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'ments of the kingdom of Pharaoh. EBERS pro- from the root 2, currere, saltare), will they be perly leaves it undecided whether these native brought. And this bringing of His people the Egyptians, or "the fourth son of Shem" is here LORD will regard as a precious, unbloody offermeant. We cannot apply to the place before using which the Gentiles render to Him. Heretoa strict ethnographical measure. We cannot ex-fore the Gentiles durst not tread the temple of pect that the Prophet should mention the na- Jehovah to make offerings on His altar in the tions of only one part of the world, or that he holy place. But then they will be admitted to should mention the nations in regular succes- this service; and their offering will be as acceptsion. He means only to name very distant able to the LORD as a pure presented to peoples. Do the Egyptians who are called in the Old Testament by another name Him by Israelites (comp. Ivi. 7; Mal. i. 11; iii. than 3 belong to these? The Ludim is not to be taken as the future, as if in the present time the meat-offering were not brought in a clean vessel. But it is the imperfect which indicates a lasting condition. is Acc. localis in answer to the question where? For the act of offering is performed in the house of Jehovah by the presentation of the offering (xliii. 23), not on the way thither. But the of fering of the Israelites as a consists not in offering them in the house of the LORD, but in bringing them to the house of the LORD. The Gentiles, who bring them thither on their horses, mules, etc., are, as it were, the clean vessel (comp. xviii. 7; Ps. lxviii. 32). But a still greater thing will happen. The Gentiles will be admitted not only to the congregation of Israel; they will also be admitted to the office of priests and Levites. However much the Prophet is seen to be governed in respect to form by the time to which he belonged, we clearly perceive how in respect to the substance he boldly breaks through the limits of the present time, and prophesies a quite new order of things. For it was a fundamental law of the old theocracy that only those belonging to the tribe of Levi could be admitted to the office of Levites and priests. But in the glorious time future the middle wall of partition (Eph. ii. 14) will be taken away. Then twain will be made one; there will be one flock and one Shepherd (John x. 16). Then the LORD will choose not only out of all the tribes of Israel, but also from the Gentiles, those whom He will add to the Aaronic priests and to the Levites, We are not to explain D and " for priests and Levites, but in addition to the already existing priests and Levites. All things will become new. The explanation which refers D, ver. 21, to the D' (ver. 20) is at variance with the context.-[Against this interpretation, which applies of them to the restored Israelites, an interpretation which, beside Jewish writers and GROTIUS, HITZIG and KNOBEL have put forward, it may be objected that the promise in this view of it would be needless, as the priests and Levites would not have forfeited their right to their hereditary office by a foreign residence. HOFMANN shows well how it suits the context to understand DD of the Gentiles: "God recompenses this bringing of an offering, by taking to Himself out of the number of those who make the offering, priests, who as such are added to the Levitical priests." Instead of I will also take them will I take, etc. The expression implies of them, as in the E. V., translate: also of that those to be chosen to the offices of priests and Levites are not the ordinary and regular priests and Levites.-D. M.]-The time will be that of the Kavi Krious. Without it that funda

