The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 248

110emed t-0 hear the wild shout of the foes of Ierael, as they burst through into the sacred city; and soon, in smoke and flames, they watched her very temple perish. And yet again, in dimmer lines, as though further on in the march of ages, they seemed t.o 11ee the last great 110ene of human history-a world arraigned, the thrones set, the books opened. These visions often prostrated those prophets in the intensity of excitement ; but they were given t.o them that they might set them on record, for the sake of their own people and the whole Church of the redeemed, that we all might learn to live in the \"icw of that futuro, with the infallible decisions of the future ever in our thought, and reminding us that "he which soweth t.o the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." 'l'here is much that is most solemnizing in the expression, "the day of the Lord," if we read it from the Christian standpoint, and see it to mean the day of the Lord Jesus. I. Oua Lonn HAS HAD: 1. His day of humiliation, when he stepped down from hie heavenly throne, laid aside" his most Divine array," and entered our world as the poor man's babe, born in a stable, laid in a manger, because there was no room for him in the inn. 2. He bas bad many a day of toil, and patience, and pleading, and prayer among men. Year after year he tarried in the flesh, proving bis Divine power to save, and winning men to himself by the tender sacrificings of his love. 3. He has hnd a day of suffering and anguish for men. " Behold, and see if there ever was sorrow like unto hii: sorrow, wherewith the Lord bath afflicted him" for our sakes. 4. He bas had many a day of inviting grace, when, in the power of his Spirit,-he has called us to yield ourselves unto him; when, in the leadings of his providence and the ministry of his ·word, he bas cried, "My son, give me thy heart;" "Come unto me . . . and I will give you rest." He bas had many a day of patience, of waiting, of long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish. . II. BuT TllE DAY OF TUE LORD, TUE DAy OF DA YB, IS YET TO COME. 1. The day of the Lord's glory, when the multitudes of the redeemed shall crown him with many crowns-shall crown him Lord of all. 2. The day of the Lord's vindication, when he sball break down the rebellion of lost souls with the proofs of his forbearance and the memory of his repeated calls. 3. The day when the "wrath of the Lamb" must be revealed, and he shall come in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of his Son. '.!'here must be an end of this dispensa- tion of redemption, there must be a closing up of it; there must be the " day of the Lore.." For us all that day cometh as a thief in the night. III. THE DECISIONS OF THE DAY OF TEE Lonn. The Scriptures do not satisfy our questionings upon the terms of decision on that day. So far as we can gather, there will be a general term, and a more particular one. The more general term may be .l:UE expressed: "No condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus." "Condemned ~i·eady," because ye believe not on the Son of God. The more particular term is thus expressed: " We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." How these are to fit i.Dto each other it is beyond any human power to ex.plain, because the Bible does not afford us the means of explanation. We can, however, settle two separate facts very clearly. Our life, in its minutest acts, ca1Ties eternal issues. Everything we do, beyond its bearing on our present character, has its bearing on our eternal destiny, because on our eternal character. And we are tested by our relation to Christ. The test of the great coming day is first this--In Christ, or oi.;t of Christ. The answer to that settles all else-whether you shall be in the fold or c.ut of it, in the everlasting peace or out of it, in heaven or out of it.-R. T. Ver. 6.-God as El Shaddai. It will at once come t.o mind that this is the name used for God by John Bunyan in his 'Holy War,' but it is an unfamiliar one, and one that needs explanation. It is translated in Scripture by the term" the Almighty," but that properly represents the Hebrew El Gihbor. Cheyne says, "Wherever it ~ccurs (Joel i. 15; Ezek. i. 24; x. 5), it appears to express the more severe and awful side of the Divine nature. Though w;ed as a mere synonym for El, or Elohim, it must at least be clear that force, and specially force as exhibited in a dangerous aspect in some natural phenomena, is the original meani.Dg of the word, a meaning suitable enough to the earliest stage of biblical religion (see Exod. vi. 3)." Gesenius thinks that, originally, OH. XlD, 1-22.] THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 241