heaven upon them hereby also God gave men an example of that rule that hainous sins bring hideous plagues as Herodotus also saith of the Fall of Troy Ver. 51. Neither hath Samaria committed half thy sins And yet thou lookest aloof upon her as a far greater sinner then thy self because already carried captive when as thou hast done and spoken evil things as thou couldest Jer. 3.5 outdone her a fair deale And hast justified thy sisters Who may well seem Saints in comparison of thee and yet are as naught as need to be Ver. 52. Thou also which hast judged thy sisters Passed many harsh and rash censures upon them not looking at all to the hinder-part of the wallet Bear thine own shame Thou shalt do it sure enough for where sin is in the saddle there shame is on the crupper Accept therefore the punishment of thine iniquity Levit. 26.43 give glory to God take shame to thy self Ver. 53. When I shall bring again Or if I bring again which I shall never do The Jew doctours indeed would from this verse gather that Sodom and all shall one day be restored again but that is like to be a long day The Jews as they had taken up the opinion of Pythagoras about Transanimation so they had that other of Plato about the great Revolution or Restitution of all things after certain years Then will I bring again the captivity The Jews were never perfectly restored in respect of the glory of the Temple and the state of the Kingdom c. Ver. 54. In that thou art a comfort unto them Chap. 14.22 Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris to have companions in misery is some kind of comfort Ver. 55. When thy sister Sodom and her daughters See on ver 53. The Jews still dream that all this shall be done at the coming of their long lookt-for Messias Hieron in loc and in his raign on earth for a thousand years That then also Jerusalem shall be reedified and made up of gold silver and precious stones c. So apt are they to work themselves into the fooles paradise of a sublime dotage Ver. 56. For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned Thou thoughtest her not worthy to be named in the same day with thee and little dreamedst that thou shouldest be matched with her in misery Or thus Thou wouldest neither hear nor speak of her though I had thrown her forth for an example of divine vengeance Jude 7. In the day of thy pride Heb. Prides for pride buddeth chap. 7.10 and like a great swelling in the body which breaks and runs with loathsom and soul matter it breaks forth into odious practises Ver. 57. Before thy wickednesse was discovered sc By my punishments by my sending the Syrians and Philistines upon thee in the dayes of Ahaz to despoil and despise thee Confer Esa 9.12 Ver. 58. Thou hast born thy leudnesse i. e The punishment of it and yet art little the better See Esa 9.13 Ver. 59. I will even deal with thee I will avenge upon thee the quarrel of my Covenant Lev. 26.25 Ver. 60. Neverthelesse I will remember my Covenant Here beginneth the Evangelical part of the chapter which is for the comfort of the Elect who would be frighted to hear those direful threats like as in an house we cannot beat the dogs but the children will fall a crying Ver. 61. And be ashamed With a saving and savoury shame such as was that of Ezra and of the penitent Publican proceeding from true compunction and producing repentance never to be repented of Jer. 31.31 32 33 34. 2 Cor. 3.3 Heb. 8.8 When thou shalt receive thy sisters Not Sodom only and Samaria but all the Gentiles whom thou hast imitated but now shalt become a worthy example of better things But not by thy Covenant Made with thee in mount Sinai but by a covenant of grace made in mount Sion Ver. 62. And I will establish my Covenant My new spiritual and eternal Covenant grounded upon the Messias and made with the whole Israel according to faith Ver. 63. That thou mayst remember Thy many out-strayes And never open thy mouth To extenuate thy sins or to murmur at thy sufferings but be silent and submissive CHAP. XVII Ver. 1. ANd the Word of the Lord came In the foregoing chapter God had threatened the inhabitants of Jerusalem for violating their covenant with him and here he threateneth them no lesse for breach of Covenant with men In case of disobedience to himself he sheweth much patience many times but in case of disloyalty to a lawful Soveraign against oath especially he is quick and severe in his executions Ver. 2. Son of man put forth a riddle Acue acumen sharpen a sharpening or whet a whetting The Prophet might have expressed Gods mind in fewer words but then it would not have taken so deep an impression Parents must whet Gods Word upon their children Deut. 6.7 Ministers upon their people and Christians upon one another for the increase of love and good works Heb. 10.24 Riddles exercise the wit and parables help the memory and excite both attention and affection Ver. 