mh_parser/vol_split/28 - Hosea/Chapter 10.xml

<div2 id="Hos.xi" n="xi" next="Hos.xii" prev="Hos.x" progress="77.98%" title="Chapter X">
<h2 id="Hos.xi-p0.1">H O S E A.</h2>
<h3 id="Hos.xi-p0.2">CHAP. X.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Hos.xi-p1" shownumber="no">In this chapter, I. The people of Israel are
charged with gross corruptions in the worship of God and are
threatened with the destruction of their images and altars,
<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.1-Hos.10.2 Bible:Hos.10.5 Bible:Hos.10.6 Bible:Hos.10.8" parsed="|Hos|10|1|10|2;|Hos|10|5|0|0;|Hos|10|6|0|0;|Hos|10|8|0|0" passage="Ho 10:1,2,5,6,8">ver. 1, 2, 5, 6, 8</scripRef>.
II. They are charged with corruptions in the administration of the
civil government and are threatened with the ruin of that,
<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.3-Hos.10.4 Bible:Hos.10.7" parsed="|Hos|10|3|10|4;|Hos|10|7|0|0" passage="Ho 10:3,4,7">ver. 3, 4, 7</scripRef>. III. They
are charged with imitating the sins of their fathers, and with
security in their own sins, and are threatened with smarting
humbling judgments, <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.9-Hos.10.11" parsed="|Hos|10|9|10|11" passage="Ho 10:9-11">ver.
9-11</scripRef>. IV. They are earnestly invited to repent and
reform, and are threatened with ruin if they did not, <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.12-Hos.10.15" parsed="|Hos|10|12|10|15" passage="Ho 10:12-15">ver. 12-15</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Hos.xi-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10" parsed="|Hos|10|0|0|0" passage="Ho 10" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Hos.xi-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.1-Hos.10.8" parsed="|Hos|10|1|10|8" passage="Ho 10:1-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.xi-p1.7">
<h4 id="Hos.xi-p1.8">Degeneracy of Israel; Threatenings of
Judgment. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.xi-p1.9">b. c.</span> 730.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.xi-p2" shownumber="no">1 Israel <i>is</i> an empty vine, he bringeth
forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit
he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land
they have made goodly images.   2 Their heart is divided; now
shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he
shall spoil their images.   3 For now they shall say, We have
no king, because we feared not the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.xi-p2.1">Lord</span>; what then should a king do to us?   4
They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus
judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.
  5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the
calves of Beth-aven: for the people thereof shall mourn over it,
and the priests thereof <i>that</i> rejoiced on it, for the glory
thereof, because it is departed from it.   6 It shall be also
carried unto Assyria <i>for</i> a present to king Jareb: Ephraim
shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own
counsel.   7 <i>As for</i> Samaria, her king is cut off as the
foam upon the water.   8 The high places also of Aven, the sin
of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come
up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us;
and to the hills, Fall on us.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p3" shownumber="no">Observe, I. What the sins are which are
here laid to Israel's charge, the national sins which bring down
national judgment. The prophet deals plainly with them; for what
good would it do them to be flattered?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p4" shownumber="no">1. They were not fruitful in the fruits of
righteousness to the glory of God. Here all their other wickedness
began (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.1" parsed="|Hos|10|1|0|0" passage="Ho 10:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>):
<i>Israel is an empty vine.</i> The church of God is fitly compared
to a <i>vine,</i> weak, and of an unpromising outside, yet
spreading and fruitful; believers are branches of that vine, and
partake of its root and fatness. But this was the character of
Israel, they were as <i>an empty vine,</i> a vine that had no sap
or virtue in it, and therefore none of those good fruits produced
by it that were expected from it, with which God and man should be
honoured. Note, There are many who, though they have not become
<i>degenerate</i> vines, are yet <i>empty vines,</i> have no good
in them. A vine is of all trees least serviceable if it do not bear
fruit. It is thenceforth good for nothing, <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.15.3 Bible:Ezek.15.5" parsed="|Ezek|15|3|0|0;|Ezek|15|5|0|0" passage="Eze 15:3,5">Ezek. xv. 3, 5</scripRef>. And those that bring forth
no grapes will soon come to bring forth wild grapes; those that do
no good will do hurt. He is an <i>empty vine,</i> for <i>he brings
forth fruit to himself.</i> What good there is in him is not
directed to the glory of God, but he takes the praise of it to
