Zechariah 13 commentary

In the time mentioned at the close of the foregoing chapter, a fountain would be opened to the rulers and people of the Jews, in which to wash away their sins. Even the atoning blood of Christ, united with his sanctifying grace. It has hitherto been closed to the unbelieving nation of Israel; but when the Spirit of grace shall humble and soften their hearts, he will open it to them also. This fountain opened is the pierced side of Christ. We are all as an unclean thing. Behold a fountain opened for us to wash in, and streams flowing to us from that fountain. The blood of Christ, and God's pardoning mercy in that blood, made known in the new covenant, are a fountain always flowing, that never can be emptied. It is opened for all believers, who as the spiritual seed of Christ, are of the house of David, and, as living members of the church, are inhabitants of Jerusalem. Christ, by the power of his grace, takes away the dominion of sin, even of beloved sins. Those who are washed in the fountain opened, as they are justified, so they are sanctified. Souls are brought off from the world and the flesh, those two great idols, that they may cleave to God only. The thorough reformation which will take place on the conversion of Israel to Christ, is here foretold. False prophets shall be convinced of their sin and folly, and return to their proper employments. When convinced that we are gone out of the way of duty, we must show the truth of our repentance by returning to it again. It is well to acknowledge those to be friends, who by severe discipline are instrumental in bringing us to a sight of error; for faithful are the wounds of a friend, Pr 27:6. And it is always well for us to recollect the wounds of our Saviour. Often has he been wounded by professed friends, nay, even by his real disciples, when they act contrary to his word.

Here is a prophecy of the sufferings of Christ. God the Father gave order to the sword of his justice to awake against his Son, when he freely made his soul an offering for sin. As God, he is called “my Fellow.” Christ and the Father are one. He is the Shepherd who was to lay down his life for the sheep. If a Sacrifice, he must be slain, for without shedding of the life-blood there was no remission. This sword must awake against him, yet he had no sin of his own to answer for. It may refer to the whole of Christ's sufferings, especially his agonies in the garden and on the cross, when he endured unspeakable anguish till Divine justice was fully satisfied. Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. This passage our Lord Jesus declares was fulfilled, when all his disciples, in the night wherein he was betrayed, forsook him and fled. It has, and shall have its accomplishment, in the destruction of the corrupt and hypocritical part of the professed church. Because of the sin of the Jews in rejecting and crucifying Christ, and in opposing his gospel, the Romans would destroy the greater part. But a remnant would be saved. And if we are his people, we shall be refined as gold; he will be God, and the end of all our trials and sufferings will be praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter 13

Zechariah 13:1

1. In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

1. In die illo erit fons apertus domui Davidis, et incolis Ierosolymae, ad peccatum et ad immunditiam (vel, ad expiationem et aspersionem.)

From this verse we again learn, that Zechariah promised the spirit of repentance to the Jews, so that they would find God still propitious to them, when their circumstances were brought to the verge of despair: for it would not have been enough for them to feel sorrow, except God himself became propitious and merciful to them. He had said indeed that the Spirit of grace and of commiserations would be poured forth; but he had not as yet taught clearly what he now adds respecting remission and pardon. After having then declared that there would be felt by the Jews the bitterest sorrow, because they had as it were pierced God, he now mentions the fruit of this repentance. And hence also appears what Paul means by sorrow not to be repented of; for it generates repentance unto salvation. When then our sorrow is blessed by the Lord, the end is to be regarded; for our hearts are thereby raised up to joy. But the issue of repentance, as Zechariah declares here, is ablution: and he alludes to the legal rites when he says,

A fountain shall be opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. We know that formerly under the law many washings were prescribed to the Jews; and when any one had become defiled, to wash himself was the remedy. It is certain that water was of no value to cleanse the heart; but the sins of men, we know, are expiated by the death of Christ, so that true ablution is by the blood which he shed for us. Jerome and Cyril say that the “fountain” is baptism; but Theodoret with more wisdom considered it to be the blood of Christ. Marckius regarded it as the grace of God flowing to us through the merits of the Redeemer, and applied for justification and sanctification. The word “fountain,” says Drusius, intimates the perennity and abundance of grace. — Ed. Hence the types of the law ought no doubt to be referred to this blood. The meaning is that God would be reconciled to the Jews when they became touched with sincere sorrow, and that reconciliation would be ready for them, for the Lord would cleanse them from every defilement.

He speaks of a fountain opened; and he no doubt intimates here a difference between the law and the gospel. Water was brought daily to the temple; but it was, we know, for private washings. But Zechariah promises here a perpetual stream of cleansing water; as though he had said, “Ablution will be free to all, when God shall again receive his people into favor.” Though remission of sins was formerly offered under the law, yet it is now much more easily obtained by us; not that God grants a license to sin, but that the way in which our filth is cleansed, has become more evident since the coming of Christ. For the fathers under the law were indeed fully assured that God was so propitious as not to impute sins; but where was the pledge of ablution? In the sprinkling of blood, and that blood was the blood of a calf or a lamb. Now since we know that we have been redeemed by Christ, and that our souls are sprinkled with his blood by the hidden power of the Holy Spirit, it is doubtless the same as though God had not only set before our eyes our ablution, but also placed it as it were in our hands, while to the fathers it was more obscure or shown to them at a distance.

And he says, To the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He had before restricted God’s favor to that city, that he might goad the Jews, who had preferred their outward gratifications to so great a happiness; for they thought themselves happy in their exile, because they inhabited a pleasant and fruitful country, and enjoyed quietness and peace; and thus it happened that they despised the deliverance offered to them. Hence the Prophet promises here to the citizens of Jerusalem and to the royal family a fountain in which they might wash away their filth; for from Sion was the law to go forth, and from Jerusalem the word of the Lord. (Isaiah 2:2.) And we know that from thence were taken the first-fruits of the new Church. The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem were specifically mentioned, says Grotius, because they had grievously offended. The design seems to have been to point out those who had been most guilty, who had been themselves the murderers of their own Messiah. This fountain was yet opened for them. — Ed. What we have before seen respecting God’s favor being extended farther, is no objection; for both events were in their due order fulfilled, as God blessed the tribe of Judah, who trusted in his promises and returned to their own country, and afterwards extended wider his favor, and gathered into one body those who had been dispersed through distant parts of the world.

He adds, For sin and for uncleanness, or as some read, “for sprinkling,” which is by no means suitable, except the word “sin” be taken for expiation. The word is derived from נדד, nedad, but it often means sprinkling, sometimes uncleanness, and sometimes the uncleanness of women, and so some render it here. The verb signifies to remove or to separate; and hence נדה, nede, is the removal of a woman from her husband during her uncleanness, but it is applied to designate any uncleanness. It might indeed be taken here for the uncleanness of women, as an instance of a part for the whole; but I am led by the context to render it uncleanness. Now if we translate חטאת, chathat, sin, then נדה, nede, must be rendered uncleanness; but if the first be expiation, then the second may be sprinkling: and this meaning I am disposed to take, for under the law sins were cleansed by sacrifices as well as by washings.

For sin and defilement, Newcome

For guilt and for uncleanness, Henderson

Our version cannot be mended “for sin and for uncleanness.” The latter word, [נדה], has been strangely rendered by some. Its first meaning is removal or separation, which took place in case of uncleanness: but it is also used to designate the cause of removal, even uncleanness, and that generally, as we find from Ezra 9:11, where the “land” is said to be “unclean ([נדה]) with the filthiness ([נדת]) of the people,” or rather polluted with the pollution of the people “of the lands.” It is used in this text as synonymous with [טמא], which means what is unclean, defiled, or polluted. See Ezra 6:21

This verse is most strangely rendered by the Septuagint, in a way quite unaccountable. The three other versions — Aq., Sym., and Theod., — are not very far from the original. — Ed.

The import of the whole then is — that though the Jews had in various ways defiled themselves, so that they were become filthy before God, and their uncleanness was abominable, yet a fountain would be prepared for them, by which they might cleanse themselves, so as to come before God pure and clean. We hence see that it was the Prophet’s object to show, that the repentance of which he had spoken would not be useless, for there would be a sure issue, when God favored the Jews, and showed himself propitious to them, and already pacified, and even provided for them a cleansing by the blood of his only-begotten Son, so that no filth might prevent them to call on him boldly and in confidence; for instead of the legal rites there would be the reality, as their hearts would be sprinkled by the Spirit, so that they would be purified by faith, and would thus cast away all their filth.

Prayer

Grant, Almighty God, that since thou hast been pleased to adopt us as thy people, and from being thine enemies, profane and reprobate, to make us the children of Abraham, that we might be to thee a holy heritage, — O grant, that through the whole course of our life we may so repent as to attain thy mercy, which is daily set before us in thy gospel, and of which thou hast given us a sure pledge in the death of thy only Son, so that we may become more and more humble before thee, and labor to form our life according to the rule of righteousness, and so loathe ourselves, that we may at the same time be allured by the sweetness of thy goodness to call upon thee, and that being thus united to thee, we may be confirmed in the faith, until we shall reach that blessed rest which has been procured for us by the blood of thy Son Jesus Christ. — Amen.

Lecture One Hundred and Sixty-third

Zechariah 13:2

2. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

2. Et erit in die illo, dicit Iehova exercituum, Excidam (vel, delebo) nomina simulachrorum e terra, et non erunt in memoria amplius; atque etiam Prohetas et spiritum immundum auferam (vel, exterminabo, ad verbam est, transire faciam) e terra.

CHAPTER 13

Zec 13:1-9. Cleansing of the Jews from Sin; Abolition of Idolatry; the Shepherd Smitten; the People of the Land Cut Off, except a Third Part Refined by Trials.

1. Connected with the close of the twelfth chapter. The mourning penitents are here comforted.

fountain opened--It has been long opened, but then first it shall be so "to the house of David," &c. (representing all Israel) after their long and weary wanderings. Like Hagar in the wilderness they remain ignorant of the refreshment near them, until God "opens their eyes" (Ge 21:19) [Moore]. It is not the fountain, but their eyes that need to be opened. It shall be a "fountain" ever flowing; not a laver needing constantly to be replenished with water, such as stood between the tabernacle and altar (Ex 30:18).

for sin ... uncleanness--that is, judicial guilt and moral impurity. Thus justification and sanctification are implied in this verse as both flowing from the blood of Christ, not from ceremonial sacrifices (1Co 1:30; He 9:13, 14; 1Jo 1:7; compare Eze 36:25). Sin in Hebrew is literally a missing the mark or way.

2. Consequences of pardon; not indolence, but the extirpation of sin.

names of ... idols--Their very names were not to be mentioned; thus the Jews, instead of Mephibaal, said Mephibosheth (Bosheth meaning a contemptible thing) (Ex 23:13; De 12:3; Psa 16:4).

out of the land--Judea's two great sins, idolatry and false prophecy, have long since ceased. But these are types of all sin (for example, covetousness, Ep 5:5, a besetting sin of the Jews now). Idolatry, combined with the "spirit" of "Satan," is again to be incarnated in "the man of sin," who is to arise in Judea (2Th 2:3-12), and is to be "consumed with the Spirit of the Lord's mouth." Compare as to Antichrist's papal precursor, "seducing spirits ... doctrines of devils," &c., 1Ti 4:1-3; 2Pe 2:1.

the unclean spirit--Hebrew, spirit of uncleanness (compare Re 16:13); opposed to "the Spirit of holiness" (Ro 1:4), "spirit of error" (1Jo 4:6). One assuming to be divinely inspired, but in league with Satan.

3. The form of phraseology here is drawn from De 13:6-10; 18:20. The substantial truth expressed is that false prophecy shall be utterly abolished. If it were possible for it again to start up, the very parents of the false prophet would not let parental affection interfere, but would be the first to thrust him through. Love to Christ must be paramount to the tenderest of natural ties (Mt 10:37). Much as the godly love their children, they love God and His honor more.

4. prophets ... ashamed--of the false prophecies which they have uttered in times past, and which the event has confuted.

rough garment--sackcloth. The badge of a prophet (2Ki 1:8; Is 20:2), to mark their frugality alike in food and attire (Mt 3:4); also, to be consonant to the mournful warnings which they delivered. It is not the dress that is here condemned, but the purpose for which it was worn, namely, to conceal wolves under sheep's clothing [Calvin]. The monkish hair-shirt of Popery, worn to inspire the multitude with the impression of superior sanctity, shall be then cast aside.

5-6. The detection of one of the false prophets dramatically represented. He is seized by some zealous vindicator of the law, and in fear cries out, "I am no prophet."

man--that is, one.

taught me to keep cattle--As "keeping cattle" is not the same as to be "an husbandman," translate rather, "Has used (or 'appropriated') me as a servant," namely, in husbandry [Maurer]. However, husbandry and keeping cattle might be regarded as jointly the occupation of the person questioned: then Am 7:14, "herdman," will accord with English Version. A Hebrew kindred word means "cattle." Both occupations, the respondent replies, are inconsistent with my being a "prophet."

7. Expounded by Christ as referring to Himself (Mt 26:31, 32). Thus it is a resumption of the prophecy of His betrayal (Zec 11:4, 10, 13, 14), and the subsequent punishment of the Jews. It explains the mystery why He, who came to be a blessing, was cut off while bestowing the blessing. God regards sin in such a fearful light that He spared not His own co-equal Son in the one Godhead, when that Son bore the sinner's guilt.

Awake--Compare a similar address to the sword of justice personified (Jr 46:6, 7). For "smite" (imperative), Mt 26:31 has "I will smite." The act of the sword, it is thus implied, is God's act. So the prophecy in Is 6:9, "Hear ye," is imperative; the fulfilment as declared by Jesus is future (Mt 13:14), "ye shall hear."

sword--the symbol of judicial power, the highest exercise of which is to take away the life of the condemned (Psa 17:13; Ro 13:4). Not merely a show, or expression, of justice (as Socinians think) is distinctly implied here, but an actual execution of it on Messiah the shepherd, the substitute for the sheep, by God as judge. Yet God in this shows His love as gloriously as His justice. For God calls Messiah "My shepherd," that is, provided (Re 13:8) for sinners by My love to them, and ever the object of My love, though judicially smitten (Is 53:4) for their sins (Is 42:1; 59:16).

man that is my fellow--literally, "the man of my union." The Hebrew for "man" is "a mighty man," one peculiarly man in his noblest ideal. "My fellow," that is, "my associate." "My equal" ([De Wette]; a remarkable admission from a Rationalist). "My nearest kinsman" [Hengstenberg], (Joh 10:30; 14:10, 11; Php 2:6).

sheep shall be scattered--The scattering of Christ's disciples on His apprehension was the partial fulfilment (Mt 26:31), a pledge of the dispersion of the Jewish nation (once the Lord's sheep, Psa 100:3) consequent on their crucifixion of Him. The Jews, though "scattered," are still the Lord's "sheep," awaiting their being "gathered" by Him (Is 40:9, 11).

