4<\/strong>. They will not frame<\/em> ] Rather, as in the margin, Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God<\/strong>. The same idea that from the meshes of an inveterate vicious habit there is hardly an escape is expressed in Hos 7:2<\/span>, comp. Joh 8:34<\/span>; Rom 6:16<\/span>.<\/p>\n the spirit of whoredoms<\/em> ] See on Hos 4:12<\/span>.<\/p>\n is in the midst of them<\/em> ] Rather, is within them,<\/strong> i.e. in their inmost being.<\/p>\n have not known<\/em> ] Rather, know not<\/strong> (see on Hos 2:20<\/span>).<\/p>\n They will not frame their doings … – <\/B>They were possessed by an evil spirit, impelling and driving them to sin; the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, i. e., in their very inward self, their center, so to speak; in their souls, where reside the will, the reason, the judgment; and so long as they did not, by the strength of God, dislodge him, they would and could not frame their acts, so as to repent and turn to God. For a mightier impulse mastered them and drove them into sin, as the evil spirit drove the swine into the deep.<\/P> The rendering of the margin, although less agreeable to the Hebrew, also gives a striking sense. Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God. Not so much that their habits of sin had got an absolute mastery over them, so as to render repentance impossible; but rather, that it was impossible that they should turn inwardly, while they did not turn outwardly. Their evil doings, so long as they persevered in doing them, took away all heart, whereby to turn to God with a solid conversion.<\/P> And yet He was their God; this made their sin the more grievous. He, whom they would not turn to, still owned them, was still ready to receive them as their God. For the prophet continues, and they have not known the Lord. Him, their God, they knew not. For the spirit which possessed them hindered them from thought, from memory, from conception of spiritual things. They did not turn to God,<\/P> (1) because the evil spirit held them, and so long as they allowed his hold, they were filled with carnal thoughts which kept them back from God.<\/P> (2) they did not know God; so that, not knowing how good and how great a good He is in Himself, and how good to us, they had not even the desire to turn to Him, for love of Himself, yea even for love of themselves. They saw not, that they lost a loving God.<\/P><\/p>\n Hos 5:4<\/span><\/p>\n They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Framing the doings<\/strong><\/p>\n This is one of those strong Old English expressions which have been retained in our north country speech. People say, He frames well, meaning of a new servant, he sets hopefully to his work, he shows adaptation. Hosea lived at the time when Israel, whose sin had ripened before Judahs, was beginning to suffer its punishments. Hosea directs the eye of Judah to the miseries falling on Israel, bidding her take warning and hasten to turn back from all her wicked ways to God. In the case of Israel there is a kind of hopelessness that they would ever repent, and the text expresses this hopelessness,–They will not frame their doings, etc. Such a description of mens state in relation to God is suitable to every generation.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The claims and relations of God. The eye of every created thing but man is towards God. Whatever view may be taken of those relations–Creator, King, Father–this is certain, God ought to be something to every man–ought to be all that He can possibly be. Man should turn to Him.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The conditions of our being. Our condition is one of dependence. Possibly one of gracious friendship with our Creator. We are certainly under temporary conditions on which depend the eternal conditions.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The fact that man is turned from God. None are disposed to deny that fact. The consequences are too plainly written on the care-burdened earth–too certainly stamped in on human consciousness. Men everywhere are trying to turn to God, then they must be turned from Him.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>The special call made by God, in His mercy, through Christ. All natural calls of God are sealed and intensified by His extraordinary call. A new pressure God has put on men–urging them to Himself in Christ. The voice of the Cross is, Turn ye; turn ye! It is mans greatest duty, because not concerning the transitory but the eternal, not the <\/strong>temporary but the essential. A true life is a continual turning to God, as the needle to the pole.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Lust of the flesh. Indulgence of bodily passion. What have we given up in order to turn to God?<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Lust of the eyes. The higher pleasures of mind.