himself, and prides himself in it. Christians live not to
themselves (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.14.6" parsed="|Rom|14|6|0|0" passage="Ro 14:6">Rom. xiv. 6</scripRef>),
but hypocrites make self their centre; they <i>eat and drink to
themselves,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.5-Zech.7.6" parsed="|Zech|7|5|7|6" passage="Zec 7:5,6">Zech. vii. 5,
6</scripRef>. Or Israel is by the judgments of God <i>emptied</i>
and <i>spoiled</i> of all his wealth, because he made use of it in
the service of his lusts, and not to the honour of God who gave it
to him. Note, What we do not rightly employ we may justly expect to
be emptied of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p5" shownumber="no">2. They multiplied their altars and images,
and the more bountiful God's providence was to them the more
prodigal they were in serving their idols: <i>According to the
multitude of his fruit</i> which his land brought forth <i>he has
increased the altars,</i> and <i>according to the goodness of his
land they have made goodly images.</i> Note, It is a great affront
to God, and an abuse of his goodness, when the more mercies we
receive from him the more sins we commit against him, and when the
more wealth men have the more mischief they do. Should not we be
thus abundant in the service of our God, as they were in the
service of their idols? As we find our estates increasing, we
should proportionably abound the more in works of piety and
charity.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p6" shownumber="no">3. Their hearts were divided, <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.2" parsed="|Hos|10|2|0|0" passage="Ho 10:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. (1.) They were divided
among themselves. They were at variance about their idols, some for
one, some for another, at variance about their kings, whose
separate interests made parties in the kingdom, and in them their
very hearts were divided, and alienated one from another, and there
was no such thing as cordial friendship to be found among them; it
follows therefore, <i>Now shall they be found faulty.</i> Note, The
divisions and animosities of a people are the causes of much sin
and the presages of ruin. (2.) They were divided between God and
their idols. They had a remaining affection in their hearts for
God, but a reigning affection for their idols. They <i>halted
between God and Baal,</i> that was the dividing of their heart. But
God is the sovereign of the heart and he will by no means endure a
rival; he will either have all or none. Satan, like the pretended
mother, says, <i>Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide
it;</i> but, if this be yielded to, God says, Nay, <i>let him take
it all.</i> A heart thus divided will be <i>found faulty,</i> and
be rejected as treacherous in covenanting with God. Note, A heart
divided between God and mammon, though it may trim the matter so as
to appear plausible, will, in the day of discovery, be <i>found
faulty.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p7" shownumber="no">4. They made no conscience of what they
said and what they did in the most solemn manner, <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.4" parsed="|Hos|10|4|0|0" passage="Ho 10:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef> (1.) Not of what they said
in swearing, which is the most solemn speaking: <i>They have spoken
words,</i> and words only, for they meant not as they said; they
did <i>verba dare—give words.</i> They <i>swore falsely in making
a covenant;</i> they were deceitful in their covenanting with God,
the covenant of circumcision, the fair promises they made of
reformation when they were in distress; and no marvel if those that
were false to their God were false to all mankind. They contracted
such a habit of treachery that they broke through the most sacred
bonds, and made nothing of them; subjects violated their oaths of
allegiance and their kings their coronation-oaths; they broke their
leagues with the nations they were in alliance with, nor was any
conscience made of contracts between private persons. (2.) Nor of
what they did in judgment, which is the most solemn acting. Justice
could not take place when men made nothing of forswearing
themselves; for thus <i>judgment,</i> which should have been a
healing medicinal plant and of a sweet smell, <i>sprang up as
hemlock,</i> which is both nauseous and noxious, <i>in the furrows
of the field,</i> in the field that was ploughed and furrowed for
good corn. Note, God is greatly offended with corruptions, not only
in his own worship, but in the administration of justice between
man and man, and the dishonesty of a people shall be the ground of
his controversy with them as well as their idolatry and impiety;
for God's laws are intended for man's benefit and the good of the
community, as well as for God's honour, and the profanation of
courts of justice shall be avenged as surely as the profanation of
temples.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p8" shownumber="no">II. What the judgments are with which
