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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Hosea VI].</TITLE>
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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. VI.</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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The closing words of the foregoing chapter gave us some hopes that God
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and his Israel, notwithstanding their sins and his wrath, might yet be
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happily brought together again, that they would seek him and he would
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be found of them; now this chapter carries that matter further, and
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some join the beginning of this chapter with the end of that, "They
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will seek me early," saying, "Come and let us return." But God doth
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again complain of the wickedness of this people; for, though some did
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repent and reform, the greater part continued obstinate. Observe,
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I. Their resolution to return to God, and the comforts wherewith they
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encourage themselves in their return,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:1-3">ver. 1-3</A>.
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II. The instability of many of them in their professions and promises
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of repentance, and the severe course which God therefore took with them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:4,5">ver. 4, 5</A>.
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III. The covenant God made with them, and his expectations from them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:6">ver. 6</A>);
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their violation of that covenant and frustrating those expectations,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:7-11">ver. 7-11</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ho6_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho6_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho6_3"> </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>Penitential Resolutions; Promises.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 758.</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 Come, and let us return unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: for he hath torn, and
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he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
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2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will
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raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
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3 Then shall we know, <I>if</I> we follow on to know the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: his
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going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us
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as the rain, as the latter <I>and</I> former rain unto the earth.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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These may be taken either as the words of the prophet to the people,
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calling them to repentance, or as the words of the people to one
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another, exciting and encouraging one another to <I>seek the Lord,</I>
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and to humble themselves before him, in hopes of finding mercy with
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him. God had said, <I>In their affliction they will seek me;</I> now
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the prophet, and the good people his friends, would strike while the
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iron was hot, and set in with the convictions their neighbours seemed
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to be under. Note, Those who are disposed to turn to God themselves
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should do all they can to excite, and engage, and encourage others to
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return to him. Observe,</P>
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<P>
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I. What it is they engage to do: "<I>Come, and let us return to the
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Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Let us go no more to the Assyrian, nor send to king Jareb; we have had
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enough of that. But let us <I>return to the Lord,</I> return to the
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worship of him from our idolatries, and to our hope in him from all our
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confidences in the creature." Note, It is the great concern of those
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who have revolted from God to return to him. And those who have gone
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from him by consent, and in a body, drawing one another to sin, should
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by consent, and in a body, return to him, which will be for his glory
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and their mutual edification.</P>
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<P>
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II. What inducements and encouragements to do this they fasten upon, to
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stir up one another with.</P>
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<P>
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1. The experience they had had of his displeasure: "Let us return to
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him, for <I>he has torn, he has smitten.</I> We have been torn, and it
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was he that tore us; we have been smitten, and it was he that smote us.
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<I>Therefore</I> let us return to him, because it is for our revolts
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from him that he has torn and smitten us in anger, and we cannot expect
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that he should be reconciled to us till we return to him; and for this
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end he has afflicted us thus, that we might be wrought upon to return
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to him. His hand will be stretched out still against us if the people
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<I>turn not to him that smites them,</I>"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+9:12,13">Isa. ix. 12, 13</A>.
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Note, The consideration of the judgments of God upon us and our land,
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especially when they are tearing judgments, should awaken us to return
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to God by repentance, and prayer, and reformation.</P>
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<P>
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2. The expectation they had of his favour: "He that has torn will
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<I>heal us,</I> he that has smitten will <I>bind us up,</I>" as the
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skilful surgeon with a tender hand binds up the broken bone or bleeding
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wound. Note, The same providence of God that afflicts his people
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relieves them, and the same Spirit of God that convinces the saints
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comforts them; that which is first <I>a Spirit of bondage</I> is
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afterwards <I>a Spirit of adoption.</I> This is an acknowledgement of
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the power of God (he can heal though we be ever so ill torn), and of
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his mercy (he will do it); nay, <I>therefore</I> he has torn that he
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may heal. Some think this points particularly to the return of the Jews
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out of Babylon, when they sought the Lord, and joined themselves to
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him, in the prospect of his gracious return to them in a way of mercy.
