This
chapter goes on with the good words and comfortable words which we had in
the chapter before, for the encouragement of the captives, assuring them
that God would in due time restore them or their children to their own land,
and make them a great and happy nation again, especially by sending them the
Messiah, in whose kingdom and grace many of these promises were to have
their full accomplishment. I. They shall be restored to peace and honour,
and joy and great plenty, ver. 1-14. II. Their sorrow for the loss of their
children shall be at an end, ver. 15-17. III. They shall repent of their
sins, and God will graciously accept them in their repentance, ver. 18-20.
IV. They shall be multiplied and increased, both their children and their
cattle, and not be cut off and diminished as they had been, ver. 21-30. V.
God will renew his covenant with them, and enrich it with spiritual
blessings, ver. 31-34. VI. These blessings shall be secured to theirs after
them, even to the spiritual seed of Israel for ever, ver. 35-37. VII. As an
earnest of this the city of Jerusalem shall be rebuilt, ver. 38-40. These
exceedingly great and precious promises were firm foundations of hope and
full fountains of joy to the poor captives; and we also may apply them to
ourselves and mix faith with them.
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Promises
to Israel; Joyful Return from Captivity.
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B.
C. 594.
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1 At the same time, saith the LORD,
will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my
people. 2 Thus saith the LORD,
The people which were left of the sword found grace in the
wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
3 The LORD
hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou
shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of
them that make merry. 5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the
mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as
common things. 6 For there shall be a day, that the
watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to
Zion unto the LORD
our God. 7 For thus saith the LORD;
Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations:
publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD,
save thy people, the remnant of Israel. 8 Behold, I will bring
them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and
with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that
travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I
will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein
they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is
my firstborn.
God here assures his people,
I. That he will again take them into a covenant relation to himself, from
which they seemed to be cut off. At the same time, when God's anger
breaks out against the wicked (ch. xxx. 24), his own people shall be
owned by him as the children of his love: I will be the God (that is,
I will show myself to be the God) of all the families of Israel (v.
1),-- not of the two tribes only, but of all the tribes,--not of the house
of Aaron only, and the families of Levi, but of all their families; not only
their state in general, but their particular families, and the interests of
them, shall have the benefit of a special relation to God. Note, The
families of good people, in their family capacity, may apply to God and stay
themselves upon him as their God. If we and our houses serve the Lord, we
and our houses shall be protected and blessed by him, Prov. iii. 33.
II. That he will do for them, in bringing them out of Babylon, as he had
done for their fathers when he delivered them out of Egypt, and as he had
purposed to do when he first took them to be his people. 1. He puts them in
mind of what he did for their fathers when he brought them out of Egypt, v.
2. They were then, as these were, a people left of the sword, that
sword of Pharaoh with which he cut off all the male children as soon as they
were born (a bloody sword indeed they had narrowly escaped) and that sword
with which he threatened to cut them off when he pursued them to the Red
Sea. They were then in the wilderness, where they seemed to be lost
and forgotten, as these were now in a strange land, and yet they found grace
in God's sight, were owned and highly honoured by him, and blessed with
wonderful instances of his peculiar favour, and he was at this time going to
cause them to rest in Canaan. Note, When we are brought very low, and
insuperable difficulties appear in the way of our deliverance, it is good to
remember that it has been so with the church formerly, and yet that it has
been raised up from its low estate and has got to Canaan through all the
hardships of a wilderness; and God is still the same. 2. They put him in
mind of what God had done for their fathers, intimating that they now saw
not such signs, and were ready to ask, as Gideon did, Where are all the
wonders that our fathers told us of? It is true, The Lord hath
appeared of old unto me (v. 3), in Egypt, in the wilderness, hath
appeared with me and for me, hath been seen in his glory as my God. The
years of ancient times were glorious years; but now it is otherwise; what
good will it do us that he appeared of old to us when now he is a
God that hides himself from us? Isa. xlv. 15. Note, It is hard to take
comfort from former smiles under present frowns. 3. To this he answers with
an assurance of the constancy of his love: Yea, I have loved thee,
not only with an ancient love, but with an everlasting love, a love
that shall never fail, however the comforts of it may for a time be
suspended. It is an everlasting love; therefore have I extended or drawn
out lovingkindness unto thee also, as well as to thy ancestors, or, with
lovingkindness have I drawn thee to myself as thy God, from all the
idols to which thou hadst turned aside. Note, It is the happiness of those
who are through grace interested in the love of God that it is an
everlasting love (from everlasting in the counsels of it, to
everlasting in the continuance and consequences of it), and that nothing can
separate them from that love. Those whom God loves with this love he will
draw into covenant and communion with himself, by the influences of his
Spirit upon their souls; he will draw them with lovingkindness, with
the cords of a man and bands of love, than which no attractive can be more
powerful.
III. That he will again form them into a people, and give them a very joyful
settlement in their own land, v. 4, 5. Is the church of God his
house, his temple? Is it now in ruins? It is so; but, Again I will build
thee, and thou shalt be built. Are they parts of this building
dispersed? They shall be collected and put together again, each in its
place. If God undertake to build them, they shall be built, whatever
opposition may be given to it? Is Israel a beautiful virgin?
Is she now stripped of her ornaments and reduced to a melancholy state? She
is so; but thou shalt again be adorned and made fine, adorned with
thy tabrets, or timbrels, the ornaments of thy chamber, and made merry.
They shall resume their harps which had been hung upon the willow-trees,
shall tune them, and shall themselves be in tune to make use of them. They
shall be adorned with their tabrets, for now their mirth and music shall be
seasonable; it shall be a proper time for it, God in his providence shall
call them to it, and then it shall be an ornament to them; whereas tabrets,
at a time of common calamity, when God called to mourning, were a shame to
them. Or it may refer to their use of tabrets in the solemnizing of their
religious feasts and their going forth in dances then, as the daughters
of Shiloh, Judg. xxi. 19, 21. Our mirth is then indeed an ornament to us
when we serve God and honour him with it. Is the joy of the city maintained
by the products of the country? It is so; and therefore it is promised (v.
5), Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria, which
had been the head city of the kingdom of Israel, in opposition to that of
Judah; but they shall now be united (Ezek. xxxvii. 22), and there shall be
such perfect peace and security that men shall apply themselves wholly to
the improvement of their ground: The planters shall plant, not
fearing the soldiers' coming to eat the fruits of what they had planted, or
to pluck it up; but they themselves shall eat them freely, as
common things, not forbidden fruits, not forbidden by the law of God (as
they were till the fifth year, Lev. xix. 23-25), not forbidden by the
owners, because there shall be such plenty as to yield enough for all,
enough for each.
IV. That they shall have liberty and opportunity to worship God in the
ordinances of his own appointment, and shall have both invitations and
inclinations to do so (v. 6): There shall be a day, and a
glorious day it will be, when the watchmen upon Mount Ephraim, that
are set to stand sentinel there, to give notice of the approach of the
enemy, finding that all is very quiet and that there is no appearance of
danger, shall desire for a time to be discharged from their post, that they
may go up to Zion, to praise God for the public peace. Or the
watchmen that tend the vineyards (spoken of v. 5) shall stir up
themselves, and one another, and all their neighbours, to go and keep the
solemn feasts at Jerusalem. Now this implies that the service of God shall
be again set up in Zion, that there shall be a general resort to it, with
much affection and mutual excitement, as in David's time, Ps. cxxii. 1. But
that which is most observable here is that the watchmen of Ephraim
are forward to promote the worship of God at Jerusalem, whereas formerly the
watchman of Ephraim was hatred against the house of his God (Hos. ix.
8), and, in stead of inviting people to Zion, laid snares for those that set
their faces thitherward, Hos. v. 1. Note, God can make those who have been
enemies to religion and the true worship of God to become encouragers of
them and leaders in them. This promise was to have its full accomplishment
in the days of the Messiah, when the gospel should be preached to all these
countries, and a general invitation thereby given into the church of Christ,
of which Zion was a type.
V. That God shall have the glory and the church both the honour and comfort
of this blessed change (v. 7): Sing with gladness for Jacob,
that is, let all her friends and well-wishers rejoice with her, Deut. xxxii.
43. Rejoice, you Gentiles with his people, Rom. xv. 10. The
restoration of Jacob will be taken notice of by all the neighbours, it will
be matter of joy to them all, and they shall all join with Jacob in his
joys, and thereby pay him respect and put a reputation upon him. Even the
chief of the nations, that make the greatest figure, shall think it an
honour to them to congratulate the restoration of Jacob, and shall do
themselves the honour to send their ambassadors on that errand. Publish
you, praise you. In publishing these tidings, praise the God of Israel,
praise the Israel of God, speak honourably of both. The publishers of the
gospel must publish it with praise, and therefore it is often spoken of in
the Psalms as mingled with praises, Ps. lxvii. 2, 3; cxvi. 2,
3. What we either bring to others or take to ourselves the comfort of we
must be sure to give God the praise of. Praise you, and say, O Lord! save
thy people; that is, perfect their salvation, go on to save the
remnant of Israel, that are yet in bondage; as Ps. cxxvi. 3, 4. Note,
When we are praising God for what he has done we must call upon him for the
future favours which his church is in need and expectation of; and in
praying to him we really praise him and give him glory; he takes it so.
VI. That, in order to a happy settlement in their own land, they shall have
a joyful return out of the land of their captivity and a very comfortable
passage homeward (v. 8, 9), and this beginning of mercy shall be to
them a pledge of all the other blessings here promised. 1. Though they are
scattered to places far remote, yet they shall be brought together from
the north country, and from the coasts of the earth; wherever they are,
God will find them out. 2. Though many of them are very unfit for travel,
yet that shall be no hindrance to them: The blind and the lame shall
come; such a good-will shall they have to their journey, and such a good
heart upon it, that they shall not make their blindness and lameness an
excuse for staying where they are. There companions will be ready to help
them, will be eyes to the blind and legs to the lame, as good
Christians ought to be to one another in their travels heavenward, Job xxix.
15. But, above all, their God will help them; and let none plead that he is
blind who has God for his guide, or lame who has God for his strength. The
women with child are heavy, and it is not fit that they should undertake
such a journey, much less those that travail with child; and yet,
when it is to return to Zion, neither the one nor the other shall make any
difficulty of it. Note, When God calls we must not plead any inability to
come; for he that calls us will help us, will strengthen us. 3. Though they
seem to be diminished, and to have become few in numbers, yet, when they
come all together, they shall be a great company; and so will God's
spiritual Israel be when there shall be a general rendezvous of them, though
now they are but a little flock. 4. Though their return will be matter of
joy to them, yet prayers and tears will be both their stores and their
artillery (v. 9): They shall come with weeping and with
supplications, weeping for sin, supplication for pardon; for the
goodness of God shall lead them to repentance; and they shall
weep with more bitterness and more tenderness for sin, when they are
delivered out of their captivity, than ever they did when they were groaning
under it. Weeping and praying do well together; tears put life into prayers,
and express the liveliness of them, and prayers help to wipe away tears. With
favours will I lead them (so the margin reads it); in their journey they
shall be compassed with God's favours, the fruits of his favour. 5. Though
they have a perilous journey, yet they shall be safe under a divine convoy.
Is the country they pass through dry and thirsty? I will cause them to
walk by the rivers of waters, not the waters of a land-flood, which fail
in summer. Is it a wilderness where there is no road, no track? I will
cause them t walk in a straight way, which they shall not miss. Is it a
rough and rocky country? Yet they shall not stumble. Note,
Whithersoever God gives his people a clear call he will either find them or
make them a ready way; and while we are following Providence we may be sure
that Providence will not be wanting to us. And, lastly, here is a
reason given why God will take all this care of his people: For I am a
Father to Israel, a Father that begat him, and therefore will maintain
him, that have the care and compassion of a father for him (Ps. ciii. 13); and
Ephraim is my first-born; even Ephraim, who, having gone astray
from God, was no more worthy to be called a son, shall yet be owned
as a first-born, particularly dear, and heir of a double portion of
blessings. The same reason that was given for their release out of Egypt is
given for their release out of Babylon; they are free-born and therefore
must not be enslaved, are born to God and therefore must not be the servants
of men. Exod. iv. 22, 23, Israel is my son, even my first-born; let my
son go that he may serve me. If we take God for our Father, and join
ourselves to the church of the first-born, we may be assured that we
shall want nothing that is good for us.
