Prophetic Extracts (chapter 4)

Prophetic Extracts

continued

Chapter 4

0a I will try to gather the Prophetic Extracts from Isaiah, which are the only ones we have left. First, though, I will say a few things against those who are unbelieving about the prophecies, to establish the truth of the prophets. I begin with a line of reasoning that was well observed by those before us. They seem to me to have said rightly that the law itself bears witness to those under the law of Moses that the nations among whom they would live would listen to omens and divinations. “But to you,” it says, “the Lord your God has not given it so.” The divine word goes on to forbid them augury and all the meddlesome divination done through demons, and adds: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brothers.” Suppose these things had been written for them but never actually happened, and no prophets had been among them. Could they have believed the law, or the word that promised these things, when it was so plainly and obviously false? Or is it clear that they would have been led by their very craving to know the future? They would have despised their own religion as having nothing true or divine in it, because there were no prophets among them. And they would have gone over like deserters to the oracles and divining-shrines of the nations. But in fact they clearly accepted not only Moses but many after him as prophets of God. The only evident reason is that they had received proof of the divine power in them. For these men prophesied to them not only about things far in the future, but also foretold some immediate, everyday matters. They spoke about lost donkeys, about whether the gravely sick would live or not, about prosperity coming to the people, and about countless other things recorded in their histories. If it had not happened this way, let someone answer: for what reason did they regard these men as prophets and call them so? Why did they think their words worthy of being written down? And what was the reason that they handed down these writings to their own later children as divine?

0b For it is the most implausible thing of all to suppose that, having seen nothing divine or marvelous in these men, they carelessly and pointlessly formed such opinions about them. Suppose someone were to run back in his mind to those times. What would he think, seeing rustic men, plain in appearance, some of them goatherds and shepherds, stepping out into the middle of the whole nation? They spoke as if from the person of God, crying out, “Thus says the Lord.” They addressed kings and all the people with an undaunted bearing. They showed a wisdom beyond the human, which is still found in their prophecies today. They taught countless other hidden things through riddles and parables. They handed down moral and doctrinal teaching to the people in the Hebrew language. Besides this, they showed a life that matched their words. They spoke to everyone without flattery and rebuked the ungodly to their faces, so that they were plotted against even to the point of death, yet they stood by the true word with a strong and noble bearing. Whoever considers these things fairly, how could he not admit that all this happened to them by truly divine inspiration? So it was only to be expected that they were admired at that time by sensible people. It was only to be expected that their words were kept in writing by the sacred scribes, and that to this day the whole nation believes they were prophets of God. Our own account of Christ shows this most clearly of all. In it we demonstrate that the whole plan of salvation concerning him took place, and that the matters of his teaching, and of the calling of all the nations through him, were known exactly in advance. We show that those inspired men spoke of them countless years before. On this point the Jews would be more credible witnesses than we are, since they treat those sacred books with every reverent honor and carry them about in public. Now that these preliminary points have been usefully made, we must go on to our subject.

1a From Isaiah. Chapter 1. The word that came to Isaiah the son of Amos, concerning Judea and Jerusalem. In the last days the mountain of the Lord will be made plain to see, and the house of God will stand on the tops of the mountains. It will be lifted high above the hills, and all the nations will come to it. Many nations will set out and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will declare to us his way, and we will walk in it. For out of Zion a law will go out, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will reprove many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into sickles. Nation will not take up sword against nation, and they will never again learn to make war.” Let those who boast in circumcision show us what this law is, and what kind of law, and to whom it is to be given, this law prophesied to go out of Zion. For the prophet says, “Out of Zion a law will go out.” Clearly this is a different law from the one given through Moses in the desert. And let them tell us what the word of the Lord is. According to the prophecy it no longer stays in Jerusalem but goes out from Zion itself and passes over to all the nations. It is going to judge between them and reprove many peoples. Then, when deep peace has come to the nations judged by the word of the Lord, those counted worthy of that peace will exchange their former weapons of war and turn their minds to the farming of their own souls. For those people, I do not know whether they have any answer to this. But for us, who believe soundly in Jesus the Christ of God, it is easy to make the whole prophecy plain. We can show it to be truly divine and wonderful, because we believe that what was prophesied has reached its fulfillment. We do not fall away from the truth by putting off the outcome of the prophecies to times without end. For we say that at the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ the law of the new covenant, the law according to the gospel, went out from Zion in bodily form and was proclaimed from there to all the nations. In the same way the saving Word himself, who is called the Word of the Lord, came forth from Jerusalem, where he stayed and taught. This is in keeping with the saying, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate.”

1b He poured out his grace on all the nations. These nations, judged by him and convicted of their former sins, came to a clear awareness of them and to repentance. They have stopped giving themselves to wars of the passions, and they live in the deepest peace of soul, caring for their own minds, for their cultivation and their fruit-bearing. If someone wants to take these words literally, the sense still holds good. If he takes them according to their inner meaning, it is much easier. For we should be persuaded above all, and more especially, that what is said in these passages is fulfilled in that inner sense. Still, what has been said can in some way make clear the opening of the passage we have in hand. For “in the last days,” that is, plainly, now at the completion of the ages, the spiritual mountain of God has become visible, which is the divine and heavenly Word. His house is the church, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and for that reason it is said to be above the mountains. These things became visible after the rejection of the people of the circumcision, and after the kingdom of heaven was taken away from them. By then the earlier words of the prophecy had reached their end, in which it was said: “The daughter of Zion will be left like a shelter in a vineyard, like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.” They were fulfilled also when this was fulfilled: “Hear the words of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give heed to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah. What is the multitude of your sacrifices to me, says the Lord?” and so on. To this he adds: “My soul hates your new moons and your feasts. You have become a weariness to me; I will no longer forgive your sins. When you stretch out your hands to me, I will turn my eyes away from you; and if you multiply your prayer, I will not listen to you, for your hands are full of blood.” Notice how the word, though it stretches all this out at length, charges them here neither with idolatry nor with any other sin. Nor does it charge them with the shedding of many bloods, but of one outstanding blood, plainly the blood of Christ. About this the word clearly convicts the people when it says, “For your hands are full of blood.”

1c For this reason it goes on to say next: “How has the faithful city Zion become a harlot? She was full of justice; righteousness slept in her, but now murderers.” After all this, the word, coming to its end, again announces their rejection beforehand and says: “For they will be like a terebinth that has shed its leaves, and like a garden without water. Their strength will be like a stalk of tow, and their works like sparks. The lawless and the sinners will be burned up together, and there will be no one to put the fire out.” When the prophecy has declared beforehand so many and such great things against them, it next brings in the passage we have just set out, in which it is said: “In the last days the mountain of the Lord will be made visible.” Plainly, after their complete and final rejection and desolation, the prophecy shows the dispensations of the new covenant, in which the mountain of the Lord has become visible to all the nations. What mountain is it but the one who “in the beginning was with God,” God the Word? He is our Savior and Lord himself, whom we have already set forth, and of whom it is also said in the Psalms: “the mountain of God, a rich mountain,” and “the mountain in which God was pleased to dwell.” Beside this mountain the house of God has also become visible. The house of God would be the church, which is firmly set on the summits of the apostolic and prophetic words. These things became visible at this very mountain, and it is clear that those who received the divine Word were not Israel, nor the house of Jacob so often mentioned, but quite simply all the nations. So it is clear how and in what manner these predictions were fulfilled through the appearing of our Savior, when the mountain described and the house described became visible. We who are from the nations have come to the God of all through faith in Christ, the Son of God. Long ago we were ignorant of such great things, but now by divine grace we have come to know them, and “we have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.”

1d And we have been taught by the Word of God who came out from, or even came down from, the heavenly Jerusalem, since “the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.” So, urging one another on and hurrying one another toward this heavenly house of God, and toward Zion, itself also the heavenly mountain of the Lord, we say in our teaching and exhortation: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will declare his way to us, and we will walk in it.” Now that these things have been fulfilled and, by God’s grace, have become plain to all of us, another prophecy has also reached its end. In it the saving Word himself bears clearer witness to the passage of Isaiah’s prophecy now before us. He says: “I became manifest to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am,’ to a nation that did not call on my name.” If someone does not take the passages this way, what other mountain or house of God could he point to, of which the prophecy speaks? For the things it describes were not at that time bodily visible. These words can also be applied in another way, to the second coming of Christ, so that the prophecies would be fully fulfilled then rather than now. It should also be noted that almost the same words appear in the prophecy of Micah.

2a Psalm. By the same author. Second passage. “Behold, the Master of Sabaoth will take away from Judea and from Jerusalem the strong man and the strong woman, the strength of bread and the strength of water, the giant and the strong man, the man of war, the judge, the prophet, the diviner, the elder, the commander of fifty, the admirable counselor, the wise master builder, and the understanding hearer. And I will set young men over them as rulers, and mockers will lord it over them.” And so on. After this God adds: “I will not be the leader of this people, because Jerusalem has been abandoned and Judea has collapsed, and their tongues speak with lawlessness, disobeying the things of the Lord. For now their glory has been humbled, and the shame of their face has stood against them. They have proclaimed and displayed their sin like that of Sodom. Woe to their soul, because they have plotted an evil plan against themselves, saying, ‘Let us bind the righteous man, because he is troublesome to us.’ Therefore they will eat the fruits of their works.” The book called the Wisdom of Solomon says something very similar to what is said here about the righteous man: “Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is troublesome to us and opposes our words.” In that book it is clear from the wording that these things are said about Christ. So here too the prophecy is about those who plotted against him, and who plotted an evil plan more against themselves than against him. That is why the word fittingly pronounces a lament over them, with the words “Woe to their soul.”

