MIMD Shemet Rabba,
follows; fee Rev. v. t—s: and feal the book, even to the time of the end, till the time comes appointed for the fulfilment of it, which fhows that it. reached to times at a great diftance; that till thefe times were come, or near, it would be as a fealed book, and yet the accomplifhment of it would be fure and certain, as what is fealed is: many fhall tun to _and fro, and knowledge fhail be increafed, that is, towards the end of the time appointed, many perfons will be ftirred up to inquire into thefe things delivered in this book, and will {pare no pains or coft to get knowledge of them, will read and ftudy the fcriptures, and meditate on them; compare one paflage with another, fpiritual things with fpiritual, in order to obtain the mind of Chritt; will perufe carefully the writings of fuch who have gone before them, who have attempted any thing of this kind; and will go far and near to converfe with perfons that have any underftanding of fuch things: and by fuch means, with the bleffing of God upon them, the knowledge of this book of prophecy will be increafed; and things will appear plainer the nearer the accomplifhment of them is; and efpecially when accomplifhed, when prophecy and facts can be compared together: and not only this kind of knowledge, but knowledge of all {piritual things, of all evangelic truths and doctrines, will be abundantly enlarged at this time; and the earth will be filled and covered with it, as the fea with its waters; fee //. xi. 9. Had. ii. 14. ¥. 5. Then I Daniel looked, and bebold, there flood other two, &c.} Other two angels, befides the man clothed with linen, y. 6. or rather, befides the angel who had given Daniel the long account of things that were to come to pafs, in the preceding chapter, and the beginning of this; whom Daniel, being attentive to that account, had not obferved before; but now that being finifhed, he looks about him, and takes notice of thofe other two who were ftanding, being miniftring {pirits to Chrift, and ready to execute his orders: the one on this fide of the bank of the river, and the other on that fide of the bank of the river; Hiddekel or Tigris, as appears from ch. x. 4. The reafon of this pofition was chiefly on account of Chrift, the man clothed with linen, who ftood upon or above the water of the river, in the midft of it; and to fhew that they were waiting upon him, and ready to go every way he fhould fend them to do his will; and alfo on account of Daniel, that he might hear what was faid, whether to Chrift, or to one another; fince being at fuch a diftance, their voice muft be loud; and indeed the defign of all that follows to the end of the chapter is to inform him, and by him the church and people of God in all future ages, of the time and end of all thefe things before delivered in the prophecy. ¥. 6. And one faid to the man clothed with linen, &c.] One of the angels on one fide of the bank of the river fpoke to Chrift, who appeared in an human form, as a prefage of his future incarnation; and as clothed in linen, expreffive of his prieftly office, and of his purity and holinefs, which qualified him for it; fee the note on ch, x. 6. Which of the angels it was that fpake is not faid, or on which fide of the river he ftood; very probably each of them fpake in their turn, and joined in the fame requeft to Chrift: which was upon the waters of the river; or above ™ them; denoting his power and dominion over men, kingdoms and nations, fometimes fignified by waters, and even over thofe the moft tumultuous and raging: how long fhall it be to the end of thefe wonders? thefe wonderful things before predicted, concerning the ftate and condition of the people of God, their troubles and afflictions, the fall and ruin of antichrift, and the glorious things that fhall follow upon that: angels, as they are inquifitive creatures, and pry into the myfteries of grace, fo into thofe of providence; efpecially fuch as concern the church of God, for whom they have a great regard; of the fecrets of which they have no knowledge until revealed unto them tho’ this queftion feems to be put not fo much for their own fakes, as for the fake of Daniel, who was prefent, but had not that courage and prefence of mind as they had;
