Exposition of the Whole Bible

Ch. i, ¥. 15. don of their fins; and as their king, by obedience to his commands; and who will now take to himfelf his great power, and reign glorioufly before his faints; the glory of his kingly office will be now feen and known, when this prophecy fhall have its full accomplifhment, and which feems greatly intended. The knowledge of all this glory will not be a mere notional and fpeculative one, but fpecial and fpiritual; an experimental knowledge accompanied with affection, approbation, confidence and appropriation: and the earth will be filled with this; that is, the inhabitants of it: this had an accomplifhment in part in the times of the apoftles, when they were fent into all the world to preach the gofpel to every creature, and diffufed the favour of the knowledge of Chriit every where; and had a further. accomplifhment in the times of Conftantine, when the whole Roman empire, or all the world became chriftians; and again at the time of the reformation, when many nations, efpecially in Europe, were freed from popifh darknefs by the pure light of the gofpel; but will have its final accomplifhment in the latter day; and which will bring on the deftruction of antichrift, and feems here intended; fince this is given as a reafon why it will be all labour in vain to attempt the prevention of it. It will be by means of the gofpel fpreading the knowledge of Chrift every where, that antichrift will ‘fall; this is the brightnefs of

Chriit’s coming, with which he will be deftroyed; | hence the angel, with the everlafting gofpel to preach to all nations, and with whofe glory the whole earth will be lightened, is reprefented as preceding the fall of Babylon, and as the means of it; fee 2 Theff. ii. 8. Rev. xiv. 6, 7, 8. and xviil. 1, 2. and the great fpread and large abundance of this knowledge communicated by the preaching of the gofpel is thus illuftrated and exemplified, as the waters cover the fea; expreffing the nature of go- fpel-doétrines, revealing the glory of Chrift and his grace, which, like waters, refrefh and make fruitful; and the force and power of them, bearing down all before them, like an inundation of water when it breaks its banks; and likewife the depths of them, thefe being the deep things of | God; and more efpecially the general fpread and large abundance of them, and of the knowledge conveyed by them; which will fill the earth, as the waters of the fea fill up and cover the vaft chafm prepared for them; fee J/- xi. 9. ¥.15. Wo unto kim that giveth bis neighbour drink, 8ec.] Before the full accomplifhment of the above prophecy concerning the abundance of the knowledge of the Lord in the earth, and before the utter deftruction of antichrift; between chat and the reformation, when it had its fulfilment.in part; the following practices inveighed again{t would be ufed, as we find they are, and for which the man of fin and his followers will be punifhed: one of which is expreffed by a man’s giving bis neighbour drink, which is a commendable action, when drink is given to a perfon in want to quench his thirft, or in forrowful and diftrefied circumftances to refrefh and cheer him; but when this is done to intoxicate him, and draw him into ‘~uncleannefs, it is ‘an evil one; andiwhich is the fenfe of the phrafe here, as appears by ‘the wo depounced, and by what follows; and is to be underftood, not in a literal fenfe, but in a figurative

“® FAM venenum tuum, Montanus; fo fome in Drofius, and R, Jonah in Ben Melech,

‘adjungenti, five adhibenti furorem cuum, Tigurine verfion.

