John Trapp on Hosea 5:12

Verſe 12. Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth,] Their ſin was the greater, becauſe they were ſo willing to it, and ſo eaſily drawn to idolatry, as moſt agreeable to their nature, and making much for their eaſe: which was Jeroboams main argument. It may very well be, that he threatned puniſhment to thoſe that diſobeyed his commandement: but here they ſhould have ſtood out, and have bide the worſt; chuſing affliction rather then ſin; which becauſe they did not, therefore they ſhould periſh by their own hand, and counſels: they ſhall be motheaten, as a garment that breedeth the moth, and as a tree that breedeth the worm that waſteth it. Not but that God had a ſpeciall hand in their puniſhment: and this not permiſſive onely, but active too, I will be unto Ephraim, &c. For is there evil in a city, and he hath not done it? The changes and periods of Kingdoms are of him, Pſal. 75.6, 7. that men may know that the Heavens do rule, Dan. 4.26. ſo are the alterations in mens bodies and eſtates, as Job ſetteth it forth, Chap. 4.19. and 13.28. and 27.18. Every one (ſay ſome Chymicks) hath his own balſam within him: his own bane 'tis ſure that he hath: his clay-cottage is every day ready to drop on his head. And for his Eſtate,2 Cor. 5.1. there are oft-times ſecret iſſues and drains of expence, at the which it runs out, as at an hole in the bottom of the bag, Hag. 1.6. See the Note there. Howbeit Gods holy hand is in all this; I will be unto Ephraim as a moth, &c. that is, I will waſt them ſenſim, ſine ſenſu. Secretly, inſenſively, ſlowly; but ſurely, and inevitably: This David after Job, acknowledgeth, Pſal 39.11. When thou with rebukes doſt correct man for iniquity, thou makeſt his beauty to conſume away like a moth, thou caſteſt him into a corruptio totius ſubſtantiae, as the Phyſicians call the Hectick: ſurely every man is vanity. Selah: Yea he is altogether vanity, yea and that in his beſt eſtate, when he is beſt underlaid, when ſetled on his beſt bottom, verſe 5. when he is gotten upon his mount with David, and thinks to die in his neſt with Iob: Pſal. 130.7. Job 29.18. Luk. 12. Mar. in cap. 28. & 11. c. 25. when he counts upon much good laid up in ſtore for many years, as that rich fool, that reckoned without his hoſt, as we ſay. Tinea damnum facit, & ſonitum non facit, ſaith Gregory. The moth maketh no noiſe, but doth a great deal of hurt among clothes. The worm here, rendred rottenneſſe, is minutiſſimus vermisulus, ſaith Luther here, a very ſmall creature, but doth no ſmall miſchief:Teredo. for it eats out the heart of the ſtrongeſt wood, yea of the ſtrongeſt oaken planks at Sea. See here what a poor creature is man, yea a whole kingdom, when as a moth and a little worm may conſume them: when they may be cruſhed before the moth, as Iob ſpeaks, Chap. 4.19. he ſaith not, before the Lion, but before the moth. Learn alſo to take heed of ſin, yea of ſecret ſins, 2 King. 17, 9. leſt we be ſecretly waſted, our graces caſt into a conſumption, our comfortables wiped away, our conſciences wearied with ſecret buffets, as being ſmitten with the rod of Gods mouth, Eſay 11.4. our eſtates melted as the fat of lambs before the fire, and our land inſenſibly waſted, and by degrees deſolated; as Ephraim and Iudah were, as the Greek Empire was, and as it began to be here with us, in Queen Maries raigne, which was never proſperous after that ſhe had aboliſhed the Goſpel: for beſide forraigne loſſes, of Calice, Speed. &c. extreme dearths raged, much hurt was done by thunder from heaven, and by fire in the royall Navie, and all things went to worſe, till Queen Eliſabeth came in,Q. Eliz. life by M. Clark. Mart. 2. part, pag. 319. a repairer of the breach, a reſtorer of paths to dwell in, Eſay 53.12. according to that glorious Epitaph, cauſed by King Iames to be inſcribed upon her Princely Monument by him erected.