-anif between Jews and. Gentiles, ard by eſtabliſhing Truth and Righ- fcouſn:{s and Holineſs upon Earth, and by ſubduing thoſe luſts and
+ Paſſions, which are che great diſturbers of Humane Society : which
1. ' wasthe deſign of God in ſending, and of Chriſt in coming into the
1.54 {Warld, r-That defolate-places may berepaired and rep>flefied. Thar IT brit may poſi:1s the Heathen, according to Plal. 2. 8 who were
2 4 WE {pititual ſenſe in a moſt deſolate and forlorn condition.
? PP RICTTS : FEÞ442-7- > Thatthou mayeſt ſay o* co the priſoners p, Go £4.45” Sorth-9-2 to them -that are in darkneſs, Shew your elves : they (hal feed in the ways, and their paſtures TPal%: in all high places r. oo 2: To wit, with power and cffcR, as when God faid, Let there be je * &c, p To the Gentiles who are faſt bound by the cords "of their ſins, aud taken Captive by the Devil at his will, as thisſame Phraſe is underſtood, Iſaiah 42. 7- g Come forth to the light, Te*eive Divine illumination and conſolation; r They ſhal hav: a- *biin@ant proviſion in all places, yea evcnin thoſe which commonly are baprenand unfruitful, and ſuch are both common roads and high + - grounds. | - SKev.7-6:. - 20 They ſhall not * hunger nor thirſt, neither (hal the heat nor Sun ſmite them 5s 3 for he that hath mer- cy on them ſhall lead them 7, even by the ſprings of
water hal he guidethem.
s They ſhal be ſupplied with all good and neceſſary things, and kept from all evil occurrents. # God who hath magnified his mercy to them will conduR them with ſafety and comfort. |
1z And I will make all my Mountains a way, and
my high ways ſhal be exalted #. |
u I will remove all hindrances, and prepare the way for them,
by levelling high grounds, and raiſing low grounds: of which ſee on
Iſa. 40. 3. 4+
F 12 Behold theſe ſhall come from far x : and lo,
theſe from the North, and from the Weſt z, and
theſe from the land of Sinim z,
* My People ſhal be called and gathered even from the moſt re- mote paris ofthe Earth. Ke ſpeaks here, and in many other pla- ces of the Converſion of the Gentiles with alluſion to that work of gathering, and bringing back the Jews from all parts where they were diſperſed, 1nto their own Land. y From the ſeveral parts of the world ; which archere ſynecdochically expreſled, as they are in many other places. x Either of the Sinites as they are called, Gen. 10, 17. who dwelt about the Wilderneſs of Sin, which was Southward from Judea: Or, of Sin, a famous City of Egypt, called the firength of Egypt, which may be ſynecdochically put for all Egypy, and that for all the Southern parts. And ſo he here mentions the ſeve- ral quarters of the Wold, where the generality of the Jews were diſperſed ; the North, which is every where named as the chiei place of th:ir baniſhment and diſperſion, as Jer. 16, 15. and 31. 8. and elſewhere ; the Weſt, the weſtern Countries and Iflands; and the
South. - | O Heavens, and be joyful, O Earth,
13 SINg and break forth into ſinging, O Mountains: for the and will have
Lord hath comforted his People 4, mercy upon his afflicted.
a God hath now ſent that long-defired Conſolation of Iſrael,
14 But Zion ſaid, The LORD hath forſaken me, and my Lord heth forgotten me b. |
b This is an obje&ionagaiuſt all thele £lorious prediftions and pro- miſes hitherto mentioned. How can theic things be true, when the condition of God's Church 1s pow ſo ſad and deſperate, as it was when the Jews were Captives 12 Babylon, in which the Prophet here ſuppoſeth them to be ? | ;
I5 Can a woman forget her ſucking child | that be ſhould not have compaſſion on the Son of her womb ? yea they may forget, yet will I not for-
fet thee c. ; © Eacthly Parents ſometimes are ſo unnatural and monſtrous; but
Cohen
I A H. Chan.
do not entertain ſuch unwerthy thoughts of me. T will re . | : ( thee effecttually, to bring thee out of Babylon, and which is renee greater, to ſend tny Son into the world to work out eternal redem 4 tion for thee. of 16 Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of »y hands 4: thy walls are continually before me e.
d Mine eye and heart is conſtantly upon thee, He alludes to the common practice of men who uſe to put figns and memorials upon their hands or fingers of ſuch things as they dearly affet, and would remember, See Exod. 13. 9g, Deit. 6. 8, Proverbs 6, 21. Cant; 8 6, Jer. 22, 24» | e My thoughts run continually upon the Walls of Jeruſalem, which are now broken down that I may repair them as ſoon as ever the ſet time cometh, and then proceed to do far greater things for thee,
17 Thy children f ſhal make haſte ; thy deſtroy- ers, andthey that made thee waſte, ſhall go forth of thee g.
f Or, as others render it, thy Builders 3 which is favoured by the next clauſe where the deſtroyers are oppoſed to them, Howſoever the ſenſe is the ſame, for her children were her Builders, as we tead in Ezri and Nehemiah. 2 Shal be ſeparted and driven from among thee and ſo {hal neither hinder nor annoy thee, :
18 * Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold : all theſe h gather themſelves together and come to thee. as Thve, faith the LORD, thou ſhale ſurely cloath chee wich them all, as with an ornament k&, and bind
tem on thee as a bride doth. To wit, the Gentiles, as ſufficiently appeareth from wh been already ſaid, and from that which mth, The ſenſe bs Thy Church ſhal not only be reſtored and eſtabliſhed in Jeruſalem, but it ſhal be vaſtly enlarged and adorned by the acceſfion of the Gens tiles to it, i To receive inftruRion from thee, and to be incor- porated with thee into one and the ſame Church. k& They ſhal not be a burden, as the Gentiles formerly were when they mixed theme ſelves with the Jews, but an Ornament in reſpe& of thoſe excellent gifts and graces wherewith they ſhal enrich and honour th Church, _ - 19 For thy waſte and thy deſolate places 1, and the Land of chydeſtrution m2 ſhal even now be too narrow by reaſon of the inhabitants, and they that ſwallow. oy thee up, ſhal be far away ». | #7 Thy own Land, which is now waſte and deſolate, and wh divers parts lay formerly waſte and deſolate for want of app <7" m— them. m - rather, Thy Land of Deſtru&ion, 1o ca:ied becauſe it 15 devoted and ſhal be expoſed t oy yaa [9 's deſtruftion, n To
20 The children which thou ſhalt have, after thou baſt loſt o the other, ſhal ſay again pin thine ears, the PLace #s too ſtrait for me ; give place to me that I may dwell.