John Trapp on Haggai 2:14

Verſe 14. So is this people, and ſo is this Nation before me] Though pure in their own eyes Prov. 30.12. and to the world-ward unrebukeable, as Paul the Phariſees Phil. 3. and thoſe ſelf-iuſtitiaries, Luke 16.14, 15. Ye are thoſe that juſtifie your ſelves (and have the worlds good word for you) but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly eſteemed amongſt men, is abomination in the ſight of God. Sordet in conſpectu judicis quodfulget in conſpectu operantis. Splendida pecca u. Am. 6.13. Wicked mens ſervices are but gliſtering ſinnes, they rejo[illegible: 1 letter]ce in a thing of naught, as Amos hath it, like as Leah rejoyced in that whereof She had cauſe to repent, and ſaid God hath given me my hire, when ſhe had more cauſe to ſay, God I fear will give me my hire, my payment, becauſe I have given my maiden to my husband, Gen. 30.18. But ſhe was in the common errour of meaſuring and judging of things by the ſucceſſe: as if God were not many times angry with men, though they outwardly proſper: or as if there were not here one event to the clean and to the unclean Eccleſ. 9.2. Uutill the day that God ſhall ſeparate the ſheep from the goates, whom for the glory of his name, and the good of his people he ſuffers for preſent to goe one among another to make his own to ſtick the faſter together, and to their principles, Shepheards ſay, that it is wholſome for a flock of ſheep to have ſome goats to feed amongſt them: their bad ſcent being good Phyſick for the ſheep, to keep them from the ſhakings. Onely let Gods ſheep take heed that they contract no corruption by converſing with goats: which is ſoon done, for ſinne is catching, and ill company is contagious. Nemoerat ſibi ipſi: ſed dementiam ſpargit in proximos, ſaith Seneca, No man erres out of the right way alone, but drawes others along, And multos ſollicitat ſo[illegible: 1 letter]iet as nefanda, ſaith Chryſoſtom, evil company ſolliciteth many to ſinke, virtue is oft overcome by vice, ſaith Nazianzen, Orat. 1. Apolog as a little wormwood ſooner imbittereth a great deal of hony, then twice ſo much honey can ſweeten a ſmall deal of wormwood: Or as one ſpoonfull of vineger will ſoon tart a great deal of ſweet milk: but a great deal of milk will not ſo ſoon allay one ſpoonfull of vineger. Remove but one ſtone, and the whole river will ruſh downward: but you can hardly ſtop the ſtream again with a ſtrong damme. Touch pitch and you ſhall preſently be defiled, but touch ſope and you ſhall not preſently be made clean, without much rubbing and rinſing. Me[illegible: 1 letter]entius the tyrant Corpora corporibus jungebat mortua vivis tyed living men to dead carcaſſes: but the dead did notrevive by the living,Virgil. the living rather putrified by reaſon of the dead. He that bore conſecrated fleſh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt touched bread, or pottage, or wine, or oyle, or any meat, he made it not thereby holy. But if an unclean perſon touched any of theſe, he made it unclean. The Donatiſts abuſed this Text, to prove that Baptiſme was defiled, and vacated, if adminiſtrated by an unregenerate Miniſter: But Auguſtine again againſt Fulgentius the Donatiſt vindicateth the Text from their falſe gloſſes, and aſſerteth from it the contrary truth. May not clean corn bee ſowed with foul hands, and grow nevertheleſſe?Aqua baptiſmatis haptizatos ad regnum coeleſtis mittit, & ipſa poſtea in cloacam deſcendit. Greg in Evang. hom. 17. May not a trumpet be well ſounded by an impure breath? And is not the water in Baptiſme, that clenſeth the childe, caſt afterwards into the draught? ſaith Gregory.

ſo is this people, and ſo is that nation before me, and ſo is every work of their hands, and that which they offer, &c.] Note the order of the Induction. Firſt themſelves were unclean, both people and nation; there was a generall defection and defilement ranne thorough all ſorts and ſexes, as the woof runs thorow the warp: ſo that they were all together but one continued web of wickedneſſe, as it were, ſpun out and made up by the hands of the devil, and the fleſh, an evil ſpinner,, and a worſe weaver: both root and fruit were naught, as Eſay 5.4. both head, heart, and foot was out of order, Eſay 1.5, 6. and they are barely and boldly told of it by the Prophets. Secondly, the works of their bands were unclean: for not onely the praying, but the plowing of the wicked is ſinne, Prov. 21.4. all their naturall and civil actions alſo are abominable. Whether they plow, or play, or eat, or ſleep; corruption is like copres, which will turn wine or milk into ink; or leaven, which turns a very Paſſeover into pollution; or as the Sanies of a plague ſore, which will render the richeſt robe infectious. Thirdly, that which they offer there, their ſacrifices, and all their religious performances were likewiſe unclean: not in reſpect of God, who commanded them: nor of the matter, for they offered clean beaſts; but of the manner of offering (which makes or marres the action) and of the men, who were unregenerate, and reſted in the work done, and drew neer to God with their lips, thinking to put God off with an externall worſhip onely; Ludentes cum Deo tanquam pueri cum ſuis puppis, as Calvin hath it, that is, playing with God, as children do with their babies.Calv. in loc. The Poets declaimed againſt this foppery, as Perſius: and Another, Non benè coeleſtes impia dextra colit.