Commentary on Prov Ecc SoS Isa Jer Lam Eze Dan, Isaiah · Chapter 27
CHAP. XXVII.
Ver. 1. IN that day] The day of Gods great Aſſize, and of execution to be done on the enemy and the Avenger, chap. 26.21. Now we know how well people are pleaſed, when Princes do Juſtice upon great Offendors.
The Lord with his ſore, and great, and ſtrong Sword] Heb. With his Sword, that hard or heavy one, and that great one, and that ſtrong one: that is, with his Word, ſaith Oecolampadius, who by Leviathan here underſtandeth the Devil, who is elſewhere alſo called the Serpent and the great dragon, Rev. 12.9. & 20.2. But they do better in my Judgement, who by Leviathan here underſtand ſome great Tyrant, acted by the Devil againſt the Church: ſuch as was Pharaoh, ſee Ezek. 29.3. Sennacherib, ſee chap. 8.7. or Nebuchadnezzar, ſee Jer. 51.13. and at this day, the Grand Signior, who hath ſwallowed up countries, as the Leviathan or the Whale doth fiſhes: For in the greatneſs of his Empire is ſwallowed up both the Name and Empire of the Saraſines, the moſt glorious Empire of the Greeks, the Empire of Trapezonum, the renowned Kingdoms of Macedonia, Peloponneſus, Epirus, Bulgaria, Servia, Boſna, Armenia, Cyprus, Syria, Egypt, Judea, Tunis, Argeirs, Media, Meſopotomia, with a great part of Hungary, as alſo of the Perſian Kingdom. His Territories do ſomewhat reſemble a long and winding Serpent, as ſome learned men have obſerved: and for the ſlights & might which he uſeth againſt Chriſtians ſtill, who knows them not out of the Turkiſh ſtory? God therefore will ſhortly take him to do: ſharpening haply the Swords of men (as he hath lately and marvellouſly done of the Venetians) as inſtrumental to ruine this vaſt Empire, which laboureth with nothing more then the weightineſs of it ſelf.
Jun.And he ſhall ſlay the Dragon that is in the ſea] i. In fluctuante hujus ſaeculi aeſtuario. Of the ſtrange length of Dragons, ſee Aelian. l. 2. c. 21. and Plin. l. 8. c. 11. In the laſt year of the raign of Theodoſius ſenior there was a Dragon ſeen in Epirus of that vaſt bigneſs, that when he was dead, eight yokes of Oxen could hardly draw him. By Dragon, ſome underſtand the ſame with Leviathan, v…z. the Whale or Whirlpool. The Dragon is never ſatisfied with blood, though never ſo full gorged: no more are Perſecutors.
Ver. 2. In that day ſing ye to her] Or, of her: a new ſong for a new deliverance. Haply this ſhall be done by the Chriſtian Churches upon the converſion of the Jews, after the Turks downfall: like as at the building of the ſecond Temple, the people ſang and ſhouted Grace Grace unto it, Zech. 4, 7.
A Vineyard of red Wine] i. e. Of rich and generous Wine, Vini meri, non labruſcarum, ut cap. 5. See Prov. 23.31. Gen. 49.22. By this red wine Oecolampadius underſtandeth Chriſts blood, wherewith the Church is purged and beautified. Sanguis Chriſti venuſtavit genas meas, ſaid a certain good woman, a Martyr.
Ver. 3. I the Lord do keep it] And then it cannot but be well kept. The matter is well amended with Gods Vineyard ſince chap. 5.5. The Lord is with you whiles ye are with him, 2 Chron. 15.2. The hand of our God is upon all them for good that ſeek him: but his power and his wrath is againſt all them that forſake him. Ezra 8.12. Do good O Lord, unto thoſe that be good, &c. As for ſuch as turn aſide unto their crooked ways, &c. Pſal. 125.4, 5.
I will water it every moment] God will be to his Vineyard both a Wall and a Well; a Sun and a Shield; as Pſal. 84.11. all that heart can wiſh, or need require. Of all poſſeſſions, ſaith Cato, none requireth more care and pains, then that of Vineyards. Corn comes up, and grows alone, Mar. 3. but vines muſt be daily dreſſed, fenced, ſupported,In Philip. watered. Plantas tenellas frequentius adaquare proderit, ſaith Primaſius. Yong Vines muſt be often watered: Gods Vines ſhall not want for watering, though once he forbad the clouds to rain upon them, chap. 5.6. He hath not been wanting to England either for watching or for watering it. We may now much better ſay of it, then once Polydor Virgil did, Regnum Angliae Regnum Dei: he meant becauſe none ſeemed to take care of England, but God. He grant we may at length walk worthy of ſuch a mercy: Amen. The Vulgar here rendreth it, but not ſo well Repente propinabo ei, I will ſhortly drink to her.
