Commentary on Habakkuk, Commentary · Chapter 1 · Verse 11
Ver. 11. Then ſhall his mind change, and he ſhall paſſe over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.
3. WHat ſhall become of the Chaldaeans thus victorious.
1. They ſhall change their mind.
2. They ſhall paſſe over.
3. They ſhall offend.
4. Their fault.
1. They ſhall change their mind.
The proſperous and victorious ſucceſſe of the Chaldaean, ſhall ſo infatuate the Chaldaean, that he ſhall be tranſported with the pride thereof, and God ſhall give end unto his violence; God ſhall change his mind for their ſakes whom he reſerveth as his remnant amongſt the Jews.
The rod of the wicked ſhall not reſt on the lot of the righteous. Doct. The wicked are the ſword of the Lord, he will not always chide nor ſtrike, but he will put up his ſword in his ſheath, his arme in his boſome.
He guideth the hearts of all men like rivers of waters, which way he pleaſeth.
It is a doctrine which I lately taught out of Obadiah. Though the Church of God do live under the Croſſe for a time, it ſhall not be always ſo: for as here it is declared, Their mind ſhall change that afflict her.
1. Becauſe Gods quarrel is not againſt the Perſons of men, but againſt their ſins; therefore he puniſheth non ad vindictam, but ad emendationem vitae, and it is no pleaſure to God to puniſh his children, therefore he will not always puniſh, becauſe afflictions are of excellent force to bring forth in his children
1. Contrition.
2. Supplication.
2. He will not always puniſh, leaſt the extream paſſions of his ſervants ſhould breed in them a doubt of his love, and ſo weaken their faith.
3, Leaſt the righteous ſhould put forth his hand unto ſinne.
4. Leaſt the enemies of his Church ſhould grow too inſolent.
Further we are taught,2 Doct. that thoſe whom God uſeth as his rods are limited; when they have executed his will they ſhall then change their minds: the mind of the Chaldaean was cruelty, and oppreſſion, and covetouſneſſe, and ambition; this victory ſhall change their mind into pride and inſolencie, ſo that as the wiſe man ſaith, The proſperity of fools ſhall deſtroy them.
It is a true laying for the moſt part, that as the good, ſo the blood riſeth; men of low degree, when they riſe to high places, men of poor eſtate when they grow to plenty, even nations, when they overflow their own banks, and over-run others, do change their minds, they have not the ſame hearts and affections that they had.
It is a ſingular wiſedome to uſe the fulneſſe of proſperity well.
The Paradiſe of God did not content our firſt Parents, the forbidden fruit ſeemed to Evah the faireſt fruit of the garden, that changed her mind from the obedience of the law of God, to be both a Praevaricatour and a tempter.
The ſonnes of God living in proſperity in the favour of God, ſet their eyes on the daughters of men, and becauſe they looked fair like Eves apple, they changed their mind from living under the religious awe of God, to take them wives by whom the ſervice of God was corrupted: for they that marry with tempters and take them into their boſomes, either preſume too much on their own ſtrength, and they tempt God therein: or elſe they change their minds and religions with them.
Can a man carry fire in his boſome and not be burnt? or walke upon burning coals and not be ſcorched? The Author of the book of Wiſedome ſaith well of the righteous, That he is ſpeedily taken away, leaſt wickedneſſe ſhould alter his underſtanding, Wiſd. 4.11or deceit beguile his ſoule.
There is a great meaſure of grace needful to him that would uſe proſperity well; he muſt not be wicked; for where the good ſpirit of God is wanting, there is nothing but unſtayedneſſe and inconſtancy; but David prayeth, Eſtabliſh thou me with thy free ſpirit.
Davids victories and peace and proſperity, did change his mind, he grew wanton, and to hide that, cruel, and to live in that ſinne of uncleanneſſe, irreligious till God ſent Nathan to him.
Ezekiah having reſt, changed his mind, and proud of his treaſures, ſhewed them to his own diſadvantage, and provoked Gods anger againſt him.
Experience ſhows us how the world, and the wealth and honours thereof do corrupt men of good minds before, and changeth their underſtandings, that Demas will forſake Paul, whom he hath long ſerved; and ſome diſciples will no longer walk with Chriſt.
