heart of all the Fews. So the Prophet doth by order from the Lord preach againſt the Heathen round about, through the 25th Chapter, and on to the end of the 324 Chapter; after which he is ſent to preach Repentance and Pardon, with Grace and Frvuonr to 1: a6),
zo proclaim the Mefliah's Kingdom, and ro aſſure them of the wounderful Overthrow of their Enemies, the Rebrilding the City
"= i
MI
+ ! ” |
+ -and Temple in greatneſs beyond whatever Uwas, upon the condition they became a Reformed People, aſnamed for former Sins, & loath themſelves, and love the Lord their God, and keep hx Ordinances : which they did not aftar their return, as # evident from the Complaints, Fenaces, and Reproofs which do every where ſound in the Mouths of Haggai, Zachary :»d Malachy,
who lived after the joyful Return from Captivity, and ſaw the ſinful deportment of theſe returned Captives, | Mauch of the Pro.
phet”s Diſcourſes in the 33d, 34th 36th, and ſo on to the end, are Typical and Myſterious, and refer to the Return, as the
blem of our Spiritual Deliverance out of Spiritual Captivity,
CHAP. L
When and where EMtkiel propheſied, 1 — 3. God ſheweth him a viſion of four living creatures, and of four wheels, 4 —=15. The gloriors throne whereon the LORD appeared in the greatneſs of his glory, 16——28,
day of the moneth, (as I was e among the | captives f ) by the river g Chebar þ, that
#- the heavens z were opened &, and I ſaw / viſions 2 * of
God ».
a Thbis does not refer to any particular time before mentioned, tho ſometimes this Engliſh Particle zow connotes particular time ; Heb. is And, ſo the Gr. Lat. but is a Phraſe in uſe on entering upon diſcourſe. b Of the Propher's Age, or fromthe finding the Book of the Law in the eighteenth Year of Joſiah, when the Threats were read which now . were executed on the Jews, according to 2 Kings 22. 16. from which
date to the fifth Year of the Captivity are thirty years; or. in the
2 thirtieth Year of the Chaldean Monarchy, founded by Nabopollaſſay.
-— +. Other Accounts omitted, you are left to your own Thoughts which
"> of theſe two later are more probable, both have very weighty Au-
>= thority for them. And indeed they both concur. and meet in the + fifth Year of the Captivity, and fo either Compuration may without
"22> miſtake be followed. c The Original hath only z» the fourth, conciſe-
* Ty, bur 'tis certainly the Month; but whether in account from Ma-
* reſchuan, Ofober with us, to Sebal, Janwary, or from Niſan, March,
unto Thamuz, July, is more queſtionable ; the latter I gueſs to be the
11ghteſt Account: ſo from N:ſan, which ts part of onr March and Apr:1, == to Tamuz, part of our June and July, will be the fourth Month: and
| this Account in Church-things beſt ſatesthe Prophets deſign. &4'T'was the third Day of our July, probably it was the Sabbath-day, when the Jews would be free from labour; and at leiſure to hear the Pro- | pher; and indeed ſuch Declerations of the Will of God are an Enter-
tainment ſutable to the Conſecration of the Seventh Day to God.
e Hcb. And I, ec. Though a Prieſt and Propher, the firſt by Birth and
lineal Deſcent, the other by extraordinary Commiſſion, yet I alſo
found as little Reſpe& as my Country-men. flnthe midit of the Cap. =X Uvity, ſo the Heb. Idiom; perhaps the Propher rather uſeth rhe Ab-
F firz& ir ſelf, than the Concrete, to expreſ* the Grievousneſs of it.
* They wee Captive, nay Captivity rather, under extream Bondage,
as Darkneſs for Dark. g Either there commanded to dwell, or thither
retiring, that more freely they might lament their own Sins, and Fe- $2 Puſalem's Deſolation ; or what if it were to keep, as they might, their > vabbath,in whichrhef, piteful Baby/onians interrupt chem, and witt: Scorn = 7<quire them to ſing a Temple-Song, Pſal. 137. 3. h<h-4ar a Branch
= O Zphrates, or that part which Chobar adviſed ſhoysd b: -:ade to di- vert the Violence of Euphrates, left it damnify the Sir Es53/ouy, Or
+ Uo . - . bf > M a _ w_- new called Gizlap, ailing out of th+ Mountain Maſrs, py i O! :
OW 4 it came to paſs that in the thirtieth yeat b, in the c fourth moneth, in the d fifth
- | S Vide; * $:
\
|
Em.
and falling into Fuphrates, ſomewhat below a City called by the ſame name Giu/7p or Chaboras; as Ferravinus and Hotomon obſerve. 7 The Firmament or lower Parts of the Celeſtial Arch either really did,or to appearance ſeem to divide, and the contiguous Parts withdrew as a Curtain, to give the Prophet a view of what was within; or were as folding Doors ſet open that he might look jnto that Apartment where this unuſual Sight was prepared. & Expreſt thus in the paſſive, to let us ſee that there was a ſupreme, ſovereign, and divine Power and Authority, by which this was done; 'tis nor faid the Heavens did 0+ Pen, but they were opened. Ir was no Mcreor, Chaſma, or Yawning, which isnaturally a figur'd Semblance of a Breach in the viſible Hea- vens, whence appears a Gulph, or deep and wide Pir to the eve. Tc was not thus, but a ſupernatura] and extraordinary Aperture or Open« ing, wrought by the immediate Power of God, who wasnow appear- ing to the Prophet, and commiſſioning him. Ir might provably be ſomewhat like that which appeared to the Proto-Martyr Strpher!, Af; 7. 56. {Thad a diſtin&, full, and clear fight of what appeared, I w23 awake, and with my Eyes diſcerned what I ſhall now write, {tc things I am about to publiſh, how ſtupendous ſoever thev are; whar I am ſure I faw, and am as ſure they will be accompliſh'd» 2 In the plura), either becauſe they were many diſtin& Viſiors, or becaule tt was made of many diſtinCt parts, each part might feem to be one Viſt- on. » Of God. Excellent and wounderful ; ſo by the Name of God, Heb, expreſs any Excellency, as Cedars of Go, Man of God, or of God, wherein I ſaw God who appeared to rhe Prophet, or eife of God, 3. e. which God did make me to ſee. Je was not a Dream of Man's Brain, *twas a Divine Viſion, either Corporcal or Jatellectual,
2 [In the fifth o day of the moneth p, which was the {tic
q year of king Jehojachins » captivity /.