Isaiah 33:17 Your eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off. 1. Though Moses was not permitted to enter the land of promise, he was vouchsafed a sight of it from a distance. We too, though as yet we are not admitted to heavenly glory, yet are given to see much, in preparation for seeing more. Christ dwells among us in His Church really though invisibly, and through its Ordinances fulfils towards us, in a true and sufficient sense, the promise of the text. We are even now permitted to "see the King in His beauty," to "behold the land that is very far off." The words of the Prophet relate to our present state as well as to the state of saints hereafter. Of the future glory it is said by St. John, "They shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads." And of the present, Isaiah himself speaks in passages which may be taken in explanation of the text: "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together"; and again, "They shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God." 2. Such a view is strange to most men; they do not realise the presence of Christ, nor admit the duty of realising it. Even those who are not without habits of seriousness, have almost or quite forgotten the duty. This is plain at once: for, unless they had, they would not be so very deficient in reverence as they are. There are two classes of men who are deficient in awe and fear, and, lamentable to say, taken together, they go far to make up the religious portion of the community. It is not wonderful that sinners should live without the fear of God; but what shall we say of an age or country in which even the more serious classes maintain, or at least act as if they maintained, that "the spirit of God's holy fear" is no part of religion? (1) Those who think that they never were greatly under God's displeasure. (2) Those who think that, though they once were, they are net at all now, for all sin has been forgiven them; — those on the one hand who consider that sin is no great evil in itself, those on the other who consider that it is no great evil in them, because their persons are accepted in Christ for their faith's sake. (J. H. Newman, B. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.WEB: Your eyes will see the king in his beauty. They will see a distant land. |
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