And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south.
Ver. 14. And the Lord shall be seen over them] Shall be conspicuous among them; he shall appear for them in the high places of the field, he shall make bare his arm, and bathe his sword in blood. How many do you reckon me at? said Antigonus to his soldier's, when they feared the multitudes of their enemies. May not God say so much more to his? Hath ever any waxed fierce against him and prospered? If he but arise only, his enemies shall be scattered, and those that hate him shall flee before him, Psalms 68:1 .
His arrow shall go forth with the lightning] Here the former matter is illustrated by many lofty tropes and allusions either to those ancient deliverances at the Red Sea, and against the Canaanites and Philistines, by thunders, lightning, and tempest, or else, as Calvin rather thinks, to the terrible delivery of the Law, with thunderings and lightnings, and sound of trumpets, to the great amazement of the people, insomuch as Moses himself said, "I exceedingly fear and quake." He confers Habakkuk 3:3,5, and further allegeth that Teman, here rendered the South, was the same with Sinai, and lies south from Judaea. Lightning, thunder, and whirlwinds are a part of God's armies, which he can draw forth at his pleasure against his enemies. Such things as these happened often times in the wars of the Maccabees. And how the Lord mightily assisted his apostles, whose arrows went forth as the lightning, swiftly, suddenly, irresistibly, and whose thunder gave a loud alarm to all nations, I need not relate, Paulum quotiescunque lego, non verba mihi audire videor sod tonitrua.