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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. IX.</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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In this chapter,
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I. God threatens to deprive this degenerate seed of Israel of all their
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worldly enjoyments, because by sin they had forfeited their title to
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them; so that they should have no comfort either in receiving them
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themselves or in offering them to God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:1-5">ver. 1-5</A>.
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II. He dooms them to utter ruin, for their own sins and the sins of
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their prophets,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:6-8">ver. 6-8</A>.
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III. He upbraids them with the wickedness of their fathers before them,
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whose steps they trod in,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:9,10">ver. 9, 10</A>.
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IV. He threatens them with the destruction of their children and the
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rooting out of their posterity,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:11-17">ver. 11-17</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ho9_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho9_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho9_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho9_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho9_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ho9_6"> </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>Threatenings of Judgment.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 740.</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 Rejoice not, O Israel, for joy, as <I>other</I> people: for thou
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hast gone a whoring from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon
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every corn-floor.
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2 The floor and the winepress shall not feed them, and the new
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wine shall fail in her.
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3 They shall not dwell in the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>'s land; but Ephraim shall
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return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean <I>things</I> in Assyria.
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4 They shall not offer wine <I>offerings</I> to the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, neither
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shall they be pleasing unto him: their sacrifices <I>shall be</I> unto
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them as the bread of mourners; all that eat thereof shall be
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polluted: for their bread for their soul shall not come into the
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house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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5 What will ye do in the solemn day, and in the day of the
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feast of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>?
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6 For, lo, they are gone because of destruction: Egypt shall
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gather them up, Memphis shall bury them: the pleasant <I>places</I>
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for their silver, nettles shall possess them: thorns <I>shall be</I>
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in their tabernacles.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here,
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I. The people of Israel are charged with spiritual adultery: <I>O
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Israel! thou hast gone a whoring from thy God,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Their covenant with God was a marriage-covenant, by which they were
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joined to him as their God, renouncing all others. But when they set up
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idols and worshipped them, when they fled to creatures for succour and
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put a confidence in them, they <I>went a whoring from God</I> as their
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God, and honoured the pretenders and rivals with the affection,
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adoration, and confidence, which were due to God only. Other people
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were idolaters, but that sin was not, in them, going a whoring from
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God, as it was in Israel that had been married to him. Note, The sins
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of those who have made a profession of religion and relation to God are
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more provoking to him than the sins of others. As a proof of their
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going a whoring from God, it is charged upon them that <I>they loved a
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reward upon every corn-floor.</I>
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1. They loved to give rewards to their idols, in the offerings and
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first-fruits they presented to them out of every corn-floor. They took
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a strange pleasure in serving their idols with that which they would
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have grudged to consecrate to God and employ in his service. Note, It
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is common for those that are niggardly in the expenses of their
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religion to be very prodigal in spending upon their lusts. Or,
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2. They loved to receive rewards from their idols; and such they
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reckoned the fruits of the earth to be: <I>These are my rewards, which
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my lovers have given me,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+2:12"><I>ch.</I> ii. 12</A>.
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Note, Those are directly disposed to spiritual idolatry that love a
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reward in the corn-floor better than a reward in the favour of God and
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eternal life.</P>
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<P>
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II. They are forbidden to rejoice as other people do: "<I>Rejoice not,
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O Israel! for joy.</I> Do not expect to rejoice. <I>What peace,</I>
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what joy, what hast thou to do with either, while thy whoredoms and
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witchcrafts are so many?"
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+9:19-22">2 Kings ix. 19-22</A>.
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Be not disposed to rejoice, for it does not become thee, but rather to
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<I>be afflicted, and mourn, and weep,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+4:9">Jam. iv. 9</A>.
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Judah, that keeps close to the true God, nay, and other people that
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never knew him nor could ever be charged with revolting from him, may
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be allowed to rejoice, as not having so much cause to be ashamed as
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Israel has, that has gone a whoring from him. Some think that they had
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at this time particular occasions for joy, probably upon the account of
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some losses recovered, or some advantages gained, or some league made
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with a potent ally, for which they had public rejoicings, as other
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people used to have upon such occasions; but God sends to them not to
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rejoice. Note, Joy is forbidden fruit to wicked people. They must not
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rejoice, because they have gone a whoring from their God; and
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therefore,
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1. Whatever it was that they rejoiced in, it would be no security nor
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advantage to them, so long as they were at a distance from God and at
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war with him. Note, We are likely to have small joy of any of our
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creature-comforts if we make not God our chief joy.
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2. The sense of sin and dread of wrath ought to be a damp upon their
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joy and a strong alloy to all their comforts. Note, Those who by
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departing from God have made work for repentance have thereby marred
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their own mirth, till they return and make their peace with God.</P>
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<P>
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III. They are threatened with destroying judgments for their spiritual
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whoredoms, according to what was said long before.
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+72:27">Ps. lxxii. 27</A>,
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<I>Thou hast destroyed all those that go a whoring from thee.</I> It is
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here threatened,</P>
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<P>
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1. That their land shall not yield its wonted increase. Canaan, that
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<I>fruitful land,</I> shall be <I>turned into barrenness for the
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wickedness of those that dwell therein.</I> They <I>love the reward in
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the corn-floor,</I> and are so full of the <I>joy of harvest</I> that
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they have no disposition at all to mourn for their sins; and therefore
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God will, for their effectual humiliation, take away from them, not
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only their delights and dainties, but even their necessary food
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>The floor and the wine-press shall not feed them,</I> much less
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feast them; they shall either be blasted by the hand of God or
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plundered by the hand of man. The <I>new wine</I> with which they used
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to make merry shall <I>fail in her.</I> Note, When we make the world,
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and the things of it, our idol and portion, above what they were
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designed for, it is just with God to deny us even support and
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nourishment from them, according to that which they were designed for,
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to show us our folly and correct us for it. Let those miss of their
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food in the corn-floor that look for their reward in the corn-floor. We
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forfeit the good things of this world if we love them as the best
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things.</P>
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<P>
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2. That their land shall not only cease to feed them, but cease to
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lodge them and to be a habitation for them; it shall <I>spue them
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out,</I> as it had done the Canaanites before them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>):
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<I>They shall not dwell any longer in the Lord's land.</I> The land of
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Canaan was in a peculiar manner <I>the Lord's land, the land of the
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Shechinah</I> (so the Chaldee), <I>the land of the Lord of the
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world</I> (so the Arabic); he whose all the earth is
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+24:1">Ps. xxiv. 1</A>)
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took that for his demesne. <I>The land is mine,</I> says God,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+25:23">Lev. xxv. 23</A>.
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They had used it, or abused it rather, as if it had been their own, had
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not paid the rent, nor done the services, due to God as their landlord,
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and therefore God justly <I>enters,</I> and takes possession of it,
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they having forfeited their lease. "It is <I>my land</I>" (says God)
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"and I will make it appear, for they shall be turned off, as bad
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tenants, and be made to know that, though they thought themselves
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freeholders, they were but tenants at will." Note, It is for the honour
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of God's justice and holiness that those who go a whoring from God
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should not be suffered to dwell upon his land; and therefore, sooner or
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later, the wicked shall be <I>chased out of the world.</I> Or it is
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called the Lord's land because it was the holy land, <I>Immanuel's
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land,</I> the land that had peculiar tokens of God's favour to it, and
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presence in it, where God was known and his name was great, where God's
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prophets and oracles were; it was a kind of copy of the earthly
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paradise, and a type of the heavenly one. It was a great privilege to
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have a lot in such a land as this. It was a great sin and folly to
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rebel against God, and go a whoring from him, in such a land as this,
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to <I>deal unjustly in a land of uprightness,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+26:10">Isa. xxvi. 10</A>.
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And it was a sad and sore judgment to be driven out from such a land as
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this; it was like driving our first parents out of the garden of Eden,
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and almost amounted to an exclusion out of the heavenly Canaan. Note,
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Those cannot expect to dwell in the Lord's land that will not be
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subject to the Lord's laws, nor be influenced by his love. Those have
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forfeited the privileges of the church that conform not to the rules of
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it.</P>
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<P>
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3. That, when they are turned out from the Lord's land, they shall have
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no rest nor satisfaction in any other land. When Cain was <I>driven out
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from the presence of the Lord</I> he was <I>a fugitive and a
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vagabond</I> ever after, and dwelt in the land of <I>trembling.</I> So
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Israel here. Some shall <I>return into Egypt,</I> the old house of
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bondage; thither they shall flee from the Assyrian
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+8:13"><I>ch.</I> viii. 13</A>)
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and they shall lose and ruin themselves where they thought to hide and
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help themselves. Others shall be carried captives to Assyria and there
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shall be forced to <I>eat unclean things,</I> either
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(1.) Such things as were not fit for men to eat, that which is rotten
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and putrefied, intimating that they shall be reduced to the utmost
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poverty, as the prodigal that would fain have filled his belly <I>with
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the husks.</I> Or,
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(2.) Such things as were not fit for Jews to eat, being prohibited by
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their law. It is probable that while they were in their own land,
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however disobedient in other things, they kept up the distinction of
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meats, and prided themselves in that; but, since they would not keep
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the law of God in other things, they should not be suffered to keep it
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in that, and it was a just punishment of their sin in eating things
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offered to idols. Note, When at any time we suffer in our food, and
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either through want or for our health are forced to eat or drink that
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which is unpleasing, we must acknowledge that God is righteous, because
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we have sinned about our food, and have indulged ourselves too much in
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that which is pleasing.</P>
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<P>
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4. That in the land of their enemies, to which they shall be driven,
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they shall have no opportunity either of giving honour to God or
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obtaining favour with God, by offering any acceptable sacrifice to him;
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they should not be in a capacity of keeping up any face or show of
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religion among them; "and so" (as Dr. Pocock expresses it) "should be
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as it were quite cut off from any expression of relation to him, from
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all signs of grace, and means of reconciliation with him, which would
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be to them a token of their being rejected of God, estranged from him,
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and no more owned by him as his people."
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(1.) They shall have no sacrifices to offer, nor any altar to offer
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them on, nor priests to offer them; they shall not so much as <I>offer
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drink-offerings</I> to the Lord, much less any other sacrifices.
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(2.) If they should offer them, neither they nor their sacrifices shall
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be pleasing to him, for they cannot have any legal offerings, nor are
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their hearts humbled.
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(3.) Instead of their sacrifices of joy and praise, they shall <I>eat
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the bread of mourners;</I> they shall live desolate, and disconsolate,
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mourning for the death of their relations and their own miseries, so
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that if they had opportunity of sacrificing they should never be
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themselves in a frame fit for it; for they were forbidden to eat of the
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holy things in <I>their mourning,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+26:14">Deut. xxvi. 14</A>
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<I>All that eat</I> of the bread of mourners <I>are polluted,</I> and
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incapacitated to <I>partake of the altar.</I>
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(4.) Their <I>bread for their soul,</I> the bread which they must
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either eat or starve, the bread which they shall have for the support
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of their lives, <I>shall not come into the house of the Lord;</I> they
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shall have no house of the Lord to bring it to, or, if they had, it is
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such as is not fit to be brought, nor are they rightly disposed to
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bring it.
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(5.) The return of the days of their sacred and solemn feasts would
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therefore be very melancholy and uncomfortable to them
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>):
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<I>What will you do in the solemn day,</I> in the sabbath, <I>the
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solemn day</I> of every week, in the <I>new moons,</I> the solemn days
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of every month, at the return of the times for keeping the passover,
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pentecost, and feast of the tabernacles, the solemn days of every year,
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the <I>days of the feasts of the Lord?</I> Note, The feasts of the Lord
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are solemn days; and, when we are invited to those feasts, we ought to
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consider seriously what we shall do. But the question is here put to
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those who were to be deprived of the benefit and comfort of those
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solemn feasts, "<I>What will you do then?</I> You will then spend those
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days in sorrow and lamentation which, if it had not been your own
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fault, you might have been spending in joy and praise. You will then be
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made to know the worth of mercies by the want of them and to prize
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spiritual bread by being made to feel a famine of it." Note, When we
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enjoy the means of grace we ought to consider what we shall do if ever
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we should know the want of them, if either they should be taken from us
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or we be disabled to attend upon them.</P>
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<P>
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5. That they should perish in the land of their dispersion
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>):
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<I>For, lo, they have gone</I> out of the Lord's land, where they might
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have spent both their sabbath days and other days with comfort, <I>gone
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because of destruction,</I> gone to Egypt because of the destruction of
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their own country by the Assyrians, flattering themselves with hopes
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that they shall return when the storm is over; but those hopes also
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shall fail them; they shall find there are <I>graves in Egypt,</I> as
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their murmuring ancestors said
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ex+14:11">Exod. xiv. 11</A>),
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graves for them; for <I>Egypt shall gather them up,</I> as dead men are
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gathered up and carried forth to the grave, and Memphis (one of the
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chief cities of Egypt) <I>shall bury them. Gathering</I> and
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<I>burying</I> are put together,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+8:2,Job+27:19">Jer. viii. 2; Job xxvii. 19</A>.
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Note, Those that think presumptuously to flee from the judgments of God
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are likely enough to meet their death where they hoped to save their
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lives.</P>
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<P>
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6. That their land, which they left behind and to which they hoped to
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return, should become a desolation: As for <I>their tabernacles,</I>
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where they formerly dwelt and where they kept their stores, <I>the
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pleasant places for their silver,</I> they shall be demolished and laid
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in ruins, to such a degree that they shall be overgrown with
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<I>nettles;</I> so that if they should survive the trouble, and return
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to their own land again, they would find it neither fruitful nor
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habitable; it would afford them neither food nor lodging. Note, Those
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that make their money their god reckon the <I>places of their
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silver</I> their <I>pleasant places,</I> as those that make the Lord
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their God reckon his tabernacles amiable and his ordinances their
|
|
pleasant things,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+64:11">Isa. lxiv. 11</A>.
|
|
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|
But, while the pleasures of communion with God are out of the reach of
|
|
chance and change, the <I>pleasant places of men's silver,</I> which
|
|
were purchased with silver, or in which they deposited their silver, or
|
|
which were beautified and adorned with silver, are liable to be laid in
|
|
ruins, in nettles, and therewith all the pleasure men took in them.</P>
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|
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<A NAME="Ho9_7"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ho9_8"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ho9_9"> </A>
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|
<A NAME="Ho9_10"> </A>
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|
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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>Threatenings of Judgment.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 740.</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>7 The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are
|
|
come; Israel shall know <I>it:</I> the prophet <I>is</I> a fool, the
|
|
spiritual man <I>is</I> mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and
|
|
the great hatred.
|
|
8 The watchman of Ephraim <I>was</I> with my God: <I>but</I> the prophet
|
|
<I>is</I> a snare of a fowler in all his ways, <I>and</I> hatred in the
|
|
house of his God.
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|
9 They have deeply corrupted <I>themselves,</I> as in the days of
|
|
Gibeah: <I>therefore</I> he will remember their iniquity, he will
|
|
visit their sins.
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|
10 I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your
|
|
fathers as the first ripe in the fig tree at her first time: <I>but</I>
|
|
they went to Baal-peor, and separated themselves unto <I>that</I>
|
|
shame; and <I>their</I> abominations were according as they loved.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
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<P>
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|
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For their further awakening, it is here threatened,</P>
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|
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<P>
|
|
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I. That the destruction spoken of shall come speedily. They shall have
|
|
no reason to hope for a long reprieve, for the judgment slumbers not;
|
|
it is at the door
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>The days of visitation have come,</I> and there shall be no more
|
|
delay; <I>the days of recompence have come,</I> which they have been so
|
|
often warned to expect; their prophets have told them that destruction
|
|
<I>would come,</I> and now <I>it has come,</I> and the time of the
|
|
divine patience has expired. Note,
|
|
|
|
1. The day of God's judgments is both a <I>day of visitation,</I> in
|
|
which men's sins are enquired into and brought to light, and a <I>day
|
|
of recompence,</I> in which men's doom will be passed, and a reward
|
|
given to every man according to his work; the strict visitation is in
|
|
order to a just retribution.
|
|
|
|
2. This day of visitation and recompence is hastening on apace. It is
|
|
sure; it is near; as if it had already come.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. That hereby they shall be made ashamed of their sentiments
|
|
concerning their prophets. When the day of visitation comes <I>Israel
|
|
shall know it,</I> shall be made to know that by sad experience which
|
|
they would not know by instruction. <I>Israel shall know</I> then what
|
|
an <I>evil and bitter thing it</I> is to <I>depart from God,</I> and
|
|
what a <I>fearful thing</I> it is to <I>fall into his hands. When thy
|
|
hand is lifted up they will not see, but they shall see.</I> Israel
|
|
shall know the difference between true prophets and false.
|
|
|
|
1. They shall know then that the pretenders to prophecy, who flattered
|
|
them in their sins, and rocked them asleep in their security, and told
|
|
them that they should have peace though they went on, however they
|
|
pretended to be <I>spiritual men</I> (as Ahab's prophets did,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+22:24">1 Kings xxii. 24</A>)
|
|
|
|
were <I>fools</I> and <I>madmen,</I> and not true prophets; they
|
|
deceived themselves and those to whom they prophesied. But why would
|
|
God suffer his people Israel to be imposed upon by those false
|
|
prophets? He answers, "<I>It is for the multitude of thy iniquity</I>
|
|
which, in contempt of the divine law, thou hast persisted in, <I>and,
|
|
for the great hatred of</I> the true prophets, that reproved thee, in
|
|
God's name, for it." Note, Because men receive not the love of the
|
|
truth, but conceive a hatred of it, and by the multitude of their
|
|
iniquities bid defiance to it, therefore God shall <I>send them strong
|
|
delusions, to believe a lie,</I> so strong that they shall not be
|
|
undeceived till the day of visitation and recompence comes, which will
|
|
convince them of the folly and madness of those that seduced them and
|
|
of their own folly and madness in suffering themselves to be seduced by
|
|
them.
|
|
|
|
2. They shall know then whether the <I>true prophets,</I> that were
|
|
really <I>spiritual men,</I> guided by the Spirit of God, were such as
|
|
they called and counted them, <I>fools and madmen;</I> and they shall
|
|
be convinced that they were so far from being so that they were the
|
|
wise men of their times, and God's faithful ambassadors to them. When
|
|
Israel saw that none of Samuel's words <I>fell to the ground</I> they
|
|
knew he was <I>established to be a prophet</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+3:20">1 Sam. iii. 20</A>);
|
|
|
|
and so here, when God fulfils the word of his messengers, by bringing
|
|
the days of recompence they foretold, then those that despised and
|
|
ridiculed them, and thought Bedlam the fittest place for them, will be
|
|
ashamed of <I>the multitude of their iniquities</I> of that kind, and
|
|
of <I>their great hatred,</I> for which God brings upon them this swift
|
|
destruction. Mocking the messengers of the Lord was the sin they were
|
|
punished for, and so made ashamed of.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. That hereby the wickedness of the false prophets themselves shall
|
|
be manifested to their shame
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>The watchman of Ephraim was with my God;</I> he had been formerly.
|
|
They had a set of worthy good ministers, that kept close to God and
|
|
maintained communion with him; but now they have a race of corrupt,
|
|
malignant, persecuting prophets, that are the ring-leaders of all
|
|
mischief." Or, "The <I>watchman of Ephraim</I> now pretends to have
|
|
been <I>with my God,</I> and prefaces his lies with, <I>Thus saith the
|
|
Lord;</I> but he is <I>a snare of a fowler in all his ways,</I> and is
|
|
cunning to draw the simple into sin and the upright into trouble; and
|
|
he is so full of hatred and enmity to goodness and good men that he has
|
|
become <I>hatred</I> itself <I>in the house of his God,</I> or
|
|
<I>against the house of his God.</I>" Note, Wicked prophets are the
|
|
worst of men; their sins against God are most heinous, and their plots
|
|
against religion most dangerous. They may boast that they are
|
|
<I>watchmen, speculators,</I> and, as far as speculation goes, they may
|
|
be right, and <I>with my God,</I> may have their heads full of good
|
|
notions; but look into their lives, and they are the <I>snare of a
|
|
fowler in all their ways,</I> catching for themselves and making a prey
|
|
of others; look into <I>their hearts,</I> and they are <I>hatred in the
|
|
house of my God,</I> very malicious and spiteful against good ministers
|
|
and good people. Woe unto thee, O land! unto thee, O church! that hast
|
|
such watchmen, such prophets, that are seers, but not doers!
|
|
<I>Corruptio optimi est pessima--The best things, when corrupted,
|
|
become the worst.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. That God will now reckon with them for the sins of their fathers,
|
|
which they have trod in the steps of,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
1. They were as bad as their fathers: <I>They have deeply corrupted
|
|
themselves;</I> they are rooted and riveted in sin; they are far gone
|
|
in the <I>depths of Satan</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+31:6">Isa. xxxi. 6</A>),
|
|
|
|
so that it is next to impossible that they should be recovered; the
|
|
stain of their corruption is deep, not to be got out; it is as scarlet
|
|
and crimson, or as the spots of the leopard: and it is their own fault;
|
|
they have <I>corrupted themselves,</I> have polluted and hardened their
|
|
own hearts, as <I>in the days of Gibeah,</I> when the Levite's
|
|
concubine was abused to death by the men of Gibeah and the whole tribe
|
|
of Benjamin patronised the villany; that was a time of deep corruption
|
|
indeed, and such were the present days. Lewdness and wickedness were
|
|
as impudent and daring now as in the days of Gibeah; and therefore what
|
|
can be expected but such a vengeance as was then taken on Gibeah? Every
|
|
tribe is now as bad as the tribe of Benjamin then was, and therefore
|
|
may expect to be brought as low as that tribe then was.
