The Resurrection Revealed, Book 3 · Chapter 2 · Section 39
SECT. XXXIX.
WE ſhall conſider onelyonly one place more in Hoſea, and that is in Chapter 3. v. 4, 5. For the children of ISRAEL ſhall abide many days without a King, and without a Prince, and without a Sacrifice, and without an Image or Statue, and without an Ephod, and without a Teraphim: Afterwards ſhall the children of ISRAEL return, and ſeek the Lord their God, and David their King, and ſhall fear the Lord and his goodneſs, in the later days.
§. 1 Note in the firſt place, of whom this is propheſied; viz. of Iſrael, twice expreſs in the Text, as once before, verſ. 1. Therefore the Ten Tribes muſt not be excluded; to which, Lyran ſpeaks well. Poſt vocationem, &c. After the call of the Gentiles, is propheſied the FINAL converſion of the Jews in general; which will more appear by the following particular. As
§. 2 Next conſider the condition this people (of whom the Prophet ſpeaks) ſhall be in, and how long, ere they be delivered. viz. 1. They ſhall many days be without a King, and without a Prince, i. e. without any Civil Politie, either Monarchical, or Ariſtocratical, &c. of their own Nation. Suitably, Grotius well notes, They ſhall have, not onelyonly no King, but no man of their own Nation, endowed with any juriſdiction. The Sept. therefore rightly render foreign by foreign a Ruler. And the Chalde by foreign i. e. And without any that takes, or undertakes the rule over Iſrael. So that this while they have, of, and among themſelves, no State polity at all. 2. They ſhall ſo long be without a Sacrifice, and without a (foreign) Matizebah; which, though our Engliſh renders Image; yet Hierom, Grotius, and our ordinary Steptuagint render it (ſihe altari, foreign) without an altar. To juſtifie whom, therein I have this to ſay, That Mattzebah ſignifies a Pillar or Stone, erected in honor to God, as the root foreign ſignifies no more, but to ſtand, or to make to ſtand; and the Hebrews put onelyonly this difference between it, and (foreign) Mitzbach an Altar; The Pillar conſiſted of one ſtone, the Altar of many. The Pillar was erected for the offering, or pouring out of oyl upon it; the altar was for ſacrifice: And therefore were theſe Pillars lawful, before the ſettlement of the Law by Moſes. See Gen. 28.18, 22. & 31.13, 45, 51, 52. & 35.14, 20. And the Septuagint there renders this erected ſtone by foreign, a Pillar. And (to go on with our Text) ſo long the Iſraelites ſhall be without an Ephod (being part of the High-Prieſts veſtments, worn upon his ſhoulders; put here Synecdochically to ſignifie all his glorious Garments, and by them the Prieſt himſelf, even as the Septuagint renders, without an Ephod, foreign without a Prieſthood) and without Teraphim. Its plural, the ſingular whereof Taraph, in it ſelf ſignifies no more then an image in general. And (as Grotius and Calvin conſent with me) is a word of a middle nature, or acception. For as it is uſed to ſignifie Labans and Micahs images; ſo alſo to ſignifie the image Michol made; and put in her bed to diſſemble Davids being there, when he was gone. Yea, it may here ſignifie (as Hieronymus and Grotius note) the Cherubims. The Cherubims you know are deſcribed Exod. 25. That they had wings and faces, and were ſtretched over the Mercyſeat, looking one upon another; under which was the Ark, from whence was the oracle, or anſwer of God by voice. The Septuagint accordingly in ſome Copies is foreign, without manifeſts, in others foreign, without manifeſtation: And Aquila (as Hieronymus aſſerts) tranſlateth it foreign, Illuminations: And the Chalde ſutable, foreign without them that declare. By all which, of this ſecond part of their deſtitution, viz. without a Sacriſice, without an Altar, or Pillar, without an Ephod, &c. is ſignified, That ſo long alſo the Iſraelites ſhould be without an Eccleſiaſtical polity, a Church polity, or Publick Liturgy of ſolemn worſhip: For I cannot imagine (as moſt do) that here is intended any thing that is idolatrous, or ſuperſtitious, for three Reaſons.
