Exposition of the Whole Bible

able; fhe might have known, but fhe would not; fhe did not fet her mind to know; fhe did not confider who gave her thefe things, nor behave as if fhe knew, as Yarchi: or fhe did not own and acknowledge God to be the author and giver of them, as fhe fhould have done; which was ingratitude, rather than ignorance, and is a hainous fin, and to be refented; fince all good things temporal and fpiritual, as daily bread, all the neceffaries of life, fignified by thefe things, fo the word, and ordinances, and fpiritual gifts, which.they may be - emblems of, come from God, and fhould be acknowledged; but the Fews, as in the times*of Jfaiah, did not know him, and acknowledge his benefits, J/ i. 2, 3. fo in the times of Chrift, they did not know him to be the God of J/rae/l, God over all, bleffed for ever; from whom, and. for whofe fake, who was to be, and was born of them, ~ they enjoyed the privileges they did, Fobm i. 10, 11. Rom. ix. 4, 5. And multiplied her filver and gold, which they prepared for Baal; the relative which may refer to all that goes before; and the fenfe be, that thefe gifts of God, and which thould have been owned as fuch, and employed in his fervice, and to his glory; fome were made ufe of in meat and drink-offerings to Beal; and others in, decking themfelves to appear in his worfhip to his honour 3 or in ornamenting the idol therewith, or in making it thereof, fo the Targum and Syriac verfion: and all this may be faid to be done,-when thefe things are fpent in the fervice of other lords than the Lord himfelf; when they are abufed to finful purpofes, and confumed on the lufts of men, to gratify their fenfuality, pride, and vanity, which the Fews did.

¥. 9. Therefore will I return and take away, Se) Or, take away again*; an ufual Hebraifm: my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the feafon thereof; for tho’ thefe are the gifts of God to men for their ufe, and to difpofe of for the good of others; yet he retains his property in them, and can and will call them to an account for their ftewardthip; and when he pleafes, take away both their office, and the good things they were intrufted with, not making a right ufe of them; and this he does in his own appointed time and feafon, or at fuch a time when thefe are at the beft, and the greateft _ good is expected from them, and which therefore is the more afflictive; as in the time of harveft and vintage, fo Kimchi, when corn and grapes are fully ripe; or, as the Yargum, in the time of the corn being on the floor, and of the preffure of the wine: and will recover my wool, and my flax, given to cover her nakedne/s, or, I will take away; by fore and violence, as out of the hands of thieves, and rob-, bers, and ufurpers, who have no right to them, being forfeited; thefe were given to cover her nakednefs, but not to deck herfelf with for the honour of her idols, or to cherifh pride and fuperfti- — tion; fee Ma/t. xxiii. 5. thefe were all taken away, when the Romans came and took.away their place. and nation, Fobu xi. 48. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions give the fenfe as-if thefe were taken, that they might not cover ber nakednefs, or foame 5 but that it might be expofed, as follows: =

¥. 10. And now will I difcover ber leudnefs in her refolution to return to her firft hufband, but to /ght of ber lovers, &c.] The people, her lovers, go after lovers, and of her afcribing thefe things to them, y¥. 5. and why the Lord would behave towards her as he determined to do, ¥. 6, 7. this ignorance was wilful and affected, and therefore blame- as the Targum; which is by many underftood of the Egyptians and Affyrians; but rather means the Romans, whom. the Fews courted as their friends: tho’ it feems beft to interpret it in a more —

way, that the fin-and folly of the Yezws in rejecting Chrift, and adhering to their beloved tenets, fhould be difcovered and made manifeft to all in the moft public manner by their punifhment; by being {cattered among the nations, and becoming a taunt, reproach, and a curfe every where: and none shall deliver her out of my hand none of her lovers, as Kimchi, nor any other: it denotes the utter, total, and final deftruction of the Yews, wrath being come upon them to the uttermoft; and which is irrecoverable by human help, has continued. for many hundred years, and will until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, or till the fulnefs of the Gentiles be come in, Luke xxi. 24. Rom. xi. 25.

y. 11. J will alfo caufe all her mirth to ceafe, &c.] As it muft in courfe, this being her cafe, as before defcribed, whether confidered in individuals, or as a body politic, or in their church-ftate, as follows: ber feaft-days; which the fews underftand of the three feafts of tabernacles, paffover, and pentecoit; typical of Chrift’s tabernacling in human nature; of his being the paflover facrificed for us; and of the firft fruits of the Spirit; which being come, the fhadows are gone and vanifhed, and thefe feafts are no more: her new moons, and her fabbaths; the firft day of every month, and the feventh day of every week, obferved for religious exercifes; typical of the light the church receives from Chrift, and the reft it has in him; and he, the body and jubftance of them, being come, thefe are no more, Gol. ii. 16, 17: and all ber fo- Jeran feafis, all others, whether of God’s appointment or their own; all are made to ceafe of right, if not in fact; the law of commandments, ‘contained in ordinances, being abolifhed by Chrift, and the ‘fews without a prieft, facrifice, and ephod, Eph. ii: 14, 15, 16. Hof. iii. 4.

