mh_parser/vol_split/28 - Hosea/Chapter 4.xml

<div2 id="Hos.v" n="v" next="Hos.vi" prev="Hos.iv" progress="75.55%" title="Chapter IV">
<h2 id="Hos.v-p0.1">H O S E A.</h2>
<h3 id="Hos.v-p0.2">CHAP. IV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Hos.v-p1" shownumber="no">Prophets were sent to be reprovers, to tell people
of their faults, and to warn them of the judgments of God, to which
by sin they exposed themselves; so the prophet is employed in this
and the following chapters. He is here, as counsel for the King of
kings, opening an indictment against the people of Israel, and
labouring to convince them of sin, and of their misery and danger
because of sin, that he might prevail with them to repent and
reform. I. He shows them what were the grounds of God's controversy
with them, a general prevalency of vice and profaneness (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.1-Hos.4.2" parsed="|Hos|4|1|4|2" passage="Ho 4:1,2">ver. 1, 2</scripRef>), ignorance and
forgetfulness of God (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.6-Hos.4.7" parsed="|Hos|4|6|4|7" passage="Ho 4:6,7">ver. 6,
7</scripRef>), the worldly-mindedness of the priests (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.8" parsed="|Hos|4|8|0|0" passage="Ho 4:8">ver. 8</scripRef>), drunkenness and uncleanness
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.11" parsed="|Hos|4|11|0|0" passage="Ho 4:11">ver. 11</scripRef>), using divination
and witchcraft (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.12" parsed="|Hos|4|12|0|0" passage="Ho 4:12">ver. 12</scripRef>),
offering sacrifice in the high places (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.13" parsed="|Hos|4|13|0|0" passage="Ho 4:13">ver. 13</scripRef>), whoredoms (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.14 Bible:Hos.4.18" parsed="|Hos|4|14|0|0;|Hos|4|18|0|0" passage="Ho 4:14,18">ver. 14, 18</scripRef>), and bribery among
magistrates, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.18" parsed="|Hos|4|18|0|0" passage="Ho 4:18">ver. 18</scripRef>. II. He
shows them what would be the consequences of God's controversy. God
would punish them for these things, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.9" parsed="|Hos|4|9|0|0" passage="Ho 4:9">ver.
9</scripRef>. The whole land should be laid waste (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.3" parsed="|Hos|4|3|0|0" passage="Ho 4:3">ver. 3</scripRef>), all sorts of people cut off
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.5" parsed="|Hos|4|5|0|0" passage="Ho 4:5">ver. 5</scripRef>), their honour lost
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.7" parsed="|Hos|4|7|0|0" passage="Ho 4:7">ver. 7</scripRef>), their
creature-comforts unsatisfying (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.13" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.10" parsed="|Hos|4|10|0|0" passage="Ho 4:10">ver.
10</scripRef>), and themselves made ashamed, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.14" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.19" parsed="|Hos|4|19|0|0" passage="Ho 4:19">ver. 19</scripRef>. And, which is several times mentioned
here as the sorest judgment of all, they should be let alone in
their sins (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.15" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.17" parsed="|Hos|4|17|0|0" passage="Ho 4:17">ver. 17</scripRef>), they
shall not reprove one another (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.16" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.4" parsed="|Hos|4|4|0|0" passage="Ho 4:4">ver.
4</scripRef>), God will not punish them (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.17" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.14" parsed="|Hos|4|14|0|0" passage="Ho 4:14">ver. 14</scripRef>), nay, he will let them prosper,
<scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.18" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.16" parsed="|Hos|4|16|0|0" passage="Ho 4:16">ver. 16</scripRef>. III. He gives
warning to Judah not to tread in the steps of Israel, because they
saw their steps went down to hell, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p1.19" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.15" parsed="|Hos|4|15|0|0" passage="Ho 4:15">ver.
15</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Hos.v-p1.20" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4" parsed="|Hos|4|0|0|0" passage="Ho 4" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Hos.v-p1.21" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.1-Hos.4.5" parsed="|Hos|4|1|4|5" passage="Ho 4:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.v-p1.22">
<h4 id="Hos.v-p1.23">The Sinfulness of Israel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.v-p1.24">b. c.</span> 758.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.v-p2" shownumber="no">1 Hear the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.v-p2.1">Lord</span>, ye children of Israel: for the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.v-p2.2">Lord</span> hath a controversy with the
inhabitants of the land, because <i>there is</i> no truth, nor
mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.   2 By swearing, and
lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they
break out, and blood toucheth blood.   3 Therefore shall the
land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish,
with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea,
the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.   4 Yet let no
man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people <i>are</i> as they
that strive with the priest.   5 Therefore shalt thou fall in
the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night,
and I will destroy thy mother.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p3" shownumber="no">Here is, I. The court set, and both
attendance and attention demanded: "<i>Hear the word of the Lord,
you children of Israel,</i> for to you is the word of this
conviction sent, whether you will hear or whether you will
forbear." Whom may God expect to give him a fair hearing, and take
from him a fair warning, but the children of Israel, his own
professing people? Yea, they will be ready enough to hear when God
speaks comfortably to them; but are they willing to hear when he
has a controversy with them? Yes, they must hear him when he pleads
against them, when he has something to lay to their charge: <i>The
Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land,</i> of
this land, of this holy land. Note, Sin is the great
mischief-maker; it sows discord between God and Israel. God sees
sin in his own people, and a good action he has against them for
it. Some more particular actions lie against his own people, which
do not lie against other sinners. He has a controversy with them
for breaking covenant with him, for bringing a reproach upon him,
and for an ungrateful return to him for his favours. God's
controversy will be pleaded, pleaded by the judgments of his mouth
before they are pleaded by the judgments of his hand, that he may
be justified in all he does and may make it appear that he desires
not the death of sinners; and God's pleadings ought to be attended
to, for, sooner or later, they shall have a hearing.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p4" shownumber="no">II. The indictment read, by which the whole
nation stands charged with crimes of a heinous nature, by which God
is highly provoked. 1. They are charged with national omissions of
the most important duties: <i>There is no truth nor mercy,</i>
neither justice nor charity, these most <i>weighty matters of the
law,</i> as our Saviour accounts them (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.23" parsed="|Matt|23|23|0|0" passage="Mt 23:23">Matt. xxiii. 23</scripRef>), <i>judgment, mercy, and
faith.</i> The generality of the people seemed to have no sense at
all of the thing called honesty; they made no conscience of what
they said and did, though ever so contrary to the truth and
injurious to their neighbour. Much less had they any sense of
mercy, or any obligation they were under to pity and help the poor.
