The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, [Is] not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
Ver. 11. The heads thereof judge for reward] Being so many locusts, et latrones cum privilegio, both robbers with immunity, as one saith. Well might St Paul say that covetousness is the root of all evil, 1 Timothy 6:10. It is here assigned as one cause, and carnal security as another, of that regiment without righteousness, here justly complained of. And it was the worse, because it had overrun all sorts of such as were in place of power, whether civil or ecclesiastical. The princes and judges took gifts, which they should not only not have taken, but have hated, Proverbs 15:27, they should have shaken their hands from holding of bribes, Isaiah 33:15, since there is a curse to such magistrates with an Amen to it, Deu 27:25 Psalms 25:5, exclusion out of heaven: Olim didici quid sint munera, said one once. Rain is good (said another), and ground is good, sed ex eorum coniunctione fit lutum, of the mixture of these two is dirt: so, giving is kind and taking is courteous; yet the mixing of them maketh the smooth paths of justice foul and uneven. Nec prece nec pretio, neither by request or reward, should be the magistrate's motto. And Justice justice (as Moses phraseth it, Deu 16:20 margin), that is, clear sheer justice without mud should run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty torrent, Amos 5:24 .
And the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money] They were merely mercenary; and as Apollo's oracles, corrupted by Philip's gold, were said φιλιππαζειν, to speak as he would have them, so was it here. Both priests and prophets were ignava ventris mancipia Micah 3:5, See Trapp on " Mic 3:5 " greedy dogs, slow bellies, they all looked to their own way, every one for his gain from his quarter, Isaiah 56:11. Albertus Magnus complained of the covetousness of pastors in his time. Bernard for this cause calleth them impostors and byseers. Hugo Cardinalis said that the devil had two daughters, Avarice and Luxury; the former whereof he had married to the Jews, the latter to the Gentiles; but now, saith he, the priests have taken away both of them from their right husbands, and make use of them for their own. Si posui aurum in coniugium meum, so the Septuagint read that text, Job 31:24, signifying the covetous man's great love to money; whence St James calleth such adulterers and adulteresses, James 4:4. St Paul saith they mind only earthly things (sc. their purses and paunches), Philippians 3:19, and incessantly woe this Mundus immundus, this vile strumpet, the world; having eyes full of the adulteress, and that cannot cease to sin, 2 Peter 2:14. But their money shall perish with them that teach for hire, that follow the ministry only as a trade to pick a living out of, qui plus fisco quam Christo vacant, plus attonsioni quam attentioni gregis, et ubi non vident quaestum, rident Christum. All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's, Philippians 2:21 .
Yet will they lean upon the Lord] Or, lay their weight upon him, as upon a staff or crutch, velut sirmissimo seipione. Thus their forefathers, Psalms 78:32; Psalms 78:35, though they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works, yet they would needs believe that God was their Rock, and the high God their Redeemer. So their successors, Jeremiah 3:3,5, when they had spoken and done evil as they could, yet, having a whore's forehead, they could give goodly words, "Wilt thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art the guide of my youth? Will he reserve his anger for ever? will he keep it to the end?" Here were good words (for they are good cheap, as we say), but nothing more. The Lord was much in their mouths, but far from their reins, Jeremiah 12:2. Self-deceivers think they lean upon the Lord when it is no such matter; their faith is a mock faith, a strong fancy, a blind presumption, which will prove but a broken reed, and was never true to those that trusted it. Surely, as he that maketh a bridge of his own shadow cannot but fall into the brook, so neither can he escape the burning lake, that had rather be carnally secured than soundly comforted. Good gold is a cordial; so is not alchemy gold; neither will it pass the seventh fire, as the other will. Security is the forerunner of calamity; neither miscarry any so sure or so soon as the overly confident.
And say, Is not the Lord among us?] And hath he not promised so to be for ever? True, but upon condition that you be with him, and no otherwise, 2 Chronicles 15:2. He is not so tied to you, but that he can go away from you. See his many removes Ezekiel 9:3; Ezekiel 10:4; Ezekiel 10:18; Ezekiel 11:23, and observe, that still as he goes out, some judgment comes in. They call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel, the Lord of hosts is his name, Jeremiah 48:2, but all this was but court holy water, as they call it, empty words, such as our profligate professors are full of. But wilt thou know, O vain man (or, O empty man, κενε), that words without works are bootless? James 2:20, that external privileges alone profit not, Jer 7:4 Acts 6:14, that formal profession and performances are disaccepted, and those that please themselves therewith are but as women travailing with a false birth, Isaiah 26:18. Men are wont to do with these as those conjurers did with the name of Jesus; they thought if they used that name it was enough. They hear, therefore, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" Acts 19:15. So shall it fare with such as glory in this, that they were born in the bosom of the Church, live under the means of grace. Gehazi took the prophet's staff; but there was something more, else the child had not been raised. Those tell but an ill tale for themselves that have no more to say but this, "Is not the Lord among us?" Men are the worse for his presence with them if they walk not worthy of the Lord in all well pleasing, Colossians 1:10, if they have not grace to serve him with reverence and godly fear: for even our God is a consuming fire, Hebrews 12:28,29 .
None evil can come upon us] Let prophets say what they please, we shall have peace, Deuteronomy 29:19, all shall be well with us while God is with us, and for us. But God will not take the wicked by the hand, saith Job, Job 8:20; neither will he at all acquit the guilty, saith Moses, Exodus 34:7. "The foolish shall not stand in his sight," saith David: "for he hateth all the workers of iniquity," Psalms 5:5. "Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions," Exodus 23:21; or if he do, yet it is two to one that he will take vengeance of your inventions, Psalms 99:8. Shake off, therefore, carnal security; fear the Lord, and depart from evil.