Exposition of the Whole Bible

An oath as before in ¥. 6: J will do according to dignity and glory; fhould not be built and inhabited again, but lie wafte for ever: this agrees with what is prophefied of Edom, Mal. i. 4. and will be true of Rome or Babylon when deftroyed; it will never rife more, but be like a mill-ftone in the midft of the fea, Rev. xviii. 21: and ye fhall know that I am the Lord, fee the note on ¥. 4.

y. 10. Becaufe thou haft faid, thefe two nations, and thefe two countries fhall be mine, and we will poffe/s it, &c.] Meaning either Jdumea he was now pofieffed of, and J/rael he hoped to be, upon the people of it being carried captive; or rather the two nations of J/rael and fudab, and their countries; which he pleafed himfelf with would fall into his hands, as next heir to them; the pofterity of his brother being difpoffeffed of them. This may denote the claim that Rome makes upon the feveral Proteftant nations and countries; and which fhe will think all her own, and that fhe is in the poffeffion of them, upon the flaying of the witnefles; and when fhe will fay, [fit a queen, and am no widow, Rev. xviii. 7. Whereas the Lord was there; and heard their words, as Kimchi; and knew their thoughts, as Farchi; fo the Targum, ‘ and before <¢ the Lord the thoughts of the heart were mani- <¢ feft.” The land of Fudea was Immanuel’s land; and as the Lord had been in it, and granted his gracious prefence in the tabernacle and temple, fo he ftill continued his powerful prefence in it, to protect and keep it for his people; who fhould return to it after their captivity, and inhabit it until the Meffiah came, who was to be born init. Or it may be rendered, though the Lord was or dwelt there*, denoting the great impiety and daring wickednefs of the Edomites, to think and talk of poffeffing a country that was the Lord’s, and where he was: and this holds good of the true reformed churches of Chrift; the Lord is there, and therefore tho’ they may be brought very low, and antichrift may triumph over them, and imagine he has got them under his power again, where they fhall continue; yet on a fudden his deftruction will come, and their deliverance. Or, where the Lord was»; but he has now departed, and will never return more, the temple being deftroyed; fo they faid, encouraging themfelves.

thine anger, and according to thine envy, which thou hajft ujed out of thy hatred againft them; as thou hatt been angry with them, and hated them, and done mifchief to them, fo will I be angry with thee, and hate thee, and inflict punifhment on thee; I’ll retaliate all the anger, envy, and hatred fhewed unto. my people, and punith thee according to thy juft demerits. So the Romi/b antichrift fhall be dealt with; he who has led into captivity fhall go into it, and he that has killed with the fword fhall be killed by it. Babylon fhall be rewarded double, as fhe has rewarded others, Rev. xiii. 10. and xviii. 6. And I will make myfelf known among them, when I have judged thee; the Targum is, “ and I will “* reveal myfelf to do good unto them, when I «* fhall have taken vengeance on thee:” after the deftruction of antichrift, the knowledge of God, and of Chrift, will be fpread among ews and Gentiles, even all the world over, fo univerfally, fo

clearly and diftinétly, as never was before, Daz. x4. WPS EL Oh

¥. 12. And thou fhalt know that Iam the Lord, &c.] By the jndgments executed upon Edom, and fo upon antichrift; for God is known by the judgments he executes, both by good and bad men, Pf. ix. 16: and that I have heard ail thy blafphemies which thou baft fpoken againft the mountains of Tfrael, the people of J/rael and fudah literally, and the churches and people of God figuratively: fo antichrift is faid to open his mouth in blafphemies, - and to blafpheme the tabernacle of God, and them that dwell in heaven; that is, the church of God, and the faints of the Moft High; which are heard and obferved by the Lord, and refented by him, and for which he will punifh, Rev. xiii. 6: /aying, they are laid defolate, they are given up to confume; or, for food*; to poffefs and live upon; the inhabitants of them being carried captive or flain, fo that there were none to enjoy the fruits of them; and therefore the Edomites concluded that the Jraelites were forfaken of God, and that he would no more regard them, and that their land was theirs; which gave them great joy; fee Rev. xi. IO.

¥. 13. Thus with your mouth ye have boafted againft me, &c.] Or, magnified againft me*; fpoke great {welling words of vanity, or had a mouth opened to fpeak great things and blafphemy againft God, as antichrift is faid to do, Rev. xiii. 5, 6. what is fpoken again{ft the Lord’s people, is taken by him as fpoken againft himfelf: and have multiplied your words againfi me; not in prayer, by deprecations or fupplications, as the word » ufed fometimes fignifies; but in reproaches and calumnies, vilifying expreffions and hard fpeeches, againft his people, in great numbers; which is all one, as if they were directed againft him: J have heard them; thefe the Lord takes notice of, and will call to an account for, either here or hereafter; fee Jud. ¥. 15.

¥. 14. Thus faith the Lord God, when the whole earth rejoiceth, &c.] When it fhall go well with the world in general, and the inhabitants of it; when they fhall enjoy great peace and profperity. archi has a very good note upon this clan «* when I fhall take my kingdom; for then the “* earth will rejoice, as it is faid, the Lord reigns, “¢ Jet the earth rejoice;” fo when Chrift takes to himfelf his great power, and reigns, his church and people will rejoice, Rev. xi. 16, 17. as well as at the deftruction of antichrift, as follows: J. will make thee defolate; for fo fome render it, the whole earth rejoiceth when I make thee defolate; or, fo foall all the earth rejoice in the defolation which I fhall make for thee*; fee Rev. xviii. 20. and xix. 1, 2. and which agrees with what follows,

¥. 15. As thou didft rejoice at the inheritance of the houfe of Irael, becaufe it was defolate, &c. So

Edom rejoiced at the deftruction of Yerufalem, Obad. y.12. and fo the followers of the man of fin will rejoice at the flaying of the witnefies, "Reva, which is refented by the Lord, and therefore adds, - Jo will I do unto thee; make thee defolate, as is’

O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it, noe vii

>» ENN ab Wy orare fuppliciter. © Sic letabitur omnis terra in defolatione quam faciam tibi, Vatal that mount only, but all the land of Edom, ca cd A Sega the deftruction fhall be general, as it was, fall know that Iam the Lord; the Lord God om-

