Exposition of the Whole Bible

antichrift, and the antichriftian, kings and fiasgs, that, quarrel with, fight againft, and,opprefsy4the Lord’s people: and will fave thy children, regenerate perfons, the members of the church, be.they where they will; thefe the Lord will) fave with) a temporal, fpiritual, and eternal, falyation, »Deliverance from the Romib yoke and. opprefiion feems to be here.chiefly defigned, when Jexebel’s children will be killed with death, as follows); fee, Revadi.

DE AE YS BAIT “To. *y' 26. And Iwill feed thers that. opprels thee. ith their own flefh, &c.\..Not that they should fe upon their own. flefh, becaufe of famine,.for, this was not the cafe of Babylon when.taken;but,that they fhould deftroy one another,.as the Médianites did; and which was true of. fome.of the, Badbp/anians, who affilted Cyrus.in taking the city, and deftroying the inhabitants of it;, and will be verified in the popifh party killing one another,:.¢nd they foall be drunken with their own bloodas.with Jweet wine; which denotes the abundance, of blood that fhall be fhed, and the pleafure in thedding of it, It will be a righteous thing with Ged to give the whore of Rome her own blood to drink, even fo as to be made drunk with it.as with wine, who has been drunk, already, with theblood of; the faints, Rev. xvi. 6. and xvii. 6. The Zargum.is, ‘* T will give the flefh of them that opprets thee for ‘* food to every fowl of the heavens;.and.as they “* are drunken with wine, fo the beafts of the field “¢ fhall be drunken with their blood,” fee Rev, xix. 17, 18: and all flefh fhall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Facob; it fhall be notorious to all the world, that Jehovah, the Lord of lords, the Lord of the whole earth, is the Saviour and Redeemer of his; church and people out of all their afflictions, oppreffions, and perfecutions, by. the Romi/h antichrift;. this will be apparently feen, and. publickly owned. and acknowledged, when antichriit fhall be deftroyed, and the church faved; by which it will be manifeft, it being the Lord’s work, and wondrous. in the eyes of men, that he is the, mighty one, of Jar, cob, able to help and fave them. ond

I! 210 Bevizkas oft © with an exhortation to. the faints to truft.im the: Lord in the darkeft times; anda threatening to’ fuch who truft in themfelves, and in. their own doings, ¥. 10, II. ies eliieo aes

; Sor adabor ¥.1. Thus feith the Lordy, &c.],, Here begins.a: new difcourfe or prophecy, and therefore thus pre> faced, and is continued in. the following chapters): where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, avbom, J have put away? thefe words are direted to. the! Fews, who ftood in the fame relation to the Fewifh. church or fynagogue, as children to a mother; and - fo the Targum interprets your mother, by your congregation or fynagogue; who, were. rejected from being a church and people; had a /oammi written, upon them, which became very, manifeft,. when, their city and temple were deftroyed by the Ro—

‘mans, and this is fignified by a divorce, alluding to the law of divorce among the Yews, Deut. xxiv, 1—4. when a man put away his wife, he gave her a bill of diyorce, affigning the caufes of his put-,.. ting her away.. Now, the J ara, ithe essen that he had’ put ‘away their mother, the Jewish church, fhe having departed from him herfelf, and therefore challenges them to produce any fuch bill, a bill of divorce being always put into the woman’s hands, ‘and fo’capable of being ‘produced by her; ot if there was fuch an one, fee Yer. ili: 8. he requires ir might be looked into, and feen whether the fault was his, or the caufe in themfelves, which latter-would appear: or which of my creditors is it, to whom I have fold you; referring to a. practice ufed, that when men were in’ debt, and'could: not -pay theii'debts, they fold their children for the py ment ofthem 3" fee Exod: xxi7. 2Kings ivia. Neb: vers. bur this could not be the ‘cafe: here; the Lord has no creditors; not any towhom heiis indebted, nor could any advantage poffibly accrue to him “by the fale of them; ’tis true, they were fold to the’ Romans, or delivered into their hands, which tho’ a lofs'to them, was no gain to him; nor was ithe that‘fold them, but they themfelves;. he was ‘not the caufe of it, but their own fins, as follows: behold; for your iniquities bave you fold yourselves, or, ave fold, they were fold for them, or’ delivered'up ‘into the hands-of their enemies on account of them; they had fold themfelves to work wickednefs; and therefore it was but juft that they fhould: be: fold; and become bond-flaves: and for your tranferefions is your mother put away, and they her children along with her, out of their own Jand, and from being the church and people of God.

y 2. Wherefore, when I came was there no man? &c.] ‘The Targum is; “ why have I fent my ¢* prophets, and they are not converted?” And fo Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret it of the prophets that prophefied unto them to bring them to repentance: the Lord might be faid to come by his prophets, his meffengers; but they did: not receive them, nor their meflages, but defpifed and rejeéted them, and therefore were carried captive, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 15, 16. but it is beft to underftand it of the coming of Chrift in the flefh; when there were none that would receive, nor even come to him, but hid their faces from him,. nor fuffer others to be gathered unto him, or attend his miniftry; they would neither go in themfelves into the kingdom of the Meffiah, nor let others go in that were entring, Yobn i. 11. and v. 40. Matt. xxiii. 13, 37. when I called, was there none to anfwer? he called them to the marriage-feaft, to his word and ordinances, but they made light of it, and went about their worldly bufinefs; many were called externally in his miniftry, but few were chofen, and effectually wrought upon; he called; but ‘there was no anfwer given; for there was no intertrial principle in them, no grace to anfwer to the call’; he ftretched out his hands to a rebellious and gainfaying people, Matt. xxii. 2—5, 16. I. Ixv. 2. Prov. i. 24. ts my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? they did not know him to be the mighty God they took him to be a mere man; and being defcended from fuch mean parents, and making’ fach a mean appearance, they could not think he was able to be their redeemer and faviour; but that“he’had fufficient ability, appears by what follows) behold, at my rebuke I dry up the fea; he was able to do it, and did do it, for the children of Jrael; and made a paffage through ‘the red fea | for them, as on dry land; which was done by a "+: Boag wind he caufed to blow, here called his: rebuke, Exod, xiv. 20, 2%. fee Pf cvi. g. of Chrift’s. rebuking the fea, fee Matt. ‘viii, 26: I make the rivers a wilderne/s; as dry as the wildernefs, and parched ground; in which perfons may pafs as on dry ground, and as travellers pafs thro’ a wildernefs; fo Fordan was made for the J/raelites, Jy. iii. 17. and may be here particulafly meant; « called rivers, becaufé of the excellency of it, and the abundance of water in it, which. fometimes overflowed its banks; and becaufe other rivers fall into it, as Kimchi obferves: their flelh ftinketh, becaufe there is no water, and dieth for thirft; as they did when the rivers of Ezypt-were turned into blood; Exod. vii. 21. ey W.'3. 1 clothe the heavens with blacknefs, 8cc.] With ‘grofs and thick darknefs; perhaps referring to the three days-darknefs the Egyptians wete in, Exod. % 21, 22, 23. or with thick and ‘black clouds, as in tempeftuous weather frequently; or by eclipfes of the fun; there was an extraordinary inftance of great darknefs at the time of Chrift’s crucifixion, Matt. xxvii. 45. and I make fackcloth their covering; that being black, and ufed in times

}of mourning; the allufion may be to the tents of

Kedar, which were covered with fackcloth, or fuch like black ftuff. The fall of the Pagan empire, through the power of Chrift and his gofpel, is fignified by the fun becoming black as fackcloth of hair, Rev. vi. 12. archi interprets this parabolically of the princes of the nations, when the Lord fhall come to take vengeance upon them; as Kimchi does the fea, and the rivers, in the preceding verfe, of the good things of the nations of the world, which they had in great abundance, and fhould be deftroyed.

¥. 4. The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, &c.| Thefe are not the words of ‘the prophet, as 4ben Ezra, Kimchi, and others think; though what is here faid is applicable to minifters of the word, who have to do with weary fouls, and it is their work to comfort and refrefh them;

and which work requires knowledge and experience of their cafe, a good degree of elocution to {peak aptly and with propriety, evén to have the tongue of the learned, efpecially in a fpiritual fenfe; as fuch have, who have learned of the Father, and have been taught by the Spirit of God, and are well verfed in the fcriptures, and can fpeak in the taught words of the Holy Ghoft, comparing fpiritual things with fpiritual; and they have need of great prudence to time things right, to fpeak fitly and opportunely, and give to each their portion in due feafon, to whom they minifter, and alfo great diligence and affiduity in prayer, reading and meditation; and fuch as are teachers’ of others muft be the Lord’s hearers, and fhould be very diligent and attentive ones; all which are gifts from the Lord, and to be afcribed to him. But the words are to be underftood of Chrift, the fame perfon that is fpeaking in the preceding verfes; who being anointed by the Spirit of the Lord God, as man, whofe gifts and graces he received without meafure, he was abundantly qualified for the difcharge of his: prophetic office; and was’ capable of {peaking as never man did, and with fuch power and authority as the Scribes and Pharifees did not, and with fo much wifdom and eloquence, as were furprizing to all that heard him; he had the {pirit of wifdom on him, and the treafures of wifdom and. knowledge hid in him: that I foould

‘know bow to peak a word in feafon to him that is

«weary not only faints, weary with fin, their own and others, and with troubles from the world, ‘ from fatan, and by afflictive providences; but finners under firft awakenings, diftrefled and uneafy in their minds at a fight of fin, in its exceeding finfulnefs; preffed with the guilt of it, filled with a fenfe of divine wrath on account of it, and ter- tified with the thoughts of death, and a future:

judgment; and are weary with labouring for bread which fatisfies not, for righteoufnefs and life, and in feeking for refting places, being in want of piritual reft, peace and comfort; and who are hunery and thirfting after righteoufnefs, after pardoning grace and mercy, after Chrift and. falyation by him, after his word and ordinances, after communion with him, and conformity to him; who are weak and ftrengthlefs, and ready to, faint for want of refrefhment.. The word for weary fignifies thirfly, according to archi, Kimchi, and. Ben Melech; who explain it of perfons that thirft after hearing the word of the Lord: the Targum is, $* to *« know how to teach the mghteous that..weary “‘ themfelves at the words of the law;’? or, as fome render it, that pant after the words of the -law: but not the law, but the gofpel is the word in feafon, to be fpoken to weary fouls; which proclaims pardon, preaches peace, is the word of righteoufnefs and falvation,; which directs hungry and thirfty fouls to Chrift, as the bread and water of life, and invites weary ones to him for reft. That word of his, Matt. xi. 28, 29. is a word in feafon to fuch perfons: fuch a word Chrift fpoke when he was here on earth in his own perfon, and now {peaks by his minifters in the preaching of the gofpel, and by his Spirit applying it to his people. He wakeneth morning. by morning; one after another continually, meaning himfelf; the allufion.is to matters calling their fcholars betimes to their ftudies; the morning being the fitteft feafon for. inftruction and learning..He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned; who hear attentively, and with great pleafure and profit. This and the preceding claufe feem to denote both the earlinefs in. which Chrift entered on his prophetic office, and his attentivene(s in hearkening to all that was faid in the eternal council and covenant by his divine Father; which he, as the prophet of his church, makes known unto his people, Yobn xv. 15.

