Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub

description of the judgment upon the wicked, and the blessings upon the righteous, by which this division will be followed. Commentators differ as to the day alluded to. "Some suppose the prophet to refer to the last and general judgment, others to the particular judgment inflicted upon the Jews by the Romans, and others again to both" (Venema). But even if we adopt the last explanation which embraces the other two, we shall still come short of the whole truth, just as they do, who entertain the same view in connexion with the declaration made by Christ in Matt. xxiv. and xxv. For what right have we to exclude the striking examples of the fulfilment of this prophecy, which are to be met with in the centuries that intervened between the utterance of the prediction and the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, such, for example, as occurred in the time of the Maccabees, when the ἄνομοι, παράνομοι, ἐργαζόμενοι τὴν ἀδικιάν, ἀσεβεῖς, ἄνδρες λοιμοί, as they are called in the Book of Maccabees with evident reference to this prophecy, learned by experience the truth at which they scoffed, that God is the God of justice? Or what ground have we for passing over the constant fulfilment, which runs through the whole of this period, though imperceptible except to the eye of faith, including the manifestation of the righteousness of God in the fate of particular individuals? Or lastly, what right has any one to look upon the entire period between the destruction of Jerusalem and the judgment day as having no connexion with this prophecy, just as if the first and last leaves had been written with the finger of God, and the rest had been left a perfect blank? The judgment of God upon the bad seed, the dead members of his Church, is here depicted. But his Church is one and the same in every age; and therefore the prophecy cannot be regarded as terminating with the commencement of the New Testament times. The fulfilment both commences along with the object especially referred to, namely judgment, which is never very far off, and also keeps pace with judgment through all ages to the end of the world. It is seen most conspiciously, though not exclusively, at the close of the two economies (at that of the latter so far as it is a kingdom of grace).-With reference to Calvin says, "he calls the attention of the Jews, as it were, to something actually present, that they may perceive that the judgment of God

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

is not far off, but is already threatening their own heads." The life-giving sun is opposed in the following verse to the destroying fire. "as the (burning) oven," serves to strengthen the announcement. In the furnace the fire burns more fiercely than in the open air. Fire, consuming chaff and stubble, has already been used by Isaiah (v. 24) as a figurative representation of the fate of the ungodly. "The proud" and "they that do wickedness" are evidently introduced with special reference to ver. 15: "Ye to whom this preeminently applies, not those whom ye have so designated." is not to be referred to the Lord, but to the coming day. We find the same antithesis "root and branch" in Job xviii. 16. The tree in this instance, as in Amos ii. 9, is a figurative representation of the nation generally, or of the whole body of the ungodly.

Ver. 2 (chap. iii. 20). "And upon you, that fear my name, the Sun of righteousness arises, and healing is under his wings, and ye go out and skip like fattened calves.”

The Sun is righteousness itself. It is compared to the natural sun, because, though now obscured, it will then shine brightly, but more especially because it will so thoroughly invigorate those that are cast down. It is not subjective righteousness, but the righteousness imparted by God on the ground of this, which is an inseparable attendant of salvation, or rather, strictly speaking, it is salvation itself, though from a different point of view, namely, regarded as actual justification and acknowledgment as righteous. Compare, for example, Ps. cxxxii. 9, "Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints shout for joy." We must not regard it as meaning, in this instance, justification in the sense of the forgiveness of sins. This would be at variance with the entire context; for here the judgment is spoken of, the great division to be made, between those who are already righteous and those who are still wicked (compare ver. 18). A reference to the forgiveness of sins would be as much out of place here, as in Matt. xxv. 31 sqq. The righteousness mentioned here corresponds, rather, to the droλúτρwσts in Luke xxi. 28, with which the reign of appearances is brought to an end, the harmony between the outward and inward restored, and every secret thing brought to light, whether it be good or

bad. The fathers, from Justin downwards, understood by the Sun of righteousness Christ (Suicer p. 1320), and they have been followed by the majority of modern commentators.1 This explanation is on the whole well-founded. According to chap. iii. 1, he through whom the godly are to become partakers of righteousness, with whose coming the Sun of righteousness rises, is the Angel of the Lord, the heavenly mediator of the new covenant, who fulfils its promises and threats, the Logos. But two things are to be observed in connexion with this explanation. (1). Its supporters discover here a distinct allusion to the person of Christ; he is said to be himself the Sun of righteousness, because righteousness is represented as the sun. The distinction, however, merely affects the form. For he, who causes the Sun of righteousness to rise, may also be regarded as the Sun of righteousness himself, just as the bringer of peace in Micah v. 4 is also called peace, and Jehovah is represented as the sun and light in Ps. lxxxiv. 12 and Is. lxvi. 19 (compare John i. 5, 9 and viii. 12). (2). They understand by righteousness, at least principally, the forgiveness of sins. Thus, for example, Luther explains the Sun of righteousness as meaning, "the sun which makes righteous, which emits such splendour that the people thereby become righteous, and are delivered from sins." The difference in this case is of a more essential character. The murmurers had asked for the judgments of righteousness, for God to give to every one according to his works, to the just and also to the unjust; and the prophet confines himself to the judgment, namely to the reward of the righteous and the punishment of the ungodly. Hence there is no allusion here to the forgiveness of sins. This was involved in the more general announcement, that God would send his messenger to prepare the way before him. Whoever permits this messenger to fulfil the duties of his office upon him will receive forgiveness of sins; but if any refuse, the wrath of God remaineth on them. When once the Lord himself has come to judgment, there is no longer any question of a change of relation towards him, but only of its manifestation. The passage before us, therefore, is parallel to Ps. cxii. 4, "unto the upright

