are they all children: but in Ifaac fhall thy feed be called. 8. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, thefe are not the children of God: but the children of the promife are counted for the feed. 9. For this is the word of promile, "At this time will I come, and Sara fhall have 10. And not only this, but when a Rebecca alfo had conceived by one, even by our father Ifaac, 11. (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the (1) purpose of God according to election might ftand, not of works, but of him that calleth.) 12. It was faid unto her, The elder [Or, greater] fhall ferve the * younger [Or, leffer]. 13. As it is written, Jacob have a fon. 9 Joh. 8.37, 39. I know that ye are Abraham's Seed. Jefus faith unto them, if ye were Abrahams Children, ye would do the Works of Abraham. * Gen. 21. 12. God faid unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy Sight, because of the Lad, and because of thy Bond-woman; in all that Sarah hath faid unto thee, hearken unto her Voice; for in Ilaac fhall thy Seed be called. † Heb. 11. 18. Of whom it was faid, That in faac fhall thy Seed be called. S 8. Gal.4.28. Now we, Bre- 15 thren, as Ifaac was, are the Childres of the Promise. 9. Gen. 18. 10. And he faid, I will certainly return unto thee according to the Time of Life ; and Sarah thy Wife fhall have a Son. becca, his Wife conceived. I 11. Rom. 4. 17. God who quickneth the Dead, and calleth thofe Things which be not, as though they were. 12. Gen. 25. 23. The Lord faid unto her, Two Nations are in thy Womb, and two manner of People fhall be feparated from thy Bowels: and the one People shall be ftronger than the other People, and the Elder fhall ferve the Younger. 2 Sam. 8. 14. And he put Garifons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he Garifons, and all they of Edom became Davids Servants. d + 13. Mal. 1. 2, 3. I have loved you, faith the Lord: yet ye fay, Wherein haft thou loved us? 20 Was not Efau Jacobs Brother? faith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob, and I hated Efau, and laid his Mountains and his Heritage waste, for the Dragons in the Wilder 10. at Gen. 25. 21. And Ifaac intreated the Lord for his Wife, because she was barren and the 25 nefs. Lord was intreated of him, and Re (1) The Purpofe and Election of God here, does not refpect the eternal Condition of Jacob and Efau. The Meaning therefore is not, that God, by an abfolute and unconditional Decree, determined Jacob to Happinefs, and Efau to Mifery, before either of them were born, or had done Good or E vil; but the Meaning is, that God before Jacob and Efau were born, had derermined that Jacob fhould be the Father of the Jewish Church, and that Chrift fhould defcend from his Loins, not from the Loins of Efau. This God might do, without any Injustice to Efau, who was notwithftarding capable of eternal Happiness. e I loved, but Efau have I hated. 14. What fhall we fay then? Is there funrighteoufnefs with God? God forbid. 15. For he faith to Mofes, I will have mercy (1) on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compaffion on whom I will have compaffion. 16. So then it is (2) not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that fheweth mercy. 17. For the fcripture faith unto Pharaoh, Even for this fame purpofe have I (3) raised thee (1) Thefe Words are cited to prove, that God was at liberty, if it fo pleafed him, to admit the Gentiles to the fame Privileges which were of fered to the Jews, which even the believing Jews were unwilling to al low. They do not imply that God will deny Mercy to any Perfon who' is a fit Object of it; nor is it here implied, that God will be wanting to any, or refufe to give Grace fufficient to fit thofe for Mercy who do their own Part, and apply themselves to him for it. I will farther add, that in the Gospel Senfe, he is a fit Object of Mercy, who fincerely performs the Conditions on which it is promifed. (2) It is not here implied, that God will reject any one that defires to accept of Salvation on the Terms it is offered. But the Senfe of the Words feems to be this: The Perfon chofen by God to inherit the Blaffings promised to Abraham, (among which the principal was, that in bis Seed all the Nations of the Earth should be bleffed) was thus remarkably diftinguished by the Mercy and Bounty of God. It is not therefore of him that willeth, as Abraham willed that the Bleffings to be derived to Mankind by Chrift, who was to defcend from his Loins, fhould come by Ishmael; and as Ifaac willed and intended the Bleffing for Efau; nor of him that runneth, as Efau ran, to get the Venifon, and to obtain the Bleffing; but it was purely an A&t of God's Favour, who appointed Jacob to be the Perfon. (3) The Meaning of thefe Words is not, that God created Pharaoh on purpose that he might be an Example of his Vengeance and feverity; for 18. up, that I might fhew my Power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore (1) hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardneth. 