We
have done with
Mount
Seir, and left it desolate, and likely to
continue so, and must now turn ourselves, with the prophet, to the mountains
of Israel, which we find desolate too, but hope before
we have done with the chapter to leave in better plight. Here are two
distinct prophecies in this chapter:-- I. Here is one that seems chiefly to
relate to the temporal estate of the Jews, wherein their present deplorable
condition is described and the triumphs of their neighbours in it; but it is
promised that their grievances shall be all redressed and that in due time
they shall be settled again in their own land, in the midst of peace and
plenty, ver. 1-15. II. Here is another that seems chiefly to concern their
spiritual estate, wherein they are reminded of their former sins and God's
judgments upon them, to humble them for their sins and under God's mighty
hand, ver. 16-20. But it is promised, 1. That God would glorify himself in
showing mercy to them, ver. 21-24. 2. That he would sanctify them, by giving
them his grace and fitting them for his service; and this for his own name's
sake and in answer to their prayers, ver. 25-38.
|
God's
Compassion for Israel.
|
B.
C. 587.
|
|
|
1 Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the
mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD: 2 Thus saith
the Lord GOD;
Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places
are ours in possession: 3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith
the Lord GOD;
Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every
side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye
are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the
people: 4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of
the Lord GOD;
Thus saith the Lord GOD
to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to
the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a
prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round
about; 5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD;
Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the
heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their
possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to
cast it out for a prey. 6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land
of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and
to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD;
Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne
the shame of the heathen: 7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD;
I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you,
they shall bear their shame. 8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye
shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of
Israel; for they are at hand to come. 9 For, behold, I am
for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even
all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be
builded: 11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they
shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old
estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye
shall know that I am the LORD.
12 Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and
they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt
no more henceforth bereave them of men. 13 Thus saith the
Lord GOD;
Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast
bereaved thy nations; 14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no
more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD.
15 Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen
any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more,
neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD.
The prophet had been ordered to set his face towards the mountains of
Israel and prophesy against them, ch. vi. 2. Then God was
coming forth to contend with his people; but now that God is returning in
mercy to them he must speak good words and comfortable words to these
mountains, v. 1 and again v. 4. You mountains of Israel,
hear the word of the Lord; and what he says to them he says to the
hills, to the rivers, to the valleys, to the desolate wastes in the
country, and to the cities that are forsaken, v. 4 and again v.
6. The people were gone, some one way and some another; nothing remained
there to be spoken to but the places, the mountains and valleys; these the
Chaldeans could not carry away with them. The earth abides for ever.
Now, to show the mercy God had in reserve for the people, he is to speak of
him as having a dormant kindness for the place, which, if the Lord had been
pleased for ever to abandon, he would not have called upon to hear the
word of the Lord, nor would he as at this time have shown it such
things as these. Here is,
I. The compassionate notice God takes of the present deplorable condition of
the land of Israel. It has become both a prey and a derision to
the heathen that are round about, v. 4. 1. It has become a prey
to them; and they are all enriched with the plunder of it. When the
Chaldeans had conquered them all their neighbours flew to the spoil as to a
shipwreck, every one thinking all his own that he could lay his hands on (v.
3): They have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that
you might be a possession to the heathen, to the residue of them,
even such as had themselves narrowly escaped the like desolation. No one
thought it any crime to strip an Israelite. Turba Romæ sequitur fortunam
ut semper--The mob of Rome still praise the elevated and despise the fallen.
It is the common dry, when a man is down, Down with him. 2. It has
become a derision to them. They took all they had and laughed at them when
they had done. The enemy said, "Aha! even the ancient high places
are ours in possession, v. 2. Neither the antiquity, nor the
dignity, neither the sanctity nor the fortifications, of the land of Israel,
are its security, but we have become masters of it all." The more
honours that land had been adorned with, and the greater figure it had made
among the nations, the more pride and pleasure did they take in making a
spoil of it, which is an instance of a base and sordid spirit; for the more
glorious and prosperity was the more piteous is the adversity. God takes
notice of it here as an aggravation of the present calamity of Israel: You
are taken up in the lips of talkers and are an infamy of the people, v.