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Note, It will be of great use to us, both for our support under our
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afflictions and for our encouragement in our repentance, to keep up
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good thoughts of God and of his purposes and designs concerning us. Now
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this favour of God which they are here in expectation of is described
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in several instances:--</P>
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<P>
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(1.) They promise themselves that their deliverance out of their
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troubles should be to them as <I>life from the dead</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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"<I>After two days he will revive us</I> (that is, in a short time, in
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a day or two), <I>and the third day,</I> when it is expected that the
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dead body should putrefy and corrupt, and be buried <I>out of our
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sight,</I> then will he <I>raise us up,</I> and <I>we shall live in his
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sight,</I> we shall see his face with comfort and it shall be reviving
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to us. Though he <I>forsake</I> for <I>a small moment,</I> he will
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<I>gather</I> with <I>everlasting kindness.</I>" Note, The people of
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God may not only be torn and smitten, but left for dead, and may lie so
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a great while; but they shall not always lie so, nor shall they long
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lie so; God will in a little time revive them; and the assurance given
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them of this should engage them to return and adhere to him. But this
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seems to have a further reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ;
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and the time limited is expressed by <I>two days</I> and the <I>third
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day,</I> that it may be a type and figure of Christ's rising the
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<I>third day,</I> which he is said to do <I>according to the
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scriptures,</I> according to this scripture; for all the prophets
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testified of <I>the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should
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follow.</I> Let us see and admire the wisdom and goodness of God, in
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ordering the prophet's words so that when he foretold the deliverance
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of the church out of her troubles he should at the same time point out
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our salvation by Christ, which other salvations were both figures and
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fruits of; and, though they might not be aware of this mystery in the
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words, yet now that they are fulfilled in the letter of them in the
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resurrection of Christ it is a confirmation to our faith that <I>this
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is he that should come,</I> and we are to <I>look for no other.</I> And
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it is every way suitable that a prophecy of Christ's rising should be
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thus expressed, "He will raise <I>us</I> up, and <I>we</I> shall live,"
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for Christ rose as the first-fruits, and we revive with him, we live
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through him; he rose for our justification, and all believers are said
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to be <I>risen with Christ.</I> See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+26:19">Isa. xxvi. 19</A>.
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And it would serve for a comfort to the church then, and an assurance
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that God would raise them out of their low estate, for in his fulness
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of time he would raise his Son from the grave, who would be the life
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and glory of his people Israel. Note, A regard by faith to a rising
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Christ is a great support to a suffering Christian, and gives abundant
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encouragement to a repenting returning sinner; for he has said,
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<I>Because I live, you shall live also.</I></P>
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<P>
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(2.) That then they shall improve in the knowledge of God
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>Then shall we know, if we follow on to know, the Lord. Then,</I>
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when God returns in mercy to his people and designs favour for them, he
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will, as a pledge and fruit of his favour, give them more of the
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knowledge of himself; the earth shall be <I>full of that knowledge,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+11:9">Isa. xi. 9</A>.
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<I>Knowledge shall be increased,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Da+12:4">Dan. xii. 4</A>.
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<I>All shall know God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+31:34">Jer. xxxi. 34</A>.
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<I>We shall know, we shall follow to know, the Lord,</I> (so the words
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are); and it may be taken as the fruit of Christ's resurrection, and
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the life we live in God's sight by him, that we shall have not only
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greater means of knowledge, but grace to improve in knowledge by those
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means. Note, When God designs mercy for a people he gives them <I>a
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heart to know him,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+24:7">Jer. xxiv. 7</A>.
