Hosea 11
In vs. 1-4 Jehovah enumerates the benefits conferred on
time of their departure out of
of
1
“When
Driver uses this verse to exemplify the principle that when
the reference is to what is
past or certain, rather than to what is future or indefinite, we find
the predicate or the
apodosis introduced by וַּ, though
not with nearly the same frequency as ל perfect
and
vav causes: (1) with subject or object pre-fixed; (2) after
time-determinations.
The life of a nation has its stages of rise, progress, and
development, like
the
life of an individual man. The prophet goes back to that early period
when the national life of
patriarchs who had gone down to sojourn in
people; the predicate precedes, to emphasize, that early day when
became God’s peculiar people. The vav marks the
apodosis recording
God’s love in choosing that people, calling them into the
relation of
sonship, and delivering them out of
was
yet a child, i.e. in
with them than with the rest of the nations; for from their youth onward I
have loved them, and delivered them out of the hands of their enemies. But
when they transgress my commandments it is incumbent on me to chastise
them as a man chastises his son.”
The people of
choosing them and bringing them into close relationship to Himself,
such as
that of a son to a father. The commencement was the message to Pharaoh
by
Moses in the words, “
thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me” (Exodus
4:22-23). This sonship
was
solemnly ratified by the giving of the Law at Sinai; and the condition clearly
stated that, in the event of their preserving the knowledge of
God, fulfilling
His Law, and doing His will, they would at all
times enjoy Divine protection,
defense, and blessing, while from generation to generation they
were
addressed by that honorable title.
As the deliverance from
“bringing out,” and never
elsewhere as a “calling out,” some expositors
maintain that the words, “out of
the
time of national infancy. From that period God began to manifest His
love, and in its manifestation He called him by the endearing name of “son
— my
son.’ The
words of this verse are applied by Matthew to the
sojourn of Jesus in
history of Messiah’s childhood, in whom that of
completeness.
to the former primarily, and to the latter secondarily. Thus
the head and the
members are comprehended in one common prediction.
Matthew says that this word of Hosea was fulfilled when the
Child Jesus was
brought up out of
firstborn” (Exodus 4:22); Jesus is “the Only Begotten Son, which is in the
bosom of the Father” (John 1:18).
The history of Israel typified and
foreshadowed His career. He is the true seed of Abraham, the true
Representative
of
the ancient Hebrew nation. “All the magnificence of prophecy, limited to Israel,
would be bombast; CHRIST ALONE fulfils the idea which
The paternal love of God was exhibited more richly in the protection and
deliverance of His holy Child Jesus than even in the great blessing of the Exodus.
It was to avoid the danger of destruction that the infant Savior and His mother
were taken down
into
infant, must hide for a little season under the shadow of the
Pyramids. By-and-by
He shall be “called out of Egypt” to return to
the Holy Land, and to
become at length what
FOR GOD, AND TEACHER OF HIS WILL TO ALL THE NATIONS OF
THE WORLD!.
2 “As they called them, so
they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim,
and burned incense to graven images.” Adverting
to His own call mentioned in
the
first verse, God here refers to the many subsequent calls which He
addressed to
them through His servants the prophets and other messengers. The subject of the
verb is erroneously understood by some, as, for example, Aben Ezra and Eichhorn,
to
be the idols, or their false priests or prophets; while Jerome is also
mistaken in
referring the words to the time of
to
lead them out of
that, instead of appreciating the invitations and monitions of the
prophets of God,
they showed their utter
insensibility and thanklessness, turning away from
them
in contempt
and scorn. Nay, the more the messengers of God called them,
the more
they turned a deaf ear to those who were their truest friends and
best
advisers. (Is this attitude not
duplicated today in 21st century? – CY – 2012)
Pursuing their idolatrous practices, they sacrificed to
Baal, that is to say, the various
representations of that idol, and burned incense to their images, whether
of wood or
stone or precious metal. Thus Kimchi
correctly comments as follows: “The prophets
which I sent to them called to them morning and evening to turn
to Jehovah, so (much
the
more) did they go away from them, not hearkening to their words nor desisting
from their evil works.” The word כֵן, even so, denoting the measure or relation,
corresponds to ואשר to be supplied in the first clause. The imperfects
imply continuance of action or a general truth. The Septuagint rendering, followed
by
the Syriac, is ἐκ προσώπου μου αὐτοὶ - ek prosopou mou autoi
- from my
presence they - as if they had read on מִפָנַי
הֵם instead of the present text.
3 “I taught Ephraim also
to go, taking them by their arms; but
they knew not that I healed them.” This picture of God’s guiding and
guarding care of Ephraim
is very touching and tender. It is that of an
affectionate parent or tender
nurse teaching a child to walk by leading-strings;
taking it up in the
arms when stumbling or making a false step; and
in case it fell
curing the wound. Thus, nurse-like, God taught Ephraim, his
wayward perverse child,
to use his feet (so the original word imports), all
the while lending
considerate help and seasonable aid. He took them by the
hand to guide them,
that they might not stray; He took them in His arms to
hold them up, that
they might not stumble and to help them over any
obstacle that might lie
in the way; and when, left to themselves during a
short season, and in
order to test their strength, they did stumble and fall,
He healed their
hurt. And
yet they did not apprehend nor appreciate God’s
gracious design and dealings with them in thus guiding and guarding them,
and in healing their diseases both temporal and spiritual. There is, perhaps,
an
allusion to Exodus 15:26, “I will put none of these diseases
upon thee which I
have brought upon the
Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.” This
promise, it will be remembered, was vouchsafed immediately after
the bitter waters of
Marah had been sweetened by the tree which, according to Divine
direction, had been
cast therein. Thus Kimchi: “And they have
not acknowledged that I healed them of
every sickness and every affliction, as He said, ‘I will put
none of these diseases
upon thee.’” The reference is rather to all those evidences of His love
which
God manifested to them during their forty years’ wandering
in the
wilderness; or perhaps to His guidance of them by His Law throughout
their entire history. Rashi remarks
that “they knew it very well, but
dissembled [literally, ‘trod it down with the heel,’ equivalent to
‘despised’]
and
acted, as if they did not know.” The
following comment of Kimchi is worthy
of
attention: “The prophet only mentions Ephraim (instead of all
was
he that made the calves. He says, ‘And how does Ephraim reward me for this
that I bestowed on them so many benefits, and accustomed them to go on their
feet, and did not burden them with my commandments and my service?’
And because He has compared Ephraim to a boy, He uses the
word, ‘I led
them by strings.’ Just as one leads a boy that he may accustom himself to
go
little by little without trouble, so I led them from station to station,
when I brought them out of
the
cloud going before them by day, and the pillar of fire by night.”
The Tenderness of Divine Discipline (v.3)
Amidst Hosea’s strong denunciations of sin, such a description
as this of
Divine tenderness to wayward men is sweet as a song amidst
a storm. Both
sternness and sweetness must of necessity appear before us in order
to give
a
true apprehension of the method of God’s dealing with human souls.
That method is as varied as are the works of the same God
in nature,
where every flower and leaf, every wind and stream, has its own
place and
its
own use. We cannot expect to find a uniform religious
experience
amongst men. We have no right to demand of others the agony of
shame
or the
rapture of pardon we ourselves know, or to declare that their
experience is unreal because it is different from our own. The metaphors of
the
Bible might teach us this. One series represents the Word as the
hammer, that breaks the rock with resistless power; as the sword,
which
pierces the inmost soul and kills the old life; as the fire, that
burns out the
dross of character and fuses the whole nature in a glow of love
to God.
But there arc metaphors which represent the same Word as
being like the
sun,
gradually diffusing light, slowly developing the flowers and fruits; as
the
attractive force, so subtle that it can only be known by its result; as the
key
which fits, and silently turns the lock, so that the door is opened and
the
heavenly guests come in to abide there in holy fellowship. It is in
harmony with all we know of the variety of God’s dealings with
men, that
the
same prophet who speaks of the unwilling heifer dragged onward by
ropes, should also speak of the little child who is lovingly
upheld by his
father when he takes his first tottering steps.
Ø Its boldness. None but an inspired
man, who was conscious of
inspiration, would have dared thus to describe the God he humbly
reverenced. Sometimes a painting represents the glories of sunset, or
the swell of the sea after a storm, the colors of which are so
vivid that
the onlooker at first says, “That is unnatural.” A second-rate
artist
might have shrunk from such a bold representation, but the great
artist revels in the splendor of the scene; he feels that he must
represent
to others what was revealed to him; and so hands down to the
future
what had appeared at first a startling revelation of glory,
even to himself.
A people accustomed, like
the Jews, to the signs of awful reverence
with which Jehovah was approached would have been more
surprised
than we, who know God in Christ, to hear the prophet speak of
Him as
a Father, or Mother, or Nurse, holding the child by the arms
as he
totters and trembles over his first footsteps.
Ø
Its beauty. Any natural
figure drawn from a human home is beautiful.
It is well that family life
has so often been made the basis of religious
teaching. There are few scenes more universally familiar than this.
When we exercise care and
forethought for our children, and our
hearts go out in tenderness to them in their
helplessness, WE
KNOW
WHAT GOD IS TO
US! When we remember the
sense of rest and
sympathy and help which was ours in childhood’s home, we become
more conscious of what we may find,
yet so often fail to find, in
our heavenly Father’s love.
Ø
Its truthfulness. Israel had become a great nation because of the Divine
care which overshadowed them in their feeble infancy. In Egypt
they
had no national life, but were degraded serfs for whom revolt
was
useless. Brought out by
Divine power, they became conscious of
new powers and possibilities. In the wilderness they were fed,
not
only with manna, but with the rudiments of piety, which were
well
adapted to their infancy. By penalties which immediately and
visibly
followed disobedience to Law, they
learned that God was King, that
He was near, that
He was wise; and imperfect though the
revelation
was, it was the most they could receive. God spake as they
were able
to bear it. (Even Jesus Christ, when He walked upon the earth
said
the same to His disciples
(John 16:12). He dealt with them
as we
deal with children. Nor is He less wise or less tender in our
culture,
but bears with us while we are feeble in thought and resolve,
and
blesses us in the first trembling steps we essay in the way of
righteousness.
Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. (James 5:11)
Ø
In His condescension God does not despise us. Ezekiel describes a
newly born child, taken up in its poverty and misery by tender
hands,
as a representation of what
We have known such examples
of human kindness: the foundling
left to the stranger, whose motherly heart went out in pity, as
she
resolved that, in spite of all her own cares, the little one should
not perish for want because of its parent’s sin. Much more unworthy
are we of the Divine regard, for each may say, “I am no more
worthy to be called thy son” (Luke
15:18-19). Even in earthly
advantages we never won nor deserved, how many of us have
been blessed! The home where no evil words are heard, where
those who love us are daily witnesses for God, the heritage of
a
good name and wholesome habits (“yea, I have a goodly
heritage” (Psalm 16:6),
the tears and entreaties and prayers which
win us to the love of righteousness, — all these are signs that God
can say of many now in wisdom’s way, “I taught you to walk,
taking you by the arms.”
Ø
In His wisdom God does not force us. We are not
automatons. They
may do wonderful things without noise, or disobedience, or
wrangling;
but God has not made us thus. We are, as the text suggests,
children,
who can make their own effort, but to it they must be prompted, in it
they must be supported and helped. When the stirrings of a new life
are felt in the soul, the question comes, “Who then is willing to
consecrate himself to the Lord?”
(I Chronicles 29:5) - and it is only
the self-consecrated servants God will have. It is a poor thing to
employ the forced labor of those whose bodies are their
owner’s, but whose souls loathe him; but a blessed thing to have
the
loyal and loving service of the child, to whom a glance or a
whisper
means a command which
it is his joy to obey.
Ø
In God’s graciousness He does not curse us. Children are weak
and
wayward; they forget what they are told, and do what is amiss; but
their father says to himself, “They are but children,” and he
cannot
be bitter or unjust. When Peter denied his Lord, falling
through
moral weakness, an angry curse might have driven him to despair;
but “the Lord turned
and looked on him,” (Luke 22:61-62)
and as he went out,
weeping bitterly, he yet could say,
“The Lord loves me still.” Christ drew him back with cords of love.
Ø
In His patience God does not demand of us instant
perfection.
Picture the scene suggested
here. A child is about to take his first step.
The mother is beside him,
encouraging every step, or half-step, with
a smile. Her eye does not wander from him for a moment; her
hands
are out to encourage, to support, to save, as she says, “Try,
dear, try.”
When at last the effort is
made, she catches him up in her arms and
kisses him; and if you wondered at so much gladness and love
being
shown over such a feeble attempt, she
would be annoyed at your
dullness, because she sees in this the promise of the future. By
such
a homely illustration does Hosea set forth THE DIVINE
TENDERNESS! God’s
“gentleness makes us great.” Christ Jesus
expected nothing wonderful from His disciples; but patiently lived
with them and taught them, forgiving, encouraging, and
upholding, till
they became brave and stalwart heroes of the cross. Only let us
keep near Him, and as we recognize the difficulties of our way
and
the weakness of our nature, let the prayer of the psalmist be
ours,
“Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.” (Psalm 119:117)
4
“I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love:” - This
verse contains a further representation of Jehovah’s fatherly
guidance of
young children. Bands of
love qualify
more closely the preceding
expression, “cords of a man,” and are the
opposite of those which men
employ in taming or breaking wild and unmanageable animals. The
explanation of Rashi is similar: “I have
always led them with tender cords
such as these with which a man leads his child, as if He said with loving
guidance.” Aben Ezra and Kimchi, in their explanations, carry out more
fully the same idea. The former says, “The bands of love are not
like the
bands which are fastened on the neck of a plowing heifer;” the
latter,
“Because he compared Ephraim to a heifer,
and people lead a heifer with
cords, he says, ‘I have led
of a heifer which one drags along with resistance, (I could tell quite a
story of a
a resistance but I won’t – CY – 2012) but as a man draws
his fellow-man
without compelling him to go with resistance: even so I have led them after
a
gentle method;’ and therefore He
afterward calls them (cords of a man)
bands of love.” The Septuagint, taking חֶבֶל from חָבַל,, in the
sense of” injure,” “destroy,” have the mistaken rendering ἐν διαφθορᾶ
ἀνθρώτων... ἐξέτεινα αὐτοὺς, " – en diaphthora
anthroton ….exeteina
autous - When men were destroyed I drew them. The other Greek
versions
have the correct rendering – “and I was to them as they that take
off the
yoke on their jaws,” The
word herim does not mean “to lift up
on” and so
“impose a yoke,” as some think, nor
“to take away the yoke,” but “to lift it up.”
The figure is that of a humane and compassionate
husbandman raising upwards or
pushing backwards the yoke over the cheeks or dewlaps of the ox,
that it may not
press too heavily upon him or hinder him while eating. The reference is, according
to
Kimchi, to “taking the yoke off the neck, and letting
it hang on the jaw, that it may
not
pull but rest from labor one or more hours of the day.” The fact thus
figuratively expressed is, not the deliverance from the bondage of
but the loving-kindness of Jehovah in lightening the
fulfillment of the
Law to
interpreters, taking וְאַט as the first person future apoc., Hiphil, from נטח, translate,
“And I reached them food to eat,” namely, the manna in the
wilderness. This would
require וָאַט, which some substitute for the present reading. Ewald, Keil, and others
take אט as an adverb in
the sense of”gradually,” “gently,” translating, “And
gently
towards him did I give him food,” or “I gently fed him.” Some,
again, as Kimchi, take
In this clause also the Septuagint, probably reading as
follows: וֵאַט אֵלָיו
אוּכַל לו,
translates, Ἐπιβλέψομαι πρὸς αὐτὸν
δυνήσομαι αὐτῷ - epiblepsomai pros
auton dunaesomai auto - I will have
respect to him; I will prevail with him.
Continuing the several clauses of this verse, we may express the meaning
of the
whole as follows: “Cords of a man”
denote humane methods which Jehovah
employed in dealing with and drawing His people — not such cords as
oxen
or
other animals are drawn by; while “bands of love” is a
kindred
expression, explaining and emphasizing the former, and signifying
such
leading-strings as those with which a parent lovingly guides his child. The
means employed by God for the help, encouragement, and support
of His
people were kind as they were bountiful. His benevolent and
beneficent
modes of procedure are further exhibited by another figure of
like origin;
for
just as a considerate and compassionate man, a humane husbandman,
gives respite and relief to the oxen at work by loosening the
yoke and
lifting it up off the neck upon the cheeks; and thus affords not
only
temporary rest and ease, but also allows an occasional mouthful or more
of
food, or even abundant provender, to the animal which toils in the yoke
while plowing or at other work; so
Jehovah extended to
notwithstanding their frequent acts of unfaithfulness, His sparing mercy
and
tender compassions, supplying them in abundant measure with all
that
they needed for the sustenance and even comforts of life. Thus their
sin in turning aside to other gods, which
were no gods, in quest of larger
benefits and more liberal support and succor, was all the more inexcusable.
The Attractiveness of God (v. 4)
These words are true for all ages and peoples. Human laws
are limited, but
Divine laws are universal. Gravitation, for example, draws
material things
to
each other, whether they be the ice-floes that float in the polar seas, or
the
creepers which hang in heavy festoons in tropical forests; whether in
the
land where liberty loves the light, or in the kingdom where tyrants
brood and conspirators glower in the darkness. The bold use of
the second
verse in this chapter by Matthew (Matthew 2:15) shows how in the
special historical fact may be discerned the general and universal
principle.
The Divine care of
Babe of
light and liberty. The soul’s exodus and pilgrimage is as real
now as then,
and
of those rejoicing in nearness to God He can say, “I drew them with
cords of a man, with bands of love.” Let us consider the evidence and the
influence of the DIVINE ATTRACTIVENESS!
Ø
As exhibited in the mission of Christ. Instead of coming
in the clouds of
heaven to compel the homage of the world, He came in the likeness
of men,
and won the love of those round Him in
human child. “He grew… in
favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52)
During His ministry the
same method was pursued; He drew disciples
around Him “with the cords
of a man, even with bands of love.”
His chosen disciples were
not those
whose enthusiasm was aroused by
works of superhuman character; on the contrary, such as these had to
be repressed, as they were when they would take Jesus
by force to make
Him a
King. John and Peter and others who were
specially His own were
won by His love, were drawn with the cords of a man.
It was those who
were thus drawn who were ready for the higher blessing.
While a wicked
and adulterous generation in vain sought after a sign,
despised sinners and
humble children were enriched beyond all expectation.
Still Christ seeks
to win such confidence, and to win it by the same means. He
speaks not
from the throne of glory, but FROM
THE CROSS OF
Divine love is pleading with us
through the weakness of mortality.
“And I, if I be
lifted up from the earth, will draw all
men unto me”
(John 12:32),
Ø
As exhibited in the experience of Christians. If we would know the
laws of mental life we do not seek them in the phenomena of
physical
life, and it would be equally absurd to expect the physiologist from
his
study of brain movements, or the metaphysician from his
acquaintance
with the laws of
intellect, TO UNVEIL UNTO US
THE SECRETS
OF
SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE. The subtle movements
of religious life
can only be known by religious men. They, without one discordant voice,
declare that they have been and are sensible of Divine
drawings. Listen to such
utterances as these: “By the grace of God I am what I am” (I Corinthians
15:10); “We love Him, because He first loved us” (I John 4:19);
“We are not sufficient
of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves;
but our sufficiency
is of God” (II Corinthians 3:5).
What are these but
confirmations of the text, and of our Lord’s declaration, “No man
can
come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him”?
(John 6:44) - Here is a quotation from Augustine, which
shows
how he had been drawn to the Savior he had so long ignored:
“How sweet
did it at once become to me to want the sweetnesses
of those toys! and
what I feared to be parted from was now a joy to part with. For
thou didst
cast them forth, and for them enteredst
in thyself sweeter than all pleasures,
though not to flesh and blood; brighter than all light, but more
hidden than
all depths; higher than all honor, but not to the high in
their own conceits.”
Every saint on
earth and in heaven can say:
“He
drew me, and I followed on.
Glad
to confess the voice Divine”
Ø
He would draw us to His feet .for pardon. The prodigal was not forced
home. In his abject misery thoughts came to him of his father’s
love, and
with them the idea of returning stole in. So the thought of GOD’S
GREAT GOODNESS should incite the worst sinner to return to
the Lord, WHO WILL ABUNDANTLY PARDON! (Isaiah 55:7)
“Knowest thou not that the goodness of the Lord
leadeth thee to
repentance?” (Romans 2:4)
Ø
He would draw us to His arms .for protection.
To feel that God is
about us is at once our strength and defense, our comfort and
joy.
Think of Joseph in Potiphar’s
house, to Jacob at
before the burning bush, etc., for illustrations of this. Still in this world,
which is sobbing with
sorrow, dark with foreboding, saddened by
sin, THE
THE DOOR IS OPEN!
Ø
He would draw us to His home for rest, If life were to be
lived out
here, it would not be worth living. Truly, it is good that a life
so sinful is so short!
But as strangers and pilgrims
we are passing
through the world, sometimes driven onward by grief, sometimes
allured
onward by joy, but ever journeying towards “the rest
that remains
for the people of God”
(Hebrews 4:9). Beside us, in life, in
death,
in eternity, is One who, with love greater than that of any father to his
child, still declares,” “I
DREW THEM WITH CORDS OF A MAN,
WITH
BANDS OF LOVE.”
A Rich Display of God’s Mercy, Love, and
Long-Suffering (vs. 1-4)
One chief design of Scripture is to RECOMMEND TO SINNERS the goodness
and grace of God. “The whole Scripture,” says Luther, “aims especially at
this,
that we doubt not, but certainly hope, trust, and believe that GOD IS
GRACIOUS, MERCIFUL AND LONG-SUFFERING!
Israel when he became the object
of this love. That condition was one of
childhood, and so of childish ignorance, of childish impotence, of
childish
folly; for folly is
bound up in the heart of a child (Proverbs 22:15). Nay, if
we compare Ezekiel 16:4-8, we find the natural state of the
nation to have
been still worse; that wretched state is there vividly
exhibited under the
similitude of a poor perishing infant in the most pitiable condition.
So with
persons individually as well as nationally. When, to use the
figure of the
prophet, we were polluted, literally trodden down, and perishing
in our
own blood, He passed by us and looked upon us, and His tone
was a
tone of love. (For the
spirit of this, I highly recommend typing in
your browser – His Banner Over Me is Love – Cedarmont
Kids - You
Tube - My 2 ½ year old grandson and I get a lot out of it! - CY – 2012)
son. The relation of a son to a father is a very near and dear
one. The
privilege of sonship is very great. David
esteemed it no light thing to be a
king’s son-in-law. How unspeakably greater it is to be a son of
God by
adoption as well as by creation, and thus to be an heir of glory!
“Is
Ephraim my
dear son?” God inquires; and again He
says, “I will spare them,
as a man spareth his own son that serveth him” (Malachi
3:17). But though
the privilege of being a son of God is great and the dignity
high, it does not
necessarily exempt us from sore trials and severe sufferings; it
rather secures
for us such paternal chastening as for the present is not
joyous but grievous,
nevertheless afterward productive of the peaceable fruits of
righteousness
(Hebrews 12:11). Though Israel was God’s son, yet Israel was
for years in
Egypt.
wishes well but does well to every son whom He receiveth into his family.
Though Israel had been long in
Egypt, he was not allowed to remain there.
God in due time called His son
out of Egypt. It was a night much to be
remembered when that call reached them. God speaks the word and it is
done; His call is effectual for the purpose intended. However
great our
distress, it only requires a word from God to relieve us; and that word
is as
easily spoken as the call which one man addresses to another when
he
would invite him from some distance to his side. Strange indeed
it may
appear to us that God’s people
equally strange it is that the dearly beloved of His soul are
often delivered
into the hand of their enemies. “It is a strange sight indeed
to see a child of
God, an heir of heaven, a
co-heir with Jesus Christ, one dearer to God than
heaven and earth, subject to the power, the caprice, and lusts of
wicked,
base, ungodly men; yea, it may be, for a time slaves to Satan.”
by His messengers called
messengers and a deaf ear to their call. Nay, like disobedient
children or
stubborn servants, they actually turned in the opposite direction.
