Commentary on Prov Ecc SoS Isa Jer Lam Eze Dan, Ezekiel · Chapter 37
CHAP. XXXVII.
Ver. 1. THe hand of the Lord] i. e. The force and impulſe of the holy Spirit:Theodoret Manus eſt impellere; manus eſt organum agendi. fitly called the hand of the Lord, becauſe holy men of old ſpake and acted as they were moved or carried out, by the holy Ghoſt, 2 Pet. 2. ult.
In the spirit] i. e. In a ſpiritual rapture.
And ſet me down] Not really but viſionally.
In the midſt of the valley] That ſame valley (ſome think) where (chap. the firſt) he ſaw that glorious viſion. Prophecies were oft received; and prayers are beſt made in one and the ſame place.
Which was full of bones] So it appeared to him in his ecſtaſy.
Ver. 2. And lo they were very dry] Ex vetuſtate & carie. This added to the miracle.
Ver. 3. Can theſe bones live?] In the reſurrection at the laſt day, he knew they ſhould; for amongſt the Jews that was generally beleeved, Joh. 11.24. But whether in this world, and at this time, that was the queſtion: The Jew-doctours boldly but groundleſly anſwer that theſe dead bones and bodies did then revive: and that many of them did return into the land of Iſrael, and married wives and begat children. But this is as true as that other dotage of theirs, that the dead bodies of Jews in what Country ſo ever buried, do by certain under-ground paſſages, travel into Judaea, and there reſt untill the general reſurrection.
O Lord God thou knoweſt] And he to whom thou art pleaſed to reveale it. foreign. The Ruſſians in a difficult queſtion uſe to anſwer, God and our great Duke know all this.
Ver. 4. Propheſie upon theſe bones] Be thou the interpreter of my Will, who by mine all-powerful Word do quicken the dead, and call things that are not as if they were, Rom. 4.17.
And ſay unto them, O ye dry bones] Together with Gods Word, many times, there goeth forth a power, Luk. 5.17. as when he ſaid Lazarus come forth, Joh. 11.43. So it is in the firſt reſurrection, and ſo it ſhall be at the laſt, Joh. 5.25, 28, 29. See the Notes.
Ver. 5. Behold I will cauſe breath to enter into you] i. e. Into each number of you that belong to each body. Neither need the reſurrection of the dead be held a thing incredible, Act. 26.8. conſidering Gods Power and Truth. The keeping green of Noahs Olive-tree in the time of the flood, the bloſſoming of Aarons dry rod, the fleſh and ſinews coming to theſe dry bones, and the breath entring into them, what were they all but ſo many lively Emblems of the Reſurrection?
Ver. 6. And cover you with skin] Superindam; that the fleſh may not look gaſtly. The word rendred cover is Chaldee, and found only here, and ver. 8.
And put breath in you and ye ſhall live] As when man was firſt created, Gen. 2. and cannot God as eaſily remake us of ſomething, as at firſt he made us of nothing?
Ver. 7. So I propheſied] He might have ſaid, why ſhould I ſpeak to theſe bones? will it be to any purpoſe? but Gods commands are not to be diſputed, but diſpatched, without ſciſcitation.
And there was a noiſe] A rattle, perhaps a thunderclap.
And behold a ſhaking] Perhaps an earthquake, as was at Chriſts reſurrection. God will one day ſhake both the heavens and the earth. The heavens ſhall paſſe away with a great noiſe (2 Pet. 3.10.) the earth alſo and the workes therein ſhall be burnt, and fall with a great crack. Then ſhall the Lord deſcend from heaven with a ſhout, &c. 1 Theſ. 4.16. ſuch as is that of Mariners in a ſtorm, or of Souldiers when to joyn battle with the enemy.
Ver. 8. Lo the ſinews and the fleſh came up upon them] The body is the ſouls ſheath, Dan. 7.15. the ſouls ſuit: the upper garment is the skin, the inner the fleſh; the inmoſt of all, bones and ſinews.
