Isaiah 1:19

Isa 1:19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

Ver. 19. If ye be willing and obedient.] If ye love God and keep his commandments; {Exo 20:6} if ye love to be his servants; {Isa 56:6} willing in all things to live honestly. {Heb 13:18} Tantum velis et Deus tibi praecurret. {a} Say thou canst not open the door, yet be lifting at the latch; ever holding that of Augustine, Nolentem praevenit Deus ut velit, volentem subsequitur ne frustra velit. {b} It is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his own good pleasure. {Php 2:13} Augustine, after Paul, stood so much for free grace, that the Papists say he yielded too little to freewill.

Ye shall eat the good things of the land.] Ye shall, and not strangers for you. {as Isa 1:7} The Easterlings shall not eat thy fruit, nor drink thy milk. {as Eze 25:4} Thine enemies shall not eat thy grain, nor the sons of the stranger drink thy wine; but they that have gathered it shall eat it and praise the Lord, and they that have brought it together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. {Isa 62:8-9} Godliness hath a cornucopia; religion is the right palladium {c} of a nation. The heathen poet could acknowledge that, as long as Rome stood religious, so long she continued victorious and prosperous; as, on the contrary,

“ Dii multa neglect; dederunt

Hesperiae mala luctuosae. ” - Horat.

Italy was undone by irreligion. The Greek empire had not fallen from the Paleologi to the Turks had the Christian verity stood firm in Constantinople. Cicero confesseth that the instruments by which the Romans subdued the world were not strength and policy, but religion and piety. {d} Wherefore also Maecenas in Dio Cassius adviseth Augustus παντη παντως, by all means and at all times, to advance the worship of God, to cause others to do the same, and not suffer innovations in religion.

{a} Basil., Conc. de Prodigo.

{b} Enchir., id., cap. 32.

{c} transf. and fig. Anything on which the safety of a nation, institution, privilege, etc. is believed to depend; a safeguard, protecting institution.

{d} Non caliditate et robore, sed pietate et religione omnes gentes superastis. - Orat de Art. Respons., lib. iii.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Isa_1:19-20

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land

The obligation of all who have received the revealed will of God to conform thereto

The text, involving the great truth which is evidently implied therein, is the sanction with which the whole of the chapter is enforced.

I. IT IS THE BOUNDEN OBLIGATION OF ALL WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE REVEALED WILL OF GOD, WHETHER NATIONS OR INDIVIDUALS, TO ABIDE BY THAT WILL,--as well in the regulation of their faith and practice, as in the order and management of their affairs, in the formation and execution of their laws; and to admit of no other principle, nor to walk by any other rule whatsoever. Consider--

1. Whose revelation it is for a devout and universal conformity to which we plead.

2. For what purpose God has been pleased to make known His mind and will to us.

3. The wonderful adaptation of this heavenly will to all our wants and circumstances.

4. The deplorable condition of man without such a light from heaven.

5. It is by Gods revealed will we shall all be judged at last.

II. THE CONSEQUENCES of adhering to, or swerving from, that Divine revelation, in either respect. We can never suppose that God will permit any nation or individual to disbelieve or disregard His Word with impunity; nor can we imagine that He will suffer any nation or individual, obeying His voice, to go without His blessing.

III. SOME OBJECTIONS WHICH MAY BE URGED.

1. All this applies to Israel of old, as a peculiar nation, raised up in a particular manner, for a special purpose. But is not He, who was their God, the God of all the families of the earth?

2. But does the Old Testament equally apply to us as the New? Undoubtedly.

3. Do we meet with any intimation of this kind in the New Testament? Certainly. (Mat_5:17-18; Rom_15:4; 1Co_10:11.)

4. How is it possible, amidst a mixed description of character, to bring about such a state of things? Try and leave the issue with God.

5. But would you have everything to be based upon the Divine Word Yes, everything. I would wish to see the whole nation living in the fear of God, and striving to promote His glory. (R. Shittler.)

Sincere obedience accepted

He doth not say, If you be perfectly obedient, but willingly so; for if there be a willing mind it is accepted. (M. Henry.)

Guilt embitters creature comforts

If sin be pardoned, creature comforts become comforts indeed. (M. Henry.)

