And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.
Ver. 19. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever] This, because it could not be easily believed, is thrice repeated. We believe not (whatever men may dream to the contrary) without much ado and many conflicts. When faith goes about to lay hold on Christ, the devil raps her on the fingers, and would beat her off. Hence she is fain to take great pains for it, to work hard for her living. The apostle speaks more than once of the work of faith, το εργον της πιστεως, 1 Thessalonians 1:3 2 Thessalonians 1:11. And it is no less difficult (say divines) to believe the gospel than to fulfil the law. No man can come unto the Son except the Father draw him, John 6:44. The soul naturally hangs back, and had as lief put off its immortality as put on Christ: the devil also doth his utmost to hinder. The contest was not so great between Michael and him concerning Moses' dead body as it is here between the believer and him concerning Christ's living body. And should not God mightily assist, the business would never be done. Hence faith is called the faith of God's power, Colossians 2:12, the faith of his operation; and what an Almighty power God doth therein put forth is elegantly described by the apostle in that sixfold gradation, Ephesians 1:19, which shows it to be more than a moral persuasion. Betroth thee, I will, I will, I will, saith God here; and some think the sacred Trinity is hero (though darkly, according to the manner of those times) brought in betrothing the Church in this trina repetitio. threefold repition. And mark, that he doth not say, I will be reconciled unto thee, and receive thee again after thy foul plays with me (for Reconciliationes fere sunt vulpinae amicitiae inter homines, Men are seldom reconciled heartily), but I will espouse thee, marry thee unto me, and that for ever. I will null the bill of divorce, love you no less than if you had continued true to me, or were now a pure virgin. Quis hanc Dei bonitatern digne collaudet? saith Drusius. Who can sufficiently set forth this goodness of God? When God once pardoneth sin, he will remember it no more; he will not come with back reckonings. Discharges in justification are never repealed or called in again. Peccata non redeunt sins are not returned, is a true axiom; and it is no less true that peccata non minuunt iustificationem. God can pardon sins of all sizes, and as soon disperse the thick cloud as the cloud, Isaiah 44:22. See the matchlessness of his mercy to a repenting adulteress, Jeremiah 3:5. What greater love can he show to her than to marry her again, and rejoice over her as a bridegroom rejoiceth over his bride, Isaiah 62:5. Yea, to rest in his love, and to joy over her with singing, Zephaniah 3:17, and to do this for ever (as it is here promised), so that there shall be no more breach of conjugal love and communion for ever between them. Area amorem illius, Oh love this love of his, saith Bernard, and reciprocate. And as the wife will keep her bed only for her husband (saith Mr Bradford, martyr), although in other things she is content to have fellowship with others, as to speak, sit, eat, drink, go, &c.; so our consciences (which are Christ's wives) must needs keep the bed, that is, God's sweet promises, alone for ourselves and our husband; there to meet together, to embrace and laugh together, and to be joyful together. If sin, the law, the devil, or anything would creep into the bed, and lie there, then complain to thine husband Christ, and forthwith thou shalt see him play Phineas' part; and again, if Satan should summon us, saith he, to answer for our sins, or debts, in that the wife is no suitable person, but the husband, we may well bid him enter his action against our husband Christ, and he will make him a sufficient answer. Thus Mr Bradford in a certain letter of his unto a friend.
In righteousness and in judgment, in lovingkindness, &c.] These are the gems of that ring that Christ bestoweth upon his spouse, saith Mercer. These are those κειμηλια, or love tokens, that Christ the bridegroom giveth to his bride the Church, saith Tarnovius. Here he promiseth to perform to her, and to work in her, all those offices and requisites due from married couples in that estate the one to the other. God will both justify her by the imputation of Christ's righteousness; and sanctify her by the Spirit of judgment, that is, of sanctification. See Joh 16:10-11 Mat 12:20 See Trapp on " Mat 12:20 " And because the best have their frailties, and although they be vessels of honour, yet are they but earthen vessels, and have their flaws, their cracks; therefore it is added, "I have betrothed thee unto me in lovingkindness and in mercies," q.d. My heart and ways towards you shall be full of gentleness and sweetness, without morosity or hardness. My lovingkindness shall be great, Nehemiah 9:17, marvellous great, Psalms 31:21, excellent, Psalms 36:7, everlasting, Isaiah 54:8, merciful, Psalms 117:2, multitudes of lovingkindnesses,Isaiah 63:7; as for my mercies, or bowels of compassion towards you, they are incomprehensible, as having all the dimensions, Ephesians 3:18. "Thy mercy, O God, reacheth unto the heavens," there is the height of it, Psalms 36:5. "Great is thy mercy towards me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowermost hell," there is the depth of his mercy, Psalms 86:13. "The earth is full of thy goodness," there is the breadth of it. "All the ends of the earth have seen thy salvation," there is the length of it. O pray to see that blessed sight, Ephesians 1:18; Ephesians 3:18, that beholding, as in a glass, this glory of the Lord, shining bright in his attributes, you may be "transformed into the same image, from glory to glory," 2 Corinthians 3:18; and as in water face answereth face, as lead answereth the mould, as tallow answereth tallow, indenture, indenture, so may we resemble and express the Lord, our husband, in righteousness, holiness, lovingkindness, tender mercies, and faithfulness, that as the woman is the image and glory of the man, so may we be of Christ. For our encouragement it must be remembered that the covenant that Christ maketh with us is a double covenant, to perform his part as well as ours, to make us such as he requireth us to be in all holy conversation and godliness; for which end, also, we have a duplicate of his law written in our hearts, Jeremiah 31:33, a law in our mind, answerable to the law of his mouth, Romans 7:23. In a word, he graciously undertaketh for both parts; therefore is the covenant everlasting, and the fruits of it are sure mercies, compassions that fail not. In foedere nero nihil potest incidere quo minus sit aeternum, quum non sit ei adiecta conditio, saith Mercer upon this text; that is, in the new covenant there can nothing happen whereby it should not be everlasting, since there is no condition required on our part. That faith or faithfulness mentioned in the next verse God requireth not as a mutual restipulation of our part (as works were in the old covenant); but here it is rather a declaration of his pleasure what he would have us to do, and whereto he will enable us. It is not a condition, to endanger the covenant; but an assurance, that he will give us strength to keep it.