the "thick cloud" of the heavier "transgressions," but the "cloud" ("vapor" [LOWTH], not so dense, but covering the sky as a mist) of the countless "sins." These latter, though not thought much of by man, need, as much as the former, to be cleared away by the Sun of righteousness; else they will be a mist separating us from heaven (Psa 19:12-13; Jo1 1:7-9).
return . . . for--The antecedent redemption is the ground of, and motive to, repentance. We do not repent in order that He may redeem us, but because He hath redeemed us (Zac 12:10; Luk 24:47; Act 3:18-19). He who believes in his being forgiven cannot but love (Luk 7:43, Luk 7:47).
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 vv22–24 22. Blotted… clouds… sins — Two-fold figure of clouds…
22. Blotted… clouds… sins — Two-fold figure of clouds obscuring the sun and of sins hiding the face of God. Clouds being removed, the sun, with the clear blue heavens, comes to view; so sins repented of, bring sense of approval from God, revealing the truth, I have redeemed thee.
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 vv22–24 22. Cf. ch. Isa_43:25. “The sense of being forgotten…
22. Cf. ch. Isa_43:25. “The sense of being forgotten of God is produced by the consciousness of guilt; hence the promise of forgiveness is here repeated” (Dillmann).
as a thick cloud … as a cloud] An image of transitoriness; Hos_6:4; Hos_13:3; Job_7:9; Job_30:15.
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 vv22–24 (22) I have blotted out, as a thick cloud.—Better,…
(22) I have blotted out, as a thick cloud.—Better, mist. The Authorised Version half suggests the idea that it is the cloud that hides the sins from view. What is meant is that the sins of Israel are put away, as the sun and wind drive away the mists and fogs (Job_30:15); and that this is, in idea at least, if not in time, prior to the conversion as that which makes it possible.
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 vv22–24 I have blotted out... thy sins. (comp. Isa_43:25) The…
I have blotted out... thy sins. (comp. Isa_43:25) The promise there made is here represented as having its fulfilment. Before God reverses his sentence and restores his people, he must first forgive them. As a thick cloud... as a cloud. It would be better to translate, as a cloud... as a thick cloud. The latter of the two Hebrew words used is the more emphatic. Return unto me. This is an underlying condition, both of restoration and of forgiveness. Only the penitent can be received back into favour. The knowledge, however, that God has, in Iris counsels, "redeemed" his people generally, may act as a stimulus on individuals to repent and turn to him.
God"s way of pleading with men.
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Put in other words, the statement of this text is, "As a cloud is blotted out of the heavens, so have I blotted out thy transgressions." But it is difficult for us to realize what is meant by "blotting out a cloud." So far as we have to do with clouds, we cannot speak of them as "blotted out." Some swiftly hurry by; others move majestically along, they go out of sight into some other quarter of the heavens; but we do not see them vanish from their place in mid-sky, and become "blotted out." Sometimes the cloud sends down showers upon the earth, and so it exhausts itself; but that cannot be the image of our text, because it intimates a putting away of our sins, so that they shall not shower down upon us the tribulation and anguish that is gathered up in all transgression. But the image which our damp climate cannot furnish is given in the sunny lands of the East. There, in the morning, will often be seen dull heavy masses of clouds, and there is every indication of a showery day. But as the sun rises and gathers strength, these clouds all varnish and disappear; they do not drift away, or pass into another part of the heavens; they just vanish on the spot, they die away, they are "blotted out." Understood thus, it is a striking and impressive figure. Even thus the thick clouds of our sins darken the sky, and those sin-clouds bear manifest tokens of punishment and wrath. But thus also God"s love, the sun of his forgiving love, arises, shines out full, and the sin-cloud is dispelled, it vanishes away. It is not driven into the future, to await us there; it is just "blotted out," forgiven and forgotten. With other most impressive figures God endeavours to convince us of the fulness of his forgiving. He makes his servant say, "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. " Where is the east? Where is the west? Is it yonder ridge of hill, behind which we saw the sun set yesterday? Nay, did you stand on that very spot, the west would be still away, away, in the dim distance. The more you hurry toward the east, the further you get away from the west. Go east, and try to find your forgiven sins; behold God has put them in the utmost west. Elsewhere we renal of God"s "casting our sins behind his back." He not merely puts them behind his back, he casts them there; his love refuses to look on them, his forgiving restoring love will not treasure them up against us; they are flung away; they are done with; they are bonds cancelled, debts settled for ever. And there is another figure that of "casting our sins into the depths of the sea." Take a jewel, and when upon mid-ocean, drop it over the ship"s side into the waters. It is gone. None can descend into those depths and bring it back again. So God, as it were, binds up the book, the "handwriting of ordinances that was against us." He drops it in mid-ocean. And as we see it go, our hearts should be filled with thankful, trustful love to the great Forgiver. To a full return to him who has so dealt with our sins the text invites. This is God"s way of pleading.
I OUR REDEMPTION IS AN ACCOMPLISHED FACT. The terms of the text are very explicit: "I have blotted out I have redeemed." Redemption is not a matter which has to be settled; it is settled. We too often speak of needing to be redeemed; we should speak much more of realizing our redemption entering into the life and privilege bought for us, and offered to us in the sovereign mercy of our God. That redemption should be regarded as an accomplished fact is taught by our Lord.
1. See the parable of the prodigal son. The charm of the parable is the lookit gives us into the lather"s heart. He had forgiven the son in his heart long before the forgiving word could be spoken.
2. The parable of the feast. The message sent forth is, "Come, for all things are now ready.
3. Notice how Christ directed the thoughts of men to himself. If our redemption were. not an accomplished fact, of which our Lord was the Divine expression and persuasion, how could he say, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life"?
4. This is, indeed, involved in the doctrine of the cross of Christ. God provided that cross as the highest expression of his love to us; it is the persuasion that he has forgiven. It is not in order that he may love us, it is because he did love us, that he gave his only begotten Son.
5. Observe the new terms of condemnation set forth in the gospel: "He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life;" "He that believeth not is condemned already." God looks on men as forgiven, but tested by their thoughts of Christ, by their acceptance of his offered love and friendship in the person of Jesus Christ. God says, "I have redeemed you." If you will turn to God, return to God, you shall realize that you are redeemed. If you will not return, then that very redemption will gather into a burden, weightier far than all others that can come upon you.
II OUR REDEMPTION, AS AN ACCOMPLISHED FACT, IS GOD"S GREAT POWER ON HUMAN SOULS. This is the very essence of the gospel the "good news" of God. God is a forgiving God. He has forgiven in his heart; he speaks his forgiveness in Christ. He can pass by iniquity, transgression, and sin. He can keep his righteousness before all his creatures, and Yet reach down a hand of acceptance to us.
1. The cry of God, in olden days, was the cry of this forgiving love, "Ho, every one that thirsteth," etc. (Isa_55:1) The wine and milk are bought; they are set ready; take, and eat.