Mistaken economy

Close to Port Arthur in the Canadian Dominion there is a little island named Silver Island. It was known that silver was there, and a few Canadian gentlemen united in explorations. Most of them, however, objected to the necessary outlay on works, and sold their claims to an American Company. The Americans began to dig, and found silver not only in rich veins, but also in thick, solid sheets. The Canadians bitterly lamented their folly in not spending the money which would have secured the treasure, but it was too late. There are those who, though called to enrich themselves both for time and eternity, are unwilling to give up the sins they find so pleasant. They will not pay the preliminary price, and discover when too late how much they have missed. Others have paid the price; they have secured the treasure, but when regrets are unavailing, the lovers of the present world see what a fatal mistake they have made, and have a dark eternity in which to meditate on their folly. (Gates of Imagery.)

The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it

The infallibility of Scripture

What Isaiah said was, therefore, spoken by Jehovah. All Scripture, being inspired of the Spirit, is spoken by the mouth of God. The like valuation of the Word of the Lord is seen in our Lords apostles; for they treated the ancient Scriptures as supreme in authority, and supported their statements with passages from Holy Writ.

I. THIS IS OUR WARRANT FOR TEACHING SCRIPTURAL TRUTH. It would not be worth our while to speak what Isaiah had spoken, if in it there was nothing more than Isaiahs thought; neither should we care to meditate hour after hour upon the writings of Paul, if there was nothing more than Paul in them. We feel no imperative call to expound and to enforce what has been spoken by men; but, since the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, it is woe unto us if we preach not the Gospel!

1. The true preacher, the man whom God has commissioned, delivers his message with awe and trembling, because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. He bears the burden of the and bows under it. They called George Fox a Quaker, because when he spoke he would quake exceedingly through the force of the truth which he so thoroughly apprehended. Martin Luther, who never feared the face of man, yet declared that when he stood up to preach he often felt his knees knock together under a sense of his great responsibility. Woe unto us if we dare to speak the Word of the Lord with less than our whole heart and soul and strength! Woe unto us if we handle the Word as if it were an occasion for display!

2. Because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken the truth of God, we therefore endeavour to preach it with absolute fidelity. It is not ours to correct the Divine revelation, but simply to echo it.

3. Again, as the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, we speak the Divine truth with courage and full assurance. Modesty is a virtue; but hesitancy, when we are speaking for the Lord, is a great fault. Those who fling aside our Masters authority may very well reject our testimony: we are content they should do so. But, if we speak that which the mouth of the Lord hath spoken, those who hear His Word and refuse it, do so at their own peril.

We are urged to be charitable. We are charitable; but it is with our own money. We have no right to give away what is put into our trust and is not at our disposal. When we have to do with the truth of God we are stewards, and must deal with our Lords exchequer, not on the lines of charity to human opinions, but by the rule of fidelity to the God of truth.

4. Because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, we feel bound to speak His Word with diligence, as often as ever we can, and with perseverance, as long as ever we live. Surely, it would be a blessed thing to die in the pulpit; spending ones last breath in acting as the Lords mouth. Dumb Sabbaths are fierce trials to true preachers. Remember how John Newton, when he was quite unfit to preach, and even wandered a bit by reason of his infirmities and age, yet persisted in preaching; and when they dissuaded him, he answered with warmth, What! Shall the old African blasphemer leave off preaching Jesus Christ while there is breath in his body! So they helped the old man into the pulpit again, that he might once more speak of free grace and dying love.

5. If we get a right apprehension concerning Gospel truth--that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it--it will move us to tell it out with great ardour and zeal. How can you keep back the heavenly news? Whisper it in the ear of the sick; shout it in the corner of the streets; write it on your tablets; send it forth from the press; but everywhere let this be your great motive and warrant--you preach the Gospel because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

II. THIS IS THE CLAIM OF GODS WORD UPON YOUR ATTENTION.

1. Every word which God has given us in this Book claims our attention, because of the infinite majesty of Him that spake it.

2. Gods claim to be heard lies also in the condescension which has led Him to speak to us.

3. Gods Word should win your ear because of its intrinsic importance. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it--then it is no trifle. God never speaks vanity. No line of His writing treats of the frivolous themes of a day. Concerning eternal realities He speaks to thee.

