mh_parser/vol_split/28 - Hosea/Chapter 5.xml

<div2 id="Hos.vi" n="vi" next="Hos.vii" prev="Hos.v" progress="76.01%" title="Chapter V">
<h2 id="Hos.vi-p0.1">H O S E A.</h2>
<h3 id="Hos.vi-p0.2">CHAP. V.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Hos.vi-p1" shownumber="no">The scope of this chapter is the same with that of
the foregoing chapter, to discover the sin both of Israel and
Judah, and to denounce the judgments of God against them. I. They
are called to hearken to the charge, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.1 Bible:Hos.5.8" parsed="|Hos|5|1|0|0;|Hos|5|8|0|0" passage="Ho 5:1,8">ver. 1, 8</scripRef>. II. They are accused of many sins,
which are here aggravated. 1. Persecution, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.1-Hos.5.2" parsed="|Hos|5|1|5|2" passage="Ho 5:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>. 2. Spiritual whoredom, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.3-Hos.5.4" parsed="|Hos|5|3|5|4" passage="Ho 5:3,4">ver. 3, 4</scripRef>. 3. Pride, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.5" parsed="|Hos|5|5|0|0" passage="Ho 5:5">ver. 5</scripRef>. 4. Apostasy from God, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.7" parsed="|Hos|5|7|0|0" passage="Ho 5:7">ver. 7</scripRef>. 5. The tyranny of the princes,
and the tameness of the people in submitting to it, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.10-Hos.5.11" parsed="|Hos|5|10|5|11" passage="Ho 5:10,11">ver. 10, 11</scripRef>. III. They are
threatened with God's displeasure for their sins; he knows all
their wickedness (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.3" parsed="|Hos|5|3|0|0" passage="Ho 5:3">ver. 3</scripRef>) and
makes known his wrath against them for it, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.9" parsed="|Hos|5|9|0|0" passage="Ho 5:9">ver. 9</scripRef>. 1. They shall fall in their iniquity,
<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.5" parsed="|Hos|5|5|0|0" passage="Ho 5:5">ver. 5</scripRef>. 2. God will forsake
them, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.6" parsed="|Hos|5|6|0|0" passage="Ho 5:6">ver. 6</scripRef>. 3. Their
portions shall be devoured, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.7" parsed="|Hos|5|7|0|0" passage="Ho 5:7">ver.
7</scripRef>. 4. God will rebuke them, and pour out his wrath upon
them, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.9-Hos.5.10" parsed="|Hos|5|9|5|10" passage="Ho 5:9,10">ver. 9, 10</scripRef>. 5. They
shall be oppressed, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.11" parsed="|Hos|5|11|0|0" passage="Ho 5:11">ver. 11</scripRef>.
6. God will be as a moth to them in secret judgments (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.14" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.12" parsed="|Hos|5|12|0|0" passage="Ho 5:12">ver. 12</scripRef>) and as a lion in public
judgments, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.15" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.14" parsed="|Hos|5|14|0|0" passage="Ho 5:14">ver. 14</scripRef>. IV. They
are blamed for the wrong course they took under their afflictions,
<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.16" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.13" parsed="|Hos|5|13|0|0" passage="Ho 5:13">ver. 13</scripRef>. V. It is intimated
that they shall at length take a right course, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p1.17" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.15" parsed="|Hos|5|15|0|0" passage="Ho 5:15">ver. 15</scripRef>. The more generally these things are
expressed of so much the more general use they are for our
learning, and particularly for our admonition.</p>
<scripCom id="Hos.vi-p1.18" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5" parsed="|Hos|5|0|0|0" passage="Ho 5" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Hos.vi-p1.19" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.1-Hos.5.7" parsed="|Hos|5|1|5|7" passage="Ho 5:1-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.vi-p1.20">
<h4 id="Hos.vi-p1.21">Charge against Israel and Judah; Judgments
Threatened. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.vi-p1.22">b. c.</span> 758.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.vi-p2" shownumber="no">1 Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house
of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment
<i>is</i> toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a
net spread upon Tabor.   2 And the revolters are profound to
make slaughter, though I <i>have been</i> a rebuker of them all.
  3 I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O
Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, <i>and</i> Israel is defiled.