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Restoration
of Israel; Promises to Israel.
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B.
C. 594.
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10 Hear the word of the LORD,
O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that
scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth
his flock. 11 For the LORD
hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was
stronger than he. 12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the
height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD,
for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of
the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not
sorrow any more at all. 13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the
dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into
joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow.
14 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people
shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the LORD.
15 Thus saith the LORD;
A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel
weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because
they were not. 16 Thus saith the LORD;
Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work
shall be rewarded, saith the LORD;
and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. 17 And
there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD,
that thy children shall come again to their own border.
This paragraph is much to the same purport with the last, publishing to the
world, as well as to the church, the purposes of God's love concerning his
people. This is a word of the Lord which the nations must hear,
for it is a prophecy of a work of the Lord which the nations cannot but take
notice of. Let them hear the prophecy, that they may the better understand
and improve the performance; and let those that hear it themselves declare
it to others, declare it in the isles afar off. It will be a piece of
news that will spread all the world over. It will look very great in
history; let us see how it looks in prophecy.
It is foretold, 1. That those who are dispersed shall be brought together
again from their dispersions: He that scattereth Israel will gather him;
for he knows whither he scattered them and therefore where to find them, v.
10. Una eademque manus vulnus opemque tulit--The hand that
inflicted the wound shall heal it. And when he has gathered him into one
body, one fold, he will keep him, as a shepherd does his flock, from
being scattered again. 2. That those who are sold and alienated shall be
redeemed and brought back, v. 11. Though the enemy that had got
possession of him was stronger than he, yet the Lord, who is
stronger than all. has redeemed and ransomed him, not by price, but
by power, as of old out of the Egyptians' hands. 3. That with their liberty
they shall have plenty and joy, and God shall be honoured and served with
it, v. 12, 13. When they shall have returned to their own land they
shall come and sing in the high place of Zion; on the top of that holy
mountain they shall sing to the praise and glory of God. We read that they
did so when the foundation of the temple was laid there; they sang
together, praising and giving thanks to the Lord, Ezra iii. 11. They shall
flow together to the goodness of the Lord; that is, they shall flock in
great numbers and with great forwardness and cheerfulness, as streams of
water, to the goodness of the Lord, to the temple where he causes his
goodness to pass before his people. They shall come together in solemn
assemblies, to praise him for his goodness, and to pray for the
fruits of it and the continuance of it; they shall come to bless him for his
goodness, in giving them wheat, and wine, and oil, and the young of the
flock and of the herd, which, now that they have obtained their freedom,
they have an uncontested property in and the quiet and peaceable enjoyment
of, and which therefore they honour God with the first-fruits of and out of
which they bring offerings to his altar. Note, It is comfortable to observe
the goodness of the Lord in the gifts of common providence, and even in them
to taste covenant-love. Having plenty (plenty out of want and scarcity) they
shall greatly rejoice, their soul shall be as a watered garden,
flourishing and fruitful (Isa. lviii. 11), pleasant and fragrant, and
abounding in all good things. Note, Our souls are never valuable as gardens
but when they are watered with the dews of God's Spirit and grace. It is a
precious promise which follows, and which will not have its full
accomplishment any where on this side the height of the heavenly Zion, that they
shall not sorrow any more at all; for it is only in that new Jerusalem that
all tears shall be wiped away, Rev. xxi. 4. However, so far it was
fulfilled to the returned captives that they had not any more those causes
for sorrow which they had formerly had; and therefore (v. 13) young
men and old shall rejoice together; so grave shall the young men be in
their joys as to keep company with the old men, and so transported shall the
old men be as to associate with the young. Salva res est, saltat senex--The
state prospers, and the aged dance. God will turn their mourning into
joy, their fasts into solemn feasts, Zech. viii. 19. It was in the
return out of Babylon that those who sowed in tears were made to reap
in joy, Ps. cxxvi. 5, 6. Those are comforted indeed whom God comforts,
and may forget their troubles when he makes them to rejoice from
their sorrow, not only rejoice after it, but rejoice from it their joy
shall borrow lustre from their sorrow, which shall serve as a foil to it;
and the more they think of their troubles the more they rejoice in their
deliverance. 4. That both the ministers and those they minister to shall
have abundant satisfaction in what God gives them (v. 14): I will
satiate the soul of the priests with fatness; there shall be such a
plenty of sacrifices brought to the altar that those who live upon the
altar shall live very comfortably, they and their families shall be satiated
with fatness, they shall have enough, and that of the best; and my
people shall be satisfied with my goodness, and shall think there is
enough in that to make them happy; and so there is. God's people have an
abundant satisfaction in God's goodness, though they have but little of this
world. Let them be satisfied of God's lovingkindness, and they will be
satisfied with it and desire no more to make them happy. All this is
applicable to the spiritual blessings which the redeemed of the Lord enjoy
by Jesus Christ, infinitely more valuable than corn, and wine, and oil, and
the satisfaction of soul which they have in the enjoyment of them. 5. That
those particularly who had been in sorrow for the loss of their children who
were carried into captivity should have that sorrow turned into joy upon
their return, v. 15-17. Here we have, (1.) The sad lamentation which
the mothers made for the loss of their children (v. 15): In Ramah
was there a voice heard, at the time when the general captivity was,
nothing but lamentation, and bitter weeping, more there than in other
places, because there Nebuzaradan had the general rendezvous of his
captives, as appears, ch. xl. 1, where we find him sending Jeremiah
back from Ramah. Rachel is here said to weep for her children.
The sepulchre of Rachel was between Ramah and Bethlehem. Benjamin, one of
the two tribes, and Ephraim, head of the ten tribes, were both descendants
from Rachel. She had but two sons, the elder of whom was one for whom his
father grieved and refused to be comforted (Gen. xxxvii. 35); the
other she herself called Benoni--the son of my sorrow. Now the
inhabitants of Ramah did in like manner grieve for their sons and their
daughters that were carried away (as 1 Sam. xxx. 6), and such a voice of
lamentation was there as, to speak poetically, might even have raised Rachel
out of her grave to mourn with them. The tender parents even refused to
be comforted for their children, because they were not, were not with
them, but were in the hands of their enemies; they were never likely to see
them any more. This is applied by the evangelists to the great mourning that
was at Bethlehem for the murder of the infants there by Herod (Matt. ii.
