Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_200.lzh/6_203.TXT

Text File | 1994-08-18 | 7KB | 127 lines

"will seduce thee ;" so Jarchi seems to understand it:
and the Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, I
will lead thee, agreeably to what follows: and will
cause thee to come up from the north parts; see the
note on ch. xxxviii. 15: and will bring thee upon the
mountains of Israel;not to inherit them, but to fall
upon them, as in ver. 4.
Vet. 3. And I will smite thy botv out of thy left hand,
&c.] In which it is usually held, to have the arrow
fitted to it: and I will cause thine arrows to fall out of
thy right hand; where they are commonly held when
put into the bow, and then the bow is drawn with it;
signifying hereby, that though he should come into
the land of Israel, he should not succeed; he would be
stripped of his armour, and it would be useless to him:
bows and arrows.are put for all kind of warlike instru-
ments; and are particularly mentioned because they were
chiefly used in war when this prophecy. was delivered..
Vet. 4. Thou shatt fall upon the mountains of Israel,
&c.] Be slain, and his carcass lie there; so the Tar-
gum, "upon the mountains of the land of Israel thy
"carcass shall be cast :" thou and allthy bands, and
the people that is with thee; Gog and his army, auxili.-
aries and allies: I will give thee to the ravenous birds of
every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured:
great part of his army being slain, should not be
buried, but be devoured by birds of prey, and savage
beasts; such as eagles and vultures of the former sort,
and lions, bears, wolves, &e. of the latter. This was
always reckoned a very sore judgment and dreadful
calamity, not to have a burial, but to be exposed to
birds and beasts of prey; this was threatened to the
Israelites, in case of disobedience to the law of God,
Deut. xxviii. 26. and to the wicked Jews in the times
of Jeremiah; and to that evil king of Judah, Jehoiakim.
Jet. xvi. 4. and xxii. 18, 19. and is lamented as one of
the greatest evils that could befall good men, Psal.
lxxix. 2. and nothing was more dreadful among the
Heathens themselves; hence Homer {x}, among the many
calamities Achilles was the cause of to the Grecians,
mentions this as one, that he was the means of giving
the bodies of a great number of their heroes to the
dogs, and to the fowls of the air; so Virgil {a} represents
the want of a burial, and being left to be fed upon by
birds of prey, as severe a punishment of a wicked man
as can be wished for.
Ver. 5. Thou shalt .fall upon the open field, &c.]
Some part of his army should fall upon the mountains,
and others upon the plain; wherever they will be found,
they'll be destroyed, either by the sword of the Jews
and Christian princes, or by God's judgments from
heaven: .for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God; and
therefore it should surely come to pass, since no word
of his ever fails; this is added to assure of the truth of
it, since it might be thought incredible that so large
an army shonld be destroyed.
Vet. 6. And I will send afire on Mago.g, &e.] On
the land of Magog; see ch. xxxviii. 2. whilst Gog is in
the land of Israel, and he and his army perish there,
Iris country shall be destroyed by fire, or by some
judgment or judgments of God, which shall consume
like/ire. The Septuagint version rt, nders it, I will
send afire on Cog; but he before is said to fall upon
the mount. alas of Israel; his country is meant; it de-.
signs the destruction of the Ottoman empire: and
amon.g them that dwell carelessly in the isles: that
belong to the Turkish dominions; not only the
habitants of the Continent shall be consumed, but those
that dwell in islands, and think themselves safe and
secure, and so live carelessly; or such who live on the
sea-coasts, it being usual in Scripture to call such
places isles; and may intend those who dwell near tile
Euxine and Caspian seas: and they shall know that 1
am the Lord: by his judgments executed upon them.
Vet..7. So will I melee my holy name Ionown in the
midst ofmy people Israel, &c.] That is, Iris perfec-
tions ;. his holiness and justice in punishing their ene.-
rules; his truth and faithfulness in telfilling his pro-
mises to them; his power in inflicting judgments on
Gog and his army; and his goodness in their preserva-
tion and protection: and I will not let them pollute my
holy name any more: either the Heathens round about.
who beforc'blasphemed it, .saying that God was not
able to deliver hisp.eople from such a potent enemy;
but now their mouth will be stopped, and they'll not
dare to speak any more after this manner: or else the
Israelites, who shall be so influenced by the grace and
goodness of God unto them, as to fear the Lord and
his goodness, and not dare to commit the sins they
formerly did, whereby his name was polluted and
blasphemed among the Iteathens: and the Heathen
shall know that I am the Lord, the holy One in Israel;
they shall know, by these judgments and provideaces,
that he is the true God, and they shall acknowledge
and confess it; and that he is a holy andjust God, and
dwells in Israel, and grants Iris gracious as well as
powerful presence to his people; nor shall they dare
to molest them any more.
Vet. 8. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the
Lord God, &c.] That is, the salvation of his people,
and the destruction of their enemies; the prophecy
concerning all this is come to pass, and the whole is
accomplished; thus, because of the certainty thereof,
it is represented as if the time was actually. come, and
the thing was really done; for the event is as sure as
if it was now fulfilled: this is the day whereof I have
spoken; by the Prophet Ezekiel and others; see the
note on ch. xxxviii. 17.
Ver. 9. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shah
go forth, &c.] Out of their houses into the streets,
where Gog's soldiers will lie dead, and their armour by
thern; or rather out of their cities, where they dwelt
safely, and where they kept themselves, and were
secure from the enemy: these seem to be dist, inct from
the militia of Israel, engaged in battle with Gog;
these were the inhabitants that will stay at home, and
yet share in the spoil and plunder; see Psal. lxviii. 12.
these, after the battle is over, and the victory obtained,
of which they will have information, will then march
out without fear into the open fields and mountains,
where the army of Gog will fall, ver. 4, 5: and shall
set on fire and burn the weapons; the armour of Gog's

{z} Iliad. 1. 1. 4, 5.
{a} non te optima mater Condet humi, patriove onerrabit membra sepulchro
Alitibus linquere feris. AEneid. 1. 10.