And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.
Ver. 18. The mountains shall drop down new wine] By these hyperbolic expressions is promised plenty of all things pertaining to life and godliness, such a golden age as the poet describeth (Ovid. Metam.),
“ Flumina iam lactis, iam flumina nectaris ibant,
Flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella. ”
Where it must be observed that spiritualy good things are promised under the notion of temporal, as of must, milk, &c., ob populi infantiam, by reason of the infancy of that people, of that time. The mountains, i.e. the most barren places, shall drop down απονητι, without our labour shall yield plentifully new wine, strong consolations, and Scripture comforts, for strong Christians; and the hills shall flow with milk, that unadulterated sincere milk of God's word for his babes, 1Co 2:2 1 Peter 2:2 .
And all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters] Sanctuary waters, wholesome doctrines, such as have a healing, cooling, quenching, quickening property in them, Isaiah 44:3 .
And a fountain shall come forth] viz. Baptism, that laver of regeneration, Titus 3:5; that fountain opened, Zechariah 13:1; that pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, that washeth away sin, Rev 22:1 Acts 22:16 .
And shall water the valley of Shittim] That dry valley in the borders of Moab, near to Jordan, and not far from the Dead Sea, Num 25:1 Joshua 2:1. Here it was that the Israelites defiled themselves with the daughters of Moab, as Jarchi noteth, but shall be purified and sanctified with the washing of water by the word, Ephesians 5:26. Tarnovius renders the text, Qui irrigabit vallem cedrorum, which shall water the valley of cedars, those choicest trees planted in the paradise of God, Psalms 92:13; for, saith he, as the Tabernacle was built and garnished of old with shittim wood for the most part, Exodus 25:5; Exodus 26:15; Exodus 27:1; Exodus 30:1, so is the spiritual temple with these spiritual cedars.