Exposition of the Whole Bible

AHS chapter contains a ptophecy of calamities. that fhould come upon the whole world, and the inhabitants of it, for their fins; of the prefervation of a remnant; of the vifitation of the kings of the earth; and of the appearance of Chrift in his glory and majefty. The miferable condition of the world, and its inhabitants, efpecially all within the Romi/b jurifdiction,: is fet forth by: various phrafes, W. 1,2, 3, 4 the caufes of which are the tranfgreffion and: mutation of the laws and ordinances of Chrift, y. 5. the’ effects of which are the curfing and burning of the inhabitants, vs 6. ceflation of all joy among them, y. 7, 85.9. and the deftruétion of their chief city Rome, Yi. 10, 115 12. then follows a prophecy of a remnant that shall efcape, and:.be brought into a very comfortable condition,.and. fing for joy, and glorify God in the midft of the’earth, and in the uttermoft parts of it, ys.13,.14,.15, 16: but it is intimated it fhall go ill with, others for their perfidy andtreachery; fear and danger fhall attend them-every where, y..16, 17, 18. yea, in the iffue, the world. hall. befhaken, and moved, and re- »moved, and be utterly diffolved, fall and not rife

more, Yi1g, 30. when the kings dnd groot ones of the earth fhall be taken prifoners, ait punifhed by the Lord, ¥. 21, 22. and then Chrift fhall take to himfelf his great power, and reign with his people glorioufly in the new Feri/alem-ftate, ¥. 23.

¥.1. Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, &c.] Some, by the ezrth, only underftand the land of Lfrael or Judea, and interpret the prophecy of the ‘captivity of the’ ten tribes by Sa/manefer, as Kimchi, and other fewi/h writers; and others, of the deftruction of the Fews by Nebuchadnezzar, but fome take in along with them the neighbouring nations who fuffered’ by the’ fame princes at the fame time. Vitringa interprets the whole of the times of the Maccabees, as alfo the three following chapters; tho’ it is beft ‘to- uriderftand it’ of the Papal world, and all the antichriftian ftates’; arid there are fome things in it, at the clofe of it, which refpect the: deftruétion of the whole world. The Septuagint verfion ufes the word by which Luke intends the whole Roman empire, Luke iiq't. and the Arabic verfion here renders it, the whole world; the emptying of it, is the removal of the inhabitants of; it jt by wars and flaughters, which will be made when the feven vials ot God’s wrath will be poured upon all the-antichriftian ftates; fee Rev. ch. xvi. and this being a moft remarkable and wonderful event, is pretaced with the word, bebold: and maketh it wafte; or defolate; the inhabitants and fruits of it being deftroyed. R. Fo/eph Kimchi, from the ufe of the word in the Arabic language, renders it, and opened it®; and explains it of the opening of the gates of a city to the enemy, fo as that men may goout of it; to which the argum inclines, paraphrafing it, ‘¢ and fhall deliver it to the ene- “* my:” and turneth it upfide down 5 or, perverteth the face of it°®; fo that it has not the form it had, and does not look like what it was, but is reduced to its original chaos, to be without form and void; cities being demolifhed, towns ruined, fields laid wafte, and the inhabitants flain; particularly what a change of the face of things will there be in the deftruction of the city of Rome? fee Rev. xviii. 7, 8, 14, 15,16, 17. The Zargum is, ‘* and fhall ‘*< cover with confufion the face of its princes, be- “* caufe they have tranfgrefled the law:”. and fcattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof; who will be obliged to fly from place to place from the {word of their victorious enemies. All is fpoken in the prefent tenfe, tho’ future, becaufe of the certainty

¥. 2. And it foall be, as with the people, fo with the prieft, 8c.) Or, prince’; no order or rank of men will fare better than’another; their dignity, in things. civil or ecclefiaftical, will not fecure them from ruin it willbe no better with princes and priefts, than. the common. people; they, fhall all alike fhare in the common deftruction. Not Yeroboan’s -priefts, but rather the Romifh priefts are here meant, who have led the people into fuper- {tition and idolatry; blind leaders of the - blind, and fo both fall. into the ditch together: as with the fervant, fo with his mafter; as with the maid, fo with her miftre/s;-there thall be no ‘diftinction of fuperiors and interiors; as not of prince and fubjects, fo not of mafter and fervant, miftrefs and maid; no refpect will be had to perfons, but the one fhall be treated even as the other:.as with the buyer, fo with the feller, the one that bought an eftate, and thought to enjoy it, will be no better off than he that fold it, and perhaps fpent the money; the one will be poffefied of no more than the other, feeing what the one had bought, and the other fold, will now be in the poffeffion of a third: as with the lender, fo with the borrower; their condition will be equal; he that was fo poor that he was obliged to borrow to carry on his. bufinefs, or for the neceflaries of life, and fo he that was fo rich that he was capable of lending, now the one will be no richer than the other, but both on a level; the fubftance of the lender being taken from him: as with the taker of ufury, fo with the giver of ufury to him; this was forbidden the Jews by a law, Deut. xxiii. 1 g, 20. wherefore not the Jand of ‘fudea is here meant, but the antichriftian {tates, among whom this prattice has greatly prevailed.

