_The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem_ HEADING TO A SMALL COLLECTION (chaps. 2-4), the contents of which are-- Isaiah 2:1) All nations shall yet acknowledge the God of Israel. Isaiah 2:5; Isaiah 3:1; Isaiah 4:1) Through great judgments shall both Israel and then... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it shall come to pass in the last days_ ISAIAH’S DESCRIPTION OF THE LAST DAYS The description of “the last days”--which in the Hebrew begins, “And it hath come to pass. .. the mountainof Jehovah’s house shall be established,” etc. is an instance of the use of the perfect tense to express the... [ Continue Reading ]
_Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord_ “MANY PEOPLE” For “people” read “peoples. ” So ver. 4. (_A. B. Davidson, LL. D._) DESIRE FOR SPIRITUAL INSTRUCTION What I intend is to make use of the words as they express a sincere desire in many people of being better informed in the m... [ Continue Reading ]
_And He shall Judge among the nations. .. neither shall they learn war any more_ CHRIST’S KINGDOM UPON EARTH 1_._ When it is said that He should “judge among the nations,” we must observe that the term is continually used in the Old Testament of the rule of a chief magistrate. Under the theocracy... [ Continue Reading ]
_O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord_ MUTUAL ENCOURAGEMENT I. SYMPATHETIC FELLOW FEELING. All who are anxious for their own welfare, desire the welfare of others. II. MUTUAL PROGRESS. Two together are stronger than two apart. “Let us” A weak brother at our side wil... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore Thou hast forsaken Thy people_ GOD NEVER FORSAKEN WITHOUT GOOD REASON “Therefore Thou hast forsaken Thy people. ” The term is logical God never forsakes His people in any whimsical way: He is not a man, or a son of man, that He should treat His creatures arbitrarily, moodily, renew full... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their land also is full of silver and gold_ AN UP-TO-DATE INVENTORY There is something startlingly modern about this chapter; if you sit down to analyse it, you feel that there is something startlingly up-to-date about the Inventory. What did this proud people make their boast about? 1. The abu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Their land also is full of idols_ IDOLS The philosophic theory of polytheism is “one centre, many emanations. ” Iamblicus and Porphyry defend it on this line against the monotheism of early Christianity. Hermes Trismegistus, according to St. Augustine, says the Egyptians regarded images as being... [ Continue Reading ]
_The mean man_ THE MEAN MAN “Mean” there does not mean selfish or stingy, but the man between two extremes, the mean, average, ordinary man. The mean man and the great man are both bowing--what are they bowing to? Something beneath them; they have lost the sense of their dignity, and they have fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_Enter into the rock and hide thee in the dust_ THE SINNER’S IGNOMINY BEFORE THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD’S GLORY No other course is now left open for them but to follow the sarcastic command of the prophet: “Creep into the rock, and bury thyself in the dust, before the dread look of Jehovah, and befo... [ Continue Reading ]
_The lofty looks of man shall be humbled. .. the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day_ MAN HUMBLED AND CHRIST EXALTED The day may be very properly applied to any of those days when the Lord abases the pride of guilty man, or when He makes His presence felt by the power of His Spirit upon the he... [ Continue Reading ]
_The day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty_ SCEPTICISM DISCOMFITED BY CHRIST’S ADVENT I. Among THE CAUSES OF THE SPIRIT OF RELIGIOUS SCEPTICISM there are-- 1. An early habit of spiritual negligence. 2. A state of exaggerated and credulous belief. II. Consider T... [ Continue Reading ]
_Pleasant pictures_ THE PROPER USE OF ART Sir Joshua Reynolds wisely, stated the canon for artists when, referring to the choice of subjects, he said. “No subject can be proper that is not generally interesting. It ought to be either some eminent instance of heroic action or heroic suffering. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the idols He shall utterly abolish_ THE CESSATION OF IDOLATRY In heathen systems of religion, God and nature are not kept distinct. His personality, also, is confounded. The fears and hopes of idolaters are projected into deities. Two things are necessary to destroy idolatry in this its gros... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they shall go into the holes of the rocks_ NO ESCAPE FROM THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD They shall vainly seek to escape, as unarmed peasants or women fly into the nearest cave or hole when they hear the hoofs of some plundering tribe of Edom or Ishmael from the desert; but the judgment of Jehovah sha... [ Continue Reading ]
_In that day a man shall cut his idols of silver_ THE RETURN TO GOD: IDOLS CAST AWAY The most beautiful sight on God’s earth is a man turning home again to God. What will happen when he comes back? “They shall fling their idols to the bats and to the moles.” Blind as a mole, blind as a bat, and th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Cease ye from man._ The Septuagint omits this verse. (_R. V. margin._) MAN’S INSIGNIFICANCE AND GOD’S SUPREMACY Two things are indispensable to undisturbed tranquillity of mind, namely, humble and distrustful views of ourselves, and supreme and unfaltering reliance on God. So long as a man depend... [ Continue Reading ]