7<\/strong>. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah<\/em> ] Grave as are the charges brought against Judah by the prophets, it appears to have been some degrees better off religiously than Israel; probably, as it was a poorer country, its nature-worship was less extravagantly sensuous than that of the north. Hosea elsewhere counsels Judah not to offend to the same extent as Israel (Hos 4:15<\/span>), and later on accuses Judah rather of inconstancy than of absolute rebellion (Hos 11:12<\/span>).<\/p>\n by the Lord their God<\/em> ] Tautologically, as Gen 19:24<\/span>. Or, ‘as Jehovah their God’ (i.e ‘in the character of’ &c., comp. Exo 6:3<\/span> ‘as El Shaddai’, Psa 68:4<\/span> ‘his name is, essentially, in Jah’). Observe Hosea recognizes Judah’s higher religious ideal.<\/p>\n not<\/em> by bow<\/em> ] Judah, then, was in danger of trusting in warlike equipments, as Isaiah afterwards describes it as doing (Isa 2:7<\/span>). And yet, if Israel, with all its natural strength, could not resist the Assyrian attack, it was clear that the weaker kingdom could only do so by supernatural aid. Comp. Isa 31:8<\/span>; Isa 37:33<\/span>. ‘Battle’ should be equipment of war<\/strong>.<\/p>\n I will have mercy on the house of Judah – <\/B>For to them the promises were made in David, and of them, according to the flesh, Christ was to come. Israel, moreover, as being founded in rebellion and apostasy, had gone on from bad to worse. All their kings clave to the sin of Jeroboam; not one did right in the sight of God; not one repented or hearkened to God. Whereas Judah, having the true Worship of God, and the reading of the law, and the typical sacrifices, through which it looked on to the great Sacrifice for sin, was on the whole, a witness to the truth of God (see the note at Hos 11:12<\/span>).<\/P> And will save them by the Lord their God, not by bow … – <\/B>Shortly after this, God did, in the reign of Hezekiah, save them by Himself from Sennacherib, when the Angel of the Lord smote in one night 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. Neither in that night, nor when they were freed from the captivity at Babylon, did they bend bow or draw sword against their enemies or their captors. While they slept, the Angel of the Lord smote the camp of the Assyrians. At the prayers of David and the prophets and holy men, yea, and of the angels Zec 1:12<\/span> too, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, to set them free to go up to Jerusalem, and build the temple of the Lord God of Israel Ezr 1:3<\/span>. But much more, this is the special promise of the Gospel, that God would deliver, not outwardly, but inwardly; not by human wars, but in peace; not by man, but by Himself. By the Lord their God, by Himself who is speaking, or, The Father by the Son, (in like way as it is said, The Lord rained upon Sodom fire from the Lord Gen 19:24<\/span>).<\/P> They were saved in Christ, the Lord and God of all, not by carnal weapons of warfare, but by the might of Him who saved them, and shook thrones and dominions, and who by His own Cross triumpheth over the hosts of the adversaries, and overthroweth the powers of evil, and giveth to those who love Him, to tread on serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy. They were saved, not for any merits of their own, nor for anything in themselves. But when human means, and mans works, such as he could do of his own free-will, and the power of his understanding, and the natural impulses of his affections, had proved unavailing, then he redeemed them by His Blood, and bestowed on them gifts and graces above nature, and filled them with His Spirit, and gave them to will and to do of His good pleasure. But this promise also was, and is, to the true Judah, i. e., to those who, as the name means, confess and praise God, and who, receiving Christ, who, as Man, was of the tribe of Judah, became His children, being re-born by His Spirit.<\/P><\/p>\n Hos 1:7<\/span><\/p>\n But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God, and I will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The vanity of the positive philosophy<\/strong><\/p>\n The first three chapters are symbolic, and directed chiefly against the Ten Tribes, whom Hosea addresses as Israel and Ephraim. Hosea condemned their departure from the Almighty, as being a sort of spiritual adultery. One sign was an undue reliance upon material and temporal helps in times of emergency. Against this characteristic of a corrupt religion, and a declining national life, the text is directed.