19. Thou wilt fay then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath refifted his will? 20. Nay but, O man, who art thou that *replieft against God [Or, answereft again, or, difputeft with God]? fhall the thing formed tay to him that formed it, Why haft thou made me thus? 21. Hath not the (2) Pot Job 9. 12. Behold, he ta keth away, who can hinder him? Who will fay unto him, What deft thou? Job 33. 13. Why doft thou ftrive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his Matters. 1o Ifa. 29. 16. Shall the Work say of him that made it, He made me not? Or, fhall the thing framed, fay of him that framed it, He had no un * derstanding? Ifa. 45. 9. Wo un 1 ter our Father: we are the Clay, and thou our Potter, and we all are the Work of thy Hand. 1 * 21. Prov. 16, 4. The Lord 5 hath made all things for himfelf: yea, even the Wicked for the Day of Evil. Jer. 18. 6. O House of Ifrael, cannot I do with you as this Potter? faith the Lord. Behold, as the Clay is in the Potter's Hand, fo are ye in my Hand, O Houfe of Ifrael. Wifd. 15.7. The Potter tempering foft Earth, fashioneth every Veffel with much labour for our Service: yea, of the fame Clay he maketh both the Veffels that ferve for clean Uses, and likewife alfo all fuch as ferve to the contrary: but what is the 15 * to him that ftriveth with his Maker: let the Potsherd ftrive with the Potfherds of the Earth: Shall the Clay fay to him that fashioneth it, What makeft thou? or thy 20 Ufe of either fort, the Potter himWork, He hath no Hands? Ifa. felf is the Judge. 64. 8. But now, O Lord, thou art for God made no Man to be miferable. The Hebrew in Exodus, from whence this Paffage is cited, fignifies, for this Caufe have I made thee to ftand, That is, I have preferved and kept thee alive, notwithstanding the Plagues which have been already inflicted, though thou haft long fince deferved to be destroyed. Or, the Words may relate to Pharaoh's Advancement to the Throne. Those who will have them to fignifie, that Pharaoh was created for this purpose, cannot blame him for anfwering the End of his Creation. (1) The Calling of the Gentiles to partake of the Blessings of the Gospel, was an inftance of the great Goodness and Mercy of God. The Jews too were likewife called, and their rejection upon their hardning their Hearts, and refufing to accept of that gracious Offer, was an inftance of his Juftice. God is indeed faid to have hardned the Hearts of Pharaoh, and of the Egyptians, of Sihon, and the Kings of Canaan, but that is to be understood figuratively, as importing only a bare Permiffion. See the Notes on Job. 12.40. and Acts 7.42. (2) The Meaning of this Allufion feems to be this: As the Potter, out of ter power over the clay, of the fame lump to make mone veffel unto honour, and another unto difhonour? 22. What if God willing to fhew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-fuffering the n veffels of wrath fitted [Or, made up] to deftruction: 23. And that he might make known the P riches of his glory on the veffels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory? 24. Even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but alfo of the Gentiles. 25. As he faith alfo in Ofee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her, beloved, which was not beloved. 26. And it fhall come to pafs, that in the place 22. n 5 in † 2 Tim. 2. 20. But in a great House there are not only Veffels of Gold, and of Silver, but also of Wood, and of Earth; and fome to Honour, and fome to Dishonour. I Thef. 1. 10. - Jefus which delivered us from the Wrath to come. Thef. 5. 9. God hath not appointed us to Wrath; but to obtain Salvation by our 1o Lord Jefus Christ. of Pet, 2. 8. A Stone of ftumbling, and a rock of Offence, even to them which stumble at the Word, being difobedient, whereunto alfo they were appointed. † Jude Ver. 4. There are certain Men crept in unawares, who were before of old where ordained to this Condemnation, un godly Men.