the great Kings and Rulers of the earth to appear to be as nothing and meer vanity before him or by destroying them he brings them to nothing See the Note Job 12.21 Ver. 24. Yea they shall not be planted yea they shall not be sown yea their stock shall not take root in the earth c. As if he had said In what a flourishing Condition soever these great ones seem to be they shall be destroyed as easily and utterly without any memorial of them left behind them as those things are overthrown or blasted that never had any root in the earth as namely a dry dead stock of a tree put into the earth or as grass that shooting up of it self in the superficies of the earth and not having any deep root is soon withered Some I know understand this of their being overturned in the beginning of their Reign before they are well setled in their greatness or before they have any Posterity to leave behind them But the former Exposition I judge the better and most agreeable to that which followeth and he shall also blow upon them and they shall wither c. that is The least breath of Gods displeasure shall soon bring them to nothing See the Note Psal 103.16 Ver. 25. To whom then will ye liken me or shall I be equal c. See the Note above ver 18. Ver. 26. Lift up your eyes on high c. To wit heavenward as becomes men whom God hath created with erect bodies and countenances fit to view the Heavens and not like the Beasts that have their faces always groveling towards the earth and behold who hath created these things to wit these heavenly Orbs and the glorious lights therein Consider of what infinite Power and Wisdom and Majesty that God must needs be that hath made all these things that bringeth out their host by number he calleth them all by names See the Note Psal 147.4 by the greatness of his might for that he is strong in power not one faileth that is By reason of his infinite power when he bringeth out this his heavenly Host it is not with him as with other Generals that when they lead out their Companies into the Fields do usually miss some of their Souldiers not one of his Host from the Creation unto this time hath ever been wanting but they have all been found in their places ready pressed to do whatever God shall enjoyn them Ver. 27. Why sayest thou O Jacob and speakest O Israel c. That is Considering the infinite Power and Wisdom of God before described why should you ever and anon break forth into such words of despair that are Gods Covenant-people his Israel the Posterity of Jacob who because he relied upon God being in danger of an enemy too mighty for him was therefore called Israel my way is hid from the Lord that is say the most of Expositors God takes no notice of or doth not regard the Miseries we endure in Babylon and my judgment is passed over from my God that is He passeth over my cause and minds it not and so he doth not execute Judgment upon those that wrong and oppress me Well but now the words may be understood another way and that very probably My way is hid from the Lord and my Judgment is passed over from my God that is God himself cannot find out a way now to deliver us out of our Captivity the way of judging and avenging us upon our enemies is so far past all hope of being effected that God himself cannot redress it See the Note Job 3.23 And indeed this Exposition some do rather approve because of that which is added in the following verses Ver. 28. Hast thou not known hast thou not heard c. See the Note above ver 21. that the everlasting God the Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not to wit as men usually do when their strength is worn out with long toil and labor Gods not fainting is alledged to imply covertly that he was able to do as great and wonderful things for his people as he had ever formerly done as being never wearied with what he doth and with respect hereto it is that God is termed here the everlasting God that is That God who from Eternity to Eternity continueth always the same unchangeably and the Lord the Creator of the ends of the earth to imply that being therefore Omnipotent and having the whole World even to the utmost ends of the earth as being the work of his hands under his power and command to govern it as he pleaseth it must needs follow that this immutable God that ceased not to govern the whole World would much less cease to take care of his own Church and people and that he was able to deliver his people even in Babylon and from the uttermost ends of the earth as well as if they had been still in the land of Judea there is no searching of his understanding as if he had said And how then can you think that your way should be hid from such infinite Knowledg Or why should you not think when you do not understand how that which God doth should tend to the good of his people that this may be because the Wisdom of his Proceedings may be far above your reach Ver. 29. He giveth power to the faint c. That is to those that are ready to faint and sink under great Afflictions and Temptations as being no way able to help themselves as it was indeed with the Jews in the Babylonian Captivity Such as these and that have humble thoughts of themselves God doth usually strengthen them and revive and is it likely that he should faint himself that revives the fainting spirits of others Ver. 30. Even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall That is The strongest that are may and do often for want of strength to hold out fail of effecting what they undertake which is the rather said because such out of the high conceit they have of their own strength are many times emboldned to undertake things too high for them and so are ruined thereby Ver. 31. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength c. The word in the Hebrew may be translated shall change their strength but the meaning is That they that trust in God and wait patiently and quietly upon him for the accomplishment of his promises though they may sometimes be ready to faint yet being strengthned by grace shall again encourage themselves and go on chearfully resting upon God for Deliverance they shall mount up with wings as Eagles that is By mounting up in their Meditations concerning their God and all his Glorious Attributes and the Glory which in Heaven he hath prepared for his people they shall with great courage and magnanimity of Spirit raise up themselves above all Difficulties and Dangers and Fears and with much confidence
that neither the Arabians nor any other Shepherd should seek to fleed their cattel there See Jer. 50.3 to wit either because there should be no grass where the ruines of the City lay but only nettles and thorns and briars should grow up there or because of those terrible and hurtful Creatures that should lodg there as is expressed in the following verse or as some think because the very soil of the land thereabouts should be accursed of God However the drift of these words is to set forth the wonderful change that God would bring upon Babylon in that thievish Arabians and poor shepherds shall not vouchsafe to have their abode there where Kings and Princes had wont to dwell Ver. 21. But wild beasts of the desert shall lye there c. That is such as use to lodge in desert places The word in the Original Ziim is derived from an Hebrew word which signifieth a wild and waste place Psal 68.6 And therefore it is sometimes used for people that inhabit such dry and desert places as in Psal 72.8 where this word is translated they that dwell in the wilderness But here it must needs be meant of some wild Creatures living in such solitary places for which see the Note also Psal 74.14 and their houses shall be full of doleful Creatures Octim it is in the Hebrew which seems to be derived from an Interjection of exclaiming and crying out in a time of affrightment and fear or else of mourning or groaning and consequently Interpreters hold that the word imports either Creatures of such a terrible aspect that they should make men when they see them cry out for fear or else such as make a mournful doleful noise and Owls shall dwell there see the Note Job 30.29 It is in the Hebrew the daughters of the Owle that are wont to make a dreadful skreeking noise when their Dams are from them especially when they want food But that may be only an Hebraism and Satyrs shall dance there whereby I conceive is meant either some kind of strange monstrous ugly beasts which seems the more probable because elsewhere the Prophet speaks of them as of beasts that are wont to cry one to another Chap. 34.14 The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the Island and the Satyr shall cry to his fellow or else Divels appearing to men like hairy shag Creatures See the Note Lev. 17.7 such as it may well be the Satyrs were of whom the Ancients speak so often that used to haunt Woods and Deserts having faces and hands like men and going upright as men do but yet were horned and hairy and cloven-footed like Goats And indeed such unclean Spirits love to appear and to haunt men in such solitary places because there men are most apt to lie struck with terror and thence may that be Math. 12.43 When the unclean Spirit is gone out of a man he walketh through dry places And that Prophecy concerning mystical Babylon is fully parallel with this Revel 18.2 Babylon the great is fallen is fallen and is become the habitation of devils and the hold of every foul spirit and a â—â—ge of every unclean and hateful bird Ver. 22. And the wild beasts of the Islands c. That is that breed or keep in Islands void of Inhabitants and whereto others do seldom or never come Shall cry in their desolate houses and Dragons in their pleasant Palaces that is shall answer one another with a loud cry See the foregoing Note And her time is near to come c. That is the time of the beginning of the miseries here threatned against her when Babylon was to be taken by the Medes and Persians See the Note above ver 6. And so likewise in the following words And her days shall not be prolonged either the same is again repeated to wit that the day of her overthrow should not long be deferred or the meaning may be that the days of her prosperity should not continue much longer CHAP. XIV VERSE 1. FOR the Lord will have mercy on Jacob c. This is given as a reason why God would hasten the destruction of Babylon foretold in the foregoing Chapter as he had said he would do in the last words of that Chapter to wit that the Jews might by Cyrus who was to subdue Babylon be sent home again into their own Country See the Note Ezra 1.1 For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will yet choose Israel and set them in their own Land that is He will yet again receive them into his favour whom he had cast off for a time as if he had chosen them anew or He will by appearing wonderfully for them make it evident that they were his chosen people or He will chuse or pick out the remnant of his people whom he intends to deliver out of the places where they were dispersed And by Jacob and Israel are meant the Posterity of Jacob the Jews principally those of the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin but together with them those likewise of