Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 10:1

Israel [is] an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

Israel’s guilt and its punishment, each shown by examples. But even in this dark chapter there is a short gleam of hope (Hos 10:12)

1. Israel is an empty vine ] Rather, Israel was a luxuriant vine, which freely put forth fruit. A development of the suggestions in Hos 9:10; Hos 9:16; compare with it the fuller description in Psa 80:8-11. The ‘fruit’ spoken of is not moral, but material. The bounties of Providence were lavished upon northern Israel (comp. chap 2.), and gave ground for the expectation of Israel’s grateful obedience. The allusion will be to the prosperous reign of the second Jeroboam.

according to the multitude, &c.] Rather, as his fruit increased, he increased his altars; the better it was with his land, the better he made his (sacred) pillars. The material wealth of the country only served to strengthen and extend the idolatrous system of worship (comp. Hos 2:8, Hos 8:4, and note on Hos 8:11). ‘Altars’ and (sacred) ‘pillars’ are naturally mentioned together, the ‘pillar’ ( mabah) or consecrated stone being the recognized token of a ‘high place.’ Not only did Jacob set up such pillars at Bethel and elsewhere (Gen 28:18; Gen 31:45; Gen 35:14; Gen 35:20), but Moses himself is recorded to have built an altar with no less than twelve sacred pillars (Exo 24:4). They were forbidden no doubt, absolutely and entirely, in Deu 16:21, but, besides the pillars of Baal ( 2Ki 3:2 ; 2Ki 10:26; 2Ki 17:9), there is reason to think that those great stones spoken of in the narrative books ( Jos 24:26 ; 1Sa 6:14; 1Sa 7:12; 2Sa 20:8; 1Ki 1:9) were really sacred pillars, though the narrator, to avoid startling his readers, denies them the name. Isaiah himself, too, speaks of a ‘pillar’, or sacred stone, as a sign, together with an altar, of the worship of Jehovah in Egypt (Isa 19:19). If then pillars, sacred to Jehovah, were tolerated in Judah in Isaiah’s time, much more must we suppose that they were tolerated in Israel. But why does Hosea refer to them as signs of infidelity? Because the worship of Jehovah at the high places was purely formal, and produced no moral effect upon the character (see on Hos 8:11). In short, he is more consistent, more outspoken than Isaiah himself, who never says that the high places are occasions of sin. True, Hosea speaks of the north; Isaiah of the south.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Israel is an empty vine – Or, in the same sense, a luxuriant vine; literally, one which poureth out, poureth itself out into leaves, abundant in switches, (as most old versions explain it,) luxuriant in leaves, emptying itself in them, and empty of fruit; like the fig-tree, which our Lord cursed. For the more a fruit tree putteth out its strength in leaves and branches, the less and the worst fruit it beareth. : The juices which it ought to transmute into wine, it disperseth in the ambitious idle shew of leaves and branches. The sap in the vine is an emblem of His Holy Spirit, through whom alone we can bear fruit. His grace which was in me, says Paul, was not in vain. It is in vain to us, when we waste the stirrings of Gods Spirit in feelings, aspirations, longings, transports, which bloom their hour and fade . Like the leaves, these feelings aid in maturing fruit; when there are leaves only, the tree is barren and nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned Heb 6:8.

It bringeth forth fruit for itself – Literally, setteth fruit to, or on itself. Luxuriant in leaves, its fruit becomes worthless, and is from itself to itself. It is uncultured; (for Israel refused culture,) pouring itself out, as it willed, in what it willed. It had a rich show of leaves, a show also of fruit, but not for the Lord of the vineyard, since they came to no size or ripeness. Yet to the superficial glance, it was rich, prosperous, healthy, abundant in all things, as was the outward state of Israel under Jehoash and Jeroboam II.

According to the multitude of his fruit – Or more strictly, as his fruit was multiplied, he multiplied altars; as his land was made good, they made goodly their images. The more of outward prosperity God bestowed upon them, the more they abused His gifts, referring them to their idols; the more God lavished His mercies on them, the more profuse they were in adoring their idols. The superabundance of Gods goodness became the occasion of the superabundance of their wickedness. They rivaled and competed with and outdid the goodness of God, so that He could bestow upon them no good, which they did not turn to evil. People think this strange. Strange it is, as is all perversion of Gods goodness; yet so it is now. Peoples sins are either the abuse of what God gives, or rebellion, because He withholds. In the sins of prosperity, wealth, health, strength, powers of mind, wit, people sin in a way in which they could not sin, unless God continually supplied them with those gifts which they turn to sin. The more God gives, the more opportunity and ability they have to sin, and the more they sin. They are evil, not only in despite of Gods goodness, but because He is good.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Hos 10:1

Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself.

The abuse of worldly prosperity

Our version is faulty here. Elzas renders, Israel is a luxurious vine, whose fruit is very abundant. So our subject is the abuse of prosperity. Some men are very prosperous. Every branch of their life clusters with fruit. Sonic nations are very prosperous. When is prosperity abused?

I. When it is used with an exclusive regard to our own selfish ends. As–

1. For self-indulgence.

2. For self-aggrandisement.

The right which property gives is the right to lay it out for the benefit of our fellow-men.

II. When it is used without a supreme regard to the claims of God. Unless we employ our property according to the directions of the Great Proprietor we abuse the trust. How does God require us to employ our property?

1. For the amelioration of human woes.

2. For the dispersion of human ignorance.

3. For the elevation of the human soul.

To raise it to the knowledge, the image, the fellowship, and the enjoyment of God. How are we, as a nation, using our enormous prosperity? (Homilist.)

The figure of the vine

Israel is a luxuriant vine. Not as in the A.V. an empty vine, nor as in the margin A.V. a vine emptying the fruit which it giveth, but a vine which pours itself forth, spreads out its branches. It denotes the outward prosperity and abundance which they had enjoyed. The vineyard had been planted with the choicest vine, and diligently cultivated, but it bore wretched fruit, significant of sins against God. (W. Henry Green, D. D. , LL. D.)

The Church compared to a vine

1. No plant has a more unpromising outside than the vine.

2. The vine is the most fruitful plant that grows out of the earth.

3. No plant requires so great care as the vine.

4. The vine is the most depending plant in the world, unable to underprop itself, it must have props more than any other plant, and therefore nature has given it tendrils by which it catches hold of anything near it.

5. If it be not fruitful, it is the most unprofitable thing in the world.

6. A vine is the most spreading of plants. It spreads larger than other plants, and fills a great deal of room with its branches.

7. The vine is the softest and most tender of plants, the emblem of peace. But Israel is an empty, or emptying, vine; he makes himself empty.

(1) Emptiness in those who profess themselves to be Gods people is a very great evil. It is unnatural. It is a dishonour to the root. It frustrates the Lord of all the care, and cost, and charge He expends. There is no blessing upon thy soul if thou art an empty vine. If there be grace, it cannot but bear fruit. Common gifts shall be taken away, if the vine proves empty. The evil of emptiness is great according to the greatness of opportunities.

(2) Sin will empty a land of all the blessings God has bestowed. Sin is an emptying thing; it empties lands, families, and persons of all their outward comforts.

(3) It is all one, to be an empty Christian, and to bring forth fruit to oneself. Men think that which they bring forth to themselves is clear gain; but this is an infinite mistake, for that which is for thyself is lost, and that which is for God is gained. (Jeremiah Burroughs.)

Israel as a robbed vine

The prophet means, that Israel was like a vine which is robbed after the ingathering is come: for the word bekok means properly to pillage, or to plunder. The prophet compares the gathering of the grapes to robbing; and this view best suits the place. Israel is like a robbed vine, for it was stripped of its fruit; and then he adds, he will make fruit for himself. I understand by the words that Israel would lay up fruit for himself after the robbing, and sacred history confirms this view; for this people, we know, had been in various ways chastised: so, however, that they gathered new strength. For the Lord intended only to admonish them gently, that they might be healed; but nothing was effected by Gods moderation. The case, however, was so, that Israel produced new fruit, as a vine, after having been robbed one year, brings forth a new vintage; for one ingathering does not kill the vine. Thus also Israel did lay up fruit for himself; that is, after the Lord had collected there His vintage, He again favoured the people with His blessing, and, as it were, restored them anew; as vines in the spring throw out their branches, and then produce fruit. God, in the next clause, complains that Israel, after having been once gathered, went on in his own wickedness. This is a useful doctrine. We see how the Lord forbears in inflicting punishments–He does not execute them with the utmost rigour. But how do they act who are thus moderately chastised? As soon as they can recruit their spirits they are carried away by a more head strong inclination, and grow insolent against God. (John Calvin.)

Israel as a vine

A luxuriant vine; one which poureth out, poureth itself out into leaves, abundant in switches (as most old versions explain it), luxuriant in leaves, emptying itself in them, and empty of fruit; like the fig-tree which our Lord cursed. For the more a fruit tree putteth out its strength in leaves and branches, the less and worse fruit it beareth. The juices which it ought to transmute into wine it disperseth in the ambitious idle shew of leaves and branches. The sap in the vine is an emblem of His Holy Spirit, through whom alone we can bear fruit. His grace which was in me, says St. Paul, was not in vain. It is in vain to us, when we waste the stirrings of Gods Spirit in feelings, aspirations, longings, transports, which bloom their hour and fade. Like the leaves, these feelings aid in maturing fruit; when there are leaves only, the tree is barren, and nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned. It bringeth forth fruit for itself, lit. setteth fruit to, or on, itself. Luxuriant in leaves, its fruit becomes worthless, and is from itself to itself. It is uncultured (for Israel refused culture), pouring itself out, as it willed, in what it willed. It had a rich shew of leaves, a shew also of fruit, but not for the Lord of the vineyard, since they came to no size or ripeness. Yet to the superficial glance, Israel, at this time, was rich, prosperous, healthy, abundant in all things. (E. B. Pusey, D. D.)

Self-aggrandisement, and its secret

He bringeth forth fruit unto himself; and yet, literally, he brings forth no fruit at all, only long stem and tendril, and leaves innumerable; his fruit is all foliage. The figure is very Hebraic and grand. Israel is a vine, and a growing vine, but Israel misses the purpose of the vine by never growing any wine; growing nothing but weedy leaves, and so disappointing men when they come to find fruit thereon, and discover none. The Church is an empty vine. Theology is an empty vine. All religious controversy that is conducted for its own sake–that is to say, with the single view of winning a victory in words–is an empty vine,–luxuriant enough, but it is the luxuriance of ashes. According to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land, they have made goodly images. They have gone pari passu with the Almighty–He, the living Father, doing the good, and they, the rebellious men, doing proportionate evil. When the harvest has been plentiful, the idolatry has been large, increasing in urgency and importance; when the vine has brought forth abundantly, another image has been set up. That is the teaching of the prophet; yea, that is the impeachment of God. God may be represented as saying, Your wickedness has been in proportion to My goodness; the more I have given you, the less I have received from you; the larger the prosperity with which I have crowned you, the more zealous have you been in your idolatry; the more lovingly I have revealed Myself to you, the greater your wantonness, selfishness, and rebellion. That is not only Hebrew, it is English; that is not only ancient history, it is the tragedy, the blasphemy of to-day. What is the explanation? Where is the point at which we can stand and say: This is the beginning of the mischief? The answer is in the second verse, Their heart is divided. That has always been the difficulty of God; He has so seldom been able to get a consenting heart. God says: These people want to do two irreconcilable things–they want to serve God and Mammon; they want to courteously recognise the existence of Jehovah, and then run to kiss the lips of Baal. Their heart does not all go one way; they cannot wholly throw off the true religion; it has indeed become to them little better than a superstition, but men do not like to gather up all the traditions of the past, and cast them in one bundle into the flowing river, in the hope that it may he carried away and lost for ever. So they come to the altar sometimes; now and again they look in at the church door; intermittently they listen to the old Psalm and the half-remembered hymn; but in the soul of them they are drunk with idolatry. There are persons very anxious to maintain orthodoxy who are the most notorious thieves in society; there are those who would subscribe to any society to defend Sunday, if they might do on Monday just what they liked; they are zealous about the Sabbath, and especially zealous that other people should keep it, but on Monday you would never imagine that there was a Sunday. Their heart is divided. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)

The self-shoot the wrong one to cultivate

A little while ago an inexperienced hand had trained a rose-tree over a porch, The leaves of the tree were green, and the growth was strong, but not a flower was there. Why is this? inquired the master of a skilled gardener. The answer was given by an act, not by words, for, taking out his pruning knife, the gardener in one moment levelled the rampant growth to the ground. What have you done? cried the master. Dont you see, sir, was the reply; your man has been cultivating the wrong shoot! and, at the same time, the gardener pointed out the grafted rose, which had barely struggled two inches above the ground, and which the wild shoot had completely overwhelmed. In a few months the graft, set free from the encumbering growth of the wrong shoot, sent out in vigorous life its beautiful branches, and covered the porch with its luxuriance; and there it lives, a parable of heavenly things. Not all the cultivation or training in the world could have made that wrong shoot become a beautiful and flowering tree, neither will the efforts of a whole life succeed in making our old man like Christ, or fruitful towards God. God has condemned our nature in the Cross of Christ: He has judicially cut it down; and no fruit fit for God shall grow upon it for ever. The practical word, then, to those Christians who are seeking to produce out of self-fruit acceptable to God is, Do not cultivate the wrong shoot. (H. F. Wetherby.)

Sin the product of mans free will

This is the oldest illustration of cause and effect known to our race. The Old Testament, with its system of conscience education, is a profound commentary on the subject, its moral law creating a knowledge of sin, its sacrificial system deepening the sense of the guilt of sin, and its prophetic ministry denouncing sin, and bringing the sorrow and suffering following sin home to the hearts of the kings and the people with unflinching courage and precision. None the less striking is this truth when read from the pages of classic heathenism. It is Helens crime and that of Paris which brings on sorrow in the downfall of Troy. AEschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides are pagan preachers enunciating the terrible judgments following in the train of wrong-doing. Dante, Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton build their poems and construct their dramas upon this foundation. Sin is the product of mans free will. Israel bringeth forth fruit unto himself. In appropriating the gifts of God to self-gratification the Creator has been ignored. Sin is mans own product. It is the child of our own self-will. While it is true that in every human being there is a persistent tendency to take the wrong direction in moral development, yet no man is ever otherwise than a wilful sinner. The election by the individual will to act counter to the requirements of God is the source of all sin. Again, we see the insidious manner in which sin makes its home in the human heart. Self-interest is pressed into the service of sin, but sin, once getting a foothold, transforms a healthy serf-interest into gross selfishness. Growth and prosperity are turned to sinful uses. In the satiety of self-indulgence, in the greed of self-aggrandisement, in the divided heart, we witness the wreck of Gods purposes as they are related to human life. Into this terrible state of antagonism to the will of God the prophet Hosea declares Israel has come. When the Almighty created man with free will, He, in a sense, set bounds to His own omnipotence. From that hour man has held in his will the awful power of resisting God. Sorrow, then, and suffering, are the inevitable results of persistent wilful sin. The moment sin is committed judgment begins with the steady developments of growth. But in the distressing picture of sin and its consequences now before us there is relief afforded. Sad, indeed, would be the lot of man if he were irrevocably doomed to endure the conditions of his terrible fortune. There is promised the overthrow of the dominion of sin by repentance and service in the cause of righteousness. (E. M. Taylor.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER X

This chapter treats of the same subject, but elegantly varied.

It begins with comparing Israel to a fruitful vine but

corrupted by too much prosperity, 1.

It next reproves and threatens them for their idolatry, 2;

anarchy, 3;

and breach of covenant, 4.

Their idolatry is then enlarged on; and its fatal consequences

declared in terms full of sublimity and pathos, 5-8.

God is now introduced complaining of their excessive guilt; and

threatening them with captivity in terms that bear a manifest

allusion to their favourite idolatry, the worshiping the

similitude of a calf or heifer, 9-11.

Upon which the prophet, in a beautiful allegory suggested by

the preceding metaphors, exhorts them to repentance; and warns

them of the dreadful consequences of their evil courses, if

obstinately persisted in, 12-15.

NOTES ON CHAP. X

Verse 1. Israel is an empty vine] Or, a vine that casteth its grapes.

He bringeth forth fruit] Or, he laid up fruit for himself. He abused the blessings of God to the purposes of idolatry. He was prosperous; but his prosperity corrupted his heart.

According to the multitude of his fruit] He became idolatrous in proportion to his prosperity; and in proportion to their wealth was the costliness of their images, and the expensiveness of their idol worship. True is the homely saying of old Quarles: –

“So God’s best gifts, usurp’d by wicked ones,

To poison turn, by their con-ta-gi-ons.”

Another poet, of a higher order, but worse school, says: –

Effodiuntur opes, irritamenta malorum. – OVID.

Of which the words of St. Paul are nearly a literal rendering, –

.

“For the love of money is the root of all these evils” 1Ti 6:10.

Pity that this beautiful metal, on which God has bestowed such a large portion of mineral perfection, and then hid in the earth, should, on its being digged up by man, become the incentive to so many vices, and draw away his heart from the Creator of all things, and the fountain of ineffable perfection and goodness.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Is an empty vine; a vine wasted and spoiled, that hath lost its strength to bring forth any fruit, or that is robbed and pilled of the fruit it doth bring forth; this partly for want of the Divine protection and benediction, which they were wont to have, and partly from an inherent barrenness and weakness in this vine.

He bringeth forth fruit unto himself; whatever fruit was brought forth by its remaining strength was not brought forth to God, for his service and honour; but for themselves, for their own use, for service of a state interest, to make presents, and to pay tribute; or, which is yet worse, to maintain the worship of idols.

According to the multitude of his fruit: when the land yielded more plentiful increase, this plenty was impiously employed on multiplied idols, or on multiplied altars, built to the same idols.

He hath increased the altars of their idols, either by adding to the number of altars, or else adding to the numbers of sacrifices offered to the idols on their altars.

According to the goodness of his land: idolaters sottishly imagined that the goodness of their land was a blessing on them from their idols; thus sacrilegiously they robbed God, and on this mistake they proceed to further impiety.

He hath made goodly images; more stately, more curiously wrought, more richly adorned, and it is most likely more for number too, accounting it a great devotion to have many and rich statues of their idols.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1. emptystripped of itsfruits [CALVIN], (Na2:2); compelled to pay tribute to Pul (2Ki15:20). MAURERtranslates, “A widespreading vine”; so theSeptuagint. Compare Gen 49:22;Psa 80:9-11; Eze 17:6.

bringeth forth fruit untohimselfnot unto ME.

according to . . . multitudeof . . . fruit . . . increased . . . altarsIn proportion tothe abundance of their prosperity, which called for fruit unto God(compare Ro 6:22), was theabundance of their idolatry (Hos 8:4;Hos 8:11).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Israel [is] an empty vine,…. The people of Israel are often compared to a vine, and such an one from whence fruit might be expected, being planted in a good soil, and well taken care of; see

Ps 80:8; but proved an “empty vine”, empty of fruit; not of temporal good things, for a multitude of such fruit it is afterwards said to have; but of spiritual fruit, of the fruit of grace, and of good works, being destitute of the Spirit of God, and his grace; and, having no spiritual moisture, was incapable of bringing forth good fruit: or, “an emptying vine” o; that casts its fruit before it is ripe; these people, what fruit they had, they made an ill use of it; even of their temporal good things; they emptied themselves of their wealth and riches, by sending presents, or paying tribute, to foreign princes for their alliance, friendship, and help; or by consuming it on their idols, and in their idolatrous worship. The Targum renders it,

“a spoiled vine p;”

spoiled by their enemies, who robbed them of their wealth and riches, and trampled them under foot. The Septuagint version, and those that follow that, understand it in a sense quite the reverse, rendering it, “a flourishing vine”; putting forth branches, leaves, and fruit; and which the learned Pocock confirms from the use of the word in the Arabic language: but then it follows,

he bringeth forth fruit unto himself; all the good works done by them were not to the praise and glory of God, as fruits of righteousness are, which come by Jesus Christ; but were done to be seen of men, and to gain their applause and esteem, and so were for themselves; and all their temporal good things they abounded with were not made use of in the service of God, and for the promoting of his glory, and of true religion among them; but either consumed on their own lusts, or in the service of idols: or, “the fruit is like unto himself” q; as was the vine, so was its fruit: the vine was empty, and devoid of goodness, and so the fruit it produced. The Targum is,

“the fruit of their works was the cause of their being carried captive:”

according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars: as the Israelites increased in riches and wealth, their land bringing forth in great abundance, they erected the greater number of altars to their idols, and multiplied their sacrifices to them; this was the ill use they made of what fruit they did produce:

according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images; of richer metal, and more ornamented, and more of them, according to the plenty of good things, corn, and wine, and oil, their land produced; thus abusing the providential goodness of God to such vile purposes!

o “vitis evacuans”, Drusius, Rivetus, Schmidt; so Stockius, p. 149. p So Calvin. q “fructum aequat sibi”, Mercerus; “fracture facit similem sibi”, Schmidt.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

In a fresh turn the concluding thought of the last strophe (Hos 9:10) is resumed, and the guilt and punishment of Israel still more fully described in two sections, Hos 10:1-8 and Hos 10:9-15. Hos 10:1. “Israel is a running vine; it set fruit for itself: the more of its fruit, the more altars did it prepare; the better its land, the better pillars did they make. Hos 10:2. Smooth was their heart, ow will they atone. He will break in pieces their altars, desolate their pillars. Hos 10:3. Yea, now will they say, No king to us! for we feared not Jehovah; and the king, what shall he do to us?” Under the figure of a vine running luxuriantly, which did indeed set some good fruit, but bore no sound ripe grapes, the prophet describes Israel as a glorious plantation of God Himself, which did not answer the expectations of its Creator. The figure is simply sketched in a few bold lines. We have an explanatory parallel in Psa 80:9-12. The participle boqeq does not mean “empty” or “emptying out” here; for this does not suit the next clause, according to which the fruit was set, but from the primary meaning of baqaq , to pour out, pouring itself out, overflowing, i.e., running luxuriantly. It has the same meaning, therefore, as in Eze 17:6, that which extends its branches far and wide, that is to say, grows most vigorously. The next sentence, “it set fruit,” still belongs to the figure; but in the third sentence the figure passes over into a literal prophecy. According to the abundance of its fruit, Israel made many altars; and in proportion to the goodness of its land, it made better , Baal’s pillars (see at 1Ki 14:23); i.e., as Israel multiplied, and under the blessing of God attained to prosperity, wealth, and power in the good land (Exo 3:8), it forgot its God, and fell more and more into idolatry (cf. Hos 2:10; Hos 8:4, Hos 8:11). The reason of all this was, that their heart was smooth, i.e., dissimulating, not sincerely devoted to the Lord, inasmuch as, under the appearance of devotedness to God, they still clung to idols (for the fact, see 2Ki 17:9). The word chalaq , to be smooth, was mostly applied by a Hebrew to the tongue, lip, mouth, throat, and speech (Psa 5:10; Psa 12:3; Psa 55:22; Pro 5:3), and not to the heart. But in Eze 12:24 we read of smooth, i.e., deceitful prophesying; and there is all the more reason for retaining the meaning “smooth” here, that the rendering “their heart is divided,” which is supported by the ancient versions, cannot be grammatically defended. For chalaq is not used in kal in an intransitive sense; and the active rendering, “He (i.e., God) has divided their heart” (Hitzig), gives an unscriptural thought. They will now atone for this, for God will destroy their altars and pillars. , “to break the neck of the altars,” is a bold expression, applied to the destruction of the altars by breaking off the horns (compare Amo 3:14). Then will the people see and be compelled to confess that it has no longer a king, because it has not feared the Lord, since the king who has been set up in opposition to the will of the Lord (Hos 8:4) cannot bring either help or deliverance (Eze 13:10). , to do, i.e., to help or be of use to a person (cf. Ecc 2:2).

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Degeneracy of Israel; Threatenings of Judgment.

B. C. 730.

      1 Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.   2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.   3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?   4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.   5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.   6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.   7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.   8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

      Observe, I. What the sins are which are here laid to Israel’s charge, the national sins which bring down national judgment. The prophet deals plainly with them; for what good would it do them to be flattered?

      1. They were not fruitful in the fruits of righteousness to the glory of God. Here all their other wickedness began (v. 1): Israel is an empty vine. The church of God is fitly compared to a vine, weak, and of an unpromising outside, yet spreading and fruitful; believers are branches of that vine, and partake of its root and fatness. But this was the character of Israel, they were as an empty vine, a vine that had no sap or virtue in it, and therefore none of those good fruits produced by it that were expected from it, with which God and man should be honoured. Note, There are many who, though they have not become degenerate vines, are yet empty vines, have no good in them. A vine is of all trees least serviceable if it do not bear fruit. It is thenceforth good for nothing, Eze 15:3; Eze 15:5. And those that bring forth no grapes will soon come to bring forth wild grapes; those that do no good will do hurt. He is an empty vine, for he brings forth fruit to himself. What good there is in him is not directed to the glory of God, but he takes the praise of it to himself, and prides himself in it. Christians live not to themselves (Rom. xiv. 6), but hypocrites make self their centre; they eat and drink to themselves,Zec 7:5; Zec 7:6. Or Israel is by the judgments of God emptied and spoiled of all his wealth, because he made use of it in the service of his lusts, and not to the honour of God who gave it to him. Note, What we do not rightly employ we may justly expect to be emptied of.

      2. They multiplied their altars and images, and the more bountiful God’s providence was to them the more prodigal they were in serving their idols: According to the multitude of his fruit which his land brought forth he has increased the altars, and according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. Note, It is a great affront to God, and an abuse of his goodness, when the more mercies we receive from him the more sins we commit against him, and when the more wealth men have the more mischief they do. Should not we be thus abundant in the service of our God, as they were in the service of their idols? As we find our estates increasing, we should proportionably abound the more in works of piety and charity.

      3. Their hearts were divided, v. 2. (1.) They were divided among themselves. They were at variance about their idols, some for one, some for another, at variance about their kings, whose separate interests made parties in the kingdom, and in them their very hearts were divided, and alienated one from another, and there was no such thing as cordial friendship to be found among them; it follows therefore, Now shall they be found faulty. Note, The divisions and animosities of a people are the causes of much sin and the presages of ruin. (2.) They were divided between God and their idols. They had a remaining affection in their hearts for God, but a reigning affection for their idols. They halted between God and Baal, that was the dividing of their heart. But God is the sovereign of the heart and he will by no means endure a rival; he will either have all or none. Satan, like the pretended mother, says, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it; but, if this be yielded to, God says, Nay, let him take it all. A heart thus divided will be found faulty, and be rejected as treacherous in covenanting with God. Note, A heart divided between God and mammon, though it may trim the matter so as to appear plausible, will, in the day of discovery, be found faulty.

      4. They made no conscience of what they said and what they did in the most solemn manner, v. 4 (1.) Not of what they said in swearing, which is the most solemn speaking: They have spoken words, and words only, for they meant not as they said; they did verba dare–give words. They swore falsely in making a covenant; they were deceitful in their covenanting with God, the covenant of circumcision, the fair promises they made of reformation when they were in distress; and no marvel if those that were false to their God were false to all mankind. They contracted such a habit of treachery that they broke through the most sacred bonds, and made nothing of them; subjects violated their oaths of allegiance and their kings their coronation-oaths; they broke their leagues with the nations they were in alliance with, nor was any conscience made of contracts between private persons. (2.) Nor of what they did in judgment, which is the most solemn acting. Justice could not take place when men made nothing of forswearing themselves; for thus judgment, which should have been a healing medicinal plant and of a sweet smell, sprang up as hemlock, which is both nauseous and noxious, in the furrows of the field, in the field that was ploughed and furrowed for good corn. Note, God is greatly offended with corruptions, not only in his own worship, but in the administration of justice between man and man, and the dishonesty of a people shall be the ground of his controversy with them as well as their idolatry and impiety; for God’s laws are intended for man’s benefit and the good of the community, as well as for God’s honour, and the profanation of courts of justice shall be avenged as surely as the profanation of temples.

      II. What the judgments are with which Israel should be punished for these sins; they sinned both in civil and religious matters, and in both they shall be punished. 1. They shall have no joy of their kings and of their government. Because justice is turned into oppression, therefore those who are entrusted with the administration of it, and should be blessings to the state, shall be complained of as the burdens of it (v. 3), and those that would not rule their people well shall not be able to protect them: Now they shall say, “We have no king, that is, we are as if we had none, we have none to do us any good nor stand us in any stead, none to keep us from destroying ourselves or being destroyed by our enemies, none to preserve the public peace nor to fight our battles; and justly has this come to us. Because we feared not the Lord, when we were safe under the protection of our kings, therefore we are rejected by him, and then what shall a king do for us? What good can we expect from a king when we have forfeited the favour of our God?” Note, Those that cast off the fear of God are not likely to have joy of any of their creature-comforts; nor will men’s loyalty to their prince befriend them without religion, for, though that may engage him to be for them, what good will that do them if God be against them? Those that keep themselves in the fear and favour of God may say, with triumph, “What can the greatest of men do against us?” But those that throw themselves out of his protection must say, with despair, “What can the greatest of men do for us?” He was a king that said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence should I help thee? Yet he is a fool that says, If a king cannot help us, we must perish (as these intimate here), for God can do that for us which kings cannot. Time was when they doted upon having a king; but now what can a king (who, they thought, could do any thing) do for them? God can make people sick of those creature-confidences which they were most fond of. This is their complaint when their king is disabled to help them, yet this is not the worst; their civil government shall not only be weakened, but quite destroyed (v. 7): As for Samaria, the royal city, which is now almost all that is left, her king is cut off as the foam from the water. The foam swims uppermost, and makes a great show upon the face of the water, yet it is but a heap of bubbles raised by the troubling of the water. Such were the kings of Israel, after their revolt from the house of David, a mere scum; their government had no foundation. No better are the greatest of kings when they set up in opposition to God; when God comes to contend with them by his judgments he can as easily disperse and dissolve them, and bring them to nothing, as the froth upon the water. 2. They shall have no joy of their idols and of their worship of them. And miserable is the case of that people whose gods fail them when their kings do. (1.) The idols they had made, and the altars they had set up in honour of them, should be broken down, and spoiled, and carried away, as common plunder, by the victorious enemy: He shall break down their altars. God shall do it by the hand of the Assyrians: the Assyrians shall do it by order from God. He shall spoil their images, v. 2. Note, What men make idols of it is just with God to break down and spoil. But the calf at Bethel was the sovereign idol; it was this that the inhabitants of Samaria doted most upon; now it is here foretold that this should be destroyed: The glory of it has departed from it (v. 5) when it is thrown down and defaced, no more to be worshipped; but this is not all: It shall also be carried to Assyria (as some think that the calf at Dan was some time before) for a present to king Jareb. It was carried to him as a rich booty (for it was a golden calf, and probably adorned with the gifts and offerings of its worshippers) and as a trophy of victory over their enemies: and what more glorious trophy could they bring than this, or more incontestable proof of an absolute conquest? Thus it is said, The sin of Israel shall be destroyed (v. 8), that is, the idols which they made the matter of their sin; it is said of them, They became a sin to all Israel, 1 Kings xii. 30. Note, If the grace of God prevail not to destroy the love of sin in us, it is just that the providence of God should destroy the food and fuel of sin about us. With the idols, the high places shall be destroyed, the high places of Aven, that is, of Bethaven (v. 5) or Bethel; it was called the house of God (so Bethel signifies), but now it is called the house of iniquity, nay, iniquity itself. The kings did not, as they ought to have done, take away the high places by the sword of justice, and therefore God will take them away by the sword of war; so that the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars, that is, they shall lie in ruins. Their altars, while they stood, were as thorns and thistles, offensive to God and good men, and fruits of sin and the curse; justly therefore are they buried in thorns and thistles. (2.) The destruction of their idols, their altars, and their high places, shall be the occasion of sorrow, and shame, and terror to them. [1.] It shall be an occasion of sorrow to them. When the calf at Bethel is broken the people thereof shall mourn over it. They looked upon the calf to be the protector of their nation, and, when that was gone, thought they must all be undone, which made the poor ignorant people that were deluded into the love of it lament bitterly, as Micah did (Judg. xviii. 24), You have taken away my gods, and what have I more? The priests that had rejoiced in it shall now mourn for it with the people. Note, Whatever men make a god of they will mourn for the loss of; and an inordinate sorrow for the loss of any worldly good is a sign we made an idol of it. They used to be very merry in the worship of their idols, but now they shall mourn over them; for sinful mirth shall, sooner or later, be turned into mourning. [2.] It shall be an occasion of shame to them (v. 6): Ephraim shall receive shame when he sees the gods he trusted to carried into captivity, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel, in putting such confidence in them and paying such adoration to them. God’s ark and altars were never thrown down till the people rejected them; but the idolatrous altars were thrown down when the people were doting on them, which shows that the contempt of the former, and the veneration for the latter, were the sins for which God visited them. [3.] It shall be an occasion of fear to them (v. 5): The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear; they shall be in pain for their gods and afraid of losing them; or, rather, they shall be in pain for themselves and their children and families, when they see the judgments of God breaking in upon them and beginning with their idols, as he executed judgment against the gods of Egypt, Exod. xii. 12. Thus idolaters are brought in trembling when God arises to shake terribly the earth, Isa. ii. 21. And here (v. 8), They shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us. The supporters of idolatry (Rev 6:15; Rev 6:16) are brought in calling thus in vain to rocks and mountains to shelter them from God’s wrath.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

HOSEA – CHAPTER 10

LAMENTATIONS AGAINST EPHRAIM AND ISRAEL CONTINUED

Verses 1-15:

Verse 1 pictures Israel as an empty (luxurious) vine, producing fruit of carnal kind, only for herself or himself, for Ephraim’s own craving of the sensual, Hos 14:8. Israel has become allied with foreigners, strangers, alien bed fellows, Eze 17:6; Psa 80:9; Psa 80:12. Outwardly she appeared prosperous for a time, but bare no fruit for God. The more material prosperity came to the northern kingdom of Israel the more they increased their idols.

Verse 2 expresses the sentiments of a double-minded, or two-faced people, with allegiance professed toward God, but their practices were toward heathen idols, to the contempt of God, 1Ki 18:21. God threatens to break down their altars, break the heads off their gods, as enemy victims are beheaded, Amo 3:12; Deu 32:26-27.

Verse 3 contains words of despair. Now, or soon, deprived of- a king, they shall be in a state of anarchy, forsaken of God. What, they say to themselves, can or could a king do for us, if God be against us? A king would be of no help for such an hour of their due judgment, Hos 13:10. Having rejected the heavenly king, they now are deprived of an earthly king.

Verse 4 explains the just basis of their sorrow and trouble. Their words of worship and pretense of Divine homage had been without substance, insincere and empty talk, Isa 58:13. Their covenants were lacking of truth and lightly broken, 2Ki 17:14; They planted the seed of poppies and darnell and cultivated the soil for the growth of injustice that had spread like the bitter and poisonous hemlock, Deu 29:18; Amo 5:7; Amo 6:12. Perverted justice is like a deadly poisonous vine. It spreads to bring death to those nearby.

Verse 5 announces fear for the occupants of Samaria, because of the calves (idol gods) of Beth-aven, that had been substituted for worship of the true and living God, Hos 8:5-6; 1Ki 12:28-29. “Calves” is feminine gender in the Hebrew, denoting female-likeweakness or contempt, in which their idol gods should be held, Psa 115:5. Both people and priests are to be brought to great mourning and fear because no glory (no Shekinah) ever appeared or shall ever appear about false gods, or golden calves of heathen altars, Hos 9:1.

Verse 6 announces that it, the golden calf, should be carried away into Assyria, as a present for their conquering heathen king, Jared. Ephraim shall be heir to shame and Israel shall be brought to blush at all the council of Ephraim’s alliance makers, even of Jeroboam, who enticed them to erect their own altars, away from Jerusalem, to keep the Israelites of the northern kingdom from returning to Judah for worship.

Verse 7 concluded that Samaria and her occupants, center of the calf-god worship, has her king, her civil ruler, cut off from her and he and they are adrift, like foam on the water of a raging current, helpless, and hopeless, v. 3, 5.

Verse 8 predicts that the high places of worship in Beth-aven and Dan, the place and occasion of their sin, shall be destroyed, Deu 9:21; 1Ki 12:30. Thorns and thistles shall grow up upon their heathen altars. And calamity of war and suffering shall be come so severe that the people will prefer death to life, Luk 23:30; Such will also come to Christ rejectors at the end of this age, Rev 6:16.

Verse 9 returns to Israel’s rebellion in earlier days, as a testimony of her persistent, willful sin to prove her deeper guilt, then at Gibeah. They at Gibeah, after suffering, were spared, but Israel shall not escape their greater sin now, Judges chs. 19, 20. None of the ten tribes has here taken the side of God.

Verse 10 expressed God’s desire to chastise them for their obstinate ways of idolatry forthwith, in severity, without mercy, as He had forewarned, Deu 28:63. God determined to bind them, like oxen plowing side by side, for two reasons: First, they had forsaken Him, and second they had rebelled against the house of David, Jer 2:13; Isa 1:24; Eze 5:13. The invaders shall bind them both, Ephraim and Judah, to cause them to serve them like slaves, wearing the yoke of heathen bondage.

Verse 11 pictures Ephraim as a cowed-heifer that is under the yoke of servitude, that loved to tread out the corn, an easier job than plowing in the furrow. For the treading of the corn, an heifer was to wear 6o muzzle and was not usually yoked to another. It was also permitted to eat from the corn it tread upon, Deu 25:4; Deu 32:15. But God put the yoke upon her fair neck, for more servile work, causing Assyria to ride as a charioter upon Ephraim, Judah to plow, and all the posterity of Jacob to break up the clods, as well as Ephraim, the royal tribe upon whom the yoke shall press most heavily, as in Job 30:22; Psa 66:12.

Verse 12 is an appeal from God to Ephraim, a call to repentance. They were to sow and reap with moral conduct, in a right way. Thus they would reap mercy, to the degree that they sowed righteously in harmony with God’s law, Psa 119:60. They were called to break up their over-grown ground, as virgin soil, to start sowing and reaping anew, righteously, Jer 4:3; Pro 11:18. The Lord is to be sought “till he come and rain righteousness upon you,” with material and spiritual blessings, 1Sa 26:13; Joe 2:23.

Verse 13 reflects, “you all have plowed (cultivated) wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity,” fruits of what you sowed, eating the fruit of lies, of false and spurious worship, Gal 6:7-8; Job 4:8; Pro 22:8. Because they had trusted in their chosen idolatrous ways, in pursuit of their mighty, compromising ruling princes who negotiated alliances with heathen nations, and sanctioned idolatrous worship from Egypt and Assyria, Psa 2:12; Isa 57:10; Jer 2:23.

Verse 14 predicts tumult, disintegration and war through all the tribes of Israel, with the destruction of all her fortresses as Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel the house of the ambush of God, 2Ki 18:34. It was to be a cruel, inhuman murder event, Amo 2:2; 2Ki 8:12; Isa 13:16; Psa 137:8.

Verse 15 asserts that Bethel polluted, the seat of their chosen idolatry should suffer extreme wickedness, double cruelty, in the cutting off of their king in a morning, a time of expectancy that would turn to be a time of Assyrian treachery, upon Israel, Psa 30:5.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

Interpreters explain this verse in various ways. Those who think בוקק, bukok, here applied to the vine, means “empty,” are mistaken; for the Prophet means rather, that Israel was like a vine, which is robbed after the ingathering is come: for the word בקק, bekok, means properly to pillage, or to plunder. But the Prophet compares the gathering of grapes to robbing; and this view best suits the place. He says, then, that Israel is like a robbed vine; for it was stripped of its fruit; and then he adds, He will make fruit for himself The verb שוה, shue, means to equal; and many render it thus, — He will equalize fruit to himself, or, “fruit has been squalled to him.” But this rendering brings out no clear sense. I rather follow those who render it, “to lay up.” This verb means also sometimes “to lie;” at least some thus render the clause, “Fruit will lie to him:” and though, in the sense of lying, it has a different final letter, שוה, shue, it is yet said to be derived from this root, so that there is a change of א “ alef ” into ה “ he ”, as grammarians think: and yet it does not seem probable that שוא, shua means to lie. But they elicit this sense, “Israel is a plundered vine; therefore fruit will lie to him;” that is, it will bring no produce, for that will happen to it which is wont to be, when robbers have laid waste fields and vineyards. But as I have said already, some more correctly render it, “to lay up;” He will lay up fruit for himself Some, however, read the sentence as a question, — “Will Israel lay up fruit for himself?” Then the sense is, that Israel was so plundered, that no restitution could be hoped for. But these interpreters do not seem to understand the mind of the Prophet.

I collect a different meaning from the words, and that is, that Israel would lay up fruit for himself after the robbing, and sacred history confirms this view: for this people, we know, had been in various ways chastised; so, however, that they gathered new strength. For the Lord intended only to admonish them gently, that they might be healed; but nothing, as it has before appeared, was effected by God’s moderation. The case, however, was so, that Israel produced new fruit, as a vine, after having been robbed one year, brings forth a new vintage; for one ingathering does not kill the vine. Thus also Israel did lay up fruit for himself; that is, after the Lord had collected there his vintage, he again favoured the people with his blessing, and, as it were, restored them anew; as vines in the spring throw out their branches, and then produce fruit. (61)

But what did happen? According to the abundance of his fruit, he says, he multiplied his altars Here God complains, that Israel, after having been once gathered, went on in his own wickedness. Chastisements ought at least to have availed so much as to induce Israel to retake himself to the pure worship of God. But God not only reproves the people here for having been always obstinate but also for having, as it were designedly increased their vices. For it was like a horrible conspiracy against God for the people, as soon as they acquired new strength, to multiply altars to themselves, when yet the Lord had already shown, by clear evidences, that fictitious modes. of worship did not please him; nay, that they were to him the greatest abominations. We now apprehend the meaning of the Prophet. Then Israel, a robbed vine, multiplied altars for himself; that is, Israel has indeed been gathered but the Lord restored to him wealth and abundance of provisions, and whatever appertains to a safe and happy condition; has Israel become better through correction? Has he repented after the Lord has so mercifully withdrawn his hand? By no means, he says; but he has multiplied altars for himself, he has become worse than he was wont to be; and according to the goodness of his land, he has been doing good in statues

Now this is a very useful doctrine; for we see how the Lord forbears in inflicting punishments — he does not execute them with the utmost rigour; for as soon as he lays on a few stripes, he withholds his hand. But how do they act who are thus moderately chastised? As soon as they can recruit their spirits, they are carried away by a more headstrong inclination, and grow insolent against God. We see this evil prevalent in the world even in our day, as it has been in all ages. We need not wonder, then, that the Prophet here expostulates with the people of Israel: but it is, at the same time, right for us to apply the doctrine for our own instruction. Though, then, the Lord should spare us, and, after having begun to chastise us, should soon show indulgence, and restore us as it were anew, let us beware lest a forgetfulness of our former sins should creep over us; but let his chastisements exert over us an influence, even after God has put a limit and an end to them. For the import of what the Prophet teaches is this, that men are not to forget the wrath of God, though he may not always, or continually, lay on stripes, but to consider that the Lord deals thus gently that they may have more time to repents and that a truce is granted them that they may more quietly reflect on their sins.

But he says, According to the goodness of their land, they have been doing good in statues I have before stated, that some take this as meaning, that they made good statues, and consider “good” to be elegant. But I repeat the preposition ל “ lamed ” before altars. When the Prophet said that Israel multiplied altars to himself, the literal reading is, that he multiplied in altars, or as to altars; that is, he did much, or very liberally spent money on altars. So also here, it is proper to repeat, that they did good as to statues. But a concession is made in the verb הימיבו, eithibu; (62); for it is certain that they grievously sinned; they would not have provoked the wrath of God had they not dealt wickedly in altars and statues. But the Prophet speaks ironically of the perverted worship of God, as when we say at this day, that the Papists are mad in their good intentions: when I call intentions good, I concede to them a character which does not rightly belong to them. It is therefore according to their sense that the Prophet speaks here; but he says, ironically, that they did good in statues; that is, that they seemed to themselves to be the most holy worshipers of God; for they made a show of great zeal. It was, as they say, insane devotion. But there appeared here something more than blind hardness, inasmuch as they had so soon forgotten the Lord’s displeasure, of which they had been reminded by evident tokens. We now then perceive the object of the Prophet, and what is the application of his doctrine. Let us go on —

(61) Much difference exists among critics as to the meaning of the two first clauses of this verse. The two words which create the difficulty are בוקק and שוה. The first word in the three other places, Isa 24:1, Jer 51:2, and Nah 2:2, where it alone occurs, means, “to empty thoroughly,” or “to make wholly empty:” and when applied to the vine, as here, it seems to signify vine that fully empties itself of its juices, so as to bear fruit abundantly. This view is favored by the Septuagint, ευκληματουσα, well-branching, luxuriant, and by Symmachus, υλομανουσα, wildly luxuriant, and is adopted by Bishop Horsley, who renders it, “yielding.” The other word, שוה, means “to equal,” or “to be equal,” and in no case, properly, “to lay up,” as Calvin takes it. Then the literal rendering of these words, פרי ישוה לו, is, “the fruit is equal to it;” i.e. the fruit is suitable to the vine, or, “it makes fruit equal to itself:” and with this meaning correspond the words in the Septuagint, ὁ καρπος ευθηνῶν αυτης, — “its fruit is exuberant.” The following appears to be the literal rendering of the verse: —

“

A vine, emptying itself, is Israel, It makes fruit equal to itself: According to the abundance of his fruit, He has abounded toward altars; According to the goodness of his land, He has made statues good.”

Or, if we would coin a word to correspond with the original, the two last lines may be thus translated: —

“

According to the goodness of his land, He has goodnized statues.”

—

Ed.

(62) The final ו is left out in one copy, and the omission is countenanced by the Septuagint. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

HOSEAOR GODS AFFECTION FOR AN UNFAITHFUL PEOPLE

Hos 1:1 to Hos 14:9.

IT is our purpose in this series of articles on the Minor Prophets to throw such light upon these twelve Books as to make them meaningful and profitable to our readers. I suppose it may be safely said that the average Christian leaves these Books unstudied, and some of them unreada circumstance due to certain natural difficulties in their interpretation; but in greater measure still, to the poor work of present-day preaching. The custom of taking a text has wrought havoc in Bible study. Our fathers in the ministry were Bible expositors; their successors are textual preachers. The result is described in one of the minor Prophets:

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the Words of the Lord:

And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord, and shall not find it (Amo 8:11-12).

There are some simple and yet fundamental facts regarding the prophecy of Hosea that are essential to its proper understanding. It was doubtless written by the man whose name it wears. It refers, unquestionably, to the time of Jeroboam the Second, when Elisha, the Prophet of God, was living, and Isaiah, that great Evangel of the Old Testament, was a babe; and when those kings of Judah Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiahwere successively occupying the throne. The date is supposed to be 790 to 725 B. C.

Hosea was the great Evangel of his time. While he was an Elijah the Tishbite, in his stern denunciation of sin, he was a John the Apostle in his sense of Divine love and his eloquent call to repentance.

Some of the Books of the Bible break easily into divisions, and some of the students of Hosea have seen fit to divide it into two such. But our research does not justify the method. To us it is one grand whole, with not a break in thought from first to last. It is a recital of Israels history in her unfaithfulness, and an illustration of Gods goodness to His own people.

For our convenience, however, we divide it into four sections.

THE SYMBOLISM OF GOMERS SIN

And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord.

