ture is common among all writers, especially where the several passages quoted and merged into each other, refer to the same subject. It is obvious that the writers of the New Testament are very free in their mode of quoting from the Old, giving the sense, as they, being inspired by the same Spirit, could do authoritatively, without binding themselves strictly to the words. The former of the two passages here referred to, stands thus, in our version, "Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste," which is according to the Hebrew. The other passage, Is. 8: 14, is, " And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence to both houses of Israel."

66

Isaiah 28, is a prophecy against those who had various false grounds of confidence, and who desired a league with Egypt as a defence against the attacks of the Assyrians. God says, he has laid a much more secure foundation for his church than any such confederacy, even a precious, tried corner stone; those who confided on it should never be confounded. The prophets, constantly filled with the expectation of the Messiah, and, in general, ignorant of the time of his advent, were accustomed, on every threatened danger, to comfort the people by the assurance that the efforts of their enemies could not prevail, because the Messiah was to come. Until his advent, they could not, as a people, be destroyed, and when he came, there should be a glorious restoration of all things; see Is. 7: 14-16, and elsewhere. There is, therefore, no force in the objection, that the advent of Christ was an event too remote to be available to the consolation of the people, when threatened with the immediate invasion of their enemies. This passage, therefore, is properly quoted by the apostle, because it was intended originally to apply to Christ. The sacred writers of the New Testament so understood and explain it; see 1 Peter 2: 6. Matt. 21:42. Acts 4: 11; compare also Ps. 118: 22. 1 Cor. 3: 11. Eph. 2: 20, and other passages, in which Christ is spoken of as the foundation or corner stone of his church. The same interpretation of the passage was given by the ancient Jews.*

The other passage, Is. 8: 14, is of much the same character.

* MARTINI Pugio Fidei, Lib. II. cap. 5, p. 342, and the passages quoted by Rosenmüller and Gesenius on Is. 28: 16.

God exhorts the people not to be afraid of the combination between Syria and Ephraim. The Lord of hosts was to be feared and trusted, he would be a refuge to those who confided in him, but a stone of stumbling and rock of offence to all others. This passage too, as appears from a comparison of the one previously cited with Ps. 118: 22, and the quotation and application of them by the New Testament writers, refers to Christ. What is said in the Old Testament of Jehovah, the inspired penmen of the New do not hesitate to refer to the Saviour; compare John 12: 41. Is. 6: 1. Heb. 1: 10, 11. Ps. 102: 25. 1 Cor. 10: 9. Ex. 17: 2,7. When God, therefore, declared that he should be a sanctuary to one class of the people, and a rock of offence to another, he meant that he, in the person of his Son, as the Immanuel, would thus be confided in by some, but rejected and despised by others. The whole spirit, opinions and expectations of the Jews were adverse to the person, character and doctrines of the Redeemer. He was, therefore, to them a stumbling block, as he was to others foolishness. They could not recognize him as their fondly anticipated Messiah, nor consent to enter the kingdom of heaven on the terms which he prescribed. In them, therefore, were fulfilled the ancient prophecies, which spoke of their rejection of Christ, and consequent excision from the people of God.

Doctrines.

1. Exclusion from the pale of any visible church does not of itself imply that men are without the reach of divine mercy, vs. 25, 26.

2. As the world has hitherto existed, only a small portion of the nominal members of the church, or of the professors of the true religion, has been the real people of God, vs. 27, 28, 29.

3. Error is often a greater obstacle to the salvation of men than carelessness or vice. Christ said that publicans and harlots would enter the kingdom of God before the Pharisees. In like manner the thoughtless and sensual Gentiles were more susceptible of impression from the gospel, and were more frequently converted to Christ, than the Jews, who were wedded to erroneous views of the plan of salvation, vs. 30, 31.

4. Agreeably to the declarations of the previous portion of this chapter, and the uniform tenor of scripture, the ground of

the distinction between the saved and the lost, is to be found not in men, but in God. He has mercy on whom he will have mercy. But the ground of the condemnation of men is always in themselves. That God gave his saving grace to more Gentiles than Jews, in the early ages of the church, must be referred to his sovereign pleasure; but that the Jews were cut off and perished, is to be referred to their own unbelief. In like manner, every sinner must look into his own heart and conduct for the ground of his condemnation, and never to any secret purpose of God, v. 32.

5. Christ crucified has ever been either foolishness or an offence to unrenewed men. Hence, right views of the Saviour's character and cordial approbation of the plan of salvation through him, are characteristic of those "who are called;" i. e. they are evidences of a renewed heart, v. 33.