3. A great Eagle with great wings An Eagle that King of birds is a fit emblem of an Emperour as here it is of Nebuchadnezzar the Great ver 12. See Jer. 48.40 49.22 Monarches Vide Pier. in Hieroglyph as Eagles have quick eyes long talons fly high pitches aime at great matters strive to get above all others chuse themselves high and firm seats c. See Job 39.30 31 32 33. with the Notes Ajax is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an Eagle in Pindarus so is King Pyrrhus in Plutarch and took delight in that title The Spaniard was well laught at by Captaine Drake and his forces when they took Sancto Domingo 1585. and found in the Town-hall the King of Spaines armes and under them a Globe of the world out of which issued not a well plumed Eagle but a flying horse with this inscription Non sufficit Orbis We could not so well bridle his Pegasus at Sancto Domingo yet we put a stop to him at Jamaica but we have lately pulled his plumes in Flanders to some purpose by gaining from him Dunkirk now held by the English and likewise Berghen another place of great strength now held by the French This was written Jun. 28. 1658. the good news whereof came to us yesterday being June 27. 1658. praised be the holy Name of God for ever Came unto Lebanon i. e. Unto Judaea which lyeth near the forrest of Lebanon which forrest also lyeth in the way from Babylon to Judaea And took the highest branch of the Cedar Taleam the top-branch This was Jechoniah 2 King 24.12 Ver. 4. He cropt off the top of his young twigs i. e. The Nobles carried into captivity with their King Nulâ—a est objectio in lege quae non habet solutionem in latere Omnia Romae vaenalia as is to be
Let us therefore have Grace whereby we may serve Him with reverence and godly fear Heb. 12.28 Ver. 10. Pass through the land as a River i. e. Hastily Abi praeceps Indesinenter cito Jun. pack up and be gone with all speed be there never so many of you here at Tyre There is no more strength Heb. girdle that is Souldiery or shipping or Sea to encompass it Occolampadius sets this sence upon the words Non est ei cingulum reliquum There is not so much as a girdle or such like mean commodity left in Tyre she had been so plundered Ver. 11. He stretched out his hand That mighty hand of his 1 Pet. 5.6 wherewith he spanneth the Heavens chap. 48.13 brought the red Sea upon the Egyptians Exod. 14.26 and still shaketh the wicked out of the earth as by a canvase Job 38.13 He shook the Kingdoms Shook and shattered them viz. by Nebuchadnezzar the Kingdom of Tyre especially to the terrour of others Ezek. 26.15 The Lord That man of War Exod. 15.3 Mighty in battel Psalm 24.8 Hath given a Commandement Bidding his Forces Fall on Against the Merchant City Heb. against or concerning Canaan so he calleth Tyre the posterity of the old Cananites and a place of great Merchandise See Hos 12.7 Ver. 12. Thou shalt no more rejoyce Heb. exult revel O thou oppressed Or ravished damsel daughter of Zidon hactenus intacta vi hostili never till now subdued Arise pass Asyndeton q. d. Haste haste Over to Chittim To Cyprus Greece Italy There also shalt thou have no rest Succour or shelter Cains curse was upon them the visible vengeance of God followed them close at heels see Deut. 28.65 66. Ver. 13. Behold the land of the Chaldeans q. d. The Chaldees were once no such considerable people but lay hid under the grandeur of the Assyrian Monarchy which did set them up Howbeit in time the Assyrians at length were devoured by the Chaldees Niniveh by Babylon filia devoravit matrem as the Proverb is And why may not the like be done to Tyre Others make this to be the Prophets speech to the Chaldees Behold O land of the Chaldees This people of Tyre was not however they boast of their Antiquity till the Assyrians those Monarchs of the World founded it Vt esset statio Carinis to be a fit place for shipping or for Barbarians Calvin See 2 King 17.24 Down with it therefore bring it to vastity Ver. 14. Howl ye ships of Tarshish He concludeth this Prophecy of Tyres downfall as he began ver 1. The Inhabitants of Tarshish or Tarsus in Cilicia were great Ship-masters they sent a Navy of an hundred ships to Xerxes when he went against Greece Ver. 15. Tyre shall be forgotten i. e. Laid aside by God as if not at all minded in her misery slighted also and unfrequented by men as a withered Harlot Seventy years So long as the Jews whom they jeered were held captives in Babylon According to the dayes of one King i. e. The duration of the Babylonish Monarchy under Nebuchadnezzar his son and his sons for Jer. 17.7 Shall Tyre sing as an harlot Vt meretrix i. e. Mercatrix Harlots faln into some foul disease are abandoned but recovering thereof they seek by singing and other allurements to regain their Paramours so should Tyre deal by her old customers being as was once said of Helena after her return from