true Messiah of him is agreeably to the words here said He is our peace Eph. II. 14. At his birth was by the Heavenly Host proclaimed peace on Earth Luk. II. 14. he entring on his ministry while he was on Earth came and preached peace to them which were afar off and to them that were nigh Eph. II. 17. and when he was again to leave the World he bequeathed peace to his gave it to them and left it with them Ioh. XIV 27. So that well might it be said of him by way of Prophecy This Man shall be peace or the peace And this supply of the person may seem as agreeable to the meaning of the words as any But then of us i. e. of Christians who thus understand the words as affirming that our Lord Jesus Christ shall be peace or the peace may be demanded by the Iews or others what peace we mean or how that peace which we say he is the Author and establisher of may agree with that description which is given of it in this and the following verse to wit such as should be made good by repelling the Assyrian by raising against him seven Shepherds and eight principal Men by wasting the land of Assyria with the Sword and the land of Nimrod c. and by delivering from the Assyrian c. To which we have to answer that these expressions are figurative and so the litteral signification of every word is not nicely to be insisted on so we may but have the whole meaning appositly given That diverse expressions of such benefits as were promised to be made good under the Messiah are figuratively to be taken is that which cannot be denied and by the learnedst of the Iews themselves confessed as for instance that which is likewise a description of the peace by him to be effected that the Wolfe shall dwell with the Lamb and the Leopard lie down with the Kid the Calfe with the young Lion and a little Child should lead them c. and the Lion should eat straw with the Oxe c. and all this should be because the Earth should be full of the knowledge of the Lord which none will say those beasts are capable of or expect there should be such a strange change in their nature And it must therefore be confessed that the expressions are figurative and denote only that great change in the natures and dispositions of Men which shall be wrought by the Doctrine of Christ and that mutual accord in love and meekness which thereby they shall be disposed to And why may not these words be understood so too i. e. figuratively They must needs so be if we read This Man shall be peace that is the peace here described shall be wrought by the Messiah for reasons which will by and by appear And so figuratively taken what do they but under the type of a compleat temporal peace to the Iews represent to us that more excellent spiritual peace that comprehensive blessing of peace with God peace among themselves and as far as in them lies peace with all Men and peace within themselves not to be disturbed by the assaults of any enemies thereof which is by Christ given to his Church and the members thereof the Subjects of his Kingdom and wrought by the preaching of the Gospel maugre all that shall oppose it The Assyrians and Chaldeans were then the known Enemies of the Iews such as invaded their land and trod in or entred into their palaces and wasted all things if now God should raise unto them any under whose conduct they should not only repel those Enemies but pursue them and wast their land and wholly subject them so as that they should no more have cause to fear them would not this be a very great blessing a bringing in and establishment of a most desirable peace and a thing marvellous in their eyes the greatest they could then wish for By representing this therefore to them to be done he figures out that greater blessing that desirable peace which that Messiah whom in the foregoing words he had promised and described should be the author of make good by conquest of more malicious and potent Enemies then the Assyrian or Chaldean even Satan himself with all his infernal host whom with his own weapons and in his own territories he hath vanquished through Death m having destroyed him that had the power of death and given to his the victory over Death and the sting of it sin and the principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this World and spiritual wickedness in high places Eph. VI. 12. and all the World that lies in wickedness and the Enemies of the truth which with unappeasable malice constantly seek to invade the Church and infest the members thereof and to disturb their peace Against all these and all that can be named will he secure it to them and continually raise up such a sufficient number of such as shall maintain his truth and beat down whatsoever shall oppose it and furnish them with the irresistible power of his spirit for that end so that none shall be able to take from his that true peace which he giveth With him is power also to secure to his an outward peace and to raise up such as shall bring under all that shall infest that also And this also he often doth by wonderful means as he seeth most for his glory and the good of his Church But that we do not look on as the thing here principally meant or promised but that spiritual peace of a more divine nature which we have spoken of according to what he promiseth Ioh. XVI 33. that in â—im they should have peace though in the world they should have tribulation bidding them therefore to to be of good chear because he hath overcome the world which words of his seem a summary of what is here spoken and prophesied of If any of such who so read the words This Man shall be peace that is the Messiah like not of this way of expounding them but say whether Iews or others that under the Messiah they ought according to the proper sound of the letter to be fulfilled St. Hierom teacheth us thus to argue with them These things spoken here as to be effected by Messiah are either fulfilled or yet to be expected and not fulfilled If they say they be fulfilled let them give us the History thereof by authority of ancient Books confirmed and tell us when the Assyrians and Chaldeans were ever subjected to the Iews conquered and governed by them we may add if they say they are let them then confess that the Messiah who they confess was to be the authour of that peace by the conquest of those Enemies and delivering them from them is already come But 't is not likely that they will say this If then they say that they are not yet fulfilled nor Messiah yet come as they do