did, at leaft at firft, till encouraged by their example. + y. 7. And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, &c.] ° Chrift, as he appeared in an human form, and as the highprieft of our profeffion, and as the Mediator that has power over all flefh; fo he pronounced articulate founds with an human voice, and fo loud, clear and diftinct, that Daniel could hear every word he faid, and for whofe fake it was faid: when he held up bis right-hand, and his left-hand unto heaven; the lifting up of the right-hand is a gefture ufed in fwearing, and the lifting up of both hands is either for the greater folemnity of the aétion, or with refpeét to the two angels that ftood one on one fide of him, and the other on the other, that both might be eye-witneffes of this folemn affair; tho” lifting up both hands is often a prayer-gefture, and there may be a mixture of both in this aétion, of both praying and {wearing; Chrift, as the hichprieft, intercedes for his church and people, that their faith fail not till the end of their troubles comes: and fware by him that liveth for ever; by the living God, the immortal one, who only hath immortality. Maimonides * interprets it, by the life of the world, that is, by God, who is the life of the world, that gives life and being to all creatures; all live, and move, and have their being in him, and fo is greater than all, and by whom an oath is only to be taken. Chrift, as man, fwears by his divine Father, who, as fuch, was greater than he; tho’, if we underftand it of God, Father, Son and Spirit, the one, only, true and living God, there is no impropriety in Chrift’s fwearing by himfelf the living God, which is a charaéter he fome- here {wears to is, that it fhall be for a time, times, and an half, that it would be fo long to the end of thefe wonderful things; or that the troubles of the church would laft fo long, and at the end of that date here fixed, a glorious {cene would open, and amazing things appear, to the great joy and comfort of the faints. Time fignifies a prophetic year, or 360 years; and ¢imes two prophetic years, or 720 years; and alf a time half a prophetic year, or 180 years, in all 1260 years; which is the exact date and duration of the reign of antichrift, of zternitatis, fo fome in Gejerus.
nor could ufe that freedom with -Chrift as they > the church’s being in the wildernefs, and of the witneffes prophefying in fackcloth, and of the tread- _ ing under foot the holy city, exprefied both by 1260 days, and by 42 months, which are the fame; fee Rev! xi. 2 3. and xii. 6,14, and xiii. 5: and when be foall have accomplifbed to fcatter the power of the holy people; that is; either, when be (God) frail have finifoed the fcattering the power of the boly people, the ‘ees; when the difperfion of them, who were formely an holy people to the Lord, and fhall be fo again, will be over; and they fhall be gathered out of all nations where they have been difperfed, and being converted, fhall return to their own land: or, when be (antichrift) /ball have done feattering, the church and people of God in general; when his wars with the faints, and vic-’
tories over them, will be endéd; and particularly when: the flaying of the witneffes will be over, at which time there will be a great fcattering of the faints; they will be as fheep without a fhepherd, their paftors being {mitten, flain, or removed into corners; all which things will be fulfilled about the end of the date before-mentioned: aud then all thefe things fhall be finifbed; or, as the fame glorious perfon explains it, time will be no longer, and the myftery of God will be finifbed, Rev. x. 6, 7. the time of antichrift’s reign, and of the troubles of the church, and the witnefies prophefying in fackcloth, will be protracted no longer than the time, and times, and half a time, or the 1260 days, or forty months, that is, 1260 years; then all the afflictioris of the church will be at an end, and glorious times will fucceed, as before fpoken of; the fpiritual reign of Chrift, the firft refurrection, and the millennium, in their order.