Leſt any hurt it] Heb. Leſt he viſit on it: left any profane perſon ſhould rudely and unmannerly ruſh upon it, he gardeth it conſtantly.
Ver. 4. Fury is not in me] Whatever you may think of me, becauſe of my many dreadful menaces, and your heavy calamities; Non eſt in me ſed in vobis culpa iſtarum calami, atum: the fault is not in me but in your ſelves: do you but mend, and all ſhall be ſoon well betwixt us. It is but diſpleaſed love that maketh me chide or ſtrike my dear children; Lop my Vines, Ʋt bonus Vinitor Vites luxuriantes falce putat & purgat, foreign, Job. 15.2. leaſes and luxuriances muſt be taken off, or it will be worſe. Better the Vine ſhould bleed, then die: better be preſerved in brine, then periſh in honey. But aſſure your ſelves I am not implacable: as your ſins have put thunder-bolts into my hands, ſo by ſound repentance you may ſoon diſarm me.
Who would ſet the briars and thorns] Gods Vineyard is not without briars and thorns, his Field without tares, his Church without Hypocrites, which prick God and his people, galling them to the heart. Theſe he will make an hand of, take an order with, by treading them down and burning them up; eſpecially if once they ſhall be ſo mad and mankind, as they ſay, as to bid him battle; See Job. 9.4. with the Note.
I would burn them together] Or, I will burn them out of it; See 2 Sam 23.7. with the Note.
Ver 5. Or let him take hold of my ſtrength] i. Of mine arm wherewith I am about to ſmite him, or to throw the fire of my wrath at him; let him by true repentance, appeaſe me, as ſubmitting Abigail once did angry David: let him but meet me with intreaties of peace, and he ſhall have peace, yea he ſhall be ſure of it. See Job 22.21. with the Notes. To run in to God, is the way to eſcape ſin: as to cloſe and get in with him that would ſtrike you, doth avoid the blow.
Ver. 6. He ſhall cauſe them that come to Jacob] i. e. His Proſelytes; Or, that come from Jacob. i. e. his Poſterity. Vitium hoec conditio eſt, the condition of Vines is ſuch as that they muſt undergo cold blaſts and hard winters: howbeit at the return of the Spring they recover their verdure, and flouriſh again; ſo ſhall the ſeed of Jacob: their dead ſhall live, chap. 26. and the mountain of the Lord ſhall be exalted above all mountains, chap. 2.
Ver. 7. Hath he ſmitten him, as he ſmote thoſe that ſmote him] No: for the one he ſmote to correction, the other to deſtruction: the one with the Palm of his Hand, as a man ſmiteth his Son, the other with his clutch-fiſt, as one ſmiteth his ſlave whom he careth not where he hits, or how he hurts. Temporal evils are in the nature ſometimes of a curſe, ſometimes of a cure. Hinc diſtinctio illa poenae in conferentem & nocentem, ſive in ſuffocantem & promoventem: item in poenam vindicta, & poenam cautelae, ſive in condemnantem & corrigentem.
Ver. 8. In meaſure] Heb. Modio, i. e. exigua menſura, in a ſmall meaſure,By peck-peck. and as his people are able to bear, 1 Cor. 10.13. ad emendationem, non ad internecionem.
When it ſhooteth forth] Or, in the bunches; not at the root, as God ſmiteth at a wicked man reſolving to have him down. See here his different dealing with his own and others. Upon his children he doth but ſprinkle a parcel of his wrath, ſome few ſparks of his diſpleaſure: but the wicked he utterly conſumeth and burneth up with the fire of his indignation, Iſa. 42.25. & 66.15.
Thou wilt debate with it] Dijudicabis thou wilt put a difference, or diſcern betwixt the righteous and the wicked, Mal. 3.18.D Goodw. flagella tantum quaedam decutiuntur. Scultet.
He ſtayeth his rough wind, &c.] i. e. Such afflictions as would ſhake his plants too much, or quite blow them down. But he letteth out of his treaſury, even He who holdeth the winds in his fiſt) ſuch a wind as ſhall make them fruitful, and blow away their unkindly bloſſoms and leaves.