¥. 5. The Lord God hath opened mine ear, &c.] To hear moft freely, and receive moft fully, what is faid by him, and to obferve and do it: the allufion feems to be to the fervant that -had) his ears bored, being willing to ferye his mafter for ever, Exod, xxi, 55 6. which phrafe of boring or opening the ear is ufed of Chrift, Pf xl. 6. It is expreffive of his voluntary obedience as mediator to his divine Father, engaging in, and. performing with the greateft readinefs and chearfulnefs, the great work of man’s redemption and falvation. And Iwas not rebellious; not to his earthly parents, to whom he was fubjeét nor to civil magiftrates, to whom he paid tribute; nor to God, he always did the things that pleafed him: he was obedient to the precepts of the moral Jaw, and to the penalty of it, death itfelf, and readily fubmitted to the will of God in fuffering for his people; which pe obedience of his was. entirely free and voluntary, full, compleat and perfeét, done in the room and

- barbam tibi vellunt Lafeivi pueri. orace. Idcirco ftolidam prebet tibi vellere barbam dapipet? Perfius, Satyr. 2.

nen afficior ignominia, Junius & Tremelli

|e Ne, aa cae ee asks yo eer ftead of his people; is the meafure of their righty teoufnefs, and by which they become righteous’, is well pleafing to God, and ‘infinitely ‘preferable to the obedience of men and angels: meither turned away back; he did not decline the -work:propofed to him, but readily engaged in it; he never ftopped in it, or defifted from it, until, he had finifhed it; he did not hefitate about it, as Mofes and Feremys or flee from it,.as \Forab. © yo ¥.:6. L gave my back.tothe fmiters, &e.] To Pontius Pilate, and thofe he ordered to feourge him, Matt. xxvii. 26:,and my cheeks to them that hed off the bair, of the beard; which, as’painful; fo a‘ great indignity and affront. The Sep~ tuagint renders it, and my cheeks to blows; ss ee monalos a word ufed by the Evangelifts when they fpeak of Chrift being fmitten and ftricken with the palms of mens hands, and-feem to referto this paffage, Mark xiv. 65. John xviii. 22. fee Mic. v. 1; Ll hid, not my face from foame and fpitting, or from fhameful {pitting they fpit in his face,and expofed him to fhame, and,which was a fhameful ufage. of him, and yet he took it patiently, Matt. xxvi. 67. thefe.are all inftances of great fhame and reproach; as what is more reproachful among us, or more expofes a man, than:to be {tripped of his cloaths, receive lafhes on his bare back, and that in public? in which ignominious manner Chrift was ufed: or what reckoned more fcandalous, than for a man to have his beard plucked by a mob? which ufed to be done by rude and wanton boys, to fuch as were accounted ideots, and little better than brutes*; and nothing is more affronting than to fpit in a man’s face. So ob was ufed, which he mentions as a great indignity done to him, ch.xxx. 10. | With fome people, and in fome countries, particular places, that were mean and. defpicable; were appointed for that ufe: particularly to fpit in. Hence Ariftippus the philofopher, being fhewn a fine room in 4 houfe, beautifully and richly: paved, {pat in the face of the owner of it; at which he being angry, and refenting it, the phildfopher replied, that he had not a fitter-place to {pit in”.

¥. 7. For the Lord Ged will help me, 8&c.] As he promifed he would, and did, Pf, lxxxix. 21.. If. xlix. 8. which'is no contradiction to the deity of Chrift, nor any fuggeftion of weaknefs in him; for he is the true God, and has all divine perfections in him; is equal to his Father in power, a& well as in glory, and therefore equal to the work of redemption, as his other works fhew him to be; but this is to be underftood of him as man, and exprefles his {trong faith and confidence in God, and in his promifes as fuch; and in his human nature he was weak, and was crucified thro’ weaknefs, and in it he was: made ftrong by the Lord, and was held and upheld by him: and this fhews the greatnefs of the work of man’s redemptfon, that it was fuch that no:mere creature could effect; even Chrift as man needed help and. affiftance in it; and alfo the concern that all: pp agi Le fons had in it: therefore fhall I not. be confe 3 ened againft all oppofition;

ed;. conftant and unmoved by the words and blows; of men; not.to_be brow-beaten, or put out.of countenance by any thing they can fay or do. He was not difmayed at his enemies who came to apprehend him, though they came to him as a thief; refolute and undaunt- of God, sor of his tremendous judgments, or of wrath to come, but with a filial fear, a fear of the Lord, and his.goodnefs; which is an. internal principle in the heart,.a reverential affection for God, a godly fear of him; is attended with faith in him, and joy.of him; which makes holy, and with {words and ftaves; nor in the high-prieft’s palace, nor in Pélate’s hall, in both which places he was roughly ufed; nor at fatan, and his principalities and powers; nor at death itfelf, with all its terrors. And I know that I /hall.not be afhamed; neither of his miniftry, which was with power and authority; nor of his miracles, which were proofs. of his Deity and Mefliahfhip; nor of his. obedience, which was pure, and perfect, and pleafing to God; nor of his fufferings, which were for the fake of his people nor of the work of redemption and falvation, in which he was not fruftrated nor difappointed’ of his end. | ¥.8. He is near that juftifieth me, &c.] His Father was zear him in his whole ftate of humiliation; he left him not alones he was at his-righthand, and therefore he was not moved; and juftified him from all the calumnies of his enemies, or the falfe charges they brought againft him, and from all the ‘fins of his people that were upon him; thefe he took upon him, and bore them, and made fatisfaction for them, upon which he was acquit ‘ted; and which is evident by his refurre¢tion’ from the dead, by his’ aftenfion ‘to heaven, and feffion at the right-hand of God; and by the gifts’ of the Spirit, extraordinary and ordinary, he received for men, and gave unto them, fee 1 Tim. iii. 16. Who. will contend with me? being thus acquitted, will the law and juftice of God litigate the point with him? they are both fatisfied; will fatan difpute the matter with him? he is foiled, conquered and: deftroyed; or -will the wicked Fews enter the lifts with him? wrath is come upon them to the uttermoft. Let us ftand together, face to face, if they dare; let them face me, if they can: who is mine adverfary? let him appear, that he may be known: let bim come near to me, and engage with me, if he has courage or fkill. This is bidding defiance to-all his enemies, and triumphing oyer them.; > ¥.9. Bebold, the Lord God will help me, &c.] This ‘is repeated from ¥. 7. fee'the note there, to fhew the certainty of it, the ftrength of his faith in it, and to difcourage his enemies: who is he that foall condemn me? make me out a wicked perfon®, prove me guilty, and pafs fentence upon me, when thus acquitted and juftified by the Lord God? The apoftle Paul feems to have fome reference to this paffage in Rom. viii. 33, 34. Jo, they all fhall wax old as doth a garment, his enemies, thofe that accufed him, the Scribes, Pharifees, and chief-priefts; and thofe that condemned him, the Yewi/h fashedtim, and the Roman governor: the moth foall eat them up, they fhall be like a worn-out or moth-eaten garment, that can never be ufed more. The phrafes ‘denote how fecret, infenfible, and irrecoverable their ruin fhould be, both in their civil and church-ftate, all being aboliftied and doneaway. “@ > 8 Oe -¥. 10. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, &c.J Not with a flavith fear of the awful majefty ern Gaye x;

, comets Qemege Udi eon, *: ene “rete oe COCO keeps humble, and take3 in the whole worfhip, of God: of men of this charaéter there are but few, and efpecially there were but few among the Jews at this time which the prophecy refers to; the greateft part were rejecters of Chrift, before fpoken of, andto; and from whom the Lord turns himfelf, and addreffes thefe few. There are ‘none

‘that naturally fear the Lord, only fuch who have the grace beftowed on them; their number is’but {mall, but there are always fome in the worft of times, and thefe are taken notice of by the Lord, © Mal. ili. 16, 17. and iv. 2. that obeyeth the voice of his fervant; not the prophet, as the Targum adds, and as it is commonly interpreted by the fewih writers and others; though fome of them fay “ this is Metatron, a name of the Meffiah with. them; and indeed he is meant,. before fpoken of as the Lord’s fervant, and reprefented as an’ obedient one, and afterwards as righteous; fee ch. xlix. 3. and I. 5, 6. and liii. 11. and» by his vorte is meant either his gofpel, which is a foul-quickening and comforting voice, a charming and alluring one; and which is obeyed, heard and hearkened to by his people, externally and internally, when they receive it by faith, and in the love of it; or elfe his commands, precepts and ordinances, which love conftrains his people to an obedience unto; and where there is the fear of God, there will be hearing of his word, and fubmiffion to his ordinances: that walketh in darknefs; not the Lord’s fervant, but the man that fears the Lord,

‘and obeys his fervant’s voice, fuch an one may be in darknefs, and walk in it; or iz darkneffes*, as in the original; not only in affli€tion and mifery, often exprefled by darknefs in fcripture, but in defertion, under the hidings of God’s face; and which may continue for a while: and bath no light? or fhining‘ not without the licht of nature, nor without the light of grace, but without the light of God’s countenance fhining upon him; without the light of {piritual joy and comfort fhining in his heart; and this muft ‘be a very diftreffing cafe indeed. Let him trujft in the name of the Lord, not ‘in himfelf, nor in any creature, but’ in the. Lord himfelf; in the perfections of his nature, his mercy, ¢racé and goodaefs; in the name of the Lord, “which is a ftrone tower, and in whom is falvation #7 in Chrift, in whom the name of the ‘Lord is, and whofe name is the Lord our righteoufnefs; and to'tru(t invhim, when in the dark, is'a‘glorious act of faith; this is believing in hope againft hope. And flay upon his God, covenantintereft continues in the darkeft difpenfation; God is the believer’s God ftill; and faith is a ftaying or ‘leaning upon him, as fuch; a.dependeace upon his’ power to protect, on his wifdom to -guide, and on his grace, goodnefs and all-fufficiency to fapply.

¥. 01. Bebold, all ye that kindle a fire, &c.] To enlighten and watm yourfelves; who rejecting Chrift the light of the world, and defpifing’ the a ne ~ ‘glorious glorious light of his gofpel, and loving darknefs rather than light, fet up the light of nature and ‘reafon as the rule of faith and practice; or the traditions and doétrines of men to be guided by; or their own righteoufnefs for their juftification before ‘God, and acceptance with him: that compas yourfelves about with fparks; that fly out of the fire kindled, or are {truck out'of a flint, which have little light and no heat, and are foon out; which may denote the fhort-lived pleafures and comforts, which are had from the creature, or from any thing of a man’s own: walk in the hight of your fire, and ‘in the parks that ye have kindled; an ironical expreffion, bidding them take all the comfort and fatisfaétion they could in their own works and do-

HIS chapter gives the church and people ae of God reafon to expect comfortable times and certain falvation, though they had many enemies. They are directed to look to Abraham and Sarak, fignified by the rock and hole of the pit, and obferve how he was called alone, bleffed and increafed; which fhould be improved as an argu- -ment to ftrengthen their faith, that God could and would blefs and increafe his church, though in a low eftate, and bring it into a flourifhing one, ¥.1,2, 3. They are affured of the publication of the gofpel, exprefled by the law, doctrine and judgment of the Lord; by which means the righteoufnefs and falvation of Chrift fhould be brought nigh to them, as the object of their truft and confidence, ¥. 4, 5. and alfo of the perpetuity of his righteoufnefs and falvation, when the hea- -vens, and the earth, and the inhabitants of it fhould decay, even their revilers and perfecutors, and therefore they need not fear their reproaches and revilings, ¥. 6, 7, 8. upon which follows a prayer of faith, that the Lord would exert his power as in former times, when he deftroyed the Egyptians, and dried up the red fea for J/rael to pafs through, the ranfomed of the Lord; from whence it might be concluded, that the redeemed of the Lord would be brought into a very comfortable condition again, ¥. 9, 10, 11. wherefore they had no reafon to be afraid of men, fince the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth, would deliver, comfort, and eftablifh them, of which he affured them by his prophet, y. 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. and though Yeru/alem, and her fons, were, or would be, in a very diftreffed condition, through the fword and famine, which is defcribed, y. 17, 18,19, 20. yet they fhould be delivered out of it, and their perfecutors fhould be brought into the fame, ¥, 21, 22, 23.

