10<\/strong>. like grapes in the wilderness<\/em> ] With such delight as a traveller would unexpectedly find grapes in the desert, did Jehovah regard the children of Israel at the beginning of their national existence. Comp. Jer 2:2<\/span>, ‘I remember for thy good the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness.’ Jehovah condescends to overlook the frailties and inconsistencies of ancient Israel, and even idealizes its character. Comp. Hos 2:15<\/span>, Hos 13:1<\/span>.<\/p>\n as the firstripe in the fig tree<\/em> ] So the better portion of the people of Judah are compared to ‘very good figs, even as the figs that are first ripe’ (Jer 24:2<\/span>). The white fig of Palestine ripens much before the black, sometimes as early as April; the ordinary fig-harvest is not till the middle of August, but early ripe fruit might be found in June. Hence the fitness of Hosea’s image (comp. Isa 28:4<\/span>; Mic 7:1<\/span>).<\/p>\n at her first time<\/em> ] i.e., when it begins to be ripe.<\/p>\n they went to Baal-peor<\/em>, &c.] So early did they fall away; comp. Hos 11:1-2<\/span>. Baal-peor is here (as the form of the construction shows) put for Beth-peor (Deu 3:29<\/span>, &c.), the place where Baal-peor was worshipped. The open falling-away to this heathen deity was one of the most startling episodes of the period of the wanderings (see Numbers 25<\/span>). It is commonly held, but is really a pure conjecture, that the worship of Baal-peor was licentious. If this be correct, it will give a special significance to the last clause in the verse, which may however merely mean that the idols, being abominable to the true God, make their worshippers abominable, just as Shame may refer, not to the shameful rites of this Baal, but to God’s abhorrence of idolatry. In 1Ki 11:5<\/span> and elsewhere ‘an abomination’ is a synonym for an idol, apart from the character of the worship.<\/p>\n separated<\/em> [i.e. consecrated] themselves unto that shame<\/em> ] Rather, unto Shame<\/strong> (Heb. bosheth<\/em>). See above, and compare the substitution of bosheth<\/em> or besheth<\/em> for baal<\/em> in proper names, e.g. Jerubbesheth (for Jerubbaal), Ishbosheth (for Eshbaal), Mephibosheth for Meribbaal (comp. Prof. Kirkpatrick on 2Sa 2:8<\/span>).<\/p>\n and their abominations<\/em>, &c.] Rather, and became abominations like that which they loved<\/strong> (comp. on Hos 12:11<\/span>).<\/p>\n 10 17<\/strong>. But not only in the days of Gibeah; from the very first, the nation trespassed against Jehovah. Awful shall be the judgment for the continued infidelity so awful, that Hosea can hardly bear to contemplate it. He seems uncertain whether extermination or dispersion will be the penalty, but concludes with an announcement of the latter.<\/p>\n I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness – <\/B>God is not said to find anything, as though He had lost it, or knew not where it was, or came suddenly upon it, not expecting it. They were lost, as relates to Him, when they were found by Him. As our Lord says of the returned prodigal, This my son was lost and is found Luk 15:32<\/span>. He found them and made them pleasant in His own sight, as grapes which a man finds unexpectedly, in a great terrible wilderness of fiery serpents and drought Deu 8:15<\/span>, where commonly nothing pleasant or refreshing grows; or as the first ripe in the fig-tree at her fresh time, whose sweetness passed into a proverb, both from its own freshness and from the long abstinence (see Isa 28:4<\/span>). God gave to Israel both richness and pleasantness in His own sight; but Israel, from the first, corrupted Gods good gifts in them. This generation only did as their fathers. So Stephen, setting forth to the Jews how their fathers had rebelled against Moses, and persecuted the prophets, sums up; as your fathers did, so do ye Act 7:51<\/span>. Each generation was filling up the measure of their fathers, until it was full; as the whole world is doing now Rev 14:15<\/span>.<\/P> But they went to Baal-Peor – <\/B>They, the word is emphatic; these same persons to whom God showed such love, to whom He gave such gifts, went. They left God who called them, and went to the idol, which could not call them. Baal-Peor, as his name probably implies, was the filthiest and foulest of the pagan gods. It appears from the history of the daughters of Midian, that his worship consisted in deeds of shame Num. 25<\/span>.<\/P> And separated themselves unto that shame – <\/B>that is, to Baal-Peor, whose name of Baal, Lord, he turns into Bosheth, shame . Holy Scripture gives disgraceful names to the idols, (as abominations, nothings, dungy things, vanities, uncleanness, in order to make people ashamed of them. To this shame they separated themselves from God, in order to unite themselves with it. The Nazarite separated himself from certain earthly enjoyments, and consecrated himself, for a time or altogether, to God; these separated themselves from God, and united, devoted, consecrated themselves to shame. They made themselves, as it were, Nazarites to shame. Shame was the object of their worship and their God, and their abominations were according as they loved, i. e., they had as many abominations or abominable idols, as they had loves. They multiplied abominations, after their hearts desire; their abominations were manifold, because their passions were so; and their love being corrupted, they loved nothing but abominations.<\/P> Yet it seems simpler and truer to render it, and they became abominations, like their loves; as the Psalmist says, They that make them are like unto them Psa 115:8<\/span>. : The object which the will desires and loves, transfuses its own goodness or badness into it. Man first makes his god like his own corrupt self, or to some corruption in himself, and then, worshiping this ideal of his own, he becomes the more corrupt through copying that corruption. He makes his god in his own image and likeness, the essence and concentration of his own bad passions, and then conforms himself to the likeness, not of God, but of what was most evil in himself. Thus the Pagan made gods of lust, cruelty, thirst for war; and the worship of corrupt gods reacted on themselves. They forgot that they were the work of their own hands, the conception of their own minds, and professed to do gladly what so great gods had done.