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| 1 Hearken, O isles, unto me, And attend, O peoples, from afar, Jehovah from the womb hath called me, From the bowels of my mother He hath made mention of my name. |
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Isles – Islands, Republics.
Called me from the womb – The womb of the (Sarah feature of the) Abrahamic covenant. The LORD has called the New Creation.
My mother – Gal. 4:26. |
| 2 And he maketh my mouth as a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He hath hid me, And He maketh me for a clear arrow, In His quiver He hath hid me. |
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He has made my mouth like a sharp sword – Speaking of our Lord and by extension the church - spiritual Israel. Rev. 1:16; 19:15, 21
A polished shaft – A special arrow.
In his quiver – A quiver is the container for arrows. |
| 3 And He saith to me, 'My servant Thou art, O Israel, In whom I beautify Myself.' |
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Thou art my servant – "My servants" are those for whom the book of Revelation is intended, i.e., the true church. Rev. 1:1.
Israel – Spiritual Israel.
In whom I will be glorified – John 17:11-23. |
| 4 And I said, 'For a vain thing I laboured, For emptiness and vanity my power I consumed, But my judgment [is] with Jehovah, And my wage with my God. |
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| 5 And now, said Jehovah, who is forming me from the belly for a servant to Him, To bring back Jacob unto Him, (Though Israel is not gathered, Yet I am honoured in the eyes of Jehovah, And my God hath been my strength.) |
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| 6 And He saith, 'It hath been a light thing That thou art to Me for a servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And the preserved of Israel to bring back, And I have given thee for a light of nations, To be My salvation unto the end of the earth.' |
It is a light thing – The raising up of Israel is a "light thing," only a small part of the entire restitution work. R542:1*, R353:4*
For a light – The hope of a resurrection. R751:2*
Not yet dawned, but waiting for the completion of the resurrection of The Christ. R751:2*
To the Gentiles – As well as to the Jews. A59
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For a light to the Gentiles – Spoken of our Lord in Luke 2:32. |
| 7 Thus said Jehovah, Redeemer of Israel, His Holy One, To the despised in soul, To the abominated of a nation, To the servant of rulers: 'Kings see, and have risen, princes, and worship, For the sake of Jehovah, who is faithful, The Holy of Israel, and He chooseth thee.' |
Whom man despiseth – "He was despised and rejected of men." (Isa. 53:3) E156
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| 8 Thus said Jehovah: 'In a time of good pleasure I answered thee, And in a day of salvation I helped thee, And I keep thee, and give thee, For a covenant of the people, To establish the earth, To cause to inherit desolate inheritances. |
An acceptable time – Throughout the Gospel age. R858:6
Interpreted by the Apostle Paul: "Now is the accepted time ... now is the day of salvation" (See comments on 2 Cor. 6:2). R5536:5
Have I heard thee – Christ Jesus and the Church, his Body. R536:5, R858:3, R4542:2, R5536:5
Day of salvation – The great salvation to the divine nature. R4542:2, R859:1
Have I helped thee – The Body of Christ is helped or succored in its day of salvation in order that it may be the instrument of God for the blessing and releasing of those who are in the prison-house of death. HG337:1
Give thee – The entire Christ, Head and Body. R4542:2
For a covenant – As soon as the last member of the Church shall have died the New (Law) covenant with Israel will be sealed. R4453:3
By which God will bring the whole world anew into covenant relationship with himself. R4542:3
All God's people during this Gospel age serve that New covenant by getting themselves and each other ready for the future work of glory. R4542:2, R4453:2
Messiah, as a living sacrifice for sinners. R4715:1
Of the people – The world of mankind, not the Church. R4542:1
Establish the earth – Order, or rule, the earth. R536:5
Institute general Times of Restitution of all things. R4542:2
Cause to inherit – Our Lord has not yet received the heathen for an inheritance. R4542:1; SM435:2
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In an acceptable time .. helped thee – This is quoted by the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 6:2. Note there how he applies it. |
| 9 To say to the bound, Go out, To those in darkness, Be uncovered. On the ways they feed, And in all high places is their pasture. |
Thou – The Christ, Head and Body. R858:3
To the prisoners – Death's captives. R4793:2, R536:5, R858:6; SM30:1; A112
To all the world, locked up in the prison-house of death. SM30:1; R4793:2
Go forth – The great prison-house will give up the prisoners; He who died on Calvary obtained the key of hades. OV363:5; Q329:3
"The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God ... and shall come forth." (John 5:25,2 9) R4793:2
That – The Church class is chosen for the special work of accomplishing the salvation of the world in the next age--that will also be a day of salvation, for all the world. R859:2
In darkness – In the tomb. R858:6; SM31:T
Shew yourselves – A pictorial way of stating the resurrection of the dead. HG137:1
Their coming forth will be that they may manifest their real sentiments, either for righteousness or for unrighteousness. SM31:T
Come to the light, the truth. R536:5
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Thou mayest say – "Thou" in this context is the church class.
