Deuteronomy 30:10-13, vs. 10 ; if thou wilt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments, and his ordinances, and his judgments written in the book of this law, if thou turn to the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.

 11 For this command which I give thee this day is not grievous, neither is it far from thee.

 12 It is not in heaven above, as if there were one saying, Who shall go up for us into heaven, and shall take it for us, and we will hear and do it?

13 Neither is it beyond the sea, saying, Who will go over for us to the other side of the sea, and take it for us, and make it audible to us, and we will do it?"

cross references :

Romans 10:1-12; "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.

 2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

 5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.

 6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)

 7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

 8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him."

Proverbs 30:4 "Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name, If you know?

John 3:13  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

Romans 10:6 "But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)" 7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

Matthew Henry ; " That is very nigh thee, consonant to the law of nature, which would have been found in every man's heart, and every man's mouth, if he would but have attended to it. There is that in thee which consents to the law that it is good, Romans 7:16. Thou hast therefore no reason to complain of any insuperable difficulty in the observance of it."

II. This is true of the gospel of Christ, to which the apostle applies it, and makes it the language of the righteousness which is of faith, Romans 10:6-8. And many think this is principally intended by Moses here; for he wrote of Christ, John 5:46. This is God's commandment now under the gospel that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, 1 John 3:23. If we ask, as the blind man did, Lord, who is he? or where is he, that we may believe on him? (John 9:36), this scripture gives an answer, We need not go up to heaven, to fetch him thence, for he has come down thence in his incarnation; nor down to the deep, to fetch him thence, for thence he has come up in his resurrection. But the word is nigh us, and Christ in that word; so that if we believe with the heart that the promises of the incarnation and resurrection of the Messiah are fulfilled in our Lord Jesus, and receive him accordingly, and confess him with our mouth, we have then Christ with us, and we shall be saved. He is near, very near, that justifies us. The law was plain and easy, but the gospel much more so."

John Gill on verse 13 ; "that thou shouldest say, who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? which would be all one as to desire "to bring up Christ again from the dead"; when he is already risen, and is gone to heaven, where he ever lives to make intercession for us; is thereby declared to be the Son of God with power, and is discharged as the surety of his people, having done completely what he engaged to do; and is risen for their justification, and become the firstfruits of the resurrection of the dead; wherefore whoever confesses with his mouth, and believes with his heart, that God has raised him from the dead, that is enough, he shall be saved: what a sublime sense of the words is this the apostle gives and how puerile is that of the Chaldee paraphrast in comparison of it!" see Gill on "Romans 10:6".

Charles Haddon Spurgeon ; "OUR Lord Jesus Christ, in John's gospel, in the forty-sixth verse of the fifth chapter, says, "Moses wrote of me." Hence we may safely interpret much that Moses said, not only of the law, but also of the gospel; indeed, the law itself was given primarily to drive men to the gospel; it was meant to show them the impossibility of salvation by their own works, and so to shut them up to a salvation which is available even for sinners. The types of sacrifice and purification pointed to the method of pardon for the guilty by faith, and acceptance for sinners by a righteousness not their own. This is certainly one of the passages in which Moses wrote of the Savior yet to come.

We are not, however, left to conjecture this; for the apostle Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has quoted this passage in the tenth chapter of his Epistle to the Romans. He has given us a sort of paraphrase of it; [my ft]

[ft] the Dead Sea Scrolls have found a slightly different reading of this verse (".from you" at the end of verse 11) as the Septuagint has it, agreeing in part with the LXX against the MT. It is nevertheless not in total agreement with Paul's quote. Those who have studied the manuscripts of the Old Testament where there are differences between them, as well as varying at times from the Apostle's quotes have often concluded that such anomalies undoubtedly came from yet another (earlier) underlying manuscript than what we have extant (existing and available) but must have been in the hands of the Apostles in their day. I think it is rather naïve' to think that the Old Testament manuscripts that we have today are superior to those of the first century as they are two thousand years nearer to the originals than what are extant today. Only the Dead Sea Scrolls, the early church "fathers" writings (that are mostly in agreement with the Greek Old Testament or LXX), and the third to fifth century greek LXX texts are truly "ancient" and therby more apt to be genuine.

Not quoting it with verbal exactness, but giving its sense, and then inserting his own interpretation of that sense; which interpretation, seeing that he spoke under the direct influence of the Spirit of God, may be accepted as decisive. The Spirit of God best knew what he meant by the words which he spake by Moses. Even if Moses himself may not altogether have meant the same, the Spirit's own meaning must stand. I believe, however, that Moses did intend that which Paul attributes to him, and that he saw in the whole revelation of God under the ancient dispensation the spirit, the essential spirit, of the gospel, which was more fully declared to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. In this instance he was not speaking of the law as given upon Sinai, if we view it as a covenant of works. I showed you this by reading the first verse of the twenty-ninth chapter, which is the preface to the passage now before us. There we read, "These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. We must understand Moses to be speaking now of God's way of salvation as it is set forth in the types, and sacrifices, and ordinances of the Mosaic dispensation? which Paul calls, "the righteousness of faith." Paul interprets him as speaking of the gospel itself, and using these remarkable words concerning salvation by grace." ~

".But it was necessary that we should not merely be washed from sin? for that would leave us naked ? but that we should be clothed with righteousness. To that end our Lord Jesus rose again, and so came up from the depth. When our Redeemer had finished his going down, and so had made an end of Sin, he had yet to bring in everlasting righteousness, and so he returned by the way which he went.

He rose from the tomb; he rose from Olivet; he rose until a cloud received him out of his apostles' sight; he rose through the upper regions of the air; he rose to the pearl gate; he rose to the throne of God where he sitteth as one who has accomplished his service, expecting until his enemies are made his footstool. His resurrection has brought to light our righteousness, and has covered us with it; so that at this moment every man that believeth in a risen Savior is robed in the royal robes of the righteousness of God. "If thou believes" in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." O brothers, live because Jesus lives, rise because he has risen, sit in heaven because he sits in heaven.

"He that believeth is justified": 'so saith the Scripture. Dost thou see this? I believe it, I believe it with my whole heart, and therefore I confess it before this multitude with my mouth, and I am saved. Wilt thou believe and confess. Oh, that the blessed Spirit may bring thee to this: this is the entrance into the way of eternal life. This is the dawn of a day which shall never die down into darkness. May the blessed Spirit bring thee to this faith, and this confession, for Jesus Christ's sake! Amen."

Theological Dictionary of the New Testament ; ".The questions in Romans. 10:6 f.: tiv" ajnabhvsetai eij" to;n oujranovn; and tiv" katabhvsetai eij" th;n a[busson; formulated according to Deuteronomy 30:11-14 and certain passages from the Psalms  ([Psalms] 70:19; 106:26 etc.), are probably only a rhetorical way of using a proverbial saying which denotes something quite impossible. If so, the meaning is that it is not necessary to fetch the Messiah either from heaven or hell. The righteousness which is by faith, unlike the Jews who do not believe in Christ, knows that He is already present. At the back of Paul's thinking there is naturally the idea of the descent of the pre-existent Christ and His resurrection from the dead.".[1]

It seems obvious to me that Paul had a different (more accurate to the original) parent text that he used in quoting from Deuteronomy 30:13&14.as seen in his Romans 10:6 passage. 

 

---

   Kittel, Gerhard; Friedrich, Gerhard, The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company) 2000, c1964.

Matthew 26:32 "But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee."

 Cross references:

Isaiah 9:1-2, LXX (Thomson's version) ; "Drink this first; do it quickly. With regard to the region of Zabulon, the land of Nephthaleim and the rest who inhabit the seashore, and the banks of the Jordan, Galilee of the nations;

Zechariah 13:7, LXX ; "Awake , O sword, against My shepherd, and against My chief citizen, saith the Lord Almighty ; I will smite the shepherds, and the sheep shall be scattered and I will bring My hand on the little ones."

Matthew 28:7  "And go quickly, and tell his disciples that He is risen from the dead; and, behold, He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

Matthew 28:10  "Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me."

Matthew 28:16  "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them."

Matthew 28:17  And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted."

Colossians 1:18 "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he may have the preeminence."

Mark 14:28  "But after that I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee."

John Gill ; Ver. 32. But after I am risen again, &c.] "This he says for their comfort, that though he, their shepherd, should be apprehended, condemned, and crucified, should be smitten with death, and be laid in the grave, yet he should rise again; and though they should be scattered abroad, yet should be gathered together again by him, their good shepherd; who would after his resurrection, appear to them, be at the head of them, and go before them, as a shepherd goes before his sheep: for it follows,

I will go before you into Galilee; the native place of most, if not all of them. This the women that came to the sepulchre after Christ's resurrection, were bid, both by the angel, and Christ himself, to remind the disciples of, and ordered them to go into Galilee, where they might expect to see him: accordingly they did go thither, and saw and worshipped him;" see Matthew 28:7,10,16,17.

Eclectic notes (from the "Online Bible") ; 'into Galilee.'  "Nevertheless He would go, to renew His relationship, as a risen Saviour, with these poor of the flock, to the same place where He had already identified Himself with them during His life. He would go before them into Galilee. This promise is very remarkable, because the Lord resumes, under a new form, His Jewish relationship with them and with the kingdom"

. . "into Galilee."  Jesus says to those who had come up with Him from Galilee, "Before you return home from the feast I will arise again." Bengel 1.293

Adam Clarke ; "Matthew 26:32:   But after I am risen again]  "Don't lose your confidence; for though I shall appear for a time to be wholly left to wicked men, and be brought under the power of death, yet I will rise again, and triumph over all your enemies and mine.
I will go before you   "Still alluding to the case of the shepherd and his sheep.  Though the shepherd has been smitten and the sheep scattered, the shepherd shall revive again, collect the scattered flock, and go before them, and lead them to peace, security, and happiness."

Matthew Henry ; "He gives them the prospect of a comfortable gathering together again after this storm (vs.32);"After I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee". Though you will forsake me, I will not forsake you; though you fall, I will take care you shall not fall finally: we shall have a meeting again in Galilee, I will go before you, as the shepherd before the sheep." Some make the last words of that prophecy (Zechariah 13:7), a promise equivalent to this here; and I will bring my hand again to the little ones. There is no bringing them back but by bringing his hand to them. Note, The captain of our salvation knows how to rally his troops, when, through their cowardice, they have been put into disorder."

Matthew 20:17-19, vs.17 ; " Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them,

Vs.18 Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death,"

Vs.19" And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day He shall rise again."

Mark 10:33-34 "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death and deliver Him to the Gentiles;

 34 "and they will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. And the third day He shall rise again."

~ and ~

Luke 18:31 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.

 32 "For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.

 33 "They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He shall rise again."

Cross references ;

Isaiah 53:11   Dead Sea Scroll ; "Of the toil of His soul He shall see light and He shall be satisfied and by His knowledge shall He make righteous even my righteous servant for many and their iniquities He will bear." [ft]

[ft] Isaiah 53:11 LXX Thomson's Version(Vaticanus,Alexandrinus, New International Version "light of life", New American Bible ; "shall see the light", New Revised Standard, and the  Dead Sea Scroll ("A") all include the Messianic resurrection phrase "show Him light" ) ; " Moreover, it is the determination of the Lord to take away the trouble of His soul-to shew Him light and inform Him with understanding-to justify the Righteous One Who is serving many well. And He shall bear away their sins;"

Acts 3:14-15  But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

Vs.15  "And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses."

