John Trapp on Malachi 1:6

Verſe 6. A ſon honoureth his father.] Heb. Will honour his father. Nature teacheth him this leſſon, to reverence his father. Pater eſt, ſi pater non eſſet, ſaid the young man in Terence; [non-Latin text not transcribed] Hierocl. It is my father, I muſt not croſſe him. Our parents are our houſhold Gods, ſaid another heathen, and to have all poſſible reſpect from us. To God and our parents, ſaith Ariſtotle, we can never make recompence. There is no nation ſo barbarous that acknowledgeth not this natural axiom, A ſon muſt honour his father, and a ſervant his maſter; as Eleazar did Abraham; the Centurions ſervants him, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. by being at his beck and check in all things. Servus eſt nomen officii; A ſervant is not one that moveth abſolutely of himſelf: but he is the maſters inſtrument, and wholly his, ſaith Ariſto[illegible: 1 letter]le: and therefore oweth him all love, reverence and obedience, as if he were many Maſters in one: the word here uſed for Maſter, is plural. Now from this Principle in nature thus laid down, the Lord tacitly accuſeth them

Firſt, Of Ingratitude for his great love to them, evinced and evidenced in the former verſes.

Secondly, Of contempt caſt upon him and his ſervice: as appeareth, firſt, by the application of that natural law confirmed by the cuſtom of all countries.

If then I be a father, &c.] As you commonly call me, and claim me, Ier. 3.4. Iohn 8.41. We have one Father, even God. And you have been long ſince taught Io to do by Moſes, and told by what right I come to be your Father, though with an exprobration of your deteſtable undutifulneſſe Deut. 32.6. Do ye thus requite the Lord—? Is not he thy Father (and is not he by the ſame right and reaſon thy maſter too?) that hath bought thee? Hath he not made thee, and eſtabliſhed, or preſerved thee? Hath he not (more then all that) adopted and accepted thee for his childe;1 Pet. 1.3 begetting thee again unto a lively hope by the reſurrection of Jeſus Chriſt from the dead, unleſſe thou be ſtill in thy ſinnes, then the which thou canſt not chuſe unto thy ſelf a worſe condition? All which conſidered, what more equal then that I ſhould have both love from thee as a father, and fear as a maſter? A mixture of both is required of all Gods children and ſervants, that they yield unto him an amicable fear, and a reverent love, that they look at once upon his bounty and ſeverity, Rom. 11.12. and ſo call God Father, that they ſpend the whole time of their ſojourning here in fear: that they fear God and his goodneſs, and Iacob-like,1 Pet. 1.17 when they ſee nothing but viſions of love and mercy, as he did at Bethel, yet then to cry out, How dreadful is this place? Pſal. 130.4 There is mercy with thee that thou mayſt be feared.

unto you, O Prieſts] Whom I look upon as the chief of my children, given me in lieu of Iſraels firſt-born, the lot of mine own inheritance, that ſtand ever before me, and ſhould by ſoundneſſe of doctrine, and holineſſe of life, vindicate my name from contempt, and get me honour before the people. Singular holineſſe is required of miniſters above others: a double ſpirit they had need to wiſh for, as Eliſha. Things in the ſanctuary were double to thoſe that were common; as the ſhekel, cubit, &c. Miniſters are called Angels, and they muſt walk as angels, ne ſit nomen inane crimen immane, leſt God renew his old complaint, The leaders of his people have cauſed them to erre, Iſa. 9.16. It was the complaint of Pope Pius the ſecond,In hiſt. Auſtriaca. that there was no notorious wickedneſſe committed in the Catholick Church cujus prima origo à ſacerdotibus non dependeat, the firſt beginning whereof aroſe not from Church-men. John Hus cryes out of the prieſts of his time, Multa quae illi ordinem dicunt, &c.Bel. Huſſit. p. 9 Many of thoſe things that they call by the name of order, have brought all things in Chriſtendom out of order. Cornelius à Lapide upon this text, in his popiſh way bewaileth it, that the ignorance and profaneneſſe of many of their prieſts, had given occaſion to Luthers hereſie to ſpread the further. We alſo have no leſſe cauſe to complain, that the inſufficiency and impiety of ſome of our miniſtry hath opened the black mouth of Campian, and his popiſh complices to bark out, Miniſtris eorum nihil vilius, Their Miniſters are very baſe. For prevention, let the ſouls of miniſters be purer then the Sun-beams, as Chryſoſtom ſaith they ſhould be; and let their lives be ſo unblameable, that no man may ſpeak the leaſt evil of them without a manifeſt lie, &c.

