ITSALAH Chita
gofpel-difpenfation: that the Lord Jhall fet bis hand again the fecond time, which refers to a firft, im which the Lord exerted his power in the recovery of his people out of the hands of their enemies; and that was the deliverance of them out of “4 and which was typical of the deliverance of the: Lord’s: people in the times of Chrift; and it is, ufual. with the ews ',. to call Mo/es the firft re~ ‘deemer, and the Meffiah the latter; wherefore this: ‘fecond time refers to the times of the Meffiah, and not to: the time of the deliverance from the Ba, lonifo captivity; for that, as Aben Ezra, Farchi _and. Kimchi obferve, was not a perfect. redemption; Lonly Fudab and Benjamin returned, not the ten ‘tribes, and fo did not anfwer to the firft time, wher all J/rael came out of Egypt; and much lefs can it ‘be underftood. of the return of thofe, in the times: of Hezekiah, carried captive by Tilgath Pilnefer and Salmanefer: or the firft. and fecond. time may be diftinguifhed thus; the firft time. may intend thecalling of a large number, both of Fews and Gen~ ‘tiles, thro’ the preaching of the gofpel by the apo~ ftles; and the fecond time, the bringing in the -fulnefs of the Gertiles, and the converfion of the Jews, in the latter day;, or the firft time may re- | fpect the calling of the Gentiles, and the fecond the gathering in of the Yews: or both may intend Jatertimes; the firft time, the reformation from popery; the fecond time, deliverance from Babylon, or the antichriftian yoke, under which all nations will again be brought, before the deftruétion of the man of fin: to recover the remnant of bis people; or to obtain, or to poffe/s*;. for this is not to be underftood of the recovery or redemption of them. by the price of Chrift’s blood, but of the calling and converfion of them, when the Lord claims them, poffefies and enjoys them as his own; and as they are but a remnant whom God has Chofen. for his people, and Chrift has redeemed by his. blood, fo they are no other that are called; tho? here they may be called a remnant, or what remains, with refpect to thofe who have been called. already: which fhall be left, from Aria, and from Egypt.; Egypt and other places following, being joined with Afyria, fhew that this cannot be -un+ derftood of the deliverance from the Baby/ont/ captivity; but defigns the feveral places where Chrift: would have a people in gofpel-times, and who would be found out, and called by grace; fome of which already have been, as in Babylon and Egypt, 1 Pet. v.13. Adsii. 10. and others will be hereafter, according to the prophecies, P/- Ixviii. 31. and. Ixxxvii. 4. J/ xix. 18—25. and as Afjria and Egypt are now in the hands of the Turks, it may defign. the call and converfion. of many in thofe parts, when the Turki/h empire fhall be deftroyed; or elfe the deliverance of God’s people from the tyranny of the Romifb antichrift, called Egypt and Babylon, at the time of his ruin: from Pathros; by which. fome underftand Parthia, as Manaffeh ben Irael’, and Calvin thinks it probable; many of this country were converted in the firft times of the gofpel; the apoftle Fobn’s firft epiftle is called by the antients. the epiftle to the Parthians, fee Afsii, 9. and very likely there will be more of them in the latter day:
for the gathering of foldiers together;: it is afign of preparation for war, and an encouragement to it 5. and is fometimes done when victory is obtained, fee If, v.26.. Fer. iv..tg, 20. and 1.2. and isa direCtion where foldiers fhould ftand, when they fhould. march, and who they fhould follow, as well. as: it ferves to diftinguifh one company from another; and of allthis ufe is the preaching of Chrift- and his gofpel: ta st fhall the Gentiles feek, that is;, to Chrift, fignified by the root of Jefe, and: fet up for an enfign of the people; being fought out by him in redemption and vocation, and being fenfible of their. need of him, and that there is fomething valuable in him, having had a manifeftation of him to them:; and therefore feek to him, not out of curiofity, nor with worldly views, nor in the laft, but in the firft place and chiefly; not hypocritically, but fincerely, and with their whole hearts; not carelefsly, but diligently and conftantly;. not partially, but for every thing they want; principally for the kingdom. of God, and his righteoufnefs, for eternal glory and happinefs, and. for ajuttifying righteoufnefs, as the title to it: or to him, thall. they detake themfelves', fee Deut. xii. 5. as to an enfign, ftandard-bearer, captain-general, leader and commander of the people; or as to a {trong hold, for protection from enemies; or as to a city of refuge, to fecure from avenging juftice and wrath to come; and under a fenfe of danger and ruin, to-one that is able to fave; and for help to one that is mighty: or him: /ball they con or feek to him for advice and counfel, fee J fult ®,. viii.