Israel should be punished for these sins; they sinned both in civil
and religious matters, and in both they shall be punished. 1. They
shall have no joy of their kings and of their government. Because
justice is turned into oppression, therefore those who are
entrusted with the administration of it, and should be blessings to
the state, shall be complained of as the burdens of it (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.3" parsed="|Hos|10|3|0|0" passage="Ho 10:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), and those that would not
rule their people well shall not be able to protect them: <i>Now
they shall say, "We have no king,</i> that is, we are as if we had
none, we have none to do us any good nor stand us in any stead,
none to keep us from destroying ourselves or being destroyed by our
enemies, none to preserve the public peace nor to fight our
battles; and justly has this come to us. <i>Because we feared not
the Lord,</i> when we were safe under the protection of our kings,
therefore we are rejected by him, and then <i>what shall a king do
for us?</i> What good can we expect from a king when we have
forfeited the favour of our God?" Note, Those that cast off the
fear of God are not likely to have joy of any of their
creature-comforts; nor will men's loyalty to their prince befriend
them without religion, for, though that may engage him to be for
them, what good will that do them if God be against them? Those
that keep themselves in the fear and favour of God may say, with
triumph, "What can the greatest of men do against us?" But those
that throw themselves out of his protection must say, with despair,
"What can the greatest of men do for us?" He was a king that said,
<i>If the Lord do not help thee, whence should I help thee?</i> Yet
he is a fool that says, If a king cannot help us, we must perish
(as these intimate here), for God can do that for us which kings
cannot. Time was when they doted upon having a king; but now what
can a king (who, they thought, could do any thing) do for them? God
can make people sick of those creature-confidences which they were
most fond of. This is their complaint when their king is disabled
to help them, yet this is not the worst; their civil government
shall not only be weakened, but quite destroyed (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.7" parsed="|Hos|10|7|0|0" passage="Ho 10:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>): <i>As for Samaria,</i> the royal
city, which is now almost all that is left, <i>her king is cut off
as the foam from the water.</i> The foam swims uppermost, and makes
a great show upon the face of the water, yet it is but a heap of
bubbles raised by the troubling of the water. Such were the kings
of Israel, after their revolt from the house of David, a mere scum;
their government had no foundation. No better are the greatest of
kings when they set up in opposition to God; when God comes to
contend with them by his judgments he can as easily disperse and
dissolve them, and bring them to nothing, as the froth upon the
water. 2. They shall have no joy of their idols and of their
worship of them. And miserable is the case of that people whose
gods fail them when their kings do. (1.) The idols they had made,
and the altars they had set up in honour of them, should be broken
down, and spoiled, and carried away, as common plunder, by the
victorious enemy: He <i>shall break down their altars.</i> God
shall do it by the hand of the Assyrians: the Assyrians shall do it
by order from God. <i>He shall spoil their images,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.2" parsed="|Hos|10|2|0|0" passage="Ho 10:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. Note, What men make idols
of it is just with God to <i>break down</i> and <i>spoil.</i> But
the calf at Bethel was the sovereign idol; it was this that the
inhabitants of Samaria doted most upon; now it is here foretold
that this should be destroyed: <i>The glory of it has departed from
it</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.5" parsed="|Hos|10|5|0|0" passage="Ho 10:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>) when it
is thrown down and defaced, no more to be worshipped; but this is
not all: <i>It shall also be carried to Assyria</i> (as some think
that the calf at Dan was some time before) <i>for a present to king
Jareb.</i> It was carried to him as a rich booty (for it was a
golden calf, and probably adorned with the gifts and offerings of
its worshippers) and as a trophy of victory over their enemies: and
what more glorious trophy could they bring than this, or more
incontestable proof of an absolute conquest? Thus it is said,
<i>The sin of Israel shall be destroyed</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.8" parsed="|Hos|10|8|0|0" passage="Ho 10:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), that is, the idols which they
made the matter of their sin; it is said of them, <i>They became a
sin to all Israel,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.12.30" parsed="|1Kgs|12|30|0|0" passage="1Ki 12:30">1 Kings xii.
30</scripRef>. Note, If the grace of God prevail not to destroy the
love of sin in us, it is just that the providence of God should
destroy the food and fuel of sin about us. With the idols, <i>the
high places</i> shall be destroyed, the <i>high places of Aven,</i>
that is, of <i>Bethaven</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.5" parsed="|Hos|10|5|0|0" passage="Ho 10:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>) or <i>Bethel;</i> it was called <i>the house of
God</i> (so Bethel signifies), but now it is called <i>the house of
iniquity,</i> nay, <i>iniquity</i> itself. The kings did not, as
they ought to have done, <i>take away the high places</i> by the
sword of justice, and therefore God will take them away by the
sword of war; so that <i>the thorn and the thistle</i> shall
<i>come up on their altars,</i> that is, they shall lie in ruins.
Their altars, while they stood, were as thorns and thistles,
offensive to God and good men, and fruits of sin and the curse;
justly therefore are they buried in thorns and thistles. (2.) The
destruction of their idols, their altars, and their high places,
shall be the occasion of sorrow, and shame, and terror to them.
[1.] It shall be an occasion of sorrow to them. When the calf at
Bethel is broken <i>the people thereof shall mourn over it.</i>
They looked upon the calf to be the protector of their nation, and,
when that was gone, thought they must all be undone, which made the
poor ignorant people that were deluded into the love of it lament
bitterly, as Micah did (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.8" osisRef="Bible:Judg.18.24" parsed="|Judg|18|24|0|0" passage="Jdg 18:24">Judg. xviii.
24</scripRef>), <i>You have taken away my gods, and what have I
more?</i> The priests that had rejoiced in it shall now mourn for
it with the people. Note, Whatever men make a god of they will
mourn for the loss of; and an inordinate sorrow for the loss of any
worldly good is a sign we made an idol of it. They used to be very
merry in the worship of their idols, but now they shall mourn over
them; for sinful mirth shall, sooner or later, be turned into
mourning. [2.] It shall be an occasion of shame to them (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.9" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.6" parsed="|Hos|10|6|0|0" passage="Ho 10:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>): <i>Ephraim shall receive
shame</i> when he sees the gods he trusted to carried into
captivity, and <i>Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel,</i>
in putting such confidence in them and paying such adoration to
them. God's ark and altars were never thrown down till the people
rejected them; but the idolatrous altars were thrown down when the
people were doting on them, which shows that the contempt of the
former, and the veneration for the latter, were the sins for which
God visited them. [3.] It shall be an occasion of fear to them
(<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.10" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.5" parsed="|Hos|10|5|0|0" passage="Ho 10:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>): <i>The
inhabitants of Samaria shall fear;</i> they shall be in pain for
their gods and afraid of losing them; or, rather, they shall be in
pain for themselves and their children and families, when they see
the judgments of God breaking in upon them and beginning with their
idols, as he <i>executed judgment against the gods of Egypt,</i>
<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.11" osisRef="Bible:Exod.12.12" parsed="|Exod|12|12|0|0" passage="Ex 12:12">Exod. xii. 12</scripRef>. Thus
idolaters are brought in trembling when God arises to <i>shake
terribly the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.2.21" parsed="|Isa|2|21|0|0" passage="Isa 2:21">Isa. ii.
