Commentaries, Commentary on Judges · Chapter 2 · Verses 2-3
2 And ye alſo ſhall make no couenaunte with the inhabiters of this lande, but ſhal breake downe their altares: Neuertheleſſe ye hauehave not obeyed my voyce, why hauehave ye this done?
3 Wherefore I hauehave alſo determined, I will not caſt them out before your face, but they ſhalbe as prickes in your ſydes, and theyr Gods ſhalbe a ſnare vntounto you.
God by couenaunt had preſcribed two thynges in eſpeciall,What god preſcribed the Iſraelites in the couenaunt. firſt that they ſhould make no league with the Chananites: ſecondly that they ſhould plucke downe their altares and temples. Theſe are eueryevery where written in the law eſpecially in Exodus the 13. and 20. In the booke of Numb: 33. In Deut. 7.
Now after theſe conditions required of God is ſet forth the tranſgreſſion of the Iſraelites. But ye (ſayth he) hauehave not hearkened vntounto my voyce. The Iewes were not yet fallen ſo farre that they committed Idolatry, they are onelyonly reproued for violating the couenaunt, bycauſe they had ſaued the Idoles and altares of the Chananites. The wonderfull goodneſſe of God ſurely is ſhewed by theſe wordes: VVhy hauehave ye this done? A vehemente maner of amplifieng of ſynne.He demaūdeth the cauſe as being ready to heare their excuſe, if they could bring any that were iuſt and lawfull. And by this meanes alſo the grieuouſneſſe of the ſinne is amplified, as being ſo grieuous yt it could by coulour be defended. And vndoubtedlye thus it is.God is not afeard in iudgement to contēd with ſynners. Gods cauſe agaynſte vsus is ſo good, that he is not affeard in Iudgement to reaſon with ſynners, as the Prophetes Eſay and Micheas hauehave playnely taught. The preacher goeth forwarde, and ſheweth what puniſhement they ſhoulde hauehave for thys faulte.
For ſo much as ye hauehave not ſtande by your couenaunt, I wyll alſo go from my promiſes. I will not expell the Chananites out of this region as I had promiſed: & if ſo be that I do not expell them, ye are ſo weake and feble that by your owne power, ye can not caſt them out. They ſhal remayne therfore as ye would hauehave it, but yet to your great diſcōmodity. For they ſhalbe as prickes in your ſides, namely as thornes, where with ye ſhalbe oftentymes ſharply pricked. The Hebrew worde is Letſdim. And in dede Tſad ſignifieth a ſide. Althoughe ſome thinke that worde to be deriued of this verbe Tſud, whiche is to hunte or to fiſhe and bycauſe the hookes of fiſhermen are very ſharpe, therfore the worde is by a certaine Metaphore tranſferred to ſignifie thornes. And after the ſame ſorte we might ſay they ſignified nettes, vſing the ſame Metaphore whiche we may deriue of hunters. But the firſte reaſon of the interpretation, to ſignifye ſides, I ſets both ſimple & alſo more allowed by the commentaryes of the Hebrues.
And theyr Idoles ſhalbe a ſnare vntounto you. Namely wherewith ye ſhalbe taken, and when ye ſhalbe geuen to their Idolatry, ye ſhalbe puniſhed with moſt grieuous puniſhementes and diſcommodities. Auguſtine in his 13.Auguſtine. queſtiō vponupon this booke hath noted, that God threatneth after his accuſtomed maner, yt at the length it ſhall come to paſſe, that he will puniſhe ſynnes by ſynnes. For ye Iſraelites in not obeyeng the commaundement of God committed ſynne: and he agayne threatneth that Idoles ſhalbe a ſtumblyng blocke vntounto them, namely that they ſhould worſhip them, wherfore afterwarde they ſhould be grieuouſly puniſhed. By whiche wordes he declareth that the firſt tranſgreſſion ſhould be puniſhed and chaſtiſed with the wicked crime of Idolatry, as Paul teſtifieth to the Romanes, that the Idolatry of the Ethnikes was puniſhed with moſt filthy luſtes. But ye puniſhement of the Iſraelites (as it is here ſet forth) hath with out doubt a great emphaſys. For what can there happen more grieuous, than to be among thornes, and continuallye to fall among them? Vndoubtedly hereof followe woundes almoſt thoroughe out al the partes of the body, and new paynes, and thoſe vehement ſuccede one an other. And as thornes if they ſticke in the fleſhe do ſharpely pricke, ſo to dwell among enemyes, and to hauehave them ioyned together with vsus, can not be but very full of troubles.