17-18), and this scripture is said to be then fulfilled. They wept for them,
and would not be comforted, supposing the case would not admit any
ground of comfort, because they were not. Note, Sorrow for the loss
of children cannot but be great sorrow, especially if we so far mistake as
to think they are not. (2.) Seasonable comfort administered to them
in reference hereunto, v. 16, 17. They are advised to moderate that
sorrow, and to set bounds to it: Refrain thy voice from weeping and thy
eyes from tears. We are not forbidden to mourn in such a case;
allowances are made for natural affection. But we must not suffer our sorrow
to run into an extreme, to hinder our joy in God, or take us off from our
duty to him. Though we mourn, we must not murmur, nor must we resolve, as
Jacob did, to go to the grave mourning. In order to repress inordinate
grief, we must consider that there is hope in our end, hope that
there will be an end (the trouble will not last always), that it will be a
happy and--the end will be peace. Note, It ought to support us under our
troubles that we have reason to hope they will end well. The righteous
has hope in his death; that will be the blessed period of his grief and
the blessed passage to his joys. "There is hope for thy posterity"
(so some read it); "though thou mayest not live to see these glorious
days thyself, there is hope that thy posterity shall. Though one generation
falls in the wilderness, the next shall enter Canaan. Two things thou mayest
comfort thyself with the hope of:"-- [1.] "The reward of thy
work:--Thy suffering work shall be rewarded. The comforts of
the deliverance shall be sufficient to balance all the grievances of thy
captivity." God makes his people glad according to the days wherein
he has afflicted them, and so there is a proportion between the joys and
the sorrows, as between the reward and the work. The glory to be
revealed, which the saints hope for in the end, will abundantly
countervail the sufferings of this present time, Rom. viii. 18. [2.]
"The restoration of thy children: They shall come again from the
land of the enemy (v. 16); they shall come again to their own
border," v. 17. There is hope that children at a
distance may be brought home. Jacob had a comfortable meeting with Joseph
after he had despaired of ever seeing him. There is hope concerning children
removed by death that they shall return to their own border, to the
happy lot assigned them in the resurrection, a lot in the heavenly Canaan,
that border of his sanctuary. We shall see reason to repress our grief for
the death of our children that are taken into covenant with God when we
consider the hopes we have of their resurrection to eternal life. They are
not lost, but gone before.
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Ephraim's
Repentance and Privilege; Encouragements to the Captives.
B. C. 594.
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94.
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18 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a
bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be
turned; for thou art the LORD
my God. 19 Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after
that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea,
even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. 20
Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I
spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still: therefore my bowels
are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the LORD.
21 Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps: set thine heart toward the
highway, even the way which thou wentest: turn again, O virgin
of Israel, turn again to these thy cities. 22 How long wilt thou
go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD
hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.
23 Thus saith the LORD
of hosts, the God of Israel; As yet they shall use this speech in the land
of Judah and in the cities thereof, when I shall bring again their
captivity; The LORD
bless thee, O habitation of justice, and mountain of holiness.
24 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, and in all the cities thereof
together, husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks.
25 For I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every
sorrowful soul. 26 Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep
was sweet unto me.
We have here,
I. Ephraim's repentance, and return to God. Not only Judah, but Ephraim the
ten tribes, shall be restored, and therefore shall thus be prepared and
qualified for it, Hos. xiv. 8. Ephraim shall say, What have I do to any
more with idols? Ephraim the people, is here spoken of as a single
person to denote their unanimity; they shall be as one man in their
repentance and shall glorify God in it with one mind and one mouth, one and
all. It is likewise thus expressed that it might be the better accommodated
to particular penitents, for whose direction and encouragement this passage
is intended. Ephraim is here brought in weeping for sin, perhaps because
Ephraim, the person from whom that tribe had its denomination, was a man of
a tender spirit, mourned for his children many days (1 Chron. vii.
21, 22), and sorrow for sin is compared to that for an only son. This
penitent is here brought in, 1. Bemoaning himself and the miseries of his
present case. True penitents do thus bemoan themselves. 2. Accusing himself,
laying a load upon himself as a sinner, a great sinner. He charges upon
himself, in the first place, that sin which his conscience told him that he
was more especially guilty of at this time, and that was impatience under
correction: "Thou has chastised me; I have been under the rod,
and I needed it, I deserved it; I was justly chastised, chastised as a
bullock, who would never have felt the goad if he had not first rebelled
against the yoke." True penitents look upon their afflictions as
fatherly chastisements: "Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised;
that is, it was well that I was chastised, otherwise I should have been
undone; it did me good, or at least was intended to do me good; and yet I
have been impatient under it." Or it may intimate his want of feeling
under the affliction: "Thou hast chastised me and I was chastised,
that was all; I was not awakened by it and quickened by it; I looked no
further than the chastisement. I have been under the chastisement as
a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, unruly and unmanageable, kicking
against the pricks, like a wild bull in a net," Isa. li. 20.
This is the sin he finds himself guilty of now; but (v. 19) he
reflects upon his former sins and looks as far back as the days of his
youth. The discovery of one sin should put us upon searching out more; now
he remembers the reproach of his youth. Ephraim, as a people, reflect
upon the misconduct of their ancestors when they were first formed in a
people. It is applicable to particular persons. Note, The sin of our youth
was the reproach of our youth, and we ought often to remember it against
ourselves and to bear it in a penitential sorrow and shame. 3. He is here
brought in angry at himself, having a holy indignation at himself for his
sin and folly: He smote upon his thigh, as the publican upon his
breast. He was even amazed at himself, and at his own stupidity and
frowardness: He was ashamed, yea even confounded, could not with any
confidence look up to God, nor with any comfort reflect upon himself. 4. He
is here recommending himself to the mercy and grace of God. He finds he is
bent to backslide from God, and cannot by any power of his own keep himself
close with God, much less, when he has revolted, bring himself back to God,
and therefore he prays, Turn thou me and I shall be turned, which
implies that unless God do turn him by his grace he shall never be turned,
but wander endlessly, that therefore he is very desirous of converting
grace, has a dependence upon it, and doubts not but that that grace will be
sufficient for him, to help him over all the difficulties that were in the
way of his return to God. See ch. xvii. 14, Heal me and I shall be
healed. God works with power, can make the unwilling willing; if he
undertake the conversion of a soul, it will be converted. 5. He is here
pleasing himself with the experience he had of the blessed effect of divine
grace: Surely after that I was turned I repented. Note, All the pious
workings of our heart towards God are the fruit and consequence of the
powerful working of his grace in us. And observe, He was turned, he
was instructed, his will was bowed to the will of God, by the right
in forming of his judgment concerning the truths of God. Note, The way God
takes of converting souls to himself is by opening the eyes of their
understandings, and all good follows thereupon: After that I was
instructed I yielded, I smote upon my thigh. When sinners come to
a right knowledge they will come to a right way. Ephraim was chastised, and
that did not produce the desired effect, it went no further: I was
chastised, and that was all. But, when the instructions of God's Spirit
accompanied the corrections of his providence, then the work was done, then
he smote upon his thigh, was so humbled for sin as to have no more to
do with it.