2b It also sets out the punishment that awaits them, saying, “Therefore they will eat the fruits of their works.” For whatever kind of seed they sowed against Christ, that is the kind of harvest they will reap at God’s judgment. Even in this present life, see whether the prophecy’s opening statement was not fulfilled on them after the plot against Christ. It says, “Behold, the Master, the Lord of Sabaoth, will take away from Judea and from Jerusalem the strong man and the strong woman.” It is true: the divine and heavenly grace that once lived as a citizen among them has been taken away from them. You can no longer find among them a prophet or a diviner. And where is their man of war, or their judge, the admirable counselor, or the understanding hearer? They may seem to share in spiritual bread by reading the sacred words of God. But consider whether the power and strength stored up in the divine Scriptures has not been taken away from them. Plainly, in addition to this, Jerusalem has been abandoned, and everything else has been fulfilled on them because of that one sin against Christ. For the word says, “Woe to their soul,” and it adds the reason for the lament: “because they have plotted an evil plan against themselves, saying, ‘Let us bind the righteous man, because he is troublesome to us.’”

3 Psalm 3. “My people, those who call you blessed lead you astray, and they confuse the path of your feet. But now the Lord will take his place for judgment, and he will set his people on their feet. The Lord himself will come to judgment with the elders of the people and with its rulers.” The words “now the Lord will take his place for judgment” do not seem to be about the God of the universe, and still less the words “the Lord himself will come to judgment with the elders of the people and with its rulers.” It would fit better to take these as prophecies about God the Word, who is also called Lord. For the very Word of God, who has been proclaimed to all under heaven, will take his place in judgment with everyone, and he will leave none of the ungodly any room for a defense, since his teaching has reached the ears of all. Jesus Christ will come to judgment especially with the elders of the people and with its rulers, since they were the ones who gathered together against him and prepared the plot against him. They called the people they ruled blessed, and so led them astray. They called evil good, and they declared our Saviour’s good words to be evil.

4a Psalm 4. “And the Lord went on to speak to Ahaz, saying: Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God, either in the depth or in the height. And Ahaz said: I will not ask, and I will not test the Lord. And he said: Listen now, house of David. Is it a small thing for you to give trouble to men, and how is it that you give trouble to the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin will conceive in the womb and will bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel. He will eat butter and honey. Before he knows or chooses evil things, he will choose the good; for before the child knows good or evil, he refuses to be wicked, so as to choose the good.” Let those of the circumcision who do not accept the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ tell us who the virgin is who, according to the prophecy, will conceive in the womb and bear the son called Emmanuel. But suppose they say that the Hebrew does not say “virgin” but “young woman.” Then we must answer that the first men who translated the Scripture, under God’s providence, were no ordinary men. There were seventy of them, chosen as the best from the whole people, and in their own time they had given no small proof of their wisdom. Besides, what remarkable sign would the word be promising, as if it were something wonderful to be given to the house of David by the Lord himself, if it spoke of a mere young woman? Nothing stops us, even if the Hebrew, as they say, has “young woman,” from taking the words as spoken about a virgin. In Leviticus, for example, you will find a girl who is admittedly a virgin, betrothed to a man but violated by another, and Scripture calls her a “young woman.” And so it would be fitting that, because of their unbelief, the Lord should give the house of David this sign: that a virgin would give birth in a way beyond expectation. That is why the child to be born is also proclaimed as someone wonderful.

4b The prophecy says that from childhood, and one might say from his very birth, he would refuse what is evil and choose what is good. His name was also announced beforehand in a wonderful way: Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” We who confess him, and who sense his divine and unspeakable visit to all people through his power, might well say this of him. Emmanuel, “the God with us,” could also be said for this reason. The Father and God of the universe is beyond not only mortal nature but all rational nature. The Son, however, is fittingly called the God with us, because of his coming to live among us. I remember hearing one of the Jews say that this was prophesied to Ahaz about Hezekiah, who was born of him and reigned after him. But note that Hezekiah is shown to have been born long before Ahaz became king, and before this very prophecy was spoken to him. Hezekiah succeeded Ahaz after Ahaz had reigned sixteen years, and he was twenty-five years old when he began to reign. So his birth came nine years before his father’s accession to the throne. The words set out above were spoken to Ahaz when he was already king, and they prophesy the marvelous and wonderful birth of Christ that I have described. As for what each phrase of the wording means, the student who is eager to learn will find out by reading the commentaries of that admirable man on these passages.

5a Psalm 5 [the author’s heading]. “And the Lord said to me, Take for yourself a new large scroll [of paper], and write on it with a man’s pen: ‘Quickly make plunder of the spoils,’ for it is at hand. And take as faithful witnesses for me men, Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Barachiah. And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. And the Lord said to me, Call his name, ‘Quickly plunder, swiftly make spoil.’ For before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.” To record the marvel that was about to come to pass, the prophet is commanded to take a new, large scroll with nothing written on it. By this I think the gospel of the new covenant is indicated. He is also told to take faithful men as witnesses for the Lord. One of them is said to be a priest. The other, I think, was a prophet, for the book of Chronicles mentions him too. I take these two as a symbol of the prophets who bore witness to the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the priests who stood long ago as a type of him. After this it says, “And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son,” and so on. It would be quite unseemly, and foreign to the dignity and purity of a prophet, to suppose so lightly that the prophet, in the very act of being inspired by God, and for the sake of the witnesses just mentioned, went in to a woman for shameful intercourse, even though she too was a prophetess. What plausibility could there be in daring to say that he approached her, that she conceived, and that she bore a son? No, I hold that this prophecy also belongs with the meaning of the one set out before, in which it was said, “Behold, the virgin will conceive in the womb.”

5b In the earlier passage it was foretold that the virgin would conceive and bear a son. Here the manner in which the prophecy was fulfilled is also made clear, for it says, “she conceived in the womb and bore a son.” Who, then, is the one who says, “I went to the prophetess,” if not the Holy Spirit speaking in the prophet? Of him it was said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” So it is not unfitting that she too should be called a prophetess, since she conceived by the Holy Spirit and bore the child who is there called Emmanuel but is here named differently. For it says, “Call the name of the child who is born, ‘Quickly plunder, swiftly seize the spoil.’” And truly he did plunder and seize the spoil, by a hidden and divine power, from the opposing invisible and spiritual powers, so that he could say, “I have conquered the world.” From them he took spoil and booty, the souls that had long been tyrannized by them, in order to proclaim release to the captives. He confesses that he has received nations from the Father as his inheritance, and these may readily be called spoils. The ends of the earth are his possession, and these too may fitly be called booty. Further, it says, “Before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.” These words too I think are said only in a spiritual sense. Either they speak of certain evil powers which our Savior’s divine power brought down at the very time of his birth, or they speak of a difference among the souls who have believed in him. Of these, those who turned from idolatry to the life of the gospel would reasonably be the “power of Damascus,” and those from the circumcision who accepted the Christ of God would be what are called the “spoils of Samaria.”

5c He took these souls as spoil and booty from the spiritual enemies, and he armed them against the spiritual king of the Assyrians, that is, the devil, and prepared them to fight him. Anyone who wishes can learn these things in detail from the commentaries the holy man wrote on these passages. But if those of the circumcision demand a more bodily interpretation, we should question them in turn. Can they explain in bodily terms how Isaiah, with the witnesses mentioned above, went to the prophetess for bodily union? Who is such a prophetess? How did she conceive at once and give birth immediately? What kind of child was this, whom the Lord commands Isaiah to name “Quickly plunder, swiftly seize the spoil”? What sense does so great a name have? How is it possible, on the obvious reading, to imagine any child at all bodily taking the so-called power of Damascus and the so-called spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians, and doing this before he knows how to call father or mother? And if besides this they object to what we have set out, let them show how the Christ they are expecting, when he comes, will bodily take the “power of Damascus” of the prophecy, and what spoils of Samaria, or before what Assyrians. None of these is active in the present times.

6 Psalm 6. “Behold, I and the children whom God has given me. And there will be signs and wonders in the house of Israel from the Lord God of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.” The words “Behold, I and the children whom God has given me” are rightly taken, in the Letter to the Hebrews, as spoken in the person of the Savior about the apostles and those who afterward believed in him. In this passage there follows: “and there will be signs and wonders in the house of Israel.” It is clear that at the time of the Savior’s coming signs and wonders took place in the house of Israel such as had never been done before. 7a Psalm 7 [sic, the heading in the edition]. “And they will wish they had been burned up with fire. For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. The government has come to be upon his shoulder, and his name is called Angel of Great Counsel. For I will bring peace upon the rulers, and health to him. Great is his rule, and of his peace there is no boundary. [He will sit] upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to set it right and to uphold it with judgment and with righteousness, from now and for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” I think the child spoken of here is none other than the one prophesied above as to be born of the virgin, the one whom the prophetess was also said a little earlier to have borne. But the name he had above was Emmanuel, and the name after that was “Quickly plunder, swiftly spoil.” Here the same child, according to the Septuagint translation, is called “Angel of Great Counsel.” According to Aquila, and the Hebrew itself, “his name is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty, Strong Father, and further, Ruler of Peace.” And according to Symmachus, “the name of the child will be called [wonder-working], Counselor, Mighty, Strong, Father of the Age, Ruler of Peace.”

7b We must therefore demand of those of the circumcision what child they could point to, to whom such great titles would apply. For in our view these are descriptions of the divine power of Christ. Those who have not believed in him will wish they had been burned up with fire, rather than see their own rejection and the salvation of the nations, which the zeal of the Lord of hosts is said to bring about. Set beside this what is said in Moses, something like this: “They made me jealous with their idols, and I will make them jealous with what is not a nation; with a senseless nation I will provoke them to anger.” But this is not the time, nor is it our purpose, to explain every phrase of the prophecy, such as how it is said, “upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to set it right.” On this point it is likely that those of the circumcision would stumble, because our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ has not sat in bodily fashion on the throne and kingdom of David. For this reason, I will send those who love learning to the commentaries on these passages, and we will finish the task set before us.

