Hosea 14
The history of
and of salvation, of ruin and of recovery, of
the backsliding of man and
the mercy of God!
The condition of the Hebrew people as set
forth by the Prophet Hosea is
one that often repeats itself in the
experiences — some of them sad enough —
of everyday life. How many have fallen by
iniquity around us! How many are
falling by iniquity at our very doors, on this
side and on that! How many have
we known to begin life well, but they fell by
iniquity! The wrecks of the fallen
are strewn on the
right hand and on the left. Some fall by drunkenness, some
by lewdness, some by want of rectitude and
right principle, some by what the
world calls unsteadiness. If the sword slays its thousands, iniquity slays its tens
of thousands.
We should pity
the fallen. We are to try and lift them
up, to pray for the
backslider, and seek to
restore such a one in the spirit of meekness,
considering ourselves, “lest
thou also be tempted” – Galatians 6:1
The Bible warns “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” -
I Corinthians
10:12 – “Beware lest ye also, being led away
with the
error of the wicked, fall from you own stedfastness” – II Peter 3:17
God wounds in order to make whole, when He convinces of
sin, His
object is to lead us to the Savior, Jesus Christ,
and comfort us
v. 1 – The previous
thirteen chapters of this book abounds with denunciations
of
punishment. This closing chapter superabounds with promises of
pardon. “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God” - The invitation to
return implies previous departure, or distance, or wandering
from God. The
return to which they are invited is expressed, not by la,, to or towards,
but
by r[, quite up to, or as
far as right home; the penitent, therefore, is not
merely to turn his
mind or his face toward God, but to turn his face and
his feet
home to God; he is not to go half the way
and then turn aside, or
part of the way and then turn back,
but the whole way; in other words, his
repentance
is to be complete and entire, wanting nothing - “It is good
for me to
draw near to God.” (Psalm 73:28) - As
punishment was
threatened
in case of obstinate impenitence, so mercy is promised on
condition
of thorough repentance.
“for thou has fallen by thine
iniquity” - ka-shalta is properly “thou hast
stumbled,” “made a false step,” many and grievous were the calamities into which
by their fall they had been precipitated; neither were
any to blame but
themselves
— their iniquity
or their folly was the cause, nor
was there any one
to lift them up, now that they lay prostrate, save Jehovah.
Consequences of the fall are seen in posterity. When we read the
records of the ancient nations of heathendom, even the most
enlightened
and polished, we cannot fail to be convinced of the deep degradation into
which man by iniquity had fallen. In Egypt, the cradle of
civilization, men
worshipped animals and
plants, and even reptiles. In
boasted intellectual superiority, aesthetic tastes, and fine
arts, men
worshipped a host of false
gods, deified men, and even impersonations of
the lowest passions and worst vices that agitate the human heart; while of
celebrated city in
national divinities, they readily admitted into their pantheon the gods,
however monstrous and motley. In
materialism, money,
pleasure and since we are free, any type of god
which we have the
freedom to express? “Rejoice, O young
man, in
thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy
youth, and
walk in the WAYS OF
THINE HEAR, AND IN THE SIGHT OF
THINE
EYES: but know thou, that for ALL
THESE THINGS
GOD WILL BRING
THEE INTO JUDGMENT” – Ecclesiastes 11:9
All Israel is invited to repentance, that he who has been debilitated, or has fallen
headlong in his iniquities, may return to the physician and recover health, or that
he who had fallen
headlong may begin to stand.” The penitent is to direct his
thoughts to Jehovah; to
Him as Center he is attracted, and in Him he finds
his place of rest; nor is there ether means of recovery or source of help.
In this
invitation the vilest are subjects of this invitation; the oldest, the worst,
the most wicked, are comprehended; they are offered present
pardon, they are
assured of instant forgiveness, and all without money and
without price: “The
Spirit
and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let
him that is athirst
come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely.” Revelation 22:17 - Oh, then, since God is waiting and willing to be
gracious, let not the sinner ignore
that goodness, nor regard it with
insensibility,
nor
trample underfoot His great mercy, nor treat His gracious overtures as the
idle wind that passeth by; but allow himself to be led by the goodness of God to
repentance.
“despiseth thou the riches of His
goodness and forbearance and longsuffering;
not knowing that
the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” – Romans
2:4
“He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or
three witnesses:
Of how much sorer
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who
hath trodden under foot
the Son of God, and hath counted the BLOOD OF
THE COVENANT,
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath
DONE DESPITE UNTO
THE SPIRIT OF GRACE?” – Hebrews 10:28-29
v. 2 – “Take with you words, and turn to the Lord” - the words
referred to are such as express prayer for pardon and confession of
sin —
the
audible sound of the heart’s desires. There is an allusion, perhaps, to
the
requirement of the Law: “None shall
appear before me empty.” (Exodus
34:20) – Not outward sacrifices, but words of confession, were the
offering to
be presented. Thus Cyril eloquently explains it: “Ye shall propitiate
the Deity,
not
by making offerings of riches, not by dedicating gold, not by honoring
Him with silver vessels, not gladdening Him by sacrifices
of oxen, not by
slaughtering of birds; but ye shall give Him discourses and wish to
praise
the
Lord of the universe.” To the same purport is the exposition of Aben Ezra:
“He desires not from you, when ye go to seek His favor,
treasures or burnt
offerings, only words with which ye are to confess;” so also Kimchi: “He
does not require of you on your return to Him silver or gold or offering, which the
Israelites lavished at great expense on their idols, but good works with which ye
are
to confess your iniquities.”
“Say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously”
It is iniquity
that has wrought our ruin, it is sin that is the source of all our
sorrows; take it away,
for by it we have fallen. Take it all away — the guilt
of it, the
defilement of it, the dominion of it, the love of it, and the practice
of it. Take it
all away and forever!
The calves,
even the lips, are the thank offerings and service of the lips in
general; nor do these
differ aught from the fruit of the lips. Thanksgiving,
praise, prayer,
self-dedication, and self-surrender are all expressed by the
lips, and are thus
their offerings or their fruit.
“So will we render the calves of our lips” – the best animals for thank
offerings were young oxen, but the lips, that is, the utterances of the lips,
consisting of prayers or praises, or both, are to take the place of the animal
sacrifices offered in thanksgiving. Thus the psalmist says, “I will praise the
Name of God with a
song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This
also shall please the
Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and
hoofs.” – (Psalm 69:30-31) The Septuagint, reading yr]p] instead of μyr]p;, renders
by
karpo<n cei>lewn, to which the inspired author of Hebrews alludes, “By Him
therefore let us offer
the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the
fruit of our lips,
giving thanks [margin, ‘confessing’] to His Name;” –
(Hebrews 13:15) or
perhaps the reference in Hebrews is to Isaiah 57:19 –
“I create the
fruit of the lips.” Further, as words of
confession in v. 2 take
the
place of sacrifices of sin offerings, so here words of thanksgiving replace
sacrifices of thanksgiving.
THE CONCLUSION: - v. 3 – “Asshur shall not save us” - Here was a
renunciation of all hope of safety from the world powers -
both Assyria and
They
would never again have recourse to Assyria for help, nor
to
nor confide in their own unaided power or prowess; while this renunciation of
worldly power and carnal confidences implied, as its opposite,
unfaltering faith in
the protecting power and saving strength of Jehovah. All this was much, and
yet more was required; next to such renunciation of merely human aid, as
indicated, and its contrary, the recognition of Divine
assistance, comes
the
absolute and complete
abandonment of their national and besetting sin of
idolatry. They have so far come to themselves and received the right
use of
reason as to confess that the manufacture of man’s hands cannot
be man’s
god, thus giving up with feelings of contempt and disgust the groveling sin
of idolatry with its attendant vices. Still more, they are penetrated with the
conviction that man without God is a poor fatherless creature, in no better,
if not in a worse, condition than that of a weak orphan child. They have the
consolation at the same time that for all such, on their
return to Him, the
father of the
fatherless (Psalm 68:5) and the God of
the orphan has bowels
of tenderest compassion. It is
when we feel our condition in this world to be one
of
orphanage, of weakness, destitution, desolateness, and distress, that we repose
trustfully and securely in
the Divine mercy and gracious fatherhood of God.
