Instead of the thorn the cypress tree will come up; and instead of the brier the myrtle tree will come up. It will make a name for Yahweh, for an everlasting sign that will not be cut off.”
Parallel Translations
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Instead of the thorn the cypress tree will come up; and instead of the brier the myrtle tree will come up. It will make a name for Yahweh, for an everlasting sign that will not be cut off.”
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Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
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Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
Cross-references (20)
Passages linked to Isaiah 55:13 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ephesians 3:20-21 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
- 1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
- Isaiah 41:19 I will put cedar, acacia, myrtle, and oil trees in the wilderness. I will set cypress trees, pine, and box trees together in the desert;
- Isaiah 61:3 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 spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified.
- Jeremiah 33:9 This city will be to me for a name of joy, for praise, and for glory, before all the nations of the earth, which will hear all the good that I do to them, and will fear and tremble for all the good and for all the peace that I provide to it.’ ”
- Isaiah 60:13 “The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress tree, the pine, and the box tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
- Jeremiah 50:5 They will inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.’
- Romans 6:19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh, for as you presented your members as servants to uncleanness and to wickedness upon wickedness, even so now present your members as servants to righteousness for sanctification.
- 1 Peter 4:11 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 all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
- Isaiah 11:6-9 The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, the calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze. Their young ones will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play near a cobra’s hole, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea.
- Isaiah 43:21 the people which I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise.
- Isaiah 54:10 For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving kindness will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed,” says Yahweh who has mercy on you.
- Isaiah 60:21 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 glorified.
- Isaiah 63:12 Who caused his glorious arm to be at Moses’ right hand? Who divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
- Jeremiah 13:11 For as the belt clings to the waist of a man, so I have caused the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to cling to me,’ says Yahweh; ‘that they may be to me for a people, for a name, for praise, and for glory; but they would not hear.’
- Luke 2:14 “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”
- John 15:8 “In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples.
- 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortionists, will inherit God’s Kingdom. Some of you were such, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God.
- Micah 7:4 The best of them is like a brier. The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, even your visitation, has come; now is the time of their confusion.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain To set forth his glory.
To set forth his glory.
Of God’s deliverance, and that he will never forsake his Church.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up…
Isa 55:13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign [that] shall not be cut off.
Ver. 13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree.] There shall be a blessed change of men and of manners. Those who before were stark naught, or good for naught, yea, vexatious and mischievous, {a} shall become fruitful and beneficial. The fir tree is good for many uses; the myrtle brings berries of excellent taste, as Pliny tells us. The Chaldee thus paraphraseth here, Just men shall rise up instead of sinners, and such as fear the Lord in the room of the unrighteous. Sed cave ne hic somnies, saith Oecolampadius, but be warned you dream not, as some do, that in this world and before the day of judgment the wicked shall all be rooted out, for there will always be Cains to persecute Abels, &c.
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And it shall be to the Lord for a name,] i.e., For an honour: it shall be much for his glory, which is the end that he propoundeth to himself in all that he doeth. And well he may, since - (1.) He is not in danger of doing anything through vain glory; (2.) He hath none higher than himself to whom to have respect.
For an everlasting sign.] In monumentum non momentaneum; Heb., For a sign of perpetuity or eternity.
That shall not be cut off.] Or, That it, the Church, shall not be cut off.
{a} Spinis paliurus acutis. - Virg. Eclog.
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 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir…
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; whereas your land was filled with thorns and briers, as was foretold, Isa 7:24, they shall be rooted out, and it shall be planted with fir trees and myrtle trees, and such other trees which are useful either for fruit or for delight. Or this promise may be answerable to that Eze 28:24, There shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn, &c., but instead of them shall be such trees as shall yield shade and refreshment. The meaning is, The church shall be delivered from pernicious men and things, and replenished with sincere and serious believers, and with all sorts of Divine graces and blessings.
It shall be to the Lord for a name; this wonderful change shall bring much honour to that God by whom it is wrought.
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For an everlasting sign; for a monument or evident and glorious token of God’s infinite power, and faithfulness, and love to his people unto all succeeding generations.
That shall not be cut off; which shall never be abolished, but shall always live and flourish in the minds and mouths of men.
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 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir…
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree,.... The meaning of which either is, that instead of wicked men, comparable to briers and thorns for their being fruitless and useless, harmful and pernicious, under a curse, and their end to be burned, there good men, comparable to fruitful and beautiful trees, shall be; which was eminently true when the Gospel was preached in the Gentile world; see Isa 35:1 so the Targum,
"instead of the ungodly shall rise up righteous persons, and instead of sinners shall rise up such as are afraid to sin;''
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or else the sense is, that such who are like briers and thorns in their nature state, being no better than others, but children of wrath, even as others, shall by the grace of God be made like fir and myrtle trees; as great a change shall be wrought in them as if briers and thorns were changed into fir and myrtle trees; to which the saints are sometimes compared, particularly to myrtle trees, Zac 1:10, because goodly to look at, of a sweet smell, ever green, flourish in watery places, and bring forth fruit:
and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off; that is, these persons, who are become and made like to fir and myrtle trees, shall be called by the name of the Lord, shall bear his name, support his Gospel and interest, and be for his praise, and to the glory of his grace, who has done such great and wonderful things for them;
and shall be for an everlasting sign and monument of the love, grace, power, and faithfulness of God, and for a sure token that the church and people of God shall not be cut off, but that God will have a people to serve him as long as the sun and moon endure.
