238 clxi. Jesus quotes the prophecy of Daniel. it ought the SECT. side with the Roman armies, [and] the abomi- of desolation spoken nation of desolation spoken of by Daniel the pro- phet,] [MARK, standof by Daniel the proLuke phet (Dan. ix. 27), standing where it ought not, ing where it XXI. 20. and displayed in an holy place; that is, when the not] [in holy standards of their desolating legions, on which place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)] they bear the detestable images of their idols, then know that the are planted on holy ground; then know, that desolation thereof is the desolation thereof is just approaching. And, 15. MARK XIII.14.—] nigh [MAT. XXIV. by the way, now I mention that remarkable prophecy, let every one that reads it pause seriously upon it, that he may understand its meaning; for it contains one of the most eminent predictions which can any where be found, of the time, purposes and consequences of my appearing; and the whole context is of great import21 ance. Now I say, when you see this sig- 21 Then let them nal, then let them that are in Judea flee, as fast to the mountains; and as they can from the fortified cities and populous let them which are in towns, to the mountains and the wilderness, the midst of it, depart where they will be secure; and especially let out; and let not them them that are in the midst of it, where Jerusalem tries, enter thereinto. stands, depart immediately out of it, before [MAT. XXIV. their retreat is cut off by the union of the enemies' forces near that centre; and let not them that are in the adjacent countries, by any means attempt to enter into it, as a place of safety; for all its strength, and all its sanctity, will not secure its inhabitants. Let every one therefore retreat as fast as possible, and let not him that is taking the air on the battlements at the top of the house, go down into the house, nor enter into it, to take away any thing, though ever so precious, Mark XIII. 15 a Planted on holy ground.] Not only the temple, and the mountain on which it stood, but the whole city of Jerusalem, and several furlongs of land round about it, were accounted holy. (See note g, on Mat. iv. Vol. VI. p. 113.)-It is remarkable, that by the special providence of God, after the Romans under Cestius Gallus made their first advance towards Jerusalem, they suddenly withdrew again, in a most unexpected, and indeed impolitic, manner; at which Josephus testifies his surprise, since the city might then have been easily taken. By this means they gave as it were a signal to the Christians to retire; which, in regard to this admonition, they did, some to Pella, and others to mount Libanus, and thereby preserved their lives. See Joseph. Bell. Jud. lib. ii. cap. 19 (al. 24), § 7, and Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. 5.Of the idolatrous standards in the Roman out which are in Judea flee that are in the coun MARK XIII.14.) 16. MARK XIII. 15. And let him that is on the house-top, not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to armies, see Grotius's excellent note on Mat. xxiv. 15. b The whole context is of great imporance.] If any wonder that so important a prophecy is not more frequently insisted upon in the New Testament, I think we may justly answer, that it was not proper for the apostles to urge it; as the exact commencement and termination of the seventy weeks was a nice controversy out of their way, and not capable of being fully cleared up to the populace, with whom they were chiefly concerned; and as several of the events referred to in it had not their complete accomplishment till some years after most of their writings were published. But that the period is long since elapsed is certain, however it might be reckoned; as Dr. Bullock has excellently shewn. See his Vindication, book ii. chap. 4, § 6. p. 2¡6— 218, and Dr. Sykes of Christianity, chap. xvi. p. 297–301. He warns his disciples to flee from the danger. 239 to take any thing out out of his house; but let him go down by the SECT. of his house. [MAT. outer-stairs, as the shortest way, lest he should XXIV. 17.] XXIV. 18.] clxi. Mark XXI. 22 16 And let him that linger to his own destruction. And let not him is in the field, not turn that is at work in the field, and hath laid aside his XIII. 16 back again for to take up his garment.[MAT. upper-garment as an incumbrance, go back, so much as a few steps, to take his clothes, lest the enemy should surprise him before he can recover them. (Compare Luke xvii. 31, p. 63.) In a word, let every one flee for his life, Luke and reckon himself sufficiently happy if he can escape with it, though in the most naked and destitute circumstances: for these are days of most terrible vengeance, to which most of the threatenings of the prophets, even from the days of Moses, do ultimately refer; and they shall be so full of distress and misery, that all the most dreadful things which are written in them may then be said to be completely fulfilled'. LUKE XXI. 22. For these be the days things which are written may be fulfilled. of vengeance, that all MARK XIII. 17. But wo to them that are with child, and to XXIV. 19. LUKE 46 But more especially there will be wo and ter- Mark ror to them that are with child, and to them that XIII. 17 give suck in those days; as their incumbrances will be peculiarly great, and they that are with them will be driven in a wild consternation to consult their own safety, to the neglect of those whom common humanity might teach them to guard and assist. 