Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 14:8
Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard [him], and observed him: I [am] like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
8. Ephraim ( shall say), What have I to do any more with idols ] So the Targum and the Syriac. The objection is that the ellipsis is unique, and hence Archbishop Seeker proposed to follow the Septuagint (reading lo for li), and render, Ephraim what hath he to do, &c. Prof. Robertson Smith is dissatisfied with this, but his objection simply is that the third member of the verse is unsuitable in the mouth of Jehovah, the evergreen tree being ‘in Semitic symbolism the image of receptivity, of divinely nourished life, not of quickening power’ ( The Prophets of Israel, p. 411). But why should the whole verse be given to the same speaker, especially if we reject the idea that the prefixed Ephraim indicates Israel as the speaker? It is surely very difficult to assign the fourth member to Israel, as if it meant that Ephraim or Israel bore fruit to Jehovah. On the whole, it seems best to adopt the Septuagint reading, and to assign all but the third member of the verse to Jehovah. There is a special force in the restoration of the name Ephraim, if we look at the closing words of the verse. [Pusey and before him the Lutheran divine Manger assign the four lines of which the verse consists alternately to Ephraim and Jehovah.]
I have heard him and observed him ] Rather, I respond and look on him. The pronoun is emphatically expressed ‘I on my part.’ ‘Respond’ reminds us of Hos 2:15; Hos 2:21-22. The idea is that Jehovah’s treatment of Israel corresponds to Israel’s treatment of him (comp. Psa 18:25-26). ‘To look upon’ anyone is to be favourable to him (Psa 84:9; Psa 119:132); the opposite is ‘to hide the face from’ (Psa 22:24; Psa 27:9).
I am like a green fir tree ] The precise kind of tree meant by b’rsh is uncertain; but Hosea, as a N. Israelite, is evidently thinking of the splendid forests of Lebanon. Most have supposed a reference to the sherbin-tree, a small kind of cypress resembling the cedar; Tristram prefers the Aleppo pine, a tree quite as characteristic of Lower Lebanon as the cedar. Certainly it is very alien to the spirit of the prophets to compare Jehovah to a tree (comp. Hos 4:13; Isa 1:29). Keil refers to the ‘tree of life’; but even this is never identified with Jehovah (though Sept. identifies it with Israel, Isa 65:22). Is not this short clause a nave self-gratulation on the part of Israel? Here, as in the previous clause, the personal pronoun is expressed.
From me is thy fruit found ] Israel cannot be the speaker here (see above). The clause contains a warning for Israel in his prosperity not to forget the Giver. Probably there is a play upon the name Ephraim ‘fruitfulness’ (as in Hos 13:15).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ephraim shall say, what have I to do anymore with idols? – So Isaiah fortells, The idols He shall utterly abolish Isa 2:18. Aforetime Ephraim said obstinately, in the midst of Gods chastisements; I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink Hos 2:5. Now she shall renounce them wholly and forever. This is entire conversion, to part wholly with everything which would dispute the allegiance with God, to cease to look to any created thing or being, for what is the gift of the Creator alone. So the Apostle says, what concord hath Christ with Belial? 2Co 6:15. This verse exhibits in few, vivid, words, converted Ephraim speaking with God, and God answering; Ephraim renouncing his sins, and God accepting him; Ephraim glorying in Gods goodness, and God reminding him that he holds all from Himself.
I have heard and observed him – God answers the profession and accepts it. I, (emphatic) I Myself have heard and have answered, as He says, Before they call I will answer Isa 65:24. Whereas God, before, had hid His face from them, or had observed Hos 13:7 them, only as the object of His displeasure, and as ripe for destruction, now He reverses this, and observes them, in order to forecome the wishes of their hearts before they are expressed, to watch over them and survey and provide for all their needs. To this, Ephraim exulting in Gods goodness, answers, I am like a green fir tree, i. e., ever-green, ever-fresh. The berosh, (as Jerome, living in Palestine, thought) one of the large genus of the pine or fir, or (as others translated) the cypress , was a tall stately tree Isa 55:13; in whose branches the stork could make its nest Psa 104:17; its wood precious enough to be employed in the temple (1 Kings 5:22, 24 (1Ki 5:8, 1Ki 5:10, English); 6:15, 34); fine enough to be used in all sorts of musical instruments 2Sa 6:5; strong and pliant enough to be used for spears Nah 2:3.
It was part of the glory of Lebanon Isa 37:24; Isa 60:13. A Greek historian says that Lebanon was full of cedars and pines and cypresses, of wonderful beauty and size . A modern traveler says, of the cypress groves of Lebanon ; Each tree is in itself a study for the landscape painter – some, on account of their enormous stems and branches. Would you see trees in all their splendor and beauty, then enter these wild groves, that have never been touched by the pruning knife of art. This tree, in its majestic beauty, tenacity of life, and undying verdure, winter and summer, through the perpetual supply of sap, pictures the continual life of the soul through the unbroken supply of the grace of God. Created beauty must, at best, be but a faint image of the beauty of the soul in grace, for this is from the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.
From Me is thy fruit found – Neither the pine nor the cypress bear any fruit, useful for food. It is probable then that here too the prophet fills out one image by another and says that restored Israel, the Church of God, or the soul in grace, should not only have beauty and majesty, but what is not, in the way of nature, found united therewith, fruitfulness also. From Me is thy fruit found; as our Lord says, I am the vine, ye are the branches Joh 15:5. Human nature, by itself, can as little bear fruit well-pleasing to God, as the pine or cypress can bear fruit for human use. As it were a miracle in nature, were these trees to bring forth such fruit, so, for man to bring forth fruits of grace, is a miracle of grace. The presence of works of grace attests the immediate working of God the Holy Spirit, as much as any miracle in nature.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Hos 14:8
Ephraim shall say, what have I to do any more with idols.
Joined to idols
Compare this account of Ephraim with that given in Hos 4:17. How is this surprising Change to he accounted for?
I. A sinner in his natural state is joined to idols. Herein consisteth the essence of mans apostasy. Something that is not God is the supreme object of his love, and possesseth that place in his heart which is due only to the living and true God. This world, the things of the world, its riches and pleasures and honours, are the great rivals of God which, ever since the fatal apostasy, have usurped the throne of the human heart. This present world, in one shape or other, is loved and served in preference to God by every man, without exception, who hath no other principle of life than what he derived from the first Adam.
II. To separate a sinner from his idols must be the peculiar work of God himself. The natural man may change the object of his devotion; but he will only turn from one idol to another. He stops short of God. All the objects of his pursuit belong to the present state of things. The conversion of a sinner is in Scripture represented as the effect of omnipotent creating power. It is called a new creation, a being born again, a resurrection, a passing from death to life. The apostate creature is really dead, in the truest and most important sense of the word.
III. How does God accomplish this work? By the discovery and application of His pardoning mercy and sanctifying grace. Fear is the immediate consequence of guilt, which soon degenerates into hatred, or that enmity against God which is the distinguishing characteristic of the carnal mind. The report of Gods pardoning mercy presents him in a light so suited to the necessities of the apostate creature that, in proportion as it is believed, the sinner is encouraged to look to Him with hope. Then how powerful must the actual experience of such pardoning mercy be.
IV. These words of Ephraim will be adopted by all upon whom God hath been pleased to confer His pardoning mercy. By this means alone can the sinner be separated from idols. Learn–
1. How to account for that idolatry which is so prevalent in the world.
2. That nothing can avail for the cure of this idolatry which doth not relieve from the guilt of sin and vanquish the tormenting fear of wrath, by representing God in a light wherein we can behold Him with pleasure. 3 The importance and use of faith in Christ. (R. Walker.)
Some of our idols
When the Holy Spirit comes into any heart He drives out the buyers and sellers. If you have received the Spirit you will be crying now in your heart: Lord, take these things hence; what have I to do any more with idols? Some of the idols to be cast away are–
1. Self-righteousness. The largest idol of the human heart–the idol which man loves most and God hates most.
2. Darling sins. Every man has his darling sins. Dash down family idols, and secret idols of your own heart.
3. Unlawful attachments. There is not a more fruitful source of sin and misery than this.
4. Ministers. It is right to love them, but beware of making idols of them.
5. Earthly pleasures. This is a smiling, dazzling idol. Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Sometimes it is a gross idol.
6. Money. You must not love money. You must be more open-hearted, more open-handed.
7. Fear of man. Grim idol! Many souls has he devoured. His eyes are full of hatred to Christs disciples. This keeps some of you from secret prayer, from worshipping God in your family, from going to lay your case before ministers, from openly confessing Christ. (R. M. MCheyne.)
Turnings in life
This is a touching delineation of true repentance, not the less applicable to us in our turning to God because it describes the repentance of a nation, not of an individual, or because it was written thousands of years ago. Israel and Judah were at this time in a miserable condition. The form under which the prophet presents the lesson he would teach his people is very curious. He was directed to take a wife; she was faithless to him, and fell lower and lower in infidelity and infamy. In his own distracted home-life the prophet is taught to see a parable of the state of his country. The words of the text are spoken partly by returning and repentant Israel, and partly by God. Ephraim exclaims, What have I to do any more with idols? The response of God is, I have heard him, and observed him.
1. The recoil and disgust of Ephraim when he remembers his past idolatries. Idolatry in the Bible is always associated with moral debasement. It is not necessary that the idol should be an image of wood or stone. It may be money, position, a splendid establishment, or aesthetic feeling; it may be senseless parsimony, or drink, or licentiousness. And sooner or later there comes a sense of debasement, a wonder that we could have brought ourselves so low. If we have ever known true repentance, we must have known also that feeling which is of its very essence,–What have I to do any more with idols To hate our idol, even though we confess its power over our souls, is at least an advance, the beginning of spiritual life, But by one manly effort to say,–What have I to do any more with idols? and to lay our hearts allegiance and love and reverence before Him who deserves it and asks it, this is repentance or change of mind, this is to pass from death unto life.