1. Becauſe we ſee in what a good ſence, and to what good ſence every word may be rendered and improved.
2. It is without controverſie, that ſome of the things named by the Prophet, were in the Old Teſtament, good, lawful, and commanded; as the Sacrifice, and the Ephod. Now it is no way probable to me, that the Holy Ghoſt would name a mingle-mangle of Piety and Idolatry together.
3. Becauſe theſe words are intended as a threat, and as an affliction to Iſrael for the long time afore their deliverance ſhould come: But it would be no affliction, nor threat, to take away their Idols and Superſtitions from them. But this would be, and hath been an affliction to them, that they have loſt both their Political ſtate, and their Church ſtate, and ſo abide without Civil Government, and Church Adminiſtrations among themſelves.
§. 3 Out of all ariſeth a ſure Explication of the MANY DAYES wherein they ſhall be without theſe, and without a deliverance. For by this that hath been ſaid, it appears, That theſe many dayes muſt be, as Paraeus well obſerves, more then Seventy years of days, whiles the Two Tribes, called Judah, were in the Babyloniſh captivity. To which, Jerom himſelf (though our Adverſary in our main poſition, to whom we ſhall ſhape an anſwer afterward) I ſay Jerom himſelf doth rationally concur; for he ſpeaks and hints an Argument, Judaeorum quidam, &c. (ſaith he) Some of the Jews expound this Chapter of the Babylonian captivity, in which, for ſeventy years the Temple lay waſt, and at loſt under Zorobabel it was reſtored to its former condition. But we refer it to a FUTURE TIME, SEEING NO OTHER CAUSE CAN BE FOUND why they were forſaken SO LONG A TIME, but their PUTTING TO DEATH THE SAVIOUR. So Jerom. By which words, it appears, he underſtands this place of the time that followeth after our Saviours paſsion. Since which, I am ſure, they never had or owned David, or any of Davids loyns or line, to be their King. But not to ſhew you men, but demonſtration.
1. In their time of captivity in Babylon, they were not altogether without a King of their own Nation. For Jehojakim lived many years in the time of that captivity, And it came to paſs (ſaith the Sacred Story, 2 Kings 25.27.) in the thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehojachin, King of Judah, in the twelſth monethmonth, in the ſeven and twentieth day of the monethmonth, that Evil-Merodach, King of Babylon, in the year he began to reign, did lift up the head of Jehojachin, King of Judah, out of priſon; and he ſpake kindly to him, and ſet his throne above the Kings that were with him in Babylon, and changed his priſon garments, and he did eat bread continually before him ALL THE DAYES OF HIS LIFE. And his allowance was a continual allowance, given him of the King, a daily rate for every day, all the dayes of his life. Upon which words the Old Genevah notes, and our New Annotations, ſay thus. This ſeven and thirtieth year of Jehojachins impriſonment, was the five and fiftieth year of his age; ſo long had Nebuchadnezzar kept him in priſon. And ſo long were his wife and children in Babylon, whom Nebuchadnezzar ſon Evil-Merodach, after his fathers death, preſerved to honor. Thus by Gods providence the SEED OF DAVID was PRESERVED UNTO CHRIST. Thus they; and they ſay well. For of Jebojachin, alias Jeconiah, came Salathiel, a Prince, &c. Jer. 29.2.1 Chron. 3.17. Matth. 1.12. and ſo downward, the Scepter doth not utterly depart from Judah, till Shiloh (Chriſt) comes. Gen. 49.10. Thus you ſee they were not altogether without a King in the time of the Babyloniſh captivity.