the ten Tribes that came in to those of Judah in the days of Hezekiah and so were with them carried into Babylon and afterward sent back with them into the Land of Judea And the strangers shall be joyned with them and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob that is many of the Heathens amongst whom they had lived in Babylon Chaldeans Medes and Persians being converted to the Jewish Religion either by the instruction and perswasion of the Jews or by observing the holiness of their lives or by taking notice of the wonder of their deliverance out of Babylon see the Note Psal 126.2 shall joyn themselves to them and go along with them to Jerusalem see Ezra 2.65 as it was with the Israelites when they went out of Egypt see the Note Exod. 12.38 But though this was partly thus accomplished as in a Type by strangers joyning themselves to the Jews in their return into their own Land yet the conversion of the Gentiles in the days of the Gospel when they joyned themselves to the Church of the Jews is the principal thing here intended Ver. 2. And the people shall take them and bring them to their place c. That is say some Expositors the several Tribes and Families of the Jews shall take those strangers those Proselites mentioned in the foregoing verse that had joyned themselves to the house of Jacob and receiving them into their company and society shall carry them along with them into the Land of Israel But the meaning rather is that the people of several Nations the Babylonians Medes and Persians with others that dwelt in the way whereby the Jews were to return home into their own Country should afford the Jews all the respect and help they could in and for their return into Judea entertaining them and encouraging them on their way and furnishing them with cattel and carriages and all other necessary
here speaks foretelling that after all these ruins and calamities from this people or of this people there should be a present brought unto the Lord of Hosts at Zion The meaning whereof is either that many of the Ethiopians should by the Jews that lived amongst them be brought to embrace their Faith and Religion even before the coming of Christ into the world and so should bring Gifts to the Temple at Jerusalem and worship the true God there as the Ethiopian Eunuch did Act. 8.27 Or else that in the days of the Gospel they should embrace the Christian Faith and so should be brought in as a present to God joyning themselves to the Church of Christ whereof Zion was a Type the first fruits whereof we find accomplished in the conversion of that noble Ethiopian before-mentioned And thus this Prophecy seems to be the same with that Zeph. 3.10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my Suppliants even the daughter of my dispersed shall bring mine offering See also the Notes Psal 68.31 and 72.10 CHAP. XIX VERSE 1. THE burden of Egypt c. See the Notes Chap. 13.1 and 2 King 2.25 Because the Egyptians joyned with the Ethiopians against the Assyrian by way of aiding the Jews therefore the Prophet having in the foregoing Chapter foretold the ruin of the Ethiopians here he also prophecieth against the Egyptians their Associates and that still to shew the Jews their folly in relying so much upon these Nations Behold he speaketh as of a thing that was presently to come to pass and he speaks of God as of a King that with his Troops of Horse breaks in upon an enemies Country the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud and shall come into Egypt As for this expression of his riding upon a swift cloud for which see also the Notes 2 Sam. 22.11 12. Psal 68.3 and 104.3 It is to imply that he should break in upon Egypt like a violent Storm suddenly speedily and irresistibly For how could their walls and bulwarks keep out him that from the clouds would break in upon them Nor is it improbable which some think that this expression of a stormy Cloud is the rather used also because in Egypt where they have no rain Zach. 14.18 Clouds were very unusual and so the more dreadful All which is doubtless meant of the Assyrians invading Egypt under Sennacherib and some say the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar with Armies that should overshadow the land like a cloud And the Idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence c. That is Their Vanity shall be discovered in that they shall not be able to help the people See the Note Exod. 12.12 Or they shall be broken down and dashed in pieces and carried away by the Conquerors into Captivity as our Prophet speaks Chap. 46.1 2. Yea and the meaning may be too that the Devils that were worshipped in those Idols should tremble at the great discovery of God's indignation against them And the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it That is The courage and strength of the Inhabitants of the Land shall fail even where they might think themselves surest and safest See the Notes Josh 7.5 and Psal 22.14 Ver. 2. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians c. That is I will order it so that they shall break out into Civil War amongst themselves And they shall fight every one against his brother and every one against his neighbour See the Notes before Chap. 9.19 20. City against City and Kingdom against Kingdom where by Kingdoms are meant the several Provinces whereinto Egypt was divided Now this some say was accomplished when after the death of Sethon Civil Wars arising amongst them Egypt was divided into twelve Kingdoms and then afterwards upon new dissentions Psammitichus one of their new Kings being cast out by the rest by the help of his Friends and the aid of foreign Forces which he called in he vanquished his enemies and brought all Egypt under his sole dominion For this they say was about the end of Hezekiah's or the beginning of Manasseh's reign But now others think that this is meant of those Tumults and Dissentions that arose in Egypt when the Assyrians had vanquished that huge Army of the Ethiopians and Egyptians their Associates which Tirrakah King of Ethiopia had led out against them for say they the Assyrians by the advantage of this Victory being likely to invade and subdue Egypt the Egyptians hereupon fell into intestine Combustions among themselves some of them standing for the submitting of themselves to the dominion of the Assyrian King and others opposing this with all their power But indeed what the cause was of the Civil Wars here threatned is altogether uncertain Ver. 3. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof c That is say â—ome the Egyptians shall become as dead men void of life Or say others their strength or courage within them shall fail them But I rather take the meaning to be that their understanding and wisdom should fail them for the failing of their courage was spoken of before vers 1. and see also the Note Prov. 15.13 And hereto agrees that which followeth And I will destroy the counsel thereof that is I will bereave them of all ability to advise what should be done for the securing of themselves or their State they shall be in their astonishment like so many fools or mad-men not knowing which way to turn themselves See the Notes Job 5.17 20 24. Or All their consultations shall come to nothing And indeed the more observable that is which is here threatned because the Egyptians in those times were highly conceited of themselves for their great Learning and Wisdom and were indeed for these things mightily admired throughout the world That which is translated in our Bibles And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof is in the Hebrew And the spirit of Egypt shall be emptied in the midst thereof as if the Prophet had said All their Wit and Understanding shall be drained out And herein there may be an Allusion to their folly in draining away the waters of the river Nilus whereof some think the Prophet speaks afterward ver 5 6. And they shall seek to the Idols c To wit by praying to them See the Note before Chap. 15.2 Or by asking counsel at the Oracles they had there according to that which followeth And to the Charmers and to them that have Familiar Spirits and to the Wizzards For which see the Note Chap. 8.19 And this is added as a clear evidence how void of wisdom and counsel they should be in that not knowing what to do they should thus run from one vain means to another as men that were indeed at their wits end Ver. 4. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel Lord c. It is in the Hebrew Lords which therefore many understand of those twelve Lords that
shall be set at Liberty Now though there seems to be an allusion in the Words to the Israelites deliverance out of Egypt concerning whom it is said Exod. 12.33 That the Egyptians were urgent upon the People that they might send them out of the Land in haste yet questionless it is meant in the type of the Captivated Jews in Babylon that the time of their deliverance was coming on apace and in the antitype of Christs delivering his redeemed ones that were in bondage to Satan bound with the Fetters of Sin and Death who should with all readiness embrace the Salvation tendered them in the Gospel And accordingly we must understand the following words and that he should not die in the Pit that is in that Pit of misery whereinto they were fallen or in those Prison-houses wherein they were kept in Babylon Or as it respects Christs ransomed ones that they might not perish for ever in the bottomless Pit of Hell nor that his Bread should fail that is that the poor Captives in Babylon might not perish there for want of necessary provision in their long continued thraldom or in their return homeward by reason of the desart places they were to go through Or as it respects those that are redeemed by Christ that they might be instructed in the mysteries of the Gospel and not want that Spiritual food of their Souls And in this too there may be an allusion to Gods care over the Israelites whom he delivered out of Egypt that they should not want Bread to eat as they travelled through the Wilderness to the Land of Canaan which seems the more probable because of that which followeth in the next Verse Ver. 15. But I am the Lord thy God that divided the Sea c. To wit The red Sea whose Waves roared to wit by reason of the violent blowing of the East Wind wherewith God divided the Waters of the Sea that so the Israelites might pass over on dry ground Exod. 14.21 Ver. 16. And I have put my words in thy Mouth c. Expositors differ much in their Judgments concerning the Person to whom this is spoken That which seems to me most probable is That it is spoken first to Isaiah as the type but then secondly under him to Christ and to all his Prophets and faithful Messengers and Ministers or as some say which is all one in effect to Christ and to his People as the Body of Christ However the drift of the words is clear Namely That this is spoken to comfort his People as before ver 12. by assuring them 1. That the Prophet spake Gods Word to them nothing but what he had enjoined him and in the very words and terms which he had prompted to him and that therefore they had no cause to question the promises that he made them