doth indeed signifie would God as well as if But then what ground is there to add the negative I were not it would in this sense rather found would God I were a Man c. Again by what interpretation can this be made a wish befitting the Prophet He might perhaps wish that no such severe message had bin sent by him as of destruction to those his People out of his compassion to them but to wish that what by Gods command he spake were a lie would be an injury not to himself only but to the Spirit by which he spake the Spirit of truth with whom falshood is not to be mentioned much less either in word or wish attributed to him If he had only wished that himself by his suffering might have redeemed them it had been an act of charity but not to wish that God had sent a lie by him S. Paul saith he could wish himself even accursed from Christ for his Brethrens sake Rom. IX 3. i. e. suffer any evil to save them and win them to Christ but not that the Gospel or Doctrine that he taught them were a lie rather then that they might suffer for refusing it 12 I I will surely assemble O Iacob all of thee I will surely gather the remnant of Israel I will put them together as the Sheep of Bozrah as the flock in the midst of their fold they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of Men. 13 The breaker is come up before them they have broken up and have passed through the gate and are gone out by it and their King shall pass before them and the Lord on the head of them I will surely assemble O Iacob all of thee c. Very different opinions are there concerning the Scope and meaning of these two verses Some taking them as a denunciation of judgement and utter destruction to them as both before and after is threatned by the Prophet from the Lord Others as a promise of mercy and restauration after dispersion as 't is usual in the Prophets to mingle promises of mercy with threatnings of judgment Others thirdly make them the words of the false lying Prophets mentioned in the foregoing verse bidding them not believe the true Prophets threatning them with severe judgements but telling them that however they threatned the contrary it should be well with them The first of these waies is taken by divers learned Men both Iews and Christians and the words must then be expounded to this purpose That God threatens that he will gather together the whole posterity of Iacob and the remnant of Israel for many of them had already been destroyed or carried away captives i. e. all that remained both of the ten Tribes and also the two other of Iudah and Benjamin in great multitudes as flocks of Sheep in Bozrah a place noted for abundance of Sheep that as a flock are gathered into their fold and there shut up so they should be gathered into their Cities and Towns that they might be taken together and there by reason of the multitude of them that were shut up besieged and distressed together or by reason◠of the Enemies that in such great number surround them should make great noise and be much troubled as a great flock of Sheep shut up in a fold are disturbed when any comes in upon them viz. because the breaker i. e. the Souldiers of the Enemy who should break down their walls should come upon them and make free passage for themselves by breaking open their gates to pass in and out or for themselves to enter and to lead them out to captivity and their King viz. the Enemies King should pass before his Army to lead them on and not only so but the Lord himself in the head of them to give them victory over those whom he hath given up to be destroyed by them and so this Prophesie may be looked on as fulfilled in the taking of Samaria by the King of Assyria 2 Kings XVII 6. and of Ierusalem by Nebuchadnezzar 2 Kin. XXV 1. c. Others who yet look upon it as then fulfilled do differently expound the last verse to wit that by the breaker should be understood the Enemy but then that for fear of him they should make breaches themselves in their walls to get out at and pass out at the gates to escape if they could by flight their King himself leading them the way as of Zedekiah 't is said 2 Kings XXV 4. but being taken should be carried captive and they after him and all this because the Lord was in the head of them i. e. the enemies to execute the judgments that he had denounced against that People But this seems harsh to interpret them in before them first of the Israelites then in the same continued sentence on the head of them of the Enemies Others therefore expound it shall be on the head of them i. e. over them for evill and to execute his vengeance on them and to see that they shall not escape Others and the Lord shall in the head or beginning i.e. before forsake them and withdraw his presence by which he was◠wont to protect and defend them which a learned Iew notes to be a far fetch'd interpretation The second Exposition