8a Chapter 8 [sic]. “Behold, the Master, the Lord of hosts, will throw the glorious into confusion with might. The lofty will be shattered by their arrogance and brought low, and the lofty will fall by the sword, and Lebanon will fall together with the lofty. And a rod will come out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will rise up from the root. And the Spirit of God will rest upon him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and godliness will fill him; a spirit of the fear of God. He will not judge by reputation, nor reprove by speech, but he will give a humble man justice, and will reprove the humble of the earth. He will strike the earth with the word of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will destroy the ungodly. And he will be girded with righteousness around his waist, and wrapped with truth around his sides. And the wolf will feed with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid. The calf and the bull and the lion will graze together, and their young will be together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. And a young child will put his hand into the hole of the asps and into the bed of the offspring of the asps, and they will do no harm, nor be able to destroy anyone on my holy mountain. For the whole earth was filled with the knowledge of the Lord, like much water covering the seas. And in that day there will be the root of Jesse, even he who rises to rule the nations; in him the nations will hope, and his rest will be honor.” Even those of the circumcision have not supposed that the one prophesied here is anyone other than the Christ. Yet because they imagine that the things in this passage will happen in a more bodily way, going only by a bare reading of the prophecy, they do not confess faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

8b We, however, are persuaded that everything in this prophecy is worthy of God. We believe that it speaks of changes in human character, brought about by the appearing of our Saviour, which turned people from the depths of wickedness to gentleness. Even now we see how, in the churches throughout the world, after the coming of Jesus Christ, who sprang from the root of Jesse, the great majority of people have been remade. They have changed their very nature from a beastlike life. Some were wolves before, some leopards in the same way, some lions, and whatever other beasts and reptiles the prophecy lists, according to the particular kind of wickedness and evil in each person. These people have changed and, as it were, been remolded, and have come to such gentleness that they feed together with the most gentle-mannered righteous men of God, eating the same food of God’s sacred words. The divine Word compared these righteous men, because of the harmlessness of their souls, to tame and very gentle animals, and to the children who are written of here. If anyone is unwilling to be persuaded by this, let him say whether it is possible to keep the wording in any other way on its obvious sense. Why, or how, will Lebanon fall together with the lofty? Let him not read the rod, or the flower from it, as figurative either. Let him show how a physical rod is said to come out of the root of Jesse, and what sort of flower is to come up from it. But if even the very stubborn man is forced to take these things in a spiritual sense, consider whether the rest also is not rightly shown by us to be fulfilled, in its meaning, in the coming of our Saviour.

8c These things also happened in keeping with the prophecy, after the Lord Sabaoth threw into confusion those who were once the glorious ones of the former people. The prophecy says that, lifted up by their insolence against our Saviour, they would be shattered, humbled and brought down. The Word says that Lebanon too would fall with them. It is his habit to name Jerusalem, and the worship once carried out in it in bodily form, in this way. This is clear from Ezekiel, where it is written like this: “The great eagle, with great wings, long in extent, full of talons, who has the lead, came into Lebanon and took the choice parts of the cedar.” Then the prophetic word itself, in explaining the parable, teaches plainly that Lebanon is Jerusalem. It says: “Son of man, say to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these things were? Say: When the king of Babylon comes against Jerusalem, he will take its king and its rulers.” So it is clear that this Lebanon also fell, along with the lofty ones, in their insolence, at the coming of our Saviour, who came from the root of Jesse. On him the fullness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit rested. He will come again at his second and glorious coming, and he will not judge by appearance, for God does not receive a man’s face. Nor will he convict by mere talk, for he is the one who searches hearts and kidneys, and who pierces to the dividing of soul and spirit. And at his coming that has already taken place, the earth was truly filled with the knowledge of the Lord, whereas before, no one knew him except those of the circumcision alone.

8d But the prophecy will be brought to its end more fully at that time when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and with the rest of the nations all Israel will be saved. Then Christ, raised from the dead, has been appointed by God to rule the nations, as it says: “And there shall be the root of Jesse, even he who rises to rule nations; in him nations will hope.” Notice that Israel, Jacob or Judah is not named here at all. The prophecy plainly says that the nations will hope in the one who is to rise from the root of Jesse. The wording here agrees with Moses, who says: “A ruler will not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until he comes for whom it is reserved; and he is the expectation,” not of Israel, but of the nations. And whose rest has come to be in the highest honor with God, if not his, who heard the Father say to him: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

9 Psalm 9. “And a throne will be set right with mercy, and one will sit upon it with truth in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and hastening righteousness.” This too is prophesied about the second coming of Christ. At that time the Word of God, whose kingdom over all has been set right with mercy and kindness toward humanity, will sit in judgment with truth in the tent of David. In the same way I take it that the church of the holy ones, the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and all who have come under the portion of the word of God, are given the name “holy.” 10 Psalm 10. “Behold, the Lord sits on a light cloud, and he will come into Egypt, and the handmade things of Egypt will be shaken at his presence, and their heart will be overcome within them.” To take these words as speaking of the unbegotten nature of the God of all, as though he were about to ride on some cloud and visit the bodily Egypt, I judge to be neither plausible nor holy. So the prophecy must be taken as referring to the Word of God. It has already been plainly fulfilled in his first coming. In that coming he arrived on a light cloud, meaning the flesh that was formed for him from the Holy Spirit, and entered this life, which is figuratively called Egypt. He also went bodily into Egypt itself, where his mother and Joseph carried him while he was still a child. At that time, for reasons that are hidden, the demons who had formerly lived and worked in the handmade idols everywhere were shaken and moved, thrown into confusion by his presence. This is what the prophecy shows when it says, “the handmade things of Egypt will be shaken.” These things will also be fulfilled in his second and glorious kingdom from the heavens, when it is likely that he himself will be shaken. Then especially the handmade things of Egypt that have been assigned to it will be thrown into turmoil, and their heart, the prophecy says, will be overcome within them. For the divine Word will then bring everything under his own rule and will humble every height that now exalts itself against the knowledge of God. All the rest of the prophecy can be explained only by figurative interpretation.

11a Psalm 11. “On that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the land of the Egyptians, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. And the Lord will be a sign forever in the land of Egypt. For they will cry out to the Lord because of those who oppress them, and he will send them a man who will save them; by judging he will save them. And the Lord will be known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord on that day, and they will offer sacrifices and a gift, and they will vow vows to God.” Who else could the man sent by the Lord be, the one who saved the Egyptians by judging, if not the Christ of God, who took the form of a slave and was found in appearance as a man? If Egypt is understood figuratively as the life of human beings, the Egyptians would be the superstitious, who were formerly afflicted by material things. The God of all had pity on them as they were oppressed by the demons who tyrannized them. He sent the man just mentioned, who brought a salvation worthy of God. So those who in the past were shut out of the Lord’s assembly by the law came to know the Lord through the appearing that was granted to them, since the Lord himself made himself known to them. And it is clear how, in the land of the Egyptians just described, an altar was set up to the Lord: it is the gatherings held in every place for prayers and the worship of God.

11b Someone might press the wording of the phrase “and there will be an altar to the Lord in the land of the Egyptians.” If an altar is a place of sacrifices, where irrational animals are slaughtered in honor of God, then it would be most right to say that a greater and truer altar to God has come about through Christ. It stands in the whole earthly region, which is called “Egypt” figuratively, because the martyrs everywhere are offered to God as sacrifices and, as it were, slain victims on behalf of the human race. It stands also in the bodily land of the Egyptians itself, where so many martyrs, and of such stature, glorified God with their own blood. But if those of the circumcision are slow to accept what has been set out, let them tell us when, where, and by whom an altar to the Lord was set up in Egypt. Let them tell us who the man was who saved the Egyptians, and how and when the Lord became known to the Egyptians, so that they turned away from their former error and took up the knowledge of him. For that is what it means to come to know the Lord. The whole remainder of the prophecy depends on a deeper meaning, which this is not the time to unfold.

12 Psalm 12. “Lord, in affliction I remembered you; your discipline on us was in a little affliction. And as a woman in labor draws near to giving birth and cries out in her pain, so have we become to your beloved.” (Isaiah 26:16) In the Psalms there is a heading “for the beloved,” and again it is said, “the king of the powers of the beloved.” It is shown in those places that the one called the beloved of God is none other than Christ. For this reason we have marked out the “beloved” in the passage before us as well. We take him to be the very one whom a voice from heaven plainly proclaimed, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 13a Psalm 13. “Hear the words of the Lord, you afflicted men, and you rulers of this people who are in Jerusalem. For you said, ‘We have made a covenant with Hades, and agreements with death. If a storm sweeps by, it will not come upon us. We have made falsehood our hope, and by falsehood we shall be sheltered.’ Therefore the Lord, the Lord, says this: Behold, I am laying in the foundations of Zion a costly stone, chosen, a cornerstone, precious, for its foundations; and the one who believes in it will never be put to shame. And I will make justice my hope, and my mercy for balances.” (Isaiah 28:14) How foolish this is, and how truly laughable: the notion of those who wait in a bodily way for one of these supposedly costly and valuable stones to be laid by the Lord himself in the foundations of a bodily Zion, a stone on which the one who believes is prophesied never to be put to shame! So let us shake off those silly Jewish tales, and the old wives’ stories which the apostle called myths. Let us receive the God-inspired prophecies in a way worthy of God. So he says, “Behold, I am laying in the foundations of Zion a stone.” Why does he do this? It is because the rulers of the former people had made agreements with death. They abandoned God’s covenant and made a covenant with Hades in its place, and they supposed that because of this no harm would come to them. For this reason too they had set their hope on falsehood and thought they would be sheltered by falsehood. It is because of these things, since those people had fallen away from hope in God, that he promises to lay the very precious stone for those who believe. To those who said, “We have made a covenant with Hades, and agreements with death,”

13b Then the word comes down to them and says: “A storm sweeping past, if it passes by, shall not come upon us; we have made falsehood our hope, and by falsehood we shall be sheltered.” You who trust in vain in a lie, the storm will not pass you by. Your covenant with death will not be taken away, and your hope in Hades will not stand. When the storm comes sweeping on, you will be trampled by it. It is plain that this was fulfilled upon that people at the coming of our Saviour. So, in keeping with this, we hold that the chosen stone spoken of here is none other than the holy Word of God. He is a marvelous and unexpected stone, so that those who believe in him will not be put to shame. On him, as on a firm foundation, the spiritual and heavenly Zion has been built, and this is nothing other than the church of God. “For no one can lay another foundation besides the one that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Of him it is also said in the Psalms: “The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner.” He is also called the cornerstone. Daniel also explains this stone as referring to the kingdom of Christ, where he says: “The stone that struck the image became a great mountain, and it struck and filled the whole earth.” The builders who built according to the letter of the law rejected this stone. Yet though rejected by them, he has been shown to be the head of the corner of the church from the nations, as it is said somewhere: “You will set me as head of the nations.” So the one who believes on this stone will not be put to shame, and this prophecy about him too proves true.