And it is not strange that there is no truth and mercy when there
is <i>no knowledge of God in the land.</i> What good can be
expected where there is no knowledge of God? It was the privilege
of that land that <i>in Israel God was</i> made <i>known,</i> and
his <i>name</i> was <i>great,</i> which was an aggravation of their
sin, that they did not <i>know him,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.76.1" parsed="|Ps|76|1|0|0" passage="Ps 76:1">Ps. lxxvi. 1</scripRef>. 2. Hence follows national
commissions of the most enormous sins against both the first and
second table, for they had no regard at all to either.
<i>Swearing,</i> and <i>lying,</i> and <i>killing,</i> and
<i>stealing,</i> and <i>committing adultery,</i> against the third,
ninth, sixth, eighth, and seventh commandments, were to be found in
all corners of the land, and among all orders and degrees of men
among them, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.2" parsed="|Hos|4|2|0|0" passage="Ho 4:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>. The
corruption was universal; what good people there were among them
were either lost or hid, or they hid themselves. By these they
<i>break out,</i> that is, they transgress all bounds of reason and
conscience, and the divine law; <i>they have exceeded</i>
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Job.36.9" parsed="|Job|36|9|0|0" passage="Job 36:9">Job xxxvi. 9</scripRef>); they have
been <i>overmuch wicked</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.7.17" parsed="|Eccl|7|17|0|0" passage="Ec 7:17">Eccl. vii.
17</scripRef>); they suffer their corruptions to break out; they
themselves break over, and break through, all that stands in their
way and would stop them in their sinful career, as water overflows
the banks. Note, Sin is a violent thing and its power exorbitant;
when men's hearts are <i>fully set in them to do evil</i>
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.8.11" parsed="|Eccl|8|11|0|0" passage="Ec 8:11">Eccl. viii. 11</scripRef>) <i>what
will be restrained from them?</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p4.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.11.6" parsed="|Gen|11|6|0|0" passage="Ge 11:6">Gen.
xi. 6</scripRef>. When they break out thus <i>blood touches
blood,</i> that is, abundance of murders are committed in all parts
of the country, and, as it were, in a constant series and
succession. <i>Cædes aliæ aliis sunt contiguæ—Murders touch
murders;</i> a stream of blood runs down among them, even royal
blood. It was about this time that there was so much blood shed in
grasping at the crown; Shallum slew Zechariah, and Menahem slew
Shallum, Pekah slew Pekahiah, and Hoshea slew Pekah; and the like
bloody work, it is likely, there was among other contenders, so
that the land was <i>polluted with blood</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p4.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.38" parsed="|Ps|106|38|0|0" passage="Ps 106:38">Ps. cvi. 38</scripRef>); <i>it was filled with blood
from one end to the other,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p4.9" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.16" parsed="|2Kgs|21|16|0|0" passage="2Ki 21:16">2
Kings xxi. 16</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p5" shownumber="no">III. Sentence passed upon this guilty and
polluted land, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.3" parsed="|Hos|4|3|0|0" passage="Ho 4:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>.
It shall be utterly destroyed and laid waste. The whole land is
infected with sin, and therefore <i>the whole land shall mourn</i>
under God's sore judgments, shall sit in mourning, being stripped
of all its wealth and beauty. As the valleys are said to <i>shout
for joy, and sing,</i> when there are plenty and peace, so here
they are said to <i>mourn</i> when by war and famine they are made
desolate. The <i>whole land shall be brimstone, and salt, and
burning,</i> was as threatened in the law, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.29.33" parsed="|Deut|29|33|0|0" passage="De 29:33">Deut. xxix. 33</scripRef>. They had broken all God's
commandments, and now God threatens to take away all their
comforts. The <i>land mourns</i> when there is neither <i>grass for
the cattle nor herbs for the service of man;</i> and then <i>every
one that dwells therein shall languish</i> for want of nice food to
support a wasting life, and fret for want of the usual dainties for
delight. The <i>beasts of the field</i> will languish, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:Jer.14.5-Jer.14.6" parsed="|Jer|14|5|14|6" passage="Jer 14:5,6">Jer. xiv. 5, 6</scripRef>. Nay, the
destruction of the fruits of the earth shall be so great that there
shall not be picking for the <i>fowls of the air,</i> to keep them
alive; they shall suffer with man, and their dying, or growing
lean, will be a punishment to those who used to have their tables
replenished with wild-fowl. Nay, <i>the fishes of the sea shall be
taken away,</i> or <i>gathered together,</i> that they may go away
in shoals to some other coast, and then the fishing trade will be
worth nothing. This desolation shall be in that respect more
general than that by Noah's flood, for that did not affect the
fishes of the sea, but this shall. It was part of one of the
plagues of Egypt that he <i>slew their fish</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p5.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.105.29" parsed="|Ps|105|29|0|0" passage="Ps 105:29">Ps. cv. 29</scripRef>); when the waters are dried the
<i>fish die,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p5.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.50.2 Bible:Zeph.1.2-Zeph.1.3" parsed="|Isa|50|2|0|0;|Zeph|1|2|1|3" passage="Isa 50:2,Zep 1:2,3">Isa. l. 2;
Zeph. i. 2, 3</scripRef>. Note, When man becomes disobedient to
God, it is just that the inferior creatures should be made
unserviceable to man. Oh what reason have we to admire God's
patience and mercy to our land, that though there is in it so much
swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and adultery, yet
