And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Ver. 22. There should no flesh be saved] That is, no Jew left alive; the Roman soldiers had been so often beaten by them, that they desired nothing more than to rid the world of them, But God, for his covenant' sake, preserved a remnant of them, as he ever softeneth the sword of his justice in the oil of his mercy, as Nicephorus hath it. a Josephus attributeth it to Titus' clemency: but our Saviour here better, to God's infinite mercy to his elect. These are the salt of the earth, that sprinkled here and there, preserve it from putrefying and perishing. God gave all the souls that were in the ship to Paul, and all that were in Zoar to Lot. If it were not for his elect in the world, he would make a "short work in the earth," Romans 9:28 .
a Deus vindictae gladium oleo miserationis semper emollit.