Christology of the Old Testament: And a Commentary on the Messianic Predictions Volume Ii Part 9

[Pg 147]

Upon the threatening there follows the promise. Ver. 15. "_And it shall come to pa.s.s in that day, and Tyre is forgotten seventy years like the days of one king. After the end of seventy years, it shall be unto Tyre according to the song of the harlot._ Ver. 16. _Take the harp, go about the city, forgotten harlot, make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered._ Ver. 17. _And it shall come to pa.s.s, after the end of seventy years, the Lord will visit Tyre, and she returneth to her hire of wh.o.r.edom, and wh.o.r.eth with all the kingdoms of the earth upon the surface of the earth._ Ver. 18. _And her gain and hire of wh.o.r.edom shall be holy unto the Lord; not is it treasured and laid up, but to those who sit before the Lord its gain shall be, that they may eat and be satisfied, and for durable clothing._"

On the "70 years, like the days of one king," _Michaelis_ very pertinently remarks: "Not of one individual, but of one reign or empire, _i.e._ as long as the Babylonian empire shall last, which, after 70 years, was destroyed by Cyrus." The necessary qualification follows from ver. 13. According to that verse, the one king can be the king of the Chaldeans only. Parallel are the 70 years which, in Jer.

xxv. 11, 12, are a.s.signed to the Chaldean empire: "And these nations serve the king of Babylon 70 years. And it shall come to pa.s.s, when the 70 years are accomplished, I will visit upon the king of Babylon, and upon that nation, saith the Lord, their iniquity." In the Commentary on Rev. ii. 1, p. 75, 200, it was proved that, in Scripture, kings are frequently _ideal_ persons; not individuals, but personifications of their kingdoms. _Gesenius'_ objection, that the time of the Babylonish dynasty, from the pretended destruction of Tyre to the destruction of Babylon, did not last 70 years, vanishes by the remark that the Prophet says "like the days;" that, hence, it is expressly intimated that the 70 years here, differently from what is the case in Jeremiah, are to be considered as a _round_ designation of the time. From a comparison of Jeremiah we learn that the Chaldean dominion will last 70 years _in all_. Into which point of that period the destruction of Tyre is to fall, Isaiah does not disclose. It is quite proper that in reference to Tyre the announcement should not be so definite, in point of chronology, as in reference to Judah. That the capture of [Pg 148] Tyre by the Chaldeans, which is here announced, really took place, has been more thoroughly established in my book: _De rebus Tyriorum_; and afterwards by _Drechsler_ in his Commentary on Isaiah, and by _Havernick_ in his Commentary on Ezekiel.

After the end of the 70 years. Tyre is to resume her trade of whoring, and is to carry it on to a wide extent, and with great success. "By the image of wh.o.r.edom"--so we remarked in commenting upon Rev. xiv. 8--"in some pa.s.sages of the Old Testament, that selfishness is designated which clothes itself in the garb of love, and, under its appearance, seeks the gratification of its own desires. In Is. xxiii. 15 ff., Tyre is, on account of her mercantile connections, called a wh.o.r.e, and the profit from trade is designated as the reward of wh.o.r.edom. The point of comparison is the endeavour to please, to feign love for the sake of gain." Under the dominion of the Persians, Tyre again began to flourish.

Tyre's reward of wh.o.r.edom is consecrated to the Lord, and the bodily wants of His servants are provided from it,--quite in agreement with the words of the Apostle: e? ?e?? ??? t? p?e?at??? ?spe??ae?, ??a, e? ?e?? ??? t? sa????? ?e??s?e?; 1 Cor. ix. 11. Converted Tyre offers, in these gifts, its thanks for the n.o.ble gift which it received from the sanctuary.

_Vitringa_, who remarks that the Prophet was fully aware of "the great interval of time that would intervene betwixt the restoration of Tyre, and her dedication of herself, with her gains, to the Lord," is right, while _Drechsler_, who is of opinion that the doings of consecrated Tyre also are represented under the image of whoring, is wrong. Whoring designates a sinful conversation which is irreconcilable with conversion to the Lord. It does not designate trade, as such, but trade as it is earned on by those who, with unrenewed hearts, serve the G.o.d Mammon. We have here before us two stages, strictly separated. _First_, she resumes her old whorings; _then_, she consecrates her gain to the Lord. The severe catastrophe intervening, the new capture of Tyre, as it took place by Alexander, is not yet beheld by Isaiah. The announcement of it was reserved for the post-exilic Prophet Zechariah, chap. ix. 3.