Idumea; and srrepriewable:; and fo not Rome only, but all the antichriftian ftates will be deftroyed, when God comes forth in his wrath againft them: and they

HIS chapter is a prophecy concerning the defolations of the land of J/rae/, and the caufes of them; of the return of the people to it, and the fruitfulnefs of it; and of fpiritual bleffings beftowed upon them in the latter day. And firft, for the comfort of the people of J/rae/, it is obferved, that their enemies that infulted them will fuffer the vengeance of God’s wrath, particularly the Edomites, ¥. 1—7. that the land of Jfrael thould again become fruitful, its cities rebuilt, men and beatts be multiplied upon it, and be no more liable to deftruction, nor bear any more the reproach of the heathen, ¥. 8—-15. the caufes of its defolation and deftruction, the fins of its inhabitants, efpecially blood-fhed, idolatry, and profanation of the name of God, ¥. 16—20. neverthelefs the Lord promifes to have mercy on them, and return them to their own land, not for their fakes, but for his own name-fake, ¥. 21—24. then follow promifes of fpiritual bleffings to them; as purification from all fin by the blood of Chrift; regeneration by his Spirit and grace; and evangelical obedience as the fruit of that, ¥. 25, 26, 27. and others of a mixed kind, refpecting partly temporal, and partly fpiritual bleffings, y. 28—36. for all which it {s expected of the Lord, that he fhould be prayed unto for them; particularly their inhabitation in their own land, and the multiplication of them in it, with which the chapter concludes, ¥. 37, 38.

¥. 1. Alo thou fon of man, propbefy unto the mountains of Irael, &c.\ The land of Judah, which was very mountainous, at leaft one part of it, called the hill-country, Lukei. 39, 65. and now the country being cleared of men thro’ the captivity, and other defolating judgments, there were none but bare mountains to fpeak unto: or, prophefy concerning the mountains of Ifrael*, the inhabitants of them, or thofe that fhould be reftored to them, concerning their future happinefs and comfort: fome render it, againft the mountains of Ifrael*, but the after-prophecies of them are in their favour, and not againft them: «zd fay, ye mountains of Ifrael, hear the word of the Lord; concerning the deftruction of their enemies, and concerning the temporal bleffings that fhould be beftowed on them.

y¥. 2. Thus foith the Lord God, &c.| By the mouth of the prophet, who was bid to prophefy: becaufe. the enemy bad faid againft you, Aba, re-

_ joicing at the calamity of God’s people, particularly the Adomites or Idumeans, as in the preceding chapter, and who are chiefly meant; and alfo the Ammomtes and Tyrians, ch. xxv. 3. and xxvi. 2:

even the ancient high places are ours in poffeffion,

or, the bigh places of the world fhail be unto us for a poffeffion *; the land of J/rael, according to Kimchi and others, was the higheft part of the world, 7ebee the higheft part of that land, and the tem- nifcient and omnipotent; 3 who having foretold all this, fhall accomplith it.

ple was built on the higheft part of the city; and all thefe the Edomites claimed as their own, the land, city, and temple, and thought themielves fure of the fame, as if they had them in aétual poffeffion; even the hilly part of the country, which had been fo from the creation, and where ftood many of the fortified and frontier towns and cities; which as ftrong as they were, or had been, they fanfied would ealily fali into their hands, now fuch defolations were made in the land.

¥. 3. Therefore prophefy and fay, thus faith the Lord God, &c.| Who heard all the enemy faid, and Loew all their defigns and purpofes, their fchemes and devices: becaufe they have made you defolate; ravaged their country, deftroyed their cities, burnt their temple, and carried them captive, and left the land without men or cattel: and fwal-, lowed you up on every fide; all their neighbours being their enemies, were like ravenous beafts of prey, gaping upon them with their mouths; and obferving the low condition into which they were brought by the king of Babylon, helped forward the deftruction; and every one fhared in the {poil and plunder neareft to them, they could conveniently come at: that ye might be a poffeffion to the refidue of the heathen; either to thofe that were left in the land by the king of Baédylow, or to the reft of the heathen nations round about them: ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people, reproached, defamed, and made a proverb and bye-word, by every foul-mouthed prating fellow.

y. 4. Therefore ye mountains of Ifrael, bear the word of the Lord, &c.| As in ¥. 1. here repeated to raife and quicken their attention, to what was about to be faid to them: ‘¢hus faith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the bills, to the rivers, and to the vallies, to the defolate wajles, and to the cities that are for/aken, before, only the mountains are fpoken to, tho’ the whole land was included; here the feveral particulars are given, which defcribe the whole, and which fuffered in the calamity, and the inhabitants that dwelt in them, or near them; who only can be fuppofed to hear the word of the Lord, tho’ places are only mentioned, becaufe of the great depopulation of them: which became a prey and derifion to the refidue of the heathen that are round about; to the Tyriaus, Philiftines, Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites; who mocked the ews, rejoicing at their deftruction by the king of Babylon, and feized upon as a prey to themfelves what he left: or thefe are the refidue of the heathens round about fudea; who remained after the judgments threatened were executed on the above nations, foretold in chapters xxv. and xxvi.

¥. 5. Therefore thus faith the Lord Ged, &c.]} ‘

Becaufe thefe heathens have acted fuch an unkind and cruel part. to J/rael: furely in the fire of my jealoufy

4° ad f 5 raryn sw ony MDS excelfa feculi hiereditario jure futura funt nobis, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus;

feculi hereditas evenit nobis, Cocceius, Starckius.