Next: Isaiah Chapter 56
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 Instead - Whereas your land was filled with thorns…
Instead - Whereas your land was filled with thorns and briars, as was foretold, they shall be rooted out, and it shall be planted with fir-trees and myrtle-trees, and such other trees, as are useful either for fruit or for delight. The church shall be delivered from pernicious things, and replenished with all divine graces and blessings. It - This wonderful change shall bring much honour to God. A sign - For a monument, of God's infinite power, and faithfulness, and love to his people to all succeeding generations.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 13. Instead of the thorn - "Instead of…
Verse 13. Instead of the thorn - "Instead of the thorny bushes"] These likewise (see note on the preceding verse, and on Isa 54:11) are general poetical images, expressing a great and happy change for the better. The wilderness turned into a paradise, Lebanon into Carmel: the desert of the Gentiles watered with the heavenly snow and rain, which fail not to have their due effect, and becoming fruitful in piety and righteousness: or, as the Chaldee gives the moral sense of the emblem, "instead of the wicked shall arise the just; and instead of sinners, such as fear to sin." (compare Isa 35:1-2; Isa 41:19.
And instead of] The conjunction ו vau is added, ותחת vetachath, in forty-five MSS. of Kennicott's several of De Rossi's, and five editions; and it is acknowledged by all the ancient Versions. The Masoretes therefore might have safely received it into the text, and not have referred us for it to the margin. But this is no uncommon case with them. Even in our own Version the best reading is very often found in the margin.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Instead of the thorn - (Compare the notes at…
Instead of the thorn - (Compare the notes at Isa 11:6-8; Isa 35:1-2; Isa 41:19; Isa 42:20). The word rendered ‘thorn’ (נעצוּץ na‛ătsûts) occurs only here and in Isa 7:19. It evidently means a thorn, hedge, or thorny-bush.
Shall come up the fir tree - (ברושׁ berôsh; see the notes at Isa 14:8; Isa 37:24; Isa 60:13; Zec 11:2). A change would be produced in the moral condition of man as great as if in the natural world the rough and useless thorn should be succeeded by the beautiful and useful cypress (compare Isa 60:13).
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And instead of the brier - The brier is everywhere an emblem of desolation, and of an uncultivated country (see Isa 5:6; Isa 7:23-24).
The myrtle-tree - (see the notes at Isa 41:19). The idea here is, that under the gospel the change would be as great in the moral world as if a field all overrun with briers should at once become thick set with myrtles.
And it shall be to the Lord - The reference here is to all that had been said in the chapter. The gift of the Messiah; the universal offer of the gospel; the bestowing of pardon; the turning of the wicked unto God; and the great and salutary changes produced by the gospel, would all be a memorial of the benevolence and glory of Yahweh.
For a name - It should tend to diffuse his name; to spread abroad a knowledge of himself.
An everlasting sign - On the meaning of the word rendered ‘sign,’ see the notes at Isa 7:14, Here it means that it would be an eternal memorial of the mercy and goodness of Yahweh.
That shall not be cut off - The gospel with its rich and varied blessings shall erect enduring monuments in the earth, to the praise and honor of God. It will be more enduring as a memorial of him than all altars and statues, and temples erected to celebrate and perpetuate idolatry; as wide-diffused as are his works of creation, and more fruitful of blessings than anything elsewhere conferred on man.
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 Myrtle-tree. Instead of the wicked, the just shall be…
Myrtle-tree. Instead of the wicked, the just shall be seen. (Chaldean) --- Away. The conversion and sanctity of the Gentiles shall be a trophy to the Lord. (Menochius)
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 thorn--emblem of the wicked (Sa2 23:6; Mic 7:4).
thorn--emblem of the wicked (Sa2 23:6; Mic 7:4).
fir tree--the godly (Isa 60:13; Psa 92:12). Compare as to the change wrought, Rom 6:19.
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brier--emblem of uncultivation (Isa 5:6).
myrtle--Hebrew, Hedes, from which comes Hedassah, the original name of Esther. Type of the Christian Church; for it is a lowly, though beautiful, fragrant, and evergreen shrub (Psa 92:13-14).
for a name . . . everlasting sign--a perpetual memorial to the glory of Jehovah (Jer 13:11; Jer 33:9).
Next: Isaiah Chapter 56
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 13. The word for thorn occurs again only in…
13. The word for thorn occurs again only in ch. Isa_7:19. That for brier (s̬irpâd) is unknown. LXX. renders κόνυζα (fleabane). All that can be said is that some desert plant is meant. On fir-tree (cypress) and myrtle tree, see on ch. Isa_41:19.
for a name … for a sign] i.e. a memorial to His praise. The meaning appears to be that the marvellous vegetation so often alluded to as springing up in the desert as the procession of the redeemed passes through, shall remain throughout the future ages as a monument to Jehovah. It shews at least (Dillmann, etc.) that the conception is not to be regarded as a mere poetical figure.