Ver. 9. And ſay to the wind] To the reaſonable ſoul, that breath of God, Gen. 2.7. divinae particula aurae, as one calleth it. In this better part of man, he is not abſolutely perfect, till after the reſurrection: for though the ſoul do in heaven enjoy an eſtate free from ſin, pain or miſery, yet two of the faculties or operations of the ſoul (viz. that of Vegetation and of ſenſe) are without exerciſe, till it be reunited to the body. Here we have a repreſentation at leaſt of the Reſurrection: which the Hebrews call Gilgul, the Revolution.
Come from the foure winds, O breath] i. e. From God that gave you, return again at his command, to your own numerical bodies, wherever they lye. And to this text our Saviour ſeemeth to allude, Mat. 24.31.
Ver. 10. And the breath came into them] Deforas from without: as at firſt they were infuſed by God, ſo they are ſtill. This, Auſtin ſometime and for ſome ſpace of time doubted of, and was therefore cenſured boldly but unadviſedly by one Vincentius Victor, as Chemnitius relateth it.
And they lived and ſtood up upon their feet] As life will ſhew it ſelf by ſenſe and motion. Live things will be ſtirring. Arida etiam peccatorum corda Deus gratia vitali vegetabit.
Ver. 11. Theſe bones are] That is, they ſignifie and betoken. And here we have the Accommodation or Application of the preceding Parable or Type: where alſo we may ſoon ſee, that this chapter is of the ſame ſubject and method with the former: only that which is there plainly, is here more elegantly diſcourſed; viz. the deplorable condition of the Iſraelites in Babylon, together with their wonderful deliverance and reſtitution in this and the three next verſes.
Our bones are dryed] We lye in Babylon as in a ſepulchre: we are buried alive, as it were; we are free among the dead, free of that company.
We are cut off for our parts] q. d. Let them hope as hope can: we have hanged up all our hopes now that the City and Temple are deſtroyed. Thus carnal confidence as it riſeth up into a corky, frothy hope, when it ſeeth ſufficient help: ſo it ſitteth down in a faithleſs, ſullen diſcontent and deſpair, when it can ſee no ſecond cauſes.
Ver. 12. Behold O my people] God owneth them ſtill, though they had little deſerved it. Shall mens unbelief make the faith of God without effect? Rom. 3.3. Tumulos deſperationis aperit, he openeth the graves of deſperation, and lets in a marvellous light. So the Lord did for his poor Church, by this bleſſed Reformation begun by Luther: whoſe book de Captivitate Babylonica did abundance of good.Scultet. Annal. dec. 2. ep. dedic. As for that wrought here in England, a forreiner ſaith of it, that it is ſuch as the ages paſt had deſpaired of, the preſent worthily admireth, and future ages ſhall ſtand amazed at. O beatos qui Deum ducem è ſpirituali Babylonia eos educentem ſecuti ſunt!
Ver. 13. And ye ſhall know that I am the Lord] Ye ſhall experiment it. The Reformed Churches have done ſo abundantly. Gloria Deo in excelſis.
When I have opened your graves] This is ſpoken over and over for their confirmation, who were apt to think, the news was too good to be true.
Ver. 14. And ſhall put my ſpirit in you] Even my Spirit of Adoption, that ſoul of the ſoul: this was more then all the reſt. Thrice happy are they that are thus ſpirited; they ſhall live and live comfortably.
Ver. 15. And the Word of the Lord] See chap. 18.1.
Ver. 16. Take thee one ſtick] A cleft ſtick which is res vilis & exilis, a poor buſineſs in it ſelf; but if God pleaſe to make uſe of ſo ſlender a thing, it may ſerve for very great purpoſe: as here by the uniting of two ſorry ſtickes in the hand of the Prophet, is prefigured the uniting of Judah and Iſrael, yea of Jews and Gentiles in the hand of the Lord, that is in Chriſt Jeſus who is the hand, the right hand, and the Arm of God the Father.
His companions] i. e. Benjamin and Levi, 2 Chron. 11.12, 13.
Ver. 17. And joyn them one to another into one ſtick] See on ver. 16. Man and wife are as theſe two branches in the Prophets hand, incloſed in one bark: and ſo cloſing together that they make but one branch.
