Sivut kuvina
PDF
ePub

Mark XIII. 15.

382 Sect. 161. Battlements at the Top of the Houfe, go down into the Houfe, nor enter into it, to take away any Thing, tho' ever fo precious, out of his House; but let him go down by the outer Stairs, as the shortest Way, left he should linger to his own Destruction. 16 And let not him that is at work in the Field, and hath laid afide his upper Garment as an Incumbrance, go back fo much as to take his Clothes, if they are not juft at Hand (c); left the Enemy fhould furprize him, before he can recover them. Luke XXI. (Compare Luke xvii. 31. pag. 190.)

He warns his Difciples to flee from the Danger.

22.

Mark XIII. 17.

18

In a

Word, let every one flee for his Life, and reckon
himfelf fufficiently happy, if he can escape with
it, tho' in the most naked and deftitute Circum-
ftances: For thefe are Days of most terrible Ven-
geance, to which most of the Threatenings of the
Prophets, even from the Days of Mofes, do ulti-
mately refer; and they fhall be fo full of Diftrefs
and Mifery, that all the most dreadful Things
which are written in them, may then be faid to
be compleatly fulfilled (d).

But more efpecially there will be Woe and
Terror to them that are with Child, and.to them
that give Suck in thofe Days; as their Incumbrances
will be peculiarly great; and they that are with
them will be driven in a wild Confternation to
confult their own Safety, to the Neglect of those
whom common Humanity might teach them to
guard and affift.

And therefore pray, that no additional Cir-
cumstances of Difficulty may attend
you; as for
In-

Top, not go down into the in, to take any Thing out of his House. [MAT.XXIV. · 17.

House, neither enter there

16 And let him that is

in the Field, not turn back again for to take up his Garment. [MAT. XXIV. 18.]

LUKE XXI. 22. For

thefe be the Days of Vengeance, that all Things which are written may be fulfilled.

MARK XIII. 17. But

Wo to them that are with
Child, and to them that give
Suck in thofe Days. [MAT.
XXIV. 19. LUKE XXI.
23.-]

18 And pray ye that your Flight

(c) Go back to take his Clothes.] Thefe are as ftrong Expreffions as one can imagine, to urge the speedieft Retreat. It is indeed obfervable, that this whole Difcourfe abounds with very lively Figures of Oratory, and is heightened with the nobleft Beauties of Defcription. Were it neceffary to produce Authorities, to prove that Husbandmen laid afide their upper Garment when at Work, they might be found in Elfner; (Obferv. Vol. i. pag. 109, 110.) but that learned Critick has impaired the Beauty of the Text, by interpreting it as a Caution not to go Home to fetch them. Not to turn back implies, fleeing directly without going back (as we fpeak in the Country,) fo much as a Land's Length to take them up; and fo it rifes on the former Verfe.

(d) May then be faid to be compleatly fulfilled.] Among many admirable Things to be found in that great Original, Dr. Jackfon's Credibility of the Scriptures, I cannot but reckon that Part of it, in which he fhews, how exactly the Prophecies of Mofes were accomplished in the Slaughter and Difperfion of the Jews, in, and quickly after, this fatal War with the Romans. See the Paffages quoted below, in Note (m).

(e) Such

Great Tribulation would be in thofe Days.

[blocks in formation]

18.

383

Inftance, that this your precipitate Flight may Sect. 161.
not be in Winter, when the Roads are bad, and
the Days short and dark; nor on the Sabbath- Mark XIII.
Day; for a fhort Journey may not be sufficient,
and the Regard which most of the Chriftians in
thefe Parts will have for that Day, may make
them fcrupulous of violating a Reft they think
fo facred, by a longer March, even in a Cafe of
fo much Extremity.

