Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Isaiah Kapitel 45

Isaiah 45:8. Drop down, ye heavens, from above— Drop down, &c. and let the clouds pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and all kinds of salvation flourish; and let righteousness shoot forth together, &c. Vitringa is of opinion, that this strongly-figurative passage refers primarily to the blessings consequent upon the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity; but secondarily, and in its more complete sense, to that righteousness and salvation liberally imparted to man by the grace of the Messiah. The sense of the metaphor may be resolved into these positions. That God is willing, first, with the deliverance of the people to be effected by Cyrus, or after that deliverance and the time of Cyrus, that there should be a nearer alliance between heaven and earth than there had been before: secondly, that righteousness, as a celestial gift, should be sent down from heaven to earth, liberally and gently, and should widely diffuse itself among men. Thirdly, that the minds of men should be disposed to receive that righteousness; and that, fourthly, the faithful, together with righteousness, should be made partakers of the full salvation which God had prepared for the world; and fifthly, that all causes, celestial and terrestrial, should concur to produce this effect of the divine providence and grace. The prophet's ideas are taken from the spring, when, the rains descending, the earth opens to receive them, and is thereby rendered fruitful.

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Isaiah 45:14. Thus saith the Lord, &c.— This illustrious prophesy contains an apostrophe to Jerusalem, or to the company of returning exiles, and without all doubt relates some joyful consequence of the deliverance foretold; which consequence immediately respects religion; and the meaning of the sentence is, that it should come to pass, that in time, after the return from Babylon, proselytes of various nations, and among these particularly Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Sabeans, should be joined to the Jewish church, and be convinced by the reasons demonstrating the truth of the Jewish religion. They should come, suppliant and adoring God, to Jerusalem, and, confessing their faith, humbly entreat to be admitted into the communion of that church. Which accession of proselytes from these and other nations should be fulfilled under the oeconomy of Gospel grace, when not only individuals, but whole nations, chained and bound, that is, bound in the spirit (Acts 20:22.), should submissively receive the doctrine of this holy religion. The prophet, in chap. Isa 14:1-2 speaks of the proselytes to religion in terms which fully explain the phrase, In chains they shall come over. See 1Co 14:24-25 and Vitringa.

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Isaiah 45:22. Look unto me, and be ye saved— The proselytes of the nations were invited to embrace the faith of the true God; but that seemed too narrow and confined; for what forbids all nations without distinction, delivered from the error of idolatry, to believe in the true God, and to worship him alone? Therefore the SON OF GOD here discovers himself, opening all the riches of his grace, and inviting all nations without distinction to his communion: Exhorting all the ends of the earth to receive justification procured by him for the human race, and therewith eternal salvation. The apostle, Rom 14:11 has instructed us to apply these words to God the Son: they are wholly evangelical. To look, is the act of a sinner, fully persuaded no less of his own misery than of the divine grace; whereby God has determined to save sinners through his Son, turning themselves in faith and hope to God in Christ, and humbly suing for pardon and salvation from him. See Act 4:12 chap. Isa 17:7 Isa 52:10 and Vitringa.

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Isaiah 45:23. I have sworn by myself— I have sworn by myself; the word of truth is gone out of my mouth, a word which shall not return,—That, &c. These are the words of the Son of God, declaring the purpose of grace, to illuminate all nations without distinction with the light of the Gospel, and to bring them to the true religion who worship the Father by the Son, the Mediator and Saviour, whom he hath appointed the Lord and Judge of the whole world. See Romans 14:11. Php 2:10-11 where St. Paul explains the phrase, Every tongue shall swear, by every tongue shall confess to God. To swear by the name of Christ is to confess his name, to profess his faith, and acknowledge his divinity.

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