As God’s
mercy was manifested in delivering them out of the furnace of
affliction
and then calling to obedience; so their stubbornness appeared
in, and their
sin was aggravated by, THEIR
REFUSAL TO HEARKENT TO THAT
CALL and still more by their running in a direction the right
opposed.
Thus we read in Jeremiah, “They turned unto me the back, and not the
face.” (Jeremiah 2:27; 32:33).
Ø
It combines the
tenderness of a parent with the carefulness of a nurse.
When the way was dark and
obscure, He guided them as by the pillar
of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Thus He
pointed out the
way and showed them the direction in which they were to walk.
Thus
He taught them to go. When
obstacles lay in the way and difficulties
blocked it, He lifted them up by the arms and carried them over
all
hindrances. Similarly we read in Deuteronomy 1:31, “In the wilderness,
where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee, as a
man
doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went.” Now He took them by
the hand and led them again; He lifted them up and
carried them in the
arms, ever conducting them in the right way.
Ø
So with us all more or
less the path in life is untrodden; frequently we
are at a standstill; often we are sorely perplexed to know
which way we
should go; often and often we go astray and wander from the way.
(“O Lord, I know that the way of
man is not in himself: it is not
in man that walketh to direct his steps” - Jeremiah
9:23). Again,
there are stumbling-blocks in the way, and we stumble and fall
over
them. What need we have to depend on Divine love all the way,
ever praying, “Lord, take us by the hand and lead us;
Lord, hold up
our goings in thy paths that our footsteps slip not; Lord,
keep our
feet from falling, our eyes from tears, and our soul from
death”!
(Psalm 116:8)
Ø
The way may be strait,
as when Israel was hemmed in between
mountains, the sea before them and Pharaoh’s host behind; or it may
be difficult, and so steep as well as strait, it; or
it may be dangerous,
for in the way through the wilderness there is the place of
lions’ dens
and the mountains of the leopards; but, notwithstanding all
such
drawbacks, we have reason
to bless God for leading us forth by the
right way. And when
we are in greatest straits and the way is hardest,
we have only to cry to God in our trouble; and as He led
so will He lead us also forth by the right way. “They
shall come with
weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause
them to
walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they
shall not
stumble: for I am a Father to
(Jeremiah 31:9). Thus God not only bears His people, but bears
with
His people; and commissions
His ministering servants to do
likewise, as Moses complained that God wanted him to “Carry them
in thy bosom, as a
nursing father beareth the sucking child.”
care, we run into the way of danger through our own frowardness or folly.
We stumble and fall, getting
many a sore bruise and severe knock. Yet God
in His love restores us; He heals us. As the child, when
hurt, runs to the
parent for sympathy — to the mother to kiss the wound and make it
well;
so, when unhappily we
have strayed from the way, and got bruised and
hurt and painfully wounded through our own willfulness, WE ARE
ENCOURAGED TO
RETURN TO GOD AND HE WILL HEAL US!
God might, indeed, if He dealt
with us in strict
justice, leave us to ourselves
and to the sad consequences of our own sinful
waywardness, and refuse to
lead us any more. Not so, however. As he says by the
Prophet Isaiah,
“I have seen his ways, and will heal
him: I will lead him also, and restore
comforts unto him, and to his mourners.” (Isaiah 57:18)
MECHANICALLY. He
deals with us as a rational being, treating us
neither as machines nor yet as “dumb driven cattle.” The lower
animal
must sometimes be drawn, or forced with a degree of violence;
but God
does not draw men in this way. In drawing them He uses neither
hard
cords nor iron bands. He draws us by rational means,
addressing Himself
to our intelligence and appealing to our affections. Thus
Paul says,
“I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say” (I Corinthians 10:15).
He
draws us by persuasion and argument. He draws us with gentleness, and
not by force. He employs the mildest means and the tenderest motives. He
draws us in a manner suitable to the dignity of our nature. Made in the
image of God, originally created in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness,
and still possessed of great susceptibilities, strong affections, warm emotions,
and tender sensibilities,
we are treated by God with a considerate regard to
the high qualities with
which He has endowed us. Accordingly He draws us
with human cords and DIVINE LOVE! The instrumentality employed is
human, and the love that employs
it is DIVINE!
husbandman lightens the labor of the weary beasts, and lifts up the
yoke on
its jaws in order to ease it and give it some respite, so God lifts up the
weight that presses on the back of poor humanity. He sustains us under
our burdens, or even
shares with us the load. Sometimes He removes the
yoke entirely; oftener He gives respite and refreshment; always
He sanctifies
the load of labor, or care, or trouble, or suffering, or
sorrow of whatever kind
which His own hand has laid on the back of His people, and never
does He
lay more on them than He
enables them by His grace and strength to bear.
the words, “And laid meat
unto them.” The same kind hand that
lifts up the
yoke, by way of respite and relief, supplies provender for the
purpose of
refreshment. God laid meat before His people in the desert, when He
rained
down manna and sent them quails. The
same bountiful Benefactor spreads
a table before us daily, and makes our cup run over. (“He daily loads us
with benefits” – Psalm
68:19) Better still, and surer token of
His love, is the
abundant spiritual provision He has made for the souls of His
people, in
giving them the bread that cometh down from heaven. “We are
satisfied
with the goodness of His house, even of His holy temple.” (Ibid. ch. 65:4)
The next three verses (5-7) describe the severe
chastisement
by
ingratitude for, and contempt of, the Divine love.
5 “He shall not return
into the
shall be his king, because they refused to return.” These words sound
like an announcement that the season of
Divine grace, so long extended to
that sin-laden people, HAD AT
LENGTH EXPIRED; and that on account
of
their stubborn and ungrateful rebellion
against Jehovah they would be
forced, to go into exile and become subject to the monarch of
ch.8:13, “They
shall return to
shall return to
changes His mode of procedure, not allowing them to return to
dooming them to a worse bondage under the Assyrians.
revolted and applied to
permitted to come from
allowed. The power of
native kings and Egyptian auxiliaries,
iron yoke. However desirous of returning to
neither the power nor the privilege of doing so. And this poor
privilege of a
choice of masters they were refused as a just retribution, because they had
not repented of their sin and returned to God. Various methods have
been resorted to, to harmonize the apparent contradiction
alluded to, that is,
between the affirmative and negative statements about
Ø
Dathe, Eichhorn, and De Wette agree with the Septuagint in reading
לו instead of לא, and connecting it with the preceding verse; but the
other versions, as well as the manuscripts, support the received
text.
Ø
Jerome and Rosenmüller explain it of the people’s desire to conclude
an
alliance with
frustrated by the superior power of the latter; thus the sense is
that they
shall not return any more to
ambassadors, to seek help from that land or its people. Then he
assigns
the reason why they would not again send ambassadors to
purpose indicated, because the Assyrian alone would be their king.
The
objection to this is that lo yashubu must
refer to the whole people rather
than to their ambassador going to and fro between the
countries.
Ø
Ewald, Maurer, and others cut the knot by taking lo interrogatively,
as
if it were halo, and thus equivalent to an
affirmative, i.e. “Shall they not
return to
would be in the affirmative. Neither grammar nor context
sanctions this
interrogative sense.