And a Cafe of Extremity it will indeed be; 19
for in thofe Days there fhall be a Scene of great
Tribulation [and] Diftrefs in the Land of Judea,
and of dreadful Wrath from Heaven upon all
this People, fuch as the like has not been known
before, either here or elsewhere, even from the
Beginning of the Creation which GOD has made,
unto this Time; nor ever fhall the like be heard
of any more (e); as no People ever have been,
or ever fhall be, guilty of fo aggravated a Crime,
and fo inexcufable a Series of Impenitence and
Infidelity. And therefore they fhall fall by the Luke XXI.
Edge of the Sword in Multitudes, both within 24.
and without the City; and the Confequence of
all fhall be, that the miserable Remnant which fur-
vives the general Carnage, fhall be carried away
Captive into all the most distant Nations of the
World (f), and continue for many Ages under
great Infamy, Calamity, and Oppreffion. And
in the mean Time, Jerufalem itself fhall be tram-
pled down and demolished by the Gentiles (g), till

the

(e) Such as the like has not been,nor ever fhall be.] This Jofephus exprefsly afferts to have been Fact; and whoever reads his Account, or even that judicious Abstract from him which Eufebius has given us, (Ecclef. Hift. lib. iii. cap. 5, 6.) will fee a fad Illuftration of all this; and criminal and deteftable as the Jewish Nation now was, will hardly be able to forbear weeping over thofe complicated Miferies brought upon them, by Plagues, and Famine, and Fires, occafioned by the Siege, and by the Carnage made, not only by the Romans, but by the yet greater Cruelties of the Seditious and Zealots within the City, who really acted the Part of fo many incarnate Fiends, rather than of Men.

(f) They fhall fall by the Edge of the Sword, and fhall be carried Captive &c.] It is well. known, (according to Jofephus,) that Eleven hundred thousand Jews were deftroyed in this War; and near an Hundred thousand taken Prifoners, and (acccording to Deut. xxviii, 68.) fold for Slaves at the vileft Prices. See Jofeph. Bell. Jud. lib. vi. cap. 9. (al. vii. 17.) §. 3. (8) Jerufalem fhall be trampled down by the Gentiles.] Their Land was fold, and no few was allowed to inhabit there; (a Rigour never used, that I know of, towards any other People conquered by the Romans;) nay, they might not come within Sight of Jerufalem, or rather of Elia, the Name given to the new City, when the Foundations of the old were

plowed

384

Thofe Days fhould be fhortened for the fake of the Elect.

Sect. 161.the Times appointed for thefe Triumphs and In- Gentiles, until the Times of fults of the Gentiles fhall be fulfilled, and the Day the Gentiles be fulfilled. come, when GOD fhall remember his antient People in Mercy (h).

Luke XXI. 24.

Mark XIII.

20.

And during the Wars which are to bring on this fad Catastrophe, except the Lord had shortened thofe Days, no Flesh could be faved; the whole Nation would be utterly exterminated from the Earth, and the Name of Ifrael no longer be had in Remembrance (i): But for the Elect's fake, whom he has graciously chofen to be at length Partakers of the Bleffings of his Gofpel, GoD will fo

order

MARK XIII. 20. And

except that the Lord had fhould be faved: but for the Elect's fake, whom he hath

fhortned those Days, no Flesh

chofen,

plowed up. A Heathen Temple was built, where that of GOD had ftood; and a Turkish Mafque pollutes it to this Day. So remarkably was the Hand of GOD upon them. And it is well known, by the Teftimony of a Heathen Writer, (who ridiculously afcribes it to a fatal Refiftance in the Element,) that Julian's impious Attempt to rebuild their Temple, and fettle them in Jerufalem again, in profeffed Contempt of this Prophecy, was feveral Times miraculously defeated by the Eruption of Balls of Fire, which confumed the Workmen. See Ammian. Marcell. lib. xxiii. cap. 1. pag. 286.

