Exposition of the Whole Bible

¥. 10. Thus faith the Lord God, bebold, 1 am againft the foepherds, &c.] His heart was againft them; his hand was againit them; his face was againft them, to cut them.off. The Targum is, “be- *< hold, I will fend my fury upon the governors 3” and there was good reafon for it, they were againft him and his glory, againft his flock, his people, his caufe and intereft; fad it is for any to have God againft them, and to be againft God; for none ever hardened themfelves againft him and profpered, Fob ix. 4: and I will require my flock at their hand; the full tale of them that have been committed to their care, and will punifh them for the neglect of them; their blood, their life, and the lofs of them, Pll require at their hands; thus he punifhed Zedekiab and his princes, and the priefts and prophets: and caufe them to ceafe from feeding the flock; take the kingdom from them, as he did from Zedekiah; abolifh the ecclefiaftical hierarchy among the Fews; cut off three fhepherds in one month, the priefts, pages and {cribes of the people; and put the ock into other hands, the apoftles and minifters of the gofpel: xeither shall the foepherds feed them- Jelves any more; enrich themfelves with the fubftance of the people: for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them; who inftead of being fhepherds to feed the flock, were no other than wolves in fheeps cloathing, and ravenous lions and bears, which devoured the flock; but this they fhould do no longer..

y. 11. For thus faith the Lord God, &c.] Since the fhepherds are fo negligent, carelefs, and cruel: behold, I, even I will both fearch my fheep, and feek them out; as-he did the Yews, in all countries where they were, fo his elect in all places where they are: he is the omnifcient God, and knows them that are his, and can call his own fheep by name; he knows the places where they are; for he has fixed the bounds of their habitation, and was delighting himfelf in the habitable parts of the earth, where he knew they would be, even before the world was; he knows the time of finding them, which he himfelf has fixed, and which is a time of love, and a time of life; and he can diftinguifh them, notwithftanding the filth they have contracted by their fins and tran{greffions, and from the croud they are among: and he is the omnipotent God, that can take them out of what hands foever they may be, or in whatfoever {tate and condition they are; tho’ in the hands of fatan, in the paws of that devouring lion, and in a pit wherein is no water, in an horrible pit, the mire and clay: he that fays this, is the owner and proprietor of them; and that is the reafon why he [fearches and feeks them out; and which he repeats for the confirmation of it, and to fhow the vehemence of his affection towards them, and how bent he is upon it, and how eager and refolute in his purfuit after them: he fearches for his chofen people among the ruins of Adam’s fall, in whom they fell as others; among the men of the world, where they are; among the duft of the earth, where his loft piece of filver, and thofe pearls lie; among the mountains of fin or felf-righteoufnefs, where thefe fheep are wandering; and he never leaves off feeking and fearching till he has found them: and what moves him to it, is not their nature, for they are no better than others; nor their numbers, for they are few; but his love to them, the relation he ftands in to them as their fhepherd, his intereft and property in them, his

Tem ee Be DS 169g his Covenant on theif account, and alfo his own glory..

¥. 12. As a foepherd feeketh out his flock inthe day that be is among his foeep that are fcattered,

)8cc.] That is, when they have been {cattered, and are got together again; then he goes among them, to fee if there are any miffing, and in what condition they are, and what they want: /o will I feek out my fheep, and deliver them out of all places where they have been fcattered in the cloudy and dark day; fuch, as in a literal fenfe, the time of the captivity was, when the Yews were difperfed in the feveral provinces of Babylon, and other countries; and which was a time of darknefg and affliction to them. The time of Adam’s fall was a dark and cloudy day; when all finned in him, and were made finners by his difobedience; when the fentence of condemnation and death paffed upon all, and they became liable to utter ruin and deftruction; when darknefs and ignorance feized all human nature; when all mankind were feparated from God, and fet at a diftance from him; in confequence of which the children of God, his fheep, were fcattered abroad. A time of unregeneracy is a cloudy and dark day with God’s eleét; they are in darknefs, and walk in darknefs, and are darknefs itfelf, till made light in the Lord: and fo is a time of defertion; when the Lord’s people are laid in darknefs, and the deeps, ahd both fit and walk therein, and fee no light; when they can neither fee the Lord, nor hear from him, nor have any communion with him; when the fun of righteoufnefs is withdrawn or eclipfed; and they can’t fee their intereft clear in fpiritual and eternal things: as is alfo a time of perfecution with the churches of Chrift; when both minifters and people are fcattered abroad, and their eyes cannot behold their teachers; and moon and ftars are not feen for many days, gofpel-minifters and gofpel-ordinances: and the fame is a time of blafphemy and error; and when it is neither day nor night, as is the prefent feafon; but there is no day fo cloudy and dark, but the fhepherd can fee his fheep, and will look them out, tho’ they cannot fee him.

y. 13. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, &c.} Which was in part fulfilled, when the Zews were delivered from the Babylonifh captivity; and which may well be afcribed to the Lord, fince it was he that ftirred up Cyrus king of Perfia to proclaim their liberty; and which raifed the fpirit of the people to go up upon it, and build the temple in Feru/alem, Ezra i. 1, 5. tho’ it will have a more full accomplifhment in the latter day; when thefe people fhall be gathered out of all countries where they are difperfed, and return to their own land, and embrace the true Meffiah, and be all faved; of which there was a pledge and prefage in the apoftles time, on the day of Pentecoft; when fome out of all nations were colleéted together at Ferufalem, and heard the wonderful things of God in their own language, and were converted; and afterwards, wherever the gofpel came in the Geztile world, it was firft preached to the Fews, and was the power of God to falvation firft to them; by which means the fheep of Chrift, the elect of God among them, in the feveral parts of the world, were gathered in: but this need.not be confined to the ‘Yews only; fince the Lord had other fheep befide them, even among the Gentiles, in all parts of the world; whom he fearches for, and effectually calls by his grace, and

