Exposition of the Whole Bible

plied and increafed in the land of Yudea, and in the Gentile world allo, under the miniftry of the aberefaid paftors, apoftles and minifters of the gofpel, who fhould be fucceeded every where, as they were; fee Ads vi. 1, 2, 7: in thofe days, faith the Lord of bojis, they fhall fay no more, the ark of the covenant of the Lord, becaufe the antitype of it would be come, our Lord Jeius Chrift, the word that is made flefh and dwelt among men; and in whom the Shekizab or divine majefly.dwells in a more glorious manner than it did over the ark, for in him dwells the fulnefs of the Godhead bodily; and the ark may be put for the whole ceremonial law, which was abolifhed at the death of Chrift, and to be ufed and fpoken of no more; and whereas it was, for a good while after the abrogation of it, a matter of debate and contention, and was not wholly under the church’s feet until. about the times of Con/iantine, when there was a great multiplication and increafe of chriftians throughout the Roman empire; the prophecy may be thought to belong to thofe times, at leaft there was then a greater accomplifhment of it; fee Rev. xli. 1: neither fhail it come to mind, neither fhall they remember it, as it fhould not be fpoken of, fo it fhould not be thought of any more, than if it had never been: xeither fhall they vifit it; to enquire of the Lord before it, about what they wanted to be informed of, as they ufed to do, Fudg. xx. 235:27, 28: neither fhall that be done any more; or, made any more®; the Fews * fay, the ark was. wanting in the fecond temple, and was never afterwards re-made: all the expreffions denote the utter abolition of legal rites and ceremonies, never to be revived more. The Targum paraphrafes the laft claufe, ‘* neither fhall they make war with it ‘* any more;” and fo Yarchi and Kimchi interpret it, as if it was a prophecy of fuch a time of profound peace, that there would be no need. of bringing out the ark as formerly; this ufe of it would be quite forgotten; but this was not the principal ufe of the ark, and very rarely was it ever ufed in this way..

¥. 17. At that time they fhail call Ferufalem the throne of the Lord, &c.| That is, the gofpel-church, the heavenly Ferufalem, the Ferufalem above, that is free, and the mother of us all; which is Chrift’s kingdom, where he has his throne and fubjects, and where he fits and reigns as king of faints; and where they yield a chearful and ready fubjeétion to him, fignified by calling the church his throne: and all the nations fhall be gathered unto it; which fhows that eru/alem, literally underftood, cannot be meant, but the church of Chrift; to which the Gentiles, being converted, fhould join themfelves in great numbers in all nations, as they have done; and which will be more largely accomplifhed and verified in the latter day, J/. ii. 2, 3. and Ix. 3, 4, 55 Se: to the name of the Lord, to Ferufalem, to name his name, to truft in his name, to call upon - it, and to worfhip him in Feru/alem, in his church, and among his people; and fo the Targum, “ and ‘¢ all nations fhall give themfelves to worfhip in. “< it the name of the Lord, in Jerufalem:” neither frail they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart, for the gofpel being preached to all nations, according to Chrift’s commiffion, by the paftors he promifes, and that being blefied to the turning of the Gentiles from their idols to Baier ad

