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| 1 Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment. |
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| 2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. |
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| 3 He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet. |
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| 4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, 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 The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came. |
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| 6 They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage. |
Of good courage – A right kind of courage, a godly courage. R5330:1
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| 7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved. |
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| 8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. |
Abraham my friend – Being in heart accord with God, Abraham was granted a measure of covenant relationship. R4595:3
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| 9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. |
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| 10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold 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 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. |
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| 12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. |
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| 13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. |
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| 14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and 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 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. |
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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 shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. |
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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. |
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| 17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. |
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| 18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. |
I will open rivers – Now commencing to be fulfilled. R1379:6*
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| 19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: |
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| 20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. |
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| 21 Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons, 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 Let them bring them forth, and show us what shall happen: let them show the former things, what they be, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or declare us things for to come. |
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 Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold 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 Behold, ye are of nothing, and your work of nought: an abomination is he that chooseth you. |
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| 25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as the potter treadeth clay. |
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| 26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that showeth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words. |
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| 27 The first shall say to Zion, Behold, behold them: and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. |
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| 28 For I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word. |
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| 29 Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion. |
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