The cauſe hereof is becauſe outward things unſanctified to the owner and uſer thereof, Reaſon. 1 have no power to eſtabliſh the heart; for the heart is eſtabliſhed by grace, and not with meats, nor with any outward things.
Becauſe there is no peace with the wicked man, Reaſon 2 he muſt be as violent and as unconſtant as the ſea, caſting up alſo foame and filth.
Becauſe iniquity knoweth no meaſure, Reaſon 3 but runneth into all extremes, Virtutiſque viam deſerit arduae: Their mirth is madneſſe, their muſick vanity: ſo their ſorrow is ſullenneſſe and diſcontent: Conquered, they are baſe, and lick the duſt from the enemies foot: Conquering, they are proud, and tyrannize over them whom they have ſubdued.
Thus the mind of the wicked changeth in them.
The profit that we may make of this point is great. Ʋſe.
1. It diſcourageth us from greedy ſeeking of temporal proſperity, becauſe it hath this danger in it to change our minds, and to ſhift us from vice to vice: wherefore it is a good petition in our holy Letany:Prov. 30.9 In all time of our wealth good Lord deliver us. and that of Agur,
Give me not riches leaſt I be full and deny thee, and ſay, who is the Lord?
2. It comforteth the oppreſſed that their oppreſſors are not always of the ſame mind, but they may have hope of fairer weather in the greateſt ſtormes that do ariſe, becauſe the minds of their enemies ſhall change, as David ſaith,
He made them that led them away captive to pity them, for God hath a power in this change, which is mutatio dextrae excelſi.
2. They ſhall paſſe over them.
Either to ſome further queſt of glory, or they ſhall exceed their Commiſſion and go beyond the bounds appointed them, either in puniſhing whom God would have to be ſpared, or in time, continuing the puniſhment beyond the time deſigned.
God only knoweth how far he would have his judgment to paſſe; the Chaldaeans do tranſgreſſe and paſſe over this meaſure, whereby they grow intolerable, and their malice puniſhable.
Or pertranſibunt may be referred to their own ſhort domination; for the Chaldaeans were a few years after conquered by the Medes and Perſians, as the learned Jeſuite Ribera obſerveth.
And we find that Nebuchadnezzar the King of the Chaldaeans felt the ſmart of this prophecie in his own Perſon.
For he changed his mind and paſſed over when he became as a brute beaſt, and was driven from men,Dan. 4.33. and did eat graſſe as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like Eagles feathers, and his nails like birds claws.
Thus he that paſſed the bounds of Juſtice in the oppreſſion of the Jews, and the bounds of modeſty in the pride of his victories, is changed in his underſtanding, and paſſeth the bounds of common humanity.
All this proves that Gods employing the wicked to puniſh others doth not move them nor derive the favours of God upon them, they cannot keep within any compaſſe.
1. If pertranſibit, paſſe over, do ſignifie a further queſt of glory, we are taught hence, that the ungodly are inſatiable in their deſires, nothing will content them, every victory encourageth to a new warre, as we find in all examples of the greateſt monarchies of the world, till their own weight ruine them.
2. As this paſſing over doth ſignifie their going beyond their bounds, we are taught, that they whom God employeth without their knowledge and Privity, do only ſeek their own ends, neither is God in all their ways.
3. As this paſſing over ſignifieth the ſhort joy of their victory, ſo it teacheth that an ungodly man can never be an happy man, nor a ſinful man a wiſe man; for in ſhort time he will loſe that what he hath unjuſtly gotten; for though God intended the taking away of the Iews land from them, he intended it but for a time; he meant the Jews a ſharp chaſtiſement, not an eradication.
I underſtand thoſe words of a ceſſation from any further proſecution of this warre againſt the Jews, for he ſhall carry away ſome captive into his own land, and the meaner ſort he ſhall leave behind to husband Judaea, and ſo ſhall ceaſe.
And this doth ſtrengthen our former doctrine, that thoſe whom God uſeth as inſtruments of his Juſtice, ſhall at length deſiſt, God will not ſuffer them beyond his decreed time.