Ø
According to Hitzig, Keil, Simson,
and others, we are to understand
of the land of bondage, where in the present passage the
typical
sense is inadmissible, owing to the contrast with
frustrated, but a worse lot lay before them — another and harder
bondage awaited them; the King of Assyria would be their king and
reign over them, and all because of their impenitence and
refusal to
return to Jehovah. The following is the explanation of Kimchi: “They
should not have returned to the
already said to them, ‘Ye shall henceforth return no more that
way;’ (Deuteronomy 17:16); for if they had
returned to me, they
would not have needed help from
year by year. And why is all this? Because they refused, etc.; as if
He said (they refused) to return to
me; for if they had returned to
me, FOREIGN KINGS (literally, ‘kings of the
nations’) WOULD
NOT EVER HAVE
RULED THEM but they would have ruled
over the nations as they had done in the days of David and
Solomon, when they did my
will; and so have I assured them, ‘Thou
Shall reign over
many nations, but they shall not reign over
thee.’” (The root of מאן is cognate with מנע, to hold back,
refuse; the le strengthens the connection of the objectival
infinitive
with the governing verb; the ellipsis of אֵלֶי
is obvious.
6
“And the sword shall abide on his cities, and shall consume
his branches,
and devour them,” - A more accurate rendering would be, and
the sword shall
sweep
round in its cities, and destroy its bolts and devour. Nay, they
could not
free themselves from invasion and attack. The sword of war would
whirl down
upon their cities and consume the branches, that is, the villages, or
the city bars, or
the
strong warriors set for defense. Some understand the word so variously
interpreted in the sense of “liars,”
and refer it to the prophets, priests, and
politicians who spake falsehood and. acted deceitfully. The word הלח
is
rendered “the sword,” as the
principal weapon in ancient warfare anti the symbol
of
war’s destructive power shall sweep round in, circulate, or make the
round of the cities of
Rashi and Kimchi. Again, בַדּים is, as already
intimated, variously rendered.
The most appropriate translation
bars” for securing gates, the root being בדד, to separate.
Targum, as also Rashi: “It destroys his
heroes and consumes them.” this is
the meaning of the word preferred by Gesenius.
frontier, by which a land is shut against or opened to the enemy.
followed by the Authorized Version. “The explanation of בי,” says
Kimchi, “is ‘ branches,’ and it is a
figure for villages, for he had already
mentioned his cities; and villages are related to cities as branches
to a tree;
in like manner they are called ‘ daughters,’ being related to
a city as
daughters to a mother.”
“because of their own counsels.” The cause of all their calamitous invasions,
WHICH THE CITY GATES BARRED AND BOLTED COULD NOT SHUT
OUT
was their
evil counsels in DEPARTING FROM THE LORD, as Kimchi
correctly explains: “All this comes upon them in consequence of
their evil counsel,
because they have forsaken my service to serve other gods.” Rashi draws
attention to the peculiarity of the accentuation — tasha and sellug — to
separate it from the preceding word.
7 “And my people are bent
to backsliding from me:” -
This first
clause of the verse is very expressive, every word almost having
an
emphasis of its own. With all their sinfulness and shortcomings,
still the people of God — my people; they
were guilty of the sin of
backsliding, and of backsliding from GOD,
THE BEST OF
BENEFACTORS and their chief good. Nor was it occasionally
and after
long intervals of time that they back-slided; it was their habit, their tendency.
They were suspended on, or rather fastened on, backsliding – “though they
called them to the Most High, none at all would
exalt Him.” - margin,
together they exalted Him not. This second
clause signifies either that the prophets
called
“together they did not or would
not exalt him”) by abandoning their idols and
abstaining from backsliding; or, “though they call him (
one
of them all will lift himself up,” that is, they together — one and all — refused
or
neglected to lift
themselves upward towards God or goodness.
The word תלוּאיס is equivalent to תְלֻאִים, the same as תלוים, from תלא, equivalent
to תָלָה so that it signifies, according to:
away;” but Pusey seems to combine both in the original sense of
the word,
and explains it as follows: “Literally, hung to it! as we say, ‘a man’s whole
being hangs on a thing.’ A thing hung to or on
another sways to and fro
within certain limits, but its relation to that on which it is
hung remains
immovable, Its power of motion is restrained within these limits. So
so the sinner, however he veer to and fro in the details and
circumstances of his sin, is fixed and immovable in his adherence
to his sin itself.”
Though Rashi and the Targum of Jonathan make משובה
as synonymous
with תשובתּ, thus:
“When the prophets teach them to return to me, they
are
in suspense whether to return or not to return; with difficulty do they
return to me,” — they are, however, distinguished as turning away
from
and
turning to God — aversion from and conversion to Him; while the
suffix יִ
is objective, that is, “My people are hung
to apostatizing from
me.”
or,
The phrase אֶל־עַל,
is variously interpreted, by some as:
that is above him (
not lift themselves up nor desire to do it.” Corruption was so deeply seated
in
of the prophets
urging them upwards.
with אֶלְון, the Most High. Kimchi explains
as follows: “He says, My
people oscillate between distress and freedom; sometimes distress
comes
upon them, and again they are in the condition of freedom, and
this takes
place for their backsliding from me, as if He said,
because of the
backsliding and rebellion which they practice against me… The prophets
call them constantly to return to God most high.” So Aben Ezra: “The
interpretation is, the callers call him to the Most High, and they
are the
prophets of God; but they all in one way raise not the head.”
shall be imposed on them together, that is not taken away.”
The verb ירְומְם signifies,
“extol.”
Sense to supply ירְלֺאשׁו, his head, with Grotius, nor yet to understand it written
for or in the sense of ירְומַם, with Joseph Kimchi. Similarly
the Syriac:
“They call him to God, but they
think together, conspire, and do not raise
themselves.” The word יתד
is “all together,” and therefore יַחַדלא
is “no
one.”
angry with His precious things, and shall not at all exalt him,”
having probably
read וְאֶל־עַל יְקָרָיו
יִהַר
Fatal Courses (vs. 5-7)
So the wise man teaches, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man,
but the
end thereof are the ways of death”
(Proverbs 16:25). We have
here:
God’s. This is brought out in the different expressions: “They refused to
return” (v. 5); “Because
of their own counsels” (v. 6); “My people are
bent on backsliding from me” (v. 7); “None at all would exalt him” (or
exalt themselves, raise themselves up to God). They were in
error, but they
would not be persuaded of it. They were hugging a delusion, but they
clung to it as wisdom. They thought their own way right, and the
way
which the prophets pointed out to them silly, stupid,
contemptible. This is
the folly of the sinner. He sets himself up as wiser than God. He snaps
his fingers at those who call him to the Most High (v. 7). The
folly of his
way might seem self-evident, but, unwarned by the lessons of
the past, he
sounds its praises as if reason and experience were entirely on
his side.
DESTRUCTION whether those who walk in them are persuaded
of the fact or not. (“whether they will
hear, or whether they will
forbear, [for they are a
rebellious house]; …….whether they
will hear or forbear:…….whether they will hear or whether
they will forbear” - Ezekiel 2:5,7; 3:11)
So Israel found it. Their
own counsels, which they preferred to God’s, COST
THEM:
Ø
Relegation to bondage. (v. 5.) The freedom God had bestowed
upon them (v. 1) he would again deprive them. Their destination,
however, would not be the literal
of God’s moral administration abide, but they
seldom embody
themselves in precisely the same outward forms.
Ø
A whirling sword.
(v.6.) The sword would whirl and devour
TILL IT HAD DEVESTATED THE
A type of the more
terrible wrath that will CONSUME
THE SINNER!
8 “How shall I give thee
up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee,
Zeboim?” This verse paves the way for transition to promise.
Although the
Israelites on account of such conduct had merited complete
annihilation,
yet
Jehovah, for His love and mercy’s sake,
SUBSTITUTES GRACE
FOR JUSTICE and will not
destroy them from off the face of the earth.
One rendering gives the
clause the turn of an exclamation rather than of an
interrogation; thus: “How readily and justly could I [or should I, or
how
thoroughly could I if I punished thy rebellion as I deserved] give
thee up to
destruction!” We prefer the ordinary rendering, by which it is treated as a
question: “How shall I give thee up to the power of the enemy, and
not only
that, but destroy thee?” Calvin’s exposition seems indeed to favor the
former:
“Here,” he says, “God consults what He is to do with the
people; and first, indeed,
He shows that it was His purpose to execute vengeance such
as the Israelites
deserved, even wholly to destroy them; but yet He assumes the
character of
one
deliberating, that none might think that He hastily fell into anger, or
that, being soon excited by excessive fury, He devoted to ruin those who
had
lightly sinned, or were guilty of no great crimes By these expressions
of
the text God shows what the Israelites deserved, and that He was now
inclined to inflict the punishment of which they were worthy, and
yet not
without repentance, or at least not without hesitation. He
afterwards adds
in
the next clause, This I will not do; my heart is within me changed” -
“mine heart is turned within me,
my repentings are kindled together.”