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Those that have <I>risen with Christ</I> have the spirit of wisdom and
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revelation given them. And if we understand our living in his sight, as
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the Chaldee paraphrast does, of the day of the resurrection of the
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dead, it fitly follows, <I>We shall know, we shall follow to know, the
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Lord;</I> for in that day we shall see him be perfected, and yet be
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eternally increasing. Or, taking it as we read it, <I>If we follow on
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to know,</I> we have here,
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[1.] A precious blessing promised: <I>Then shall we know,</I> shall
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<I>know the Lord,</I> then when <I>we return to God;</I> those that
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come to God shall be brought into an acquaintance with him. When we are
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designed to <I>live in his sight,</I> then he gives us to know him; for
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this is <I>life eternal to know God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+17:3">John xvii. 3</A>.
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[2.] The way and means of obtaining this blessing. We must <I>follow on
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to know</I> him. We must value and esteem the knowledge of God as the
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best knowledge, we must <I>cry after it,</I> and <I>dig for it</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+2:3,4">Prov. ii. 3, 4</A>),
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must <I>seek and intermeddle with all wisdom</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+18:1">Prov. xviii. 1</A>),
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and must proceed in our enquiries after this knowledge and our
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endeavours to improve in it. And, if we do the prescribed duty, we
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have reason to expect the promised mercy, that we shall know more and
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more of God, and be at last perfect in this knowledge.</P>
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<P>
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(3.) That then they shall abound in divine consolations: <I>His going
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forth is prepared as the morning,</I> that is, the returns of his
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favour, which he had withdrawn from us when he went and <I>returned to
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his place.</I> His out-goings again are prepared and secured to us as
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firmly as the return of the morning after a dark night, and we expect
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it, as those do that <I>wait for the morning</I> after a long night,
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and are sure that it will come at the time appointed and will not fail;
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and the light of his countenance will be both welcome to us and growing
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upon us, unto the perfect day, as the light of the morning is. <I>He
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shall come to us,</I> and be welcome to us, <I>as the rain, as the
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latter and former rain unto the earth,</I> which refreshes it and makes
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it fruitful. Now this looks further than their deliverance out of
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captivity, and, no doubt, was to have its full accomplishment in
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Christ, and the grace of the gospel. The Old-Testament saints
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<I>followed on to know him,</I> earnestly looked for redemption in
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Jerusalem; and at length the out-goings of divine grace in him, in his
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going forth to visit this world, were
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[1.] As the morning to this earth when it is dark for he went forth as
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the <I>sun of righteousness,</I> and in him <I>the day-spring from on
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high visited us. His going forth was prepared as the morning,</I> for
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he came in the fulness of time; John Baptist was his fore-runner, nay,
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he was himself the <I>bright and morning star.</I>
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[2.] As the rain to this earth when it is <I>dry. He shall come down as
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the rain upon the mown grass,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+72:6">Ps. lxxii. 6</A>.
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In him showers of blessings descend upon this world, which <I>give seed
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to the sower and bread to the eater,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+55:10">Isa. lv. 10</A>.
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And the favour of God in Christ is what is said of the king's favour,
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<I>like the cloud of the latter rain,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+16:15">Prov. xvi. 15</A>.
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The grace of God in Christ is both the <I>latter and the former
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rain,</I> for by it the good work of our fruit-bearing is both begun
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and carried on.</P>
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<A NAME="Ho6_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho6_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho6_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho6_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho6_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho6_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho6_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho6_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Promises and Expostulations; The Crimes of the People.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 758.</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>4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I
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do unto thee? for your goodness <I>is</I> as a morning cloud, and as
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the early dew it goeth away.
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5 Therefore have I hewed <I>them</I> by the prophets; I have slain
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them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments <I>are as</I> the
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light <I>that</I> goeth forth.
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6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of
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God more than burnt offerings.
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7 But they like men have transgressed the covenant: there have
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they dealt treacherously against me.
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8 Gilead <I>is</I> a city of them that work iniquity, <I>and is</I>
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polluted with blood.
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9 And as troops of robbers wait for a man, <I>so</I> the company of
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priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.
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10 I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: there
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<I>is</I> the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.
