อิสยาห์ 26:18 วิจารณ์

This chapter is a song of holy joy and praise, in which the great things God had engaged, in the foregoing chapter, to do for his people against his enemies and their enemies are celebrated: it is prepared to be sung when that prophecy should be accomplished; for we must be forward to meet God with our thanksgivings when he is coming towards us with his mercies. Now the people of God are here taught, I. To triumph in the safety and holy security both of the church in general and of every particular member of it, under the divine protection (Isa 26:1-4). II. To triumph over all opposing powers (Isa 26:5, Isa 26:6). III. To walk with God, and wait for him, in the worst and darkest times, Isa 26:7-9). IV. To lament the stupidity of those who regarded not the providence of God, either merciful or afflictive (Isa 26:10, Isa 26:11). V. To encourage themselves, and one another, with hopes that God would still continue to do them good (Isa 26:12, Isa 26:14), and engage themselves to continue in his service (Isa 26:13). VI. To recollect the kind providences of God towards them in their low and distressed condition, and their conduct under those providences (Isa 26:15-18). VII. To rejoice in hope of a glorious deliverance, which should be as a resurrection to them (Isa 26:19), and to retire in the expectation of it (Isa 26:20, Isa 26:21). And this is written for the support and assistance of the faith and hope of God's people in all ages, even those upon whom the ends of the world have come.

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 26 This chapter contains a song of praise for the safety and prosperity of the church, and the destruction of its enemies. The church is represented as a strong city, whose walls and bulwarks are salvation, Isa 26:1 it is said to have gates which are to be opened to a righteous nation, Isa 26:2 its inhabitants, being such who trust in the Lord, are promised perfect peace, Isa 26:3 hence the saints are exhorted to trust in him, Isa 26:4 then follows an account of another city, described as lofty, and its inhabitants as dwelling on high, who are brought down, and trampled on, by the feet of the poor and needy, Isa 26:5 when the prophet returns to the righteous, and asserts their way to be uprightness, because their path is weighed or levelled by God the most upright, Isa 26:7 and in the name of the church declares that they had waited for the Lord in the way of his judgments; and that the desire of their souls was to his name, and the remembrance of it; and that they continued, and would continue, to desire him, and seek after him, seeing righteousness was to be learned by his judgments, Isa 26:8 and though the wicked would not be brought to repentance and reformation by the goodness of God, nor take notice of his hand, yet they should see and be ashamed, and destroyed at last, Isa 26:10 but notwithstanding these judgments of God in the earth, the church professes her faith in the Lord, that he would give her peace and prosperity, from the consideration of what he had wrought for her, and in her, Isa 26:12 and rejects all other lords but him, Isa 26:13 who were dead, and should not live again, but were visited and destroyed, and their memory made to perish, Isa 26:14 but the righteous nation should be increased, though they should meet with trouble, which would cause them to go to the throne of grace, and there pour out their complaints, express their pain and distresses, and the disappointments they had met with, Isa 26:15 to which an answer is returned, promising a glorious resurrection, Isa 26:19 and calling upon the people of God to retire to their chambers for protection in the mean while, until the punishment to be inflicted on the inhabitants of the earth for their sins was over, Isa 26:20.

We have been with child,.... Like women with child; we have been full of hopes and expectations of great things, of deliverance from our enemies, and of the kingdom of Christ being at hand: we have been in pain; in great distress and anxiety, and in fervent and frequent prayer, travailing in birth, which we looked upon as forerunners of a happy issue of things: we have as it were brought forth wind; all our hopes have proved abortive, and we have been disappointed in our expectations: we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth: or, "salvations" have "not been wrought in the earth" (f); this explains what is meant by bringing forth wind; salvation and deliverance out of the hand of the enemy not being wrought, as was expected: neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen; worldly men, the great men, the kings of the earth; particularly such as commit fornication with the whore of Rome, Popish persecuting princes; these as yet are not fallen, though they shall in the battle of Armageddon. (f) "res salutum non est facta", Vatablus; "salates non fit terra", Montanus; "salutes non factae sunt terrae", Tigurine version; "non sunt factae in terra", Pagninus.