  4 They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God:
for the spirit of whoredoms <i>is</i> in the midst of them, and
they have not known the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.vi-p2.1">Lord</span>.  
5 And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall
Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall
with them.   6 They shall go with their flocks and with their
herds to seek the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.vi-p2.2">Lord</span>; but they
shall not find <i>him;</i> he hath withdrawn himself from them.
  7 They have dealt treacherously against the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.vi-p2.3">Lord</span>: for they have begotten strange children:
now shall a month devour them with their portions.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p3" shownumber="no">Here, I. All orders and degrees of men are
cited to appear and answer to such things as shall be laid to their
charge (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.1" parsed="|Hos|5|1|0|0" passage="Ho 5:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): <i>Hear
you this, O priests!</i> whether <i>in holy orders</i> (as those in
Judah, and perhaps many in Israel too, for in the ten tribes there
were divers cities of priests and Levites, who, it is probable,
staid in their own lot after the revolt of the ten tribes and did
so much of their office as might be done at a distance from the
temple) or <i>pretending holy orders,</i> as the priests of the
calves, who, some think, are included here. "Hearken, <i>you house
of Israel,</i> the common people, and <i>give ear, O house of the
king!</i>" let them all take notice, for they have all contributed
to the national guilt, and they shall all share in the national
judgments. Note, If neither the sanctity of the priesthood nor the
dignity of the royal family will prevail to keep out sin, it cannot
be expected that they should avail to keep out wrath. If the
priests, and the house of the king, though they bear such noble
characters, sin like others, their noble characters will not excuse
them, but they must smart like others. Nor shall it be any plea for
<i>the house of Israel</i> that they were misled by their priests
and princes, but they shall receive their doom with them, and
neither their meanness nor their multitude shall be their
exemption.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p4" shownumber="no">II. Witness is produced against them, one
instead of a thousand; it is God's omniscience (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.3" parsed="|Hos|5|3|0|0" passage="Ho 5:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>): <i>I know Ephraim, and Israel is
not hidden from me.</i> They have <i>not known the Lord</i>
(<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.4" parsed="|Hos|5|4|0|0" passage="Ho 5:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), but the Lord
has known them, knows their true character however disguised, knows
their secret wickedness however concealed. Note, Men's rejecting
the knowledge of God will not secure them from his knowledge of
them; and when he contends with them he will prove their sins upon
them by his own knowledge, so that is will be in vain to plead
<i>Not guilty.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p5" shownumber="no">III. Very bad things are laid to their
charge. 1. They had been very ingenious and very industrious to
draw people either into sin or into trouble: You have been <i>a
snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.1" parsed="|Hos|5|1|0|0" passage="Ho 5:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), that is, such snares and
nets as the huntsmen used to lay upon those mountains in pursuit of
their game. When the worship of the calves was set up in Israel the
patrons of that idolatry, and sticklers for it, contrived by all
possible arts and wiles to draw men into it and reconcile those to
it that at first had a dread of it. Note, Those that allure and
entice men to sin, however they may pretend friendship and
good-will, are to be looked upon as <i>snares and nets</i> to them,
and <i>their hands as bands,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.7.26" parsed="|Eccl|7|26|0|0" passage="Ec 7:26">Eccl.
vii. 26</scripRef>. But to those whom they could not seduce into
sin they were as a net and a snare to bring them into trouble. Some
think it was their practice to set spies in the road, and
particularly upon the mountains of Mizpah and Tabor, at the times
of the solemn feasts at Jerusalem, to watch if any of their people
who were piously affected went thither, and to inform against them,
that they might be prosecuted for it, thus doing the devil's work,
who disquiets those whom he cannot debauch. 2. They had been both
very crafty and very cruel in carrying on their designs (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.2" parsed="|Hos|5|2|0|0" passage="Ho 5:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>The revolters are
profound to make slaughter.</i> Note, Those who have themselves
apostatized from the truths of God are often the most subtle and
barbarous persecutors of those who still adhere to them. Nothing
will serve them but to <i>make slaughter</i> (it is the blood of
the saints that they thirst after): and with the serpent's sting
they have his head; they are <i>profound</i> to do it. O the depth
of <i>the depths of Satan,</i> of the wickedness of his agents, of
those that have <i>deeply revolted!</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.31.6" parsed="|Isa|31|6|0|0" passage="Isa 31:6">Isa. xxxi. 6</scripRef>. Now that which aggravated this
was the many reproofs and warnings that had been given them:
<i>Though I have been a rebuker of them all.</i> The prophet had
been so, a reprover by office. He had many a time told them of the
evil of their ways and doings, had dealt plainly <i>with them
all,</i> and had not spared either the priests or the house of the
king. God himself had been <i>a rebuker of them all</i> by their
own consciences and by his providences. Note, Sins against reproof
are doubly sinful, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.29.1" parsed="|Prov|29|1|0|0" passage="Pr 29:1">Prov. xxix.