4. Depend upon it, if the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, there is an urgent, pressing necessity. God breaks not silence to say that which might as well have remained unsaid. His voice indicates great urgency.

III. THIS GIVES TO GODS WORD A VERY SPECIAL CHARACTER.

1. In the Word of God the teaching has unique dignity. This Book is inspired as no other book is inspired, and it is time that all Christians avowed this conviction. I do not know whether you have seen Mr. Smiles life of our late friend, George Moore; but in it we read that, at a certain dinner party, a learned man remarked that it would not be easy to find a person of intelligence who believed in the inspiration of the Bible. In an instant George Moores voice was beard across the table, saying boldly, I do, for one. Nothing more was said. Let us not be backward to take the old-fashioned and unpopular side, and say outright, I do, for one. Where are we if our Bibles are gone? Where are we if we are taught to distrust them! It is better to believe what comes out of Gods mouth, and be called a fool, than to believe what comes out of the mouth of philosophers, and be, therefore, esteemed a wise man.

2. There is also about that which the mouth of the Lord hath spoken an absolute certainty. What man has said is unsubstantial, even when true. But with Gods Word you have something to grip at, something to have and to hold.

3. Again, if the mouth of the Lord hatch spoken it, we have in this utterance the special character of immutable fixedness. Once spoken by God, not only is it so now, but it always must be so. One said to his minister, My dear sir, surely you ought to adjust your beliefs to the progress of science. Yes, said he, but I have not had time to do it today, for I have not yet read the morning papers. One would have need to read the morning papers and take in every new edition to know where about scientific theology now stands; for it is always chopping and changing.

4. Here let me add that there is something unique about Gods Word, because of the Almighty power which attends it. Where the word of a king is, there is power; where the Word of a God is, there is omnipotence.

IV. THIS MAKES GODS WORD A GROUND OF GREAT ALARM TO MANY. Shall I read you the whole verse! But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. God has never yet spoken a threatening that has fallen to the ground. It is of no avail to sit down, and draw inferences from the nature of God, and to argue, God is love, and therefore He will not execute the sentence upon the impenitent. He knows what He will do better than you can infer; He has not left us to inferences, for He has spoken pointedly and plainly.

V. THIS MAKES THE WORD OF THE LORD THE REASON AND REST OF OUR FAITH. The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, is the foundation of our confidence. There is forgiveness; for God has said it. I think I hear some child of God saying, God has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, but I am in great trouble; all the circumstances of my life seem to contradict the promise: yet, the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, and the promise must stand. Believe God in the teeth of circumstances. By and by we shall come to die. Oh, that then, like the grand old German emperor, we may say, Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, and, He hath helped me with His name. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

SINNERS SELF-DESTROYED

Isa_1:19. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Delitsch translates—“If ye then shall willingly hear, ye shall eat the good of the land; if ye shall obstinately rebel, ye shall be eaten by the sword: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it.”

Strachey translates—“If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall feed on the good of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, the sword shall feed on you,” which brings out one of the contrasts of the verse still more clearly. “The promise of eating, i.e., of the full enjoyment of domestic blessings, and therefore of settled, peaceful rest at home, is placed in contrast with the curse of being eaten with the sword.”—Delitsch.

Note the close connection between these verses and Isa_1:18. God condescends to invite rebels to a conference with Himself, He is willing to grant them the fullest forgiveness; but it is on the condition of future obedience. On this condition He is prepared to do more than forgive them,—He will enrich them with all needful blessings, of which peaceful enjoyment of the fruits of the earth is here named as a symbol; but if they will not listen to His invitation, accept His gracious offer, and yield the obedience He righteously demands, then the vengeance they have deserved will come upon them. They have the matter entirely in their own hands; it rests with them to determine whether their future shall be one of happiness or misery. Thus we are led to the great doctrine of these verses, that sinners are self-destroyed.

This is a doctrine frequently insisted on in Scripture (Eze_33:11; 2Sa_14:14; Hos_13:9; 2Pe_3:9). It is true in a twofold sense.