2. But that is a tremendous revolution. Such a resolve demands the very highest form of moral courage. The spell of our false gods does not withdraw itself all at once: But God is not unaware of the struggle in which you are engaged. And to returning Ephraim His loving response is, I have heard him and observed him. Our warfare is so feeble because we do not believe that God is witnessing and approving and aiding us. It is well to hear Ephraim recognising his own weakness in the words, I am like a green fir-tree. I do not think I am a giant of the forest; I know I am but a slight and delicate sapling. Then comes the response of God, deepening Ephraims humility and trust, From Me is thy fruit found. The great spiritual need of our souls is to trust God more perfectly, to lay the full weight of our spiritual being on His promises and His character; not to trust Him a little, and ourselves much, but to say out of the fulness of our hearts, All my fresh springs are in Thee. Such trust means strength, not weakness. It is manly; it is truthful; it is self-respecting. (J. A. Jacob, M. D.)
True penitents
I. THE LANGUAGE AND CHARACTER OF TRUE PENITENTS. Godly sorrow for sin is always found when sin is perceived in its pollution and native deformity. The language, What have I to do any more with idols? is the language of confession: a sincere acknowledgement of sin committed against God. Unless the sinner confess his sins unto God he cannot entertain the least degree of hope that they will be forgiven. But this sorrow is not that godly sorrow which issues in repentance unto salvation, unless it has respect to Him who was made a sin-offering for us. Godly sorrow is the gift of God. It is the effect of His Spirit brooding on the heart, softening and melting it. A constituent part of true repentance is faith in the Saviour of sinners. It implies also a steadfast determination to break away from idols, to cast them off. The idols of the heart are to be treated as heathen should treat their idols of wood and stone. But this costs us supreme difficulty.
II. Gods disposition towards such as call upon Him in penitential prayer.
1. His attentive observation. The words of this passage depict the notice which God takes of those who have any spark of generous indignation against themselves. The ears of the Almighty are open to the very first words which betoken humiliation and penitence.
2. His favourable mind towards them. He regards them with a placable mind, as well as a favourable eye. If there is any one truth to which we should cling with the greatest tenacity it is surely this, the favourable disposition of God towards returning penitents.
3. He is a shadow of protection for those who repair to Him in penitence and faith. I am a green fir-tree. He will shield and defend them from the fiery darts of Satan, from their own clamorous lusts, and from the depraved examples of the world.
III. Fruit proceeding prom the relation into which the truly penitent are brought with God.
1. What is to be deemed fruit. The worth of a tree consists in its bringing forth the fruit which is proper to its nature. The fruit differs according to the kind of the tree. Gods people are called trees of righteousness. They bring forth the fruits of the Spirit.
2. This fruit is produced by the grace of God working in those who are in union with Christ.
3. This fruit is found in all who are truly turned to God, truly converted to God. Faith is lifeless and dead if it produce no fruit. There must be life and reality in our religion if we would glorify our Father who is in heaven. (H. J. Hastings, M. A.)
Ephraim forsaking idols
Here are two voices–first, the penitent voice of the returning wanderer, then the welcoming answer of the Father. Here is a wonderful expression of the perfect simplicity of a true return to God. What have I to do any more with idols? That is all! No paroxysms of grief, no agonies of repentance, no prescription of so much sorrow, so much grief, for so much sin; no long, tedious process, but, like the finger put upon the key here, the sound yonder. Look at the answer, the echo of this confession which comes from heaven: it is the welcoming voice of the Father, I hear him, and observe him. Note how instantaneously that Divine ear, strong enough to hear the grass grow, fine enough to hear the first faint shootings of the new life in a mans heart, catches the sound that is inaudible to all besides, and as soon as the word comes from the pale penitent lip of Ephraim the answer comes from God. Observation is here used in a good sense: watching as a nurse watches a feeble child. Then comes a singular metaphor. I am like a green cyprus-tree. The cyprus is an evergreen. So God means, I am unchanged amidst the changing seasons, unaffected by all the change. To the prophet this tree, with its wealth of continual shadow, was an emblem of an unchanging blessing and protection. There is another possible association in these words–fanciful but beautiful–for which I am indebted to an old Jewish rabbi and commentator. He says a cyprus-tree bends down, and anybody that has seen one knows that its shelves of leafage do droop and come down near to the ground; that a man may lift up his hand and grasp the branches. There is an old legend that the boughs of the tree of life used to droop of themselves to the level of Adams hand when he was pure and good. And when he had sinned and fallen they lifted themselves above his reach. This metaphor, then, may hint the condescension of the great loving Father, who stoops down from heaven in order that He may bring Himself within our reach. If you take these three points, unchangeableness, protection, condescension, you exhaust the force of this lovely emblem. And so it all comes to this: the humblest voice of conscious unworthiness and lowly resolve to forsake evil, though it be whispered only in the very depths of the heart, finds its way into the ears of the merciful Father, and brings down the immediate answer, the benediction of His shadowing love and perpetual presence, and the fulness of fruit, which He alone can bestow. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Portraiture of a Christian
The text exhibits the temper of all converted people towards God. Converted men forsake their idols. The Christian knows that everything becomes an idol to a man which occupies more of his thoughts, his time, his care, his desires, and his pursuit than God and His glory. In setting before you the temper and characteristics of a child of God, our attention must be directed before all things to its principles, which is that of universal conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. If it be said that the character of our blessed Lord is too grand and too holy for our imitation, the excuse may be met by saying, that imitation does not mean perfection. It is by the perpetual earnest study of the character of Christ that we are first of all brought to love, and afterwards impelled to imitation. The more we study Christ, the more we must love Him; and the more we love Him, the more we shall assuredly copy His features. The Christians temper of heart and mind is, of course, displayed in the two great duties of life–
1. That which concerns his Maker.
2. That which concerns his neighbour.
With the former of these only are we now engaged. In casting away the idols of his heart and life, the Christian, like Ephraim, serves, loves, and acknowledges no other but God. The first thing in the character of the child of God is holy fear. The next is obedience. How many idols are overthrown by obedience! Then comes gratitude, which makes a man seek all occasions of showing love and honour to his benefactor. Then trust. This is ever a peculiar mark of the Christians temper towards God. This trust keeps the Christian watching, striving, praying, and expecting. Then comes supreme desire for the glory of God, which over throws the great idol of selfishness. This temper is very necessary to prevent many deceptions of the heart. It is of all things most difficult to keep the motives pure; and without pure motives how barren and contemptible is our abstinence from evil and our practice of good. Purity is the temper of right motives. Purity of heart is the most eminent and distinguished temper in the circuit of the Christian graces. This temper brings with it the love of God. Love is the spring that moves all the wheels. It is that delight in God which makes us choose Him above all things. There is one more characteristic of the child of God–a constant endeavour to draw nigh to Him. For this cause the Christian loves and values the ordinances of religion. He prizes them as gracious means whereby he is brought into that nearer fellowship with God after which he is aspiring. Humility forms the crowning feature in the Christians temper towards God. It is the seeing our own proper position before God. (W. Harrison, M. A.)
Ephraim renouncing his idols
The necessity and power of Divine influence to regenerate the heart is a truth in which all Christians will agree who make the Word of God their sole guide. This doctrine receives confirmation from the history of Ephraim. Two things. Ephraims abandonment of idols; and Gods reception of him.
I. The renunciation. Here is–
1. The language of confession. The strong aversion he expresses is a virtual admission of his precious attachment. The state of Ephraim in his degeneracy is a correct picture of the entire family of man in their irreligious condition.
2. The language of detestation. The predominating sin of Israel was the worship of idols. With us the sin which has been most prevalent lies the heaviest on the conscience, and becomes the object of the most unqualified indignation.
3. Ephraim resolved on the abandonment of his idols. There is a noble promptitude in this pious determination.
II. the reception.
1. The Divine attention. I have heard him.
2. The Divine observation. I have observed him:
3. The Divine protection. I am like a green fir-tree, which affords grateful shade and security to the traveller. It conveys the ideas of repose, refreshment, safety.
4. Fruitfulness is provided for. This extends the previous image. Reference probably is to the fruit which the penitent bears after conversion to God. This subject is a check to despondency. No true penitent has cause for despair. (Anon.)
Idols abandoned
1. What men pursue, before conversion, are idols, i.e. things which give trouble.
2. When the grace of the Gospel is received into the heart it divorces the sinner from his sins.
3. The language of a penitent renouncing his sins is most pleasing to God.
4. Converts shall find that happiness in Christ Which idols offered, but gave not.
5. Whatever good we do and enjoy is in and from Jesus Christ.
6. True wisdom is to know and understand Gods Word, in its threatenings and in its promises. (H. Foster.)
Giving up idols
Ephraim does not give up his idols without a reason. He says, I have tried you, and you are vain; I have leaned upon you, and you are broken staves; I have consulted you, and you had no answer; I have looked to you, but you never turned a kind eye upon me. The great apostle says, Little children, keep yourselves from idols; the old Scotch version says, Wee bairns, keep yourselves frae dolls; the meaning is the same. I like the quaintness of the Scotch version. There is a caressing tenderness in that gruff old tone; listen to it; it is the kind of tone that grows upon the heart. At first it is very singular, and not wholly desirable, but there is in it a latent music; if you say the words over and over again you will come to like them. The time is on the surface; open it, and you find eternity. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
True repentanc
e:–
I. THE EVIDENCE OF A TRUE REPENT ANCE. Entire renunciation of idolatry. The repentant sinner is led to confess the folly and sin of his empty pursuits (Rom 6:21). Sinful pleasures (1Co 6:9-11). False confidences: e.g., self-righteousness. Unconditional mercy, etc. And to determine to renounce them. This gracious melting: of heart is the Lords doing. Jesus is exalted to give repentance (Act 5:31):It is produced here as the blessed fruit of sanctified afflictions. Illus.
Manasseh. Prodigal.
II. The notice which God takes of a repentant sinner. He listens to his meanings. (Job 33:27). He watches for his return. His eye is upon the repentant sinner when least he thinks so. He observes him.
III. The gracious encouragement which God gives to him.
1. A promise of security. Shadow from the heat. Shelter from the storm.
2. An assurance of supply. Fruits of comfort derived from God. Fruits of grace produced by Gods help. (John D. Lowe, M. A.)
The pious determination of the true penitent
Whatever we set our affections upon, in preference to God, is an idol; and grace will teach us to renounce it. Every man in an impenitent state seeks his happiness in some forbidden and sinful enjoyment. He is therefore an idolater. We have here–
I. A confession of guilt. Any more implies that in the past he had been concerned with idols.
II. A determination to renounce sins. Implied in the language taken form as an interrogation.
III. The determination is a humble one, formed in reliance on Gods heavenly Grace. Reasons for renunciation of sin are–
1. Penitent sees something of the real nature and evil of it.
2. Penitent has had experience of the vanity and unprofitableness of all sinful pleasures and pursuits.
3. Penitent has already experienced some, and expects more of, solid and permanent happiness.
4. A principle of love and gratitude to God in the penitents heart cannot but operate to make him abhor and renounce all iniquity.