So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim (Hos 8:2-3).

These opening sentences of Hosea have given no small trouble to students. Some have received it historically; while others have insisted that God could not send the Prophet on any such mission, without Himself being a party to sin; and so have attempted to interpret it as a dream or vision. Following the custom which we have found alone to be safe, we believe with those who accept the Book at what it says. And yet we have not found the question involved so difficult of solution as some. When it is remembered that the whole people of Israel had already turned to idolatry, we can understand that any daughter selected from them could be spoken of in this language, since the charge of whoredom, with the false gods of the land, lay against every son and daughter of Israel. And even when the narrative seems to specifically charge this woman with this sin, it does not necessitate Gods participation in evil because He sends Hosea to wed her. You will see, ere the history ends, she is won to a righteous life again. So the Prophet is to her what he has become to all IsraelGods agent of salvation. But her sin is symbolical.

It was a sin against law and love. The seventh commandment antedated Hosea and stood as a protest against the violation of that relation which husband and wife sustain to one another, as the whole decalogue stands as Gods protest against the violation of the relation which He and His people sustain to each other. When, therefore, Gomer forgets the law and despises the love of Hosea, she fitly represents the conduct of the whole kingdom in forgetting Gods Law and despising the Divine love. The man who, today, living under the reign of grace, disregards the moral Law and tramples it beneath his feet with impunity, is guilty of a crime of the first magnitude. But the man who adds to that an equal disregard of the Divine love takes the last step needful in the contemplation of his folly and the sealing of his fate.

Paul wrote to the Hebrews:

If we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the Truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

He that despised Moses Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses;

Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the Blood of the covenant, wherewith he wets sanctified, an holy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

For we know Him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I wilt recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge His people (Heb 10:26-30).

This sin was again symbolical in that it was against good society.

The moment the foundations of domestic life are undermined the whole fabric of society is endangered. When lust assaults the home it strikes the essential pillar of the State. And when it overrides the law and love of domestic relation, it leaves desolation in its track and brings in a dark day for the people. When such a sin as this can be found in the first houses the very nation has fallen. Dr. Talmage said truly enough that where there is no pure home there are the Vandals and the Goths of Europe; the Numidians of Africa, and the Nomads of Asia. No home, no school; no household, no republic; no family, no church.

But Gomers sin became more significant still, God made it to be a sorrowful instruction! Strange as it seems, it is yet probably according to the natural law in the spiritual world that Gods spokesmen must be sufferers. It was only after the iron had entered Moses soul as he watched the oppression of his own people from his position in the palace, and by his enforced exile spent forty years on the back side of the desert that he was eloquent as Israels leader. Joshua was fitted by forty years of wilderness wandering for his great work of commanding Israel and conquering Canaan.

But no man could read this Book of Hosea without feeling that its authorour Prophethad suffered probably as much as either of these great predecessors. Joseph Parker says, Hoseas sorrow was of the deepest kind. The daughter of Diblaim was the daughter of the devil. He had no peace, no rest, no singing joy within the four corners of his own house. He lived in clouds; his life was a continual passage through a sea deeper than the Red Sea. If we may vary the figure, his wandering was in the wilderness, unblessed; cursed by the very spirit of desolation.

And yet we do believe that strong natures have the very power to transmute their sorrows into eloquent appeals for righteousness; that the very intensity of their suffering adds solidity to their thought and eloquence to its utterance. We seriously doubt if Hoseas wife had not been a scarlet woman, as she was, whether he could ever have properly sympathized with God, the Father, in that Israel turned from Him to moral infidelity, by worshiping at false shrines and living wicked, sensual lives.

John Bright, that marvelous leader of thought in England, started on his career of splendid service in consequence of an unspeakable sorrow. His young wife, to whom he was devoted, lay dead when Richard Cobden called on him. Having expressed, as best he could, sympathy and condolence, Cobden looked up and said, Bright, there are thousands and thousands of homes in England, at this moment, where wives and mothers and children are dying of hunger. Now when the first paroxysm of your grief has passed, I would advise you to come with me and we will never rest until the corn-laws are repealed.

Cobden showed himself a philosopher that day. He knew full well that one way to recover from a personal pain was to take into ones heart as an antidote, the pain of the people.

You will remember what had more to do, perhaps, with the declaration of war with Spain than any other single thing, the destruction of the Maine excepted. It was Senator Thurstons speech. And how did it happen that this Nebraskan, who had never before been eloquent, spoke before the Senate of the United States with such an appeal as to move even opponents to agree with him? That speech opened in these words,

Mr. President: I am here by command of silent lips to speak once and for all upon the Cuban situation, and trust that no one has expected anything sensational from me. God forbid that the bitterness of a personal loss should induce me to color, in the slightest degree, the statements that I feel it my duty to make. I shall endeavor to be honest, conservative and just. Then he proceeded with such an oration as American law-makers of any decade seldom, if ever, heard. Concluding with these words, Mr. President, in the cable that moored me to life and hope the strongest strands are broken. I have but little left to offer at the altar of freedoms shrine. But all I have I am glad to give. I am ready to serve my country as best I can in the Senate or in the field. My dearest hope, my most earnest prayer to God is this, that when death comes to end all I may meet it calmly and fearlessly, as did my Beloved, in the cause of humanity, and under the American flag.

There is but one explanation of such an address as that. The eloquence of it was born of the sorrow of burying a beloved wife in Cuban soil, and feeling in his heart that the pain of the oppressed people of that land had been already the occasion of her death; and to relieve it, was worthy the laying down of his life.

The Psalmist said, I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good, and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue.

It was sorrow. It was that suffering that only a righteous man can feel when sinned against by her whom he loves most, that made Hosea understand the Divine Ones suffering in Israels sin, and adequate to its expression.

PHASES OF ISRAELS INFIDELITY

It found first expression in unwarranted forms. There seems to be a general agreement between students of Hosea that the groves and altars, when first chosen and erected, were unto the Lord. But it does not take long for them to go from unwarranted forms to open infidelity. God did not command any of these at their hands. Her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts, became occasions of Baal-worship. Instead of saying any longer, Ishimy husband, they turned to say, Baalimy lord. It is the history of unwarranted forms in all ages.

When Christ came into the world He found the Church of the Old Testament cold in death, slain by the hands of ceremonialists,the Scribes and Pharisees of His time,who, with their hollow ritualism and hypocrisies, had driven many men to the infidelity of Sadduceeism; so that they said, There is neither angel nor spirit. Truly, as Frederick Robertson said,

No self-righteous formalism will ever satisfy the Conscience of man; neither will infidelity give rise to a devoted spirit. Formalism in religion and infidelity in conduct often go hand in hand.

Charles Dudley Warner tells us that after having traveled around the world he came back to Brindisi, Italy, a so-called Christian country, and entered a so-called Christian Church to see a figure of Christ, the Crucified One, set off in a dark corner with dust gathered on it, while a representation of Mary, the mother, clad with the latest mode of French millinery, flamed before an altar, and their knees bowed there.

It was little better than the Baal-worship of Hoseas time. And if Jesus should come to that church He would have occasion to utter the words which He once addressed to Scribes and Pharisees.

Thus have ye made the Commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me.

But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

This degenerate worship was popularized by priest and prince. By reading fourteen verses of the fifth chapter you will see they were its chief patrons. The Prophet of God addressed them Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye House of Israel. Then, after describing their participation in these false and foul ceremonies, he voices God as saying: I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the House of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away: I will take away; and none shall rescue him.

It is a sad day for the Church when the prince, or the man in the place of power, is putrid. It is a darker day when the priest, or the leader in the Church of God, is correspondingly corrupt. When the time came that Tetzel could sell indulgences, with the consent of the priesthood of Rome, the very moral rottenness existing in the Name of Jesus, compelled the Reformation, and gave rise to Luthers opinions, and victory to his appeal. And when, at the present time, a Pastor, either by evil practices, leads his people into iniquity, or by his silence concerning the commercial and other sins of those who contribute to his salary, connives at iniquity, the condition becomes akin to that which Hosea was raised up to rebuke nearly three thousand years ago. And the result for the present day will be the very same as that which came to the Israel of Hoseas time.

It produced the grossest idolatry and immorality.

There is not time to read to you these chapters,4 to 13,but if there were, the reading would only profit you by giving you pain as you looked upon Israels open sore.

It was this principle that Hosea saw and clearly stated so many, many centuries ago,namely, when men become lawless, and are libertines, they cannot hope to keep women upon a plane of chastity and holiness. God distinctly declares that He would not punish their daughters for their sins, in view of the conditions of society, for which priest, prince and peasant were responsible.

George Adam Smith reminds us that history in many periods has confirmed the justice of Hoseas observations, and by one strong voice after another, enforced his terrible warnings. The experience of ancient Persia and Egypt, the languor of the Greek cities, the deep weariness and sated lust which in Imperial Rome made human life a hell. It is only another illustration of the Apostle James words,When lust hath conceived, it bring eth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (Joe 1:15).

THE FOLLY WHICH INFIDELITY EFFECTS

There can be traced in this volume a striking parallelism between the conduct of the individual and of the nation. Gomers treatment of Hosea was Israels treatment of God.

There is a supreme insensibility to undeserved favor. The Prophet says, She did not know that I gave her corn, etc.

Insensibility to Divine favor has often marked the conduct of man. We easily forget that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights. We quickly attribute our blessings to our own ingenuity, to the bounty of nature, or to luck, and just as easily forget Godthe Giver of all. Strange isnt it that the one creature made in His image, endowed with the highest faculties, blessed of Him thousands of times beyond all other works of His hands, should be insensible to what he had received, and to what he is receiving, and know not God gave corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied * * silver and gold.

If this spirit were all in the world it were not so bad; but Gomer is the Prophets wife, and Israel is espoused of God; and this insensibility to Divine favor has smitten the Church, and her children forget Me, saith the Lord. Sam Jones had a man come to him who said, Jones, the church is putting my assessment too high. How much do you pay? asked Jones. Five dollars a year, was the reply. Well, said Jones, how long have you been converted? About four years. What did you do before you were converted? I was a drunkard. How much were you worth? I rented land, and was plowing with a steer. What have you got now? I have a good plantation and a pair of horses. Well, said Jones, you paid the devil two hundred and fifty dollars a year for the privilege of plowing a steer on rented land, and now you dont want to give the God who saved you five dollars a year for the privilege of plowing your own horses on your own plantation. Insensibility to Divine favor! Moses had occasion for that passage in his song, They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not He thy Father that hath bought thee? hath He not made thee, and established thee? (Deu 32:5-6).

They were slow to realize the Divine intent of judgment. After announcing His purpose in judgment, I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the House of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him (Hos 5:14). The Lord reveals His reasons by adding, I will go and return to My place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek My face: in their affliction they will seek Me early (Hos 5:15). Deliverance is always the Divine purpose in Gods judgments against His people. The Psalmist said, Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept Thy Word. And it was only after the Lord had visited them with judgment that Israel could say, Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up (Hos 6:1).

But, like sinners of all ages, Ephraim must be smitten, her root dried up, so that they shall bear no fruit, and they realize themselves utterly cast away because they did not hearken unto the Lord. It is only after Israel hath destroyed herself that she realizes the source of life in God.

How strikingly this experience parallels that of weak men in all ages! Only when the prodigal, clothed in rags, starved to the point of sustenance on the honeysuckle, and sitting with the swine, does he come to himself. As a rule, the man that follows the lusts of the flesh, and goes the way of the libertine, or the drunkard, never sees the meaning of the Divine judgment until his sins have slain his manhood, wrecked his business, scattered his family, consumed his flesh, and left him as perfectly stranded as was ever a vessel when driven high upon the ragged rocks. It is amazing to study the folly of men who have departed from the Lord! Almost universally they are conceited up to the very day when they are undone. They think that they are going to recover themselves. Like Ephraim, strangers have devoured their strength, and they know it not: gray hairs are here and there upon them, and yet they know it not. They feed on the wind and follow after the east wind, and daily increase in desolation. They make a covenant with the Assyrians and boast their righteousness as Ephraim did, saying, In all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin.

God can do nothing else with such men than to bring them low; nothing else than to whelm them with sorrow; nothing else than to strike them to the very earth with judgment; for they must be made to see that their condition is not due to circumstances, but to an evil spirit.

Dr. Chapman tells the story of a woman who was seated in Central Park, New York, with her little child playing about her. Suddenly the child was startled by the barking of a dog. In her frightened state she ran into her mothers arms. When the dog ceased his barking she said, Why are you frightened, dear; he is quiet? Oh, yes, I know, mamma; but the bark is still in him.

One thing always being said by unregenerate men is, If I could only remove to a new location; settle myself with new associates, and in new business employment, I would be all right. All right! And yet evil still in you! Better turn over to Gal 5:19-21, and read, Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like What one needs is not a change of location, but a change of nature, so that the incoming of the Holy Spirit shall give you the fruits of the Spirit which are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

Such folly is followed only by shame and degradation. The tenth chapter of Hosea illustrates the consequences of Israels conduct.

Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

Their heart is divided: now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.

For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord; what then should a king do to us?

They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shalt mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.

It shall be also carried into Assyria for a present to King Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.

The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.

It is in My desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.

And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.

Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.

Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shahnan spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.

So shall Beth-el do unto you because of your great wickedness; in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.

In conclusion we pass to

GODS AFFECTION FOR AN UNFAITHFUL PEOPLE

That affection was expressed in undeserved words and acts. God bares His heart here as He has often done before, crying,

O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away (Hos 6:4),

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt,

I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them.

I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them (Hos 11:1; Hos 11:3-4).

How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within Me, My repentings are kindled together.

I will not execute the fierceness of Mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city (Hos 11:8-9).

Beloved, one lesson that it seems difficult to learn is thisto remember the goodness of God. One should adopt the custom of thinking upon Divine favor. It is only as we forget the source of our blessings, of every good and perfect gift that we grow indifferent to the grace of our God.

Dr. Torrey says, I was talking one night to one who was apparently most indifferent and hardened. She told me the story of her sin, with seemingly very little sense of shame, and when I urged her to accept Christ, she simply refused. I put a Bible in her hands and asked her to read this verse. She began to read, God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, and before she had finished reading the verse she had broken into tears, softened by the thought of Gods wondrous love to her.

It is a strange thing that more people dont answer temptation as did Joseph,How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

When God executes judgment it is commonly for the purpose of correction. Take the reference in this volume,

Therefore will I return, and take away My com in the time thereof, and My wine in the season thereof, and will recover My wool and My flax given to cover her nakedness,

And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of Mine hand,

I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts, And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them,

And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and for gat Me, saith the Lord (Hos 2:9-13).

What is the purpose? He immediately proceeds to tell us, Therefore(God never employs that word without occasionit is the great conjunction with Him.)

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her,

And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt (Hos 2:14-15).

Beloved, there is a beneficent purpose when the fiery trial is on. The very whips with which He makes Israels back to bleed are not the expressions of His wrath; but, rather, of His love.

Henry Ward Beecher declares that his father used to make him believe that the end of the rod that he held in his hand was a great deal more painful than the end which he applied to Henry. And the great preacher says, It was a strange mystery to me; but I did believe it, and it seemed a great deal worse to me to be whipped on that account.

It ought to be so with the children of God. I once had in my church a woman who punished her children by vicarious suffering. When they misbehaved at the table she denied herself a meal, and she told me that it broke their hearts.

Would to God that we were as sensitive to the suffering which our sin imposes upon the Heavenly Father, and as sensible concerning the purpose which He has in visiting correction against our sins.

But, after all, God gave best evidence of His affection by,

Keeping for His people an open heart. I like to dwell on the last chapter of this Book,

O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; * *

Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto Him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously (Hos 14:1-2).

And I like to listen to Gods answer to this cry which He Himself seeks to put into their lips,

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for Mine anger is turned away from him.

I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.

His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.

Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? (Hos 14:4-6; Hos 14:8).

It is a beautiful picture! It ought to encourage the children whose hearts have departed from the plain paths of privilege in Christ; it ought to incite hope in the heart of the individual who has played the prodigal and paid the penalty.

I like to reflect upon the words of that sweet-spirited man, F. B. Meyer, as he speaks of Gods attitude toward those who turn again to Him, saying,

Be sure that God will give you a hearty welcome. He has not given you up or ceased to love you. He longs for you. Read the last chapter of the Book of Hosea, which may be well called the backsliders gospel. Read the third chapter of Jeremiah, and let the plaintive pleadings to return soak into your spirit. Read the story of Peters fall and restoration, and let your tears fall thick and fast on John 21: as you learn how delicately the Lord forgave, and how generously He entrusted the backslider with His sheep and with His lambs. Be sure that though your repeated failures and sins have worn out every one else, they have not exhausted the infinite love of God. He tells us to forgive our offending brother unto four hundred and ninety times; how much oftener will He not forgive us? According to the height of heaven above the earth, so great is His mercy.

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

CRITICAL NOTES.

Hos. 10:1. Empty] Luxuriant. Lit. poureth out, emptying itself into leaves; stretching itself far and wide towards foreign alliances (Psa. 80:9; Psa. 80:12); outwardly prosperous, but no ripe grapes, sound fruit to God. Bringeth] Lit. sets or prepares fruit from and to itself. Altars] multiplied as his fruit. The greater prosperity, the greater ingratitude and idolatry.

Hos. 10:2. Divided] by themselves between God and idols (1Ki. 18:21). He] Emphat. Jehovah, not the enemy. Break] Heb. beheada bold expression. As victims are beheaded, so the horns of the altar shall be broken off (Amo. 3:14).

Hos. 10:3. Now] Lit. soon. King] Words of despair. Deprived of a king, or in a state of anarchy: forsaken of God for their sin, what could a king do? To us] Lit. for us (ch. Hos. 13:10)? Whatever we have will not avail, if God help not.

Hos. 10:4. Words] without substance and sincerity, nothing but vain talk (Isa. 58:13). Falsely] Their covenants lack truth, and easily broken (2Ki. 17:4). Judgment] A good and healthy plant to society, springs up and spreads far and wide, like bitter and poisonous hemlock in the field. They prepared the soil for judgment by cultivating injustice. Perverted justice is like rank poison, injurious to community.

HOMILETICS

THE ABUSE OF OUTWARD PROSPERITY.Hos. 10:1-4

Israel is now accused of fruitlessness and selfishness. God blessed them with abundant prosperity, but it was abused. The increase of their wealth only tended to the increase of sin; the multiplication of images; the spread of deceit and perjury. They were good for nothing, a degenerate vine, luxuriant in leaves, but empty before God (Eze. 15:3; Eze. 15:5).

I. Outward prosperity used for selfish ends. He bringeth forth fruit unto himself. Whatever fruit they had was expended on self. Life, says Carlyle, begins with renunciation. The worldly man believes that life begins in getting, is enjoyed by keeping, and that he who renounces most will have the least. Men, like Israel, seek refuge from trouble and pleasure in life, by living in a world of their own.

1. Self was considered the source of their prosperity. Man is his own creator and redeemer, self-sufficient and strong, in their estimation. All selfishness is self-assertion, a practical repudiation of our helpless and sinful condition. The gospel alone can break down the rule of self, and bring Christ as the object of love and obedience.

2. Self was considered the end of their prosperity. Israel refused culture. Men are self-willed, live not for God, but for their own lusts and aggrandizement. They detest and will not forgive in others what they indulge in themselves. Grasping in their disposition, using Gods gifts for self, they dedicate wealth and business to self. Everything is expended for gratification, honour, and position. Prosperity is abused, the right of our fellow-men and the claims of God are disregarded. Men deny their stewardship, and retributive justice takes their unlawful gains. When ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? (Zec. 7:6).

II. Outward prosperity used in disregard to God. In living for self they had no regard to the claims of their God. Reason and revelation teach that God should be the supreme object of affection. But selfishness seeks to rival God and alienate our love from him.

1. This disregard springs from divided allegiance. Their heart is divided. They were fearers of the Lord, and they were servers of their gods (2Ki. 17:32-33). They would give up neither, but tried to worship both. We cannot serve God and Mammon (Mat. 6:24). One object must be supreme in our mind. If we cast off God, then Mammon will govern, in some form, our thoughts, feelings, and purposes. A divided heart is a faulty heart. God will not have part, but the whole service. There must be no halting between God and Baal. Decision must be made now before it be too late. How long halt ye between two opinions?

2. This disregard is clothed in the forms of devotion. They had altars and idols, a fair show of profession, and outward forms; but their piety emptied itself in transient feelings and false notions. Like many now who make a fair show in the flesh, but do not produce the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, and peace. Fruits unto holiness and to God are acceptable; but fruits unto selfishness are nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned (Heb. 6:8). What a mockery to put on the garb of religion, when the heart is divided and alienated from God! Alas! what empty vines in the Christian Church in this very day! Those who seek their own credit or worldly profit in religious duties will be accounted unfaithful branches. But all who abide in Christ, will bring forth fruit to the glory of God and the benefit of men.

3. This disregard is in proportion to their outward prosperity. According to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images. Enriched by the produce of their land, they made beautiful images, increased their ingratitude and sin. The greater Gods blessings to men, the more they abuse his gifts. The more God lavishes favours upon them, the more determined are they to adore themselves and worship their idols. Flourishing trade begets wealth; wealth begets pride; and pride self-sufficiency. Men grow in sensuality, avarice, and wickedness. Prosperity destroys the piety of some men. The sun shines, dulls and extinguishes the fire. The insidious influence of prosperity may be seen in William, Duke of Normandy, whose bravery and candour gained respect at a distance, but in the possession of power fell into contempt among his friends and subjects. Macaulay gives an instance in the Earl of Tarrington, who rose into a hero in poverty and exile, but sank again into a voluptuary in prosperity. I was ruined by too easy success in early life, said some one. In all time of our wealth, good Lord, deliver us. The prosperity of fools shall destroy them.

III. Outward prosperity abused will bring punishment. He shall break down their altars, &c. The sin of Israel became the very means of their punishment. The gold with which they beautified their idols tempted the invader, and involved them in hopeless ruin. Their own idols became their own misery. All who pursue pleasure and ambition, who give themselves to earthly idols, will, through their heartlessness and idolatry, lose both God and their own selves, and become a castaway at last. Kings and princes, creature-comforts and creature-confidences, will not avail, when God is lost. Because we feared not the Lord, what then should a king do for us? Every idolized dependence will soon be torn away from those who fear not God. Nothing can help them in their distress. Suffering and remorse, regrets and unavailing self-reproach for ever, will be their portion. If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? (2Ki. 6:27).

HOMILETIC HINTS AND OUTLINES

Hos. 10:1. Vine. The Christian Church is a vine brought out of Egypt, an unfriendly soil, displacing old trees, and planted in its position by Gods hand (Psa. 80:8-11). Hence the parallel between the Church and a vine.

1. Its transplanting from an unfruitful to a fertile soil.
2. Its careful keeping.
3. Its grand designto bear fruit. Then (a) it is beautiful, (b) useful, (c) acceptable to God. If empty and fruitless, it is just the reverse of all this, entirely worthless. The sap of life, the energies of mind, in some men and in some Churches, spent in ambitious schemes, luxuriant leaves and professions. The grace and gifts of God are received in vain. All things bloom their hour and fade.

Nothing but leaves! The Spirit grieves

Over a wasted life;

Oer sins indulged while conscience slept,
Oer vows and promises unkept;

And reaps from years of strife

Nothing but leaves! nothing but leaves!

Hos. 10:2. A divided heart. I. A fearful disease.

1. It affects a vital part.
2. It affects after the most deadly fashiona divided heart.

3. It is peculiarly loathsome.
4. It is one difficult to cure. It is chronic, got into the very nature of man.
5. It is a flattering disease. II. Its usual symptoms.

1. One of the most frequent is formality in religious worship.

2. Another, inconsistency.
3. Another, variableness in object.

4. Frivolity in religion is another symptom. III. Its sad effects.

1. A divided heart makes the man himself unhappy.
2. He is useless in the Church. 3. A man dangerous to the world.

4. The most solemn is, reprobate in the sight of God. IV. Its future consequences. Terrible will be the condition of the hypocrite at the judgment-day. He will be separated from the righteous and found among those whom he taught and reproved. If your heart is broken, it differs from a divided heart. There is hope and pardon for you. God can give a new heart [Spurgeon].

1. The sina divided heart.
2. The guiltfound faulty.
3. The punishmenthe shall break down, &c. God will convince the most obstinate of their guilt, if not by the word now, by his judgments hereafter. If they do not suppress, but constantly maintain their sins, God will take the work in his own hands, destroy the monuments of idolatry at their own expense. He shall break down He shall spoil.

The state of the heart is the source of the evil. As long as this does not belong to him, so long will men rob him of his own. God will have the heart as his alone, and suffers none to share that possession [Lange].

Hos. 10:3. If men fear not God, but seek to ward off his judgments, by continuing in sin and trusting to kings and great men; their defence will become a snare, and their confidence will be turned into disappointment. Men cannot shelter when God is angry. What then should a king do for us? These are words of despair, not of repentance; of men terrified by the consciousness of guilt, but not coming forth out of its darkness; describing their condition, not confessing the iniquity which brought it on them. Without love the memory of their evil deeds crushes them beyond hope of remedy. They groan for their losses, their sufferings, their fears, but do not repent.

HOMILETICS

PERJURY JOINED TO HYPOCRISY.Hos. 10:4

Their dissimulation of heart was seen in their lives and general conduct. They made no conscience of their duty. There was no dependence upon anything they said or did. The whole nation was corrupt.

I. There was no truth in their words. They have spoken words. Mere words, empty vain words, without any truth or substance. Great swelling words, full of noise and profession, to gain their point and bear down the prophets; words foolish as they were bombastic, to veil their deceit and decoy to sin. The mouth should always express the heart. Pythagoras said he would rather his disciples should throw stones at random than utter a false word. Speak fitly, or be silent wisely, says Geo. Herbert. The turn of a sentence, says Bentham, has decided the fate of many a friendship, and, for aught that we know, the fate of many a kingdom. By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

II. There was no sanctity in their oaths. Swearing falsely. Whatever be the form of an oath, the signification is the same. We call God to witness, or notice what we say. The offender therefore sins in the presence of God, and in defiance of the sanctions of religion. His sin implies contempt of Gods power and justice, mans wants and confidence. Perjury, therefore, says Paley, in its general consequence, strikes at the security of reputation, property, and even of life itself. A lie cannot do the same mischief, because the same credit is not given to it. Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths.

III. There was no faithfulness in their covenants. Falsely in making a covenant. In their agreements one with another, in their allegiance to their kings, they could not be depended upon. In treaties with foreign nations they concealed their treacherous intentions, and observed them only so long as they were benefited by them. In covenanting with God they promised to be faithful, yet supported idolatry and rebelled against their lawful sovereign. They uttered and acted lies. No considerations can justify the sacrifice of truth, which ought to be supreme in all the engagements and relations of life. Truth is the very bond of society, without which it will dissolve into anarchy and chaos, or cease to exist. A household cannot be governed by lying and perjury; neither can a nation. Sir Thos. Browne was once asked, Do the devils lie? No, he answered, for then even hell could not subsist.

IV. There was no justice in their judgments. Thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field. An unjust king sets a bad example to his people. A corrupt court will make a corrupt nation. If the fountain be bitter, the streams cannot be sweet. How sad when judgment is perverted by those who should administer it! when injustice like a bitter plant poisons the life, and spreads in the manners of a nation. If men sow injustice, they will reap a harvest, full and obnoxious, as hemlock in the furrows of the field. Penns advice to his children was good: Let justice have its impartial course, and the law free passage. Though to your loss, protect no man against it, for you are not above the law, but the law above you. Live, therefore, the lives yourselves you would have the people live, and then you have right and boldness to punish the transgressor. Use no tricks, fly to no devices to support or cover injustice; but let your hearts be upright before the Lord, trusting in him above the contrivances of men, and none shall be able to hurt or supplant you. We will sell justice to none, is an article in the Magna Charta. Want of up-rightness will overthrow a people, turn judgment into wormwood and gall; but the king by judgment establisheth the land (Pro. 29:4; Amo. 5:7).

ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 10

Hos. 10:1. Fruit for self. Selfishness is the universal form of human depravity. Every sin that can be named is only a modification of it. What is avarice, but selfishness grasping, and hoarding? What is prodigality, but selfishness decorating and indulging itselfa man sacrificing to himself as his own God? And what is idolatry, but that God enshrined man, worshipping the reflection of his own image [Harris]?

Hos. 10:2. Divided heart. In matters of great concern and which must be done there is no surer argument of a weak mind than irresolution; to be determined where the case is so plain and the necessity so urgent. To be always intending to lead a new life, but never to find time to set about it, this is as if a man should put off eating and drinking and sleeping from one day and night to another, till he is starved and destroyed [Tillotson].

Hos. 10:4. Truthful. Above all things speak the truth in words and actions. Let your word be your bond. Every violation of truth is moral suicide in the liar and a stab at the health of human society. Truth, says Jeremy Collier, is the bond of union and the basis of human happiness. Without this virtue there is no reliance on language, no confidence in friendship, no security in promises and oaths.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

REPROVINGISRAEL FELL INTO ANARCHY

TEXT: Hos. 10:1-11

1

Israel is a luxuriant vine, that putteth forth his fruit: according to the abundance of his fruit he hath multiplied his altars; according to the goodness of their land they have made goodly pillars.

2

Their heart is divided; now shall they be found guilty: he will smite their altars, he will destroy their pillars.

3

Surely now shall they say, We have no king; for we fear not Jehovah; and the king, what can he do for us?

4

They speak vain words, swearing falsely in making covenants: therefore judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

5

The inhabitants of Samaria shall be in terror for the calves of Bethaven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof, that rejoiced over it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it.

6

It also shall be carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

7

As for Samaria, her king is cut off, as foam upon the water.

8

The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

9

O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah: there they stood; the battle against the children of iniquity doth not overtake them in Gibeah.

10

When it is my desire, I will chastise them; and the peoples shall be gathered against them, when they are bound to their two transgressions.

11

And Ephraim is a heifer that is taught, that loveth to tread out the grain; but I have passed over upon her fair neck: I will set a rider on Ephraim: Judah shall plow, Jacob shall break his clods.

QUERIES

a.

How is the heart of Israel divided?

b.

Who is king Jareb?

c.

What were the two transgressions binding Israel?

PARAPHRASE

Israel is prospering like a luxuriant grape vine sagging under the weight of much fruit. But the more prosperous I make her, the more she devotes herself to heathen altars and pagan idols. Her heart is smooth and treacherous. She is guilty and must be punished. God will destroy all her altars and idols. Surely under the circumstances of the coming judgment they will cry out We do not fear Jehovahnow we have no kingbut what is the difference? No king could help us now! Their talk is emptythey make promises they never intended to keep. On account of this they are sowing the poison of anarchy and destruction within their own land. The people of Israel will moan over the destruction of their national shrines and gods, The priests will perform a ritual dance, imploring their idols to save them. But this idolthis calf-god thingwill be carted off helplessly into captivity with Israel as a present to the great Warrior King of Assyria. Israel and her calf-god will be disgraced. The advice and programs Israel thought were so politically and religiously wise will appear to be so foolish to her then. The proud monarchy of Israel vanishes like a splinter upon the surface of this water which is carried away by the current without leaving a trace behind. Those majestic and expensive idol-altars of Aven at Bethel where Israel sinned will crumble. They will be so deserted thorns and thistles will grow up in their place. And the deluded people, forsaken by their helpless gods, cast off by the Lord, stand in awe and terror as they see Gods judgment coming upon themthey cry for the mountains and the hills to cover them and hide them from the wrath of Jehovah. Ah, Israel, since the days of Gibeah you have persisted in the same sin as the Gibeahites; but whereas those sinners were punished and destroyed by the war, you still live on in the same sin without having been destroyed in a similar war. When it is according to my purpose, I will punish Israel. The Gentile nations will be arrayed against them. Their two transgressions, apostacy from Jehovah and separation from the royal house of David, will haunt them all during their punishment, Israel is accustomed to pleasant, productive. profitable labor, like the heifer that loves to tread out the grain because she is allowed to eat at her pleasure. But it will soon be different. I will seize her and harness her by a heavy yoke to the plow and harrow. Yes, Judah too shall be put to hard labor in captivity, just like Israel.

SUMMARY

Israels prosperity was only a veneer giving an outward appearance of well-being. Inside she was corrupt, lawless, idolatrous and in the throes of anarchy.

COMMENT

Hos. 10:1 ISRAEL IS A LUXURIANT VINE . . . The KJV has it, Israel is an empty vine . . . Practically all scholars of the Hebrew texts consider this a palpable inaccuracy. Lange says, a thriving vine. Keil says, a running vine. The translators of both the ASV and the RSV translated a luxuriant vine. Hosea was probably using satire or irony in so addressing Israel. Israel waxed prosperous, it is true, in spite of national calamities. But what kind of fruit was Israel producing? Fruit of its own choosing, of its own pleasure, instead of the fruit for which God looked. The figure of the vine is an old and familiar figure (cf. Psa. 80:8 ff; Isa. 5:1-10; Jer. 2:21; Eze. 15:1 ff; Eze. 17:6 ff; Joh. 15:1 ff). In Jesus day the great gate of the Temple, the outer gate, had emblazoned upon it a golden vine. It was the symbol of national life. Isaiah tells us (Isa. 5:1 ff) what fruit God expected to find on His vine (the covenant people). God expected justice and righteousness but found instead oppression and iniquity. God was not judging them because they were prosperousbut because they misused their prosperity. They were selfish. They spent it on their own pleasureon vain and ungodly practices. The more their wealth increased, the more they spent on idolatry and sensuality. More wealth, less dependence upon God and more self-worship. Hosea uses more irony in calling their pillars goodly pillars. They were probably obelisks erected to pagan deities. They were probably very artistic and expensive. According to their prosperity they had built themselves ornate idols; God was lost, mislaid, and instead of Him there were ornate pillars, obelisks, stones. This certainly strikes a familiar note. America has become a luxuriant vine, but she produces fruit unto herself. She has forgotten God and built altars to power, reason, progress, humanism and is no longer dependent upon the Creator.

Hos. 10:2 THEIR HEART IS DIVIDED . . . The Hebrew word chalag should be translated smooth, treacherous, rather than divided. Jeroboam was very solicitous for the care and convenience of his dear people (1Ki. 12:27-28); all the while he was thinking of his own desires to set up and secure an apostate nation. The people were happy to follow the same deceitprofessing with their lips to belong to Jehovah but rejecting His law and worshipping idols. The spirit of harlotry was in Israels heart (Hos. 5:4). If it were not so tragic it would be amusing to behold Israel trying to deceive Jehovah. Surely they would be aware of the many times in their past history when every man and woman who tried to deceive God was inevitably caught!

Hos. 10:3 SURELY NOW SHALL THEY SAY, WE HAVE NO KING . . . As Pusey points out, These are the words of despair, not of repentance; of men terrified by the consciousness of guilt, but not coming forth out of its darkness; describing their condition, not confessing the iniquity which brought it on them. Israel had rebelled against the kingship of God and asked for a king of their own (cf. Hos. 8:3-4). God gave them Jeroboam. Now, after all the years of gradual political, moral and civil decay and degenerationto the point of anarchysurely they will be compelled to confess that they no longer have a king. Yes, they confess it! They also admit that they have no fear of Jehovah. But that is not such a problem as the present king they do have. If we had a king like the Jeroboams, they probably wail, we might hope for better times; but now? The king we have now; its all his fault. Their hearts are not only deceitful, they are deceived! This is the oldest trick of sin and Satandeceiving man into blaming others for the consequences of their own sins! When man blames others for his sins, he is in no mind to repent.

Hos. 10:4 THEY SPEAK VAIN WORDS . . . JUDGMENT SPRINGETH UP AS HEMLOCK . . . No mans word could be trusted (cf. Jer. 9:5-9; Mic. 7:5-7). Their deceitful, smooth, treacherous hearts manifested themselves in their business dealings. What a man is down deep within his heart soon appears in his deeds (cf. Mar. 7:21-23). These people of Israel were conducting their business like the Pharisees of Jesus day (cf. Mat. 23:16-22). Honor, duty, justice, righteousness, truth have all long since ceased to be. Law and order ceases to be right. Might becomes right. Judges are bribed; debtors are sold into slavery; covenants are broken. Right has been made to be wrong and wrong has been made to be right, (cf. Isa. 5:20-23; Mic. 3:2). Right has degenerated into bitter wrongjustice is so perverted it covers the land like the poisonous weed hemlock (cf. Amo. 5:7). Hemlock, the reader will remember, was what Socrates was forced to drink to induce his death, There was plenty of so-called justice in the landbut what kind of justice? Judgments as bitter and fatal as hemlock, (cf. Hab. 1:4).

Hos. 10:5-6 . . . SAMARIA SHALL BE IN TERROR FOR THE CALVES OF BETH-AVEN: . . . IT ALSO SHALL BE CARRIED UNTO ASSYRIA . . . These two verses, although predicting the behavior of Israel at the time of her captivities in the future, are exact representations of how she reacted. First, Israel was concerned for the safety of her national temples, obelisks and calf-idols. What was to become of them. Then, as the reality of the captivity came immediately upon them they began to wail, perform ritual dances, imploring their idol to help them. But their gods were deaf and dumb. There were no answers; no actions. The Assyrians defeated Israel, plundered her spacious buildings from the smallest to the greatest, and the calf-god of Israel they carried off helpless and silent to be given to the Assyrian king as a present. The calf-god of Israel appears to have been included in the Assyrian pantheon of gods and placed in the temple of Marduk (cf. 2Ki. 18:33-35; 2Ki. 25:13-16; Ezr. 1:7-11). Cyrus, king of Persia, restored all these gods to their original homes. Israel is disgraced! Shame and ridicule is now her lot. Why has all this happened? Because Israel trusted in her own pridein her own vain counsel. She would not listen to the law of God nor to His prophets. She made kings after her own desires; she made gods according to the lust of her heart; she joined herself to pagan countries for protection and became their vassal. Now all this shameful self-counseling is paying its wagesshame!

Hos. 10:7 AS FOR SAMARIA, HER KING IS CUT OFF, AS FOAM UPON THE WATER . . . Not only is her calf-god useless to help her, Israels king cannot help. The word translated foam would have been more literally translated, splinter, or small stick. The king was like one of those little sticks or straws which float in countless numbers on the surface of the ocean or streams, give the image of lightness, emptiness, a thing too light to sink, but driven impetuously and unresistingly, hither and thither, at the impulse of the torrent which hurries it along. Hoshea, their last king, was just so easily swept by the flood which broke on Israel from Assyria.

Hos. 10:8 THE HIGH PLACES . . . OF AVEN . . . SHALL BE DESTROYED . . . Aven is a pun. Aven means, worthless, vile, useless. Bethel, seat of their idolatrous worship, was called Beth-aven. Here, Aven probably also means Bethel. High place is from the Hebrew word bamah or ramah and means simply, elevation. We quote here from Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, edited by Merrill C. Tenney, pg. 354:

It seems to be inherent in human nature to think of God as dwelling in the heights. From earliest times men have tended to choose high places for their worship, whether of God, or of the false gods which men have invented. In Canaan these high places had become the scenes of orgies and human sacrifice connected with the idolatrous worship of these imaginary gods; and so when Israel entered the Promised Land they were told to be iconoclasts as well as conquerors. . . . (Num. 33:52). These figured stones bore upon themselves crude carvings, sometimes more or less like geometrical figures, or else talismans, or other signs presumably understood by the priests and used to mystify or terrorize the worshippers. Israel partly obeyed but largely failed in this work . . . Later some godly kings like Hezekiah (2Ch. 31:1) destroyed the high places, while others like Manasseh relapsed and rebuilt them (2Ch. 33:3). After Manasseh had been punished and had repented, he was restored to his throne, and resumed the temple worship, but the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only unto Jehovah their God (2Ch. 33:17). Through Manassehs early influence, the people had gone so far into apostasy that they could not repent, but through the godliness of Josiah, especially after he had heard the law read (2Ki. 22:8-20), the judgment was delayed till after the death of Josiah.

The high places came to be specifically noted for idolatrous worship. So the title was transferred from the elevation to the sanctuary on the elevation and so came to be used of any idolatrous shrine, whether constructed on an elevation or not (cf. 2Ki. 16:4; 2Ki. 17:9; 2Ch. 21:11; 2Ch. 28:4; Isa. 36:7; Amo. 7:9; Mic. 1:5; Mic. 4:1; Jer. 7:31; Jer. 19:5; Jer. 32:32; Eze. 6:3-6; Eze. 16:16; Eze. 20:29; Eze. 43:7, etc.). All these places in Israel were utterly destroyed and made desolate and deserted when Israel was taken captive. Weeds and thorns grew up where thousands once performed heathen religious rites in the name of Jehovah. Their ruins are there today to be seen and pondered! The deluded, shamed people, forsaken by their helpless gods and impotent kings shake with terror as they see Gods judgments coming upon them. Clothed in the filthy garments of sin, they are totally unprepared to meet God (cf. Amo. 4:13). There is no place to hide when the Day of the Lord comes (cf. Amo. 5:18-20; Amo. 9:2-4). They cry out for the mountains and the hills to fall upon them and cover them from His terrible wrath (cf. Rev. 6:16). Only those who have washed their robes white in the blood of The Lamb will not be ashamed on that final great and terrible Day of the Lord! Have you been washed, my brother? Prepare to meet thy God!

Hos. 10:9 . . . THOU HAST SINNED FROM THE DAYS OF GIBEAH . . . From the very days when the people of Gibeah sinned against the concubine of the Levite (cf. Hos. 9:9), Israel has continued in the same sin. But whereas those sinners were punished and destroyed by war, you still live on in the same sin without having similarly been destroyed.

Hos. 10:10 WHEN IT IS MY DESIRE, I WILL CHASTISE THEM . . . Yes, the wheels of Gods justice grind slow, at times, but very fine! When the time comes within the omniscient plan and purpose of God for it to be, He will punish Israel for her sins just as surely and completely as He punished the Gibeahites! God never acts without intelligent, fore-planned purpose. Every event of history has a time and a place foreknown in the purpose of Almighty God and man can neither hinder it nor speed it. Furthermore, God uses whatever secondary agents He desires in carrying out His purposes. In Israels case He chose to use the peoples, or Gentile nations, to carry out His wrath upon this recalcitrant nation (cf. Isa. 10:5 ff).

The two transgressions of Israel which will cling to them and bind them like seaweed strangles a drowning man are: (a) Their idolatry; (b) Their making kings according to their own desires. These two specific rebellions against the Holy God will haunt them and plague them all the rest of their days as they wander over all the face of the earth.

Hos. 10:11 AND EPHRAIM IS A HEIFER THAT . . . LOVETH TO TREAD OUT THE GRAIN . . . Having been trained and provided for by the Lord, growing fat and sleek, Ephraim (Israel) loved to thresh. Like the young ox, walking leisurely over the corn, permitted to eat her fill (Deu. 25:4), Israel loved to do work which to him seemed pleasant, productive, profitable, neglecting and forgetting the training of his Master; resenting His instructions when they ran counter to his own desires; shirking the arduous duty of self-discipline (Deu. 32:15-18) demanded by Jehovah. Passed over her fair neck, says Keil, means rushing in upon a person. The actual idea is that of putting a heavy yoke upon the neck. No longer will Israel be treated like a privileged and petted heifer, but she will be yoked to a plow to do servile, exhausting labor (in captivity). So Judah, too, because of her sins will be taken captive. Israel (like Jacob) will be driven out of their homeland into exile, into hard labor of slavery.

QUIZ

1.

What is the meaning of likening Israel to a luxuriant vine?

2.

What are the goodly pillars?

3.

Why did Israel cry, We have no king . . . what can he do for us?

4.

Why is judgment springing up like hemlock?

5.

How and why did the people mourn over their calves of Bethaven?

6.

What are the high places of Aven?

7.

Whose desire is spoken of in Hos. 10:10?

8.

How is Israel like a heifer that loves to tread out the grain?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

X.

(1) Empty in the English version is wrong, being inconsistent with what follows. (Comp. LXX. and Vulg.) Read luxuriant. The metaphors of the vintage (comp. also Gen. 49:22, and Introduction to Hosea 9) are still prevalent in the mind of the prophet. Wnsche has powerfully illustrated this wild strong growth of Israel as compared with Judah. Joash prevailed over Amaziah, and plundered Jerusalem (2Ki. 14:12-14). Jeroboam II. extended his power as far as Hamath (2Ki. 14:23-25). The kingdom had resisted the attacks of Syria, and had become insolent as well as idolatrous. The last clause should be rendered, The more abundant his fruit, the more he increased altars; the fairer his land, the fairer the Baal-pillars. On Baal-pillars, see W. R. Smith, Old Testament in the Jewish Church, pp. 248, 425. (Comp. 9:1 and 2:5.) Misapprehending the cause of their temporal prosperity, and wilfully ignoring Jehovahs forbearance and love, they attributed their mercies to the grace of Baal, and multiplied idolatrous shrines (see Rom. 2:4.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

ISRAEL’S GUILT AND PUNISHMENT, Hos 10:1-8.

Using the figure of a luxuriant vine, the prophet describes Israel’s external prosperity; it increased steadily, but instead of bringing forth good grapes it brought forth bitter grapes (Isa 5:1-7; Psa 80:8 ff.). The greater the prosperity the more flagrant the moral and religious corruption (Hos 10:1-2). Therefore altars, idols, and pillars shall be broken down, the calves of Samaria shall be carried into Assyria, priests and people shall be in terror and shall mourn (Hos 10:2-6); even the king shall be cut off (Hos 10:7). The high places shall be destroyed, thorns and thistles shall grow over them, and in terror the people shall cry for the mountains and hills to fall upon them (Hos 10:8).

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1, 2. Empty vine Or, emptying vine, that is, the vine that “pours forth its internal strength in abundance of growth and fruit”; therefore R.V., correctly, “luxuriant” (compare Hos 9:10).

He bringeth forth fruit unto himself Instead of bringing forth fruit for his owner, Jehovah; R.V. makes it a relative clause and renders, “that putteth forth his fruit”; the vine is also fruitful.

Fruit Prosperity, wealth, and power. Probably a reference to the successes achieved under Jeroboam II (2Ki 14:23 ff.). The greater the prosperity the more he (Israel) hath increased the [“multiplied his”] altars If interpreted in the light of other expressions of Hosea, the prophet seems to condemn here not the multiplication of altars as such; he condemns them rather on account of the corruption of the worship centering there (Hos 2:5 ff; Hos 8:4; Hos 8:11). The more their prosperity increased the more forgetful of Jehovah and the more devoted to the Baals they became.

Goodness Better, margin R.V., “prosperity.” The increase of prosperity made it possible to beautify the ceremonial.

Images [“pillars”] Compare Hos 3:4; see on Mic 5:13.

Their heart is divided Between the Baals and Jehovah. If this meaning of the verb, favored by the ancient versions, is accepted, the margin presents a more literal translation, “He hath divided their heart.” The meaning smooth, or, slippery, suggested in R.V. margin, is more probable, however; their heart was slippery, that is, fickle and insincere, in its devotion to Jehovah. But the time of reckoning has come.

Found faulty R.V., “guilty”; better still, “they shall be dealt with as guilty,” or “they shall atone for their guilt.” The first blow will reveal the inefficiency of their worship and Jehovah’s displeasure with the same.

He Jehovah; the pronoun is emphatic in Hebrew.

Break down [“smite”] their altars Literally, break the neck, a very forceful expression; the breaking of the neck means utter destruction.

