xi. 3-5); not judging of things or men by their mere appearance, nor
by common report; caring for the poor, befriending the shrinking and helpless, fearless in His dispensation of justice; His very words being swords that smote and overthrew the arrogant oppressor; made strong by the very righteousness which merely politic men would have feared to display in view of the might of iniquity in this disordered world; a Hero of the truest and divinest kind, in actual life setting forth the ideal to which the noblest knights in the purest days of chivalry strove to conform. Such was the King whom the prophet "saw" in an age when "ruler" was merely another word for tyrant and oppressor. Surely the vision so fair and wondrous was given him from above!
II. He also saw THE KINGDOM. 1. _A kingdom of righteousness_ (chap. xi. 9). The kingdom necessarily resembles the king. Appalling is the influence of a court upon a nation. Correspondingly great is the responsibility of those who sit in high places. 2. _A kingdom of peace._ Set forth by the most beautiful symbolism (chap. xi. 6-10, 13). 3. _A kingdom of prosperity._ Those included in it are no longer miserable exiles and bond slaves; rather they rule over those by whom they were spoiled and oppressed (chap. xi. 14). This is the true interpretation of a symbol that is in itself harsh and repulsive. The coarseness of the symbol is due to the coarseness of the minds it was first intended to touch. 4. _A kingdom of gladness and joy._ There pervades it the gladness of exiles who have been restored to their own land (chap. xi. 15, 16); the true and religious joy of men who recognise that the deliverances which inspire their songs have been wrought for them by God (chap. xii. 1-5); the joy of men who are absolutely assured of continual safety (chap. xii. 2, 6).
Was all this merely a bright vision? 1. It has been already fulfilled in part. 2. In our own day it is being fulfilled more completely than ever before. 3. It shall yet be fulfilled triumphantly.[2] Let us then, 1. Recognise and rejoice in the fact that we are living under the rule of this righteous King. This is at least the dawning of the "day" which Isaiah saw (Matt. xiii. 16). 2. Exult in view of the certain future of our race. The kingdom of God shall come generation after generation with mightier power (H. E. I., 3421-3423). 3. Labour as well as pray that future may be hastened.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The image is now transferred to the state and king of Israel, which is also to be cut down to the stump, like the tree in Nebuchadnezzar's dream. But out of that stump, and from its living roots, shall grow up a scion--one of those slender shoots which we see springing up from, and immediately around, the stock of a truncated tree. A king of the race of Jesse shall sit on the throne of his fathers, in accordance with the covenant made with David (Ps. lxxxix. 3, 4).--_Strachey._
When the axe is laid to the imperial power of the world, it falls without hope (chap. x. 33, 34). But in Israel spring is returning (chap. xi. 1). The world-power resembles the cedar-forest of Lebanon; the house of David, on the other hand, because of its apostasy, is like the stump of a felled tree, like a root without stem, branches, or crown. The world-kingdom, at the height of its power, presents the most striking contrast to Israel and the house of David in the uttermost depth announced in chapter vi., _fin.,_ mutilated and reduced to the lowliness of its Bethlehemitish origin. But whereas the Lebanon of the imperial power is thrown down, to remain prostrate, the house of David renews its youth. . . . Out of the stump of Jesse--_i.e.,_ out of the remnant of the chosen royal family, which has sunk down to the insignificance of the house from which it sprang--there comes forth a twig (_choter_), which promises to supply the place of the trunk and crown; and down below, in the roots covered with earth, and only rising a little above it there shows itself a _nētzer, i.e.,_ a fresh, green shoot. In the historical account of the fulfilment, even the ring of the words of the prophecy is noticed: the _nētzer,_ at first so humble and insignificant, was a poor despised _Nazarene_ (Matt. ii. 23).--_Delitzsch._
[2] For additional suggestions on this part of the subject, see outlines on pages 71-73 (ISAIAH'S VISION OF THE LAST DAYS, THE LATTER-DAY GLORY, THE FUTURE TRIUMPHS OF THE GOSPEL), 101 (THE DIVINE IDEAL OF ISRAEL REALISED), 182 (THE REMEDY OF THE WORLD'S MISERY), 186 (THE GOVERNMENT OF CHRIST), 191-194 (THE PRINCE OF PEACE, THE EMPIRE OF CHRIST, THE SECURITY FOR THE FULFILMENT OF GOD'S PROMISES, THE OUTSTRETCHED HAND OF GOD).