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11 Also, O Judah, he hath set a harvest for thee, when I
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returned the captivity of my people.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Two things, two evil things, both Judah and Ephraim are here charged
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with, and justly accused of:--</P>
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<P>
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I. That they were not firm to their own convictions, but were unsteady,
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<I>unstable as water,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>.
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<I>O Ephraim! what shall I do unto thee? O Judah! what shall I do unto
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thee?</I> This is a strange expression. Can Infinite Wisdom be at a
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loss what to do? Can it be nonplussed, or put upon taking new measures?
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|
By no means; but God speaks after the manner of men, to show how absurd
|
|
and unreasonable they were, and how just his proceedings against them
|
|
were. Let them not complain of him as harsh and severe in tearing them,
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and smiting them, as he has done; for what else should he do? What
|
|
other course could he take with them? God had tried various methods
|
|
with them (<I>What could have been done more to his vineyard than he
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|
had done?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+5:4">Isa. v. 4</A>),
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and very loth he was to let things go to extremity; he reasons with
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himself (as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+11:9"><I>ch.</I> xi. 9</A>),
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<I>How shall I give thee up, Ephraim?</I> God would have done them
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good, but they were not qualified for it: "<I>What shall I do unto
|
|
thee?</I> What else can I do but cast thee off, when I cannot in honour
|
|
save thee?" Note, God never destroys sinners till he sees there is no
|
|
other way with them. See here,
|
|
|
|
1. What their conduct was towards God: <I>Their goodness,</I> or
|
|
<I>kindness,</I> was <I>as the morning cloud.</I> Some understand it of
|
|
their kindness to themselves and their own souls, in their repentance;
|
|
it is indeed mercy to ourselves to repent of our sins, but they soon
|
|
retracted that kindness to themselves, undid it again, and wronged
|
|
their own souls as much as ever. But it is rather to be taken for their
|
|
piety and religion; what good appeared in them sometimes, it soon
|
|
vanished and disappeared again, <I>as the morning cloud and the early
|
|
dew.</I> Such was the goodness of Israel in Jehu's time, and of Judah
|
|
in Hezekiah's and Josiah's time; it was soon gone. In time of drought
|
|
the <I>morning-cloud</I> promises rain, and the <I>early dew</I> is
|
|
some present refreshment to the earth; but the cloud is dispersed (and
|
|
hypocrites are compared to <I>clouds without water,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jude+1:12">Jude 12</A>)
|
|
|
|
and the dew does not soak into the ground, but is drawn back again into
|
|
the air, and the earth is parched still. What shall he do with them?
|
|
Shall he accept their goodness? No, for it <I>passes away;</I> and
|
|
<I>factum non dicitur quod non perseverat--that which does not continue
|
|
can scarcely be said to be done.</I> Note, That goodness will never be
|
|
either pleasing to God or profitable to ourselves which is as the
|
|
morning cloud and the early dew. When men promise fair and do not
|
|
perform, when they begin well in religion and do not hold on, when they
|
|
leave their first love and their first works, or, though they do not
|
|
quite cast off religion, are yet unsteady, uneven, and inconstant in
|
|
it, then is their <I>goodness as the morning cloud and the early
|
|
dew.</I>
|
|
|
|
2. What course God had taken with them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Therefore,</I> because they were so rough and ill-shapen, <I>I have
|
|
hewn them by the prophets,</I> as timber or stone is hewn for use; <I>I
|
|
have slain them by the words of my mouth.</I>" What the prophets did
|
|
was done by the word of God in their mouths, which never returned void.
