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Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Jeremiah XXX

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Matthew Henry
Commentary on the Whole Bible (1712)




J E R E M I A H.

CHAP. XXX.



     

The sermon which we have in this and the following chapter is of a very

different complexion from all those before. The prophet does indeed, by

direction from God, change his voice. Most of what he had said hitherto

was by way of reproof and threatening; but these two chapters are

wholly taken up with precious promises of a return out of captivity,

and that typical of the glorious things reserved for the church in the

days of the Messiah. The prophet is told not only to preach this, but

to write it, because it is intended for the comfort of the generation

to come,

ver. 1-3.

It is here promised,

I. That they should hereafter have a joyful restoration.

1. Though they were now in a great deal of pain and terror,

ver. 4-7.

2. Though their oppressors were very strong,

ver. 8-10.

3. Though a full end was made of other nations, and they were not

restored,

ver. 11.

4. Though all means of their deliverance seemed to fail and be cut off,

ver. 12-14.

5. Though God himself had sent them into captivity, and justly, for

their sins,

ver. 15, 16.

6. Though all about them looked upon their case as desperate,

ver. 17.

II. That after their joyful restoration they should have a happy

settlement, that their city should be rebuilt

(ver. 18),

their numbers increased

(ver. 19, 20),

their government established

(ver. 21),

God’s covenant with them renewed

(ver. 22),

and their enemies destroyed and cut off,

ver. 23, 24.











Promises of Mercy. B. C. 594.

     

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

  2 Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying, Write thee all

the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book.

  3 For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring

again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the

LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to

their fathers, and they shall possess it.

  4 And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning

Israel and concerning Judah.

  5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling,

of fear, and not of peace.

  6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child?

wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a

woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

  7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it

is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out

of it.

  8 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of

hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will

burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of

him:

  9 But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their

king, whom I will raise up unto them.

     

Here, I. Jeremiah is directed to write what God had spoken to

him, which perhaps refers to all the foregoing prophecies. He must

write them and publish them, in hopes that those who had not profited

by what he said upon once hearing it might take more notice of it when

in reading it they had leisure for a more considerate review. Or,

rather, it refers to the promises of their enlargement, which had been

often mixed with his other discourses. He must collect them and put

them together, and God will now add unto them many like words. He must

write them for the generations to come, who should see them

accomplished, and thereby have their faith in the prophecy confirmed.

He must write them not in a letter, as that in the chapter

before to the captives, but in a book, to be carefully preserved

in the archives, or among the public rolls or registers of the state.

Daniel understood by these books when the captivity was about coming to

an end,

Dan. ix. 2.

He must write them in a book, not in loose papers: “For the days

come, and are yet at a great distance, when I will bring again

the captivity of Israel and Judah, great numbers of the ten tribes,

with those of the two,”

v. 3.

And this prophecy must be written, that it may be read then also, that

so it may appear how exactly the accomplishment answers the prediction,

which is one end of the writing of prophecies. It is intimated that

they shall be beloved for their fathers’ sake

(Rom. xi. 28);

for therefore God will bring them again to Canaan, because it

was the land that he gave to their fathers, which therefore

they shall possess.

     

II. He is directed what to write. The very words are such as the Holy

Ghost teaches,

v. 4.

These are the words which God ordered to be written; and those promises

which are written by his order are as truly his word as the ten

commandments which were written with his finger.

1. He must write a description of the fright and consternation which

the people were now in, and were likely to be still in upon every

attack that the Chaldeans made upon them, which will much magnify both

the wonder and the welcomeness of their deliverance

(v. 5):

We have heard a voice of trembling–the shrieks of terror

echoing to the alarms of danger. The false prophets told them that

they should have peace, but there is fear and not peace,

so the margin reads it. No marvel that when without are fightings

within are fears. The men, even the men of war, shall be quite

overwhelmed with the calamities of their nation, shall sink under them,

and yield to them, and shall look like women in labour, whose

pains come upon them in great extremity and they know that they cannot

escape them,

v. 6.

