e This is either a Reaſon why they ſhould be ſo ſafe, or elſe a De- claration of their Reſolution to take this Courſe, that it may be fo with them, and (o the Hebrew Particle may be rendred certainly, f It is a received Rule, that they ought, and 'tis a conſtant Prattice with the Nations they will pray to, depend on, and ſerve their Gods, ane think by this Courſe to receive their expetted Bleſſings ; they are con» {tant to their Gods, Fer. 2. 11. g Seek the Lord, embrace his Law and Worſhip,wait on him as the Fountain and Giver of all Good,as he is the Lord who can give 15 Vines and Fig-trees, and can giveus Srfety under them ; as he is 07 Go.l,and engaged by pramile to do all this for us, 1-7 his Name we? w?ll alt, ail ty figlh we be fs and <njoy all Card , Fy cy fronts
by his Spirit and Word, and Officers he hath appointed, unto the end
Cha P. [.
rebuke ſtrong Nations afar off « 3 and * they ſhall beat * Joel; their Swords into Plow-ſhares, and their ſpears into || 10. pruning-hooks x : Nation ſhall nor lift up a ſword againſt |)
Or, ſithes.
Chap. IV. M IT C
a6
from im * Te 0 2
though we have done io, {/1,. 2.5, Or 7, This was in Letter and in part tultlled, when upon their Return ont of Captivity they did abandon all taife Go.ls, and worthipp'd Gal alone. And *tis fulfilled more eminently in all the 1Fael of God, who turn from dumb
1dols to ſerve the living and true Go:l. þ Unchangeadly, through the Succeſhon of Ages among the reitored Jews, and the redeemed Gentiles. "20 | :
6 In that day i.faith the LORD, * will I aſſemble & her that halteth!, and I will cather ker that 15 driven out 72, and her that 1 have aillicted #. |
; Called wer. 1. laſt, or latter Days, let. b. vid. In the Day wherein 1 ſhall reftore my captived People,and in the Day I ſhall redeem mine Ele&t. & Firſt, and in part by the Editts of Cyrus, Darius, and Ar- tix2rx2s, for the Releale of the Captives, their Return to Feruſalem, and for the rebuilding the Temple, and for reſtoring the Worthip of Go; but more fully by the preaching of the Golpe], publiſhing Sal- vation by Chriſt to whom the gathering of the Gentiles was tO be, Gen. 49.10. I Vid, Zeph. 3. 19+ weakned with the hard Ulages of oppreihng Conquerors, who were as lame ones, unable to walk; ſuch were the mmpoveriſh'd Jews 1n the Babyloniſh Captivity, utterly unpro- vided for io long a Journey ; and it's likely they were unrelolved to0, whether to go or not £0, halted between a Debire of going, and a Fear of the Difficulties that would unavoidably attend their Poverty. Now the Bounty and Favour which God moved 1n the P:rfuun Kings toward the Jews, was ſuch,-that thele Poor weie encouraged to ſet torward on the Journey. This Word 15 tO this day tulnlled,in that Chriſt doth by the Power of his Word and Spirit make his People 4 wiling Peo- ple, determines their Reſolution, and enables them to perform it, and to give up themſelves to God, m In this Phraſe, 1 will gather, Qoes God by Eb, 28, 24. promiſe the Recovery of his People trom Captt- vity, and ſv does Fer. 31. $. almoſt in the ſame manner promiſe the reſtoring of captive Fudah. Here they are ſzid to ve driven 0ur, i. 0. of their own Land, into a ixange Land, where they are Captives, Fer. 8. 2. and 16+ 15. and 23.3. and 24. $,9. and 29. 14. and Ezek. 4s 13. The Lord will by his Power ai:d Goodneſs gather thole whom Nebuchadnezzar. atrered through his xingdom, and Chrift will much more gather to his Fold thoſe who were Captives to Satan. = This in the Letter refers to waſted and inmpoveriſhed jj 42], on. whom God laid an Afiction 0i ſeventy Years.
2 7 And 1 will make her that halted o, a remnant p, and
| Da. 7+ her that was cat far off q, a ſtrong nation ry; and * the
,, LORD ſhall reign over them in mount Zion s, from hence- ©" forth even for ever f. Es
o See this Phraſe opened, Zephe 3. 19. and in this Chapter, ver. 6.
let. 1, þ Which as they were preſerved for a Seed, ſo they ſhonld as
fruitful Seed take Root and increaſe,and continue to the Coming of the
Mcfſiah. q That was caft off by. God, and by the Hands of Babylonians
were carried away Captives into remotelt Parts of the Babyloniſy King-
dom. 7 So the Jews did grow up in Multitudes and Strength, as ap- pears by the Jewiſh Wars, which were by them waged in the Days of the Maccabees, s The true God, Lord of Heaven and Earth, ſhall be their God alone, him they ſhall obey in his Worſhip, Law, and Tem- ple in Feryſulem. t i.e. Jo the End or Period fixed for the Moſaic and Legal Infſtitutions,for a very long time, not ſimply for ever. This was partly fulfilled to this People in their Return, and Re-eſtabliſh- ment in their own Land, and in J-rufalem ; but the final,full and eter- nal Accompliſhment hereof is nuw fulfilling, and ſhall continue fo, un- der the Aeſjah, till fulfilled in the gathering ail the Elett to Chriſt in
Grace on Earth, and in Glory in Heaven, 4
8 © And thou, O tower os the flock 4, the ſtrong hold of x the daughter of Z:on y, unto thee ſhall ir come, even the firſt dominion =, the Kingdom ſhall come to the davghtcr of Jeruſalem.
u Some refer this to that Tower Eder, in the Neighbourhood of
Bethlehem, built there for the Shepherds convenienter watching, over
their Hlocks. 'The Prophet may poſſibly allude to this. In the Church,
Chriſt's Flock, there is a Tower built tor Defence of his Hock, but "tis
that Name which is a ſtrong Tower, to which the Righteous run, and
are ſafe. But there was a Tower of this Denominarion in Feruſalem, through which Tower the Flocks of Sheep were driven into the Sheep-
Market, this one Tower by Synechdoche put tor the whole City Feru-