Isa 2:2-4, Jer 3:16-18 | JFB | STEP | 2. Same as . As Micah prophesied in Jotham's reign, and Isaiah in Uzziah's, Micah rests on Isaiah, whom he confirms: not vice versa. HENGSTENBERG on slight grounds makes the original. last days —that is, Messiah's: especially the days yet to come, to which all prophecy hastens, when "the house of the God of Jacob, " namely, at Jerusalem, shall be the center to which the converted nations shall flock together ( ); where "the kingdom" of Israel is regarded as certain and the time alone uncertain ( ). mountain of the Lord's house . . . in the top, &c.—the temple on Mount Moriah: type of the Gospel, beginning at Jerusalem, and, like an object set on the highest hill, made so conspicuous that all nations are attracted to it. flow

Isaiah 2:2-4

2. Same as Mic 4:1. As Micah prophesied in Jotham's reign, and Isaiah in Uzziah's, Micah rests on Isaiah, whom he confirms: not vice versa. HENGSTENBERG on slight grounds makes Mic 4:1 the original.

last days—that is, Messiah's: especially the days yet to come, to which all prophecy hastens, when "the house of the God of Jacob," namely, at Jerusalem, shall be the center to which the converted nations shall flock together (Mt 13:32; Lu 2:31, 32; Ac 1:6, 7); where "the kingdom" of Israel is regarded as certain and the time alone uncertain (Ps 68:15, 16; 72:8, 11).

mountain of the Lord's house . . . in the top, &c.—the temple on Mount Moriah: type of the Gospel, beginning at Jerusalem, and, like an object set on the highest hill, made so conspicuous that all nations are attracted to it.

flow—as a broad stream (Isa 66:12).

3. If the curse foretold against Israel has been literally fulfilled, so shall the promised blessing be literal. We Gentiles must not, while giving them the curse, deny them their peculiar blessing by spiritualizing it. The Holy Ghost shall be poured out for a general conversion then (Jer 50:5; Zec 8:21, 23; Joe 2:28).

from Jerusalem— (Lu 24:47) an earnest of the future relations of Jerusalem to Christendom (Ro 11:12, 15).

4. judge—as a sovereign umpire, settling all controversies (compare Isa 11:4). LOWTH translates "work," "conviction."

plowshares—in the East resembling a short sword (Isa 9:6, 7; Zec 9:10).

Jeremiah 3:16-18

16. they shall say no more—The Jews shall no longer glory in the possession of the ark; it shall not be missed, so great shall be the blessings of the new dispensation. The throne of the Lord, present Himself, shall eclipse and put out of mind the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat between the cherubim, God's former throne. The ark, containing the two tables of the law, disappeared at the Babylonian captivity, and was not restored to the second temple, implying that the symbolical "glory" was to be superseded by a "greater glory" (Hag 2:9).

neither . . . visit it—rather, "neither shall it be missed" (so in Jer 23:4).

done—rather, "neither shall it (the ark) be made (that is, be restored) any more" [MAURER].

17. Jerusalem—the whole city, not merely the temple. As it has been the center of the Hebrew theocracy, so it shall be the point of attraction to the whole earth (Isa 2:2-4; Zec 2:10, 11; 14:16-21).

throne of . . . Lord—The Shekinah, the symbol of God's peculiar nearness to Israel (De 4:7) shall be surpassed by the antitype, God's own throne in Jerusalem (Ps 2:6, 8; Eze 34:23, 24; Zec 2:5).

imagination—rather, as Margin, "the obstinacy" or stubbornness.

18. Judah . . . Israel . . . together—Two distinct apostasies, that of Israel and that of Judah, were foretold (Jer 3:8, 10). The two have never been united since the Babylonish captivity; therefore their joint restoration must be still future (Isa 11:12, 13; Eze 37:16-22; Ho 1:11).

north— (Jer 3:12).

land . . . given . . . inheritance— (Am 9:15).