from it, is obvious and indubitable ; it is none other than this, that Jesus Christ is the one source of peace to his people, under all their calamities, temporal or spiritual b.
Christ then will be the peace of his Church,
I. Under all temporal calamities —
God may, for wise and gracious reasons, suffer his people to be reduced to the greatest straits and ne- cessities ; just as he did in the days of Hezekiah, when all Judaea was subdued by Sennacherib, and the capital itself was besieged by the Assyrian army. We must not therefore conclude that God has given us up, even though we should see our land invaded, and many strong places taken, and the capital itself in the most imminent danger of being plundered and de- stroyed. God may suffer it, in order to wean us from confiding in our fleets and armies, and to glorify him- self in our deliverance. Supposing such a calamity to come upon this land, Christ will be our peace,
1. Through the instrumentality of others — [In the words following the text, he promises to raise up for his people " seven shepherds and eight principal men," that is, an indefinite number0 of eminent and useful men in all the de- partments of state, whom he would endue with wisdom and cou- rage ; and through whose instrumentality he would effect their deliverance. And is it not in this way that he has most mar- vellously interposed for us ? Was there ever a period within our remembrance, when all ranks and orders of men were so unanimous as at the present? In the last war, some doubted whether we might not have avoided war ; and others, whether we might not have terminated it long before. But is there a man in this whole kingdom who doubts whether our invete-
b The meaning of the context seems to be this : the prophet fore- tells that the enemies of Judah should "besiege" them, and treat their governor with contempt and cruelty ; which may be considered as relating to the times of Hezekiah, and Zedekiah. He then fore- tells, that in the little city of Bethlehem the Messiah shall be born : but that, notwithstanding that event, the Jews, as a nation, shall be given up, till the time when Zion shall travail in birth (Isai. lxvi. 7, 8. with Gal. iv. 27.) and all, both Jews and Gentiles, be converted to the Lord. In the mean time, however, the Messiah shall govern and protect his people, and be a source of " peace" and comfort to them under their heaviest calamities.
c Eccl. xi. 2.