living God, they fhall no more worfhip the gods they chofe for themfelves, and their evil hearts ‘devited.) y. 18. In thofe days the boufe of Judah fhall walk with the boufe of I/rael, &c.] Which had its accomplifhment, when fome of the ten tribes, {cattered atnong the nations, whither the gofpel came, aswell as in the land of udea, being converted under it, joined together in 4 gofpel-church-ftate, and walked together in all the commandments and ordinances of Chrift: and it may alfo denote the agreement of all chriftian confeffors, as Fudah fignifies, and of all J/raelites indeed, in worfhip, whe- ‘ther. Fews or Gentiles, becoming thro’ Chrift members of one body, fellow-heirs and partakers of the fame grace, promifes and privileges; and which harmony will {till be more manifeft in the latter day, “Afr xi.'7, 8, 9, 13. Fer. 1. 4, 5. Hof. i. it: and they fhall come together out of thé land of the north; out of thefe northern kingdoms of ours, ‘and other parts of Europe, where they chiefly are; this will be when the fulnefs of the Gentiles is brought in, and the ews are converted and joined to chriftian churches: the allufion is to the return of the Fews from Babylon, which lay north of Fzdea: to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers; for when the ews are converted, they fhall return to their own land, which God gave for an inheritance to Abraham, Taac, and. facod, and to their feed after them. ye 19. But I faid, &c.] Within himfelf, in the thoughts of his heart, when he took up a refolution concerning their convetfion, open adoption, and return to their own land, as a fymbol of the eternal inheritance: how fhall I put thee among the children? among the children of God, who are fo - by fpecial adopting grace, which is an high and honourable privilege, greater than to be the fons and daughters of the greateft potentate on earth, who as they are of high birth, being born of God, fo they are brought up, and fed, and clothed as the children of the King of kings; they have great nearnefs to, and freedom with God their Father; they are heirs of God, and joint heirs with Chrift, and fhall ever remain in this relation. There is a fecret and an open putting of the fons of men among the children of God. The fecret putting of them among the children is by God the Father, when he predeftinated them unto the adoption of children by Chrift; when he promifed in covenant he would be their father, and they fhould be his fons and daughters; and as an ac¢t of his own will, fecretly, in his own breaft, adopted them into his family, his will to adopt’ being the adoption of them; hence they are called the children of God, previous to their redemption and fanctification, Hed. ii. 13, 14. Fobn xi. 52. Gal. iv. 6. Moreover, our Lord Jefus Chrift was concerned in'this affair, by efpoufing thefe perfons to himéfelf in covenant, whereby his Father became their Father, and his God their God; ‘and by affuming their nature, whereby they became his brethren, and fo the children of God; and by redeeming them, whereby way is made for their aétual reception of the adoption of children; when they are openly put among them in effectual vocation, in which the holy Spirit is concerned, who regenerates them, works faith in them,. and wit- “neflés their adoption to them, from whence he is called the Spirit of adoption; regeneration and faith ate the evidences of adoption, Fobn i. 12, ees ‘Keeed ee ‘ ‘: Vor Len 13;

13. Gal, iii. 26, and the Spirit, the witnefs, Rom vill. 15, 16, Now, as all things were feen in one view by the Lord from eternity, as well, when he fecretly, as openly puts them among the children, it may well be thought there were difficulties, at lea t feeming ones, in the way of it; or however, fuch as make it wonderful and marvellous, that any of the fons of Adam fhould be put among the children of God; feeing they that are, finned in 4dam as the reft, fell with him in his tranfgreffion into a ftate of condemnation and death; are cortupt in their firft birth, defiled in foul and body, and caft out like the wretched infant, to the loathing of their perfons; are as the children of the Erhiopzans, black with original and actual fins; are children of difobedience, traitors and rebels againft God, and children of wrath, even as others. And though thefe words may have a principal refpect to the Jews, who dealt treacheroufly with God, in, departing from his pure worfhip, rejecting the Meffiah, and continuing in their obftinacy and infidelity, having a Loammi upon them, and notwithftanding fhall be called the children of the living God, Hof. i. 9, 10. yet may be applied to any of the fons and daughters of men, whether Yews or Gentiles, that are put among the children of God. And give thee a pleafant land, a goodly beritage of the hofis of the nations? the allufion, doubtlefs, is to the land of J/rae/, which was a goodly and defirable land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and was the heritage or inheritance of the children of Jjrael, but not of the hofts of nations; where- _ fore heaven and eternal happinefS is ultimately.

meant, the better country chriftian pilorims are feeking after, and the defired haven chriftian failors make unto: this is a plea/ant land; pleafantly fituated on high, where are great plenty of proyifions, folid fubftance, enduring riches, the greateft liberty and choiceft privileges, and the beft of inhabitants and company, Father, Son, and Spirit, angels and glorified faints: this is a goodly heritage or inheritance; not only an houfe not made with hands, a city that has foundations, but a kingdo:n and glory, an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, which fades not away, referved’in the heavens: and it may be faid to be of the hofts of nations; for tho’ it is but one inheritance, vaft numbers will fhare in it, and poffefs it; even an innumerable company of all nations, kindreds, people, and tongues, which are chofen, redeemed, and called out of them: and this is in the gift of God; he regenerates to a lively hope of it, makes meet for it, and of his own good pleafure beftows it; and marvellous it is, that he fhould give it to the perfons' before defcribed; the putting of them among the children ef God, and giving them fuch an inheritance, are entirely owing to his fovereign grace and goodnefs, which only can anfwer the queftion put, concerning thefe things.. And I faid, thou foalt call me my father; not merely faying thefe words, but expreffing them with affection and faith, under the witneflings of the Spirit of God; and declaring the relation by deeds, by honouring and obeying him, and being a follower of him in his ways and worfhip: and fhalt not turn away from me; either from calling him father, thro’ the prevalence of unbelief; or from his fervice and worfhip, through the power of corruptions, backfliding and revolting from him, with which they are often charged in this chapter; fo the Tergum, * thalt not turn from my worfhip;”

