Exposition of Jude 2, Biblical exegesis · Verse 13 · Commentary 1
EXPLICATION.
Two things are here to be explan'd.
1. What they are ſaid to be; Raging waves of the ſea.
2. What they are ſaid to get by being ſo; Shame: They fomed out their own ſhame. Like the raging waves, which after their greateſt unquietneſſe, breake themſelves to a little fome.
For the firſt, their title, or what they are ſaid to be, in theſe words, Raging waves of the ſea, Gr. foreign.
The word foreign here tranſlated raging, ſignifies uncamed, wilde waves, roaring like the wilde beaſts of the wood. Hence the vulgar render this place fluctus feri maris: Eraſmus, Ʋndae efferae maris: And Beza Ʋndae maris efferatae. Fluctus vehementes maris. Syriac. fluctus maris commoti Arab. foreign70. Gaviſum in fluctus aequora mota truces. Ovid. Latrantes undas. Virg. 7. Aeneid. Rapidas aquas. Act. 27.41. Luk. 21.25 Jer. 31.35. Jer. 5.22. Iſa. 51.15. Pſal. 73.3.Interpretations that betoken fierceneſſe, wildneſſe, turbulency. The ſame expreſſion is there in VViſd. 14.1. A man intending to paſſe thorough foreign, fierce, troubleſome, boiſterous, waves, One Poet cals the waves of the Seas fluctus truces, cruell, terrible; And another calls the waters of the Sea, Latrantes undas, the barking waves; as if they made a noiſe like a barking dog, when they were ſtir'd, and rais'd: and we frequently ſpeak of angry roaring; working, boyſterous, rough, troubleſome, Seas, and read in Scriptures, of violent waves, Acts 27.41. The ſea and waves roaring, Luk. 21.25. The ſhip toſſed with waves, Mat. 14.24. The roaring of waves, Jer. 51.55. Jer. 31.35. The tumult of the people, and the noiſe of the ſeas and waves are put together, Pſal. 65.7. And therefore our Apoſtle in calling theſe Seducers raging waves, doth not ſo much intend their inſtability, variableneſſe, and fluctuation in mind and doctrine, their motion by every wind, and unſtableneſſe in the truth, though waters are unſtable even to a Proverb; nor onelyonly the pride and ſwelling arrogancy of theſe Seducers, though the waves are called proud waves, they oft lifting up themſelves ſo high, as if they would kiſſe the Clouds, and making as if by their fall, they would overſpread the earth; but in calling them raging waves, he rather intends (as I ſaid) their troubleſomeneſſe and unquietneſſe: and that in three reſpects.
1. In reſpect of themſelves: Their conſciences were unquiet, toſſed and troubled, without any inward tranquility and calmneſſe in the apprehenſion of reconciliation with God. Iſa. 57.20, 21. Iſa. 65.14. Iſa. 48.22. Job. 15.20, 21, 24.Thus (ſaith the Prophet) the wicked are like the troubled ſea, when it cannot reſt, whoſe waters caſt up mire and dirt. There is no peace ſaith my God to the wicked. Thus Eliphas ſpeaks, Job 15.20. The wicked travelleth with pain all his dayes; And to the ſame purpoſe, Zophar, Job 20.20. Surely he ſhall not feel quietneſſe in his belly. Inward Peace belongs onelyonly to the faithfull. Its onelyonly reported of them, Pſal. 119.165. Great peace have they who love thy Law. 1 Cor. 1.3. Col. 1.2. 2 Theſ. 1.2.Its onelyonly promiſed to them. He wil ſpeak Peace to his people, Pſal. 85.8. God will reveal to them abundance of peace. Its onelyonly requeſted for them, even that peace which paſſeth underſtanding to keep their hearts; Peace from God being never deſired for men to live in a ſtate of war againſt God. Rom. 5.1.9.10 Eph. 2.14.OnelyOnly the Faithfull have taken the right courſe to obtain it: They alone are delivered from Gods wrath, and have an Intereſt in Chriſt who is our peace, Gal. 5.22. Iſa. 59.8.and the Prince of Peace, and have that ſpirit which works it in us; and of whom true Peace is a fruit and effect. The wicked have not known the way of Peace. They may have it in the brow, not in the breſt; in cortice; not in corde; in the looks, not in the Conſcience. Benummed their conſciences may be, pacified they cannot be. The guilt of ſin is an unſeen ſcourge, a hidden ſore. He who hath thorns run into the ſoals of his feet, whereſoever he goes, treads upon thorns: VVicked men carry their furnace, their wrack, their wo, their priſon about them, whereſoever they go; nor can they any more lay theſe off, then they can lay off themſelves.
