Isa 59:21 | KD | STEP | Jehovah, having thus come as a Redeemer to His people, who have hitherto been lying under the curse, makes an everlasting covenant with them. “And I, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah: My Spirit which is upon thee, and my word which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, and out of the mouth of thy seed, and out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.” In the words, “And I, this is my covenant with them,” we have a renewal of the words of God to Abram in , “As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee.” Instead of אתּם we have in the same sense אתם (not אותם, as in ); we find this very frequently in Jeremiah. The following prophecy is addressed to Israel, the “servant of Jehovah,” which has been hitherto partially faithful and partially unfaithful, but which has now returned to fidelity, viz., the “remnant of Israel,” which has been rescued through the medium of a general judgment upon the nations, and to which the great body of all who fear God from east to west attach themselves. This church of the new covenant has the Spirit of God over it, for it comes down upon it from above; and the comforting saving words of God are not only the blessed treasure of its heart, but the confession of its mouth which spreads salvation all around. The words intended are those which prove, according to , the seeds of the new heaven and the new earth. The church of the last days, endowed with the Spirit of God, and never again forsaking its calling, carries them as the evangelist of God in her apostolic mouth. The subject of the following prophecy is the new Jerusalem, the glorious centre of this holy church. Judgment of Devastation upon the Vineyard of Jehovah - Isaiah 5 The foregoing prophecy has run through all the different phases of prophetic exhortation by the time that we reach the close of ; and its leading thought, viz., the overthrow of the false glory of Israel, and the perfect establishment of true glory through the medium of judgment, has been so fully worked out, that chapter 5 cannot possibly be regarded either as a continuation or as an appendix to that address. Unquestionably there are many points in which chapter 5 refers back to chapters 2-4. The parable of the vineyard in grows, as it were, out of ; and in we have a repetition of the refrain in , varied in a similar manner to Isa 2:17. But these and other points of contact with chapters 2-4, whilst they indicate a tolerable similarity in date, by no means prove the absence of independence in chapter 5. The historical circumstances of the two addresses are the same; and the range of thought is therefore closely related. But the leading idea which is carried out in chapter 5 is a totally different one. The basis of the address is a parable representing Israel as the vineyard of Jehovah, which, contrary to all expectation, had produced bad fruit, and therefore was given up to devastation. What kind of bad fruit it produced is described in a six-fold “woe;” and what kind of devastation was to follow is indicated in the dark nocturnal conclusion to the whole address, which is entirely without a promise.

‏ Isaiah 59:21

Jehovah, having thus come as a Redeemer to His people, who have hitherto been lying under the curse, makes an everlasting covenant with them. “And I, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah: My Spirit which is upon thee, and my word which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, and out of the mouth of thy seed, and out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.” In the words, “And I, this is my covenant with them,” we have a renewal of the words of God to Abram in Gen 17:4, “As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee.” Instead of אתּם we have in the same sense אתם (not אותם, as in Isa 54:15); we find this very frequently in Jeremiah. The following prophecy is addressed to Israel, the “servant of Jehovah,” which has been hitherto partially faithful and partially unfaithful, but which has now returned to fidelity, viz., the “remnant of Israel,” which has been rescued through the medium of a general judgment upon the nations, and to which the great body of all who fear God from east to west attach themselves. This church of the new covenant has the Spirit of God over it, for it comes down upon it from above; and the comforting saving words of God are not only the blessed treasure of its heart, but the confession of its mouth which spreads salvation all around. The words intended are those which prove, according to Isa 51:16, the seeds of the new heaven and the new earth. The church of the last days, endowed with the Spirit of God, and never again forsaking its calling, carries them as the evangelist of God in her apostolic mouth. The subject of the following prophecy is the new Jerusalem, the glorious centre of this holy church. Judgment of Devastation upon the Vineyard of Jehovah - Isaiah 5

The foregoing prophecy has run through all the different phases of prophetic exhortation by the time that we reach the close of Isa 4:1-6; and its leading thought, viz., the overthrow of the false glory of Israel, and the perfect establishment of true glory through the medium of judgment, has been so fully worked out, that chapter 5 cannot possibly be regarded either as a continuation or as an appendix to that address. Unquestionably there are many points in which chapter 5 refers back to chapters 2-4. The parable of the vineyard in Isa 5:1-7 grows, as it were, out of Isa 3:14; and in Isa 5:15 we have a repetition of the refrain in Isa 2:9, varied in a similar manner to Isa 2:17. But these and other points of contact with chapters 2-4, whilst they indicate a tolerable similarity in date, by no means prove the absence of independence in chapter 5. The historical circumstances of the two addresses are the same; and the range of thought is therefore closely related. But the leading idea which is carried out in chapter 5 is a totally different one. The basis of the address is a parable representing Israel as the vineyard of Jehovah, which, contrary to all expectation, had produced bad fruit, and therefore was given up to devastation. What kind of bad fruit it produced is described in a six-fold “woe;” and what kind of devastation was to follow is indicated in the dark nocturnal conclusion to the whole address, which is entirely without a promise.