¥. 3. The land fall be utterly emptied, and-utterly Spoiled, &c.} Entirely emptied of its inhabitants, and wholly {poiled of its riches and fubftance;.this is repeated, and with greater, ftrength, to confirm what is before faid, and which receives a. greater confirmation by what follows: for the Lord bath Spoken this word, who is able to perform it, and who is faithful to his threatenings, as to his promifes; not a word of his fhall ever fail, the judgments threatened to the antichriftian world are his true and faithful fayings; and the ruin of Rome is certain, becaufe ftrong is the Lord that judgeth her, Rev. xviii. 8. x ¥. 4. The earth mourneth, and fadeth away, &e.]

It mourns, becaufe of its inhabitants being de- {troyed; and it fades away, becaufe {tripped of its. wealth and riches; fo the kings of the earth, and merchants of it, are reprefented as weeping and mourning at the deftruction of Rome, becaufe of its judgments, and the lofs of its trade and riches, Rev. xviii. g—17: the world languifheth, and fadeth away; the inhabitants of it are like a fick man, that is fo faint and feeble that he cannot ftand, but totters and falls; and like the leaves of trees and flowers of the fields, whofe ftrength and beauty are gone, and fade and fall: the haughty people of the earth do languifh, the kings and merchants of the earth before mentioned, who grow fick and faint thro’ fear of what is coming upon them,

¥.5. The earth alfo ts defiled under the inbabitants of it, &c.) Or, and the earth; or, for the earth, is defiled*; and fo it is a reafon why it is emptied and fpoiled, becaufe polluted and corrupted with the fornication of the whore of Rome, with her idolatries and {uperftitions, with which the inhabitants of the earth are defiled; or with her rapin and violence, cruelties, bloodfhed and murders; for blood defiles a land, Numb. xxxv. 33. all which are committed by the inhabitants of the earth, fubject to the fee of Rome, by reafon of which it may be faid to be corrupted or defiled; fo the phrafe may be interpreted for, or, Lecaufe of the inhabitants of it, thus Yarchi and Kimchi, becaufe of their wickednefs and impieties; fee Rev. xi. 18. and xviii. 24. and xix. 2. or, the earth is deceitful’, or plays the hypocrite; fing and fhewing as if it would bring forth fruit, and brings forth none, but is barren and unfruitful, becaufe of the fins of the inhabitants of it; fee Rev. xviii. 14: because they have tranfereffed the laws; of God, and man, as antichrift and his followers have done; who ts that wicked, evyG», that lawlefs one, that fets up himfelf above all laws, and takes upon him to difpenfe with the laws of God and man, 2 Theff. ii. 4, 8. and in innumerable inftances has tranfgreffed both, caiting all contempt upon them, and biddi all defiance to them, as being not at all bound and obliged by them, changed the ordinance, or ordinances; the, fingular tor the plural, a colleétive word; the-ordinances of divine revelation, of the gofpel-difpenfation, thofe of baptifm, and the Lord’s {upper; the former of thefe is changed, both as to fubjects and mode, from adult-baptifm to infantbaptifm, from immerfion to afperfion; and the latter, in it the bread: and wine are pretended to be changed into the very body and blood of Chrift, and is only given in one kind to the laity, and made'a real facrifice of, when its end and ufe only to commemorate the one facrifice alicadyeee: fered up; moreover, by the ordinance may ~ the {criptures, which are the pm, the rule of judg ment; which antichrift has moft miferably perverted, and has changed and altered the of them; taking upon him to be the i inter-