|
|
By it they thought themselves slain, were ready to say that the
|
|
prophets killed them, or cut them to the heart when they dealt
|
|
faithfully with them.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The prophets hewed them by convictions of sin, endeavouring to cut
|
|
off their transgressions from them. They were uneven in religion
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
therefore God hewed them. The hearts of sinners are not only as stone,
|
|
but as rough stone, which requires a great deal of pains to bring it
|
|
into shape, or as knotty timber, that is not squared without a great
|
|
deal of difficulty; ministers' work is to hew them, and God by the
|
|
minister hews them, <I>for with the froward will he show himself
|
|
froward.</I> And there are those whom ministers must rebuke sharply;
|
|
every word should cut, and though the chips fly in the face of the
|
|
workman, though the reproved fly in the face of the reprover and reckon
|
|
him an enemy because he tells the truth, yet he goes on with his work.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They slew them by the denunciations of wrath, foretelling that
|
|
they should be slain, as Ezekiel is said to destroy the city when he
|
|
prophesied of the destruction of it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+43:3">Ezek. xliii. 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
And God accomplished that which was foretold: "<I>I have slain them</I>
|
|
by my judgments, according to the words of my mouth." Note, The word of
|
|
God will be the death either of the sin or of the sinner, a savour
|
|
either of life unto life or of death unto death. Some read it, "<I>I
|
|
have hewn the prophets, and slain them by the words of my mouth,</I>
|
|
that is, I have employed them in laborious service for the people's
|
|
good, which has wasted their strength; they have spent themselves, and
|
|
hews away all their spirits, in their work, and in hazardous service,
|
|
which has cost many of them their lives." Note, Ministers are the tools
|
|
which God makes use of in working upon people; and, though with many
|
|
they labour in vain, yet God will reckon for the wearing out of his
|
|
tools.
|
|
|
|
(3.) God was hereby justified in the severest proceedings against them
|
|
afterwards. His prophets had taken a great deal of pains with them, had
|
|
admonished them of their sin and warned them of their danger, but the
|
|
means used had not the desired effect; some good impressions perhaps
|
|
were made for the present, but they wore off, and passed away as the
|
|
morning cloud, and now they cannot charge God with severity if he bring
|
|
upon them the miseries threatened. The prophet turns to him and
|
|
acknowledges, <I>Thy judgments are as the light that goes forth,</I>
|
|
evidently just and righteous. Note, Though sinners be not reclaimed by
|
|
the pains that ministers take with them, yet thereby God will be
|
|
<I>justified when he speaks and clear when he judges.</I> See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:17-19">Matt. xi. 17-19</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. That they were not faithful to God's covenant with them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:6,7"><I>v.</I> 6, 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. What the covenant was that God made with them, and upon what terms
|
|
they should obtain his favour and be accepted of him
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I desired mercy and not sacrifice</I> (that is, rather than
|
|
sacrifice), and insisted upon <I>the knowledge of God more than</I>
|
|
upon <I>burnt-offerings. Mercy</I> here is the same word which in
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>
|
|
|
|
is rendered <I>goodness--chesed--piety, sanctity;</I> it is put for all
|
|
practical religion; it is the same with <I>charity</I> in the New
|
|
Testament, the reigning love of God and our neighbour, and this
|
|
accompanied with and flowing from the <I>knowledge of God,</I> as he
|
|
has revealed himself in his word, a firm belief that he is, and is the
|
|
<I>rewarder of those that diligently seek him,</I> a good affection to
|
|
divine things guided by a good judgment, which cannot but produce a
|
|
very good conversation; this is that which God by his covenant
|
|
requires, and <I>not sacrifice and offering.</I> This is fully
|
|
explained,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+7:22,23">Jer. vii. 22, 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>I spoke not to your fathers concerning burnt-offerings</I> (that was
|
|
the smallest of the matters I spoke to them of, and on which the least
|
|
stress was laid), but <I>this I said, Obey my voice,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+6:6-8">Mic. vi. 6-8</A>.
