The Pulpit Commentary — Isaiah — Volume 1 — Section 531

which God took oentmiee to prepare, which is the purchase of a Saviour's· tenrs and l1lood, which is exquisitely adapted to the soil for which it is intended. 2, He h1111 "·cll-wntered, i.e. fertile, responsive soil in which to place it. He has, ai;nonget others 1 ( 1) The 1Jirgfr1, soil of youth.. Youth may often be iuattentive, frivolo,1,1s, qp.st~l>le; uev~rt_heless it is docile, affectionate, trustful, tender-hearted. .(2) The prepa,,e(l ~()~ qt a_ffeictton. When God has chastened the soul with his fatherly hand, there is a softne~ of spirit:, an impressionableness of heart which makes words of comfort, of exhorta~ig~.i of wammg peculiarly welcome, (3) The productive soil of poverty. From the day11 w_hei;r. "the common people heard Jesus gladly," and when it was said "to the poor. the ~osp?l ie preached," to these times in which we live, the poor have been col]lparatively. nch_ m faith and hope. By those to whom the riches and enjoyml!nts of earth:are demed, the treasures of truth and the blessedness of the kingdom of.God are likely to be. prized and gained (see 1 Cor. i. 26--28). Blessed are they who sow such ferti,le soili!, for theirs is not only the blessing which comes to all faithful labourers-the !!,ppro:vl!l Qf Christ and their own spiritual advancement-but the .great "joy of harvest," tJ:iejoiY) which tills the husbandman's heart when he "comes again" from·the." heavy-fruited", 'fields, " bringing his sheaves with him,"-0. .. Ver. 1.-The idw,l reign. There can be .no doubt that the' ;firat, ~~d·.hi~to~icJ!l; :eference of this prophecy is to the reign of Hezekiah. Cqeyne says; "=n-deeqcibes_t_bA happy condition of Judah when idols have been cast away, and :the rod- of 'Asijyri.Q.~ tyranny has been removed. A more just and merciful govemment:shall ,then, Qe enjoyed, the result of a large outpouring -of the Divine. Spirit. As the· con_sequeq1;11,of this, moral distinctions shall no longer be confounded-men shall be. estima.teii at tb.~ true value. When Isaiah wrote he may have had grounds for the charitable beUe.£ th11t1! his sovereign WQU.ld really be eq ua,l to the demands provjdentially, made. ,upon .hiip.." But the prophecy is Messianic. Its anticipations are on!\}' fully reali~ed·iq ,the ;king,:- dom of Christ. Weber says," The picture which the prop)let paint.s j:iere oft.h.e,;Chur9,b. of the last time is the picture of every true congregation: of Ch_rjst. 1 In it the wilJ.of the Lord must be the only law according to which men judge,la!l.d not. llD-Y fl~hly·,cqn~ sideration of any sort. In it there must be open .eyes ~nd, earsJor Go4's.wor,lqand ·.word• and if in some things precedence is really allowed to the childreJi of tbis. WQi;ld,,_,s.tilU~ Epiritual things the understanding must be right and the speech,.,olear...- F~~l1Ji1._i_n-it :µersons must be valued according to their true Christian, moral worth, not i,,ccording to advantages that before God are rather a reproach than an honour."· , It is_ a_lmos~ illlpos- sible for us ro realize_ the idea of a theocracy, or direct rule of God over a people, as the pious Jew did. Exactly what Isaiah pictures is the theocracy fully established. in ,R spiritual sense; and of this Hezekiah's reformed kingdom gave good suggestions.· -'l':Q bring the subject home to modern congregations, the leading Jeature)! of a spil;itual theocracy, a real and practical reign of God, in lives and w socie.ty, s.hould 1;le sho:w!l thus- L GoD's wn.L SHOULD BE THE ONE SUPREME LAW. . !I. GOD'S WoRD SHOULD Bl!: THE PRACTICAL . RULE OF CONDJJ.O'l'. III. Goo's SoN SHOULD BE THE GREAT MODEL. OF CHARACTER, IV. Goo-Lmfill'ESB SHOULD BE THE ONE .OBJECT OF. PURBQ'IT. . . . .. ' Be it .heart, be it life, be it Church, or be it society,, wherever this Is an honest and truthful description, there is the "ideal reign;" there the words of the text are fulfilled, and a" king reigns in righteousne13s." It is to establish individually and universally just this kingdom, that the Lord Jesus Christ has come, He ,begins his woi:k by subduing to his obedience single Bouls.-R. 'I'. , ·;. l Ver. 6.-The correction of social confusions. "When men's eyes are ~pened;·,tbey will no longer confound the essential distinctions of moral character, because they will no longer be deceived by mere appearances" (J. A. Alexander). "A duo discrimination of character would be made in the times of the Messiah, and persons and things would be called by their appropriate names (comp. Mai. iii 18; Matt. xxiii.13-83; Epb. v. 5) '' (Henderson). "'l'he differences between good and evil, virtue and vice; shall be kept up, and no more confounded by those who put darkness for light nnd . light for darkness" (Matthew Henry). 'l'hese sentences show that the subject lntrOII 01r. Uxtt. l-'-20.J THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET lSAI.AH. 530