viz. that in these words is a gracious promise of restauration to Israel after their dispersion is preferred by many learned Men both Jews and Christians with this difference that the Iews the modern at least understand it as a temporal restoring of the Kingdom of Israel the Christians of a Spiritual deliverance by Christ and the calling them into his Kingdom and gathering them into his Church together with the called of the Gentiles as one flock into one fold under one Shepherd See Ioh. X. 16. The words being so taken we need not saith a learned Iew look after any connexion with the foregoing or following it being not unusual to have gracious promises so mingled with threatnings of judgments where seems no coherence betwixt them Or else the connexion may be made thus saith another God having before threatned severe things against the People both in this and the former chapter as that their inheritance should be laid wast and they cast out of it be destroyed and carried away captives least they should utterly despair of deliverance or Salvation intermingles this merciful promise of a gracious restauration that he will again after the dispersion with which he hath threatned them gather them together in as great multitudes as the sheep of Bozrah as flocks are gathered together into their fold so that there shall be a great noise by reason of their concourse as if their place were too strait and narrow for them Isa. XLIX 19 20. And then a flourishing or mighty growing King according to one sense of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Porets or a breaking King shall break through all
Impediments according to another signification of that word and beat down the Enemies so that they following him shall breaking through all difficulties of gates shut against them pass in and out as they please their King going before them and the Lord being on the head of them as leader of the Vauntgard i. e. to protect and help them by his providence and mighty wonders and to hinder the Enemies from hurting them Thus a learned Iew understanding the words literally who in the mean while notes though these words be of the preter perfect Tense have broken up have passed are gone out yet that they are to be understood as in the future shall break up shall pass shall go out as such change of Tenses is not unfrequent And so do others of 〈◊〉 who follow the same way take it as 〈◊〉 â—â—â—phecy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Leatid belonging to the time to come i. e. to the times of the Messiah which they deny yet to be come and vainly expect promising to themselves great carnal felicity therein The Christian Interpreters who look upon these words as a Prophecy of good things do look as taught in the Gospel after a more Spiritual meaning interpreting them as made good by Christ's calling and gathering together into his Church his fold the Israel of God his dispersed flock who were before as Sheep going astray in which they should grow into great numbers like the flocks of Bozrah The comparing with these words the x. chap. of Ioh. to the 18. verse will serve much for the illustration of them in this sense understood And in what numbers they came at first into the Church the History of the first times as Act. II. 41. and chap. IV. 4. and elsewhere and of succeeding times all the world over testifies They usually understand by the breaker and by their King the same person viz. Christ to whom that title of breaker may well agree for his breaking down all obstacles the middle wall of partition betwixt Iews and 〈◊〉 Eph. II. 14. breaking open the gates 〈◊〉 Hell it self so that neither he himself could be detained by them nor his be hinder'd by them from following him into the Kingdom of Heaven the gates of which having conquered Death and triumphed over all Enemies he set open to them so that they might without hindrance go in and out and find pasture Ioh. X. 9. he going before them and his sheep following him ib. ver 4. and the Lord protecting them It may be observed too that if the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haporets be taken in that other sense mentioned as it may signifie one that increaseth or groweth to power it may likewise aptly be attributed to Christ the King of the Church who is called the Branch Zech. III. 8. and VI. 12. and of whom it is said that of the encrease of his government there shall be no end Isa. XI 7. and the rod of the stemm of Iesse and a branch that should grow out of his roots Isa. XI 1. and a root of Iesse whose rest should be glorious by whom God would set his hand again to recover the remnant of his People and that he should set up an ensign for the nations to assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Iudah ib. ver 10 11 12. To him that was promised to be as such and was exhibited as such and hath made good in himself what was promised well may the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haporets in this or indeed in both senses agree But if any think that by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Haporets the breaker and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Malcam their King should be meant two distinct persons let him hear what the Ancient Iews as cited by the modern say for exposition of this place Haporets the Breaker that is Elias and Malcam their King that is the Branch the Son of David and then observe what our Saviour himself hath taught us that Iohn Baptist was that Elias which was to come Mat. XI 14. and Mat. XVII 12 13. and what the Angel saith of him Luke I. 16 17. that many of the Children of Israel he should turn unto the Lord their God and