5. Every true penitent has the strongest reason to express and maintain the most determined disavowal of all iniquity, in consequence of having surrendered himself to God, and in solemn covenant devoted himself to His service. And this is true religion. This is genuine repentance. All that comes short of this is but vanity and deception. (S. Knight, M. A.)
Ephraim and his idols
The statement here is, that Ephraim shall and will go on in abominating idols, be constant in his former resolution. Under the term idols gather–
1. False doctrine, which is the foundation of idolatry.
2. Idols themselves.
3. Idolatry, which they tend to.
4. Idolaters. Idolatry frameth base conceits of God.
Consider the opposition between any representation of God, and God. Because God is a jealous God, He will not give His glory to another. Unconverted persons are prone to idolatry; to set up their own wits and wills, instead of Gods. Some commit this great sin of idolatry by trusting to the outward performances and tasks of religion. Consider Gods hatred unto all sorts of idolaters; for He accounts such to hate Him, and so accordingly punishes them. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)
God corroborates Ephraims promise
There are two causes of repentance, one is fear, the other is love. That repentance which owes its existence to fear is to be repented of, but that which originates in love tends to the souls salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Repentance which owes its existence to love is distinguished by the infallible effects of a new heart and a right spirit. Penitents, from the effects of redeeming love, endeavour to keep Gods commandments. The truly penitent is never left to the treachery of self-dependence The text is a ratification or corroboration of the terms of the covenant which Israel promises to fulfil. Unless the Almighty confirms our promises and resolves our own determination would be of no avail. We learn the confidence of the truly penitent in Gods mercy. The truly penitent ascribes all to the great First Cause. And the truly penitent loses no time to make a firm stand against his former sins. The words also express that the penitent does not cavil or reason as to the effect his conversion might have upon his worldly prospects. Genuine repentance affords comfort in every condition of life. (Moses Margoliouth, B. A.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. What have I to do any more with idols?] The conversion of Ephraim is now as complete as it was sincere. God hears and observes this.
I am like a green fir tree.] Perhaps these words should be joined to the preceding, as Newcome has done, and be a part of God’s speech to Ephraim. “I have heard him; and I have seen him as a flourishing fir tree.” He is become strong and vigorous; and from his present appearance of healthiness, his future increase and prosperity may be safely anticipated.
From me is thy fruit found.] All thy goodness springs from the principle of grace which I have planted in thy soul; for as the earth cannot bring forth fruit without the blessing of God, sending the dews and rains, with the genial rays of the sun, so neither can the soul of man, even of the most pious, bear fruit, without a continual influence from the Most High. Without the former, neither grass could grow for cattle, nor corn for the service of man; without the latter, no seeds of righteousness could take root, no stalk of promise could grow, no fruit of grace could be produced. And the unclean spirit, which was cast out, would soon return; and, finding his former house empty, swept, and garnished, would re-enter with seven demons of greater power and worse influence; and the latter end of that man would be worse than the first. Reader, ever consider that all thy good must be derived from God; and all that good must be preserved in thee by his continued influence of light, love, and power upon thy soul.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Ephraim; not the whole body of Ephraim, but converted Ephraim, those who, Hos 14:1,2, were sensible of sin, confessed it, and sued for pardon.
What have I to do any more with idols? i.e. I have no more to do with them, nor ever will; they have been, first my sin, and next my sorrows, and my sorrows have been multiplied by hasting after other gods; I will no more do so: and with detestation against idols doth Ephraim speak, as the question implieth.
I have heard him, and observed him: some refer these words to Ephraim, owning what he had found and observed in God; what grace and mercy in pardon, deliverance from miseries, and comfortable revival of his state. Others refer it to God, and make it a gracious promise from God of hearing prayers, and taking especial care of converted Ephraim; either way suits the words and matter, and I leave it to your choice.
I am like a green fir tree: these words also, as the former, are either Israels giving praise to God, who had on Israels return changed his dead, withered state into a flourishing, lovely, and beautiful state: others say it is Gods promise to be to Ephraim as such a tree is to a weary traveller, who may with delight and safety sit under the shadow of it; a tree, say some, that grows with very thick boughs, that rain or heat pierceth not, and whose smell drives away wild beasts; so there is safety and refreshment under the protection of the Lord, under his shadow.
From me is thy fruit found: this also is differently interpreted: Israel confesseth that the fruit of Gods grace is seen from what Israel now is and doth: others say, God promiseth the fruits of comfort Israel enjoys, and still shall enjoy, from God, and his grace toward Israel. I determine neither, but sure I am such is the correspondence of Gods grace to the converted, that they cannot more readily acknowledge what God hath done for them, nor more readily engage to do what God adviseth and requireth, than God is ready to encourage them by gracious, and rich, and suitable promises.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
8. Ephraim shall saybeing brought to penitence by God’s goodness, and confessingand abhorring his past madness.
I have heard . . . andobserved himI Jehovah have answered and regardedhim with favor; the opposite of God’s “hiding His facefrom” one (De 31:17). Itis the experience of God’s favor, in contrast to God’s wrathheretofore, that leads Ephraim to abhor his past idolatry. Jehovahheard and answered: whereas the idols, as Ephraim now sees,could not hear, much less answer.
I am . . . a green firorcypress; ever green, winter and summer alike; the leaves not fallingoff in winter.
From me is thy fruitfound“From Me,” as the root. Thou needest go nofarther than Me for the supply of all thy wants; not merely theprotection implied by the shadow of the cypress, butthat which the cypress has not, namely, fruit, all spiritualand temporal blessings. It may be also implied, that whateverspiritual graces Ephraim seeks for or may have, are not ofthemselves, but of God (Psa 1:3;Joh 15:4; Joh 15:5;Joh 15:8; Jas 1:17).God’s promises to us are more our security for mortifying sin thanour promises to God (Isa 27:9).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Ephraim [shall say], what have I to do any more with idols?…. This is to be understood, not of apostate Ephraim, as in the times of the prophet, who was so wedded and glued to the idols, that there was no hope of getting him from them; and therefore is bid to let him alone, Ho 4:17; but of Ephraim Israel returning to God at his call, under the influence of his grace, in the latter day, Ho 14:1. Idols are the same with the works of their hands, Ho 14:3; and to be interpreted, not of graven or molten images, to the worship of which the Jews have not been addicted since their captivity to this day; see Ho 3:4; but of the idols of their hearts, their impiety, their unbelief, their rejection of the Messiah, which, at the time of their conversion, they will loath, abhor, and mourn over; likewise the traditions of their elders, they are now zealous and tenacious of, and prefer even to the written word; but will now relinquish them, and embrace the Gospel of Christ; as well as the idol of their own righteousness they have always endeavoured to establish; but shall now renounce, and receive Christ as the Lord their righteousness. The like to this is to be found in common in all truly penitent and converted sinners; who, being made sensible of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, detest and abhor it, and declare they will have nothing to do with it; not but that it continues in them, and has to do with them, and they with that; yet not so as to live and walk in it; to yield their members as instruments of it; to serve and obey it as their master; to make provision for it, and to have the course of their lives under the direction and power of it; and so likewise, being convinced of the imperfection and insufficiency of their own righteousness to justify them, they will have nothing to do with that in the business of justification before God, and acceptance with him: now these are the words of the Lord, affirming what Ephraim should say, as Kimchi rightly observes; he promises for him, as he well might, since it is he that gives repentance to Israel, and works in his people principles of grace, and enables them both to will and to do, to make such holy resolutions, and perform them. Some render the words, “O Ephraim, what have I to do” i? c. and take them to be words of God concerning himself, declaring he would have nothing to do with idols, nor suffer them in his service, nor should they for “what concord hath Christ with Belial?” or “what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?” 2Co 6:15; but the former sense is much best; rather what Schmidt suggests is more agreeable, who, rendering the words in the same way, makes them to be the words of a believing Gentile returning and dwelling under the shadow of Israel; so he interprets Ho 14:7, and takes this to be the language of such an one throughout. The Targum is,
“they of the house of Israel shall say, what [is it] to us to serve idols any more?”
I have heard [him]; says the Lord; Ephraim bemoaning himself, repenting of his sins, and confessing them; his prayers for pardon and acceptance, and the resolutions made by him in the strength of divine grace, Ho 14:2; see Jer 31:18; and this is what his idols he once served could not do, who had ears, but heard not; but the Lord not only heard, but answered, and granted his request. So the Targum,
“I by my Word will receive the prayer of Israel, and will have mercy on him:”
and observed [him]; looked at him, and on him; with an eye of pity and compassion; with a favourable and propitious look, as the Lord does towards those that are poor, and of a contrite spirit; observed the ways and steps he took in returning to him; marked his tears and humiliations, groans and moans, and took notice of his wants in order to supply them;
I [am] like a green fir tree: these are the words of the Lord continued; though some take them to be the words of Ephraim; or, as Schmidt, of the Gentile believer, like those of David, Ps 52:8; but they best agree with Christ, who may be compared to such a tree, as he is to many others in Scripture; because a choice one, as he is to his Father, and to all believers, chosen and precious, lovely and beloved; a tall tree, so Christ is highly exalted as Mediator, higher than the kings of the earth, above the angels in heaven, yea, higher than the heavens. The boughs of this tree, as Jarchi and Kimchi observe, bend downward so low as to be laid hold on; Christ, though the high and lofty One, dwells with humble souls, and suffers himself to be laid hold upon by the faith of everyone that comes to him. Pliny says k, that this tree is of a cheerful aspect, smooth, and scarce any knots upon it; and its leaves so thick that a shower of rain will not pass through it: Christ is most amiable, and altogether lovely to look at in his person and fulness; and he looks in a loving smiling manner upon his people; he is without any knot of sin or corruption in him, as to principle or practice; and is a delightful shade from the wrath of God, or rage of man, from the heat of a fiery law, and the darts of Satan: and as this tree, as here, is ever green, so he is always the same; he ever lives, and his people in him, and by him; his fulness always continues to supply them. Once more, the fir tree is the habitation of the stork, an unclean creature by the law of God; so Christ is the dwelling place of sinners, he receives them, and converses with them, Ps 104:17. The Septuagint version renders it, “as a thick juniper tree”: which naturalists say l has such a virtue in it, as by the smell to drive away serpents. So the old serpent the devil was drove away by Christ in the wilderness, in the garden, and on the cross; and resisting by faith, holding out his blood and righteousness, causes him to flee from the saints, The Arabic version is, “as the fruitful cypress tree”; which is of a good smell, and its wood very durable; and so may be expressive of the savour of Christ, his righteousness and sacrifice, the graces of his Spirit, and of his duration. Some take this to be a promise that Ephraim should be as a green fir tree, so Aben Ezra; with which agrees the Targum,
“I by my word will make him as the beautiful fir tree;”
and to which sometimes the saints are compared; see
Isa 41:19; and this being a tree that bears no fruit, it follows, to make up that defect in the metaphor,
from me is thy fruit found; from Christ are all the spiritual blessings of grace, peace, pardon, righteousness, adoption, a right and meetness for eternal life, and that itself; all the fruits and graces of the Spirit, as faith, hope, love, c. and all good works, which spring from union with him, are done in his strength, and influenced by his grace and example see Php 1:11.
i “Ephraim, [vel] O quid mihi amplius”, &c. Montanus, Junius & Tremellius, Tigurine version, Castalio, Cocceius, Schmidt, Burkius. k Nat. Hist. l. 16. c. 10. l Varinus apud Rivet. in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| Assurances of Mercy. | B. C. 720. |
8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. 9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
Let us now hear the conclusion of the whole matter.