Remarks.

1. The consideration that God has extended to us, who were not his people, all the privileges and blessings of his children, should be a constant subject of gratitude, vs. 25, 26.

2. If only a remnant of the Jewish church, God's own people, were saved, how careful and solicitous should all professors of religion be, that their faith and hope be well founded, vs. 27-29.

3. Let no man think error in doctrine a slight practical No road to perdition has ever been more thronged than that of false doctrine. Error is a shield over the conscience, and a bandage over the eyes, vs. 30, 31.

4. No form of error is more destructive than that which leads to self-dependence; either reliance on our own powers, or on our own merit, v. 32.

5. To criminate God, and excuse ourselves, is always an evidence of ignorance and depravity, v. 32.

6. Christ declared those blessed who were not offended at him. If our hearts are right in the sight of God, Jesus Christ is to us at once the object of supreme affection, and the sole ground of confidence, v. 33.

7. The gospel produced at first the same effects as those we now witness. It had the same obstacles to surmount; and it

was received or rejected by the same classes of men then as now. Its history, therefore, is replete with practical instruction.

CHAPTER X.

Contents.

THE object of this chapter, as of the preceding and of the one which follows, is to set forth the truth in reference to the rejection of the Jews as the peculiar people of God, and the extension to all nations of the offers of salvation. The first verses are again, as those at the beginning of ch. 9, introductory and conciliatory, setting forth the ground of the rejection of the Jews, vs. 1-4. The next section contains an exhibition of the terms of salvation, designed to show that they were as accessible to the Gentiles as the Jews, vs. 5-10. The plan of salvation being adapted to all, and God being the God of all, the The truth here

gospel should be preached to all, vs. 11-17.

taught (the calling of the Gentiles, &c.) was predicted clearly in the Old Testament, vs. 18-21.

CHAP. 10: 1-10.

Analysis.

WITH his usual tenderness the apostle assures his brethren of his solicitude for their welfare, and of his proper appreciation of their character, vs. 1, 2. The difficulty was, that they would not submit to the plan of salvation proposed in the gospel, and, therefore, they rejected the Saviour. This was the true ground of their excision from the people of God, vs. 3-4. The method of justification, on which the Jews insisted, was legal, and from its nature must be confined to themselves, or to those who would consent to become Jews. Its terms, when properly understood, were perfectly impracticable, v. 5. But the gospel method of salvation prescribes no such severe terms, it simply requires cordial faith and open profession, vs. 6-10. This, he

shows, in the next verses, is the doctrine of the scriptures, and from it he infers the applicability of this plan to all men, Gentiles as well as Jews.

Commentary.

(1) Brethren, my hearts desire, and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.* As the truth which Paul was to reiterate in the ears of the Jew was, of all others, to them the most offensive, he endeavours to allay their enmity, first, by assuring them of his affection, and secondly, by avoiding all exaggeration in the statement of their case. He had no pleasure in contemplating the evils which impended over them, his earnest desire and prayer was (sis dwrngiav) that they might be saved; literally to salvation, as expressing the end or object towards which his wishes and prayers tend; see ch. 6: 22. Gal. 3: 17, and frequent examples elsewhere of this use of the preposition sis

(2) For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God. So far from desiring to exaggerate the evil of their conduct, the apostle, as was his uniform manner, endeavoured to bring every thing commendable and exculpatory fully into view. The word for has here its appropriate force, as it introduces the ground or reason of the preceding declaration. I desire their salvation, for they themselves are far from being unconcerned as to divine things.' Zeal of God may mean very great zeal, as cedars of God mean great cedars, according to a common Hebrew idiom; or zeal of which God is the object; the latter explanation is to be preferred. John 2: 17, "The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up." Acts 21: 22, "Zealous of the law." Acts 22: 3, "Zealous of God." Gal. 1: 14, &c. &c. The Jews had great zeal about God, but it was wrong as to its object, and of consequence wrong in its moral qualities. Zeal when rightly directed, however ardent, is humble and amiable. When its object is evil, it is proud, censorious and cruel. Hence, the importance of its being properly guided, not merely to prevent the waste of feeling and effort, but principally to prevent its

Hinc videmus, quanta sollicitudine sanctus vir offensionibus obviarit. Adhuc enim, ut temperet quicquid erat accerbitatis in exponenda Judaeorum rejectione, suam, ut prius, erga eos benevolentiam testatur, et eam ab effectu comprobat, quod sibi eorum salus curae esset coram Domino.-CALVIN.