1</scripRef>. 3. They had <i>committed whoredom,</i> had defiled
their own bodies with fleshly lusts, had defiled their own souls
with the worship of idols, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.3" parsed="|Hos|5|3|0|0" passage="Ho 5:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. This God was a witness to, though secretly committed
and artfully palliated. Nay, the piercing eye of God saw <i>the
spirit of whoredom</i> that was <i>in the midst of them,</i> their
secret inclination and disposition to those sins, the love they had
to their sins, and the dominion their sins had over them, how much
they were under the power of a <i>spirit of whoredom,</i> that
<i>root of bitterness</i> which bore all this gall and wormwood,
that corrupt and poisoned fountain. 4. They had no disposition at
all to come into acquaintance and communion with God. The <i>spirit
of whoredoms,</i> having <i>caused them to err</i> from him, keeps
them wandering endlessly, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.7" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.4" parsed="|Hos|5|4|0|0" passage="Ho 5:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. (1.) They <i>have not known the Lord,</i> nor desire
to know him, but have rather declined, nay dreaded, the knowledge
of him, for that would disturb them in their sinful ways. (2.)
Therefore <i>they will not frame their doings to turn to their
God,</i> by which it appeared that they did not know him aright.
This intimates their obstinate persistence in their apostasy from
God; they would not <i>turn to God,</i> though he was <i>their
God,</i> theirs in covenant, by whose name they had been called,
and whom they were bound to <i>serve.</i> They would not return to
the worship of him, from which they had turned aside. Nay, <i>they
would not frame their doings to turn to God.</i> They would not
<i>consider their ways,</i> nor dispose themselves into a serious
temper, nor apply their minds to think of those things that would
bring them to God. It is true we cannot by our own power, without
the special grace of God, turn to him; but we may by the due
improvement of our faculties, and the common aids of his Spirit,
<i>frame our doings</i> to turn to him. Those that will not do
this, that <i>prepare not their hearts to seek the Lord</i>
(<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.8" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.12.14" parsed="|2Chr|12|14|0|0" passage="2Ch 12:14">2 Chron. xii. 14</scripRef>), owe it
to themselves that they are not turned; they die because they will
die; and to those that will do this further grace shall not be
wanting. (5.) They were guilty of notorious arrogancy, and
insolence in sin (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.9" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.5" parsed="|Hos|5|5|0|0" passage="Ho 5:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>): <i>The pride of Israel doth testify to his face,</i>
doth witness against him that he is a rebel to God and his
government. The <i>spirit of whoredoms</i> which was <i>in the
midst of them</i> showed itself in the gaiety and gaudiness of
their worship, as a harlot is known by her attire, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.10" osisRef="Bible:Prov.7.10" parsed="|Prov|7|10|0|0" passage="Pr 7:10">Prov. vii. 10</scripRef>. The wantonness of her
dress testifies to her face that she is not a modest woman. Or
their pride in confronting the prophets God sent them and the
message they brought (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.11" osisRef="Bible:Jer.43.2" parsed="|Jer|43|2|0|0" passage="Jer 43:2">Jer. xliii.
2</scripRef>), or a haughty scornful conduct towards their brethren
and those that were under them, <i>witnessed against</i> them that
they were not God's people and justified God in all the humbling
judgments he brought upon them. His pride testifies <i>in his
face;</i> so some read it, agreeing with <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.3.9" parsed="|Isa|3|9|0|0" passage="Isa 3:9">Isa. iii. 9</scripRef>, <i>The show of their countenance
doth witness against them.</i> They have that <i>proud look</i>
which <i>the Lord hates.</i> (6.) They departed from God to idols,
and bred up their children in idolatry (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.13" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.7" parsed="|Hos|5|7|0|0" passage="Ho 5:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>They have dealt treacherously
against the Lord,</i> as a wife, who, in contempt of the marriage
covenant, forsakes her husband, and lives in adultery with another.