21</scripRef>. And here (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.13" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.8" parsed="|Hos|10|8|0|0" passage="Ho 10:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>), <i>They shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to
the hills, Fall on us.</i> The supporters of idolatry (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p8.14" osisRef="Bible:Rev.6.15-Rev.6.16" parsed="|Rev|6|15|6|16" passage="Re 6:15,16">Rev. vi. 15, 16</scripRef>) are brought in
calling thus in vain to rocks and mountains to shelter them from
God's wrath.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Hos.xi-p8.15" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.9-Hos.10.15" parsed="|Hos|10|9|10|15" passage="Ho 10:9-15" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.xi-p8.16">
<h4 id="Hos.xi-p8.17">Threatenings of Judgment. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.xi-p8.18">b. c.</span> 730.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.xi-p9" shownumber="no">9 O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of
Gibeah: there they stood: the battle in Gibeah against the children
of iniquity did not overtake them.   10 <i>It is</i> in my
desire that I should chastise them; and the people shall be
gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves in their two
furrows.   11 And Ephraim <i>is as</i> a heifer <i>that is</i>
taught, <i>and</i> loveth to tread out <i>the corn;</i> but I
passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah
shall plow, <i>and</i> Jacob shall break his clods.   12 Sow
to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow
ground: for <i>it is</i> time to seek the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.xi-p9.1">Lord</span>, till he come and rain righteousness upon
you.   13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity;
ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy
way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.   14 Therefore shall
a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be
spoiled, as Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of battle: the
mother was dashed in pieces upon <i>her</i> children.   15 So
shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness: in a
morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p10" shownumber="no">Here, I. They are put in mind of the sins
of their fathers and predecessors, for which God would now reckon
with them. It was told them (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.9.9" parsed="|Hos|9|9|0|0" passage="Ho 9:9"><i>ch.</i>
ix. 9</scripRef>) that they had <i>corrupted themselves, as in the
days of Gibeah,</i> and here (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.9" parsed="|Hos|10|9|0|0" passage="Ho 10:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>), <i>O Israel! thou hast sinned from the days of
Gibeah.</i> Not only the wickedness that was committed in that age
is revived in this, and reacted, a copy from that original, but the
wickedness that was committed in that age has been continued in a
constant series and succession through all the intervening ages
down to this; so that the measure of iniquity had been long in
filling; and still there had been made additions to it. Or,
"<i>Thou has sinned more than in the days of Gibeah</i>" (so it may
be read); "the sins of this age exceed those of the worst of former
ages. The case was bad then, for <i>there they stood;</i> the
criminals stood in their own defence, and the tribes of Israel, who
undertook to chastise them for their wickedness, were <i>at a
stand,</i> when both in the first and in the second battle the
malefactors were the victors; and <i>the battle in Gibeah against
the children of iniquity did not overtake them</i> till the third
engagement, and then did not overtake them all, for 600 made their
escape. But thy sin is worse than theirs, and therefore thou canst
not expect but that the battle against the children of iniquity
should overtake thee, and overcome thee."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p11" shownumber="no">II. They have warning given them, fair
warning, of the judgments of God that were coming upon them,
<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.10" parsed="|Hos|10|10|0|0" passage="Ho 10:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. God had
hitherto pitied and spared them. Though they had been very
provoking, he had a mind to try whether they would be wrought upon
by patience and forbearance; but now, "<i>It is in my desire that I
should chastise them;</i> it is what I have a purpose of and will
take pleasure in." He will <i>rejoice over them to do them
hurt,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.28.63" parsed="|Deut|28|63|0|0" passage="De 28:63">Deut. xxviii. 63</scripRef>.
