by theſe Mefſengers, ſaceeeding Verles. you my Angels, or Men, whom I have a go fpzedily to them, and tell rhem what them, or inflift 500h i Baniſhment, but in their Habitations. 11 to the Cuſhices or Ethiopians, both for the vaſtneſs of che Land inha n ted by tnem, to wir, Erhiooia and drabie, and for the manner of their Habiration, which is more ſcattered than that of ot theſe People may be called [catered Prophertically, : were, ſo, but that they ſhould be fo: Or, this Word may Os dred, as it is in the Margin, and by ſome others, outſprea: wr drawn out at length ; which exaaly ſaits ro Egypr, which 15 muCc more extended in length than in breadth. { Either, 1. without air 5 for ſo were the Ethiopans ' NG wg Country : Or, 2. having their har ſhaven or lucked off ; for the Word Hair, but a violent taking away of Hair, as appears from Ez: 9. 3 Nehem: 13, 25. Iſa: 50: 6 And rhis plucking or ſhaving of the Hair is Meraphorically uſed in Scripture, to ſignifie ſome great Cyamity, whereby Men are ſtripped of all their Comforts, as //a: 7: 20. and elſewhere. And this Title may be given ro them Pro- pherically, to ſignifi rheir future and approaching DeſtruQion. » Such were the Egyptians, and Ethiopians or Cuſbttes, as appears both from Sacred and Profane Hiſtories. And this may be here ad- ded as an Aggravation of their impending Miteries, that they who had been for a long time terrible ro others, ſhould now become a contemptible and wretched People. n Heb: of line line, s. e. metted out as it were with Lines ro Deſtruction; of which Phraſe and Cuſtom ſee 2 Sam. 8. 2. 2 Kings 21.13. Pſal. 60: 6. Iſa. 34.11. oBy Divine Sentence, and to be trodden ' down by their Enemies. p Which may be taken, either, 1. literally, becauſe Egypt and Eth/opia were frequently overfl wed by thoſe two great Rivers N ger and Nilus 3 although that overflow was rather an Advantage to the Land,by making it frui:ful, than a Miſchief: Or, 2. metaphorically and prophetic:Ily, of the Aſjrians or Bavyloutans breaking in upon them like a River, and deſtroying their Land and People ; of which ſee more on Ezek: 30. For Powerful Enemies invading a Country, are oft compared to a River, as 1/3: 8: 74 8« © $9. 19:
Jer, 46. 7, 8.
And ſe the Coherence ſeems ro be clear, ! ppointed fer this Work,
2 All ye Inhabitants ofthe World, and dwellers on the earth, ſee ye q when he lifceth up an eſingn on the mountains, and when he bloweth a trumpet 7, hear
ye /.
q Take notice of what I ſay, and God will do: Or, 2: ſhall ſee it ; you ſhall be Eye-witneſſes of this dreadful Wo or Judgment which I am bringing upon the Pcople of whom I have ſpoken- The Prophet doth in a manner ſummon all Nations to bear witnels of his Prophecy, and of the accompliſhment thereof. 7 When God ſhall gather together the Nations, as it were by the lifting up ofan Enſign, or by the ſound ofa Trumpet, ro execute his Judgments upon this People. Heb: as when a man lifts up an enfign upos the mountains, which men can eaſily ſee ; and as when a man ſounds a Trumpet, they caa hear: no lels viſible and manifeſt or this Judgment of God be. / Ye ſhall hear it, as 1n the other
1anch,
4 For ſo the LORD ſaid unto me, I wili take my reſt
aclear heat || upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harveſt y.
£ I will fit till, and not beſtir my ſelf,cither to help this Peo- ple, or to hinder their Enemies. God is ſaid in Seriprure co ref or fit fill, when he doth not work on the behalf of a Perſon or Peo- ple ;; as, on the contrary, he is ſaid zo beftir bimſelf, when heaQs fer them. « Or, 7will contemplate, or look upon them, to wit, the People of whom I am here ſpeaking. So it is only an Ellipfis of the Pronoun. Now God's looking in Scripture is variouſly uſed ; ſometimes in way of Favour and Mercy, as P/al: 25: 18. 1ſa: 66.2, &c. and ſometime in a way of Anger and Judgment, as Exod: 14, 24. Pſal: 25.19, and,'as I humbly conceive, in this Place, IT know ſome learned men render this and the next word, 7 will look upon my dwelling place, and interpret the Place of Gods gracious Reſpe& to his Church or People, ro preſerve and deliver ic in the midſt of all the Confuſions and Cumbuſtions that happen in the Warld. Which interpretation ſeems altogether unſuicable to the ſcope and buſineſs of the Chapter, which in all the foregoing and following Verſes ſpeaks of another ſort of People, even of the Egyptians or Ethiopians, of whem therefore this Verſe alſo muſt be underſtood or otherwiſe we make a breach in the Context. x In heaven, the Place where God dwells, and where he is ſaid to hear Prayers, x Kings 8: 30, 32. as here to conſider Men and Things, as elſewhere he is faid_ to 4e2ar and to look from Heaven, as 2 Chron: 6: 21. Iſa: 63: 25.the Hebrew Particles beth,in and mem,from,being put promiſcuouſly one for another, as hath been noted before. y The ſenſe is, That God would look upon them, as the Sun with clear Heat looks v. pon Herbs, &c. But this may bz underſtood either, r. in way of Mercy, 2$ moſt take it: And ſo the ſenſe is, That God would look out and ſhine forth upon his Church and People,and be as com- fortable and refreſhing to them, as the dear heat which ſhines upon the Herbs; or, as others render it, after the rain, or, as cloud of aew is m the heat of harveſt ; Or, 2. in way of Judgment; And fo the ſeaſe is, That Gq4 would look upon them with as uncomfort- able an Influence as rhe Sun with a d:ar heat upon the Herbs, which are ſcorched and kilked by it ; and #s a cloud of the dew, which brings Dew er Rain, 71 the heat of Harvefl, when it is unwelcome and hurtful, And this ſeaſe ſeems beſt to agree with the following
A
L am about to do with
following Judsment upon them. & not by Which agrees well to the
ter People. Or, | not that tncy
in a great meaſure, through the
doth nor fignifie a natural want of |
EF # i
5 For afore the harveſt z, when the bud is per- fet, and the ſowre grape is ripening in the flower a, he b ſhall both cur of the ſprigs with pru- nNing-hooks, and take away and cut down the branches c.