2. Apostles preached a perfect salvation. They told men it was wrought it was done. They preached remission of sins in the Name of Jesus. Our faith is not asked for a scheme partially realized, a salvation partially accomplished, that needs the addition of our delayings, our tears, our prayers, our goodnesses. It was perfect before we had one thought about it. It sprang out of God"s own love; it was manifested in God"s own perfect way. He has redeemed us, and wants the fact of his redemption to be a gracious persuasion of us to come to him. We have seen the little bird taken from its nest in the woods, and put into the cage, and it seemed to be happy even with the bars all round it. Not always happy. Sometimes it would flap its wings against the bars, and try to get free, when a glint of warmer sunshine broke in upon it. And when the door was opened, wide opened, the bird scarcely knew what to do; it seemed bewildered, as if it could not believe such good news. But at last it seemed to flash upon it, "I am free free to the wild woods, and the open sky, and the glad sunshine." And at once it spread its wings and fled away. We are like that bird, caged in with sin: the bars are all round us. Some of us are willing to be caged, some of us fret to be caged. And the fact is that God has set before us an open door. Yet we stand irresolute. What! is the cage really open? May we come forth into the sky of God"s free favour and acceptance? Has God kept his holiness and his truth, and yet can he open the door? That is the truth, that is the assurance of the text. That is God"s way of pleading, "Return unto me; for I have redeemed thee. R.T.
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 vv22–24 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy…
Isa_44:22
I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions
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Sin blotted out
The meaning of the verse may be--He who offered his sacrifice aright, was as sure that the sin for which he offered it was blotted out, as that the smoke of the sacrifice was dispersed by the wind, and was no longer discernible.
(E. Thompson, D. D.)
Blotting out sin: a classical side-light:
This decree made the danger then hanging over the city, pass away like a cloud. (Demosthenes.)
Clouds and sins:
Clouds do good; but transgressions and sins never do good. They do no good to the body, no good to the soul, no good to the spirit, no good to our present condition, or to our future circumstances; and, in this respect, clouds are unlike sins. Yet there are points of resemblance between clouds and sins. Clouds veil the sun; and sins hide the loving face of God. Clouds hide the lofty firmament; and sins conceal heaven. Clouds contract the prospect; and sins prevent the sight of all coming good. Clouds drop down in rain; and sins fall in punishment. Clouds are beyond our control; and sins committed are entirely out of our power. Clouds are dispersible only by God; and sins God alone can drive away. This is the point of the analogy instituted in our text. (S. Martin.)
Not a cloud to be seen:
I. THE DIVINENESS OF FORGIVENESS. I have blotted out, &c. I, even I. All sin is against God. When you sin against each other you sin against God. And all punishment is in Gods hands; and the dispensation of pardon is His prerogative. Blessed be God for keeping it within His own power! Pardon is dispensed faithfully and wisely, for God is light. Pardon is dispensed graciously, for God is love. And pardon is given according to the Divine promise and covenant, for God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
II. THE COMPLETENESS OF PARDON. In the country which Isaiah knew, the clouds were entirely blotted out during four months of the year; so that it was an extraordinary thing from May to September, to see a cloud: and the clearness of the atmosphere enabled the prophet to appreciate this illustration to an extent impossible to us, who are so often under a leaden sky. Still, even here, we do know what it is to stand under a blue sky. In the morning, or in the evening, or late at night, we know what it is to stand under the cloudless heavens, and to say, There is not a cloud to be seen. And when God pardons a man there is not a sin to be seen. The sins of childhood, and youth, and maturity-the sins of every year, and day, and hour--are blotted out. The sins of the body, and the sins of the soul--the sins of the tongue, and of the hand, and of every member of the body--the sins of the thought, and of the imagination, and of desire, and ofaffection, and of volition, are all blotted out. The sins of the heart, and the sins of the home, the sins of the place of business, and the sins of the Church, and the sins committed against brothers and sisters, and kindred of every degree--against husband, and wife, and children, and neighbours, and friends, and the country, sins against the Saviour, and against the Holy Spirit, and against our Father in Heaven are blotted out. Sins wilful, sins careless, sins repeated, sins aggravated, are all blotted out. Not some sins, but all sins. The least are not overlooked; the worst are not reserved. Pardon is not the mitigation of punishment--it is not the passing by of some transgressions and the bringing forward of others--but an entire remission of future punishment. Sin is not behind following us; sin is not before preventing us; sin is not above falling upon us; sin is not on either hand hemming us in. Pardoned by God, our sins are gone; actually gone for ever.
III. THE ASSURANCE WHICH GOD GIVES THE PARDONED THAT THEY ARE FORGIVEN. God might forgive without telling us now that He has pardoned us. He might reserve the communication of this fact until the last great day. But He would have the forgiven know that they are pardoned. Now what profit is there in this? Knowledge of pardon is a particular knowledge of God. A man who is pardoned sees God in the dispensation of Divine forgiveness, as God is not to be seen elsewhere, or in any other dispensation. It is one thing to see God in the general provision He has made for the supply of our wants, and quite another thing for us to see God applying that provision to ourselves. A knowledge of pardon is a source of joy and peace. It is, moreover, a power awakening love. You remember the case of the woman who came to Christ, upon the occasion of the great banquet given to Him by one of the chief of the Pharisees. Then, the knowledge of pardon is a motive to the pursuit of holiness.
IV. THE KNOWLEDGE OF PARDON ENCOURAGES US TO BRING OTHERS TO GOD.
V. WHO ARE THE ASSURED?
1. Those who confess to Him their sins.
2. The confession is to be accompanied by the forsaking of sin.
3. There is no forsaking sin, without turning to God. (S. Martin.)
What man can and cannot do:
Man may divert the course of a river, and fill up the former bed; thus blotting out in certain places the river. Man may pare down portions of the hills; thus blotting out the hills. Man may raise the valley; thus blotting out the valley. Man may drain the lake, and sow it with seed, and raise crops upon the soil of the lakes bed; thus blotting out the lake. Man may, to a small extent, alter the boundaries of the ocean; thus blotting out in some places even the sea. Man may tunnel the earth and make a highway where foot never trod. But man can neither bring clouds into the firmament, nor send them away. Moreover a man may blot out ignorance by teaching, and folly by instruction, and some bad habits by good training, and animal wants by the supply of temporal necessities, and captivity by release, and disease by healing; but no man can forgive sins. The dispensation of pardon is too precious, and too important, to be entrusted to men or to angels. (S. Martin.)
Pardon not entrusted to men or angels:
A man, if he were entrusted with the dispensation of forgiveness, might be sleeping, or journeying, or sick, or in various ways out of reach. A man might be angry, or morose, or occupied, or unloving, when the penitent was calling for forgiveness. And an angel might take a hypocrite for a true penitent, or a contrite one for a hypocrite; or he might hesitate to forgive some chief of sinners. God keeps the dispensation of forgiveness in His own kind hand. (S. Martin.)
Sin and forgiveness:
There is, at first sight, a little obscurity in this expression. Is the cloud intended to represent the sin, or is it the obscurity with which the sin is to be obliterated? Does the text liken transgressions to a cloud which is to be driven away, or the transgression to be covered and blotted out as if by a cloud? There is a difference in opinion with regard to the matter. But there is no reason for not taking the words literally as they stand, and looking upon sin as likened to a cloud.
