TRUST WORTHY God’s Passion: God is eternal

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,

who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in the high and holy place,

and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,

to revive the spirit of the lowly,

and to revive the heart of the contrite.” ISA 57:15

Rashi

“I dwell in the high and holy place,” and thence I am with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, upon whom I lower my presence.

Lowly . . . contrite—Suffering from poverty and illnesses.

Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?

Who is like you, majestic in holiness,

awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? EXO 15:11

Rashi

בָּאֵלִם means among the gods, just as (Eze 17:13) “and the powerful (אֵילֵי) of the land he had taken away”; (Psa 22:20) “my help איָלוּתִי, come quickly to my aid.”

נורא תהלות means You are awesome for one to recount your glorious deeds fearing lest these may be enumerated less then they really are, just as it is written (Psa 65:2) “Praise is due to you.”

Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name. MAT 6:9

With his great might and power, God can take away all manmade idols. Isaiah prophesied that the idols shall utterly pass away (Isa 2:18). Unlike earthly things that people put their trust in, God inhabits eternity. He sees all: past, present, and future. This means that he is the only one who can truly guide us. It also means he will always be there. We can never go anywhere to hide from him. In God, we can experience true guidance and his eternal presence. What is one earthly thing you used to put your trust in that is no longer present? How does this compare to God?

And the idols shall utterly pass away. ISA 2:18

John Gill

And the idols shall utterly pass away—The images of saints worshiped by the papists: after the destruction of antichrist, and when the spiritual reign of Christ takes place, there will be no idolatry or worshiping of images any more, see Zec 13:2. The word used for “idols,” signifies things that are not, for an idol is nothing in the world (1Co 8:4), these the Lord “will cause to pass away,” even all of them, they shall disappear.

Rashi

Shall utterly pass away—They will all pass away; they will all vanish.

Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for,

and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:

when he makes all the stones of the altars

like chalkstones crushed to pieces,

no Asherim or incense altars will remain standing. ISA 27:9

John Gill

Therefore by this the guilt of Jacob will be atoned for—Or “expiated”; not that afflictions are atonements for sin, or give satisfaction to divine justice for it; but they are the means of bringing the Lord’s people to a sense of their sins, and to repentance and humiliation for them, and confession of them, and of leading them to the blood and sacrifice of Christ, by which they are expiated and atoned, and which the Spirit of of God brings near, and applies to them; whereby their sins, they are convicted of by means of afflictions, and which lay heavy upon their consciences, are purged away, and removed from them:

And this will be the full fruit of the removal of sin—This is the design and use of afflictions, the profit and advantage of them to the saints, that, being humbled for their sins, they depart from them, leave and forsake them; as well as the guilt of them is taken away from their consciences, through the application of pardoning grace, upon their repentance; see Job 36:8-10 this shows another difference between the afflictions of God’s people and of others: namely, in the use and end of them. The sin of idolatry seems to be particularly designed by what follows; unless the sin of the present Jews, in their disbelief and rejection of the Messiah, should be rather intended; which, through their long affliction, they will be convinced of in the latter day, and it will be taken away from them, and be purged and expiated through the atoning sacrifice of Christ, the Savior and Deliverer, they will embrace (Rom 11:25-26):

When he makes all the stones of the altars like chalkstones crushed to pieces—That is, when Jacob, or the people of the Jews, being convinced of their idolatry by their afflictions, shall pull down all their idolatrous altars; perhaps particularly referring to that which Ahaz made (2Ki 16:10-12) and remove the stones thereof, and break them to pieces, as chalkstones for lime, which is easily done:

The Asherim and the incense altars will not stand up—Erect, to be worshiped; but shall be thrown down, demolished, and broke to pieces; and, by thus abandoning their idols and idolatrous practices, they will show the sense they have of their sins, and the sincerity of their repentance; and it is to be observed, that the Jews, after their return from the Babylonish captivity, never practised idolatry more, not in the literal sense; perhaps some respect may be had here to the time when they shall look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn; and when they shall renounce all their legal sacrifices, traditions of the elders, and their own righteousness, their idols, and look alone to the sacrifice of Christ, and declare against all the idolatry of the church of Rome, and all antichristian worship.

Rashi

Therefore—Now, too, by this the guilt of Jacob would be atoned for, to merit to be redeemed as then.

And this will be the full fruit that is best for me to remove his sin, if he makes all the stones of the altars of his high places, like chalkstones crushed to pieces. Comp. (Psa 137:9) “And crushes (וְנִפֵּץ) your babies.” Comp. (Jer 13:14) “And I will crush them (וְנִפַּצְתִּים) one against another.” גִּיר is a kind of dye.

