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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Hosea XIII].</TITLE>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
<CENTER>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>H O S E A.</B></FONT>
<BR>
<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XIII.</FONT>
<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
</CENTER>
<FONT SIZE=-1>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
The same strings, though generally unpleasing ones, are harped upon in
this chapter that were in those before. People care not to be told
either of their sin or of their danger by sin; and yet it is necessary,
and for their good, that they should be told of both, nor can they
better hear of either than from the word of God and from their faithful
ministers, while the sin may be repented of and the danger prevented.
Here,
I. The people of Israel are reproved and threatened for their idolatry,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+13:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
II. They are reproved and threatened for their wantonness, pride, and
luxury, and other abuses of their wealth and prosperity,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+13:5-8">ver. 5-8</A>.
III. The ruin that is coming upon them for these and all their other
sins is foretold as very terrible,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+13:12,13,15,16">ver. 12, 13, 15, 16</A>.
IV. Those among them that yet retain a respect for their God are here
encouraged to hope that he will yet appear for their relief, though
their kings and princes, and all their other supports and succours,
fail them,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+13:9-11,14">ver. 9-11, 14</A>.</P>
</FONT>
<A NAME="Ho13_1"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_2"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_3"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_4"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Reproofs and Threatenings.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 722.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>1 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel;
but when he offended in Baal, he died.
&nbsp; 2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten
images of their silver, <I>and</I> idols according to their own
understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of
them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.
&nbsp; 3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the
early dew that passeth away, as the chaff <I>that</I> is driven with
the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the
chimney.
&nbsp; 4 Yet I <I>am</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou
shalt know no god but me: for <I>there is</I> no saviour beside me.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Idolatry was the sin that did most easily beset the Jewish nation till
after the captivity; the ten tribes from the first were guilty of it,
but especially after the days of Ahab; and this is the sin which, in
these verses, they are charged with. Observe,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. The provision that God made to prevent their falling into idolatry.
This we have,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
God did what was fit to be done to keep them close to himself; what
could have been done more?
1. He made known himself to them as <I>the Lord their God,</I> and took
them to be his people in a peculiar manner. Both by his word and by his
works all along <I>from the land of Egypt</I> he declared, <I>I am the
Lord thy God;</I> he told them so from heaven at Mount Sinai, that he
was <I>the Lord</I> and <I>their God,</I> who <I>brought them out of
the land of Egypt.</I> This he continued both to declare and to prove
to them by his prophets and by his providences.
2. He gave them a law forbidding them to worship any other: "<I>Thou
shalt know no God but me;</I> not only shalt not own and worship any
other, but shalt not acquaint thyself with any other, nor make the
rites and usages of the Gentiles familiar to thee." Note, It is a happy
ignorance not to know that which we ought not to meddle with. We find
those commended who <I>have not known the depths of Satan.</I>
3. He gave them a good reason for it: <I>There is no saviour besides
me.</I> Whatever we take for our God we expect to have for our saviour,
to make us happy here and hereafter; as, where we have protection, we
owe allegiance, so where we have salvation, and hope for it, we owe
adoration.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. The honour that Ephraim had, while he kept himself clear from
idolatry
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>):
<I>While Ephraim spoke trembling,</I> or <I>with trembling</I> (that
is, as Dr. Pocock understands it, while he behaved himself towards God
as his father Jacob did, with <I>weeping and supplications,</I> and
spoke not proudly and insolently against God and his prophets, while he
kept up a holy fear of God, and worshipped him in that fear) so long
<I>he exalted himself in Israel,</I> that is, he was very considerable
among the tribes and made a figure. Jeroboam, who was of that tribe,
exalted himself and his family. <I>When he spoke there was
trembling,</I> that is, all about him stood in awe of him; so some
understand it. Note, <I>Those that humble themselves,</I> especially
that humble themselves before God, <I>shall be exalted.</I> When people
speak with modesty and jealousy of themselves, with a diffidence of
their own judgment and a deference to others, they exalt themselves,
they gain a reputation. But as for Ephraim he soon lost himself:
<I>When he offended in Baal he died,</I> that is, he lost his
reputation, his honour soon dwindled and sunk, and was laid in the
dust. Baal is here put for all idolatry; when Ephraim forsook God, and
took to worship images, the state received its death's wound and was
never good for any thing afterwards. Note, Deserting God is the death
of any person or persons.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
III. The lamentable growth of idolatry among them
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
<I>Now they sin more and more.</I> When once he began to <I>offend in
Baal</I> the ice was broken, and he grew worse and worse, coveted more
idols, doted more upon those he had, and grew more ridiculous in the
worship of them. Note, The way of idolatry, as of other sins, is
down-hill, and men cannot easily stop themselves. It is the sad case of
all those who have forsaken God that they sin yet more and more. Let us
trace them in their apostasy.
