27. To ensure that our explanation of the
passage shall be complete and certain, I cite the words in
full:—Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, they that serve
Me shall eat, but ye shall be hungry, behold, they that serve Me shall
drink, but ye shall be thirsty, behold, they that serve Me shall
rejoice with gladness, but ye shall cry for sorrow of your heart, and
shall howl for vexation of spirit. For ye shall leave your name
for a rejoicing unto My chosen, but the Lord shall slay you. But
My servants shall be called by a new name, which shall be blessed upon
earth; and they shall bless the true God, and they that swear upon the
earth shall swear by the true God Ib.
13–16..
There is always a good reason for any departure from the accustomed
modes of expression, but novelty is also made an opportunity for
misinterpretation. The question here is, Why, when so many
earlier prophecies have been uttered concerning God, and the name
God, alone and without epithet, has sufficed hitherto to
indicate the Divine majesty and nature, the Spirit of prophecy should
now foretell through Isaiah that the true God was to be blessed,
and that men should swear upon earth by the true God.
First, we must bear in mind that this discourse was spoken concerning
times to come. Now, I ask, was not He, in the mind of the Jews,
true God, Whom men used then to bless, and by whom they swore?
The Jews, unaware of the typical meaning of their mysteries, and
therefore ignorant of God the Son, worshipped God simply as God, and
not as Father Cf. Book iii. §
17.; for, if they had
worshipped Him as Father, they would have worshipped the Son
also. It was God, therefore, Whom they blessed and by Whom
they swore. But the prophet testifies that it is true God
Who shall be blessed hereafter; calling Him true God, because
the mysteriousness of His Incarnation was to blind the eyes of some to
His true Godhead. When falsehood was to be published abroad, it
was necessary that the truth should be clearly stated. And now
let us review this passage, clause by clause.