edified or delighted, by the gifts and graces bestowed upon the 12 jewish church. For thus faith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace, or happiness, to her like a river, and the glory of the gentiles like a flowing ftream, by the liberality and kindness of the jews on their converfion: then shall ye fuck, ye fhall be borne upon [her] fides, and be dandled upon [her] knees, as young children are by a 13 fond and tender parent. As one whom his mother comforteth, fo will I comfort you; and ye fhall be com forted in Jerufalem, by the return of the divine favour to 14 it. And when ye fee [this,] your heart fhall rejoice, and your bones fhall flourish like an herb; that is, the jews fhall recover their antient firength and beauty; according to St. Paul, it shall be as life from the dead: and the hand of the LORD fhall be known toward his fervants, and [his] indignation toward his enemies.

15

For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with 16 fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire

and by his fword will the LORD plead with all flesh: 17 and the flain of the LORD fhall be many. They that fanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gar dens behind one [tree] in the midft, according to the rites of Achad, or an image of the fun in the garden of Achad, called, One, or the one great being, (a name given him by the antient Perfians, who used to facrifice feven bats and feven mice to the fun,) eating fwine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, fhall be confumed together, faith the LORD.

18

For I know] their works and their thoughts: it' fhall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they fhall come and fee my glory, which shall be difplayed in converting the jews, and in deftroying their eneAnd I will fet a fign, or standard, among them, and I will fend thofe that escape of them unto the nations, [to] Tarfhifh, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, [to] Tubal, and Javan, [to] the ifles afar off,

19 mies.

that

This refers to the deftruction of thofe enemies that fhall come to attack the jews after their fettlement, fuppofed to be the Tartars and other barbarous nations from the north, who are idolaters.

that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they fhall declare my glory among the gentiles; I will fend fome of the believing jews to convert the gentiles that yet remain in a ftate of ignorance and idolatry; or to their own brethren that are not gathered with them. 20 And they shall bring all your brethren [for] an offering unto the LORD, (as St. Paul calls the converfion of the gentiles, Rom. xv. 16.) out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon fwift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerufalem, faith the LORD, as the children of Ifrael bring an offering in a clean veffel into the houfe of the LORD; I will bring them in a swift, eafy, and commodious manner, and take care that they be conveniently accommodated in their journey. 21 And I will alfio take of them for priests [and] for Le

vites, faith the LORD; the jews fhall again become a king22 dom of priests, and take pains to spread the gospel. For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, faith the LORD, fo fhall your feed and your name remain; this new state of things fball continue, and the jews, when once converted, fhall re23 main to the end a faithful people. And it fhall come to pafs, [that] from one new moon to another, and from one fabbath to another, fhall all flesh come to worship before me, faith the LORD: gofpel worship is described by these figures; as if he had faid, The Stated feafons of worship fhall be regularly attended upon; yea, they fhall keep one continued feftival, and be habitually devout and holy. 24 And they fhall go forth from Jerufalem and look upon the carcafes of the men that have tranfgreffed against me; they shall fee their enemies flain, as in v. 16, for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh; men fhall abhor them as they do the stench of a dead carcafe; they fhall appear a lively emblem of the torments of hell, and God's faithful fervants fhall look upon them to excite their joy and thankfulness.

REFLECT.

As this is a prophecy of events yet to happen, no wonder that there is much darkness upon it; the general meaning of these

figurative

I.

L

REFLECTION S.

ET us learn from hence a proper temper for divine worship and acceptance. We fhould think of that glorious Being whofe throne is heaven, and earth his foottool, as a fpiritual omnifcient Being; whom no temple can contain, or be equal to his grandeur; who yet makes every humble heart his temple, and delights in the contrite, reverent, worshipper. Let us approach him with a holy awe of his majesty, and an habitual sense of his purity. Vain are the most coftly facrifices, without a pious and devout heart, and delighting ourselves in his commandments.

2. It is no new thing to fee the beft of God's fervants perfecuted under a pretence of religion. The fame bigoted fpirit which prevailed among the jews, which led them to perfecute the apostles and first christians, hath too often Thown itself in the world fince; and even to this day they are caft out and evil intreated, because they adhere to God's pure worship and inftitutions. While zeal for God and the purity of religion is pretended, their end is to gratify their own pride, covetoufnefs, and revenge. Let us not wonder at such scenes, but have no hand in fuch practices.