one; and is expreflive of the various artful methods and alluring ways ufed by the Papifs, efpecially the Fe/uits, after the reformation, with the Protefants, to forfake their religion, and to dtaw them into the fuperftition and idolatry of the church of Rome; and which are in the New Teftament fignified by the wine of her fornication, with which the kings, nations and inhabitants of the earth are made drunk, Rev. xvii. 2. crying up the devotion and religion of their church, its antiquity, purity, holinefs and unity; pretending great love to the fouls of men, that they feek nothing but their fpiritual good; promifing them great advantages, temporal and fpiritual, worldly riches and honour, and fure and certain falvation within the pale of their church, without which they fay there is none; and by fuch means they have intoxicated many princes, kingdoms, and multitudes of people, fince the reformation; and have drawn them -off from the profeffion of the Profeffant religion, and brought them back to popery again, as in Poland, Bobemia, thefe methods they are now taking in all Prote- fant countries, and in ours, and that with great fuccefs, as is notorious, and time will more abundantly fhew; but there is a wo lies againft them for it: bat putte thy bottle to him; giving him not only a glafs or cup at a time, but a whole bottle to drink off at once, in order to inebriate him, The word is by fome tranflated thy gall, or thy poifon *; which fitly enough expreffeés the poifonous doétrines of the church of Rome, which men infenfibly imbibe, infufed in her wine of fornication, or drink in thro’ the alluring and en- {fnaring methods taken. It properly fignifies beat or wrath, The Zargum is, ‘* that pours i with ‘* heat, that he may drink, and be inebriated.” The Syriac verfion is, “ wo to him that gives his *¢ neighbour to drink the dregs of fury.” The words may be truly rendered, adding thy wrath!; that is, to the alluring and enticing methods before mentioned, adding menaces, wrathful words, and furious perfecutions: and this the Papijfs do where they cans. when good words and fair fpeeches wilk not prevail, and they can’t gain over profelytes with flattery, deceit and lying, they threaten them with racks and tortures, with prifons and galleys, and death itfelf in various fhapes, to force men into their communion; and which they have put in execution in many places, in Bobemia, Hungary, and in France even to this day; and this is what in the New Teftament is called the wine of the wrath of ber fornication, Rev. xiv. 8. and xviii. 3: and makeft him drunken alfo; that thou mayeft look on their nakednefs,; as Ham did on his father’s nakednefs, when in fuch circumftances: all the above methods are taken in order to intoxicate them, deprive them of the ufe of their reafon, as is the cafe of a drunken man; and fo bring them to believe, with an implicit faith, as the church ‘believes; to believe things contrary to reafon; to give into the fpiritual whoredom ‘and idolatry of that church, as men when drunk are eafily drawn into uncleannefs'; to caft off their profeffion of the true religion, as ‘a garment is caft off, as men when drunk are apt to do; and particularly to reject the doctrine of juftification by the righteoufnefs of _ Chrift, which is the only robe to cover the nakednefs of men, and receive the doctrine of merit and jutti- 1 WIN MDW juftifieation by works; in fhort, to apoftatize wholly from the religion they have profefled, and join in communion with the whore of Rome, that fo they may look upon their apoftacy, which is their nakednefs, with the utmoft pleafure and delight,

¥. 16. Thou art filled with foame for glory, &c.] This is faid by the Lord to the man that gives his neighbour drink to intoxicate him, that he may draw him into uncleannefs, and pleafe himfelf with it; who, inftead of being filled with the glory of the Lord, and the knowledge of it, as the earth is before faid to be, fuch are filled with fhameful do@rines and abominable practices, as thofe of the church of Rome are; and inftead of feeking the glory of God, and the honour of their neighbours, they are fatiated with the fhameful fpectacle of their apoftacy, they have been the inftruments of; and yet, inftead of taking fhame to themfelves, as they ought to do, they glory in their fhame; count it an honour they have been the inftruments of bringing them into fuch uncleannefs and idolatry; and glut themfelves with the delightful fight; which, in the efteem of God, was filling them{elves with fhame, inftead of bringing.any glory to him, to themfelves, or their neighbours; and therefore fhould feverely fmart for it: drink thou alfo, of another cup, the cup of ¢he wine of the wrath of God, asa jutt retaliation for giving to others the wine of wrath of fornication to drink, and to intoxicate men with; which will be given to myftical Babylon at the time fhe comes into remembrance before God, or when the time to punifh her is come, and to all the followers and worfhippers of the beaft; fee Rev. xiv. 10. and xvi. 19: and let thy fore/kin be uncovered, in retaliation for uncovering the nakednefs of others, and looking with pleafure on it; by which it will appear, that the men here fpoken of, that take all the above methods to draw or force others into the communion of their church, are no other than Heathens; their religion confifting greatly of Gentili/m; or what has a very great likenefs to it; hence the Papifts are fometimes called Heathens and Gentiles, fee Pf. x. 16. Rev. xi. 2: the cup of the Lord’s right-hand fhall be turned unto thee; who, in their turn fhall drink of it, when his right-hand, in which it is, fhall reach it out; for there is no refifting the power of that; when he gives the orders to drink it, they muft; and this cup in his righthand is a cup of red-wine, of the wrath, fury and indignation of God, the dregs of which thefe wicked men mutt wring out, and drink up; fee Pf Ixxv. 8. It is no unufual thing in feripture for the wrath, vengeance and judgments of God to be reprefented by a cup, as in //. li. 17. Fer. xxv. 15, 16, 17: and fhameful fpewing thall be on thy glory; fignifying, that they fhould be like a man intoxicated with wine, that vomits it up again; and which, falling on his fine cloaths, fpoils the glory of them: fo when this cup of wrath and vengeance. fhould be given unto them, and they be made to drink of it, they fhould be fo full of it, that all their glory fhould be covered with fhame’; or all their glorious things fhould be fpoiled, and they deprived of all their riches and honours, their titles and grandeur; the magnificence of their temples, altars, idols and veftments, €c.