Recent commentators call attention to the fact that Hos 10:5 is a more natural continuation of Hos 10:2 than Hos 10:3-4; this and other minor reasons are urged against the originality of the two verses, but the arguments can hardly be regarded as conclusive. Hos 10:3 may be understood as a confession wrung from the Israelites by the terrors of the calamity announced in 2b.

We have no king No rightful king; no king worthy of the name.

Feared Fear of Jehovah is the common Old Testament expression for piety; it means such reverence for Jehovah as will prompt obedience to his will; this was lacking when they set up their kings (Hos 8:4).

What then should a king do to us R.V., literally and more satisfactorily, “and the king (the one we do have) what can he do for us?” in the hour of distress and calamity (compare Hos 10:7; Hos 10:15; Hos 13:10). He is absolutely powerless.

Hos 10:1 calls attention to religious apostasy; Hos 10:4 describes some phases of the moral degeneracy.

Have spoken Or, R.V., “speak.”

Words Mere words, which come only from the lips (Isa 36:5; Isa 58:13), which R.V. interprets to mean “vain words”; but the prophet means more than that actual falsehoods (Isa 29:21).

Swearing falsely in making a covenant The two expressions should be kept apart, as margin R.V. suggests: “they swear falsely (see on Hos 4:2), they make covenants.” Not covenants made in ordinary life, but the covenants with Assyria and Egypt; these are displeasing to Jehovah (Hos 5:13; Hos 7:11; Hos 12:1).

Judgment Best understood of the punitive judgment of Jehovah. With 4b begins the announcement of the divine judgment. If this is the correct interpretation, the tenses must be understood as prophetic perfects, to be translated, with margin of R.V., “shall spring up.”

As hemlock From this passage and from Deu 29:18, where the word is translated “gall,” it appears that the Hebrew rosh refers to some poisonous plant, though it may be difficult to say which one; it is certainly not equivalent to the simple weed. Since the Hebrew word means also head it is thought by many to be a name for the poppy, of which several specimens are found in Palestine. Whatever it may be, it is always used in the Old Testament as a symbol of bitterness (Lam 3:19; Amo 6:12, etc.); so that the thought is that the judgment shall be as bitter as the hemlock (?) which grows in the furrows of the field.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Israel is a luxuriant vine,

Which puts forth his fruit.

In accordance with the abundance of his fruit,

He has multiplied his altars,

In accordance with the goodness of their land,

They have made goodly pillars.’

With withering sarcasm Hosea now depicts what Israel has become. They are indeed a luxurious vine which puts forth its fruit (something that they were no doubt claiming for themselves), but their response to having an abundance of fruit has been to build an abundance of altars. Most of the credit is going to Baal (and their own perverted sexual behaviour). And their response to the goodness of the land (the land, be it noted, of YHWH) as it produces abundantly is to erect goodly pillars. Such pillars were a symbol of Baal and were erected at their many sanctuaries in his honour. Many examples have been discovered archaeologically.

Note the play on ‘abundance of fruit’ and ‘multiplied altars’, ‘goodly land’ and ‘goodly pillars’, clearly stressing that the more they were blessed, the more they looked to Baal. So the more YHWH prospered Israel, the more Baalism was taking over their minds. They had never had it so good, and they gave Baal most of the credit, seeing it as a just response to all their exuberant worship and all their perverted sexual antics. They felt that they made a good partnership. And in so far as YHWH was still worshipped, it was as a part of this nature pattern. At the same time they were conveniently able to ignore the fact that they had already lost over half their land to Assyria, land which had become a province of Assyria, and also to overlook the fact of the threat of an Assyria looming ever larger, an ever threatening reality. Their eyes were simply on their own present with its fruitful harvests and freedom from all restraint, and they seemingly thought that it could go on for ever.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Israel’s ‘Fruitfulness’ Is Revealed By Their Setting Up A Multiplicity Of Altars And Religious Pillars, Declaring That They Are Responsible To No One, And Do Not Fear God, But They Will Shortly Discover That They Are Responsible To Someone, Even To The Great King Of Assyria, And That All Their False Altars Will Be Torn Down By A God Whom They Will Certainly Fear ( Hos 10:1-8 ).

Israel is here depicted as being like a luxuriant vine, but it is as one that turns out to be a vine of false promises because the ‘abundance of fruit’ that it produces will be in the form of altars to Baal and pillars of Baal. Furthermore they will declare their freedom from any restraint, whether by king or God, trusting to false covenants with nature gods. This reveals a state of anarchy and lawlessness within Israel unparalleled in the past. All restraint has broken down as they fling themselves headlong into dependency on Baal and Asherah. However, Hosea points out that they will inevitably discover that they are not free from restraint because they will discover in the end that they have to submit to a king, even the Great King, the King of Assyria, and at the same time they will be in terror of losing their ‘new’ gods. Furthermore they will discover that their high places will be destroyed, and that by the very One Whom they have despised.

Analysis of Hos 10:1-8 ).

a Israel is a luxuriant vine, which puts forth his fruit. According to the abundance of his fruit he has multiplied his altars; according to the goodness of their land they have made goodly pillars (Hos 10:1).

b Their heart is divided. Now will they be found guilty. He will smite their altars, he will destroy their pillars (Hos 10:2).

c Surely now will they say, “We have no king. For we do not fear YHWH, and the king, what can he do for us?” (Hos 10:3).

d They speak vain words, swearing falsely in making covenants, therefore judgment springs up as hemlock in the furrows of the field (Hos 10:4).

c The inhabitants of Samaria will be in terror for the calves of Beth-aven, for the people in it mourn over it, and its priests who rejoiced over it, for its glory, because it is departed from it. It also will be carried to Assyria for a present to the great king. Ephraim will receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel (Hos 10:5-6).

b As for Samaria, her king is cut off, as a twig on the water, the high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed (Hos 10:7-8 a).

a The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars, and they will say to the mountains, “Cover us,” and to the hills, “Fall on us” (Hos 10:8 b).

Note that in ‘a’ stress is laid on the multiplicity of their altars, and in the parallel we learn what will happen to their altars. In ‘b’ YHWH will smite their altars and destroy their pillars, and in the parallel the high places of Aven will be destroyed. In ‘c’ the people boast that they have no king and have no fear of YHWH, and want to know what a king can do for them, and in the parallel they are in terror for their gods and own the kingship of the Great King and admit the folly of their own counsel. Centrally in ‘d’ they speak lying words concerning religious covenants with the result that judgment will inevitably come upon them.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

ISRAEL’S GROWING SPIRITUAL BANKRUPTCY AND DEGRADED BEHAVIOUR ARE DESCRIBED ALONG WITH THEIR RELIANCE ON IDOLS, FOREIGNERS, UNWORTHY KINGS AND THEMSELVES, AND THIS IN CONTRAST WITH YHWH’S STEADFAST LOVE FOR HIS FAILING SON ( Hos 6:4 to Hos 11:12 ).

Hosea continues to describe the condition in which Israel find themselves, and rebukes their reliance on other things than YHWH. Conditions in Israel would appear to be politically much worse, and these words were therefore probably mainly spoken during the years of turmoil following the death of Menahem and his son Pekahiah, that is, during the reigns of Pekah and Hoshea. During this period there was an off-on relationship with Assyria which eventually caused the downfall of Pekah and the initial submission of Hoshea to Assyria, followed by his later turning to Egypt (and not to YHWH) in the hope of breaking free from Assyria’s yoke.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Hos 10:12 “break up your fallow ground” Comments – Fallow ground is figurative for the heart of man. See the parable of the sower in Mar 4:1-20. Also, note:

Jer 4:3, “For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground , and sow not among thorns.”

Hos 10:12 Comments – In the early spring of 1994 Pastor Bob Seymour received a vision from God while in Ireland regarding the coming of revival that helped him to understand why laughter had become so much a part of revivals that was taking place during the 1990’s. In this vision he say what looked like a children’s storybook entitled “Pre-revival.” The book contained a picture of a woman’s womb with twins in her womb. The Lord spoke to him and said that the son of the left was the son of tears with its four accompanying characteristics of crying, weeping groaning and mourning. The son of the right was the son of laughter with its four accompanying characteristics of joy, gladness, hilarity and exuberance. When he turned the page he saw these two sons of tears and laughter in their adolescence moving through crowds of saints in church services touching them by laying hands upon them many times as well as alternately. When Pastor Seymour asked the Lord why tears and laughter were prerequisites to revival, the Lord showed him this vision. He saw a well-worn pathway upon which the rain simply ran off without soaking into its soil because it was too compact for the water to penetrate so that the soil could not receive the rain. The rain simply flowed over its surface. Then at the end of the pathway he saw these two boys plowing up the compacted path. At first it came up in huge lumps, but was soon broken up into smaller pieces. Then the Lord’s hand came down and ground up the soil into a fine texture. The Lord then said, “The seeds of revival have landed on the path for many years, but the soil was not ready to receive them. But now the seeds will be planted and the plants will grow and be harvested with much fruit. For I will pour my rain on a thirsty soil and the seed will germinate.” While he saw this vision, there rang in his ears two verses of Scripture, Jer 4:3 and Hos 10:12 about the fallow ground. Then he understood why laughter was a part of tears in bringing revival since these characteristics prepare our hearts to receive from God. [18]

[18] Bob Seymour, “Preaching on Relationships,” Calvary Cathedral International, Fort Worth, Texas, September 28, 1995.

As a seminary student I once heard a seasoned professor say that if you can get your class to laugh, then they would believe anything you said to them. In other words, laughter as well as tears opens our hearts.

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Seats of Worship Destroyed

v. 1. Israel is an empty vine, a thriving, climbing vine; he bringeth forth fruit unto himself, growing up with every indication of strength and fruitfulness, but utterly selfish and godless in aim; according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars, that is, the more Israel grew in prosperity, the more the members of the nation rejected the Lord and became addicted to idolatry; according to the goodness of his land, in proportion to the riches obtained, they have made goodly images, statues of idols.

v. 2. Their heart is divided, rather, “smooth, false, insincere”; now shall they be found faulty, they will have to make expiation, they will have to suffer for their duplicity; He shall break down their altars, destroying them by demolishing their horns, He shall spoil their images, the true God thereby proving Himself to be the Master of the idols.

v. 3. For now, when the punishment of the Lord would strike them, they shall say, We have no king because we feared not the Lord, for the man whom they selected for the position against the Lord’s will was unable to help them, in their emergency; what, then, should a king do to us? that is, of what benefit could he be, what possibility was there of his helping them in their difficulty?

v. 4. They have spoken words, empty, vain statements, swearing falsely in making a covenant; for they were not fair and honest in their treaties with other nations, keeping them only as long as they hoped to have some benefit or advantage from them; thus judgment, what they wanted to consider right and good, springeth up as hemlock, a poisonous plant, in the furrows of the field. Cf Amo 6:12. Since they themselves were not clear on what was right, their hazy notions reacted in a most unfavorable manner on themselves, like a poisonous weed overgrowing a field.

v. 5. The inhabitants of Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven, trembling for the fate of their idol at Bethel; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, at its loss or destruction, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, its idol-priests shall tremble for it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it, being taken away into captivity.

v. 6. It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to King Jareb, to the warlike monarch; Ephraim shall receive shame, be completely overcome with shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel, of all its planning with regard to its idolatrous cult.

v. 7. As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water, for its kingdom had just as little solidity and stability, it was as speedily dissolved as the foam which rides on the breakers.

v. 8. The high places also of Aven, of Bethel, the sin of Israel, where idolatry was practiced to such a shocking extent, shall be destroyed; the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars, so that they would be overgrown with weeds; and they, the inhabitants of the country, shall say to the mountains, Cover us! and to the hills, Fall on us! That is the cry of the unbelievers, of the enemies of God, when they see the judgment approaching them, when it is too late for salvation. Cf Isa 2:19; Luk 23:30.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

The concluding thought of the last chapter is the commencing one of this; while the sad subject of Israel’s guilt being resumed continues in the first section (Hos 10:1-8) of the chapter, and that of their punishment in the second section (Hos 10:9-15), with a solemn caution to make a better use of the future than they had clone of the past.

Hos 10:1

Israel is an empty vine. The comparison of Israel to a vine is frequent; but the epithet boqeq is variously rendered;

(1) as “empty.” Thus Aben Ezra explains it as “empty in which there is no strength to bring forth fruit, nor fruit;” and thus also Kimchi explains it: “An empty vine in which there is not any life-sap;” and in the same sense , “empty and sick,” Nah 2:11. This, too, is the meaning of the Authorized Version, but is irreconcilable with the statement in the following clause, “he bringeth forth fruit.” The Chaldee had preceded in giving the word the sense of “plundered,” “empty,” “waste.” But

(2) some take boqeq transitively, and attach to it the signification of “emptying out its fruit.” In this way Rashi explains it: “The Israelites resemble a vine which casts all its good fruit;” and similarly the marginal rendering of the Authorized Version has, “a vine emptying the fruit which it giveth.” There is

(3) a signification derivable from the primary meaning of boqeq more suitable than either of the preceding. From the primary sense of “pouring,” “pouring itself out,” or” poured out,” and so overflowing, comes that of “luxuriant.” Accordingly Gesenius translates, “a wide-spreading vine.” This agrees with the Septuagint , “a vine with goodly branches,” to which the Vulgate frondosa, “leafy,” nearly corresponds. In like manner De Wette renders it wuchernder, “growing prosperously.” It was thus a vine of vigorous growth, and extending its branches far and wide; a parallel expression is found in the of Eze 17:6, “a spreading vine.” He (rather, it) bringeth forth fruit unto him self (itself). The word literally signifies “reset to” or “on,” and is rightly rendered by Gesenius “to set” or “yield fruit.” It is variously interpreted by the Hebrew commentators, but more or less erroneously by them all. Rashi takes it in the sense of “to profit;” Aben Ezra, “to bear” or “make equal;” and Kimchi informs us that the older interpreters understood in the sense of “lying,” as if , the whole phrase meaning, “the fruit will lie to him,” that is, deceive or fail him (like Hos 9:2). Kimchi himself takes the verb in the right sense, but, misled by his erroneous explanation of boqeq, empty or plundered, takes the clause interrogatively: “How shall he set on himself [equivalent to ‘yield’ any fruit], since he is as a plundered vine; for the enemies have plundered him and set him as an empty vessel? how should he still thrive and become numerous in children and treasures?” It makes little difference whether we take the second part of the first clause relatively or independently, as the sense amounts to the same. The meaning of the two difficult and disputed words then we take to be respectively “luxuriant” and “yield;” and the sense of the whole is either

(1) a comparison of the former state of Israel to a vine luxuriant and likely, as far as appearance went, to set forth fruit; but the luxuriance degenerated into leafage, and the likelihood of fruitage failed; or

(2) Israel is compared to a vine luxuriant in growth and abundant in fruitbut only for itself. The former explanation accords with that of Jerome when he says, “Unpruned vines luxuriate in the juice and leaves which they ought to transmute into wine. They disperse in the idle ambitious show of leaves and branches.” The more abundantly a fruit tree gives out its strength in leaves and branches, the less abundant and the worse the quality of the fruit. Thus it was with the fig tree, with its abundant leaves and no fruit, which our Lord cursed. But with the same or a similar rendering there is the alternative sense of prosperous growth and plenteous fruit, but that fruit wasted on self or sin; and thus the meaning in either case is much the same. The Septuagint favors this by , equivalent to “its fruit exuberant.” Cyril favors this latter also in saying, “When Israel still wisely led a life in accordance with the Divine Law, it was as a beautiful vine adorned with branches, which even the neighboring nations admired.” This was exactly the state of Israel in the days of Joash and Jeroboam II.; but their prosperity was prostituted to purposes of idolatry. Jerome also, in any other part of his exposition, approaches this sense. Taking , in the sense of “to equal,” he says, “The fecundity of the grapes equaled the fecundity of the branches: but they who had previously been so fruitful before they offended God, afterwards turned the abundance of fruits into multiplied occasions of offence; and the greater the population they possessed, the more altars they built, and exceeded the abundant produce of the land by the multitude of their idols.” Or the verb may mean, “it made fruit equal to itself;” nearly so the Vulgate. The fruit is agreeable to it. According to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars. In this second or middle clause of the verse the figure passes into the fact represented by it. It is no longer the vine, but Israel. The altars kept pace with the increase of population and abundant produce; the multiplication of altars for idolatrous sacrifice and service was proportionate to their prosperity. The le here and in next clause marks the circumlocutory genitive, and the ke is quantitative. According to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images (margin, statues, or, standing images). The matstsevoth here mentioned are in the LXX; that is, statues or pillars, and those pillars were erected to Baal or some other idol, as we read in 1Ki 14:23. The plural of the verb in this last clause arises from Israel being a noun of multitude. Rashi gives the following brief exposition: “Just in proportion as I caused their prosperity to overflow to them, they multiplied calves for the altars;” but Kimchi explains both clauses more fully and accurately thus: “As I increased their prosperous state in treasures and children, they multiplied altars to Baal; as I did good to their land in corn and wine and oil, they waxed strong in setting up pillars for other gods;” the verb has the same sense here as in Jon 4:9.

Hos 10:2

Their heart is divided. Here their wickedness is traced to its fountainhead; its source was in the corrupt state of the heart. Their heart was

(1) divided, and so they halted between two opinionsbetween the worship of Jehovah and idolatry. Chalaq is taken in this signification by the Chaldee, Syriac, Septuagint, and Jerome, as also by the Hebrew commentators. The LXX. have

(a) in the singular, which affords some support to Hitzig’s rendering, “He (God)divided their heart,”but this is unsuitable and unscriptural; another

(b) reading of the same version is , “They have divided their hearts,” which is somewhat better, yet incorrect.

(c) The Authorized Version is also questionable, as the verb is not used intransitively in Qal.

(2) Kimchi, indeed, understands chalaq as equivalent to niehloq in the Niphal, and interprets, “From the fear of God and from his Law their heart is divided,” i.e. separated; similarly Rashi: “Their heart is divided from me;” Aben Ezra somewhat peculiarly, though to the same purport: “They (their heart) has not one part (but several),”or is divided. But, notwithstanding this consensus in favor of the meaning of “divide,” the rendering preferred, and justly so, by modern expositors in general, is “smooth.” This is, indeed, the primary sense, that of “divide” being secondary, as division was made by lot or a smooth stone, cheleq, used for the purpose.

(3) “Their heart is smooth,” that is, bland, deceitful, hypocritical; though it must be admitted that the word is mostly applied to the tongue, lip, throat, mouth, speech, and not to the heart. Their heart was hypocritical and faithless. Now shall they be found faulty; rather, they shall be dealt with as such, or punished; better still, perhaps, is the rendering, now shall they atone. The “now“ defines sharply the turning-point between God’s love and God’s wrath. The state of things hitherto existing cannot continue; it must soon come to an end. Ere long they are doomed to discover their guilt in its punishment; they shall find out their sin by suffering; suddenly and to their cost they shall have a fearful awaking to a sense of their iniquity by the inflictions of Divine wrath upon their guilty heads. He shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. The verb is peculiar; being a denominative from , the neck, it signifies “to break the neck of,” like the Greek , decollate, then figuratively “tear down,” “break in pieces.” This bold expression of breaking the neck of the altars may allude to their destruction by breaking off the horns of the altars, or rather to their beheading, cutting off the heads of victims at those altars. The Hebrew expositors make the heart of the people, not God, the immediate object of the verb. “Their heart,” says one of them, “shall tear down their altars and lay waste their pillars, because it is divided from me. It will tear down their altars which they are said also to have multiplied, and lay waste their pillars which they made so goodly.” The means of sinning shall be taken from them and destroyedtheir altars broken down and their images spoiled. As the heads of victims had been cut off at these altars erected for idolatrous worship; so the heads of their altars would be broken off.

Hos 10:3

For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord. In the day of their destruction Israel would be brought to see and even feel that the king appointed through their own self-will and fancied plenitude of power was unable to protect or help them, and that because they had rejected Jehovah and cast aside his fear. The point of time denoted by “now” is either when they see destruction before their eyes, or when Israel is already in captivity. Rashi explains it in the former sense: “When destruction shall come upon them, they shall say, ‘We have no king,’ that is, our king on whom we set our hopes when we said, ‘Our king shall go out before us and light our battles,’ affords us no help whatever.” Kimchi explains similarly, but fixes the “now” in the time of the Captivity: “Now, when they shall be carried out of their land, they shall recognize and say, ‘We have no king;’ the explanation is, as it’ we had no king among us, for there is no strength in him to deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, as we thought when we asked for a king who should march at our head and fight our battles. Godblessed be he!was our King, and we needed no king, and he it was that delivered us out of the hand of our enemies when we did his will.” Aben Ezra and others understand it as the expression of a wild licorice on the part of Israel, recklessly giving vent to an anarchical and atheistic spirit: “As soon as their heart was divided they had no wish to have a king over them, and had no fear of Jehovah; therefore they had no fear, and every one did what was right in his own eyes.” This exposition neglects the note of time, as also the causal particle that follows. They bethought themselves that, as they had not feared Jehovah, but neglected his Law, the king which they had demanded could do them no good. “What,” they asked, “can the king do for us? He has no power to deliver us, since God is angry with us, for we have sinned against him?” Such is the confession of Israel in captivity. Pusey remarks in reference to this: “In sin, all Israel had asked for a king, when the Lord was their King; in sin, Ephraim had made Jeroboam king; in sin, their subsequent kings were made, without the counsel and advice of God; and now, as the close of all, they reflect how fruitless it all was.”

Hos 10:4

God, by the prophet, had charged Israel with fruitlessness, or with bringing forth fruit to themselves; with perverting the bounties of his providence in promoting idolatry; with their division of heart, or deceitfulness of heart. He had also threatened to punish them for their sin, and to deprive them of the means of sinning by destroying the instruments thereof, and to prevent their obtaining any help from their king, proving to them the folly of depending on him. He now proceeds, in this and following verses (Hos 10:4-8), to point out their moral corruption, the usual consequence or concomitant of irreligion and of false religion, instancing their deceptive dealing in the common affairs of life and their perjury in public compacts or covenants, as also their general unrighteousness. He threatens to destroy their idols to the distress of their worshippers and ministering priests as well as of their chief city. He threatens further to cause their calf-idols to be carried into captivity, pouring shame and contempt on their enterprises; to cut off their king; to leave the places of their idol-worship desolate, filling the people with distress and despair because of all their sins. They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant. In this fourth verse the prophet deplores the absence of truth, faithfulness, and loyalty to duty. This expression, “they have spoken words,” is generally understood to signify

(a) “empty words,” “false words,” only words and no more, like the Latin verba alicui dare. Thus their vain, deceitful, lying words in private transactions and common affairs of everyday life would correspond to their perjury in public treaties and covenants. Their words were deceitful and their oaths falsehood. In their ordinary business transactions they used words, empty words, words without truth, corresponding thereto; in international concerns they had pursued the same course of falsifying and covenant-breaking. After entering into an engagement with the Assyrian king Shalmaneser, they made a covenant with So King of Egypt, as we read in 2Ki 17:4, “And the King of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea: for he had sent messengers to So King of Egypt, and brought no present to the King of Assyria, as he had done year by year.” In this latter case they acted as covenant-breakers, and at the same time contravened the Divine command, which forbade them entering into covenants with foreigners. The first clause, however, is understood by some

(b) in the sense of “deliberating.’ Thus Kimchi understands it, erroneously referring it to Jeroboam and his countrymen; thus: “Jeroboam and his companions took counsel what they should do in order to strengthen the government in his hand, and they deliberated (or held consultation) that the people should not go up to Jerusalem to the house of the sanctuary; and for this purpose they bound themselves by oath and made a covenant. But their oath was a vain one, because their oath was intended to frustrate the words of the Law and the command of God, and to make images for their worship.” The words have been explained by some

(1) as “oaths of vanity,” that is, oaths by vanity or an idol, as an oath of Jehovah is an oath by Jehovah, being taken for a noun in the plural;

(2) as predicate, while the following words supply the subject; thus: “their covenant contracts are oaths of vanity.” This mistake of taking for a noun arose from the anomalous form of the word, which is really a verb. The form is explained by Aben Ezra, who calls it an irregular formation, as if it were compounded of the infinitive construct as indicated by the ending , and the infinitive absolute as indicated by the qamets in the first syllable; it is in reality the infinitive absolute, and the irregularity is owing to the assonance with karoth thence resulting. As to the construction, it is that of the infinitive standing in place of the finite verb, of which Gesenius says, “This is frequent… in the expression of several successive acts or states, where only the first of the verbs employed takes the required form in respect to tense and person, the others being simply put in the infinitive with the same tense and person implied.” The meaning of the clause is obviously that there was no longer any respect for the sanctity of an oath; while the treaties refer to those made with the Assyrian king, with the object of securing and upholding the government.

Thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field. The judgment here spoken of is understood

(1) by the Hebrew interpreters, following the Chaldee Version, as the judgment of God and consequent punishment of Israel because of sin; thus Kinchi: “Therefore there springs up against them the judgment of chastisements and punishments like hemlock, which is a bitter herb that springs up on the furrows of the field.” Some, again,

(2) explain it of the decree of the kings of Israel in reference to the worship of idols, which, like a bitter herb, was to issue in national ruin. We much prefer

(3) the more obvious sense of the clause which refers it to the perversion of judgment and justice. Thus Amos addresses them as those who “turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,” and calls on them to “establish judgment in the gate;” and Habakkuk writes, “Wrong [wrested] judgment proceedeth.” It is implied in the mention of furrows that there has been careful preparation for the intended crop. The seed they sow is injustice; and the plant that springs up from it is a poison-planthemlock, bitter and noxious, and is everywhere rampant. Another

(4) explanation understands “judgment” in the sense of crime which calls on judgment for punishment. The field is that of the Israelitish nation; in all the furrows of that wide field judgment, that is, crime, springs up as luxuriantly and abundantly as hemlock. The multiplication of crime in Israel, like a luxurious noxious growth in some large field, is the idea thus conveyed. This explanation has the appearance at least of being somewhat strained and forced, though it yields a good sense.

Hos 10:5

The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear Because of the calves of Beth-aven. Samaria was the capital of Israel, the northern kingdom. Bethel means “house of God,” once a place of sacred memory from its association with the history of the patriarch Jacob; afterward one of the two centers of idolatrous worship, and here called Beth-aven, “house of vanity,” because of the idolatry. The word for “calves” is in the feminine, in order to express contempt for those idols which Jeroboam set up. With this have been compared the following expressions in Greek and Latin: , and O vere Phrygiae, nec enim Phryges! The Hebrews ignored the existence of female divinities, as of their, ten names of the Deity all are masculine. The feminine may also imply their weakness; so far from helping their worshippers, their worshippers were in trepidation for them, or rather it, lest it should be carried away captive. Further, this same word is in the plural, to cast ridicule on it, as if mimicking the plural of majesty, or rather, perhaps, to include that of Dan, or to intimate that the calf of Bethel, the more celebrated place, was that after which the calf of Dan and probably those of other places were fashioned, especially so as it is afterwards referred to in the singular. Besides, a fewa very fewmanuscripts, it is true, read the singular, as also the LXX; which has , and the Syriac; while Bathe, relying on these authorities, maintains the reading to have been in the singular. Others suppose an enallage of both gender and number; or an indefinite generality is expressed by the plural, while for abstracts the feminine is used. The coming punishment is casting its shadow before, so that the inhabitants, perceiving symptoms of its approach, tremble for their god of gold, now, like themselves, in greatest jeopardy. For the people thereof shall mourn over it. The people of Israel are now called the people of the calf, as once they had been the people of Jehovah, and as Moab was called the people of Chemosh. They had chosen the calf for their god. Of their own free-will they had done so, though at first enjoined and prompted to adopt this course by the mandate of their king; they had even rejoiced and gloried in it. Now they mourn for their idol, which can neither help itself nor them. And the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. According to this rendering, the relative must be understood before “rejoiced,” which, though quite possible and not ungrammatical, is, however, unnecessary. The Hebrew commentators all understand the word in the sense of “joy” or “jubilation;” thus Rashi says,” Why is it that its people mourn over, it and its priests, who always rejoiced over it, now mourn over its glory that is gone away?” The word , however, is primarily “to twist or whirl one’s self,” and is thence applied to any violent emotion, generally of joy, also of anxiety and fear, as here, so that the simpler and more correct rendering is, the priests thereof shall tremble for it, for its glory, because it is departed from it. The priests here mentioned have a peculiar name, kemarim, from kamar, to be black, from the black garments in which they ministered, and are thus distinguished as ministers of a foreign cult; for kohen is the usual word for a Hebrew priest, and his robe of office is said to have been white. The glory of the calf-god was not the temple treasure at Bethel, nor its glory as the state God set up there, but the honor and the Divine halo with which its worship there was surrounded. Thus Kimchi: “When its glory is departed from it; and this means the honor of its worship. When the calf is broken before their eyes its glory shall depart from it.” The perfects of “mourn” and “departed” are prophetic, denoting the certainty of the events, though yet future; while galah and yagilu form the favorite assonance. But a question still remainsWhy is Samaria and not Beth-avert said to mourn? To this the explanation of Kimchi is a satisfactory reply: “The inhabitants of Samaria tremble. And the prophet makes mention of Samaria, though there were no calves there, because it was the metropolis of the kingdom, where the kings of Israel resided, and it was these kings who strengthened the people in the worship of the calves. And he says,” When Bethel is laid waste, and the calves cannot deliver it, the inhabitants of Samaria tremble for themselves, which place (Samaria) the King of Assyria laid siege to for three years.”

Hos 10:6

It shall he also carried unto Assyria for a present to King Jareb. Here we have an explanation and confirmation of what has just been said in the preceding verse. The calf, the glorious and magnificent national god, as Israel considered it, is brought to Assyria, and there offered as a present to the Assyrian king. The word gam is emphatic; that is, “it also,” “itself also,” or “it also with men and other spoils”the golden idol of Beth-aven. Kimchi’s explanation of gam is as follows: “Genesis, extension or generalization of the term, refers to the glory he bad mentioned. He says, ‘Lo, in its place the glory shall depart from it as soon as they shall break it. Also, the stump of the calf, namely, the gold thereon, after its form is broken, they shall take away as a present to King Jareb.'” The sign of the accusative with suffix , which here stands before a passive verb, may be taken either

(1) absolutely, “as to it also,” “it shall be brought ;” or

(2) as an instance of anacoluthon; or

(3), according to Gesenius, the passive may be regarded as an impersonal active, and thus it may take the object of the action in the accusative. The word yubhal is from yabhal, primarily used of flowing in a strong and violent stream, and so the root of , the flood; then it signifies “to go,” “to be brought or carried.” The minchah here spoken of cannot well mean tribute, but is rather a gift of homage to the Assyrian conqueror, whom the prophet m vision sees already wasting the land of Israel and carrying away all its treasures and precious things.

Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel. The feminine form, of which , the masculine, by analogy, is not in useis wrongly explained by the Hebrew expositors as having a pleonastic nun. The construction usually preferred is

(1) that given above.

(2) Others render it, “Shame shall seize Ephraim;” but tiffs constructs a feminine noun with a masculine verb, contrary to grammar.

(3) Hitzig translates,” He (the Assyrian king) shall take away or carry off the shame of Ephraim; that is, the calf-idol.” He remarks that the construct feminine does not always in the speech of North Israel end in , and cites several passages in proof.

The counsel of which Israel would be ashamed is understood

(1) of the consultation held before making a covenant or treaty with the King of Assyria;

(2) it is generally and more correctly understood of Jeroboam taking counsel with his tribesmen of Ephraim about setting up the calf idols. Jareb is a proper name, or rather an appellation. The King of Assyria, or the great king, was looked up to by the smaller Asiatic states for protection, and consequently styled their Jareb, avenger or defender, just as , savior, was a title applied to or assumed by certain kings for a similar reason, as Ptolemy Soter and others. The object of Israel’s idolatry is carried off as a present to propitiate or appease the wrath of the Assyrian patron and protectorprobably Shalmaneser in the present instanceor taken as a trophy to grace the triumph of the conqueror. So far from defending the calf-people, as Israel had become, their calf-god could not defend itself; instead of preserving its worshippers from deportation, it was doomed itself to deportation. Ephraim, the premier tribe. received shame, and Israel, the remaining tribes that had followed its lead and adopted its evil counsel, shared the shame; all of them together were thoroughly put to shame because of their mistaken and wicked policy. The counsel of Jeroboamfor to it, in our opinion, is the referenceappeared an able stroke of policy; but this policy, by which he hoped to detach Israel from Judah, was not only frustrated, but proved positively ruinous, so far were the means from effecting the end, or the end from justifying the wisdom of the means.

Hos 10:7

As for Samaria, her king is out off as the foam upon the water (face of the waters). Instead of the throne of Samaria being established, or the kingdom consolidated by the idolatrous measures which Jeroboam had adopted for the purpose, the king himself was cut off as foam upon the surface of the waters, or as a chip carried off by the current, and the kingdom ingloriously ruined. Though the sense is sufficiently plain, the sentence has been variously constructed. Thus

(1) one of the Hebrew commentators renders it, “In the city of Samaria her king has been made like foam on the surface of the water” (be being understood and taken in the sense of “being like”).

(2) Rashi, understanding the verb to signify being “reduced to silence,” explains, “The King of Samaria is brought to silence.”

(3) The correct signification of the verb, however, is “cut off” or “annihilated,” while the construction may be

(a) an asyndeton; thus: “Samaria (and) her king;” or

(b) Samaria taken as nominative absolute,thus in the Authorized Version, “(As for) Samaria, her king is cut off;” or

(c) supplying to the second noun, with Aben Ezra, “Samaria is cut off, her king is cut off.” Some

(d) consider it simpler to translate as follows: “Samaria is cut off; her king is like [literally, ‘as’] a chip on the surface of the waters.” In this way the Massoretic punctuation is neglected. Shomron is feminine, as the names of cities and countries usually are, and therefore the suffix to “king” is feminine, while the masculine form, , is justified by its position at the head of the sentence; for, according to Gesenius, the predicate at the beginning of a clause or sentence “often takes its simplest and readiest form, viz. the masculine singular, even when the subject,” not yet expressed, but coming after, “is feminine or plural.” is explained either as “foam” or “splinter.” The latter is, perhaps, preferable, as the verbal root cognate with the Arabic katsapha signifies “to break,” “break off,” “crack;” then “to be angry” (its most common meaning) from the sudden breaking out or breaking loose of passion, with which may be compared the Greek . The word in Joe 1:7, from the same root, is literally a” breaking or breaking off,” “barking,” The word , again, has two principal meaningsone “to be like,” the other “to be silent” (connected, according to Gesenius, with a different root, damam, dum, like the English “dumb”); or the meanings are traceable to one root, in the sense of “making flat,” “plane,” “smooth;” then “silent,” and so “reduced to silence,” “destroyed.”

Hos 10:8

The high places also of Avon, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. By Aven is generally understood Beth-aven, that is, Bethel; but some take the word as an appellative, and thus bamoth-aven would signify the “high places of iniquity.” These unlawful places of sacrifice and unholy places of iniquity are further characterized by the appositional “the sin of Israel.” By constructing and frequenting such places Israel had primarily and grievously sinned. By sacrificing to and worshipping even Jehovah on these high places instead of in Jerusalem, the only legal place for Divine service under the Law, their national sin in the matter of worship began; subsequently, however, things became worse, and these high places became scenes of most abominable idolatries and shamelessly sinful practices. Those placesone and allare in the words before us doomed to destruction. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars. The destruction is thus vividly described as total and complete; those bad eminences were devoted to entire wasteness and desolation. “It is a sign of extreme solitude,” says Jerome, “so that no traces even of wall or buildings remained to be seen;” similarly Rashi says, “Thorns and thistles shall grow up upon their altars, because the worshippers thereof have departed and no one longer remains to attend to them” so Kimchi: “On the altars of Israel which they (the enemies) shall lay waste shall thorns spring up.” And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us. The sight of such fearful ruin and desolation overwhelms the wretched inhabitants of the land with distress and dismay; in sheer despair and even desperation they invoke a sure and sudden death as much preferable to their remaining longer spectators of such heart-rending scenes. Their exclamation appears to be proverbial, and to have had its origin in the custom of the Israelites fleeing, in seasons of great calamities, to the mountains and clefts of the rocks to hide themselves; thus in Jdg 4:2 we read that “because of the Midianites the children of Israel made them the dens which are in the mountains, and eaves, and strongholds.” The object of their exclamation is to be buried under the hills or mountains rather than endure such calamities longer; or rather than the enemies should see them in their shame. Aben Ezra makes “altars” the subject of “shall say,” as if it were the wish of the altars to be covered that they may never more be seen. Theodoret considers the sense of the passage to be that the multitude of calamities in the war occasioned by hostile invasion would be so great that there would be no one who would not prefer being overwhelmed in an earthquake or by the sudden fall of the mountains, rather than endure the calamities inflicted by the enemies. Similarly, but more concisely, Jerome says, “They are more willing to die than see the evils that bring death.”

Hos 10:9

O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah. Two explanations given of this clausenamely, that which understands, min comparatively, that is, “more than”their sins were greater than those of the Benjamites in the days of Gibeah; and that which refers the sin here spoken of to the appointment of Saul, who was of Gibeah of Benjamin, to be kingmust be unhesitatingly rejected. Tile sin of the men of Gibeah was the shameful outrage committed on the Levite’s concubine by the men of Gibeah, which with its consequences is recorded in Jdg 19:1-30. and 20. That sin became proverbial, overtopping, as it did, all ordinary iniquities by its shameless atrocity and heinousness. By along-continued course of sin, even from ancient days, Ephraim has been preparing for a fearful doom. There they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. This portion of the verse is not a little perplexing, and in consequence has called forth considerable diversity of exposition. There is

(1) that which is implied in the Authorized Version, viz. “there they stood,“ smitten twice but not destroyed, chastened but not killed, the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them then so as utterly to destroy them, but it shall overtake them now. Or if the verb “overtake,” which is future, be strictly rendered, the meaning isNot a battle like that in Gibeah against the children of iniquity shall overtake them, but one much more sanguinary and terrible, resulting, not in the reduction of a single tribe to six hundred men, but in the extirpation of ten tribes.

(2) That of Keil and others, though not the same, is similar. It is: “There, in Gibea, did they remain, persevering in the sin of Gibeah, and yet the war in Gibeah against the sinners has not overtaken them.” This makes the meaning of the prophet to be that since the days of Gibeah the Israelites persevered in the same or like sin as the Gibeahites; and, though the Gibeahites were so severely punished, actually destroyed, because of their sin, the ten tribes of Israel, persisting in the same or similar sin, have not yet been resisted with any such exterminating war. Jehovah announces his intention now to visit them with punishment and severest chastisement for all. The meaning which Keil aims at may be better brought out by rendering the latter clause interrogatively; thus: “There they stoodpersisting in the criminality of Gibeahshall there not overtake them, living as they do in Gibeah, the war which exterminated the children of crime?” It is admitted that may have been the meaning of “persevering;” but a better sense

(3) is gained by Wunsche referring the subject of to the Benjamites; the suffix of to the , or “children of iniquity,” that is, their guilty tribesmen in Gibeah; taking the intermediate clause parenthetically; and with to “stand in defense of;” thus: “Since the days of Gibeah hast thou sinned, O Israel: there they (the Benjamites) stood in defense of the children of iniquity, that the war might not reach them in Gibeah.” This gives a satisfactory sense, and intimates that, by a long-continued course of iniquity and crime, the Ephraimites were preparing themselves for a fearful fate. Already from days long gone by grievous guilt cleaved to them; thus in the days of Gibeah they (the Benjamites) stood by their iniquitous brethren that the battle in Gibeah might not reach them. As this was before the disruption, the Benjamites were part and parcel of Israel here represented by them.

(4) Rosenmller’s explanation is the following: “They (the Benjamites) survived (, opposed to , as in Psa 102:27) being severely punished, though they did not entirely perish, six hundred being left to revive the tribe.” But a still severer punishment awaits the Israelites (the person being changed from the second to the third, and the prophet addressing himself to hearer or reader): not the war waged in Gibeah (or on account of the crime committed there) against the children of iniquity shall overtake them, but a far more deadly and destructive war. The word is by metathesis for as for , commotion; for ; and , for .

Hos 10:10

It is in my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them. This is better translated thus: When I desire it, then (vav of the apodosis) shall I chastise them; and the peoples shall be gathered against them. This expresses God’s determination to punish sin and vindicate his justice as the infinitely Holy One. It means, not only that his desire to punish them does exist, but that, this desire being taken for granted, there shall be no let nor hindrance; nothing can stay his hand. Then the mode and means of chastisement are indicatedpeoples, foreign invaders, shall be gathered against them. The verb is future Qal of irregularly, as if coming from , the daghesh in samech compensating for the absorbed yod. When they shall bind themselves in their two furrows; margin, When I shall bind them for their two transgressions, or, in their two habitations.

(1) Gesenius, Ewald, and others, abiding by the Kethir or textual reading of the original, translate, “Jehovah will chastise them before with their eyes,” that is, not in secret, but openly before the world. They thus refer the word to , eye, but is “fountains,” not “eyes.”

(2) The Hebrew commentators, Aben Ezra and Kimchi, explain the word in the sense of “two furrows” as in Authorized Version; and refer them to Judah and Ephraim. Thus Kimchi says, “The prophet compares Judah and Ephraim to two plowing oxen. I thought they would plough well, but they have ploughed ill, since they have bound themselves together one with the other and have allied themselves the one with the other to do evil in the eyes of Jehovah.” Similarly Rosenmller: “To be bound to two furrows is said of oxen plowing when they are bound together in a common yoke, so that in two adjacent furrows they walk together and with equal pace.”

(3) The Septuagint rendering, based on the Qeri and followed by the Syriac and Arabic, gives a better and clearer sense than the preceding. It is, , and is followed by Jerome in Super duas iniquitates suas, as also by the most judicious expositors of ancient and modern times. Yet there is great variety as to what those iniquities are. Some, like Jerome, refer to the double idolatrythat of Micah and that of Jeroboam; others, like Dathe, to the two golden calves set up at Dan and Bethel; Cyril and Theodoret to the apostasy of Israel from Jehovah, and devotion to idols; De Wette and Keil to the double unfaithfulness of Israel to Jehovah and the royal house of David. The exact rendering would, according to any of these views, be, “When I bind them to their two transgressions,” or, “When I allow the foreigners to bind them on account of their two transgressions;” that is to connect or yoke them to their two transgressions by the punishment, so that they, like beasts of burden, must drag them after them, whatever be the view we take of the nature of those transgressions.

Hos 10:11

And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn. Ephraim is compared to a heifer trained. The work she was taught to do was treading cut the corn; by training and habit it had became a second nature, so that she took delight in it. The connecting vowel occurs seldom, and usually with an antique coloring in prose, according to Ewald; it is poetical besides, and used in the concourse of words somewhat closely connected, but not in the strict construct state. Thus is accounted for. This work was probably easier, at all events pleasanter, than plowing or harrowing. In treading out corn oxen were not yoked together, but worked singly, treading it with their feet, or drawing a threshing-sledge, or iron-armed cylinder, over it; they were unmuzzled also, so that they were free to snatch an occasional mouthful of the grain, and frequently fattened by such indulgence. Such had been the position of Ephraim in easy employment, comfortable circumstances like the heifer threshing and allowed to eat at pleasure, pleasantly situated prosperous, self-indulgent, and luxurious. The victories of Ephraimthreshing and treading down may perhaps be also hinted at. But I passed over upon her fair neck (margin, the beauty of her neck): I will make Ephraim to ride; Judak shall plough, and Jacob shall break his clods. Times have changed, as is here indicated a yoke, that of Assyria, is placed on the fair neck, a rider is set on the sleek back. Mere onerous and less pleasant labor is now imposed. Judah too is to share the toil, being put to the heavier work of plowing while Jacobthe ten tribes, or the twelve including both Judah and Israelshall cross plough; and thus both alike shall be henceforth employed in the heaviest labors of the field and the severest toils of agriculture. Once victorious, Ephraim is now to be subdued; once free and intractable, it must now receive the yoke and engage in laborious service. The expression , followed by , is generally used in a bad sense; “to pass over,” says Jerome, “especially when it is said of God, always signifies inflictions and troubles.” The fatness of the neck is the ox’s ornament or beauty. That is now to be assaulted or invaded gently it may be, and softly, as men are wont to approach a young untamed animal in order to put the yoke upon it. This passing over, however tender, fixes the yoke on Ephraim’s neck all the same. A more difficult word is , which Ewald

(1) renders, “I will set a rider” on Ephraim, of course to subdue and tame;

(2) Jerome has, “I will mount or ride,” thus representing Jehovah himself as the mediate rider on Ephraim. The first sense has a parallel in Psa 56:12, “Thou hast made men to ride over our head,” and thus ruling them at pleasure. Unwilling to bear the easy yoke of their Divine Ruler, they shall be subjected to the tyrant mastery of man. But

(3) Keil says the word here is “not” to mount or ride, ‘but’ to drive or use for drawing and driving,’ i.e. to harness,” as to the plough and harrow. This meaning is best reached by understanding the words thus: “I will make the yoke to ride on Ephraim’s neck;” as is used in 2Ki 13:16, for “put thine hand upon the bow,” margin, “make thine hand to ride upon the bow.” The remaining clauses of the verse is a further development of this expression, but extending to Judah; and thus including both Judah and Ephraim, or Jacobboth kingdoms. The Septuagint version of the last clause is peculiar; it is . That is, as explained by Jerome, “I shall leave Judah for the present and say nothing about him; but whoever, whether of Ephraim or Judah, shall observe my precepts, he shall acquire strength for himself and be called Jacob.”

Hos 10:12, Hos 10:13

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy. These two verses contain a call to repentance and reformation of life, in figurative language borrowed from the same department of human industry, is “for righteousness;” that is, sow such seed as that righteousness may spring from it. is “according to,” or “in proportion to, mercy.” When two imperatives are joined, is here, the latter indicates a promise, and may be expressed by a future, as, “Do this and live,” i.e. “ye shall live” (Gen 42:18). Kimchi explains it correctly, thus: “Sow to yourselves, etc; that is, do good in mine eyes, and the recompense from me shall be far greater than your good deeds, just as if one sows a measure (seah), and hopes to reap therefore two measures (seahs) or still more. Therefore, he uses in sowing righteousness, and in connection with reaping grace, in order to intimate that grace surpasses righteousness. Or that God rewards men’s actions, not according to merit, but according to grace. As men sew, they reap; accordingly Israel is directed to sow ac-eroding to righteousnessto act righteously in their dealings with their fellow-men; and their reaping or reward would be, not in proportion to what they had sown, not merely commensurate with their righteous actions or dealings, not proportionate to what justice would give; but in proportion to mercyDivine mercy, and so far above their highest deserts. They are promised a reward far above their poor doings, and irrespective of their sad failingsa reward, not of debt, not of merit, but of grace. The seed-time of righteousness would be followed by a reaping-time proportionate to the boundless measure of the Divine mercy. Break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Here they are urged to turn over a new leaf, as we say; to begin a new life; to root out the weeds of sin; to eradicate those evil passions that checked and stifled any noble feelings, as the husbandman runs his plough through the fallow field, and breaks it up, clearing out the weeds and roots, that the ground may be pure and clean for the sowing of the seed in spring. The LXX; reading , instead of for , and for translates accordingly by . They are further reminded that it is high time to begin this process, laying aside their stiff-necked, perverse ways; expelling from their heart the noxious growth that had overspread it; and by every way and means working earnestly and zealously for a renewal of life and return to the long-neglected work and worship of Jehovah. Neither were they to relax their efforts till the blessed end was attained, , with imperfect, marking the goal to be reached; nor would their efforts be in vain. The Lord would rainbestow abundantly upon them, or touch (another and more frequent meaning of the word), their righteousness. Thus the ground that had long lain fallow must be broken up; its waste, wild state must cease and give place to cultivation; the ploughshare must be driven through it; its wild growths and weeds must be cut down and uprooted. A process of renewal must succeed; the vices of their natural state, the idolatrous and wicked practices that had sprung up, must be abandoned. Renewal and radical reform are imperatively demanded. Matters had remained too long in a miserable and unsatisfactory condition. A long night of sinful slumber had overcome them; it was high time to awake out of that sleep. Too long had they shamefully forgotten and forsaken God; it was more than time to wait upon him. Nor would such waiting, if persevered in, end in disappointment; notwithstanding their great and manifold provocations, he would come and rain righteousness in welcome, refreshing, and plenteous showers upon returning penitents; and with righteousness would be conjoined its reward of blessing and salvation, both temporal and spiritual.