3. We fee how eafily God can multiply and increase his church; and how much reason we have to expect that he will perfect his own work. He expreffes this in terms taken from the strongest and tendereft of human affections. However glorious and extenfive his promises may be, they shall all be accomplished; and not one of his good words fhall fall to the ground. This is a great encouragement to labour and pray for the increase of the church.

4. Let figurative expreffions feems to be this: that God will, by an extraordinary energy of his Spirit, awaken the jews to fearch their fcriptures, and fee Chrift to be their Meffiah, and believe in him. This remarkable change in them fhall imprefs Mahometans, heathens, and deifts, (who may probably be more numerous hereafter) and they fhall be difpofed to embrace the gospel. And they will have fo great a respect for the jews, as honourably to convey them to their own land, which they will easily conquer. Soon after their fettlement there, a violent attack shall be made upon them, probably by the northern nations, who thall be fuddenly deftroyed by the power of God.

4. Let us do our endeavour to bring our brethren as an offering to the Lord. Have we devoted ourselves to him? Let us exhort and encourage others to join themselves to the church; even all that we can influence. Let us perfuade them to present their bodies a living facrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This will be an act of the greatest kindness to them, and a labour of love highly pleafing to the Lord.

5. Wherever God has a church the folemn exercises of worship are to be maintained. We fee this required under every difpenfation, Abrahamic, jewish, and chriftian. And it is foretold, that in the latter day all flesh fhall come and worship before God. There are to be ftated times of worship to the end of the world. All flesh are to come, men, women, and children; neither the greatest nor the pooreft will be excufed. Therefore let us not forfake the affembling our felves together, fince God commands it, and promifes his bleffing with it.

6. As a proper conclufion of this book, we may learn to pity the cafe of the poor jews, and firmly to expect, and earneftly to pray for, their converfion. It is very wrong to perfecute, or even to defpife them; for a bleffing is in them. Our duty is, as it is expreffed in v. 10. to mourn for them. They are ftanding, inconteftable evidences of the truth of the gospel, and of the prophecies of the old and new Testaments; being kept a diftinct people, notwithstanding the cruel manner in which they have been perfecuted and reproached. They are not caft off for ever; God intends great things for them; and at length, as a nation they shall be restored, and all that mourn for them fhall rejoice with them. Let our hearts defire and prayer to God for Ifrael be, that they may be faved.

The

THE BOOK OF

The Prophet JEREMIAH.*

CHAPTER I.

Contains the prophet's general commiffion, and the promises of

Ι

T

divine affistance."

HE words of Jeremiah the fon of Hilkiah, of the priests that [were] in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, about three miles from Feru2 falem: To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Jofiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the 3 thirteenth year of his reign. It came alfo in the days

of

As Mr. ORTON has faid nothing of Jeremiah, nor of the time in which he lived, I have taken the liberty to prefix Dr. SMITH'S introduction to this prophet. It seems to be a judicious abstract from Dr. BLAYNEY's notes on Jeremiah.

• Jeremiah was a priest of the tribe of Benjamin, and called to the prophetic office when very young. He entered upon it about feventy years after the death of Ifaiah, and exercised it for about forty two years, with great faithfulness and zeal, and in very unfavourable circumftances. At the time that he began to prophefy, the fins of the jews were come to their full meafure. After a reformation had been in vain attempted by Jofiah, to punish a nation, unworthy of fuch a fovereign, God called him early away. His two fons, who fucceffively mounted the throne after him, were as remarkable for vice, as the father was for virtue. The firft, (Shallum, or Jehoahaz) after a reign of three months, was carried captive to Egypt, where he died: his brother Jehoiakim, on condition of paying a large fum of money to the king of Egypt, was allowed to fucceed him; but the Babylonians, about three years after, having made a defcent on Judea, and taken Jerufalem, he was obliged to fwear fealty to the king of Babylon, who carried with him a number of captives, among whom were many of the children of the firft families, together with a great part of the facred veffels of the temple. Jehoiakim however was left in poffeffion of the throne, on condition of his paying a yearly tribute; but refufing to fulfil his promife after the first three years, the king of Babylon

fent