Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_100.lzh/6_147.TXT

Text File | 1994-08-18 | 7KB | 128 lines

makes great boasts of his wisdom, power, and autho-
rity, as a teacher, pastor, or bishop, the cherubim being
symbolical of the ministers of the word; and of his
being anointed by men, that he may be the cover and
shield or' the church; and of his being the Lord's
snointed, and the vicar of Christ, and head and pro-
tector of the church, as he calls himself{s]. The Tar-
gum understands all this of regal power, and renders it,
"thou art a king anointed for a kingdom :. and I have
set thee so; from whom all kings have their sceptres,
crowns, and kingdoms; and by whom they reign; and
who can put them down as well as set them up at his
pleasure. It may be rendered, I have given thee {t}; or
suffered thee to be so, as the word give is often used;
it is by divine permission that antichrist has taken such
power to himself, and in judgment to them over whom
he rules, who are given up to believe a lie; yea, God
put, or, as it is in the original text, gave it into the
hearts of the kings to agree and give their kingdom to
the beast, Rev. xvii. 17: thou wast upon the holy moun-
tain of God; not on Sinai, nor on Zion; on neither of
Which was the king of Tyre; nor was this literally
true of him; for to say, as Kimchi does to illustrate
it, that Hiram king of Tyre assisted Solomon with
materials to build ttte temple, is very foreign; but this
is true of the antitype of the king of Tyre, antichrist;
who has set his tbot on God's holy mountain the
church; here he first appeared and stood, as before
observed on the preceding verse: thou hast walked up
and down in the midst of the stones of fire; which some
understand of the precious stones with which the kin
of Tyre was adorned, which glittered like fire; thou
rather they design the people of God, those living
lively stones of which the spiritual house is built;
who, for their clear light, and burning zeal and love,
may be said to be as stones of fire; and among these
the bishop of Rome, or the antichristian king of Tyre,
first walked: so Kimchi interprets them of the Israel-
ites, who were a holy people; and Jarchi of the kings
of Israel, who were as the ministerlug angels; the se-
raphim perbaps he means, so called from their burning
and flaming love. The Targum is," and over the
  ' holy people thou hast thought to rule."
Ver. 15. Thou wast perfect in th!/ ways from the day
that thou wast created, &c.] From the time that Tyre
became a kingdom, or this king was set over it, every
thing was wisely conducted, and all things happily
succeeded; so when the church of Rome was first
formed in the times of the apostles, it was laid on a
good foundation; it was set up according to the rule of
the word; its bishop or pastor was one of a sound judg-
ment, a good life and conversation, and so continued
In succession for a considerable time; these held the
true faith and doctrine of Christ, and kept it incor-
rupt, and lived holy lives: till iniquity was found in
thee; pride, blasphemy against God, and contempt of
his people, as well as violence and deceit; all this was
found in the king of Tyre in later times: so in the
church of Rome, when the man of sin was revealed,
there were pride, haughtiness, and ambition, found in
it; blasphemy against God and Christ, and the saints:
false doctrine, false worship, superstition, and idolatry.
Ver. 16. 'By the multitude of thy merchandise, &c.]
With the several nations of the earth, who came to the
markets and fairs of Tyre, and to whom she sent her
goods: they have filled the midst of thee with violence ;
or, as the Targum," thy treasures are filled with ra-
"pine ;. with ill-gotten goods, as the pope's coffers
are through his merchandise of the souls of men, and
the great trade that is driven in pardons and in-
dulgences: and thou hast Sinned; by this unjust and
ungodly way of dealing: therefore I will cast thee as
profane out of the mountain of God; Mount Zion, the'
church' or' the living God, where he dwells, and is wor-
shipped, and on which the Lamb stands with his hun-
dred and forty and four thousand, having his name
and his father's on their foreheads, Rev. xiv. 1. these
will have no communion with the church and pope of
Rome; will not receive his mark, nor worship his
image; from this mountain, and the inhabitants of it,
he stands excluded as a profane person, with whom
they will have nothing to do; and hence he persecutes
them to the utmost of his power: and I will destroy
thee, 0 covering cherub, .from the midst of the stories of
fire; from among the people of God, who have the
clear light of the Gospel, and a sincere love for Christ;
these withdrew themselves from his jurisdiction and
government; and with whom his name, power, and
authority perish, especially when they shall have got
the victory over him, Rev. xv. 1. Kimchi paraphrases
it, "from the midst of the saints who are the Israel-
" ites, Comparable to stones of fire ;" and Jarchi's note
is," that thou mayest not take a portion with the
"righteous;" have no part, lot, or fellowship with
them. The Targum is, "I will destroy thee, O king
"that art anointed, because thou thoughtest to rule
"over the holy people."
Ver. 17. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy
beauty, &c.] Riches, wealth, power, and authority;
see ver. 5. as the pope of Rome is, because of his dig-
nity, the pomp and splendour of the Roman church,
and the gaudy appearance it makes: thou hast corrupted
thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; outward lustre
and glory, which dazzled his eyes so that he could
not see things in a true light; but neglecting the word
of God, and setting up his own infallibility, corrupted
his doctrine and worship, and became foolish, stupid,
and sottish: I will cast thee to the ground; from the
throne and pinnacle of honour, to the lowest state and
condition: and I will lay thee before kings: prostrate
at the feet of them, who heretofore has set his feet on
the necks of-them; or he shall fall before them, and be
destroyed by them, when they shall hate the whore,
and make her desolate, and burn her flesh with fire,
Rev. xvii. 16: that they may behold thee; with con-
tempt and disdain, and as an instance and example of
divine vengeance.
Vet. 18. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the
multitude of thine iniquitics, &c.] Or, thy palaces, as
Kimchi; the palace of the king, and thepalaces of the
nobles, where much iniquity was committed, and
which was the cause of their being defile,i or destroyed
by the Chaldeans; or it may design their sacred places,
their temples, where their gods were worshipped, and

{s} Vid. Gurtler. Voc. Typic. Prophet. Explicat. p. 238.
{t} \^Kyttn\^ & dedi te, Montanus.