John Trapp on Hosea 4:13

Verſe 13. They ſacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incenſe upon the hils &c.] as nearer to heaven; and in an apiſh imitation of the Patriarches, who, before the Tabernacle was ſet up, ſacrificed in high places (as Abraham on mount Moriah &c.) that their bodyes being mounted aloft, they might the better lift up their hearts and eyes to heaven, ſaying as it were to all worldly cares and cogitations as Abraham did to his ſervants whom he left at the foot of the hill,Gen. 22.5. Abide you here with the Aſſe. Hierom upon this place hath this Note: Iſrael ſaith he, loveth high places, for they have forſaken the high God: and they love the ſhadow, having left the ſubſtance. But what could be more abſurd then to think as they did, that God who is omnipreſent, was neerer to them on hills and high places, and further off them in vallyes. See Eſay 57.7. Ezek. 6.13. This they had partly alſo learned of the heathens; from whom nevertheleſſe God had ſhut them up as it were in an Iſland (ſo their land is called) that having little commerce with them,Eſay, 20.6. they might not learn their manners. But our nature is very catching this way: and doth as eaſily draw and ſuck Idolatry to it, as the loadſtone doth iron, or Turpentine fire.

under oaks, and Poplars, and Elmes, becauſe the ſhadow thereof is good] So they proceed from one evill to another; for ſin is infinite and when a man is fal'n down one round of Hels ladder, he knowes not where he ſhall ſtop, or how he ſhall ſtep back. Theſe Idolaters as they had their high places in imitation of the Patriarks; ſo their groves of ſhady trees conſecrated to their Idols; to ſtrike reverence into their hearts, as they conceited, and for the greater ſolemnity. Sin comes commonly clothed with a ſhew of reaſon Exod. 1.10. Come let us deale wiſely ſay they: yet every oppreſſour is a fool Prov. 28.16. It will ſo bleare the underſtanding, that a man ſhall think he hath reaſon to be mad, and that there is ſome ſence in ſinning. [non-Latin text not transcribed] But eſpecially will-worſhip hath a ſhew of wisdome Coloſ. 2. ult. or the reaſon of wisdome, as the word there ſignifieth, the very quinteſſence of it. Hence the Papiſts write Rationals, whole volumes of reaſon for their rites and ceremonies in Divine ſervice, (the ſhadow is good, ſay theſe therefore, we get under trees) And Iohn Hunt, See Dr. Sheldons mark of the beaſt. ſerm. a blaſphemous Papiſt, in his humble Appendix to King Iames, Chap. 6. was not afraid to ſay, That the God of the Proteſtants, is the moſt uncivil and evil-mannered God of all thoſe, who have borne the name of Gods upon the earth: yea worſe then Pan, God of the Clowns, which can endure no ceremonies nor good manners at all. O tongue, worthy to be pulled out, cut in gobbets, and driven down the throat of this hideous blaſphemer: for he could not but know the God of the Proteſtants (as he ſcornfully termeth him) to be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoſt. Did not Rabſhakeh rail after this rate upon good Hezekiah, for taking down the high-places, and Altars of God (as he called them) which yet God well approved of? 2 King. 18.22. Mr. Boroughs maketh mention of a Lady in Paris, who when ſhe ſaw the bravery of a Proceſſion to a Saint, ſhee cried out, Oh how fine is our religion beyond that of the Huguenots? They have a mean and beggerly religion, but ours is full of ſolemnity and bravery, &c. The Catholikes in their Supplication to King Iames for a Toleration plead, that their religion is (inter caetera) ſo pleaſing to nature, and ſo ſutable to ſenſe and reaſon, that it muſt therefore needs be the right. A proper Argument ſurely: and not all out ſo convincing as that of Cenalis Biſhop of Auranches, who writing againſt the Chriſtian Congregation at Paris, and baſely ſlandering their meetings, as if they were to maintain whoredome,Act. & Mon. will in concluſion needfully prove (if he could) the Catholikes to be the true Church, becauſe they had bells to call them together; but the Huguenots had claps of Harquebuzes, or Piſtolets, for that purpoſe, &

Therefore your daughters ſhall commit whoredome,] Impunè, they ſhall do it, and for a puniſhment of your Idolatry: and in aſmuch as you have proſtituted your ſouls (that is, my ſpouſe) to the devil, your houſes ſhall be whorehouſes, to your utter diſgrace and heart-break. Certain it is, that where there is moſt Idolatry, there is moſt adultery; as at Rome, which is nothing elſe but a great brothel-houſe, and hath fully made good that of the Poet; Roma quod inverſo delectaretur amore, Nomen ab inverſo nomine fecit Amor.

Thus God puniſhed the idolatrous Ethnikes, by delivering them up, to paſſions of diſhonour, or vile affections; to Sodomitical practiſes, which did abaſe them below thoſe four-footed beaſts which they adored, Rom. 1.23, 24, &c. Some put off all manhood, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. became dogs, worſe then dogs, ſcalded in their own greaſe, verſe 27. and this is there called, a meet recompenſe, ſuch as God here threatneth. Mr. Levely (a very learned Interpreter) thinketh that when God ſaith here, your daughters ſhall commit whoredome, and your daughters in law (for ſo he renders it) ſhall commit adultery, he meaneth it not of voluntary whoredome, but of that which is forced: according to that of Amos to Amaziah Chap. 7.17. Therefore thus ſaith the Lord, the wife ſhall be an harlot in the City: and they ſonnes and daughters ſhall f[illegible: 1 letter]ll by the ſword, &c. that is, thy wife ſhall be raviſhed by the enemy. Theodoret alſo is of the ſame judgement.