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Pride of life. The great sin of our times. Further, test our religious profession by our unforgivings and envyings. What sincerity then is there in our turning to God? This is the Lords reproach. Ye will not frame your doings to turn unto God. A mans sincerity is seen in what he will give up for an object. Illustrate from the going to war; framing their doings to show their patriotism. God looks for a like sincerity. But, after all, behind the doings is the real thing keeping men from turning to God. It is the bad will, the self-centred will. And so this must be the Divine reproach, Ye will <\/em>not come unto Me, that ye might have life. (Robert Tuck, B. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Framing the doings<\/strong><\/p>\n The words in the original are very elegant. Jerome and Vulgate render,: They will not give themselves to think of such a thing. Mercer and Castellius, They will not do their endeavours. Tremellius, They do not apply any action of theirs any way to turn unto the Lord. Drusius and Pagninus, Their custom in their ways of sin will not suffer them to turn to the Lord. Septuagint and Calvin, They give not their counsels, their studies, to turn to the Lord. They will not give their mind to turn to the Lord, they will not put forth themselves into any posture that way. It is true, we can do nothing without the Lord, but yet the sin lies in our wills rather than in our power, therefore the will is charged by God. They cannot turn unto God of themselves, but yet they may do somewhat, they may bend themselves upon it, they may think of it, they may attend upon the means.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Israel will not so much as set his heart to think of anything that will bring him unto God. Not so much as to think, are my ways right or not right?<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Though a man cannot turn to God, yet through the common work of Gods Spirit he may do this, he may be willing to hear and consider what is said for the ways of God.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>They will not wait on God in the use of means.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>They will not apply the rule of the Word to their actions. Whatsoever they think will make for their own cuds, that they will follow.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>The light and power they have they will not use.<\/p>\n 6. <\/strong>They will not join in with the work of God.<\/p>\n 7. <\/strong>They will adhere to their old customs, to their former ways, to what they have received from their forefathers, and been trained up in.<\/p>\n 8. <\/strong>They will take and improve to the uttermost every advantage they can have against the ways of God. If we will not frame our doings to turn unto the Lord, He may break us, break that frame which we raise in our own imaginations.<\/p>\n Observe–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> Apostates seldom have any inclination to turn unto God. No meltings of spirit, no yieldings, but their hearts are hardened, and they depart farther and farther from God.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> True repentance is not only to leave evil, and to do good, but to turn unto God as our God.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> It is Gods just judgment to give men over to the devil to be blinded and hardened when they forsake Him and His truth.<\/p>\n (4)<\/strong> Impetuousness of spirit blinds the mind. The spirit of whoredoms is in them; and then follows, they have not known the Lord. Whatsoever is said against their way cannot convince them. When the mind is possessed by passion, love, fear, sorrow, or any other strong affection, and carried out powerfully to the object that excites them, it will not listen to, it will not understand anything urged against it; the voice of reason is unheeded, charming never so wisely. Some have a spirit of sluggishness and love their ease; a spirit of covetousness, and they must have their estates; a spirit of ambition, and they must have their honour and respect; a spirit of pride and self-love, and they must not on any account grant that they are ignorant and mistaken; therefore they cannot see the truths, the ways of God. (Jeremiah Burroughs.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Life training<\/strong><\/p>\n The perfection and beauty of all life–vegetable, animal, intellectual, and moral–depends largely on framing, by which I mean culture. Scotland was once a barren soil, but industry and skill have turned it into one of the most fruitful and prolific lands to farmers in Europe. More: the orchid would not be so popular as it is, but for the care and skill of the botanist: the rose would not be the beautiful flower that it is, but for the gardener: nor would the carnation, nor the chrysanthemum be the favourites they are, but for the care bestowed upon them by professionals. The same law applies to the feathered tribes. It is a well-known fact that the almost endless variety of pigeons we have in England sprang from the common blue-rock pigeon; and Dr. Drummond says that if all these pigeons could be banished to some distant island for a few years, and their descendants brought back, they would be totally changed; for they would have become blue-rock pigeons. The same law applies with redoubled force to man. Let a man neglect his body for a little while, and he would become little better than a beast or a savage. Let a man neglect his mind, and disorder will follow. Let him neglect his moral nature, and his sympathies will be stunted, and his conscience will cease to commend him when he does right, and to warn him when he does wrong. This was the sin of those to whom the prophet spoke: They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Each man possesses a soul, which must exist for ever amongst the spirits of the redeemed, or be consigned to eternal punishment.