<\/P> And more widely, says a father , what a mans love is, that he is. Lovest thou earth? thou art earth. Lovest thou God? What shall I say? thou shalt be god. : Naught else maketh good or evil actions, save good or evil affections. Love has a transforming power over the soul, which the intellect has not. He who serveth an abomination is himself an abomination , is a thoughtful Jewish saying. The intellect brings home to the soul the knowledge on which it worketh, impresses it on itself, incorporates it with itself. Love is an impulse whereby he who loves is borne forth toward that which he loves, is united with it, and is transformed into it. Thus in explaining the words, Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His Mouth, Son 1:2<\/span>, the fathers say , Then the Word of God kisseth us, when He enlighteneth our heart with the Spirit of divine knowledge, and the soul cleaveth to Him and His Spirit is transfused into him.<\/P> <\/p>\n Hos 9:10<\/span><\/p>\n They went to Baal-peer, and separated themselves unto that shame.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sin and separation<\/strong><\/p>\n The shame here alluded to was idolatry.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>It is shame in its commission. People seldom do iniquity in the full blaze of day. They would rather not be seen in its commission. It is shameful to be a sinner; to possess reason and to play the part of an idiot; to have liberty and to act the part of a slave; to be admitted to the <\/strong>arms of a benefactor and then to stab him in return.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>It is a shame in its consequence. It produces shame. Thou shalt be confounded, says God, because of your shame. The wicked shall rise to shame and everlasting contempt.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>From the love, protection, guidance, and companionship of his God. What blessings to turn his back upon!<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>From the principles of truth, righteousness, and grace. He becomes another character. All that can exalt him is left behind.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>From the prospect of future bliss. (Homilist.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 10<\/span>. I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness<\/B><\/I>] While they were faithful, they were as acceptable<\/I> to me as ripe grapes<\/I> would be to a thirsty traveller<\/I> in the desert.<\/P> <\/P> I saw your fathers<\/B><\/I>] Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Samuel, c.<\/P> <\/P> As the first ripe<\/B><\/I>] Those grapes, whose bud having come first, and being exposed most to the sun, have been the first ripe<\/I> upon the tree which tree was now in the vigour of youth, and bore fruit for the first time<\/I>. A metaphor of the rising prosperity<\/I> of the Jewish state.<\/P> <\/P> But <\/B>they went to Baal-Peor<\/B><\/I>] The same as the Roman Priapus<\/I>, and worshipped with the most impure rites.<\/P> <\/P> And<\/B><\/I> their <\/B>abominations were according as they loved.<\/B><\/I>] Or, “they became as abominable as the object<\/I> of their love.” So Bp. Newcome<\/I>. And this was superlatively abominable.<\/P> <\/p>\n I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness:<\/B> the Lord speaks of himself in the person of a traveller, who unexpectedly in the wilderness findeth a vine loaded with grapes, which are most delightful and welcome to him; such love did God bear to Israel, i.e. a very strong and hearty love: the simile expresseth the greatness, not the cause, of the Divine love. <\/P> I saw your fathers; <\/B>not Abraham, or Isaac, and Jacob, but your fathers whom I brought out of Egypt. <\/P> As the first-ripe in the fig tree at her first time; <\/B>as the earliest ripe fruit, either of the fig tree as our version, or the first-ripe of any sweet and delicious fruit tree, as the word will bear, which are most valued and desired; so was Israel dear and valued. <\/P> They went to Baalpeor:<\/B> this evinceth that the prophet speaketh not of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but of those who were brought out of Egypt, as appears in the story of their deportment in Shittim, Num 25:1-3<\/span>, where they committed idolatry with Baal-peor, of whose rites authors do variously discourse, some reporting them to have been practised with shameless looseness, as the rites of Bacchus, Venus, or Priapus among the Romans; others say, this idol of Moab had his name from a mountain in Moab where he was worshipped, and had a stately and famous temple; this mountain is mentioned Num 22:41<\/span>, with Num 23:28<\/span>; and this is the more likely opinion. <\/P> Separated themselves; <\/B>they did consecrate and dedicate themselves; possibly some turned priests to the idol; however, they addicted themselves to and worshipped the idol, and brought their sacrifices. <\/P> To that shame:<\/B> by way of contempt and detestation the prophet speaks of this idol, and gives it the name of shame in the abstract, to express the greatest degree of detestation of it, and of that they did. <\/P> Their abominations, <\/B>their idols, and way of worshipping them, <\/P> were according as they loved; <\/B>either as they fancied, or as the idolatrous women whom they loved were multiplied, so their idols were, for they took the idols with them. <\/P> <\/p>\n 10.