Charles Spurgeon Commentary Isaiah 57
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
Isaiah 57
Charles Spurgeon Commentary
Isaiah 57
"The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil [to come]. He entereth into peace; they rest in their beds, each one that walketh in his uprightness." — Isaiah 57:1-2 (ASV)
When a storm is approaching, you may see the shepherds among the hills gathering their sheep and taking them home, and when good men die in large numbers and the Church's ranks are thinned, it is sometimes a sign that bad times are coming, and so God takes away the righteous from the evil to come. Oh! If people knew what the world loses when a good man dies, they would regret it far more than the death of emperors and kings who do not fear God.
But as for those who are made righteous by the grace of God, they need not fear to die. To them it will be a rest—a sleep with Jesus—until the trumpet of the resurrection, and all the evil that will come upon the world will not touch them. They will rest until the Master comes. Now, the rest of the chapter is a very terrible description of the sin of the people of Isaiah's day. And finally, it contains a very brilliant display of the grace of God.
"But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot. Against whom do ye sport yourselves? against whom make ye a wide mouth, and put out the tongue? are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood," — Isaiah 57:3-4 (ASV)
Because this people so exalted themselves against God and his gospel, God would not acknowledge them as the true seed of Israel at all. He declares them to be a false, degenerate breed, and he asks them how they dare to sport against his prophets, and draw out the tongue, and make a wide mouth against those who spoke for the God of Israel.
"ye that inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; that slay the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks?" — Isaiah 57:5 (ASV)
The Lord had said that they should offer sacrifice only on one altar at Jerusalem, and this to him alone, but they had set up altars under all the ancient oaks to worship all sorts of gods. In addition to this, they had gone so far in following the cruel way of the Pagans, that they offered their own children in sacrifice in the valleys, under the cliffs and the rocks.
"Among the smooth [stones] of the valley is thy portion; they, they are thy lot; even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering, thou hast offered an oblation. Shall I be appeased for these things?" — Isaiah 57:6 (ASV)
They had set up the smooth stones which they had found in the brook, and made them into altars—indeed, made gods of them. For when man wants to make a god, anything will do, whether it is the fetish of the cannibal or the round robin of the ritualist. It little matters which. A piece of bread will do for a god, as well as a piece of stone. Anything will man worship, sooner than worship the great, invisible, eternal God.
"Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou set thy bed; thither also wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. And behind the doors and the posts hast thou set up thy memorial: for thou hast uncovered [thyself] to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them: thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it." — Isaiah 57:7-8 (ASV)
Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance:
Where they ought to have put up texts of Scripture and the remembrance of God's law, they had set up memorials of their false gods everywhere. For when men become superstitious and worship falsely, they seem to be far more eager about it than those who worship the true God. They go to any lengths for it, and give themselves wholly up to their superstitions.
Jump to: