Exposition of the Whole Bible

need not be doubted, that he will receive them; — and befides, he has made kind invitations to them to come to him, and has promited he will in no wife reject them; and has aétually received finners, and moft kindly and tenderly embraced them: as. alfo that they fhall be faved by him; fince complete falvation is wrought out by him, and for fuch as are loft, and even the moft Bese a of finners; and which is freely to be had, not according to the works of men, or as they fhall deferve; but purely thro’ the free gracé of God, and his abundant mercy in Chrift: as well as that their fins fhall be pardoned of God for his fake, feein there is forgivenefs with God; he has promifede proclaimed, and publifhed it; the blood of Chrift has been fhed for it; and he is exalted as a Saviour to give it, and has ordered it to be preached in his name; and fome of the greateft of finners havé — had their fins forgiven them: likewife fuch have good ground to hope, that the work of God is begun in them; tho’ it may be at prefent but a day of {mall things with them; there being fome light let into them, as to their ftate, and the way. ot falvation by Chrift; fome fear of God, and love to him, to Chrift, his people, truths, ordi— dinances, ways, and worfhip; fin is become odious, - finners, even the chief of them; and therefore it and Chrift precious: and good reafon they have to. * hope, and even to be confident, that this good.

work will be performed in them, tho’ at times they have many fears about it; fince it is in fuch good hands, and the glory of all the divine perfons is concerned in it; wherefore they may moft fafely go on to hope for eternal life, which God has promifed, before the world began, is in Chrift, and in his hands to give; and is the free gift of God thro’ him, whofe righteoufnefs entitles to it, and whofe grace makes meet for jt; wherefore having the one, they may truly hope for the other; for grace is a well of living water, fpringing up unto eternal life:. fuch as thefe may well be called * prifoners of hope; partakers,of that grace, and as. it were fhut up in it, and under the influence, and in the exercife of it; which is a gift of grace; is of the operation of the Spirit of God, thro’ whofe’ power it is exercifed; is founded on the perfon, blood, and righteoufnefs of Chriit; is encouraged by the promifes of the gofpel; and is increafed thro’ the difcoveries of the love of God; and deals. ~ with things unfeen and future: and thofe who have the leaft fhare of it, as thefe defcribed are fuppofed to have, are here encouraged to turn to the ftrong bold; by which is: meant, not Fudea, nor Ferufalem, nor the temple in it, nor the church of — God; but rather the bleffed God, as Kimchi inter—~ prets it; and indeed a divine perfon is intended, ~ even the Meffiah, who is a firong held for refuge, — and was typified by the cities of refuge, whither

‘the man-flayer fled, and was fafe, to which the.— allufion may well be thought to be, fince one of — the names of the cities of refuge was Bezer, which ”

fignifies a fortrefs, or ftrong-hold; and comes from the fame root as the word here ufed: and fuchw are enabled and encouraged to flee to Chrift for fuge, are fafe from vindictive juftice, which is fu fatisfied by the blood, righteoufnefs, and a facrifice of Chrift; and from the law, its cur and condemnation; Chrift being made a curfe. them, and having had its fentence of conde tion executed on him; and from all their fins the fad effects of them; from the guilt of |

