Deu 18:18, Isa 49:2, 50:4-5, 59:21, Joh 3:34 | JFB | STEP | 15-19. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet-- The insertion of this promise, in connection with the preceding prohibition, might warrant the application (which some make of it) to that order of true prophets whom God commissioned in unbroken succession to instruct, to direct, and warn His people; and in this view the purport of it is, "There is no need to consult with diviners and soothsayers, as I shall afford you the benefit of divinely appointed prophets, for judging of whose credentials a sure criterion is given" ( ). But the prophet here promised was pre-eminently the Messiah, for He alone was "like unto Moses" (see on ) "in His mediatorial character; in the peculiar excellence of His ministry; in the number, variety, and magnitude of His miracles; in His close and familiar communion with God; and in His being the author of a new dispensation of religion." This prediction was fulfilled fifteen hundred years afterwards and was expressly applied to Jesus Christ by Peter ( , ), and by Stephen ( ).

‏ Deuteronomy 18:18

De 18:15-19. Christ the Prophet Is to Be Heard.

15-19. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet--The insertion of this promise, in connection with the preceding prohibition, might warrant the application (which some make of it) to that order of true prophets whom God commissioned in unbroken succession to instruct, to direct, and warn His people; and in this view the purport of it is, "There is no need to consult with diviners and soothsayers, as I shall afford you the benefit of divinely appointed prophets, for judging of whose credentials a sure criterion is given" (De 18:20-22). But the prophet here promised was pre-eminently the Messiah, for He alone was "like unto Moses" (see on De 34:10) "in His mediatorial character; in the peculiar excellence of His ministry; in the number, variety, and magnitude of His miracles; in His close and familiar communion with God; and in His being the author of a new dispensation of religion." This prediction was fulfilled fifteen hundred years afterwards and was expressly applied to Jesus Christ by Peter (Ac 3:22, 23), and by Stephen (Ac 7:37).

‏ Isaiah 49:2

2. my mouth ... sword--(Is 11:4; Re 19:15). The double office of the Word of God, saving and damnatory, is implied (Is 50:4; Joh 12:48; He 4:12).

shaft--(Psa 45:5). "Polished," that is, free from all rust, implies His unsullied purity.

in ... quiver ... hid me--Like a sword in its scabbard, or a shaft in the quiver, Messiah, before His appearing, was hid with God, ready to be drawn forth at the moment God saw fit [Hengstenberg]; also always protected by God, as the arrow by the quiver (Is 51:16).

‏ Isaiah 50:4-5

4. Messiah, as "the servant of Jehovah" (Is 42:1), declares that the office has been assigned to Him of encouraging the "weary" exiles of Israel by "words in season" suited to their case; and that, whatever suffering it is to cost Himself, He does not shrink from it (Is 50:5, 6), for that He knows His cause will triumph at last (Is 50:7, 8).

learned--not in mere human learning, but in divinely taught modes of instruction and eloquence (Is 49:2; Ex 4:11; Mt 7:28, 29; 13:54).

speak a word in season--(Pr 15:23; 25:11). Literally, "to succor by words," namely, in their season of need, the "weary" dispersed ones of Israel (De 28:65-67). Also, the spiritual "weary" (Is 42:3; Mt 11:28).

wakeneth morning by morning, &c.--Compare "daily rising up early" (Jr 7:25; Mr 1:35). The image is drawn from a master wakening his pupils early for instruction.

wakeneth ... ear--prepares me for receiving His divine instructions.

as the learned--as one taught by Him. He "learned obedience," experimentally, "by the things which He suffered"; thus gaining that practical learning which adapted Him for "speaking a word in season" to suffering men (He 5:8).

5. opened ... ear--(See on Is 42:20; Is 48:8); that is, hath made me obediently attentive (but Maurer, "hath informed me of my duty"), as a servant to his master (compare Psa 40:6-8, with Php 2:7; Is 42:1; 49:3, 6; 52:13; 53:11; Mt 20:28; Lu 22:27).

not rebellious--but, on the contrary, most willing to do the Father's will in proclaiming and procuring salvation for man, at the cost of His own sufferings (He 10:5-10).

‏ Isaiah 59:21

21. covenant with them ... thee--The covenant is with Christ, and with them only as united to Him (He 2:13). Jehovah addresses Messiah the representative and ideal Israel. The literal and spiritual Israel are His seed, to whom the promise is to be fulfilled (Psa 22:30).

spirit ... not depart ... for ever--(Jr 31:31-37; Mt 28:20).

‏ John 3:34

31-34. He that, &c.--Here is the reason why He must increase while all human teachers must decrease. The Master "cometh from above"--descending from His proper element, the region of those "heavenly things" which He came to reveal, and so, although mingling with men and things on the earth, is not "of the earth," either in Person or Word. The servants, on the contrary, springing of earth, are of the earth, and their testimony, even though divine in authority, partakes necessarily of their own earthiness. (So strongly did the Baptist feel this contrast that the last clause just repeats the first). It is impossible for a sharper line of distinction to be drawn between Christ and all human teachers, even when divinely commissioned and speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost. And who does not perceive it? The words of prophets and apostles are undeniable and most precious truth; but in the words of Christ we hear a voice as from the excellent Glory, the Eternal Word making Himself heard in our own flesh.