Isaiah 49:18
Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold
Look east, west, north, and south, and behold the flocking
converts from all parts; see on ( Isaiah 49:12
) . The words are spoken to the church, and for her comfort; and
so the Targum,
``lift up thine eyes round about, O Jerusalem, and see all the
children of the people of thy captivity:''
all these gather themselves together, and come to
thee;
though of different nations, and come from different quarters, yet
coalesce together, make one body, and join themselves with the
church, in which they centre, and are incorporated:
as I
live, saith the Lord;
this is the form of an oath, sometimes used by the Lord, to denote
the importance and certainty of a thing, and to assure his people
of it:
thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an
ornament; as
children's children are the crown of old men,
(
Proverbs
17:6 ) , so young converts are the crown, glory, and ornament
of the church; even such who are beautified with the graces of the
Spirit, and whose conversations are as become the Gospel of Christ:
and bind them on thee as a bride doeth;
her clothes, the attire of her head, and her jewels. So in the
latter day, when the Jews are converted, and the fulness of the
Gentiles brought in, the marriage of the Lamb will be come, and the
church made ready, as a bride, for her husband, and be very
beautiful and comely in his sight, as well as very comfortable and
glorious in herself; and which will be matter of joy to all the
saints, (
Revelation
19:7 Revelation
19:8 ) . The Targum is,
``all these shall be unto thee as a garment of glory, and their
works in the midst of thee as the ornament of a bride.''