Thus those who are guilty of spiritual idolatry, whose god is their
money, whose god is their belly, <i>deal treacherously against the
Lord;</i> they violate their engagements to him and frustrate his
expectations from them. Note, Wilful sinners are treacherous
dealers. <i>They have begotten strange children,</i> that is, their
children which they have begotten are estranged from God, and
trained up in a false way of worship; they are a spurious brood, as
<i>children of fornication</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p5.14" osisRef="Bible:John.8.41" parsed="|John|8|41|0|0" passage="Joh 8:41">John
viii. 41</scripRef>), whom God will disown. Note, Those deal
treacherously with God indeed who not only turn from following him
themselves but train up their children in wicked ways.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p6" shownumber="no">IV. Very sad things are made to be their
doom. In general (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.1" parsed="|Hos|5|1|0|0" passage="Ho 5:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>), "<i>Judgment is towards you.</i> God is coming forth
to contend with you, and to testify his displeasure against you for
your sins." It is time to hearken when judgment is towards us. In
particular,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p7" shownumber="no">1. They shall <i>fall in their
iniquity.</i> This follows upon their <i>pride testifying to their
face</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.5" parsed="|Hos|5|5|0|0" passage="Ho 5:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>)
<i>Therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity.</i>
Note, Pride will have a fall; it is the certain presage and
forerunner of it. Those that exalt themselves shall be abased. The
face in which pride testifies shall be filled with confusion. They
shall not only fall, but fall in their iniquity, the saddest fall
of any. Their pride kept them from repenting of their iniquity, and
therefore they shall fall in it. Note, Those that are not humbled
for their sins are likely to perish for ever in their sins. It is
added, <i>Judah also shall fall with them</i> in her iniquity. As
the ten tribes were carried captive into Assyria, for their
idolatry, so the two tribes, in process of time, were carried into
Babylon for following their bad example; but the former fell and
were utterly cast down, the latter fell and were raised up again.
Judah had the temple and priesthood, and yet these shall not secure
them, but, if they sin with Israel and Ephraim, with them they
shall fall.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p8" shownumber="no">2. They shall fall short of God's favour
when they profess to seek it (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.6" parsed="|Hos|5|6|0|0" passage="Ho 5:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): <i>They shall go with their flocks and with their
herds to seek the Lord,</i> but in vain; <i>they shall not find
him.</i> This seems to be spoken principally of Judah, when they
fell into their iniquity, and when they fell in their iniquity.
(1.) When they fell into their iniquity they <i>sought the
Lord;</i> but they did not <i>seek him only,</i> and therefore he
was not <i>found of them.</i> When they worshipped strange gods,
yet they kept up the show and shadow of the worship of the true
God; they went as usual, at the solemn feasts, <i>with their flocks
and herds to seek the Lord;</i> but their hearts were not
<i>upright with him,</i> because they were not <i>entire for
him,</i> and therefore he would not accept them; for <i>then</i>
only shall we find him when we <i>seek him with our whole
heart,</i> not divided between God and Baal, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.14.3" parsed="|Ezek|14|3|0|0" passage="Eze 14:3">Ezek. xiv. 3</scripRef>. (2.) When they fell in their
iniquity, or found themselves falling by it, they <i>sought the
Lord;</i> but they did not seek him <i>early,</i> and therefore he
will not be found of them. They shall see ruin coming upon them,
and shall then, in their distress, flee to God, and think to make
him their friend with burnt-offerings and sacrifices; but it will
be too late then to turn away his wrath when <i>the decree has gone
forth.</i> Even Josiah's reformation did not prevail to <i>turn
away the wrath of God,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.23.25-2Kgs.23.26" parsed="|2Kgs|23|25|23|26" passage="2Ki 23:25,26">2 Kings
xxiii. 25, 26</scripRef>. Those that go <i>with their flocks and
their herds</i> only to seek the Lord, and not with their hearts
and souls, cannot expect to find him, for his favour is not to be
purchased with <i>thousands of rams.</i> Nor shall those speed who
do not seek the Lord <i>while he may be found,</i> for there is a
time when he will not be found. They shall not find him, for he has
withdrawn himself; he will not be enquired of by them, but will
turn a deaf ear to their sacrifices. See how much it is our concern
to seek God early, now while the accepted time is, and the day of
salvation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p9" shownumber="no">3. They and their portions shall all be
swallowed up. They have <i>dealt treacherously against the
Lord,</i> and have thought to strengthen themselves in it by their
alliances with strange children; but <i>now shall a month devour
them with their portions,</i> that is, their estates and
inheritances, all those things which they have taken, and taken up
with, as their portion; or by their <i>portions</i> is meant their
idols, whom they chose for their portion instead of God. Note,
Those that make an idol of the world, by taking it for their
portion, will themselves perish with it. A <i>month</i> shall
<i>devour</i> them, or eat them up—a certain time prefixed, and a
short time. When God's judgments begin with them they shall soon
make an end; one month will do their business. How much may a body
be weakened by one month's sickness, or a kingdom wasted by one
month's war! <i>Three shepherds</i> (says God) <i>I cut off in one
month,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Zech.11.8" parsed="|Zech|11|8|0|0" passage="Zec 11:8">Zech. xi. 8</scripRef>.