The puniſhement whiche God here threateneth, is no new puniſhement, for al that is here written, was foreſpoken in the boke of Ioſua the 23. chap. Namely that it ſhould come to paſſe, that if they obeyed not the preceptes of the law of God, God would not then performe to deſtroy thoſe natiōs before them: yea, he ſayth, they ſhalbe vntounto you a ſnare, a ſtumblyng ſtocke, a whip for your ſides, and thornes to your eyes, vntill ye be deſtroyed out of this good lande, whiche the Lord your God hath geuen you, &c.
For the Iſraelites had afterward experience of theſe miſeryes, bycauſe they were oftentimes brought into bondage by their enemyes among whom they dwelled, and with whom they had vngodly ioyned them ſelues. And finally for yt they would not ceaſſe of from Idolatry, they were caſt out to the Aſsirians and Babilonians. This chidyng of God contayneth iuſt cauſes, wherfore the Iſraelites were deſtitute of his helpe for a tyme.Cauſes why god forſoke the Iſraelites for a tyme. And the end of the whole ſermon is, that the people might be ſtirred vp to repentaunce, and that moſt aptely. For among thoſe thinges whiche do vehemently amplify ſynne & do ſet it playnly before our eyes,A vehemente amplyfieng of ſynne. is the greatneſſe of ye benefites of god, which ought to ſtirre vsus vp to ye obſeruing of the law. Afterward is ſet forth ye grieuouſneſſe of the puniſhmēts, bycauſe the waight of the ſynnes cōmitted, doth euidently declare ye burtheu of thē. Wherfore theſe two things are worthily alledged in the ſermon, to the end the Hebrues might fele the enormity of the wicked acte whiche they had committed, whereas otherwiſe they would hauehave thought it but a light faulte.
Two Antitheſes to be conſidered in thys oration.Furthermore we muſt conſider in this oration the contrary poſitions artificially ioyned together to augment the vehemency. For to that benefite, wherin God had brought them out of Egypt this is layde agaynſt, that they draue not the Chananites from the countrey geuen vntounto them. And to this benefite, that God had geuen them an aboundant and fertile countrey, this is contrary, that the people ſuffred Idolatry to be no leſſe vſed there than it was before. And this was to rendre euill for good. Wherfore God would not ſuffer that to be left vnpuniſhed, but cauſed it to happen otherwiſe vntounto them than they thought. For the nations whiche they for their cōmoditie had ſaued, did them great hurte, ſo yt they are cōpared to thornes. And the Gods of thoſe nations, which they had not aboliſhed turned to a ſnare & greuous ſtumbling blocke to the Hebrues.
Whether the people wer by this oratiō ſtirred vp to faith.But this ſermon may ſeme vnperfect enoughe, for ſo muche as fayth is not ſet forth in it, wherunto the mynde of the hearers ſhould be erected: onelyonly the ſynne is declared, and the puniſhement wherewith they ſhould be puniſhed is expreſſed. And theſe thinges, except fayth be mixed with thē breede rather deſperation thā ſaluation: ſo farre of is it yt they ſhould bryng a iuſt remedy. To this I aunſwere, that that parte whiche ſemeth to wante, is elegantly contayned in the ſermon nowe alledged, ſo that it be ſomewhat more diligently conſidered. For when the benefites beſtowed on them by God are expreſſed, they make vsus aſſured of the goodneſſe and mercy of God, whiche benefites alſo remayne ſtill for the Iſraelites if they will repente. For god is not chaunged, but is perpetually of the ſelfe ſame nature and will. And vnleſſe he be reſiſted by ſinnes he is towardes men very fauorable and louyng. Furthermore fayth is ſtirred vp in the hearers, when it is ſhewed vntounto them, that god would that his couenaunt made with them ſhould abide for euer. Wherefore it is manifeſt that this was his will, that the impediment of ſynnes beyng by full repentaunce taken away, his couenaunt whiche he had made might be of force for euer. Wherfore there is no cauſe why we ſhould complayne that fayth is left out, when as both the promiſes and the couenaunt are mencioned, whiche can not be conceaued and eſtabliſhed but onelyonly by fayth.