there is plenty of flesh, and fish, and fowl, on our tables!</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p6" shownumber="no">IV. An order of court that no pains should
be taken with the condemned criminal to bring him to repentance,
with the reason for that order. Observe, 1. The order itself
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.4" parsed="|Hos|4|4|0|0" passage="Ho 4:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>): <i>Yet let no
man strive nor reprove another;</i> let no means be used to reduce
and reclaim them; let their physicians give them up as desperate
and past cure. It intimates that as long as there is any hope we
ought to reprove sinners for their sins; it is a duty we owe to one
another to give and to take reproofs; it was one of the laws of
Moses (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Lev.19.17" parsed="|Lev|19|17|0|0" passage="Le 19:17">Lev. xix. 17</scripRef>),
<i>Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour;</i> it is an
instance of brotherly love. Sometimes there is need to rebuke
sharply, not only to reprove, but to strive, so loth are men to
part with their sins. But it is a sign that persons and people are
abandoned to ruin when God says, <i>Let them not be reproved.</i>
Yet this is to be understood as God's commands sometimes to the
prophets not to <i>pray for them,</i> notwithstanding which they
did pray for them; but the meaning is, They are so hardened in sin,
and so ripened for ruin, that it will be to little purpose either
to deal with them or to deal with God for them. Note, It bodes ill
to a people when reprovers are silenced, and when those who should
witness against the sins of the times, retire into a corner, and
give up the cause. See <scripRef id="Hos.v-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.25.16" parsed="|2Chr|25|16|0|0" passage="2Ch 25:16">2 Chron. xxv.
16</scripRef>. 2. The reasons of this order. Let them not reprove
one another; for, (1.) They are determined to <i>go on in sin,</i>
and no reproofs will cure them of that: <i>Thy people are as those
that strive with the priests;</i> they have grown so very impudent
in sin, so very insolent, and impatient of reproof, that they will
fly in the face even of a priest himself if he should but give them
the least check, without any regard to his character and office;
and how then can it be thought that they should take a reproof from
a private person? Note, Those sinners have their hearts wickedly
hardened who quarrel with their ministers for dealing faithfully
with them; and those who rebel against ministerial reproof, which
is an ordinance of God for their reformation, have forfeited the
benefit of brotherly reproof too. Perhaps this may refer to the
late wickedness of Joash king of Judah, and his people, who stoned
Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, for delivering them a message from
God, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.24.21" parsed="|2Chr|24|21|0|0" passage="2Ch 24:21">2 Chron. xxiv. 21</scripRef>. He
was a <i>priest;</i> with him they <i>strove</i> when he was
officiating <i>between the temple and the altar;</i> and Dr.
Lightfoot thinks the prophet had an eye to his case when he spoke
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.2" parsed="|Hos|4|2|0|0" passage="Ho 4:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>) of <i>blood
touching blood;</i> the blood of the <i>sacrificer was mingled with
the blood of the sacrifice,</i> That, says he, was the <i>apex</i>
of <i>their wickedness</i>—thence their ruin was to be dated
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p6.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.23.35" parsed="|Matt|23|35|0|0" passage="Mt 23:35">Matt. xxiii. 35</scripRef>), as this
is of <i>their incorrigibleness,</i> that they are as those who
<i>strive with the priest,</i> therefore let no man reprove them;
for, (2.) God also is determined to <i>proceed in their ruin</i>
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p6.7" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.5" parsed="|Hos|4|5|0|0" passage="Ho 4:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>):
"<i>Therefore,</i> because thou wilt take no reproof, no advice,
<i>thou shalt fall,</i> and it is in vain for any to think of
preventing it, for the <i>decree</i> has <i>gone forth.</i> Thou
shalt stumble and <i>fall in the day,</i> and <i>the prophet,</i>
the false prophet that flattered and seduced thee, shall <i>fall
with thee in the night;</i> both thou and thy prophet shall fall
<i>night and day,</i> shall be continually falling into one
calamity or other; the darkness of the night shall not help to
cover thee from trouble nor the light of the day help thee to flee
from it." The prophets are blind leaders and the people blind
followers; and to the blind day and night are alike, so that
whether it be day or night both shall <i>fall together into the
ditch.</i> "Thou shalt fall <i>in the day,</i> when thy fall is
least feared by thyself and thou art very <i>secure;</i> and <i>in
the day,</i> when it will be seen and observed by others, and turn
most to thy shame; and the prophet shall <i>fall in the night,</i>
when to himself it will be most terrible." Note, The ruin of those
who have helped to ruin others will, in a special manner, be
intolerable. And did the children think that when they were in
danger of falling their mother would help them? It shall be in vain
to expect it, for <i>I will destroy thy mother,</i> Samaria, the
mother-city, the whole <i>state,</i> or <i>kingdom,</i> which is as
a mother to every part. It shall all be <i>made silent.</i> Note,
When all are involved in guilt nothing less can be expected than
that all should be involved in ruin.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Hos.v-p6.8" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.6-Hos.4.11" parsed="|Hos|4|6|4|11" passage="Ho 4:6-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.v-p6.9">
<h4 id="Hos.v-p6.10">Grounds of God's Controversy with Israel;
The Sins of the Priests and People. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.v-p6.11">b.