tan, and‘all enemies, in whofe power it is not to deftroy them, being out of their reach; and from the wrath of God, everlafting deftruétion, and the fecond death: and fuch find Chrift to be a ftrong habitation, or a dwelling place; where they may, and do dwell fafely, pleafantly, and comfortably, enjoying plenty of all good things; their bread in this munition of rocks being given to them, and their water fure unto them; and to furz to it, is to quit all other dependencies, and to believe in ‘Chrift, and truft all with him: even to day do I ‘declare that I will render double unto thee; which is faid, either to the church, or rather to her pri- Yoners, to each of them, to encourage them to flee to Chrift, and truft in him; feeing by the prefent declaration of grace made, they may expect to enjoy all fulnefs of grace, plenty of bleffings, temporal and fpiritual; the promife of this life, and that which is to come; all fpiritual bleffings in Chrift, grace here, and glory hereafter. So double fignifies any thing large, fufficient, plentiful, J xl. 2. and Ixi. 7. particularly the Spirit, and his grace; and double comfort from him, inftead of diftrefs and trouble before experienced: according to the accents, the word for double, is to be connected with the word declare, and be read, this day, at this prefent time, however diftreffing it may be, or you in it be attended with uncomfortable and diftrefled circumiftances,. I declare double *, double grace, as fome fupply it, an abundance of it; which L will render unto thee, to every one of the prifoners of hope, who turn to the ftrong-hold Chrift, in whom they will find a fulnefs of all grace, and fhall receive out of it grace for grace; double grace, a large meafure of it; double to what was received under the former difpenfation. Cocceius renders it, another declarer, difcoverer, or fhewer forth, do I render unto thee °, meaning the Spirit of God, the other comforter from the Father: Chrift was the firft declarer, who declared his Father, his nature, perfections, purpofes, mind and will, Fobz i. 18. the Holy Spirit is the fecond, or the other declarer, who was to bring all things to remembrance fpoken by Chrift, and to lead into all truth, and fhew things to come, and to take of the things of Chrift, and fhew them to his people, Jobu xiv. 16. 26. and xvi. 13, 14. and who was fent after Chrift, was received up into heaven, as his fecond, his deputy, to officiate in his room and ftead; as this word is ufed fometimes of the fecond prieft, or fagan, or deputy of the high-prieft, Yer. lii. 24. ¥. 13. When I have bent Fudab for me, &c.] By whom are meant the apoftles, who were Fews, and whofe miniftrations were made ule of as a bow with arrows, to ftrike the hearts of men, and bring them into fubjection to Chrift: they were a bow of the Lord’s bending and preparing, and which abode in ftrength, being made ftrong and effectual thro’ the hands of the mighty God of facob: filled the bow with Ephraim, or rather, filled Ephraim with the bow ®; filled his hand with it; meaning, that fome out of the ten tribes, as were the apoftles, fhould be employed in drawing the bow of the gofpel, and {hooting its arrows, the doétrines of it; which are comparable to them for fwiftnefs, fuddennefs and fecrefy, and for their piercing and penetrating nature: and raifed up thy fons, O Zion, againft thy fons, O Greece; that is, nove 599 “T}) annuncians duplicem gratiam, quam teddam tibi, Vatablus.? E998 NID Nw arcu implebo manum Ephraim, Vatablus; fo Ben Melech.

perfons of the land of Fadea, 4s fuch the apottles were, and who belonged to Zion the church of Chrift; who were raifed up, qualified, and fent forth by him into the Gentile world, with weapons of warfare, not carnal, but fpiritual;. againft the Gentiles in general, and the wife men of Greece, as at Athens, in particular, to confound fome,. and to conquer others, and bring them to the obedience of Chrift. Some underftand this of the Maccabees raifed up againft Antiochus, and the. Greeks that pofieffed the kingdom of Syria: and made thee as the fword of a mighty man; that is, made the gofpel in the hands of the church, and of her fons, as a {word in the hand of a mighty man, by whom execution is done with it; this is the fword of the Spirit, even the word of God; and is fharp and cutting, and is the power of God unto falvation; as it is girt upon the thigh, and is in the hands of Chrift the moft mighty; and as it is accompanied with the Spirit of God, and of power.

¥.14. And the Lord fhall be feen over them, &c.] His apoftles and minifters: or, fhall appear to them *; and be feen by them, as he was in the days of his flefh; they faw his perfon, his miracles, his forrows, and fufferings; they faw him after his refurreétion, and fome have feen him fince his afcenfion, with the eyes of their bodies, as well as with the eyes of their underftandings; and fo were fit to be witnefles of him: or, the Lord foall appear over them, or upon them'; he was feen over; and above them, when he afcended up to heaven; and upon them, by the defcent of his Spirit on them at the day of Pentecoft; and in other miraculous gifts beftowed upon them: or, the Lord fhall appear unto, or for them *, by giving ftrength of body, and fortitude of mind; by proteéting and preferving them, and by fucceeding their labours: and bis arrow hall go forth as the lightning; meaning the gofpel, and the {wift progrefs of it, as well as the light it communicates, and the glory that goes along with it, and the efficacy of it: and the Lord God fhall blow the trumpet; of the gofpel, fo called, in allufion to the jubileetrumpet, which proclaimed liberty to fervants, and reftoration of inheritances: or to the trunypets made for the congregation of J/rae/, to gather them together, and to exprefs their joy at feafts: or to the trumpet ufed to proclaim war, and as an alarm for it; and this was blown by the Lord himfelf in perfon when here on earth, and by his minifters in his name: aud fhall go with whirlwinds of the fouth, that is, the Lord in the miniftration of the gofpel fhall go forth with the efficacy and energy of the Spirit: the Spirit is compared to wind, becaufe he works in a fovereign way where he lifteth, and oftentimes imperceptibly, and eve# powerfully; and to the fouth wind, becaufe that brings warmth, ferenity, and calmnefs, produces rain, and makes fruitful; and he it is which makes the gofpel efficacious; fee Cant. iv. 16. Fobu iii. 8.