ae |; ret eR RET loufy bave I fpoken; in his fierce wrath and hot difpleafure, refenting the ill ufage of his people; hot with indignation againft their enemies, having a fervent zeal for his own glory, and an affectionate concern for the good of his people. It is in the original text in the form of an oath, if J have|p not fpoken, &c ®. let me be reckoned a liar, or not God; believe me that I have fpoken, and in this warm manner; and have not only foretold in prophecy, and threatened the deftruction of thefe nations, but have refolved and determined upon it in my own mind, So the Targum, “ if I have not ** in the fire of my vengeance decreed in my “© word:” againft the refidue of the beathen, and againft all Idumea; or Edom, the Edomites, even all of them, who of all the heathen were the moft inveterate and implacable enemies of the Jews, tho’ related to them, and are therefore particularly mentioned as the objects of the divine vengeance: the reafon follows, which have appointed my land into ibeir poffefion, the land where his chofen people dwelt, and which he chofe for them, and gave unto them; the land where he himfelf dwelt, and granted his prefence; where his temple was, and he was worfhipped. So the Targum, ‘* the land “© of the houfe of my majefty.” Now this the Lord took ill at their hands, and refented, that they fhould lay out this land for themfelves, and your branches; that is, the trees that grew upon them fhould; the vines, and the olives trees, planted on hills and mountains, as was: ufual, as appears from the mount of olives, and other places: and yield your fruit to my people of Ifrael; not only ut forth branches, but bear fruit; and which — fhould be given to the right owners, the people of Tfrae!, and not to the heathens, who had claimed the ancient mountains for their poffeffion: for they © ave at hand to come; the J/raelites, either by repentance, as Kimchi; or by a return from the Babylonifo captivity, which was about forty or fifty years after this prophecy; and which was but a fhadow and figure of their reftoration in the latter day, yet to come; which might be faid to be at hand, or near, with refpeét to God, with whom two or three thoufand years are as nothing. The Torgum is, *‘ for the day of my redemption is near 6600 COMBS y. 9, For behold, Iam for you, &c.] For the mountains, that they might be cultivated and become fruitful, and be of advantage to their proprietors, and appear beautiful and lovely to behold, as well as to be ufeful: and I will turn unto you; the Lord had turned from them, and left them a prey to the enemy, whereby they were become defolate; but now he would turn unto them, and blefs them, and make them fruitful, and return determine upon it as a poffeffion and inheritance of the right owners of them to them, who fhould theirs. With the joy of all their heart, with defpightful minds to caft it out for a prey; with the utmoft joy they joined Nebuchadnezzar’s army, when he invaded the land of Fudea, and befieged Feru/alem, out of pure malice and fpight to the people of the Zews, in order to ejeét them from the poffeffion of their land, that it might become a prey to them; fee Pf. cxxxvii. 7. Obad. ¥. 12, 13, 14.

¥. 6. Prophely therefore concerning the land of Ifrael, &c.} And the inhabitants of it, for their comfort, in this their time of diftrefs: and fay unto the mountains, and to the bills, to the rivers, and to the vallies, thus faith the Lord God, I have Spoken in my jealoufy, and in my fury, with great zeal for his honour, and the intereft of his people; and with indignation at his and their enemies: becaufe ye have borne the fhame of the heathen; their calumnies and lies, their reproaches and {coffs, their injuries and abufes; all which were refented by the Lord, and therefore he determines to punifh for

This being the cafe, the people of God being in diftrefs, and under fhame and difgrace, and the enemy infulting them, and triumphing over them: I have lifted up mine band; folemnly {wore; lifting up of the hand being a rite ufed by men when they fwore, Gen. xiv. 22: furely the heathen that are about you, they fall bear their foame, the punifhment of-their fhame; that which is juftly due to them for reproaching and putting to fhame the people of God: or they fhall be a laughing-ftock to others, and be reproached and derided themfelves,-and fo be paid in their own coin; a juft retaliation this for their treatment of the eqs.

¥. 8, But ye, O mountains of Tjrael, &c.] Literally underftood, as appears by what follows; for tho’ they could not hear what was faid, the proprietors of them could, now in captivity; ‘and the efficacy of the word fhould be feen on them, producing the following effects: ye fball fboot forth or more fruitful than in the times of Fofua, » ereatly improve them: and ye hall be tilled and fown; manured and cultivated, and fown with wheat and barley, as in former times. _ y..10. Aud I will multiply men upon you, &c,] Who fhould inhabit the cities on the mountains, and increafe very much: all the houfe of Ijrael, even all of it; not the heathens fhould be multiplied on them, but the J/raelites, all of them, and them only; all the tribes of J/rae/, the ten tribes as well as the other; and which is repeated for the confirmation of it: by this it appears, that the prophecy has a further view than to the return of the Fezws from the Babylonifh captivity; for all did not return, many remained in the provinces of Babylon; and thofe that returned were chiefly of the tribes of Fudah and Benjamin,; but few of the reft came with them. Kimchi thinks the words have refpect - to the ten tribes, which he fays are hid to this day; fo Ben Melech. And the cities foall be inbabited, and the waftes fhall be builded; in a literal fenfe; as well as the church of God, and inheritance of Chrift, fhall then be in a flourifhing condition.

y. 11. And I will multiply upon you men and beaft, &c.] Not only men, but beafts alfo, of which the mountains had been deprived, being killed “by the enemy for prefent ufe, or drove. off for future fubfiftence; but now there fhould- be an increafe of them, which fhould feed upon the herbage of the mountains, and the rich paftures on them, to the great advantage of the proprietors: and they fhall increafe and bring forth; or, multiply and increafe >; both men and beafts: and I will fettle you after your old eftates; that is, you mountains fhall be inhabited by thofe that formerly dwelt in you, and you fhall be enjoyed by your right owners; by * thofe who had you in poffeffion from the begin- — ning, from the times of Fofbua; by whom y were fettled on them by lot, according ‘to their feveral tribes: and will do better unto you than at your beginnings; not that the land fhould be led the people into it, and found-it a land flow-, ing with milk and honey, and abounding with all kind of fruit; or that the people fhould be more flourifhing in temporal things, than in the times of David and Solomon; for no fuch fruitful- ’ nefs and profperity took place upon the return from the Badylonifh captivity: but rather this is to be underftood of fpiritual bleffings and privileges in the times of the Mefiah; and particularly when the Yes will be converted in the latter day: and ye feall know that Iam the Lord that is, the inhabitants of the mountains of J/rae/, the converted Jews, fhall know and own the Meffiah, and that he is Jehovah, the eternal God, and not a mere man.