y. 20. Surely, as a wife treacheroufly departeth from her hufband, &c.] Or, ber friend *; who loves her, takes care of her, and provides for her, and goes after another man, and cohabits with him; which is a violation of the marriage-covenant, and acting a bafe and treacherous part unto him to whom fhe is married: /o have you dealt treacheroufly with me, O houfe of Ifrael, faith the Lord, who was their father, friend, and hufband; who loved them, and diftincuifhed them from all other people, by a variety of bleffings and privileges; and yet they departed from his commandments and ordinances, and held the traditions of the elders, and taught for doctrines the commandments of men, and rejected the Meffiah, and ftill continue in their difbelief of him, and hatred to him; and therefore it need not be wondered at, that he fhould make any difficulty about their adoption and inheritance; and a marvellous thing it muft be, to take fuch perfons, and put them openly among his children, and give them a right and meetnefs for the goodly inheritance. ¥. 21. A voice was heard upon the high places, &c.] And fo might be heard afar off; it. fhows that the repentance and confeffion of the Fews, when convinced and converted, will be very publick, and made upon thofe places, where they have committed their fins; fee ch. ii. 20. and iii. 16. for this and the following verfes declare the humiliation, repentance, and converfion of the Fews, and the manner in which they fhall be brought to it, and be openly put among the children: weeping and fupplications of the children of Ifrael, not fo much lamenting their calamities, as mourning over their fins, fupplicating the pardon of them, and freely and ingenuoufly confefling them: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God or, becaufe they have *, &c. this they fhall be ferfible of, that they have perverted the right ways of the Lord by their traditions, and have forgotten the worfhip of the Lord, as the Targum paraphrafes ic; yea, the Lord himfelf, their covenant-God, and.kind benefa€tor, and lightly efteemed of the true Meffiah, the rock of their falvation. The confideration of which will caufe them to weep and mourn; which they will do, when the Spirit of grace and fupplication is poured out upon them; and they fhall look upon him whom they have pierced, Zech. xii. 10. Some interpret this as the caufe of their calamities, and not as the fubject-matter of their mourning; but the latter feems beft to agree with what follows, which fhows by what means they were brought to repentance, and were converted. ¥. 22. Return ye backfliding children, &c.] This is the call of the Fews to repentance m the latter day; fee the note on ¥. 14: and I will heal your backflidings; that is, I will forgive your fins. Sins are the difeafes of the foul, and the wounds made in it; and pardoning them is healing them. So the Targum, ‘* [ll forgive you, when ye return;” fee Pf. ciii. 3. this is done by the application of the blood of Chrift, the only phyfician, and whofe blood is the balm that heals every wound; and this fprings from the love of God, and his free favour to his people, even the riches of his grace and abounding mercy through Chrift; and is the great motive and inducement, and what gives the greateft encouragement to return unto the Lord, |, thee; the Targum reprefents this, as what the Feit, pretended always to fay, and did fay, in an hypo» critical manner, with which they are upbraeds “¢ Jo, at all times ye fay, we return to thy worfhip, ‘< fave us;” and ‘archi is of opinion, that thefe are words the prophet put into their mouths, and taught them to fay, and to comwfefs in this manner: but they are rather their own words, arifing from a true fenfe of fin, under the influence of divine grace, and encouraged with the hope and affurance of pardon; declaring that as they were called upon to return, fo they did return, and now were come to God by repentance, with confeffion and acknowledgment of fin, and by prayer and fupplication for pardon, and by the exercife of faith upon him for it; and alfo were come into his houfe.

to wait upon him, and worfhip him in his ordinances: for thou art the Lord our God, not merely as the God of nature and providence, or in a natural way, but in a way of fpecial grace, of which they now will have an application by the Spirit of God.

¥. 23. Truly in vain is falvation hoped for from the bills, and from the muliitude of mountains, 8cc.

From any natural defence, by hills and mountains encompafling; or from idols worfhipped on hills and mountains. So the Targum, ‘ truly in vain ‘¢ we worfhip upon the hills, and for no profit “* are we gathered upon the mountains;” and to this purpofe Yarchi and Kimchi interpret it; or from

|the multitude of the people, the kingdoms of the world, and the nations of the earth, from whom the Fews have in vain expected falvation and deliverance: truly in the Lord cur God is the falvation of Ifrael, or, in the word of the Lord our God, as the Targum; in Chrift, the effential word of God, is the falvation of all the chofen people, both Fews and Gentiles; it was put into his hands by his Father, and it is wrought out by him; and it refides in him, and it is to be had in him, and in him only, és iv. 12. who is God the Lord, and therefore was able to effect it, and to give it; and hence thefe repenting ones, difcarding all other faviours, apply to him for it.

y. 24. For fhame hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, &c.] ‘That is, fin, which is the caufe of fhame, and of which finners ought to be afhamed, and will be fooner or later; fo the.