y. 17. For the violence of Lebanon fhall cover thee, &c.| Lebanon was a mountain on the borders of the land of J/rae/, from whence cedar- wood’

was brought, of which the temple was built, and for that reafon is fometimes fo called, as in Zech.

xi. 1. and fo the Targum and Farchi interpret it, ** the violence of the houfe of the fanctuary thall “* cover thee;” and this was a type of the church of Chrift, the violence of which is that which is offered to it, and which it fuffers,; and defigns all the injuries, oppreflions and perfecutions of it by the Papifis; who fhall be furrounded with the judgments of God, and covered with his wrath and vengeance for the violence done to his people, as a man is covered with a garment; or elfe the fenfe is, that the fame, or a like judgment fhould come upon them, as did on Lebanon, or the material temple of Ferufalem, which with great force and violence deftroyed it; as that was confumed by: fire for the fins of the ews in rejecting Chrift and perfecuting his people; fo fhall Rome be burnt with fire for the oppofition of the inhabitants of it to Chrift, and the injuries they have done to his church and people: and the fpoil of beajfts which made them afraid, or, the fpoil of the beafts thall cover thee which made them afraid; we read of two beafts, one rifing out of the fea, and the other out of the earth; and both defign the pope of Rome in different capacities, as confidered in hisfecular and ecclefiaftical power; and the fpoil he has made of thofe that oppofe him, the calamities of fire and {word he has brought upon them, are what have greatly terrified the fheep of Chrift; but for all the fpoil and havock he has made, the. judgments of God fhall come upon him on all fides, and utterly deftroy him; the beaft and falfe prophet fhall be caft into the lake of fire and brimitone; fee Rev. xiii. 1, 11, and xvii. 8. and xix. 20: becaufe of mens blood, and for the violence of the land, of the city, and of all that dwell therein; the fame that is faid in y. 8. and here repeated, as refpecting another body of men, guilty of the fame or like crimes: there Rome pagan, concerned in the crucifixion of Chrift, the defolation of the land of Fudea, and city of Ferujalem, and their inhabitants, as well as’ in perfecuting the faints, the ‘citizens of the church of God; here Rome papal, where our Lord has been crucified again, and his blood, and the efficacy of it, fet at nought; the blood of the faints and martyrs of Jefus fhed in great abundance, and violent perfecutions: of the churches of Chrift, and the members of them; for all which the above judgments. fhall come upon — them; fee Kev. xi. 8. and xviii. 24. a y. 18. What profiteth the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it, &c.| The graven images the church of Rome enjoins the worfhip of; the images of the Trinity, of Chrift, of the Virgin Mary, of angels and faints departed, and which are ftill continued fince the reformation; but of what profit and advantage are they? they. may be profitable to the Beavers who oa id graving, them; and the metal or matters of which they are made, if fold, and converted to an ufe, may turn to account; but as deities, and worfhipped as fuch, they are of no profit to them that worfhip them; they can’t hear their prayers, nor anfwer them; can’t beftow any favours on them, and deliver them out of any diftrefs; and particularly can’t fave them from the judgments before denounced: the molten image, and a teacher of lies; nor is a molten image any ways profitable, which is made of liquid matter, gold or filver melted and poured into a mould, from whence it receives its form: it may be profitable to the founder, and the metal to the owner, if put to another ufe; but as a god is of no fervice; and both the a graven and molten image, the one'and the other, each of them is a teacher of lies, and fo unprofit- with gold and filver; how fhould it teach? and there is xo breath at all in the midft of it; or, no able: if they are laymens books, as they are faid /pirit °; fo far from having the {pirit of divinity to be, they don’t teach them truth; they don’t teach them what God is, in his nature and perfections; what Chrift is'in his perfon and offices; what angels are, who are incorporeal; nor the faints, they neither defcribe the fhape and features of their body, nor exprefs their characters, minds or manners 3 they. teach men to believe lies, and to worfhip falie deities, as they are. So the Targum renders it, a falfe deity; which impofes on men, and therefore cannot profit them: or this may be underftood of an idolatrous prieft, as dben Ezra; as the idol itfelf cannot profit, fo neither can the prieft that teaches men fuch lies as to worfhip the idol, and put truft in it: that the maker of bis work trufieth therein, to make dumb idols? or, whilft making dumb idols™; which is great ftupidity indeed! that whilft a man is graving an image, or cafting an idol, which are lifelefs, fenfelefs things, that can neither move nor fpeak, yea are his workmanthip, yet puts his truft and confidence in them, that they can do him fervice he needs, help him in diftrefs, and fave him out of his troubles; what profit can be expected from thefe, tho’ ever fo nicely framed, when he confiders they are of his own framing; and that they are idols which are nothing in the world, as the word " here ufed fignifies; and dumb ones, which can give no anfwer to the requefts of their votaries? The Zargum is, ‘* idols in whom there is no profit.”

