THE PROMISED INCREASE OF THE CHURCH
Isaiah 49:18-23. Lift up thine eyes round about, &c.
Two things are here promised, which were to be in part accomplished in the reviving of the Jewish church, after its return out of captivity, but more fully in the planting of the Christian Church, by the preaching of the Gospel of Christ; and we may take the comfort of these promises.
I. That the Church shall be replenished by the adding to it of great numbers. It was promised (Isaiah 49:17) that her children should “make haste;” that promise is here enlarged upon, and is made very encouraging. It is promised—
1. That multitudes shall flock to the Church from all parts (Isaiah 49:18). They came to Jerusalem from all the adjacent countries, for that was then the centre of their unity; but, under the Gospel, it is by a spiritual accession to the mystical body of Christ in faith and love (Hebrews 12:22-23). It is a matter of joy to the Church to see a multitude of converts to Christ.
2. That such as are added to the Church shall not be a burthen and blemish to her, but her strength and ornament (Isaiah 49:18). This promise is accomplished, and only then, when those who are added to the Church are serious, holy, and exemplary in their conversation.
3. That the country which was waste, desolate, and without inhabitant, shall be again peopled, nay, it shall be overpeopled (Isaiah 49:19). What a reversal of the sentence previously and justly passed! (Isaiah 5:9-13; Isaiah 6:11). The kingdom of God among men, which had been impoverished and almost depopulated, partly by the corruptions of the Jewish church, and partly by the abominations of the Gentile world, was again peopled and enriched by the setting up of the Christian Church, and by its graces and glories.
4. That the new converts shall strangely increase and multiply (Isaiah 49:20). Jerusalem, after she has lost abundance of children by the sword, famine, and captivity, shall have a new family growing up instead of them (Zechariah 8:5). So the Church, after it has lost the Jews, cut off by their own infidelity, shall have abundance of children still, more than she had when the Jews belonged to her (Galatians 4:27). They shall be so numerous that
(1.) the children shall complain for want of room (cf. 2 Kings 6:1). Yet still more shall desire to be admitted, and the Church shall gladly admit them, and the inconvenient straitness of the place shall be no hindrance to either (Luke 14:21-22).
(2.) The mother shall stand amazed at the increase of her family (Isaiah 49:21). The Church may at times be few in number, and left desolate. Yet the desolations shall not be perpetual, nor will it be found hard for God to repair them, and out of stones to raise up children to Abraham. The increase of the Church is always due, not to the efforts of the Church, however well and wisely they may be put forth, but to the blessing” of God (1 Corinthians 3:7).
5. That this shall be done with the help of the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:23). Observe,
(1.) How the Gentiles shall be called in.
(2.) The kindly service they shall render to the sons of Zion.
II. That the Church shall have a great and prevailing interest in the nations (Isaiah 49:23).
1. Some of the princes of the nations shall become patrons and protectors to the Church. “And kings shall be thy nursing-fathers, and their queens thy nursing-mothers.” [1517]
[1517] This promise was in part fulfilled to the Jews after their return out of captivity; divers of the kings of Persia were very tender of their interests, countenanced and encouraged them, as Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes; Esther the queen was a nursing-mother to the Jews that remained in their captivity, putting her life in her hand to snatch the child out of the flames. The Christian Church, after a long captivity, was happy in some such kings and queens as Constantine and his mother Helena, and afterwards Theodosius and others, who nursed the Church with all possible care and tenderness. Whenever the sceptre of government is put into the hands of religious princes, this promise is fulfilled.—M. Henry.
2. Others of them, who stand only against the Church’s interests, will be forced to yield, and repent of their opposition. “They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet.” And by all this it shall be made to appear—
(1.) That God is the sovereign Lord of all, against whom there is no standing out or rising up.
(2.) That those who wait for Him, in dependence upon His promise and resignation to His will, shall not be made ashamed of their hope.—Matthew Henry: Commentary, in loco.
I. The promised increase of the Church. 1. In number.
2. In honour.
3. In triumph.
II. The encouragement it affords us for missionary exertions.
1. God is able to effect this great thing.
2. He has engaged to effect it
3. The beginnings are already visible before our eyes.
APPLY.—
1. Let our expectations of it be enlarged.
2. Let our prayers for it be poured forth.
3. Let our exertions be used.—C. Simeon, M.A.
THE DUTY OF THE RULERS OF NATIONS IN REGARD TO THE CHURCH OF GOD
Isaiah 49:23. Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers.
The Church is here foreseen and described in her abased condition—a captive, oppressed, in exile, diminished, feeble, afflicted, brought low. The prophet anticipates and predicts her restoration, increase, and glory; and he calls upon heaven and earth to rejoice in the event (Isaiah 49:13). It is evident that the predicted blessedness comprehended a vast deal more than the restoration from the Babylonish captivity. The prophet speaks of the admission of the Gentiles into the Church of God; multitudes were thereby to be added to it (Isaiah 49:6-7; Isaiah 49:12; Isaiah 49:18). Then we are informed in what manner and by what means the Lord will bring all this to pass (Isaiah 49:22-23). The obvious meaning is, that the Lord would so overrule the hearts and ways of men, in the accomplishment of His gracious designs, as that, even where they were themselves not partakers of His mercy, He would dispose them to favour His cause; and whether with or against their consent, He would so work upon them as to make them instrumental in the deliverance of His Church and the promotion of His glory. Nor should this wonderful exertion of the Divine wisdom and power be confined to the lower classes; even kings and queens should deem it their highest honour to take part in so great a work.
