I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
Ver. 4. I will bring it forth] sc. Out of my treasuries or storehouses of plagues and punishments, Deuteronomy 32:34. Or, That which thou hast seen in vision I will put in action; I will produce it into the open light, into the theatre of the world; their faults shall be written in their foreheads, their sins shall go before to judgment, my visible vengeance shall overtake them.
And it shall enter into the house of the thief] Which he calleth his castle; and where he thinks himself most secure, as out of the reach of God's rod; as if he could mote himself up against God's fire. But what saith Bildad? "His confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors. It shall dwell in his tabernacle, because it is none of his: brimstone shall be scattered upon his habitation," Job 18:14,15, so that if the fire of God's wrath do but touch it, all is on a light flame. He will unkennel these foxes; and drag Cacus out of his den, to his deserved punishment. Dioclesian, the persecutor (one of those Latrones publici, public robbers, as Cato called them), giving over his empire, after he had sufficiently feathered his nest, decreed to lead the rest of his life quietly. But he escaped not so; for after that his house was wholly consumed with lightning and a flame of fire that fell from heaven, he, hiding himself, for fear of the lightning, died within a while after.
And into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name] Hence Ribera gathereth that by the whole earth in the former verse is meant Judaea only: because none but Jews swore by the name of the true God, who is indeed the proper object of an oath, Isaiah 65:16 Jeremiah 12:6. Howbeit in lawful contracts with an infidel or idolater oaths by false gods may be admitted, and are binding. As for perjury, it is a provoking sin; as containing three great evils. 1. The uttering or upholding of a lie. 2. The calling upon God to testify and justify a lie. 3. The praying for a curse upon a man's self; and beseeching God to be a swift witness against him, Malachi 3:1,7; as he was indeed against Zedekiah, Narcissus in the ecclesiastical history, Earl Godwin in Polydor, Virgil, Rodulphus, Duke of Suevia, Ladislaus, King of Hungary, Dr London (Act. and Mon. fol. 1114), Richard Long, a soldier at Calais in King Henry VIII's days; who, deposing falsely against William Smith, curate of Calais shortly after, upon a displeasure of his wife, desperately drowned himself. And within the memory of man, Feb. 11, A. D. 1574, Anne Averies forswore herself at a shop in Wood Street, London; praying God she might sink where she stood if she had not paid for the wares she took. Hereupon she fell down presently speechless, and with horrible stench died.
And it shall remain in the midst of his house] And be a troublesome inmate with him, such as he cannot rid his hands of though never so fain; there it shall roost and rest, in despite of him. If it distaste not his dough or empty his basket, yet will it fill his store with strife, or mix the wrath of God with his sweet morsels; his meat shall be sauced, his drink spiced, as Job 20:23. It is a moth in his wardrobe, murrain among his cattle, mildew in his field, rot among his sheep, and often times maketh the fruit of his loins his greatest heartbreak.
With the timber thereof and the stones thereof] As in case of treason or other horrible crimes, the very houses of the offenders were pulled down and made a dunghill, Daniel 2:5; Daniel 3:29. The Popish Council of Toulouse, gathered together against those ancient Protestants, the Albigenses, made a decree that the very house wherein a heretic was found should be pulled down, Illam domum in qua fuerit inventus haereticus diruendam decernimus. The manor house of Milcot, in Warwickshire, built by Lodovike Greevil, deeply guilty of these two grand evils mentioned in the text, and lately burnt to the ground, is commonly looked upon as a speaking monument of God's just judgment against sacrilege and perjury, whether men personally commit these sins or love them in others, Zechariah 1:17 Revelation 22:15 .