1. They made themselves <I>molten images,</I> proud to have gods that
they could cast into what mould they pleased; probably these were the
calves in miniature like the silver shrines for Diana; the zealots for
the calf-worship carried about with them, it may be, images of the gods
they worshipped, made on purpose <I>for themselves.</I>
2. They made them of <I>their silver,</I> and then doubted not of their
property in them, when they purchased them with their own money or made
them of their own plate melted down for that purpose. See what cost
they put themselves to in the service of their idols, which they
honoured with the best they had, and therefore made their molten images
of silver.
3. They made them <I>according to their own understanding,</I>
according to their own fancy. They consulted with themselves what shape
they should make their idol in, and made it accordingly, <I>a god</I>
according to the <I>best of their judgment.</I> Or <I>according to
their own likeness,</I> in the form of a man. And, when they made
their idols men like themselves in shape, they made themselves stocks
and stones like them in reality; for <I>those that make them are like
unto them, and so is every one that trusts in them.</I>
4. It was <I>all the work of the craftsmen.</I> Their images did not
pretend, like that of Diana, to have come down from Jupiter
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+19:35">Acts xix. 35</A>);
no, perhaps the workmen stamped their names upon them, such an idol was
such a man's work. See
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+8:6,Isa+44:9"><I>ch.</I> viii. 6; Isa. xliv. 9</A>,
&c.
5. Though they were thus the work of their hands, yet they were the
beloved of their souls; for they say of them, <I>Let the men that
sacrifice kiss the calves.</I> Either the priests called upon the
people thus to pay their homage, or the people, who were not allowed to
come so near themselves, called upon the <I>men that sacrificed,</I>
the priests that attended for them, to <I>kiss the calves</I> in their
name and stead, because they could not reach to do it, so very fond
were they of paying their utmost respects to such an idol as they were
taught to have a veneration for. Though they were calves, yet, if they
were gods, the worshippers, by themselves or their proxies, thus made
their honours to them. They <I>kissed the calves,</I> in token of the
adoration of them, affection for them, and allegiance to them, as
theirs. Thus we are directed to <I>kiss the Son,</I> to take him for
our Lord and our God.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
IV. Threatenings of wrath for their idolatry. The Lord, whose name is
<I>Jealous,</I> is a jealous God, and will not give his glory to
another; and therefore all those that <I>worship images</I> shall be
<I>confounded,</I> especially if Ephraim do it,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+97:7">Ps. xcvii. 7</A>.
Because they are so fond of kissing their calves, therefore God will
give them sensible convictions of their folly,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
They promise themselves a great deal of safety and satisfaction in the
worship of their idols, and that their prosperity will thereby be
established; but God tells them that they shall be disappointed, and
<I>driven away in their wickedness.</I> This is illustrated by four
similitudes:--They shall be,
1. As the <I>morning cloud,</I> which promises showers of rain to the
parched ground.
2. As the <I>early dew,</I> which seems to be an earnest of such
showers. But both <I>pass away,</I> and the day proves as dry and hot
as ever; so fleet and transitory their profession of piety was
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:4"><I>ch.</I> vi. 4</A>),
and so had they disappointed God's expectation from them, and therefore
it is just that so their prosperity should be, and so their
expectations from their idols should be disappointed, and so will all
theirs be that make an idol of this world.
3. They are <I>as the chaff,</I> light and worthless; and they shall be
driven <I>as the chaff is driven with the whirlwind out of the
floor,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+1:4,25:5,Job+21:18">Ps. i. 4; xxv. 5; Job xxi. 18</A>.