I will turn ... hand upon ... little ones--that is, I will interpose in favor of (compare the phrase in a good sense, Is 1:25) "the little ones," namely, the humble followers of Christ from the Jewish Church, despised by the world: "the poor of the flock" (Zec 11:7, 11); comforted after His crucifixion at the resurrection (Joh 20:17-20); saved again by a special interposition from the destruction of Jerusalem, having retired to Pella when Cestius Gallus so unaccountably withdrew from Jerusalem. Ever since there has been a Jewish "remnant" of "the little ones ... according to the election of grace." The hand of Jehovah was laid in wrath on the Shepherd that His hand might be turned in grace upon the little ones.

8-9. Two-thirds of the Jewish nation were to perish in the Roman wars, and a third to survive. Probably from the context (Zec 14:2-9), which has never yet been fulfilled, the destruction of the two-thirds (literally, "the proportion of two," or "portion of two") and the saving of the remnant, the one-third, are still future, and to be fulfilled under Antichrist.

In that day there shall be a fountain opened - This chapter is a continuation of the preceding, and should not have been separated from it.

A fountain - The source of mercy in Christ Jesus; perhaps referring to the death he should die, and the piercing of his side, when blood and water issued out.

To the house of David - To David's family, and such like persons as it included. See the history of David and his sons, and then learn for whom Christ shed his blood.

Inhabitants of Jerusalem - Such like persons as the Jews were in every part of their history, and in their last times, when they clamoured for the blood of Christ, and pursued him unto death! Learn from this also for whom Christ died! These were the worst of the human race; and if he died for them, none need despair. They rejected, betrayed, crucified, slew, and blasphemed Christ, and afterwards persecuted his followers. For these he died! Yes: and he tasted death for Every Man.

For sin and for uncleanness - For the removal of the guilt of sin, and for the purification of the soul from the uncleanness or pollution of sin.

I will cut off the names of the idols - There shall not only be no idolatry, but the very names of the idols shall be forgotten, or be held in such abhorrence that no person shall mention them. This prophecy seems to be ancient, and to have been delivered while idolatry had prevalence in Israel and Judah.

I will cause the prophets - All false teachers.

And the unclean spirit - That which leads to impurity, the spirit of divination; the lust of the flesh, and of the eye, and the pride of life. Satan shall have neither a being in, nor power over, the hearts of sincere believers in Christ.

When any shall yet prophesy - Falsely; such shall be the horror of such an evil, that there shall be no toleration of it. Itself, and they who practice it, shall be everywhere destroyed.

Neither shall they wear a rough garment - A rough garment made of goats' hair, coarse wool, or the course pile of the camel, was the ordinary garb of God's prophets. And the false prophets wore the same; for they pretended to the same gifts, and the same spirit, and therefore they wore the same kind of garments. John Baptist had a garment of this kind.

But he shall say, I am no prophet - This must be the case of a false prophet or diviner, who had been obliged to give up his infamous practice, and become even a laborer in the land. But having been known to be such, he is questioned by the people to see if he still were addicted in heart to the same practices. He declares he is no prophet, neither true nor false; that he is now a husbandman, and was brought up a herdsman.

What are these wounds in thine hands? - Marks which he had received in honor of his idols. But he shall excuse himself by stating that he had received these marks in his own family; when, most probably, they had been dedicated to some of those idols. See the note on Isa 44:5. I do not think that these words are spoken at all concerning Jesus Christ. I have heard them quoted in this way; but I cannot hear such an application of them without horror. In quoting from the Old Testament in reference to the New, we cannot be too cautious. We may wound the truth instead of honoring it.

Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd - This is generally understood of Jesus Christ. The sword is that of Divine justice which seemed to have been long asleep, and should long ago have struck either Man, or his Substitute, the Messiah. Jesus is here called God's Shepherd, because he had appointed him to feed and govern, as well as to save, the whole lost world. This is a prosopopoeia, and the address to the sword is very poetic. There is a fine passage in Aeschylus to the same effect: - Ξενος δε κληροις επινωμᾳ, Χαλυβος Σκυθων αποικας, Κτεανων χρηματοδαιτας Πικρος, ωμοφρων σιδαρος, Χθονα ναιειν διαπηλας Ὁποσαν αν και φθιμενοισι κατεχειν, Των μεγαλων πεδιων αμοιροις,

Aeschyl. Sept. cont. Hebrews 733. "The rude barbarian, from the mines

Of Scythia, o'er the lots presides;

Ruthless to each his share assigns,

And the contested realm divides:

To each allots no wider a domain

Than, on the cold earth as they lie,

Their breathless bodies occupy,

Regardless of an ampler reign:

Such narrow compass does the sword -

A cruel umpire - their high claims afford."

Potter.

The man that is my Fellow - ועל גבר עמיתי veal geber amithi, "upon the strong man," or "the hero that is with Me;" my neighbor. "The Word was God, and the Word was With God;" Joh 1:1. "I and my Father are One;" Joh 10:30.

Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered - This is quoted by our Lord, Mat 26:31, in relation to his disciples, who should be scattered on his crucifixion: and they were so; for every one, giving up all for lost, went to his own house.

And I will turn mine hand upon the little ones - I will take care of the little flock, and preserve them from Jewish malice and Gentile persecution. And so this little flock was most wondrously preserved, and has been increasing from year to year from that time to the present day.

Two parts therein shall be cut off - In the war with the Romans.

But the third shall be left - Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be preserved alive; and not one of these perished in the siege, or afterwards, by those wars.

I will bring the third part through the fire - The Christian Church shall endure a great fight of afflictions, by which they shall be refined - not consumed.

They shall call on my name - In this way shall they offer all their prayers and supplications to God.

I will say, It is my people - The Church that I have chosen in the place of the Jews who have filled up the measure of their iniquity.

And they shall say, The Lord is my God - And thus communion shall be established between me and them for ever. Thus there shall be a general restoration.

A fountain - The blood of Christ. Opened - The spouse is to Christ a fountain sealed, but Christ is to sinners a fountain opened. Inhabitants of Jerusalem - The inhabitants of Jerusalem are all to whom the gospel is preached. For uncleanness - For purging away all manner of sins and uncleannesses.

Cut off - I will utterly destroy idols and idolatry. The prophets - The false prophets. The unclean spirit - The devil who sets the false prophets to work.

Prophesy - Falsely. His father - His dearest friends. Shall thrust him through - That is, shall wound, shall chastise him with stripes that may leave their marks behind.

A rough garment - Such as the true prophets were wont to wear.

With which I was wounded - To recover me from ruining myself and others by imposture, see ver.3.

O sword - Afflictions, persecutions, and the cross. My shepherd - Who is my faithful shepherd, and will lay down his life for my sheep. My fellow - This speaks Christ; man with us, and God with his father, God - man in one person. The shepherd - This great and good shepherd. Turn mine hand - God will turn his hand in favour, and for protection will keep the new, and weak disciples.

Two parts - Not precisely two, but the greater part shall die a temporal death, by the sword of Titus, or in eternal death under unbelief. The third - A remnant, the lesser part, shall escape or be preserved.

1 IN that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin, and for uncleanness .

When the Lamb of God shall be offered up a Sacrifice for mankind, and the Gospel shall be preached in which the glad Tydings of our Redemption are publisht.

By water, and Ceremonial washings was legal pollution in many cases purged away, and much of the legal Service stood in divers washings, but all these were Shadows and Types, here is that they typified. The matchless healing, and purging Fountain, i. e. The Blood of Christ here is the true Siloam which never fail'd to heal any that rightly used it, 'tis Christ.

The Spouse is to Christ a Fountain sealed, but Christ is to sinners a Fountain opened; under the Law he was as the waters of the Temple, for the Iew; but now he is opened to us Gentiles, free to all, and of easie access, and of Soveraign vertue to heal.

He was every where nearest to them, and though his own Kindred did some of them slight him, and not believe in him, yet some others did, and it may intimate to us the first tender of Grace made to his own, to whom he came, though they received him not; or the Royal Family some of them will be benefitted by it, and all of them need it; no outward priviledge can secure us against poyson of sin, Grace alone, this Fountain only can purge it away in great, and noble; or mean, and base.

To all the Iews before the Gentiles, To you first saith the Apostle, God hath sent his Son, but in that 'tis opened, 'tis to us Gentiles also. Ierusalem as Image of the whole Church, takes in the Gentiles, so Inhabitants of Ierusalem are all to whom the Gospel is preached, all penit[illegible: 1 letter]nts.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]; For purging away of all manner of sins and uncleannesses of which men repent, and from which they depart, according to that Prov. 20.9. 1 Ioh. 1.9.

2 ¶ And it shall come to pass in that day , saith the LORD of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land , and they shall no more be remembred : and also I will cause the prophets , and the unclean spirit i to pass out of the land .

Vid. ver. 1. let. a.

Utterly destroy Idols and Idolatry, Satan fell from Heaven like Lightning, as Christ tells us when the Gospel was preacht by those he sent, and 'tis known the Birth of Christ silenced the Devil, that he could no more give answer to those that enquired at his Oracles, the light of the Gospel is such, that none of the Idols can bear it. The Devil put it into the heads of the Romans to keep Christ from being received by publick allowance for a God, because he would turn out all the rest of them.

With veneration, sacrifices, gifts, erecting of Temples, depending on, or consulting with them; they shall be remembred and abhorred, whereas before they were remembred and ador'd.

Either those that being Priests to Idols, did consult with them, and pretend to foretel future events, or more likely the false Prophets among the Iews, who are Prophets as Idols are Gods. i. e. The Devil which sets the false Prophets on work, Christ cast many out of persons possessed, and by his Doctrine still doth cast out Satan.

Marginal references: Exod. 23.13. Psal. 16.4. Ezek. 30.1[illegible: 1 letter]. Hos. 2.17.; Mat. 12.43. Mar. 1.29.

3 And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesie , then his father and his mother that begat him , shall say unto him , Thou shalt not live : for thou speakest lies in the Name of the LORD : and his father, and his mother that begat him, shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.

Whosoever he be that shall pretend hereafter to prophesie through the instigation of that unclean Spirit, for it can be from no other, when the Lord shall have fully revealed his mind to us.

His dearest friends, they who are by nature nearest to him who begat him.

Shall discourse him, and inform him what the Law of Moses directeth in this case.

Which I take to be not the sentence condemnatory, for being private persons, they could not condemn him; but it is a repetition of the Law which saith, such shall not live, and then it amounts to this, a false Prophet ought not to live, Deut. 13.6, 8. what then dost thou do to break this Law, and endanger thy Life? Thou oughtest to dye for this by the Law; the Father and Mother thus should admonish and shew the matter of Law and danger, but not judicially pass sentence▪ and determin what shall be done.

Thou fallest under that Law, Deut. 13.6.

Or, wound, chastise with stripes that may leave their marks behind them, or rather shall sharply reprove him, and with cutting words terrifie him from the like practice: You read of words that are piercing words, Prov. 12.18. words that run through as a Sword, and the Chaldee Paraphrast on this of our Prophet allows the Father and Mother to deal sharply with their Son, they shall rebuke cuttingly; besides, if 'twere to be understood of killing, the Law directs to stone such a one, Deut. 13.10. not to run him through with Lance or Sword.

4 And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision: when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive .

By this means it will come to pass, such sharp reproofs, such impartial threats, such convincing arguments will have a good effect.

These Prophets will see their Errour, and be ashamed, and give over what they blush at, and is their shame.

Such Garments the true Prophets were wont to wear, and these cheats had used them for a cover to their jugling Hypocrisie; but when throughly convinced, none shall need pull, they will themselves cast off those Garments.

By first seeming to be more holy and strict than they are; and next on such ill grounded opinion of the holiness of their persons draw them into their Opinions, Religion, and Practice. 'Tis an excellent work of the Grace of God to recover deceivers, and to make them turn off the deceiver, and deal plainly and faithfully with others, and themselves.

Marginal references: 2 King.1.8.; Heb. a garment of hair.; Heb. to lie.

5 But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman: for man taught me to keep cattel from my youth.

This verse is this reclaimed man's recantation, or renunciation of his former course, and his solemn promise to take up his own Calling, and become a plain honest man, and live upon his Labour, to which he was trained up from his youth, and is sorry he ever left it.

6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer , Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends .

This verse continueth the account of the reclaimed Prophet, and supposeth what is usual that some will enquire what the meaning of the marks or impressions on his hands, whether they were not such as appropriated him to an Idol, or declared him a profest Diviner.

plainly and fully no such as you imagine.

But the [illegible: 2 letters]ars of the wounds my stubbornness deserved, and the love of my friends gave me under a severe Discipline, to recover me from ruining my self and others by Impostures, and Lies.

7 ¶ Awake , O sword , against my shepherd , and against the man that is my fellow , saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd , and the sheep shall be scattered and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones .

'Tis God's Commission, or rather prediction, the Imperative put for the future.

i. e. Afflictions, Persecutions, and the Cross.

Who is my faithful shepherd, and will lay down his life for my sheep.

Who became man, that he might be my Servant and die,

or my equal who was ever with me, and my delights, Prov. 8.30. Man my fellow speaks Christ man with us, and God with his Father, God-man in one person.

This great and good shepherd shall be smitten, i. e. die for my sheep, and before he dieth, shall suffer much for them.

As affrighted, destitute of one to look after them, and which must be partakers in sufferings with their shepherd.

God will, say some, turn his hand against the little ones, smite them too; but, others say, this turning the hand is in favour, and for protection, 'tis a hand turned over them, as if he would keep the blow off them, while others fitter to bear it do suffer.

New, and therefore weak Converts and Disciples.

Many words are spent by Interpreters to shew what they think to be the connexion of the words; it is easier to say what are the contents and design of them. It is possible they are subjoined to the former to vindicate Christ from the suspicion of an Impostor, though he was wounded, for this his Father did foretel by Zechariah 490 years more or less beforehand, so that these wounds are not marks of an Impostor, but testimonies of his Truth, and that he is the Messiah.

Marginal references: Joh. 1[illegible: 1 letter].30. & 14.10, 11. Phil. 2.6.; Math. 26.31. Mark 14.27.

8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land , saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off, and die, but the third shall be left therein .

Of Iudea, or the whole World.

Not precisely two, but more largely the greater part by far.