Isaiah 53:3  "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not."

1 Corinthians 15:4  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:"

Hosea 6:2, LXX (Thomson version) ; "in two days He can restore us to health ; on the third day we shall be raised up and live before Him."

John Gill ; ".Ver. 18. Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, &c.]  This is the last time of our going thither; observe, and take notice of what I am about to say; some extraordinary things will come to pass, and, as Luke relates that he said,

"all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man, shall be accomplished"; everything that is recorded in Psalm 22:1-31, and in Isaiah 53:1-12, or in any other prophecies of the Old Testament, relating to the ill treatment the Messiah should meet with, to his sufferings and death, and all the circumstances attending them, shall be exactly fulfilled in every point: and that they might not be at a loss about what he meant, he gives an account of various particular things, which should befall him;

"and the Son of man shall be betrayed": he does not say by whom, though he knew from the beginning who should betray him, that it would be one of his disciples, and that it would be Judas; but the proper time was not yet come to make this discovery: the persons into whose hands he was to be betrayed, are mentioned;

"unto the chief priests, and unto the Scribes"; who were his most inveterate and implacable enemies; and who were the persons that had already taken counsel to put him to death, and were seeking all advantages and opportunities to execute their design:

"and they shall condemn him to death"; which is to be understood not of their declaring it as their opinion, that he was guilty of death, and ought to die by a law of their's, which declaration they made before Pilate; nor of their procuring the sentence of death to be pronounced by him, upon him; but of their adjudging him to death among themselves, in the palace of the high priest; which was done by them, as the sanhedrim and great council of the nation; though either they could not, or did not, choose to execute it themselves, and therefore delivered him up to the Romans; for this act of condemning him to death, was to be, and was, before the delivery of him up to the Gentiles, as is clear from what follows.

Ver. 19. "And shall deliver him to the Gentiles...", &c.] To Pilate, an Heathen governor, and to the Roman officers and soldiers under him; see John 18:35.

"To mock him", as they did, by putting on him a scarlet robe, platting a crown of thorns, and placing it on his head, and a reed in his hand; and then bowed the knee to him, and cried, hail, king of the Jews!

"and to scourge him": as he was by Pilate, at least by his orders: Mark adds, "and spit upon him"; as not only did the Jews in the palace of the high priest, but also the Gentiles, the Roman soldiers, after they had mocked him in the manner before described:

"and to crucify him": which, as it was a cruel and shameful death, such as slaves and the worst of malefactors were put to, so it was a Roman one; for which reason, the Jews choose to deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.  The Persic version here adds, "and put him into the grave": which though it followed his crucifixion, was not done by the Gentiles, but by Joseph of Arimathea, a Jew, and a disciple of Jesus; and that not in a contemptuous, but honourable manner

"and the third day he shall rise again": this he said for the comfort of his disciples; but now, though these things were so clearly and distinctly expressed by Christ, and which show his omniscience, and give proof both of his deity and Messiahship, yet Luke observes of the disciples, "that they understood none of these things, and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken": the words were plain, the grammatical sense of them was easy, but they could not imagine that they were to be taken literally; which was such a glaring contradiction to their received and rooted principles of the temporal kingdom of the Messiah, and the grandeur of it, that they fancied these expressions carried a mystical, secret meaning in them, which they were not masters of: and certain it is, that what our Lord now said, was so far from destroying, or weakening these prejudices of theirs, that it rather confirmed them in them; particularly, what he said about rising again, which seemed to have put them afresh in mind, and to excite their hopes of this external felicity,..."

Charles Haddon Spurgeon ; "You have this same story in Matthew and Mark and Luke, a little differently told; as would naturally be the case when the information came from three different observers. It will be to our edification to put the three accounts together, so as to get a complete view of the incident; for each evangelist mentions something omitted by the others.

Our Lord firmly resolved to go to Jerusalem, about a fortnight before the Passover, with the view of becoming himself the Lamb of God's Passover.

He had frequently quitted Jerusalem when his life had been in danger there, because his time was not yet come, and he thus set us the example of not wilfully running into danger, or braving it with foolhardiness; but now that he felt that the hour of his sacrifice was near at hand, he did not hesitate, or seek to avoid it; but he resolutely set out to meet his sufferings and his death. When he was in the highway that led to Jerusalem, he marched in front of the little band of his disciples with so vigorous and bold a step, and

with such a calm, determined air of heroism upon him, that his followers were filled with astonishment (Mark 10:52). Here are the very words:

"And they were in the way going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus went before them; and they were amazed, and as they followed they were afraid."

Knowing that, according to his own account, he was going to suffering and death; and being well assured, from their own observation, that he was about to encounter the most furious opposition, they were amazed at the dauntless courage of his mien, and wondered what made him so resolved.

We read also that "they were afraid", afraid for themselves, in a measure, but most of all afraid for him. Would not his daring lead to conflict with the powers then in authority, and might not terrible things happen both to him and to them? It was not altogether timidity, but awe which came over them: his manner was so majestic and sublime. That lowly man had a something about him which commanded the trembling reverence of his

disciples. After all, meekness is imperial, and commands far more reverence than anger or pride. His followers felt that great events were about to transpire, and they were deeply sobered and filled with awe-struck apprehension. In the presence of their Lord, who seemed to be leading a forlorn hope to a fierce battle, they were afraid. They were amazed at his courage, and afraid for the consequences. They were also amazed at him, and afraid because of their own unfitness to stand in his presence. Do we not know what this feeling is? Then it was that he took the twelve aside, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him. The conversation was private. We will go aside with the chosen apostles for a little while at this time, and hear what their Lord would say to us, even as he aforetime said it to them. May the good Spirit bless our meditation!

I shall have three things to speak of; and the first will be our Lord's private communings. This will give us an insight, secondly, into our Lord's private thoughts; and when we have looked into these a little, as far as our dim eyes are able, we will then notice, in the third place, our Lord's dwelling on the details of his passion; for into those details he went with singular impressiveness. Let us not forget our need of the Holy Spirit's illumination while we come near to a place so holy as this of "The Revelation of the Passion."

I. First, then, our LORD'S PRIVATE COMMUNINGS. He did not say all things to all men. He spoke certain matters to his disciples only. To the outside world it was given to hear the parable; but to the disciples alone was it given to know the explanation. Not even to all the disciples did our Lord make known the whole of his teachings. He had an elect out of the elect.

First came twelve out of the many and then came three out of the twelve.

These three were admitted to special manifestations, which the other nine did not share. As if to carry the principle of election to the utmost extent, one was chosen out of the three, who enjoyed a peculiar personal love, and leaned his head upon his Lord's bosom, as the other two never did. We are happy to be admitted, by the key of inspiration, into the inner chamber of our Lord's private conferences.

On this occasion, our Lord's communings were with the leaders of his band. Those who have to lead others need more instruction than the rest. It needs more grace to lead than to follow. No man can give out what he has not received. If you are to be a fountain of living waters to others, you must be filled yourself from the fullness of God. Dear brethren and sisters, you whom the Lord has chosen to be vessels of mercy to others, take care that you wait much upon him yourselves, and are much with him in secret retirement. Live near to God, that you may bring others near. I remember sitting, one rainy day, in an inn, at Cologne, looking out of a window upon a square. There was not much to see, but what was to see I did see, as I occasionally looked up from my writing. I saw a man coming to a pump that stood in the middle of the square, and from that pump he filled a vessel.

A little while after, I saw the same man again filling his buckets. All that morning I saw no one else, but only that one water-loving individual man, filling his buckets again and again. I thought to myself, "What can he be? Why is he always drawing water?" Then I perceived that he was a watercarrier, a bearer of water to families in the adjoining streets. Well might he often come to the fountain himself, since he was supplying others. You that are water-carriers for thirsty souls must needs come often to the living water yourselves, and be thankful that your Master is always willing to meet you, and give you rich supplies. He graciously waits to take you apart in the way, and speak to you things which you need to hear and tell. Take care that you hear well that which you are commissioned to publish to all the world. Take good note of this, ye who instruct others: neglect not the yielding of your ear to your Lord quite as completely as your tongue. Hear him that you may speak of him. Be ye sure that ye are much with your Lord alone, that you may have him much with you in public.

When our Lord, on this occasion, spoke to the twelve, the time was significant: it was on the way to a great trial. To him his coming suffering was the sum of all trial. He was about to be wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was about to fall upon him, that with his stripes we might be healed. But it was to be a time of great trial to the disciples also. Inasmuch as they loved

their Lord, they would sympathize with his sufferings and death. Inasmuch as they trusted in him, it would be a sharp trial to their faith to see him dying on the cross, vanquished by his remorseless enemies. Inasmuch as they loved his company, they would weep and lament, and feel like orphaned children when he was taken from them. Therefore they must be favored with a special private interview, to prepare them for the coming ordeal. Have you never noticed how our Lord, before the coming to us of a great tribulation, strengthens our hearts by some heavenly visitation?

Either before or after affliction, it has happened to me to enjoy very special manifestations of the Well-Beloved. At such junctures he brings us into his banqueting house, and his banner over us is love, that we may go down to the battle like men refreshed by a feast. He gives us a joyful bracing up, that we may be ready for to-morrow's stern service. I feel that it is so; and I pray that each of you may know, by personal experience, how wise is your Redeemer's foresight; and how, by the communion apart, he prepares us for that which we are to meet at the end of the way. A drink from the brook of fellowship by the way will make you ready for the heat of the

conflict. A word from his myrrh-dropping lips will perfume the air, even of the valley of death-shade. Speak to us, Lord, and we will not heed the howlings of the dog of hell.".

"He spoke to them of the Scriptures. Luke says, "He took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, 'Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished.' " Blessed theme; the Word of the Lord by his prophets and the fulfillment thereof. Have you never noticed how our divine Lord delights to speak upon the Scriptures? How often does he enforce his teaching by "as the scripture hath said"! If he has only two of them, and they are walking on the road, (to Emmaus, following His resurrection) we read, "Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." Communion with Christ Jesus must be based on the Word of the Lord. If you speak half a word derogatory of holy Scripture, your fellowship will evaporate. Men talk about building upon Christ, and not upon the Scriptures; but they know not what they say; for our Lord continually established his own claims by appealing to Moses and the prophets. They would be Christocentric, they say: I only wish they would. But if they take Christ for a center, they will inevitably have the Scriptures for a center too; and these men neither want the one nor the other. They care nothing for the center; they only want to do away with the circumference, that they may roam at their own proud wills. Our Lord made the written Word to be the reason for many of his acts: he did this, and he did not do that, because of what the Scriptures had said. He comes not to take away the law and the prophets, yea, not a jot or a tittle does he destroy, so careful is he of the Scriptures of truth. We learn from him to believe not only in inspired words, but in inspired jots and tittles. They that have been much with

Christ always show a profound reverence for the Word of God. I have never yet met with a person worthy to be called a saint who did not love and revere the inspired Book. I have heard in the last days the newlycoined word "bibliolatry", which is meant to set forth the imaginary crime of worshipping the Bible. I know not who may be guilty of the offense: I have never met with such idolaters. When I do, I will try to show them their error; at present I am too much occupied with the enemies of the Bible to think much of its too ardent friends, if such there be. While the word may be used in an accusation against us, it most surely is a confession on the part of those who use it that they see nothing special about the Scriptures, and are angry with those who do. Let them speak as they will, O Lord, "my heart standeth in awe of thy Word." I would be numbered with the men who tremble at thy Word. The words of the Holy Ghost are more than words to me. I tremble lest I should sin against him by sinning against them. I would not take away a word from the Book of this prophecy, nor add thereunto; but let it stand as it is; for here it is that Jesus meets us and communes with us. He opens the Scriptures to our understanding, and then he opens our understanding to receive the Scriptures. He makes us hear his voice in these chapters; yea, we see himself in them.

