Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion [is] fat, and their meat plenteous.
Ver. 16. Therefore they sacrifice to their net] Thus wicked men grow worse and worse; their sin is infinite; what marvel, then, if their punishment be also infinite in hell? To all other their iniquities these Chaldeans add this of abominable idolatry, they sacrifice to themselves, as Sejanus did, Seianus sibi sacrificabat (Dio), to their net, drag, &c., that is, to their weapons, as Ajax called his sword his god; and thanked it for all his brave achievements. And as Mezentius (another atheist) is brought in, saying;
“ Dextra mlhi Deus, et telum quod missile libro. ”
So Sesostris, King of Egypt (in Samson's days), would needs be called κοσμοκρατωρ, lord of the whole world; and when he had conquered any country he caused these words to be engraven there upon marble pillars, This country I gained by mine own strength (τοις ωμοισιν εμοισιν εκτησαμην. Herod. l. 2). So Antiochus (that little antichrist) is said to worship his god Mauzzim, that is, his forces and armies, Daniel 11:38. It was Nebuchadnezzar that was here pointed at; and how he deified himself and his own doings, see Isa 10:13 Daniel 4:26 .
And burn incense to their drags] While they ascribe to the instrument that which is due to God alone, the chief agent. Hold out, net, said they; well done, drag, &c. Hoc ego primus vidi, said Zabarell, Hoc ego feci, saith another. But what saith Luther? By men's boasting in this sort, Haec ego feci, haec ego feci, they become nothing better than mere faeces, dregs and lees.
Because by them their portion is fat] "By them," that is, by their net and drag, they think that their condition is well mended, and their meat is fat, opimus et optimus, abundant and good. God (the giver of all this) is not in all their thoughts; but as the moon, the fuller it is of light the further it gets from the sun, the fountain of her light, so deal men with God.