Commentary on Habakkuk, Commentary · Chapter 1 · Verse 1
Verſe 1. The Burthen which HABAKKUK the Prophet did ſee.
THis firſt verſe tels us what we ſhall find in the enſuing Prophecy; and it openeth to us three things which give light to that which followeth.
1. The Miniſter of God in this Prophecy,
1. By his name. Habakkuk.
2. By his Function: the Prophet.
2. The manner how he came by it: Viſion,
3. The matter of it: the Burthen.
1. Of the Miniſter, Firſt of his name.
The name Habakkuk is rendred by Philo the Jew amplexans embracing, ſo doth Pagnine give it; our Engliſh a wraſtler: for they that wraſtle do embrace and hold faſt one the other; a name well expreſſing the office and employment of this Prophet, who wraſtled with the ſinners of thoſe times, and their horrible iniquities to caſt them. 1. But as God wraſtled with Jacob that he might leave behind him a bleſſing. His tribe Dorothaeus ſaith, was Simeon; I know not upon what information, for the ſilence of the holy Scripture doth argue it to be conjectural.
Concerning the time when he prophecied, it is not particularly expreſt, but it appears to be before the deportation into Babylon, for the Chaldeans invaſion is here threatned, and therefore Junius thinks him contemporary with Jeremiah, and referreth his Prophecie to the end of Joſias his Government. Others after the Hebrews referre it is the …me of King Manaſſeh.
Maſter Calvin very truly affirmeth it before the time of Zedekiah.
Arias Montanus gives a probable conjecture, by comparing that which is ſaid, 2 Reg. 21.12. Therefore thus ſaith the Lord God of Iſrael, behold I am bringing forth an evill upon Jeruſalem and Iudah, that whoſoever heareth of it, both his ears ſhall tingle.
That in the eleventh verſe tis ſaid, Becauſe Manaſſeh King of Judah hath done theſe abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath alſo made Iudah to ſinne with his idols.
And this Commination is almoſt in the ſame words in the fifth verſe of this chapter.
Saint Hierome, in his Prologue to this Prophet ſaith, that he is called a wraſtler quia certamen ingreditur cum deo, becauſe he wraſtled with God. Nullus enim Prophetarum auſus eſt tam audaci voce Deum ad diſceptationem justitiae provocare, none durſt ſo boldly provoke God to vindicate his Juſtice, as it appears v. 2.
But he doth violate the text of Canonical Scripture and Hiſtory to verifie that Apocrypha tale of Habakkuks bringing food to Daniel by miracle, which deſtroyeth the truth of the hiſtory, to make faith of a Legend.
For either there muſt be two Habakkuks, or this one muſt live, as Arias Montanus doth caſt it up, three hundred years, if he lived to feed Daniel in the Captivity, a long time of life then, or this muſt prophecie before he was born Bellarmine hath found out two Daniels, one the Prophet of the tribe of Iudah, and another of the tribe of Levi, that heard the cauſe of Suſanna; and Ribera a Ieſuite two Habakkuks.
But we loſe time in this queſtion, for they that have not the light in the word, do go in the dark, and they that go in the dark, know not whither they go.
The beſt uſe of this is to limit our ſearch to the holy Canonical Scripture▪ and to take all our light from thence; ſo ſhall we not go aſtray.
2. The function of this man is ſet down in the name. Of a Prophet, that is, a man enlightned by divine Revelation, to underſtand the will of God in ſome things, and appointed to declare the ſame.
Secondly, the manner how he came to it: Viſion, that is, divine Revelation, aſſuring him of the truth of Gods will ſo fully as if he had ſeen the ſame with his eyes accompliſhed.
De his conſule conciones ſuper Obadiam
Thirdly, the matter of the Prophecie, the Burden. In which two queſtions are moved.
1. Why this Prophecy is called a Burthen.
2. Whoſe burthen this is.
To the firſt it is called a burthen in reſpect
1. Of the ſin here puniſhed, which is onus a burthen.
2. Of the puniſhment here threatned; that is onus.
3. Of the Word of God threatning: that is onus.
1. Peccatum onus, Sina burthen.
1 Deo to God.
2. Hominibus to men.
1. Onus deo, A burthen to God.
God complaineth of the ſins of his People, that they are a burthen to him.
Behold I am preſt under you, as a cart is preſt that is full of ſheavs.
The very ſervice that theſe ſinners do ſeem to perform to God, is a burthen to him as he complaineth; Your new Moons, your appointed feaſts, my ſoule hateth: they are a trouble unto me, I am weary to beare them. Hierom.Laboravi ſustinens, So the Prophet Malachie complaineth.
