[CHAPTER LI. 1-16.]
Ver. 1. "And I put my words in thy mouth, and cover thee in the shadow of mine hand, that thou mayest plant the heaven and lay the foundation of the earth, and say unto Zion: Thou art my people."
The discourse in chap. li. to lii. 12 is not addressed to the whole of Israel, but to the election. They are, in chap. li. 1, called those that follow after righteousness, that seek the Lord; in ver. 7, those who know righteousness, in whose heart is the law of the Lord. These the Prophet seeks to comfort and strengthen by pointing to the future glorious mercies of the Lord.
The Section chap. li. 4-8 comforts the elect by the coming of the salvation, by the dominion of the people of God over the whole world; points to the foundation of these successes, viz., the eternity of the salvation and righteousness for the Church; and exhorts them that, having this eternal salvation before them, they might patiently bear the temporal reproach of the world given over to destruction.
In vers. 9-11, the Church calls upon the Lord to do as He had promised; and this prayer, founded upon His almighty love, which in times past had so gloriously manifested itself, passes over, at the close, into hope and confidence.
In vers. 12-16 follows the answer of the Lord, who exhorts the Church to be stedfast, by reminding her that her opponents are weak mortals, while the omnipotent God is her protector; and announces that, with the same omnipotence which He manifests in nature, He would soon bring about her deliverance, and that Ho would do so by His Servant, in whom all His promises should be Yea and Amen, and whom at the close Ho addresses, committing to Him the work of redemption. According to the current opinion, the discourse in ver. 16 is addressed to the people. But, in that case, we must also make up our minds to view the Infinitive with ל a Gerund, "planting," or "by planting,"--a supposition which is beset with great difficulties. It was only by an inconsistency that Stier, who, in chap. xlix. rejects this view, could here agree to it. And, farther, it is obvious that the words at the close: "Thou art my people," are the words which, according to the commencement of the verse, are put into the mouth of the speaker, and that hence, the planting of heaven and earth, which prepares for this speaking, belongs to Him. If this be not supposed, one does not at all see to what the: "I put my words in thy mouth," is to refer. What farther militates against this explanation is the unmistakable relation of the passage before us to chaps. xlix., l., which it is impossible to refer to the people. The same reason is also against the supposition of Gesenius and Umbreit, that the discourse is addressed to the prophetical order. Nor is it defensible to explain: "to plant the heaven and lay the foundation of the earth," by: to establish the new state of Israel. To these arguments it may be added that, according to this explanation, the words: "Thou art my people," are unsuitable; for Israel was not the people of the Prophet, but the people of God and of His Servant. The discourse is addressed rather to the Messiah, compare the parallel passages, chap. xlix., especially ver. 2, and chap. l., especially vers. 4 and 5. Considering the dramatic character of the whole section, the change of the person addressed is a circumstance of very little importance; and chap. lix. 21, where the word of God is put into the mouth of Jacob, is parallel in appearance only. Even a priori we could not expect that, in this context, treating, as it does, of the personal Messiah, the whole section, chap. li. 1 to lii. 12, should lack all reference to the Messiah. By the words: "I put my word in thy mouth," the Messiah is appointed to be, in the highest sense, the speaker of God; the realization of the divine counsels is committed to Him. For the fact that it is not mere words which are here treated of, but such as are living and powerful, like those which God spoke at the creation, becomes evident by the circumstance that the planting of heaven and earth is attributed to the Servant of God as bearer of His words,--a thing which cannot be done by the ordinary word; comp. Isa. xl. 4, according to which the Messiah smites the earth with the rod of His mouth, and slays the wicked with the breath of His lips.--I cover thee in the shadow of mine hand, designates the divine protection and providence which are indispensable in order that the Servant of God may fulfil His vocation to be God's speaker. The words form an accessory thought only: I appoint thee my speaker whom, as such, I will keep and protect in order that thou, etc.;--for that which follows is that which the Servant of God is to perform as His Speaker. By the word of Omnipotence committed to Him, He plants a new heaven, and lays the foundation of a new earth, and invests Zion with the dignity of the people of God.