<\/p>\n Saved by Jehovah<\/strong><\/p>\n Salvation is here set in opposition to the destruction which the prophet mentioned in the last verse. But Hosea shows that salvation depends not in the least either on arms, or on any of the intervenients, as they say, of this world; but has its foundation only on Gods favour. The connection ought to be carefully noticed. Where the Lords favour is, there is life. Hence the prophet here connects salvation with Gods gratuitous favour, for we cannot continue safe, but as long as God is propitious to us. But he says, By Jehovah their God. An antithesis is to be understood here between the false gods and Jehovah, who was the God of the house of Judah. It is the same as though the prophet said, Ye indeed profess the name of God, but ye worship the devil and not God; for ye have nothing to do with Jehovah, with the God who is the Creator and Maker of heaven and earth; for He dwells in His own temple; He pledged His faith to David, when He commanded him to build a temple for Him on Mount Zion; He dwells there between the cherubim, but the true God has become exiled from you, Israelites. (John Calvin.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n God the Deliverer<\/strong><\/p>\n England has often shown her Christian character in acknowledging the hand of God. After the glorious deliverance from her enemies, by the destruction of the Spanish Armada, Queen Elizabeth ordered a medal to be struck, having on it, Afflavit Deus, et dissipantur–<\/em>God blew on them, and they were scattered.<\/p>\n Verse 7<\/span>. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah<\/B><\/I>] I will spare them as a kingdom after Israel has been carried away into captivity by the Assyrians.<\/P> <\/P> And will save them by the Lord their God<\/B><\/I>] Remarkably fulfilled in the supernatural defeat of the army of the Assyrians, see 2Kg 19:35<\/span>; and so they were saved not by bow<\/I>, nor by sword<\/I>, nor by battle<\/I>, nor by horses<\/I>, nor by horsemen<\/I>. The former expression may mean, not in war by horses<\/I>, i.e., yoked to war chariots<\/I>, nor by horsemen<\/I>-nor by cavalry, however efficient such troops might have then been deemed.<\/P> <\/p>\n But<\/B>, or And<\/I>, or Yet<\/I>. <\/P> I<\/B>; the Lord, who threateneth Israel, proud, flourishing, secure, and sinful Israel: he promiseth mercy to poor, oppressed, and impoverished Judah. <\/P> Will have mercy on the house of Judah; <\/B>prolonging that kingdom one hundred and thirty-two years after Israel ceased to be a kingdom; preserving them from the combined powers of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who combine to destroy them; raising them up to greatness and glory in the reign of Hezekiah, in whose days the house of Judah was saved by a miracle: beside all these, Judahs captivity was for seventy years, Israels for ever; Judah returned to their own land, Israel never did. By this, as the prophet would abate the pride of Israel, so possibly he would secretly direct the best among Israel whither to go to find mercy. Judah; including Benjamin, and such of the Levites as adhered constant to Gods law and worship, and as many of the other tribes as renounced the calves, Baal, and all idolatrous worship, and worship God alone as he required, all these, in this case, are included in Judah, and so we find many such returning with Judah. <\/P> And will save them; <\/B>preserve, that violence do not swallow them up, nor length of captivity wear them out; and this preserved remnant shall return and be planted in their own land, and there kept in safety. This promise does seem to point out such temporal salvation, but as a type of a far better and more glorious salvation. <\/P> By the Lord their God; <\/B>either by Messiah, who is the Lord and their God, or by God himself, as their God, whom they did not, as Israel, forsake utterly. This passage bids us look to that extraordinary miraculous deliverance of Hezekiah and Jerusalem: see Isa 37:36<\/span>; 2Ki 18:13<\/span>; 2Ch 32:1<\/span>. <\/P> Will not save them by bow, <\/B>& c.: here God removeth all force and might, whether their own or their allies, all that might eclipse the glory of God in this salvation. Now this was very fully performed in Hezekiahs time, when Sennacheribs army was cut off in one night by an angel, Isa 37:35<\/span>,36<\/span>; and in Cyruss time and Dariuss the captive Jews saw it was not by power nor by might, but the Lord saved them; so should it be here, as Psa 44:5<\/span>,6<\/span>; Isa 43:7<\/span>,15<\/span>; Zec 4:6<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n 7.<\/B> Judah<\/I> is onlyincidentally mentioned to form a contrast to Israel.<\/I> <\/P> by the Lord their God<\/B>moreemphatic than “by Myself”; by that Jehovah (Me) whom theyworship as their God,<\/I> whereas ye despise Him. <\/P> not . . . by bow<\/B>onwhich ye Israelites rely (Ho 1:5<\/span>,”the bow of Israel”); Jeroboam II was famous as a warrior(2Ki 14:25<\/span>). Yet it was not bytheir warlike power Jehovah would save Judah (1Sa 17:47<\/span>;Psa 20:7<\/span>). The deliverance ofJerusalem from Sennacherib (2Ki19:35<\/span>), and the restoration from Babylon, are herein predicted.