From the image in which the prediction is conveyed, let us turn to,
II. The change itself, which is predicted in it —
The passage primarily belongs to the Jews ; and declares, as the whole preceding and following con- texts do, their restoration to God, to the admiration and astonishment of the whole world. We need not, however, confine it to them1; but may contemplate generally,
1. The change described —
[Behold the whole world, Jewish as well as Gentile, yea, and I must add, the Christian too ; how little is there of vital
and evangelical " righteousness " to be seen ! As for
" praise," except amongst a very small remnant of true Be- lievers, it is never heard ascending to the throne of God. A form of godliness, indeed, is common : but such piety as existed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and such devotions as were poured forth by the holy Apostles, are rare indeed ; so rare, that neither is the one seen, nor the other heard, but as a strange thing, to be gazed at with wonder, or be stigmatized as folly m.
But it shall not be always so: for, in God's time, righteous- ness shall spring up, as it were, not partially on this or that favoured spot, but simultaneously, like the verdure of the spring upon the face of the whole earth. Though the word be sown only like " an handful of corn upon the tops of the mountains, its fruit shall shake like the woods of Lebanon, and the con- verts be like the piles of grass that cover the earth n." " In every place, too, will incense be offered, and a pure offering " of praise and thanksgiving0; so that earth will be an emblem, and an antepast, of heaven. Then will be realized that vision of the beloved Apostle, who " saw the holy city, new Jerusa- lem, coining down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband p." For this period we look with the strongest possible assurance, even for " the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness*1."]
2. The excellency of it —
[View this change, either as it respects God and his honour, or man and his happiness. Is it not grievous to reflect
1 This observation, if the subject be used as a Sermon for the Jews, should, of course, be omitted.
m 1 Pet. iv. 4. n Ps. lxxii. 16. ° Mai. i. 11.
p Rev. xxi. 2. i 2 Pet. iii. 13.