The עַל, literally, “upon,” “with,” then, “in,” or “within:” “My
heart is
turned or changed from anger to pity in me.” The expression, יַהַד נִכְמְרוּ,
signifies, according to Rashi, “one warmed,”
as in Genesis 43:30,
where this same word is rendered in the Authorized Version, “yearned:”
“His bowels did yearn upon his brother,” or “warmed towards.” But
many modern interpreters understand the word in the sense of”
gathering themselves together:” “The feelings of compassion
gathered
themselves together;” nichumim, from
Piel μjeni, a noun of the form הבוד,
less definite than rachamim, bowels,
as the seat of the emotions, “gathered
themselves together,” or “were excited all at once.” The cities of the plain
included Admah and Zeboim,
consequence of their sins, were overthrown and perished in one common
calamity. In Deuteronomy
29:23 these cities are all named, though
Admah and Zeboim are not mentioned by
name in the narrative of the
catastrophe contained in Genesis (See arkdiscovery.com. – CY – 2012).
Though
strong reluctance to deliver them over into the hands and power
of their enemies,
or
to give them up to destruction. His heart revolted at the thought, and turned
aside from the fierceness of His anger, though so fully
deserved, into the direction
of
mercy; a new turn was given to His feelings in the direction of compassion.
All His relentings or repentings together — one and all — yearned or were
at
once aroused. Repenting on the part of God is an expression suited to
human comprehension, implying no
change of purpose on the side of God,
but only a change of procedure consistent with his purpose of
everlasting
love. “The Law speaks
in the language of the sons of men.”
9
“I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not
return to destroy Ephraim:” -
The promise of this verse is in
harmony with
the
spirit of compassion expressed in the preceding. It is at once the effect
and
evidence of that feeling of DIVINE
COMPASSION! God would neither
execute the burning heat of His wrath, for so the words literally
mean, nor
destroy Ephraim utterly, or again any more as formerly. The
historic event
referred to may be the destruction effected by Tiglath-pileser,
ally of Ahaz
King of
he
carried away captive the inhabitants of Gilead,
we
read in II Kings 15:29, “In the days of Pekah
King of
Tiglath-pileser King of
Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazer, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of
Naphtali, and
carried them captive to
the
primary allusion, there is an ulterior reference to the future restoration
of
thee: and I will not enter into the city (or, come into bumming wrath,
Keil).” A reason is here
assigned for the exercise of the Divine
commiseration just
expressed; this reason is GOD’S COVENANT OF
EVERLASTING LOVE! He is God, and must
be measured by a Divine
standard — not man, implacable and revengeful; though His people’s
provocation had been grievous, God
was in the midst of them as their God,
long-suffering and steadfast to His covenant of love and purposes of
mercy.
He would not enter into
the city as an enemy, and for the purpose of utter
destruction, as He had entered into the cities of the plain FOR
THEIR
ENTIRE AND FINAL RUIN (Jude 1:7 says, “Even as
Gomorrha, and the
cities about them in like manner…………are
SET
VENGEANCE OF ETERNAL FIRE ”)
or, if the alternative rendering
be
preferred, He would not come into burning wrath. The fiery heat or
fierceness
of God’s wrath tends to destruction, not the amendment of the
impenitent. The expression, “I
will not return,” may also be
understood
as
equivalent to: “I will
not turn from my pity and promises;” or, “I will not
turn away from
of
two verbs expressing one idea in a modified sense, i.e. “I will not
return to
destroy,” that is, “I will not again destroy Ephraim.” Jerome’s
explanation favors
the
first, and is, “I will not act according to the fury of my anger, nor change
from my clemency to destroy Ephraim; for I do not strike to destroy for
ever, but to amend... for I am God and not man. Man
punishes for this
purpose of destroying; God
chastises for the purpose of amending.”
As
God, His purpose of mercy was changeless; as the Holy One
in
was
infinitely pure and absolutely perfect, “the Father of lights, with whom
can be no variation,
neither shadow that is cast by turning” (James
1:17).
The meaning already given of coming into the city is
supported by ancient versions,
Hebrew expositors, and some of the ablest Christian
commentators; yet we prefer
that which understands עיּד in the sense of “the heat of wrath,” deriving it from עוּד
effervescence, which is that given in Keil’s
translation. There is an explanation
strongly advocated by Bishop Lowth and
adopted by Rosenmüller. It is as follows
in
the words of the bishop: “Jerome is almost singular in his explanation: ‘I am
not
one
of those who inhabit cities; who live according to human laws; who think
cruelty justice.’ Castalio follows
Jerome. There is, in fact, in the latter member of the
sentence, לאאי בי, a parallelism and synonym to ya
yl in the
former. The
future ya
has a frequentative power (see Psalm 22:3
and 8), ‘I am not accustomed
to
enter a city: I am not an inhabitant of a city.’ For there is a beautiful
opposition of the different parts: ‘I am God, and not man.’ This is
amplified in the next line, and the antithesis a little varied: ‘ I
am thy God,
inhabiting with thee, but in a peculiar and extraordinary manner, not
in the
manner of men.’ Nothing, I think, can be plainer or more elegant
than
this.” The bishop’s rendering of the whole verse is —
“I will
not do according to the fervor of my wrath,
I
will not returnf1 to destroy Ephraim:
For I
am God, and not man;
Holy in the midst of thee, though I inhabit not thy cities.”
10 “They shall walk after
the Lord: He shall roar like a lion:
when He shall roar, then the children shall tremble from the
west.”
Others translate, “After the Lord shall they go as after a
lion that roareth.”
But this necessitates a double ellipsis of “after which.”
They would go after
the
Lord in obedience to His summons. That summons is represented as
far-reaching and terrible. Calling His people to return, the Lord roars
as a
lion, to denote at once the loudness of the call, and the awful majesty of
the
Lord when thus calling His people to return. “As a lion,” says Kimchi,
“which roars that the
animals whose king he is may assemble to him, so
the
Israelites shall assemble on hearing the voice of the
Lord when He roars.”
The roaring of the lion may signify His terrible judgments
on
enemies, when He calls His people home from the lands of their
dispersion.
The result would be a speedy return of His children from
the lands of the
West — the countries round or beyond the
11 “They shall tremble as
a bird out of
the
Lord.” The trembling
here is eager haste, or precipitate agitation, in which
they would hurry home, and that from west and east and south — from
west as we infer from v.10, from Assyria in the east and
They would thus hurry as a bird home to its nest in the
greenwood; as a dove
no longer a silly dove (ch.
7:11), but flying home to its window. This
chapter is regarded by some as ending here. Others include v. 12.
12 “Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and
the house of
the saints.” The first clause sets forth the faithlessness and
insincerity of
belongs to the present chapter. But others understand the last
clause
differently, and deny the contrast, viz. “
and towards the All-Holy One, who is faithful.”
The Ingratitude of Israel and Its Punishment
(vs. 5-12)
Both are remarkably manifested in these verses. After all God’s loving-kindness
THEY REFUSE TO TURN TO GOD!
ecclesiastically as well as civilly, under the Jewish economy as in the
Christian
dispensation. Once before, at an early
period in Hebrew history
and on a remarkable occasion, the Israelites:
Ø
discouraged by the
teachings of the spies,
Ø
debased by
previous servitude,
Ø
deficient in
moral courage, and,
Ø
worst of all, distrustful of Divine providence,
REFUSED TO MARCH
INTO CANAAN.
