Commentaries, Commentary on Judges · Chapter 3 · Verses 12-14
12 Againe the children of Iſrael dyd euill in the ſyght of the Lord. And the Lord ſtrengthened Eglon king of Moab, againſt Iſrael: bicauſe that they had done euyl in the ſight of the Lord.
13 And this (Eglon) gathered vntounto him the Chyldren of Ammon and Amalek, and went and ſmote Iſrael: and they poſſeſſed the city of Palme trees.
14 And the childrē of Iſrael ſerued Eglon king of Moab .18. yeres
The hiſtory declareth firſt the ſinne which the Iſraelites committed: then it ſheweth the puniſhment wherwith for the ſame they wer puniſhed. As ſoone as their good Prince was dead, the people fel againe to their olde wyckednes, neyther did they onelyonly commit thoſe ſinnes which before they had committed, but to them they added ſome ſinnes more grieuous.The laſt fallinges wer for the moſt parte more grieuous than the firſt. Seruitude is againſt the nature of man. For the laſt falinges were for the moſt part greuouſer than they which wer paſt: for at the leaſt thei added this, in that they more & more became ingrate for the benefites paſt, when they againe fel from God, with whom they were before reconciled into fauour. Their puniſhment was bondage, wherin they wer bound & ſerued the Moabites. Without doubt a grieuous kinde of puniſhment: bicauſe it is marueylouſlye agaynſt the ſtate and nature of man. For al men by nature ar borne free. And bondage, as euen the Lawyers alſo do confeſſe,Seruitude was brought in by cauſe of ſinne. was brought in by a commō law among men agreing to natural reaſon. But it may more truly be ſaid yt it was brought in bicauſe of ſinne. Enemies when they wer ouercome in warre, wer ſomtimes ſaued, & compelled to ſerue them which ouercame them: and ther can be no iuſt warres taken in hand, vnles it be to reuenge ſome facinorous acte. Wherefore we ſaid wel, that ſeruitude was deriued of ſinne: & is therfore a grieuous puniſhment, bicauſe it is againſt the nature of man.Certaine ſubiections are natural. I graunt in deede that this is natural, for the children to be obedient vntounto the parentes, the ſubiect vntounto the Magiſtrates, the vnlearned & vnſkilful vntounto the wiſer, & the weake ones muſt apply themſelues to the mightier. But this kinde of obedience and ſeruice, namely toward them whych are fauourable vntounto vsus, and ſeeke for our profyt, is voluntary. Wherefore it very much differeth from the ſeruitude, wherof we now intreate. For that voluntarye kynde of obedience myght hauehave bene vſed when men were in perfecte ſtate: but thys whyche was brought in for ſynne coulde not bee there. And bondmen are compelled to ſerue not ſuche as are their friendes, but ſtraungers and enemyes, and that in thynges vnprofitable vntounto them,Which is the more greuous bondage. yea and often tymes thynges hurtfull and vnhoneſt.
Seruitude alſo is then far more grieuous, when people are ſubiect vntounto thoſe enemies which once wer ouercome by them, and whom before they ruled. Theſe euyls happened vntounto the Iſraelites.The Moabits were enemyes to the Iewes from the begining. For the Moabites were enemies vntounto the Hebrues, euen from the beginning, and they hired Balaam to curſe them, and in the wildernes they abandoned their women vntounto them, for the which the people was afterward grieuouſly plagued. Farther, the Iewes ouercame the Moabites by warre, and puniſhed them ſore, as we reade in the booke of Numbers. Beſides that, the Moabites wer a filthy and an infamed people: for their father was Moab, the ſonne of Loth, who begat him by inceſt. Nether would God ſuffer, that they ſhould be admitted into his church. For theſe cauſes therfore, was this bondage moſt hard, and eſpecially vntounto the Hebrues, which were alreadye before by god ſet at liberty both from the Egiptians and alſo from the Sirians, and by wonderfull woorkes from them redeemed.
God ſtrengthned Aeglon, namely in geuing him courage and ſtrength, making him prompt, and ſtyrring him vp alſo by ſome certaine occaſions. And adioyned vntounto hym Ammon and Amalek. This may be vnderſtand twoo wayes, either that Eglon adioyned vntounto him ſelfe ſuch confederates, or that god cauſed this league to be made betwene theſe nations. And vndoubtedlye both ſignifications are true: for that which they dyd, they coulde not hauehave executed without the wyll and ayde of god.
Let vsus note in this place, that the vngodly, which otherwiſe agree not verye wel among them ſelues,The vngodly do eaſilye conſpire agaynſt the people of god. do eaſely conſpire againſt the people of god. Wherfore theſe three nations being ioyned together, did eaſely ouercome the Iſraelites, which wer forſaken of god. And they poſſeſſed the city of Palme trees, which is Iericho, as it appeareth in Deut. and as it is before declared. But in that it is ſaid that they tooke poſſeſſion of it, it ſignifieth that they did not ſpoyle it, and leaue it voyde: for they claimed it vntounto them ſelues, making the landes and poſſeſſions therof proper vntounto them ſelues. Neither is it vnlykelye, but that they put in it a gariſon of ſoldiors, for to oppreſſe the Hebrues more grieuouſly. And yet I do not thinke, that they reſtored again the city vntounto them, for that came to paſſe afterward in the time of Achab, as it is declared in the booke of Kynges.
