Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_100_p.lzh/5_188.TXT

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white horses, and clothed in white; when he shall go
forth to battle with the kings of the earth, beast, and
false prophet,. let the people under them flee, or they
shall flee, and not be able to stand before so puissant a
General, and so powerful an army; see Rev. xvii. 14.
and xix. 14: at the. lifting up of thyself, the nations
were scattered; so it has been in times past, when the
Lord has lifted up himself, and appeared on behalf of
his people, and has exerted himself, and displayed. his
power;  and so it will be again; or so let it be: let the
nations be scattered; the antichristian nations, as they
will be, when the Lord shall lift up his hand, and
pour out the vials of his wrath upon them.
Ver. 4. And your spoil shall be gathered like the
gathering of the caterpillar, &c.] This is the answer
of the Lord to the prayer of his church, signifying that
their enemies 'should flee, be scattered,. and perish,
and that they .should be victorious, a.nd enjoy the spoils
of them; which they should gather as easily as the
caterpillar or locust, as some render it, gathers and
consumes .herbs, and every green thing; or aS easily
as they are gathered, and laid on heaps, being weak
and unable to defend themselves: most understand it
of the Jews going into the camp of the Assyriaus, after
the destruction of them by the angel, and gathering
their spoil. Teh Targum is, "and the house of Israel
"shall gather the substance of the people, their
"enemies, as they gather a locust :" the antichristian
locusts or caterpillars are here meant, whose substance
shall fall into the hands of the followers of Christ,
when they shall have got the victory of them; this is.
the flesh of the whore, her worldly substance, which
the kings of the earth, the Christian .kings, shall eat
ar enjoy, Rev. xvii. 16: as the running to and fro of
locusts shall he run upon them : or upon it; the spoil; as
these locusts, of which see Rev. ix. 3, 4. run to and
fro, and pillaged them in- times past, as the creatures,
to whom they are compared, run to and rio and de-
stroy the fruits of the earth, so now every one of the
followers of Christ shall run and seize upon the spoil of
the antichristian states,
Ver. 5. The Lord is exalted, &c.] These are the
words of the 'church, or of true believers, setting
the praise and glory of Goal, on account of the
victory and spoil of their enemies; by which the Lord
is exalted, magnified, and honoured, as he will be in
the hearts and mouths of his people when these times
shall come; see Rev. xi. 15. and xv. 1, 2. and xix. 1, 2.
this will be true of Christ, and indeed this will be
the time when he., and he alone, shall be exalted,
Isa. iS. 17:for he dwelleth on high; in the highest
heaven, and is above his greatest enemies, and can,
and  will, pour down his wrath and vengeance on
them: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righte-
ousness; the church of God, where Christ her King
will reign in righteousness, and when all the admini-
strations of his kingly power and government will
appear to be just and true; where his word shall
be faithfully preached, and his ordinances duly ad-
ministered; and when all his subjects and. people
shall be righteous, and live soberly and righteously.
The Targum is, "with those that do true judgment
"and righteousness."
Vet. 6. And wisdom and knowledge shall be the
stability of thy times, &c.] Some take these words to
be directed to Hezekiah; but rather they are an
apostrophe to the Messiah, and respect the later times
of Christ, when many shall run to and fro, and the
knowledge of hitn shall be increased, and the earth
shall-be covered with it, as the waters cover the sea;
and which, as it will make these times comfortable
and pleasant, so firm, durable, and lasting: or else
they are the Words of believers in those times, ad-
dressed to Zion the church, before spoken of, observ-
ing the great increase of spiritual wisdom and know-
ledge after the destruction of antichrist; by means of
which there would be settled tiimes of peace..joy, and
comfort to the church: and stre,gth of salvation; or
salvatio,s{x}; or strong and lasting salvations; eternal
salvation by JesusChrist, and complete salvation from
antichrist, and from every other enemy; which, to-
gether with spiritual wisdom, and experimental know-
ledge of Christ, and his Gospel, will be the stability
of those happy times, which will make the spiritua[.
reign of Christ. The whole may be rendered, accord-
ing to the accents {y}, and he (that is, the Lord, before
spoken of) shall be the stability of thy times; the strength
of salvations shall be wisdom and knowledge: the fear
of the Lord is his treasure; either Hezekiah's, as some.
who esteemed the fear of the Lord above all his
treasure; and was more zealous in settling and es-
tablishing the true worship of God than in amassing
treasures to himself: or rather the Lord's treasure, from
which he receives a tribute of honour, of more value
than the greatest treasure: or, best of all, the church's
treasure, and every true believer's; this being the be-
ginning of wisdom, or true grace, the best of riches.
and which secures the saints' final perseverance to
glory, the better and more enduring substance.
Vet. 7. Behold. their valiant ones-shall cry without,
&c.] Or, in the street: this, and the two following
verses. describe the sad and desolate condition of
the people of God, before the above happy times take
Volace; their valiant oneS, such who have been valiant
r the truth on earth; or their angels, as Aben Ezra,
Kimchi, and Ben Melech interpret the word; these
are the angels and pastors of the churches, the two wit-
nesses that prophesy in sackcloth openly and publicly.
and who will be slain, and their bodies lie unburied
in the street of the great city, Rev. xi. 3, 8: the am-
bassadors of peace shall weep bitterly; most interpreters
understand this of the ambassadors which Hezekiah
sent to the king of Assyria to obtain peace, but could
not succeed, on account of which they are said to weep
bitterly; but the character of ambassadors ofpeace well
agrees with the ministers of the Gospel, who are
ambassadors in Christ's stead, and whose work it is to
exhort men to be reconciled to God, and to preach the
Gospel of peace to sinrid men; these now will weep
bitterly, when they are removed into corners, and are
silenced, and not suffered to deliver their messages of
peace, to the comfort of the Lord's people, and the

{x} \^tewvy Nox\^ fortitudo salutum, Pagninus, Moatanus; rebur
ominis, vel multiplicis salutis, Junius & Trenaellius, Piscator.
{y} Vid. Reinbeck de Accent. Heb. p. 405.