A Temporal Death, by the Sword of Titus, or an eternal death under unbelief and rejecting Christ.

i. e. A remnant, the lesser part, yet as many as are chosen.

Shall escape or be preserved and saved.

This ver. may be a prediction of the great slaughter Titus made among the Iews, and also an Emblem of the multitudes of them that perish, and paucity of them that are saved.

9 And I will bring the third part through the fire , and will refine them as silver is refined , and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name , and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

That part that is preserved shall be brought into afflictions hot as fire.

These Afflictions shall purifie them, and so better them as Silver and Gold are bettered by the Furnace, made fitter to be Vessels of honour.

Pray to me and own me for their God.

I will answer them, and own them for my People, my purified People, &c.

Marginal references: 1 Pet. 1.6, 7.; Psal. 50.15.; Psal. 144.15.

Zec 13:1

The penitential supplication of Israel will lead to a thorough renewal of the nation, since the Lord will open to the penitent the fountain of His grace for the cleansing away of sin and the sanctifying of life. Zec 13:1. “In that day will a fountain be opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness.” As the Lord Himself pours out the spirit of supplication upon Israel, so does He also provide the means of purification from sin. A fountain is opened, when its stream of water bursts forth from the bosom of the earth (see Isa 41:18; Isa 35:6). The water, which flows from the fountain opened by the Lord, is a water of sprinkling, with which sin and uncleanness are removed. The figure is taken partly from the water used for the purification of the Levites at their consecration, which is called מי חטּאת, sin-water, or alter of absolution, in Num 8:7, and partly from the sprinkling-water prepared from the sacrificial ashes of the red heifer for purification from the defilement of death, which is called מי נדּה, water of uncleanness, i.e., water which removed uncleanness, in Num 19:9. Just as bodily uncleanness is a figure used to denote spiritual uncleanness, the defilement of sin (cf. Psa 51:9), so is earthly sprinkling-water a symbol of the spiritual water by which sin is removed. By this water we have to understand not only grace in general, but the spiritual sprinkling-water, which is prepared through the sacrificial death of Christ, through the blood that He shed for sin, and which is sprinkled upon us for the cleansing away of sin in the gracious water of baptism. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin (1Jo 1:7; compare 1Jo 5:6).

Zec 13:2-6

The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem represent the whole nation here, as in Zec 12:10. This cleansing will be following by a new life in fellowship with God, since the Lord will remove everything that could hinder sanctification. This renewal of life and sanctification is described in Zec 12:2-7. Zec 12:2. “And it will come to pass in that day, is the saying of Jehovah of hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, they shall be remembered no more; and the prophets also and the spirit of uncleanness will I remove out of the land. Zec 12:3. And it will come to pass, if a man prophesies any more, his father and his mother, they that begat him, will say to him, Thou must not live, for thou hast spoken deceit in the name of Jehovah: and his father and his mother, they that begat him, will pierce him through because of his prophesying. Zec 12:4. And it will come to pass on that day, the prophets will be ashamed every one of his vision, at his prophesying, and will no more put on a hairy mantle to lie. Zec 12:5. And he will say, I am no prophet, I am a man who cultivates the land; for a man bought me from my youth. Zec 12:6. And if they shall say to him, What scars are these between thy hands? he will say, These were inflicted upon me in the house of my loves.” The new life in righteousness and holiness before God is depicted in an individualizing form as the extermination of idols and false prophets out of the holy land, because idolatry and false prophecy were the two principal forms in which ungodliness manifested itself in Israel. The allusion to idols and false prophets by no means points to the times before the captivity; for even of gross idolatry, and therefore false prophecy, did not spread any more among the Jews after the captivity, such passages as Neh 6:10, where lying prophets rise up, and even priests contract marriages with Canaanitish and other heathen wives, from whom children sprang who could not even speak the Jewish language (Ezr 9:2 ff.; Neh 13:23), show very clearly that the danger of falling back into gross idolatry was not a very remote one. Moreover, the more refined idolatry of pharisaic self-righteousness and work-holiness took the place of the grosser idolatry, and the prophets generally depict the future under the forms of the past. The cutting off of the names of the idols denotes utter destruction (cf. Hos 2:19). The prophets are false prophets, who either uttered the thoughts of their hearts as divine inspiration, or stood under the demoniacal influence of the spirit of darkness. This is evident from the fact that they are associated not only with idols, but with the “spirit of uncleanness.” For this, the opposite of the spirit of grace (Zec 12:10), is the evil spirit which culminates in Satan, and works in the false prophets as a lying spirit (1Ki 22:21-23; Rev 16:13-14).

The complete extermination of this unclean spirit is depicted thus in Zec 13:3-6, that not only will Israel no longer tolerate any prophet in the midst of it (Zec 13:3), but even the prophets themselves will be ashamed of their calling (Zec 13:4-6). The first case is to be explained from the law in Deu 13:6-11 and Deu 18:20, according to which a prophet who leads astray to idolatry, and one who prophesies in his own name or in the name of false gods, are to be put to death. This commandment will be carried out by the parents upon any one who shall prophesy in the future. They will pronounce him worthy of death as speaking lies, and inflict the punishment of death upon him (dâqar, used for putting to death, as in c. Zec 12:10). This case, that a man is regarded as a false prophet and punished in consequence, simply because he prophesies, rests upon the assumption that at that time there will be no more prophets, and that God will not raise them up or send them any more. This assumption agrees both with the promise, that when God concludes a new covenant with His people and forgives their sins, no one will teach another any more to know the Lord, but all, both great and small, will know Him, and all will be taught of God (Jer 31:33-34; Isa 54:13); and also with the teaching of the Scriptures, that the Old Testament prophecy reached to John the Baptist, and attained its completion and its end in Christ (Mat 11:13; Luk 16:16, cf. Mat 5:17). At that time will those who have had to do with false prophecy no longer pretend to be prophets, or assume the appearance of prophets, or put on the hairy garment of the ancient prophets, of Elias for example, but rather give themselves out as farm-servants, and declare that the marks of wound inflicted upon themselves when prophesying in the worship of heathen gods are the scars of wounds which they have received (Zec 13:4-6). בּושׁ מן, to be ashamed on account of (cf. Isa 1:29), not to desist with shame. The form הנּבאתו in Zec 13:4 instead of הנּבאו (Zec 13:3) may be explained from the fact that the verbs לא and לה frequently borrow forms from one another (Ges. §75, Anm. 20-22). On אדּרת שׂער, see at 2Ki 1:8. למען כּחשׁ, to lie, i.e., to give themselves the appearance of prophets, and thereby to deceive the people. The subject to ואמר in Zec 13:5 is אישׁ from Zec 13:4; and the explanation given by the man is not to be taken as an answer to a question asked by another concerning his circumstances, for it has not been preceded by any question, but as a confession made by his own spontaneous impulse, in which he would repudiate his former calling. The verb הקנה is not a denom. of מקנה, servum facere, servo uti (Maurer, Koehler, and others), for miqneh does not mean slave, but that which has been acquired, or an acquisition. It is a simple hiphil of qânâh in the sense of acquiring, or acquiring by purchase, not of selling. That the statement is an untruthful assertion is evident from Zec 13:6, the two clauses of which are to be taken as speech and reply, or question and answer. Some one asks the prophet, who has given himself out as a farm-servant, where the stripes (makkōth, strokes, marks of strokes) between his hands have come from, and he replies that he received them in the house of his lovers. אשׁר הכּיתי, ἅς (sc., πληγάς) ἐπλήγην: cf. Ges. §143, 1. The questioner regards the stripes or wounds as marks of wounds inflicted upon himself, which the person addressed had made when prophesying, as is related of the prophets of Baal in 1Ki 18:28 (see the comm.). The expression “between the hands” can hardly be understood in any other way than as relating to the palms of the hands and their continuation up; the arms, since, according to the testimony of ancient writers (Movers, Phöniz. i. p. 682), in the self-mutilations connected with the Phrygian, Syrian, and Cappadocian forms of worship, the arms were mostly cut with swords or knives. The meaning of the answer given by the person addressed depends upon the view we take of the word מאהבים. As this word is generally applied to paramours, Hengstenberg retains this meaning here, and gives the following explanation of the passage: namely, that the person addressed confesses that he has received the wounds in the temples of the idols, which he had followed with adulterous love, so that he admits his former folly with the deepest shame. But the context appears rather to indicate that this answer is also nothing more than an evasion, and that he simply pretends that the marks were scars left by the chastisements which he received when a boy in the house of either loving parents or some other loving relations.

Zec 13:7-9

Zec 13:7. “Arise, O sword, over my shepherd, and over the man who is my neighbour, is the saying of Jehovah of hosts: smite the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered; and I will bring back my hand over the little ones. Zec 13:8. And it will come to pass in all the land, is the saying of Jehovah; two parts therein shall be cut off, shall die, and the third remains therein. Zec 13:9. And the third will I bring into the fire, and melt them as silver is melted, and will refine them as gold is refined: it will call upon my name, and I will answer it; I say, It is my people; and it will say, Jehovah my God.” The summons addressed to the sword, to awake and smite, is a poetical turn to express the thought that the smiting takes place with or according to the will of God. For similar personification of the sword, see Jer 47:6. רעי is the shepherd of Jehovah, since the summons comes from Jehovah. In what sense the person to be smitten is called the shepherd of Jehovah, we may see from the clause על־גּבר עמיתי. The word עמית, which only occurs in the Pentateuch and in Zechariah, who has taken it thence, is only used as a synonym of אח (cf. Lev 25:15) in the concrete sense of the nearest one. And this is the meaning which it has in the passage before us, where the construct state expresses the relation of apposition, as for example in אישׁ חסידך (Deu 33:8; cf. Ewald, §287, e), the man who is my nearest one. The shepherd of Jehovah, whom Jehovah describes as a man who is His next one (neighbour), cannot of course be a bad shepherd, who is displeasing to Jehovah, and destroys the flock, or the foolish shepherd mentioned in Zec 11:15-17, as Grotius, Umbr., Ebrard, Ewald, Hitzig, and others suppose; for the expression “man who is my nearest one” implies much more than unity or community of vocation, or that he had to feed the flock like Jehovah. No owner of a flock or lord of a flock would call a hired or purchased shepherd his ‛âmı̄th. And so God would not apply this epithet to any godly or ungodly man whom He might have appointed shepherd over a nation. The idea of nearest one (or fellow) involves not only similarity in vocation, but community of physical or spiritual descent, according to which he whom God calls His neighbour cannot be a mere man, but can only be one who participates in the divine nature, or is essentially divine. The shepherd of Jehovah, whom the sword is to smite, is therefore no other than the Messiah, who is also identified with Jehovah in Zec 12:10; or the good shepherd, who says of Himself, “I and my Father are one” (Joh 10:30). The masculine form הך in the summons addressed to the sword, although חרב itself is feminine, may be accounted for from the personification of the sword; compare Gen 4:7, where sin (חטּאת, fem.) is personified as a wild beast, and construed as a masculine. The sword is merely introduced as a weapon used for killing, without there being any intention of defining the mode of death more precisely. The smiting of the shepherd is also mentioned here simply for the purpose of depicting the consequences that would follow with regard to the flock. The thought is therefore merely this: Jehovah will scatter Israel or His nation by smiting the shepherd; that is to say, He will give it up to the misery and destruction to which a flock without a shepherd is exposed. We cannot infer from this that the shepherd himself is to blame; nor does the circumstance that the smiting of the shepherd is represented as the execution of a divine command, necessarily imply that the death of the shepherd proceeds directly from God. According to the biblical view, God also works, and does that which is done by man in accordance with His counsel and will, and even that which is effected through the sin of men. Thus in Isa 53:10 the mortal sufferings of the Messiah are described as inflicted upon Him by God, although He had given up His soul to death to bear the sin of the people. In the prophecy before us, the slaying of the shepherd is only referred to so far as it brings a grievous calamity upon Israel; and the fact is passed over, that Israel has brought this calamity upon itself by its ingratitude towards the shepherd (cf. Zec 11:8, Zec 11:12). The flock, which will be dispersed in consequence of the slaying of the shepherd, is the covenant nation, i.e., neither the human race nor the Christian church as such, but the flock which the shepherd in Zec 11:4. had to feed. At the same time, Jehovah will not entirely withdraw His hand from the scattered flock, but “bring it back over the small ones.” The phrase השׁיב יד על, to bring back the hand over a person (see at 2Sa 8:3), i.e., make him the object of his active care once more, is used to express the employment of the hand upon a person either for judgment or salvation. It occurs in the latter sense in Isa 1:25 in relation to the grace which the Lord will manifest towards Jerusalem, by purifying it from its dross; and it is used here in the same sense, as Zec 13:8, Zec 13:9 clearly show, according to which the dispersion to be inflicted upon Israel will only be the cause of ruin to the greater portion of the nation, whereas it will bring salvation to the remnant.Zec 13:8 and Zec 13:9 add the real explanation of the bringing back of the hand over the small ones. צערים (lit., a participle of צער, which only occurs here) is synonymous with צעיר or צעור (Jer 14:3; Jer 48:4, chethib), the small ones in a figurative sense, the miserable ones, those who are called עניּי הצּאן in Zec 11:7. It naturally follows from this, that the צערים are not identical with the whole flock, but simply form a small portion of it, viz., “the poor and righteous in the nation, who suffer injustice” (Hitzig). “The assertion that the flock is to be scattered, but that God will bring back His hand to the small ones, evidently implies that the small ones are included as one portion of the entire flock, for which God will prepare a different fate from that of the larger whole which is about to be dispersed” (Kliefoth).