To the presumed prayer of the penitent an answer
overflowing with mercy is
promised at once, and by God Himself in the next section.
Compare Jesus’ account of the Prodigal Son
– Luke 15:11-32
(I recommend highly Luke 15
– Dwight L. Moody Sermon – The Prodigal Son –
this web site – the reader will be rewarded for
the effort it takes – CY – 2009)
vs. 4-7 – “I will heal
their backsliding, I will love them freely: for
mine anger is turned away from him” - The
penitential prayer put in the
mouth of the people receives in this verse a gracious response;
words of
contrite confession are echoed back in accents of compassion and
consolation. When thus penitent and
prayerful they returned to the Lord,
He promises them favor as well as forgiveness, so as to
heal the moral
malady under which they had long labored, remedy the evil
effects of their
apostasy, and withhold the stripes he was going to inflict. Meshubhatham
(backsliding) means turning away from God, defection,
rebellion, idolatry,
and other sins. The disease would be healed, and its consequences
averted.
BACKSLIDING is in
the Soul what DISEASE is in the Body.
God promises:
He shall grow (margin,
blossom) as the lily. This comparison
suggests many qualities, any one of which may characterize, or all
of which
may
combine in, the spiritual growth thus pictured. There is the purity of
the
lily, the beauty of the lily, the fecundity of the lily, the perfume of the
lily, the rapidity of its growth, the stately slightness of its stem. We may
combine the rapidity of its growth; its fecundity, with regard to which
Pliny informs us that a
single root produces fifty bulbs; its beauty, to which
our
Lord refers in contrast with the glory of Solomon (Matthew 6:28-30).
But its root is weak, and He, on that account perhaps,
subjoins: “And cast forth
(margin, strike) his roots as
the
trees of
this comparison is stability. “As the trees of
strike their roots as far down into the depths as they lift their
heads up into
the
air, so that they can be shaken by no storm, but by their stable
massiveness maintain their position.” His branches shall spread; margin,
go; rather, go on. This feature in the representation
denotes enlargement or
expansion. The tender branches (suckers) spreading out in all
directions
very aptly set forth the multiplication of
numerically. But branches straggling, crooked, and ill-shaped would
rather
be
a blemish than a beauty. It is, therefore, added: “His beauty shall be as
the olive tree” - The olive has been called the crown of the fruit trees of
green, and the enduring freshness of its foliage, make it a vivid
picture of
that beauty of
holiness or spiritual graces which it is here employed to
represent. There is still an additional element of interest pertaining
to this
goodly tree, namely, “And his smell as
fragrance of this beautiful tree of righteousness. The smell of
referred to in Song of Solomon 4:11, “And the smell of thy garments is
like the smell of
flowers, and aromatic shrubs, and fragrant vines,
the
air with the most delightful odors. Thus acceptable to God and pleasing
to man shall
Rosenmüller’s explanation of the individual features of this inimitable
picture: “The rooting indicates stability; the spreading of the
branches,
propagation and the multitude of
inhabitants; the splendor of the olive,
beauty and glory,
and that constant and lasting; the fragrance, hilarity and
loveliness.”
The simile changes into the metaphor;
likened to a tree, becomes the tree.
