They shall walk after the LORD: he shall roar like a lion: when he shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the west.
Ver. 10. They shall walk after the Lord] Powerfully calling them by his Word and Spirit, going before them, and bringing up the rear, Isaiah 3:12; their king shall pass before them, and the Lord on the head of them, Micah 2:13. There was a time when they fled from God, Hosea 7:13, and said, "I will go after my lovers," &c. Hosea 2:5,7. Now they are of another mind and other manners; they shall walk after the Lord, non pedibus sed affectibus; they shall be carried after him with strength of desire and delight, which he shall work in them; they shall follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, Revelation 14:4. God's people are said in Scripture to walk before him in godly sincerity, to walk with him in a humble familiarity, to walk after him in a holy conformity, yielding unto him the obedience of faith. As Israel in the wilderness, so must we, follow God and the line of his law, though it seem to lead us in and out, backward and forward (as them), as if he were treading a maze.
He shall roar like a lion] By the preaching of the gospel he shall shake heaven and earth. The voice of the gospel is, repent. Aut poenitendum, aut pereundum, except ye repent ye shall all perish. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned," was a terrible voice, Mark 16:16. Of the lion it is reported, that he roareth so fiercely that the rest of the creatures stand amazed; and that, whereas his own whelps come dead into the world, he roareth over them and reviveth them. Afterwards, when he meeteth with prey, he roareth for them to come about him. Let this be applied to the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Confer Joel 3:16 .
Then the children shall tremble from the west] The children of grace, Deuteronomy 14:1, shall join themselves in spirit to the communion of the Church from all the ends of the world, where they have been scattered; they shall serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling. The ancient Hebrews applied this promise to the coming of the Messiah; only they dreamed of an earthly kingdom of his, as did also the disciples, being soured with the leaven of the Pharisees. Others think it to be a prophecy of the conversion and calling of the Jews, to be accomplished in the last days; as also of the general spreading of the gospel, and gathering of the elect, far and wide, from one end of the heavens to another. And this they call the time of the restitution of all things.