Targum venders it, the confufion of fins; and the Fewifh writers generally interpret it of idolatry, and of the idol Baal, as Kimchi and others, called foame, or that fhameful thing, Fer. xi. 13. Hof. ix. 10. this idol, becaufe of the multitude of the facrifices offered to it, confumed what their fathers laboured for, ever fince they had known them; or for their worfhipping of this idol, fuch judgments came upon them, as confumed all they got by hara labour; or rather it may regard their fhameful fin _ of rejecting the Meffiah, and crucifying him, which they’ll be afhamed of at the time of their conver= fion, when they fhall look on him whom t have pierced, and on account of which they ft the many calamities they now do: sheir flocks ang their herds, their fons and their daughters; W ever evils have befallen them in their perfons milies, and eftates, they'll confefs are owi they have committed, of which; afhamed; hence it follows,.

¥. 25. We lie down in our foame, and our confufion covereth us, &c.] As perfons ‘overwhelmed with a fenfe of fin, and fo preffed with the guilt of it on their confciences, that they can neither ftand up, nor look up, but throw themfelves on the ground, and cover their faces, being afhamed of what they have done: for we have finned againjt the Lord our God; as by breaking the law of God, fo by defpifing the gofpel; rejecting the ordinances of it; difbelieving the Meffiah, and fpeaking reproachfully of him and his people: we and our fathers from our youth even unto this days in

HIS chapter begins with feveral exhortations to repentance; firft to J/rael, or the ten tribes, to return to the Lord with their whole hearts, and put away their abominations, and ferve him in fincerity and uprightnefs of foul; with promifes of reft and fafety to themfelves; and that it would have an happy influence on the Gentiles, and iffue in their converfion; who would hereupon blefs themfelves in the Lord, and glory in him, y. 1,2. and next to the inhabitants of Fudab and Ferufalem, to thew a concern for renewing and fanctifying grace, fignified by various metaphors, left they fhould be confumed with the fire of divine wrath, ¥. 3,4. and then the deftruction of - that land'and city is foretold and defcribed, partly by what was. introductory to it, and the proclamation of it, fignified by blowing the trumpet, and fetting up-the ftandard, ¥. 5; 6, 15, 19, 20. by an account of the deftroyers, their cruelty, fwiftnefs and diligence, ¥. 7, 13, 16, 17, and of the deftruction itfelf, compared to a violent wind, _ ¥. 11, 12. by the effect it fhould have upon the inhabitants of all forts, high and low, y. 8, 9. and had upon the prophet himfelf; y. 10, 19, 20, 21. and by the caufe and ground of it, the fins of the people, which they are called upon to repent of, ¥. 14, 17, 18,22. and by a vifion the prophet had of the dreadful defolation of the land, ¥. 23—29. and by the vain and falfe hopes the people would have of their recovery, and the great anxiety and diftrefs they would be in, ¥. 30, 31.

¥. 1. Sf thou wilt return, O Irael, faith the Lord, &c.] To which they had been encouraged, and as they had promifed they would, and faid they did, ch. iii.44, 22: return unto me, with thy whole heart, and not feignedly and hypocritically, as Fudab did, ch. iii. 10. Some render the words, and the accents require they fhould be rendered fo, if thou wilt return to me, O Ijrael, foith the Lord, thou foalt return’; that is, to thine own land, being now in captivity; or, thou fhalt ret™; or have reft; fo Kimchi interprets the laft word; fee Fer. xxx. 10. and thefe words may very well be confidered as the.words of Chrift, and as fpoken by hirh, when he entered upon his miniftry, who began it with calling the people of the Fews to repentance, and promifing to give them reft,; and all’ fuch who return to God. by repentance, and ome to Chrift by faith, find {piritual reft for their Is now, and fhall have an eternal reft hereafter, Matt. iv. 17. and: xi. 28,:29°: and if thou along feries of years, from the time that Chrift was upon earth, to the day of their converfion, in the latter times of the gofpel-difpenfation: aud have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God; the voice of his fore-runner, Fobn the Baptift, of the Meffiah himfelf, and of his apoftles, and of his minifters fince; fo the Targum, ** and have not ** obeyed the word of the Lord our God.” Chrift the effential word,

‘dependence upon it; the rites and ceremonies of the old law abolifhed by Chrift, together with the traditions of the elders, by which they made void the commandments of God; all which were abominations in the fight of the Lord, J/i. 13. and xxix. 13. and Ixv. 5. and Ixvi. 3: then fhalt thou not remove; from thine own land again when re- {tored, or further off, into more diftant countries, for they were now in captivity; or rather the words may be rendered, not as a promife, but as a continuation of what is before faid, and not move to and fro”; or be unftable and wavering, toffed to and fro, with every wind of doétrine, and pre+ cept of men; but be eftablifhed in the faith of the gofpel, and ftedfaft and immoveable in every good