are celebrated as archers also in Jer. xlvi. 9. Under Tubal (Gen. x. 2; Ezek. xxvii. 13; xxxii. 26; xxxviii. 2, 3; xxxix. 1) the Tibareni, a tribe in the south-eastern corner of the Black Sea, are, since the time of BOCHART, supposed to be intended. That are the Greeks is universally acknowledged (comp. Gen. x. 2; Ezek xxvii. 13; Dan. viii. 21; Zech. ix. 13). There will take place a centrifugal and a centripetal motion. After the judgment on Israel, the holy centre will be forsaken, yea, trodden down (Luke xxi. 24; Rev. xi. 2). The escaped of Israel will carry out from the destroyed centre the salvation of Israel to the heathen. The heathen will receive it; but Israel shall not be mixed with them. -[But the escaped Israelites who brought salvation to the Gentiles have been in fact blended with the Gentiles who embraced it. That these escaped Israelites should remain distinct from the converted Gentiles is not here affirmed.-D. M.]-But when the time shall have come (according to Paul: "when the fulness of the Gentiles shall have come in," Rom. xi. 25), a centripetal streaming back will take place, which will find the Israelites still existing among the nations. But they are no longer hated, but loved and highly honored. Jerusalem will again have become a centre, but not for Israel only, but for all nations. The nations will then flow to Jeruselem (ii. 2 sqq.; Ix. 4 sqq.), and take with them the Israelites who will now know aright the LORD their God.-[ALEXANDER understands the subject of, ver. 20, to be the messengers of ver. 19; but the subject of the verb is clearly "the heathen won for Jehovah by the testimony of those escaped ones" that had gone to them. The messengers could hardly be supposed to be those who supply the multifarious means of conveyance mentioned here. They who do this are moreover, evidently regarded as different from the children of Israel named at the close of the verse. If the subject of the is the Gentile nations, then your brethren would naturally be regarded as the scattered Jews rather than the converted Gentiles. Comp. Zeph. iii. 10: "From beyond the rivers of Cush will they (the Gentiles) bring my worshippers, the daughter of my dispersed, to me as an offering (?)." This passage of Zephaniah is an abbreviation of what Isaiah here says, and determines the sense of D' as referring to the Jews. See KEIL on Zeph. iii. 10.-D. M.]-The nations will conduct back the scattered Jews most honorably. On horses, in chariots. on couches (comp. Num. vii. 3), on mules (19 only here in Isaiah), on dromedaries (2, a. Aey.

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DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL.