I. THE FIGURE UNDER WHICH SIN IS REPRESENTED. A cloud; a thick cloud. It affords an apt illustration of human evil.
1. Clouds obscure the beauty of the earth. Sin obscures the prospects of the soul and shuts out the glories of the heavenly horizon! It blurs the outline of truth, it disturbs our views of life, of our fellow-creatures, of our own actions and the actions and motives of others, of the providence and dealings of God, of the true import of existence, of the future and the past. What is evil seems good; what is good seems evil; what is real seems false; and what is false appears true.
2. Clouds intercept the light of heaven. And what hides the full brightness of the face of God, who is the source of all spiritual light and warmth and joy, but sin? Your iniquities have separated between Me and you. Our sins have kept the revelation of full light and the manifestation of fullest love from vivifying and rejoicing our hearts. Not that even sin entirely obscures Gods mercy and love. The darkest cloud cannot altogether hide the light of day. The suns rays are so powerful that they penetrate even through the thickest mists. But what a contrast is the feeble light of a November day to that of the genial sunbeam in June! So not even sin can entirely hide the Divine influence of the love of God or prevent it from warming the earth. But how different is its manifestation to what it was amid the glories of Paradise!
3. Clouds cause inconvenience and discomfort. The traveller amid the mountain mists, with his garments soddened and weighted with the moisture, his breathing laboured and his movements hampered, is a fitting representative of the Christian journeying heavenwards amid the many hindrances which check his progress through the uncongenial atmosphere of this sinful world, saturated with the essence, as it were, of iniquity.
4. Clouds are about us everywhere.
(1) They overshadow every portion of the globe. Not in the same intensity, not always in the same place, not similar in appearance and density.
(2) Does not sin, like the clouds, everywhere compass the spiritual world? It varies, indeed, Some countries are more enlightened, and the clouds not being so dense, more is seen and felt of the light and warmth of the Sun of Righteousness. But there are other countries where mental and spiritual clouds dominate in various degrees of density, till we arrive at those places where the savage reigns supreme and no ray of the light of heaven ever penetrates.
(3) Are not the clouds a fitting image of sin in their deceptive beauty? There are occasions when evil shines resplendent with the borrowed glory of heaven. How many noble characters have, in the virtues reflected from Christianity, attracted for a time the admiration and rapture of an astonished and delighted world! For a time! For as soon as the reflection from above, which imparted glory to their characters, was gone, they sank: again into their native nature of darkness and gloom. And observe how much the reflection of Divine truth and heavenly law beautifies this world of ours, with all its sin! The philanthropy towards those who are weak and suffering, the courtesy towards the feeble, the hospitals which are provided, the many means which are adopted for exalting the race: all these are the glints of heavenly sunshine reflected upon the clouds of sin.
(4) We also see that the clouds resemble sin because of their unreality. There is nothing on which a man can trust or lean or hope. They are unsubstantial, empty, frail.
(5) They also are changing, fleeting, driven away by all kinds and by every breath of wind; never the same, unstable, assuming all sorts of guises in the presence of the light.
II. THE PROMISE WHICH IS HERE BESTOWED. Although the statement is put in the past--I have blotted out--yet it is really a future and a conditional declaration. The early part of this chapter is a description of awful impenitence and apostasy. In purpose, in intention, this is forgiven, but it is not a forgiveness independent of reformation. We have seen the sky when the summer sun has driven away the clouds. It is deep, unfathomable, ethereal, blue. The suns glory is undimmed. The whole of nature rejoices with unspeakable joy. The heart rebounds with lightness. Not a speck on the surface of the heaven casts a shadow on the earth. Such is the idea of a world without sin. All brightness and no clouds, all joy without a sorrow to dim its glory. And this is the spiritual gist of the promise which the great God has made to His believing people. It is an assurance so certain that it is spoken of as having actually taken place. And how will God blot out the sins of His people? By the same means as physically disperse the clouds of earth.
1. By the tempests of wrath. The tempest of Gods wrath, as it fell upon the head of Christ, sent a current of electric justice through the load of sin and rendered it possible for its power to be removed.
2. By the glorious shining of rays of warmth and light. It is the warmth of Gods infinite, eternal love that shall disperse the last trace of sin. That love shining from His throne shall drive all the consequences of evil from the heart, from the life. And with the clouds of sin shall go all other clouds--the clouds of suffering, of sorrow, of death. And when sin is driven away, that love shall shine in unceasing glory. It will not be limited to time, or place, or season, or circumstance. It will not come in diminished or lessened degrees, but it will be perfect, pure, and complete. Still, this is but a figure--an incomplete one, too--one which has its deficiencies. But God Himself gave it out. (J. J. S. Bird, B. A.)
Forgiveness: its blessings and its duties:
I. AN IMPORTANT DECLARATION. I have blotted out, &c.
II. A CORRESPONDING DUTY. Return unto Me.
III. AN ALL-CONSTRAINING MOTIVE. I have redeemed thee. (S. Bridge, M. A.)
Sin and grace:
I. THERE IS RECOGNISED THE EXISTENCE OF SIN.
II. THERE IS AFFIRMED THE EXISTENCE OF MERCY. (W. M.Punshon, LL. D.)
Invitation:
The features of the Divine character, and the blessings of salvation, which are to be manifested in Gods dealings with Israel in the latter days, are the very same as are now manifested in Gods dealings with all believers. We may consider the text, then, as an exhibition of Gods mercy, in which we are ourselves interested.
I. With reference to HIS MERCY.
1. The first words of the text denote an act of Gods gracious forgiveness. I have blotted out thy transgressions and thy sins. In the New Testament scriptures, this expression blotting out is connected with the atonement Col_2:14).
2. The language of pardoning mercy goes still farther. As a thick cloud. How is a thick cloud blotted out? When a debt is blotted out from a debt book, the blot remains. It is true there is no evidence against the sinner; the charge against him is at an end; but the remains of what was a debt are to be seen, and the very act of cancelling it shows that there was a debt. But when a cloud is blotted out, it is different. How is that cloud blotted out? Either by the wind dispersing it, or by the sun breaking through it and dispersing it; and when this is done, we say either that the storm is blown over, or that there is now a clear sky, and all that we can see, if we see anything, with regard to the threatening cloud, is now composed of those beautiful hues which are lighted up by the shining of a bright sun in a clear sky. Well, then, when God says that He will blot out as a thick cloud our transgressions, and as a cloud our sin, we are to understand that He undertakes to remove all traces of our transgressions and all remains of guilt from the conscience, so that the sinner thus pardoned may look up to God as a Father full of grace and love, and may approach Him with holy boldness, and without any particle of fear. Observe, then, what full forgiveness God assures us of in this language. Thick clouds, as well as ordinary clouds,--two expressions which must be taken in a figurative meaning, as including all kinds of sin--what we call greater and lesser sins alike--are what the Lord declares His purpose to do away with, and completely to remove from being a ground of fear to those who approach Him in the name of His dear Son.
3. Now, inasmuch as no one can disperse a thick cloud but the God who can send His bright sun to shine through it, so none hut that God who proclaims Himself a pardoning God and Saviour can say, so that the conscience of the sinner shall respond, I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. And this is the forgiveness in which God delights--full, complete, and such as only He Himself can bestow.