¥. 12. And I will defiroy ber vines, and her jfigtrees, &c.] Which are mentioned for the reft, being the moft fruitful and beneficial: this was done when Judea was invaded, over-run and wafted, by the Roman army; and when many were cut down, as Fofepbus obferves, to build forts, and caft up mounts againit Feru/alem; fo that he fays ', the appearance of the earth was miferable, for what before was adorned with trees and gardens, looked now like a wildernefs: whereof fhe bath faid, thefe are my rewards that my lovers have given me; alluding to the hite of harlots, given them by their gallants; thefe the afcribed, as fhe did before, her bread, water, wool, flax, and oil, ¥. 5. not to _ God, the author and giver of them, but to the people her lovers, as the Targum or to her idols, or to her beloved tenets, and doing according to them; and which is here mentioned as a reafon of the divine refentment, and why he deftroyed thefe fruitful trees: avd I will make them a foreft, and the beafts of the field fhall eat them, make the vines and fig-trees like foreft-trees, barren and unfruitful; the fruitful land of Fudea fhould be turned into a foreft, or become like a defert or wildernefs, and all the fruits of it fhould be eat up by wild beafts; by their enemies, compared to the beafts of the field, particularly the Romans, the fourth béaft; fee Jf lvi. 9. Dan. vii. 7..

y. 13. And I will vifit upon ber the days of Baalim, &c.] That is, punifh them for all the idolatries committed’ by their forefathers, in the days that the feveral Baals, as Baal Peor, and Baal - Berith, and others, were worfhipped by them; they

_ 367 their children, tho’ not worfhipping thefe Baalim, yet other lords, lufts and idols, they fet up of themfelves, and in their own hearts; fee Matt. XXlll. 32-36: wherein fhe burnt incenfe to them 3 to the Baalim; this one {pecies of idolatrous wor-. fhip being put for the reft: and he decked her/elf with ber ear-vings, and ber jewels; with her belt and richeft attire; the latter word fignifying in the Arabic language, as Jarchi obferves, the ornaments of women; this was done to grace the idolatrous worfhip, and for the honour of the iddls: and fhe went after her lovers; the traditions of the elders; the weak and begegarly elements of the ceremonial law now abolifhed, and their own legal righteoufnefs: and forgot me, faith the Lord; or, ‘* left my ‘* worfhip,” as the Zargum; forgot and rejected the true Meffiah, his word and ordinances. y. 14. Therefore bebold, I will allure ber, &c.]

Since thefe rough ways will not do, T’ll take another, a more mild and gentle way; inftead of threatening, terrifying, and punifhing, I’ll allure, perfuade, and entice, giving loving words and winning language: or weverthele/s, or notwithftanding ”; fo No/dius and others render the particle; tho’ they have thus behaved. themfelves, and fuch methods have been taken with them to no purpofe, yet I’ll do as follows: the words may be ‘underftood of the call and converfion of the people of God, the fpiritual J/rael of God, both ews and Gentiles, in the firft times of the gofpel, as ¥. 23. is quoted and applied by the apoftle Paul, Rom. ix. 24, 25. and be underftood alfo of the call of the believing Fews out of Ferufalem, before the deftruction of ir, Luke xxi. 21. from whence they removed to Pella, as Eu/febius” relates: and of the apoftles out of the land of udea, into the wildernefs of the people, the Gentile world, to preach the gofpel there; where vineyards or churches were planted; the door of faith and hope were opened to the Gentiles, that had been without hope; and the converfions now made, both among ews and Gentiles, opened a door of hope, or were a pledge of the converfion of the Yews, and the bringing in of the fulnefs of the Gentiles in the latter day; to which times alfo thefe words may be applied, when the ews fhall be allured and perfuaded to feek the Lord their God, and David their king, and join gofpel-churches in the wildernefs of the people, and fhall have abundance of fpiritual confolation and joy; and they may alfo be applied to the converfion of finners in common, and {et forth the methods of God’s grace in dealing with them: there is throughout an allufion to //rael’s coming out of Egypt, from whence the Lord allured and perfuaded them by MJo/es and Aaron; and then brought them into the wilder-. nefs, where he fed and fupplied them, and fpoke comfortably to them, and gave them the lively oracles; and from whence, from the borders of it, they had and entered into the vineyards in the land of Canaan; and in the valley of Achor eat of the corn of the land, which was a door of hope to them they fhould enjoy the whole Jand; and when they rejoiced exceedingly, particularly at the Redfea, at their firft coming out. The word rendred allure, fignifies to perfuade °, as in Gen. ix. 27. and in converfion the Lord perfuades men, not merely by moral fuafion, or the outward miniftry of the word, but by powerful and efficacious grace; opening the heart to attend to things fpoken, and the eyes of the underftanding to behold wondrous