“< Hrael, to my worfhip, faith the Lord, thy. re- ‘¢ turn fhall be received before thy decree is fealed; “¢ and if thou wilt take away thine abominations ‘¢ from before me, thou fhalt not be moved;” or wander. about. ¥.2. And thou fhalt fwear, the Lord liveth, &c.] Or by the living Lord, by him and him only; not by the creatures, but by the God of truth. This is fometimes put for the whole worfhip and fervice of God, Deut. vi. 13. and for a confeffion of Chrift, and profeffion of faith in him, J/ xlv. 23. compared with Rom. xiv. 11. and which ought to be done, iz truth, in righteoufne/s, and in judgment; in fincerity, integrity and uprightnefs of foul; in fpirit and in truth; in righteoufnefs and true holinefs: and the nations shall blefs themfelves in him; not in I/rael, as the Targum, Farchi and Kimchi interpret it; but in the Lord, even in the Meffiah, the Lord Jefus Chrift, in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blefied with all fpititual bleflings; with which being blefied, they call and count themfelves happy, being pardoned thro’ the blood of Chrift, juftified by his righteoufnefs, and having peace, life and falvation by him,. Gen. xxii. 18: and in him jhall they glory; not in themfelves, nor in any creature, or creature-enjoyment; but in the Lord, and in what he is to them, wifdom, righteoufnels, fanctification and redemption; in whom all the feed of I/rael being juftified, glory; fee 1 Cor. i. 30, 31. Jf. xlv. 25. The fenfe of the words feems to be, that upon the gofpél being preached by Chrift and his apoftles tothe J/raelites, and forme of them being converted, and their abominations put away, and they cleaving to the Lord, and to his worfhip; the Gensfles fhould:have the gofpel fent to them, and receive wilt put away thine abominations’ out of my fight, it, and place all their bleffednefs in Chrift, and a 8 sin oes See nen ON: sen ede eget 3 quiefce apud me, Calvin.

not only their fins, but their felf-righteoufhels; and glory in him.

¥.3, For thus faith the Lord to the men of udab and “Ferufalem, &c.] The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were at the time of this prophecy in their own land; and fo are diftinguifhed from J/rael the ten tribes, who were in captivity; - unlefs the fame perfons fhould be meant, who were called by thefe feveral names, the people of the Jews; and it was in Fudea that our Lord appeared in the flefh, and to the inhabitants thereof he miniftred, he was the minifter of the circumcifion; and fo to the inhabitants of Yeru/alem, whom he called to repentance, and would have gathered, Matt. xxiii. 37: break up your fallow ground; this is ground that lies untilled, not ploughed, nor fown, on which nothing grows but the produce of nature, as weeds, thorns, briers, &c. is common to men and beafts, and is trodden upon, and fo is hard and unfufceptible.of feed; which, if it accidentally falls upon it, makes no impreffion on it, and is not received by it; and the breaking of it up is by the. plough. The fallow ground fitly reprefents the hearts of unregenerate men, which are unopened to the word, and unbroken by it; nor have they the feed of divine grace fown in them; but are deftitute of faith, hope, love, fear, and the like; there’s nothing grows there but the weeds of fin and corruption; and are like a common beaten road; are the common track of fin, where lufts ‘pafs to and.fro, and dwell; and fo are hardened and obdurate as hard as a ftone, yea harder than the nether mill-ftone; and who, tho’ they may occafionally be under the word, it makes no impreffion on them; it has no place in them, but is like the feed that falls by the way-fide, Matt, xiii. 4, 19. unlefs divine power attends it; for the gofpel is the plough, and minifters are the plough-men; but it is the Lord alone that, makes it effectual to the breaking up the fallow ground of mens hearts, Luke ix. 62. If Ixi. 5. 1 Cor. iii. 6, 7, 8, 9. but when the Lord puts his hand to the plough it enters within, and opens the heart; it is quick, powerful and fharp; it cuts deep, and makes long and large furrows, even, ftrong convictions of fin; it throws a man’s infide outward, as the plough does the earth; and lays all the wickedne{s of his heart open to him; and roots up the pride, the vanity, and boafting of the creature, and other lufts; and fo makes way for the feed of divine grace to be fown there: aad fow not among thorns; or, that ye may not fow among thorns °; for unlefs the fallow ground is broken up, it will be no other than fowing among thorns; and unlefs the hearts of men are opened by the power and grace of God, they’ll not attend to the things that are {poken; preaching and hearing the word will be like fowing among thorns; the cares of this world, the deceitfulneis of riches, the pleafures of life, and the lufts thereof, which ‘are comparable to thorns, becaufe pricking, perplexing and di- {treffing, and becaufe vain and unprofitable, choak the word, and make it unfruitful; fee Ma/t. xiii. 7> 22. now this exhortation in the text does not fuppofe power in man to break up and open his “heart; but to fhew his want of renewing grace; the neceflity of it; and the danger he is in without its; and to awaken-in him a concern for it; fee: Lek. xviii. 31. and xxxvi. 26. The words may be applied to backfliding profeffors, fince backfliding Hrael and Fudah are the perfons addreffed; and this may be done with great propriety and _pertinence to the fimile; for fallow ground is that which has been broke up and fown, and laid fallow. It eayain ON) u