II. But in order that this mercy may be ours, and that we may rejoice in it, IT IS NEEDFUL THAT WE SHOULD RIGHTLY RESPOND to that intimation of Gods grace. I have blotted out thy transgressions. Return unto Me.
1. It is the Redeemer who calls, because it says, Return, for I have redeemed thee.
2. How different to our natural expectation is this! The Redeemer crying after the sinner, instead of the sinner crying after the Redeemer.
3. Then observe how the language before us manifests the deep concern of God our Saviour. Return to Me. He would not speak in language like this, if it were not a matter of immense moment to the sinner to return.
4. There is another suggestion: for what purpose is this call of entreaty made? Not that the sinner may receive punishment. God calls thee, O careless one, not to be frowned upon, but smiled upon.
5. Then, after all this intimation of grace on the part of God, there can be no hope of lasting peace or a future glory, except as we return.
III. NOTICE THE LOVE IN THE ASSURANCE THAT HE GIVES ABOUT REDEMPTION. Return, for I have redeemed thee. What return do you make to the call of Him who assures of mercy and redemption, and who graciously says, Return? (W. Cadman, M. A.)
The cloud of sin and its dispersion:
I. A wonderful teaching as to the INMOST NATURE OF SIN. I refer especially to the two words for sin which are employed here. That translated transgression literally means treachery or rebellion, and that translated sin missing a mark. All iniquity is stamped with this damning characteristic, it is rebellion against a loving will, an infinite King, a tender Father. And all iniquity has this, by the merciful irony of Providence, associated with it, that it is a blunder as well as a crime.
II. THE PERMANENT RECORD OF SIN. I have blotted out. That points, of course, to something that has been written, and which it promises shall be erased. It may be, perhaps, the idea rather of a stain which is covered and removed, but that I think less probable than the other one, that the evil is written down somewhere. A book written; a permanent record of my evil doing. Where is it written? Where, rather, is it not written? Written on character, written to a very large extent even on circumstances, written above all in the calm, perfect memory of the all-judging God. The book is written by ourselves, moment by moment, and day by day. We write it with invisible ink, and it only needs to be held to the fire to flash up into legibility.
III. THE DARKENING POWER OF SIN. I have blotted out as a thick cloud. When the cloud draws its veil over the heavens, the sunshine and the blue are shut out from a mans eye, and all the flowerets close; and when the heaven is veiled the birds cease to sing. So, like a misty veil drawn across the face of the heavens are mans sins. Our only way of knowing God is by sympathy, by conformity.
IV. THE REMOVAL OF THE SIN. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. The erasure implies the making a clean sheet of the blurred page; the cancelling of the whole long formidable column of figures that expresses the debt. The blotting out as a cloud implies the disappearing of the misty vapour, as some thin fleecy film will do in the dry Eastern heavens, melting away as a man looks. So God, in His marvellous patience, shining on the upper side, as it were, of all the mists that wrap and darken our souls, thins these away by the process of self-communication, until they gather themselves up, routed and broken, and disappear, floating in thin fragments beneath the visual horizon. It is to no purpose to ask whether that means pardon or cleansing. It means both. Isaiah could proclaim: I have blotted out thy transgressions, because Isaiah could also proclaim: The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. Now, mark this, that this removal of sin, in all its aspects and powers, is regarded in my text as a past accomplished fact. It is not set forth as contingent upon the mans return, but as the reason for his return. I have redeemed thee, therefore come back to Me, not Come back to Me that I may redeem thee. You have to take your portion of the great blessing by the simple act and exercise of faith in Jesus Christ. Then it becomes yours. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Sin as clouds
It is by no means an uncommon circumstance to find in the Bible the very same natural object employed as a symbol of very different and even opposite things. Thus, the lion is used as the emblem both of Christ and of the Prince of Darkness; fire is used as the emblem both of Divine purity and of human suffering; water is used as the emblem both of peace and of trouble; and the cloud is employed as an emblem both of good and evil. Here the Almighty Himself speaks of sin as a cloud. In order to guard against an abuse of the comparison, notice two striking points of dissimilarity.
(1) Clouds are objects of beauty.
(2) Clouds are sources of blessing. In what respect, then, is sin like a cloud?
I. He blotteth out sin as a cloud which OBSTRUCTS THE GENIAL INFLUENCES OF HEAVEN. It rolls like a thick cloud between God and the soul. It obstructs the rays of His love; it makes life gloomy and sad.
II. He blotteth out sins as a cloud which RISES FROM BENEATH. Whence come these clouds? Not from the celestial regions. They are exhalations from the earth. From noxious marshy lands and stagnant pools, as well as from restless seas they rise. So it is with sin. It is an exhalation from the depraved heart. The clouds that roll between the soul and its God are an aggregation of the noxious vapours that have risen from the heart.
III. He blotteth out sins as a cloud which EXISTS IN EVERY VARIETY OF FORM. Clouds are endless in their variety. It is so with sin. You have it in the fleeting thought, the transient feeling, the passing word; as well as in the deep plot, the cherished passions, the confirmed habits, the dark, dark life.
IV. He blotteth out sins as a cloud which is CHARGED WITH EVIL. Whilst clouds are sources of blessings to the world, they are often filled with elements of destruction. There are forged the thunderbolts that terrify; there are kindled the lightnings that consume; there are the floods that deluge. It is so with sin. The miseries of retribution are all nursed in it as storms in the cloud.
V. He blotteth out sins as a cloud WHICH NO FINITE INTELLIGENCE CAN DISPERSE. Who can dispel the smallest cloud from the face of the sky? No skill, no strength, can dispel one cloud. It is so with sin. No finite being can dispel it. No Church, priesthood, &c.
VI. He blotteth out sins as a cloud, which ONCE DISPERSED, IS GONE FOR EVER. Sins pardoned, like clouds dispersed, are lost for ever. In those days, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none, and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found, for I will pardon them.
VII. He blotteth out sins as a cloud, which WHEN DISSIPATED BENEFITS THE UNIVERSE. (Homilist.)
Gods forgiveness:
I. A DESCRIPTION OF SIN. Mans transgressions are as a thick cloud.
1. In their number.
(1) The sins of the wicked--murders, revellings, debaucheries, and the like.
(2) The sins of the moral man--intellectual sins, worse than the animal--avarice, pride, ambition, unbelief.
(3) The sins of the good. The lives of the best of men may seem, to the natural eye, holy and good; but, seen under the microscope of Gods law, these are full of impurities.
2. Because they intervene between God and man.
3. Because they engloom the earth.
4. Because they contain the consequences which we dread. Out of the cloud the angry lightnings flash, and in the cloud the fury of the tempest sleeps.
II. A DESCRIPTION OF FORGIVENESS. I have blotted out, &c. You have witnessed the dispersion of a storm. This is a symbol of Gods forgiveness.
1. It is so because it is the work of God only. It is a transaction in which man has no share.
2. Gods forgiveness is a complete forgiveness.
3. May we not learn that all sin is overruled to our good? After the storm has gone over us, have we not found the atmosphere purified? Can we not see that the world is disciplined by the deluge of evils which pours forth from the clouds of sin?