2. Nor without a Prieſt, in the ſaid time of that captivity; nor after unto Chriſts time. Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who both lived in the time of that Babyloniſh captivity, were Prieſts, Jer. 1.1. Ezek. 1.3. And after in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, one of the Kings of the Grecian Empire, that ſame famous Mattathias (that ſtood up for the reſcuing of the Jews againſt that Antiochus) was a Prieſt; and Judas Maccabeus was his (on, 1 Maccab. 2.1, 2, 3, 4, 5. And chap. 3. v. 1. And unto, and in Chriſts time there were Prieſts, and High-Prieſts, and Sacrifices, Luk. 1.8. & 2.24. Matth. 26.3. Job. 2.13, 14. And abundantly often in all four Evangeliſts. We conclude therefore, that it is impoſſible …o underſtand theſe many dayes, to ſignifie the time of Iudahs captivity in Babylon; yea, or (as our New Annotations would have it) the time ſince Iudahs return from Babylon, till Chriſts aſcenſion: But theſe many dayes muſt be extended unto the converſion of the Ten Tribes, as well as the two, yet to come. Dr. Mayer with Calvin *On thoſe words, After that long time they ſhall have David their King., ratiocinatively ſpeaks out our concluſion at length of words, thus. Calvin (ſaith he) ingenuouſly confeſſeth, that by David ſpoken of in the Prophets, Chriſt is alwayes ſet forth; and therefore this long time of the Jews, being without a King, &c. muſt be underſtood of the time immediately fore-going their imbracing the Faith of Chriſt; and therefore not of the time of their captivity; for then they had not David for their King. Neither can it be underſtood of the time immediately going before Chriſts coming, and after their return; for then they had Princes, and Prieſts, and Sacrifices. And what remaineth then, but to underſtand it of the time that now is, at the END WHEREOF the Iews ſhall turn to Chriſt! And herein Gualter and Toſſartus follow Ierom.
§. 4 All that hath been ſaid, will be yet made more evident by that ## punctual ſpeciſication of the time, in the next verſe following, when the Iſraelites ſhall be delivered and ſaved. viz. It ſhall be after that (in the former verſe) foreign, in (as Vatablus, Grotius, Arias, and Jerom, renders it) noviſsimo dierum, that is, the laſt of dayes; even as in like manner the Septuagint, and Chalde render it foreign, that is, in the end of dayes. And therefore juſtly doth Lyran interpret this laſt of dayes to be ſub ſinem mundi, i. e. A little before the end of the world. And Rabbi David Kimchi, thus, foreign, &c. "This (ſaith he) ſhall come to paſs in the laſt times, in the beginning of the time of ſalvation, when the children of ISRAEL ſhall return by Repentance. And Dr. Mayer thus, It is ſaid that this ſhould be in the laſt dayes, whereby the time of the Goſpel is alwayes ſet forth; all the time afore being counted old, Heb. 1.1, 2. But theſe Noviſsima tempora, that is, theſe are the neweſt times (this Latine phraſe ſignifying, the laſt times) becauſe all things are new. Yea, and AT THE LATTER END OF THEM the Jews ſhall be new creatures, as are all that are in Chriſt, and then the world ſhall be deſtroyed, and God will make a new Heaven, and a new Earth. If to all theſe, you will hear a learned Papiſt (Alapide) it is worth while; becauſe whiles an enemy to the truth in Hypotheſi, he telleth the very truth in theſi. In the laſt of dayes (for ſo he renders our Text, according to the Old Latin) that is, (ſaith he) In the end of the world, when a little afore, or at the coming of Antichriſt, eſpecially after the SLAYING of him, the ISRAELITES, and JEWES, who clave to him while the ſaid Antichriſt was alive, and reigned, partly by remembring the Sermons and Miracles of Elijah and Enoch; and partly by the Exhortations of other Preachers, ſhall be converted unto Chriſt, even as I have ſaid upon the 11 chap. of the Revelation. For then all Iſrael ſhall be ſaved, Rom. 11.25. So Saint Hieronym. Haymo, Albert. Hug. Lyran, and others. Secondly, I ſidore and a Caſtro, think theſe things to be done in the Incarnation and firſt coming of Chriſt, to wit, INCHOATIVELY. For then A FEW of Iſrael BEGAN to be converted. Others erre, who think theſe things to have been performed in the relaxation of the Babyloniſh captivity by Cyrus. Thus Alapide confeſſeth twice over in his works, the juſt time of the fulfilling of theſe things to wards the end of the world, and at the deſtruction of Antichriſt. But like a Papiſt, he blindly ſuppoſeth, that Antichriſt is not yet come; that ſo his Pope might not be thought to be Antichriſt. But what he hath granted, is enough for our purpoſe, truth ſo far prevailing upon a Papiſt.