c.</span> 758.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.v-p7" shownumber="no">6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:
because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that
thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law
of thy God, I will also forget thy children.   7 As they were
increased, so they sinned against me: <i>therefore</i> will I
change their glory into shame.   8 They eat up the sin of my
people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.   9 And
there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them
for their ways, and reward them their doings.   10 For they
shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and
shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the
<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.v-p7.1">Lord</span>.   11 Whoredom and wine
and new wine take away the heart.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p8" shownumber="no">God is here proceeding in his controversy
both with the priests and with the people. <i>The people</i> were
as those <i>that strove with the priests</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.4" parsed="|Hos|4|4|0|0" passage="Ho 4:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>) when they had priests that did
their duty; but the generality of them lived in the neglect of
their duty, and here is a word for those priests, and for the
people that love to have it so, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Jer.5.31" parsed="|Jer|5|31|0|0" passage="Jer 5:31">Jer.
v. 31</scripRef>. And it is observable here how the punishment
answers to the sin, and how, for the justifying of his own
proceedings, God sets the one over-against the other.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p9" shownumber="no">I. The people <i>strove with the
priests</i> that should have taught them the knowledge of God;
justly therefore were they <i>destroyed for lack of knowledge,</i>
<scripRef id="Hos.v-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.6" parsed="|Hos|4|6|0|0" passage="Ho 4:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. Note, Those that
rebel against the light can expect no other than to perish in the
dark. Or it is a charge upon the priests, who should have been
still <i>teaching the people knowledge</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.12.9" parsed="|Eccl|12|9|0|0" passage="Ec 12:9">Eccl. xii. 9</scripRef>), but they did not, or did it in
such a manner that it was as if they had not done it at all, so
there was <i>no knowledge of God in the land;</i> and because there
was no vision, or none to any purpose, the people <i>perished,</i>
<scripRef id="Hos.v-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.29.18" parsed="|Prov|29|18|0|0" passage="Pr 29:18">Prov. xxix. 18</scripRef>. Note,
Ignorance is so far from being the mother of devotion that it is
the mother of destruction; lack of knowledge is ruining to any
person or people. They are <i>my people</i> that are thus
<i>destroyed;</i> their relation to God as his people aggravates
both their sin in not taking pains to get the knowledge of that God
whose command they were under and with whom they were taken into
covenant, and likewise the sin of those who should have taught
them; God set his children to school to them, and they never minded
them nor took any pains with them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p10" shownumber="no">II. Both priests and people rejected
knowledge; and justly therefore will God <i>reject them.</i> The
reason why the people did not learn, and the priests did not teach,
was not because they had not the light, but because they hated
it—not because they had not ways of coming to the knowledge of God
and of communicating it, but because they had no heart to it; they
<i>rejected</i> it. They <i>desired not the knowledge of God's
ways,</i> but put it from them, and shut their eyes against the
light; and therefore "<i>I will also reject thee;</i> I will refuse
to take cognizance of thee and to own thee; you will not know me,
but bid me <i>depart;</i> I will therefore say, <i>Depart from me,
I know you not. Thou</i> shalt be <i>no priest to me.</i>" 1. The
priests shall be no longer admitted to the privileges, or employed
in the services, of the priesthood, nor shall they ever be received
again, as we find, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.44.13" parsed="|Ezek|44|13|0|0" passage="Eze 44:13">Ezek. xliv.
13</scripRef>. Note, Ministers that reject knowledge, that are
grossly ignorant and scandalous, ought not to be owned as
ministers; but that which they <i>seem to have</i> should be
<i>taken away,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.8.18" parsed="|Luke|8|18|0|0" passage="Lu 8:18">Luke viii.
18</scripRef>. 2. The people shall be no longer as they have been,
a <i>kingdom of priests,</i> a royal priesthood, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p10.3" osisRef="Bible:Exod.19.6" parsed="|Exod|19|6|0|0" passage="Ex 19:6">Exod. xix. 6</scripRef>. God's people, by rejecting
knowledge, forfeit their honour and profane their own crown.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p11" shownumber="no">III. They <i>forgot the law of God,</i>
neither desired nor endeavoured to retain it in mind, nor to
transmit the remembrance of it to their posterity, and therefore
justly will God <i>forget</i> them and <i>their children,</i> the
people's children; they did not educate them, as they ought to have
done, in the knowledge of God and their duty to him, and therefore
God will disown them, as not in covenant with him. Note, If parents
do not teach their children, when they are young, to <i>remember
their Creator,</i> they cannot expect that their Creator should
remember them. Or it may be meant of the priests' children; they
shall not succeed them in the priests' office, but shall be reduced
to poverty, as is threatened against Eli's house, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.20" parsed="|1Sam|2|20|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:20">1 Sam. ii. 20</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p12" shownumber="no">IV. They dishonoured God with that which
was their honour, and justly therefore will God strip them of it,
<scripRef id="Hos.v-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.7" parsed="|Hos|4|7|0|0" passage="Ho 4:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. It was their
honour that they were increased in number, wealth, power, and
dignity. The beginning of their nation was small, but in process of
time it <i>greatly increased,</i> and grew very considerable; the
family of the priests increased wonderfully. But, <i>as they were
increased, so they sinned</i> against God. The more populous the
nation grew, the more sin was committed and the more profane they
were; their wealth, honour, and power, did but make them the more
daring in sin. Therefore, says God, <i>will I change their glory
into shame.</i> Are their numbers their glory? God will diminish
them and make them few. Is their wealth their glory? God will
impoverish them and bring them low; so that they shall themselves
be ashamed of that which they gloried in. Their priests shall be
made <i>contemptible and base,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Mal.2.9" parsed="|Mal|2|9|0|0" passage="Mal 2:9">Mal.
ii. 9</scripRef>. Note, That which is our honour, if we dishonour
God with it, will sooner or later be turned into shame to us: for
<i>those that despise God shall be lightly esteemed,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.30" parsed="|1Sam|2|30|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:30">1 Sam. ii. 30</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p13" shownumber="no">V. The priests ate up the sin of God's
people, and therefore <i>they shall eat and not have enough.</i> 1.