that he should go before him in the Spirit and power of Elias without fear and with courage as he rebuking Sin and removing it out of the way to turn the hearts of the Fathers to the Children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a People prepared for the Lord and how the Prophecy of Isaias is applied to him preaching repentance viz. that he was as he saith also of himself Ioh. I. 23. the voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare ye the way of the Lord make his pathes straight every valley shall be filled and every Mountain and Hill shall be brought low and the crooked shall be made straight and the rough waies shall be made smooth Luke III. 4 5. and what our Saviour saith This is he of whom it is said Behold I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee and that from the daies of Iohn the Baptist the Kingdom of Heaven suffered violence and the violent took it by force Mat. XI 10 12. men breaking as it were and passing through the gate by his preaching repentance laid open that they might go in and out and it will be easy to apply to him this title of the breaker so shall we have in the words a most illustrious Prophecy of Christ and his forerunner Iohn the Baptist which it will be no reason to let go seeing the Iews themselves so readily yield it to us Especially when the words most nicely examined will be more punctually appliable to this exposition then any other that is brought observing only to look for these promises to be Spiritually performed which the Iews expect only as Carnal and because they have not yet had any such temporal deliverance think the Prophecy not yet fulfilled Neither is it by divers Christans looked upon as yet compleatly fulfilled but in another regard viz. because it respects Christs calling and gathering of his not only here into the fold of the Church militant the Kingdom of Grace but hereafter into the Church triumphant the Kingdom of Glory in the Heavenly Jerusalem This needs not be looked on as a new exposition but a completion of the former which it necessarily presupposeth The third way of expounding the words is of a learned Iew who taketh the former of the 2 verses to be the words of that lying Prophet spoken of in the foregoing verse as if he should say to them Drink and be merry and fear not for the Lord hath put into my mouth to say unto you that he will surely gather together all that are dispersed of you and you shall be in your Cities in great multitudes as flocks of Sheep in their proper folds
and their substance unto the Lord of the whole Earth But they know not the thoughts of the Lord c. So they thought and so they wished as was aforesaid that Zion should by their hands be laid perpetually desolate but the Lord had other ends to chastise his People by them but then to return their malice on their own heads and to bring that final destruction which they intended to others on themselves Such difference betwixt Gods counsel and thoughts and the thoughts of the Enemies of his People which he makes use of sometimes for humbling and chastising his People see likewise described Isa. X. 5. and following verses He when he hath done his work by his Enemies shall again in mercy receive his People into favour and destroy those to whom for a time he gave power over them which destruction he expresseth by saying he will gather them as sheaves into his floor and bidding the Daughter of Zion in his might to arise and thresh them trample on and triumph over them for that he will enable her so to do for that end he will make her horn Iron and her hoofs Brass that she may beat in pieces many People that is he will give her irresistible strength and power so to do In these expressions the like to which are else where used is manifestly alluded to the custome in those Countries both of old and still to bring the corn after it is gathered in made up in sheaves into a floor in an open place and then laying the sheaves in order to lead about oxen over them drawing after them a pair of dented Iron wheels or as in some places planks stuck with sharp flints driven into them that so the Corn may be trodden or forced out by the hoofes of the Oxen and the straw by the wheels or flints broken in small parts like chaff and then the Corn purged from the straw is laid up for the use of Men and the straw for the ordinary food for their Cattel This custom is elsewhere alluded to in Scripture Deu. XXV 4. This being observed it easily will appear to be the meaning as was said that their Enemies should be gathered for destruction and they should have power given them to bring them under utterly subdue them Some learned Men because the expression is borrowed from the treading out of Corn which the Oxen do not by the use of their horns but their feet and hoofes think it more convenient here not to understand by horn the horns on the head although by these strength is else where rendred but the horny substance on the feet of the Cattel to wit their hoofes which by saying he will make Iron and Brass is meant as also if the word horn be properly understood that he will give them unwearied strength and irresistible power in subjecting and prevailing over their Enemies The Chaldee therefore without mentioning horn or hoofe renders I will make the People in thee strong as Iron and their remnant firm as Brass The subduing of their Enemies seems farther expressed by the following words also and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord c. Of consecrating or devoting spoils and goods taken from Enemies read in Numb XXXI 28. and ver 50. c. and Ios. VI. 17. and 19. and to omit the custome of other Nations in