Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 57:14 - 57:21

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Paul Kretzmann Commentary - Isaiah 57:14 - 57:21


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

Jehovah Grants Salvation and Peace to the Repentant.

What the Lord had indicated at the end of the fast paragraph He now elaborates upon.

v. 14. And shall say,
that is, a voice is heard to say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, in leveling, the path; prepare the way, take up the stumbling-block out of the way of My people, so they have free access to the deliverance of Jehovah.

v. 15. For thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,
He who occupies the throne of His majesty forever, whose name is Holy, He who dwells in the inaccessible light of perfect sanctity; I dwell in the high and holy place, in absolute exaltation and holiness, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, bowed down and humbled by deep repentance, to revive the spirit of the humble, by an infusion of new spiritual life, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones, so that they are filled with new life and courage, with hope and confidence in Jehovah.

v. 16. For I will not contend forever,
in rebuking and punishing, neither will I be always wroth, being filled with anger which may overflow at any moment; for the spirit should fail before Me, He wants to dismiss His anger, and the souls which I have made, showing mercy to those that are of a contrite heart, since He has created them for life. The fact of creation is often made the basis of the mercy shown by God upon His works.

v. 17. For the iniquity of his covetousness,
on account of the guilt of Israel, was I wroth and smote him, for the sin of avarice, the love of money, is properly called a root of all evil. I hid Me and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart, hardening himself against every influence for the better.

v. 18. I have seen his ways,
the many paths of misfortune which Israel chose to go, and will heal him, taking the proper care of the wounds which are the consequence of sin; I will lead him also, namely, on the paths of righteousness, Psa_23:3, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners, so that, although the misery of this earthly life will remain, the sinners will feel the consolation of God's mercy in His Word.

v. 19. I create the fruit of the lips, Peace, peace! to him that is far off and to him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him,
that is, by sending out the Gospel-message into all the world the Lord offers the redemption gained by the Messiah, the healing of the Sun of Righteousness, to all men. Over against the deliverance of the righteous the prophet places the fate of the unbelievers.

v. 20. But the wicked are like the troubled sea,
their rejection of the Lord's salvation causing them to become like a storm-tossed ocean, when it cannot rest, whose waters, churning up the very floor of the sea, cast up mire and dirt, in endless sinning.

v. 21. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked,
a hidden fear of the wrath of the Lord driving them about from one expedient to another, but only increasing their wickedness and heaping upon them new guilt. The ungodly may seem happy enough on the outside, as Asaph writes in Psalms 73, but their heart is not at rest, and they will be cast down into destruction.