The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 215

'Whereby God "establisbed the hel\'nlns •• {Prov. iii. 19; viii. 2'7); or )?Ollslbly that still more rec•,0n<lito faculty which Jebo\"&h "possessed in the begin\\ing of his way, beforo his works of old" (Prov. viii. 22). Being distinguished from. "undetstnnding," "rounsel," and "knowledge of God," it must apparently be. sutwa-mund/1,ne and. o.bstract -a power of which it is difficult for man to form a conception. Its sphere .cannot be human life or mundane &!fairs, but the purely intellectual world of supra-sensno11B idoas and concepts. , , II. HIS POSSESSION OF UNDERSTANDmG. By "understanding II seems to be meant moral intelligence-the power of appreciating the moral character, and judging aright the moral conduct of others. Our Lord possessed this quality in the most eminent degree, never misjudging the character or conduct of any one. His unerring insight irave him an absolute fitness to be the final Judge of men, but w.as far. beyond what·is nreded by any earthly ruler or king. • . ' III. HIS POSSF..SSJON OF T.BE SPIRIT OF COUNSEL. Here. no doubt/ is quality ofa which a temporal ruler has need; but it was not as a temporal ruler, or for the most part in temporal matters, that our Lord's counsel was given. The maxims of his lipll \\'ere not maxims of worldly policy, but sue~ as these: "Seek.ye first the.kingdom of God, and his righteousness; " "'l'ake no thought for the morrow;" "Sell all· that thou ha,;t, and gi~e to the poor," and the like.. He·counselled men for their spiritual rather than for their worldly good, with a view to a. spiritu!ll and not a temporal.kingdo01. IV. HIS POSSESSION OF MIGHT. "Might," ·or ·ability to execµte ·his-designs, is,• ag~.in, a quality of high value to an earthly ruler; and had our Lord used his might for earthly ends, he might easily have been all, and more than all, that the Je.ws expected., Bt1t he ever restrained himself from any exhibition of physical strength, or power of organization, or even of persuasive eloquence, exhibiting his .might only for spititual ends, in miracles of mercy, whereby he sought to win m,en's so)lls to himself,' .or one~ and again in miracles of power, shown forth as evidencei; of his m.\s~ion. ": • . , V. His POSSESSION OF XNOWLEDGE OF Gon. None could know. God's .will so well as he, who" was in the be.ginning:with God. and was God" (;John i.,l). Partaker from everlasting of his Father's counsels, the instrument whereby the Father worked. in bringing all things into being (Heb. L 2), he had sounded all the depths of that nature which he had in common with the Father, and knew eveu as he was known. This was spiritual knowledge of the highest kind, and enabled him.to be man's perfect spiritual Guide, capable of setting before him the true and " perfect, will of God "1 (Rom. xii. 2) as none other ever was, or will be, capable. • • . VI. His POSSESSION OF THE FEAB OF Gon. " Fear" in the Son is doubtless so mingled with love as to be something very different even ·from: the. fear which the angels feel, when they veil their faces before the throne. But the words " Father" and « Son" imply authority and submission, awfulness and reverence. And the human nature of Christ had the same experience of the " fear of God" as belongs to his perfected saints; whether in earth or heaven (Ps. xiL 9; xxxiv. 9'; Eccles. xii. 13, etc.). "Who shall not fear thee, 0 Lord, and glorify thy Name?" Meilsiah's "fear" brought forth that perfect obedience which made him "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" ( Heb. vii. 26), and constituted him a.t once our perfect l'l\ttern and our meritorious Sacrifice. Vers. 10, 12.-God's mercy in bringing the Gentiles into his kingdom. In the old world, when "all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth," God sent forth a fierce destruction, and s1rept away the entire human race, excepting eight persons. After the Flood he promised, of bis own free grace, that he would never so destroy mankind &.ga.in (Gen. ix. 11-15). But it was open to him to have sent upon the world some other equally severe visitation, and to have once more rid the earth of "a seed. of evil> doers." The general corruption of the Gentile world, when Christ came, was excessive. It is scarcely possible that the corruption of the antediluvians can have been greater, A.s a moderu historian sums up his account of heathendom at the coming of Christ, "CorruptioLI had attained its full tide at the commencement of the second century. Vices gnawed at the marrow of nations, and, above all, of the Homans: their national existence was more than menaced; the moral sickness had become a physical one in its effects-a subtle poison penetrating into the vitals of the state; and, as before in the OH, XL 1-16.] THE,Boox:,oF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 207