Ezekiel 16

Eze 16:1-63.

DETAILED

APPLICATION OF THE

PARABOLICAL

DELINEATION OF THE

FIFTEENTH

CHAPTER TO

JERUSALEM

PERSONIFIED AS A

DAUGHTER.

(1) Taken up by God's gratuitous favor from infancy

(Eze 16:1-7);

(2) and, when grown up, joined to Him in spiritual marriage

(Eze 16:8-14);

(3) her unfaithfulness, her sin

(Eze 16:15-34);

(4) the judgment

(Eze 16:35-52);

(5) her unlooked-for restoration

(Eze 16:53

to the close).

2. cause Jerusalem to know--Men often are so blind as not to perceive

their guilt which is patent to all. "Jerusalem" represents the whole

kingdom of Judah.

3. birth . . . nativity--thy origin and birth;

literally, "thy diggings" (compare

Isa 51:1)

"and thy bringings forth."

of . . . Canaan--in which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob sojourned before

going to Egypt, and from which thou didst derive far more of thy innate

characteristics than from the virtues of those thy progenitors

(Eze 21:30).

an Amorite . . . an Hittite--These, being the most powerful tribes,

stand for the whole of the Canaanite nations (compare

Jos 1:4;

Am 2:9),

which were so abominably corrupt as to have been doomed to utter

extermination by God

(Le 18:24, 25, 28;

De 18:12).

Translate rather, "the Amorite . . . the

Canaanite," that is, these two tribes personified; their wicked

characteristics, respectively, were concentrated in the parentage of

Israel

(Ge 15:16).

"The Hittite" is made their "mother"; alluding to Esau's wives,

daughters of Heth, whose ways vexed Rebekah

(Ge 26:34, 35; 27:46),

but pleased the degenerate descendants of Jacob, so that these are

called, in respect of morals, children of the Hittite (compare

Eze 16:45).

4. Israel's helplessness in her first struggling into national

existence, under the image of an infant

(Ho 2:3)

cast forth without receiving the commonest acts of parental regard. Its

very life was a miracle

(Ex 1:15-22).

navel . . . not cut--Without proper attention to the navel cord, the

infant just born is liable to die.

neither . . . washed in water to supple thee--that is, to make the

skin soft. Rather, "for purification"; from an Arabic root

[MAURER].

GESENIUS translates as the Margin, "that thou mightest (be presented

to thy parents to) be looked upon," as is customary on the birth of

a child.

salted--Anciently they rubbed infants with salt to make the skin firm.

5. cast . . . in . . . open field--The exposure of infants was common

in ancient times.

to the loathing of thy person--referring to the unsightly aspect of

the exposed infant. FAIRBAIRN

translates, "With contempt (or disdainful

indifference) of thy life."

6. when I passed by--as if a traveller.

polluted in . . . blood--but

PISCATOR, "ready to be trodden on."

I said--In contrast to Israel's helplessness stands God's omnipotent

word of grace which bids the outcast little one "live."

in thy blood--Though thou wast foul with blood, I said, "Live"

[GROTIUS].

"Live in thy blood," that is, Live, but live a life exposed

to many deaths, as was the case in the beginnings of Israel's national

existence, in order to magnify the grace of God

[CALVIN]. The former

view is preferable. Spiritually, till the sinner is made sensible of

his abject helplessness, he will not appreciate the provisions of God's

grace.

7. caused . . . to multiply--literally, "I . . . made thee a myriad."

bud of . . . field--the produce of the field. In two hundred fifty

years they increased from seventy-five persons to eight hundred thousand

(Ac 7:14)

[CALVIN]. But see

Ex 12:37, 38.

excellent ornaments--literally, "ornament of ornaments."

naked . . . bare--

(Ho 2:3).

Literally, "nakedness . . . bareness" itself; more

emphatic.

8. thy time of love--literally, "loves" (compare

So 2:10-13).

Thou wast of marriageable age, but none was willing to marry thee, naked

as thou wast. I then regarded thee with a look of grace when the full

time of thy deliverance was come

(Ge 15:13, 14;

Ac 7:6, 7).