2. The Apoſtle may compare theſe Seducers to waves as they are unquiet, troubled, and moved in regard of God, againſt and under whoſe will they were impatient, fretfull and unſubmiſſive. They did not quietly content themſelves with their conditions. They were like chaffe which flies into the face of him who fanneth it, there were within them waves of unquietneſſe, and impatiency, raiſed by the windes of their pride. They were murmurers and complainers, both againſt God and man. Of this unquietneſs the Apoſtle ſpeaks afterwards, verſ. 16.
3. They were as the troubleſome and raging waves of the ſea in reſpect of others: And this I conceive Jude principally intends in this place. The Sea neither reſteth it ſelf, nor doth it ſuffer any thing to reſt which is upon it; it toſſeth the ſhips, and tumbleth the Paſſengers therein from one ſide thereof to another: who reel to and fro like a drunken man; and in its rage and fury it often ſwallows up and devours, both ſhip and men: The lives of thoſe who are upon the ſea, hang by a thred, they themſelves being neither reckon'd among the dead, Mo…tude quieſ…n….nor among the living: And thus theſe Seducers were ſo reſtleſſe and turbulent, that they found no reſt but in their motions. Like thoſe of whom Solomon ſpeaks, Prov. 4.16. VVho ſleep not unleſſe they have done miſchief; and their ſleep is taken away unleſſe they cauſe ſometo fal. Meritò h…retici fluctibus maris ſimiles eſſe dicuntur quòd nu…quam quieti ſ…nt, nuſquam conſiſtant, nova ſemper moliantur, ſurgia miſceant, ſeditionem excitent, ſchiſmata pariant, omnia deni que perturbent ac pervertan…. Juſtinian. Ʋti fluctus fcri navim, ita ipſi turbulenti & ſeditioſi Eccleſiam concutiunt. Lap.And troubleſome they were, 1. Firſt to the bodily and outward welfare of others; their names they toſt up and down by ſlanders, and reproaches; they uttered many hard ſpeeches againſt the Faithful. Their tongue ſet on fire of hell, did ſet on fire the whole courſe of nature. VVhat bittter, and uncharitable cenſures have ſuch fomented in all times againſt thoſe who did not joyn and hold with them! They are wont to lowre, brow beat, diſdainfully frown, and look ſourly upon them, as Cain upon Abel. with a diſcontented and faln countenance; and what bitter enemies in all ages, Hereticks (eſpecially Seducers) have been to the lives and ſafeties of the Godly and Orthodox, hath been before in part declared, and of old manifeſted by the Donatiſts and Arians, and more lately by the Papiſts, and Anabaptiſts, who all by their boyſterous violence, and cruelties, ſhewed themſelves raging waves of the ſea. They were troubleſome enemies to all Publick Order: They were fierce, heady, high-minded, traitors, enflaming and enraging mens ſpirits againſt all Government and Rule in Church and State, putting all places into confuſion and combuſtion by ſtrifes, ſeditions, ſchiſmes; They were not afraid to ſpeak evill of dignities; they ſet their mouth againſt the heaven, and their tongue walked through the earth.
