Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/3_600_e.lzh/3_631.TXT

Text File | 1995-01-31 | 9KB | 177 lines

\*Ver. 7. \\Lift up your heads, O ye gates\\, &c.] By
which the gates of hell are not meant; nor are the
words to be understood of the descent of Christ thither,
to fetch the souls of Old Testament saints from thence;
who the Papists dream were detained in an apartment
there, as in a prison, called by them %limbus patrum%;
seeing these, immediately upon their separation from
the body, were in a state of happiness and glory,
as the parable of the rich man and Lazarus shows;
and since Christ, at his death, went, in his human
soul, immediately into heaven, or paradise, where
the penitent thief was that day with him: nor do
the words design the gates of heaven, and Christ's
ascension thither, shut by the sins of men, and opened
by the blood of Christ, by which he entered himself,
and has made way for all his people; though this
sense is much preferable to the former. The Jewish
interpreters understand the phrase of the gates of the
temple, which David prophetically speaks of as to be
opened, when it should be built and dedicated by Solomon,
and when the ark, the symbol of Jehovah's
presence, was brought into it, and the glory of the
Lord tilled the house; so the Targum interprets this
first clause of %the gates of the house of the sanctuary%;
though the next of %the gates of the garden of Eden%;
but the words are better interpreted, in a mystical and
spiritual sense, of the church of God, the temple of
the living God, which is said to have gates, \\#Isa 60:11\\;
and is itself called a door, \\#So 8:9\\; where the open
door of the Gospel is set, or an opportunity of preaching
the Gospel given, and a door of utterance to the ministers
of the word, and the doors of men's hearts are
opened to attend to it; and indeed the hearts of particular
believers, individual members of the church,
may be intended, or at least included in the sense of
the passage; see \\#Re 3:20\\; and it may be observed,
that the new Jerusalem is said to have gates of pearl,
through which Christ, when he makes his glorious
appearance, will enter in his own glory, and in his
father's, and in the glory of the holy angels;
\*\\and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors\\; or %the doors of the
world% {n}; which some understand of the kingdoms and
nations of the world, and of the kings and princes
thereof, as called upon to open and make way for, and
receive the Gospel of Christ into them, and to support
and retain it; but it is best to interpret it of the
church and its members, whose continuance, perpetuity,
and duration, are here intimated, by being
called %everlasting doors%; which may be said to be %lifted
up%, as it may respect churches, when those things are
removed which hinder communion with Christ; as
their sins, which separate between them and their
God, and the wall of unbelief, behind which Christ
stands; and sleepiness, drowsiness, coldness, lukewarmness,
and indifference; see \\#Isa 59:2 So 2:9
5:2\\; and when public worship is closely and strictly
attended on, as the ministration of the word and ordinances,
prayer to God, which is the lifting up the
heart with the hands to God, and singing his praise:
and as it may respect particular believers; these doors
and gates may be said to be lifted up, when their
hearts are enlarged with the love of God; the desires
and affections of their souls are drawn out towards the
Lord, and the graces of the spirit are in a lively exercise
on him; and when they lift up their heads with
joy in a view of Christ coming to them. This must
not be understood as if they could do all this of themselves,
any more than gates and doors can be thought
to open and lift up themselves;
\*\\and the King of glory
shall come in\\; the Lord Jesus Christ, called the Lord
of glory, \\#1Co 2:8 Jas 2:1\\; who is glorious in
himself, in the perfections of his divine nature, as the
Son of God; being the brightness of his Father's glory,
and the express image of his person; and in his office
as Mediator, being full of grace and truth, and having
a glory given him before the world was; and which
became manifest upon his resurrection, ascension to
heaven, and session at God's right hand; and particularly
he is glorious as a King, being made higher than
the kings of the earth, and crowned with glory and
honour; and so the Targum renders it \^aryqy Klm\^, %the
glorious King%; and he is moreover the author and
giver, the Sum and substance, of the glory and happiness
of the saints: and now, as the inhabitants of Zion,
and members of the church, are described in the preceding
verses, an account is given of the King of Zion
in this and the following; who may be said to %come
into% his churches, when he grants his gracious presence,
shows himself through the lattices, and in the
galleries of ordinances, in his beauty and glory; takes
his walks there, and his goings are seen, even in the
sanctuary; and where he dwells as King in his palace,
and as a son in his own house; and he may be said to
come into the hearts of particular believers, when he
manifests himself, his love and grace, unto them, and
grants them such communion as is expressed by supping
with them, and by dwelling in their hearts by
faith,