14 Psalm 14. “Behold, the name of the Lord comes from far away, a burning wrath, with glory the oracle of his lips; the oracle is full of anger, and the anger of his wrath will devour like fire.” What could “the name of the Lord” be, if not God the Word, through whom all things were made? So I think this prophecy also hints at his second and glorious coming. 15 Psalm 15. “Thus says the Lord: Blessed is the one who has offspring in Zion and kinsfolk in Jerusalem. For behold, a righteous king will reign, and rulers will rule with justice.” This also points to the Christ of God, who said, “But I was appointed king by him.” The rulers under him would be either the apostles and those who govern the churches with God’s justice, or else divine angels, who watch over the salvation of human beings. Because of this king who reigns over Zion and Jerusalem, “blessed is the one who has offspring in Zion and kinsfolk in Jerusalem.” These words must be understood in a way worthy of the apostolic Spirit, who teaches us about the Jerusalem above and the heavenly Mount Zion.

16a Psalm 16. “Rejoice, thirsty desert; let the desert exult and blossom like a lily. The wilderness of the Jordan will blossom and exult, and the glory of Lebanon has been given to it, and the honor of Carmel. My people will see the glory of the Lord and the height of God. Strengthen the slack hands and the paralyzed knees. Encourage the fainthearted in mind: be strong, do not be afraid. Behold, our God repays judgment, and he will repay it. He himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers will be clear. For water has burst out in the desert, and a ravine in the thirsty land. The waterless land will become marshes, and in the thirsty land there will be a spring of water.” He foretells that astonishing healings will happen at the coming of God. Here too, then, the Christ of God is plainly honored with the name of God. At his coming the healings just mentioned were carried out bodily upon the sufferers. Even now they are worked more wonderfully still through faith in him, as the whole human race is set free from the sicknesses of the soul. “Water has burst out in the desert, and a ravine in the thirsty land” at the coming of Christ. The drinkable, life-giving Word welled up in what was long ago a desert and thirsty land, the church from the nations. Before, it was waterless and parched, but suddenly there was a spring of the words of Jesus, the living water leaping up to eternal life.

16b … has rained down. Watered by this spring, the one-time desert is said to bloom like a lily, and it is commanded to rejoice and exult. The reason for the rejoicing and exulting is added: “the glory of Lebanon was given to it.” Lebanon here means Jerusalem. Earlier prophecies said of it that Lebanon would fall along with the lofty ones. When it fell, the glory it once held was given to the desert that now hears the good news, that is, the church from the nations. Along with it went the former honor of what is called Carmel, which clearly means the former people. These things plainly came to pass in fact after the coming of Christ. This agrees with the prophecy now in hand and with the voice of our Saviour himself, who said that the kingdom of God will be taken away and given to a nation that produces its fruits.

17 Psalm 17. “A voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight. Every ravine will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked things will become straight and the rough places level plains. The glory of the Lord will be seen, and all flesh will see the salvation of God, for the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3.) John, the forerunner of our Saviour, when people asked him who he was, said, “I am a voice crying in the desert,” and so on. This is why we have set out this passage among the testimonies about Christ. We take John to be a symbol of the apostolic preaching. For the voice crying in the desert is like that: faint and unclear, not yet articulate to those who are only now being taught the basics. In the desert that was long barren, the church from the nations, such a voice commands us to prepare the way of the Lord, and so on. Anyone who cares to know these things can study them at leisure.

18 Psalm 18. “Go up on a high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem. Lift it up, do not be afraid. Say to the cities of Judah: Look, your God! The Lord, the Lord comes with strength, and his arm comes with lordship. Look, his reward is with him, and his work is before him. Like a shepherd he will shepherd his flock, and with his arm he will gather the lambs, and he will comfort those who are with young.” (Isaiah 40:9.) We think this too is said about the coming of the Word of God, and perhaps more about the second coming. In that coming he is prophesied to arrive as a just judge, holding the reward that he will hand out to each person according to what each has done. The rest it is not yet the time to go through, so we will turn to another passage.

19a Psalm 19. “Who raised up righteousness from the east? He called it to his feet, and it will go forward. He will give it before the nations and will make kings stand aghast. He will give their swords to the ground, and their bows like driven stubble. He will pursue them; the way of his feet will pass in peace; he will not come. Who has worked and done these things? He who calls it, who has called it from the beginning of the generations. I am God, the first, and for the things to come I am he. The nations saw and were afraid; the ends of the earth were astonished. They drew near, they came together, each judging how to help his neighbor and his brother. And he will say, ‘The craftsman has grown strong,’ and the smith who strikes with the hammer, driving at the same time. At one time he will say, ‘The joint is good’; they strengthened them with nails; they will set them, and it will not be moved.” (Isaiah 41:2.) Righteousness rising from the east: who could this be, if we are speaking of a distinct being with its own existence, other than the Christ of God? Of him the apostle says, “Who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:30.) This righteousness was raised up from the Father’s bosom, where all the risings of intelligible light are found. What raised him up was either the plan of salvation by which he became man, or the Father himself, who gave him before the nations. The purpose was this. Their former kings were invisible, evil powers, and they were to be astonished at the strangeness of that plan. They would see so great a Son of God having neither form nor beauty. After such astonishment their swords would be given to the ground, and their bows would be like driven stubble. They would no longer hold weapons of war or fire-tipped arrows, with which they had formerly made war on the souls under their power.

19b After this he says, “and he will pursue them,” so that, when all of them have finally been driven off, the way of his feet may pass through in peace. “Who worked and did these things?” he asks. We understand the answer to be the kindness and love for mankind of the God of the universe, who calls her. By “her” he plainly means righteousness, which is nothing other than his wisdom. The nations saw her and feared God, though before this they had lived without the fear of God. Called from the ends and the limits of the inhabited world, they drew near to God. Those who were once far off came near to the kingdom of the heavens. So they were astonished at the strangeness of this salvation. They taught one another, and brother helped brother, and they confessed their former error about the idols, saying these very things: “So he was a carpenter and a smith, who with hammer and nails and human contrivance raised up and strengthened the gods we used to believe in. And they were nothing but lifeless carved images, which could not move on their own. Our fathers owned false idols, and there was no benefit in them.” That these things were accomplished at the coming of our Savior is shown more by the witness of events than by words.

20a Psalm 20 (Isaiah 42:1). “Jacob my servant, I will take hold of him; Israel my chosen one, my soul has received him. I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring out judgment for the nations. He will not cry out, nor let up, nor will his voice be heard outside. A bruised reed he will not crush, and a smoldering flax he will not put out; but he will bring out judgment to truth. He will shine out and will not be broken, until he has set judgment on the earth; and in his name nations will hope. Thus says the Lord God, who made the heaven and fixed it firm, who made the earth and what is in it solid, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk on it: I, the Lord God, have called you in righteousness, and I will hold your hand and strengthen you; and I have given you as a covenant of a race, as a light of nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out of bonds those who are bound, and out of the prison-house those who sit in darkness.” That the words “Jacob my servant, I will take hold of him; Israel my chosen one, my soul has received him” are not prophesied about the Jewish people will be clear to those willing to examine each word of the passage. It is also plain from the exactness of the Hebrew. The name Jacob does not appear in it, nor does the name Israel. For this reason these names are marked with an obelus in the accurate copies of the Seventy. For no one among the righteous except our Savior Jesus Christ is such that these words fit him. Nor was the son of Isaac, called Jacob and Israel, anyone of whom the passage could be said, and I think no one doubts it. Even if someone were to apply “I have put my Spirit upon him” to others, what would he say about “he will bring out judgment for the nations,” and the lines that follow, and above all “and in his name nations will hope”? And how could it be believable to apply to the Jewish people, or to Jacob the son of Isaac himself, or to any other of the righteous, the words “I have given you as a covenant of a race, as a light of nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out of bonds those who are bound, and out of the prison-house those who sit in darkness”?

