Isaiah 11:11
Ver. 11. And it shall come to pass in that day,.... Before spoken of, and which includes the whole Gospel dispensation:
[that] the Lord shall set his hand again the second time; which refers to a first, in which the Lord exerted his power in the recovery of his people out of the hands of their enemies; and that was the deliverance of them out of Egypt, and which was typical of the deliverance of the Lord's people in the times of Christ; and it is usual with the Jews {i} to call Moses the first redeemer, and the Messiah the latter; wherefore this "second time" refers to the times of the Messiah, and not to the time of the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity; for that, as Aben Ezra, Jarchi, and Kimchi observe, was not a perfect redemption; only Judah and Benjamin returned, not the ten tribes, and so did not answer to the first time, when all Israel came out of Egypt; and much less can it be understood of the return of those, in the times of Hezekiah, carried captive by Tilgathpilneser and Shalmaneser: or the first and second time may be distinguished thus; the first time may intend the calling of a large number, both of Jews and Gentiles, through the preaching of the Gospel by the apostles; and the second time the bringing in the fulness of the Gentiles, and the conversion of the Jews, in the latter day; or the first time may respect the calling of the Gentiles, and the second the gathering in of the Jews: or both may intend later times; the first time, the reformation from Popery; the second time, deliverance from Babylon, or the antichristian yoke, under which all nations will again be brought, before the destruction of the man of sin:
to recover the remnant of his people; or to "obtain", or to "possess" {k}; for this is not to be understood of the recovery or redemption of them by the price of Christ's blood, but of the calling and conversion of them, when the Lord claims them, possesses and enjoys them, as his own; and as they are but a remnant whom God has chosen for his people, and Christ has redeemed by his blood, so they are no other that are called; though here they may be called a remnant, or what remains, with respect to those who have been called already:
which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt; Egypt, and other places following, being joined with Assyria, show that this cannot be understood of the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity; but designs the several places where Christ would have a people in Gospel times, and who would be found out, and called by grace; some of which already have been, as in Babylon and Egypt, 1Pe 5:13 and others will be hereafter, according to the prophecies, Ps 68:31 and as Assyria and Egypt are now in the hands of the Turks, it may design the call and conversion of many in those parts, when the Turkish empire shall be destroyed; or else the deliverance of God's people from the tyranny of the Romish antichrist, called Egypt and Babylon, at the time of his ruin:
from Pathros; by which some understand Parthia, as Manasseh ben Israel {l}, and Calvin thinks it probable; many of this country were converted in the first times of the Gospel; the Apostle John's first epistle is called by the ancients the Epistle to the Parthians, see Ac 2:9 and very likely there will be more of them in the latter day: others think Arabia Petraea is intended; it seems to be a part of Egypt last mentioned, as appears from Eze 29:14 and is mentioned with some cities in Egypt, Jer 44:1 and had its name very likely from Pathrusim, a son of Mizraim, Ge 10:14. Thebais is here meant, the extreme part of Egypt, next to Ethiopia, which is designed by what fellows, according to Sir John Marsham {m}, and Bochart {n}, and Vitringa after them:
and from Cush; or Ethiopia; from whence some have been called, see Ac 8:27 and others will, according to prophecy, Ps 68:31 and in part of this country now live the Abyssines, who profess Christianity: or rather Arabia, see Ga 1:17. The Targum renders it,
"from India:''
and from Elam; a province in Persia, Da 8:2 the inhabitants of this place are called Elamites, Ac 2:9 some of these heard the apostles speak the wonderful things of God in their own language, and were converted:and from Shinar; in Chaldea, in the plain of which the tower of Babel was built, Ge 10:10 wherefore the Targum renders it,"from Babylon:''and from Hamath; meaning either Antiochia, as some, or Cilicia, as others. Cocceius says it is a country which lies towards the Mediterranean sea, over against Cyprus, above Mount Libanus, where now is Tripoli:and from the islands of the sea; or of the west; the European islands, particularly England, Ireland, and Scotland, and others. Aben Ezra refers this prophecy to the times of the Messiah, and so does Manasseh ben Israel.{i} Midrash Koheleth, fol. 63. 2. {k} twnql "ad possidendum", Grotius; tou kthsasyai, Aquila. {l} Spes Israelis p. 72. {m} Canon. Chron. p. 25. {n} Geograph. l. 4. c. 27. col. 276. Isaiah 11:12Ver. 12. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations,.... For the gathering of them, for the calling of the Gentiles, that is, the Lord would do it; he who before is said to set his hand a second time to recover his people, whether among Jews or Gentiles; this he has done in the ministration of the Gospel, in which Christ is lifted up and held forth as the only Saviour of lost sinners, the sole author and glorious Captain of salvation, for them to flee to, and lay hold on; and this he still does, and will continue to do, until all his people are gathered in from the several parts of the world:and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel; so those of his people among the ten tribes, that were scattered about in various countries, when the Gospel was preached throughout the world by the apostles, were called by it, and gathered into Gospel churches among the Gentiles, of whom the first churches of Christ consisted; and so it will be in the latter day, when all Israel shall be saved:and gather together the dispersed of Judah; the Jews, scattered about like lost sheep, among each of the nations of the world; some of which were looked up, and found out, and brought into the sheepfold, in the first times of Christianity; and others will be in the latter day:even from the four corners of the earth: which shows that this cannot intend the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, which was only from one corner of the earth; The Targum is,"from the four winds of the earth;''a phrase the same with that in Re 7:1. Isaiah 11:13Ver. 13. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart,.... With which it envied Judah, on account of the kingdom of the house of David, and the temple being in that tribe; not that this is the thing intended, only alluded to; the meaning is, that whatever envy or jealousy subsisted in the Gentile against the Jew, or in the Jew against the Gentile, should be no more, when gathered into one Gospel church state; or whatever of this kind has appeared in one Christian church, or denomination among Christians, against another, shall cease, when the Gospel in its power and purity shall more generally take place, and the earth shall be filled with it:and the adversaries of Judah, or of God's professing people,shall be cut off; and be no more, as the Turks and Papists:Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim; this is repeated for the confirmation of it; and the sense is, that all animosities, contentions, and discords, shall cease among the people of God, and there shall be entire peace and harmony among them. Jarchi interprets this of the two Messiahs, Messiah ben Joseph, and Messiah ben Judah, the Jews dream of. Isaiah 11:14Ver. 14. But they shall flee upon the shoulders of the Philistines towards the west,.... That is, Ephraim and Judah, who shall not only agree among themselves, but cheerfully join together against the common enemy: "they shall flee with the shoulder", as some render the words; with joint consent, as the phrase is used in Ho 6:9 Zep 3:9 and so the Targum,"and they shall be joined together in one shoulder, to smite the Philistines;''the Septuagint version is, "they shall flee in the ships of strangers"; and so Abarbinel interprets it of the ships of the Philistines, Genoese, and Venetians, that shall bring the Israelites from the west to the east, and carry them in ships by sea. The Philistines were the sworn enemies of the Israelites, and lay to the west of the land of Israel, and when the Gospel was sent into all the world, it began to be preached in the parts of Palestine, whereby many were converted, and embraced it, as foretold they should, Ps 87:4 and flying upon their shoulders, as it denotes the conquest of them, and their subjection to the Gospel, so the swiftness of the apostles in carrying it to them, when they had a commission to do it, who were all of them Jews, of one tribe or another; and these may also design the enemies of the people of God now, the antichristian states, some of which will fall off from Popery, receive the Gospel, hate the whore, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire; which will be brought about by the preaching of the Gospel by its ministers, who will fly in the midst of heaven, and upon the shoulders of the Romish antichrist, and proclaim the fall of Babylon, and call upon, the Lord's people to come out of it, Re 14:6:they shall spoil them of the east together; the Syrians and Arabians, who lay east of Judea; perhaps the Turks are meant, and the destruction of the Ottoman empire, whereby way will be made for the kings and kingdoms of the east to know, receive, and profess the Gospel of Christ, Re 16:12they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; or "there shall be a sending out of their hand"; that is, they shall stretch out their hand, and lay hold on these people, and bring them into subjection to them; which is to be understood of the sending out of the Gospel, by the hands of the ministers of it, into those countries where the Moabites and Edomites formerly dwelt; and thereby bringing them into subjection to Christ and his churches:and the children of Ammon shall obey them; that have the rule in the house of God, submitting to the laws and ordinances of Christ. Isaiah 11:15Ver. 15. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea,.... Which Kimchi and Abarbinel interpret of the Egyptian river Sichor, or the Nile; others of a bay of the Egyptian sea, so called because in the form of a tongue; the destroying of it designs the drying of it up, so that people might pass over it dry shod; the allusion is to the drying up of the Red Sea, when the Israelites came out of Egypt, and passed through it, as on dry land; and it intends the destruction of Egypt itself, not literally by the Romans, in the times of Augustus Caesar, as Jerom thinks, who interprets the "strong wind", in the following clause, of them; but figuratively, the destruction of Rome, which is spiritually called Egypt, Re 11:8 and the utter destruction of it, by an anathema, and with a curse, from the Lord himself; as the word Myrxh here used signifies; and which will take place upon the battle at Armageddon, Re 16:16 which has its name from the word in the text:and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river; in allusion to Moses's stretching out his hand over the Red sea, and the Lord's causing it to go back with a strong east wind, Ex 14:21. Some understand this of the river Nile as before, and that because of what follows; but Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it of the river Euphrates, which is commonly understood in Scripture when "the river", without any explication, is made mention of; and so the Targum,"and the Lord shall dry up the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and shall lift up the stroke of his strength upon Euphrates, by the word of his prophets;''and this designs the destruction of the Turks, or the Ottoman empire, which is signified by the drying up of the river Euphrates, Re 16:12 where it is thought by some there is an allusion to the words here:and shall smite it in the seven streams; which have made some think the river Nile is meant, because that had its seven streams, or gates, as Juvenal calls {o} them, or mouths, by which the sea issued into it; which are called {p} the Canopic or Heracleotic, the Bolbitine or Bolbitic, the Sebennitic, the Phatnitic, the Mendesian, the Tanitic or Saitic, and the Pelusian or Bubastic, from the cities Canopus and Heracleum, Bolbitine, Sebennytus, Phatnus, Mendes, Tanis or Sais, Pelusium, and Bubastus, built on the shore of these entrances; but it may be observed, that the river Euphrates was drained by seven ditches or rivulets by Cyrus, when Babylon was taken, by which means his soldiers entered the city dry shod, to which the allusion may be here; and it may denote the entire destruction of the Turkish empire, in all its branches; for "seven", as Kimchi observes, may signify a multitude, even the many kingdoms, people, and nations, under that jurisdiction:and make [men] go over dryshod; or "with shoes", with them on, there being no need to pluck them off, the river and its streams being dried up; by the "men" are, meant the "kings of the east", of whichSee Gill on "Re 16:12" all these phrases denote the removal of all impediments out of the way of God's people in those parts, in coming over to the Christian religion, and their embracing and professing that.{o} Satyr. 13. {p} Vid. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 10. Isaiah 11:16Ver. 16. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people,.... That is, through the river; that being dried up, and all hindrances and obstacles being removed, the way will be clear for multitudes to walk in without interruption, like a large common, highway, or causeway; so the Mahometan, Pagan, and Papal kingdoms being destroyed, and with them each of their religions, the way of truth, righteousness, and holiness, will be manifest to the remnant of the Lord's people; who will be at this time in those parts, in which they will be directed to walk, and will walk, and not err, see Isa 35:8:which shall be left from Assyria; the Septuagint and Arabic versions read, "which is left in Egypt"; and designs the remnant, according to the election of grace, that shall be in any of the antichristian countries, either Mahometan or Papal; rather the former seems intended, who shall at this time be brought to the knowledge of Christ, and to walk in his ways:like as it was to Israel in that day that he came up out of the land of Egypt; that is, as there was a highway made through the Red Sea, in which Israel passed, as on dry land, when they came out of Egypt, and went through the wilderness to Canaan's land.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.