(b) Till the Times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.] It is much easier to vindicate the Authority of the Words natpos svay from the Objection of Dr. Mill, (Proleg. pag. 133.) chiefly founded on their being omitted in the Cambridge Manufcript, than to determine the Signification of them. I cannot fuppofe, with Meff. Le Clerc and L'Enfant, that by the Accomplishment of the Times of the Gentiles, we are to underftand the Time when Conftantine put an End to the Gentile Idolatry in Jerufalem, and established the Chriftian Worship there. (Eufeb. Vit. Conft. lib. iii. cap. 26.) It seems reasonable to fuppofe, that here, as in most other Places, the Gentiles are oppofed to the Jews; and confequently, that all the Period, between the Destruction of Jerufalem, and the Restoration of the Jews to their own Land, fo expressly foretold in Scripture, is here intended. (See Ifa. xxvii. 12, 13. Ezek. xi. 17. xx. 40, 42. xxxiv. 13. xxxvi. 24, 28. xxxvii. 21,-28. xxxix. 28, 29. Hof. iii. 5. Amos ix. 14, 15. and Zech. xiv. 10, 11.) With this indeed is connected the bringing in, what St. Paul calls, the Fulness of the Gentiles: Rom. xi. 25, 26. But unless it could be proved, (which I do not recollect,) that the Inhabitants of Palestine fhall then peaceably furrender it to the returning Jews, it feems most natural to fuppofe, the Time of the Gentiles here fignifies, the Time when they fhall be vifited and punished; which is the Senfe, in which this very Phrafe, and others nearly parallel to it, frequently occur in the Old Teftament; as Brennius juftly obferves. (Compare Ezek. xxx. 3. as alfo Jer. xxvii. 7. 1. 27. Ezek xxi. 25, 29. xxii. 3, 4.) And if it be fo, it feems an Intimation, that the Turks, or fome other Antichriftian Power, may continue poffeffed of the Holy Land, till the Reftoration of the Jews; for one can hardly fuppofe, their Way into it fhould then be opened by the Conquest of a Chriftian Nation.

(i) Except the Lord had fhortened thofe Days, no Flesh could be faved; &c.] Such were the Quarrels that prevailed among the Jews, that Numbers of them were deftroyed by one another; and the whole Country was become a Scene of fuch Defolation and Bloodshed, that not only thofe who were fhut up in Jerufalem, but the whole Jewish Nation would have fuffered much more by the longer Continuance of the Siege, confidering how much the fame Spirit prevailed among them in other Places.-Mr. Reading, in his Life of Chrift, pag. 309. understands the Days being fhortened for the Elect's fake, of the Prefervation of the Chriftians at Pella, whofe Safety he fuppofes to have depended on the shortening of the Siege, and whom he takes to be the Elect intended here. (See Dr. Whitby on Mark xiii. 20.)Of the fpecial Providences by which the Siege was fhortened, fee Grotius on Mat, xxiv. 22..

(*) Their

Pretended Meffiahs would attempt to deceive them.

chofen, [thofe Days fhall be shortned.] [MAT. XXIV. 22.]

21 And then, if any Man fhall fay to you, Lo, here is Chrift, or lo, he is there; believe him not. [MAT. XXIV. 23.]

22 For falfe Chrifts, and falfe Prophets fhall rife, and shall fhew [great] Signs and Wonders, [infomuch that, if it were poffible, they fhall deceive the very Elect. [MAT. XXIV. 24.]

23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all Things. [MAT. XXIV.25.]

MAT.XXIV.26.Wherefore, if they fhall fay unto you, Behold, he is in the De

fart,

Mark XIII.

385 order it in his Providence, that thofe Days shall be Se&. 161. Shortened; for he hath ftill Purposes of Love toward the Seed of Abraham, which shall at length take Place; (Rom. xi. 26.) and in the mean Time, he will make their continuing a distinct People, a Means of confirming the Faith of Christians in fucceeding Ages (k).

20.

And therefore, as thefe are the Counfels of the 21 Divine Wisdom concerning this People, do not expect, that when Calamity begins to threaten them, he should raife up for them any miracu-lous Deliverer; and if any one fhall then say to you, Behold, the Meffiah [is] here; or behold, [he is] there, do not believe [it.] (Compare Luke xvii. 23. pag. 189.) For as this unhappy People, who 22 are now fo obftinately rejecting me, will to the laft fupport themselves with vain Hopes of that Kind, and be ready eagerly to hearken to every ] bold Impoftor; falfe Meffiabs, and falfe Prophets fball arife, and fhall pretend to fhew great Signs and Prodigies (1), managed with fo much Art, as might, if [it were] poffible, be fufficient to deceive even the very Elect, and to pervert my fincere Followers and Difciples themselves; tho' indeed their Hearts shall be fo established by Divine Grace, as finally to be fecured from the Danger. But be ye cautiously upon your Guard 23 against fo dangerous an Impofition; for behold, I have exprefsly foretold have exprefsly foretold you all these Things; that comparing the Event with the Prediction, your Faith may be established, by those very Circumstances, which in another View might have a Tendency to shake it.. Therefore if they fhall fay Mat, XXIV. unto you, Behold, we have found the expected 26. Meffiah, and he is now gathering his Forces about him in the Wilderness for the Deliverance of his