20b But let these points stand as difficulties we have raised against those of the circumcision. The Gospel, however, teaches us plainly that this prophecy was fulfilled in our Savior Jesus. When the Pharisees went out, they took counsel against him, how they might destroy him. But Jesus knew it and withdrew from there. Many followed him, and he healed them all, and he warned them not to make him known. After this the Gospel adds: “that what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, who says, ‘Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased; I will put my Spirit upon him,’” and the rest, as much as is gathered in the prophecy. So he himself would be the one who was also called Jacob, being the only-begotten servant of God. As it is said elsewhere: “It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, to set up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the dispersed of Israel.” This one, then, heard from the Father, along with the other things, also the words, “I have given you as a covenant of a people, as a light of the nations.” He brought forth judgment to the nations, so that they might live by a settled, sound reasoning according to the holy Gospel. It is plain how the nations that believed in him have hoped in his name. It is plain also how he was shown to be a light of the nations, so that through the light of his word the eyes of the mind were opened, of those who had long been filled with such blindness. He also led out of bonds those who were formerly held fast by the chains of their own sins, and out of the house of the devil’s prison those who sat in darkness through ignorance of the God of the universe. It is left to the one who loves learning to examine each word of the prophecy, and to apply what follows to the Christ of God in keeping with what we have said.

21 “Be my witnesses, and I too am a witness, says the Lord God, and the servant whom I have chosen.” Who could the servant be whom the Lord God has chosen, whom he also counts together with himself as a witness among those who bear witness to him? Surely it is the one of whom it was said in the preceding passage, “Jacob my servant, I will take hold of him,” and so on. These words were clearly shown to have been prophesied of our Savior and Lord Jesus. 22a “I made the earth, and man upon it. I with my hand made firm the heaven; I gave orders to all the stars. I raised him up with righteousness as king, and all his ways are straight. He will build my city, and he will bring back the captivity of my people, not with gifts nor with ransoms, says the Lord Sabaoth. Thus says the Lord Sabaoth: Egypt has labored, and the merchandise of the Ethiopians, and the Sabeans, tall men, will cross over to you and will be your slaves. They will follow behind you in handcuffs, and they will cross over to you and bow down to you, and they will pray in you, because God is in you, and there is no God besides you. For you are God, and we did not know it, the God of Israel, the Savior. All who oppose you will be ashamed and put to shame, and will go in disgrace.” The Father raised Christ from the dead, so that he might be king with righteousness, reigning on Zion, his holy heavenly mountain. He raised him for this reason, because all his ways, it says, have become straight, having nothing crooked or twisted. For he did not commit sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. This one also built the city of God, both his holy church on earth and the heavenly Jerusalem.

22b He did this by bringing back the captivity of his people. That captivity came about long ago under the spiritual Nebuchadnezzar and the evil powers under him. He brought back this captivity without paying a ransom to the captors and without persuading them with gifts. He marched out against them and overcame them by conflict. So, glorying in the achievement, he could say, “I have conquered the world.” The multitudes who have turned back from their former error to know the true God through him bear witness to this. Or else let those of the circumcision say to whom else this prophecy could apply. It clearly confesses as God the one it prophesies about. “For these also,” it says, “will be your slaves, and will follow after you, and will worship you, and will pray in you, because God is in you, and there is no other except you. For you are God, and we did not know it, the God of Israel, the Savior.” Here it is clear that the word addresses the very one of whom it was said, “God is in you,” and says to him, “and there is no other except you; for you are God, and we did not know it.” These words are to be understood as spoken in the person of those who have recognized the Christ of God made man. God the Father happened to be dwelling in him, according to the saying, “I am in the Father, and the Father is in me.”

22c For this reason the words “There is no God except you” fit him alone. The reason is that only the divinity of the Word is united and blended with the Father’s kingdom, and so the glory and rule of both are thought of as one. In the words “Egypt has labored, and the merchandise of the Ethiopians, and the Sabaeans, tall men, will cross over to you,” I think the prophet shows two possibilities. Either certain spiritual opposing powers took up a struggle against Christ and have been made subject to him. Or else these are souls of such a kind, who at first resisted the Word but later took up slavery under him for their own good. I think the words “They will be your slaves, and will follow behind you bound in handcuffs, and will pray in you” are also said of these. But the words “All who oppose you will be ashamed and put to shame, and will go in shame” are prophesied about those who did not repent. They remained enemies and foes, and were by no means willing to take upon themselves the yoke of the word of Christ. So much for what the passage makes clear about Christ. It would also be fitting to set this passage before not only those of the circumcision but also those who suppose the Savior to have been a mere man: the Ebionites, or the followers of Artemon, and Paul of Samosata. For even through these words the divinity of Christ is clearly shown to those who are hard to persuade about him.

23a “Hear me, Jacob, and Israel, whom I call: I am the first, and I am forever. My hand founded the earth, and my right hand made the heaven firm. I will call them together, and they will stand and be gathered and hear. Who announced these things to them? The Lord loved you; I did your will against Babylon, to remove the seed of the Chaldeans. I have spoken, and I have called; I brought him, and I made his way prosper. Draw near to me and hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; when it came to pass, I was there. And now the Lord, the Lord, has sent me, and his Spirit.” The person who speaks all this in the passage is one and the same. Who else could be the Lord who made the heaven and fixed it, and made the earth firm, who says “I am the first, and I am forever,” and who adds in what follows (according to all who have translated the divine Scripture), “And now the Lord God has sent me, and his Spirit”? Who else could he be but the holy Word of God? After the unbegotten beginning, he is named the first God of all created things. Of him it is written elsewhere, “He sent his word and healed them”—

23b For he is the one through whom all things came into being, both those in the heavens and those on the earth, whether visible or invisible. The Lord God the Father sent him, and with him the Holy Spirit, to carry out the plan for the salvation of men. The passage would also suit an argument against the Jews, since it teaches that the Lord who made all things is a different Lord from the God of the universe. He confesses that he was sent by that God when he says, “And now the Lord has sent me.” He is the one to whom the Father speaks, giving his command at the making of the world: “Let there be light,” and “Let this and that come to be,” and also “Let us make man in our image.” In this way it is also written in the Psalms: “He himself spoke, and they came to be; he himself commanded, and they were created.” For it is plain that whoever gives a command and speaks does so to someone other than himself, and gives his orders to that other. To examine each phrase of the passage, however, is not the business of the present work.

24a Psalm 24. “Listen to me, you islands, and pay attention, you nations. After a long time it will stand, says the Lord. From my mother’s womb I called my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword, and under the shelter of his hand he hid me. And he said to me, ‘You are my servant, Israel, and in you I will be glorified.’ And I said, ‘I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for emptiness and for nothing.’ Therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my toil is before my God. And now thus says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to gather Jacob and Israel to himself: I will be gathered and glorified before the Lord, and my God will be my strength. And he said: ‘It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the scattered of Israel. Behold, I have set you as a covenant of the race, as a light of the nations, that you may be salvation to the end of the earth.’ Thus says the Lord, who has delivered you, the God of Israel: ‘Make holy the one who despises his own soul, who is abhorred by the nations, the servants of rulers. Kings will see him, and rulers will rise up and worship him, for the Lord’s sake, because the Holy One of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen you.’ Thus says the Lord: ‘In an acceptable time I heard you, and in a day of salvation I helped you. I formed you and gave you as a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth and to inherit the deserted places, saying to those in bonds, “Come out,” and to those in darkness, “Be uncovered.” They will be fed along all the roads, and their pasture will be on every path. They will not hunger or thirst, neither scorching heat nor sun will strike them; but the one who has mercy on them will comfort them and lead them by springs of water. I will make every mountain a road, and every path a pasture for them.’” Isaiah.

24b 49, 1. It is likely that those of the circumcision suppose that what is said in this prophecy was spoken about themselves, since it says, “And he said to me, You are my servant, Israel, and in you I will be glorified.” But besides the fact that these words do not fit them, it is clearly shown from what follows that the things said are prophesied about another Israel. For it is written, “And now thus says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to gather Jacob and Israel to himself.” And again, “He said to me: It is a great thing for you to be called my child, to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the scattered of Israel.” Moreover the words, “Behold, I have set you as a light of the nations, that you may be salvation to the end of the earth,” point to someone extraordinary and wonderful as the subject. Who could this be but our Lord Jesus Christ? He was already given the names Jacob and Israel earlier in the passages above, in the words, “Jacob is my servant, I will take hold of him; Israel is my chosen one, my soul has welcomed him.” For he alone truly sees God the Father. He is called Israel, which is translated “seeing God,” with respect to his divinity. He is called Jacob, which means “heel-catcher” or “supplanter,” with respect to his becoming man and overcoming all the opposing powers. Notice also how well the two passages agree with each other, the one before us and the one where it was said, “Jacob is my servant,” which refers to Christ. For as it is said there, “Jacob is my servant,” so it is said here, “It is a great thing for you to be called my child.” As it is said there, “Israel is my chosen one,” so here, “For the holy one of Israel is faithful, and I have chosen you.” Again, it is said there, “I have given you as a covenant of a people, as a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out of bonds those who are bound, and from the prison house those who sit in darkness.”

24c But in the passage before us it says, “Behold, I have set you as a light of the nations, to establish the earth and to inherit a desolate inheritance, saying to those in bonds, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be uncovered.’” That these prophecies fit no one but our Savior alone will be clear to those who consider the multitude of the nations who have set their hope on God, the God of all, in him and through him. For these he was set by the Father as a light. When it says, “to establish the earth,” it means to bring the soul, which was long in turmoil and disorder, back to its natural stability and order. And “to inherit a desolate inheritance” points to the church from the nations. Before his coming it was desolate, and it received its inheritance from the one who said to him, “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance.” According to the prophecy about him, he told those in bonds to come out. In the plain sense this was so with Lazarus, who was bound with grave-cloths and had been four days in the tomb. He said, “Lazarus, come out here,” and let him go free. In part, in a deeper sense, it was so with the daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years, and whom he also freed from her weakness and sent away whole. But in general it was so when he gave forgiveness of former sins to all who were held fast by the cords of their own sins, since he alone has authority to forgive sins. Even now, through his teaching, he commands these people to come out of their former bonds, saying to each one, “See, you have become well; sin no more.” Besides these, even now he commands those still buried in ignorance and wickedness to be uncovered. He does this as the Word of God, who tests hearts and kidneys, and who judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. So that we may run through this as briefly as possible, we will also fit the earlier verses to what is said about Christ. We will take them up again from the beginning and set out our understanding of them.