¥. 8. And I heard, but underftood not, &c.| Da- _ niel heard what Chrift faid, in anfwer to the angel, but he did not underftand the meaning of it, which he ingenuoufly confefles; he did not underftand what was meant by time, and simes, and half a time; what kind of time this was, and when and how it would end, and which he was very defirous of knowing: then faid I, O my Lord, what fhall be the end of thefe things? he applied not to the angel that put the above queftion, but to the man clothed with linen; to Chrift, whom he perceived to be a divine perfon, a perfon of dominion, power, and authority, fuperior to angels, and his Lord and God; and who only could refolve the queftion he puts, which is fomewhat different from that of the angel’s, ¥. 6. that refpeéts the length of time, to the accomplifhment.of thefe things; this the quality of the end of them, what kind of end they fhould have; or what the figns, fymptoms, and evidences of the end of them, by which the true end of them might be known. Mr. Mede renders it, what are thefe latter times? perhaps it might ‘be rendered better, what is the laff of thefe things °? what is the laft thing that will be done, that fo it may be known when all is over?:
¥. 9. And he faid, go thy way, Daniel, ‘api About thy bufinefs; attend to civil affairs, the affairs in which he was concerned in the king’s court, and afk no more queftions concerning this matter; but be content with the prophecies that have been delivered to thee, and with what knowledge thou haft of them: or he is bid to go and write in a book the feveral vifions he had feen, and the predictions related to him; that he might read them, and meditate on them, at his leifure, and tranfmit them to future pofterity, for their ufe: or go the way of all fiefh, prepare for death and eternity;
° my PIN PD guid erit novifimam lovin? Munfter; poftremum horum? Calvin:
for in the prefenit ftate he was not to expect a full revelation of thefe things; but fhould reft fatisfied with what he knew, and affure himfelf of the full performance of them, and that he fhould have his fhare of the bleffed times in the millennium, and of the ultimate glory, as in ¥..'13.. For the words are clofed up, and fealed till the time of the end that is, till the time comes, or draws near, that they fhall be. accomplifhed; till then they would not be clearly underftood, but remain in a great meafiue dark and dbfcure, tho’ fure and certain: it is fucgefted they would not always remain fo, time 1s the beft-interpreter of prophecy, and the nearer the time of the accomiplifhment of it is, the clearer it appeats, things leading the way to it, being gradually fulfilled; ‘but cleareft of all when it is accomplifhed; then it is no more fhut. and fealed, but open and manifeft; fee the note on ¥. 4.
¥. 10, Many fhall be purged, and made white, and tried, &c.| Though Chrift doés not give in plain, clear, and explicit terms, an anfwer to the above queftion, when, and how, and what would be the end of the chutch’s troubles and afflictions; yet he here points out the ufe of them, which for the prefent fhould be chiefly attended to; and when duly confidered, would be a means of caufing the faints to endure them with more patience and chearfulnefs: many fhould be hereby made more pure and holy, and more free from their fpots, their chaff, and their drofs; their corruptions, and the power of them, weakened; their graces tried, and become more bright and fhining, and they themfelves a greater ornament to the religion they profefs: hereby they fhould be purified, or cleanfed from the chaff of their fins; or be feparated as the chaff is by the fan, from hypocrites and ungodly men, who would not be able to endure perfecution for the fake of the gofpel: and be made white, as cloth is by the fuller; freed both from their own fpots in their garments, being led to the blood of Chrift to wafh their garments, and make them white therein; which afflictions may be the means of guiding them to, under| the direction of the bleffed Spirit; and from fuch perfons who were fpots in their feafts of love: and de tried, as gold and filver in the furnace, and fo be rid of their own drofs, and of the wicked of the earth, who are like unto it; fee the note on ch. xi. 35. But the wicked fhall do wickedly; go on in a.courfe of fin, and be never the better for the afMflictive difpenfations of providence; thefe either mean, formal profeffors, that turn apoftates from the faith, and become openly wicked livers; or the profane world in common; and particularly furious perfecutors of the faints: fuch as.each of thefe, there will be till the end of things come; fee Rev, xxii. 11: and none of the wicked fhall underftand; neither the doétrines of the gofpel fpiritually and experimentally; nor the providences of God, and, What he is doing in the world; and particularly not the prophecy of this book, and efpecially what has been juft delivered: but the wife /hall underftand; more or lefs of each of thefe things, fuch as are wife unto falvation; that fearch the {criptures, feek to God by prayer, and are much in meditation, and make ufe of every help for the underftanding of divine things, and even of thefe prophecies; and efpecially towards the clofe of time, as the accomplifhment of them draws near.