<\/B> As the traveller in awilderness is delighted at finding grapes to quench his thirst, orthe early fig (esteemed a great delicacy in the East, Isa 28:4<\/span>;Jer 24:2<\/span>; Mic 7:1<\/span>);so it was My delight to choose your fathers as My peculiar people inEgypt (Ho 2:15<\/span>). <\/P> at her first time<\/B>whenthe first-fruits of the tree become ripe. <\/P> went to Baal-peor<\/B> (Nu25:3<\/span>): the Moabite idol, in whose worship young women prostitutedthemselves; the very sin Israel latterly was guilty of. <\/P> separatedthemselves<\/B>consecrated themselves. <\/P> unto that shame<\/B>to thatshameful or foul idol (Jer 11:13<\/span>).<\/P> their abominations wereaccording as they loved<\/B>rather, as Vulgate,<\/I> “theybecame abominable like the object of their love” (Deu 7:26<\/span>;Psa 115:8<\/span>). English Version<\/I>gives good sense, “their abominable idols they followed after,according as their lusts prompted them” (Am4:5<\/span>, Margin<\/I>).<\/P><\/p>\n I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness<\/strong>,…. Not Jacob or Israel personally, with the few souls that went down with him into Egypt; for these died in Egypt, and never returned from thence, or came into the wilderness to be found; nor Israel in a spiritual sense, the objects of electing, redeeming, and calling grace; though it may be accommodated to them, who in their nature state are as in a wilderness, in a forlorn, hopeless, helpless, and uncomfortable condition; in which the Lord finds them, seeking them by his Son in redemption, and by his Spirit in the effectual calling; when they are like grapes, not in themselves, being destitute of all good, and having nothing but sin and wickedness in them; for, whatever good thing is in them at conversion, it is not found, but put there; but the simile may serve to express the great and unmerited love of God to his people, who are as agreeable to him as grapes in the wilderness to a thirsty traveller; and in whom he takes great delight and complacency, notwithstanding all their sinfulness and unworthiness; and bestows abundance of grace upon them, and makes them like clusters of grapes indeed; and such were many of the Jewish fathers, and who are here intended, even the people of Israel brought out of Egypt into the wilderness of Arabia, through which they travelled to Canaan: here the Lord found them, took notice and care of them, provided for them, and protected them, and gave them, many tokens of his love and affection; see De 32:10<\/span>; and they were as acceptable to him, and he took as much delight and pleasure in them, as one travelling through the deserts of Arabia, or any other desert, would rejoice at finding a vine laden with clusters of grapes. The design of this metaphor is not to compare Israel with grapes, because of any goodness in them, and as a reason of the Lord’s delight in them; for neither for quantity nor quality were they like them, being few, and very obstinate and rebellious; but to set forth the great love of God to them, and his delight and complacency in them; which arose and sprung, not from any excellency in them, but from his own sovereign good will and pleasure; see De 7:6<\/span>;<\/p>\n I saw your fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first time<\/strong>; the Lord looked upon their ancestors when they were settled as a people, in their civil and church state, upon their being brought out of Egypt, with as much pleasure as a man beholds the first ripe fig his fig tree produces after planting it, or the first it produces in the season, the fig tree bearing twice in a year; but the first is commonly most desired, as being most rare and valuable; and such were the Israelites to the Lord at first, Mic 7:1<\/span>. This is observed, to aggravate their ingratitude to the Lord, which soon discovered itself; and to suggest that their posterity were like them, who, though they had received many favours from the Lord, as tokens of his affection to them, and delight in them; yet behaved in a most shocking and shameful manner to him:<\/p>\n [but] they went to Baalpeor<\/strong>: or “went into Baalpeor” a; committed whoredom with that idol, even in the wilderness where the Lord found them and showed so much regard to them; this refers to the history in<\/p>\n Nu 25:1<\/span>. Baalpeor is by some interpreted “the lord” or “god of opening”: and was so called, either from his opening his mouth in prophecy, as Ainsworth b thinks, as Nebo, a god of Babylon, had his name from prophesying; or from his open mouth, with which this idol was figured, as a Jewish writer c observes; whose worshipper took him to be inspired, and opened their mouths to receive the divine afflatus from him: others interpret it “the lord” or “god of nakedness”; because his worshippers exposed to him their posteriors in a shameful manner, and even those parts which ought to be covered; and this is the sense of most of the Jewish writers. So, in the Jerusalem Talmud d, the worship of Peor is represented in like manner, and as most filthy and obscene, as it is by Jarchi e, who seems to have taken his account from thence; and even Maimonides f says it was a known thing that the worship of Peor was by uncovering of the nakedness; and this he makes to be the reason why God commanded the priests to make themselves breeches to cover their nakedness in the time of service, and why they might not go up to the altar by steps, that their nakedness might not be discovered; in short, they took this Peor to be no other than a Priapus; and in this they are followed by many Christians, particularly by Jerom on this place, who observes that Baalpeor is the god of the Moabites, whom we may call Priapus; and so Isidore g says, there was an idol in Moab called Baal, on Mount Fegor, whom the this call Priapus, the god of gardens; but Mr. Selden h rejects this notion, and contends that Peor is either the name of a mountain, of which Isidore, just now mentioned, speaks; see Nu 23:28<\/span>; where Baal was worshipped, and so was called from thence Baalpeor; as Jupiter Olympius, Capitolinus, c. is so called from the mountains of Olympus, Capitolinus, c. where divine honours are paid him or else the name of a man, of some great person in high esteem, who was deified by the Moabites, and worshipped