Ye have wearied the Lord with your words: Mal. 3.…7.yet ye ſay, wherein have we wearied him? When yee ſay, every one that doth evill is good in the ſight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them or where is the God of judgement? Three things weary God.
1. When we multiply our own ſins.
2. When we tender God ſervice continuing in ſin.
3. When we juſtifie ſinners, and flatter them in their ſins, as though God had accepted them.
2. Peccatum onus est hominibus, Sin is a burthen to men.
Chriſt calleth none to him but ſuch as are weary of this our-then of ſinne to ſuch he promiſeth refreſhing.
Ask the firſt ſinners if they found not their ſin their burthen, when they hid themſelves from the preſence of God.
Ask the firſt murtherer, if any place were ſafe for him, who thought and ſaid that whoſoever met him would kill him.
They that think that Lamech kild Cain, read the text: occidi hominem in vulnus meum.
Ask Ioſephs brethren, when they ſaw their ſad conſtraint in Aegypt, both at their firſt coming to buy corne, and after the death of their father, if the treſpaſſe againſt their brother Ioſeph did not lie heavy upon them.
Ask the tender conſcience of any of Gods children, if any weight or burthen be like unto that of the body of ſinne, and if he do not cry with Paul, Quis liberabit me? Who ſhall deliver me.
Till we come to this, to feele the burthen of ſinne, and to be weary of it, we are the ſons of wrath, and every man may call himſelf foreign, A wretched man.
Here is pride and vanity cloathing of us, here is gluttony and drunkenneſſe feeding of us, here is the mouth full of evil words, the hands of violence or bribes, giving or taking; the day, the night, the yeare, ſpent in pleaſure and recreations; Gods Sabbath is neglected, Gods Word not regarded, he time ſerved, the humours of ſinful men obſerved, and when theſe thing… are no burthen to the bearers thereof, there is wrath gone forth from the Lord againſt them: and if timely repentance do not ſtand in the gap, it will break in upon them that do ſuch things, like a flood, and no man ſhall eſcape that is purſued by this judgement.
Let me therefore entreat you to hear a word of exhortation, Give not the members of your bodyes ſervants to ſinne.
Give not; for indeed, what have you to give, ſeeing you brought nothing with you into the world? and what have yee that you have not received? or if you will needs be giving, hands off give not the members of your body, for your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, or ſhould be, if you would give ſo comfortable a gueſt welcome; or if you will give your bodies away, do them not the wrong to put them out to ſervice; for they are bought with a price, the deareſt pennyworth that was ever bought; their liberty coſt the binding, their ſanitie the breaking, their eaſe the ſmart and aking, their life the death of the holieſt body that ever lived upon earth.
Or if you will needs give your body a ſervant, let it not be to ſin, for that is ponderous in the weight noyſom in the ſtinch, bitter in the ſmart; the burthen of ſinne is the wrath of God.
Here let me awake your thankful hearts to an acknowledging conſideration of that great redemption performed by Jeſus Chriſt to his Church, who came to take this burthen upon him, and to eaſe us of it; Agnus qui tollit peccata, the Lamb that taketh away ſins from us, that he might waſh us in his bloud: upon himſelf he bore our infirmities, and God made the iniquitie of us all to meet on him.
He did not rob us as Iſrael did the Egyptians, of our jewels of ſilver, and jewels of gold; he only took our infirmities and our ſins from us; and whereas once we might have ſaid with Caſſiodore,
Quantitas delicti menſura eſt repudii, the quantity of the fault is the meaſure of the judgment; for by our ſins we might have taken meaſure of the wrath and judgment of God; now there is an unſ…aled height, an unſounded depth, and unbounded bredth of love which hath ſaid to the Church of the whole burthen of ſin, Cantantes ut eamus, ego hoc te faſce levabo, let us ſing as we go, I will eaſe thee of this burthen.
2 The puniſhment here threatned is a burthen to man.1. Homini.
Iſſacher under his double burthen, ſaith; that reſt is good, he found reſt amongſt his burthens.
But there is no peace to the wicked man; a ſinner that hath any ſenſe of ſin will ſay as David, Non eſt pax oſſibus meis propter peccatum; There is no reſt in my bones, becauſe of my ſinne, he was ſo overcharged with the fear of Gods judgments, that ſometimes he doubted that God had forgotten to be mercifull, and that he would be no more intreated.
Who can ſtand in thy ſight when thou art angry?
I can tell you who could not ſtand; not the Angels that kept not their firſt eſtate, heaven; was too hot for them, God caſt them down, ejecit, conjecit, dejecit, rejecit, ſubjecit; and that anger is yet their burthen and ſhall be for ever.
The firſt tenants of Paradiſe could not; they fled from the face of God, and the curſe of God lay heavie upon them.