|
|
|
|
To love God and our neighbour is <I>better than all burnt offering and
|
|
sacrifice,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mk+12:33,Ps+51:16,17">Mark xii. 33; Ps. li. 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Not but that sacrifice and offering were required, and to be paid, and
|
|
had their use, and, when they were accompanied with mercy and the
|
|
knowledge of God, were acceptable to him, but, without them, God
|
|
regarded them not, he despised them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:10,11">Isa. i. 10, 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
Perhaps this is mentioned here to show a difference between the God
|
|
whom they deserted and the gods whom they went over to. The true God
|
|
aimed at nothing but that they should be good men, and live good lives
|
|
for their own good, and the ceremony of honouring him with sacrifices
|
|
was one of the smallest matters of his law; whereas the false gods
|
|
required that only; let their priests and altars be regaled with
|
|
sacrifices and offerings, and the people might live as they listed.
|
|
What fools were those then that left a God who aimed at giving his
|
|
worshippers a new nature, for gods who aimed at nothing but making
|
|
themselves a new name! It is mentioned likewise to show that God's
|
|
controversy with them was not for the omission of sacrifices (<I>I will
|
|
not reprove thee for them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+50:8">Ps. l. 8</A>),
|
|
|
|
but because there was no <I>justice, nor mercy,</I> nor <I>knowledge of
|
|
God,</I> among them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:1"><I>ch.</I> iv. 1</A>),
|
|
|
|
and to teach us all that the <I>power of godliness</I> is the main
|
|
thing God looks at and requires, and without it the <I>form of
|
|
godliness</I> is of no avail. Serious piety in the heart and life is
|
|
the <I>one thing needful,</I> and, separate from that, the performances
|
|
of devotion, though ever so plausible, ever so costly, are of no
|
|
account. Our Saviour quotes this to show that moral duties are to be
|
|
preferred before rituals whenever they come in competition, and to
|
|
justify himself in <I>eating with publicans and sinners,</I> because it
|
|
was in mercy to the souls of men, and in healing on the sabbath day,
|
|
because it was in mercy to the bodies of men, to which the ceremony of
|
|
singularity in eating and the sabbath-rest must give way,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+9:13,12:7">Matt. ix. 13; xii. 7</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How little they had regarded this covenant, though it was so well
|
|
ordered in all things, though they, and not God, would be the gainers
|
|
by it. See here what came of it.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) In general, they broke with God, and proved unfaithful; there were
|
|
<I>good things committed</I> to them to keep, the jewels of mercy and
|
|
piety, and the knowledge of God, in the cabinet of sacrifice and
|
|
burnt-offering, but they betrayed their trust, kept the cabinet, but
|
|
pawned the jewels for the gratification of a base lust, and this is
|
|
that for which God has justly a quarrel with them
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>They, like men, have transgressed the covenant,</I> that covenant
|
|
which God made with them; they have broken the conditions of it, and so
|
|
forfeited the benefit of it. By casting off mercy and the knowledge of
|
|
God, and other instances of disobedience,
|
|
|
|
[1.] They had contracted the guilt of perjury and covenant-breaking;
|
|
they were like men that transgress a covenant by which they had
|
|
solemnly bound themselves, which is a thing that all the world cries
|
|
out shame on; men that have done so deserve not again to be valued, or
|
|
trusted, or dealt with. "<I>There,</I> in that thing, <I>they have
|
|
dealt treacherously against me;</I> they have been perfidious, base,
|
|
and false children, in whom is no faith, though I depended upon their
|
|
being <I>children that would not lie.</I>"
|
|
|
|
[2.] In this they had but acted like themselves, <I>like men,</I> who
|
|
are generally false and fickle, and in whose nature (their corrupt
|
|
nature) it is to deal treacherously; <I>all men are liars,</I> and they
|
|
are like the rest of that degenerate race, <I>all gone aside,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+14:2,3">Ps. xiv. 2, 3</A>.
