12 And it will be in that day that the Lord will get together his grain, from the River to the stream of Egypt, and you will be got together with care, O children of Israel.
In that day the Lord made an agreement with Abram, and said, To your seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates:
Then the Lord will have pity on you, changing your fate, and taking you back again from among all the nations where you have been forced to go. Even if those who have been forced out are living in the farthest part of heaven, the Lord your God will go in search of you, and take you back;
But if you come back to me and keep my orders and do them, even if those of you who have been forced out are living in the farthest parts of heaven, I will get them from there, and take them back to the place marked out by me for the resting-place of my name.
The Lord God, who gets together the wandering ones of Israel, says, I will get together others in addition to those of Israel who have come back.
The Lord said, I will make them come back from Bashan, and from the deep parts of the sea;
And in that day the hand of the Lord will be stretched out the second time to get back the rest of his people, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the sea-lands. And he will put up a flag as a sign to the nations, and he will get together those of Israel who had been sent away, and the wandering ones of Judah, from the four ends of the earth. And the envy of Ephraim will be gone, and those who make trouble for Judah will come to an end: Ephraim will have no more envy of Judah, and there will be an end of Judah's hate for Ephraim. And they will be united in attacking the Philistines on the west, and together they will take the goods of the children of the east: their hand will be on Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon will be under their rule. And the Lord will make the tongue of the Egyptian sea completely dry; and with his burning wind his hand will be stretched out over the River, and it will be parted into seven streams, so that men may go over it with dry feet. And there will be a highway for the rest of his people from Assyria; as there was for Israel in the day when he came up out of the land of Egypt.
But it will be like a man shaking an olive-tree, something will still be there, two or three berries on the top of the highest branch, four or five on the outside branches of a fertile tree, says the Lord, the God of Israel.
For it will be in the heart of the earth among the peoples, like the shaking of an olive-tree, as the last of the grapes after the getting-in is done. But those will be making sounds of joy; they will be crying loudly from the sea for the glory of the Lord. Give praise to the Lord in the east, to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, in the sea-lands. From the farthest part of the earth comes the sound of songs, glory to the upright. But I said, I am wasting away, wasting away, the curse is on me! The false ones go on in their false way, yes, they go on acting falsely.
Come back, O children who are turned away, says the Lord; for I am a husband to you, and I will take you, one from a town and two from a family, and will make you come to Zion;
For see, I will give orders, and I will have Israel moved about among all the nations, as grain is moved about by the shaking of the tray, but not the smallest seed will be dropped on the earth.
What would you say now? if a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone wandering away, will he not let the ninety-nine be, and go to the mountains in search of the wandering one? And if he comes across it, truly I say to you, he has more joy over it than over the ninety-nine which have not gone out of the way. Even so it is not the pleasure of your Father in heaven for one of these little ones to come to destruction.
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if one of them gets loose and goes away, will not let the ninety-nine be in the waste land by themselves, and go after the wandering one, till he sees where it is?
Whatever the Father gives to me will come to me; and I will not send away anyone who comes to me.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Isaiah 27
Commentary on Isaiah 27 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 27
In this chapter the prophet goes on to show,
All this is applicable to the grace of the gospel, and God's promises to, and providences concerning, the Christian church, and such as belong to it.
Isa 27:1-6
The prophet is here singing of judgment and mercy,
Isa 27:7-13
Here is the prophet again singing of mercy and judgment, not, as before, judgment to the enemies and mercy to the church, but judgment to the church and mercy mixed with that judgment.