Nay,
4. They are <I>as the smoke,</I> noisome and offensive (see
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+65:5">Isa. lxv. 5</A>),
and they shall be driven away <I>as the smoke out of the chimneys,</I>
that is soon dissipated and disappears,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+68:2">Ps. lxviii. 2</A>.
Note, No solid lasting comfort is to be expected any where but in
God.</P>
<A NAME="Ho13_5"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_6"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_7"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_8"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Ingratitude of Israel.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 722.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great
drought.
&nbsp; 6 According to their pasture, so were they filled; they were
filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore have they
forgotten me.
&nbsp; 7 Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the
way will I observe <I>them:</I>
&nbsp; 8 I will meet them as a bear <I>that is</I> bereaved <I>of her
whelps,</I> and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I
devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
We may observe here,
1. The plentiful provision God had made for Israel and the seasonable
supplies he had blessed them with
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
"<I>I did know thee in the wilderness,</I> took cognizance of thy case
and made provision for thee, even in <I>a land of great drought,</I>
when thou wast in extreme distress, and when no relief was to be had in
an ordinary way." See a description of this wilderness,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+8:15,Jer+2:6">Deut. viii. 15, Jer. ii. 6</A>,
and say, The God that knew them, and owned them, and fed them there,
was a <I>friend indeed,</I> for he was a <I>friend at need</I> and an
all-sufficient friend, that could victual so vast an army when all
ordinary ways of provision were cut off, and where, if miracles had not
been their daily bread, they must all have perished. Note, Help at an
exigency lays under peculiar obligations and must never be forgotten.
2. Their unworthy ungrateful abuse of God's favour to them. God not
only took care of them in the wilderness, but put them in possession of
Canaan, a good land, a large and fat pasture. And
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>)
<I>according to their pasture so were they filled.</I> God gave them
both plenty and dainties, and they did not spare it, but, having been
long confined to manna, when they came into Canaan they fed themselves
<I>to the full.</I> And this was no hopeful presage; it would have
looked better, and promised better, if they had been more modest and
moderate in the use of their plenty, and had learned to deny
themselves; but what was the effect of it? <I>They were filled, and
their heart was exalted.</I> Their luxury and sensuality made them
proud, insolent, and secure. The best comment upon this is that of
Moses,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:13-15">Deut. xxxii. 13-15</A>.
But <I>Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked.</I> When the body was stuffed up
with plenty the soul was puffed up with pride. Then they began to
think their religion a thing below them, and they could not persuade
themselves to stoop to the services of it. <I>The wicked, through the
pride of his countenance, will not seek after God.</I> When they were
poor and lame in the wilderness they thought it was necessary for them
to keep in with God; but when they were replenished and established in
Canaan they began to think they had no further need of him: <I>Their
heart was exalted, therefore have they forgotten me.</I> Note, Worldly
prosperity, when it feeds men's pride, makes them forgetful of God; for
they remember him only when they want him. When Israel was filled, what
more could the Almighty do for them? And therefore they said to him,
<I>Depart from us,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+22:17">Job xxii. 17</A>.
It is sad that those favours which ought to make us mindful of God, and
studious what we shall render to him, should make us unmindful of him,
and regardless what we do against him. We ought to know that we live
upon God when we live upon common providence, though we do not, as
Israel in the wilderness, live upon miracles.
3. God's just resentment of their base ingratitude,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>.
The judgments threatened
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>)
intimated the departure of all good from them. The threatenings here go
further, and intimate the breaking in of all evils upon them; for God,
who had so much befriended them, now <I>turns to be their enemy and
fights against them,</I> which is expressed here very terribly: <I>I
will be unto them as a lion</I> and <I>as a leopard.</I> The lion is
strong, and there is no resisting him. The leopard is here taken notice
of to be crafty and vigilant: <I>As a leopard by the way will I observe
them.</I> As that beast of prey lies in wait by the road-side to catch
travellers, and devour them, so will God by his judgments <I>watch over
them</I> to do them hurt, as he had watched over them to do them good,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+44:27">Jer. xliv. 27</A>.
No opportunity shall be let slip that may accelerate or aggravate their
ruin
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+5:6">Jer. v. 6</A>):
<I>A leopard shall watch over their cities.</I> A lynx, or spotted
beast (and such the leopard is), is noted for quicksightedness above
any creature (<I>lynx visu--the eyes of a lynx</I>), and so it
intimates that not only the power, but the wisdom of God is engaged
against those whom he has a controversy with. Some read it (and the
original will bear it), <I>I will be as a leopard in the way of
Assyria.</I> The judgments of God shall surprise them just when they
are going to the Assyrians to seek for protection and help from them.