‘preter of them, and judge of all controverfies, forbidding the reading of them to the people, and fetting up his own decrees, definitions, and determinations above them; and is that throne of iniquity, that frameth mifchief by a law, or ordinance, of his own making, and which he puts in the room of the divine law or ordinance, P/. xciv. 20. where the fame word is ufed as here; and he is that little horn, that thought to change times and laws, Daz. vii. 25: broken the everlajting covenant; not the eternal law of nature, nor the everlafting covenant

-of circumcifion, or that made with J/rael on mount Sinai; but the new covenant, or the adminiftration of the covenant of grace under the gofpel-difpenfation, which is to laft to the end of time, and lies in the miniftration of the word, and admini-

-ftration of ordinances which antichrift has done all that in his power lies to break, make null and void, by corrupting the word, and changing the ordinances, and fetting up his own_ inftitutions wabove them, and againit them.

¥. 6. Therefore bath the curfe devoured the earth,

&c.} The inhabitants of it, and the fruits upon it, alluding to the earth being curfed for the fin of man, when it brought forth briers and thorns; this may denote the feven vials of God’s wrath poured upon the earth, or the antichriftian ftates. Some, by the curfe, underftand perjury or falfe fwearing; fo the Targum, “* therefore, becaufe of * perjury (or a falfe oath) the earth is become a * defert;” of which popes, and popith princes, cardinals, priefts, jefuits, &%c. have been notorioufly guilty: ad they that dwell therein are defolate, tor want of houfes, cities and towns being deftroyed by war; or thro’ famine, for want of provifions, the earth being curfed for their fins:

‘-or the words may be renderéd, for they that dwell therein are guilty *; of idolatry, bloodfhed, per-

Rev. ix. 20, 20 ore the inbabitants of the eorth are burned; their cities burnt with fire, and particularly the city of Rome or their perfons, their bodies burnt with burning fevers, and peftilential difeafes; and their minds with envy, fury, and madnefs: this may be the faime with the fourth vial poured upon the fun, when men will be feorched with fire and great heat, and blafpheme,

Rev. xvi. 8, 9. The Vulgate Latin verfion here renders it, hall be mad; thro’ the wrath of God poured out upon them: and few men left, but

‘what fhall be confumed by fire or fword, by fa- | mine or peftilence, or by one or other of the vials; and thofe that remain fhall be affrighted, and give glory to the God of heaven, Rev. xi. 13.

¥. 7. The new wine mourneth, &c.] For want of

_men to drink it, or becaufe fpilt by the enemy; or the inhabitants of the land mourn for want of it, not having their vintages as ufual: the vine languiheth, or is fickly, and fo barren and unfroicful, does not bring forth its clufters of grapes -as it ufed to do; there being none to prune it, and take care of it, ahd being trodden down by hoftile forces. The Targum is, ‘ all that drink _*¢ wine fhall mourn, becaufe the vines are broken ** down.” So the Romifh harlot, and thofe that have drank of the wine of her fornication, and have lived delicioufly, fhall have in one hour, death, and mourning, and famine, Rev. xviii. 7, 8: all the merry hearted do figh; fach whofe hearts ‘wine has formerly made glad, fhall now figh for want of it; and fuch who have lived delicioufly with the whore of Rome, and have had many a Vor. I. No 4:

-vial is ‘kingdom will be full of darknefs; and men will

EE whieh 125 merty bout. with heiy fhall now bewail her, and ‘Jament for her, when fhe fhall be utterly burnt with

¥. 8. The mirth of tabrets ceafeth, &e.] Or of drums, and fach like mufical inftruments, ufed at Junketings and jovial feafts. So when Babylon is fallen, the voice of harpers and muficians, and of pipers and trumpeters, fhall be heard no more therein, Rev. xviil. 22: the noife of them that re-

Joice endeth; the tumultuous noife of revelling perfons at feafts and banquets, at marriages, and fuch like feafons and fo it is faid, that when Babylon is deftroyed, the voice of thé bridegroom and the bride fhall be heard no more at all therein, or the joy expreffed on fuch ‘occafions by their friends and companions, Rev. xviii: 23: the joy of the harp ceafeth 5 an inftrument of mufick ufed on joyful occafions; the voice of harpers is particulariy mentioned in Rev. xviii. 22.

