John Trapp on Zechariah 1:2

Verſe 2. The Lord hath been ſore diſpleaſed with your fathers] Heb. He hath boyled againſt your fathers with foaming anger, with height of heate. There are degrees of anger, ſee Mat. 5.22. and Deut. 29.28. The Lord rooted them out of their land in Anger, and in wrath, and in great Indignation. Surgit hic oratio: and the laſt of thoſe three words is the ſame here uſed in the text: noting an higher degree then the two former, even ſuch a fervour and fierceneſſe of Gods wrath, as maketh him ready to kill and cut off (ſee 2 King. 6 6. and note the affinity of that word with this) like as he had much adoe to forbeare killing of Moſes, Exod. 4. when he met him in the Inne; and as Nebuchadnezzar was not only angry, but very furious, and commanded to deſtroy all the wiſe men of Babylon Dan. 2.12. Now if the wrath of a king be as many meſſengers of death Prov. 16.14. what ſhall we think of the foming and frothing wrath of God, which burnes unto the loweſt hell, and ſets on fire the foundations of the mountains, Deut. 32.22. After which followeth, in the next verſe, I will heape miſchiefs upon them, Deut. 32.23. I will ſpend minc arrowes upon them &c. He had done ſo upon the Anceſtours of theſe refractary Jewes, who had been ſaepius puncti & repuncti, minimè tamen ad reſipiſcentiam compuncti, oſt puniſhed, but could never be reclaimed; ſo incorrigibly flagitious, ſo ſhameleſly, ſo prodigiouſly wicked were they, till there was no remedy. This their vile ſtubbornneſſe made him ſore diſpleaſed with them: and put thunder-bolts into his hands to deſtroy them; For though Fury be not in God Iſay 27.5. to ſpeak properly, he is free from any ſuch paſſions as we are ſubject to, yet if briars and thornes ſet againſt him in battle, if a rabble of rebels conſpire to caſt him out of his throne, ſaying We will not have this man to rule over us &c. I would go through them, I would burn them together, ſaith he, in the ſame breath. Abuſed mercy turneth into fury. Nothing ſo cold as lead, & yet nothing ſo ſcalding, if molten. Nothing more blunt then iron: & yet nothing ſo keen, if ſharpened. The ayre is ſoft & tende: yet out of it are ingendered thunder and lightenings. The ſea is calme, and ſmooth: but if toſſed with tempeſts, it is rough above meaſure. The Lord, as he is Father of mercies, ſo he is God of recompenſes: and it is a fearefull thing to fall into his puniſhing hands. If his wrath be kindled, yea but a little, Heb. 10. Pſal. 2. woe be to all thoſe upon whom it lights: how much more when he is ſore diſpleaſed with a people or perſon as here? For who knoweth the power of thine anger, ſaith Moſes? even according to thy feare, ſo is thy wrath: that is, let a man feare thee never ſo much,Pſal. 90.11 he is ſure to feel thee much more, if once he fall into thy fingers. And this is here urged by the Prophet as a motive to true repentance: ſith by their fathers example, they might ſee there was no way to eſcap[illegible: 1 letter] the dint of the divine diſpleaſure, but to ſubmit to Gods Juſtice and to implore his mercy: men muſt either turn or burn, For even our God is a conſuming fire Heb. 12.29.