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| 1 Hearken, ye Coastlands, unto me, And give ear, ye peoples afar off,–Yahweh, called me, from my birth, From my nativity, made he mention of my name; |
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 made my mouth, like a sharp sword, In the shadow of his hand, he concealed me,–And made of me a polished arrow, In his quiver, he hid me; |
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 said to me, My Servant, thou art,–Israel, in whom I will get myself glory. |
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 But, I, said, To no purpose, have I toiled, For waste and mist–my vigour, have I spent,–Surely, my vindication, is, with, Yahweh, And, my recompence, with my God. |
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| 5 Now, therefore, said Yahweh–Fashioning me from birth, To be Servant to him, To restore Jacob unto him, And that, Israel, unto him, might be gathered, And I be honourable in the eyes of Yahweh, And, my God, be proved to have been my strength; |
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| 6 Yea he said–It is too small a thing, for being my, Servant, That thou shouldest raise up the tribes of Jacob, And, the preserved of Israel, shouldst restore,–So I will give thee to become a light of nations, That, my salvation, may reach as far as, the end of the earth. |
For a light to the Gentiles – Spoken of our Lord in Luke 2:32. |
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| 7 Thus, saith Yahweh–the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, To him that is despised of the soul, To the abhorred of the nation, To the servant of rulers, Kings, shall see and arise, Princes, lo! they have bowed themselves down,–Because of Yahweh, who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel, lo! he hath chosen thee. |
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| 8 Thus, saith Yahweh–In a time of acceptance, have I answered thee, In a day of salvation, have I helped thee,–That I may preserve thee, And give thee as the covenant of a people, To establish the land, To bring into possession the desolate heritages;
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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 Saying To them who are bound, Go forth, To them who are in darkness, Shew yourselves,–By the roads, shall they graze, And, on all bare places, shall be their pasture: |
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 shall neither hunger, nor thirst, Nor shall smite, them the glowing sand, or the glaring sun,–For, he that hath compassion upon them, will lead them, And, unto springs of water, will he conduct them. |
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| 11 Then will I make of all my mountains, a road, And, my highways, shall be upraised. |
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| 12 Lo! these, from afar, shall come in,–And lo! these, from the North and from the West, And, these, from the land of Sinim. |
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| 13 Shout in triumph–O heavens! And exult–O earth! And break forth, ye mountains, into shouts of triumph,–For Yahweh hath comforted his people, And, on his humbled ones, taketh he compassion. |
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| 14 But Zion, had said, Yahweh hath forsaken, me,–Even, My Lord, hath forgotten me! |
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| 15 Can, a woman, forget, her sucking child, Past taking compassion on the son of her womb? Even these, may forget, Yet will, I, not forget, thee: |
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| 16 Lo! on the palms of my hands, have I portrayed thee,–Thy walls, are before me continually. |
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| 17 In haste, are thy sons,–They who have been tearing thee down and laying thee waste, out of thee, let them go forth! |
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| 18 Lift up, round about, thine eyes, and see, All those, have gathered themselves together–have come to thee! As I live, Declareth Yahweh,–Surely, all those–as an ornament, shalt thou put on, And bind them about thee for a girdle, as a bride. |
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| 19 Surely, as for thy wastes, and thy desolations, and thy land of ruins, Surely, now, shalt thou be too strait for thine inhabitants, And, far off, shall be they who have been swallowing thee up. |
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| 20 The children of whom thou wast bereaved, shall yet, say in thine ears,–Too strait for me, is the place, Make room for me, that I may settle down. |
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| 21 Then shalt thou say in thy heart,–Who hath borne me, these, Seeing, I, have been bereaved, and unfruitful, a captive and banished? These, therefore, who, hath brought them up? Lo! I, was left, alone, These, where were, they? |
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| 22 Thus, saith My Lord, Yahweh–Lo! I will lift up, unto nations, my hand, Yea, unto peoples, will I raise high my banner,–And they shall bring in thy sons in their bosom, And, thy daughters, on the shoulder, shall be borne; |
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| 23 And, kings, shall be, thy foster-fathers, And, their queens, thy nursing mothers, With face to the ground, shall they bow down to thee, The dust of thy feet, shall they lick,–So shalt thou know that, I, am Yahweh, In that, they shall not be put to shame, Who were waiting for me. |
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| 24 Shall prey, be taken from a mighty one? Or, the captive of one in the right, be delivered? |
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| 25 Surely, thus, saith Yahweh–Even the captive of the mighty one, shall be taken away, And, the prey of the tyrant, be delivered; And, thine opposers, I, will oppose, And, thy children, I, will save; |
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| 26 Then will I feed thy tormentors with their own flesh, And, as with new wine–with their own blood, shall they be drunk,–So shall all flesh, know, that, I–Yahweh, am thy Saviour, And, thy Redeemer, is the Mighty One of Jacob. |
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