It is added, <I>I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved,</I> and
thereby exasperated and made more cruel
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Sa+17:8,Pr+28:15">2 Sam. xvii. 8, Prov. xxviii. 15</A>),
which intimates how highly God was provoked, and he would make them
feel it: He will <I>rend the caul of their heart.</I> The lion is
observed to aim at the heart of the beasts he preys upon, and thus will
God <I>devour them like a lion.</I> He will send such judgments upon
them as shall prey upon their spirits and consume their vitals. Their
heart was exalted
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
but God will take an effectual course to bring it down: <I>The wild
beast shall tear them;</I> not only God will be as a lion and leopard
to them, but the metaphor shall be fulfilled in the letter, for
<I>noisome beasts</I> are one of the <I>four sore judgments</I> with
which God will destroy a provoking people,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+14:15">Ezek. xiv. 15</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Now all this teaches us,
1. That abused goodness turns into the greater severity. Those who
despise God and affront him, when he is to them as a careful tender
shepherd, shall find he will be even to his own flock as the beasts of
prey are. Those whom God has in vain <I>endured with much
long-suffering,</I> and invited with much affection, in them he will
<I>show his wrath</I> and make them <I>vessels</I> of it,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+9:22">Rom. ix. 22</A>.
<I>Patientia l&aelig;sa fit furor</I>--<I>Despised patience will turn
into fury.</I>
2. That the judgments of God, when they come with commission against
impenitent sinners, will be irresistible and very terrible. They will
<I>rend the caul of the heart,</I> will fill the soul with confusion,
and tear that in pieces; and we are as unable to grapple with them as a
lamb is to make his part good against a roaring lion, for <I>who knows
the power of God's anger? Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord,</I>
let us be persuaded to make peace with him; for are we stronger then
he?</P>
<A NAME="Ho13_9"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_10"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_11"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_12"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_13"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_14"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_15"> </A>
<A NAME="Ho13_16"> </A>
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Folly of Israel; Promises of Mercy.</I></FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 722.</TD></TR>
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
</TABLE>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
<FONT SIZE=+1>9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me <I>is</I> thine
help.
&nbsp; 10 I will be thy king: where <I>is any other</I> that may save thee
in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a
king and princes?
&nbsp; 11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took <I>him</I> away in my
wrath.
&nbsp; 12 The iniquity of Ephraim <I>is</I> bound up; his sin <I>is</I> hid.
&nbsp; 13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he
<I>is</I> an unwise son; for he should not stay long in <I>the place of</I>
the breaking forth of children.
&nbsp; 14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will
redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave,
I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine
eyes.
&nbsp; 15 Though he be fruitful among <I>his</I> brethren, an east wind
shall come, the wind of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> shall come up from the
wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and his fountain
shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all pleasant
vessels.