Let us talk about how “mercy is put in the balance” as holy Isaiah declares, for goodness is not without discernment, as the first laborers in the vineyard fancied, because they could not perceive any distinction between those who were paid alike. And [let us talk about] how anger, which is called “the cup in the hand of the Lord” and “the cup of falling which is drained,” is in proportion to transgressions, even though he abates to all somewhat of what is their due and dilutes with compassion the unmixed draught of his wrath. For he inclines from severity to indulgence toward those who accept chastisement with fear and who after a slight affliction conceived and are in pain with conversion and bring forth the perfect spirit of salvation. But nevertheless he reserves the dregs, the last drop of his anger, that he may pour it out entire upon those who, instead of being healed by his kindness, grow obdurate, like the hard-hearted Pharaoh, that bitter taskmaster, who is set forth as an example of the power of God over the ungodly.

Nature provides woman with a womb in which a living person is brought to birth in the course of time. Such too is that characteristic of the soul which is ready to receive in its womblike recesses the seeds of our thoughts, to cherish them and to bring them forth as a woman gives birth to a child. This and no other is the meaning of the words of Isaiah: “We have conceived and brought forth the spirit of salvation.”

Their cows did not miscarry, therefore, but gave birth, so that their labor would be increased and that they would beget everything they conceived without reverence for God. The righteous, however, take delight in an altogether different way. They glory not in the abundance of their wealth or the fruitfulness of their livestock but in the Lord, saying, “We were impregnated with reverence for you, and we brought forth the spirit of salvation.”

Isaiah also, proclaiming the resurrection to the people, says that he is the announcer of the Lord’s message, for we read thus: “For the mouth of the Lord has spoken, and they shall speak in that day.” And what the mouth of the Lord declared that the people should say is set forth later on, where it is written: “Because of your fear, O Lord, we have been with child and have brought forth the Spirit of your salvation, which you have poured forth upon the earth. They that inhabit the earth shall fall; they shall rise that are in the graves. For the dew which is from you is health for them, but the land of the wicked shall perish. Go, O my people, and enter into your chambers; hide yourselves for a little until the Lord’s wrath pass by.”

(Verse 17,18.) Just as she who conceives, when she approaches childbirth, cries out in her pain: so have we become because of your presence, Lord. We have conceived and, as it were, given birth, and brought forth the spirit. LXX: And as a woman in labor draws near to childbirth, in her pain she cries out: so have we become ÷ your beloved, because of your fear, Lord. In the womb we have received, and as if giving birth, we have brought forth the spirit of your salvation, which we have made upon the earth. Just as a woman approaching childbirth is compelled to cry out in pain: thus do we seek you in distress, and from the face of your dread we conceive, and labor, and bring forth, not fleshly children, but spirits: so that with our whole mind we may believe in you, whom we have not experienced through blessings, but through trials. This which the LXX added, thus have we become your beloved; for this reason others have turned away, thus have we become from your face, O Lord, a mark to be noted. However, we can receive the beloved of the Lord, Christ, because of whose fear we conceive, and bear, and bring forth, and make the spirit of salvation upon the earth. This can also be said by the apostolic man, when he instructs and imitates the peoples like the apostle Paul: My little children, whom I bear again until Christ be formed in you (Galatians IV, 19). Is there any doubt that the apostle Paul made the spirit of salvation upon the earth, who preached the Gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum (Romans XV), and like a wise architect, laid the foundation, outside of which no one can lay, which is Christ Jesus (I Corinthians III)? Therefore, whether we read it, O Lord, because of your fear, we received it in the womb; or according to the Hebrew, we conceived it from your face, O Lord, and received it in the womb; both pertain to the fact that we conceive the word of God from the fear and remembrance of the Lord, and our heart is illuminated, saying: The light of your face, O Lord, is signed upon us (Psalm 4:7). And show your face, and we shall be saved (Psalm 79:4). We did not make greetings on earth, therefore the inhabitants of the world did not fall. LXX: We will not fall, but the inhabitants of the earth will fall. A different interpretation is necessary in order to have a different meaning. According to the Hebrew, it is said: Because we have not done anything worthy of your mercy, therefore the wicked have not fallen, but they still prevail and possess the land. However, the LXX asserts that by doing the work of the Holy Spirit of salvation on earth, the inhabitants of the earth will fall, though there is much diversity between the world, which is called in Hebrew 'Thebel' and in Greek 'οἰκουμένη', and the land. Therefore, those who have surrendered themselves to the inhabitation of the earth will fall, and those who have been firmly rooted in earthly works will fall. But those who sit in the world and rest in the Church, which is the dwelling place of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will not fall.