On the fulfilment of this verse, we read in Mat 26:31-32, and Mar 14:27, that the bringing back of the hand of the Lord over the small ones was realized first of all in the case of the apostles. After the institution of the Lord’s Supper, Christ told His disciples that that same night they would all be offended because of Him; for it was written, “I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee.” The quotation is made freely from the original text, the address to the sword being resolved into its actual meaning, “I will smite.” The offending of the disciples took place when Jesus was taken prisoner, and they all fled. This flight was a prelude to the dispersion of the flock at the death of the shepherd. But the Lord soon brought back His hand over the disciples. The promise, “But after my resurrection I will go before you into Galilee,” is a practical exposition of the bringing back of the hand over the small ones, which shows that the expression is to be understood here in a good sense, and that it began to be fulfilled in the whole of the nation of Israel, to which we shall afterwards return. This more general sense of the words is placed beyond the reach of doubt by Zec 13:8 and Zec 13:9; for Zec 13:8 depicts the misery which the dispersion of the flock brings upon Israel, and Zec 13:9 shows how the bringing back of the hand upon the small ones will be realized in the remnant of the nation. The dispersion of the flock will deliver two-thirds of the nation in the whole land to death, so that only one-third will remain alive. כּל־הארץ is not the whole earth, but the whole of the holy land, as in Zec 14:9-10; and הארץ, in Zec 12:12, the land in which the flock, fed by the shepherds of the Lord, i.e., the nation of Israel, dwells. פּי־שׁנים is taken from Deu 21:17, as in 2Ki 2:9; it is used there for the double portion inherited by the first-born. That it is used here to signify two-thirds, is evident from the remaining השּׁלישׁית. “The whole of the Jewish nation,” says Hengstenberg, “is introduced here, as an inheritance left by the shepherd who has been put to death, which inheritance is divided into three parts, death claiming the privileges of the first-born, and so receiving two portions, and life one, - a division similar to that which David made in the case of the Moabites (2Sa 8:2).” יגועוּ is added to יכּרתוּ, to define יכּרת more precisely, as signifying not merely a cutting off from the land by transportation (cf. Zec 14:2), but a cutting off from life (Koehler). גּוע, exspirare, is applied both to natural and violent death (for the latter meaning, compare Gen 7:21; Jos 22:20). The remaining third is also to be refined through severe afflictions, to purify it from everything of a sinful nature, and make it into a truly holy nation of God. For the figure of melting and refining, compare Isa 1:25; Isa 48:10; Jer 9:6; Mal 3:3; Psa 66:10. For the expression in Zec 13:9, compare Isa 65:24; and for the thought of the whole verse, Zec 8:8, Hos 2:23, Jer 24:7; Jer 30:22. The cutting off of the two-thirds of Israel commenced in the Jewish war under Vespasian and Titus, and in the war for the suppression of the rebellion led by the pseudo-Messiah Bar Cochba. It is not to be restricted to these events, however, but was continued in the persecutions of the Jews with fire and sword in the following centuries. The refinement of the remaining third cannot be taken as referring to the sufferings of the Jewish nation during the whole period of its present dispersion, as C. B. Michaelis supposes, nor generally to the tribulations which are necessary in order to enter into the kingdom of God, to the seven conflicts which the true Israel existing in the Christian church has to sustain, first with the two-thirds, and then and more especially with the heathen (Zec 12:1-9, Zec 12:14). For whilst Hengstenberg very properly objects to the view of Michaelis, on the ground that in that case the unbelieving portion of Judaism would be regarded as the legitimate and sole continuation of Israel; it may also be argued, in opposition to the exclusive reference in the third to the Christian church, that it is irreconcilable with the perpetuation of the Jews, and the unanimous entrance of all Israel into the kingdom of Christ, as taught by the Apostle Paul. Both views contain elements of truth, which must be combined, as we shall presently show.

All nations will be gathered together by the Lord against Jerusalem, and will take the city and plunder it, and lead away the half of its inhabitants into captivity (Zec 14:1, Zec 14:2). The Lord will then take charge of His people; He will appear upon the Mount of Olives, and by splitting this mountain, prepare a safe way for the rescue of those that remain, and come with all His saints (Zec 14:3-5) to complete His kingdom. From Jerusalem a stream of salvation and blessing will pour over the whole land (Zec 14:6-11); the enemies who have come against Jerusalem will be miraculously smitten, and destroy one another (Zec 14:12-15). The remnant of the nations, however, will turn to the Lord, and come yearly to Jerusalem, to keep the feast of Tabernacles (Zec 14:16-19); and Jerusalem will become thoroughly holy (Zec 14:20, Zec 14:21). From this brief description of the contents, it is perfectly obvious that our chapter contains simply a further expansion of the summary announcement of the judgment upon Israel, and its refinement (Zec 13:7-9). Zec 14:1, Zec 14:2 show how the flock is dispersed, and for the most part perishes; Zec 14:2-5, how the Lord brings back His hand over the small ones; vv. 6-21, how the rescued remnant of the nation is endowed with salvation, and the kingdom of God completed by the reception of the believers out of the heathen nations. There is no essential difference in the fact that the nation of Israel is the object of the prophecy in Zec 13:7-9, and Jerusalem in ch. 14. Jerusalem, as the capital of the kingdom, is the seat of Israel, the nation of God; what happens to it, happens to the people and kingdom of God.

Evangelical Predictions; The Destruction of False Prophets. (b. c. 500.)

1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. 2 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. 3 And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord : and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. 4 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive: 5 But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth. 6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.

Behold the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, the sin of the church; for therefore was the Son of God manifested, to take away our sin, 1 John iii. 5.

I. He takes away the guilt of sin by the blood of his cross (v. 1): In that day, in the gospel-day, there shall be a fountain opened, that is, provision made for the cleansing of all those from the pollutions of sin who truly repent and are sorry for them. In that day, when the Spirit of grace is poured out to set them a mourning for their sins, they shall not mourn as those who have no hope, but they shall have their sins pardoned, and the comfort of their pardon in their bosoms. Their consciences shall be purified and pacified by the blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin, 1 John i. 7. For Christ is exalted to give both repentance and remission of sins; and where he gives the one no doubt he gives the other. This fountain opened is the pierced side of Jesus Christ, spoken of just before (ch. xii. 10), for thence came there out blood and water, and both for cleansing. And those who look upon Christ pierced, and mourn for their sins that pierced him, and are therefore in bitterness for him, may look again upon Christ pierced and rejoice in him, because it pleased the Lord thus to smite this rock, that it might be to us a fountain of living waters. See here, 1. How we are polluted; we are all so; we have sinned, and sin is uncleanness; it defiles the mind and conscience, renders us odious to God and uneasy in ourselves, unfit to be employed in the service of God and admitted into communion with him, as those who were ceremonially unclean were shut out of the sanctuary. The house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem are under sin, which is uncleanness. The truth is, we are all as an unclean thing, and deserve to have our portion with the unclean. 2. How we may be purged. Behold, there is fountain opened for us to wash in, and there are streams flowing to us from that fountain, so that, if we be not made clean, it is our own fault. The blood of Christ, and God's pardoning mercy in that blood, revealed in the new covenant, are, (1.) A fountain; for there is in them an inexhaustible fulness. There is mercy enough in God, and merit enough in Christ, for the forgiving of the greatest sins and sinners, upon gospel-terms. Such were some of you, but you are washed, 1 Cor. vi. 11. Under the law there were a brazen laver and a brazen sea to wash in; those were but vessels, but we have a fountain to ourselves, overflowing, ever-flowing. (2.) A fountain opened; for, whoever will, may come and take the benefit of it; it is opened, not only to the house of David, but to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to the poor and mean as well as to the rich and great; or it is opened for all believers, who, as the spiritual seed of Christ, are of the house of David, and, as living members of the church, are inhabitants of Jerusalem. Through Christ all that believe are justified, are washed from their sins in his blood, that they may be made to our God kings and priests, Rev. i. 5, 6.

II. He takes away the dominion of sin by the power of his grace, even of beloved sins. This evermore accompanies the former; those that are washed in the fountain opened, as they are justified, so they are sanctified; the water came with the blood out of the pierced side of Christ. It is here promised that in that day, 1. Idolatry shall be quite abolished and the people of the Jews shall be effectually cured of their inclination to it (v. 2): I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land. The worship of the idols of their fathers shall be so perfectly rooted out that in one generation or two it shall be forgotten that ever there were such idols among them; they shall either not be named at all or not with any respect; they shall no more be remembered, as was promised, Hos. ii. 17. This was fulfilled in the rooted aversion which the Jews had, after the captivity, to idols and idolatry, and still retain to this day; it was fulfilled also in the ready conversion of many to the faith of Christ, by which they were taken off from making an idol of the ceremonial law, as the unbelieving Jews did; and it is still in the fulfilling when souls are brought off from the world and the flesh, those two great idols, that they may cleave to God only. 2. False prophecy shall also be brought to an end: I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit, the prophets that are under the influence of the unclean spirit, to pass out of the land. The devil is an unclean spirit; sin and uncleanness are from him; he has his prophets, that serve his interests and receive their instructions from him. Take away the unclean spirit, and the prophets would not deceive as they do; take away the false prophets that produce sham commissions, and the unclean spirit could not do the mischief he does. When God designs the silencing of the false prophets he banishes the unclean spirit out of the land, that wrought in them, and was a rival with him for the throne in the heart. The church of the Jews, when they were addicted to idols, did also dote much upon false prophets, who flattered them in their sins with promises of impunity and peace; but here it is promised, as a blessed effect of the promised reformation, that they should be very much set against false prophets, and zealous to clear the land of them; they were so after the captivity, till, through the blindness of their zeal against false prophets, they had put Christ to death under that character, and, after that, there arose many false Christs and false prophets, and deceived many, Matt. xxiv. 11. It is here foretold, (1.) That false prophets, instead of being indulged and favoured, should be brought to condign punishment even by their nearest relations, which would be as great an instance as any of flagrant zeal against those deceivers (v. 3): When any shall set up for a prophet, and shall speak lies in the name of the Lord, shall preach that which tends to draw people from God and to confirm them in sin, his own parents shall be the first and most forward to prosecute him for it, according to the law. Deut. xiii. 6-11, "If thy son entice thee secretly from God, thou shalt surely kill him. Show thy indignation against him, and prevent any further temptation from him." His father and his mother shall thrust him through when he prophesies. Note, We ought to conceive, and always to retain, a very great detestation and dread of every thing that would draw us out of the way of our duty into by-paths, as those who cannot bear that which is evil, Rev. ii. 2. And holy zeal for God and godliness will make us hate sin, and dread temptation, most in those whom naturally we love best, and who are nearest to us; there our danger is greatest, as Adam's from Eve, Job's from his wife; and there it will be the most praiseworthy to show our zeal, as Levi, who, in the cause of God, did not acknowledge his brethren, nor know his own children, Deut. xxxiii. 9. Thus we must hate and forsake our nearest relations when they come in competition with our duty to God, Luke xiv. 26. Natural affections, even the strongest, must be over-ruled by gracious affections. (2.) That false prophets should be themselves convinced of their sin and folly, and let fall their pretensions (v. 4): "The prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision; they shall not repeat it, or insist upon it, but desire that it may be forgotten and no more said of it, being ready themselves to own it was a sham, because God has by his grace awakened their consciences and shown them their error, or because the event disproves their predictions, and gives them the lie, or because their prophecies do not meet with such a favourable reception as they used to meet with, but are generally despised and distasted; they perceive the people ashamed of them, which makes them begin to be ashamed of themselves. And therefore they shall no longer wear a rough garment, or garment of hair, as the true prophets used to do, in imitation of Elijah, and in token of their being mortified to the pleasures and delights of sense." The pretenders had appeared in the habit of true prophets; but, their folly being now made manifest, they shall lay it aside, no more to deceive and impose upon unthinking unwary people by it. A modest dress is a very good thing, if it be the genuine indication of a humble heart, and is to instruct; but it is a bad thing if it be the hypocritical disguise of a proud ambitious heart, and is to deceive. Let men be really as good as they seem to be, but not seem to be better than really they are. This pretender, as a true penitent, [1.] Shall undeceive those whom he had imposed upon: He shall say, "I am no prophet, as I have pretended to be, was never designed nor set apart to the office, never educated nor brought up for it, never conversant among the sons of the prophets. I am a husbandman, and was bred to that business; I was never taught of God to prophesy, but taught of man to keep cattle" Amos was originally such a one too, and yet was afterwards called to be a prophet, Amos vii. 14, 15. But this deceiver never had any such call. Note, Those who sorrow after a godly sort for their having deceived others will be forward to confess their sin, and will be so just as to rectify the mistakes which they have been the cause of. Thus those who had used curious arts, when they were converted showed their deeds, and by what fallacies they had cheated the people, Acts xix. 18. [2.] He shall return to his own proper employment, which is the fittest for him: I will be a husbandman (so it may be read); "I will apply myself to my calling again, and meddle no more with things that belong not to me; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth, and cattle I will again keep, and never set up for a preacher any more." Note, When we are convinced that we have gone out of the way of our duty we must evince the truth of our repentance by returning to it again, though it be the severest mortification to us. [3.] He shall acknowledge those to be his friends who by a severe discipline were instrumental to bring him to a sight of his error, v. 6. When he who with the greatest assurance had asserted himself so lately to be a prophet suddenly drops his claims, and says, I am no prophet, every body will be surprised at it, and some will ask, "What are these wounds, or marks of stripes, in thy hands? how camest thou by them? Hast thou not been examined by scourging? And is not that it that has brought thee to thyself?" (Vexatio dat intellectum—Vexation sharpens the intellect.) "Hast thou not been beaten into this acknowledgment? Was it not the rod and reproof that gave thee this wisdom?" And he shall own, "Yes, it was; these are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends, who bound me, and used me hardly and severely, as a distracted man, and so brought me to my senses." By this it appears that those parents of the false prophet that thrust him through (v. 3) did not do it till they had first tried to reclaim him by correction, and he would not be reclaimed; for so was the law concerning a disobedient son—his parents must first have chastened him in vain before they were allowed to bring him forth to be stoned, Deut. xxi. 18, 19. But here is another who was reduced by stripes, and so prevented the capital punishment; and he had the sense and honesty to own that they were his friends, his real friends, who thus wounded him, that they might reclaim him; for faithful are the wounds of a friend, Prov. xxvii. 6. Some good interpreters, observing how soon this comes after the mention of Christ's being pierced, think that these are the words of that great prophet, not of the false prophet spoken of before. Christ was wounded in his hands, when they were nailed to the cross, and, after his resurrection, he had the marks of these wounds; and here he tells how he came by them; he received them as a false prophet, for the chief priests called him a deceiver, and upon that account would have him crucified; but he received them in the house of his friends—the Jews, who should have been his friends; for he came to his own, and, though they were his bitter enemies, yet he was pleased to call them his friends, as he did Judas (Friend, wherefore hast thou come?) because they forwarded his sufferings for him; as he called Peter Satan—an adversary, because he dissuaded him from them.

Sufferings of Christ Predicted. (b. c. 500.)

7 Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. 8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord , two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.

