mh_parser/vol_split/28 - Hosea/Chapter 13.xml

<div2 id="Hos.xiv" n="xiv" next="Hos.xv" prev="Hos.xiii" progress="79.05%" title="Chapter XIII">
<h2 id="Hos.xiv-p0.1">H O S E A.</h2>
<h3 id="Hos.xiv-p0.2">CHAP. XIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Hos.xiv-p1" shownumber="no">The same strings, though generally unpleasing
ones, are harped upon in this chapter that were in those before.
People care not to be told either of their sin or of their danger
by sin; and yet it is necessary, and for their good, that they
should be told of both, nor can they better hear of either than
from the word of God and from their faithful ministers, while the
sin may be repented of and the danger prevented. Here, I. The
people of Israel are reproved and threatened for their idolatry,
<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13.1-Hos.13.4" parsed="|Hos|13|1|13|4" passage="Ho 13:1-4">ver. 1-4</scripRef>. II. They are
reproved and threatened for their wantonness, pride, and luxury,
and other abuses of their wealth and prosperity, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13.5-Hos.13.8" parsed="|Hos|13|5|13|8" passage="Ho 13:5-8">ver. 5-8</scripRef>. III. The ruin that is coming upon
them for these and all their other sins is foretold as very
terrible, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13.12-Hos.13.13 Bible:Hos.13.15 Bible:Hos.13.16" parsed="|Hos|13|12|13|13;|Hos|13|15|0|0;|Hos|13|16|0|0" passage="Ho 13:12,13,15,16">ver. 12, 13, 15,
16</scripRef>. IV. Those among them that yet retain a respect for
their God are here encouraged to hope that he will yet appear for
their relief, though their kings and princes, and all their other
supports and succours, fail them, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13.9-Hos.13.11 Bible:Hos.13.14" parsed="|Hos|13|9|13|11;|Hos|13|14|0|0" passage="Ho 13:9-11,14">ver. 9-11, 14</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Hos.xiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13" parsed="|Hos|13|0|0|0" passage="Ho 13" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Hos.xiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13.1-Hos.13.4" parsed="|Hos|13|1|13|4" passage="Ho 13:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.xiv-p1.7">
<h4 id="Hos.xiv-p1.8">Reproofs and Threatenings. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.xiv-p1.9">b. c.</span> 722.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.xiv-p2" shownumber="no">1 When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted
himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.   2
And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of
their silver, <i>and</i> idols according to their own
understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of
them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.   3
Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud, and as the early dew
that passeth away, as the chaff <i>that</i> is driven with the
whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney.
  4 Yet I <i>am</i> the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.xiv-p2.1">Lord</span>
thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me:
for <i>there is</i> no saviour beside me.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p3" shownumber="no">Idolatry was the sin that did most easily
beset the Jewish nation till after the captivity; the ten tribes
from the first were guilty of it, but especially after the days of
Ahab; and this is the sin which, in these verses, they are charged
with. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p4" shownumber="no">I. The provision that God made to prevent
their falling into idolatry. This we have, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.4" parsed="|Hos|14|4|0|0" passage="Ho 14:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. God did what was fit to be done
to keep them close to himself; what could have been done more? 1.
He made known himself to them as <i>the Lord their God,</i> and
took them to be his people in a peculiar manner. Both by his word
and by his works all along <i>from the land of Egypt</i> he
declared, <i>I am the Lord thy God;</i> he told them so from heaven
at Mount Sinai, that he was <i>the Lord</i> and <i>their God,</i>
who <i>brought them out of the land of Egypt.</i> This he continued
both to declare and to prove to them by his prophets and by his
providences. 2. He gave them a law forbidding them to worship any
other: "<i>Thou shalt know no God but me;</i> not only shalt not
own and worship any other, but shalt not acquaint thyself with any
other, nor make the rites and usages of the Gentiles familiar to
thee." Note, It is a happy ignorance not to know that which we
ought not to meddle with. We find those commended who <i>have not
known the depths of Satan.</i> 3. He gave them a good reason for
it: <i>There is no saviour besides me.</i> Whatever we take for our
God we expect to have for our saviour, to make us happy here and
hereafter; as, where we have protection, we owe allegiance, so
where we have salvation, and hope for it, we owe adoration.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p5" shownumber="no">II. The honour that Ephraim had, while he
kept himself clear from idolatry (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.1" parsed="|Hos|14|1|0|0" passage="Ho 14:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>): <i>While Ephraim spoke
trembling,</i> or <i>with trembling</i> (that is, as Dr. Pocock
understands it, while he behaved himself towards God as his father
Jacob did, with <i>weeping and supplications,</i> and spoke not
proudly and insolently against God and his prophets, while he kept
up a holy fear of God, and worshipped him in that fear) so long
<i>he exalted himself in Israel,</i> that is, he was very
considerable among the tribes and made a figure. Jeroboam, who was
of that tribe, exalted himself and his family. <i>When he spoke
there was trembling,</i> that is, all about him stood in awe of
him; so some understand it. Note, <i>Those that humble
themselves,</i> especially that humble themselves before God,
<i>shall be exalted.</i> When people speak with modesty and
jealousy of themselves, with a diffidence of their own judgment and
a deference to others, they exalt themselves, they gain a
reputation. But as for Ephraim he soon lost himself: <i>When he
offended in Baal he died,</i> that is, he lost his reputation, his
honour soon dwindled and sunk, and was laid in the dust. Baal is
here put for all idolatry; when Ephraim forsook God, and took to
worship images, the state received its death's wound and was never
good for any thing afterwards. Note, Deserting God is the death of
any person or persons.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p6" shownumber="no">III. The lamentable growth of idolatry
among them (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.2" parsed="|Hos|14|2|0|0" passage="Ho 14:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>):
<i>Now they sin more and more.</i> When once he began to <i>offend
in Baal</i> the ice was broken, and he grew worse and worse,
coveted more idols, doted more upon those he had, and grew more
ridiculous in the worship of them. Note, The way of idolatry, as of
other sins, is down-hill, and men cannot easily stop themselves. It
is the sad case of all those who have forsaken God that they sin
yet more and more. Let us trace them in their apostasy. 1. They
made themselves <i>molten images,</i> proud to have gods that they
could cast into what mould they pleased; probably these were the
calves in miniature like the silver shrines for Diana; the zealots
for the calf-worship carried about with them, it may be, images of
the gods they worshipped, made on purpose <i>for themselves.</i> 2.
They made them of <i>their silver,</i> and then doubted not of
their property in them, when they purchased them with their own
money or made them of their own plate melted down for that purpose.
See what cost they put themselves to in the service of their idols,
which they honoured with the best they had, and therefore made
their molten images of silver. 3. They made them <i>according to
their own understanding,</i> according to their own fancy. They
consulted with themselves what shape they should make their idol
in, and made it accordingly, <i>a god</i> according to the <i>best
of their judgment.</i> Or <i>according to their own likeness,</i>
in the form of a man. And, when they made their idols men like
themselves in shape, they made themselves stocks and stones like
them in reality; for <i>those that make them are like unto them,
and so is every one that trusts in them.</i> 4. It was <i>all the
work of the craftsmen.</i> Their images did not pretend, like that
of Diana, to have come down from Jupiter (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.19.35" parsed="|Acts|19|35|0|0" passage="Ac 19:35">Acts xix. 35</scripRef>); no, perhaps the workmen
stamped their names upon them, such an idol was such a man's work.
See <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.8.6 Bible:Isa.44.9" parsed="|Hos|8|6|0|0;|Isa|44|9|0|0" passage="Ho 8:6,Isa 44:9"><i>ch.</i> viii. 6; Isa.
xliv. 9</scripRef>, &amp;c. 5. Though they were thus the work of
their hands, yet they were the beloved of their souls; for they say
of them, <i>Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves.</i> Either
the priests called upon the people thus to pay their homage, or the
people, who were not allowed to come so near themselves, called
upon the <i>men that sacrificed,</i> the priests that attended for
them, to <i>kiss the calves</i> in their name and stead, because
they could not reach to do it, so very fond were they of paying
their utmost respects to such an idol as they were taught to have a
veneration for. Though they were calves, yet, if they were gods,
the worshippers, by themselves or their proxies, thus made their
honours to them. They <i>kissed the calves,</i> in token of the
adoration of them, affection for them, and allegiance to them, as
theirs. Thus we are directed to <i>kiss the Son,</i> to take him
for our Lord and our God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p7" shownumber="no">IV. Threatenings of wrath for their
idolatry. The Lord, whose name is <i>Jealous,</i> is a jealous God,
and will not give his glory to another; and therefore all those
that <i>worship images</i> shall be <i>confounded,</i> especially
if Ephraim do it, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.97.7" parsed="|Ps|97|7|0|0" passage="Ps 97:7">Ps. xcvii.