Hos 10:13

Ye have ploughed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies. Hitherto their course had been the very opposite of that which they are now exhorted to enter on. Hitherto their work had been wickedness, and their wages, as might be expected, the fruit of iniquity. What they had wrought for they reaped. Their plowing had been sin, their sowing wickedness, and their harvest sorrow. Wickedness against God and man was what they both ploughed and sowed; oppression at the hand of their enemies was the harvest or reward of iniquity which they reaped. Their lies, including their idolatry in reference to God, disloyalty to their king, their false words and false works with one another, bore fruit, bitter fruit, sour fruit, and they were obliged to eat that fruit till their teeth were set on edge. Thus Kimchi explains it: “After the plowing follows the sowing, and both of them are a figurative representation of work, as we have explained it. The prophet says, ‘Ye have done the opposite of that which I commanded you, when I said, Sow to yourselves in righteousness.'” The harvest is the reward of the work done; the genitive is expressive of contentsthat in which the fruit consists; the fruit of lies against God is the fruit which disappoints those who wait for it Ki directs attention to the ground of Israel’s gradual declension and final destruction; the two fundamental errors, or rather evils, that led on to Israel’s ruin, were apostasy from Jehovah and sinful self-confidence. Sunk in idolatry, they no longer looked to Jehovah as the Source of their power and strength; while they pursued their own ways, confident of the excellence of their own sagacity and foresight. Because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men. They had placed their confidence in the wisdom of their own waystheir prudent plans and wise counsels; in the heroism of their soldiers and the excellence of their preparations of war. By these means they fancied themselves independent of the Almighty, and sufficiently defended against their enemies. “Thou hast trusted,” says Kimchi, in his exposition, “to thine own way which thou goest; and that is the way of iniquity and of confidence in evil; and in like manner thou hast trusted in the multitude of thy men of war which thou hast had among thine own people, or among the Egyptians, from whom they sought help, and thou hast made flesh thine arm, and not trusted in me; therefore thou hast stumbled.”

Hos 10:14

Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled. This was the fruit of their doings, the result of their sins. The tumult of war is already heard, and the work of destruction has begun. The word shaon, tumult, is from , as applied to the loud rushing of waters, then the tumult of advancing warriors. The preposition be is rendered

(1) as above by the Authorized Version, Umbreit, and others; and, joined with “peoples” (which is plural), signifies that the confused noise of war would be heard among their own peoples, or the multitude of the mighty ones in whom they had had such confidence; or the plural may refer to the tribes of Israel, each of which was an , though Keil would confine this meaning to Pentateuchal times. Host of the versions read the singular, like our own Authorized Version, yet it must still be referred to the people of Israel. But

(2) the preposition is translated “against” by many modern interpreters, and thus the confused noise of the advance of the enemy against Israel is denoted. The attack of the invaders is directed against the fortresses, or fenced cities, so called from a verb denoting “to cut off” (), as if all approach to them were cut off, and assault impossible. Nevertheless they were to go down, all of them, before the enemylaid waste and spoiled; while inhuman cruelty would characterize the conquerors. As an illustration of or specimen resembling that cruelty, an obscure piece of history is quoted. As Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children. In the great variety of opinion with respect to the event referred to, and the consequent diversity of exposition, we shall not venture to do more than select that which on the whole, notwithstanding a certain chronological difficulty that lies against it, appears the most probable. Accordingly, Beth-arbel may have been Arbela, mentioned in 1 Macc. 9:2 and more than once by Josephus, in Upper Galilee, in the tribe of Naphtali, between Sephoris and Tiberias, now Irbid; and Shalman may be an abbreviation for Shalmaneser; while the circumstance here mentioned may have been an incident of the campaign of which we read in 2Ki 17:3, 2Ki 17:5. “Against him came up Shalmaneser King of Assyria; and Hoshea became his servant . Then the King of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and besieged it three years.” The manifestation of the cruelty was when the mother, with true motherly affection, bent over her children to defend them, and she and they perished in a common ruin, or when the children were dashed to the ground before their mother’s eyes, and she, done to death, hurled upon them.

Hos 10:15

So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness (margin, the evil of your evil): in a morning shall the King of Israel utterly be cut off. Their coming sufferings were all traceable to their sin. Bethel, the principal place of calf-worship, was the cause of their coming calamities, not the place itself, but the wickedness of which it was the scene. The real cause was the great and crowning wickedness practiced there. Bethel, once the house of God, would in consequence become another Beth-arbel, the house of the ambush of God. In the morning, when perhaps a season of prosperity seemed beginning to dawn, or at an early dale and in a speedy manner, quickly as the morning dawn gives place before the rising sun, the king, Hoshea, or perhaps no particular king, but merely the representative of the royal office, would be cut off-entirely cut off. Thus their main refuge would come to an ignominious end, bringing along with it the frustration of all their hopes and the conclusion of their mistaken and misplaced confidences.

HOMILETICS

Hos 10:1-3

Sin and its retribution.

I. PERVERTED USE OF PROSPERITY. Israel is a vine not empty, nor emptied, nor plundered, according to Calvin, say, by the tribute paid to Pul; for, if empty, how then could he bring forth fruit, except, indeed, at some subsequent season? He is compared, rather, to a wide-spreading vine, pouring out its strength in luxuriant leafage and show of fruit; or even suitable fruit. But the fruit thus yielded was not fruit to God, as it should have been, but fruit to itself and for itself. The figure of a flourishing vine, condensed by the prophet here, is fully expanded and developed by the psalmist in the eightieth psalm: “Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.” Such had Israel been aforetime. Their fruit trees produced abundantly; their land was very fertile: the fruit of man and beast and tree multiplied, and their land increased in fertility: but these blessings of Providence were abused. Instead of leading them to repentance, these good gifts of God’s providence were sadly misused and shockingly perverted; instead of being employed in the service and to the glory of the Giver, they were used for idolatrous purposes, and thus they ministered to sin. Altars were reared to idols and statues set up; they multiplied their altars and made goodly images.

II. PUNISHMENT IS SURE TO FOLLOW SUCH PERVERSION. God had blessed them with prosperity and plenty, but they made a poor return; nay, they returned evil for his goodness. They might well be compared to an emptying vine, casting its fruit before it was ripe, according to one explanation of the word, for they emptied themselves of the riches he conferred on them by sending presents to foreign princes, or purchasing their alliance, or paying tribute to their conquerors; or they wasted their wealth on their idols and in idolatrous practices, or on self and sin in some form. Or, if they brought forth fruit unto maturity, that fruit did not redound to the Divine glory; the fruit borne by them was not the fruit of righteousness; the seemingly good works done by them were not to the praise and glory of God. What they did they did for their own profit or pleasure, or to gain the praise of men. The blessings bestowed on them were not used to promote the Divine glory, or to help the Divine service, or to advance the cause of true religion in any way, but were lavished on their own lusts, or selfish gratifications, or abominable idolatries, multiplying altars to their idols, offering sacrifices more numerous and expensive, making pillars or statues of costlier metal and with richer ornaments.

1. The root of the evil was within. The seat of all their sin was within, and out of the heart it proceeded; their heart was divided, or hypocritical, and therefore not right with God. Persons guilty of such sin and folly and gross ingratitude God could not hold guiltless. They were dealt with as guilty and punished, or were left desolatetheir land wasted, and themselves led into captivity.

2. Accumulated wrath issues in aggravated punishment. The means God graciously gave them for charitable and noble purposes of benevolence, or for high and holy service, they threw away recklessly on vile and worthless objects; as the means increased, the wickedness increased. God tried them with prosperity; he proved them, but they did not stand the test; every day they persisted in their mad career of sin. They were treasuring up for themselves wrath against the day of wrath.

3. God corrects in measure that men may repent of sin and turn to God. If the day of visitation is improved, it is well; if, when God withdraws his hand and grants a respite, or suspends the stroke, his gracious design is duly responded to, the chastisement is sanctified, and the person so treated has good cause to say, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted.” If otherwise, if individuals are found faulty, if their sin has found them out, then the means of sinning are suddenly and unexpectedly snatched from them, and themselves swept awfully as with the besom of destruction.

4. Whoever be the instrument or whatever the memos, the Author of the infliction is God. The subject here is not specified; as far as the grammar goes, it might be the Assyrian or other enemy that broke down their altars and spoiled their images, but sense and Scripture lead the thoughts up to God. Though indefinite, the emphatic use of the pronoun fixes the sense.

III. PROSPECT OF A GLOOMY FUTURE IS THE NATURAL SEQUEL OF A SINFUL PRESENT. Thus it is with those who, having perverted the gifts of God’s goodness, do not profit by punishment mildly administered. Israel, who had rejected their heavenly King, were Soon to find themselves deprived of their earthly king, and reduced to a state of anarchy. They would soon be forced to say,” We have no king, no protector.” This is assigned as the cause of the preceding statement about the wreck of their altars and the ruin of their statues or pillars. This catastrophe is looked upon as brought about in consequence of their having no kingly protection or defense. Their rejection of Jehovah in the double capacity of God and King, by their turning to idolatry and refusing the theocracy, led eventually to ecclesiastical disaster, and civil or secular distress. Forsaking God as King, they have now no kingno upholder of either Church or state; consequently their altars, as they conceived, were broken down and their images spoiled. Thus they bemoan their present anomalous and perilous position. But they bethink themselves that even if they had a king he could do them no good, seeing that Divine power was opposed to them, and Divine wrath incurred by them. What, then, under such untoward circumstances, could a king do for them? Here is the exact converse of the believer’s confidence: “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Jerome’s exposition brings out the sense well, as follows: “After God shall have shattered the images of Israel, and utterly destroyed their altars and statues, and the final captivity shall have come, they shall say, “We have no king.” And lest they should think that the sentence would be deferred for a long time, he added, They shall say now: when they are being laid waste, when they shall perceive that Hoshea, their last king, has been removed from them, a king is taken away from us, because we did not fear God, our true King, for what could a human king avail us?'”

Hos 10:4-8

Israel’s sin, sorrow, shame, and suffering.

These verses exhibit them with marvelous conciseness and great impressiveness.

I. ISRAEL‘S SIN OF UNFAITHFULNESS. Israel’s unfaithfulness at the period of which the prophet speaks was of the most reckless kind. It took the form

(1) of idolatry with respect to God,

(2) of disloyalty to their sovereign, and

(3) of falsehood in their dealings with their fellow-men in general.

By their idolatry they renounced the covenant of their God, which had the seal of circumcision; their promises of reformation, when they made such, were falsified; the vows wrung from them in distress or otherwise they failed to pay. The most sacred bonds did not bind them; subjects violated their oath of allegiance, and sovereigns their coronation oath; alike in treaties with foreign powers as in contracts with their fellow-men, they made no conscience of keeping faith. Add to all this the perversion of justice and the misuse of judgment, and the picture is complete; perfidy, perjury, and the perversion of judgment being in the foreground, and untruthfulness the dark background of all. Such was the growth, prolific and pestiferous as hemlock, which at this period overspread the land of Israel as if in furrows specially prepared for it.

II. ISRAEL‘S SORROW IN CONSEQUENCE OF SIN. Men may be sure that their sin shall find them out, by detection, or punishment, or both; while sorrow follows in the wake of sin. The inhabitants of the northern capital, like the people of Bethel or Beth-area, being calf-worshippers, and therefore, called the people of the calf, would naturally be overwhelmed with consternation and alarm, when the news of an invading host approaching the provincial town, which was the chief seat of the calf-worship, reached them; still more so when that hostile host had actually entered it and carried off their idol. Their fear before the event would be succeeded by sorrow after it. Not only would the Samaritans sympathize with their coreligionists of Bethel in their calamity and loss, but tremble because of their own proximity to peril, not knowing how soon the tide of conquest should sweep over themselves. Both peoples, Samaritans and Beth-avenites, united in a common cause, and, involved in a common calamity or soon to be so, would mourn for the loss of their idol. This Scripture may well impress its lesson, and a most salutary one, on all idolaters, whether those who bow down to those idol vanities of wood, or stone, or metal, made by their own hands, or those spiritual idolaters whose hearts are swayed by some lust or passion, or any other object than God. Any earthly object that engrosses our affections, or usurps that place in our heart which belongs to God alone, is our god for the time beingour idol, and that which commands our homage or adoration. And surely, as we set up any such object of spiritual idolatry in our heart and elevate it to the throne of our affections, we shall come to grief; we shall be disappointed in it while we possess it, or disappointed of it when we lose it. Bitterly shall we be made to feel and to mourn its loss; nor is this to be wondered at or complained of, for God is a jealous God, and will not give his glory to another. Matthew Henry has well observed that “whatever men make a god of, they will mourn for the loss of; and inordinate sorrow for the loss of any worldly good is a sign we made an idol of it.” The idol-priests who derived their emolument and livelihood from idolatry were plunged in still greater mourning than the people for whom they ministered. The wages of sin do not last long, and do not satisfy the short time they do last. Thus it was with the priests when the source of their gain and the object of their glow departed.

III. ISRAEL‘S SHAME WAS ANOTHER CONCOMITANT, OR RATHER CONSEQUENCE, OF ISRAEL‘S SIN. The shame was twofold; shame to see their idol thrown down and defaced, and yet more to see it, or at least the gold that adorned it, carried away in triumph as a present or peace offering to King Jareb. There was yet deeper cause of shame. It was not only that they gloried in their god of gold, and confided in it for protection, but that their policy was completely frustrated. The political sagacity on which, no doubt, they piqued themselves, as certain to keep Israel separate from Judah by detaching the former from the latter in worshipping at the national sanctuary in Jerusalem, resulted in Israel’s ruin. No wonder that Ephraim, the tribe with which this separation originated, received shame; while the remaining tribes of Israel, that with such facile compliance acquiesced in their counsel and followed their example, were put to shame. Thus the wise are often caught in their own craftiness.

“The sinners’ hands do make the snares
Wherewith themselves are caught.”

IV. SUFFERING IS ANOTHER RESULT OF SIN. Creature-confidences fail to succor; without Divine help and blessing, sovereign and subject are alike powerless and resource-less. The king, on the appointment of whom the people had so set their heart at first, and on whose power all along they continued to place such confidence, was too weak to help; and in utter impotence was himself cut offcut off ignominiously as foam on the face of the water, or chip carried headlong by the current. The scenes of their sin were so desolated, and left without a single worshipper, that thorns and thistles came up upon those altars where multitudes once had worshipped. So true it is that “if the grace of God prevail not to destroy the love of sin in us, it is just that the providence of God should destroy the food and fuel of sin about us.” Sinners in general suffer sooner or later shame and contempt, disgrace and disappointment, poignant sorrow and mental anguish. To such an extent was this the case with the hapless idolaters, that their distress was so intolerable that, feeling life not worth living, they preferred death to life. Times there are so sad, and suffering, both bodily and mental, so acute, that death is more than welcome. To be swallowed in the yawning earth, or covered by the falling hill, or whelmed in the surging sea, was welcome to such sufferers. So with impenitent sinners in the day of judgment (Rev 6:16). So with the Jews in their distressful circumstances at the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans (Luk 23:30). This cry for death passed into a proverb; it was the offspring of despair.

V. SUMMARY OF THIS SECTION. Such a summary is contained in verses 7 and 8. Israel’s two chief sources of confidence were their king and their idolatryone civil or secular, the other ecclesiastical or sacred, both to the rejection and neglect of the true Source of hope and help. Neither of these is any longer available or any longer reliable. The king or head of their civil polity is cut off like foam on the surface of a streama moment there, then gone forever. The high places of Avon, that is, Beth-aven, “house of vanity,” the name given in contemptuous reproof of idolatry to Beth-el, once the “house of God”these high places consecrated to idolatry, at once the occasions of sin to Israel, and places polluted by that people’s sin, are doomed to destruction, total destruction. The altars erected thereon are destined to be heaps of ruins, so forsaken and desolate, that where the whole burnt offering went up in smoke (, whole burnt offering, from , to go up), the thorn and the thistle now go up (), and bear undisputed sway. The sin-laden people who had forsaken their own mercies and pursued their idolatrous practices on those hills and at those altars, are in the end so overwhelmed with calamity and so thoroughly miserable, that, as we have seen, they prefer death to life, reckoning a life so wretched not worth living. Hence arose their cry of desperationa cry that may have had its origin in the local situation of the people who uttered it. Situated on a hill as Samaria was, and surrounded by an amphitheatre of hills still higher, the intervening valley and narrow outlets being occupied by the enemy, those hills to which they once looked for safety, instead of helping, now hemmed them in, and the only help they could now afford was to fall on their devoted heads, to screen them from wrath and deliver them from misery.

Hos 10:9-12

A checkered picture.

These verses exhibit the continuance in sin and its consequences, chastisement and its lessons, change of circumstances and its bitter experiences, the call to repentance and the blessed promises to the penitent.

I. CONTINUANCE IN SIN. Israel had corrupted themselves as in the days of Gibeah (Hos 9:9), and, as we are told in Hos 10:9, had sinned from the days of Gibeah.

1. Grievous as their sin had been at first, it was greatly aggravated by being long continued. Age after age sin had run its course; one generation after another had helped to fill up the cup of iniquity until it had become brimful. A heathen complains of successive generations thus corrupting themselves, each outstripping that which preceded in iniquity: “What is there wasting time does not impair? The age of our parents, worse than our grandsires, has borne us yet more wicked, who in our turn are destined to beget a progeny more sinful still.”

2. This continuance in sin shall be attended by dreadful consequences some day. This is a legitimate inference, whatever view we take of this difficult ninth verse. Whether the meaning be that the Israelites stood their ground, and did not perish though twice defeated by the men of Benjamin, and that with a loss of forty thousand slain; and that, though spared, their destruction as dreadful as deserved shall overtake them now, and that without any possibility of escape, and when it does come it shall be found all the more dreadful from having been delayed in its course; or whether the sense is that Israel, as if forsaken of God and alienated from his favor (possibly implied by the change from the second to the third person), have stood, that is, persisted in their sin as there and then so ever since; shall not the battle overtake such incorrigible offenders; persevering so long in sin like the men of Gibeah, can they expect to escape the war that of old did all but exterminate the transgressors? Or whether the sense be that the Benjamites, then an integral part of Israel, stood by the Gibeahites, defending, and so virtually abetting them in their iniquity, that the battle in Gibeah might not overtake those vile delinquents, and that Israel, resembling the Benjamites in spirit, have sinned ever since, aiding, abetting, and taking part in similar or greater atrocities and abominations. They are then left to infer that a day of reckoning still more terrible was to be expected by them.

II. CHASTISEMENT AND ITS LESSONS. In the case of Israel, they were not left merely to infer the approach of chastisement, they were positively assured of it.

1. Men are forewarned that they may be forearmed. God had exercised much long-suffering and forbearance, but his goodness failed to lead them to repentance. They had abused his patience, and now his purpose is to chastise; but even in chastising them he is exercising mercy in order to prevent final and inevitable ruin. He had rejoiced over them to do them good; he now takes pleasure in correcting themit is his desire. The nature of the chastisement with which Israel is to be visited closely resembles that which had been inflicted on the Benjamites.

2. The reference to that transaction may have suggested to the prophet his description of the coming chastisement. The tribes of Israel banded themselves against Benjamin in the battle of Gibeah; so the peoples, the Assyrians and their allies, would be gathered against Israel. Kimchi has well expressed the cause of the chastisement by representing God as saying, “According to my good will and pleasure will I chastise them; because they do not receive chastisement from me by my prophets who rebuke them in my Name, I will chastise them by the hands of the peoples which shall be gathered against them.”

3. When men refuse to be God’s freemen, and prefer continuing to be servants of sin, they are preparing themselves to be the bondmen of their enemies. The allusion in the last clause of Hos 10:10 is obscure, and yet the general sense is tolerably plain. Much depends on the one word variously rendered “eyes,” “furrows,” “habitations,” or “sins.” The figure may be taken from two oxen abreast in a yoke, plowing together side by side in two adjacent furrows; and it may indicate the combination of the Israelites to ward off the threatened danger, but to no purpose, since Jehovah had decreed their chastisement, and, in case it failed, their destruction; or the two divisions of Israel and Judah, and their respective places of habitation; or the two places of idolatrous worship, Dan and Bethel; or their two cohabitations with God and idols; or their two transgressions, which appears the preferable sense. Whichever of these we adopt, the idea of binding, that is, of thraldom or captivity, remains the same.

4. There are two kinds of service and two claimants for the soul of man: there is the service of sin, and the wages of that service is death; there is the service of God, and the fruit of that service is unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. Satan claims us, but he is a usurper; besides, he is the worst of all masterskeeping his servants in bondage, working them to death, and at last paying them with damnation. God claims us. His claim is just; he is the rightful Proprietor; he made us, and not we ourselves. His claim is, in fact, threefoldcreation, preservation, and redemption. We cannot serve two masters; we cannot obey both; and we may not attempt the unholy compromise made by the peoples brought from the regions of Assyria and planted in the lands of the dispossessed Israelites, who worshipped the Lord and served their own gods. To be the slaves of Satan or the freemen of Jehovah, that is the question; the bondage of sin or the freedom of righteousness is the alternative. There must be decision in the matter. Let our determination be like Joshua’s, that whatever others do, we will serve the Lord.

III. CHANGE OF CIRCUMSTANCES AND BITTER EXPERIENCES. When Israel had, by idolatry and other sins, bound themselves for slavery, like oxen laboring in the yoke up and down the furrows of the field, the change came. Ephraim had been treated gently and trained indulgently; their yoke had been an easy one, and their burden a light one; but they did not value their privileges, nor know the day of their merciful visitation. They had been in easy circumstances; the lines had fallen to them in pleasant places; they had long enjoyed privileges and advantages of no ordinary kind. But times are now changed, and that change, the bitter fruit of their own doings, was sad as it was sudden. A yoke is now put on the neck, a rider on the back, and drudgery becomes the lot of the once fair and delicate heifer. Subjection and slavery to foreigners, with hardships great and many, and such as they had never experienced before, now awaited Ephraim; while Judah too would come in for share of the punishment, as they had had part in the sin; and thus at last Jacob, that is, both kingdoms, the northern and the southern, having thrown off the yoke of Jehovah, fall each in turn under the galling yoke of Assyrian and Chaldean conqueror. Let men beware of exchanging the pleasant service of the Savior for the painful drudgery of Satan!

IV. THE CALL TO REPENTANCE AND ITS BLESSED PROSPECTS. The severity of the foregoing threatenings is alleviated by the present call to reformation and repentance, with the accompanying promises.

1. A seed-time of righteousness must precede a reaping-time of mercy. The figures are still borrowed from husbandry; and thus every action is represented as seed sown, and every good work is seed sown in righteousness. The rule of righteousness is the Law of God, and the directions of that rule include our duty both to God and man. To sow in righteousness, therefore, is to discharge the duties of righteousness, comprehending piety towards God, justice and charity towards man, together with propriety of personal conduct.

2. The seed sown shall come up one day. If we sow tares, they will come up; if we sow wheat, it will come up. The seed of righteousness is called by the psalmist precious seed. It is not in the power of man to cause a single seed to germinate and spring up; but God in his justice will bring up the bad seed for punishment, and in his mercy the good seed for reward.

3. There is a correspondence between the seed-time and the harvest. If men sow to the flesh, they shall reap corruption; if to the Spirit, they shall reap life everlasting. As we sow we reap, and what we sow we reap. Our reaping shall be according to the measure of God’s mercy. Not a reward of merit, but of mercy; not a recompense of desert, but of grace. Men often sow in tears, but if the seed be that of righteousness, and the sowing after the right method and with the right motive, they shall reap in joy. “Blessed,” says the saintly Burroughs, “are those who have sown much for God in their lifetime! Oh, the glorious harvest that these shall have! The very angels shall help them to take in their harvest at the great day; and they need not take thought for barnsthe very heavens shall be their barns. And oh, the joy that there shall be in that harvest! The angels will help to sing the harvest-song that they shall sing who have been sowers in righteousness.”

4. Reformation is the effect and evidence-of repentance. If reformation be genuine, repentance must go before; a change of life that is real and permanent must be preceded by a change of heart. Thus, in order to sow in righteousness, the fallow ground must be broken up. If the seed is to take root in the soil, grow up and yield an abundant increase at the time of harvest, the soil must be carefully prepared. The plowing, though mentioned after the sowing, must precede it, otherwise the seed of truth will be lost or choked by the weeds of sin. Dropping the figure, or realizing the fact set forth by it, we must break up the fallow ground of the heart. The weeds and thorns and thistles that overspread it in its natural state must be rooted out; the evil passions, corrupt affections, and hateful lusts must be eradicated; the heart itself must be broken and contrite on account of sin; the spirit must be subdued by a sense of sin; shame and sorrow must penetrate the soul because of sin; like land long untilled, and so hard and difficult to plough, the hard heart must be broken with contrition and softened, and the stubborn will subdued. Thus, too, the field that had lain fallow after a first plowing must be broken up anew and made to shine (as the original word, from , according to Gesenius and Ewald, signifies), and prepared for future and abundant fruitfulness.

5. The exhortation is enforced by two argumentsthe past loss of time, and prospective spiritual prosperity.

(1) Much time had been misspent; the duty of seeking God had been sadly and sinfully neglected. The language of the prophet here is expanded and enforced by the apostle, when he says, “The time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.” We are now called to redeem the time. It is our duty at all times to seek the Lord, but especially so after such tong delay on our part, and such forbearance and long-suffering on God’s part. And yet there is time. It is of his mercy that we are still allowed opportunity to repent and return to him. Even now is the accepted time; but soon it may be too late. Let us, then, seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is neat’, before he withdraws himself, and swears in his wrath that we shall not enter into his rest.

(2) Another source of encouragement is here presented. If we seek him he shall be found of us, according to the promise, “Seek, and ye shall find.” Thus encouraged, let us seek him presently, patiently, and perseveringly until he comes, as he will be sure to do, and rain righteousness upon us. In the fullness of time the Savior came, who is “the Lord our Righteousness;” he came as “a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of his people Israel.” He will come to the individual soul, Gentile or Jew, that seeks him, and when he comes he will rain righteousness upon us.

6. Righteousness, like the rain, descends from above; for “every good gift and every perfect gift cometh down from above, even from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” He will bestow it in great abundance, for he will rain it upon us; sending down, not merely a few drops, but a plentiful rain and copious showers. The righteousness so abundantly vouchsafed includes his righteous fulfillment of his promises; the righteousness, moreover, that is witnessed both by the Law and the prophetsrighteousness reckoned to us for justification, and righteousness wrought in us for sanctification. The effect of this righteousness is blessed and beneficent. As the natural seeds sown in the soil of the earth which has been ploughed and prepared for them require, besides, the rain of heaven to make them bud and bring forth the blade, the ear, and the full corn in the ear; so the spiritual seeds that men sow in righteousness require the rain of righteousness and the rich blessing of heaven to fructify and refresh.

Hos 10:13-15

The prolific fruits of evil.

The Israelites are not only charged with neglect of duty, but with sins of commission. The concluding verses of the chapter point out this contrariety of their conduct to the foregoing exhortation, and its consequences; trace the source of their sinful courses to their carnal confidences; and foretell the coming calamities caused thereby.

I. THE CONDUCT OF THE PEOPLE HAD BEEN DIRECTLY CONTRARY TO THE ADMONITION JUST GIVEN.

1. They had been not only neglectful of duty, indifferent and careless about spiritual concerns, and self-satisfied with their sinful course, but had taken much pains in pursuing a course the opposite of what duty demanded. They had not only lived in sin, enjoying its so-called pleasures, but had labored in the practice of it, serving Satan and doing his drudgery. Thus they ploughed wickedness. Not content with the spontaneous growth thereof, which is sufficiently abundant in every natural heart, they actually cultivated it, sparing no pains and grudging no diligence in its culture. Thus they ploughed and sowed laboriously; but it was tares, not wheat or good grain they spent their labor on.

2. As they ploughed and sowed, so they reaped; the crop in harvest-time corresponded with the seed which they had sown, and for which they had made such careful preparation. The harvest was abundant, the increase thirty, or sixty, or a hundredfold. The quantity was large, but the quality was bad. “In all labor there is profit,” said a minister to a man at work. “There is one exception,” was the reply; “for years I labored in the service of Satan, and of that labor I can truly say, ‘What fruit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.'”

3. The fruit of lies, like lies themselves, is deceptive; such fruit resembles the fabled apples on the shore of the Dead Seaattractive in appearance, but ashes in the mouth. The pleasures of the wicked don’t satisfy; their gains don’t profit in the end; all sinful works are unfruitful works. Thus it was with Israel’s hypocrisy, idolatry, and other abominations.

II. THEIR CARNAL CONFIDENCES WERE THE SOURCE 0r ISRAEL‘S SINS. They are also a common source of sin still. The people of Israel trusted in their ways of political wisdom, and the power and prowess of their mighty men. Their statecraft, their calf-worship, their military preparations, were their confidences. The fountainhead of their offending, the source whence such bitter waters flowed, and flowed so copiously, was the confidence they reposed in refuges of liestheir way inclusive of their wicked calf-worship, their tortuous worldly policy, and their forbidden foreign alliances with the heathen. Such was their internal safeguard, while the multitude of their mighty men was their external defense. All these confidences failed them. Every promise that sin makes to the sinner is a lie; the fruit of sin, like sin itself, is fallacious and deceptive.

III. CALAMITIES CROWDED ON THEM AS THE CONSEQUENCES, AND IN PUNISHMENT, OF SIN.

1. Their cities were sacked, their fortresses dismantled, their citizens and countrymen butchered, and unheard-of cruelties perpetrated.

2. Here we see how the worldly wise are taken in their own craftiness, and how sin finds the sinner out. The consequence of all was not a time of peace, but the tumult of war extending to the whole people in their tribal divisions, and probably to their neighbors, with whom they were in alliance; while the issue of the war was defeat and disastertheir defenses were destroyed, their strongholds rifled, the triumph of the enemy complete, and their cruelty unchecked.

3. See the bitter fruit of sin.

HOMILIES BY C. JERDAN

Hos 10:1-8

The calves and the kings.

The “burden” is still the sameIsrael’s guilt and punishment. But in the verses before us these are dealt with mainly in their external and national aspects. The most prominent thought of the passage centers in the calves and the kings.

I. THE NATIONAL SIN. Although the prophet handles his theme in this strophe for the most part on its external side, yet in one or two expressions he refers to the root of the evil in the hearts of the people. “We feared not the Lord” (Hos 10:3); i.e. the men of Israel had forsaken the service of Jehovah, and rejected him as their Portion. “Their heart is divided” (Hos 10:2), or “smooth,“ i.e. insincere. They did not devote themselves to the love and worship of God, and yet they could not make up their minds to part altogether either with him or with their idols. Such was the root of the national sinfulness. But Hosea here calls attention rather to:

1. Its forms in the national life. These were principally two.

(1) Trust in idols. Israel had allowed his sense of the solitariness of the Godhead to be broken down, and had “increased” the number of altars to heathen divinities. So far from realizing that all the “springs” of the nation were in Jehovah alone, the people gave “his praise to graven images;” and the glory which was his due, to the personified powers of physical nature.

(2) Trust in kings. The Hebrews had been guilty of high treason against Jehovah when, in the days of Samuel, they insisted upon having an earthly king set over them. And this sin became even more aggravated, on the part of the ten tribes, when they revolted from the theocratic monarchy which God had established at Jerusalem, and gave their allegiance to the usurpers who exercised the functions of royalty at Samaria.

2. Its manifestations in the national character. The people’s sin incorporated itself with them, and they lapsed further and further into moral degradation. There was:

(1) Self-indulgence. (Verse 1) Israel bad been a thriving and luxuriant “vine;” but his fruitfulness took a wrong direction: “he brought forth fruit unto himself,” and was “empty” towards God. The people regarded themselves as at once the source and the end of their own prosperity; so, they abused it by spending it upon their lusts.

(2) Ingratitude. (Verse 1) Increase of wealth, instead of attracting them to God’s temple to express thankfulness to him as the great Giver, led them instead to multiply their altars and idolatrous superstitions.

(3) Deceit and perjury. (Verse 4) Their “words” were insincere and untruthful; the “covenants” which they made (e.g. with Assyria) were deceitful. Nothing that the nation said could be depended on; the life of the community was a lie.

(4) Perversion of justice. (Verse 4) A wicked king and a corrupt court poisoned the administration of law among the people. The judges took bribes, and their unrighteous decisions were as “hemlock” overgrowing fields which ought to have been waving with a healthful harvest of righteousness.

II. THE NATIONAL PUNISHMENT. Israel is about to lose all the false defenses in which he gloried, and his heart shall have fear and shame for its melancholy heritage. The punishment is in these verses contemplated from a twofold point of view, viz.:

1. Its forms in the national life.

(1) As regards the idols. There would presently be “fear“ for them (verse 5). The very calves which bad been an object of trust and stay would become a source of anxious solicitude. Instead of feeling safe under the protection of their golden gods, the people would tremble for the safety of the gods themselves. “In the fear of the Lord. is strong confidence;” but the men of Israel “feared not the Lord” (verse 3), and their punishment was to “fear because of the calves.” More than this, they would suffer the loss of them (verses 2, 5, 6, 8). The images which Jeroboam had set up would be carried into captivity as a tribute “to King Jareb,” the avenging Assyrian. In that way the calf-worship of the northern kingdom would come to an end. Bethel and Dan, Samaria and Gilgal, the centers of Israel’s idolatry, would be destroyed. The shrines of Baal and Ashtaroth would be broken down, and thorns and thistles would grow luxuriantly upon the idol-altars.

(2) As regards the kings. Already the monarchy was helpless (verse 3). Although it may be that Hoshea (who proved to be the last king in Ephraim) was still upon the throne, the people were saying, “We have no king;” “What would a king do for us?” They see now, when it is too late, that it is vain to expect deliverance from monarchs who themselves do not fear God, and who have assumed their royalty in opposition to his will. Soon, too, the monarchy shall be finally destroyed (verse 7). The king shall be “cut off as the foam upon the water,” or as a chip which is carried down the stream and lost. Presently the long siege of Samaria shall begin; and in three years thereafter the standards of Shalmaneser shall wave over the ruined strongholds of that wicked city. But, again, the prophet refers to the national punishment in:

2. Its moral results upon the people. It would produce:

(1) Mourning. (Verse 5) The people would lament because of the helplessness of the golden idols, in which they had gloried, and in which their false priests bad rejoiced. They would sadly grieve because of the ignominious deportation of the calves to Assyria.

(2) Shame (verse 6), because of “their own counsel;” the reference being to the untheocratic policy of the ten tribes in separating themselves ecclesiastically and politically from Judah and Jerusalem. The worldly-wise statecraft of Jeroboam, which for a time seemed to be so successful, involved Israel in an inheritance of shame.

(3) Despair. (Verse 8) The calamities that were impending would be so dreadful, that thousands of the people would choose death rather than life. To die outright they would hail as a welcome relief from their burden of wretchedness and shame. They would desire that the hills upon which their idol-altars had stood might not merely hide them, but overwhelm and destroy them.

LESSONS.

1. The spiritual dangers which accompany material prosperity. “Jeshu-run waxed fat, and kicked” (Deu 32:15). It is difficult to carry the full cup steadily (verse 1).

2. The necessity, in order to a man’s spiritual well-being, that he “keep his heart with all diligence” (verse 2).

3. The sadness which comes from learning the truth too late, and the horrors of a too-late repentance (verse 3).

4. The diffusive and self-disseminating power of evil (verse 4).

5. The mourning of the wicked is for their losses rather than for their sins (verses 5, 6).

6. The one true security and strength of a nation consists in the fear of God (verses 3, 7).

7. The judgment denounced here upon the ten tribes, like that of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, is a type of the final general judgment (verse 8; Luk 23:30; Rev 6:16).C.J.

Hos 10:9-15

National prosperity and calamity.

In this passage, for the second time (vide Hos 9:10), the prophet starts with a brief reminiscence of former days, and then proceeds to deliver an urgent exhortation to present duty; but all serves merely as a basis for more denunciation and announcement of retribution.

I. THE IDEAL LIFE OF A NATION. (Hos 10:12) Although this verse is in the first instance a summons to Israel to repent and reform, we may view it as indicating also what the life of every commonwealth ought to be.

1. Its activities. Foremost amongst these is:

(1) The pursuit of godliness. The ideal nation “seeks the Lord,” and recognizes that always “it is time” to do so. It acknowledges Jehovah as its supreme King. It aims at making all the legislation upon its statute-book in harmony with the laws of the Bible. The Lord of hosts regards such a country as “a delightsome land” (Mal 3:12). “Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord” (Psa 144:15).

(2) The cultivation of morality. “Sow to yourselves in righteousness.” Plowing and sowing and reaping in this passage denote the moral conduct of the community. And the one great principle which should determine the activities of a nation should be that of “righteousness.” Its supreme aim should be, not the accumulation of wealth, nor the acquisition of power and prestige, but the establishment of righteousness; it should strive after what is true and just and equitable in everything.

(3) The accomplishment of needful reforms. “Break up your fallow ground.” The model nation looks out for new soil as well as for right seed, and for that Divine influence which is necessary to the harvest. As soon as it discovers any neglected portion of its own life, it will endeavor to subject that to spiritual husbandry, and bring it into cultivation. It will be continually anxious to reform, wherever it finds at any time that reform is necessary. But the life of the model nation has also:

2. Its rewards.

(1) The Lord wilt “come” to the community that seek him. He will dwell among them, and be “unto them a wall of fire round about.” He will “come” in Christ, the King of nations; and by the Holy Spirit, who is the principle of the life of every godly commonwealth.

(2) The holy nation shall reap a harvest of mercy. They shall gather mercy as the fruit of the good seed of righteousness which they have sown. The best of men, when they have done their best, are “unprofitable servants;” so that the rewards which shall accrue from their works of faith and love must be all of grace. But the harvest shall be a glorious one; for it shall be proportionate, not only to our humble sowing, but to God’s infinite mercy.

(3) They shall receive a rain of righteousness. Wherever the Lord Jesus comes as King, he brings with him this blessing (Psa 72:1-7). Wherever the Holy Spirit dwells, he “creates a clean heart,” and “renews a right spirit” (Psa 51:10-12). The people that sow righteousness sow “to themselves;” for “to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward” (Pro 11:18). In proportion to their willingness to “do God’s will,” shall they “know of the doctrine,” and reap its blessed fruits in their hearts and lives. The angle of reflection shall be equal to the angle of incidence; that is, their obedience shall be the measure of their assurance and of their reward.

II. THE ACTUAL LIFE OF ISRAEL This was quite the reverse of the ideal above described. Its wrongness had begun very early, for the nation had “sinned from the days of Gibeah” (Jdg 19:1-30; Jdg 20:1-48); and, alas! it persisted in the sin of Gibeah still. The corruption of the community was deeply rooted in ancestral habit. In describing the actual life of Israel, Hosed refers to:

1. Its basis. (Hos 10:13) The foundation of the whole lay in sinful self-confidence. Israel “trusted in his way,” i.e. in his own political devices and idolatrous worship. He relied also upon “the multitude of his mighty men,” as if Providence were on the side of the strong battalions.

2. Its pursuits. Ephraim led a self-indulgent life. In the days of Jeroboam II; when be was victorious and prosperous, he was “as a heifer that loveth to tread out the corn” (Hos 10:11). The nation was self-reliant, and it grew rich; so it became pampered and selfish. Really, however, the people all the while were following a career of laborious sin. “They ploughed wickedness, and reaped iniquity” (Hos 10:13). Like self-made slaves, they “bound themselves in their two transgressions” (Hos 10:10)their double sin of apostasy from Jehovah and revolt from the dynasty of David.

3. Its results. As sin is the evil of evils, the consequence of the people’s long course of iniquity could not but be ruinous. Disaster fell upon them as the outcome of natural law, and also because at last it was God’s “desire to chastise them” (Hos 10:10). Hitherto the ten tribes, although they had lived in the commission of the sin of Gibeah, had not been destroyed in war, like the Gibeahites; now at last, however, the Divine vengeance is to descend upon them. There is to be:

(1) Invasion. (Hos 10:10) The Assyrians, with their allies, “shall be gathered against them.”

(2) Bondage. (Hos 10:11) A heavy yoke shall be put upon the “fair neck” of the heifer Ephraim; and in her state of subjugation she shall have to perform hard labor. Judah also shall undergo a similar punishment. This threatening was fulfilled in the two captivities, the Assyrian and the Babylonish.

(3) Disappointment. (Hos 10:13) Israel’s reward for his wickedness was that he had “eaten the fruit of lies.” The idolatry which he practiced was a lie; and this, instead of promoting the prosperity of the nation, as for a time it seemed to be doing, led to its utter humiliation and decay,

(4) National ruin. (Hos 10:14, Hos 10:15) The “tumult” of war is soon to arise. Shalmaneser shall overthrow the strongholds of Ephraim, as he had lately “spoiled Beth-arbel.” The land shall be devastated, and its inhabitants cruelly murdered. And, in consequence, the kingdom of Israel shall be destroyed forever.

LESSONS.
1. God’s long forbearance with a wicked nation before he proceeds to visit it according to its works (Hos 10:9).

2. The determination to which at length he must inevitably come, to vindicate his justice (Hos 10:10).

3. The folly of those who expect to enjoy the comforts of religion while neglecting to discharge its duties (Hos 10:11).

4. The history of the kingdom of the ten tribes an illustration of the truth that “pride goeth before destruction” (Hos 10:11).

5. The deceitfulness of sin, as being “the fruit of lies” (Hos 10:13).

6. This passage should lead us to cherish gratitude to Almighty God for his goodness to our nation, and should suggest to Great Britain to take warning from the doom of Ephraim.C.J.

HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND

Hos 10:2 (first clause)

The divided heart.

The preceding verse describes the sin of the people; this points us to its source. Like a vine, luxuriant in branch yet yielding no sound fruit, Israel deserved the curse which, during the ministry of our Lord, fell on the barren fig tree. The first verse may be compared advantageously with the description given of Israel in Psa 80:8-15. The third clause in that verse does not continue to develop the figure, but makes a declaration which was literally true, viz. that in proportion as the fields were fruitful Israel multiplied idolatrous altars; and as the land was made good, so the images they worshipped were adorned with beauty. In other words, God’s gifts were abused, and were dedicated, not to him, but to false gods. The fear of Moses was justified. Now they enjoyed the goodly land they were forgetting the Lord their God. Point out the enervating effect of prosperity in such men as Hezekiah, and in the decline and fall of great nations. The cause of Israel’s sin was to be found in the fact that they were not whole-hearted in the worship of God; but while they kept up still the outward forms of the old religion, with “divided hearts” they mingled with it, or supported beside it, idolatrous practices. The question of Elijah, “How long halt ye between two opinions?” needed repetition in those days, and in these Our Lord has distinctly declared that the frequent and sinful attempt of men to serve God and mammon is vain.

SubjectThe divided heart.

I. ITS CONDITION first demands consideration. Whether in the physical or in the moral life of man, if we are in doubt about the state of our heart, we cannot be too careful in diagnosis. Diseases assail it which are so occult that they may not reveal themselves till they become fatal in result. Other diseases may have outward signs which any onlooker can recognize. Some heart-diseases are as insidious as they are perilous, betraying themselves neither by rash nor by pain. As the heart is the center of our physical life, so here and elsewhere in Scripture it is alluded to as the center of moral life; and in that aspect of it the words are true, “The heart is deceitful above all things.” (Some such idea underlies the Hebrew word which Keil translates “smooth,” or “flattering.”) None but God and a man’s own consciousness can declare whether this be true of any one, “his heart is divided.” This is so, however, with any whose attitude towards God and his truth is as follows:

(1) If their minds are convinced;

(2) if their fears are aroused;

(3) if their consciences are disturbed;

while yet they yield no genuine homage to him whose existence and claims they dare not deny.

II. ITS EVIDENCES may be discovered in such characteristics as these:

1. Formality in worship. “This people draweth nigh to me with their mouth,” etc. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” The scribes and Pharisees were examples of this, exposed and rebuked by our Lord.

2. Inconsistency in conduct. This may be glaringly conspicuous, or it may be that the unholiness or unrighteousness is too secretly practiced to be discovered by the world, or too subtle to be described and condemned by the Church, or ten generally practiced to be reprobated by society. Give examples of each in professional, or commercial, or social life.

3. Fickleness in effort. It is a sure sign of reality when we are “steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord;” when the world frowns as well as when it smiles; when the service is uncongenial as well as when it is delightful. He who readily takes up Christian work and then suddenly abandons it, may fairly ask himself whether his heart is not divided. The great Sower still sees the shallow soil of a sentimental character, where there is no depth and therefore no stability.

III. ITS CAUSES.

1. The love of sin. We must lay aside “the sin that doth so easily beset us” if we would run the race and win the crown. He who will not give sin up for Christ’s sake has the” divided heart.”

2. The fear of man. The lad at school, or the man in business, is often disloyal to conviction, and refuses to lay to heart the declaration of Christ, “He that is not with me is against me.”

3. The habit of procrastination. The child says, “I will wait till I am old enough to take my own place in life;” the busy man or woman waits the leisure of old age; the vigorous delay till illness gives time for thought; and so life speeds away, and the words of Christ are unheeded, “My son, give me thine heart.”

IV. ITS EFFECTS.

1. Present unhappiness. The undecided man knows too much to find rest in the world, but he loves too little to find rest in Christ. The consciousness of being wrong, the thought of a solemn duty left undone, the fear of discovery by Christian friends, the dread of death and its issue, with more or less frequency and intensity, bring him misery.

2. Disastrous influence. If he professes to be a Christian, he dishonors his Lord by his conduct in the world far more titan one who avows himself to be an unbeliever. His Christian name injures the world, while his worldly character injures the Church. Examples: Judas, Demas, Ananias.

3. Certain retribution. “Some will awake to everlasting contempt.” “Let both grow together to the harvest,” etc.

CONCLUSION. Encouragement to offer to our God the broken heart of true penitence, which he will not despise.A.R.

Hos 10:11

Moral abasement.