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mental change could not be conceived. For in | suffering a worm not dying, a fire not becoming it the powers of the Son aivios manifest them- extinct; a remorseful memory of past guilt, and selves. In ver. 22 there are two thoughts com- all-penetrating sense of Divine justice." KAY.bined into one: for as heaven and earth so shall D. M.]-77 is found besides here only Dan. ye also be new, and this new life will be eternal. xii. 2. The root 7 does not occur in Hebrew. In vers. 23 and 24 also we perceive this singular The word is explained from Arabic roots which blending of what belongs specifically to the pre- denote repellere, taedio, contemtui esse. sent, and of what belongs to a totally different future. The Prophet still sees the old forms of Prophet had spoken in xxxiii. 14, also, of everworship, Sabbath and new moon. But at the lasting burnings.' He, whose lips have been same time the relations are so fundamentally new touched with the 'live coal' from the heavenly that what was not possible even to the Israelites altar, understood that Holy Love must be to all will be possible to all flesh.-["The Prophet, in that is unholy a consuming fire"" (Heb. xii. accordance with his constant practice, speaks of 29). KAY.—D. M.] the emancipated church in language borrowed from her state of bondage." ALEXANDER.]—The males of the Israelites, from their twelfth year, 1. On lxv. 1, 2. Our LORD has said, "He had to appear before the LORD three times in that seeketh findeth" (Matt. vii. 8). How, then, the year. To appear every new moon and Sab- does it come that the Jews do not find what they bath would have been impossible even for the seek, but the heathen find what they did not inhabitants of circumscribed Palestine. But acseek? The Apostle Paul puts this question and cording to the Prophet's declaration, this will be answers it, Rom. ix. 30 sqq.; x. 19 sqq.; xi. 7. in that remote future possible for all flesh. Comp. [See also x. 3]. All depends on the way in for a real parallel Zech. xiv. 16. I do not see which we seek. LUTHER says: Quaerere fit duwhat objection can be made to taking and pliciter. Primo, secundum praescriptum verbi Dei, ♫ in a double sense here. (renovatio) is et sic invenitur Deus. Secundo, quaeritur nostris studiis et consiliis, et sic non invenitur." The Jews, first, the new moon, then, the month beginning with exception of the 20ý (Rom. xi. 7), sought with the new moon, governed, as it were, by it. only after their own glory and merit. They is pro ratione mensis novilunio suo, sought what satisfies the flesh. They did not i.e. every month on the new moon belong-suffer the spirit in the depths of their heart to ing to it. And is every week speak,-the spirit which can be satisfied only by on the Sabbath belonging to it. is food fitted for it. The law which was given to used even in the Old Testament in the significa- them that they might perceive by means of it tion of week, Num. xxiii. 15; comp. the parallel their own impotence, became a snare to them. place, Deut. xvi. 4. And in the New Testament For they perverted it, made what was of minor σάββατον and σάββατα denote a week. [But importance the chief matter, and then persuaded there is no need of taking and in a themselves that they had fulfilled it and were double sense. We cannot take in a double righteous. But the Gentiles who had not the sense in Zech. xiv. 16 and 1 Sam. vii. 16, where law, had not this snare. They were not tempted the construction is similar. Comp. these places to abuse the pædagogical discipline of the law. with the one before us to see that there is a valid They felt simply that they were forsaken by God. objection, which our author did not see, to the Their spirit was hungry. And when for the first construction which he proposes.-D. M.]-The time God's word in the Gospel was presented to last verse carries out more fully the refrain: them, then they received it the more eagerly in There is no peace to the wicked (xlviii. proportion to the poverty, wretchedness and 22; lvii. 21). The Prophet has here, too, the hunger in which they had been. The Jews did outlines of the topography of the old Jerusalem not find what they sought, because they had not before his eyes. As this has outside its walls, a spiritual, but a carnal apprehension of the law, but in its immediate neighborhood, a place into and, like the elder brother of the prodigal son, which all the filth of the city is thrown, because for them.' But the Gentiles found what they did were full, and blind for that which was needful it was a place profaned by abominable idolatry: not seek, because they were like the prodigal son, namely, the valley of Hinnom, he conceives of Gehenna as adjacent to the new Jerusalem. Our who was the more receptive of grace, the more Lord appropriates this view of the Prophet so far he needed it, and the less claim he had to it. that he, too, describes yéɛvva as the place where [There is important truth stated in the foregoing remarks. But it does not fully explain why the LORD is found of those who sought Him not. The sinner who has obtained mercy when he asks why? must have recourse to a higher cause, a cause out of himself, even free, sovereign, efficacious grace. "It is of God that showeth mercy," Rom. ix. 16. "Though in after-communion God is found of those that seek Him (Prov. viii. 17), yet in the first conversion He is found of those that seek Him not; for therefore we love Him, because He first loved us." HENRY. D. M.].

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their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched" (Mark ix. 43-48). 7 with following denotes a qualified seeing, as with pleasure, with abhorrence, with interest. [Here with horror, as appears from the last clause.-D. M.] (Comp. ver. 5; liii. 2; Ps. xxii. 18; liv. 9; Gen. xxi. 16; xliv. 34, et saepe.) Regarding the worm that dies not and the fire that is not quenched, we are to guard against the extremes of a gross material view and of an abstract ideal one.["Ordinarily, the worm feeds on the disorganized body, and then dies; the fire consumes its fuel, and

goes out. But here is a strange mystery of

2. On lxv. 2. God's long-suffering is great. He stretches out His hands the whole day and does not grow weary. What man would do this?

The disobedient people contemns Him, as if He knew nothing, and could do nothing.