18 And pray ye And therefore pray that no additional circum- 18 that your flight be not in the winter, [neither stances of difficulty may attend you; as, for on the sabbath-day.] instance, that this your precipitate flight may not [MAT. XXIV. 20.] be in winter, when the roads are bad, and the days short and dark; nor fall out on a sabbathday; for a short journey may not be sufficient, and the regard which most of the Christians in these parts will have for that day, may make them scrupulous of violating a rest they think so sacred, by a longer march, even in a case of so much extremity. Go back to take his clothes.] These are as strong expressions as one can imagine to urge the speediest retreat. It is indeed observable, that this whole discourse abounds with very lively!figures of oratory and is heightened with the noblest beauties of description. Were it necessary to produce authorities to prove that husbandmen laid aside their upper-garment when at work, they might be found in Elsner (Observ. Vol. I. page 109, 110,) but that learned critic has impaired the beauty of the text by interpreting it as a caution not to go home to fetch them. Not to turn And back, implies fleeing directly without going d May then be said to be completely ful e Such 240 SECT. Mark Great tribulation would be in those days. ever shall be. 19 For in those And a case of extremity it will indeed be for clxi. in those days there shall be a scene of great tribu- days [LUKE, there shall be great] trilation [and] distress in the land of Judea, and bulation and ] [LUXE, XIII. 19. of dreadful wrath from heaven upon all this distress in the land, and wrath upon this people, such as the like has not been known before, people,] such as was either here or elsewhere, even from the begin- not from the beginning of the creation which God has made unto ning of the creation this time; nor ever shall the like be heard of which God created, unto this time, [no, any more; as no people ever have been, or nor ever shall be, guilty of so aggravated a crime, [M A T. XXIV. 21, and so inexcusable a series of impenitence and LUKE XXI.—23.] Luke infidelity. And therefore they shall fall by the LUKE XXI. 24. XXI. 24. edge of the sword in multitudes, both within and And they shall fall by without the city; and the consequence of all the edge of the sword, shall be, that the miserable remnant which captive into all nations: survives the general carnage shall be carried and Jerusalem shall away captive into all the most distant nations of be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the the world, and continue for many ages under times of the Gentiles great infamy, calamity, and oppression. And be fulfilled. in the mean time, Jerusalem itself shall be e Such as the like has not been,nor ever shall be.] This Josephus expressly asserts to have been the fact; and whoever reads his account, or even that judicious abstract from him which Eusebius has given us, (Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. 5, 6,) will see a sad illustration of all this; and, criminal and detestable as the Jewish nation, now was, will hardly be able to forbear weeping over those complicated miseries brought upon them by plagues and famine, and fires, occasioned 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 so many incarnate fiends rather than of men. f They shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be carried captive, &c.] It appears from Josephus that eleven hundred thousand Jews were destroyed in this war, and near an hundred thousand taken prisoners, and (according to Deut. xxviii. 68.) sold for slaves at the vilest prices. See Joseph. Bel. Jul. lib. vi. cap. 9. (al. vii. 17.) § 5. g Jerusalem shall be trampled down by the Gentiles.] Their land was sold, and no Jew was allowed to inhabit there (a rigour never used, that I know of, towards any other people conquered by the Romans; pay, they might not come within sight of And and shall be led away Jerusalem, or rather of Elia, the name given to the new city, which was built without the circuit of the former when the foundations of the old were ploughed up. A heathen temple was afterwards built where that of God had stood; and a Turkish mosque pollutes it to this day; so remarkably was the hand of God upon them. And it is well known, by the tes timony ofa heathen writer, (who ridiculously ascribes it to the fatal resistance in the element,) that Julian's impious attempt to rebuild their temple, and settle them in Jerusalem again, in professed contempt of this prophecy, was several times mira culously defeated by the eruption of balls of fire, which consumed the workmen. See Ammian. Marcel. lib. xxiii. cap. 1, p. 286. h Till the times of the Gentiles be fulfill ed.] It is much easier to vindicate the authority of the words x; wv from the objection of Dr. Mill Proleg. p. 133.) chiefly founded on their being omitted in the Cambridge Manuscript, than to determine the signification of them. I cannot suppose, with Mess. Le Clerc and L'Enfant, that by the accomplishment of the times of the Gentiles, we are to understand the time when Constantine put an end to the Gentile idolatory in Jerusalem, and MARK But the days should be shortened for the sake of the elect. Lord had shortened whom he hath chosen, 241 clxi. Mark XIII. 20. And during the wars which are to bring on SECT. And except that the this said catastrophe, except the Lord had shorthose days, no flesh tened those days no flesh could be saved; the whole should be saved: but nation would be utterly exterminated from the XIII. 30. for the elect's sake, earth, and the name of Israel no longer be had [those days shall be in remembrance: but for the elect's sake, whom shortened.] [MA T. he has graciously chosen to be at length partaXXIV. 