Wherein ye greatly rejoice
The Vulgate Latin version reads, "in which ye shall rejoice": and
so the Syriac version, adding, "for ever"; and refer these words
to the "last time"; or, times spoken of in the preceding verse;
when the saints will greatly rejoice, being in full possession of
eternal salvation; in distinction from the present time, in which
they are in heaviness; but it is better to read the words in the
present tense, and as expressive of the saints in this life, who
are blessed with that fruit of the Spirit, joy, and have always
reason to rejoice, and greatly rejoice. The connection is with
the whole that goes before; and the sense is this, that
regenerated persons rejoice, in that they are the elect of God,
according to his everlasting love towards them, and free grace,
and good will; in their regeneration, which is an evidence of
their election of God; in the abundant mercy of God displayed in
their regeneration; and in that lively hope of eternal life which
is the effect of it; and in the resurrection of Christ from the
dead, which secures their justification of life, and their
resurrection from the dead; and in the inheritance they are born
heirs unto; and in their preservation to it by the power of God
through faith; and in that complete salvation which is ready for
them, and in a short time will be revealed, to which they are
kept:
though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness,
through
manifold temptations.
This seems to be a contrast, but is no real contradiction; for
the character of the saints in this world is, that they are as
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, ( 2
Corinthians 6:10 ) rejoicing even in their tribulations and
temptations; yea, for them, and on account of them, in some
respects, which in others make them sorrowful, and heavy, or
"heavy" with sorrow: the cause of this heaviness is not only
indwelling corruptions, the hidings of God's face, and the
temptations of Satan, but afflictions and persecutions, which are
here meant by "manifold temptations"; for not the temptations or
to sin, are here intended, but the temptations with which God
tempts and tries his people: so he sometimes does, by calling
them to hard service, to do things difficult and disagreeable to
flesh and blood, in which way he tempted Abraham; and by laying
afflictions, or suffering afflictions to come upon them, by which
he tried Job; and by permitting wicked men to reproach and
persecute them, and to injure them in their characters, persons,
and properties; and which was the case of the primitive
Christians, and has been more or less the case of the saints ever
since: now such exercises are called, from the quality of them,
temptations, or trials; because they try the hearts, principles,
and graces of them that believe, and particularly their faith
hereafter mentioned; and from the quantity of them, they are said
to be various; they are of different sorts; as reproach,
imprisonment, loss of goods, and death itself in divers shapes;
and are more or less at different times and ages; and are
exercised on various persons: and are sometimes very heavy, and
grievous to be borne, and cause great heaviness and sorrow of
heart; and yet there are things, and circumstances, and which are
here hinted at, that greatly mitigate the heaviness occasioned by
them; as, that these afflictions, and the heaviness that comes by
them, are but little, and light, in comparison of the eternal
weight of glory; though they are great tribulations in
themselves, through and out of which the people of God come to
the kingdom; and so the Syriac version renders it, "though at
this time" (lylq) , "ye
are a little made sorrowful"; and then it is only "now", for the
present time, and but for a short time; for a little season, even
for a moment, comparatively speaking; and also, "if need be",
which the Syriac version omits, though by all means to be
retained: afflictive dispensations, in whatsoever form, are
necessary, by the will of God, who has appointed them, and
therefore must be, and ought to be, quietly submitted to, and
patiently borne, on that consideration; and are also necessary,
on account of Christ the head, to whom there must be a conformity
of his members; and likewise on their own account; for the
humbling of their souls; for the weaning of them from the things
of this world; for the restraining, subduing, and keeping under
the corruptions of their nature; and for the trial of grace: and
it is only "if", and when there is a necessity for them, that
they are in heaviness by them; otherwise God does not delight to
afflict and grieve the children of men, and much less his own;
see ( Lamentations
3:33 ) so the Jews say F25, that (Kruwh) , "there was a necessity" of
God's tempting Abraham as he did, to humble and purify him.