They abused the maintenance that was allowed to the priests, to the
priests of the house of Aaron, by the law of God, and to the
mock-priests of the calves by their constitution (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.8" parsed="|Hos|4|8|0|0" passage="Ho 4:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>): <i>They eat up the sin of
my people,</i> that is, their sin-offerings. If it be meant of the
priests of the calves, it intimates their seizing that which they
had no right to; they usurped the revenues of the priests, though
they were no priests. If it be meant of those who were legal
priests, it intimates their greediness of the profits and
perquisites of their office, when they took no care at all to do
the duty of it. They feasted upon their part of the offerings of
the Lord, but forgot the work for which they were so well paid.
They <i>set their heart</i> upon the people's <i>iniquities;</i>
they <i>lifted up their soul</i> to them, that is, they were glad
then people did commit iniquity, that they might be obliged to
bring an offering to make atonement for it, which they should have
their share of; the more sins the more sacrifices, and therefore
they cared not how much sin people were guilty of. Instead of
warning the people against sin, from the consideration of the
sacrifices, which showed them what an offence sin was to God, since
it needed such an expiation, they emboldened and encouraged the
people to sin, since an atonement might be made at so small an
expense. Thus they glutted themselves upon the sins of the people,
and helped to keep up that which they should have beaten down.
Note, It is a very wicked thing to be well pleased with the sins of
others because, in some way or other, they may turn to our
advantage. 2. God will therefore deny them his blessing upon their
maintenance (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.10" parsed="|Hos|4|10|0|0" passage="Ho 4:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>):
<i>They shall eat and not have enough.</i> Though they have great
plenty by the abundance of offerings that are brought in, yet they
shall have no satisfaction in it. Either their food shall yield no
good nourishment or their greedy appetites shall not be satisfied
with it. Note, What is unlawfully gained cannot be comfortably
used; no, nor that which is inordinately coveted; it is just that
the desires which are insatiable should always be unsatisfied, and
that those should never have enough who never know when they have
enough. See <scripRef id="Hos.v-p13.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.14 Bible:Hag.1.6" parsed="|Mic|6|14|0|0;|Hag|1|6|0|0" passage="Mic 6:14,Hag 1:6">Mic. vi. 14; Hag.
i. 6</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p14" shownumber="no">VI. The more they increased the more they
sinned (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.7" parsed="|Hos|4|7|0|0" passage="Ho 4:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>), and
therefore though they <i>commit whoredom,</i> though they take the
most wicked methods to multiply their people, yet <i>they shall not
increase.</i> Though they have many wives and concubines, as
Solomon had, yet they shall not have their families built up
thereby in a numerous progeny, any more than he had. Note, Those
that hope any way to increase by unlawful means will be
disappointed. And therefore God will thus blast all their projects
<i>because they have left off to take heed to the Lord;</i> time
was when they had some regard to God, and to his authority over
them and interest in them, but they have <i>left it off;</i> they
take no heed to his word nor to his providences; they do not eye
him in either. They <i>forsake him, so as not to take heed to
him;</i> they have apostatized to such a degree that they have no
manner of regard to God, but are perfectly <i>without God in the
world.</i> Note, Those that leave off to take heed to the Lord
leave off all good, and can expect no other than that all good
should leave them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p15" shownumber="no">VII. The people and the priests did harden
one another in sin; and therefore justly shall they be sharers in
the punishment (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.9" parsed="|Hos|4|9|0|0" passage="Ho 4:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>):
<i>There shall be, like people, like priest.</i> So they were in
character; people and priest were both alike ignorant and profane,
regardless of God and their duty, and addicted to idolatry: and so
they shall be in condition; God will bring judgments upon them,
that shall be the destruction both of priest and people; the famine
that deprives the people of their meat shall deprive the priests of
their <i>meat-offerings,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:Joel.1.9" parsed="|Joel|1|9|0|0" passage="Joe 1:9">Joel i.
9</scripRef>. It is part of the description of a universal
desolation that it shall be <i>as with the people, so with the
priest,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.24.2" parsed="|Isa|24|2|0|0" passage="Isa 24:2">Isa. xxiv. 2</scripRef>.
God's judgments, when they come with commission, will make no
difference. Note, Sharers in sin must expect to be sharers in ruin.
Thus God will <i>punish them</i> both <i>for their ways,</i> and
<i>reward them for their doings.</i> God will <i>cause their doings
to return upon them</i> (so the word is); when a sin is committed
the sinner thinks <i>it is gone</i> and he shall hear no more of
it, but he shall find it <i>called over again,</i> and made to
<i>return,</i> either to his humiliation or to his
condemnation.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p16" shownumber="no">VIII. They indulged themselves in the
delights of sense, to hold up their hearts; but they shall find
that they <i>take away their hearts</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.11" parsed="|Hos|4|11|0|0" passage="Ho 4:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>Whoredom, and wine, and new
wine take away the heart.</i> Some join this with the foregoing
words. <i>They have forsaken the Lord,</i> to <i>take heed to
whoredom, and wine, and new wine.</i> Or, <i>Because</i> these
<i>have taken away their heart.</i> Their sensual pleasures have
taken them off from their devotions and drowned all that is good in
them. Or we may take it as a distinct sentence, containing a great
truth which we see confirmed by every day's experience, that
drunkenness and uncleanness are sins which besot and infatuate men,
weaken and enfeeble them. They take away both the understanding and
the courage.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Hos.v-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.12-Hos.4.19" parsed="|Hos|4|12|4|19" passage="Ho 4:12-19" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Hos.v-p16.3">
<h4 id="Hos.v-p16.4">The Sins of the Priests and the People;
Warning to Judah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.v-p16.5">b. c.</span> 758.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Hos.v-p17" shownumber="no">12 My people ask counsel at their stocks, and
their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath
caused <i>them</i> to err, and they have gone a whoring from under
their God.   13 They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains,
and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms,
because the shadow thereof <i>is</i> good: therefore your daughters
shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.
