Arise ye, and depart
That is, out the land; do not think of a continuance in it, but
expect a removal from it; prepare for captivity and exile; look
for it every moment, to hear it said to you, arise, and be gone
from hence; for, since you have drove others out of their
inheritances and possessions, this shall be your case: for
this [is] not [your] rest;
the land in which the ten tribes then dwelt, and which was given
to their fathers for an inheritance, and for a resting place, and
had been so for ages past, now would be no more so, because of
their sins and transgressions; they must not expect to abide here
long, and enjoy rest and ease; but to be turned out, and deprived
of all the blessings of it, and be carried into a foreign
country, where, instead of rest and case, they should be in
slavery and bondage: because it is polluted, it shall
destroy [you], even with a sore
destruction;
because the land that was given them to dwell in was defiled by
their manifold iniquities, particularly adulteries, before hinted
at: all sin is of a defiling nature; it defiled the bodies and
souls of these men; defiled the estates they were possessed of,
and the land on which they dwelt, and their fellow inhabitants of
it; therefore utter destruction, even a sore and grievous one,
should come upon them, by which their land should be laid waste,
and they consumed off of it: or; "it shall corrupt [you], even
with a grievous corruption" F19; or you being corrupt upon
it, it shall spew you out as a corrupt thing, as it did the
Canaanites, the ancient inhabitants of it; when you will appear
to be as you are, extremely corrupt: or, "it shall be in pain,
[even] with sore pains" F20; such as those of a woman in
travail, not being able to bear them any longer, but ease itself
of them, through the judgments of God upon them. This may be
applied to the present state and condition of the people of God
in this world, which is not their rest; there remains one for
them in another world, but they are not yet come to it; for while
here they are in trouble, through indwelling sin, the temptations
of Satan, divine desertions, and various fears that attend them,
so that they have little rest; besides, this is a warfare state,
and they are engaged with many enemies; and at best are but
travellers passing through this world to their Father's house:
this is also their working time, and they are attended with a
variety of afflictions within and without; and since there are so
many corruptions and pollutions in the world, through lust, which
make it that it can be no resting place for a good man; it
becomes them not to take up their rest here, but seek after it
elsewhere; and to live in an expectation of being called out of
it, and to be in a readiness to depart when the Lord shall call
for them.