The present truths which this prophecy brings before us are these:—that all rulers of nations should now exert their power for the extension and welfare of the Church; that it would be for their happiness and honour were they so engaged; and that they cannot neglect this duty, or disregard this privilege, without incurring the most awful responsibility, and provoking God to mark them out as signally in the execution of His judgments, as they are elevated above others in rank and dignity.
I. The rulers of the nations are the servants of God (Proverbs 8:15). According to the teaching of His Word, He, by various providential means, calls them and appoints them to their work; and holds them responsible for the manner in which they execute it. The mightiest potentates of old are, for these reasons, spoken of as His servants: Cyrus (Isaiah 41:1-4; Isaiah 44:24-28; Isaiah 45:1-6); Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 25:9; Jeremiah 43:10); Pharaoh (Exodus 9:13-16). So it is still.
II. As such, they are bound, above all things, to promote the honour of His name in the welfare of His church and people. All who are entrusted with the ruling authority are bound to promote the best interests of the people over whom they preside. But what are these? Not the extension of territory, the spread of conquest, the multiplicity of resources, the advancement of the arts and sciences, of wealth and honour, business and trade; these cannot be neglected without a gross violation of the trust with which rulers are invested; but a nation’s best interests are those that are distinctly religious. It is on the promotion of these that the true happiness of nations depends, and therefore it is to the furtherance of these that the attention and energy of their rulers be most constantly and carefully given.
III. A discharge or disregard of this obligation will always yield a sure test of their own state and the character of their government. “By their fruits ye shall know them.”
IV. Where this duty is intelligently recognised and reverently obeyed by rulers, certain things are certain to occur:—
1. There will be on the part of the rulers deep humiliation before God, coupled with free and ingenuous confessions both of individual and national guilt. No man can ever heartily desire or attempt to promote the glory of God without perceiving how grievously he has hitherto neglected his bounden obligation; and how unworthy he is, either of the mercy which is requisite for his salvation, or of the honourable service to which he is called. This discovery and conviction will lay him low before God (Ezra 9:5-7; Daniel 9:4-6).
2. There will be desire to seek the guidance and acknowledge the hand of God in everything. Whoever aims to serve God aright will never set about such a work in his own wisdom and strength. What a pattern for all princes and rulers is the prayer of Solomon! (1 Kings 3:5-15). In national adversity and prosperity alike, the superintending providence of God will be recognised (Job 10:2; Psalms 118:23).
3. There will be on the part of the rulers a fixed determination to banish all wicked men from their presence, and to exclude them from their councils (Psalms 101; P. D. 2157).
4. There will be an anxiety to fill all the offices of the Church and State with men that fear the Lord, love the truth, and who will labour with heart and hand for the promotion of true godliness. When a man is brought under the influence of the principles now set forth, the question will be, not merely what shall I do immediately by mine own hand, but what am I able to accomplish through the agency of others? If “he who ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God,” they that bear office and authority under Him must be men actuated by the same motives, and aiming at the same object.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.—
1. How evident it is, that it is not to an easy office that any man is called when he is exalted to a throne, or entrusted with the affairs of a kingdom! (P. D. 2143.)
2. How disastrous is the influence, and how great is the guilt, of ungodly princes and rulers! (P. D. 2145–2147).
3. How earnestly should we pray for our rulers, that God may bless them and direct them in all His ways! (P. D. 2153).—R. Shittler, in the Protestant Preacher, vol. iii. pp. 419–438.
THE RESULT OF WAITING UPON GOD
Isaiah 49:23. They shall not be ashamed that wait for Me.
For the godless of every kind, for hypocrites in particular, the future is full of dread. Millions shall be put to shame, and given over to everlasting contempt. But not so shall it be with one of those who wait upon God.
I. WAITING UPON GOD. This signifies,
1. A patient expectation of the fulfilment of His word, whether it be a prophecy or a promise.
2. A regular attention to the means of grace (see vol. i. pp. 179, 332, and pp. 38–49 of this volume).
II. THE RESULT OF WAITING UPON GOD. Not disappointment and humiliation, but prayers answered and hopes fulfilled. Those shall not be ashamed:
1. The penitent who feels the bitterness of trangressions, and laments it with a broken and contrite heart, and waits upon God, seeking for pardon and righteousness through the atoning sacrifice of Christ.
2. The Christian who is relying upon the providential help of a covenant-keeping God.
3. The believer who is waiting for the accomplishment of God’s grace in himself, in the sanctification of his heart.
4. The Christian waiting for the coming of Christ, and the crown of righteousness which shall then be given to all who love His appearing.—Thomas Blackley, A.M.: Practical Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 182–199.