&nbsp; 16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against
her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be
dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
</FONT></P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
The first of these verses is the summary, or contents, of all the rest
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
where we have,
1. All the blame of Israel's ruin laid upon themselves: <I>O Israel!
thy perdition is thence;</I> it is of and from thyself; or, "<I>It has
destroyed thee, O Israel!</I> that is, all that sin and folly of thine
which thou art before charged with. As <I>thy own wickedness</I> has
many a time <I>corrected thee,</I> so that has now at length destroyed
thee." Note, Wilful sinners are self-destroyers. Obstinate impenitence
is the grossest self-murder. Those that are <I>destroyed of the
destroyer</I> have their blood upon their own head; they have
<I>destroyed themselves.</I>
2. All the glory of Israel's relief ascribed to God: <I>But in me is
thy help.</I> That is,
(1.) It might have been: "I would have helped thee and healed thee, but
thou wouldst not be healed and helped, but wast resolutely set upon thy
own destruction." This will aggravate the condemnation of sinners, not
only that they did that which tended to their own ruin, but that they
opposed the offers God made them and the methods he took with them to
prevent it: <I>I would have gathered them,</I> and they <I>would
not.</I> They might have been easily and effectually helped, but they
put the help away from them. Nay,
(2.) It may be: "Thy case is bad, but it is not desperate. <I>Thou hast
destroyed thyself;</I> but come to me, and I will help thee." This is a
plank thrown out after shipwreck, and greatly magnifies not only the
power of God, that he can help when things are at the worst, can help
those that cannot help themselves, but the riches of his grace, that he
will help those that have destroyed themselves and therefore might
justly be left to perish, that he will help those that have long
refused his help. Dr. Pocock gives a different reading and sense of
this verse: "<I>O Israel! this has destroyed thee, that in me is thy
help.</I> Presuming upon God and his favour has emboldened thee in
those wicked ways which have been thy ruin."</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
Now, in the rest of these verses, we may see,</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
I. How Israel destroyed themselves. It is said
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
They <I>rebelled against God,</I> revolted from their allegiance to
him, entered into a confederacy with his enemies, and took up arms
against him; and this was the thing that ruined them, for never any
hardened themselves against God and prospered. Note, Those that rebel
against their God destroy themselves, for they make him their enemy for
whom they are an unequal match.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. They treasure up wrath against the day of wrath, and so they destroy
themselves. They are doing that, every day, which will be remembered
against them another day
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
<I>The iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, and his sin is hid;</I> God
took notice of it, kept it upon record, and will produce it against him
and reckon with him for it afterwards. Their former sins contributed
to their present destruction; for they were <I>laid up in store with
God,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:34,35,Job+14:17">Deut. xxxii. 34, 35; Job xiv. 17</A>.
It is laid up in safety, and will not be forgotten, nor the evidence
against him lost; but it is laid up in secret; it is hid; the sinner
himself is not aware of it. It is bound up in God's omniscience, in the
sinner's own conscience. Note, The sin of sinners is not forgotten till
it is pardoned, but an exact account is kept of it, which will be
opened in proper time.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. They make no haste to repent and help themselves when they are under
divine rebukes; they are their own ruin because they will not do what
they should do towards their own salvation,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
(1.) They are brought into trouble and distress by sin: <I>The sorrows
of a travailing woman shall come upon him.</I> They shall smart for
sin, and so be made sensible of it; they shall be thrown into pangs and
agonies by it, very sharp and severe, and yet, like the pains of a
woman in labour, hopeful and promising, and in order to deliverance;
and by these, though God corrects them, yet he designs their good. They
are chastened, that they may not be destroyed. But,
(2.) They are not by these forwarded as they ought to be towards
repentance and reformation, which would cause their sorrows to issue in
true joy: <I>He is an unwise son, for he should not stay long,</I> as
he does, <I>in the place of the breaking forth of children,</I> but,
being <I>brought to the birth,</I> should struggle to <I>get forth,</I>
lest he be stifled and <I>still-born at last.</I> Were the child which
the mother is in travail of capable of understanding its own case, we
should reckon it an unwise child that would choose to stay long in the
birth; for the <I>captive exile hasteth to be loosed, lest he die in
the pit,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+51:14">Isa. li. 14</A>.
Note, Those may justly be reckoned their own destroyers who defer and
put off their repentance, by which alone they might help themselves.
Those are in danger of miscarrying in conversion who delay it, and will
not put forth themselves to speed the work and bring it to an
issue.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
3. <I>Therefore</I> they are destroyed because they have done that
which will be their certain ruin and neglected that which would have
been their only relief. Here is a sad description of the desolation
they are doomed to,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:15,16"><I>v.</I> 15, 16</A>.
It is here taken for granted that <I>Ephraim</I> is <I>fruitful among
his children;</I> his name signifies <I>fruitfulness.</I> He is
fruitful in respect of the plentiful products of his country and the
great numbers of its inhabitants; it was both a rich and a populous
tribe, as was foretold concerning it; but sin turns this fruitful tribe
into barrenness. <I>Joseph</I> was a <I>fruitful bough,</I> but for
sin it was blasted. The instrument is an <I>east wind,</I>
representing a foreign enemy that should invade it. It is called the
<I>wind of the Lord,</I> not only because it shall be a very great and
strong wind, but because it shall be sent by divine direction; it shall
come <I>from the Lord,</I> and do whatever he appoints; and see what
effect it shall have upon that flourishing tribe, what desolations war
shall make.