Troy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no changeling but as good as ever Ver. 16. Take an harp In bidding her do so he foretelleth that she shall do so sc ad ingenium suum redire fall to her former practices Make sweet melody c. The Tyrians were much addicted to musick Ezek. 26.13 28.13 Ver. 17. The Lord will visit Tyre Bad though she be he will graciously visit her both by suffering her to grow rich again as here and by converting some of them to the faith of Christ ver 18. See it fulfilled Act. 21.3 4 5. Euscbius also telleth of many made Martyrs there Ver. 11. It shall not be treasured Being once converted they shall leave heaping and hoarding wealth and find other use for it viz. to feed and cloath Gods Ministers and poor people freely and largely And for durable cloathing The Vulgar hath it Vestientur ad vetustatem CHAP. XXIV Ver. 1. BEhold the Lord emptieth It must needs be a matter of some rare and marvellous consequence that Behold the O-yes of the Holy Ghost is thus set before The Lord emptieth i. e. Will empty an Idiom proper to Gods Prophets who saw in the Spirit things to come as if they were even then done The earth Or the land sc of Jury by a woefull desolation Lege Luge Some hold it to be a Metaphor from ships over-laden which therefore must be disburdened so was the Land to be eased of her Inhabitants which she could hardly stand under And waste Making havock of persons and things of worth Turneth it upside-down Ferens agens sursum deorsum omnia turning all things topsy turvy as they say Ver. 2. And it shall be as with the people so with the Priest Or Prince Digninity and Wealth hindereth him not Doth he esteem nobility or riches or any thing that fortifieth strength Poverty or meanness findeth no favour with him In a common calamity all commonly share and fare alike Ver. 3. The Land shall be utterly emptyed See on ver 1. For the Lord hath spoken this word And his words are not in vain Doth he say and shall he not do it Numb 23.23 Ver. 4. The earth mourneth and fadeth away Luxit diffluxit waileth and saileth gallant Rhetorick in the original as this is a stately Chapter all along all the rowlings of Demosthenes are but dull stuffe to it The world languisheth As a sick man so enfeebled that he cannot stand high-lone Nempe contactu sceleratâ—rum hominum Pisc Ver. 5. The earth also is defiled Viz. With sin and therefore so decayed yea the very visible Heavens are defiled with mans sin and shall therefore be purged by the fire of the last day like as the vessels that held the sin-offering was to pass the fire Because they have transgressed the Laws Natural and moral those bounds and banks set to keep men within the compass of obedience but the unjust knoweth no shame Zeph. 3.5 is Lawless Awless Yokeless untameable untractable as the wild Ass-colt as the Horse and Mule c. Changed the Ordinances Or passed by the Ordinances sc By sins of omission as before by commission so Heb. 2.2 every transgression and disobedience i. e. every commission and omission Broken the everlasting Covenant Disannulled vacated the Covenant founded in Christ when coming unto his own his own received him not when the Pharisees and others by slighting holy offers and Ordinances of Grace rejected the counsel of God against themselves Luke 7.30 This last especially brought the curse ver 6. Some by Lawes here understand the judicial
seem to groan together with the fathfull Rom. 8. so here by a Prosopopâ—ia they are brought in as congratulating and applauding their deliverance Ver. 13. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree There shall be a blessed change of men and of manners those who before were stark naught or good for naught yea vexatious and mischievous shall become fruitful and beneficial Spinis paliurus acutis Virg. Eclog. The Fir-tree is good for many uses the Myrtle brings berriers of excellent taste as Pliny tells us The Chaldee thus paraphraseth here Just men shall rise up instead of sinners and such at fear the Lord in the room of the unrighteous Sed cave ne hic somnies saith Oecolampadius but be warned you dream not as some do that in this world and before the day of Judgement the wicked shall all be rooted out For there will alwaies be Cains to persecute Abels c. And it shall be to the Lord for a name i. e. For an honour it shall be much for his glory which is the end that he propoundeth to himself in all that he doth and well he may sith 1. He is not in danger of doing any thing through vain-glory 2. He hath none higher then himself to whom to have respect For an everlasting sign In monumentum non momentaneum Heb. for a sign of pepetuity or eternity That shall not be cut off Or that it the Church shall not be cut off CHAP. LVI Ver. 1. Thus saith the Lord Keep ye judgement and do justice i. e. Repent ye as ye were exhorted chap. 55.6 7. and bring forth fruits meet for repentance as Matth. 