But what enhances the beauty and the blessedness is the
circumstance that
the
persons to whom these facts and figures have reference are those very
persons who had erred and strayed from the Lord their God - even
had
fallen by their iniquity,
grievously provoked the just anger of the Almighty; but
returning, praying and pleading, giving up their false refuges and
casting aside
their false gods. Oh how cheering and
encouraging that God welcomes His
erring children to
return! Like the father in the parable, He runs to meet the
prodigal, He casts the
arms of His love around Him; He receives the penitent
to His fond embrace,
laying aside the wrath that had been provoked; He
bestows the love that had
been undeserved; He forgives the sins that had
been committed; He
foregoes the punishment that had been incurred; and,
physician-like, He heals the
backslidings great and manifold.
The psalmist
compares brotherly love and union and peace to
dew. “As
the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains
of
evermore” – Psalm 133:3 – (I
remember reading this back in the 1950’s –
our
Sunday School teacher, Ward Correll, at
I would read this and other Psalms to make the count higher
– it is read
in
a different light now but “Thanks be to God, His word “shall not return
unto Him void but will accomplish what He sent it for” - Isaiah 55:11 –
CY – 2009)
Dew has a fertilizing and fructifying property. Hence the dew is
indispensable to germination and growth. Without it the husbandman
would labor in vain and spend his strength for naught. He might
industriously break up the fallow ground and carefully scatter the seed, but
without the moisture of rain or dew the seed sown would neither bud nor
grow; so in spiritual husbandry, men may plough and sow, but
without the
dew of Divine grace there will be no increase. How different when the dew
of God’s grace is abundantly
bestowed. Then hard hearts are softened,
stubborn wills renewed,
invitations of the gospel accepted, the warnings of
the Divine Word
touch the conscience, its instructions impress the heart,
awakenings take place in Churches, revivals occur throughout the land.
Nay, more, the
weakest means become effectual, the simplest
instrumentalities powerful;
while in individual life the weak Christian is
strengthened, the weary is
refreshed, the fainting revived, the unlovely
spiritually beautified,
and the spiritual fruitfulness or virtues of all
developed or revived.
Beware that the heart becomes
so hardened by the deceitfulness of
sin, the conscience so seared by
iniquity, and the WHOLE MAN SO
ALIENATED from the life of God that there is NO DISPOSITION
TO RECEIVE OR PROFIT by the HEAVENLY BLESSING!
v. 8 – “Ephraim shall say, What
have I to do any more with idols?”
This is full, final, and for over a renunciation of
idolatry on the part of
From me is thy fruit found.” This is God’s promise, that His
eye is fixed
on
to
protect and prosper him; while the figure of a green fir tree is the pledge
of
shelter and security. But, though the fir
tree is evergreen, it is fruitless;
and therefore it is added that God will prove the Source of fruitfulness,
and
supply all that his people shall or can ever need.
v.
9 – “Who is wise, and he shall understand these
things?
prudent, and he shall know them? for the
ways of the Lord are right,
and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall
fall therein.”
This verse
demands attention to all the prophet has written, whether for
warning, or reproof, or
correction in righteousness, or encouragement to
piety and virtue, and
evidently alludes to Deuteronomy 32:4. The ways
of the Lord are
those He prescribes for them to walk in, as also the ways
He takes in
guiding, guarding, and governing men. Like
the dictates of the
Word, so the dispensations of His providence are to some the savor
of life,
to others the
savor of death; (II Corinthians 2:14-16) therefore it is added
that, while the righteous walk therein, the wicked stumble in them (comp.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20).
“I call heaven
and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before
you life and death,
blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou
and thy seed may live:That thou mayest love the
LORD thy God, and that
thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest
cleave unto Him: for He is
thy life, and the
length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the
land
which the LORD swear
unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and
to Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20
In my commentary I had written that I read a Spurgeon
Sermon on Aug. 19,
2001
entitled “Filling the Empty
Vessels” – I recommend (Philippians ch4 v19-
Spurgeon Sermon –
Filling the Empty Vessels”– this web site
– CY – 2009)
ADDITIONAL NOTES
EFFECTS PRODUCED BY THE DEW OF GOD’S GRACE. The
first effect is growth as of the lily.