It is not she that makes the advance to God, but God to her; she has

nothing to entitle her to such notice, yet He regards her not with mere

benevolence, but with love, such as one cherishes to the person

of his wife

(So 1:3-6;

Jer 31:3;

Mal 1:2).

spread my skirt over thee--the mode of espousals

(Ru 3:9).

I betrothed thee

(De 4:37; 10:15;

Ho 11:1).

The cloak is often used as a bed coverlet in the East. God explains

what He means, "I entered into . . . covenant with thee,"

that is, at Sinai. So Israel became "the wife of God's covenant"

(Isa 54:5;

Jer 3:14;

Ho 2:19, 20;

Mal 2:14).

thou . . . mine--

(Ex 19:5;

Jer 2:2).

9. washed I thee--as brides used to pass through a preparatory

purification

(Es 2:12).

So Israel, before the giving of the law at Sinai

(Ex 19:14);

"Moses sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes." So

believers

(1Co 6:11).

oil--emblem of the Levitical priesthood, the type of Messiah

(Ps 45:7).

10.

Ps 45:13, 14,

similarly describes the Church (Israel, the appointed mother of

Christendom) adorned as a bride (so

Isa 61:10).

It is Messiah who provides the wedding garment

(Re 3:18; 19:8).

badgers' skin--tahash; others translate, "seal skins." They formed

the over-covering of the tabernacle, which was, as it were, the nuptial

tent of God and Israel

(Ex 26:14),

and the material of the shoes worn by the Hebrews on festival days.

(See on

Ex 25:5).

fine linen--used by the priests

(Le 6:10);

emblem of purity.

11. The marriage gifts to Rebekah

(Ge 24:22, 47).

12. jewel on thy forehead--rather, "a ring in thy nose"

(Isa 3:21).

a crown--at once the badge of a bride, and of her being made a queen,

as being consort of the King; the very name Israel meaning "a prince

of God." So they are called "a kingdom of priests"

(Ex 19:6;

compare

Re 1:6).

Though the external blessings bestowed on Israel were great, yet not

these, but the internal and spiritual, form the main reference in the

kingly marriage to which Israel was advanced.

13. flour . . . honey . . . oil--These three

mixed form the sweetest cakes; not dry bread and leeks as in Egypt.

From raiment He passes to food

(De 32:13, 14).

exceeding beautiful--

Ps 48:2,

the city; also,

Ps 29:2,

the temple.

prosper into a kingdom--exercising empire over surrounding nations.

14. thy renown . . . among . . . heathen--The theocracy reached its

highest point under Solomon, when distant potentates heard of his "fame"

(1Ki 10:1,

&c.), for example, the queen of Sheba, Hiram, &c.

(La 2:15).

my comeliness--It was not thine own, but imparted by Me.

15. Instead of attributing the glory of her privileges and gifts to

God, Israel prided herself on them as her own

(De 32:15;

Jer 7:4;

Mic 3:11),

and then wantonly devoted them to her idols

(Ho 2:8;

compare

Lu 15:12, 13).

playedst . . . harlot because of thy renown--"didst play the wanton

upon thy name" [FAIRBAIRN],

namely, by allowing thy renown to lead thee

into idolatry and leagues with idolaters

(Isa 1:21; 57:8;

Jer 3:2, 6).

English Version is better, "because of thy renown," that is,

relying on it; answering to "thou didst trust in thine own

beauty."

his it was--Thy beauty was yielded up to every passer-by.

Israel's zest for the worship of foul idols was but an anxiety to have

the approbation of heaven for their carnal lusts, of which the idols

were the personification; hence, too, their tendency to wander from

Jehovah, who was a restraint on corrupt nature.

16. deckedst . . . with divers colours--or, "didst make . . . of

divers colors" [FAIRBAIRN];

the metaphor and the literal are here mixed.