|
|
|
|
They have <I>transgressed the covenant</I> like <I>men</I> (like the
|
|
Gentiles that transgressed the covenant of nature), like <I>mean
|
|
men</I> (the word here used is sometimes put for <I>men of low
|
|
degree</I>); they have dealt deceitfully, like base men that have no
|
|
sense of honour.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Herein they trod in the steps of our first parents: <I>They, like
|
|
Adam, have transgressed the covenant</I> (so it might very well be
|
|
read); as he transgressed the covenant of innocency, so they
|
|
transgressed the covenant of grace, so treacherously, so foolishly;
|
|
<I>there</I> in paradise he violated his engagements to God, and there
|
|
in Canaan, another paradise, they violated their engagements. And by
|
|
their treacherous dealing they, like Adam, have ruined themselves and
|
|
theirs. Note, Sin is so much the worse the more there is in it of the
|
|
<I>similitude of Adam's transgression,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ro+5:14">Rom. v. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
[4.] Low thoughts of God and of his authority and favour were at the
|
|
bottom of all this; for so some read it: <I>They have transgressed the
|
|
covenant, as of a man,</I> as if it had been but the covenant of a man,
|
|
that stood upon even ground with them, as if the commands of the
|
|
covenant were but like those of a man like themselves, and the kindness
|
|
conveyed by it no more valuable than that of a man. There is something
|
|
sacred and binding in <I>a man's covenant</I> (as the apostle shows,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+3:15">Gal. iii. 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
but much more in the covenant of God, which yet they made small account
|
|
of; and <I>there</I> in that covenant they <I>dealt treacherously,</I>
|
|
promised fair, but performed nothing. Dealing treacherously with God is
|
|
here called dealing treacherously against him, for it is both an
|
|
affront and an opposition. Deserters are traitors, and will be so
|
|
treated; the revolting heart is a rebellious heart.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) Some particular instances of their treachery are here given:
|
|
<I>There they dealt treacherously,</I> that is, in the places hereafter
|
|
named
|
|
|
|
[1.] Look on the other side Jordan, to the country which lay most
|
|
exposed to the insults of the neighbouring nations, and where therefore
|
|
the people were concerned to keep themselves under the divine
|
|
protection, and yet there you will find the most daring provocations of
|
|
the divine Majesty,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
|
|
|
|
Gilead, which lay in the lot of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, was
|
|
<I>a city of the workers of iniquity.</I> Wickedness was the trade that
|
|
was driven there; the country was called <I>Gilead,</I> but it was all
|
|
called a <I>city,</I> because they were all as it were incorporated in
|
|
one society of rebels against God. Or (as most think) Ramoth Gilead is
|
|
the city here meant, one of the three cities of refuge on the other
|
|
side Jordan, and a Levites' city; the inhabitants of it, though of the
|
|
sacred tribe, were <I>workers of iniquity,</I> contrived it, and
|
|
practised it. Note, It is bad indeed when a Levites' city is <I>a city
|
|
of those that work iniquity,</I> when those that are to preach good
|
|
doctrine live bad lives. Particularly it is <I>polluted with blood,</I>
|
|
as if that were a sin which the wicked Levites were in a special manner
|
|
guilty of. In popish countries the clergy are observed to be the most
|
|
bloody persecutors. Or, as it was a <I>city of refuge,</I> by abusing
|
|
the power it had to judge of murders it became <I>polluted with
|
|
blood.</I> They would, for a bribe, protect those that were guilty of
|
|
wilful murder, whom they ought to have put to death, and would deliver
|
|
those to the avenger of blood who were guilty but of chance-medley, if
|
|
they were poor and had nothing to give them; and both these ways they
|
|
were <I>polluted with blood.</I> Note, Blood defiles the land where it
|
|
is shed, and where no inquisition is made or no vengeance taken for it.
|
|
See how the best institutions, that are ever so well designed to keep
|
|
the balance even between justice and mercy, are capable of being abused
|
|
and perverted to the manifest prejudice and violation of both.