by them after his death and so Baalpeor may be the same as “Lord Peor”; and it seems most likely that Peor is the name of a man, at least of an idol, since we read of Bethpeor, or the temple of Peor, in De 34:6<\/span>;<\/p>\n and separated themselves unto [that] shame<\/strong>; they separated themselves from God and his worship, and joined themselves to that shameful idol, and worshipped it, thought by many, as before observed, to be the Priapus of the Gentiles, in whose worship the greatest of obscenities were used, not fit to be named: so that this epithet of shame is with great propriety given it, and aggravates the sin of Israel, that such a people should be guilty of such filthy practices; though Baal, without supposing him to he a Priapus, may be called “that shame”, for Baal and Bosheth, which signifies shame, are some times put for each other; so Jerubbaal, namely Gideon, is called Jerubbesheth, Jud 8:35<\/span>; and Eshbaal appears plainly to be the same son of Saul, whose name was Ishbosheth, 1Ch 8:33<\/span>; and Meribbaal is clearly the same with Mephibosheth 1Ch 8:34<\/span>; yea, it may be observed that the prophets of Baal are called, in the Septuagint version of 1Ki 18:25<\/span>;<\/p>\n , “the prophets of that shame”; every idol, and all idolatry being shameful, and the cause of shame, sooner or later, to their worshippers; especially when things obscene were done in their religious rites, as were in many of the Heathens in which the Jews followed them; see Jer 3:24<\/span>;<\/p>\n and [their] abominations were according as they loved<\/strong>: or, “as they loved them”, the daughters of Moab; for it was through their impure love of them that they were drawn into these abominations, or to worship idols, which are often called abominations; or, as Joseph Kimchi reads the words, and gives the sense of them, “and they were abominations as I loved them”; that is, according to the measure of the love wherewith I loved them, so they were abominations in mine eyes; they were as detestable now as they were loved before.<\/p>\n a “ingressi sunt”, Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Drusius. b Annotations on Numb. xxv. 3. c Racenatensis in Capito, apud Drusium in loc. d T. Hieros. Sanhedrin, fol. 28. 4. e Perush in Numb. xxv. 3. f Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 45. p. 477. g Origin. l. 8. c. 11. p. 70. h De Dis Syris, Syntagma 1. c. 5. p. 162, 163. See Cumberland’s Sanchoniatho, p. 73, &c.<\/p>\n Hos 9:10<\/span>. “I found Israel like grapes in the desert, I saw your fathers like early fruit on the fig-tree in the first shooting; but they came to Baal-peor, and consecrated themselves to shame, and became abominations like their lover.” <\/em> Grapes in the desert and early figs are pleasant choice fruits to whoever finds them. This figure therefore indicates the peculiar pleasure which Jehovah found in the people of Israel when He led them out of Egypt, or the great worth which they had in His eyes when He chose them for the people of His possession, and concluded a covenant with them at Sinai (Theod., Cyr.). Bammidbar <\/em> (in the desert) belongs, so far as its position is concerned, to anabhm <\/em>: grapes in the dry, barren desert, where you do not expect to find such refreshing fruit; but, so far as the fact is concerned, it also refers to the place in which Israel was thus found by God, since you can only find fruit in the desert when you are there yourself. The words, moreover, evidently refer to Deu 32:10<\/span> (“I found him Israel in the wilderness,” etc.), and point implicite<\/em> to the helpless condition in which Israel was when God first adopted it. The suffix to bere’shthah <\/em> (at her<\/em> beginning) refers to , the first-fruit, which the fig-tree bears in its first time, at the first shooting. But Israel no longer answered to the good pleasure of God. They came to Baal-peor. without the preposition is not the idol of that name, but the place where it was worshipped, which was properly called Beth-peor<\/em> or Peor<\/em> (see at Num 23:28<\/span> and Num 25:3<\/span>). is chosen instead of (Num 23:3<\/span>, Num 23:5<\/span>), to show that Israel ought to have consecrated itself to Jehovah, to have been the nazir <\/em> of Jehovah. Bosheth <\/em> (shame) is the name given to the idol of Baal-peor (cf. Jer 3:24<\/span>), the worship of which was a shame to Israel. ‘Ohabh <\/em>, the paramour, is also Baal-peor. Of all the different rebellions on the part of Israel against Jehovah, the prophet singles out only the idolatry with Baal-peor, because the principal sin of the ten tribes was Baal-worship in its coarser or more refined forms.<\/p>\n In this verse God reproves the Israelites for having preferred to prostitute themselves to idols, rather than to continue under his protection, though he had from the beginning showed his favour to them; as though he had said that they having been previously favoured with his free love, had transferred their affections to others; for he says, that he had found them as grapes in the wilderness. The word wilderness, ought to be joined with grapes, as if he had said, that they had been as sweet and acceptable to him as a grape when found in a desert. When a traveller finds, by chance, a grape in a barren and desolate place, he not only admires it, but takes great delight in a fruit so unlooked for. And thus the Lord, by this comparison, shows his great love towards the Israelites. He adds, — As the first fruit of the figtree; for the fig-tree, we know, produces fruit twice every year. Therefore, God says, — As figs at the beginning (or, as they say, the first fruits) are delightful, so have I taken delight in this people. The Prophet does not however mean, that the people were worthy of being so much loved. But the Hebrews use the word, to find, in the same sense as we do, when we say in French, — Je treuve cela a mon gout , (I find this to my taste.) I have therefore regarded Israel as grapes in the wilderness And this remark is needful, lest some