consecrating spoils taken from their Enemies to their Gods Nebuchadnezzar may seem to have consecrated the vessels taken out of the Lords house to his Idols for he carried of the vessels out of the House of the Lord to Babylon and put them in his Temple at Babylon 2 Chron. XXXVI 7. in the house of his Gods Ezra I. 7. That which we take notice of is that the consecrating and devoting the goods and spoils of the Enemies imports and is a signal and memorial of their defeat and destruction So that the words are a repetition or continuation of Gods promise of victory to his People over those many Nations which should be gathered against them and of his denuntiation of destruction to those Nations But then who are by those Nations meant and how or when this Prophecy was or was to be made good on them are the things to be inquired and they may be joined together First as for those Nations Some insisting on the particle now in what is said Now also many Nations are gathered against thee as if it denoted something nigher at hand then the Chaldeans coming against Ierusalem and to be done before that will have to be understood those that came up in the Army of Senacherib King of Assyria in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah whose gathering together and taunting insulting speeches and threats against Ierusalem are described in the X. and XXXVI and XXXVII Chapters of Isaiah as also 2 Kings XVIII 19. And that the prophecy of destruction to those Nations with its expressions was made good on them they prove from the History in the forecited places which saith that when they were gathered together to set upon Ierusalem the Angel of the Lord went forth slew in the night an Hundred fourscore and five Thousand in the Camp of the Assyrians and all the leaders and Captains so that Senacherib after all his proud brags and insultations returned home with shame unto his own land To what may be objected that here the Daughter of Zion is bid to arise and thresh c. and that she should beat in pieces many People but that she had no hand in this but all was done by the Angel of the Lord it may be answered that what was done by the Lord for her sake though by other instruments is not unfitly attributed to her and she is called to trample on and triumph over them whom in her behalf and for her sake he had brought under her feet it may be well said that the Lord had by his utter destraction of them devoted them and their gain and substance to himself So that we need not inquire after the truth of what Some affirme perhaps without any good grounds that Hezekiah consecrated to the Lord many spoils taken from those Assyrians though it may be taken notice of what is said 2 Chron. XXXII 23. that upon the victory many brought gifts unto the Lord to Ierusalem But Others think that there ought not that stresse here to be put on the Particle Now as to the designing of the time but that the import thereof here is for assurance that what is spoken shall as certainly come to pass in the time by God determined as if it were already done and therefore that to be said to be done now which was a good while after without fail to be done Some Others therefore understand by the many Nations such as were in the Army of the Chaldeans by whom Ierusalem was taken and destroyed and the Iews carried away to Babel But what victory had the Iews ever
Christ was already come because Bethleem was now brought to ruine and not inhabited by the Iews that there might be any probability of any other Christ then him whom we acknowledge to be born there In our Lord Christ did both these concurr that he was both a branch out of the root of Iesse the Bethleemite of the house and lineage of David and also God so directing it by his providence born in Bethleem So that in him all that can be by this expression in this Prophecy understood or expected was fully completed as also what is farther expressed that he that was to come forth out of Bethleem to have his rise thence and that for the place of his Nativity was to be ruler in Israel Who he is that is spoken of as so is inquired An ancient Commentator mentioning some who would have it Hezekiah saith of them that they do more Iudaize then the Iews themselves for so little do the things here spoken of agree to Hezekiah who was not born in Bethleem if he were not born before this promise of one to be born as probably he was that the Iews themselves would not go to attribute them to him And the same censure will in great part take hold on those who attribute them to Zorobabel who neither was born there and in whom such other things as are here spoken cannot by any means be said to have been made good For though by what is delivered by some ancicient Fathers of the Christian Church we may think that heretofore some Iews did avow the person here spoken of to be Zorobabel yet those who better considered the matter and have given us their mind in writing say no such thing but unanimously none we suppose contradicting affirm that person to be the Messiah or King Messiah in which so far they agree with us Christians but with great difference otherwise they affirming the words to note such a Messiah as is not yet come and labouring from these and the following words to prove it we that he that is here promised the true Messiah is already come and that these words prove that he is so and that it appears from them that our Lord Jesus Christ is he that should and did come forth of Bethleem and be ruler in Israel As this is here foretold of our Saviour Christ so when he was now to be born into the World the Angel bringing to his Mother the good tidings thereof faith Luk. I. 32 33. The