The high places whereon they sacrificed to Astarte are here compared to

tents of divers colors, which an impudent harlot would spread to

show her house was open to all

[CALVIN]. Compare as to "woven hangings

for Astarte" (the right translation for "grove")

2Ki 23:7.

the like . . . shall not come, neither shall . . . be--rather, "have

not come, nor shall be." These thy doings are unparalleled in the past,

and shall be so in the future.

17. my gold . . . my silver--

(Hag 2:8).

images of men--rather, "of the phallus," the Hindu lingam, or

membrum virile [HAVERNICK],

deified as the emblem of fecundity; man

making his lust his god. English Version, however, is appropriate;

Israel being represented as a woman playing the harlot with

"male images," that is, images of male gods, as distinguished from

female deities.

18. tookest thy . . . garments . . . coveredst them--that is, the

idols, as if an adulteress were to cover her paramours with garments

which she had received from the liberality of her husband.

my oil--the holy anointing oil sacred to God

(Ex 30:22-25).

Also that used in sacrifices

(Le 2:1, 2).

19. My meat . . . I gave--

(Ho 2:8).

set it before them--as a minchah or "meat offering"

(Le 2:1).

a sweet savour--literally, "a savor of rest," that is, whereby they

might be propitiated, and be at peace ("rest") with you; how ridiculous

to seek to propitiate gods of wood!

thus it was--The fact cannot be denied, for I saw it, and say it was

so, saith Jehovah.

20, 21. sons and . . . daughters borne unto me--Though

"thy children," yet they belong "unto Me," rather than to thee, for

they were born under the immutable covenant with Israel, which even

Israel's sin could not set aside, and they have received the sign of

adoption as Mine, namely, circumcision. This aggravates the guilt of

sacrificing them to Molech.

to be devoured--not merely to pass through the fire, as

sometimes children were made to do

(Le 18:21)

without hurt, but to pass

through so as to be made the food of the flame in honor of idols

(see on

Isa 57:5;

Jer 7:31;

Jer 19:5;

Jer 32:35).

Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter, that thou hast slain my

children--rather, "Were thy whoredoms a small matter (that is, not

enough, but) that thou hast slain

(that is, must also slay)," &c. As if thy unchastity was not enough,

thou hast added this unnatural and sacrilegious cruelty

(Mic 6:7).

22. not remembered . . . youth--Forgetfulness of God's love is the

source of all sins. Israel forgot her deliverance by God in the infancy

of her national life. See

Eze 16:43,

to which

Eze 16:60

forms a lovely contrast

(Jer 2:2;

Ho 11:1).

23. woe, woe unto thee, &c.--This parenthetical exclamation has an

awful effect coming like a lightning flash of judgment amidst the black

clouds of Israel's guilt.

24. eminent place--rather, "a fornication-chamber," often connected

with the impure rites of idolatry; spiritual fornication, on "an eminent

place," answering to "fornication-chamber," is mainly meant, with an

allusion also to the literal fornication associated with it

(Jer 2:20; 3:2).

25. at every head of the way--in the most frequented places

(Pr 9:14).

thy beauty . . . abhorred, . . . opened . . . feet to every one--The

wanton advances were all on Israel's part; the idolatrous nations

yielded to her nothing in return. She had yielded so much that, like a

worn-out prostitute, her tempters became weary of her. When the Church

lowers her testimony for God to the carnal tastes of the world, with a

view to conciliation, she loses everything and gains nothing.

26. fornication with . . . Egyptians--alliances with Egypt, cemented

great of flesh--of powerful virile parts; figuratively for the gross

and lustful religion of Egypt (for example, Isis, &c.), which alone

could satisfy the abominable lust of Israel

(Eze 20:7, 8; 23:19, 20, 21).

to provoke me--wantonly and purposely.

27. The consequent judgments, which, however, proved of no avail in

reforming the people

(Isa 9:13;

Jer 5:3).

delivered thee unto . . . Philistines--

(2Ki 16:6;

2Ch 28:18, 19).

ashamed of thy lewd way--The Philistines were less wanton in idolatry,

in that they did not, like Israel, adopt the idols of every foreign

country but were content with their own

(Eze 16:57;

Jer 2:11).