Ver. 18. Wilt thou not ſhew us what thou meaneſt by theſe?] People though they ſhould not be queſtion ſick, as ſome in St. Pauls time were, 1 Tim. 6.4. yet they ſhould be inquiſitive after truth according to godlineſs, Tit. 1.1.
Ver. 19. And make them one ſtick] Taking away the deadly feud that hath ſo long time been betwixt them, breaking down the partition-wall, &c. I will once more bring them all under one King, and make them of one mind. Religion is the only beſt bond of affection. The very heathens honoured the Primitive Chriſtians for their unanimity. See Cant. 6.9. with the Note.
Ver. 20. Shall be in thine hand before their eyes] That by this Chria publikely acted, they may be the better affected.
Ver. 21. Behold I will take the children of Iſrael] This was fulfilled when the Jews, and with them many of the ten tribes alſo returned to their own countrey, under Zorobabel and Ezra: As for the reſt of the ten tribes that returned not, they degenerated into Gentiles. The Jews ſay that they were ſhut up by Alexander the great in the Caspian mountains: and ſhall therehence break forth when the Meſſias appeareth. Of the Jews in general Tacitus hath obſerved, that they are very kind to their own countrymen: but to all others very cruel. This might haply move Alexander to ſerve them in that kind. There are that underſtand that text, Rev. 16.12. the Kings of the Eaſt concerning the ten tribes whom they place in China, which is called the land of Sinim (as Junius conjectureth) Iſa. 49.12. And who knows, but that when all Iſrael ſhall be called, Rom. 11.26. raiſed from the dead, ver. 15. joyned into one ſtick, as here, many of thoſe poor Heathens in Aſia and America may have part in the ſame reſurrection?
Ver. 22. And I will make them one nation] Who were before at deadly feud, and fought many bloody battles. Solemur & nos hac promiſſione contra ſchiſmata, Let us alſo comfort our ſelves with this promiſe againſt ſchiſmes, ſaith Oecolampadius. Chriſt will cauſe the falſe Prophets and the unclean ſpirit to paſſe out of the land, Zech. 13.2. he will alſo ſo work in the hearts of his people, that they ſhall with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jeſus Christ, Rom. 15.6.
Ver. 23. Neither ſhall they defile] After the Captivity the Jews could never endure idolatry. The Popiſh image-worſhip is at this day a very great ſtumbling-block to them.
Out of all their dwelling-places] Where being mingled among the Heathen they learned their works, Pſal. 106.35.
Ver. 24. And David my ſervant] i. e. Chriſt, who came to do the will of his Father in the ſhape of a ſervant, Phil. 2.7. See Iſa. 42.1.
And they ſhall all have one ſhepherd] Even David their King is for his clemency here called a Shepherd (ſaith Hierom) tending and tendering his people: See chap. 34.
They ſhall alſo walk in my Judgements] All Chriſts ſubjects can ſay, as thoſe Primitive Chriſtians did, Nos non eloquimur magna, ſed vivimus. Athenagoras in his Apology ſaith, No Chriſtian is a bad man, foreign, unleſſe he be a counterfeit.
Ver. 25. And they ſhall dwell in the land] So they did for ſix hundred years, or near upon: and in heaven (whereof Canaan was a type) they ſhall live and reign for ever.
Ver. 26. Moreover, &c.] See chap. 34.25.
And it ſhall be an everlaſting Covenant with them] With all the Iſrael of God.
And I will place them] ſc. In the holy Land, ſaith Piſcator: or elſe I underſtand not what this word place them, or give them, meaneth.
And will ſet my Sanctuary in the midſt of them] i. e. I will indwel in them, and walk in them, &c. as a Cor. 6.16. The Jews pray earneſtly for the rebuilding of their material Temple. Pray we as hard for the building up of the myſtical Temple.
Ver. 27. My Tabernacle alſo] i. e. Mine Ordinances, thoſe Teſtimonies of my ſpecial preſence. See Rev. 21.3.
Ver. 28. Do ſanctify Iſrael] i. e. Do ſet them apart for mine uſe: and will ſee to their ſafety.
When my ſanctuary] Wherehence they ſhall have continual both direction, and protection.