things in the word of God; working upon the; are put for all temporal bleffings, and as emblems heart; and removing the hardnefs and impenitence of it; quickening the foul, drawing it with the cords of love, and fweetly operating upon the will; and on a fudden and unawares making the foul, like the chariots of Amminadib, or a willing people; perfuading it to true repentance for fin, to part with fins and finful companions, and with its own righteoufnefs, and to come to Chrift, and to look to him, and lay hold on him as the Saviour, and to fubmit to his ordinances: moreover, the Lord perfuades men at converfion of his love to them, and of their intereft in Chrift, and all the bleffings of grace in him. Kimcbi’s note is, ** I <¢ will put into her heart to return by repentance;” and compares with it Ezek. xxxvi. 26. The Targum is, “ 1 will fubject her to the law.” And bring - ber into the wildernefs; fo in converfion the Lord calls and feparates his people from the world, as the J/raelites were from the Egyptians, when brought into the wildernefs; and when they are folitary and alone, as they were, and fo in a fit circumftance to be fpoken unto, and to hear comfortable words, as follows; and when the Lord feeds them with the corn of heaven, with hidden manna, the food of the wildernefs; and when they come into trouble and affliction for the fake of Chrift and his gofpel. Some -underftand this of the church into which they are brought, becaufe feparate from the world, and attended with trouble; but this is rather a garden, than a wildernefs. Some, as No/dius and others, render it, when or after I have brought ber into the wildernefs ®; fo after the Lord has fhown men their fin and danger, their wildernefs, defolate {tate and condition, and ftripped them of all fuccour elfewhere; or has brought them under afflictive difpenfations of providence; then he does what he faid before, and follows after. dud /peak comfortably unto her, or, [peak to her heart 4, as in Jf. x|. 2. as he does when he tells them their fins are forgiven; that he has loved them with an everlafting love; what exceeding great and precious promifes he has made unto them; and when he {peaks to them by the Spirit and comforter, who takes his and the things of Chrift, and fhews them unto them; and in his word, written for their confolation; and by his minifters, who are Barnaba es, fons of comfort; and in the ordinances, thofe breafts of confolation. ‘The Targum is, ‘* and I *¢ will do for her wonders and great things, as I «¢ did for her in the wildernefs; and by the hand ‘© of my fervants the prophets, I will fpeak com- “* forts to her heart.” The Yews/h writers * interpret this of the Meffiah’s leading people into a wildernefs in a literal fenfe; they afk where will he (the Meffiah) lead them? the anfwer of fome is, to the wildernefs of Fudea (fee Matt. iii. 1, 13.) and of others is, to the wildernefs of Sihon and Og (the wildernefs the J/raelites paffed thro’ when they came out of Egypt): they who are on the fide of the firft anfwer, urge in favour of it Hof. xi. 9. ay they who are for the latter, produce this pafage. ¥,15 And Iwill give her vineyards from*thence, &c.] Either from the wildernefs into which fhe is brought; or from the time of her being brought there, allured and fpoke comfortably to; which of fpiritaal ones: and fo from the time that the Lord deals thus gracioufly, as before expreffed; he gives more grace, larger meafures, ane continual {upplies of it, and withholds nothing good, comfortable, and ufeful to them: the Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, ber vine-dreffers; and the Targum, her governors: and the valley of Achor for a door of bope; this valley was fo named from Achan, who was {toned in it in the days of ¥o/bua; who is by Fofephus*, Theodoret *, and others, called Achar, and fo in 1 Chron. ii. 7. and the fignification of its name is the valley of trouble, becaufe that he both troubled J/rael by his evil actions, which brought’ them into diftrefs; and becaufe he was here troubled himfelf, being here punifhed for his fin, Fo.

Vil. 24,25, 26. Ferom * fays it lies to the north of Jericho, and is itill called by its old name by the inhabitants of it. Some take it to be the fame with the valley of Engedi, which ’tis certain was near Jericho. Now as the valley of Achor was at the entrance of the J/raelites into the land of Canaan, and. gave them hope of poffeffing the whole land; fo what the people of God enjoy at firft converfion, lays a foundation for hope of eternal glory and happinefs; as the Lord’s being given them as their portion, Chrift as their Saviour, and all things freely with him; the Spirit and his grace as the earneft and pledge of the eternal inheritance: grace and glory are fo ftritly conneéted, that the one is a door of hope to the other. And fhe fhall fing there, either in the wildernefs, where the Lord fpeaks comfortably to her; or in the vineyards fhe has. from thence; alluding to the fongs of joy at the time of vintage, or preffing of the grapes: or in the valley of Achor, there rejoicing in hope of the glory of God, finging the fongs of eletting, redeeming, pardoning, and juftifying grace: as in the doys of. her youth, as in the day when fhe came up out of ‘the'land of Egypt; as when the people of I/rael were firft brought into their civil and ecclefiaftic ftate, which were the days of their youth as a people; and that was when they came out of Egypt, and had pafled the Red-/ea, at the fhore of which they fung; and to which is the allufion is applied to the times of the Meffiah in the Ta/- y. 16. And it fhall be at that day, faith the Lord, &c.] The gofpel-day, the times of the gofpel-difpenfation, the latter part of them; at the time of the converfion of the Yews, and the bringing in of the fulnefs of the Gentiles; at the time when God will allure and perfuade them to feek the Meffiah, and they fhall turn to him; when he fhall {peak comfortably to them, and give them a door of hope, and all fpiritual bleffings, and caufe them to fing as when they came out of Egypt: that thou fhalt call me lpi; or, my bufband*; returning to Chrift their firft hufband, and being received by him, fhall have faith and intereft in him, and full affurance of it; and fhall. not only be allowed to call him their hufband, but in the ~ {trength of faith, and with great freedom of foul, - fhall call him fo, and fay as the church did, my beloved is mine, and I am his, Cant. ii. 16:' or, my man’; the man the Lord, the man Jehovah’s fellow, Jm- manuel God with us, God in human nature; and

