Isaiah 29:18-19

DISCOURSE: 902
THE GOSPEL A SOURCE OF BLESSINGS TO MANKIND

Isaiah 29:18. In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness: the meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

THERE is a day frequently spoken of in Scripture under the emphatical title of “that day:” and it sometimes refers to the apostolic age, sometimes to the millennial period, and sometimes to the day of judgment. Commentators in general consider the first of these to be the time designated by that expression in the text. To this they are led by the interpretation of the preceding verse; which they understand thus: “In a very little while, Lebanon (the Gentile world, which has hitherto been a mere desert) shall be turned into a fruitful field (by means of the Gospel which shall be published); and the (hitherto) fruitful field (of the Jewish Church) shall be esteemed as a forest (or desert). And in that day (of the destruction of the Jewish Church and polity) shall the deaf hear the words of the book,” &c. &c. But I should rather incline to consider the second period, namely, the millennial ζra, as the time intended: because I have no conception of “Lebanon,” which is constantly used in Scripture to characterize grandeur and fertility, being applied to designate a mere desert. I apprehend rather that in that verse there is a climax, descriptive of the state of the Church when the Jews shall be gathered into it: that then “Lebanon (which now is desolate) shall be turned into a fruitful field; and the fruitful field (such as it will then exist) shall be esteemed as a forest;” seeing that “the handful of corn cast upon the top of the mountains” will spring up so abundantly, that “the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon [Note: Psalms 72:16.].” This is the kind of climax which often occurs in relation to that very period, It may be seen in chap. 45:20. where it is said, in reference to the protracted age to which men will then live, that “a person dying at the age of an hundred years will die a mere child, and be accounted as one accursed,” that is, cut off prematurely, under a stroke of judicial vengeance. In chap. 32:15. also, the very expressions of the text are again used in this precise view: “When the Spirit shall be poured from on high, (it is said,) the wilderness shall be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.” Thus I understand the prophet as saying in our text, that “in a very little while” (it was but a little while even in Isaiah’s days, but now it is just at hand,) the Jews shall be converted to the faith of Christ, in such numbers as to be like the woods of Lebanon; and THEN the poor benighted Gentiles also shall be gathered into the fold of Christ, in a way and to an extent altogether unprecedented from the first publication of Christianity to that very hour.

In this view of the passage it has an equally favourable aspect both upon Jews and Gentiles: on Jews, to shew what blessings are in reserve for them, (and now just about to be poured out upon them;) and on Gentiles, who will by their means experience, as it were, throughout the whole world, “a resurrection from the dead [Note: Romans 11:12; Romans 11:15.].”

It is not however my intention to insist on this point: but, waving any further notice of the millennial period, I shall simply shew,

I. What is that book to which the attention of all men shall be called—

It is here called “the book;” and must undoubtedly be, the book of revelation, in which all “the visions” of the seers, and the predictions of the prophets, are contained. This is the book in relation to which God had poured out upon the Jewish nation a spirit of deep sleep, and had closed their eyes, even the eyes of their prophets, their rulers, and their seers; insomuch that it was altogether as “a sealed book,” which, “whether delivered to a learned or unlearned man,” was equally unintelligible to him [Note: ver. 10–12.]. So completely were its contents hidden from them, that “the wisdom of their wise men perished, and the understanding of their prudent men was hid [Note: ver. 14.].”

From the New Testament we are able to speak more definitely on this point, and to say that this book is the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: for this is the description which St. Paul gives of the Gospel, in reference to the very chapter before us. He says, that he was sent to preach the Gospel; but that it was to the great mass of his hearers “foolishness:” agreeable to what had been written; “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” “To the Jews,” he tells us, “it was a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness; but unto those who were called, whether Jews or Greeks, it was Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God [Note: 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:23.].” This book contains the “hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world; which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory [Note: 1 Corinthians 2:7.].” Indeed “the natural man, whoever he be, cannot receive it; for it is foolishness unto him: neither can he know it, because it is spiritually discerned,” and can be known only through the influence of God’s Spirit upon the soul [Note: 1 Corinthians 2:10.].

Thus, by comparing the account given of this book by an inspired Apostle, in reference to the very chapter before us, we may with certainty declare what book is here intended.