Here is a prophecy,

I. Of the sufferings of Christ, of him who was to be pierced, and was to be the fountain opened. Awake, O sword! against my Shepherd, v. 7. These are the words of God the Father, giving order and commission to the sword of his justice to awake against his Son, when he had voluntarily made his soul an offering for sin; for it pleased the Lord to bruise him and put him to grief; and he was stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, Isa. liii. 4, 10. Observe, 1. How he calls him. "As God, he is my fellow;" for he thought it no robbery to be equal with God. He and the Father are one. He was from eternity by him, as one brought up with him, and, in the work of man's redemption, he was his elect, in whom his soul delighted, and the counsel of peace was between them both. "As Mediator, he is my Shepherd, that great and good Shepherd that undertook to feed the flock," ch. xi. 7. He is the Shepherd that was to lay down his life for the sheep. 2. How he uses him: Awake, O sword! against him. If he will be a sacrifice, he must be slain, for without the shedding of blood, the life-blood, there was no remission. Men thrust him through as the good Shepherd (compare v. 3), that he might purchase the flock of God with his own blood, Acts xx. 28. It is not a charge given to a rod to correct him, but to a sword to slay him; for Messiah the prince must be cut off, but not for himself, Dan. ix. 26. It is not the sword of war that receives this charge, that he may die in the bed of honour, but the sword of justice, that he may die as a criminal, upon an ignominious tree. This sword must awake against him; he having no sin of his own to answer for, the sword of justice had nothing to say to him of itself, till, by particular order from the Judge of all, it was warranted to brandish itself against him. He was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, in the decree and counsel of God; but the sword designed against him had long slumbered, till now at length it is called upon to awake, not, "Awake, and smite him; strike home; not with a drowsy blow, but an awakened one;" for God spared not his own Son.

II. Of the dispersion of the disciples thereupon: Smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered. This our Lord Jesus himself declares to have been fulfilled when all his disciples were offended because of him in the night wherein he was betrayed, Matt. xxvi. 31; Mark xiv. 27. They all forsook him and fled. The smiting of the Shepherd is the scattering of the sheep. They were scattered every one to his own, and left him alone, John xvi. 32. Herein they were like timorous sheep; yet the Shepherd thus provided for their safety, for he said, If you seek me, let these go their way. Some make another application of this; Christ was the Shepherd of the Jewish nation; he was smitten; they themselves smote him, and therefore they were justly scattered abroad, and dispersed among the nations, and remain so at this day. These words, I will turn my hand upon the little ones, may be understood either as a threatening (as Christ suffered, so shall his disciples, they shall drink of the cup that he drank of and be baptized with the baptism that he was baptized with) or as a promise that God would gather Christ's scattered disciples together again, and he should give them the meeting in Galilee. Though the little ones among Christ's soldiers may be dispersed, they shall rally again; the lambs of his flock, though frightened by the beasts of prey, shall recover themselves, shall be gathered in his arms and laid in his bosom. Sometimes, when the sheep are scattered and lost in the wilderness, yet the little ones, which, it was feared, would be a prey (Num. xiv. 31), are brought in, are brought home, and God turns his hand upon them.

III. Of the rejection and ruin of the unbelieving Jews (v. 8); and this word has, and shall have, its accomplishment, in the destruction of the corrupt and hypocritical part of the church. It shall come to pass that in all the land of Israel two parts shall be cut off and die. The Roman army laid the country waste, and slew at least two-thirds of the Jews. Some understand by the cutting off, and dying, or two parts in all the earth, the abolishing of heathenism and Judaism, that Christianity, the third part, might be left to reign alone. The Jewish worship was quite taken away by the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. And, some time after, Pagan idolatry was in a manner extirpated, when the empire became Christian.

IV. Of the reformation and preservation of the chosen remnant, those of them that believed, and the Christian church in general (v. 9): The third part shall be left. When Jerusalem and Judea were destroyed, all the Christians in that country, having among them the warning Christ gave them to flee to the mountains, shifted for their own safety, and were sheltered in a city called Pella, on the other side Jordan. We have here first the trials and then the triumphs of the Christian church, and of all the faithful members of it. 1. Their trials: I will bring that third part through the fire of affliction. and will refine and try them as silver and gold are refined and tried. This was fulfilled in the persecutions of the primitive church, the fiery trial which tried the people of God then, 1 Pet. iv. 12. Those whom God sets apart for himself must pass through a probation and purification in this world; they must be tried that their faith may be found to praise and honour (1 Pet. i. 6, 7), as Abraham's faith was when it was tried by the command given him to offer up Isaac, Now know I that thou fearest me. They must be tried, that both those that are perfect and those that are not may be made manifest. They must be refined from their dross; their corruption must be purged out; they must be brightened and bettered. 2. Their triumphs. (1.) Their communion with God is their triumph: They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. They write to God by prayer, and receive from him answers of peace, and thus keep up a comfortable communion with him. This honour have all his saints. (2.) Their covenant with God is their triumph: "I will say, It is my people, whom I have chosen and loved, and will own; and they shall say, the Lord is my God, and a God all-sufficient to me; and in me they shall boast every day and all the day long. This God is our God for ever and ever."

CHAP. XIII.

Verſe 1. IN that day there ſhall be a fountain opened] Nunc fructum poenitentiae adiungit, ſath Calvin here. This is the fruit of their repentance. No ſooner mourn they over Chriſt, but they are received to mercy. I ſaid, I will confeſſe my tranſgreſſions unto the Lord: and (or ever I can do it) thou forgaveſt the iniquity of my ſin; that is, both the ſting and ſtain of it, the guilt and the filth,Pſal. 32.5. the crime and the curſe. Repent and your ſins ſhall be blotted out, ſaith Peter to thoſe nefarious Kill-Chriſts Act. 3.9. God will croſſe the black lines of your ſins, with the red lines of his ſons blood, 1 Ioh. 1.6. A fountain ſhall be opened: not a ciſtern, but a ſpring: a pool better then that of Siloam which is by interpretation Sent Iohn 9.7. and ſo a type of Chriſt, who loved us, and waſhed us from our ſins with his own blood, and hath made us kings and prieſts unto God, and his father: to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen. To ſeal up this matchleſſe mercy to us,Rev. 1.5.6. he ſent firſt by the hand of his forerunner, and baptized thoſe that repented for the remiſſion of ſins, Mat. 3.2. Act. 2.38. And afterwards he ſet wide open this bleſſed fountain, this laver of regeneration, and renewing of the holy Ghoſt Tit. 3.5. Saying by his Miniſters to every beleever, as once to Paul, Ariſe, and be baptized, and waſh away thy ſins calling on the name of the Lord. Act. 22.16. whereunto ſalvation is promiſed Rom. 10.13. Ioel 2.22. Baptiſme alſo is ſaid to ſave us 1 Pet. 3.21. ſc. ſacramentally, for it ſealeth up ſalvation to the beleever Mar. 16.16. and is of perpetual and permanent uſe to him, for that purpoſe, his whole life thorowout, ut ſcaturigo ſemper ebulliens, as a fountain bubbling up to eternal life. Here then the Sacrament of Baptiſme is prophecied of and promiſed. And hence, haply the Baptiſme of Iohn is ſaid to have been from heaven Mat. 21.25. All the Levitical purifications pointed to this Kings-Bath of Chriſts meritorious blood, this ever-flowing & overflowing fountain: for the grace of our Lord Jeſus hath abounded to flowing over (as S. Pauls expreſſion is) with faith and love which is in Chriſt Jeſus. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Neither can it ever be dried up, as was the river Cherith, the brooks of Tema &c. but is an inexhauſted fountain, a freſh-running ſpring, for all that have but a minde to make toward it. Tam recens mihi nunc Chriſtus eſt, ac ſi hac horâ fudiſſet ſanguinem, ſaith Luther; Chriſt is ſtill as freſh and ſoveraign to me, as if this very hour he had ſhed his blood. He was the Lamb ſlain from the beginning of the world; and ſhall be ſo to the end thereof. Cruci haeremus, ſanguinem ſugimus, & intra ipſa Redemptoris noſtri vulnera figimus linguam, ſaith Cyprian of the Lords Supper; i. e. We cleave to the croſſe at this holy ordinance: we ſuck Chriſt's blood, we thruſt our tongues into the very wounds of our Redeemer, and are hereby purged from all pollutions of fleſh and ſpirit.

to the houſe of David, and to the inhabitants of Ieruſalem] i. e. To all ſorts and ſexes of penitents, be they noble or ignoble, ſtrong Chriſtians or weak (ſee Zach. 12.8.) none ſhall be ſecluded from this fountain, thus opened or expoſed to all, not ſealed and ſhut up, as that Cant. 4.12. God is no reſpecter of perſons, but in every nation he that feareth him,Act. 10.34, 35. and worketh righteouſneſſe is accepted of him.

for ſin and for uncleanneſſe] i. e For all ſorts of ſinnes, though they be ſuch, as in their deſert do ſeparate us from communion with God, and company of men. (See Levit. 12. and 15.) render us worthy to be excommunicated, proſcribed, and baniſhed out of the world, as piſts and botches of humane ſociety by a common conſent of nations: as the obſtinate Iews are at this day for their inexpiable guilt in crucifying Chriſt. The vulgar here hath it, Ad ablutionem peccatoris & menſtru[illegible: 1 letter] [illegible: 2 letters], For waſhing clean the ſinner, and the menſtruous woman: alluding (as doth alſo the Chaldee) to the waters of expiation made of the aſhes of a red cow Num. 19.11, 17. See the Note there: and importing the purging both of he ſinners and ſhe-ſinners: Or, as ſome will have it, both of Actual and Original ſin. Lo this is the vertue of Chriſts merit and ſpirit, 1 Cor. 6.10, 11. far beyond that of Abanah & Pharphar, of Jordan and Siloam, which yet are ſaid not onely to waſh and ſcour, but alſo to heal and cure. The Saracenes naturally ſtink like goats: but by waſhing themſelves and their children in the pool of Siloam,Saligniacus. Adrichom. Plin. lib. 31. cap 11. Iſidor. lib. 13. Orig c. 13. Heyl Geog. 285. they become ſweeter. The Turks make uſe of it to ſharpen their eye-ſight. At Cyzicum there is a well called Cupids well, the water whereof is ſaid to quench the fire of luſt. This is better yet then thoſe Bathes of Rome: concerning which Seneca no leſſe wittily then truly complained, Poſtquam munda balnea inventa ſunt, ſpurciores ſunt qui lavant: Or thoſe wanton Bathes of upper-Badin in Helvetia, much frequented, yet not ſo much for health, as filthy pleaſure. They that are in Chriſt, have crucified the fleſh with the affections and luſts Gal. 5.24. they are not onely waſhed from their wickedneſſe Jer. 4.14 but bereft of their ſwiniſh natures, nè tanquam ſus ad volutabrum &c, 2 Pet. 2.22.

Verſe 2.gnotſabim terriculorum ſcar-crows I will cut off the names of the idols] Heb. of the fray-bugges (as they are likewiſe called 1 Sam. 31.9. 1 Chro. 10.9. Pſal. 115.4. in contempt, as Priapus in Horace — furum qnium que Maxime formido—) Or grievous idols, as Pſal. 16.4. becauſe they tormented the mindes of the ſuperſtitious, and put them to great pains to no purpoſe; as is to be ſeen in Popiſh Pilgrims, who though uſed hardly, and loſe much of their eſtates, and other comforts, yet ſatisfie themſelves in this, I have that I came for, viz. the ſight of a dumb idol, as Calvin noteth on that place Seek ye my face. Now of theſe mawmets and monuments of idolatry, theſe Balaams blocks, the Lord here promiſeth to rid the land, as he did under the Maccabees. And as in the Primitive Church he did by the Chriſtian Emperors, ſtiled therefore by the ſuperſtitious Iconomachi, and Iconaclaſtae: and of late by the renowned Reformers, as at Geneva, Bern, Baſile (where they were burnt all together on an Aſh-wedneſday of Gods own making) and here in England by the command of King Edward the ſixth: who the ſelf ſame day obtained a ſignal victory at Muſcleborough-field.

and they ſhall no more be remembred] Unleſſe it be with ſhame and deteſtation, as Ezech. 16.61. Pſal. 16.4. Hoſ. 14.8. Ephraim ſhall ſay, what have I to do any more with idols? He ſhall pollute the idols which he once perfumed, and ſay unto them, Get you hence, Iſay 30.22. I was an obſtinate Papiſt (ſaith Latimer of himſelf) as any was in England, and a groſſe Idolater &c. But after that he came to a ſight of his errour, he ſo far forth abhorred idols, that being brought forth after he was condemned to die to ſee a proceſſion,Act. and Mon. fol. 1230. he ran as faſt as his old bones would carry him to one Spenſers ſhop neer Karfax in Oxford, and would not once look toward it.

and alſo I will cauſe the Prophets] So they will needs be called and counted: when as they are no better then unclean ſpirits (ſee the Geneva-Note here) or at leaſt are acted and ſet on work by that unclean ſpirit the Devil, (See Mat. 12.43. Mar. 1.26. Iohn 8.44. Rev. 16.13. with the Notes) indeed they are falſe Prophets Mat 7.15. falſe teachers, who privily bring in damnable hereſies 2 Pet. 2.1. vanae orationis, cui nulla veritatis vel virtutis ratio ſubeſt, ſunt artifices ſtultè loquaces & garruli, ſaith Montanus, they are loud & lewd liers, inſpired by that unclean ſpirit the father of lies,Junius in loc. ut impurati impurent alios & ſeducant ſeducti, that being themſelves defiled and ſeduced, they may defile and ſeduce others. For by corrupt teachers Satan catcheth men: as a cunning fiſher by one fiſh catcheth another, that he may feed upon both.

and the unclean ſpirit to paſſe out of the land] This connexion is worthy to be noted, ſaith reverend Calvin here: becauſe it ſhews us the ſource of all errours, viz. the letting looſe the reins to perverſe teachers. I confeſſe, ſaith He, we are apt enough of our ſelves to run after falſities, ſuch is the corruption of our natures. Sed interea ubi graſſatur licentia quidvis docendi, neceſſe eſt corrumpi totam pietatem, & ſic miſceri omnia ut nihil differat lux à tenebris, &c. But where in matters of Religion, every man may think that he liſts, and utter what he thinks, and defend what he utters, and publiſh what he defends, and gather diſciples to what he publiſheth, this libertas prophetandi, this liberty, or licentiouſneſſe rather of prophecying (alaſſe poor England!) muſt needs bane the Church, and bring in confuſion. God therefore here gives us to know, that a Church canot ſtand, unleſſe falſe teachers be forbidden to turn the truth into a lie, and to prate at their pleaſure againſt the word of God: and this, ſaith He, is diligently to be noted. Videmus enim ut hodiè nebulones quidam, &c. For we ſee how at this day, certain vile perſons take it up for a principle, that the Church is not free, unleſſe every man may be ſuffered to preach, or broach what he pleaſeth: and that it is greateſt cruelty to puniſh an heretike, and not to give him leave to blaſpheme the truth. But the Prophet here ſheweth, that the Church of God cannot be kept in pure ſtate, nor ſtand intire and ſafe, unleſſe the raſhneſſe and impudency of ſuch be reſtrained, as dare pervert ſound and ſincere doctrine. Thus He.