<\/P><\/p>\n But I will have mercy on the house of Judah<\/strong>,…. The two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which retained the true worship of God among them; see Ho 11:12<\/span> and though they often sinned against the Lord, he showed them mercy, and spared them longer than the ten tribes; and though he suffered them to be carried captive into Babylon, he returned them again after seventy years: this is mentioned as an aggravation of the punishment of Israel, that Judah was spared, when they were not; and to show that God will have a people to seek and serve him, and, when he rejects some, he will make a reserve of others:<\/p>\n and will save them by the Lord their God<\/strong>; by his own arm and power, and not theirs, or any creature’s; nor by any warlike means or instruments whatever, as follows:<\/p>\n and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen<\/strong>: which may respect either the deliverance of the Jews from the invasion and siege of Sennacherib’s army; which was done without shooting an arrow, or drawing the sword, or engaging in a pitched battle, or by a cavalry rushing into his camp, discomfiting his army, and pursuing them; but by an angel sent from heaven, which in one night destroyed a hundred and fourscore and five thousand, 2Ki 19:35<\/span> or else refers to Cyrus being stirred up by the Lord to issue forth a proclamation, giving liberty to the Jewish captives to go free, without price or reward; and so was brought about, not by the might and power of man, but by the Spirit of the Lord; see Ezr 1:1<\/span> though a greater salvation is pointed at, or at least shadowed forth, by this, even the spiritual and eternal salvation of God’s elect by Christ; which is the fruit of mercy, and not the effect of the merits of men; is obtained not by human power, or by man’s righteousness; but by the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Jehovah our righteousness, the Lord God of his people; who stands in a relation to them prior to his being the Saviour of them; to which work and office he is equal, being the eternal Jehovah, and the true and living God. So the Targum,<\/p>\n “and I will save them by the Word of the Lord their God;”<\/p>\n the eternal Word, that was with God, is God, and became incarnate, God in our nature.<\/p>\n “And I will favour the house of Judah, and save them through Jehovah their God; and I will not save them through bow, and sword, and war, through horses and through horsemen.” <\/em> By a reference to the opposite lot awaiting Judah, all false trust in the mercy of God is taken away from the Israelites. From the fact that deliverance is promised to the kingdom of Judah through Jehovah its God, Israel is to learn that Jehovah is no longer its own God, but that He has dissolved His covenant with the idolatrous race. The expression, “through Jehovah their God,” instead of the pronoun “through me” (as, for example, in Gen 19:24<\/span>), is introduced with special emphasis, to show that Jehovah only extends His almighty help to those who acknowledge and worship Him as their God.<\/p>\n (Note: “The antithesis is to be preserved here between false gods and Jehovah, who was the God of the house of Judah. For it is just as if the prophet had said: Ye do indeed put forward the name of God; but ye worship the devil, and not God. For ye have no part in Jehovah, i.e., in that God who is the Creator of heaven and earth. For He dwells in His temple; He has bound up His faith with David,” etc. – Calvin.)<\/p>\n And what follows, viz., “I will not save them by bow,” etc., also serves to sharpen the punishment with which the Israelites are threatened; for it not only implies that the Lord does not stand in need of weapons of war and military force, in order to help and save, but that these earthly resources, on which Israel relied (Hos 10:13<\/span>), could afford no defence or deliverance from the enemies who would come upon it. Milchamah <\/em>, “war,” in connection with bow and sword, does not stand for weapons of war, but “embraces everything belonging to war – the skill of the commanders, the bravery of heroes, the strength of the army itself, and so forth” (Hengstenberg). Horses and horsemen are specially mentioned, because they constituted the main strength of an army at that time. Lastly, whilst the threat against Israel, and the promise made to Judah, refer primarily, as Hos 2:1-3<\/span> clearly show, to the time immediately approaching, when the judgment was to burst upon the kingdom of the ten tribes, that is to say, to that attack upon Israel and Judah on the part of the imperial power of Assyria, to which Israel succumbed, whilst Judah was miraculously delivered (2 Kings 19; Isa 37:1<\/span>); it has also a meaning which applies to all times, namely, that whoever forsakes the living God, will fall into destruction, and cannot reckon upon the mercy of God in the time of need.