Figures drawn from the work of husbandry are frequently found in the sacred Scriptures. No others could have been so wisely employed. As Divine truths were intended for all nations, it was well that illustrations of them should be found in all lauds. The breaking up of the ground, the sowing of seed, the reaping of the harvest, are phenomena well known in every country, and the process has been essentially the same in every age. Whether the harvest grows in the small allotment of the Eastern laborer, who irrigates it with toil and care, or whether it is seen on vast prairie-lands, rippling under the breeze like a sea of gold, the laws of its growth, the mode of its production, are not different; and so wherever he may be the religious teacher may find the old illustrations of spiritual truths. How much poorer would the world have been had Divine lessons been represented by the variable fashions or changeful machinery of man’s invention, which only the archaeologist would understand, instead of being written as they are in the harvest-fields where any wayfarer may read them! Still are the different conditions of “hearers of the Word” represented truly by the different soils which the sower sees in any land. Another and profounder reason for the Divine choice of such illustrations lies in the truth that both nature and grace are of God. The two spheres of being proceed from the same Source, the material being the image of the spiritual. There is a true sowing and reaping in the inward as well as in the outward world; so that in these inspired words we get, not only illustrations, but analogies. Hence the wisdom of the metaphor which is found in Hos 10:11-13. The twelfth verse shows Israel what it should be, while our text depicts what Israel actually was, and affords us an example of moral abasement which we shall do well to consider.

I. MORAL ABASEMENT IS SHOWN IN PREFERRING THE LOWER TO THE HIGHER LIFE. “Ephraim is as a heifer;” whereas, in the next verse, Ephraim is exhorted to be as a husbandman. The former is what the people had become, the latter is what God meant them to be. It is the constant tendency of man thus to sink below a possible ideal. Men of the highest intellectual culture will deprive themselves in their religious life of the liberty and dignity of the sons of God. Many hearers avowedly wait for some overpowering manifestation of God’s presence before they believe in him. They would have upon them some influence so mighty as to be resistless. The evil and adulterous generation is still seeking a sign; and gathers around the Christ, asking, “What sign showest thou? what dost thou work?” Now, the tendency of all this is to ask God that we may be dealt with as animals, not as menas those who are without the spiritual capacities which belong to beings made in the image of God. We would be as the heifer, wanting the yoke and the goad; not as the husbandman, who, obedient to the inner thought that is given to him, intelligently, and freely breaks up the fallow ground, sows the seed, and seeks upon it the blessing of God. But listen to the exhortation of the psalmist: “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle [not, ‘lest they come near,’ but] because they will not come near to thee” to do thee service; but rather be as a child, so looking for the Father’s glance, so ready to obey his faintest sign, that he can say, “I will guide thee with mine eye” (Psa 32:8, Psa 32:9). Ephraim was called to be as the husbandman (Hos 10:12), but was content to be as the heifer.

II. MORAL ABASEMENT IS SHOWN IN RENDERING A PERFUNCTORY AND IRRELIGIOUS SERVICE. “Ephraim is as a heifer that is taught.” She is accustomed to do a certain kind of work, and does it day after day from the memory of the past; as a perfunctory performance, without the inspiration of the thought that it will please her master. Such obedience abounds amongst men. Right acts are done by multitudes, as they were by scribes and Pharisees, without there being in them the moral worth God looks for. For example, it is right for a man to be diligent in business, to do his work with all his might. The idle and thriftless sink ever lower in character and circumstances. But it would not be difficult to find one who is regular and punctual, failing in no engagement, prompt in all his dealings, setting before others a commendable example of hard work thoroughly done, who never has a thought of his Lord’s approval, sees nothing of the eternal issues which may flow from the present life, but is “as a heifer accustomed to the yoke.” Such perfunctoriness may creep into religious service; into the prayers which are said by rote, into the gifts which are given from custom, into the work and organization which is the outcome of habit, etc.

III. MORAL ABASEMENT IS SHOWN IS OBEYING PROFITABLE COMMANDS FOR THE SAKE OF THEIR PROFIT. “Ephraim is as a heifer that loveth to tread out the corn.” The allusion is to the Eastern custom of driving oxen over the reaped corn, that by their feet or by the implement they dragged behind them the grain might be separated from the straw. In the Pentateuch (Deu 25:4) the command was given, “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.” The ox was to share in the bountiful gifts God had bestowed on man in the harvest, and might eat what he pleased. Hence, when it is said “Ephraim is as a heifer that.; loveth to tread out the corn,” yet refuses to plough till the yoke is forced on its fair neck, the meaning is that Israel obeyed the command of God when they could get any immediate good as the result of obedience, but refused to obey when obedience, like plowing, brought no instant fruit. Well may Trapp remark, “It is an ill sign when men must pick and choose their work; this they will do for God, but not that… Judas will bear the cross, so he may have the bag.” It was because our Lord discerned this spirit in his hearers at Capernaum that he rebuked them, saying, “Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you” (Joh 6:26, Joh 6:27; see also Mat 6:33). The true test of character is to be found, not in the morality that wins applause and popularity, but in the righteousness which is followed through evil as well as good report. To all those who are toiling for the sake of what they can get of earthly good, Christ says, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and ye shall find rest to your souls.” if the Spirit of Christ be ours, then we shall find “A life of self-renouncing love is a life of liberty.”A.R.

Hos 10:12

Spiritual husbandry.

The union of precept and promise in Scripture runs parallel with the union of work and blessing in life. The same mind and will is the source of both. Our text reminds us of the co-operation of the human and Divine as essential to the harvest of good. A true reformation is only accomplished by God indirectly, through the agency of man. Thus the coming of Christ Jesus was prepared for by the ministry of John, which roused men to thoughts of sin and of righteousness. In the graphic imagery of Isaiah, “crooked things were made straight, and rough places plain, and then the glory of the Lord was revealed.” So in the establishment of the Christian Church: God wrought through the energies of men. The Holy Spirit was not poured down directly from heaven upon the nations, but upon a few men whose hearts were prepared, and through their ministry the conscience of the world was stirred. No farmer waits inactively in the spring-time, when the earth is made soft with showers, expecting a harvest to come, while his plough rusts in the shed and his seed rots in the granary; and no true Christian is satisfied to pray for the fulfillment of the promises while he does nothing of the work that lies to his hand. The message comes home to him, “Sow to yourselves,” etc. Human responsibility and Divine recompense are the two factors in spiritual husbandry which demand consideration.

I. HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY lies in the direction of these activities.

1. Sowing the seed. “Sow to yourselves in righteousness.” Show how deficient Israel was in righteousness, both in national affairs and in social and civil life, during Hosea’s ministry.

(1) National righteousness is demanded. Honesty in diplomacy, equitable dealing with weaker peoples, fairness in commercial enterprise, choice of the right, and not of the profitable, etc.

(2) Church righteousness, which will not allow us to neglect the poor, or to be careless of the interests of Divine truth, or to restrain prayer heft,re God.

(3) Individual righteousness, which may be shown by every Christian in all the varied relations of life. Sowing to ourselves in righteousness is not always easy, and is not often immediately recompensed; but “in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

2. Preparing the sod. “Break up your fallow ground.” The work referred to is monotonous, hard, continuous. The ploughman does not see around him the glow of the golden harvest; he does not hear the merriment of those who are binding the sheaves; he has not the stimulus of the happy speed which the hope of finishing gives the reaper. Yet his work is as necessary. The reference is not to the cleaning from weeds of land already sown, but to the breaking up of virgin soil, i.e. of the parts of a field which were neglected before.

(1) Make application to the development of Christian character. There is generally a want of completeness about this. Sins of pleasure and indolence are gone; but if sins of pride, ambition, censoriousness, remain, these also must be turned up by the plough of resolution. We must not be content with saying, “This part of my character is fertile,” while that part lies fallow. So with Christian graces. We may have courage without tenderness, patience without enterprise, and thus have fallow ground yet to be broken up.

(2) Make application to the advance of Christ‘s kingdom. Parts of the world sown with the good seed are fairly productive, other parts are moral wastes. This calls for missionary enterprise. Congregations comfortably worship, yet amongst the godless and ignorant “fallow ground” still lies around them. The world will become a paradise only when each does his own work in his own sphere. In the Western States, laud is not brought under cultivation by the expenditure of a millionaire; but each settler has his own allotment, effects his own clearing, builds his own log hut, adds field to field till his farm touches the next, and by this process the wilderness begins to rejoice and blossom like the rose.

3. Seeking the Lord. Hosea would have the people eagerly expecting Messiah, and ready to welcome him. Some of John’s disciples were thus” seeking the Lord,” and it was on these Christ rained righteousness, in the truths he taught and the Spirit he gave. Readiness for the second advent becomes the Christian still; and the Church is sighing for it. Meantime the Lord comes in holy thought, in right resolve, in chastened feeling. He comes down on weary hearts like “rain upon the mown grass, as showers that water the earth.”

II. Divine RECOMPENSE.

1. It is generous. “Reap [not ‘in,’ but] according to mercy;” not in proportion to desert, or to justice, but to the boundless mercy of the Lord. Of all reaping that is true. When we sow our seed we give it over to the care of God. It would be something to receive it back again uninjured; but it is multiplied, “according to the mercy” of God, and harvest-fields come from a few bushels of seed. God gives “good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.” If we are thus requited in the natural, we shall be in the moral husbandry. Grace used brings more grace. The five talents employed become the ten talents. If we give, the habit of giving becomes a luxury. If we pray, prayer becomes easier, more refreshing, more essential. If ours are the tears of penitence, the light of God’s love shines through them and creates the rainbow of peace. If, like the prodigal, we sow in righteous acknowledgment of sin, we reap peace and joy “according to God’s mercy.”

2. It is from above. “Until he come and rain righteousness upon you.” When rain falls from heaven it blesses your garden, or your carefully tended plant, but it does not content itself with that. Fields you never saw are greener, limpid streams in distant counties are fuller, leaves and ferns and. unnoticed flowers are touched and blessed. All Churches need this outpouring from above. To do the right, to break up the fallow ground which has been unblessed before by enterprise, will all be useless unless he rains righteousness upon us. And for this great blessing a mural world, a weakened Church, a conscious yearning, say, “It is time to seek the Lord.”

CONCLUSION. Beware lest, in the sight of the Searcher of hearts, your condition should be described by the words which follow our text. “Ye have ploughed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity.” “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”A.R.

HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON

Hos 10:2

A divided heart.

The history of the people of Israel furnishes many an illustration of the state of mind vividly depicted in these words. For instance, in the time of Elijah, the heart of Israel was divided between Jehovah and Baal. Hosed had to complain of the same distraction of mind as characteristic of the generation to which he ministered. And what congregation is there addressed by a Christian preacher which does not contain many “a divided heart”?

I. THE CAUSES OF A DIVIDED HEART.

1. Others beside the Lord lay claim to the heart. In the case of Israel, there were idols who were reputed by neighboring nations to be powerful and helpful. In the case of those professing Christianity, there are many rivals, in the person of earthly and human claimants, and in the shape of various preoccupations, pleasures, and pursuits.

2. There is native weakness and vacillation. Many natures are by constitution unstable; and many have encouraged weakness by yielding to temptation.

II. THE SYMPTOMS OF A DIVIDED HEART. The case is not that of one who has actually renounced and abjured the worship and service of the Lord. But in hesitating between the two different and inconsistent allegiances, the divided heart is faithful to neither. We meet with instances of such indecision in domestic and social life, There may be a vigorous intellect where there is a vacillating heart, affections easily won and easily lost, prone to transference hither and thither. And in religion we find persons who strive to serve God and mammon at the same time; or who seem to be earnest in the service of God, and shortly after equally devoted to the incompatible service of God’s enemy.

III. THE MISCHIEFS OF A DIVIDED HEART.

1. It is ruinous to the individual nature. No man can live an inconsistent life, such as a divided heart involves, without moral deterioration. He loses self-respect and moral dignity.

2. It is injurious to society. Men respect decision, but they are repelled by its opposite, and they despise a professor of religion whose spirit and demeanor are inconsistent with his profession.

3. It is hateful to God, who says, “Give me thy heart,” and who will accept no compromise or composition.

IV. THE CURE FOR A DIVIDED HEART. The only cure is a radical and severe one. The heart must be withdrawn from God’s rivals, and yielded, without reserve and without delay, to him who has a right to it, and who claims it as his own.

“Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;

Prone to leave the God I love!

Here’s my heart, Lord; take and seal it

Seal it from thy courts above.”

T.

Hos 10:7

Foam upon the water.

A graphic and picturesque image is this, aptly setting forth the emptiness and transitoriness of that monarchy which was established at Samaria, in defiance of God’s will; and which was continued by vacillating or by wholly idolatrous kings, with no regard to God’s honor, to God’s ordinances, to God’s prophets and messengers.

I. THE PRINCIPLE FIGURATIVELY ENUNCIATED. All persons and systems and principles which are opposed to God are doomed to perish. As the foam raised upon the surface of the torrent as it plunges over the rooks vanishes even whilst it is borne down by the swiftness of the current, so all persons, things, and institutions which God condemns as inimical to himself, as hostile to his authority and reign, are destined to disappear and sink into the dark depths of oblivion. As our Lord Jesus declared, making use of a different figure, “Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted up.”

II. ACTUAL EXEMPLIFICATIONS OF THIS PRINCIPLE.

1. The instance of the passage from which the text is taken. The godless and often idolatrous kingdom, established in Samaria as its capital, comes to naught.

2. National examples abound. Peoples who have been unfaithful to their trust, or negligent of their privileges, or wavering in their policy, have come to naught.

“And, like a snow-flake on the river,
One moment seen, then gone forever.”

3. How many cases of individuals known to us exemplify the principle thus figuratively set forth! Brilliant gifts, fine opportunities, glowing hopes, and, at the same time, want of true principle, of thorough consecration to God,who has not seen the combination? And who that has watched and followed such cases has not had occasion to remark that the laws of God cannot be violated with impunity, that the Lord reigneth, and that all which is not based upon a right relation with the supreme Lord and Savior must surely come to naught, and be no more seen?T.

Hos 10:8

Despair.

The picture of the text is awful in the extreme. The condition of those to whom destruction and annihilation would be a relief is appalling to contemplate. What fearful vengeance must be overtaking those, what indescribable forebodings must have taken possession of their nature, who cry, “Mountains, cover us I Rocks, fall upon us!” It is the language of despair!

I. THE CAUSES OF DESPAIR. Much must have transpired before such a state of mind could exist. There must have been

(1) sin committed,

(2) mercy rejected,

(3) authority defied,

(4) forbearance abused, before the soul of man could have abandoned itself to hopelessness like this.

II. THE HORROR OF DESPAIR. This is not unnatural. It arises from reflection upon the rebellion and inexcusable willfulness of the past; from the declaration of conscience to the effect that God has observed that rebellion, that sinfulness, with indignation, and from the anticipation of impending judgment. Only such thoughts and feelings could account for the unparalleled horror declaring itself in such invocations and imprecations as these.

III. THE CRY OF DESPAIR. The dreadful language proceeding from the lips of the hopeless is an appeal to nature to save the sinner from nature’s Lord. It is an appeal unreasonable and absurd, but not unnatural, as uttered by a bewildered, terrified, and unfriended soul. Can anything give a more awful and impressive representation of the wretchedness into which he is surely led who perseveres in sin, and hardens himself against both the Law and the Gospel?

IV. THE PREVENTION OF DESPAIR. It may be well to see whither a certain course leads us, if the result be to save us from the issue, by saving us from what involves it. It is to be remembered with gratitude that hearers of the gospel of Christ have not reached the stage now described. They may be prisoners, but they are “prisoners of hope.” The word of the Lord does indeed come as a word of warning, but it comes also as a word of promise. Neglected, it will be a sentence of condemnation; accepted, it will be an assurance of pardon and a pledge of life eternal.T.

Hos 10:12

Prepare for the time of Divine favor.

This is one of many passages in which the inspired writers make use of imagery derived from the processes of nature and the practices of husbandry, with the view of explaining and enforcing spiritual truth and personal duty.

I. HUMAN PREPARATION FOR DIVINE BLESSING. Man must do his part, and is admonished by authority to do so. The readiness which is here required, as a condition of heavenly blessing and spiritual prosperity, is twofold.

1. In the heart and life. By “breaking up the fallow ground” may be understood repentance, by which the heart long hard and stony becomes soft and pliable to what is good, and receptive of heavenly seed. By “sowing to one’s self in righteousness” may be understood reformation of principles and of practice. It is not enough to forsake the evil; it is necessary to seek, to cleave to, that which is good. All this, it is presumed, will be done by the aid of Divine grace, and under the influence of Christian motives.

2. By prayer. “It is time to seek the Lord.” Human means are good; it is by express instruction from on high that they are employed; but alone they are insufficient. The spiritual life has its devotional as well as its practical side. We have to look earthwards, that we may till the soil and sow the seed; but we have also to look heavenwards, that we may obtain the needed blessing.

II. DIVINE BLESSING IN RESPONSE TO HUMAN PREPARATION.

1. God shall “rain righteousness,” by which we may understand he will bestow those favors which his own Word has pledged him to confer. By rain we understand also the abundance of those blessings; which are bestowed, not in drops, but in showerscopious showers from the opened windows of heaven.

2. God’s people shall “reap mercy.” This is the harvest for which all human cultivation and all Divine effluences are designed to concur. Mercy for time and mercy for eternity, from a merciful God, for a mercy-needing humanity. “The Lord grant that we may all obtain mercy of the Lord in that day!”T.

HOMILIES BY D. THOMAS

Hos 10:1

The abuse of worldly prosperity.

“Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself.” Were this version correct we should have two ideas suggested.

1. A fruitlessness that makes life worthless. This empty vine produced fruit, but the fruit was worthless. A fruitless vine is among the most worthless of all plants. It is unbeautiful. Its aspect is dry, stringy, deadly. It is true its foliage is luxuriant, but that is short-lived and disappointing; and it is as inutile as it is unbeautiful. What piece of furniture or art can you make out of the vine tree? It is only fit for the fire.

2. A fruitfulness that makes life wicked. “Bringeth forth fruit unto himself.” Whatever is produced is laid out on selfaggrandizement and indulgence. But our version is undoubtedly faulty. “Israel is a luxuriant vine, he putteth forth his fruit (Henderson); “Israel is a running vine, it setteth fruit for itself” (Keil); “Israel is a luxurious vine, whose fruit is very abundant” (Elzas). Israel is often represented as a vine.

“Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt,
Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it,
Thou prepardst room before it,
Arid didst cause it to take deep root;
And it filled the land,
The hills were covered with the shadow of it,
And the boughs thereof were like goodly cedars.”

(Psa 80:8-10)

Our subject is the abuse of worldly prosperity. Some men are very prosperous; they are like the luxuriant vine. Every branch of their life clusters with fruit. Some nations are very prosperous. England was never more prosperous than now; the son of prosperity shines on our island home. Great Britain is just now a luxuriant vine, and its clustering branches enrich distant nations. When is prosperity abused?

I. WHEN IT IS USED WITH AN EXCLUSIVE REGARD TO OUR OWN SELFISH ENDS. When men employ it:

1. For self-indulgence. How much wealth is lavished on the pampering of appetites, and the gratification of the sensuous, the carnal, and the gross?

2. For self-aggrandizement. How much wealth is expended in order to make a grand appearance, to move through life in pageantry and pomp, and thus to gratify mere vanity and pride! All selfish use of property is an abuse of it. What we have obtained is only common property, which, because it has come into our possession, we have a right to distribute for the common weal. The right which property gives us is not the right to lay it out purely for our own selfish ends, but the right to lay it out for the benefit of our fellow-men.

II. WHEN IT IS USED WITHOUT A SUPREME REGARD TO THE CLAIMS OF GOD. Whatever we have we hold as stewards, and unless we employ our property according to the directions of the great Proprietor we abuse the trust. How does God require us to employ our property?

1. For the amelioration of human woes.

2. For the dispersion of human ignorance.

3. For the elevation of the human soul. To raise it to the knowledge, the image, the fellowship, and the enjoyment of God.

CONCLUSION. How are we as a nation using our enormous prosperity? Let the increase of grand mansions, palaces of amusement, temples of intemperance, worthless and putrescent literary productions, be compared with the increase of our churches, our schools, and our books of real, intellectual, and moral merit; and the humiliating answer will come.D.T.

Hos 10:4

Social sins and their result.

“They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.”

I. SOCIAL SINS. There are three sins referred to in this verse.

1. Vain speech. “They have spoken words.” This means, according to Henderson, Elzas, and others, “They utter empty speeches.” Not only are words of falsehood, blasphemy, and unchastity sinful, but empty words. For every “idle word” we shall have to give an account. How much idle language is there current in society! The chat of gossip, the formalities of etiquette, the vapid compliments of society, as well as those airy words of wit and humor which sometimes delude, sometimes pain, and sometimes please.

2. False swearing. False speech is bad enough, for it misrepresents facts, and often does serious mischief; but when backed by an oath its heinousness is intensified and blackened. How much false swearing there is in society! Not merely in judicial courts, but in homes, in shops, in fields, in general society.

3. Unrighteous treaties. “Making a covenant.” The word “bad” is implied here, for there is no harm in making covenants. Making a bad covenant. The primal reference, perhaps, is to certain treaties Israel had formed with foreign nations. How much wicked contracting there is going on in society every day in commerce, in politics, as well as in private life. Untruthful as well as unrighteous bargains are being struck every hour in all circles. In truth, the sins here charged to Israel are not uncommon in England this dayempty speech, false swearing, and making unrighteous treaties.

II. RESULTS OF SOCIAL SINS. “Thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.” It matters not to the sense of the passage whether you read “poppy” for “hemlock,” or “ridges” for “furrows;” the idea is the sameviz. that out of the social sins certain results appear. How do they come?

1. They come as a growth. They “spring up” or blossom. Sins bring with them their own punishmentno positive infliction is required; every sin is a seed from which a pestiferous plant must spring.

2. They come as a poison. “Hemlock;” some read “poppy,” and some “darnel,” but all agree in the poisonousness of its production. In any case it is a “hemlock,” a small decoction of which destroyed a Socrates. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

3. They come in abundance. “That springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.” Very prolific is sin. See its plants growing in the ridges and furrows of life; in sick-chambers, in hospitals, in workhouses, in prisons, in battlefields also! How thickly the hemlock grows!D.T.

Hos 10:12

The Divine voice to a worthless people.

“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” “Sow to yourselves for righteousness, reap according to love, plough for yourselves virgin soil; for it is time to seek Jehovah, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” (Delitzsch). Sowing and reaping are figures here used to denote the spiritual and moral conduct of the people. Indeed, all human life consists of sowing and reaping. We reap today what we sowed yesterday, and we sow today what we shall reap to-morrow, and so on through all future. Every intelligent act embodies a moral principle, contains a seed that must germinate and grow. We have here several things worthy of study.

I. A WRETCHED MORAL STATE. “Fallow ground,” uncultivated earth. A state of:

1. Unloveliness. It is either an expanse of grey earth, or of weeds, thistles, and thorns.

2. Unfruitfulness. Unless the earth is cultivated, there is no fruit, and the land is worthless.

3. Wastefulness. On the fallow ground fall the rain, the dew, the sunshine, and the frost; but all in vain. How much Divine grace is wasted on unregenerate men! Sermons, books, Bibles, providences, means of grace all wasted.

II. AN URGENT MORAL DUTY.

1. Moral plowing. “Break up your fallow ground.” Drive the ploughshare through it. How can you break up the soil of the heart? Not by mere volition, but by thinking on the subjects suited to excite. Think especially on two things.

(1) What God has been to us.

(2) What we have been to him.

2. Moral sowing. “Sow in righteousness.” Go in for righteousness. Work to put yourself and fellow-men right with themselves, God, and others; implant everywhere righteous ideas and actions.

3. Moral reaping. “Reap in mercy.” Accept what comes to you in sentiments of love and mercy.

III. A SOLEMN MORAL SUGGESTION. “It is time.”

1. No time to lose.

2. Much has been lost.

3. It is only now the work can be effectively done.

IV. A GLORIOUS MORAL PROSPECT. He will “rain righteousness,” or, as some render it, “teach you righteousness.” Pursue this work of moral agriculture properly, and God himself will come and teach you righteousness.D.T.

HOMILIES BY J. ORR

Hos 10:1-3

The empty vine.

“Empty;” literally, “poured forth; “i.e. poured forth in leaves and branches, with the effect that there is comparatively little fruit. When there was fruit, Israel gave not God the glory. The more they increased, the more they transgressed. The result was degeneracy. They spurned God’s control, and life, in consequence, ran to waste. Undisciplined luxuriance becomes degenerate luxuriance. Fruit fails.

I. FRUIT, BUT NOT UNTO GOD. (Hos 10:1) Such fruit as Israel brought forth was “unto himself.” We have here recognized:

1. A native capacity of fruitfulness. God had given to the nation a thriving vigorous life, capable of striking out in many noble directions, and of achieving distinction in many kinds of enterprise. This was its natural endowment. It enabled it at times, with God’s assistance, to rise to a high degree of prosperity. So God bestows on men the gifts of body and mind, the natural genius, the powers to think and act, which form the basis of their manifold endeavors.

2. A perversion of this capacity. This power of fruitful endeavor in Israel was not directed to God’s glory as its end. The life of the nation was solely “from itself to itself.” Its bent was towards self-gratification, self-glory, self-enrichment; not towards the realization of a Divine ideal. They set up kings, but not by God (Hos 8:4). The calf was “from Israel also” (Hos 10:5). This is the root-sin of mankind. They have turned aside from their being’s end and aim. There is endeavor, but it is for self. God’s glory is unthought of, unsought.

3. Consequent failure. From this perversion of existence in Israel arose

(1) rejection of Divine control, figured in the vine’s lawless, untutored luxuriance; and

(2) ultimate degeneracy. The sinful life, however vigorous, powerful, and thriving-looking at first, has this as its penalty, that it is unable permanently to maintain its vitality. Even when, to outward appearance, it seems flourishing, it is found, on closer examination, to be without substance, without healthy fruitfulness. “It is smitten, its root is dried up, it hears no fruit” (cf. Hos 9:16). Only of the righteous can it be said, “He bringeth forth fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither” (Psa 1:3). “They shall bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing” (Psa 92:14).

II. GLORY, BUT NOT TO THE CREATOR. (Hos 10:1) The more God gave to Israel, the more they sinned against him. Their altars were multiplied as their fruit increased. The better God made their land, the goodlier became their images.

1. They withheld from God the glory due to him. They denied him in his gifts. They did not own him as the, Author of their prosperity. They felt no thankfulness. They did not glorify him in the use they made of what he gave. How common is this sin!

2. They gave his glory to another. Altars and pillars were multiplied to the idols. Baal was praised and served for the prosperity which came from Jehovah. God was dishonored to his face. In the Lord’s own land his glory was given to “graven in, ages.” The glory which ought to be given to God is often retained for sell or distributed out to the powers which we secretly idolize. Hero and nature worship, Bacchus-worship, idolatry of wealth, glorification of military might, etc.

3. They made his goodness the occasion of greater sin. The bent being evil, sin only assumes the greater proportions the larger the powers put at its disposal. With plenty in the land the people had more to sin with. They had more time and means, and they lavished more freely on their idols. They built more altars, and made their pillars higher and goodlier. Man’s sin thus keeps pace with God’s goodness. The wealthy, talented, powerful, robust, exalted, are able to sin in a way and to an extent not possible to others. The facilities for sin are greater. More extravagance, pride, worldly display, dissipation, self-confidence, etc.

III. WORSHIP, BUT WITH A DIVIDED HEART. (Hos 10:2) Israel’s heart was “smooth“ or “divided.” It was deceitful towards God. His worship was ostensibly maintained, but the worship of the Baals was kept up alongside of it, and was the real worship of the people. Nay, while in name honoring Jehovah, the people had “changed the truth of God into a lie” (Rom 1:25), by setting up the images of the calves. Their whole worship was thus an abomination to the Lord, and he would avenge his insulted honor by a judgment which would lay their altars in the dust.

1. In worship, it is the heart God looks to. He is not deceived by the outward appearance, or by flattering words. He desires truth in the inward parts (Psa 51:6). The utmost lavishing on externals will not condone for the want of the right spirit.

2. The heart is insincere towards God when it is divided between God and other objects. God is not honored as God when the whole heart is not given up to him. He ought, as God, to receive all. He will not share his glory with another. A really divided state of the affections cannot last (Mat 6:24). The division of the heart between God and the world ends by the world getting all.

3. God will punish the divided heart by taking its idols from it. He may do so in this world. He will certainly do so at last.

IV. A KING, YET NO KING. (Hos 10:3) When the judgment fell on Israel, the people would not be slow to realize the cause of their misfortunes. “We have no king, because we feared not the Lord.”

1. They had a king, but not a king from God. Since the extinction of the house of Jehu, no king had reigned in Israel with even a semblance of Divine right. The throne had been held by a succession of usurpers. Hoshea gained it by slaying Pekah, as Pekah had raised himself to power by killing the son of Menahem (2Ki 15:25-30). The people could not feel to an anarchical usurper as towards a true king. Their feeling was that the days of legitimate kings were over. They had, at least, no king through whom they could expect God to send them deliverance. These frequent and violent usurpations were a proof that God had departed from them.

2. Their state was such that a king could no longer do them any good. He who ought to have been their King, Jehovah himself, had cast them off. They had provoked him till there was no remedy. They felt this now in the bitterness of their despair. “What should a king do for us?”J.O.

Hos 10:4-8

The end of calf-worship.

The people were preparing the way for their own punishment by their false dealing with Assyria. Vengeance would overtake them. The calf in which they trusted would be carried away captive. The kingdom would be overthrown. Their altars would grow up with thorns and thistles. They would be glad of death to relieve them of their misery. “Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.”

I. A SOWING OF JUDGMENT. (Hos 10:4) Israel’s overthrow was connected with:

1. Falsity to international engagements. “Swearing falsely in making a covenant.” The allusion is probably to Hoshea’s false dealing with Shalmaneser (2Ki 17:3, 2Ki 17:4; of. Hos 12:1), which was the immediate occasion of the overthrow of Samaria. In international diplomacy there is too much of this “speaking words” and “swearing falsely.” Engagements are entered into which neither side intends to keep longer than it suits. The result is breach of faith, and sometimes war.

2. Perversion of right at home. This, if we follow the analogy of Amo 5:7, Amo 6:12, is what is meant by judgment or justice” springing up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.” Mal-administered justice is the most deadly and poisonous of all things. Another and, taken by itself, more natural interpretation of the words is, that judgment would spring up for woe to Israel in the track on the falsehoods of which the nation had been guilty. The sinner’s own hands make the furrows in which retribution springs up like deadly hemlock. His treacheries and duplicities recoil upon himself. Speaking false words is the sowing of dragon’s teeth.

II. THE CAPTIVE CALF. (Amo 6:5, Amo 6:6)

1. Ephraim‘s idol in danger. “The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Beth-avert.” What a picture of the folly of idolatry! The people tremble for the safety of the idol-god to whom they yet look to protect them. Have we not here an indication of the lurking consciousness there is in the idolater’s mind that after all his god is no god? Trembling for themselves, the inhabitants of Samaria are yet more afraid lest anything should happen to their deity. We read of idolaters beating their gods when they do not please them. Was Samaria’s conduct more rational in trembling for its god? Their trembling is a proof that they worshipped the calves, not because in their inmost hearts they thought an idol could help them, or was a right thing to have, but simply because, in defiance of God’s commandment (“his own counsel,” per. 6), it pleased them better to have an idol.

2. Ephraim mourning for his idol. “The people thereof shall mourn over it,” etc. Mark in this:

(1) How God separates himself from the image by which the people represented him (the calf), and also separates himself from the people. The place of the calf-worship is no longer Beth-el (“house of God”), but Beth-aven (“house of vanity”). The people are not his people, but the people of the callits votaries, not his; he disowns them.

(2) How, when they see their calf ignominiously shorn of its glory, they mourn for it, both priests and people. The sinner’s idols will be taken from him, and their vanity exposed. This fills him with mourning. It is, however, his idols, not his sins, that he mourns for.

3. Ephraim ashamed of his idol. “It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to King Jareb: Ephraim shall receive shame,” etc. What a burst bubble the worship of the calf now appeared! Unable to save itself, not to speak of others, it is now ignominiously carried off as a present to a heathen king. Yet Ephraim in his heart, no doubt, grieved for his calf, and would gladly, had he been permitted, have returned to its service. The sinner’s idols shall yet cover him with shame. “What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death” (Rom 6:21).

III. FINAL OVERTHROW. (Verses 7, 8)

1. A destroyed kingdom. “Samaria is destroyed; her king is like a chip on the face of the water.” Light, helpless, borne away by the impetuous current, submerged, and seen no more. Such would be Samaria’s king (of. per. 3)the same flood which swept him away destroying also the kingdom.

2. Desolate altars. “The high places also of Avert, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come upon their altars.” The judgment would strike very specially the place of sin. The utter end of the false system of worship is figured in the thorn and thistle covered altars. Broken and disused, they are to stand as monuments of wrath.

3. Prayer for annihilation. “They shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.” This would be preferable to the awful misery of falling into the hands of the Assyrian foe (verse 14; Hos 13:16). The scene of judgment, with a like dreadful prayer, would be repeated at the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans (Luk 23:30). Yet these are but feeble prefigurations of the woe and consternation that shall prevail on the day of the “wrath of the Lamb” (Rev 6:16). Men shall pray for annihilation; but, it is noteworthy, this is a prayer which is not granted.J.O.

Hos 10:9-11

Past and present.

We have here,

I. A PAST OF SINA PRESENT OF RETRIBUTION. (Hos 10:9, Hos 10:10) Israel’s sin was:

1. Of old date. “Thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah” (cf. on Hos 9:9). The sin of Gibeah was an early and outstanding instance of wickedness. It may have taken place not long after “the days of the elders which over-lived Joshua” (Joshus Jos 24:31), and so have been the first public mark of the new departure in transgression.

2. Steadily persisted in. “There they stood.” From that day on, a strain of deep corruption had run through the history of Israel

3. As yet unavenged. “The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.” Fierce as was the slaughter on both sides in that day of Gibeah, it had not sufficed to eradicate this evil strain. A seed by corruption survived which steadily propagated itself, and had now increased till it included the whole nation. The punishment of this sin was yet to come.

4. To be avenged now. “It is in my desire that I should chastise [or, ‘band’] them; and the people shall be gathered against them, in the binding them for their two transgressions.” The double sin for which Israel was to be punished was their departure from God, with its attendant idolatry and resultant moral corruption; and their attitude of antagonism to the house of David, to which they ought to have been willing to return at the earliest possible moment. This long-accumulating national sin God was now determined to punish, and was gathering the peoples to execute his decree, as before the tribes had assembled to avenge the sin of Gibeah. There is an entail of sin which the descendants of the wicked can only cut off by repentance (Mat 23:35, Mat 23:36).

II. A PAST OF EASE AND PLENTYA PRESENT OF HARD SERVICE. (Verse 11)

1. Past comfort. The people of Israel had a fat portion, and had grown accustomed to the life of ease and luxury. Like the trained heifer, which treads out the corn as a matter of habit, and feeds at its ease as it does so, they loved their prosperity, and took it as a thing of course. It is easy to settle in prosperity. We take our good things as though they came to us by right. We form habits in accordance with them. We survey the situation with lazy complacency, and conclude that this happy fortune must be what we were born to.

2. A present yoke. “I (have) passed over her fair neck.’ Already God had taught Israel the vanity of her complacency by subjecting her to the tribute of the kings of Assyria. This, however, had failed to lead to repentance; so worse was now in store.

3. Approaching hard service. “I will yoke Ephraim; Judah shall plough; Jacob shall break his clods.” The image is taken from severe field labor, as contrasted with the easy work of the threshing heifer. Sin ends in bondage; in hard service; in the yoke and goad. The way of the transgressor is hard (Pro 13:15). There may be ease and luxury at first, but the end is that he “labors and is heavy laden” (Mat 11:28).J.O.

Hos 10:12-15

Moral husbandry.

Israel’s duty is here contrasted with their practice.

I. THE KIND OF HUSBANDRY ISRAEL OUGHT TO HAVE FOLLOWED. (Hos 10:12)

1. Preparation of the soil. Israel is first bid to sow; then going a step further back, the people are commanded, “Break up your fallow ground.” If fruits of righteousness are to be produced, it needs, not simply a weeding and recultivation of the old soilthe natural, unrenewed heartbut the preparation of a soil entirely new. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Joh 3:6). Ezekiel, accordingly, promises that God will take away the hard and stony heart from Israel, and will give them a heart of flesh (Eze 36:26). The first need of our souls is renewal. Yet we have the duty laid on us of seeking this renewal, and of co-operating (by prayer, use of means of grace, faith, repentance) in bringing it about. “Make you a new heart, and a new spirit” (Eze 18:31).

2. Sowing in the soil. The sowing is to be “in righteousness,” i.e. in the practice of truth, kindness, justice, mercy, godliness, and everything else which the Law of God requires. Each must sow for himself. The sowing cannot be done by proxy. Sowing in righteousness is “for ourselves” in the sense also that our own highest well-being is involved in it (Psa 19:11). Righteousness in the long run profits the doer himself more than it profits any other. It is his “life” (Deu 32:47).

3. Waiting on God. “For it is time to seek the Lord, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.” As in the outer world rain is indispensable to growth, so is the blessing of God, given in rains of his Spirit, essential to growth in grace. In raining the Spirit upon us, God rains righteousness. Cause is put for effect. It is the Spirit’s influences which cause righteousness to spring up. This waiting on God must accompany the whole process. It implies an earnest direction of the heart, supplication, and patient looking for the blessing. It is always “time” for the sinner to seek the Lord. He cannot do it too soon.

4. The gracious reaping. “Reap in mercy.” Not according to desert, but according to God’s infinite grace and love. The reaping is

(1) a reaping of righteousness (Rom 6:19, Rom 6:22);

(2) of other spiritual and temporal blessings (Mat 6:33; Eph 1:3);

(3) of eternal life (Rom 6:12).

II. THE KIND OF HUSBANDRY ISRAEL DID FOLLOW. (Verse 13)

1. Instead of “sowing in righteousness,” Israel ploughed wickedness. They took pains to do evil, bestowed labor upon it, prepared the soil in which it might grow, and seemed to delight in multiplying transgressions. If God’s people were as diligent in cultivating goodness as sinners are in cultivating sin, the Church would soon be in a healthier condition.

2. Instead of “reaping in mercy,” they reaped iniquity. Sin brought forth sin. They served ‘iniquity unto iniquity'” (Rom 6:19). As weeds multiply quicker than good gram, so sin, in the same space of time, yields a far greater harvest (of its own kind) than righteousness.

3. Instead of spiritual and temporal blessings, Israel reaped disappointment and ruin.

(1) They reaped lies (disappointment). “Ye have eaten the fruit of lies.” Their hopes, built chiefly on the multitude of their fighting men (verse 15), deceived them. They proved utterly vain. They had sown lies in “speaking words” and “swearing falsely in making a covenant” (verse 4); they now reaped the fruit of this, in seeing their hosts utterly routed, their fortresses captured, and their women and children dashed to pieces (verse 14)judgment springing up in the furrows they had themselves made (verse 4).

(2) They reaped ruin. When war arose, the sword of the Assyrian swept all before it. Israel could read in recent atrocities of Shalman the doom which awaited themselves (verse 14). King and kingdom would be cut off (verse 15)”in a morning,” i.e. early. This was the result of their sowing. This was what Bethel, with its “evil of evil,” had done for them. Oh that the sinner would take warning!J.O.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Hos 10:1. Israel is an empty vine Houbigant, after most of the ancients, reads, Israel was a fertile vine, which abounded in fruit; but, fruitful as it was, it abused the blessings of God to the purposes of sin and idolatry.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

C. Devastation of the Seats of Worship. Destruction of the Kingdom

Hos 10:1-15

1 Israel is a thriving vine1

Which sends forth its fruit;
As its fruit abounded,
It multiplied altars;
According to the prosperity of the land,
The better they made their images.

2 Their heart is smooth: now will they make expiation:

He will cut down their altars, he will destroy their images

3 For now they will say:

We have no king,
Because we did not fear God,
And the kingwhat will he do for us.

4 They speak words,

Swearing2 falsely and contracting alliances:

And justice grows like the poison-plant
In the furrows of the field.

5 For the calves3 of Samaria,

The inhabitants of Samaria will tremble,
For its people mourn for it,
And its idol-priests will tremble for it,
For its glory, that it has departed from it

6 Itself4 will be carried to Assyria,

As a present to the warlike king:
Shame will take hold upon Ephraim,
And Israel will be ashamed of its counsel.

7 Samaria5 is destroyed,

Its king is like a chip on the surface of the water.

8 The high places of Aven are devastated,

The sin of Israel,
Thorns and thistles will grow upon its altars,
Then they will say to the mountains: Cover us!
And to the hills: Fall upon us!

9 Since the days of Gibeah, thou hast sinned, Israel!

There they stood:
The war against the sons of iniquity6 did not reach them in Gibeah,

10 As I please, I will fetter them,7

And the nations will gather themselves against them,
When I bind them for their two offenses.

11 For Ephraim is a well-trained heifer,

Which loves8 to thresh:

But I will pass over her fair neck:
I will yoke Ephraim,
Judah shall plough,
Jacob [Ephraim] shall harrow.

12 Sow for yourselves according to righteousness,

And reap for yourselves in the (like) measure of mercy!
Break for yourselves (new) soil!
For it is time to seek Jehovah,
Until he come and rain righteousness upon you.

13 (Yet) ye have ploughed wickedness,

Ye have reaped iniquity,
Ye have eaten the fruit of lying:
Because thou didst trust in thy way,
In the multitude of thy heroes.

14 And the noise of war9 has risen among your tribes,10

And all thy fortresses are destroyed,
As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel in the day of battle,
The mother is dashed upon her children.

15 Thus has Bethel11 done to you,

For the evil of your evil [your great evil],
In the early morning [soon] the king of Israel shall be utterly destroyed.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Hos 10:1. Comp. Psa 80:9-12. There is also an allusion to Hos 9:10, and yet the image is quite differently applied. Israel is represented here not so much as being pleasant in itself and of worth in the sight of Jehovah (and is therefore not compared to fruit), but from the stand-point of its fruitfulness, which, however, was of the wrong kind. Hence even its fruitfulness will be taken away from it (Hos 9:16). , according to Frst blooming (LXX, Syr., Aquila), and thereafter according to Keil climbing, thriving, after the primary idea of : to pour out, to run itself out, here=climb upwards. [Frst compares the Arab. bakka: to bloom. If this sense is the correct one, this is the only case of the occurrence of this verb.M.] The meaning empty, is unsuitable. : to place, set=prepares, furnishes fruit for itself.

Hos 10:2. Their heart is smooth. The expression is elsewhere employed of the tongue, lips, words=deceitful, false, not sincere (devoted to God). The explanation divided, is false, for the Kal means: to divide, transitive. is properly: to cut off the head by striking the neck, [Henderson: It is properly a sacrificial term. It is here, with much force, used metonymically, in application to the destruction of the altars on which the animals themselves were offered. For the force of see on Hos 10:15.M.]

Hos 10:3. They will then see that they have no king any longer, because they forsake Jehovah, i.e., none appointed by God, and none, therefore, who can help them. to do=to profit.

Hos 10:4 explains especially the smoothness of the heart of Hos 10:2. They speak words, mere words, without sincerity. The following infinitives avouch the statement. The covenants are such as truth; they were concluded (with foreign nations) only for the sake of an expected advantage, not from real friendship. , poison, here=poison-plant. Most take this=judgment. A force far-reaching and seizing upon everything is supposed to be described. But the judgment cannot be compared to a vile plant outgrowing everything else. Hence we must remain by tile meaning: justice. The thought is manifest: If justice prevailed, the land would be like a well-appointed field, but it is now like one that is neglected, and in which therefore poison plants spring up. because justice was prostrated. By a somewhat bold figure justice, when falsely administered, when perverted and abused, is compared to a poisonous plant. It has been changed into it, as it were. Comp. Amo 6:12. [Henderson adheres to the former explanation; Pusey approves the latter. It is also preferred by Cowles, who illustrates it from Amo 5:7; Amo 6:12, and supposes that Hosea adapted the image from its use by his predecessor.M.]

Hos 10:5. The punishment can therefore not linger. Already the inhabitants of Samaria tremble for the golden calves. Keil: The plural stands here as indefinite and general, without our being obliged to infer that several golden calves had been set up in Bethel. A sing. at all events immediately follows. Wnsche: The Prophet is thinking of all the calves in the northern kingdom which were imitations of tile chief golden idol erected at Bethel. By these imitations all Israel had, in a certain manner, become a Beth Aven. Beth-Aven. See Hos 4:15. Its people,its priests. The suffixes refer to the idol-god. What a strong accusation! The people are named the people of the calf-god. usually=to rejoice, but here (employed for the sake of the assurance with ) = to writhe in anguish, to mourn, parallel to On its account, also refers to the calf, and is more nearly explained by the words, for its glory, i. e., the glory and the divine nimbus which were associated with the calf-worship. This glory will depart from the calf, where it cannot give protection from the enemy, and will itself be carried away.

Hos 10:6. Itself also, namely, the golden calf. [See Gram, note]. Its counsel, namely, that which it-self gave to itself, namely, to apply to Assyria: [On the phrase: warlike king, see Hos 5:13.M.]

Hos 10:7-8. The kingdom of Samaria falls along with its gods. [See Gram. note.] The image of a chip on the surface of the water denotes the untraceable disappearance, and probably also the violent destruction=as a chip upon the water is driven on by the stream and so disappears. are literally: the heights of evil. But Aven, in allusion to Beth-Aven=Bethel; for its high places were heights of evil, since the image-worship which rose in Bethel=Beth-Aven, was practiced there. The sin of Israel is in apposition to the high-places, etc. Those high places were the sin of Israel. because it was by means of them that Israel sinned. Then they say to the mountains, etc. This expresses the hopelessness of despair. They would rather he buried by the mountains, than undergo the afflictions of such a time. Applied in Luk 23:30 and Rev 6:16.

Hos 10:9. From the days of Gibeah. These days, referred to already in Hos 4:9 (see that passage), are regarded as the beginning of Israels sinning. Others take the words comparatively: more than in the days of Gibeah. [So Cowles: This opinion is not common.M.] The following words are difficult. Ewald: There they (the Israelites) stood. Should not war against the sons of impiety reach them in Gibeah? Keil: There, that is, in the same sin, they stood, i.e., remained; the war against the sons of iniquity did not reach them in Gibeah, that is, the war once waged by the other tribes of Israel against the tribe of Benjamin, on account of the infamous deed of the men of Gibeah, did not reach the Ten Tribes, i.e., they were destroyed by no such war like others of the Israelites, though they did not less deserve such a fate, therefore God will punish them now. But the translation is forced. Wnsche perhaps explains better, though much might be said against his translation also: They stood therethat war might not reach them in Gibeahbeside the sons of iniquity. The passage accordingly says in what the sin of Israel in the days of Gibeah had consisted, namely in this, that they, the Benjamites, had stood by the Levites in Gibeah=the sons of iniquity against the rest of the Israelites. Est 9:16; Est 8:11 are cited in proof that with has the sense of standing by [assisting]. [The translation assigned above to Keil, which is also that of E. V., is approved by Cowles. Instead of being forced it is evidently the most simple and natural. Henderson translates: shall not the war against the unjust overtake them in Gibeah? See Textual note.M.]

