And it shall be in that day, [that] living waters shall
go
out from Jerusalem
When it shall be light; and this is one of the things which will
make it so; for by "living waters" are meant the Gospel, and the
doctrines of it; compared to running "waters" for the sound of
them, which will then go into all the earth; for the swiftness in
which they shall proceed; for their rapidity and force in bearing
all before them; for the great spread of them; and for their
virtue and efficacy in cooling those who are inflamed with the
fiery law; refreshing thirsty souls; purifying the hearts and
lives of sinners, and making those that are barren fruitful: and
to "living" waters, because they are the means of quickening dead
sinners, and of reviving drooping saints; and because they serve
to support and maintain a spiritual life, and nourish up unto
eternal life, and direct the way to it, as well as give the best
account of it: and these will come out of Jerusalem; which may
design Jerusalem literally, which will be rebuilt at the time of
the Jews' conversion; or mystically the church, the spiritual and
heavenly Jerusalem; see ( Hebrews
12:22 ) ( Ezekiel 47:1
) ( Joel 3:18
) reference seems to be had to the first ministration of the
Gospel, which, according to prophecy, came out of Jerusalem, (
Isaiah 2:3 ) .
Half of them towards the former sea;
or the eastern sea, as the Targum, the Persian sea; and may
signify that the Gospel shall be carried into the eastern parts
of the world, into Persia, Tartary, and China, and other nations;
and those great kingdoms shall become the kingdoms of Christ:
and half of them toward the hinder sea;
or the western sea, as the Targum, the Mediterranean Sea; and may
denote the progress and success of the Gospel in the European
parts of the world: and the meaning of the whole is, that the
Gospel shall be carried from east to west, and preached all the
world over, to the conversion of Jews and Gentiles, who, some
think, are designed by the two seas; when the abundance of the
sea shall be converted by it, and the forces and fulness of the
Gentiles brought in, and all Israel saved:
in summer and in winter shall it be;
there will be no summer of persecution, nor winter of coldness
and indifference to hinder the ministry of the word: the phrase
denotes the constant ministry of the word, and the duration of
it; it shall be constantly preached all the year long, and as
long as summer and winter last.