whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee. And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart and with all thy soul: That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and compassionate thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee."

In the twenty-eighth chapter of Deut. we find, that Moses set before them, the blessings and the curses. In chap. xxix. he caused them to enter into the covenant, and fully informed them of the dreadful consequence of their breach of it. Having thus clearly shewn them the consequence of their obedience or disobedience, and drawn a lively picture of their miserable state in case of the latter, he proceeds to inform them of their future Redemption, which is to take place after all their sufferings; for the prophet having a prescience of their disobedience, and of course, the evil which would befal them; he, in order to prevent their

despair

despair in the greatness of their affliction, assures them of the certainty of their future Redemption, and the destruction of their enemies, in this chapter.

For he assures them, as of a certainty, that when all these afflictions shall come upon them, and they should return unto their God, and obey his voice, that then, their redemption will follow of course.

That the reader may be able fully to comprehend the force and meaning of the prophecy, according to the idiom of the Hebrew language; it will be necessary to take notice of the terms used by the prophet, both in regard to the nation's repentance, and the return of God's favor. For on the people's part, he mentions their return to God, by observing, first,

And thou shalt bring them והשבות אל לבבך

to thy heart: i. e. shalt fully consider in thy heart the state of thy case secretly, and repent.

ושבת עד ה' אלהיך,And in the next verse he says

And thou shalt return unto the LORD thy God. On the part of the Supreme Being, he says,

ושב ה' אלהיך את שבותך ורחמך ושב וקבצך

And the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and compassionate thee, and will return and`

gather

gather thee, &c. So that he makes use of a duplicate expression, as well on God's part as on the people's. We also find that in verse 8th, and 10th, he again mentions the return of the people to God, so that the people's return to God is mentioned four times, and God's return to the people twice. But the reason of this is, that Moses, by divine inspiration, had a prescience of all that was to happen to us, in this long and dreadful captivity; and foresaw that there would be two different parties in the Jewish nation.

The one, consisting of such who through the length of the captivity, numberless massacres, persecutions, and banishments, would not have sufficient fortitude to support them, and would therefore seem to apostatize, and pretend to embrace Christianity, * but in their hearts secretly adhere to the true faith, and law of Moses; and such are at this day called among us D'DIN The compelled ones: because, they act by compulsion: for as soon as they can by any means escape from the Popish countries, they instantly return to Judaism.

The

* Vide Basnage, history of the Jews, book vii. chap 21, sect. xx. &c.

The other, consists of those, who notwithstanding all their sufferings, have constantly adhered to the truth; made open profession of their faith; and being at all times known by the surname of Israel: of whom there are but few left, in comparison of the numbers which formerly existed.

Now, Moses by turns, addressed himself to each of these parties: for when he said,

and thou shalt bring them והשבות אל לבבך

to thy heart: (or according to the idiom of the English language, and thou shalt reflect inwardly) he addressed those who acted by compulsion; for although they had sinned, yet were they still a part of Israel. And, because their faith was secret, and their good works done in private, for fear of those among whom they dissembled: the prophet makes use of the expression, "And thou shalt bring them to thy heart AMONG all the nations whether the LORD thy God hath driven thee." That is, because thou art thus intermixed among the nations, and art called by their name; and therefore canst not call on God publicly that thou shalt invoke him secretly in thy heart.

A&

As to the other party, who publicly and constantly adhere to the true faith, he observed, "And thou shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children," &c. For these, make open profession of their faith, and publicly read the word of God in their known places of worship; they and their children: for their children are not forced from them, as are those of the other party. They therefore, may return unto God by a sincere repentance in a public manner. And the prophet assures them, that when both parties have sincerely repented; the one publicly, and the other privately; that then, God would return unto both of them: for which reason, he made use of different expressions. For to those who always continued in the covenant, he observed, "That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and compassionate thee." Because they are actually in captivity, and bear all the miseries thereof: he therefore justly observes, that God will have compassion

Vide Basnage, chap. xxxiy page 749, &c.