They murmured against God and
against Moses. “Back to Egypt,”
was their cry. And back they went, not to Egypt, but to wander
in the
wilderness for thirty-eight years longer, as a justly merited
punishment
for their unthankfulness and
rebellion against God. Similarly on the
occasion to which the prophet here refers, they had grievously
sinned
against God, yet they fancied they would find refuge in
rebelled and resisted all the means employed to bring them back to
God,
but they would not
return to Him. And now they cry, like
their forefathers,
“To Egypt,” as if shelter
and safety could be obtained there. But God
frustrates their silly, sinful purpose. A worse than the bondage of
Egypt
awaits them; they were destined to go into captivity to
So with stubborn and
stout-hearted sinners still. They
will go anywhere,
or resort to any expedient, even returning to Egypt, RATHER THAN
RETURN TO GOD! For a time the prodigal would rather be a swineherd,
and share the husks on which the swine fed, than return to the abundance
of his father’s house (Luke 15). “Some stubborn children care not what
miseries they suffer rather than return and humble themselves to their
parents;” so some stubborn spirits seem disposed, IN
THEIR FOLLY
AND DESPERATION to return to their FORMER STATE OF
BONDAGE AND MISERY
rather than REPENT AND SUBMIT
THEMSELVES TO
GOD. Let such beware lest, owing to their
impatience and impenitence, a worse thing befall them.
chastises a disobedient people are famine, pestilence, and the
sword.
Ø
Of the three, THE SWORD is, perhaps, the worst.
At all events
David thought it so. When
he was called to make choice between
seven years of famine, three days’ pestilence, and three months’
flight before the pursuing sword of the enemy, he preferred
falling
into the hand of God rather than into the hand of man, choosing
THE
PESTILENCE rather than the sword. (II Samuel 24)
Ø
And yet the sword also
has its commission from God, as we learn
from the exclamation of the prophet, “O thou sword of
the Lord,
how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put
up thyself into thy scabbard,
rest, and be still.” But
it is added, in answer to this inquiry, “How
can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a charge against
(Jeremiah 47:6-7)
Ø
The Prophet Hosea
pictures the severity of the stroke either by the
wide area which the sword swept over, or the length of time it
continued to distress them; also by the fact that the cities which
were looked upon as the strong fortresses, at all events the
strength
of the land, were the main objects of attack. Elsewhere in
the fields
or open country the ravages of war are not quite so dreadful
as in
the city with its crowded population, where human beings,
densely
massed together, are literally mowed down. Nor yet were the
villages spared, nor did their bars shut out the enemy.
Ø
The duty of
prayer is incumbent in time of war.
This lesson is
inculcated by the example of the psalmist. After speaking in the
fifty-fifth psalm of having seen violence and strife in the city,
while men hurried to and fro upon the walls, with other sad
accompaniments of troublous times — mischief, sorrow,
wickedness, deceit, and guile — he announces the course
he pursued: “As for me, I
will call upon God; and the Lord
shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I
pray,
and call aloud: and He shall hear my voice” (Psalm 55:16-17)
while peace and deliverance were the happy outcome of
his prayers: “He hath delivered
my soul in peace from the battle
that was against me: for there were many with me.” (Ibid. v.18).
was not peculiar to the people or the period of Hosea’s prophesyings. The
UNREGENERATE HEART is
invariably the source of backsliding.
When a religious profession is
influenced only by external motive and not
by internal power, men may be expected to backslide. In the
days of our
Lord it was sorrowfully said of
some that they went back and walked
no more with Jesus
(John 6:66). In seasons of
religious revival, of many
who make a profession of religion, that profession, in the
case of some,
proceeds from an outward impulse, certain convictions, or even the
power
of sympathy, and soon as the time of excitement is over they
backslide;
their convictions did not ripen into conversion; the root of the
matter was
never in them (Matthew 13:20-22). The same is occasionally found
in the
case of some young communicants. At the first communion, the
boy in the
freshness of his youth, the girl in the purity of her childhood,
feel much
ardor of affection and manifest much fervor of devotion; but
what from
unfavorable surroundings, or evil communications, or little sins
unchecked,
the love of their espousals grows cold, and backsliding ensues.
Even in the
case of persons truly converted, a degree of coldness creeps
over them; they
seem to grow weary of the ways of God; they become apathetic,
and
backslide for a time. Beware of
grieving the Holy Spirit; beware of resisting
the strivings and stirrings of conscience; beware of putting the
hand to the
plough and then turning back or turning aside to folly; in a word,
BEWARE OF
BACKSLIDING! Be warned by that solemn Scripture,
“If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”
(Hebrews 10:38)
reverence be it spoken, the conduct of
All-Merciful One
Himself. Judgment was due, but
love holds it in check;
the vials of wrath were ready to be poured out but the voice
of mercy
intercedes; punishment was well deserved, but the hand of pity pushes
it aside. (However, the Seven Vials in Revelation 15:7-16:1 -
will be
poured out upon a wicked world – CY - 2012)
They had been called
to the Most High, to acquaint themselves with Him, to
acknowledge Him,
and to accept Him as their God and King; but they stopped
their ears
against those calls. They refused to lift
themselves up from their low
groveling course of conduct, and they refused to exalt the Most High,
or to bless THAT GLORIOUS NAME WHICH IS ABOVE ALL
BLESSING AND
PRAISE! We cannot exalt God, or make Him more
glorious than HE IS “yet then God accounts Himself to be exalted
when He is known (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Ezekiel - Study of
God’s Use of the Word Know – this web site – CY – 2012)
and acknowledged as the
high, supreme, first Being; when we fear Him
as God; when we humble ourselves before Him as before a
God; when
we are sensible of the infinite distance there is between Him
and us;
when we are willing to consecrate what we are, or have, or
can do, to
the furtherance of His praise; when His will is made the
rule of all our
ways, and especially
of His worship; when we make Him the last end
of all; when it is the great care of our souls and work of
our lives to do
what possibly we can, that He may be magnified and lifted up
in the
world; and when we account the least sin a greater evil than
can be
recompensed by all the good which heaven and earth can afford
us;
(“Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is
my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where
is the place of my rest?
For all those things hath mine hand made,
and all those things have been, saith
the LORD: but to this man
will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite
spirit, and
trembleth at my word. He
that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man;
he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if
he cut off a dog’s neck; he that
offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine’s blood; he that burneth
incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their
own
ways, and their soul delighteth in
their abominations. I also will
choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them;
because
when I called, none did answer; when I spake,
they did not hear:
but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I
delighted
not. Hear the word of
the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your
brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake,
said,
Let the LORD be
glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and
they shall be ashamed.” – Isaiah 66:1-5 – CY –
2012) — when we
do thus, GOD ACCOUNTS
HIMSELF EXALTED BY US!
But Israel had acted
in opposition to all this; hence the
controversy,
the perplexity, the puzzling questions which follow. Four questions are
followed by four answers.
Ø
“How shall I give
thee up, Ephraim?” to which the answer
is,
“Mine heart is
turned within me.”
Ø
“How shall I
deliver thee, Israel?” to which the
reply is,
“My repentings
are kindled together.”
Ø
“How shall I make
thee as Admah?” to which the response is,
“I will not
execute the fierceness of mine anger.”
Ø
“How shall I set
thee as Zeboim?” to which the rejoinder is,
“I will not
return to destroy Ephraim.”
His wrath, nor
return to destroy Ephraim, nor enter into the city. Here we
note a remarkable contrast in God’s dealings with us. He
compares Himself
to a man in the exercise of mercy. It is different in regard
to the execution
of His wrath; then He is God and not man. In expressing His
mercy He
speaks after the manner of men; in the yearnings of His bowels,
in the
extent of His mercifulness, He expresses Himself as man, though
more,
infinitely more, than man. But when He speaks of wrath, HE ASSURES
US HE IS GOD and not man. A man of war may, with the soldiers
under him, come upon a town or city, capture it, and plunder it; months
or years elapse, and he returns to the same place again, lays siege to it,
and sacks it, leaving it in a much worse state than at first. But God will
not so return to destroy. HE IS
GOD, not man. Free from all the
weakness of human passion, from all vindictiveness of feeling, from all
fickleness of purpose, from all the littlenesses of the human spirit, He
does not revoke His purposes nor recall His promises of
mercy, neither
does He retain His anger for ever, nor renew the outpouring
of the
vials of His wrath.
