Exposition of the Whole Bible

ap HIS chapter contains prophecies concerning Cyrus, the deliverer of the Hews from captivity; and concerning the grace, righteoufnefs, and falvation of Chrift; and the converfion of the Gentiles. An account is given of Cyrus, and of the great things God would do for him, and by him, y. 1, 2, 3. and the ends for which he would do thefe things, for the fake of his people J/rae, and that he might be known to be the only true God, who is the maker of all things, y¥. 4, 5, 6, 7. an intimation is given of the Meffiah, as the author of righteoufnels and falvation; and of the contention-and murmuring of the Fews about him, ¥. 8, 9, 19. encouragement is given to pray for, and a expect good things by him for the. children of God, in confideration of the greatnefs. of God as the Creator, who would raife him up in righteoufnefs, the the antitype of Cyrus, ¥..11, 12, 13. the converfion of the Gentiles, the confufion of idolaters, and the falvation of the J/racl of God, are prophefied of, ¥. 14, 15, 16, 17., which are confirmed by his works and his word,, what he had done and faid, ¥. 18, 19. the vanity of idols is expofed, and Chrift the only Saviour. afferted, to whom perfons in all nations are directed to-look for falvation, ¥. 20, 21, 22. when it is affirmed. with an oath, that all fhall be fubje& to him; that his people fhall come to him for righteoufnefs and firength; * Emendat. Temp. 1. 6..

yu 1. Thus faith the Lord to bis anointed, to Cyrus, &c.] Cyrus is called the Lord’s anointed, not becaufe he was anointed with material oil, as the kings of J/rael and fudah were, but becaufe he was appointed by the Lord to be a king, and was qualified by him for that office; and was raifed up by him to be an inftrument of doing great things in the world, and particularly of delivering the Fews from their captivity, and reftoring them to their own land: whofe right-hand I have holden, whom he raifed up, fupported, ftrengthened, guided, and direéted to do what he did: ¢o fubdue nations before him, which was accordingly done. Xenophon ¥ relates, that he fubdued the Syrians, Affyrians, Arabians, Cappadocians, both the countries of Phrygia, the Lydians, Carians, Phenicians and Babylonians; alfo the Baétrians, Indians, Cilicians, the Sace, Paphlagonians, and Megadinians, likewife the Greeks that inhabit Afa, Cyprians and Egyptians. Herodotus * fays, that he ruled over all 4fa: all which the Lord tubdued under him; for it was he that did it rather than Cyrus, it was he that clothed him with ftrength and courage, gave him {kill in military affairs, and fuccefs and victory: I will lcofe the loins of kings, as Crefus king of Lydia, and Belfhazzar king of Babylon, by divetting them of their dignity, power, and government; and particularly this was true of the latter, when by the hand-writing on the wall, he was thrown into a pannic; and the joints of his loins were loofed, Dan. v. 6: to open before him the two leaved gates, and the gates fhall not be fout, the gates of cities and palaces wherever he came, which were opened to receive him as their conqueror and fovereign, this was very remarkably true of the gates of the palace of the king of Badylon, when the army of Cyrus by a ftratagem had got into the city, and were come up to the king’s palace, they found the gates fhut; but a clamour and noife being made, the king ordered to fee what was the matter; the gates being opened for that purpofe, the foldiers of Cyrus rufhed in to the king, and flew him:; but what is more remarkable, the gates of brafs, which fhut up the defcents from the keys to the river, were left open that night Babylon was taken, whilft the inhabitants were feafting and revelling;. which, had they been fhut, would have defeated the enterprife of Cyrus; but God in his providence ordered it to be fo. ¥. 2. Iwill go before thee, and make the crooked places firait, 8cc.]_ Or, level the billy places“; as pioneers do. The fenfe is, that he would remove all impediments and obftructions out of his way, and caufe him to furmount all difficulties: J wi// break in pieces the gates of brafs, and cut in funder the bars of iron; with which the brazen gates were -barred: in the wall that furrounded Badylon there were an hundred gates, all made of {folid brafs, twenty-five on each fide of the fquare; which, no doubt, are here referred to; which could not hin- way right, and profpered them in the building of the temple.