1. They sin voluntarily. God never foreordained any man to work iniquity [415] Some are indeed surrounded from their birth by evil influences, and on this account, as well as on account of that corrupt nature which we all inherit, they do sinful acts from their infancy, but they do not sin until the dawn of moral consciousness; and after that, every act of iniquity they perpetrate they perpetrate voluntarily.

2. They suffer voluntarily. They do not merely expose themselves to the penalty of sin, they take it upon them voluntarily. God offers to remit it, on condition of their repentance, but they reject the proffered boon; like a suicide who repels the surgeon who would close his bleeding wounds.

[415] The argument which the fatalist bases upon organisation is self-annihilating when applied to the common relations of life. The fatalist himself does not believe in his own doctrine; in speculative reasoning he is eager to charge moral crime upon organic defect; yet, in practical magistracy, he arraigns and condemns the criminal to punishment. But how monstrous an outrage is this upon his own creed! The criminal was compelled through stress of organisation to commit the crime, yet the fatalist punishes him for doing what he could not help! Let the principle of the fatalist be admitted, and there is an end to all legislation—an end, indeed, to the social compact itself. All associated life is regulated by a system of restraints; but restraint implies self-control, and self-control is directly opposed to fatalism. Let a criminal plead that he could not help committing a certain crime; and if the judge allow the plea, he will at once treat the criminal as a lunatic, and instruct the officers of justice accordingly. Magistracy proceeds upon the principle that men can “help” committing crime. All human legislation assumes a man’s power of self-regulation, and grounds itself on the grand doctrine of man’s responsibility to man. At this point, upon the same principle in relation to God. Theology says, You hold yourselves responsible to one another on all social matters, you punish the criminal, you ignore the plea of fatalism on all questions of property, order, and security; now go further, heighten your own social base, carry out to their logical issues your own principles and methods, and you will reach all that God requires of man. If it be urged that God gave the criminal his organisation, the objection does not touch the argument. The argument is, that in human consciousness the plea of fatalism is ignored on all practical matters; away beyond all written statutes there is a conviction that man can regulate his actions, and ought to be held responsible for such regulation. Man himself thus, by his own conduct and his own law, acquits God of all charge upon this matter; the very recognition by the magistrate of man’s responsibility is itself a direct acquittal of God from the accusations of fatalism. God need not be interrogated upon the subject, for the magistrate himself, faithful to the consciousness of universal humanity, treats the fatalistic theory as an absurdity.—Joseph Parker.

In this fact that sinners thus destroy themselves we have—

I. A terrible illustration of the depth of human depravity. Sinners not only hate God so much as to break His laws, but so much as to harden themselves against His love, and to reject His mercy.

II. A sufficient vindication of the severities of the Divine justice.

1. No sinner in hell will be able to reproach God for his misery.

2. We who contemplate the awful fact that human souls are suffering in hell have no right to reproach God for their sufferings. These sufferers deliberately turned their backs upon God and heaven, and went of their own accord to perdition.

Application.—

1. Before you to-day blessing and cursing, life and death are set: choose ye which ye will.

2. “If ye be willing” God will open to you all the treasures of His grace. But not otherwise! He will compel no man to accept His mercy.

3. Whatever be your choice, God will ratify it. If you choose destruction, you shall have it, and then you will not be able to revoke your choice (Pro_1:22-31) [418]

[418] The argument which the fatalist bases upon organisation is self-annihilating when applied to the common relations of life. The fatalist himself does not believe in his own doctrine; in speculative reasoning he is eager to charge moral crime upon organic defect; yet, in practical magistracy, he arraigns and condemns the criminal to punishment. But how monstrous an outrage is this upon his own creed! The criminal was compelled through stress of organisation to commit the crime, yet the fatalist punishes him for doing what he could not help! Let the principle of the fatalist be admitted, and there is an end to all legislation—an end, indeed, to the social compact itself. All associated life is regulated by a system of restraints; but restraint implies self-control, and self-control is directly opposed to fatalism. Let a criminal plead that he could not help committing a certain crime; and if the judge allow the plea, he will at once treat the criminal as a lunatic, and instruct the officers of justice accordingly. Magistracy proceeds upon the principle that men can “help” committing crime. All human legislation assumes a man’s power of self-regulation, and grounds itself on the grand doctrine of man’s responsibility to man. At this point, upon the same principle in relation to God. Theology says, You hold yourselves responsible to one another on all social matters, you punish the criminal, you ignore the plea of fatalism on all questions of property, order, and security; now go further, heighten your own social base, carry out to their logical issues your own principles and methods, and you will reach all that God requires of man. If it be urged that God gave the criminal his organisation, the objection does not touch the argument. The argument is, that in human consciousness the plea of fatalism is ignored on all practical matters; away beyond all written statutes there is a conviction that man can regulate his actions, and ought to be held responsible for such regulation. Man himself thus, by his own conduct and his own law, acquits God of all charge upon this matter; the very recognition by the magistrate of man’s responsibility is itself a direct acquittal of God from the accusations of fatalism. God need not be interrogated upon the subject, for the magistrate himself, faithful to the consciousness of universal humanity, treats the fatalistic theory as an absurdity.—Joseph Parker.

THE CERTAINTY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE IMPENITENT

Isa_1:19. If ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

Let a man look steadily at the sun for a few moments, and for a long time afterwards he will see nothing else; whithersoever he turns, he will behold the sun. Some men have looked at God’s wondrous mercy so exclusively, that they can see in Him and His Word nothing but mercy, and they doubt, and teach others to doubt, whether God will fulfil His threatenings against sin. Let such persons consider these three facts.—

I. That God’s justice requires that He should execute His threatenings against iniquity. He Himself would commit a frightful injustice, and would be the most active promoter and abettor of evil in the universe, if He were to treat all men alike. His mere delay to take vengeance upon transgressors gives rise to some of the most perplexing of moral problems (Ecc_9:2-3; Psa_73:1-9, &c.), and if He were; never to do so, the whole universe would be driven into atheism. This is the tendency even of His merciful delays (Psa_10:11; Psa_73:11, &c.)

II. That God’s truth requires that He should execute His threatenings against iniquity. “The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it,” and shall He not fulfil His Word? So settled is the conviction of the human mind that He must do so, that it has been found one of the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel. How God can be truthful, and yet pardon the sinner, it has transcended the human mind to conceive. The atonement of Christ is the practical solution of this mystery.

III. That the history of His ancient people shows that while in God there is a goodness most marvellous and tender, on account of which we should praise Him evermore, there is also a severity so terrible, that on account of it all the world should stand in awe of Him. Remember what frightful calamities (the sword, famine, pestilence, exile) God sent upon His ancient people in this world; and shall we imagine that He who displayed such a capacity for sternness in this world will be found incapable of it in the world which is to come? Let us dismiss this delusion which is at once utterly groundless and unspeakably dangerous [421]

[421] If Scripture be certainly true, then the most terrible passages in it are certainly true; nothing is more hardly believed by men than that which will be most tormenting to their minds, when it is believed that none shall be saved but the regenerate and holy; and those that live not after the flesh, but the Spirit, and love God in Christ above all the world, even their own lives; and that, besides these few, all the rest shall be tormented in hell for ever. This is the doctrine that flesh and blood will hardly down with. They say or think they will never believe that God will be so unmerciful; as if God must needs be less merciful than man, because He is more just and holy, and will not be so indulgent to their flesh and sin as they are themselves, and would have Him to be. And I have known even godly men, through the remnant of their corruption and darkness in the things of God, and the violence of temptation, much troubled with their unbelief in this particular. But God cannot lie the Scripture being true, and the Christian religion certainly true, every part of it must needs be true. But because sensual nature looks for sensible demonstration or proof, let me ask the unbelievers this one question—“Do you believe that which you see and feel, and all the world feels as well as you!” You know that all mankind liveth here a life of trouble and misery; we come into the world in a very poor condition, and we pass through it in daily labour and sorrow, and we pass out of it through the dreadful pangs of death. What incessant labour have the most of them, how much want and misery, how much care and grief! Do you not see and feel how sicknesses do torment us? When one pain is over, another is at hand. Have you not seen some, under such terrible fits of the gout, or stone, or other diseases, that they thought no torment could be greater; some with their legs rotting, and must be cut off; some with loathsome cancers and leprosies on them many years together; some that have lost their eyesight, have lost almost all the comfort of life; some that never could see; some that never could hear or speak? I have known some in such pain that they have cried out they did not believe there was greater in hell; some are mad, and some idiots: are not all these in a very miserable case? Now I would ask you further if God may, without any unmercifulness, do all this to men, and that as a chastisement in the way to bring them to repentance; if He may, without unmercifulness, make a David cry out in misery, and wash his couch with his tears; and make a Job to lie scraping his sores on a dunghill; why should you think he cannot, without unmercifulness, torment incurable sinners in hell? Further, I would ask you this question; suppose you had lived in Adam’s paradise, or some condition of pleasure and rest, where you never had tasted of sickness, or labour, or want, or feared death, if God’s Word had there told you, but that man shall endure so much misery as I have here mentioned and men daily suffer, and should die at last for his sin, would you have said, “I will never believe God would be so unmerciful?” You that say so now, would likely have said so then in this case; for feeling the pleasure yourselves, you would on the same ground have said, “God is unmerciful if He should make man so miserable;” and yet you see and feel that God doth it, and we know that He is not unmerciful.—Baxter, 1615–1691.