3. They ſhall offend.
Let no man miſtake this place, as if God did lay upon them a neceſſity of offence; but he doth out of his Preſcience foretell that they will offend God, as with all their other ſinnes, ſo particularly with this their ſervice done to him.
They are ſtirred up to this warre by God, Doctr. and it is his juſt will to puniſh the Iews, yet the Chaldaeans that execute this will do offend, which was before proved by their evil intention, and will after more appear in the cloſe of this text; wherein we have charged the action upon God, and the evill of the action upon the Chaldaeans.
Doct. 2 2. God foreknoweth the ſins of men.
He foreknew the fall of Adam, and provided a remedy for it in his eternal counſel.
He foreknew the ſins of the old world, and provided a judgment to puniſh them.
He foreknew the ſinnes of his Iſrael, and therefore he made all his promiſes conditional, and referred them to their obedience.
He foreknew the treſpaſſe of Judas, the cruelty of the Iews, the injuſtice of the Romanes againſt his ſonne, and he made his death medicinal and cordial for his Church, and a ruine to the enemies thereof; the ſame ſtone which was the corner ſtone of the Church, was a rock of offence to her enemies.
This is the ground of Gods Juſtice againſt the Chaldaeans in the next ſection of this chapter; for fore-ſeeing how they would offend, He did alſo fore-decree how he would puniſh them.
He is called foreign a ſeer, for all things are manifeſt in his ſight: the eye of the Lord is over all the world, he ſeeth both the good and the bad.
God foreſeeth offences before they be come into the hearts of men, as Chriſt knew Judas would be a …raitour before Judas knew it himſelf;2 Reg. 13.8. and God by his Prophet told Hazael how cruel he ſhould be, before Hazael was King, and when Hazael though ſuch wickedneſſe could not have bred in him. Am I a dog that I ſhould do this great thing?
And Chriſt told Peter that he would deny him, when Peter proteſted againſt it very ſtrongly.
1. Becauſe he knoweth the heart in which ſinne breedeth, and knows how apt it is to conceive ſinne. He knoweth whereof we be made.
2. He foreſeeth the temptations wherewith man ſhall be tempted.
3. He knoweth what meaſure of ſtrength and vertue is gone out from him to man, to enable him againſt theſe temptations.
Ʋſe. 1. Let no man therfore flatter himſelf that he can commit any ſinne ſo ſecretly that the eye of God ſhall eſcape it; he knoweth our thoughts long before, there can no darkneſſe hide us from this eye; but the darkneſſe is as light as the day to him, darkneſſe and light are both alike.
And if God foreſee offences to come, much more doth he remember ſins paſt, and obſerve ſins preſent.
2. Let this ſtirre us up to the feare of the Lord, which is a continual putting of us into the preſence of God, and filleth us with fervent prayers to God to keep us from ſinne, either from the deſire of it, or from the committing of it, or from the puniſhment of it, by giving us ſtrength to reſiſt ſinne tempting us, or at leaſt to hate the evil which we do againſt the law of our mind, tranſported by the law of our members: or to give us the grace of repentance, that we may turn to him, and break off our ſins by righteouſneſſe and godly life.
This is that petition in our Lords Prayer, Lead us not into temptation.
Which petition followeth that former, forgive us our treſpaſſes; for whom God pardoneth, them Satan tempteth moſt, both becauſe he deſpighteth God, and becauſe relapſe into ſins once pardoned is a double danger.
And he prayeth God not to lead him into the temptation, becauſe we muſt not only remember with grief the ſins we have committed, but we muſt conſider with feare what ſins our infirmities may fall into.
Into which God leadeth us, by withdrawing his grace from us, or from which he keepeth and preſerveth us by his aſſiſting grace.
The foreſight of God is in reſpect of himſelf and his own perfect knowledge infallible and certain; that will come to paſſe which he foreſeeth, and this is his wiſedome; though man have a free will to do evil, yet he knoweth how far this his free will ſhall miſlead him.
And for that cauſe he hath ſet ſuch a guard of Angels about the juſt, to keep them in all their ways that they fall not, to take them up again when they fall, and he hath given his word and lanthorn to their feet to guide and direct their paths.
