The Resurrection Revealed, Book 3 · Chapter 2 · Section 19
SECT XIX.
THe ninth place in Iſaiah is Chapter 43. and Chapter 44. being one entire diſcourſe of the ſame matter (notwithſtanding the diviſion of Chapters.)
In the main and principall deſigne, they treat of the converſion and ſalvation, ſpirituall and temporall of the Jewes, which are yet unfulfilled. We need but touch upon ſome paſſages.
It is ſaid Chapter 43. v. 1, 2, 3. Thus ſaith the Lord that created thee O JACOB, and he that formed thee O ISRAEL, fear not, I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by name, thou art mine, when thou paſſeſt through the waters and fires, thou ſhalt not be deſtroyed, for I am the Lord thy God, the holy one of ISRAEL, thy Saviour, I gave Egypt for thy ranſome, Ethiopia and Saba for thee. Which place if we look upon as an hiſtory of things done, then it will be juſtly queried that though God deſtroyed Egypt (in the book of Exodus) for Iſraels ſake, yet when dealt he ſo with Ethiopia and Saba? Therefore generally and moſt ſafely it is referred (as a Propheſie) to future things, anſwerable to verſe 2. Thou art mine, and I will be with thee in all difficulties. And to v. 4. I have loved thee, and therefore I will give MEN (mark the comprehenſiveneſſe of the terme) for thee. And anſwerable to verſe 5, 6. I am with thee, I will bring thy ſeed from the Eaſt, and gather thee from the Weſt; I will ſay to the North give up, and to the South keep not back, bring my ſonnes from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. And verſe 18, 19, 20, 21. Remember not the former things, behold I will doe a new thing, &c. I will even make a way in the wilderneſſe, and rivers in the deſart, the Beaſts of the field ſhall honour me, becauſe I give waters in the wilderneſſe, &c. to give drinke to my people, my choſen. This people have I formed for my ſelfe, they ſhall ſhew forth my praiſe. For, this giving Ethiopia and Saba for the Jews, cannot be underſtood (as Calvin and the Geneva Notes hint) of the coming up of Perkaka King of Ethiopia againſt Aſſyria, whiles Sennacherib King of Aſſyria was coming up againſt Jeruſalem, Iſa. 27. for theſe reaſons: Firſt, the Angel of the Lord going forth into the Army of Sennacherib, and ſlaying one hundred eighty five thouſand of them (Iſa. 37.36.) was the giving of the Aſſyrians, not the Ethiopians, for a ranſome for the Jewes. Secondly, If that ſlaughter of the Aſſyrians was a ranſome for the two Tribes, yet is it nothing for Iſrael the ten Tribes, ſo often mentioned in this Chapter. Thirdly, As we have no ſacred hiſtory for it, ſo no humane probability, that Sennacheribs Army thus weakned by the Angel, was in a fit condition to war againſt, and to worſt that Army of the Ethiopians then gathered againſt Sennacheribs Kingdome of Aſſyria, or to overthrow Seba. As it is alike improbable, that Sennacherib could recruit the old, or raiſe a new Army ſpeedily enough to encounter with Perkaka, who was then fully ready for fight. The ſtory concludes Sennacheribs retreat from Jeruſalem otherwiſe, viz. That he returned and dwelt in Nineveh, and worſhipping in the houſe of his Idol gods, was ſlaine there by his two ſonnes, Iſa. 37. And in this our New Annotationiſts concur with us, ſaying, That though moſt underſtand this of Gods turning Sennacheribs forces againſt Egypt and Ethiopia, upon the tidings brought unto him of Tirkakas coming againſt him, when he was making towards Jeruſalem to beſiege it (Iſa. 37.) yet wee cannot conceive (ſay they) that to be the meaning of the place. For though it be true that the rumour ſtartled him, and made him thinke of returning; yet was it not that, but the fright he tooke, upon the unexpected blow given in his Camp, that enforced him to flight, not to invade Egypt, or Ethiopia; which he was in a ſorry caſe then to doe; but to get him home with as much ſpeed as hee could into his owne Country, Chap. 31.8, 9. And 37.36, 37. So the Annotationiſts very well. But to that they adde, I cannot well conſent; when they ſay That this of giving Ethiopia and Saba for a ranſome for Iſrael, may well have reference to that remarkable defeat of that vaſt Army, the greateſt upon record in Scripture, given to the Cuſhites under Aſa &c. For this Chapter is a Propheſie of things to come, ſpeaking both firſt and laſt in the Chapter in the future tenſe. If in a touch it ſpeaks in the paſt tenſe, in the middle of the Chapter it is but uſuall in Propheſies to ſhew their certainty, to expreſſe what ſhall bee, as if done already. And it is ſpoken of Jacob and Iſrael, comprehending all the twelve Tribes, at leaſt the ten, and not the two onelyonly, called Juda, over whom Aſa was King: and mentions the ruine of Saba for Iſraels ſake, that they might bee delivered, of which wee have nothing in paſt ſtories. And if this Chapter bee a Propheſie, the ſtory of Aſa his victory aboveſaid over the Chuſhites will not comport with the meaning thereof, Aſa dying many yeers (Bucholcerus ſaith above a hundred and fifty) afore Iſaiah propheſied.