4. This is a symbol of Gods forgiveness in respect to the gladness which succeeds the storm. The prophet represents the whole earth as awakening, after the dispersion of the storm, to exultant joy. Sing, O ye heavens, &c. Such is the joy of the world on account of Gods forgiveness.
III. A DESCRIPTION OF THE CONDUCT OF THE FORGIVEN. Return unto Me, &c. (H. M. Jackson.)
Departing clouds:
The bestowment of spiritual blessings is a warrant for the expectation of all needful temporal blessings. This passage is the foundation on which God causes His ancient people to rest. Gods forgiving love is the promise of all needful help and grace.
I. WE MAKE OUR OWN CLOUDS. As the natural clouds are formed by the vapours drawn up from the sea, so, in a degree, those clouds which darken our skies are the effects of our transgressions.
II. GOD MAKES OUR CLOUDS THE MINISTERS OF HIS MERCY. The natural clouds are the ministers of His mercy, the testimonies of His faithful care, of His loving thoughtfulness for the children of men. But how wonderful that the clouds of our sins should be the ministers of His mercy! The clouds lead us to appreciate the glorious sunlight.
III. GOD DISPERSES OUR CLOUDS BY THE INTERVENTION OF HIS REDEEMING LOVE AND POWER. Clouds move in obedience to natures laws; and the clouds of our sins cannot be blotted out in an arbitrary method. Not as a bad debt, not as chalked figures may be obliterated. God is a Father, but He is a moral Governor. Even He has only a right to blot out transgressions, because He has redeemed.
IV. GOD DISPERSES OUR CLOUDS IN ORDER THAT WE MAY STAND IN THE CLEAR SUNSHINE. When sin is blotted out, then the soul is started on a career of never-ending fruitfulness.
V. GOD MAKES THE DEPARTING CLOUDS HIS PATHETIC PREACHERS. Return unto Me. Every time we see the clouds sweeping across the heavens, let us listen to their still small voice. (W. Burrows, B. A.)
Gods abundant pardon:
In pardoning His people God freely forgives them all their sins of every description, flowing from corrupt propensities and evil habits, committed through ignorance, infirmity, temptation, or presumption. (R. Macculloch.)
Barriers obliterated:
I. HERE IS AN INTERPOSING AND DIVIDING MEDIUM: a cloud of sins. A vapour, says the Hebrew; and, then, a thick cloud. Gods people ought always to dwell in fellowship with their God. There ought to be nothing between the renewed heart and God to prevent joyful and hallowed fellowship; but it is not so. Sometimes a cloud comes between,--a cloud of sin; and, whenever that cloud of sin comes between us and God, it speedily chills us. Our delight in God is no longer manifest; we have little or no zeal in His service, or joy in His worship. Beneath that cloud, we feel like men who are frozen; and, at the same time, darkness comes over us. We get into such a sad state that we hardly know whether we are Gods people or not. Besides that, it threatens us. Remember, clouds are earthborn things. Yet, recollect that the sun is not affected by the clouds.
II. THE COMPLETE REMOVAL OF THIS BARRIER. I have blotted out, &c.
1. No known human power can remove the clouds. So it is with your darkness and doubts if you have fallen into sin.
2. But what a mercy it is that God can remove these clouds of sin.
3. When God drives away these clouds from us, though we may see other clouds, we shall never see those black ones any more. When the Lord takes away His peoples sins, they are gone, and gone for ever.
4. The glory of it is that the Lord has already done this great work of grace. I have, &c.
III. THE TENDER COMMAND. Return unto Me. The great barrier that separated us, is removed; so let us not be divided from one another any longer.
1. When He says, Return, He wants you to give up that which has grieved Him.
2. The Lords gracious invitation also means, Come back, and love Me. See how I have loved you. I have already forgiven you your sin, you who are, indeed, My child, but whose faith has almost disappeared. Though you have provoked Me, I still love you. Will you not love Me? After such pleading, can you keep on in this cold-hearted state towards your God?
3. The Lord also means, Return again to your old joys.
IV. THE SACRED CLAIM WHICH BACKS UP THE GRACIOUS INVITATION. I have redeemed thee.
1. The meaning is this: I have loved you so much that I redeemed you with the blood of My dear Son; and, having loved you so much in the ages past, I love you still. Come back to Me. I did not make a mistake when I first loved you, through which I shall have to change the object of My choice. I knew all about you from eternity,;, all that you ever would be or could be, I knew it; yet I loved you and bought you, &c.
2. You belong to Me. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Return unto Me
The freeness of the gospel scheme, and the universality of Gods love
I. THE FREENESS OF THE METHOD OF MANS ACCEPTANCE. Return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee. There can be no difficulty in proving that we are bought with a price; there can be no difficulty in showing that it was God Himself to whom the price was paid. But there is something of a difficulty in understanding how purchase can consist with gift; and how that which is dearly bought can be said to be freely bestowed. The difficulty is just what follows. Much is said in the Bible as to our deliverance being perfectly gratuitous; but if God bestows nothing that has not been paid for, what becomes of that gratuitous character of redemption? Certainly it would seem that purchase is so inconsistent with donation, that He of whom forgiveness is bought can lay but slight claim to a surprising liberality. Careful examination, however, will set this in a proper light. Return unto Me; for I have redeemed thee, is an assertion whose proof lies in the assurance that God is ready to receive the prodigal. A deliverance that has been bought for the world is more illustrative of Gods free grace than any other which would have required no satisfaction. For a plan of deliverance in every sense gratuitous is one of those absurd creations of the fancy which it would have been impossible to turn into reality. If it could not have been said to man, Thou art a redeemed thing, and a purchased thing, it must have been said, in opposition to our text, Thou shalt not return; thou shalt continue a ruined thing. It fell not within the power of Deity to grant what men call unconditional forgiveness. It is requiring God to undeify Himself--to cease to be the Just One, the Faithful One. The fact that we may return to the Father only because we are purchased by the blood of His Son, wondrously demonstrates the freeness of the grace. The death of the Son does not, after all, place the Father under the necessity of extending forgiveness to sinners; He need not have said, Return, even though we were redeemed. We are not merely debtors who have nothing to pay--we are criminals who have punishment to endure. If I were only a debtor, and Christ had discharged the debt, I cease to be a debtor, and God cannot, in justice, refuse to release me; but, if I were a criminal, I do not cease to be a criminal because another might have died in my room. Hence it is free grace, and nothing else, that grants me forgiveness.
II. THE EARNEST LONGING THAT GOD HAS THAT SINNERS SHOULD BE SAVED, DISCOVERED IN THE PATHOS OF THE ENTREATY. Men are bid to return because they are redeemed. There are, therefore, two conditions: they must have faith in the Redeemer, and they must have that repentance which includeth forsaking of sin: so precious are you in Gods sight that to return is to please God. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
I have redeemed thee
I have redeemed thee
To redeem is to buy back; and our redemption is a buying us out of bondage. We are sold under sin, and God has bought us back with the precious blood of His well-beloved Son. If you will look at Lev_25:23, &c., you will find the law by which the land could be redeemed; or those persons who had waxen poor and sold themselves as bondmen--the law of redemption.
