"Hearken unto me, you that pursue righteousness, You that seek Jehovah. Look unto the rock, from whence you were hewn; And to the hollow of the cave, whence you were dug. Look unto Abraham your father; And unto Sarah, who bore you: For I called him, being a single person, And I blessed him, and I multiplied him. Thus therefore shall Jehovah console Sion; He shall console all her desolations: And He shall make her wilderness like Eden; And her desert like the garden of Jehovah: Joy and gladness shall be found in her; Thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. Attend unto me, O you peoples; And give ear unto me, O you nations: For the law from me shall proceed; And my judgments will I cause to break forth for a light to the peoples. My righteousness is at hand; my salvation goes forth; And my arm shall dispense judgment to the peoples: Me the distant lands shall expect; And to my arm shall they look with confidence. Lift up unto the heavens your eyes; And look down unto the earth beneath: Verily the heavens shall dissolve, like smoke; And the earth shall wax old, like a garment; And its inhabitants shall perish, like the vilest insect: But my salvation shall endure for ever; And my righteousness shall not decay. Hearken unto me, you that know righteousness; The people, in whose heart is my law: Fear not the reproach of wretched man; Neither be borne down by their revilings. For the moth shall consume them, like a garment;And the worm shall eat them, like wool: But my righteousness shall endure for ever; And my salvation to the age of ages." (Isaiah 51:1-8,Lowth)
The reader cannot fail to notice the difference between Lowth's translation and the ordinary rendering of verse 6, and some may wonder what warrant there can be for so much difference, and how we can be sure of anything when translators differ so widely. What similarity can there be between "in like manner" [KJV] and "like the vilest insect" [Lowth]?
The matter is easily explained. It is well known that in our own language there are many instances of words spelled alike, yet having entirely different meanings. We have no difficulty with them, because the connection always tells us which meaning is intended. Even so it is in the Hebrew.
The word of "thus" or "so" is spelled the same as that for "gnat" or "fly." All other translations of which the writer has any knowledge, read, "the inhabitants shall die like gnats," and this rendering is suggested in the margin of the Revised Version of the English. A moment's thought is sufficient to show anybody that "like gnats" is much more striking than "as so," which our translators preferred, and that it is evidently what the Lord really says. It is not a vital matter, but is worthy of note.
Abraham an Example of Righteousness
"Hearken to me, you that follow after righteousness, you that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence you are dug. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him." (Isaiah 51:1-2)
Here we have a call direct to those who would follow the Lord,--to those who seek righteousness. There are many who are seeking it in the wrong way. "Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law." (Romans 9:31-32)
We are therefore directed to Abraham, for an example of how righteousness is obtained. "If Abraham were justified by works, he has whereof to glory; but not before God. For what says the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that works not, but believes on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." (Romans 4:2-7) "The Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith." (Romans 9:30)
Abraham was a Gentile, brought up a heathen. In Joshua 24 we have almost the exact language as in our lesson in Isaiah: "And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac." (Joshua 24:2-3)
He was but one, yet God gave him a numerous posterity through faith, for: "If you be Christ's then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:29)
Look to him, and learn the power of faith. Learn how God can work against all human probabilities. Look also to Sarah, who by faith "received power to conceive seed when she was past age, since she counted Him faithful that promised." (Hebrews 11:11) "Thus therefore shall Jehovah console Sion." (Isaiah 51:3,Lowth)
In that way, and by that means, will God build up and restore Jerusalem; by the preaching of the Gospel among all nations, will God from among the Gentiles raise up a faithful seed to inherit the land of promise, even as He raised up Abraham in the first place. And herein is comfort for the individual, for it matters not how lonely and weak a man may be, God is able to multiply him and make him great.
The Mercy of God's Justice
It is common for people to look upon the law of God with dread. They regard it as a terrible thing, the instrument only of wrath. That depends wholly upon how they receive it. Out of Christ, it is but an instrument of death, but if we receive it in Christ, it is "the law of the Spirit of life. The throne of grace, to which we are invited to come with boldness," (Romans 8:2) "that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need," (Hebrews 4:16) is the very same throne out of which proceed "lightnings, and thunderings, and voices." (Revelation 4:5)
But we must not forget that it was even so at the cross, were we look for salvation. All the terrors of Sinai were there, yet it is from the cross that all our comfort comes. And the cross was the throne of God, having God's law as its basis, with the stream of life flowing from it.
The law is not opposed to the Gospel, and does not even have to be reconciled with it; but the law of God in Christ is the Gospel. Justice does not have to give way to mercy, nor even to be blended with it; but it is the justice of God that justifies the ungodly. "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of Him which believes in Jesus." (Romans 3:24-26)
There's a wideness in God's mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There's a kindness in His justice,
That is more than liberty.
For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man's mind;
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.
--Frederick William Faber, Hymn: There's a Wideness in God's Mercy, 1862.
But God's heart is just, for God himself is just. Therefore, because God is just, and His law is His own life, people will learn to trust and hope in it, and will walk in the light of it. God's law is to be loved and delighted in, instead of to be feared and rejected. God's law is salvation to everyone who accepts it in Christ.