: 4 2 Clio, five lib. 1. cap. 130, * Cyropeedia, lib 7. cap. 2.) © "The Septuagint render the wotd by ozn mountains; Gufletius by eminences, Fey fuch as ftood in the way of pafflage into countries. The Vulgate Latin mterprets it of glorious i$; and— Abendana fays it is right to underftand it in this way; and applies it to

Riper: o ae ‘ a bn | der the entrance of Cyrus into the city, and the 1 taking of it; tho’ they were not pg Merantig him, but by Darius afterwards *: thefe gates of. brafs are mentioned by Abydenus *, as made by Ne- —

duchadnezzar, and as continuing till the empire of — the Macedonians. hs beep | abit Yee ¥.3. And I will give thee treafures of darknefs, and hidden riches of feeret places, &c.| What had been laid up in private places, and had not feen the light for many years. The Fewifs: fay *, that Nebuchadnezzar having amafied togetl all the riches of the world, when he drew near his end, confidered with himfelf to whom he fhould leave it; and being unwilling to leave it to Evi Merodach, he ordered thips of brafs to be built, and filled them with it, and dug a place ia Auphrates, and hid them in it, and turned the river upon them; and that day that Cyrus ordered the temple to be built, the Lord revealed them to him: the riches of Cre/us king of Lydia, taken by Qyras, are meant; efpecially what he found in Babylon, which abounded in riches, Fer. li. 13. Pliny * days, when he conquered Afia, he brought away thirty four, thoufand pounds of gold, befices golden vefiels, and five hundred thoufand talents of filver, and the cup of Semiramis, which weighed fifteen talents. Xenophon » makes mention of great riches and treafures which Cyrus received trom Armenius, Gobryas, and Cre/us: that thou mayeft know that f the Lord which call thee by thy name am the Ged of hrae; to call him by name two hundred years, or near it, before he was born, was a proof that he was God omnifcient, and knew things before they were, and could call things that were not, as tho’ they were; and this Cyrus was made acquainted with; for, as Fofephus* fays, he read this prophecy in Jfaiah concerning him; and all this being exaétly fulfilled in him, obliged him to acknowledge him the Lord, to be the Lord God of heaven, and the Lord God of J/rael, Ezra i. 2. 3. _ 4. For Facob my fervant’s fake, and Ifrael mi eleé?, I have even called thee by thy name, 8cc. INot fo much for the fake of Cyrus, and to do honour to him, was it, that he fo long before he was born called him by his name; but to afiure the people of the ‘Yews, the Lord’s chofen people, and who were his fervants, of the certainty of their deliverance, their deliverer being mentioned by name; and it was for their fakes, and not his, that he called him, and raifed him up to do fuch great things as he did, that he might deliver them from their captivity: and it is for the fake of God’s elect, whom he has chofen to holinefs and happinefs, to ferve him, and be with him for ever, that he has called Chrift, of whom Cyrus was a type, and fent him into the world, to be the Sat viour and Redeemer of them: J dave furnamed thee; not only called him by his name, Cyrus, but furnamed him his /hepherd, and his amorated, ch. xliv. 28. and xlv. 1: tho’ thou baft not known me as yet not being born; and when hey was grown up, he was ignorant of the 1 and tho’, upon fight of the above proph under an immediate influence and imp erubbabel, and thofe that went up

Jerufalem, with the leave of Cyrus, who were good men, and honourable in their works, whom the Lord Ts capayo.

f Vide Abendana in Miclol Yophi in loc.