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Some men tell us that the brain is the greatest power in man; others, that that power lies in the heart; while others contend that it lies in the will. The fact is, Christian character calls all these powers into requisition (1Ti 6:9-11<\/span>). How is this character to be secured?<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> There must be repentance.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> Prayer and self-denial. These are as necessary to expel the evil propensities of your nature as they were to expel devils in our Saviours day.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> Faith in Christ.<\/p>\n (4)<\/strong> All men can live such a life if they will. A man may be humble in his origin, and poor in his circumstances, but these things do not prevent him rising to the dignity of a perfect man in Christ.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>Some plead the unfavourable situation in which they are placed. Their companions stand in the way. They would sneer at them, revile them, or even persecute them if they could. To read the Bible, to pray, and to talk about religion in their presence would be impossible. Oh, man, where is thy courage, where is thy manhood?<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>Others plead the pressing claims of their worldly occupations. These are allowed to take precedence. Thought, conversation, and care are bestowed on houses, lands, and worldly wealth, as if there were no better inheritance for man.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Business is urged as an excuse. They have to build their house, educate their children, provide for their families, and these leave them no time to carry into effect that which they know to be their duty to God and to themselves. Now observe–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> There is time enough for every one to save his soul, Others find time to do their duty to God, and you can if you will but try.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> That family duties and cares need not stand in your way, for the calm influences of religion are just what you need to help you to bear lifes heavy cares,<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> There are methods of amassing wealth in our day which are hurtful to men and abominable to God.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Others plead the strength of their passion. They are naturally intemperate, or unchaste, or dishonest, or grasping.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>All these excuses indicate a shocking indifference to the claims of God upon you, and show, besides, an amazing ignorance of religion. They show that you dont understand the necessity of religion, as you under stand the necessity of food for the hungry, raiment for the naked, or houses for the homeless. You undervalue its importance as compared with other interests.<\/p>\n 6. <\/strong>What does God say to these excuses? <\/em>(H. Woodcock.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The guilt and danger of refusing to serve God<\/strong><\/p>\n Men will not act upon the principle that the great business of life is to serve and please God, and enjoy His favour, here and hereafter.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>They will not treasure up that truth which is the only medium of sanctification.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>They will store up folly till there is no room in their minds for Divine and sanctifying truth.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Men so associate themselves together that it would rupture all their friendships to become the friends of God.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>Men so commit themselves against religion, the Bible, the Sabbath, the people of God, etc., as to cause them great embarrassment when there shall be occasion to take back these commitments.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>Men so locate themselves and enter such employments as to require a change, and perhaps a rupture of all their earthly relationships, should they turn to serve and please the Lord.<\/p>\n 6. <\/strong>They pollute their consciences with those acts of moral defilement which will greatly pain them should they become the children of God.