No Asherim or incense altars will remain standing—So that they will not retain their idolatry.

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. EZE 36:25

John Gill

I will sprinkle clean water on you—Not baptismal water, as Jerom; an ordinance indeed of the gospel, and to which the Jews will submit when converted; and which is performed by water, but not by sprinkling, nor does it cleanse from sin; and is administered by men, and is not an operation of God, as this is: rather the regenerating grace of the Spirit; though this does not purify from all sin, and besides is intended in the next verse: it seems best to understand it of the blood of Christ, the blood of sprinkling, and of justification from sin, and pardon of it by it; so Kimchi and Jarchi interpret of purification by atonement; and the Targum is,

“I will forgive your sins, as one is cleansed by the water of sprinkling, and the ashes of a heifer, which is for a sin offering”:

And you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you—The blood of Christ cleanses from all sin; by it men are justified from all things, and are made perfectly pure and spotless in the sight of God; they are cleansed from original sin, the pollution of their nature; from all actual sins and transgressions, which are very defiling; from sins of heart, lip, and life; even from such as are idols, set up in the heart, and served.

They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. EZE 37:23

John Gill

They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols—With their dung or dunghill gods; either with the idols of the Gentiles, or their own: after their return from the Babylonish captivity, the Jews were no more addicted to idolatry; and the image worship of the papists is an abhorrence to them at this day, and a stumblingblock to them in their embracing Christianity: and when they are effectually called and converted to Christ; they will no more have respect to the idols, the works of their own hands; or to the idol of their own righteousness, which they have set up, and have gone about to establish, and to make to stand; they will then see it to be as filthy rags, defiling to them, instead of justifying of them; and therefore shall reject it, and no more defile themselves with it; but seek the righteousness of Christ, which justifies from all sin, and renders pure and spotless in the sight of God,

And their detestable things—Or “abominations”; the traditions of the elders, which they have preferred to the word of God, and made the rule of their faith, worship, and conversation; which has made them detestable to God:

Or with any of their transgressions—Particularly their disbelief of Christ and their blasphemy against him; nor shall they indulge themselves in those sins which now prevail among them, as pride, covetousness, uncleanness, fraud, and tricking in their trade and commerce:

But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned—As wherever they dwell they do; they are notorious for their wickedness; but God will bring them out of all these places, where they have lived in sin, and been the occasion of it to some, as well as followed the example of others:

And will cleanse them—By sprinkling clean water upon them; by applying the blood of Christ to them, which cleanses from all sin see Eze 36:25:

And they shall be my people, and will be their God—The “Not My People” will be taken off, and the covenant of grace shall be renewed with them, and made manifest to them; and the blessings and promises shall be applied to them, and particularly this; see Jer 30:25; Rom 11:25-26.

And on that day, declares the Lord of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more. And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness. ZEC 13:2

John Gill

And on that day, declares the Lord of hosts—In the latter day, at the time of the conversion of the Jews, when they shall turn to the Lord, and their sins shall be forgiven, and washed away in the fountain of his blood; for this refers not to the times of the Babylonish captivity, and their deliverance from that, which was now over, when idolatry ceased among that people; nor to the times of Christ, when soon after the false prophets among the nations, and their lying oracles, ceased, and paganism in the Roman empire was destroyed; but to the times before mentioned, of which it is predicted by the Lord, saying,

I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, so that they shall be remembered no more—Meaning the idols of gold, silver, brass, and wood; images of the Virgin Mary, and saints departed, worshiped by the papists (Rev 9:20-21), for at this time mystical Babylon will fall, the idolatry of the church of Rome will be at an end, and will never be revived more:

And also I will remove from the land the prophets and the spirit of uncleanness—By “the prophets” are meant false prophets, as the Targum explains it, even all the Popish hierarchy, pope, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests all that wretched body, which goes by the name of the false prophet, who at the battle of Armageddon will be taken, and with the beast cast alive into the lake of fire (Rev 19:20), and by “the spirit of uncleanness,” or “spirits,” the singular for the plural, are meant the three unclean spirits like frogs, and which are the spirits of demons, that come out of the mouth of the dragon beast, and false prophet, the Jesuits, monks, and friars; these shall be no more then on the earth, after these times (Rev 16:13-14). Jarchi and Kimchi interpret “the spirit of uncleanness” of the corruption of nature; but that will not cease as long as men are in a mortal state. This prophecy is, by the ancient Jews, applied to the times of the Messiah.

I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” REV 7:14