y. 15. The Lord of hofts fhall defend them, 8&c.| Againft all their enemies; againft fatan, and his temptations, and all the oppofition made by him; againft the world, and all the rage and reproacly of men: this was remarkably verified in the apoftles, who were preferved by the Lord amidft a thoufand fnares and dangers; and who was able to do-it, being Jehovah, and the Lord of armies in heaven, and in earth; he was asa fhield unto them, as the word t ufed fignifies; and to which he is often compared in fcripture. The Targum renders it, ** the Lord of hofts fhall have mercy

*¢ on them;” he encompaffed them about with his favour as with a fhield: and they fhall devour, or eat *; fpiritual food, Chrift the bread of life, whofe flefh is meat indeed, and who is lived upon by faith; the bleffings and promifes of the everlafting covenant, of which the meek eat, and are fatisfied, the gofpel and the truths of it, the words of faith and good doétrine, with which faithful minifters are nourifhed; all which is neceffary, that they may be ftrengthened, and qualified to feed others with knowledge and underftanding: and fubdue qwith fling-fiones; fuch who are ftout-hearted, and far from righteoufnefs; who become by their miniftry penitent and humble, and fubject to Chrift, his gofpel and ordinances, even by the means of preaching of the word, which feem very unpromifing and unlikely; being to men foolifhneds, and like the ferip and fling David took with him, and by which he brought Goliab down to the ground: and they shall drink, of the love of God, which, for its antiquity, purity, and refrefhing nature, is like the beft wine; and of the blood of Chrift, which is drink indeed; and of the grace of the Spirit, which revives, ftrengthens, and extinguifhes thirft: and make a noife as thro wine, being full of joy and thankfulnefs for their fpiritual food and drink; and fo warm, zealous, and fervent in Spirit, ferving the Lord; free and open in their miniitrations, loudly proclaiming the grace of God; bold, and fearlefs of danger: and they foall be filled like bowls; that were full of the blood of the offerings, as archi and Kimchi explain it; or rather as the Targum, that were full of fine flour and oil; they having their fouls filled with good things, as the firft of the above writers obierves; a comfortable view of intereft in the love of God; a large meafure of fpiritual joy, and a fulnefs of the gifts and graces of the Spirit, qualifying them for their work: and as the corners of the altar; the Targum is, ** they fhall fhine as the blood that “«¢ fhines upon the wall of the altar;” at the corners of which it was poured out; fignifying, that they fhould be as full of the Spirit, and {piritual things, as the altar was of blood: fo the Fewih writers fay, when the prieft took the blood in the bowl, he fprinkled of it two fprinklings upon the two corners of the altar, on the diameter of it, and below upon the north-eaft horn, and upon the fouth-weft horn; and he ordered it fo, as to fprinkle the blood on the horn, that it might furround the corners, and that the blood might be on the four fides of the altar round about ”. y..16. And the Lord their God fail fave them in that day, &c.] In the times of the gofpel, and the difpenfation of it; meaning either the apoftles before faid to be protected and defended, y.15. or rather the perfons converted, conquered, and fubdued by them, who are not killed, but faved by the Lord their God, their glorious Redeemer, from fin, fatan, the law, wrath to come, and out of the hands of all their enemies: as the flack of bis people, they being his fpecial people,