Isaiah 51

Isn’t it you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the monster? Wesley: Put on—put forth thy strength. Rahab—Egypt, from its pride or strength. The dragon—Pharaoh so called, Psa 74:13. The chapter-head still governs: a prayer of the Godly in affliction.

The cry is a prayer, not a feint; Rahab and the dragon are Egypt and Pharaoh at the Exodus, then gospel comfort. Common to both: awake; the arm; Rahab cut; the dragon pierced. Recall 51:1–2: look to Abraham; the God who called one can still put forth this arm. Compare 51:5: the coastlands wait for the same arm. Do not force Isa 53 onto the piercing here; Wesley does not go there.

Calvin: when God cheers us by his promises, we ought also to pray earnestly that he would perform what he has promised. He does not comfort us in order to render us slothful. Believers entreat the Lord to awake, not that they imagine him idle or asleep in heaven; they confess their own sluggishness. He is said to awake and put on strength when he exhibits testimonies of his power. The cause of the delay is that they had estranged themselves from God. Art thou not it that crushed the proud one? By Rahab he means proud and cruel Egypt; Ezekiel calls the king of Egypt a dragon. Art thou not it? The Lord is the same as he formerly was; he remains unchangeable.

Exodus first, then the same arm for the Church. Rahab as Egypt; the dragon as Pharaoh; the sea next. The arm the nations wait for in 51:5 is the same arm Zion now calls to wake, the arm that cut Rahab at the Exodus. Christ as Servant remains the light for the nations; this piercing is Egypt's dragon, not a forced Isa 53 atonement.

Isn’t it you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? The head-note still governs: a prayer of the Godly in affliction, and v. 9's Rahab and dragon as Egypt and Pharaoh.

The dried sea is the Red Sea, a way for the redeemed, then gospel. Sea dried; great deep; a way; the redeemed pass over. Look to Abraham still: the LORD who made a path through water can still raise a forlorn church. Those who stay on the wrong bank do not stay because no way was made, but because they will not pass over. The point is the same arm.

Which dried up the sea. Calvin: the drying up of the Red Sea is mentioned not only for the excellence of the miracle, but because the numerous miracles which preceded it were directed to this end, that the people, rescued from unjust violence and tyranny, might pass into the promised land. A way was opened up for the redeemed. From this example we ought to consider what God will be to us, so as to draw this conclusion, that in future God will always be like himself.

Egypt's sea is the proof he can still deliver. Both traditions hear: dried sea; way for the redeemed. Calvin's "always like himself" is the same gospel comfort Wesley hears when the godly pray the ancient days again. Compare 49: the Servant who is light for the nations does not void this path; he is how the redeemed still come.

And the ransomed by the LORD will return, and come with singing to Zion. Everlasting joy shall be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy. Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Wesley: Therefore—this verse contains an answer to the prophet's prayer. I did these great things, and I will do the like again. Joy—like a crown of glory.

God answers the prayer of vv. 9–10; the Exodus is not a museum piece. Recall 51:3: the LORD comforts Zion. Recall Abraham: the God who multiplied one man will bring the ransomed home. The point is the like again.

Therefore the redeemed by Jehovah shall return. Calvin: after the magnificent works in Egypt he concludes that neither the sea, nor the lofty rocks, nor the whirlpools, nor even hell itself, can prevent him from leading forth his people out of Babylon. He calls them redeemed, that they may know that when God calls himself the deliverer of his people, this belongs to them. Shall come to Zion: to that place where he wished that men should call on his name. They were superior to the fathers in one respect, that God had at that time chosen Mount Zion, in which he had promised that his rest would be eternal. With a song: praise rendered to God. Joy upon their head alludes to chaplets of flowers. They shall obtain joy: solid and lasting. All sorrow shall be banished. Wait patiently for that issue.

Babylon as the next sea the same arm dries. Redeemed return; Zion with singing; sorrow gone. The point is the deliverer who belongs to them. Light for the nations does not empty Zion of its promise: the ransomed return there with singing.

I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you, that you are afraid of man who shall die, and of the son of man who will be made as grass. The head-note still governs: the Lord's answer. The prayer of vv. 9–11 is met by this I, I.

The comforter is the same LORD whose arm cut Rahab; dying man is not that arm. I, I comfort; afraid of man who dies; grass. Compare 51:7–8: fear not the reproach of man; moth-eaten revilers. Recall Abraham: look to the one God called, not to grass. The point is the double I.

I, I am he that comforteth you. Calvin: the Lord not only promises grace and salvation, but remonstrates with them for refusing to believe him and for valuing his power less than they ought. It is exceedingly base to tremble at the threatenings of men so as to care nothing about God's assistance. By an excessive fear of men we betray contempt of God. The repetition, I, I, is highly emphatic. He who promises consolation is the God of truth. He describes how frail, fading, transitory, and unsubstantial is the condition of men, in order to exhibit more fully their criminal stupidity in preferring a shadow and smoke to God. Men, so long as they are mindful of God, cannot be struck down by fear.

Comfort: two I's against grass-men. Common reading: I comfort; man dies; like grass. Calvin's remonstrance is not a sneer at Wesley's answering God; both send the fearful to the comforter, not to the oppressor. The I, I already comforts.