|
|
|
|
2. They shall therefore be reckoned with for their fathers' sins: <I>He
|
|
will remember their iniquity and visit their sins,</I> the iniquity
|
|
they have by kind and by entail, the sin that runs in the blood; the
|
|
<I>sin of the father</I> shall now be <I>visited upon the children.</I>
|
|
Hence God takes occasion to upbraid them with the degeneracy and
|
|
apostasy of their ancestors, their perfidiousness and base ingratitude,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here observe,
|
|
|
|
(1.) The great honour God put upon Israel when he first formed them
|
|
into a people: <I>I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness.</I> He
|
|
took as much delight and pleasure in them as a poor traveller would do
|
|
if he found grapes in a wilderness, where he most needed them and least
|
|
expected them. Or when they were <I>in the wilderness</I> he <I>found
|
|
them as grapes,</I> not precious in themselves, but precious to him,
|
|
and pleasant as the first-ripe grapes to the lord of the vineyard. They
|
|
were <I>precious in his sight, and honourable</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+43:4">Isa. xliii. 4</A>);
|
|
|
|
he planted them a <I>choice vine,</I> a <I>right seed</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+2:21">Jer. ii. 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
and found them no better than he himself made them, good grapes at
|
|
first. <I>I saw them</I> with pleasure, <I>as the first-ripe in the
|
|
fig-tree at the first time.</I> Good people are compared to the <I>good
|
|
things that are first ripe,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jer+24:2">Jer. xxiv. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
One then is worth more than many afterwards. This intimates the delight
|
|
God took in them and in doing them good, not for their sakes, but
|
|
because he loved their fathers. He preserved them carefully, as a man
|
|
does the first and choicest fruits of his vineyard. Now when he put all
|
|
this honour upon them, and they stood so fair for preferment, one would
|
|
think they should have maintained their excellency; but,
|
|
|
|
(2.) See the great disgrace they put upon themselves. God set them
|
|
apart for himself as a peculiar people, but they went to Baal-peor,
|
|
joined with the Moabites in sacrificing to that dirty dunghill deity
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Nu+25:2,3">Num. xxv. 2, 3</A>),
|
|
|
|
and they <I>separated themselves unto that shame,</I> that shameful
|
|
idol, so Baal-peor was in a particular manner, if (as should seem) the
|
|
<I>whoredom</I> which the people <I>committed with the daughters of
|
|
Moab</I> was a part of the service done to Baal-peor. Note, Whatever
|
|
those separate themselves to that forsake God it will certainly be a
|
|
shame to them, first or last. <I>Their abominations</I> are here said
|
|
to be <I>as they loved;</I> their practices which were an abomination
|
|
to God were as the best-beloved of their souls. Or when they had once
|
|
forsaken God they multiplied <I>their abominations,</I> their idols and
|
|
abominable idolatries, at their pleasure. This was the way of their
|
|
fathers; God had done well for them, but they had acted ungratefully
|
|
towards him, and in the same manner had the present generation
|
|
<I>deeply corrupted themselves.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ho9_11"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ho9_12"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ho9_13"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ho9_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ho9_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ho9_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ho9_17"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Threatenings of Judgment.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 740.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>11 <I>As for</I> Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird,
|
|
from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception.
|
|
12 Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave
|
|
them, <I>that there shall</I> not <I>be</I> a man <I>left:</I> yea, woe also to
|
|
them when I depart from them!
|
|
13 Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, <I>is</I> planted in a pleasant place:
|
|
but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.
|
|
14 Give them, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: what wilt thou give? give them a
|
|
miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
|
|
15 All their wickedness <I>is</I> in Gilgal: for there I hated them:
|
|
for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine
|
|
house, I will love them no more: all their princes <I>are</I>
|
|
revolters.
|
|
16 Ephraim is smitten, their root is dried up, they shall bear
|
|
no fruit: yea, though they bring forth, yet will I slay <I>even</I>
|
|
the beloved <I>fruit</I> of their womb.
|
|
17 My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken
|
|
unto him: and they shall be wanderers among the nations.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
In the foregoing verses we saw the sin of Israel derived from their
|
|
fathers; here we see the punishment of Israel derived to their
|
|
children; for, as death entered by sin at first, so it is still
|
|
entailed with it. We may observe, in these verses,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. The sin of Ephraim. Some expressions are here which describe that.
|
|
|
|
1. <I>They did not hearken to God</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>);
|
|
|
|
they did not give attention to the voice either of his word or of his
|
|
rod; they did not believe what he said, nor would they be ruled by him.
|
|
He told them their duty, their interest, their danger, but they
|
|
regarded him not; all he said to them by his words and by his prophets
|
|
was to them as a tale that is told; and then no wonder that we hear,
|
|
|
|
2. Of the <I>wickedness of their doings</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
the downright malice that was in their sins; they were not infirmities,
|
|
but daring presumptions. How can those but do wickedly who will not
|
|
hearken to the word of God, that would teach and persuade them to do
|
|
well? And no wonder that there were wicked doings among them when,
|
|
|
|
3. Their worship was corrupt
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>All their wickedness is in Gilgal,</I> which was a place infamous
|
|
for idolatry, as appears,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+4:15,12:11,Am+4:4,5:5"><I>ch.</I> iv. 15; xii. 11; Amos iv. 4; v. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
It is probable that the idolaters chose that place for their
|
|
head-quarters because it had been famous in other ages for solemn
|
|
transactions between God and Israel, as
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+5:2,10,1Sa+10:8,11:15">Josh. v. 2, 10; 1 Sam. x. 8; xi. 15</A>.
|
|
|
|
There, where the source of idolatry was, whence it spread through the
|
|
kingdom, there it might be said that <I>all their wickedness</I> was,
|
|
for all other wickedness owed its origin to that. Corruptions in
|
|
worship make way for corruptions in morals. The <I>mother of
|
|
harlots</I> is the <I>mother of</I> all other <I>abominations,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+17:5">Rev. xvii. 5</A>.
|
|
|
|
The learned Grotius conjectures that there is a mystical sense here.