ng. who is a moft proper perfon to be confulted on all occafions, he being the wonderful counfellor, Ff, ix. 6;. This is 2.prophecy of the calling ‘of the Gentiles,.and which had: its accomplifhment, in part, in the firft times of the gofpel, and will be completely fulfilled in the laft. days: and bis reft foall be: glorious; either that which Chrift gives to thofe that feek unto him, and which is both a fpiritual reft here, from the burden and guilt of fin, and the tyrannical power of it; from the bondage, curfe, and condemnation of the law; from a fenfe of divine wrath;: and a reft in afflictions, tho’ not from them; and an eternal reft hereafter, a reff in glory », as the words may be rendered here; it will be a glorious one,. the bodies of the faints at death reft in the grave,. and their fouls in the arms of Jefus; and after the refurreétion, body and foul will reft together from fin and fatan, from unbelief, doubts, and fears, and from all enemies; or ele this reft is what Chrift himfelf enjoys... Some underftand it of his death,. which,: tho’ ignominious in itfelf, yet glorious in its confequences.;\a glorious difplay of the condefcenfion and love of Chrift was made in it; and glorious things have been effected by it: others, of his grave, which was an honourable man’s; his grave was made with: the rich; tho’ perhaps better, of his reft in: glory; when he had done his work, and fat down at the right-hand of God,. he was crowned with glory and honour; or rather it may defign his church, which is his reft, Pf cxxxii... *3, 14. which is glorious, with his righteoufhefs, grace and prefence, and being put in order by him, as an army with banners; and efpecially it will be, when all the glorious things. fpoken of it fhall be fulfilled..
¥.11. And it fall come to pafs in that day, &e:] Before fpoken of, and which includes the whole to be a part of Egypr laft mentioned, as appears. from Ezek. xxix. 14. and ‘is mentioned with fome cities in Egypt, Fer. xliv. 1, 15. and had its name ie (3 gu non fignificat guarere, fed tendere, aut fe conferre, Bootius, Animadv. aS Cy Sar’
others think Arabia Petrea is intended; it feems: _ very likely from Pathrufim, a fon of Mizraim; Gen. x. 14. Thebais is here meant, the extreme part of Egypt, next to Ethiopia, which is defigned by what follows, according to Sir Fobn Marfham™, and Bochart *, and Vitringa after them: and from Cufe; or Ethiopia; from whence fome have been called, fee 4@s-vili. 27. and others will, according to prophecy, P/- lxviil. 31. and Ixxxvii, 4. and in part of this country now live the Aby/fines, who profefs chriftianity: or rather Arabia, fee Gal..i. 17. The Targum renders it, ‘“‘ from India:? and from Elam a province in Perfia, Dan. viii. 2. the inhabitants of this place are called Elamites, Aés ii. g. fome of thefe heard the apoftles fpeak the wonderful things of God in their own language, and were converted: and from Shinar; in Chaldea, in the plain of which the tower of Babel was built, Gen. x. ro. and xi. 2. wherefore the Zargum renders it, “from Babylon:” and from Hamath, meaning either Antiochia, as fome, or Cilicia, as others. Cocceius fays it is a'country which lies. towards the Mediterranean fea, over againft Cyprus, above mount Libanus, whereabout now is Tripoli: and from the jflands of the fea, or of the weft; the European iflands, particularly England, Ireland, and Scotland, and others. Aben Ezra refers this prophecy to the times of the Meffiah, and fo does Manaffeh ben Tr ail.! ’