"Here I behold my Savior's face

Almost in every page."

We cannot look up to heaven and see Jesus amid the celestial splendours; but he lovingly looks down from the throne of his glory into the looking glass of the Word, and when we look into it we see the sweet reflection of his face. As in a mirror, his countenance is displayed by Scripture. O believers, love the Word of God! Prize every letter of it, and be prepared to answer the cold, carping words of critics, who know nothing of the benediction which comes to us through every line of inspiration. These are they who would cruelly divide the living child, for it does not belong to them; but we will have no sword come near it, for it is our love: it is life and bliss to us. Our Lord, in his most private intercourse with our souls, speaks in, and by, and through the Scriptures in the power of the Holy Ghost.

But the chief theme that our Lord dwelt upon was his own suffering even unto death. Beloved, our Lord Jesus has said many delightful things; and let him say what he will, his voice is as angels music to our ear; but from the cross his voice is richest in consolation. We never come so near to Jesus  (at least, such is my experience) as when we gaze upon his bloody sweat, or see him robed in shame, crowned with thorns, and enthroned upon the cross. Our Lord's incomparable beauties are most visible amid his griefs. When I see him on the cross I feel that I must borrow Pilate's words, and cry, "Behold the man!" Covered with his own blood from the scourging, and about to be led away to be crucified between two thieves, you look into his inmost heart, and behold what manner of love he bore towards guilty men. We know not Christ till he putteth on his crimson garments. I know not my beloved when he is only to me as the snow-white lily for purity; but when, in his wounding, he is red as the rose, then I perceive him. "My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand." A suffering Savior bears the palm for me: a wounded Savior is my Lord and my God. The lower he went for my redemption, the higher does he rise in my soul's loving esteem. He saw this when he said, "I, if I be lifted up"; for indeed it was a lifting up for him to die upon the cruel gibbet. To the wondering universe the Son of God is lifted to a height of wondering admiration, by his becoming obedient unto death, out of love to his chosen. He is lifted up in every grateful heart, and shall be lifted up for ever. Our fellowship with Jesus largely flows along the great deep of his suffering; and to me, at least, it is then deepest, truest, and sweetest.

Our Lord talked to the twelve of his sufferings in great detail, of which we will speak further on; but he did not shrink from dwelling upon his death, nor did he stop there, but foretold his rising again. In each of the three accounts he appears to end the story of his passion by saying that on the third day he would rise again from the dead. That was a glorious climax ? "The third day he shall rise again." Oh, that blessed doctrine of the resurrection! If our Lord's record ended at the cross, it might drive us to despair; but he is declared to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead. That he was raised from the dead makes us see the merit, the power, the great reward of his death. He that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the everlasting covenant, even he will make us perfect in every good work to do his will. Whenever the Master comes very near to us in his gracious condescension, he shows us not only that he shed his blood for us, but that he rose again, and ever liveth to carry on our cause. When you worship most closely, you will worship him that lived, and died, and rose again, and now liveth for ever and ever. This is our Lord Jesus Christ. He is not a teacher only, or a bright example merely; but one whose death is the source of our salvation, and whose resurrection and eternal glory are the guarantee and foretaste of our everlasting bliss. A living, dying, risen Christ is one with whom we have joyful fellowship; and if we know him not in this character, we do not know him at all.

Furthermore, he conversed with them upon their share in all this. They were one with him in that which would befall him. He says, "Behold we go up to Jerusalem." True, they would have no share in the scourging, and the spitting, and the crucifixion. He must tread that winepress alone. But yet they would with him carry the cross in the near future, and with him deny themselves during the rest of their lives. Henceforward, it would not be only Jesus the Lord who would bear witness for God and righteousness, but the followers of the Crucified One would unite in testimony to the same truth, for the same great purpose. It was well for him to speak to them on such a practical theme: they would be cheered and comforted on after days when they remembered that he had told them of these things. He will draw us into very intimate communion if we are willing to take up his cross and bear his reproach. We lose much when we quit the separated path because it is rough, for we lose our Lord's sweet company. Oh, for grace to love the rough paths, because we see his footprints upon them!

They listened to this private talk, but we are told by Luke that it was very much lost upon them, because they did not understand him. "And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken." Yet, say you, "it was very simple." Possibly that is why they did not understand it. Numbers of people imaging that they understand mysteries, and yet the simplicities of the faith are hid from their eyes because they are gazing after abstruse doctrines. They search after difficult things and miss the plain truth.".

"When our Lord told the twelve that he would die, they imagined that it was a parable, concealing some deep mystery. They looked at one another, and they tried to fathom where there was no depth, but where the truth lay on the surface. The deep things of God thousands will pry into; but yet these are not saving matters, nor are they of any great practical value. Fixed fate, free-will, predestination, prophecy, and the like, these have small bearings upon our salvation from sin; but in the death of our Lord lies the kernel of the matter. Beloved, when we try to commune with Jesus, let us wear the garments of simplicity. It is the serpent who trades in subtlety, but I would have you remember "the simplicity which is in Christ Jesus." There is in him a depth which we cannot fathom; but his every word is pure truth, and those things which are necessary are made so plain that he who runs may read, and he who reads may run. Believe him to mean what he says, and take his promises as they stand, and his precepts in their plain meaning; and, oh, if we do this, we shall be made greatly wise!

Do not confuse your minds with doctrinal riddles nor amuse your souls with spiritual conundrums; but believe in him who is Jesus, the faithful and true, who makes known to us the heart of the Father. Believe that he died in our stead. Believe that he took our sin upon him, and carried it all away.

Believe that we are justified through his resurrection, and are made to live because he lives. Hypotheses and critical doubts we may leave to the dogs that first sniffed them out; but as for us, we will be as children who eat the bread their Father gives them, and ask no questions as to the field in which the wheat was reaped, and raise no debates as to the mill at which the corn was ground.

Thus, you see, the private conversations of our Lord with the twelve dealt with his sufferings and death, and his communications come home to our hearts in proportion as we are prepared to receive them in childlike simplicity.

II. Secondly, we will now turn our minds to THE PRIVATE THOUGHTS OF OUR LORD JESUS. We shall not be presumptuous if we humbly enquire ?

What were the thoughts of our Lord at the time? When he had called them quite apart, and spoken to them, we may be quite sure that what he said to them was the outcome of his innermost meditations.

Our Lord was forecasting his death in all its mournful details. Do you not know that frequently it is more painful to anticipate death than it is actually to die? Yet our Lord dwelt upon his sufferings, even to their minutiae.".

"Our Lord was like a grain of wheat which is cast into the ground, and lies there awhile before it dies. He was buried, as it were, in prospective agony; immersed in suffering, which he foresaw. In the thought of the cross he endured it before he felt the nails. The shadow of his death was upon him before he reached the tree of doom. Yet he did not put away the thought, but dwelt upon it as one who tastes a cup before he drinks it to the dregs. After so deliberate a testing, is it not all the more marvellous that he did not refuse the draught?

Did he not remember his engagement to go through with our redemption?

"Lo, I come", said he: "in the volume of the Book it is written of me." He had pledged himself by solemn covenant, and in the Book it was written that he would stand in our stead, and give his life an offering for sin. From this suretiship he never departed. He knew that the Father would bruise him and put him to grief in the approaching day of his anger. He knew that the wicked would pierce his hands and his feet. He knew all that would occur, and he started not back from the pledge which he had given in the council chamber of eternity that his life should be rendered up as a ransom for many.".

"Our Lord's thoughts took the form of a resolution to do the Father's will to the end. He set his face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem. Nothing could make him look aside. He had undertaken, and he would go through with it.

Unless it should prove possible for us to be saved otherwise, he would not set aside that cup which his Father had given him to drink. The thought of our perishing he could not bear: that was not to be tolerated. He would suffer all imaginable and unimaginable woe sooner than desert the cause he had espoused. He was straitened ? so he described it ? straitened till his labor was accomplished. He was like a man pent up against his will: he longed to be discharging his tremendous task. He had an awful work to do, an agonizing suffering to bear, and he felt fettered until he could be at it:

"How am I straitened till it be accomplished!" He was as a hostage bound for others, longing to be set free. He longed to be bearing the penalty to which he had voluntarily subjected himself by his covenant suretiship. He therefore thought upon that "obedience unto death" which he was determined and resolved to render.

He had an eye all the while to you and to me. While he was thinking of death he was chiefly regarding those for whom he would suffer. I doubt not that there flashed before that mighty mind the individuals who make up the vast host of his redeemed; and among them there were insignificant individuals, such as we are. Out of his strong love to us, even to us, he determined to pay our ransom price in death: it was part of his solace that he would deliver you and me. "He loved me, and gave himself for me." He made a voluntary offering of himself for me, before he actually died; often and often surrendering himself in purpose, before the cross was reared for the actual offering up of his body once for all.

Then there came into his mind, also, the thought of the grand sequel of it all. He should rise again. On the third day, it would all be over, and the recompense would begin. A few hours of bitter grief; a night of bloody sweat, a night and a morning of mockery, when he should be flouted by the abjects, and made nothing of by the profane; a direful afternoon of deadly anguish on the cross, and of dark desertion by Jehovah; and then the bowing of the head, and a little rest in the grave for his body; and on the third day the light would break upon mankind, for the Sun of righteousnesswould arise with healing in his wings. The light that would come when he should rise would lighten the Gentiles, and be the glory of his people Israel.

He would then have said, "It is finished", and he would shortly afterward ascend to reap his reward in personal glorification, and in receiving gifts for men 'yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.'

Surely our Lord's thoughts were all the while upon his Father! He remembered ever the beloved Father to whom he was to be "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." That twenty-second psalm, which might well be our Lord's on the Cross, is full of God: it is an appeal to God. As our Lord went on his way with the twelve, conversing upon the road, they must have seen that he was in close communion with God.

There was about him a deep solemnity of spirit a rapt communion with the Unseen, a heavenly walking with God, even beyond his usual wont. This, mixed with his deeply-fixed resolve, and that stern joy which only they can feel who are resolved to accomplish a great purpose through bowing to the divine will, let it cost what it may. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus was everything to him, and in all his acts his heart was set upon Jehovah's glory. ..."

"What meditations were his! How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O Christ! How great is the sum of them! Wonderful things didst thou ponder in thy soul on those days of thy nearing passion! ..."