§. 5 Thus the perſons, i. e. the Iſraelites, the Ten Tribes, as well as the Two; and the time of their deliverance, being cleared; next for the cloſe of this Chapter, and our conſideration of this Prophet, comes the deliverance it ſelf, viz. they having been ſo long a time humbled by great afflictions; after all, at the time aforeſaid, they ſhall return and ſeek the Lord their God, and David their King. That is, God, and his Son Chriſt; or, God in his Son Chriſt. Even as verynear it their own Rabbins and Hebrew Doctors render it in their Chalde Paraphraſe foreign, &c. i. e. After that the children of ISRAEL ſhall be led by REPENTANCE, and ſhall ſeek the worſhip of their God; And ſhall obey Chriſt, the Son of David, &c. And thus the learned, pious Chriſtians, viz. The Genevah Notes, our New Annotations, and Dr. Mayer, underſtand it, by authority of Scripture. In the latter dayes; Hebrew, the end of dayes, that is, when the world now neer unto an end, they ſhall ſeek David their King; that is, The Meſsias, Chriſt, the Son of David, (Jer. 30.9. Ezek. 34.23, 24. Ezek. 37.24. Mat. 9.27. Apoc. 22.16.) And his Kingdom, in which Davids Kingdom is promiſed to be for ever, Pſal. 72.17. i. e. To the end of the World. For David himſelf long ſince is dead, as the Apoſtle argues, Acts 13.34, 35, 36. when he would prove that by David, mentioned Iſai. 55. and Pſal. 16. is ſignified Chriſt. Nor ſhall David return again, till the Phyſical Corporal Reſurrection of the Saints, before which muſt precede the Metaphorical Reſurrection, that is, the call of the Jews, at leaſt five and forty years afore, as we have before proved upon Daniel, chap. 12. So this returning of Iſrael here meant, is not onelyonly from captivity, but from ſin; as is plain by that which follows; They ſhall fear the Lord, and his goodneſs. Fear here, as commonly throughout the Scriptures, being put for all the inward graces, and worſhip of God in the heart; as to truſt in him, rejoyce in him, love him, &c. and that for his goodneſs, that is, in, through, and for Chriſt; who, as he is called the wiſdom of God, 1 Cor. 1. And the Word of God, Joh. 1. &c. ſo he is the Goodneſs of God; becauſe God is not, cannot, in juſtice be communicative of his goodneſs unto the lapſed ſons of Adam, but in, and through Chriſt, Tit. 3.4, 5, 6.
§. 6 Which things being ſo, they ſpeak of themſelves, that they were never yet fulfilled according to the purport of the Text. For the generality of Iſrael and Judah too, are to this day without a King, without a Prince, without a Prieſt, without a Sacrifice (that ceaſing, at leaſt, ever ſince three hundred ſixty and ſix.) Nor have they inſtead of thoſe Princes, Prieſts, and Sacrifices, ſought the Lord their God, and David, that is, Chriſt their King to fear the Lord, and his goodneſs, as hath been afore expounded. And for the laſt day of Judgement, that is no time for Converſions of ſouls, and reverſions from captivity. Therefore this propheſie in the main of it, is yet to be fulfilled. Thus of Hoſea.