acknowledged the God of J/rael to be the God of heaven; yet it does not appear that he left the pagan idolatry; for Xexophon * relates, that when he found his end was near, he took facrifices, and offered them to Yupiter, and the fun, and the relt of the gods; and gave them thanks for the care they had taken of him, and prayed them to grant happinefs to his wife, children, friends, and country. M5. I aim the Lord, and there is none elfe, &c.] Whom thou, O Cyrus, for the words are directed to him, ought to own, ferve, and worthip: ‘here is no God befides me; in heaven or earth, in any of the countries conquered by thee, and thou ruleft over; for tho’ there were gods and lords many, fo called, thefe were only nominal, fictitious deities; not gods by nature, as he was; of which the following, as well as what is before faid, is a proof: 1 girded thee, tho’ thou haft not known me; the Lord girded him with a royal girdle, a fymbol of kingly power; he made him king over many nations; he girded him with ftrength, courage, and valour for war; and made him {fo expeditious, fuccefsful, and victorious as he was, tho’ an heathen prince, and ignorant of him, in order to anf{wer fome valuable ends of his own glory, and the good of his people, and particularly for what follows,; ¥. 6. That they may know from the rifing of the fun, and from the weft, &c.) That all the inhabitants of the world, from eaft to weft, which takes in the habitable part of the world, that from north to fouth not being entirely fo; that all within this compafs, by hearing what great things God did by Cyrus, and for his people, might know, own, and acknowledge, that there is none befides me: I am the Lord, and there is none elfe, or, befides me there is nothing *; all creatures are non-entities in comparifon of God; and he fills up all places, and every thing lives, and moves, and has its being in him; and there is no God, the Lord, the eternal Jehovah, but the one true God, Father, Son, and Spirit. y¥. 7. I form the light, and create darknefs, &c.] Natural light, or that light which was produced at the firft creation, and of which the fun is the fountain and fource; or day which is light, and night which is darknefs, the conftant revolutions of which were formed, appointed, and are continued by the Lord, Gen. 1. 3, 4, 5. and vill. 22. moral light, or the light of nature, the rational underftanding in man, fpiritual light, or the light of grace, by which things fpiritual and fupernatural are known; the light of joy and comfort from Chrift, the fun of righteoufnels; and the light of eternal glory and happinefs; this is all from God, of his producing and giving: and fo darknefs is his creature; that natural darknefs which was upon the face of the earth at the beginning;° what.arifes from the abfence of the, fun, or is occafioned by the eclipfes of it, or very black clouds; or any extraordinary darknefs, fuch as was in Egypt; or deprivation of fight, blindnefs in men; and in a fi- “gurative fenfe, ignorance and darknels that follow ‘upon, fin; judicial blindnefs, God gives.men up, and leaves them to; temporal afflictions and di- ‘ftreffes, and everlafting punifhment, which is blacknefs of darknefs: Z make peace, and create evil; peace between God and men is made by,Chrift, who is’ God over all; {piritual peace of confcience the author of falvation, who was appointed to be comes from God, thro’ Chriit, by tite Spirit § eter nal glory and happinels is of God, which faints enter into at death; peace among the faints thenrfelves here, and with the men of the world; peace in churches, and in the world, God is the author of, even of all profperity of every kind, which this word includes; evil is alfo from him; not the evil of fin; this is not to be found among the creatures God made; this is of men, tho’ fuifered by the Lord, and over-ruled by him for good: but the evil of punifhment for fin, God’s fore judgments, famine, peftilence, evil beafts, and the {word, or war, which latter may more efpcially be intended, as it is oppofed to peace; this ufually is the effect of fin; may be fometimes lawfully engaged in, whether on a good or bad foundation is permitted by God; moreover all afflictions, adverfities and calamities, come under this name, and are of God; fee Fod ii. 10. Amos iii. 6: I the Lord do all thefe things, and therefore mutt be the true God, and the one and only one. Kimchi, from Saadiab Gaon obferves, that this is faid againft thofe that affert two gods, the one good, and the other evil; whereas the Lord is the maker of good and evil, and therefore muft be above all; and it is worthy of obfervation, that the Perfian Magi before Zoroaftres ™, held two firft caufes, the one light, or the good god, the author of all good; and the other darknefs, or the evil god, the author of all evil; the one they called Oromazes, the other 4vimanius; and, as Dr. Prideaux » obferves, ‘* thefe ‘* words are directed to Cyrus king of Perfia, and ‘¢ muft be underftood as fpoken in reference to the ‘© Perfian fect of the Magians; who then held light *¢ and darknefs, or good and evil, to be the fu- ** preme beings, without acknowledging the great ** God as fuperior to both;” and which thefe words fhew; tor Zoroaftres, who reformed them in this firft principle of their religion, was after J aiah’s