3. On lxv. 2. "It is clear from this verse gratiam esse resistibilem. Christ earnestly stretched out His hands to the Jews. He would, but they would not. This doctrine the Remonstrants prove from this place, and rightly too, in Actis Synodi Dodrac. P. III. p. 76." LEIGH. [The grace of God which is signified by His stretching cut His hands can be, and is, resisted. That figurative expression denotes warning, exhorting, entreating, and was never set forth by Reformed theologians as indicating such grace as was necessarily productive of conversion. The power by which God quickens those who were dead in sins (Eph. ii. 5), by which He gives a new heart (Ezek. xxxv. 26), by which He draws to the Son (John vi. 44, 45, 65), is the grace which is called irresistible. The epithet is admitted on all hands to be faulty; but the grace denoted by it is, from the nature of the case, not resisted. TURRETTIN in treating De Vocatione et Fide thus replies to this objection, "Aliud est Deo monenti et vocanti externe resistere; Aliud est conversionem intendenti et efficaciter ac interne vocanti. Prius asseritur Isa. Ixv. 2, 3 quum dicit Propheta se expandisse totâ die manus ad populum perversum etc., non posterius. Expansio brachiorum notat quidem blandam et benevolam Dei invitationem, quâ illos extrinsecus sive Verbo, sive beneficiis alliciebat, non semel atque iterum, sed quotidie ministerio servorum suorum eos compellando. Sed non potest designare potentem et efficacem operationem, quâ brachium Domini illis revelatur qui | docentur à Deo el trahuntur a Patre, etc." Locus XV.; Quaestio VI. 25.-D. M.].

4. On lxv. 2. (Who walk after their own thoughts.) Duc me, nec sine, me per me, Deus optime, duci. Nam duce me pereo, te duce certus eo. ["If our guide be our own thoughts, our way is not likely to be good; for every imagination of the thought of our hearts is only evil." HENRY. D. M.]. 5. On lxv. 3 sq. "The sweetest wine is turned into the sourest vinegar; and when God's people apostatize from God, they are worse than the heathen (Jer. iii. 11)." STARKE.

6. On lxv. 5. [I am holier than thou. "A deep insight is here given us into the nature of the mysterious fascination which heathenism exercised on the Jewish people. The law humbled them at every turn with mementoes of their own sin and of God's unapproachable holiness. Paganism freed them from this, and allowed them (in the midst of moral pollution) to cherish lofty pretensions to sanctity. The man, who had been offering incense on the mountain-top, despised the penitent who went to the temple to present a broken and contrite heart.' If Pharisaism led to a like result, it was because it, too, had emptied the law of its spiritual import, and turned its provisions into intellectual idols." KAY. D. M.]. 7. On vers. 6, 7. "The longer God forbears, the harder He punishes at last. The greatness of the punishment compensates for the delay (Ps. 1. 21)." STARKE after LEIGH.

8. On lxv. 8 sqq. [“This is expounded by St. Paul, Rom. xi. 1-5, where, when upon occasion of the rejection of the Jews, it is asked Hath God then cast away His people? He answers, no; |

for, at this time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. This prophecy has reference to that distinguished remnant. . . Our Saviour has told us that for the sake of these elect the days of the destruction of the Jews should be shortened, and a stop put to the desolation, which otherwise would have proceeded to that degree that no flesh should be saved. Matt. xxiv. 22. HENRY. D. M.].

9. On lxv. 15. The judgment which came upon Israel by the hand of the Romans, did not altogether destroy the people, but it so destroyed the Old Covenant, i. e., the Mosaic religion, that the Jews can no more observe its precepts in essential points. For no Jew knows to what tribe he belongs. Therefore, they have no priests, and, consequently, no sacrifices. The Old Covenant is now only a ruin. We see here most clearly that the Old Covenant, as it was designed only for one nation, and for one country, was to last only for a certain time. If we consider, moreover, the way in which the judgment was executed, (comp. Josephus), we can truly say that the Jews bear in themselves the mark of a curse. They bear the stamp of the divine judgment. The beginning of the judgment on the world has been executed on them as the house of God. But how comes it that the Jews have become so mighty, so insolent in the present time, and are not satisfied with remaining on the defensive in their attitude toward the Christian church, but have passed over to the offensive? This has arisen solely from Christendom having to a large extent lost the consciousness of its new name. There are many Christians who scoff at the name of Christian, and seek their honor in combating all that is called Christian. This is the preparation for the judgment on Christendom itself. If Christendom would hold fast her jewel, she would remain strong, and no one would dare to mock or to assail her. For she would then partake of the full blessing which lies in the principle of Christianity, and every one would be obliged to show respect for the fruits of this principle. But an apostate Christendom, that is ashamed of her glorious Christian name, is something more miserable than the Jews, judged though they have been, who still esteem highly their name, and what remains to them of their old religion. Thus Christendom, in so far as it denies the worth and significance of its name, is gradually reaching a condition in which it will be so ripe for the second act of the judgment on the world, that this will be longed for as a benefit. For, this apostate Christendom will be the kingdom of Antichrist, as Antichrist will manifest himself in Satanic antagonism to God by sitting in the temple of God, and pretending to be God (2 Thess. ii. 3 sqq.). [We do not quite share all the sentiments expressed in this paragraph. We are far from being so despondent as to the prospects of Christendom, and think that there is a more obvious interpretation of the prophecy quoted from 2 Thess., than that indicated.—D. M.].

