And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship [and] that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham;
Ver. 5. And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops] Called elsewhere the Queen of heaven, the constellations and heavenly bodies: whom they thought to worship so much the more acceptably, if in an open place and on high, in the very sight of the stars. Observent ista qui hodie Astrologiam iudiciariam profitentur, saith Gualther, Let those among us observe this who profess judiciary astrology; for these worship the stars no less than did the heathens of old, and do openly bring in heathenism again; while (first) they call the stars by the names of those heathenish deities, that ought to be abolished; and next, they subject to those stars all events of things, yea, man himself as touching all his manners and fortunes, which the Scripture affirmeth to depend upon the eternal providence of God alone. This is intolerable impiety, and they that fall into it, shall not escape the just judgment of God.
And them that worship and that swear by the Lord (or to the Lord, consecrating themselves as by oath to his service), and that swear by Malcham] That is, by their king, as the Egyptians did of old, Genesis 42:15. The Spaniards at this day, in the pride of their monarchy, are grown also to swear by the life of their king. There are a sort of mongrel Christians in the East called Melchites, as one would say of the king's religion, because they resolved to do as Melech the king commanded them, though it were to make a mixture of religions, as these in the text would, and as our late moderators, Sancta Clara and others, of whom one said well, that they had made a pretty show, had there been no Bible, to tell us, that the jealous and just God hateth and plagueth halting between two, lukewarmness and neutrality in religion, all dough baked duties, speckled birds, ploughing with an ox and an ass, mingled seeds, linseywoolsey garments, Leviticus 19:19. Upon which text the Douay doctor's note is, here all participation with heretics and schismatics is forbidden. But by Malcham most understand here an idol of the Ammonites, otherwise called Molech, served in Tophet near to Jerusalem, and in the mount of Olives, called therefore the mount of corruption, 2 Kings 23:13. Which God could not but see as often as he looked out of the sanctuary. These worshippers of Malcham would not utterly renounce the true God, but they would set up others with him as partners: this would not be endured. Such were of old the Samaritans among the Jews, the Ebionites among the Christians, the Papists to this day, who swear by God and saints, and pray to God and his saints, and commit themselves to them (together with God) as their tutelars and patrons.