¥.8. Drop down ye heavens from above, and let the fries pour down righteoufnefs, 8c.| Or, the righteous one, as the Vulgate Latin verfion; the Lord our righteoufnefs, Chrift the author of righteoufnefs, who was to bring in an everlafting one; and whofe coming was to be, and was as the rain, as the former and latter rain to the earth, Ho. vi. 3.

and who came from heaven to earth to fulfil all righteoufnefs; and with him came an abundance of bleflings of rich grace, even all fpiritual bleffings, peace, pardon, righteoufnefs, falvation, and eternal life, which were poured down from above upon the fons of men; thus the Holy Ghoft, the fpirit of prophecy, proceeds at once from Cyrus to Chrift, from the type to the antitype, from the temporal redemption of the Yews to the fpiritual redemption of the Lord’s people; and thefe words are to be confidered, not as a petition of the prophet, or of the church for the coming of Chrift, and falvation by him; but a promife and prophecy of it. Aben Ezra and Kimchi take them to be an ad+ drefs to the angels of heaven to affift in the affair of the falvation of J/rael; thefe did drop down or defcend, even a great multitude of them, at the incarnation of Chrift, and publifhed the good tidings of good things that came by him: et the earth open, and let them bring forth falvation; or the Saviour, as the Vulgate Latin verfion; Chrift the falvation or Saviour of his people, who came to effect it, and has obtained it, heaven and earth were both concerned in bringing forth this fruit of righteoufnefs and falvation, as the word © rendered bring forth fignifies; fee I/. iv. 2. Chrift was the ‘Lord from heaven, and yet made of a woman in the loweft parts of the earth: Chrift, who is the truth, {prung out of the earth; and he, who is the author of righteoufne/s, looked down from heaven, Pf Ixxxy. 11. and it follows: let righteoufne s [pring up together, or bud forth P as a: branch, one of the names of the Mefliah, frequent in prophecy: J the Lord have created it; or that, both righteoufnefs and falvation; or Chrift as man, the author of both, whom God appointed, and raifed up, and fent to be the Redeemer and Saviour of his people. The Targum interprets this of the refurrection of the dead, paraphrafing the whole thus; “ let the “© heavens from above minifter, and the clouds ‘© flow with good; let the earth open, and the dead « revive; and let righteoufnefs be revealed toge- ‘¢ ther; I the Lord have created them.” ¥.9. Wo unto bim that ftriveth with his maker, &c.] That contends with him, enters into a controverfy, and difputes with him, or litigates a point with him; quarrels with his purpofes and decrees, murmurs and repines at his providences, and finds fault with his difpenfations: this feems to have refpect to the murmurs, quarrels, and contefts of the ews about Chrift, the author of righteoufnefs and falvation, when he-flould appear: let the potfbeard ftrive with the potfoeards. of the earth, let men * {trive with men, who are as earthen vefféls made of “the fame mafs and lump, and fo are upon an equal foot, and a match for each other; but let them not have the infolence and vanity to ftrive with their maker, who, as he has made them, can dafh them in pieces as a potter’s veflel: /hall the clay fay to him that fafbioneth it, what makeft thou? yet this might be faid with as much propriety and juttice, as that the ¥ews fhould quarrel with God, for not fending the Meffiah as a temporal prince to refcue them from the Reman yoke; but in a mean and humble manner, in the form of a fervant, as a man of forrows, and acquainted with griefs; and, at laft,. became obedient to the death of the crofs, the way in which he was to be the Saviour of men: or thy work, be hath no hands? or thus, or thy work fay. unto thee, be, the potter, bath uo hands; no power nor {kill to make me; I can make myfelf: as weakly, as wickedly, and -as foolifhly did the Yews, feeing no -need of the Saviour fent them, nor of his righteoufhefs and falvation, argue for juftification by their own works, and in favour of their felf-{ufficiency to work out their own falvation. The Yargum takes the words to be fpoken to idolaters, and paraphrafes the former part thus; ‘* wo to him who thinks to con- ** tend in judgment againft the words of his creator, and trufts that earthen images fhall’ profit him, which are madevout of the duft of the earth,” &c, and there are many interpreters who think they are fpoken againft the idolatrous Babydonians, particularly againtt Belhazzar, as Kimchi; and others, againit Afyages, a king of Perfia, who was angry with the father and mother of Cyrus, and fought to-haye flain him as foon as bern 9. ¥.10. Wo unto him that faith unto his father, what begetioft thou? 8c.) That quarrels with him, and complains of him, becaufe he was not of the