¥. 1. Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteoufnefs, &c.] After having declared the doom of the wicked, and thofe that truft to their own righteoufnefs, the Lord returns to them that fear him, whom he defcribes as fuch that follow. after righteoufne/s, not the righteoufnefs of the law, it is the character of carnal L/rae/ to follow after that; nor is that attainable in the way it is purfued by fuch; nor is there any juftification by it; nor is following that confiftent with feeking the Lord, in the next claufe: but the righteoufnefs of Chrift is meant; not his effential righteoufnefs as God;

ings, and get all the light and heat they fey from thence: this fhall ye bave of mine hand, whi h you may depend upon receiving from me, for rejecting me and my righteoufnefs, and trufti oe your own: ye fhall lie down in forrow; inttead of being juftified hereby, and having peace with God, and entering into heaven, ye fhall be preffed down with fore diftrefs, die in your fins, and enter into an everlafting {tate of condemnation and death; fee Mark xvi. 16. This was the cafe and ftate of the ews, Rom. ix. 31, 32. and x. 3. Fobn viii. 24. and iii. 19,20. This is one of the paflages the Fews * fay is repeated by the company of angels, which meet a wicked man at death..

nor the righteoufnefs of his office as mediator; but that which confifts of his active and paffive obedience; of which he is the author and giver, and is in him as its fubject: this is what is commonly called imputed righteoufnefs, an evangelical one, the righteoufhefs of faith, and is juftifying: following after this fuppofes a want of one; a fenfe of that want; a view of this as out of themfelves, and in another; a love and liking of it, and a vehement defire for it; and what determines to an eager purfuit of it, are its perfection, fuitablenefs and ufe: now fuch perfons are called to bearken to the Lord; to the word of the Lord, as the Zargum; to Chrift, to his gofpel, and to his ordinances, particularly to what is after faid: ye that feek the Lord; the Lord Chrift, for life and falvation; for righteoufnefs and ftrength; for more grace from him; a greater knowledge of him, and of doétrine from him, as the Targum, and more communion with him; that feek his honour and glory in the world, and to be for ever with him; who feek firft the kingdom of God, and ‘his righteoufnefs; that feek him where he may be found, affectionately and fincerely, carefully, diligently, conftantly, and for every thing they want: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn; which is in the next ve interpreted of Abraham; fo called, not fo much for the ftrength of his faith, as for his old age; when he looked like a hard dry rock, from whom no iffue could be expected; and yet from hence a large number of ftones were hewn, or a race of men fprung: and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged, that is, to Sarab, who was for a long time barren, whofe womb was fhut up, but afterwards opened; and from whom, as from a ciftern,’ (te Which a wife is fometimes compared, Prev. vy. 15, 18.) flowed the waters of Fudah, ch. xlviii, 1. or the Fewifh nation. Ferom thinks Chrift is meant by both, the rock of ages, in whom is everlafting ftrength; to whom men are to look for falyation, righteoufnefs, and ftrength; and out of whofe pierced. fide flowed blood and water: and in this fenfe he is followed by Cocceius, who interprets the rock of Chrift, the rock of falvation; out fide flowed the church, as out of the hole pit or ciftern. ee: 2 Wh bone ¥.2. Look unto Abraham your father, 8c.)

only the father of the Few nation, but of al} them that believe: this explains what is meant by the rock, in the former verfe; who is to be look unto for imitation in the exercife of: faith, and performance of duty, and for encouragement in diftrefled times and circumftances: and unto Sarah that bare you; fignified by the pit or ciftern; who was not only the mother of the Yew#/b nation; but fuch alfo are her daughters who do well, and tread in her fteps: now the very unpromifing circum- {tances thefe two perfons were in, are propofed to be confidered by the church in her prefent ones, for the encouragement of her faith; that as a numerous iffue proceeded from them, fo alfo fhould fhe become fruitful and multiply: for I called bim alone, and blefed him, and increafed him he was without iffue when he was called out of Chaldea into another country, and alfo the only one of the family; and the Lord d/efed him not only with flocks and herds, and gold and filver, but with a fon in his old age; and {o increafed him, that there fprung from him as many as the ftars of the fky in multitude, and as the fand by the fea-fhore innumerable, Heb. xi. 12. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions, between Jleffed and increafed, infert thefe words, and I loved bim, which are not in the Hebrew text. The Targum is, * and one was Abra- “<¢ bam, alone in the world, and I brought. him to “ my fervice, and I blefied him, and multiplied =f him.”

y. 3. For the Lord fhall comfort Zion, &c.] The church, by his Spirit, in the miniftration of the word, and adminiftration of ordinances; by the donation of the bleffings of grace, and by the application of gofpel-promifes; by the difcoveries of his love; by granting his gracious prefence; by bleffing his word; and by calling many fouls, and adding them to his people: and in order to engage the church and people of God to believe God will do this, and that he can and will blefs and increafe them when in a low eftate, the above inftances of calling Abraham alone, and the bleffing and increafing him, are produced: he will comfort all her wajfte places, by rebuilding them, and reftoring them to their former luftre and glory: the church may be faid to be waffle and defolate, and like a wildernefs and defert, as in the next claufes, when the doétrines of the gofpel are departed from, the ordinances of public worfhip are not attended to, and the difcipline of it is not kept up; when there are great declenfions among the ' Lord’s people, in their faith, love, patience, forbearance, felf-denial, fpirituality, and heavenlymindednefs; when divifions and animofities prevail among them; when there is a negligence in their lives and converfations; and there are but few inftances of converfion, and a general unconcernednefs about thofe things; but fo it will not always be: and he will make her wilderne/s like Eden, and her defert like the garden of the Lord, the church is a garden, a {mall fpot, in comparifon of the world, diftinguifhed and feparated by the grace of God from others; in which are many precious fouls, comparable to trees, herbs, and plants; and thefe don’t grow up of themfelves, but are planted there by the Lord; and much pains are taken by him, the hufbandman, to cultivate this garden: for it is his, the garden of the Lord; it is of his planting; it is his property, and inclofed for his ufe; it is an Eden, ‘pleafantly fituated on a fruitful hill, Chrift Jefus, by the river of divine,love; is full of pleafant plants, pleafant to the owner of the gar- ~ den, and to the faints themfelves; it becomes fruitful thro’ the dews of divine grace, the rifing of Chrift, the fun of righteoufnefs, and the blowing of the fouth wind, the blefled Spirit, and may be faid to be in a very comfortable condition, when the word and ordinances are duly minittred; when the graces of the Spirit are in exercife, and many fouls are converted: the confequence of which is, joy and gladnefs fhall be found therein, thankfgiving, and the voice of melody, for the pure preaching of the gofpel; the feaft of fat things made in the holy mountain; the prefence of God enjoyed; a lively exercife of grace in the faints; and many fouls born again. The Targum is, ‘ joy “¢ and rejoicing fhall be found in her; they that ** offer thankfgiving, and the voice of them that as vagy 3” all hearts filled with joy and gladnefs.

¥. 4. Hearken unto me, my people, &c.] His. fpecial people, whether Fews or Gentiles, chofen by him, taken into covenant with him; given to Chrift, redeemed by him as a peculiar people, and called by his grace; thefe are exhorted to hearken to him; to his word, as the Targum; fee y. 1: and give ear unto me, O my nation; not the nation of the Fews only; but the Gentiles; a nation taken out of a nation, even out of all nations; a chofen, and a holy nation. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions render it kimgs; fuch are made kings and priefts unto God; fee 1 Pet. ii. 9, 10: fora law Joall proceed from me; not the Simai-law, but the gofpel; that doctrine that is faid to go out of Ziou, ch. il, 3. as Kimchi rightly obferves, who adds, ** for the king Meffiah fhall teach the people to

** walk in the ways of the Lord; and this fhall be

“¢ after the war of Gog and Magog:” and this law or doétrine of God comes from Chrift, and is dictated, directed, and made effectual by his Spirit: and I will make my judgment to reft for a light of the people; this is the fame with the law, or doctrine of the gofpel, called judgment, becaufe it comes from the God of judgment, flows from his wifdom and counfel, and is a declaration of his will; it explains his method of juftifying finners, and is the means of awakening, convincing, and judging the con{ciences of men, and of informing and eftablithing the judgments of the faints, and by which the world will be judged at the laft day. Now this is for a light of the people, to enlighten unconverted ones, fuch who fit in darknefs, to turn them from it, and call them out of it into marvellous light; and to illuminate the faints yet more and more, both with refpect to doétrine and duty. And this is faid to be made to ref; which denotes both the continuance of it in the world, until all the ends of it are anfwered; and the fpiritual reft it gives to weary fouls now, as well as points out to them that which remains for them hereafter. Tho’ the words may be rendered, / will caufe my judgment to break forth”; like the morning, fuddenly, and in a moment; to which agrees what follows. ¥. 5. My righteoufnefs is near, 8&cc.] Thefe are either the words of God the Father, and to be underftood not of his effential righteoufnefs, nor of his vindiétive juftice; but of the righteoufnefs of his Son, which he calls his own, becaufe he approves and accepts of it, imputes and reckons it to his people, and with it juftifies them, The words may be rendered, my righteous one, as in the Vulgate Latin verfion; not Cyrus, as Grotius; but: Chrift,

! So R. Jonah, in Ben Melech, takes it to have the fignification of P37) 4

_ moment; as if the fenfe is, “ my judgment I will fhew every moment from this time, to enlighten the people with it.”

manner; as the heavens and the earth; be diffolyedt as they, and ina like manner; vanitfh as fmokes» and be feen no more; wax old as a garment, ‘ands become ufelefs and unprofitable... De Diew render® it, as a loufe'!, and fo this word fometimes fignit fies; and this fenfe is approved of by many 1 men", and feems beft to agree with the text; fincé neither the héavéns and the earth are faid to die, nor {moke, or a garment: and it may denote how loathfome and naufeous wicked men are’ in life; like vermin; and how mean and contemptible in death, their bodies are vile and defpicable, and t eafily they are deftroyéd: but my falvation fhall be for ever; that falvation which Chrift has wrought out for his people, is an éveflafting falvation, ch. xlv. 17.. Heb. v. 9. and they that are interefted in. ‘it, will be always fafe and happy; and tho’ they: {hall die as other men, they fhall rife again, and enjoy glory, immortality, and eternal lite: amd my righteoufne[s fhall not be. abolifoed, the righteoufnels which Chrift has. brought. in ‘for his people, and. by which they are juftified, is alfo everlafting, Dan. ix. 24. or, fhali not be broken® % it anfwers: all the demands of law and juftice, and ftands firhy againit all the accufatidns and charges of men and devils: or, /ball not fail°, as the Septuagint; its. virtue to juftify will always continue; it will an- {wer for the faints in.atime to come, even at the laft judgment. The Targum is, it ‘* fhall not “« tarry;” being near to be wrought olit and revealed, ¥. 5. arn ¥. 7. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteoufnefi,, &c.] The righteoufnefs of God, and of his law; the purity of his nature, what righteoufnef$ is agreeable to him, and required by him; the imperfection and infufficiency of a man’s own righteoufnefs, and the glory and fulnefs of Chrifts tighteoufnefs, revealed in the gofpel,; and fo know that, as to approve of it, follow after it, lay hold upon. it, believe in it, and rejoice in it, as thei ‘jultifying righteoufnefs: the people in whofe beart is my law; not in their heads only, but in their hearts; having an underftanding of it, an affection. -for it, and the biafs of their minds toward it; being written there by the finger of the divine Spirit, according to the covenant-of grace, Jer. XXKi. 33. and not in tables of ftone, as the law of Adojes, and of which this is not to be underftodd’; but of the law or doctrine of Chrift, even the everlafting gofpel; which coming with power, and the Holy.. Ghoft, into the hearts of the Lord’s people, is re>~ ceived by them with great approbation and affec- ‘tion, in faith and love; they obey it from their hearts, and are caft into the mould of it: fear ye | not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of thew revilings; either of the Jews, the Scribés and Pharifees, for renouncing a pharifaical righteoufhels, and embracing the righiteoufhefs of Chrift; for jecting the traditions of the elders, ‘the rituals ‘the ceremonial law, and the doétrine ‘of jutti tion by the works of the moral law; and fo