Yet we may ſay that this foreſight of God may be in reſpect of the means conditional, and ſo God may foreſee ſuch an event upon ſome ſecret condition, which yet by means may be prevented, and not ſucceed.
A great example hereof in Davids ſtory.
He heareth that the Philiſtims do rob Keilah, David goeth againſt the Philiſtims, 1 Sam. 23.and overcometh, and ſaveth the men of Keilah.
Saul hearing of it, armes his forces to ſurprize Keilah ſecretly.
David asketh of God;Verſ. 12. Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?
The Lord ſaid, They will deliver thee up?
Here God foreſaw a ſinne in the men of Keilah which was never committed, but Saul had ſent, and God knew the corruption of the heart of thoſe men, and gave warning.
Here his foreſight in reſpect of himſelf was certain, which was, that David ſhould take this warning to eſcape.
But in reſpect of the ſucceſſe it was conditional, becauſe it hath reference to the means of evaſion.
So God foreſaw the death of Ezechiah by his conditional will deferred; but by his revealed will preſent: and his revealed will doth not always make neceſſity of event, but ſometimes it is a warning to eſcape it.
Thus God foreſeeth the ſpawning of ſinne in mans life, in the ſeed or root thereof, which is luſt, yet he reveileth means to keep the juſt from falling into theſe ſins.
But for the wicked, he leaveth them to the ſtream and current of their own free-will, and leadeth them into temptation. For temptation is their puniſhment.
This may ſtirre us up to husband the means of grace, to the beſt advantage of our ſouls to keep us undefiled in the way, that iniquity may not have dominion over us.
For Gods certain knowledge of our evils, will bring forth a certain judgment to puniſh them.
4. Wherein he ſhall offend, imputing this his power to his God.
The Chaldaeans were not without their God; Nebuchadnezzar their King had made them a god of the beſt mettal, and had ſet it up in the plain of Durah in the Province of Babel, and called all the People in his Dominions to worſhip the god which Nebuchadnezzar the King had ſet up.
This god muſt have the glory of the Chaldaeans Conqueſt; and what greater diſhonour can they do to the living God, then to give his glory to liveleſſe and ſenſeleſſe ſtocks?
1. Yet it appeareth, that thoſe People, although they knew not the true God, yet they had a knowledge of the Divinity; and ſo we do hold, that no man is ſimpliciter Atheos, that is, without knowledge or acknowledgment of ſome divine power ruling and governing all things.
For this is the finger of God, in the heart of the natural man, who though he do not perceive qua D…i, the things of God, yet he perceiveth quod Deus, that there is a God.
2. It appeareth that they did confeſſe a debt of glory due to the Deity; whatſoever they would think worthy to be eſteemed their God, they would think it worthy of all aſcriptions of honour and glory; which is another truth of the law of God written in the heart of every man, and it is a good principle of nature, it is a lineament of the image of God in man.
3. It alſo appeareth that they believed the ordinance and moderation of great affairs to depend on the power and ſtrength of their god, becauſe they give him the honour of this victory; for his power, the power which he calleth his, he confeſſeth to be borrowed for he imputeth it to his God, which alſo is another beam and ray of heavenly light.
But the Lord ſaith here, they ſhall offend herein, for Gods glory is given away from him, and horrible idolatry is committed.
This light of nature doth ſerve to convince the Chaldaeans that Nebuchadnezzars golden image is not, cannot be god, for that is fixed, it moveth not, what wealth it hath in the matter is the Kings gift, what proportion or forme it hath in the fabrick and forme of it, it hath from the hand of the workman.
But beloved, let me lay open to you the true cauſe of all idolatry, not only that of the heathen, but even that of them that call themſelves Chriſtians: it is want of faith.
For ſeeing God is an inviſible eſſence, and they are loth to worſhip what they cannot ſee, and they walk by ſenſe and not by faith, the inviſible Deity is by them worſhipped in ſome viſible forme, and I cannot judge more hardly againſt them then that
They have too much weakneſſe in their underſtanding to make it neceſſary that their God muſt be viſible: yet not ſo much weakneſſe of ſenſe as to judge that Idol to be God which is of their own making.