28. unsatiable--Not satisfied with whoredoms with neighbors, thou hast

gone off to the distant Assyrians, that is, hast sought a league with

them, and with it adopted their idolatries.

29. multiplied . . . fornication in . . . Canaan unto Chaldea--Thou

hast multiplied thy idolatries "in Canaan" by sending "unto Chaldea" to

borrow from thence the Chaldean rites, to add to the abominations

already practised "in Canaan," before the carrying away of Jehoiachin to

Chaldea. The name "Canaan" is used to imply that they had made Judea as

much the scene of abominations as it was in the days of the corrupt

Canaanites. The land had become utterly Canaanitish

(Eze 23:14,

&c.).

30. weak . . . heart--Sin weakens the intellect

("heart") as, on the contrary, "the way of the Lord is strength to the

upright"

(Pr 10:29).

31. Repetition of

Eze 16:24.

not . . . as . . . harlot . . . thou scornest hire--Unlike an ordinary

harlot thou dost prostitute thy person gratis, merely to satisfy thy

lust. JEROME translates, "Thou hast not been as a harlot in scorning

(that is, who ordinarily scorns) a hire offered,"

in order to get a larger one: nay, thou hast offered hire thyself to

thy lovers

(Eze 16:33, 34).

But these verses show English Version to be preferable, for they

state that Israel prostituted herself, not merely for any small

reward without demanding more, but for "no reward."

32. instead of her husband--referring to

Nu 5:19, 20, 29.

FAIRBAIRN translates, "whilst under her

husband."

33, 34. Israel hired her paramours, instead of being, like other

harlots, hired by them; she also followed them without their following

her.

35. Here begins the threat of wrath to be poured out on her.

36. filthiness--literally, "brass"; metaphor for the lowest

part of the person [CALVIN]. English

Version is better: thy filthy lewdness is poured out without

restraint (compare

Jer 13:27).

As silver is an emblem of purity, brass typifies "filthiness,"

because it easily contracts rust. HENDERSON

explains it, "Because thy money was lavished on thy lovers"

(Eze 16:31, 33, 34).

blood of thy children--

(Eze 16:20;

Jer 2:34).

37. thy lovers--the Chaldeans and the Assyrians. The law of retribution

is the more signally exemplified by God employing, as His instruments of

judgment on Israel, those very nations whose alliance and idols Israel

had so eagerly sought, besides giving her up to those who had been

always her enemies. "God will make him, who leaves God for the world,

disgraced even in the eyes of the world, and indeed the more so the

nearer he formerly stood to Himself" [HENGSTENBERG],

(Isa 47:3;

Jer 13:26;

Ho 2:12;

Na 3:5).

all . . . thou hast hated--the Edomites and Philistines; also Moab

and Ammon especially

(De 23:3).

I . . . will discover thy nakedness--punishment in

kind, as she had "discovered her nakedness through whoredoms"

(Eze 16:36);

the sin and its penalty corresponded. I will expose thee to public

infamy.

38-40. judge thee, as women that break wedlock--

(Le 20:10;

compare

Eze 16:2).

In the case of individual adulteresses, stoning was the

penalty

(Joh 8:4, 5).

In the case of communities, the sword. Also apostasy

(De 13:10)

and sacrificing children to Molech

(Le 20:1-5)

incurred stoning. Thus the penalty was doubly due to Israel; so the

other which was decreed against an apostate city

(De 13:15, 16)

is added, "they shall stone thee with stones and thrust thee through

with . . . swords." The Chaldeans hurled stones on

Jerusalem at the siege and slew with the sword on its capture.

shed blood . . . judged--

(Ge 9:6).

jealousy--image taken from the fury of a husband in jealousy shedding

the blood of an unfaithful wife, such as Israel had been towards God,

her husband spiritually. Literally, "I will make thee (to become)

blood of fury and jealousy."

39. thine eminent place--literally, "fornication-chamber"

(see on

Eze 16:24),

the temple which Israel had converted into a place of spiritual

fornication with idols, to please the Chaldeans

(Eze 23:14-17).

strip thee of . . . clothes--

(Eze 23:26;

Ho 2:3).