Separates them from the reft of the world, and “brings them into his chutches, and among ai _people: and feed them upon the mountains of thee by the rivers, not upon the barren mountains ©

Sinai and Horeb, or with the works of the law; for there is no righteoufnefs, life, and falvation by ‘them, and fo no peace and comfort, or food for faith; but upon the mountains of J/rael, the churches of Chrift, comparable to mountains for their height, vifibility, immoveablene(s, and for their pafturage: here the great fhepherd, the lamb Chrift Jefus is, even on mount Zion; here his under-fhepherds are, who feed the flock with knowledge and underftanding; here the word of God is preached, the wholefome words of our Lord Jefus, by which fouls are nourifhed up to everlafting life; in thefe mountains the feaft of fat things is made; here the green paftures are, the fheep are made to lie down in; and here the lilies grow, among whom Chrift feeds; and by thefe mountains run the rivers of everlafting love and covenant-grace, the ftreams of gofpel-doctrines, and the waters ot gofpel-ordinances, to the great refrefhment of the faints; here the Lord feeds his people: and in all the inhabited places of the country, in the private dwellings of the faints, as well as in public affemblies.

y. 14. Iwill feed them in a good pafture, &c.] Or with good food, as the Targum; fuch as the fulnefs of grace in Chrift, where believers go in and out, and find pafture; and where they may feed to the full, have bread enough, and to fpare; and may draw water with joy out of the full wells of falvation: this is good food, food indeed, in oppofition to that which was typical, or is imaginary; this is fpiritual food, fuitable to the pirits of men, brought by the Spirit of God, and relifhed by a fpiritual man; this is favoury food, foul-fatisfying and foul-ftrengthening food; this is nourifhing food, and what will endure to everlafting life: and fuch is the gofpel, the promifes and doctrines of it, in which there is a variety of food; milk for babes, and meat for ftrong men; fweet to the tafte, and health to the bones; falutary and nourifhing, and which makes glad the heart; and of the fame kind are the ordinances of the gofpel, the breafts of confolation, the goodnefs and fatnefs of the Lord’s houfe; which he makes his people partakers of, and fatisfies them with. And upon the high mountains of Ifrael fhall their fold be, there foall they lie in a good fold; of the fame nature and ufe are the churches of Chrift, as a fold is to the fheep; as that they are feparated, divided, and diftinguifhed from others; as into a fold, the fheep of Chrift are gathered into churches; where they lie together, are united and knit together in love, and where they have communion with one another, and keep each other warm, and ftir up one another to love and good works; whereby the vitals of religion are preferved; here they are kept in the nightfeafon, and fed in the winter; thefe like a fold are a fort of fence unto them, and a prefervation of them from wolves and bears; and here they lie down, and have fpiritual reft, eafe, and fafety: and as in a fold there are lambs, and fheep, and goats, fo in churches there are different forts folded together, weaker and ftronger chriftians; and fome only nominal ones, who will be feparated at the laft day. A fold may be taken down, and removed from place to place, and fo may vifible congregated churches; the candleftick may be removed out of its place, the word and ordinances; and fo a gofpel-church-{tate may be carried from place to place; and there is but one fold for Fews and Gentiles, and this is a good one; fee Yobn x. 16. And in a fat pafture foall they feed on the mountains of Ijrael,; on the feaft of fat things there, and fo become fat and flourifhing; fee the note on ¥.

a 15. I will feed my flock, &c.| This is repeated for the further confirmation of it, that it mieht be depended upon, that the Lord would feed his people in the manner before promifed; and it gives a reafon why he would do it, becaufe they were his flock; he had a right unto them, a property in them; they were feparated and diftinguifhed from others by him, as the church of God is; and which is alfo purchafed by Chrift, and gathered out of the world by his Spirit and grace; and therefore he will feed them, or take care that they fhall be fed, Aéts xx. 28: and I will caufe them to lie dewn, faith the Lord; in the good fold provided for them; where they have both reft and fafety, and alfo plenty of fuitable food; fee the note on ¥. 14. The Zargum is, ** I will govern my people, and ‘* will caufe them to dwell fafely, faith the Lord “© God;” the Septuagint and Arabic verfions add, and they fhall know that I am the Lord.

¥. 16. And I will feek that which was lof, 8c.] As all men are in Adam, and thro’ his fall, and by their own actual tranfgreffions; and fo the elect of God among the reft; who are loft not with refpeé& to God’s knowledge of them, love to them, and care for them; but with refpect to their knowledge of him, affection for him, and regard to his will, fervice, and glory; they are loft to themfelves, they know not where they are, what is their ftate and condition, and how to get out of it; they can’t help themfelves, nor.can any other creature hel them; and they fee themfelves to be in this loft and undone condition, when they are enlightned by the Spirit of God: but they are not irretrievably loft, for they are preferved in Chrift Jefus; and he has been fent to feek and to fave them; which he has done by redeeming them from fin, fatan, and the law; and in effectual vocation, he goes after them, he fends his gofpel to them, and his Spirit into them, and returns them to himfelf, the fhepherd and bifhop of fouls; and whereas after this they go aftray like loft fheep, he feeks and looks them up, and reftores their fouls, Pf cxix. 176. and xxiii. 3. fee Luke xix. 10. and xv. 3, 4: and bring again that which was driven away; thro’ the power and prevalence of unbelief, from holding faft to the head Chrift, departing at leaft partially from the living God; from dealing by faith with his precious perfon, blood, and righteoufnefs; and from the precious promifes, as not belonging to them, and refufing to be comforted by them; but the Lord brings back fuch again, and caufes them to believe: Yhomas is a notorious inftance of this, Yohn xx. 24—28. fuch alfo who are driven away thro’ the force of fatan’s temptations from the throne of grace; from the word and ordinances; and from private converfation with the faints, being hypocrites, as he fuggefts unto them;