But ſee how God puniſheth them; for ſeeing they will not worſhip a God whom they cannot ſee, he leaveth them to worſhip that which they can ſee to be no god.
Yet give me leave to commend the Chaldae an for one thing; he doth not aſſume the glory of this victory to himſelf, and he findeth the honour of it above humane nature.
Therein teaching us to give the glory of all our good ſucceſſes to him whom we know and believe to be our God, and not to over-ween our ſelves herein; for before this chapter ſhall paſſe us, we ſhall find that the Chaldaean will learne to be his own God, and thank himſelf for his victories, as it followeth, ver. 26.
Therefore they ſacrifice to their net; For, Nemo ſubitò fit peſſimus.
Yet ſome Interpreters applying this to Nebuchadnezzar, do think, that this imputing of the power to his god, was aſſuming of it to himſelfe, and that he was his own god: as we read of Alexander, that after his many victories, he was ſo full of himſelfe as to ſuffer himſelf to be flattered with that high appellation.
And Daniels ſtory ſhoweth the pride of Nebuchadnezzar high grown; and this ſacrificing to their own net, which followeth doth favour this expoſition.
When I put theſe things together, they ſhall offend, imputing this their strength to their God. I find here,
1. Idolatry, imputing this to his God.
2. That idolatry is an offence to God.
1. Idolatry.
That the Chaldaean is juſtly charged with idolatry, here I thus ſhew. Dr. Raynold. de Idol. Whoſoever gives Divine Worſhip to a creature is an Idolater.Lib. 2.1.1
Quiſquis creaturae divinum cultum exhibet idolatra eſt, at Chaldaeus hoc facit; but the Chaldaean doth ſo, Ergo
The firſt Propoſition is cleared,Major. for whatſoever is honoured with the honour of God, is put into the place of God, againſt that law non habebis Deos alienos, Thou ſhalt have no other gods.
That the Chaldaean is thus guilty, the text convinceth him; he imputeth the force of his warre and victory to his god. This is Deus alienus, this is an idol.
It is the proper honour to the true God to be custos hominum the Preſerver of men: to be Dominus exercituum the Lord of Hoſtes. This honour the Chaldaean gave to his God.
When Rachel ſaid to Jacob, Give me children or elſe I die, Jacob was very angry with her whom he loved dearly, that ſhe ſhould deſpoil God of his due glory, and ſeek it from a creature.Gen. 30.2. And he anſwered, Am I inſtead of God?
For Plato an heathen Philoſopher did confeſſe, quamvis in mortali animante fiat, res tamen divina est Praegnatio, In Sympoſ.& ab immortalibus eſt.
So when the King of Syria wrote to the king of Iſrael in the behalf of Naaman the leper, that he might be cured of his leproſie, the King of Iſrael rent his cloaths at that idolatrous demand, and ſaid, Am I a god to kill and give life? ſo that the honour of God given away from him to any creature is the ſetting up of an idol in the place of God.
The Nicene Synod did condemne the Arrians of idolatry, becauſe they denied the Divinity of Chriſt, and yet acknowledged divine worſhip to him.
And becauſe Neſtorius did affirm Chriſt to be meer man, and not God, both the Epheſian and Nicene Synods condemned them of Anthropolatry.
We do uſually offend too much in our aſcriptions to the means of any good to us, wherein we wrong Gods glory if we look not up to him as the ſupream Agent working in that means.
Thus in the Church of Rome, Angels by God employed for the ſervice of man, by the over-doing thankfulneſſe of man were honoured with the honour due to him that ſent them.
Thoſe that leave the ſervice of God, and ſtudy men, and apply themſelves wholly to their humours, to better their eſtates, do ſet up new and ſtrange gods againſt the true God, and give his glory to creatures, and make their means their idols, do commit idolatry, and break the firſt great Commandement of the Law.
The Romaniſts cannot clear themſelves of this treſpaſſe, though Bellarmine their Champion do his beſt to excuſe it.
