Exposition of the Whole Bible

veflels of mercy; the covenant of grace, and all its promifes and bleflings; and all the glory of his Father’s houfe, of his building the temple, and of the falvation of his people, is to be hung on hint. Out of him the battel-bow, or warrior, as Farchi interprets it; the Lord is a man of war; Chrift makes war in righteoufniefs the armies of heaven follow him; he is at the head of them, ahd fights the battels of his people, and is victorious, and makes them more than conquerors; their fpiritual armour is from him, and they are armed by him, Rev. xix. 11—14, Out of him every oppreffor together; or exacdtor®; which is ufed in a good fenfe, J. lx. 17. as it muft be here, fince all the reft: of the epithets are; and may defign the apoftles of Chrift, who preached the doétrines of grace and righteoufnefs, and required of men the obedience of faith; and thefe came out of Judah and Ferufalem, and went into all the world, demanding faith m, and obedience to the Son of God.

¥. 5. And they fhall be as mighty men, &e.| That is, the converted ews fhall be fuch; they fhall be {trong in faith, giving glory to the Meffiah; they fhall be ftrong in the grace that is in him; they fhall be {trong in the Lord, and in the power of his might; his ftrength fhal! be made perfect in their weaknefs: which tread down their enemies in the mire of the ftreets in the battel, being victorious over fin, fatan, and the world, through Chrift, in whom they will believe: and they fhall fght, againft all their inward and outward enemies, the good

| fight of faith, with great valour and courage: decaufe the Lord is with them; who is the Lord of hofts or armies; his prefence gives boldnefs and intrepidity; for if he is for them, who can be a~ gainft them; the battel is theirs, fuccefs is certain: and the riders on horfes fhall be confounded, fuch that come up againft them on them, and traft. in them, fhall be beaten by them, and fo mide’ afharhned; and the flefh, both of the horfes and their riders, fhall be the food of the fowls of the air, Rev. xix. 18. perhaps the Turki/h cavalry is meant, who may attempt to hinder the fettlement of the Yews in their own land; the armies of the the Turks confifting greatly of horfemen, Rey. ix. 16,

¥. 6. And Iwill ftrengthen the houfe of Fudab, &c.] Both with internal and external ftrength, fo— that they fhall be able to ftand their ground againft enemies of every fort: and I will fave the houfe of Fofeph,; the ten tribes, fuch of them that fhall be tound, for all. J/rael fhall be faved, Rom. xi. 26. not only temporally, but fpiritually, with an everlafting falvation: and I will bring them again to him his Mefiab,; which fhows that this text was! place them; there is but one word in the original formerly underftood of Chrift by the ews; Far- | text; it is compofed of two words, as Kimchi obchi. and Kimchi interpret it of a prince and gover- ferves, of 3) fa return, and yw to fit or dwell °, nor; fo Eliakim the governor is faid to be, as a4 nail in a fure place, If. xxii. 23. who was a type of Chrift; and this agrees with Chrift himfelf. The allufion is either to a nail, by which the timber in the building is compacted together, and the whole is {trengthened, as the church is by Chrift: or to “4 nail to which the cords of tents are faftened, as thofe of fhepherds, travellers, or foldiers; the church is as fuch a tent; Chrift is the nail to which its cords are faftened, which denotes the ftability and fecurity of it: or to a nail fixed in a wall, on which things are hung; on Chrift are hung all the quietly, conftantly, and at eafe; and our verfion takes in both fenfes: the meaning is, that thefe people fhould be returned from the ftate and condition, and from the feveral places they are in, and be fettled either in their own land, or in gofpelchurches, under a gofpel-miniftry, enjoying gofpelordinances, or in both: for I have mercy upon them; which is the fpring and fource of all the above benefits promifed, or that are after-mentioned; even of the covenant and its bleffings; the miffion of Chrift, and falvation by him; regeneration, pardon, and eternal life: hence they that had a Lo- ammi upon them, and were not the people of God, now will be his people; and thofe who had not obtained mercy, fhall obtain it, even thofe that were concluded in unbelief: and they fall be as though I had not caft them off;, or rejected them from being his people; which was done when the natural branches, the Fews, were broken off. and the Gentiles of the wild olive-tree were graffed in; when their civil and church-ftate were diffolved, and their city and temple deftroyed: for I am the Lord their God; covenant-intereft always rémains, and is the fource of all the bleffings of grace, and will be of the converfion of the Jews, Rom. xi. 26, 275 28, 29: and will hear them; when, the Spirit of grace and fupplication being poured upon them, they fhall cry unto the Lord, and look to him for fal- |