We, however, who heard the Lord our Savior say that those in Judea should flee to the mountains also lift our own eyes to the mountains, concerning which it was written: “I raise my eyes to the mountains, whence comes my assistance.” And in another place [it is written], “Its foundation is in the holy mountains,” and “The Lord surrounds his people as the mountains surround them,” and “The city set upon a mountain cannot be hidden.” We must shed the skin of the letter and, ascending Mount Zion barefoot with Moses, say, “I will cross over and see this great vision.” [This is] so that we can understand those souls to be pregnant who conceived the beginning of faith from the seed of doctrine and from talking with God, who say with Isaiah, “Out of reverence for you, Lord, we have conceived and given birth, bringing the spirit of your salvation upon the earth.”

The souls of those believers are pregnant who are able to say at the beginning of faith: “From reverence for you, Lord, we have conceived and given birth.”

Even now let us rejoice somehow or other in this hope derived from the promises of one most faithful, until that richest of all possible joys arises, when “we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is,” and our joy nobody shall take from us. Of this hope, you see, we have also received already the acceptable and freely given pledge that is the Holy Spirit, who produces in our hearts the unutterable groanings of holy desire. “For we have conceived,” as Isaiah says, “and have brought forth the spirit of salvation.” And, “when a woman is in labor,” the Lord says, “she has sorrow, because her day has come; but when she has brought forth, there is great joy, because a human being has been born into the world.” This will be the joy that nobody will take away from us; on the day when we are brought forth into the eternal light from this conception of faith. So meanwhile let us fast and pray, while it is still the day of bringing forth.

Therefore faith can neither be conceived nor augmented in the human heart unless it is infused and nourished by the Holy Spirit. For we are reborn from the same Spirit from which Christ was born. The Spirit by which Christ is formed according to faith in the heart of each believer, therefore, is also the Spirit by which he was formed bodily in the womb of the Virgin. For this reason, it is in the person of the believer that the prophet cries out to the Lord: “Out of reverence for you, Lord, we conceived in the womb and brought forth; we have brought the spirit of your salvation upon the earth.”

“When a woman gives birth, she is sorrowful because her hour has come.” He refers to holy church as a woman on account of her fruitfulness in good works and because she never ceases to beget spiritual children for God. He says also in another place about this, “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour until the whole [mass] was leavened.” A woman took some yeast when the church, by the Lord’s generosity, secured the energy of love and faith from on high. She hid this “in three measures of flour until the whole [mass] was leavened” when she performed her ministry of imparting the word of life to parts of Asia [Minor], Europe and Africa, until all the bounds of the world were on fire with love for the heavenly kingdom. The one who said sadly to those who were departing from the purity of the faith, “My little children, for whom I am again in travail, until Christ be formed in you,” was indicating that he was among this woman’s members. They testified that they were among her members who were enkindled with heavenly desires, who cried out in praise of their Maker, “It is out of fear of you, Lord, that we have conceived and been in travail and given birth to the Spirit.”

617. We have not wrought justice. Here he announces the procured peace, and concerning this, he does three things. First, the reason for the delay is shown: we have not wrought justice, so that he alludes to what is said in Deuteronomy 28:7: the Lord shall cause your enemies, that rise up against you, to fall down before your face.