Lord shall give unto him the Throne of his Father David and he shall reign over the house of Iacob for ever and of his Kingdom there shall be no end and this was made good in him But here the Iews object Iesus ruled not in or over Israel but they ruled over him and put him to Death and as yet neither do believe in him or serve him The answer to which is easy they did indeed and had power over him so far but not to hinder or impair his Dominion over them here promised but more to discover the true Nature of it which they were and continue mistaken in and to further the manifestation and propagation of it not only over Israel in the narrow sense wherein they appropriate it to themselves alone who are Israel according to the flesh only but over the whole Israel of God all those that truly know him and believe in him and are his chosen People Herein was the mistake of their ancestors and is still theirs that they expected him to be a carnal ruler whereas his dominion was to be spiritual as he declares that â—his Kingdom was not of this World which duly observed is an answer to all their cavils Had his Kingdom been of this World his servants would have fought that he should not have been delivered to the Iews Ioh. XVIII 36. and whose service â—could he not in that kind have commanded whose command even the winds and waves yea the Devils themselves obeyed who by his word cured the Blind Deaf Dumb and lame and every way impotent raised Men from Death to Life and could have obtained from his Father more then twelve legions of Angels for his guard Mat. XXVI 53. Or could he not the bare breath of his mouth have made all his Enemies fall to the round as he did some of them that came to take him Ioh. XVIII 6. But then how should the Scriptures have been fulfilled Mat. XXVI 56. thus far it behooved him to suffer for fulfilling them and through suffering enter into his Glory It behooved him to be lifted up upon the Cross that he might draw all Men to him Ioh. XII 32. His so far submitting himself did not diminish but encrease the Glory of his Dominion That blasphemous scoff of the ancient Iews Mat. XXVII 42. If he be the King of Israel let him now come down from the Cross and we will believe in him could not then hinder many as well of the Iews as of other Nations from coming in to him and believing that he was truly the King of Israel and the obstinacy of many of their posterity in still persisting to say we will not have this Man whom our Ancestors Crucified to reign over us must not beat us off from acknowledging this Prophecy so far fulfilled in him as that he was the person here spoken of that should come forth to God out of Bethleem and be ruler in Israel but considering how all the other Prophecies seeming to them to cross this were together reconciled and jointly fulfilled in and by him to infer with the Apostle Peter Acts II. 36. therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Iesus whom ye crucified both Lord and Christ. Those that do otherwise and will not acknowledge him so do not prove him not to be so but themselves not to be the Israel of God though insisting on the outward priviledges of the flesh they call themselves Israel That is the true Israel in which he ruleth not by a carnal Scepter or Weapons but by his word of which his Scepter the greatest part of the World hath so many years seen and acknowledged the power and that therefore which most concerns us is not being moved by the groundless cavils of Iews or any other against his Dominion by yielding him willing obedience to approve our selves in the number of those in and over whom he ruleth so shall we approve our selves to be the true Israel of God whilst others falsly and in vain so call themselves Where he is not ruler there is no true Israel Whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting or as in the margin the daies of eternity He goes on in describing of him who he saith should come out of Bethleem be ruler in Israel by another more eminent coming or going forth then that from that place even before that place was â—from all
down Gods blessings on them for their sakes as Laban confessed that God blessed him for Jacobs sake Gen. XXX 27. and by coaling and mitigating Gods wrath which otherwise would speedily burn them up if these were away as the moistning dew and showers preserve the grass and herbs from the scorching of the Sun see Gen. XVIII 26 c. and XIX 22. and Mat. XXIV 22. Mark XIII 20. This may be looked on as comprehended in though not the main intention of the words A Iewish Doctor expounding these words in this manner also viz. as describing how the remnant spoken of shall be in behaviour towards these many People in the midst of which they are makes the meaning of them to be That they shall be loving to and deal kindly with those that deal courteously with them and do good to them as dew doth to the grass and that of their own good nature without respect to profit or reward to them he means and to them alone being of contrary behaviour to others as will appear by what he saith on the next words And if this be all that he thinks meant surely he falleth far short of showing the duty and property of true Israelites who by this remnant are meant who are taught to do good to all Men Galat. VI. 10. to love not only those that love them but also even their Enemies and to good to them that hate them Mat. V. 44. that they may be Children of their Heavenly Father who sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust so must they be as the dew from the Lord and as rain by him given in the midst of many People striving to extend their good to all those many that as many