| fome, a very ſwift Beaft, wherein he excels the Lion,and a very fierce and ravenous Creature, wherein he equals the Lion : or a Lionels,ſay Others : but to leave that, God will make the Aſfjyrian a Chirurgion, 3UCh as a fierce ravenous Lion would be to a wounded Man. p Which 15-grown up to hisStrength for Miſchief, and retains his Inclination to Gameſomneſs, or to play with his Prey; ſo ſhould Fudab find himſelf, when caught by this Lion, firſt made a Sport to pleaſe the tyrannous Humour, and after made a Feaft to feed his ravenous Hunger. q The Threat js doubled to aſcertain it, and make it more dreadful ; Divine Ms re by the Afrians ſhall be as a Lion tearing his Prey. r When fatisfied the Lion goes away, flieth:not for Fear. 5s Leaveth not any behind him, carrieth away what he did not eat, ſo ſhould Afyria devour
HOSE A.
: G 6 H A P. VT. :
An exhortation to repentance, and truſt in God, with 4 promiſ» of mercy, I---3. A complaint of their anconſiancy in good ; and their bolancſs in evil, 4——11. L
l Ome a and let vs return unto the LORD b-: for
imitten e, and he will bind us up f.
4 The former Chapter ended with a Declatation of God's Reſolution
to bring his own choſen ones, true J/7aelires, by deep Diftrefles to Re- pentance, and to ſeek him whom they had forſaken ; this Chaprer be- gins with a Declaration of the Succeſs of this Projekt. The Frophet therefore brings them in, exhorting and calling upon one another,and encouraging each other ; the Phraſe you have, Iſa. 2.3. Mich. 4.2,8&c, b Let us be wiſer at laſt, Idols have not profited us, they have been our Sin and our Fall ; we forſook the Fountain of Living-water, when we did forſake the Lord. Let us now, with repenting Hearts, leave Idols, and return to the Lord ; Jet us caft them off, and betake our {elves to the Worſhip, Obedience, Love and Fear of the Lord, the on- ly true and eternal God, &c We now ſee his Hand in all we luffer,and as 'tis his we own it very juſt z we, like froward Rebels, ſought our Help from his Enemies z and he, as he threatned, hath met us, like a Lion, and hath torn us ; his Voice in the Judgment, like the Roaring of a Lion, hath awakened us; and our bleeding Wounds have told us, that God hath done all this againft.us, and all this becauſe we were departed from him. 4 For, beſide, his Mercy inclining him, we know *twas his Deſign, by this Courſe, to recover us to himſelf; and we are aſſured he hath withdrawn his Hand, left us in Perplexities but till we would ſeek, till we would be willing to be healed ; he will be our Phy- fician, and by his Lenitives will eaſe and cure us, now his ſeverer Courſe hath abated our Phrenly. Aſſyrian King could not,but J/rae!*s God and King can and will heal. e The ſame thing in a different $i- mily, God hath wounded. f As a skilful and tender Chirurgion binds up with Plaiſters and Swathes to heal.
In this Verſe it is moſt certain we are to regard both the literal and hiſtorical Senſe, and diſtinguiſh it from the myſtical and accommoda- ted Sen{, in this latter theſe Words foretel the Death and Reſurre&i- on, and future Glory of Chriſt and Chriftians, as 1 Cor. 15. 4. and fo are generally interpreted and applied by Expoſitors. As to the Let- ter, or Hiftory *tis in brief thus: g After ſome ſhort timeof Sufferings for our Sins, or rather when our Sufferings have brought us toRepen- tance and Return to God,our God will ſoon arter ſhew us his Grace and Favour, and revi;e our dead State. It is not needful we enquire how
long time this two Days intends, *tis a certain Time for an uncertain,
two Days for a ſhort time. God doth not delay long when we return to him ; Fer. 31.18, 19, with 20, and Hoj.14.3, with 4. þ Though we were as dead Men, buried in our Mileries, and neither deſerved from God, nor could hope from any other Hand a Reſurrettion and Recovery to a better State ; yet our merciful God will quicken us again : Ezra g. $, 9. expreſſeth their Return our of Captivity in thoſe Words that might well paraphraſe our Prophet. 7 Mercy recovers by Degrees, and thefefore a third Day is added,in which this People ſhall be raiſed up, increaſed, eſtabliſhed, and confirmed ; poſſibly the Pro- phet may allude to the third Day, which is ſaid to bea critical Day to the Wounded, who conceive Hop?s when better on that Day ; or poſlibly it may refer to the third Decree by Darius made to Nehemiab for building Feruſalem, and the two Days may refer to the Times of Cyrus reviving the Fews firſt by his Decree of Liberty, and command to build the Temple z the ſecond Day or Time,that of Darius Hyſtaſpis to Zerubbabel and Foſhua, for building the Temple, in which Work his Bounty revived the Hopes of the Fews; however poor and unable, yet the Temple ſhould be built, and the Worſhip of God reſtored. This was a great Reviving, but their Settlement was upon the third Decree, which was given out by Artaxerxes Longimanus to Nehbemiab, chap. 2. ver. 1. k Flouriſh in Peace, Wealth and Joy ; in pure Wor- ſhip of God, in Righteouſneſs among our ſelves, in Safety from Ene- mies. 1 The Eye of our God being upon us for Good, and we filled with the Fruits of his Favour, inheriting his Promiles here till we fully poſſeſs them in the Light of Glory, |
3 Then m2 ſhall we know », if we follow on to know 0
the LORD : his going forth p is prepared as the morn-
latter and former rain unto the earth 7,
m After that God bath revived and raiſed his repenting and en- quiring Captives, brought them to his Temple and City, reſtor*d his Worſhip and his Law amongft them (all which are Figures of more glorious things to be expetted by the Church of Chriſt after his Re- {lurre&tion.) » Be better inſtructed in the Law of our God, know what Worſhip he requires, is beſt pleaſed with ; This Knowledge of God ſhall be to us a Spring of all holy, righteous, ſober, and tempe- rate Converſation ; ſuch Knowledge, it we obſerve the Scriptures,was
the Land, and carry away the People. t None have C ourzge to at- tempt, or Power to effet a Reſcue, rhe Prey muſt hopelels periſh; fo |
a be with Epbraim and Fudzh, when God appears as a Lion againſt em,