¥. 7. And they of Ephraim fhall be like a mighty many &c.]. What remain, and fhall be found of tlie ten tribes, fhall be as is faid of Judah, or the Fews of the two tribes, ¥. 5: and their heart foall rejoice as thro’ wine; they fhall be filled with inward and fpiritual joy, thro’ the love of God fhed abroad in their heart; and thro’ the gofpel of

Chrift having a place there; and thro’ the bleffings of divine grace, thofe ftreams of love, and which flow in the gofpel, and make glad the hearts of God’s people; all which are compatable to wine: yea, their children fhall fee it, and be glad; they hall fee the. ftrength, victory, and falvation of their fathers, and the joy they thall be pofleffed of, and join with them in it, having a fhare in the fame bleffings they are partakers of: their hearts foall rejoice in the Lord; in the perfon and offices of Chrift, who will now be known by the fpiritual feed and offspring of the church, and inthe great falvation wrought out by him, and in all the bleffings of grace that accompany it. The Zargum is, “¢ their heart fhall rejoice in the word of the Lord;”’ the effential word, the Son of God.

. ¥. 8. Iwill bifs for them, &c.] Or whiftle for them? the word fignifies, as Kimchi and Ben Me- ' lech obferve, the motion of the lips with the voice, and is a fign of calling; and fo the Zargum renders it, I will cry- or call for them;. and it denotes the call of them by. the gofpel, which is the voice of Chrift, which is foft, fweet, and melodious; is a found of love, grace, and mercy; of peace, pardon, life, and falvation: the allufion feems to be to the fhepherd gathering his fheep together with his pipe or whiftle, and which was a reed; and fo may denote the weaknefs of the inftrument, the miniftry of the word in itfelf, which: is made the. power of God unto falvation: and gather them; from the places where’ they are fcattered, into their land; or by effectual calling, out from the ftate and condition in which they are, and from among the men of the world, to the Lord himfelf, as their Redeemer and Saviour; and to him for pardon and righteoufhefs; and into his churches, and communion with him there: Kimchi obferves, that, fome interpret this verfe of future time; and Farchi fays it relates to it; and in the Talmud * it is applied to the times of the Meffiah; where they fpeak of a bird called Racham,which we tranflate the Gier-eagle, Deut. xiv. 17. and they fay it is fo called, becaufe when that comes, mercies | come into the world, which this word fignifes. R. Bibi bar Abi fays, when it fits, it makes a

‘may fienify Rome, or the Romifh juriidi@io i he is fpiritually called Egypt and Sodom, Rev, xi. 8.

rakrak, a word derived from what is here ufed; and when it fits on the ground, and hiflés or whiftles, the Meffiah will “come, as it is faid, 7 will bifs for them, 8c. the glofs is, when it ftands not, but fits and chirps, it is a fign of good news, The defign feems to be to fhew, that the Meffiah’

coming is owing to mercy, and would be good”

» whittling or hiffing, from whence it is. called Sa-:

news, which the gofpel publifhes. For I have re- — deemed them, from fin, fatan, the law, death an hell, and every enemy, by his precious blood, and the facrifice of himfelf when here on earth; and this is the foundation of the éffectual vocation’ of any and every finner;, and will be the reafon of the converfion and ingathering of the Yews in the Jat- _ ter day; they being a people redeemed and purchafed_ by the blood of Chrift, J xliii. r: aud they foall increafe, as they have increafed, either when in Egypt, or in the days of Solomon; their ‘number fhall be as the fand of the fea, Hof i. 10.

a nation fhall be born at once; they fhall Be multiplied and not be few, and glorified ahd not be fmall; yea, the place fhall be too ftrait’ for ‘them to dwell in, Fer. xxxi. 18. J/. xlix. 18—22. and Levi way ge ca 3 | y¥. 9. And I will fow them among the people, &c.} The people of God in the Gentile-world: this is to be underftood of the converfion of the Fews, when they will become the good: feed that hear the word, and underftand it, and bring forth fruit;

and of their being known, acknowledged, rt reckoned among the people of God, who now are not; and of their being planted in gofpel-churcheés, where the word is traly preached; the ordinances are faithfully adminiftred; the Lord ‘grants his prefence, and faints have communion one with another; to be in fuch a fruitful foil; and in fuch facred inclofures, fenced by the power and grace of God, is a great happinefs: aud they fhall remember me in far countries; they fhall call to mind what their anceftors did to Chrift, and moutn on account of a pierced Saviour; they fhall remember him in the ordinance of the fupper, being in’ a gofpel-church-ftate; they fhall remember what He did and fuffered for them, and his love to them in all, and that with faith, affection, and thankful-

-nefs: and they foall live with theit children a very happy; comfortable, temporal life; and they hhail live a fpiritual life; a life of faith on Chrift-; of

