PROPHECY XXVII. The restoration of Israel-Their instrumentality in converting the Gentiles-The state of the Jews in the days of their dispersion. Hosea i. 2. The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea was in this manner. The Lord said unto Hosea; Go, take to thee a wife of prostitution, and children of promiscuous commerce : for the land is perpetually playing the wanton, forsaking the Lord. 3. So he went, and took Gomer, daughter of Diblaim; and she conceived, and bare him a son. 4. And the Lord said unto him, call his name Jezrael (a seed of God); for yet a little while, and I will visit the blood of Jezrael upon the house of Jehu, and I will abolish the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5. And it shall be in that very day*, when I break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezrael. 6. And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God. said, Call her name Lo-Ruhamah (not beloved): for I will no more cherish with tenderness the house of Israel, insomuch as to be perpetually forgiving * In that very day.] "This entire abolition of the kingdom of the ten tribes shall take effect at the time when I break the "bow of Israel in the valley of Jezrael." Bp. Horseley's Hosea in loc. them. them. 7. But the house of Judah with tenderness I will cherish; and I will save them by the Lord their God*; and will not save them by bow, nor "These expres * I will save them by Jehovah their God.] "sions are too magnificent to be understood of any thing but "the final rescue of the Jews from the power of Antichrist in the "latter ages, by the incarnate God destroying the enemy with the brightness of his coming; of which the destruction of Senna“cherib's army, in the days of Hezekiah, might be a type, but "it was nothing more. It may seem perhaps, that the prophecy points at some deliverance peculiar to the house of << Judah, in which the ten tribes will have no share; such as "the overthrow of Sennacherib actually was: whereas the de"struction of Antichrist will be an universal blessing. But, "in the different treatment of the house of Judah and the house of Israel, we see the prophecy hitherto remarkably verified. "After the excision of the kingdom of the ten tribes, Judah, "though occasionally visited with severe judgments, continued "however to be cherished with God's love, till they rejected our Lord. Then Judah became Lo-Ammi; but still con"tinues to be visibly an object of God's love, preserved as a "distinct race for gracious purposes of mercy. Perhaps in "the last ages the converts of the house of Judah will be the principal objects of Antichrist's malice. Their deliverance "may be first wrought, and through them the blessing may "be extended to their brethren of the ten tribes, and ultimately is to the whole world. This order of things the subsequent "prophecy seems to point out" (Bp. Horsley in loc.). Other prophecies teach us, that the deliverance of the converted of Judah will be first wrought. In fact, the ten tribes will have no share in the deliverance from Antichrist. His wrath will be directed exclusively against Judah: and the ten tribes will not be restored until after his final overthrow between the seas in the land of Palestine. by 2 men. by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horse8. And she weaned Lo-Ruhamah; and she conceived, and bare a son. 9. And God said, Call his name Lo-Ammi (not a people of mine), for ye are no people of mine, and I will not be yours. 10. Nevertheless the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured, and cannot be counted; and it shall be, that, in the placet where it was said unto them, No people of mine are ye, there it shall be said unto them, Children of the living God. 11. And the children of Judah shall be collected ‡, ⚫ and "I think this is to * The number of the children of Israel.] "be understood of the mystical Israel; their numbers, consiste "ing of myriads of converts, both of the natural Israel, and "their adopted brethren of the Gentiles, shall be immeasurably "great" (Bp. Horsley in loc.). It may however relate, with perhaps equal propriety, to the literal Israel. See Ezek. xxxvii. 2, 10. and Isaiah xlix. 19, 20, 21. + In the place.] "That is at Jerusalem, or at least in Judea, "where this prophecy was delivered, and where the execution "of the sentence took place. There, in that very place, they, "to whom it was said, Ye are no people of mine, shall be called "children of the living God. This must relate to the natural "Israel of the house of Judah, for to them it was said, Ye are "no people of mine. And, since they are to be acknowledged 46 again as the children of the living God in the same place "where this sentence was pronounced and executed, the prophecy clearly promises their restoration to their own land." Bp. Horsely in loc. 66 The children of Judah shall be collected.] "When converts "of the house of Judah shall have obtained a re-settlement in the "Holy VOL. II. M and the children of Israel shall be united, and they shall appoint themselves one head, and come up from the earth. For great shall be the day of Jezrael *. ii. 21. And it shall be in that day, I will perform my part, saith the Lord. I will perform my part upon the heavens; and they shall perform their part upon the earth; 22. And the earth shall perform her part upon the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall perform their part upon the Jezrael (the seed of God). 23. And I will sow her as a seed, for my own-self, in the earth; "Holy Land, then a general conversion shall take place of the race of Judah, and the race of the ten tribes. They shall "unite in one confession, and in one polity, under one king, "Christ the Saviour." Bp. Horsley in loc. * Great shall be the day of Jezrael.] "Great and happy "shall be the day, when the holy seed of both branches of the "natural Israel shall be publicly acknowledged of their God; "united under one head, their king Messiah; and restored to the possession of the promised land, and to a situation of high pre-eminence among the kingdoms of the earth" (Bp. Horsley in loc.). Great likewise will this day be, as a day of judgment upon the Antichristian faction. + I will sow her.] "The myriads of the natural Israel, con"verted by the preaching of the Apostles, were the first seed "of the Universal Church. And there is reason to believe, "that the restoration of the converted Jews will be the occasion "and means of a prodigious influx of new converts from the "Gentiles in the latter ages (Rom. xi. 12, 15.). Thus the "Jezrael of the natural Israel from the first have been, and to "the last will prove, a seed sown of God for himself in the earth." Bp. Horsley in loc. and with tenderness I will cherish her, that had been Lo Ruhamah (the not beloved); and I will say to Lo-Ammi (no people of mine), Ammi (my own people) art thou; and he shall say, My God. iii. 1. And the Lord said unto me again, Go, love the woman addicted to wickedness and an adultress; after the manner of the Lord's love for the children of Israel, although they look to other gods, and are addicted to goblets of wine. 2. So I owned her as my own by fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer and a half of barley. 3. And I said. unto her, Many days shalt thou tarry for me*; thou shalt not play the wanton, and thou shalt not have to do with a husband, neither will I with thee. 4. For many days shall the children of Israel tarry, without king, and without ruler t, and without sacrifice, and without statue, and without * Many days shalt thou tarry for me.] "The condition of "the woman, restrained from licentious courses, owned as a "wife, but without restitution of conjugal rites, admifably re"presents the present state of the Jews, manifestly owned as a peculiar people, withheld from idolatry, but as yet without access to God through the Saviour." Bp. Horsley in loc. + Without king and without ruler.] "Without a monarch, "and without any government of their own." Bp. Horsley in loc. Without sacrifice.] "Deprived of the means of offering "the typical sacrifices of the law, and having as yet no share "in the true sacrifice of Christ." Bp. Horsley in loc. |