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.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir…
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree. "Briars and thorns" were to overgrow the unfruitful vineyard, according to Isa_5:6; and to cover the land of God"s people, according to Isa_32:13.This would be literally the case to a large extent, while the land was allowed to lie waste. The literal meaning is not, however, the whole meaning, or even the main meaning, here. "Briars and thorns" represent a general state of wretchedness and sin. The "fir" and "myrtle" represent a happy external condition of life, in which men "do righteously." It shall be to the Lord for a name. This "regenerated creation" will show forth the glory of God to mankind at large, and "get him a name" among them. (Isa_63:12 Jer_13:11) For an everlasting sign. It will also he to God himself an enduring sign of the covenant of peace which he has made with his people, not to hide his face from them any more, but to have mercy on them "with everlasting kindness". (Isa_54:7-10)
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 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir…
Isa_55:13
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree
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The briar
The word for briar (sirpad) is unknown. LXX. renders Κόνυζα (fleabane). All that can be said is that some desert plant is meant. (Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)
The Lords name and memorial
These words are a poetical description of great moral changes which the Gospel works wherever it comes. At the same time they are not solely poetical, for wherever the spiritual change comes the physical change is almost sure to follow. As men are elevated the earth yields her increase more largely. Look at the field of the sluggard, and the garden of the industrious! Look over the wild wastes of Africa, and then see the fertility of the same soil when tilled by the missionarys converts! The surest way to benefit men in their outward circumstances is to bless them spiritually.
I. THE EFFECTIVE AGENCY here spoken off I do not find in this fifty-fifth chapter of Isaiah that the cause of the spiritual miracles of my text is a gospel of forms and ceremonies. Nor do I find here a gospel of dogmas and orthodoxies, of rigid creeds, and infallible statements. But I learn a Gospel of quite another sort, more Divine, more glorious by far.
1. A Gospel revealing Divine provision for mans necessity, and earnestly inviting man to partake of it (verse 1).
2. This Gospel is as free as the air, for do we not read over and over again, Buy without money and without price, and are not those invited to come who have-no money?
3. It is a Gospel of hearing and not of doing. Hearken diligently. Incline your ear. Hear and your soul shall live. Death came to us first through the eye, but salvation comes through the ear.
4. Running your eye down the chapter you will notice that the great means God makes use of for turning deserts into gardens is the Gospel founded on a covenant, a covenant made with Davids Lord and Son. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure, mercies of David.
5. Isaiah describes a Gospel whose success is guaranteed. Thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not. But you may call often, and men will not come; in this case, however, they shall come. Nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow, etc.
6. The Gospel which Isaiah speaks of is full of grace and encouragement (verses 6-9).
II. THE BENEFICIAL RESULTS OF THE GOSPEL. The change depicted in this verse is very radical, for a little observation will convince you that it is a change in the soil. The verse does not say, Instead of the thorn God shall plant the fir tree. No but as the thorn coming up naturally by itself indicates such-and-such a condition of soil, so fir trees shall spring up by themselves spontaneously, indicating an altogether radical change in the earth beneath. When God encloseth a heart that has laid common, does He cut down the thorns and the briars, and then plant fir trees? No l but He so changes the soil that from the ground itself there spontaneously starts up the fir tree and the myrtle. This is a miracle which man cannot accomplish, a marvel which only the grace of God can work, and which gives to God His highest glory. Note the poetic metaphor which describes the outward change.
1. A thorn Is the conspicuous emblem of the curse. Upon many ungodly men there is very evidently the curse, while upon all it really rests. The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked.
2. A thorn is a fruitless thing. Look at it, and see how barren it is. God gets neither prayer nor praise from the ungodly man.
3. A thorn, too, is a repulsive thing--there is nothing inviting about it; nobody would choose to make it a pillow or a companion. Some Christless persons are naturally amiable; but many and many a man, especially when sin has come to a head with him, is a thorn-hedge, a churl, a,n unsympathizing, selfish being.
4. Again, the thorn is a rending thing, offending, noxious. So has it been with ungodly men, when unrestrained by grace. Like Saul of Tarsus, they breathe out vengeance against God and His people.
5. As for the metaphor of the briar used in the text, it was always the emblem of desolation. The briar came up on the desolate walls of Babylon and Nineveh; the briar covered the land of Israel, when the inhabitants were carried away captive. In how many human hearts where the Gospel has not come is there desolation, sadness, despair?
6. The briar, too, is a thing that cumbers the ground; it occupies the place of the palm or of the fig; and so ungodly men cumber the ground; they do no good; they occupy spheres in which others might have served God; they are altogether wasters, they rob God, they bring Him no revenue of glory.
7. The briar is soon to be cut down, and when cut down no use can be made of it; it is burnt; it is put away. Such is the future history of the unconverted man.
III. THE GLORIOUS ISSUE. It shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Jehovah might, if He willed, have taken other names; He might have selected other works of His hands to be the ensigns of His glory, but He has chosen the results of the Gospel to be His proudest honours; He has, if I may use such a term, staked His eternal majesty upon the effects of Gospel grace. With the heathen their gods took names from what were thought to be their most glorious work. We read of Jove, the thunderer, because they imagined that he launched the bolt from his hand. They spoke of the fardarting Apollo--the rays of light flashing from the sun. They talked of the cruel Juno in the wars of Troy. If Jehovah, the one only true God, had chosen, He might have been Jehovah, the Thunderer; we might have read of the far-darting God; we might have had Him constantly portrayed in Scripture as the terrible and avenging Lord; but He hath not chosen such a name; He hath not been pleased to select anything that is terrible as His peculiar glory, but that which is full of melting mercy and tender pity. The Lord has acted wisely, as He always does, in selecting such a matter as this to be His name, to be a display of Himself, because it is everlasting. Let this encourage Christians. If it is Gods glory to save man, expect to have them saved and go to work to save them. To you who are unconverted! How this ought to encourage you to come to God in Christ Jesus! Is it to His glory to save you? Then He will do it. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The effects of the Gospel
I. THE CHARACTER OF THE TRANSFORMATION. Instead of the thorn, etc.
1. Naturally, there is no difference between men as to their state.
2. Grace makes a difference.
II. THE RELATION OF THIS TRANSFORMATION TO GOD. And it shall be to the Lord for a name, etc.
1. It is supposed that this work is the work of God. And it is, and must be so; and the very quality of the effect shows its origin and Author.