THE DIVINE SLOWNESS
Isaiah 49:23. “Wait.”
This word is the one word which the Divine wisdom often seems to utter in rebuke of human impatience. In holy Scripture men are often counselled to wait; to wait upon God, to wait for God: language which supposes delay and the need of patience. Man is eager, hurried, impatient—everywhere so, but God is never in haste. The Divine proceedings are slow—everywhere slow. This is a great fact; a fact full of light, such as should contribute to guide us safely through many a season of darkness.
I. We see it in the realms of nature and providence.
1. The history of the earth is illustrative of it. Concerning the process by which the heavens became peopled with the brilliancies we now see there, we know nothing, &c. But we have some knowledge of the changes through which this earth had to pass before it became a fitting habitation for man. In the solitude of those far-off ages progressive change gave existence to progressive life—the lives of plants and of animals, &c. During those long eras the Eternal was here alone. Of beings conscious of His being, none would seem to have been with Him. Man is to come; but for him there is to be long waiting, &c. And He would have men regard the operation of His hands, so that they also may know how to wait. There is something divine in being able so to do.
2. There is something in the movement of the seasons tending to remind us of this great law. The changes of day and night, how slow, how gradual, how imperceptible! How gentle is the coming of the light! How silently and slowly does it give place to darkness! These might have come with suddenness, as if from a hurried hand; but they do not, &c.
3. There is something in the history of all life adapted to convey the same lesson. Life, whether in plants or animals, is everywhere a growth; and all growth is silent, gradual, so gradual as not to be perceived. All this is rooted in mystery. Individual life in man, in the sense of education or development, is in harmony with all that has gone before it. But the truth we are illustrating is seen conspicuously in the history of national life. If the education of an individual be so slow, what marvel if the education of a people should be very slow? (H. E. I. 3420.)
II. So far we see, from facts in nature and providence, it behoves us to guard against impatience in judging the ways of God, and to know how to wait. Religion, revealed religion, includes much in harmony with those facts. It is, moreover, in these phases of religion that we find some of the aspects of it which are often especially perplexing to Christians.
1. We see a fact of this nature in the long interval which was to pass between the promise of a Saviour and His advent. Sin enters the world, &c. Four thousand years pass, and the Promised One does not come. Now in the history of the earth, in the slowness of the changes through which it was to pass before it came to be what it was to be, we see enough to prevent our being greatly surprised by such a fact. What was to be gained by this delay, we can know only in part.
2. So when the Saviour did come, the manner of His coming was not such as the thoughts of man would have anticipated. The kingdom of God was to come without observation (Luke 17:20). It was to begin with small beginnings. Its Founder was to be to many as a root out of a dry ground, as one without form and comeliness, &c. But these facts are in harmony with the Divine conduct as known elsewhere. It is not the manner of the Almighty to cause great things to become great at once. Our Lord revealed Himself even to His disciples gradually, slowly, imperfectly. If the Church, which is to fill the world, had its beginning in the hut of a fisherman, or in the upper room in Jerusalem, this is only in accordance with the Divine law of things. The great forces of nature all move thus, without noise, without haste, so secretly that we never know their beginnings, and so slowly that we can never see their motion, though we know that they are moving.
3. Nor is it without mystery to many minds that the history of revealed religion since the advent should have been such as it has been. No truth the world had ever possessed had been proof against corruption. Out of all the evolutions of error, out of all the devices of evil, He will educe lessons for the future which shall cause His universe to be upon the whole the wiser and the better for all that has happened. But for this we must wait. Often we see good come out of evil. In the end we shall see that all things have been regulated towards such an issue. “The Lord God omnipotent reigneth.”
4. If we descend from the general life of the Church to the spiritual history of the individual believer, we may find much there to remind us that the experience of the Church at large and of the Christian, taken separately, are regulated by the same intelligence. In our tendency towards haste we naturally wish to see the world converted soon, very soon. So when we enter on the Christian life, we covet that it should be matured speedily. But it does not so mature. We unlearn the evil slowly; we learn the good still more slowly, &c. All this is very humiliating and very painful. But, as the good in the Church is to be tasked and strengthened by being exposed to the evil in the world, so the better principles and tendencies in the Christian are to become more rooted and powerful by means of this personal conflict. Here, as everywhere, we are schooled to wait (H. E. I. 2508–2530).
5. So it is with the events which make up the story of a life. The meaning of some of these we may see at once; we feel that we need the sort of discipline they bring with them; we pray with the devoutest ancient, “Show me wherefore Thou contendest with me;” and the wherefore is not allowed to remain a secret Paul’s thorn in the flesh was an experience of this nature, painful in many ways, but declared to be salutary for his inner and higher life. But in most instances of this kind, we have to wait, it may be to wait long, before we see the Divine purpose in the things which befall us. With regard to much in our history, we are expected to wait for the revelations of the world to come. It need scarcely be said that the waiting intended is not mere passiveness; it is to be as those who wait for the bridegroom, not in sleep, but with loins girt about and lamps burning. (See pp. 38–49).—Robert Vaughan, D.D., Pulpit Analyst, vol. iii. pp. 1–15.