r God may juſtly puniſh thoſe who do the things which he hath commanded them to do, if they do it not in that manner which he direQeth, or, if what they do, be not done in obedience to his Command, but in fatisf:&ion to their own Luſts, which was the caſe of the Aſfjrians, 1/a.10.7, / Some refer this to the puniſhment of the Aſſyrians in the deſtruftion of Sexnacheriband his Army inthe time of Hezekiah, but the Prophet ſeemeth here to ſpeak of a de- firu&ion of &ſjrta, which followed after his devouring of the Ter Tribes, from whence we may conclude, that 4ſjria was deſtroye4 before the time of this Revelation. | ;/ ;
19 And I will bring Iſrael again to his habitation r, and he ſhall feed on Carmel and Baſhan, and his ſoul
ſhall be ſatisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead s. - ; £ This muſt be underſtood of Judah, which was part of thar People who were called [rael, for to this day we have neither read nor heard of the Ten Tribes being brought back again to thelizr habitation. « The only difficulty 1s how it is ſaid rhar the' Jews upon their return ſhould feed upon Carme! and Baſban, and Mount Ephraim and Gilead, which were places that belong'd not to the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin : to which it is anſwered, that theſe places were granted to the Jews by Demetrius the Father and the Son, as we are told by . Joſephus, 1-13. c.5.8, Theſe places were rich Grounds .for feeding Cartel; therefore ir 1s ſaid rhey jhal feed bn Carmel and Baſhan, &c. IR RIP on hor DoS 20 In thoſe days, and .in. that; time, faith the LORD, the iniquicy of Iſra21 ſhall be ſought for, arid. S x” 2 | there
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w Some here reſtrain the term iniquiry ro *be 1!olatry of the Jews,
which indeed was their great fin, which God did more eſpecially unifh them for, and after the Captivity of Babylon, we do nor read of their off:nding in thac kind, which was according to the Pro-
phecy of 1/aia\, Iſa. 27. 9. that when God ſhould make the Stones
ne Ty under, the Groves and ofthe Altar as Chalk-ones that are bearen a , th - t the laſt words ſcem to guide
mages ſhould nor ſtand up. x Bu : —_ a Donn ſenſe of the term iniquity, and to point us to another ſenſe of the whole former phraſe, viz. That God would no longer puniſh the ſins of ths Jews, they ſhould be ſought for as to punith- A 14 thoſe words and noe muſt be under” ſtood as if noze, they ſhall be puniſhed no more than if they had none. x For as to thoſe whom I ſave from the Captivity of Babylon, Twi! pardon them, not that they were all excuſed from the obligation their ſins laid them under as to Eternal Death, bur that ther Temporal puniſhmen: was remitted to the whole Body of rhe Jews ; and thoſe that were truly penirent alſo, ſhould be diſcharged from their obligation to Erernal Death. The obligation thar ſin layeth the ſinner undec to Erernal Death may be remitted, and yer rhe temporal puniſhment due to them may remain, 259m. 12,13, t4,0And on the other ſide the puniſhment in this Life, may be ſuſpended or remitted, and the obligation, ſin layerh the finner und-r to Eternal Death,
TY : © Go up againſt the land of || Merathaim y, ever
againſt ir, and againſt the inhabicants of || Pekod y, WR and utterly deſtroy after them, ſaich che LORD, and do according to all thit I have commanded
0, thee &.
- There is ſome Diſputes amongſt Interpreters, Whether the words here M:rathaim and Pekod be to be taken as common Nouns, the one ſignifying Rebels or Rulers, the other Yi/tation, becauſe the Chald:ans were Rebels againſt che Lord, and were great Rulers over all the contiguous Nations : Or whether they be proper Names of ſome places which Cyrus piſſed by, or, it may be, took in, and conquier:d in his way to Babylon. z The latter are Gods Words by his Prophet, like the Former commanding him with his Armies to and deſtroy them flying away, or them that ſhould ſucceed after them, their whole Poitecity ; intimating Gods deſign utterly to deſtroy them, which deſtrutiva was gently begun by Cyr, and perfected by Darius. |
22 A ſound of battel is in the land, and of great
deſtruction 4. @ Thar is in the Land of Chaladea. 22 How iz the * hammer of the whole earth cut aſun-
der and broken? how is Babylon become a deſolation
among the nations b * b The latter pact of the Verſe expounds the former, God had
made the Babylmians his Hammer, to break other Nations in pieces, now it was i ſelf broken ; the Particle how may be underſtood either as expreſſing triumph and rejoycing, or admiration, Or as inquiring how ſuch a thing could be in rhe laſt ſenſe. The mext Verle is an
anſwer to this. 24 I have laid a ſaare for thee, and thou art alſo
taken, O Babylon, and thou waſt not aware, thou arr E ” 8 , 1 = , Aa P found, and allo caught c, becaufe thou haſt ſtriven
againſt the LORD #- ; |
© We arerold that Cyr with his great Army diverted the River Evphrates, ſoashis Army palſed over and furprized the City ſo ſud- denly that thoſe in the midſt of it, did not know it when part of the City was alre:dy taken; God dire&ed Cyr: to this Stratagem for the taking ofthe City, which the Propher calls a ſnare, wherein the Babylonians were taken. d The reaſon of this unexpetted ruine to this great People was their ſinning againſt the Lord, v. 14. which is here call'd a ſtriving againſt him, as indeed all fin is.
25 The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation : for this 5s the work of the LORD God of hoſts, in the land of
the Chaldeans e.