22.] kers of the blessings of his gospel, God will so order it in his providence, that those days shall be shortened; for he hath still 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 succeeding ages *. As these then are the counsels of the Divine 21 Wisdom concerning this people, do not expect, that when calamities begin to threaten them, any miraculous deliverer should be raised up for them; and if any one shall then say unto you, Behold the Messiah [is] here or behold [he is] there, do not believe [it] or shew the least regard to any such report. (Compare Luke xvii. 23, p. 62.) and established the christian worship there. Euseb. Vit. Const. lib. iii. cap. 26.) It seems reasonable to suppose that here, as in most other places, the Gentiles are opposed to the Jews; and consequently, that all the period between the destruction of Jerusalem and the restoration of the Jews to their own land, so expressly foretold in scripture, is here intended. (See Isa. xxvii. 12, 13. Ezek. xi. 17. xx. 40, 42. xxxiv. 13. xxxvi. 24. 28. xxxvii. 21-28. xxxix. 28, 29. Hos. 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 shall then peaceably surrender it to the returning Jews, it seems most natural to suppose the time of the Gentiles here signifies the time when they shall be visited and punished; which is the sense in which this very phrase, and others nearly parallel to it, frequently occur in the Old Testament; as Brennius justly observes. (Compare Ezek. xxx. 3. as also Jer. xxvii. 7. 1. 27. Ezek. xxi. 25, 29. xxii. 3, 4.) And, if this be the sense of it, it seems an intimation that the Turks, or some other antichristian power, may continue possessed of the holy land till the restoration of the Jews; for one can hardly suppose their way into it should i Except the Lord had shortened these the k Their continuing a distinct people, a 1 False 212 clxi. Mark Pretended Messiahs would attempt to deceive them. SECT. For as this unhappy people, who are now so ob- 22 For false Christs, stinately rejecting me, will to the last support rise, and shall shew and false prophets shall themselves with vain hopes of that kind, and [great] signs and wonXIII.22. be ready eagerly to hearken to every bold impos- ders, [insomuch that, tor false Messiahs and false prophets shall arise, shall deceive the very if it were possible, they and shall pretend to shew great signs and prodi- elect.] [MAT. XXIV. gies, managed with so much art, as might, if 24.] [it were] possible, be sufficient to deceive even the very elect, and to pervert my sincere followers and disciples themselves; though indeed their hearts shall be so established by Divine grace as finally to be secured from the danger. But behold, I have forebe ye cautiously upon your guard against so dan- told you all things. gerous an imposition; for behold I have express- [MAT. XXIV. 25.] ly foretold you all these things; that on 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 23 XXIV 26 23 Buttake ye heed: MA T. XXIV. 26. Wherefore, if they Mat. it. Therefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, wherefore, we have found the expected Messiah, and he is shall say unto you, now gathering his forces about him in the wilder- Behold, he is in the ness for the deliverance of his people, do not go Behold, he is in the desart, go not forth : forth to join yourselves to his followers; [or] if secret chambers, bethey shall say, Behold [he is] in the secret apart- lieve it not. ments of some particular friend, where he is waiting to give satisfaction to those that desire it, do not believe [it] nor give yourselves the trouble 27 so much as to inquire into the affair. For you 27 For as the lightknow there is, and can be, no other Messiah but ning cometh out of the east, and shineth me; and when I appear it will be in a sudden, even unto the west; amazing, and irresist ble manner; and as the so shall also the comlightning breaks forth from the east, and shines in ing of the Son of man a moment even to the west part of the horizon, 1 False prophets shall arise, and show be. subsisting with superior miraculous powers. But it can never be inferred from such a supposition in that case, that God will suffer miracles to be wrought in proof of falsehood, when there are none of his servants to perform greater miracles on the side of truth. And when such superior miracles on the side of truth do exist, the opposite miracles at most can only prove that some invisible beings of great power, who are the abettors of falsehood, are strongly engaged to support the contrary doctrine; the consideration of which must excite all wise and good men to receive a truth so opposed with greater readiness, and to endeavour to promote it with greater zeal; as they may be sure the excellence and importance of it is propro tionable to the solicitude of these malig nant spirits to prevent its progress. m In |