A. The growth of the lily is rapid as it is beautiful. Here we may consider it
as an emblem of beauty. Thus our Lord says, “Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do
they spin: and yet I say unto
you, That oven Solomon in all his glory was
not arrayed like one of these.”
In a
passage in Ezekiel God says to His people, “Thy
renown went forth
among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was
perfect through my
comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.” The
comeliness to which the prophet refers is the comeliness of the
soul. There
is
nothing so beautiful as holiness; there is no ornament like piety. The
earth is beautiful when God adorns it with the bounties of His
providence;
when He replenishes it with fruit and flower, with grass for the cattle and
herb for the service of man; when He carpets its surface with living green,
clothing the fields with verdure, and covering the hills with corn.
There is
beauty in the over-canopying sky, in the bright orbs that sparkle
like gems
in
the firmament. There is beauty in the
widespread world of waters, and in
the waves that dimple ocean’s cheek. There is beauty twinkling in every
star above us, sparkling in the dewdrops at our feet, and shining in every
shimmer of noonday splendor. All
these testify how beautiful this world
once was, and how beautiful it would still be but for sin. There is beauty in
the human face divine: there is beauty in the face of fair woman, and beauty
of a rougher east in the countenance of man, and beauty, playful, cheerful
beauty, in the pretty countenance of childhood. But all the varied beauties
of a lovely world are not to be compared with the beauty of holiness. It is a
beauty that reflects
God’s own image, and by which we resemble Christ.
“Come,
then, O house of Jacob, come,
To
worship at his shrine;
And, walking in the light of God,
With holy beauties shine.”
There may be beauty in the adorning of the person, in the
plaiting of the
hair, the wearing of gold, and the putting on of apparel; but the true beauty
is the “hidden man of the heart in that which is not
corruptible, even the
beauty of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great
price.” – I Peter 3:4
B. The next
characteristic of this growth is stability. The growth of the lily
may
be fair or fast, but it soon fades; it may be easily plucked up, and so
another figure is added to show the firmness of the believer. He
is firmly
rooted as well as spiritually fair. Some colors are very
beautiful and very
showy, but they are not fast colors; they soon fade, they soon
lose their
vividness. Some plants are very beautiful in their bloom, but weak
in their
root and soon uptorn. Not so the Christian. He casts forth his roots as
or
as the forest trees, those cedars of God, deeply rooted therein. Thus,
with the flower of the lily, the believer has the root of the mountain or of
the
cedar tree, over which the winds of heaven have swept for centuries.
He is fair as the one and firm as the other, for Christ dwells in his heart by
faith; he is rooted and grounded in love; he is rooted in
Christ and
established in the faith, abounding therein with thanksgiving. He is,
moreover, “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of
the
Lord,”
forasmuch as he knows that his labor is not in vain in the Lord.”
(I
Corinthians 15:58) - Besides, as the root of trees
draws up nourishment from
the
ground, so the Christian derives nourishment
and strength from Christ;
while the union is so close and
so constant that nothing can separate him
from Christ, nothing can wrench him from
that rock in which he is rooted,
nothing can detach him from the
foundation on which he rests. (Romans 8:
35-39)
C. The next
characteristic is expansiveness, as expressed by the words,
“His branches
shall spread.” While his roots spread far
and sink deeply into
the
soil, his branches spread. The application of
this promise is to
literally, and so to the Church in general, as well as to the
individual
Christian. The
spread her branches widely on every side, sending out “her boughs into the
sea, and her
branches unto the river,” and ultimately
to fill the whole earth.
