John Trapp on Hosea 5:1

CHAP. V.

Verſe 1. HEare ye this ye Prieſts] For you are not ſo wiſe,Prov. 1.5. but that ye may heare and increaſe learning. Chap. 4.6. and beſides, from you is profaneneſſe gone forth into all the land. Jer. 23.15. For you therefore in the firſt place I have a citation to appeare before Gods tribunall, to heare your ſin & your ſentence,Jac. Ren. de. vit. Pont. your crime, & your doom God cited Adam immediately & by himſelf. Gen. 7.9. Adam, where art thou? ſo he did Cain, Laban, Nabal, & others, when he ſends for them by death, ſaying as once to that Pope, Veni miſer in judicium, Come away, and heare thy ſentence.Centum revolutis annis Deo. reſpon debitis & mihi. Mediately he citeth men by the mouth of his miniſters; as he did the Councill of Conſtance by his faithfull martyr John Huſſe, and his word ſtood: and as he doth here the three Eſtates of the kingdome, Prieſts, People, and Princes, by the Prophet Hoſea. That was very ſtrange and extraordinary, that Mr. Knox reporteth in his hiſtory of Scotland,Hiſt. of Scot. of one Sr. John Hamilton murthered by the kings meanes: that he appeared to him in a viſion with a naked ſword drawn, and ſtrikes off both his armes with theſe words, Take this before thou receive a finall payment for all thine impieties: and within 24 houres, two of the Kings ſons died. It is indeed but part of their puniſhment that wicked men here receive, ſeem it never ſo grievous when, God entreth into judgment with them, as here it is ſaid.

for judgment is toward you] that is [illegible: 1 letter]am about to pronounce ſentence againſt you, and to do execution: and therefore hear, harken, and give-eare, the firſt ſecond and third time I admoniſh you, that ye may know that my citation is ſerious and peremptory: and that your damnation ſleepeth not. Prieſt and people are ſet before the houſe of the king; Salvian. becauſe theirs was ſedes prima, & vita ima, an high place but a low life. And beſides, Courtiers and great men, though they be in other caſes forward enough to take place of others, yet in point of puniſhment they ſlink back, and are well content that others ſhould go before them. God regards none for his greatneſſe (Potentes potenter torquebuntur) neither ſpareth he any for his meanneſſe, or becauſe they were born down either by the lawes, or lives of their Superiours. The people are here placed betwixt the Prieſts and Princes, and with them appealed and impeached, to ſhew how frigid and inſufficient their excuſe is, who plead that they did but as they were taught by their Miniſters, and as they were commanded by their Governours. Ephraim is oppreſſed and broken in judgement, becauſe h[illegible: 1 letter] willingly walked after the commandement, as it is in the eleventh verſe of this chapter. See the note.

for judgement is toward you] Vengeance is in readineſſe for the diſobedient, be he what he will, keſar or caytiffe, Lord or loſell, Prieſt or people: every whit as ready in the Lords hand as in the miniſters mouth. 2. Cor. 10.6. neither ſhall multitudes priviledge or ſecure them. Though they be quiet or combined, and likewiſe many, yet thus ſhall they be cut down, when he ſhall paſs through. Nah. 1.12. yea though they be briers and thorns that ſet againſt him in battle (and thoſe never ſo much confortuplicated and ſharpened) yet God will go through them, and burn them together. Eſay. 27.4. he will cut off the ſpirit of Princes, and deſtroy a whole rabble of rebels that riſe up againſt him.

becauſe ye have been a ſnare on Mizpah] That God may be juſtified and every mouth ſtopped, a reaſon is here rendred of his moſt righteous proceedings, and the ſame recited (after the manner of men) in the preamble to their condemnatory ſentences.

becauſe ye have been a ſnare on Mizpah, & a net ſpred upon Tabor] Theſe were two very high hils, much haunted by hunters, and frequented by fowlers, to whom theſe Idolaters (ſtriving to catch people ritibus ſuis velut retibus et laqueis, with their nets and ſnares of errours and ſuperſtitions) are fitly compared. For they lie in in wait for mens ſouls and catch many of them either by perſwaſions or puniſhments, by allurements or affrightments, as Julian the Apoſtate did of old, and as the Papiſts do at this day. That Jeroboam and his counſellours ſet watchers in theſe two mountains, to obſerve who would go from him to Judah to worſhip, that he might intercept them and puniſh them, is a plauſible opinion, but wants proof. I know what is alledged, Viz 1 King. 12.28. and Hoſ. 6.8. according to the vulgar tranſlation. I confeſſe alſo that it is not unlikely that ſuch things ſhould be done then (as lately wait was laid by the Papiſts for ſuch as had a minde to betake themſelves as Geneva, Tygure, Baſil, &c. for conſcience ſake. It is more probable that upon thoſe high hils Idolatry was committed (ſee chap. 4.13. with the Note) and thereby people enſnared, as birds and wilde beaſts are in the mountains: and ſo made ſlaves to the devill, and even fatted for his tooth. Hence in the next words.