Why god puniſheth his people by vngodly ones.But this peraduenture may ſeeme maruellous vntounto ſome, that god vſed to puniſh his people by other nations farre woorſe than they wer: for as muche as the Ammonites, Amalekites, and Moabites wer Idolatrers, & nations that were ouerwhelmed in all kinde of wickednes. To this I wil anſwer, that it was the prouidence of god, which (as I hauehave before declared) doth in ye ſorte puniſh ſyns with ſynnes, and in ſuch maner chaſten the vngodly, by others that are vngodly.Whi god ſoner puniſheth his owne than he doth ſtrangers. Farther, by it he declareth, that theſe things though they be euyll, yet they can not eſcape, but that ſome way they ſhal ſerue his wil. But whi he differeth to punyſh nations, which otherwiſe are wicked, and his own he ſtraight ways puniſheth, this is the cauſe: bicauſe they pertaining to god, do ſynne againſt his law which they know. Wherfore ther is no cauſe why the Turkes and Papiſts though they ſomtimes preuayle againſt vsus, to puniſh our ſinnes, ſhould flatter them ſelues therby,God wyll not eaſeli ſuffer his worde beynge knowen & receiued to be deſpiſed. as though they were much better than we are, or as though their ſuperſticions were better than our religion. For if the Moabites, Chananites, and Aſſirians were not counted better than the Iewes, whom they ouercame: no more ſhall the Turkes or Papiſtes obtayne the ſame, thoughe ſometymes by the wyl of God they afflict the Goſpellers. Wherfore god doth quickly puniſh his, for his woord ſake, which is among them publiſhed: hee wyll not eaſely ſuffer, that his woord being receaued and knowen ſhould be deſpiſed and eſcape vnpuniſhed. There were vndoubtedly very many lyers and falſe men at Ieruſalem, and yet god ſuffered them, where as he ſtrayght waye deſtroyed Ananias and Saphira. For he would adorne & ſet forth ye goſpel & holy miniſtery. And now that the Ethnikes do ſee, how ſeuerely God puniſheth vsus, they maye eaſelye coniecture what hangeth ouer their heades, according to the ſaying of Chriſt: If this be done in the grene tree, what ſhall be done in the drye tree. And if by reaſon of their blindneſſe they vnderſtand not this, we ought diligently to remember it to our great conſolation. We rede in Ieremye the .xlix. Chapiter that the people of God dranke of the cup of the Lord, which ſemed not ſo muche to deſerue it: Wherfore the Edomites ought much more to loke, to be one day puniſhed with puniſhmentes appointed for them. In Ezechiel alſo the .ix. Chap. god exhorteth nations againſt the Hebrues, to kil and ſpare none, but fyrſt they ſhould begyn at his ſanctuary. Peter alſo in his .i. Epiſtle the .4. chap. The time is (ſaith he) that iudgement muſt begin at the houſe of God. But why he ſayth that nowe is the tyme, I thinke this is the cauſe, bicauſe he ſawe that all thoſe thinges which the Prophetes had foreſpoken of the chaſtiſing of the people of Iſraell before other nations, ſhould chieflye of al take place among the Chriſtians. For thoſe thinges which happened vntounto the Iewes in a figure or ſhadowe, do chiefly belong vntounto vsus. Wherefore Chriſt being made manifeſte, & his fayth being ſpred abroade throughout the worlde, Peter thought that it ſhoulde be very ſoone accompliſhed, that iudgement ſhould beginne at the Chriſtians whiche are the houſe of God.
Furthermore there are in the fellowſhip of the people of god alwaies ſome holy men ſtill founde, which when ſharpe affliction cōmeth are proued, & as golde in fyer are made more bright, which the heauenly father will chieflye and ſpedely to be done. The electe alſo, which hauehave fallen, being admoniſhed by chaſtiſementes and aduerſities, do vſe to returne againe into the right way. And that the ſame may come to paſſe, God, who loueth them excedingly, doth of his louing care prouide. But ſuch as are vncureable, his wil is that they ſhould quickly be broken, leaſt they might longer than is mete, hurt and with their contagiouſneſſe deſtroy other. Theſe vndoubtedly are the cauſes, why God doth ſooner correcte his own than ſtraungers. It is not to be attributed to hatred but to moſt feruent louelove. For the deuine oracles declare vnderunder the perſon of God. Whom I louelove I correct and chaſtiſe. Alſo a good houſholder not regarding ſtraungers, beginneth ſeuere diſcipline at his own, when they ſinne.
The Iſraelites ſerued the Kyng of Moab .xviii. yeares. Thys with out doubt was a long tyme of bondage. And not without deſert, bicauſe ye Hebrewes had augmented their ſinne, either in yt they cōmitted thinges more greuous, or els bycauſe when they were reprehended and deliuered, they fel agayne to their old wickedneſſe. This latter ſeruitude was twice ſo long as was that wherein they ſerued the king of Meſopotamia.