The Christian’s growth likewise is expansive. He grows
inwardly in the
graces of the Spirit, outwardly in good works, upward in
heavenly
mindedness, and downward in humility. He adds to his “faith virtue, and to
virtue knowledge, and
to knowledge temperance, and to temperance
patience, and to
patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness,
and to brotherly
kindness charity. These things are in him and abound, and
thus is neither
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of God and in the
doing of the Divine
will.” (II Peter 1:5-8) - Whatsoever things
are true, honest,
just, pure, lovely,
of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy, he thinks on
and practices
these things”. Philippians 4:8 - His profiting appears to all, and
his
holy demeanor is so manifested that
he promotes the growth of grace in others,
and
consequently the progress of the gospel in the world. He resembles the
shining light, which continues to spread more widely and to shine
more
brightly until the perfect day. (Proverbs 4:18)
D. The next element of this growth is permanence of beauty and
abundance
of
fruit. In addition to the beauty or glory of
the lily, the stability of the
cedar rooted in
numerous and magnificent branches, we have also the abiding beauty
and
rich fruitage of the olive. The beauty of the lily is frail and its glory fading;
but
the
greenness of the olive is perpetual; and
as abundance of branches
and
plenty of leaves may make a show for a time, and suggest the idea of a
sort of empty ostentatiousness, the prophet gives
a fresh touch to his
picture by adding the greenery of the olive, which is lasting, and
the
fruitfulness of the olive, which is so profitable and for many purposes
serviceable — enlightenment,
nourishment, and embellishment. Thus the
psalmist says, “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust
in
the mercy of God for
ever and ever.” (Psalm 52:8)
So also in Jeremiah 11:8
God calls His people a green olive tree, fair and of goodly
fruit; such too is the
individual believer —
planted in the garden of the Lord, watered
by the
dew
of heaven, his leaf is ever fresh and his fruit ever seasonable. Even in
the
winter of adversity the leaf of the righteous is green; in the winter of
age
they still bear fruit; in the wintry storms of the world their beauty
remains like that of the olive tree, ever green, ever fresh, and
ever
flourishing. The beauty of an
evergreen is enhanced, like most other things,
by
contrast; it appears most when other shrubs and trees are stripped and
bared by the wintry blast; it is seen to most advantage when
deadness and
desolation reign around. In like manner, when the storms of’ life,
when the
decrepitude of age, when the languor of decay, has stripped the mere
worldly professor of the leaves of a merely assumed and temporary
profession, a profession without reality, then true Christians stand out in
striking contrast.
“Those
that within the house of God
Are
planted by His grace,
They
shall grow up and flourish all
In
our God’s holy place:
And
in old age, when others fade,
They
fruit still forth shall bring:
They
shall be fat and full of sap.
And
aye be flourishing.”
E. By the smell of
nothing so pleasing to God as holiness proceeding from faith in
Christ and
love to God. The believers’
efforts in the cause of God have a rich
perfume; their zeal and devotedness are like ointment poured forth;
their
spiritual sacrifices send forth the savor of a sweet smell. Thus the children
of
God are trees of righteousness, God’s own planting,
precious in His
sight, pleasant and pleasing to God, and to all who love God and
are like
God. God compares his Church to a garden of spices: “A garden enclosed
is my sister, my
spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants
are an orchard of
pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphor, with
spikenard, spikenard and
saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees
of frankincense;
myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices.”
(Song of
Solomon 4:12-14)
F. The people or Church of God become a
blessing to others, Not only are
they blessed themselves, but are made a blessing to others; they benefit
all
around. Like the pebble dropped into a pool and sending out
wavelets to
the
furthest shore, so the people of God communicate benefits that, may
reach to the utmost
bound of earth and to the very end of time.
Such as are
converted through their influence, repenting of sin and returning to
God,
will
join themselves to God’s people and rest under the shadow of God’s
Church — shall be
spiritually fruitful, reviving like the corn, of which a
grain when it dies in
the earth brings forth many more; and prolific as the
vine, which, when
pruned, produces many clusters, and each cluster many
grapes; while their persons and their services are fragrant and
even
medicinal spiritually, as the scent of the far-famed wine of
physically. So with the Church of the old dispensation; so with that
of the
new;
so with God’s Church still. Amen
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