- fo more manifeftly points at Chrift, who moft properly fpeaking, ftands in the relation of an hufband to his people: or, my /irength, as fome interpret it; the hufband being the ftrength, protection, and defence of the wite, the weaker vefiel; fo Chrift is the ftrength of his faints, in whom they have righteoulnefs and ftrength, and thro’ whofe ftrength they can do all things: and /halt call me no more Baali, which fignifies my bufband too, and is ufed of God and Chrift; he is called Baal, and the church is called Beulah, becaufe married together, f/,. liv. 5. and Ixil. 4, 5. Fer. xxxi. 32. but it fignifics a lordly and imperious hufband; and the other word, J/bi, a loving one: fo Farchi obferves that the fenfe is, that they fhould ferve the Lord from love, and not fear; Ji being a word ‘exprefiive of marriage and love, and Baali of lordfhip and fear: hence fome have thought this to be the reafon, why the one fhould be ufed, and the other not, under the gofpel-difpenfation; becaufe faints now have not the fpirit of bondage to fear, but the fpiric of adoption, whereby they call God their father, and Chrift their hufband: tho’ rather the reafon-is, becaufe the word Baal, as R. Marinus obferves, is of doubtful fignification, an ambiguous word, ufed for the idol Baa/, as well as fignifies lord and hufband; and therefore to be laid afide, left when they mentioned it, it fhould be thought they fpoke of Baa/, and not of the Lord; or fhould be led to think of that idol, and remember him, y. 17. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of ber mouth, &c.| Out of the mouth of J/rael, as Saadiab; out of the mouth of the converted Fews, and even out of the mouth of the Gentiles, as Kimchi owns; the feveral Baals, as Baal-Peor, Baal-Berith, and Baal-Zebub, and others: the names of them fhould be no more ufed, fhould not be fpoken of, unlefs with deteftation and abhorrence; not with honour and refpect, with love and affection, or fo as to yield worfhip and homage to them; or otherwife their names may be lawfully mentioned, as in Rom. xi. 4. there feems to be fome reference to the law in Exod. xxiii. 13. the fenfe is, that idolatry fhall be utterly abolifhed, even of every kind; not the worfhip of Baalim only, but of ail other idols: and fo the Targum is, ‘* and I «¢ will take away the name of the idols of the ¢ people out of their mouth;” and may defign the idolatry of the church of Rome; their worfhip of images, of gold and filver, wood, brafs, and ftone; in whofe communion are many of the Fews at this time; but when the time of their converfion comes, all this will be abolifhed among them, and among the Gentiles alfo: and they fall no more be remembred by their name; or made mention of by name; the fame thing as before in other words, repeated for the confirmation of it.

y. 18. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beafts of the field, &c.] That is, fo as to be at peace with them, as the Targum is; fee Fob v. 23. the fenfe is, the Lord here promifes this unto them, and that it fhall be as fure and firm, and to be as much depended upon as if it was eftablifhed and fettled by covenant, and fhould be enjoyed as a covenant-mercy and bleffing; and the creatures fhould as ftrictly obferve it, and anfwer to it, as if bound by covenant: and this fhould reach not only to the beafts of the field, the wild beafts of prey, but the fowls of heaven, as the not eat up the fruits and increafé of the earth: and the creeping things of the ground, as ferpents and {corpions, as the fame writer fuggefts, Some think this was fulfilled in the firft times of the gofpel, when the apoftles took up ferpents, and trod on {corpions, without any hurt; but then nothing was more common, than for the chriftians to be thrown to the lions, and devoured by bealts of prey. Others refer it to the laft days, the times of the reftitution of all things, when they fuppofe all creatures will be reftored to their paradifiacal eftate, and be in entire fubjection to men. Rather the fenfe is, that whereas noifome beafts, and other things, were one of God’s fore judgments, with which he threatened his people, when they finned againit him, now they fhould no more be hurt by them ina way of judgment; and indeed, fhould ceafe from being among them, fo that they fhould be in no fear of them any more; fee Lev. xxvi. 22. fzek, xiv. 21. and xxxiv. 25, 28, Tho? the words may be underftood figuratively and myftically, either of deliverance from all fpiritual enemies by Chrift, as fin, fatan, and the world, and all others; or of freedom from all wicked men, cruel and crafty ones, open and fecret perfecutors of the faints: perfecution will ceafe at the time of the Fews converfion; antichrift, and all the antichriftian ftates, will be deftroyed; the beaft and falfe prophet will be taken and caft into the furnace of fire; the old ferpent, the devil, will be bound, during the millennium; and there will be none to hurt in God’s holy mountain, neither in the {piritual nor perfonal reign.of Chrift. dnd I will break the bow, and the fword, and the battel out of the earth; all the inftruments of war fhall be no more, thefe mentioned being put for all the reft,; and there fhall be no more battels fought after that at Armageddon; {words fhall be beat into plowfhares, and {pears into pruning-hooks; there fhall be no more wars, nor rumours of wars, but perfeét external peace from all enemies on all fides, as well as fpiritual and interna] peace in the breaft of the faints; and of both there fhall be abundance, and without end, Pf Ixxii. 7. J/ ii. 4. and ix. 7: and will make them to lie down fafely; under the protection of the king Meffiah, David their prince, who fhall be over them, and whom they fhall own, acknowledge, and ferve, and fo dwell in the utmoft. fafety and fecurity, not fearing any enemy whatever; they may lie down on their couches at meals, or on their beds at night for reft, or as flocks of fheep in their folds and paftures, and none make them afraid; fee Fer. xxiii. 5.

