thing, which he gladly would but could not effe&t; Or as if he wiſhed that to be undone, which was irrecoverably paſt and done; which is a vaia and fooliſh wiſh even in a Man; and much more | are ſuch wiſhes inconſiſtent with the infinite Perfettion and Happi-
neſs of the Divine Nature: But they are only Significations of God's good and holy Will, whereby he requires and loves Obedi- ence, and condemns and hates Diſobedience. 1 Which runs Sweet-
14 All ye * afſemble F your ſelves and hear which among them hath declared theſe thingss ? the LORD hath loved him#; he will do his pleaſure on Babylon &, and his arm ſhall be on the Chaldeans x.
+ Ye Jews, to whom he addreſſed his ſpeech, verſe 12. and con- '
tinueth his ſpeech, verſe 16, 17, &c. F I challenge you all to anſwer
what I have ſaid before and am now a going to ſay agzin. 5 Which |
of the Gods whom any of you have ſerved or do ſtill hanker after ? t To wit, Cyrus, who might eaſily be underſtood out of the fore- going Context, in which be is frequently mentioned, The Pro- noun is put for the Noun, and is uſual both in Scripture, and in Os ther Authors. Now God loved Cyrus, not with a ſpecial, and ever- laſting, and complacential love, for he was an Heathen, and had ſome great Vices as well as Vertues, but with that general Love and Kindneſs, which God hath for all his Creatures, as 1s obſerved, Plalm 145. 9. and- moreover with that particular kind of Love, which God hath for ſuch Men as excel others in any Vertues, as Cyrus did, in which ſenſe Chriſt loved the young Man, Mark 10. 21- and with a love of Good-will,and Beneficence. God had ſuch a kindneſs for him, as to make him a moſt glorious and viftorious General and King, and the great inſtrument for the deliverance of his own People; which was a ſingular honour and advantage to him, and might have been far greater, and extended to the eternal Salvation of his Soul, if he had not wanted an heart to uſe the price which God hereby pur into his hand. And as anger being aſcribed to God, is not meant of the affe&ion, for ſuch paſſions are inconſiſtent with the perfe&ion of God's Nature, bur of the effe&; ſo the Love of God when it is applied in Scripture, to ſuch Perſons as Cyrus, 15not ſo much to be underſtood of an inward affeftion, as of the out- ward effeQs of it; And ſo this Love is explained in the follow- ing Words, by that proſperous ſucceſs which Ged gave him a- gainſt the Chaldeans. u Cyrus ſhall execute that I have appointed him to do for the Deſtru&ion of Babylov, and for the Redemption of my People; which was in it ſelf a good Work: And therefore this isadded, as the reaſon why God loved him. » He ſhall ſmite and ſubdue them. 5
15 I, even Iy haveſpoken, yea I have called him : I have brought him, and he ſhall make his way proſ- Perous z. . |
y.Both the forcknowledge and the execution of this great At- chievement cannor be aſcribed ro Idols, bur to me only. * God will give him good Succeſs in this undertaking» Here is a ſud- den change of the Perſon, from 1 to he, which is very uſual. Or, as others render it, he ſhall proſper in his way : The Prepoſition zn be- ing mot frequently underſtood. -
16 Come ye near unto mea; hear ye this ; I have not ſpoken in ſecret b from the beginning ce: from the time that it was d, there am Te: and new the Lord GOD and his ſpirit f hath ſent me g.
+ That you may the better hear me, as it follows. A ſpeech of God < aan the vs of Men. .b I have not ſmorhered the Counſel and Word of God, but have plainly and publickly decla- red it unto you : Or, I have openly Revealed my Mind to you. See the Norte on /(ajah 45. 19. where theſe very 'ords are ſpoken by God in his own Name, as here by the Prophet in God's Name ; and ſo all comes to one. © Either, 1. From the firſt time that I began to Propheſie until this time. Or, 2: From the beginning ofy taking you to be my People, and of revealing my Mind to ou. See on Iaiah 41.26. d Theſe Words alſo, as well as the for- , =y are the Words, Either, 1- Of the Prophet; and ſo the Senſe ſcems to be this, From the time that I was firſt called to be a
Iy, Strongly, Plentifully, and Conſtantly; and ſuch had been thy ; Proſperity. Then thou hadſt never gone into this Babyloniſh Cap- tivity, nor needed ſuch prodigies of my Power and Goodneſs to | Deliver thee out ofit. m Not properly {o called(or he is not now ſpeaking of their Vertues, bur of their Priviledges ) but thy Peace and Proſperity, as appears by the foregoing Clauſe, to which ' this manifeſtly anſwers ; which is called Righteouſneſs here, as it is alſo, 1 Sam. 12.7. and. Hoſ. 1o. 12. and elſe-where, by a | Metonymy, becauſe it is the Fruit of Righteouſneſs, both of God's Righteoutneſs, and of Man's Righteouſneſs ; as by the very ſame hgure, iniquity is very frequently pur for the fruit and puniſhment ot iniquity. n Infinite and continual. | | 19 Thy ſeedallo had been as the ſand o,and the off- ſpring of thy bowels p like the gravel thereof : his name
| q ſhould not have been cut off 7, nor deſtroyed from before me <5. i