Commentary on Prov Ecc SoS Isa Jer Lam Eze Dan, Ezekiel · Chapter 36
CHAP. XXXVI.
Ver. 1. PRopheſie to the mountains of Iſrael] Better things then thou didſt to Mount Seir in the foregoing Chapter. See Iſa. 3.10, 11. with the Notes.
Ye mountains] That is, ye Mountainers, qui fere aſperi atque inculti. Sed
Nemo aedeò ferus eſt qui non miteſcere poſſit,
Hor.Si moaò culturae patientem accommodet aurem.
Ver. 2. Becauſe the enemy hath ſaid] The Church fareth the better for her enemies petulancies and inſolencies againſt her.
Even the ancient high-places] Or the everlaſting Altitudes. Judaea lay high: the Church is much higher.
Are ours in poſſeſſion] Thus the Edomites triumphed before the victory: So did the Spaniards in 88, and God heard them, as chap. 35.13. for he is All-ear, All-eye, &c. He is jealous for his people, Zach. 1.14. and jealouſy is quick-ſighted, quick-conceited.
Ver. 3. Becauſe they have] Heb. Becauſe and Becauſe, importing earneſtneſſe and heat of indignation. So Levit. 26.43.
And ye are taken up in the lips of talkers] Heb. Ye are made to aſcend upon the lip of the tongue, and upon the evil fame of the people. God takes it extream ill, that his people ſhould be traduced and diffamed; which yet hath been their lot in all ages; but he will not fail to vindicate them, and to avenge them.
Ver. 4. Therefore thus ſaith the Lord God to the mountains] For men there were hardly any left, or not very fit to be dealt with, See ver. 1.
Which became a prey] To thoſe man-eaters, ver. 3. qui diruerunt & devoraverunt, who did eat up Gods people as they eat bread, Pſal. 14.4. making themſelves merry with their miſery.
Ver. 5. Surely in the fire of my jealouſy] Jealouſy is hot as hell, Cant. 8 6. it is implacable, Prov. 6.34, 35. and very vindictive. See Zech. 1.14. with the Notes. Here God ſwears he will be even with theſe Edomites.
Which have appointed my land] This the Lord hath never done with; ſo ill he took it.
Ver. 6. Say unto the mountains and to the hills] To thoſe lifeleſſe creatures he directeth his ſpeech, to ſhew that every creature groaneth and waiteth for the redemption of our bodies: It fareth the better alſo in this life preſent, for the Elects ſake: as it was once curſed for mans ſin, and hath lain bed-ridden, as it were, ever ſince.
Becauſe ye have born the ſhame of the Heathen] This, the Lord could not bear with any patience.
Ver. 7. I have liftd up mine hand] Sworn ſolemnly. Men when they ſweare do ſo, as taking God to witneſſe. Three fingers they do oft lift up and hold down two, to ſignify, ſaith Lavater, that God who is Three in One, hath prepared a place in heaven for ſuch as ſwear rightly; but will thruſt down to hell, thoſe that forſwear themſelves.
They ſhall bear their ſhame] They ſhall be paid home in their own coyn, be overſhot in their own bow, be covered with their own confuſion.
Ver. 8. Ye ſhall ſhoot forth your branches] Re-flouriſh and fructify: the Chriſtian Churches (thoſe ſpiritual mountains) ſhall eſpecially, Rev. 22.2.
For they are as hand to come] To come home out of Captivity, or to return to God by repentance. The fall of Antichriſt cannot be far off.
Ver. 9. For behold I am for you] Or I come to you, and I come with a Cornucopia in mine hand.
Ver. 10. All the houſe of Iſrael, even all of it] The Iſrael of God in the Kingdom of the Meſſiah, totum totum, quantum quantum, not one of them ſhall be miſſing.
Ver. 11. And will do better unto you] This muſt neceſſarily be underſtood of ſpiritual bleſſings by Chriſt: for temporals, they never had the like to thoſe in the dayes of Joſhua, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, &c.
Ver. 12. Thou ſhalt be their inheritance] Yea a type and pledge of that heavenly inheritance, 1 Pet. 1.4. Rev. 21. & 22.
And thou ſhalt no more henceforth bereave them] Provoke God to bereave them.Terra abortiens populos.
Ver. 13. Thou land devoureſt up men] ſc. By peſtilence, famine, ſword, evil beaſts: thou art an unlucky land, an unbleſt country,Girald. Cambrenſ. feral and fatal to thine inhabitants. Heſiod ſaith the like of his country Aſcr…; and Another, of St. David's in Wales, that it is a place neither pleaſant, fertile, nor ſafe. Strabo ſaith the like of Judaea; but with a deſpightful mind, as ver. 5. Thoſe malevolent Spyes ſaid no leſs, Numb. 13.