<\/p>\n This verse sufficiently proves what I said yesterday, that the Prophet was specifically appointed to the kingdom of Israel; for he seems here to speak favourably of the Jews, who yet, we know, had been severely and deservedly reproved by their own teachers. For what does Isaiah say, after having spoken of the dreadful corruptions which then prevailed in the kingdom of Israel? ‘Come,’ he says, ‘into the house of Judah, they at least continue as yet pure: there,’ he says, ‘all the tables are full of vomiting; they are drunken; there reigns also the contempt of God and all impiety,’ (Isa 28:8<\/span>.) We see then that the Jews were not a virtuous people, of whom the Prophet has spoken so honourably. For though the exterior worship of God continued at Jerusalem, and the temple, at least under Uzziah and Jotham, was free from every superstition, and also under king Hezekiah; yet the morals of the people, we know, were very corrupt. Avarice, and cruelty, and every kind of fraud, reigned there, and also filthy lusts. The conduct, then, of that people was nothing better than that of the Israelites. Why, then, does the Prophet dignify them with so great an honour as to exempt them from God’s vengeance? Because he had an eye to the people to whom he was appointed a Prophet. He therefore institutes a comparison. He interferes not with the Jews, for he knew that they had faithful pastors who reproved their sins; but he continued among his own hearers. But this comparison served, in an especial manner, to touch the hearts of the people of Israel; for the Prophet, we know, made this reference particularly for this end, to condemn fictitious worship. He now sets the worship at Jerusalem in opposition to all those superstitions which Jeroboam first introduced, which Ahab increased, and all their posterity followed. Hence he says, “I will show favour” to the house of Judah. <\/p>\n That we may better understand the mind of the Prophet, it may be well to repeat what we said yesterday: — The kingdom of Judah was then miserably wasted. The kingdom of Israel had ten tribes, the kingdom of Judah only one and a half, and it was also diminished by many slaughters; yea, the Israelites had spoiled the temple of the Lord, and had taken all the gold and silver they found there. The Jews, then, had been reduced to a very low state, they hardly dared to mutter; but the Israelites, as our Prophet will hereafter tell us, were like beasts well fed. Since, then, they despised the Jews, who seemed despicable in the eyes of the world, the Prophet beats down this vain confidence, and says, With mercy will I follow the house of Judah “The house of Judah seems now to be almost nothing, for they are few in number, nor are they very strong, and wealth abounds not among them as among you; but with them shall dwell my favour, and I will take it away from you.” <\/p>\n It afterwards follows, And I will save them by Jehovah their God. Salvation is here set in opposition to the destruction which the Prophet mentioned in the last verse. But Hosea shows that salvation depends not in the least either on arms or on any of the intervenients (7), as they say, of this world; but has its foundation only on God’s favour. I will save them, he says — why? because my favour will I show them This connection ought to be carefully noticed. Where the Lord’s favour is, there is life. ‘Thou art our God, then we shall never perish,’ as it is written in Hab 1:12<\/span> Habakkuk. Hence the Prophet here connects salvation with God’s gratuitous favour; for we cannot continue safe, but as long as God is propitious to us. He has, on the other hand, declared that it would be all over with the Israelites as soon as God would take away from them his favour. <\/p>\n But he says, By Jehovah their God. An antithesis is to be understood here between the false gods and Jehovah, who was the God of the house of Judah. It is the same as though the Prophet said, “Ye indeed profess the name of God, but ye worship the devil and not God: for ye have nothing to do with Jehovah, with the God who is the creator and maker of heaven and earth; for he dwells in his own temple; he pledged his faith to David, when he commanded him to build a temple for him on mount Zion; he dwells there between the cherubim, as the Prophets invariably declare: but the true God is become exiled from you.” We hence see how he condemns here all the worship which the Israelites then so highly valued. Why did he do so? Because it was not acceptable to God. <\/p>\n And this passage deserves to be noticed, for we see how stupid men are in this respect. When once they are persuaded that they worship God, they are seized by some fascination of Satan so as to become delighted with all their own dotages, as we see to be the case at this day with the Papists, who are not only insane, but doubly frantic. If any one reproves them and says, that they worship not the true God, they are instantly on fire — “What! does not God accept our worship?” But the Prophet here shows by one word