Note, The judgments of God sometimes make quick work with a sinful
people. A month devours more, and more portions, than many years
can repair.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Hos.vi-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.8-Hos.5.15" parsed="|Hos|5|8|5|15" passage="Ho 5:8-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.vi-p9.3">
<h4 id="Hos.vi-p9.4">Threatenings of Judgment. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.vi-p9.5">b. c.</span> 758.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.vi-p10" shownumber="no">8 Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, <i>and</i> the
trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud <i>at</i> Beth-aven, after thee, O
Benjamin.   9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke:
among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall
surely be.   10 The princes of Judah were like them that
remove the bound: <i>therefore</i> I will pour out my wrath upon
them like water.   11 Ephraim <i>is</i> oppressed <i>and</i>
broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the
commandment.   12 Therefore <i>will</i> I <i>be</i> unto
Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.  
13 When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah <i>saw</i> his wound,
then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet
could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.   14 For I
<i>will be</i> unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the
house of Judah: I, <i>even</i> I, will tear and go away; I will
take away, and none shall rescue <i>him.</i>   15 I will go
<i>and</i> return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence,
and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p11" shownumber="no">Here is, I. A loud alarm sounded, giving
notice of judgments coming (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.8" parsed="|Hos|5|8|0|0" passage="Ho 5:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>): <i>Blow you the cornet in Gibeah</i> and <i>in
Ramah,</i> two cities near together in the confines of the two
kingdoms of Judah and Israel, Gibeah a frontier-town of the kingdom
of Judah, Ramah of Israel; so that the warning is hereby sent into
both kingdoms. "<i>Cry aloud at Beth-aven,</i> or Bethel, which
place seems to be already seized upon by the enemy, and therefore
the trumpet is not sounded there, but you hear the outcries of
those that shout for mastery, mixed with theirs that are overcome."
Let them <i>cry aloud, "After thee, O Benjamin!</i> comes the
enemy. The tribe of Ephraim is already vanquished, and the enemy
will be upon thy back, O Benjamin! in a little time; thy turn comes
next. The cup of trembling shall go round." The prophet had
described God's controversy with them as a trial at law (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.1" parsed="|Hos|4|1|0|0" passage="Ho 4:1"><i>ch.</i> iv. 1</scripRef>); here he describes it
as a trial by battle; and here also <i>when he judges he will
overcome.</i> Let all therefore prepare to meet their God. He had
before spoken of the judgments as certain; here he speaks of them
as near; and, when they are apprehended as just at the door, they
are very startling and awakening. The blowing of this cornet is
explained, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.9" parsed="|Hos|5|9|0|0" passage="Ho 5:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>.
