is rifen upon thee.And the Gentiles fall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rifing. Lift up thine eyes round about, and fee; all they gather themfelves together, they fball come to thee: thy fons fhall come from far, and thy daughters fhall be nursed at thy fide.Then thou shalt fee, and flow together; and thine heart shall fear, (that is, revere and adore) and be enlarged; because the abundance of the fea fhall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles skall come unto thee.The multitude of camels fall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they fhall bring gold and incenfe; and they shall shew forth the praifes of the Lord. All the flocks of Kedar fall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nelaioth fhall minifter unto thee: they shall come up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the house of my glory.-Who are thefe that fly as a cloud, and as doves to their windows ?Surely the ifles fhall wait for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy fons from far, their filver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Ifrael, because he hath glorified thre.And the fons of the ftrangers fhall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minifter unto thee: for in my wrath I fmote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee *. And to fhew that this is their final return, and cannot allude to their coming from Babylon, he adds,—Thy fun shall no more go down ; neither Shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended+. And to fhew that this fhall take place, the Great Redeemer breaks out in the moft animating and tender language, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed Ifa. lx. I---10. + Ibid, ver. 20. ansinted me to przach glad tidings to the meek: he hath fent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the cap-~. tives, and the opening the prison to them that are bound: To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn: To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for afbes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the fpirit of heaviness; that they might be called Trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old waftes, they shall raise up the former defolations, they shall repair the waste cities, the defolations of many generations.-And ftrangers fhall ftand and feed your flocks, and the fons of the alien fhall be your plowmen, and your vine-dreffers. But ye shall be named Priests of the Lord: men fhall call you the Minifters of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory fhall ye boast yourselves.-For your shame ye shall have double, and for confufion they fhall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall poffefs the double; everlasting joy shall be unto them*. 10. FURTHERMORE, to prove that this great event shall take place, and that nothing shall fruftrate it, the Lord adds,-For Zion's fake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerufalem's fake I will not reft, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the falvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.-And the Gentiles shall fee thy righteoufnefs, and kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord fhall name.—Thou shalt alfo be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.-Thou shalt no more be termed, N 2 Forjaken; Ifa. Ixi. 1----& Forfaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed, Defolate: but thou shalt be called Hepxi-bab (that is, my delight) and thy land Beula' (that is, married): for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married.-For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy fons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, fo fhall thy God rejoice over thee * -Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy falvation cometh; bebold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forjaken †. II. I SHALL now take my leave of this bleffed Prophet for the prefent; but I fhall not take up time in apologizing for the large quotations which I have made from him, believing them quite pertinent to the matter in hand; and the ftrength and beauty of the expreffions cannot barely refer to any period of time that is past, but will have their compleat accomplishment; fo that not a jot or tittle fhall fail of all that Jeho ah hath fpcken. I am fill upon the point of God's willingness to graff his people into their own ftock, and, therefore, must call in fome more witneffes from the other Prophets; and tho' their teftimonies are not fo numerous, they are, neverthelefs, as full and clear. I might fetch many proofs from Jeremiah; but, that I may not fwell this difcourfe beyond due bounds, I fhall content myself with a few verses out of two Chapters. After pronouncing woe against the bad Paftors, the Lord breaks out in a moft glorious manner,-Behold, the days come, faith the Lord, that I will raife * Ifa. lxii. 1---6. + Ibid, ver, 11, tập raife unto David a righteous Branch, and a King fhall reign and profper, and ball execute judgement and juftice in the earth.In his days Judah fhall be faved, and Ifrael foall dwell fafely and this is the name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.—Therefore, behold, the days come, faith the Lord, that they shall no more fay, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Ifrael out of the land of Egypt-But, The Lord liveth, which brought up, and which led, the feed of the House of Ifrael out of the north country, and frem all countries whither I had driven them ; and and they fhall dwell in their own land. I think this is as plain as words can be.. The term, North country, cannot refer to Babylon, for that is not north, but fouth-eaft from Jerufalem; and it is fill more remarkable, that I fuppofe more Jews dwell in Holland, Germany, Poland, and the Ruffian empire, and in foine of its neighbouring flates, than in all the world befides; and from thence they shall be gathered. And to fhew that God will fulfill his word, he ratifies it in the moft folemn manner,Thus faith the Lord, which giveth the fun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the flars for a light by night, which divideth the fea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of Lofts is his name.-If thofe ordinances depart from before me, faith the Lord, then the feed of Ifrael alfo fball ceafe from being a nation before me for ever. Thas faith the Lord, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth fearched out beneath, I will also caft off all the feed of Ifrael, for all that they have done, faith the Lordt. I think words cannot be delivered in ftronger or clearer N 3 'Jer. ++ iii. 5---9•. t Ibid xxx. 35---37 terms, terms, except these that follow:-Behold, I will gather them out of all countries wither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell fafely.And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and I will not turn away from them to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they fhall not depart from me.—Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land affuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole foul.For thus faith the Lord, Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, fo will I bring upon them all the good which I have promifed them*. Thus far the weeping Prophet. 12. LET us now hear what the Shepherd of Ifrael fays in Ezekiel. After, as ufual, threatening the bad fhepherds, fuch as fed themselves, but neglected the flock, he adds,And I will fet up one Shepherd over them, even my Servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their fbepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and my fervant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it.-And will make with them a covenant of peace, and will caufe the evil beafts to ceafe out of the land: and they shail dwell fafely in the wilderness, and fleep in the woods t. Read to the end of the Chapter. But yet again,—I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.-Then will I Sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all Jer. xxxii. 37---43. + Ezek. xxxiv. 23--- 31. your |