Application.—

1. True reverence for God will lead us to accept with equal implicitness all the disclosures which He has been pleased to give of His character. He will be to us neither a God all mercy nor a God all justice. In Him both these high qualities are found in equal perfection: they are not opponents, but allies. Each is always in absolute harmony with the other.

2. True reverence for God will lead us to tremble in view of His threatenings, as well as to rejoice in view of His promises.

3. It is with the God of the Bible, and not with the God of our own sentimental fancies, that we shall have to deal with at the last.

4. If we take nature as our guide to the interpretation of revelation, we shall find it easier to believe in God’s severity than in His benignity. In nature there are appalling indications of sternness. The world in which we now are is full of suffering [424]

5. It is in mercy that the threatenings of God’s justice are now sent forth [427]

[424] Suffering comes to us through and from our whole nature. It cannot be winked out of sight. It cannot be thrust into a subordinate place in the picture of human life. It is the chief burden of history. It is the solemn theme of one of the highest departments of literature, the tragic drama. It gives to fictions their deep interest: it wails through much of our poetry. A large part of human vocations are intended to shut up some of its avenues. It has left traces on every human countenance over which years have passed. It is not to a few the most vivid recollection of life.—W. Ellery Channing.

[427] God indeed tells us of hell, but it is to persuade us to flee to heaven; and as a skilful painter fills the background of his picture with his darker colours, God introduces the smoke of torment, and the black thunder-clouds of Sinai, to give brighter prominence to Jesus, the Cross of Calvary, and His love to the chief of sinners.

His voice of terror is like the scream of the mother-bird when the hawk is in the sky. She alarms her brood, that they may run and hide beneath her feathers; and as I believe that God had left that mother dumb unless He had given her wings to cover them, I am sure that He, who is very “pitiful,” and has no pleasure in any creature’s pain, had never turned our eyes to the horrible gulf unless for the voice that cries, “Deliver from going down to the pit, for I have found a ransom.”

We had never heard of sin had there been no Saviour. We had never heard of hell had there been no heaven. “Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof.” And never had Bible light flashed before the eyes of the sleeping felon, to wake him from his happy dream, but that he might see the smiling form of Mercy, and hear her as she says, with finger pointing the way, “Behold I have set before thee an open door.”—Guthrie.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