Verſe 3. And it ſhall come to paſſe that when any ſhall yet propheſie] Here the Prophet ſheweth how God will effect the former promiſe. He will firſt give unto his people a ſpirit of judgement, and then a ſpirit of burning, as Eſay 4.4. ſo that they ſhall be able to diſcerne both good and evil,Heb. 5.14. 2 Pet. 2.17 and not be led away with the errour of the wicked, to fall from their own ſtedfaſtneſſe. they ſhall alſo be adeo percici zelo, ſo carried on by a zeal of Gods glory, and ſo bleſſedly blown up, as I may ſo ſay, in his cauſe, that they ſhall fall upon their deareſt relations in this caſe, and labour to bring their own children to condigne puniſhment, according to the Law of God in that behalf provided, Deut. 13.8, 9. Neither let any object here,Ob. Sol. that this is Old Teſtament: we find no ſuch thing in the Goſpel. For the Prophet here ſpeaketh of the times of the Goſpel (chap. 12.10.) and of the kingdom of Chriſt. Sequitur ergo, ſaith Mr. Calvin here well and worthily, non modò legem illam fuiſſe Judaeis poſitam, quemadmedum nugantur fanatici hemines, qui vellent hodie ſibi permitti orbis turbandi licentiam: ſed extenditur ad nos etiam eadem lex. It followeth therefore, that that Law Deut. 13.9. was not made for the Jewes onely (as ſome brain-ſick people conceit it, who would fain get leave to trouble the world with their fopperies) but the ſame law extendeth it ſelf even to us. For if at this day theeves, and witches, and adulterers, &c. are held worthy of puniſhment: how much more are heretikes, ſeducers, blaſphemers, who poiſon mens ſouls, rob God of his glory, confound the whole order of the Church, &c. See Rom 13.4. 1 Pet. 2.13, 14. and hold to that old Rule, Non diſtinguendum, ubi ſcriptura non diſtinguit, Men muſt not diſtinguiſh, where the ſcripture doth not.

that his father] In whoſe heart there is naturally an Ocean of love to his own child, as we ſee in David toward Abſalom, in old Andronicus the Greek Emperour, in our William the Conquerour, and Maud his wife toward their unnaturall ſonne Robert Curtuoiſe, whom ſhe maintained out of her own coffers, in his quarrell for Normandy: which the king her husband knew,Speed. 452. and took as a cauſe rather of diſpleaſure then of hatred; as proceeding from motherly indulgence for advancing their ſonne.

that begat him] This is twice here repeated for honours ſake to theſe zelots; who forgat all naturall and carnall reſpects for the vindication of Gods glory, and his ſincere ſervice. See Mat. 10.37. with the Note there.

thou ſhalt not live] ſc. to do more miſchief, and to draw more ſouls to the devil, Non Catilinae te genui ſed patriae, ſaid Aulus Fulvius, when he ſlew his, own ſonne taken in Catalines conſpiracie: I begat thee not for Catiline, but for thy countrey. More to be commended a great deal then Philip that bloody king of Spain, who ſaid openly, that he had rather have no ſubjects, then Lutheran ſubjects; that he would not leave a Lutheran in his dominions; that if he thought his ſhirt ſmelt of that hereſie, he would tear it from his own back: And out of a blind zeal he ſuffered his eldeſt ſonne Charles to be murthered by the cruel Inquiſition, becauſe he ſeemed to favour our profeſſion. For which noble exploit, that mouth of blaſphemy,Hieron. Catina. the Pope, gave him this commendation, Non pepercit filio ſuo, ſed dedit pro nobis. He ſpared not his own ſonne but gave hm up for us. O horrible.

for thou ſpeakeſt lies in the name of the Lord] Lies in hypocriſie, doctrines of devils,1 Tim. 4.12 Rev. 2.24 depths of Satan, that artificer of lies, and father of them, Joh. 8.44. which yet he would fain father, and faſten upon the God of Amen, or of truth, as he is called, Pſal. 31.5. like as varlets beget baſtards, and lay them at honeſt mens doors to be kept; Thou ſpeakeſt lies in the name of the Lord. This is to ſubſtitute the devil in the place of God, or to transform God, ſo as that he ſhould nothing differ from the devil. No wonder therefore, though he that break the leaſt commandement, and teach men ſo,Mat. 5.19 be called leaſt in the kingdom of heaven: eſpecially if he pretend Gods authority for it, as the falſe Prophets of old, and the Swenckfeldien heretikes alate entitle themſelves, The Confeſſours of the glory of Chriſt. For this is the higheſt indignity, or rather contumely, that can be put upon God: It is a more deteſtable evil, then to kill an innocent man; yea to commit parricide, or treaſon. Imo quaecunque poterunt numerare ſcelera non pervenient od hoc crimen, ſaith Calvin upon the text. Let Sectaries and Seducers look to it, thoſe harmleſſe, hornleſſe creatures, as they would be accounted.

ſhall thruſt him thorough when he propheſieth] As Phineas did that ſtinking couple, in the flagrancie of their luſt, Num. 25.8. and as Levi, in like caſe, conſecrated himſelf to the Lord, even every man upon his ſonne, and upon his brother, Exod. 32.29. He ſaid unto his father and mother (when Gods glory required it) I have not ſeen him, neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor know his own children, Deut. 33.9. All naturall relations and ſelf-reſpects ſhould be drown'd in the glory of God, and the good of our own and other mens ſouls. They ſhould be even ſwallowed up thereby, as the fuell is by the fire, and as the ſorcerers ſerpents were by Moſes ſerpent, or the fat kine by the lean.

Verſe 4. The Prophets ſhall be aſhamed every one of his viſion] Of their Midianitiſh dreams, which they had firſt dreamed, and then told it for goſpel to their fond neighbours. They ſhall be ſo clearly convinced, that they ſhall bluſh and bleed to think how they have been beſotted, how many ſouls they have murdered, how oft they have even ſtradled over hell-mouth, and yet have been preſerved, 2 Theſſ. 2.10, 12. See the Note. This makes them ſhame, and ſhent themſelves in the preſence of God and his people,Ezra 9.6 ſaying, O my God, I am aſhamed, and bluſh to lift up my face to thee my God: for our imquities are increaſed over our head, and our guilt is grown up to the heavens. This was fulfilled in thoſe Scribes and Phariſees that afterwards became beleevers, and ſaid with Saint Paul, Beware of the conciſion. For we are the circumciſion, Philip. 3.2, 3 which worſhip God in the ſpirit, and rejoyce in Chriſt Jeſus, and have no conſidence in the ſleſh. Luther revolted from the Popiſh religion which he had held and maintained, taking it for an honour to be called Apoſtate by them; that is, as he interpreted it, One that had fallen off from the devil. Bugenhagius when he firſt read Luthers book de captivitate Babylonica, pronounced it to be the moſt peſtilent piece that ever was publiſhed.Qui fidem diabolo datam uon ſervavit. But afterwards, when he had better conſidered, he grew aſhamed of that raſh cenſure, and proteſted that Luther onely was in the right; and all that held not the ſame that he did, were utterly deceived. Latimer was of the like mind after that he had once heard Bilneys confeſſion. Vergerius after he had read Luthers books with purpoſe to confute them. Denckius, and Hetſerus, two great Anabaptiſts in Germany, retracted their former falſe doctrines, and repented of their licentious and abominable practiſes.S[illegible: 1 letter]ultet. Annal. the former of them, being converted by Occolampadius, grew aſhamed of his pretended viſions, and died piouſly at Baſile. The later was beheaded at Conſtance for his multiplied adulteries:Ibid. which firſt he ſought to defend by Scripture, but afterwards died very penitently, confeſting his former filthineſſes, giving glory to God, and taking ſhame to himſelf. Theſe two were learned men, well skilled in the Hebrew: and had joyned their forces, in tranſlating the Prophets into the Dutch tongue. But, oh how few ſuch as theſe, and of that ſort of people ſhall a man meet with now-adayes? Copp indeed that Arch-Ranter, Venereus ille furcifer, & Cleri dehoneſtamentum, is ſaid to have newly ſet forth his Recantation, which I have not yet ſeen, and therefore cannot tell what to ſay to it. Onely I wiſh he deale not as Bernard Rotman that firſt Anabaptiſt, and Iſlebius Agricola that firſt Antinomian did in Germany: who both of them having condemned their own errours, and recanted them in a publike Auditory, printing their revocation:Sleidan. Horndorf. yet afterwards they relapſed into the ſame errours, and ſtoutly ſtood to them, when Luther was dead, and more Liberty was afforded. So hard a thing it is to get poiſon out, when once ſwallowed down; and having once ſaid yea to the devill, though but in a little, to ſay him nay again, when a man pleaſeth: ſuch a man eſpecially quem puduit non fuiſſe impudentem, Auguſtin. 2 Theſ. 2.12. who hath gloried in his ſhame, and taken pleaſure in his unrighteouſneſſe: qui noluit ſolita peccare, as Seneca ſaith of ſome in his time, that is, none of the ordinary ſort of ſinners, but hath ſought to out-ſin others, as unhappy boyes ſtrive who ſhall goe furtheſt in the dirt.

I will not ſay but ſuch, by the almighty power of God, may be reclaimed, and made to ſee that there is no fruit to be had of thoſe errours and enormities whereof they are now aſhamed,Rom. 6.21, 22 ſith the end of thoſe things (in the deſert of them) is death. But now being made free from ſin, and become ſervants to God, they will have very great cauſe to be thankfull to God for the cure: ſith Jealouſy, Frenſy, and Hereſy, are held hardly curable, the leproſy in the head concludes a man utterly uncleane, and excludes him the camp: Hereſy is by the Apoſtle compared to a precipice vortex or whirle-poole, that firſt turns a man round, and then ſucks him in: And by others to the Syrens bankes covered with dead mens bones, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Heb. 12.9. to Goodwins ſands that ſwallow up all ſhips that come neare them, or to the Harlots houſe whence few or none return alive Pro. 7.26, 27.

Verſe 5. But he ſhall ſay, I am no Prophet] [non-Latin text not transcribed] I am no Monk, no Clerk, I am not book-learned was the ignorant mans, plea in Chryſoſtomes time, and ſo it is ſtill to this day; though it ſerves not his turne. But here the like ſpeech is taken up for a better purpoſe. Hoc et enim principium eſt reſipiſcentiae, ſaith Calvin here. Here begins their repentance, viz. in a free acknowledgement of their ignorance and utter unfi[illegible: 1 letter]neſſe for the office they had uſurped.Si ventribene, ſi lateri. Horat.

I am no prophet] (as for ſelf reſpects that my belly might be filled, and my back fitted, I ſinfully took upon me to be one) but I am an husbandman: and can better hold the plow then handle a text, feed and follow a flock of ſheep, then feed the flock of God (that have golden fleeces, precious ſoules) taking the overſight thereof, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. 1 Pet. 5.2.

for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth] q.d. Shephardy and husbandry I have been ever trained up to, and can better therefore skill of then of Preaching, which is certainly Ars artium & ſcientia ſcientiarum, the Art of Arts, the ſcience of ſciences as One ſaid. Whereunto Melancthon. addeth that it is the miſery of miſeries. And of the ſame minde was his Colleague Luther, when he ſaid, An houſholders pains is great, a Magiſtrates greater, but a Miniſters greateſt of all: and afterward added, that if it were lawfull for him to leave his calling, he could with more eaſe and pleaſure dig for his living, or do any other hard labour, then undergo a Paſtorall charge. The myſtery thereof is not an idle-mans occupation, an eaſie trade, as ſome fondly conceit. The ſweat of the brow is nothing to that of the brain: beſides dangers on every hand for the works ſake, and armies of cares that give neither reſt nor reſpit, [non-Latin text not transcribed] 2 Cor. 11.25. agmen ſubinde irruens. Illyr. but are ready to overwhelme a man. This made Luther affirme that a Miniſter labours more in a day many times then a husbandman doth in a moneth. Let no man therefore, in taking up the miniſtery, dreame of a delicacy: Neither let ſlow-bellies either invade it, or hold it (as popiſh aſſes and ſome impudent Alaſtores now-adayes do) to pick a living out of it. It was an honeſt complaint of a Popiſh writer, we, ſaith He, handle the ſcripture tantum ut nos paſcat & veſtiat, only that it may feed us and cloath us. And Cardinall Cajetan not without cauſe cryes out,Com in Mat. 5. that thoſe amongſt them that ſhould have been the ſalt of the earth had loſt their ſavour: and were good for little elſe, but looking after the rites and revenues of the Church. Now for ſuch as theſe that ſerve not the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, but their own bellies, that like body-lice live upon other mens ſweat, or like rats and mice, do no more but devoure victuals and run ſqueaking up and down; good is the counſell of the Apoſtle, Let him that ſtole ſteale no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth, Eph. 4.28. let him earne it before he eate it 2 Theſſ. 3.10. This is hard to perſwade thoſe Abby-lubbers that live at eaſe in cloyſters, feeding on the fat and drinking of the ſweet: and thoſe Idoll-ſhepheards that feed themſelves and not the flock. O Monachi veſtri ſtomachi. Eraſmus truely told the Electour of Saxony, that Luther, Scultet: Anna. pag. 52. by medling with the Popes tripple crown, and with the Monkes [illegible: 2 letters]t paunches, had procured himſelf ſo great ill will amongſt them. One of them brake out in a ſermon into theſe angry words: If I had Luther here, I would teare out his throat with my teeth;Act. and Mon. and then make no doubt with the ſame bloody teeth to eat my maker at the Euchariſt. How much better were it for ſuch falſe prophets with quietneſſe to work and eat their own bread 2 Theſſ. 3.14. then to drink the blood of other men with their lives (as David ſpake in another caſe) yea with their ſoules which periſh by their inſufficiency and gaſtrimargy? Sed venter non habet aures. 1 Chr. 11.19. But the belly hath no eares. Eaſe flayeth the fooliſh. Non minus difficulter à deliciis abſtrahimur, quam canis ab uncto corio: Among other ſcaudals and lets of the Jews converſion this is not the leaſt, that they muſt quit their Goods to the Chriſtians?Spec. Europ. And the reaſon is, for that in baptiſme they renounce the devill, and all his works, part whereof (ſay the Papiſts amongſt whom they live) are the Jews goods; being gotten either of themſelves or of their Anceſtours by uſury. Now this is ſuch cold comfort to men of their mettall, that they have little mind to turn Chriſtian. And as little doubtleſſe have ſuch as with theſe in the text, have got their living by lying: and through covetouſneſſe with fained words made marchandiſe or prize of mens precious ſoules, to return to the hard labour of husbandry or any other lawful but painfull employment. Yet this was done both in Wicklifes dayes by many Fryars that fell to him, and embraced his opinions: and in the reformation by Luther; many Monkes and Nuns betook themſelves to honeſt trades; renouncing their Popiſh vowes and orders; yea Scultetus reporteth that at Auſhborough in Germany, by the powerfull preaching of Dr. John Speiſer Ann. 1523. ſome harlots forlooke the publike ſtews, and married to honeſt men, lived chaſtly, and were great pains-takers.