thefe the Lord brings back, by rebuking the temp- ter, and delivering out of his temptations: likewife fuch as are driven out of the right way of truth, and carried away with the error of the wick-_ ed, through the influence of bad paftors or falfe teachers, ‘Yer. xxiii. 1, 2. and 1. 6. thefe will he~ re{tore again; for it-is impoffible the ele of God ~ fhould be finally deceived: moreover, fuch as are~ driven away by the force of perfecution, and fcattered abroad, in God’s due time have reft, and return to their folds again; fee fer. 1.17. Aés viii. 1,2. and ix. 31: and will bind up that which was broken; fach who have broken hearts, broken with a fenfe of fin; made truly contrite by the Spirit and grace of God, thro’ the word; which is an hammer to them, that breaks the rocky heart in pieces; to thefe the Lord has refpect; their broken hearts are acceptable to him; he dwells with them, to revive them; he fpeaks- and reftores comforts to them; pours in oil and wine into their wounds, like the good Samaritan, and binds them up; fee Pf. cxlvii. 3. and li. 17. Jf lxi. 1. and fuch who have broken bones, who have fallen into fin to the breaking of their bones, to the deftroying of their peace, joy and comfort, as David, Peter, and others have done; he fets their broken bones, and re- {tores the joys of his falvation; and caufes the bones which were broken to rejoice at the difcoveries of his pardoning grace and mercy, Pf. li. 8,12: and will firengthen that which was fick; fick thro fin, as all men are; fick of fin, as fenfible finners be; fickly and weak, and ready to die, as fallen profeffors, backfliders are; fick of love, thro’ want of the difcoveries of it; long after them; can’t be eafy without them, as Chrift’s fpoufe fometimes is; and fick for want of food, faint and languid for want of {piritual refrefhment, as the perfons were Chrift had compaffion on, being as fheep without a fhepherd, Matt. ix. 36. fee Matt. ix. 12. 1 Cor. xi. 30. Cant. ii. 5. and v. 8. each of thefe the Lord ftrengthens with the difcoveries and applications of pardoning grace; with the flagons of his love, and apples of his promifes; with the food of the gofpel, which ftrengthens mens hearts; and with grace out of his fulnefs, whereby they are ftrengthened againft fin, {nares and temptations, and to exercife grace, and do the will of God: dut I will deftroy the fat and the firong; that are full of themfelves, lifted up with pride, conceited with their riches or righteoufnefs, and defpife others, whom they thruft with fide and fhoulder, and pufh with their horns, ¥.21. So the Targum interprets it of wicked men, ‘* and I «< will confume the ungodly and finners;” but the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac and Arabic verfions render it, I will keep the fat and the firong; in the plight and condition in which they are, and make them ftill ftronger, and more fat and flourifhing; fo Yerom interprets it, of faints and godly perfons; and this agrees with the preceding claufes; only the original Hebrew text is, againft it, which does not admit of a various reading; and this rendring feems to arife in the Septuagint, the-others follow, from the miftake of a fimilar letter: J will feed them with judgment, meaning either the whole flock, confifting of fat and lean cattel, making a diftinction between them, y¥.17, 20. feeding them with difcretion, and judging them according to their deferts; or elfe the fat and the ftrong ones, by inflicting righteous vengeance on them, feeding them with wormwood and gall; or his own people and fheep only. So the Targum, I will govern my people with judgment, in righteoufnefs, goodnefs, truth and faithtulnefs.

y. 17. And as for you, O my flock, thus faith the

Lord God, &c.] Having done with the fhepherds, and the complaint againft them, the Lord proceeds to take notice of the flock, or the people themfelves, and the evils that were among them, for in the Lord’s own flock, in the nation and church of Jrael, as now in the vifible congregated

171f churches of Chrift, there were two forts of. perfons, fome good, others bad; fome that behaved well, and others ill; fome were fheep, and others goats: behold, I judge between cattel and cattel, between the rams and the be-goats; between the fmaller and weaker cattel, the fheep and. lambs; and the larger and ftronger cattel, the rams and he-goats; by which latter may be meant, perfons of fuperior power and authority, of greater wealth and riches; and of more wifdom and knowledge, at leaft in their own conceits; and who were oppreffive and injurious to the poor and common people, and lefs knowing, at leaft as they thought; who may be intended by the former: now, the Lord, as he obferved a difference between them, he would make this manifeft, and take the part of the one againft the other; even the part of the weaker againft the ftronger. The Targum is, ‘* behold, 1 judge be- “* tween man and man, finners and the ungodly.”