Chrift, God’s righteous fervant, who was near to come in the fiefh, in order to work rightcoufnefs. Or thefe are the words of Chrift, {peaking ot his own righteouinefs, which was, near being, wrought out by him, as it was, when he became the end of the law for it, by obeying. its precept, and bearing its penalty; and near being revealed. in. the gofpel, where it. is revealed from faith to faith 5. and near being applied by the bleffed Spirit, as it is to all that belicve; and is near to be come at, and Jaid hold on, by faith: my Jalvation 1s gone forth; the falvation appointed by the Lord, provided in covenant; wrought out by Chrift; applied by the Spirit; and fully enjoyed in heaven: this is gone forth in the purpofe and decree of God, in prophecy and promife, and in the declaration of the gofpel: or, my Saviour, as the Vulgate Latin verfion; the Saviour of God’s appointing, providing, and, fending. Or thefe are the words of the Saviour himfelf,, who has wrought it out, in whom it is» and of whom it is to be had; it is done, and ready for finners-to look unto and embrace; it is ready to be revealed, and to be fully enjoyed: and mine arms fhall judge the people; to. whom the arm of the Lord is revealed, and the gofpel is the power of God unto falvation; both the arms of Chrift are ready to receive them, and thefe protect and defend them, and judge, condemn, and deftroy thofe that defpife it: she sles foall wait upon me; upon,Chrift, for his coming; for his falvation and righteoufnels; for his gofpel, the truths, promifes, and bleffings of it; and in his houfe and ordinances, for his prefence.. ‘This is a prophecy of the converfion of the Gentiles, even in the ifles of the fea, thofe afar off, as ours of Great-Britain and Ireland, in which there have been, and. are many waiting upon him: aad on imine arm foall they truft; as on Chrift, the arm of the Lord, for falvation; fo on the power of Chrift for protection and prefervation; and on his promifes in the golpel, for their fupport; which is the arm of the Lord revealed unto them, and yields much fupport and comfort, and makes known that which is a proper objeét of truft.

y. 6. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, &c.| And obferve their beauty and order, the conftant and regular motion of the heavenly bodies, the firmnefs and folidity of them: and look upon the earth beneath; how ftable and well founded it is: for the heavens foall vanifo away like Jmoke, tho’ they are fo firm, and have lafted fo long, and have kept their conftant fituation and courfe, -yet they fhall melt away like falt, as the word * fignifies, and ‘difappear in an inftant like fmoke. Reference feems to be had to the general conflagration, when the heavens being on fire fhall be diffolved, and the elements fhall melt with fervent heat, 2 Per. tit. 12: and the earth foall wax old like a garment, and be folded up, ‘and laid afide, as ufelefs; fee Pf. cii. 26. This feems to defign not a fubftantial deftruction of the earth, but of its qualities, when waxing old it fliall be renewed and changed. Farchi interprets thefe. claufes of the princes of the hofts of people in heaven, and of the governors of the earth; but the inhabitants théreof are mentioned next: and they that dwell therein fhall die in like dially receiving the pure gofpel of Chrift: idolatrous heathens, from whom they and that for leaving the religion of tel and the gods of their fathers, and profe one only true God, and Jefus Chrift, wh ret | k int, amwcorti, Symmachus...It-is exprefive. of corraption and confumption, as Ben. Melech ob fenfe of falt-land, not inhabired, Jer. xvii. 6. It denotes, as Guifetius * thinks.. the flu€tuating and confufed vens, like thofe of ‘the falt fea, ‘and as fmoke over the head. - ene py tanquam culus; De ufed in Exod. viii, 16, 17, 18; inftar vermiculi, Vitringa. ‘ m Cal¥inus, Gataker, Guffetius.. ies conteretur, Pagninus, Montanus; atteretur, Junius & T'remellius, Pifcator. So Ben Melechi prots it, all not ° Ot on exdreirn, Sept. non deficiet, V.L. neigh ery on tae ale as eh 4 Ph fent: or of the antichriftian worbhippers, and of the man of fin at the head of them, who belches out his blafphemies againft God and Chrift, his tabernacle and faints; but neither their fhocking blafphemies, nor fpiteful taunts and jeers, nor menacing words, nor even cruel perfecutions, fhould deter the faints from the profeffion of Chrift and his gofpel.

y. 8. For the moth fhall eat them up like a garment, &c.} Either thefe reproaches, or the perfons that reproach; as a garment is eaten by the moth, fecretly, flowly, furely, and at laft compleatly, fo that it becomes utterly good for nothing; fo fecret, gradual, fure and certain, compleat and perfect, will be the ruin and deftruétion of the enemies of Chrift and his people: and the worm fhall eat them like wool, or as a woollengarment, which is moft liable to be moth-eaten; for the moth and worm are much the fame, as Kimchi and Ben Melech obferve; who fay, that in the Arabic tongue the moth is called by a name much of the fame found with this word in the text; and the fenfe is, that as a woollen garment is eaten and confumed by vermin, fo wicked men will be deftroyed by the vengeance of the Lord upon them; for the moth and worm defign both the judgments of God upon them in this world, and his wrath in the other, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched: dut my righteoufnefs foall be for ever; to jultify his people, and fecure them from wrath and ruin: and my falvation from generation to generation; it will abide thro’ the endlefs ages of eternity, and be the portion of the faints for ever, of which they are now heirs; is nearer than when they firft believed, and is ready to be revealed, and will be everlaftingly enjoyed by

¥. 9. Awake, awake, put on firength, O arm of the Lord, &c.| The Septuagint and Arabic verfions take the words to be an addrefs to Feru/alem, and the Syriac verfion to Zion, asin y. 17. and ch. lii. 1. but wrongly: they are, as Farchi fays, a prayer of the prophet, or it may be rather of the church perfonated by him; and are addreffed either to God the Father, who when he does not immediately appear on the behalf of his people, is thought by them to be afleep, tho’ he never flumbers nor fleeps, but always keeps a watchful eye over them; but this they not apprehending, call upon him to awake; which is repeated, to fhew their fenfe of danger, and of their need of him, and their vehement importunity; and that he would cloath himfelf with ftrength, and make it vifible, exert his power, and make bare his arm, on their behalf: or they are an addrefs to Chrift, who is the power of God, that he would appear in the greatnefs of his ftrength, fhew himfelf ftrong in favour of his’

people, and take to himfelf his great power, and reign: awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old; which is mentioned not only as an argument to prevail with the Lord, that he would do as he had formerly done; but as an argument to encourage the faith of the church, that as he had done, he could and would ftill do great things for them: art thou not it that hath cut Rabab, that is, Egypt, fo called either from the pride and haughtinefs of its inhabitants; or from the large extent of the country; or from the form of it, being in the likenefs of a pear, as fome have thought;

Pifcator. And Ben Melech obierves, that } and, is in the room of pa) thas.

YAP. A. 28% fee Pf. Ixxxvii. 4. arid the fenfé is; art thou ridt that very arm, and ftill poffefled of the fame power, that cut or ewed to pieces, as the word ° fignifies; the Egyptians, by the ten plagues fent among them? and wounded the dragon; that is; Pharaoh king of Egypt, fo called from the river Nile in Egypt, where he reigned, and becaufe of his fiercenefs and cruelty; fee Ezek, xxix. 3. So the Targum interprets it of Pharaoh and his army, who were ftrong as a dragon. And that fame mighty arm, that deftroyed Egypt, and its tyrannical king, can and will de- {troy that great city; f{piritually called Sodom and. ° Egypt, and the beaft that has two horns like a lamb, but fpeaks like a dragon, and to whom the dragon has given his feat, power, and authority; and the rather this may be believed, fince the great red-dragon has been caft out; or Rome pagan has been deftroyed by him, Rev. xi. 8. and xiii: 2, 11. and xii. 3, 9.

¥. 10. Art thou not it which hath dried the fea; the waters of the great deep, &c.} That is; the Red-fea, and the deep waters of it; as it did, by caufing a ftrong eaft wind to blow, which drove the fea back, and made it a dry land, in the midft of which the children of J/rae/ walked; as on dry land, Exod: xiv. 21, 29. and the fame arm and

‘mighty power, can and will dry up the waters of the river Euphrates, to prepare the way of the kings of the eaft, Rev. xvi. 12: that hath made the depths of the fea a way for the ranfomed to pafs over? divided the waters of the fea, made a path through them, for the J/raelites, that were redeemed out of Egyptian bondage and flavery, to pafs over, and fo to go to Canaan’s land.:

y. 11. Therefore the redeemed of the Lord foall return, &c.] Or and, or fo*. In like manner, and as fure as the J/raelites had a way made for them thro’ the fea to pafs over, fo fure fhall all thofe that are redeemed by the blood of Chrift from fin,. fatan, the law, death and hell; be gathered out of the nations of the world, and from the antichriftian ftates, and fhall be converted; and turn to the Lord.. Or thefe words are a continuation of the above prayer, as ‘archi, let them return, or rather are an anfwer to it, and a promife that they fhould: and come with finging unto Zion; to the gofpel-church, and join themfelves to it, praifing God for his grace, in calling and converting them, adoring the riches of his diftinguifhing love, and finging the néw fong of redeeming grace; and hereafter they fhall return from the grave, and come to Zion above, finging the fong of Mo/es, and of the Lamb: and everlafting joy fhall be upon their head; vilible in the prefent ftate, more fo hereafter, when there will be upon them an eternal weight of glory, a crown of life and righteoufnefs: they fall obtain joy and gladnefs; by having the prefence of God, communion with him, views of intereft in Chrift, and the gracious influences of the bleffed Spirit; all thefe they enjoy in the church now; but in full perfection hereafter: and forrow and mourning foall flee away; either for fin, having the difcoveries and application of forgiving love; or on account of defertion, now enjoying the light of God’s countenance; or by reafon of perfecution, which in the latter day-glory will entirely ceafe. But all this will be moft fully accomplifhed in the new Ferufalem-church-ftate, and ultimate glory, Rev. xxi. 4, See the note on ch. xxxv. ro. Mites y. 12. J, even Tam he that comforteth you, &c. This is an anfwer to the prayer of the prophet, or the church by him, in which the Lord promifes not only affiftance and help, but comfort; not only to exert his power, and fhew his great ftrength, by making bare his arm; but to open his heart, unbofom himfelf, and fhew his great love and ftrong affection for them; and fo adminifter divine comforts unto them, giving more than was afked for: and he promifes to do it himfelf, not by his prophets and minifters, word and ordinances, though thefe are the ufual means; but he himfelf would do it by his Spirit and grace, and the immediate difcoveries of his love; and which he repeats, to fhew the certainty of it, as well as to point out to their view the great comforter himfelf, which is an inftance of amazing condefcenfion, and could not fail of exciting admiration and thankfulnefs in them; fee 2 Cor. i. 3, 4: who art thou that thou foouldeft be afraid of a man that foall die, a poor faint-hearted creature indeed, to be afraid of a frail mortal dying man; which is the cafe of every man, even of the greateft of men, of the kings and | princes of the earth, who all die like other men} the moft proud and haughty tyrants, the fierce and furious perfecutors of the people of God. Perhaps the Roman pagan. perfecutors may be had in view, whofe edicts were very terrible to the firft chriftians, whofe perfecutions were very violent and furious, and the tortures and deaths they put them to were very dreadful; and which put them in great fear, tho’ they had no reafon to fear them that could deftroy the body, and do no more; and the rather, fince thefe were mortal men, and did die, and their perfecutions came to.an end. Or it may.be,. the man of fin, the fon of péerdition, antichrift, is here referred to, who in. his time has made all to tremble at him, Rev. xiii. 3,.4. but mutt die, and his power too, and will be deftroyed with the breath | of Chrift’s mouth, and the brightnefs of his coming; and therefore his church and people have no reafon to be afraid'of him: and of the fon.of man, which {hall be made as grafs, as weak as that, which cannot ftand before the fcythe, is cut down, and tofled about, and trampled upon, and made hay of, and becomes. the food of beafts, P/. xc. 5, 6. and ciii. 15. J/ xl. 6. Or the words may be rendered, and of the fon of man, to whom grajs fhall be given*; which if underftood of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, of whom the people of the ews were afraid, and who'was a type of antichrift, it was literally true of -him, Daz. iv. 32, 33. - ¥. 13. And forgetteth the Lord thy. maker, 8c.) That he is thy maker, and therefore -is able to protect and:preferve thee; when the fear of man prevails, God is forgotten, his power, his providence, ‘his promifes; and paft inftances of divine favour and ‘goodnefs;were thefe more frequently recolleéted, confidered, and thought of, they would prove an: antedote againft the fear of men; and efpecially when it is obferved, that he that is. our maker is. he, that hath: fetched forth the heavens,. and laid the foundations of the earth, thefe.are -amazing works of his hands; and what is it. that he can’t do that has made thefe? thefe he upholds and maintains in being, and does all things: in them as: he pleafes, and over-rules all for his’.own glory, and his people’s good, and therefore they have nothing to fear from men; and yet they are afraid of them, fuch is their diftruft and unbelief: F YMJ “V’'¥M herba dabitur, Pagninus, Montanus.” Vitringa; and the word has the fignifitation of,and haft feared continually every day, not only at fome certain times, when the enemy has appeared very formidable, and threatened. with deftruGtion,, or ome terrible rumour has been fpread, but-every _ day, every hour, and every, moment; and to. be always in a pannic, muft be very uncomfortable living, as well as very difhonourable: decaufe. of he fury of the opprefor; either the king of Baby- /on, or antichrift: as if be were ready ta defray; had drawn his fword, and juft going to give the fatal blow: and. where, or but where is the fury of the cppreffor? where’s the fury of Pharaeb; that great oppreflor of God’s [/rael formerly? it is) gone and vanifhed like fmoke:, where’s the ‘fury of Senzacherib king of Affyria, and his army, that threatned Feru/alem with ruin? it was over inva hort time, in one night, the whole hoft, or the greater part of it, were deftroyed by an angel: and where is, or will be, the fury of the king of Babylon 2 it won't laft always; nor the fury of the antichri- {tian oppreffor. nd; Nerat?

¥. 14. The captive exile haftened that he maybe oofed, &c.| The. time hattens. on, or God will haften the time, for the releafe either of the captive ews in literal Babylon, or of his people in myftical Babylon; or they that are in exilevand captivity, as foon as ever opportunity offers: for their releafe, will take it, and make no delay: tho’ fome underftand the words by way of complaint, as if the perfons fpoken of were impatient, and could not wait the proper time of, their edeliverance: and that he fhould not die in the pit; in captivity, which was. like a pit or grave: wor that his bread foould fail, whilft in the pit or prifon, or on his way home. V4u/culus interprets all this of Pharaoh, whom he fuppofes to be the opprefior in the preceding verfe, and renders the words, who baftened going to open, left he foould die in the. deruétion, who when he faw the firft-born flain, haftened to open and let J/rae/ go, and was urgent upon them to be gone immediately, left he and all his people fhould perifh in that calamity: wor did bis dread fail, the bread of the people delivered out of Egyp¢, fo he underftands it, but were vided with bread from: heaven, all'the while they were in the wildernels; and yet this inftarice of divine. power and goodnefs was greatly forgotten in after-times. Yerom applies the. whole to Chrift, who fhould quickly come; going and treading down his enemies; opening the way of victory; faving thofe that are converted, and giving the bread of doétrine to them; but the words are a promife:ta. exiles.and prifoners, for the fake of Chrift,and his gofpel, that they fhould be quickly loofed and) fet tree, and not die in prifon, nor want bread, neither corporal nor fpiritual. ity brebabpods

¥.15. But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the fea, wha/é waves roared, &c.] Referring,to the dividing of the Red-fea by a violent wind, at which time the waves of it doubtlefs roared, till they were made to.ftand quietly, as a wall on the tightand left, forthe J/raelites to pafs through, as im #102 Or this is to be underltood of the power of God at any time, in {tilling and quieting the fea, when it rages; which fignification the word * here ufed has, as Alen Ezra. obferves; which power is exprefléd» by a rebuke or reproof of it. » And fo the Targum, *©I am the Lord ‘thy God, th “« the fea;” and in like manner the Syiac verfions fee Pf cvi. 9. Jf 1. ii. with which compare AMda#t.) * *-Y97 qui tranquillat, fess faciens vile f fom in XS reft and quietnefs in ¥. 4. (MN conet a

© viliie26." Now he that can do, and oftentimes has done this, can rebuke, reftrain, and ftill the fury of the oppreffors, the rage of the perfecutors, Rome pagan or papal, and deliver out of their hands, | Pf. xv. 72 the Lord of bofts is bis name, the Lord of armies in heaven and earth, and therefore is » able to do thefe things in a natural, civil, and réligious fenfe. ¥. 16. And Ihave put my words in thy mouth, &c.] His promifes and his truths, either in the mouth of his church, and people for them, both to preferve and tranfmit to future generations, and to publifh and declare to the comfort of each other, ch. lix. 21. or to the prophet J/aiah, to make known ‘to the people of J/rae/; ‘or to Chrift himfelf, the great prophet in //rael, by whom grace and truth are come, and by whom God has fpoken all his mind and will, and in whom all the promifes are yea and amen. ‘The doctrines of God, and: not men, as appears by their truth, purity, harmony and efficacy; they are the words of faith and: found doétrine, of peace and reconciliation, of pardon and righteoufnefs, of falvation and eterhal lite; and thefe were put into the mouth of Chrift, ‘to be publifhed and declared by him as the great prophet of the church; for which he was abundantly qualified as man and mediator, by being anointed with the Holy Ghoft, without meafure, and by having the tongue of the learned given him: hence he declares, that the doctrine he preached was not his own as man, but his Father’s, and that he fpoke nothing of himfelf, but what he heard of him, and was taught by him, and had a commandment from him to fay; and which words or doétrines he delivered to his apoftles, and put into their mouths to make known unto men; ‘fee Fobn vii. 16. and vili. 26, 28. and xii. 49, 50. and xvii. 8. And have covered thee in the fhadow of my band protected and defended both the church and its members, Chrift»and his minifters, his intereft-and kingdom, his gofpel, and the truths of it; with its ordinances; and continued them from age to age, notwithftanding the virulence and violence of falfe teachers and perfecutors, fee chap. xlix. 2. that I may plant the beavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, form and eftabith gofpelchurches in the world, in the Roman empire, and elfewhere, both by the words and doétrines of the gofpel; by the miniftry of the apoftles, and other preachers of the word; and by the hand of almighty power, the efficacious grace of God attending the fame: fo the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabie-verfions connect this’ claufe with the former, by which I have fertled the heavens, &c. thefe are called heavens for their purity, brightnefs and glory they have from the Lord; for the doctrines and ordinances of. the gofpel, which are from heaven, and not’ of*men; and for the true members of them, which are men-born from above, and partakers of the heavenly calling; and for the minifters of the gofpel, thofe ftars of light, which here hold forth the light of the'divine word to men; and where the fun of righteoufnefs arifes with healing in his wings, and where the clouds drop down the tain of heavenly “doétrine: thefe:are faid to be planted, -as if they were gardens, as the churches of -Chrift are, planted with all kind» of pleafant plants,)-with trees of tighteoufnefs, the planting of the Lord, that he may ‘be glorified; and thefe,. being watered with the dew of heaven, flourith and.

bring forth fruit: but planting rather denotes the ftability and duration of the churches of Chrift, which will continue as long as the days of heaven: or that thou mayeft plant *, referring either to the minifters of the word, who are. inftruments in planting churches, 1 Cor. iii. 7. vi. 1, 8. or to Chrift, the chief mafter-builder and founder of them; though this may principally refpect the making of the new heavens, and the new earth, which will be of Chrift’s forming and making, Rev. xxi. 1, 5. for it is not to be underftood of the firft making of the heavens and earth in a natural fenfe, or in a political fenfe of the fettling and eftablifhing of the Fewi/h nation: and fay unto Zion, thou art my people; the church of God, confifting whether of Fews or Gentiles, efpecially the latter, who once were not, but now being called through the miniftry of the word, are the people of God: and more particularly this will be. declared and made manifeft in the new Ferufalemftate, when all the elect of God will be gathered in, Rev. xxi. 3.

¥. 17. Awake, awake, fland up, O Ferufalem, &c.] As perfons out of a fleep, or out of a ftupor, or even out of the fleep of death; for this re- {pects a more glorious ftate of the church, the Ferufalem, the mother of us all, after great afflictions; and efpecially if it refpeéts the more glorious ftate of all on earth, fignified by the new Jerufalem, that will be preceded by the refurrection of the dead, called the firft refurrection, when the faints will awake out of the duft of the earth, and ftand upon their feet; fee Dan. xii. 2. 1 Dheff. iv. 16. Rev. xx. 5. though the laft glorious ftate of the church in the fpiritual reign of Chrift, is alfo expreffed by the rifing of the witneffes flain, by their ftanding on their feet, and by their afcenfion to heaven, Rev. xi. 11, 12. before which will’ be a time of great affliction to the church, as here: which haft drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; it is no unufual thing in fcripture for the judgments of God, upon a nation and people, or on particular perfons, to be fignified by a cup, and efpecially on wicked men, asthe effect of divine wrath, Pf. xi. 6. and Ixxxv. 8. Jer. XXV. 15, 16,17. Here it fignifies that judgment that begins at the houfe and church of God, 1 Pet. iv. 17. which looks as if it arofe from the wrath and fury of an incenfed God: and though it may greatly intend the wrathful perfecutions of men, yet fince they are by the permiffion and will of God, and are bounded and limited by him, they are called Ais cup, and faid to come from bis band, and the people of God take them, or confider them as coming by his appointment: thou haft drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling, and wrung them out; alluding to exceffive drinking, which brings a trembling of limbs, and fometimes ‘paralytic diforders on men, and to the thick fediments in the bottom of the cup, which are fixed there, as the word ° fignifies, and are not eafily got out, and yet every drop and every dreg are drunk up; fignifying, that the whole portion of fufferings, allotted to the Lord’s people, fhall come upon them, even what are moft difagreeable to them, and fhall fill them with trembling and aftonifhment. ie?

