Below is an example to
illustrate how Clarke at times misinterprets (in my
opinion as a
Literalist)
prophetic passages...
Jeremiah 23:6 "in His days (In
context
referring to Messiah at the time of the
Millennium) Judah shall be
saved and Israel will dwell securely.
Clarke correctly
comments on this passage that
The real Jew is not one who has his
circumcision in the flesh, but in the spirit. (See notes
Romans 2:28;
2:29)
Clarke who is an
amillennialist goes on to state that
The real Israel are true
believers in Christ Jesus; and the genuine Jerusalem is the
Church of the first-born.
Clarke incorrectly equates "the
real Israel" with all believers, Jew and Gentile, but
that is not what the text says (see also discussion of NT
phrase
Israel of God).
Jeremiah makes no mention of the church in this text
and in fact Paul makes it clear that it was a mystery (hidden
in the OT but revealed to him in the NT - see ) The
literal interpretation,
which makes the most sense, is that Jerusalem is the literal city (not a
symbolic representation of "the church") and at the return of
the Messiah ("the Righteous
Branch") to rule and reign, the Jews who are saved by
placing their faith in their Messiah (the phrase "shall be saved"
parallels several other passages:
[1] Jeremiah 30:7
Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is
the time of Jacob's distress, But he will be saved from it.
"That day" and "the time of
Jacob's distress" refers to the time of Jacob's distress or the last 3.5
years of
Daniel's Seventieth Week
which Jesus designated as the "Great Tribulation"
in Matthew 24:21,
[2] Zechariah 13:8, 9
"And it will come about in all the land," Declares the LORD,
"That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the
third will be left in it.9 "And I will bring the third part
through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test
them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will
answer them; I will say, 'They are My people,' And they will
say, 'The LORD is my God.'"
Zechariah refers to
"one-third" that Jehovah brings through the fire which equates
with "all Israel" who will be saved as explained by Paul.
[3] Romans 11:26-27
and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE
DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM
JACOB (refers to Israel). AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM,
WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS. (see
commentary notes)
These saved Jews ("all
Israel") which constitute "the third (that) will be left" (see
synonym =
remnant) will enter into Messiah's
1000 year earthly kingdom and for the first
time in all of world history, Israel will be at peace and will
finally dwell securely in her land as Jeremiah had
prophesied some 2500 years earlier. Adam Clarke's
interpretation blurs the distinction between Israel and the
church.