¥. 19. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever, &c.] Which is taking them into a marriage-rela~ tion with himfelf; and is to be underftood not of the whole body of God’s eleét,who were fecretly betrothed to Chrift in the everlafting covenant from eternity; for this refpects what is yet to come; but of the people of the Yews when converted in the latter day, when will be the marriage of the Lamb with them, and with the fulnefs of the Gentiles then brought in; of which fee Rev. xix. 7, 8, 9. who will then return to their firft hufband; and tho’ the Fews have been divorced, they will be received again, and be afrefh betrothed; a new coyenant or contraét will be made with them, and which fhall laft for ever, Yer. xxxi. 31, 32. and this may be applied to every particular foul at converfion, which is the day of their open efpoufals to Chrift; and they are vifibly brought into a locufts and others, as Kimchi obferves, which fhould marriage-relation with bim, than which nothing is

37% inore neat; they become flefh of his fiefh, bone of his bone, yea one fpirit with him, and are indulged with near communion with him; and hence is that fynipathy he has with them in: all their affictions, temptations, and exercifes, and takes that as done to him, which is done to them, whether good or ill; hence all their debts or fins become his, and he fatisfies for them, and his righteoufnefs becomes theirs: this is a very endearing relation; there is a mutual delight and complacency they take in each other} and a moft honourable one itis; hence they are called by his name, chriftians, and partake of his honour; he is king, and they queen; and a very beneficial relation it 1s; for al] that Chrift is, and has, are theirs: and a moft marvellous and wondrous thing it is, that he fhould betroth them to himfelf, when he is the Son of the living God, himfelf the true God, God over all blefed for ever, the maker and governor of the world, and heir of all things; and tho’ they in their fecret betrothment were confidered as finlefs creatures, yet in their open efpoufals at converfion are fallen finners, in a very low eftate indeed; under fentence of condemnation and death; devoid of the image of God; depraved, polluted, and cuilty creatures; in deep debt, and extreme poverty; it is as if a prince, heir apparent to the throne, fhould take a convict or condemned malefactor out of her cell, or a common {trumpet out | of the ftews, or a bankrupt and beggar from the dunghil, and marry her: and this relation will continue for ever; the marriage-covenant or contract is an everlafting one; the bond of union, | which is everlafting and unchangeable love, is indiffoluble; death cannot take place in either party; both fhall live for ever; and this is a ftrong proof of the final perfeverance of the faints. 2a, I will betroth thee unto me in righteoufnefs; either in truth, in fincerity, heartily, and without any hypocrify or diffimulation; or confiftent with righteoufnefs, with his love of righteoufnefs and holinefs, and hatred of fin: or rather in his own juftifying righteoufnefs; not in their own righteoufnefs, which is as rags; for tho’ he finds them in fuch. rags, he ftrips them of them, and puts on the weddinggarment, the robe of his own righteoufnefs, and garment of falvation; when they become as a bride, adorned with ornaments, and fo made ready for the nuptials, and in this he betroths them; fee ’ Df. \xi. 10. Matt, xxii. 12. -Rev. xix. 7, 8: and in judgment; in fanétification, according to fome, the work being now begun by the Spirit of God, as a fpirit of judgment; or in a judicious way, not rafhly and precipitantly, but with mature deliberation, and of choice arifing from judgment; or rather abfolving them from the fentence of condemnation and death by his righteoufnefs, and protecting and defending them from their enemies, for the fake of which, and other things, he takes them into this relation: and in loving-kindnefs, and in mercies; denoting both the love, which is the pring and fource of this relation, and not any merits of theirs; and the kind and tender manner in which he betroths them; as well as the numerous favours he beftows upon them; as pardon of fin; juftification of life; fpiritual peace; fupplies of al! grace, and eternal life; all the effeéts of free grace, unmerited love, and fovereign mercy.

H O 8S 8 Mw. -Chavy Bolan riage-contract inviolable; Chrift will never fuffer his faithfulnefs to fail, nor break his covenant 3 as he is faithful to his Father that appointed him, fo he is, and will be, to his church and people, and to every believer, to whom he is efpoufed 5 and it is he that makes them faithful unto him, and gives them faith to believe in him, receive, embrace, own, and acknowledge him as their huf= band: and in this fenfe fome underftand it, rendering it, iz faith*s, fo the Targum and others. This is the third time the word detrozh is ufed, or this promife made; which, according to Ferom, refers to the efpoufing of the Jews in Abrabam, at mount Sinai, and in the times of Chrift,; and aecording to Kimchi, to the three captivities of the ews, in Egypt, in Babylon, and that in which they now are: and fome. chriftian writers think, the myftery of the Trinity is here pointed at; and the fenfe to be, that all the three divine perfons, Father, Son, and Spirit, would efpoufe them; but rather it is fo often repeated to confirm it, and exe prefs the certainty of it, which might on many accounts feem a thing incredible. nd thom know the Lord; that the Meffiah is Jehovah, and that he is their hufband; they fhall all know him, from the leaft to the greateft; they fhall have a faving knowledge of him, which will iffue in eters nal life; they fhall own him, and acknowled him, ferve and obey him, as their Lord, head, and hufband, as well as love him, and believe in him._ The Targum is, “* and ye thall know to fear before “the Lord;” fee Fer. xxxi. 34. Let it be obs ferved, here are no conditions throughout, it is only J will, and thou falt, ¥. 21. And it foall come to pafs in that day, 8c.] When thefe efpoufals fhall be made, when the mare riage of the Lamb will be come, and his bride will be betrothed to him; then the whole creation, the heavens and the earth, fhall contribute of their ” riches and plenty, to make a marriage-feaft for them; or then fhall the fpoufe of Chrift, ina very vifible and plentiful manner, by virtue of the marriage-union between them, partake of all his | things, both temporal and fpiritual; and efpecially the latter, as fignified by the former; but yet in the ufe of means, and as the effect of prayer, as follows: J will hear, faith the Lord the petitions of his new married bride, which he can’t deny her = or, J will anfwer*; men oftentimes hear, and an- {wer not; but when the Lord hears his people, he anfwers them, and grants them their requefts; he is a God hearing and anfwering prayer. So the Targum, ‘* I will receive your prayer, faith the “ Lord.” Iwill hear the heavens, and they foal hear the earth; in thefe and the following words, is an elegant profopopeia, a figure by which in animate creatures are reprefented as perfons {peak ing, praying, afking, and being heard and an= fwered; and a beautiful climax, or a chain of fe= cond caufes linked together, and as:depending upon — the firft caufe, the Lord himfelf; the heavens are — reprefented as defiring the Lord of nature, the maker and fupporter of them, having been like brafs and fhut up, that they might have leave to — let down their refrefhing dews, and gentle fhowers — of rain, upon the earth; and the earth as bei being dry and thirfty, as gaping, opening its mouth, na;

