Next to this, or to the triumph of Judah, is the promised restoration of Israel, which cannot be deemed complete, while so many of the house of Israel, dispersed over the nations of Christendom, still rest their hopes on the covenant of the Law; a covenant which we as Christians believe to have been annulled at the promulgation of the Gospel; but which from the first offered only temporal rewards, and unlike the covenant of grace, gave no distinct promises of eternal life. That the remaining Israelites will ultimately awaken to a sense of these advantages, we may confidently expect from this promise of restoration, and from the predicted universality of the Messiah’s kingdom. This then is also an event yet imperfectly accomplished, or still in a state of progression, and therefore yet incapable of being dated with precision. The abolition of Paganism is another, which though nominally effected at the beginning of the fourth century, is yet so far from being complete, that Paganism still prevails over the largest portion of the globe; and consequently this, like the former, is an event which can be dated only from its commencement. Bearing then in mind the nature of these events, and the impossibility of limiting the date of them to definite periods, we may now proceed with the interpretation of the prophecy. As the last chapter opened with denunciations of divine wrath against worldly-mindedness, which were followed by, and contrasted with the unfolding of the spiritual nature of the Messiah’s kingdom, so the present chapter opens with exhortations to seek for spiritual blessings, and with the promise of their abundant bestowal on those who ask for them. _Ask ye of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord causing lightning, shall bring heavy showers, and give to every one grass in the field._ This language is metaphorical, it is true, and so is invariably that which is employed in describing the plenteousness of the Messiah’s kingdom, abounding in corn, wine, and oil, natural plenty signifying abundance in spiritual blessings. Were any one disposed to take such expressions in a strictly literal sense, he would soon find it impossible, for, most of them are mixed metaphors, such as _waters of life_, _trees of righteousness_, _garments of salvation_, of which part at least must be figurative; and the spiritual sense is in fact the most literal of any that can possibly be affixed to them. _Ask ye of the Lord rain_, signifies seek the blessings of righteousness, and they shall be freely given to you. When viewed in this light, we shall readily perceive the connection between this and the next verse, which contrasts the value of true, with the worthlessness and deceitfulness of false religion. _For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie; and told false dreams; they comfort in vain._