They shall dismantle thy city of its walls.

fair jewels--literally, "vessels of thy fairness" or beauty; the

vessels of the temple [GROTIUS].

All the gifts wherewith God hath

adorned thee [CALVIN].

40.

(Eze 23:10, 47).

Compare as to the destruction under Titus,

Lu 19:43, 44.

41. The result of the awful judgment shall be, when divine vengeance

has run its course, it shall cease.

burn--

(De 13:16;

2Ki 25:9).

women--the surrounding Gentile nations to whom thou shalt be an object

of mocking

(Ps 137:7).

I will cause thee to cease . . . harlot--

(Eze 23:27).

Thou shalt no longer be able to play the harlot through My

judgments.

thou . . . shall give . . . no hire . . . any more--Thou shalt have

none to give.

42. my fury . . . rest--when My justice has exacted

the full penalty commensurate with thy awful guilt (see on

Eze 5:13).

It is not a mitigation of the penalty that is here foretold, but such

an utter destruction of all the guilty that there shall be no

need of further punishment [CALVIN].

43.

(Eze 16:22;

Ps 78:42).

In gratitude for God's favors to her in her early history.

fretted me--

(Isa 63:10;

Eph 4:30).

thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations--that

is, this the wickedness (compare

Zec 5:8),

peculiarly hateful to God, namely, spiritual unchastity or idolatry,

over and "above" (that is, besides) all thine other abominations. I

will put it out of thy power to commit it by cutting thee off. FAIRBAIRN translates, "I will not do what is scandalous

(namely, encouraging thee in thy sin by letting it pass with impunity)

upon all thine abominations"; referring to

Le 19:29,

the conduct of a father who encouraged his daughter in harlotry.

English Version is much better.

44. As . . . mother . . . her daughter--"Is," and "so is," are

not in the original; the ellipsis gives the proverb (but two words in

the Hebrew) epigrammatic brevity. Jerusalem proved herself a true

daughter of the Hittite mother in sin

(Eze 16:3).

45. mother's . . . that loatheth her husband--that is,

God ("haters of God,"

Ro 1:30);

therefore the knowledge of the true God had originally been in Canaan,

handed down from Noah (hence we find Melchisedek, king of Salem, in

Canaan, "priest of the most high God,"

Ge 14:18),

but Canaan apostatized from it; this was what constituted the blackness

of the Canaanites' guilt.

loathed . . . children--whom she put to death in honor

of Saturn; a practice common among the Phœnicians.

sister of thy sisters--Thou art akin in guilt to Samaria and Sodom,

to which thou art akin by birth. Moab and Ammon, the incestuous children

of Lot, nephew of Abraham, Israel's progenitor, had their origin from

Sodom; so Sodom might be called Judah's sister. Samaria, answering to

the ten tribes of Israel, is, of course, sister to Judah.

46. elder sister . . . Samaria--older than Sodom, to whom Judah

was less nearly related by kindred than she was to Samaria. Sodom is

therefore called her younger sister; Samaria, her "elder sister"

[GROTIUS]. Samaria is called the "elder," because

in a moral respect more nearly related to Judah

[FAIRBAIRN]. Samaria

had made the calves at Dan and Beth-el in imitation of the cherubim.

her daughters--the inferior towns subject to Samaria (compare

Nu 21:25,

Margin).

left--The Orientals faced the east in marking the directions of the

sky; thus the north was "left," the south "right."

Sodom . . . daughters--Ammon and Moab, offshoots from Sodom; also

the towns subject to it.

47. their abominations--Milcom and Chemosh, the "abominations of Ammon

and Moab"

(1Ki 11:5, 7).

corrupted more than they--So it is expressly recorded of Manasseh

(2Ki 21:9).

48. Sodom--

(Mt 11:24).

Judah's guilt was not positively, but relatively, greater than

Sodom's; because it was in the midst of such higher privileges, and

such solemn warnings; a fortiori, the guilt of unbelievers in

the midst of the highest of all lights, namely, the Gospel, is the

greatest.