¥. 19. Wo to him that faith to the wood, awake, &c.] That faith to a wooden image, Jet him go by what name he will; faint fuch an one, or fuch an one; awake, arife, exert thyfelf on our behalf; deliver us from prefent danger; fave us from our enemies; or pray and intercede for us, that we may be delivered and faved, as the Papijis do; addreffing a block of wood as they would God himfelf, or as his people do, P/ xliv. 23. This mutt be very difpleafing and deteftable to God, and therefore a wo is threatened to fuch idol-worfhippers: who alfo fay to the dumb fone, arife, to the idol of ftone, as the Targum; the ftone-ftatue, an image made of ftone, fuch as the Papijis have, even of wood, and of ftone, as well as of gold, and filver, and brafs, Rev. ix. 20. and fo ftupid as to fay to fuch ftocks and ftones, arife, ftand up, and help us: it /hall teach; the ftone itfelf would teach them better, would they but confider what it is; look upon it, and handle it, when they would find it to be a mere ftone, and no deity: or, hall it teach? fo Farchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech; no, it cannot teach any true doétrine, or direct to right worfhip; it can’t teach men their duty, or where they may have help; it isa dumb idol; it can’t teach men the nature of God, and the knowledge of him; or inftruéct in his mind and will; or inform of things fecret or future: it 7s laid over with gold, and filver; it is made of ftone, and covered in it, or the fpirit of God, that it has not the fpitit © of a man in it, nor even the fpirit of a brute creature; it-has not fo much as animal breath, and {0% no life, motion, or activity in it; and therefore muft be quite unprofitable to the worfhipper of it; incapable of teaching thofe who apply to it; and they muft be ftupid that do it, and moft righteoufly bring themfelves under the difpleafure and: wrath of God, and expofe themfelves to the wo here denounced againft fuch perfons.

¥. 20. But the Lord is in bis holy temple, 8&c.] Not in graven and molten images; not in idols of wood and ftone, covered with gold and filver; but in heaven, the habitation of his holinefs, the place of his refidence, where he is feen and wor: fhipped by the holy angels and glorified faints;. and from whence he furveys all the children of: men, and their actions; obferves the folly and {tupidity of idol-worfhippers; and hears and anfwers the prayers of his own people: or this intends his church, which is his temple, fanctified by him, and fet apart for his fervice, worfhip, and glory: here he grants his gracious prefence to thofe who worfhip him in fpirit and in truth; and here he will appear as king of faints, in a moft glorious manner, when thefe feveral woes beforementioned have taken place; as on Rome pagan already, and in part on Rome papal at the reformation, fo completely on: it, and all worfhippers of images hereafter. The word 527 here ufed, fignifies, that part of the temple, called the holy place, as diftin¢ét from the holy of holies; which was the proper feat of the divine majefty, and a figure of heaven, as the holy place was of the church; and fo he was, as it were, removed from the one to the other; hence the more obfervable and remarkable, and the greater reafon for what follows; and this ferves to illuftrate and confirm the fenfe given: Jet all the earth keep filence before him; {tand in awe of him, and reverence him; be fubject to him, and filently adore him; as all the inhabitants of the earth will, when the above enemies of his are entirely removed out of it; there will be no more clamours and objections againft the chriftian religion by Fews and Mahometans, on account of image-worfhip, which will be no more; no more wars, or rumours of wars, but a profound peace every where; no more perfecutions of the faints; no more will be heard the cry of violence and oppreffion, all their enemies being deftroyed; no more repinings and murmurings among the people of God, thro’ impatience and unbelief, all afflictions being at an end; there will be an entire filence of this kind every where; only the voice of the gofpel, of prayer, praife and thankfgiving, will be heard. ‘This is not the cafe now. nor was there ever as yet fuch a time on earth; this fhows that the prophecy regards time to come.

