Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_000_p.lzh/5_007.TXT

Text File | 1994-12-28 | 7KB | 132 lines

these feasts being no more to be observed; or to offer
the above sacrifices; these were not required of the
Israelites when they first came out of Egypt, \\#Jer 7:22\\
nor were they necessary to appear before God with,
or to introduce them to the throne of his grace,
\\#Mic 6:6,7\\ and much less under the Gospel dispensation,
being abolished by the sacrifice of Christ; or this re-
lates to what follows, \*\\to tread my courts\\? in that un-
becoming and hypocritical way they did, and with
such wicked hearts and bloody hands. %Courts% are men-
tioned, because, as Kimchi observes, the Israelites
stood in the courts of the Lord's house, and did not go
into the temple, only the priests.
   \*Ver. 13. \\Bring no more vain oblations\\, &c.] As all
such were, which were offered up without faith in Christ,
in hypocrisy, and with dependence on them for pardon
and atonement, and particularly when put an end to
by the sacrifice of Christ; see \\#Mt 15:9\\. The Targum
renders it, %an oblation of robbery%; see \\#Isa 60:8\\ \*\\incense
is an abomination to me\\; instead of being of a sweet
smell. This was burnt on the altar of incense, and put
upon the sacrifices, \\#Ex 30:1,7,8 Le 2:1\\
was typical of prayer, \\#Ps 141:2 Re 8:3\\ but now
under the Gospel dispensation to be disused, and so
disagreeable to God, that it is as if an idol was blessed,
\\#Isa 66:3\\ \*\\the new moons\\; the feasts kept on the first
day of the month, at the appearance of the moon: \*\\and
sabbaths\\; observed every seventh day, every seventh
year, and every seven times seventh year: \*\\the calling
of assemblies\\; or %the new moon and sabbath, do not call
a congregation%. These assemblies called were the holy
convocations on the seventh day sabbath, at the feasts
of passover, pentecost, and tabernacles, at the blow-
ing of the trumpets, and on the day of atonement, \\#Le 23:3\\
&c. \\#Nu 28:26 29:1,7,12\\. The
words, \*\\I cannot away with\\ or %bear%, may be joined
with the following word, %iniquity%; and the meaning is,
that the Lord could not bear the iniquity that was in
their hearts when they had their solemn assemblies
and holy convocations: \*\\[it is] iniquity, even the solemn
meeting\\: or cessation from work on any of the
above festivals; particularly the feast of weeks, or
pentecost, was called \^true\^, %Atzareth%, by the Jews {g}, the
same word with this here {h}.
\*Ver. 14. \\Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hateth\\, &c.] The Targum is, \*"my Word
"abhoreth;"\* the Messiah, the essential Word. These
are the same as before. \*\\They are a trouble unto me\\;
as they were kept and observed, either when they
should not, or in a manner unbecoming: \*\\I am weary to
bear [them]\\; because of the sins with which they made
him to serve, \\#Isa 43:24\\.
\*Ver. 15. \\And when ye spread forth your hands\\, &c.]
That is, in prayer, this being a prayer gesture: hence
the Targum paraphrases it, \*"and when the priests
"spread out their hands  to pray for you."\* \*\\I will hide
mine eyes from you\\; will not look upon them, nor
regard their prayer; see \\#Lam 3:42\\ \*\\yea, when ye
make many prayers\\; as the Scribes and Pharisees did in
Christ's time, and thought to be heard for their much

speaking, like the Gentiles, \\#Mt 6:7\\ \*\\I will not hear\\;
so as to give an answer, or fulfil their requests: the
reason follows, \*\\your hands are full of blood\\; of the
prophets of the Lord, of Christ and his followers,
whom they put to death.
\*Ver. 16. \\Wash ye, make you clean, &c\\.] These two
words are to be regarded as one, since they intend the
same thing, and suppose the persons spoken to to
be unclean, as they were, notwithstanding their legal
sacrifices and ceremonial ablutions; and are designed
to convince them of it, to bring them to a sense of
their inability to cleanse themselves, to lead them to
inquire after the proper means of it, and so to the
fountain of Christ's blood to wash in, which only
cleanses from it: \*\\put away the evil of your doings from
before mine eyes\\; the exhortation is not barely to put
away their doings, but the evil of them, and that not
from themselves, but from before the eyes of God,
from the eyes of his vindictive justice, which is only
done by the sacrifice of Christ; and the use of this
exhortation is to shew the necessity of putting away
sin to salvation, and the insufficiency of the blood of
bulls and goats to do it, since, notwithstanding these,
it remains untaken away; and to direct to the sacrifice
of Christ, which effectually does it. \*\\Cease to do evil\\;
either from ceremonial works done with a wicked
mind, or from outward immoralities, such as shedding
innocent blood, oppressing the fatherless and widow,
things mentioned in the context; it denotes a cessation
from a series and course of sinning, otherwise there is
no ceasing from sin in this life.
\*Ver. 17. \\Learn to do well\\, &c.] Which men are
naturally ignorant of; to do good they have no know-
ledge; nor can they that are accustomed to do evil
learn to do well of themselves; but the Lord can teach
them to profit, and of him they should ask wisdom,
and desire, under the influence of his grace, to learn
to maintain good works for necessary uses, and parti-
ticularly to do acts of beneficence to all men, and es-
pecially to the houshold of faith; and also, the fol-
lowing ones, \*\\seek judgment\\; seek to do justice between
man and man in any cause depending, without respect
of persons: \*\\relieve the oppressed\\; the poor that are op-
pressed by their neighbours that are richer and mightier
than they, right their wrongs, and deliver them out of
the hands of their oppressors {i}: \*\\judge the fatherless\\; do
justice to them who have none to take care of them,
and defend them: \*\\plead for the widow\\; that is deso-
late, and has none to plead her cause.
\*Ver. 18. \\Come now, and let us reason, together, saith
the Lord\\, &c.] These words stand not in connection ??
either with the preceding or following, but are to be
read in a parenthesis, and are thrown in for the sake
of the small remnant God had left among this wicked
people, in order to comfort them, being distressed with
sin. These, seeing their sins in their dreadful colours,
and with all their aggravating circumstances, were
ready to conclude that they were unpardonable; and,
seeing God as an angry Judge, dared not come nigh
him, but stood at a distance, fearing and expecting his

{g} Misn. Chagiga, c. 2. sect. 4.
{h} The whole verse, agreeably to the accents, is thus rendered by
    Reinbeck. de Accent. Heb. p. 377, 378.
      ``Do not go on to offer oblation of vanity; incense of
        abomination is it to me; %do not go on, I say%, on the
        new moon, and sabbath, to call a convocation: I cannot
        bear iniquity, together with the most solemn
        congregation.''
{i} Misn. Sabbat, c. 9. sect. 3. T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 67. 1,