Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_100_p.lzh/5_150.TXT

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old serpent, and devil, must be taken into the account,
who is the last enemy that wiil be destroyed; he will
be taken and bound :a tho. nsand years, and then, being
loosed, will be retaken, and cast into the lake of fire,
where tlle beast and thlse prophet be, Rev. xx. 1, 2,
10. Kimchi thinks this prophecy belohgs to the times
of Gog anti Magog.
Vet. 2. In that dory sing ye unto her, &c.] The con-
gregation of Israel, as the. Targum; or rather the
ellarch ofChrist; for after, and upon the destruction
of his and tier enemies, there will be great rejoicing
and singing alternately, and by responses, as the word
signifies; see Rev. xv. 1,. 2, 3. and xix. 1--7. Gus-
setius {l} renders it, afflict her; as if Spoken by the Lord
to the enemies to do their worst to her, and he would
take care of her, that it shall be in vain, and to no pur-
pose, since he would keep tier: a vineyard of red wine;
as the people of the Jews are compared to one, Isa. v.
1--7. so is the church of Christ under the Gospel
dispensation; see Cant. viii. 11, 12. Matt. xx. 1. a
vineyard is a spot of ground separated from otllers, and
the chtirch and people of God are separated from the
Test of the world by electing, redeeming, and calling
grace; a vineyard is a place set with various vines, so
is the cllurCll; there is Christ the true vine, the prin-
cipal one, which stands in the first place, John xv. 1.
and there are particular congregated churches, which
belong to the vineyard, the general or catholic church,
Cant. if. 13, 15. and there are particular believers that
may be socalled, Cant. vi. 11. and vii. 12. moreover,
sometimes in vineyards other trees are planted besides
vines, as barren fig-trees, Luke xiii' 6, 7. and so there
are in the visible church of God notninal believers,
carnal professors, trees without fruit; there are no
true'vines but such as are ingrafted and planted in
Christ, and who, through union ,to him, and abiding
in him, bring forth fruit; a vineyard is the property of
some one person, as this is of Christ, whose it' is by
his own choice, by his Father's gift, by inheritance, by
purchase, as well as it is of his planting, and under his
care; vineyards are valuable, pleasant, and profitable,
but exposed to beasts of prey, and therefore to be
fenced and guarded; all which may be applied to the
chnrch of Christ, which shall, in the latter day espe-
cially, be very fruitful, and answer to this character
given her in this song, a vineyard oJ' red wine; the
allusion is 1o such a vineyard, in which vines grow,
that bring forth grapes, productive of the best wine,
as the red was. reckoned in the eastern countries; see
Gen. xlix. l2. Prov. xxiii. 31. and so Jarchi and Kim-
chi interpret it; this is a vineyard very different from
that in Isa. v. 5, 6, 7. and from the vine of Israel, Hos.
x. 1. the fruit of it, signified by red wine, may intend
the graces of the spirit, which like grapes, the fruit of
-the vine, grow in clusters; where one is, all of them
are, and come from. Christ, the vine, from whom all
the fruit of divine grace is found: and which receive
their tincture from the blood of Christ, their vigour
arid their nsefulness; and may be said, like 'wiLle, to
cheer the heart of God and man, Judg. ix. 13. grace
when in exercise is delightful. to God and Christ, Cant,
iv. 9, 10. and gi. ves pleasure to other saints, PsaL xxxiv,
1, c2. and as the fruit of the vine must be squcer. dd ere
the liquor can be had, so the graces of the spirit are
tried by afflictire dispensations of Providence, by
which the precioushess and usefulness of them are
made known; moreover, the fi'uits of righteousness,
or good works, may be also intended, by which the
graces of faith and repentance are evidenced, and
which, when performed aright, are acceptable to God
through Christ, anti profitttble to men; and tbr these
fruits of grace and good works the church 'will be
famous in the latter day.
Vet. 3. I the Lord do keep it, &c.] The vineyard,
the church, not only by his ministers, called the
keepers of it, Caht. viii. 12. but by himself, by his own
power; for unless he keeps it, who is Israel's keeper,
the watchmen wake in vain; he keeps his church and
people from sin, that it does not reign over them;
and from Satan's temptations, that. they are not de-
stroyed by them ;-and from the malice of the world,
and the poison of false teachers, that they are not
ruined thereby; and from a final and total falling away;
the Lord's preservation of his church and people will
be very manifest in the latter day: I will water it every
moment; both more immediately with the dews of his
gdrace, and the discoveries of his love; that being like
ew, it comes from above, is according to the sovereign
will of God, without the desert of man falls in the
night, silently, gently, and insensibly, and greatly
refreshes and makes fruitful, Hos. xiv. 5, 6,7. and more
immediately by the ministry of the word and ordinances,
by his ministers, the preachers of the Gospel, who
water as well as plant, 1 .Cot. iii. 6, 7, 8. these are the
clouds he sends. about to let down the rain of the Gos-
pel upon his church and people, by which they are
revived, refi'eShed, and made fruitful, Isa. v. 6. and lv.
10, 11. and this being done every moment, shews, aa
the care of God,and his constantregard to his people., so
that without the frequent communications of his grace,
and the constant ministratibn of his word and ordinances,
they would wither and become fi'uitless;but, by means
of these, they are as a watered garden, whose springs
fail not, Isa. lviii. 11: lest any hurt it; as would Satan,
who goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he
may devour; and the men of the world, who are the
boar out of the wood, and the wild beast out of the
field, that wouid waste and destroy the vineyard; and
false teachers, who are the foxes that would spoil the
vines, 1 Pet. v. 8. Psal. lxxx. 13. Cant. if. 15. but, to
prevent any such hurt and damage, the Lord under-
takes to keep the church, his vineyard, himself, which
he repeats with some addition, to declare the certainty
of it; or, lest he visit it{m}"; that is, an enemy, as some{n}
supply it; lest he should break down the hedge, and
push into it, and waste it; or Jehovah himself, that is,
as Gussetins° interprets it, whilst Jehovah the Father,
vet. 1, is striking leviathan, or inflicting his judgments
upon his enemies, Jehovah the Son promises to take
care of his vineyard, the church, that the visitation

{l} Comment. Ebr. p. 622.
{m} \^hyle dwqpy Np\^ ne forte visitet eum, Munster, Pagninus, Tigurine
version.
{n} So Munster, Pagninus, Vatablus, and Ben Melech,
{o} Comment. Ebr. p. 668, 669.