mh_parser/vol_split/28 - Hosea/Chapter 6.xml

<div2 id="Hos.vii" n="vii" next="Hos.viii" prev="Hos.vi" progress="76.36%" title="Chapter VI">
<h2 id="Hos.vii-p0.1">H O S E A.</h2>
<h3 id="Hos.vii-p0.2">CHAP. VI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Hos.vii-p1" shownumber="no">The closing words of the foregoing chapter gave us
some hopes that God and his Israel, notwithstanding their sins and
his wrath, might yet be happily brought together again, that they
would seek him and he would be found of them; now this chapter
carries that matter further, and some join the beginning of this
chapter with the end of that, "They will seek me early," saying,
"Come and let us return." But God doth again complain of the
wickedness of this people; for, though some did repent and reform,
the greater part continued obstinate. Observe, I. Their resolution
to return to God, and the comforts wherewith they encourage
themselves in their return, <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.1-Hos.6.3" parsed="|Hos|6|1|6|3" passage="Ho 6:1-3">ver.
1-3</scripRef>. II. The instability of many of them in their
professions and promises of repentance, and the severe course which
God therefore took with them, <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.4-Hos.6.5" parsed="|Hos|6|4|6|5" passage="Ho 6:4,5">ver. 4,
5</scripRef>. III. The covenant God made with them, and his
expectations from them (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.6" parsed="|Hos|6|6|0|0" passage="Ho 6:6">ver.
6</scripRef>); their violation of that covenant and frustrating
those expectations, <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.7-Hos.6.11" parsed="|Hos|6|7|6|11" passage="Ho 6:7-11">ver.
7-11</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Hos.vii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6" parsed="|Hos|6|0|0|0" passage="Ho 6" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Hos.vii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.1-Hos.6.3" parsed="|Hos|6|1|6|3" passage="Ho 6:1-3" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.vii-p1.7">
<h4 id="Hos.vii-p1.8">Penitential Resolutions;
Promises. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.vii-p1.9">b. c.</span> 758.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.vii-p2" shownumber="no">1 Come, and let us return unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.vii-p2.1">Lord</span>: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he
hath smitten, and he will bind us up.   2 After two days will
he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall
live in his sight.   3 Then shall we know, <i>if</i> we follow
on to know the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.vii-p2.2">Lord</span>: his going forth
is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain,
as the latter <i>and</i> former rain unto the earth.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p3" shownumber="no">These may be taken either as the words of
the prophet to the people, calling them to repentance, or as the
words of the people to one another, exciting and encouraging one
another to <i>seek the Lord,</i> and to humble themselves before
him, in hopes of finding mercy with him. God had said, <i>In their
affliction they will seek me;</i> now the prophet, and the good
people his friends, would strike while the iron was hot, and set in
with the convictions their neighbours seemed to be under. Note,
Those who are disposed to turn to God themselves should do all they
can to excite, and engage, and encourage others to return to him.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p4" shownumber="no">I. What it is they engage to do: "<i>Come,
and let us return to the Lord,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.1" parsed="|Hos|6|1|0|0" passage="Ho 6:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. Let us go no more to the Assyrian,
nor send to king Jareb; we have had enough of that. But let us
<i>return to the Lord,</i> return to the worship of him from our
idolatries, and to our hope in him from all our confidences in the
creature." Note, It is the great concern of those who have revolted
from God to return to him. And those who have gone from him by
consent, and in a body, drawing one another to sin, should by
consent, and in a body, return to him, which will be for his glory
and their mutual edification.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p5" shownumber="no">II. What inducements and encouragements to
do this they fasten upon, to stir up one another with.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p6" shownumber="no">1. The experience they had had of his
displeasure: "Let us return to him, for <i>he has torn, he has
smitten.</i> We have been torn, and it was he that tore us; we have
been smitten, and it was he that smote us. <i>Therefore</i> let us
return to him, because it is for our revolts from him that he has
torn and smitten us in anger, and we cannot expect that he should
be reconciled to us till we return to him; and for this end he has
afflicted us thus, that we might be wrought upon to return to him.
