Isaiah 45:22

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

45:20-25 The nations are exhorted to draw near to Jehovah. None besides is able to help; he is the Saviour, who can save without the assistance of any, but without whom none can save. If the heart is brought into the obedience of Christ, the knee will cheerfully obey his commands. To Christ men shall come from every nation for blessings; all that hate his cause shall be put to shame, and all believers shall rejoice in him as their Friend and Portion. All must come to him: may we now come to him as the Lord our Righteousness, walking according to his commandments.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Look unto me, and be ye saved - This is said in view of the declaration made in the previous verse, that he is a just God and a Saviour. It is because he sustains this character that all are invited to look to him; and the doctrine is, that the fact that God is at the same time just and yet a Saviour, or can save consistently with his justice, is an argument why they should took to him, and confide in him. If he is at the same time just - true to his promises; righteous in his dealings; maintaining the honor of his law and government, and showing his hatred of sin; and also merciful, kind, and forgiving, it is a ground of confidence in him, and we should rejoice in the privilege of looking to him for salvation. The phrase 'look unto me' means the same as, direct the attention to as we do to one from whom we expect aid. It denotes a conviction on our part of helplessness - as when a man is drowning, he casts an imploring eye to one on the shore who can help him; or when a man is dying, he casts an imploring eye on a physician for assistance. Thus the direction to look to God for salvation implies a deep conviction of helplessness and of sin; and a deep conviction that he only can save. At the same time it shows the ease of salvation. What is more easy than to look to one for help? What more easy than to cast the eyes toward God the Saviour? What more reasonable than that he should require us to do it? And what more just than that God, if people will not look to him in order that they may be saved, should cast them off forever? Assuredly, if a dying, ruined, and helpless sinner will not do so simple a thing as to look to God for salvation, he ought to be excluded from heaven, and the universe will acquiesce in the decision which consigns him to despair.

All the ends of the earth - For the meaning of this phrase, see the note at Isaiah 40:28. The invitation here proves:

1. That the offers of the gospel are universal. None are excluded. The ends of the earth, the remotest parts of the world, are invited to embrace salvation, and all those portions of the world might, under this invitation, come and accept the offers of life.

2. That God is willing to save all; since he would not give an invitation at all unless he was willing to save them.

3. That there is ample provision for their salvation; since God could not invite them to accept of what was not provided for them, nor could he ask them to partake of salvation which had no existence.

4. That it is his serious and settled purpose that all the ends of the earth shall be invited to embrace the offers of life.

The invitation has gone from his lips, and the command has gone forth that it should be carried to every creature Mark 16:15, and now it pertains to his church to bear the glad news of salvation around the world. God intends that it shall be done, and on his church rests the responsibility of seeing it speedily executed.

For I am God - This is a reason why they should look to him to be saved. It is clear that none but the true God can save the soul. No one else but he can pronounce sin forgiven; no one but he can rescue from a deserved hell. No idol, no man, no angel can save; and if, therefore, the sinner is saved, he must come to the true God, and depend on him. That he may thus come, whatever may have been his character, is abundantly proved by this passage. This verse contains truth enough, if properly understood and applied, to save the world; and on the ground of this, all people, of all ages, nations, climes, ranks, and character, might come and obtain eternal salvation.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. Look … and be ye saved—The second imperative expresses the result which will follow obedience to the first (Ge 42:18); ye shall be saved (Joh 3:14, 15). Nu 21:9: "If a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived." What so simple as a look? Not do something, but look to the Saviour (Ac 16:30, 31). Believers look by faith, the eye of the soul. The look is that of one turning (see Margin) to God, as at once "Just and the Saviour" (Isa 45:21), that is, the look of conversion (Ps 22:27).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Upon these considerations, I advise all people upon earth, from one end to the other, to cast away their idols, and to turn their eyes and hearts to me, expecting salvation from me, and from me only; and their labour shall not be in vain; for they shall be saved: the imperative being put for the future, as Genesis 42:18, and oft elsewhere. And this is not only an exhortation to the Gentiles to turn from idols to God, but a prediction that they shall turn to him, and look upon Christ, who shall be the author of salvation to all that obey him, whether Jews or Gentiles, which is confirmed by the following verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Look unto me,.... And not to idols, nor to any creature, nor to the works of your hands; to your own righteousness and doings; to your wounds; to your tears and humiliations; to your own hearts and frames; to your graces and the exercise of them; all must be looked off of, and Christ only looked unto by a direct act of faith, for righteousness, for pardon, for all supplies of grace, and for glory and eternal happiness. He is to be looked unto as the Son of God, whose glory is the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth; as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world; as the only Mediator between God and man; as the Saviour and Redeemer of lost sinners; and considered in all his offices and relations: under all circumstances he is to be looked to; when in the dark, look to him for light; when dead and lifeless, look to him for life; when weak, look to him for strength; when sick, look to him for healing; when hungry, look to him for food; and when disconsolate, look to him for comfort; for none ever look to him and are ashamed or disappointed, they have what they look for; and as it is profitable, so pleasant to look to Jesus, and he himself is well pleased with it; and therefore here encourages to it, adding,