I. Concerning Ephraim; he is spoken of and spoken to, v. 8. Here we have,
1. His repentance and reformation: Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? As some read it, God here reasons and argues with him, why he should renounce idolatry: “O Ephraim! what to me and idols? What concord or agreement can there be between me and idols? What communion between light and darkness, between Christ and Belial?2Co 6:14; 2Co 6:15. Therefore thou must break off thy league with them if thou wilt come into covenant with me.” As we read it, God promises to bring Ephraim and keep him to this: Ephraim shall say, God will put it into his heart to say it, What have I to do any more with idols? He has promised (v. 3) not to say any more to the works of his hands, You are my gods. But God’s promises to us are much more our security and our strength for the mortifying of sin than our promises to God; and therefore God himself is here surety for his servant to good, will put in into his heart and into his mouth. And, whatever good we say or do at any time, it is he that works it in us. Ephraim had solemnly engaged not to call his idols his gods; but God here engages further for him that he shall resolve to have no more to do with them. He shall abolish them, he shall abandon them, and that with the utmost detestation; for it is necessary not only that in our lives we be turned from sin, but that in our hearts we be turned against sin. See here, (1.) The power of divine grace. Ephraim had been joined to his idols (ch. iv. 17), was so fond of them that one would have thought he could never fall out with them; and yet God will work such a change in him that he shall loathe them as much as ever he loved them. (2.) See the benefit of sanctified afflictions. Ephraim had smarted for his idolatry; it had brought one judgment after another upon him, and this at length is the fruit, even the taking away of his sin, Isa. xxvii. 9. (3.) See the nature of repentance; it is a firm and fixed resolution to have no more to do with sin. This is the language of the penitent: “I am ashamed that ever I had to do with sin; but I have had enough of it; I hate it, and by the grace of God I will never have any thing to do with it again, no, not with the occasions of it.” Thou shalt say to thy idol, Get thee hence (Isa. xxx. 22), shalt say to the tempter, Get thee behind me, Satan.
2. The gracious notice God is pleased to take of it: I have heard him, and observed him. I have heard, and will look upon him; so some read it. Note, The God of heaven takes cognizance of the penitent reflections and resolutions of returning sinners. He expects and desires the repentance of sinners, because he has no pleasure in their ruin. He looks upon men (Job xxxiii. 27), hearkens and hears, Jer. viii. 6. And, if there be any disposition to repent, he is well pleased with it. When Ephraim bemoans himself before God, he is a dear son, he is a pleasant child, Jer. xxxi. 20. He meets penitents with mercy, as the father of the prodigal met his returning son. God observed Ephraim, to see whether he would bring forth fruits meet for this profession of repentance that he made, and whether he would continue in this good mind. He observed him to do him good, and comfort him, according to the exigencies of his case.
3. The mercy of God designed for him, in order to his comfort and perseverance in his resolutions; still God will be all in all to him. Before, Israel was compared to a tree, now God compares himself to one. He will be to his people, (1.) As the branches of a tree: “I am like a green fir-tree, and will be so to thee.” The fir-trees, in those countries, were exceedingly large and thick, and a shelter against sun and rain. God will be to all true converts both a delight and a defence; under his protection and influence they shall both dwell in safety and dwell in ease. He with be either a sun and a shield or a shade and a shield, according as their case requires. They shall sit down under his shadow with delight, Cant. ii. 3. He will be so all weathers, Isa. iv. 6. (2.) As the root of a tree: From me is thy fruit found, which may be understood either of the fruit brought forth to us (to him we owe all our comforts) or of the fruit brought forth by us–from him we receive grace and strength to enable us to do our duty. Whatever fruits of righteousness we brought forth, all the praise of them is due to God; for he works in us both to will and to do that which is good.
II. Concerning every one that hears and reads the words of the prophecy of this book (v. 9): Who is wise? and he shall understand these things. Perhaps the prophet was wont to conclude that sermons he preached with these words, and now he closes with them the whole book, in which he has committed to writing some fragments of the many sermons he had preached. Observe, 1. The character of those that do profit by the truths he delivered: Who is wise and prudent? He shall understand these things, he shall know them. Those that set themselves to understand and know these things thereby make it to appear that they are truly wise and prudent, and will thereby be made more so; and, if any do not understand and know them, it is because they are foolish and unwise. Those that are wise in the doing of their duty, that are prudent in practical religion, are most likely to know and understand both the truths and providences of God, which are a mystery to others, John vii. 17. The secret of the Lord is with those that fear him, Ps. xxv. 14. Who is wise? This intimates a desire that those who read and hear these things would understand them (O that they were wise!) and a complaint that few were so–Who has believed our report? 2. The excellency of these things concerning which we are here instructed: The ways of the Lord are right; and therefore it is our wisdom and duty to know and understand them. The way of God’s precepts, in which he requires us to walk, is right, agreeing with the rules of eternal reason and equity and having a direct tendency to our eternal felicity. The ways of God’s providence, in which he walks toward us, are all right; no fault is to be found with any thing that God does, for it is all well done. His judgments upon the impenitent, his favours to the penitent, are all right; however they may be perverted and misinterpreted, God will at last be justified and glorified in them all. His ways are equal. 3. The different use which men make of them. (1.) The right ways of God to those that are good are, and will be, a savour of life unto life: The just shall walk in them; they shall conform to the will of God both in his precepts and in his providences, and shall have the comfort of so doing. They shall well understand the mind of God both in his word and in his works; they shall be well reconciled to both, and shall accommodate themselves to God’s intention in both. The just shall walk in those ways towards their great end, and shall not come short of it. (2.) The right ways of God will be to those that are wicked a savour of death unto death: The transgressors shall fall not only in their own wrong ways, but even in the right ways of the Lord. Christ, who is a foundation stone to some, is to others a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence. That which was ordained to life becomes through their abuse of it, death to them. God’s providences, being not duly improved by them, harden them in sin and contribute to their ruin. God’s discovery of himself both in the judgments of his mouth and in the judgments of his hand is to us according as we are affected under it. Recipitur ad modum recipientis–What is received influences according to the qualities of the receiver. The same sun softens wax and hardens clay. But of all transgressors those certainly have the most dangerous fatal falls that fall in the ways of God, that split on the rock of ages, and suck poison out of the balm of Gilead. Let the sinners in Zion be afraid of this.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
The Prophet again introduces the Israelites speaking as before, that they would deplore their blindness and folly, and renounce in future their superstitions. The confession then which we have before noticed is here repeated; and it is a testimony of true repentance when men, being ashamed, are displeased with themselves on account of their sins, and apply their minds to God’s service, and detest their whole former life. To this subject belongs what the Prophet now says. It is a concise discourse; but yet its brevity contains nothing obscure. Ephraim, he says, What have I to do with idols? There is indeed a verb understood, ‘Ephraim “shall say”, What have I to do with idols?’ But still it is evident enough what the Prophet means. There is then in these words, as I have said, a sincere confession; for the ten tribes express their detestation of their folly, that they had alienated themselves from the true God, and became entangled in false and abominable superstitions: hence they say, What have we to do with idols? and when they add, any more, they confess that their former life had been corrupt and vicious: at the same time they announce their own repentance, when they say that they would have nothing more to do with fictitious gods.
The reason follows, because God will hear and look on Israel, so as to become to him a shady tree. Some so explain this, as though God promised to be propitious to Israel after they had manifested their repentance. But they pervert the sense of the Prophet; for, on the contrary, he says, that after the Israelites shall perceive, and find even by the effect, that God is propitious to them, they will then say, “How foolish and mad we were, while we followed idols? It is now then time that our souls should recumb on God.” Why? “Because we see that there is nothing better for us than to live under his safeguard and protection; for he hears us, he regards us, he is to us like a shady tree, so that he protects us under his shadow.” We now perceive how these two clauses are connected together; for God shows the reason why Ephraim will renounce his idols because he will perceive that he was miserably deceived as long as he wandered after his idols. How will he perceive this? Because he will see that he is now favoured by the Lord, and that he was before destitute of his help. When God then shall give such a proof to his people, he will at the same time produce this effect, that they will cast away all false confidences, and confess that they were miserable and wretched while they were attached to idols. He therefore says, I have heard and favoured him What is then later in the words of the Prophet goes before; it precedes in order of things this clause, Ephraim shall say, What have I to do with idols?