3.8 for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand Matth. 3.1 Tit. 2.12 Christ came to call sinners to repentance Mar. 2.17 and to good works of all sorts which are here called Judgement and Justice as he himself is here called not only Gods salvation but his righteousnesse Ver. 2. Blessed is the man that doth this And withal layeth hold on that i. e. That performeth the duties of both Tables of Piety and of Charity that maketh conscience of keeping the Sabbath especially the fourth Commandement standeth fitly in the heart of the Decalogue and betwixt the two tables of the Law as having an influence into both From polluting it Either by corporal labour or spiritual idlenesse spending the holy time holily And keepeth his hand from doing any evil That is righteous as well as religious not yielding his members as instruments of unrighteousnesse unto sin Rom. 6.13 Ver. 3. Neither let the son of the stranger If a Proselite let not him interline the Covenant of Grace in Christ and say It belongeth not to me Let not him turn the back of his hand to the promise as if he were not concerned in it because no Jew born for now the partition-wall is by Christ to be broken down and the rigour of that old prohibition taken away Acts 10.34 35. Gal. 3.28 Colos 3.11 Ezek. 47.22 Neither let the Eunuch See the Note on Mat. 19.12 Ver. 4. For thus saith the Lord Who comforteth those that are cast down 2 Cor. 7.6 those that are forsaken of their hopes Jer. 30.17 That keep my Sabbaths Which who so do not are worthily deemed to have no true goodnesse in them at all And choose the things that please me Chuse them upon mature deliberation and good advice as Moses did Heb. 11.25 By a free election as Psal 119.30 so shewing themselves wise Eunuchs Ennius such as have their name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Scaliger deriveth it i. e. well-minded men egregiè cordati homines And take hold of my Covenant By a lively faith which is said to have two hands one wherewith she layeth hold on Christ and another whereby she giveth up her self unto him and although the Devil rap her on the fingers for so doing yet she is resolute and holds her own Ver. 5. Even unto them will I give in mine house In the Church of the New Testament Ephes 2.19 20 21. A place Heb. a hand A door-keepers place in Gods House is worth having Psal 84. this was that one thing that he so dearly begged Psal 27.4 And a name That new name Rev. 2.17 that power or prerogative royal that heavenly honour Nonnus there calleth it Joh. 1.12 viz. to be the Sons of God and so to be called 1 Joh. 3.1 to have both the comfort and the credit of it this is nomen in mundo prastantissimum none to this 2 Cor. 6. ult for if sons then heirs c. Rom. 8.16 17. Ver. 6. Also the sons of the stranger that joyneth Relinquishing his heathenish superstition and devoting himself to my fear The Levites had their name from the word here used and Leviathan whose scales and parts are so fast joyned and joynted together To love the name of the Lord to be his servants Plato could say Parere legibus est Deo servire haec summa est libertas To obey the laws is to serve God and this is the chiefest liberty this is perfect freedom But Plato never knew what it was to love to be Gods servant In Psal 1. Lex voluntarios quaerit saith Ambrose All Gods Souldiers are volunteires all his people free-hearted Psal 110.3 they wait for his Law Isa 42.8 See Deut 10.12 Every one that keepeth the Sabbath See on ver 2. Ver. 7. Even them will I bring unto my holy mountain i. e. Into my Church and Church-Assemblies Quaere whether Eunuches and strangers were made partakers of all holy services in the second Temple according to the letter Sure we are that that holy Eunuch Acts 8. and the rest of the Gentiles had and still have free admission under the Gospel And will make them joyful in mine house of prayer by their free accesse unto me and all good successe in their suits Pray that your joy may be full Joh. 16.24 Draw water with joy out of this well of salvation Isa 12. Rejoyce evermore and that you may so do Pray without ceasing 1 Thes 5.16 17. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine Altar Their Evangelical Sacrifices of prayer praise alms obedience c. shall be accepted through Christ Heb. 13.10 15. who is the true altar that sanctifieth all that is offered on it Rev. 8.3 4. For mine house shall be called c. See on Mat. 21.13 Ver. 8. Which gathereth the out-casts of Israel According to that ancient promise of his Deut. 30.4 None of his shall be lost for looking after he will fetch back his banished as that witty woman said 2 Sam. 14.14 Yet will I gather others to him Strangers Eunuches all mine other sheep that are not yet of this fold Joh. 10 16. together with all my straglers those that are relapsed will I recover Ver. 9. All ye beasts of the field come to devour Statim quasi vehementer ira accensus c. All upon the suddain as one much enraged against