2. This is to be to Him for a name, that is a praise; and therefore you will find both words used together in another passage. They shall be to me for a name and a praise. And the latter is explanatory of the former.
3. It shall be to the Lord, not only for a name, but for a sign. A sign is a manifestation, a token. Now the conversion of souls to God is a kind of moral miracle; it is a striking display on the part of God towards man.
4. Observe the duration of this. An everlasting sign. (W. Jay.)
Spiritual development
This is the predicted result of the things that are described and promised in the former part of the chapter.
I. THE NECESSARY GROWTH. The human soul will grow. It will put forth from its soil and substance natural and moral products of some kind. There may be thorn and briar, or there may be fir tree and myrtle tree, but there will be something. There are no responsible human souls absolutely barren. There seems to be a certain amount of force in the human soul--a certain amount of what may be called organic vitality, which will be out into forms and habits, speech and behaviour, character and life; and you cannot keep it down, do what you will.
II. THE FIRST CROP IS THE THORN AND BRIAR. These are indigenous to the soil; the things that will appear if nothing is done. Our state is so depraved that evil principles, affections and habits will take priority of anything good that may be left in us. Our views of sin will affect our views of almost everything else.
III. THERE IS A SECOND CROP. These trees are taken, apparently, AS EMBLEMS OF THE BETTER LIFE, ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR GREAT BEAUTY AND USEFULNESS. We find the fir tree very often used by the sacred writers, with the cedar. Thus--The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters are fir. Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I will do all thou desirest concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon. Indeed, some think that the tree here mentioned, called the fir tree, was the cedar, and some think it was the cypress. Probably the word is generic, and has reference to trees of that kind. Trees, like the cypress and cedar, were grand to the sight and refreshing to the traveller who stood under their shadow; and the wood of them was so hard and excellent that it was much used for the building of temples, for ships, for musical instruments, for lances to be used in war, and even for statues, on account of its great durability. We see the idea here suggested. What is strong, useful, beautiful, takes the place of what is prickly, useless, wasteful. A change like that in a landscape would be an emblem of what takes place in a human soul and life, when a natural man becomes a spiritual man. In a well-tilled Gospel field we should not see much of a thorn and briar from the very first. In family gardens they should not be suffered to grow--at least, every endeavour should be made to prevent it, and to rear the fir tree and the myrtle tree, and to draw out unto them the strength which otherwise will certainly go to nourish the hurtful and wasteful things. It is to be feared that some Christians, parents and others, have radically erroneous conceptions on this point. They hold the doctrine of natural depravity shelteringly, almost lovingly, the same almost as if they held it to be their duty to draw out that depravity in order to prove it. Certainly these thorns and briars will grow up if we let them, but instead of them let us have the fir tree and the myrtle tree so early and so fully that we shall never see the former at all.
IV. THE PERPETUAL BEAUTY. That must be beautiful and good which the Lord takes for a name, and regarding which He says, Let Me be known by it. It is so even now. When God speaks of Himself He does not point to His name up amid the stars--systems and fields of wide illimitable space. He does not speak of earthquakes and violence; of majestic clouds, and stormy seas. He points to His new-born children--who bear His image, who reflect His glory-whose souls enshrine His awful name--who are set for ever to be the praise of the glory of His grace, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. The Gospel even in this world is an indestructible thing. It is erecting signs of its power far more enduring than the pictures of the learned and the statues of the brave. (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
Good latent in the heart
A gentleman who has had long experience of life in America, and who has watched the forests of Canada, told me that when they cut down there the natural growth--the thorns and the briars--the wild birch, that is not good for much--the maple, and other suchtrees--there do not grow up again the same trees that were cut down. Strange to say, the fir tree springs up all over the ground. It is as if the seeds of the fir were held there latent, waiting the opportunity, and no sooner is the opportunity given than they spring up and grow. Is not that an emblem of grace, the seeds of which may have been sown in the heart long ago by early instruction, by impressions made in former years, or by more recent impressions of a religious kind? Is not that an indication of how these seeds will spring up at once if you but lay the axe to the root of these other trees, and bring them to the ground? (A. Raleigh, D. D.)
The transformation of Gods grace
An everlasting sign! That surely indicates that sacred lessons are hidden under this prediction, which arc of permanent interest and importance. Let us seek them in the light of other Scriptures. Unto Adam He said, Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on His head. There was given me a thorn in the flesh Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee.
I. THE THORNS AND BRIARS OF LIFE. In many cases we reap what others have sown; in some we sow for ourselves; in others we suffer from our neglect. We have failed to use our opportunities; and therefore crops of rank growth cover the acres of the past, and thistledown hovers in clouds, threatening the future.