that Jehovah is not in any place, except where he is rightly worshipped according to the rule of his word. I will save them, he says — How? By Jehovah their God; and God himself speaks: He might have said, “I will save them by myself;” but it was not without reason that he used this circuitous mode of speaking; it was to show the Israelites that they had no reason to think that God would be propitious to them. How so? Because God had chosen an habitation for himself on mount Zion and in Jerusalem. A fuller declaration afterwards follows, I will save them neither by the bow, nor by the sword, nor by war, nor by horses, nor by horsemen But this clause, by God’s favour, I will explain tomorrow. <\/p>\n (7) Mediis-media means. We use medium, but not media; and yet we have no word as a substitute. “ Intervenients,” perhaps, is the most intelligible word to the English reader. — Ed. <\/p>\n (7) Will save them<\/strong> . . .We may consider this verse to have been literally fulfilled in the destruction of Sennacheribs army. The prophetic outlook anticipates the fact that when Judah is captive and exiled, her restoration by the divine hand would take the form of mercy and forgiveness. (Comp. Psalms 76<\/span>, Isa. 40:1-2<\/span>.)<\/p>\n 7<\/strong>. <\/strong> While Jehovah will not interfere in behalf of Israel, he will have mercy upon the southern kingdom. <\/p>\n Judah <\/strong> The prophet seems to think that Judah is in better religious and moral condition than Israel (Hos 4:15<\/span>). In reality, judging from the messages of Isaiah and Micah, the two eighth century prophets of Judah, there was little difference between the conditions in the two kingdoms. And if the references to Judah in Hos 5:5<\/span>; Hos 5:10<\/span>; Hos 5:12-14<\/span>; Hos 6:4<\/span>; Hos 6:11<\/span>; Hos 8:14<\/span>; Hos 10:11<\/span>; Hos 11:12<\/span> (margin); Hos 12:2<\/span>, are from Hosea himself, this prophet seems to agree with the two Judean prophets. The explanation that Hos 1:7<\/span>; Hos 4:15<\/span>, come from an earlier period, before Hosea had become properly acquainted with conditions in Judah, is not considered satisfactory by most commentators, since the time elapsed between the delivery of Hos 4:15<\/span>, and chapter 5, cannot have been very long. It is not without reason, therefore, that many commentators regard Hos 1:7<\/span> as a later interpolation, reflecting the experiences of Judah in 701 (2Ki 19:35<\/span> ff; Isa 37:36<\/span> ff.). An additional objection is raised on the ground that the thought of Hos 1:7<\/span> is foreign to the rest of the chapter, in which the prophet narrates his own domestic life, and sets forth its significance as illustrating the relation of Israel to Jehovah. <\/p>\n By Jehovah their God <\/strong> For the sake of emphasis, instead of by me; <\/em> describes very aptly the deliverance of 701, as a reading of the account in 2 Kings will show. It is the constant teaching of the prophets that Jehovah, and not human defenses, is the salvation of his people (Hos 14:3<\/span>; Isa 7:1-17<\/span>; Isa 31:8<\/span>; compare Hos 2:7<\/span>).<\/p>\n “But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by YHWH their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.”<\/p>\n God’s indictment at this stage did not apply to Judah. Judah was still ruled by the Davidic king, and still, at least centrally, worshipped in accordance with the Torah. Her time of full judgment and rejection had not yet come. Indeed the ‘breaking of the bow’ of Israel by the Assyrians was not to apply to Judah, for God’s promise was that He would yet have compassion on them and would save them by a miraculous deliverance. It would not be by bow, or sword, or battle, or horses, or horsemen. All their military strength and efforts would not save them. It would be by YHWH alone. And in the event we know that it would be by the Angel of YHWH (2Ki 19:35<\/span>), but only after they had suffered greatly. It would be a partial deliverance intended to call them back to repentance in the light of the destruction of Samaria and of their own numerous defenced cities.<\/p>\n This is not, however, to be seen as merely a side comment about Judah. It was intended to be a further indictment of Israel. For all could recognise that the reason that Judah was to be spared was because of its true worship of YHWH in the temple, and its loyalty to YHWH and the Davidic king, however tenuous they may be. And it emphasised the exclusion of Israel. Furthermore the reference to the fact that YHWH would not even require the assistance of a bow in defending Judah tended to underline the fact that Israel’s bow would be broken.