  14 I will not punish your daughters when they commit
whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for
themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with
harlots: therefore the people <i>that</i> doth not understand shall
fall.   15 Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, <i>yet</i>
let not Judah offend; and come not ye unto Gilgal, neither go ye up
to Beth-aven, nor swear, The <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.v-p17.1">Lord</span>
liveth.   16 For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer:
now the <span class="smallcaps" id="Hos.v-p17.2">Lord</span> will feed them as a
lamb in a large place.   17 Ephraim <i>is</i> joined to idols:
let him alone.   18 Their drink is sour: they have committed
whoredom continually: her rulers <i>with</i> shame do love, Give
ye.   19 The wind hath bound her up in her wings, and they
shall be ashamed because of their sacrifices.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p18" shownumber="no">In these verses we have, as before,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p19" shownumber="no">I. The sins charged upon the people of
Israel, for which God had a controversy with them, and they
are,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p20" shownumber="no">1. Spiritual whoredom, or idolatry. They
have in them a <i>spirit of whoredoms,</i> a strong inclination to
that sin; the bent and bias of their hearts are that way; it is
<i>their own iniquity;</i> they are carried out towards it with an
unaccountable violence, and this <i>causes them to err.</i> Note,
The errors and mistakes of the judgment are commonly owing to the
corrupt affections; men <i>therefore</i> have a good opinion of
sin, because they have a disposition towards it. And having such
erroneous notions of idols, and such passionate motions towards
them, no marvel that with such a head and such a heart they have
<i>gone a whoring from under their God,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.12" parsed="|Hos|4|12|0|0" passage="Ho 4:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. They ought to have been in
subjection to him as their head and husband, to have been under his
guidance and command, but they revolted from their allegiance, and
put themselves under the guidance and protection of false gods. So
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.15" parsed="|Hos|4|15|0|0" passage="Ho 4:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>) Israel has
<i>played the harlot;</i> their conduct in the worship of their
idols was like that of a harlot, wanton and impudent. And
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.16" parsed="|Hos|4|16|0|0" passage="Ho 4:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>), <i>Israel
slideth back as a backsliding heifer,</i> as an <i>untamed</i>
heifer (so some), or as a <i>perverse</i> or <i>refractory</i> one
(so others), as a heifer that is turned loose runs madly about the
pasture, or, if put under the yoke (which seems rather to be
alluded to here), will draw back instead of going forward, will
struggle to get her neck out of the yoke and her feet out of the
furrow. Thus unruly, ungovernable, untractable, were the people of
Israel. They had begun to draw in the yoke of God's ordinances, but
they drew back, as <i>children of Belial,</i> that will not endure
the yoke; and when the prophets were sent with the goads of
reproof, to put them forward, they <i>kicked against the
pricks,</i> and ran backwards. The sum of all is (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.17" parsed="|Hos|4|17|0|0" passage="Ho 4:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), <i>Ephraim is joined to
idols,</i> is perfectly wedded to them; his affections are glued to
them, and his heart is upon them. There are two instances given of
their spiritual whoredom, in both which they gave that honour to
their idols which is due to God only:—(1.) They consulted them as
oracles, and used those arts of divination which they had learned
from their idolatrous priests (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.12" parsed="|Hos|4|12|0|0" passage="Ho 4:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>): <i>My people ask counsel at
their stocks,</i> their wooden gods; they apply to them for advice
and direction in what they should do and for information concerning
the event. They <i>say to a stock, Thou art my father</i>
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Jer.2.27" parsed="|Jer|2|27|0|0" passage="Jer 2:27">Jer. ii. 27</scripRef>); and, if it
were indeed a father, it were worthy of this honour; but it was a
great affront to God, who was indeed their Father, and whose lively
oracles they had among them, with which they had liberty to consult
at any time, thus to <i>ask counsel at their stocks.</i> And they
expect that their <i>staff</i> should <i>declare to them</i> what
course they should take and what the event should be. It is
probable that this refers to some wicked methods of divination used
among the Gentiles, and which the Jews learned from them, by a
<i>piece of wood,</i> or by <i>a staff,</i> like Nebuchadnezzar's
divining by <i>his arrows,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p20.7" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.21.21" parsed="|Ezek|21|21|0|0" passage="Eze 21:21">Ezek.
xxi. 21</scripRef>. Note, Those who forsake the oracles of God, to
take their measures from the world and the flesh, do in effect but
consult with their stocks and their staves. (2.) They offered
sacrifice to them as gods, whose favour they wanted and whose wrath
they dreaded and deprecated (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p20.8" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.13" parsed="|Hos|4|13|0|0" passage="Ho 4:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>): <i>They sacrifice to them,</i> to atone and pacify
them, and <i>burn incense</i> to them, to please and gratify them,
and hope by both to recommend themselves to them. God had pitched
upon the place where he would record his name; but they, having
forsaken that, chose places for their irreligious rites which
pleased their own fancies; they chose, [1.] High places, <i>upon
the tops of the mountains</i> and <i>upon the hills,</i> foolishly
imagining that the height of the ground gave them some advantage in
their approaches towards heaven. [2.] Shady places, <i>under oaks,
and poplars, and elms, because the shadow thereof</i> is pleasant
to them, especially in those hot countries, and therefore they
thought it was pleasing to their gods; or they fancied that a thick
shade befriends contemplation, possesses the mind with something of
awe, and therefore is proper for devotion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p21" shownumber="no">2. Corporal whoredom is another crime here
charged upon them: <i>They have committed whoredom continually,</i>
<scripRef id="Hos.v-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.18" parsed="|Hos|4|18|0|0" passage="Ho 4:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. They drove a
trade of uncleanness; it was not a single act now and then, but
their constant practice, as it is of many that have <i>eyes full of
adultery</i> and <i>which cannot cease from</i> that <i>sin,</i>
<scripRef id="Hos.v-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.2.14" parsed="|2Pet|2|14|0|0" passage="2Pe 2:14">2 Pet. ii. 14</scripRef>. Now the
abominable filthiness and lewdness that was found in Israel is here
spoken of, (1.) As a concomitant of their idolatry; their false
gods drew them to it; for the devil whom they worshipped, though a
spirit, is an unclean spirit. Those that worshipped idols were
<i>separated with harlots,</i> and they <i>sacrificed with
harlots;</i> for because they <i>liked not to retain God in their
knowledge,</i> but dishonoured him, therefore God <i>gave them up
to vile affections,</i> by the indulging of which they
<i>dishonoured themselves,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.24 Bible:Rom.1.28" parsed="|Rom|1|24|0|0;|Rom|1|28|0|0" passage="Ro 1:24,28">Rom.
