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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>H O S E A.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. III.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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God is still by the prophet inculcating the same thing upon this
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careless people, and much in the same manner as before, by a type or
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sign, that of the dealings of a husband with an adulterous wife. In
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this chapter we have,
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I. The bad character which the people of Israel now had; they were, as
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is said of the Athenians
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ac+17:16">Acts xvii. 16</A>),
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"wholly given to idolatry,"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:1">ver. 1</A>.
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II. The low condition which they should be reduced to by their
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captivity, and the other instances of God's controversy with them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:2-4">ver. 2-4</A>.
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III. The blessed reformation that should at length be wrought upon them
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in the latter days,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:5">ver. 5</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ho3_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho3_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho3_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho3_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho3_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Idolatry of Israel; The Prophet's Remonstrances; Promises to the Penitent.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=BOTTOM><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 760.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Then said the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of
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<I>her</I> friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and
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love flagons of wine.
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2 So I bought her to me for fifteen <I>pieces</I> of silver, and
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<I>for</I> a homer of barley, and a half homer of barley:
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3 And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou
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shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for <I>another</I>
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man: so <I>will</I> I also <I>be</I> for thee.
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4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a
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king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without
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an image, and without an ephod, and <I>without</I> teraphim:
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5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> their God, and David their king; and shall fear the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> and
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his goodness in the latter days.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Some think that this chapter refers to Judah, the two tribes, as the
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adulteress the prophet married
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+1:3"><I>ch.</I> i. 3</A>)
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represented the <I>ten tribes;</I> for this was not to be divorced, as
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the ten tribes were, but to be left desolate for a long time, and then
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to return, as the two tribes did. But these are called the <I>children
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of Israel,</I> which was the ten tribes, and therefore it is more
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probable that of them this parable, as well as that before, is to be
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understood. <I>Go,</I> and repeat it, says God to the prophet; <I>Go
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yet again.</I> Note, For the conviction and reduction of sinners it is
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necessary that precept be upon precept, and line upon line. If they
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will not believe one sign, try another,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+4:8,9">Exod. iv. 8, 9</A>.
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Now,</P>
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<P>
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I. In this parable we may observe,</P>
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<P>
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1. God's goodness and Israel's badness strangely serving for a foil to
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each other,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Israel is as a woman <I>beloved of her friend,</I> either of him that
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has married her or of him that only courts her, and <I>yet an
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adulteress;</I> such is the case between God and Israel. We say of
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those whose affection is mutual that there is <I>no love lost</I>
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between them; but here we find a great deal of the love even of God
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himself lost and thrown away upon an unworthy ungrateful people. The
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God of Israel retains a very great love for the <I>children of
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Israel,</I> and yet they are an evil and adulterous generation. <I>Be
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astonished, O heavens! at this, and wonder, O earth!</I>
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(1.) That God's goodness has not put an end to their badness; the Lord
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loves them, has a kindness for them, and is continually showing
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kindness to them; they know it, they cannot but own it, that he has
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been as a friend and Father to them; and yet they <I>look to other
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gods,</I> gods that they can see, and to the love of which they are
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drawn by the eye; they look to them with an eye of adoration (they
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offer up all their services to them) and with an eye of dependence
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(they expect all their comforts from them); if they were restrained
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from bowing the knee to idols, yet they gave them an amorous glance,
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and had <I>eyes full of that</I> spiritual <I>adultery.</I> And they
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loved <I>flagons of wine;</I> they joined with idolaters because they
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lived merrily and drank hard; they had a kindness for <I>other gods</I>
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for the sake of the plenty of good wine with which they had been
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sometimes treated in their temples. Idolatry and sensuality commonly go
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together; those that make a god of their belly, as drunkards do, will
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easily be brought to make a god of any thing else. God's priests were
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to <I>drink no wine</I> when they went in to minister, and his
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Nazarites none at all. But the worshippers of other gods <I>drank wine
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in bowls;</I> nay, no less than <I>flagons of wine</I> would content
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them.
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(2.) That their badness had not stopped the current of his favours to
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them. This is a wonder of mercy indeed, that she is thus <I>beloved of
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her friend, though an adulteress;</I> such is the <I>love of the Lord
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towards the children of Israel.</I> "Go," says God, "<I>love</I> such a
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woman; see if thou canst find in thy heart to do it. No, thou canst
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not, the breast of no man would admit such a love; yet such is my
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<I>love to the children of Israel;</I> it is love to the loveless, to
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the unlovely, to those that have a thousand times forfeited it." Note,
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In God's goodwill to poor sinners his thoughts and ways are infinitely
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above ours, and his love is more condescending and compassionate than
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ours is, or can be; in this, as much as any thing, he is <I>God, and
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not man,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+11:9">Hos. xi. 9</A>.</P>
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<P>
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2. The method found for the bringing of a God so very good and a people
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so very bad together again; this is the thing aimed at, and what God
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aims at he will accomplish. To our great surprise, we find a breach
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thus wide as the sea effectually healed; miracles cease not so long as
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divine mercy does not cease. Observe here,
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(1.) The course God takes to humble them and make them know themselves
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and a homer and a
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half of barley,</I> that is, I courted her to be reconciled, to leave
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her ill courses, and return to her first husband, as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:14"><I>ch.</I> ii. 14</A>.
