Keeping mercy for thousands
In his own heart, in his purposes and decrees, in his counsels
and covenant, in his Son, with whom he keeps it for ever, and for
all in him, ( Psalms 89:28
) and they are many who are ordained to eternal life, for whom
Christ gave his life a ransom, and for whom his blood was shed
for the remission of their sins; and whom he justifies by his
knowledge, and at last brings to glory as the great Captain of
their salvation; these are even a number which no man can number.
All the Targums render it to a thousand generations; and Jarchi
interprets of two thousand generations. The first letter in the
word, rendered "keeping", is longer than is usual, in the Hebrew
text; which, according to the Jews F8, denotes the largeness
of the grace of God, its great extent and long continuance:
forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin;
the word used signifies a lifting it up, and taking it away: thus
Jehovah has taken it from the sinner, and put it on his Son, who
has borne it, and made satisfaction for it; and in so doing has
taken it quite away, so as to be seen no more; and, through the
application of his blood to the conscience of a sinner, it is
taken away from thence, and removed as far as the east is from
the west; from whence it appears, that it is in Christ, and for
his sake, that God forgives sin, even through his blood,
righteousness, sacrifice, and satisfaction; and this forgiveness
is of all sin, of all sorts of sin, original or actual, greater
or lesser, public or private, open or secret, of omission or
commission, of heart, lip, and life. The Jews sometimes
distinguish these three words; "iniquity", they say, signifies
sins through pride and presumption; "transgression" intends
rebellions against God; and "sin", what is committed through
error and mistake F9; and much to this sense is Jarchi's
interpretation of these words; they no doubt include all manner
of sin, which God for Christ's sake forgives:
and will by no means clear [the guilty];
without a full and proper satisfaction to justice; which is
provided in Christ, whom God has set forth to be the propitiation
for sin, to declare his righteousness, that he might appear to be
just, while he justifies and pardons those that believe in Jesus;
otherwise all the world are guilty before God, and none would be
cleared; but those for whom satisfaction is made, and a
righteousness wrought out, they are cleared, acquitted, and
discharged, and they only: or "though he will by no means let it
go unpunished" F11; that is, sin, expressed by the
several words preceding; and so to this purpose is this phrase
translated in ( Jeremiah
30:11 ) and the meaning is, that though God pardons sin, all
manner of sin, and so displays his grace and mercy, yet he takes
care of the honour of his justice, and never suffers any sin to
go unpunished, either on the sinner, or on the surety. Pardon of
sin always proceeds upon the redemption that is through the blood
of Christ, and is a branch of it, see ( Romans
3:24-26 ) ( Ephesians
1:7 ) . Some understand these words as relating not to the
justice, but to the mercy and goodness of God; and render the
words, either "in extirpating he will not extirpate", as
Maimonides F12; and as Jonathan translates the
same phrase in ( Jeremiah
30:11 ) "in destroying I will not destroy"; and so De Dieu
here, "in emptying he will not empty", or destroy; and this sense
is thought to be most agreeable to the prayer of Moses, and the
promise of God, that his goodness and glory should pass before
him, to which the other sense seems contrary; but the justice of
God is as much his glory, and in it lies his goodness, as well as
his grace and mercy; besides, the following words cannot be
thought to be so expressive of the grace, and mercy, and goodness
of God, but of his punitive justice, and so the objection would
still remain:
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and
upon
the childrens' children, unto the third and to the
fourth
[generation]; (See Gill on Exodus
20:5).