|reign of Chrift, and their ultimate ory other fex, or not fo wife, or fo rich, or fo fome, as others; or to the woman, difdaining to call her mother: what haft thou brought forth 2 equally as abfurd and impious it was in the Jews to quarrel with Chrift for his converfation with finners, and the reception of them; or far the regeneration of fuch perfons; or to find fault with God for the converfion of the Gentiles, and refent it, and be angry at it, as they were; fee Rom. x. 19, 20, 1 Theff. ii, 16. at ¥. 11. Thus faith the Lord, the holy one of Ifrael, and bis maker, &c.| He whofe name alone is™

Febovab, who is glorious in holinefs, the fanétifier of his people, and the maker of them, both as creatures, and new creatures: afk me of things to come, concerning my fons, and concerning the work of my hands, command ye me; thefe words are not fpoken to idolaters, or the idolatrous Fews, or thofe of them that were inclined to idolatry; directing them to afk of the Lord, and not of their idols, things to come, which they were not able to fhew, and to feek to him for, and infift upon, the performance of his promifes to them, his children, and creatures; but to the fpiritual [rael of God, as the preface fhews, directing them to enquire after things future, concerning his children and people, efpecially among the Gentiles, whom the carnal Jews defpifed; and.to expect, and believe, and even as it were demand the performance of them, being promifed and prophefied of: there are fome who are the fous of God, not by creation only, or by natural birth, or by defert, or merely by profeffion, but by adopting grace; which is a very great and excellent privilege, preferable to civil, or national adoption, or to the higheft rank of fonfhip among men; a blefling which continues for ever, and entitles to eternal life: and thefe become the work of the-Lord’s bands in regeneration; they are made new creatures; they are his workmanfhip, created in Chrift Jefus; whatever is wrought in them, is of his operation, faith, hope, love, and eyery other grace, which make up that good work which fhall be performed until the day of Chrift: firft, men are the fons of God by adoption, and then they are his workmanfhip in regeneration; and the latter becaufe of che ilah aed of which the latter is an evidence: ‘now there were, « and are things to come, concerning thefe perfons; there were fome things to come, and which were to come to pafs, and did, in the firft times of the gofpel, as the incarnation of Chrift, and redemption by him; his fufferings and death, and the glory that fhould follow; the effufion of the Spirit, and the converfion of the Gentiles; all which were for the fake of thefe fons of God, and refpected them: and there are other things yet to come concerning them, and will be accomplifhed in the é latter day; fome things fad and forrowful, as the giving the outward court to the Gentiles, the 2 feftant churches to the Papifts, and the flaying the witneffes; and others’ defirable and joyful the numerous converfions of the Yews and Gen-. tiles, their extenfive knowledge of fpiritual things, and their abundant peace and profp ity 5 ereafe of brotherly loye, their purity, {pirit holinefs and righteoufnefs; their power, ‘a and dominion, both in the fpiritual and now the Lord allows his people, and’ ei them to a/& of him thefe things; to enquire o