24d Although the prophet has often spoken plainly to the people of the circumcision, and even calls on them by name, whether as Jacob or as Israel, here he does not direct the prophecy to them. Instead he summons islands and nations to listen to what will be said. The Lord’s promise here concerns the calling of the nations, who were formerly wholly unbelieving and strangers to the worship of God. Part of what is meant by “islands” is the souls that once, in a certain way, lay beneath the sea, swamped by the heavy waves of life and by the very salty currents of wickedness. We must then consider what the Lord himself teaches about himself in these words. “From my mother’s womb,” he says, “he called my name.” This clearly refers to Christ, for the words are his, as we have learned from the writing of the Gospel. When Joseph did not understand about Mary’s conception, Gabriel, a servant of the Father’s will, appeared to him in a dream and said, among other things, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people.” The prophecy goes on: “And he made my mouth like a sharp sword.” And again: “He made me like a polished arrow.” For the word of God is active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the dividing of soul and spirit, as the inspired apostle taught. It would be most fitting for this to be said to him alone, since he became obedient to the Father even to death: “You are my servant, Israel, and in you I will be glorified.” The words “And I said, I have labored in vain,” and what follows, could be spoken by the Savior because so few lived according to his Gospel. And since he came only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, it is right to say that he came first of all “to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the dispersion of Israel.”

24e But next, because not all of those people received him, the words are added, addressed to him: “Behold, I have set you as a light for the nations, that you may be for salvation to the end of the earth.” After this the Lord, God and Father, who rescued him from all who gathered against him, commands us to make him holy. He says, “Sanctify the one who despises his soul.” For he truly did despise his own soul. He emptied himself and became a curse for us. He took up our sins and, for our sake, scorned shame, even to death, and death on a cross. After this the text says, “the one abhorred by the nations, the servant of rulers.” It is plain that those enslaved to the rulers of this age not only abhorred him at the time of his suffering, saying, “He is a burden to us even to look at,” but abhor him even now, as they try to overturn his teaching. So the Lord commands that this one be sanctified, foretelling his glorious coming. The prophecy that follows, beginning “I have given you as a covenant of nations” and so on, is a foretelling of the calling of the nations. But these words are more spiritual and are to be explained by their meaning alone, and to examine them at greater length does not belong to the present work.

25a Psalm 25. This is what the Lord says: What is this certificate of divorce of your mother, with which I sent her away? Or to which creditor did I sell you? Look, you were sold for your sins, and for your lawless acts I sent your mother away. For I came, and there was no one who answered. Is my hand not strong enough to redeem? Or do I lack the strength to rescue? Look, at my rebuke I will make the sea a desert, and I will turn rivers into wasteland. Their fish will dry up for lack of water, and they will die of thirst. I will clothe the heaven in darkness, and I will make its covering like sackcloth. The Lord, the Lord, gives me a tongue of instruction, so that I may know when I must speak a word. He appointed it for me early, early in the morning. He added an ear for me to hear, and the instruction of the Lord opens my ears. I am not disobedient, and I do not talk back. I gave my back to the whips, and my cheeks to blows, and I did not turn my face away from the shame of spitting. And the Lord, the Lord, became my helper. Therefore I was not put to shame, but I set my face like solid rock, and I knew that I would not be shamed, for the one who justifies me is near. Who is the one who contends with me? Let him come near. Look, the Lord, the Lord, helps me; who will do me harm? Look, all of you will wear out like a garment, and a moth will eat you up. Who among you fears the Lord? Let him obey the voice of his servant. You who walk in darkness and have no light, trust in the name of the Lord and lean on God. Look, all of you kindle a fire and keep a flame burning. Walk by the light of your fire and by the flame you have kindled. This has happened to you because of me; you will lie down in grief.

25b The passage before us clearly shows the divinity of the Word: that he existed before he became man, and that, having become man, he was going to suffer the things recorded in the Gospels. For who else could be the one who says, “Is my hand not strong enough?”, and what follows up to “I will clothe the heaven in darkness, and make its covering like sackcloth,” if not the Word of God? So the one who said such great things goes on to say, “The Lord gives me a tongue of instruction, so that I may know when I must speak a word.” And then he continues with the rest, saying, “I am not disobedient, and I do not talk back. I have given my back to the whips, and my cheeks to blows,” and so on up to “for the one who justifies me is near.” For we say that the Word suffered by his power, suffering together with the man he had taken up. I do not know, then, whether anyone could give an account of this prophecy who refuses to accept that there is a second subsistence, that of God the Word, after the first and unbegotten one, the Father and God of all. We, however, are rightly convinced that this is plainly God the Word. He is the one who speaks here, among the other things, the words “I will clothe the heaven in darkness,” and who then goes on, in the person of the man he took up, to say, “The Lord gives me a tongue of instruction, so that I may know when I must speak a word.” To whom else but the man of our Savior would it fit to say, “Who is the one who contends with me? Let him stand against me”? Or of whom could the words from “Who among you fears the Lord? Let him obey the voice of his servant” be said, if not of Christ alone? According to the Scriptures he despised shame, emptied himself, and humbled himself even to the whips. According to this very prophecy about him, Pilate had him flogged and handed him over to be crucified. And he endured blows and spitting at the time when the high priest tore his clothes at his words and declared that he had blasphemed.

25c For then they spat in his face and struck him with their fists, and others slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ: who is it that hit you?” The opening part of this passage seems to be spoken about the synagogue of the Jews. For it says, “Behold, you were sold for your sins, and for your lawless deeds I sent away your mother.” For he came to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and found no one among them [who was a real man]. He called them first, but the people were not obeying. So it says, “Because I came and there was no man; I called and there was no one who obeyed.” The last part of the passage, in keeping with this, turns after their rejection to the calling of the Gentiles. It begins at the words, “Who among you fears the Lord? Let him listen to the voice of his servant.” For we were truly the ones walking in darkness. Before the coming of our Savior we had no light. But now, by the grace of God, we trust in the name of the Lord and are firmly supported by God. But to those who did not believe in Christ, to whom the earlier words were also addressed, “Behold, all of you will grow old like a garment, and a moth will eat you up,” the text then adds: “Behold, all of you are kindling a fire,” and what follows. In these words it is clear that the saying “This has happened to you because of me” is spoken in the person of Christ. He is reproaching them and exposing the lawlessness the Jewish people committed against him.

26 Psalm 26. Thus says the Lord: “Because of you my name is continually blasphemed among the nations. Therefore my people will know my name. Therefore on that day they will know that I am the one who speaks. I am here, like the springtime on the mountains, like the feet of one bringing good news, announcing a report of peace, like one bringing good news of good things. For I will make your salvation heard, saying, ‘Your God will reign in Zion.’” This prophecy would fit the Savior very reasonably, since in his coming the words “I am the one who speaks; I am here” were fulfilled. The words “Because of you my name is continually blasphemed among the nations” were spoken to the former people. But the words “Therefore my people will know my name on that day” would be understood of the Gentiles who have believed in him. So he is the same one who earlier spoke to people, sometimes through angels and sometimes through prophets. And then he came to those same people again and proclaimed salvation to all through himself. The lover of learning who investigates this will know what meaning it carries.

27a Psalm 27. “And the Lord will uncover his holy arm before all the nations, and all the nations, the ends of the earth, will see the salvation that comes from God. Depart, depart, go out from there, and touch nothing unclean. Go out from the midst of her and be set apart, you who carry the vessels of the Lord. For you will not go out in confusion, nor will you travel in flight. The Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel who gathers you. Look, my servant will understand, and he will be lifted up and raised very high. Just as many will be astonished at you, so your appearance will be dishonored by men, and your glory by men. In the same way many nations will marvel at him, and kings will shut their mouths. For those to whom nothing was announced about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” (Isaiah 52.) “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We announced it as of a child before him, as a root in a thirsty land. He has no form or glory. We saw him, and he had no form or beauty, but his appearance was without honor, falling short of the sons of men. He was a man under the blow, who knew how to bear weakness, because his face was turned away. He was dishonored and not esteemed. This man bears our sins and is pained for us, and we considered him to be in toil, in affliction and under the blow. But he was wounded for our sins and made weak for our lawless deeds. The discipline that brings our peace was upon him, and by his bruise we were healed. All of us like sheep went astray. Each man went astray in his own way, and the Lord handed him over to our sins. And he, because he was afflicted, does not open his mouth. Like a sheep he was led to slaughter, and like a lamb silent before its shearer, he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. Who will describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth; because of the lawless deeds of my people he was led to death.”

27b “And I will give the wicked in place of his burial, and the rich in place of his death, because he did no lawlessness, and no deceit was found in his mouth. And the Lord wills to cleanse him from the blow. If you give an offering for sin, your soul will see long-lived offspring. And the Lord wills, by his hand, to take away from the toil of his soul, to show him light and to form him with understanding; to justify the righteous one who serves many, and he himself will bear their sins. Therefore he will inherit many, and he will divide the spoils of the strong, because his soul was handed over to death, and he was counted among the lawless. And he himself bore the sins of many, and because of their lawless deeds he was handed over.” (Isaiah 53.) “Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; break out and shout, and be glad, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.” (Isaiah 54.) And when else but at the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ did the Father and God of the universe uncover before the nations his great arm, which is none other than his Word? And when they saw the salvation God had given them, they are commanded to depart from their former error, and no longer to touch the unclean things in which they used to wallow, wrapped up in shameful and defiling practices. It is no small matter to separate oneself from the way of life handed down from one’s fathers and from ordinary association with other people. For this reason the Lord himself promises to travel with them and to gather those who carry his vessels. He clearly means the sacred teachings and the divine words. Again, as in the earlier prophecies Christ was named in various ways the servant of God, so it is said here too. It is prophesied that he will understand, be lifted up, and be exceedingly glorified, with reference to his human nature, about which these things are said. In truth many were astonished and at a loss over him, having supposed him to be a man like themselves.

