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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. |
Ho, every one – The call of the Gospel age, to the consecrated class now. R4321:3, R2072:4, R1899:2
During the Millennial age. R3597:1
That thirsteth – Verses 2 and 3 show this call to be for those thirsting for truth during the Gospel age. R1363:6
"Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness." (Matt. 5:6) R1936:1, R1899:2
"After righteousness" (Matt. 5:6); not only after truth with a curiosity interest, but after that righteousness which comes through a knowledge of the truth. R1936:1
Water is unwelcome except to the thirsty, and food produces loathing if forced upon one who is not hungry; so truth is obnoxious to those who prefer error. R650:3*
Come ye – If they will not come, let them stay away until they are ready to come. In time they will be thirsty enough. R650:6*
To the waters – In a sense, any who now thirst may come to Christ and find him a fountain of life--"A well of water springing up into everlasting life." (John 4:14) R3596:6
These "wells of water" have not yet become the Millennial "river" of Rev. 22:1, 17. R3596:6
Pictures the Millennial age and its blessings upon the world of mankind. "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." (Rev. 22:17) R1363:3, R3596:6
The water of life will not be forced upon any. R1363:3, R651:1
Refreshing waters of divine truth. R1936:2, R1363:3, R650:3*
There is an abundance for us all in our Heavenly Father's wonderful provision--in the Bible. OV260:3
Hath no money – None of us has ought to offer as an equivalent for this priceless treasure. R1936:2
Come, buy wine – A sanctifying draught. R1363:3
Exhilarating. R1363:3
And milk – Life-giving. R1363:3
Nourishing. R1363:3
Without money – Published truth is not for all the poor in the world, but for the poor who are the Lord's children and are sufficiently interested to request it. R908:3
Without price – In the Millennial age, without walking in the narrow way, or taking up a cross of self-denial and suffering for righteousness' sake. R3597:2
There is a price at the present time, the price of self-sacrifice even unto death. R3597:1
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| 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. |
Wherefore do ye – Who have searched in vain for truth from other sources. R1363:6
Spend money – Influence and labor. R1364:1
Which satisfieth not – Temporally or spiritually. F535
The satisfaction and joy of those who live by faith in the Son of God is solid compared to the passing ripple of emotion caused by mere religious excitement. Excitement must subside, but truth and its joys abide. R23:6*
The present life and present transitory interests. CR16:3
In the Millennial age none will thus vainly search for truth. R1363:6
Hearken diligently – The invitation is synonymous with Rev. 18:4, to come out of Babylon. R1364:1
That which is good – Meat in due season. R1936:2
The good plan of God. R1364:1
In fatness – Cream of the Everlasting covenant. R4321:3
A share in the glory, honor and immortality of the Kingdom. R4321:3
The soul that is fed at the Lord's table is not lean. R1936:2
The good plan of God produces the fatness of understanding. R1364:1
The fulness, the glorious provision which the Lord has made for them and which will then be opened before them in the Mediatorial reign. R3597:3
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| 3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. |
Incline your ear – Turn your ear away from the clashing of conflicting creeds and incline it toward God's precious Word. R1364:1
"It shall come to pass that every soul which will not hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people." (Acts 3:23) R3597:3
Come unto me – The Master's gracious invitation as it will soon reach the world of mankind through the glorified Church. R3597:3
Hear – Obey. Obedience to God will be the only requirement for all who, being justified by faith in Christ, would consecrate themselves fully to God. R442:6
Your soul shall live – God distinctly declares that the extreme penalty of wilful sin and wilful rejection of Christ is the death of the soul. R1196:1
Everlasting covenant – The New covenant, the agreement to forgive, to cancel sins that are past. R3597:3, R4321:6
An agreement to share in the sure, holy promises which belong to his beloved Son--the Kingdom, power and glory of the world to come. R1364:1
If we put ourselves under Christ's care, the covenant of sacrifice will be everlasting with us and we shall have the "sure mercies of David." R5163:6
With you – If you are Christ's you are David's seed--and his seed will sit upon the throne to be the Messiah. Q192:2
With those who hunger and thirst after righteousness and who have consecrated themselves to him, been anointed and have the witness of the spirit that they are the sons of God. R1936:3
Sure mercies of David – Or, holy things promised to David. R1466:2
The mercies granted to Israel and the world through our Lord, the great antitypical David (Beloved). R3597:4, R1466:2, R1364:2; SM731:1
A promise that Messiah would be the root and offshoot of the Davidic line. SM477:1; Q192:2
We of the Gospel age are invited to share in the sure, holy promises which belong to our Lord. R1364:2
