Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
Ver. 18. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath] "We were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold," 1 Peter 1:18. Money hath drowned many a soul, 1 Timothy 6:9, delivered none. See Pro 11:4 Isa 13:17 Ezekiel 7:19. See Trapp on " Pro 11:4 " It is righteousness, and not riches, that delivereth from death, Proverbs 10:2. Money can neither pacify God, nor still the conscience, nor stop the enemy's mouth, but inflame them rather with an unsatisfiable desire of enjoying all, as Rome did the Gauls, and Cyprus the Romans (Sextus Rufus); and as the pearls, usually cast out with the flood, and gathered at the ebb, drew Caesar's affection for the conquest of Britain (Sueton.).
But the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy] The sins of God's people are not only disobediences, but treacheries, because of the covenant. God is thereby provoked to jealousy, which "is cruel as the grave," or hard as hell; "the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame," Song of Solomon 8:6, the word signifies the consuming flame of God.
For he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land] Swept clean by God with the besom of destruction; so that the land was desolate after them, Zechariah 7:14. Affliction rose not up the second time, Nahum 1:9. See the notes there, and learn to give God the glory of his severity against sin.