<\/p>\n 7. <\/strong>They advance such sentiments with regard to Divine things before the ungodly that should they change their course they wilt be thereby much hindered in their efforts to do good.<\/p>\n 8. <\/strong>All their habits of thinking, speaking, and acting axe at variance with the habits of godliness.<\/p>\n 9. <\/strong>They put off religion until all their preparation for eternity is crowded into the few last moments of life. Remarks–<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> What a calamity it is that men will not use a little of their wisdom in the matters of eternity, and not be continually blocking up their way to heaven.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> The people of God have great cause for gratitude that He has not suffered them to go on to a returnless distance from Him.<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> Every benevolent man will be doing all in his power to hold back his fellow-men from ruin.<\/p>\n (4)<\/strong> It would be wise if men would calculate to be saved, and be shaping their ways for heaven. (National Preacher.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Moral framework<\/strong><\/p>\n s:–They cannot set up any framework of God; they are poor moral carpenters; their fingers lose all skill when they seek to put up <\/strong>something that shall have the appearance at least of morality and goodness. They no sooner set up one side of the edifice than the other fails down, and the framework will not hold together, because the spirit is wrong. Away with your mechanical morality; away with your frameworks of honour and social security, even of education when it is meant as a substitute for moral earnestness and purity. It is the spirit that must be renewed; we do not want a framework, but a genius of heart, an atmosphere of soul, a new manhood. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good. Do not trouble yourselves about the framework. You are not carpenters, you are men; you are not mechanics, you are souls. Do not trifle with the tragedy of life. (Joseph Parker, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The use of means<\/strong><\/p>\n A people are yet the more inexcusable in their impenitency when they will not so much as think on endeavouring or using the outward means which might tend towards repentance. They might have fought and yet not come speed, because of their unsoundness and formality in their way; but they were either so ignorant, or malicious and impious, as they did not so much as endeavour <\/em>to bend their course that way. They would not frame their doings. (George Hutcheson.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Outward conduct preventive of inward repentance<\/strong><\/p>\n Dr. Pusey says, The rendering of the margin, although less agreeable to the Hebrew, gives a striking sense, Their doings will not suffer them to turn unto their God Not so much that their habits of sin had got an absolute mastery over them, so as to render repentance impossible, but rather that it was impossible that they should turn inwardly, while they did not turn outwardly. Their evil doings, so long as they persevered in doing them, took away all heart, whereby to turn to God with a solid conversion. Sin begets sin, and the longer men indulge in it the weaker they become in good desire and earnest resolution. But the Hebrew gives another idea. They, the people in general, Ephraim is no longer addressed personally, will not frame, lit., will not give (LXX ; Vulg., Non dabunt cogitationes suas). Their will is concerned, the seat and centre of their life is wrong, and so long as that is alienated from God (Eph 4:18<\/span>), they do not, they cannot frame their doings. They have created and cherished a mighty impulse within them which drives them on, like the devils drove the swine into the deep. This implies resistance to God and His Spirit (Act 7:51<\/span>). (J. Wolfendale.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Self-hinderers<\/strong><\/p>\n Betsy, an old coloured cook, was moaning around the kitchen the other day, when her mistress asked her if she was ill No, maam, not zactly, said Betsy. But the fac is, I dont feel ambition nough to get out of my own way. As we read this, our memories ran back over a long line of meetings, in which we recalled the faces of many, who after long seeking have never been converted, or others who have never grown in grace, or still others who have never been entirely sanctified, because like Betsy, they have not had ambition enough to get out of their own way. Almost every sort of difficulty has been suggested, perhaps they will can didly confess that Betsy has exactly hit it. (Dr. Pepper in Christian Standard. <\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Necessary preliminaries to a godly life<\/strong><\/p>\n Few have any notion that there is a certain way to repent and believe, and fewer still indicate the nature of that way. How are men so to frame their doings as to turn unto their God?<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>With concentration.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>With persistency.