And the like we must hold concerning Christ who often affirmed this that he spake nothing but what God had put into his Mouth see Joh. 3.34 and 8.26.28 And 2dly That God would secure him from all his Enemies and have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand see the Note Chap. 49.2 And then to shew what should be the effect of this the following words are added that I may plant the Heavens and lay the Foundations of the Earth That is That I may hereby create a new World a new Heaven and a new Earth Now we must know that though this may be meant of the Jews deliverance out of Babylon because there was then such a change wrought amongst that People as if they had been brought into a new World and because that is usually ascribed to the Ministry of Gods Prophets which they did only declare and foretell as in that Jer. 1.10 See I have this day set thee over the Nations and over the Kingdoms to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down to build and to plant Yet certainly it is meant principally of that great change and renovation that God by Christ did actually and effectually work in the World at his coming by the Work of his Redemption and the publishing thereof by the preaching of the Gospel by means whereof the curse was taken off from the Creatures which the Sin of Man had brought upon them and all things that were before as it were broken and ruined were restored and settled in Christ and which is chiefly intended a holy Church is gathered and planted throughout the World who are reconciled to God and made new Creatures a People whose Conversation is in Heaven and who are daily fitted for heavenly Glory and say unto Zion Thou art my People That is That God might say to wit by the Prophets Apostles and others by whom it is published and by Christ by whom it was both effected and published ye that were not my People are now become my People Ver. 17. Awake awake stand up O Jerusalem c. Some think that because the Jews were at this time proud and secure and fearless of any Evil that was coming upon them like a drunken Man fallen into a dead sleep by reason of a Spirit of drunkenness and slumber that God had poured forth upon them therefore God by the Prophet doth here awaken them and calls upon them to arise and repent and turn unto the Lord. And indeed expressions much like to these are used by the Apostle in this sense 1 Cor. 15.34 and Eph. 5.14 But by the whole current of the Text it appears that this is spoken by way of comforting them Because they might disregard the promise of deliverance which God had made them by reason of that extremity of misery and oppression under which they lay therefore there is hope here given them that notwithstanding that depth of Calamity whereinto they were fallen yet God would raise them up And accordingly comparing them to a People that by drinking of the Cup of Gods wrath were fallen down and lay in a dead sleep he calls upon them to awaken and arise up Awake awake stand up O Jerusalem as if he had said There will be suddenly a happy change and therefore lye no longer O my People in so sad and disconsolate a condition which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the Cup of his Fury That is Whom God hath in his just wrath punished with great severity thou hast drunken the dregs of the Cup of trembling and wrung them out that is the whole Cup of Gods indignation even to the very bottom dregs and all which in bitter potions use to be the bitterest and those pressed and squeezed that nothing might be left The meaning is That they had suffered the whole that God had measured out to be their portion or so much that one would think their misery could not be well greater than it was And why this is called a Cup of trembling see the Notes Job 21.20 Psal 11.6 and 60.3 and 75.8 Now this may be conceived to be spoken 1. With respect to
as they had dealt with Christ that he would bring them to Death and to the Grave as they had brought Christ 2. Others understand it of the efficacy of Christs Death and Burial namely that thereby many wicked men yea many of the great and rich ones amongst them most unlikely to yield should be crucified with him and buried with him to wit Spiritually and so be made new Creatures and be brought to be obedient to the will of his Father or which is all one in effect that they should be brought to be with him and own him though Crucified and Buried as their Lord and as his People to submit to his Scepter and Government Again 3. Some understand it only of his Sufferings but in a several way For 1. Some take it thus That God the Father gave Christ over into the hands of the wicked Jews and the Gentiles even the great ones of those times such as were Caiaphas and Herod and Pontius Pilate that so they might dispose of him how they pleased both in regard of his Death and Burial which agreeth with that of our Saviour Matth. 26.45 Behold the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of Sinners or for so some would have it that He that is the Jewish People gave him up into the hands of the wicked Gentiles Pilate and the Roman Souldiers that they should Crucifie and bury him as they pleased But 2. Others understand it thus that he should be cut off by an untimely Death as a wicked man and accordingly should be Executed amongst other Malefactors in Mount Calvary the ordinary place where such kind of Varlets used to be Executed and Buried according to that which followeth in this Chapter ver 12. And he was numbred with the Transgressours but yet withall the providence of God so disposing of it he should be buried in the Sepulchre of a rich man as Joseph of Arimathea is expresly called Matth. 