10. On lxv. 17. [If we had only the present passage to testify of new heavens and a new earth, we might say, as many good interpreters do, that the language is figurative, and indicates nothing more than a great moral and spiritual revolution. But we cannot thus explain 2 Pet. iii. 10-13. The

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present earth and heavens shall pass away; (comp. Is. li. 6; Ps. cii. 25, 26). But how can we suppose that our Prophet here refers to the new heavens and new earth, which are to succeed the destruction of the world by fire? In the verses that follow lxv. 17, a condition of things is described which, although better than the present, is not so good as that perfectly sinless, blessed state of the redeemed, which we look for after the coming of the day of the LORD. Yet the Apostle Peter (2 Pet. iii. 13) evidently regards the promise before us of new heavens and a new earth, as destined to receive its accomplishment after the conflagration which is to take place at the end of the world. If we had not respect to other Scriptures, and if we overlooked the use made by Peter of this passage, we should not take it literally. But we can take it literally, if we suppose that the Prophet brings together future events not according to their order in time. He sees the new heavens and new earth arise. Other scenes are disclosed to his prophetic eye of a grand and joy-inspiring nature. He announces them as future. But these scenes suppose the continued prevalence of death and labor (ver. 20 sqq.), which, we know from definite statements of Scripture, will not exist when the new heaven and new earth appear (comp. Rev. xxi. 1-4). The proper view then of ver. 17 is to take its prediction literally, and to hold at the same time that in the following description (which is that of the millennium) future things are presented to us which are really prior, and not posterior to the promised complete renovation of heaven and earth. Nor should this surprise us, as Isaiah and the other Prophets place closely together in their pictures future things which belong to different times. They do not draw the line sharply between this world and the next. Compare Isaiah's prophecy of the abolition of death (xxv. 8) in connection with other events that must happen long before that state of perfect blessedness.-D. M.].

11. On lxv. 20. ["The extension of the Gospel every where, of its pure principles of temperance in eating and drinking, in restraining the passions, in producing calmness of mind, and in arresting war, would greatly lengthen out the life of min. The image here employed by the Prophet is more than mere poetry; it is one that is founded in reality, and is designed to convey most important truth." BARNES. D. M.].

12. On lxv. 24. [It occurs to me that an erroneous application is frequently made of the promise, Before they call, etc. This declaration is made in connection with the glory and blessedness of the last days. It belongs specifically to the millennium. There are, indeed, occasions when God even now seems to act according to this law. (Comp. Dan. ix. 23). But Paul had to pray thrice before he received the answer of the Lord (2 Cor. xii. 8). Compare the parable of the importunate widow, Luke xviii. 1-7. The answer to prayer may be long delayed. This is not only taught in the Bible, but is verified in Christian_experience. But the time will come when the LORD will not thus try and exercise the faith of His people.-D. M.}.

13. On lxv. 25. "If the lower animals live in hostility in consequence of the sin of man, a

state of peace must be restored to them along with our redemption from sin." J. G. MUELLER in HERZ. R.-Encycl. xvi. p. 45. [“By the serpent in this place there seems every reason to believe that Satan, the old seducer and author of discord and misery, is meant. During the millennium he is to be subject to the lowest degradation. Compare for the force of the phrase to lick the dust, Ps. lxxii. 9; Mic. vii. 17. This was the original doom of the tempter, Gen. iii. 14, and shall be fully carried into execution. Comp. Rev. xx. 1-3." HENDERSON. D. M.].