Cain confeſt, his puniſhment more then he could bear; the old World all but eight perſons ſunk under this wrath, and were drowned in the great deep.
The tranſgreſſing Cities ſuffered the conſuming and tormenting flames of fire and brimſtone.
The very earth trembled and ſhoke, Pſal. 18.the foundations alſo of the mountains moved and quaked, becauſe hee was angry; ſmoake went out at his noſthrils, and conſuming fire out of his mouth.
Beloved, let me tell you what I fear; never any times did more put almighty God to it to reveal his anger from heaven, and to raine down burthens upon the ſons of men; for the clearer the light of the Goſpel ſhineth, the more his expectation is of walking in the light; but our knowledge is rather floating in the braine then working in the obedience of our life.
Chriſt ſaith, It ſhall be eaſier for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of the Lord, then for thoſe of that generation to whom the light appeared in his Miniſtery ſo clear and glorious; and yet they love darkneſſe better then light, becauſe their works were; evill. Great is the weight of a milſtone hanged about our neck, and wee caſt therewith into the bottome of the ſea: yet the burthen of Gods wrath hee ſayeth, is much heavier then that.
And yet we make no care nor conſcience, and live without fear of this anger; we do this and that great wickedneſſe, and ſin againſt God, and provoke him to anger with our actions and inventions, as if the Lord ſaw not this, as if there were no knowledge in the moſt High;
As if he could not pluck his hand out of his boſome; as if we had ſtollen away his ſword, and his quiver full of deadly arrowes.
I beſeech you my brethren; do not ſo wickedly; your oaths and blſalphemies, your pride and vanities, your crueltie and oppreſſions, your frauds and circumventions, your abuſe of Gods good creatures in exceſſe and wantonneſſe, they are all gone up to heaven, and awake vengeance and chaleng the God of mercy to declare his juſtice.
Doth not ſome part of the Church now in the Palatinate and in Bohemia groan under the burthen of warre, wherein the goods, the liberties, the lives of men, Chriſtian men, profeſſours of the ſame faith, with us do lie at the ſtake, and bloud toucheth bloud.
Doth not our neighbour Church in France tremble for feare of a new maſſacre? hath not the ſword of violence taſted already of Proteſtant blood? do not the Jeſuites the incendiaries of the Chriſtian world, blow the coal and incenſe the King thereof to graſſation and deſtruction of all that have not the marke of the beaſt, either openly in their foreheads or ſecretly in their hands? and dare we anger our God who gives us the early and the latter rain, who crownes our land with peace, and the daughter of peace plenty!
Shall we flatter our ſelves, and ſay that although we do wickedly, this burthen ſhall not fall upon us? let us pray for them, and amend our own lives, and ſin no more leaſt ſome worſe judgment do fall upon us; for we ſhall elſe finde too late that the wrath and judgment of God is too heavie a burthen for us to bear.
2 The wrath and judgments of God, they are a burthen to God,2. Deo. he profeſſeth it.
As I live ſaith the Lord, I delight not in the death of a ſinner: he calleth upon his Iſrael, why will yee periſh O houſe of Iſrael?
When he puniſhed his people, how heavy was the burthen of their puniſhment upon him?
He ſmarted under his own rod; the burthens that he put upon his people wearied him.
Why ſhould you be ſtricken any more? Iſay. 1.5.The whole head is ſicke and the whole heart is faint?
From the ſoal of the foot to the head, there is no ſoundneſſe in it, &c.
Truly God doth bear with us in a double ſenſe; for he doth forbear our puniſhment in expectation of our amendment, and he doth ſuffer with us in our ſufferings; he is our father and every ſtripe he layeth on us ſmarteth upon him.
O greive not the Spirit of God by whom you are ſealed up to the day of your redemption.
3 The word of God threatning ſin is a burthen.
1. To God.
2. To the Prophet.
3. To the People.
It is a burthen to God to threaten judgment,1 Deo. he loves to ſpeak us faire, and to ſpeak and treat kindly with us, to draw us with the cords of men, and with the bands of love, to be as one that taketh off the yoake; for he knoweth whereof we be made, for he made us and not we our ſelves: he will allure and perſwade Japhet to dwell in the tents of Shem.
If Adam do tranſgreſſe his one commandment given to him in Paradiſe, he tarrieth expecting when Adam will come to him to acknowledge his fault, and caſt himſelf at his feet to ſeek mercy; if Adam will not, he will come to him; but it ſhall be the cool of the day firſt, and he will call him to accompt, but yet ſo fatherly that he cannot execute the law without preaching the Goſpel; he cannot baniſh him the earthly Paradiſe til he have opened to him an heavenly.
He cannot threaten till he have promiſed; he cannot puniſh till he have pardoned.