--To plant the heaven and lay the foundation of the earth, is equivalent to founding a new heaven, a new earth; comp. chaps. lxv. 17, lxvi. 22; Rev. xxii. For, as long as the old heaven and the old earth exist, a planting and founding activity cannot take place in reference to heaven and earth. All that is created, in so far as it opposes the Kingdom of God, is unfit for being an abode of the glorified Kingdom of God, and must be shaken and broken to pieces, in order that this Kingdom may enter into its natural conditions, and find a worthy abode. The activity of God and His Servant, necessary for this purpose, will most completely take place at the end of days, at the παλιγγενεσία announced by the Lord, Matt. xix. 28; compare what is said in chap. xi., in reference to the entire change of the conditions of the earth. But in a preparatory manner, this activity pervades all history. The heaven, according to the usus loquendi of Scripture, and also of Isaiah, is not only the natural heaven, but also the heaven of princes, the whole order of rulers and magistrates, (comp. my remarks on Rev. vi. 13), whose form and relation to the Kingdom of God underwent a great change, even at the first appearance of Christ.--The saying, according to the preceding: That thou mayest plant, &c., is not to be referred to the mere announcing; but, according to the frequent usus loquendi, it includes the performing also, just as e.g., in ver. 12, the comforting is effected by a discourse in deeds. The distinction between, and separation of word and deed belongs to human weakness. God speaks and it is done; and what holds true of His word, applies also to the word of His Servant, which he has put into His mouth.
[CHAPTERS LII. 13-LIII. 12.]
This section forms the climax of the prophecies of Isaiah, of prophetism in general, of the whole Old Testament, as appears even from the circumstance that the Lord and His Apostles refer to no part of the Old Testament so frequently and so emphatically as to this,--a section which, according to Luther's demand, every Christian should have committed verbatim. Christ is here, with wonderful clearness, described to us in His highest work--His atoning suffering.
In vers. 13-15 of chap. lii. Jehovah speaks. These verses contain a short summary of what is enlarged upon in chap. liii. The very deepest humiliation of the Servant of God shall be followed by His highest glorification. In consequence of the salvation wrought out and accomplished by Him, the nations of the earth and their kings shall reverently submit to Him. In chap. liii. 1-10, the Prophet utters the sentiments of the elect in Israel. At first, in His humiliation, they had not recognized the Redeemer; but now they acknowledged Him as their Redeemer and Saviour, and saw that He had taken upon Him His sufferings for our salvation, and that they had a vicarious character. The commencement forms, in ver. 1, the lamentation that so many do not believe in the report of the Servant of God, that so many do not behold the glory of God manifested in Him. In vers. 2 and 3, we have the cause of this fact, viz., the appearance of the Divine, in the form of a Servant--the offence of the cross. In lowliness, without any outward splendour, the Servant of God shall go about. Sufferings, heavier than ever befel any man, shall be inflicted upon Him. In vers. 4-6, the vicarious import of these sufferings is pointed out. The people, seeing his sufferings, and not knowing the cause of them, imagined that they were the well-merited punishment of His own transgressions and iniquities. But the Church, now brought to believe in Him, see that they were wrong in imagining thus. It was not His own transgressions and iniquities which were punished in Him, but ours. His sufferings were voluntarily undergone by Him, and for the salvation of mankind, which else would have been given up to destruction. God himself was anxious to re-unite to himself those who were separated from Him, and who walked in their own ways. To the vicarious import of the sufferings of the Servant of God corresponds, according to ver. 7, His conduct: He suffers quietly and patiently. In vers. 8-10 we have the reward which the Servant of God receives for His passive obedience. God takes Him to himself, and He receives an unspeakably great generation, ver. 8, the ominous burial with the rich, ver. 9, numerous seed and long life, and that the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand; ver. 10. In vers. 11 and 12, the Lord again appears as speaking, and confirms that which has been declared by the faithful Church.
The two verses of the close, together with the exordium, chap. lii. 13-15, occupy five verses--five being the signature of the half and incomplete. The main body, ten verses, is divided into seven referring to the humiliation and suffering, and three referring to the exaltation of the Servant of God. The seven are, as usual, divided into three and four. In the three verses, the suffering of the Servant of God is exhibited; in the four, its cause and vicarious import.