In saying, I will be as a shady fir-tree, and adding at the same time, From me is thy fruit found, the two similitudes seem not to accord; for, as it is well known, the fir-tree bears no fruit. Why then is fruit mentioned? The answer is that these two similitudes are not connected. For when God compares himself to a fir-tree, he speaks only of protection: and we know that when one seeks a cooling shade, he may find it under a fir-tree; besides, it is always green, as we all know, when leaves fall from other trees; and further, its height and thickness afford a good shadow. The reason, then, why God promises to be like a fir-tree to his people is this, because all who will fly under his shadow shall be preserved from the heat. But the meaning of the second similitude, that God would supply his people with fruit, is different. The Prophet had said before that the Israelites would be like a tree, which fixes its roots deep in the ground. He now transfers the name of a tree to God. Both these things are true; for when God makes us fruitful we are branches set in the best vine; and it is also true, that the whole fruit we have is from him; for all vigour would fail us, except God were to supply us with moisture, and even life itself. We now then see that there is no inconsistency in the words of the Prophet, as the object is different From me then is thy fruit found; as though God said, that the Israelites, if wise, would be content with his favour; for they who seek support from him will be satisfied; because they will find from him fruit sufficiently rich and abundant. We now then understand what is meant. But it follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.]
Hos. 14:8.] God speaks now. Idols] Eph., I have no longer to plead with thee, on account of idols. I have nothing more to do with them, and thou hast not. I have answered and observed him, i.e. answered and cared for him, when idols did not. I am like a green fir, green winter and summer alike, and whatever fruit thou yieldest, it is from me. Some represent Eph. speaking, and acknowledging its flourishing condition; but God reminds him that it is owing to his blessing. Both senses represent God as the shelter and the life of the nation.
HOMILETICS
GOD IN RELATION TO A CONVERTED PEOPLE.Hos. 14:8
These words represent Ephraim in his return to God; and God in his kindness to Ephraim. God has nothing to do with idols, therefore his people do not put them in competition with him; entirely renounce them; return unto him, and are accepted and blessed.
I. God attracts a converted people. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? Once he was joined to idols, and in the midst of Divine chastisement stupidly resolved, I will go after my lovers. Now he renounces all former sins and depends upon God. The world has no attraction to the true convert. He forsakes his evil ways and companions; parts with everything which disputes allegiance with God; and makes no idol of opinions, parties, or means. He has been drawn to God in love and power. He turns away from the glitter which fascinates to the treasure which enriches. He envies not, he seeks not, the worldlings portion. God is all in all to him. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
II. God accepts a converted people. I is here emphatic. I have heard the confession and accepted it. God had hid his face before, or observed them only in his displeasure; now he watches over them and provides for them.
1. God hears their prayers. I have heard him. Prayer is an indication of a change of heart. Saul was no sooner converted, than he cried, Lord what wilt thou have me to do? Angels in heaven say of such a one, Behold, he prayeth. Prayer is the first breathing of Divine life, and then becomes the Christians native air. He may be despised, and considered weak in mind, or disordered in imagination, by the world: but God regards and hears him. Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear.
2. God delights in their character. And observed him. God is everywhere and observes all men. But more is intended here than mere observation. He is anxious about his people, cares for them and provides for them. He delights in them, and seeks to do them good. He sees the penitent a great way off, and desires his return. He knows and approves of his conduct. He is acquainted with all the remorse, the contrition, and the resolutions of the returning sinner. Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still; therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.
III. God beautifies a converted people. He is like a green fir-tree unto them. The fir is tall and stately; beautiful in appearance, fragrant, and useful. Without pressing the metaphor, it pictures the constant shelter, the lasting beauty, and the perpetual life of God to the soul. Created beauty is a faint image of moral life. Christians are beautified, winter and summer; are ever fresh and ever flourishing by sap and virtue from God. God is the same to the soul at all times and in all places: the constant shade and the undying verdure of his people. In the restoration of Gods image to man and the godly life of a believer we have the embodiment of the sublime and beautiful. He will beautify the meek with salvation.
IV. God fertilizes a converted people. From me is thy fruit found. Before conversion they have neither beauty, enjoyment, nor fruit in life. But God supplies all deficiency in them. He affords repast as well as repose. The fir-tree may be a shelter and evergreen, but yields no fruit. Fruit and shelter are united in God. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
1. The fruit they enjoy comes from God. In pardon and peace, in the comforts of the Holy Ghost, and the foretastes of heaven: they have the earnest, the first-fruits of eternal bliss. They possess it in their hearts, but God is the source and giver. The Church is not the fountain of sufficiency; the creed not the supply of grace. In God is our joy, from God our life, and to God must be our praise. All my springs are in thee.
2. The fruit they produce comes from God. Grace in the heart leads to activity in the life. We receive the gifts, but he imparts them. We repent and believe, but faith and repentance are produced by him. We obey, but he inclines and helps us. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. God therefore is the source of all fruits in this life and that which is to come. Without me ye can do nothing. The fruits of the Spirit result from the work of the Spirit. The fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES
Idols. The language expresses former attachment, present aversion and rejection. What have I to do any more with idols?
1. They have been a source of pain.
2. A source of shame.
3. A source of degradation. The more penitent we are, and the more we taste of Gods goodness, the more useless do idols appear, and the more do we loathe former sins. What fruit had ye in those things, whereof ye are now ashamed?
Those who pray oftenest and secure greatest blessings will see the emptiness and vanity of everything in competition with God. I have heard him; therefore the response should be, What have I to do any more with idols?
1. God is a protection to his people, like a green fir-tree. They often encounter blasts and dangers in returning to him; but he shelters them from the storm (Isa. 4:6).
2. God is a support to his people. Without him they are barren in their souls, and unfruitful in their lives. Support in penitence and duty springs from him. From me is thy fruit found.
Human nature, by itself, can as little bear fruit well pleasing to God as the pine or cypress can bear fruit for human use. As it were a miracle in nature, were these trees to bring forth such fruit, so, for man to bring forth fruits of grace, is a miracle of grace. The presence of works of grace attests the immediate working of God the Holy Ghost, as much as any miracle in nature [Pusey].
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(8) It would be better to adopt the slightly different reading indicated by the rendering of the LXX., and translate, As for Ephraim, what has he to do with, &c. Here again, as in Hos. 13:15, the Hebrew for thy fruit contains a play on the name Ephraim. I (says Jehovah) am to thee an evergreen tree of life and protection, and from me is thy fruit found.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do So Targum and Peshitto. R.V. margin reproduces the Hebrew more accurately, “O Ephraim, what have I to do.” The question is spoken by Jehovah, not by Ephraim (Israel). Jehovah knows that he can supply every need of his people; why, he inquires, should idols be joined with him in worship? The rest of the verse presents a justification of Jehovah’s claim to their whole-hearted service, he will supply all their needs. LXX. represents a slightly different text: “Ephraim, what hath he to do?” The answer implied is that he has nothing more to do with idols; he has entirely discarded them (Hos 14:3). In view of Israel’s conversion Jehovah will supply all their needs. LXX. may have preserved the original text.
I have heard R.V., “answered” The pronoun is emphatic, I on my part, or It is I who. The tense is a prophetic perfect, though the perfect; may be used to indicate that in the divine mind the change of attitude has already been determined upon. Jehovah will respond to Israel in the same spirit in which Israel approaches him (Hos 2:15; Hos 2:21; Hos 2:23; compare Isa 65:24).
Observed R.V., “will regard,” that is, with loving care and tenderness (Isa 8:17; Deu 31:7).
I am like a green fir tree The precise kind of tree in the mind of the prophet may be uncertain, but there can be no doubt that he is thinking of the splendid forests of Mount Lebanon. The pronoun is again emphatic. Who is the speaker? The preceding clauses are evidently placed in the mouth of Jehovah; so is the last clause of Hos 14:8. It seems natural, therefore, to ascribe these words also to him. Under the figure of an evergreen tree he seeks to teach the people that his interest in their welfare is unchangeable; that the protection and shelter he offers them will continue forever. Against this interpretation it is urged that Jehovah is nowhere else likened to a tree, and that such comparison is alien to the spirit of prophecy (Hos 4:13; compare Isa 1:29). Consequently the words are placed in the mouth of Israel as a “naive self-congratulation on the part of Israel.” The last clause is interpreted as a reply by Jehovah, warning them not to boast in their prosperity, but to remember that Jehovah is the giver of every good and perfect gift. In favor of this view is the comparison of Israel with the forests of Lebanon (Hos 14:5). The abrupt change in speakers, without indication of such a change, cannot be urged against this interpretation, for similar changes are found in other parts of the Old Testament (compare Psalms 132). Some have gone so far as to make Jehovah speak twice and Israel twice, assigning lines 1 and 3 to Israel, lines 2 and 4 to Jehovah. But if line 3 is spoken by Israel, of itself, and line 4 by Jehovah, of Israel, it is strange that the nation should be likened to two different kinds of trees in two successive clauses to a fir tree and to a fruit tree. For this reason it may be better to assign the whole of Hos 14:8 to Jehovah, and regard it as a continuation of the divine promises to Israel.
From me is thy fruit found All the fruitfulness and prosperity of Israel comes from Jehovah. There may be in the original a play upon the name Ephraim, as in Hos 13:15.
With Hos 14:8 closes the direct prophetic message. Hos 14:9 is the epilogue, summoning the people to lay to heart the lessons of the Book of Hosea. This epilogue is similar in import to the words of Jesus, “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Mat 11:15; Mat 13:9, etc.). Because of its similarity in tone and language with the Wisdom Literature, the fact that the appeal seems to presuppose the fulfillment of Hosea’s oracles, and the lack of similarity with Hosea’s style, scholars are agreed almost universally in declaring the verse a later addition by some prophetic spirit who lived at a time and in surroundings which called for a message similar to that of Hosea. Whether Hosea is the author or not the meaning remains the same, but neither A.V. nor R.V. makes this meaning very clear. Both translations emphasize the difficulties presented by the divine providence as set forth by Hosea; few, if any, can comprehend them. Nevertheless, the author insists, they are straight, leading the faithful to life, the transgressor to destruction. While this interpretation brings out an important truth, it does not seem to touch the real thought of Hos 14:9. This thought becomes plain if 9a is rendered as follows: “Whosoever is wise, let him understand these things; (whosoever is) prudent, let him know them.”
Wise A very common word in the Wisdom Literature; a wise person is one who knows and does what is right and proper or is anxious to do the same; such a one is exhorted to understand and lay to heart.
These things The warnings, exhortations, promises, etc., contained in the Book of Hosea. The advice is enforced by a parallel appeal. Why?
For the ways of Jehovah are right There is no injustice in the acts of his providence (Psa 19:9; Deu 32:4).
Just He who is obedient to the divine will.
Transgressors The opposite of just; the man who is not obedient. The word just occurs nowhere else in Hosea.