and be ye saved; or, "ye shall be saved" (e): Christ is set up in the Gospel, and the ministration of it to be looked at, that men may be saved by him; and it is the will of God, not only that men should look to him, but that whosoever sees him, and believes in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life: the ministers of the Gospel are appointed to show men the way of salvation by Christ, and to assure them that he that believes in him shall be saved; and saints in all ages have looked unto him, and have been saved by him; and therefore this may be taken for a sure and certain thing, that such that look to Christ, as the Israelites did to the brasen serpent, the type of him, shall be saved, John 3:14,

all the ends of the earth; all that live at the furthest part of the earth; Christ has a people there, the Father has given him for his possession, and which are the purchase of his blood, and for whose sins he became the propitiation; and to these he sends his Gospel and his ministers, to find them out, and publish salvation to them, and to assure them, that however distant they are, both as to place and state, yet through looking to him by faith they shall be saved, even though they are the worst and vilest of sinners:

for I am God, and there is none else; and so mighty to save, able to save to the uttermost, all that come to him, and to God by him, be they where they will; since he is truly God, there is virtue enough in his blood to pardon sin, and cleanse from it; and in his righteousness to justify from all sin; and in his sacrifice to expiate it; and therefore sensible sinners may safely look to him, and venture their souls on him. The Targum is,

"look unto my Word, and be ye saved, &c.''

(e) "salvi eritis", V. L. Pagninus, Tigurine version.

Geneva Study Bible

Look to me, and be ye saved, all {z} the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.

(z) He calls the idolaters to repentance, willing them to look on him with the eye of faith.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. Look unto me] is strictly Turn unto me (sc. for help), a phrase elsewhere used of the acknowledgment of false gods (Leviticus 19:4; Hosea 3:1; Deuteronomy 30:17 &c., Deuteronomy 31:18 &c.; cf. Job 5:1). The second imperative expresses the consequence of the first: “Turn to Me and ye shall be saved.” “Salvation” here has still its ordinary sense of deliverance; although the great judgement is past, it is plainly assumed that only those who own Jehovah’s sovereignty shall be spared (Isaiah 45:23). But the thought that it depends on knowledge of the true God, who is the God of salvation, conveys the suggestion at least of a more positive meaning; cf. John 17:3.

22–25. The demonstration of Jehovah’s deity is followed by the proclamation of salvation to all mankind, and the declaration of His purpose that all the world shall worship Him.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - Look unto me; rather, turn unto me (as in Psalm 25:16; Psalm 69:16; Psalm 86:16); i.e., "Be converted - turn unto the Lord your God." It is implied that all can turn, if they will. And be ye saved. On conversion, salvation will follow. It will extend even to all the ends of the earth (comp. Psalm 98:3, "All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God"). Isaiah 45:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

It is in accordance with this holy loving will that the cry is published in Isaiah 45:22 : "Turn unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth; for I am God, and none else." The first imperative is hortatory, the second promising (cf., Isaiah 36:16 and Isaiah 8:9): Jehovah desires both, viz., the conversion of all men to Himself; and through this their salvation, ad this His gracious will, which extends to all mankind, will not rest till its object has been fully accomplished. Isaiah 45:23 "By myself have I sworn, a word has gone out of a mouth of righteousness, and will not return, That to me every knee shall bend, every tongue swear." Swearing by Himself (see Genesis 22:16), God pledges what He swears with His own life (compare Romans 14:11, "as I live"). Parallel to נשׁבּעתּי בּי is the clause ישׁוּב ולא דּבר צדק מפּי יצא. Here Rosenmller connects דבר צדקה together as if with a hyphen, in the sense of a truth-word (Jerome, justitiae verbum). But this is grammatically impossible, since it would require צדקה דּבר; moreover, it is opposed both to the accents, and to the dagesh in the Daleth. Hitzig's rendering is a better one: "Truth (lxx δικαιοσύνη), a word that does not return," - the latter being taken as an explanatory permutative; but in that case we should require לא for ולא, and tsedâqâh is not used in the sense of truth anywhere else (compare tsaddı̄q, however, in Isaiah 41:26). On the other hand, צדקה might be equivalent to בצדקה "in righteousness;" cf., Isaiah 42:25, חמה equals בּהמה), if it were not incomparably more natural to connect together צדקה מפי as a genitive construction; though not in the sense in which הגבורה מפי is used in post-biblical writings - namely, as equivalent to "out of the mouth of God" (see Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. Col. 385) - but rather in this way, that the mouth of God is described attributively as regulated in its words by His holy will (as "speaking righteousness, Isaiah 45:19). A word has gone forth from this mouth of righteousness; and after it has once gone forth, it does not return without accomplishing its object (Isaiah 55:11). What follows is not so much a promising prediction (that every knee will bend to me), as a definitive declaration of will (that it shall or must bend to me). According to Isaiah 19:18; Isaiah 44:5, "to me" is to be regarded as carried forward, and so to be supplied after "shall swear" (the Septuagint rendering, ὀμεῖται @85 τὸν Θεόν, is false; that of Paul in Romans 14:11, ἐξομολογήσεται τῷ Θεῷ, is correct; and in this case, as in others also, the Cod. Al. of the Sept. has been corrected from the New Testament quotations).