3. All the talk of the country about was concerning the overthrow of the
Jewish nation; and every one that spoke of it had some peevish ill-natured
reflection or other upon them. They were the scorning of those that were
at ease and the contempt of the proud, Ps. cxxiii. 4. There are some
that are noted for talkers, that have something to say of every body, but
cannot find in their hearts to speak well of any body; God's people, among
such people, were sure to be a reproach when the crown had fallen from their
head. Thus it was the lot of Christianity, in its suffering days, to be every
where spoken against.
II. The expressions of God's just displeasure against those who triumphed in
the desolations of the land of Israel, as many of its neighbours did, even
the residue of the brethren, and Idumea particularly. Let us see, 1. How
they dealt with the Israel of God. They carved out large possessions to
themselves out of their land, out of God's land; for so indeed it was:
"They have appointed my land into their possession (v.
5), and so not only invaded their neighbour's property, but intrenched upon
God's prerogative." It was the holy land which they laid their
sacrilegious hands upon. They did not own any dependence upon God, as the
God of that land, nor acknowledge any remaining interest that Israel had in
it, but cast it out for a prey, as if they had won it in a lawful
war. And this they did without any dread of God and his judgments and
without any compassion for Israel and their calamities, but with the joy
of all their hearts, because they got by it, and with despiteful
minds to Israel that lost by it. Increasing wealth, by right or wrong,
is all the joy of a worldly heart; and the calamities of God's people are
all the joy of a despiteful mind. And those that had not an opportunity of
making a prey of God's people made a reproach of them; so that they were the
shame of the heathen, v. 6. Every body ridiculed them and made a
jest of them; and the truth is they had by their own sin made themselves
vile; so that God was righteous herein, but men were unrighteous and very
barbarous. 2. How God would deal with those who were thus in word and deed
abusive to his people. He has spoken against the heathen; he has
passed sentence upon them; he has determined to reckon with them for it, and
this in the fire of his jealousy, both for his own honour and for the
honour of his people, v. 5. Having a love for both as strong
as death, he has a jealousy for both as cruel as the grave.
They spoke in their malice against God's people, and he will speak in his
jealousy against them; and it is easy to say which will speak most
powerfully. God will speak in his jealousy and in his fury, v.
6. Fury is not in God; but he will exert his power against them and handle
them as severely as men do when they are in a fury. He will so speak to
them in his wrath as to vex them in his sore displeasure. What he says
he will stand to, for it is backed with an oath. He has lifted up his
hand and sworn by himself, has sworn and will not repent. And what is it
that is said with so much heat, and yet with so much deliberation? It is
this (v. 7), Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall
bear their shame. Note, The righteous God, to whom vengeance belongs,
will render shame for shame. Those that put contempt and reproach upon God's
people will, sooner or later, have it burned upon themselves, perhaps
in this world (either their follies or their calamities, their miscarriages
or their mischances, shall be their reproach), at furthest in that day when
all the impenitent shall rise to shame and everlasting contempt.
III. The promises of God's favour to his Israel and assurances given of
great mercy God had in store for them. God takes occasion from the outrage
and insolence of their enemies to show himself so much the more concerned
for them and ready to do them good, as David hoped that God would recompense
him good for Shimei's cursing him. Let them curse, but bless thou. In
this way, as well as others, the enemies of God's people do them real
service, even by the injuries they do them, against their will and beyond
their intention. We shall have no reason to complain if, the more unkind men
are, the more kind God is--if, the more kindly he speaks to us by his word
and Spirit, the more kindly he acts for us in his providence. The prophet
must say so to the mountains of Israel, which were now desolate
and despised, that God is for them and will burn to them, v.