You never heard of a man travailing with child, and yet here you find

not here and there a timorous man, but every man with his hands on

his loins, in the utmost anguish and agony, as women in

travail, when they see their cities burnt and their countries laid

waste. But this pain is compared to that of a woman in travail, not to

that of a death-bed, because it shall end in joy at last, and the pain,

like that of a travailing woman, shall be forgotten. All faces

shall be turned into paleness. The word signifies not only such

paleness as arises from a sudden fright, but that which is the effect

of a bad habit of body, the jaundice, or the green sickness. The

prophet laments the calamity upon the foresight of it

(v. 7):

Alas! for that day is great, a day of judgment, which is called

the great day, the great and terrible day of the Lord

(Joel ii. 31, Jude 6),

great, so that there has been none like it. The last destruction

of Jerusalem is thus spoken of by our Saviour as unparalleled,

Matt. xxiv. 21.

It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, a sad time, when God’s

professing people shall be in distress above other people. The whole

time of the captivity was a time of Jacob’s trouble; and such times

ought to be greatly lamented by all that are concerned for the welfare

of Jacob and the honour of the God of Jacob.

2. He must write the assurances which God had given that a happy end

should at length be put to these calamities.

(1.) Jacob’s troubles shall cease: He shall be saved out of

them. Though the afflictions of the church may last long, they

shall not last always. Salvation belongs to the Lord, and shall

be wrought for his church.

(2.) Jacob’s troublers shall be disabled from doing him any further

mischief, and shall be reckoned with for the mischief they have done

him,

v. 8.

The Lord of hosts, who has all power in his hand, undertakes to

do it: “I will break his yoke from off thy neck, which has long

lain so heavy, and has so sorely galled thee. I will burst thy

bonds and restore thee to liberty and ease, and thou shalt no more

be at the beck and command of strangers, shalt no more serve them, nor

shall they any more serve themselves of thee; they shall no more

enrich themselves either by thy possessions or by thy labours.” And,

(3.) That which crowns and completes the mercy is that they shall be

restored to the free exercise of their religion again,

v. 9.

They shall be delivered from serving their enemies, not that they may

live at large and do what they please, but that they may serve the

Lord their God and David their king, that they may come again into

order, under the established government both in church and state.

Therefore they were brought into trouble and made to serve

their enemies because they had not served the Lord their God

as they ought to have done, with joyfulness and gladness of

heart,
Deut. xxviii. 47.

But, when the time shall come that they should be saved out of their

trouble, God will prepare and qualify them for it by giving them a

heart to serve him, and will make it doubly comfortable by

giving them opportunity to serve him. Therefore we are

delivered out of the hands of our enemies, that we may serve

God,
Luke i. 74, 75.

And then deliverances out of temporal calamities are mercies

indeed to us when by them we find ourselves engaged to and enlarged in

the service of God. They shall serve their own God, and neither be

inclined, as they had been of old in the day of their apostasy, nor

compelled, as they had been of late in the day of their captivity, to

serve other gods. They shall serve David their king, such

governors as God should from time to time set over them, of the line of

David (as Zerubbabel), or at least sitting on the thrones of

judgment, the thrones of the house of David, as Nehemiah. But

certainly this has a further meaning. The Chaldee paraphrase reads it,

They shall obey (or hearken to) the Messiah (or

Christ), the Son of David, their king. To him the Jewish

interpreters apply it. That dispensation which commenced at their

return out of captivity brought them to the Messiah. He is called

David their King because he was the Son of David

(Matt. xxii. 42)

and he answered to the name,

Matt. xx. 31, 32.

David was an illustrious type of him both in his humiliation and in his

exaltation. The covenant of royalty made with David had principal

reference to him, and in him the promises of that covenant had their

full accomplishment. God gave him the throne of his father

David; he raised him up unto them, set him upon the holy hill of

Zion. God is often in the New Testament said to have raised up

Jesus, raised him up as a King,

Acts iii. 26; xiii. 23, 33.

Observe,

[1.] Those that serve the Lord as their God must also serve David

their King, must give up themselves to Jesus Christ, to be ruled by

him. For all men must honour the Son as they honour the Father,

and come into the service and worship of God by him as Mediator.