‘fion by him, and of danger from him and ‘and put themfelves in a poftu is ufual to till and fow two years, and lay fallow a third: and backfliding chriftians look very much like fallow ground; fo faithlefs, fo lukewarm and indifferent; fo inattentive to the word, and un-, concerned under it; fo barren and unfruitful, as if they had never had any faith, or love, or good work in them; fo that they need to be renewed in the fpirit of their minds; to have a new face of ~ things put upon them; and to have a clean heart, and a right {fpirit, created in them. ~The Yar; is, ‘* make to yourfelves good works, and feek ‘¢ not falvation in fins.” +L ¥. 4. Circumcife yourfelves to the Lord, &e.) Or, be ye circumeifed, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin verfions render it. This is to be underftood of the circumcifion of the ‘heart, ds Kimchi obferves; and as appears from the following words: and take away the forefkins of your heart, ye men of Fudab, and inhabitants of Ferufalem this is the true {piritual circumcifion; and they that are poffefied of it, are the circumcifion, the only truly cireumcifed perfons; and they are fuch who have been pricked to the heart, and thoroughly convinced of fin; who have had the hardnefs of their hearts removed, and the impurity of it laid open to them; which they have beheld with fhame and loathing,

/and have felt an inward pain on account of it;

and who have been enabled to deny themfelves, to renounce their own righteoufhefs, and put off the body of the fins of the flefh; and tho’ men are exhorted to do this themfelves, yet elfewhere the Lord promifes to do it for them, Deut. xxx. 6. and. indeed it is purely his own work; or other-~ wife it could not be called, as it is, circumcifion without. bands, and whafe praife is not of man but of God, Col. ii. 11.) Rom. ii. 29. and the reafon of this exhortation, as before, is to convince thofe Jews, who were circumcifed in the fiefh, and refted and gloried in that, that their hearts were not circumeifed; and that there was a neceffity of it, and they in danger for want of it; as follows: lef my fury come forth like fire; ta which the wrath of God is fometimes compared, Nahum i. 6, and is fometimes fignified by a furnace and lake of fire, even ‘his eternal wrath and vengeance: and burn that none cen quench it; tuch is the fire of divine wrath; it is unquenchable; it is everlafting, Mark ix. 43, 44. Matt. ii. 12. and xxv..41: decaufe of the evil of your doings; which are fo provoking to the eyes of his glory; the fins of men are the fuel to the fire of his wrath, and caufe it to burn to the loweft hell, without the leaft degree of mercy. ‘The Zargum is, ‘* turn to the worfhip of the Lord, and ** take away the wickednefs of your hearts, left “my fury burn as fire, and confume without *< mercy, becaufe of the evil of your doings.” ©.

¥.5. Declare ye in fudab, and publifh in Ferufalem, and fay, &c.] Exhortations to repentatice being without effect in general, tho’ they might have an influence on fome few particular perfons; the Lord directs the prophet to lay befor the people a view of their deftruétion as hand; who calls upon fome perfons as a f heralds, to publifh and declare in the land dea, and in Ferufalem the metropolis of it, follows: low ye the. trumpet in the.

