ning," Jer. xvii. 12. In vain was every thing which the kings of
Israel did in order to stifle their indestructible longing. Every new
event by which "the glory of Israel" manifested itself as such, kindled
their ardour anew. But here also the great blessing and privilege,
which the believers missed with sorrow, the unbelievers without it, is
to the returning ones given back, not in its previous form, but in a
glorious completion. The whole people have now received eyes to
recognise the value of the matter in its previous form; and yet this
previous form is now looked upon by them as nothing, because the new,
infinitely more glorious form of the same matter occupied their
attention.

Ver. 17. "_At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the
Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered into it, because the name
of the Lord is at Jerusalem; neither shall they walk any more after the
wickedness of their evil heart._"

Many interpreters, proceeding upon the supposition that the emphasis
rests upon Jerusalem, have been led to give an altogether erroneous
explanation. It is no more the Ark of the Covenant which will then be
the throne of the Lord, but _all_ Jerusalem. Thus, _e.g._, after the
example of _Jarchi_ and _Abarbanel_, _Manasseh ben Israel_,
_Conciliator_, p. 196: "If we keep in mind that, in the tabernacle or
temple, the Ark was the place where the Lord dwelt (hence Ex. xxv. 22:
'I will speak with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two
cherubim'), we shall find that the Lord here says, that the Ark indeed
had formerly been the dwelling-place of the Godhead, but that, at the
time of Messiah, not some one part of the temple only would be filled
with the Godhead, but that this glory should be given to all Jerusalem;
so that whosoever would be in her would have the prophetic spirit." If
it had been the intention of the Prophet to convey this meaning, the
word _all_ could not have been omitted. The throne of the [Pg 395]
Lord, Jerusalem had been even formerly, in so far as she possessed in
her midst the Ark of the Covenant, and hence was the residence of
Jehovah, the city of the great King, Ps. xlviii. 3. The words in the
parallel member: "Because the name of the Lord is at Jerusalem," show
that Jerusalem is called the throne of the Lord, because there is now
in her the true throne of the Lord, just as, formerly, the Ark of the
Covenant. The antithesis to what precedes leads us to expect a
gradat