7</scripRef>. Because they are so fond of kissing their calves,
therefore God will give them sensible convictions of their folly,
<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.3" parsed="|Hos|14|3|0|0" passage="Ho 14:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. They promise
themselves a great deal of safety and satisfaction in the worship
of their idols, and that their prosperity will thereby be
established; but God tells them that they shall be disappointed,
and <i>driven away in their wickedness.</i> This is illustrated by
four similitudes:—They shall be, 1. As the <i>morning cloud,</i>
which promises showers of rain to the parched ground. 2. As the
<i>early dew,</i> which seems to be an earnest of such showers. But
both <i>pass away,</i> and the day proves as dry and hot as ever;
so fleet and transitory their profession of piety was (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.4" parsed="|Hos|6|4|0|0" passage="Ho 6:4"><i>ch.</i> vi. 4</scripRef>), and so had they
disappointed God's expectation from them, and therefore it is just
that so their prosperity should be, and so their expectations from
their idols should be disappointed, and so will all theirs be that
make an idol of this world. 3. They are <i>as the chaff,</i> light
and worthless; and they shall be driven <i>as the chaff is driven
with the whirlwind out of the floor,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p7.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.1.4 Bible:Ps.25.5 Bible:Job.21.18" parsed="|Ps|1|4|0|0;|Ps|25|5|0|0;|Job|21|18|0|0" passage="Ps 1:4,25:5,Job 21:18">Ps. i. 4; xxv. 5; Job xxi. 18</scripRef>.
Nay, 4. They are <i>as the smoke,</i> noisome and offensive (see
<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p7.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.65.5" parsed="|Isa|65|5|0|0" passage="Isa 65:5">Isa. lxv. 5</scripRef>), and they
shall be driven away <i>as the smoke out of the chimneys,</i> that
is soon dissipated and disappears, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p7.6" osisRef="Bible:Ps.68.2" parsed="|Ps|68|2|0|0" passage="Ps 68:2">Ps.
lxviii. 2</scripRef>. Note, No solid lasting comfort is to be
expected any where but in God.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Hos.xiv-p7.7" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13.5-Hos.13.8" parsed="|Hos|13|5|13|8" passage="Ho 13:5-8" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.xiv-p7.8">
<h4 id="Hos.xiv-p7.9">Ingratitude of Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.xiv-p7.10">b. c.</span> 722.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.xiv-p8" shownumber="no">5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land
of great drought.   6 According to their pasture, so were they
filled; they were filled, and their heart was exalted; therefore
have they forgotten me.   7 Therefore I will be unto them as a
lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe <i>them:</i>   8
I will meet them as a bear <i>that is</i> bereaved <i>of her
whelps,</i> and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I
devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p9" shownumber="no">We may observe here, 1. The plentiful
provision God had made for Israel and the seasonable supplies he
had blessed them with (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.5" parsed="|Hos|14|5|0|0" passage="Ho 14:5"><i>v.</i>
5</scripRef>): "<i>I did know thee in the wilderness,</i> took
cognizance of thy case and made provision for thee, even in <i>a
land of great drought,</i> when thou wast in extreme distress, and
when no relief was to be had in an ordinary way." See a description
of this wilderness, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.8.15 Bible:Jer.2.6" parsed="|Deut|8|15|0|0;|Jer|2|6|0|0" passage="De 8:15,Jer 2:6">Deut. viii.
15, Jer. ii. 6</scripRef>, and say, The God that knew them, and
owned them, and fed them there, was a <i>friend indeed,</i> for he
was a <i>friend at need</i> and an all-sufficient friend, that
could victual so vast an army when all ordinary ways of provision
were cut off, and where, if miracles had not been their daily
bread, they must all have perished. Note, Help at an exigency lays
under peculiar obligations and must never be forgotten. 2. Their
unworthy ungrateful abuse of God's favour to them. God not only
took care of them in the wilderness, but put them in possession of
Canaan, a good land, a large and fat pasture. And (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.6" parsed="|Hos|14|6|0|0" passage="Ho 14:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>) <i>according to their
pasture so were they filled.</i> God gave them both plenty and
dainties, and they did not spare it, but, having been long confined
to manna, when they came into Canaan they fed themselves <i>to the
full.</i> And this was no hopeful presage; it would have looked
better, and promised better, if they had been more modest and
moderate in the use of their plenty, and had learned to deny
themselves; but what was the effect of it? <i>They were filled, and
their heart was exalted.</i> Their luxury and sensuality made them
proud, insolent, and secure. The best comment upon this is that of
Moses, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.13-Deut.32.15" parsed="|Deut|32|13|32|15" passage="De 32:13-15">Deut. xxxii.
13-15</scripRef>. But <i>Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked.</i> When
the body was stuffed up with plenty the soul was puffed up with
pride. Then they began to think their religion a thing below them,
and they could not persuade themselves to stoop to the services of
it. <i>The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not
seek after God.</i> When they were poor and lame in the wilderness
they thought it was necessary for them to keep in with God; but
when they were replenished and established in Canaan they began to
think they had no further need of him: <i>Their heart was exalted,
therefore have they forgotten me.</i> Note, Worldly prosperity,
when it feeds men's pride, makes them forgetful of God; for they
remember him only when they want him. When Israel was filled, what
more could the Almighty do for them? And therefore they said to
him, <i>Depart from us,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Job.22.17" parsed="|Job|22|17|0|0" passage="Job 22:17">Job xxii.
17</scripRef>. It is sad that those favours which ought to make us
mindful of God, and studious what we shall render to him, should
make us unmindful of him, and regardless what we do against him. We
ought to know that we live upon God when we live upon common
providence, though we do not, as Israel in the wilderness, live
upon miracles. 3. God's just resentment of their base ingratitude,
<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.7-Hos.14.8" parsed="|Hos|14|7|14|8" passage="Ho 14:7,8"><i>v.</i> 7, 8</scripRef>. The
judgments threatened (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.3" parsed="|Hos|14|3|0|0" passage="Ho 14:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>) intimated the departure of all good from them. The
threatenings here go further, and intimate the breaking in of all
evils upon them; for God, who had so much befriended them, now
<i>turns to be their enemy and fights against them,</i> which is
expressed here very terribly: <i>I will be unto them as a lion</i>
and <i>as a leopard.</i> The lion is strong, and there is no
resisting him. The leopard is here taken notice of to be crafty and
vigilant: <i>As a leopard by the way will I observe them.</i> As
that beast of prey lies in wait by the road-side to catch
travellers, and devour them, so will God by his judgments <i>watch
over them</i> to do them hurt, as he had watched over them to do
them good, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.44.27" parsed="|Jer|44|27|0|0" passage="Jer 44:27">Jer. xliv. 27</scripRef>.
No opportunity shall be let slip that may accelerate or aggravate
their ruin (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.9" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.6" parsed="|Jer|5|6|0|0" passage="Jer 5:6">Jer. v. 6</scripRef>): <i>A
leopard shall watch over their cities.</i> A lynx, or spotted beast
(and such the leopard is), is noted for quicksightedness above any
creature (<i>lynx visu—the eyes of a lynx</i>), and so it
intimates that not only the power, but the wisdom of God is engaged
against those whom he has a controversy with. Some read it (and the
original will bear it), <i>I will be as a leopard in the way of
Assyria.</i> The judgments of God shall surprise them just when
they are going to the Assyrians to seek for protection and help
from them. It is added, <i>I will meet them as a bear that is
bereaved,</i> and thereby exasperated and made more cruel
(<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.10" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.17.8 Bible:Prov.28.15" parsed="|2Sam|17|8|0|0;|Prov|28|15|0|0" passage="2Sa 17:8,Pr 28:15">2 Sam. xvii. 8, Prov.
xxviii. 15</scripRef>), which intimates how highly God was
provoked, and he would make them feel it: He will <i>rend the caul
of their heart.</i> The lion is observed to aim at the heart of the
beasts he preys upon, and thus will God <i>devour them like a
lion.</i> He will send such judgments upon them as shall prey upon
their spirits and consume their vitals. Their heart was exalted
(<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.11" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.6" parsed="|Hos|14|6|0|0" passage="Ho 14:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>), but God will
take an effectual course to bring it down: <i>The wild beast shall
tear them;</i> not only God will be as a lion and leopard to them,
but the metaphor shall be fulfilled in the letter, for <i>noisome
beasts</i> are one of the <i>four sore judgments</i> with which God
will destroy a provoking people, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p9.12" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.14.15" parsed="|Ezek|14|15|0|0" passage="Eze 14:15">Ezek. xiv. 15</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p10" shownumber="no">Now all this teaches us, 1. That abused
goodness turns into the greater severity. Those who despise God and
affront him, when he is to them as a careful tender shepherd, shall
find he will be even to his own flock as the beasts of prey are.