\*Ver. 8. \\Who [is] this King of glory\\? &c.] Which
question is pUt by the church, or particular believers;
not through ignorance, as the daughters of Jerusalem,
\\#So 5:9\\; or the Pharisees, when Christ made his
public entrance into Jerusalem, \\#Mt 21:10\\; much
less in pride and haughtiness, in scorn and derision, as
Pharaoh, \\#Ex 5:1\\; and the Capernaites, \\#Joh 6:42\\;
but as wondering at the glories and excellencies of his
person, and as desirous of knowing more of him. The
answer to the question is,
\*\\the Lord strong and mighty\\:
he whose name alone is Jehovah; the most high in all
the earth; the everlasting I AM; Jehovah our righteousness;
the mighty God, even the Almighty; the
Son of man, whom God has made strong for himself:
his strength and might have been seen in the creation
of all things out of nothing, in upholding all things
by his power, in the redemption of his people, in the
resurrection of himself, in dispossessing the strong man
armed out of the hearts of his chosen ones, in the government
of his church, and the care of all his saints,
and in keeping them from a final and total falling away.
From the first of these words, which is only here used,
Mars, because of his strength, has the name of Azizus;
which name of his Julian {o} makes mention of; and very
probably Hesus, also a deity of the ancient Gauls,
spoken of by the poet {p}, and by Lactantius {q}; but to
none does it belong as to our Jehovah;
\*\\the Lord mighty in battle\\; as he was when he was up on the
cross; when he made an end of sin, spoiled principalities
and powers; abolished death, and destroyed him
that had the power of it; and as he will be at the last
day, when the kings of the earth shall make war with
him, and he shall overcome them; when the beast and
false prophet shall be taken, and cast alive into the
lake of fire; and the remnant shall be slain with the
sword of his mouth; see \\#Re 17:14 19:11-21\\;
and who is now the Captain of salvation to his people,
their Leader and Commander; who furnishes them with
weapons of warfare, which are mighty through God;
who teaches their hands to war, and their fingers to
fight the good fight of faith; and makes them more
than conquerors, through himself, that has loved
them.

\*Ver. 9. \\Lift up your heads, O ye gates\\, &c.] This
is repeated on account of the backwardness and negligence
of churches, and particular believers, to open
and let Christ in; as may be seen in the case of the church
in \\#So 5:2,3\\; as well as the more to set forth the
greatness and glory of Christ, about to make his entrance,
and to command a proper awe and reverence
of him: some think respect is had to the twofold
coming of Christ; first into the second temple, and next
at the last judgment; though rather the certainty of
his coming, in a spiritual manner, to his church and
people, is here designed. \\See Gill on "Ps 24:7"\\.

\*Ver. 10. \\Who is this King of glory\\? &c.] This
is repeated, because of the preceding words, and in
order to have a further account of his glorious Person,
as follows:
\*\\the Lord of hosts, he [is] the King of glory\\;
he who is the Lord of sabaoth, the Lord of
the armies, both of the heavens and the earth; at
whose dispose and control all things are in both worlds,
above and below: this is the great and glorious Person
that condescends to dwell in his churches, and
in the hearts of his people; and this honour have
his saints.

\*\\Selah\\; on this word, \\see Gill on "Ps 3:2"\\.

{n} \^Mlwe yxtp\^ %ostia mundi%, Gejerus, Schmidt.
{o} Orat. 4. in solem, p. 281.
{p} %Teutates horrensque feris altaribus Hesus%. Lucan.
{q} De Fals. Relig. l. 1. c. 31.