HE title of this chapter is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, compofed after the manner of a Pfalm of David, and directed to the chief finger, ¥. 1, 19. The occafion of it is exprefied, ¥. 2. in which the prophet declares his concern for the work of the Lord, and the promotion of the kingdom and _intereft of Chrift; and obferves the various fteps that were, or would be taken, for the advancement of it; for which he prays, and fuggefts that thefe would be after the manner of the Lord’s dealing with the people of J/rae/, and fettling them in the land of Canaan, ¥. 3—15. and there being feveral things awful in this account, both with refpecét to the judgments of God on his enemies, and the conflicts and trials of his own people, it greatly affected the mind of the prophet, ¥. 16. and yet, in the view of the worft, he exprefles his ftrong faith in the Lord, as to better times and things, that would moft affuredly come, ¥. 17, 18, 19.

y. 1. A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Sigionoth.| Of the name, character, and office of the prophet, fee the note on ch. i. 1.. This chapter is entitled a prayer of his, a fupplicatory one, put up in an humble and earneft manner, and in the exercife of faith, and under the influence of a fpirit of prophecy. He before had a vifion of the coming of Chrift, and of what enemies would rife up, and obftruct his kingdom and intereft in the world; and here he prays that thefe obftruétions might be removed, and that the kingdom of Chrift, in its full extent and glory, might take place in the world; and is a prayer of faith, as he prayed it might be, he believed it would be; and left this prayer behind him, for the ufe and inftruction of the church in all ages, until the whole fhould be accomplifhed. It feems to be compofed after the manner of the Pfalms of David, to make it the more pleafant and agreeable,; and that it might be the more regarded, and be more fitted for the public ufe and fervice of the fanétuary: this appears from the ftile of it, which is poetical, lofty and fublime, from the frequent ufe of the word Selah, peculiar to the pfalms of David, ¥. 3, 9, 13. and from the direction of it to the chief finger on the ftringed inftruments, ¥. 19. and from the phrafe upon, or according to Sigionath here, which the Septuagint verfion renders with a fong; and fo the Arabic verfion, after the manner of a fong; for this word feems to be the plural of Shiggaion, the title of the /eventh pfalms which was either the name, title, or firft word of fome fone or fongs, according to which this was to be fung; or the name of the tune with which it was to be fung; or of the inftrument on which it was to be fung: it very probably defigns, and may be called, an erratic, or wandring iong, becaufe of the variablenefs of its metre, and of its tune. The Vulgate Latin verfion wrongly interprets it, for ignorances; as if this was a prayer of the prophet’s for the pardon of fins of error and ignorance committed by himfelf, or*by others, or both; which fenfe is favoured by the Targum, “ a prayer which Habakkuk the ‘* prophet prayed, when it was revealed unto him ** concerning the length (of time) which (God)

“© gave to the wicked; that if they would return “to the law with a perfect heart, they fhould be “© forgiven all the fins which they had committed ** before him as ignorance:” but there does not appear throughout the whole prayer one fingle petition for the pardon of any fin at all.

