met annexcd ro it, z. e, with exactneſs and care. be underſtood either, = Thar God would ſo order and ſettle things in His Church, that juſtice and Judgment ſhould prevail, and not iniquity 25 hitheito it had done: or rather, 2. That as God would build up, and preſerve a!l Believers upon that Foundation-Stoney 'o he would ſeverely puniſh, and utterly defrroy all thoſe unbe- lieving Few, who ſhould reject that Stone. For the line and plums met, or the plum'-line, was not only uſed in erecting Buildings, bur alſo in pulling them down 5 thoſe parts of the Building be« ing thus marked our, which were to be demoliſhed ; and there« fo-e 1s uſed in Sc:ipture, to ſignifie the Deſtruction of a Place or People, as is evidear from 2 Kings 21. 13. 1a. 34 n. Lament: 2: 8,
7
2. From the New.7eſtament, where this Text indireQly expounded of Chriſt, as Rom: 9. 22, 33. x Pet: 2: 4. 3. From the laſt Claule, wherein he requires Faith in this Stone, which is not to be given to any meer Man, Jer: 17: 5. and wherein He impli:s. That the Stone was not-yet come, nor to come ſpeedily into the World - whereas Hezckiah was King at the time of this Prophecy. 4. From che uſual praftice of the Prophets, and eſpecially of this Pro. phet, which is, to cotnfort and fo: tifie Gods People, againſt the dread of approaching Calamities, by that great and fundamenta} Promiſe of the Mzſfiah, in whom al»ne all other promiſes a:e,Yea
and Amen ; whereof we have ſeen ſome inſtances already,and ſhalj ſee more hereafter. k Which I have tried, and approved as every way ſufficient tro be a Corner-ſtone, and a Foundation-itone. Such Stones in Buildings uſe ro be choſen with care, and to be throughly examined by the Builder. / Giving not only ſtrength but beauty, and glory to the Building, as Corner-ſtones frequently do Pſal: 144. 12. m Uniting the ſeveral parts of the Building rogerher, making Ephraim and Judah, now ladly divided. one ſtick, Ez.k. 37.19, 24 and Jews and Gentiles, now implacable Enemies,one Church and People. Eph.2:14, ©c. n Upon whom.you may ſecurely Relit ; One who wi!'l not tail, nor deceive you, as your lying Re. Fuges will. o To wit, this Promiſe ; or in this Stone, AS it 1S Ex« plained, 1 Pet: 2:6. p Shall not make- more haſt than he ought
Or, as We {ay, more hatt t'.an good tpecd ; ſhall not haſtily and
greedily catch at any way of eicaping his danger, whether it be,
right or wrong, but thall paijently wait upon God in His way, till
ne deliver him. Withal, here isa plain intimation, that the Mercy here promiſed was not to be given preſently, but after ſome con-
Leraole time ; and therefore, that they ſhould quietly, and Pa
tiently ſubmit to God's W1ll, under their preſent difficulties, and expect the accompliſhment of it in Gods due time ; compare Hage
2.3. The Word here rendred, make haſt, is by the Seventy Tnter-=
preters rendred, be confounded, whom the Apoſtles follow, Rom. g. 3 3-and 1 Pet. 2; 6, either becauſe they thought it moſt convenient,
1 a matrer where the difference was not conſiderable, to follow
that Tranſlation wh ch was moſt uſed, and beſt underſtood by the ge erality of 7ewiſh and Gentile Chriſtians ; or becauſe the ſame Word hath both theſe fignifications in the Eaſtern Languages, as
he moir Learacd, and worthy Dr. Pocock hath proved : or becauſe
the one follows upon the other; and precipitation or haſt, com=
nonly expoſeth Men to ſhame and confuſion; which alſo is implj«
ed mn the following Verſes, wherein the dreadfu! Judgments of God are denounced againſt thoſe, who ſhou'd not believe, and would
nake haſte to p:event or remove their Dangers by any means : hatſoever. 17 Judgment alfo will T lay to the line, and righ-
:eouſneſs to the plummet q, and the hiil ſhal ſweep
way the refuge of lies, and the waters ſhal overflow
Prattices, to eſcape Goa's Judgments, of which we rcad in the | ,j@ hiding place r.
q I will Execute juſt Judgment, as it were by a Line or Plum- And this may
Amos 7:7, 8. And this ſenſe aggrees beſt with the foliowing Clauſe
6 and Verſe. 3 My Judgments. which in Scripture are compared which is not unuſual, both in Scripture, and in other Authors. |. y Judg P P
o a ſtorm: «f Hail or Rain, ſhall ditcover the vanity of all your
crafty and wicked Devices, and ſhail ſweep you away with the Beſom of D- ſtruction, in ſpight of them
18 And your covenant with death ſhal be diſannul-
led s, and your aggreement With hell thal not ſtand ;
when the overflowing ſcourge ſhal paſs through, then ye ſhal be f troden down by it z,
Chap. XXVI1E.
+ Heb. 4
s Made vo'd or of none effect : it fhall ſtand you in no ſtead- treading t Which you flattered your ſelves, that it ſhould not come unto down v
you, ver: 15,
19 From the time that it goeth forth, it (ball take you «: for morning by morning it ſhall paſs over x, by day and by night; and it hall be a vexatien, only |] ro
underſtand the report y.
# As ſoon as this overflowing Scourge or Judgment ſhall from me into the Land, it ſhall aſſurediy, and with the fiiſt, or ſeize upon you ſcoffers, or carry you away,which agrees well, 0 with the Hebrew word, which 1s frequently taken in that Senſe, and with che Mcraphor of a Flood, which is here uſed. Ir ſhall not only come to you, contrary to your preſumption, ver: I5. but it ſhall abide upon you ; and when it hath paſſed over you, it ſhall return again to you, morning after morning ; and ſhall follow you day and night, without giving you the leaſt reſpite» y So dread- ful ſhall the Judgmenr be, that it ſhall ſtrike you with great hor- ror, when you only hear the rumor of its approach, or of the ſad effects of ir, upon-other perſons or parts of the Land,
20 For the bed is ſhorter than that a mar can ſtretch himſelf on zr : and the covering'f narrower, than that
he can wrap himſelf in it z. | z For thoſe lying Refuges, to which you truſt, will not be
take
from- them; no more than a man can ſtretch himſelf ( as theſe
narrow for him, or wrap or keep him wa:m, with-a' covering 0r bed cloaths, which are not large enough for him:
21 For the LORD ſhal riſe up - as in mount * Pe- razim 6b, he ſhal be wroth as i» the valley of * Gibeon ©,
1- From thoſe Scriptures of tne Old-T:ſtament, in which Chriſt is called a Stone, as Plal;u8. 22. 13. 8: 14. Dan: 2: 34, 35, 45+ 43ch:3-9,
OI
chat he may do his work, his ftrange work 4; and bring to paſs his a, his ſtrange act.
=
|| Or,when he ſhall
+h make you go for to undere
th ſtand Doe frine.
+Heb.nar- row when be wrapeis