 "The Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes." The chief priests ought to have been his best defenders always. They were the leaders of the religion of the day: these chief priests were the guides of Israel. When Israel bowed before the Lord, the chief priests presented the sacrifice. Yet these were our Lord's most bitter enemies: by their malice he was condemned, and crucified. It is hard to have the professed servants of God against you. The scribes, too, those Bible writers and Bible interpreters; these also were fierce against him.

From the hands of scribes he would have less mercy than from soldiers. I said, the other Sabbath-day, what I now repeat: I would rather be bitten by wolves than by sheep. It is wretched work to have those against you who are reckoned to be the best men of the time. It was little to him to have Herod against him, or Pilate, and the Romans as his foes, for they knew no better; but it was heartrending work to see the men of the Sanhedrim, the men of prayers and phylacteries, the men of the temple and of the synagogue, arrayed against him. Yet into their hands he falls! Good Master, thou art delivered into the hands of men who know no mercy, for they hate thee for thy faithful words! They can compromise, and thou canst not; they can trifle with language, and thou canst not; they can play the hypocrite, and that thou canst not do!

Read on: "and they shall condemn him to death." They did not leave the sentence of condemnation to the Romans, but themselves passed sentence upon their victim. The priests, whose office made them types of himself, and the scribes, who were the official interpreters of his Father's Book, these condemned the holy One and the just. They count him worthy of death: nothing less will serve their turn. This the Christ could plainly see; and it was no small trial to come under the censure of his country's governors. They could not put him to death themselves. If they dared they would have stoned him, and that would have broken the prophecy, which declared that in death his enemies must pierce his hands and his feet. They can condemn him to death, but they cannot execute the sentence. Yet none the less this iron entered into his soul, that those who were professedly the servants of God condemned him to die. If you have ever tasted of this cup you know that it has wormwood in it.

Notice, further: "and shall deliver him to the Gentiles." In our Master's death all men conspired: not half the world, but all of it, must have a hand in the tragedy of Calvary. The Gentile must come in. He takes his share in this iniquity, for Pilate condemns him to the cross. The chief priests hand him over to Pilate, and he commits him to the Roman soldiery, that they may do the cruel deed. They "delivered him to the Gentiles." The Master dwells on this. It opens another gate through which his sorrows poured. At the hands of the Gentiles he dies, and for Gentiles he suffered. Beloved, I like to see how the Master notes this point. He makes distinctions; he does not say that he should be condemned by Pilate; but he is condemned to die by the chief priests, and then he is delivered to the Gentiles. He sees it all,and dwells upon the points of special interest. O believer, behold thy Lord bound and taken away to the hall of Pilate. See him delivered to the Gentiles, while his fellow-countrymen cry, "We have no king but Caesar"! They shout, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" and the Gentiles carry out their cruel demand. Unanimity among our persecutors must add greatly to the sting of their unkindness.

These three words follow; "To mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him." Mark puts in, "To spit upon him." That was a sad part of the mockery. What dreadful scorning he endured! from the Jews when they blindfolded him, and buffeted him; and from the Gentiles when they put on him a purple robe, and thrust a reed into his hand, and bowed the knee, and cried before him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" They plucked his hair, they smote his cheeks, they spat in his face. Mockery could go no farther. It was cruel, cutting, cursed scorn. Ridicule sometimes breaks hearts that are hardened against pain; and the Christ had to bear all the ridicule that human minds could invent. They were maliciously witty. They jested at his person; they jested at his prayers. They mocked him when he cried, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Herein is grief immeasurable, and the Savior foresaw it, and spoke about it.

That was not all: they scourged him. I will not harrow your hearts by trying to describe scourging as it existed among the Romans. The scourge was an infamous instrument of torture. It is said to have been made of the sinews of oxen, intertwisted with the hucklebones of sheep, and slivers of bone; so that every time the lashes fell, they ploughed the back, and laid bare the white bones of the shoulders. It was an anguish more cruel than the grave; but our Lord endured it to the full. They mocked him and they scourged him; he dwells upon each separate item. Some of our most touching hymns upon our Lord's passion are spoken of by the cold blooded critics of to-day as sensuous. "I cannot bear", says one, "to hear so much about the physical agonies of Christ." Beloved, we must preach the physical agonies of Christ more than ever, because this is an age of affectation, in which his mental and spiritual griefs are no more apprehended than those of his body. The device is to be rid of his sufferings altogether. This age is as fond of physical pleasure as any that has gone before it, and it must be made to know that physical pain was a great ingredient in the cup which our Lord drank for man's redemption.

Very many are so unspiritual, that they will never be reached by highsoaring language, appealing to a delicacy which they do not possess. We must exhibit the bleeding Savior, if we would make men's hearts bleed for sin. The cries of his great grief must ring in their ears, or they will remain deaf. Let us not be ashamed to dwell upon points upon which the Lord himself dwelt.

Then he adds, "to crucify him." Here I will come to a pause. Behold him! Behold him! His hands are extended and cruelly nailed to the wood. Hisfeet are fastened to the tree, and he himself is left to bear the weight of his body upon his hand and feet. See how the nails tear through the flesh as the weight drags the body down and enlarges the wounds! See, he is in a fever!

His mouth is dried up and has become like an oven, and his tongue cleaves to the roof thereof! Crucifixion was an inhuman death, and the Savior was "obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." The wonder is, that he could foresee this, and speak of it so calmly. He meditates upon it, and speaks to choice familiar friends about it. Oh, the mastery of love, strong as death! He contemplates the cross, and despises its shame.

Thus he dwells on it all, and then closes by saying, "and the third day he shall rise again." We must never forgot that, for he never forgets it. Ah! you may think as much as ever you will of Calvary, and let your tears flow like rivers. You may sit at Gethsemane, and say, "Oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for my Lord!" But, after all, you must wipe those tears away, for he is not in the grave; he rose again on the third day. O blessed morning! not to be celebrated by an Easter once in the year; but to be commemorated on every first day of the week, more than fifty times in each year. Every seven days that the sun shines upon us brings us a new record of his resurrection. We may sing every Lord's-day morning ?

"To-day he rose and left the dead,

And Satan's empire fell:

To-day the saints his triumph spread,

And all his wonders tell."

The first day of the week stands for ever the remembrance of our risen Lord, and on that day he renews his special communings with his people.

We believe in him; we rise in him; we triumph in him; and "he ever liveth to make intercession for us." Thus, you see, I have not preached my own thoughts, but I have set you thinking. Treasure these thoughts in your minds. All this week sweeten your souls with the sacred spices of our Lord's thoughts and words when near his death. God bless this meditation to you by his Holy Spirit!

If you have never believed in him, may you believe in him at once! Why delay? He is able to save unto the uttermost, believe in him just now. And if you have believed, keep on believing, and let your believing grow more intense. Think more of Jesus, and love him more, and serve him more, and grow more like him. Peace be unto you for his dear sake! Amen."

Genesis 3:15 LXX (Thomson version) ; " And I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed, He shall wound thy head, and thou shalt wound His heel."

Genesis, 3:15 "KJV Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." [see my ft]

[ft] The Septuagint, the greek Old Testament, (signified by the letters LXX) has the SINGULAR form of "seed"  ("spermatos") ;used in both instances in this verse. ; the New International Version has " crush your head".  

Cross references :

Hebrews 2:14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,"

Hebrews 2:15*  "and might deliver those, whoever, with fear of death, throughout all their life, were subjects of bondage," (Young's Literal Translation)

and also : 1 John 3:8 ; " He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil."

Colossians 2 :13-15 , verse 13 ; " And you-being dead in the trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh-He made alive together with him, having forgiven you all the trespasses,

14 having blotted out the handwriting in the ordinances that is against us, that was contrary to us, and He hath taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross;

15 having stripped the principalities and the authorities, He made a shew of them openly-having triumphed over them in it."

1 John 3:8* KJV 1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. "

"Rabbi" Tan Huna of whom it was said that he was "the seal of the Midrashim says that ; "God prepared another seed from another place, and He is the Messiah-King."

The "Believer's Bible Commentary says ; ".This verse is known as the protevangelium, meaning "The First Gospel." It predicts the perpetual hostility between Satan and the woman (representing all mankind), and between Satan's seed (his agents) and her Seed (the Messiah). The woman's Seed would crush the Devil's head, a mortal wound spelling utter defeat. This wound was administered at Calvary when the Savior decisively triumphed over the Devil. Satan, in turn, would bruise the Messiah's heel. The heel wound here speaks of suffering and even of physical death, but not of ultimate defeat. So Christ suffered on the cross, and even died, but He arose from the dead, victorious over sin, hell, and Satan. The fact that He is called the woman's Seed may contain a suggestion of His virgin birth. Note the kindness of God in promising the Messiah before pronouncing sentence in the following verses."

IRENAEUS (an early Church "father") ; "For this end did He put enmity between the serpent and the woman and her seed, they keeping it up mutually: He, the sole of whose foot should be bitten, having power also to tread upon the enemy's head; but the other biting, killing, and impeding the steps of man, until the seed did come appointed to tread down his head, - which was born of Mary, of whom the prophet speaks: "Thou shalt tread upon the asp and the basilisk; thou shalt trample down the lion and the dragon;" - indicating that sin, which was set up and spread out against man, and which rendered him subject to death, should be deprived of its power, along with death, which rules [over men]; and that the lion, that is, antichrist, rampant against mankind in the latter days, should be trampled down by Him; and that He should bind "the dragon, that old serpent" and subject him to the power of man, who had been conquered so that all his might should be trodden down. Now Adam had been conquered, all life having been taken away from him: wherefore, when the foe was conquered in his turn, Adam received new life; and the last enemy, death, is destroyed, which at the first had taken possession of man. Therefore, when man has been liberated, "what is written shall come to pass, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death sting?" This could not be said with justice, if that man, over whom death did first obtain dominion, were not set free. For his salvation is death's destruction. When therefore the Lord vivifies man, that is, Adam, death is at the same time destroyed." and... "And the Lord summed up in Himself this enmity, when He was made man from a woman," and

".He has therefore, in His work of recapitulation, summed up all things, both waging war against our enemy, and crushing him who had at the beginning led us away captives in Adam, and trampled upon his head, as thou canst perceive in Genesis that God said to the serpent, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; He shall be on the watch for (Latin:observabit) thy head, and thou on the watch for His heel."(10) For from that time, He who should be born of a woman, [namely] from the Virgin, after the likeness of Adam, was preached as keeping watch for the head of the serpent."

C.H.Spurgeon; "Here, too, the great fact of the sufferings of Christ is clearly foretold-"Thou shalt bruise his heel." Within the compass of those words we find the whole story of our Lord's sorrows from Bethlehem to Calvary. "It shall bruise thy head": there is the breaking of Satan's regal power, there is the clearing away of sin, there is the destruction of death by resurrection, there is the leading of captivity captive in the ascension, there is the victory of truth in the world through the descent of the Spirit, and there is the latter-day glory in which Satan shall be bound, and there is, lastly, the casting of the evil one and all his followers into the lake of fire. The conflict and the conquest are both in the compass of these few fruitful words. They may not have been fully understood by those who first heard them, but to us they are now full of light. The text at first looks like a flint, hard and cold; but sparks fly from it plentifully, for hidden fires of infinite love and grace lie concealed within. Over this promise of a gracious God we ought to rejoice exceedingly."...and he further comments;"...but now, behold, our Champion whose heel was bruised has risen from the dead, and given us a pledge that all his followers shall rise from the dead also. Thus is Satan foiled, for death shall not retain a bone, nor a piece of a bone, of one of those who belonged to the woman's seed. At the trump of the archangel from the earth and from the sea they shall arise, and this shall be their shout, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Satan, knowing this, feels already that by the resurrection his head is broken. Glory be to the Christ of God for this!"

