In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.
Ver. 10. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call, &c.] i.e. Ye shall have peace regionis et religionis, of country and of conscience. Christus auferet iniquitatem, affere pacem. Christ, as he saveth his people fron their sins, so from the hands of them that hate them. When this Prince of peace was born, in the days of Augustus, Universa gentium era aut pax, aut pactio; there was a general either peace or truce among all nations. "And this man shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into the land … thus shall he deliver us from the Assyrian," Micah 5:5,6. But behold a better thing. This Shiloh, this Tranquillator, Pacificator, by removing iniquity createth peace of conscience; like as after Jonah was cast overboard the sea became calm. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, Isaiah 9:7. Where Christ ruleth there is peace, peace, Isa 26:3 that is, perfect, sheer, pure peace, with God, ourselves, and others; and the more Christ's government increaseth in the soul the more is peace renewed, continued, multiplied. "Great peace have all they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them," saith David, Psalms 119:165 "And thou hast been a strength to the poor, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat," &c., Isaiah 25:4, better than that of the broad leaved vine and fig tree, very cooling and comfortable in those hot countries. See this in righteous Noah; who being justified by faith, had peace with God, and therefore was mediis tranquillus in undis, in the midst of a calm in the waves. How securely doth he ride out that uproar of heaven, earth, and waters! He hears the pouring down of rain above his head, the shrieking of men, the bellowing of beasts on both sides him, the raging and threats of the waves under him. He saw the miserable shifts of distressed unbelievers, and in the mean time sits quietly in his dry cabin, not feeling nor fearing evil. How happy a thing is pardon of sin and peace with God! what a quiet safety, what a heavenly calm doth it lodge in the soul! what earnest pantings and strong affections to the salvation of others! "Ye shall call," &c.