Shall walk in them In the divine ways. To walk in God’s ways is ordinarily to “conduct one’s self in accordance with the divine will.” If this is the meaning here the statement of the author becomes equivalent to “the obedient to the divine will are obedient.” This is meaningless.
To walk is in this verse equivalent to “to walk without encountering any obstacles.” He who learns the divine will as taught in the Book of Hosea, and is obedient to the same, shall live continually a happy and prosperous life; but the man who does not profit by these lessons, the transgressor who is disobedient to the divine will, shall meet his fate.
Shall fall therein Shall come to utter ruin. Whatever the outcome, the ways of Divine Providence are right. To one they mean life, to another death. Which it will be is determined by the individual’s attitude toward the will of God (1Co 1:18; compare Pro 11:5).
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Ephraim (will say), “What have I to do any more with idols? I have answered, and will regard him. I am like a green fir-tree, from me is your fruit found.”
The bare word ‘Ephraim’ (it is not ‘O Ephraim’) probably indicates that at least the first phrase is spoken by Ephraim, with ‘Ephraim’ signifying the whole of Israel. But recognising that in the whole of the Old Testament YHWH is never likened to a tree, and certainly not to a green tree, a description which could have resulted in dangerous misinterpretation because ‘green trees’ were notoriously regularly connected with idolatrous worship (‘under every green tree’ – Deu 12:2; Isa 57:5; Jer 2:20; Jer 3:6; Jer 3:13; Jer 17:2; etc), we are probably to see the whole of the verse as spoken by Ephraim. In it Ephraim rejects idolatry once and for all, and declares that, having ceased to regard idols he has rather ‘answered’ YHWH (responded to Him, compare Hos 2:15), and will from now on ‘regard’ Him (by obeying the covenant and following the procedures in Hos 14:2-3). He has thus now become like a green fir tree (the evergreen element indicating permanent loyalty) from whom Israel’s people can ‘find fruit’ (compare Hos 14:7 for the similar differentiation in context between Israel as a nation and the people), a fruit which being from a fir tree will itself grow into strong trees. The picture can be compared with that of Israel as the blossoming lily and the beautiful olive tree (Hos 14:5-6). Here Israel is now a green fir tree. This interpretation suitably caps off the prophecy with a declaration by Ephraim/Israel that they are once more the covenant community through whom permanent and self-sustaining life is offered to all. It is therefore a declaration of the triumph of YHWH.
The majority of commentators, however, rather see the reference to the ‘green fir-tree’ as (uniquely) a reference to YHWH, with the implication being that from now on their fruit will be found from Him and not from Baal (even though fir-tree fruit was not one of Baal’s specialities. His supposed expertise was the grain and the oil and the wine).
Final Conclusion.
Hos 14:8. I have heard him, &c. I will hear him; I will exalt him on high, like a green fir-tree: thy fruits shall spring forth from me. Houbigant.
DISCOURSE: 1178 Hos 14:8. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir-tree: from me is thy fruit found.
THE conversion of a sinner is a work of infinite difficulty; no efforts of the creature can accomplish it: none but He who spake the universe into existence, can renew the soul: but when his time is come, the work is done both easily and effectually. As a ship, forsaken by the ebbing tide, can never be dragged along, but is easily put in motion when borne up by the returning waters, so the sinner is immoveable in his iniquities, till the Spirit of God flows in upon him: and then old things quickly pass away, and, behold, all things become new. This observation is verified continually before our eyes: persons who have been warned and entreated for many years, and have not only withstood all the most awful and endearing considerations, but have been more and more hardened by the means used to convert them, have at last been turned to God through a secret and invisible influence upon their souls, and have become burning and shining lights in their day and generation. Such were the effects produced on the day of Pentecost, when thousands to whom our blessed Lord had preached in vain, and on whom the most stupendous miracles had wrought no change, were constrained to renounce all their former habits and opinions, and to embrace a new, a spiritual, a despised, and persecuted religion. A similar instance we have in the passage before us. If we look to the account given us of Ephraim in chap. 4:17, we shall find, that he was joined to idols, yea, so glued to them, that neither warnings from man, nor judgments from God, could separate him from them; and therefore God said respecting him, Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone; it is to no purpose to use any further means for his recovery; he is incorrigible, and irreclaimable. But, behold the change, when once God is pleased to put forth his power! When once he says, I will heal their backsliding, I will be as the dew to Israel, I will manifest my grace and mercy to his soul, the obdurate heart relents; the abandoned sinner turns from his iniquities, and even with indignation and abhorrence renounces his most beloved lusts; Ephraim saith, What have I to do any more with idols? If God therefore have such pity on an impenitent transgressor, we shall not wonder at the gracious declaration which he makes for the comfort of this penitent and returning sinner; I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir-tree: from me is thy fruit found.
In discoursing on these words, we shall be naturally led to shew you,
I.
The disposition of the true penitent
[The unconverted man, though he may never have bowed down to stocks and stones, is an idolater: he loves and serves the creature more than the Creator. All indeed do not worship the same idol: one gives his heart to riches, another to honour, another to pleasure; and though all these find a higher place in our affections than we allow to God, yet each person has his favourite idol, to which he is in a more especial manner devoted: but when grace has renewed the heart, then the penitent says with Ephraim of old, What have I to do anymore with idols? His disposition is, To renounce all sins in general,his besetting sin in particular; and this too with indignation and abhorrence. But he more particularly devotes to destruction his besetting sin.The besetting sin of the ten tribes was idolatry: and therefore when Ephraim is brought to repentance, he is represented as fixing his eyes more particularly on that sin. Indeed this was remarkably exemplified in the Jews, after their return from the Babylonish captivity: for though, before their captivity, they could never be kept long together from idolatry, they could not after their return be drawn to it; insomuch, that when it was proposed to set up a statue of Augustus in the Temple, the Jews determined to perish rather than submit to it. Now every man has some sin which more easily besets him: and it is oftentimes a very difficult matter to find it out, by reason of the various shapes which it assumes, and the deep recesses in which it lurks. But it is a distinguishing mark of the true penitent, that, whatever he imagines to be his besetting sin, he will be more particularly solicitous to mortify and subue it. The hypocrite and self-deceiver will plead for his darling lust; he will make excuses for it; he will cast the blame on his constitution, or his situation in life; he will palliate his guilt, and not endure to be admonished respecting it: but the truly upright soul will be exceeding glad to discover his secret enemy, and will by prayer and all other means labour to bring it into subjection.
Nor is this all: he will prosecute his lurking foe with vigilance, and cast him out with indignation and abhorrence. This is strongly intimated in the text: Ephraim does not merely resolve that he will not have any more to do with idols; but with an holy indignation against them, and an everlasting abhorrence of them, he says, What have I to do any more with idols? He determines never to join himself to them again: the folly and wickedness of such conduct appear to him now in such glaring colours, that he cannot endure the thought of ever relapsing into it any more. Thus it is with the true penitent: O! how does he lothe the sins that have led him captive, and the secret sins that have so defiled his conscience! How does he determine, if possible, to withstand the baneful influence of his in-dwelling corruption, and to watch and pray against it! How does he aggravate the guilt of his besetting lust, till he sees it in all its vileness and deformity! How unreasonable does it appear to him to harbour such an enemy in his bosom! How does he mourn because he cannot get rid of it! How desirable does the furnace itself appear, if it may but purify and retine his soul!
Say, Believer, are not these the thoughts of thy heart? Say, thou that weepest, like Mary, at thy Saviours feet, dost thou not hate thy sins, and thyself on account of them? Couldst thou but bring forth the lurking foe, and slay him utterly, wouldst thou not rejoice? Is it not thy grief that thou canst not get more complete victory over him? Is it not thy shame that thou art at any time deceived by him? Does it not make thee lothe thyself, to think how ready thou art to favour this enemy, and to be enticed by him before thou art aware? Art thou not often filled with indignation against thyself, to think that thou shouldst ever offend thy God through the solicitations of some base lust or evil principle within thee? Yea, I go further, and ask, Dost thou not hate thyself because thou canst not hate thyself more? I know thy heart vibrates; I know it is in unison; I know there is no discordant string; I know that these must be thy feelings, if thou be upright before God.] II.
The notice which God takes of this disposition
[It is impossible that there should be the smallest good in our hearts, and God not observe it: there was but some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the heart of young Abijah, and the Lord noticed it, and remembered him on account of it. The Prophet Jeremiah sets this in a striking point of view: he represents Ephraim [Note: Chap. 31:18.] as mourning over his sins in secret, and God as listening to him, and at last as breaking out into this soliloquy; I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus: then, after repeating the substance of Ephraims complaint, he adds, Is not Ephraim my dear son? is he not a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still; yea, my bowels are troubled for him, I will surely have mercy on him [Note: Chap. 31:20.]. Exactly thus, in my text, God hears Ephraim saying, What have I to do any more with idols? and he adds immediately, I have heard and observed him; I have had my eye fixed upon him, though he did not know it; I have attended to every word he has been saying; he has not uttered a sigh, but it has entered my ears; he has not poured forth a groan, but it has pierced my heart; he has not shed a tear, but I have treasured it up in my vial: he thinks I will not regard him, but I have heard and observed him all the while: there is not a thought of his heart that has escaped my notice; and what is more, I now say respecting him, and respecting all that shall resemble him even to the end of the world, I am, and will be, to him as a green fir-tree; and of me shall his fruit be found.
I must here just observe, that the words of my text which are printed in different characters are not in the original, but are supplied by the translators; and that therefore the verse maybe read, and I think should be read, thus; Ephraim saith, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him and observed him: I will be like a green fir-tree: of me shall thy fruit be found. The sense is the same indeed either way; only in the latter it is more clear: and according to it we have two blessed promises of God to the penitent and contrite soul, namely, that he will afford him protection, and engage for his perseverance.