¥. 18. Seemeth it a fmall thing unto you to have eaten up the good pafture, &c.] This is direcéted-to the rams and he-goats, to the people of power and wealth, or who had the key of knowledge and inftruction; who, by their conduct, fhewed as if it was not enough for them to eat and drink the beft of things themfelves, to enjoy their wealth and riches, and keep their pofts of honour and profit, and the revenues of them, in church and {tate: Lut ye muft tread down with your feet the refidue of your paftures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye muft foul the refidue with your feet 2 but they muft opprefs the poor, by taking away from them that little they have; or by. making their lives uncomfortable to them, by their feverities and exactions; fo that that {mall pittance they had, they cannot enjoy with any pleafure. The allufion is to beafts in pafture, which tread down and be-dung what they do not eat, which makes what is left unfit for others; and to cattel, at ponds of water, which having drank, foul’ the reft with their feet; as camels particularly are faid to do; fo that others can’t drink after them, at leaft not fo agreeably: this may be applied to the Scribes and Pharifees, and fuch as they were, who devoured widows houfes, and made void the word and commandments of God by their traditions; teaching for doctrines the commandments of men; and fo polluted the pure waters of the fanétuary.; defiled the fcriptures of truth, and delivered out fuch doctrines as were not food and drink to the fouls of men, and yet were obliged to receive them; and fuch are heretical perfons, who fometimes arife out of the churches, are a part of the flock, that corrupt the word of God, pervert the {criptures, and handle them deceitfully; and may be faid te tread down and trample upon the wholefome truths. of the gofpel, and to be-mud the clear doctrines of grace; fo that the children of God cannot, as they defire, have the pure, unmixed, fincere milk of the word.

y.19. And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, &c.] They are forced to do it, not being able to come at any thing elfe; being as fheep without a fhepherd, or worfe: and they drink that which ye bave fouled with your feet; which, as it can’t be agreeable and relifhing, fo neither wholefome; as the Jeaven of the Scribes and Pharvifees; the traditions of the elders; the falfe doctrines of falfe teachers, whofe words eat as do a canker. The Targum of the whole verfe is, ‘* and my people eat_the refidue “© of the food of your minifters, and drink the “ refidue of the drink of your minifters.”

¥.20. Therefore thus faith the Lord God unto them, 8cc.] To the rams and he-goats of the flock, that ufe the paftures, and defile the waters after this manner, and make them unfit for the leffer cattel; or that ufe the poor people of God after this fort: debold, I, even I will judge between the fat,cattel, and between the lean cattel. The Targum is, ** between the rich.man, and the poor man 5” this is repeated, and in very ftrong terms, for the confirmation of it: this the Lord promifed to do, and he has done it by his Son, to whom he committed all judgment; and who, in the days of his flefh, made a difference between thofe who were full.of themfelves, felf-righteous perfons; who were felf-{ufficient, and needed not repentance, nor any other righteoufnefs but their own; who trufted in themfelves, and defpifed others; and may be meant by the fat cattel,; and between thofe who were low and mean in their own eyes, humble and meek, weary and heavy laden, hungring and _thirfting after the righteoufnefs of another: now for judgment did Chrift come, that they which fee not might fee, and thofe who faw might be made blind; he called the one, and not the other to repentance; made known the things of the gofpel to babes, and hid them from the wife and prudent; rejected the one, and had compaffion on the other, fee Fokn v. 22. and ix. 39. Matt. ix. 13, 36. and xi. 25,26. and when he comes a fecond time, he'll judge between thefe, and feparate them; and fet the fheep on his right-hand, and the goats on the left, Matt. xxv. 31, 32, 33.

¥. 21. Becgufe ye have thruft with fide and with Jooulder, &c.| As the ftronger cattel do the leffer: and pufhed all the difeafed with your horns, as horned cattel do thofe they diflike, and bear an antipathy to; which to do to the difeafed is great cruelty: fheep, it is faid, will take fome care of thofe that are difeafed among them, and bring them to places of fun-fhine and fhelter,; but here the horned part of the flock, and in health, are reprefented as acting a barbarous part to the weak and difeafed: this may denote {uch as are in power and authority, ufing it to the hurt and detriment of thofe that are under them, and whom they fhould relieve and protect: it may be applied to the anathema’s and excommunications of the Fews, who pronounced thofe an accurfed and ignorant people that believed in Chrift, and expelled fuch out of their fynagogues that protefied his name; and to their perfecutions of the apoftles and firft chriftians: si// he have feattered them abroad; or without *; that is, without the land. The Targum is, “ thro’ the pro- ** yinces;” obliged them to quit their country, and go unto other parts, as the firft preachers of the word did; who, upon the perfecution at the death of Stephen, were {cattered abroad every where, Adis Vili. 1, 4.

¥.22. Therefore will I fave my flock, &c.] Or redeem my people, as the Targum; that is, by his fon, after defcribed, as his fhepherd and fervant: and they fhall no more be a prey; to fatan the roaring lion; nor to fuch horned cattel, their perfecutors; nor to falfe teachers, who lie in wait to deceive; nor fhall they ever perith, being the fheep of Chrift’s hand, and under the care of him the fhepherd, fpoken of in the next verfe: and I will judge between cattel, and cattel, between man and man, as the Targum, that is, between good and bad men, the perfecutors and the perfecuted; fee the notes on ¥. 17, 20.

