8 Drop, ye heavens, from above, And clouds do cause righteousness to flow, Earth openeth, and they are fruitful, Salvation and righteousness spring up together, I, Jehovah, have prepared it.
For, as the earth bringeth forth her shoots, And as a garden causeth its sown things to shoot up, So the Lord Jehovah causeth righteousness and praise To shoot up before all the nations!
And it hath come to pass, in that day, Drop down do the mountains juice, And the hills do flow `with' milk, And all streams of Judah do go `with' water, And a fountain from the house of Jehovah goeth forth, And hath watered the valley of Shittim.
He cometh down as rain on mown grass, As showers -- sprinkling the earth.
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was giving growth; so that neither is he who is planting anything, nor he who is watering, but He who is giving growth -- God; and he who is planting and he who is watering are one, and each his own reward shall receive, according to his own labour, for of God we are fellow-workmen; God's tillage, God's building ye are.
And it hath come to pass afterwards, I do pour out My Spirit on all flesh, And prophesied have your sons and your daughters, Your old men do dream dreams, Your young men do see visions. And also on the men-servants, and on the maid-servants, In those days I do pour out My Spirit.
I am as dew to Israel, he flourisheth as a lily, And he striketh forth his roots as Lebanon. Go on do his sucklings, And his beauty is as an olive, And he hath fragrance as Lebanon. Return do the dwellers under his shadow, They revive `as' corn, and flourish as a vine, His memorial `is' as wine of Lebanon. O Ephraim, what to Me any more with idols? I -- I afflicted, and I cause him to sing: `I `am' as a green fir-tree,' From Me is thy fruit found.
Till when dost thou withdraw thyself, O backsliding daughter? For Jehovah hath prepared a new thing in the land, Woman doth compass man.
for we were once -- also we -- thoughtless, disobedient, led astray, serving desires and pleasures manifold, in malice and envy living, odious -- hating one another; and when the kindness and the love to men of God our Saviour did appear (not by works that `are' in righteousness that we did but according to His kindness,) He did save us, through a bathing of regeneration, and a renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He poured upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour,
for of Him we are workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God did before prepare, that in them we may walk.
at the right hand then of God having been exalted -- also the promise of the Holy Spirit having received from the Father -- he was shedding forth this, which now ye see and hear;
For, as the new heavens and the new earth that I am making, Are standing before Me, An affirmation of Jehovah! So remain doth your seed and your name.
For, lo, I am creating new heavens, and a new earth, And the former things are not remembered, Nor do they ascend on the heart. But joy ye, and rejoice for ever, that I `am' Creator, For, lo, I am creating Jerusalem a rejoicing, And her people a joy.
And thy people `are' all of them righteous, To the age they possess the earth, A branch of My planting, A work of My hands, to be beautified.
Yea, he cometh up as a tender plant before Him, And as a root out of a dry land, He hath no form, nor honour, when we observe him, Nor appearance, when we desire him.
Till emptied out on us is the Spirit from on high, And a wilderness hath become a fruitful field, And the fruitful field for a forest is reckoned.
And a rod hath come out from the stock of Jesse, And a branch from his roots is fruitful.
Only, near to those fearing Him `is' His salvation, That honour may dwell in our land. Kindness and truth have met, Righteousness and peace have kissed, Truth from the earth springeth up, And righteousness from heaven looketh out, Jehovah also giveth that which is good, And our land doth give its increase.
The mountains bear peace to the people, And the heights by righteousness.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 45
Commentary on Isaiah 45 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 45
Cyrus was nominated, in the foregoing chapter, to be God's shepherd; more is said to him and more of him in this chapter, not only because he was to be instrumental in the release of the Jews out of their captivity, but because he was to be therein a type of the great Redeemer, and that release was to be typical of the great redemption from sin and death; for that was the salvation of which all the prophets witnessed. We have here,
Isa 45:1-4
Cyrus was a Mede, descended (as some say) from Astyages king of Media. The pagan writers are not agreed in their accounts of his origin. Some tell us that in his infancy he was an outcast, left exposed, and was saved from perishing by a herdsman's wife. However, it is agreed that, being a man of an active genius, he soon made himself very considerable, especially when Croesus king of Lydia made a descent upon his country, which he not only repulsed, but revenged, prosecuting the advantages he had gained against Croesus with such vigour that in a little time he took Sardis and made himself master of the rich kingdom of Lydia and the many provinces that then belonged to it. This made him very great (for Croesus was rich to a proverb) and enabled him to pursue his victories in many countries; but it was nearly ten years afterwards that, in conjunction with his uncle Darius and with the forces of Persia, he made this famous attack upon Babylon, which is here foretold, and which we have the history of Dan. 5. Babylon had now grown exorbitantly rich and strong. It was forty-five miles in compass (some say more): the walls were thirty-two feet thick and 100 cubits high. Some say, They were so thick that six chariots might drive abreast upon them; others say, They were fifty cubits thick and 200 high. Cyrus seems to have had a great ambition to make himself master of this place, and to have projected it long; and at last he performed it. Now here, 210 years before it came to pass, we are told,
Isa 45:5-10
God here asserts his sole and sovereign dominion, as that which he designed to prove and manifest to the world in all the great things he did for Cyrus and by him. Observe,
Isa 45:11-19
The people of God in captivity, who reconciled themselves to the will of God in their affliction and were content to wait his time for their deliverance, are here assured that they should not wait in vain.
Isa 45:20-25
What here is said is intended, as before,