were never so well devised yet still they sort out unto the worst Ver. 10. He was unto me as a Bear lying in wait So that if I do but offer to stir or seek to make escape I am in danger to be devoured And as a Lion in secret places God hath many waies and means to bemeet with sinners He can stop them in their course as he did Balaam Jonas others Ver. 11. He hath turned aside my wayes As ver 9. And pulled me in pieces As a Bear or Lion doth the silly sheep that falleth into their paws Carnali quadam intemperie haec effusa sunt The Vulgar hath it Confregit me He hath broken me in pieces sc Attempting to leap over his hedge ver 7. his stone-wall ver 9. In the year 1590 Nicolas Frischlin that famous Poet Oratour Alsted Chron. 480. and Philosopher attempting to escape out of prison was so broken à capite ad talos à cute ad ossa Ver. 12. He hath bent his bow Chap. 2.4 And set me as a mark Which he is sure to hit The Benjamites Judg. 20. the Parthians Alcon the Cretian Domitian the Emperour were excellent archers but Non semper feriet quodcunque minabitur arcus Gods arrow never misseth the mark Ver. 13. He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter into my reines Heb. the sons of his quiver by an Hebraism Renes sunt sedes libidinis So Horace hath pharetram gravidam sagittis Lib. 2. od 21. Job hath many like complaints chap. 7.20 8.4 16.12 13. See there Ver. 14. I was a derision to all my people Or to all peoples Our Saviour suffered all this and much more for us And their song all the day Or their lute or kâ—t whom they plaid on at pleasure and desired no better sport Ver. 15. He hath filled me with bitternesse Heb. bitternesses alluding as some think to that jus seu embamma in quo intingebant agnum Paschalem sawce of bitter herbs wherewith they did eat the Passeover the juyce of them expressed to minde them of the bitter afflicions which they suffered in Egypt He hath made me drunk with wormwood Or Henbane or Wolfe-bane rather succo cicutae Ver. 16. He hath also broken my teeth with gravel-stones i e. With gritty bread Comminuit scrupis dentes meos See Prov. 20.17 He hath covered me with ashes The Greek and Latin have it He hath fed me with ashes which was worse then that bread made most of saw-dust wherewith they fed the Martyrs in the Marian times Ver. 17. And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace Prosperity and I are twain we are utterly unacquainted Ver. 18. And I said But not so wisely I was even almost tumbling into the pit of desperation I was stradling over it as it were but God preserved me My strength and my hope is perished My strength to bear these miseries and my hope to be ever freed of them Ver. 19. Remembering mine affliction and my misery the worm-wood and the gall i. e. The bitternesse that was in it but of mine own commingling Impatiens quisque bis affligitur Impatience redoubleth an affliction Ver. 20. My soul hath them still in remembrance But it is not good to plod overmuch in this case Such bitter pils should be swallowed whole and not chewed upon unlesse it be for our further humiliation Ver. 21. This I recall to my mind This what Gods infinite mercies that Cape of good hope See ver 22. So Psal 119.56 This I had that is this comfort or this ability to keep thy precepts Ver. 22. It is of the Lords mercy that we are not consumed That we are yet on this side hell This sentence was much in the mouth of that famous Maria Aegyptiaca and should be much in all our minds and mouthes for a lenitive Exarescunt torrentes metalla exhauriuntur slumina desiciunt prataitem cum fructibus c. Because his compassions fail not Or are not spent wasted but as the oile in the cruse as the spring ever runneth the Sun ever shineth c. This should ever shine in our hearts as the Sun doth in the firmament Ver. 23. They are new every morning Yea every moment We have continual experiments Great is thy faithfulnesse Gods mercy moved him to promise his Truth to perform See 2 Sam. 7.18 21. with the Notes Ver. 24. The Lord is my portion And that 's enough for me should I never have more See Notes on Psal 16. That which giveth content in any portion is 1. The favour and presence of God 2. That it is from the hand of a Father 3. That it comes to us in the Covenant of Grace 4. That it is the purchase of Christ's blood 5. That it is an answer of prayers and a blessing from above on honest indeavours c. Vide autem pie Lector saith an Expositour See here good Reader how this Prophetical Lamentation beginneth to be a guide to godlinesse For it doth not after the manner of silly women throw out empty words without wisdom but teacheth all along either overtly or covertly that all things here below Peâ—d Fâ—gueir how highly soever esteemed are vanity and soon lost but the grace of God is solid and stable Christum tollere nemo potest Christ is a portion unloosable Deicola Abbas as One once answered to those that asked him why he was still merry and chearful Emphatice loquitur Said my Soul Not my mouth only but I speak it from my very heart which rejoyceth in God my portion more then the many do in the increase of their corn and wine Psal 4.7 Therfore will I hope in him Expectabo ut teneam per speciem quem teneo per spem Ver. 25. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him Which few can skil of and I have somewhat to do to hit on Et hoc apertam erâ— ditionem continet Flgu but would not now have missed of for all the world To the soul that seeketh him Not giving over till he findeth him Ver. 26. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait Heb. be silent not with a Pythargorical or monastical silence ut non liceat lequi locis horis certis but with an humble submission to Gods holy will a patient and peaceable behaviour under his hand waiting for a good use thereof and a gracious issue in the best time To frame the heart whereunto Aurea his subnectitur sententia Ver. 27. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke from his youth The yoke of Gods law Quo semel iste imbuta recens servabit odorem Testa diu Hor. and the discipline of afflictions it is good to be betime in Gods nurturing-house and remain a good while there that he be trained up in the School of afflictions that he be a well-beaten Souldier to the Crosse The description of such a one followeth Ver.
And ye shall know that I am the Lord That which ye would not take knowledge of by the words of your Prophets ye shall now be made to know by the swords of your enemies For ye have not walked in my statutes When God is about to proceed in judgement against evil doers there is ever a cause for it and they shall know it Ver. 13. And it came to passe that when I prophesied God heweth men by his Prophets and slayeth them by the words of his mouth and his Judgements are as the light or lightening that goeth forth Hos 6.5 Elisha hath his sword as well as Jehu and Hazael 1 Kings 19.17 See Jer. 1.10 2 Cor. 10.6 Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died Suddenly and before his time in Solomons sense Eccles 7.17 Driven away he was in his iniquity Prov. 14.32 so were Ananias and Sapphira Magnum est subito opprimi Corinthus Arius Steven Gardiner Cardinal Pool Dick of Dover as they called the persecuting Suffragan there Nightingal Parson of Bocking c. See Prov. 6.14 15. Then fell I down upon my face Out of an holy sollicitude about Gods Elect lest they also should have perished as Pelatiah had done whose very name might seem somewhat ominous for it signifieth The escaped one of the Lord and therefore his so suddain death might portend destruction to the remnant of Israel And cryed with a loud voice Suddain or singular Judgements put Saints upon humble earnest and argumentative prayer Ver. 14. Again the Word of the Lord came unto me In answer to my prayer though there was something in it of unbelief and humane frailty See Psal 31.22 with the Note Ver. 15. Thy brethren even thy brethren i. e. Thine unbrotherly brethren of Jerusalem seek to unbrother and to unchurch thee and the rest of thy concaptives See Isa 65.5 Papists and Sectaries deal so by us The men of thy kindred Viri vindiciarum tuarum or they that have the right of redemption And all the house of Israel Tota downs Israelis quanta quanta est The Hierosolymitanes challenged the Lord and the Land and all therein to be theirs excluding and as it were excommunicating the Captives at Babylon who were dear to God So dealt the Scribes and Pharisees by the Christians Joh. 16.2 Acts 26.9 10 11. So did the Rogatian Heretikes and the Donatists who gave themselves out as now the Papists do to be the only Catholikes The Arians called the Orthodox by way of scorn and contempt Ambrosians Athanasians Homousians c. Get ye far from the Lord Gressus removete profani Iee in malam crucem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye are cut off from the people of God and may go whither you will we are heirs and owners of the promises ye are outcasts and abjects Ver. 16. Although I have cast them What a Cornucopia of comfort may this promise be to poor prisoners forlorn Exiles and such as by sicknesse or otherwise are necessitated to keep from publike Ordinances that they shall have Gods presence and protection the comfort and conduct of his Spirit c Yet I will be to them as a little Sanctuary By hearing their prayers Sanctuarium modicum sanctifying their natures bringing to their remembrance what things they have heard and learned touching Me and my will Themselves and their duties They should in Babylon worship God in spirit and in truth and in the life to come the Lord God Almighty and his Lamb should be their Temple Rev 21.22 Ver. 