Those whom God has in vain <i>endured with much long-suffering,</i>
and invited with much affection, in them he will <i>show his
wrath</i> and make them <i>vessels</i> of it, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.9.22" parsed="|Rom|9|22|0|0" passage="Ro 9:22">Rom. ix. 22</scripRef>. <i>Patientia læsa fit
furor</i>—<i>Despised patience will turn into fury.</i> 2. That
the judgments of God, when they come with commission against
impenitent sinners, will be irresistible and very terrible. They
will <i>rend the caul of the heart,</i> will fill the soul with
confusion, and tear that in pieces; and we are as unable to grapple
with them as a lamb is to make his part good against a roaring
lion, for <i>who knows the power of God's anger? Knowing therefore
the terror of the Lord,</i> let us be persuaded to make peace with
him; for are we stronger then he?</p>
</div><scripCom id="Hos.xiv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13.9-Hos.13.16" parsed="|Hos|13|9|13|16" passage="Ho 13:9-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.xiv-p10.3">
<h4 id="Hos.xiv-p10.4">The Folly of Israel; Promises of
Mercy. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.xiv-p10.5">b. c.</span> 722.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.xiv-p11" shownumber="no">9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in
me <i>is</i> thine help.   10 I will be thy king: where <i>is
any other</i> that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges
of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes?   11 I gave
thee a king in mine anger, and took <i>him</i> away in my wrath.
  12 The iniquity of Ephraim <i>is</i> bound up; his sin
<i>is</i> hid.   13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall
come upon him: he <i>is</i> an unwise son; for he should not stay
long in <i>the place of</i> the breaking forth of children.  
14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem
them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be
thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.   15
Though he be fruitful among <i>his</i> brethren, an east wind shall
come, the wind of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.xiv-p11.1">Lord</span> shall
come up from the wilderness, and his spring shall become dry, and
his fountain shall be dried up: he shall spoil the treasure of all
pleasant vessels.   16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she
hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their
infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall
be ripped up.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p12" shownumber="no">The first of these verses is the summary,
or contents, of all the rest (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.9" parsed="|Hos|14|9|0|0" passage="Ho 14:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>), where we have, 1. All the blame of Israel's ruin
laid upon themselves: <i>O Israel! thy perdition is thence;</i> it
is of and from thyself; or, "<i>It has destroyed thee, O
Israel!</i> that is, all that sin and folly of thine which thou art
before charged with. As <i>thy own wickedness</i> has many a time
<i>corrected thee,</i> so that has now at length destroyed thee."
Note, Wilful sinners are self-destroyers. Obstinate impenitence is
the grossest self-murder. Those that are <i>destroyed of the
destroyer</i> have their blood upon their own head; they have
<i>destroyed themselves.</i> 2. All the glory of Israel's relief
ascribed to God: <i>But in me is thy help.</i> That is, (1.) It
might have been: "I would have helped thee and healed thee, but
thou wouldst not be healed and helped, but wast resolutely set upon
thy own destruction." This will aggravate the condemnation of
sinners, not only that they did that which tended to their own
ruin, but that they opposed the offers God made them and the
methods he took with them to prevent it: <i>I would have gathered
them,</i> and they <i>would not.</i> They might have been easily
and effectually helped, but they put the help away from them. Nay,
(2.) It may be: "Thy case is bad, but it is not desperate. <i>Thou
hast destroyed thyself;</i> but come to me, and I will help thee."
This is a plank thrown out after shipwreck, and greatly magnifies
not only the power of God, that he can help when things are at the
worst, can help those that cannot help themselves, but the riches
of his grace, that he will help those that have destroyed
themselves and therefore might justly be left to perish, that he
will help those that have long refused his help. Dr. Pocock gives a
different reading and sense of this verse: "<i>O Israel! this has
destroyed thee, that in me is thy help.</i> Presuming upon God and
his favour has emboldened thee in those wicked ways which have been
thy ruin."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p13" shownumber="no">Now, in the rest of these verses, we may
see,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p14" shownumber="no">I. How Israel destroyed themselves. It is
said (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.16" parsed="|Hos|14|16|0|0" passage="Ho 14:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), They
<i>rebelled against God,</i> revolted from their allegiance to him,
entered into a confederacy with his enemies, and took up arms
against him; and this was the thing that ruined them, for never any
hardened themselves against God and prospered. Note, Those that
rebel against their God destroy themselves, for they make him their
enemy for whom they are an unequal match.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p15" shownumber="no">1. They treasure up wrath against the day
of wrath, and so they destroy themselves. They are doing that,
every day, which will be remembered against them another day
(<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.12" parsed="|Hos|14|12|0|0" passage="Ho 14:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>The
iniquity of Ephraim is bound up, and his sin is hid;</i> God took
notice of it, kept it upon record, and will produce it against him
and reckon with him for it afterwards. Their former sins
contributed to their present destruction; for they were <i>laid up
in store with God,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.34-Deut.32.35 Bible:Job.14.17" parsed="|Deut|32|34|32|35;|Job|14|17|0|0" passage="De 32:34,35,Job 14:17">Deut. xxxii. 34, 35; Job xiv.