Now, as the Gospel is the book which the deaf are to hear, and the blind to see, it will be proper,

1. To enter a little into its contents—

[It reveals to man a Saviour. It declares that God, in tender mercy to our fallen race, sent his only dear Son into the world, to make an atonement for us, and to effect by his own obedience unto death, our reconciliation with him — — — The Old Testament revealed this as to be effected in due season; and the New Testament gives an account of it as already accomplished — — — The New Testament moreover sets before us all his invitations and promises, together with the promise of the Holy Spirit, to render the whole effectual for our complete and final salvation — — —]

2. To shew briefly, that this is indeed God’s destined instrument for the salvation of the world—

[It is that with which he wrought from the very beginning: for, though it was comparatively but obscurely revealed, yet it was to this that Adam looked, as holding forth a promise of the seed of the woman to bruise the serpent’s head: and to this the faith of Abel had respect, when he presented the offering of a firstling to the Lord. To this also Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the patriarchs, and all the prophets, and all the saints and martyrs of the ancient Church, had respect; they viewed it through the medium of types and prophecies; and though they had not actually received the promised Saviour, they were saved by him, just as we are who live so many centuries posterior to his advent [Note: Hebrews 11:4; Hebrews 11:13; Hebrews 11:39.]. There never was, nor ever shall be, “any other foundation” for a sinner’s hope, or “any other name whereby a sinner can be saved, but the name of Jesus Christ.”]

Having shewn what “the book” is, we are led to notice,

II.

Its transcendent excellency—

It comes to the whole world, and commends itself to all,

1. As suited to their wants—

[It might be thought, that, whatever offers it made, it would be of no use, if men had not eyes to see it, or ears to hear it: but it engages that the deaf shall hear it, and that the blind shall see it out of obscurity and out of darkness. It not only presents to us things suited to our spiritual senses, but it gives us the very senses, whereby we are enabled to apprehend them. Now this is of peculiar importance; for there is no man by nature who has any spiritual discernment whatever: all are both deaf and blind: and, if any imagine that they are exempt from the general malady, they only prove the more strongly the universality of this truth. Under these two figures may be comprehended all the necessities of our fallen nature: for as a person who has from his birth been destitute of sight and hearing can possess no intellectual attainments, so those who are by nature cut off from all means of spiritual discernment must be destitute of spiritual good. Yet is there no spiritual good which the Gospel will not impart to those who seek it, because it will give both the blessing itself, and the faculty whereby it is to be enjoyed.
It were well if this matter were more generally considered; for it would cut off many sources of despondency, by which the people of God are discouraged. Nothing is more common than to consider a want of natural talent as an almost insurmountable obstacle to the attainment of divine knowledge; and more especially to regard long-contracted guilt as a ground for apprehending an utter exclusion from the hopes of the Gospel. But the Gospel meets the ignorant and the guilty with the same free offers of mercy as are presented to the possessors of learning and morality; and it takes occasion from their very discouragements to press on them in particular the acceptance of its benefits: “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst (a more desperate case can scarcely be painted); I the Lord will hear them; and will open for them rivers of waters in high places (the very reverse of what might naturally be expected), and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water [Note: Isaiah 41:17.].” Whatever then be any man’s necessities, let him turn the greatness of those necessities into a plea, as David did; “Be merciful unto my sin, O God, for it is great!” and let him know, that the greater his necessities are, the more will God glorify himself in the supply of them.]

2. As sufficient for their necessities—

[Nothing is wanting to make the Gospel of Christ effectual. Human wisdom can add nothing to the teaching of God’s Spirit. Man’s righteousness can add nothing to the righteousness of Christ: nor can his strength add any thing to the strength communicated from on high. On the contrary, the least reliance on any thing human will invalidate every thing that is divine: for God will do all, and have all the glory, or leave man to his own inadequate and unassisted efforts. Of itself, it is “quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword;” and “mighty through God to the pulling down all the strong holds” of sin and Satan. If only it come in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, nothing can stand before it. It has already prevailed to a vast extent over the powers of darkness, and in God’s good time it shall “subdue all nations to the obedience of faith.”
One effect in particular it invariably produces, wherever it is received in spirit and in truth; it imparts “a joy with which a stranger to it intermeddleth not.” “The meek are they who will receive it; and they will increase their joy in the Lord: and the poor among men, for whose advancement it is preeminently designed, shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.” Others may possess carnal joy: but these shall have a joy in the Lord, “a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory.”]

Application—

[Why should not “that day” be already come? Whether it be come or not to Jews or Gentiles, there is no reason why it should not be come to you. How blessed would it be to see the commencement of that day amongst you! See what is said of it in another part of Isaiah’s prophecies: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped: then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert [Note: Isaiah 35:5.].” Dear Brethren, implore help from God: and he will come now at last to give efficacy to his word, and to make it the power of God to the salvation of your souls.]