II. God's compassion on Ephraim and the kind reception he finds with God, v.
20. 1. God owns him for a child and a prodigal: Is Ephraim my dear son?
Is he a pleasant child? Thus when Ephraim bemoans himself God bemoans
him, as one whom his mother comforts, though she had chidden him, Isa.
lxvi. 13. Is this Ephraim my dear son? Is this that pleasant
child? Is it he that is thus sad in spirit and that complains so
bitterly? So it is like that of Saul (1 Sam. xxvi. 17), Is this thy
voice, my son David? Or, as it is sometimes supplied, Is not Ephraim
my dear son? Is he not a pleasant child? Yes, now he is, now he repents
and returns. Note, Those that have been undutiful backsliding children, if
they sincerely return and repent, however they have been under the
chastisement of the rod, shall be accepted of God as dear and pleasant
children. Ephraim had afflicted himself, but God thus heals him--had abased
himself, but God thus honours him; as the returning prodigal who thought
himself no more worthy to be called a son, yet, by his father, had
the best robe put on him and a ring on his hand. 2. He relents
towards him, and speaks of him with a great deal of tender compassion: Since
I spoke against him, by the threatenings of the word and the rebukes of
providence, I do earnestly remember him still, my thoughts towards
him are thoughts of peace. Note, When God afflicts his people, yet he does
not forget them; when he casts them out of their land, yet he does not cast
them out of sight, nor out of mind. Even then when God is speaking against
us, yet he is acting for us, and designing our good in all; and this is our
comfort in our affliction, that the Lord thinks upon us, though we
have forgotten him. I remember him still, and therefore my bowels
are troubled for him, as Joseph's yearned towards his brethren, even
when he spoke roughly to them. When Israel's afflictions extorted a
penitent confession and submission it is said that his soul was grieved for
the misery of Israel (Judg. x. 16), for he always afflicts with the greatest
tenderness. It was God's compassion that mitigated Ephraim's punishment: My
heart is turned within me (Hos. xi. 8, 9); and now the same compassion
accepted Ephraim's repentance. Ephraim had pleaded (v. 18), Thou
art the Lord my God, therefore to thee will I return, therefore on thy
mercy and grace I will depend; and God shows that it was a valid plea and
prevailing, for he makes it appear both that he is God and not man and that
he is his God. 3. He resolves to do him good: I will surely have
mercy upon him, saith the Lord, Note, God has mercy in store, rich
mercy, sure mercy, suitable mercy, for all that insincerity seek him and
submit to him; and the more we are afflicted for sin the better prepared we
are for the comforts of that mercy.
III. Gracious excitements and encouragements given to the people of God in
Babylon to prepare for their return to their own land. Let them not tremble
and lose their spirits; let them not trifle and lose their time; but with a
firm resolution and a close application address themselves to their journey,
v. 21, 22. 1. They must think of nothing but of coming back to their
own country, out of which they had been driven: "Turn again, O
virgin of Israel! a virgin to be again espoused to thy God; turn
again to these thy cities; though they are laid waste and in ruins, they
are thy cities, which thy God gave thee, and therefore turn again
to them." They must be content in Babylon no longer than till they had
liberty to return to Zion. 2. They must return the same way that they went,
that the remembrance of the sorrows which attended them, or which their
fathers had told them of, in such and such places upon the road, the sight
of which would, by a local memory, put them in mind of them, might make them
the more thankful for their deliverance. Those that have departed from God
into the bondage of sin must return by the way in which they went astray, to
the duties they neglected, must do their first works. 3. They must
engage themselves and all that is within them in this affair: Set thy
heart towards the highway; bring thy mind to it; consider thy duty, the
interest, and go about it with a good-will. Note, The way from Babylon to
Zion, from the bondage of sin to the glorious liberty of God's children, is
a highway; it is right, it is plain, it is safe, it is well-tracked (Isa.
xxxv. 8); yet none are likely to walk in it, unless they set their hearts
towards it. 4. They must furnish themselves with all needful
accommodations for the journey: Set thee up way-marks, and make
thee high heaps or pillars; send before to have such set up in
all places where there is any danger of missing the road. Let those that go
first, and are best acquainted with the way, set up such directions for
those that follow. 5. They must compose themselves for their journey: How
long will thou go about, O backsliding daughter? Let not their minds
fluctuate, or be uncertain about it, but resolve upon it; let them not
distract themselves with care and fear; let them not seek about to creatures
for assistance, not hurry hither and thither in courting them, which had
often been an instance of their backsliding from God; but let them cast
themselves upon God, and then let their minds be fixed. 6. They are
encouraged to do this by an assurance God gives them that he would create
a new thing (strange and surprising) in the earth (in that land),
a woman shall compass a man. The church of God, that is weak and
feeble as a woman, altogether unapt for military employments and of a
timorous spirit (Isa. liv. 6), shall surround, besiege, and prevail against
a mighty man. The church is compared to a woman, Rev. xii. 1. And, whereas
we find armies compassing the camp of the saints (Rev. xx. 9), now
the camp of the saints shall compass them. Many good interpreters understand
this new thing created in that land to be the incarnation of Christ,
which God an eye to in bringing them back to that land, and which had
sometimes been given them for a sign, Isa. vii. 14; ix. 6. A woman,
the virgin Mary, enclosed in her womb the Mighty One; for so Geber,
the word here used, signifies; and God is called Gibbor, the Mighty God
(ch. xxxii. 18), as also is Christ in Isa. ix. 6, where his
incarnation is spoken of, as it is supposed to be here. He is El-Gibbor,
the mighty God. Let this assure them that God would not cast off this
people, for that blessing was to be among them, Isa. lxv. 8.