1. Ill-health is surely one. For some, the excesses of their ancestors--for others, their own--have sown the furrows with the seeds of bitter harvests, which they have no alternative than to reap. Dyspepsia, cancer, the slow progress of paralysis along the spinal cord, nervous weakness and depression--these are some of the many ills to which our flesh is heir, and they are thorns indeed. Pauls thorn was probably ophthalmia.
2. Bad children are another. Did David not mean this when he said that his house was not so with God; and that the ungodly, like thorns, must be thrust away with the armed hand? When the daughters make unfortunate marriages, and sons spread their sails to every gale of passion, there are thorns and briars enough to make misery in the best-appointed and most richly furnished homes.
3. Strong predispositions and tendencies towards evil may be classed among the thorns. To be of a jealous or envious temperament; fall on dull and irresponsive ears--this is to be beset with thorns and briars, as though all the goodness of a field should go to waste in weeds.
4. Compulsory association with uncongenial companions in the workshop or the home.
5. Difficulties that bar our progress, like hedges of prickly thorns in some tangled forest, may be included in this enumeration. Competition in commercial life makes thorny the path of many a man of business. Perplexities and worries, annoyances and vexations, fret us almost beyond endurance. Each life has experiences like these. Surely, we argue, we could live nobler and more useful lives, if only we were free. Not so says the Lord. I cannot take away the thorn--it is the only means of royalty For thee; but I will give thee My all-sufficient grace.
II. ROYALTY THROUGH THORNS. It is very remarkable that the sign of the curse became, on the brow of Christ, the insignia of royalty. The lesson is obvious--that He has transformed the curse into a blessing; that He has discovered the secret of compelling it to yield royalty. There was some dim hint of this in the words of the primaeval curse on the ground, Cursed is the ground for thy sake; thorns also and thistles it shall bring forth unto thee. What can this mean, except that there was an ulterior design in this infliction on the material world? It is not very clear what is implied in this sentence on the ground. Almost certainly there were thorns and thistles before Adams sin brought a blight on Gods fair world; but probably from that moment they became more prolific, or the conditions that had been unfavourable to their growth became more favourable, or malign hands were permitted to scatter their seeds afar. But, however, it befell, there can be no doubt that Gods purpose was wholly benevolent. Cursed is the ground for thy sake; that is, out of the obduracy of the soil, and its tendency to breed thorns and thistles, will come to thee the best and highest blessing. Surely this has been verified. Where has man attained his noblest development? In lands where kindly Nature has been most prodigal of her good gifts? where the soil has only needed scratching to yield a bountiful return? where life has been free from care, as that of bees among the limes? No! not there. By the bountiful provision of all they needed for their sustenance and comfort, Nature has enervated her children, men have become inert and sensual, ease-loving and muscleless. But where the soil has been unkindly, the climate inhospitable, the struggle for existence hard, the presence of the thorn ever menacing the cultivated patch, and threatening to invade garden or field; where every endeavour has been required to wring subsistence from the unwilling ground--there man has arisen to his full height, and put forth all his glorious strength of brain and sinew. Probably this is what is meant in the thorn-crown on the brow of Christ. It teaches that man can only attain his true royalty by meeting, enduring and overcoming these elements in life which forebode only disaster and loss. What a magnificent conception this gives of the possibilities of sorrow! In proportion as we patiently submit ourselves to our Fathers appointment, we come to see the reasonableness and beneficence of His design, and find ourselves adopting the thistle as our badge; we discover that it has been the means of unfolding and perfecting our character, of giving royalty and dignity to our demeanour, and making us kings by right of conquest, as well as by right of birth.
III. THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF GRACE. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the briar the myrtle tree. My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness. I will, therefore, glory in My infirmities.
1. God gives us new views of dark things. What we thought was punishment, turns out to be the chastening of a Fathers love. The thorns change to myrtles when God shows His reasons.
2. God makes our sorrow and losses occasions for giving more grace. There are two ways of helping the soul bent double under some crushing burden. It may be removed; or additional strength, equal to its weight, may be inbreathed. The latter is Gods choice way of dealing with His children. And if we were wise, we should not pray for the extraction of the thorn, but claim the greater grace.
3. The grace of God actually transforms awkward and evil dispositions, both in ourselves and others. Softness becomes meekness; cowardice gentleness; impulsiveness enthusiasm; meanness thrift; niggardliness generosity; cruelty consideration for others; irritability and vehemence patience and longsuffering. God did not destroy the Roman Catholic pulpits at the Reformation--He did better, He filled them with Gospel-preachers. Similarly, He does not destroy any of our natural characteristics, when He brings us to Himself; He only eliminates the evil and develops the good. The thorns of passion and temper are replaced by fir trees, and the briars by myrtles.
4. When the discipline has done its work, it is removed. These glowing predictions were partially fulfilled in the restoration of Israel under Ezra and Nehemiah; and no doubt they would have been more fully realized if there had been more perfect faith in the Divine promises. These glowing words, however, shall be perfectly fulfilled in those coming days when Israel shall turn to the land from all lands whither her people have been scattered. Their conversion, the apostle tells us, shall inaugurate the times of refreshing, of which the prophets have spoken from the beginning of the world. (F. B. Meyer, M.A.)