14. On lxvi. 1. ["Having held up in every point of view the true design, mission and vocation of the church or chosen people, its relation to the natural descendants of Abraham, the causes which required that the latter should be stripped of their peculiar privileges, and the vocation of the Gentiles as a part of the divine plan from its origin, the Prophet now addresses the apostate and unbelieving Jews at the close of the old dispensation, who, instead of preparing for the general extension of the church and the exchange of ceremonial for spiritual worship, were engaged in the rebuilding and costly decoration of the temple at Jerusalem. The pride and interest in this great public work, felt not only by the Herods but by all the Jews, is clear from incidental statements of the Scriptures (John ii. 20; Matt. xxiv. 1), as well as from the ample and direct assertions of Josephus. That the nation should have been thus occupied precisely at the time when the Messiah came, is one of those agreements between prophecy and history, which cannot be accounted for except upon the supposition of a providential and designed assimilation." ALEXANDER after VITRINGA. D. M.].

15. On lxvi. 1, 2. What a grand view of the nature of God and of the way in which He is made known lies at the foundation of these words! God made all things. He is so great that it is an absurdity to desire to build a temple for Him. The whole universe cannot contain Him (1 Kings viii. 27)! But He, who contains all things and can be contained by nothing, has His greatest joy in a poor, humble human heart that fears Him. He holds it worthy of His regard, it pleases Him, He enters into it, He makes His abode in it. The wise and prudent men of science should learn hence what is chiefly neces sary in order to know God. We cannot reach Him by applying force, by climbing up to Him, by attempting to take Him by storm. And if science should place ladder upon ladder upwards and downwards, she could not attain His height or His depth. But He enters of His own accord into a child-like, simple heart. He lets Himself be laid hold of by it, kept and known. It is not, therefore, by the intellect [alone] but by the heart that we can know God.

16. On lxvi. 3. He who under the Christian dispensation would retain the forms of worship of the ancient ritual of shadows would violate the fundamental laws of the new time, just as a man by killing would offend against the foundation of the moral law, or as he would by offering the blood of dogs or swine offend against the foundation of the ceremonial law. For when the body, the substance has appeared, the type must vanish. He who would retain the type along with the

reality would declare the latter to be insufficient, escape, who go to the Gentiles to declare to them would, therefore, found his salvation not upon God only, but also in part on his own legal performance But God will brook no rival. He is either our All, or nothing. Christianity could tolerate animal sacrifices just as little as the Old Testament law could tolerate murder or the offering of abominable things.

17. On Ixvi. 5. [The most malignant and cruel persecutions of the friends of God have been originated under the pretext of great zeal in His service, and with a professed desire to honor His name. So it was with the Jews when they crucified the Lord Jesus. So it is expressly said it would be when His disciples would be excommunicated and put to death, John xvi. 2. So it was in fact in the persecutions excited against the apostles and early Christians. See Acts vi. 13, 14; xxi. 28-31. So it was in all the persecutions of the Waldenses, in all the horrors of the Inquisition, in all the crimes of the Duke of Alva. So it was in the bloody reign of Mary; and so it has ever been in all ages and in all countries where Christians have been persecuted." BARNES.D. M.].

18. On lxvi. 10. "The idea which is presented in this verse is, that it is the duty of all who love Zion to sympathize in her joy. The true friends of God should rejoice in every real revival of religion, they should rejoice in all the success which attends the Gospel in heathen lands. And they will rejoice. It is one evidence of piety to rejoice in her joy; and they who have no joy when souls are born into the kingdom of God, when He pours down His Spirit and in a revival of religion produces changes as sudden and transforming as if the earth were suddenly to pass from the desolation of winter to the verdure and bloom of summer, or when the Gospel makes sudden and rapid advances in the heathen world, have no true evidence that they love God and His cause. They have no religion." BARNES.-D. M.