27.57 the Evangelist thereby pointing as some think to the accomplishment of this Prophecy And this last seems to me the most probable Exposition of this place As for that which follows because he had done no violence neither was any deceit in his Mouth or as it is cited 1 Pet. 2.22 neither was guile found in his Mouth which seems to have special respect to the unquestionable truth of his Doctrine it is given as a reason of that which went before and therefore must be understood according to the several Expositions of the foregoing words as either 1. That God would bring destruction upon those that crucified Christ because they had dealt so cruelly with an innocent man that had never done any thing blame-worthy either in word or deed Or 2. That his Death should be efficacious for the Conversion of wicked Men yea even the greatest and richest of them because he should not dye for any guilt that was in him but as a spotless Lamb that suffered for the Salvation of others Or 3. That God would not suffer him to be buried amongst those notorious Malefactors in that common place appointed for their burial in or about Mount Calvary but provided that he should be honourably laid in a new Sepulchre which a rich and honourable person had provided for himself because he was such a new man indeed as the World had never seen a man that had never sinned neither in word nor deed Ver. 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief c. That is Though there was no fault in him yet it was the will of God that he should suffer sorely to wit because he was to suffer for poor Sinners See the Note before ver 5. when thou shalt make his Soul an offering for Sin that is when thou O God shalt bring it to that that his Soul that is his Life or himself shall be offered up as a propitiatory Sacrifice for sinful men Or as it is in the Margin when his Soul shall make an offering for Sin that is when Christ shall willingly even with all his Soul offer up himself as a Sacrifice for his People to wit in his Death See Gal. 3.13 and 2 Cor. 5.21 he shall see his Seed that is his Spiritual Progeny See the Notes Chap. 9.6 Multitudes of Believers that shall be begotten again by his Word and Spirit It is as if he had said that his Death should not hinder his having a numerous Seed because he should rise from the dead and so should live and see his Seed yea it should be so far from hindering it that it should be the cause of it because reconciliation being made by his Death he shall thereby purchase them to himself which our Saviour intended in that Joh. 12.24 Except a Corn of Wheat fall into the ground and dye it abideth alone but if it die it bringeth forth much Fruit and likewise because it was not till after his Death and Ascension into Heaven that his Spirit was to be so abundantly poured forth both upon those that were to preach the Gospel and upon those to whom it was Preached Joh. 7.39 he shall prolong his days See the Note above ver 8. It is spoken with respect to his reigning long over his Church upon Earth till all his Enemies were subdued and after that together with his Church Eternally in Heaven and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand that is that which it was the Lords good will and pleasure should be done by him to wit the Redemption and Salvation of Men and that which should make way thereto the bringing in of Men to believe in Christ by the spreading of the Gospel through all Nations See Joh. 4.34 and 6.39 Ver. 11. He shall see of the travel of his Soul c. That is He shall for a long time together with much content and delight see and enjoy See the Notes Job 7.7 and Psal 34.12 the effect and fruit of all the toilsome and wearisome pains that he had taken and pains and sorrows he had endured and that especially in his Soul by reason of the pressures of Divine Wrath that lay upon him and put him into a bloody sweat And by this fruit of the travel of his Soul is meant that which in the foregoing Verse was called the prospering of the pleasure of the Lord in his hand as namely the gathering of multitudes of Gods Elect People from amongst the Gentiles together with that transcendency of Glory whereunto himself shall be exalted after his Sufferings and Labours See Phil. 2.8 9. and Luke 24.26 and the Eternal Salvation of all his redeemed ones and shall be satisfied to wit with full content and delight as having obtained that which he earnestly thirsted after and accounting it an abundant recompence for all his Labours and Sufferings even as a Husband-man is satisfied when after all his toil he comes to reap a plenteous Harvest and as a Woman is satisfied when after all her pains in travel she sees