In the day of the Eaſt-wind] That boiſterous and blaſting and bluſtering wind. Hinc Euroclydon, Acts 27.14.
Ver. 9. By this therefore ſhall the iniquity of Jacob be purged] Hac re, i. e. deportatione in Babyloniam, ſaith Piſcator: By this, that is, by their being carried captive into Babylon, as it was made a means to bring the Elect to repentance. As one poyſon is antidotary to another: ſo is Affliction to ſin. Croſſes are Leeches to ſuck out the noxious blood: Flails to threſh off our husks: Files to brighten out graces, &c. Sanctfied afflictions (ſaid Mr. Dod) are good promotions. Corrections of Inſtructions are the way of life, Prov. 16.23. For though not joyous but grievous at preſent, yet afterwards they yield the peaceable fruit of righteouſneſs unto them that are thereby exerciſed, Heb. 12.11. It fareth with Gods afflicted, as it did once with thoſe that had the ſwearing ſickneſs in this land; If they ſlept they died: To keep them waking therefore, they were ſmitten with Roſemary-branches: whereat though they cried out, you kill me, you kill me, yet it proved a happy means to keep them alive. It was good for David that he was afflicted, Pſal. 119.71. it rid him of thoſe two evil humours, High mindedneſs and Earthly-mindedneſs, Pſal. 131.1.
And this is all the fruit] Gods rod, like Aarons, bloſſometh: and like that of Jonathan, it hath honey at the end of it. A good uſe and a good iſſue of afflictions is ever to be prayd for. I read of a gracious man, who lying under great torments of the Stone, would often cry out, The uſe, Lord, the uſe! And Mr. Perkins in like caſe deſired his friends to pray to God not ſo much for eaſe of his pain, as for increaſe of his faith and patience. Perdidiſti fructum afflictionum, ſaid Auſtin to ſome in his time, and it was a great loſs doubtleſs.
To take away his ſin] The ſin, not the man: D. Goodw.See Pſal. 99.8. A leprous or ulcerous member, a man loves as it is his own fleſh, Epheſ. 5.29. though he loatheth the corruption and putrefaction that is in it; therefore he cuts it not off, but plaiſtereth it: whereas a Wart or Wen he cutteth off, as not his fleſh: ſo here.
When he maketh all the ſtones of the Altar as Chalk-ſtones] When he, that is Jacob, in token of his true repentance, abandoneth all his mawmets and monuments of idolatry, and them aboliſheth and demoliſheth, ſo as never to be re-edified. The Jews after the captivity were ſo far from idolatry, that, they would not admit a Painter or Carver into their City. And how zealous they were to keep their Temple from ſuch defilement both in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, and of the Romans, Hiſtories ſhew us.
Ver. 10. Yet the defenced City ſhall be deſolate] Or, But, or Therefore ſhall they ſuffer, ut ad ſaniorem mentem & ad frugem calamiteſi redeant, that they may be thereby bettered: See on ver. 9.
Ver. 11. For it is a people of no underſtanding] Heb. Not a people of underſtandings, i. e. non ſapiunt niſi plagis emendentur, they will not be wiſe without whipping: I muſt therefore handle them the more ſharply and ſeverely. Caſtigat Deus quem amat, etiamſi non amat caſtigare.
Therefore he that made them] Deus factor ejus & fictor. A fearful ſentence: ſuch as ſhould affright thoſe many Ignaro's that ſay, God that made us will ſurely ſave us.
Ver. 12. In that day] ſc. When God ſhall have purged his people by his Word, and by his Rod.
The Lord ſhall beat off] Or, ſhall threſh: The Miniſtry of the Word is Gods Flail to ſever the Chaff from Corn: to ſingle his out of the midſt of wicked and prophane worldlings. See the like of Afflictions ſanctified, ver. 9.
And ye ſhall be gathered] As Ears of Corn are for threſhing.
One by one] There is no threſher in the world (ſaith one here) that threſheth half ſo clean: for he looſeth not one grain. See Joh. 17, 12. & 10.3. Chriſt hath a care of every one particularly and by the poll; ſome gather from hence that the calling of the Jews ſhall be general and univerſal.
Ver. 13. The great Trumpet ſhall be blown] Or, a blaſt ſhall be blown with a great trumpet. Tuba haec magna Apoſtolica praedicatio eſt, ſaith Oecolampadius. This great trumpet is the Goſpel the preaching whereof is of power to ſave thoſe that periſh, to put life into the dead, Joh. 5.25.