9. As the curse of God reaches the ground for man's sake, so does the
blessing. Now that which is promised is, 1. That their rightful owners
should return to the possession of them: My people Israel are at hand to
come, v. 8. Though they are at a great distance from their own
country, though they are dispersed in many countries, and though they are
detained by the power of their enemies, yet they shall come again to
their own border, Jer. xxxi. 17. The time is at hand for their return.
Though there were above forty years of the seventy (perhaps fifty) yet
remaining, it is spoken of as near, because it is sure, and there were some
among them that should live to see it. A thousand years are with God
but as one day. The mountains of Israel are now desolate; but God
will cause men to walk upon them again, even his people Israel,
not as travellers passing over them, but as inhabitants--not tenants, but
freeholders: They shall possess thee, not for term of life, but for
themselves and their heirs; thou shalt be their inheritance. It was a
type of the heavenly Canaan, to which all God's children are heirs, every
Israelite indeed, and into which they shall shortly be all brought together,
out of the countries where they are now scattered. 2. That they should
afford a plentiful comfortable maintenance for their owners at their return.
When the land had enjoyed her sabbaths for so many years, it should
be so much the more fruitful afterwards, as we should be after rest,
especially a sabbath rest: You shall be tilled and sown (v. 9)
and shall yield your fruit to my people Israel, v. 8. Note, It
is a blessing to the earth to be made serviceable to men, especially to good
men, that will serve God with cheerfulness in the use of those good things
which the earth serves up to them. 3. That the people of Israel should have
not only a comfortable sustenance, but a comfortable settlement, in their
own land: The cities shall be inhabited; the wastes shall be builded,
v. 10. And I will settle you after your old estates, v.
11. Their own sin had unsettled them, but now God's favour shall resettle
them. When the prodigal son has become a penitent he is settled again in his
father's house, according to his former estate. Bring hither the first
robe, and put it on him. Nay, I will do better unto you now than
at your beginnings. There is more joy for the sheep that is brought back
than there would have been if it had never gone astray. And God sometimes
multiplies his people's comforts in proportion to the time that he has
afflicted them. Thus God blessed the latter end of Job more than his
beginning, and doubled to him all he had. 4. That the people, after their
return, should be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the land, so
that it should not only be inhabited again, but as thickly inhabited, and as
well peopled, as ever. God will bring back to it all the house of Israel,
even all of it (observe what an emphasis is laid upon that, v.
10), all whose spirits God stirred up to return; and those only were
reckoned of the house of Israel, the rest had cut themselves off from
it; or, though but few, in comparison, returned at first, yet afterwards, at
divers times, they all returned; and then (says God) I will
multiply these men (v. 10), multiply man and beast; and they
shall increase, v. 11. Note, God's kingdom in the world is a
growing kingdom; and his church, though for a time it may be diminished,
shall recover itself and be again replenished. 5. That the reproach long
since cast up on the land of Israel by the evil spies, and of late revived,
that it was a land that ate up the inhabitants of it by famine,
sickness, and the sword, should be quite rolled away, and there should never
be any more occasion for it. Canaan had got into a bad name. It had of old spued
out the inhabitants (Lev. xviii. 28), the natives, the aborigines, which
was turned to its reproach by those that should have put another
construction upon it, Num. xiii. 32. It had of late devoured the Israelites,
and spued them out too; so that it was commonly said of it, It is a land
which, instead of supporting its nations or tribes that inhabit it, bereaves
them, overthrows them, and causes them to fall; it is a
tenement which breaks all the tenants that come upon it. This character it
had got among the neighbours; but God now promises that it shall be so no
more: Thou shalt no more bereave them of men (v. 12), shalt devour
men no more, v. 14. But the inhabitants shall live to a good old
age, and not have the number of their months cut off in the midst. Compare
this with that promise, Zech. viii. 4. Note, God will take away the reproach
of his people by taking away that which was the occasion of it. When the
nation is made to flourish in peace, plenty, and power, then they hear no
more the shame of the heathen (v. 15), especially when it is
reformed; when sin, which is the reproach of any people, particularly of
God's professing people, is taken away, then they hear no more the
reproach of the people. Note, When God returns in mercy to a people that
return to him in duty, all their grievances will be soon redressed and their
honour retrieved.
|
God's
Compassion for Israel.
|
B.
