Hearken unto me— God had addressed those kindly, who had suffered themselves, through imprudence, to be seduced from the right way, and whose conversion might more reasonably be expected; but he speaks more severely to the hypocrites, the incredulous, the fierce and proud in heart, who obstinately doubted the completion of his excellent promises: "O you," says he, "who are yourselves far from faith, truth, integrity, and all propriety, full of deceit, hypocrisy, incredulity, hard and bold of heart, and who complain that my salvation is far off, and call my fidelity in question; hearken to me, and know, that my righteousness, or justification, is not far off, but near at hand, and shortly to be revealed." The 13th verse is to be explained from chap. Isaiah 44:23. See ch. Isaiah 62:3 and Habakkuk 2:3.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, Two things are here foretold:
1. The miserable estate to which Babylon and her idols would be reduced; Bel and Nebo, the deities they worshipped, so far from being able to protect their votaries, would not be able to save themselves, but, among other spoil, be plucked from their pedestals, and laid as heavy burdens on the weary beasts who carried them: Israel therefore must not fear or worship such wretched and impotent idols.
2. When Babylon's gods shall fail her, the Lord will eminently appear the protector of his people: great had been the care that he had shown them from their infant days, when first they began to grow into a nation, and never would he leave or forsake them in their old age, but bear them above their difficulties, carry them back to their own land, and deliver them from all their oppressors; and such is still his tender regard toward his faithful people. From the womb he took us, and preserved our natural life amid the perils of helpless infancy; but more, he took us from the womb of nature, that we might become children of grace, bore with our weakness and infirmities, and watched over us with more than maternal tenderness; nor will he ever fail the faithful, when the infirmities of old age creep upon them, and infantile weakness returns: his hoary-headed saints are precious in his sight, and he will bear them through all the storms of life, and land them safe on the blissful shores of immortality, where their youth will be renewed as the eagle.
2nd, Israel's besetting sin was idolatry, and many of them, it is to be feared, in Babylon would easily be brought to worship the gods of their conquerors: to them therefore Jehovah seems especially to address himself.
1. God shows them the folly of the most expensive idols: Though they lavished gold and silver out of the bag, it were vain to attempt representing the eternal Spirit, or equalling him who is above all. Their richest gods were motionless and senseless, must be carried to their places, and neither could hear nor grant the prayers of their petitioners. Note; To serve their idol lusts men grudge no expence; to serve the glorious God shall we then count any thing too much to bestow? These idolaters shall rise up in judgment against niggardly professors.
2. He calls upon them to remember and repent of these sinful works. Shew yourselves men, for such service is brutish; or, be ye strong to oppose the torrent of idolatry; or, be fired with zeal against the dishonour hereby shown to God: bring it again to mind, O ye transgressors; remember your evil ways, and, as sinners, with shame return to God, who is the only true God; the evidence of which he hath given in all the prophesies, which from the beginning have been exactly accomplished according to his word, and which continue daily fulfilling, and shall all come to pass in their appointed time; for his counsel must stand, and he will do all his pleasure, particularly his design of delivering his people shall be accomplished by Cyrus, called a ravenous, or swift-winged bird, with impetuosity advancing against the Babylonians, to execute God's counsel in their destruction, which, as he hath purposed and foretold, he will perform, and prove therein his divine power and prescience. Note; (1.) It is good for us often to remember and reflect upon our ways, and we shall, in general, find much in them to bewail, repent of, and amend. (2.) As God in all his providences fulfils his own pleasure, it becomes us ever to rest satisfied in his dispensations, and to acknowledge that he doth all things well. (3.) God's people may comfort themselves in the confidence of the accomplishment of those prophesies which are yet unfulfilled, as surely as they have seen the former ones verified: Rome, with her idols, as Babylon, must fall, and God's kingdom be more eminently than ever yet exalted in the earth.
3. God addresses the stout-hearted Jews, that were far from righteousness, who continued unhumbled under all their visitations, and distrusted God's faithfulness; or though they kept up an exterior of religion, and trusted that they were righteous, yet being ignorant of God's righteousness, and proud of their own, were so much the farther removed from the way of salvation. God saith, I bring near my righteousness; either his faithfulness in the fulfilment of his promises, or that glorious display of his righteousness, manifested in the Redeemer, his work and sufferings: it shall not be far off, but in the word of the Gospel brought near to every awakened sinner, to believe in and trust upon; and my salvation shall not tarry, it shall quickly be accomplished; the deliverance of the Jews from their captivity, and the greater deliverance which Jesus should work for every faithful soul; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory; when they were restored to their own land; or more eminently when the Lord Jesus came to Zion, publishing the Gospel of the kingdom, and his believers received him, glorifying God for the gift of his Son, and eminently shewing forth his praise, both by their lips and in their lives. Note; (1.) Nothing is so fatal to unawakened souls as pride and conceit of their own righteousness. (2.) A free and full salvation is now offered to the perishing sinner. (3.) The stout-hearted, who reject Jesus as a Saviour, will find their stout hearts fail them, when they shall meet him as their judge. (4.) His faithful Israel is the Redeemer's glory; for this he hath formed us; let it be our constant care to approve ourselves to him, that he may be glorified in us and by us.