Whereas, ver. 2, he saith to the Jews, that though he shall most diligently have called and sent apostles unto them, never giving over, till their measure of iniquities being filled up their destruction was now at the door, as a night at the end of a long day, yet they will continue refractory, and not believe the ⁴ Faith indeed, "Apa ἡ νίστιν. not of me. ⁵ voice is gone out into all the land. ⁶ inquired For I shall declare this mystery to you, this great secret of God's providence, (which may keep the Gentiles from being proud, vv. 18. 20,) viz., that a great part of the people of the Jews are now at this present become blind, and that that is made use of by God, that, by occasion of that, the gospel may (by departing a while from them) be preached to and received by the generality of the Gentiles, and they compacted into Christian churches, (and this in very mercy to those Jews, that they by seeing the Gentiles believe might at length be provoked to do so too, by way of emulation, vv. 11. 31.) And so all the true children of Abraham, Jews and heathens both, but particularly the remnant of the Jews, shall come in and repent, and believe in Christ: and this agreeably to that prophecy, Isaiah lix. 20: There shall come to Sion a redeemer—some powerful means shall be used to bring the Jews to repentance and reformation of their impieties—or a deliverer to them that turn from iniquities in Jacob, who shall rescue all the penitent believing Jews from the approaching evils. And so by this means God's covenant shall be made good to them, in bringing them to reformation and amendment, and then accepting and pardoning as many as shall come in after all this.