(1.) Was it a rich tribe? The foreign enemy shall make it poor enough.
This <I>wind of the Lord</I> shall come up <I>from the wilderness,</I>
a freezing blasting wind, and shall <I>dry up</I> the <I>springs</I>
and <I>fountains</I> with which this tree is watered, shall exhaust the
sources of its wealth. The invader shall waste the country and so
impoverish the husbandman, shall intercept trade and commerce and so
impoverish the merchant; and let not the great men, whose wealth lies
in their rich furniture, think that they shall be exempted from the
judgment, for he shall <I>spoil the treasure of all pleasant
vessels.</I> See the folly of those that lay up their treasure on
earth, that lay it up in <I>pleasant vessels (vessels of desire,</I> so
the word is), on which they set their affections, and in which they
place their comfort and satisfaction. This is treasure that may be
spoiled and that they may be spoiled of; it is what either moth or rust
may corrupt, or what thieves and soldiers may steal and carry away. But
wise and happy are those who have laid up their treasures in heaven,
and in the pleasant things of that world, which cannot be spoiled,
which they cannot be stripped of; ever happy are they, and therefore
truly wise.
(2.) Was it a populous tribe, and numerous? The enemy shall depopulate
it and make its men few: <I>Samaria shall become desolate,</I> without
inhabitants.
[1.] Those shall be cut off who are the guard and joy of the present
generation; the men who bear arms shall bear them to no purpose, for
<I>they shall fall by the sword,</I> so that there shall be none to
make head against the fury of the conqueror nor to take care of the
concerns either of the public or of private families.
[2.] Those shall be cut off who are the seed and hope of the next
generation, who should rise up in the places of those who fell by the
sword; the whole nation must be rooted out, and therefore <I>the
infants shall be dashed to pieces,</I> in the most cruel and barbarous
manner, and, which is if possible yet more inhuman, <I>the women with
child shall be ripped up.</I> Thus shall the glory of <I>Samaria flee
away from the birth, and from the womb,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:11,10:14"><I>ch.</I> ix. 11; x. 14</A>.
See instances of this cruelty,
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+8:12,15:16,Am+1:13">2 Kings viii. 12; xv. 16; Amos i. 13</A>.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
II. Let us now see how God was the help of this self-destroying people,
how he was their only help
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
<I>I will be thy King,</I> to rule and save thee. Though they had
refused to be his subjects and had rebelled against him, yet he would
still be their King and would not abandon them. The business and care
of a good king is to keep his people, not only from ruined by foreign
enemies, but from ruining themselves and one another. Thus will God yet
be Israel's King, as he was <I>their King of old.</I> Note, Our case
would be sad indeed if God were not better to us than we are to
ourselves.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
1. God will be their King when they have no other king; he will protect
and save them when those are cut off and gone who should have been
their protectors and saviours: <I>I will be he</I> (so
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+14:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>
may be read), he that shall help thee. "<I>Where is the king that may
save thee in all thy cities,</I> that may go in and out before thee,
and fight thy battles, when thy cities are invaded by a foreign power,
and suppress the more dangerous quarrels of thy citizens among
themselves? <I>Where are thy judges,</I> who by administering public
justice should preserve the public peace? For it is
<I>righteousness</I> and <I>peace</I> that <I>kiss each other. Where
are thy judges</I> that thou hadst such a desire of and such a
dependence upon, of whom thou saidst, <I>Give me a king and
princes?</I> This refers,
(1.) To the foolish wicked desire which the whole nation had of a
kingly government, being weary of the theocracy, or divine government,
which they had been under during the time of the <I>Judges,</I> because
it looked too mean for them. They rejected Samuel, and in him <I>the
Lord,</I> when they said, <I>Give us a king</I> like the nations,
whereas the <I>Lord was their King.</I>
(2.) To the desire which the ten tribes had of a kingly government
different from that of the house of David, because they thought that
was too absolute and bore too hard upon them, and they hoped to better
themselves by setting up Jeroboam. Both these are instances,
[1.] Of men's improvidence for themselves. When they are uneasy with
their present lot they are fond of novelty, and think to better
themselves by a change; but they are commonly disappointed, and do not
find that advantage in the alteration which they promised themselves.
