9 And 1 will bring a ſeed out of Jacobe, and out of Judah f, an inhericor ofmy mountains g : and mine e- lect þ (hall inherit it, and my ſervants ſhall dwell there.
e No ſeed beareth a proportionto the tree, or plant that it protlus ceth, but in compariſon with that is very little, yer it is enough through the vertue which the God of nature hath pur into it,to pres
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the Jews, they might nor touch their fleſh, Lev. 11, 28. but they | taking the meaſures of their duty from their Appetite, or from their | Reaſon, concluding from natural Principles, made no Conſcience |
of the poſitive Law of God. This was their iniquity which is fur-
ther aggravated in the next verſe. | 5 Which ſay, Stand by thy ſelf, come not near to me,
noſe r, a fire that burneth all the day. |
9 Though they were ſo exceedingly guilty, yet they pretended to a ſingular San&ity, ſo as they would not ſuffer others to come near, or touch them.” The Samaritans are uſual'y charged with this uncharitableneſs, and the uſe of this form of Words, but as ſome do more excuſe the Samaritans than 'the other Jews as te this rigour ſo it may be queſtioned wherher they were nor at this time carried into Captivity : and certain it is, that amongſt the Jews there was ſuch a generation from whom the Phariſees in our Savi- ours time were derived, and this was the reaſon of their not eating,
- except they waſhed, when they came from the Market, Mark 7, 4. leſt per-
* *
4 *
adventure they ſhould there have touched ſome Heathen, or ſome perſon who was legally unclean. » Thus they eſteemed themſelves holfer than others, though all their holineſs lay in th:ſe rituals, and thoſe too ſuch as God never commanded. And indeed thoſe who moſt exceed in ſuch ritual Holineſs ( lying meerly in a ſeparation from others, by the uſage of ſome unwritten traditions) come moſt ſhort in moral and true Holineſs : For of theſe God ſaith, Theſe are & ſmoak in my noſtrils, a fire that burneth allthe day ; thatis, a continu-
; promiſe of God lives in a few,when the generality of a people for their { ſinsare caſt off and deſtroyed. The favour of God to men, an
the promiſe of God to good men, lived iti one family of Lo#, when for I am holier than thou q: Theſe are a ſmoak in || my , the tive Cities were burned, and in the one family of Noah, when
al provocition to me : as ſmoak is an offence to our, Noſes, Prov.1o. 26. |
which ſeemeth to be the ſenſe rather than what ſome make, who ' | | l . Vally of Achor & a place for the herds to lie down in,
| ; for my people that have ſought me /, 6 Behold, it is written for me s, I will not keep fi-| Y - PEOPLE INE INES OUS ME
make it a threatning of Gods wrath ſmoaking againſt them, which is ſufficiently expreſſed in the following verſes.
lence t ; but will recompenſe even recompenſs inco
their boſom « 5
s They may think that I take no notice of theſe things, or if [ take any notice, I will forget them, or at leaſt notenter into judg- ment with them for them ; bur I as certainly know and will re- member them, as Princes or great men that record things in writ- ing which they would not forget.And they ſhall know that I know, and take norice of, and will remember them ; for : I will not long negle& the puniſhment of them, though for a while I havedelayed it like a man who bires in his wrath, for ſome wiſe reaſons which are known unto himlſe)f beſt. Pſal. 50. 21 » My puniſhment of them ſhall be ſevere, and certain; bur yer it ſhall be juſt,bura giving them what is their own, as they are obnoxious to my Juſtice, Fer. 32, 18. Deut. 7. 16. like the payment of an Ox for an Ox,Exod.21.36. ( where the ſame word is uſed) rhey have been froward againſt me, and I will ſhew my ſelf froward againſt them, Pal. 18. 26.
7 Your iniquities, and th- iniquities of your fathers together x( ſaith the Lord ) which have burnt incenſe upon the mountainsz, and biaſphemed me upon the hills z 3; therefore will I meaſure their former work into
their boſom «4. |
* Yea, and when I reckon with them, I will puniſh them, not only for their perſonal ſins, bur for the ſins of their Parents, which they have teſtined their approbation of, by continuing in them, and £ made them their own, by an apilh ſinful imitation. y Their Fa- thers burnt Incenſe upon the mountains, there performing to Idols that homage which I obliged them to pay unto me, or if any of them pretend it was to me, though before an Image, yetit was in a way which I dire&ed them nor, who had appointed them the place where I would be worſhipped. = So asthat inſtead of bleſſing, they indeed blaſphemed me upon the hills, inſtead of ſpeiking well they ſpake ill of my name, worſhipping me in a way "#hich I had nor appointed, and for which they only took their copy from dolaters. s Therefore I will puniſh them, and that ju#ly,as he that rendre:h another his due by meaſure, giving meaſure for meaſure, and weight for weight, only they muſt expe& thar{ ſhould not only puniſh the late ſins that they have committed of this nature, bur the former ſins
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' for the flocks, So Jer. 31. 27. God promiſed to ſow again the houſe of | Judah, with the ſeed of man, and with theJeed of beaſt. k The Pally of | Achor had its name from the ſtoning of A4chan there, Jeſb. 7. 26. It is | thonght to have been the firit place the Jews ſer foot in when they
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, .
3
of this kind which thoſe in this nation, that went before this pre- ſent Generation, did commit, and the preient age hath continued in the guilt of. | : :
8 Thusfaiththe Lord,as the new wine is found inthe
| «2.14, cluſter, and ove ſaith, deſtroy Itnot 5, for a * bleſling is
ſerve and uphold the ſpecies to which it doth relate. They are wut a remnant ( ſaith God ) that ſhall be ſaved,ſee Reo. rr. 5. but a ſmall number that ſhall come out of the Captiviry of Babylon, or ( v hich I rather chuſe ) they will be bur a few that ſhall believe in rhy Son, yet they ſhall be enough for my promiſeto live in ; this, Paul argu eth, Rom. 11. as the plant yer lives in the ſeed, when the reot is piucktup, the leaves dropt off, and the Stalk is burnt up, 1o the
the world was drowned; the favour anc promiſe of God ro Abraham