¥. 2. O Lord, I have heard thy fpeech, and was afraid, &c.| Or, thy bearing ®; which the Lord had caufed to be heard from, and of himfelf; the teport that had been made to him, and other prophets before him, particularly [/eiah, who fays, who hath believed our report? If. liti. 1. where the fame phrafe is ufed as here; tho’ it feems here not fo much to regard the evangelical part of that report, concerning the coming of Chrift, his fufferings and death, in order to obtain redemption, and falvation for his people; for this would have been, and was matter of joy, and not of fear and confternation: but the truth is this, the Lord in the preceding fpeech, being a report he made to the prophet concerning the Meffiah, had fignified that Chrift would have many enemies from the Jews, and from the Gentiles, from Rome pagan, and Rome papal; that the church of Chrift would meet with great afflictions and perfecutions, and be attended with many conflicts, temptations and difficulties; that the intereft of the Redeemer would be fome~ times very low, and the work of the Lord at a {tand in the world, yea feemingly dead, quite loft and gone; this is what caufed the fear and diftref§ in the prophet’s mind, and gave him that pain and uneafinefs: and hence the following petition, O Lord, revive thy work in the midft of the years; which refers not to the deliverance from the Babylonifh captivity, which was fixed to a term of years, when, and not before, not in the midft of them it would be wrought; but to the great work of the Lortd in the times of the gofpel. Theré is a double reading of thefe words in the Septuagint verfion of them, and both very different from the Hebrew text. The one is, in the midft of two lives thou shalt be known; the life that ‘now is, and that which is to come. The other, by a change of the accent, is, 72 the midff of two animals thou fhalt be known; fo the Arabic verfion. Theodoret makes mention of both, and inclines to the former; ** forme (he fays) by two animals un- “« derftand angels and men; fome the incorporéal ‘© powers near the divine glory, the cherubim and ** feraphim; others the Fews and Babylonians; but ** to me it feems, that the prophet does not fay animals, but lives, the prefent and future, in “ the midft of which he was a juft judge: but the latter reading is followed by matty of thé ancients, whofe different fenfés are given by erom on the place; fome interpreting them of the Son and Spirit, by whom the Father is made known; others of the two cherubim in Exodus, and of the two feraphim in J/aich; and there were fome who underftood them of the two Teftaments, the Old and New, in the midft of which the Lord may be known; and others of Chrift’s being crucified — between two thieves, by which he might be known: but befides thefe different fentiments, many of the ancients concluded from hence, that Chrift lay in the manger between two animals, the ox and the

(sh; 111. Ve ae ‘ H A B A afs, and.to which they refer in their ancient hymns *; but tho’ this is a wrong verfion of the text, and a wrong fenfe which is put upon it, together with J/ i. 3. yet, as Burkius obferves, there is in this miftake a certain and ancient truth, that the text of Habakkuk belongs to the work of God in Chrift, and efpecially to the nativity of our Lord Jefus; and fo fome later writers apply this to. the wonderful work of the incarnation of Chrift, that new, unheard-of, and amazing thing the Lord would work in the earth; the promife of which being delayed, might feem to be dead; and therefore it is intreated it might be revived, and the performance of it haftened; and others to the work of redemption by Chrift, which the Father gave him to do, and he promifed to come and perform; but being deferred, the Old Teftament-faints were impatient of it. Cocceius and Van Till reftrain it to the refurrection of Chrift from the dead, his coming being prophefied of before; and render the words, O Lord, thy work is his life’, in the midft of the years; the refurreCtion of Chrift from the dead, or the quickening of him is prophefied of in many places as a work that would be done, and in which the hope and expectation of the faints were placed; this being a work of great importance both to Chrift, his exaltation and glory, and to his people; their quickening together with him, their regeneration, or paffing from death to life, their juftification.6f life, and refurrection from the dead, depending upon it; and this is the Lord’s work, -and owing to the exceeding greatnefs of his power, and is frequently afcribed to God the Father, who raifed Chrift from the dead, and gave him glory: and this was iz the midft of the years, or between the years of the Old and of the New Teftament; the former was the year of God’s longfuffering and forbearance, the time when the Fewsh church like children were under governors and. tutors, until the time appointed of the Father; the latter is the acceptable year of the Lord, and the year of the redeemed; and between thefe two years, at the end of the one, and the beginning. of the other, the Meffiah came, was cut off or died, and was quickened and raifed again: but I fhould chufe rather to underftand this more generally of the work of the Lord in the chriftian churches throughout the whole gofpel-difpenfation, or at leaft in fome certain periods of it. The church itfelf is the work of the hands of the Lord, // xlv. 11. which fometimes has feemed to have been in a very dead and lifelefs ftate and condition, as in the dark times of popery; and tho’ there was a reviving of it upon the reformation, yet there has been a decline fince; and the Sardian church-ftate, in which we now are, is defcribed as having a name, that it ives, and yet is dead; and the intereft of religion, and the church of Chrift will be lower ftill, when the witneffes are flain, and their dead bodies lie unburied, before the Spirit of the Lord enters into them, and revives them: now the prophet having in view thefe feveral intervals, and efpecially the laft, prays for a reviving of the intereft and church of Chrift, and the work.of the Lord in it; and which will be done when Chrift will come in a fpiritual manner, and deftroy anti-

4 Agnofcat bos & afinus Jacentem in prefepio. Cognovit bos & afinus,