one should subtilely infer, that the Israelites were loved by God, because they had something savoury in them. For the Prophet relates not here what God found in the people, but he only reproves their ingratitude, as we shall presently see. <\/p>\n The first part then shows that God had great delight in this people. It is the same or similar sentence to that in Hos 11:0<\/span>, where he says, ‘When Ephraim was yet a child, I loved him,’ except that there is not there so much fervour and warmth of love expressed; but the same argument is there handled, and the object is the same, and it is to prove, that God anticipated his people by his love. There remained, in this case, less excuse, when men rejected God calling them, and responded not to his love. A perverseness like this would be hardly endured among men. Were any one to love me freely, and I to slight him, it would be an evidence of pride and rudeness: but when God himself gratuitously treats us with kindness, and when, not content with common love, he regards us as delectable fruit, does not the rejection of this love, does not the contempt of this favour, betray, on our part, the basest depravity? We now then understand the design of the Prophet. In the first clause, he says, in the person of God, “I have loved Israel, as a traveller does grapes, when he finds them in the desert, and as the first ripe figs are wont to be loved: since then, I so much delighted in them, ought they not to have honoured me in return? Ought not my gratuitous love to have inflamed their hearts, so as to induce them to devote themselves wholly to me?” <\/p>\n But they went in unto Baal-peor. So I interpret the verb באו, bau; and it is taken in this sense in many other places. For the Hebrews say, “they went in,” to express in a delicate way the intercourse between husbands and wives. And the Prophet does not, without reason, compare the sacrifices which the people offered to Baal-peor to adultery, as being like the intercourse which an adulterer has with an harlot. They then went in unto Baal-peor; and he adds, that they “separated themselves”. Some interpret the word נזר, nesar, as referring to worship, and as meaning that they consecrated themselves to Baal-peor; and others derive it from זרה, sare, which they think is here in a passive sense, and means, “to be alienated.” But I take it in the same sense as when Ezekiel says, “They have separated themselves from after me,” מאחרי, macheri, Eze 14:7<\/span>; that is, that they may not follow me. God here expostulates with the people for following their fornication, and for thus repudiating that sacred marriage which God contracts with all his people. I therefore read the two sentences as forming one context, The Israelites went in unto Baal-peor, as an adulterer goes in unto a harlot; and they separated themselves; for they denied God, and violated the faith pledged to him; they discarded the spiritual marriage which God made with them.” For the Prophet, we know, whenever he refers to idolatries speaks allegorically or metaphorically, and mentions adultery. <\/p>\n They have separated themselves, he says, to reproach; that is, though their filthiness was shameful, they were yet wholly insensible: as when a wife disregards her character, or as when a husband cares not that he is pointed at by the finger, and that his baseness is to all a laughing-stock; so the Israelites, he says, had separated themselves to reproach, having cast away all shame, they abandoned themselves to wickedness. Some render the word בשת, beshet, obscenity, and others refer it to Baal-peor, and render the sentence thus, “They have separated themselves to that filthy idol.” For some think Priapus to have been Baal-peor; and this opinion has gained the consent of almost all. But I extend wider the meaning of the word “reproach,” as signifying that the people observed no difference between what was decent and what was shameful, but that they were senseless in their impiety. They were therefore abominable, or abominations according to their lovers The Prophet, I doubt not, connects here the Israelites with idols and with Baal-peor itself, that he might strip them of all that holiness which they had obtained through God’s favour. We now apprehend the meaning of the Prophet. <\/p>\n Now, what is here taught is worthy of being noticed and is useful. For, as we have said, inexcusable is our wickedness, if we despise the gratuitous love of God, bestowed unasked. When God then comes to us of his own accord, when he invites us, when he offers to us the privilege of children, an inestimable benefit, and when we reject his favour, is not this more than savage ferocity? It was to reprobate such conduct as this that the Prophet says, that God had loved Israel, as when one finds grapes in the desert, or as when one eats the first ripe figs. But it must, at the same time, be noticed why the Prophet so much extols the dealings of God with the people of Israel; it was for this reason, because their adoption, as it is well known, was not an ordinary privilege, nor what they enjoyed in common with other nations. Since, then, the people had been chosen to be God’s special possession, the Prophet here justly extols this love with peculiar commendation. And the like is our case at this day; for God vouchsafes not to all the favour which has been presented to us through the shining light of the gospel. Other people wander in darkness, the light of life dwells only among us: does not God thus show that he delights especially in us? But if we continue the same as we were, and if we reject him and transfer our love to others, or rather if lust leads us astray from him, is not this detestable wickedness and obstinacy? <\/p>\n But what the Prophet says, that they separated themselves to reproach, is also worthy of being noticed; for he exaggerates their crime by this consideration, that the Israelites were so blinded, that they perceived not their own turpitude, though it was quite manifest. The superstitions which then prevailed