His hand will be stretched out still against us if the people
<i>turn not to him that smites them,</i>" <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.9.12-Isa.9.13" parsed="|Isa|9|12|9|13" passage="Isa 9:12,13">Isa. ix. 12, 13</scripRef>. Note, The consideration
of the judgments of God upon us and our land, especially when they
are tearing judgments, should awaken us to return to God by
repentance, and prayer, and reformation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p7" shownumber="no">2. The expectation they had of his favour:
"He that has torn will <i>heal us,</i> he that has smitten will
<i>bind us up,</i>" as the skilful surgeon with a tender hand binds
up the broken bone or bleeding wound. Note, The same providence of
God that afflicts his people relieves them, and the same Spirit of
God that convinces the saints comforts them; that which is first
<i>a Spirit of bondage</i> is afterwards <i>a Spirit of
adoption.</i> This is an acknowledgement of the power of God (he
can heal though we be ever so ill torn), and of his mercy (he will
do it); nay, <i>therefore</i> he has torn that he may heal. Some
think this points particularly to the return of the Jews out of
Babylon, when they sought the Lord, and joined themselves to him,
in the prospect of his gracious return to them in a way of mercy.
Note, It will be of great use to us, both for our support under our
afflictions and for our encouragement in our repentance, to keep up
good thoughts of God and of his purposes and designs concerning us.
Now this favour of God which they are here in expectation of is
described in several instances:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p8" shownumber="no">(1.) They promise themselves that their
deliverance out of their troubles should be to them as <i>life from
the dead</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.2" parsed="|Hos|6|2|0|0" passage="Ho 6:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>):
"<i>After two days he will revive us</i> (that is, in a short time,
in a day or two), <i>and the third day,</i> when it is expected
that the dead body should putrefy and corrupt, and be buried <i>out
of our sight,</i> then will he <i>raise us up,</i> and <i>we shall
live in his sight,</i> we shall see his face with comfort and it
shall be reviving to us. Though he <i>forsake</i> for <i>a small
moment,</i> he will <i>gather</i> with <i>everlasting
kindness.</i>" Note, The people of God may not only be torn and
smitten, but left for dead, and may lie so a great while; but they
shall not always lie so, nor shall they long lie so; God will in a
little time revive them; and the assurance given them of this
should engage them to return and adhere to him. But this seems to
have a further reference to the resurrection of Jesus Christ; and
the time limited is expressed by <i>two days</i> and the <i>third
day,</i> that it may be a type and figure of Christ's rising the
<i>third day,</i> which he is said to do <i>according to the
scriptures,</i> according to this scripture; for all the prophets
testified of <i>the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should
follow.</i> Let us see and admire the wisdom and goodness of God,
in ordering the prophet's words so that when he foretold the
deliverance of the church out of her troubles he should at the same
time point out our salvation by Christ, which other salvations were
both figures and fruits of; and, though they might not be aware of
this mystery in the words, yet now that they are fulfilled in the
letter of them in the resurrection of Christ it is a confirmation
to our faith that <i>this is he that should come,</i> and we are to
<i>look for no other.</i> And it is every way suitable that a
prophecy of Christ's rising should be thus expressed, "He will
raise <i>us</i> up, and <i>we</i> shall live," for Christ rose as
the first-fruits, and we revive with him, we live through him; he
rose for our justification, and all believers are said to be
<i>risen with Christ.</i> See <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.26.19" parsed="|Isa|26|19|0|0" passage="Isa 26:19">Isa.
xxvi. 19</scripRef>. And it would serve for a comfort to the church
then, and an assurance that God would raise them out of their low
estate, for in his fulness of time he would raise his Son from the
grave, who would be the life and glory of his people Israel. Note,
A regard by faith to a rising Christ is a great support to a
suffering Christian, and gives abundant encouragement to a
repenting returning sinner; for he has said, <i>Because I live, you
shall live also.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p9" shownumber="no">(2.) That then they shall improve in the
knowledge of God (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.3" parsed="|Hos|6|3|0|0" passage="Ho 6:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): <i>Then shall we know, if we follow on to know, the
Lord. Then,</i> when God returns in mercy to his people and designs
favour for them, he will, as a pledge and fruit of his favour, give
them more of the knowledge of himself; the earth shall be <i>full
of that knowledge,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.11.9" parsed="|Isa|11|9|0|0" passage="Isa 11:9">Isa. xi.
9</scripRef>. <i>Knowledge shall be increased,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.12.4" parsed="|Dan|12|4|0|0" passage="Da 12:4">Dan. xii. 4</scripRef>. <i>All shall know
God,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:Jer.31.34" parsed="|Jer|31|34|0|0" passage="Jer 31:34">Jer. xxxi. 34</scripRef>.