IV. A comfortable prospect given them of a happy settlement in their own
land again. 1. They shall have an interest in the esteem and good-will of
all their neighbours, who will give them a good word and put up a good
prayer for them (v. 23): As yet or rather yet again
(though Judah and Jerusalem have long been an astonishment and a hissing), this
speech shall be used, as it was formerly, concerning the land of
Judah and the cities thereof, The Lord bless you, O habitation of justice
and mountain of holiness! This intimates that they shall return much
reformed and every way better; and this reformation shall be so conspicuous
that all about them shall take notice of it. The cities, that used to
be nests of pirates, shall be habitations of justice; the mountain
of Israel (so the whole land is called, Ps. lxxviii. 54), and especially
Mount Zion, shall be a mountain of holiness. Observe, Justice towards
men, and holiness towards God, must go together. Godliness and honesty are
what God has joined, and let no man think to put them asunder, not to make
one to atone for the want of the other. It is well with a people when they
come out of trouble thus refined, and it is a sure presage of further
happiness. And we may with great comfort pray for the blessing of God upon
those houses that are habitations of justice, those cities and
countries that are mountains of holiness. There the Lord will
undoubtedly command the blessing. 2. There shall be great plenty of
all good things among them (v. 24, 25): There shall dwell in Judah
itself, even in it, though it has now long lain waste, both husbandmen
and shepherds, the two ancient and honourable employments of Cain and Abel,
Gen. iv. 2. It is comfortable dwelling in a habitation of justice and
a mountain of holiness. "And the husbandmen and shepherds shall
eat of the fruit of their labours; for I have satiated the weary and
sorrowful soul;" that is, those that came weary from their journey,
and have been long sorrowful in their captivity, shall now enjoy great
plenty. This is applicable to the spiritual blessings God has in store for
all true penitents, for all that are just and holy; they shall be abundantly
satisfied with divine graces and comforts. In the love and favour of God the
weary soul shall find rest and the sorrowful soul joy.
V. The prophet tells us what pleasure the discovery of this brought to his
mind, v. 26. The foresights God had given him sometimes of the
calamities of Judah and Jerusalem were exceedingly painful to him (as ch.
iv. 19), but these views were pleasant ones, though at a distance. "Upon
this I awaked, overcome with joy, which burst the fetters of sleep; and
I reflected upon my dream, and it was such as had made my sleep sweet to
me; I was refreshed, as men are with quiet sleep." Those may sleep
sweetly that lie down and rise up in the favour of God and in communion with
him. Nor is any prospect in this world more pleasing to good men, and good
ministers, than that of the flourishing state of the church of God. What can
we see with more satisfaction than the good of Jerusalem, all the days of
our life, and peace upon Israel?
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God's
Covenant Renewed.
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B.
C. 594.
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27 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,
that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of
man, and with the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass, that
like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to
throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to
build, and to plant, saith the LORD. 29 In those
days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the
children's teeth are set on edge. 30 But every one shall die for
his own iniquity: every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be
set on edge. 31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,
that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house
of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with
their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a
husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel; After those days, saith the LORD,
I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and
will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And they
shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother,
saying, Know the LORD:
for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of
them, saith the LORD:
for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
The prophet, having found his sleep sweet, made so by the revelations of
divine grace, sets himself to sleep again, in hopes of further discoveries,
and is not disappointed; for it is here further promised,
I. That the people of God shall become both numerous and prosperous. Israel
and Judah shall be replenished both with men and cattle, as if they were
sown with the seed of both, v. 27. They shall increase and multiply
like a field sown with corn; and this is the product of God's blessing (v.
23), for whom God blessed, to them he said, Be fruitful. This should
be a type of the wonderful increase of the gospel-church. God will build
them, and plant them, v. 28. He will watch over them to do
them good; no opportunity shall be lost that may further their prosperity.
Every thing for a long time had turned so much against them, and all
occurrences did so transpire to ruin them, that it seemed as if God had watched
over them to pluck up and to throw down; but now every thing that falls
out shall happily fall in to strengthen and advance their interests. God
will be as ready to comfort those that repent of their sins, and are humbled
for them, as he is to punish those that continue in love with their sins,
and are hardened in them.
II. That they shall be reckoned with no further for the sins of their
fathers (v. 29, 30): They shall say no more (they shall have
no more occasion to say) that God visits the iniquity of the parents upon
the children, which God had done in the captivity, for the sins of their
ancestors came into the account against them, particularly those of
Manasseh: this they had complained of as a hardship. Other scriptures
justify God in this method of proceeding, and our Saviour tells the wicked
Jews in his days that they should smart for their fathers' sins, because
they persisted in them, Matt. xxiii. 35, 36. But it is here promised that
this severe dispensation with them should now be brought to an end, that God
would proceed no further in his controversy with them for their fathers'
sins, but remember for them his covenant with their fathers and do them good
according to that covenant: They shall no more complain, as they have
done, that the fathers have eaten sour grapes and the children's teeth
are set on edge (which speaks something of an absurdity, and is an
invidious reflection upon God's proceedings), but every one shall die for
his own iniquity still; though God will cease to punish them in their
national capacity, yet he will still reckon with particular persons that
provoke him. Note, Public salvations will give no impunity, no security, to
private sinners: still every man that eats the sour grapes shall have
his teeth set on edge. Note, Those that eat forbidden fruit, how
tempting soever it looks, will find it a sour grape, and it will set
their teeth on edge; sooner or later they will feel from it and reflect
upon it with bitterness. There is as direct a tendency in sin to make a man
uneasy as there is in sour grapes to set the teeth on edge.