Hos 10:10. : in my desire=when or as I will. [Keil: An anthropomorphic description of the severity of the chastisement.] To take part in the infliction of chastisement, nations will be gathered against Israel. The reference is to the war against the sons of iniquity (Hos 10:9). [This reference is not clear unless the construction of Ewald and Henderson given above be adopted.M.] The last hemistich is difficult. The Kethibh is . According to Frst from in the sense of nothingness= , therefore in the concrete: idol-image. Keri =sins. According to the first explanation, idol-images=calves. The latter is probably correct as referred by Keil to the double sin of apostasy from Jehovah and from the royal house of David. The whole clause would therefore be: When I bind them to their two transgressions (namely, by punishing them) so that they must drag them, so to speak, as an oppressive burden. The sense may, however, be simply: on account of their two transgressions. The image of the heifer in the next verse is anticipated here. [The explanation last given is now usually followed and is the most probable. Raschi and Ewald translate: before their two eyes, i.e., openly. The rendering: furrows, in E. V. follows the Targum and the majority of the Rabbins.M.]

Hos 10:11. , taught, trained for work. Which loves to thresh: According to many expositors this refers to the circumstance that threshing is the lighter work, in which, besides, the heifer may eat at her pleasure, and hence is an image of the pleasant and prosperous condition of Israel. According to others the tert. comp. is the treading, and hence the victorious power and dominion of Israel, as under Jeroboam II would be represented with the accessory notion of a violent treatment of those who had been subdued. But now the situation of Israel would be different. [This is the more common and certainly the preferable explanation. So Henderson, Cowles, and other English Expositors.M.] I will pass over her fair neckin a hostile sense=I will place a yoke upon her. : beauty, alluding to her fatness. : I will cause to be driven=I will yoke, namely, for ploughing and harrowing. The compulsory endurance of severe toil appears here in complete contrast to the preceding situation. Judah shall share the same fate. This is mentioned only incidentally and in comparison with Ephraim; but the similar lot of the former is constantly alluded to. Jacob, here mentioned along with Judah, probably=Ephraim. shall harrow for himself, forcibly expressing strongly that this toil is not spared him. [So also Keil; but this explanation seems unnatural. Others, as Fausset, translate: break the clods before him; but the preposition must be unduly forced to make it convey such a sense. The best way is to regard it as a pleonasm. Comp. Gen 12:1; Job 15:28; Sol. Son 2:17, and many other passages.M.]

Hos 10:12-13. The image of ploughing and harrowing leads to that of sowing and reaping. But the discourse turns from the threatening, which holds out the prospect of punishment, to an exhortation to return (in order to escape punishment), which is then (Hos 10:13) supported by an allusion to the present conduct of the people (under the same figure). According to righteousness. The divine righteousness, by its being sown, i.e., by its operation, should be their determining principle, be their norm and standard. is then to be understood of the mercy of God. The harvest will, if they sow thus, be determined by the mercy of God (not merely by desert), shall be bountiful and of good quality; this mercy itself shall be the harvest. Keil understands to mean justice towards their fellow-men, of (condescending) love (towards the despised), and explains the clause thus: sow righteousness as the seed; the fruit will be love. But has too clearly the signification the divine reward of Israels religious and moral sowing (Wnsehe). , to plough new soil. The words go back now beyond the sowing. Israel does not merely need to scatter the true seed; it needs a new soil and must therefore begin anew. The explanation of is again difficult. It could be taken in the sense of salvation, blessing, so that the bestowal of salvation and blessings would be the consequence of seeking the Lord. In not a few passages this signification is most appropriate, and the usual meaning will not suit here. We expect the mention not of a moral quality, but of its consequences. Keil explains: God rains righteousness not merely in giving the power to gain it as He gives rain for the growth of the seed (comp. Isa 44:3), but also because He himself must create it and inform the soul with it by his Spirit (Psa 51:12). This in itself is quite true, but is it proper to speak of raining or pouring out righteousness? This differs altogether from the expression: to pour out the Spirit. [This figurative expression would be quite characteristic of the style of Hosea. It would be only another instance of the boldness and freedom of his imagery. The figure is double, including also a metonymy, in which righteousness, the effect of the outpouring of the Spirit, is put for the cause itself. Many, following the Syr., Targ., and Vulg., take =He will teach.M.]

Hos 10:13, as it now stands, says that iniquity has been ploughed; iniquity is the soil which they cultivated, and the seed and the harvest corresponded to it. From wickedness there resulted wickedness. One step further still than the harvest is taken in the following words: Ye have eaten the fruit of lying = the fruit which deceives. The result of this conduct is nothing, no profit but disaster and ruin. The cause is still more specially indicated; in other words, the false conduct of Israel is characterized: since thou didst trust, etc., namely, instead of in Jehovah.

Hos 10:14. Among thy peoples. People either=military host, or as in the Pentateuch=tribe. As Shalman destroyed Beth-arbel. This fact is not known from history, and the explanation is therefore uncertain. According to the usual opinion Shalman is a contraction for Shalmaneser, the name of the Assyrian king who destroyed the kingdom of the Ten Tribes.12 (2Ki 17:6). Frst understands an older Assyrian king before Pul, since the name Shalmaneser never appears shortened to Shalman, and the Assyrians never engaged in a destructive battle with Israel, and Shalmaneser destroyed Samaria forty years later (after Hosea). Beth-arbel, according to him, is Beth-arbel near Gargamela, made famous later by the victory of Alexander the Great. Keil supposes that the Prophet, since the conquest of such a distant city would scarcely have been known to the Israelites, could not have held up the destruction of this city before them as an example, and would therefore understand the Arbela in Upper Galilee, between Saphoris and Tiberias, mentioned in 1Ma 9:2, and later by Josephus.

Hos 10:15. The subject of is either Shalman (if=Shalmaneser) or Jehovah, of whom the Assyrian king is the instrument, or (as the Targum and also Keil) Bethel, because that city prepared the way for the ruin which befell Israel. Evil of your evil = the most extreme evil (comp. Ewald, 313 c.). : in the early morning, probably=early, not: at the time when prosperity shall seem to be dawning or near (Keil). There is not the remotest hint of this in the context. The king of Israel, naturally collective=the kingdom of Israel.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. In the midst of the calf-worship established by Jeroboam, the Israelites still would keep before them the God of Israel; but this resulted in a divided heart, a halting between two opinions (Hos 10:2). And when their prosperity became undermined by Gods judgments, the smiting of a guilty conscience told them of their sin; but that was not a repentance unto life. The improvement of circumstances which the Israelites sought in the schism of Jeroboam cost them dear. For, since he led them away from the fear of God, the help which was to have been expected from his government was already undermined. The sinner awakened by chastisement discovers this deception of sin much more readily than he discovers his obligation to return to God with a contrite heart (Rieger).

2. One chief element in Gods judgment upon Israel was the destruction of the seats of worship (comp. Hosea 8.), and here, more particularly, the carrying away of the idol-gods by the enemy (Hos 10:5-6). Both the nothingness of idolatry and the great guilt of Israel are here unmistakably exhibited. With this are connected the destruction of the kingdom (Hos 10:7; Hos 10:15) and the conquest of the country. Freedom is lost; instead of it comes slavery (Hos 10:11). The anguish of the judgment is most forcibly depicted (Hos 10:8) in expressions which, in Luk 23:30, are employed to set forth the distress occasioned by the destruction of Jerusalem, but, in Rev 6:16, to describe the terror of the great day of the Lord. Thus the description of the judgment announced by Hosea is of such a character as to be a type of the final judgment, even though Hosea himself does not designate it the day of the Lord. The distress of a late repentance is expressed in Hos 10:3. It is a part of the judgment, since it consists in vain self-reproaches, all too late. In our chapter again the necessary connection between the judgment and sin is emphasized by the image of the sowing and the reaping: from an evil sowing nothing can come but an evil harvest. The expected reward must only be a manifest deception: the fruit of lying.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Hos 10:1. This was the result of Gods mercy. God makes the vine and also gives the growth and the precious fruit. And as long as Gods favor lasts, so long are men like such a plant. A beautiful image of a life blessed by God, and as true of nations as of individuals. But it is a deplorable thing that man usually cannot bear his prosperity, and that, instead of being led by Gods goodness to repentance and nearer to God, he rather forgets Him (see at Hos 2:9). The fruits are not given back to God. Thus is God often defrauded of the fruits which men owe to Him; and idols, the world, and the flesh, enjoy what are his.

[Matthew Henry: What we do not rightly employ we may justly expect to be emptied of It is a great affront to God and a great abuse of his goodness, when, the more mercies we receive from Him, the more sins we commit against Him.M.]

Hos 10:2. The state of the heart is the source of the evil. As long as this does not belong to Him, so long will men rob Him of his own. God will have the heart as his alone, and suffers none to share that possession.

Hos 10:5-6. [Pusey: Without the grace of God men mourn, not their sins, but their idols.

Fausset: Separated from God all human power is weakness, and all apparent stability fluctuating and perishing as the foam. The fear of God is the only true basis of solidity and permanence.M.]

Hos 10:8. A fearful expression of the despair with which impiety shall at last end: a type of the anguish of the lost at the last judgment.

[Fausset: Surely it is infinitely better to pray to Jesus now to cover our transgressions with the blood of his atonement, than through neglect of this to have to cry to the mountains at last, Fall on us and cover us. Our prayer to Jesus, if offered in faith now, shall surely be heard; but prayer to the mountains then shall be in vain.M.]

Hos 10:11. Berlenburger Bible: The pride which exalts itself and does not fear before Him who is the God of the whole earth, must be abased. O, that Ephraim would submit himself and his neck to the yoke of the gentle and humble Lamb!

Hos 10:12. Berlenburger Bible: When a man redeems uncultivated soil he restores it to the one to whom it rightly belongs. For he is the only one who can redeem it. We have received from God his soil, and as we have no strength to make it profitable, it remains unfilled. But as soon as God sees that we would break up this uncultivated ground, and we, feeling our inability, seek help in Him, He ploughs it Himself with the ploughshare of the cross. Then He sows righteousness in it, and makes it fruitful in itself, that it may bear much fruit in Christ.

[Matthew Henry: Let them break up the fallow ground; let them cleanse their hearts from all corrupt affections and lusts which are as weeds and thorns, and let them be humbled for their sins, and be of a broken and contrite spirit in the sense of them; let them be full of sorrow and shame at the remembrance of them, and prepare to receive the divine precepts, as the ground that is ploughed is to receive the seed that it may take root. See Jer 4:3.

Fausset: Grace used well is rewarded gratuitously with more grace.M.]

Hos 10:13. The fruit of sin is ever the fruit of lies. For sin always deceives those who serve it. Going in our own ways and trusting to human power is shown especially to be deceptive.

[Fausset: Only when we mistrust ourselves, and trust in the Lord and his righteousness alone, are we safe, justified, and blessed.M.]

Footnotes:

[1][Hos 10:1. is always fem. except here and in 2Ki 4:39. It is masc. here as relating to Israel. is not strictly pleonastic here, it haying the force of the poss. pronoun.: its fruit.M.]

[2]Hos 10:4., though an inf. absol. is here conformed to instead of .

[3]Hos 10:5.Wnsche: . The fem. is surprising, since the calves which were worshipped, really three-year-old steers, appear elsewhere always masc. It cannot be deemed far-fetched to suggest that the fem, is employed somewhat contemptuously and sarcastically.

[4]Hos 10:6. with the passive. According to Ewald, 299 d, the active sense pervades the passive throughout in such a case as this; thus here=one leads it. Frst is of a different opinion. According to him the primary notion of is being, essence, and it therefore serves to emphasize the subject. [The former is the prevailing and preferable view. Comp. Green, Gr., 271, 4 a. The opinion of Frst seems to have been based upon his theory that there is an affinity between () and , and some other words of similar radicals and significations.M.]

[5]Hos 10:7., with a fem. suffix, because , as being a city, is fem. On the other hand has a masc. form because it stands at the beginning of the sentence. The construction here, according to the Masoretic punctation is either an asyndeton: Samaria and her king, or the latter is explanatory of the former: Samaria, namely, her king (=the whole kingdom). Wnsche adopts the probably preferable view that begins a new sentence.

[6]Hos 10:9. transposed from . One edition (the Brisian) and many MSS. have the common form. This would be the only case of the occurrence of the transposition.M.]

[7]Hos 10:10.. marks the apodosis. The verb is from [with daghesh compensative. M.].

[8][Hos 10:11.. The is paragogic with the fem part. .M.]

[9][Hos 10:14.. The is either epenthetic, or it is merely a mater lectionis, which is most probable; see Green, Gr., 11,1M.]

[10][Hos 10:14.A number of MSS. and early editions read instead of . The ancient Versions are claimed as having followed this reading also; but it is more probable that they rendered the plural as sing., the noun being a collective one.M.]

[11]Hos 10:15.Some suppose the to have been omitted before and the latter to be local

[12][The Assyrian monuments show that it was Sargon, the son of Shalmaneser, who destroyed Samaria. The passage cited above simply speaks of the king of Assyria.M.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

DISCOURSE: 1167
BRINGING FORTH FRUIT TO OURSELVES

Hos 10:1. Israelis an empty vine; he bringeth forth fruit unto himself.

IN order to judge aright of our actions, we must examine the principles from whence they proceed. Ignorant as we are of mens real motives, we invariably endeavour to discover them even in courts of judicature; and pass sentence, not so much upon their actions, as on their intentions. Nor does any one disapprove of this method of estimating mens conduct, provided only there be sufficient ground for discovering the real sentiments and wishes of their hearts. Now, if this be a proper mode of judging with respect to each other, we should certainly try our own actions by the same rule; since they will most assuredly be estimated according to this rule in the day when we shall stand before the tribunal of God.
In the words before us, God passes sentence, as it were, on the Israelites, not so much for the form and matter of their services, as for the dispositions they exercised in the performance of them. And, as he does the same with respect to us, it is of importance to ascertain,

I.

When we may be said to bring forth fruit to ourselves

By the law of our creation we should regard nothing but the glory and authority of God. But, through the corruption of our nature, we have cast off God, and exalted self into his throne. We manifest that we do this,

1.

When self is the principle of our actions

[It is but too evident that unregenerate men act in an entire conformity to their own will, without ever considering the will of God. If in any thing they seem to oppose their own will, they do so, not from a regard to his authority, but from some selfish principle of carnal hope or fear. If we would persuade them to any course of conduct, we find that the simple declaration of Gods mind and will has no effect on them whatever; and that we must have recourse to carnal and temporal considerations, if we would succeed with them. Moreover they wish that others also should consult their will, rather than the will of God: and thus they shew not only that they are a god unto themselves, but that they would gladly be a god also to their fellow-creatures; and have their will more respected than the will of God. What can be a proof of bringing forth fruit to themselves, if this be not [Note: Col 2:23.]?]

2.

When self is the measure our actions

[Many are willing to be almost Christians; but few wish to be altogether so. Herod would part with many things; but not with his Herodias. The Young Man would follow Christ at all events. as he thought; but could not be prevailed upon to sell his estate, and give it to the poor [Note: Mat 19:21-22.]. Thus, if the attending at the house and table of the Lord, if the abstaining from gross sins, and the exercising of benevolence to the poor will suffice, many will be content to pay the price: but, the renouncing of all sin, and the walking in the narrow path of holiness and self-denial, are too irksome a task: and if they cannot maintain an interest in Christ on lower terms, they determine to part with him. Now what is this, but to make their own ease the measure of their obedience, when they ought to have no other measure than the word of God? whereas the true Christian wishes to stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.]

3.

When self is the end of our actions

[Gods command is, that whatever we do, we should do all to the glory of God [Note: 1Co 10:31.]. But what if we be studying how to advance our own reputation or interest in the world? What if, like Jehu, we be actuated by pride, when we profess to be doing the Lords work [Note: Compare 2Ki 10:30 with Hos 1:4.]? What if, even in religious duties also, we be seeking to establish our own righteousness, or to gratify only some selfish principle [Note: Zec 7:5-6.]? In all these cases we are justly involved in that censure, All men seek their own, and not the things that are Jesus Christs [Note: Php 2:21.].]

To shew the evil of such conduct we shall proceed to point out,

II.

In what respects, they who do so resemble an empty vine

The similes of Scripture, if strained and perverted, are made disgusting; but, if soberly and judiciously illustrated, they are replete with useful instruction. Now, without fear of straining this simile, we may observe, that they, who bring forth fruit to themselves, resemble an empty vine,

1.

In its nature

[ A vine is a proper emblem of fruitfulness; but an empty vine, in a country so famous for its vineyards as Palestine, gives one a very strong idea of barrenness. Hence, when God was complaining of his peoples unfruitfulness, he compared them to a vineyard, which, alter the greatest pains and cost bestowed on its culture, brought forth nothing but wild grapes [Note: Isa 5:4.]. In this view, an empty vine marks the depraved nature of those, who, notwithstanding all the labour with which they have been cultivated, remain barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord: who, instead of being filled with the fruits of righteousness to Gods praise and glory, can rise no higher than self, nor do one single act that is pleasing and acceptable to God.]

2.

In its use

[A barren vine is the most worthless of all things: other trees may be made useful in some way; but neither root nor branch, nor even the trunk, of a barren vine is good for any thing [Note: Eze 15:2-5.]. Such worthless creatures are they who bring forth no fruit to God. They may indeed be good members of the community; but, as to all the great ends of their creation, they are of no use whatever: they bring no glory to God; they advance not the spiritual welfare of those around them; they attain not to any measure of the Divine image. There is not any thing in the whole creation that does not answer the ends of its formation better than they. Well does our Lord compare them to salt, which, when it has lost its savour, is unfit even for the dunghill [Note: Luk 14:35.].]

3.

In its end

[Our Lord has told us what will be the end of a barren vine [Note: Joh 15:6.]. And shall not such also be the end of those who live to themselves rather than to God? Let our Lord determine this point also [Note: Mat 25:30.]: and let the unprofitable servant not think himself secure on account of his freedom from gross sins: but remember that the best actions are to no purpose, if not wrought from a principle of love to God [Note: 1Co 13:1.].]

Address
1.

Those who resemble an empty vine

[The culture bestowed on you is worse than in vain, since it greatly aggravates your guilt. Guard then against self-deceit: and devote yourselves in body, soul, and spirit, unto God. Above all, seek to be united unto Christ by faith: for it is only by virtue derived from Christ, that you can ever bring forth fruit unto God [Note: Rom 7:4. Joh 15:4.].]

2.

Those who may rather be compared to fruitful vines

[Occasional mixtures of self are no just ground to question our state before God: for there is much remaining weakness in the best. Nevertheless you must watch and pray against that base principle, and judge of your attainments by the degree in which self is mortified, and God exalted in your hearts.]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

CONTENTS

The same subject of reproof and expostulation forms the burden of this Chapter. The Lord, by his servant the Prophet, is still speaking to Israel.

Hos 10:1

Reader! do pray remark the change of circumstances in the Church, by reason of the Lord Jesus coming for the salvation of his people, to what is said of Israel by the Prophet in this verse. Now Jesus is the vine, and his people branches in him, there is no emptiness, no barrenness, nor poverty. And wherefore, but because from Jesus, Israel’s fruit is found. Joh 15:1 , etc. Hos 14:8 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Sow to Yourselves

Hos 10:12

Our hearts are like a field, and if we neglect them the only crop we can look for is the natural weeds of the soil; but if we get our hearts made clean and then diligently sow to ourselves in righteousness, we may hope for a gracious and holy harvest.

I. We are to sow to ourselves. Religion is personal, and our first duty is to look well to ourselves.

a. Our own spiritual comfort is of paramount importance.

b. In order to sow in righteousness, unrighteousness must be put away.

II. What shall we sow? We are to sow in righteousness that is, we are to cultivate and practise the things which constitute a righteous and godly life. To sow in righteousness

a. We must have simple, earnest faith.

b. We must cherish a holy dread of sin.

c. We must seek after spiritual knowledge.

d. We must cultivate love.

e. We must maintain Christian habits.

What our habits should be we may easily learn from the Word of God. This sowing in righteousness must be constant.

III. If we sow we shall also reap. ‘Reap in mercy.’ The reaping mercy will be in this world as well as in the next. Religion bears present fruit.

a. One result of sowing in righteousness will be strength and stability.

b. Another result of righteous sowing will be spiritual comfort and joy.

c. We are to reap in mercy God’s infinite everlasting mercy to His children. Mercy for all our need. Mercy for ever. Only sow to yourselves in righteousness, and you shall reap according to mercy in the life that now is, and in that which is to come.

G. Charlesworth, Sermonic Suggestions, p. 19.

Seeking the Lord an Immediate Duty

Hos 10:12

The state of the people of Israel was such that they had need to seek God by repentance and prayer. But the text is equally applicable to all who are not at peace with God.

I. A Great and Solemn Duty. The duty of seeking God is the first and most pressing duty of every sinner.

a. The text implies that God has been forsaken, or forgotten. This is true of all who have not repented and come to God.

b. Since man, as a sinner, is estranged from God, his duty is to seek God by repentance and prayer.

c. Seeking God implies faith in Jesus Christ.

d. Only by seeking God can we be delivered from sin and its dreadful consequences.

II. It is Time to Seek.

e. That it is time to seek the Lord is clear from the plain teaching of Scripture.

f. It is time to seek the Lord because much evil has already been committed.

g. It is time to seek the Lord because difficulties are increased by delay.

h. It is time to seek the Lord because life is so uncertain.

G. Charlesworth, Sermonic Suggestions, p. 22.

Cords of a Man

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

An Empty Vine

Hos 10:1-6

This chapter is an admirable piece of human criticism, even if it had no claim to that which we gladly assign it, namely, divine inspiration. Viewed from a merely literary standpoint, it is beautiful; listened to as men listen to music, it is enchanting. This we say, apart altogether from its claim to be considered a distinctly inspired criticism and message. Sometimes expositors of the broader sort are charged with reading things into the Bible. It is impossible to read into the Bible anything that is true, wise, pure, good, beautiful, because all such things are there already; they are the offspring of eternity. Every man should read his own experience into the Bible, that he may see whether he can get it out again or not, and if he can get it out, then he may conclude with himself that his experience is profoundly true. Say to the sculptor: You have read that statue into the marble; Nature did not put it there; when you got that marble into your hands it was without form or beauty or comeliness; all this chiselling, all this shapely suggestiveness, all this almost life, you have put into it. That would be as just a criticism as to say to the true expositor of the Bible, You have read these things into the Bible, if they be things that are in themselves true, beautiful, musical, useful, beneficent, and moving in the direction of heroic and useful life. Say to the composer: You have read that Oratorio into the seven notes of music; the seven notes were simple enough, why were you not content to sound them in their purity, and let them stand for what they were worth? All this Oratorio, sublimity, inventiveness, apocalyptic charm all this only shows that you have read yourself into the seven notes. It would be just as wise a criticism as to say to the true Bible reader that he had read himself into the Bible, because he finds in that infinite sky all stars, all planets, Pleiades innumerable, ineffable, and burning centres that men dare not even name. He is a poor Bible reader that does not see everything in the Bible. There are a thousand times ten thousand Bibles in the Bible; yet all the Bibles are one in their spirit of love, in their purpose of redemption, in the glitter of their beneficent all-illuminating light Have no confidence in the critic that finds nothing but grammar in the Bible; have as much confidence in the man who tells you all the literature you need is in the alphabet. He could defend his declaration, but it would be at the expense of his sanity. All literature is in the alphabet; words are useless in their singularity: so oftentimes are men; they are nothing in units. The dictionary is nothing in the way of exposition, education, illumination, stimulus, when it stands there in its mere catalogue of words. Words must be put together; must colour one another; must combine and recombine, and be made to palpitate with soul: then the dictionary may become a poem, and its catalogue may be evolved into a “Paradise Lost.” It is even so with God’s book. It is never read: Lord, evermore give us this bread. Let the child read the Bible, and make a child’s book of it; above all, let the woman read the Bible, and get out of it all its music.

“Israel is an empty vine.” Yet, literally, it might read, Israel is a luxuriant vine; he bringeth forth fruit unto himself; and yet, literally, he brings forth no fruit at all, only long stem and tendril and leaves innumerable; his fruit is all foliage. The apostle said the grace of God that was in him was not in vain; that is to say, it was not useless, not introspective; not only useful to himself, but it was expressive, outwardly, beneficently, feedingly, so that all men who came in contact with that grace ate bread from Heaven and drank the wine of Paradise. The figure is very Hebraic and very grand. Israel is a vine, and a growing vine, but Israel misses the purpose of the vine by never growing any wine; growing nothing but weed, leaves, and so disappointing men when they come to find fruit thereon and discover none. The Church is an empty vine; theology is an empty vine. All religious controversy that is conducted for its own sake that is to say, with the single view of winning a victory in words is an empty vine, luxuriant enough, but it is the luxuriance of ashes; as who should say, His iron safe is full; open it, and out runs the worthless dust to the ground, without a sparkle of gold, or precious metal of any kind. The safe was full, but full of nothingness; the vine was luxuriant, but only in that which never yet appeased human hunger. “According to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.” They have gone pari passu with the Almighty he the living Father doing the good, and they the rebellious men doing proportionate evil. When the harvest has been plentiful the idolatry has been large, increasing in urgency and importance; when the vine has brought forth abundantly another image has been put up. That is the teaching of the prophet; yea, that is the impeachment of God. God may be represented as saying, Your wickedness has been in proportion to my goodness; the more I have given you, the less I have received from you; the larger the prosperity with which I have crowned you, the more zealous have you been in your idolatry; the more lovingly I have revealed myself to you, the greater your wantonness, selfishness, and rebellion. That is not only Hebrew, it is English; that is not only ancient history, it is the tragedy, the blasphemy of to-day.

What is the explanation? Where is the point at which we can stand and say, This is the beginning of the mischief? The answer is in the second verse, “Their heart is divided.” That has always been the difficulty of God; he has so seldom been able to get a consenting heart. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” That is not a jeremiad; it is a fact. God says, These people want to do two irreconcilable things they want to serve God and mammon; they want to courteously recognise the existence of Jehovah, and then run to kiss the lips of Baal. Their heart does not all go one way; they cannot wholly throw off the true religion; it has indeed become to them little better than a superstition, but men do not like to gather up all the traditions of the past, and cast them in one bundle into the flowing river in the hope that it may be carried away and lost for ever. So they come to the altar sometimes; now and again they look in at the church door; intermittently they listen to the old psalm and the half-remembered hymn; but in the soul of them they are drunk with idolatry. There are persons very anxious to maintain orthodoxy who are the most notorious thieves in society; there are those who would subscribe to any society to defend Sunday if they might do on Monday just what they liked; they are zealous about the Sabbath, and specially zealous that other people should keep it, but on Monday you would never imagine that there was a Sunday. “Their heart is divided”; they have no sympathy with Arianism largely because they do not know what it is, but have a great horror of it; mainly because somebody else has been alarmed by it. They would not have any written creed disturbed in jot or tittle; whatever happens, that creed in its mechanical form must be observed, though it damn three-fourths of the universe without law or reason. This is called orthodoxy; it is miscalled, not truly denominated; orthodoxy is love, hope, the very passion of the Cross of Christ. Whilst we train our young men to maintain certain intellectual positions about which the world cares absolutely nothing, we ought to take pains to train them to meet certain moral and social conditions that are actual, that are crying in their necessity, that are tragic in their pathos. Where one man has heard about Arius, thousands of men have felt the torment of a disappointed life. Let us pay less heed to men who are puzzled by ancient history than we pay to those who this very day are slowly dying. “Now shall they be found faulty;” literally, Now shall they be found guilty. “He shall break down their altars;” literally, he himself; for the pronoun is emphatic, as we have read in our Caesar’s Commentaries as boys at school, ipse , he himself, Csar himself. So here we read, He himself, the living God, “shall break down their altars”; literally, shall take their heads off. He comes forth and plays the part of a guillotine; down it flashes, and the head is gone; he comes forth from eternity as an executioner, and he severs the head from the body. He comes forth as a divine iconoclast and shivers the altar, so that the head of it falls into the dust, and the stump of it is utterly without worth. “He shall spoil their images”: there is a tone of taunting in this; he shall rub them together, he shall break them in pieces, he shall return them to powder, he shall evolve them the other way, by retrogression and debasement, so that in the morning the idolators will not know their own gods. Why all this decapitation, mockery, and bitterness of taunting? Because the heart of the people is divided. There is no difficulty in dealing with an unbeliever his whole heart is steeped in disbelief; there is no difficulty in dealing with an honest man his whole soul is bathed in the righteousness and purity of God, his sincerity is his glory and his defence. The difficult man to deal with is the man who prays on Sunday, and robs his customers on Monday; the man it is impossible to make anything of is the creature that mumbles his psalm in the church, and takes the last penny from the oppressed poor when he collects his rents on the following day.

To what straits this heart-divided people were reduced:

“Now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the Lord; what then should a king do to us?” ( Hos 10:3 ).

The bitterness of that complaint is found in the fact that they had a king, and yet had no king; they had a figure-head, they had a man who was called king, and to whom certain courteous loyalty was reluctantly paid; but as to faculty, true sovereignty, noble influence, he was no king. This is as bad as the divided heart to be nominally one thing and really another; to have a pulpit, and no gospel; to have a church, but no way out of it to heaven; to have the form of a man, with the heart of a beast: these are the ironies that may be said to perplex and grieve the very Spirit of God. There are those who boast of their consistency; but always be assured that a man has no consistency when he boasts of it. There is a consistency that is worthless; there is a consistency that is consistent with itself, but is inconsistent with the spirit of progress and with the law and necessity of life; the inconsistency that God blames is to be found in a divided heart, and in a nominal sovereignty that is associated with practical subservience. Pity the king who is not royal; pray for the removal of the prince that is not princely; his name will be a burden to him; the very elevation which belongs to his office will become an impeachment upon his manhood. Pity the church that does not save the outcast, feed the hungry, and shelter those who have no home; it is a church, but not a house of God; it may be a Bethaven, but it is not a Beth-el.

Still the impeachment rolls on, growing in fulness and urgency: “They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant”: literally, we should say, Their life is words, words, words, Hamlet before the time. Israel is an empty vine, a leaf-bearing vine; Israel is a mass of words, incarnate verbiage, so that even when he makes a covenant he makes it only in words, and when he swears an oath he makes no impression beyond his lips; the oath is not red with the blood of his heart. What is the consequence? “thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.” There is judgment enough, but of what kind? Of the hemlock sort. The meaning is, that though there be plentifulness of judgment it is of a poisonous nature; there is a great show of righteousness and equity, and a wonderfully tender care of the law-courts, to preserve them from dilapidation, and to save the judges from imperilling their valuable lives: but they are law-courts of iniquity; the judgment is a lie, and the word of equity is as a dose of hemlock. A graphic figure is this of hemlock growing in the furrows of the field. The idea is that iniquity is cultivated; this is no casual iniquity, this is no hap-chance wickedness, as who should say, How surprised we are to have been confronted by this image of wrong. Nay, verily there is no surprise, for the bullocks were taken out and yoked together, and the plough was set in the field, and the furrow was straightly ripped, and the seed was sown with a liberal hand, and in the black harvest-time hemlock sprang up, and darkness was garnered for judgment. This is human history, this is no ancient dream. Inspired or not inspired, it is an awful book for getting hold of realities, and searching the heart, and trying the reins, and disturbing us by a cruel analysis of our most hidden motives. It may be inspired. How impressive and humiliating the figure that men may make a fine art of the cultivation of judgment a judgment that is iniquity; how disennobling in the midst of all our fine theories to find that the devil has got hold enough of men to make them artists in wrongdoing! So this judgment is no weed that has grown of itself, this kind of judgment is not to be reckoned as a casual growth; it was thought about, arranged for; it had its seedtime, and the harvest has come to be taken home. Harvest home, harvest home, hemlock home! You cannot escape the consequences of your actions; you cannot have seedtime of one sort, and harvest of another. Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind; sow hemlock, reap hemlock; turn judgment into iniquity, and there is nothing like it for quick execution. The finest wine makes the sourest vinegar.

“The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven”; literally, the cow-calves, she-calves. Poor Samaria, thou art not left even with a bull-calf in sign of strength and nobleness; fill thy sheds with the cow-calves, and go fall on their necks, and pray to them. “Bethaven,” literally, the house of vanity; once that same place was called “Beth-el,” that is to say, the house of God; and Beth-el has become Bethaven. Such the deteriorations, the retrogressions, the apostasies of life. How is the fine gold become dim! How is the noble youth that was going to make quite a giant of a hero doubled up, and shuffling his backward way into a nameless grave! “The people thereof shall mourn over it;” but it is a mourning of despair, not a mourning of repentance. Between the one mourning and the other there is an infinite difference. Many men are sorry for the consequences of their acts who are never sorry for the acts themselves. Repentance does not take place in any man who is sorry simply because his action has brought him to ruin. A criminal said, “Have pity upon me, for think of my beautiful house my beautiful home being broken up!” Not a word about his character being shattered. There are men who prize their furniture more than their reputation; there are those who are sorry in the morning after the night’s debauch because the head aches, and the blood is in a fever, and the eyes are bleared and unsteady. That is not repentance. He repents who sees the sin in the crime, and who, without hiding the crime, cries before God that he should have offended the spirit of righteousness.

“It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb”: they shall not only take away the people, but they shall take away their God. Who can be so mocking as the Holy One? Who can laugh like Jehovah? Their god shall be taken away, and made a present of to any man who will take it. “I will laugh at their calamity and mock when their fear cometh.” Lord of heaven, God of the Cross, spare us that laughter!

Prayer

Almighty God, if thou hast a controversy with us surely thou dost oftentimes lay it aside that thou mayest comfort us, enrich us, and make us assured of thy presence and thy care. Thou hast set us in wondrous relations: on the one side all is darkness, fear, tumult, uproar; on the other all is quietness, light, beauty, music, hope, the very beginning and pledge of heaven; and between these points how we move, now here, now there; sometimes torn with great pain, and sometimes almost with the angels. The meaning of this is that thou wilt train us for thyself; thou wilt by the agency of thy Holy Spirit cleanse us, purify and ennoble us, and make us meet to be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in light. When we are overborne by the process, may we recover ourselves by thinking of the end. Jesus for us endured the Cross, despising the shame, because he saw beyond, and all the meaning of redemption gladdened his vision. We bless thee that Jesus Christ is our example; being our Saviour and Lord, he is also our exemplar, that we may know what to do and how to do it. He taught us how to bear the Cross, how to die upon the Cross, and how to turn its shame into infinite glory. May we do nothing of ourselves; may we never take counsel with our own foolish wisdom; may we always come to the wise and to the strong and the pure for all we need and want; then shall our life prove that our prayer has been answered. Thou knowest our whole estate how many men each man is thou knowest, what devils tear him, what angels sing to him; how low in wickedness, how grand in piety; thou canst hear the sob underneath all the music of the world. Surely all this is of the Lord’s doing and shaping, and there is meaning in it all; nothing of the agony is lost; every drop of the driving storm is brought into the great bow that spans the heavens in token of reconciliation and peace. Help us to think of the purpose, the end, the meaning of it all; then shall the Cross be no burden, and the way to Calvary shall be only dolorous for a moment, its dolor forgotten in the ineffable rapture and joy of heaven. Help us to continue steadfast unto the end; may our ship not founder within sight of land; may we be brought to our desired haven, and leaving the little earth-ship, may we pass into the glory and the blessedness of heaven. For all who have landed we thank thee. Sometimes they thought they would never land, but would by some evil spirit be overborne and plunged into the sea; and lo! they have set foot on shore, and already their song mingles with the anthems of the angels. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for they shall rest: theirs shall be peace, without ruffle or disturbance; theirs shall be the tranquillity of God. Help us to consider those who have gone before, and to know that we are ourselves expected above; may we not cause the expectation to fail; may we turn no blessed one to the misery of heartache and disappointment; may our best ambition, purified of all dross, be to meet those who have gone before, and to see him who has brought us all together in pure and eternal brotherhood. Hear us for all classes and conditions of men; may those who are representing foreign lands feel themselves at home in the sanctuary of God; forgetting all mere circumstances, may they enter into the spirit of fellowship and be lifted up by sacred music, by noble psalm, and profitable meditation into the highest relations, in which all others are not lost, but are sanctified. Be with those who are heart-weary, and filled with wonder that is quickly becoming pain; save them from the perplexity that would disturb their spiritual quietness, and lead them into the liberty of truest joy. Go into our sick-chambers, and make them chief rooms in the house, the rooms of banqueting and feasting, in which the noiseless angels feed the hunger of the heart. Be with all who are in trouble on the sea; thine is the fulness of the earth, and the fulness of the sea is thine; give thy beloved sleep, and rest, and release from burdensome and darkening fear, and teach them that the sea is in thy keeping as solid as the land. As for those who are away beyond all boundaries, violators, trespassers, wicked souls, that have hated father and mother and house and holy companionship, may they yet be found by a pleading prayer; may the supplication of love throw its golden band around them, so that even they may yet come back with tears in their eyes, such tears as precede joy in the heart. We leave them in thine hands; we know that all the houses in history that have known thee have said with one accord, His mercy endureth for ever. May all lonely ones lose their solitariness in Christ; may all sick ones be recovered by the touch of his gentle fingers, and may all bad men be foiled; may all envious men have the devil of jealousy cast out of their hearts, and may all praying men be able to pray in bolder supplication and in larger claim, because they cover all their prayers with the infinite name of God the Son. Amen.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

Cords and Bands

Hos 10 , Hos 11

“In a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off” ( Hos 10:15 ).

There are various interpretations of this vivid passage. The one which is to be, in my judgment, preferred is that which regards the king of Israel in the light of one who has risen upon the troubles of his nation as the dawn rises upon the darkness. Hoshea was the last king of Israel. When the people hailed him on his accession they said in their hearts, This is he who shall bring liberty and joy and fame to Israel. They regarded him as a morning after a long weary night. They said, This same shall comfort us; he is a strong man and wise, and his heart is bound up with the fortunes of Israel, and he shall be the deliverer of the people. They were doomed to disappointment; the bright dawn perished, the light of hope went out the sky that was to have been filled with glory carried with it a sullen cloud. The king of Israel was cut off, he disappointed the people; whatever talents he had were not spent in the interests of his nation; whether incapable or false, he let fall the fortunes and destinies of his people. How many men there are who have disappointed their families! If we said, There are many men who have disappointed the world, the sentiment might be received with general applause it is one of those heroic deliverances which leave every person unharmed but we say, How many people there are who have disappointed their families! Then we come closely home to men; then we set up a process of self-examination, ending in a process of self-conviction and self-reprobation. See, however, if this be not true. The parents have said concerning the child, “This same shall comfort us,” and he has failed to shed one beam of light on the kind old hearts. The parents have said, “This same shall be wise, honest, honourable, chivalrous, heroic; men shall know that he lives and shall bless the day of his birth,” and suddenly the light has set, the promise has sunk in disappointment, and they who prophesied gracious things of the child are broken in heart. If what is called, atheistically, fate has anything to do with the disappointments which we inflict upon our kindred and our country, we must in some degree submit. We need not, however, be parties to the disappointment; we can be good if we cannot be great; we can be faithful if we cannot be brilliant; we can help a child if we cannot teach a king. The only thing we have to aim at in life is to win the recognition, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” not Brilliant soldier, Splendid genius, Unprecedented statesman, but Good and faithful servant, making the best of everything, watching every opportunity, rising early to catch the light and to prevent the singing lark, to go before as if to seek out occasions of beautiful, unselfish, yea, self-sacrificing service. Blessed is he whose early promise comes to noble fruition, and blessed are they who own him as their child. Do not let us be discouraged because we cannot do great things. All good things are great; the moral is the eternal.

The Lord continues his lament over his chosen one, and puts his plaint into the tenderest form of expression:

“When Israel was a child, then I loved him” ( Hos 11:1 ).

The meaning is not, necessarily, when Israel was an infant, a child in mere years, but when Israel was a child in spirit, docile, simple of mind, sincere of purpose, true in worship. When Israel lifted his eyes heavenward and sought for me, then I stooped over him as a man might stoop over his child to lift him into his arms and press him closely to his heart. There is a unit of the individual; let us take care lest we rest there, and so miss the ever-enlarging revelation of the divine purpose in human history. There is not only a unit of the individual, there is a unit of the nation. Israel is here spoken of as if he were one man, a little child; though a million strong in population, yet there was in the million a unit. This is one aspect of divine providence. We must not regard nations as if they ceased to have status and responsibility, name and destiny before God. A nation is one; a world is one; the universe is one. What does God know of our little divisions and distributions into pluralities and relationships? The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof, and the sea is one, and all his creation is dear to him as an only child. So the nation may have a character. The Church is one, and has a reputation and an influence. So we come upon the divine handling of great occasions. The Lord is not fretted by details. All the details of his providence come out of and return to one great principle of redeeming Fatherhood. The locks are innumerable; the key is one, and it is in the Father’s hand: let him hold it. Father in heaven, never cease to hold the key thyself with thine own right hand!

Sometimes the Lord condescends to tell what he has done for the world. When men forget him he must remind them of what they have seen and what has been done for them. Ingratitude has a short memory:

“I taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I healed them” ( Hos 11:3 ).

The picture is one that befits the life of the nursery. We have seen how a child is taught to walk; we have watched, partly with amusement, and partly with apprehension, early efforts at locomotion how unsteady the eye, how uncertain the action of the little limbs. Still the lesson was to be taught; it was the beginning of a career. It is easy to measure the first walk, but who can lay a line upon all we do which that first walk begins? Devious is the way of life; a thousand paths break away from the central road, and some adventurous spirits go down by-paths to get their first sight of the devil. God’s complaint is that “they knew not that I healed them.” We have given up in many instances the divine personality, the living, loving, redeeming Fatherhood of God; and with what are we now satisfied? With fine words, with pompous syllables, with the continuity of law. Many a man will accept the theory of the continuity of law as if he were accepting the simplest proposition. The continuity of law is as great a mystery as the continuity of God. Yet we are deceived by names. Law is abstract, law is impersonal, and is something to be talked about, but never to be seen; but personality means criticism, companionship, benediction, reproach, malediction, heaven, hell. Men do not like to be pressed upon so forcibly. Think of any man in full possession of his senses supposing that continuity of law is a simpler expression than the Fatherhood of God. We never saw God; we never saw law; we never saw anything. We might see more if we looked more closely; we might see further if we cleansed the lense through which we look, that lense the heart; and blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. They are sensitive, they are responsive; every ray of light tells upon them; every whispered word, though it has been millions of ages in coming from world to world, falls on them like a gospel, and they answer it with praise. We now put away the personality of God, and accept the law of development. The mystery is, that so many persons should imagine they have given up the complex for the simple, whereas they have simply stepped out of dawn into midnight, out of sunlight into nolight; they have needlessly created mysteries, and needlessly forgone the tenderest charms, companionships, and benedictions of life. “They knew not”: there is moral obstinacy, denseness, stupidness; they did not know the divine touch. Had it been a rude touch, a violent seizure, they would have exclaimed and inquired about it; but who has soul enough to know a touch, a whispered word, a sign meant for the deepest recesses of the spirit? Who does not outbody God, outflesh him? What soul there is is so deeply buried in the flesh that men do not know God in the light of the morning, in the glory of the noonday, in the harvest that ripples like a golden sea in the autumn; they do not know God in the morning meal, in the nightly rest, in the wind that seems to be a spirit of pity when it blows around the shorn lamb.

“They did not know.” Is there any word we dislike more in the family than the word “I forgot”? Can the heart forget? forget to open the window, to assist the child, to take a message, to speak kindly to the sick and the ailing and the feeble. Forgot! O blank heart, foolish, foolish mind! Yet we who are so justly irritated by human and social forgetfulness are charged in many a chapter of divine history with not knowing that the Lord has filled both our hands, and caused to flow before our dwelling-place a river of blessing; nay, more, we have been curious in our mental action, for we have suggested a thousand conjectures to get rid of God. This desire to thrust out the Lord is one of the clearest proofs of the real moral condition of mankind that we could have. The charge against Ephraim is the charge made against ourselves.

“I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love” ( Hos 11:4 ).

The figure is that of subjugating the heifer. Beasts were drawn with cords, it may have been with iron or chains; they were forced into servility; they were beaten and chastised into humiliation; they were made to obey the human will. The Lord represents himself as drawing his people with cords of a man, with bands of love; he will persuade them, he will lure them, he will reason with them, he will sit down and comfort them, he will gently lead his people into truth and righteousness and security. None can chastise like God; our God is a consuming fire; a whip of scorpions is nothing to the thong with which he could flagellate the human race if he pleased; but he will love man, come down to man, make himself of no reputation, and take upon him the form of a servant that he may save man. Call this poetry it is poetry that touches the heart, that inflames the imagination, that satisfies the soul when the soul realises most truly its own personality, necessity, and destiny. The whole gospel scheme is a scheme of persuasion. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us”; herein is the mystery of love that man should die for his enemies. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.” Everywhere there are the cords of a man, the bands of love, the elements of persuasion, a wrestling, entreating, persuasive God. Regard it in what light we may, there is nothing to compare with it for ineffable tenderness, for the sacred unction that touches the heart when the heart most needs a friend.

“And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume his branches, and devour them, because of their own counsels” ( Hos 11:6 ).

The Lord takes the wise in their own craftiness; he allows men to work up their programmes, and bring them to a fine point; he permits builders to go so far up with their tower; he allows men to whet their swords, and to lift those weapons of war as if in defiance, but he will only allow them to take down the sword in such a way as to bring the gleaming point of it into their own heart The meaning of this passage is that the very opposite shall occur to that which the counsellors proposed. Men shall dig pits for others, and fall into them themselves; men shall build a gallows on which to hang their enemies, and they shall swing from the gallows-tree themselves, and none shall pity them as they perish in the air; the bad man shall plan his plot, and lo, when he would go home to watch the outcome of it, he cannot lift his feet: he made the snare, let him break it if he can. Here is the action of a mysterious power in life, that men are always made, when they oppose God, to do the very things they did not want to do; they will build a place in which they will be secure from the Lord God Almighty, and lo, they are obliged to see that very tower that was to have excluded the Eternal turned into a sanctuary for his adoration.

Another complaint is very graphically and tenderly expressed:

“And my people are bent to backsliding from me” ( Hos 11:7 ).

The figure is that of a man who seizes a crossbeam; holding to that beam with his hands, he swings from it; there is an oscillatory motion, but there is no progress; the hands clutch the crossbeam. So the Lord says, “My people are bent to backsliding from me”; they seem to be making progress, but are making none; the centre is always the same, the movement is pendular; it passes from point to point, but the points are always the same; the centre never changes: they are bent on iniquity, they are attached to lies. Who has not seen this very figure personalised in his own case? We have wanted to do two different things at the same time, and that miracle has lain beyond the possibility of our power; we have wanted to keep the Sabbath day, and do what we like on the day succeeding, and the days would not thus be yoked together by our evil hands; we have wanted to be nominal Christians and real downright atheists, and the Lord would not permit this infamous irony. My people are bent upon backsliding from me; they keep hold, and the body moves as if progress were being made; but I judge not by the oscillation, but by the clutching fingers, and these fingers are still laid upon things that are forbidden. What then will the Lord do? He will suddenly destroy these men; he will burn them with unquenchable fire; he will treat them as chaff is treated they shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace, and go up as smoke. Nay, hear the Lord, and say if that prophecy be true:

“How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, Israel? how shall I make thee as Admah? how shall I set thee as Zeboim? mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together” ( Hos 11:8 ).

