knewest not, thou fhalt call; and the nation 'who knew not thee, fhall run unto thee, for the fake of the LORD thy God; and for the Holy One of Ifrael, for he hath glorified thee." That even the nations whom Ifrael never knew, as also those who never knew Ifrael, thall all run to them to be inftructed in the true word of God, when Ifrael fhall be glorified, for their steady faith in the glori ous promises of God; and which will all then be fully accomplished. When therefore, the nations will hear of all this, they will all run to Ifrael to seek their God, and the Holy One of Ifrael, whose word and promise is eternal truth.

The Prophet now proceeds to explain the parabolic language he made ufe of above, when he faid, Ho! every one that thirfteth, come ye to the waters! And that hath no filver, come ye buy, and eat, &c. &c. by telling them what he meant by coming to the waters, viz, that they should seek the LORD, as in verfe 6th," Seek ye the LORD, while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near at hand." He farther explains, what he meant by the expreffion, "Wherefore do ye weigh out your filver for that which is no bread"?

""

bread"? For that false philofophy, which leads men to fcepticism, and to doubt the truth of divine revelation; and which he justly calls the unrighteous man's thoughts; as in verfe 7th. "Let the wicked forfake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the LORD, for he will receive him with compaffion; and unto our God, for he aboundeth in forgiveness. Here I may say, the Prophet has not only given us an exact description of that false philofophy taught by the Heathens, but also an highly finished one of the modern philofophers; fuch as Bolingbroke, Hume, Voltaire, Hobbs &c. who denied Providence, and laughed at Revelation. These are the ways of the wicked, and the thoughts of the unrighteous; who by the pernicious tenets, which they inculcated in their writings, have been the ruin of many; for ignorant youth being deceived by their sophistry, fancy themselves to be philofophers, as foon as they become unbelievers. But, Alas! the knowledge of these philosophers, is as much beneath that of true philosophy, as all speculative knowledge is beneath the ftudy of the word of God; as the Prophet forcibly observes verfe 8th.

D 2

not your

8th." For my thoughts are
thoughts; neither are your ways my ways,
faith the LORD. For as the heavens are high-
er than the earth; fo are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts than your
thoughts." By this comparison, the Prophet
meant not only to point out the great inferi-
ority of the one to the other, as is the im-
menfe distance of heaven from the earth; but
also to fhew that, the thoughts of man in all
his pursuits of philosophy, together with all
his experiments and refearches, are all confi-
ned to the earth; i. e. to matter: but the
word of God raises us up to heavenly
thoughts, to those that are spiritual. Hence
the preeminence of the latter over the for-
mer, is clear to demonstration.

The Prophet then proceeds to fhew that the word of God, is as effective and beneficial to those who ftudy it, as the rain that cometh down from heaven; verfe 10. II. "For like as the rain defcendeth, and the fnow from the heavens; and thither it doth not return; but moifteneth the earth, and maketh it generate, and fpring forth; that it may give feed to the fower, and bread to the eater so shall be the word, that goeth

:

forth

forth from my mouth; it fhall not return
unto me fruitlefs; but it shall effect what I
have willed; and make the purpose fucceed,
for which I have fent it." And this, will all
be effected, when the nation fhall joyfully
return to the holy land, from their captivity
among the nations, as is plain from the
words of the Prophet, who, by images high-
ly poetical, expreffes the happy ftate, atten-
ded with joy and exultation, which they are
then to enjoy, verfe 12. " Surely with joy
shall ye go forth, and with peace fhall ye be
led onward: the mountains and the hills
shall burst forth before you into fong: and
all the trees of the field shall clap their
hands." Then also shall those who have en-
tertained erroneous principles, become per-
fect in faith; and those that were wicked,
shall become righteous, verfe 13. "Instead of
the thorny bushes shall grow up
the fir-tree;
and instead of the bramble shall
grow up the
myrtle; and it shall be for a memorial to the
LORD; for an everlasting fign, which shall
not be abolished. "The entire fubmiffion of
all nations to the faith and worship of the
One true God, will be for his honour and
glory, and an everlafting fign of his mighty

power;

power; and which fign will never be abolished: because, after the appearance of the Meffiah, and the restoration of the nation, there will never be any falling off from the true worship of God. Hence, it is manifest that this prophecy, with all the great and glorious promises that it contains, describing the happy and exalted state of the nation, both temporal and spiritual, after their restoration by the Meffiah, hath never yet been fulfilled; not at their return from Babylon; and much lefs in the time of Jefus ; and which is a demonstration that he could not be the Meffiah for the LORD hath fworn to the accomplishment of these promises, (See chap. liv. 9.) and declares that his words shall not return fruitless; (chap. lv. 11.) confequently, they remain to be fulfilled at the restoration of the nation, by the true Messiah.

The eleventh prophecy, commences chapter the lxth. verfe ift. and is continued to the end of the 9th verfe of chapter lxi.

Before we proceed, it will be necessary to premife, that this prophecy may be confidered as commencing chapter lixth. verfe ift. Behold the hand of the LORD is not contracted,