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>With devotion.<\/p>\n They have not known the Lord<\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Ignorance of the national Jehovah<\/strong><\/p>\n By this sentence the prophet extenuates not the Sin of the people, but, on the contrary, amplifies their ingratitude, because they had forgotten their God, who had so indulgently treated them. As they had been redeemed by Gods hand; as the teaching of the law had continued among them; as they had been preserved to that day through Gods constant kindness,–it was truly an evidence of monstrous ignorance that they could in an instant adopt ungodly forms of worship, and embrace those corruptions which they knew were condemned in the law. It was surely an inexcusable wickedness in the people thus to withdraw themselves from their God. This is the reason why the prophet now says that they know not Jehovah. But if they were asked the cause, they could not have said that they had no light, for God had made known to them the way of salvation. Hence, that they knew not Jehovah was to be imputed to their perverseness; for, closing their eyes, they knowingly and wilfully ran headlong after those wicked devices which they knew, as it had been stated before, to be condemned by God. (John Calvin.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 4<\/span>. They will not frame their doings<\/B><\/I>] They never purpose<\/I> to turn to God, they have fully imbibed the spirit of idolatry.<\/P> <\/p>\n They, those revolters, polluted Israelites and idolatrous Ephraimites, will not frame their doings; they are so intent upon their idolatries and oppressions, they have been so long inured to these doings, that now they are become slaves to their own doings, insomuch that they neither have will or power to change them, as Jer 13:23<\/span>. <\/P> To turn unto their God; to repent of those wicked courses, and to leave them, and so return to their God, who was once theirs by covenant, though now they have violated the covenant, and departed from God. They are in sin hardened to a hopeless and remediless obstinacy and impenitence. <\/P> The spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them: see Hos 4:12<\/span>. Their mind and inclination stands bent and fixed upon spiritual whoredoms, and they are incited to it by the seducing spirit, allured by examples, and all these hurry them on. It is a universal distemper among them, all filled with this spirit, it hath seized the heart of them. <\/P> They have not known; they never did rightly know, nor would they ever know, they forgot, were wilfully ignorant of, the way of holiness and pure religion, contained in the law of God. <\/P> The Lord, who is pure, zealous for his glory, sovereign in his authority, rich in his rewards, severe in his punishments, and true to his promises and threats; that nothing can be more prejudicial to a people than to forsake, nor any thing more conducive to the good of a people than to keep, his law. <\/P> <\/p>\n 4. They<\/B>Turning from a directaddress to Ephraim, he uses the third person plural<\/I> tocharacterize the people in general. The Hebrew<\/I> is against theMargin,<\/I> their doings will not suffer them<\/I>” theomission of “them” in the Hebrew<\/I> after the verbbeing unusual. The sense is, they are incurable, for they will notpermit<\/I> (as the Hebrew<\/I> literally means) their doings tobe framed so as to turn unto God. Implying that they resist<\/I>the Spirit of God, not suffering<\/I> Him to renew them; and givethemselves up to “the spirit of whoredoms” (in antithesisto “the Spirit of God” implied in “suffer” or”permit”) (Hos 4:12<\/span>;Isa 63:10<\/span>; Eze 16:43<\/span>;Act 7:51<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God<\/strong>,…. Either their evil doings; they will not leave, as the Targum and Jarchi g; their evil ways and worship, their adultery and idolatry; which was necessary to repentance and true conversion to God, whom they yet professed to be their God, though they had so sadly departed from him: or their good works; they did not choose to do them, which were leading steps to repentance and conversion, or fruits and evidences of it: they had no mind to repent of their sins, and turn from them to the Lord; they had no thought, care, or concern, about these things, but obstinately persisted in their sins and in their impenitence: their wills were wretchedly depraved and corrupted; their hearts hard, perverse, and obstinate; they had no will to that which is good:<\/p>\n for the spirit of whoredom [is] in the midst of them<\/strong>; an unclean spirit, that prompts them to and pushes them on to commit corporeal and spiritual whoredom; the bias and inclination of their minds were this way which put them upon such evil practices; the spirit of error, which caused them to err, as the Targum and Kimchi; the lying spirit in the false prophets which encouraged them therein; and even himself, the spirit that works in the children of disobedience:<\/p>\n and they have not known the Lord<\/strong>; ignorance of God, his nature and perfections, his will, word, and worship, was the cause of their idolatry, and other sins; see Ho 4:1<\/span>; and this was wilful and affected ignorance; they knew not, nor would they understand: they rejected the knowledge of God, and the means of it; so the Targum,<\/p>\n “and they sought not instruction (or doctrine) from the Lord.”