The announcement of the future conversion of Tyre received, [Pg 149] in the time of Christ, a symbolical representation as it were, in the Canaanitish woman. _Vitringa_ says: "The first fruits of this grace were received by that wise Canaanitish woman, who had been taught, as if she had been in the school of Christ, to ask for divine grace; whom Matth. xv. 22, calls a woman of Canaan, Mark vii. 26, a Syrophenician; but who was no doubt a Tyrian, inasmuch as she obtained mercy from Christ the Lord himself, while He sojourned in the territory of Tyre and Sidon. Paul found at Tyre a congregation of disciples of Christ already in existence, Acts xxi. 3 ff." At a subsequent period, there existed at Tyre a flouris.h.i.+ng and wealthy church. _Eusebius_ and _Jerome_ describe to us, from their own experience, the fulfilment of this prophecy.

CHAPTERS XXIV.-XXVII.

Upon the ten single "burdens" as they were called forth by the threatening a.s.syrian catastrophe, there follows here a comprehensive description of the judgments of G.o.d upon His people, and upon the world's power hostile to His Kingdom, The characteristic feature in it is, that the Prophet abstains from all details.

The prophecy begins in chap. xxiv. 1-13, with the threatening of the judgment upon Judah, The fact that Judah is here spoken of, not alone, it is true, but together with his companions in suffering, with all the other nations crushed like him by the world's power in its various phases (verse 4 most clearly shows that it is not Judah alone which is spoken of; comp. the same comprehensive mode of representation in Jer.

xxv.; Hab. ii. 6), appears from ver. 5: "For they transgressed the _laws_, violated the _ordinances_, broke the everlasting _covenant_,"

where there can exist only a collateral reference to the Gentile world; from ver. 13, where the continuing gleaning is characteristic of the covenant-people (comp. xvii. 6); but especially from ver. 23, where, after the time of punishment, the Lord reigneth on Mount Zion.

The judgment upon Judah bears a comprehensive character. [Pg 150] As the single phases of the world's power, by which the sins of the people of G.o.d are visited, there had been mentioned in the cycle of the _burdens_, a.s.shur in chap. xiv. 25; Babylon in chap. xiii., xiv., xxi., (the circ.u.mstance that the first _burden_ of the first half of the _burdens_, and likewise the first _burden_ of the second half of the _burdens_--the ten _burdens_ being thus divided into twice five--is directed against Babylon, shows that specially heavy judgments were to be inflicted by Babel); Elam in chap. xxii. 6 (comp. remarks on chap.

xi. 11). Here the idea of judgment upon the covenant-people is viewed _per se_, and irrespective of the particular forms of its realisation.

In vers. 14, 15, there is a sudden transition from the threatening to the promise: "They (the remnant left according to ver. 13) shall lift their voice, they shall shout for the majesty of the Lord, they shall cry aloud from the sea,"--from the sea into which they were driven away by the storm of the judgments of the Lord. To the "sea" here, correspond the "islands of the sea," in ver. 15; compare the mention of the islands in chap. xi. 11. Ver. 15. "Therefore, in the light praise ye the Lord, in the isles of the sea the name of the Lord G.o.d of Israel." The words are addressed to the elect in the time of salvation.

The Plural ???? denotes the _fulness_ of light or salvation, comp.

chap. xxvi. 19; ? is, in both instances, used in a local sense. The light is the spiritual territory; the isles of the sea, the natural.

Ver. 16 returns to the threatening: "From the uttermost parts of the earth we hear songs: Glory to the righteous! And I say: Misery to me, misery to me, woe to me! the treacherous are treacherous, and very treacherous are the treacherous." The song of praise of the redeemed, which is heard coming forth from a far distant future, is suppressed by the same affliction which is immediately impending, by the look to the rod of chastis.e.m.e.nt by the world's power with its treachery, its policy feigning love and concealing hatred, with which the Lord is to visit His people, and the floods of which, like a new flood, are, according to ver. 15, to overflow the whole earth. Compare the very similar transition from triumphant hope to lamentation over the misery of the future more immediately at hand, in Hab. iii. 16.

In ver. 21, ff. the promise breaks forth anew. Ver. 21: [Pg 151] "_And it shall come to pa.s.s in that day: the Lord shall visit the host of the height in the height, and the kings of the earth upon the earth._ Ver.

