In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword.
Ver. 20. In famine he shall redeem thee from death] They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger, Lamentations 4:9. Famine, therefore, is here set as the first and greatest of the six ensuing evils, the forest of God's judgments, Eze 6:11 Jeremiah 24:10; the certain harbinger of death, as here. From this so great a death God delivered Abraham, Genesis 12:12,20; Isaac, Genesis 26:6,12; Jacob and his family, Genesis 47:11,12; the poor widow, 1 Kings 17:9,16; the Israelites in the wilderness by quails; the Rochellers by a miraculous shoal of shellfish, cast up into their town in a strait siege, &c. There is a promise that the lions shall lack and suffer hunger, but so shall not any such as seek the Lord, Psalms 34:10. There shall be special provision made for such, and God shall redeem them from this evil by a wonderful separation, as he did in another case, Exodus 8:22 : either he will send them in meat or take away their stomachs, as she once said. Fides famem non formidat, Faith feareth no famine; having trusted God for a crown, she will not distrust him for a crust.
And in war from the power of the sword] Here is the saints' safety, or their writ of protection. True it is, that the sword devoureth one as well as another, 2 Samuel 11:25, and pale death cutteth its way oftentimes through a wood of men, out of the mouth of a murdering piece, without distinction. But though the saints, with Josiah, be slain in battle, yet they die in peace, 2 Kings 23:29, with Job 22:20, for their eyes see not the evil that God bringeth upon others that outlive them, as it followeth there. Besides, they are gathered to their fathers, who enjoyed peace. Redeemed they are from the power or hands of the sword, which may kill them, but cannot hurt them; take away their head, but not their crown, αποκτειναι δυναται, βχαφαι δε ου .