C. 587.
|
|
|
16 Moreover the word of the LORD
came unto me, saying, 17 Son of man, when the house of Israel
dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their
doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed
upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted
it: 19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were
dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to
their doings I judged them. 20 And when they entered unto the
heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to
them, These are the people of the LORD,
and are gone forth out of his land. 21 But I had pity for mine
holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither
they went. 22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith
the Lord GOD;
I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy
name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye
went. 23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned
among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the
heathen shall know that I am the LORD,
saith the Lord GOD,
when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I
will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries,
and will bring you into your own land.
When God promised the poor captives a glorious return, in due time, to their
own land, it was a great discouragement to their hopes that they were
unworthy, utterly unworthy, of such a favour; therefore, to remove that
discouragement, God here shows them that he would do it for them purely for
his own name's sake, that he might be glorified in them and by them,
that he might manifest and magnify his mercy and goodness, that attribute
which of all others is most his glory. And, the restoration of that people
being typical of our redemption by Christ, this is intended further to show
that the ultimate end aimed at in our salvation, to which all the steps of
it were made subservient, was the glory of God. To this end Christ directed
all he did in that short prayer, Father, glorify thy name; and God
declared it was his end in all he did in the immediate answer given to that
prayer, by a voice from heaven: I have glorified it, and I will glorify
it yet again, John xii. 28. Now observe here,
I. How God's name had suffered both by the sins and by the miseries of
Israel; and this was more to be regretted than all their sorrow, which they
had brought upon themselves; for the honour of God lies nearer the hearts of
good men than any interests of their own. 1. God's glory had been injured by
the sin of Israel when they were in their own land, v. 17. It was a
good land, a holy land, a land that had the eye of God upon it. But they
defiled it by their own way, their wicked way; that is our own
way, the way of our own choice; and we ourselves must bear the blame and
shame of it. The sin of a people defiles their land, renders it abominable
to God and uncomfortable to themselves; so that they cannot have any holy
communion with him nor with one another. What was unclean might not be made
use of. By the abuse of the gifts of God's bounty to us we forfeit the use
of them; and, the mind and conscience being defiled with guilt, no comfort
is allowed us, nothing is pure to us. Their way in the eye of God was
like the pollution of a woman during the days of her separation, which shut
her out from the sanctuary and made very things she touched ceremonially
unclean, Lev. xv. 19. Sin is that abominable thing which the Lord hates,
and which he cannot endure to look upon. They shed blood and worshipped
idols (v. 18) and with those sins defiled the land. For
this God poured out his fury upon them, scattered them among the
heathen. Their own land was sick of them, and they were sent into other
lands. Herein God was righteous, and was justified in what he did; none
could say that he did them any wrong, nay, he did justice to his own honour,
for he judged them according to their way and according to their doings,
v. 19. And yet, the matter being not rightly understood, he was not
glorified in it; for the enemies did say, as Moses pleaded the Egyptians
would say if he had destroyed them in the wilderness, that for mischief
he brought them forth. Their neighbours considered them rather as a holy
people than as a sinful people, and therefore took occasion from the
calamities they were in, instead of glorifying God, as they might justly
have done, to reproach him and put contempt upon him; and God's name was continually
every day blasphemed by their oppressors, Isa. lii. 5. 2. When they entered
into the land of the heathen God had no glory by them there; but, on the
contrary, his holy name was profaned, v. 20. (1.) It was profaned by
the sins of Israel; they were no credit to their profession wherever they
went, but, on the contrary, a reproach to it. The name of God and his
holy religion was blasphemed through them, Rom. ii. 24. When those
that pretended to be in relation to God, in covenant and communion with him,
were found corrupt in their morals, slaves to their appetites and passions,
dishonest in their dealings, and false to their words and the trust reposed
in them, the enemies of the Lord had thereby great occasion given them to
blaspheme, especially when they quarrelled with their God for correcting
them, than which nothing could be more scandalous. (2.) It was profaned by
the sufferings of Israel; for from them the enemies of God took occasion to
reproach God, as unable to protect his own worshippers and to make good his
own grants. They said, in scorn, "These are the people of the land,
these wicked people (you see he could not keep them in their obedience to
his precepts), these miserable people--you see he could not keep them
in the enjoyment of his favours. These are the people that came out of
Jehovah's land, they are the very scum of the nations. Are these those
that had statues so righteous whose lives are so unrighteous? Is this the
nation that is so much celebrated for a wise and understanding people,
and that is said to have God so nigh unto them? Do these belong to
that brave, that holy nation, who appear here so vile, so abject?" Thus
God sold his people and did not increase his wealth by their price,
Ps. xliv. 12. The reproach they were under reflected upon him.