¥.23. And 1 will fet up one foepherd over them, &c.] Or governor, as the Tergum,; an excellent one, one of athoufand, the only one; in comparifon of whom others are not to be named; for tho’ there are under-fhepherds, as magiftrates and minifters of the word, he is the principal one; that is, Chrift, called the good fhepherd, the great fhepherd, and the chief fhepherd, and the only one; and who became fo ‘by the conititution and appointment of Jehovah the Father; who chofe him, called him, and entrufted him with all his fheep; who fent him to feek and fave his loft fheep; for whom ‘he died, ‘rofe again, and is aecountable: he is more particularly called the one foepherd, with refpect to Yew and Gentile; fee Fobm x. 16: and he fhall feed them, the flock, even the poor of the flock, thruft at and pufhed by otherss.

he fhall feed them by his minifters, as under-fhepherds in his churches, where his word is preache and his ordinances are adminiftered; ‘he fhall them with himfelf, the bread of life; with his fiefh and blood, which are meat and drink indeed; with covenant-grace, bleffings-and promifes; with the gofpel, and the doétrines of it; he feeds his babes with milk, his ftrong men with meat, and all with the wholefome words of faith and good doéttrine, whereby he nourifhes them up to everlafting life; and this he /hall do, not by force, but willingly: it denotes the certainty of it, it may be depended on: even my fervant David; not David himfelf literally; who, tho’ a fhepherd, and the fervant of the Lord, yet had been dead many years before this prophecy was delivered; nor Zorobabel, who was of his feed; for tho’ a fervant of the Lord, and a prince or govenor of F#dab, yet not a king, and much lefs a king or prince for ever; as this perfon is faid to be, ch. xxxvii. 24, 25. but the Meffiah, as is exprefsly owned by Kimchi; who fays, this is the Meffiah that fhall arife from his feed in the time of falvation: he is called David, becaufe his name agrees with him, which fignifies beloved, he being beloved of God and man; and becaufe the fon of David, of his feed according to the flefh; and becaufe David was an eminent type of him, in his perfon, offices, afflictions, wars, victories, and exaltation; and becaufe he was David’s Lord and reprefentative, and in whom his everlafting kingdom is eftablifhed. The fame is called the fervant of the Lord, as he often is in fcripture, being fo in his office-capacity as Mediator; and becaufe he took upon him the form of afervant; did the work of one; and was of the Lord’s chufing, calling, fupporting and glorifying: he foall feed them, and he fall be their foepherd; which is repeated for the greater confirmation of it.

¥.24. And I the Lord will be their God, ye

The God of them Chrift is the fhepherd of, and’

whom he feeds; the fheep and poor of the flock: this is the great bleffing of the everlafting covenant, and than which there cannot be a greater, to have the Lord, the everlafting and unchangeable Jehovah, to be a covenant-God and Father: and my servant David a prince among them; who fhould refide among them, dwell with them, by granting them his fpiritual prefence, and fo rule over them, protect and defend them; even he who is the prince of the kings of the earth, and is exalted, a prince and a Saviour of his people J/rae;

he is fuch a fhepherd, as that he is a prince; and fuch a prince, as that he is a Saviour, and under

_ the faints have all theirs, either in grace, or good to the temple, and: the houfes about it.

whofe princely government is the greateft fafety: I the Lord have fpoken it; and therefore it fhall affuredly be. The Targum is, “* I the Lord have *¢ decreed it in my word;” he had determined. it within himfelf, and promifed it in covenant, and are of it in prophecy, and it fhould be fulfilled.

¥.25. And I will make with thém a covenant of peace, &c.] Such the covenant of ‘grace is, made with Chrift from everlafting; in which Jehovah propofed terms of peace, and which Chrift undertook to anfwer, and became the peace-maker; and from this article concerning the peace and reconciliation of men, the covenant is fo called; fee If liv. 10. this the Lord promifes to make known to his people his flock, to fhew them their intereft in it, and to make it good unto them; for otherwife it was made with Chrift, and with them in Chrift from all eternity. The Septuagint and Arabic verfions read, * I will make with David a covenant of peace:” and will caufe the evil beafts to ceafe out of the land; which was literally fulfilled when the Yews returned from Badylon; during their captivity the land being uninhabited, evil beafts increafed in it, and poffeffed it; but upon their return thefe ceafed, being either deftroyed, or driven away: but ffguratively thefe defign wicked men, who, for the malignity of their nature, manners and converfation, are called evil beafts, as the Cretians were, Tit. i. 12. particularly falfe teachers may be defigned; thofe grievous wolves that {pare not, but wrong the flock; but now fhall be no more, being either forced to quit their place, or truly converted; fo that the wolf fhall dwell with the Jamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid; which will be the peaceable and comfortable ftate of the church in the latter day; when there will be none to hurt and deftroy in the Lord’s holy mountain, If. x1. 6—g: and they fhall dwell fafely in the wildernefs, and flecp in the woods; not only in their houfes, but in the fields, and even in the wildernefs, and in the woods, where wild beafts ufed to refort; but now being clear of all, and under the protection of fuch a fhepherd and prince, as Devid the fervant of the Lord, they thall have no dread upon their mind, no fear of any danger; but dwell in the utmoft fecurity, lie down and fleep in -peace and fafety, the Lord fuftaining them; and whom they fhall ferve without fear of any enemy all their days in righteoufnefs and holinefs, being delivered out of the hands of them all.