v.12. And he fhail fet up an enfign for the nations, &c.|_ For the gathering of them, for the calling of the Gentiles, that is, the Lord would do it; he who before is faid to fet his hand a fecond time to recover his people, whether among Fews or Gentiles; this he has done in the miniftration of the gofpel, in which Chrift is lift up, and held forth, as the only faviour of loft finners, the fole author and glorious captain of falvation, for them to flee to, and lay hold on; and this he ftill does, and will continue to do, until all his people are gathered in from the feveral parts of the world: - and foail affemble the outcafts of Hrael fo thofe of his people among the ten tribes, that were fcattered about in various countries, when the gofpel was preached throughout the world by the apoitles, were called by it, and gathered into gofpel-churches among the Gentiles, of whom the firft churches of Chrift confifted; and fo it will be in the latter day, when all Zrael hall be faved: and gather together the difperfed of Fudab, the Fews, f{cattered about _ like loft fheep, among the feveral nations of the world; fome of which were looked up, and found out, and brought into the fheep-fold, in the firft times of chriftianity; and others will be in the latter day: even from the four corners of the earth, which fhows that this cannot intend the return of the Fews from the Babylonifh captivity, which was only from one corner of the earth. The Zargum is, ‘* from the four winds of the earth;” a phrafe the fame with that in Rev. vii. 1.
y. 13. The envy alfo of Ephraim fhall depart, &c.] With which it envied Judah, on account of the kingdom of the houfe of David, and the temple being in that tribe; not that this is the thing intended, only alluded to; the meaning is, that whatever envy or jealoufy fubfifted in the Gentile againit the Yew, or in the Few agnntt the Gentile, fhould be no more, when gathered into one gofpel-churchftate; or whatever of this kind has appeared in one ehriftian church, or denomination among chriftians, again{t another, {hall ceafe, when the gofpel in its power and purity fhall more generally take place; and the earth fhall be filled with it: and the adverfartes of Fudah, or of God’s profeffing people, Joall be cut off; and be no more, as the Turks and Papifis: Ephraim foall not envy Judah, and Fudab Joall not vex Ephraim, this is repeated for the confirmation of it; and the fenfe is, that all animofities, contentions, and difcords fhall ceafe among the people of God, and there fhall be entire peace and harmony among them. archi interprets this of the two Meffiahs, Mefiah ben Fofeph, and Mefiab ben Fudah, the Fews dream of. |
¥.14. But they foall flee upon ihe fhoulders of the Philiftines towards the weft, &c.| That is, Ephraim and Fudah, who fhall not only agree among themfelves, but chearfully join together againft the common enemy; they fhall flee with the fhoulder, as fome render the words; with joint confent, as the phrafe is ufed in Hof. vi. 9. Zeph. iii. 9. and fo the Targum, ‘* and they fhall be joined together in one ‘* fhoulder, to {mite the Pbiliftimes,” the Septuagint verfion is, they fhall flee in the fhips of firangers; and fo Abarbinel interprets it, of the fhips of the Philiftines, Genoefe, and Venetians, that fhall bring the I/raelites from the weft to the eaft, and carry them in fhips by fea.. The Phiijtines were the {worn enemies of the J/raelites, and lay to the weft of the land of Jrael, and when the gofpel was fent into all the world, it began to be preached in the parts of Palefline, whereby many were converted, and embraced it, as foretold they fhould, Pf. Ixxxvii. 