~¥. 18. There is none to guide her among all the fons whom fhe bath brought forth, 8&c.| Still alluding 'to drunken perfons ftaggering in the ftreets, that can fcarcely ftand on their fect, and do not know their way, and yet have none to hold them up and. guide guide them, not even of their friends and relations: neither is there any that taketh her by the hand, of all the fons that fhe hath brought up; to hold her up from falling, of which there is danger by reeling to and fro through the intoxicating liquor; and this, either for want of fons, thefe being dead, or through want of filial affection in them. This was true of Ferufalem, literally underftood, at the time of her laft deftruction by the Romans, when fhe had no king, prieft, nor prophet to counfel and direét, defend and protect her; and will be the cafe of the church of God at the flaying of the witnefles, when their own friends will be fhy of them, and refufe or neglect to do any kind offices, or fhew any refpect unto them, fignified by not fuffering their dead bodies to be put into graves, Rev. Xi. 9.

¥. 19. Thee two things are come unto thee, &c.] Affliction from the hand of God, though by means of enemies, and no friends to help, fupport and comfort, as before hinted: or elfe this refpects what follows, after it is faid, who hall be forry for thee? lament or bemoan thee? they of the earth will rejoice and be glad, and others will not dare to fhew any concern outwardly, whatever inward grief may be in their breafts, Rev. xi. 10. dejolation and deftruftion, and the famine, and the fword, which may be the two things before-mentioned; for though there are four words, they are reducible to two things, defolation, which is the fword, and by it, and deftruction, which is the famine, and comes by that, as Kimchi obferves: or the words may be rendered thus, de/olation and defiruétion, even the famine and the fword; {fo that there is no need of making thefe things four, and of confidering them as diftinct from the other two, as the Zargum makes them, which paraphrafes the whole thus, ‘* two tribulations come upon thee, “ O Ferufalem, thou canft not arife; when four fhall come upon thee, fpoiling and breach, and “¢ the famine and the fword, there fhall be none ‘*-to comfort thee but I.” All this was literally true of Ferufalem, both at the deftruction of it by the Chaldeans and by the Romans, and will be myftically true of the church at the flaying of the witneffes by the fword of antichrift; when there will be a famine, not of bread, nor of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord; and which will bring great devaftation and defolation on the intereft of Chrift: dy whom fhall I comfort thee? there being no miniftry of the word, nor admini- {tration of the ordinances, the ufual means of comfort, the witnefies being flain; fee Lam. i. 9, 16, 21. and ii, 13.

¥. 20. Thy fons have fainted, &c.] Through want of food, or at the defolation made, and have no fpirit in them to appear in the intereft of.true religion: they lie at the head of all the ftreets; emaciated by famine, and not able to walk, but drop down in the ftreets, and there lie panting and pining away; or flain by the enemy; or with the famine, and the fword, as 4ben Ezra, and none to bury them; fo the dead bodies of the witneffes fhall lie in the ftreet of the great city unburied, Rev, xi. 8, 9. a5 a wild bull in a net; that is flain, being taken; or if alive, however it flings about and ftrugeles, can’t extricate itfelf: fo it may denote fuch that furyive the calamity, yet held under the power of the enemy; and though inwardly fretting, and very impatient, can’t help themfelves, no more than fuch a creature taken in a toil or net; which ven Ezra takes to be a fowl, to which a net beft agrees; and the Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, as the oryx fnuared, which Dru- ius fays is the name of a bird; though it is ufed for a wild goat. So Arifiotle * makes mention of - it as of the goat-kind, and fays it has two hoofs, or is cloven-footed, and has one horn; and Bochart * takes it to be the fame with the unicorn’ of the fcriptures, or the monoceres; and according — to fome writers’, it is a very fierce and bold creature, and not eafily taken; and therefore it is no wonder, when it is in the net, that it {trives, tho” in vain, and till it is weary, to get out of it, and yet is obliged to lie there. But Kimchi fays the word, here ufed, fignifies a wild ox or bull +, as we render it: in Hebrew it is called Tho or Thoa, and very probably is the fame with the Toes mentioned by Ariftotle* and Pliny », and is rendered a wild ox in Deut. xiv. 5. where it is reckoned among fheep, goats, and deer. It is ftrange that the Septuagint fhould render it, as beet half boiled; or flaccid and withering, as the Syriac and Arabic verfions, taking it for a herb: and as much out of the way is the Zargum, which renders it, ** as ‘¢ broken bottles:” they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of thy God; that is, Ferufalem’s fons, the members of the church of God, prefeffors of religion, now full of calamities, which may feem to fow from the wrath of God, and be rebukes in fury, when they are only in love, Rev. iii. 19. and from whence they fhall be delivered, and their enemies punifhed, as follows.

¥. 21. Therefore hear now this, thou affuded, &c.] By Babylon, by antichrift and his followers; hear, for thy comfort, the following prophecy: and drunken, but not with wine; not with wine in a literal fenfe; nor with the wine of the fornication of the whore of Rome; nor with idolatry, as the kings of the earth are faid to be, Rev. xvii. 2. and xviii. 3. but, as the Yargum exprefies it, with tribulation; with afflictions at the hand of God, and perfecutions from men. jie’

y. 22. Lhus faith the Lord, the Lord and thy God, &c.] He who is Lord of all, the eternal Fehovah, who can do all things, and who is the covenant-God of his people, and will do all things he has purpofed and promifed, and which are for their good and his glory; of which they may be affured from the confideration of thefe names and titles of his, for which reafon they feem to be ufed and mentioned: that pleadeth the caufe of bis péople; which is a righteous one, as he will make it appear to be, by delivering them out of their troubles, and by avenging their enemies. Behold, I have taken out of thy band the cup of trembling; which he himfelf had put there, y. 17. and which none but himfelf could take out; not fhe herfelf, nor any of her fons, nor indeed could they give her any relief; but when the Lerc time is come to favour his people, he him will remove it: even the dregs of the cup o fury; it fhall all be clean taken away, nothing o: it fhall remain: thou fhalt no more drink it age in; or any longer®;, after the flaying of the witneffes, and their rifing again, there will be1 = perfecution of the church of God; fee I/- ii. g.— and xi. 9. Supe eee y. 23. And I will put it into the hand of them | that affiict thee, &c.| As the Lord did ‘to literal Babylon, Fer. xxv. 15, 26. fo will he do to myftical Babylon; he will retaliate upon her all the evils fhe has done to others, and deftroy them that deftroyed the earth; fee Rev. xi. 18. and xiii, 10, and xviii. 6. which have faid to thy foul, bow down, that we may go over; who not only afflicted the bodies, but tyrannized oyer the fouls and con- {ciences of men; obliging them to a compliance with their idolatrous practices, to bow down and. worfhip the beaft, and his image; and thereby ac- i knowledge fubjection to the fee of Rome, and its | authority over them: the allufion feems to be to | the cuftom of the eafern kings trampling upon the necks of their conquered enemies, Fo/b. x. 24. _ and. the pope of Rome has, in a literal fenfe, trampled upon the necks even of kings and emperors. | And tion baft laid thy body as the ground, and as the Sivect, to them ibat went over, which exprefies the low eftate of the church of Chrift, or holy city, whilft trodden under foot by the Geatiles during the reign of antichrift, Rev. xi. 2, and may alfo denote the fneaking outward compliance of fome through the force of perfecution, when they did not cordially embrace, nor with, confcience, and from their heart, fubmit to the authority of the church of Rome; but though the people of God are reprefented in fuch a low-and groveling coadition, yet they fhall arife out of it, and come into a very flourifhing one, as. the next chapter fhews,

HIS chapter is a prophecy of the glorious

{tate of the church in the latter day, typified by the deliverance of the Fews from Babylon. The church, under the names of Zion and Ferufalem, is exhorted to awake and clothe herfelf with ftrength, and with beautiful garments, to fhake off her duft, and Joofe her bands, fince fhe fhould become a pure and feparate people, y. 1, 2. and whereas the Lord’s people had been afflicted formerly by the Egyptians, and more lately by the Affyrians, a free redemption is promifed them; and the rather they might expect it, fince the Lord was no gainer by their affliction, but a lofer in his name and honour, as well as they diftreffed, y. 2, 4, 5. And it is fuggefted, that the knowledge of the Lord fhould be fpread, the good tidings of peace and falvation be delightfully publifhed, and that the minifters of the gofpel fhould have clear Tight, and be harmonious and unanimous in the publifhing of it, ¥. 6, 7, 8. Upon which the wafte places of Yerufalem are called upon to rejoice, both becaufe of the reftoration of the Fews, and the converfion of the Gentiles, ¥.9, 10. And the people of God are called to go out of Badylon, - the manner of their departure is directed, and fomething faid for their encouragement, ¥. 11, 12. And the chapter is concluded with fome account of the Meffiah, of his humiliation and exaltation, and of his work and office, ¥. 13, 14, 15. and which are enlarged upon in the next chapter, which ought properly to begin with thefe laft veries.

¥. 1. Awake, awake, put on thy firength, O Zion, &c.] Aben Ezra fays, all interpreters agree, that this prophecy is yet to be fulfilled, and fo it is: by Zion is meant the church in gofpel-times, in the latter day-glory, which is called upon to awake out of fleep; and this repeated to fhew what a deep fleep had fallen on her, the danger fhe was in through it, and the vehemency of the {peaker, or the great concern the Lord had for her; and this is the very ftate and cafe of the church of Chrift now, and the prophecy refpeéts our times, and what follow. There is a general carnal fecurity, and {piritual drowfinefs, which has feized the people of God; a nan-exercife of grace among them, at leaft it is not a lively one; a fluggifh- ‘nefs to,.and in duty; a contentment in the external performance of it; an indifferency about the caufe of Chrift, and power of religion; and an unconcernednefs about the truths and ordinances of the gofpel, the difcipline of Chrift’s houfe, and the honour of it; which the enemy takes the advantage of, and fows his tares of falfe doctrine and worfhip; wherefore it is high time to awake out of fleep, and to put on ftrength, or clothe * with it, and do the Lord’s will, and work and oppofe the enemy. Saints are weak in theméelves, but they have ftrength in Chrift, and on him fhould they wait; to him fhould they look, and on him fhould they exercife faith for it; they fhould put on the whole armour of God, clothe themfelves with it, refume courage, pluck up a good heart and fpirit, and not fear any difficulties, dangers and enemies. Put on thy beautiful garments, O Ferufalem, the holy city;, another name for the gofpel-church, fee Heb, xii. 22. and which is called the boly city; referring to the times in the latter day, when holinefs {hall more appear and prevail in the churches; when faints fhall be built up in their holy faith, and more clofely attend to holy ordinances, and walk in an holy converfation and godlinefs; and efpecially the new Ferufalem-church-ftate will an- {wer to this name, and fo it is called, Rev. xxi. 2, ro. and when the faints will put on their beautiful garments, as on holy-days,*and times of rejoicing; their mourning will be over, and all figns of it fhal) be laid afide; the witnefies will no more prophefy in fackcloth; the marriage-of the Lamb ‘will be come; the bride made ready, being clothed with fine linen, clean and white, the righteoufnefs of the faints, the garments of Chrift’s falvation, and the robe of his righteoufnefs; which are the beautiful garments, here meant, which ferve for many, and anfwer all the purpofes of a garment, as to cover nakednefs, preferve from the inclemency of the weather, keep warm and comfortable, beautify and adorn; and beautiful they are, being all of a piece, large and long, pure and fpotleis, rich and glorious, and which make thofe beautiful that wear them; and though being once on, they are never off again; yet faints fometimes are remifs in their acts of faith in putting them on, to which they are here exhorted; fee Rev. xix. 7, 8. for henceforth there ball no more come into thee the uncircumcifed, and the unclean; this fhews, that the prophecy cannot be underftood of Fernfalem Viterally, nor of the times of the Babylonifo. captivity, ‘and deliverance from it, fince after this the uncircumcifed, and the unclean did enter into. it,. Antiochus Epiphanes, Pompey, and the Romans, but of the myftical Jeru/alem, the church of Chrift, in the latter day, the fpiritual reign of Chrift; when the Gentiles, the papifts, meant by the uncireumcifed and the unclean, fhall no more come againjt them, as the words ‘ maybe rendered, and -perfecute them; and when’ there will be no more a mixture of papifts and proteftants, of heréticks and otthédox, of hypocrites and: faints; and‘ when there will be few or none under a 'profeffion,: but will have the truth of grace in them }#when évery pot and vefitl in Feru/alem will be holinefs to»the Lord, and the heathen will be perifhed out of the land, Zech. xiv..21. Pf. x. 16. and efpecially this will be true in the perfonal reign of Chrift,) in the new Yerufalem-church-ftate, into which nothing fhall enter that defiles, or makes an abomination, and a lye, Rev. xxi..27., + > y. 2. Shake-thyfelf from the -duft, &c.] Or the duji from thee®, in which fhe had. fat, or rolled herfelf as a.mourner; or where fhe had been trampled upon by her perfecutors and opprefiors; but now being delivered from them, as well as from all carnal profeffors and. falfe teachers, fhe is