3 This is a burthen to the Prophet, and that two wayes.2 Prophetae.
1. In reſpect of his fidelity to him that ſendeth him.
2. In reſpect of his zeal.
3. In reſpect of his charity and compaſſion to them to whom he is ſent.
1. In reſpect of his fidelity.
It is a burthen to him to keep in the word of this Prophecy, he cannot conceal it.
When Jeremy found the people incorrigible, and that the word of God in his Miniſtery was deſpiſed and made his reproach.
Then I ſaid I will not make mention of him, nor ſpeak any more in his name: Jer. 20.9.but his word was in my heart as a burning fire ſhut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not ſtay.
Some carnall men do confeſſe that it is true that we muſt preach the judgments of God againſt ſin, that is our trade; but let children fear thoſe bugbears, they know as well as we can tell them that God is mercifull, and his mercy is above all his works.
It is true that we muſt preach judgment againſt ſin, for we have fear of the burthen of all thoſe ſins of others which we reprove not, to fall upon our ſelves.
If thou giveſt him not warning, his blood will I require at thy hands.
Therefore this word of excommunication,Ezek. 3 18. is our burthen and we muſt not conceal it.
2. In reſpect of his zeal.
For the Prophets of the Lord and his holy Miniſters, beholding the ſins which they do daily reprove to come up ſo faſt, as though they had never layd the axe of Gods judgment againſt the root of that corrupt tree; the zeal of Gods glory ſo ſtirreth them that they cannot hold …ut they muſt ſtrike with the ſword of the Spirit, they muſt lift up their voices like trumpets, they muſt tell the houſe of Jacob their ſins.
Jeremy doth expreſſe this to the life.
Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord, Jer. 6.11.I am weary with holding in, I will pour it out upon the children abroad, &c.
Let not the ſenſuall and carnall man call our threatnings of ſin our own ravings, and railings: and our comminations of judgment, the intemperate iſſue of our own choler. Jeremy calleth it The fury of the Lord.
And ſo long as we reprove juſtly, and mingle none of our own heat with the fire of Gods altar, we ſhall kindle a fire in the bones of the ſinner which ſhall give him no reſt, but his conſcience ſhall ſay to him as Nathan ſaid to David. Thou art the man.
3. In reſpect of his compaſſion.
Do not think that it is any joy to us to reprove or to threaten, St. Paul is loth to uſe the rod. Jonah will rather runne away from God then he will carry the newes to Niniveh that it muſt be deſtroyed.
Many walk of whom I have told you often, and now tell you weeping.
We ſhall find as ſoone as we are paſt this firſt verſe, that this Prophet did feel the burthen which he did ſee; and the griefe he took for them, turned his Harp into mourning, and his Organes into the voyce of them that weep; every tender heart avoydeth being a meſſenger of evil news, but their feet be beautifull that bring glad tydings, tydings of peace.
3. The word of threatning is a burthen to the people to whom it is ſent. 1. Judaeis, non Chaldaeis.
1. To the Penitent.
2. To the Impenitent.
1. To the Penitent; it is an heavy burthen to them to think how they have provoked God to anger, and have drawn out his ſword againſt themſelves.
They that truly fear God, when they hear their ſins threatned, do retire themſelves into their chambers, they weep and deplore their iniquities. Hezekiah hearing the Prophet threatning his life
He turned himſelf to the wall, Iſa. 38.2, 3.he prayed to the Lord; and Hezekiah wept ſore.
Never think that you hear the threatnings of God with any profit till you feel the burthen of them oppreſſing, and the edge of them drawing bloud on you. Lachrymae be ſanguis animae.
The Lyon roareth, and all the beaſts of the forreſt do tremble: a tender ſonne that hath done a fault, and heareth his father threatning to puniſh him, findeth that threatning ſo great a burthen to him, that he can give himſelf no reſt till he have recovered his fathers favour.
2. The very Impenitent who have any ſenſe of the terrour of the Lord, feel Gods threatnings heavie: it will make Ahab that ſold himſelf to do wickedneſſe, put on ſackcloath, and crowne his head with aſhes and go mourning, if he hear that Gods anger is ſtirred to bring evill upon his houſe.
Even Abſolon an ungratious ſon is impatient of living out of his fathers preſence; and he ſetteth Joabs corn on fire for neglecting the mediation which might bring him to his fathers face.
Eſau will ſeek his fathers bleſſing with tears; and what would not Balaam give that he might die the death of the righteous? Surely God is a conſuming fire, and if coals of this fire are kindled in the boſome of the impenitent, and their damnation doth not ſleep, but is awake in them, in the accuſation of their guilty conſciences to begin their hell even here on earth.