5s a fooliſh and wicked thing, that any thac profe's the true os ſhould give heed to ſuch lying Vainities. « Here he 1 65; meet 1eir Taolatry to their Afrology, q. 4. they cur down Timber to make _ Images and Repreſentations of theſe Sears and Planets, that _ fear and worſhip as Gods, either in memorial of them, when t y could not ſee them, or elſe upon a iuperſtitions Conceit Re. tho Scars which they worſhipped, did by ſome Mag/c% Art convey o_ Vertue or Spirit into theſe Statues or Timages; or rather, he dorh. ſer forth the folly of the Heathen, that whereas for rhe gg them they are but a piece? of Wood, a Tree our of tbe woe: : and as to the form of them, no other than the Carver, a forry an is pleaſed to put them into by his Ax, which I ſuppoſe is here put For any cutting Tool of the Artiſt, whereby he ſhapes it ; yet they are afraid of theſe, as if they were Gods, 1/2. 40 20. See on Jer. 8
Chap. Xs
>" $0 e '2 : 4 They deck it with filver and with gold ; they faſten it with nails and with x hammers, that it move
- Not. | Fl x A farther Deſcription of their Workmanſhip, having no other
*C meſs what they confer upon ir, and they no greater ſe- | = 10pmpet-odadun of ir than as his can with Hammer and Nail make it faſt, and fix it to ſome place, the wooden god being not able to preſerve itſelf from falling ; therefore it 15 rather to be meant of faſtening to ſome Wall, or Pillar, than of faſtening their parts together, —_— they ſeem to be cue cut of one entire piece, and therefore need 1t nor.
* Pſal. 7 They are upright as the y palm-tree, * but ſpeak Pſal. ns, F y 5 me 5-and 2 not: they muſt needs be born, becau e they can- \ 235- 16- not @ go: be notafraid of b them,for they * cannot do *I.46. evil, neither alſo is it in them to do good. ; Fa The nature of which is to grow uprightand tall, without any Haw Branchings, till it comes to the rop, thereby poſſibly reſpreſenting a Majeſty. « Looking as if they were about to ſpeak, ſtanding in a
' ſpeaking poſture, but have not a word to utter, being only dumb
Stocks, wooden gods. a They wow 4 Eng or faſter pres you 7 , either when you go to ſet them up, or upon any oc- CE val, as NF as ſtakes, being indeed but ſticks. b They can do you no more harm, than the Signs of Heaven could do;
- they are but dead ſtocks: the Heathens worſhipped ſome Idols thar
E they might do them good, and others that they might do them no | harm; bur God tells them here, they can do neither good or harm, as
' in the next words; they can neither puniſh nor reward, they can
"neither hurt their Enetnies, nor help their Friends: by this the
true God will be diftinguiſhed from Idols, that he alone can fore- tell things to come, and he alone can reward or puniſh, 1/a. 48. 5 "and therefore the Prophet endeavours to turn them off from their Idols to the true God. :
6 For c as much as * there is none like unto thee, O
LORD 2 thou art great, and thy name #s d great in
e might. 4c This Particle {A Mir is to be taken here cauſally, and refers either to what goes before, ſhewing there is no Compariſon be- tween God and Idols, or rather. tro what follows, as the Ground - and Reaſon of all due Subje&tion to God, as inthe next Verſe. 4 Or thou art tranſcendently great. e #. e. Though Idols may have ſome thing of a Name in thc World among the Heathen, yet there was nothing of their real Poweror Might ſcen ; orif the Devil might a& ſom:thing through them to delude the World, yet nothing to be compared with that Might thar batb manifeſted it ſelf in Gods © Works. Pſal. 106. 8. and 1-1. 6. All the works of Idols are either none, or feeble and wezk, Ver. 8. : - . 7 * Who would not fear thee, O king of f nations:
Hg for || to thee doth it appertain : for as much as among Or, i* all the, wiſe mer of all the nations, and, in, all their
* bketh thee. kingdoms there is none like g unto thee. |
| 7 He is called a great King, Mal. 1+ 14. 9. d. thou, by whom all Nations are governed, and al] Affairs in them diſpoſed ,and by none eIſe, who would worſhip any but thee. or be afraid of any bur thee, ſeing it is fit for, and therefore can belong to .none betides, as in the next words, it is thy right and due, or who can be ſo ſtupid as not to acknowledge one ſupream Bzeings and this to be bur one, as among the Heathens, Svcrates,- Plato, Seneca, and divers others 4;d- and therefore it is nor a prodigious thing, that any ſhould ſo withhold the truth in Unrighteouſneſs. be ſo groſs as to worſhip
| many gods? g q.4.1f you earch among all their Wiſe-men and Philoſophers, all the great Men and Rulers 1n Rams. For theſe the Heathens were wont to worſhip as gods after Deat 1, | iſe- men for their Wiſdom, and Kings for their Power, you ] find none to compare with God either for Wiſdom or Power: Their
Wiſe--men are but as ſo many Fools. . ; :
f But they are + altogether * þ brutiſh and 3 fooliſh: # Heb. i* po þ ſtock is a dodrine of / vanities. one, or , The awe that the Idol doth impreſs upon carnal mens minds. ; and thereby taking them off from a due Apprehenſion of the Ef-
ſence of God, doth keep them between ſuch hope and Fen”, that they become =5 fenſleſs and as inapprehenfive of any true Worſhip, * as Brutes. i Notonly ſome of them, bur even al}, both Jews and - Hb. 2.18. Gentiles, q- d. I need not ſtand up to particularize, but rake them al. Zecho. *o awhar they are become ſtupid Idolaters, and have drunk in the molt arsls Superftitions ofthe Gentiles, as Rom. I. 21, 22. k A Sy- necdoche pur for all ſorts of Idols, of what Materials ſoever ; and Mcronymy of the matrer, tO render them contemprible, either as
q Inding the ignorant, Or in theraſelves conſidered ; they are meer i footiſh, helpleſs things. 1 The Hebrew Word Mrſar 1s taken png 11 Sion, Pro. 16. 22: 4d, Itis an caſte Matter to prove one an Fools, and brutifh, when they look upon a ſtock, a piece —_ NT ow be their god, which hath neither Knowledge nor Pro- Pow is and therefore muſt needs be a Do&rine of Vanity, when eats oo ro be taught Devotion by Images, which is a teacher of
. they - done faith to The dumb ſtone it fhall reach, Hab. 2, 18, 19» _— Do&rins of Devils firſt broached by Pope Gregory, who - - aun ded Strenus Biſhop of Ma/iia for not perfutting Images
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* Exod. 15. LI. Plal. 86, 8. 10,
Rom. Ts 28, 22,
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