Can any light on these points be gathered from the prophecies of Isaiah and Malachi? In the former, the passage occurs in the beginning of the fortieth chapter. It has been often observed that a division, into nearly two equal portions, of the great prophet’s divine utterances, occurs at this point, which may be, not unaptly, compared to that between the Old and New Testaments. The first portion (to chapter 35) deals, mainly, with God’s earthly people, Israel – with their terrible ingratitudes, rebellions, and apostacies from God; with the veil of blindness judicially sealed upon the nation; with gracious glimpses of a remnant that should survive all; with awful and almost universal judgments – on the sinful nation, first, and then on their oppressors, all to merge into the most brilliant blessing, over and over again pictured, of which the earth, under the reign of Immanuel, should be the perpetual scene.
From: The Mysteries of God: A Series of Expositions of Holy Scripture by Philip Henry Gosse (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1884), pp. 40-41.
Philip Henry Gosse (1810-1888) was a well-known naturalist and author who was influential in his day. He was also a devout Christian and lay pastor. His son, Sir Edmund Gosse (1849-1928) was a well-known literary critic and prolific author, who was also an influential writer in his day.
