them. But, as when there is plenty of bread, so in plenty of ordinances, men are apt to be surfeited with them, and become weary of them, to discourage their ministers, and neglect their services : and it is then just in God to take them away.

CHAP. IX.

The certainty of the desolation of idolaters, and the restoring of the tabernacle of David.

1

I SAW the LORD standing upon the altar at Bethel, in a

warlike posture, to destroy the idolaters and their idolatry : and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake and cut them in the head, all of them; strike them with a mortal wound; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered; destruction shall meet 2 them when they think they have escaped. Though they dig into hell, into the grave, or the centre of the earth, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, to 3 the highest mountain, thence will I bring them down: And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, in the caves there, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, or some voracious fish, and he shall bite 4 them: And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them; though having suffered some lesser judgments, they may think themselves safe, yet they shall not escape greater ones and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good. And the Lord GoD of hosts [is] he that toucheth the land, and it shall melt; the least token of his displeasure puts all nature into confusion; and all that dwell therein shall mourn: and it shall rise up wholly like a flood; and shall be drowned as [by] the flood of Egypt; their destruction shall come like the overflowing 6 of the Nile. [It is] he that buildeth his stories in the heaven, in the several regions of the air, one above another, where he lays up his magazines of thunder, lightning, and hail, and hath founded his troop, or rather, his storehouse, in the earth ;* he that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth; either in fruitful showers or destructive torrents, according to his sovereign will: The LORD 7 [is] his name. [Are] ye not as children of the Ethiopians

* Probably this is an allusion to repositories in the lower parts of houses, or to such as were sometimes digged in the fields.

unto me, O children of Israel, saith the LORD? have I any inducement to bear thus with the children of Israel? have I not reason to look upon them with as much detestation, as ever I did on accursed Ham and his posterity? Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir? do you think that because I brought you from Egypt, I am still obliged to bear with, and protect you? have I not delivered other nations and transplanted them into fertile countries, and yet punished them ? particularly your neighbouring enemies the Philistines and Syrians? and I 8 shall now regard you no more than them. Behold, the eyes of the Lord Goo [are] upon the sinful kingdom of Israel, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD. 9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as [corn] is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth; though I will thus mix the Israelites with distant nations, yet the devout and faithful among them I will spare, and bring back by various deliverances 10 to their own land. But All the sinners of my people, they who are most secure and presumptuous, shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. The prophet then concludes, as most of the prophets do, with a prediction of the Messiah's kingdom, and the restoration of the family of David, in the person and kingdom of Christ.

11

In that day, in the time of the Messiah, will I raise up the tabernacle (here elegantly put for the kingdom or family) of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, referring to the low state of that family when Christ appeared, and I will build it as in the days of old : 12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that . doeth this; that heathen nations, and those who are now the greatest enemies to God and his people, may be brought into the 13 church. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the ploughman shall overtake, or rather, shall meet or draw near to, the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; the harvest and the vintage shall be so plentiful, that the gathering in shall last till seed time; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt; the soil shall be made mellow and luxuriant, and the mountains and the hills shall flow 14 as it were with the abundance of wine produced on them. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit (them ;] and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall

The passage is quoted Acts xv. 17. in the first council at Jerusalem, as a proof that the gentiles were to be brought into the christian church, that the residue of men may seek the Lord; so the LXX translate and the apostles quote it.

15 also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.*

1.

WE

REFLECTIONS.

E see how impossible it is for sinners to escape the judgments of God. We have here a noble and solemn description of his universal presence, and irresistible power, and of his determination to punish all his enemies. How dreadful then is the case of those, who have the eyes of God against them for evil? There is no place to which they can escape from his notice, or where they can shun his avenging hand. Stand, therefore, in awe, and sin not.

2. We are here taught God's esteem for his people, and the care which he takes of them. Though he may sift them among all nations, and bring distressing judgments upon them, he will not permit the least grain to fall to the earth; not one of his faith. ful servants shall be lost. He will defend them in the day of evil; or, if they suffer with others, they shall not be destroyed. His fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor; but the precious grain shall all be preserved.

3. Let us rejoice in the fulfilling of this prophecy. God's name is called upon the heathen; the kingdom of Christ is established among them; and we in this nation have been led to seek the Lord, and are become a part of his people: and we see that there is still hope concerning the restoration and conversion of the Jews. Let it be our prayer that God would bring them into his church and favour again, and give his Son the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession.

Mr. Henry justly interprets this of their conversion, but refers it to their being joined to the christian churches wherever they are dispersed: whereas to me it seems very plain, from this passage, and many others, that they shall come to their own land, and then be converted, and never apostatize from God any more.

The Book of the PROPHET

OBADIAH.

INTRODUCTION.

WE have no account of this prophet, nor of the time when he prophesied; probably it was just after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. He is thought to have been contemporary with Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who foretold the similar destruction of the Edomites, or descendants of Esau, on account of their cruel insult of the Jews after their city was taken. The prophecy, according to Abp. USHER, was fulfilled about five years after the taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. It is called a vision ; but we have no accouut of any thing he saw; the term may signify any message by a prophet.

THE

HE vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle: the forces of the heathen are summoned to unite with each other and with God against Edom; a representation, designed to encourage the 2 Israelites, who were now carried captive. Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art greatly despised, notwithstanding all thy pride and insolence.

3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation [is] high, in a rocky country and in fortified places, that saith in his 4 heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt [thyself] as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring the down, saith the LORD. If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if the grape gatherers came to thee, would they not leave [some] grapes? they would not have consumed every thing; if they had taken away the most valuable, they would have left something; but thine enemies shall destroy what they 6 cannot carry away. How are [the things] of Esau searched hidden things, his rich treasures, sought

out! [how] are his

7 up! All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee [even] to the border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee, [and] prevailed against thee; they went with thee to thy borders to repel thy invaders, and then treach erously forsook thee; [they that eat] thy bread have laid a wound under thee; have secretly and slily wounded thee, or laid a snare for thee: [there is] none understanding in him. 8 Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise [men] out of Edom, who were famous for the wisdom of their politics, and understanding out of the mount of Esau ? 9 And thy mighty [men,] O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

10

For [thy] violence against thy brother Jacob, that is, the Jews, who descended from Jacob, Esau's brother, and because thou wast ready to share the plunder with their enemies, shame shall cover thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever; accordingly, they never recovered the possession of their country, 11 Arabia Petraa. In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou [wast] as one of them, which was 12 highly unjust and cruel. But thou shouldst not have looked with delight on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldst thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldst thou have spoken proudly, insolently triumphed over 13 them, in the day of distress. Thou shouldst not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldst not have looked with delight on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid [hands] on their 14 substance in the day of their calamity; Neither shouldst thou have stood in the cross way, to cut off those that did escape, and fled; neither shouldst thou have delivered up, or, shut up from any way of escape, those of his that did remain in the day of distress, who had escaped the Chaldean sword and rage. 15 For the day of the LORD [is] near upon all the heathen : as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head, and others shall rejoice in 16 thy calamity. For as ye, my people, have drunk upon my holy mountain of the cup of affliction, [so] shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down the very dregs, and they shall be as though they had not been; they shall be quite destroyed.

17

But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions; the captives shall return, be cured of their idolatry, 18 and be holy, safe and happy. And the house of Jacob shall