[2.] Those that are delivered out of spiritual bondage must make it

appear that they are so by giving up themselves to the service of

Christ. Those to whom he gives rest must take his yoke upon them.









Promises of Mercy. B. C. 594.

     

10 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD;

neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from

afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob

shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall

make him afraid.

  11 For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I

make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet

will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in

measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.

  12 For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and

thy wound is grievous.

  13 There is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be

bound up: thou hast no healing medicines.

  14 All thy lovers have forgotten thee; they seek thee not; for

I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, with the

chastisement of a cruel one, for the multitude of thine iniquity;

because thy sins were increased.

  15 Why criest thou for thine affliction? thy sorrow is

incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity: because thy sins

were increased, I have done these things unto thee.

  16 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and

all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into

captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all

that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.

  17 For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of

thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast,

saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

     

In these verses, as in those foregoing, the deplorable case of the Jews

in captivity is set forth, but many precious promises are given them

that in due time they should be relieved and a glorious salvation

wrought for them.

     

I. God himself appeared against them: he scattered them

(v. 11);

he did all these things unto them,
v. 15.

All their calamities came from his hands; whoever were the instruments,

he was the principal agent. And this made their case very sad that God,

even their own God, spoke concerning them, to pull down and to destroy.

Now,

1. This was intended by him as a fatherly chastisement, and no other

(v. 11):

I will correct thee in measure, or according to

judgment, with discretion, no more than thou deservest, nay, no

more than thou canst well bear.” What God does against his people is in

a way of correction, and that correction is always moderated and always

proceeds from love: “I will not leave thee altogether

unpunished, as thou art ready to think I should, because of thy

relation to me.” Note, A profession of religion, though ever so

plausible, will be far from securing to us impunity in sin. God is no

respecter of persons, but will show his hatred of sin wherever he finds

it, and that he hates it most in those that are nearest to him. God

here corrects his people for the multitude of their iniquity,

and because their sins were increased,
v. 14, 15.

Are our sorrows multiplied at any time and do they increase? We must

acknowledge that it is because our sins have been multiplied and they

have increased. Iniquities grow in us, and therefore troubles grow upon

us. But,

2. What God intended as a fatherly chastisement they and others

interpreted as an act of hostility; they looked upon him as having

wounded them with the wound of an enemy and with the

chastisement of a cruel one

(v. 14),

as if he had designed their ruin, and neither mitigated the correction

nor had any mercy in reserve for them. It did indeed seem as if God

had dealt thus severely with them, as if he had turned to be their

enemy and had fought against them,

Isa. lxiii. 10.

Job complains that God had become cruel to him and multiplied his

wounds. When troubles are great and long we have need carefully to

watch over our own hearts, that we entertain not such hard thoughts as

these of God and his providence. His are the chastisements of a

merciful one, not of a cruel one, whatever they may appear.

     

II. Their friends forsook them, and were shy of them. None of those who

had courted them in their prosperity would take notice of them now in

their distress,

v. 13.

It is commonly thus when families go to decay; those hang off from them

that had been their hangers-on. In two cases we are glad of the

assistance of our friends and need their service:–

1. If we be impeached, accused, or reproached, we expect that our

friends should appear in vindication of us, should speak a good word

for us when we cannot put on a face to speak for ourselves; but here

there is none to plead thy cause, none to stand up in thy

defence, none to intercede for thee with thy oppressors; therefore God

will plead their cause, for he might well wonder there was none

to uphold a people that had been so much the favourites of Heaven,

Isa. lxiii. 5.

2. If we be sick, or sore, or wounded, we expect our friends should

attend us, advise us, sympathize with us, and, if occasion be, lend a

hand for the applying of healing medicines; but here there is none to

do that, none to bind up thy wounds, and by counsels and comforts to

make proper applications to thy case; nay

(v. 14),

All thy lovers have forgotten thee; out of sight out of mind;

instead of seeking thee, they forsake thee. Such as this has often been

the case of religion and serious godliness in the world; those that

from their education, profession, and hopeful beginnings, one might

have expected to be its friends and lovers, its patrons and protectors,

desert it, forget it, and have nothing to say in its defence, nor will

do any thing towards the healing of its wounds. Observe, Thy lovers

have forgotten thee, for I have wounded thee. When God is against a

people who will be for them? Who can be for them so as to do them any

kindness? See

Job xxx. 11.

