| thou haſt done this x ; * Shall the women ear their fruit * Lev. 26: and children || of a ſpan long y ? ſhall the prieſt and the _ Deur. prophet be f!4in in the Sanctuary of the LORD =z ? Jer. go py
* That is, not to Heathen who never owned thee, nor were Chap.4.1o, called by thy Naine, bur to thine own People called thy Portion Ezek.s. "tg and thine Heritage 3 let thy former relation to us, and our former || Or,ſwads acknowledgments of thee,prevail with thee. y» Wilt thou ſuffer, {eg with orſhould ſuch a thing be, as for Women to ſarisfie their Hunger gþcir
with the fruit of their own Bodies, and that when they are very hands young. 2 And ſhall thy Miniſters be ſlain and rhat in thy SanQtu= ; ary ? any humane Blood polluted it, ſhall nor the blood of thoſe that were the Miniſters of God be judged a pollution, and a pro*s fanation of it ? |
2t The young and the old lie on the ground in the ſtreets, my virginsand my young men ate fallen by the
{word: * thou haſt ſlain them in the day of thine an-* Chap;
ger, thou haſt kitled, and not pitied 4. 3. 43+ # None of what Sex or Age ſoever are ſpared ; though the hands of the Chaldeans have done this, yet they have been ſer on and affiſt= ed by thee, and have been but the Executioners of thy wrath and diſpleaſure, | 22 Thou haft called as in a ſolemn day; my terrors round about 6b, ſo that in the day of the LORDS an- ger none eſcaped, nor remained : thoſe that I have {wadled and brought up,hath mine enemy conſuraed c. b As my People were wont to be called together from all parts in a ſolemn day, when they were to meet at Jeruſalem from all Parts of 7udea to now by thy Providence my terrible Enemies or , terrible things are 'by thee called together againſt that Holy City, . Whither thy People were wont to be called to thy ſolemn Wor- | ſhip, c Thou haſt made me as a great mother to bring up many ' Inhabitants that were my Children, and now the Enemy hath con- ' ſumed the far greater number of them. CHAP. HL ' The faithful bewail their Miſery and Contempt, 1 2i, They nouriſh their hope by Conſideration of the Juftice, Providence, and Mercies of Got + 22 38. They fiir up themſelves to Repentance, Patimnce, Prayers, and confidence of deliver ance for themſelves, and Divine wengeance on their Encmies, 39. 6 Go I Am the man & that hath ſeen aflition by the red of
his wrath 6. # Some underſtand this of the Prophet, ſome of the People who were before ſet out under the Notion ofa Woman, a Daughter, here of # man. b Afffliftion muſt here be taken Emphatically . for
2 =p Rion of beauty,, the joy of the wholeearth q?
IE q This was according to God's Threatnings, 1 Kings 9. 8. Jer; 18: 16. and 19: 18. God had poured out all his Bleſſings upon this People, whatſoever might adorn them, or make them happy, ſo as | all People bleſſed the Jewijb Nation : But now the caſe was ſo alte- | red, that all people ſcoffed at them, and hifled, and admired at the
_ _ Change which God had made. :
” 3 x6 * All thine enemies have opened their mouth a-
gainſt thee : they hiſs and gnaſh the teeth : they ſay,
Kg
. » We have ſwallowed ber up: certainly this is the day that 2; we looked for: we have found, we have ſeen it 7.
E * r As Strangors that had nv Quarrels with, nor prejudices againſt | the Jews, paſiag by their Country, and their great City Jeryſalem, deſpiſed and ſcorned ir ſo their Enemies with whom they had former Quarrels, and who had taken up prejudice againſt them,
they. reproached and 3buſcd them, and triumphed in their Ruine, and in the ſucceſs of their Arms againſt them, and bleſſed themſelves | as having now ſ:en the day they had looked and wiſhed for. /
17 The LORD harh done 74: which he had devi-,\
ſed the hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the days of old : he hath thrown down and hath not pitied : and he hath cauſed :bine enemy to rejoice over thee, he harh ſet up the horn of thine adverſa-
TICS FI. s God hath not ſurprized us by theſe Providences, he gave us notice what he would do, and hath done no more than what he ' threatned long fince, Levit; 26: 16, &c- Deut. 28: r5, &c. It is true, hehath (everely puniſhed us, ſo'as in his Diſpenſation there appear no prints of pity, he hath ſer up our Enemies, and hath made them to triumph ovet his People, bur in all this he hath but juſtified his truth, and fulfilled his word. | . x3 Their earth cried to the LORD ?, O wall of the E Jer: r4: daughter of Zion, * let tears run down like a riverday 7. Chap: and night; give thy {elf no reſt, let ot the apple of F-16 thine eye ceaſe «. | ” _.-# They cryed unto God ſeriouſly, though not ſincerely from their heart, though not with their whole heart; either by the wall, or upon the Wall, or ( which is judged moſt robable ) by occa- ſion of the breaches made in the Wall. Upon this he turns his diſ- courſe to the Wall it ſelf, and calls to it, or to thoſe that were u- ponit,” or near it, inceſſantly ro mourn. In the Hebrew it is, ler wt the daughter of thine eye ceale, we call it the 4ppie. The Latines, the Pup:!, or Babe of the Eye. 19 Ariſe, cry outin the night : in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the LORD : lift up thine handstoward him, for
LY BY x *- i
eminent degrees of afflition, cauſed not meerly from the powet and malice of the Enemy,but from the Wrath of God tho brought upon them by the Chaldeans who were to the two Thibes,the Rod of Gods Wrath, as the Aſhrians are called with reference to the ten Tribes, 1/a. 10. 5.
2' He hath led me, and brought me into darkneſs, but
not to light c. |
K © Darkneſs in Scripture ( metaphorically taken) ſignifies 1zno-
rance, Sin and Mſery ; and Light ſignifies Knowledge, a filate of Grace
ora ſtate of 7th and jollity, they are both here taken in the latter | ſenſe, as light is taken, Efther 8. 16. Micah.7. 8. Job 18. 5, Pſal, oy 97. 11. and alſo Darkneſs is uſed, Jer. 13. 16. 2 Sam. 22. 29. Proe 29, 20, Joel 2, 2. Ezek, 32. 8. The ſenſe is God hath not brought me into a joyful and profperous; bur into a ſad and calamitous e«
| ſtate and condition.
3 Surely againſt me is he turned,he turneth his hand againſt me all the day d. +
4 The courſe of Gods Providence toward me is quite altered, his hand, that is, his power which was wont to be with me, and for me againſt my Enemies, is now turned againſt me, nor is it for a moment, or for one ſtroke or two, but his hand is continually againſt me.