¥. 12. Yea, Iwill caufe men to walk upon you, &c.] And not beafts, as during the captivity; and that without fear of wild beafts, or any enemy; and not as travellers upon them, but as inhabitants of them; who fhall walk to and fro upon them, as the owners of them, and doing their proper bufinefs there: even my people I/rael, and them only: fome read it, with my people LI/rael', as if other men, Gevfiles called by grace, fhould dwell with the ews at this time, particularly at their reftoration in the latter day; which may be true, and which feems to be the fenfe of the whole 6oth chapter of J/aiah’s prophecy: and they shall poffe/s thee, and thou fhalt be their inheritance, that is, thou mountain; a change of number, meaning every one of the mountains, even the whole land of Canaan, which was given to the J/raelites for an inheritance; and was typical of the eternal inheritance in heaven: and thou fhalt no more henceforth bereave them; of men, or of children; or be no more the caufe of their being childlefs, or of bereaving them of men; fins committed on the mountains being the caufe of provoking the Lord to bereave them; or men fhould be no more killed upon them, as they had been.

¥. 13. Thus faith the Lord God, becaufe they fay unto you, &c.| The heathens that dwelt round about the land of Fudea, faid to the mountains, or to the whole land, zou land devoureft up men; eats up the inhabitants of it; which is part of the ill report the fpies, in the times of Mojfes, brought on it, Numb. xiii. 32. to which the allufion is here; fuggefting, that either the air was unwholefome; or that the land did not produce a fufficiency of food to fupport the inhabitants of it; or that the curfe of God was upon it; and that one judgment or another was ever on it; either famine, or peftilence, or the {word of the enemy, or inteftine broils among themfelves, or wild beafts, whereby the inhabitants of the land were wafled and confumed: avd hajft bereaved thy nations; the feveral tribes, of men and children; fo that they were diminifhed and depopulated: the allufion feems to be to mifcarrying women, or fuch who kill their children in the womb, and become abortive..

y. 14. Therefore thou foalt devour men no more, 8#.] Or they fhall be no more deftroyed in thee by peftilence, famine, fword, or other means: sezther bereave thy nations any more, faith the Lord, or, thou fhalt not caufe them to fall any more “, for fo it is written, as in ¥. 15. tho’ the marginal reading is, shou fhalt not bereave, which we follow;

‘ CK yl Ee 179 and both aré to be received, fince. mifcarriages often come by falls. | a: ¥. 15: Neither will I caufe men to hear in thee the foame of the heathen any more, &cc.| Their ca+ lumnies and revilings, their fcoffs and jeers: neither foalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more; or be any more a taunt and a curfe, a proverb and a bye-word of thé people; or be their laughing-ftock, and the objeét of their derifion: neither foalt thou caufe thy nations to fall any more; faith the Lord God; by famine, fword, or peftilence, or any other judgment caufed by fin: or, thou fhalt not bereave', as the marginal reading is; and which the Zargum and many verfions follow: now what is here promifed in this and the preceding verfe, had not its full accomplifhment upon the Fews return’ from the Babyloni/h captivity; for fince that time their men have been devoured, and their tribes have been bereaved of them by famine, {word, and peftilence; and they have heard and bore the fhame and reproach of the nations where they have been difperfed, and do to this day; wherefore thefe prophecies mutt refer to a future reftoration of that people. ¥. 16. Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, &c.] Here begins another prophecy, which was delivered about the fame time with the former: faying, as follows, ¥.17. Son of man, when the houfe of Ifrael dwelt in their own land, &c.] The land of Canaan, which the Lord their God gave unto them; a land abounding with all good things, where they dwelt in great eafe, plenty, and profperity; and which alfo was a holy land, peculiarly chofen of God for his worfhip and fervice: they defiled it by their own way, and by their doings; by their finful ways and evil works: fin is of a defiling nature; it defiles the bodies and fouls of men; it defiles their own, and it defiles others; it defiles a land, and the inhabitants of it, and makes them loathfome and abominable to a pure and holy God: +heir way was before me, as the uncleanne/s of a removed woman; of a menftruous woman in the time of her feparation; when fhe was debarred the company of her hufband, and might not enter into the fanctuary of the Lord: this faows what an evil thing fin is, what an uncleannefs it is in the fight of God, how abhorrent finful ways are to him; and tho’ he was the hufband of thefe people, yet becaufe of their fins, he feparated from them, and removed them from, and out of their land, as — not fit to be in his prefence, nor to live there. ¥. 18. Wherefore I poured my fury on them, &c.] Like a mighty flood that carries all before it, in juft retaliation for the blood they bad fhed upon the land; the innocent blood, as the Zargum, the blood of righteous men, that oppofed and reproved them for their finful ways; the blood of the prophets, that were fent to warn them of them; and efpecially the blood of the Son of God; for this prophecy reaches further than to the times of the Babylonifh captivity: and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it; or, for their dung™; their dunghil-gods; not only for their idols, and their idolatry, before the Babyloni/h captivity, which they after that were free from; but for the traditions of their elders, they fet up againft and above the word of God; and their own legal righteoufnefs, k Syw95 mi non impingere facies, © CN NID fercoreis diis

Nefs, their idols, the works of their hands, which were as dung; and through their attachment to which, they rejected Chrift and his righteoufnefs; and which brought wrath upon them, and them into their prefent captivity.

y¥.19. And I fcattered them among the heathen, &c.] Firft by the Chaldeans, in the feveral provinces of Babylon; and next by the Romans, in the feveral parts of the world; and in this condition they now are: and they were difperfed through the countries; or blown about as chaff, ftubble, or any fuch like thing, is by the wind: according to their way, and according to their doings I judged them, condemned and punifhed them, as their evil ways and wicked works deferved, according to the rules of juftice and equity; fo that no injuftice was done them, nor could any fault be juftly found in the proceedings of God towards them.

¥. 20. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, &c.] When the Fews went into the heathen countries, whither they were carried captive, either by the Chaldeans, or by the Romans: they profaned my holy name, by their irreligion and immorality; by their violation of both tables of the law; by their wicked lives and ‘converfations, whereby they gave the enemy an occafion to reproach them, their religion, and their God, Rom. il. 24: when they faid to them, thefe are the people of the Lord, and are gone forth out of his land, thefe are the men that boaft they are the people of the Lord, whom he has chofen above all people, and fee what a wicked people they are; for their fins they are driven out of the land, and become our captives: or tho’ they were the Lord’s people, as they pretend, and were under his care and protection; yet he was not able to keep them in their own land, and deliver them out of our hands, but they are carried captive by us; and thus the name of God, his being and perfe¢tions, were blafphemed, and his word, worfhip, and worfhippers, were ridiculed by them. The Targum is, “* if thefe are the people of the Lord, how is *¢ it that they are gone out of the land of the ** houfe of his majefty?”