Now, upon this account, their case seemed desperate and past relief

(v. 12):

Thy bruise is incurable, thy wound grievous, and

(v. 15)

thy sorrow is incurable. The condition of the Jews in captivity

was such as no human power could redress the grievances of; there they

were like a valley full of dead and dry bones, which nothing

less than Omnipotence can put life into. Who could imagine that a

people so diminished, so impoverished, should ever be restored to their

own land and re-established there? So many were the aggravations of

their calamity that their sorrow would not admit of any alleviation,

but they seemed to be hardened in it, and their souls refused to be

comforted, till divine consolations proved strong ones, too strong to

be borne down even by the floods of grief that overwhelmed them. Thy

sorrow is incurable because thy sins, instead of being repented of

and forsaken, were increased. Note, Incurable griefs are owing

to incurable lusts. Now in this deplorable condition they are looked

upon with disdain

(v. 17):

They called thee an outcast, abandoned by all, abandoned to

ruin; they said, This is Zion, whom no man seeks after. When

they looked on the place where the city and temple had been built they

called that an outcast; now all was in ruins, there was no resort to

it, no residence in it, none asked the way to Zion, as formerly; no

man seeks after it. When they looked on the people that formerly

dwelt in Zion, but were now in captivity (and we read of Zion

dwelling with the daughter of Babylon,
Zech. ii. 7),

they called them outcasts; these are those who belong to Zion, and are

wont to talk much of it and weep at the remembrance of it, but no

man seeks after them, or enquires concerning them. Note, It is

often the lot of Zion to be deserted and despised by those about

her.

     

III. For all this God will work deliverance and salvation for them in

due time. Though no other hand, nay, because no other hand, can

cure their wound, his will, and shall.

1. Though he seemed to stand at a distance from them, yet he assures

them of his presence with them, his powerful and gracious presence:

I will save thee,
v. 10.

I am with thee, to save thee,
v. 11.

When they are in their troubles he is with them, to save them from

sinking under them; when the time has come for their deliverance he is

with them, to be ready upon the first opportunity, to save them out of

their trouble.

2. Though they were at a distance, remote from their own land,

afar off in the land of their captivity, yet there shall

salvation find them out, thence shall it fetch them, them and their

seed, for they also shall be known among the Gentiles, and

distinguished from them, that they may return,
v. 10.

3. Though they were now full of fears, and continually alarmed, yet

the time shall come when they shall be in rest and quiet, safe

and easy, and none shall make them afraid,
v. 10.

4. Though the nations into which they were dispersed should be brought

to ruin, yet they should be preserved from that ruin

(v. 11):

Though I make a full end of the nations whither I have scattered

thee, and there might be danger of thy being lost among them,

yet I will not make a full end of thee. It was promised that in

the peace of these nations they should have peace

(ch. xxix. 7),

and yet in the destruction of these nations they should escape

destruction. God’s church may sometimes be brought very low, but he

will not make a full end of it,

ch. v. 10, 18.

5. Though God correct them, and justly, for their sins, their manifold

transgressions and mighty sins, yet he will return in mercy to them,

and even their sin shall not prevent their deliverance when God’s time

shall come.

6. Though their adversaries were mighty, God will bring them down, and

break their power

(v. 16):

All that devour thee shall be devoured, and thus Zion’s cause

will be pleaded and will be made to appear to all the world a righteous

cause. Thus Zion’s deliverance will be brought about by the destruction

of her oppressors; and thus her enemies will be recompensed for all the

injury they have done her; for there is a God that judges in the

earth, a God to whom vengeance belongs. “They shall every

one of them, without exception, go into captivity, and the

day will come when those that now spoil thee shall be a

spoil.” Those that lead into captivity shall go into

captivity,
Rev. xiii. 10.

This might serve to oblige the present conquerors to use their captives

well, because the wheel would turn round, and the day would come when

they also should be captives, and let them do now as they would then be

done by.