alarm of an approaching enemy, ani was to be done, not in order to» gather ‘toget! re of ‘i vey battel; but to-gi and in count the enemy, and give him. gether, that were in the fields, lages, and hide themfelves from him: cry, gather together, and fay, or cry with a full mouth, with a loud voice, that all might hear; which fhows im- and his times, who, tho’ he turned to.the Lord with all his heart, yet the Lord turned not from the fiercenefs of his wrath and anger again{t Judas, into the defenced cities, fuch as Ferufalem, and others, where they might think themielves fafe and fecure, fee Mait. xxiv. 16. ¥. 6. Set up the fiandard toward Zion, &c.] Not on the tower of Zioz, as Kimchi interprets it; but on fome high place, pointing to Zion, and directing the country-people to flee thither for fafety; for the fetting up of the ftandard here is not for enlifting of foldiers in order to fight, but as a fign of danger, and a direction where to flee from it: retire; gather yourfelves together in order to flee, as the word? is rendered in Jf x. 31. tho’ fome render it, be ye ftrengthened’; take heart, and play the man; but this does not feem fo agreeable to the context: flay mot; or, ftand not; {tand not in the place ye are in, but move from it in all haite, becaufe of prefent danger: for I will bring evil from the north; from Babylon, as Kimchi interprets it; which lay north to the land of J rae/, and fo defigns the captivity Fudab fhould be brought into there: and a great deftruftion; or, breach *; which the Babylonians fhould make on the inhabitants of Sudea and Feru/alem. ¥.7. The lion is come up from bis thicket, &c.] Meaning Nebuchadnezzar *, from Babylon, who is compared to a lion for his ftrength, fiercenefs and cruelty; fee Fer. 1. 17. fo the Roman emperor is called a lion, 2 Zim.iv.17. agreeable to this the Targum paraphrafes it, ‘* a king is gone from his *¢ fortrefs;” or tower; and the Syriac verfion, “a ** certain molt powerful king is about to go up _ *¢ as a lion out of his wood;” and the deftroyer of the Gentiles is on bis way; he who had conquered and deftroyed other nations not a few, and thefe mighty and ftrong; and therefore the Fews could not expect but to be deftroyed by him. This tyrant was a type of antichrift, whofe name is Apollyan, a deftroyer of the nations of the earth, Rev. ix. 11. and xi. 18: he is gone forth from his place, to make thy land defolate, from Babylon, where his royal palace was, in order to lay waite the land of Fudea; and he is reprefented as being come out, and on the road with this view, to ftrike the inhabitants of Yudea with the greater terror, and to haften their flight, their deitruction being determined and certain: and thy cities fhall be laid wajte without an inhabitant; they fhall become fo utterly defolate, that there fhould be none dwelling in them, partly by reafon of the multitudes of the flain, and partly by reafon of multitudes that fhould flee; and fhould be laid wafte to fuch a degree, that they fhould be.covered with grafs growing upon them; which is the fignification of the word * here ufed, according to R. Fofeph Kimchi. ¥.8. For this gird you with fackcloth, lament and howl, &c.] That is, becaufe of this deftruction threatned, which was fo near at hand, and fo fure and certain: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. The Septuagint, Syriac and - Arabic verfions render it, from you; and fome render it, from it *, from his purpofe and defign to ‘deftroy the Jews. Yarchi interprets this of Fo/ab, iC -. Cocceius. 1 ente obducantur

¥.9. And it foall come to pafs at. that day, faith the Lord, &c.] When Nebuchadnezzar fhould be come up from Babylon into the land of Fudea, and lay wafte the cities thereof, and befiege Feru alem:

that the heart of the king fhall perio, meaning Zedekiah king of ‘fudab, who fhould be in the utmott fright and confternation, not knowing what to do, being devoid both of wifdom and courage; fee Fer. xxxix. 4: and the heart of the princes; who being feized with the fame pannic, and at their wits end, would not be able to give any advice and counfel to the king; fo that the people would have no help from the king and his nobles, in whom they put their confidence; aud the priefs foall be aftonifbed; which Kimchi interprets of the priefts of the high places, the idolatrous priefts, whofe fervice would now ceafe, and whofe idols would not fave them: and the prophets hail wonder; which - he alfo interprets of the falfe prophets; as does the Targum, who prophefied peace, and now they thall fee it was a lye they prophefied, fince fudden deftruction now comes upon them. ' ¥.10. Then faid I, Ab Lord God, &c.]., Exprefling great forrow and concern: this 4 is by way of lamentation. The Zergum interprets it as a petition, * and I faid, receive my prayer, O Lord “© God:” furely thou haft greatly deceived. this peo~ ple, and Ferufalem; what the falfe prophets did, that God is. faid to do, becaufe he iuffered. them to deceive the people; fee 1 Kings xxii. 20—23, The Targum afcribes the deception to the falfe prophets, and not to God, <‘ furely behold. the *¢ falfe prophets deceive this people, and the inha- ‘¢ bitants of Ferufalem;” or this may be ironically faid, becaufe the falfe prophets pretended to {peal in the name of the Lord; wherefore Jeremy fays, furely thou haft greatly deceived, &c. faying, ye foall have peace; as the falfe prophets did, fer. vi, tas whereas the [word reacheth unto the foul, takes away the life, many are flain by it; fo the Targum, ‘¢ and now behold the fword killeth. among. the *¢ people;” great flaughter is made by, it, L’mpereur” obferves, that the word here. uled,:fignifies in the Arabic language, to educate..or. bring up; and then the fenfe is, “ ah Lord, thou: hadt “‘ brought up this people with great tenderneis, “‘ and promifed them all manner of happinefs; << but now thou thundereft out threatnings of ca- “ Jamities of all forts, and death itfelf;. and. af- ‘¢ fioned a place for the {word to enter into. their “© very fouls;” fo the Arabic word \,', uled in the verfion of A#s xxii. 2. 1 Tim. iv. 6. - vt y. 11. At that time fhall it be faid to this people, and to ferufalem, &c.|_ The inhabitants of Judea and Yerufalem, the people of the Fews, or concerning * them, as Farchi interprets it: a dry wind of the high places in the wilderne/s toward the daughter of my people. The Targum is, ‘as the fouth-wind “* upon the heads of floods of water in the wil- «¢ dernefs, fo is the way of the congregation: of “© my people;” but rather the north-wind is dey figned, fince that is a dry one, and the fouth-wind » oot op 48 Pifcator. * @ Confortamini, Junius & Tremeffits, Pifcator’; & Sanhedrin, fol..94. 2- SPTUPUP\ gra- ¥ 99223 ab illo, i.e., ab illo propofitos Cocceius; ab eo, ae 1 rmy> de hoc populo, Calvin, Vatablus.