imploring thefe benign influences of the heavens 5 y. 20. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithand both as anfwered: for fo it may be ren

. dered, Fulnefs, &c.] Which lies in keeping the mar- J will anfwer the beavens, and they foall-anfwer ee earth*; the Lord promifes to anfwer the defires of the heavens, and allow them to drop their dew, and diftil their rain; and fo they fhall anfwer the cravings of the earth. The fpiritwal fenfe may be according to Schmidt; Chrift is he on whom all bleffings depend; heaven may fignify the Holy Spirit Chrift gives, who intercedes with him for. the faints; the earth the miniftration of the word and ordinances, by which the Spirit is given, invoked by the minifters of them, Or, as Cocceius, the heavens may defign the minifters of the church who govern in it, and who pray and plead for help, affiftance, and fuccefs; and the earth the audience, the common people, who alfo pray, and are heard and anfwered,’ when minifters let down the dew and rain of evangelical doctrine upon them, and water them, and refrefh them with it; and fuch precious feafons as thefe, as the fruit of prayer, will the faints have in the latter day.

y. 22. And the earth fhall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil, &c.] Or anfwer; here the corn, and vines, and olive-trees, are reprefented as requefting the earth to be let into it, and receive moifture from it, that they may grow and increafe, and bring forth fruit; by which may be meant the fruits and graces of the Spirit, and all fpiritual gifts, communicated by means of the word and ordinances; or’ the fruits brought forth by the church, under the miniftry of the word; which ferves like corm to nourifh and ftrengthen; like wine to comfort, chear, and revive; and like oi/ to heal and foften, as well as make glad. And they fhall bear Fezreel; or anfwer; that is, thefe trees and fruits fhall anfwer to the requefts and defires of Fezreel, who fhall be abundantly bleffed with them. By Jezreel is not meant the name of a place, as Aben Ezra; but the people of J/rael, who had before been fignified by a fon of the prophet of this name, ch. i. 4. and which name is here continued, to fhew how unworthy they were of fuch favours in themfelves, and the riches of God’s grace in beftowing them on them: or elfe the word here has a different fignification; whereas before it fignified their being fcattered and difperfed, here their being: the feed of God; and which is confirmed by the following words, I will fow her unto me, &c. the fum of the whole is, that at the prayers of the Lord’s people, abundance of fpiritual bleffings fhall be beftowed upon them from Chrift by the Spirit, under the miniftration of the word and ordinances. The Targum of both verfes is, ‘* I *¢ will command the heavens, and they fhall let ¢¢ down rain upon the earth; and the earth fhall

“© produce corn, and wine, and oil, and they fhall

«¢ be fufficient for the captivity of the people.” Kimchi fays this belongs to the time of falvation; and Aben Ezra to time to come.