¥. 9. They fhall not drink wine with a fong, &e.] They that have wine to drink, fhall not drink it with that. pleafure they have heretofore done; nor fhall their drinking be attended with merry fongs, fuch as are fung by drunkards, who, whilft they are quaffing, are chanting to the found of? the viol, or other mufical inftruments; fee Amos vi; 55 6: ftrong drink joall be bitier to them that drink it; they fhall have no guft for it, or relifh of it, as they formerly had; either thro’ bodily difeafes upon themfelves, or becaufe of the calamities upon the nations and ftates in which they dwell: this will be the cafe of her that fays, J fit a@ queen, and

¥. 10. The city of confufion ts broken down, 8c.) Or of vanity, as the Vulgate Latin verfion; or of emptinefs or defolation; the word is Tohu, ufed in Gen. i. 2. this is to be underftood not of Bethel, where one of Feroboam’s calves was, called Bethhaven, or the. houfe of vanity; nor Samaria, the chief city of the ten tribes; nor Ferufalem, but myftical Babylon, whofe name fignifies confu/ion, even. the city of Rome, in which there is nothing but diforder and irregularity, mo truth, juftice, or religion; a city of vanity, full of fuperftition and idolatry, and. devoted to ruin and deiolation; and will be broke to pieces by the judements of God, which will come upon it in. one hour, Rev. xviii. 8: every houfe is fout up, that no man may come in; or, frem coming in; not for fear of the enemy, and to keep him out; but becaufe there are no inhabitants in them, being all deftroyed by one means or another, by fire or fword, or famine, or pettilence, fo that there is none to go in or out.

y. 11. There is @ crying for wine in the ftreets, &c.}] Not to them that have it, to come and fel] it, as Kimchi; but for want of it: there fhall be a howling and lamentation in the ftreets of Rome, during the fiege of it, when there will be a famine of bread and of wine, as in Rev. xviii. 8. by thofe who ufed to drink wine, and make glad their hearts; but now fhall be without it. ‘his is put for all defirable things, whith their fouls lufted after; but now will be departed from them, Rev. xviii. 14: all joy is darkened of come to an even-

-tide; the light of joy is turned into the darknefs of mifery and diftrefs; this will be, when’ the fifth poured out on the-feat of the beaft, and his gnaw their tongues for pain, and yet not repent of their fins, but blafpheme the God of heaven,

Rev. xvi. 10, 11: the mirth of the land is gone not Ferufalem, the Joy of the whole earth, as Jar- K

chiy-but the mirth and joy of the city of Rome;

“¥:12. In the city is left defolation, 8c.] And nothing elfe, palaces, houtes, and temples burnt, and inhabitants deftroyed; none but devils, foul fpirits, and hateful and unclean birds, inhabiting itj Rev. xviii..2, 8: and the gate is Jinitten with deftruffion 5 or gates, the fingular for the plural; none’paffing, and repaffing through them, as tormerly, and themfelves utterly deftroyed. This, according to Kimcht, fhall be in the days of the Meffiah, in the times of Gog and Magog.

‘¥.13. When thus it hall be in the midft of the land among the people, &c.| When the above judgments fhall be executed, the city of Rome thall be deftroyed, and the vials of God’s wrath are poured out on all the antichriftian ftates, on all the followers of the beaft, throughout the whole Romi/h jurifdiction: there fhall be as the jhaking of an ohive-tree, and as the gleaning of grapes, when the vintage is done; as when an olive-tree is fhaken, or beaten with a ftaff, which was the ufual way of gathering olives, and which the word ‘ here fignifies, there are fome few left upon the uppermoft of outermoft branches, which cannot be reached; andas after the vintage is got in, there are fome grapes to be gleaned and gathered from the vines; fee ch. xvii. 6. fo it is here infinuated, that there fhould be fome, tho’ but few, a remnant, according to the election of grace, that fhould efcape the above calamities, and be preferved as a feed for the church of God; and fo it will be, that jutt before the deftruction of myftical Babylon, the Lord’s people will be called out of her, that they partake not of her fins, and of her plagues, Rev. xviii. 4.. The Targum is, ** for now hall be left “© alone the righteous in the midft of the earth, “* among the kingdoms, as the fhaking of olives, “‘-as the gleaning of grapes after the vintage;” and to olives and grapes are thefe gracious perfons fitly compared, for the goodnefs, lovelinefs, and fruitfulneis of them, thro’ the grace of God.

y. 14. They fhall lift up their voice, they fhall fing, ®&c.| That is, as the Septuagint verfion adds,