First, he promises protection to the repenting sinner, I will be as a green fir-tree. The fir-tree affords a remarkably thick shade, which cannot be penetrated either by sun or rain; so that it afforded a safe retreat, either from the rays of the meridian sun, or from the violence of the impending tempest. Conceive then a burthened sinner travelling towards Zion: see him either trembling from an apprehension of Divine judgments, even of that fire and brimstone, storm and tempest, which God will rain upon the ungodly; or fainting through the heat of temptation and persecution, What a reviving cordial to his soul is here! Let him come to me, says God; I will be as a green fir-tree to him; I will shelter him from the curses of my broken law; I will guard him from the fiery darts of Satan; I will hide him from the assaults of all his enemies; none shall hurt him: I will hide him in the secret of my tabernacle, even in my pavilion, where he shall have not only safety, but all manner of refreshing viands: he shall sit under my shadow with great delight. Hear this, ye who desire to renounce your idols; ye who long to be delivered from the attacks of your great adversary, and to find a place of rest unto your souls: to you God says, Surely I will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence: I will cover thee with my feathers, and under my wings shalt thou trust: my truth shall be thy shield and buckler [Note: Psa 91:3-4.]. You know how our blessed Saviour complains of the Jews, that when he would often have gathered them, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, they would not. O! let him not utter the same complaint against you. They indeed would not flee to him, because they would not believe their danger; but you are in danger of keeping from him through a doubt of his ability or willingness to protect you. But, O! flee to him: he is a sure Refuge: only rest under his shadow, and you need not fear: none can ever hurt you, if you be found under the shadow of his wings: he promises that he will be as a green fir-tree to you; and he will fulfil his word unto all that put their trust in him.
The other promise which God here makes to the repenting sinner is, that he himself will engage for his perseverance in the ways of holiness; Of me shall thy fruit be found. The penitent no sooner determines to cast his idols to the moles and to the bats, than fears arise in his mind, and he says, But how shall I do this? Who is sufficient for these things? To silence therefore all such doubts as these, God himself undertakes the work; Be not afraid, sinner; I will take that work upon myself; my grace shall be sufficient for thee; I will furnish thee with strength according to thy day of trial; Of me shall thy fruit be found: I will make thee fruitful in all the fruits of righteousness: the things thou desirest are the fruits of my Spirit; and my Spirit shall produce them in thee.
Can we conceive a more comforting declaration than this? If the drooping sinner were permitted to dictate what God should say to him, could he devise any thing more calculated to comfort and refresh the soul? My dear brethren, behold your God undertaking for you, not merely to bring you to heaven, (for that would be a small matter, if you were not made holy,) but to deliver you from all your sins. Hear his gracious words, as they are recorded by Ezekiel; From all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you: a new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will cause you to keep my statutes and my judgments to do them. Hear again what he says to the same purpose by Jeremiah; I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not depart from them to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me: yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul. Is it possible for God to express more earnestness in your cause, or a more full determination to preserve you in spite of all your in-dwelling corruptions; or rather, I should say, to deliver you from them? O! lift up your heads, ye drooping penitents, for your redemption draweth nigh: only commit yourselves into the hands of a faithful God and a loving Saviour: there is a fulness of all that you can want treasured up in Jesus; and out of his fulness ye may all receive, grace for grace. He is the Vine, from whom you must receive sap and nourishment continually; As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in him: separate from him ye can do nothing: but if ye abide in him, ye shall bring forth much fruit; yea, ye maydo all things, through Christ strengthening you. However inveterate therefore your corruptions be, fear not, but look unto Christ: instead of being terrified, as though they were invincible, let the sight of them remind you what great things the Saviour has undertaken for you: instead of despairing on account of your own weakness, rather learn to glory in it, as the means of displaying your Saviours strength. Do not misunderstand me, as though I would have you glory in sin: God forbid! sin is, and ought to be, your shame and aversion: but I say again, your inability to any thing that is good ought not to discourage you, because the Apostle says, When you are weak, then are you strong: and therefore, while you lament your sins, you may at the same time glory in your weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon you. Your extremity shall assuredly be the season of Gods interposition: In the mount of difficulty the Lord shall be seen; according as it is written in Deu 32:36. The Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up or left.]
Here let us close, with one obvious reflection
Do ye not see from hence how excellent repentance is? But let not those whose hearts are yet cleaving to their idols conclude themselves penitent. What repentance has the worldling, who is minding nothing but his earthly business? Surely Mammon is his God; and, till this idol be put away, there is no repentance, no salvation to his soul. Nor has the proud, passionate, carnal, worldly-minded professor any pretensions to repentance; for what repentance has he, when he is yet harbouring idols in his heart? No, professor, thou must be delivered from thine idols; thy besetting sin in particular must be lamented, lothed, and mortified: nor, till this be thine experience, wilt thou have any defence against the impending wrath of God: thou mayest talk of Christ, and have a clear head-knowledge of the truth; but knowledge will not serve instead of repentance: thou must be divorced from thy lusts, thine evil tempers, and every thing else to which thou hast been glued. Christ gave himself to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works; and therefore, if thou wouldst ever dwell under the shadow of God in heaven, see that this fruit be found on thee on earth. God is willing to produce it in you: look therefore to Him; and he will be as the dew unto you; he will heal your backslidings, and love you freely ]
Here we have the third great branch of doctrine in this most delightful Chapter; namely, the sweet and sure effects of grace, when that grace is inwrought by the Holy Ghost in the heart. And such will be the blessed consequences on all truly regenerated and penitent sinners. Therefore God the Holy Ghost closeth this prophecy with a peculiar note of the most important nature, that everyone who is made wise unto salvation, may ponder over the whole, and duly consider the blessed doctrine contained therein: putting his Almighty emphasis upon it, that all God’s ways are right ways, and which every justified sinner in Christ shall walk in. But while it proves the savor of life unto life to all such, to transgressors it becomes a stumbling stone, and rock of offence, so that they fall therein, and see not the work of the Lord, nor the operation of his hand.
Hos 14:8 Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard [him], and observed him: I [am] like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
Ver. 8. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do, &c. ] Heb. Ephraim, what have I to do, &c. This some make to be the speech of God to Ephraim; as if Ephraim here were the vocative case and God were brought in abhorring the notion of parting stakes with idols, of sharing his glory with another. But because this God never did (for what communion hath light with darkness, Christ with Belial?) and because the Chaldee Paraphrast, and from him the best interpreters, supply “shall say,” I take this latter to be the better translation. Here, then, God promiseth, first, what Ephraim shall do, or rather, what he by his grace will cause him to do; he shall utterly abominate and abandon his idols, whereunto his heart had been joined, or glued, Hos 4:17 ; secondly, what he will thereupon do for Ephraim; what special favour he will show him, and what a gracious compensation he will make him: “I have heard him, and observed him,” &c. Ephraim, now grown penitent, shall say (see the like ellipsis supplied, Isa 5:9 ), with utmost indignation and aversion, with greatest heat of anger and height of hatred, shall he utter it. See the like 2Sa 16:10 2Ki 3:13 Mat 8:29 .
What have I to do any more with idols
I have observed him
I am like a green fir tree
In me is thy fruit found
From me is thy fruit found NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Hos 14:8-9
😯 Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
It is I who answer and look after you.
I am like a luxuriant cypress;
From Me comes your fruit.
9Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
Whoever is discerning, let him know them.
For the ways of the LORD are right,
And the righteous will walk in them,
But transgressors will stumble in them.
Hos 14:8 what more have I to do with idols This is a Hebrew idiom of rejection (e.g., Jdg 11:12; 2Sa 16:10; 2Sa 19:22; 1Ki 17:18; 2Ki 3:13; 2Ch 35:21; Joh 2:4).
It is I who answer Idols cannot answer, but YHWH can. This same VERB (BDB 772, KB 851) is used repeatedly in Hos 2:21-22, which sets the stage for the great promise of Hos 2:23!
and look after you This VERB (BDB 1003 II, KB 1449, Qal IMPERFECT) has the connotation of regard with watchful care, (root to bend down to look at).
This same VERB is used in Hos 13:7 with the connotation of lie in wait to ambush (cf. Jer 5:26). Context is determinative!
The God of Israel is alive and attentive, while the gods of Canaan are lifeless idols of wood and metal who cannot see, hear, speak, move, or help!
I am like a luxuriant cypress This is the only place in the OT that God is described as a tree.
From Me comes your fruit YHWH, not Ba’al, is the source of blessing. What a tragedy when God’s people do not know this truth.
Hos 14:9 This is a wisdom proverb much like the book of Revelation, Let him who has an ear hear. The VERBS understand (BDB 106, KB 619) and discern (BDB 106, KB 122) are both JUSSIVES (the second in meaning, but not form). Hosea must be read more than once and enacted!
Whoever This closing wisdom saying focuses on an individual (not corporate) response to Hosea’s teaching. The nation was unable to repent, but individuals can respond to God’s love appropriately! Choice is an individual covenantal concept (cf. Ezekiel 18). We are responsible individually because we must respond to God individually.
the ways. . .walk. . .stumble Here are three terms that describe the life of faith in metaphors of physical walking (e.g., Pro 23:19). This reflects OT Wisdom Literature’s the two ways: choose God, walk in Him and live or choose sin and walk in it (cf. Deu 30:15-20; Rom 8:4-5). The early church was originally called the Way in Acts. Biblical faith is a lifestyle. Eternal life has observable characteristics.
right. . .righteous The Hebrew root is a straight edge. Today we would say a ruler. Therefore, all Hebrew words for sin refer to a deviation from this standard. The standard is God Himself! See Special Topic: Righteousness .
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTERS 13 AND 14
This is a study guide commentary which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.
These discussion questions are provided to help you think through the major issues of this section of the book. They are meant to be thought provoking, not definitive.
1. Was Hosea against the concept of monarchy?
2. Why does Paul quote Hos 13:14 in 1 Corinthians 15?
3. Describe the literary metaphors used in Hos 14:9.
4. What two metaphors does Hosea use to describe God?
5. What is the central theme of the book?
shall say. In obedience to the command in Hos 14:1.
I have heard = I have heard and obeyed.
and observed = and regarded. Contrast Hos 13:7.
I am like: or, I like a green cypress [will overshadow him]. A verb must he supplied. Referring to “shadow” in Hos 14:7.
From Me, &c. This member is Jehovah’s reply. Note the emphatic “I” repeated. Compare Jer 31:18.
thy fruit found. Fruitfulness provided, as well as protection and grace.