Note, Because God does not desire the death and ruin of sinners,
therefore he does desire their chastisement. And see what the
chastisement it: <i>The people shall be gathered against them,</i>
as all the other tribes were against Benjamin in the battle of
Gibeah. One of the rabbin thus descants upon it: "Because they
receive not chastisement from me by my prophets, who in my name
rebuke them, I will chastise them by the hands of the people who
shall be <i>gathered against them, when they shall bind themselves
in their two furrows,</i>" that is, when they shall think to
fortify themselves, as it were, within a double entrenchment. Or,
<i>When I shall bind them for their two transgressions</i> (so the
margin reads it), meaning their corporal and spiritual whoredom,
which they are so often charged with, or the <i>two calves</i> at
Dan and Bethel, or those two great evils mentioned <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.12" parsed="|Jer|2|12|0|0" passage="Jer 2:12">Jer. ii. 13</scripRef>. Or, <i>When I shall bind
them to their two furrows,</i> that is, bring them into servitude
to the Assyrians, who shall keep them under the yoke as oxen in the
plough, who are bound to the two furrows up the field and down it,
and dare not, for fear of the goad, stir a step out of them. The
Chaldee says, Those that are <i>gathered against them shall
exercise dominion over them, in like manner as a pair of heifers
are tied to their two furrows.</i> Thus those that would not be
God's freemen shall be their enemies' slaves, and shall be made to
know the difference between <i>God's service</i> and <i>the service
of the kingdoms of the countries,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.12.8" parsed="|2Chr|12|8|0|0" passage="2Ch 12:8">2 Chron. xii. 8</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p12" shownumber="no">III. They are made to know that their
unacquaintedness with sufferings and hardships should not excuse
them from a very miserable captivity, <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.11" parsed="|Hos|10|11|0|0" passage="Ho 10:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. See how nice, and tender, and
delicate, Ephraim is; he is <i>as a heifer that is taught to tread
out the corn, and loves</i> that work, because, being not allowed
to be muzzled, she has liberty to eat at pleasure, and the work
itself was dry and easy, and both its own diversion and its own
wages. "But," says God, "I have a yoke to put upon <i>her fair
neck,</i> fair as it is. <i>I will make Ephraim to ride,</i> that
is, I will tame them, or cause them to be ridden by the Assyrians
and other conquerors that shall rule them with rigour, as men do
the beasts they ride upon (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.66.12" parsed="|Ps|66|12|0|0" passage="Ps 66:12">Ps. lxvi.
12</scripRef>); and <i>Judah</i> too shall be made to
<i>plough,</i> and <i>Jacob to break the clods,</i>" that is, they
shall be used hardly, but not so hardly as Ephraim. Note, It is
just with God to make those know what hardships mean that indulge
themselves too much in their own ease and pleasure. The learned Dr.
Pocock inclines to another sense of these words, as intimating the
tender gentle methods God took with this people, to bring them into
obedience to his law, as a reason why they should return to that
obedience; he had managed them as the husbandman does his cattle
that he trains up for service. Ephraim being as a docile heifer,
fit to be employed, God took hold of <i>her fair neck,</i> to
accustom her to the hand, <i>harnessed her,</i> or put the yoke of
his commandments upon her, gave his people Israel a law, that,
being trained up in his institutions, they might not be tempted by
the usages of the heathen; he had used all fair and likely means
with them to keep them in their obedience, had set <i>Judah to
plough</i> and <i>Jacob to break the clods,</i> had employed them
in the observance of precepts proper for them; and yet they would
not be retained in their obedience, but started aside.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p13" shownumber="no">IV. They are invited and encouraged to
return to God by prayer, repentance, and reformation, <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.12-Hos.10.13" parsed="|Hos|10|12|10|13" passage="Ho 10:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12, 13</scripRef>. See here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p14" shownumber="no">1. The duties they are called to. They are
<i>God's husbandry</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.3.9" parsed="|1Cor|3|9|0|0" passage="1Co 3:9">1 Cor. iii.
9</scripRef>), and the duties are expressed in language borrowed
from the husbandman's calling. If they would not be brought into
bondage by their oppressors, let them return to God's service. (1.)
