Job 26:14, Ecc 8:17, Rom 11:33, Rev 15:4 | JFB | STEP | 14. parts —Rather, "only the extreme boundaries of," &c., and how faint is the whisper that we hear of Him! thunder —the entire fulness. In antithesis to "whisper" ( ).

Job 26:14

14. parts—Rather, "only the extreme boundaries of," &c., and how faint is the whisper that we hear of Him!

thunder—the entire fulness. In antithesis to "whisper" (1Co 13:9, 10, 12).

Ecclesiastes 8:17

Romans 11:33

33. Oh, the depth, &c.—The apostle now yields himself up to the admiring contemplation of the grandeur of that divine plan which he had sketched out.

of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God—Many able expositors render this, "of the riches and wisdom and knowledge," &c. [ERASMUS, GROTIUS, BENGEL, MEYER, DE WETTE, THOLUCK, OLSHAUSEN, FRITZSCHE, PHILIPPI, ALFORD, Revised Version]. The words will certainly bear this sense, "the depth of God's riches." But "the riches of God" is a much rarer expression with our apostle than the riches of this or that perfection of God; and the words immediately following limit our attention to the unsearchableness of God's "judgments," which probably means His decrees or plans (Ps 119:75), and of "His ways," or the method by which He carries these into effect. (So LUTHER, CALVIN, BEZA, HODGE, &c.). Besides, all that follows to the end of the chapter seems to show that while the Grace of God to guilty men in Christ Jesus is presupposed to be the whole theme of this chapter, that which called forth the special admiration of the apostle, after sketching at some length the divine purposes and methods in the bestowment of this grace, was "the depth of the riches of God's wisdom and knowledge" in these purposes and methods. The "knowledge," then, points probably to the vast sweep of divine comprehension herein displayed; the "wisdom" to that fitness to accomplish the ends intended, which is stamped on all this procedure.

Revelation of John 15:4

4. Who shall not—Greek, "Who is there but must fear Thee?" Compare Moses' song, Ex 15:14-16, on the fear which God's judgments strike into the foe.

thee—so Syriac. But A, B, C, Vulgate, and CYPRIAN reject "thee."

all nations shall come—alluding to Ps 22:27-31; compare Isa 66:23; Jer 16:19. The conversion of all nations, therefore, shall be when Christ shall come, and not till then; and the first moving cause will be Christ's manifested judgments preparing all hearts for receiving Christ's mercy. He shall effect by His presence what we have in vain tried to effect in His absence. The present preaching of the Gospel is gathering out the elect remnant; meanwhile "the mystery of iniquity" is at work, and will at last come to its crisis; then shall judgment descend on the apostates at the harvest-end of this age (Greek, Mt 13:39, 40) when the tares shall be cleared out of the earth, which thenceforward becomes Messiah's kingdom. The confederacy of 'the apostates against Christ becomes, when overthrown with fearful judgments, the very means in God's overruling providence of preparing the nations not joined in the Antichristian league to submit themselves to Him.

judgments—Greek, "righteousnesses."

are—literally, "were": the prophetical past for the immediate future.