Exposition of the Moral Law, Book 1 · Commandment 2 · Exercitation 15
EXERCITAT. XV. Whether things idolatrous may be converted to any uſe, either in the ſervice of God, or may we convert them to our owne uſe? Commandement II.
Deut. 7.25. The graven images of their gods ſhall yee burne with fire; thou ſhalt not deſire the ſilver or gold that is upon them, nor take it unto thee, leſt thou be ſnared therein, for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God.
AS we muſt give nothing to the idoll, ſo wee muſt take nothing from it.
There were three ſorts of Cherem, foreign Res devota Anathema. Three ſorts of execrable things under the law.or things execrable under the law, firſt when both men and beaſts were to be deſtroyed, and then nothing came either to Gods uſe or to the peoples; ſuch were the goods of the apoſtate Iewes who fell away from the true God. Deut. 13.15. and in this ſenſe the Amalekites and their goods were execrable.
Secondly, they were execrable, when the men and their beaſts and their ſtuffe were burnt, but the gold, ſilver, braſſe, and iron were reſerved for the uſe of the ſanctuarie, and theſe of Iericho were execrable in this ſort: Ioſh. 6.24.
The third ſort were theſe, when the men alone were killed, but the beaſts and all other things which belonged to them were converted to the uſe of the ſouldiers; ſuch was the towne of Hai. Ioſh. 8.27.
Things conſecrate to idols were execrable when they were idolatrous in ſtate.
Things belonging to idolaters are of three ſotts.Things belonging to Idolaters were of three ſorts, firſt ſuch as pertained to Idolaters but were not idolatrous, as David tooke the ſword of Goliah, and hung it up in the houſe of God;What idolatrous things we may uſe. ſecondly things that were idolatrous, but were not idolatrous in ſtate, as the fountaines out of which the heathen drew water for the ſervice of their idols, yet the Chriſtians might have converted theſe fountaines to a ſpirituall or a civill uſe; ſo Gideon tooke the bullock which was appointed for Baal, and the grove, and offered the bullock with the wood in a ſacrifice to the Lord. Iudg. 6.26. So the Bethſhemites tooke the Philiſtims cart, and the kine, and offered them to the Lord in a ſacrifice. 1. Sam. 6.15. becauſe they were not idolatrous in ſtate; for even as the cloathes of the leper being waſhed, were made cleane, Lev. 21.8. So thoſe things which belonged to the Idolater, and were not idolatrous in ſtate, might be cleanſed and converted to other uſes.
But when a thing was idolatrous in ſtate, and carried the marke and badge of the idoll ſtill upon it; as their images of gold and ſilver, and their ornaments. Deut. 7.25. they were to be caſt away, and not to be converted to any other uſe. Eſay. 30.22. Ye ſhall defile alſo the covering of thy graven images of ſilver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou ſhalt caſt them away as a menſtruous cloth, and ſhall ſay unto it, get thee hence.
Achan ſtole a Babyloniſh garment, and two hundreth ſhekels of ſilver, and a wedge of gold. Ioſh. 7.21. in the Hebrew it is,foreign Lingua auri. Laſhon zahabh, a tongue of gold, this tongue ſome hold to have beene the ſword which hung by the idols ſide;Vi…lſpand de ponderibus & menſuris. The Scythians worſhiped aſword. and ſome worſhiped Acinacis, the ſword it ſelfe, as the Scythians. Of old, a ſword was called lingua, as Fannius an ancient writer teſtifieth, and the Babyloniſh garment they hold to bee the cloak which covered the idoll, and the two hundred ſhekels to be the money which was dedicated to the idoll; now becauſe Achan tooke this which was idolatrous in ſtate, and which might not bee converted to his uſe, therefore the Lord will have him and all his to be rooted out.
That which had an immediate dependance ſtill upon the idoll, and had relation to it,Caſſiodorus & tripartita Rufins. keeping ſtill both the matter and the forme; that cannot bee offered to the Lord. Example,What Idolatrous things might not be uſed. Conſtantine the great tooke out of the temple of Serapis their ſacred elne Fathom, whereby they meaſured yearely how much the river Nilus would overflow; which the heathen thought to have a certaine divinitie in it; this elne Conſtantine ſhould not have cauſed to be put in the temple of Alexandria, becauſe this elne both in matter and forme was kept here, as it was in the idolatrous uſe before.
That which is idolatrous in ſtate and hath an immediate dependance upon the idoll,Nothing that hath an immediate dependence on the Idoll can be converted to any uſe. ſhould neither be converted to a ſpirituall or a civill uſe; therefore that which the Iewes ſay, is falſe, that David tooke the crowne from Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and ſet it upon his owne head. 2. Sam. 12.30. If this crowne was the crowne of the god of the Ammonites, then it was idolatrous in ſtate,foreign nomen Idoli. foreign Rex eorum. David tooke not the Crowne from Mil om the Idol, but from the King of Ammon. Obj. and David could not have ſet it upon his owne head. Wherefore hee tooke this crowne from Malcam the king of the Ammonites, and ſet it upon his owne head.
But how could the king weare ſuch a crowne upon his owne head? a talent in weight is fortie ſixe pounds and fourteene ounces, which being reduced to the value of our money will extend to 2250. pounds; the king of Ammon could not weare ſuch a crowne of ſo great weight upon his head; therefore it may ſeeme that it was taken from the head of the idoll, and not from the head of the king.