But after the restoration of Israel in integrum by this act of grace, the rest would unquestionably depend upon the conduct of Israel itself. According to Israel's own decision would Jehovah determine Israel's future. "If ye then shall willingly hear, ye shall eat the good of the land; if ye shall obstinately rebel, ye shall be eaten by the sword: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it." After their justification, both blessing and cursing lay once more before the justified, as they had both been long before proclaimed by the law (compare Isa 1:19 with Deu 28:3., Lev 26:3., and Isa 1:20 with the threat of vengeance with the sword in Lev 26:25). The promise of eating, i.e., of the full enjoyment of domestic blessings, and therefore of settled, peaceful rest at home, is placed in contrast with the curse of being eaten with the sword. Chereb (the sword) is the accusative of the instrument, as in Psa 17:13-14; but this adverbial construction without either genitive, adjective, or suffix, as in Exo 30:20, is very rarely met with (Ges. 138, Anm. 3); and in the passage before us it is a bold construction which the prophet allows himself, instead of saying, חרב תּאכלכם, for the sake of the paronomasia (Bttcher, Collectanea, p. 161). In the conditional clauses the two futures are followed by two preterites (compare Lev 26:21, which is more in conformity with our western mode of expression), inasmuch as obeying and rebelling are both of them consequences of an act of will: if ye shall be willing, and in consequence of this obey; if ye shall refuse, and rebel against Jehovah. They are therefore, strictly speaking, perfecta consecutiva. According to the ancient mode of writing, the passage Isa 1:18-20 formed a separate parashah by themselves, viz., a sethumah, or parashah indicated by spaces left within the line. The piskah after Isa 1:20 corresponds to a long pause in the mind of the speaker. - Will Israel tread the saving path of forgiveness thus opened before it, and go on to renewed obedience, and will it be possible for it to be brought back by this path? Individuals possibly may, but not the whole. The divine appeal therefore changes now into a mournful complaint. So peaceful a solution as this of the discord between Jehovah and His children was not to be hoped for. Jerusalem was far too depraved.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

1:19-20 Repentance leads to life, whereas resisting God’s will and turning away from him results in death (see Deut 11:26-28; 28:1-62).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He showeth that whatsoever adversity man endureth, it ought to be attributed to his own incredulity and disobedience.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Temporal blessings in "the land of their possession" were prominent in the Old Testament promises, as suited to the childhood of the Church (Exo 3:17). New Testament spiritual promises derive their imagery from the former (Mat 5:5).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 19. Ye shall eat the good of the land] Referring to Isa 1:7: it shall not be "devoured by strangers."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(19) If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.—The promise of temporal blessings as the reward of a true repentance, instead of the spiritual peace and joy of Psa_51:8-12, fills us at first with a sense of disappointment. It has to be remembered, however, that the prophet spoke to those who were unjust and selfish, and who were as yet far from the broken and contrite heart of the true penitent. He was content to wake up in them the dormant sense of righteousness, and to lead them to recognise the moral government of God. In the long run they would not be losers by a change of conduct. The choice of eating or “being eaten” (the “devoured” of Isa_1:20), enjoying a blameless prosperity, or falling by the sword, was placed before those to whom the higher aspirations of the soul were little known. Such is, at all times, one at least of the methods of God’s education of mankind.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If ye be willing and obedient,.... The Targum adds, "to my Word": the Word made flesh, and dwelling among them; who would have gathered the inhabitants of Jerusalem to his ministry, to attend his word and ordinances, but their rulers would not:

ye shall eat the good of the land; the land of Canaan; as the Jews held the possession of that land, before the times of Christ, by their obedience to the laws of God, which were given them as a body politic, and which, so long as they observed, they were continued in the quiet and full enjoyment of all the blessings of it; so, when Christ came, had they received, embraced, and acknowledged him as the Messiah, and been obedient to his will, though only externally, they would have remained in their own land, and enjoyed all the good things in it undisturbed by enemies.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

If ye be willing - If you submit your wills, and become voluntary in your obedience to my law.

And obedient - Hebrew If you will hear; that is, my commands.

Ye shall eat ... - That is, the land shall yield its increase; and you shall be saved from pestilence, war, famine, etc. The productions of the soil shall no more be devoured by strangers, Isa 1:7; compare the notes at Isa 65:21-23. This was in accordance with the promises which God made to their fathers, and the motives to obedience placed before them, which were drawn from the fact, that they should possess a land of distinguished fertility, and that obedience should be attended with eminent national prosperity. Such an appeal was adapted to the infancy of society, and to the circumstances of the people. It should be added, however, that with this they connected the idea, that God would be their God and Protector; and, of course, the idea that all the blessings resulting from that fact would be theirs; Exo 3:8 : ‘And I am come down to deliver them out of the band of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey;’ compare Exo 3:17; Exo 13:5; Deu 28:1-9. In accordance with this, the language of promise in the New Testament is, that of inheriting the earth, that is, the land, Note, Mat 5:5. The expression here means, that if they obeyed God they should be under his patronage, and be prospered. It refers, also, to Isa 1:7, where it is said, that strangers devoured the land. The promise here is, that if they were obedient, this calamity should be removed.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

If ye be willing and obedient; if you are heartily willing and fully resolved to obey all my commands.

