John Trapp on Zechariah 14:12

Verſe 12. And this ſhal be the plague where with the Lord wil ſmite, &c] The precedent promiſes that were ſo great and glorious, the Prophet doth now farther enlarge, and illuſtrate in the following verſes: and firſt the conqueſt of the enemies, verſe 12, 13, 14, 15. Next, the profeſſion of Chriſt among all nations of the world, verſe 16, 17, 18, 19. And laſtly, the ſanctity of the Church, verſe 20, 21. The conqueſt of the enemies is ſet forth, Firſt by Gods ſtrange judgements upon them, verſe 12. Secondly, By the means, both they ſhal diſpatch one another; and Judah ſhall fight bravely againſt them, verſe 13, & 14. Thirdly, their wealth and ſubſtance ſhal become a prey, verſe 14. Fourthly, their horſes of ſervice, and all the beaſts they bring with them ſhalbe as ſtrangely plagued as the men themſelves, verſe 15. That have fought againſt Ieruſalem.] God will go forth and fight againſt them, verſe 2 ſo that they ſhall wiſh they had never medled. Haec erit plaga qua plagabit. God hath a mighty hand, Iam. 4.9. and it is a fearful thing to fall into it, Heb. 10.31. for, who knoweth the power of his wrath? Pſal. 90.11. One ſtroke of this hard and heavy hand, broke the angels backs, and caſt them into chains of darkneſs, to be reſerved unto judgement, 2 Pet. 2.[illegible: 1 letter]4. Iob felt but his little finger, as it were, and yet cryes out for help, Have pitty upon me, have pitty upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me, Iob 19.21. It had but lightly tonched him, and yet he was hardly able to endure it. Oh the bloody wails that Gods hand hath left upon the backs of his beſt children! Wo then to his enemies when he comes forth to fight againſt them. Their fleſh ſhall conſume away, whiles they ſtand upon their feet.] They ſhall pine away in their iniquities, Levit. 26.30. their beauty ſhall conſume away like a moth. Pſal. 39.11. they ſhall melt as wax before the ſun, or as the fat of lambs before the fire. God if he be not unto them as a lion to tear the kell of their hearts in ſunder, yet he will be as a moth, and as a worm, inſenſibly to conſume them, Hoſ. 5.12, 14. If he break not their teeth in their mouths by ſmiting them upon the cheek-bone, yet he will make them to melt away as waters which run continually; as a ſnail which melteth, and as the untimely birth of a woman that never ſeeth the ſun, Pſa. 58.6, 7, 8. God hath ſecret wayes to waſt his enemies, and to bring them on their knees when they are beſt under-ſet. He can trip up their heels when they are ſtanding upon their feet, and lay them low enough in the ſlimy valley where are many already like them, and more ſhal come after them, Iob 21.31, 32. God hath a Maraſmus, an evil meſſenger for a malicious perſecutor; as he had for Antiochus Epiphanes; for both the Herods; for Maximinus the Tyrant;1 Machab. 6. Joſeph. Antiq. l. 12. c. 11. for Philip the ſecond of Spain, Charles the ninth of France, Queen Mary of England, Steven Gardiner, Arch-Biſhop Arundel, Neſtorius, Arrius, and other odious Hereticks, and enemies of the Church: amongſt whom à Lapide the Ieſuit reckons here Calvin, and ſaith, That like another Hered, he died a lowſie lothſom death: and for his authority thinks it enough to ſay, uti refert Bolſecus in ejus vita. But it muſt be underſtood, that the lives of Calvin and Beza were ſpitefully written by this Bolſecus their ſworn enemy, that twice baniſhed and thrice runnagate Friar (liar I might have ſaid) and Phyſician: for thoſe names his often changes and hard chances have given him. This man being requeſted by the popiſh ſide (and its likely hired by them) to write thus,Spec. Eur is in all their writings alledged as Canonical. And their eyes ſhal conſume away in their holes.] Phyſicians tell us of two thouſand diſeaſes that annoy mans body, two hundred whereof affect the eyes: All theſe are part of Gods hoſts, which are as much at Gods command as the Centurions ſervants and ſouldiers were at his, when he ſaid but, Go, or come, and they did accordingly. He can make mens eyes drop and ceaſe, not without any intermiſſion, as Lam. 3.49. till they melt out, Mat. 8.9. as the Hebrew here hath it; even the very ſame word as before. he can ſmite men with ſudden blindneſs (as he did the ſinful Sodomites, that had eyes full of adultery) ſuch as tormented their eyes, as if they had been pricked with thorns, as the Hebrew word ſignifieth, Gen. 19.11. Failing of eyes, and ſorrow of minde, is threatned as a judgement, Deut. 28.65. yea thou ſhalt be mad for the fight of thine eyes, which thou ſhalt ſee is another piece of the curſe, verſe 34. See 1 Sam. 2.33. And their tongue ſhal conſume away in their mouth.] As did the tongue of Neſtorius the Hereſiarch eaten out of his mouth with worms: Tho. Arundel, and Steven Gardiner, two bloody perſecutors, died of a like diſeaſe. Diodate underſtands all this to be a deſcription of hel-torments. Their fleſh ſhall conſume, yet never be conſumed; for they ſtill ſtand upon their feet, or ſubſiſt, that they may ſtill ſuffer; having no end, that their pain may be endleſs. Their eyes ſhal conſume, &c, that is, ſaith he, though they be alive and can ſee, yet ſhall they be deprived of light in infernal darkneſſe: having neither eyes nor underſtanding, but onely to ſee and judge of their extream miſery. Their tongue ſhal conſume away, &c. as did the rich gluttons, Luke 16.24. M. Calvin obſerveth here, that all is delivered in the ſingular number; his fleſh ſhal conſume; his eyes ſhal melt; his tongue, &c. (for ſo runs the Original) to note that every of Ieruſalems enemies ſhal taſte of Gods wrath; though ſome of them may haply hold themſelves out of the reach of his rod. And, Secondly, that God can as eaſily deſtroy them all, as if he had to do but with one fingle man.