Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_400.lzh/6_469.TXT

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having a delightful sensation of it, and a full persua-
sion of interest in it ;' with Christ as the bread of life,
so as not to hunger after other; with his righteousness,
as not to seek any other; and with his salvation, being
so suitable to them; and with the goodness and fat-
nero of the Lord's house, his word and ordinances.
And praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath
dealt ,vonderously'with you; acknowledge him to be
the giver of all this spiritual food, and that they are
unworthy of it; ascribe it entirely to the grace of God,
who has done wonders for them; in wonderfully set-
ting them apart for himself in eternal election; in
making such a well-ordered covenant with them in
Christ; in sending him to be their Saylout and Re-
deemer; in calling them out of darkness into marvel-
Ions light; in bestowing such love upon them, as to
call them and make them Iris children, and also heirs
of him and eternal glory; see Psal. xxii. 26. And my
people shall. never be ashamed; because they shall al-
ways have food to eat; shall never be disappointed,
when they rightly apply for it in proper places and
times; and not be like the troops of Tema, and com-
panies of Sheba, Job vi. 19, 20. they shall not be
ashamed of their faith and hope, and expectation of
good things promised them; nor of the word and or-
dinances, and the profession they have made of Christ
in this world; nor shall they be ashamed at his
coming; but shall be placed at his right hand, and re-
ceived into his kingdom, and shall be led by him to
fountains of living water, and be satisfied with plea-
sures for evermore.
Ver. 27- And ye shah know that I am in the midst
of Israel, &c.] The presence of God among his peo-
ple shall be so manifest, the tokens of it so clear, that
it shall be easily known, by the impressions of his love
upon them; the teachings of his spirit in them; the
Usefulness of the word and ordinances to them; the
spiritual and heavenly frame of soul they shall be fa-
youred with, and the savouriness of their conversa-
tion; this is the blessing Christ has promised to Gos-
pel ministers and churches, Matt. xxviii. 20: and that
I am the Lord your God, and none else; that he is their
covenant God and Father, and acknowledge none else:
and my people shah never be ashamed ; wh ich is repeated
for the certainty of it; see the preceding verse.
Ver. 28..4nd it shah come to pass afterward, &c.']
After the teacher of righteousness has been sent, and
a plentiful rain of the Gospel has been let down in
the land of Judea, in the ministry of John the Baptist,
Christ and his apostles, and such a comfortable en-
joyment of the blessings of grace in it, and the know-
ledge of God by it ;, and after the wonderful work of
redemption wrought by Christ. R. Jeshua in Aben
Ezra and Jarchi both say this prophecy refers to time
to come; and Kimchi observes, that the phrase is the
same with in the last days; and so the Apostle Peter
-quotes it, Acts ii. 17. a phrase, as the above writer
observes, which always signifies the days of the Mes-
siah, to which he applies these words; and so do
other Jewish writers, both ancient and modern °; and
there is no doubt with us Christians that they belong
to the times of Christ and his -apostles, since they are
by an inspired writer said to be fulfilled in those
.times, Acts ii. 16, 17. here some begin a new chapter.
That I will pour out .my spirit upon all flesh ; not on
such whose hearts are made tender as flesh, according
t Ezek. xxxvi. 26, as Jarchi; for the spirit must be
given first to make the heart such; nor only upon mere.
in the land of Israel, a place fit to .prophesy in, as
Aben Ezra and Kimchi; but upon all men, as this
phrase frequently signifies; see Isa. xl. 5. that is, all!
sorts of men, Jews and Gentiles, men of all nations ;
and such there were on the day of Pentecost, when
the spirit was poured down upon the apostles, and
the grace of the spirit was given to many ofall na-
tions; though that was only the beginning of the ful-
fiiment of this prophecy, which quickly had a further
accomplishment in the Gentile world; and denotes the
abundance of the gifts of the spirit, both extraordinary
and ordinary, and of his grace, and the blessings of
it, bestowed on them. And your sons and your daugh-
ters shall prophesy; as Agabus, Barnabas, Simeon, &c.
and the four daughters. of Philip the evangelist, Acts
xi. 28. and xiii. 1. and xxi. 9, 10: your old men shall
dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; as
Ananias, Peter, Paul, John, and others, some in their
eider, some in. their younger years, Acts ix. 10. and
x. 17. and xvi. 9. and xxii. 17. and xxvi. 19. and xxvii.
23. though prophecy, dreams, and visions, being the
usual ways of conveying knowledge, here signify that
the knowledge of men in Gospel times should be equal
to, yea, ,exceed, whatever was communicated to meri
in the highest degree in former times: John the Bap-
tist was greater than any of the prophets, and yet the
least in the kingdom of heaven was greater than he,
Luke vii. 28.
Ver. 29. And also upon the servants and upon the
handmaids in those days will I pour my spirit.] Men-
servants and maid-servants should partake of thegifts
and grace of the spirit in great ,abundance; and many
of them w.ere effectua!ly called by grace, through the
ministry of the word; and some servants became
ministers of it; all which.appears.from 1 Cor. vii.
21, 22..1 Tim. vi. 1, 2. Philem. ver. 10, 11, 16. for
that is not true what the JewsP say, the Shechinah
or divine Majesty does not rest but upon a wise man,
and one mighty and rich; or prophecy, as Maimonides {q}
has it.
Vet. 30. And I will shew wonders in the heavens
and .in the earth, &c-3 This, and what follow, refer
to the prodigies seen in the air, and done lathe earth,
a little before the destruction of Jerusalem {r}; when in
the air were seen comets and blazing stars, particu-
larly one in the form of. a sword, hanging over Jerusa-
lem, and appearances of armies engaged in battle;
and, on the earth, a flame was seen in the temple, and
a voice heard in it, saying, let us go hence; the doors
of it opened of themselves; an ideot went about, crying
woe to the people, woe to. the city, &c.: blood, and
fire, and pillars of smoke; blood may design 'the great

{o} Zohar in Numb. fol 99. 2. Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 15. fol. 219. 2.
Debarim Rabba, sect. 6. fol. 242. 2. Abarbinel, Mashmia Jeshua, fol.
9. 3. R. Isaac, Chizzuk Emunah, par. l. p. 51.
{p} T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 92. 1.
{q} Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 32.
{r} Vid. Joseph. De Bello Jud. 1. 6. c. 5. sect. 3.