the Goſpel in which ali chat is bere ſaid was or will be remarkably fulfilled. And therefore as the foregoing Chapter doth dire&ly and literally ſpeak of Chrift, ſo dorh this literally ipeak of the Church of Chriſt, or of the Kingdom of the Mefſliah, of whom the ancieat Hebrew Do&ors underitood it. And this Church,conſiſting at firit of the Jews, andafterwards of the Gent:les, who were incor- porated with them into the ſame Body, he calleth barren,nor becauſe it ow was fo, but becauſe before and until the coming of Chriſt ar had been ſo, as Simon is called the leper, Mat. 26. 6. atter he was cured. Now this Church of the Fews. might well be called,and had been, barren, becauſe the ſincere converts brought forth to God by her Miniſtry had been but few among tie,Fews comparatively, and | ſimply few among the Gentiles, b The Chureh or Congregation of the Gentiles, which in the times of the Old Teſtament was deſolate, þ having neither Ausband nor Children, doth now under the Goſ- | pel bring forth unto God a far more numerous poſteriry than |
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H, If Chap. [] | SETS T_T NOTTS ſupernatural Power of God, was enabled to bring forth a number: WH\NTER leſs 1fTue : or to that remarkable paſſage of Gods Providence concer- WH ning Hannah and Peninnah, 1 Sam. 2. 5. the barren hath born ſeven, and 'j Jhe rhat hath many Children is waxed feeble. Ee (8EI0TEG 2 * Enlarge the place of thy tent c, and let them & * Ch. 488i ſtrerch forth the curtains of thine habitations: ſpare '9» 39 | nor, lengthen thy cords,, and ſtrengthen, thy ſtakes e. ji , © Thatir may be capable of the Gentiles, which ſhall flock to thee in great numbers,and deſire to aſſociate themſelves with thee.d Thoſe ro whom that, work belongs... The meaning is, they, muſt and ſhall be ſtretched our. ;. e That they may, be able ro. ſupport that great weight which, the Tents thus enlarged, ſhall be upon them. | -. 3 For thou ſhalt break forth f on the right hand, and ---, AWNG on the lefr g,, and thy feed þ * ſhall inheric the Gentiles * Ch. MII z, and make the deſolate cities & to be inhabited. ..., . - - 4 5» $WWImg f Thou ſhalt bring forth a multirude of Children; for this word is L414 | commonly uſed of any great and, extraordinary propagation of liv= ing Creatures, whether B:aſts or Men, Gen. 30. 30. Exod 1. 12. g On every ide, in alli the parts of the World.. þ Either, x. Thy. ſpiritual ſeed, the Church of the, New Teſtament, ,, which is ac- counted Abraham's Seed, or Children, Gal, 3. 7, 8, 9, 29.Qr 2. Thy, natural ſeed, Chriſt and his Apoſtles, arid other Miniſters. who were Jews, by whom this work was ficſtand moſt eminently done, # Shall ſubdue the Gentile World to the Church, and ro the Obedt= ence of the Faith. & Thele Cities and Countries which in a ſpi- ritual ſenſe were deſolate and forſaken by God. .., : * ,.: « . 4 Fear nor, for thou ſhalt not be aſhamed 1: neither be thou confounded, for thou ſhalt not be put to ſbame: for thou ſhalt forger the ſhame of thy * youth .,and ſhalr not remember the reproach of thy widow-hood » any more. ©) 0 ONE IE PER SE I For that Barrenneſs and Widow-hood, which once was the mat= ter of thy grief and ſhame,becauſe now thou ſhalt be delivered from: it, and God will own thee for his Wife, and begert Children'of thee ; as it is explained in the following Words. m It ſhall be for gotten both by thee and others: thou ſhalt nor be upbraided with thy tormer barrennels in thy youthful ſtare, nor confounded and rormented with the remembrance of it ; both remembring and forget« ting inScripture uſe connote or comprehend thoſe affections which naturally and ufually follow upon them ; ſo great ſhall be rhy fer- rility and felicity, that it ſhall cauſe thee to forget thy former un-
4. the Gentiles become
| fruitfulneſs and miſery, as Men commonly - co in like Caſes, as | Gen. 41. 51. Job 11. 16. Iſa. 65. 16. John 16. 21.. n That time and ſtate when thou werrt like a Widow diſconfolate and deſlate, forſaken by her Husband, and having in a manner no Children which wasa great reproach, eſpecially among the Jews. ; + »- | 5For thy maker ozs thine husband p,( the * LORD of hoſts q zs his-name ) and thy redeemer the holy One of Iſrael, the God of the whole earth » ſhall he be called.
o He who made thee our of nothing, and therefore can eaſily ful- fil all theſe Promiſes, how unlikely foever they ſeem to be; and he who made thee a People, and, which is far more and better, his People, and therefore will nor eaſily nor utterly forſake thee. p He will own thee forhis Spouſe, and will do the part of an Husband to thee. 9 Who hath the ſoveraign command of all Men and Crea- tures, and therefore can ſubdue the Genriles to thee, and can make thee to encreafſe and muſtiply in ſo prodigious a meaſure, even in thine old age, notwithſtanding thy barrenneſs in the days of thy youth, of which he ſpeaketh in the foregoing verſe. » The God and Father of all Nations, whereas formerly he was called only the God of Iſrael, and the Gentilzs had no ſpecial Relation to him, nor In- tereſt in his Covenant and Favour, as was obſerved Pſalms 147. 19, 20, and clſewhore.
6 For the LORD hath called thee s as a woman t for- ſaken « and grieved in ſpirit x, and a wife of youth y, _ when thou * waſt refuſed z, faith thy God a. *Tex 35.1
s To return and come again to him. # When thou. waſt like a Woman forſaken. Or, as an Husband recalleth his Wife. « By ' her Husband, who hath given her a Bill of Divorce. x For the loſs of her Husbands Favour and Society, and for the reproach at- tending upon'it. y Or, and, as ( which note of fimilitude is ſfup- plied here by the Seventy, and Chaldee Interpreters, and is eaſily. underſtoad out of the foregoing clauſe, in which it is expreſſed } a Wife of youth, 5. e. as readi'y and affeQionatly as an Husband re- calleth his Wife which he married in her and his own_ youth, of
*Luk.1.
as is manifeſt from the following words, and eſpecially from wer. 5. |
Jew:ſh Church and State after their return frem Babylon, yer the magnificent and g'oriou»Promiſes here following do ſo vaſtly exceed | d, or diſmiſſed, or deſpiſed by me, and thar juſtly, yerT had mer-. Diſtractions, and Troubles, as ail rhe Hiſtories of thoſe times aſſure -. fuſe Jn jojed by Y, Jett
aſſured to her, rhat it muſt nec-flarily be referred ro the times of |