1. Christ is born in our midst that He may become a Kinsman, a Brother to us all, He comes bringing our ransom price. But he does not bid the angels bring the gold and pearls for our deliverance. He gives Himself a ransom for all. And now Jesus comes to us, our loving Brother, and He saith, I have redeemed thee.
2. Now do not let us serve sin any more. Jesus has bought us back from this hard master. He has bought for us the Fathers house too. He has put us in possession of heaven and all its joys. And thus from the bondage of sin and evil of our hearts, we can cry to the King for His help. Prayer is the white-winged bird that can bear our message right up to the Fathers house. And an answer shall come. (M. G. Pearse.)
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 v23 Isa_44:23. Sing, O ye heavens, for the LORD hath…
A CALL FOR UNIVERSAL PRAISE
Isa_44:23. Sing, O ye heavens, for the LORD hath done it, &c.
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The prophet, beholding Israel’s redemption achieved and the people restored to their land and privileges, exulted in the blessed change, and burst forth in this impassioned address to all nature above and around him, and lest it should be supposed that his transport was premature, and that he had anticipated more than could reasonably be expected, Jehovah resumes the discourse and names the man whom He had destined to be His people’s deliverer (Isa_44:28). It is natural to ask, Was the deliverance of the Jews so great, so blissful, so universally interesting as to justify the prophet’s rapturous call? In reply, we observe that the Jews exclusively were the Church of the living God, and their restoration was necessary to the accomplishment of the predictions concerning the Messiah. It was a shadow and pledge of the spiritual and eternal redemption which He was to obtain. The primary subject is the liberation of the captive Jews, but that speedily merges in a more glorious theme.
I. The work which it is here said God hath performed. This work, though then future and still only in progress, is spoken of as already effected. The purpose of God renders its completion absolutely certain.
1. The nature and extent of that deliverance with which the Israel of God are blessed. It is not only redemption from evil but redemption to God, and includes the restoration of His image to our souls. We are only yet beginning to enjoy these high privileges. Where is the man who can sufficiently appreciate the magnitude and blessedness of that change which takes place in the relations, character, and prospects of a sinner when he passes from darkness to light,—from life to death,—from bondage to freedom? Every scene around him seems now to smile upon him,—to speak to him of the goodness and greatness of his divine Benefactor, and animates his gratitude and praise. The names “Jacob” and “Israel” designate all who prove themselves Israelites indeed. What a multitude of all ages, countries, characters, and conditions this name embraces!
2. The display of the divine glory in this redemption. Who but a Being of boundless benevolence, wisdom, and power could have conceived and accomplished it? It delights Him to be known and acknowledged as its Author. How did He effect this redemption? It is the result of His Son’s sacrifice in our nature (Heb_9:11-12). “It is finished;” the work is done (Psa_22:31), and in it God “has glorified Himself” (Psa_85:10).—Consider, further, that God Himself is the source and sum of all the good which this redemption comprises. What must be the fulness of His knowledge and wisdom who irradiates so many minds; of His love who feeds this celestial flame in so many hearts; and of His blessedness who gladdens and delights so many immortal creatures?—Further, think of the means He employs for putting His people in possession of this redemption. Among these, the word and the ministry of reconciliation occupy the chief place,—means which in the estimation of the world are weak and foolish (2Co_4:7). Think, too, of the opposition offered to the execution of His gracious designs,—opposition from ignorance and depravity, from the world, and from the hosts of hell; yet it is ineffectual to frustrate the counsels of His wisdom and love.
II. This work of redemption supplies, not to the redeemed only, but to the creation of God, a fit theme of the highest exultation and praise. The prophet calls on all orders of creatures. The redeemed are not themselves addressed. Could they need any excitement to joy and praise? There are beings, indeed, who will not sing. They rather look on with malignity and “howl for vexation;” for this deliverance frustrates their designs, abolishes the evil they labour to extend, and exalts the name they dishonour (1Jn_3:8). What must be the mortification of that proud and wicked spirit! What fills others with joy will be to him a source of bitter disappointment. It does not surprise us that the fallen angels should raise no song of praise. But what shall we say when we recollect that there are human beings for whose redemption Christ died, to whom the glad news are proclaimed, but who yet reject salvation? This is impiety, folly, and madness, of which even devils cannot be accused.
With these exceptions of fallen spirits and impenitent men, the whole creation of God obeys the joyous call.
1. The holy angels delight to behold sin condemned, its works abolished, and its slaves disenthralled (Luk_2:14; Luk_15:10).
2. Even the inanimate and irrational parts of creation have an interest in Israel’s redemption. As this work advances, creation is freed from the vanity to which it is subject (Rom_8:20-21). Not only has earth, as smitten with the curse, been comparatively unfruitful, but its various productions have been desecrated to the vilest purposes,—have been compelled to minister to the sensuality, avarice, and other passions of mankind. The prevalence of purity, justice, sobriety, and mercy will deliver the inferior creatures from a load of misery, and restore all things to their right uses. No sooner is a sinner born of God than he contemplates the works of God with a new eye. He hears them proclaiming the goodness of his heavenly Father, and praising Him by fulfilling His word. Meditating on these results, it is no wonder that the prophet should represent nature in the happy coming age as inspired with new life, clothed with new beauty, and delighting to open her treasures and pour forth from them abundance of good (Psa_96:11-13; Psa_98:7-9).
If, then, we would see God’s glory, we must study His chief work. There is enough in redemption to awaken our joy.—James Stark, D.D., of Dennyloanhead: Posthumous Discourses, pp. 59–99.
This is the response of the prophet’s soul to the redemption announced in the preceding verses. His joy is as reasonable as it is excellent; the demand he makes is as just as it is poetic. There is instruction here as well as eloquence.
I. Redemption is peculiarly God’s work. “The Lord hath done it; the Lord hath redeemed Jacob.”
1. This is the teaching of Scripture throughout.
2. On enlightened and careful consideration, reason pronounces that it could have been accomplished by God only.
II. Redemption is the work in which the glory of God is most conspicuously manifested. “The Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel.” In His material works we see His wisdom, power, and goodness, and they should be devoutly studied by us as revelations of what He is: but in this work we have a disclosure of His patience, His forbearance, His love, His self-sacrificing pity—those moral attributes which are most worthy of our admiration.
III. The redemption that God has wrought is a work that demands universal praise. The heavens and the earth may well be called upon to unite with us in thanksgiving, for they also shall share in the blessings of this wonderful redemption (Rom_8:19-21; P. D. 975, 2465).—J. Alwin Flide.
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 v22
Isaiah
WRITING BLOTTED OUT AND MIST MELTED
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Isa 44:22.
Isaiah has often and well been called the Evangelical Prophet. Many parts of this second half of his prophecies referring to the Messiah read like history rather than prediction. But it is not only from the clearness with which the great figure of the future king of Israel stands out on his page that he deserves that title. Other thoughts belonging to the very substance of the gospel appear in him with a vividness and a frequency which well warrants its application to him. He speaks much of the characteristically Christian conceptions of sin, forgiveness, and redemption. The whole of the latter parts of this book are laden with that burden. They are gathered up in the extraordinarily pregnant and blessed words of my text, in which metaphors are blended with much disregard to oratorical propriety, in order to bring out the whole fulness of the prophet’s meaning. ‘I have blotted out’-that suggests a book. ‘I have blotted out as a cloud’-that suggests the thinning away of morning mists. The prophet blends the two thoughts together, and on that great revelation of a forgiveness granted before it has been asked, and given, not only to one penitent soul wailing out like the abased king of Israel in his deep contrition, ‘according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions,’ but promised to a whole people, is rested the great invitation, ‘Return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.’
