consumed: but if God was to afflict his people to such
a degree, they would not be able to bear it; and if
they were to continue 'under his afflicting hand till all
their dross, sin, and corruption were removed, they
would be utterly consumed; was he to-contend, or be
wroth for ever, the spirit would fail before him, and
the souls that he has made; wherefore he does not af-
flict in this fierce and furious manner, but gently and
gradually, in measure, in mercy, and not in strict jus-
tice, 1 Cor. x. 13. Isa. xxvii. 8, 9. and lvii. 16. Jet. x.
23. and xxx. 11,. and by such gentle means he refines
and brightens the graces of his people, tries and proves 
their principles and profession, and reforms their man-
ners: I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction ;
such was the afflction of Israel in Egypt, called the
iron furnaee, Deut. iv. 20. and as God has his furnace
to punish and consume his enemies, so he has his fur-
nace to try, purge, and purify his people, Isa. xxxi, 9.
and which is a fiery one, and very grievous and dis-
tressing, especially when the wrath of God is appre-
hended in it, though fury is not in him: when he
afflicts, it is all in love, and therefore is said to choose
his people at such a time; which is to be understood
not of their election to grace and glory; for that is not
done in time, but in eternity, and is of them, not as
transgressor, or as in the corrupt mass, but as in the
pure mass of creatureship : rather of vocation,, which
is the fruit, and effect, and evidence of election, and
is expressed by choosing, John xv. 19. 1 Cor. i. 26.
and sometimes afflictions have been the means of it;
or God has in them, or by them, brought them to him-
self, as he did Manasseh: but it seems best of all to
understand it of the manifestation of election; God
sometimes under afflictire provideaces appears to his
people, and tells them that he has loved them with
an everlasting. love, and assures them that they are
his chosen ones; he knows their souls, and owns them
as his own in their adversities; besides, in afflicting
them, he deals with them as his children and chosen
ones; and because' they are so, he takes the pains he
does with them, which he does not with others, to
purge and purify them, Psal. xxxi. 7. Heb. xii. 7.
Moreover, he makes them choice and excellent per-
sons by afflictions; they come forth out of them as
choice silver and pure gold; they gain thereby many
choice experiences of the love and grace of God, and
of the truths of the Gospel, and of the promises of it:
.afflicted saints are commonly the choicest believers;
they become thriving and flourishing Christians, hum-
ble and holy ones; more fit for their master's use,
more weaned from the world, and wrought up for hea-
ven and happiness. Some, as Jarcbi and Aben Ezra,
render the words, I have chosen for thee the furnace of
afflictioni, or thee for the furnace of affliction; afflic-
tions are chosen. and appointed for the people of God,
and they are chosen for and appointed unto affliction,
Job xxiii. 14. 1 Thess. iii. 3. Some, as Aben Ezra
and Kimchi observe, by the change of a letter, read
bachantica, have proved thee, or tried thee, instead of
bachartica, I have chosen thee; but without any reason.
Vet. 11. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake,
will I do it, &c.] Defer his anger, not cut off his
people and destroy them, but redeem and save them:
this, in the li.teral sense, respects the redemption and
del.iverance of the Jews by' Cyrus from the Babylonish
captivity; which the Lord did, not for any deserts of
theirs, but for the sake of his own henour and glory;
or, as the Targum," for my name, and for my word ;"
which is repeated here again and again fo.r the confir-
mation of it, and that it might be more observed. In
the mystical sense, it respects redemption and sal-
vation by Christ, of which the former was typical:
for how should my name be polluted ? blasphemed and
evil-spoken of among the nations of the world; who
would be ready to say, that either the Lord did not
love his people, and was not mercifully disposed to-
wards them; or that he could not save them, and that
their hands, or their gods, were mightier than he; see
Deut. xxxii. 26, 27. and I will not give my glory to
another; to another people, as the Targum, or to an-
other god; see the note on ch. xlii. 8.
Ver. le. Hearken unto me, 0 Jacob and Israel, my
called, &c.] Called before out of Egypt, and now out
of Babylon, and who had the name of God called upon
them, and who called upon the name of the Lord; so
such who are called with a holy calling, according
to the purpose and grace of God, by the spirit and
grace of Christ, unto fellowship with him, to partake
of his grace here, and glory hereafter, are styled the
called of Jesus Christ, Rein. i. 6. and who seems to be
the person here speaking, as appears from the follow-
ing clause: and it may be observed, that Jacob and
Israel are described here in a different manner from
what they are in the beginning of the chapter, since
the Lord had declared his designs of grace towards
them, and that he had chosen them, and would save
them for his name's sake: which they had reason to
believe he could and would do, from the account which
he gives of himself: and they are called upon to
hearken to him, as follows, I am he, I am the first,
and I also am the last; the everlasting I AM, the im-
mutable Jehovah, the Alpha and Omega, the begin-
ning and the ending, the first cause and last end of
all things; phrases expressive of the self-existence,
supremacy, eternity, and iramutability of Christ, Rev.
i. 8, 17, and what is it that such a sovereign, eternal,
and unchangeable Being cannot do ?
Vet. 13. Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of
the earth, &c.] Which is ascribed to the Wisdom,
Word, and Son of God, Prey, iii. 19. Heb. i. 10. This
Aben Ezra and Kimchi interpret of the left hand {k},
seeing the work of the heavens is ascribed to the right
hand in the following clause; the earth being less ho-
hourable than the heavens: and my right hand hath
spanned the heave,s; stretched them out as a curtain
or canopy over the earth, and measured them out with
a span, as easily as a man measures any thing with his
hand; see ch. xl.l2. when I callunto them, they stand up
together; .or, I called them, and they stood up together,
as the Targum; and so may refer to the first creation
of them, when at the word of God, and by his al.-
mighty fiat, they rose into being at once, Psal. xxxiii.
9. Kimchi observes, that the houses of Hillell and
Shamtoni were divided about this matter, which were

{i} \^yne rwkk Kytrxb\^ elegi tibi, sive pro te fornacem affictionis,
Gataker,
{k} Vid. T. Bab. Menachot, fol, 36. 2.