mation, ver. 14. The Lord argues from the efficacy
and success of the ministry of the word to the truth of
it, and their miss:,on from him; for though a good
ministry is not always successful, at least so success-
ful as could be wished for, and as it might reasonably
be expected it would; yet it is more or less so; and
at least it has a tendency to bring men off from their
evil practices; and it attempts to do it, though it may
fail in the execution; whereas a wicked ministry, such
as this of the false prophets, had no tendency hereunto;
nor was it the design of it; nor did they attempt it;
but, on the contrary, encouraged and hardened men
in sin.
Ver. 23. Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, &c.]
Or near f; that is, in heaven; and only sees, and hears,
and observes persons and things there, being near unto
him: and not a God afar off ? that sees, and hears, and
takes notice of persons and things at a distance, even
on earth. The meaning is, that he certainly was; and
that persons and things on earth were as much under
his cognizance and notice, as persons and things in
heaven; which was quite contrary to the notions of
these atheistical prophets and people; who, like
Heathens, thought that God did not concern himself
about persons and things on earth. The Septuagint
and Arabic versions render it, without the interrogative,
I am a God near, saith the Lord, and not afar off. The
meaning is, that God is alike near in one place as in
another; which is a very great truth; and a very com-
fortable one it is to the people of God, to whom he is
near in all places, and at all times; he is a present help
in time of trouble; he is near them, to hear their
cries, and grant their requests; he is near to give them
assistance in a time of need, and to deliver them out
of all their troubles; to afford them his gracious pre-
sence, and to indulge them with communion with him-
self; to communicate all good things to them; to
speak comfortably to them; to take them by the hand,
ú and lead them in the way everlasting: he is at their
right hand to uphold them with his, and to strengthen
them with strength in their souls; to advise and
counsel, and direct them; to rebuke their enemies,
and save them from them that condemn them; and
indeed there are no people like them, who have God
so nigh unto them, in all things they call upon him
for, Dent. iv. 7- and though he may seem at times to
be afar off, and stand at a distance from them; when
he hides his face; withdraws his gracious influences;
does not appear at once for their relief in distress; but
suffers them to he afflicted in one way or another; yet
in reality he is not; but is nigh unto them when they
call upon him: and this truth is as uncomfortable and
dreadful to wicked men, who cannot go from his spirit,
or flee from his presence; which is everywhere, in
heaven and hell, in the earth and seas, even in the
uttermost parts of them; there his eye is upon them,
and his right hand can reach them: he is omnipresent,
omniscient, and omnipotent. The Targum is, "I God
"have created the world from the beginning,saith the
"Lord; and I God will renew the world for the
"righteous ;" see 2 Pet. iii. 13. and some interpret the
words of time, as well as of place; as if the sense was
this, am I a God of late date, as the gods of the Hea-
thens are ? no, I am not: am I not a God from eternityú
who was before the world was, and the Creator of it,
which they are not ? verily I am: but the former sense
is best, and most agreeable with the context, and what
follows.
Ver. 24. Can any hide himself in secret placer that
I shall not see him ? saith the Lord, &c.] If a man
should hide himself in the most secret and hidden
places of the earth, and do his works in the most pri-
vate manuer, so that no human eye can see him, he
can't hide himself or his actions from the Lord, who
can see from heaven to earth, and through the darkest
and thickest clouds, and into the very bowels of the
earth, and the most hidden and secret recesses and
caverns of it. The darkness and the light are both
alike to him; and also near and distant, open and secret
places: do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith the Lord;
not only with inhabitants, and with other effects of his
power and providence; but with his essence, which is
everywhere, and is infinite and immense, and cannot
be contained in either, or be limited and circumscribed
by space and place; see I Kings viii. S7. The Targum
is, "does not my glory fill heaven and earth ? saith
"the Lord ;" both of them are full of his glory; and
every person and thing in either must be seen and
known by him; and so the false prophets and their
lies; in order to convince of the truth of which, all this
is said, as appears by the following words.
Ver. 25. I have heard what the prophets said, that pro-
phesy lies in my name, &c.] Or, I hear what the prophets
say {g}, &c.; though they thought God was at a distance
from them, in the highest heavens, and neither saw,
nor heard, nor took any notice of what was done on
earth, they were greatly mistaken; he heard and ob
served with indignation the false doctrines and lying
prophecies which they delivered out in his name to
the people, whether in public or in private; for he is
the Lord God omniscient and omnipresent; and there-
fore, though they deceived the people, they could not
deceive him; who knew all their schemes and all their
designs, from what principles they acted, and with
what views. Saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed;
not a common dream, but a divine dream; this was
one way in which the Lord formerly made known his
mind and will to his servants, Numb. xii. 6. wherefore
these false prophets, in imitation of the true ones, and
in order to gain credit from the people, pretended
they had a dream from the Lord, in which such and
such things were revealed to them; and this is repeated
by them for the greater certainty of it, and to raise
the people's attention as to something very.uncommon
and extraordinary. So the Targum, "saying, a word
"of prophecy has been shewn to me in a dream."
Now, though the people could not contradict them,
or know any otherwise than as they might observe that
they agreed not with the word of God, or with his
will, as made known by the true prophets of the Lord;
for if a man says he has dreamed so and so, another
can't say he has not; because no man knows the things

{f} \^brqm\^ e propinquo, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; vel
propinquus, Schmidt.
{g} \^wrma\^ dicunt, Calvin, Cocceius.