17</scripRef>. It is laid up in safety, and will not be forgotten,
nor the evidence against him lost; but it is laid up in secret; it
is hid; the sinner himself is not aware of it. It is bound up in
God's omniscience, in the sinner's own conscience. Note, The sin of
sinners is not forgotten till it is pardoned, but an exact account
is kept of it, which will be opened in proper time.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p16" shownumber="no">2. They make no haste to repent and help
themselves when they are under divine rebukes; they are their own
ruin because they will not do what they should do towards their own
salvation, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.13" parsed="|Hos|14|13|0|0" passage="Ho 14:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>.
(1.) They are brought into trouble and distress by sin: <i>The
sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him.</i> They shall
smart for sin, and so be made sensible of it; they shall be thrown
into pangs and agonies by it, very sharp and severe, and yet, like
the pains of a woman in labour, hopeful and promising, and in order
to deliverance; and by these, though God corrects them, yet he
designs their good. They are chastened, that they may not be
destroyed. But, (2.) They are not by these forwarded as they ought
to be towards repentance and reformation, which would cause their
sorrows to issue in true joy: <i>He is an unwise son, for he should
not stay long,</i> as he does, <i>in the place of the breaking
forth of children,</i> but, being <i>brought to the birth,</i>
should struggle to <i>get forth,</i> lest he be stifled and
<i>still-born at last.</i> Were the child which the mother is in
travail of capable of understanding its own case, we should reckon
it an unwise child that would choose to stay long in the birth; for
the <i>captive exile hasteth to be loosed, lest he die in the
pit,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.51.14" parsed="|Isa|51|14|0|0" passage="Isa 51:14">Isa. li. 14</scripRef>.
Note, Those may justly be reckoned their own destroyers who defer
and put off their repentance, by which alone they might help
themselves. Those are in danger of miscarrying in conversion who
delay it, and will not put forth themselves to speed the work and
bring it to an issue.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p17" shownumber="no">3. <i>Therefore</i> they are destroyed
because they have done that which will be their certain ruin and
neglected that which would have been their only relief. Here is a
sad description of the desolation they are doomed to, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.15-Hos.14.16" parsed="|Hos|14|15|14|16" passage="Ho 14:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15, 16</scripRef>. It is here taken
for granted that <i>Ephraim</i> is <i>fruitful among his
children;</i> his name signifies <i>fruitfulness.</i> He is
fruitful in respect of the plentiful products of his country and
the great numbers of its inhabitants; it was both a rich and a
populous tribe, as was foretold concerning it; but sin turns this
fruitful tribe into barrenness. <i>Joseph</i> was a <i>fruitful
bough,</i> but for sin it was blasted. The instrument is an <i>east
wind,</i> representing a foreign enemy that should invade it. It is
called the <i>wind of the Lord,</i> not only because it shall be a
very great and strong wind, but because it shall be sent by divine
direction; it shall come <i>from the Lord,</i> and do whatever he
appoints; and see what effect it shall have upon that flourishing
tribe, what desolations war shall make. (1.) Was it a rich tribe?