<i>We shall know, we shall follow to know, the Lord,</i> (so the
words are); and it may be taken as the fruit of Christ's
resurrection, and the life we live in God's sight by him, that we
shall have not only greater means of knowledge, but grace to
improve in knowledge by those means. Note, When God designs mercy
for a people he gives them <i>a heart to know him,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p9.5" osisRef="Bible:Jer.24.7" parsed="|Jer|24|7|0|0" passage="Jer 24:7">Jer. xxiv. 7</scripRef>. Those that have
<i>risen with Christ</i> have the spirit of wisdom and revelation
given them. And if we understand our living in his sight, as the
Chaldee paraphrast does, of the day of the resurrection of the
dead, it fitly follows, <i>We shall know, we shall follow to know,
the Lord;</i> for in that day we shall see him be perfected, and
yet be eternally increasing. Or, taking it as we read it, <i>If we
follow on to know,</i> we have here, [1.] A precious blessing
promised: <i>Then shall we know,</i> shall <i>know the Lord,</i>
then when <i>we return to God;</i> those that come to God shall be
brought into an acquaintance with him. When we are designed to
<i>live in his sight,</i> then he gives us to know him; for this is
<i>life eternal to know God,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p9.6" osisRef="Bible:John.17.3" parsed="|John|17|3|0|0" passage="Joh 17:3">John
xvii. 3</scripRef>. [2.] The way and means of obtaining this
blessing. We must <i>follow on to know</i> him. We must value and
esteem the knowledge of God as the best knowledge, we must <i>cry
after it,</i> and <i>dig for it</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p9.7" osisRef="Bible:Prov.2.3-Prov.2.4" parsed="|Prov|2|3|2|4" passage="Pr 2:3,4">Prov. ii. 3, 4</scripRef>), must <i>seek and intermeddle
with all wisdom</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p9.8" osisRef="Bible:Prov.18.1" parsed="|Prov|18|1|0|0" passage="Pr 18:1">Prov. xviii.
1</scripRef>), and must proceed in our enquiries after this
knowledge and our endeavours to improve in it. And, if we do the
prescribed duty, we have reason to expect the promised mercy, that
we shall know more and more of God, and be at last perfect in this
knowledge.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p10" shownumber="no">(3.) That then they shall abound in divine
consolations: <i>His going forth is prepared as the morning,</i>
that is, the returns of his favour, which he had withdrawn from us
when he went and <i>returned to his place.</i> His out-goings again
are prepared and secured to us as firmly as the return of the
morning after a dark night, and we expect it, as those do that
<i>wait for the morning</i> after a long night, and are sure that
it will come at the time appointed and will not fail; and the light
of his countenance will be both welcome to us and growing upon us,
unto the perfect day, as the light of the morning is. <i>He shall
come to us,</i> and be welcome to us, <i>as the rain, as the latter
and former rain unto the earth,</i> which refreshes it and makes it
fruitful. Now this looks further than their deliverance out of
captivity, and, no doubt, was to have its full accomplishment in
Christ, and the grace of the gospel. The Old-Testament saints
<i>followed on to know him,</i> earnestly looked for redemption in
Jerusalem; and at length the out-goings of divine grace in him, in
his going forth to visit this world, were [1.] As the morning to
this earth when it is dark for he went forth as the <i>sun of
righteousness,</i> and in him <i>the day-spring from on high
visited us. His going forth was prepared as the morning,</i> for he
came in the fulness of time; John Baptist was his fore-runner, nay,
he was himself the <i>bright and morning star.</i> [2.] As the rain
to this earth when it is <i>dry. He shall come down as the rain
upon the mown grass,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.72.6" parsed="|Ps|72|6|0|0" passage="Ps 72:6">Ps. lxxii.