in the land of Moab were no doubt very gross; but Satan had so fascinated their minds that they gave themselves up to a conduct which was worse than shameful. Let us then know that our sin is worthy of a heavier punishment in such a case as this, that is, when every distinction is done away among us, and when we are hurried away by the spirit of giddiness into every impiety and when we no longer distinguish between light and darkness, between white and black; for it is a token of final reprobation. When, therefore, shame ought to have restrained them, he says, that the Israelites had yet “separated themselves to reproach, and became abominable like their lovers”; that is, As Baal-peor is the highest abomination to me, so the people became to me equally abominable. It now follows — <\/p>\n CRITICAL NOTES<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Hos. 9:10<\/span><\/strong>. Like grapes<\/strong>] with which the traveller delights to quench his thirst. Grapes and early figs a great delicacy in the East (Isa. 28:4<\/span>; Jer. 24:2<\/span>); so God delighted in Israel at first. He gave them richness and pleasantness, but they corrupted themselves, and no longer answered his good pleasure. Baal-peor<\/strong>] The Moabite idol to whom young females prostituted themselves (Num. 25:3<\/span>). Shame<\/strong>] that foul idol (Jer. 11:13<\/span>). <\/p>\n HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n HONOURED AND DISHONOURED.Hos. 9:10<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n These words indicate the great honour that God put upon his people, the great worth which they had in his sight when he chose them, and the great care that he took with them in training them up for his purpose and good pleasure. But they despised this dignity, consecrated themselves to Baal-Peor, and became as abomin able as the idol they loved.<\/p>\n I. Gods grace honours a worthless people<\/strong>. What refreshing grapes and the first ripe figs are to the weary traveller, such was Israel at first to God. <\/p>\n 1. By nature we are in a helpless condition<\/em>. Education, wealth, and outward distinctions avail not before God. Israel was found in the wilderness;<\/em> in a barren, wild, and solitary place. <\/p>\n 2. God in love seeks men<\/em> in their helpless condition. God could not have found Israel, unless he had sought. I have found<\/em> him in the wilderness (Deu. 32:10<\/span>). God goes after men like the shepherd after the lost sheep until he finds them. In love and kindness he restores and exalts them; makes them holy and acceptable in his sight. They are not found<\/em> until restored. I can wander, but cannot find my way back, was the confession of Augustine. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant. <\/p>\n 3. When God finds men he trains and cultures them for himself<\/em>. Grapes and figs indicate continual care and kindness. Israel were planted and trained for God. Their first ripe buds and future prosperity came from him. He gave them riches and wealth, pleasantness and odour in the sight of others. They were precious in his sight and honourable (Isa. 43:4<\/span>). God honours nations, Churches, and families now, preserves them carefully, and prefers them constantly if they obey him. The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant (Isa. 5:1<\/span>; Isa. 5:7<\/span>). Men are dignified, nations are honoured, not by wealth, fleets, and outward splendourGods presence makes them glorious, Gods grace roots them, causes them to blossom, bud, and fill the world with fruit and sweetness (Isa. 27:6<\/span>). <\/p>\n II. A people honoured by Gods grace may dishonour themselves by idolatry<\/strong>. But they went unto Baal-Peor, and separated themselves unto that shame,and that<\/em> was a most shameful and abominable idol. They joined the Moabites in worshipping, in sacrificing, and eating to a god, the filthiest and foulest of the heathen gods (Num. 25:2-3<\/span>; Psa. 106:28<\/span>). They separated<\/em> themselves, as Nazarites, united, devoted themselves to shame<\/em>. The very people whom God exalted and blessed forsook him, sank below others, and dishonoured their own nature (Jer. 2:21<\/span>). Is England free? are Christian Churches free from idolatry, debasing in its influence and tendencies? We hate cruel rites and bow not to Pagan gods; but do we not dishonour God and blaspheme his name among others by formalism, hypocrisy, and ungodly lives? We clothe our evil imaginations, our depraved affections, with attributes of power and wisdom, and change the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image like to corruptible man. <\/p>\n III. The dishonour of a people will be according to the nature of the objects they worship<\/strong>. Their abominations were according as they loved. If history proclaims one truth more loudly than another, it is that man becomes assimilated to the moral character of the objects which he worships. The gods and hero-kings, Odin and Thor, of the Scythians were bloodthirsty and cruelturned the milk of human kindness into gall in the bosoms of their votaries, and made them revel in slaughter and scenes of blood. Because heathen deities have destroyed themselves suicide has been recommended, and a natural death thought to exclude from eternal happiness. The more men worship such idols the more they resemble them. Hence the notion that the gods did not like the service, would not accept the sacrifice, of those who were unlike them. Israel became like their lovesshame was the object of their worship, and they had as many abominable idols as they had loves. Their deities corrupted their passions; their passions multiplied their deities, and corrupted their minds and lives. Man, says an author, first makes his god like his own corrupt self, or to some corruption in himself; and then, worshipping this ideal of his own, he becomes the more corrupt through copying that corruption. He makes his god in his own image and likeness, the essence and concentration of his own bad passions, and then conforms himself to the likeness, not of God, but of what was most evil in himself. Concerning all false gods the Psalmist says, They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. Love the world, you become worldly; love God, you become godly. Love has a transforming power which nothing else has. Nothing else makes good or evil actions, says Augustine, but good or evil affections. What a mans love is, that he is. Love the Lord thy God.