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I <I>allured</I> her, and <I>spoke comfortably</I> to her; as the
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<I>Levite who went after</I> his concubine that had <I>played the
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harlot</I> from him, and had run away with another man, <I>spoke
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friendly to her,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+19:3">Judg. xix. 3</A>.
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But here the present which the prophet brought her for the purchasing
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of her favour is observed to be a very small one; but it was all that
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was intended for her separate maintenance, and in it she is reduced to
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a short allowance, and, to punish her for her pride, is made to look
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very mean. When Samson went to be reconciled to his wife that had
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disobliged him he <I>visited her with a kid</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+15:1">Judg. xv. 1</A>),
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which was a genteel entertainment. But the prophet here visited his
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wife with <I>fifteen pieces of silver,</I> a small sum, which yet she
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must be content to live upon a great while, so long as till her husband
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thought fit to restore her to her first estate. She shall also have
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<I>a homer and a half of barley,</I> for bread-corn, and that is all
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she must expect till she be sufficiently humbled, and, by a competent
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time of trial, satisfactory proof given that she is indeed reformed.
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Let her be made sensible that it is not for her own merit that her
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husband makes court to her; it is but a lame price that he values her
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at. The price of a servant was thirty shekels,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+21:32">Exod. xxi. 32</A>.
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This was but half so much; yet let her know that it is more than she is
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worth. God had given Egypt for Israel's ransom once, so precious were
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they then in his sight, and so honourable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:3">Isa. xliii. 3, 4</A>.
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But now that they have gone a whoring from him he will give but fifteen
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pieces of silver for them, so much have they lost in their value by
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their iniquity. Note, Those whom God designs honour and comfort for he
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first makes sensible of their own worthlessness, and brings them to
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acknowledge, with the prodigal, <I>I am no more worthy to be called thy
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son.</I> Time was when Israel was <I>fed with the finest of the
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wheat,</I> but they grew wanton, <I>and loved flagons of wine,</I> and
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therefore, in order to the humbling and reducing of them, they must be
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brought in the land of their captivity to eat barley-bread, and be
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thankful they can get it, and to eat that too by weight and measure,
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whereas they did not use to be stinted. Note, Poverty and disgrace
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sometimes prove a happy means of making great sinners true penitents.
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(2.) The new terms upon which God is willing to come with them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Thou shalt abide for me many days, and shalt not be for another, so
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will I be for thee.</I> He might justly have given them a bill of
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divorce, and have resolved to have no more to do with them; but he is
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willing to show them kindness, and that the matter should be
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compromised; he deals not with them in strict justice, according to the
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rigour of the law, but according to the multitude of his mercies; and
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it represents God's gracious dealings with the apostate race of
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mankind, that had gone a whoring from him; he bought them indeed with
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an inestimable price, not for their honour, but for the honour of his
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own justice; and now this is the proposal he makes to them, the
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covenant of grace he is willing to enter into with them--they must be
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to him a people, and he will be to them a God, the same with the
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proposal here made to Israel.
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[1.] They must take to themselves the shame of their apostasy from him,
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must submit to, and accept of, the punishment of their iniquity:
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<I>Thou shalt abide for me many days</I> in <I>solitude</I> and
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<I>silence,</I> as a widow that is <I>desolate</I> and in sorrow; they
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must <I>lay aside their ornaments,</I> and wait with patience and
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submission to know what God will do with them, and whether he will
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please to admit such unworthy wretches into his favour again, as they
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did
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+33:4,5">Exod. xxxiii. 4, 5</A>.
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<I>Their father,</I> their husband, has <I>spit in their face</I> (as
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God said concerning Miriam), has put them under the marks of his
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displeasure, and therefore, like her, they must be <I>ashamed seven
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days,</I> and be <I>shut out of the camp</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+12:14">Num. xii. 14</A>),
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till <I>their uncircumcised hearts be humbled,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+26:41">Lev. xxvi. 41</A>.
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Let them <I>sit alone</I> and <I>keep silence, waiting for the
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salvation of the Lord,</I> and in the mean time let them <I>bear the
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yoke,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+3:26-28">Lam. iii. 26-28</A>.