An everlasting sign
A token and sign of Gospel redemption
1. The redemption of the Jews out of Babylon shall be a ratification of those promises that relate to Gospel times.
2. It shall be a representation of the blessings promised, and a type and figure of them.
(1) Gospel grace will set those at liberty that were in bondage to sin and Satan. They shall go out, and be led forth. Christ shall make them free.
(2) It will fill those with joy that were melancholy (Psa_14:7).
(3) It will make a great change in mens characters.
(4) In all this God shall be glorified. (M. Henry.)
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 Isa_55:13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the…
THE PERPETUAL MIRACLE
Isa_55:13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, &c.
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I. MIRACLES PROMISED IN THE CHURCH OF GOD.
1. The promise takes different shapes. Savage beasts shall lose their nature and become harmless and tractable (Isa_11:6, &c.). In sandy wastes streams of water shall flow till they become green with foliage and gay with flowers (Isa_35:1-2; Isa_35:7). Here, out of the ground which produced only thorns and briers, shall grow stately trees.
2. Such miracles to be looked for by believers. They have in them Christ who came to give life (Isa_10:10), the Spirit of life (Rom_8:2), and the word of life (Php_2:16), which is quick, i.e., living and powerful (Heb_4:12). How natural, then, that death, barrenness, and the curse, should disappear where such forces are at work [1716]
[1716] Now, although neither vines nor fig-trees have spines or prickles, it must be confessed that these pungent appendages are found on some plants which are neither thorns nor thistles. For what is a prickle? It is the elongated cell which to many a stem gives its velvet, and to the moss-rose its fragrant fretwork,—it is the same pile hardened and sharpened into a piercing needle. And what is a thorn? In the morphology of a plant it is well known to be an abortive bud. If it had come on and come out, it would in due time have yielded its blossom and its fruit, and might have strengthened into a goodly bough; but, eventuating in nothing more than a cruel, useless spike, it is the very symbol of ill-trained or misdirected energy.
But here is something beautiful. In many cases it is found that thorns yield to culture. By taking in the wild plant and giving it kind treatment the skilful gardener tames and transforms it, till in the process of years the trenchant thorn is replaced by a golden apple or a rosy flower. And greater wonders are effected in God’s husbandry. In nature some plants have baffled horticulture; but if you watch, pray, and really strive, there is nothing impossible to faith and prayer. Fix on your besetting sin, and fight against it; and as in dependence upon the Heavenly Husbandman you strive and pray, the Spirit poured forth from on high will fulfil in you the promise of our text.—James Hamilton, D.D.
II. FALSE MIRACLES CLAIMED BY CORRUPT CHURCHES.
1. The Church of Rome and the Greek Church both profess that miracles are continually being wrought in their communion.
2. Reasons for disbelieving such miracles: [1719] They generally happen in obscure localities. (β) Do not convince unbelievers. (γ) Become more uncertain the more they are inquired into, (ε) Tend to support the idolatrous worship of saints.
[1719] Now, although neither vines nor fig-trees have spines or prickles, it must be confessed that these pungent appendages are found on some plants which are neither thorns nor thistles. For what is a prickle? It is the elongated cell which to many a stem gives its velvet, and to the moss-rose its fragrant fretwork,—it is the same pile hardened and sharpened into a piercing needle. And what is a thorn? In the morphology of a plant it is well known to be an abortive bud. If it had come on and come out, it would in due time have yielded its blossom and its fruit, and might have strengthened into a goodly bough; but, eventuating in nothing more than a cruel, useless spike, it is the very symbol of ill-trained or misdirected energy.
But here is something beautiful. In many cases it is found that thorns yield to culture. By taking in the wild plant and giving it kind treatment the skilful gardener tames and transforms it, till in the process of years the trenchant thorn is replaced by a golden apple or a rosy flower. And greater wonders are effected in God’s husbandry. In nature some plants have baffled horticulture; but if you watch, pray, and really strive, there is nothing impossible to faith and prayer. Fix on your besetting sin, and fight against it; and as in dependence upon the Heavenly Husbandman you strive and pray, the Spirit poured forth from on high will fulfil in you the promise of our text.—James Hamilton, D.D.
III. THE TRUE MIRACLES WROUGHT IN THE TRUE CHURCH, i.e., the Church of such as love Christ, wherever they are found.
1. These consist in the conversion of sinners, and are spoken of in the New Testament as a second birth, &c. (1Jn_3:2; Act_26:18; Eph_2:5; 2Co_5:17; Eph_2:8; Eph_1:19-20).
2. All conversion is from God and supernatural, but this most clearly seen when great sinners converted suddenly.
LEARN—
1. Never to despair of any sinners, however hardened.
2. To think it natural that mighty deeds should be wrought by a mighty God.—C. S. Carey; The Class and the Desk, vol. ii. p. 189.
Isa_55:12-13. Figurative language, yet the meaning obvious.
I. The world-wide diffusion of the Gospel. II. The Gospel is redolent with blessings, and only blessings to man. III. The glory of Christ is hereby secured, much more than in any other way.—A. M‘Auslane, D.D.
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 Isa 55:1 - Isa 55:13.
Isaiah
THE CALL TO THE THIRSTY
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Isa 55:1 - Isa 55:13.