|
|
Golgotha in Syriac is the same with Gilgal in Hebrew, and therefore he
|
|
thinks this may have reference to the putting of Christ to death at
|
|
Golgotha, which was the greatest sin of the Jewish nation, and of which
|
|
it might truly be said, <I>All their wickedness</I> was summed up in
|
|
that. And no wonder that the people did wickedly, both in worship and
|
|
conversation, when
|
|
|
|
4. <I>All their princes were revolters;</I> the whole succession of the
|
|
kings of the ten tribes did evil in the sight of the Lord, or all the
|
|
set of judges and magistrates at this time were wicked; they turned
|
|
aside to sinful ways and persisted in those ways.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. The displeasure of God against Ephraim for sin. This is variously
|
|
expressed here, to show what a provocation sin is to the pure eyes of
|
|
his glory, and how odious it makes the sinner to him.
|
|
|
|
1. He <I>departs from them,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
|
|
|
|
When they revolt from him, and withdraw from their allegiance to him,
|
|
how can they expect but that he should depart from them and withdraw
|
|
both his protection and his bounty? And well may his threatening be
|
|
enforced as it is, and made terrible: <I>Woe also unto them when I
|
|
depart from them!</I> Note, Those are in a woeful condition indeed whom
|
|
God has forsaken. Our weal or woe depends upon the gracious presence of
|
|
God with us; and, if he goes, all weal goes with him and all woes come
|
|
upon us. <I>God has forsaken him; persecute and take him.</I> Saul knew
|
|
this when he laid such an emphasis upon this part of his complaint,
|
|
<I>The Philistines make war against me, and God has departed from
|
|
me.</I> Nay, he does not only depart from them, but,
|
|
|
|
2. He hates them. <I>In Gilgal,</I> where <I>all their wickedness is,
|
|
there I hated them.</I> There, where the abominations of sin are
|
|
committed, there God abominates the sinners. In Gilgal he had bestowed
|
|
many tokens of his favour upon their ancestors, but now that is the
|
|
place where he hates them for their base ingratitude. Nay, he not only
|
|
hates them, but,
|
|
|
|
3. He <I>will love them no more,</I> will never take them into his
|
|
favour again; the breach between God and Israel is wide as the sea,
|
|
which cannot be healed. This agrees with what he had said,
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+1:6,7"><I>ch.</I> i. 6, 7</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel,</I> the ten
|
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tribes.
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4. He will discard them, and have no more to do with them: <I>For the
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wickedness of their doings, I will drive them out of my house.</I> He
|
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will no longer own them as his, or as belonging to his family in the
|
|
world; he will turn them out of doors as unfaithful tenants that pay
|
|
him no rent, as unprofitable servants that do him neither credit nor
|
|
work. Note, Those that profane God's house can expect no other than to
|
|
be expelled his house, and no longer suffered to be either lodgers in
|
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it or retainers to it. Nay, he will not only drive them out of his
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house, but,
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5. He will drive them far enough
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
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<I>My God will cast them away,</I> not only out of his house, but out
|
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of his sight; he will quite abandon and reject them; they shall be
|
|
<I>cast-aways.</I> God said that he would <I>drive them out of his
|
|
house,</I> and here the prophet seconds it, as one that knew his
|
|
Master's mind very well: <I>My God will cast them away.</I> See with
|
|
what comfort and pleasure he calls God his God. Note, When others
|
|
disown God, and are disowned by him, it is a very great satisfaction to
|
|
good people that they can call God their God, can cheerfully own him
|
|
and see themselves owned by him--all revolters, all ruined, yet God is
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<I>my God.</I></P>
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|
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<P>
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III. The fruit of this displeasure, in the cutting off and abandoning
|
|
of their posterity, which is the judgment here threatened again and
|
|
again. Observe here,</P>
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<P>
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|
|
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1. How numerous Ephraim seemed likely to be. The name <I>Ephraim</I> is
|
|
derived from <I>fruitfulness,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+41:51">Gen. xli. 51</A>.
|
|
|
|
Joseph is a <I>fruitful bough,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+49:22">Gen. xlix. 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
And Moses's blessing foretold the <I>ten thousands of Ephraim,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+33:17">Deut. xxxiii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
This was his glory,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
|
|
|
|
For this he seemed designed by him that appoints the bounds of men's
|
|
habitation; for <I>Ephraim, as I saw Tyrus, is planted in a pleasant
|
|
place,</I> to encourage his increase, which one may expect as from a
|
|
tree planted by the river's side. Ephraim is as strong and rich as ever
|
|
Tyre was, and as proud and secure. The Chaldee paraphrase gives this
|
|
sense of it, <I>The congregation of Israel, while they observed the
|
|
law, was like to Tyrus in prosperity and security.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. How few Ephraim should be
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Their glory shall fly away like a bird;</I> their children shall be
|
|
taken away and the hopes of their families cut off. All their glory
|
|
shall fly <I>as an eagle towards heaven,</I> swiftly and irrecoverably.