y. 23. And Iwill fow ber unto me in the earth, &c.] That is Fezreel, or the people of God, the church betrothed; this is another blefling following upon the marriage-relation between Chrift and his people, both Hews and: Gentiles, in the latter day, a multiplication of a fpiritual feed and offfpring. - So Kimchi and Aben Ezra obferve, that the words fignify, that the people of J/rae/ fhall in- darknefs and obfcurity; yét fhall rife tip in the green blade of a lively profeffion, and bring forth the fruits of righteoufnefs: Seed for fowing is thé chotceft and motft precious, and of greateft efteem and value, and is feparated from the reft for that ufe, tho” but little and finall in quantity in com+ parifon of it; all which is applicable to the people of God. This is faid to be fown in the earth or land; either in their own land, the land of J/rael; into which they fhall now be brought, Ezek: xxxvii 21,22. Amos ix.15. or in the field of the world, the nations and people of the earth, according to Zech. x. 9. or rather in the churches of Chrift on earth; the churches in the Gentile world, into which the Jews, when converted, fhall be brought, and increafe and multiply; and this will be all the Lord’s doing. J will fow ber, he will quicken and convert them, and place and plant them in gofpelchurches, tho’ minifters may be inftruments in his hands; and all their fruitfulnefs and increafe will be unto him, for his fervice, the promotion of his intereft, and for his honour and glory. The Targum is, ‘* I will eftablifh you before me in the “* land of my Shekinab or majefty.” And Iwill have mercy on. ber that had not obtained mercy, upon Lo-Ruhamab, or the people of I/rael, fignified by her, ch. i. 6. and alfo the Gevtiles, for to both Fews and Gentiles the apoftle applies the words in Rom, ix. 24, 25. and they were fulfilled in part in his time, by the converfion of fome of the ews, and by the calling of the Gentiles; but will have a larger accomplifhment in the latter day, when all J/rael fhall obtain mercy, and be faved; fee Rom. xi. 26, 30, 31, 32, and are applicable to the people of God at all times, when called by grace; for tho’ before converfion there is mercy for them in the heart of God, which is from everlafting; and in his purpofe and refolution to beftow; and which is difplayed in his choice of them, confidered in the decree of the means as fallen creatures, and fo veffels of mercy; and which is laid up in covenant for them, which is full of the fure mercies of David; and appears in the miffion of Chrift, and their redemption by him; and in fparing and faving them before calling, as. well as in their regeneration, which is the fruit of abundant mercy; yet is not manifefted to them till converted, when they openly obtain it: the Lord has mercy on them, and brings them out of the horrible pit of the ftate of nature; plucks them as brands out of the burning; opens the prifon-doors, knocks off their fetters, and fets them free; feeds their hungry, and clothes their naked fouls; heals their difeafes, and pardons their iniquities, and faves them with an everlafting falvation. And I will fay te them which were not my people, thou art my people; or to Lo-ammi, the people of J/rael, fignified by the prophet’s child of that name, ch. i. 9. who fhould no more be called fo, but Ammi, my people, ch. ii. 1. which, as before obferved, was in part fulfilled in the firft times of the gofpel; but will be more fully accomplifhed at the converfion of the Yews, and the bringing in the fulnefs of the Gentiles; who tho’ chofen to be the people of God, and are fo federally, and were given creafe and be fruitful as the feed of the earth, Thefe now are good feed which the Lord fows; fuch as are born not of corruptible, but incorruptible feed; are quickened by the Spirit of God; have a good work of grace begun in thems; tho’ they may lie for fome time under the clods in in covenant to Chrift as fuch, and fo redeemed | and faved by him from their fins; yet are not till converfion laid hold on by the Lord, and formed as his people for himfelf, and are without knowand ledge of him, and communion with him: nor are” - they called his people by themfelves or others, but

37% when converted, they have the characters, and enjoy the privileges of God’s people; they have the witnefs of the relation to themfelves by the Spirit of God, and are known and acknowledged by others; the Lord fays this unto them, and avouches them for his people: and they fball fay thou art my God; in the ftrength of faith, under

N this chapter is an order to the prophet to love an adulterous woman beloved of her friend, and by this parable to exprefs the love of God to J/rael, and their ingratitude to him, y¥. 1. the prophet’s execution of that order, making a purchafe of her, and a covenant with her, which fet forth the captive, fervile, mean and abject ftate of that people, y¥. 2, 3. which is explained of their being deprived for a long time of civil and ecclefiaftic government, ¥.4. and the chapter is concluded with a prophecy and promife of their converfion to Chrift in the latter day, y. 5.

y.1. Then faid the Lord unto me, &c.) Or as the Targum, the Lord faid unto me again; for the word yet or again is to be joined to this, and not the following claufe; and fhews that this is a new vifion, prophecy, or parable, tho’ refpecting the fame perfons and things: go, love a woman beloved of ber friend, yet an adulterefs; not the prophet’s wife, not Gomer, but fome other feigned perfon; beloved either of her own hufband, as the Targum and Farchi, notwithftanding her unchattity and unfaithfulnefs to him; or of another man, as Aben Ezra, who had a very great refpect for her, courted her, and perhaps had betrothed her, but had not yet confummated the marriage; and tho’ an harlot, loved her dearly, and could not get off his affections from her, but hankered after her; or of the prophet, as Kimchi, who paraphrafes it, *¢ thou fhalt love her, and be to her a friend;” to protect and defend her, as harlots ufed to have one in particular they called their friend, by whofe name. they were called, and was a cover to them. The fenfe is, that the prophet was to go to the people of J/rae/, and deliver this parable to them, fetting forth their ftate and condition, and their behaviour towards God, and his great love to them, notwithftanding all their bafenefs and ingratitude; "twas as if a woman that was either married or betrothed, or that either had a hufband or a fuitor that fo dearly loved her, that tho’ fhe was guilty of uncleannefs, and continued in it, yet would not leave her; and which is thus exprefled by the Targum, “‘ go, deliver a prophecy againft ** the houfe of J/rael, who are like a woman dear ** to her hufband; and tho’ fhe commits fornica- ** tion againit him, yet he fo loves her that he ‘* will not put her away:” according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Ifrael, or fuch is the love of the Lord to them; for tho’ they were guilty of idolatry, intemperance, and other immoralities, yet ftill he loved them, and formed defigns of grace and goodnefs for them. And thus, tho’ God does not love finners’ as fuch; yet he loves them, tho’ they are finners, and when and while they are fuch; as appears by his choice of them, and covenant with them, by Chrift’s dying the teftimony of the Spirit of God, they fhall claim their intereft in God, as their Covenant-God in Chrift; which is made known in effectual vocation by the work of grace on their hearts; by the bleffings of grace beftowed on them; and by the Lord’s dwelling among them, and his protection of them.

for them while finners, and by his quickening them when dead in trefpaffes and fins: who look to other gods; or tho’ they look to other gods*; look to them and worfhip them, pray unto them, put their truft in them, and expect good things from them: and love flagons of wine, or tubs of grapes*; or of wine made of them; or lumps of raifins, cakes or junkets made of them and other things, as the Septuagint; and may refpect either the drunkennefs and intemperance of the ten tribes, fee J/. xxviii. 1.