Let me try and bring out, as simply and earnestly as I can, the great teaching that is condensed into these words.
I. Observe here the penetrating glance into the very essential characteristics of all sin.
There are two words, as you see, employed in my text, ‘transgressions’ and ‘sins.’ They apply to the same kind of actions, but they look at them from different angles and points of view. They are partially synonymous, but they cover very various conceptions, and if we take note of the original significations of the two words, we get two very important and often forgotten thoughts.
For that expression rendered in my text, and rendered correctly enough -transgressions-means at bottom, ‘rebellion,’ the rising up of a disobedient will, not only against a law, but against a lawgiver. There we have a deepening of that solemn fact of a man’s wrongdoing, which brings it into immediate connection with God, and marks its foulness by reason of that connection.
Ah! brethren, it makes all the difference to a man’s notions of right and wrong, whether he stops on the surface or goes down to the depths; whether he says to himself, ‘The thing is a vice; it is wrong; it is contrary to what I ought to be’; or whether he gets down to the darker, deeper, and truer thought, and says, ‘The damnable thing about every little evil that I do is this, that in it I-poor puny I-perk myself up against God, and say to Him, “Thou wilt; wilt thou? I shall not!”‘ Sin is rebellion.
And so what becomes of the hazy distinction between great sins and little ones? An overt act of rebellion is of the same gravity, whatsoever may be its form. The man that lifts his sword against the sovereign, and the man behind him that holds his horse, are equally criminal. And when once you let in the notion that in all our actions we have to do with a Person, to whom we are bound to be obedient, then the distinction which sophisticates so many people’s consciences, and does such infinite harm in so many lives, between great and small transgressions, disappears altogether. Sin is rebellion.
Then the other word of my text is equally profound and significant. For it, literally taken, means-as the words for ‘sin’ do in other languages besides the Hebrew-missing a mark. Every wrong thing that any man does is beside the mark, at which he, by virtue of his manhood, and his very make and nature, ought to aim. It is beside the mark in another sense than that. As some one says, ‘A rogue is a roundabout fool.’ No man ever secures that, and only that, which he aims at by any departure from the straight path of imperative duty. For if he gets some vulgar and transient titillation of appetite, or satisfaction of desire, he gets along with it something that takes all the gilt off the gingerbread, and all the sweetness out of the satisfaction. So that it is always a blunder to be bad, and every arrow that is drawn by a sinful hand misses the target to which all our arrows should be pointed, and misses even the poor mark that we think we are aiming at. Take these two thoughts with you-I will not dwell on them, but I desire to lay them upon all your hearts-all evil is sin, and every sin is rebellion against God, and a blunder in regard to myself.
II. And now I come to the second point of our text, and ask you to note the permanent record which every sin leaves.
I explained in the earlier part of my remarks that we have a case here of the thing that horrifies rhetoricians, but does not matter a bit to a prophet, the blending or confusing of two metaphors. The first of them-’I have blotted out’-suggests a piece of writing, a book, or manuscript of some sort. And the plain English of what lies behind that metaphor is this solemn thought, which I would might blaze before each of us, in all our lives, that God’s calm and all-comprehensive knowledge and remembrance takes and keeps filed, and ready for reference, the whole story of our whole acts. There is a book. It is a violent metaphor, no doubt, but there is a solemn truth underlying it which we are too apt to forget. The world is groaning nowadays with two-volume memoirs of men that nobody wants to know anything more about. But every man is ever writing his autobiography with invisible but indelible ink. You have seen those old-fashioned ‘manifold writers’ in your places of business, and the construction of them is this: a flimsy sheet of tissue paper, a bit of black to be put in below it, and then another sheet on the other side; and the pen that writes on the flimsy top surface makes an impression that is carried through the black to the sheet below, and there is a duplicate which the writer keeps. You and I, upon the flimsinesses of this fleeting-sometimes, we think, futile-life, are penning what is neither flimsy nor futile, which goes through the opaque dark, and is reproduced and docketed yonder. That is what we are doing every day and every minute, writing, writing, writing our own biography. And who is going to read it? Well, God does read it now, and you will have to read it out one day, and how will you like that?
This metaphor will bear a little further expansion. Scripture tells us, and conscience tells us, what manner of manuscript it is that we are each so busy adding line upon line to. It is a ledger; it is an indictment. Our own handwriting puts down in the ledger our own debts, and we cannot deny our own handwriting when we are confronted with it. It is an indictment, and our own hand draws it, and we have to plead ‘guilty,’ or ‘not guilty,’ to it. Which, being translated into plain fact, is this-that there goes with all our deeds some sense and reality of responsibility for them, and that all our rebellions against God, and our blunders against self, be they great or small, carry with them a sense of guilt and a reality of guilt whether we have the sense of it or not. God has a judgment at this moment about every man and woman, based upon the facts of the unfinished biography which they are writing.
Mystical and awful, yet blessed and elevating, is the thought that nothing-nothing, ever dies; and that what was, is now, and always will be.
Amongst the specimens from the coal measures in a museum you will find slabs upon which the tiniest fronds of ferns that grew nobody knows how many millenniums since are preserved for ever. Our lives, when the blow of the last hammer lays them open, will, in like manner, bear the impress of the minutest filament of every deed that we have ever done.
But my metaphor will bear yet further expansion, for this autobiographical record which we are busy preparing, which is at once ledger and indictment, is to be read out one day. There is a great scene in the last book of Scripture, the whole solemn significance of which, I suppose, we shall not understand till we have learned it by experience, but the truth of which we have sufficient premonitions to assure us of, which declares that at a given time, on the confines of Eternity, the Great White Throne is to be set, and the books are to be opened, and the dead are judged ‘out of the books,’ which, the seer goes on to explain, is ‘according to their works.’ The story of Esther tells us how the sleepless monarch in the night-watches sent for the records of the kingdom and had them read to him. The King who never slumbers nor sleeps, in that dawning of heaven’s eternal morning, will have the books opened before Him, and my deeds will be read out. He and I will hear them, whether any else may hear or no. That is my second lesson.
III. The third is, that we have here suggested the darkening power of sin.
The prophet, as I said, mixes metaphors. ‘I have blotted out as a cloud thy transgressions.’ He uses two words for ‘cloud’ here; both of them mean substantially the same thing, and both suggest the same idea. When cloud fills the sky it darkens the earth, and shuts out the sunshine and the blue, it closes the petals of the little flowers, it hushes the songs of the birds. Sin makes for the sinning man ‘an under-roof of doleful grey,’ which shuts out all the glories above. Put that metaphor into plain English, and it is just this, ‘Your sins have separated between you and your God, and your iniquities have hid His face from you that He will not hear.’ It is impossible for a man that has his heart all stiffened by the rebellion of his will against God’s, or all seething with unrestrained passions, or perturbed with worldly longings and desires, to enter into calm fellowship with God or to keep the thought of God clear before his mind. For we know Him, not by sense nor by reason, but by sympathy and by feeling. And whatsoever comes in to disturb a man’s purity, comes in to hinder his vision of God. ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they’-and they only-’shall see God.’ Whenever from the undrained swamps of my own passions and sensualities, or from the as malarious though loftier grounds of my own self-regard, be I student or thinker, or moral man, there rise up these light mists, they will fill the sky and hide the sun. On a winter’s night you will see the Pleiades, or other bright constellations, varying in brilliancy from moment to moment as some invisible cloud-wrack floats across the heavens. So, brother, every evil thing that we do rises up and gets diffused through our atmosphere, and blots out from our vision the face of God Himself, the blessed Son.