What: Hos 14:2, Hos 14:3, Job 34:32, Act 19:18-20, 1Th 1:9, 1Pe 1:14-16, 1Pe 4:3, 1Pe 4:4
I have: Job 33:27, Jer 31:18-20, Luk 15:20, Joh 1:47, Joh 1:48
I am: Isa 41:19, Isa 55:13, Isa 60:13
From me: Joh 1:16, Joh 15:1-8, Gal 5:22, Gal 5:23, Eph 5:9, Phi 1:11, Phi 2:13, Phi 4:13, Jam 1:17
Reciprocal: Deu 7:26 – but thou shalt Jos 24:23 – put away Jdg 10:16 – they put 1Sa 7:4 – General Psa 86:11 – unite Isa 1:29 – ashamed Isa 2:18 – the idols Isa 2:20 – cast Isa 17:8 – he shall Isa 27:9 – the groves Isa 30:22 – Get Isa 31:7 – in that Jer 3:22 – we Eze 11:18 – General Eze 14:6 – Repent Eze 36:25 – from all your idols Eze 36:29 – save Eze 37:23 – shall they defile Eze 43:7 – no more Mic 5:13 – graven Zep 1:3 – stumblingblocks Zec 13:2 – I will cut Mar 5:7 – What Joh 3:21 – that his Joh 15:4 – As 2Co 6:16 – what 2Pe 2:15 – forsaken
EPHRAIM FORSAKING IDOLS
Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have beard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From Me is thy fruit found.
Hos 14:8
These are the last words of Hoseas prophecy. They sum up his whole hopes for his people. They are somewhat difficult of understanding, from the perplexity in which the frequent occurrence of the word I involves us. But it is quite clear, I think, that we have in them two speakers: Ephraimthat is, the personification of the kingdom of Israelshall say, What have I to do any more with idols? And then there follows the answer to that word, from another speaker, and that other speaker is God.
Here are two voicesfirst, the penitent voice of the returning wanderer, then the welcoming answer of the Father. What have I to do any more with idols? The nation which is here represented as thus speaking, as the last point and object of the whole prophecy, is described in a former part of this remarkable book as being joined to his idols. And now that strait band and bond that link him to his idols is snapped, and he is set free.
I. We get here, first of all, a wonderful expression of the perfect simplicity of a true return to God.What have I to do any more with idols? That is all! No paroxysms of grief, no agonies of repentance, no prescription of so much sorrow, so much grief, for so much sin; no long, tedious process; but, like the finger put upon the key here, the sound yonder.
Heard far away, the nation has only to whisper the resolve, to break away from the evil, and immediately there, in the heavens, the voice is heard.
And then there follows: And the Lord hath made to pass from me the iniquity of my soul. Two wordsfor it is only two words in the originaltwo words; we pass out of the evil when a man turns to God. What have I to do any more with idols?
II. Then look at the answer, the echo of this confession which comes from heaven; it is the welcoming voice of the Father, I hear him, and observe him. (1) Notice how, instantaneously, that Divine ear, strong enough, according to the old story about the ears of the gods, to hear the grass grow, fine enough to hear the first faint shootings of the new life in a mans heart, catches the sound that is inaudible to all besides, and as soon as the words come from the pale, penitent lips of Ephraim, the answer comes from GodI hear him; and if I hear him, that is all that is necessary. I hear him, and observe him.
There, of course, observation is used in a good sense. The insecure, uncertain footsteps of the returning child are watched and kept by the gracious Father: I hear him, and I turn My eye upon him. The good eye and the good hand of the Lord upon the returning prodigal for good.
And then we come to a very beautiful, although a very singular metaphor: I am like a green cypress tree. The singularity of this metaphor has led many people to suppose that it cannot be intended to apply to the Divine nature. But I think there can be no question but that it does, and that it yields a worthy and a very beautiful signification. The cypress tree, for one thing, is an evergreen, unchanged amidst the changing seasons, unaffected by all the change. An everlasting metaphor, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. Our melancholy associations were altogether foreign to the mind and imagination of the prophet. To him this tree, with its wealth of continual shadow, was an emblem of unchanging blessing and protection.
So my text says, I am like a green cypress, strong, immutable; a shadow, a protection to all those that come beneath my branches, shielding them from the hot sunshine; keeping them dry in all the tempests and rain of the winter time; spreading a green bough above them in the summer; putting my broad sheaf of leaves between them and the blistering heat, and so preserving them from outward and from inward dangers. The Lord is thy shade at thy right hand.
So I think that if you will take these two pointsunchangeableness and protection, condescensionyou understand the force of this lovely emblem. (2) And then there follows a last truth: From Me is thy fruit found. The hard cones of the cypress are not worth calling fruit; there is no fruit on it that anybody can eat; but it has so embodied in itself the virtues of all, and having the shadow of the cypress has the fruit, like that of the grape and the pomegranate.
But all that is not enough. The fruit that we bear in ourselves is not fruit that any man can take pleasure in. The fruit that shall sustain and help us must be the fruit that we gather from the rich branches of that tree that bare all manner of fruits, and bare them every month, and whose very leaves were for the healing of the nations. Not enough that we should have the productive energy within ourselves; we must feed upon the rich harvest that is provided for us in God.
So it all comes to this, the humblest voice of conscious un-worthiness and lowly resolve to forsake evil, though it be whispered only in the very depths of our heart, finds its way into the the ears of the merciful Father, and brings down the immediate answer, the benediction of His shadowing love and perpetual presence, and the fullness of fruit, which He alone can bestow.
Illustration
There is some mistake often made as to what are idols. Remember that idols are, generally, rather objects of fear than of affection. Almost all heathen deities are worshipped in dreadto avert the evil which they might otherwise do. This is the first intention. Nevertheless, there is a fascination in an idol, by which, though feared, it becomes almost a subject of love. So that the thing which we fear, and while we fear, has a fascination over us which is hurtful. An idol is anything too lovable. A person who exercised a bad power over you, and whom you feared, and almost you dislikedbut to whom you were still strangely attracted, and by whom you were badly bound and enthralledthat would be an idol.
Hos 14:8. This verse is a direct pre-diction of the cure of idolatry that was to be accomplished by the captivity. The historical quotation that shows the fulfillment of this prediction is shown in connection with Isa 1:25, volume 3 of this COMMENTABY.
Hos 14:8. Ephraim shall say, &c. The words, shall say, are not in the Hebrew. The clause is therefore translated thus by Bishop Horsley, Ephraim! What have I to do any more with idols, an exultation, says he, of Jehovah over idols. Ephraim! even he is returned to me. I have no more contest to carry on with idols. They are completely overthrown. My sole Godhead is confessed. I have heard him, and observed him It is I, not his idols, who have heard his petitions and watched over him to preserve him. I am like a green fir-tree If these be understood as the words of God, the meaning is, It is I, who am ever-existing, and have it in my power to give my people blessings at all times; as the fir is ever green and flourishing, and affords its shelter, not only in the summer, but in the winter too, when all the rest of the trees are stripped of their leaves and can afford no shelter at all. In other words, As a weary traveller finds rest and safety under a green, thick, and flourishing tree, so there are safety and refreshment under the protection of Jehovah. But some understand these as the words of Ephraim, or Israel, acknowledging that he is in a flourishing condition; and then God reminds him in the next words, that his fruitfulness and prosperity are wholly owing to the divine blessing. Thus the church of God, and all the members thereof, how much soever they may abound in the fruits of righteousness, and in the comforts connected therewith, must confess, that from Christ the true and living vine is their fruit found; and they must not fail to give him the glory thereof, remembering, that without him they can do nothing excellent or praiseworthy; nothing that will ultimately promote the glory of God, or their own salvation.
14:8 Ephraim [shall say], What have I to do any more with idols? I {g} have heard [him], and observed him: I [am] like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
(g) God shows how prompt he is to hear his own when they repent, and to offer himself as a protection and safeguard for them, as a most sufficient fruit and benefit.
Ephraim would repudiate her dealings with idols (cf. Hos 2:8; Hos 4:17; Hos 8:4-6), and the Lord would respond with a commitment to care for her. Formerly He lay in wait (Heb. shur) for Israel like a leopard ready to pounce on her in judgment (Hos 13:7), but now He would care (Heb. shur) for her. He would be the source of her fruit, like a cypress or pine tree that bears cones.
"Hosea closes his book with the heartening word of forgiveness. When Israel responds to the LORD’s loving plea to return to Him (Hos 14:1-3), then will follow the gracious healing of their backsliding, the free bestowal of His love, the turning away of His anger, the future blessing of their restoration, and their final repudiation of idolatry (Hos 14:4-8)." [Note: The New Scofield . . ., p. 927.]
The Israelites have not yet met these conditions for restoration, and restoration has not yet come to them. Fulfillment awaits the return of Christ to the earth and His millennial reign that will follow. Then Israel will be blessed and will become a source of blessing for all the other nations of the world, as the prophet predicted.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
GODS NOTICE OF PENITENTS
He renounces all sins in general.A person who is not truly penitent may exchange one sin for another; he may exchange lewdness and intemperance for the love of honour and ambition: he may turn from prodigality to avarice; or from indifference and profaneness to Pharisaism and hypocrisy. But he never remits one sin without taking some other in its stead; yea, he frequently puts more into the scale of pride and conceit, than ever he took out of that of sensuality or profaneness. But it is not thus with the true penitent: he has commenced a war against sin in general; he endeavours to attack it in all quarters; he knows that sin is idolatry, in that it is a preference given to the creature above God himself; and therefore, without making any reserves, he determines to extirpate sin, root and branch, if possible, and says, What have I to do any more with idols?
It is with pleasure therefore that I proceed to set before you,
[Whether it be viewed in its nature or its consequences, surely it is a most inestimable blessing. What can be more desirable than to be delivered from those base lusts and idolatrous affections, which rob us of our happiness, and God of his glory? If we had discarded all our idols, and were determined to have nothing more to do with them, we should have a very heaven upon earth; especially if we found the grace of Christ sufficient for us; as we certainly should do, if we sought it humbly, and depended on it simply. God will never disappoint our expectations which are founded on his promises. If indeed we presume to limit him with respect to the time and manner in which he shall deliver us, we may be disappointed; but if we commit ourselves to him, to carry on his work in the time and manner that he sees fit, we shall never be disappointed: he will assuredly cover our defenceless heads, and make fruitful our withered branches: he will perfect that which concerns us, and fulfil in us all the good pleasure of his goodness; nor will he ever leave us till he has accomplished all the good things which he has spoken concerning us. And is this the nature, is this the consequence, of repentance? Shall every contrite soul have an experience of these things? O that God may grant us all, repentance unto life, even that repentance which is not to be repented of! May we thus experience the power and grace of Christ, and find everlasting rest unto our souls!
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)