Let them <i>break up the fallow ground;</i> let them cleanse their
hearts from all corrupt affections and lusts, which are as weeds
and thorns, and let them be humbled for their sins, and be of a
broken and contrite spirit in the sense of them; let them be full
of sorrow and shame at the remembrance of them, and prepare to
receive the divine precepts, as the ground that is ploughed is to
receive the seed, that it may take root. See <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.4.3" parsed="|Jer|4|3|0|0" passage="Jer 4:3">Jer. iv. 3</scripRef>. (2.) Let them <i>sow to themselves
in righteousness;</i> let them return to the practice of good
works, according to the law of God, which is the rule of
righteousness; let them abound in works of piety towards God, and
of justice and charity towards one another, and herein let them
<i>sow to the Spirit,</i> as the apostle speaks, <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Gal.6.7-Gal.6.8" parsed="|Gal|6|7|6|8" passage="Ga 6:7,8">Gal. vi. 7, 8</scripRef>. Every action is seed sown. Let
them <i>sow in righteousness;</i> let them sow what they should
sow, do what they should do, and they themselves shall have the
benefit of it. (3.) Let them <i>seek the Lord;</i> let them look up
to him for his grace, and beg of him to bless the <i>seed sown.</i>
The husbandman must plough and sow with an eye to God, asking of
him rain in the season thereof.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p15" shownumber="no">2. The arguments used for the pressing of
these duties. Consider, (1.) It is time to do it; it is <i>high
time.</i> The husbandman sows in seed-time, and, if that time be
far spent, he applies to the work with the more diligence. Note,
Seeking the Lord is to be every day's work, but there are some
special occasions given by the providence and grace of God when it
is, in a particular manner, time to seek him. (2.) If we do our
part, God will do his. If we <i>sow to ourselves in
righteousness</i>—if we be careful and diligent to do our duty, in
a dependence upon his grace—he will shower down his grace upon us,
will <i>rain righteousness,</i> the very thing that those need most
who are to sow <i>in righteousness;</i> for <i>by the grace of God
we are what we are.</i> Some apply it to Christ, who should come in
the fulness of time, and for whose coming they must prepare
themselves; he shall come as <i>the Lord our righteousness,</i> and
shall <i>rain righteousness upon us,</i> that everlasting
righteousness which he has brought in; he will grant us of it
abundantly. It is foretold (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.72.6" parsed="|Ps|72|6|0|0" passage="Ps 72:6">Ps. lxxii.
6</scripRef>) that <i>he shall come down like rain.</i> (3.) If we
<i>sow in righteousness,</i> we shall <i>reap in mercy,</i> which
agrees with that promise, If we <i>sow to the Spirit,</i> we shall
<i>of the Spirit reap life everlasting.</i> We shall reap
<i>according to the measure of mercy</i> (so the word is); it shall
be a great reward, according to the <i>riches of mercy,</i> such a
reward, not as becomes such mean creatures as we are to receive,
but as becomes a God of infinite mercy to give, a reward, <i>not of
debt,</i> but <i>of grace.</i> We reap not in merit, but in mercy.
It is what is sown; God gives a body as it has pleased him. (4.) We
have <i>ploughed wickedness and reaped iniquity;</i> and the time
<i>past of our life may suffice</i> that we have done so, <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.13" parsed="|Hos|10|13|0|0" passage="Ho 10:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. "You have taken a great
deal of pains in the service of sin, have laboured at it in the
very fire; and will you grudge to bear the burden and heat of the
day in God's service and in doing that which will be for your own
advantage? You have done much to damn your souls; will you not undo
it again, and do something to save them?" (5.) We never got any
thing in the service of sin. They have <i>ploughed wickedness</i>
(that is, they have done the drudgery of sin), and they have
<i>reaped iniquity,</i> that is, they have got all that is to be
got by it; they have carried it on to the <i>harvest,</i> and what
the better? It is all a cheat. <i>They have eaten the fruit of
lies,</i> fruit that is but a lie, which looks fair, but is rotten
within; the <i>works of darkness</i> are <i>unfruitful works,</i>
<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Eph.5.11 Bible:Rom.6.21" parsed="|Eph|5|11|0|0;|Rom|6|21|0|0" passage="Eph 5:11,Ro 6:21">Eph. v. 11; Rom. vi.