“by prayer, and by fearching the fcriptures, what ~‘thefe things are, that are to come; what of them _ have been accomplifhed, and what of them remain to be accomplithed, and bow long it will be to the end of thefe wouders, Dan, xii. 6. and fo Farchi interprets the word, rendered, things to come, in the “text, figns and wonders: and they may and fhould “pray for the accomplifhment of them; yea, infift upon and demand them. lows his people to. put him in remembrance of his promifes and prophecies, but to plead for, and as it were require the performance of them; and fo the words are an encouragement to the importunate prayer of faith. Faith in prayer has great power with God, a kind of command over him; it holds him to his word; it will not let him go - without the bleffing; nor let him alone till he has made good his promife; nor give him any reft day nor night, till he has fulfilled the things to come concerning his fons. Some ' read the words by way of interrogation, do ye afk or queftion me concerning things to come? what I intend to do hereafter? am I obliged to give you an account of my fecret purpofes and defigns? or make you acquainted with future events? do ye, or fhould ye, command me concerning my fons, and the works of my hands? will you prefcribe to me what I fhall do in my family? am ] a father, and muft I be directed what to do with my fons? am JI the maker of all men, and muft I be told what to do with the work of my hands? what arrogance and infolence is this? but the former reading and fenfe are beft. y. 12. I have made the earth, &c.| ‘The Targum adds, by my word; the effential word, the Lord ‘Jefus Chrift; fee Hed. x1. 3. this, with what follows, is faid to fhew, that the Lord was able to bring to pafs things to come, concerning his children, and the works of his hands, which he allowed his people to enquire of him concerning, and to infift upon the performance of them; fince he was the creator of all things, and had made the earth out of nothing, in the beginning of time, by the word of his power: and created. man upon it, the laft and chief of the creation, for the fake of whom the earth was made; and man was made to dwell upon it, manure, and cultivate it: J, even my hands have firetched out the heavens; as a canopy over the earth, as a curtain and tent to dwell in; a phrafe often ufed to exprefs the greatnefs and majefty of God; fee ch. xl. 22. and xlii. 6:

to perform their offices regularly and conftantly, the fim, moon, and ftars, as well as the heavenly hoft of angels; fee Pf. xxxili. 9. and‘cxlviii. 5. what is it that fuch a God cannot do? he is able to do more than his. people can afk of him, or think to receive from him,’ Epbd. iii. 20.

¥. 13. Ihave raifed him up in righteoufue/s, 8c.] Tho’ this may be faid with fome refpect to Gyrus, yet es Bi Chrift, of whom Cyrus was a type; him the Lord appointed and’ determined to be the Saviour and Redeemer of his people’, ‘him he fent forth in time for that purpofe, in righteoufnefs or faithfulnef$, to his promifes concerning -him';’ or, unto righteoufnefs*, as the Vulgate Latin verfion, to bring in an everlafting righteoufnefs for the juftification of his people: or, with righteoufnefs, as the Septuagint verfion ist: Ibave raifed bim up a

* So Gataker, and fome in the Dutch annotations, and Vitringa.

and all their hoft have I commanded; into ag and | king with righteoufnefs; 4 righteous king, 4 king that reigns in righteoufnefs, as Chrift does, and better agrees with him than Cyrus; fee Fer. xxiii, 8,6: and I will diref all his ways or make them plain*; remove all difficulties and obftructions out of his way; he fhall fucceed and profper, as the pleafure of the Lord did profper in the hands of Chrift; God being at his right hand as man and Mediator, to direct, counfel, and affift him, and to make him fuccefsful: be fhall build my city; not Cyrus, for he did not build the city of Ferufalem, whatever orders he might give for it, ch. xliv. 28. tho’ his proclamation only mentions the temple, Ezra i. 2—5,. but Chrift, the builder of the church, often compared to a city, and called the city of God, of which the faints are fellowcitizens; and which is built by Chrift, upon himfelf the rock, againft which the gates of hell cannot prevail, Matt. xvi. 18: and he fhall let go my captives, not for price, nor reward, faith the Lord of hofts; the Lord’s people are captives to fin, fatan, and the law; Chrift has not only redeemed thefe captives, but has proclaimed liberty to them, and delivered them from their bondage by his Spirit and grace; and all this freely, not thro’ any merits of theirs, but of his own rich grace and mercy; and tho’ they are redeemed with a price, yet not with corruptible things, as filver and gold, but with the precious blood of Chrift; and whatever their redemption and freedom coft him, it cofts them nothing, it is to them without money and without price, Jf lii. 3.