The call to partake of the blessings of the Messianic salvation worthily follows the great prophecy of the suffering Servant. No doubt the immediate application of this chapter is to the exiled nation, who in it are summoned from their vain attempts to find satisfaction in the material prosperity realised in exile, and to make the only true blessedness their own by obedience to God’s voice. But if ever the prophet spoke to the world he does so here. It is no unwarranted spiritualising of his invitation which hears in it the voice which invites all mankind to share the blessings of the gospel feast.
The glorious words need little exposition. What we have to do is to see that they do not fall on our ears in vain. They may be roughly divided into two sections-the invitation to the feast, with the promises to the obedient Israel {Isa 55:1 - Isa 55:5}, and the summons to the necessary preparation for the feast, namely, repentance, with the reason for its necessity, and the encouragements to it in the might of God’s faithful promises {Isa 55:6 - Isa 55:13}.
I. Whose voice sounds so beseechingly and welcoming in this great call, which rings out to all thirsty souls? If we note the ‘Me’ and ‘I’ which follow, we shall hear God Himself thus taking the office of summoner to His own feast. By whatever media the gospel call reaches us, it is in reality God’s own voice to our hearts, and that makes the responsibility of hearing more tremendous, and the folly of refusing more inexcusable.
Who are invited? There are but two conditions expressed in Isa 55:1, and these are fulfilled in every soul. All are summoned who are thirsty and penniless. If we have in our souls desires that all the broken cisterns of earth can never slake-and we all have these-and if we have nothing by which we can procure what will still the gnawing hunger and burning thirst of our souls-and none of us has-then we are included in the call. Universal as are the craving for blessedness and the powerlessness to satisfy it, are the adaptation and destination of the gospel.
What is offered? Water, wine, milk-all the beverages of a simple civilisation, differing in their operation, but all precious to a thirsty palate. Water revives, wine gladdens and inspirits, milk nourishes. All that any man needs or desires is to be found in Christ. We shall not understand the nature of the feast unless we remember that He Himself is the ‘gift of God.’ What these three draughts mean is best perceived when we listen to Him saying, in a plain quotation of this call, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.’ Nothing short of Himself can satisfy the thirst of one soul, much less of all the thirsty. Like the flow from the magic fountain of the legend, Jesus becomes to each what each most desires.
How does He become ours? The paradox of buying with what is not money is meant, by its very appearance of contradiction, to put in strongest fashion that the possession of Him depends on nothing in us but the sense of need and the willingness to accept. We buy Christ when we part with self, which is all that we have, in order to win Him. We must be full of conscious emptiness and desire, if we are to be filled with His fulness. Jesus interpreted the meaning of ‘come to the waters’ when He said, ‘He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.’ Faith is coming, faith is drinking, faith is buying.
The universal call, with is clear setting forth of blessing and conditions of possessing, is followed by a pleading remonstrance as to the folly of lavishing effort and money on what is not bread. It is strange that men will cheerfully take more pains to continue thirsty than to accept the satisfaction which God provides. They toil and continue unsatisfied. Experience does not teach them, and all the while the one real good is waiting to be theirs for nothing.
‘‘Tis heaven alone that is given away;
‘Tis only God may be had for the asking.’
Christ goes a-begging, and we spend our strength in vain toil to acquire what we turn away from when it is offered us in Him. When the great Father offers bread for nothing, we will not have it, but we are ready to give any price for a stone. It is not the wickedness, but the folly, of unbelief, which is the marvel.
The contrast between the heavy price at which men buy hunger, and the easy rate at which they may have full satisfaction, is further set forth by the call to ‘incline the ear,’ which is all that is needed in order that life and nourishment which delights the soul may be ours. ‘Hearken, and eat’ is equivalent to ‘Hearken, and ye shall eat.’ The real ‘good’ for man is only to be found in listening to and obeying the divine voice, whether it sound in invitation, promise, or command. The true life of the soul lies in that listening receptiveness which takes for one’s own God’s great gift of Christ, and yields glad obedience to His every word.
The exiled Israel was promised an ‘everlasting covenant’ as the result of their acceptance of the invitation; and we know whose blood it is that has sealed the new covenant, which abides as long as Christ’s fulness and men’s need shall last. That covenant, of which we seldom hear in Isaiah, but which fills a prominent place in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, is further explained as being ‘the sure mercies of David.’ This phrase and its context are difficult, but the general meaning is clear. The great promises of God’s unfailing mercy, made to the historical founder of the royal house, shall be transferred and continued, with inviolable faithfulness, to those who drink of the gift of God.
This parallel between the great King and the whole mass of the true Israel is further set forth in Isa 55:4 - Isa 55:5. Each begins with ‘Behold,’ and the similar form indicates similarity in contents. The son of Jesse was in some degree God’s witness to the heathen nations, as is expressed in several psalms; and, what he was imperfectly, the ransomed Israel would be to the world. The office of the Christian Church is to draw nations that it knew not, to follow in the blessed path, in which it has found satisfaction and the dawnings of a more than natural glory transfiguring it. They who have themselves drunk of the unfailing fountain in Christ are thereby fitted and called to cry to others, ‘Come ye to the waters.’ Experience of Christ’s preciousness, and of the rest of soul which comes from partaking of His salvation, impels and obliges to call others to share the bliss.