The foreign enemy shall make it poor enough. This <i>wind of the
Lord</i> shall come up <i>from the wilderness,</i> a freezing
blasting wind, and shall <i>dry up</i> the <i>springs</i> and
<i>fountains</i> with which this tree is watered, shall exhaust the
sources of its wealth. The invader shall waste the country and so
impoverish the husbandman, shall intercept trade and commerce and
so impoverish the merchant; and let not the great men, whose wealth
lies in their rich furniture, think that they shall be exempted
from the judgment, for he shall <i>spoil the treasure of all
pleasant vessels.</i> See the folly of those that lay up their
treasure on earth, that lay it up in <i>pleasant vessels (vessels
of desire,</i> so the word is), on which they set their affections,
and in which they place their comfort and satisfaction. This is
treasure that may be spoiled and that they may be spoiled of; it is
what either moth or rust may corrupt, or what thieves and soldiers
may steal and carry away. But wise and happy are those who have
laid up their treasures in heaven, and in the pleasant things of
that world, which cannot be spoiled, which they cannot be stripped
of; ever happy are they, and therefore truly wise. (2.) Was it a
populous tribe, and numerous? The enemy shall depopulate it and
make its men few: <i>Samaria shall become desolate,</i> without
inhabitants. [1.] Those shall be cut off who are the guard and joy
of the present generation; the men who bear arms shall bear them to
no purpose, for <i>they shall fall by the sword,</i> so that there
shall be none to make head against the fury of the conqueror nor to
take care of the concerns either of the public or of private
families. [2.] Those shall be cut off who are the seed and hope of
the next generation, who should rise up in the places of those who
fell by the sword; the whole nation must be rooted out, and
therefore <i>the infants shall be dashed to pieces,</i> in the most
cruel and barbarous manner, and, which is if possible yet more
inhuman, <i>the women with child shall be ripped up.</i> Thus shall
the glory of <i>Samaria flee away from the birth, and from the
womb,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.9.11 Bible:Hos.10.14" parsed="|Hos|9|11|0|0;|Hos|10|14|0|0" passage="Ho 9:11,10:14"><i>ch.</i> ix. 11; x.
14</scripRef>. See instances of this cruelty, <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.8.12 Bible:2Kgs.15.16 Bible:Amos.1.13" parsed="|2Kgs|8|12|0|0;|2Kgs|15|16|0|0;|Amos|1|13|0|0" passage="2Ki 8:12,15:16,Am 1:13">2 Kings viii. 12; xv. 16; Amos i.
13</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p18" shownumber="no">II. Let us now see how God was the help of
this self-destroying people, how he was their only help (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.10" parsed="|Hos|14|10|0|0" passage="Ho 14:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>I will be thy
King,</i> to rule and save thee. Though they had refused to be his
subjects and had rebelled against him, yet he would still be their
King and would not abandon them. The business and care of a good
king is to keep his people, not only from ruined by foreign
enemies, but from ruining themselves and one another. Thus will God
yet be Israel's King, as he was <i>their King of old.</i> Note, Our
case would be sad indeed if God were not better to us than we are
to ourselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p19" shownumber="no">1. God will be their King when they have no
other king; he will protect and save them when those are cut off
and gone who should have been their protectors and saviours: <i>I
will be he</i> (so <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.14.10" parsed="|Hos|14|10|0|0" passage="Ho 14:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef> may be read), he that shall help thee. "<i>Where is
the king that may save thee in all thy cities,</i> that may go in
and out before thee, and fight thy battles, when thy cities are
invaded by a foreign power, and suppress the more dangerous
quarrels of thy citizens among themselves? <i>Where are thy
judges,</i> who by administering public justice should preserve the
public peace? For it is <i>righteousness</i> and <i>peace</i> that
<i>kiss each other. Where are thy judges</i> that thou hadst such a
desire of and such a dependence upon, of whom thou saidst, <i>Give
me a king and princes?</i> This refers, (1.) To the foolish wicked
desire which the whole nation had of a kingly government, being
weary of the theocracy, or divine government, which they had been
under during the time of the <i>Judges,</i> because it looked too
mean for them. They rejected Samuel, and in him <i>the Lord,</i>
when they said, <i>Give us a king</i> like the nations, whereas the
<i>Lord was their King.</i> (2.) To the desire which the ten tribes
had of a kingly government different from that of the house of
David, because they thought that was too absolute and bore too hard
upon them, and they hoped to better themselves by setting up
Jeroboam. Both these are instances, [1.] Of men's improvidence for
themselves. When they are uneasy with their present lot they are
fond of novelty, and think to better themselves by a change; but
they are commonly disappointed, and do not find that advantage in
the alteration which they promised themselves. [2.] Of men's
impiety towards God, in thinking to refine upon his appointments
and amend them. God gave Israel judges and prophets for their
guidance; but they were weary of them, and cried, <i>Give us a king
and princes.</i> God gave them the house of David, established it
by a covenant of royalty; but they were soon weary of that too, and
cried, <i>We have no part in David.</i> Those destroy themselves
who are not pleased with what God does for them, but think they can
do better for themselves. Well, in both these requests, Providence
humoured them, gave them Saul first, and afterwards Jeroboam. And
what the better were they for them? Saul was <i>given in anger</i>
(given in <i>thunder,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p19.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.12.18-1Sam.12.19" parsed="|1Sam|12|18|12|19" passage="1Sa 12:18,19">1 Sam.