".And your resurrection, too, when Satan shall see you come up from the grave like one that has been perfumed in a bath of spices, when he shall see you arise in the image of Christ, with the same body which was sown in corruption and weakness raised in incorruption and power, then will he feel an infinite chagrin, and know that his head is bruised by the woman's seed.

I ought to add that every time any one of us is made useful in saving souls we do as it were repeat the bruising of the serpent's head. When you go, dear sister, among those poor children, and pick them up from the gutters, where they are Satan's prey, where he finds the raw material for thieves and criminals, and when through your means, by the grace of God, the little wanderers become children of the living God, then you in your measure bruise the old serpent's head. I pray you do not spare him. When we by preaching the gospel turn sinners from the error of their ways, so that they escape from the power of darkness, again we bruise the serpent's head.

Whenever in any shape or way you are blessed to the aiding of the cause of truth and righteousness in the world, you, too, who were once beneath his power, and even now have sometimes to suffer from his nibbling at your heel, you tread upon his head. In all deliverances and victories you overcome, and prove the promise true,  "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet."

 Adam Clarke ; " But there is a deeper meaning in the text than even this, especially in these words, 'it shall bruise thy head', or rather,.. 'HE (shall bruise thy head';   [my ft]

[ft] the Septuagint, New King James, and New Revised Standard have " He" rather than " it"

Adam Clarke  notes the identity of the One to come who will crush his head asks the question ; "who? the seed of the woman; the person is to come by the woman, and by her alone, without the concurrence of man....  and it was in consequence of this purpose of God that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin; this, and this alone, is what is implied in the promise of the seed of the woman bruising the head of the serpent. Jesus Christ died to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and to destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil. Thus he bruises his head -destroys his power and lordship over mankind, turning them from the power of Satan unto God; Acts 26:18. [my ft]

[ft] Acts 26:18 . " To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."

And Satan bruises his heel - God so ordered it, that the salvation of man could only be brought about by the death of Christ; and even the spiritual seed of our blessed Lord have the heel often bruised, as they suffer persecution, temptation, etc., which may be all that is intended by this part of the prophecy."

John Gill ; "...of the Messiah, the eminent seed of the woman, should bruise the head of the old serpent the devil, that is, destroy him and all his principalities and powers, break and confound all his schemes, and ruin all his works, crush his whole empire, strip him of his authority and sovereignty, and particularly of his power over death, and his tyranny over the bodies and souls of men; all which was done by Christ, when he became incarnate and suffered and died."

and..."The Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase this passage of the days of the Messiah, and of health and salvation in them: what is here delivered out in a way of threatening to the serpent the devil, carries in it a kind intimation of grace and good will to fallen man, and laid a foundation for hope of salvation and happiness: reference seems to be had to this passage in "Ps 40:7" "in the volume", in the first roll, en kefalidi the Greek version, at the head, [my ft]

[ft] as used in in the beginning "of the book, it is written of me, to do thy will, O my God."

Wil Pounds  ; "...Dr. Merill C. Tenny says, "It may be believed that resurrection faith is at the center of the paradox of the Savior-man. In the crushing of the head of the serpent, deliverance was promised: and in order to effect that deliverance, the redeemer had to be able to conquer death." He adds, "How could Christ (the seed of the woman) take upon Himself the consequences of the serpent's sting and yet live? Resurrection seems to be the answer."

Death symbolized the wounding of the heel by Satan and takes place before the smashing of the head of Satan by the seed of the woman. The wounding appears to be the death on the cross, since Christ identified His executioners as the seed of the serpent. Jesus said, "You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him . . . " (John 8:44).

This preceding death makes mandatory the resurrection of the seed of the woman to perform the smashing of the serpent's head.

This promise was no doubt the cause of Abraham greeting the "day of Christ" with glad assurance in John 8:54).

Genesis 3:15 is the first shining light on the horizon of eternal life. It is the root of Abraham's obedience to the Lord to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. Why else would he make such a sacrifice if he did not have the hope before him that God would raise the son of the promise from the dead? Abe probably believed the seed of the woman was the promise of a seed through Isaac.

In Hebrews 11:19, Abraham "considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead; from which he also received him back as a type." Jesus said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad."

Genesis is more than a story. It is the record of God's work on behalf of the redeemed. It is the history of God's redemptive work.

Romans 16:20, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." That crushing certainly includes all the labor of Jesus the Messiah. The hope of the resurrection is as old as sinful men and is mighty to support them in all their pilgrimages to heaven.

Dr. Harold Stigers, "Gen. 3:15 has become the most important verse in all the Bible." The central message of the whole Bible, old and new covenants, are the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The greatest commentary on Gen. 3:15 is John 3:16. No doubt, the "seed of the woman" is referring to the virgin birth of Christ. The virgin- born conquers death, hell and the grave.

Christ will give the death blow to Satan when He returns."

Alfred Edersheim ; "...this grand primeval promise, 'The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent,' would stand out as a beacon-light to all mankind on their way, burning brighter and brighter, first in the promise to Shem, next in that to Abraham, then in the prophecy of Jacob, and so on through the types of the Law to the promises of the Prophets, till in the fulness of time  'the Sun of Righteousness' arose 'with healing in His wings'!"

 Benjamin Keach's thoughts concerning the wound that the Messiah would suffer and God's resurrecting power of Christ from the dead ; ".but My divine omnipotence shall cure that wound, by giving Him a glorious resurrection from death, and by my Gospel, declaring Him to the whole world to be conqueror of hell, and all its powers : whereas thou the Devil) shalt utterly perish ; not only thy heel, but thy very head shall be broken.

We have insisted on the larger upon this great oracle of divine truth because it is the foundation of the prophecies concerning the Messiah, and all our hope and comfort, which we hope shall not seem tedious to the pious reader."

Genesis 22:2-4, LXX " 2 And he said, Take thy son, the beloved one, whom thou hast loved. Isaac, and go into the high land, and offer him there for a whole-burnt-offering on one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

3 And Abraam rose up in the morning and saddled his ass, and he took with him two servants, and Isaac his son, and having split wood for a whole-burnt-offering, he arose and departed, and came to the place of which God spoke to him,

4 on the third day; and Abraam having lifted up his eyes, saw the place afar off."

Genesis 22:2-4, Douey-Reims (from Latin Vugate) 2 He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision; and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will shew thee.

3 So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass, and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust, he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.

4 And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off."

KJV/MT Genesis 22:2-4, verse 2 ; " And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the  burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him."

4 Then  on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off."

Cross references :

Exodus 5:3  "And they said, The Elohim of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto Yahweh our Elohim; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword."

Exodus 15:22  "So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water."

Exodus 19:11  And be ready against the third day: for the third day Yahweh will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

Hebrews 11:17 (NKJV) ; " By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,                                             

vs.18 of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called,"                                                                               vs.19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense."

Matthew 10:37  "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

Numbers 19:12  "He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean." [ft]

[ft] note the linkage between the third day and the seventh day. Many Christians observe a "Sabbath day every seven days (on the first day of the week) in honoring the One Who was resurrected on the third day.

Joshua 1:11 , LXX (Thomson version) ; "Go through the camp of the people, and give them orders, saying, Prepare all necessary provisions ; for in three days you are to cross the Jordan, to go in and take possession of the land which the Lord the God of your fathers giveth you."

2 Kings 20:5  "Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith Yahweh, the Elohim of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of Yahweh."

Adam Clarke; "  And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass,  and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for  the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

Abraham desired earnestly to be let into the mystery of redemption; and God, to instruct him in the infinite extent of the Divine goodness to mankind, who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, let Abraham feel by experience what it was to lose a beloved son, the son born miraculously when Sarah was past child-bearing, as Jesus was miraculously born of a virgin. The duration, too, of the action, Genesis 22:4, was the same as that between Christ's death and resurrection, both which are designed to be represented in it; and still farther not only the final archetypical sacrifice of the Son of God was figured in the command to offer Isaac, but the intermediate typical sacrifice in the Mosaic economy was represented by the permitted sacrifice of the ram offered up, Genesis 22:13, instead of Isaac."

John Gill; "The Jews (ft. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 56. fol. 49. 3) take great notice of this third day, and compare the passage with (see Ho 6:2); and which they interpret of the third day of the resurrection; and the deliverance of Isaac on this third day was doubtless typical of Christ's resurrection from the dead on the third day; for from the time that Abraham had the command to offer up his son, he was reckoned no other by him than as one dead, from whence he received him in a figure on this third day, (see  Heb 11:19):

John Calvin; "But it may be asked, 'how, under the guidance of faith, he could be brought to sacrifice his son, seeing that what was proposed to him, was in opposition to that word of God, on which it is necessary for faith to rely?' To this question the Apostle answers, that his confidence in the word of God remained unshaken; because he hoped that God would be able to cause the promised benediction to spring up, even out of the dead ashes of his son.(Hebr. 11:19). "[my ft]

[ft] Hebrews 11:19 NKJV ; " concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense."

Edersheim ; "Upon Isaac, also, the event had a most important bearing. For when he resisted not his father, and allowed himself to be bound and laid on the altar, he entered into the spirit of Abraham, he took upon himself his faith, and thus showed himself truly the heir to the promises. Nor can we forget how this surrender of the first-born was the first of that dedication of all the first-born unto God, which afterwards the law demanded, and which meant that in the first-born we should consecrate all and everything unto the Lord. Perhaps the lesson which the Canaanites might learn from the event will seem to some quite secondary, as compared with these great truths. Yet we must bear in mind, that all around cruel human sacrifices were offered on every hill, when God gave His sanction to a far different offering, by for ever substituting animal sacrifices for that surrender of the best beloved which human despair had prompted for an atonement for sin. And yet God Himself gave up His Beloved, His own only begotten Son for us, - and of this the sacrifice of Isaac was intended to be a glorious type; and as Abraham received this typical sacrifice again from the dead "in a figure," so we in reality, when God raised up His own Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead, and has made us sit together with Him in heavenly places."

Herbert Lockyer ; "With Isaac, the three days ended with a substitute dying in his place. With Jesus, the three days ended with His resurrection."

Matthew 12:18-21(these versus are taken from Isaiah 42:1-4 in the Old Testament)  ; "Behold my Servant, whom I have chosen; my Beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon Him, and He shall show Justice to the Gentiles.

  He shall not quarrel, nor cry; neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets.

  A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he shall send forth Justice to victory. And in His name shall the Gentiles trust."

(Continuing with Isaiah 42 Vss.5-8 from Justin's Septuagint or as abbreviated LXX) ; vs.5 ; "Thus says the Lord,  the God that created the heavens,  and made them fast, that established the earth, and that which is in it ; and gave breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them who walk therein :

Vs.6  I the Lord God have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will strengthen Thee ; and I have given Thee for a Covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles,

Vs.7  to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out them that are blind, to bring out them that are bound from the chains, and those who sit in darkness from the prison-house .

