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| 1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. |
Vision of Isaiah – Probably dictated to several scribes, over a number of years. R1418:2
Some fulfilled within 250 years of his vision, some apply to our day. R2372:5
Including rebukes and exhortations of his own day, and sublime glimpses of the glorious future. R3451:3[R3451]
Isaiah, like Ezekiel and John the Revelator, seems to represent the living saints, who see "visions of God." R530:4*
Son of Amoz – Isaiah was related to the royal family. R2379:2
Hezekiah – It is supposed that Isaiah was his tutor. R2379:2
Kings of Judah – Isaiah's prophecy was prepared during about 40 years. R3451:3
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| 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. |
Hear, O heavens – Powers of spiritual control. A318
Give ear, O earth – Society. A318
The LORD hath spoken – Not the wisdom or exhortation of Isaiah, but the Lord's message through the prophet. R3451:3
Brought up – Lifted high in greatness. R3451:6
From an obscure beginning the Lord brought Israel forward to the most prominent place in world history. R3451:6
Children – In natural Israel, likewise in nominal spiritual Israel. R3452:1
Rebelled – Israel's course was wrong, ungrateful and sinful; but no worse than the other nations. R3451:6
It is not surprising that the Lord will not permit such to return to his table. R1900:4
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Heavens – The power of spiritual control. - While this prophecy is primarily one concerning Natural Israel, yet it is clear from the overall context that there is a good portion that applies to nominal spiritual Israel.
Earth – Organized society under religious restraint.
Thus this prophecy is directed to the church-nation of natural Israel, and by extension also applies to the church-state systems of Christendom.
I – Jehovah God.
Hath nourished – Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matt. 4:4.
Brought up thy children – During the Gospel Age, the Lord was blessing the children of nominal spiritual Israel because of the Lord's true people who were held captive in her.
They – These children of mystic Babylon, the tares.
Have rebelled against Me – This they have done by rejecting God's Truth, that which reveals His wonderfull character. |
| 3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. |
The ox knoweth – We ought to be able to know our God and recognize his supervision in our affairs in this Harvest time, and see the dawning Millennium. R4044:1
The brute recognizes an obligation to the one who cares for him. R3452:2
His master's crib – The ox and ass know enough to return again and again to the place where they have been fed, thus owing more discretion than those who forsake the Lord's table to prove the dishes offered on unclean tables. R1900:2, R4044:2
Doth not know – Their Creator and Redeemer--in the sense of being fully acquainted with his character. R3312:6
The masses of Christendom are too busy with their own plans and schemes. R3452:2
Some know not the Lord as their owner, but still "belong to" various sects, parties and denominations. R4044:1
Illustrated by an elder instructing (or cautioning) his Ecclesia to avoid use of the six volumes of Scripture Studies and other Present Truth literature. R4044:4
Whoever manifests such a spirit should be firmly, kindly dealt with, to the intent that the flock might be preserved from such a pernicious spirit, and that the leader himself might be recovered from the snare of the Adversary. R4044:5
Doth not consider – Reflect, think, study, ponder. R3312:3
Many whom the Lord has favored, both in natural and spiritual Israel, do not exhibit the wisdom of even the brute beast. R4044:1
Israel heeded not the light, nor the warning, as here foretold. R2036:2
Readily forget where they got their previous food. R3786:4
Increased activity in the professed Christian church has taken more of a business than a pious turn, emphasizing more the forms of godliness than cultivating vital power, more to worldly than spiritual prosperity. R2146:1*
The Bible is a religion of faith, but faith based on reasonable evidences. R3312:3
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| 4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly! they have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged and gone backward. |
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Sinful nation .. laden with iniquity – This phrase helps us identify the target of this prophecy. ".. for her sins have reached unto heaven .. come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive of her plagues." Rev. 18:4,5.
Seed of evildoers – "An enemy hath shown them" - tares.
Children that are corrupters – "Ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of gehenna than yourselves." Matt. 23:15.
Provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger – The Lord's anger is an expression of His fundamental attribute of Justice. This anger or wrath is expressed in the pouring out of the seven last plagues upon the symbolic earth (Rev. 16:1). |
| 5 Why will ye be still stricken, that ye revolt more and more? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. |
Stricken any more? – What would be the use of any more stripes or chastisements? What hope would there be of effecting a reformation? R3452:2
Is sick – As a result of all tables being filled with vomit, rejected doctrines. R3963:1
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| 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and fresh stripes: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil. |
Foot even unto the head – Probably referred to the people as a whole and to their land, desolated from the north and south. R3452:2
Is no soundness – The fall of Adam has worked ruin to mankind. R5977:6; CR209:2*
"There is none righteous, no not one." (Rom. 3:10) E252
Putrefying sores – Mental and physical. E252
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| 7 Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. |
Country is desolate – Looking into the future desolation came about a century later. R3452:3, 2
Applied to Christendom, Evolutionists and other enemies of the truth are laying waste the heritage of the Lord's people. R3452:3
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| 8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. |
Daughter of Zion – The nation of Israel, typical of nominal spiritual Zion. R1648:3; D23
As a cottage – A temporary structure; unsafe, unsatisfactory-picturing the condition of the Jewish nation, and foretelling the deplorable condition of Christendom. R3452:3; D558
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| 9 Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah. |
Had left unto us – During Israel's double of disfavor. OV75:4
Small remnant – The majority stumbling because of pride and hardness of heart. B215
The rest of Israel will have missed the honor, offered to them first, of constituting the spiritual Bride of Christ. OV96:2
Similarly, also at the second advent of Christ, only a remnant will be found of Israelites indeed, while the majority will be rejected. R3452:5
Have been as Sodom – Implied hopelessness as respected the kingdom opportunities of Jewish and Gospel ages, but not as respects the future. R3452:5
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| 10 Hear the word of Jehovah, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. |
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| 11 What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah: I have had enough of the burnt-offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats. |
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| 12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to trample my courts? |
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| 13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; new moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies, - I cannot bear iniquity and the solemn meeting. |
Vain ablations – In the churches there is a great deal of formalism-fine church edifices, grand organs, trained choirs, gymnasia, "smokers," culinary departments, etc. R5696:4
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| 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; I am weary of bearing them. |
Appointed feasts – The Lord will not recognize and accept such service. R5696:4
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| 15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yes, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. |
I will not hear – "God heareth not sinners." (John 9:31) R2024:1
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| 16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; |
Wash you – Does not mean a washing away of literal sin which they could not effect, which was only figuratively done on the Day of Atonement, and will only be actually accomplished by the Lord Jesus' work. R3452:6
Make you clean – An exhortation to reform, like the words of John the Baptist and Jesus in the Jewish Harvest. R3452:6
Spiritual Israel has real cleansing in the better sacrifice of Christ. R3453:1
Cease to do evil – We shall not be able to effect this transformation in ourselves except so far as we have a right will and a pure heart, an honest endeavor for righteousness. R4840:4
Although our wills are in opposition to sin of every kind, having imperfect bodies, we cannot hope to be absolutely free from sin. R3453:1
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| 17 learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. |
Learn to do well – The Lord desires that we realize our wrong condition and turn therefrom to the best of our ability. R4840:4
Perfection must be our aim, and in our hearts it must be continually the criterion-but we cannot live up fully to this grand standard. R3453:1
Seek judgment – Always be on the side of right and justice, desiring to do justice to all with whom you have dealings. R3453:2
Relieve the oppressed – Be of generous spirit, willing and anxious to lift some of the burdens from the groaning creation to the extent of your ability. R3453:2
Judge the fatherless – See that those not capable of looking after their own interest do not suffer at your hand. R3453:2
Plead for the widow – Feel a sympathy for the helpless and plead their cause with others. R3453:2
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| 18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. |
Let us reason – Reason is the noblest faculty of the human mind, the prominent mark of the divine likeness in humanity, making man capable of communion with God. R1565:3
Man is invited to use his reasoning faculties in the study of God's Word. A20
God thus recognizes his image, even in fallen man. A174
Verses 18 to 20 apply especially to natural Israel, though an application is also possible to spiritual Israel. R3453:5
Inviting the faithful to consider, to search, to prove. R3312:3
Appealing neither to prejudices nor to passions. A58
Indicating that God's Word is reasonable. Q747:4
So that our faith in his plan might be a reasonable faith and that we might be able to give to our fellowmen a reason for the hope that is in us. (1 Pet. 3:15) R1565:3
A faith without reason honors not God, nor is it worthy of an intelligent being. Faith without reason is merely groveling superstition. R883:3*
The two extremes of underrating and overrating human reason are both fraught with evil consequences. R1566:6
The Lord is pleased to have those who are in harmony with him know the equity, the justice, of all his dealings. R3947:1
We can reason together with God when we take the voice of his Son and reject the voices of the "Dark Ages." R3795:3
As originally created, man was in his Creator's mental likeness: Justice, Mercy, Love in man were the same in kind as in God; so much so that they could and did, ever since the fall, reason together on these subjects. R525:3
Nominal Christians, avoiding thought on religious subjects, have not their "senses exercised by reason of use" and are, at best, only babes in Christ. (Heb. 5:13, 14) R2890:5
Heathen religions, and to some extent nominal Christendom, seek to restrain the intellect and appeal chiefly to the passions, prejudices and fears. R2890:5
I will make it clear and plain to you, God says. R689:6
Together – We are not to reason without him and his Word. SM24:2; CR334:3
The Lord never reasons with any except those who have faith in him and trust in his promises. R3947:1
Sins be as scarlet – The Lord used crimson and scarlet as indicative of the most flagrant sins. CR414:2
A fact recognized by some Jews on the great Day of Atonement. C255*
As white as snow – The merit of the great Atonement sacrifices covers all blemishes and makes absolutely clean. R3453:6
If a scarlet, or crimson, object is viewed through a red glass in the light it appears white; so when we come where God will view our sins through the blood of Christ they are accounted as white. R13:4
Evidencing the full and complete forgiveness of all who are truly repentant and who desire to draw nigh to God through Christ. Q832:4
The word "white" is from the same root as the word "frankincense." R84:5*
Red like crimson – Deep red-a fast color. R689:6
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| 19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: |
If ye – The obedient in the Millennial age. R1649:5; A67; HG538:2
Good of the land – All promises made to Israel were of temporal good, with no mention of heavenly hopes. R1358:4
To the natural man this would mean earthly good things, and to the spiritual Israelites heavenly good things. R3453:6
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| 20 but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. |
Ye shall be devoured – If spiritual Israelites refuse to walk in harmony with the Lord's direction and rebel against him, they will bring upon themselves the Second Death. R3454:1
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| 21 How is the faithful city become a harlot! she that was full of justice! righteousness lodged in her, but now murderers. |
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The faithful city – The early true church
Become an harlot – Gradually, beginning with 314 A.D. when the Roman emperor Constantine (civil power) convened a church council (August 1, 314) in Arles, France, beginning the union of church and state in Europe.
It was – Prior to 314 A.D.
Full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it – In the early church.
Now – After 314. |
| 22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water. |
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Thy silver – The Bible truth given to the early church.
Become dross -- |
| 23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth bribes, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. |
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| 24 Therefore saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies; |
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| 25 and I will turn my hand upon thee, and thoroughly purge away thy dross, and will take away all thy tin; |
Purge away thy dross – A refining process, applicable to spiritual as well as fleshly Israel. R1944:3
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| 26 and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, a faithful town. |
Restore thy judges – The Ancient Worthies, in full authority as prophets or teachers, under the supervision of Immanuel's heavenly Kingdom. R4201:4, R4320:5; A294; CR141:6; OV321:5, OV88:3
As at the first – Implies that this was, in many respects, a favorable time for the Israelites. R3102:5, R5645:6
The rule of the judges was superior to that of the kings. R4201:4
Eventually the whole world will be under heavenly rule, with incorruptible earthly judges enforcing the divine law. R3216:5, R5646:5
The Millennial blessings will begin with Israel. OV88:3
And thy counsellors – The lawgivers, as at the first, will be the greater than Moses-The Christ, Head and Body. R4201:4
City of righteousness – The Christ complete constitutes the New Jerusalem. R238:2*
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| 27 Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness. |
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| 28 But the destruction of transgressors and sinners shall be together, and they that forsake Jehovah shall be consumed. |
The destruction – There surely will be some lost, as well as some saved. R3083:2
Of the sinners – The wilful sinners. R3083:3
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| 29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. |
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| 30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. |
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| 31 And the strong shall be as tow, and his work as a spark; and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them. |
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