“© they that are left upon the earth;” thefe fhall lift up their voice, in finging the praifes of God, for his judgments on Badylon, and avenging the blood of his faints; and for their deliverance and falvation, and the ineftimable bleflings they are now put into the poffeflion. of; thefe are they, who having gotten the victory over the beaft and his image, fing the fong of Mofes and the Lamb,’ Rev. xv. 2, 3. and xix. 1, 2: for the majefty of the Lord, they fhall cry aloud from the fea, fo the Hebrew accents diftinguifh thefe claufes,; and the fenfe is, that from the weft, as Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret it, from the weftern nations, where proteftantifm chiefly prevails; or from the Mediterranean fea, which lay weft of ‘fudea,; from the maritime countries, the countries bordering upon it, where at this time will appear many that will embrace the gofpel of Chrift; or from the ifles of the fea, as the phrafe is explained in the next verfe, fuch as our ifles of Great-Britain and Ireland; great a¢clamations will be made unto the Lord, on account of his glorious majefty, feen in the deftruction of antichrift, and in fetting up his own kingdom and glory: thefe are the four and twenty elders, who will fall down, and give thanks to.

fimiles olivis deftri olex,

Joall come to thy light, and kings to the brighine s of

Chrift, for taking: to himfelf his great power, and? reigning; and thefe triaumphant-and victorious per-4 fons are reprefented as ftanding on a fea, whilft they make their fhouts and_hallelujahs; fee Rev. xi. 16, 17, 18, and xv. 2. this, with what follows in the two next verfes, belong to the Philadelphian church-ftate, or fpiritual reign of Chrift, and ex=° prefs the light and joy that will attend that, © * ¥. 15. Wherefore glorify ye the Lord, in the fires, &c.] Thefe are the words of the remnant, now triumphing and finging, calling upon others alfo'to glorify the Lord in the fires of affliction and: tri=> bulation, in which they had lately been, and had! themfelves done: or, ia the vallies“; in low'eftates” and conditions: »or, i# holes™; dens and clefts of’ rocks, where they fled from their perfecuting ene=* mies; but neither of thefe verfions fuit’ the ftare® of the true church, as it will be at this» time.” The word Urim, here ufed, which is one of the’ names of what was put into the breaft-plate of the® high-prieft, fignifies /ights; which fenfe of the* word, the Vulgate Latin verfion retains, rendering it, i doctrines glorify the Lord; and fo the Targum, ‘¢ therefore, when light cometh to: the rightéous;™ ‘¢ they fhall glorify the Lord;” and fo the words» may be rendered, glorify the Lord for the Uvitn, “or the lights; for Chrift, who has the true Urimand> Thummim, lights and perfections; for the light of his gofpel, and the truths of it, which: will now" be fpread in a moft wonderful manner throughout" the world; to which times may be applied thofe” words, arife, fhine, for thy light is come; and the glory of the Lord is rifen upon thee—and the Gentiles ® thy rifing, If. Ix. 1, 3. and which will be a juft and: fufficient reafon for giving glory to the Lord»:: even the name of the Lord God of Ifrael, in the ifles: of the fea; whofe name wilh, now: be known, not} in Ifrael, or among the P< “Olly, but in allydi=s ftant and foreign countitiey,” Whath are fometimes” meant’ by the ifles of the fea; and in all iflands,> even the moft remote, who will have reafon to: join with them on the continent) to Blogs) cod whofe name will now be great in all the earth, 11) y. 16. From the uttermoft part of the earth have’ we heard fongs, &c.] Of praife and Fitter on account of the judgements of God on antichrilt;” for the glorious appearance of Chrift’s kingdoms for the {pread of his gofpel throughout the worlds for the converfion of the ews, and the bringing’ in of the fulnefs of the Gentiles every where 3 wherefore thefe fongs are heard from all partsvof the world, and the uttermoft parts.of them 5) thefe’ are the voices faid to be heard in heaven, or in the church, every where, Rev. xi. 15. and xix) r—7)) fo fome Fewi/h writers * interpret the words of the days of the Meffiah, and of the fongs then to_be fung: even glory to the righteous, to the ri s one; meaning either the righteous God, who is effentially ‘righteous in himielf, and’ declaratively in his works of providence and grace; andin the judgments he executes on his enemies; on account of which particularly, glory is here afcribed unto’ him, even for his judgments on the great whore, they being juft and true, Rev. xvi. 6, 7, and xix. 2.) or to Chrift the righteous one, who is fo as God, and as Mediator, and is the author of ri nefs to his people; who afcribe the glory of falvation, and of righteoufnefs to him, who