II. Let us now see how God would retrieve his honour, secure it, and advance
it, by working a great reformation upon them and then working a great
salvation for them. He would have scattered them among the heathen, were
it not that he feared the wrath of the enemy, Deut. xxxii. 26, 27. But,
though they were unworthy of his compassion, yet he had pity for his own
holy name, and a thousand pities it was that that should be trampled
upon and abused. He looked with compassion on his own honour, which lay
bleeding among the heathen, on that jewel which was trodden into the dirt,
which the house of Israel, even in the land of their captivity, had
profaned, v. 21. In pity to that God brought them out from the
heathen, because their sins were more scandalous there than they had been in
their own land. "Therefore I will gather you out of all countries
and bring you into your own land, v. 24. Not for your sake,
because you are worthy of such a favour, for you are most unworthy, but for
my holy name's sake (v. 22), that I may sanctify my great
name," v. 23. Observe, by the way, God's holy name is his
great name. His holiness is his greatness; so he reckons it himself. Nor
does any thing make a man truly great but being truly good, and partaking of
God's holiness. God will magnify his name as a holy name, for he will
sanctify it: I will sanctify my name which you have profaned. When
God performs that which he has sworn by his holiness, then he sanctifies his
name. The effect of this shall be very happy: The heathen shall know that
I am the Lord when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes and
yours. When God proves his own holy name, and his saints praise it, then he
is sanctified in them, and this contributes to the propagating of the
knowledge of him. Observe, 1. God's reasons of mercy are all fetched from
within himself; he will bring his people out of Babylon, not for their
sakes, but for his own name's sake, because he will be glorified. 2.
God's goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more
illustrious; therefore he will sanctify his name by the pardon of
sin, because it has been profaned by the commission of sin.
|
The
Promise of a New Heart; The Promise of Sanctifying Grace;
Promised Blessings Must Be Prayed for.
B. C. 587.
|
|
|
|
25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,
and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols,
will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a
new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out
of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I
will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye
shall keep my judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall
dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people,
and I will be your God. 29 I will also save you from all your
uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay
no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of the
tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach
of famine among the heathen. 31 Then shall ye remember your own
evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe
yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your
abominations. 32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the
Lord GOD,
be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house
of Israel. 33 Thus saith the Lord GOD;
In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will
also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be
builded. 34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it
lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. 35 And they
shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden;
and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and
are inhabited. 36 Then the heathen that are left round about you
shall know that I the LORD
build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD
have spoken it, and I will do it. 37 Thus saith
the Lord GOD;
I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it
for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the
holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the
waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am
the LORD.