— 23. Pt Col. 1. 27. 2.4. See on Rom. 25. 9* Hof. 2. 23. - I will fay to them which were not my People, Thou art my People; and they fhall fay, Thou art my God. 1 Pet. 2. 10. Which in time paft were not a People, but are now the People of God; which had not obtained Mercy, but now have obtained Mercy. 26. Hof. 1. 9, 10. -Ye are not my People, and I will not be 15 your God. Yet the Number of the Children of Ifrael fhall be as the of the fame Lump of Clay, hath Power to make one Veffel for an honourable Ufe, and another for a difhonourable Ufe; fo Almighty God may, without injuftice, make choice of one Nation to be in a peculiar manner his People, and confer fingular Favours upon them, which he does not think fit to bestow upon other Nations. If therefore God be confidered only as the Creator of the World, the Jews will not have any thing that they can reasonably object against him, for cafting off the Bulk of their Nation, and choofing for his People, thofe of them who believed, and the believing Gentiles. But God did not proceed in an arbitrary manner with them, as is manifeft from the Reafoning in the following Verfe. He bore long with them, and they had many gracious Offers made to them by the Son of God. Nor were they delivered over to Punishment, before they had, by their own Defervings, fitted themselves for Destruction. It is farther obfervable, that when God made choice of the Pofterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to be his peculiar People, the refidue of Mankind were not left in an hopeless Condition; for they were manifeftly included in the Promife made to Abraham, Gen 22 18. In thy Seed fhall all the Nations of the Earth be bleed. See the Note on Acts 13.48. น S 27. where it was faid unto them, Ye are not my people; there fhall they be called the children of the living God. Efaias alfo crieth concerning Ifrael, Though the number of the children of Ifrael be as the fand of the fea, a remnant fhall be faved. 28. For he will finifh the work [Or, the account], and cut it fhort in righteousness: because a fhort work will the Lord make upon the earth. 29. And as Efaias faid before, a Except the Lord of fabaoth had left us a feed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. 30. (1) What fhall we fay then? that the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteoufnefs which is b с the Sand of the Sea, which cannot 27. * Ifa. 10. 22, 23. Though thy People Ifrael be as the Sand of the Sea, yet a remnant of them 10 fhall return the Confumption de creed fhall overflow with righte oufnefs. For the Lord of Hofts fhall make a Confumption, even determined in the midst of all the Land. 15 20 * of 29. a Ifa. 1. 9. Except the Lord of Hofts had left us a very small Remnant, we fhould have been as Sodom, and we should have been. like unto Gomorrah. † Lam. 3. 22. It is of the Lords Mercies that we are not confumed, because his Compaffions fail not. b + Ifa. 13. 19. Babylon, the, Glory of Kingdoms, the Beauty of the Caldees Excellency, fhall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Jer. 50. 40. As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and the neighbour Cities thereof, faith the Lord: So fhall no Man abide there, neither fhall any Son of Man dwell therein. (1) In this and the following Verfe, we have the Conclufion the Apoftle draws from what he had laid down in the former Part of the Chapter; namely, That the Gentiles, who before the Coming of Christ had no Notion of the Method of obtaining Juftification and Salvation, upon its being made known to them, complied with the Terms it was offered to them upon, and therefore obtained it: Whereas the generality of the Jews, who had fome knowledge of thefe Things, miffed of it, because they fought it not in God's Way, but thought to obtain Juftification or Pardon, and Salvation by the Law of Mofes. Hence it is manifeft, that the Apostle had no defign to teach, in this difficult Chapter, that God was a refpecter of Perfons; which he would be, had he by a fecret Decree determined, before People had done good or evil, that fome few fhould be neceffarily happy, but the much greater Number of Men and Women neceffarily Miferable; for if this had been the Apoftle's Meaning, he would have mentioned it in the Conclufion he draws from what he had faid. |