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Let them not expect that God should speedily return in mercy to them,;
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no, let them want it, let them wait for it <I>many days,</I> during all
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the days of their captivity, and reckon it a miracle of mercy, and well
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worth waiting for, it if come at last. Note, Those whom God designs
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mercy for he will first bring to abase themselves and to put a high
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value upon his favours.
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[2.] They must never return to folly again; that is the condition upon
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which God will <I>speak peace to his people and to his saints</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+85:8">Ps. lxxxv. 8</A>),
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and no other. "<I>Thou shalt not play the harlot,</I> shalt not worship
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idols in the land of thy captivity, while thou art there set apart for
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the uncleanness." Note, It is not enough to take shame to ourselves for
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the sins we have committed, and to justify God in correcting us for
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them, but we must resolve, in the strength of God's grace, that we will
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not offend any more, that we will not again go a whoring from God,
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after the world and the flesh. Blessed be God, though it is the law of
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the covenant, it is not the condition of it that we shall never in any
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thing do amiss: "But thou shalt not <I>play the harlot;</I> thou shalt
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not serve other gods, <I>shalt not be for another man.</I>" In the land
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of their captivity they would be courted to worship the idols of the
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country; that would be a trial for them, a <I>long</I> trial, many
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days: "But if thou keep thy ground, and hold fast thy integrity, if,
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when <I>all this comes upon thee,</I> thou dost not <I>stretch out thy
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hand to a strange god,</I> thou wilt be qualified for the returns of
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God's favour." Note, It is a certain sign that our afflictions are
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means of much good to us, and earnests of more, when we are kept by the
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grace of God from being overcome by the temptations of an afflicted
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state.
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[3.] Upon these terms their Maker will again be their husband: <I>So
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will I also be for thee.</I> This is the covenant between God and
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returning sinners, that, if they will be for him to serve him, he will
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be for them to save them. Let them renounce and abjure all rivals with
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God for the throne in the heart, and devote themselves entirely to him
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and him only, and he will be to them a God all-sufficient. If we be
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faithful and constant to God in a way of duty, and will never leave nor
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forsake him, he will be so to us in a way of mercy, and will never
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leave nor forsake us. And a fairer proposal could not be made.</P>
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<P>
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II. In the
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:4,5">last two verses</A>
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we have the interpretation of the parable and the application of it to
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Israel.</P>
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<P>
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1. They must long <I>sit like a widow,</I> stripped of all their joys
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and honours,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=La+4:1,2">Lam. iv. 1, 2</A>.
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<I>They shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince;</I>
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and a nation in this condition may well be called <I>a widow.</I> They
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want the blessing,
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(1.) Of civil government: They shall abide <I>without a king,</I> and
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<I>without a prince,</I> of their own. There were kings and princes
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over them to oppress them and rule them with rigour, but they had no
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king nor prince to protect them, to fight their battles for them, to
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administer justice to them, and to take care of their common safety and
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welfare. Note, Magistracy is a very great blessing to a people, and it
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is a sad and sore judgment to want it.
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(2.) Of public worship: <I>They shall</I> abide <I>without a
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sacrifice,</I> and <I>without an image</I> (or a <I>statue,</I> or
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<I>pillar;</I> the word is used concerning the pillars Jacob erected,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+28:18,31:45,35:20">Gen. xxviii. 18; xxxi. 45; xxxv. 20</A>),
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and <I>without an ephod and teraphim.</I> The <I>teraphim</I> being
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here closely joined to the <I>ephod,</I> some thing the <I>urim</I> and
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<I>thummim</I> were meant by it in the breast-plate of the high priest.
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The meaning is that in their captivity they should not only have no
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face of a nation upon them, but no face of a church; they should not
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have (as a learned expositor speaks) liberty of any public profession
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or exercise of religion, either true or false, according to their
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choice. They shall have <I>no sacrifice or altar</I> (so the LXX.), and
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therefore no sacrifice because no altar. They shall have <I>no
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ephod,</I> nor <I>teraphim,</I> no legal priesthood, no means of
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knowing God's mind, no oracle to consult in doubtful cases, but shall
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be all in the dark. Note, The case of those is very melancholy that
|
|
are deprived of all opportunities to worship God in public. This was
|
|
the case of the Jews in their captivity; and it is so far the case of
|
|
the scattered Jews at this day that, though they have their synagogues,
|
|
they have no temple-service. Desolate indeed is their condition that
|
|
are shut out from communion with God, that have no opportunity of
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|
directing their addresses to God by sacrifice and altar, and of
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receiving instruction from him by ephod and teraphim.</P>
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|
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<P>
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|
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2. They shall at length be received again as a wife
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+3:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>Afterwards,</I> in process of time, when they have gone through this
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|
discipline, <I>they shall return,</I> that is, they shall repent of
|
|
their idolatries and forsake them, they shall apply themselves to God
|
|
and adhere to him, and herein they shall be accepted of him. Two things
|
|
are here promised as instances of their return, and steps towards their
|
|
acceptance with God in their return:--
|
|
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(1.) The enquiries they shall make after God: <I>They shall seek the
|
|
Lord their God, and David their king.</I> Note, Those that would find
|
|
God, and find favour with him, must seek him, must ask after him, covet
|
|
acquaintance with him, desire to be reconciled to him, set their love
|
|
on him, and labour in this that they may be accepted of him. Their
|
|
seeking him implies that they had lost him, that they were lamenting
|
|
their loss, and that they were solicitous to retrieve what they had
|
|
lost. They shall seek him as <I>their God;</I> for <I>should not a
|
|
people seek unto their God?</I> And they shall seek <I>David their
|
|
King,</I> who can be no other than the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ,
|
|
the Son of David, the <I>root and offspring of David,</I> whom David
|
|
himself called <I>Lord</I>
|
|
|
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+110:1">Ps. cx. 1</A>),
|
|
|
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and to whom God gave the <I>throne of his father David,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+1:32">Luke i. 32</A>.