as are capable of receiving good by them may receive it Mean while he may suggest to us another property which the comparing them to dew and showers requires in them viz. softness and gentleness in their behaviour in the midst of those or amongst those that will receive them and hear them which will the better bring us to the consideration of what is meant in the second similitude which is that they shall be as a Lion c. They which shall be gentle and soft in their behaviour as communicative of all good to those that will receive the truth shall against all that oppose it though many and strong be of a Lionlike courage and by God be enabled with power to beat and tread down all before them and prevail over them so as none may resist them as a Lion doth over the beasts of the forrest and a young Lion over the flocks of the Sheep This their power may well be described by the words of the Apostle 2 Cor. X. 4 5 6. in that by the weapons of their Warfare which are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds they cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ so hath Christ promised to them a mouth and wisdom which all their adversaries shall not be able to resist Luk. XXI 15. This was made good in the Apostles and such as have since succeeded them in their employment and administration of Christs Kingdom and others the true members thereof and he will never leave his Church destitute of a remnant of such valiant defenders of the truth and conquerers through the power of his Spirit of what is contrary to it though all the powers of Hell join their forces against them they shall disperse them Some learned Men refer what is here spoken to the times after the Babylonish captivity and especially those of the Maccabes wherein the Iews under valiant commanders overcame diverse strong Enemies and with Lion-like courage set on them and brought them under which though it may be granted and their victories looked on as a fulfilling what is here spoken in part yet sure it will appear to have been more evidently and fully made good since Christs coming into the World and setting up his Spiritual Kingdom among men by these conquests by his little flock obtained over the Devil and the World Sin and errour never so deeply rooted and strongly backed and all that may be comprehended under those names by the Apostle given them Eph. XI 12. of principalities powers rulers of the darkness of this World and Spiritual wickedness in high places The conquering and dispersing these as by the Church of Christ in the power of his might and invincible force of his Spirit hath been wonderfully done and converting rebellious sinners are things of a higher nature and signs of a greater strength and courage then any that is shewed in the conquering and destroying the greatest and most potent Nations that ever were on the Earth as to any temporal dominion or concerns in as much as the bringing the minds of Men into subjection is harder then the forceing their bodies And sure though Gods remnant have promises of temporal things as well as of Spiritual yet where such are mentioned as concern them as members of Christs Kingdom as the things here spoken of from the second verse all along have been shewed to be it is manifest that they cheifly relate to their Spiritual estate the things thereto pertaining being the peculiar priviledges of his Church and flock as so being a Kingdom not of this World and the happiness of that and them being according to those to be valued whereby their dignity may be made appear not so much by their being great in this World as their being great in the Kingdom of Heaven and their prevalency not over temporal and carnal but over Spiritual Enemies which are worse and require a greater force then those to subdue them in the conquering of these is the strength of the Lion of the tribe of Iudah cheifly seen The Iew last cited saith that as Israel shall deal kindly with those that have shewed kindness to them so on the contrary shall they deal with their Enemies that have done ill to them behaving themselves towards some of them to wit the Assyrians as a Lion among the beasts of the forrests killing whom they please and towards others viz. the Edomites so they call Romans or Christians to whom they have greatest hatred as a young Lion among the flocks of Sheep utterly destroying them and suffering none to escape You may see in them still the leaven of their old Doctrine in their false interpreting of the Law by Christ reproved Mat. V. 43 44. Thou shalt love thy Neighbour and hate thine Enemy but the Iews generally in expounding these words run on in their old errour which they will not retract viz. that the things here spoken concern a time not yet come viz. when those Nations by this Man mentioned or as others of them when Gog and Magog shall come to fight against Ierusalem because they will not