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD.
xi. 2. _The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him._
This is declared concerning the Messiah. Short as this declaration is, some of the profoundest of all truths are involved in it. It is implied that God is a person, that from Him there goes forth an influence by which the character of other persons is affected, and that all that qualified Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah came from God. Let us think of these things. Do not be deterred from doing so by the idea that they are transcendental, far away from our daily life. They need not be so; we shall be very blameworthy if we make them so.
+I. God is a person.+ There are those who would have us put away this faith. In their view, God is merely the great controlling Force behind all other forces, the life of the universe, diffused throughout it, manifesting itself in innumerable forms. As it is the same life in the tree that manifests itself in root, trunk, branch, spray, twig, leaf, blossom, fruit, so all things that exist are not the creations of a personal will, but the manifestations of an impersonal and all-pervading life; all forces, convertible the one into the other, are but varying forms of the one underlying force. Every individual life is but a wave that seems for a moment to be separated from the one universal ocean of life; it leaps up from it, falls back into it, is absorbed by it. True, these waves are often strangely diverse--Nero and St. Paul, John Howard and Napoleon, the Virgin Mary and Lucrezia Borgia; but in that great Unity of which they are all manifestations, there is an all-comprehensive reconciliation, though it may elude our grasp. For Pantheism, many would have us put away the doctrine of a personal God. But this exchange, if it could be forced upon us by some logical necessity (which it is not), would not be a gain, but a tremendous loss. For, 1. _There would be a tremendous loss to the heart._ A force may be feared, but not loved. To gravitation we owe much, but no one ever professed to love it. A force cannot be loved, because it does not love. Strike out of our life all that comes to us from the confidence that God loves us, and from the responsive love that springs up in our hearts towards Him, and how much is lost! Then there is no longer any assurance amid the mysteries of life, nor consolation in its sorrows. In a word, we are orphaned: we can no longer say, "Our Father, who art in heaven." There is no longer a Father, knowing us, loving us, causing all good things to work together for our good; there is only a Force, to which it is useless to appeal, against which it is impossible to contend. 2. _We should also lose one of the greatest of all helps to a noble life._ Not to dwell on the fact that to speak of virtue or vice would then be absurd,--then we should no longer sin, we should merely make mistakes,--consider how much the world owes to the aspiration to be like God which has stirred so many noble souls. Through them the average morality of the world has been marvellously raised; but this would have been impossible but for the stimulus these inspiring souls found in the character of God. That is the first fact of which this text reminds us, that God is a person from whom a spirit--an influence--can go forth affecting the character of other persons.
+II. From God such an influence does go forth.+ The possibility is a glorious fact. That from God a "spirit" should go forth, and that it should do so invisibly, is in accordance with all that we know of the universe which God has made, and which is in some sort a revelation of Him. 1. Nothing in the universe is unrelated. From orb to orb influences go forth by which they are mutually affected. 2. The mightiest influences are invisible. In all this, the material is a counter-fact and revelation of the spiritual. It would be altogether abnormal, if from God there did not go forth an influence operating upon and affecting other persons. It is invisible, but its effects are recognisable. One of them is the activity of conscience, rightly understood. Another is the moral growth and refinement which those in whom it is most conspicuous, most invariably and distinctly attribute to influences exerted upon them by God. Even Socrates did so. This also is a doctrine full of hope and comfort. If we need moral transformation, there streams from God an influence capable of effecting it: to that influence let us submit ourselves, and the transformation shall come to pass; the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon us, and we shall become like Him.