1 For proofs see Joh. Heinr Majus, de Christo sole justitiae, Giessen 1710.

[ocr errors]

there ariseth light in the darkness."

Wings are attributed to the dawn in Ps. cxxxix. 9, as they are here to the sun, and also to the wind in Ps. civ. 3; in both passages to represent swiftness.' In this case, then, the wings are to be regarded either as furnishing the means by which the sun approaches swiftly with the healing that he brings, or as spread out over his own people to afford them warmth and protection, compare Ps. xxxvi. 8, xci. 4, and Matt. xxiii. 37. The latter is the better explanation. For it is the healing itself, not the rapidity with which it is effected, that is attributed to the wings. In the healing spoken of, there is an allusion to the healing, refreshing, and invigorating energy of the natural sun. The winter and night of suffering have thrown the righteous into a state of exhaustion and distress. The expression, “go forth,” implies that their former condition was one in which they were shut up and imprisoned (Micah ii. 13; Ps. lxxxviii. 9). But now they are led out of their gloomy dungeons to the open fields, which are lighted up by the cheering rays of the sun.2

Ver. 3 (chap. iii. 21). “And ye tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, in the day that I create, saith the Lord of Hosts."

In the figure of the ashes there is an allusion to that of the fire in ver. 19. According to the entire context, the contrast between the righteous and the wicked is of an inward character. The little flock has much to suffer from the ungodly multitude. The conflict arising out of this, is met by a reference to the day appointed by the Lord, in which everything will be entirely changed (Luke xxi. 38).

Ver. 4 (chap. iii. 22). "Remember ye the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, laws and judgments."

1 Macrobius (Sat. i. 19) "hoc argumentum Aegyptii lucidius absolvunt, ipsius solis simulacra pennata fingentes." Euripides. (Jon. v. 22) aμ' heλíov TTÉрVу Ooŋ. Virgil (Aen. viii. 396) ": nox ruit et fuscis tellurem amplectitur alis.' On the pillar of Antoninus, Jupiter himself is represented under the image of a winged sun.

2 The meaning, "stall," which is given by many to

, namely, a stall in which cattle are confined, does not suit the expressions, "go out" and "skip." The latter indicate a state of freedom.

This injunction, to the great importance of which the Septuagint directs attention by placing it at the close of the whole book, and the Masoretes by the littera majuscula, was generally misunderstood by the earlier expositors, who interpolated the idea of provisionally. There is nothing to warrant such an interpolation; for Elias introduces nothing new; he only brings the old to life again, and the angel of the covenant does not come to teach and legislate, but to judge. There is also no inducement to make it. The law is referred to here (and this is the very point which has been overlooked), not according to its accidental and temporary form, but according to its essential character, as expressive of the holiness of God, just as in Matt. v. 17. In this light it is eternally the same in the eyes of God, and no jot or tittle of it can pass away.-It is only from this point of view, that we obtain a correct idea of the connection between the verse before us, and the adjoining verses both before and after. The prophet has announced a coming judgment, and here he traces it to its source, and shows at the same time in what manner the whole nation and every individual may successfully avoid it. The law of God and his people are inseparable. If the law is not fulfilled in the nation, it must be executed upon the nation. But before God accomplishes the latter, before he smites the land with the curse, he does everything to bring about a reformation, which is the only safeguard against the ban. He sends Elias, the prophet.-The two expressions, "my servant," and "which I commanded him," serve to eliminate every human element from the law, and consequently to enforce the duty of observing it. Moses was merely an instrument; God was the law-giver. From this fact it necessarily followed,-as is expressly stated in the words, "for all Israel," that it did not merely apply to the generation to which it was originally given at Horeb, but that its demands extended to all generations. Compare Deut. xxix. 14, 15, "neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, but with him that standeth here with us this day

1 Thus, for example, v. Til says, "he enjoins this upon them, as long as they should continue in expectation of Christ and without the prophets, until Elias is sent.' And Michaelis, "in the meantime attend to the instruction contained in the whole of the Pentateuch, more thoroughly than ye have hitherto done, until better things shine forth when I appear."

« ForrigeFortsæt »