they loved, as Kimchi fays, the delights of the world, and not the law and commandments of God; or the feafts that were made in the temples of their idols; they loved good eating and drinking, and that made them like idolatry the better for the fake of thofe things; fee Exod. xxxii. 6. for the heathens ufed to eat and drink to excefs at their facrifices: hence Diogenes * the philofopher was very angry with thofe who facrificed to the gods for their health, yet in their facrifices feafted to the prejudice of their health.

y.2. Sol bought her to me for fifteen pieces of filver, &c.| Or fifteen foekels, which was about one pound feventeen fhillings and fix pence of our money, reckoning a fhekel at two fhillings and fix pence; tho’ fome make it to be but two fhillings and four pence; this was but half the price f a fervant, Exod. xxi. 32. and alludes to the dowry which men ufed to give to women at their marriage; fee 1 Sam. xviii. 25. The word here ufed has the fignification of digging; hence the Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, J dug her; and the abetters and defenders of it think it refers to the digging, or boring the ears of a fervant that chofe to continue with his mafter, Exod. xxi. 6. but the word is ufed in the fenfe of buying, Ger. ]. 5. Deut. ii. 6. and fo Farchi fays it has the fenfe of merchandife or bargaining; and in the fea-coafts he obferves, that they call (9'DD a_ purchafe, 39’. Perhaps the word is better rendred by the Septuagint and Arabic verfions, hired; and*-

\;<> cara in the Arabic language fignifies to bire;

fo it is ufed in As xxviii. 30. So with the Turks, - as Monfieur Thevenot ‘ obferves, a letter out of beafts to hire is called moucre or moukir, which comes from the Arabic word kira, he fays, whiel fignifies to let or hire; and is here fitly ufed of an harlot. The Yews have many whims and fa about thefe fifteen pieces of filver. The Ta and Pefikta in Farchi, make them ‘to refpect fifteenth day of Nifan, on which the J/raelites were they defign the fifteen kings of Fudab, from Reboboam to the captivity, reckoning the fons of Fofich’

as one, being brethren, according to others, in

Kimchi, Abrabam, Taac and Facob, and the twelve — tribes; and according to Abarbinel, the fifteen pro-

Ch. Mil. vy. 3—5: an homer of barley, and an balf homer of barley; an homer held ten ephabs, and a lethec, or half bomer, five epbabs, or fo many bubhels, thefe making the number fifteen: again, according to Saadiah, they defign Mofes, Aaron and Miriam, and the twelve tribes; and according to Aen Ezra, the number of the high-priefts in the kingdom of Fudab and Ferufelem, a homer making thirty feahs, and an half homer fifteen, in all forty-five; but according to others, in Kimchi, thefe defign the fortyfive days between the coming of the J/raelites out of Egypt, and their receiving the law: but leaving thefe fancies; as the number of fhekels given for her was but a low price, and fhows what an eftimate was made of her; and barley being the coarfeft of grain, and bread made of it, that of the wortft fort, which the poorer people eat; may be expreffive of the captive, fervile, mean, and abject ftate of the people of J/rael, from the time of their captivity to their converfion to Chrift, as is after more fully explained.

¥. 3. And I faid unto ber, &c.] Having bought or hired her; this was the covenant or agreement he made with her, thou fhalt abide for me many days; dwell alone in fome folitary and feparate place, and have no converfation with any, efpecially with men; live like a widow that has loft her hufband, and fo wait for a long time till the prophet fhould think fit to take her to his houfe and bed: thou fhalt not play the harlot, and thou foalt not be for another man; neither proftitute herfelf, as fhe had done to‘her lovers; nor marry another, but keep herfelf chafte and fingle: /o will J alfo be for thee; wait for thee, and not take another wife; or will be thy hufband, after having ‘made ‘proper trial and full proof of thy conduét and behaviour: the Zargum paraphrafes it thus, «<< Say, O prophet, to her, O congregation of <¢ Jjrael, your fins are the caufe that ycu are car- “< ried captive many days; ye fhall give yourfelves <¢ to my worfhip and not-err, nor ferve idols,.and «* even Iwill have mercy on you.” ‘The whole is explained in the following words:

y. 4. For the children of Ifrael fhall abide many days without a ‘king, and without a prince, &c.] Without any form of civil government, either reeal or princely; without any civil magiftrate, either fuperior or fubordinate, of their own; being fubject to the kings and princes of other nations, as the ten tribes were from ‘their captivity by Sa/- manefer, to the coming of Chrift, which was about feven hundred years; and from that time: the tribes: of Fudab and Benjamin have had no'kings and princes among them, for the’ fpace of feventeen hundred years, which may very well be called many ‘days. This anfwers to the harlot’s abiding for the prophet many days, in the parable:

and without a ‘facrifice,; the daily facrifice, which:

has ceafed as Jong as.before obferved; and any other facrifice of flain beafts, as the paffover-lamb, -€§c. the Fews not thinking it lawful to offer facrifice in a ftrange land, or any where but upon) the altar in Ferufalem., and to this day have no: fuch facrifices-emong them, tho” they have no notion of the abrogation of them, as the Chriftians have; but fo it is ordered in providence, that they fhould be without them, being kept out of their own land, that this and other prophecies might be fulfilled: and without an image, or ftatue; fuch as ‘were made for Baal, or as were the calves at Dan