<\/p>\n g So R. Sol. Urbin. fol. 68. 2.<\/p>\n Some translate thus, “their inclinations allow them not to turn themselves;” and this meaning is probable, that is, that they were so much given to their own superstitions, that they were not now free, or at liberty, to return to the right way; as though the Prophet said, “They are entirely enslaved by their own diabolical inventions, that their inclinations will not allow them to repent.” But the former meaning (it is also more generally approved) seems more adapted to the context. They will not apply, he says, their endeavors to turn to their God Here God declares that it was all over with the people, and that no hope whatever remained: as he said before, “Leave them, why shouldest thou do anything more? for they will not receive wholesome instruction; as they are entirely given up to destruction, there is now no reason for thee to be solicitous about their salvation, for that would be useless;” — so also he says in this place, They will not apply their endeavors to turn to their God <\/p>\n If the Prophet speaks here in his own person, the meaning is, “Why do I weary myself? God has indeed commanded me to reprove this people; but I find that my labour is in vain; for I have to do with brute animals, or with stones rather than with men; there is in them no reason, no discernment; for the devil has fascinated their minds: never, then, will they apply their endeavors to turn to their God.” If we prefer to view the sentence as spoken in the person of God, still the doctrine will remain nearly the same: God here declares that the people were incurable. Never, then, will they apply their endeavors. How so? For they are sunk, as it were, into a deep gulf, and their obstinacy is like the abyss. Inasmuch, then, as they are thus fixed in their superstitions, they will never apply their endeavors to turn to their God <\/p>\n But God in the meantime not only shows here, that there was no more any remedy for the diseases of the people; but he also gravely and severely reprobates their iniquity, because they thought not of seeking reconciliation with their God; as though he said, “What, then, do I require of these wretched men, but to return to their God? This they ought to have done of their own accord; but now, when they are admonished, they care not; on the contrary, they fiercely resist wholesome instruction. Is not this a strange and monstrous madness?” We hence see that there is an important meaning in the words, They will not apply their endeavors to return to their God; for the Prophet might have simply said, “to return to Jehovah,” or “to God;” but he says, to their God, and he says so, because God had made himself familiarly known to them, nay, brought them up in his own bosom, as though they were his children and he their Father: they had forsaken him and had become apostates; and when the Lord would now reprove this perfidy, was it not strange that the people should close their ears and harden their hearts against every instruction? We hence see how sharp this reproof is. <\/p>\n And he says, Because the spirit of wantonness is in the midst of them; that is, they are so pleased with their own filthiness, that there is no shame, no fear. But the reason of this comparison, which I have before explained, must be borne in mind. As a wife, though not faithful to her husband, yet retains still some modesty, as long as she continues at home, and while she is in any place classed with faithful and chaste women; but when she once enters a brothel, and openly prostitutes herself to all, when she knows that her baseness is universally known, she then throws off every shame, and entirely forgets her own character: so also the Prophet says, that the spirit of wantonness was in the midst of the people of Israel; as though he said, “The Israelites are so imbrued with their superstitions, that they cannot now be touched or moved by any reverence for God; they cannot be restored to the right way, for the devil has demented them, and having cast off every shame, they are like abominable strumpets.” <\/p>\n And he afterwards adds, Jehovah they have not known By this sentence the Prophet extenuates not the sin of the people, but, on the contrary, amplifies their ingratitude, because they had forgotten their God, who had so indulgently treated them. As they had been redeemed by God’s hand, as the teaching of the law had continued among them, as they had been preserved to that day through God’s constant kindness, it was truly an evidence of monstrous ignorance, that they could in an instant adopt ungodly forms of worship, and embrace those corruptions which they knew were condemned in the law. It was surely an inexcusable wickedness in the people thus to withdraw themselves from their God. This is the reason why the