The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 403

Jehovah; many having come from east and west, and north and south, to ait down In the kingdom of God. The feast is symbolic of all spiritual and temporal blMaings, aa it is in the parables of our Saviour. It is symbolic of satiifaction: "The meek shall cat and be satisfied" (Ps. xxii. 26). The allusion may be to the thank or peace oft'criug: "I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodne55" (Jer. uxi. 14; cf. Lev. vii. 31). The meal which followed the sacrifice was a joyous and festi~e occasion. It was expected by the Jews that the glorious MeBBianic time would be ushered in by a great feast; and of this, doubtless, the guest 3t the dinner-table of the Pharisee was thinking when he exclaimed, "Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God l " As the feast, so the age, of the Messiah is to be unending. And in one great burst of universal joy, death and sorrow are to be swallowt>d up. Death is signified by the covering or veil cast over all nations, or web woven over them. The cover, d head is a sign of mourning in antiquity in general; it will be withdrawn (Ps. xxi. 10; Iv. 10). Darkness and oblivion are associated with death; this will greatly give way before the light of Jehovah. The bondage to the fear of death will be broken, death itself will be abolished, and life and immortality be brought to light (2 Tim. i. 10; 1 Cor. xv. 54). The promise belongs to the Jewish nation (Hos. xiii. 14), and to all its believing members. All sorrow is more or less rooted in the associations of death; this too shall cease, and Jehovah shall wipe away all tears from off all faces. The reproaches so long levelled at the people in their world- wide dispersion shall be taken away. No more will the taunt be levelled at them, "Where is now your God?" (Ps. lxxix. 10). Sin will be eradicated, which has had its fruit in tears, in shame, and in death. "The new Jerusalem is J ehovah's throne, but the whole earth is Jehovah's glorious kingdom. The prophet is here looking from just the same point of view as Paul in 1 Cor. xv. 18, and John in the last page of the Apoca- ·Jypse" (Dclitzsch). The last point in the distant perspective on which the eye rests is the epoch known as " the day of redemption," the restoration of all things, when the old and corrupt order shall finally give place to the new, the confusions of time cease in the harmonies of the eternal world (see Luke x.xi. 28; Acts iii. 21; Rom. viii. 23; Epb. iv. 30). A great poet, Burns, said that he could never read this passage without tears. It does, irnleed, touch the depth of the heart, as it strikes the full tones of the eternal evangel. For here we have the gospel in the universality of its message (" good tidings of great joy to all people "}-the fulness of its power to satisfy and to comfort, in the all-hopeful perspective of the future it opens up. "Let us, then, direct all our hope and expectation to this point, and let us not doubt that the Lord will fulfil all these things in us when we have finished our course. If we now sow in tears, we shal.l reap in joy. The reproaches of men \\ill procure for us one day the highest glory. Having obtained here the beginning of this happiness o.nd glory, by being adopted by God and begin- ning to bear the image of Christ, let us firmly and resolutely await the completion of it at the last day" (Cal vin).-J. Vers. 9-12.-Song of the redeemed. I. THE STATE OF T.HE CHOSEN PEOPLE. They will be in the joyous realization of long-awaited blessings. A brief strain from their hymn is given- " Lo I here is our God I For him we have waited that he should eave ua: Thie is Jehovah, for whom we he.ve we.ited; Let UB exult e.nd rejoice in his salvation 1" AB "e. BOrrow's crown of sorrow is remembering happier things," so the crown of joy is the recollection of past miseries in the hour of deliverance. And how it intensifies joy- the sense of having waited, of having ploughed and sown, watched and wept, _with _a view to the "far-off interest of tears"! And finally, to see and know that lil this mingled experience one hand has been at work, one will has been guiding, one mercy mixing the ingredients of life's cup! "Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself!" yea, but verily, also, thou art a God that do8t i11 due time disclose thys~lf to reward the patience and faith of thy chosen, and to pour confusion on thy foes! On the sacred ruc,untain the hand of J eho\'ah will rest, to protect hie people, to judge hi~ foes. D~autiful imp.ge I As a symbol of protection, ef, Ezra vii. 6, 28; viii, lll, 22, 3l; Neb. ii, 8, ek. :UV. 1-12.] THE BOOK otr 1'HE PROPHE'J.' ISAIAH. 4.06