i. 24, 28</scripRef>. (2.) As a punishment of it. The <i>men</i>
that worshipped idols were <i>separated with harlots</i> that
attended the idolatrous rites, as in the worship of
<i>Baal-peor,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Num.25.1-Num.25.2" parsed="|Num|25|1|25|2" passage="Nu 25:1,2">Num. xxv. 1,
2</scripRef>. To punish them for that God gave up their wives and
daughters to the like vile affections: They <i>committed whoredom
and adultery</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p21.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.13" parsed="|Hos|4|13|0|0" passage="Ho 4:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>), which could not but be a great grief and reproach
to their husbands and parents; for those that are not chaste
themselves desire to have their wives and daughters so. But thus
they might read their sin in their punishment, as David's adultery
was punished in the debauching of his concubines by his own son,
<scripRef id="Hos.v-p21.6" osisRef="Bible:2Sam.12.11" parsed="|2Sam|12|11|0|0" passage="2Sa 12:11">2 Sam. xii. 11</scripRef>. Note, When
the same sin in others is made men's grief and affliction which
they have themselves been guilty of they must own that the Lord is
righteous.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p22" shownumber="no">3. The perverting of justice, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.18" parsed="|Hos|4|18|0|0" passage="Ho 4:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. <i>Their rulers</i> (be
it spoken to their shame) <i>do love, Give ye,</i> that is, they
love bribes, and have it continually in their mouths, <i>Give,
give.</i> They are given to <i>filthy lucre;</i> every one that has
any business with them must expect to be asked, What will you give?
Though, as rulers, they are bound by office to do justice, yet none
can have justice done them without a fee; and you may be sure that
for a fee they will do injustice. Note, The love of money is the
ruin of equity and the root of all iniquity. But of all men it is a
shame for rulers (who should be men <i>fearing God</i> and
<i>hating covetousness</i>) to love <i>Give ye.</i> Perhaps this is
intended in that part of the charge here, <i>Their drink is
sour;</i> it is <i>dead;</i> it is <i>gone.</i> Justice, duly
administered, is refreshing, like drink to the thirsty, but when it
is perverted, and rulers take rewards either to acquit the guilty
or to condemn the innocent, the <i>drink is sour;</i> they <i>turn
judgment into wormwood,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.5.7" parsed="|Amos|5|7|0|0" passage="Am 5:7">Amos v.
7</scripRef>. Or it may refer in general to the depraved morals of
the whole nation; they had lost all their life and spirit, and were
as offensive to God as dead and sour drink is to us. See <scripRef id="Hos.v-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Deut.31.32-Deut.31.33" parsed="|Deut|31|32|31|33" passage="De 31:32,33">Deut. xxxi. 32, 33</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p23" shownumber="no">II. The tokens of God's wrath against them
for their sins. 1. Their wives and daughters should not be punished
for the injury and disgrace they did to their families (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.14" parsed="|Hos|4|14|0|0" passage="Ho 4:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>): <i>I will not punish
your daughters;</i> and, not being punished for their sin, they
would go on in it. Note, The impunity of one sinner is sometimes
made the punishment of another. Or, "<i>I will not punish</i> them
as I will punish you; for you must own, as Judah did concerning his
daughter-in-law, that <i>they are more righteous than you,</i>"
<scripRef id="Hos.v-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.38.26" parsed="|Gen|38|26|0|0" passage="Ge 38:26">Gen. xxxviii. 26</scripRef>. 2. They
themselves should prosper for a while, but their prosperity should
help to destroy them. It comes in as a token of God's wrath
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.16" parsed="|Hos|4|16|0|0" passage="Ho 4:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>): <i>The Lord
will feed them as a lamb in a large place;</i> they shall have a
fat pasture, and a large one, in which they shall be fed to the
full, and fed of the best, but it shall be only to prepare them for
the slaughter, as a lamb is that is so fed. If they <i>wax fat and
kick,</i> they do but wax fat for the butcher. But others make them
feed as <i>a lamb on the common,</i> a large place indeed, but
where it has short grass and lies exposed. The Shepherd of Israel
will turn them both out of his pastures and out of his protection.
3. No means should be used to bring them to repentance (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.17" parsed="|Hos|4|17|0|0" passage="Ho 4:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>): "<i>Ephraim is joined
to idols,</i> is in love with them and addicted to them, and
therefore <i>let him alone,</i> as <scripRef id="Hos.v-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.4" parsed="|Hos|4|4|0|0" passage="Ho 4:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>, <i>Let no man reprove</i> him. Let
him be given up to <i>his own heart's lusts,</i> and walk <i>in his
own counsel;</i> we <i>would have healed</i> him, and he <i>would
not be healed,</i> therefore <i>forsake</i> him," See <i>what their
end will be,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p23.6" osisRef="Bible:Deut.32.20" parsed="|Deut|32|20|0|0" passage="De 32:20">Deut. xxxii.