49. pride--inherited by Moab, her offspring

(Isa 16:6;

Jer 48:26),

and by Ammon

(Jer 49:4).

God, the heart-searcher, here specifies as Sodom's sin, not merely her

notorious lusts, but the secret spring of them, "pride" flowing from

"fullness of bread," caused by the fertility of the soil

(Ge 13:10),

and producing "idleness."

abundance of idleness--literally, "the secure carelessness of ease"

or idleness.

neither did she strengthen . . . the poor--Pride is always cruel; it

arrogates to itself all things, and despises brethren, for whose needs

it therefore has no feeling; as Moab had not for the outcast Jews

(Isa 16:3, 4;

Jer 48:27;

Lu 16:19-21;

Jas 5:1-5).

50. haughty--puffed up with prosperity.

abomination before me--"sinners before the Lord"

(Ge 13:13);

said of those whose sin is so heinous as to cry out to God for

immediate judgments; presumptuous sins, daring God to the face

(Ge 18:20; 19:5).

I took them away--

(Ge 19:24).

as I saw good--rather, "according to what I saw"; referring to

Ge 18:21,

where God says, "I will go down, and see whether they have done

altogether according to the cry of it which is come unto

Me."

51. Samaria--the kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel less guilty than

Judah; for Judah betrayed greater ingratitude, having greater

privileges, namely, the temple, the priesthood, and the regular order of

kings.

justified thy sisters--made them appear almost innocent by comparison

with thy guilt

(Jer 3:11;

Mt 12:41, 42).

52. Thou . . . which hast judged . . . bear thine own--

(Mt 7:1, 2;

Ro 2:1, 17-23).

Judah had judged Sodom (representing "the heathen nations") and Samaria

(Israel), saying they were justly punished, as if she herself was

innocent

(Lu 13:2).

thy shame--ignominious punishment.

53. Here follows a promise of restoration. Even the sore chastisements

coming on Judah would fail to reform its people; God's returning

goodness alone would effect this, to show how entirely of grace was to

be their restoration. The restoration of her erring sisters is mentioned

before hers, even as their punishment preceded her punishment; so all

self-boasting is excluded

[FAIRBAIRN]. "Ye shall, indeed, at some time

or other return, but Moab and Ammon shall return with you, and some of

the ten tribes" [GROTIUS].

bring again . . . captivity--that is, change the affliction into

prosperity (so

Job 42:10).

Sodom itself was not so restored

(Jer 20:16),

but Ammon and Moab (her representatives, as sprung from Lot who dwelt

in Sodom) were

(Jer 48:47; 49:6);

probably most of the ten tribes and the adjoining nations, Ammon and

Moab, &c., were in part restored under Cyrus; but the full realization

of the restoration is yet future; the heathen nations to be

brought to Christ being typified by "Sodom," whose sins they now

reproduce

(De 32:32).

captivity of thy captives--literally, "of thy captivities." However,

the gracious promise rather begins with the "nevertheless"

(Eze 16:60),

not here; for

Eze 16:59

is a threat, not a promise. The sense here thus is, Thou shalt be

restored when Sodom and Samaria are, but not till then

(Eze 16:55),

that is, never. This applies to the guilty who should be utterly

destroyed

(Eze 16:41, 42);

but it does not contradict the subsequent promise of restoration to

their posterity

(Nu 14:29-33),

and to the elect remnant of grace [CALVIN].

54. bear thine own shame--by being put on a level with those whom thou

hast so much despised.

thou art a comfort unto them--since they see thee as miserable as

themselves. It is a kind of melancholy "comfort" to those chastised to

see others as sorely punished as themselves

(Eze 14:22, 23).

55. (See on

Eze 16:53).

56. Sodom was not mentioned--literally, "was not for a report." Thou

didst not deign to mention her name as if her case could possibly apply

as a warning to thee, but it did apply

(2Pe 2:6).