The people of God might be discouraged in their hopes of a restoration by
the sense not only of their unworthiness of such a favour (which was
answered, in the foregoing verses, with this, that God, in doing it, would
have an eye to his own glory, not to their worthiness), but of their
unfitness for such a favour, being still corrupt and sinful; and that is
answered in these verses, with a promise that God would by his grace prepare
and qualify them for the mercy and then bestow it on them. And this was in
part fulfilled in that wonderful effect which the captivity in Babylon had
upon the Jews there, that it effectually cured them of their inclination to
idolatry. But it is further intended as a draught of the covenant of grace,
and a specimen of those spiritual blessings with which we are blessed in
heavenly things by that covenant. As (ch. xxxiv.) after a promise of
their return the prophecy insensibly slid into a promise of the coming of
Christ, the great Shepherd, so here it insensibly slides into a promise of
the Spirit, and his gracious influences and operations, which we have as
much need of for our sanctification as we have of Christ's merit for our
justification.
I. God here promises that he will work a good work in them, to qualify them
for the good work he intended to bring about for them, v. 25-27. We
had promises to the same purport, ch. xi. 18-20. 1. That God would
cleanse them from the pollutions of sin (v. 25): I will sprinkle
clean water upon you, which signifies both the book of Christ sprinkled
upon the conscience to purify that and to take away the sense of guilt (as
those that were sprinkled with the water of purification were thereby
discharged from their ceremonial uncleanness) and the grace of the Spirit
sprinkled on the whole soul to purify it from all corrupt inclinations and
dispositions, as Naaman was cleansed from his leprosy by dipping in Jordan.
Christ was himself clean, else his blood could not have been cleansing to
us; and it is a Holy Spirit that makes us holy: From all your filthiness
and from all your idols will I cleanse you. And (v. 29) I will
save you from all your uncleannesses. Sin is defiling, idolatry
particularly is so; it renders sinners odious to God and burdensome to
themselves. When guilt is pardoned, and the corrupt nature sanctified, then
we are cleansed from our filthiness, and there is no other way of being
saved from it. This God promises his people here, in order to his being
sanctified in them, v. 23. We cannot sanctify God's name unless he
sanctify our hearts, nor live to his glory, but by his grace. 2. That God
would give them a new heart, a disposition of mind excellent in
itself and vastly different from what it was before. God will work an inward
change in order to a universal change. Note, All that have an interest in
the new covenant, and a title to the new Jerusalem, have a new heart and a
new spirit, and these are necessary in order to their walking in newness
of life. This is that divine nature which believers are by the
promises made partakers of. 3. That, instead of a heart of stone,
insensible and inflexible, unapt to receive any divine impressions and to
return any devout affections, God would give a heart of flesh, a soft
and tender heart, that has spiritual senses exercised, conscious to itself
of spiritual pains and pleasures, and complying in every thing with the will
of God. Note, Renewing grace works as great a change in the soul as the
turning of a dead stone into living flesh. 4. That since, besides our
inclination to sin, we complain of an inability to do our duty, God will cause
them to walk in his statutes, will not only show them the way of his
statutes before them, but incline them to walk in it, and thoroughly furnish
them with wisdom and will, and active powers, for every good work. In order
to this he will put his Spirit within them, as a teacher, guide, and
sanctifier. Note, God does not force men to walk in his statutes by external
violence, but causes them to walk in his statutes by an internal principle.
And observe what use we ought to make of this gracious power and principle
promised us, and put within us: You shall keep my judgments. If God
will do his part according to the promise, we must do ours according to the
precept. Note, The promise of God's grace to enable us for our duty should
engage and quicken our constant care and endeavour to do our duty. God's
promises must drive us to his precepts as our rule, and then his precepts
must send us back to his promises for strength, for without his grace we can
do nothing.
II. God here promises that he will take them into covenant with himself. The
sum of the covenant of grace we have, v. 28. You shall be my
people, and I will be your God. It is not, "If you will be my
people, I will be your God" (though it is very true that we cannot
expect to have God to be to us a God unless we be to him a people), but he
has chosen us, and loved us, first, not we him; therefore the condition is
of grace, is by promise, as well as the reward; not of merit, not of works:
"You shall be my people; I will make you so; I will give you the
nature and spirit of my people, and then I will be your God."
And this is the foundation and top-stone of a believer's happiness; it is
heaven itself, Rev. xxi. 3, 7.