<\/p>\n SEPARATED UNTO SHAME.Hos. 9:10<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Idolatry is not a harmless mistake, misdirected aim, but a serious evil, the source of all evils. Its consequences are degradation and shame. All sin is shame, and those who separate, devote themselves to sin, separate themselves to shame.<\/p>\n I. This shame is a common experience<\/strong>. Adam and Eve were ashamed, and hid themselves in the garden. Men blush now when caught in the act of sin. They excuse, palliate, and apologize for their guilt. They were ignorant, tempted, and surprised. They are afraid to confess, and seek to cover their shame. If men do not appear<\/em> to blush, they feel<\/em> ashamed. They may be light before men, but serious before Godlaugh in public, and sigh in secret. There are sad hearts beneath cheerful faces. The conscious mind is its own awful world. <\/p>\n II. This shame is a penal suffering<\/strong>. It is the result of wrong-doing, of broken law. The violation of all natural laws brings sufferingsin brings suffering, and this suffering is shame. It is not a shame to labour, to be poor and afflicted; but it is a shame to sin, and sin will expose a man to shame. The wicked are often put to shame before men. They lose respect and honour, get exposed to contempt and danger. They will be cursed by God in his providence. Then time turns torment, when man turns a fool. A wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame. <\/p>\n III. This shame is a threatened punishment<\/strong>. Believers will have confidence, and not be ashamed before Christ at his coming. But the wicked will rise to everlasting shame and contempt. Once great men of the world seemed wise, and those who denied sinful lusts were fools; but at the judgment day all things will be unmasked and realities seen in their true light. Shame will then be infamous, and disgrace conspicuous to the universe. The wise shall inherit glory; but shame shall be the promotion of fools. <\/p>\n IV. This shame is often a penitential feeling<\/strong>. When sin is seen in the light of Divine love, judged by the sufferings of Christ, it is felt to be exceedingly sinful. The penitent regards its pollution, not its punishment, feels ashamed, reproached, and self-condemned. The publican and the Psalmist, Ezra and Nehemiah, Job and Isaiah, all felt ashamed for their iniquities, and cried to God for cleansing and pardon. This is a painful, but hopeful experience. It attracts the notice of God. He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light.<\/p>\n ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 9<\/p>\n Hos. 9:9-10<\/span>. Corrupt<\/em>. O Lord, abhor me not, though I be most abhorrible, said the dying Thos. Scott. My repentance needs to be repented of; my tears want washing, and the very washing of my tears needs still to be washed over again with the blood of my Redeemer [Bp. Beveridge<\/em>]. There is no vice that doth so cover a man with shame as to be found false and perfidious [Bacon<\/em>]. The disposition of a liar is dishonourable, and his shame is ever with him (Sir. 20:26).<\/p>\n REPROVINGISRAEL FOLLOWED BAAL<\/p>\n TEXT: Hos. 9:10-17<\/span><\/p>\n 10<\/p>\n I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the first-figs in the fig-tree at its first season: but they came to Baal-peor, and consecrated unto the shameful thing, and become abominable like that which they loved.<\/p>\n 11<\/p>\n As for Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird: there shall be no birth, and none with child, and no conception.<\/p>\n 12<\/p>\n Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, so that not a man shall be left: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!<\/p>\n 13<\/p>\n Ephraim, like as I have seen Type, is planted in a pleasant place: but Ephraim shall bring out his children to the slayer.<\/p>\n 14<\/p>\n Give them, O Jehovah: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts,<\/p>\n 15<\/p>\n All their wickedness is in Gilgal; for there I hated them: because of the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of my house; I will love them no more; all their princes are revolters.<\/p>\n 16<\/p>\n Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit; yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay the beloved fruit of their womb.<\/p>\n 17<\/p>\n My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations.<\/p>\n QUERIES<\/strong><\/p>\n a.<\/p>\n What does Hosea portray by the figure grapes in the wilderness?<\/p>\n b.<\/p>\n Does Hosea mean in Hos. 9:11<\/span> that not a single child would ever again be born to a woman of Israel?<\/p>\n c.<\/p>\n Why did Hosea say (Hos. 9:15<\/span>) that all their wickedness is in Gilgal?