Isaiah 45:11

After this double woe, which is expressed in general terms, but the application of which is easily made, the words of Jehovah are directly addressed to the presumptuous criticizers. Isa 45:11 "Thus saith Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker, Ask me what is to come; let my sons and the work of my hands be committed to me!" The names by which He calls Himself express his absolute blamelessness, and His absolute right of supremacy over Israel. שׁאלוּני is an imperative, like שׁמעוּני in Gen 23:8; the third person would be written שׁאלוּני. The meaning is: If ye would have any information or satisfaction concerning the future ("things to come," Isa 41:23; Isa 44:7), about which ye can neither know nor determine anything of yourselves, inquire of me. צוּה with an accusative of the person, and על of the thing, signifies to commit anything to the care of another (Ch1 22:12). The fault-finders in Israel were to leave the people of whom Jehovah was the Maker (a retrospective allusion to Isa 45:10 and Isa 45:9), in the hands of Him who has created everything, and on whom everything depends. Isa 45:12 "I, I have made the earth, and created men upon it; I, my hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I called forth." ידי אני, according to Ges. 121, 3, is equivalent to my hands, and mine alone - a similar arrangement of words to those in Gen 24:27; Ch2 28:10; Ecc 2:15. Hitzig is wrong in his rendering, "all their host do I command." That of Ewald is the correct one, "did I appoint;" for tsivvâsh, followed by an accusative of the person, means to give a definite order or command to any one, the command in this case being the order to come into actual existence (= esse jussi, cf., Psa 33:9).

The people of God in captivity, who reconciled themselves to the will of God in their affliction and were content to wait his time for their deliverance, are here assured that they should not wait in vain. I. They are invited to enquire concerning the issue of their troubles, Isa 45:11. The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, though he does not allow them to strive with him, yet encourages them, 1. To consult his word: "Ask of me things to come; have recourse to the prophets and their prophecies, and see what they say concerning these things. Ask the watchmen, What of the night? Ask them, How long?" Things to come, as far as they are revealed, belong to us and to our children, and we must not be strangers to them. 2. To seek unto him by prayer: "Concerning my sons and concerning the work of my hands, which as becomes them submit to the will of their Father, the will of their potter, command you me, not by way of prescription, but by way of petition. Be earnest in your requests, and confident in your expectations, as far as both are guided by and grounded upon the promise." We may not strive with our Maker by passionate complaints, but we may wrestle with him by faithful and fervent prayer. My sons, and the work of my hands, commend to me (so some read it), bring them to me and leave them with me. See the power of prayer, and its prevalency with God: Thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am; what would you that I should do unto you? Some read it with an interrogation, as carrying on the reproof (Isa 45:9, Isa 45:10): Do you question me concerning things to come? and am I bound to give you an account? And concerning my children, even concerning the work of my hands, will you command me, or prescribe to me? Dare you do so? Shall any teach God knowledge, or give law to hi…