that deſpiſe my name] This is the crime they are directly and expreſly charged with. They had not honoured God as a Father, feared him as a Maſter; therefore they had deſpiſed and ſlighted him. Not to do God right, is to do him wrong: not to reverence him, is to rob him: not to bleſſe him, is to blaſpheme him, Job. 1.5. That's an excellent ſaying of Fulgentius, Deum ſi quis parum metuit, valde contemnit: hujus qui non memorat beneficentiam, anget injuriam. i. e. whoſo feareth God but a little, ſlights him overmuch: and he that maketh not honourable mention of his bounty, doth him a great deal of injury. The very not ſerving of God, the not ſacrificing to him, is a crime, Mal. 3.18. Eccleſ. 9.2. How much more then a ſlubbered ſervice, a corrupt ſacrifice? There is a contempt in this latter, which is worſe then a bare neglect; and diſpleaſing ſervice is double diſhonour. Hence the preſent conteſt with thoſe greaſie prieſts that deſpiſed Gods name: the Septuagint hath it, Ye that eſteem my name at a low rate, that miſpriſe it, (as the French tranſlateth it) that have baſe and bald conceits of me and of my nomen Majeſtativum, [non-Latin text not transcribed]. Majeſtick Name (as Tertullian termeth it) that take me not into your hearts under the name and notion of an infinite Highneſſe, the great and mighty Maker and Monarch of the whole world. Our ſafeſt eloquence concerning God, is our ſilence, ſaith Hooker: But if we take in hand to ſay any thing of him, Nullis vocibus tam plenè Deum ſignificamus (ſaith learned Scaliger) quam its quae ignorantiam noſtram praetendunt, We can ſet forth God ſo fully by no words, as by thoſe that ſet forth our ignorance of his excellency. The very heathens when they would ſwear by their Jupiter, out of the meer dread and reverence of his name, forbare to mention him. The Jews would not pronounce the name Jehovah, Suidas. here uſed in the text. The firſt among the Chriſtians that pronounced Jehovah, was Petrus Galatinus, Pſal. 111. following the pronuntiation of the Syriacks and Greeks. If at any time we take Gods holy and reverend Name into our thoughts, and (truly we ſhould think of him almoſt at every breath we draw, according to that Let every breath praiſe the Lord) Remember to think of God as of One at all to be thought of;Pſal. 150. as one whoſe Wiſdom is his Juſtice, whoſe Juſtice is his Power, whoſe Power is his Mercy, and all himſelf, Good without quality, great without quantity, Everlaſting without time, Omnipreſent without place, containing all things without extent, &c. This is to magnifie God, to make roomth for him in our hearts, and the contrary is, to deſpiſe his name.

And ye ſay wherein have we despiſed thy Name? Loe, the impudencie of theſe frontleſſe Hypocrites. They traverſe their aceuſation, ſtand upon their juſtification, and put God to his proofs. How ordinary is it with people ſtill, to palliate their ſinnes and plead their innocencie? Hoſ. 12.8. In all my labours, they ſhall find none imquity in me: that were ſin, that were a foul buſineſs. But men have learned to draw a fair gloſſe upon a foule hand, to caſt a colour, as the Calf-fiſh doth, to deceive the fiſher-man: to hide their ſinnes as Adam, Job 31.33. by down right denyall as did Cain, Gehezi, Ananias and Sapphira, or elſe by excuſing and extenuating,Gen. 4.9. 2 Kin. 5.25. Acts 5.8. as Saul, 1 Sam. 16.20, 21. Or at leaſt by a ſenſeleſſe ſilence, not acknowleging their ſinnes, or being affected with them; but rather out facing, as Judas, John 13.21. with Mat. 2.24. Sinne and ſhifting came into the world together, and ſo they continue. Satan knowes there's no way to purge the ſick ſoul but upwards: therefore he holds the lips cloſe, that the heart may not diſburden itſelf, and have eaſe, Prov. 28.13.