19. On lxvi. 13. The Prophet is here completely governed by the idea that in the glorious time of the end, love, maternal love will reign. Thus He makes Zion appear as a mother who will bring forth with incredible ease and rapidity innumerable children (vers. 7-9). Then the Israelites are depicted as little children who suck the breasts of their mother. Further, the heathen who bring back the Israelites into their home, must do this in the same way in which mothers in the Orient are wont to carry their little children. Lastly, even to the LORD Himself maternal love is ascribed (comp. xlii. 14; xlix. 15), and such love as a mother manifests to her adult son. Thus the Israelites will be surrounded in that glorious time on all sides by maternal love. Maternal love will be the characteristic of that period.

the glory of Jehovah, must plainly be Jews How accurately, in spite of the strange manner of expression, is the fact here stated that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was proclaimed to the Gentiles exactly at the time when the old theocracy was destroyed! How justly does he indicate that there was a causal connection between these events! He did not, indeed, know that the shattering of the old form was necessary in order that the eternal truth enclosed in it might be set free, and fitted for filling the whole earth. For the Old Covenant cannot exist along with the New, the Law cannot stand with equal dignity beside the Gospel. The Law must be regarded as annulled, in order that the Gospel may come into force. How remarkably strange is it, however, that he calls the Gentile nations Tarshish, Pul, Lud, etc. And how singular it sounds to be told that the Israelites shall be brought by the Gentiles to Jerusalem as an offering for Jehovah! But how accurately has he, notwithstanding, stated the fact, which, indeed, still awaits its fulfilment, that it is the conversion of the heathen world which will induce Israel to acknowledge their Saviour, and that they both shall gather round the Lord as their common centre! How strange it sounds that then priests and Levites shall be taken from the Gentiles also, and that new moon and Sabbath shall be celebrated by all flesh in the old Jewish fashion! But how accurately is the truth thereby stated that in the New Covenant there will be no more the priesthood restricted to the family of Aaron, but a higher spiritual and universal priesthood, and that, instead of the limited local place of worship of the Old Covenant, the whole earth will be a temple of the LORD! Verily the prophecy of the two last chapters of Isaiah attests a genuine prophet of Jehovah. He cannot have been an anonymous unknown person. He can have been none other than Isaiah the son of Amoz!

HOMILETICAL HINTS.

1. On lxv. 1 sq. [I. "It is here foretold that the Gentiles, who had been afar off, should be made nigh, ver. 1. II. It is here foretold that the Jews, who had long been a people near to God, should be cast off, and set at a distance, ver. 2." HENRY. III. We are informed of the cause of the rejection of the Jews. It was owing to their rebellion, waywardness and flagrant provocations, ver. 2 sqq.-D. M.]

2. On lxv. 1-7. A Fast-Day Sermon. When the Evangelical Church no more holds fast what she has; when apostasy spreads more and more, and modern heathenism (vers. 3-5 a) gains the ascendency in her, then it can happen to her as it did to the people of Israel, and as it happened Her candlestick to the Church in the Orient. can be removed out of its place.-[By the Evangelical Church we are not to understand here the Church universal, for her perpetuity is certain. The Evangelical Church is in Germany the Protestant Church, and more particularly the Lutheran branch of it.-D. M.]

20. On lxvi. 19 sqq. The Prophet describes remote things by words which are borrowed from the relations and conceptions of his own time, but which stand in strange contrast to the reality of the future which he beholds. Thus the Prophet speaks of escaped persons who go to Tarshish, Pul, Lud, Tubal, and Javan. Here he has rightly seen that a great act of judgment must 3. On lxv. 8-10. Sermon on behalf of the mishave taken place. And this act of judgment sion among the Jews. Israel's hope. 1) On what must have passed on Israel, because they who it is founded (Israel is still a berry in which

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