Of Christ, set forth in Psa. 89:20-37: (1) That his throne would be established forever; (2) That all would be made subservient to him; (3) That God's covenant to bless all the families of the earth would be fulfilled by his reign; (4) That his children, by redemption and regeneration, would be established in righteousness; (5) That all the willing and obedient shall endure forever. R1364:2[R1364], R1936:2
To share with Jesus the glory, honor and immortality of the Kingdom. R4321:3
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| 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. |
I have given him – The antitypical David, The Christ. R3597:4
Leader and commander – As Leader he is our example in obedience and our Forerunner; and he has said, "Observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." (Matt. 28:20) R61:5
As the great Prophet, Priest and King, typified by Moses and Melchizedek. R3597:4
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| 5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. |
Behold, thou – Christ. R3597:4
Shalt call a nation – "A Holy Nation, a Royal Priesthood, a Peculiar people." (1 Pet. 2:9) R3597:4 R4321:3
Run unto thee – Throughout the Millennial age. R3597:4
Shows how the work will progress among the people of the world after The Christ has been glorified. R1364:2
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| 6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: |
Seek ye – All the world during the Millennium. R3597:4
While he is near--When God does reveal his grace it must not be trifled with. R1364:3
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| 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
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Forsake his way – This will not be a time for pardoning wicked men, but those who desire to forsake their wicked ways. R1364:3
His thoughts – The unjust must abandon unrighteousness, even in thought. R3597:5
Return unto the LORD – Obedience to God, not sacrifice, will be required in the Kingdom. R442:6
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| 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. |
For my thoughts – My plans for man's salvation. R3598:4
My plans are not your plans. SM85:1; R2733:4
Not your thoughts – We should not judge the Lord's methods or laws by the standards accepted among fallen men, which permit all to live whose liberty would not be dangerous to society. R1220:4
Thus the vast majority of Christian people cannot take the standpoint of the saints in the prophetic testimony before us, but rather the standpoint of the natural man. R2712:3
The world, and not the saints, are addressed. R1023:2
The wonderful blessings of the Kingdom will be beyond the thinking of mankind. R3597:6, R546:5, R3028:5, R542:2*
Neither are your ways – In the organization of your human churches. F197
Many justify themselves, saying, "It is my way." This is no excuse for retaining the actions, but for rejecting them. If we would honor God we would not do our own way. R705:3
The uncrucified will always think its own way the best, not learning to obey orders from the Head and trust God's superior wisdom where they cannot trace him. R961:3
My ways – Jehovah's gracious purposes, a great plan of salvation. A10; R546:5
My ways of executing my plan are not such as you would surmise. R1364:4
God has not been choosing out exclusively the great, the wise or the good. R4388:3
My methods. SM85:1
Permitting his truth to be obscured from the worldly-wise by letting it appear as if the Gospel were accomplishing little or nothing. CR499:4
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| 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. |
My ways higher – His plans or methods. CR58:1; SM42:1, SM6:T, R838:2, R4483:4, R2595:5
God had higher plans for mankind than the Jews expected. CR58:1; R4463:3
The world does not understand God's plan. R2074:5
While there are certain correspondences between human secret orders and the one of divine origin the latter is in every way superior to all others. SM5:3
Grander and more beneficent. R794:3
Let us not mistakenly allow our own littleness of mind to hinder our appreciation of the true meaning of the Scriptures. SM249:1
"We make God's love too narrow by false standards of our own." SM535:2; HG391:2
Illustrated in the contrast between present mission work and slum work with God's Millennial provision for lifting up the weak and opening the blind eyes of the barbarians. R2690:2
"The length and breadth and height and depth of the love of Christ, which passeth all understanding." (Eph. 3:18, 19) SM42:2
We have every reason to believe in the supernatural. God is not limited or confined in his power by those laws of nature which our human understanding can comprehend. R676:1
My thoughts – My plans--clear, plain, reasonable, just, loving and wise. R4551:4
It is not in the power of friends or enemies of the Lord to change his purpose one iota. SM146:T
It is the privilege of the saints, who have laid aside their own ways and thoughts, to thus think his thoughts. R1023:2, R1024:5
Than your thoughts – Your own will and plans. R961:6
All schemes of human origin are necessarily imperfect, like their formulators. R921:3
Human reason is vastly inferior in scope and power to God's reason. R1566:3
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| 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: |
Returneth not thither – In vain. R1030:4*
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| 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. |