|
|
|
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The Chaldee reads it, They shall <I>seek the service of the Lord their
|
|
God,</I> and <I>shall obey Messiah, the Son of David their king.</I>
|
|
Compare this with
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+30:9,Eze+34:23,37:25">Jer. xxx. 9; Ezek. xxxiv. 23; xxxvii. 25</A>.
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|
|
|
Note, Those that would seek the Lord so as to find him must apply to
|
|
Jesus Christ, and must seek to him as their King, and become his
|
|
willing people, and take an oath of fealty and allegiance to him.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The reverence they shall have of God: <I>They shall fear the Lord
|
|
and his goodness.</I> Some by his <I>goodness</I> here understand the
|
|
temple, towards which they shall look, in worshipping God. The Jews
|
|
say, There were three things which Israel cast off in the days of
|
|
Rehoboam--the <I>kingdom of heaven,</I> the <I>family of David,</I> and
|
|
the <I>house of the sanctuary;</I> and it will never be well with them
|
|
till they return, and seek them all three, which is here promised. They
|
|
shall seek the kingdom of heaven in <I>the Lord their God,</I> the
|
|
royal family in <I>David their King,</I> and the temple in <I>the
|
|
goodness of the Lord.</I> Others by <I>his goodness</I> understand
|
|
Christ, the same <I>with David their King.</I> But it is rather to be
|
|
taken for that attribute of God which he showed as his glory, and by
|
|
which he proclaimed his name. Note, It is not only the Lord and his
|
|
greatness that we are to fear, but the Lord and his goodness, not only
|
|
his majesty, but his mercy. They shall <I>flee for fear to the Lord and
|
|
his goodness</I> (so some take it), shall flee to it as their city of
|
|
refuge. We must <I>fear God's goodness,</I> that is, we must admire it,
|
|
and stand amazed at it, must adore it, and <I>worship</I> as Moses did
|
|
at the proclaiming of this name,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+34:6">Exod. xxxiv. 6</A>.
|
|
|
|
We must be afraid of offending his goodness, of making any ungrateful
|
|
returns for it, and so forfeiting it. <I>There is forgiveness with God,
|
|
that he may be feared,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+130:4">Ps. cxxx. 4</A>.
|
|
|
|
We must <I>rejoice with trembling</I> in the goodness of God, must not
|
|
be <I>high-minded, but fear.</I> Now this promise had its
|
|
accomplishment when by the gospel of Christ great multitudes both of
|
|
Jews and Gentiles were brought home to God, and incorporated in the
|
|
New-Testament church, served God in Christ, with a filial fear of
|
|
divine grace, and were accepted of God as his Israel. And some think
|
|
it is to be yet further accomplished in the conversion of those Jews to
|
|
the faith of Christ who shall remain in unbelief, when they shall seek
|
|
their Messiah as <I>David their King,</I> and by him <I>all Israel
|
|
shall be saved,</I> when the <I>fulness of the Gentiles is brought
|
|
in.</I> Time was when they sought him to put him to death, saying,
|
|
<I>We have no king but Cæsar;</I> but the day is coming when they
|
|
shall seek him to <I>appoint him their head,</I> and to lay their necks
|
|
under his yoke. He that has here promised that they shall do it will
|
|
enable them to do it, and bring about this great work in his own way
|
|
and time, <I>in the latter days</I> of the <I>last times,</I> the times
|
|
of the Messiah: but, alas! who shall live when God does this? How far
|
|
we are to expect a general conversion of that nation I cannot say; but
|
|
I am sure we ought to pray that the Jews may be converted.</P>
|
|
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