Prophet now says, that they knew not Jehovah. But if they were asked the cause, they could not have said that they had no light; for God had made known to them the way of salvation. Hence, that they knew not Jehovah, was to be imputed to their perverseness; for, closing their eyes, they knowingly and willfully ran headlong after those wicked devices, which they knew, as it had been stated before, to be condemned by God. <\/p>\n CRITICAL NOTES<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Hos. 5:4<\/span><\/strong>. Will not frame]<\/strong> Heb. give their doings. Margin, will not suffer them. They are slaves, not free to turn from evil habits. Their works stand in the way, prevent them from returning. Habit is a second nature domineering over mens thoughts and ways. In them]<\/strong> The knowledge of God was wanting, the evil spirit had taken possession of their very centre, had its seat within them, and held resistless sway over them. <\/p>\n Hos. 5:5<\/span><\/strong> Pride]<\/strong> The haughtiness of Isa. shall be a witness before God of their folly. Others refer it to Jehovah, the glory of Is., who will witness by judgments and the destruction of their false glory (ch. Hos. 7:10<\/span>; Amo. 8:7<\/span>). Jud.]<\/strong> shall fall, because participating in Israels guilt. <\/p>\n HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n THE POWER OF EVIL HABITS.Hos. 5:4<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n The prophet makes a fourth charge of obstinacy through affected ignorance of God and long custom in sin. God had been their God<\/em> by covenant and tender care, but they despised and abused his mercy, and would not<\/em>, could not turn unto him. They were so habituated to evil practices that they were not only indisposed but ill-affected towards God. They lost all power to return, and were perfect slaves to evil habits. They were possessed by the spirit of whoredom, an evil spirit which impelled and carried them on to sin.<\/p>\n I. The spring of evil habits<\/strong>. The spirit of whoredom is in the midst of them. In their centre and seat a mighty power held resistless and triumphant sway. Sinful habits spring from sinful nature. <\/p>\n 1. They spring from ignorance of God<\/em>. They have not known the Lord. They might have known him, for they had the law and the prophets of God. They were wilfully, shamefully ignorant. Some have not knowledge of GodI speak this to your shame. Sin at first was the cause of ignorance, but now ignorance is the cause of sin. Swearing, lying, and murder abounded in the land because there was no knowledge of God. All sins are seminally lodged in this one. It leads to error (Mat. 22:29<\/span>), persecution (Joh. 16:2-3<\/span>), and to rejection of Christ. Aristotle says ignorance is the mother of all misrule in the world. As certain epidemics are generated and become active during night, in places not visited by the beams of the sun, so mental and moral ignorance spread pernicious influence and scatter seeds of death. That ignorance which keeps men slaves to evil makes them hate the freedom of truth. Sinners dread, decline to know God, lest they be disturbed in their sinful ways. They are ignorant of his beauty and excellency, goodness and love; they despise his mercy and forbearance; providential warnings and judgments fail to convince them of sin and bring them to repentance. Knowledge is the life of the soulthe life of intelligence to know<\/em> God; the life of power to love<\/em> him. <\/p>\n 2. They spring from an evil heart towards God<\/em>. The heart of the Jews was alienated and perverse. Love which appealed to their affections could not reclaim them. The heart is the source, the mainspring of human conduct, and when that is defiled the character and the life will be defiled. As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. His thoughts and feelings identify him with his moral self, and discriminates him from others. They place him in a distinct relation to God, and morally fix him in his own place. This hidden man of the heart subordinates the outer man and the outer world to itself. Habits result from acts repeated; and from habit results character and its consolidation. Like the gradual growth of an everlasting mountain, character is always acquiring a bolder outline and firmer base. It is the slow and conscious product of mans voluntary nature.