22. _And they are all of them gathered together as prisoners in the pit, and are shut up in the prison, and after many days they are visited._ Ver. 23. _And the moon blusheth, and the sun is ashamed, for the Lord of hosts reigneth on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients is glory._"

In ver. 21 the destruction of the world's power is announced. The "kings of the earth" form the explanation of the "host of the height."

It is very common to represent rulers under the image of stars; compare Numb. xxiv. 17; Rev. vi. 13, viii. 10; Is. xiv. 12, x.x.xiv. 4, 5, compared with ver. 12. ???? is used in reference to the great ones of the earth in ver. 4, and in chap. xxvi. 5, also. The explanation by evil heavenly powers has no Old Testament a.n.a.logies in its favour.--In ver. 22, the words: "And after many days they are visited," intimates that the time will appear very long to Zion, until the visitation takes place. "Many days," or "a long time," viz., after the beginning of their raging, which was to continue for a series of centuries, until Christ at length spoke: "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

The visitation consists in their being gathered together.--In ver. 23, the words: "The Lord reigneth," contain an allusion to the formula used in proclaiming the accession of earthly kings to the throne, and point to an impending new and glorious manifestation of the government of the Lord,--as it were, a new accession to the throne; compare remarks on Ps. xciii. 1; Rev. xix. 6. The "ancients" are the _ideal_ representatives of the Church; compare remarks on Rev. iv. 4. Before them is glory, inasmuch as the Lord imparts to them of His glory.

In chap. xxv. 1-5, the Lord is praised on account of the glorious redemption bestowed upon His people. "For thou hast made"--it is said in ver. 2--"of a city a heap, of a firm city a ruin, the palace of strangers to be no city; it shall not be built in eternity." The city, palace (we must think of such an one as comes up to a city, as is even now the case with the palaces of the princes in India) bear an ideal character, and represent the whole fas.h.i.+on of the world, the whole world's power; comp. ver. 12, chaps. xxvi. 5, xxvii. 10. _Gesenius_ [Pg 152] speaks of "the strange conjectures of interpreters who have guessed all possible cities." But he himself has lost himself in the sphere of strange conjectures and guesses, by remarking: "The city whose destruction is here spoken of can be none other than Babylon."

The circ.u.mstance that Babylon is not mentioned at all in the whole prophecy in chaps. xxiv.-xxvii. shows plainly enough that a special reference to Babylon cannot here be entertained; and the less so, that it would be against the character of our prophecy, which abstains from all details.

While in vers. 1-5 the discourse was laudatory and glorifying, and addressed to the Lord, in vers. 6-8 the Lord is spoken of:

Ver. 6. "_And in this mountain the Lord of hosts maketh unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of lees well-refined._ Ver 7. _And destroyeth in the mountain the surface of the vail covering all the nations, and the covering cast upon all the nations._ Ver. 8. _And destroyeth death for ever, and the Lord Jehovah wipeth away the tears from off all faces, and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from of all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken._"

"In this mountain," ver. 6, where He enters upon His government (chap.

xxiv. 23), and dwells in the midst of His people in a manner formerly unheard of.--"Unto all people," comp. chap. ii. 2 ff. The verse under consideration forms the foundation for the words of Christ in Matthew viii. 2: ???? d? ??? ?t? p????? ?p? ??at???? ?a? d?s?? ????s? ?a?

??a?????s??ta? et? ??a? ?a? ?sa?? ?a? ?a?? ?? t? as??e?? t??

???a???; comp. xxii. 1 ff.; Luke xxii. 30. In ver. 7, "the surface of the vail" is the vail itself, inasmuch as it lies over it. The "covering" here comes into consideration as a sign of mourning, comp. 2 Sam. xv. 30: "And David went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet, weeping, and his head covered, and so also all the people with him." The explanation is given in ver. 8, where the ??? is intentionally resumed.

We cannot, therefore, agree with _Drechsler_ who explains the being "covered," by "dullness and deadness in reference to spiritual things."--The first part of ver. 8 is again resumed in Rev. vii. 17, xxi. 4. As death entered into the world by sin (Gen. ii. 17; Rom. v.