27c They were truly astonished, because they saw him clothed in no superiority or worldly glory. He had laid aside the form of God, emptied himself and taken the form of a slave, and he performed marvels that deserved astonishment and amazement. So those who watched were struck with wonder and said, “Is this not the son of Joseph? Are his mother and his brothers not here among us?” Even to this day very many are astonished at him and at a loss. They see that his teaching has run through the whole world and is running still, and they observe the unshaken, unchanging devotion of those who have believed in him. They marvel at these things, but they do not understand the divine power by which he worked then, and by which he is still able to work such great things now. Kings truly did hold and shut their mouths before him. These were either those gathered against him at his passion (of whom it was said, “The kings of the earth stood by, and the rulers were gathered together against the same one”), or else the rulers of the nations in every age. They shut their mouths because they often tried to hinder his word and his teaching. Yet he prevailed none the less, and shone out, glorified and lifted up on high. So he made himself known not only to those who had received the prophecies about him from their fathers but, most astonishing of all, to those to whom nothing had ever been announced about him. That means us, the nations. We had heard nothing at all from our ancestors and had learned nothing beforehand about his coming. Yet we understood that he had come, and we accepted the prophecies about him. The prophet foresaw all this in the Spirit and cries out in wonder, “Lord, who has believed our report?” This is not the same as saying “No one has believed our report.” For clearly great multitudes from the nations, and some even of the circumcision, have believed the report about Christ. He also says, “And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” That is, the Word of God, who existed before.

27d The Word himself teaches this at the beginning of the prophecy, saying, “And the Lord will reveal his holy arm before all the nations.” Next they say, “We announced before him like a child, like a root in a thirsty land. He has no form or glory, and we saw him, and he had no form or beauty,” and what follows. These things too have been fulfilled. He emptied himself of the form of God. He did not take on the handsome and dignified appearance that people admire, and he did not pass through his human life with glory among men or with any cloak of worldly superiority. He took the form of a slave and servant, humbled himself, and became truly man, “a man in affliction who knows how to bear weakness.” The glorious and divine face of his deity was turned away and hidden. For this reason he was dishonored by those who understood only his humanity. Among them he was not counted as the Son of God, and not even as an ordinary righteous man. Those who shared the mind of the Spirit in this say, as though explaining the reason for such a plan and teaching it, “This one bears our sins and is in pain for us.” For as prophets they saw how he would become the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Next they add, “But we reckoned him to be in toil, in affliction and in ill-treatment. But he was wounded because of our lawless deeds.” He was wounded in power when they picked up stones to throw at him. “And he has been made weak,” it says, “because of our sins.” For Christ shared the weakness of the weak even more than Paul, and could have said, “Who is weak, and I am not weak?” The prophet confesses that all this was suffered by the one the passage is about for the sake of himself and all the people. For he says, “He was wounded because of our lawless deeds, and he has been made weak because of our sins.” Counting himself among them, he adds, “By his bruise we were healed.”

27e The prophet saw clearly the error that the whole circumcised people would fall into over him. He also saw that there is no man who will not sin, even one who seems the most righteous of all. So he adds: “All we like sheep have gone astray; each man has strayed from his own way; and the Lord gave him up for our sins.” The things that follow these words are plainly shown to have found their fulfilment in our Savior Jesus alone. So we may well wonder at the hardness of those of the former people who do not accept him. Their excuse is what they did to him. They are accustomed to laugh and sneer at it, as if he suffered things unworthy of God’s care for him. Yet the prophet cries out clearly about him, besides what has been said, that “like a sheep he was led to slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer he is silent; so he does not open his mouth,” and that “his life is taken away from the earth.” Who would not marvel at what is added to all these things, hearing the prophet say, “Because of the transgressions of my people he was led to death”? What could they find to say against this, those who heard the voice of Christ with their ears and did not understand, and who looked at his coming with their very eyes and did not see? For what other righteous man could they set before us who was led to death for their sins? Who has ever been such a person as to bear the sins of the whole people, and of the prophets themselves, and to suffer pain for them, so that they all confess they are healed by his wound, saying, “This man bears our sins and suffers pain for us, and by his wound we have been healed”? And who, having a human nature, could be such that he never sinned in word or deed, so that the divine Scripture speaks truly about him when it says, “he did no lawlessness, nor was deceit in his mouth”? For what reason, then, does the word foretell that the one who is so attested will be led like a sheep to slaughter, and will be condemned to death because of the lawlessness of the people?

27f Let them also say whether the Christ they expect to come will undergo all the things that the prophecies announce about him, or whether nothing of the kind will happen to him. But if they stumble over faith in him because of what happened to our Savior, they could not say such things about the one they are expecting. Then, by their reckoning, the divine words must be declared incomplete and plainly false. But that is not so by our reckoning. To us the message about him was not announced by our fathers, and nothing about him was handed down. Yet we saw him and received him, as it is said in another place: “A people whom I did not know served me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me.” Throughout the whole prophecy, what concerns him is set out more fully and more clearly. The destruction that overtook those who plotted against him is also made plain in the words: “And I will give the wicked in return for his burial, and the rich in return for his death, because he did no lawlessness, nor was deceit in his mouth.” For the prophet says they killed him though he was such a man, and that this is why they would suffer such things. Next after this, the church from the nations is announced as good news. She is compared with the former people and preferred before them in the words: “Rejoice, barren woman who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor, for the children of the desert are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.” The matters in this passage need much searching and examination. Whoever cares about the Savior’s command, which says, “Search the Scriptures, in which you think you have eternal life, and these are the ones that testify about me,” will search more carefully and come to know what is in them.

28a Psalm 28 [Isaiah 55]. “Listen to me, and you will eat good things, and your soul will delight itself in good things. Turn your ears to me and follow my ways. Listen to me, and your soul will live in good things, and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the faithful holy things of David. See, I have given him as a witness among the nations, a ruler and commander among the nations. See, nations that do not know you will call upon you, and peoples who do not understand you will take refuge in you, for the sake of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, because he has glorified you.” The passage takes these words to mean spiritual food, a divine and heavenly delight, and also a life that is not the ordinary life of the flesh but the everlasting life of the soul. The same people are promised, in advance, that an everlasting covenant will be made with them, and it says that this covenant will contain “the faithful holy things of David.” What, then, could this covenant be? After the temporary covenant given through Moses, a new and everlasting covenant is to be given to those whom the word addresses. It is the new writing of the holy Gospels. It contains “the holy things of David” because of Jesus, the Christ of God, who was born from David’s seed. God says that he has given this Jesus as a witness not to Israel but to the nations, to rule over them and give them commands, and not to the former people, those of the circumcision. These nations had never known him before. When they came to know that he is the Son of God, they called on him as Savior and God. And we ourselves, who had never known him at all, have taken refuge in him. We have escaped our former error and the slavery under the opposing powers.

28b “You will become these things,” says the prophecy, “for the sake of the Lord his God, because he has glorified him.” It is plain how the Father glorified him: by the voice that came to him from heaven, “I have glorified him, and I will glorify him again.” Notice, too, whether the earlier passage is not closely related to the words here, which say, “Nations that do not know you will call upon you, and peoples who did not know you will take refuge in you.” There it was said that those to whom nothing was announced about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand. Similar to these are the words in the seventeenth Psalm, spoken in the person of Christ: “A people whom I did not know served me; at the hearing of the ear it obeyed me.” We, then, believe that the prophecies are true, and we are persuaded that they were fulfilled at the coming of our Savior. We see for ourselves how we were once wandering nations, driven by cruel demons into every form of idolatry. We did not know the one true God, and we did not listen to the voice of the prophets. Through the teaching of our Savior Jesus we have come to the knowledge of the God of all. We have believed the God-inspired Scriptures, and we have received the Word of God whom the prophets foretold, though before this we did not know him at all. Having received so great a benefit through our Savior’s teaching, how could we not rightly welcome him and worship him as God, since he is the Son of our God and our own Savior?

29a Psalm 29. “See how the righteous man is taken away, and no one takes it to heart. Righteous men are taken away, and no one understands. For the righteous man has been taken away from the face of injustice; his burial will be in peace; he has been taken from the midst. But you, come here, lawless sons, offspring of adulterers and a prostitute. In whom have you delighted yourselves? Against whom have you opened your mouth? Against whom have you let your tongue hang loose? Are you not children of destruction, a lawless offspring?” (Isaiah 57:1). Of all who have ever been called righteous, the Christ of God alone has been shown to be truly such. For this reason he alone, properly speaking, may be called the Righteous One, so that the prophecy says of him, “See how the righteous man is taken away.” From what he is taken away, the prophecy adds in the words, “For the righteous man has been taken away from the face of injustice.” Who it is that takes him away, you can hear from his own words: “No one takes my soul from me; I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again” (John 10:18). Then the prophecy says, “His burial will be in peace.” Here we should note that the prophetic Scripture points not only to his death but also to his burial. This is why the holy apostle, writing to the Corinthians, says, “For I handed on to you among the first things what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried” (1 Corinthians

