John Trapp on Habakkuk 2:19

Verſe 19. Woe unto him that ſaith to the wood, Awake] It is wood ſtill, and yet he ſaith to it, Awake, Ariſe, &c. as if he would deny his own reaſon, and un-man himſelf. When Hezekiah ſaw that ſuch was the venome of the Iſraelitiſh idolatry, that the brazen-Serpent ſtung worſe then the fiery, he pulled it down, and in contempt called it Nehuſhtan, that is, a piece of braſſe, 2 King 18.4. Pagnins rendreth it,Theſ. Ling. ſanct. aenuſum. Marinus, aeniculum, that is, parum quid aeris, a little piece of ſorry braſſe. The Jewes at this day ſay, that as long as they ſee the Preacher direct his ſpeech and prayer to that little wooden crucifix, that ſtandeth in the pulpit by him, to call it his Lord, and Saviour, to kneel to it, to embrace it, to kiſſe it, to weep upon it,Spec. Eur. (as is the faſhion of Italy) this is preaching ſufficient for them: and perſwadeth them more with the very ſight of it to hate Chriſtian religion, then any reaſon that the world can alledge to love it. Woe therefore to thoſe Popiſh Idolaters, becauſe of offences: deſtruction to them, that thus ſay to the wood, Awake, and to the dumb ſtone, Ariſe] A prayer, fit to be preferr'd to God onely, (as Pſal. 35.23.) who giveth not his glory to any other, nor his honour to graven images.Eſay 42.8. He that is the right object of mens prayers, muſt be omnipotent, omnipreſent, omniſcient, a God alſo in covenant with us, &c. Is any wood or ſtone ſo? Is it not inutile lignum a dead ſtock? Eben dumam, a dumb ſtone? Our Engliſh ſeems to come of the Hebrew.

It ſhall teach] Dumb, and yet teach? Others read it queſtionwiſe, Ipſe doceat? Can it teach? What better leſſon can ye learn from it then a lie, as verſe 18? Bid adieu to it therefore, as King Hen. 8. did to the Pope (if he had done ſo to Popery too, it had been better for him) in his Proteſtation againſt him. England is no more a babe, to be led and fed with lies—. Surely except God take away our right wits,Act. & Mon. 990. not onely the Popes authority ſhall be driven out for ever, but his name alſo ſhortly ſhall be forgotten in England. We will from henceforth ask counſell of him and his when we liſt to be deceived, when we covet to be in errour, when we deſire to offend God, truth and honeſty &c.

behold it is laid over with gold and ſilver] q. d. Come and ſee, beleeve your own eyes at leaſt, behold the matter, form, workmanſhip of this new-made god,Ibid. 1084. and grow wiſer. The Rood of Grace with all its trinkets, the blood of Hales (that notable impoſtor) was laid open at Pauls croſſe by Cromwell, and there viewed and torn in peeces by the people.

there is no breath at all in the middeſt of it] No ſoule,Aeſop. not ſo much as that of a beaſt. O pulchrum caput, ſed cerebrum non ineſt, ſaid the ape (in the fable) comming once into a ca[illegible: 1 letter]vers ſhop. The beſt thing that an image can teach a man is, that it ſelf is dumb and dead: and that the maker thereof cannot give life and breath to it, much leſſe a deity.