_ called upon to fhake herfelf from the duft of debafement and diftrefs, of falfe doétrine,. fuperitition and will-worfhip in every form ‘and’ fhape, a great deal. of which adheres to thofe churches called reformed. Arife, and fit down, O Ferufalem, or fit up, as it may be rendered; arife ‘from thy low eftate, from. the ground and duft where thou art caft; ‘* and fit upon the throne of thy glory,” fo the Targum: it denotes the exaltation of the church from, alow to an high eftate, fignified by the afcenfion of the witneffes to heaven; Rev. xi. 12. Some render. it, arife, O captivity, or cap; tive”; fo the word is ufed in: ch. xlix.'24, 24. and agrees with what follows: Joofe thy/elf from the bands of thy neck, O captive, daughter of Lion; or loofe thou the dands off thy neck from thee, which feems to denote the people! of God in myftical Babylon, alittle before its deftruction, who will -be. called out of it, as they afterwards are-in. this chapter; and to throw off the Romifb ‘yoke, and releafe themfelves frony that captivity and bondage, they have been brought ‘into by the man of fin, who now himfelf fhall be led captive, Kev. xiii, 10.:

\¥. 3. For thus faith the Lord, ye have fold yourfelves for nought, 8&c.] ts ~Abab did to, work wickednefs 5 as.men do freely, and get nothing by it; for there is nothing got in the fervice of fin, fatan and antichrift, or.by being flaves and vaflals to them; not profit, but lofs; not. pleafure, but pain; not honour, but fhame; not liberty, but bondage; not riches and wealth, but poverty and want, which. popery always brings into thofe countries and people, where it obtains. 4nd. ye shall be redecmed without money;\in-like manner, as Our fpiritual and eternal redemption, from fin, fatan, the law, the world, death and hell is obtained; not without the price of the precious blood of the Lamb, but without fuch corruptible things as fil- ‘ver and gold, 1 Pet. i.-18,/19. and: without any ried them captive, and exercifedatyra over them, caufe them to howl: under their bond.” -age and flavery, as the J/raelites formerly itt Beypt.

but lofers by their captivity, | he i price paid to thofe by whom weare held captive) but to. God, againft whom we! have finnedjwhoe law we have broken, | and whofe juftice ‘mult be fie tisfied; and the blood of:Chriftis a fuffidien to\anfwer all: hence redemption) th at. Chrift-much,. is entirely free to us; ithe redemption of the church, from the bondage ‘gp flavery of antichrift, be brought. about by "hh, power of God undeferved by them;/norit their merits, |and without:any. ranfom-p to thofe who heldthem captives. 99 clic, ai \Fory this faith the Lord God, pK. | Lord confirms what he had before {aid: BE

‘ing his people without Imoneyy who had "Bess (ot for’nothing, by pait ihftances’ of his “deliveraee of them: my- people went down aforctime tilo Lovey to fojourn there, Jacob and his family swent down there of their own accord, where: they were flip! plied witly food in a time of famine; and 4ettled! in a very fruitful part of it; but when’ they were opprefied, and) cried to the Lord; he ap blip them, and delivered them‘ anduthe yaffp mop preffed them without caufe, which fomevnderfand | of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who» they Yay Svag7ah Afrian, or {0 called, becaufe of hist power Sand’ cruelty; or it being ufual to call anpenemy ofthe” Fews an Afyrian: or rather the words imay beren.” dered, but the Afyrian, &c. Pharath tad were’ pretence for. what he did 5 the J/reeltesicameé into his country, he did not. carry them) captives they‘ received many benefits and favours there} and We fettled in’ a part of his dominions, fo ‘that he might claim them. as his fubjects» and 'refate’' to. difmifs them; but the Afprians had nerhing Hc. do with them could notvmake any pretence whiy they fhould invade them, and opprefs*them’;s"and”’ therefore if the Lord had delivered them fromthe | one, he would alfo deliver ‘them:from ‘thé 6the®. This may be underftood of the feveral savas of Babylon; Babylon having been the metro & Afyria, and a branch of ae Affyrian ou; now tranflated to the Chaldeans or "thé fenfe’ ie? and the ‘Afyrians alfo opprefled Fj-ael, as Walp ei the Lgyptians, without any juftreafon; and] de.”

livered them out of their hands; and fo Pail} * of antichriftian redeem my church and: people ‘out ple out of myftical Babylon, {piritually* wine dom and Egypt. ‘They that rule over #henp. them to, howl, faith the Lord; they thatsh wherefore the Lord is moved wit! ‘aan them, and fince neither he! nor th liver them: or it may be 3;

rulers to bowl *y-or his rulers howl; not the ¢ommon, péople only, but their governors, civil and ecclefiattical 5. fo: ben: Ezra interprets it not of heathen rulers, but of the great men of J/rael: end. my name continually every day is blafphemed, by ‘afcribing their extent of power and authority, their

‘dominions and conquefts, not to the Lord, but to | their idols, whom they worfhip, to fuch or fuch a faint 5 opening their mouths*in blafphemy againft ‘God, -his name and» tabernacle, and his ‘people, Rev. xiii 5, 6: The Largum is, “ and always, ‘* all the dayjsbecaufe of the worfhip of my name, ‘« they provoke.” The Septuagint is, for you always myname is.blafphemed among the Gentiles; fee Rom A. 24.:

yf. 6. Therefore my people foall know my name, &c.]}. His nature and pertections; his faithfulnefs in fulfilling his promifes to them; his power in delivering them out of their bondage and his juitice in punifhing their enemies. Therefore they fhall know on that day, that I am he that doth peak.

Bebold itis I; they fhall then fee, when the people of God are’ delivered from the antichriftian flavery and:bondage, and when’ Badylon is fallen, that all the promifes God has jpoken, are yea and amen; that Jefus Chrift is the true and faithful witnefs;:and that,thefe are his true and. faithful fayings, which he has fpoken.

¥. 7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of bim that bringeth good tidings, &c.] Not of the meffenger that brought the news of Cyrus’s proclamation of: liberty to the Zews; rather of Fobn the Baptift, the fore-runner of our Lord; beft of Chrift himfelf, the mefienger of the covenant, who was°anointed to preach glad tidings to the. meek, and by:whom grace, peace, life, and falvation came; and alfo of the apoftles of Chrift, for to.gofpel-times are thefe words applied, and to more perfons than one, Rom. x. 15. who were not only {een upon the. mountains of the land of J rael, as the Zergum paraphrafes it, where ‘both Chritt and his. apottles preached, but upon the mountains of the Gentile world; and may denote the pains they took, the circuit they made, and the difficulties. they had to encounter with; and the publicknefs, of their miniftrations, which lay in bringing good tidings, of the incarnate Saviour, of God manifeft in the flefh, for the word * here ufed has the fignification of flefh in it; of good things in the heart of God for his people, in the covenant of grace, in the hands of Chrift, and as. come’by him, and to be had from him; as pardon by his blood; juftification by his righteoufnefs; eternal life and happinefs thro’ him; and of all good things to be enjoyed now and hereafter. It may be applied to all other minifters of the gofpel in after-ages, who are bringers of the fame good tidings to the children of men, to whom their very feet are beautiful, erd-even at a diftance, upon the high mountains; not to carnal men, but fenfible finners, to whom, the good news: of falvation by Chrift is welcome, /cet are mentioned inftead of their whole perfons, becaufe the inftruments of motion, and fo of bringing the tidings, and of running to and fro with them from place to place, ‘and even tho’ they are dirty and defiled with fin; for gofpel-minifters are nor tree from it, and are men of like paffions with others; yet are beautiful when their walk and miniftry, converfation arid doctriné, dgree togethers and their feet are particularly fo, being fhod with the preparation of the gofpel of peace.- The words may with the greateft propriety, and in agreement with the context, be underftood ‘of that angel, or fett of gofpel-minifters in the latter day, reprefented as flying in the midft of the heavens, having the everlafting gofpel to preach to all nations,

‘which will precede the fall of Babylon Rev. xiv. 6,

8: that publifbeth peace; peace by the blood of Jefus Chrift, a principal article of the gofpel, and of its good news; hence it is called the gofpel of peace, and the word of reconciliation; peace of con{cience, which flows from the fame blood applied, and of which the gofpel is the means; and peace among the faints one with another, and among men, which fhall at this time bé enjoyed; there will be no difcord nor animofities among themfelves, nor perfecution from their enemies: happy times! haleyon days! welcome the publithers of fuch tidings! shat bringeth good tidings of good, or, that bringeth good tidings; for the original does not require fuch a tautology; it means the fame good tidings as before, and which follow after: that publifheth falvation, by Jefus Chrift, as wrought out by him for finners, which is full, compleat, and fuitable for them, and to be had of him freely; and what better tidings than this? fee Rev, xix. 1: that faith unto Zion, thy God reigneths that faith to Zion, the church of Chrift, that Chrift, who is truly God, and their God, has taken to himfelf, in a more open and vifible manner, his great power, and reigns as the Lord God omnipotent; and this is good’ news and glad tidings fee Pf. xcvii. 1. Rev. xix. 6. and xi. 15, 17. The Targum is, ‘ the kingdom of thy God is revealed;” fee Matt. iii. 2. This paflage is interpreted of the Meffiah and his times, by many Fewi/h ™ writers, ancient and modern; fee the note on Rom. x. 15. ¥. 8. The watchmen foall lift up the voice, &c.] Not the Levites in the temple, nor the prophets of the Old Teftament; rather the evangelifts and apo- {ties of Chrift; beft of all gofpel-minifters in the latter day, fo called in‘allufion to watchmen on the walls of cities looking out, and giving notice of approaching danger; fee J/ Ixii. 6, 7. The words may be rendered, the voice of the watchmen; they foall lift up the voice; together fball they fing, that is, this is the voice of the watchmen, namely, the voite of peace and falvation, which the bringers of good tidings, the fame with thefe watchmen, publith: Lifting up their voice denotes the publicknefs of their miniftrations, the vehemency of them, and their importance; /inging together their joy and chearfulnefs, their harmony and unity. For they hall fee eye to eye; moft clearly, Zion’s king reign. ing before his ancients glorioufly; the great doctrines of peace and falvation publifhed by them; and the great and wonderful things God will do for his church, in fulfilling prophecies relating thereunto. So the Targum, ‘* for with their eyes ** they fhall fee the great things which the Lord ‘¢ will do;” and as their light and difcerning will be moft clear, like the light of feven days, fo it will be alike in them; their’ fentiments and doctrines will exaétly agree; there will be no difference nor diffenfion among them: when the Lord fhall bring again Zion, return his church and people to

: yosbemp yous dominatores ejus ululare facient, Montanus; dominatores ipfius ejulant, Junius & Tremellius, Vitringa;

their former ftate, frorn whence they were declined;

reftore them as at the beginning; revive his work among them; caufe his gofpel and ordinances to be profefied and obferved in their purity; call in his ancient people the ‘Yews, and bring in the fulnefs of the Gentiles; pour out his Spirit in a plentiful manner on them, and grant his gracious’ prefence to them; fo the Zargum, ‘* when he fhall return his: «© Shekinah or divine majefty to Zion.” ‘This text is by the Yews * applied ’to the times of the Meffiah,. and tothe refurrection of the dead °.