<i>Among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall
surely be,</i> that which is <i>true</i> or <i>certain,</i> so the
word is. Note, The destruction of impenitent sinners is a thing
which shall surely be; it is not mere talk, to frighten them, but
it is an irrevocable sentence. And it is a mercy to us that it is
<i>made known</i> to us, that we have timely warning given us of
it, that we may <i>flee from the wrath to come.</i> It is the
privilege of the tribes of Israel that, as they are told their
duty, so they are told their danger, by the oracles of God
committed to them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p12" shownumber="no">II. The ground of God's controversy with
them. 1. He has a quarrel with <i>the princes of Judah,</i> because
they were daring leaders in sin, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.10" parsed="|Hos|5|10|0|0" passage="Ho 5:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. They are <i>like those that
remove the bound,</i> or the ancient land-marks. God has given them
his law, to be a fence about his own property; but they have
sacrilegiously broken through it, and set it aside; they have
encroached even upon God's rights, have trampled upon the
distinctions between good and evil, and the most sacred obligations
of reason and equity, thinking, because they were princes, that
they might do any thing, <i>Quicquid libet, licet—Their will was a
law.</i> Or it may be understood of their invading the liberty and
property of the subject for the advancing of the prerogative, which
was like removing the ancient land-marks. Some have observed that
the princes of Judah were more absolute, and assumed a more
arbitrary power, than the princes of Israel did; now, for this, God
has a controversy with them: <i>I will pour out my wrath upon them
like water,</i> in great abundance, like the waters of the flood,
which were poured upon the <i>giants</i> of the <i>old world,</i>
for the violence which the earth was filled with through them,
<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.6.13" parsed="|Gen|6|13|0|0" passage="Ge 6:13">Gen. vi. 13</scripRef>. Note, There are
<i>bounds</i> which even princes themselves must not remove, bounds
both of religion and justice, which they are limited by, and, if
they break through them, they must know that there is a God above
them that will call them to account for it. 2. He has a quarrel
with the <i>people of Ephraim,</i> because they were sneaking
followers in sin (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.11" parsed="|Hos|5|11|0|0" passage="Ho 5:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>): <i>He willingly walked after the commandment,</i>
that is, the commandment of Jeroboam and the succeeding kings of
Israel, who obliged all their subjects by a law to worship the
calves at Dan and Bethel, and never to go up to Jerusalem to
worship. This was <i>the commandment;</i> it was the law of the
land, and backed with reasons of state; and the people not only
walked after it in a blind implicit obedience to authority, but
they willingly walked after it, from a secret antipathy they had to
the worship of idols. Note, An easy compliance with the
commandments of men that thwart the commandments of God ripens a
people for ruin as much as any thing. And the punishment of the
sequacious disobedience (if I may so call it) answers to the sin;
for it is for this that <i>Ephraim is oppressed and broken in
judgment,</i> has all his civil rights and liberties broken in upon
and trodden down; and, (1.) It is just with God that it should be
so, that those who betray God's property should lose their own,
that those who subject their consciences to an infallible judge,
and an arbitrary power, should have enough of both. (2.) There is a
natural tendency in the thing itself towards it. <i>Those</i> that
<i>willingly walk after the commandment,</i> even when it walks
contrary to the command of God, will find the commandment an
encroaching thing, and that the more power is given it the more it
will claim. Note, Nothing gives greater advantage to a mastiff-like
tyranny, that is fierce and furious, than a spaniel-like
submission, that is fawning and flattering. Thus is <i>Ephraim
oppressed and broken in judgment,</i> that is, he is wronged under
a face and colour of right. Note, It is a sad and sore judgment
upon any people to be oppressed under pretence of having justice
done them. This explains the threatening <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.9" parsed="|Hos|5|9|0|0" passage="Ho 5:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>, <i>Ephraim shall be desolate in
the day of rebuke.</i> Note, Daring sinners must expect that a day
of rebuke will come, and such a day of rebuke as will make them
desolate, will deprive them of the comfort of all they have and all
they hope for.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p13" shownumber="no">III. The different methods that God would
take both with Judah and Ephraim, sometimes one method and
sometimes the other, and sometimes both together, or rather by
which, first the one and then the other, he would advance towards