crowned with, glory.and/ honour, now;.andewill be and, betraying them into the hands.of wicked glorified on earth at this time; for then he, and he alone, will be exalted; and. will-reign. before his ancicnts glorioufly.: \or to righteous men, fuch who are made righteous,, by the righteoufnefs, of Chrift imputed to them: it is a glory to have on the righteoufnefs of Chrift; and fuch as have: it, are all glorious» wathin, »and, will be remarkably glorious in the Jatter day, a crown of glory in the hands of the Lord); and efpecially in the new Jerufatem, church-ftate, when they will have the glory ot God upon them, as well as in the ultimate itate. Ben Melech obferves, that 3%, fignifies defire-and good-will; and fo may fuggeft, that the righteous:at this time will have all that their hearts can wifh for and defire, as well as vifibly to,appear to be the objects of God’s delight and pleature.. Some think that the word Tzedi, tranflatediglory, fignifies-the land of Judea, called the glory of all lands, Ezek.xx..6. which will at this time be reftored to. the Fews, who will now be converted, and be all righteous: dut I faid, my leanue/s, my leannefs, wo unio me: the treacherous dealers have dealt. treacheroufly, yea, the treacherous deolers have dealt very treacheroufly; this the prophet faid, which brought leannefs upon him; he either pining and fretting at the prefent ftate of his, people, fo very unlike to that which he now had.a view of; they being a fett of treacherous men, there being no faith in them, with refpect to God, or one another; no religion or truth, no honour nor honefty among them: or having in view the, future ftate of this people, when the Meffiah. fhould come; whom they would reject, and treacheroufly betray into the hands of the Gen- éiles, and crucify: or elfe, rather forefeeing by a fpirit of prophecy, the fad times that would be previous to thofe glorigng ones before-mentioned; 4 ~“profeffors; great cold- rides. 48 religious affairs, the confequence of which is leannefs of foul; the intereft of Chrift brought very low, his witnefles being flain, and prophefying at an end; and all this thro’ the® treachery of falfe teachers, that lie in wait to deceive: unlefs, rather, it can, be thought that this refers to the Laodicean ftate, when there will be great lukewarmnefs-and indifference in the profefiors of religion; great carnality,and fecurity, and much fpiritual leannefs, tho’ great boafts of riches and fulnefs; and which will iffue in the diffolution of the world, and the perfonal appearance of Chritt, towhich the following part of the chapter feems to relate. The Targum interprets the word Razi, which is repeated, and rendered Jeanne/s, by a fecret or myttery, thus, ‘* the prophet faid, a fecret, ‘¢ a reward for the righteous is fhewn unto me; a ‘* fecret,, punifhment for the wicked is revealed ‘*s unto me;”’ and fo, farchi explains it of two fecrets, the fecret of punifhment, and. the fecret of falyation; but of the latter efpecially, the prophet would not fay wo unto me, nor indeed of the former; for as the one is defireable, fo the other is bur juft. and righteous, and neither of them fecrets ’ ormyiteries: rather, if the idea of a mytftery or fecret is to be retained, the prophet may be thought tobe thrown into diftrefs, in the fore-view of the blindnefs, that fhould happen to J/rae/, and continue till the fulnefs of the Gentiles came in, which the-apoftle calls a myftery, Rom. xi. 25. and of their» rejection, becaufe of their difbelief of the h, and their perfidious ufage of him and his followers, dealing very treacheroufly with them,

¥.17..Lears,and the pit, and the. fnare are, upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.) This isto be underitood not of the land of Fudea only, and the inhabitants of it, but of all the earth; Kimchi interprets it of the nations of the world, particularly the Greeks and Turks;.but the whole world, and the inhabitants of it, are meant, as, the. following verfes fhew. There is an elegant paronomajia in the Hebrew, which cannot well»be expreffed in Enghjb, in the words pachad,, pachath, pach, fear, pit, anda fnare; which are expreffive of a variety of dangers; difficulties, and diftrefles; there feems to be an allufion to creatures that are hunted, who flee thro’ fear, and fleeing fall into pits, or are entangled in fnares, and fo taken. | Before the laf day, or fecond coming of Chrift to judge, the world, there will be great. perplexity in mens. minds, great dread and fear upon their hearts, and much diitrefs of nations; and the coming of the Son of man, will be as a fnare upon the-earth; fee Luke xxi. 25, 26, 35.