6</scripRef>. In him showers of blessings descend upon this world,
which <i>give seed to the sower and bread to the eater,</i>
<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.10" parsed="|Isa|55|10|0|0" passage="Isa 55:10">Isa. lv. 10</scripRef>. And the
favour of God in Christ is what is said of the king's favour,
<i>like the cloud of the latter rain,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.16.15" parsed="|Prov|16|15|0|0" passage="Pr 16:15">Prov. xvi. 15</scripRef>. The grace of God in Christ is
both the <i>latter and the former rain,</i> for by it the good work
of our fruit-bearing is both begun and carried on.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Hos.vii-p10.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.4-Hos.6.11" parsed="|Hos|6|4|6|11" passage="Ho 6:4-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.vii-p10.5">
<h4 id="Hos.vii-p10.6">Promises and Expostulations; The Crimes of
the People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.vii-p10.7">b. c.</span> 758.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.vii-p11" shownumber="no">4 O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? O Judah,
what shall I do unto thee? for your goodness <i>is</i> as a morning
cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away.   5 Therefore have
I hewed <i>them</i> by the prophets; I have slain them by the words
of my mouth: and thy judgments <i>are as</i> the light <i>that</i>
goeth forth.   6 For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and
the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.   7 But they
like men have transgressed the covenant: there have they dealt
treacherously against me.   8 Gilead <i>is</i> a city of them
that work iniquity, <i>and is</i> polluted with blood.   9 And
as troops of robbers wait for a man, <i>so</i> the company of
priests murder in the way by consent: for they commit lewdness.
  10 I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel:
there <i>is</i> the whoredom of Ephraim, Israel is defiled.  
11 Also, O Judah, he hath set a harvest for thee, when I returned
the captivity of my people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p12" shownumber="no">Two things, two evil things, both Judah and
Ephraim are here charged with, and justly accused of:—</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p13" shownumber="no">I. That they were not firm to their own
convictions, but were unsteady, <i>unstable as water,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.4-Hos.6.5" parsed="|Hos|6|4|6|5" passage="Ho 6:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4, 5</scripRef>. <i>O Ephraim! what
shall I do unto thee? O Judah! what shall I do unto thee?</i> This
is a strange expression. Can Infinite Wisdom be at a loss what to
do? Can it be nonplussed, or put upon taking new measures? By no
means; but God speaks after the manner of men, to show how absurd
and unreasonable they were, and how just his proceedings against
them were. Let them not complain of him as harsh and severe in
tearing them, and smiting them, as he has done; for what else
should he do? What other course could he take with them? God had
tried various methods with them (<i>What could have been done more
to his vineyard than he had done?</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.5.4" parsed="|Isa|5|4|0|0" passage="Isa 5:4">Isa. v. 4</scripRef>), and very loth he was to let things
go to extremity; he reasons with himself (as <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.11.9" parsed="|Hos|11|9|0|0" passage="Ho 11:9"><i>ch.</i> xi. 9</scripRef>), <i>How shall I give thee
up, Ephraim?</i> God would have done them good, but they were not
qualified for it: "<i>What shall I do unto thee?</i> What else can
I do but cast thee off, when I cannot in honour save thee?" Note,
God never destroys sinners till he sees there is no other way with
them. See here, 1. What their conduct was towards God: <i>Their
goodness,</i> or <i>kindness,</i> was <i>as the morning cloud.</i>
Some understand it of their kindness to themselves and their own
souls, in their repentance; it is indeed mercy to ourselves to
repent of our sins, but they soon retracted that kindness to
themselves, undid it again, and wronged their own souls as much as
ever. But it is rather to be taken for their piety and religion;
what good appeared in them sometimes, it soon vanished and
disappeared again, <i>as the morning cloud and the early dew.</i>
Such was the goodness of Israel in Jehu's time, and of Judah in
Hezekiah's and Josiah's time; it was soon gone. In time of drought
the <i>morning-cloud</i> promises rain, and the <i>early dew</i> is
some present refreshment to the earth; but the cloud is dispersed
(and hypocrites are compared to <i>clouds without water,</i>
<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p13.4" osisRef="Bible:Jude.1.12" parsed="|Jude|1|12|0|0" passage="Jude 1:12">Jude 12</scripRef>) and the dew does
not soak into the ground, but is drawn back again into the air, and
the earth is parched still. What shall he do with them? Shall he
accept their goodness? No, for it <i>passes away;</i> and <i>factum
non dicitur quod non perseverat—that which does not continue can
scarcely be said to be done.</i> Note, That goodness will never be
either pleasing to God or profitable to ourselves which is as the
morning cloud and the early dew. When men promise fair and do not
perform, when they begin well in religion and do not hold on, when
they leave their first love and their first works, or, though they
do not quite cast off religion, are yet unsteady, uneven, and
inconstant in it, then is their <i>goodness as the morning cloud
and the early dew.</i> 2. What course God had taken with them
(<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p13.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.5" parsed="|Hos|6|5|0|0" passage="Ho 6:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>):
"<i>Therefore,</i> because they were so rough and ill-shapen, <i>I
have hewn them by the prophets,</i> as timber or stone is hewn for
use; <i>I have slain them by the words of my mouth.</i>" What the
prophets did was done by the word of God in their mouths, which
never returned void. By it they thought themselves slain, were
ready to say that the prophets killed them, or cut them to the
heart when they dealt faithfully with them. (1.) The prophets hewed
them by convictions of sin, endeavouring to cut off their
transgressions from them. They were uneven in religion (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p13.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.4" parsed="|Hos|6|4|0|0" passage="Ho 6:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), therefore God hewed them.