17. I will even gather you from the people How impossible or improbable soever you may think it and those of Hierusalem pronounce it The Prophet Isay in many Chapters of his Gospel which beginneth at chap. 40. setteth himself to chear up these poor captives with good hopes of a return after a little while Paulisper as some render the word Megnat in the foregoing Verse Ver. 18. And they shall take away all the detestable things So God calleth their Mawmets and monuments of Idolatry They chose rather to dye then to suffer Caligula's statue to be set up in their Temple by Petronius not daigning to call them by their usual names After the Captivity the Jews would never endure idols To this day they say that there is an ounce of the golden calf in all their sufferings Ver. 19. And I will give them one heart Opposed to a divided heart such as the Paphlagonian Partridges are said to have Hos 10.2 that is partly for God and partly for the world Ezek. 33.31 This onenesse of heart truely and entirely cleaving to God alone is that boon that David so dearly beggeth Plin. l. 11. c. 37. Psal 86.11 that he might attend upon God without distraction 1 Cor. 7.35 and as the visive beams are wholly bent upon the thing that is beheld by the eye and as it were concentred in it so might his desires and indeavours be entirely carried toward God and firmly fixed upon him And I will put a new spirit within you The same soul for substance but altered in the frame renewed in the qualities thereof Marke 16.17 they shall speak with new tongues So we read of a new Song The strings are the same but the tune is changed See Psal 51.12 Ephes 4.23 2 Cor. 5.17 And I will take the stony heart Extraham say the Sept. I will draw or pull it out which none can do but the hand of Heaven God only can make the flinty heart fleshly that is sensible soft pliant penetrable buxom and obedient to his holy Will Ver. 20. That they may walk in my statutes The Covenant of grace is suited to all the exigencies and indigencies of a poor Saint It is ordered in all things 2 Sam. 23.5 Ver. 21. But as for them This is added lest any wicked men should misapply the Promises as they do quisperando praesumunt praesumendo pereunt Ver. 22. Then did the Cherubims Now God is utterly leaving the refractory Jewes He did so much more after their rejection of Christ and his Gospel Ver. 23. From the midst of the City From the East-gate And stood upon the mountain Mount Olivet There he made his last stand to see if they would meet him with intreaties of peace that he might stop or step back Here it was that Christ wept over the City and hence he went up to heaven after which came the Romans and destroyed it Ver. 24. By the Spirit of God i. e. In a supernatural rapture Ver. 25. Then I spake unto them of the Captivity These were his proper charge and now Gods chiefest care to them therefore he delivered the whole counsel of God which he had seen and heard for their better settlement CHAP. XII Ver. 1. THe Word of the Lord also came unto me This variety of visions shews the great unbelief of the people whose Captivity and calamity is here further described and assured by a new Type which is set out in the first six
Not only a temporal but an eternal death as they must needs do that are out of the Covenant of grace whereof circumcision was the seal This is the sad Catastrophe of such as dream of a deity Of which number were Caligula Herod Heliogabalus Dioclesian and other monsters uncircumcised Vicegâ—ds as we may in the worst sense best term them Ver. 11. Moreâ—ver the word See on chap. 18.1 Ver. 12. Take up a lamentation for the King of Tyre Who shall have little leisure to lament for himself his destruction shall be so sudden See on chap. 27.2 Thou sealest up the sum i. e. Thou art a pattern of perfection in thine own conceit at least for a seal hath in it the perfect form of him that is thereby represented and then is a letter perfected when the last act of setting to a seal is done to it Literae consignatae clausae absoluta sunt Oecol 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plato Hom. Tu es omnibus numeris absolutum exemplar so Vatablus and the Tigurines Ver. 13. Thou hast been in Eden As a bird of Paradise or as a tree growing there 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou art equal to Adam in the state of innocency and thy Tyre is no whit inferiour to the garden of God Flores in pratis fragrant purpura campis Gemma coloratis fulgâ—t speciosa lapillis Every precious stone was thy covering Not thy diadem only was deckt with them as the Popes triple crown is at this day with gemmes of greatest value but thy royal robe not inferiour haply to that of Demetrius King of Macedony which none of his successours would wear propter invidiosam impendii magnificentiam it was so extream stately and costly yea thy pantofles possibly as Dioclesians