§. 3 Now theſe things afore propheſied throughout this Chapter (further amplified in the following Chapter) were never yet ſince Iſaiahs time fulfilled. At their returne from Babylon, none were ſlaine for Iſraels ſake. Nor at the time of Chriſts being on earth, nor ſince the Turk poſſeſſed Judea; for they returned by the voluntary conſent of the King of Babylon. And from the time of Chriſts being on earth, and downward, till the Turk took Judea, the Romans ſeverall times (as we have ſhewed afore) ſlew them, inſtead of being ſlain for them, as did the Turks (after the Romans) deal with them likewiſe. Nor was the ſeed of Iſrael brought from the Eaſt, Weſt, North, and South, and from the ends of the earth to this day. Where ſtill they are diſperſed &c. as it follows in theſe two Chapters. Nor can theſe things ſuit with the ultimate day of doom.
§. 4 Therefore there remaines yet a time to come, when the Propheſies of theſe Chapters muſt be fulfilled, afore the ultimate day of judgement. There muſt be a diſtinct time on earth when Egypt, Ethiopia, and Saba ſhall be deſtroyed for the deliverance and freedome of Jacob and Iſrael, and not onelyonly theſe, but all foure quarters of the world, and the utmoſt ends of the earth (as it is expreſſe in v. 4, 5, 6.) ſhall be forced to let Jacob and Iſrael goe free. The Lord will (as it is v. 19.) do a NEW THING (which muſt properly ſignifie a thing never done afore) to make way for their returne and liberty, as it is expreſſe, v. 19. &c. (before ſet downe at large.) Which wanton wits may endeavour to elude with Allegories and Phantaſmes of their owne hatching, which neither can convince a rationall Chriſtian, nor deliver the Jewes according to the intent of the Prophet. Who though afore that their deliverance (as in v. 22. &c.) they ſhould not call upon God, as they ought, but ſhould be weary of the Lord, and ſhould weary the Lord with their iniquities, and therefore they are given up to the curſe, and to the reproach; yet after theſe things (as it followes in the 44. Chapter, and firſt ſeven verſes, as an Antitheſis to their ſaid evill condition) the Lord promiſeth, and the Prophet propheſieth it, that they ſhould have a glorious condition, ſaying, Yet now heare, O Jacob my ſervant, and ISRAEL whom I have choſen. Thus ſaith the Lord that made thee, &c. Fear not O Jacob, and thou Jeſurun (the name alſo of the twelve Tribes, Deut. 32.) I will poure water upon him that is thirſty, and flouds upon the dry ground. I will POUR MY SPIRIT upon thy ſeed, and my bleſsing upon thine off-ſpring. And they ſhall ſpring up among the graſſe, as willows by the water-courſes. One ſhall ſay, I am the Lords, and another ſhall call himſelfe by the name of Jacob, and another ſhall ſubſcribe with his hand unto the Lord, and ſurname himſelfe by the name of Iſrael. Thus ſaith the Lord, the KING of Iſrael, I am the firſt, and I am the laſt: Who, as I, ſhall CALL, and declare it, and SET IT IN ORDER for me, ſince I appointed the ancient people, and the things that ARE COMMING, and SHALL COME?
§. 5 Thus you ſee the preſent ſtate of the Jewes, as in the latter end of the former Chapter, viz. ſinfull, and dolefull; you ſee their names, viz. Jacob, Iſrael, and Jeſurun (all names of the twelve Tribes) you ſee what is meant by pouring water upon the thirſty, viz. pouring out of the ſpirit; you ſee what is meant by growing as willows by the water-courſes, viz. by the effuſion of the Spirit, multitudes ſhall own the Lord; you ſee what Titles Chriſt hath, of KING of ISRAEL, and of FIRST and LAST, which are his Titles when he propheſies of his viſible Kingdome to be on earth, repeated ſeveral times in the Revelation. Now then deal ingeniouſly, and compare the expreſſions with the Jewes condition, for above theſe one thouſand ſix hundred and fifty yeers to this very day, and ſee then whether you can indeed, and bonâ fide, imagine that theſe Propheſies have been ever yet fulfilled; or that it is proper, or feiſable that they ſhould be fulfilled at the ultimate day of Doom.