Ver. 14. Neither bereave thy nations any more] Either by conſuming them, or ſpewing them out, as Levit. 18.28. & 20.22. & 26.20, 22. See what is ſaid of heaven, Rev. 22.3, 4, 5.
Ver. 15. Neither will I cauſe men to hear] I will cut off all occaſions: and remove all ſuch ſtumbling-blocks as whereat the nations daſh and ſplit themſelves.
Ver. 16. Moreover the word] See chap. 18.1.
Ver. 17. When the houſe of Iſrael] Ʋbique Scriptura vindicat gloriam Dei, maxime autem hoc loco; Oecol.This place of Scripture doth ſingularly ſet forth the glory of Gods grace, whilſt it ſheweth that mans deſtruction is wholly of himſelf, his help only of God.
As the uncleanneſſe] As a menſtruous clout, abhorred by all.
Ver. 18. For the blood which they had ſhed] Theſe two groſſe ſins are inſtanced, viz. murther, and idolatry; leſt they ſhould plead, as Jer. 2.35. I have not ſinned, or as Hoſ. 12.8. In all my works they ſhall find none iniquity in me: that were ſin.
Ver. 19. And I ſcattered them among the Heathen] Whoſe idols they had worſhipped, and whoſe manners they had imitated.
Ver. 20. Theſe are the people of the Lord] And theſe are the fruits of their religion. Are theſe the holy people? &c. Lactantius complaineth of his times,Lactant. de opific. Dei. pr…aem. Eraſm. in Lactant. that Gods Truth was evil ſpoken of by the Heathen, becauſe Chriſtians lived looſly and leudly. Whereupon Eraſmus cryeth out, O rem miſeram! Oh lamentable! Even in thoſe purer times the piety of Chriſtians was ſo much abated, that the Goſpel was therefore evil ſpoken of, for the evil lives of many that profeſſed it. What marvel then, ſaith he, that Turkes cry out upon us? that the banks of blaſphemy are broken down in perſons diſaffected to the power of godlineſs?
Ver. 21. But I had pitty for my holy name] So he hath ſtill: or elſe it would be wide enough with us. Some render it I ſpared, or tendered mine holy name: and to free it from thoſe imputations, I freely forgave my people and reeſtabliſhed them.
Ver. 22. I do not this for your ſakes] To do good without reſpect of deſert, is royal; yea it is divine.
But for mine own holy names ſake] God maketh our utter unworthineſs a foile to ſet forth the freeneſſe of his love, in maki…g us worthy whom he found not ſo.
Ver. 23. And I will ſanctifie my great Name] I will recover my reputation among the heathen, by declaring my juſtice in your puniſhment, and my mercy in your reſtauration. God, as he is moved by his own grace to do his people good, ſo he aimeth therein at his own glory.
Ver. 24. For I will take you, &c.] I will effectually call you out of darkneſs into my marvellous light, and cull you out from this wicked world. And this is the firſt thing that God here promiſeth to his Covenanters. More then this, he promiſeth them in the following verſes, Juſtification, Sanctification, and Preſervation, or Proviſion of temporal bleſſings, that nothing may be wanting to them that may make them happy. We ſhould be oft counting of this coyn, telling of this treaſure.
Ver. 25. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you] He alludeth to the legal purifications; eſpecially that made by the aſhes of a red cow mixed with running water, wherewith the people were ſprinkled, and ſo cleanſed from legal defilement, Num. 19. Semblably the Saints, ſprinkled with Chriſts blood from an evil conſcience, by the byſſop-bunch of faith, and ſo waſhed with clean water, (Heb. 10.22.) in baptiſme (the ſaving vertue whereof is permanent, 1 Pet. 3.21.) are juſtified and ſanctified, 1 Cor. 6.11. This bleſſed ſprinkling David prayeth for, Pſal. 51. The Baptiſt alſo and others sprinkled thoſe whom they baptized: both to anſwer the …pes of the Law,Epiſt. 83. and this prediction of the Prophet, underſtood by Hierom of Baptiſme; which is a viſible ſign and ſeal of our being waſhed from the filth of ſin by the merit and Spirit of Jeſus Chriſt, Tit. 3.5.
Ver. 26. A new heart alſo will I give you] For the old heart will never hold out the hardſhip of holineſs: the old fab…ike muſt be taken down, and a new ſet up. See chap. 11.19. a new man both in conſtitution and converſation one muſt be, or elſe he is no man in Chriſt, 2 Cor. 5.17.