III. He promises that he will bring about all that good for them which the
exigence of their case calls for. When they are thus prepared for mercy, 1.
Then they shall return to their possessions and be settled again in them (v.
28): You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. God
will, in bringing them back to it, have an eye not to any merit of theirs,
but to the promise made to the fathers; for therefore he gave it to them at
first, Deut. vii. 7, 8. Therefore he is gracious, because he has said
that he will be so. This shall follow upon the blessed reformation God would
work among them (v. 33): "In the day that I shall have
cleansed you from all your iniquities, and so shall have made you meet
for the inheritance, I will cause you to dwell in the cities, and so
put you in possession of the inheritance." This is God's method of
mercy indeed, first to part men from their sins, and then to restore them to
their comforts. 2. Then they shall enjoy a plenty of all good things. When
they are saved from their uncleanness, from their sins which kept
good things from them, then I will call for the corn and will increase
it, v. 29. Plenty comes at God's call, and the plenty he calls
for shall be still growing; and when he speaks the word the fruit both of
the tree and of the field shall multiply. As the inhabitants multiply the
productions shall multiply for their maintenance; for he that sends mouths
will send meat. Famine was one of the judgments which they had laboured
under, and it had been as much as any a reproach to them, that they should
be starved in a land so famed for fruitfulness. But now I will lay no
famine upon you; and none are under that rod without having it laid on
by him. Then they shall receive no more reproach of famine, shall
never be again upbraided with that, nor shall it ever be said that God is a
Master that keeps his servants to short allowance. Nay, they shall not only
be cleared from the reproach of famine, but they shall have the credit of
abundance. The land that had long lain desolate in the sight of all that
passed by, that looked upon it, some with contempt and some with
compassion, shall again be tilled (v. 34), and, having long
lain fallow, it will now be the more fruitful. Observe, God will call for
the corn and yet they must till the ground for it. Note, Even
promised mercies must be laboured for; for the promise is not to supersede,
but to quicken and encourage our industry and endeavour. And such a blessing
will God command on the hand of the diligent that all who pass by
shall take notice of it, with wonder, v. 35. They shall say,
"See what a blessed change here is, how this land that was desolate
has become like the garden of Eden, the desert turned again into a
paradise," Note, God has honours in reserve for his people to be
crowned with sufficient to counterbalance the contempt they are now loaded
with, and in them he will be honoured. This wonderful increase both of the
people of the land and of its products is compared (v. 38) to the
large flocks of cattle that are brought to Jerusalem, to be sacrificed at
one of the solemn feasts. Even the cities that now lie waste shall be filled
with flocks of men, not like the flocks with which the pastures are covered
over (Ps. lxvi. 13), but like the holy flock which is brought to the
courts of the Lord's house. Note, Then the increase of the numbers of
a people is honourable and comfortable indeed when they are all dedicated to
God as a holy flock, to be presented to him for living sacrifices.
Crowds are a lovely sight in God's temple.
IV. He shows what shall be the happy effects of this blessed change.
1. It shall have a happy effect upon the people of God themselves, for it
shall bring them to an ingenuous repentance for their sins (v. 31): Then
shall you remember your own evil ways and shall loathe yourselves. See
here what sin is; it is an abomination, a loathsome thing, that
abominable thing which the Lord hates. See what is the first step towards
repentance; it is remembering our own evil ways, reflecting seriously
upon the sins we have committed and being particular in recapitulating them.
We must remember against ourselves not only our gross enormities, our own
evil ways, but our defects and infirmities, our doings that were not
good, not so good as they should have been; not only our direct
violations of the law, but our coming short of it. See what is evermore a
companion of true repentance, and that is self-loathing, a holy shame and
confusion of face: "You shall loathe yourselves in your own sight,
seeing how loathsome you have made yourselves in the sight of God."