for thou shalt not be ashamed neither be thou confounded for thou shalt not be put to shame that is wait for this which is promised and thou shalt never be ashamed of thy hope and expectation herein God will in time deliver and restore and multiply thee exceedingly or thou shalt not for ever continue in such a reproachful condition though God may seem to cast thee off for a time yet it shall not be such a reproachful rejection for thou shalt forget the shame of thy Youth and shalt not remember the reproach of thy Widowhood any more that is though thou mayest be for a time in a sad desolate condition like a young Woman or a Widow without a Husband and without Children because thy God shall seem to have forsaken thee and cast thee off for thy Sins yet the Glory and Bliss of thy future estate now promised thee when thou shalt rejoyce in Christ thy Husband and in the multitude of thy Children shall make thee forget all the shame of thy former miseries This I say is the whole intent of that which is here said Yet many Expositors do more particularly understand by the shame of her Youth their bondage in Egypt and by the reproach of her Widowhood her long Captivity in Babylon when God seemed to have divorced her and quite cast her off See the Note Chap. 50.1 And indeed the Prophet Jeremy sets forth her misery then under the same expression Lamentations 1.1 How doth the City sit solitary that was full of People How is she become as a Widow Ver. 5. For thy Maker is thy Husband the Lord of Hosts is his name and thy Redeemer the Holy one of Israel c. See the Notes Chap. 1.4 And so likewise for those words thy Maker See the Notes Chap. 43.1 21. The intent of that which is said here is to assure the Church of the Jews that God was their Husband and would again own her and live with her as her Husband that she might be fruitful in bringing forth Children to him the God of the whole Earth shall he be called that is he shall be and shall be owned to be the God not of the Jews only but of the Gentiles also as the Apostle saith expresly Rom. 3.29 Ver. 6. For the Lord hath called thee as a Woman forsaken and grieved in Spirit and a Wife of Youth when thou wast refused c. That is As a man that hath put away his Wife upon some displeasure doth in pity relent towards her when he sees how she is grieved and in what a sad and disconsolate condition she lives and so takes her home to him again So will the Lord in tender compassion call thee back to him when for a time he had cast thee off as for those words as a Wife of Youth some think they are added to imply the cause why she was so sorely afflicted in Spirit namely because she was in the prime of her Youth when her Husband had put her away But I rather conceive that these words are added either to imply some ground of the inclinableness of the Husband to receive his forsaken Wife back again into favour namely because a displeasure taken up against such an one a Wife of Youth can hardly be perpetual and irreconcileable or else to imply the entireness and fervency of the Husbands love to his Wife thus received again into favour to wit that she should be most dear to him as a Wife in her Youth useth to be or that she should be as dear to him as ever she had been formerly in the flower of her Youth See Prov. 5.18 Ver. 7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee c. As if he had said Should it be granted that I had forsaken thee which God never doth to his Church though he may sometimes hide himself from them yet it was but for a small moment And indeed though their seventy years Captivity in Babylon was a long time of misery yet it was but a little while both in Gods account See the Note Psal 90.4 and likewise in regard of that Eternal happiness which God hath prepared for his People in Heaven And indeed observable it is that the same may be said of Mans Life should it be wholly spent in misery the same period being set to the usual continuance of Mans Life which was set to the Babylonian Captivity namely threescore and ten years Psal 9.10 but with great mercies will I gather thee that is with marvellous Mercies and withall too of long continuance that so it may be opposed to what was said before of his forsaking them for a small moment even everlasting mercies as it is more fully expressed in the following Verse In a little wrath I hid my Face but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee And thus also God gives them to understand that it should not be with him as it is often with men that after reconciliation made are colder in their affections than formerly in that his mercies should be greater and more firm and lasting than ever they had been As for this expression with great mercies will I gather thee as it seems to have respect to the dispersion of the Jews into several Countries in their Captivity from whence they were to be gathered together before they could be carried home into their own Country so it also clearly implies Gods free Grace in their reconciliation namely that they should not return to him of themselves but that God out of his pity to them should fetch them home Ver. 9. For this is as the Waters of Noah unto me c. That is say some This deluge of misery wherewith you will be in appearance overwhelmed and utterly ruined in Babylon shall be as Noahs Flood to wit such as I will never more bring upon you But I rather conceive that this is meant of the Covenant of Grace whereinto God had promised to receive his People whom he had seemed to have forsaken namely that this should be as the Waters of Noah to him that is as the Covenant which God made with Noah concerning that deluge and that not only in regard of the inviolable stability of that Covenant that the Covenant which he would make with them should be as firmly and certainly accomplished in all succeeding Generations as that had been and should be to the end of the World but also in regard of the substance of the Covenant because as I then engaged my self to Noah that I would never drown the whole World any more so my Covenant now is that I will never bring such a deluge of misery and desolation upon my People as that was in the Babylonian Captivity which is set forth in the following words For as I have sworn that the Waters of Noah should no more go over the Earth though we read not of any Oath in express tearms that God sware to Noah concerning this yet because solemn Covenants used to