[2.] Of men's impiety towards God, in thinking to refine upon his
appointments and amend them. God gave Israel judges and prophets for
their guidance; but they were weary of them, and cried, <I>Give us a
king and princes.</I> God gave them the house of David, established it
by a covenant of royalty; but they were soon weary of that too, and
cried, <I>We have no part in David.</I> Those destroy themselves who
are not pleased with what God does for them, but think they can do
better for themselves. Well, in both these requests, Providence
humoured them, gave them Saul first, and afterwards Jeroboam. And what
the better were they for them? Saul was <I>given in anger</I> (given in
<I>thunder,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+12:18,19">1 Sam. xii. 18, 19</A>)
and soon after was <I>taken away in wrath,</I> upon Mount Gilboa. The
kingly government of the ten tribes was given in anger, not only
against Solomon for his defection, but against the ten tribes that
desired it, for their discontent and disaffection to the house of
David; and God was now about to take that away in wrath by the power of
the king of Assyria. And then, <I>where is thy King?</I> He is gone,
and thou shalt abide many days <I>without a king, and without a
prince</I>
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:4"><I>ch.</I> iii. 4</A>),
shalt have none to save thee, none to rule thee. Note, <I>First,</I>
God often gives in anger what we sinfully and inordinately desire,
gives it with a curse, and with it gives us up to our own hearts'
lusts. Thus he gave Israel quails. <I>Secondly,</I> What we
inordinately desire we are commonly disappointed in, and it cannot save
us, as we expected it should. <I>Thirdly,</I> What God gives in anger
he takes away in wrath; what he gives because we did not desire it well
he takes away because we did not use it well. It is the happiness of
the saints that, whether God gives or takes, it is all in love, and
furnishes them with matter for praise. <I>To the pure all things are
pure.</I> It is the misery of the wicked that, whether God gives or
takes, it is all in wrath; to them nothing is pure, nothing is
comfortable.</P>
<P> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
2. God will do that for them which no other king could do if they had
one
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+13:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
<I>I will ransom them from the power of the grave.</I> Though Israel,
according to the flesh, be abandoned to destruction, God has mercy in
store for his spiritual Israel, in whom all the promises were to have
their accomplishment, and this among the rest, for to them the apostle
applies it
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+15:55">1 Cor. xv. 55</A>),
and particularly to the blessed resurrection of believers at the great
day, yet not excluding their spiritual resurrection from the death of
sin to a holy, heavenly, spiritual, and divine life. It is promised,
(1.) That the captives shall be delivered, <I>shall be ransomed, from
the power of the grave.</I> Their deliverance shall be by ransom; and
we know who it was that paid their ransom, and what the ransom was, for
it was the Son of man that <I>gave his life a ransom for many,</I>
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+20:28">Matt. xx. 28</A>.
It is he that thus redeemed them. Those who, upon their repenting and
believing, are, for the sake of Christ's righteousness, acquitted from
the guilt of sin and saved from death and hell, which are the <I>wages
of sin,</I> are those <I>ransomed of the Lord</I> that shall, in the
great day, be brought out of the grave in triumph, and it shall be as
impossible for the banks of death to hold them as it was to hold their
Master.
(2.) That the conqueror shall be destroyed: <I>O death! I will be thy
plagues.</I> Jesus Christ was the plague and destruction of death and
the grave when by death he <I>destroyed him that had the power of
death,</I> and when in his own resurrection he triumphed over the
grave. But the complete destruction of them will be in the resurrection
of believers at the great day, when death shall for ever be swallowed
up in victory, and it is the last enemy that shall be destroyed. But
the word which we translate <I>I will</I> may as well be rendered
<I>Ubi nunc--Where now</I> are thy plagues? And so the apostle took it:
<I>'O death! where is thy plague,</I> or <I>sting,</I> with which thou
hast so long pestered the world? <I>O grave! where is thy victory,</I>
or thy <I>destruction,</I> wherewith thou has destroyed mankind?"
Christ has abolished death, has broken the power of it and altered the
property of it, and so enabled us to triumph over it. This promise he
has made, and it shall be made good to all that are his; for
<I>repentance shall be hidden from his eyes;</I> he will never recall
this sentence passed on death and the grave, for he is not a man that
he should repent. Thanks be to God therefore who gives us the
victory.</P>
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