II. The second part of the chapter begins with an urgent call to repentance, based upon the difference between God’s ways and man’s, and on the certainty that the divine promises will be fulfilled. The summons in Isa 55:6 - Isa 55:7 is first couched in most general terms, which are then more closely defined. To ‘seek the Lord’ is to direct conduct and heart to obtain possession of God as one’s own. Of that seeking, the chief element is calling upon Him; since such is His desire to be found of us that it only needs our asking in order to receive. As surely as the mother hears her child’s cry, so surely does He catch the faintest voice addressed to Him. But, men being what they are, a change of ways and of their root in thoughts is indispensable. Seeking which is not accompanied by forsaking self and an evil past is no genuine seeking, and will end in no finding. But this forsaking is only one side of true repentance; the other is return to God, as is expressed in the New Testament word for it, which implies a change of mind, purpose, and conduct. The faces which were turned earthward and averted from God are to be turned God-ward and diverted from earth. Whosoever thus seeks may be confident of finding and of abundant pardon. The belief in God’s loving forgivingness is the strongest motive to repentance, and the most melting argument to listen to the call to seek Him. But there is another motive of a more awful kind; namely, the consideration that the period of mercy is limited, and that a time may come, and that soon, when God no longer ‘may be found’ nor ‘is near.’
The need for such a radical change in conduct and mind is further enforced, in Isa 55:8 - Isa 55:9, by the emphatic statement of present discord between the exiled Israel and God. Mark that the deepest seat of the discord is first dealt with, and then the manifestation of it in active life. Mark also that the order of comparison is inverted in the two successive clauses in Isa 55:8. God’s thoughts have not entered into Israel’s mind and become theirs. The ‘thinkings’ not being regulated according to God’s truth, nor the desires and sentiments brought into accord with His will and mind, a contrariety of ‘ways’ must follow, and the paths which men choose for themselves cannot run parallel with God’s, nor be pleasing to Him. Therefore the stringent urgency of the call to forsake ‘the crooked, wandering ways in which we live,’ and to come back to the path of righteousness which is traced by God for our feet.
But divergence which necessitates repentance is not the only relation between our ways and God’s. There is elevation, transcendency, like that of the eternal heavens, high, boundless, the home of light, the storehouse of beneficent influences which fertilise. If we think of the dreary, flat plains where the exiles were, and the magnificent sweep of the sky over them, we shall feel the beauty of the figure. If ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts’ was all that was to be said, repentance would be of little use, and there would be little to encourage to it; but if God’s thoughts of love and ways of blessing arch themselves above our low lives as the sky bends, pitying and bestowing, above squalor, barrenness, and darkness, then penitence is not in vain, and the low earth may be visited with gifts from the highest heaven.
The certainty that such gifts will be bestowed is the last thought of this magnificent summons. The prophet dilates on that assurance to the end of the chapter. He seems to catch fire, as it were, from the introduction of that grand figure of the lofty heavens domed above the flat earth. In effect, what he says is: They are high and inaccessible, but think what pours down from them, and how all fertility depends on their gifts of rain and snow, and how the moisture which they drop is turned into ‘seed to the sower, and bread to the eater.’ Thinking of that continuous benefaction and miracle, we should see in it a symbol of the better gifts from the higher heavens. So does God’s word come down from His throne. So does it turn barrenness into nodding harvest. So does it quicken undreamed of powers of fruitfulness in human nature and among the forces of the world. So does it supply nourishment for hungry souls, and germs which shall bear fruit in coming years. No complicated machinery nor the most careful culture can work what the gentle dropping rain effects. There is mightier force in it than in many thunder-clouds. The gospel does with ease and in silence what nothing else can do. It makes barren souls fruitful in all good works, and in all happiness worthy of men. Therefore the summons to drink of the springing fountain and to turn from evil ways and thoughts is recommended by the assurance that God’s word is faithful, and all His promises firm.
The final verses {Isa 55:12 - Isa 55:13} give the glowing picture of the return from exile amid the jubilation of a transformed world, as the strongest motive to the obedient hearkening to God’s voice, to which the chapter has summoned, and as the great instance of God’s keeping His word.
The flight from Egypt was ‘in haste’ {Deu 16:3}; but this shall be a triumphal exodus, without conflict or alarms. All nature shall participate in the joy. Mountains and hills shall raise the shrill note of rejoicing, and the trees wave their branches, as if clapping hands in delight. This is more than mere poetic rhetoric. A redeemed humanity implies a glorified world. Nature has been involved in the consequences of sin, and will share in the results of redemption, and have some humble reflected light from ‘the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.’
The fulfilment of this final promise is not yet. All earlier returns of the exiled Israel from the Babylon of their bondage to God and the city of God, such as the historical one which the prophet foretold, and the spiritual one which is repeated age by age in the history of the Christian Church and of single penitent souls, point on to that last triumphant day when ‘the ransomed of the Lord shall return,’ and the world be transfigured to match the glory that they inherit. That fair world without poison or offence, and the nations of the saved who inhabit its peaceful spaces, shall be, in the fullest stretch of the words, ‘to the Lord for a name, and for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.’ The redemption of man and his establishing amid the felicities of a state correspondent to His God-given glory shall be to all eternity and to all possible creations the highest evidence of what God is, and His token to all beings.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 55:13 Redemption is like the transformation from desert to…
55:13 Redemption is like the transformation from desert to forest (see also 35:1; 41:19; 60:13). • great honor to the Lord’s name: God’s glory will be more and more visible to humanity as his redemption takes effect.
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