12), [Pg 153] so it ceases when sin is completely overcome; compare 1 Cor. xv. 54, where our pa.s.sage is expressly quoted. Besides death, _tears_ also are mentioned, inasmuch as they flow with special bitterness in the case of bereavements by death.--The Lord removes the rebuke of His people when all their hopes, which formerly were mocked and laughed at, are fulfilled, and when, out of the midst of them, salvation for the whole world rises.

With the people of G.o.d in their exaltation, Moab is, in vers. 9-12, contrasted in its weakness and humiliation, and in its vain attempts to withdraw from the supremacy of the G.o.d of Israel. Moab comes here into consideration, only as the representative of all the kingdoms hostile to G.o.d, and obstinately persevering in their opposition to His Kingdom; just as Edom in chap. x.x.xiv., lxiii. The representative character of Moab was recognized by _Gesenius_ also, who thus determines the sense: "Whilst Jehovah's protecting hand rests upon Zion, His enemies helplessly perish." It is intentionally that Moab is mentioned, and not a.s.shur or Babel, because, in its case, the representative character could not so easily be mistaken or overlooked.--Ver. 12 returns to the world's power in general.

In chap. xxvi., the rejoicing and shouting for the salvation are continued. A characteristic Messianic feature is contained in ver. 19 only, in which, as in chap. xxv. 8, the ceasing of death and the resurrection of the righteous appear as taking place in the Messianic time.

Ver. 19. "_Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust! For a dew of light is thy dew, and thou makest fall to the earth the giants._"

The saints are raised from the earth; the giants are sunk into the earth. The ????? "giants" are identical with the ???? ??? in ver. 18.

There it was said in reference to the time of wrath: "We have not wrought any deliverance in the land, neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen;" compare vers. 9 and 21; Numb. xiv. 32. Parallel is the announcement of the defeat of the world's power in ver. 14. ?????, it is true, is there used of the dead; but the signification of the word remains the same: The bodiless spirits were called _giants_, because they were objects of terror to the living; comp. remarks on Ps.

lx.x.xviii. 11. The word is, in ver. 14, used [Pg 154] with a certain irony.--"Light" is equivalent to "salvation." The Plural signifies the fulness of light or salvation. The complete fulfilment which the words, "Thy dead shall live," will find in the resurrection of the body, affords a guarantee for the fulfilment of the previous stages.

In chap. xxvii., it is especially ver. 1 which attracts our attention: "_In that day the Lord with His sword, hard, great, and strong, shall visit the leviathan, the tortuous serpent, and killeth the dragon that is in the sea._"

We have here three designations of one and the same monster.

_Gesenius_, on the other hand, rightly brings forward the acc.u.mulation of the attributes of the sword: With the three epithets applied to the sword, the three epithets of the monster to be killed by it pertinently correspond. The leviathan, the dragon, is, as it were, the king of the sea-animals, compare remarks on Ps. lxxiv. 13, 14. In the spiritual sea of the world, its natural ant.i.type is the conquering world's power; comp. remarks on Rev. xii. 3. But that which is meant is the whole world's power, according to all its phases, which is here viewed as a whole; comp. ver. 13, where it is designated by a.s.shur and Egypt. The special reference to Babylon rests, here also, on a mere fancy.

After the single discourses out of the a.s.syrian time, from chap.

vii.-xxvii., there follows in chap. xxviii.-x.x.xiii. the sum and substance of those not fully communicated. Even the uncommonly large extent of the section suggests to us such a comprehensive character.

And so likewise does the fact that the same thoughts are constantly recurring, as is the case in several of the minor prophets also, _e.g._ Hosea. But what is most decisive is, that in chap. xxviii. 1-4 Samaria appears as not yet destroyed. Considering that the chronological principle pervades the whole collection, this going back can be accounted for only by the circ.u.mstance that we have here a comprehensive representation. And we are the more led to this opinion that, in other pa.s.sages of the same section, Jerusalem is represented as being threatened immediately. In this section, it is especially the pa.s.sage in chap. xxviii. 16 [Pg 155] which attracts our attention; since, in the New Testament, it is referred to Christ.

