For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and
Jerusalem
The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were at the time of
this prophecy in their own land; and so are distinguished from
Israel the ten tribes, who were in captivity; unless the same
persons should be meant, who were called by these several names,
the people of the Jews; and it was in Judea that our Lord
appeared in the flesh, and to the inhabitants thereof he
ministered, he was the minister of the circumcision; and so to
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, whom he called to repentance, and
would have gathered, ( Matthew
23:37 ) : break up your fallow ground;
this is ground that lies untilled, not ploughed, nor sown, on
which nothing grows but the produce of nature, as weeds, thorns,
briers is common to men and beasts, and is trodden upon, and, so
is hard and unsusceptible of seed; which, if it accidentally
falls upon it, makes no impression on it, and is not received by
it; and the breaking of it up is by the plough. The "fallow
ground" fitly represents the hearts of unregenerate men, which
are unopened to the word, and unbroken by it; nor have they the
seed of divine grace sown in them; but are destitute of faith,
hope, love, fear, and the like; there is nothing grows there but
the weeds of sin and corruption; and are like a common beaten
road; are the common track of sin, where lusts pass to and fro,
and dwell; and so are hardened and obdurate, as hard as a stone,
yea, harder than the nether millstone; and who, though they may
occasionally be under the word, it makes no impression on them;
it has no place in them, but is like the seed that falls by the
wayside, ( Matthew 13:4
Matthew
13:19 ) , unless divine power attends it; for the Gospel is
the plough, and ministers are the ploughmen; but it is the Lord
alone that makes it effectual to the breaking up the fallow
ground of men's hearts, ( Luke 9:62 ) ( Isaiah 61:5 ) (
1
Corinthians 3:6 1
Corinthians 3:7 1
Corinthians 3:8 1
Corinthians 3:9 ) , but when the Lord puts his hand to the
plough it enters within, and opens the heart; it is quick,
powerful, and sharp; it cuts deep, and makes long and large
furrows, even strong convictions of sin; it throws a man's inside
outward, as the plough does the earth; and lays all the wicked of
his heart open to him; and roots up the pride, the vanity, and
boasting of the creature, and other lusts; and so makes way for
the seed of divine grace to be sown there: and sow not
among thorns;
or, "that ye may not sow among thorns" F15; for,
unless the fallow ground is broken up, it will be no other than
sowing among thorns; and unless the hearts of men are opened by
the power and grace of God, they will not attend to the things
that are spoken; preaching and eating the word will be like
sowing among thorns; cares of this world, the deceitfulness of
riches, the pleasures of life, and the lusts thereof, which are
comparable to thorns, because pricking, perplexing, and
distressing, and because vain and unprofitable, choke the word,
and make it unfruitful; see ( Matthew 13:7
Matthew
13:22 ) , now this exhortation in the text does not suppose
power in man to break up and open his heart; but to show his want
of renewing grace; the necessity of it; and the danger he is in
without it; and to awaken in him a concern for it; see ( Ezekiel
18:31 ) ( 36:26 ) .
The words may be applied to backsliding professors, since
backsliding Israel and Judah are the persons addressed; and this
may be done with great propriety and pertinence to the simile;
for fallow ground is that which has been broke up and sown, and
laid fallow. It is usual to till and sow two years, and lay
fallow a third: and backsliding Christians look very much like
fallow ground; so faithless, so lukewarm, and indifferent; so
inattentive to the word, and unconcerned under it; so barren and
unfruitful, as if they had never had any faith, or love, or good
work in them; so that they need to be renewed in the spirit of
their minds; to have a new face of things put upon them: and to
have a clean heart, and a right spirit, created in them. The
Targum is,
``make to yourselves good works, and seek not salvation in sins.''