¥. 21. But I had pity for my holy name, &c.] Had pity on the Hews for his name-fake, and not theirs; or he had a tender concern for his own honour and glory: which the houfe of Ifrael had profaned among the heathen, whither they ‘went, and therefore was refolved to take a method for the glorifying of it, and that in a way of fpecial grace and mercy to his people; fee the note on

¥. 22. Therefore fay unto the houfe of Ifrael, &cc.

This is an order to the prophet, the fon of man, ¥.17: thus faith the Lord God, I do not this for your fakes, O houfe of Ifrael; what he hereafter promifes to do for them, both with refpect to things temporal and fpiritual; which he did, not on account of any deferts or worthinefs in them; for they had none, having done nothing to merit his favour, but, on the contrary, every thing to provoke the eyes of his glory: but for my boly names fake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went, for the honour of his holy name, for the glory of his holy word, holy worfhip, and holy religion; all which were traduced and reproached among the heathen, by reafon of the ungodly behaviour of the Fews.

¥. 23. And I will fandify my great name, &c.]

The fame with his holy name; for his greatnefs lies in his holinefS; which name he fanétifies when he sew /pirit will I put within yon, 8c.) An and a new jpirit, are one and the fame; that is, clears it from all charges and imputations; when he makes it appear to be holy, and himfelf to be glorious in holinefs; when he vindicates the honour of his name, not in a way of punifhment, as he juftly might, but in a way of grace and mercy; he fanctifies his name when he proclaims it, a gracious and merciful; for it was in this we manner he determined to make himfelf illuftr and glorious, and do honour to his name: which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midft of them; this is repeated again and again, to fhow the heinowfnefs of this fin, how ill he took it at their hands, and what a concern it gave him: and the heathen fhall know that I am the Lord, faith the Lord God, when I foall be fanttified in you before their eyes; when the Lord fhall fulfil his promifes, and deliver his people; when he fhall fanctify, juftify, and fave them; and he fhall be fanctified, ferved, and worfhipped by them, and among them: it will be taken notice of by infidels themfelves; and they fhall hereby know, and be obliged to acknowledge, that the God of J/rael is the only Lord God; that he is true and faithful to his word, righteous and holy in his ways, the Lord God omnifcient and omnipotent. ‘a y¥. 24. For I will take you from among the heathen, &c.] The Chaldeans and other nations, among whom they were carried captive; and the Papifts, among whom many of them now are, often called heathens and Gentiles in fcripture: this will be fully completed, at the time of the ews converfion in the latter day: the phrafe fitly exprefles the act of divine grace, in taking his people from among the world by effectual vocation: and gather you out of all countries; to himfelf, and to his Son, and to his church, and to fome certain place, from whence they will go up in a body to their own land, as follows; fee Hof. i. 11: and will bring you into your own land into the land of Canaan literally under- {tood, as well as into the church of God here, and into the heavenly country hereafter, of which Canaan was a type.

¥. 25. Then will I f{prinkle clean water upon you, &c.] Not baptifimal water, as ferom; an ordinarice indeed of the gofpel, and to which the Fews will fubmit when converted; and which is performed by water, but not by fprinkling, nor does it cleanfe from fin; and is adminiftered by men, and ‘is not an operation of God, as this is: rather the regenerating grace of the Spirit; tho’ this does not purify from all fin, and befides is intended in the next verfe: it feems beft to underftand it of the blood of Chrift, the blood of fprinkling, and of juftification from fin, and pardon of it by it; fo Kimchi and ‘archi interpret it of purification by atonement; and the Targum is, ‘* | will forgive “¢ your fins, as one is cleanfed by the water of “< {prinkling, and the afhes of an heifer, which is ‘* for a fin-offering:” and ye fhall be clean from all your filthinefs, and from all your idols will I cleanfe you; the blood of Chrift cleanfes from all fin; by it men are juftified from all things, and are made ~ perfectly pure and fpotlefs in’ the fight of God;, they are cleanfed from original fin, the pollution of their nature; from all aétual fins and tranfereffions, which are very defiling; from fins of heart, lip, and life; even from fuch as are idols, fet up in the heart, and ferved.

¥. 26. 4 new heart alfo will I give Jo,;

renewed one; renewed by the Spirit and grace of God; in which a new principle of life is put; new light is infufed; a new will, filled with new purpofes and refolutions; where new affections are placed, and new defires are formed; and where there are new delights and joys, as well as new forrows and troubles; the fame which in the New Teftament is_called the zew man, and the new creature, Eph. iv. 24. 2 Cor.v.47.. Uhe Zargum paraphrafes it, ‘‘ a heart fearing, and a fpirit fearing;” where the true fear of God is, a truly gracious heart; | and which is purely the gift of God, and is the fruit of his rich grace, abundant mercy, and great love: aud I will take away the fiony beart out of “your flea; the Targum is, ‘‘ and I will break the ‘© heart of the wicked which is hard as a {tone;” this is a heart hardened by fin, and confirmed in it; deftituce of fpiritual life and motion; fenfelets and ftupid, ftubborn and inflexible; on which no impreffions are made; and which remains hard and impenitent: now this is in the flea, in corrupt nature; and this hardnefs of heart is natural to men; and all who have it, are after the flefh, or are carnal; and it requires omnipotence to remove it; it cannot be taken out by men of themfelves; nor by minifters of the word; nor by the bare mercies and judgments of God; but by the powerful and efficacious grace of God; giving repentance unto life; working faith in the foul, to look to a crucified Chrift; and fhedding abroad the love of God in the heart, which foftens and melts it; all which is done by the Spirit, and frequently by means of the word. This is interpreted in the Zalaud", of the evil imagination, or corruption of nature; and is one of the names of it, a ftone; and it refers, it is faid °, to the time or world to come, the days of the Meffiah: and I will give you an beart of fleh; an heart fenfible of fin and danger; a penitent one, foft and tender, thro’ the love and fear of God; a fpiritual and fanctified heart; fubmiffive to the will of God; flexible and obfequious to the commands of.Chrift; on which impreffions are made by the grace of God; where the laws of

BY RIB ERTS 181 into it, but fhall inhabit it, and continue there, and that in great fafety and plenty; and which will be the more valued and efteemed, and reckoned. a great blefling to enjoy; becaufe this land is the gilt of God, and what he gave to their fathers, Abrabam, Ifaac and Facob by promife fo long ago, and to their feed; of which promife it appears he is not unmindful: aud ye foal] be my people, and I will be your God, which is the fum and {ubftance of the covenant of grace; which will now be renewed, and the bleflings of it applied. The Fews will appear to be the people of God by their effectual calling and converfion; and God will thew himfeif te be their God, by his prefence with them, his protection of them, and that communion with himfelf he will admit them to; fee Fer, xxxi. 1. and xxxii, 38. the Loammi will be taken off, and they will be again declared to be the covenantpeople of God, Ho/-i. 9, 10.