God says, "My righteousness is near." (Isaiah 51:5)
Yes, for God himself is "not far from everyone of us," (Acts 17:27) and He is our righteousness. "Christ [is] of God made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." (1 Corinthians 1:30)
His righteousness is near, and His salvation has gone forth. His life is righteousness and salvation, and it has been given freely for all. The gift has been bestowed, and we have not even to ask for it, but only to take it. What a blessed thing it is to know that we may trust on the arm of Jehovah! "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." (Deuteronomy 33:27)
God's Law Everlasting
"Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished." (Isaiah 51:6) "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away," (Matthew 24:35) says Christ. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." (Matthew 5:17-18) "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." (Luke 16:17)
Everything that can be shaken will be removed; but God's law will stand for ever; it is unchangeable, for it is God's own righteousness, and He is "from everlasting to everlasting." (Psalm 90:2)
It is the expression of God's will, (Romans 2:17-18) therefore "He that does the will of God abides for ever." (1 John 2:17)
God's Righteousness is the Law
That God's righteousness is His law, is seen from verse 7. God says, "Hearken unto me, you that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law." (Isaiah 51:7)
That is to say, the people who know righteousness are the people in whose heart God's law is. If this were the only statement of the kind in the Bible, it would be sufficient to show that there can be no righteousness where the law of God is not; but it must be there by faith; for this perfect righteousness of the law is found only in Christ, and He dwells in the heart by faith.
This verse shows another thing also, and that is that no one can know the law except by experience. It is with the heart that man believes unto righteousness. One may be able to repeat the commandments as glibly as he can the alphabet, he may discourse beautifully about "the plan of salvation," but he knows nothing of God or His righteous law unless he has experienced the power of His salvation. We know what we have lived, and nothing more. All the rest we have merely heard about. "Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and your law is the truth." (Psalm 119:142)
It is the law of God, therefore, that is to be the shield and buckler of God's people in the time of trouble. "He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings shall you trust: His truth shall be your shield and buckler." (Psalm 91:4)
The law of God will be the defense of His people. It is the one enduring thing, therefore we are exhorted, "fear not the reproach of men, neither be afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool." (Isaiah 51:7-8)
Why then should anybody be afraid of the reproaches of men? They have all fallen on Christ, (Romans 15:3) and He has deprived them of all their sting. It is no shame to be reproached with Him. "If you be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you; for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." (1 Peter 4:14)
Ancient Egypt was a wonderfully rich country, and Moses was well acquainted with it; for he had been brought up at the court; yet he esteemed "the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt." (Hebrews 11:26)
If the reproach of Christ is so wondrously rich in blessing, what must the unveiled glory be?
Review these verses, and note how much stress is laid upon the fact that God's righteousness and salvation are forever; they cannot be abolished. This constitutes all our hope. Many professed Christians seemed to think that it is their duty as ministers of the Gospel to teach people to disregard the law of God. They forget that in so doing they are ranging themselves with the heathen, who vainly say, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." (Psalm 2:3)
At all such feeble efforts as these God will laugh. And we should laugh also, for in the stability of God's law is our salvation. If God's law could be abolished, that would show that His Government is weak, and that He is not able to protect those who put their trust in Him. Therefore we may say, "Your statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage," (Psalm 119:54) and also, "O how I love your law! it is my meditation all the day. And well it may be, for God's commandment is "exceeding broad," (Psalm 119:96) and contains more than the mind of man can fathom even in the ages of eternity. If we long for God's salvation, He will open our eyes, that we may behold wonderful things out of His law. (Psalm 119:18)
Salvation That Lasts
"My salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. ... My righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation." (Isaiah 51:6,8)
Remember this; it will help you all your life through. When you are inclined to doubt if you can endure unto the end, and you think that sin and sickness must necessarily overtake you once in a while, recall these words of the Lord. His righteousness is an everlasting righteousness; (Psalm 119:142) it cannot be abolished. His salvation, the health and strength of the body and soul, that He gives, is forever.
You are well today; is it an accident? or is your health from God? From God undoubtedly. Well, then, since He has given you health today, can He not continue it indefinitely? You say, "He can if He will."
Well, do you think that He wishes anything else than that you should be well? The leper said, "Lord, if You will, You can make me clean;" (Matthew 8:2) and Jesus said, "I will." (Matthew 8:3)
He has said through His beloved disciple, "Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper, and be in health." (3 John:2)
Be sure, then, that the Lord does not wish that you should be ill. It is no credit to Him to have His children in poor health. If then He wishes you to be well, what can hinder it? You say, and rightly, too, "My ignorance of the laws of health will hinder it."
So it is really an accident that you are well today; because you have accidentally come into harmony with the law of your being. But Christ is the law of your being, and for you to say that you do not know the laws of life, is the same as saying that you do not know the Lord. Then get acquainted with Him. Study His life as revealed in all creation, and learn how to come into harmony with it. Then that which happens once in a while accidentally, will be the rule.
And likewise with your soul. The life that keeps you from the power of the devil today, will, if yielded to intelligently, keep you every day, even through eternity. "His Divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that has called us to glory and virtue." (2 Peter 1:3)
So, "The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calls you, who also will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)--Present Truth, March 1, 1900--Isaiah 51:1-8.