Rutherford:

It’s much worthy of observation, how that sweet evangelic invitation is conceived, Isaiah 55:1, Ho, every one that thirsts; the Heb. word ‘hui’ is alas, or ah, every one that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that hath no silver, come, buy, and eat: as if the Lord were grieved, and said, woe is me, alas that thirsty souls should die in their thirst, and will not come to the waters of life, Christ, and drink gratis, freely, and live. For the interjection, (Heb. Hui) Ho, is a mark of sorrowing… it expresses two things, 1. A vehemency, and a serious and unfeigned ardency of desire, that we do what is our duty, and the concatenation of these two, extremely desired of God, our coming to Christ, and our salvation: This moral connection between faith and salvation, is desired of God with his will of approbation, complacency, and moral liking, without all dissimulation, most unfeignedly; and whereas Arminians say, we make counterfeit, feigned, and hypocritical desires in God, they calumniate and cavil egregiously, as their custom is.

What the revealed
will of God is.

2. The other thing expressed in these invitations, is a sort of dislike, grief, or sorrow; (’tis a speech borrowed from man, for there is no disappointing of the Lord’s will, nor sorrow in him for the not fulfilling of it) or an earnest nilling and hating, that these two should not go along, as approved efficaciously by us, to wit, the creatures obedience of Faith and life eternal. God loves and approves the believing of Jerusalem, and of her children, as a moral duty, as the hen does love to warm and nourish her chickens; and he hates, with an exceeding unfeigned dislike of improbation and hated, their rebellious disobedience, and refusing to be gathered: but there is no purpose, intention, or decree of God holds forth in these invitations called his revealed will, by which he says that he intends and wills that all he makes the offer unto, shall obey and be saved….

Now this desire of approbation is an abundantly sufficient closing of the mouth of such as stumble at the gospel, being appointed thereunto, and an expression of Christ’s good liking to save sinners.

The Lord’s wishes,
Expostulations and
crying, bold
forth, how earnest in
drawing sinners
to himself.

Expressed in his borrowed wishes, Deut. 5:29. O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep my commandments. Ps. 81:13. O that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel walked in my ways. Which wish, as relating to disobeying Israel, is a figure, or metaphor borrowed from men, but otherwise shows how acceptable the duty is to God, how obligatory to the creature. But the Lord’s expostulations, Ezek. 18:31. Why will ye die, O house of Israel? Verse 32. For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dies. In the Lord’s crying to sinners, Prov. 1:20. Wisdom cries, she utters her voice in the streets. The word is to cry with strong shouting, either for joy, Ps. 81:2, or sorrow, Lam. 2:19, which expresses Christ’s desire to save sinners.

Samuel Rutherford, Christ Dying and Drawing Sinners to Himself, (London, J.D. for Andrew Crook at the Green-Dragon in Paul’s Church Yard, 1647), 443-444, and 445. [Some spelling modernized; some reformatting; marginal notes cited inline; italics original; and underlining mine.]   [Note: The pagination is irregular and jumps forward repeating some page numbers. This section is from the non-repeated page range signified by 443-445.]

Credit to Tony and to The Durham Thesis.

Vers. 1. The people] Namely, of Israel who had received the Law, to direct and guide their lives according to it. Damnable] viz. which leading men away from the foundation of the faith and everlasting life, will cast them down into damnation. Denying] either by a total apostasy, or through want of sincere obedience, Tit. 1:16. That bought them] viz. Who by the price of his blood, which they had professed to be partakers of through Baptism, had gotten the right and title of Lord and master over them, to make them his servants…

John Diodati, Pious and Learned Annotations upon the Holy Bible: Plainly Expounding the most difficult places thereof, 2nd edition (London: Printed by Miles Flesher, for Nicolas Fussels, 1648), 424.

Diodati:

V.9 His promise] viz. By which he promised to come, to accomplish the deliverance of those who are is, and the punishment of the wicked. As some men] viz. The scoffers and contemners of God, which have been spoken of, ver. 3. Long-suffering] that is to say, if there be any manner of stay in his coming, as the flesh false conceives, that is not through forgetfulness or slowness, but through patience and to give his Elect time to be converted, and so to make up the number. Not willing] he does not speak of God’s secret and everlasting decree, by which he chooses whom he thinks good, but of the preaching of the Gospel by which all men are invited. The number therefore of the Elect must be made full, before judgement comes. That any] namely of us, or of the Elect, who are is, as we are.

John Diodati, Pious and Learned Annotations upon the Holy Bible: Plainly Expounding the most difficult places thereof, 2^nd edition (London: Printed by Miles Flesher, for Nicolas Fussels, 1648), 2 Peter 3:9, p., 426.

27.-Divine providence governs the bad as well as the good actions of men, the latter by an actio efficax, the former by a permissio efficax.

–WOLLEB p, 30: “By God’s providence things good and bad are ruled. Good things are ruled by effectual action, to which belong the praecurrence, concurrence and succurrence of divine power. Bad things are ruled by actuosa permissio and so by permission, determining and direction” .

–POLAN distinguishes (VI, 17) two parts. in “God’s actual providence”, namely actio and permissio. “God’s actio–is only one of the good things which God effects right from the first creation of all things, either by Himself or by others, in which also the punishment of evil is counted, because it is of the nature of moral good.

–Divine permission is the act of the divine will by which God, in whose power it is to inhibit the actions of others, if He wiled, does not inhibit them, but according to His eternal and righteous decree allows them to be done by the rational creature” .

28.- This permissio is not a moral one, by which God would approve of sin, but a physical, by which He gives sin way, a non-impeditio peccati–BREMISCHE BEKENNTNIS (HEPPE, p. 169) : “Evil is partly malum culpae, partly malum poenae. That” the evil with which God temporally and eternally punishes and wî1 punish the world is ordained by God, is undeniable.–But that evil which is sin and which God neither creates nor causes, cannot be completely and in every way withdrawn from the eternal ordering of God, even though it be said that God is such a controller of the world that apart from and contrary to His ordering many a thing happens in the world.-But God does not ordain evil as He does good, i.e. as something that pleases Him, but as the sort of thing He hates, nevertheless knowingly and willingly destines, lets be in the world and uses wondrously for good”.

–RIISSEN (VIII, 12): “Sin should not be withdrawn from the providence of God. It falls under it as to start, progress and finish.-13: As to beginning God freely allows sin.–14: This permission is, however, not ethical, like a licence to sin, but physical, a non-impeditio of sin.–The statement ‘God wills to allow sin’ thus does not mean ‘God wills to approve sin morally’. Hence KECKERMAN (p. 115) says: “If willing to permit is the same as willing the permission of sin, we agree that God willingly permits it. If it is the same as permitting it approvingly or approving the thing permitted, we must not admit that God willingly permits sin”.

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