a moift one; and the rather, fince this wind intends Nebuchadnezzar and his army, which fhould come from Babylon, from the north. Some render it, a neat, clean wind *; which ftrips the trees, Jays bare rocks and mountains, carries away the earth and duit before it, and makes the {tones look white and clean; it denotes a very ftrong, rufhing, ftormy and boifterous wind. The Vulgate Latin verfion renders it, @ durning one; and it reprefents the force and power with which the enemy fhould come, without any oppofition or refiftance to him; for a wind on high places, hills and mountains, and which comes thro” deferts and wilderneffes, has nothing to hinder it, as Kimchi obferves; whereas, when it blows in habitable places, there are houfes, walls, hedges and fences, which refift it; and it is obferved, that in the way from Babylon to Fudea, which the prophet calls tbe daughter of uy people, were many defert places. The Septuagint verfion is, the fpirit of error in the defert, the way of the daughter of my people; which the Syriac and Arabic verfions feem to follow; the former rendring it, as the wind that wanders thro’ the paths of the defert, fo is the way of the daughter of my people; and the latter thus, there is a fpirit of error in the defert, in. the way of the daughter of my people; not to purity, nor to bolinefs, as it with the Septuagint renders the next claufe: not to fan, nor to cleanfe; of which ufe a more moderate wind is in winnowing and cleanfing the corn from chaff, and light and*ufelefs grain.

y.12. Even @ full wind from thofe places fhall come unto me, &c.] That is, a ftrong one, very vehement; or, a wind which is fuller than thefe, as the Syriac verfion renders it; which is ftronger than thofe winds which are fit for fanning and winnowing the chaff from the wheat. archi interprets it, a wind full of thofe punifhments, which God had threatned, and determined to bring upon this people, and would not turn from, nor repent of: and the phrafe, /Lall come unto me, regards not the prophet, nor the people of the Yews, whom he perfonated, but the Lord himfelf; and fhews that the wind is at his command, and when he calls, it comes unto him, and obeys his will, P/ cxlviil. 8. and that all affii€tions, judgments and punifhments for fin, are from him: now aljo will I give fentence againft them; not the prophet, but the Lord, who would now call them to his bar, try their caufe, reprove them for their fins, pronounce fentence againft them, and execute it. The Targum is, ‘* becaufe they have wandered after the “¢ falfe prophets, who prophefied to them in a {pi- ** rit of falfhood; therefore the armies ofthe peo- ‘* ple, higher than thofe, as the wind fhall come “* againft them; even now by my word I will

‘* bring them, and pronounce the vengeance of

¥.13. Behold, he foall come up as clouds, 8c.) Meaning the lion, Nebuchadnezzar, ¥. 7. * the king “* with his army, as the Zargum paraphrafes it; he ** fhall come up againft them as a cloud that afcen- “* deth and covers the earth.” The metaphor denotes the fwiftnefs of his coming, and the multitudes he fhould come with, and that darknefs and diftrefs he fhould bring with him upon the people of the Fews: and his chariots thall be as a whirlwind, for {wiftnefs, power and violence; chariots for war are intended; fee I. v. 28: his borfes are fwifter than eagles, the fwifteft of birds. The fame