This is the voice of a pleader. Ephraim had done wrong, but the Lord said, He may still do right, and I will not give him up utterly. How shall I deliver thee, Israel, when I have set my love upon thee, and fixed mine expectation upon all thy progress? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? (two cities of the plain, salted with fire, devoured and poisoned with brimstone.) How shall I burn Ephraim? There are some things we do not want to burn; we hold them long over the fire before throwing them into the hungry flame; we say, Let us try once more, let us begin again? How shall I burn Ephraim? How shall I reduce Israel to ashes? How can I set fire to my only son to the prodigal that wounded me, to the life that disappointed me? Even yet the prodigal may come home. I have burned Sodom and Gomorrah; I have burned Admah and Zeboim; I have choked the plain with brimstone, but I cannot give up these hearts, though they grieve me every day. How shall I, how shall I, how can I? That is the voice of eternal love. God never willingly destroys. He is a God of salvation; he wants the worst to be saved; he wants none to be burned. God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. The Son of man came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. Nothing would be easier for God than to burn up the universe; but to save it what does that require?

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

VIII

THE BOOK OF HOSEA PART 2

Hos 4:1-14:9

What has previously been presented in figure and symbol in the first section of the book is now plainly and literally stated. Jehovah’s controversy with Israel is set forth in Hos 4:1-5 . Someone has called this “The Lord’s Lawsuit” in which he brings grave charges against Israel for sins of omission followed by sins of commission. The sins of omission which led to the sins of commission are that there were no truth, no goodness, and no knowledge of God in the land. These omissions led to the gravest sins of commission, viz: profanity, covenant-breaking, murder, stealing, and adultery. The evidence in this case was so strong that there was no plea of “not guilty” entered, and Jehovah proceeded at once, after making the indictment, to announce the sentence: Destruction!

This verdict of destruction was for the lack of knowledge, which emphasizes the responsibility of the opportunity to know. They had rejected knowledge and had forgotten the law of Jehovah, and as the priests were the religious leaders and instructors of the people, the sentence is heavy against them, but “like people, like priest” shows the equality of the responsibility and the judgment. There is no excuse for either. He who seeks to know the agenda, God will reveal the credenda. The sentence is again stated, thus: Rejection, forgetting her children, shame, requite them their doings, hunger and harlotry. Such a sentence hung over them like a deadly pall.

In Hos 4:11-14 whoredom and wine are named together, not by accident but because they are companion evils, which is the universal testimony of those who practice either. Here they are said to take away the understanding, or as the Hebrew puts it, the heart. Both are literally true. That the understanding is marred and blighted by these evils is evidenced in the case of the thousands who have rendered themselves unfit for service anywhere by wasting their strength with wine and harlots. That the heart, the seat of affections, is destroyed by these evils witness the thousands of divorce cases in our courts today. By such a course the very vitals of man are burnt out and he then becomes the prey to every other evil in the catalogue. Let the youth of our country heed the warning of the prophet. Here Israel, engrossed with these sins, is pictured as going deeper and deeper in sin and degradation until they pass beyond the power of description. Notice that the Lord here holds the men responsible and pronounces a mighty invective against the modern double standard of morals. In God’s sight the transgressor is the guilty party, whether man or woman.

Though Israel has played the harlot, Judah is warned in Hos 4:15-19 that she may not follow the example of Israel. The places of danger are pointed out and the example of Israel is used to enforce the warning. Israel is stubborn; Ephraim is joined to his idols; let him alone. Israel is wrapped in the winds of destruc-tion and shall soon be put to shame, therefore, take heed, Judah.

There are several notable things in the address of Hos 5:1-7 : First, the whole people priests, Israel, and the royal house was involved in the judgment because each one was responsible for the existing conditions, their great centers of revolt against Jehovah being pointed out as Mizpeh, east of the Jordan; and Tabor, west of the Jordan. Second, the fact that Jehovah himself was the rebuker of them. God is the one undisputable judge and he will judge and he will judge them all. Though the mills of God grind slowly, Yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, With exactness grinds He all,

Third, God’s omniscience: “I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me.” So he knows us and there is nothing hid from him. Fourth, men are hindered from turning to God by their gins. Fifth, positive instruction awaits the sinner (Hos 5:5 ). Sixth, sacrifices and seeking are too late after doom is pronounced. Repentance must come within the space allotted for it; otherwise, it is too late.

The cornet and trumpet in Hos 5:8-15 signifies the alarm in view of the approaching enemy. In the preceding paragraph the prophet signified their certain destruction and now he indicates that it is at hand, again assigning the reason, that Judah had become as bold as those who remove the landmarks, and Ephraim was content to walk after man’s commandments. Then he shows by the figure of the moth and the woodworm that he is slowly consuming both Israel and Judah, but they were applying to other powers for help to hold out and that the time would come when he, like the lion, would make quick work of his judgments upon Israel and Judah; that they will not seek him till their affliction comes.

Paragraph Hos 6:1-3 is the exhortation of the Israelites to one another at the time of their affliction mentioned in the last verse of the preceding chapter and should be introduced by the word, “saying,” as indicated in the margin of Hos 5:15 . The expressions, “He hath torn” and “he hath smitten,” evidently refer to the preceding verses which describe Jehovah’s dealing with Israel and Judah as a lion. This exhortation represents them after their affliction, saying to one another, “Come, and let us return unto Jehovah,” etc. The “two days” and the “third day” are expressions representing short periods, not literal or typical days. They are then represented as pursuing knowledge which is the opposite to their present condition in their lack of knowledge. Now they are perishing for the lack of knowledge but then they will flourish as land flourishes in the time of the latter rain. There is a primary fulfilment of this prophecy in the return after the captivity but the larger fulfilment will be at their final return and conversion at which commences the revival destined to sweep the world into the kingdom of God. As Peter says, it will be “the times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord” (Act 3:19 ).

A paraphrase of Hos 6:4-11 shows its interpretation and application, thus: “O Ephraim, O Judah, I am perplexed as to what remedy next to apply to you; your goodness is so shallow and transitory that my judgments have to be repeated from time to time. I desire goodness, i.e., works of charity, the right attitude of life, and the proper condition of the heart, rather than sacrifice. But instead of this you have, like Adam in the garden of Eden, transgressed my covenant and have dealt treacherously against me, as in the case of the Gileadites and the case of the murderous priests in the way to Shechem, and oh, the horribleness of your crimes! and, O Judah, there is a harvest for you, too.”

In the charges against Israel in Hos 7:1-16 the prophet gives the true state of affairs, viz: that the divine desire to heal was frustrated by the discovery of pollution, and by their persistent ignoring of God; that the pollution of the nation was manifest in the king, the princes, and the judges; that Ephraim was mixing among the people and had widespread influence, over the ten tribes, yet he was as a cake not turned; that he was an utter failure, being developed on one side, and on the other destroyed by burning; that he was unconscious of his wasting strength and ignored the plain testimony of the Pride of Israel; that as a silly dove, he was indicating fear and cowardice. Then the prophet concludes the statement of the case by a declaration of the utter folly of the people whom God was scourging toward redemption, to which they responded by howling, assembling, and rebelling.

Now we take up Hos 8 . From the statement of the case the prophet turned, in Hos 8:1-14 , to the pronouncement of judgment by the figure of the trumpet lifted to the mouth, uttering five blasts, in each of which the sin of the people was set forth as revealing the reason for judgment. The first blast declared the coming of judgment under the figure of an eagle, because of transgression and trespass. The second blast emphasized Israel’s sin of rebellion, in that they had set up kings and princes without authority of Jehovah. The third dealt with Israel’s idolatry, announcing that Jehovah had cast off the calf of Samaria. The fourth denounced Israel’s alliances and declared that her hire among the nations had issued in her diminishing. The fifth drew attention to the altars of sin and announced the coming judgment.

These judgments in detail are given in Hos 9 . Its first note was that of the death of joy. Israel could not find her joy like other peoples. Having known Jehovah, everything to which she turned in turning from him, failed to satisfy. How true is this of the individual backslider! The unsatisfied heart is constantly crying out, Where is the blessedness I knew, When first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul-refreshing view Of Jesus and his word?

The second note was that of actual exile to which she must pass: back to the slavery of Egypt and Assyria and away from the offerings and feasts of the Lord. The third was that of the cessation of prophecy. The means of testing themselves would be corrupted. The fourth declared the retributive justice of fornication. The prophet traced the growth of this pollution from its beginning at Baal-peor, and clearly set forth the inevitable deterioration of the impure people. The fifth and last was that of the final casting out of the people by God so that they should become wanderers among the nations.

In Hos 10 we have the prophet’s recapitulation and appeal. This closes the section. The whole case is stated under the figure of the vine. Israel was a vine of God’s planting which had turned its fruitfulness to evil account and was therefore doomed to his judgment. The result of this judgment would be the lament of the people that they had no king who was able to deliver them, and chastisement would inevitably follow. The last paragraph is an earnest and passionate appeal to return to loyalty.

Some things in Hos 10 need special explanation: First, note the expression here, “They will say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.” This furnishes the analogue for the final destruction of the world and the judgment as given in Luk 23:30 and Rev 6:16 . Here the expression is used to indicate the horrors of the capture and destruction of the kingdom of Israel, the sufferings and distress of which are a foreshadowing of the great tribulation at the end of the world.

Second, the reference to Gibeah in Hos 10:9 needs a little explanation. This sin of Gibeah is the sin of the shameful outrage which with its consequences is recorded in Judges 19-20. That sin became proverbial, overtopping, as it did, all the ordinary iniquities, by its shameless atrocity and heinousness. By a long-continued course of sin, even from ancient days, Ephraim had been preparing for a fearful doom.

The third reference is to Shalman who destroyed Betharbel (Hos 10:14 ). There are several theories about this incident. Some think that “Shalman” is a short form of “Shalmaneser,” that Shalmaneser IV, who in the invasion which is mentioned (2Ki 17:3 ) fought a battle in the valley of Jezreel, in which he broke the power of Samaria in fulfilment of Hos 1:5 and about the same time stormed the neighboring town of Arbela, but who this “Shalman” was and what place was “Betharbel” are only matters of uncertain conjecture. All that is positively known is that the sack of Betharbel had made upon the minds of the Israelites an impression similar to that which in the seventeenth century was made far and wide by the sack of Madgeburg.

According to our brief outline the title of section Hos 11:1-14:8 is “Pollution and Pity.” This third cycle of the prophecy sets forth the pity which Jehovah has for his sinning people, and contains a declaration of Jehovah’s attitude toward Israel notwithstanding her sin. Chapters 11-13 are for the most part the speech of Jehovah himself. He sums up, and in so doing declares his sense of the awfulness of their sin, pronouncing his righteous judgment thereupon. Yet throughout the movement the dominant notes are those of pity and love, and the ultimate victory of that love over sin, and consequently over judgment. Three times in the course of this great message of Jehovah to his people (Hos 11:1-13:16 ), the prophet interpolates words of his own.

This message of Jehovah falls into three clearly marked elements which deal: (1) with the present in the light of past love (Hos 11:1-11 ); (2) with the present in the light of present love (Hos 12:7-11 ) ; (3) with the present in the light of future love (Hos 13:4-14 ).

The prophet’s interpolations set forth the history of Israel indicating their relation to Jehovah, and pronounce judgment. They form a remarkable obligate accompaniment, in a minor key, to the majestic love song of Jehovah, and constitute a contrasting introduction to the final message of the prophet. The first of them reveals the prophet’s sense of Jehovah’s controversy with Judah, his just dealings with Jacob, and, reminiscent of Jacob’s history, he makes a deduction and an appeal (Hos 11:12-13:6 ). The second traces the progress of Israel to death (Hos 12:12-13:3 ). The third declares their doom (Hos 13:15-16 ).

Then in general, Jehovah’s message in Hos 11:1-11 is as follows:

In this first movement, Jehovah reminded the people of his past love for them in words full of tenderness, setting out their present condition in its light, and crying, “How shall I give thee up?” Which inquiry was answered by the determined declaration of the ultimate triumph of love, and the restoration of the people.

There are two incidents of Israel’s history cited in this first part of Jehovah’s message. The first incident cited is the calling of Israel out of Egypt, which is quoted in Mat 2:15 and applied to our Lord Jesus Christ as a fulfilment of this prophecy. Hosea clearly refers to the calling of Israel out of Egypt, the nation being elsewhere spoken of as God’s son (Exo 4:22 ; Jer 3:9 ). But there is evident typical relation between Israel and the Messiah.

As Israel in the childhood of the nation was called out of Egypt, so Jesus. We may even find resemblance in minute details; his temptation of forty days in the desert, resembles Israel’s temptation of forty years in the desert, which itself corresponded to the forty days spent by the spies (Num 14:34 ). Thus we see how Hosea’s historical statement concerning Israel may have been also a prediction concerning the Messiah, as the Evangelist declares it was. It is not necessary to suppose that this was present to the prophet’s consciousness. Exalted by inspiration, a prophet may well have said things having deeper meanings than he was distinctly aware of, and which only a later inspiration, coming when the occasion arose, could fully unfold BROADUS on Mat 2:15 . The second incident in the history of God’s people cited is the destruction of Adman, Zeboim, Sodom, and Gomorrah, all of which are mentioned in Deu 29:23 as destroyed by Jehovah for their wickedness. The warning is a powerful one to Ephraim, or Israel, who are here threatened with destruction.

The prophet’s message in his first interpolation (Hos 11:12-12:6 ) is a lesson from the history of Jacob showing Israel’s relation to him. The prophet here goes back to the earliest history of Jacob showing God’s dealing with him from his conception to his settlement at Bethel, where God gave him the promise of a multitude of descendants. This bit of history includes the struggle between him and Esau before birth, and his wrestling with the angel.

In Hos 12:7-11 Jehovah sets out their present sin in the light of his present love. The sin of Ephraim and its pride and impertinence are distinctly stated and yet over all, love triumphs. Jehovah declared himself to be the God who delivered them from Egypt, and who would be true to the message of the prophets, to the visions of the seers and to the similitudes of the ministry of the prophets. There is an allusion in verse 7 to Jacob’s deception of Isaac, which characteristic seems to have been handed down to his posterity, as here indicated.

In the prophets second interpolation (Hos 12:12-13:3 ) he traces the progress of Israel to death, beginning at the flight to the field of Aram, through the exodus from Egypt and the preservation to the present, in which Ephraim was exalted in Israel, offended in Baal and died. Their certain doom is here announced.

Then follows Jehovah’s message in Hos 13:4-14 in which he sets forth the present condition of Israel in the light of his future love. Sin abounds, and therefore judgment is absolutely unavoidable. Nevertheless, the mighty strength of love must overcome at last.

There are several things in the passage worthy of special note. First, the allusions here to Jehovah’s dealings with them from Egypt to their destination in Canaan, their exaltation and his destruction of them. Second, the allusion to their history under kings, beginning with Saul, whom he gave them in his anger and whom he took away in his wrath. The statement may apply to the long line of kings of the Northern Kingdom, but it fits the case of Saul more especially and throws light on the problem of Saul’s mission as king of Israel. Third, the promise of their restoration under the figure of a resurrection (Hos 13:14 ), which is quoted and applied to the final resurrection by Paul (1Co 15:55 ) and which shows the typical import of this passage. It is like a flash of light in the darkest hour of despair.

Dr. Pusey on this passage has well said:

God by his prophets mingles promises of mercy in the midst of his threats of punishment. His mercy overflows the bounds of the occasion upon which he makes it known. He had sentenced Ephraim to temporal destruction. This was unchangeable. He points to that which turns all temporal loss into gain, that eternal redemption. The words are the fullest which could have been chosen. The word rendered “ransom” signifies rescued them by the payment of a price; the word rendered “redeem” relates to one who, as the nearest of kin, had the right to acquire anything as his own by paying the price. Both words in their exactest sense, describe what Jesus did, buying us with a price . . . and becoming our near kinsman by his incarnation. . . . The words refuse to be tied down to temporal deliverance. A little longer continuance in Canaan is not a redemption from the power of the grave; nor was Ephraim so delivered.

The expression, “repentance shall be hid from mine eyes,” means that God will never turn from his purpose to be merciful to Israel.

In the prophet’s last interpolation (Hos 13:15-16 ) he goes back to the death sentence showing the complete destruction of Ephraim and Samaria by the Eastern power, Assyria. The reference to Ephraim’s fruitfulness goes back to the promise of Jacob to Joseph, “He shall be a fruitful bough,” though Ephraim had turned this fruitfulness to evil and thus is brought to desolation.

Hos 14 gives us the final call of the prophet with the promise of Jehovah. The call was to the people to return because they had fallen by iniquity. It suggests the method of returning, as being that of bringing words of penitence, and forsaking all false gods. To this Jehovah answered in a message full of hope for the people, declaring that he would restore, renew, and ultimately reinstate them. There is no question but that this final word of prophecy has a reference to the return from the exile but that this return does not exhaust the meaning of this prophecy is also very evident. The larger fulfilment is to be spiritual and finds its expression in the final conversion of the Jews as voiced by Peter: “Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord” (Act 3:19 ).

The book closes with a brief epilogue, which demands attention to all the prophet has written, whether for warning, or reproof, or correction in righteousness, or encouragement to piety and virtue. Like the dictates of the Word, so the dispensations of his providence are to some the savor of life, to others the savor of death. So it is added that, while the righteous walk therein, in them the wicked stumble.

In closing this chapter I will say that Hosea occupies a period of transition in developing the messianic idea from the earlier prophets to Micah and Isaiah, in whose writings abounds the messianic element:

(1) Hosea, like Amos, predicts the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, but he looks beyond it to a brighter day, when the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea in number, will be accepted of Jehovah as sons and daughters, and Judah and Israel will have one head, Christ (Hos 1:10-2:1 , et al).

(2) Hosea’s experience with an unfaithful wife is an object lesson of God’s forgiveness of Israel. Their spiritual adultery must lead them into exile but Jehovah will betroth Israel to himself in righteousness, and take the Gentiles into the same covenant (Hos 2:2-3:5 ; Rom 9:25-26 ).

(3) Hos 11:1 was fulfilled in the return of Joseph and Mary from Egypt with the babe, Jesus (Mat 2:15 ). So Jesus the antitype of Adam, Israel, and David.

(4) Hos 11:8-11 expresses Jehovah’s promise to restore Israel.

(5) Hos 13:14 is a messianic promise foreshadowing the resurrection.

(6) Hos 14:1-8 is a messianic promise of Israel’s final repentance, God’s reinstatement of them and their abundant blessings in the millennium.

I quote Dr. Sampey: In general, the earlier prophets describe clearly a terrible captivity of Jehovah’s people, to be followed by a return to their own land, where they were to enjoy the divine blessing. The everlasting love and compassion of Jehovah are repeatedly described, and the future enlargement of Israel is clearly set forth. The person of Messiah, however, is not distinctly brought before the reader. Isaiah and Micah will have much to say of the character and work of the Messaih Himself

QUESTIONS

1. What the character of this division, as contrasted with the first three chapters of Hosea?

2. What Jehovah’s controversy with Israel as set forth in Hos 4:1-5 ?

3. Why the verdict of destruction, as set forth in Hos 4:6-10 ?

4. What two practices are named together in Hos 4:11-14 , and what their effect upon the mind of man?

5. What warning to Judah in Hos 4:15-19 ?

6. What the notable things in the address of Hos 5:1-7 ?

7. What the significance and the application of the cornet and trumpet in Hos 5:8-15 ?

8. What the interpretation and application of Hos 6:1-3 ?

9. Paraphrase Hos 6:4-11 so as to show its interpretation and application.

10. What the charges against Israel in Hos 7:1-16 ?

11. How does the prophet pronounce judgment and what the significance in each case (Hos 8:1-14 )?

12. Describe these judgments in detail as given in Hos 9 .

13. State briefly the prophet’s recapitulation and appeal (Hos 10:1-15 ).

14. What things in Hos 10 need special explanation, and what the explanation in each case?

15. According to our brief outline what the title of section Hos 11:1-14:8 , and what in general, are its contents?

16. What the general features of the message of Jehovah?

17. What the general features of the prophet’s interpolations?

18. What, in general, is Jehovah’s message in Hos 11:1-11 ?

19. What two incidents of Israel’s history cited in this first part of Jehovah’s message, and what their interpretation and application?

20. What the prophet’s message in his first interpolation (Hos 11:12-12:6 )?

21. What, in general, Jehovah’s message in Hos 12:7-11 ?

22. What allusion to an incident in the life of Jacob in this passage?

23. What the substance of the prophet’s second interpolation (Hos 12:12-13:3 )?

24. What, in general, Jehovah’s message in Hos 13:4-14 ?

25. What things in the passage worthy of special note?

26. What the prophet’s message in his last interpolation (Hos 13:15-16 )?

27. What the contents of Hos 14 ?

28. Give a summary of the messianic predictions in the book of Hosea.

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Hos 10:1 Israel [is] an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

Ver. 1. Israel is an empty vine ] Heb. an emptying vine, losing her fruit, and so deceiving the owner. How can Israel but be empty of all good, of all fruits of the Spirit, when he will not hearken unto God, nor dwell under the droppings of a powerful ministry? when he is cast off by God, Hos 9:17 , who fills his people with the fruits of righteousness, Phi 1:11 : and is not a wilderness a land of darkness unto them? Jer 2:31 , when his root is dried up, and all his juice and strength runs out into leaves, so that is frondosa vitis (as the Vulgate renders it), a leafy vine; such as are our profligate professors, and carnal gospellers, and such as was St James’s solifidian, that empty fellow, as he calleth him, , Jas 2:20 , when, lastly, the Holy Spirit (those two golden pipes, Zec 4:12 ) empties not into his candlestick the golden oils of all precious graces, as from two blessed olive branches. The vine and the olive, two of the best fruit trees, grow best together, saith Melancthon. If Israel’s heart be divided from God, as Hos 10:2 , and hath not his fruit found in him, as Hos 14:8 , what marvel if he prove as Nah 2:10 empty and void and waste; and though as Nah 2:2 the Lord turn away the excellency of Jacob, as the excellency of Israel; for the emptiers have emptied them out, and married their vine branches?

He beareth fruit to himself ] As he beareth fruit in and from himself (like the ivy, which, though it clasp about the oak, and sometimes kills it, yet brings forth all its berries, by virtue of its own root) so he beareth fruit for himself, or to himself. Profit, pleasure, and preferment is his Trinity; and corrupt self is all these in unity. He fasteth to himself, as those hypocrites, Zec 7:5 ; he prays, hears, confers, giveth alms, &c., out of sinful self-love. In all that he doth, sibi soli velificatur, he seeks his own ends only; as the eagle, when he flieth highest, hath his eye on his prey. In parabola ovis capras suas quaerit; in the parabol of the sheep, he sought for his own sheep; like the fish in the Gospel, either he is dumb, or hath nothing but silver in his mouth, he is a notorious self-seeker, he bears fruit to himself, he sacrificeth to himself, as Sejanus did. As Prometheus is fabled to have stolen fire from Jupiter, so the false Israelite would defraud God of heaven, if he could tell how. Spira confessed that he used prayer only as a bridge to bring him to heaven; and therefore he despaired of acceptance, as well he might: for how should God relish such sorry hedge-fruits? how should he say of such clusters of Gomorrah, “Destroy it not, for there is a blessing in it?” Isa 65:8 . The good soul, as she bears all her fruit in Christ, Joh 15:2 , so she keeps all her fruit for him, Son 5:13 , and cries out, Propter te, Domine, propter te. On account of you, Lord, on account of you. As all his springs are in her, so all she has and is, is for him; and if she had more and better, she could think it worthy of him. Hence it is, that when he comes into his garden (upon her invitation), Son 4:16 , to eat his pleasant fruits, he gathereth his myrrh with his spice, he eateth his honey with his honeycomb, as it were, crust and crumb together, Son 5:1 . He takes in good part the better and worse performed services; he passeth by failings in the manner, where the heart is upright for the main: wicked men present also some kind of fruit (as the oak bears some kind of apples and acorns, but they are not man’s meat; swine indeed will hunch them up; so the devil likes well enough of these self-fruits), but they make not to God’s palate. Delicata res est Spiritus Dei The Spirit of God is a charming person. (Tertull.), our oaken apples will not down with him. Self must be strained out, and God set up, that ye may be called “Trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he alone may be glorified,” Isa 61:3 ; “being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God,” Phi 1:11 .

According to the multitude of his fruit, he hath increased the altars ] Iuxta ubertatem, exuberant simulachris, saith the Vulgate elegantly; but yet short of the original, where there is a dainty alliteration, and a double polyptoton. a For the sense: the prophet, as he had accused Israel of emptiness and selfishness, so he doth here of unthankfulness, in abusing God’s plenty to the promoting of idolatry; as if God had hired them to be wicked. See the like before, Hos 2:8 . See Trapp on “ Hos 2:8 “ and consider how far against the ingenuity of a Christian it is to be least for God when he hath most from him; when his own turn is served, then to turn his back from the author of all his good; to do as the moon, that getteth farthest off the sun when she is fullest of his light.

According to the goodness of his land ] Idolaters desire to be in the place where there are good lands, fruitful fields; that they may lavish upon their images; that they may so beautify, or (as the Hebrew word here is) bonify their images, as Jezebel did her head with tires and brave dresses, 2Ki 9:30 . “Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god,” or that endow another god, and give gifts to him, as that text may be rendered, Psa 16:4 . What excessive cost the superstitious Papists bestow upon their idols, or images (which are one and the same, as we see here), and especially upon their Lady of Loretto, the Jesuit Tursellinus hath set forth to the world. And why they so much desire and endeavour to recover England (praying for it, as is to be seen written on the gates of their colleges, Iesu, Iesu, converte Angliam: fiat, fiat Jesus, Jesus, convert the English, let it happen, let it happen) the reason is evident; it is a good land, and would easily yield them good images, stately altars, &c. England was wont to be called the pope’s ass, and his puteus inexhaustus, unexhausted well, his pit of treasure, that could never be drawn dry: he was wont to say, that he could never want money so long as he could hold a pen in his fingers to write to England. He received here hence yearly above nine tons of gold. Now, according to what they received they expended upon their images. What a shame it is, then, for true worshippers, that there is no proportion between their increases for God and their increases from God, that those that are rich in this world are not rich in good works; that they lay not by for pious and charitable uses, according as God hath blessed them, 1Co 16:2 , but that they should be the richer the harder; as children that have their mouths full, and both hands full, yet will part with none, but spill it rather. It is observed of men that grow very fat, that they have so much the less blood. And so the fatter many men are in their estates the less blood, life, and spirits they have for God.

a A rhetorical figure consisting in the repetition of a word in different cases or inflexions in the same sentence. D

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Hosea

‘FRUIT WHICH IS DEATH’

Hos 10:1 – Hos 10:15 .

The prophecy of this chapter has two themes-Israel’s sin, and its punishment. These recur again and again. Reiteration, not progress of thought, characterises Hosea’s fiery stream of inspired eloquence. Conviction of sin and prediction of judgment are his message. We trace a fourfold repetition of it here, and further note that in each case there is a double reference to Israel’s sin as consisting in the rebellion which set up a king and in the schism which established the calf worship; while there is also a double phase of the punishment corresponding to these, in the annihilation of the kingdom and the destruction of the idols.

The first section may be taken to be Hos 10:1 – Hos 10:3 . The image of a luxuriant vine laden with fruit is as old as Jacob’s blessing of the tribes Gen 49:22, where it is applied to Joseph, whose descendants were the strength of the Northern Kingdom. Hosea has already used it, and here it is employed to set forth picturesquely the material prosperity of Israel. Probably the period referred to is the successful reign of Jeroboam II. But prosperity increased sin. The more fruit or material wealth, the more altars; the better the harvests, the more the obelisks or pillars to gods, falsely supposed to be the authors of the blessings. The words are as condensed as a proverb, and are as true to-day as ever. Israel had attributed its prosperity to Baal Hos 2:8. The misuse of worldly wealth and the tendency of success to draw us away from God, and to blind to the true source of all blessing, are as rife now as then.

The root of the evil was, as always, a heart divided-that is, between God and Baal-or, perhaps, ‘smooth’; that is, dissimulating and insincere. In reality, Baal alone possesses the heart which its owner would share between him and Jehovah. ‘All in all, or not at all,’ is the law. Whether Baals or calves were set beside God, He was equally deposed.

Then, with a swift turn, Hosea proclaims the impending judgment, setting himself and the people as if already in the future. He hears the first peal of the storm, and echoes it in that abrupt ‘now.’ The first burst of the judgment shatters dreams of innocence, and the cowering wretches see their sin by the lurid light. That discovery awaits every man whose heart has been ‘divided.’ To the gazers and to himself masks drop, and the true character stands out with appalling clearness. What will that light show us to be? An unnamed hand overthrows altars and pillars. No need to say whose it is. One half of Israel’s sin is crushed at a blow, and the destruction of the other follows immediately.

They themselves abjure their allegiance; for they have found out that their king is a king Log, and can do them no good. A king, set up in opposition to God’s will, cannot save. The ruin of their projects teaches godless men at last that they have been fools to take their own way; for all defences, recourses, and protectors, chosen in defiance of God, prove powerless when the strain comes. The annihilation of one half of their sin sickens them of the other. The calves and the monarchy stood or fell together. It is a dismal thing to have to bear the brunt of chastisement for what we see to have been a blunder as well as a crime. But such is the fate of those who seek other gods and another king.

In Hos 10:4 Hosea recurs to Israel’s crime, and appends a description of the chastisement, substantially the same as before, but more detailed, which continues till Hos 10:8 . The sin now is contemplated in its effects on human relations. Before, it was regarded in relation to God. But men who are wrong with Him cannot be right with one another. Morality is rooted in religion, and if we lie to God, we shall not be true to our brother. Hence, passing over all other sins for the present, Hosea fixes upon one, the prevalence of which strikes at the very foundation of society. What can be done with a community in which lying has become a national characteristic, and that even in formal agreements? Honey-combed with falsehood, it is only fit for burning.

Sin is bound by an iron link to penalty. Therefore, says Hosea, God’s judgment springs up, like a bitter plant the precise name of which is unknown in the furrows, where the farmer did not know that its seeds lay. They little dreamed what they were sowing when they scattered abroad their lies, but this is the fruit of these. ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap’; and whatever other crop we may hope to gather from our sins, we shall gather that bitter one which we did not expect. The inevitable connection of sin and judgment, the bitterness of its results, the unexpectedness of them, are all here, and to be laid to heart by us.

Then Hos 10:5 – Hos 10:6 dilate with keen irony on the fate of the first half of Israel’s sin-the calf. It was thought a god, but its worshippers shall be in a fright for it. ‘Calves,’ says Hosea, though there was but one at Beth-el; and he uses the feminine, as some think, depreciatingly. ‘Beth-aven’ or the ‘house of vanity,’ he says, instead of Beth-el, ‘the house of God.’ A fine god whose worshippers had to be alarmed for its safety! ‘Its people’-what a contrast to the name they might have borne, ‘My people’! God disowns them, and says, ‘They belong to it, not to Me.’ The idolatrous priests of the calf worship will tremble when that image, which had been shamefully their ‘glory,’ is carried off to Assyria, and given as a present to ‘king Jareb’-a name for the king of Assyria meaning the fighting or quarrelsome king. The captivity of the god is the shame of the worshippers. To be ‘ashamed of their own counsel’ is the certain fate of all who depart from God; for, sooner or later, experience will demonstrate to the blindest that their refuges of lies can neither save themselves nor those who trust in them. But shame is one thing and repentance another; and many a man will say, ‘I have been a great fool, and my clever policy has all crumbled to pieces,’ who will only therefore change his idols, and not return to God.

Hos 10:7 recurs to the political punishment of the civil rebellion. The image for the disappearance of the king is striking, whether we render ‘foam’ or ‘chip,’ but the former has special beauty. In the one case we see the unsubstantial bubble,

‘A moment white, then melts for ever’;

and in the other, the helpless twig swept down by the stream. Either brings vividly before us the powerlessness of Israel against the roaring torrent of Assyrian power; and the figure may be widened out to teach what is sure to become of all man-made and self-chosen refuges when the floods of God’s judgments sweep over the world. The captivity of the idol and the burst bubble of the monarchy bid us all make Jehovah our God and King. The vacant shrine and empty throne are followed by utter and long-continued desolation. Thorns and thistles have time to grow on the altars, and no hand cuts them down. What of the men thus stripped of all in which they had trusted? Desperate, they implore the mountains to fall on them, as preferring to die, and the hills to cover them, as willing to be crushed, if only they may be hidden. That awful cry is heard again in our Lord’s predictions of judgment, and in the Apocalypse. Therefore this prophecy foreshadows, in the destruction of Israel’s confidences and in their shame and despair, a more dreadful coming day, in which we shall be concerned.

Hos 10:9 – Hos 10:11 again give the sin and its punishment. ‘The days of Gibeah’ recall the hideous story of lust and crime which was the low-water mark of the lawless days of old. That crime had been avenged by merciless war. But its taint had lived on, and the Israel of Hosea’s day ‘stood,’ obstinately persistent, just where the Benjamites had been then, and set themselves in dogged resistance, as these had done, ‘that the battle against the children of unrighteousness might not touch them.’

Stiff-necked setting oneself against God’s merciful fighting with evil lasts for a little while, but verse 10 tells how soon and easily it is annihilated. God’s ‘desire’ brushes away all defences, and the obstinate sinners are like children, who are whipped when their father wills, let them struggle as they may. The instruments of chastisement are foreign armies, and the chastisement itself is described with a striking figure as ‘binding them to their two transgressions’; that is, the double sin which is the keynote of the chapter. Punishment is yoking men to their sins, and making them drag the burden like bullocks in harness. What sort of load are we getting together for ourselves? When we have to drag the consequences of our doings behind us, how shall we feel?

The figure sets the Prophet’s imagination going, and he turns it another way, comparing Israel to a heifer, broken in, and liking the easy work of threshing, in which the unmuzzled ox could eat its fill, but now set to harder tasks in the fields. Judah, too, is to share in the punishment. If men will not serve God in and because of prosperous ease, He will try what toil and privation will do. Abused blessings are withdrawn, and the abundance of the threshing-floor is changed for dragging a heavy plough or harrow.

Hos 10:12 still deals with the figure suggested in the close of the previous verse. It is the only break in the clouds in this chapter. It is a call to amendment, accompanied by a promise of acceptance. If we ‘sow for righteousness’-that is, if our efforts are directed to embodying it in our lives-we ‘shall reap according to mercy.’ That is true universally, whether it is taken to mean God’s mercy to us, or ours to others. The aim after righteousness ever secures the divine favour, and usually ensures the measure which we mete being measured to us again.

But sowing is not all; thorns must be grubbed up. We must not only turn over a new leaf, but tear out the old one. The old man must be slain if the new man is to live. The call to amend finds its warrant in the assurance that there is still time to seek the Lord, and that, for all His threatenings, He is ready to rain blessings upon the seekers. The unwearying patience of God, the possibility of the worst sinner’s repentance, the conditional nature of the threatenings, the possibility of breaking the bond between sin and sorrow, the yet deeper thought that righteousness must come from above, are all condensed in this brief gospel before the Gospel.

But that bright gleam passes, and the old theme recurs. Once more we have sin and punishment exhibited in their organic connection in Hos 10:13 – Hos 10:14 . Israel’s past had been just the opposite of sowing righteousness and reaping mercy. Wickedness ploughed in, iniquity will surely be its fruit. Sin begets sin, and is its own punishment. What fruit have we of doing wrong? ‘Lies’; that is, unfulfilled expectations of unrealised satisfaction. No man gets the good that he aimed at in sinning, or he gets something more that spoils it. At last the deceitfulness of sin will be found out, but we may be sure of it now. The root of all Israel’s sin was the root of ours; namely, trust in self, and consequent neglect of God. The first half of Hos 10:13 is an exhaustive analysis of the experience of every sinful life; the second, a penetrating disclosure of the foundation of it.

Then the whole closes with the repeated threatening, dual as before, and illustrated by the forgotten horrors of some dreadful siege, one of the ‘unhappy, far-off things,’ fallen silent now. A significant variation occurs in the final threatening, in which Beth-el is set forth as the cause, rather than as the object, of the destruction. ‘They were the ruin of him and of all Israel.’ Our vices are made the whips to scourge us. Our idols bring us no help, but are the causes of our misery.

The Prophet ends with the same double reference which prevails throughout, when he once more declares the annihilation of the monarchy, which, rather than a particular person, is meant by ‘the king.’ ‘In the morning’ is enigmatical. It may mean ‘prematurely,’ or ‘suddenly,’ or ‘in a time of apparent prosperity,’ or, more probably, the Prophet stands in vision in that future day of the Lord, and points to ‘the king’ as the first victim. The force of the prophecy does not depend on the meaning of this detail. The teaching of the whole is the certainty that suffering dogs sin, but yet does so by no iron, impersonal law, but according to the will of God, who will rain righteousness even on the sinner, being penitent, and will endow with righteousness from above every lowly soul that seeks for it.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Hos 10:1-2

1Israel is a luxuriant vine;

He produces fruit for himself.

The more his fruit,

The more altars he made;

The richer his land,

The better he made the sacred pillars.

2Their heart is faithless;

Now they must bear their guilt.

The Lord will break down their altars

And destroy their sacred pillars.

Hos 10:1

NASB, NRSV,

NJBIsrael is a luxuriant vine

NKJVIsrael empties his vine

TEVThe people of Israel were like a grapevine that was full of grapes

Luxuriant (BDB 132 I, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) is found only here. The Septuagint has a vine with beautiful branches. This seems to be an allusion to Hos 9:10 (cf. Psa 80:8-13). God made Israel fruitful (this is one possible meaning of bqq). However, the more YHWH blessed them, the more they went after the Ba’als (cf. Hos 11:1). What irony! The vine was often a symbol for Israel (e.g., Deu 32:32; Psa 80:8-19; Isa 5:1-7; Jer 2:21; Eze 15:1-8).

It is possible to take the VERB as empty (BDB 132 I) and thereby Israel as a vine that does not produce God’s desired fruit (cf. Hos 9:10-17).

He produces fruit for himself The rest of this verse is an allusion to Hos 8:11 (cf. BDB 915) or Hos 12:11 (cf. Jer 2:28; Jer 11:13).

NASBThe better he made the sacred pillars

NKJVThey have embellished his sacred pillars

NRSVHe improved his pillars

TEVThe more beautiful they made the sacred pillars they worship

NJBThe richer he made the sacred pillars

NET BibleThey adorned the fertility pillars

Prosperity did not turn their hearts back to God (as it was intended, cf. Deuteronomy 27-29), but magnified their worship and thanksgiving to Ba’al. They improved his worship sites and neglected YHWH’s temple!

Hos 10:2 heart In Hebrew thought the heart, not the emotions, is the center of the will and the intellect.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE HEART

NASBfaithless

NKJV, NJBdivided

NRSVfalse

TEVdeceitful

The Hebrew term (BDB 325 II, KB 322, Qal PERFECT) is smooth. It is a metaphor of insecure footing, therefore, interpreted as treacherous or unreliable (cf. New Berkeley version Their heart was slippery). This is the only place in the OT where this VERB is used of a heart. Usually it refers to a tongue. This faithlessness can refer to (1) Ba’al vs. YHWH or (2) trust in the God of Israel vs. political alliances with Egypt and/or Assyria. The opposite metaphor of sure footedness is the source of the OT term for faith (cf. BDB 52-54).

It is possible to take the VERB as divided (BDB 324) meaning their devotion (i.e., heart) was split between YHWH and Ba’al. However, this term is used mostly in Chronicles and not the prophets.

they must bear their guilt See Hos 4:15; Hos 5:15; Hos 13:1; Hos 13:16; Mic 5:10-15).

their altars. . .their sacred pillars These objects of worship are often associated with the idolatrous fertility practices of Ba’al (uplifted stone pillar, i.e., phallic symbol, cf. Hos 3:4; 1Ki 14:23-24) and Asherah (raised, cut stone altar with a place for a carved stake or live tree).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

an empty vine = a productive or luxurious vine. Hebrew a vine emptying or yielding its fruit. See notes on Jdg 9:8-13. Hebrew. gephen. Always feminine except here and 2Ki 4:39. Here because it refers to Israel: i.e. to the people.

fruit. Note the Figure of speech Polyptoton (App-6) in the varying inflections of the words, “fruit”, “multiply”, and “good”; and the Figure of speech Synonymia in “altars” and “images”; all to increase the emphasis of the contrast. See note on Hos 9:8 (“watchman”).

unto himself = like himself: i.e. not for Me.

according to. Note the Figure of speech Anaphora (App-6).

multitude . . . increased. The same word. images = pillars: i.e. ‘Asherahs (App-42). Hebrew. mazsebah = upright (erect) pillars.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Shall we turn to Hosea, chapter 10.

It is God’s purpose for our lives that we bring forth fruit. In Isaiah chapter 6 God likens the nation of Israel to a vineyard that was planted with good plants, that was hedged about, but yet failed to bring forth any good fruit. And as a result, the vineyard was let go and ultimately destroyed. Now again, in Joel chapter 10, the Lord uses that allegory of a vineyard and of a fruitless vineyard to speak of the condition of the nation of Israel. It is always God’s purpose that His people bring forth fruit. “Bring forth fruit,” the Bible says, “meat unto repentance.” Show it; let’s see the fruit of it. Jesus said, “I am the true vine, My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me brings forth fruit.” And He speaks in the fifteenth chapter of John as the church and the purpose of God for the church is that it might bring forth fruit. So Israel, in their failure to bring forth fruit unto righteousness, failed in the purposes that God had ordained and established for them as a nation. And as the result, Israel is soon to be destroyed by their enemies the Assyrians.

So God’s complaint against Israel in chapter 10:

She is an empty vine, they bring forth fruit unto themselves ( Hsa Hos 10:1 ):

In other words, there’s no fruit for others. There’s nothing fruitful coming from the nation.

according to the multitude of his fruit he increased the altars ( Hsa Hos 10:1 );

As they were prosperous they only used their prosperity to build altars to false gods.

according to the goodness of the land they had made goodly images ( Hsa Hos 10:1 ).

God had given them a good land; God had given them prosperity. They used their prosperity to build false altars; they worshiped the images.

And their heart [God said] is divided ( Hsa Hos 10:2 );

And this, of course, is the problem that so many people have, is a divided heart. David prayed, “Unite my heart to serve Thee, O God” ( Psa 86:11 ). Give me a singleness of heart, God, give me a heart that’s really after You–that singleness of purpose to just worship and serve the Lord. The problem with so many people is their heart’s divided. But Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and mammon” ( Mat 6:24 ). Part of me wants to serve the Lord; part of me wants to live after the flesh. Part of me wants to be righteous; part of me wants to indulge. You see, that divided heart. James tells that that kind of a divisive or that attitude is a sign of instability and that we really cannot receive God’s best for our lives if we have a divided heart.

The Lord said to the people through Jeremiah the prophet, “And I shall be found of thee in the day that you seek Me with your whole heart” ( Jer 29:13 ). I think David’s prayer is one that we can all well emulate when we pray, “O God, just give me a singleness of heart; unite my heart to serve Thee, O God. Take away a divided heart. Let me have a singleness of heart and purpose towards God.”

But their heart is divided and,

now they are found faulty: so the LORD will break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD ( Hsa Hos 10:2-3 );

The Assyrians are gonna come; the cities are gonna be destroyed; their altars are going to be taken away. Actually, the calf that they made as the symbol for their national worship is going to be carried away as a prize by the king of Assyria. And they’re gonna realize that this dilemma has come upon them because they did not reverence the Lord, the true God.

They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment is springing up as poisonous hemlock [which is a poisonous weed] in the furrows of the field. ( Hsa Hos 10:4 )

So, because they had broken the covenant with God, they were swearing falsely when they made that covenant with God, thus God’s judgment is gonna spring up upon them, just like weeds, the poison weed of hemlock just grows up in the fields.

The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because the calves of Bethaven ( Hsa Hos 10:5 ):

Bethaven is a name that was given by God to the city of Bethel where the calf worship was inaugurated and where the calf was set up as a national symbol of worship in the Northern Kingdom. Going back just a little bit in history, when Solomon’s son Rehoboam took over at the death of Solomon as the king over all of the land of Israel, the Northern Kingdom, the ten tribes, when he began to seek to exact heavy taxation upon them, rebelled and said, “What do we have to do with the house of David? To thy tents, O Israel.” And so Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, was left with only two tribes to rule over. The remaining tribes became the Northern Kingdom and they were Israel; the two southern tribes were called Judah. And Jeroboam, who was elected by the people to be the king over Israel, feared that if the people would go back to Jerusalem to worship God, as was required in the law, that when they get back to Jerusalem and they’d see the temple and they’d see the worship and all, that their hearts would be drawn away from loyalty to him and drawn back to Rehoboam and the kingdom of David.

So Jeroboam, in Bethel, had made this image of a calf and he set it up there in Bethel with an altar to it, and he said, “This is the God that brought you out of Egypt. This is the God that you’re to worship.” And he inaugurated calf worship there in the Northern Kingdom. So, Bethel was the city were calf worship was inaugurated and this Bethaven. Aven is the Hebrew word for wickedness; Beth is the word for house. So God calls Bethel, which is actually the house of God, “Bethel.” El being God. God changed the name and He said, “It’s not Bethel; it’s Bethaven. It’s the house of wickedness.” They have taken the house of God and made it really the house of wickedness. And so, “The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of the house of wickedness,” rather than the house of God–Bethaven.

for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, for it is departed from it. And it also shall be carried unto Assyria [this calf that was made and was worshiped as the national worship symbol] will be carried as a present to the king Jareb: and Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel. As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water. The high places also of [wickedness] Aven, [or of wickedness] the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us ( Hsa Hos 10:5-8 ).

The judgment of God is going to come, the place where they worshipped their pagan gods will be covered with weeds, nettles, and the people for fear of the invasion of the Assyrians will cry to the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and to hide them. The Assyrians were historically a very fierce, cruel people. According to the accounts in history, they were so cruel to their captives that many times the city that was surrounded by the Assyrian army, rather than going in captivity to these cruel Assyrians, would en masse commit suicide. The Assyrians had habits of pulling out the tongues of their captives, of gouging out their eyes, of maiming their bodies, and thus great fear would come upon people who were threatened by destruction or captivity to the Assyrians. And thus, the cry to the mountains to cover us and to the hills fall on us.

Now this, of course, brings into mind Revelation chapter 6 when the sixth seal is open and the judgments of God are now being poured out upon the earth. And during the time of the sixth seal there will be cataclysmic judgments from the heavens, meteorite showers, the stars falling from heaven as a fig tree shakes its untimely figs in a wind and the sun is dark and the moon turned to blood and all. “At that time,” the Bible says, “that the people, the inhabitants of the earth will cry unto the rocks and the mountains and say, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of the lamb. For the day of His wrath has come and who shall be able to stand?'” So here again is as God’s judgments are being poured out that endeavor to somehow to try to hide from the judgments of God, but when God begins His work of judgment people will find that there is no hiding place.

O Israel, you have sinned from the days of Gibeah ( Hsa Hos 10:9 ):

Now going back in their history, Gibeah was that city in Benjamin where this man was returning, I think, from Bethlehem and he stopped in Gibeah. And the men of the city came and they sought that the host would turn him over to them for homosexual purposes. Much as Sodom and Gomorrah, it’s an account there in the Old Testament of the… it’s in Judges, and the tribe of Benjamin and the strife that came because of this, the battle where the Benjamites were finally subdued. And every man of the other tribe swore that they would not give their daughters to the Benjamites for wives. And the tribe of Benjamin was almost eradicated as a result of this sin and they were defeated there in Gibeah. And so the Lord says, “Look, you’ve sinned from the days of Gibeah.” This is when they had first come into the land before they actually had any kings in the time of the judges, this horrible sin of the tribe of Benjamin in Gibeah.

there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them. It is my desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows. And Ephraim is as a heifer that is taught, [a trained heifer, actually] that loves to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break up his clods ( Hsa Hos 10:9-11 ).