"_Behold I have laid for a foundation in Zion a stone, a tried_ (stone), _a precious corner stone of perfect foundation; he that believeth need not make haste_," viz., for an escape or refuge for himself, Ps. lv. 9. In opposition to false hopes, this stone is pointed to as the only true foundation, and all are threatened with unavoidable destruction who do not make it their foundation. The stone is the Kingdom of G.o.d, the Church; compare Zech. iii. 9, where the Kingdom of G.o.d likewise appears under the image of the stone. But since the Kingdom of G.o.d (which, in chap. viii. 16, had been represented under the image of the quietly flowing waters of Siloah) is, for all eternity, closely connected with the house of David which centres in Christ, _that which, in the first instance, is said of the kingdom of G.o.d refers, at the same time, to its head and centre_. Parallel is Is.

xiv. 32; "The Lord hath founded Zion, and the poor of His people trust in it." The ????? here corresponds with the ??? with ? there. The difference is, that there Zion itself is the object of confidence, while here it is the stone which is in Zion. _There_, Zion is the _spiritual_ Zion; not the mountain as an a.s.semblage of stones, nor the outward temple as such, but Zion in so far as it is a sanctuary, the seat of the presence of the Lord. The Lord--such is the sense--has founded His Kingdom among us; and the circ.u.mstance that we are citizens of the Kingdom gives us security, enables us to be calm even in the midst of the greatest danger. _Here_, on the contrary, Zion is the outward Zion, and the Kingdom of G.o.d is the Church as distinguished from it. The Zion here corresponds to the holy mountains in Ps.

lx.x.xvii. 1, where, in a similar manner, a distinction is drawn between the material and spiritual Zion: "His foundation is in the holy mountains," on which I remarked in my Commentary: "The foundation of Zion took place spiritually by its being chosen to be the seat of the sanctuary. It was then only that the place, already existing, received its spiritual foundation." The stone laid by G.o.d as a foundation in Zion, in the pa.s.sage under consideration, is, in substance, identical with the "tent that He placed among men," in Ps. lxxviii. 60. "In substance the sanctuary was erected by G.o.d alone, who, by [Pg 156]

fulfilling His promise, 'I dwell in the midst of them,' breathed the living soul into the body, and caused His name to dwell there." In Ezek. xi. the substance of the sanctuary, the Shechinah, withdraws into heaven.--Our pa.s.sage, farther, touches very closely upon chap. viii.

14: "And He (the Lord) becomes a sanctuary and a stone of offence, and a rock of stumbling to both the houses of Israel, and a snare and a trap to the inhabitants of Jerusalem." The stone _here_ is the Church; _there_ it is the Lord himself, according to His relation to Israel, the Lord who has become manifest in His Church. Another point of contact is offered by Ps. cxviii. 22: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the corner-stone." In that pa.s.sage, too, the stone is the Kingdom and people of G.o.d: "The people of G.o.d whom the kingdoms of the world despised, have, by the working of G.o.d, then been raised to the dignity of the world-ruling people."

A simple quotation of the pa.s.sage before us is found in Rom. x. 11: ???e? ??? ? ??af? p?? ? p?ste??? ?p' a?t? ?? ?ata?s?????seta?. In chap. ix. ver. 3, we have chap. viii. 14, and the pa.s.sage under consideration blended in a remarkable manner: ?d?? t???? ?? S??? ?????

p????at?? ?a? p?t?a? s?a?d????? ?a? p?? ? p?ste??? ?p' a?t? ??

?ata?s?????seta?, and from the remarks already offered, the right to this blending is evident. Peter, in 1 Pet. ii. 6, 7, adds to these two pa.s.sages, that in Ps. cxviii. 22: d??t? pe????e? ?? t? ??af?: ?d??

t???? ?? S??? ????? ????????a???, ???e?t??, ??t???, ?a? ? p?ste???

?p' a?t? ?? ? ?ata?s?????. ??? ??? ? t?? t??? p?ste???s??.

?pe?st??s? d? ????? ?? ?ped???asa? ?? ????d????te?, ??t?? ??e???? e??

?efa??? ????a?, ?a? ????? p??s??at?? ?a? p?t?a s?a?d????, on which _Bengel_ remarks: "Peter quotes, in ver. 6 and 7, three pa.s.sages, the first from Isaiah, the second from the Psalms, the third again from Isaiah. To the third he alludes in ver. 8, but to the second and first, in ver. 4, having, even then already both of them in his mind." Matth.

xxi. 42-44 refers only to Ps. cxviii. and to Is. viii. 14, 15. to the latter pa.s.sage in ver. 44; Acts iv. has Ps. cxviii. only in view.

The second Messianic pa.s.sage of the section which is of importance for our purpose, is chap. x.x.xiii. 17.

"_Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall see the land that is far off._"