Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_500_p.lzh/5_572.TXT

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eternal; and is diffusive and communicative, not only
in a providential way, but in a way of grace and mercy;
and especially in pardoning grace and mercy, which
sensible sinners take notice of, and flee unto, and not
their own merits; and who would faint under a sense
of sin, without a sight of it; but this, viewed in such a
light, makes all the perfections of God look amiable
and lovely, which otherwise would be terrible; and
encourages faith, hope, fear, and thankfulness: likewise
to Christ, who is the goodness of the Lord; in whom
his goodness is laid up; in whom it is proclaimed;
through whom it is displayed; by whom it is com-
municated; who himself is the great gift of it, as well
as he himself is good; and his goodness extends to his
people, and to him sensible sinners apply for it: also
to the goodness and fathess of the house and church of
God; those rich provisions which are made in it for
the comfort and refreshment of his people; hence it
follows: for wheat, and.for wine, and for oil, and for
the young of the flock, and of the herd; not for tem-
poral blessings, which are for the good of the body
only; but for spiritual blessings, signified by these,
which are for the good of the soul, as the next clause
shows: for wheat; for the Gospel and the doctrines of
it, which are the finest of the wheat; and are as pre-
ferable to false doctrines as chaff is to wheat, and are
soul-nourishing and strengthening; see ch. xxiii, 28.
Moreover, Christ himself is compared to wheat, and
was typified by the manna, the corn of heaven, and
angels' food; and is the bread of God, and the bread
of life; and to be had in the church and ordinances of
it; see John xii. 24. and for wine; the precious truths
of the word, which, like the best wine, go down
sweetly; the discoveries of the love of God and Christ,
which are better than spiced wine; and the blood of
Christ, signified by the wine in the Lord's supper,
which is drink indeed, Cant. vii. 9, and iS. e, 4. John
vi. 55. and .for oil; the grace of the Spirit, and larger
measures of it; which is the golden oil, that through
the golden pipes of ordinances is emptied out of the
fulness of grace in Christ into the hearts of his people,
Zech. iv. l2. and for the young of the flock, and of the
herd; the best of them, which being slain in sacrifice,
typified Christ the passover-lamb, and fatted calf, and
which makes the principal part of the Gospel feast,
Matt. xxii. 4. now, for all these the redeemed of the
Lord flow to Zion, and to the goodness of the Lord
there; which denotes their coming in great numbers,
in shoals, as the streams of a flowing river; in con-.
junction and harmony together: in the lively and
flowing exercise of grace, and all moving one way, and
to one centre, and with the greatest pleasure, delight,
and cheerfulness; thus ihe Targum, "and they shall
"delight in the good which the Lord giveth unto
"them ;" and so the Syriac version: and their soul
shah be as a watered garden; in a thriving and pro-
sperous condition: the soul of a believer is as a garden,
in which are planted the g.races of the spirit; and
which does not lie open to every one, but to Christ,
who is the object of every grace; has the sol'e property
of this garden, where he walks and dwells: and this
is watered by the Lord himself, with the dews of his
grace, and by the ministry of his word; which drops
and distils as the rain upon the mown grass; when
every plant lifts up its head, and looks pleasant, shoots
up and grows, and brings forth fruit: and they shall
not sorrow any more at all: have no occasion for it,
being loved with an everlasting love, vet. 3. redeemed
by Christ out of the hand of their mighty enemies,
ver. 11. and enjoying all the goodness of the Lord, and
of his house, as in this verse; and being partakers of
Christ, and the blessings of grace in him, in whom
there is always cause of rejoicing; though this will not
have its full accomplishment as long as the saints are
in the present state; having a body of sin arid death,
being liable to the temptations of Satan, and divine
desertions; and until they come into the Jerusalem-
state, when there will be no more sinning, and so no
more sorrowing, Rev. xxi. 4.
Ver. 13. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance,
both young men and old-together, &c.] Not any par-
ticular virgin, but all virgins, as Kimchi interprets it.
The Targum is," then shall the congregation of Israel
"rejoice as in dances ;" it may very well be understood
of the church of Christ, espoused to him as a chaste
virgin, and of her spiritual joy in him, in allusion to
the joy expressed by such persons in dancing, both
upon civil and religious accounts; and it denotes that
the joy should be very general and extensive, that
persons of every age and sex should partake of it; see
Zech. ix. 17: for I will turn their rnourning into joy:
their mourning for sin, and for want of the divine
presence, into joy, on account of the goodness of the
Lord to them, and the large provisions made for them;
though they come weeping to Zion, yet, when come
thither, sing in the height of it, ver. 9, lc2. their fasts,
aselsewhere, are turned into festivals; sometimes the joy
of the saints is suddenly turned into grief, and again
their sorrow turned into joy; see Psal. xxx. 5, 6, 7,
lo.: and will comfort them; with the discoveries of love,
with the divine Presence, and views of pardoning grace:
and make them rejoice .from their sorrow; cause their
sorrow to break offthrough joy: or, after their sorrow {p{;
that being ended, joy shall succeed.
Ver. 14. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with
,fathess, &c.] Meaning either the ministers of the
Gospel, who should not onlybe liberally provided for
as to their maintenance, which is too low a sense; but
filled with spiritual good things, with the doctrines of
the Gospel, 'and a comfortable experience of them,
that they may be able tofeed others with knowledge
and understanding; or since, under the Gospel dispen-
sation, there is no- such distinct order of men under the
name ofpriests, but all the saints are made kings and
· priests to God, they may be here meant, as follows:
and m.y people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith
the Lord; to which they are said to flow, vet. le. see
the note there. But, lest it should be thought that
there would be no manner of trouble and affliction in
those times, two instances, as follow, are given; the
one at the beginning, and the other towards theclose
of them, expressive of distress; one on temporal, the
other on spiritual accounts.
Vet. 15. Thus saith the Lord, a voice was heard in

{p} \^Mnwgym\^ post moerorem suum, Cataker.