wed thee: and (as) the bridegroom rejoiceth in his bride, fo fhall thy God rejoice in thee.

The first part of this verse, is addreffed to the land; and the latter part to the nation : and which I humbly conceive, to be a manifest proof of what I have observed in the note on verfe 10th. of the preceding chapter, that the term bridegroom is ufed metaphorically, to denote the Supreme, who is thus confidered in refpect to the nation.

The Prophet then proceeds verse 6th. "Upon thy walls, O Jerufalem, have I fet watchmen all the day; and all the night long they kept not filence: they that made mention of the LORD, kept not filence to you. The Prophet here obferves, that while Jerufalem was yet in being, God fent his fervants the Prophets, who, as vigilant watchmen placed on the walls, neither slept nor flumbered, but continually called on them in the name of the LORD, and earneftly exhorted them to repent; but fays he, as ye

did

to our mind, the most agreeable union in nature; as being the most likely to produce a lafting felicity; in order to fhew the uninterrupted happiness, which they are to enjoy in the land at their restoration.

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did not attend to them when called ; highly proper, that ye now call on the Lo inceffantly; verse 7th. "Let him theref not reft in filence, until he establish, and u til he render Jerufalem a praise in the eart I must also inform you, fays the Proph not to imagine that, your prayer may be vain, or of none effect; for, verse 8 "The LORD hath fworn by his right har and by his powerful arm: furely, I will more give thy corn for food to thine en mies; nor fhall the fons of the ftrang drink thy wine for which thou haft laboure But they, that reap the harvest, shall eat and praise the LORD; and they, that gath the vintage, fhall drink it in my facre courts.' The expreffions in this verf have a reference to the law of Mofes Levi

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;

XIX. 23. &c. "And when ye fhall com unto the land, and fhall have planted a manner of trees for food, then ye fha count the fruit thereof as uncircumcifed three years it shall be as uncircumcifed untyou; it fhall not be eaten of. But in th fourth year all the fruit thereof shall be holy to praise the LORD withall. And in the fifth year ye fhall eat the fruit thereof." &c

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Again; "Thou mayeft not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy wine, or of thy oil;But thou must eat them be

fore the LORD thy God, in the place which the LORD thy God fhall choofe." Deut. xii. 17. 18. This clearly explains the force of the expreffions made use of by the Prophet, "hall praise the LORD," and "fhall drink it in my courts." And which fhews the lafting happiness that they are to enjoy at their restoration; and that they will no more go into captivity: and is also, ás I apprehend, a manifeft proof, of the perpetuity of the Law of Mofes ostri

The Prophet then addreffes himself to the rulers and elders of the nation: directing them to prepare the people by repentance ; and thus remove fin from them; and which he forcibly expreffes under the image, of clearing the cauffey from ftones: by which means the ftandard of falvation will be raifed, as in verse 10th. &c. "Pafs ye, pafs through the gates; prepare the way for the people! Caft ye up, caft up the cauffey: clear it from the ftones! Lift up on high a ftandard to the nations! Behold, the LORD hath thus proclaimed to the end of the VOL II. earth:

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earth: Say ye to the daughter of Zion, thy faviour cometh! Lo, his reward is v him, and his work before him. And fhall be called, The holy people, the deemed of the LORD: And thou shalt called, The much defired, the city. un faken."

The Prophet then, as one enquir fays, chapter lxiiid. verfe ift. "Who, this that cometh from Edom? with g ments deeply dyed from Botfrah? Th that is magnificent in his apparel; exclai ing in the greatness of his strength; I fp in righteousness, (and) am mighty to fav The Prophet here fhews the greatness of vengeance which God will take on the er mies of the Jews, particularly on Botfra which is Rome : and that he who spea in righteousness, who equitably adminift juftice; is mighty to fave the nation, th had stedfastly acknowledged his Unity, d ring this long and dreadful captivity.

The Prophet then again enquires, ve 2d. "Wherefore is thine apparel red? Th garments, as of one that treadeth the win vat? To whom the Almighty anfwers, ver 3d. "I have trodden the vat alone: and of th

peop

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people there was not a man with me.
I trod them in mine anger; and I trampled
them in mine indignation: and their life-blood
was fprinkled upon my garments; and I,
have stained all mine apparel." In verfe 4th.
the Prophet explains the figurative language
he had Juft made ufe of. "For the day of
vengeance was come."

was no man.'

He then obferves (verfe 5th.) that although the time was come, yet, there was no repentance in Ifrael; no merit of good works to render them worthy of falvation: and which perfectly agrees, with what the Prophet said above verse 3d, "And of the people there was not a man with me." And as he fays chap. lix. 16. "And he saw that there man." &c. As I have fhewn page, "And I looked, and there was no one to help; and I was aftonished, that there was no one to uphold: therefore mine own arm wrought falvation for me, and mine indignation itself fuftained me. And I trod down the people in mine anger; and I crushed them in mine indignation; and I fpilled their blood on the ground. "

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ན དྷཱ

I have here fhewn that, this great, and important prophecy, perfectly accords with H 2

the

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