III. That God will renew his covenant with them, so that all these blessings
they shall have, not by providence only, but by promise, and thereby they
shall be both sweetened and secured. But this covenant refers to gospel
times, the latter days that shall come; for of gospel grace the
apostle understands it (Heb. viii. 8, 9, &c.), where this whole passage
is quoted as a summary of the covenant of grace made with believers in Jesus
Christ. Observe, 1. Who the persons are with whom this covenant is made--with
the house of Israel and Judah, with the gospel church, the Israel of
God on which peace shall be (Gal. vi. 16), with the spiritual
seed of believing Abraham and praying Jacob. Judah and Israel had been two
separate kingdoms, but were united after their return, in the joint favours
God bestowed upon them; so Jews and Gentiles were in the gospel church and
covenant. 2. What is the nature of this covenant in general: it is a new
covenant and not according to the covenant made with them when they
came out of Egypt; not as if that made with them at Mount Sinai were a
covenant of nature and innocency, such as was made with Adam in the day he
was created; no, that was, for substance, a covenant of grace, but it was a
dark dispensation of that covenant in comparison with this in gospel times.
Sinners were saved by that covenant upon their repentance, and faith in a
Messiah to come, whose blood, confirming that covenant, was typified by that
of the legal sacrifices, Exod. xxiv. 7, 8. Yet this may upon many accounts
be called new, in comparison with that; the ordinances and promises are more
spiritual and heavenly, and the discoveries much more clear. That covenant
God made with them when he took them by the hand, as they had been
blind, or lame, or weak, to lead them out of the land of Egypt, which
covenant they broke. Observe, It was God that made this covenant, but it
was the people that broke it; for our salvation is of God, but our sin and
ruin are of ourselves. It was an aggravation of their breach of it that God was
a husband to them, that he had espoused them to himself; it was a
marriage-covenant that was between him and them, which they broke by
idolatry, that spiritual adultery. It is a great aggravation of our
treacherous departures from God that he has been a husband to us, a loving,
tender, careful husband, faithful to us, and yet we false to him. 3. What
are the particular articles of his covenant. They all contain spiritual
blessings; not, "I will give them the land of Canaan and a numerous
issue," but, "I will give them pardon, and peace, and grace, good
heads and good hearts." He promises, (1.) That he will incline them to
their duty; I will put my law in their inward part and write it in their
heart; not, I will give them a new law (as Mr. Gataker well observes),
for Christ came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it; but the law
shall be written in their hearts by the finger of the Spirit as formerly it
was written in the tables of stone. God writes his law in the hearts of all
believers, makes it ready and familiar to them, at hand when they have
occasion to use it, as that which is written in the heart, Prov. iii.
3. He makes them in care to observe it, for that which we are solicitous
about is said to lie near our hearts. He works in them a disposition to
obedience, a conformity of thought and affection to the rules of the divine
law, as that of the copy to the original. This is here promised, and ought
to be prayed for, that our duty may be done conscientiously and with
delight. (2.) That he will take them into relation to himself: I will be
their God, a God all-sufficient to them, and they shall be my people,
a loyal obedient people to me. God's being to us a God is the summary of all
happiness; heaven itself is no more, Heb. xi. 16; Rev. xxi. 3. Our being to
him a people may be taken either as the condition on our part (those and
those only shall have God to be to them a God that are truly willing to
engage themselves to be to him a people) or as a further branch of the
promise that God will by his grace make us his people, a willing people,
in the day of his power; and, whoever are his people, it is his grace
that makes them so. (3.) That there shall be an abundance of the knowledge
of God among all sorts of people, and this will have an influence upon all
good: for those that rightly know God's name will seek him, and serve him,
and put their trust in him (v. 34): All shall know me; all
shall be welcome to the knowledge of God and shall have the means of that
knowledge; his ways shall be known upon earth, whereas, for many
ages, in Judah only was God known. Many more shall know God than did
in the Old Testament times, which among the Gentiles were times of
ignorance, the true God being to them an unknown God. The things of God
shall in gospel times be made more plain and intelligible, and level to the
capacities of the meanest, than they were while Moses had a veil upon his
face. There shall be such a general knowledge of God that there shall
not be so much need as had formerly been of teaching. Some take it as a
hyperbolical expression (and the dulness of the Jews needed such expressions
to awaken them), designed only to show that the knowledge of God in gospel
times should vastly exceed that knowledge of him which they had under the
law. Or perhaps it intimates that in gospel times there shall be such great
plenty of public preaching, statedly and constantly, by men authorized and
appointed to preach the word in season and out of season, much beyond
what was under the law, that there shall be less need than there was then of
fraternal teaching, by a neighbour and a brother. The priests preached but
now and then, and in the temple, and to a few in comparison; but now all
shall or may know God by frequenting the assemblies of Christians, wherein,
through all parts of the church, the good knowledge of God shall be taught.
Some give this sense of it (Mr. Gataker mentions it), That many shall have
such clearness of understanding in the things of God that they may seem
rather to have been taught by some immediate irradiation than by any means
of instruction. In short, the things of God shall by the gospel of Christ be
brought to a clearer light than ever (2 Tim. i. 10), and the people of God
shall by the grace of Christ be brought to a clearer sight of those things
than ever, Eph. i. 17, 18. (4.) That, in order to all these blessings, sin
shall be pardoned. This is made the reason of all the rest: For I will
forgive their iniquity, will not impute that to them, nor deal with them
according to the desert of that, will forgive and forget: I will
remember their sin no more. It is sin that keeps good things from us,
that stops the current of God's favours; let sin betaken away by pardoning
mercy, and the obstruction is removed, and divine grace runs down like a
river, like a mighty stream.
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Evangelical
Promises; The Rebuilding of Jerusalem.
B. C. 594.
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35 Thus saith the LORD,
which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the
moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the
waves thereof roar; The LORD
of hosts is his name: 36 If those ordinances depart from
before me, saith the LORD,
then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before
me for ever. 37 Thus saith the LORD;
If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched
out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they
have done, saith the LORD.
38 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD,
that the city shall be built to the LORD
from the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. 39 And
the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it upon the hill Gareb,
and shall compass about to Goath. 40 And the whole valley of the
dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields unto the brook of Kidron,
unto the corner of the horse gate toward the east, shall be holy unto
the LORD;
it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever.