|
|
|
|
[2.] Look among those whose business it was to minister in holy things,
|
|
and they were as bad as the worst and as vile as the vilest
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The company of priests</I> are so, not here and there one that is
|
|
the scandal of his order, but the whole order and body of them, the
|
|
<I>priests</I> go all one way <I>by consent, with one shoulder</I> (as
|
|
the word is), one and all; and they make one another worse, more
|
|
daring, and fierce, and impudent, in sin, more crafty and more cruel. A
|
|
<I>company of priests</I> will say and do that in conspiracy which none
|
|
of them would dare to say or do singly. The <I>companies of priests</I>
|
|
were as <I>troops of robbers,</I> as <I>banditti,</I> or gangs of
|
|
highwaymen, that cut men's throats to get their money. <I>First,</I>
|
|
They were cruel and blood-thirsty. They <I>murder</I> those that they
|
|
have a pique against, or that stand in their way; nothing less will
|
|
satisfy them. <I>Secondly,</I> They were cunning. They <I>laid wait</I>
|
|
for men, that they might have a fair opportunity to compass their
|
|
mischievous malicious designs; thus the company of priests laid wait
|
|
for Christ to take him, saying, <I>Not on the feast-day. Thirdly,</I>
|
|
They were concurring as one man: <I>They murder in the way;</I> in the
|
|
highway, where travellers should be safe, there <I>they murder by
|
|
consent,</I> aiding and abetting one another in it. See how unanimous
|
|
wicked people are in doing mischief; and should not good people be so
|
|
then in doing good? <I>They murder in the way to Shechem</I> (so the
|
|
margin reads it, as a proper name) such as were going to Jerusalem (for
|
|
that way Shechem lay) to worship. Or <I>in the way to Shechem</I> (some
|
|
think) means in the same manner that their father Levi, with Simeon his
|
|
brother, murdered the Shechemites
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+34:1-31">Gen. xxxiv.</A>),
|
|
|
|
by fraud and deceit; and some understand it of their destroying the
|
|
souls of men by drawing them to sin. <I>Fourthly,</I> They did it with
|
|
contrivance: <I>They commit lewdness;</I> the word signifies such
|
|
wickedness as is committed with deliberation, and of malice prepense,
|
|
as we say. The more there is of device and design in sin the worse it
|
|
is.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Look into the body of the people, take a view of the whole house
|
|
of Israel, and they are all alike
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel,</I> and, though
|
|
it be ever so artfully managed, God discovers it, and will discover it
|
|
to them; and who can deny that which God himself says that he has seen?
|
|
<I>There is the whoredom of Ephraim,</I> both corporal and spiritual
|
|
whoredom; there it is too plain to be denied. Note, The sin of sinners,
|
|
especially sinners of the house of Israel, has enough in it to make
|
|
them tremble, for it is a horrible thing, it is amazing, and it is
|
|
threatening, enough to make them blush, for Israel is thereby defiled
|
|
and rendered odious in the sight of God.
|
|
|
|
[4.] Look into Judah, and you find them sharing with Israel
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+6:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Also, O Judah! he has set a harvest for thee;</I> thou must be
|
|
reckoned with as well as Ephraim; thou art ripe for destruction too,
|
|
and the time, even the set time, of thy destruction is hastening on,
|
|
when thou that hast <I>ploughed iniquity,</I> and <I>sown
|
|
wickedness,</I> shalt <I>reap the same.</I> The general judgment is
|
|
compared to <I>a harvest</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+13:39">Matt. xiii. 39</A>),
|
|
|
|
so are particular judgments,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joe+3:13,Re+14:15">Joel iii. 13; Rev. xiv. 15</A>.
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I have appointed a time to call thee to account, even <I>when I
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returned the captivity of my people,</I> that is, when those captives
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of Judah which were taken by the men of Israel were restored, in
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obedience to the command of God sent them by Oded the prophet,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+28:8-15">2 Chron. xxviii. 8-15</A>.
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When God spared them that time he <I>set them a harvest,</I> that is,
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he designed to reckon with them another time for all together. Note,
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Preservations from present judgments, if a good use be not made of
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them, are but reservations for greater judgments.</P>
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