¥. 26. And I will make them, and the places round about my bill, a blefing, &c.] Alluding either to the city of Ferufalem, and the places adjacent; or So the Targum, ‘* I will caufe them to dwell round about *¢ the houfe of my fanctuary;” and fo Kimchi interprets it of the temple. Some chriftian interpreters, by the 47// or mountain, underftand Chritt, and not amifs; who may be compared to one for height; he being higher than the kings of the earth, or than the heavens and angels there, as man. and Mediator; as well as is God over all, bleffed for ever; and for fruitfulnefs, from whom works; and for fhade, he being the fhadow of a great rock in a weary land; which yields delight and refrefhment, and is a protection from the heat of a fiery law, flaming juftice, the wrath of God and man, and the fiery darts of fatan; and for fhelter and fecurity, there being falvation in him, when none in other hills and mountains; and for Voy. II. N°, 28.

duration and immoveablenefs, being the fame today, yefterday, and for ever: and now the per-

_fons about him are fuch who are made nigh by his blood; brought to him by his powerful and efficacious grace; are worfhippers about the throne where he fits; fuch as cleave to him; and follow him wherever he goés, ‘and fhall be with him to all eternity; thefe he makes a bleffing, or moft blefied. So the Yargiim renders it; * and they ‘* fhall be blefied;” they are bleffed in Chrift their head; they are bleffed thro’ him as their Redeemer and Saviour, who was made a curfe for them; they are bleffed, thro’ being in him, and by the imputation of bleflings to them from him, and thro’ the application of them. by his Spirit; their perfons are blefiéd, and fo are the places or habitations where they dwell: or rather this may be underftood of the church of God, often compared to a hill for its height and eminence; for its fertility and fruicfulnefs; for its ftabiliry and firmneds; and in allufion to the hill of Zion for its holinefs, and being the place of the divine refidence; fee Pf. xv. 1. and xxiv. 4. and Ixvili. 15, 16. now, the perfons about this hill, are thofe who aré come to mount Zion the church of God; being brought there by the Lord himfelf, and who take up their abode there; who lie about this hill, as flocks of fheep, in their feveral folds or congregated churches; fee Fer. xxiii. 3. and xxxiii. 13. and thefe the Lord makes a bleffing to one another, by their fpiritual converfation, prayers and fervices of love; and to the world, to kingdoms and ftates, to cities, towns and neighbourhoods, and to particular families, where they are placed; and even to the world in general; for they are the light, ftay and ftability of it; and without which it would be in darknefs, corrupt and putrify, and not continue long: and Iwill caufe the foower to come down in his feafon; which, in the fpiritual fenfe, may defign the gofpel; which, like a fhower of rain, comes from God; defcends from heaven; is a gift of God; which falls according to divine direction; refrefhes, revives, and makes fruitful; brings a plenty of divine bleffings with it; and comes in feafon, at its proper time; and, is a word, in feafon to weary fouls: there fhall be foowers of bleffings; which the gofpel brings with it; fpiritual bleffings, bleffings of grace; fuch as peace, pardon, righteoufnefs and eternal life: thefe, like fhowers, come from God; are free grace-gifts of his, of which there is a large abundance; and which defcend on mount Zion the church of God; which is another Gerizzim, on which the bleffings are pronounced, P/. cxxxiii. 3. fee If, lv. 10, 11. Zech. x.. y.27. And the tree of the field foall yield her fruit, &c.] Such as are trees of righteoufnefs, rooted in Chrift,,and planted in his church, and watered with his grace; thefe bring forth, bear, and are filled with the fruits of righteoufnefs by him: and the earth fhall yield ber increafe, the fallow ground of mens hearts being broke up, and the feed of the word, and of divine grace being fown in them, -they bring forth fruit, fome thirty, fome fixty, and fome an hundred-fold; fee P - Ixvii.

1, 2, 6, 7. this, and what goes before, may be literally underftood of the land of Canaan, and the fruitfulnefs of it, when the Fews fhall again poffefs it; to which the next claufe feems to have fome refpect: and they fhall be fafe in their land; no enemy to difturb them, to invade or do any acts of violence to them: this will be when the Jews are converted, and become chriftians; and es anti-

I 7A E Zz E K I E yi Ch. SX REVS Vi 28—31- es ‘fn antichrift deftroyed; they will have none but chri- {tian powers about them, who will be their protection, This is. true, ina fpiritual fenfe, of all erthe faints, who.are under the care and government of Chrift their fhepherd. and prince: aad /hall know that I am. the Lord; Jehovah, their righteoufnefs, Saviour and Redeemer: when, I have. broken, the bands of their yoke, of fin, fatan, and the. and of all enemies: and delivered them, out of the hand of thofe that ferved themfélves. of them, or made them their fervants, to whom they were fubject,; literally, the nations of the world, among whom they are difperfed; and figuratively, fin, whofe fervants men. in a ftate of nature are; and fatan, by whom they are led captive; and the law, under which they. are held as tranfgreffors; and all other fpiritual enemies; fee Luke i. 74, 75. heathen any.