y. 14. Thus faith the Lord, &c.] The following words are faid not to Cyrus, nor to Chrift, but to the church, as the feminine pronouns. fhew; and Kimchi obferves, they are directed to Feru/alem: the labour of Egypt, and merchandife of Ethiopia, and of the Sabeans, men of fiature, foall come over unto thee; a prophecy of the converfion of many in thefe nations, who fhould join themfelves | to the churches of Chrift, formed among them, and make ufe of their riches, got by merchandifeg labour, and induftry, for the fupport of the intereft of religion; and had its- accomplifhment in part, in the firft times of the gofpel, which was brought into Egypt, as it is faid, by the evangelift Mark; and by which, no’ doubt, many were converted and formed into a church-ftate, and others joined them. The Ethiopian eunuch, baptized by Philip, carried it into his country, where it alfo met with fuccefs, was embraced. and profeffed; as it will be more fo in the latter day, when the kings of Seba. and Sheba thall offer gifts to Chrift, and bring their riches into the church, the fame with the Sadeans here; fee Pf. Ixxii. 10, 15, who are faid to be men of flature;, that is, of a large and tall ftature, as the men of Seba are faid to be by other * authors; or, men of meafure *. The Targum renders it, men of merchandife; who ufed meafures in trade and bufinefs: aud they fhall be thine, give up themfelves to the church, become members of it, and fubmit to its rule and difcipline: they jhall come after thee, follow the church and its paftors, as they have them, for examples. The Targum is, ‘‘ they fhall walk after thy *< word;” be directed, guided, and governed by the church: i chains they fhail come over; being fubdued and conquered by the grace of God, hall ee is * DINA ad juttitiam, V. L.

come in the chains of efficacious grace, drawn with the cords of love, and bands of a man, and yet fhall come willingly, being made willing in the day of the power of divine grace upon their fouls: aad they foall fall down unto thee, they foall make fupplication unto thee; this is not to be underftood of religious worfhip and invocation, fuch as is made to God, who only is the object of adoration and prayer in that fenfe; but is only expreffive of their profound veneration and refpect for the church of God, befeeching that it would receive them into, tho’ unworthy of, its communion; fee J/- xlix. 23. Rev. iii. 9: faying, furely God is in thee, and there is none elfe, there is no God; induced thus to come to the church, and fhew all this refpeét unto her, from this confideration, that God is in the midtt of her, of a truth, her name being Fehovah Shammab, the Lord is there; here he grants his prefence, here his word is preached, and ordinances adminiftred;. and hither converts flock, in hope of enjoying the fame bleffing alfo, being fully fatisfied there is no other God but in Zion, Zech. viii. 23. Ezek. xlviii. 35. This pafflage of fcripture is, thus explained in the Fewi/h Chronicles ”: the labour of Egypt, that is, Pharaoh king of Egypt: and the merchandife of Ethiopia, that is, Tirhekah king of Ethiopia: and the Sabeans, men of ftature, thefe are their armies: they hall come over to thee, this is Ferufalem: they foall be thine, peace being now made with thee: <¢hey /hall come after thee, “that is, Hezekiah: in chains they fhall come over, in chains and bracelets: they hall bow down to thee, and make fupplication to thee, they fhall give praife ‘to God in the midit of thee, and fay, /urely God is in thee.

¥. 15. Verily thou art a God that bideth thyfelf, &c.] Who hid himfelf from the Gentile world for fome hundreds of years, who had no knowledge of the true God, lived without him in the world, and whofe times of ignorance God overlooked, and fuffered them to walk in their own ways; tho’ now he would make himfelf known by his gofpel fent ‘among them, and bleffed for the converfion of them. He is alfo a God that hides himfelf from his own people at times, withdraws his’ gracious prefence, and withholds the communication of his love and grace. Thefe feem to be the words of the prophet, {peaking his own experience, and that of other faints: or rather of the church, upon the accefs of the Gentiles to her, declaring what the Lord had been to them in former times, but now had fhewed himfelf to them in a way of grace and mercy. Some render it, thou art the hidden God*; invifible in his nature; incomprehenfible in his effence; not to be found out to perfection, nor to'be traced in-his providential difpenfations; his judgments are unfearchable, and his ways paft finding out. It may be applied to Chrift, in his {tate of humiliation; for tho” he was God manifeft in the flefh, yet the glory of his deity was feen but by a few, being hid in the coarfe veil of humanity; he appearing in the form of a feryant, who was in the form of God, and equal to him; and to him the following words agree: O God of I/- rael, the Saviour; for he is God over all, and the God of his fpiritual Yael in an efpecial manner; and the Saviour of them from fin, wrath, condenination, ‘and death, by his obedience, fuffer-

¥ Seder Olam Rabba es abditus Deus Eraelis lorum, Cocceius.

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