Section 490
III. The rafters of this house are said to be of fir
By rafters may be meant the ordinances of the gospel, which are administered in the church, and are for the comfort and edification of it. The Hebrew word here, translated rafters, is in 41 and Exodus 2:16 rendered gutters and troughs of water, where sheep used to be watered; and some of the Jewish writers[3462] would have it understood in this sense here. R. Aben Ezra observes, that if it is taken in this sense, then the word rendered fir, should signify marble stone, and be read thus, "our canals are of marble stone."[3463] Now these canals or gutters of water are called םיטחר rehatim[3464] from the Chaldee word טהר rehat, which signifies to run, because waters run in them. The grace of the Spirit is frequently, both in the Old and New Testament, represented by water; which, for its purity and purifying nature, is called clean water; for its quickening virtue and efficacy, water of life and living water; and for its plenty and abundance, "rivers of water:" this grace is commonly conveyed and communicated to us in the use of ordinances; these are the canals or conduit-pipes in which this water rune, and is brought unto us; the first conveyance of it is usually this way; faith, conversion, and every grace that attends it, come by hearing, and hearing by the word of God; and as this, so other ordinances are the means of increasing faith, joy and comfort, and of conveying fresh supplies of grace and strength. Christ's fullness is the fountain from whence all grace springs; and his ordinances are the golden pipes, through which the golden oil and grace of divine love run and empty themselves into our souls. Also the same word is translated galleries, in chapter 7:5, "the king is held in the galleries." R. David Kimchi says,[3465] that they were buildings in high houses, in which they walked from house to house, or from one part of the house to the other; they were such as our balconies: and they may be called by this name, because they run along the sides of houses: agreeable to this, Junius and Tremellius translate it, ambulachra nostra, our walking-places. Now the ordinances are the galleries, or walking-places, where Christ and believers walk and converse together; here he grants them fellowship with himself, tells them all his mind, and discloses the secrets of his heart unto them: in these galleries they behold "the king in his beauty;" here he shews them his covenant-love and grace, and from hence they take a prospect of the good "land that is very far off." But the word may be very well translated rafters, which are joined together, and run in each other; and so the Targum renders it; and in this sense is the word used both in the Misnah[3466] and in the Midrash.[3467] Now as rafters are for the strength and support of buildings, so are the ordinances to the church of Christ; by them oftentimes saints are supported and refreshed; and, whilst they are waiting on Christ in them, they renew their strength, they mount up with wings as eagles, they run and are not weary, they walk and faint not, as it is promised to them in Isaiah 40:31.
Now these rafters are said to be of fir. The word is only used in this place, and is so rendered by Arias Montanus, Pagnine, and others, and is so understood by most of the Jewish writers;[3468] the word being by the change of a single letter, to wit, ש into ת, which is used in the Chaldee and Syriac languages, the same with that which is commonly used for the fir; and this, Pliny says,[3469] is the best and strongest wood for roofing or faltering": now these rafters, the ordinances of the gospel, may be said to be of this, because, 1. The fir-tree is hilaris aspeceu[3470] of a pleasant, cheerful, and delightful look; the ordinances of the gospel are exceeding delightful to believers, when they have the presence of Christ with them, and the communications of his love unto them; then are those tabernacles amiable and lovely; wisdom's ways are then ways of pleasantness; their souls are filled with joy and pleasure; nothing so desirable to them as these, neither does any thing give them such satisfaction and contentment; and therefore with the disciples they think it is good for them to be here, and would always abide under such a roof as this, whose rafters are of fir. 2. It is a very shady, tree, folio pinnato densa, ut umbres non transmittat;[3471] at is so thick with leaves, that it will not let through showers of rain: the ordinances of Christ are a delightful shade, under which saints oftentimes sit with pleasure, have much spiritual consolation and refreshment; in which, being protected from the enemies of their souls, they serve the Lord with liberty and enlargement of heart. 3. It is always green,[3472] and never casts its leaf, and therefore is called the "green fir-tree," in Hosea 14:8. Ordinances are those green pastures, into which the great Shepherd leads his sheep, and in which he causes them to lie down; which being blessed and owned by the Spirit of grace unto believers, make them fat and flourishing, fruitful in every good work, even in old age; so that their leaf does not wither in the winter season.
Others think that the cypress-tree is here intended, and so read the words, and our rafters or galleries of cypress; so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Tugurine versions, David de Petals, and others. Now these rafters may be said to be of this wood, because the cypress-wood[3473] is very lasting and durable; it admits of no worms, it will not rot, nor is it sensible of old age; which may be expressive of the durableness and continuance of gospel ordinances, until the second coming of Christ; for as long as Christ has an house on earth, these cypress-rafters will last, it will never need new roofing; as long as there is a church, there will be those ordinances, Which are now in force, and will continue so to the end of time, without any change or alteration in them. This wood is also of a very pleasant smell;[3474] which may signify the delight and pleasure which believers take in ordinances, and how grateful they are to them.
Others think that the brutine-tree is meant; so Ainsworth, Brightman, Junius, Cocceis, and Michaelis; and it may be that which Pliny[3475] calls bruta, which some take to be the tree of Paradise; and its name is near in sound to the Hebrew word brotim here used, the singular of which is brot; which, Pliny says, is much like the cypress, and of a smell like cedar; and being applied to the ordinances of the gospel, may signify, as before, the durableness and delightfulness of them; and now who but would desire to dwell in such an house, and under such a roof as this? What encouragement is here, and what an inducement should this be, to souls to come into the house of the Lord, and wait upon him there, the beams of whose house are cedar, and the rafters of fir?