And I will take away the ſtony heart] The natural heart, which is hard and refractary; to every good work reprobate. Hord is that which reſiſteth the touch. The old heart is inflexible to Gods Spirit, inſenſible of his word and judgements, and impenetrable to his grace.Aug. Where then is mans freewill? Garriant illi, nos credamus: there is no ſuch thing, beleeve it. Nature is wholly ſtony: it is God alone that of theſe ſtones raiſeth up children to Abraham.
And I will give you an heart of fleſh] i. e. Tractable and capable of Divine impreſſions, ready to every good work, Tit. 3.1.
Ver. 27. And I will put my ſpirit within you] Qui mulcendo & molliendo, who by melting and mollifying your hard hearts, ſhall bring you to a better obedience.
And cauſe you to walk in my statutes] Lex jubet, gratia juvat: God undertaketh for himſelf and his people too, viz. to work in them what he requireth of them. Therefore it is an everlaſting covenant, ordered in all things: and the fruits of it are ſure mercies, compaſſions that faile not, &c. See on chap. 11.20.
A Lap.Ver. 28. And ye ſhall dwell in the land] i. e. In Judaea, or rather in the Church, which began in Judaea, ſaith the Jeſuite well; the Church of Rome then is not the mother-Church; no, though we take it in its Primitive purity.
Ver. 29. I will alſo ſave you from all your uncleanneſſes] This is oft promiſed, becauſe not eaſily beleeved. No article of our Creed it ſo much oppoſed by Satan, as that of the forgiveneſs of ſin by Chriſts merits: which is the very life and ſoul of a Church. All the former Articles of the Creed are perfected in this, and all the following articles are effects thereof: hold it faſt therefore.
And I will call for the corn] I have it at my call: and a Mandamus from me will do it at any time. See Hoſ. 2.21, 22. with the Note.
And lay no famine] Which comes alſo at God Almighty his call, Pſal. 105.16.
Ver. 30. That ye ſhall receive no more reproach] The heathen were oft twitting Gods people with their outward wants and croſſes, as if cauſed by their Religion. So the perſecutors did by the Primitive Chriſtians, and ſo the Papiſts ſtill deal with the New-Goſpellers, as they ſcornfully call the reformed Churches.
Ver. 31. Then ſhall ye remember] The goodneſs of God ſhall lead you to repentance: ſo many mercies heaped upon ſo undeſerving, nay ſo ill-deſerving creatures, ſhall bring you to a deep deteſtation of your iniquities.
Your own evil wayes and your doings that were not good] There are ſome things, ſaith one, that we can hardly forget, viz. our ſorrows and our pleaſures, as Eſau: ſome things we can hardly remember, as our faults, and our friends, as Joſephs Butler. Auguſtine was famous (ſaith another) for two of his works; his Retractations, which are the confeſſions of his errours: and his Confeſſions, which are the Retractations of his life. See chap 20.43.
And ſhall loath your ſelves] Or,Litigabitis intra vos contra ſtagitia veſtra. ye ſhall look upon your ſelves as worthy to be destroyed. Or, ye ſhall ſcold within your ſelves againſt your iniquities.
Ver. 32. Not for your ſakes] See on ver. 22.
Be aſhamed] Abaſhed and abaſed, as was Ezra, chap. 9.6. Ephraim, Jer. 31.19. the Publican, Luk. 18.
Ver. 33. I ſhall have cleanſed you] See on ver. 29.
I will alſo cauſe you to dwell] See ver. 28.
Ver. 34. And the deſolate land ſhall be tilled] As now, bleſſed be God, it is in the Palatinate, and other parts of Germany, though now is no ſmall danger of a new war: quod Dominus avertat.
Ver. 35. This land] Such a change can God ſoon make for worſe or better. Fear him therefore: fear the Lord and his goodneſs, Hoſ. 3.5.
Ver. 36. Then the heathen] Haec jam ex parte facta ſunt, ſaith Oecolampadius. This day is this Scripture fulfilled in our eyes: the ruined Churches are reedified, and the matter well amended by this bleſſed Reformation: and Rome knows it.
Ver. 37. I will yet for this be enquired of] i. e. Though I have promiſed my people all theſe boones, yet I look they ſhould put my promiſes in ſuit, by praying them over. Prayer is an indiſpenſable duty, and muſt not on any pretence whatſoever be neglected.
I will encreaſe them with men like a flock] Plenty of men and ſtore of children is a great bleſſing of God: yet ſome are ready to ſay of them, as that Ruſtick did of his afflictions, when he was told they were Gods love-tokens,Luther. Ah quam velim alios amare, non me.
Ver. 38. As the holy flock] The ſheep that came up for ſacrifice, at the Paſſeover eſpecially: ſo will I multiply the ſheep of Chriſt the true Shepherd.