2. But ſecondly, Fluctus fert, ſunt perverſi doctores qui & in ſemet ipſis inquieti ſemper, tumidi & amari ſunt, & pacem Eccleſiae, firmitatem que obicum ſemper impugnare non ceſſant. Beda. Quem ad modum fluctus maris ſaevitiâ at que immanitate ſuâ integra navigia hauriunt, aut ad ſcopulos allidunt, it a Gnoſtici perverſis ſuis dogmatibus plurimos ad interitum pertraehunt ſempiternum, Juſtinian. in loc. Ut fluctus maris intumeſcunt & attolluntur, & ipſi quodam modo C…lo minantur, non aliter iſti in coelum ipſam que Divinam naturam maledicta congerunt. Id. Ib.theſe raging waves troubled and diſquieted the ſpirituall welfare and peace of thoſe Chriſtians into whoſe ſocieties they had crept, whom they toſt to and fro by the violent urging of their errours, and caus'd to fluctuate and waver in their judgments, overturning their faith, ſwallowing them up, and drowning them in perdition, by their erroneous and impious doctrines: Through the toſſing and fury of theſe waves, many ſouls ſuffered ſhipwrack, and loſt the ſpirituall and precious Merchandize of Faith and holineſs; with theſe waves of falſe teachers, and their doctrines, were the Galatians diſquieted when the Apoſtle ſaith, There be ſome foreign, who trouble you, or who muddy and ſtir you like water; and cap. 5.12. I would they were even cut off, which trouble you.
This for the opening of the firſt Branch of this Reſemblance: the ſecond followes, viz. What theſe raging waves of the ſea are ſaid to get, and bring upon themſelves by all their ſwelling and raging; and that was nothing but ſhame and diſgrace; *Vulg. B…z. Deſpumantes. Nonnullidiſpumantes. Deſeumare proprie valet ſpumam auferre. Diſpumare, ſpumam ejicere. Quando que confundi videntur. Syriacè, qui in manu ſpumationis ſuae, indicant ignominiam. Arabicè, ſicut fluctus maris commoti, ebulliunt in confuſionibus, ſeu delictis ſuis. Spu…ea ſemifero ſubpectore murmurat unda. Virg.Foming out their ſhame. Gr. foreign.
The Apoſtle ſaith not ſhame, but ſhames, foreign, Confuſiones. Vulg. Dedecora Bez. foreign.to note how great that ſhame and diſgrace was which they diſcovered. And he ſaith, they fomed out their ſhames, that is, that by all their forementioned raging and troubleſomeneſſe, they brought forth ſhame to themſelves; as the raging waves of the ſea bring forth fome.
And moſt aptly and elegantly (in the proſecution of the Metaphor of raging waves) doth our Apoſtle ſay, Inſtar tumentium undarum, quanto altius ſe, ſuperbientes attollunt, tanto amplius confuſi quaſi in ſpumas diſſolvuntur & percunt. Bed. Per dedecora, intelliguntur peccata linguae ex immundo turbato que corde manantia, ſed brevi, in nihilum inſtar ſpumae reſoluta. Mera ſonant tonitrua. Nugas meras, & inanes voces effutiunt.that by their raging and ſwelling they brought forth diſgrace and ſhame to themſelves, as the raging waves of the Sea bring forth fome.