Verſe 6. And One ſhall ſay unto him, What are theſe wounds in thine hands?] Hierome here ſuppoſeth the falſe Prophet crucified for his falſe doctrine, and thereupon thus queſtioned. This is better then that of the Popiſh Interpreters, who will needs have it to be meant of Chriſt, [non-Latin text not transcribed] Mat. 27 63. that cozener to our very faces. Euſtath. and of his wounds on the croſſe, as a deceiver of the people. Lucian the Atheiſt villanouſly tearmeth him [non-Latin text not transcribed] the crucified Cozener. But the Text is clear, that the perſon here ſpoken to, and returning an anſer, is the falſe-Prophet, now a true Convert; as appeareth by his fruits which he beares quick and thick: being like Aarons rod ſoon changed from a withered ſtick, into a flouriſhing tree. Aſhamed he is at heart of his former falſities: and as in heart, ſo in habit he is altered: for he will no longer weare a rough garment (the garb of Prophets in thoſe dayes) to deceive, as the Cappuchines and other orders of Friars (or rather Lyars) at this day.2 King. 1.8. Iſa. 20.2. Mat. 3.4. He abrenounceth and abjureth quaſi conceptis verbis his former profeſſion of a Prophet or chief ſpeaker amongſt others.

I am no Prophet] But a plain husbandman, or a ſhepheard: that's all I can truly pretend to. And laſtly, in this verſe, having paſſed thorough the churches diſcipline as a ſeducer,Ioſh. 7.19. he ſhall doe, as Ioſhuah adviſed Achan, Give glory to the Lord my ſon, and confeſſe thy ſin: he ſhall approve of the Churches ſeverity uſed for his correction, though he ſhould go maimed or marked for it, to his dying day. In point of ſeducement (ſaith Mr. Cotton, deſcanting upon this text) if a man upon conviction ſhall ſee the wickedneſſe of his way, and humble his ſoule before God,The powring out of the 7. viuls.[illegible: 1 letter] third viall. 11. and give ſatisfaction to the Church and State, where he ſhall be convinced; on ſuch conviction and repentance we find liberty to pardon, but yet ſtigmatize him. Thus He. But what reaſon had the Convocation held at Oxford to ſet a brand of ignominy upon the cheeks of thoſe outlandiſh Divines that came to aſſiſt them, becauſe they pleaſed them not in the point of Prieſts marriage, which they defended? Or Biſhop Laud for his Stigmata Laudis on renouned Mr. Prinne, for his conſtancy to the truth? How much better his predeceſſours, Stephen Langton (who crucified that Pſeudo-Chriſt, who ſhewed marks of wounds in his hands, feet and ſides, Anno 1206.) And Odo Severus (who burnt King Edwins Concubine (whom he moſt doted on) in the forehead with a hot iron, and baniſhed her into Ireland, Anno 934, &c.)

Verſe 7. Awake O Sword againſt my Shepheard] A powerful expreſſion, containing a commiſſion given out to the ſword by way of Apoſtrophe.

Awake] or, up, as the Septuagint: up and about, thou that haſt long lain lockt up in the ſcabbard. Thus the ſword is of Gods ſending; it is bathed in heaven, Iſa. 34.5. Ezek. 14.17. Jer. 47.6, 7.] It is he that awakes it, and ſets it on work: he commands it, Am. 9.4. and ordereth it, Jer. 50.25. Let this patient us under it, as it did Job, Chap. 1.15, 17, 21. Among Philoſophies, the moſt noted ſect for patience was that of the Stoicks, who aſcribed all to deſtiny.

O ſword] Framea, which ſeems to come of [non-Latin text not transcribed] (the Septuagints word here) by putting [non-Latin text not transcribed] before [non-Latin text not transcribed], or Gl[illegible: 1 letter]die, which comes à claae from deſtruction: like as the Hebrew word Chereb, from deſolating and laying waſt. Hence the ſword is ſaid to contemn the rod, Ezek. 21.10, 13. that is all lighter and leſſer judgements, which are but its forerunners, and whereof it ſeemes to ſay, What does this ſilly rod doe here? Will not-men ſtoop? Let me come: Ile make them either bend or break; either yield, or Ile have their bloud.

againſt my ſhepheard] i.e. ſaith Calvin, againſt Magiſtrates and Miniſters, Gods underſhepheards and Aſſociates in feeding the flock, Labourers together with him, 1 Cor. 3.9. But becauſe Chriſt is the great ſhepheard, Heb. 13.20. and the good ſhepheard, John 10.11. Optimus maximus, that is, Gods fellow-mate, and yet, ſuſpending his glorie, became a man, to ſeek him out a flock in the wilderneſſe: and afterwards laid down his life for his ſheep, John 10.11. underwent the deadly dint of Gods devouring ſword put into the hands of thoſe men of Gods hand, Pſal. 17.13. who put him to many a little death all his life long, and at length to that curſed and cruel death of the croſſe: at which time the Shepheard was ſmitten and the ſheep ſcattered, as this Text is moſt fitly applyed, Matth. 26.31. therefore I underſtand it thiefly of Chriſt, the chief Shepheard and Biſhop of our ſoules,Eſay 53.5. who was wounded for our tranſgreſſions, and bruiſed for our iniquities, &c. And this not by chance, or malice of his enemies only (though they laid upon him without mercie, nailing him to the tree in the hands and feet, which in all men are the moſt ſenſible parts of the body (as being fulleſt of nerves and ſinews) but in him much more as being of the ſineſt temperature and moſt exquiſite ſenſe) but by the determinate counſel of God, as St. Peter ſhewes thoſe Kill-Chriſts, Acts 2.23. and according to the Scriptures, that went before of him, and foretold all his paſſion, even to the caſting of the dice upon his cloathes, Pſal. 22. and Iſai. 53 by the reading of which lively deſcription of Chriſts ſufferings in that Chapter,Hoc ego ingenuè confiteuor ait ille, caput illud ad fidem Chriſtime adduxiſſe. Johannes Iſaac a Jew confeſſeth that he was converted to the faith of Chriſt. He is called Gods Shepheard, becauſe God anointed and appointed him to that Office, putting a charge into his hands, John 10. and 17. that he might tend them and tender them, and at length return them up again to his heavenly Father, without loſſe of any one. He is alſo called the Man by an excellency, that matchleſſe man the chief of ten thouſand: as his mother is called hagnalma that famous Virgin, whom all generations are bound to call bleſſed. He is Man-God both in one: and is therefore alſo called Gods-fellow or Mate, as being Conſubſtantiall to the Father according to the Godhead, and very neer akinne to him according to the Man-hood, by reaſon of the hypoſtaticall union of both natures into one perſon, the Man Chriſt Jeſus.

Smite the ſhepheard] that that bleſſed Fountcin of his Bloud (mentioned verſe 1.) may be opened, and the flock of God waſhed, and healed, and ſatiated, as the people were, when the Rock was ſmitten and ſo ſet abroach: and as when God clave a hollow place in the jaw-bone of the Aſſe, ſo that there came water thereout, Sampſon drank and was revived: And as when the Alabaſter-box of ointment was broke, all the houſe was filled with a ſweet ſavour.Judg. 15.19.

And the ſheep ſhall be ſcattered] ſcattered and ſcattered; ſhifting for themſelves, and leaving Chriſt to the mercy of his enemies, who ſeized upon him, as ſo many Carrion Kites upon a ſilly Dove. Thomas (who once ſaid come, let us go dye with him) diſappeares and is loſt: Peter followes aloof off, but better he had heen farther off. John (if at leaſt it were he) flies away ſtark naked for haſt: Iudas comes nearer to him, but to betray him with a kiſſe. But is this thy kindneſſe to thy friend? Chriſt had indented with the enemie aforehand for their ſecuritie, Joh. 18.8. ſo that they needed not have retreated ſo diſorderly, and ſcattered as they did. But the fear of man bringeth a ſnare. Prov. 29.25. Howbeit mans badneſſe cannot break off the courſe of Chriſts goodneſſe. For though they thus unworthily forſake him, and leave him at the worſt (as they ſay) yet I will turn my hand, ſaith he, upon the little ones, i.e. I will recollect my diſperſed flock (how little ſoever either for number, or reſpect in the world) and bring back my baniſhed. So ſoon doth it repent the good Lord concerning his ſervants.Mich. 7.18. Pſal 136 23. He remembreth not iniquity for ever, ſaith the Prophet, becauſe mercy pleaſeth him: and again, He remembreth us in our low eſtates: for his mercy endureth for ever. He looked back upon Peter when his mouth was now big ſwoln with oathes and execrations, and ſet him a weeping bitterly. He called for Thomas after his reſurrection, and confirmed his weak faith by a wonderfull condeſcention. He ſealed up his love to them all again, reſtoring them to their miniſteriall imployment: and not ſo much as once upbraiding them with their baſe dereliction, but only with their unbelief. Lyra and others ſence the Text thus: I will turn my hand upon the little ones, that is, I will ſo ſmite the Shepheard Chriſt, that not only the ſheep ſhall be ſcattered, but the little lambs alſo, even the leaſt and loweſt Chriſtians ſhall have their ſhare of ſufferings, ſhall feel the weight of my hand, ſhall pledge the Lord Chriſt in that cup of afflictions that I have put into his hand; ſhall be conformed to the Image of Gods Son, as his co-ſufferers, that he may be the firſt born among many brethren, Rom. 8.29. And this was fulfilled in the perſecutions that followed ſoon after our Saviours death. Eccleſia haeres crucis, ſaith Luther: and Perſecutio ect Evangelij genius, ſaith Calvin. Perſecution is the black Angel that dogges the Church, the red horſe that [illegible: 1 letter]ollows the white at the heels. All the comfort is, that Gods holy hand hath a ſpeciall ſtroke in all thoſe afflictions that are laid upon his faithfull people, I will turn mine hand, &c.

Verſe 8. Two parts therein ſhall be cut off and die] q.d. they ſhall, they ſhall, how ſtrange or incredible ſoever this ſad tidings ſeem to you: it ſhall be even ſo, take my word for it. Behold the ſeverity of God, Rom. 11.22. In the Greek it is the Reſection or Cutting off, as a Chirurgion cutteth off proud and dead fleſh. The Juſt Lord is in the middest thereof: [non-Latin text not transcribed]. he will not do iniquity, &c. Zeph. 3.5. Fiat juſtitia, ruat coelum may ſeem to be his Motto. In point of juſtice he ſtands not upon multitudes, Pſal. 9.17. It is all one to him whether againſt a Nation or againſt a man only, Job 34.29. National ſins bring national plagues: heinous ſinnes, heavy puniſhments. In the univerſal deluge God ſwept away all: as if he had blotted out that part of his title, The Lord, the Lord, gracious, merciful, &c. and had taken up that of Attilas, Orbis flagellum, The worlds ſcourge, Sodoms ſinnes were multiplyed above meaſure: therefore God took them away as he ſaw good, Ezek. 16.49, 50 and hath thrown them out, as St. Jude ſpeaketh, for an example, ſuffering the vengeance of eternal fire. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Jude 7. Herodotus a Heathen Hiſtorian ſaith the very ſame of the deſtruction of Troy, viz. that the ruines and rubbiſh thereof are ſet forth for an example of that noted Rule, that God greatly puniſheth great offences, and that hainous ſinnes bring hideous plagues. Here we have two parts of three cut off in the land of Judea: as it fell out at the laſt deſtruction thereof by the Romans: at which time more then a million of men periſhed, ſee Matth. 24.21. with the Note. And what think we ſhall become of Babylon the great? Her ſinnes reach up to heaven, whereunto they are even glewed and faſtened as the word ſignifies, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Rev. 18.5. therefore ſhe ſhall be brought down to hell with Capernaum (for flagitium & flagellum ſicu[illegible: 1 letter] acus & filum) therefore ſhall her plagues come in one day (to confute their fond conceit of an eternal Empire) death, and mourning, and famine, and ſhe ſhall be utterly overthrown with fire: for ſtrong is the Lord God who judgeth her, full able to effect it,Rev. 18.18: ſeem it to Babels brats never ſo improbable, or impoſſible. It was never beſieged ſince it became Papal, but it was taken: whereas before, it was held invincible. Sinne that lyeth at the bottom, will eaſily undermine and overturn the walis, though never ſo ſtrong built: as the voice from heaven told Phocas the Murtherer. The bloud of that innocent Lamb of God lyes heavy upon the whole Nation of the Jews to this day. Their laſt devaſtation and preſent diſmal diſperſion is ſuch, as that one of their own Rabines concludes from thence, that their Meſliah muſt needs be come: and they muſt needs ſuffer ſo much for killing him.

but the third ſhall be left therein] A holy remnant kept for a reſerve. Good huſbands caſt not all their corn into the oven, but keep ſome for ſeed.Eſa. 6.13. But yet in it ſhall be a tenth, ſaith another Prophet:Eſ. 17.6. there ſhall be 'two or three berries in the top of a trce, four or five in the outmoſt branches. Gods Elect are ſo very few, that the world ſhall wonder; Eſay 8.18. and even hoot to ſee Chriſts flock ſo very little, little, 1 Kin. 20.27. as our Saviour ſpeakes, Luke 12.22. as Iſrael ſtood like two little flocks of kids, when the Syrians filled the countrey. There were but a few names in Sardis: and many bad in the beſt Churches: as at Philippi, Chap. 3.18. Chriſt wondered at one good Nath. nacl, as rara avis in terris: and when he comes; ſhall he find faith? How many (think you) ſhall be ſaved in this City? ſaith (Chryſoſtom in his fourth ſermon to the people at Antioch. It will be a hard ſpeech to you, but I will ſpeak it: Though there be ſo many thouſands, yet there cannot be ſound an hundred, that ſhall be ſaved. And I doubt of them too, &c. And again in his third Sermon upon the Acts, he breaks out into this ſpeech, Non arbitror inter ſacerdores, multos eſſe qui ſàlvi ſiant, I do not think that there are many, no not among the Miniſtery, that can be ſaved, ſith many are called, but few are choſen: like as all the people were called together by Samuel, but Saul only was choſen king. Only the called according to purpoſe are elected, and ſhall be gloriſied, Rom. 8.28, 29. Chriſt at laſt day will do as Joſhuah did to find out who had ſtolen the Babyloniſh garment: there were many brought together, and all to finde out one. So, all ſhall then appeare: out of them a ſmall number deducted, that have heard of Chriſt.Joſh. 7. Out of them, thoſe that have profeſſed him, and out of them, thoſe that have profeſſed him, in ſincerity, and theſe will be Mithe miſpar, a ſmall few indeed. They are as a fold in a wide field: as a garden in a wild waſt. Juvenal. P. de exculp. Hence they are called pearls, which are but few to the number of pibbles: Jewels which are but little to the lumber: ſtrangers that are nothing ſo many as home-dwellers: ſons of God, and of the bloud royal; and of ſuch there are but a few to common ſubjects. Rari quippe boui, ſaith the Poet. And Pauci ſunt qui Philoſophantur ſaith UIpian the Lawyer; &c.