+III. To the influence exerted upon Him by the Spirit of the Lord, Jesus of Nazareth owed all that qualified Him to be the Messiah+ (vers. 2-5). That which was born of the Virgin Mary was a true human child. A sinless child, yet sinless not as the result of the sinlessness of the mother (as Rome teaches), but of the influence of the Spirit of the Lord resting upon Him from the beginning of his earthly life. His was a real humanity--_our_ humanity sanctified. All that was pure, noble, Godlike in Him was "born not of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." How full of comfort and hope is this truth also! To us also is offered the same Spirit. Nothing can be more express than the declarations that we may have it if we will, and that, if we have it, the ultimate result will be that we shall be found partakers of the holiness of God. Let us not be unwisely cast down by the frailty and pollution of our nature; if the Spirit of the Lord rest upon us, the purity and the strength of God will become ours, and at length the Father will say to each of us, as He did of Jesus of Nazareth, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE.
xi. 3. _And He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears._
A glorious difference between our Lord and ourselves. "He knew what was in man," and needed not the evidence of external signs, which often mislead _us._ He should deal with the motives of the heart (H. E. I., 3332, 4147). Not by human sight, but by Divine _insight,_ He judged the conduct and character of men. 1. Our judgment is enfeebled by _ignorance._ We do not see and hear all, and from our imperfect knowledge of facts we draw wrong and often disastrous conclusions (H. E. I., 2997-3005). But Our Lord could go behind the visible works, and detect what often deceived men--_e.g.,_ His treatment of pharisaism. 2. Our judgment is enfeebled by _prejudice._ This is often the result of ignorance. Seeing only certain sides of men, we dislike them, and frame our judgments accordingly--_e.g.,_ Nathanael (John i. 46). With no better reason than Nathanael had, we regard many a man as an enemy, or otherwise place him in a false light. But our Lord dealt with none in this way. Seeing men as they really were, no preconceived opinions led Him to unworthy conclusions. 3. _Partiality_ enfeebles and perverts our judgment. Judging by sight and hearing, we approve of one man more than another, because he has certain artful or pleasing methods for winning our favour: flattery, offers of gain, &c. (P. D., 1275, 1281, 1283). But our Lord could not be won in this way (Mark xii. 14; John vi. 15). He was infinitely compassionate, tender, forgiving, but no feeble partiality interfered to prevent most righteous judgment. 4. Our judgment is often perverted by _passion._ In the pursuit of some unlawful and all-absorbing aim, we become too disturbed to weigh calmly even the evidences we can see and hear. We look at everything in the light of our false affection, and are thereby rendered absolutely incapable of beholding others in their true light, especially if they stand in our way and oppose our progress (P. D., 2060). But the one absorbing and unremittent purpose of Jesus of Nazareth was to do the will of His Heavenly Father, and to finish the work He had given Him to do. Hence He dwelt always on a pure altitude, in whose clear atmosphere He saw men and things as they are. 5. _Our natural depravity_ is also a serious hindrance to our right judging. Our very organs of knowledge, our affections, our conscience, have been perverted. Let a man be ever so disposed to take correct views of men and things, there will be some flaw in his vision, some defect in his hearing. Hence there are times when we cannot accept as final the judgment of the best and holiest of men. But Christ has no secret evil to lead Him wrong.
In view of all this, how fitting it is that Christ should be our judge! How well, too, He is qualified to be the merciful High Priest who we need (Heb. iv. 15, 16). He who tenderly sympathises with us is He who perfectly knows us (H. E. I., 956; P. D., 462).--_William Manning._
THE UNIVERSAL DIFFUSION AND REDEMPTIVE POWER OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
(_Missionary Sermon._)
xi. 9. _They shall not hurt nor destroy, &c._
We have here a picture of the golden age. I. The whole earth shall be as Mount Zion. II. Shall be freed from injustice and violence. III. Shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. 1. Wherein this knowledge consists. 2. To what extent it shall prevail--universal, deep. 3. By what means it is to be diffused.--_J. Lyth, D.D.: Homiletical Treasury_ (p. 18).
"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy _mountain,_ for the _earth_ shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord." It seems clear that in these words the prophet intended to be understood of speaking of the whole earth. He would scarcely, in the same sentence, have used the expressions in question--the _holy mountain_ in the first clause, and the _earth_ in the other--if by these expressions he had not meant the same thing, namely, the whole globe of the earth, when the dwellers thereon should come to be true worshippers, like those who first worshipped at Mount Zion, and who were a type of the greater assembly of worshippers, the holy and universal Church, which in the fulness of time would be established.