their complete ruin.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p14" shownumber="no">1. He would begin with less judgments,
which should sometimes work silently and insensibly (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.12" parsed="|Hos|5|12|0|0" passage="Ho 5:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>I will be</i> (that
is, my providences shall be) <i>unto Ephraim as a moth;</i> nay (as
it might better be supplied), they <i>are unto Ephraim as a
moth,</i> for it is such <i>a sickness</i> as Ephraim now sees,
<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.13" parsed="|Hos|5|13|0|0" passage="Ho 5:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. Note, The
judgments of God are sometimes to a sinful people <i>as a moth,</i>
and <i>as rottenness,</i> or as <i>a worm.</i> The former signifies
the little animals that breed in clothes, the latter those that
breed in wood; as these consume the clothes and the wood, so shall
the judgments of God consume them. (1.) Silently, so as not to make
any noise in the world, nay, so as they themselves shall not be
sensible of it; they shall think themselves safe and thriving, but,
when they come to look more narrowly into their state, shall find
themselves wasting and decaying. (2.) Slowly, and with long delays
and intervals, that he may give them <i>space to repent.</i> Many a
nation, as well as many a person, in the prime of its time, dies of
a consumption. (3.) Gradually. God comes upon sinners with less
judgments, so to prevent greater, if they will be wise and take
warning; he comes upon them step by step, to show he is not willing
that they should perish. (4.) The moth breeds in the clothes, and
the worm or rottenness in the wood; thus sinners are consumed by a
fire of their own kindling.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p15" shownumber="no">2. When it appeared that those had not done
their work he would come upon them with greater (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.14" parsed="|Hos|5|14|0|0" passage="Ho 5:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>I will be unto Ephraim as a
lion, and to the house of Judah as a young lion,</i> though Judah
is himself, in Jacob's blessing, a <i>lion's whelp.</i> Lest any
should think his power weakened, because he was said to be <i>as a
moth</i> to them, he says that he will now be as <i>a lion</i> to
them, not only to frighten them with his roaring, but to pull them
to pieces. Note, If less judgments prevail not to do their work, it
may be expected that God will send greater. <i>Christ</i> is
sometimes a lion of the tribe of Judah, here he is a lion against
that tribe. See what God will do to a people that are secure in
sin: <i>Even I will tear.</i> He seems to glory in it, as his
prerogative, to be able to <i>destroy,</i> as the <i>alone
lawgiver,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Jas.4.12" parsed="|Jas|4|12|0|0" passage="Jam 4:12">Jam. iv. 12</scripRef>.
"<i>I, even I,</i> will take the work into my own hands; I <i>say
it</i> that will <i>do it.</i>" There is a more immediate work of
God in some judgments than in others. <i>I will tear, and go
away.</i> He will go away, (1.) As not fearing them; he will go
away in state, and with a majestic face, as the lion from his prey.
(2.) As not helping them. If God tear by afflicting providences,
and yet by his graces and comforts stays with us, it is well
enough; but our condition is sad indeed if he <i>tear</i> and <i>go
away,</i> if, when he deprives us of our creature comforts, he does
himself depart from us. When he goes away he will take away all
that is valuable and dear, for, when God goes, all good goes along
with him. He will take away, <i>and none shall rescue him,</i> as
the prey cannot be rescued from the lion, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.5.8" parsed="|Mic|5|8|0|0" passage="Mic 5:8">Mic. v. 8</scripRef>. Note, None can be delivered out of
the hands of God's justice but those that are delivered into the
hands of his grace. It is in vain for a man to strive with his
Maker.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vi-p16" shownumber="no">IV. The different effects of those
different methods. 1. When God contended with them by less
judgments they neglected him, and sought to creatures for relief,
but sought in vain, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.13" parsed="|Hos|5|13|0|0" passage="Ho 5:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. When God was to them <i>as a moth,</i> and <i>as
rottenness,</i> they perceived <i>their sickness</i> and <i>their
wound;</i> after a while they found themselves going down the hill,
and that they were behind—hand in their affairs, their estate was
sensibly decaying, and then they sent <i>to the Assyrian,</i> to
come in to their assistance, made their court to king Jareb, which
some think, was one of the names of Pul, or Tiglathpileser, kings
of Assyria, to whom both Israel and Judah applied for relief in
their distress, hoping by an alliance with them to repair and
re-establish their declining interests. Note, Carnal hearts, in
time of trouble, see their sickness and see their wound, but do not