Verſe 9. And I will bring the third part through the fire] Few they were, but not faultleſſe: they muſt therefore thorow the fire, that there they may leave their dreggs and droſſe behind them. For Quod ignis cſt auro, lima ferro, ventilabrum truico, lixivium pa[illegible: 1 letter]no, ſal carni, hoc tribulatio eſt viro uſto, ſaith Corn. a Lapide upon this Text: that is, what the fire is to the gold, the file to iron, the fanne to wheat, the ſope to clothes, the ſalt to fleſh, that is tribulation ſanctified to a righteous man. God is ſaid to have his fire in Zion, and his ſurnace in Jeruſalem, Eſay 31.9. to carry his thorow fire and thorow water, Pſal. 66.12, from above to ſend fire into their bones, Lam. 1.13. to put them to the fiery tryall, 1 Pet. 4.12. yea he himſelf is a Refiners fire unto them, and Fullers ſope, Mal. 3.2. (ſee the Note there.) He knowes them to be right gold, which will endure the ſeventh fire (Alchymy gold will not ſo) and therefore he puts them to't: that the tryall of their faith being much more precious then that of gold that periſheth, though tryed in the fire, may be found to praiſe, and honour, and glory, 1 Pet. 1.7. himſelf, mean-while, goeth with them into the fire and pulleth them out as a brand, Zech. 3. Non ſic impij, Pſal. 1. not ſo the ungodly. True it is, the tryall of their works alſo ſhall be by fire, 1 Cor. 3.13.Deut. 32.3. and they ſhall give an account one day with all the world on a light flame about their ears, 2 Pet. 3.12. Then ſhall they find, that the law they are judged by is a fiery law, the tribunall is of fire, Ezek. 1.27. the Judge a conſuming fire, Heb. 12.28. [non-Latin text not transcribed]. his attendants Seraphims, that is, flaming creatures, Heb. 1.7. his pleading with ſinners in fire of flame, 2 Theſſ. 1.7. the place of puniſhment a lakeof fire fed with a river of brimſtone, Iſa. 30.33. a formidable fire it is, fed with tormenting temper, and kindled by Gods own breath inſtead of bellows. Bellarmine is of opinion, that one glimpſe of this fearfull fire were enough to make a man not only turn Chriſtian and ſober, but Anchoret and Monk, and to live after the ſtricteſt order that can be. Pope Clement the fifth, upon the death of a Nephew of his and one of his Catamites, ſent his Chaplaine to a Conjurer,Jac. Ren. de vit. Pont. 159. to enquire how it fared with him in the other world. The Conjurer ſhewed him to the Chaplaine lying in a bed of fire in hell; This news ſo affected the wretched Pope, that he never held up his head, but (Nabal-like) died within a few dayes after it. But oh what a dreadfull ſhreek gave his guilty ſoul, to ſee it ſelf lanching into an infinite Ocean of ſcalding lead, and to think that it muſt ſwim naked therein for ever.

and will refine them, as ſilver is reſined] This is all the hurt he doth them by the fire; he hides pride from them, Job 33.19, &c. and divides betwixt the ſinne which he hates, and the ſonne whom he loves. For by this the iniquity of Jacob ſhall be purged: and this is all the fruit, the taking away of their ſinne: which they may very well ſpare,Eſay 27.9 and never hurt themſelves. Surely, as one poiſon is antidotary to another: ſo is affliction to ſinne: when ſanctified, it is no more penall, but medicinall; not a curſe, but a cure. As oil of ſcorpions is good againſt the biting of ſcorpions. As the wine wherein a viper hath been drowned cureth a leproſie. As the juyce of hemlock (a deadly plant) heals hot corroding ulcers, and aſſwageth the inflammation of the eyes: Or, as Rhubarb, though full of choler, doth mightily purge choler. Moſes neglected to circumciſe his child (as we do our hearts, it is ſuch a bloody work) till God met him and would have killed him. David could never ſee the beneſit of affliction, till God by thoſe ſharp waters had cleared up his eye-ſight. Geheza's leproſie cured him: his white forehead made him have a whiter ſoul. Surely, as the fining-pot is for ſilver, and the furnace for gold, ſo is affliction to the ſoul. Corrections of inſtruction, are the way of life, Pro. 6.23. But he that refuſeth correction deſpiſeth his own ſoul, Pro. 15 32. Winds and thunder clear the air (whereof they are the beeſoms, ſaith Ruperius) ſo do croſſes the ſoul. [illegible: 1 letter]f the outward man decay, the inward is thereby renewed: and the winter of the one,2 Cor. 4.16 is the ſpring of the other. As the viper when he is laſhed, caſteth up his poyſon: ſo doth the good ſoul when afflicted, purge it ſelf from all filth of fleſh and ſpirit, ſtriving to perfect holineſſe in the fear of God. Theſe Jews after they had been in the Babyloniſh furnace for idolatry, hated and feared that ſinne as much as the burnt child dreads the fire. They would die any death rather then admit an idoll. Joſephus tells how ſtoutly they oppoſed Pilate, and Petronius, that would would have ſet up Ceſars ſtatue in their Temples, offering their throats to the ſwords of the ſouldiers, rather then they would endure that idoll in Gods houſe. What God is now doing with them, and for them, in this long time of their ſad deſolation and diſperſion, who can tell? There are that think, that after much purging and proving, as here, God will gather a Church of them to himſelf: according to that which followeth; They ſhall call upon my name, and I will hear them, I will ſay, it is my people, &c. And that upon their profeſſion of Chriſt, ſhall come the ſoreſt time of affliction that ever was, chap. 14.1, 2. when Gog and Magog with all his troops, and armies ſhall compaſſe the beloved city, Rev. 20.8, 9. But the Jews ſhall get a glorious Conqueſt: for God himſelf from heaven will miraculouſly fight for them, verſe 3, 4, 5. together with all the holy Angels, the miniſters of his judgements, verſe 5. Sure it is, that the Turks fear ſome ſuch thing as this: and therefore they cannot abide that any Jew amongſt them ſhould turne Chriſtian. In the yeer 1528. a certain Jew dwelling in Conſtantinople became a good Chriſtian, and was baptized: which the Turks underſtanding were vehemently exaſperated againſt him for it; fearing leſt his converſion ſhould prove prejudiciall to their Mahometan religion, and therefore they apprehended and cruelly murthered him.

and try them as gold is tried] viz. that when I have tried them, they may come forth as gold, Job 33.10. Hence Gods people fall into manifold temptations, Jam. 1.2. they fall, they go not into them ſtep by ſtep, but are precipitated, plunged into them: and not into one of them, or a few, but into manifold temptations, or trials: yea fiery trials, ſo afflictions are called, becauſe thereby God proves what is in his people, Deut. 8.16. Rev. 2.10. Not to better his own knowledge of them neither; for he knows all things, and is intimo noſtro intimior nobis, Job. 2.25. Act. 1.24. Heb. 4.12. Artificers perfectly know the nature and properties of their own works, and ſhall not God ſee, Pſal. 94.9, 10. But tentat ut ſciat, hoc eſt, ut ſcire nos fac[illegible: 1 letter]at, Auguſt. he trieth us. 1. That he may make diſcoveries of himſelf unto us, eſpecially of his power and goodneſſe: and ſo get him a name, as Eſay 63.11, 12, 13. 2 Cor. 12.9. Elias would have water poured upon the ſacrifices, yea the Altar covered therewith, that Gods power might the more appear, in conſuming it with fire from heaven, and the people thereupon might cry, Iehovah he is God, 1 King. 18.39. Iehovah he is God: think the ſame here. 2. That he may make diſcoveries of us to our ſelves, and to others; who are apt to misjudge and undervalue us: as not onely Satan did, Iob chap. 1.9. but even Elihu, alſo (though otherwiſe a good man, and the beſt of his friends) chap. 34.36. But when they ſee our holy carriage under the croſſe, they can ſay of us as that Centurion did of our Saviour, Luke 23. Verily this was the Son of God: and as one Culocerius in the Church-hiſtory, when he ſaw the piety and conſtancy of the Martyrs, he cryed out, Verè magnus eſt Deus Chriſtïanorum, The Chriſtians God is a great God indeed. But as by afflictions we are made known to others, ſo to our ſelves much more. We are apt either to over-value, or elſe to under-value our ſelves, till put to the triall: as is to be ſeen in the hiſtory of Saunders and Pendleton. Hard weather tries what health; wind and ſtormes what ſap: withered leaves ſoon fall off. Rotten boughes with heavy weights quickly break. Woodden veſſells, ſet empty to the fire, ſoon break and leak; not ſo veſſells of gold and ſilver. The beſt divination what men are is at the parting-way, as Ezek. 21.21. When the fire comes to green wood, it will appear what's within: when the pond is empty, what's in the bottom. It is not known what corn will yeeld, till it come to the flail: nor what grapes, till it come to the preſſe. Grace is like the ſtone Chryſolampis, quem lux celat prodit obſcurum, which ſhine brighteſt in the dark. The skill of a Pilot is unknown but in a tempeſt:Solinus. the valour of a Captain, but in a battle: the faithfulneſſe of a wife, but in an aſſault. The wicked tried are found to be but reprobate ſilver: or at beſt, but Alchymy-gold, that endureth not the ſeventh fire. They are [non-Latin text not transcribed], as Crocodiles, Chameleons, Bats, Spunges, &c. They murmure when tried, as Pſal. 78.40, 41. Or curſe, as Micah's mother, Iudg. 17. Or fret, and howl upward, as Wolves when hunge-rbit, Eſay 8.21. Or faint in the day of affliction, as Saul, who lay upon the ground like a beaſt, 1 Sam. 28.20. Or Nabal, who lay in his bed like a block. Or deſert God and his cauſe, as thoſe Renegado's, Dan. 11.32. and thoſe in the Palatinate, who fell to Popery as faſt as leaves fall off the trees in Autumne. Many titular Chriſtians amongſt us, were, in times of peace, but as wolves in a cage, but as lions tamed by art: they wanted nothing but liberty and opportunity to ſhew their wolviſh and worrying natures, which now theſe late ſhedding and diſcriminating times have ſufficiently diſcovered. Have all theſe workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up Gods people as they eat bread, and call not upon God? They ſhall call upon my name, and I will hear them. Pſal. 14.4. No time for hearing of prayers and obtaining of ſuits like that of affliction. Thoſe are molliſſima fandi Tempora, the time of affliction is the very time of ſupplication: then our hearts are largeſt, then Gods ear is openeſt. Then the ſaints may have any thing for asking, Pſal. 50.15. and 91.15. Thus Lot had Zoar at his requeſt, Deut. 29.23. Paul had all the ſouls in the ſhip given him, Act. 27. Jacob greatly fearing to be bereft of his Benjamin prayed, God give you bowels of mercy before the man, Gen. 43.14. He prayed it, and he had it, ver. 30. For Ioſeph made haſt: for his bowels did yern upon his brother, &c. God reſerves his beſt comforts for the worſt times: as the feaſt-maker kept his beſt wine till the laſt, Ioh. 2. as the mother brings forth her conſerves and cordials, when the child ſis at ſickeſt, Iſrael was never ſo royally provided for, as in the wilderneſſe. I will bring her into the wilderneſſe and ſpeak to her heart, Hoſ. 2.13. As a bone once broken is ſtronger after ſetting: and as lovers are never greater friends then after a falling out: ſo is it betwixt God and his people. Affliction exciteth devotion,-as the bellows doth the fire, and excited devotion prevaileth much, Iam. 5.16.

I will ſay, It is my people and they ſhall ſay, The Lord is my God] by a gracious complyance they ſhall with higheſt eſtimations, moſt vigorous affections and utmoſt endeavours beſtow themſelves upon that God that hath ſo farr owned and honoured them as toſt rike a covenant with them: the fruits whereof are ſure mercies, compaſſions that faile not, all the bleſſings of this and a better life. A covenant is the collection of many promiſes; as a conſtellation is the collection of many ſtarrs: and though it be (in ſumm) but one promiſe, I will be thy God, yet it is ſuch an one as comprehends all: and is therefore fifteen times, at leaſt, mentioned in ſcripture. It is the ſubſtance of the Covenant of grace, ſaith Junius: the ſoule of it, ſaith Pareus: the head or top of it, ſaith Muſculus: Deus meus & omnia, ſaith Luther, God is mine, all's therefore mine. But then, as God muſt be our All-ſufficient, ſo we muſt be his Altogether: and when he cryes out, Who is on my ſide, who? One ſhall ſay I am the Lords: and another ſhall call himſelf by the name of Iacob: and another ſhall ſubſcribe with his hand to the Lord, and ſurname himſelf by the name of Iſrael Eſay 44.5. O it is ableſſed ſigne that God hath choſen us firſt 1 Ioh. 4.19. when we chuſe God as Pſal. 73.25. ſincerely avouching him for our God. Sincerity (or Evangelicall perfection) is the only abſolute condition of the Covenant of grace Gen. 17.1. God and the Saints have ever judged of men by this: Judge me, O Lord, according to mine integrity, ſaith David, The promiſes are made to it Pſal. 119.1. Mat. 5.8. Gods eye is upon it as in David the man after Gods own heart. He bleſſeth the little that ſuch have, as in Nathanael, Cornelius, the Eunuch. He paſſeth by their infirmities, as in Aſa 1 King. 15.14. and accepteth their ſervices nevertheleſſe. as 2 Chron. 30.19, 20.