Vs.8  I am the Lord God ; this is my name ; my glory will I not give to another, nor my virtues to graven images." 

 

Isaiah 42:1-8,Dead Sea Scroll, vs. 1 ; "Behold my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I put my spirit upon him: and his judgement  will go out to the Gentiles.

 (2.) He shall not cry, nor shout, nor cause his voice to be heard in the outskirts.

 (3.) A bruised reed  he shall not break, and the smoking flax he shall not quench: for truth he shall bring out judgement.

(4.) He shall not falter nor be discouraged, until he puts judgement in the earth: and for his Torah the islands shall wait.

(5.). Thus says the God and God (elohiym) the creator of the heavens, and stretched them out in the firmament and the earth,  and that which comes out of it; the Giver of breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those walking in it:

(6.) I have called you in righteousness, and I will hold your hand, and will keep you, [a nazarene word] and I will give you for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; [or "I will make you a Nazarene and give your for a covenant and light of the Gentiles."  [See http://www.ao.net/~fmoeller/40-45.htm#sing]
(7.) To open the blind eyes, to bring out from prison the prisoners, and from the house of confinement those who sit in darkness.
(8.) I am YHWH that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to idols."  see www.ao.net/~fmoeller/qa-tran.htm

 

 Cross references :

 

Isaiah 49:1-13, Dead Sea Scroll, vs.1 ; "Hear me, O islands, and listen peoples, from afar; YHWH called me from the womb; from My mother's belly  He caused My name to be remembered.

(2.) And He has put my mouth a sharp sword; in the shadow of His hand He hid me, and made Me as a polished arrow;  in His quiver he hid Me;

(3.) And He said to Me, You are My Servant Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
(4.) Then I said, for emptiness I have toiled, My strength for a void and a vapor I have spent : surely My judgment is with YHWH and My work with My God.

(5.) And now, says YHWH who formed You from the womb to serve Him, to return Jacob to Him,
 and to gather Israel to Him, and I shall be glorious in the eyes of YHWH, and My God shall be My strength.

(6.) And He said, Is it a light thing from your being to me  a servant to raise up the tribes of Israel and to restore the Nazarenes of Jacob : I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, to be My Salvation {Yeshua] to the end of the earth.

(7.). Thus says the Lord YHWH your Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to those despising his soul, to Him who the nation counts an abomination, to a Servant of rulers,
 Kings shall see and arise, princes shall worship, for the sake of YHWH who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, shall choose You. 
(8.) Thus says YHWH, In an excellent time have I heard You, and in a day of Salvation [Hebrew:Yeshua] I helped You: and I will preserve [or "make Nazarene "] You, and I will give You for a covenant of  the people, to raise up the earth, to cause them to inherit heritages of desolation;

(9.) saying to the prisoners, Go out; to them that are in darkness, reveal yourselves upon all the mountains they shall feed, and in all the high places of their pastures.

(10.) They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall it strike them the heat  nor the sun : for He has mercy on them shall lead them, and onto the springs of water He guides them.

(11.) And I will set all my mountains as a roadway and My highways shall be exalted.

(12.) Behold, these shall come from far: and behold, these from the north and west; and these from the land  of China.

(13.). Sing, O heavens; and rejoice, O earth; and break out into singing, O mountains: because YHWH has comforted his people, and on the afflicted He will have mercy." [FT]

[FT] see [ft] see http://www.ao.net/~fmoeller/qa-tran.htm

 

Isaiah 52:13  "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high."

Job 11:15-17   ^" For thus shall thy countenance shine again, as pure water; and thou shalt divest thyself of uncleanness, and shalt not fear.  ¹⁶ And thou shalt forget trouble, as a wave that has passed by; and thou shalt not be scared.  ¹⁷ And thy prayer shall be as the morning star, and life shall arise to thee as from the noonday."

 

Acts 28:28  "Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of Yahweh is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

Acts 13:42 � And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.

Acts 13:48  And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of Yahweh: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed."

Revelation 6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four living beings saying, Come and see.

 2 And I saw, and behold, a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given to him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer."

 

 

Isaiah 42:1-8  (the first four verses I quote from Matthew's Gospel that is from a greek translation as is considered the most accurate when differing from the Old Testament text) The LXX (Charles Thomson version) has the following for verse 4; "He will shine out, and shall not be broken until he hath established judgement on the earth. In his name therefore let the nations trust." (this agrees with Justin Martyr's LXX) The Dead Sea Scroll for verse for is; "He shall not falter nor be discouraged, until he puts judgement in the earth: and for his Torah the islands shall wait."

The phrase "shine again" in the LXX Job 11:15-17  (^" For thus shall thy countenance shine again, as pure water; and thou shalt divest thyself of uncleanness, and shalt not fear.  ¹⁶ And thou shalt forget trouble, as a wave that has passed by; and thou shalt not be scared.  ¹⁷ And thy prayer shall be as the morning star, and life shall arise to thee as from the noonday.") is the same phrase in text of the LXX  vs. 4 ("he will shine out" ; the Greek is in both;  "analampw, f. psiw, to flame up, take fire, Xen.II. metaph. to break out anew, as war, Plut. 2. to come to oneself again, revive, Id. See Liddell-Scott Greek-English Lexicon abridged)

Also attention should be drawn to the fact that neither the Septuagint (LXX) nor Matthew's Gospel in quoting verse 4 read as the Hebraic Massoretic, "Authorized Version", and most modern Bibles that read as "He shall not fail nor be discouraged until." but the Greek versus rather have "He shall shine out." or as Matthew has "...till He shall send forth justice to victory." Establishing justice in the earth is not failure nor anything to be discouraged by! By reading from the AV/Massoretic text it could be said that His life didn't fail until He established justice in the earth. The LXX  doesn't say that, rather, it says "He shall not be broken until he hath established judgement on the earth".  In the final analysis, we need to trust the Holy Spirit-anointed and Messiah-taught scripture texts as the final authorities. No doubt they had superior or more authentic ("Authorized", if you will) versions in their hands than what we have two thousand years later. T Mc.

 

Matthew Henry comments on Matthew 12:20 (the New Testament quoting the Old Testament of Isaiah 42:1-4) ; "...That judgment which he showed to the Gentiles shall be victorious, he will go on conquering and to conquer, Rev_6:2. Both the preaching of the gospel in the world, and the power of the gospel in the heart, shall prevail. Grace shall get the upper hand of corruption, and shall at length be perfected in glory. Christ's judgment will be brought forth to victory, for when he judges he will overcome."

 

John Gill ; ".This prophecy is ushered in with a "behold"; exciting attention to what is said concerning Christ, as of the greatest importance; directing the eye of faith to him for righteousness and salvation; and as expressive of admiration at him, that he who was the Son of God should become a servant, and undertake the salvation of men:

mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth (from verse 1 of the KJV/MT/AV): ".this character of "elect" may respect the choice of the human nature to the grace of union with the Son of God; which was chosen out from among the people, and separated from them for that purpose; and was preordained to be the Lamb slain for the redemption of man, and appointed to glory; and likewise the choice of Christ to office, to be the Mediator between God and man; to be the Saviour and Redeemer of the Lord's people; to be the Head of the church, and to be the Foundation and the Corner Stone of that spiritual building; and to be the Judge of quick and dead: and with him, as such, was the Lord "well pleased, or delighted"; with his person; as the Son of God; and with all his chosen, as considered in him; with what he did as his servant; with the righteousness he wrought out; with the sacrifice he offered up; and with his sufferings and death, through which peace and reconciliation were made with God for sinners:

I have put my Spirit upon him; my Holy Spirit, as the Targum; not on him as a divine Person, as such he needed him not; but as man, with which he was filled without measure at his incarnation, and which rested upon him, and qualified him for his work and office, as Prophet, Priest, and King:

he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles; the Gospel, the produce of divine wisdom; the Gospel of God, whose judgment is according to truth; the rule of human judgment in things spiritual and saving, and by which Christ judges and rules in the hearts of his people; this he brought forth out of his Father's bosom, out of his own heart, and published it in person to the Jews, and by his apostles to the converted by it, became subject to his rule and government. Gentiles, who being converted by it, became subject to his rule and government.

".the Septuagint version, "he shall shine"; in the glory of his person, as the Son of God; in the fulness of his grace, as Mediator, which shall never fail; and in the hearts of his people by his Spirit; and in his Gospel published to the world:

nor be discouraged; at the number, power, and menaces of his enemies, he had to grapple with, sin, Satan, the world, and death: or,

nor be broken; with the weight of all the sins of his people upon him; and with a sense of divine wrath; and with the whole punishment due unto them, inflicted on him, enough to have broke the backs and spirits of men and angels; but he stood up under the mighty load, and did not sink beneath it, but endured all with an invincible courage and resolution of mind:

till he have set judgment in the earth; fully satisfied the justice of God for the sins of his people, and performed the work of their redemption in righteousness; and then he sent and settled his Gospel in the world, proclaiming the same; and fixed a set of Gospel ordinances to continue the remembrance of it, till his second coming.."

and the isles shall wait for his law; his doctrine or Gospel, the law or doctrine of faith, particularly that of justification by his righteousness, with every other; this the inhabitants of the islands, or distant countries, the Gentiles, should be desirous of hearing, readily embrace and receive, and trust in Christ, made known to them in it. The Septuagint version is, "and in his name shall the Gentiles trust"; and so in Matthew 12:20 Acts 28:28 13:42,48.'

Albert Barnes; "...There are such applications of the passage in the New Testament to the Lord Jesus, as to leave no room to doubt that, in view of the sacred writers, the passage had this reference. Thus, in Luke_2:32, he is spoken of as ?a light to lighten the Gentiles' (compare Isa_42:6). In Acts_26:18, Paul speaks of him as given to the Gentiles,' to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light' (compare Isa_42:7). In Mat_3:17, God says of the Redeemer, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,' - language remarkably similar to the passage before us Isa_42:1, where he says, 'mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth.' And the whole inquiry is put to rest by the fact that Matthew Mat_12:17-21 expressly and directly applies the passage to the Lord Jesus, and says that it was fulfilled in him.

3. It may be added, that the entire description is one that is exactly and entirely applicable to the Lord Jesus. It is as applicable as if it had been made after he had appeared among people, and as if it were the language of biography, and not of prophecy. It is an exceedingly beautiful and tender description of the Son of God; nor can there be any objection to its application to him, except what arises from a general purpose not to apply any part of the Old Testament to him, if it can be avoided. I shall regard the passage, therefore, as applicable to him, and him alone; and suppose that the design of the Spirit here in introducing this reference to the Messiah is, to comfort the hearts of the exile Jews with the assurance that they must be restored to their own land, because it was from them that the Messiah was to proceed, and from them that the true religion was to be spread around the world.

Whom I uphold - whom I sustain, or protect; that is, who is the object of my affection and care. In Mat_3:17, the expression is, ?in whom I am well pleased.' And so in Mat_12:18, it is rendered, ?my servant, whom I have chosen.'