xii. 18, 19</scripRef>) and soon after was <i>taken away in
wrath,</i> upon Mount Gilboa. The kingly government of the ten
tribes was given in anger, not only against Solomon for his
defection, but against the ten tribes that desired it, for their
discontent and disaffection to the house of David; and God was now
about to take that away in wrath by the power of the king of
Assyria. And then, <i>where is thy King?</i> He is gone, and thou
shalt abide many days <i>without a king, and without a prince</i>
(<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p19.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.3.4" parsed="|Hos|3|4|0|0" passage="Ho 3:4"><i>ch.</i> iii. 4</scripRef>), shalt
have none to save thee, none to rule thee. Note, <i>First,</i> God
often gives in anger what we sinfully and inordinately desire,
gives it with a curse, and with it gives us up to our own hearts'
lusts. Thus he gave Israel quails. <i>Secondly,</i> What we
inordinately desire we are commonly disappointed in, and it cannot
save us, as we expected it should. <i>Thirdly,</i> What God gives
in anger he takes away in wrath; what he gives because we did not
desire it well he takes away because we did not use it well. It is
the happiness of the saints that, whether God gives or takes, it is
all in love, and furnishes them with matter for praise. <i>To the
pure all things are pure.</i> It is the misery of the wicked that,
whether God gives or takes, it is all in wrath; to them nothing is
pure, nothing is comfortable.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.xiv-p20" shownumber="no">2. God will do that for them which no other
king could do if they had one (<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.13.14" parsed="|Hos|13|14|0|0" passage="Ho 13:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>I will ransom them from the
power of the grave.</i> Though Israel, according to the flesh, be
abandoned to destruction, God has mercy in store for his spiritual
Israel, in whom all the promises were to have their accomplishment,
and this among the rest, for to them the apostle applies it
(<scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.15.55" parsed="|1Cor|15|55|0|0" passage="1Co 15:55">1 Cor. xv. 55</scripRef>), and
particularly to the blessed resurrection of believers at the great
day, yet not excluding their spiritual resurrection from the death
of sin to a holy, heavenly, spiritual, and divine life. It is
promised, (1.) That the captives shall be delivered, <i>shall be
ransomed, from the power of the grave.</i> Their deliverance shall
be by ransom; and we know who it was that paid their ransom, and
what the ransom was, for it was the Son of man that <i>gave his
life a ransom for many,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.xiv-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.20.28" parsed="|Matt|20|28|0|0" passage="Mt 20:28">Matt. xx.
28</scripRef>. It is he that thus redeemed them. Those who, upon
their repenting and believing, are, for the sake of Christ's
righteousness, acquitted from the guilt of sin and saved from death
and hell, which are the <i>wages of sin,</i> are those <i>ransomed
of the Lord</i> that shall, in the great day, be brought out of the
grave in triumph, and it shall be as impossible for the banks of
death to hold them as it was to hold their Master. (2.) That the
conqueror shall be destroyed: <i>O death! I will be thy
plagues.</i> Jesus Christ was the plague and destruction of death
and the grave when by death he <i>destroyed him that had the power
of death,</i> and when in his own resurrection he triumphed over
the grave. But the complete destruction of them will be in the
resurrection of believers at the great day, when death shall for
ever be swallowed up in victory, and it is the last enemy that
shall be destroyed. But the word which we translate <i>I will</i>
may as well be rendered <i>Ubi nunc—Where now</i> are thy plagues?
And so the apostle took it: <i>'O death! where is thy plague,</i>
or <i>sting,</i> with which thou hast so long pestered the world?
<i>O grave! where is thy victory,</i> or thy <i>destruction,</i>
wherewith thou has destroyed mankind?" Christ has abolished death,
has broken the power of it and altered the property of it, and so
enabled us to triumph over it. This promise he has made, and it
shall be made good to all that are his; for <i>repentance shall be
hidden from his eyes;</i> he will never recall this sentence passed
on death and the grave, for he is not a man that he should repent.
Thanks be to God therefore who gives us the victory.</p>
</div></div2>