Self-love is at the bottom of sin, which we cannot but blush to see the
absurdity of; but our quarrelling with ourselves is in order to our being,
upon good grounds, reconciled to ourselves. And, lastly, see what is
the most powerful inducement to an evangelical repentance, and that is a
sense of the mercy of God; when God settles them in the midst of plenty, then
they shall loathe themselves for their iniquities. Note, The goodness of
God should overcome our badness and lead us to repentance. The more
we see of God's readiness to receive us into favour upon our repentance the
more reason we shall see to be ashamed of ourselves that we could ever sin
against so much love. That heart is hard indeed that will not be thus
melted. 2. It shall have a happy effect upon their neighbours, for it shall
bring them to a more clear knowledge of God (v. 36): "Then
the heathen that are left round about you, that spoke ignorantly of God
(for so all those do that speak ill of him) when they saw the land of
Israel desolate, shall begin to know better, and to speak more intelligently
of God, being convinced that he is able to rebuild the most desolate cities
and to replant the most desolate countries, and that, though the course of
his favours to his people may be obstructed for a time, they shall not be
cut off for ever." They shall be made to know the truth of divine
revelation by the exact agreement which they shall discern between God's
word which he has spoken to Israel and his works which he has done for them:
I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. With us saying and doing
are two things, but they are not so with God.
V. He proposes these things to them, not as the recompence of their
merits, but as the return of their prayers.
1. Let them not think that they have deserved it: Not for your sakes do I
this, be it known to you (v. 22, 32); no, be you ashamed and
confounded for your own ways. God is doing this, all this which
he has promised; it is as sure to be done as if it were done already, and
present events have a tendency towards it. But then, (1.) They must renounce
the merit of their own good works, and be brought to acknowledge that it is
not for their sakes that it is done; so, when God brought Israel into Canaan
the first time, an express caveat was entered against this thought.
Deut. ix. 4-6, It is not for thy righteousness. It is not for the
sake of any of their good qualities or good deeds, not because God had any
need of them, or expected any benefit by them. No, in showing mercy he acts
by prerogative, not for our deserts, but for his own honour. See how
emphatically this is expressed: Be it known to you, it is not for
your sakes, which intimates that we are apt to entertain a high conceit
of our own merits and are with difficulty persuaded to disclaim a confidence
in them. But, one way or other, God will make all his favourites to know and
own that it is his grace, and not their goodness, his mercy, and not their
merit, that made them so; and that therefore not unto them, not unto them,
but unto him, is all the glory due. (2.) They must repent of the sin of
their own evil ways. They must own that the mercies they receive from God
are not only not merited, but that they are a thousand times forfeited; and
therefore they must be so far from boasting of their good works that they
must be ashamed and confounded for their evil ways, and then they are best
prepared for mercy.
2. Yet let them know that they must desire and expect it (v. 37): I
will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel. God has spoken,
and he will do it, and he will be sought unto for it. He requires that his
people should seek unto him, and he will incline their hearts to do
it, when he is coming towards them in ways of mercy. (1.) They must pray for
it, for by prayer God is sought unto, and enquired after. What is the matter
of God's promises must be the matter of our prayers. By asking for the mercy
promised we must give glory to the donor, express a value for the gift, own
our dependence, and put honour upon prayer which God has put honour upon.
Christ himself must ask, and then God will give him the heathen for his
inheritance, must pray the Father, and then he will send the
Comforter; much more must we ask that we may receive. (2.) They must
consult the oracles of God, and thus also God is sought unto and enquired
after. The mercy must be, not an act of providence only, but a child of
promise; and therefore the promise must be looked at, and prayer made for it
with an eye of faith fastened upon the promise, which must be both the guide
and the ground of our expectations. Both these ways we find God enquired of
by Daniel, in the name of the house of Israel, when he was about to do those
great things for them; he consulted the oracles of God, for he understood
by books, the book of the prophet Jeremiah, both what was to be expected
and when; and then he set his face to seek God by prayer, Dan. ix. 2,
3. Note, Our communion with God must be kept up by the word and prayer in
all the operations of his providence concerning us and in both he must be
enquired of.