the Emperour holding forth his feet to be kissed as doth also the Pope at this day who hath the cross in precious stones set upon his pantofle to the great reproach of Christianity The Sardius Topaz and the diamond Nine of those rich stones that were set in the high-Priests Rationale or breast-plate See on ver 2. The workmanship of thy tabrets At thy birth and at thine inauguration there was great mirth made concrepantibus tympanis tibiis tubis What a deal of joy and jollity was there lately expressed in many places for the birth of the Prince of Spain Trem. Ver. 14. Thou art the annointed Cherub Or thou art a Cherub ever since I annointed thee for Protectour as the Cherubims cover the Ark with their wings so dost thou thy people and therefore takest upon thee as if an earthly Angel Thou wast upon the holy mountain of God Thou hast been in heaven or at least on mount Sinai with Moses where God appeared with millions of his Angels having a fiery pavement under his feet Exod. 24.10 In the midst of the stones of fire i. e. Of Seraphims say some those flaming creatures of lightenings and thunderbolts say others which thou â—utlest about at thy pleasure Saevum praelustri fulmes ab arce venit Ver. 15. Thou wast perfect in thy wayes As the evil Angels also were but now it is otherwise Heaven spued out them in the very first act of their sin and soon after they were created Look thou therefore to speed accordingly sith iniquity is found in thee Potentes potenter torquebuntur Ver. 16. By the multitude of thy merchandise Multa sunt fraudes ubi mercatura servet Oecol Many Merchants think they may do any thing for their own advantage cheating and over-reaching passe for virtues with them And thou hast sinned By suffering it so to be for there is a passive injustice as well as an active I will cast thee I will bring thee down with a vengeance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and make thee an example of that rule Great sins have great punishments Ver. 17. Thine heart c. Fastus inest palchris By reason of thy brightnesse Thine own splendor hath dazeled thee Magna cognatio est ut rei sic nominis diâ—â—is vitiis That they may behold thee And beware by thee Ver. 18. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries i. e. Thy kingly palaces where thou art looked upon and honoured as a God but a wretched one and which for statelinesse may vye with my Sanctuary Adde hereto that as none might come into the Temple but Priests only so none might come into the palace but confiding persons The Turkes at this day suffer no stranger to come into the presence of their Emperour but first they clasp him by the arms under colour of doing him honour Turk Hist 715. but indeed to bereave him of the use of his hands lest he should offer him any violence Therefore will I bring forth a fire in the midst of thee Thou shalt perish by thine own sins as a house is burnt by fire kindled within it self And I will bring thee to ashes Which shall remain as a lasting monument of the divine displeasure as did the ashes and cinders of Sodom and Herodotus saith the same of the ashes of Troy Ver. 19. Thou shalt be a terrour As Kings exceed all others in glory so their fall is oft with so great ignominy that they become a wonder and a terrour to all people Ver. 20. Again the Word of the Lord See chap. 18.1 Ver. 21. Set thy face against Zidon An ancient and eminent City of Phenicia little inferior to Tyrus in Josua it is called Zidon the great Josh 11. A very superstitious place and a great enemy to Gods people Ver. 22. Behold I am against thee Heb. I against thee by an angry Aposiopesis I will be glorified Viz. In thy just destruction And shall be sanctified in her See on Levit. 10.3 Ver. 23. For I will send into her These are Gods evil Angels And the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her This was done likely by Nebuchaduezzar but certainly by Artaxerxes Ochus the Persian as the Prophet Zachary had foretold chap. 9. and as Diodorus Siculus hath left upon record Ver. 24. And there shall be no more a pricking bryar For God will take away the Canaanite out of the land Zach. 14. omnem spinum dolorificum he will by his Judgements provide for his own glory and for his peoples comfort Ver. 25. Then shall they dwel in their Land Provided that they cleave close to me otherwise I will out them again It hath been elsewhere noted that the Promises are with a condition which is as an oar in a boat or stern of a ship and turns the promise another way Ver. 26. And they shall dwell safely therein Or in confidence And this is reiterated here to shew what a mercy of God it is to live secure and free from the fear of enemies CHAP. XXIX Ver. 1. IN the tenth year The year before Jerusalem was taken chap. 24.1 In the tenth moneth Called Thebeth Estth 2. and it answereth to our January saith Bede Chronology is the eye of