4. and flying upon their fhoulders, as it denotes the conqueft of them, and their fubjection to the gofpel, fo the fwiftnefs of the apoftles in carrying it to them, when they had a commiffion to do it, who were all of them ews, of one tribe or another; and thefe may alfo defign the enemies of the people of God now, the antichriftian ftates, fome of which will fall off from popery, receive the gofpel, hate the whore, eat her flefh, and burn her with fire; which will be brought about by the. preaching of the gofpel by its minifters, who will fly in the midft of heaven, and upon the fhoulders of the Romi/b antichrift, and proclaim the fall of Babylon, and call upon the Lord’s people to come out of it, Rev. xiv. 6, 7, 8. and xvii. 16. and xviii. 4: they hall {poil them of the eaft together; the Syrians and Arabians, who lay eaft of Fudea; perhaps the Turks are meant, and the deftruction of the Oztoman empire, whereby way will be made for the kings and kingdoms of the eaft to know, receive, and profefs the gofpel of Chrift, Rev. xvi. 12: they fhall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; or there fhall be a fending out of their hand, that is, they fhall ftretch out their hand, and lay hold on thefe people, and bring them into fubjection to them; which is to be underftood of thé fending out of the gofpel by the hands of the minifters of it, into thofe countries, where the Moadites and Edomites formerly dwelt; and thereby -bringing them into fubjeétion to Chrift and his churches: and the children of Ammon foall obey them; that have the rule in the houfe of God, fubmitting to the laws and ordinances of Chritft.
y.15. And the Lord hall utterly deftroy the tongue of the Egyptian fea, 8c. | Which Kimchi and Abarbinel interpret of the Egyptian river Sichor, or the Nile; others of a bay of the Egyptian fea, fo called becaufe in the form of a tongue; the deftroying of it defigns the drying of it up, fo that people.
might pafs over it diy-fhod; the allufion is, to the drying up of the red-fea, when the J/raelites came out of Egypt, and pafled thro’ it, as on'dry land; and it intends the deftruction of Egypr itfelf, not literally, by the Romans, in the times: of Auguftus Cefar, as Ferom: thinks, who: interprets: the firong wind in the following claufe of them; but figuratively, the deftruction of Rome, which is piritually called' Egypt, Kev. xi. 8. and the utter deftruction of it, by an anathema, and with a curfe,. from the Lord himfelf; as the word DS SAA here ufed fignifies; and which will take place upon the battle at Armageddon, Rev. xvi. 16, 19. which has its name from the word insthe text: and with his mighty wind foall he fhake bis. hand over the viver; in allufion. to Mo/es’s ftretching out his hand over the red-fea;. and the Lord’s caufing it to go back with a ftrong eaft-wind, Exod. xiv.21. Some underftand this of the river Nile as before, and that becaufe of what follows; but Zarchi.and Kimchi interpret it of the river Euphrates, which is com-.
monly underftood in fcripture, when the river, without any explication, is made mention of; and fo the Targum,. ‘* and the Lord fhall dry up the “¢ tongue of the Egyptian fea, and shall lift up the “* ftroke of his ftrength upon Euphrates, by the ** word of his prophets.;” and this defigns the deftruction of the Turks, or the Ottoman empire, which is fignified by the drying up of the river Euphrates, Rev. xvi. 12. where: ’tis thought by fome there is an allufion to the words. here: and feall {mite it in the feven ftreams.; which have made fome think, the river Ni/e is meant, becaufe that had its feven ftreams, or gates, as Fuvenal calls ° them, or mouths,. by which the fea iffued into it:
which are called? the Canopic or Heracleotic,. the Bolbitine or Bolbitic, the Sebennitic, the Phatnitic, the Mendefian, the Tanitic or Saitic, and the Pelufian or Bubaftic, from the cities Canopus and Heracleum, Bolbitine, Sebennytus, Phatnus, Mendes, Tanis or Sais, Pelufium and Bubaftus, built on the fhore of thefe entrances; but it may be obferved, that