Apostles, or their word ; or to the Christian Church ? It can relate to none but the Jews personally ; even those who shall be alive in the latter day.]
3. From the express words of our text —
[On a supposition that the great body of the Gentiles are to be converted first, and that they are to be the means of bringing in the Jews, the language of the text must be altoge- ther changed. The Gentiles are more than a hundred times as numerous as the Jews ; and if they are to be converted first, and then bring in the Jews, they must say, not as in the text, " Ten men shall take hold of the skirt of one Jew ;" but, " we ten, out of all the languages of the nations, hold out our skirts to you, a poor Jew, saying, Come with us ; for ye have heard and seen that God is with us." But this were to reverse the text altogether, which represents ten Gentiles as taking hold of the skirt of one Jew.~\
4. From the passage to which the text itself evi- dently refers —
[There can be no doubt but that the prophet had in his mind the language used by Moses to Hobab, his father-in-law, when he endeavoured to persuade him to go up to the earthly Canaan: " Come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel. And it shall be, if thou go with us ; yea, it shall be, that what goodness the Lord shall do unto us, the same will we do unto theem." Thus, in the latter days, the Gentiles, seeing beyond a doubt that God is with his people the Jews, will be anxious to go up with them to " the New Jerusalem, the city that cometh down from God out of heaven."]
5. From the whole Scriptures of truth —
[The whole Scriptures declare, with one voice, that the Jews shall be converted first, and be God's honoured instru- ments for the converting of the whole Gentile world. The Prophet Micah says, " The remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men11." The dew and the clouds come not at man's
month (July) was in remembrance of the City and Temple burnt by the Chaldeans. See 2 Kings xxv. 8, 9. That of the seventh (Sept.) in memory of the murder of Gedaliah. See 2 Kings xxv. 25. with Jer. xli. 17, 18. That of the fourth month (June) commemorated the taking of Jerusalem. See Jer. lii. 6, 7 : and that of the tenth (Dec.) the commencement of the siege by the Chaldean army. See Jer. lii. 4.
m Numb. x. 29, 32. n Mic. v. 7.