y¥. 11. And from the time that the daily facrifice feall be taken. away, &c.| This is in part an an- {wer to the above queftions, as they relate to the end of things: fome dates are given, by which it might in general be known, when and how thefe ~ things would end: and thefe dates begin with the removal of the daily facrifice; that is, the doctrine of atonement and fatisfaction for fin by the facrifice of Chrift, the antitype of the daily facrifice under the law; this was taken away by antichrift, when he got to his height; when he eftablifhed the dogtrine of works, and oppofed the merits of men to the merits of Chrift, and his own pardons, indulgences, penances, &c. to the fatisfaction of Chrift: and the abomination that maketh defolate; image-worfhip; the abomination of the mafs, and other aéts of idolatry and fuperftition: ‘here hall be a thoufand two hundred and ninety days, from the beginning of the reign of antichrift, to the end of it, are one thoufand two hundred and fixty days or years, or forty-two months, which is the fame, according to Rev. xiii. 5. here thirty days or years are added, which begin where the other end, and is the time allotted for the converfion of the ews, and other things, making way for the kingdom of Chrift; and which the reign of antichrift was an hindrance of, but fhould now immediately take place. ¥. 12. Bleffed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the one thoufand three hundred five and thirty days.
Which is an addition of forty-five days or years more, beginning at the end of one thoufand two hundred and ninety, and make up this fum; during which time the vials will be poured out upon all the antichriftian ftates, and the Zurki/b empire be deftroyed, and all the enemies of Chrift and his church removed, and clear way made for the fetting up of his kingdom in the world in a more vifible and glorious manner; and therefore happy is the man that will be found waiting for thefe times, and live to enjoy them. ‘There are various ways taken in the computation and application of théfe one thoufand three hundred and thirty-five days by ews and Chriftians. Lipman? the Few makes them to be the fame with /ime, and times, and half a time, ¥. 7. time, he fuppofes, defigns the fpace of four hundred and eighty years, from ‘the Jraelites going out of Egypt, to the building of the firft temple; times the fpace of four hundred and ten years, which is as long as that temple _ ftood; and half a time, half of thefe two fpaces, that is, four hundred and forty-five years; all which make up one thoufand three hundred and thirtyfive; but ftrange it is, that ¢ime fhould fignify a larger fpace than ¢imes. Much more ingenious is the computation of Facchiades on the text, who makes the account to defcribe the fpace of time from the days of Daniel, to the end of the world. He fuppofes there were three thoufand three hundred and ninety-one years, from the beginning of the world to Daniel, he then takes and joins the one thoufand two hundred and ninety days in the preceding verfe, which he underftands of years, with the one thoufand three hundred and thirtyfive days or years in this, which make together. two thoufand fix hundred and twenty-five; and added to the above, the whole is fix thoufand and fixteen years; which agrees with the opinion of Elias in the Talmud 4, that the world fhall ftand fix
Many,chriftian interpreters ‘ apply it to the times of Autiochus, and.reckon them thus, underftanding them of days, and not years from the time of his taking away the daily facrifice, to the reftoration of it by Fudes Maccabeus, were three years and a half and fome days, in all one thoufand two hundred and ninety, as in the preceding yverfe; during which time the temple was profaned, by. idolatrous.worfhip, the altar demolifhed, and the daily facrifice ceafed, and, was a time, of great diftrefs with the Fews; and which tho’ greatly alleviated by the fuccefs of Fudas, yet their calamities were_not over until the death of
Antiochus, which happened forty-five days after;
and thefe added to the above number,,make-one thoufand three hundred and thirty-five days; at the clofe of which it was happy times with them, being delivered. from..fo. cruel and powerful, an ene my; and therefore blefied were they that waited and came-to this time,, This. paflage Mr.. Brightman applies to the Zurki/h empire; sand thinks that time, and times, and, half a time, y. 7. meafure
