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• General scriptures concerningPsalms 74:4Isaiah 5:26Isaiah 11:10Isaiah 11:12Isaiah 18:3Isaiah 30:17Isaiah 31:9Zechariah 9:16
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The passages, in Bible order (8)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 8 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Psalms 74:4

   Your foes have roared within Your meeting place; they have unfurled their banners as signs,

   ›Commentary on Psalms 74:41 voice

   “Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations. Where thy people sang like angels, these barbarians roar like beasts. When thy saints come together for worship, these cruel men attack them with all the fury of lions. They have no respect for the most solemn gatherings, but intrude themselves and their blasphemies into our most hallowed meetings. How often in times of persecution or prevalent heresy has the church learned the meaning of such language. May the Lord spare us such misery.

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2. Isaiah 5:26

   He lifts a banner for the distant nations and whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Behold—how speedily and swiftly they come!

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 5:262 voices

   “An ensign - To call them together for his service. From far - To the Chaldeans; for even Babylon is called a far country, chap. xxxix, 3. And he saith nations, because the Chaldean army was made up of several nations.

   “The ulterior fulfilment took place in the siege under Roman Titus. Compare "end of the earth" (De 28:49, &c.). So the pronoun is singular in the Hebrew, for "them," "their," "whose" (him, his, &c.), Isa 5:26-29; referring to some particular nation and person [HORSLEY].

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3. Isaiah 11:10

   On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His place of rest will be glorious.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 11:102 voices

   “THE Lord Jesus Christ, who is "the root of Jesse"—"the shoot from the stock of Jesse," as the first verse of this chapter might be rendered—is the very center of all Israel! And He is also the rallying-point of the Gentiles, for He has made both Jew and Gentile to be one, having "broken down the middle wall of partition between us." And now, around the one ensign of His glorious name, all the believing hosts gather with glad accord.

   “A root of Jesse, which shall stand etc. “The root of Jesse, which standeth,” etc. - St. John hath taken this expression from Isaiah, Rev 5:5, and Rev 22:16, where Christ hath twice applied it to himself. Seven MSS. have עומד omed, standing, the present participle. Radix Isaei dicitur jam stare, et aliquantum stetisse, in signum populorum. - Vitringa. “The root of Jesse is said to stand, and for some time to have stood, for an ensign to the people.” Which rightly explains either of the two readings. Psa 110:1-7 (note) is a good comment on this verse.

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4. Isaiah 11:12

   He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will collect the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 11:122 voices

   “And he shall set up an ensign - See Isa 11:10. The Messiah shall stand in view of the nations, as a standard is erected by a military leader. An ensign or standard was usually lifted up on the mountains or on some elevated place (compare Isa 18:3); and the meaning here is, that the Messiah would be the conspicuous object around which the nations would rally.

   “378. And he shall set up. Here he places the manner of liberation, as to the first explanation: a sign, that is, the edict of king Cyrus; the fugitives of Israel, literally, those who went to Ezechias in Jerusalem, and joined themselves to the two …

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5. Isaiah 18:3

   All you people of the world and dwellers of the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it; when a ram’s horn sounds, you will hear it.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 18:32 voices

   “Ethiopia, Egypt, and Judea were probably leagued together against the common enemy, 713 B.C. See notes on the twenty-second chapter, where a difference of tone (as referring to a different period) as to Ethiopia is observable. HORSLEY takes the "ensign" to be the cross, and the "trumpet" the Gospel trumpet, which shall be sounded more loudly in the last days.

   “All ye inhabitants of the world - These are to be regarded as the words of the prophet summoning all nations to attend to that which was about to occur. Grotius, however, and some others, suppose that they are the words of the Ethiopians. The meaning is, that the events which are here predicted would be of so public a nature as to attract the attention of all the world. When he - Vitringa supposes that this means the Assyrians lifting up a standard on the mountains of Judea.

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6. Isaiah 30:17

   A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee, until you are left alone like a pole on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 30:172 voices

   “When Moses fought against Amalek, it was not with the sword but with prayer that he prevailed. Therefore, if we wish to be lifted up, we must first prostrate ourselves.… We do not understand the prophet's words: "One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one." We do not cut away the causes of the disease, as we must do to remove the disease itself. Else we should soon see the enemies' arrows give way to our javelins, their caps to our helmets, their saddle horses to our chargers.

   “One thousand ... - The sense of this is, that you shall be easily alarmed and overcome by those who are inferior in numbers and strength. The number ‘one thousand,’ is put for a large indefinite number; probably meaning all. At the rebuke of one - The number one here is put to denote a very small number; a number in the ordinary course of warfare entirely disproportionate to those who would be vanquished.

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7. Isaiah 31:9

   Their rock will pass away for fear, and their princes will panic at the sight of the battle standard,” declares the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, whose furnace is in Jerusalem.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 31:92 voices

   “Rather, "shall pass beyond his strongholds"; he Shall not stop to take refuge in it through fear (Jud 20:47; Jer 48:28) [GESENIUS]. ensign--the banner of Jehovah protecting the Jews [MAURER]. fire . . . furnace--"light" and "fire," namely, of Jehovah's altar at Jerusalem (Isa 29:1).

   “Of this love that is begun here to be perfected from the sight of the Lord in the eternal kingdom Isaiah rightly speaks, saying, "The Lord lives, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem." It is, however, greater to be a furnace than a fire because a fire can also be small, but a larger flame is kindled in a furnace. Zion truly is said to be speculation but Jerusalem the vision of peace. Truly we sometimes catch a glimpse of our peace here in order there later to see it fully.

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8. Zechariah 9:16

   On that day the LORD their God will save them as the flock of His people; for like jewels in a crown they will sparkle over His land.

   ›Commentary on Zechariah 9:161 voice

   “Shall save them in that day - They are his flock, and he is their Shepherd; and, as his own, he shall save and defend them. As the stones of a crown - אבני נזר מתנוססות abney nezer mithnosesoth, “crowned stones erecting themselves;” i.e., being set up by themselves, as monuments of some deliverance, they seem to be lifting themselves up; offering themselves to the attention of every passenger. It may however refer to stones anointed with oil; a sort of temporary altars set up to the Lord for a victory gained.

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