In theſe three reſpects did theſe raging Waves, of whom the Apoſtle ſpeaks, bring forth ſhame to themſelves, as the waves of the Sea bring forth fome. 1. Becauſe that after all their troubling, and diſquieting of the Church by their erroneous, turbulent and ſoul-deſtroying opinions and practiſes, both were found to have as much vanity, lightneſs, and emptineſs as the fome of the Sea; though in their ſwelling and proud elevation of themſelves, and unquiet urging of their doctrines they ſeemed like the huge waves (which threaten to touch and waſh the very clouds) to be raiſed far above others in knowledg and ſpiritualneſs, and eſpecially in enjoying of that liberty which they pretended went along with their practiſes and opinions, and ſo to have climb'd (as it were) into the third heavens; Non minus quis confunditur ob ignorantiam quam ob libidinem detectam. Congeries perſtrepentium vocum quibus nihil ſubeſt ſententiae ſolidioris. Vid. Epiph. haer. 26. Nonnulli denotari volunt fornicationes veterum illorum baereticorum, alii immunditiam gulae, & luxuriae. quae veluti p…r ſpum ammanifeſtentue.yet ſoon did all their glorious appearances, as a highly rais'd billow of the ſea, falling either upon a rock or the ſhore, end in meer froth and ſome, emptineſſe and vanity. And indeed what are all the Doctrines and opinions (oppoſed or not warranted by Scripture) whereby any pretend to benefit themſelves and others, but gay and gilded nothings (at the beſt?) what have they in them but a form of knowledge, Rom. 2.20. a ſhew of wiſdom, 2 Col. 23. vain babling; ſcience falſely ſo called, 1 Tim. 6.20. ſtrifes of words, 2 Tim. 2.4. vain deceit, 2 Col. 8. froth and fome, ſwelling words of vanity? They bring no real relief and ſollid comfort to the ſoul. They are not bread, but chaff; not milk, but wind to one who hath a holy hunger. And their emptineſs doth a humble and ſerious Chriſtian commonly perceive as ſoon as their errors are firſt broched and vented; and it will not be long ere the ſilly, both ſeducer and ſeduced ſhall know it alſo, either by being changed to a love of the truth, Non vacat probabilitate, per participium foreign inſinuatam effraenem venerem, cujus deam latine dictam venerem, Graci Gentiles appellaverunt foreign à ſpuma quae dicitur foreign, quod è maris ſpuma, orta videtur vel quod ſeminis natura ſit foreign ſpumoſa, vel quod ſit foreign ſtultitiae dea. Lor. in loc. In medio quondam concreta profundo, ſpuma ſui gratum que manet mihi nomen ab illa. Ovid 4. Met. Per confuſione ſive dedecora, intelliguntur ſordes ac immunditiae quas fluctus & undae coagitatae …olliſae ſpumantes in litus egerunt. Lor in loc. Gnoſtici ſua ipſorum dedecora deſpumant, in ſpumam poſt jactabundum inmorem ex vita ſuae inſtabili, & diſſolubili turpidine deſinentes. O…cum. Moles exiſtunt aquarum quanto que tanquam montes, & lapſu ſuo, videntur abſorbere univerſ…m terram, ſed litus, & arenam ubi attigerint, deſiciunt, nihil niſi ſpumam, paleas, limum, fimum, lutum, ſordes, relinquunt. Una cum ululatione & deſpumatione maledicta, calumnias, convitia, injurias, blaſphemias contra Deum, ſan…s, mageſtratus, Eccleſiam, omnes ordines ejuſ…c…e. Lorin. in loc. 2 Tim. 3.8, 9.or by being puniſhed for the love of errour. Now what a ſhame was it for theſe ſeducers after all their appearing bigneſſe with ſome rarely featur'd and beautifull truths, to ſwell with nothing but a tympany of pride and vanity; to ſeem to travell with a mountain, and to bring forth a mouſe; to appear to be the onelyonly illuminate, accompliſht doctors, (accounting others but babes) pretending to be richly laden and fraught with the treaſures of underſtanding, peace, liberty, abilitie, of all which they ſeemed to have the monoply; and when all comes to all, to diſcover nothing but beggery, vanity, and diſappointment of expectation, meer froth, and fome?