‘the fpace of the power of that empire; séme fignifying one hundred, years; times, two hundred years; half a time, fifty years; in all three hundred and fifty. years; which added. to one thoufand three hundred,.when that empire began, the date ends in one thoufand. fix hundred and fifty, when he fuppofes it would begin to decline; to;which, if you add forty-five days or years, as here, it will bring it down to one. thoufand fix hundred and ninety-five, when he thought it would be utterly extinct; but time has fhewn this to be a miftake. Mr. Mede* thinks thefe numbers are to be reckoned from the profanation of the temple by Aptiochus s and that the. frft number, one thoufand two hundred and ninety, ended in the year of Chrift one thoufand one hundred and twenty-three, when antichrift was come to his height, and was, difcerned by many to be the perfon that was prophefied of as fuch; and the latter number, one thoufand three hundred and thirty-five, ended in’ the year of Chrift one thoufand one hundred and fixtyeight, when the Waldenjfes, Albigenfes, and others, feparated from the church of Rome as antichriftian, upon which violent perfecutions were raifed upon them: but then not happy, but miferable times, followed on thefe; unleis this bleflednefs fpoken of, is to be applied to the martyrs that died for the fake of Chrift, as in Rev. xiv.13. Another learned man ‘ was of opinion, that thefe numbers are to be counted from the deftruction of Ferufalem by Titus Vefpafian, A.D. 71. from whence the firft number tell on the year 1361, at which time the {chool at Prague was founded by Charles king of Bohemia, and the errors and tyranny of antichrift began to be openly oppofed by the'fame; and the fecond number ended in the year 1406, when the”
light of the gofpel broke out more clearly; fo that the angel here pronounces thofe blefled, who over- lived thefe firft feeds of the gofpel being brought to light; but fomething of great importance, and caufe of more joy, is here intended. Wherefore upon. the whole, it feems beft to interpret thefe numbers as at firft, of the date of the reign of antichrift, and as fhewing the full and certain end of it; when there will be bleffed times, Ha/eyon days indeed!.. “hs
L’Empereur. not. in Jacchiad. in * Henr, Wolphius lib. de tempore apud
¥. 13. But go thou thy way till the end be, &c.] Prepare for death, and expect to be under the power of it, to lie in the grave, till the end of the world, until the refurreCtion-morn: for thou /halt ret; from all toil and labour, from all fin and to the children of Jfael: and in the faith and hope of this, it became him to be contented and fatisfied; believing the accomplifhment of all that had been fhown him, and-looking for the-blefled= nefs which was promifed him. Agreeable to which forrow; his body in the grave, his foul in the bois the paraphrafe of Facchiades; ‘* but thou, O fom of Chrift: and ftand in thy lot at rhe end of ‘* Daniel, go to the end of thy life in this world;
the days; fignifying, that he fhould rife again from the dead, have his part inthe firft- refurrection, his fhare of the glory of the millennium-ftate, and his portion in the heavenly inheritance of the faints; the antitype of Canaan, which was divided by lot
‘ and after thou art dead, reft in the reft of paradife 3 and at thé-end of days, thou fhale ‘* ftand and live in the refurreétion of the dead, ** and fhalt enjoy thy good lot in the world t ‘* come,” » pa see a HIS Book in the Hebrew Bibles, at leaft in fome copies, is called Sepher Hofea, the book of Hofea; and in the Vulgate Latin and Arabic verfions, the prophecy of Hofea, and in the Syriag,verfion, the prophecy of Hofea the prophet. It is the firft of the twelve leffer prophets, fo called, not becaufe they were of lefs value, credit and authority than the other prophets; but becaufe of their fmalnefs in bulk; and which, as Kimchi fays, upon the authority of their Radbdins, were put together in one book, that no one of them might be loft, becaufe of their fmalnefs; and ofepbus * reckons them but as one book; and they are quoted in the New Teftament under the name of the book of the prophets’. This prophet was one of them, and therefore placed here; tho’, as