God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
Ver. 27. God persuade Japhet.] For none else can do it. Men may speak persuasively, but to persuade is proper to God alone. He "speaks to the heart"; Hos 2:14 we to the ear only. He persuadeth and allureth, not only by a moral persuasion, but by an irresistible inward drawing. Act 11:17 In the Hebrew there is a sweet alliteration; q.d., God shall persuade the persuasible. He shall draw them to faith and obedience, Monendo potius quam minando, docendo quam ducendo, saith St Austin; by informing, not enforcing. He brings in his elect by a merciful violence. He sent forth at first, not swordsmen but fishermen; and prevailed by them in those places where the Romans could never come with all their forces. a Elisha could do more with a kiss than his man could do with a staff, in raising the dead child. "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth," Son 1:2 and then follows, "Draw me; we will run after thee."
And he shall dwell in the tents of Shem.] The Church's abode here, is but in tents; she hath "no continuing city, on earth, but seeks one to come". Heb 13:14 This, whether prophecy or prayer, was fulfilled when "God was manifested in the flesh, preached unto the Gentiles, and believed on in the world," 1Ti 3:16 some thousands of years after. The Gentiles were converted by virtue of this prayer, as Paul was by St Stephen's, and as we enjoy the gospel by Latimer's "yet once more," and the prayers of other martyrs.
a Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo tamen subdita. - Tertul.