21</scripRef>. Even the gains of sin yield the sinner no
satisfaction. (6.) As our comforts, so our confidences, in the
service of sin will certainly fail us: "<i>Thou didst trust in thy
ways, in the multitude of thy mighty men;</i> thou has stayed
thyself upon creatures, thy own power and policy, and therefore
hast ventured to plough wickedness, and thy hopes have deceived
thee; come therefore, and seek the Lord, and thy hope in him shall
not deceive thee."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xi-p16" shownumber="no">V. They are threatened with utter
destruction, both for their carnal practices and for their carnal
confidences, <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.14-Hos.10.15" parsed="|Hos|10|14|10|15" passage="Ho 10:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14,
15</scripRef>. <i>Therefore,</i> because thou has sown wickedness,
and trusted in thy own way, <i>a tumult shall arise among thy
people,</i> either by insurrections at home or invasions from
abroad, either of which will put a kingdom into confusion and make
a noise, much more both together. 1. Their cities and strongholds
shall be a prey to the enemy: The <i>fortresses</i> which they
confided in, and in which they had laid up their effects, shall be
seized and rifled, as <i>Shalman spoiled Beth-arbel in the day of
battle.</i> This refers to some event that had lately happened, not
elsewhere recorded; and probably Shalman is the same with
Shalmaneser king of Assyria, who had lately put some town, or
castle, or house (<i>Beth-arbel is the house of Arbel</i>), under
<i>military execution,</i> which perhaps he used with severity in
the beginning of his conquests, to terrify other garrisons into a
speedy surrender at the first summons. God tells them that thus
Samaria should be <i>spoiled.</i> 2. The inhabitants shall be put
to the <i>sword,</i> as it was at <i>Beth-arbel;</i> when it was
taken <i>the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children,</i>
that is, they were both dashed in pieces together by the fury of
the soldiers. See what cruel work war makes. <i>Jusque datum
sceleri—Wickedness has free course.</i> It is strange that any of
the human race could be so inhuman; but see what comes of sin.
<i>Homo homini lupus—Man is a wolf to man,</i> and then, <i>Homo
homini agnus—Man is a lamb to man.</i> 3. Even royal blood shall
be mingled with common gore: <i>In a morning shall the king of
Israel utterly be cut off,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.15" parsed="|Hos|10|15|0|0" passage="Ho 10:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. Hoshea was the last king of
Israel; in him the whole kingdom was <i>cut off</i> and came to a
period; it may refer either to him or to some of his predecessors
that were cut off by treachery. It shall be done <i>in a
morning,</i> in a very little time, as suddenly as the dawning of
the morning, or at the time appointed, for so the morning comes,
punctually at its time. Or <i>in the morning,</i> when they think
the night of calamity is over, and expect a returning day, then
shall all their hopes be dashed by the sudden cutting off of their
king, <scripRef id="Hos.xi-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.7" parsed="|Hos|10|7|0|0" passage="Ho 10:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. Kings,
though gods to us, are men to God, and shall die like men. And
(<i>lastly</i>) what does all this desolation owe its rise to? What
is the spring of this bloodshed? He tells us (<scripRef id="Hos.xi-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.10.15" parsed="|Hos|10|15|0|0" passage="Ho 10:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>): <i>So shall Bethel do unto
you.</i> Bethel was the place where one of the calves was; Gilgal,
where <i>all their wickedness</i> is said to have been, was hard
by; there was their <i>great wickedness,</i> the <i>evil of their
evil</i> (so the word is), the sum and quintessence of their sin;
and that was it that <i>did this to them,</i> that made all this
havoc, for that was it that provoked God to bring it upon them. He
does not say, "So shall the <i>king of Assyria</i> do to you;" but,
"So shall <i>Bethel</i> do to you." Note, Whatever mischief is done
to us it is sin that does it. Are the fortresses spoiled? Are the
women and children murdered? Is the king cut off? It is sin that
does all this. It is sin that ruins soul, body, estate, all. <i>So
shall Bethel do unto you.</i> It is <i>thy own wickedness</i> that
<i>corrects thee</i> and <i>thy backslidings</i> that <i>reprove
thee.</i></p>
</div></div2>