Ø
He is, besides, the
Holy One: even in His vindicatory justice
He is holy; no unholy
element of any kind mingles with His
wrath. Holiness is at once an attribute of His nature and a
characteristic of all His administrations. Oh, to be holy as
God is holy, pure as Christ
is pure, perfect as our heavenly
Father is perfect! His
presence is with His people, according
to His promise, “I will walk
among you, and will be your God,
and ye shall be my
people” (Leviticus 26:12);
nay, more,
“I will dwell in them, and walk in them” (II Corinthians 6:16).
Ø
When, in the close of
v. 9, God says, “I will not enter into
the city,”
it is “to be taken in reference to the manner of God’s
proceedings
in the destruction of
Abraham, He entered into
the city, and destroyed it by fire and
brimstone. God many times stands at the gates of a city, ready
to enter in and destroy it, but humiliation in prayer and
reformation keep Him out (Jonah
3:5-10). Oh! let
not our sins
cause a merciful God to go
out, and a
provoked God to enter in.”
Ø
The walking after the
Lord here predicted is to follow the Lord
whithersoever He leadeth. The Savior is given
for a Leader to His
people; He is represented as the Captain of salvation, and just
as
a good soldier follows his superior officer at the head of
the
storming party or in the perilous breach, in the onward march
and in the unwelcome but necessary retreat; so the Christian
soldier, loyal to his Lord, follows Him fully, faithfully,
fearlessly,
through evil report as well as good report, closely, carefully,
and
constantly. “These are they
which follow the Lamb whithersoever
he goeth” (Revelation
14:4). The
path may appear perilous, the
way may be difficult; we may have to turn our backs on our dearest
delights, on our sweetest comforts; we may be ignorant of the
immediate goal to which the Lord leads us, or the use He intends
to make of us, or what He means to do with us; yet
none of these
things shall deter us. If we only make sure that the Lord is
leading us,
we run no risk in following Him; and though He lead us by a way
that we know not, we are sure it is the right way, the safe
way,
and in every respect the best way in the end. The opposite
course is
that pursued by those who walk, not after the Lord, but after
the
lusts of their own hearts, or their own inclinations, or their
own
inventions, or their own counsels, or the example of wicked men.
Ø
The prediction
includes a hasty return in obedience to the Divine
summons. God’s calling people to return to Him is not inaptly
compared to the roaring of a lion. By judgments on the adversary,
or by a solemn awe on the spirits of His people, or by
terrible
things in righteousness, God summons men to submission and
obedience. (Psalm 65:5)
Ø
When God speaks the
word in whatever way, His children hurry
home out of many lands from the far West, the distant East, and
the remote South. Thus it is in seasons of revival, thus it
shall be
more literally in the millennial
period, and in the time of the
restitution of all things (Revelation
20:1-7; Acts 3:21). When the
Spirit shall be poured out
from on high in Pentecostal power and in
Pentecostal plenty, men
shall, as at the first Pentecost, when they
were assembled from many lands, join themselves to God’s
people.
They shall not only come
hastily, but swiftly. Their hasty arrival is
compared to a flight resembling that of the dove,
which flies swiftly
(As I changed the color on this phrase, I can see the dove, in its
quickness, darting this way and that – scenes from my childhood
and all life long – CY - 2012), as implied in the psalmist’s words,
“Oh that I had wings like a dove!” (Psalm 55:6) - They
shall,
moreover, arrive in great numbers, as doves fly in flocks, as
implied in the words of the prophet, “Who are these that fly as a
cloud, and as doves to their windows?” (Isaiah
60:8)
Ø
A place of rest is
promised them. When men walk after the Lord and
unite themselves lovingly with His people, they are assured both
of
rest and refreshment. Whether this may have had a literal
fulfillment,
in the return of members of the ten tribes from
brethren of
Egypt, we do not know for certain;
but this much is sure, that such a
return of God’s people to him shall actually take place in the day
of
the restitution of all things; while its figurative application repeats
itself in every real revival of religion, when sinners, truly
penitent like
the prodigal, shall return from many a far country of sin and
shame
and sorrow to their Father’s house and home, renouncing the
swineherd’s husks for that rich spiritual abundance of bread
enough and to spare. (Luke
15:16-18)
tribes with Ephraim at their head, that is, rulers and ruled, are
here charged
with lies and deceit. Their
professions of worship were nothing better than
lying pretences; their political schemes were little less than deceitful
maneuvers. Their piety
and their policy were alike hollow and futile. With
such false worship and carefully devised strokes of policy,
which were but
deceitful tricks, they compassed God as though they could deceive
the
omniscient One Himself. The following illustration from an old divine
seems apt, though homely: “I am, in respect of their sins, as a
man beset
round, who would have egress, but when he goes one way there he
is
stopped, and another way he is stopped there too. God compares
Himself
to such a man, as if, in going on in the ways of mercy, he is
there stopped
by some course of sin, and entering on another part he is
there stopped again.”
(I am reminded of the dog who used to get in our garbage and I got tired
and built a fence. He
got in through the gate but when he wanted to leave,
he put his head down and went north and looked up, there was
a fence;
when he went west, there was a fence; when he went south, there
was
a fence, etc. – CY – 2012)
How many there are whose acts of worship are
so many solemn lies! Their professions of piety are mere
pretences; their
prayers may be eloquent and comprehensive, but they do not proceed
from the heart;
their presence in the sanctuary is only bodily, their
thoughts being away about their worldly business, or roaming over
mountains of vanity. Many there are who are ready to acknowledge
God, His greatness and glory,
His glorious majesty, His almighty power,
His infinite wisdom,
and His sovereign disposal of all human affairs;
but they do not realize the august
nature of the Divine attributes, nor
THE WONDROUS
WORKINGS OF HIS PROVIDENCE! Many, too,
confess their great sinfulness, and profess deep humiliation on
account of
it; but their confession is not accompanied by contrition,
nor is their
professed humiliation either provable by facts or practical in its
effects.
Strange, passing strange, it is
that men thus impose on themselves, or
attempt to deceive God! “They
did flatter Him with their mouth,”
says
the psalmist, “and they lied
unto Him with their tongues” (Psalm 78:36).
And if this is the conduct men
venture on in relation to God, how much
more likely they are to compass their fellow-men with lies, or
overreach
them by deceit! If they carry their deceit into the sacred
exercises of
religion and the solemn services of the sanctuary, how much more
may we expect to find
fraudulent
transactions and deceitful dealings
in their intercourse with fellow-men!
were besetting God with their lies and provoking Him by deceit,
their
worship being idolatrous and their service false,
continued in the true worship. With not a few drawbacks and many
defects, they had hitherto adhered to the ordinances He had
prescribed,
the place He had chosen, and the mode and ministers of
religion He had
appointed. Such is the drift of the verse according to the
Authorized
Version. Assuming this to be the right rendering, we find Israel
left
without excuse. They could not plead the example of Judah. If an
evil example had been set them by
extenuated, but could not have excused, sin in
was just the opposite.
See Jeremiah 3:6-11 – CY – 2012) The absence
of such example was no small aggravation of their guilt.
Ø
It redounded to the
honor of Judah that in the day of Israel’s
defection they persevered in the way of truth, and maintained
the true worship of Jehovah. It is recorded to the credit of
those
Sardians who remained faithful in A
CORRUPT PLACE and
A DEGENERATE AGE
- “Thou
hast a few names even in
Sardis which
have not defiled their garments; and they shall
walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” (Revelation 3:4)
Ø
When we serve God we
reign with Him. It is
righteousness that
exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34) and elevates an individual.
To serve God is
our HIGHEST GLORY, and
to enjoy Him
OUR GREATEST
HAPPINESS! To serve God is the most
honorable service; hence our blessed Lord has made us KINGS
as well as PRIESTS unto God (Ibid. ch. 1:6). Luther,
commenting on this verse, speaks of certain errorists
“not
venturing to embrace the true doctrine for fear their rule should
be lost. So is it with many people; they are afraid of the
loss of
their rule if they should entertain the true ways of God’s
worship;
they think that the true ways of God’s worship cannot consist
with their rule and power, and therefore they had rather retain
them and let the true worship of God go.”
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