I. _The prophet grounds the hope of that reformed and purified state of the moral_ _world, described in the beautiful words of the text, upon the increase of religious knowledge_ which he saw to be coming. "They shall not hurt . . . for the earth shall be full of the _knowledge of the Lord._" II. These words may be taken as _descriptive of the legitimate effect of Christian knowledge._ The general scope, aim, and tendency of Gospel principles is such as would produce the change described, were it not counteracted by the tendency within us to what is wrong. III. They are more than this: they are _prophetic of the actual results of Christian knowledge._ The Gospel will render war impossible. True, so-called "Christian" nations have not yet ceased to wage war with one another, nor so-called "Christian" men to rob and circumvent and ruin each other. Nevertheless, this prophecy shall yet be fulfilled. We see it in the process of fulfilment. The condition of the moral world has been meliorated by Christianity. Wars have not ceased, but their conduct has been mitigated. In their private dealings with each other, men have become more just and trustworthy. Already there are millions of men who would shrink from doing harm of any kind to their fellow-men. Compare Christendom with heathendom, and you will see what mighty changes the Gospel has already wrought. The practice even of Christian men falls short of their knowledge. Nevertheless, the practice and the morals of men are, generally speaking, the best where their knowledge is the most. The prophet's words are justified by fact, and men forbear one another most, and hurt and destroy least, where knowledge is the greatest. It is a fact that life and property are more safe and secure in the Christian portion of the earth, than in any other portions. And the knowledge of the Lord grows year by year; partly through the labours of missionaries in many places; still more by the rapid growth of the nations that are Christian. The violent and lawless races of the earth are dwindling away. The only races that are increasing are those that fear God, and are willing to respect the rights, the properties, and the lives of their neighbours. Through the medium of this natural increase of peace-loving races, and through the conversion of many among the benighted nations, this prophecy is receiving a gradual, but very appreciable, fulfilment. The world is advancing, with ever-accelerating speed towards knowledge and peace, and this declaration shall yet be literally fulfilled (H. E. I., 979, 1161-1168; P. D., 2465, 2466).
_Application._--1. We are permitted to rejoice in the hope of a period when justice and benevolence shall prevail in the world. 2. We are required to contribute towards the realisation of this hope. This we are to do (1) by the purification of our own hearts; by the conquest of every passion and desire that would make us hurtful to our neighbours. (2) By prayer (Matt. vi. 9, 10). (3) By helping to diffuse that "knowledge of the Lord" which is the great peace-maker in the earth.--_A. Gibson, M.A.: Sermons on Various Subjects; Second Series_ (pp. 246-265).
In this and the preceding verses we have a beautiful picture of a state of human society entirely different from anything that has been witnessed since the Fall. The prophet beholds changes in human character so great that he feels he can only symbolise them by transformations in the members of the animal kingdom of the most astonishing kind. Verses 6-8 _are_ symbolical, and are intended to excite within us the liveliest anticipations of the glorious effects that would follow the universal proclamation and acceptation of the gospel. Thus we are led to speak of the nature, the diffusion, and the effect of the knowledge of the Lord.
I. ITS EXALTED NATURE. By "the knowledge of the Lord" may be meant that of which He is the revealer (2 Chron. xxx. 22), or that of which He is the theme (2 Pet. ii. 20). God can only be revealed by Himself; and He has given us a threefold revelation of Himself--in nature, in providence, and in Holy Scripture. In the latter we have the record of the fullest revelation which He has vouchsafed, that given us in His Son. God is never truly known by man until He is known in Christ. "The knowledge of the Lord" and "the Gospel" are terms of the same meaning.
II. ITS DESTINED DIFFUSION. The figure employed by the prophet brings before us impressively the universality of its diffusion. The imagination is called in to instruct our faith.[1] The world-wide diffusion of the gospel is a matter--1. Of _prophetic certainty._ Nothing could be more plain than the prophetic declarations concerning this matter. But if any man asks _when_ the promise will be fulfilled, only one answer can be given him (Acts i. 7). 2. Involving _Divine agency._ Utterly false is the notion that, after creating the universe, God withdrew from it, and left it to go on by its own momentum (John v. 17); and utterly false is the notion that, after giving the gospel to the world, God has left it to make its own way therein. By Divine agency men are raised up to proclaim it (Eph. iv. 11). While they are so engaged Christ Himself is with them (Matt.