¥. 18. And it fhall come to pafs, that be.whe Hleeth from the noife of the fear, &c.] From, the fearful noife that will be made, the voices and thunderings heard in the heavens above, the. fea and waves roaring below; or from wars, and. rumours of wars, and terrible armies approaching and purfuing, Luke xxi. 25. Matt. xxiv. 6, 7.. or rather at the report of an object. to, be feared and dreaded by wicked men, even the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, Rev. i. 7: jhall fall into the pit; of ruin and deftruction, dug for the wicked, P/? xciv. 13. juft as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrha fell into the flime-pits, when they. fled from their conquerors, Gen. xiv. 10: and he that comes up out of the midft of the pit, foall be taken in the fnare, the meaning is, that he that efcapes one trouble, fhould fall into another, fo that there will be no fafety any where. Farchi’s note is, ‘* he that efcapes the fword of Mefiah ben “« Fofeph, thall fall upon the fword of Mefiah ben ‘« David; and he that efcapes from thence, fhall ‘*¢ be taken in a fnare, in the war of Gog:”. for the windows from on high are open; not hereby fignifying, as Yerom thinks, that the Lord would now fee all‘the fins of men, which becaufe he did not punifh before, he feemed by finners to be ignorant of; but the allufion is to the opening of the windows of heaven, at the time of the deluge, Gen, vii. 11. and intimates, that the wrath of God fhould be revealed from heaven, and the feverett judgments be denounced, made manifeft, and come ‘down from thence, in a very vifible,, public, and terrible manner, like an overflowing tempeft of rain: and the foundations of the earth do foake, very probably the diffolution of the world may be attended with a general earthquake; or this may denote the dread and terror that will feize the inhabitants of it.

y. 19. The earth is utterly broken down, &c.} Still alluding to the deluge, when the earth broke in upon the waters under it, if Mr. Burnet’s theory of the earth can be fupported; the earth is clean diffalved; it will be an entire diffolution, nothing, fhall remain; all. thefe things, as Peter fays, the heavens and the earth, and all in them, fhall, be diffolved, 2 Pet. iii. 11, 12: the earth is moved exceedingly; out of its place and form, and fhall fall into #s original chaos and confufion, The Targum is, “ moving, the earth fhall be moved,

“agitating, the earth fhall be agitated, breaking “¢ or diffolving, the earth fhall be broken or dif- “ folyed;” which feems to exprefs the more. gradual and natural diffolution of the world..Thefe -expreffions are ufed, and repeated, to declare the, certain and compleat deftruction of it. ~)

y. 20. The earth foall reel to and fro like a drunkard, &c.] When it fhall be moved and agitated to and fro, and diffolved; or this may be meant of the inhabitants, who fhall be at their wits end, and in the utmoft confufion, not knowing what to do,) nor where to go, having no more thought, nor fenfe, mor command of themfelves, than a drunken aman; and this is in juft retaliation, that as they chave been drunk with fin, having drank up ini-| quity like water, they fhall now be drunk with) punifhment, which being heavy upon them, will) make them {tagger like a drunken man: and fhall| be removed like a cottage; or, a tent”; either of foldiers or fhepherds, which are eafily taken down) and moved; or like a /odge ’, as the word is ren-| dered ch. i.'8. The Septuagint render it a fruit-| watch, and, according to the Yewi/h writers, it) fignifies a booth or tent, in which the keepers. of gardens or vineyards watched in the night; which, Farchi fays was built on the top of a tree, and) Kimchi on an hill; and being made of light wood, was eafily moved to and fro with the wind. The Targum is, ‘“* and it goes and comes as a bed;” that. is, rocks ‘as a cradle: and the tranfgreffion thereof foall be heavy upon it; that is, the punifhment of tranfereffion, which like a talent of lead, in Zech. v: 8. fhall crufh it, and the inhabitants of it, to pieces: and it fhall fall, and not rife again, in the form it now is; for there will be new heavens and a new earth, in which the righteous, who will fhiare-in the firft refurrection, will dwell; for as for the firft earth, or prefent one, it fhall pafs away, and no place be found for it, Rev. xx. 11. and xxi. 2.

¥. 21. And it fhall come to.pafs in that day, &c.]