There yet remayneth a doubte whether God require the ſelfe ſame thyng of Chriſtians, whiche he woulde hauehave to be done of the Hebrues,Wether it be required of vsus that we ſhould breake Idoles namely that they ſhould by violence take awaye and breake in pieces the Idoles and ſuperſtitions both of the infidelles, & alſo of heretikes. If thys ſhould be demaunded as touchying Princes and Magiſtrates, it is without controuerſie that they ought to purge their dominions from ſuch euils, and to that end hauehave they receaued of God the ſword and power. But they which are priuate perſons ought to abſtayne from violence, for ſo much as to them is not committed the ſworde and power to conſtrayne. Of thys thyng Auguſtine in the .x. tome and 6.Auguſtine. ſermon after this manner aunſwereth, that the Chriſtians ought ſo to do as God commaunded the Hebrues in the 7. of Deut: where he expreſſedly commaunded that theſe thinges ought then to be done of the Iewes, when the lande was in their owne power. Wherfore Chriſtians ought alſo to do the ſame, but yet in thoſe landes, cities and houſes whiche they poſſeſſe, namely they muſt there ouerthrowe Idoles and ſuperſtitious altars. Howbeit it is not lawfull for them to breake into other mens houſes landes and Townes, and with violence to breake and ouerthrowe Idoles and altares. This (ſayeth he) is not to heale the ſynne of Idolatrye, whiche lyeth chiefly in the hearte, it ought chiefly be weyed out of the heartes of our neighbours, by the worde and doctrine, whiche beyng done, as many as we ſhall wynne vntounto Chriſt, will helpe vsus to take awaye outwarde Images, when as they are perſuaded by the worde of GOD, and that by our diligence, they hauehave firſt ſhaken away the ſame thinges out of their own heartes.Cōſilium Eliberinum. And accordyng to this meanyng the Counſell holden at Eliberium did decree in the 60. Canon.
By theſe thynges we muſte note, that this is the will of GOD, that we ſhould abſtayne from traffickes,We muſt hauehave no felloweſhyp with the vngodly. matrimonyes and fellowſhippes with infidels and heretikes, as by the lawe it was forbidden, that the Iewes ſhould make no league with the Chananites, but this would I hauehave ſo to be vnderſtande, as I hauehave before and that largely declared. Moreouer we are playnely taught, that the commaundementes of GOD are ſimply to be obeyed,The commaū demēts of god are not to be mitigated by man his inuentions. ſo that we may not go about either to mollefye or to mitigate them by mannes inuentions. Seyng that GOD puniſhed the Hebrues and that grieuouſly, whiche peraduenture thought that they had ſufficiently fulfilled hys precepte, when they had made the Chananites tributaries. But as touchyng their Idoles and ſuperſtitions he required nothyng elles of the Iſraelites, but that they woulde not worſhyppe them. Wherefore ſuche interpretations are to be taken hede of, whiche do either vtterly take away the worde of GOD, or at the leaſt do make it to be of ſmall force. This did the ſonne of GOD ſharpely reproue, when he ſayed that the Phariſeys by their doctrine and humane inuentions did wreſt the law of God, as thoughe it had ben made of ware, to their filthy luſtes & wicked deſires.This ſermō is takē out of the holy ſcriptures We muſt alſo marke that this whole ſermon is taken out of the holy Scriptures: for there is nothing contayned in it, which is not found in the bookes of Numb: Deut: and Ioſuah. Whereby we gather, that preachyng is then of efficacy, when it is drawen out of the worde of GOD, and not of the inuention of man.Sinners ar puniſhed by the ſame thinges whereby they hauehave trāſgreſſed. Neither is it to be paſſed ouer, that it is a common thyng with the Iuſtice of God to puniſhe ſynners by the ſame thynges whereby they tranſgreſſe. As nowe it is declared that ye Iſraelites ſhould incurre moſt great damages, as well by the nations, as alſo by the Idoles, whiche they contrary to the commaundement of GOD had ſaued. Furthermore let vsus learne hereby, eueryevery man for his owne parte to beare continuall hatred to the wicked affections of the fleſhe. For we ought neuer to come into fauour again with them,We muſt make no league with wicked affections. or to make peace or a league with thē: for ſo much as God hath appoynted, that we ſhould continually make warre agaynſt his enemyes.
What is the office of Princes againſt heretikes & Papiſtes.Finally let Chriſtian Princes be taughte, howe they ought to behaue them ſelues agaynſt Papiſtes and heretikes, namely diligently to perſecute, correcte, and amende the errours in them, and at the length to compell them to returne into the right waye: otherwiſe in permittyng them to take deeper roote, and to lyue at will and idlely, they noryſhe thornes for them ſelues, and do willyngly drawe vntounto them blockes, to ſtumble at.