¥. 29. Aad I will raife up for them a plant of renown, &c.] Or, for a name, or, of a name‘; a famous one: this is to be underftood, not of the Fewifo nation ittelf, as the Zargum, ‘ and I will <* raife up for them a plantation for ftanding;” or which fhall continue; but of the Meffiah, and not of his incarnation, when he fprung up as a tender plant out of the dry ground, and as a branch out of the roots of Feffé, being on that account often fpoken of as a branch; fee J/ xi. 1. and liii, 2. Zech. iit. 8. and vi. 42. but of him in amore raifed ftood, not of hunger thro’ a famine of b id. water, but, of hearing the word of the Lord; which, they fhall, now haye, and, hear, and, believe, and fo have food for their fouls, and hunger no more; law, as thofe do.not who believe in Chrilt, Fohbuvi. 35. ~ for this plant raifed up for them, and pointed out to them, the tree of life, Chrift Jefus, bears all manner of precious, fruit, fweet to the tafte, and nourifhing to. the fouls. of his people; under his, « fhadow they fit, and: his, fruit is fweet to them; and with him, is bread enough, and to fpares fo that there is no want, nor fear of confumption with ie hunger, where he is: meither bear the fhame of the more; being called by, them Jets, in a way. of taunt, a,proverb, and a curfe; and outcafts, whom, none feeek after; but now they. fhall no more be termed forfaken, or called defolate, but inftead thereof Hephzibah and Beulah; fee Fer. xxx. 17. Jf. Ixii. 4, 12. ee oe

¥. 28. And: they fball no more be a prey to the heathen, &c.}. To the Papifts, who. thall now be perithed. out of the land, P/- x. 16: neither fhall the beajts of the land devour them; neither that beaft which. rofe up out of the fea, nor that which came up out of the earth, Rev. xii, 1,11. the pope both in his. fecular and ecclefiaftic power being deftroyed. So the Fargum, ‘* and the kingdoms of the earth *¢ fhall not confume them;” the antichriftian kingdoms: but they. fhall. dwell fafely, and none foail make them afraid, fee the notes on ¥. 25, 27.

¥. 30. Lhus fhall they know that I the Lord-theie God am) with them, 8&cc.] Granting them his gracious and powerful prefence, by all the above in= ftances of his goodnefs and favour to them: aud that they, even the boufe of Ifrael, axe my people, faith the Lord God; and not utterly caft off, as” they feemed to. be; the divine Shekinab now being returned to them, which had departed from them; the Loammi that was written on them, being now wiped off from them. f y. 31. And ye my flock, the flock of my pafture, are men, &c.] This is obferved, to thew that all that had been faid in this chapter concerning fheep, and a flock of fheep, was to be underftood, not in a literal fenfe, but in a figurative one, of fuch as_ were rational and fpiritual perfons; a fet of men, whom the Lord had chofen and feparated from | with hunger in. the land, the Targum, is, “* th + ‘€ fhall no. more move from place to, place thro” be “¢ famine in the land;” and which is to. be ut oar and exalted ftate, as grown up to a ftately tree, a goodly cedar, as in ch. xvii. 23. when his intereft and kingdom fhould be great and glorious in the world, as it will be at the time of the converfion of the Fews; and it is fpokén of his manifeftation to them: as a plant of renown, or as a renowned plant, the true vine and tree of life; or asa famous renowned perfon, one of name; whofe glorious names and titles are, Shilob, the Meffiah, Immanuel, Febovah our righteoufnefs, Fefus the Saviour, the Werd of God, the King of kings, and Lord of lords: and they shall be no more confumed

HIS chapter is a prophecy of the deftruction of Edom, which is threatened, y¥. 1, 25 3, 4. the caufe of it, their hatred and flaughter of the Lfraelites, ¥. 5—g. their. claim of the lands of Yrael and Fudeb for pofleffion, ¥. 10, 11. their blafphemies againft the people of God, ‘and the Lord himfelf, y. 12, 13. the aggravation of ‘their ruin, which was irretrievable; that when it was well with others, it fhould go ill with them, by way of juft retaliation, ¥. 14, 15..

¥.1, Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, &c.| After the prophecy concerning the fheptry of Edom or Idumea is here intended, and the © inhabitants of it; who are put for the enemies of = herds of J/rael, and the goats of the flock, and of others, as his peculiar flock; and whom he took

|a fpecial care of, and led them to, and fed them |in, green paftures of his own providing; they are the fouls of men, that Chrift is the fhepherd and)

bifhop of, 1 Pet. ii. 25.. The Lalmudijis * feequently make ufe of this text, to prove that I/raelites are only called men, and not the Gentiles; fee Matt. xv.26: and J am your God, faith the Lord Ged;, which is often repeated for the certainty of it, becaufe a bleffing of the greateft importance, and which includes all others in it; fee ¥r24s'30.;

their oppreffions of the fheep and lambs, the of the flock; and concerning the Meffiah, and the bleffings of grace promifed the church in the latter day; came another concerning the deftruction © her enemies, under the name of Seir or Edom: faying, as follows: Bebe vets ae y. 2. Son of man, fet thy face againft began &ec.] Which had its name from Ser the A who firft poflefled it; and was fucceeded in it by é the church and people of God in general, as th were the enemies of J/rae/ and Fudah; and particularly for Rome, which, as it was fpiritually called Egypt and Sodom, fo it may be called Edom, as it oiten is by the Yews: now the prophet is bid to turn his face towards this mountain or country, and look fternly at it, and feverely threaten it. The Targum is, ‘* take up a prophecy againft it;” which is exprefied in the next claufe: and prophefy. againft it; foretel things contrary to it, which relate to its deftruction, as follows:

X. 3. And fay unto it, thus, foith the Lord God, &c.] The prophet was not upon the fpot, and could not direct his fpeech immediately to the Edomites; but he might fend this prophecy to their embafladors at Babylon; or in a letter to. them in their own land, in the name of the Lord: dehold; O mount Seir, I am againft thee; not the face of the prophet only, but the face of God himfelf was againit them; and a terrible thing it is for any to have God to be againft them, whether a nation, or a particular perfon. The Zargum is, ‘* behold, I ** fend my fury upon thee:” and I will firetch out mine. hand againft thee, which, was able to reach them wherever they were; and whieh, being ftretched out, cannot be turned back; and where it lights, falls heavy indeed; namely, his mighty hand of powersand wrath. The Tergum is, “ and *< T will lift up the ftroke of my power upon <¢ thee;” that is, lift up, his hand, and ftrike powerfully; the confequence of which muft be, as tollows,: and I will make thee moft defolate, their land, cities, towns and villages all fhould be utterly laid wafte; fee Kev. xvil. 16. and xviii. 8. fo it follows:

¥.4. L will lay thy cities, wafle, &c.]. Such as Dedan, Teman, Bozrah, and other cities of Idumea mentioned in fcripture; and figuratively may defign all within the jurifdiction of Rome, the feveral cities of the antichriftian ftates, called she cities of the nations; which will fall at the pouring, out of the vials, Rev. xvi.1g: and thou foalt be defolate; thoroughly and entirely, and remain fo: and thou. fralt know, that | am the Lord; that has done all this; that the hand of God was in it; and that this is a punifhment inflicted by him, for their fins after-mentioned; but not that they fhould know the Lord fpiritually and favingly, and fo as to yield obedience to him, and own and acknowledge him to, be their,God;, tho’ this may be the cafe of a remnant among them; fee Kev. xi, 13. and xviii, 4.

y. 5. Becaufe thou haft had q perpetual hatred, &c.] There was an old grudge and enmity. fubfitting in the pofterity of £/ey againft the pofterity of Fécah, becaufe the, latter fupplanted the former, and got the birth-right and bleffing from him; and which was. difcovered. in all ages, and. at, all opportunities, and on all occafions which offered; and fuch has been the hatred of the church of

Rome again{t the true profeffors and followers of |

Chrift, as their bloody perfecution of them in all ages have fhewn: aud baft fed the blood of the children of Irael. by the force of the fword, in the time of their calamity; when Ferufalem was taken by the Chaidegns, the Edewiites not only rejoiced at it, and took part of the fpoil, but ftood in the crofs-ways, and flew thofe that made their efcape; or drove them back upon the fword of the enemy; or delivered them into their hands; which was barbarous and inhuman ufage/of their neighbours and brethren; fee Odad. y.10, 14%. The Targum is, “* and thou didft deliver the children of J/rae into

“* the hands of thofe that flay with the fword, in “* the time of their deftruation:” in the time that their iaiquily had an.end when either the meafure of that was. full; or when they received for it full correction and chaftifement; at the confummation of that.

¥.. 6: Therefore, as I live, faith the Lord God; &c.] The form of an oath; the Lord fwears by himielf, becaufe he could {wear by no. greater; and which he never does, but in matters of importance, and for the confirmation of them, as the following is: I will prepare thee unto blood; prepare them for war, which will iffue in flaughter and blood, fuch as the battel at Armageddon, Rev. XV1. 14, 16. and xix, 18, 19: or, J will make thee, blood.“ 5 nothing elfe but-blood; a mere Aceldama, a field of blood; turn thee into blood, as the fea, ‘tivers and fountains will be at the pouring out the fecond and third vials, Rev. xvi. 3, 4: and blood Joall purfue thee, the guilt and vengeance of blood; or the avengers of the, blood of the faints; the angels that fhall pour out, the vials of wrath on Rome the ten kings that fhall hate the whore. So the Zargum, ‘‘ they that flay with the fword ‘* fhall purfue thee;” or the fhedders of blood, as Ben, Melech: fizh thou bajt not hated blood; Farchi reads it, hajt hated blood, which he interprets of the blood of the facrifices; as others, mentioned by him; of the blood of circumcifion; and others, of his brother, who was his flefh and blood, and hated by him; but it is a figurative phrafe, by which.lefs is expreffed, than is. intended.. The fenfe is,. thou haft loved blood;. thou haft delighted in fhedding blood; haft thirfted after. it, and drank plentifully of it, and even been drunk with it, as the whore of Rome is faid to be, Rev. Xvil. 5: even blood. fhall purfue thee, this is re-

| peated for the confirmation of it; and this was meafure for meafure; a juft. retaliation; having fhed blood, it was but right that blood fhould purfue, and be given, Rev, xvi. 5, 6..

¥. 7. Thus will I make. mount. Seir moft. defolate, &c.] By fthedding the blood of the. inhabitants of it; and as Rome.will be; when it. will be utterly burnt with fire, as that city will, and the fefh of the whore alfo, and made -defolate; and when all the vials fhall be poured out on ‘the antichriftian {tates under her jurifdiction, Rev. xvi. 1.. and xvi. 16,, and xyiil. 8: and cut off from it him that pa -

Jeth out, and bim that returneth, every traveller that: pafieth to and fro; it fhall no, more be. frequented. by merchants; nor will there be any merchandife any more in it, Rev. xvill. 11.

¥. 8. And I will fill bis mountains with his flain men, occ.| Not only mount Ser, but all the: reft of the mountains in Idumea; where they fhall flee

{uch numbers, as.to cover the mountains with them; compare with this Rev. xix. 18, 19: ia thy bills; and.ig thy. yallies, and in all thy rivers fall they fall that are flain. with the fword, exprefiive of the greatnefs and. univerfality of the flaughter, that it fhould be a general one every where; hence rivers and fountains are faid to become blood, thro” the number of the flain, Rev. xvi. 3, 4.

¥. 9. I will make thee perpetual defolations, and thy cities fhall uot return, &c.] To their former