7. Though the wound seem incurable, God will make a cure of it

(v. 17):

I will restore health unto thee. Be the disease ever so

dangerous, the patient is safe if God undertakes the cure.

     

IV. Upon the whole matter, they are cautioned against inordinate fear

and grief, for in these precious promises there is enough to silence

both.

1. They must not tremble as those that have no hope in the apprehension

of future further trouble that might threaten them

(v. 10):

Fear thou not, O my servant Jacob! neither be dismayed. Note,

Those that are God’s servants must not give way to disquieting fears,

whatever difficulties and dangers may be before them.

2. They must not sorrow as those that have no hope for the troubles

which at present they lie under,

v. 15.

Why criest thou for thy affliction? It is true thy carnal

confidences fail thee, creatures are physicians of no value, but I

will heal thy wound, and therefore, Why criest thou? Why

dost thou fret and complain thus? It is for thy sin

(v. 14, 15),

and therefore, instead of repining, thou shouldest be repenting.

Wherefore should a man complain for the punishment of his sins?

The issue will be good at last, and therefore rejoice in

hope.








Promises of Mercy. B. C. 594.

     

18 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will bring again the

captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling-places;

and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace

shall remain after the manner thereof.

  19 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of

them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall

not be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be

small.

  20 Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their

congregation shall be established before me, and I will punish

all that oppress them.

  21 And their nobles shall be of themselves, and their governor

shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will cause him to

draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that

engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD.

  22 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

  23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a

continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of

the wicked.

  24 The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have

done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart:

in the latter days ye shall consider it.

     

We have here further intimations of the favour God had in reserve for

them after the days of their calamity were over. It is promised,

     

I. That the city and temple should be rebuilt,

v. 18.

Jacob’s tents, and his dwelling places, felt the effects

of the captivity, for they lay in ruins when the inhabitants

were carried away captives; but, when they have returned, the

habitations shall be repaired, and raised up out of their ruins, and

therein God will have mercy upon their dwelling places, that had

been monuments of his justice. Then the city of Jerusalem

shall be built upon her own heap, her own hill, though now it be

no better than a ruinous heap. The situation was unexceptionable, and

therefore it shall be rebuilt upon the same spot of ground. He that can

make of a city a heap

(Isa. xxv. 2)

can when he pleases make of a heap a city again. The

palace (the temple, God’s palace) shall remain after the manner

thereof; it shall be built after the old model; and the service of

God shall be constantly kept up there and attended as formerly.

     

II. That the sacred feasts should again be solemnized

(v. 19):

Out of the city, and the temple, and all the dwelling-places of

Jacob, shall proceed thanksgiving and the voice of those that make

merry. They shall go with expressions of joy to the temple service,

and with the like shall return from it. Observe, The voice of

thanksgiving is the same with the voice of those that make

merry; for whatever is the matter of our joy should be the matter

of our praise. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. What makes us

cheerful should make us thankful. Serve the Lord with

gladness.

     

III. That the people should be multiplied, and increased, and made

considerable: They shall not be few, they shall not be small,

but shall become numerous and illustrious, and make a figure among the

nations; for I will multiply them and I will glorify

them. It is for the honour of the church to have many added to it

that shall be saved. This would make them be of some weight among their

neighbours. Let a people be ever so much diminished and despised, God

can multiply and glorify them. They shall be restored to their former

honour: Their children shall be as aforetime, playing in the

streets

(Zech. viii. 5);

they shall inherit their parents’ estates and honours as formerly;

and their congregation shall, both in civil and sacred things,

be established before me. There shall be a constant succession

of faithful magistrates in the congregation of the elders, to establish

that, and of faithful worshippers in the congregation of the saints. As

one generation passes away another shall be raised up, and so the

congregation shall be established before God.