/ communion with him, and of ‘holinefs from him.

and to his glory: and their children alfo fhall live the fame life, being regenerated and quickned by the fame grace; thefe are the church’s childrer and turn again, that is, when they fhalf turn again, either to the Lord, fhall be converted unto him;

or retuin to their‘own land.” 0.) y. 10. I will bring them again alfo out of the lana af Egypt, 8c.] The Targum paraphrales it, « at

* as I brought them out of the land oF

& fo will I gather their captivity out of oe fuggelting there would be a likenefs between” one and the other. Egypt may denote the”

of diftance and bondage, in’ which it) eee are by nature; and the Fes, at their” con i. will be brought out of it, into the “glori berty of the children of God, by the mighty arm of the Lord, according to his purpofes- ar ve “.Cheea Ey we rorte * od for darknefs, idolatry, tyranny, and cruelty; and out of which the Jews, as many of them as are there, will be brought at the time of their converfion: and gather them out of Afyria; which may defign the Turki/h or Perfian dominions, or both, as the above commentator fuggefts; from whence the Fews, as many as are in thofe parts, will be brought into their own land, as follows; fee Jf. xi. a1. Rev. xvi. 12: and Iwill bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; Gilead was a land of pafture, and fignifies an heap of teftimonies; and may myftically intend the fcriptures, which teftify of Chrift, and direét to green paftures, befides the ftill waters: and Lebanon, that goodly mountain, and hill of frankincenfe, and where cedars grew, may defign the church, whither the converted ‘Fews will be brought, and worfhip before it, Rev. iii. 9. or both may literally be underftood, which they fhall return unto; Gilead being, as Kimchi obferves, beyond Fordan eaftward, and Lebanon, comprehending the whole land of J/rae/, on this fide of it: and place fall not be found for them; they will be fo numerous; fee J/. xlix. 20, 21. the Targum is, ‘¢ and I will bring them to the land of Gilead * and the fan@tuary, and it fhall not be fufficient “© for them;” that is, to hold them. The Septuagint render it, and not one of them fhall be left, all Z/rael fhall now be converted and faved, tho’ their number will be as the fand of the fea, Hof. i.

¥. 11. And he fhall pafs through the fea with affittion, &c.] Either the people of the Fews, as J/- rael of old did, when they came out of Egypt, to ‘which the allufion is; or the wind fhall pafs thro’ the fea, as Aben Ezra fupplies it, and it fhall become dry, that is, the river of Egypt: or affliction’, as many {upply it, fhall pafs through the fea; the nations, which are many as the fea, as Kimchi interprets it; and fo may defign that hour of temptation that fhall come upon all the earth, Rev. iii. 10. or with which the kingdom of the beaft, who rofe up out of the fea, and confifts of many waters, people, tongues, and nations, will be afflicted, Rev. xiii. 1. and xvii. 1, 15. and xvi. 3. and xviii. 21. which the Lord fhall pafs thro’ and mite or it may in general denote the fea of this world, and the afflictions of it, which the Lord caufes his people to pafs through, and brings them out of them: and fball finite the waves in the fea that is, the Lord fhall fmite them; reprefs afflictions, which are like the proud waves, not fuffering them to proceed further than is for his glory and his peoples good, and remove all obftacles in their way; fee I. xi. 15, 16. or dettroy their enemies, which are like the proud waters, that otherwife would go over their fouls, and overwhelm them; and particularly the antichriftian flates, at the pouring out of the vials, fignified by the fea, and by.

plains it of the multitude of the people: wid af? the deeps of the river fhall dry up; not Nile, the ris ver of Egypt, as Farchi and Aben Ezra*, but thé tiver Euphrates; fee Rev. xvi. 12. the drying up of which fignifies the deftrudtion of the Turki/h empire; and the Targum paraphrafes it, “ all the: ‘¢ kings of the people fhall be confounded:” 2nd the pride of Affyria fall be brought down; the pride of the Ottoman empire, of which the old Afpria is a part, and which has been large and powerful, that fhall be deftroyed; this will be at the paffing away of the fecond wo; and then quickly comes the third, which is as follows, Rev. xi. 14: and the feeptre of Egypt hall depart away; all rule and government fhall ceafe; fee Gen. xlix. 10; meaning that the kingdom of the antichriftian beaft of Rome, called Egypt, Rev. xi. 8. fhall be at an end; which will be at the blowing of the feventh trumpet, and upon and thro’ the pouring out of the feven vials. So the Targum, the dominion of the Egyptians fhall be taken away; or its rod, with which it has fmote, hurt, and greatly opprefied and afflicted the faints; perfecution fhall now ceafe; it will not be in the power of the Romifh antichrift to perfecute any more.

