_A.M. 3559. B.C. 445._ The people keep a solemn fast, Nehemiah 9:1. The Levites bless God for his goodness to them and their fathers, Nehemiah 9:4. In Egypt, and their journey out of it, Nehemiah 9:9. On mount Sinai, Nehemiah 9:13; Nehemiah 9:14. In their journey toward Canaan, Nehemiah 9:15. In th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now in the twenty and fourth day_ The feast of tabernacles began on the fourteenth day, and ended on the twenty-second, all which time mourning had been forbidden, as contrary to the nature of the feast, which was to be kept with joy. But now, on the twenty-fourth, the next day but one after the fe... [ Continue Reading ]
_The seed of Israel separated themselves_ From all unnecessary society with the heathen, and particularly from those strange women whom some of them had married. For although Ezra had effected this separation formerly, as far as he had knowledge of the faulty persons, and power to reform them; yet i... [ Continue Reading ]
_They stood up and read in the book of the law_ That is, the Levites stood up in a place built for them, and read the law as they did before, interpreting the sense of what they read. _One fourth part of the day _ To wit, for three hours; for there were reckoned twelve hours in their day. Probably t... [ Continue Reading ]
_They stood upon the stairs_ Upon such stairs or pulpits as the Levites usually stood upon when they taught the people. But they stood upon several pulpits, each of them teaching that part of the congregation which was allotted him, or praying or blessing God with them. _And cried with a loud voice_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then the Levites, Jeshua, &c., said, Stand up, and bless the Lord for ever and ever_ Praise him and give him thanks, as long as you have any being; _and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise_ The super-excellent perfections of which, the noblest creatures cann... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou, even thou, art Lord alone_ Jehovah, the self-existent and independent being; there is no God beside thee; _thou hast made heaven,_ &c. They acknowledged the God they worshipped to be the supreme Sovereign, the Lord over all, who had created all things whatsoever, who preserved them by his pro... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou art the Lord who didst choose Abraham_ Here follows a compendious history of the affairs of the Hebrew nation, which, it is likely was composed by Ezra or Nehemiah in the form of a prayer, and delivered to the Levites, that they might pronounce it distinctly before the whole congregation, from... [ Continue Reading ]
_And foundest his heart faithful before thee_ In many instances, especially in that great trial of his faith and obedience, when thou requiredst him to offer up his only son as a sacrifice. _And hast performed thy words; for thou art righteous_ True to thy word, faithfully fulfilling all thy promise... [ Continue Reading ]
_And didst see the affliction of our fathers in Egypt_ God's providences over Isaac and Jacob are passed by, to come to his interpositions in their behalf, since they became a nation; that is, since he had made good his covenant with Abraham, in multiplying his seed as the stars of heaven; at the ti... [ Continue Reading ]
_And gavest them good statutes_ The moral and judicial precepts were all founded on natural equity. And even the ceremonial were tokens of God's goodness, being types of gospel grace.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath_ That holy sabbath day which thou didst bless and sanctify to Adam, commanding him, and in him all his posterity, to observe it, which yet almost all nations have quite forgotten; that day thou didst graciously reveal unto thy people, reviving that ancien... [ Continue Reading ]
_But our fathers dealt proudly_, &c. Notwithstanding all thy singular and wonderful mercies, they sinned presumptuously, and with a high hand, scorning to submit their wills to thine. Having hitherto recounted God's mercies toward them, with a view to aggravate their guilt, he now comes to confess t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Yea, they made them, a molten calf_ This was a very high provocation, considering how little a time before God had expressly commanded them not to make any graven image, and how many cautious he had afterward given them against doing any such thing. _Yet thou forsookest them not in the wilderness_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them_ Which thou didst graciously and plentifully impart, first unto Moses, and then unto the seventy elders, (Numbers 11:17,) to the end that they might be able to direct and govern thy people wisely, and in thy fear.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And didst divide them into corners_ That is, the heathen nations, whom God in a great measure destroyed, and the remainders of them _he dispersed into corners;_ that whereas, before the Israelites came, they had large habitations, now they were cooped up, some in one town, and some in another, in t... [ Continue Reading ]
_And delighted them in thy great goodness_ In all those comforts and blessings which, by thy great goodness, they obtained and enjoyed. _Nevertheless they cast thy law behind their backs_ They neglected and despised thy laws, would not regard nor observe them; whereas they ought to have had them con... [ Continue Reading ]
_When they cried unto thee_, &c. The whole book of Judges verities this, that God delivered them for their sins unto the Moabites, the Canaanites, and divers other enemies, who grievously domineered over them; but when they cried to God for help, he was so gracious as to send such men as Barak, Gide... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore leftest thou them in the hand of their enemies_ God so abandoned them once, that he permitted the Philistines to rule over them forty years, (Judges 13:1,) unto which, perhaps, this passage refers. _Many times didst thou deliver them according to thy mercies_ Nothing else could have moved... [ Continue Reading ]
_Many years didst thou forbear them_ Thou didst delay to bring upon them those judgments which thou hadst threatened, and they had deserved, and didst wait for their repentance. _And testifiedst against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets_ Who spake to them by thy divine inspiration, whom therefore t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Nevertheless, thou didst not utterly consume them_ But didst leave a remnant of the poorer people in the land, and show favour to the captives in Babylon. _For thou art a gracious and merciful God_ To which alone they owed their preservation from utter destruction.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who keepest covenant and mercy_ He adds _mercy_, because the _covenant_ in itself was not a sufficient ground of hope, because they having so basely broken it, God was discharged from keeping it, and therefore they flee to his free and rich _mercy_ for relief. _Howbeit, thou art just in all that is... [ Continue Reading ]
_For they served thee not in the land which thou gavest them_ That is, which thou didst lay open to their view and possession; removing their enemies, and all impediments, out of the way. _Neither turned they from their wicked works_ They not only all acted wickedly, from the highest to the lowest,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, we are servants in the land_ In that land wherein heretofore, under thee, and by thy favour, we were rightful lords and owners. God had, indeed, marvellously restored them to their own country; yet the marks of his displeasure for their sins still remained very visible: for they were tribut... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings_, &c. We plough, and sow, and labour, and thou givest thy blessing to our endeavours; and yet in a great measure this is not for ourselves, as formerly it was, but for our kings, to whom we pay heavy tributes. _Also they have dominion over our bodies_ Wh... [ Continue Reading ]
_Because of all this we make a sure covenant_ Considering all this, they resolved to renew their covenant with God for better obedience, which they promise as the only remedy to procure perfect deliverance. And to make it more effectual, they seem to have declared this in the presence of God, at the... [ Continue Reading ]