Bishop John Lightfoot
English scholar partially responsible for
formulating the Westminster Confession
From His 1658 Work, A Commentary of the New
Testament
from the Talmud and Hebraica
On Matthew 24:27; The Nature of Christ's
Return "That Christ's taking vengeance on that exceeding wicked nation
is called Christ's 'coming in glory,' and his 'coming in the clouds,' Dan.
vii. It is also called, 'the day of the Lord.' See Psalm i.4; Mal. iii.
I,2,&c; Joel ii.31; Matt xvi.28; Rev. i.7, &c." (Lightfoot, vol. 2, p.
319)
On Matthew 24:28 "for wheresoever the
carcase is, &c. I wonder any can understand these words of pious men
flying to Christ, when the discourse here is of quite a different thing:
they are thus connected to the foregoing: Christ shall be revealed with a
sudden vengeance; for when God shall cast off the city and people, grown
ripe for destruction, like a carcase thrown out, the Roman soldiers, like
eagles, shall straight fly to it with their eagles (ensigns) to tear and
devour it.
And to this also agrees the answer of Christ,
Luke xvii. 37; when, after the same words that are spoken here in this
chapter, it was inquired, 'Where, Lord?' he answered, 'Wheresoever the
body is: &c.; silently hinting thus much, that Jerusalem, and that wicked
nation which he described through the whole chapter, would be the carcase,
to which the greedy and devouring eagles would fly to prey upon it" (John
Lightfoot, vol. 2, p. 319).
On Matthew 24:30 "And then shall appear
the sign of the Son of man. "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of
man. Then shall the Son of man give a proof of himself,
who they would not before acknowledge: a proof, indeed, not in any visible
figure, but in vengeance and judgment so visible, that all the tribes of
the earth shall be forced to acknowledge him the avenger.
The Jews would not know him: now they shall know
him, whether they will or no, Isa. xxvi. II. Many times they asked of him
a sign: now asign shall appear, that he is the true Messiah, whom they
despised, derided, and crucified, namely, his signal vengeance and fury,
such as never any nation felt from the first foundations of the world"
(Lightfoot, vol. 2, p. 320)
On Matthew 24:34 "This generation shall
not pass, &c. Hence it appears plain enough, that the foregoing verses are
not to be understood of the last judgment but, as we said, of the
destruction of Jerusalem. There were some among the disciples
(particularly John), who lived to see these things come to pass. With
Matt. xvi.28, compare John xxi.22.
And there were some Rabbis alive at the time when
Christ spoke these things, that lived till the city was destroyed, viz.
Rabban Simeon, who perished with the city, R. Jochanan Ben Zaccai, who
outlived it, R. Zadoch, R. Ishmael, and others." (vol 2., p. 320).
On Mark 13:32 "Of what day and hour? That
the discourse is of the day of the destruction of Jerusalem is so evident,
both by the disciples' questions, and by the whole thread of Christ's
discourse, that it is a wonder any should understand these words of the day and hour of the last judgment" (vol. 2, p.442)
On I Peter 3:20,21"The receiving of John's
baptism signed and fenced those that received it from the ruin that was
just coming. To this belongs that of St. Peter, Epist. 1. ch. 3:20,12 :in
that manner as Noah and his sons were by water delivered from the flood,
'so as baptism now, the antitype of the type, saveth us' from THE DELUGE
OF DIVINE INDIGNATION, which in a short time is to overflow the Jewish
nation.
Think here, if those that came to baptism brought
not their little ones with them to baptism: when, by the plain words of
the Baptist, those that are baptized are said to 'fly from the wrath to
come!' that is, 'the wrath of God,' that was not long hence to destroy the
nation by a most sad overthrow" (Vol. 2, Page 78)
On the New Heavens and Earth "That the
destruction of Jerusalem is very frequently expressed in Scripture as if
it were the destruction of the whole world, Deut. 32:22; "A fire is
kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall
consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of
the mountains.' Jer. 4:23; 'I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without
form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light,' &c. The discourse
there also is concerning the destruction of that nation, Isa. 65:17;
'Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be
remembered,' &c. And more passages of this sort among the prophets.
According to this sens, Christ speaks in this
place; and Peter speaks in his Second Epistle, third chapter; and John, in
the sixth of the Revelation; and Paul, 2 Cor. 5:17, &c. (vol. 2, pp.
18-19)
"With the same reference it is, that the times
and state of things immediately following the destruction of Jerusalem are
called 'a new creation,' new heavens,' and 'a new earth.' When should that
be? Read the whole chapter; and you will find the Jews rejected and cut
off; and from that time is that new creation of the evangelical world
among the Gentiles.
Compare 2 Cor. 5:17 and Rev. 21:1,2; where, the
old Jerusalem being cut off and destroyed, a new one succeeds; and new
heavens and a new earth are created.
2 Peter 3:13: 'We, according to his promise, look
for new heavens and a new earth.' The heaven and the earth of the Jewish
church and commonwealth must be all on fire, and the Mosaic elements burnt
up; but we, according to the promise made to us by Isaiah the prophet,
when all these are consumed, look for the new creation of the evangelical
state" (vol. 3, p.453)
"That the destruction of Jerusalem and the whole
Jewish state is described as if the whole frame of the world were to be
dissolved. Nor is it strange, when God destroyed his habitation and city,
places once so dear to him, with so direful and sad an overthrow; his own
people, whom he accounted of as much or more than the whole world beside,
by so dreadful and amazing plagues. Matt. 24:29,30,
'The sun shall be darkened &c. Then shall appear
the 'sign of the Son of man,' &c; which yet are said to fall out within
that generation, ver. 34. 2 Pet. 3:10, 'The heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,' &c. Compare
with this Deut. 32:22, Heb. 12:26: and observe that by elements
are understood the Mosaic elements, Gal 4:9, Coloss. 2:20: and you will
not doubt that St. Peter speaks only of the conflagration of Jerusalem,
the destruction of the nation, and the abolishing the dispensation of
Moses" (vol. 3, p. 452).
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