Ye shall eat the good of the land; together with the pardon of your sins, you shall receive many temporal and worldly blessings.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

If ye be willing and obedient. Rosenm explains this as equivalent to "if ye be willing to obey"; (cf. Eze_3:7) but perhaps it is better to give each verb its separate force: "If you consent in your wills, and are also obedient in your actions" (so Kay). Ye shall eat the good of the land; i.e. there shall be no invasion; strangers shall not devour your crops (see ver. 7); you shall consume them yourselves. "The good of the land" is a common expression for its produce. (Gen_45:18, 20 Ezr_9:12 Neh_9:36 Jer_2:7)

Vers. 19-23. Unrighteousness a nation"s curse.

Pro_14:34, "Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people." The prophet is picturing the corrupt state of the metropolis, and contrasting its present moral degradation with the high and honorable character which it had formerly sustained. The following points may be illustrated, and the lessons of them enforced.

I UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE LEADERS IS THE CURSE OF A BAD EXAMPLE. Illustrate by the mischievous influence of a corrupt court and aristocracy, and by the discontent produced by corruptions of the fountains of justice.

II UNRIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE PEOPLE ENFEEBLES THE NATIONAL LIFE. Illustrate by the effect of prevalent sensuality on the morale of soldiers. The moral degradation of France was the secret of her weakness when struggling against Germany. A nation"s manhood sinks under the power of self-indulgence and sin. This was strikingly illustrated again and again in the history of God"s people Israel. When they were idolatrous and immoral they were weak before their foes. Virtue is strength.

III UNRIGHTEOUSNESS PREPARES THE WAY FOR NATIONAL EVILS. Both for such as are internal and for such as are external. Family life, society, religion, all are affected. Ordinary checks are removed. The sense of common weal no longer binds men together to seek national interests. And the "enemy coming in like a flood" finds no "standard of the Lord lifted up against them." Illustrate by the iniquities wrought by and encouraged by Hophni and Phinebas, and the consequent despising of Jehovah"s worship, and inability to stand before the nation"s foes. Nobody from outside can really hurt a nation. Nations hurt themselves by permitting vice and iniquity to run riot. Show what are the features of modern city sins, country sins, national iniquities. These are our peril, our woe, our curse. Against these every servant of the Lord must strive and plead and fight. Nations can build national life securely on no other foundation than this morality, righteousness, the clean heart, and the clean hand. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If - If you are fully resolved to obey all my commands. Shall eat - Together with pardon, you shall receive temporal and worldly blessings.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The unconditional promise is now qualified and yet enlarged. If obedient, they should not only escape punishment but be highly favored. “If ye consent to my terms, and hear my commands,” implying obedience, “the good of the land,” its choicest products, “ye shall eat,” instead of seeing them devoured by strangers.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Prophecies of Isaiah (1846–1847; New York: Scribner, 1870–1878) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

God continues to speak to the people of Judah.

If you are willing and obedient

Here, "willing" and "obedient" are used together to express one idea. AT: "If you willingly obey" (See: Hendiadys)

you will eat the good of the land

"the land will produce good food for you to eat"

but if you refuse and rebel

"but if you refuse to listen and instead disobey me"

the sword will devour you

The word "sword" refers to Judah's enemies. Also, the word "devour" compares Judah's enemies coming to kill them to a wild animal that attacks and eats other animals. AT: "your enemies will kill you" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)

the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it

The word "mouth" emphasizes that Yahweh has spoken and what he says will certainly happen. AT: "Yahweh has spoken" or "Yahweh has said that this will happen" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

obey

good

rebel

sword

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. Otherwise, the strangers before-mentioned (ver. 7) will consume it.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.