     

IV. That they shall be blessed with a good government

(v. 21):

Their nobles and judges shall be of themselves, of their

own nation, and they shall no longer be ruled by strangers and enemies;

their governor shall proceed from the midst of them, shall be

one that has been a sharer with them in the afflictions of their

captive state; and this has reference to Christ our governor, David

our King

(v. 9);

he is of ourselves, in all things made like unto his brethren. And I

will cause him to draw near; this may be understood either,

1. Of the people, Jacob and Israel: “I will cause them to

draw near to me in the temple service, as formerly, to come in to

covenant with me, as my people

(v. 22),

to approach to me in communion; for who hath engaged

his heart, made a covenant with it, and brought it into bonds,

to approach unto me?” How few are there that do so! None can do

it but by the special grace of God causing them to draw near.

Note, Whenever we approach to God in any holy ordinance we must engage

our hearts to do it; the heart must be prepared for the duty, employed

in it, and kept closely to it. The heart is the main thing that God

looks at and requires; but it is deceitful, and will start aside of a

great deal of care and pains be not taken to engage it, to bind this

sacrifice with cords. Or,

2. It may be understood of the governor; for it is a single person that

is spoken of: Their governor shall be duly called to his office,

shall draw near to God to consult him upon all occasions. God

will cause him to approach to him, for, otherwise, who would

engage to take care of so weak a people, and let this ruin come under

their hand? But when God has work to do, though attended with many

discouragements, he will raise up instruments to do it. But it looks

further, to Christ, to him as Mediator. Note,

(1.) The proper work and office of Christ, as Mediator, is to draw

near and approach unto God, not for himself only, but for us, and

in our name and stead, as the high priest of our profession. The

priests are said to draw nigh to God,

Lev. x. 3; xxi. 17.

Moses drew near,
Exod. xx. 21.

(2.) God the Father did cause Jesus Christ thus to draw near

and approach to him as Mediator. He commanded and appointed him to

do it; he sanctified and sealed him, anointed him for this purpose,

accepted him, and declared himself well pleased in him.

(3.) Jesus Christ, being caused by the Father to approach unto him as

Mediator, did engage his heart to do it, that is, he bound and

obliged himself to it, undertook for his heart (so some read

it), for his soul, that, in the fullness of time, it should be made

an offering for sin. His own voluntary undertaking, in compliance

with his Father’s will and in compassion to fallen man, engaged him,

and then his own honour kept him to it. It also intimates that he was

hearty and resolute, free and cheerful, in it, and made nothing of the

difficulties that lay in his way,

Isa. lxiii. 3-5.

(4.) Jesus Christ was, in all this, truly wonderful. We may well ask,

with admiration, Who is this that thus engages his heart

to such an undertaking?

     

V. That they shall be taken again into covenant with God, according to

the covenant made with their fathers

(v. 22):

You shall be my people; and it is God’s good work in us that

makes us to him a people, a people for his name,
Acts xv. 14.

I will be your God. It is his good-will to us that is the

summary of that part of the covenant.

     

VI. That their enemies shall be reckoned with and brought down

(v. 20):

I will punish all those that oppress them, so that it

shall appear to all a dangerous thing to touch God’s anointed,
Ps. cv. 15.

The

last two verses

come under this head: The whirlwind of the Lord shall fall with pain

upon the head of the wicked. These two verses we had before

(ch. xxiii. 19, 20);

there they were a denunciation of God’s wrath against the wicked

hypocrites in Israel; here against the wicked oppressors of

Israel. The expressions, exactly agreeing, speak the same with that

(Isa. li. 22, 23),

I will take the cup of trembling out of thy hand and put it into the

hand of those that afflict thee. The wrath of God against the

wicked is here represented to be.

1. Very terrible, like a whirlwind, surprising and irresistible.

2. Very grievous. It shall fall with pain upon their heads; they

shall be as much hurt as frightened.

3. It shall pursue them. Whirlwinds are usually short, but this shall

be a continuing whirlwind.

4. It shall accomplish that for which it is sent: The anger of the

Lord shall not return till he have done it. The purposes of his

wrath, as well as the purposes of his love, will all be fulfilled; he

will perform the intents of his heart.

5. Those that will not lay this to heart now will then be unable to put

off the thoughts of it: In the latter days you shall consider

it, when it will be too late to prevent it.


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Commentary on the Whole Bible (1712)


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