¥.12. And Iwill firengthen them in the Lord; &c.] Not the Egyptians and Affrians, but the Jews asin ¥. 5. the Zargum is, * I will ftrengthen ‘* them in the word of the Lord;” in the Meffiah, by his power, and in the grace that is in him; and their faith and hope in him, and love to him: or dy* him; fo that thro’ him ftrengthening them, they will be able to do all things; to exercife grace; perform duty; withftand temptation; oppofe indwelling fin; bear the crofs of Chrift; endure afflictions; engage with all their {piritual enemies, and conquer them: for the words may be rendered, I will caufe them to prevail, or overcome in the Lord" all their enemies, temporal and _{piritual; and even to be more than conquerors thro? him that has loved them: and they fhall walk up and down in bis name, faith the Lord, walk in him, the way to the Father, to heaven and happinefs; walk by faith on him, in his ftrength, and in imitation of him; walk according to his gofpel, calling on his name, profeffing and worfhipping him; and walk in his church and ordinances, agreeable to his will; fee Mic. iv. 5. Kimchi owns that this whole chapter belongs to the times of the Meffiah, as well as the former. The words may be confidered as a teftimony to the doétrine of the Trinity; that I Jehovah the Father, will ftrengthen them in Jehovah the Son; ‘and they fhall walk up and down in the name of the Son of God, faith Jehovah the Spirit. Moreover as 2 promife of the faints final perfeverance, very peremptorily exprefied; I wi// ftrengthen them, and they faall walk, &c.

SA HIS chapter contains a prophecy of the de - ftruction of the Fews, and fhews the caufes and reafons of it; and is concluded with a prediction concerning antichrift. The deftruétion of | the temple and city of Ferufalem, and the inhabitants of it; is fignified by figurative expreffions, 3. 1, 2. which oecafions an howling among the fhepherds or rulers of J/rael, on account of whofe cruelty and covetoufnefs the wrath of God came upon them without mercy, ¥. 3, 55 6. but inafmuch as there were a remnant according to the election of grace among them, named the flock of the flaughter, Chrift is called upon to feed them; who undertakes it, and prepares for it, ¥. 4, 7. but being abhorred by the fhepherds, whom he therefore loathed and cut off, he determines to leave the people to utter ruin and deftruction, ¥. 8,

. and as a token of it; breaks the two ftaves afunder he had took to feed them with, ¥. 10, ri, 14. and as an inftance of their ingratitude to him, and which is a juftification of his conduct towards them, notice is taken cf his being valued at and fold for thirty pieces of filver, ¥. 12, 13. but in the room of thefe fhepherds cut off, it is fuggefted, that another fhould arife, who is defcribed by his folly, negligence, and cruelty, ¥. 15, 16. to whom a wo is denounced, y. 17.

y. 1. Open thy doors, O Lebanon, &c.] By which may be meant, either the temple of Yeru/alem, which was built of the cedars of Lebanon; ‘< the ** gates of which are faid * to open of \themfelves “* forty years before the deftruction of Jeru/alem, “ when fochanan ben Zaccai, who lived at the ** fame time, rebuked them, faying, O temple, “* temple, wherefore doft thou fright thyfelf? I << know thine end is to be. deftroyed; for fo pro- “* phefied Zechariah, the fon of Iddo, concerning “© thee, open thy doors, O Lebanon.” So Lebanon, in ch. x. 10. is interpreted of the fanctuary, both by the Targum and by Farchi; or elfe it may be underftood of Jerufalem, and of the whole land of Fudea, becaufe it was fituated by it; it was the border of it on the north fide. Zhat the fire may devour thy cedars; of which the temple was built, and the houfes of Ferufalem, which were confumed by fire; unlefs the fortreffes of the land are meant. So the Targum paraphrafes it, ‘“* and the fire fhall “* confume your fortrefies.”

¥. 2. Howl, fir-tree, for thy cedar is fallen, &c.] By which are defigned the princes, nobles, and magiftrates of the land: fo the Lergum interprets them of kings and princes; fee Nad. ii. 3. Ezek. xxxi. 3: decaufe all the mighty are fpoiled; which. is an explanation of the figurative expreffions in the former claufe, and in the following; and defigns rich men, as the Targum paraphrafes it, who at this time would be fpoiled of their wealth and fubftance. Howl, O ye oaks of Bafoan; which the Targum interprets of governors of provinces; and men of power and authority are doubtlefs intended; fee If. il. 13. Amos ii. g: for the foref of she vintage is come down; or rather, the fortified foreft; meaning the city of Yeru/alem, which was a fortified place, and like a foreft full of trees, for number