So shall my word be – Including the Harvest Message. R3883:3
That goeth forth – Sent forth to Abraham, announcing the blessing of all the families of the earth. SM90:2, R3052:1
Through Jesus--to gather out a people for his name, the Little Flock, the Church. SM90:2; R256:6, R1023:6, R1079:6; HG693:6
The Lord knoweth them that are his, and he knoweth how best to bring them in contact with the truth. R2965:2
The going forth of the Word of the Lord in all ages must have reference to the great end; as a man, building a home for comfort, keeps that in mind in all stages of the building process. R98:6*
My mouth – Our Lord Jesus, the mouthpiece of Jehovah. SM51:1
Not return unto me void – God's Word shall be fulfilled. OV184:T, OV86:T, R3598:4, R4347:3
It is certain that it will reach everyone for whom it was intended. R690:5*
He has the wisdom to foreknow, prepare and plan for the execution of his justice and love. Further, he has the divine power to carry out all that his wisdom, justice and love have planned. SM85:1
Divine wisdom has at all times been able to overrule the wrath of man to serve him and the remainder to restrain, thus causing all things to work out the divine purpose. R5263:1
It shall accomplish – The world has not yet been converted-proof that the Word has not been sent yet on that mission. OV223:5; R256:6, R2376:2, R2396:4, R1710:4, R4212:6, R1023:3; CR343:1; A95
Having begun the work of salvation, God has not abandoned it and does not intend to abandon it. R2690:1
Nothing could come to pass contrary to divine permission; although many things do come to pass contrary to divine law-- being permitted for wise purposes. OV33:2
Therefore whatever inharmonies we now see in nature must be viewed as incidental to the preparations for the perfection of all things which is not due until "the dispensation of the fulness of times" (Eph. 1:10) following the Millennial reign of Christ. R1560:3
Though men call God slack, supposing his promise to punish the wicked never to be fulfilled, they overlook the fact that 1,000 years with men are as a day with God. R1364:5
While God has permitted the interruption of sin, he has not permitted, nor does he purpose to permit, a failure of his plans. R1267:4
As God has promised the Jubilee Restitution, so surely it will come to pass--but there should be no breathless haste, but a quiet, patient, faithful waiting on Jehovah. OV86:T
Contrary to the Calvinist concept of election. HG545:5
That which I please – And is not regulated by prayers out of accord with his purposes. R1999:2
It shall prosper – Because of the one purpose of the one God. E182
Because backed by perfect justice, love, wisdom and power. E34
The consecrated have no plans of their own; they desire that God's will shall be done. Since God's plan shall prosper, their plan shall prosper; for his is theirs. R1383:5
Even while Satan imagines that he hinders. E485; HG433:2
Whereto I sent it – Hence we know that it has not yet been sent out to convert the world. A95
God cannot exercise his providence in a way detrimental to his plan. R1560:1
It will gather his saints, those sanctified in heart. It will not gather in the world. CR84:5
In this age, for the gathering out from among the mass of mankind a peculiar people. R1023:6
It is now prospering in the work of selecting the Church; and, by and by, it will prosper in the work of blessing all the families of the earth. HG354:1
Nothing can alter the definite, fixed outlines of the divine program. But the Lord has left certain of the filling in of our experiences subject to modification. This is where prayer enters in. R4347:3
It is one God who is operating under various circumstances and by various means for the accomplishment of his own one purpose. E182
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| 12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. |
Go out with joy – Out of the prison of death. R542:2*
Be delivered with joy. SM85:1
Led forth with peace – No longer suffer persecution. R3597:5
God's purpose in sending forth his Word is the great Restitution. R1023:3
Brought home in peace, by the Great Shepherd. SM85:1; R3597:5
Mountains and the hills – The ruling powers. R1024:4
Trees of the field – The people. R1024:4
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| 13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. |
Instead of the thorn – The wicked, who lurkingly seek to injure the unwary. R3597:5; R1364:5; SM86:1
The fir tree – An evergreen, symbolic of a man possessed of everlasting life. R3597:5, R1364:5; SM86:1
Whose balsamic influence is healthful, giving a refreshing effect. SM86:1
Of the brier – Reaching forth to attack and ensnare those attracted by its sweet odor typifying the wicked who now flourish. R3597:6; SM86:1
The myrtle tree – Beautiful and harmless. R3597:6
An evergreen; yields sweet perfume and berries that are a delicacy. SM86:1
The fir and myrtle trees represent mankind during the millennium yielding good influences and possessed of everlasting life. SM86:1; R3597:6
And it – The Lord's work of salvation for our race. R3597:6
For a name – To his glory and honor. R3597:6, R48:2*
The name given is made to refer to position or official relationship, so that the position is meant when the word "name" is used. R48:2*
An everlasting sign – Of his greatness and goodness. R3597:6, R1024:4
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