138' METAPHORS FROM CoRN, &c. Book r. Security, Tranquillity, and [elf-conceited Firmnels ftick clofe to their Wickednefs, mock– ing and deriding both God and Men. See Jer. xlviii. 1 I. lfa. xxv. 6. with Jer. xlviii;· I 1 , A VIN'l'AGE and Glaaning, Judg. viii, 2. Is not the Gleaning of the Grapes of Ephra– im, better than the Vintage of ./fbiezcr? By the Vintage he underftands the Fight it felf, by the Gleanings the Purfuit of the flying Enemy, as if he had faid, we Abiezerite> have not acquired fo much Honor by fighting, as you Ephraimites have by your brave Purfuit of thofe we routed, when ye took their Leaders, who, had they. been fafe (the Enemy being not elfe truly overcome) might eaf1ly have recruited their Army. The Text Jer. xlix. 9· is to be expounded by a Metaphor, If the Grape-gatherers come to thee, will they not leave (fame) gleaning Grapes? The Chaldee renders it 'l'hieves or Robbers, like Grape-gatherers. The fame Form of fpeaking, Obad. Verfe 5· (properly to be underftood) i• propofed by Way of Interrogation : If the Grape-ga– therers came to thee, would they not leavefome Gleanings? As if he had faid they would: But thine Enemies fent by me, will carry away all that is yours, even to the very Glean. ings. See Jer. vi. 9· In that jjmbolical ViGon, the Vineyard denotes the Judgment of God again!t the Church's Enemies, Rev. xiv. 18, I9· The Reafon of this Metaphor is, becaufe in a Vintage or Win~ Harveft the Vineyard together with its Fruit is !trip– ped of all, and left as it were defolate. Hence it is that little Gleanings (final/ Clufters remaining on the Vine, after the Vintage is over, becaufe hid behind the Leaf) denot~ a fmall Remnant of People after War or other public Calamity, Ifa. xvii. 6. So the Verb (racemare) to glean (viz. to gather the little Clufters after the Vintage, Lev. xix. 10. Deut. xxiv. 2 1.) denotes the Deftruction of fuch as furvived the former Calamity, &c. Jer. vi. 9, &c. Judg. xx. 45· A WINE-PRESS (where the Grapes are bruifed, and the Juice fqueezed out, de– notes divine Vengeance, Ifa. lxiii. 3· Lam. i. 5· Rev. xiv. 19. So Joel iii. I3· Come, get you down, for the Prefs is full, the Fats overflow, &c. This is a Divine Call to the Angels (or ftrong ones of God) to proceed to the Execution of his Vengeance againft his impious Enemies-Of whom he fubjoins, for their Wickednefs is great. Metaphors from Corn, &r. A_ FIELD, the Place of the ProduCtion of Corn or Grain denotes in a Parable the "- People of God or the Church of Chrift, Matt. xiii. 8, 23, 24, 31, 38. Luke viii. 8, 15, &c. to which refers the Similitude of the Apoftle, Heb. vi. 7, 8. whofe * Apodofis, (Reddition, or anfwering Part of the Comparifon) is not expreOy fet down, yet it is tacitly hinted at by the Terms Rejection, CurGng, and Burning, Verfe 8. that is, that Un– believers and wicked Men, who like a Field untilled bring forlh Thorns and Briars, and act nothing but Evil, fhall be reprobated of God, curled and confumed in ever– lafting Fir·e: Whereas on the contrary, Believers and godly Men fhall receive the Blef– fing of God, becaufe like a fertile Field of which he fpeaks Verfe vii. The Apoftle Paul by a Metaphor calls the Church the t Hujbandry or 'l'i!lage of God, I Cor. iii. 9• or rather a Field, which is fpiritually tilled by the Apoftles and other Minifters of the vVord, as Verfe 6, 7, 8. is intimated. PLOWING is a Preparation of the Field for Sowing•; by which Calamity and Afflic– tion are fometimes noted, Pfal. cxxix. 3· (See the exprefs Similitude, Ifa. xxviii. 24, z6.) The Rcafon is taken from the cutting or (as it were) wounding of the Field, by the Plow-fhare. Sometimes the Life and Aftions of Men whether good or evil. Good, as Jer. iv. 3· Break up your Fallow-ground, and Jow not among '!'horns. Hof. x. I 2. Sow to yourfelves in Rightcoufnefs, reap in Mercy: Break up your Fallow-ground, &c. where by the Term plowing true Repentance, and the Culture or dreffing of Piety is underftood : The Reaton is taken from the End and Eft'e.ct of plowing, which is to pluck.up and deftroy Thorns, Briars, and the Roots of bad Herbs, and rightly to dif– pofe the Field to bear good Fruit. Examples are to be read, Job iv. 8. Hof. x. 13. Pro·:;. xxi. 4· • "·,rorocrl) pojleriur pars tqmparaJmtiJ (),-.pojita protaji. Cal. t ')'f~(fio,, agrholatiomm. · Judg.
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