<\/p>\n PARAPHRASE<\/strong><\/p>\n Oh Israel, how well I remember those first delightful days when I found you so helpless and dependent upon Me. Your love was as refreshing to Me as juicy grapes would be to a thirsty desert traveler or as satisfying as the early fruit on the fig-tree. But then you deserted Me for Baal, the god of Peor, and so thoroughly devoted yourselves to this shameful thing you became as foul and abominable as it was. Ephraim, your glorious fruitfulness will fly away like a bird. Whereas you previously produced many bright and prosperous offspring, your licentious worship of luxury will be punished by childlessness and destruction of any youths who might be born through wars, famine and pestilence. I chose Ephraim to be like Tyre, planted in a fertile, pleasant place, to grow to become a strong, rich and powerful nation. But now, for Ephraims apostacy, I will give it up to desolation and its sons to death by the sword. Yes, indeed, give them, Oh Lordgive them wombs that miscarry and breasts that cannot nourish. Gilgal is the major source of all their wickedness, and I hate what goes on there. Because of their wickedness I will expel them from the fellowship of covenant relationship with Me. My love and blessings I withdraw from them. All their governing-men are government-destroyers! Israel is doomed. Her roots are dried up and she can no longer furnish nourishment to the tree. She shall bear no more fruit. Even if they bear children, I will cause these beloved children to die. My God will destroy the people of Israel because they will not listen or obey. They will be homeless vagabonds wandering among the nations.<\/p>\n SUMMARY<\/strong><\/p>\n Israel, so pleasing to God when He delivered her from Egypt, became as abominable as the licentious, pagan religions she adopted. God will dispossess her and make her to become a vagabond people.<\/p>\n COMMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n Hos. 9:10<\/span> I FOUND ISRAEL LIKE GRAPES IN THE WILDERNESS . . . BUT THEY CAME TO BAAL-PEOR . . . AND BECAME ABOMINABLE LIKE THAT WHICH THEY LOVED . . . Israels faith and obedience and love to Jehovah when He first chose them while they were still in Egypt was refreshing to God. Their love to Him was as pleasing as juicy grapes or fresh figs would be to a tired, thirsty, hungry traveler in the desert. Other prophets speak of Gods pleasure with early Israel (cf. Exo. 19:8<\/span>; Exo. 24:3-7<\/span>; Deu. 5:27-29<\/span>; Jer. 2:2-3<\/span>).<\/p>\n But, alas, what a change came over this people! They allowed themselves to be deceived by sin (Heb. 3:12-14<\/span>). They had devoted themselves, heart and soul to Jehovah at Horeb; but the allurement of sensuality and materialism had led them to devote themselves heart and soul to Baalism (for a description of Baal worship see our comments on Hos. 2:8<\/span>; Hos. 2:13<\/span>; Hos. 2:17<\/span>; and Hos. 4:12-13<\/span>). The lasciviousness and abominable excesses that accompanied Baalism must have been great to deserve the extreme treatment sanctioned by God in Num. 25:1-18<\/span>. Israel kept flirting with Baalism from then on (cf. Jdg. 2:11<\/span>; 1Ki. 16:31<\/span>; 2Ki. 10:19<\/span>; 2Ki. 21:3<\/span>; Jer. 2:8<\/span>; Jer. 19:5<\/span>; Jer. 23:13<\/span>; Jer. 23:27<\/span>).<\/p>\n When people consecrate themselves to any person, thing or idea, it is a moral law that they become like that which they love. One cannot love without imitating (cf. Eph. 5:1-2<\/span> in RSV; Php. 2:5-8<\/span>; Col. 3:1-13<\/span>; Heb. 12:1-8<\/span>; 1Pe. 2:21<\/span>; 1Jn. 3:1-24<\/span>; 2Co. 3:18<\/span>). When men worship idols and animals, they behave like dumb images and sensual animals (cf. Rom. 1:18<\/span> ff). It is undeniably correct that Adolph Hitlers infatuation with and adoration of Friedrich Nietzsches evolutionary philosophy transformed the little corporal into the insane, savage executioner of Europe. Karl Marxs religion of materialism and humanism has given the world the Kremlin criminals and the Peking pirates. As one ancient has put it, The object which the will desires and loves, transfuses its own goodness or badness into it (cf. Psa. 115:4-8<\/span>). Man, without God, makes a god in his own image and likeness, the essence and concentration of his own bad passions, and then conforms himself to the likeness of what was most evil in himself. Thus the heathen made gods of lust, cruelty, thirst for war. Then, fooling themselves, they deliberately forgot that these gods were the work of their own hands, the conception of their own minds, and fearfully and passionately imitated and obeyed them; Augustine wrote, . . . what a mans love is, that he is . . . Naught else maketh good or evil actions, save good affections. Love has a transforming power over the soul, which the intellect has not. Tell me what a man loves with all his heart and I will tell you about the man. There is a Jewish proverb which says, He who serveth an abomination is himself an abomination. One of the early church fathers wrote, The intellect brings home to the soul the knowledge on which it worketh, impresses it on itself, incorporates it with itself. Love is an impulse whereby he who loves is borne forth towards that which he loves, is united with it, and is transformed into it.<\/p>\n Hos. 9:11<\/span> AS FOR EPHRAIM, THEIR GLORY SHALL FLY AWAY LIKE A BIRD . . . Israel had gloried in her continued existence when empire after empire, race after race, nation after nation had long since disappeared. God had protected, sustained and increased Israels economy, her territory and, most important of all, her youth. Israel was proud of all this and boasted that all this was due to her progressive, liberal attitude. She probably attributed all her prosperity, like America today, to her own human goodness and intelligence in breaking away from all the old, outdated, irrelevant mores of her ancestors. What an awakening Israel was soon to have! All that she gloried in would soon fly away like a bird.<\/p>\n Hosea very evidently did not mean that God would bring about absolute execution of every single baby born to any Israelite mother, for in Hos. 9:17<\/span> he prophesies that they shall become wanderers among the nations. What he means is that since they took great pride in their numbers, they would be reduced in every stage from conception to ripened manhood, (cf. Deu. 28:58<\/span>; Deu. 28:62<\/span>).<\/p>\nFuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
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 sin is shame.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Sin is separation. Before a man can join the army of sin he must leave the service of God. Hence he separates himself. From what?<\/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: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n