29b 15:3). Which Scriptures does he mean, if not those that say, “From the lawless acts of my people he was led to death,” and “His burial is in peace”? Nor is the righteous man just mentioned the only one taken from the midst of injustice. The prophecy says that righteous men too are taken away. These would be the holy apostles of Christ and his admirable martyrs, who are themselves called righteous by sharing in his righteousness. While these things were being carried out, it says, no one looked and no one understood. It clearly means those whose heart had grown thick and who had shut their eyes so as not to see. To them the rest of the prophecy is addressed, from the words, “But you, come here, lawless sons, offspring of adulterers and a prostitute.” 30 Psalm 30. “And those from the west will fear the name of the Lord, and those from the rising of the sun his glorious name. For anger from the Lord will come like a violent river; it will come with fury. And the Deliverer will come for Zion’s sake, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob, said the Lord. And this is my covenant with them from me: my Spirit, which is upon you, and the words which I have put in your mouth will not fail from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, said the Lord, from now and forever” (Isaiah 59:19). Here again the passage prophesies the calling of the church gathered from the nations through our Savior. Who else could those “from the west” be? And through whom did the people of every nation come to fear the name of the Lord, if not through the teaching of Jesus? Through it they left behind their former error, the darkness of ignorance, and fled for refuge to the God of all. Who is the one prophesied to come from Zion, to deliver Jacob and turn him from his former ungodliness? Is he not the one who came to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel, who had fallen into ungodliness? To them, it says, the Spirit of God in Christ will make a covenant, namely the words of eternal life, which the Father has given into the mouth of the Son. These words, it says, will not fail from his mouth, nor from the mouth of his offspring, from now and for all time. These would be the words of the gospel of the new covenant. Many plotted against them long ago, and still plot against them now, yet they did not fail and never will fail from the mouth of the church, which was formed from the rational and spiritual offspring of Christ. For the Lord has spoken, and he has declared that they will not be blotted out, from now and forever. For this reason, according to John, the gospel of Christ is seen as an “eternal gospel” (Revelation 14:6).

31a Psalm 31 (Isaiah 61:1). “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because of which he anointed me. The Lord has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to proclaim the Lord’s acceptable year and the day of recompense to our God; to comfort all who mourn, to give to those who mourn in Zion glory instead of ashes, the oil of gladness for those who mourn, a garment of glory instead of a spirit of weariness. And they will be called generations of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for glory.” This is Jesus, the Christ of God, who came forth from the root of Jesse. On him the seven Spirits of God have come to rest. He loved righteousness and hated lawlessness, and he was anointed by God his Father with what is called the spiritual oil of gladness. Once, in the time when he had become man, he took Isaiah in his hands and read this passage. Then he closed the book and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled.” For he was in truth the one sent from the Father to bring the good news of the kingdom of heaven to those who are poor in spirit. To them he also said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” He was sent also to heal those who are broken in heart, of whom it is said, “God will not despise a broken and humbled heart.” Beyond this, he came to proclaim the forgiveness of sins to those who long ago had been taken captive by the spiritual Nebuchadnezzar. That is why he said boldly to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven you.” He also came to give sight to those whose mind’s eyes were damaged and who, like Samson and Zedekiah, had been blinded by spiritual foreigners and Babylonians. Among those whom he healed were also the physically blind. He made them see when they believed in him and cried out loudly, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”

31b He is also the one who called “the Lord’s acceptable year,” which he proclaimed after John was shut up in prison. He taught about the kingdom of God and about our judgment, in which each person will be given the penalty his deeds deserve. Beyond this, he came to comfort those who mourn with the praiseworthy mourning that is according to God. He promised them a blessing when he said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” He came, moreover, so that glory might be given to those who mourn in Zion. Who could these be but those who seek their own homeland and keep alive the constant memory of the heavenly city? Such was the man who knew himself to be a stranger and sojourner on the earth, and who groaned, “Woe to me, that my sojourning has been prolonged.” Such too are those who wept by the rivers of Babylon when they remembered Zion. To these the Christ of God fulfills the comfort he promised to those who mourn. He will give them glory when they are released from mourning. In place of the ashes they sharpened for themselves by mourning in this present life, he will give the oil of gladness, anointing them also with the oil of rejoicing. So they will become sharers in his anointing and his kingdom, and can say themselves, “For we have become partakers of Christ.” The Christ also prophesies that he will give to those who mourn in Zion “a garment of glory instead of a spirit of weariness.” They had grown weary over the affairs of this life, as people displeased with what human beings do. They mourned most of all for this reason: not only because they saw God’s promises from far off, but also because, out of sympathy and love for humanity, they suffered and grieved with their own weak fellow members. They all but cry out, in the apostle’s own spirit, “Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn?”

32 Psalm 32. “Let my soul rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation and a tunic of gladness. He has set a turban on me as on a bridegroom, and has adorned me with finery as a bride. And as the earth makes its flower grow, and as a garden makes its seeds spring up, so the Lord, the Lord, will cause righteousness to spring up, and rejoicing, before all the nations.” (Isaiah 61:10) The soul of our Lord Jesus Christ is the one of which he said, “My soul is deeply grieved,” (Matthew 26:38) and “Now my soul is troubled.” (John 12:27) It rejoices and is glad in none of the created things, but in the Father and Lord alone. For the garment of deity clothed him, and the tunic of true and perfect gladness. He was also the bridegroom of the church, the bride who has no spot or wrinkle, and for this reason the turban was set on her as on a bridegroom. And the bride belongs to the deity that is raised high above all blame, and he adorned her as a bride with the adornment that suits the Spirit of the Lord. He also cultivated her as a fruitful and good land, and as a garden growing and flourishing with the shoots in it, with which the great paradise of God is also said to be planted. The text says these things will be so because the Lord is righteous, and is God not only of the Jews but also of the nations. He has caused his own righteousness to spring up, that is, his Christ, before all the nations that believe through him.

33a Psalm 33. “Raise a signal for the nations. For see, the Lord has made it heard to the end of the earth. Say to the daughter of Zion: See, your savior has come, having his own reward with him, and his work before his face. And he will call him a holy people, redeemed by the Lord. And you will be called a city sought after, and not forsaken.” (Isaiah 62:10) “Who is this who has come from Edom, with the redness of his garments from Bosor? So beautiful in his robe, in forceful strength? I speak righteousness and a judgment of salvation. Why are your garments red, and your clothing like that of one who has trodden a full winepress? I am full of what has been trampled, and of the nations there was no man with me, and I trampled them in my anger.” (Isaiah 63:1) Here again the prophecy commands us to take up a signal for the church from the nations, promising that the Lord will make something heard to the end of the earth. This has reached its fulfillment at the coming of our Savior Jesus, when the sound of his apostles went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. Next it says: “Say to the daughters of Zion,” that is, to the churches from the nations. For these would be daughters of the heavenly Zion, who is our mother, according to the apostle. “See, your savior is coming, having his own reward with him” (Galatians 4:26) and what follows. By these words the second coming of Christ is made clear, when he will come as judge to give each person the wages for their present labors, and to repay now each person for the wicked things he has done. Next, as though asking a question, the text says: “Who is this who comes from Edom, with the redness of his garments (which is translated ‘earthy’), the redness of his garments from Bosor?”

33b “So beautiful in his robe.” He seems to say this in wonder that even after becoming man, after emptying himself, after living on earth, after the suffering and the descent to the dead, the Savior is still beautiful and radiant. His beauty was not marred in any way. He took on no filth, stain or blemish from the material and bodily condition of earthly, human affairs. The prophet is also struck with awe at his strength, for he fought down the whole army of the devil. He goes on: “So beautiful in his robe, with force and might?” To this question the Savior answers, teaching who he is, and says, “I speak righteousness and a judgment of salvation.” Then the word speaks to him again, as if because of the suffering: “Why are your garments red?” and what follows. As the Lamb of God, who took the sins of the world upon himself, he put on garments reddened by our sins. This is why Zechariah the prophet says, “And Jesus was clothed in filthy garments.” These were the garments made of our sins. For that reason it was said a little earlier, “This man bears our sins and is pained for us,” although he himself “committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.” Again the Savior answers the question and teaches where his garments became red: from the nations. Without any human being working with him, he alone subjected these nations, by trampling down the whole opposing power of the evil spirits that were hostile to him.

34 Psalm 34. “And the Lord remembered the days of old; he who brought up out of the earth the great shepherd of the sheep, who put the Holy Spirit in them.” Who else could be the one the Lord brought up out of the earth, the shepherd of God’s sheep, but our Savior, who came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel? For he is the good shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep. The Father brought him up out of the earth and raised him to the highest place, giving him the name that is above every name. 35a Psalm 35. “The city of your holy one has become a desert. Zion has become like a desert, Jerusalem a curse. Our holy house, and the glory which our fathers blessed, has been burned with fire. All our glorious things have fallen in ruins. And after all this you held back, Lord, and kept silent, and humbled us exceedingly. I became visible to those who were not asking for me. I was found by those who were not seeking me. I said, ‘Here I am,’ to a nation that did not call on my name. But I spread out my hands all day long to a disobedient and contrary people, who did not walk in a true way, but after their own sins.” Here too, the rejection of Israel is first prophesied, and next the choosing of the nations through Christ is shown. The prophet sends up a prayer in the person of the people, and the Word answers, exposing the hardness and disobedience of the former people and showing his own love for mankind. “How can you say these things,” he says, “as though I were slow to save you? Indeed, to those who did not ask me and did not seek me, I openly showed myself.”

35b It is quite clear how the Word of God, who was formerly unknown to the nations, became visible to them at the end of the ages, through the goodness and love for mankind of the Father and God of all. Because of the error they held about idols, they had never asked him about the things they needed. He was found by us, who had not sought him. Though we had not even called on his name, he became man and answered, all but crying out, “Here I am.” So the passage clearly prophesies about the calling of the nations. Then it turns again to the people of the Jews and, in a most shaming way, says, “But I spread out my hands to you, to a disobedient and contrary people.” Through these words the shape of his suffering on the cross can also be indicated. That is all for the passages from Isaiah. In these four books I have outlined the subject of the Extracts, within this ninth treatise of the General Elementary Introduction. In the tenth I will try to offer another fitting approach to those whose reasoning has been damaged by godless heresies.