And have you forgotten the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? Do you live in fear continually all day because of the fury of the oppressor, when he prepares to destroy? Where is the fury of the oppressor? Wesley: Where is the fury—is it not all gone? He speaks of the thing as if it were already done, because it should certainly and suddenly be done.

The oppressor's fury is spoken of as gone because it will certainly and suddenly be gone—not a feint. Both confess: forgotten Maker; stretched heavens; founded earth; fear of the oppressor; where is the wrath? Those who keep fearing do not keep fearing because the Maker cannot stretch the heavens, but because they forget him.

And hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker. Calvin: it is not enough to imagine that there is some God, but we ought to acknowledge and embrace him as ours. When he calls him Maker, this must not be understood to refer to universal creation, but to spiritual regeneration, as Paul calls us the workmanship of God. If we remember our creation and adoption, these beginnings may encourage us to hope for continued progress. Who hath stretched out the heavens and founded the earth: boundless power contrasted with men as withered grass. Assuredly, God is grievously blasphemed if we refuse to believe that he is more powerful to preserve than enemies are to destroy us.

Maker as the God who remakes, not a bare cosmos-clock. Forgotten; heavens stretched; oppressor feared. Compare 51:1–2: the God who called Abraham is this Maker. The point is whose power you actually trust.

The captive exile will speedily be freed. He will not die and go down into the pit. His bread be lacking. The Lord's answer still governs. The prisoner shall be set free.

Speedily loosed, not starved in the pit—the comfort is sincere. The captive exile hastens to be freed, the release already promised to prisoners in 49:9. The same arm of v. 9 looses.

The exile hasteneth to be loosed. Calvin: not Cyrus causing a migration; it refers to the Jews, imprisoned and oppressed. Of two senses he prefers this: their return is immediately at hand, that they may not sink under long delay. That event will come quickly which he delays till a fit season; although to us it may appear to be long, the time is short. That he may not die in a pit: such is God's haste to come early to deliver his people, that they may come forth safely out of the dungeon. He does not promise some sudden assistance only to bring them out of prison, but also that after having been delivered they may be the objects of his kindness; he promises everything necessary for their food and support, that they may be convinced that God will always remain with them.

Short in God's season. Agreed on both sides: loosed; not die in the pit; bread. Calvin's remaining-with-them is the same kindness Wesley's answering God already pledged in v. 11. Recall 49: captives of the mighty are rescued.

I am the LORD your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar. “The LORD of Armies is his name.” The Lord's answer still governs, and v. 9's sea still stands behind this name.

“Name”—I am the LORD your God—the one who cut Rahab—now named as the stirrer of the sea. LORD your God; sea and roaring waves; LORD of hosts. Those who still fear the oppressor do not fear because this name cannot stir the sea.

And I am Jehovah thy God. Calvin: again the Lord declares his power; so great is the unbelief and sluggishness of men that the very smallest temptation shews that they are not fully convinced of it. Who divide the sea: he is the same God who long ago divided the sea; there are no raging billows which God cannot allay and calm in order to deliver his Church. He likewise drives and swells its waves when he thinks fit. Jehovah of hosts: that we may know how extensive is his power, exhibited as often as he is pleased to render assistance to his Church. LORD your God; roaring sea; hosts. Unchangeable as v. 9. Compare 50:2: by his rebuke he dries the sea; the hand is not shortened.

I have put my words in your mouth and have covered you in the shadow of my hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and tell Zion, You are my people. Wesley: I have—these words are spoken by God to his church and people, to whom he speaks both in the foregoing and following verses. For God's word is frequently said to be put into the mouths, not only of the prophets, but of the people also. Covered—have protected thee by my almighty power, that I may bring thee to that perfect and blessed estate which is reserved for the days of the Messiah, which in scripture phrase is called a making of new heavens, and a new earth, chap. 65:17.

The words are given to the church and people, not prophets only; the covering aims at the Messiah's new heavens. Compare 50:4, the taught tongue, and 49:2, the Servant’s mouth. Recall Abraham: the people hewn from the rock are still told, You are my people. Shared christology: both camps name the Messiah. Wesley reads the planting of the heavens as the new creation of Messiah’s days, when God says to Zion, “You are my people.”

And I have put my words in thy mouth. Calvin: he put into the mouth of the prophets what they should say; these words do not proceed from men, who often prove false, but from God, who cannot lie. The Lord speaks to all the prophets, first to Isaiah, and then to the rest in their order; but at last we must come to Christ. These things must not be limited either to Isaiah or to Christ, but must be extended to all the prophets. None ought to come forward to comfort the Church but they who speak from the mouth of the Lord. In the shadow of my hand: two things are necessary, that they are certain what they utter is the word of God, and that they do so by God's command. That I may plant the heavens: that I may restore everything to its proper order; in Christ are collected all things that are in heaven or in earth. Godly teachers renovate the world, as if God formed heaven and earth anew by their hand. The heavens are planted and the earth founded when the Lord establishes his Church by the word, by the agency of ministers. That I may say to Zion, Thou art my people: the testimony of our adoption, in which our salvation chiefly consists.

Prophets, then Christ, then all who speak from the Lord's mouth; planting heavens is the Church established by the Word. Either reading: words given; hand covering; Zion my people. With 50:4 and 49:2, the Servant’s mouth is in view; Calvin says at last we must come to Christ. Shared christology: Messiah and Christ are where both camps land.