Not only by reason of dimming and darkening my thoughts of Him is my sin rightly compared to an obscuring cloud; but the comparison also holds good because, just as the blanket of a wet mist swathing the wintry fields prevents the sunshine from falling upon them in blessing, so the accumulated effect of my evil doings and evil designings and thinkings and willings comes between me and all spiritual blessings which God can bestow, so that the very light of light, the highest blessings that He yearns to give, and we faint for want of possessing, are impossible even to His love to communicate until the cloud is swept away. So my sin darkens my soul, and separates me from the light of life.
But the metaphor carries with it, too, a suggestion of the limitations of the power of sin. For when the cloud is thickest and most obscuring it only hugs the earth, and rises but a little way Into the heavens; and far above it the blue is as blue, and the sunshine as bright, as if there were no mist or fog in the lower regions. Therefore, let us remember that, while the cloud must veil us from the light, the light is above it, and ‘every cloud that veileth love’ may some day be thinned away by the love it veils.
IV. That brings me to the last word of my text,-viz. the prophet’s teaching as to the removal of the sin.
We have to carry both the metaphors together with us here. ‘I have blotted out’-that is, as erasing from a book. ‘I have blotted out as a cloud’-that is, the thinning away of the mist. The blurred and stained page can be cancelled. Chemicals will take the ink out. ‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin’; and it, passed over all that foul record, makes it pure and clean. ‘What I have written, I have written,’ said Pilate in his obstinacy. ‘What I have written, I have written,’ wails many a man in the sense of the irrevocableness of his past. Brother! be not afraid. Christ can take away all that stained record, and give you back the page ready to receive holier words.
The cloud is thinned away. What thins the cloud? As I have said, the light which the cloud obscures, shining on the upper surface of it, dissipates it layer by layer till it gets down at last to the lowermost, and then rends a gap in it, and sends the shaft of the sunbeam through on to the green earth. And that is only a highly imaginative way of saying that it is the love against which we transgress that thins away the cloud of transgression, and at last, as the placid moon, by simply shining silently on, will sweep the whole sky clear of its clouds, dissipates them all, and leaves the calm blue. God forgives. The ledger account-if I may use so grossly commercial a figure-is settled in full; the indictment is endorsed, ‘acquitted.’ He remembers the sins only to breathe into the child’s heart the assurance of pardon, and no obstacle rises by reason of forgiven transgression between the sinning man and the reconciled God.
Now, all this preaching of Isaiah’s is enlarged and confirmed, and to some extent the rationale of it is set before us in the great Gospel truth of forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. Unless we know that truth, we may well stand amazed and questioning as to whether a righteous God, administering a rigorous universe, can ever pardon sin. And unless we know that by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, granted to our spirits, our whole nature may be remade and moulded, we might well be tempted to say, Ah! the Ethiopian cannot change his skin nor the leopard his spots. But Jesus Christ can change more than skin, even the heart and spirit, the inmost depths of the nature.
Now, brother, my text speaks of this great blotting out as a past fact. It is so in the divine mind with regard to each of us, because Christ’s great work has made reconciliation and atonement for all the sins of all the world. And on the fact that it is past is based the exhortation, ‘Return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.’ God does not say, ‘Come back and I will forgive’; He does not say, ‘Return and I will blot out’; but He says, ‘Return, for I have blotted out.’ Though accomplished, the forgiveness has to be appropriated by individual faith. The sins of the world have been borne, and borne away, by the Lamb of God, but your sins are not borne away unless your hand is laid on this head.
If it is, then you do not need to say, ‘What I have written is written, and it cannot be blotted out.’ But as in the old days a monk would take some manuscript upon which filthy stories about heathen gods and foolish fables were written, and erase these to write the legends of saints, or perhaps the words of the Gospels themselves; so on our hearts, which have been scribbled all over with obscenities and follies, He will write His new best name of Love, and we may be epistles of Christ, written with the Spirit of the living God.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv22–23 Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
redeemed
Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v24 The Promise to have Jerusalem Rebuilt
The Promise to have Jerusalem Rebuilt
This section, according to a careful analysis, belongs to the next chapter, for it takes up the deliverance of Israel as effected in consequence of the decree of Cyrus.
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v. 24. Thus saith the Lord, thy Redeemer, and He that formed thee from the womb, Cf v. 2: I am the Lord that maketh all things, the supreme Ruler and Guide of the universe, the Sovereign of the world and all it contains; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, 40:22; 42:5; that spreadeth abroad the earth by Myself, without assistance,
v. 25. that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, of the vain talkers, especially the necromancers, and maketh diviners mad, so that they appear as fools with their false prophecies; that turneth wise men backward, so that they are relegated to the background, and maketh their knowledge foolish, exhibiting their ignorance before the whole world;
v. 26. that, by way of contrast, confirmeth the word of His servant, establishing the prophetic message which His prophets proclaimed, and performeth the counsel of His messengers, so that not one of His words falls to the ground; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited, rising once more out of the ruins, and to the cities of Judah, which had likewise been plundered and sacked, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof;
v. 27. that saith to the deep, in another exhibition of His power, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers, to serve His purpose at all times;
v. 28. that saith of Cyrus, the prophecy here giving the exact words of the Lord’s command to him as it came to pass more than a century later, He Is My shepherd, the designation referring to his leadership of nations, and shall perform all My pleasure, namely, in bringing about the deliverance of Israel; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built, and to the Temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. This prophecy was literally fulfilled; for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and of the Temple took place in accordance with the express command of Cyrus. That his name is mentioned so many years in advance need cause no more surprise than the fact that Josiah’s work of reformation was predicted at the time of Jeroboam I, more than three centuries intervening between prophecy and fulfillment. The God of prophecy is the omniscient God, before whom nothing is hidden.
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 vv23–24 Sing, you heavens ... glory in Israel
Sing, you heavens ... glory in Israel
Here Isaiah speaks various parts of creation as if they were people and commands them to praise Yawheh. (See: Apostrophe and Personification)
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you depths of the earth
"you lowest parts of the earth." Possible meanings are 1) that this refers to very deep places on the earth such as caves or canyons and forms a merism with "heavens" in the previous phrase or 2) that this refers to the place of the dead. (See: Merism)
translationWords
heaven
Yahweh
redeem
Jacob
glory
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 vv23–24 44:23 All creation is called to celebrate God’s redemption…
44:23 All creation is called to celebrate God’s redemption of Israel (cp. 1:2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.