Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_200_p.lzh/5_273.TXT

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are stout or stubborn-hearted; have hard and impeni-
tent hearts; proud and haughty in their hearts; proud
of their wisdom, power, and strength; stout in their
hearts against God, as appears by their words and ac-
tions; oppose themselves to the people of God, Iris
word and .ordinances; and some so daring as to make
a mock at sin, at religion, and a future state, and out-
brave death itself; though when God calls them to an
aceount, as he sometimes does by his judgments ltere,
and will at the last judgment hereafter; or by the
workings of his spirit upon them, convincing them of
sin, righteousness, and judgment; their hearts fail,
and they cannot be strong and endure; w hen his word
comes with power, and they hear it, and feel the
energy of it, they are cut to the heart, and their stout
and proud spirits are brought down, and made to sub-
mit: even such that are far from righteousness; as all
men are in a state of nature, none are righteous, no,
not one, but are full of all unrighteousness; even those
that are the most righteous and religious, externally,
are without a righteousness; they do not attain to one
by the law of works; they go about to establish their
own, and do. not submit to tile righteousness of God,
and so are far from it: and indeed all God's elect, in a
state of um'egeneracy, are far fi'om any knowledge of
the righteousness of Christ, they not being yet con-
vinced of the need of it, and it ha.ring not yet been re-
vealed and applied nnto them, and received by faith;
now these are called upon to hear the word exter-
nally, which coming with power, causes them to
hear spiritually what follows.:
Vet. 13; I bring near my righteousness, it shall not
be far off, &c.] Meaning either the faithfulness of
God, in fulfilling his promises; or the justice of God
displayed,in redemptiora by Christ; or Ch. rist bimself,
God's righteous One, and the Lord our righteousness;
or rather the righteousness of Christ itself, which Je-
hovah the Father may call his, because he sent his
Son to work it out, approved of it, accepted it, and
imputes it to his people, and justifies .them by it; and
which was near to be wrought out by Christ, and re--
yealed in the Gospel; and which is brought near and
applied by the Spirit of God to a sensible sinner, to a
sinner convinced of the insufficiency of his own righte-
ousness, and of the suitablehess and excellency of
Christ's, and of his need of it; and which is near in
Christ, and in the Gospel, tbr faith to come at, at any
time; nor is it ever thr off' from the believer, to whom
it is imputed, and on whom it is put: and my salva-
tion shall not tarry; either Chrrist, who is God's sal-
vation, provided and appointed by him, who was to
come as a Saylout, and should not tarry; nor did he
tarry beyond the appointed time, Hab. ii. 3. or the sal-
vation itself wrought out by him; this work is done
by Christ, and is published in the Gospel, and is
brought nigh and applied by the spirit of God in
conversion, in due and proper time, and shortly will
be fully enjoyed in heaven: and I will placesalvation
in Zion for Israel my glory: the. Saviour himself was to
come to Zion; near to Zion was salvation wrought
out; here the Gospel of salvation was tirst published,
and out of it the word of it was sent into all the world;
and in Zion, the church of God, Christ the Saylout is
to be met with; and his salvation is the safety of it,
it is placed about it instead of walls and bulwarks;
and all this is for the Israel of God, the spiritual Israel,
chosen, redeemed, and called, and who shall be saved
with an everlasting salvation; and who- are the glory
of God, have the glory of God, the grace of God in
them, and the righteousness of God upon them, by
which they are glorious; who enjoy the presence of
the glorious God, and who is glorified in them, and
by them; whose glory, even .the glory of all his per-
fections, wisdom, grace, mercy, justice, holiness, truth,
and faithfulness, is great in their salvation. So Kim-
chi gives the sense of the words, "the salvation I will
"give to them shall be glory to me," Or Israel may
be called his glory, because he gives glory to them;
not only grace here, but glory hereafter, when their
salvation w, ilt be complete, that is, completely enjoyed.

C H A P. XL~-rI!-

THIS chapter is a prophecy of the destruction of Ba-
bylon, and of the Chaldeans, and declares-.the causes
of it. The mean, low, ignominious, and miserable
condition Babylon and the Chaldeausshould be brought
into by the Lord, the Redeemer of his people, isde-
scribed, yet. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. the causes-of it 'are their cru-
elty to the Jews,. ver..6. their pride, voluptuousness,
and carnal security, vet. 7, 8. their sorceries and en-
chantments, and trust in their own wisdom, yet. 9, 10.
wherefore their destruction should come suddenly upon
them, and they should not be able to put it off, vet.
l1. their magic art, and .judiciary astrology, which
they boasted of, by them they could neither foresee
nor withstand their rnin, which would be of no avail
unto them, ver. 12, 13, 14. nor their merchant,s nei-
ther, yet. 15.
Ver. 1. Come d6wn, and sit in the dust, 0 virgbi
daughter of Babylon, &c.] T. he kingdom of Babylon
is meant, as the Targum paraphrases it; or the Baby-
1onish monarchy, called a virgin, because it had never
been subdued an{t conquered from the first setting of
it up, until it was by Cyrus; so Herodotus {c}says, this
was the first time that Babylon was taken; and also
because of the beauty anti glory of it: but now it is
called to come down from its height and excellency,
and its dominion over other kingdoms, and sit in a
mournful posture, and as in subjection to other princes
and states, Jeromobserves, that some interpret this of
the city of Roam, which is m. ystical Babylon, and
whose ruin may be hinted at under the type of literal
Babylon. And though the church of Rome boasts of
her purity and chastity, of her being espoused to

{c} Clio, sive I. 1. c. 191.