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 a sign 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 Rabbins 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).