Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_100.lzh/6_196.TXT

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have been dispossessed of that ag.ain, in which state
they now are; but that it refers to time to come, when,
bein. g converted to Christ, they shall possess their land
again, and dwell in it, as long as the sun and moon en-
dure: and my servant David shall be their prince for
toer; or their king, as the Targum; and which cannot
be understood of any temporal prince, but of the King
Messiah, whose throne is for ever and ever; whose
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; and who shall
-reign over the house of Jacob for ever and ever, Psai.
xlv. 6. Dan. ii. 44. Luke ii. 32, 33. and to whom it
is applied by several Jewish writers {k}.
Ver. £6. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace
with them, &c.] So the covenant of grace is called,
Isa. liv. 10. one principal article of which is peace and
reconciliation made between God and his people by
the blood of Christ, agreed on in that covenant, from
whence it has its name: now here it signifies that this
covenant should be made known to the converted Jews,
and their interest in it; in virtue of which they shall
see that peace is made for them by the blood of Christ;
and shall have a true conscience-peace in themselves,
through that blood of the covenant being sprinkled on
them; and .be at peace with converted Gentiles, and
even with their worst enemies, enjoying all kind of
prosperity, temporal and spiritual: it shall be an ever,
lasting covenant with them; it shall not wax old, and
vanish away, as the former covenant did; under which
they were before the coming of Christ, which was ex-
hibited in types and shadows, legal sacrifices and car-
nal ordinances; and besides, God will always have a
covenant-people among them from this time to the end
of the world; so that a lo-ammi shall no more be
written upon them: and I will place them, and multiply
them; that is, place them in their own land, and in-
crease their number there: or, I will give theme; a
place in their land, and every blessing temporal and
spiritual: so the Targum," I will bless them, and
"multiply them :" and will set my sanctuary in the
midst of them for evermore; not any material temple,
but his word and ordinances; in which he will grant
his spiritual presence with them, and which shall con-
tinue to the end of the world.
Ver. 27. My tabernacle also shall be with them, &c..];
The symbol of his presence: the meaning is, that he
shall dwell in them by his spirit and grace; and every
one of them shall be the temple of the living God, in
whom he will walk and dwell: yea, I will be their God,
and they shall be m.y people; which is repeated for the
confirmation of it; see ver. 23.
Ver. 28. And the Heathen shah know that I the Lord
do sanctify Israel, &c.] Or the Gentiles, the converted
Gentiles, shall observe and take notice of the gracious
dealings of God with his people the Jews; that he
calls them with an holy calling; implants principles
of grace and holiness in them; separates and conse,
crates them for his service, and enables them to walk
holily, soberly, and righteously: when my sanctuary
shall be in the midst of them for evermore; when his
worship shall be set up among them; his Gospel shall
be preached unto them, and received by them; and his
ordinances administered unto them; and which shall
continue till the second coming of Christ.

CHAP.

This chapter gives an account of an enemy of the
Jews, under the name of Gog, that shall invade their
!and, and disturb their peace, after they are settled in
it; who is described by the countries over which he
rules; and against whom the prophet is bid to set his
face, and prophesy of him, the Lord being against him;
and who would cause him to return .from Judea unsuc-
cessful, ver. 1, 2, 3, 4. the number of his confederates,
their warlike accoutrements and preparations for the
invasion of the land of Israel, are foretold, ver. '4, 5, 6,
7, 8, 9. his wicked designs and intentions to spoil and
plunder the inhabitants of it, ver. 10, 11, l2. the no-
tice taken of his projects by the merchants of Tarshash
and others, vet. 13, 14. his coming up to invade the
land is again observed for the certainty of it; and the
place from whence, and the time when he should
come, are mentioned, as well as God's design in it,
and which had been before predicted by his prophets,
ver. 14, 15, 16, 17. and the chapter is concluded with
a denunciation of divine wrath, which shall be terrible
to all the inhabitants of the earth, and to all creatures
in heaven, earth, and sea; when he and his forces shall
be destroyed by the sword, by pestilence, and by
dreadful storms and tempests, ver. 18--23. of which
destruction a fuller account is given in the next
chapter.
Ver. 1. And the word of the Lord came unto me, &.c.]
At the same time as the preceding prophecy did, as
the copulative and shews; which predicts the restora-
tion and conversion of the Jews; the union of their
tribes under the King Messiah; and their settlement in
their own land: and this respects some disturbance
they should meet with upon it, for a short time,
by a powerful enemy hereafter described: saying; as
follows:
Vet. 2. Son of man, set thy face against Gog, &c.]
Of the phrase, settling the.face towards, or against, see
the notes on ch. vi. 2. and xxi. 2. and xxv. 2. but who
this Gog is the prophet is bid boldly to face, and intre-
pidly declare the wrath of God against, interpreters are
divided about. Calmet {m} thinks that Cambyses and
his army are meant by Gog and Magog, which to men-
tion is enough; and it is the opinion of St. Ambrose {n}
that the Goths who ravaged the Roman empire
in the fifth and sixth ages are meant: others, who
suppose this prophecy was fulfilled after the Jews'

{k} T. Bab. Sanhedrin. fol. 98. 2. Ben Melech in Psal. cxliv. 14. Aben-
dana Not. in Miclol Yophi in Hagg. ii. 23. Abarbinel, Mashmiah Je-
shuah, fol. 8.4. & 26. 1.
{l} \^Myttn\^ dabo eos, Montanus, Piscator; dabo ipsos, Cocceius,
Starckius.
{m} Dictionary in the words Gog and Magog.
{n} De fide ad Gratianum, I. 2. sect. 4. col. 144. tom. 4.