20</scripRef>. Note, It is a sad and sore judgment for any man to
be let alone in sin, for God to say concerning a sinner, "He is
joined to his idols, the world and the flesh; he is incurably
proud, covetous, or profane, an incurable drunkard or adulterer;
<i>let him alone;</i> conscience, let him alone; minister, let him
alone; providences, let him alone. Let nothing awaken him till the
flames of hell do it." The father corrects not the rebellious son
any more when he determines to disinherit him. "Those that are not
disturbed in their sin will be destroyed for their sin." 4. They
should be hurried away with a swift and shameful destruction
(<scripRef id="Hos.v-p23.7" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.19" parsed="|Hos|4|19|0|0" passage="Ho 4:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>): <i>The wind
has bound her up in her wings,</i> to carry her away into
captivity, suddenly, violently, and irresistibly; he shall take
<i>them away as with a whirlwind,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p23.8" osisRef="Bible:Ps.58.9" parsed="|Ps|58|9|0|0" passage="Ps 58:9">Ps. lviii. 9</scripRef>. And then <i>they shall be
ashamed because of their sacrifices,</i> ashamed of their sin in
offering sacrifice to idols, ashamed of their folly in putting
themselves to such an expense upon gods that have no power to help
them, and thereby making that God their enemy who has almighty
power to destroy them. Note, There are sacrifices that men will one
day be ashamed of. Those that have sacrificed their time, strength,
honour, and all their comforts, to the world and the flesh, will
shortly be ashamed of it. Yea, and those that bring to God blind,
and lame, and heartless sacrifices, will be ashamed of them
too.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Hos.v-p24" shownumber="no">III. The warning given to Judah not to sin
after the similitude of Israel's transgression. It is said in the
close of <scripRef id="Hos.v-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.14" parsed="|Hos|4|14|0|0" passage="Ho 4:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>,
<i>Those that do not understand shall fall;</i> those must needs
fall that do not understand how to avoid, or get over, the
stumbling-blocks they meet with (and therefore <i>let him that
thinks he stands take heed lest he fall</i>), particularly the two
tribes (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p24.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.4.15" parsed="|Hos|4|15|0|0" passage="Ho 4:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>):
<i>Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah
offend.</i> Though Israel be given to idolatry, yet let not Judah
take the infection. Now, 1. This was a very needful caution. The
men of Israel were brethren, and near neighbours, to the men of
Judah; Israel was more numerous, and at this time in a prosperous
condition, and therefore there was danger lest the men of Judah
should learn their way and get a snare to their souls. Note, The
nearer we are to the infection of sin the more need we have to
stand upon our guard. 2. It was a very rational caution: "<i>Let
Israel play the harlot,</i> yet let not Judah do so; for Judah has
greater means of knowledge than Israel, has the temple and
priesthood, and a king of the house of David; from Judah Shiloh is
to come; and for Judah God has reserved great blessings in store;
therefore <i>let not Judah offend,</i> for more is expected from
them than from Israel, they will have more to answer for if they do
offend, and from them God will take it more unkindly. If <i>Israel
play the harlot,</i> let not Judah do so too, for then God will
have no professing people in the world." God bespeaks Judah here,
as Christ does the twelve, when many turned their backs upon him,
<i>Will you also go away?</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p24.3" osisRef="Bible:John.6.67" parsed="|John|6|67|0|0" passage="Joh 6:67">John vi.
67</scripRef>. Note, Those that have hitherto kept their integrity
should, for that reason, still hold it fast, even in times of
general apostasy. Now, to preserve Judah from offending as Israel
had done, two rules are here given:—(1.) That they might not be
guilty of idolatry they must keep at a distance from the places of
idolatry: <i>Come not you unto Gilgal,</i> where <i>all their
wickedness was</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p24.4" osisRef="Bible:Hos.9.15 Bible:Hos.12.11" parsed="|Hos|9|15|0|0;|Hos|12|11|0|0" passage="Ho 9:15,12:11"><i>ch.</i>
ix. 15; xii. 11</scripRef>); there they <i>multiplied
transgression</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p24.5" osisRef="Bible:Amos.4.4" parsed="|Amos|4|4|0|0" passage="Am 4:4">Amos iv.
4</scripRef>); and perhaps they contracted a veneration for that
place because there it was said to Joshua, The place <i>where thou
standest is holy ground</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p24.6" osisRef="Bible:Josh.5.15" parsed="|Josh|5|15|0|0" passage="Jos 5:15">Josh. v.
15</scripRef>); therefore they are forbidden to <i>enter into
Gilgal,</i> <scripRef id="Hos.v-p24.7" osisRef="Bible:Amos.5.5" parsed="|Amos|5|5|0|0" passage="Am 5:5">Amos v. 5</scripRef>. And
for the same reason they must <i>not go up to Bethel,</i> here
called the <i>house of vanity,</i> for so <i>Bethaven</i>
signifies, not the <i>house of God,</i> as <i>Bethel</i> signifies.
Note, Those that would be kept from sin, and not fall into the
devil's hands, must studiously avoid the occasions of sin and not
come upon the devil's ground. (2.) That they might not be guilty of
idolatry they must take heed of profaneness, and <i>not swear, The
Lord liveth.</i> They are commanded to swear, <i>The Lord liveth in
truth and righteousness</i> (<scripRef id="Hos.v-p24.8" osisRef="Bible:Jer.4.2" parsed="|Jer|4|2|0|0" passage="Jer 4:2">Jer. iv.
2</scripRef>); and therefore that which is here forbidden is
swearing so in untruth and unrighteousness, swearing rashly and
lightly, or falsely and with deceit, or swearing by the Lord and
the idol, <scripRef id="Hos.v-p24.9" osisRef="Bible:Zeph.1.5" parsed="|Zeph|1|5|0|0" passage="Zep 1:5">Zeph. i. 5</scripRef>. Note,
Those that would be steady in their adherence to God must possess
themselves with an awe and reverence of God, and always speak of
him with solemnity and seriousness; for those that can make a jest
of the true God will make a god of any thing.</p>
</div></div2>