Kimchi in his preface to this book, and R. David Ganz *, obferve, his prophecy was before the prophecy of Yaiab; and yet he was not the firft of thefe minor prophets, as to order of time; not only Fonas, but Foel and Amos were before him; and fo they are placed by fome writers; according to Mr. Whifton *, he began to prophefy about 3906 of the Fulian period, and 808 before Chrift. Mr. Bedford * places him in 804. His name is the fame with Fo/hua and Fefus, and fignifies a Saviour; and he was not only, as all the true prophets of the Lord, and faithful minifters of the word are, the means and inftruments in the hand of God of faving people; but he was a type of Chrift the Saviour, as well as prophefied concerning him, and
FTER the general infcription of the book, in which the author, pen-man, and time of this prophecy are expreffed, ¥. 1. The people of Jjrael are reproved for their idolatry, under the reprefentation of an harlot the prophet is bid to marry, which he is faid to do, ¥. 2, 3. and their ruin and deftruction are foretold in the names of the children he had by her, and by what is faid on the occafion of the birth of each, ¥. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9. but mercy and falvation are promifed to Fudab, y. 7. and the chapter is concluded with a glorious prophecy of the converfion of the Gentiles, and the calling of the Yews in the latter day; and of the union of Fudeb and J/rael under one head and Saviour, Chrift; and of the greatnefs and glory of that day, ¥. 10, 11.
¥.1. The word of the Lord, that came unto Hofea, &c.] - Whofe name is the fame with Fo/hua and Fe/us, and fignifies a Saviour; he was in fome things a type of Chrift the Saviour, and prophefied of him, and falvation by him; and was the inftru- falvation by him. Of his parentage, and the time of his prophefying, fee ch. i. 1. by which it appears that he lived in feveral reigns, and to a very great age. He chiefly prophefied againft the ten tribes of [/rael; reproved them for their fins; exhorted them to repentance; threatened them with deftruction in cafe of impenitence; and comforted the truly godly with the promife of the Meffiah, and of the happy ftate of the church in the latter day. His ftile is fhort and concife; in fome places fententious, and without connexion, obfcure and difficult of interpretation; and in ofhers very pathetic and moving. Of the divine infpiration and authority of this book, there is no room to doubt; fince paffages out of it are quoted and referred to by Chrift and his apoftles; by Chrift himfelf, Matt. ix. 13. and. xii. 7, out of ch. vi..6. by the evangelift Matthew, Matt. ii. 15. out of ch. xi. 1. and by the apoftle Paul, Rom. ix. 25, 26. out of ch. i. 10. and ii, 23. 1°Cor. xv. 55. from ch. xiii. 14. and by the apoftle Peter, 1 Pet. ii. 10. from ch. ii, 23. There are fome things faid of the defcent, death and burial of this prophet, not to be depended on. P/eudo-Epipbanius * and Jfdorus * fay, he was of the tribe of [achar, and born in Belomoth or Bethlemoth; and that he died in peace, and was buried in his own country; but according to a tradition of the Fews", he died in Babylon, and was buried in Tzapheth, a city in upper Galilee; but all this is uncertain, and not very probable, and is of no importance to be known.
phets were, and faithful minifters of the word are: to him the word of the Lord, revealing his mind and will, was brought by the Spirit of God, and impreffed upon his mind; and it was committed to him to be delivered unto others. This is the general title of the whole book, fhewing the divine original and authority of it: the fon of Beeri; which - is added to diftinguifh him from another of the fame name; and perhaps his father’s name was ment and means of faving men, as all true pro-.
Jews have a rule, that where a prophet’s father’s name is mentioned, it fhews- that he was the fon of a prophet; but this is not to be depended upon; _ and fome of them fay, that this is the fame with Beerah a prince of the Reubenites, who was carried captive by Tiglath-Pilefer king of Affyria, 1 Chron. v. 6. but the name is different; nor does the chronology feem fo well to agree with him; and efpecially he can’t be the father of Hofea, if he was of the tribe of I[achar, as fome have affirmed: im the days of Uzziah, Fotham, Abaz, and Hezekiab