see the sin that is the cause of it, nor will be brought to
acknowledge that, no, nor to acknowledge the hand of God, his
<i>mighty hand,</i> much less his righteous hand, in their trouble;
and therefore, instead of going the next way to the Creator, who
could relieve them, they take a great deal of pains to go about to
creatures, who can do them no service. Those who repent not that
they have offended God by their sins are loth to be beholden to him
in their afflictions, but would rather seek relief any where than
with him. And what is the consequence? <i>Yet could he not heal
you, nor cure you of your wound.</i> Note, Those who neglect God,
and seek to creatures for help, will certainly be disappointed;
those who depend upon them for support will find them, not
<i>foundations,</i> but <i>broken reeds;</i> those who depend upon
them for supply will find them, not <i>fountains,</i> but <i>broken
cisterns;</i> those who depend upon them for comfort and a cure
will find them <i>miserable comforters,</i> and <i>physicians of no
value.</i> The kings of Assyria, whom Judah and Israel sought unto,
<i>distressed them</i> and <i>helped them not,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.28.16 Bible:2Chr.28.28" parsed="|2Chr|28|16|0|0;|2Chr|28|28|0|0" passage="2Ch 28:16,28">2 Chron. xxviii. 16, 28</scripRef>. Some
make king <i>Jareb</i> to signify the <i>great, potent,</i> or
<i>magnificent king,</i> for they built much upon his power; others
<i>the king that will plead,</i> or <i>should plead,</i> for they
built much upon his wisdom and eloquence, and in his interesting
himself in their affairs. They had sent him <i>a present</i>
(<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.6" parsed="|Hos|10|6|0|0" passage="Ho 10:6"><i>ch.</i> x. 6</scripRef>), a good
fee, and, having so retained him of counsel for them, they doubted
not of his fidelity to them; but he deceived them, as an arm of
flesh does those that trust in it, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.17.5-Jer.17.6" parsed="|Jer|17|5|17|6" passage="Jer 17:5,6">Jer. xvii. 5, 6</scripRef>. 2. When, to convince them
of their folly, God brought greater judgments upon them, then they
would at length be forced to apply to him, <scripRef id="Hos.vi-p16.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.5.15" parsed="|Hos|5|15|0|0" passage="Ho 5:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. When he has <i>torn</i> as a
<i>lion,</i> (1.) He will leave them: <i>I will go and return to my
place,</i> to heaven, or to the mercy-seat, the throne of grace,
which is his glory. When God punishes sinners he <i>comes out of
his place</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.vi-p16.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.26.21" parsed="|Isa|26|21|0|0" passage="Isa 26:21">Isa. xxvi.
21</scripRef>); but, when he designs them favour, he <i>returns to
his place,</i> where he <i>waits to be gracious,</i> upon their
submission. Or he will <i>return to his place</i> when he has
corrected them, as not regarding them, hiding his face from them,
and not taking notice of their troubles or prayers; and this for
their further humiliation, till they are qualified in some measure
for the returns of his favour. (2.) He will at length work upon
them, and bring them home to himself, by their afflictions, which
is the thing he waits for; and then he will no longer withdraw from
them. Two things are here mentioned as instances of their return:—
[1.] Their penitent confession of sin: <i>Till they acknowledge
their offence;</i> marg. <i>Till they be guilty,</i> that is, till
they be sensible of their guilt, and be brought to own it, and
humble themselves before God for it. Note, When men begin to
complain more of their sins than of their afflictions then there
begins to be some hope of them; and this is that which God requires
of us, when we are under his correcting hand, that we own ourselves
in a fault and justly corrected. [2.] Their humble petition for the
favour of God: Till they <i>seek my face,</i> which, it may be
expected, they will do when they are brought to the last extremity,
and they have tried other helpers in vain. <i>In their affliction
they will seek me early,</i> that is, diligently and earnestly, and
with great importunity; and if they seek him thus, and be sincere
in it, though it might be called seeking him late, because it was
long ere they were brought to it, yet it is not too late, nay, he
is pleased to call it seeking him early, so willing is he to make
the best of true penitents in their return to him. Note, When we
are under the convictions of sin, and the corrections of the rod,
our business is to seek God's face; we must desire the knowledge of
him, and an acquaintance with him, that he may manifest himself to
us, and for us, in token of his being at peace with us. And it may
reasonably be expected that affliction will bring those to God that
had long gone astray from him, and kept at a distance.
<i>Therefore</i> God for a time turns away from us, that he may
turn us to himself, and then return to us. <i>Is any among you
afflicted? Let him pray.</i></p>
</div></div2>