The Rainbow Shines Brightest Against the Darkest Cloud

Alexander Maclaren perceived in Isaiah's prophecy a paradox of divine comfort: the darker the historical calamity, the more radiant God's promise of deliverance. During the weak and wicked reign of Ahaz, when Judah's heart lay bowed like a forest before a devastating blast of foreign invasion, the prophet burst forth with a vision sudden as sunrise. Out of threatening came glory.

Maclaren emphasizes that Isaiah heaps image upon image to depict the blessedness of Messiah's rule—each one precisely calibrated to Israel's actual despair under Ahaz, yet pointing far beyond that moment. The nation groped in palpable darkness (skotos), an emblem of ignorance, sin, and sorrow, inhabiting lands where death cast its pall like a shroud. Then, all at once, shines a great light (to phos to mega), the emblem of knowledge, purity, and joy.

Maclaren's genius lies in recognizing that the prophecy's indefiniteness—its refusal to be confined to one era—is its very strength. As surely as dawn floods all lands, so shall all who walk in darkness behold the great light. Wherever a land of the shadow of death (ge salmaweth) exists, there the light shall shine. It is the light of the world itself.

The increase of the nation follows the dawning of light, for men flock to the brightness of its rising (nogah). We know, Maclaren declares, that this increase comes from the attractive power of the Cross, drawing men of many tongues. The world's history interprets the prophecy, and we have the right to bring that interpretation into our understanding of God's Word.