2. Theſe raging waves, the ſeducers, brought forth ſhame to themſelves, as the raging waves of the ſea bring forth fome; in reſpect of that impiety, corruption, filthineſs, and uncleanneſs, which they diſcovered by their ſwelling rage; what doth the ſea after all its boiling & turbulence, caſt up, but mire and dirt, an unclean ſcum, a filthy froth? The more thick & muddy the waters are, the more ſcum & ſome do they by their ebullitions and agitations ſend forth; how aptly did this agree to theſe impure Seducers! Did not all their ſwelling, proud, & unquiet contentions, end in profaneneſs, and Libertiniſm, as well as emptineſs and vanity? did they not turn the grace of our God into laſciviouſneſs? Did not they who were lifted up unto Heaven in ſhews of ſpiritualneſs and piety, afterward fall as low as Hell into all carnal and unclean practiſes, by luxury, gluttony and uncleanneſs? When they ſpake great ſwelling words of vanity; was it not to allure through the luſts of the fleſh, through much waentonneſs, th…ſe that were clean eſcaped from them who live in error? when they ſeemed to be looking up to the Heavens by high ſpeculations, and thereby would needs appropriate to themſelves, the name of Gnoſticks, or the knowing men, (like that unwary Star-gazer) they tumbled into the ditch of all filthineſs and prodigious uncleanneſs. By their violent and turbulent venting of, and contending for their opinions, whereby they toſſed and ſhipwrackt poor ſouls, what did they bring forth, but looſneſs and prophaneneſs, the caſting off, reviling, and ſlandring of Magiſtracy, and all reſtraint, ſedition, tumults, rapine, the liberty of being as bad as they would without controle, the blaſpheming of God? and in ſhort, while they promiſed liberty to others, they themſelves were the ſervants of corruption. And was not now the folly of theſe men of corrupt minds, and reprobate concerning the faith, made manifeſt to all men? and was there any ſhame in the world comparable to this? for men not only to appear altogether empty of what good they ſeemed to have, and love; but wholly filled with all that evill which they ſeemed not to have, yea to loath? for this (the greateſt) folly to be made known to all men, and for all their deluded followers to ſee, that they who pretended to be healers of others, ſhould be the ſ…ckeſt of any; and that they who were eſteemed gheſt in holineſs, ſhould be found to be loweſt in wickedneſs? Nothing is there of which a man ſhould be ſo much aſhamed, as of ſinning, and of no ſinning ſo much, as of ſinning after an appeaing height of, and contention for holineſs.
3. Theſe Seducers brought forth ſhame to themſelves, as the raging waves of the Sea, bring forth fome, in reſpect of the deſtruction and everthrew both of themſelves, and their errors. The waves of the Sea caſt forth their fome, by being broken and daſht in peeces; they ſeem'd indeed, when they were lifted up to heaven in their height, and rage, to threaten the breaking or devouring of the rocks or ſhore whenſoever they ſhould fall; but when they fall, they onelyonly break themſelves (the rock or ſhore ſtill continuing unbroken, and unhurt▪) and ſo they come to ſome: And how evidently do ſeducers bring forth their ſhame (even as the daſht waves their ſome) by their own, and their errours deſtructions? Errours have ever broken by beating upon the rock of truth, which hath in all ages, ſtood firm againſt, (in ſtead of being broken) by all the rage of erroneous ſeducers. Falſe doctrins, Sicus fluctus licet tumentes, litus & ſaxa ver…erames ab iis repulſi reſiliunt, abeunt que in ſpumas & evaneſcunt, ſi… & impetus faſtus, ac furores har… ticorum verberantes Eccleſiam, in ſ…ipſos diſſiliunt & evaneſcunt. …ap. in loc.like the waves of the ſea, may ſometimes ſeem to cover the truth, but never can they conquer it, no more then the ſtubble can overcome the flame, the cloud the Sun, the wave the rock. Truth hath ever got by loſing, and prevailed by being ſeemingly overcome; Errour hath ever loſt by gaining, and been overcom by ſeeming to conquer. By the advantages of time and Scripture diſcovery, magnified errours come to be abhorred; and by hereſies, as they who are approved are made manifeſt, ſo truth it ſelf comes to be both approved and manifeſted. And as for hereſiarchs and ſeducers themſelves, they have been broken in pieces by diviſions, by diſgrace and ignominy, by diſpair, though armed, ever to conquer naked truth; by externall judgements upon their bodies, or elſe by the everlaſting overthrow of their ſouls, they bringing upon themſelves ſwift deſtruction: and what greater ſhame can poſſibly be brought forth, then that which comes by their own overthrow and deſtruction: and that after; nay, by their own height and elevation?