¥.29. And I will allo fave you from all your uncleanneffes, 8c.) From all their filthy. lutts of pride, envy, malice, covetoufnefs, whoredom, blafphemy and infidelity, to which the Fews are now additted; but at this time fhall be faved from. the power and dominion of them, by the fanctifying grace of the Spirit; and from the guilt and pollution, of them, by the blood of Chrift {prinkled on them,;-.and this, not from one, or tome of them only, but from all-of them; all Zrae will be faved, and they will be faved from all their fins, Rom. xi. 25,26: aud 1 will call for the corn, and will increafe it; which thall anfwer to the call of God, asa fervant to his mafter; and hall fpring up out of the’earth in great abundance; and which fhall grow, and increafe, and. bring forth much fruit; and yield bread to the eater, and feed to the fower: and which is to be under({tood, not of,corn in a literal fenfe only, but,of corn in a fpiritual fenfe 5 of all fpiritual provifions, the word and ordinances, and efpecially the corn of wheat, Chrift Jefus; who is the fum and fubftance of the gofpel and his ordinances, and is in them food for the faith of his people; fee Zech. ix.17: and lay no

God are written, the gofpel of Chrift'is put; where famine upon you; neither a famine of bread, or of

Chrift himfelf is formed; where are the fear of God, faith, hope, and love, and every other grace.

y.27. And I will put my Spirit within you, &c.] My holy Spirit, as the Targum the Spirit of holinefs; the author of internal fan¢tification, of the new heart. and {fpirit, and of the flefhy one beforementioned; and thro’ whofe grace and ftrength the faints do what'is after faid they fhall do: and caufe you to walk in my flatutes, men are firft made alive by the Spirit of God, and have fpiritual ftrength put into them, who of themfelves can do nothing; by means of which they are enabled to walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, and to continue in the obfervation of water; nor of hearing the word of the Lord; but fhall have plenty of provifions, both for foul and body 3 fee Amos viii. 11.

¥. 30. Aad I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increafe of the field, &c.] ‘The fruit of trees that grow in gardens, and orchards, and vineyards, as pomegranates, apples, olives, grapes, Sc. and the corn and grafs of the field; fo that there fhall be great plenty of each of thele, and no want of any thing for man or beait: and by thefe are myftically defigned fpiritual bleffings 5 the fruits of righteoufnels, with which the faints, who are trees of righteoufnefs, fhall be laden; and an increafe of gifts and grace in the churches of Chrift, and the members of them: shat ye fhall receive no more reproach of famine among the beathen; who upbraided them with it, that they were forced to.go to other nations for food, as in the times of their fathers Abraham, Ifaac and Facod; and that their land wanted rain, and waited for it 5 which, if it had not, became barren; whereas the Egyptians particularly needed it not, their land being watered yearly with the overflowings of the Nile: or the fenfe is, they fhould.not be reproached with their penury and want of the things of life; and fpiritually, that they fhould not be pp igicen by the Gentiles with their want of the gofpel, and I foall have cleanfed you from all your iniquities, &c.]

their contempt of it, their blafphemy and their unbelief; fince they fhould now have it, receive, embrace and love it, and feed upon it.

y. 31. Then foall ye remember your own evil ways, | &c.]° That were of their own chufing; in which | they walked, and delighted to walk: and very evil ones they were; oppofite to the ways of God,

By the free and full pardon of them; by fprinkling clean water on them, the blood of Chrift on their confciences; and by applying the righteoufnefs of Chrift to them for their juftification; as well as by creating clean hearts in them, for their fancétifica~ tion; and enabling them by grace to efcape and abftain from the pollutions of the world: I will fuch as open violation of the law of God; neglect a//o caufe you to dwell in the cities; that is, of Fu- of his worfhip; idolatry, and many other fins before the captivity; adhering to the traditions of their elders; and fetting up their own righteoufnefs as a juftifying one afterwards; alfo their difbelief and rejeétion of the Meffiah; their blafphemy againft him, and -perfecution of his intereft and people: now thefe will all be remembered with fhame and confufion, when the Lord fhall beftow upon them the above bleffings, fpiritual and temporal; efpecially when’a new heart and fpirit fhall be given them; the goodnefs of God will have fuch an influence upon them, as to refrefh their memories with former fins, and bring them to repentance for them; as well as to affect their minds, and make them thankful for prefent mercies: fins, which were before forgotten, or were not thought to be fins, fhall now come frefh in their minds, with all their aggravated guilt: and your doings that were net good; far from being fo; they were very evil, contrary to the law of God, and gofpel of Chrift; as they will at this time appear to themfelves to be: and hall loath yourfelves in your own Sight for your iniquities, and for your abominations, their fins will be abominable to them, as they are in themfelves, and to the Lord; and theyll not only loath them, but themfelves for them; when they fhall come to have a true fight of them in their own colours, and a true fenfe of the evil nature of them; and this fhall not be exprefied only in the fight of men, and fo as to be obferved by them; but in their own fight, fecretly and within themfelves, under a clear and full conviction of their fins. The Syriac verfion is, your faces hall be wrinkled; as mens are when they are difpleafed with themfelves for what they have done.. The Targum is, ** and ye fhall groan when ye fhall fee, “« becaufe of your fins, and becaufe of your abo- ‘* minations;” which is the cafe of fenfible finners, 2 Cor.-v: 4. teeth. xx:

¥. 32. Not for your fakes do J this, faith the Lord, &c.} Not for any worth or worthinefs in them; for any merit or defert of theirs; for any goodnels in them, or works of righteoufnefs done by them; no, it purely flowed from his own unmerited grace and goodnefs; for his own fake, and for his own glory, will he do it; fee Deut. ix. 4, 5,6: be it known unto you; this the Lord would have this people take notice of, who were very fond of their own righteoufnefs and merits, and to truft therein, and afcribe much thereunto, as moft men are too apt to do; and therefore to take down their pride, and take them off of their boaftings and vain opinions of themfelves, he would have them know and acknowledge this; and be fo far from placing any of the favours beftowed on them to the account of the merit of their good works, that they ought to take fhame for their evil ones, as follows: be afbamed and confounded for your own ways, O loufe of Ijfrael; as men are, when they are brought to a true fight and fenfe of them, and reflect upon the evil of them, and are brought to true repentance for them; fee ch. xvi. 61, 63.

¥. 33. Thus faith the Lord God, in the day that dea, which, as well as Ferufalem, fhall be rebuilt and inhabited, as follows: and the wajtes fhall be builded; fach cities and towns as lay in ruins: temporal profperity fhall go along with or follow fpiritual bleffings to the.people of the Yews at their converfion; or they fhall dwell in the churches of. Chrift, which are as cities compact together, well regulated, and where Fews and Gentiles at this time will be fellow-citizens.

¥. 34. And the defolate land fhall be tilled, 8c.] The land of ‘fudea, which lay defolate during the captivity; and which now is under the dominion of the Zurks, and in a ruinous ftate, fhall be manured and cultivated, and become fruitful, as it formerly was: or the people of the Fews, who, im a fpiritual fenfe, are like barren and uncultivated ground; thefe fhall have the fallow ground of their hearts plowed up, and the feeds of grace, truth and righteoufinefs fhall be fown in them, and they fhall bring forth the fruit of good works: whereas it lay defolate in the eyes of all that paffed by, as the land of Canaan now does to every traveller in it, that obferves it, and compares it with what it once was; and as the prefent ftate of the Yews is, in the eyes of every chriftian pilgrim and traveller, that takes notice of their blindnefs and ignorance, their unbelief and hardnels of heart.

y¥. 35. And they fhall fay, &c.] Either the neighbouring nations that lived round about the jJand. of J/raei, ¥. 36. or rather the travellers as before, who having as they pafled by obferved what it had been, and now fee what it is; thefe fhall fay to one another: this land that was defolate, is become like the garden of Eden; for delight and fruitfulnefs: this may well be applied to the flourifhing and fruitful ftate of the church of God, confifting of - converted Fews, in the latter day: and the wafte, and defolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited; which, as it will be true of cities in a literal fenfe, fo of the churches of Chrift in Judea in a fpiritual fenfe; which will be rebuilt by the grace of God, fenced and fortified by his almighty power, and inhabited by true believers.

¥. 36. Then the heathen that are left round about you, &c.] Not cut off by the judgments which came upon them, according to the prophecies in ch. xxv. and xxvi. the refidue of the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites and Tyrians, and in the myftical fenfe, this may defign the refidue of the antichriftian ftates not deftroyed by the vials of God’s.

wrath; fee Rev. xi. 2, 13: fhall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was defolate,; this work of rebuilding Yeru/alem, and other cities of Fudea, and planting defolate places with trees, and all manner of corn and herbage for * man and beaft; as well as of building u planting churches, will appear fo manife work of God, and not of men; which is brought about by his wonderful providence, or more fur+ prizing grace; that even the heathen round about will cake:

otice of it, and own and acknowledge it = to be the Lbrd’s work: I the Lord have fpoken it, — and I wilk do it; he has fpoken of it by his pro- ©) phets;

phets; he has promifed it in his word, and he wil] furely do it; for he is true and faithful to his promifes, and able to perform.

¥. 37. Thusvfaith the Lord God, I will yet for this be enquired of by the houfe of Ifrael, &c,| Be fought and prayed unto, for the accomplifhment of the above promifes, as well as what follows; for tho’ God has promifed and will perform, yet he expects that his people will apply to him for it; it is our duty to put the Lord in mind of his promifes, to plead them with him, and pray unto him for the fulfilment of them. The Syriac verfion is, even for this I feek Ifrael; and fo the Arabic verfion; as if the fenfe was, that the Lord will feck the people of J/rae/ wherever they are, and find them out, and call them by his grace, and gather them out of all countries, and bring them into their own land: ¢o do it for them; every thing before promifed, and what next follows: J will increafe them with men like a flock; as a flock of fheep is increafed, which is a very increafing creature: or, as a flock of men*®; it fignifies that the people of the ‘fews will be very numerous at their converfion; fee Ho/. i. 10.

¥. 38. ds the holy flock, as the flock of Ferufalem

HIS chapter contains a prophecy of the Fews return {rom captivity to their own land; of the union of the feveral tribes with one another; and of the glorious kingdom of Chrift among them. Their reftoration is reprefented by a. vifion of dry bones made alive; the place in which they were;_ the condition they were in; and the manner in which they were made to live, are defcribed, y. 1—10. the explication and application of this vifion to the Fews, ¥. 11—14. their union is fignified by a fign or emblem of two fticks, which became one in the hand of the prophet, y. 15, 16, 17. the meaning of this is fhewn, y. 18, 19, 20. then tollow promiies of their return to their own land, in exprefs words; of their being one kingdom, under one king, Chrift, the antitype of David; of their fanctification; of their covenant-intercft in God, made manifeft to them; and of his prefence, and dwelling among them, y. 21—28.

