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Expanded Comments | Additional Comments |
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| 1 Keep silent towards Me, O isles, And the peoples pass on [to] power, They come nigh, then they speak, 'Together to judgment we draw near.' |
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| 2 Who stirred up from the east a righteous one He calleth him to His foot, He giveth before him nations, And kings He causeth him to rule, He giveth [them] as dust [to] his sword, As driven stubble [to] his bow. |
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| 3 He pursueth them, he passeth over in safety A path with his feet he entereth not. |
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| 4 Who hath wrought and done, Calling the generations from the first I, Jehovah, the first, and with the last I [am] He. |
The first, and with the last – God is the only one that should be recognized. Q361:1; CR276:5
All others go into forgetfulness. I will be the God eventually, in the end. Q361:1
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The LORD, the first – Jehovah God is indeed the First.
With the last – He does not here claim to be the Last but rather He is WITH the last. This is in contrast to Rev. 3:14 where it speaks of His Son as being the Beginning of the creation of God. |
| 5 Seen have isles and fear, ends of the earth tremble, They have drawn near, yea, they come. |
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| 6 Each his neighbour they help, And to his brother he saith, 'Be strong.' |
Of good courage – A right kind of courage, a godly courage. R5330:1
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| 7 And strengthen doth an artizan the refiner, A smoother [with] a hammer, Him who is beating [on] an anvil, Saying, 'For joining it [is] good,' And he strengtheneth it with nails, it is not moved! |
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| 8 And thou, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, Seed of Abraham, My lover, |
Abraham my friend – Being in heart accord with God, Abraham was granted a measure of covenant relationship. R4595:3
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| 9 Whom I have taken hold of, from the ends of the earth, And from its near places I have called thee, And I say to thee, My servant Thou [art], I have chosen thee, and not rejected thee. |
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| 10 Be not afraid, for with thee I [am], Look not around, for I [am] thy God, I have strengthened thee, Yea, I have helped thee, yea, I upheld thee, With the right hand of My righteousness. |
Fear thou not – He who exercises much faith may have quietude. R5345:5
For I am with thee – We need this assurance to carry out the responsibilities of the Lord's service. R1652:1
Hand of my righteousness – With the power of his truth. R1307:6
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| 11 Lo, all those displeased with thee, They are ashamed and blush, They are as nothing, yea, perish Do the men who strive with thee. |
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| 12 Thou seekest them, and findest them not, The men who debate with thee, They are as nothing, yea, as nothing, The men who war with thee. |
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| 13 For I, Jehovah thy God, Am strengthening thy right hand, He who is saying to thee, 'Fear not, I have helped thee.' |
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| 14 Fear not, O worm Jacob, ye men of Israel, I helped thee, an affirmation of Jehovah, Even thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. |
Thy redeemer – The Father. All that our Redeemer has done for us has been the carrying out of the Plan of Jehovah. R4085:3
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| 15 Lo, I have set thee for a new sharp threshing instrument, Possessing teeth, thou threshest mountains, And beatest small, and hills as chaff thou makest. |
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Thresh the mountains – This is what the Lord's people do to the mountains [kingdoms].
Beat them small – Make them smaller than they were. They were mountains (kingdoms), now, as a reult of being beaten, they are less than mountains, they are hills.
The hills – Lesser governments such as constitutional monarchies (where the king has little or no real power) or republics.
Make the hills as chaff – Note how this process of God's kingdom begins with this reducing Christendom (iron mixed with miry clay, union of church and state) from Mountains to hills to chaff. This corresponds exactly with the description of the image in Nebuchadnezzar's dream as described in Dan. 2:35. "became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away." |
| 16 Thou winnowest them, and a wind lifteth them up, And a whirlwind scattereth them, And thou thou rejoicest in Jehovah, In the Holy One of Israel dost boast thyself. |
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Thou shalt fan them –
The wind – The Great War, a.k.a. World War I.
The whirlwind – 1 Kings 19:11-12 Wind, Earthquake, Fire, Still small voice. |
| 17 The poor and the needy are seeking water, And there is none, Their tongue with thirst hath failed, I, Jehovah do answer them, The God of Israel I forsake them not. |
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| 18 I open on high places rivers, And in midst of valleys fountains, I make a wilderness become a pond of water, And a dry land become springs of water. |
I will open rivers – Now commencing to be fulfilled. R1379:6*
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| 19 I give in a wilderness the cedar, Shittah, and myrtle, and oil-tree, I set in a desert the fir-pine and box-wood together. |
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| 20 So that they see, and know, And regard, and act wisely together, For the hand of Jehovah hath done this, And the Holy One of Israel hath prepared it. |
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| 21 Bring near your cause, saith Jehovah, Bring nigh your mighty ones, saith the king of Jacob. |
Produce your cause – To scoffers we say: Account for the peculiar fitness of the testimony of the "stone witness" by your worldly wisdom. C374
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| 22 They bring nigh, and declare to us that which doth happen, The first things what they [are] declare ye, And we set our heart, and know their latter end, Or the coming things cause us to hear. |
Let them – The fallen angels. R2172:6
Shew us what shall happen – Scoffers: Venture to prophesy of the future and see how well your prophecies will result. C374
The former things – Things before, or to come. R2172:6
Things for to come – Scoffers: Prove that it requires no inspiration to foretell future events. C374
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| 23 Declare the things that are coming hereafter, And we know that ye [are] gods, Yea, ye may do good or do evil, And we look around and see [it] together. |
That ye are gods – Mighty ones. C374; R2172:6
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Do good, or do evil – In addition to correctly foretelling the future, whether it be "good" or "evil," then bring it about – make it happen! |
| 24 Lo, ye [are] of nothing, and your work of nought, An abomination it fixeth on you. |
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| 25 I have stirred up [one] from the north, And he cometh, From the rising of the sun he calleth in My name, And he cometh in [on] prefects as [on] clay, And as a potter treadeth down mire. |
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| 26 Who hath declared from the first, and we know And beforetime, and we say, 'Righteous ' yea, there is none declaring, Yea, there is none proclaiming, Yea, there is none hearing your sayings. |
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| 27 First to Zion, Behold, behold them, And to Jerusalem one proclaiming tidings I give, |
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| 28 And I see that there is no man, Yea, of these that there is no counsellor, And I ask them, and they return word: |
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| 29 'Lo, all of them [are] vanity, Nought [are] their works, Wind and emptiness their molten images!' |
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