The hearts of sinners are not only as stone, but as rough stone,
which requires a great deal of pains to bring it into shape, or as
knotty timber, that is not squared without a great deal of
difficulty; ministers' work is to hew them, and God by the minister
hews them, <i>for with the froward will he show himself
froward.</i> And there are those whom ministers must rebuke
sharply; every word should cut, and though the chips fly in the
face of the workman, though the reproved fly in the face of the
reprover and reckon him an enemy because he tells the truth, yet he
goes on with his work. (2.) They slew them by the denunciations of
wrath, foretelling that they should be slain, as Ezekiel is said to
destroy the city when he prophesied of the destruction of it,
<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p13.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.43.3" parsed="|Ezek|43|3|0|0" passage="Eze 43:3">Ezek. xliii. 3</scripRef>. And God
accomplished that which was foretold: "<i>I have slain them</i> by
my judgments, according to the words of my mouth." Note, The word
of God will be the death either of the sin or of the sinner, a
savour either of life unto life or of death unto death. Some read
it, "<i>I have hewn the prophets, and slain them by the words of my
mouth,</i> that is, I have employed them in laborious service for
the people's good, which has wasted their strength; they have spent
themselves, and hews away all their spirits, in their work, and in
hazardous service, which has cost many of them their lives." Note,
Ministers are the tools which God makes use of in working upon
people; and, though with many they labour in vain, yet God will
reckon for the wearing out of his tools. (3.) God was hereby
justified in the severest proceedings against them afterwards. His
prophets had taken a great deal of pains with them, had admonished
them of their sin and warned them of their danger, but the means
used had not the desired effect; some good impressions perhaps were
made for the present, but they wore off, and passed away as the
morning cloud, and now they cannot charge God with severity if he
bring upon them the miseries threatened. The prophet turns to him
and acknowledges, <i>Thy judgments are as the light that goes
forth,</i> evidently just and righteous. Note, Though sinners be
not reclaimed by the pains that ministers take with them, yet
thereby God will be <i>justified when he speaks and clear when he
judges.</i> See <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p13.8" osisRef="Bible:Matt.11.17-Matt.11.19" parsed="|Matt|11|17|11|19" passage="Mt 11:17-19">Matt. xi.
17-19</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p14" shownumber="no">II. That they were not faithful to God's
covenant with them, <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.6-Hos.6.7" parsed="|Hos|6|6|6|7" passage="Ho 6:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6,
7</scripRef>. Here observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p15" shownumber="no">1. What the covenant was that God made with
them, and upon what terms they should obtain his favour and be
accepted of him (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.6" parsed="|Hos|6|6|0|0" passage="Ho 6:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>): <i>I desired mercy and not sacrifice</i> (that is,
rather than sacrifice), and insisted upon <i>the knowledge of God
more than</i> upon <i>burnt-offerings. Mercy</i> here is the same
word which in <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.4" parsed="|Hos|6|4|0|0" passage="Ho 6:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef> is
rendered <i>goodness—chesed—piety, sanctity;</i> it is put for
all practical religion; it is the same with <i>charity</i> in the
New Testament, the reigning love of God and our neighbour, and this
accompanied with and flowing from the <i>knowledge of God,</i> as
he has revealed himself in his word, a firm belief that he is, and
is the <i>rewarder of those that diligently seek him,</i> a good
affection to divine things guided by a good judgment, which cannot
but produce a very good conversation; this is that which God by his
covenant requires, and <i>not sacrifice and offering.</i> This is
fully explained, <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.7.22-Jer.7.23" parsed="|Jer|7|22|7|23" passage="Jer 7:22,23">Jer. vii. 22,
23</scripRef>. <i>I spoke not to your fathers concerning
burnt-offerings</i> (that was the smallest of the matters I spoke
to them of, and on which the least stress was laid), but <i>this I
said, Obey my voice,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.6-Mic.6.8" parsed="|Mic|6|6|6|8" passage="Mic 6:6-8">Mic. vi.