y. 1. The hand of the Lord was upon me, &c.] The Spirit of the Lord, a powerful impulfe of his upon the prophet:_ the Zargum interprets it, a pirit of prophecy; fee the note on ch. i. 3: and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, outof the place where he, was to another; not really, but vifionally, as things appeared to him, and as they were reprefented to his mind by the Spirit of God: and fet me down in the midft of the valley which was full of bones; of men, as the Targum adds: this valley, Kimchi thinks, was the fame by the river Chebar, where the prophet had his vifions at firft. R. Fochanan fays, it was the valley of Dura, and thefe the bones of them that were flain by Neduchadnezzar there, Dan. iii. 1. Rab fays, thefe were the children of Ephraim, flain by the men of Gath, 1 Chron. vii. 20, 21, 22. Some of the Fewi/h Rabdins think there was a real refurrection at this time. R. Eliezer fays, the dead Ezekiel quickened ftood in- her Jolemn feafts, &c.] Like flocks of theep, which were confecrated and fet apart for holy ufes, for facrifices; even like the flocks of fheep, which were brought to Yeru/alem to be offered in facrifice at the three folemn feftivals in the year; efpecially at the paffover, when the Yews came from all parts ‘of the country to flay and eat their paffover; and evéry family had a lamb, which in all muft be a great number: we read of thirty thoufand lambs, and three thoufand bullocks given at one time for this fervice by king Fofiah, befides what was given by the princes, -2 Chron. xxxv. 7, 8, 9g. The Zargum is, ‘* as the holy people, as a people that is ** cleanfed, and comes to Ferufalem at the feafts of ‘* the paffover:”” or, as the flock of the holy ones %; either of the holy God, Father, Son and Spirit; or of holy men, who are made holy or fanctified by the Spirit of God: /o. fhail the wafte cities be filled with flocks of men; or with men that are like fheep for meeknefs, harmleffhefs, patience, cleannefs, fociety and ufefulnefs; and. not with fuch as are comparable to unclean beatts, or beafts of prey 5 fo it denotes both the quantity of perfons that fhall inhabit Yudea, and-dwell:both in the cities and churches there, and the quality of them.

upon their feet, fung a fong, and died. R. Eliezer the fon of R. Fofe the Galilean, fays, they went up into the land of J/rae/, married wives, and. begat fons and daughters. R. Judah ben Bethira ftood upon his feet, and, faid, I am of their. childrens children, and thefe are the Yephillim my father’s father left me-*; but thefe are all fabulous and romantic: others of them underftand the whole in a parabolical way: thefe bones and the quickening of them were an emblem of the reftoration of the Fews from their captivity, who were in a helplefs and hopelefs condition, as appears from ¥. 1I—14. and of the converfion of that people in the latter day, which will be as life from the dead; and of the revival of the intereft and church of Chrift, when the. flain witnefles fhall rife and afcend to heaven; and of the refurection of the dead at the laft day; and may be applied unto, and be ufed to illuftrate the quickening of dead finners, by the efficacious grace of the Spirit of God. ¥.2. And caufed me to pafs by them round about, &c.] Round, round *; feveral times round, that he might take exact notice of them, of their number, fituation and condition: and behold, there were very many in the open valley, as the Fews were in captivity; and as they will be when they fhall be converted; and as the number of chriftians will be in the fpiritual reign of Chrift,; and as the dead will be at the time of their refurrection, both of the juft and unjuft: and. lo they were very dry; thro’ length of time they had lain there, expofed to wind and weather; the flefh being wholly confumed from off of them, and the marrow within quite dried up; fo that there was no probability cr hope, humanly {peaking, of their being quickened: thefe are a fit emblem of men in a ftate of nature and unregeneracy, who have no fpiritual life, but are dead in trefpaffes and fins; have no fenfe of fin or danger; no ftrength to redeem and regenerate

Kimchi & Abendana in loc.

yerate themfelves, or do any thing that is fpiritually good; have no fpiritual motion;.no inward defires after God, or affe@tion to. him; no lifting ap of the heart to him, or going out of the foul in faith and love to Chrift; but in themfelves entirely lifelefs, helplefs and hopelefs.

_ 3. And he jaid unto me, fon of man, can thefe _ bones live? &c.] Is there any probability of it? is there any reafon to believe they fhalj live? can any ways and means be devifed, or any methods taken, to caufe them to live? and I anfwered, O Lord God, thou knoweft, the prophet does not propounce at once that it was improbable and impoflible; he knew indeed it was not probable, or poffible, that thefe bones fhould revive of themfelves; and he knew, that neither he, nor any creature could quicken them; but he wifely refers it to an omnifcient and omnipotent God, who knew what he could, and what he would do: the converfion of finners is not of themfelves, nor of minifters, but of God; it is wholly owing to his will and power, Yohni.13. nothing elfe can make it probable or poffible.

y¥.4. Again be faid unto me, prophefy upon thefe bones, &c.) Or, over thefe bones‘, or, concerning thefe bones”; foretell that they fhall live; tell others of it, and them alfo: and fay unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord; the word of prophecy concerning you, as the ews did in Babylon: fo unconverted finners may be preached | unto, and their loft and miferable eftate in which they are, like dry bones, may be fet before them; they may be called upon to attend the external miniftry of the word; and they are capable of hearing it, with their bodily ears; tho’ it is not profitable to them, for want of faith, yet faith comes hereby; and therefore it is right to attend upon the means, and hear the word. ¥. 5. Thus faith the Lord God unto thefe bones,

&c.] By the prophet, who was fent to prophefy over them: behold, I will caufe breath to enter into you, and ye feall live; and none could do this but the living God, who breathed the breath of life into Adam at. firft, and he became a living foul; to which there feems to be an allufion here; and when the Lord puts his Spirit into ‘men, or beftows his. grace on them, then they fhall live, and not till then. _

~ ¥.6. And I will lay finews upon you, and I will bring up ficfh upon you, &c.] That is, before he fhould caufe breath to enter into them; for tho’ it is firft mentioned, it is the laft done: this is the orderly procefs; firft finews are laid to join the bones together; then flefh is laid to cover them, and fill up all vacancies, and form mufcles to make the bones capable of motion: and cover you with Jkin, both bones, finews and fleth; for this is uppermoft of all, and which makes the whole fmooth and beautiful. ‘Yb exprefits his formation in much fuch language, thou haft clothed me with fkin and flefo, and haft fenced me with bones and finews, Fob x. 11: and put breath in you, and ye fhall live; which is repeated for the confirmation of it: and ye fhall know that Iam the Lord; the Lord God omnipotent, the Lord gracious and merciful, and your Lord and God: fo men, when they are called by grace, know the Lord, they did not before; having an experience of his powerful and efficacious grace upon their hearts, they know him to be.