People,

(k) Their continuing a diftinct People, a Means of confirming the Faith of Chriftians, &c.] This I have fhewn at large in my Ten Sermons, Ser. x. pag. 277,-279. and the Reader may fee the Remark farther illuftrated, by Mr. Addifon, Spectat. vol. vii. No 495. and in Burnet's Four Difcourfes, pag. 8,—10.

(1) Falfe Meffiahs and falfe Prophets fhall arife, &c.] This is not a mere Repetition of what was faid before, in ver. 6. (pag. 374.) but relates to thofe Impoftors, who appeared during the Time of the Siege; of which fee Jofeph. Bell. Jud. lib. vi. cap. 5. (al. vii. 11.) §. 2. and Eufeb. Ecclef. Hift. lib. iv. cap. 6. See alfo Grotius, on Mat. xxiv. 24.

[blocks in formation]

(m) In

Mat. XXIV.

386 Sect. 161. People, do not go forth to join yourselves to his Followers; [or] if they fhall fay, Behold, [he is 26. in the Secret Apartments of fome particular Friend, where he is waiting to give Satisfaction to thofe that defire it, do not believe [it,] nor give yourfelves the Trouble fo much as to enquire into the 27 Affair. For you know, there is, and can be no other Meffiah but me; and when I appear, it will be in a fudden, amazing, and irrefiftible Manner; and as the Lightning breaks forth from the Eaft, and fhines in a Moment even to the Weft Part of the Horizon; fo fudden, and confpicuous alfo fhall the Coming of the Son of Man be, both in his Appearance to the Destruction of Jerufalem, and to the final Judgment. (Compare 28 Luke xvii. 24. pag. 189.) And very exten

Where the Carcafe is, the Eagles will gather together.

Luke xxi. 21.4

fart, go not forth behold, he is in the fecret Chambers, believe it not.

27 For as the Lightning cometh out of the Eaft, and fo fhall alfo the Coming of the Son of Man be.

fhineth even unto the Weft;

28 For wherefoever the

five also will the Defolation be; for, as I former- Carcafe is, there will the
ly told you, (Luke xvii. 37. pag. 191.) where- Eagles be gathered together..
foever the dead Carcafe is, there will the Eagles na-
turally be gathered together; and where-ever the
obftinate Enemies of my Kingdom are, they shall
be fought out, and deftroyed: And here in par-
ticular I will fend the Roman Eagles against them,
who shall confume and devour them as a help-
lefs Prey, not only at Jerufalem,, but over the.
Face of the whole Country; and afterwards in
fome more diftant Regions, where the greatest
Numbers of Jews are fettled (m).

I

IMPROVEMENT.

Four Lord urges his Difciples, with fuch fpeedy and folicitous Hafte, to flee from the Sword of God's Temporal Judgments, how much greater Diligence should we give to flee from the Wrath to come! What

are

(m) In fome more diftant Regions, &c.] There may perhaps be an oblique Intimation in this Paffage, of the Slaughter afterwards made on the Jews elsewhere, and particularly under Adrian and Trajan; when what had been foretold by Mofes (Deut. xxviii. 49, & feq.) was remarkably fulfilled, and as an Eagle flies upon its Prey, their Enemies purfued them to Deftruction; and the Calamities they underwent were fuch, that (as Die Caffius informs us, Hift. lib. 69.) 50,000 were flain, 500 of their Fortreffes were demolished, and 900 of their chief Towns in Egypt, Crete, &c. were plundered and burnt to the Ground: Not to mention the terrible Things they afterwards fuffered, in France, Italy, Spain, and other Parts of Europe, in the Decline of the Roman Empire: Of all which fee Dr. Jackson's Eternal Truth of the Scriptures, Book i. part 2. fect. 3. chap. 6, 10,—13.

« EdellinenJatka »