Not at the precife exact time the earth fhall be diffolved, but previous to it, within that difpenfation that is called the laft day: that the Lord fhall punifo the boft of the high ones that are on high; which is not to be underftood of the darkening of the. fun, moon, and ftars in the heavens, as fome; nor of the vifiting of angels, as Aven Ezra; nor of the punifhment of fatan, and his principalities and powers, who are referved to the judgment of the great day; much lefs of the people of the Fews, their kings and rulers; nor of the great monarchs of the earth, the Afyrian, Chaldean, and others; but of antichrift, and his dignified clergy, cardinals, archbifhops, bifhops, &c. who are the bof or army of that high one*, as it may be rendered; of him that exalts himfelf above all that is called God, fitting in the high place in the temple of God, as if he was God; him, with all his mighty ones, will Chrift, who is the true Jehovah, deftroy with the breath of his mouth, and the brightnefs of his coming; fee 2 Theff ii. 4, 8. Rev. xix. 18: oad the kings of the earth upen the earth, the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication with the whore of Rome; and who will make war with the Lamb, and fhall be overcome by him, Rev. Xvil. 2, 14. or, the kings of the earth with their earth*; both they and their land fhall be vifited. ¥. 22. And they foall be gathered together, 8c.)

' Or divérioriolams Pucalee =e am

Firft to the ‘battel of the great day of God almighty at Armageddon, Rev. xvi. 14, 16. and xix. 1g. and there being overcome and taken, they thered insthe pit, and foall be fout up inthe * in the prifon of the grave, and in hell; as tives are, till fuch time as fomething is determined and ordered what to be done with them: and after many days foall they be vifited; or punithed; that is, after the thoufand years are ended, when the wicked dead will be all raifed, aiter the batte. of Gog and Magog, when fatan, the beaft, falfe prophet, and alltheir adherents, fhall be caft — into the Jake which burns with fire and brimftone, Rev. KIX, 20, 21. and xX. 6, 8,9, 10.:

¥. 23. Then the moon foallbe confounded, and the fun afbamed, Sec.) Hither literally underitood; and the meaning is, that they fhall be darkened, their licht being eclipfed by the fuperior light of Chrift, the fun of righteoufnefs;. fee ait. xxiv. 29, 30. the new ‘Yerufelem-church-ftate, which is referred to, will have no-need of the light of the fun, or of the moon, \Chrift being the light thereof, “Rev. xxi. 23. figuratively it may be interpreted of the kings and great men of the earth, as Aden Ezra; whofe glory will be out-fhone by the tranfeendent luftre and glory of Chrift, the king of faints.

The Targum paraphrafes it of idolaters, thus, ‘© and they fhall be confounded that worfhip the * moon, and they fhall be afhamed. that w

“« the fun,” perhaps this may have reference to the fourth vial:which fhall be poured out upen the who was king from et@- the Old Teftament-difpeniat king into this world, tho’ his kingdom nor was with obfervation; upon his afcenfion to heaven, was made and declared Lord and Chrift; and now rules in the hearts of his people by his fpirit and grace, and whofe {piritual reign will more manifeftly appear in the latter day; but here it is to be underftood of his reign on earth, which will be perfonal, vifible, and glorious, and in a differs ent manner from what it now is, when he will be king over all the earth. Zion and Ferufalem, where he will reign, may be literally underftoo as the chief place of his refidence during this ftat the fpot of ground where he was moft defpifed and ill-treated; fee Zech. xiv. 4, 5, 9. or myft cally, the church in the new Yeru/alem-ftate, Ret xxi. 2, 3. hére he will reign, defore his ancients glorioufly; or, in glory; in his own glory, both as God and as man, and Mediator; and in his Father’s glory, and in the glory of his holy angels, - in which he will come and appear; and # his appearing is called a glorious one, Lake ix. 26. Tit. ii. 13. and this before bis ancients, the ancient patriarchs both before the flood, as Ade $c. and after the flood, as Abrabam, Tfaae and others; the old Yewifh church, the prophets and faints of the Old Teftament-difpe ig he apoftles and elders of the gofpel-churches, unde she Newt the four and rivssicy elaloka, Aeon epre: fentatives of the gofpel churches, fo often fpoken of in the book of the Revelation, very probably ih shore

= yn wea dy, INN by, cum terra ipforum, Junius & Tremelli with reference to this text; and all the faints, in all ages, who will now be raifed from the dead, -and live and reign with him; thefeé are his antients, who are loved with an everlafting love, chofen in him before the foundation of the world, with whom a covenant was made in him, and grace given to them in him, before the world begah; in the midft and prefence of thefe he'll reign, and they “fyall behold his glory; yea, thefé thall appear in glory; for fo the words may be conftrued, before-bis'@niionis, who are glory, or i# glory®; for they fhall)-appear with him in glory, both in foul and body, having the glory of God upon’ them, Col. iti. 4. Rev. xxi, D3,