And then the Lord says to the people,

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy ( Hsa Hos 10:12 );

Every man’s life is sowing. The Lord, though, here declares, “Sow to yourselves.” Not only do I sow, but I am also sowing unto myself. Our minds are like computers, they’re being programmed daily by the things that I’m putting into them, and as a computer, what is put in is what will come out. And thus, we need to be careful what we put into our minds. If I put corruption in my mind, corruption is gonna come out. Paul said in Galatians, “Be not deceived, for God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that he shall also reap” ( Gal 6:7 ). Now he’s talking about what you’re sowing into your mind. “And if you sow to your flesh then of your flesh you’re going reap corruption, but if you sow to the Spirit then of the Spirit you will reap life everlasting.” It’s important what you sow into your mind. It is good that you’re here tonight. It is good that you are sowing the Word of God to your spirit because you will then reap of the Spirit.

There are so many enticements and opportunities for us to sow to our flesh. In fact, it’s all around us. You have to sort of put a shield over your mind. Daily in our contact with this world, which is so degraded, all of these degrading influences around us. The use of sex and the exploitation of the female body in advertising and all, it’s just awfully hard to escape. And you have to just pray, Oh God, somehow wash my mind clean of that which you are exposed to–not willingly, not deliberately, but it’s just there. For if I sow to my flesh then I’m gonna reap of my flesh.

But the Lord said,

Sow to yourself in righteousness, and then you will reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground ( Hsa Hos 10:12 ):

The fallow ground is the ground that is become hardened because of the lack of cultivation. The soil has not been broken up, not been loosened, and thus by the rains and all the soil has become compacted. And becoming compacted, becomes very hard so that the seed cannot really take root. So God is saying, “Break up the fallow ground within your heart so that the seed, the Word of God can begin to take root in your life.”

for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and rains righteousness upon you ( Hsa Hos 10:12 ).

Surely it is time for us as a nation to seek the Lord. Our nation is in dire peril. The very things that brought the downfall of Israel and later of Judah are manifestly evident in our nation today. Our nation is on the verge of extermination. We, as Israel, started out as one nation under God, but we, as Israel, have turned from the true and the living God. In the national life, through the edicts of the courts and the legislation that is come forth from the judicial bodies of legislature, God has gradually been eliminated and ruled out of our public life, out of the school curriculums. And God who made us strong has been rejected in a national way. And we are just as Israel; we cannot survive without a dependency upon God.

God said,

You’ve plowed wickedness, and you’ve reaped iniquity; you have eaten the fruit of lies: and because you did trust in our ways, in the multitude of your mighty men. Therefore shall a tumult arise among the people, and all thy fortresses shall be spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: and the mother was dashed in pieces with her children [or the pregnant women were ripped up]. And so shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off ( Hsa Hos 10:13-15 ). “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Hos 10:1. Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself:

Not to his God. It matters not how much fruit we bear if it is for self, we are really fruitless. A thing which is good in itself may lose all its goodness because stained with a selfish motive. We are to live unto God; and we must always be watchful about this; otherwise we may be doing much, and doing nothing. Israel is an empty vine. He bringeth forth fruit unto himself.

Hos 10:1. According to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

It is a very sad thing when, the more men received from God, the more they sin. But just in proportion as the land of Israel was fat and fertile, in that proportion did they set up altars unto false gods, and provoke the true God, who had given them these mercies. It is an ill thing when men grow rich, and offer sacrifice to their own vanity when men gather learning, and only use it to debate with against the simple teachings of God when just as God blesses, men cease to bless him!

Hos 10:2. Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty:

A half-heart is no heart at all; and when men seem to go after God, and at the same time to go after their idols, they are not going after God. Their religion is vain. The good side is but a pretense; the evil side is the real thing.

Hos 10:2. He shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.

Let us take heed then, dear friends, that we make nothing into an idol. The shortest way to lose the dearest object of your affections is to make an idol of him. He shall break down their altars. He shall spoil their images. Sometimes this is done in great mercy to Gods people, for there is no greater evil than for a heart to be happy in idolatry. Sometimes it is done in judgment upon the ungodly. They will not have the true God, and the false god shall be false to them. He shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images.

Hos 10:3. For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?

Their king was slain, but if he had lived, what would be the good of him without God? What is the good of any temporal blessing if God be not in it? It is the husk with the kernel gone; and if we are able to enjoy the husk, it looks as if we were swine, and swine are being fattened for the slaughter.

What is the use of anything that we possess to us if God be divorced from it? I put the question again. If you are a true child of God, all the corn and wine in the world cannot feed you. Your bread must come from heaven.

Hos 10:4. They have spoken words,

That which they spoke was not truth. We cannot speak without words, but it is an evil thing when our speech is nothing but words. Words, words, words! no heart, no truth. They have spoken words.

Hos 10:4. Swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.

God keep us from untruthfulness, and especially from a want of truth towards himself. Do not you think that oftentimes, both in prayer and praise, it might be said, They have spoken words nothing more? There has been a falsehood in the most solemn transaction towards God.

Woe unto you, dear friends, if that should turn out to be the case. Ye may cheat your fellow men if ye have a heart for it, but you never will be able to cheat your God. He is not mocked. They have spoken words, says he.

Hos 10:5. The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven:

Why, those calves are their trust. They rely upon those images of false gods those images which they set up in the place of the true God. Pretending thereby to worship him, they trusted in these; and now they shall become their fear. He who will have a confidence apart from God will find his confidence soured into a fear before long. Your greatest ground of distress will be that which was once the ground of your reliance apart from God.

Hos 10:5-6. For the people thereof shall mourn over it. and the priests thereof that rejoiced on it, for the glory thereof, because it is departed from it. It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb:

The spiteful king.

Hos 10:6. Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.

These golden calves excited the desires of the king of Assyria, and he book them away. These gods were baits, to their enemies, instead of basis for their confidence. They were carried away captive of the people with them their god captive their god melted down to make images, or to make money for the king of Assyria! Ah! what shame did God pour upon idolaters! And what shame he will pour upon us if we have any confidence except the unseen God, and if we rely anywhere but upon the eternal covenant of his immutable grace. Oh! brothers and sisters, let us try to flee away from that which is so tempting to sense confidence in an arm of flesh, and let our sole and alone trust be in him that made the heavens and the earth, and in his Son, Jesus Christ.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Hos 10:1-11

REPROVING-ISRAEL FELL INTO ANARCHY

TEXT: Hos 10:1-11

Israels prosperity was only a veneer giving an outward appearance of well-being. Inside she was corrupt, lawless, idolatrous and in the throes of anarchy.

Hos 10:1 IsraelH3478 is an emptyH1238 vine,H1612 he bringeth forthH7737 fruitH6529 unto himself: according to the multitudeH7230 of his fruitH6529 he hath increasedH7235 the altars;H4196 according to the goodnessH2896 of his landH776 they have made goodlyH3190 images.H4676

Hos 10:1 ISRAEL IS A LUXURIANT VINE . . . The KJV has it, Israel is an empty vine . . . Practically all scholars of the Hebrew texts consider this a palpable inaccuracy. Lange says, a thriving vine. Keil says, a running vine. The translators of both the ASV and the RSV translated a luxuriant vine. Hosea was probably using satire or irony in so addressing Israel. Israel waxed prosperous, it is true, in spite of national calamities. But what kind of fruit was Israel producing? Fruit of its own choosing, of its own pleasure, instead of the fruit for which God looked. The figure of the vine is an old and familiar figure (cf. Psa 80:8 ff; Isa 5:1-10; Jer 2:21; Eze 15:1 ff; Eze 17:6 ff; Joh 15:1 ff). In Jesus day the great gate of the Temple, the outer gate, had emblazoned upon it a golden vine. It was the symbol of national life. Isaiah tells us (Isa 5:1 ff) what fruit God expected to find on His vine (the covenant people). God expected justice and righteousness but found instead oppression and iniquity. God was not judging them because they were prosperous-but because they misused their prosperity. They were selfish. They spent it on their own pleasure-on vain and ungodly practices. The more their wealth increased, the more they spent on idolatry and sensuality. More wealth, less dependence upon God and more self-worship. Hosea uses more irony in calling their pillars goodly pillars. They were probably obelisks erected to pagan deities. They were probably very artistic and expensive. According to their prosperity they had built themselves ornate idols; God was lost, mislaid, and instead of Him there were ornate pillars, obelisks, stones. This certainly strikes a familiar note. America has become a luxuriant vine, but she produces fruit unto herself. She has forgotten God and built altars to power, reason, progress, humanism and is no longer dependent upon the Creator.

Zerr: Hos 10:1. The thought of this verse may well be expressed by the one word, selfishness. It is illustrated by supposing a vine to retain the substance of its fruit within itself instead of depositing it on the outside in clusters where the owner could make use of it. The situation is made worse by the wrong use the vine makes of this substance that is retained. It would be bad enough were the vine to convert the substance into grapes and then consume the fruit selfishly. But this vine diverted it into unlawful uses, literally referring to idolatrous altars in the application of the parable. According to the goodness, etc. The more prosperous Israel became, the more corrupt she became with idolatry.

Hos 10:2 Their heartH3820 is divided;H2505 nowH6258 shall they be found faulty:H816 heH1931 shall break downH6202 their altars,H4196 he shall spoilH7703 their images.H4676

Hos 10:2 THEIR HEART IS DIVIDED . . . The Hebrew word chalag should be translated smooth, treacherous, rather than divided. Jeroboam was very solicitous for the care and convenience of his dear people (1Ki 12:27-28); all the while he was thinking of his own desires to set up and secure an apostate nation. The people were happy to follow the same deceit-professing with their lips to belong to Jehovah but rejecting His law and worshipping idols. The spirit of harlotry was in Israels heart (Hos 5:4). If it were not so tragic it would be amusing to behold Israel trying to deceive Jehovah. Surely they would be aware of the many times in their past history when every man and woman who tried to deceive God was inevitably caught!

Zerr: Hos 10:2. Heart is divided denotes that Israel mixed his devotions, giving most of them to the idols but professing to be serving the true God. Continuing the illustration of a vine, this nation produced faulty or objectionable fruit An owner of a vineyard would reject such a plant and remove it from his soil. Likewise the Lord threatened to break down the altars of the idolaters.

Hos 10:3 ForH3588 nowH6258 they shall say,H559 We have noH369 king,H4428 becauseH3588 we fearedH3372 notH3808 (H853) the LORD;H3068 whatH4100 then should a kingH4428 doH6213 to us?

Hos 10:3 SURELY NOW SHALL THEY SAY, WE HAVE NO KING . . . As Pusey points out, These are the words of despair, not of repentance; of men terrified by the consciousness of guilt, but not coming forth out of its darkness; describing their condition, not confessing the iniquity which brought it on them. Israel had rebelled against the kingship of God and asked for a king of their own (cf. Hos 8:3-4). God gave them Jeroboam. Now, after all the years of gradual political, moral and civil decay and degeneration-to the point of anarchy-surely they will be compelled to confess that they no longer have a king. Yes, they confess it! They also admit that they have no fear of Jehovah. But that is not such a problem as the present king they do have. If we had a king like the Jeroboams, they probably wail, we might hope for better times; but now? The king we have now; its all his fault. Their hearts are not only deceitful, they are deceived! This is the oldest trick of sin and Satan-deceiving man into blaming others for the consequences of their own sins! When man blames others for his sins, he is in no mind to repent.

Zerr: Hos 10:3. This verse is a prediction that Israel was to be deprived of a king. It was fulfilled when the Assyrians took the ten tribes into captivity as recorded in 2 Kings 17. What then should a king do to us? The words are put into the mouths of the Jews by the Lord, signifying that it would do them no good to have a king as long as they had no fear for the Lord.

Hos 10:4 They have spokenH1696 words,H1697 swearingH422 falselyH7723 in makingH3772 a covenant:H1285 thus judgmentH4941 springeth upH6524 as hemlockH7219 inH5921 the furrowsH8525 of the field.H7704

Hos 10:4 THEY SPEAK VAIN WORDS . . . JUDGMENT SPRINGETH UP AS HEMLOCK . . . No mans word could be trusted (cf. Jer 9:5-9; Mic 7:5-7). Their deceitful, smooth, treacherous hearts manifested themselves in their business dealings. What a man is down deep within his heart soon appears in his deeds (cf. Mar 7:21-23). These people of Israel were conducting their business like the Pharisees of Jesus day (cf. Mat 23:16-22). Honor, duty, justice, righteousness, truth have all long since ceased to be. Law and order ceases to be right. Might becomes right. Judges are bribed; debtors are sold into slavery; covenants are broken. Right has been made to be wrong and wrong has been made to be right, (cf. Isa 5:20-23; Mic 3:2). Right has degenerated into bitter wrong-justice is so perverted it covers the land like the poisonous weed hemlock (cf. Amo 5:7). Hemlock, the reader will remember, was what Socrates was forced to drink to induce his death, There was plenty of so-called justice in the land-but what kind of justice? Judgments as bitter and fatal as hemlock, (cf. Hab 1:4).

Zerr: Hos 10:4. The people of Israel were not sincere when they made their vows. They would swear to serve the Lord, then break that oath at the first opportunity for worshiping at an altar. As a punishment for this impure manner of life, the Lord predicted that He would bring judgment upon the people that would be likened to poisonous weeds in their fields.

Hos 10:5 The inhabitantsH7934 of SamariaH8111 shall fearH1481 because of the calvesH5697 of Bethaven:H1007 forH3588 the peopleH5971 thereof shall mournH56 overH5921 it, and the priestsH3649 thereof that rejoicedH1523 onH5921 it, forH5921 the gloryH3519 thereof, becauseH3588 it is departedH1540 fromH4480 it.

Hos 10:6 It shall be alsoH1571 carriedH2986 unto AssyriaH804 for a presentH4503 to kingH4428 Jareb:H3377 EphraimH669 shall receiveH3947 shame,H1317 and IsraelH3478 shall be ashamedH954 of his own counsel.H4480 H6098

Hos 10:5-6 . . . SAMARIA SHALL BE IN TERROR FOR THE CALVES OF BETH-AVEN: . . . IT ALSO SHALL BE CARRIED UNTO ASSYRIA . . . These two verses, although predicting the behavior of Israel at the time of her captivities in the future, are exact representations of how she reacted. First, Israel was concerned for the safety of her national temples, obelisks and calf-idols. What was to become of them. Then, as the reality of the captivity came immediately upon them they began to wail, perform ritual dances, imploring their idol to help them. But their gods were deaf and dumb. There were no answers; no actions. The Assyrians defeated Israel, plundered her spacious buildings from the smallest to the greatest, and the calf-god of Israel they carried off helpless and silent to be given to the Assyrian king as a present. The calf-god of Israel appears to have been included in the Assyrian pantheon of gods and placed in the temple of Marduk (cf. 2Ki 18:33-35; 2Ki 25:13-16; Ezr 1:7-11). Cyrus, king of Persia, restored all these gods to their original homes. Israel is disgraced! Shame and ridicule is now her lot. Why has all this happened? Because Israel trusted in her own pride-in her own vain counsel. She would not listen to the law of God nor to His prophets. She made kings after her own desires; she made gods according to the lust of her heart; she joined herself to pagan countries for protection and became their vassal. Now all this shameful self-counseling is paying its wages-shame!

Zerr: Hos 10:5. The gist of this verse is a prediction that Israel will come to regret the whole practice of idolatry. The calves of Bethaven is an indirect reference to the idol calves that Jeroboam reared up in Bethel and Dan (1Ki 12:29), which became a signal for a national corruption that finally resulted in the exile of the ten tribes into the land of the Assyrian Empire. Hos 10:6. The antecedent of it is glory in the preceding verse, and it was to be carried into Assyria as a present. Strong’s lexicon says that Jareb was a symbolical name for Assyria. That country will be the victor in the conflict with the people of Israel whose capital city was Samaria,

Hos 10:7 As for Samaria,H8111 her kingH4428 is cut offH1820 as the foamH7110 uponH5921 H6440 the water.H4325

Hos 10:7 AS FOR SAMARIA, HER KING IS CUT OFF, AS FOAM UPON THE WATER . . . Not only is her calf-god useless to help her, Israels king cannot help. The word translated foam would have been more literally translated, splinter, or small stick. The king was like one of those little sticks or straws which float in countless numbers on the surface of the ocean or streams, give the image of lightness, emptiness, a thing too light to sink, but driven impetuously and unresistingly, hither and thither, at the impulse of the torrent which hurries it along. Hoshea, their last king, was just so easily swept by the flood which broke on Israel from Assyria.

Zerr: Hos 10:7. Foam is a figure to illustrate the lightness and lack of importance of the kingdom of Israel. Foam is also something that denotes a frothy discharge, making more of a threatening show than possessing real strength or merit.

Hos 10:8 The high placesH1116 also of Aven,H206 the sinH2403 of Israel,H3478 shall be destroyed:H8045 the thornH6975 and the thistleH1863 shall come upH5927 onH5921 their altars;H4196 and they shall sayH559 to the mountains,H2022 CoverH3680 us; and to the hills,H1389 FallH5307 onH5921 us.

Hos 10:8 THE HIGH PLACES . . . OF AVEN . . . SHALL BE DESTROYED . . . Aven is a pun. Aven means, worthless, vile, useless. Bethel, seat of their idolatrous worship, was called Beth-aven. Here, Aven probably also means Bethel. High place is from the Hebrew word bamah or ramah and means simply, elevation. We quote here from Zondervan Pictorial Bible Dictionary, edited by Merrill C. Tenney, pg. 354:

It seems to be inherent in human nature to think of God as dwelling in the heights. From earliest times men have tended to choose high places for their worship, whether of God, or of the false gods which men have invented. In Canaan these high places had become the scenes of orgies and human sacrifice connected with the idolatrous worship of these imaginary gods; and so when Israel entered the Promised Land they were told to be iconoclasts as well as conquerors. . . . (Num 33:52). These figured stones bore upon themselves crude carvings, sometimes more or less like geometrical figures, or else talismans, or other signs presumably understood by the priests and used to mystify or terrorize the worshippers. Israel partly obeyed but largely failed in this work . . . Later some godly kings like Hezekiah (2Ch 31:1) destroyed the high places, while others like Manasseh relapsed and rebuilt them (2Ch 33:3). After Manasseh had been punished and had repented, he was restored to his throne, and resumed the temple worship, but the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only unto Jehovah their God (2Ch 33:17). Through Manassehs early influence, the people had gone so far into apostasy that they could not repent, but through the godliness of Josiah, especially after he had heard the law read (2Ki 22:8-20), the judgment was delayed till after the death of Josiah.

Zerr: Hos 10:8. Avert, is an abbreviation of Bethaven, and that name refers to the idolatrous practices at Bethel. It is predicted here that the sin was to be destroyed, and that was fulfilled by the exile. The land was to be deserted by its idolatrous inhabitants so that the thorn and thistle could grow up over the spots where the false worship had been conducted. Say to the mountains , . . fall on us is figurative and refers to the dejected state of mind that Israel was to have as a result of the national corruption of idolatry.

The high places came to be specifically noted for idolatrous worship. So the title was transferred from the elevation to the sanctuary on the elevation and so came to be used of any idolatrous shrine, whether constructed on an elevation or not (cf. 2Ki 16:4; 2Ki 17:9; 2Ch 21:11; 2Ch 28:4; Isa 36:7; Amo 7:9; Mic 1:5; Mic 4:1; Jer 7:31; Jer 19:5; Jer 32:32; Eze 6:3-6; Eze 16:16; Eze 20:29; Eze 43:7, etc.). All these places in Israel were utterly destroyed and made desolate and deserted when Israel was taken captive. Weeds and thorns grew up where thousands once performed heathen religious rites in the name of Jehovah. Their ruins are there today to be seen and pondered! The deluded, shamed people, forsaken by their helpless gods and impotent kings shake with terror as they see Gods judgments coming upon them. Clothed in the filthy garments of sin, they are totally unprepared to meet God (cf. Amo 4:13). There is no place to hide when the Day of the Lord comes (cf. Amo 5:18-20; Amo 9:2-4). They cry out for the mountains and the hills to fall upon them and cover them from His terrible wrath (cf. Rev 6:16). Only those who have washed their robes white in the blood of The Lamb will not be ashamed on that final great and terrible Day of the Lord! Have you been washed, my brother? Prepare to meet thy God!

Hos 10:9 O Israel,H3478 thou hast sinnedH2398 from the daysH4480 H3117 of Gibeah:H1390 thereH8033 they stood:H5975 the battleH4421 in GibeahH1390 againstH5921 the childrenH1121 of iniquityH5932 did notH3808 overtakeH5381 them.

Hos 10:9 . . . THOU HAST SINNED FROM THE DAYS OF GIBEAH . . . From the very days when the people of Gibeah sinned against the concubine of the Levite (cf. Hos 9:9), Israel has continued in the same sin. But whereas those sinners were punished and destroyed by war, you still live on in the same sin without having similarly been destroyed.

Zerr: Hos 10:9. Israel is used in the sense of a nation, and this institution had Saul for its first king. But he committed a grievous sin and set the example of disobedience for the generations following. Gibeah was an important city connected with the public life of Saul, hence the reference to the place in connection with the evils carried on by the nation over which he was the first king.

Hos 10:10 It is in my desireH185 that I should chastiseH3256 them; and the peopleH5971 shall be gatheredH622 againstH5921 them, when they shall bindH631 themselves in their twoH8147 furrows.H5869

Hos 10:10 WHEN IT IS MY DESIRE, I WILL CHASTISE THEM . . . Yes, the wheels of Gods justice grind slow, at times, but very fine! When the time comes within the omniscient plan and purpose of God for it to be, He will punish Israel for her sins just as surely and completely as He punished the Gibeahites! God never acts without intelligent, fore-planned purpose. Every event of history has a time and a place foreknown in the purpose of Almighty God and man can neither hinder it nor speed it. Furthermore, God uses whatever secondary agents He desires in carrying out His purposes. In Israels case He chose to use the peoples, or Gentile nations, to carry out His wrath upon this recalcitrant nation (cf. Isa 10:5 ff).

Zerr: Hos 10:10. The purpose of the distress that God was going to bring upon his people is expressed in the words that I should chastise them. The people who were to be gathered against them were the Assyrians. Two means twofold and furrows means misconduct or transgressions. Their iniquity was twofold in the sense of being great or more than ordinary. It also was literal in that the chief national evil (idolatry) was begun with the two idols which Jeroboam reared up when he led away the ten tribes and formed the kingdom of Israel (1Ki 12:29).

The two transgressions of Israel which will cling to them and bind them like seaweed strangles a drowning man are: (a) Their idolatry; (b) Their making kings according to their own desires. These two specific rebellions against the Holy God will haunt them and plague them all the rest of their days as they wander over all the face of the earth.

Hos 10:11 And EphraimH669 is as an heiferH5697 that is taught,H3925 and lovethH157 to tread outH1758 the corn; but IH589 passed overH5674 uponH5921 her fairH2898 neck:H6677 I will make EphraimH669 to ride;H7392 JudahH3063 shall plow,H2790 and JacobH3290 shall break his clods.H7702

Hos 10:11 AND EPHRAIM IS A HEIFER THAT . . . LOVETH TO TREAD OUT THE GRAIN . . . Having been trained and provided for by the Lord, growing fat and sleek, Ephraim (Israel) loved to thresh. Like the young ox, walking leisurely over the corn, permitted to eat her fill (Deu 25:4), Israel loved to do work which to him seemed pleasant, productive, profitable, neglecting and forgetting the training of his Master; resenting His instructions when they ran counter to his own desires; shirking the arduous duty of self-discipline (Deu 32:15-18) demanded by Jehovah. Passed over her fair neck, says Keil, means rushing in upon a person. The actual idea is that of putting a heavy yoke upon the neck. No longer will Israel be treated like a privileged and petted heifer, but she will be yoked to a plow to do servile, exhausting labor (in captivity). So Judah, too, because of her sins will be taken captive. Israel (like Jacob) will be driven out of their homeland into exile, into hard labor of slavery.

Zerr: Hos 10:11. Cattle were used for two purposes in Biblical times; to tread out corn and to pull the plow. The former was much easier and any heifer would prefer that work. Ephraim (Israel) is likened to a heifer that desired to be left at that work because she was taught or accustomed to it. But her owner was going to make her get into the yoke and help pull the plow. This is the meaning of passed over upon her fair (arched or proud) neck. Hide means to go forward into the work of pulling the plow. Of course this is all figurative and means that Israel had been blessed with the comparatively easy task of serving God in their home land (likened to the treading out of the grain), but now she is going to be forced into exile (likened to the heavier task of pulling the plow). And while in the figure, a few words are used to include Judah (the 2-tribe kingdom) in the prediction, since that kingdom also was destined to go into captivity as a punishment for its idolatry.

Questions

1. What is the meaning of likening Israel to a luxuriant vine?

2. What are the goodly pillars?

3. Why did Israel cry, We have no king . . . what can he do for us?

4. Why is judgment springing up like hemlock?

5. How and why did the people mourn over their calves of Bethaven?

6. What are the high places of Aven?

7. Whose desire is spoken of in Hos 10:10?

8. How is Israel like a heifer that loves to tread out the grain?

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

The section dealing with pollution and its punishment closes with the prophet’s recapitulation and appeal. The whole case is first stated under the figure of the vine. Israel was a luxuriant vine, and of God’s planting,

which had turned its fruitfulness to evil account, and it was therefore doomed to His judgment., The result of this judgment would be the lament of the people that they had no king able to save them. The prophet declared that the reason for this was that they had used vain words in swearing falsely, and therefore that judgment would produce terror and mourning, shame and destruction, so that they would cry to the mountains and rocks to cover them and to fall on them. The sin of Israel had been from the days of Gibeah, and therefore Jehovah would chastise them, setting a rider upon Ephraim which would compel the people to the tasks of slavery. The last word here was of earnest and passionate appeal to return to loyalty.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Break up Your Fallow Ground

Hos 10:1-15

Israel brought forth fruit, but not such as God could delight in. It was corrupt and evil. How great a disappointment to the Great Cultivator! The land was covered with obelisks and altars, the symbols of idolatry, and the Canaanites themselves had not been more shameless in sin. But notice the terrible judgments that must befall. There would be revolution, for when men say, We fear not the Lord, they will go on to say, We fear not the king. Beth-aven, the house of vanity, would replace Beth-el, the house of God. The golden calves would be carried off by the conqueror. The king would perish as foam upon the water. The yoke of conquest would be placed on Ephraims fair neck. The fortresses of Israel would be carried by assault, with all the accompaniments of savage warfare. Is it not an evil thing and bitter to forsake the Lord!

Is it not time that we should look into our hearts and lives, break up the fallow ground, now covered with thorns and thistles, and begin to sow in righteousness? Let us ask God to drive the plowshares of deep soul-searching and conviction across the hard and sterile acres of our hearts, and sow them with His good seed.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Chapter 10

An Empty Vine

We have already been reminded of Israels early freshness when God found them like grapes in the wilderness. In those happy days of their first deliverance they bore a little fruit for the Lord (oh. 9:10). Now we have to notice His solemn judgment of them as an utterly failed testimony: Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself (ver. 1). The lesson of the vine is an important one, which we shall do well to trace out through both Testaments. In Psalm 80, beginning at ver. 8, we have a most significant statement. Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. This was Israel according to the mind of God, as His testimony in the earth. Such they would ever have remained, had there been lowliness of mind and subjection of heart, leading to confidence in and dependence upon Him continually. But the very opposite of this was developed, as we well know, and Scripture makes abundantly clear. Therefore the boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it (ver. 1 of the same psalm). God came looking for fruit in accordance with Isaiah 5. Gazing down upon His vine, seeking grapes, He found only wild grapes. It was, as described by Hosea, an empty vine; there was no fruit for the Lord. All was for self.

Therefore the vine of the earth was set aside eventually, its enclosing wall broken down, and it will be fully judged in the awful vintage yet to come (Rev 14:18-20). Meantime upon the rejection of the empty vine, God brings in a vine that will bear-one that He will ever find fruit upon. So the Lord Jesus, the Man of Gods purpose, tells His disciples in John 15 of the True Vine, even Himself. He takes the place of Israel to maintain a testimony for God in the earth. In matchless grace He associates His redeemed with Himself in this: I am the Vine, ye are the branches. Empty branches, with no vital link, may be intruded among the branches as belonging to the vine; but as there is no living connection with the vine there will be no fruit. Such are false professors who are cut off, and cast forth as branches, withered, and whose end is to be burned. The fruit-bearing branches are purged that they may bear more fruit. Yea, God the Father is glorified when they bear much fruit!

It will be seen from this that the vine refers to the earth. It is Gods testimony in the world; once committed to Israel, now maintained by Christ through His beloved people in this scene. The empty vine has been set aside in judgment. The True Vine has taken its place, and shall never be set aside, for it is Christ Himself and His people in Him. Therefore, however individuals fail, we find Him introducing Himself to Laodicea as The faithful and true Witness (Rev 3:14).

This tenth chapter before us but concludes the proof that Israel had indeed fallen into the sad condition described in the first verse. All hope of recovery was gone for the present. They must pass through affliction and tribulation, and consequent repentance, ere they could again be taken up; and when they are, it will be as branches in the living Vine, linked up with their once-rejected Messiah as Gods testimony in the Millennium; no longer as under the old covenant, on the ground of their responsibility (in which position they failed from the first), but under the new covenant of Gods pure grace toward them, unmerited and sovereign.

The opening words of the second verse give the root-trouble in a very brief sentence, Their heart is divided. This was the cause of all subsequent sorrow and failure. They did not cleave to the Lord with purpose of heart. They were double-minded, and therefore unstable in all their ways. A single heart for Gods glory is the prime necessity for a holy life. This they had neglected. Therefore they had to eat of the fruit of their own devices.

To walk with God with a divided heart is utterly impossible. He is not asking for the first place in the heart, either-as people often put it. He is far too exclusive for that. His word is, My son, give Me thy heart – the whole heart, with no reservation whatever. Only when this is done will the walk and ways be in accordance with His mind. Here Israel failed, as their idolatrous altars testified; and when God chastened them for their sin, instead of owning His righteousness in thus dealing with them, they sought to make a covenant with the nations, that they might escape the merited discipline. Having no prince to save them, they made desperate efforts to secure an arm of flesh elsewhere on which to lean; but that God would not permit (vers. 3, 4).

The inhabitants of Samaria, who, for so long, had feared the Lord and served their own gods (2Ki 17:33), must now be made to tremble because of the calves of Beth-aven, upon them they had relied: for at last, after so long a trial, God had written Ichabod over the whole northern kingdom. The glory had departed (ver. 5). Therefore they were to be carried as a gift to the king of Assyria, that Ephraim might receive shame and Israel be ashamed of his own counsel. Thus Samarias king would prove as powerless as the foam upon the water, which seems for a moment substantial and real; but, in the next, has vanished away (vers. 6, 7).

The eighth verse manifestly looks on to a far more solemn fulfilment than its secondary application to the Assyrian victory of old. The expressions used connect it with the awful overthrow of all established order in the last days, as described under the sixth seal of Rev. 6. Then they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us. This will be the time when they shall receive of the Lords hand double for all their sins, and shall realize, in bitterness of soul, their folly in departing from the living God.

Again He reminds them, as in the previous chapter (ver. 9), that they had sinned from the days of Gibeah. The iniquity then perpetrated had never been thoroughly judged, but rather, as leaven, had wrought throughout all the years since, permeating the mass. Therefore He must chastise them, because of His yearning desire for their blessing. He loved them, and, because of this, He had to discipline them for their sins.

The expression, When they shall bind themselves in two furrows, is variously rendered, and seems ambiguous. The R. V. gives, When they are bound to their two transgressions. Might their two transgressions be the two evils of Jer 2:13? They had forsaken Him who is the Fountain of living waters, and had hewed out broken cisterns for themselves. The prophet Isaiah similarly charges them with two transgressions-the rejection of Gods Anointed, and the setting up of idolatry.

The happy result of the disciplinary ways of the Lord is beautifully portrayed in vers. 11, 12, which here come in parenthetically, ere the subject of their sin and its punishment is continued in the closing verses. Both Judah and Ephraim, as tractable oxen, shall submit to the yoke, and delight to tread out the corn in the days when their lesson shall have been learned in the presence of God. But this will only be when they sow in righteousness and godliness. Then they shall reap in mercy. The fallow ground must be broken up by the power of the Word ministered in the energy of the Holy Ghost. Thus will there be response when the set time has arrived to seek the Lord that He may come and rain righteousness upon them. For us, all this has its present application, if we have hearts to bow to it.

But though, for Israel and Judah, such blessing is in store, the last three verses describe their unhappy state till they are made willing in the day of His power.

Plowing wickedness, they but go on reaping iniquity and eating the fruit of lies; because their trust is not in Him, but in their own way and the multitude of their mighty men. Consequently breaking up and spoiling, in place of repairing the breach and restoration, must be their portion. See Isa 58:12. Bethel, which had become the centre of their idolatry, would prove their undoing; speaking as it did of their grievous apostasy. Judah, we know, was preserved for a time, and a light maintained for Davids sake, till Messiah should appear; but the king of Israel was utterly cut off and the throne over-turned, never to be re-established till He shall come whose right it is to reign. Then the breach between Israel and Judah shall be healed, as predicted by all the prophets, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. No longer will an empty vine be descriptive of the earthly people; but as a vine flourishing they shall take root downward and send forth fruit-laden branches above, to the praise of the glory of Jehovahs grace.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Cir, am 3264, bc 740, is, Isa 5:1-7, Eze 15:1-5, Nah 2:2, Joh 15:1-6

an empty vine: or, a vine emptying the fruit which it giveth, unto. Zec 7:5, Zec 7:6, Rom 14:7, Rom 14:8, 2Co 5:16, Phi 2:21

to the multitude: Hos 2:8, Hos 8:4, Hos 8:11, Hos 12:8, Hos 12:11, Hos 13:2, Hos 13:6, Jer 2:28

images: Heb. statues, or standing images, Lev 26:1, 1Ki 14:23, *marg.

Reciprocal: Isa 5:2 – wild grapes Isa 17:8 – the work Eze 15:2 – What Eze 16:17 – hast also Luk 12:21 – he Luk 20:11 – and sent

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Hos 10:1. The thought of this verse may well be expressed by the one word, selfishness. It is illustrated by supposing a vine to retain the substance of its fruit within itself instead of depositing it on the outside in clusters where the owner could make use of it. The situation is made worse by the wrong use the vine makes of this substance that is retained. It would be bad enough were the vine to convert the substance into grapes and then consume the fruit selfishly. But this vine diverted it into unlawful uses, literally referring to idolatrous altars in the application of the parable. According to the goodness, etc. The more prosperous Israel became, the more corrupt he became with idolatry.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Hos 10:1. Israel is an empty vine The Hebrew, , may either signify, an empty, or emptying vine. If we take it in the former sense, the meaning is, Israel is a vine which has no fruit on it; that is, that they brought forth no fruit to God, had no true worshippers of him among them, none that truly served and glorified him; for it is said in the following words that he brought forth fruit unto himself. If the expression be understood in the other sense, and be rendered an emptying vine, the sense of the clause is, Israel is a vine which casteth its grapes, that is, does not bring them forth to perfection. And by the next words, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself, may be understood, not only that they used the blessings which God had given them according to their pleasure, and to the gratification of their lusts, but that their apparent good works proceeded from selfish motives, and not from a regard to the glory and will of God. The LXX. give the expression yet another sense, , a vine well furnished with branches: with which accords the Vulgate, vitis frondosa. Thus interpreted, the words may be considered as indicative of their national prosperity, increasing population, and military strength. According to the multitude of his fruit By the fruit here spoken of we are not to understand good works, but their abundant crops, numerous flocks and herds, and public opulence; he hath increased the altars When their land yielded a most plentiful harvest, and their flocks, and herds, and wealth increased, this plenty was employed on multiplying their idols. Their idolatrous altars were as numerous as their national prosperity was great, and were increased in proportion thereto. And according to the goodness, &c., they have made goodly images Imagining that the goodness of their land was a blessing from their idols. Bishop Horsley reads here, Like the beauty of his land he made the beauty of his images, interpreting the meaning to be, That the exquisite workmanship of his images was as remarkable as the natural beauty of his country.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Hos 10:1. Israel is an empty vine. So is the Hebrew, but the LXX read, a well-branched vine; that is, full of leaves, but destitute of fruit. Their fruits are the fruits of idolatry. The figures and allusions of the prophet were well understood by the jews, though often obscure to us.

Hos 10:2. Their heart is divided. The Chaldaic reads, divided from my law, which gloss agrees with their obstinate attachment to their altars and their idols, as in the preseding verse.Now shall they be found faulty, and receive the just reward of their apostasy and sins.

Hos 10:3. We have no king. Their kings were cut off in the morning of their reign, as in Hos 10:15. Prior to the reign of Hoshea, they were in a state of anarchy for nine years, as in Hos 7:7. A deplorable condition, ending in national ruin. How valuable is a paternal king, and a happy constitution.

Hos 10:5. They shall fear because of the calves of Beth-aven. The LXX read calf. It is likely that the golden calf went as a booty to king Salmanezer, their Jareb, for protection. Ephraim shall then be ashamed of the calf that could not protect itself. See on Hos 4:15.

The people shall mourn, and the priests. the kamarim, who have so long boasted of the calf, shall mourn over their desolate altars. Selden, on the gods of Syria, calls this a name of contempt. It occurs but three times. 2Ki 23:5, and Zep 1:4. The root refers, not to the blackness of their dress, much smoked with great fires, but to the cries and shouts made at their worship.

Hos 10:9. Oh Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah, being as obstinate in their adherence to the calves, as the Benjamites who perished in protecting a few profligate young men. Jdg 19:20. This is repeated from chap. 9:9.

Hos 10:11. Ephraimloveth to tread out the corn; loves to plunder the harvests of Judah, rather than plow for herself. But soon the yoke of Assyria shall pass on this fair heifer, and Judah and Jacob shall plow in peace.

Hos 10:12. Break up your fallow ground. Hebrews nir, new or fresh land, old leigh, the strays of the fallow deer; land of fallow colour, as implied in the German brackaker, from bracken or fern; land which has long lain unplowed. The Italian etymon is the same; tetra non semirata gia due anni.

Hos 10:14. Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle. The reference is obscure. Shalman may be written for Shalmunna, a king of Midian whom Gideon overthrew, destroying all the inhabitants of Karkor. Jdg 8:10. But the name may be Salmanezer, who obtained a victory at Betharbel in Mesopotamia, a city memorable also for the third and total defeat of Darius Codomanus by Alexander the great.

REFLECTIONS.

The prophet, like a workman not ashamed, repeats his strokes. The boasted vine which came out of Egypt, is now unpruned, full of branches, and destitute of fruit. The cause is laid at your door, oh kamarim, besmoked at your altars, surrounded with diabolical shouts. The prophet calls you by a just name; not the anointed kohenim, the priests of the Lord, but a race of murderers, the priests of him who was a murderer from the beginning: chap. 6:9. Soon your great fires shall be extinguished, soon your shouts shall be silenced, soon your vine shall be eradicated; gall and hemlock, the bitter and poisonous rosh shall spring up in its place. Soon your Bethel, once the house of God and the gate of heaven, but now Beth- aven, the house of wickedness, shall be desolate, and your bones burned by Josiah on the altars where countless infants were once immolated. You have ruined your country, ruined the people, ruined yourselves.

But you, oh remnant, after the storm is past, and while you now sigh for the wickedness of the land, sow to yourselves in righteousness; break up the fallow ground of a deceitful heart, where thorns, ferns, and hemlock have long grown. Let the plowshare go to the roots of sin; expose your hearts to heaven in prayer for benignant influences. Then sow the good seeds of truth, that the rain of heaven may descend, and the solar warmth crown your efforts with a plenitude of harvest joy. Let the fruit be mercy instead of oppression, righteousness instead of crime. By thus seeking the Lord, righteousness shall descend upon you as the rain: yea, your country, and the church, shall be as the garden of the Lord. But, if otherwise; if you persevere in this breach of covenant; the invading foe shall again dash the mothers and the infants in pieces, and you shall implore in vain the rocks and mountains to cover you.Oh, sinner, sinner! resolved to persevere in thy courses, till the stupors of death close thine eyes, how will you face a long-insulted God, or answer for the abuse of that goodness which leadeth man to repentance!

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Hos 10:1-8. Gods Annihilating Judgment on the Mixed Cultus.With the lands abounding prosperity Israel has multiplied altars in the service of the mixed cultus; these Yahweh will destroy (Hos 10:1 f.) Their puppet-kings they shall find utterly impotent (Hos 10:3), and their idle, lying words, which never result in performance, shall yield a bitter crop of judgment (Hos 10:4, ? a gloss). Samaria (i.e. the northern kingdom) shall find the calves of Beth-Aven (Bethel, cf. Hos 4:15, Hos 5:8*) a source of terror rather than of help, their glory departed, and the idols themselves ignominiously carried off to Assyria (Hos 10:5 f.). Samarias king shall drift helplessly to doom, and the high places of Aven, source of Israels sin, shall be destroyed, and the deluded people left helpless and despairing (Hos 10:7 f.).

Hos 10:1. Read perhaps, whose fruit is (or was) lovely.goodness: read prosperity (mg.).

Hos 10:2. Marti thinks this a late gloss.divided: i.e. in the cultus. Are they serving Yahweh or the Baal? Or render, their heart is false (the cultus is no true worship of Yahweh at all).be found guilty: LXX reads, be desolated (Heb. yshmm).he: i.e. Yahweh.shall smite: lit. break the neck of, perhaps with reference to the horned ox-head placed on the corners of altars.

Hos 10:3. No legitimate king reigns, only a usurper.for . . . Lord:? a gloss (Marti).

Hos 10:4. The verse (? a gloss, Marti, Nowack) answers the question, What can he do for us? Render, speak words, swear falsely, make covenants and (emended text) turn justice to gall (Jer 8:14*). The words in the furrows of the field may be an insertion from Hos 12:11.

Hos 10:5. calves: read calf.

Hos 10:5 b. Read, for him shall they mourn, his people and his priestlings, they shall wail for his glory that it is banished from him.

Hos 10:6. Render, Yea himself (i.e. the calf) they shall transport, etc.Jareb: cf. Hos 5:13*.because . . . counsel: read, of his idol. The source of Ephraims shame is not so much false politics as the false cultus.

Hos 10:7. Render like a chip (cf. mg.) upon the face of the waters.

Hos 10:8. Read, the high places of Israel (omitting of Aven the sin as a pious gloss on high places).

Hos 10:8 b. Cf. Luk 23:30, Rev 6:16.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

10:1 Israel [is] an {a} empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the {b} goodness of his land they have made goodly images.

(a) Of which though the grapes were gathered, yet always as it gathered new strength it increased in new wickedness, so that the correction which should have brought them to obedience, only proclaimed their stubbornness.

(b) As they were rich and had abundance.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Israel’s vulnerability 10:1-8

The allusion that opens this series of messages is similar to the ones in Hos 9:10; Hos 10:9, and Hos 11:1 in that it refers to Israel’s early history. A mood of loss of confidence and protection marks this section. As so often in Hosea, evidences of covenant unfaithfulness begin the section followed by announcements of punishment for unfaithfulness. In this one announcement of the fate of the nation’s cultic symbols (altars, idols, sacred standing stones, and high places) gives way to announcement of judgment on Israel’s political symbol (the king).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Judgment on Israel’s cultic symbols 10:1-2

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Hosea compared Israel to a luxuriant (degenerate) vine; the people enjoyed great economic prosperity. The grapevine was a common figure for Israel. Yahweh had planted Israel in Canaan as a vine and had blessed it with fruitful prosperity (cf. Psa 80:8-10; Jer 2:21; Eze 19:10-11). Yet the more the Lord blessed Israel the more the Israelites multiplied altars and sacred pillars to honor idols. They worshipped pagan gods in response to Yahweh’s blessing.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

5. ONCE MORE: PUPPET-KINGS AND PUPPET-GODS

Hos 10:1-15

For another section, the tenth chapter, the prophet returns to the twin targets of his scorn: the idols and the puppet-kings. But few notes are needed. Observe the reiterated connection between the fertility of the land and the idolatry of the people.

“A wanton vine is Israel; he lavishes his fruit; the more his fruit, the more he made his altars; the goodlier his land, the more goodly he made his macceboth, or sacred pillars. False is the heart of them: now must they atone for it. He shall break the neck of their altars; He shall ruin their pillars. For already they are saying, No king have we, for we have not feared Jehovah, and the king-what could he do for us? Speaking of words, swearing of false oaths, making of bargains-till law breaks out like weeds in the furrows of the field.”

“For the Calf of Beth-Aven the inhabitants of Samaria shall be anxious: yea, mourn for him shall his people, and his priestlings shall writhe for him – for his glory that it is banished from him.” In these days of heavy tribute shall the gold of the golden calf be safe? “Yea, himself shall they pack to Assyria; he shall be offered as tribute to King Pick-Quarrel. Ephraim shall take disgrace, and Israel be ashamed because of his counsel. Undone Samaria! Her king like chip on the face of the waters!” This may refer to one of the revolutions in which the king was murdered. But it seems more appropriate to the final catastrophe of 724-21: the fall of the kingdom, and the kings banishment to Assyria. If the latter, the verse has been inserted; but the following verse would lead us to take these disasters as still future. “And the high places of idolatry shall be destroyed, the sin of Israel; thorn and thistle shall come up on their altars. And they shall say to the mountains, Cover us, and to the hills, Fall on us.” It cannot be too often repeated: these handmade gods, these chips of kings, shall be swept away together.

Once more the prophet returns to the ancient origins of Israels present sins, and once more to their shirking of the discipline necessary for spiritual results, but only that he may lead up as before to the inevitable doom. “From the days of Gibeah thou hast sinned, O Israel. There have they remained”-never progressed beyond their position there-“and this without war overtaking them in Gibeah against the dastards. As soon as I please, I can chastise them, and peoples shall be gathered against them in chastisement for their double sin.” This can scarcely be, as some suggest, the two calves at Bethel and Dan. More probably it is still the idols and the man-made kings. Now he returns to the ambition of the people for spiritual results without a spiritual discipline.

“And Ephraim is a broken-in heifer, that loveth to thresh. But I have come on her fair neck. I will yoke Ephraim; Judah must plough; Jacob must harrow for himself. It is all very well for the unmuzzled beast,” {Deu 25:4; 1Co 9:9; 1Ti 5:18} to love the threshing, but harder and unrewarded labors of ploughing and harrowing have to come before the floor be heaped with sheaves. Israel must not expect religious festival without religious discipline. “Sow for yourselves righteousness; then shall ye reap the fruit of Gods leal love. Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek Jehovah, till He come and shower salvation upon you. Ye have ploughed wickedness; disaster have ye reaped: ye have eaten the fruit of falsehood; for thou didst trust in thy chariots, in the multitude of thy warriors. For the tumult of war shall arise among thy tribes, and all thy fenced cities shall be ruined, as Salman beat to ruin Beth-Arbel in the day of war: the mother shall be broken on the children”-presumably the land shall fall with the falling of her cities. “Thus shall I do to you, O house of Israel, because of the evil of your evil: soon shall the king of Israel be undone-undone.”

The political decay of Israel, then, so deeply figured in all these chapters, must end in utter collapse. Let us sum up the gradual features of this decay: the substance of the people scattered abroad; the national spirit dissipated; the national prestige humbled; the kings mere puppets; the prophets corrupted; the national vigor sapped by impurity; the idolatry conscious of its impotence.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary

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