The prisoners – In the prison-house of death.
Go forth – In the resurrection. Note here that it is the privilege of the Lord's people to say this. It will be at their command that these prisoners of death will "go forth." This is the privilege of the little flock in the next age.
Them that are in darkness – Those who are in the dying condition but not yet in the grave. "Let the dead bury their dead." Matt. 8:22 - see R858:13
Show yourselves – Come into the light.
They shall feed.. – Note the change here. Now the prophet is no longer speaking of the church ("Thou"), the ones giving the blessings, but of those who receive the blessings ("They").
Isaiah 50:7
I have set my face like a flint – This was prophetically said of Pastor Russell. Compare Eze. 3:8-9.
This is also true of the Lord's people today. Our face (forehead, intellect) is set like flint. Because the Lord has graced us with an understanding of Present Truth and we know that it is indeed THE TRUTH, we are determined to be faithful to His Word, and to Him. |
| 10 They do not hunger, nor thirst, Nor smite them doth mirage and sun, For He who is pitying them doth lead them, And by fountains of waters doth tend them. |
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| 11 And I have made all My mountains for a way, And My highways are lifted up. |
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| 12 Lo, these from afar come in, And lo, these from the north, and from the sea, And these from the land of Sinim. |
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| 13 Sing, O heavens, and joy, O earth, And break forth, O mountains, with singing, For comforted hath Jehovah His people, And His afflicted ones He doth pity. |
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| 14 And Zion saith, 'Jehovah hath forsaken me, And my Lord hath forgotten me.' |
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| 15 Forget doth a woman her suckling, The loved one the son of her womb Yea, these forget but I I forget not thee. |
Can a woman forget – From the standpoint of the divine nature, know that parental affection will have its widest scope as well as its greatest power to bless. R1211:5*
Sooner can a woman forget her infant child. R957:5
Will I not forget thee – Zion, the Church. R957:4
An assurance of tenderest love on the part of our Heavenly Father. R957:1
Service to the saints in any way the Lord will not forget. R957:4
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| 16 Lo, on the palms of the hand I have graven thee, Thy walls [are] before Me continually. |
Palms of my hands – "Before the throne my surety stands; My name is written on his hands." R1829:5
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| 17 Hastened have those building thee, Those destroying thee, and laying thee waste, go out from thee. |
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| 18 Lift up round about thine eyes and see, All of them have been gathered, They have come to thee. I live, an affirmation of Jehovah! Surely all of them as an ornament thou puttest on, And thou bindest them on like a bride. |
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| 19 Because thy wastes, and thy desolate places, And the land of thy ruins, Surely now are straitened because of inhabitants, And far off have been those consuming thee. |
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| 20 Again do the sons of thy bereavement say in thine ears: 'The place is too strait for me, Come nigh to me and I dwell.' |
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| 21 And thou hast said in thy heart: 'Who hath begotten for me these And I bereaved and gloomy, A captive, and turned aside, And these who hath nourished Lo, I I was left by myself, these whence [are] they
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| 22 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: 'Lo, I lift up unto nations My hand, And unto peoples I raise up Mine ensign, And they have brought thy sons in the bosom, And thy daughters on the shoulder are carried. |
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| 23 And kings have been thy nursing fathers, And their princesses thy nursing mothers; Face to the earth they bow down to thee, And the dust of thy feet they lick up, And thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah, That those expecting Me are not ashamed. |
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| 24 Is prey taken from the mighty And the captive of the righteous delivered |
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| 25 For thus said Jehovah: Even the captive of the mighty is taken, And the prey of the terrible is delivered, And with thy striver I strive, and thy sons I save. |
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| 26 And I have caused thine oppressors to eat their own flesh, And as new wine they drink their own blood, And known have all flesh that I, Jehovah, Thy saviour, and thy redeemer, [Am] the Mighty One of Jacob!' |
And thy Redeemer – Jehovah is the center of the entire plan of salvation, and of its every feature. F397
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