¥. 9. Break forth into joy, fing together, ye wafte places of Ferufalem, 8ec.| This is what the watchmen fhall fay, when they lift up their voice; this will be one part of their fong, and the intent of it; to obferve to the members of the churches, which hall be conftituted in thofe parts which were formerly barren and defolate, what wonderful things the Lord has done in bringing again, Zion; in building up the ruins of it; in the clear light of the gofpel’ he has caufed to break forth,

‘and in the good tidings of peace and falvation publifbed; on account of all which they are called upon to exprefs the greateft joy in a focial manner, with the utmoft unanimity, as having’ every one a concern therein: his people; with his divine prefence, and the light of his countenance; with the difcoveries~of his love; with the joys of his falvation by Chrift, with the comforts of his Spirit, with the doétrines of the gofpel, and the exceeding great and precious promifes of it; with the ordinances of his houfe, thofe breafts of confolation;; and by enlarging his kingdom and intereft with the converfion of Yews and Gentiles; and particularly by the donation and application of the various bleffings of grace thro’ Chrift, and efpecially that which follows: be hath redeemed Ferufalem, the fame with his people, particularly the ews,, now converted;

who will have the bleffing of redemption, obtained by the Meffiah, made known and applied unto them; which will be matter of comfort to them: as vi is to all fenfible finners, who fee themfelves loft and undone; liable to the wrath of God, and curfes of the law; under a fentence of condemnation; the captives of fin and fatan, and prifoners of law and juftice; unable to redeem themfelves, or any creature capable of giving a ranfom for them.

y. 10. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, Sec. | Revealed his gotpel, ' which is a fyftem of holy doétrines, and°.is «the power of God unto falvation, openly, in the fight of all men, and given it a general fpread all the world over; and with it has exerted his almighty power, in the marvellous converfion of multitudes of fouls every where, in which his holinefs, as well as his power, is difplayed: or elfe Chrift is: here meant, who is the power of God; by whom he has made the world, and upholds* it; by whom he has redeemed his people, and faved them; 3 and _by whom he keeps and ‘preferves them; and 'b whom he'll raife them from’ the dead -at the la day; and who is holy-in his nature,“and in ‘his works: this arm of his was made bare or revealed at his incarnation; is evidently feen in his word and ordinances; and will be more clearly revealed therein in the latter day, as he will be moft fully manifefted in perfon at the laft day, even in the eyes of the whole world. The allufion is to

® PeGkta in Kettoreth Haffammin in Targ, in Num. fol. 25. 4.:

for the Lord bath comforted military perfons scohattgi age efpecially |the eaftern countries, w oofe a:

long garments, which they ‘sucked P. on the arms, that they might be more expeditious in and fo in any other fervice. Scander fight the Turks with his arm. pata iy ot his lite ebferves: foall fee the falvation of our God 3 which Chrift, God manifeft in the flefh, ha out: the people of God, in the feveral parts world, fhall fee. their need of this falv fuitablenefs of it to them the neceffity to Chrift for it; their intereft in it; and thal; take of: the bleffings. of it: or Chrift himfel meant, the Saviour of God’s providing,. and giving; of whom multitudes, in the feveral parts of the world, fhall have a fpiritual fight, by ‘faith, in the latter day 5: and all fhall have. "a. me poral fight of him, when he comes in perfon, or appears a fecond time, without fin unto falvation. ¥. rn, Depart ye, depart ye, 8c.) Ne in rufalem, as fome, for- that is now faid te be. redeemed, and its wafte places made joyful; but Babylon, even myftical Babylon. The Targum is, be ye feparated, be ye feparated, and fo. * 2 Cor. vii 17... It denotes.a feparation: from the idolatrous church of Rome; and the exhortation is. repeated, to haften the thing, to urge the neceffity of it, and point at the danget of delaying it; and it may be, it may refpect a two-fold feparation, ore’ that has been already at the time of. -Reformation, and another that will be juft before the de- {truction of Babylon, Rev. xviii. 4: go ye out from thence not only proteft againft-the faile doatrines, idolatries, and fuperftitions of that apoftate church, but entirely relinquifh her communion: # ouch no unclean thing; have no fellowfhip with pa in any of her unclean and idolatrous actions, and bring none of her abominations along with you. — It was the fault of the firft reformers from popery, that they brought fo many of the impurities of the church of Rome along with them; which are retained to this day; in this laft feparation, care is. to be taken, and will be taken, that thofe that come out keep clear of -all her defilements; fee Rev. xiv. 4, 5: go ye out of the midft of ber, ‘ahich fignifies much the fame as before, and is’

again and again, to fhew the importance of it: d¢ ye clean that bear the vefjels of the Lord; not the veflels of the Lord’s fanétuary, as rae re. ftored by Cyrus to the Fews, at their return Babylonith captivity, E£zra i. 7, 8. ey aed interprets it of the priefts and Erith ba the vellels of the Lord in the wildernefs; but XZ of the mercies and kindnefies of the Lord; Ezra of the law: but it may much better be wi derftood of the minifters of the gofpel, and of treafure of the gofpel which they have in t earthern veflels; or the name of the Lord, wh they are chofen veffels to bear: and ¢: world; who ought to be pure from. fa fuperftitions worfhip, and an evil. onver tho’ it may be applied to a tia true believers are priefts under the goff tion’; and. as cae bear the whole apme

¥. 12. For ye foall not go out with hafte, nor go by flight, &c.] As perfons afraid of their enemies, of being purfued, overtaken, and detained by them; privily or by ftealth, like fugitives, as the Oriental verfions render it; in like manner as the Fraelites went out of Egypt: but it fignifies, that they fhould go out openly, boldly, quietly, and fafely, and without fear of their enemies; yea, their enemies rather being afraid of them. So the witneffés, when they fhall rife, will afcend to heaven in the fight of their enemies; which will be followed with a great flaughter of fome, and the terror of others, Rev. xi. 12, 13: for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Ifrael will be your rearward; the Lord will be their captain, and will lead the van, fo that they fhall follow in, order, and without any tumult or fear; and tho’ they. fhall make all neceflary difpatch, yet no more hafte than good fpeed; the Lord going before will check all tumultuous and diforderly motions; and he alfo will bring up the rear, fo that they fhall be in no fear of the enemy attacking’ them behind, and where generally the weaker and more feeble part are; but the Lord will be gathering them up, or clofing them,’ as the word ¢ fignifies; fo that they fhall be in the utmoft fafety, and march out, of Babylon with the greateft eafe and freedom, without any moleftation oy difturbance. The allufion may be to the Lord’s going before, and fometimes behind J/rael, in a pillar of fire and cloud by night and day, as they paffed thro’ the wildernefs.

¥. 13. Bebold, my fervant fhall deal prudently, &c.] Here properly a new chapter fhould begin, thefe three laft verfes treating of the fame perfon and fubjeét as the following chapter; even of Chrift, his perfon, offices, humiliation, and exaltation, and the effects and fruits thereof-;. for of him undoubtedly the whole is to be underftood. The Yews fay it is a difficult prophecy; and fo it is to them, being contrary to their, notions and fchemes;. or otherwife it is plain and eafy, refpecting the Meffiah; but rather than he fhould be thought tobe meant, the modern ones have invented a variety of interpretations.. Some apply this prophecy to Abraham, others to Mofes; others to Ezra; others to Zorobabel; and others to any righteous perfon: ~ the more principal and prevailing opinions among them are, that it is to be underftood either of the whole body of the people of J/rae/ in captivity,. as archi, Aben Ezra, and Kimchi, or of king Fofah, flain by Pharaoh Necho, as Abarbinel; or of Feremiah, as Saadiah Gaon; all which are weak and impertinent, and as they difagree with each other, fhew the perplexity they are under *. The Zargum interprets it of the Meffiah; and fo did the ancient Rabbins, as Aben Ezra and Alfbech confefs; and feveral parts of the prophecy are applied to him, both by ancient and modern ones, as will be feen in the expofition of it. Chrift, as man and Mediator, is the fervant of God, of his chufing and calling, fending, bringing forth, and fupporting; fee ch. xlil. 1. from whom. he had both his work and his wages: the principal part of his fervice lay in working out the redemption and falvation of his people, in which he willingly and chearfully engaged, and which he diligently and faith-

* Pefikta apud Kettoreth Haflammim in Targum in Numb. fol, 27. 2.

F 4: 77. 289 fully performed; in which he fhewed a regard to. his Father’s will, love to his people, and great condefcenfion, as well as wifdom; for as it is here promifed he would, fo he did deal prudently, as in his infancy, when he difputed with the doctors in the temple, fo throughout the whole of his public life, in preaching the gofpel, in anfwering the queftions of his enemies, and in his behaviour at his apprehenfion, arraignment, condemnation, and crucifixion: or, he /hall caufe to underftand®; make others wife and prudent; he caufed them to underitand his Father’s. mind and will, the fcriptures, and the gofpel in them; he made men wife unto falvation, and inftructed in thofe things which belong to their peace; and he ftill does by his Spirit, thro’ the miniftry of the word: or, he ball pro- Jper +; the pleafure of the Lord profpered in his hands; he rode forth profperoufly, deftroying his and our enemies; was very fuccelsful in working out falvation, as he is ins his advocacy and interceffion for his people, and «in the miniftration of his gofpel; and is the author of all profperity in his churches, and to. particular believers. The Targum is, ‘* behold, my fervant the Meffiah thall *¢ profper;” and fo another Yewi/o writer fays ", that the fection which begins with thefe words is concerning the Meffiah: be /hall be exalted, and extolled, and be very high; as he has been exalted by his Father, by raifing him from the dead, and giving him.glory; by placing him at his own right hand, and giving him all power in heaven and in earth; by committing all judgment into his hands, that all men may honour him as they do the Father:.and-he is extolled by his people, in his perfon’ and offices, by giving him the glory of their falvation, in their hearts, thoughts and affections, with their mouths and.lips; and fo he is in his houfe and ordinances, by his minifters and churches: and is made. very igh; higher than the kings of the earth; higher than the angels of heaven; higher than. the heavens themfelves.. The Jews fay * of the. Meffiah, in reference to thefe words, that he is exalted above Abraham, extolled above Mo/es, and made higher than the- miniftring angels; and in another ancient book * of theirs it is faid, the kingdom of J/rael fhall be exalted in the days of the Meffiah, as it is written, be /hall be exalted and extolled, &c.