Glorious things have been spoken in the foregoing verses concerning the
gospel church, which that epocha of the Jewish church that was to commence
at the return from captivity would at length terminate in, and which all
those promises were to have their full accomplishment in. But may we depend
upon these promises? Yes, we have here a ratification of them, and the
utmost assurance imaginable given of the perpetuity of the blessings
contained in them. The great thing here secured to us is that while the
world stands God will have a church in it, which, though sometimes it may be
brought very low, shall yet be raised again, and its interests
re-established; it is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Now here are two things offered for the confirmation
of our faith in this matter--the building of the world and the rebuilding of
Jerusalem.
I. The building of the world, and the firmness and lastingness of that
building, are evidences of the power and faithfulness of that God who has
undertaken the establishment of his church. He that built all things
at first is God (Heb. iii. 4), and the same is he that makes all
things now. The constancy of the glories of the kingdom of nature may
encourage us to depend upon the divine promise for the continuance of the
glories of the kingdom of grace, for this is as the waters of Noah,
Isa. liv. 9. Let us observe here,
1. The glories of the kingdom of nature, and infer thence how happy those
are that have this God, the God of nature, to be their God for ever and
ever. Take notice, (1.) Of the steady and regular motion of the heavenly
bodies, which God is the first mover and supreme director of: He gives
the sun for a light by day (v. 35), not only made it at first to
be so, but still gives it to be so; for the light and heat, and all the
influences of the sun, continually depend upon its great Creator. He gives the
ordinances of the moon and stars for a light by night; their motions are
called ordinances both because they are regular and by rule and
because they are determined and under rule. See Job xxxviii. 31-33. (2.)
Take notice of the government of the sea, and the check that is given to its
proud billows: The Lord of hosts divides the sea, or (as some read
it) settles the sea, when the waves thereof roar (divide et impera--divide
and rule); when it is most tossed God keeps it within compass (Jer. v.
22), and soon quiets it and makes it calm again. The power of God is to be
magnified by us, not only in maintaining the regular motions of the heavens,
but in controlling the irregular motions of the seas. (3.) Take notice of
the vastness of the heavens and the unmeasurable extent of the firmament; he
must needs be a great God who manages such a great world as this is; the heavens
above cannot be measured (v. 37), and yet God fills them. (4.)
Take notice of the mysteriousness even of that part of the creation in which
our lot is cast and which we are most conversant with. The foundations of
the earth cannot be searched out beneath, for the Creator hangs the
earth upon nothing (Job xxvi. 7), and we know not how the foundations
thereof are fastened, Job xxxviii. 6. (5.) Take notice of the immovable
stedfastness of all these (v. 36): These ordinances cannot depart
from before God; he has all the hosts of heaven and earth continually
under his eye and all the motions of both; he has established them, and they
abide, abide according to his ordinance, for all are his servants,
Ps. cxix. 90, 91. The heavens are often clouded, and the sun and moon often
eclipsed, the earth may quake and the sea be tossed, but they all keep their
place, are moved, but not removed. Herein we must acknowledge the power,
goodness, and faithfulness of the Creator.
2. The securities of the kingdom of grace inferred hence: we may be
confident of this very thing that the seed of Israel shall not cease from
being a nation, for the spiritual Israel, the gospel church, shall be a
holy nation, a peculiar people, 1 Pet. ii. 9. When Israel according to
the flesh is no longer a nation the children of the promise are counted
for the seed (Rom. ix. 8) and God will not cast off all the seed of
Israel, no, not for all that they have done, though they have
done very wickedly, v. 37. He justly might cast them off, but he will
not. Though he cast them out from their land, and cast them down for a time,
yet he will not cast them off. Some of them he casts off, but not all; to
this the apostle seems to refer (Rom. xi. 1), Hath God cast away his
people? God forbid that we should think so! For (v. 5) at this
time there is a remnant, enough to save the credit of the promise that
God will not cast off all the seed of Israel, though many among them
throw away themselves by unbelief. Now we may be assisted in the belief of
this by considering, (1.) That the God that has undertaken the preservation
of the church is a God of almighty power, who upholds all things by his
almighty word. Our help stands in his name who made heaven and earth,
and therefore can do any thing. (2.) That God would not take all this care
of the world but that he designs to have some glory to himself out of it;
and how shall he have it but by securing to himself a church in it, a people
that shall be to him for a name and a praise? (3.) That if the order
of the creation therefore continues firm because it was well-fixed at first,
and is not altered because it needs no alteration, the method of grace shall
for the same reason continue invariable, as it was a first well settled.
(4.) That he who has promised to preserve a church for himself has approved
himself faithful to the word which he has spoken concerning the stability of
the world. He that is true to his covenant with Noah and his sons, because
he established it for an everlasting covenant (Gen. ix. 9, 16), will
not, we may be sure, be false to his covenant with Abraham and his seed, his
spiritual seed, for that also is an everlasting covenant. Even that
which they have done amiss, though they have done much, shall not prevail to
defeat the gracious intentions of the covenant. See Ps. lxxxix. 30, &c.
II. The rebuilding of Jerusalem which was now in ruins, and the enlargement
and establishment of that, shall be an earnest of these great things that
God will do for the gospel church, the heavenly Jerusalem, v.
38-40. The days will come, though they may be long in coming, when,
1. Jerusalem shall be entirely built again, as large as ever it was; the
dimensions are here exactly described by the places through which the
circumference passed, and no doubt the wall which Nehemiah built, and which,
the more punctually to fulfil the prophecy, began about the tower of
Hananeel, here mentioned (Neh. iii. 1), enclosed as much ground as is
here intended, though we cannot certainly determine the places here called the
gate of the corner, the hill Gareb, &c. 2. When built it shall be
consecrated to God and to his service. It shall be built to the Lord
(v. 38), and even the suburbs and fields adjacent shall be holy
unto the Lord. It shall not be polluted with idols as formerly, but God
shall be praised and honoured there; the whole city shall be as it were one
temple, one holy place, as the new Jerusalem is, which therefore has
no temple, because it is all temple. 3. Being thus built by virtue of the
promise of God, it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down, any more for
ever; that is, it shall continue very long, the time of the new city
from the return to its last destruction being fully as long as that of the
old from David to the captivity. But this promise was to have its full
accomplishment in the gospel church, which, as it is the spiritual Israel,
and therefore God will not cast it off, so it is the holy city, and
therefore all the powers of men shall not pluck it up, nor throw it down.
It may lie waste for a time, as Jerusalem did, but shall recover itself,
shall weather the storm and gain its point, and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it.
