Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/6_700.lzh/6_773.TXT

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though future, when the prophet wrote, was certain:
and all the proud; yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be
stubble; the proud Pharisees, that boasted of their own
righteousness, trusted in themselves, and despised
others; all workers of iniquity, in private or in public;
all rejecters of Christ, contemners of his Gospel and
ordinances, and persecutors of his.people; as well as
such who were guilty of the most fiagitious crimes, as
sedition, robbery, murder, &c. of which there were
notorious instances during the siege ofJerunlem; these
were all like stubble before devouring tire, weak and
easily destroyed: and the day that cometh shall burn
them up, saith the Lord of hosts: which is repeated, to
show the certainty of it, and to apply it to the persons
before dcscribed: that it shall leave them neither root
nor branch: which signifies an entire and complete de-
struction; the city and temple so utterly destroyed,
that not one stone shall be left on another; both ma-
gistrates and subjects shall perish, priests and people,
so that there shall be no form of government, civil nor
ecclesiastical; tribes and families lost, they and their
posterity: and 'so the Targum, "which shall not leave
"them son and nephew :. and, indeed, the numbers
etlt Off were so many, and the destruction so general,
that it may be wondered at that any remained: it is a
proverbial expression, setting forth the greatness of tile
calamity; see Matt. iii. 10, 12.
Ver. c2. But unto !/on that fear my name, &c.] The
few that were of this character amohg that wicked
nation; seethenote on ch. iii. 16: shall the sun ofrighte-
ousness arise; not the Holy Ghost, who enlightens
shiners, convinces of righteousness, and gives joy,
peace, and comfort to the saints, but Christ: and
thus it is interpreted of him by the ancient Jews, in
one of their Midrashes or expositions {}; they say,
Moses says not they shall be for ever pledged, that is,
the clothes of a neighboar, but nntil the sun cotnes,
until the Messiah comes, as it is said, unto unto that
fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise, &c.;
and Philo the Jew {} not only observes, that God,
figuratively speaking, is the sun; but the divine Logos
or Word of God, the .image of the heavenly Being, is
called the sun; who, coming to our earthly system,
helps the kindred and followers of virtue, and affords
ample refuge and salvation to them; referring, as it
seems; to this passage: indeed, they generally interpret
it' of the sun, literally taken, which they suppose, at
the end of the world, will have different effects on
good and bad men; they say {}, "ih the world to come,
" God will bring the sun out of its sheath, and burn
" the wicked; they will be judged by it, and the
"righteous will be healed by it :. for the proof of the
former, they produce the words in. the first verse of
this chapter, behold, the day cometh that shall burn as
an oven; and of the latter these words, but unto you
that fear my name, &c.; and a very ridiculous notion
they have, that Abraham their father had a precious
stone or pearl hanging about his neck, and every sick
person that saw it was healed by it immediately; and,
when he departed out of the world, God took it, and
fixed it to the orb of tile sun; hence the proverb, the
sun rises, and sickness decreases {}; and as it is else-
where quoted {},. this passage is added to confirm it, as
it is said, to you that fear my name shall the sun of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings : unless tiffs
fable should be intended to mean, as Abarbinel {f} in-
terprets it, that Abraham, while he lived, clearly
proved the unity of God and his perfections; and that,
after his death, the same truth was taught by the won-
derful motion of the sun: but, be this as it will, those
are undoubtedly in the right who understand these
words figuratively of the Messiah; who is compared
to the sun, because, as the sun is a luminous body, the
light of the whole world, so is Christ of the world of
men, and of the world of saints; particularly of the
Gentiles, often called the world; and of the New Je-
rusalem church-state, and of the world to come: and
as tile sun is the tbuntain of light, so is Christ the
fountain of natural and moral light, as well as of the
light of grace, and of the light, hi of glory: as the sun
communicates light to all the celestial bodies, so
Christ tO tile moon, the church; to the stars, the
ministers of the word; to-the morning-stars, the
angels: as the sun dispels the darkriess of the night,
and makes the day, so Christ dispelled the dark-
· ness of the ceremonial law, and made the Gospel
day; and he dispels the darkness of ignorance
and unbelief, and makes the day of grace; and will
dispel the darkness of imperfection, and will make
the day of glory; as the sun is a pure, clear, and lucid
body, so is Christ, ,without the least spot of sin; and
so are his people, as they are clothed with his righte-
ousness: as the suit is a glorious body, so is Christ
both his natures, divine and human; in his office as
Mediator; and will be in his second coming: as the
sun is superior to all the celestial bodies, so is Christ
to angels and saints: as the sun is but one, so there is
but one Son of God; one Mediator between God and
man; one Sayfour and Redeemer; one Lord and Head
of the church: its properties and effects are many; it'
lays things open and manifest, which before were hid
communicates heat as well as light; make the earth
fruitful; is very exhilarating; has its risings and set-
tings, and of great ,duration: so Christ declares the
mind and will of his Father, the hidden mysteries of
grace; lays open the thoughts of men's hearts in con-
version; and will at the last day bring to light the
hidden things of darkness: he warms the hearts of his
pebple with his love, and causes them to burn within
them, whilst they hear his Gospel, and he makes thera
fervent in spirit whilst they serve the Lord; he fills
them with the fruits of righteousness, and with joy
unspeakable, and full of glory; but he is not always
seen, is sometimes under a cloud, and withdraws him-
self; yet his name is as the sun before the Lord, and
wilt abide for ever. He is called the sun of righteous-
hess, because of the glory of his essential righteousness
as God; and because of the purity and perfection of
his righteousness as man, which appeared in all his
actions, and in the administration of all his offices

{a} ShemotRabba, sect. 31. fol. 134. 2.
{b} De Somniis, p. 578.
{c} T. Bab. Nedarim, fol. 8. 2. & Avoda Zara, fol. 3. 2.
{d} T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 16. 2.
{e} Apud Yalkut in loc.
{f} Comment. in Mal. i. ll.