Mine elect - My chosen one; or the one whom I have selected to accomplish my great purposes. It implies that God had designated or appointed him for the purpose. In Mat_12:18, it is rendered ?my beloved.' It implies that he was the object of the divine favor, and that God had chosen or appointed him to perform the work of a Messiah...."

He shall bring forth judgment - "...The word 'judgment', that is, the act of judging Lev_19:15; the place of judgment Ecc_3:16; a cause, or suit before a judge Num_28:5; a sentence of a judge 1Ki_3:28; and thence guilt or crime, for which one is judged Jer_51:9. It also means right, rectitude, justice; a law, or statute; a claim, privilege, or due; also manner, custom, or fashion; or an ordinance, or institution. Here it is used, probably, in the sense of the order or institution that would be introduced under the Messiah; and it means that he would set up or establish the true religion among the Gentiles.

To the Gentiles - This is one of the many declarations which occur in Isaiah, that the Messiah would extend the true religion to pagan nations, and that they should be brought to participate in its privileges...."

He shall bring forth judgment - (See Isa_42:1). "...The word ?judgment' here evidently denotes the true religion; the laws, institutions, and appointments of God.    

 "Matthew 12:29 renders this, 'unto victory.' The meaning in Isaiah is, the he shall establish his religion according to truth; he shall faithfully announce the true precepts of religion, and secure their ascendency among mankind. It shall overcome all falsehood, and all idolatry, and shall obtain a final triumph in all nations ..."Barnes continues; "Isa 42: He shall not fail (quoting the KJV/MT)- He shall not be weak, feeble, or disheartened. However much there may be that shall tend to discourage, yet his purpose is fixed, and he will pursue it with steadiness and ardor until the great work shall be fully accomplished."

Nor be discouraged -". The Septuagint renders it, 'He shall shine out, and not be broken.' The connection seems to require the sense which our translators have given to it, and according to this, the meaning is, 'he shall not become broken in spirit, or discouraged; he shall persevere amidst all opposition and embarrassment, until he shall accomplish his purposes.' We have a similar phraseology when we speak of a man's being heart-broken.

Till he have set judgment - Until he has secured the prevalence of the true religion in all the world.

And the isles - Distant nations (see the note at Isa_41:1); the pagan nations. The expression is equivalent to saying that the Gentiles would be desirous of receiving the religion of the Messiah, and would wait for it (see the notes at Isa_2:3).

Shall wait - They shall be dissatisfied with their own religions, and see that their idol-gods are unable to aid them; and they shall be in a posture of waiting for some new religion that shall meet their needs. It cannot mean that they shall wait for it, in the sense of their already having a knowledge of it, but that their being sensible that their own religions cannot save them may be represented as a condition of waiting for some better system. It has been true, as in the Sandwich Islands, that the pagan have been so dissatisfied with their own religion as to cast away their idols, and to be without any religion, and thus to be in a waiting posture for some new and better system. And it may be true yet that the pagan shall become extensively dissatisfied with their idolatry; that they shall be convinced that some better system is necessary, and that they may thus be prepared to welcome the gospel when it shall be proposed to them. It may be that in this manner God intends to remove the now apparently insuperable obstacles to the spread of the gospel in the pagan world. The Septuagint renders this, 'And in his name shall the Gentiles trust,' which form has been retained by Matthew Mat_12:21.

His law - His commands, the institutions of his religion. The word 'law' is often used in the Scriptures to denote the whole of religion."

Barnes comments on Matthew 12:20 ".Till he send forth judgment unto victory - "Judgment" here means truth - the truth of God, the gospel. It shall be victorious - it shall not be vanquished. Though the Messiah is not "such" a conqueror as the Jews expected, yet he "shall" conquer. Though mild and retiring, yet he will be victorious."

Keil and Delitzsch on verse 4; "...His zeal will not be extinguished, nor will anything break His strength, till He shall have secured for right a firm standing on the earth."

Psalm 24:1, and vss. 7-10, LXX, Thomson Version, vs.1 ; A Psalm for David. on the first day of the week

 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world, and all its inhabitants."

 and

Psalm 24:7, LXX : "Lift up your gates, ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the king of glory shall come in."

Psalm 24:7 LXX (Thomson version) ; "Open wide your gates, ye chiefs!  And be opened wide, ye everlasting doors ; that the glorious king may enter."

Vs. 8 "Who is this king of Glory? the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your gates, ye princes; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the king of glory shall come in.

10 Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is this king of glory."

 

Cross references :

Daniel 7:13-14 " And I beheld in the vision of the night, and lo! with the clouds of heaven One like a son of man coming! And He advanced to the Ancient of Days and was led into to Him."

Vs.14 "And to him was given the dominion, and the honour, and the kingdom; and all nations, tribes, and languages, shall serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed."

Hebrews 2:14-15 ; "Since then the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." [my ft}

 

[ft] the word "deliver" in vs.15 is the same word in the greek as is the word "renew"

 

John 16:28 "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father."

Mark 14:62 "And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven."

Mark 16:19 "So then after the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God."

Matthew 28:18  "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."

Hebrews 9:12 "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

 

Though this scripture speaks primarily of the Lord's ascension and exaltation, the early churchman Justin demonstrates Christ's living power in the following and how His resurrection and exaltation are inexorrably linked ; i.e. There could be no exaltation without the resurrection ; "Moreover, some of you (Jews) venture to expand the prophecy which runs, 'Lift up your gates ye rulers, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may enter'. but to this our Christ alone, Who appeared without comeliness and inglorious (at His advent), as Isaiah and David and all the scriptures said ; who is the Lord of Hosts, by the will of the Father Who conferred on Him, who also rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven, as the Psalm and other Scriptures manifested, when they pronounced Him to be Lord of Hosts, and of this you may, if exorcised in the name of this very Son of God-Who is the First-Born of every creature, Who became man by the virgin, Who suffered, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate by your nation, Who died, Who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven -is overcome (victorius) and subdued (His enemies). "

Christopher Wordsworth, D.D. Ver. 1. "The earth is the Lord's. It is Christ's, by creation (Psalm 24:2 John 1:1-2), and it is his by resurrection (Matthew 28:18), and by his glorious ascension into heaven, where he is enthroned King of the world in his human nature.  This Psalm takes up the language of the first Ascension Psalm (Psalm 24:8.)"[my ft]

[ft] Psalm 24:8, LXX ; " Who is this king of Glory? the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle."

Matthew Henry ; "...It is likewise to be applied to the dominion Christ has, as Mediator, over the utmost parts of the earth, which are given him for his possession: the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand, power over all flesh.  The apostle quotes this scripture twice together in his discourse about things offered to idols, 1Corinthians 10:26,28."

Spurgeon ; Ver. 7.  "These last verses reveal to us the great representative man, who answered to the full character laid down, and therefore by his own right ascended the holy hill of Zion.  Our Lord Jesus Christ could ascend into the hill of the Lord because his hands were clean and his heart was pure, and if we by faith in him are conformed to his image we shall enter too.  We have here a picture of our Lord's glorious ascent.  We see him rising from amidst the little group upon Olivet, and as the cloud receives him, angels reverently escort him to the gates of heaven.

  The ancient gates of the eternal temple are personified and addressed in song by the attending cohorts of rejoicing spirits."

"Lo his triumphal chariot waits, And angels chant the solemn lay. Lift up your heads, ye heavenly gates; Ye everlasting doors, give way."

F. A. Cox, D.D., L.L.D.,  1852 ;  From the "Legend of the Songs of the Night," in the Talmud, quoted in "Biblical Antiquities." ; " 'He heard me', croaked the raven, 'when I was forsaken and alone;" "He heard me", said the wild goat of the rocks, "when my time came, and I brought forth.'  And the turtle dove cooed, and the swallow and other birds joined the song, 'We have found our nests, our houses, we dwell upon the altar of the Lord, and sleep under the shadow of his wing in tranquillity and peace.'  'And peace', replied the night, and echo prolonged the sound, when chanticleer awoke the dawn, and crowed with joy, "Open the portals, set wide the gates of the world!  The King of glory approaches.  Awake!  Arise, ye sons of men, give praises and thanks unto the Lord, for the King of glory approaches.' "

   "The sun arose, and David awoke from his melodious rapture.  But as long as he lived the strains of creation's harmony remained in his soul, and daily he recalled them from the strings of his harp." By F. A. Cox, D.D., L.L.D.,  1852.

Adam Clarke ; "...both among ancients and moderns, have thought this Psalm speaks of the resurrection of our Lord, and is thus to be understood. It is easy to apply it in this way: Jesus has conquered sin, Satan, and death, by dying. He now rises from the dead; and, as a mighty Conqueror, claims an entrance into the realms of glory, the kingdom which he has purchased by his blood; there to appear ever in the presence of God for us, to which he purposes to raise finally the innumerable hosts of his followers; for in reference to these, He is the Lord of hosts; and, in reference to his victory, He is the Lord mighty in battle."

Albert Barnes comments on verse 7 ; "And the King of glory shall come in - The glorious King. The allusion is to God as a King. On the cover of the ark, or the mercy-seat, the symbol of the divine presence - the Shekinah - rested; and hence, it was natural to say that God would enter through those gates. In other words, the cover of the ark was regarded as his abode - His seat - His throne; and, as thus occupying the mercy-seat, He was about to enter the place of His permanent abode."

[ft]The cherubim of the mercy-seat were human figures, each having two wings."".Hence, the cherubim, described by Ezekiel, have been regarded as representing the whole creation engaged in the worship and service of God (compare Rev_4:9-11; Rev_5:13); and it would be in harmony with this view to suppose that the more strictly human shape of the cherubim of the mercy seat represented the highest form of created intelligence engaged in the devout contemplation of the divine law of love and justice. (Compare 1Pe_1:12.) It is worthy of notice that the golden cherubim from between which Yahweh spoke Exo_25:22 to His people bore witness, by their place on the mercy-seat, to His redeeming mercy; while the cherubim that took their stand at the gate of Eden, Gen_3:24, to keep the way to the tree of life, witnessed to His condemnation of sin in man."

Adam Clarke on verse 8 ("Who is this king of Glory? the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.")

  ".Several, both among ancients and moderns, have thought this Psalm speaks of the resurrection of our Lord, and is thus to be understood. It is easy to apply it in this way: Jesus has conquered sin, Satan, and death, by dying. He now rises from the dead; and, as a mighty Conqueror, claims an entrance into the realms of glory, the kingdom which he has purchased by his blood; there to appear ever in the presence of God for us, to which he purposes to raise finally the innumerable hosts of his followers; for in reference to these, He is the Lord of hosts; and, in reference to his victory, He is the Lord mighty in battle."