Jeremiah, by the commend of God, goes into the court of the Lord's house; and foretells the destruction of the temple and city, if not prevented by the speedy repentance of the people, Jer 26:1-7. By this unwelcome prophecy his life was in great danger; although saved by the influence of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, who makes a masterly defense for the prophet, Jer 26:8-18. Urijah is condemned, but escapes to Egypt; whence he is brought hack by Jehoiakim, and slain, Jer 26:20-23. Ahikam befriends Jeremiah, Jer 26:24.

We have - brought forth wind - The learned Professor Michaelis explains this image in the following manner: "Rariorem morbum describi, empneumatosin, aut ventosam molam, dictum; quo quae laborant diu et sibi et peritis medicis gravidae videntur,tandemque post omnes verae graviditatis molestias et labored ventum ex utero emittunt: quem morbum passim describunt medici. "Syntagma Comment., vol. ii., p. 165. The empneumatosis, or windy inflation of the womb, is a disorder to which females are liable. Some have had this in such wise, for a long time together, that they have appeared to themselves, and even to very skillful medical men, to be pregnant; and after having endured much pain, and even the throes of apparent childbearing, they have been eased and restored to health by the emission of a great quantity of wind from the uterus. This disorder is well known to medical men. "The Syriac translator seems to have understood it in this manner: Enixi sumus, ut illae quae ventos pariunt. "We have brought forth as they who bring forth wind." In the earth "In the land" - בארץ bearets; so a MS., the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate.

CONNECTED WITH THE TWENTY-FOURTH AND TWENTY-FIFTH CHAPTERS. SONG OF PRAISE OF ISRAEL AFTER BEING RESTORED TO THEIR OWN LAND. (Isa. 26:1-21) strong city--Jerusalem, strong in Jehovah's protection: type of the new Jerusalem (Psa 48:1-3), contrasted with the overthrow of the ungodly foe (Isa 26:4-7, Isa 26:12-14; Rev 22:2, Rev 22:10-12, &c.). salvation . . . walls-- (Isa 60:18; Jer 3:23; Zac 2:5). MAURER translates, "Jehovah makes His help serve as walls" (Isa 33:20-21, &c.). bulwarks--the trench with the antemural earthworks exterior to the wall.

brought forth wind--MICHAELIS explains this of the disease empneumatosis. Rather, "wind" is a figure for that which proves an abortive effort. The "we" is in antithesis to "Thy," "my" (Isa 26:19), what we vainly attempt, God will accomplish. not wrought . . . deliverance in . . . earth--literally, "the land (Judea) is not made security," that is, is not become a place of security from our enemies. neither . . . world fallen--The "world" at large, is in antithesis to "the earth," that is, Judea. The world at enmity with the city of God has not been subdued. But MAURER explains "fallen," according to Arabic idiom, of the birth of a child, which is said to fall when being born; "inhabitants of the world (Israel, Isa 24:4; not the world in general) are not yet born"; that is, the country as yet lies desolate, and is not yet populated.

Thus the second hymnic echo has its confirmation in a prophecy against Moab, on the basis of which a third hymnic echo now arises. Whilst on the other side, in the land of Moab, the people are trodden down, and its lofty castles demolished, the people in the land of Judah can boast of an impregnable city. "In that day will this song be sung in the land of Judah: A city of defence is ours; salvation He sets for walls and bulwark." According to the punctuation, this ought to be rendered, "A city is a shelter for us;" but עז עיר seem rather to be connected, according to Pro 17:19, "a city of strong, i.e., of impregnable offence and defence." The subject of ישׁית is Jehovah. The figure indicates what He is constantly doing, and ever doing afresh; for the walls and bulwarks of Jerusalem (chēl, as in Lam 2:8, the small outside wall which encloses all the fortifications) are not dead stone, but yeshuâh, ever living and never exhausted salvation (Isa 60:18). In just the same sense Jehovah is called elsewhere the wall of Jerusalem, and even a wall of fire in Zac 2:9 - parallels which show that yeshuâh is intended to be taken as the accusative of the object, and not as the accusative of the predicate, according to Isa 5:6; Psa 21:7; Psa 84:7; Jer 22:6 (Luzzatto).