57. Before thy wickedness was discovered--manifested to all, namely,

thy reproach of . . . Syria and . . . Philistines--the indignity and

injuries done thee by Syria and the Philistines

(2Ki 16:5;

2Ch 28:18;

Isa 9:11, 12).

58. borne thy lewdness--that is, the punishment of it

(Eze 23:49).

I do not treat thee with excessive rigor. Thy sin and punishment are

exactly commensurate.

59. the oath--the covenant between God and Israel

(De 29:12, 14).

As thou hast despised it, so will I despise thee. No covenant is

one-sided; where Israel broke faith, God's promise of favor ceased.

60. The promise here bursts forth unexpectedly like the sun from the

dark clouds. With all her forgetfulness of God, God still remembers her;

showing that her redemption is altogether of grace. Contrast "I will

remember," with "thou hast not remembered"

(Eze 16:22, 43);

also "My covenant," with "Thy covenant"

(Eze 16:61;

Ps 106:45);

then the effect produced on her is

(Eze 16:63)

"that thou mayest remember." God's promise was one of promise

and of grace. The law, in its letter, was Israel's

(thy) covenant, and in this restricted view was long subsequent

(Ga 3:17).

Israel interpreted it as a covenant of works, which she while boasting

of, failed to fulfil, and so fell under its condemnation

(2Co 3:3, 6).

The law, in its spirit, contains the germ of the Gospel; the New

Testament is the full development of the Old, the husk of the outer

form being laid aside when the inner spirit was fulfilled in Messiah.

God's covenant with Israel, in the person of Abraham, was the reason

why, notwithstanding all her guilt, mercy was, and is, in store for

her. Therefore the heathen or Gentile nations must come to her for

blessings, not she to them.

everlasting covenant--

(Eze 37:26;

2Sa 23:5;

Isa 55:3).

The temporary forms of the law were to be laid aside, that in its

permanent and "everlasting" spirit it might be established

(Jer 31:31-37; 32:40; 50:4, 5;

Heb 8:8-13).

61. thou shalt remember--It is God who first remembers her before she

remembers Him and her own ways before Him

(Eze 16:60;

Eze 20:43; 36:31).

ashamed--the fruit of repentance

(2Co 7:10, 11).

None please God unless those who displease themselves; a foretaste of

the Gospel

(Lu 18:9-14).

I will give them unto thee for daughters--

(Isa 54:1; 60:3, 4;

Ga 4:26,

&c.). All the heathen nations, not merely Sodom and Samaria, are meant

individual believers were gathered into the elect Church. From

Jerusalem the Gospel went forth to gather in individuals of the

Gentiles; and Judah with Jerusalem shall also be the first

nation which, as such, shall be converted to Christ; and to her

the other nations shall attach themselves as believers in

Messiah, Jerusalem's King

(Ps 110:2;

Isa 2:2, 3).

"The king's daughter" in

Ps 45:12-14

is Judah; her "companions," as "the daughter of Tyre," are the nations

given to her as converts, here called "daughters."

not by thy covenant--This does not set aside the Old Testament in

its spirit, but in its mere letter on which the Jews had rested, while

they broke it: the latter ("thy covenant") was to give place to

God's covenant of grace and promise in Christ who "fulfilled" the

law. God means, "not that thou on thy part hast stood to the covenant,

but that 'I am the Lord, I change not'

(Mal 3:6)

from My original love to thee in thy youth" (see

Ro 3:3).

62.

(Ho 2:19, 20).

thou shalt know that I am the Lord--not, as elsewhere, by the judgments

falling on thee, but by My so marvellously restoring thee through grace.

63. never open thy mouth--in vindication, or even palliation, of

thyself, or expostulation with God for His dealings

(Ro 3:19),

when thou seest thine own exceeding unworthiness, and My superabounding

grace which has so wonderfully overcome with love thy sin

(Ro 5:20).

"If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged"

(1Co 11:31).

all that thou hast done--enhancing the grace of God which has pardoned

so many and so great sins. Nothing so melts into love and humility as

the sense of the riches of God's pardoning grace

(Lu 7:47).