6-8</scripRef>. To love God and our neighbour is <i>better than all
burnt offering and sacrifice,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p15.5" osisRef="Bible:Mark.12.33 Bible:Ps.51.16-Ps.51.17" parsed="|Mark|12|33|0|0;|Ps|51|16|51|17" passage="Mk 12:33,Ps 51:16,17">Mark xii. 33; Ps. li. 16, 17</scripRef>. Not
but that sacrifice and offering were required, and to be paid, and
had their use, and, when they were accompanied with mercy and the
knowledge of God, were acceptable to him, but, without them, God
regarded them not, he despised them, <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p15.6" osisRef="Bible:Isa.1.10-Isa.1.11" parsed="|Isa|1|10|1|11" passage="Isa 1:10,11">Isa. i. 10, 11</scripRef>. Perhaps this is mentioned
here to show a difference between the God whom they deserted and
the gods whom they went over to. The true God aimed at nothing but
that they should be good men, and live good lives for their own
good, and the ceremony of honouring him with sacrifices was one of
the smallest matters of his law; whereas the false gods required
that only; let their priests and altars be regaled with sacrifices
and offerings, and the people might live as they listed. What fools
were those then that left a God who aimed at giving his worshippers
a new nature, for gods who aimed at nothing but making themselves a
new name! It is mentioned likewise to show that God's controversy
with them was not for the omission of sacrifices (<i>I will not
reprove thee for them,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p15.7" osisRef="Bible:Ps.50.8" parsed="|Ps|50|8|0|0" passage="Ps 50:8">Ps. l.
8</scripRef>), but because there was no <i>justice, nor mercy,</i>
nor <i>knowledge of God,</i> among them (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p15.8" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.1" parsed="|Hos|4|1|0|0" passage="Ho 4:1"><i>ch.</i> iv. 1</scripRef>), and to teach us all that the
<i>power of godliness</i> is the main thing God looks at and
requires, and without it the <i>form of godliness</i> is of no
avail. Serious piety in the heart and life is the <i>one thing
needful,</i> and, separate from that, the performances of devotion,
though ever so plausible, ever so costly, are of no account. Our
Saviour quotes this to show that moral duties are to be preferred
before rituals whenever they come in competition, and to justify
himself in <i>eating with publicans and sinners,</i> because it was
in mercy to the souls of men, and in healing on the sabbath day,
because it was in mercy to the bodies of men, to which the ceremony
of singularity in eating and the sabbath-rest must give way,
<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p15.9" osisRef="Bible:Matt.9.13 Bible:Matt.12.7" parsed="|Matt|9|13|0|0;|Matt|12|7|0|0" passage="Mt 9:13,12:7">Matt. ix. 13; xii.
7</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p16" shownumber="no">2. How little they had regarded this
covenant, though it was so well ordered in all things, though they,
and not God, would be the gainers by it. See here what came of
it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p17" shownumber="no">(1.) In general, they broke with God, and
proved unfaithful; there were <i>good things committed</i> to them
to keep, the jewels of mercy and piety, and the knowledge of God,
in the cabinet of sacrifice and burnt-offering, but they betrayed
their trust, kept the cabinet, but pawned the jewels for the
gratification of a base lust, and this is that for which God has
justly a quarrel with them (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.7" parsed="|Hos|6|7|0|0" passage="Ho 6:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>): <i>They, like men, have transgressed the
covenant,</i> that covenant which God made with them; they have
broken the conditions of it, and so forfeited the benefit of it. By
casting off mercy and the knowledge of God, and other instances of
disobedience, [1.] They had contracted the guilt of perjury and
covenant-breaking; they were like men that transgress a covenant by
which they had solemnly bound themselves, which is a thing that all
the world cries out shame on; men that have done so deserve not
again to be valued, or trusted, or dealt with. "<i>There,</i> in
that thing, <i>they have dealt treacherously against me;</i> they
have been perfidious, base, and false children, in whom is no
faith, though I depended upon their being <i>children that would
not lie.</i>" [2.] In this they had but acted like themselves,
<i>like men,</i> who are generally false and fickle, and in whose
nature (their corrupt nature) it is to deal treacherously; <i>all
men are liars,</i> and they are like the rest of that degenerate
race, <i>all gone aside,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.14.2-Ps.14.3" parsed="|Ps|14|2|14|3" passage="Ps 14:2,3">Ps. xiv.