|
|
Note, Worldly glory is glory that will <I>fly away;</I> but those that
|
|
have their God their glory have in him an unfading everlasting glory.
|
|
Ephraim has been as a fruitful tree. But now <I>Ephraim is smitten,</I>
|
|
is blasted; <I>their root is dried up; they shall bear no fruit,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
If the root be dried, the branch must wither of course. Observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) God's threatening this judgment of the destroying of their
|
|
children.
|
|
|
|
[1.] They shall perish of themselves by the immediate hand of God
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>):
|
|
|
|
They shall <I>fly away from the birth, and from the womb, and from the
|
|
conception.</I> Some of their children shall die as soon as they are
|
|
born; the cradle shall be presently turned into a coffin. Others of
|
|
them shall be <I>still-born,</I> or the womb shall be their grave, and
|
|
their death there their mothers' death too. Of others their mothers
|
|
shall miscarry almost as soon as they have conceived, and they shall be
|
|
as untimely fruit. See how easily God can, and how justly we are sure
|
|
he might, root out the whole race of mankind, that degenerate, guilty,
|
|
obnoxious race, and blot out the name of it from under heaven; it is
|
|
but doing as he does by Ephraim here, writing them all childless,
|
|
making all their glory to <I>fly away from the birth, the womb, and the
|
|
conception,</I> drying up their root, that they bear no fruit, and
|
|
their business is done in a few years.
|
|
|
|
[2.] They shall perish by the hand of their enemies; they shall die
|
|
violent deaths
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>Though they bring up their children</I> to some maturity, though
|
|
they escape the diseases and deaths which the infant age is liable to,
|
|
and are thought to be reared past danger, <I>yet will I bereave
|
|
them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
by one judgment or other, so that <I>there shall not be a man left</I>
|
|
to build up their families and bear up their name." Again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer.</I> The
|
|
mothers shall travail with pain to bear their children, and a great
|
|
deal of care, and pains, and cost shall be bestowed upon the nursing of
|
|
them, and when a cruel enemy comes and puts all to the word, young and
|
|
old, without mercy, then they seem but as lambs that were all this
|
|
while fed for the slaughter. Note, It is a great alloy to the comfort
|
|
parents have in their children that they know not what they have
|
|
brought them forth and brought them up for, perhaps <I>for the
|
|
murderer,</I> or, which is worse, to be themselves the plagues of their
|
|
generation. It is threatened again
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>Though they bring forth, yet will I slay even the beloved fruit of
|
|
their womb,</I> those children that they are most fond of. Note, The
|
|
parents' love is no security to the children's lives; nay, sometimes
|
|
death is commissioned to take the darlings of the family and leave the
|
|
burdens of it. When sentence was passed upon Israel in the wilderness,
|
|
that they should all perish there, this mercy was mixed with the wrath,
|
|
that their children should nevertheless enter into that rest which they
|
|
through unbelief could not enter into. But this is a total and final
|
|
rejection; even their children shall be cut off, and the land shall
|
|
escheat to the crown, <I>ob defectum sanguinis--shall be lost for want
|
|
of heirs.</I> The Chaldee-paraphrase, and many of the rabbin, by the
|
|
<I>murderers</I> to whom the children were brought forth, understand
|
|
those that sacrificed their children to Moloch, a sin which was its own
|
|
punishment, which showed the parents void of bowels and justly left
|
|
them void of blessings.
|
|
|
|
[3.] Those few that escape and remain shall be dispersed
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>):
|
|
|
|
They shall be <I>wanderers among the nations;</I> so the remains of the
|
|
Jews are at this day, and there is no place in the world where they are
|
|
a distinct nation.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The prophet's prayer relating to it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+9:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>Give them, O Lord! what wilt thou give?</I> What shall I ask for a
|
|
people thus doomed to destruction? It is this; since the decree has
|
|
gone forth, that they must either die from the womb or be brought forth
|
|
for the murderer, of the two let them rather <I>die from the womb.</I>
|
|
Rather let them have no children than have them to be made miserable;
|
|
for the same reason, when a total ruin was coming on the Jewish nation,
|
|
Christ said, <I>Blessed is the womb that never bore and the paps that
|
|
never gave suck,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+23:29">Luke xxiii. 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
"Give therefore <I>a miscarrying womb and dry breasts;</I> for it is
|
|
better to fall into the hands of the Lord, whose mercies are great,
|
|
than into the hands of man." Note, Those that are childless may with
|
|
this reconcile themselves to the will of God herein, that the time may
|
|
come when, if they were not so, they would wish they had been so.</P>
|
|
|
|
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