acknowledge the Messiah on whose coming the fulfilling of them depends to be yet come and again in that they expect them to be fulfilled only in a gross literal sense by a bloody Massacre of their Enemies with the edge of the material Sword We may make use of them as for finding out the signification of the words as in other places so in such passages of the Prophets also as concern Christ his coming and Kingdom and the priviledges thereof but as to the sense in such we must expect to have it as wide from the truth as they can wrest it being obstinatly resolved not to acknowledge him as yet come 9 Thine hand shall be lift up upon thine adversaries and all thine Enemies shall be cut off Thine hand shall be lift up c. Thine hand O Remnant of Iacob That seemeth the nearest person to be understood Thou shalt have the upper hand or victory over all that oppose thee Others refer it to God Thy hand O God or O Christ it will come all to one pass they doing what they do by the power of his might and he being exalted and magnified in them by what they do by his power What is to be understood here by the cutting off of the Enemies may be taken from the former verse they shall be cut off from being Enemies all if understood of Men that makes them Enemies to Christ and his Church their sins and errours taken out of the way Some of the Iews read let thy hand be lift up understanding the Enemies as before viz. adversaries to denote the Sons of Esau and Ismael still looking for what is spoken as yet to come as we have said 10 And it shall come to pass in that day saith the Lord that I will cut off thy Horses out of the midst of thee and I will destroy thy Chariots 11 And I will cut off the Cities of thy Land and throw down all thy strong holds 12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand and thou shalt have no more Soothsayers 13 Thy graven Images also will I cut off and thy standing Images out of the midst of thee and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands And it shall come to pass in that day saith the Lord c. Here that the connexion of the words may appear is questionable what is the time designed by that day and who the person or persons here spoken to are Some among Christians think that the connexion is between these words and the first verse as if all coming between were a parenthesis and that the day here spoken of is the same with that wherein the things there mentioned were to be made good and that the person here spoken to is the same that there namely Babylon and that what here follows are threats and comminations to her answerable to those things that are elsewhere in Ieremy and other Prophets threatned to her A learned Iew thinks the words to be coupled not with the promises immediatly preceeding but with the threats that were before by our prophet denounced against the Iews and Israelites as containing farther threats so the time to be the same in which the things before in this Prophecy threatned against them shall have effect by their Enemies coming on them and they still the persons spoken of and to and the words also to have connexion with what followeth chap. VI. 1. Hear ye now what the Lord saith But to Others both Iews and Christians the most of them this breach seeming wider then so to resume the connexion of the words they refer what is now spoken to the words immediatly preceeding and will have the time to be that wherein the things therein mentioned should be fulfilled and the persons still spoken to Israel or the remnant of Iacob and the words though seeming to have the form of a threat yet to be indeed a gracious promise of that peace and security which they shall enjoy and have no need of seeking other helps such as they and other Nations then ordinarily made use of but relying on God alone and cleaving faithfully to him shall find him all sufficient to them yea therefore will he take from them such things that they may learn to depend upon him so the Iews to this sense I will cut off thy Horses c. i. e. I will by giving thee firm and secure peace cause that thou shalt have no need of multiplying Horses or Chariots or walled Cities or strong Holds or for fear of the Enemies to fly to Witchcrafts and Inchantments or to Soothsayers to direct thee when to fight with success nor for want of help in me to betake thy self to Idols and to worship them So that the cutting off and destroying those things to them and depriving them of them will be in their sense the cutting off and destroying their Enemies the fear of whom made them formerly fly to them They do likewise cite their Chaldee Paraphrase who goeth in a different strain rendring I will cut off the Horses of strangers from among thee and their Chariots and the Cities of the People and destroy all their strong Towers and I will cut off also Witches from amidst thee and thou shalt have no Soothsayers I will also cut off the Images of the People and their statues out of the midst of thee and thou shalt no more serve the works of thine hands and I will root out the plantations of the Gentiles from amidst thee and destroy thine Enemies This Paraphrase they cite as in confirmation of their own expositions with which it agreeth indeed as to that which they make the scope in general to denote that they shall enjoy peace and security and trust in God and serve him alone but in this much differs from it and from the text in that what is attributed according to them to Israel is in it attributed to their Enemies their Horses called their Enemies Horses of which they give no reason perhaps they might think they meant Israel themselves tho in respect to them they instead of their name put in their Enemies c. lest the words that seemed to import ill unto them might be joined with it as else where by the Enemies of David they will have to be understood David as 1 Sam. XXV 22. and by the Enemies of the Lord the Lord himself 2 Sam. XII 14. making there the meaning to be thou hast provoked the Lord whereas the letter sounds the Enemies of the Lord. But a Christian Interpreter makes farther use of the Paraphrasts expression viz. for confirmation of his opinion that these things here spoken belong to the times after Christ and that the persons spoken to are not only those of Israel but of all other Nations that should be converted to Christ because else an objection might be made against it for that after the return from the Babylonish Captivity and when