He diſtinguiſheth between images, which he calleth veras rerum ſimilitudines, the true ſimilitudes of things: but he calleth idols falſe Repreſentations of things that are not.
But not to trouble our ſelves to examine his frivolous diſtinction, the image it ſelfe of a true thing ſubſiſting, is a creature; and to give that, the honour due only to God, is groſſe idolatry; for example, that in their Romane Breviary which is directed to the Croſſe, be it not to the image and repreſentation of the Croſſe before their eyes, but in it to the Croſſe it ſelfe, is it not idolatry? O Crux ave ſpes unica, hoc paſſionis tempore auge piis juſtitiam, reiſque dona veniam.
2. This text chargeth them that they offend, whereby it appeareth that idolatry is an offence; you ſee how high it reacheth even to the ungodding of the Almighty, and we ſhall ſhortly ſee how ſore it ſmarteth upon the offenders.
1. The devil is the Authour of idolatry; Reaſ. 1 for when God had buried Moſes ſecretly to prevent idolatry, the devil would have diſcovered the place to move the People to idolatry; that was the ſtrife which Saint Jude mentioneth between Michael the Arch-angel and the devil about the body of Moſes, wherein the Arch-angel prevailed againſt him.
2. The devil is a great tempter to idolatry; Reaſ. 2 Matth. 4.for he aſſaulted Chriſt ſo; ſi procidens adoraveris me, if thou wilt fall down and worſhip me.
3. The devil is the chief Agent in the Miniſtery of the idolatrous Prieſts, Reaſ. 3 as the evil ſpirit offered his ſervice to be a lying ſpirit in the mouths of Baals Prophets, foure hundred of them at once.1 Reg. 22.22.
The promiſe of Satan is that which he profeſt to Chriſt, to draw men from the worſhip of God to worſhip him; and there is no mean: all worſhippers that do not worſhip the true God worſhip Satan; ſo the Chaldaean imputeth their force to Satan; for he that is not with him is againſt him.
The uſe of this point is taught by the Apoſtle Saint John, Ʋſe. 1 John 5.21.Babes keep your ſelves from idols, give not the glory of God to creatures.
It is an admirable thing in the whole courſe of the ſtory of Iſrael, and after of the Iews; Moſes could tell them; for what Nation is there ſo great? Who hath God ſo nigh unto them, Deut. 4.7.as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
Yet was idolatry their national ſinne, although upon all occaſions they might adviſe with God, though they had the pillar of fire, the pillar of cloud, the Arke, the Law, the Prieſthood, the Temple, and all the oracles of God committed to them.
Therefore no wonder if the Chaldaean who had none of this did commit idolatry.
Theſe are examples for us; and becauſe we have no feare but of the idolatry of the Church of Rome, we muſt take warning to keep our ſelves from their idols and their idolatry.
This we underſtand is now the ſtudy and care of the religious Patriots in the honourable and high Court of Parliament; let us joyn with them in our Prayers to God for the rooting out of the Romiſh Religion; let us give God our hearty thanks, that he worketh by his ſpirit ſuch zeal of the glory of his truth in the godly faithful hearts of the Commons of this land, to ſtirre and rowze up themſelves in a matter ſo much concerning the honour of our God as this doth.
For who delivered us from the Spaniſh violence in 88? And who delivered us from the bloody powder treaſon in An. 1605? If the gods that our enemies ſerve, could have prevailed againſt our God, had we not been as Sodom and as Gomorrah?
Therefore let us pray God to preſerve us from idols, and from them that love and ſerve them, of whom I may ſay truly with David,
The words of their mouths are ſmoother then butter, but warre is in their heart: Pſ. 55.21.Their words are ſofter then oyle, yet are they drawn ſwords.
There can be no hope that thoſe men which will rob God of his glory and give it away to creatures, will ever be true to us.
Let every one in the zeal of Gods glory ſhew and profeſſe his hatred to idolatry, and his love of the true Worſhip of God; and as they need the ſword of the Lord, and of Gideon, ſo let us cry, The ſword of the Lord, his word in the mouths of his faithful Miniſters, and the ſword of Gideon: the ſword of the religious Court of Parliament againſt them.