Moſt thinke that Talent here is taken according to Anſ. the Syrian weight,Some thinke that the crowne was 2250. pound according to the Syrian weight. which was not aboue the quarter of an Hebrew talent, and which weigheth of our weight eleven pound and foure ounces, and they thinke this the rather; becauſe Rabba in the countrey of the children of Ammon, lay in the countrey of Syria; therefore it ſeemeth that they followed their weight.
Secondly, ſome anſwere that this crowne was valued Anſw. 2 according to the worth and not the weight of it,Some thinke that the crowne was valued according to the worth and not the weight. in regard it was ſet with pretious ſtones and jewels, it weighed ſo much, that is, it was worth ſo much. Zach. 11.13. they weighed for my wages as much as I was valued at, that is, thirtie peeces of ſilver.
Anſw. 3 Thirdly, he both changed the forme of it, and diminiſhed the weight of it.
Things which have beene the immediate inſtruments of Idolatrie, may be uſed.Againe theſe things which have beene the mediate inſtruments in the worſhiping of idols, theſe may bee uſed; a church may bee uſed although before idolatrie hath beene committed there: There was no mountaine more defiled with idolatrie then the mount of Olives was,The Idoll it ſelfe may not be uſed. and therefore it was called mons corruptionis, 2. King. 23.13. and yet no place where Chriſt prayed ſo often as there.
The idoll it ſelfe may not bee uſed, becauſe it hath beene the immediate inſtrument of idolatrie; when ſouldiers doe beſiege a towne and take it, they pull downe the trophees and colours of the enemies, but not the towne it ſelfe, the idols are the trophees, enſignes and colours of idolatrie, and therefore to be pulled downe.
Obj. Deut. 12.2, 3. Yee ſhall verily deſtroy all the places wherein the nations, which ye ſhall poſſeſſe, ſerve their Gods. Then it may ſeeme that the places where idols have bin worſhiped ſhould be deſtroyed.
Anſw. Moſes judiciall lawes do not binde us as they did the Iſraelites.This was a temporarie ordinance, and a part of Moſes policie which is now abrogat, for howſoever the equity of this law remaineth, teaching us to deteſt idolatrie, yet it bindeth us not in ſuch a manner to deteſt idolatrie as they did. Example, God commanded here to deſtroy idolatrous places, hee commanded to burne the cattell, ſpoyle, and goods of the apoſtates; the equitie of this commandement teacheth us to deteſt and abhorre idolatrie, but we are not bound to follow it in the ſame manner.
The Lord commanded to conſume the reſt of the holy things, when the religious uſe of them ceaſed, as to burne that which was left of the Paſcha. Exod. 12.10. So that which was left of the ram of conſecration. Exod. 29.34. and ſo of the fleſh of the peace offering. Levit. 7.15.The equitie of the judiciall law bindeth us now. the equitie of this ordinance continueth for ever, teaching us how to regard holy things with an higher eſtimation than common things, but we are not bound according to the letter of the law to follow this; for the bread and the wine remaining after the Sacrament ſhould not be burnt; in theſe lawes wee muſt looke to the equitie and ſubſtance, but not to the letter; and many things were urged in Moſes policie, which wee are freed of now. Example, the Iewes were forbidden expreſſely to marie with the heathen, and if they had married ſuch heathen wives, and had begotten children upon them; yet they were commanded to put them away againe. Ezra. 10.11.Greater libertie to Chriſtians under the Goſpell, then to the Iewes under the Law. But now a Chriſtian hath greater liberty. 2. Corinth. 12.13, 14. An idolatrous wife was not ſanctified by her husband under Moſes law, as ſhe may be under the goſpell; God hath changed the rigour of this law. Deut. 17.25. Not to take ſo much as any thing belonging to idolatrie, and turne it to a civill uſe. Ioſh. 7.1. It is now changed, and the abomination is taken away, we may eate now of the idolothites, when they are not in the temple of the idols, which they might not doe under Moſes law.
If the braſen ſerpent was aboliſhed, why ſhould not the place likewiſe where idols have beene worſhiped, be aboliſhed as well as images.
Anſ. A place is a neceſſary circumſtance in the worſhip of God, but this Serpent was not, neither are crucifixes now.
Things are idolatrous in ſtate when they are in the act of idolatrie,When a thing is idolatrous in ſtate. but out of that act and place, and carrying no repreſentation of the idoll, they ceaſe to bee idolatrous, and may be uſed. Example, no man might eate of the fleſh of the ſacrifice when it was in idoleio in the place where the idoll was worſhiped; yet the reſt of the fleſh, when it was ſold in the ſhambles they might eate of it:The ſuperſtitious Iewes would drinke no wine of the Gentiles. for relata extra uſum non ſunt relata, the relation here ceaſeth betwixt the fleſh and the idoll. Iulian the apoſtate cauſed conſecrate the whole fleſh in the ſhambles to the idols, thinking that none of the Chriſtians would eate of it; but the fleſh in the ſhambles was extra uſum, it but was idolatrous in the temple of the idols, but not in the ſhambles.
Concluſion.The Lord forbad the Iewes libamina gentium, Deut. 32.37. but the Iewes added that they ſhould drinke none of the wine of the gentiles, that is, any meate or drinke dreſſed by them; and therefore at this day they will neither eate of the chriſtians meate, nor drinke of their drinke, but they will give of their meate to the chriſtians; it was onelyonly libamen, the idolatrous drinke of the gentiles which the Lord forbad them, but he forbad them not ſimply their meat and drinke.
The concluſion of this is, as he who is chaſt deſpiſeth not onelyonly the harlot, but alſo the favour of the harlot: ſo if we would eſchew idolatrie, we muſt not onelyonly eſchew idols, but alſo things dedicated to idols.