2, 3</scripRef>. They have <i>transgressed the covenant</i> like
<i>men</i> (like the Gentiles that transgressed the covenant of
nature), like <i>mean men</i> (the word here used is sometimes put
for <i>men of low degree</i>); they have dealt deceitfully, like
base men that have no sense of honour. [3.] Herein they trod in the
steps of our first parents: <i>They, like Adam, have transgressed
the covenant</i> (so it might very well be read); as he
transgressed the covenant of innocency, so they transgressed the
covenant of grace, so treacherously, so foolishly; <i>there</i> in
paradise he violated his engagements to God, and there in Canaan,
another paradise, they violated their engagements. And by their
treacherous dealing they, like Adam, have ruined themselves and
theirs. Note, Sin is so much the worse the more there is in it of
the <i>similitude of Adam's transgression,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.14" parsed="|Rom|5|14|0|0" passage="Ro 5:14">Rom. v. 14</scripRef>. [4.] Low thoughts of God and of
his authority and favour were at the bottom of all this; for so
some read it: <i>They have transgressed the covenant, as of a
man,</i> as if it had been but the covenant of a man, that stood
upon even ground with them, as if the commands of the covenant were
but like those of a man like themselves, and the kindness conveyed
by it no more valuable than that of a man. There is something
sacred and binding in <i>a man's covenant</i> (as the apostle
shows, <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Gal.3.15" parsed="|Gal|3|15|0|0" passage="Ga 3:15">Gal. iii. 15</scripRef>), but
much more in the covenant of God, which yet they made small account
of; and <i>there</i> in that covenant they <i>dealt
treacherously,</i> promised fair, but performed nothing. Dealing
treacherously with God is here called dealing treacherously against
him, for it is both an affront and an opposition. Deserters are
traitors, and will be so treated; the revolting heart is a
rebellious heart.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.vii-p18" shownumber="no">(2.) Some particular instances of their
treachery are here given: <i>There they dealt treacherously,</i>
that is, in the places hereafter named [1.] Look on the other side
Jordan, to the country which lay most exposed to the insults of the
neighbouring nations, and where therefore the people were concerned
to keep themselves under the divine protection, and yet there you
will find the most daring provocations of the divine Majesty,
<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.8" parsed="|Hos|6|8|0|0" passage="Ho 6:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. Gilead, which
lay in the lot of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, was <i>a city
of the workers of iniquity.</i> Wickedness was the trade that was
driven there; the country was called <i>Gilead,</i> but it was all
called a <i>city,</i> because they were all as it were incorporated
in one society of rebels against God. Or (as most think) Ramoth
Gilead is the city here meant, one of the three cities of refuge on
the other side Jordan, and a Levites' city; the inhabitants of it,
though of the sacred tribe, were <i>workers of iniquity,</i>
contrived it, and practised it. Note, It is bad indeed when a
Levites' city is <i>a city of those that work iniquity,</i> when
those that are to preach good doctrine live bad lives. Particularly
it is <i>polluted with blood,</i> as if that were a sin which the
wicked Levites were in a special manner guilty of. In popish
countries the clergy are observed to be the most bloody
persecutors. Or, as it was a <i>city of refuge,</i> by abusing the
power it had to judge of murders it became <i>polluted with
blood.</i> They would, for a bribe, protect those that were guilty
of wilful murder, whom they ought to have put to death, and would
deliver those to the avenger of blood who were guilty but of
chance-medley, if they were poor and had nothing to give them; and
both these ways they were <i>polluted with blood.</i> Note, Blood
defiles the land where it is shed, and where no inquisition is made
or no vengeance taken for it. See how the best institutions, that
are ever so well designed to keep the balance even between justice
and mercy, are capable of being abused and perverted to the
manifest prejudice and violation of both. [2.] Look among those
whose business it was to minister in holy things, and they were as
bad as the worst and as vile as the vilest (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.9" parsed="|Hos|6|9|0|0" passage="Ho 6:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>): <i>The company of priests</i> are
so, not here and there one that is the scandal of his order, but
the whole order and body of them, the <i>priests</i> go all one way
<i>by consent, with one shoulder</i> (as the word is), one and all;
and they make one another worse, more daring, and fierce, and
impudent, in sin, more crafty and more cruel. A <i>company of
priests</i> will say and do that in conspiracy which none of them
would dare to say or do singly. The <i>companies of priests</i>
were as <i>troops of robbers,</i> as <i>banditti,</i> or gangs of
highwaymen, that cut men's throats to get their money.