Matthew Henry on verse 8; "Doubtless it points at Christ, of whom the ark, with the mercy-seat, was a type. 1. We may apply it to the ascension of Christ into heaven and the welcome given to him there. When he had finished his work on earth he ascended in the clouds of heaven, Dan_7:13, Dan_7:14. The gates of heaven must then be opened to him, those doors that may be truly called everlasting, which had been shut against us, to keep the way of the tree of life, Gen_3:24. Our Redeemer found them shut, but, having by his blood made atonement for sin and gained a title to enter into the holy place (Heb_9:12), as one having authority, he demanded entrance, not for himself only, but for us; for, as the forerunner, he has for us entered and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. The keys not only of hell and death, but of heaven and life, must be put into his hand. His approach being very magnificent, the angels are brought in asking, Who is this King of glory? For angels keep the gates of the New Jerusalem, Rev_21:12. When the first-begotten was brought into the upper world the angels were to worship him (Heb_1:6); and accordingly, they here ask with wonder, "Who is he? - this that cometh with dyed garments from Bozrah? (Isa_63:1-3), for he appears in that world as a Lamb that had been slain." It is answered that he is strong and mighty, mighty in battle, to save his people and subdue his and their enemies. 2. We may apply it to Christ's entrance into the souls of men by his word and Spirit, that they may be his temples. Christ's presence in them is like that of the ark in the temple; it sanctifies them. Behold, he stands at the door and knocks, Rev_3:20. It is required that the gates and doors of the heart be opened to him, not only as admission is given to a guest, but as possession is delivered to the rightful owner, after the title has been contested. This is the gospel call and demand, that we let Jesus Christ, the King of glory, come into our souls, and welcome him with hosannas, Blessed is he that cometh. That we may do this aright we are concerned to ask, Who is this King of glory? - to acquaint ourselves with him, whom we are to believe in, and to love above all. And the answer is ready: He is Jehovah, and will be Jehovah our righteousness, an all-sufficient Saviour to us, if we give him entrance and entertainment. He is strong and mighty, and the Lord of hosts; and therefore it is at our peril if we deny him entrance; for he is able to avenge the affront; he can force his way, and can break those in pieces with his iron rod that will not submit to his golden sceptre.

In singing this let our hearts cheerfully answer to this call, as it is in the first words of the next psalm, Unto thee, O Lord! do I lift up my soul."

Spurgeon Psa_24:10 ; "The closing note is inexpressibly grand. Jehovah of hosts, Lord of men and angels, Lord of the universe, Lord of the worlds, is the King of glory. All true glory is concentrated upon the true God, for all other glory is but a passing pageant, the painted pomp of an hour. The ascended Saviour is here declared to be the Head and Crown of the universe, the King of Glory. Our Immanuel is hymned in sublimest strains. Jesus of Nazareth is Jehovah Sabaoth."

In singing this we should rejoice in his joy and triumph in his exaltation. "

Ver. 5. His glory [is] great in thy salvation, &c.] That is, the glory of the King Messiah is great in the Lord's salvation of him; delivering him from all his troubles and sorrows, and out of the hands of all his enemies, when he was raised from the dead, and was set at the right hand of God, and crowned with glory and honour: or the sense is, that his glory is great in the salvation of his people by him; it was his glory as Mediator to be appointed to be the Lord's salvation to them; and it being effected by him declares the glory and greatness of his person; and the nature of it is such as cannot fast of bringing glory to him; and such is the sense his people have of it, that it obliges them to ascribe the glory of it alone to him;

"honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him"; which is to be understood not of the honour and majesty of his divine nature, which are essential to him, and not laid upon him by any; nor of the glory which the saints attribute to him on account of their salvation by him; but of that which his Father has put upon him, and lies in the introduction of him into his glory after his sufferings and death, and resurrection from the dead; in exalting him at his right hand above all creatures and things; in giving him all power in heaven and in earth; in putting all the gifts of the Spirit into his hands, which he receiving gave to men, and in ordaining him Judge of quick and dead."

 

Spurgeon ; "Ver. 5. His glory is great in thy salvation. Immanuel bears the palm; he once bore the cross.  The Father has glorified the Son, so that there is no glory like unto that which surrounds him.  See his person as it is described by John in the Revelation; see his dominion as it stretches from sea to sea; see his splendour as he is revealed in flaming fire.  Lord, who is like unto thee?  Solomon in all his glory could not be compared with thee, thou once despised Man of Nazareth!  Mark, reader: salvation is ascribed to God; and thus the Son, as our Saviour, magnifies his Father; but the Son's glory is also greatly seen, for the Father glorifies his Son.

 "Honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him" . "These are put upon Jesus as chains of gold, and stars and tokens of honour are placed upon princes and great men. As the wood of the tabernacle was overlaid with pure gold, so is Jesus covered with glory and honour.  If there be a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory for his humble followers, what must there be for our Lord himself?  The whole weight of sin was laid upon him; it is but meet that the full measure of the glory of bearing it away should be laid upon the same beloved person.  A glory commensurate with his shame he must and will receive, for well has he earned it. It is not possible for us to honour Jesus too much; what our God delights to do, we may certainly do to our utmost. Oh for new crowns for the lofty brow which once was marred with thorns!

"Let him be crowned with majesty Who bowed his head to death, And be his honours sounded high By all things that have breath."

Henry Airway,  1560-1616.  "If it be demanded whether Christ were exalted unto his glory and dignity, according to both his natures, both his Godhead and his manhood, I answer, according to both.  According to his Godhead, not as it is considered in itself, but inasmuch as his Godhead, which from his birth unto his death did little show itself, after his resurrection was made manifest in his manhood; for, as the apostle saith (Romans 1:4), "He was declared mightily to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead," even by the resurrection and after his resurrection from the dead, he which was thought only to be man, was most plainly manifested likewise to be God.  Now, as touching his manhood, he was therein exalted unto highest majesty in the heavenly places, not only shaking off all infirmities of man's nature, but also being beautified and adorned with all qualities of glory, both in his soul and in his body, yet so that he still retaineth the properties of a true body, for even as he was man, he was set at the right hand of the Father, to rule and reign over all, till all his enemies be destroyed, and put under his feet.  To knit up all in a word, Christ, God and man, after his resurrection, was crowned with glory and honour, even such as plainly showed him to be God, and was set on the throne of God, there to rule and reign as sovereign Lord and King, till he come in the clouds to judge both quick and dead.  Here, then, is both matter of comfort and consolation unto the godly, and likewise for fear and astonishment unto the wicked and ungodly."

John Hurrion,  1675-1731. "Christ was "a man of sorrows" on earth, but he is full of joy in heaven.  He that "wipes away all tears from the eyes of his people," surely has none in his own.  There was a joy set before him before he suffered, and doubtless it was given him, when he sat down at God's right hand.  We may take the latter to be an actual donation of the former; the joy he had in prospect when he suffered he had in possession when he came to his throne.  This is the time of his receiving the Father's public approbation, and the tokens of his love, before the whole heavenly assembly, which must be matter of great joy to him who so much valued and delighted in his Father's love."

Samuel Rutherford. "Happy he who hath a bone, or an arm, to put the crown upon the head of our highest King, whose chariot is paved with love. Were there ten thousand millions of heavens created above these highest heavens, and again as many above them, and as many above them, till angels were wearied with counting, it were but too low a seat to fix the princely throne of that Lord Jesus (whose ye are) above them all."

John Gill ; "Ver. 5. His glory [is] great in thy salvation, &c.] "That is, the glory of the King Messiah is great in the Lord's salvation of him; delivering him from all his troubles and sorrows, and out of the hands of all his enemies, when he was raised from the dead, and was set at the right hand of God, and crowned with glory and honour: or the sense is, that his glory is great in the salvation of his people by him; it was his glory as Mediator to be appointed to be the Lord's salvation to them; and it being effected by him declares the glory and greatness of his person; and the nature of it is such as cannot fast of bringing glory to him; and such is the sense his people have of it, that it obliges them to ascribe the glory of it alone to him;

"honour and majesty hast thou laid upon him"; which is to be understood not of the honour and majesty of his divine nature, which are essential to him, and not laid upon him by any; nor of the glory which the saints attribute to him on account of their salvation by him; but of that which his Father has put upon him, and lies in the introduction of him into his glory after his sufferings and death, and resurrection from the dead; in exalting him at his right hand above all creatures and things; in giving him all power in heaven and in earth; in putting all the gifts of the Spirit into his hands, which he receiving gave to men, and in ordaining him Judge of quick and dead."

Ver. 7. For the King trusteth in the Lord, &c.] That is, the King Messiah, as the Targum paraphrases it; he trusted in the Lord for his support and sustenance as man, for assistance and help in his time of trouble, and for deliverance out of it; he trusted in the Lord that he would hear him for himself, and for his people; and that he would glorify him with all glory, honour, majesty, and blessedness, before spoken of; see  Ps 22:8-10 Isa 50:7,9 Joh 13:31,32; [my ft]

[ft] Psalms 22:8  "He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him."

John 13:31 � Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him."

John 13:32  If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him."

"and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved"; God the Father is the most High; Christ is called the Son of the Highest, and the Spirit the power of the Highest,  Luke 1:32,35; there is mercy with him, which is a ground of hope and trust, ... because of the mercy, grace, goodness, and faithfulness of God in making and keeping his promises, Christ would not be and was not moved from his trust and confidence in the Lord; nor shall he even be removed from his throne of glory on which he sits; nor from the glorious and happy state in which he is: nor will it ever be in the power of his enemies to displace him; for these in time will be destroyed by him, as the following words show."

Spurgeon ; "Ver. 7. For the king trusteth in the Lord. Our Lord, like a true King and leader, was a master in the use of the weapons, and could handle well the shield of faith, for he has set us a brilliant example of unwavering confidence in God.  He felt himself safe in his Father's care until his hour was come, he knew that he was always heard in heaven; he committed his cause to him that judgeth right, and in his last moments he committed his spirit into the same hands.  The joy expressed in the former verses was the joy of faith, and the victory achieved was due to the same precious grace.  A holy confidence in Jehovah is the true mother of victories.  This psalm of triumph was composed long before our Lord's conflict began, but faith overleaps the boundaries of time..."

"Through the mercy of the Most High he shall not be moved". Eternal mercy secures the mediatorial throne of Jesus.  He who is Most High in every sense, engages all his infinite perfections to maintain the throne of grace upon which our King in Zion reigns.  He was not moved from his purpose, nor in his sufferings, nor by his enemies, nor shall he be moved from the completion of his designs. He is the same yesterday, today, and for ever.  Other empires are dissolved by the lapse of years, but eternal mercy maintains his growing dominion evermore; other kings fail because they rest upon an arm of flesh, but our monarch reigns on in splendour because he trusteth in Jehovah.  It is a great display of divine mercy to men that the throne of King Jesus is still among them: nothing but divine mercy could sustain it, for human malice would overturn it tomorrow if it could.  We ought to trust in God for the promotion of the Redeemer's kingdom, for in Jehovah the King himself trusts: all unbelieving methods of action, and especially all reliance upon mere human ability, should be for ever discarded from a kingdom where the monarch sets the examples of walking by faith in God."

Adam Clarke ; "it may be more literally understood of the Messiah, of whom David was the type, and in several respects the representative.
Pss 21:5: Verse 5. His glory is great] But great as his glory was, it had its greatness from God's salvation. There is no true nobility but of the soul, and the soul has none but what it receives from the grace and salvation of God.
Pss 21:6: Verse 6. Thou hast made him most blessed for ever] Literally, "Thou hast set him for blessings for ever." Thou hast made the Messiah the Source whence all blessings for time and for eternity shall be derived. He is the Mediator between God and man.

"Thou hast made him exceeding glad" Jesus, as Messiah, for the joy that was set before him, of redeeming a lost world by his death, endured the cross, and despised the shame, and is for ever set down on the right hand of God."