Isaiah 42:13

13 The Lord goes forth like a soldier, like a warrior he stirs up his fury; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.

Isaiah 42:13 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 42:13

The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man
In the ministry of the word, conquering and to conquer;
girding his "sword" on his thigh; causing his "arrows" to be sharp in the hearts of his enemies; clothing the word with power; making the weapons of warfare,
put into the hands of his ministering servants, mighty,
to pull down the "strong holds" of sin and Satan, to cast: down the proud "imaginations" of men's hearts, and to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of
himself; or in the army of Constantine, whom he used as his instrument for the destruction of the Pagan empire, and of Paganism in it, and for the establishment of Christianity: he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war;
or "a man of wars" F24; that has been used to fight battles; Christ is represented as a warrior, ( Revelation 19:11 ) , his church is in a warfare state; his subjects are soldiers; his ministers are his generals under him, and with them he goes forth, and stirs up his own jealousy, his wrath and fury against his enemies, and takes vengeance on them, and the jealousy of his ministers and people, for his own glory: he shall cry, yea, roar;
not only shout aloud, as soldiers do, when they make an onset, but make a hideous noise, as the old Romans did, to frighten and dispirit their enemies. Christ, in the ministry of the word, not only cries, and calls, and invites souls, sensible of themselves and their condition, to come unto him, and partake of his grace; but he roars as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and threatens impenitent and unbelieving sinners with his wrath and vengeance: he shall prevail against his enemies:
he shall conquer and subdue them by his Spirit and grace, and make them his willing people in the day of his power; and such who will not have him to reign over them, he will rule them with a rod of iron, and break them in pieces as a potter's vessel.


FOOTNOTES:

F24 (twmxlm vyak) "sicut vir bellorum", Montanus; "vir bellicosissimus", Junius & Tremcellius, Piscator.

Isaiah 42:13 In-Context

11 Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the tops of the mountains.
12 Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in the coastlands.
13 The Lord goes forth like a soldier, like a warrior he stirs up his fury; he cries out, he shouts aloud, he shows himself mighty against his foes.
14 For a long time I have held my peace, I have kept still and restrained myself; now I will cry out like a woman in labor, I will gasp and pant.
15 I will lay waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbage; I will turn the rivers into islands, and dry up the pools.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.