<i>First,</i> They were cruel and blood-thirsty. They <i>murder</i>
those that they have a pique against, or that stand in their way;
nothing less will satisfy them. <i>Secondly,</i> They were cunning.
They <i>laid wait</i> for men, that they might have a fair
opportunity to compass their mischievous malicious designs; thus
the company of priests laid wait for Christ to take him, saying,
<i>Not on the feast-day. Thirdly,</i> They were concurring as one
man: <i>They murder in the way;</i> in the highway, where
travellers should be safe, there <i>they murder by consent,</i>
aiding and abetting one another in it. See how unanimous wicked
people are in doing mischief; and should not good people be so then
in doing good? <i>They murder in the way to Shechem</i> (so the
margin reads it, as a proper name) such as were going to Jerusalem
(for that way Shechem lay) to worship. Or <i>in the way to
Shechem</i> (some think) means in the same manner that their father
Levi, with Simeon his brother, murdered the Shechemites (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.34.1-Gen.34.31" parsed="|Gen|34|1|34|31" passage="Ge 34:1-31">Gen. xxxiv.</scripRef>), by fraud and deceit;
and some understand it of their destroying the souls of men by
drawing them to sin. <i>Fourthly,</i> They did it with contrivance:
<i>They commit lewdness;</i> the word signifies such wickedness as
is committed with deliberation, and of malice prepense, as we say.
The more there is of device and design in sin the worse it is. [3.]
Look into the body of the people, take a view of the whole house of
Israel, and they are all alike (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p18.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.10" parsed="|Hos|6|10|0|0" passage="Ho 6:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>): <i>I have seen a horrible thing
in the house of Israel,</i> and, though it be ever so artfully
managed, God discovers it, and will discover it to them; and who
can deny that which God himself says that he has seen? <i>There is
the whoredom of Ephraim,</i> both corporal and spiritual whoredom;
there it is too plain to be denied. Note, The sin of sinners,
especially sinners of the house of Israel, has enough in it to make
them tremble, for it is a horrible thing, it is amazing, and it is
threatening, enough to make them blush, for Israel is thereby
defiled and rendered odious in the sight of God. [4.] Look into
Judah, and you find them sharing with Israel (<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p18.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.6.11" parsed="|Hos|6|11|0|0" passage="Ho 6:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>Also, O Judah! he has set a
harvest for thee;</i> thou must be reckoned with as well as
Ephraim; thou art ripe for destruction too, and the time, even the
set time, of thy destruction is hastening on, when thou that hast
<i>ploughed iniquity,</i> and <i>sown wickedness,</i> shalt <i>reap
the same.</i> The general judgment is compared to <i>a harvest</i>
(<scripRef id="Hos.vii-p18.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.13.39" parsed="|Matt|13|39|0|0" passage="Mt 13:39">Matt. xiii. 39</scripRef>), so are
particular judgments, <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p18.7" osisRef="Bible:Joel.3.13 Bible:Rev.14.15" parsed="|Joel|3|13|0|0;|Rev|14|15|0|0" passage="Joe 3:13,Re 14:15">Joel
iii. 13; Rev. xiv. 15</scripRef>. I have appointed a time to call
thee to account, even <i>when I returned the captivity of my
people,</i> that is, when those captives of Judah which were taken
by the men of Israel were restored, in obedience to the command of
God sent them by Oded the prophet, <scripRef id="Hos.vii-p18.8" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.28.8-2Chr.28.15" parsed="|2Chr|28|8|28|15" passage="2Ch 28:8-15">2 Chron. xxviii. 8-15</scripRef>. When God spared
them that time he <i>set them a harvest,</i> that is, he designed
to reckon with them another time for all together. Note,
Preservations from present judgments, if a good use be not made of
them, are but reservations for greater judgments.</p>
</div></div2>