<\/p>\n Hos 1:7<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah<\/em><\/strong><\/strong> This difference in the divine dispensation was owing to the enormous crimes of the Israelites, and to the singular piety of Hezekiah. Judah was saved in a miraculous manner from the sword of the Assyrians. It was not by bow, nor by sword,<\/em> &c. but by the immediate and miraculous intervention of the Lord, who destroyed the Assyrian army in one night. See 2Ki 19:35<\/span>. <\/p>\n Hos 1:7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.<\/p>\n Ver. 7. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah<\/strong> ] The ark and the mercy seat were never separated. Judah had not utterly cast off God, as Israel had; but worshipped God in the temple (how. corruptly soever), therefore they shall have mercy, because they kept the right way of worship. See the Church’s plea for mercy to this purpose, Jer 14:9<\/span> . Again, Judah was now in a very great strait, having been lately beaten and plundered by Israel, 2Ki 14:12<\/span> , therefore they shall have mercy. God heard Hagar’s affliction and relieved her. “I have seen, I have seen the sufferings of my people in Egypt, saith God, and am come to ease them,” Exo 3:7<\/span> . “Because they have called thee an outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man looketh after, therefore I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord,” Jer 30:17<\/span> . He will repent for his people when he seeth their power is gone, Deu 32:36<\/span> , when there is dignus vindice nodus,<\/em> an extremity fit for Divine power to interpose. He knows that mercy is never so seasonable and sweet as when misery weighs down, and nothing but mercy turns the scale; therefore Judah shall have mercy, when Israel shall have none. True it is, that Judah was not at this time much better than Israel, Aholibah than Aholah: they were scarce free from sodomy and many such like foul abominations. But what of that? if God come with a non obstante,<\/em> as Psa 106:8<\/span> , “Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake,” &c., who shall gainstand him? if he will show mercy for his name’s sake, what people is there so wicked whom he may not save? See Isa 57:17 Eze 20:8<\/span> ; Eze 20:14<\/span> ; Eze 20:22<\/span> ; Eze 20:44<\/span> . Add hereunto that Israel and Syria were confederate against Judah, and thought to have made but a breakfast of them, Isa 7:5<\/span> ; but God here promiseth Judah mercy; and lets them know, to their comfort, that there is more mercy for them in heaven than there can be misery in earth or malice in hell against them. True it is, that even after this gracious promise made to Judah, it went very hard with them. See 2Ch 28:6<\/span> , there 120,000 of them were slain in one battle, and 200,000 of them carried captive: yea, and all this by these Israelites here rejected from that mercy that Judah is promised; besides abundance more misery that befell them by Edomites, 2Ch 28:17<\/span> , Philistines, 2Ch 28:18<\/span> , Assyrians, 2Ch 28:20<\/span> &c. Ecclesia haeres Crucis,<\/em> saith Luther, The Church, as she is heir of the promises, so is she of the cross: and the promises are always to be understood with condition of the cross. The palsy man in the Gospel, healed by our Saviour, heard, “Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee,” and yet he was not presently freed of his disease, till, after a dispute held with the Pharisees (which must needs take up some time) and the case cleared, Jesus said, “Arise, take up thy bed and walk,” and so show thyself a sound man. But to go on: Judah shall be saved, and not Israel, that envied Judah and maliciously sought their ruin. David looketh upon it as a sweet mercy, that God had spread him a table in the presence, and maugre the malice, of his enemies, Psa 23:4<\/span> . And the children of the kingdom (so the Jews are called) shall gnash their teeth, and be even ready to eat their nails at the reception of the Gentiles, Mat 8:11<\/span> . This was that which put the men of Nazareth into an anger, and our Saviour into a danger, Luk 4:25<\/span> ; Luk 4:29<\/span> . <\/p>\n <\/p>\n By the Lord their God<\/strong> ] That is, by the Lord Christ, by Messiah their Prince, by the word of the Lord their God, saith the Chaldee here, that Word essential, Joh 1:1<\/span> , that true Zaphnath Paaneah (that is, Saviour of the world, as Jerome interprets it), whereof Joseph was but a type. This horn of salvation, or mighty Saviour (able to save them to the uttermost, , that come unto God by him, Heb 7:25 ), God raised up for these unworthy Jews, and even thrust him upon them, whether they would or no, Isa 7:13-14<\/span> , that all might appear to be of free grace. Well might God say, “I will have mercy upon the house of Judah”: matchless mercy indeed! mercy that rejoiced against judgment. Man’s perverseness breaketh not off the course of God’s goodness; Judah shall be saved by the Lord their God, who is Alius<\/em> from his Father, but not Aliud,<\/em> a distinct person, not a distinct thing. This angel of God’s presence saved them, in his love and in his pity he redeemed them, &c., Isa 63:9<\/span> , even