<\/p>\n Each man makes his own stature, builds himself; II. The result of evil habits<\/strong>. They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God. If their habits of sin had not got the mastery over them they rendered them indisposed to return. But the margin gives another sense. Their doings would not suffer them, and they could not turn inwardly, while they did not turn outwardly. <\/p>\n 1. Habits influence the will<\/em>. They will<\/em> not. The more they sinned the more disposed they were to sin, and the less power they had to do right. This is just the result of habit. By repetition of evil, moral power is diminished. The will becomes impotent and the conscience seared. But moral power is required to resist evil passions which prompt to repetitions of acts, hence the less the power to resist the easier the repetition of an act. Thus evil begets a tendency to evil; goes on repeating and enlarging itself; binding the will, alienating the heart, and driving men from God. It is a people that do err in their heart<\/em>, and they have not known my ways. Ye will not<\/em> come unto me. <\/p>\n 2. Habits enslave the life<\/em>. There was not simply the tendency, but the tyranny<\/em> of sin. We may calculate the immediate effects of an act, but if the act lead to the habit the ultimate results must not be overlooked. Drunkenness and sensuality have sprung from repeated acts. Perverted judgment at the beginning of life may disqualify a man for believing the gospel at the close. Men may not mean to plunge deeply into vice, but when the steps are taken and repeated they are fastened with their own chain. Habit is stronger than reason and stronger than taste. When a man gives himself up to its power he loses freedom and self-control, and it governs him with authority. Wicked men allow free will to be inactive; give bridle to desire and passion; acquire habits of vice; and at last are bound by chains of iron. Augustine thus speaks of the force of habit in his Confessions:<\/em> My will the enemy held, and thence had made a chain for me, and bound me. For of a froward will was a lust made; and a lust served became custom; and custom not resisted became necessity. By which links, as it were, joined together (whence I called it a chain) a hard bondage held me enthralled. Most people think lightly of sins, believe they can give them up easily, but Saul found his evil passions his torment and captivity. He had convictions of duty, but his very efforts to extricate himself from evil increased his guilt and misery, and he rushed from habitual crime to endless misery (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>Every mans first duty is to turn unto his God. Shew it is his duty from these considerations.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Precisely in this first and greatest duty most men fail. One of the most constant efforts of a Christian ministry is to point out the various hindrances keeping men from God, their self-delusions, their religious delusions, their procrastinations. Mens doings <\/em>are the apparent hindrance; mens bad wills are the real hindrance. By mens doings are not meant single, isolated acts, but sets and courses of conduct, habits of life, moulds in which conduct is regularly cast. These become such power for evil, because they re-act on the will, enslaving it. So the Old Testament and our Lord and His apostles all say so much about mens doings. What will be the real seeking after God? Its fountain must be in the heart. Penitent yearning of the soul for God. Its expression must be in confession and prayer. The test and proof of its sincerity must be a changed conduct. In every case there will be a suitable framing of the doings. Men are not without heart desires for God, nor without lip confessions and seekings; but how few can stand the further test of the way in which they frame their doings. Let us test ourselves by the Scripture terms for the spirit of the ungodly.<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>What is this life framing to which the word of God calls us?<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Look at some of the reasons which men urge for the neglect of this duty. They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God. The reasons which men urge for the neglect of this important work are, at best, mere excuses, and too often hollow pretexts.<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>By thinking on certain subjects. We act from motives when we act as men. But what are the motives? The creation of our own thoughts. The man who centres his thoughts on the advantages of fame, or wealth, or knowledge, turns to their pursuit. His thoughts excite his feelings, and his feelings urge him to a resolution. If I am to repent I must think of my sins in relation to the character of the Holy God, and the self-sacrificing Christ. It is only as I muse that the fires of penitence will burn. If a man is to turn to any new course of conduct, he must have new motives, and if he is to have new motives, he must have new thoughts.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>By thinking on certain subjects in a certain way.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>By thinking on certain subjects with a practical intent. Merely to increase our theological knowledge, or make our feelings glow with religious sentiment would be of little service, but to think in order to translate the thought into action, to embody the idea in the life–this is the way. Thoughtlessness is the curse of humanity. Think on right subjects; think in a right way; think with a practical intent. (Homilist.<\/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: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Virtue alone outbuilds the pyramids:
Her monuments shall last, when Egypts fall.<\/p>\n