the angel that had redeemed their father Jacob from all evil, Gen 48:16<\/span> ; and that, soon after this prophecy, destroyed so many thousands in Sennacherib’s army, “Not by bow nor by battle,” &c., but by his own bare hand immediately and miraculously, 2Ki 19:35<\/span> ; where we may see that when Sennacherib (after the example of his father Salmaneser, who had captivated the ten tribes) came up against Judah, having already devoured Jerusalem in his hopes, and thinking to cut them off at a blow, as if they had all had but one neck, they were saved by Jehovah their God: the virgin daughter of Zion knew well the worth and valour of Christ her champion, and that made her so confident, Isa 37:22<\/span> . She knew whom she had trusted, not with her outward condition only, but with her inward and everlasting, with her precious soul, saying with David, “I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts,” Psa 119:94<\/span> . “I will not trust in my bow, neither shall mine arm save me: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, for thou hast a favour unto me,” Psa 44:3<\/span> ; Psa 44:5<\/span> . See Trapp on “<\/em> Zec 4:6 “<\/em> See Trapp on “<\/em> Zec 14:3 “<\/em> See Trapp on “<\/em> Zec 14:5 “<\/em> That is an excellent passage, Psa 21:13<\/span> , “Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.”<\/p>\n Judah. Hos 1:7 is not an “interpolation”, but is a definite and distinctive contrast with the prophecy concerning Israel. <\/p>\n by the LORD their God = by (Jehovah their Elohim: i.e. the Messiah, or the angel of Jehovah. See 2Ki 19:35. But it looks forward to the future fulfillment, which will exhaust the prophecy in the destruction of Antichrist (Isa 11:4. 2Th 2:8, &c). <\/p>\n I will: Hos 11:12, 2Ki 19:35, Isa 36:1 – Isa 37:38 <\/p>\n will save: Isa 7:14, Isa 12:2, Isa 49:6, Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6, Zec 2:6-11, Zec 4:6, Zec 9:9, Zec 9:10, Mat 1:21-23, Tit 3:4-6 <\/p>\n by bow: Psa 33:16, Psa 44:3-6 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: 1Sa 14:23 – the Lord 1Sa 17:39 – put them off 1Sa 17:47 – saveth not 2Ki 6:22 – thy sword 2Ki 14:27 – he saved 2Ch 32:22 – Lord Psa 44:6 – General Psa 62:6 – rock Psa 68:20 – our God Psa 106:21 – God Psa 147:10 – delighteth Isa 31:8 – shall the Isa 35:4 – behold Isa 43:11 – General Isa 45:17 – Israel Isa 63:5 – mine own Isa 63:9 – the angel Jer 3:23 – in the Lord Jer 31:7 – O Jer 33:26 – and have Mic 5:10 – that I Zec 10:6 – for I have Zec 12:8 – the house Mat 21:5 – sitting Luk 24:44 – in the prophets Act 10:36 – he is Heb 1:8 – O God<\/p>\n Hos 1:7. Will have mercy upon the house of Judah. Tills may sound strange to the reader who will remem-ber that the kingdom of Judah also became corrupt and was finally exiled from her native country as well as Israel That is true, but that was not the same time when Hie Lord meant he would have mercy upon Judah, but it was at tbe same period that the ten tribes were taken captive by the Assyrians. At that time the same heathen country threatened Judah and God here promises that He will have mercy upon her then. Not save by sword nor bow means that Judali would not have to go to war to drive off the Assyrians. 2Ki 10:35-36 shows how the nation was saved by a miracle.<\/p>\n Hos 1:7. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah Including Benjamin, and such of the Levites as adhered to Gods law and worship, and as many of the other tribes as renounced the calves, Baal, and all idolatrous worship, and worshipped God alone as he required. On Judah, including all these, God had mercy in various respects, in which he had not mercy on Israel, prolonging that kingdom 132 years after Israel ceased to be a kingdom, preserving them from the combined powers of the king of Syria and the king of Israel, who united to destroy them, raising them up to greatness and glory in the reign of Hezekiah, in whose days the house of Judah was saved, by a wonderful miracle, from the power of Sennacherib the Assyrian king. Add to this, that Judahs captivity was only for seventy years, whereas Israels continues to this day; Judah was restored to their own land, but Israel was not. By this, as the prophet would debase the pride of Israel, so possibly he intended to direct the well-disposed among them whither to go to find mercy. And will save them by the Lord their God, and not by bow, nor by sword, &c. These expressions, Bishop Horsley thinks, are too magnificent to be understood of any thing but the final rescue of the Jews from the power of antichrist in the latter ages, by the incarnate God destroying the enemy with the brightness of his coming, (2Th 2:8,) of which the destruction of Sennacheribs army in the days of Hezekiah might be a type, but it was nothing more.<\/p>\n 1:7 But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will {k} save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen.<\/p>\n (k) For after their captivity he restored them miraculously by the means of Cyrus; Ezr 1:1 .<\/p>\n In contrast, the Lord would have compassion on the Southern Kingdom of Judah and deliver her from such a fate. He said He would do this by Yahweh their God, perhaps using His own name this way to impress on the Israelites who their true God was. He said He would not do this in battle, however. The Israelites relied on human arms and alliances, but the Judahites trusted in the Lord, generally speaking, so He delivered the Judahites supernaturally. He did it in 701 B.C. by killing 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night while they lay camped around Jerusalem (2Ki 19:32-36; Isaiah 37). Jerusalem was the only great city that did not fall to the Assyrians during this invasion of Syria-Palestine. Judah’s sins were not as great as Israel’s at this time. Judah enjoyed a succession of four "good" kings (Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, and Jotham), and Hosea may have received this prophecy when Uzziah or Jotham was reigning.<\/p>\n "The northern kingdom had arrogated the name of Israel to itself. It clung obstinately to the belief that its greater riches, area and strength showed that it was the true representative of God’s people. The mention of Judah underlines the vital truth that the rejection of the North in no way involved God’s complete repudiation of Israel’s sonship." [Note: Ellison, p. 105.] <\/span><\/p>\n But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen. 7. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah ] Grave as are the charges brought … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hosea 1:7”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>All human and material succours are alone and by them selves inadequate. In their better days the people of Israel reposed all their confidence in Jehovah. Now they had lapsed into idolatry. Their spiritual vision had by degrees narrowed itself down to merely material views of things. They lost spiritual insight, and saw only the seen. They trusted in their military strength, and in political alliance with the great powers. From the human stand point this conduct was not unreasonable. In our own age this error prevails. It is reserved to our time to systematise these views into a philosophy, which, calling itself positive, excludes from its domain the least element of the super natural. It is found that there is a constancy in the operations of nature. Law has been discovered, where it was thought that there was but fortuity. So we are bidden to turn to science, where once we turned to God. Instead of praying, we are to study, and to adjust ourselves to ever-operating laws. If we would remain prosperous as a nation, say the positivists, we must have recourse to material helps, practise political economy, reform our social administration, and push to their farthest limits the practical application of scientific principles. But all this trust to science and scientific helps against the evils and emergencies of human life, is miserably and woefully mistaken. There is no incompatibility between true science and true religion. But a mere trust in means, or secondary causes, is vain and presumptuous. The shrewdest anticipations of man are constantly disappointed. Material succours–those helps which arise out of an observation, classification, and adaptation of secondary causes merely, are by themselves utterly unworthy.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Help from God is alone sufficient. God is the disposer of all events. At any moment this Supreme Power may, by <\/strong>a volition of His creative will, disappoint the cleverest calculation of the cleverest sociologist. God deigns to employ human and material agencies in the execution of His purposes; but because He works in a regular and orderly manner, we are not to think only of the mere means and instruments, and forget that Divine omnipresent agency, without which the mere instrumentality would be as the body without life, or as the machine without motive-power. It is then God, and <\/strong>God alone, who is worthy of trust. The means are with us, the issues are with the Lord. God can work with means, and He can also work without them. Man may calculate and scheme for results, but in vain, except as God may succeed his efforts. If we would make the best of both worlds, we must most distinctly remember that our only reliable help is to be found in the Lord, and in Him alone.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>In all cases it is our duty to trust only in God. Hero we see the practical bearing of the truth enforced by the prophecy. The lesson of the text is, that we are not to trust to any use of means for the result or results which we may desire. Secondary causes are only efficient as they are so made by the informing agency of God. (D. Clark, M. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"